Mission 13: "A Goodbye That Came Too Soon"

[srwuga_mods]

NightlitEquinox: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr3yRv6bO-w

NightlitEquinox: You are all on the Moon at Nergal's Corporate Lunar Materials Department HQ (tm). Despite the fancy name, it's really just a lunar domed city centered around a Nergal factory. Though it is particularly high tech, especially for the current state of things. The dome even has a fake sky depicted on it, so with the exception of the lighter gravity, it looks pretty much like Earth. Being Nergal, there are no lacking amenities, And while the Prospector is quite unhappy about this, Dan has managed to get you all free usage of the facilities while the fleet is being repaired.

NightlitEquinox: SO what are you all doing?

cubey@aol.pl: Alessandra is examining everything in detail. Even normal things are still new for her, and what about normal things in a domed city! Hopefully her excessive poking will not break anything.

macprysm: PRIME is chucking rocks at the "sky", both to get used to the lighter gravity and to see if he can hit it.

fenrirarma: Alexei doesn't stray too far from the ship. Being in space is actually a first for him, so seeing something like this is both comforting and disconcerting at the same time

ColorKidLalaPink: Yurika is concocting a plot to ask the Earth Federation very, very nicely to leave them alone. And another one in case of failure. But smiling and sparkling at them never fails, right?

NightlitEquinox: SUDDENLY! A VERY Nice and pristine sounding voice appears, well... everywhere: "Hello Nergal Employees! The dome is unfortunately under attack and will be breached shortly. Please go to the nearest shelter as soon as possible. Remember, in the case that you do not survive today, Nergal Heavy Industries will provide you with a complementary funeral! So do not be alarmed! Have a nice day!"

fenrirarma: "...at least they're courteous..."

Alan Bunting: Van WAS enjoying the low-grav, having never even considered being off planet. Of course, that plan's shot, as he runs back to the ship.

ColorKidLalaPink: Yurika gathers up her papers. "Aww, and I didn't even get to send them a gift basket to make them change their minds!"

cubey@aol.pl: Alessandra: "Thank you, disembodied voice! This is so thoughtful of you. Now, I wonder who is attacking..."

macprysm: PRIME hops up on both legs, grinning. "Like hell I'm missing this. Reinheit needs to get out more, or it'll rust up!" He heads to the hangars.

NightlitEquinox: You all get contacted by Ayame, "Long story short, a nearby inactive Chulip has become active, and Jovian Lizards are heading in our direction."

fenrirarma: Alexei notices PRIME running up. "You done throwing rocks at the sky?"

macprysm: PRIME: I'll get back to it later. Gravity's pretty cool here, it's like I'm three times stronger...did they say a Tulip became active?

macprysm: PRIME: ...and now lizards are attacking. Space is wierd.

fenrirarma: Alexei: "The hell should I know? Space is weird..." He follows PRIME to the hangar.

NightlitEquinox: Ayame "Dan is currently undergoing maintenance and is currently inoperative. Unfortunately, rebooting him will take some time, so the White Chalice is grounded for the moment. So basically, you guys gotta buy us some time. Your mecha are being transferred to the Nergal launching area as we speak, so I recommend heading in that direction. Unless you WANT to get sucked into space when the dome is breached, in which case carry on."

cubey@aol.pl: Alessandra: "No lizards shall ruin my day, Jovian or otherwise! Oh Memento Mori, where are you?"

Alan Bunting: "That makes things a little easier, I guess..." Van changes directions, not quite lost but not running at top speed. "And did they say lizards?"

ColorKidLalaPink: Yurika appears on the video channel on the communicators and in the hangar, smiling and waving. "Hiii! It looks like the Jovians are responding to the Earth's military organizing, even though they're kinda-sorta actually after us instead! Oh, well, nothing we can do now. Let's all do our best together, okay? <3"

ColorKidLalaPink: Yurika: "Fight~!"

macprysm: PRIME: Don't suppose this dome has any external defenses, huh...bah, that'd be no fun, anyway! He flips direction, grabbing Alexei's arm and pulling him with him as he heads towards the Nergal buildings.

fenrirarma: Alexei makes his way to Wahrheit, opening up the cockpit and firmly attaching his AMS cable to his neck. "Sounds good to me...PRIME, since the colony is in protected areas, Primal Armor and Assault Armor cleared for use." He takes hold of the Wahrheit's gun grips, watching as the screen around him turns on.

cubey@aol.pl: Alessandra is on search of her robot now, which is to say she follows the rest of the White Chalice crew, confident that whatever they are going to, she should find Memento Mori near it.

NightlitEquinox: Nergal Heavy Industries technology shows it's formidability as Holographic Arrows lead you all in the correct direction.

