[Log] Last Stand at A Baoa Qu (Part 2)

[geist_sq]

Geist One: Isa Reichert seems to be... laughing, unstably. She gives another roar. "Za uspiekh nashevo beznadioshnovo diela!" To the success of our hopeless task!

"The war's over, Garma," Shin shoots back over the comline. He twirls the large beam saber, apparently ready to fight at close range now - and indeed he goes blasting forward to meet Garma, lining up his approach vector just right. The laser blade whips through space, attempting to deflect the thrown heat hawk. It's not entirely successful; the hawk leaves a big rent across the ReGelg's flank, a stream of coolant trickling off into space in a stream of sparkling globules. Alert signals flash over Matsunaga's head, but he ignores them.

The ReGelg's charge is very direct, beam saber cocked and ready. "You're the one being deceived. Who's the one giving you life after death, Garma? When you were alive you would never have thrown in with the Zondars and Master Asia. People who want to destroy mankind."

He's close now, close enough to strike-

Yet suddenly the ReGelg whips to the side and banks sharply away.

Revealing that he's been running away from Pizza's giant Zondar laser - and using the ReGelg's body mass to hide the fact that the huge laser is now lined up with Garma Zabi! Could the wily White Wolf have set up a friendly fire incident?!

Energy bolts whip towards Leona's Guarlion; the woman seems unnaturally quick, though, rudimentary Psychodriver senses enabling her to elude the worst of the attack. Her railgun whips forward, shooting a couple of the bolts to detonate them safely away from her. Still, a couple penetrate, marking her Guarlion with little scorched craters. She grimaces, armoured module rocking around her.

Indeed, she can see what Master Asia's up to, to some extent. He's trying to herd me, she thinks, eyes narrowing. She's not about to be herded.

The shoulders of the Guarlion swing forward, sonic field projectors roaring to life. At this point she allows the last energy blasts to hit the field, the surging sonic energy negating the blasts like an E-field. The Guarlion's thrusters blast to life, the armoured module screaming through space straight towards the Master Gundam, aiming to ram him and grind him down beneath the sonic pressure of her charge. Because, she thinks, better to plough through him, even at close range, than be led around on a leash by him.

Meanwhile, in the background, the Republican mobile suits are beginning to mount something of a more effective offense. Supported by the firepower of Musais, Gelgoogs are beginning to use Shin Matsunaga's patented melee tactics - they're now closing with some of the insurgents' ships, attacking bridges, engines, and weapons with their beam sabers. A battleship has little defense against a mobile suit at close range.

The beam cannons of the Kogane slam into the side of the Gwazine. The battleship has no shields; Gihren's face twists into an angry, shocked look as the energy beams slice off a chunk of the outer hull. A large part of it explodes, shoving the bow aside and knocking Zabi to his feet. He hits the floor and grunts, before grabbing at a console and lifting himself to his feet. "Damage report!" he demands.

"Severe, Admiral!" a technician replies. "Over half the bow is gone!"

"Keep firing! Target the Kogane's bridge directly! Fire six torpedoes, at one spot, to break the E-Field, and direct the remaining beam cannons there!" Zabi shouts.

Six torpedoes fire, then - all in a straight line, one after the other, with minor variations to make it harder to shoot them down. They will hit the same position on the E-Field, if they get through. This is then followed by a burst from the beam cannons, which are aimed directly for the bridge of the Space Noah-class ship! The lances of energy shoot through space, narrowly missing a few of the Zaku II's rushing in to engage the Gelgoogs around the Gwazine.

The Dolos, in the meantime, has far worse problems. Several Dom Funfs land in the catapults. One will find a Galbady propelling at it rapidly, having been launching. The pilot inside the Galbady screams as he sees them there.

And the crews inside stop, staring at the Mobile Suits that have landed. A few pilots scramble for their suits, desperately. Others raise their hands in surrender.

Hollis meets Isa's first beam saber slash with his own saber - and the two energy weapons meet, lightning crackling up the blades. He pulls it away, then, and raises the left foot of his Gelgoog. He kicks that for the Dra-C's stomach, before he turns - and as Liese comes, he stabs the beam saber backward.

Her saber slashes off a layer of armor; a blow he accepts as necessary, as he tries to drive his into hers. This time, the beam saber is aimed for her cockpit. He then whisks around, and Isa's second slash chops off a part of the shoulder armor on his suit.

"Allow me to bring you to hell, then, ghosts!" Hollis snarls over the shortwave.

Perhaps surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, the Zondar doesn't retract its beam. If Garma is hit, he's hit. Stupid human's already dead as it is. If this has proved Shin's point, Pizza doesn't care.

The beam dissipates, taking off after the ReGelg. The Zondar doesn't say much else about the strange alliance, perhaps figuring it's none of Shin's business, or simply not caring. A battle is a battle, and it's in battle that Pizza feels truly 'alive.' The one intact wing shoots out, sharp circlar blades appearing from its "feathers" as it attempts to sideswipe the Mobile Suit and chop right into it. "You're an interesting opponent. To face so many on your own is quite noble."

Master Asia's eyes widen at the unexpected charge, and he ceases firing lasers, instead bringing up his left arm to deflect as much of the impact as he can manage. The Guarlion and Gundam collide with tremendous force, crumpling the latters shoulder plating and severely damaging the limb, the blow sending Master Asia reeling backward.

Don't underestimate the Divine Crusaders, Master Asia chides himself as he looks over his shoulder, gauging the Troye's position. He had hoped to herd her toward another capital-class ship, and then allow her to dodge an attack that would cripple a more strategic target...but it seems like this woman is more of a nuisance than he first thought.

This is, however, why it is important to have backup plans. The Gundam's right hand suddenly grabs the near end of its cloth and pulls hard, thrusters blazing to accelerate the motion as threads of pink cloth descend all around the Guarlion, seeking to ensnare the unit completely in its grasp.

