FalloutJack

~ Valkyria Chronicles - Changing of the Guard ~

The initial shock of bullets from the Cathedral had been a problem, but from there, the somewhat-more-cautious and definitely forceful infantry found gaps and flaws in their Imperial defense and pressed on. Unable to stem the tide of soldiers and coordinated fire, their control over the area swiftly began to fold, the strong position wavering and breaking down as they got in close with minimal amounts of fuss. The Federation had thrown superior numbers at the problem and the math checked out. Many of their own troops had cleaned out the area leading to the Cathedral and now that gigantic monument lay before them with enemy soldiers more trapped than fortified now.

Of course, they still had to take it.

With no sign of Middleton, Isaac (gladly) defaulted to Jean's authority, as would many in the 15th. His orders were simple. He, Lucia, and Britta were to keep on pressing towards the front-and-center of the Cathedral, going for the main entrance. At the same time, Isaac would be heading off to the side - presumably to one of the side or back ways in - to clean out any trooops still outside and gain entry there to take them by surprise. You might be thinking now 'Split the two Gunners? They'll never do that! Not after all they've been through!', except you'd be wrong. More than just being properly trained and knowing that this was strategically the right move, they trusted each other and their skills. When Jean declared the intent for all of them to get out of this together, they both nodded.

"We will."

"Without question. C'mon, Diana."

The Lance-Corporal would get a move on, likely with Diana following. We'll leave that for now and focus on Britta's end of things as she prepared her gun to oversee those still here with Jean. They proceeded, along with a number of other soldiers they didn't know, towards the Cathedral proper now. There were wrecked cars and rubble all over the place, not so much that you couldn't get through anywhere because of the width of the street, but...it was a bit of a mess. However, before long, everybody had to duck into some kind of cover - Britta reflexively letting loose a few bullets back at the attackers as she ran - as machine guns opened fire!

It was their worst fears confirmed, or at least...one of them. There were machine gun cars on the approach. Of course they'd be here! This place was a lynch-pin in the entire Amone conflict! From her cover with Jean and Lucia, Britta waited carefully before sighting their actual positions, raising her helmet on the end of her on the end of her machine gun with her actual head peaking up a few seconds later about a foot-and-a-half away from that. She'd been quick enough to avoid fire to helmet or head, but dammit...they had good coverage here, and because those were armored, there was almost no point in firing back, except to try and get at those narrow slits for visibility. That would distract, but practically never penetrate without lots of luck. That's when a bunch of men with some...very basic rifles and modified explosives with them. The rifles were firing heavy single-shot slugs and the bombs were basically anything flammable or explosive they could tie into a wad. That would've been nice to be able to get back at the line, but nooo... That all aside, Jean asked her to take some of the riflemen to a pile of stone rubble. It looked like she was working cover and a bit of decoying for his team, which she nodded at without even speaking. She instead turned to those she was taking with her and said...

"One or two at a time, only. I'll cover you, but I can only do so much to that thing."

And it was, admittedly, not that much. Even still, they knew what to do and - one by one - they all transferred over with a minimum of potential harm. At much, Britta felt something kinda' close as she ran and fired for herself before taking a dive. Here, they would be suppressing with bullet-fire, trying to take some of the attention from Jean and Company, which mostly worked, at least until one of the cars swiveled and shot at a window that'd been fired out of. There was the occasional Imperial soldier out to support the cars, but they actually looked like they were running from something else...like Isaac.

Alright, he's made it back there, and Jean's got one of the cars stitched up, but what about the other one...?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Isaac and Diana would be heading around to flank the Cathedral. It wasn't long, though, before he heard a familiar sound and reflexively flinched. While he, the female rifleman, and whatever other unnamed soldiers were going around, picking off whatever Imperials might've been wandering or even shooting from windows, it sounded like Jean, Britta, and Lucia were facing off against heavier combatants. Isaac couldn't let that slide. He'd asked him and Diana to come back here to flank the enemy and make this easier, but those things were as much an obstacle to them as the frontal assault! They came within few, and could see the backs and at least parts of the side of one of them. It was at this point that Isaac saw a bunch of Imperial soldiers looking to use their armored friends as cover against the first team and immediately, he opened fire, everyone else following suit. Imps took cover back the way they came, plunged forwards more into the open, or were cut down, but still...the same problem remained: The cars. Now, it looked like someone was giving one of them hell via improvised explosives, but that didn't really help Isaac's position...unless...

The exhaust grill...

The vehicle was armored, and you couldn't harm the Ragnite engine, and you probably couldn't even do much to the underside of the vehicle except maybe ruin the brakes or something. But...there was one possible chance here, something they'd overlooked when they modified this car. Isaac looked among those with him.

"Have we got a Shocktrooper here?"

"Uhh, me!"

One guy only. Damn...

"Got any bombs?"

"Yes, but they're not going to penetrate-"

"Don't want 'em to. You see that grill?"

"Yyyes? Why?"

"Try to hit it, best you can. If we can get it off, we get a hole with alot of heat coming out of it. My father's truck once got its whole thing blocked up after a storm and the truck nearly overheated when he started it. You and me, we'll knock it off. Everyone else, gather anything you can to stuff into that hole. Socks with dirt and rocks, loose shirts, whatever you got!"

With that order, the few others around would start to do that. If Diana wanted to help shoot instead of doing that or watching their OWN flanks like some of the troops were busy doing, that was up to her. He was trading shots with this other car, letting the Shocktrooper with...sadly only two grenades...try to lob that grill off with combined machine gun fire when somebody else up front - probably Britta and some others who appeared to have some kinda' different rifles - tried their luck at the main gun.

Dragon Ball: Universe Zero

He was standing around, making sure someone got Anthony's unconscious form off of the mat, making sure he was alright.