NightlitEquinox: When you reach the launch pad, you indeed find your mecha there!

macprysm: PRIME: About damn time. This means I can have some real fun with these bastards! *He hops into his cockpit, jamming his AMS cable into his neckport. The cockpit hums to life as it closes up, while PRIME runs a quick prelim test on his weapons systems.*

cubey@aol.pl: Alessandra: "Oh, there you are! We managed to avoid terrible death by drowning in vacuum, or so it seems." She'll climb up into the cockpit, and as soon as she plugs her armor into Memento Mori's systems, the unit starts on its own. How convenient.

NightlitEquinox: Ayame "I will keep you informed of the situation as things arise. For the moment, your job is to protect the city as best you can. But protecting the fleet is your top priority."

Alan Bunting: "Good thing those arrows were there, I'd never have made it otherwise!" Van pops the hatch of the Liger and hops in, starting it up; just before the hatch closes, he calls, "Zeke!" and is answered by a roar and a bright light drawn into the Liger, which itself roars as the hatch slides shut. "Showtime!"

NightlitEquinox: And you board your mecha not a moment to soon! A few minutes later an ACTUAL alarm goes off signaling a dome breach.

NightlitEquinox: Funny how this alarm probably wouldn't actually save anyone who wasn't already inside a shelter.

NightlitEquinox: But... oh well!

fenrirarma: Alexei: "Everybody's secure, right...?"

NightlitEquinox: Then! Jovian Lizards!

macprysm: PRIME grins, swiveling around to the breach and readying his shoulder-mounted grenade launcher and chaingun. "Lynx pilot! Get up there and scout hostiles!"

NightlitEquinox: LOTS OF JOVIAN LiZARDS!

NightlitEquinox: (Initiative: PRIME, Alexei, Van, Allesandra)

NightlitEquinox: (Enemies: Jovian Lizards x a lot)

NightlitEquinox: (PRIME and Alexei)

fenrirarma: Alexei: "Don't get overzealous, PRIME. We want to keep damages to a minimum..."

fenrirarma: Alexei stays behind PRIME primarily, trying to give him a clear shot forward as he folds down both of his back weapons. He alternates fire, taking a second or two between shots as he fires the PHACT first before firing his solid round sniper rifle next. "Get in close! I got you covered!"+

macprysm: PRIME: ...that is not a small number. That is a BIG number....of CANNON FODDER! *PRIME jams on the triggers, firing off three wide-area explosives and about $3000 worth of shells from his chaingun into the mass of enemies. He dashes forward in the wake of his partner's attacks, trying to figure the most efficent path to punch airbourne enemies in the face.+

NightlitEquinox: [Alexei] Unfortunately, neither weapon is incredibly effective against the Distortion Field protected bugs, which return fire with micromissiles... homing micro missiles!

(Alexei react)

fenrirarma: Alexei grins. "Missiles? Really?" his shoulder units open as he quickly jets from side to side, launching redirecting flares to distract the missiles. He fires roughly 16 of them, 8 from each flare pod as he moves quickly back and forth, returning fire the whole time"

fenrirarma: +

NightlitEquinox: [PRIME] Prime finds that his weaponry is also less than effective against the Distortion Field protected robots. The sheer amount of ammunition ensures that some of them are damaged, but not enough all things considered! PRIME then finds himself also the target of micro missiles. This time from all directions (the flaw of charging in).

NightlitEquinox: (Prime react)

NightlitEquinox: Meanwhile, the flood of Jovians is... strangely avoiding the city almost entirely and heading straight for the Factory.

NightlitEquinox: Not to say they are attempting to not hit it, but their fire is not directed at the city, and any damage done to it is obviously collateral.R

macprysm: PRIME:"Tch. This is exactly the kind of thing that Primal armor's meant for!" Reinheit keeps moving forward, PRIME relying on his instincts to find the path of least resistance as he lets his Kojima forcefield dissapate the solid projectiles that he can't dodge. His reactor can keep up with this kind of damage...probably.+

NightlitEquinox: Unfortunately this means that the two largest enterances (which are thankfully very fortified), the Main Launching Bay (where you are) and the ship repair and resupply station (where the fleet is) are taking a beating!

NightlitEquinox: (Van and Allesandra)

NightlitEquinox: [Alexei] While the micro missiles fall at the hands of the expert anti missile tactics, the Distortion Fields continue to protect the Grasshoppers, and you do not shoot down nearly as many as you'd like. Not that they aren't falling, just that you aren't really making a dent in the sheer number of them in the area.

fenrirarma: Alexei: "Those fields...they're more resilient than they appear..."