The torpedoes rise from the Gwazine, and Milla immediately knows what's happening. "Gunnery!" she shouts. "Shoot down those torpedoes! Shoot them down!" A spray of anti-aircraft fire fills the space around the Kogane's bridge, and a couple of the torpedoes detonate - but not enough. One hits the E-field, then another, then a third and a fourth - not collapsing it, but weakening it. The mega beams DO collapse that section of the field, though, and though the tatters of the field blunt some of the impact, the beams nevertheless lance through the shield and strike the Kogane just below the bridge. Hull plating rips away; a few crew members can be seen flailing as they're sucked into space.

There are definitely alert klaxons going now. The damage throws Milla from her chair and sends Leitz von Staffel sprawling. The Commander reaches her feet first; she winces. "Report!"

"Hull is breached on deck 3!" shouts a crewer. "We've lost impact cannon number three."

The woman closes one fist, her eyes narrowing. Bastard. "...Fire homing missiles on the Gwazine. Support with the sub guns. Gelgoogs, cover the dropships. Let's get our teams aboard the Dolos and take back the ship!"

Though damaged, the Kogane is still kicking; the huge ship turns a little, presenting more of its broadside to the Gwazine now. Homing missiles lift from berths to either side of the bridge. In broad clusters they sweep towards the Gwazine, supported by artillery shells launched from the ship's wing-mounted cannons. The fire seems to be aimed at keeping Gihren's command ship occupied - for sneaking out the opposite side of the Kogane flies a wing of several chunky dropships. Escorted by rhe earlier Gelgoog team, the ships, laden with DC Marines and spare pilots, sail towards the Dolos.

The Dom Funfs, meanwhile, accept what surrenders are offered. The Dom meeting the Galbaldy instantly whips out a beam saber and attempts to slice the Galbaldy in half at the torso. Another Dom brings a foot down, aiming to squish a resisting pilot.

In fact, those pilots who do put up a fight will probably get stepped on.

Lots of ghosts here then. Garma is having trouble keeping up with facts even if he really would prefer to delude himself. "Destroy mankind...? This alliance is to return Zeon to it's proper-" Garma manages-and then the ReGelg pulls away!

Garma sees the bright laser flying right for him. Were all those words whispered just to lure him here, or was it the Zondars betraying him, or none of the above? All Garma knows is that this uncertainty tears at his soul. It was so much easier when he had Faith-but Char damaged his shield of faith and now-His faith in his family itself is wavering alongside his faith in Shin. He almost doesn't-want to trust in anything anymore. But there's something he'd rather do than lose his trust-

When the beam hits him, it almost seems like he was welcoming it. The only thing that survives is the Shield-composed as it is from Ether.

But that doesn't answer who brought him back from the grave. And neither does, if you think about it, Hrist's appearance on top of Shin's mech. Because it wasn't her.

But it does say who has been manipulating him. "Perhaps it was a mistake," She speaks despite this being space, "To let him talk to you, Mister Matsunaga."

Isa shoves into the hiltlock with no apparent hesitation, snarling as lightning crackles and dances up and down the locked blades. The hilts saw against each other as she tries to seek some advantage to the momentary stalemate.

He kicks her away, then, metal clanging into the "stomach" of the Dra-C. The blow sends her spinning away, but the distance is closed effectively by the next unit.

Emboldened by sloughing off some of the Gelgoog Marine's armor, Liese darts forward, closing the distance. Hollis' beam saber closes the distance faster, though, and the bright weapon slams into the Dra-C just below the cockpit.

She's fortunate. It's a blow that would have been lethal, just a short ways upward. As it is, the fuel is ignited by the blow. The explosion takes less than half a second to follow, propelled by the incredible heat of the beam weaponry.

<>

That's all the time Liese has to answer before the mobile suit falls back limply, like a puppet with cut strings. Scorched, its engines fall silent, crippled.

The line flickers, before she manages to pipe up again. <>

<> Isa's bellow comes just a moment before impact. She swings the beam saber around with all her might, relying on the mechanical "muscle" of the Dra-C to punch through the Gelgoog Marine's armor. Regardless of whether or not she lands a blow, she's already pulling back for another savage strike; and a third. She doesn't seem to care that her stance is left open. <>

And suddenly, the other two Dra-C units are there, swooping in to close protectively around the crippled unit, beam rifles raised to fire on Hollis' distinctive mobile suit. <> The already-crippled Dra-C reaches out to snag the drifting and scorched unit with its beam saber arm, keeping the Dra-C from drifting too far away. <>

<> Ancel sounds like he's grinning, nastily, even as he raises his rifle for another shot. He, at least, seems comfortable with the technique. <>

<> Dominic curses, firing off another spate of beam energy. <> he calls, suddenly. <>

Geist Two: Dominic Heinslett says, "-Hey! Isa, you crazy son of a bitch! If you're going to go berserk on him, at least try to aim for the damned cockpit or something!"

Not one to just assume his gambit killed his enemies outright, Shin whirls the ReGelg and again brings his beam saber up to the ready, eyes following the condor-Zondar as it comes swooping in for the presumed kill once again. "I do try to please," he responds shortly, "and I fight whom I must to defend what's mine."

The circular blades are a surprise; his Newtype senses give him only a split-second's warning. He zips to one side, but not fast enough to avoid taking a slash across the as-yet-undamaged shoulder. The pearl-white armour is torn by the slicing wing blades, sparks spitting from the ReGelg's internal circuitry. Yet as the Zondar passes, Shin follows it, whirling and blasting into a brisk chase of Pizza's mechanical pet. Missiles spit from the ReGelg's backpack, blazing towards the Zondar. Briefly he risks a glance behind him; Garma Zabi appears to have been killed by the blast, but he's not counting on it.

He then frowns, his sensors registering a figure atop his mobile suit and a feminine voice coming from it. "...So you're the one who brought him back," he observes placidly, suddenly breaking off his chase of the Zondar and letting the missiles pursue as they will. "I told him the truth, nothing more - the truth he needed to know."

The ReGelg's left hand then rises, thumb and forefinger feet apart as they situate themselves on either side of the female figure. As he steers the mobile suit in a continuous arc, keeping away from harassing fire for a moment, he says, "I hate people who play with the dead. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't squash you like a bug right here."

