[@Silvan Haven][@Onarax][@Krayzikk][@Letter Bee][@Plank Sinatra]

[B]ENEMY TURN[/B]

The Rook rapidly dodged out of the way of the G-Valkyrie's beam shot, the many refits undergone by the pirate HFV giving it the manoeuvrability to try its best at keeping up with X Corp's transforming prototype (although admittedly, there was little it could do in regards to sheer speed). As noted by the Lumen Team earlier in the battle, the performance of the machines that the [i]Jannah[/i]'s complement of pilots were fighting were far superior to what was expected of the usual space variant of the United States' second-generation workhorse. In fact, the quality of their upgrades seemed to be far beyond what mere pirates could acquire.

However, not even improved specifications could prevent the pirate from suffering another unlucky roll of the die. The Rook's pilot barely managed to eject safely as one of the Judah's railguns suddenly ripped a hole through the HFV's lower body, and while in most situations that wouldn't have been enough to totally destroy a well-armoured machine like a Rook, the projectile had managed to strike a reactor in process. It was in the split second before the machine's reactor overloaded that the unfortunate pilot managed to pull himself away from the Reaper's scythe, cockpit instead spinning through the void of space as the shockwave buffeted him.

Poor guy. This was the second explosion he'd been subjected to in the same battle.

The blast cloud had engulfed the area behind the G-Valkyrie, but it was immediately quite apparent that despite the sheer firepower behind Joan's attack, she hadn't managed to catch every single one of the machines on the Rising Star's tail. Indeed, a familiar blue shape immediately broke free of the dust like Andy Dufresne from his cell (albeit with a lot less intrigue or spoons, which really kills the simile the same way Dufresne killed his wife, but anyway ...), [url=https://youtu.be/PV1g1fW1gDw]single eye flashing red[/url] as it sped up after the G-Valkyrie. Even the fact that the OSDT machine was in Waverider mode was not deterring its pursuit, and the flurry of beam shots fired at the prototype from the azure pirate's machine was testament to that fact. Of course, he was not the only one intent on bringing an end to Rising Star.

Had space possessed an atmosphere, all would've been able to hear the screaming of the Bradley's Messer Drone as it sped towards the front of the G-Valkyrie, harrying the Waverider with weak beam attacks.

Of the other two Rooks caught in the explosion, they were not as lucky. As the dust cleared, it was clear that while they had taken less damage than the one whose pilot had ejected, their proximity to the explosion had done quite a number of them. One was floating aimlessly through space, missing its entire lower body and right arm. Its pilot had yet to eject, although whether that was because he was unconscious (or dead) from the impact, or because the blast had caused his ejection system to malfunction was a mystery. The other was in slightly better condition, in that it was still twitching despite lacking pretty much everything but a leg.

Of course, just because they had been utterly disabled didn't mean that the pirates were unwilling to counterattack. Indeed, three of the other Rooks in the battle, having hung back rather than confront the G-Valkyrie directly, had chosen to make use of the chaos to attack other participants in the battle, and were flying towards the [i]Jannah[/i] and the Judah. As they rapidly closed the distance, two of them immediately fired their 550mm Missile Launchers towards the OSDT's artillery machine, while the third chased after the Ball, launching a fast-moving shot from its 90mm Linear Railgun at the pod.

Meanwhile, three more Rooks, these ones untouched, had decided to go after the tanky Sword Shroud. One fired a missile at the OSDT mech from a short distance away, while the other two chose to batter it with beams from their beam rifles.

[U]BATTLE STATUS:[/U]
Yukine: leaving the battlefield
The Ball: being chased by a Rook with a railgun
G-Valkyrie: pursued by the blue Rook and the Bradley
Judah: being attacked by two Rooks and their missiles
Sword Shroud: Two Rooks attacking it with beams. One Rook with a missile launcher.

[i]Rooks destroyed/disabled:[/i][list]
[*]Cockpit and large part of torso vaporised, currently floating through space.
[*]Totally blammoed, pilot ejected.
[*]It's a cockpit in a torso with just a leg, bruh.
[*]Aimlessly floating through space, lost its lower body and right arm.[/list]
Rooks with noticeable damage:[list]
[*]Left shoulder shield missing
[*]Decent damage to one leg
[*]Lost one arm and missile launcher[/list]