Alan Bunting: Van: "I think we're in trouble...! Gotta defend this point first, otherwise we can't push through!" Van calls up the thrusters and tries to rip one apart to see how that field works, and move on to a few more if he can.+

NightlitEquinox: [PRIME] PRIME's Plan is mostly sucessful, while the missiles explode (duh), most of the concussive force is absorbed by the shield. The sheer number of missiles ensures that Reinheit doesn't get out of it scott free, the only notable damage is a kink in the left elbow, limiting it's movement range slightly.

cubey@aol.pl: *Alessandra: "Memento Mori, at your service! Allow me to show you a trick that a certain large, hairy gentleman presented just a little while back!" Which is to say, her unit grabs a big rock or a piece of rubble or whatever it can get its hands on, and throws it amidst the enemy formation. Memento Mori follows up by drawing its handguns like a professional gunslinger, and filling up the space between itself and opposing Grasshoppers with lead.+

fenrirarma: Alexei: "Specimen PRIME? Is that a ding that I see on your NEXT?" He chides.

cubey@aol.pl: "You do not seem very lizard-like. Your name needs to be more accurate!"

NightlitEquinox: [Alessandra] Distortion Field is not particularly effective against LARGE ROCK! So a good number of the Grasshoppers that happened to be there are taken to the ground and flattened.

macprysm: PRIME: They've got barriers, too, huh...but they're not invincible. Blame the low gravity, it gave the missles more force than I realised...

fenrirarma: Alexei: "Huh...so caveman tactics work here... PRIME! Get close and punch something!

NightlitEquinox: [Alessandra] The gunfire is less effective, but that's probably expected. Mass seems to be more important here than velocity.

cubey@aol.pl: Alessandra: "I am pretty sure tactics were not invented yet when people still lived in caves. Ohoho."

macprysm: PRIME is none to thrilled to have his paint scratched by a mook. "Yeah! I can totally fly up there....wait, that actually might work in this gravity! Just need a ramp...."

fenrirarma: Alexei: "You'd be surprised, m'lady..."

NightlitEquinox: [Van] Ripping into the Distortion field is strange, and only sort of works. While the combination of the right angle and a good amount of force does seem to be able to get through the field. It's difficult to do so and retain enough force to actually damage the thing. Mind you, if Allesandra's ploy with the rock was any indication, the Liger could probably just head butt them.



Unfortunately, because he was trying with some bugs he left himself open to missiles. Some of them at point blank range, cause well... the one he was practicing on wasn't just standing there letting him do that!

NightlitEquinox: (Van react)

NightlitEquinox: Meanwhile, though Dan is still offline and some of the fleet is not ready to launch, the Nadesico is primed and ready to go!

NightlitEquinox: Prospector of course wants to let the White Chalice crew handle this as much as possible!

NightlitEquinox: (Yurika)

NightlitEquinox: (Initiative: PRIME, Alexei, Van, Allesandra, Yurika)

Alan Bunting: Van: "Not good! Okay, usual ripping apart not working!" Van tries to dash forward out of the way, belatedly remembering he has a shield and bringing it up. "I need a new plan!"+

ColorKidLalaPink: Yurika: "Here I come, everyone! Just keep working, okay? Missiles, fire~!"

ColorKidLalaPink: *The Nadesico shoots a pile of missiles at the swarm of Grasshoppers, having taken the hint that physical attacks were the way to go.+

NightlitEquinox: The Prospector facepalms, though he really isn't surprised by this. He just makes sure to shut the hanger bay door before the Grasshoppers can get past the Nadesico's Distortion Field. Fortunately the fleet is likely more than capable of taking care of whatever stragglers got in!

macprysm: PRIME spots a ramped building, and deploys his OVERD boost. "Time to try out this attack I've been saving! Heeeeeere goes! PRIMALLLLL!" *A green sphere seems to deploy around the Reinheit as it charges right into the middle of a crowd of bugs, the reactor at max power as the damaging Kojima field surrounds the mech. "BREAKAAAAAAAA!"+

NightlitEquinox: [Van] The shield blocks a lot, and the dash manages to at least lessen the blow! But the Liger still takes a beating. In fact, if it weren't for Hax Zoid armor, it would probably have lost a leg. As it stands its limping slightly, do to damage to one of it's hind legs.

NightlitEquinox: [Yurika] The missiles are pretty effective on the Grasshoppers! And a number of them explode.

cubey@aol.pl: Alessandra: "Oh no! Are you hurt, mr Space Lion?"

fenrirarma: Alexei: "Prime! Don't overstretch the damn LISTANT! It can't take that much strain!" He shakes his head and he deploys his own beam saber, boosting forward instead of doing what PRIME's suicide run is. As he nears, he continues to fire from his solid round sniper rifle, seeing that the railgun isn't as effective. +

NightlitEquinox: UNFORTUNATELY, the Grasshoppers, seeing that their missiles are having far less impact on the bay doors than they would like (and somehow being able to process this) start to take a different tactic, namely simply gathering their distortion fields in front of them and ramming them. While the Grashopper itself rarely survives this, it is proving a far more effective strategy at damaging the doors!

NightlitEquinox: (Alexei)

macprysm: PRIME: "It's your job to cover me WHILE I do this kinda stuff! So do your damn job, Lynx pilot!"