"Evasive maneuvers!" Gihren snaps. His helmsman spins the wheel controlling the ship, and the verniers on the Gwazine fire - turning the vessel slightly. The heavy cannons hit the hull, and many of the shells strike its heavy plating and bounce off. A few breach it, causing puffs of air to shoot out until the automated defense systems seal off the breached corridors. The missiles pose a smaller threat; they are fired into, by the autocannons.

Many explode in space, causing an echo of explosions to rain across the area between the two warships. Other homing missiles pull free, though, and explode against the Gwazine's hull. Several point defense systems go up in fireballs, along with a few communications suites. Gihren grits his teeth; at this point in the battle, he had been counting on the hundred plus Mobile Suits in the Dolos, when they've launched none.

"Take out the left wing!" he barks, "and then we'll move to the bridge!"

Again, the mega particle cannons fire. Heavy lances of light rip across the stars; this time, their aim is less than perfect, more frantic. A stray Zaku II is incinerated in an instant. The beam blasts converge, all at once, firing into the wing of the Kogane.

Inside the Dolos, the crews are thrown into a disarray. Several pilots die; crushed underneath the Doms, or shot by the mechanics loyal to the current government. Several of these men bravely move forward, standing near the door as the first dropships come in.

The news comes to the bridge. "Sir," a commando says, with a frown, "the main hangar's been seized. We've also had numerous surrenders and refusals to fight."

"Their loyalty changes with the tides!" the commander shouts. "Damn them all!"

Hollis, in the meantime, finds himself getting punched furiously. The Dra-C's arm smashes its fist into the armor - and the third blow causes some of that armored plating to split. The Colonel snarls, quietly, before swinging back a beam saber, and lashing it out for the arm - and then, he tries to slash her Mobile Suit's arm off before this grows worse.

He gets taken by Ancel's shot, then. It rips through the skirt armor and slashes the left leg off completely. It also leaves a gash in the right on; Hollis growls, turning his head to look at Ancel for a moment.

He takes another slash at Isa's unit, before activating his thrusters and moving his damaged machine straight for Ancel's!

As the Master Gundam's armour crumples beneath the force of her Guarlion's charge, Leona bites back a surge of satisfaction. It's a very nice result, the damage caused by her maneuver - perhaps a bit more than she expected. And it seems to have thwarted one of the Undefeated's little plans.

Alas, it seems Master Asia has a plan B. Leona's eyes widen a little as the ribbon suddenly lashes out around her, coils of pink ensnaring the Guarlion from various angles, pinning shoulders and arms in place. The young woman sucks in a startled breath, eyes darting from side to side as she burns her verniers hard, twisting her mech to try and break free. Arms strain against the bonds. Jamming her fingers down on a pair of triggers, she lets loose with both autocannons, continuing to twist the otherwise immobilized Guarlion in the hopes that the wild gunfire will stall the killing blow long enough for her to break free.

"An interesting maneuver," she comments with icy cool into her radio. "I should've expected no less from you."

Maybe that wasn't so wise.

<> Liese's panicked warning is the one that urges the Geist Squadron to do just that. Some of her systems are still working, and those include the cockpit display. She can't do anything, but she can at least watch from inside her crippled Dra-C.

Dominic manages to wrench his half-crippled unit aside, but Ancel is too close to gain any distance. He simply turns, bringing up his rifle straight towards the Gelgoog Marine's cockpit.

Surprisingly, he doesn't fire, immediately. He waits until the Gelgoog is closer, and then squeezes off several shots, quickly as he dares without jamming the weapon. When that's done, he quickly brings up his beam saber, waiting to clash with the colonel.

As for Isa's unit, she seems to have endured several more slashes from Hollis' beam saber. Her Dra-C looks like its condition is almost as bad as Dominic's. The beam saber arm, while cruelly cut into, still seems somewhat functional. Its response is laggard, and sparks spit with every motion, but the arm still moves when commanded.

Such setbacks seem trivial. She charges forward. If she doesn't do something right now, they're going to be down to three squadron members.

With a howl, she raises her rifle arm, bringing it down towards the back of the Gelgoog Marine. She doesn't care where it hits; so long as it hits. It's likely not going to be damaging, considering it's just the blast end of the rifle, but hopefully such a pistolwhip will at least grab attention.

Meanwhile, Dominic seizes the opportunity to open fire on the surrounded Gelgoog Marine, still hanging as near to Liese as he dares.

And Liese? Well, she's just watching, now. That's all she really can do.

The fire from the Gwazine seems to miss the encroaching dropships. Indeed, they begin to make their landings aboard the Dolos one by one. A Zaku II manages to destroy one of the dropships; another takes damage and breaks off, returning to the safety of the Kogane. The others, however, hit the decks of the Dolos hard - and machine gun-toting commandos in environmentally-sealed body armour begin to troop aboard the Zeonic supercarrier, storming through corridors and launch bays, beginning to round up or fight off those crewmen who would still resist. Bit by bit they pick their way towards the bridge, with the goal of taking the Dolos back from Gihren's men.

Yet this necessitates a certain sacrifice on the part of the Kogane. The ship takes heavy damage beneath the massive pounding of Gihren's flagship, mega particle beams ripping hard into the base of its wing. A chunk of the wing is torn away, the sub gun on that side sheared off completely. Flames belch from the ragged stump of the wingtip.

"The E-field is about to collapse!" shouts a crewman over the thunderous pounding of the beams. "Sir, we have to do something."

Commander Jessad is quiet for a moment, her eyes closed.

"Sir?!"

"I hear you, crewman." Suddenly cool and confident, she opens her eyes. "Bring our bow to bear on the Gwazine and lay down impact cannon fire. Power all boost drives. And... charge System SB."

"Yes, sir!"

The Kogane rotates in space even as cannonfire blasts away chunks of its armour. The last shreds of the E-field project out in front of the ship, giving it some cover as it fires back with its own huge cannons. Yet to aft, its eight huge thruster nozzles begin to glow - and to fore, crackles of energy begin to course along the heavily reinforced outward-facing crescent of the big ship's bow. Some system is gathering its strength.

"Thank you," the old man says politely, gripping the cloth with his other hand. "You will perhaps find this one surprising as well - I learned it from an old acquaintance of mine from Neo America."

