[@Crimson Lion][@Shiyonichi]

Riku was spending the remaining time figuring out how best to utilize the Manticore's loadout for the mission at hand. He'd already planned to use the sniper kit to survey the area and try to locate the Taurus suits. Beyond that his plan was to be the one to destroy the Taurus units while Naoki and Kai dealt with the enemy team. After this, Riku could then turn his attention to providing squad support to both his teammates by providing them cover fire from a distance. Yes, that sounded like the best way to go about-

[u][b]“Warning, Warning, Enemy Approaching!!!”[/b][/u]

That was the harbinger of things to come. Immediately afterward, Naoki reported an incoming Apsaras II. A moment later, Kai confirmed there was enemy units shooting up at them from the forests and that he would descend to the ground to deal with them. That meant it was up to Riku and Naoki to dispatch the Mobile Armor. But there was a problem. The Manticore was not optimized for aerial combat at all. It could handle space and the ground, but high altitude aerial zones like this would be a no-go. He had no other option, Riku would have to switch to one of his other Gunpla. Thankfully the Manticore hadn't launched from its catapult yet, so Riku still had time to get it off there and trade it for another Gunpla without wasting too much time.

"Naoki," Riku said over comms as he hurriedly made the preparations for the Gunpla swap, "The Manticore's a no-go for aerial combat. I'm switching to one of my other builds instead. I have a plan, but it might be a bit risky. Just keep the I-Field up and wait for me. When I put my plan in plan motion, it will give you an opportunity to shoot back with whatever you've got. You'll know the opportunity when you see it."

By this point, Riku had already removed the Manitcore from his GP Base. He swiftly, but carefully, replaced it with the GP Base for the Shin Musha Hyaku Shiki. Truth be told, it too was better suited for ground combat. But thanks to it partially being a Hayku Shiki it still had plenty of atmospheric flight capability. This in fact was one of the builds Riku could say with confidence that he had nearly perfected, since it was capable of combat in space, the air, or on the ground.

"Tenkagomen Kogane no Samurai!" Riku said when the Gunpla was secured to the catapult, "Shin Musha Hyaku Shiki, mairu!" and with that, the Gunpla launched from the catapult and out into the combat zone.

Outside, Riku finally emerged from the Yamato's catapult bay. But he wasn't piloting his Manticore as he had originally planned. Instead he was piloting one of the other Gunpla he had brought with him. It was no less than a shining golden samurai appearing to bear design motifs of a Musha Gundam and Hyaku Shiki. It's golden coloring was also a strong indicator of the Anti-Beam Coating the Gunpla's armor was coated with.

After launching, Riku maneuvered to stand on the bridge of the Yamato nearby where Naoki's Gunpla stood. The SMHS almost glistened in the sunlight with its golden armor, "She's going to fire any moment now. When I move from here, I need you to lower the I-Field to allow me through it. And make sure Haro keeps the Yamato steady. No sudden evasive movements. Like I said, my plan's a little risky, but if we pull it off we can render that Mobile Armor practically useless." during this, Riku had been watching the Apsaras II very intently. Keeping an especially close eye on its mega particle cannon. As soon as he spotted the telltale glow of its shot beginning to fire, his Gunpla shot forward without any warning, right toward the I-Field and the Mobile Armor beyond it.

He really hoped Naoki trusted him and would lower the I-Field. If he had to cut through it or navigate around it, then Riku would never reach his intended destination in time. If the I-Field lowered, the Shin Musha Hyaku Shiki would launch itself off from the tip of the Yamato's bow. It flew straight into the trajectory of the incoming mega particle cannon beam, the gunpla's hand reaching for the hilt of Izanagi. Like something out of a futuristic samurai film, the Shin Musha Hyaku Shiki drew its weapon in an iaido-inspired attack and brought the blade into the line of fire of the incoming beam.

Truth be told, the Shin Musha Hyaku Shiki had never deflected a beam of this magnitude before. And Riku suspected a full deflection of this beam was likely not possible. But the blade could do more than deflect beams, it could also slice through them as well and that was what Riku was counting on. The beam from the mega particle cannon would hit the edge of Izanagi's blade, resulting in the beam becoming split into two. The resulting split beams would each veer off at opposite angles, and as long as Haro had kept the Yamato on its current heading, they would miss the ship entirely - albeit barely. However, all of this would [i]only[/i] work if Naoki and Haro had followed his instructions.

Assuming it all [i]did[/i] work, Riku wasted no time with making his follow up. He continued flying toward the Apsaras II. With its mega particle cannon fired, it needed to recharge. And unless its pilot had bothered to customize it with additional armaments, then it would be unable to shoot at Riku as he made his move. He let the blade of Izanagi glow with whatever amount of particle energy it had absorbed from slicing the mega particle beam. It probably wasn't anywhere near full power, but it would be enough to suit Riku's purposes, "Secret Technique! Shining FLASH!" Riku cried out, unsure where the sudden need for theatrics had come from. But nevertheless, his charged up sword was brought down for a powerful slash aimed for Mobile Armor's mega particle cannon. If this worked, the weapon would become too damaged to keep firing.

Hopefully, Naoki also saw the opening created by Riku's risky maneuver, as it would render the Mobile Armor wide open for a follow up attack from him and his Fantastic GM.