NightlitEquinox: (Okay then... Van and Alessandra)

NightlitEquinox: (And please wait for a turn call before you act? An initiative list isn't a turn call)

NightlitEquinox: [PRIME] LOTS OF EXPLOSIONS! Also lots of missiles aimed at the Reinholt. A few Grashoppers charging it much like they are charging the door as well.

NightlitEquinox: (PRIME react)

NightlitEquinox: [Alexei] Alexei finds that so long as he doesn't attack him, the Grashoppers are more or less ignoring him except to fire a few rounds of Micro Missiles his way. His sniper rifle is slightly more effective than the railgun, but in general ballistics just don't seem to be the way to go here.

macprysm: PRIME anticipated this. And he's right in the middle of the enemy squad. "PRIMAAAALLL....ASSAULT!" Assault armor is deployed, emptying out the generator of Kojima in a big, sexy green explosion. Reinheit promptly falls towards the ground, its energy temporarilly drained.+

NightlitEquinox: (Alexei can react to missiles if he wants, but they aren't that hard to evade)

fenrirarma: Alexei is just going to release another volley of missile flares to avert missiles~ +

Alan Bunting: *Van: "I... I think I'm okay? Hopefully I can still run at least a little..." A growl from Zeke seems to suggest he'll manage okay. "All right then... let's go! Showtime, Zeke!" Van charges once more, this time not bothering to stop and just seeing what he can plow through. He's trying to clear out the door, charging with a yell.+

cubey@aol.pl: @

NightlitEquinox: [PRIME] EVEN MORE EXPLOSIONS! And with that PRIME has bought you a few more precious moments.

NightlitEquinox: (Alessandra combo)

fenrirarma: Alexei: "For once, your suicide tactics actually work..."

macprysm: Prime grins as he begins a low gravity fall, watching for his reactor to refill so he can right himself. "I told you to trust me, didn't I? I know what I doing." he teases.

cubey@aol.pl: *Alessandra: "Let us ride, like Saint George against the lizards!" Memento Mori jumps, putting the Moon's lowered gravity to good use, and lands on Shield Liger's back. Alessandra then proceeds to cut whatever unit the two pass with her blades.+

NightlitEquinox: [Van and Alessandra] The plan works quite well! The force of the Liger's run combined with the swords breaches the distortion fields easily! Following is more explosion-iness!

NightlitEquinox: (Yurika)

NightlitEquinox: The Hanger Doors are taking a beating though. Someone might want to support defend them or something.

cubey@aol.pl: Alessandra: "Oh my! I cannot believe this actually worked - apparently all lizards share the same weakness, be them dragons or... not."

Alan Bunting: Van: "I kinda can't either. If only because you jumped on top of a damaged unit in mid-charge. And it WORKED."

ColorKidLalaPink: *"Don't worry! The Nadesico's got a distortion field, too!" Yurika positions her ship towards the fleet of Grasshoppers and continues to fire on them as she advances, charging energy as she goes.+

cubey@aol.pl: Alessandra: "Common sense does not apply anymore, for we are on the Moon!"

NightlitEquinox: [Yurika] The Nadesico's maneuver does succeed in protecting the gate! Though the lizards are not proceeding to assault the Nadesico instead.

fenrirarma: Alexei muses on Alessandra's comment for just a second. "Indeed it doesn't...Hmm..."

NightlitEquinox: (Yurika react)

ColorKidLalaPink: *Yurika orders her crew to strengthen the Distortion Field. "No fair! They keep hitting us..."+

NightlitEquinox: [Yurika] The Distortion field is taking a beating... is all lost?

NightlitEquinox: SUDDENLY a BUNCH of dark gravity spheres appear ALL OVER THE PLACE! They hit buildings, they hit Lizards and thankfully none of them hit you! Since everything that is swallowed up by them, is simply GONE!

NightlitEquinox: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XISDHyZexLQ&feature=related

NightlitEquinox: (Everyone react)

fenrirarma: Alexei quick boosts away from one that drops. "What the hell is going on now?!"

fenrirarma: +

cubey@aol.pl: Alessandra hops down from the Liger's back. That is, her unit does. "What is this! Matter randomly disappearing, physics do not work this way!"

Alan Bunting: Van strains the boosters to get out of the way, jetting foward as Memento Mori disembarks. "What's going on?"+

NightlitEquinox: Then a number of gold large... things appear! And anyone who knows their history might recognize them... as Festum. http://www.mahq.net/animation/fafner/ep1a.jpg

NightlitEquinox: (Ryo)

ColorKidLalaPink: Yurika: "Whaaaaaaaaat?"

macprysm: PRIME rights himself and lands next to Alexei as his generator kicks back in. "...huh, shiny lil bugger...looks familiar for some reason..."

wyverncakes: And mere moments before, a particular machine had launched from the catapaults for the battlefield, Ryo's eyes wide with disbelief and fright.

cubey@aol.pl: Alessandra: "Floating statues of gold!"

wyverncakes: "They're here... they're actually..."

fenrirarma: Alexei: "Keep your guards up..."