The Gundam's thrusters catch fire again as he begins spinning in place, arms pulling the bound Guarlion along for the ride until the pair are spinning in a long, slow circle. The Gundam begins to slow, then, although its arms continue the spin, moving Leona's trapped machine faster and faster, the revolutions and G forces involved increasing substantially as the old martial artist surveys the area around him. And spots the Kogane. "If you survive this," Master Asia says evenly, "Please pass a message to the White Wolf for me."

The Undefeated of the East pauses. What was it he used to say again?

"Ah, yes," he says as he hurls the Guarlion toward the Kogane. "Yippee-ki-yo-ki-yay, mother#@&^er."

"The maneuvers you performed seem particularly implausible. I am wondering if it is psychic talent. This curiouristy is all that keeps me from boarding the Kogane bridge and destroying your allies." Hrist sure sounds confident, but then again she can also apparently breathe in space. Perhaps she's allowed. "Crushing this form would be a mild inconvenience. At worst, I will rise again just as Garma did."

She smiles, however, "But it was not me who brought him back. It was my sister."

"I had hoped to spend my time recovering from yesterday, the humans were uppity but easy to crack." The damn bird, however, "Another good reason-is that I am quite good at squashing bugs like yourself." She gives the mech a fond pat. "Your friends are having trouble. You should ask them to retreat. You might die alone, but you would die brave."

The beam rifle blasts fire into Hollis' machine, at point blank. He can do little to escape them; the energy blasts rip into the armor, slicing neat holes through it. He narrowly escapes a cockpit shot; one of them comes close enough to heat up the electronics on the left side of his cockpit and cause them all toe short out, as the circuits fuse. He grits his teeth, angered further, and then aims the beam saber right for Ancel's beam rifle.

Before he can fire again, Hollis thrusts the beam saber forward - and tries to bury it down the length of the rifle's barrel, ideally making the rifle explode apart in the Mobile Suit's hands. Then, he swings the beam saber aside, narrowly blocking Ancel's own strike with it.

Hollis turns his machine around, then, in time to have the rifle arm slam into the chest of the Gelgoog Marine. More armor crumples inward; Hollis is tossed back in his chair. "Bitch!" he spits, before he hits his thrusters - and sends his machine flying forward, to ram into Isa's Dra-C and away from Dominic's firing. He keeps flying, thrusters burning so hot they begin to glow red, and aims to ram her right into the waiting hull of a Musai-class ship.

Things are grim inside the Dolos. The commando team looks at one another; the crew of the Dolos has largely surrendered, giving in to the encroaching teams. The leader of the special ops teams stands up from the captain's chair. "Bar the door," he commands, "and prepare your rifles."

He takes a spot behind one of the consoles, aiming his rifle at the door. "We'll kill as many as we can."

"Admiral Gihren!" the navigator shouts. "They're preparing to ram! We won't be able to evade in time!"

"Tch... of course," Gihren says. He crosses his arms over his chest, his mind racing. He is not called a genius for nothing; the man thinks, harder and harder, until he finds an answer. It almost makes him smile. "Prepare to fire all of the remaining bow cannons. And then cut off the firing mechanism, while keeping the charge."

"Sir?" the weapons officer asks. "But that will-"

"Yes." Gihren smiles. "It will."

The Zondar zooms about, attempting to avoid the missile barrage-and is only partially successful, caught in the impact and explosions of many of them. It lets out a birdlike screech, in classic 'we can hear things in space somehow' fashion, and hovers for a moment as it attempts to regenerate its many "wounds." There's little time to regenerate, however, when the target is still active.%RPizza hovers back, the eye scanning. Perhaps he is waiting to see what this ramming maneuver does. Is he going to lose his human allies?

Where's he gonna find new ones?

"You know, young lady," Shin remarks, his voice flat and devoid of humour. "I'm not particularly impressed with your mouthy bullshit. While I'm sure in magical bizarro world you can just wave your hand and kill all my friends in the blink of an eye, this is reality, sister. And from where I'm sitting, the reality is that your plan to capture the Dolos just went up in flames."

With that, the ReGelg's thumb and forefinger draw closed, the huge metal digits attempting to squish Hrist between them in what would likely be a grotesque end for the mystic woman.

Shin's expression is cold but stolid. He is not a man who enjoys doing such things to women. But anyone who screws with the souls of the dead is no woman at all.

Leona Garstein is not a dumb woman. As Master Asia begins to twirl her Guarlion around she throws herself back in her seat, focusing on her control panel rather than the wildly spinning image in her viewscreen. Fighting to ignore the lurching feeling in her gut, she punches her thrusters hard - and actually speeds the Guarlion's spinning course a little, causing Master Asia to twirl her a little faster. What the hell?

In the end she's released from the ribbon and sent hurtling Kogane-ward. As soon as she's free she whirls the Guarlion, thrusters switching off, and fires away with both railguns, filling the space around Master Asia with a shower of energetic fire. Yet she focuses only partially on it. Her eyes dip down to a tactical display, noting the trajectory of Master Asia's throw compared to the position of the Kogane.

She squeezes her eyes closed....

...And the Guarlion glances off the very edge of the Kogane's E-field, ping-ponging off of the barrier and bouncing into empty space, where it rights itself with a quick flipping motion, shaking off the jarring impact damage. The extra thrust altered her trajectory just enough to avoid a lethal blow to the Kogane - or her own destruction against its rapidly-charging sonic field.

The Master says, "By the way, Viktor, you might want to ease up on the magic. You may find it less effective than usual."
Doctor Doom coughs wetly. "I need only cast...one more spell."

Inside the Dolos, the commando teams have reached the bridge. A ram is brought up, hammering against the door. Eventually it's broken down. A smoke grenade is hurled in first, followed by the charge of the commandos. Machineguns flare; people die. It's probably about as bloody as that scene from War in the Pocket where everyone dies but Bernie Wiseman.

