((Post between [@Letter Bee] and [@FalloutJack])) The Kuei-Ren flew into the clusters of nanotech particles and did not turn or slow down. Anything that thought it could fire anything to disrupt the machines. Results may vary, but...let's just face it. They're nanites. If it doesn't do enough significant damage to a dust cloud of tiny metal robots, it's a minor inconvenience. Nevertheless, Theodore's attempts to eat away the sky-carrier were gonna take time, like maybe not enough. He was reducing mass, which would help in terms of the final impact, one hopes. But...he was also reducing the mass that the ship had to carry, making it that little bit faster, and that the meltdown explosion was the real issue here. Life just doesn't play fair. The missle cruiser was a wreck on deck, and with a pair of NC's wreaking havoc, it wasn't long before everyone who [i]could[/i] abandon ship DID. Who'd wanna be around for this? This was a mess. It was chaos, and it was about to get worse. When the pilots of Id and Grand Sword Star heard transmissions and saw what was going on, Terra frowned. [color=red]"They stole everything from our country, even our own tactics."[/color] She didn't need to say it, but we all know a Kamikaze when we see one. Except that the Red-Star pilot behind it all wasn't out to sacrifice himself. He was out to kill everyone he possibly could and potentially walk or swim home to brag about it. He was every biit a beast as that mech he was in... They needed to act now, without delay. Terra quickly opened a private line to Hisako. [color=red]"Hisako, when we get up there, do what you have to do to get my parents out, and then take them and run."[/color] [color=green]"Terra-"[/color] [color=red]"No time to argue. We were told to rescue them and that's the way. Don't come back until they're [i]safe[/i]."[/color] [color=green]"Alright...but, later on..."[/color] And here, the pilot smirked, knowing what was on the other's mind. [color=red]"Of course."[/color] The two of them flew up to meet the scene at level with the Kuei-Ren, to see the two super-tanks on deck...and to see Dread in Ursa Nova...waiting for them not far behind... And it was then that Lucille, who was protecting Theodore, made her move, saying to Terra and Hisako, "You two, do what you have to do! I'll slow down the ship!" With that, she dives for the prow of the Kuei-Ren, trying to push it back with the strength of her NC, while several globules of nanobots from the Perfect Qamishlo attach themselves to Lucille, forming a fire-resistant coat that also enhances her strength - The nanobots were forming minature motors to add more strength to the mech. Manbij strained its own fusion reactor, hoping that Terra and the others would hold back Dread! In the meantime, Alexander would vanish from the deck, the only clue to his disapperance being a sudden 'woosh' before the young man vanished. Mako had chosen his side. Okay, Terra had to admit that she hadn't thought of a way to deal with Alex also being on deck. The shock of seeing Hibiki was still fresh in her mind. So many 'Left Field' situations happening to her since she left Red-Star. She assumed that Dread would just burn him to death while she watched. He certainly looked [i]prepared[/i] to do it, but then with a 'Whoosh!', he was gone! Who...? [color=red][i]An invisible foe... Had to be...[/i][/color] Dread was certainly non-plussed by this action. He had certainly been looking forward to killing Alex at the last minute, but someone snatched him away! Well, this was further proof that you just can't rely on anybody. In fact, these two tanks were looking a might bit cumbersome and unnecessary... Raising Ursa's hands, the bear-like mech prepared to burn the tanks and set off their self-destruct protocol. No sooner had he done so, however, than there was a heavy transmission jam from multiple sources, principally the two NCs before her. It was actually disruptive to some of the nearby nano-clouds, but then there weren't many near this part of the ship because of Ursa and because of tank avoidance. Only a second or two after that, Id had gotten in the way of his plasma flames, its own shields overcharged to cause the spray to spread out all over the place, anywhere but its destination. So, as Dread could see, the battle was engaged. Pity he couldn't transmit anything right now. He never got to talk to these people when they were about to be destroyed... Now, Ursa Nova moved to grab those dangerous arms of Id's so he could try his hand at tearing them off. No, Id was going to back slightly off as the shield disengaged and avoid those claws. Really, both off their NCs had lethal hands. It was difficult to get near him with all this flame-spewing madness. Even a backhanding could lead to the grinders on his mech's arms taking a shot. Not to say he didn't TRY that. A hit from the vibro-blades of her suit jammed one of them up nicely. Terra made sure to open fire on him with her plasma rifle to keep his attention while Hisako operated. As Alexander vanished, Mako sent out a simple message, "I'm defecting. I'll dive in once Terra's parents are free." Terra, Hisako, and Dread couldn't hear that. The jamming in their immediate area was for the sake of the operation, so that the tanks - which were randomly firing, quite inaccurately at things - could not register any sensor input to self-destruct. Hisako was making progress. She could only work on one at a time, but because of both her scans and the prior leak of schematics, she was dealing with this rather quickly. The first tank fell silent, input cut while unable to trigger the on-board triggers. [color=green]"One down..."