ColorKidLalaPink: Yurika: "They're called Festum. Everybody, keep watch, okay?"

wyverncakes: Opening up a channel to everyone else, he steels himself for what's going to follow. "EVERYONE!"

macprysm: PRIME: ...Festum...ah, weren't they the ones who leveled Japan a few years back?

wyverncakes: "Whatever you do! Don't speak to them! At all!"

NightlitEquinox: You all hear a voice in your heads. To the rest of you it's a slightly creepy little girl. To Ryo... well... yeah. All it says is "Are you there?"

NightlitEquinox: You all feel... DRAWN to answer the question.

ColorKidLalaPink: Yurika: "Ngh... What?"

wyverncakes: *Ryo just does what he can to shut his mind out from the invasive question of the Festum, and instead brings the TSX to bear to fire on one with its missiles. "If you're going to answer them... make it be with actions, not words!"+

fenrirarma: Alexei shakes his head and steels himself. His mind races, suddenly getting a bad vibe.

NightlitEquinox: (PRIME and Alexei)

macprysm: Prime answers. With bullets.+

cubey@aol.pl: Alessandra: "That would be incredibly rude! And yet, somehow I believe you - I shall heed your words, young sir."

wyverncakes: This was bad. To think they'd show up here of all places... Even with the TSX outfitted for space combat it wasn't ready for this yet.

cubey@aol.pl: The temptation to talk feels unnatural for her, because she usually feels a natural urge instead.

Alan Bunting: Van sighs, torn between the question and the demand not to answer it. "Why can't anything ever be easy in space!"

wyverncakes: And for anyone willing to take a look at Ryo over the comm, they'd notice by now that his eyes were now no longer their usual shade, but instead fully red.

NightlitEquinox: (Enemies: Grashopper x a lot, Sphinx Festum x10 yes 10)

fenrirarma: Alexei nods. "You don't have to tell me twice! Wahrheit. Movement ratio one to one! OVERD BOOST!" The Wahrheit's generator flares, the overd booster on its back springing to life as the Wahrheit surges forward. All three guns come to bear as it quickly boosts around the field, launching salvo after salvo. While slower than PRIME, he's definitely keeping the booster up a lot longer!

fenrirarma: +

NightlitEquinox: Ayame "We are rebooting Dan in one minute! The ships will launch as soon as he is up and running! Do whatever you can to protect us in the mean time!"

macprysm: PRIME, for some reason, is having problems focusing. It's easy enough to follow the request not to talk to the enemy, right? So why does he want to respond so badly...freaking space mindgames. Both chainguns bear on the nearest Sphinx and fire.+

NightlitEquinox: [PRIME] The Festum ignores your answer, literally. The bullets have absolutely no effect. The Sphinx type Festum lifts it's hands and points its fingers at him, and then they extend incredibly fast, their ends sharp points!

NightlitEquinox: (PRIME react)

macprysm: PRIME: You're fast, but I'm better looking! *he activates Reinheit's boosters, strafe-dashing left as fast as his reflexes can. His aim is messed up, sure, but that looks pretty lethal.+

NightlitEquinox: [Alexei] The boosted power causes the Festum to lean backwards as its struck, though it doesn't seem to actually hurt it at ALL! The Sphinx does seem to take notice of him though, and SUDDENLY BLACKNESS right in front of you!

NightlitEquinox: (Alexei react)

NightlitEquinox: (Van and Alessandra)

fenrirarma: Alexei grimmaces as he uses his quick boosters to turn around at the blink of an eye, the Overd booster cutting off as his EN supply drops to half, guns still firing as he dashes away in the opposite direction. +

Alan Bunting: *Van: "Great. Can't shoot it, can't ram it, can't talk to it... Guess I'll deal with something else, then!" Bringing the shield up again, he charges more of the lizards, trying to avoid the big gold death robots, pointedly not paying attention to anything he can't handle.+

NightlitEquinox: [Alexei] Alexei manages to turn around just in time... and only loses the legs of his machine. Good thing it cans till fly right? Unfortunately, they aren't really retrievable, since they are just GONE!

cubey@aol.pl: *Alessandra runs over to Alexei's unit, but jumps up and Memento Mori's thruster flares up before the two can collide. She rises towards the same Festum, sword tip-first like if she was some kind of a stab-happy superhero.+

NightlitEquinox: The Festum are slowly encroaching on the base though! Also some of them are headed towards the shelters. Meanwhile some of them are just decimating the city.

wyverncakes: Gritting his teeth, Ryo weighs his options before speaking up again. "Everyone. Just blindly attacking Festum with our weaponry isn't going to do much. We need to focus on their cores. Worm our way inside and blow them apart."

macprysm: PRIME: "H-hey, Lynx pilot....e-easy with...Wahr...heit." Just being near these things hurts his head. He's backing off as far away as he can.

cubey@aol.pl: Alessandra: "There is a core? Then it shall be pierced with my blade!"

wyverncakes: The TSX hefted its Ruge Lance. "Precise enough force, like what the Ruge Lance can do, can wedge them open. After you do that, hit them with everything you have!"

fenrirarma: Alexei: "Ah...problem..." The Wahrheit shuts off its Primal Armor system as it floats with its boosters.