Meanwhile, the entire Kogane crew flinches as Leona bounces off the ship's E-field. Yet it doesn't stop them from continuing to charge up for their next blow. The crackling along the vessel's bow suddenly blossoms into an absolutely massive field of surging and rippling energy, blue and white and gold and pink, engulfing more than half the ship. The entire bow appears to be a single immense sonic breaker. And that sonic breaker is now aimed directly at Gihren Zabi's flagship.

"All ahead full!" Commander Jessad barks, pointing briskly forward.

"All ahead full, aye-aye!" the navigator calls. "Intercept course laid in with Gwazine-class battleship!"

Gihren Zabi's firepower rips into the ship, but the worst is blunted by the sonic field, acting as a shield of sorts. Some damage does bleed through, but not enough to stop the charging Space Noah. Inexorably it cuts through space, closing the gap between itself and the Gwazine. The sonic field roars soundlessly, the ship charging, aiming to grind the cruiser to rubble beneath its mighty sonic breaker.

Yet, they know not what the Evil Genius of Zeon has in store. It could be a killing blow... but for whom?

The Master says, "Your call. This is almost ready, and, well..."
The Master heh heh heh.

The fingers pass through Hrist and touch each other. There isn't any residual feeling, but that might be expected because she's just a little itty bitty woman and Shin is in a giant robot.

Hrist falls through the machine, temporarily immaterial. Apparently she expected Shin to try and squish her-but then, he telegraphed that one, didn't he?

Soon she's materialized in the cockpit itslef-though still seethrough for a few moments. Hrist has to get her bearings because she sacrificed some practicality for cinematics.

"Who said," Hrist murmurs with a smile, "That that was our plan?"

And then she solidifies and presses up against Shin's body which might be nice if Shin didn't hate her, for one thing, if she didn't wear armor, for another, and if her hand wasn't shoving for Shin's throat to grab and squeeze.

Ancel manages a grim smile of satisfaction as his round impacts with the Gelgoog Marine. He isn't fast enough to avoid damage to his weapon, so he simply lets the other mobile suit destroy the rifle. It simply explodes in his hand.

He won't be so complacent about getting killed, though, and tries to dash back and out of the way. When Hollis turns his back, he whirls his beam saber, aiming a powerful thrust towards the back of the mobile suit.

Unfortunately, it misses. That's because Hollis is already surging forward, having seized Isa's Dra-C, plummeting for the hull of the nearest ship.

<> She has her own curse and stalled death threat ready for him, but she never gets it out, the impact jarring her in her cockpit. Her helmet collides with the upper control array, stunning her for a moment. In response, her mobile suit sags.

Metal creaks and strains as the engines of the Gelgoog Marine threaten to drive its alloys past the point of endurance.

<> With a desperate call, Geist Two comes next, followed by Geists Two and Four converging on Hollis and their trapped flight lead. Dominic fires a salvo of rifle shots as Ancel speeds towards them, beam saber flaring to life.

Ancel brings the weapon down with a snarl, seeking to jam it right through the back of the cockpit. Whether or not he's lucky enough to hit is purely chance. Hopefully he can at least impale part of the body or something.

Regaining her wits, Isa snarls, jamming forward against the controls. The flaring engines of the Dra-C char a section of the battleship's hull, though the damage is only superficial. It does keep her from being crunched like a walnut, though, and she tries to surge against the power of a Gelgoog Marine's engine on full throttle.

<> she snarls. <> She brings her beam saber forward, the Dra-C's frame flailing under the stranglehold of Hollis' Gelgoog Marine as she tries to get in a proper enough position to strike from. <>

The railgun rounds tear into the Master Gundam, its pilot cursing the day they let women out of the damn kitchen in the first place, doubly so as she does not even do him the courtesy of dying against the Kogane's barrier.

Some people.

Master Asia evaluates his options, his eyes locked at the two charging battleships below, each seemingly determined to end the other in a single head-on crash...one the old man knows from his time aboard the Kogane the DC is better equipped to survive. "I think not," he growls, focusing his ki. Power flows in toward the Master Gundam, its coloration lightening, growing more intense, and then finally exploding in a blaze of golden light as it transcends into its supreme form.

"This hand of mine roars with an awesome power!" he proclaims, the Gundam's right fist beginning to glow rather intently as he soars up and around the Kogane, moving through three dimensions until he is more or less 'above' the battleship. "Its burning grip howls for your defeat!"

This is ominous.

Geist One: Isa Reichert can be heard snarling, over something slamming quite loudly, the uncertain crackle of electronics, and the slow, inevitable creak of alloy being crushed. "I will kill you. I will kill you! We will not be going to the Gates of Hell, today! That is your price to pay, da?! But there will be no glory for the likes of you!"

Things on the Dolos are grim. The ram rips through the doors of the bridge; they shatter and burst apart, flying inward. The smoke grenade takes out several of those commandos closest to the door; they hack and they die, when the gunshots come. Others open fire - and the brief, intense firefight leaves several dead. At the end of it, the last commando stumbles backward, blood flowing from a wound on his side. He looks at the Republican soldiers, and then back at the bridge view port.

Outside, he can see A Bao A Qu, wreathed in flames and explosions from the battle Zeon fights with itself. The man swallows, lowers his pistol, and fires right through the viewport. It shatters apart in an instant, sucking him out into the depths of space.

Hollis grits his teeth, as he finds himself coming under multiple angles of fire. The Colonel's eyes get wider, as he looks around; while he has the Dra-C pinned, he suddenly finds a beam saber ripping through the back of his machine and into the hull of the Musai. Then, a few beam rifle blasts clip into his battered and scarred armor. Plates of it fall and slough off. Hollis snarls, as he swings around his beam saber, trying to stab it back into Ancel's.

"Die, you worthless mercenary! We'll buy another just like you!" the Colonel shouts, angrily.

And then, Isa brings her beam saber forward. The red eye on the Gelgoog Marine flares brightly. Hollis sucks in a breath - and the beam saber plunges clean through the cockpit. His body incinerates in a second, flesh fusing into his normalsuit and then vanishing into ash before the nerves can even feel it. Hollis Jumaro is reduced to so much meat in an instant.

And then, behind him, is the nuclear reactor. The beam saber breaches the heavy, lead-lined casing, and the thing suddenly shudders - and detonates.