[/color] Meanwhile, Terra occupying Dread meant that she was the subject of his target practice! He began scooping molten chunks of deck and slagged equipment for a few lobs, and just when Terra thought a heavy-handed one left him open to attack, her flying lunge to tear open his back led to him using just one jump-jet to spin and deflect her like some martial artist! [color=red][i]Of course, you'd take the training... You balk at every form of command, but when they offer you new ways to kill...[/i][/color] Exposed now, she had little else to do but hold up her shield against the torso-mounted flamers. Ah, but [i]then[/i], he needed to shield himself while his heat-dispersers were at work. Perfect! Terra overcharged Id's claws and stru- [h1][i][b][color=orange]BOOOOOOMMM!!![/color][/b][/i][/h1] [center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EEym3u2ONA[/youtube][/center] Terra was nearly thrown off of the ship by the blast. Hisako had just barely managed to pull the second cockpit as the blastwave came. Both of them were knocked back, automatically in flight mode to stabilize. Communications were also up, as Terra heard... [color=green]"What the hell was [i]that?[/i]"[/color] Ursa Nova's mouth was smoking. That'd been a mouth-blast, but it was much more powerful than it'd been before! [color=red]"An Overcharger... It's got an [i]Overclock Engine.[/i]"[/color] [color=green]"But that's yours! Where'd they get one in such short notice?"[/color] [color=darkblue]"Oh, that's easy... They had a spare that didn't work, a prototype just [i]lying around[/i], waiting to be fixed. And it's a [i]perfect fit[/i] for my machine."[/color] Well...that was... Son of a [i]bitch![/i] He was charging up another attack! [color=red]"Hisako, get out. Get out, [i]NOW![/i]"[/color] She didn't want to, but for the sake of the lives she was carrying, Grand Sword Star turned tail and flew for safety. In the meantime, Dread's Ursa Nova felt a few impacts at its back, as Mako shot it from behind with his NC-sized shotgun. Osamu, meanwhile, chose to intervene, having made his own choice. "My country... I can get it back. All I just have to do... Is this!" He directed a sharp mental assault at Dread, syncing with Ursa Nova, trying to make him feel emotions that the sociopathic pilot was not able to conceive of before. Foriegn concepts flooded Dread's mind, even as Ursa Nova's moves began to become more sluggish. [i]"Nihon forever!"[/i] Osamu screamed out, making his final betrayal and its cause clear. He cannot be forgiven. He won't be forgiven. What he had done to Alexander and Mako was too vile for that. But the fact remained that Osamu was [i]done[/i] with serving the people who had killed his father and ruined his country. So he attacked Dread with his mind alone, even as Mako shot another round of magnetically-boosted shotgun shells at Ursa Nova's back. And good god, what Osamu had to [i]face[/i] in there! The man who loathed and despised human beings, barely even considering himself one of their wretched filth... In his own mind, he considered himself nothing less than a predatory creature that MUST be feared or MUST destroy that which does not cower before it, so naturally he was twisted and horrible inside the neural interface. Mako pelted him externally, not doing [i]much[/i] damage, due to the heavy armor, but Dread was feeling it, and he felt Osamu distorting his grip on Ursa, and every inch of him hated enough that after a moment, one thought most certainly DID get through: [color=darkblue][i][b]"KILL!!"[/b][/i][/color] Dread raged in rejection of what Osamu was flinging at him, trying to expunge the artificial being in a trial by fire. At the same time, he was now turning to blast the source of the nearest irritant: The shotgunner! The chances of hitting Mako with precision was unlikely, but the mouth was not going to fire for accuracy. You're in the splash zone, boy! The deadly maw of the predatory NC opened and- [i]Clink![/i] Something was shoved into it, jammed in there, last second! Id flew away at maximum speed as the plasma flames detonated her rifle in said mouth. There were even a few grenades leftover! Hopefully, Mako was getting out of that explosion, but even if not...it was a damn good boom. It's just a shame it didn't kill the rat bastard... Looking back, Terra saw that Ursa wasn't down. It was [i]harmed[/i] - the mouth looked messed up, servos inoperable - but she'd kinda' been hoping that her damn gun going off in its mouth would blow off its head! No such luck... At best, it looked like it wasn't gonna be mauling anyone with those [i]teeth[/i] anymore, but Dread was obviously still kicking. In