NightlitEquinox: [Alessandra] The Sword does in fact go through the Festum. However the Festum just ignores it... and then GRABS the Memento Mori. It then lower's its head towards it... which opens and then words "Are you there?" increase in volume and intensity! Its almost as if it's reaching into her mind!

(OH GOD SOMEONE SUPPORT!)

wyverncakes: #

NightlitEquinox: (Ryo support)

wyverncakes: "Just hang on, Alessandra!"

NightlitEquinox: (Yurika)

wyverncakes: *The TSX moves faster than Ryo would have normally thought possible, and the machine jams its Ruge Lance straight into the Festum's mouth.&

cubey@aol.pl: No response, mouth closed shut. Can't talk - is this the end? It's always like this, Alessandra thinks...

NightlitEquinox: [Ryo] Alessandra is about to be gone, she can feel herself being entered, and shen she sees her reflection in the mirror, her eyes have a slight red tinge. Then she can think again as the Ruge Lance appears above her, entering the Festum as if in slow motion. The Festum drops Memento Mori...

NightlitEquinox: (Alessandra react; Ryo continue)

ColorKidLalaPink: *"Okay, I think we're ready now! Stand back, everyone!" The Nadesico finishes charging... and unloads the power of its Phase transition engines into a blast directed at a group of Festum and the large surrounding area.+

wyverncakes: * The Ruge Lance snaps open, and then deliver its energy charge straight into the monster's innards, Ryo furiously wanting to see this thing die, what with how close it got to Alessandra.+

cubey@aol.pl: And for a brief moment, she felt nothing but acceptance for this fate. So be it! Whether you die or are rescued, sometimes you can't help it. But then, sometimes you can.

NightlitEquinox: [Yurika] The Nadesico fires the Gravity Blast cannon at the Festum... to almost not effect at all. While the Festum do visually strain under the effects of the cannon, they do not break. Loads of Grashoppers who just happen to be around blow up though.

cubey@aol.pl: *"This is not over yet! Sir Ryo, you are not alone either!" White aura suddenly bursts into existence around Memento Mori's fists, and the unit simultaneously punches the Festum with both hands and uses this momentum to jump back. "The ultimate principle of House Consenesco! Beta shower!" +

ColorKidLalaPink: Yurika pouts. "No waaay..."

NightlitEquinox: [Ryo] In a sudden burst of light the Festum is severed in two! The inside of it glowing brownish for all to see as it disintegrates... and unfortunately... BLACKNESS!

(Ryo REACT)

cubey@aol.pl: #

NightlitEquinox: (Alessandra support)

wyverncakes: * Ryo knows this schtick... even in death a Festum tries to attack its enemies, and the TSX bolts away from that blackness!+

NightlitEquinox: Ayame "We are ready to Launch! We think the field will protect the ship, but we still need cover to escape!"

cubey@aol.pl: *In that case, the aura drops from Alessandra's hands and she unceremoniously grabs TSX instead and leaps away, the thrusters helping with all their might.+

NightlitEquinox: And with that the bottom of a nearby STADIUM? Opens, and out comes the White Chalice and the rest of the fleet! Apparently they weren't in the standard hanger anyway!

cubey@aol.pl: "There is no fair play involved in this fight!" Stating the obvious.

Alan Bunting: Van: "Did... did we make it?"

fenrirarma: Alexei: "Not yet. There's still the escape act..."

NightlitEquinox: [Alessandra and Ryo] You both manage to barely get away from the darkness. The ruge lance however, does not fare as well, and half of it is gone.

NightlitEquinox: (PRIME and Alexei)

wyverncakes: Not the end of the world!

wyverncakes: The hilt's more important than the blade when it comes to Festum extermination!

NightlitEquinox: Three of the Festum are closing on the White Chalice!

macprysm: PRIME's clutching his head, Reinheit seeming almost cowardly. "F5ckers are hitting me mentally...know the problem, and block it out...Focus..." He closes his eyes, feeling the battlefield through the Reinheit's optic sensors. The machine stops shaking, and brings its shoulder launcher to bear on the Festum's path. He doesn't need to stop them, simply draw their attention. "You better cover me after this...." He fires+

fenrirarma: Alexei manages to push the Wahrheit to go forward, its boosters still rather efficient in this sort of situation. "PA Attenuation is screwed up...Primal armor can't form. This is bad..." He boosts towards the White Chalice, noticing one of the Festum approaching. "Aim for the core, right?" He sets up shop infront of the White Chalice, opening up all guns to fire simultaneously on the Festum's core. +

NightlitEquinox: [PRIME] The Festum DO take notice of the Reinheit, and begin to slowly move in its direction. They don't seem in any particular hurry. Unfortunately, they also don't seem to HAVE to reach him to attack as black spheres appear around the Reinheit!