The Kogane's prow, surrounded by what remains of its E-Field, slams into the Gwazine. Its already half-broken bow shatters, ripping apart down the middle. Gihren's eyes widen, just a hint of madness, as he watches. "Yes," he says, quietly, as his crew stares in terror. The great battleship begins to be rended in halkf, before the first mega particle cannon is hit. With their energy charges stored, sealed inside of the weapons and growing stronger, they explode - and battery after battery detonates, in a massive wave of explosions.

The result is a huge line of explosions, ripping into the Kogane - and breaking the Gwazine in two, sending the rear part of it and the bridge backward.

If he had a second to respond Shin would probably have some typically blunt comeback. He really doesn't, though. A sudden twinge through his mind gives him only the slimmest of warnings before Hrist drops through the ceiling in front of him and presses up against him in a manner that would be wholly inappropriate for a married man to be caught in, were she not trying to kill him.

Yet that moment the woman took to get her bearings seems to work in his favour. The hand shooting for his throat is countered by a sudden upward sweep of a limb, his palm locking against Hrist's wrist to keep her hand from fully closing around his throat.

Or rather, grip his full flight helmet complete with neck-encircling atmospheric seal.

The captain smiles pleasantly at Hrist through the faceplate of the helmet. "Good move," he comments, though his voice is tight; the woman's strength is overpowering his wrist and starting to strain the seal of his helmet. "If we weren't in space you might've killed me."

With that he jams a control with his free hand, and the ReGelg's cockpit pops open with a sudden hiss, the oxygen inside sucking violently out into the vacuum. Gritting his teeth, he forces his knees up between himself and the armoured woman, leveraging with his legs in an effort to push Hrist out of his cockpit and into the void. Best to get her the hell out before she can do any damage!

Aboard the Dolos, the last insurgent is sucked into space, along with a couple of the DC commandos. Despite their enviro-suits, they're pulled out by the sheer rush of oxygen into the vacuum. The others variously cling to consoles, trying to stay in place while the corpses of the dead fly out through the broken window.

Meanwhile, Commander Jessad clenches the limbs of her chair tightly and grits her teeth together, bracing for the impact of the Kogane against the Gwazine. It comes with an immense jarring wrench, throwing her hard against her chair. The sonic breaker begins to cleave violently through the red ship, carving a trench through its hull.

And then it hits the first mega particle cannon, and everything goes to hell.

The enormous explosion blasts away the last vestiges of the E-field like so much paper, snapping away one arc of the immense sonic breaker and tearing off enormous chunks of hull. One wing is sheared away near the base, the other scarred massively with fire and shrapnel damage. Windows explode all over the ship. Consoles on the bridge explode, sparks flying, crewmen flying. Personnel are sucked out through breaches in the hull.

There is, miraculously, still some energy left in the ship, but for the moment it hangs motionless - and vulnerable to Master Asia's killing blow.

Uh-oh.

Uh-oh, Leona thinks, eyes widening a little as the Master Gundam explodes into its final form. Double uh-oh, she thinks as she sees what the Undefeated of the East is up to - aiming to drive some sort of attack through the Kogane.

The woman thinks quickly. Her railguns are relegated back to their holsters, and she immediately shoots forward, blazing towards the Kogane with all the thrust she can muster. Again her sonic breakers come back online, the boosting attack increasing her speed all the more. Her gauntleted hands clutch her controls in a death grip, and she leans forward with intense focus, sweat beading at her brow. Timing will be everything. The explosion of the Gwazine erupts beneath her, a blinding flash casting her Guarlion in shadow as she shoots suddenly into range - launching herself directly into Master Asia's attack path to take the attack intended to destroy the Kogane!

Support Def.

Zondarian Pizza seems to be hanging back and watching this explosion, as if thinking, 'hmm, how interesting. Humans were incinerated.'

He seems to be leaving it up to Master Asia, however, forming a sort of barrier around himself, just in case. His own body is starting to show the damage, and he's willing to let things happen before making an opportunistic attack.

<> Isa's reduced to furious snarling at this point, trying desperately to resist the pressure of Hollis' full-throttle engines. She brings her beam saber around, slamming it straight into the cockpit of the Gelgoog Marine. <>

Similarly, her companions' blows seem to find their mark. Ancel's rifle fire tears into the scarred mobile suit, and Dominic's shot as well.

And that, they say, is that.

...Or is it? Hollis Jumaro is dead, but he still manages to cause problems for the mercenary squadron. The Gelgoog Marine seems to tremble as the beam saber punches through the cockpit and into the lead casing beyond.

<> The startled curse comes from Dominic, who's already trying to send his mobile suit backwards. > His transmission ends in a wash of static.

Unfortunately, the thing explodes before any of them have a chance to backpedal.

Even metallic alloy can't withstand a nuclear explosion. It may not be a warhead, but it's still ferociously powerful. The blast simply engulfs the flight lead's Dra-C, its brilliant whitish flare hiding the entire squadron for a moment.

With their Dra-C units clustered so close - will there be anything left...?

Yes, apparently. Crumpled but still whole, the Geist Squadron's first Dra-C drifts free from the hole blown in the side of the Musai cruiser. It doesn't move, its systems crippled from such a point-blank explosion. It drifts brokenly, though, in silence.

The other two that were in range drift back as well, aimlessly, either stunned or dead. There's no real telling which; a blast like that probably would have stunned even a seasoned pilot.

Geist Two: Dominic Heinslett says, "Oh s***!" Then, even more fearful, "Oh, s***! Get out getoutgetout! That's a goddamn nuke powering that thing! The casing's lead! Get outta there, Isa-" The transmission cuts in a wash of static.
The Kogane's radio frequency is dead air. Shin's is picking up what sounds like a hand-to-hand fight.

For a moment, Master Asia bides his time, taking in the destruction of Colonel Hollis and the near-death of the two great cruisers, nuclear explosions erupting beneath him. The battlefield has a certain beauty to it. But then he stops admiring the beauty and concentrates on ending the scourge of the White Wolf once and for all.