fact, he...pounded right through the deckplates? Why...? And uhh...that was when the ship lost some of its front stabilizers... It was getting prow-heavy and harder for those holding it up to maintain like this! And just when one of the disabled tanks started sliding, something picked it up from below - Yeah, you know who. - and [i]threw it[/i] at her, firing plasma bursts to make its explode as designed! Osamu screamed, the once-coward striking back at this one person who was worse than him. [I]You want fire?![/i] He thought, [i]I'll give you fire![/i] He pressed on, his own rage matching Dread's, centered around the opportunities he had wasted, the vile things he had done and been party to. And of course, what he was fighting for now. [i]Hibiki and Nihon![/i] he thought as he lashed out, burning Dread with his own inner fire. [i]This feels good! So this is why the enemy fights![/i] Mako, meanwhile, obviously veered away from Ursa Nova's exploded head - 'Alexander-senpai's' life was more important to Mako than other people, even after making the decision to defect. Theodore, meanwhile, was directing the fight against the rest of the Red-Star fleet, which was fighting to the end or commmitting themselves to suicide explosions and charges. Dread and Osamu's conflict was going to be ever-growing, with the pilot growing ever-more wild and enraged as it went on. [color=darkblue][i][b]"You want to play with fire, boy?! I don't BRING the fire! I AM THE FIRE!!"[/b][/i][/color] It was because of this that he didn't notice yet that while the explosion had engulfed Id, the energy shield made it curl around the NC, rather than impact it, it seemed. It was going to be dueling overclocks here, soon enough. Anyway, he had not noticed that part, but he DID see the flicker of motion on the periphery and flung the other tank at it! The tank [i]bisected[/i] as Grand Sword Star sank its sword through it. Quite an effort, given the size, but then Hisako had initiated her [i]own[/i] overbooster to get here and amp up her mech's performance. Occupied by this, Id lowered to the ground, then flew at Ursa for some fly-by slashes. No good. Dread had activated shields to cool his mech and deal with his own mental disruption. If they could only see his synchronization rate... It was all over the place! One minute, he'd be in total control, and therefore more vulnerable to mental feedback. And in the next, it was lower and he might feel nothing. It was maddening! Dread didn't like it much, either. He activated jump jets and ALL flame weapons to ruin everything around him while Ursa did a quick 360-degree turn. He was out of his mind! Terra and Hisako were dodging shots while getting on a Haven-only comm-channel. [color=green]"If he keeps this up, the ship may end up going up ahead of time!"[/color] [color=red]"I wish. I mean, maybe. He has heat-dispersion to prevent overheating his mech, but then he also redlines it, practically, for more output. Plus, he's got an OverClock Engine. If we can push him into charging too many things at-"[/color] [color=green][i]"Terra!"[/i][/color] If? IF?! He already did it! Without warning, Ursa Nova hit the jets AND the shields on Overclock mode, trying to hit Id right out of the park...and into about a million pieces. Hisako had been at the right angle to see the engines powering up, and flew full-force at Id to knock it out of the way. Got out of the way herself...mostly. Terra had been knocked out of the sky and onto the deck, straightening itself out as Ursa revealed that it could get itself back onto the carrier with its own jets. They weren't [i]meant[/i] for flight, but he wouldn't be taking a dip in the ocean, it seemed. Terra looked to Grand Sword Star lying before her...both legs [i]shattered[/i]. Dread had acted just as she was thinking about taking advantage of his machine's flaw. Was it an accident, or did he just think 'This is what a strategist would be thinking now, so I'm gonna break her concentration'? She couldn't tell. Years of predicting people's actions and trains of thought, and she hadn't seen it coming! [color=red]"Hisako, are you alright?"[/color] [color=green]"Rrrgghhh... No...! My legs are gone! The pain is [i]incredible[/i]..."[/color] [color=red]"You've done enough, now-"[/color] [color=green]"No, it's okay! Let him think I'm helpless! We'll surprise him!"[/color] [color=red]"That's a stupid plan!"[/color] [color=green]"Only because of the risk, but I trust you to carry it out."[/color] [color=red]"Alright...but only for that."[/color] She knew what Hisako was thinking. It was risky as hell. She'd rather risk her own neck, at this point, but the GSS pilot wanted another swing at the opposition, so Terra made like she was keeping Dread from getting at helpless prey. "SHUT UP, DREAD!" Osamu shouted as Mako picked him up as well, but didn't put the young artificial human into the cockpit. "I AM [I]DONE[/I] BEING THE INSTRUMENT OF MY OWN COUNTRY'S OPPRESSION!" But nevertheless, he paused his assault on Dread, letting Terra and Hisako handle this. Theodore seemed ot have the same idea, as Perfect Qamishlo diverted its attention to other battles... The interface of the NC was reverberating with Osamu's shouting, but Dread wasn't having it. He had found his center, the simple things, the rage and the darkness, the howling joyous laughter of crushing one's opponents to [i]dust[/i]. They could not stop him... He began to approach Id and Grand Sword Star. [color=darkblue][b]"That is enough from all of you... No more talk. No more touching moments and last-minute stands. Time to burn. Time to [i]scream[/i]. Time...to [i]DIE[/i]."