NightlitEquinox: (PRIME react)

cubey@aol.pl: Alessandra: "Close combat will only result in unpredictable but unwanted Weird Things Happening... I should focus my mind on an alternate approach!"

NightlitEquinox: [Alexei] Protected by the White Chalice's shield, the Wahrheit can spend its time attacking the Festum. While it takes a bit of fire, the chest is slowly blown open revealing a small glowing sphere, which breaks when shot! And then Festum disintegrates and explodes in a black sphere, fortunately it's far enough away from the White Chalice that it doesn't get caught in the effect.

fenrirarma: Alexei: "Oh...the League's gonna love this..."

macprysm: Reinheit jumps! It's surprisingly effective in low gravity, his thrusters almost able to give him proper flight maneuverability as he counters back with the chainguns. He doesn't dare go close to use the bunker, instead trying to get more distance and retreat towards the Nadesco. +

NightlitEquinox: Unfortunately the other two Festum do not relent, and spheres of darkness appear ALL OVER the shield! While they ARE blocked by it, it's obviously taking it's toll!

NightlitEquinox: Dan "I CAN'T TAKE MUCH MORE OF THIS!"

NightlitEquinox: He sounds well... TERRIFIED.

fenrirarma: Alexei: "PRIME! Need some assistance over here! Wahr's low on high caliber ammo!"

NightlitEquinox: (Van and Alessandra)

macprysm: PRIME: "T-try to manage! This is a bad matchup, it's as if they're designed specifically to t-target perfection!" None of you have ever heard anything like this from the man before...he himself has never felt this...is this fear? He doesn't like it at all...

cubey@aol.pl: "Where might the core be located? Please assist me!" Alessandra quickly switches her weapons as she asks Ryo for precious advice.

NightlitEquinox: On the plus side the Chulip seems to have stopped launching grasshoppers. And the Festum have very effectively cleared the remaining up for you!

NightlitEquinox: (Enemies: Sphinx type festum x

NightlitEquinox: *8

cubey@aol.pl: *Memento Mori runs around one of the attacking Festum, Alessandra herself hoping the enemy will be too distracted to notice her assault from behind. A long-shafted battleaxe carried in both hands, she unleashes a powerful swipe at the golden creature's side, trying to chop into its body and the core, hopefully.&

NightlitEquinox: [Alessandra] The Festum seemingly ignores the Memento Mori... until she is about to strike, at which point a hand moves back and fires its fingers at her, at point blank range. Its almost as if it was reading her mind!

NightlitEquinox: (Alessandra react)

NightlitEquinox: (Yurika and Ryo)

fenrirarma: Alexei: "PRIME...Alright. Dan, do your best to keep those shields up. I'll do what I can with the remaining two headed towards the ship."

Alan Bunting: *Van doesn't really have a lot of long-range worth using. "I'm not gonna get shot down here... let's try the cannons, then!" He turns the Liger around and brings the cannons up, firing a set of rounds at whatever looks most vulnerable before running at best speed for the White Chalice..+

ColorKidLalaPink: *The Gravity Blast did absolutely nothing, so Yurika's trying the missiles again, launching them every which way around the Festum.+

NightlitEquinox: [PRIME] PRIME manages to meet up with the Nadesico, and board it.

wyverncakes: * Without the Ruge Lance as an option for jamming into enemy Festum, Ryo instead settles for going after the same Festum Van was, firing a few missiles at it, and then make a break for the White Chalice.+

cubey@aol.pl: *If it really is reading her mind, the Festum is getting a read full of strangely serene thoughts about inevitability of death! Alessandra redirects the axe to chop up the hands instead, and uses the weapon's massive momentum as an extra speed boost for an evasive maneuver.+

macprysm: PRIME: S-sorry guys...I'll make this up to you once I get some alluminum foil...[retreat]

NightlitEquinox: [Alessandra] Alessandra barely manages to escape the cockpit getting skewered, instead getting 5 Festum Finger sized holes through the Memento Mori's shoulder before she chops through them, separating herself from the Festum. The gold things quickly disintegrate. And apparently she was enough of a distraction to let up the attack on the White Chalice!

NightlitEquinox: [Van and Ryo] The second Festum attacking the Chalice is hit by the cannon. Not that it even tried to evade them. The combination of the collective fire from the TSX and the Liger acts as enough of a distraction for the White Chalice to reach the dome!