"Tohofuhai....saishu ougi!" he roars, thrusting both palms downward. "Seki ha! TEEEEEEEEEEENKYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN!"

The King of Hearts symbol erupts from master Asia's palms, followed by a wave of two chis - golden and purple - blended together in a wave of pure destruction, aimed to finish the Kogane for all of time.

If Leona Garstein is tanking it, well, it's her funeral.

Hrist grits her teeth, trying to squeeze and END this insolent human! But there is a brief moment of distraction as Jumaro dies-her senses telling her of the death of an important warrior. Her grip slackens just a little and-BAM! She is kicked right in the belly, and chucked out into space!

Damnable robot pilots, Hrist curses. These technological tricks are so confounding! But she has her own tricks, tricks of holy magicks! The dreaded spear of light that the IPA witnessed yesterday reappears into Hrist's right hand and she flings it for the cockpit. The spear is very large, easily enough to carve through the machine-but the real problem that Shin will have is that it's heading straight for him-will he be able to evade the flying beam of light and remain in the cockpit as well? Stay tuned!

The destructive chi blazes in a wave towards the Kogane. The power harnessed there is immense, enough to destroy the wounded Kogane and kill everyone aboard.

Yet it doesn't hit the Kogane.

Leona's eyes go wide, her screen filling with gold and purple light, the chi glowing even through the nimbus of her sonic breaker. And then the attack hits, and she's thrown violently back in her seat. Sparks shower around her - metal rips and tears - something's burning behind her-

The assault explodes well above the Kogane in a blinding flare. The Guarlion appears to be gone.

Or not.

After a few moments, the Guarlion erupts from the explosion. It's an absolute wreck of machine. Both sonic breakers have been ripped away, as has much of its external plating, leaving little more than a skeleton with circuits clinging to it. The left arm is a twisted and distorted mess, bent backwards at the shoulder. Only scarred metal still wraps around the cockpit, interior plating exposed, cables and circuits smoking and crackling. Sparking thrusters carry the Guarlion through space, the machine running on its last gasp - yet running all-out, charging through the flame of the King of Hearts towards Master Asia.

In its right hand, grinding and whirring, is a chainsaw-laden assault blade - dented and scarred, lacking its outer casing, but still working.

"YAAAAAAH!" cries a somehow still-living Leona Garstein, her flight suit scarred and scorched, bleeding and burned beneath it. Yet her face is intense as she powers the dying Guarlion forward for one last strike, driving the assault blade straight towards the heart of the Master Gundam!

As Hrist is ejected into space Shin again thumps the release near him, and the cockpit door snaps closed with a hiss, oxygen again beginning to fill the cockpit. He breathes out with quiet relief, gauntleted hands again finding his controls and coming to rest upon them. That was close, he thinks with a grimace. He's a pilot, not a fist fighter.

And then something in his sixth sense pings at him. His eyes widen - and he sees the spear of light lancing from Hrist's hand.

In an instant he's moving, the ReGelg's shoulder verniers roaring to life again. Yet he's not quite quick enough. The light lance skewers through the cockpit hatch slightly off-center, leaving a huge puncture mark in the viewscreen.

It also leaves a huge puncture mark in his right side, carving a massive gash straight through. The pilot screams and bucks forward, a spray of gore gushing across the viewscreen on that side. As the lance shoots through the other side of the ReGelg, Shin grits his teeth and kicks a knee against his control stick almost without thought, verniers blazing as he pulls away from the woman. His hands press hard against his side, blood pouring between his fingers.

The Gwazine has faired little better than the Kogane. The vast majority of its weapons are useless; a few missile tubes remain to it, as well as a few autocannons, but the mega particle cannons are gone - detonated in their entirety in the explosion. The red battleship floats there, and the crew that survived stumbles back upward. Gihren Zabi lifts himself, looking out of the view port, and starts to survey what has occurred here.

While the Gwazine remains, many of his men do not. A good half of his squadron is gone - shattered hulls are scattered all around, as are ruined Mobile Suits. A few Musai-class ships have gathered around his crippled vessel, firing their cannons. The Dolos is lost; he has no idea where the team inside A Bao A Qu is.

Suddenly, his prospects of performing a coup seem rather dim. Zabi's teeth grit together, in frustration. One thing works, he know - the thrusters.

"....what the?" Master Asia asks, shock evident on his face at how the tiny GUarlion could have absorbed his ultimate technique. But then he has no more time for thought, because the chainsaw blade stabs deep into the heart of the Master Gundam, into the cockpit, the blades grinding to a halt as they dig deep.

To where the Undefeated of the East is holding the weapon still in his bare left hand.

"You have trifled with me long enough, woman," the martial artist hisses. "And cost me much. I can promise you only this - your death shall be swift."

The Gundam's right hand chops down in a powerful blow at the Guarlion's elbow joint and then whirls, right foot arcing toward her Guarlion's head in a last, crushing blow.

The main viewer of the Kogane sparks with a thick sheet of static, but through the interference the battle can still be seen. With a groan, Commander Milla Jessad of the Divine Crusaders rises, pressing a hand against her aching rubs while using the other to grip the arm of her chair. She flops back into the seat with some effort, wincing as she pressed her fingers against her uniformed torso. Yep, she thinks with a pained wince - broken.

"Report," she croaks.

Off in the corner, a crewman is seeing to another crewman, though this one appears quite dead. Coughing, a third climbs up to a console, checking the sparking readouts. "Primary systems... all offline... backup weapons grid slowly coming online... E-field is gone... System SB is gone... we have one quarter thrust and a full complement of torpedoes, but our defenses are gone."

Milla grimaces, again looking out through the static-choked monitor. "...But the Gwazine is disabled."

"Yes ma'am."

"And the Dolos?"

"Secured."

In spite of herself, the Commander smiles. "So it wasn't all for nothing."

Leona's eyes widen as the assault blade suddenly stops dead. Through the rent in the cockpit she can see what's stopping it. "That's impossible," she declares emphatically, as though her words could somehow cause it to be true.