[/b][/color] When he came upon Id, he blasted it with firebombs from his chest unit to force it to shield, then just Haymakered it right out of the way with flaming claws alight! This ship, half-eaten and partially exposed, was going into that shield to explode GLORIOUSLY! These people were going to DIE in the biggest bang they ever saw! But before that, he was going to crush these two, one after the other, in Ursa's bare hands and listen to them gurgle their last... Grand Sword Star, too grand a weapon for that [i]slave[/i] they kept around, spouting their propaganda. Just another pointless idea among many in the Red-Star group. This, he was gonna enjoy... And that's certainly what he would've [i]liked[/i]...if he'd remembered GSS was a [i]flying[/i] mech and still retained full engine control right now. Hisako spun her NC around and slashed into Ursa's chest before rocketing away! The flame emitters there were completely useless now! Had a nice slash in the armor too. Oh, Dread was certainly livid now, but he had a problem. He had a BIG problem. He and Ursa Nova had to deal with Terra and a [i]plan[/i]. Grand Sword Star got out of sight so that Dread couldn't reap anymore retribution. [color=green]"That's enough for me. I'm de-synncing and pulling out. Meet you and Kxeyun at the coffee shop later? ...or maybe the bathhouse?"[/color] [color=red]"Perhaps. I've got shit to do, first."[/color] [center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usXhiWE2Uc0[/youtube][/center] Id hovered at the ready, and prepared to take this war machine apart. Almost immediately, Ursa leapt at her with an overcharged engine boost. Terra disengaged engines and re-engaged once she fell below its path and kicked up with both legs, knocking the bear mech further aft on the carrier. Dread landed and charged a mammoth mouth attack. Seems that part [i]wasn't[/i] out of commission! Id overcharged its own engines and rammed at its feet, shields up regular, so it fell forwards, blasting the heck out of deck, not any part of her. Dread flipped Ursa into a backhanded strike with its remaining grinder, catching Terra off-guard and damaging an armo, but no follow-up mauling would occur. A foot smacked both arms out of the way, followed by a rapid-punch combo, and a catch of the arms at the wrist as Ursa jetted at her, causing them both to tumble further back. [color=red][i]Alright, he's in position. Now, the tricky part...[/i][/color] Id wasn't badly damaged, but it wasn't as durable as Ursa Nova. Ursa was damaged, but it had alot keeping it together. Terra began to overcharge Id's claws. In response, Ursa was preparing another one of those heavy-handed ram attacks that broke GSS's legs. Id slammed its claws to the ground and broke the deck to pieces, and the two of them fell towards the carrier's engineering section. When they hit the floor, though, Dread de-powered his Overclock Engine. [color=darkblue]"You must think I'm a simpleton. Do you really think I'd be stupid enough to engage full power HERE?"[/color] [color=red]"No...but [i]I[/i] am."[/color] Terra pushed her NC systems to the limit and did as Dread did as a risky option, only while [i]he[/i] had power-rammed with brute force or fired a huge nova-blast that only he could survive unscathed, Terra did something a little more risky: A consecutive overcharge. It was close to charging all three systems at once, which could blow the entire mech up, but maybe just surviveable... Id thrust overclocked claws into Ursa Nova, right where its power core had to be, causing it to lose containment. Dread had tried to stop her, and there were lacerations in the armor where the hands just busted on past with its sonic forces and impacted the chest. Then, overclocked shields to survive the sudden explosion, followed by overclocked thrusters to get the hell out of there, straight up and out of the Kuei-Ren. Once out, Terra adopted what had to have been [i]Dread's[/i] plan of getting out alive. She dropped like a stone into the ocean, where her overloading NC would get a chance to cool off and NOT explode around her. De-syncing from her interface kept her from feeling the full shock of the impact with the water, allowing the mech to cushion her, instead. The sky-carrier's premature meltdown was visible from even down here... It was going to be a mess to clean up, but at least didn't impact Haven's shields or any part of the continent. And hopefully, even the fallout was more maneageable. [color=red]"I need sleep... Today was just...too much."[/color] And with that, the battle was over. Mako planned to surrender himself, give back Alexander, and hand over Osamu to the Havenites at the first opportunity, then rest...