NightlitEquinox: Ayame "Everyone retreat immediately!"

NightlitEquinox: Unfortunately, the Festum seem to be reading your minds. And SUDDENLY BLACK SPHERES EVERYWHERE!

NightlitEquinox: (Everyone react)

wyverncakes: * And so the Festum decides to just fuck it all and try to get them with everything they had. Well Ryo wouldn't have nothing of it! "Just hold on a little longer!" The TSX dodges like it's never dodged before, putting priority on the cockpit above all else!

fenrirarma: Alexei revs up the Overd booster, quickly dodging in excessive speeds. The PA Attenuation is still shite though, and only can do it for a short period of time!

cubey@aol.pl: *Alessandra throws the axe away for a FISTFUL OF MOMENTUM more. It flies off in a random direction, but this means Memento Mori will also move into an unpredictable location. Thank you centrifugal force.+

Alan Bunting: Van looks for a way out, aiming for what appears to be a safe route and charging through, dodging with everything he's got. "Don't need to tell me twice! Let's get out of here!"+

NightlitEquinox: [Ryo] The TSX manages to protect the cockpit... and the legs, unfortunately it loses both of it's arms, the remaining weaponry and the last part of the Ruge Lance. Needless to say Ryo is in a lot of pain right now. Good thing he is using a crappy TSX model. Who knows what this would feel like to someone piloting one of the finished models.

NightlitEquinox: [Alexei] The boost of speed works in it's favor, and though it loses another arm in the exchange it reaches the Chalice!

wyverncakes: The pain is nothing. Okay, Ryo's head is practically on fire now but with sheer force of will he's keeping the TSX standing!

NightlitEquinox: [Alessandra] The throw it to luck method works wonders, especially in the low gravity environment. The Memento Mori misses all of the explosions as it goes hurtling into... and apparently THROUGH the dome into open space. While it takes a BEATING from the impact, and like... all the servos and stuff are going to need to be replaced. The unit is at least all there. Though now its propulsion is out, and its floating in open space.

NightlitEquinox: The Fleet escapes the Dome!

cubey@aol.pl: Alessandra: "Hello! Please do not forget about me!" She waves in her cockpit, but Memento Mori barely responds if any. Uh oh, this is not good.

fenrirarma: Alexei offers the last remaining extremity of the Wahrheit. "Don't worry, m'lady"

NightlitEquinox: Good thing it's open space. The Wahrheit CAN move the Memento Mori, though barely.

cubey@aol.pl: Alessandra: "You are such a gentleman! I would rather not be floating through space forever!" Grabs the limb or whatever sorry remains still exist of the Wahrheit.

NightlitEquinox: Looking back on the City though, it's almost entirely gone. The factory is in ruin. The Festum had even blasted their way into the shelters. It's likely no one survived.

NightlitEquinox: And even if they did... perhaps death would be preferable to what happened to them.

cubey@aol.pl: And then she looks back and sees the destruction, and all the cheerful thoughts have disappeared.

fenrirarma: Alexei: "Always ensure everyone makes it out alive...it's what Berlioz always taught me..." Using a combination of the overd booster and the core booster to make it's way back.

wyverncakes: As soon as he can, Ryo shuts off the TSX's systems, a loud sigh escaping from him as he suddenly doens't feel like his arms want to rip themselves apart.

wyverncakes: "... Even out here in space..."

Alan Bunting: Van guides the Liger back onto the Chalice with half a mind, looking on at what's left of the colony in horror.

NightlitEquinox: As you all look on the ruined city, the Prospector taps Yurika on the shoulders, "Excuse me Captain Misumaru. But I have a problem of a practical nature to discuss with you. As we cannot assume there were any survivors, and that was the last major branch of Nergal. Not to mention the fact that we have no way to communicate with the communication array out, we have no way of communicating this to anyone anyway. And the contract says that we must do a funeral for every member of Nergal who dies within a week of their death. Unfortunately, as the ranking Nergal official here. It is your responsibility to organize the funerals."

fenrirarma: Alexei shakes his head as the Wahrheit is put on auto-pilot, disconnecting his AMS cable. "Too bad the same couldn't be done for those that were left behind..."

NightlitEquinox: He then hands Yurika the list of names.

NightlitEquinox: It is uh... a HUGE list to say the least.

NightlitEquinox: All of them presumed dead.

ColorKidLalaPink: Yurika: "..."

ColorKidLalaPink: Yurika: "................................."

ColorKidLalaPink: Yurika: ".....................................................................................................................o-okay..."

cubey@aol.pl: Alessandra is quiet now. She feels like she should sing for the dead... but she was always terrible at singing.

fenrirarma: Alexei, however, is quite good at it, and sings solemnly to himself...with the channel to everybody closed so nobody can hear.

NightlitEquinox: MISSION PYRRHICALLY COMPLETED