The Guarlion's taken enough damage that it can't really defend against the final strikes from the Master Gundam. Its right arm snaps at the elbow beneath the hard chop; it remains whole, but it's bent in a way arms are not supposed to bend. And then the final blow dents the battered shell of the head, nearly ripping itt from its neck. Chunks of plating sail into the void as the Guarlion releases the assault blade, the empty skeleton drifting slowly backward.

Leona leans back, pained but breathing. Here's hoping, she thinks with a scowl, that he doesn't realize Guarlion cockpits are in the torso.

Hrist watches the machine drift away. It's accursed. His voice has caused her more harm than his violence. Why do humans insist on babbling, she won't know-but it occurs to her it also served Master Asia well.

And he definately had some unusual foresight, Hrist thinks, he was reacting so quickly, more quickly than such a machine should be able to. It's almost as if he knew what she was doing moments before she did it.

She considers assisting the others at the asteroid, but some sort of anti magic device-that could cause her serious problems as well.

"Withdraw." She murmurs, echoing Gihren Zabi's edict. "You have won, Shin Matsunaga! If you live from your injuries, I will find a greater challenge for you!"

And fwoop, she vanishes in a flash of light.

The four Geist Squadron units drift aimlessly for a few moments, before they seem to come to themselves again. Their communications equipment fuzzes over a constant wash of static, but it seems to work.

Engines guttering and threatening to cut, all four of them move to rejoin one another, limping into their diamond formation. Three of them are beaten all to hell and back, and a fourth is almost completely out of commission; it takes Ancel towing Liese's crippled unit to get her to move.

They turn and limp back towards the Kogane, engines flickering and threatening to fail. Every once in a while they have to stop, en route, to try and coax Liese's crippled Dra-C along, or wait for Isa's engines to stop guttering.

Never mind that they seem to be trailing pieces of their mechs along the way. Bah. In the back of her mind, Isa hopes these things weren't too exorbitantly-priced; part of her feels responsible for these foreign machines.

They're still running, though. Isa tightens her grip on the controls, muttering savagely under her breath.

<> she finally states over the communications. The line crackles, but holds steady - barely. <>

What? They're that beat up, and they're looking for more? Maybe she really is crazy.

So, there went that. It was an enjoyable battle, at least, even if the Zondarian has little stake in whether his human allies regain control of their base or not. An order has been given, and as he's under orders from Pasdar to listen, he listens.

The bird swoops back and begins to retreat, heading back to fly alongside the Gwazine and act as escort. Sadly, Zeon won't be getting its Bigro back yet.

Oxygen bleeds out through the twin holes in the ReGelg, but with some effort Shin is able to slap a plate of metal over each hole, obstructing the outward flow of his much-needed air. Blood continues to run from between the fingers of his other hand.

Yet though wounded, he smirks. It's a pained smirk, yet there's steel behind it. Hrist's bluster is answered with three simple words, punctuated by a short sweep of the ReGelg's beam saber through empty air.

"Bring it on."

Master Asia recognizes the wisdom of the command - not the least of which is due to the fact that he can't see out of his main viewscreen on account of the giant sword stuck in the centre of it.

"Withdrawing," he says, the Master Gundam quickly turning and rocketing back toward the flagship.

Shin Matsunaga, in obvious pain, "How're you doing inside?"
Doctor Doom says, "Doom remains."
The Master says, "Just another second, and we'll see if this works..."
Geist One: Isa Reichert crackles in static, a lot, but the line holds steady. Somewhat. "Geist One t-lied units. Req-tarrget."
Shin Matsunaga says, "They appear to be in retreat."
Geist One: Isa Reichert crackles. "-h, good."

"Withdraw." Gihren scowls, as he gives the order. The reverse thrusters on the spaceships fire - and the Gwazine begins to move back, ponderously, supported by the Musai-class ships. The ships begin moving backward slowly at first, and then pick up speed. A final volley is fired - covering fire, for the moment the Gwazine turns around its damaged frame, and fires its main thrusters to shoot off into space.

The Musai-class cruisers then turn, and follow suit.

Aboard the Gwazine, Gihren sits down in his chair - a frown crossing his face. They had lost, here - when victory seemed sure. He suddenly has to wonder, whether this alliance will still hold together. And, if it does, will it still support him?

Then, and only then, does a group of fresh Musais appear on the distant sensor readings. It's the absent Fourth Fleet, arriving at A Baoa Qu too late to be of any freaking use at all.

Not that it matters, Shin thinks as he sends the ReGelg limping home, still pressing a hand against his wounded side. Somehow, against all odds, they held. They held, and they prevented a coup of epic proportions.

Sometimes miracles do happen, apparently.

The Geist Squadron seems to hesitate for a moment, the battered frames of their Dra-C units crackling precariously. The mercenary leader seems a bloodthirsty sort, but those mobile suits are running on fumes. Discretion would be the better part of valor, here.

<> Slowly, they turn and limp towards what's left of the Kogane, engines guttering.

Damn. Part of her hopes the repairs aren't coming out of her salary, because at least two out of four are going to need replacement. Repair costs for the other two probably might as well add up to replacement, ultimately.

<> Isa sounds exhausted, and she has to raise her voice to be heard over the beeping warning systems in her cockpit. No doubt the Dra-Cs' piloting aid systems are complaining after that, listing off the damages in their mechanized system voice.

Briefly, Isa resists the urge to punch the nearest monitor display. Will it just shut up? She knows her mech is almost destroyed. It survived a damned small-scale nuclear explosion. Grr.

<>

She catches sight of the White Wolf, further distant, making his own way back. Looks like Shin survived, too. Impressive. <> She manages a little bit of mirth, though not much. <> 'Cause they're going, whether Shin joins them or not.

The Master says, "The Horsemen have retreated."
Shin Matsunaga says, "They've pulled back here as well."
Shin Matsunaga says, "Thank you all for your assistance. Medical facilities will be made available if you need them."
Geist One: Isa Reichert sounds tired. "Geist One to allied units. We are retreating to the Kogane." With perhaps a twinge of guilt, "Our Dra-C units are almost destroyed." Sorry 'bout that.
The Master says, "Incadentily, they overloaded the thaumaturgical batteries I cooked up to drain the Horsemen of their magical power, but I might be able to salvage some of the technology."