"Well, he's out, but it's nothing serious."

"Alright, thanks."

"Just take it easy, kid. You could kill a guy with moves like that."

"Yeah, I...I understand."

Sore ankle aside, he was pretty much okay. However, Niko was again worried about his talents. He looked over to the spot where the girl fighter had forced that Russian to concede. It was a bit cleaner an action than his own. Well, some people do better than others under pressure. Niko stepped away to find somewhere to take a seat.

Dragon Ball: Universe Zero

There was a little more to the fight than that. Anthony struck low and did not cancel the momentum of Niko's attack, but then as he was tripping off to the side, he still managed to grab that leg and pull him down too. Landing on it, Niko felt a sharp pain in his ankle and kicked out at the guy's face. Anthony managed to catch that leg as well, but he got no further than that. His arms thoroughly occupied, Niko bent both legs and sprung his upper-body forward, burying two fists into the man's face, getting an eye and his cheekbone and knocking him out, flat on his back, so that the young soldier could get out.

Now, my ankle's sore...

Dragon Ball: Universe Zero

No problem. Although, after looking at the roller, I got a question: Can you do the rolls in like a series of tens, like they do in Exalted? I feel like there's a chance to potentially Nat One when someone using - say, for instance - a power 100 attack, and it shouldn't do just one to a potentially weaker opponent. If possible to do it with a series of d10s, you'd roll at least a better minimum damage if you rolled horribly.

NEOTOKYO: State of Disarray [Open]

Her focus was such that she didn't even really notice what was happening, at first. Let's be clear that the darkness of the room with a sudden light from the door is not what Asagi was seeing right now. No, her view was that of the sterile environment of Super Hot, with all the robots showing up in red as soon as they were visible to her. With that in mind, there was still a light from an opening there and a faint figure coming from it, but she had been a bit busy on sword-slashing and kicking an enemy away before tossing said sword at another incoming sword-bot. Things did not alter for a moment, and then the robots began to change their priorities slightly, which of course was when Nina was attacked.

The kick and the attack were audible, as was the sudden apology and surprise dash-and-kick to knock the careening robot torso away from Karine. This had all happened in the space of a few seconds, and Asagi had been in a stance to kick, punch, or catch the surprise object..whichever came first, but now there was this other woman and...good god, the tech in those legs. They had to be a pair of Diablo-13s or better. Whereas Asagi's custom limbs were a more rounded lot, those were models that almost ran away with the user if they weren't careful with 'em. Judging by her actions, though, the woman was well-trained and able to handle them just fine. Must be a co-worker, then.

"It's alright. Nobody's hurt, so it's fine."

Immediately, Asagi ducked back into a roll behind an obstacle to avoid a hail of gunfire from both sides. The computer had allowed for a risky maneuver like this, which took out at least a couple of its own units, to try and take her. The strategy was definitely evolving, and...it was also changing, because unfortunately the computer had also recognized another target in the room and the doors had shut. Asagi took her robot-rifle and started shooting bots down now, and the other woman was adapting to the situation handedly.

"Looks like you're in here, for now. I'm Asagi. You wanna keep this going or do I switch off?"

Then, she smirked.

"Or, alternatively, I could play unfair and deal with them the easy way."

Namely, Karine could actually use the system in her cybernetics to augment her accuracy to such a degree that she would practically never miss. Her eyes and her limbs worked in tandem, of course, so like any smart system, it could lock on target and easily follow it. You can do the same thing in a number of video games, paint a target and you always know where it is. Open fire and your gun is automatically pointed in its direction. So, rather than having to make the effort, Asagi could do this and the two of them could probably talk properly, assuming the newcomer didn't just want it to stop.

Dragon Ball: Universe Zero

For his own part, Niko had calmed down a little. The anxiety from his first bout had lessened to a degree and he was able to think again. Actually, he was a little embarrassed that he'd done what he did before, because now people were looking at him warily. Case in point, the man called Anthony who was called up to fight him. He was giving Niko cautious looks, like he was worried that he was gonna kill 'im. And unfortunately, there was nothing he could really do with that impression. Even if he told his opponent what happened, he'd only take it as a ploy to lull him into a false sense of security and accomplish nothing. The most he could do was fight the man fairly, and then maybe apologize later on.

So, the Ref said to fight, and Anthony was taking this very carefully, wary of Niko's next move. That was fair, but it seemed to telegraph one thing to him now: His first instinct was going to be to shy away or defend against whatever came next, and then try to retaliate as hard as possible. This man was a fist-fighter, though. At least, primarily. So, what Niko did was feign a grab and then slip on down low to sweep Anthony's legs out from under him!

-Feinting sweep kick, power 40

Dragon Ball: Universe Zero

No worries. I figured you were just focusing while managing limited amounts of time.

NEOTOKYO: State of Disarray [Open]

ASAGI

So, Nina wanted to go to the training room, did she? The walk-up to the room may remind some of a spot on the Enterprise D outside the Holodeck or maybe the X-Men DANGER Room. It was an armored hallway with a heavy-ass sliding door there. Warnings around the side indicated that you should never enter the room dead-on, especially if somebody else's training session is engaged. Training devices didn't use lethal ordinance, but they could still lead to injury and unconsciousness when in use. There was a sign indicating that when the red light above the door was flashing, the room was active. You could still enter, but you were advised to be prepared for such a situation.

Now, if she DID come inside...

The room was dimly-lit, and there was only an open archway of space between the inside and the out. Off to the side, just inside the room, was a storm-gray longcoat, and inside...there was a helluva lot of activity. Obstacles had slid into the room from the walls and ceiling, the terrain had the ability to raise and lower in segments, and this music... God damn. The room was huge and capable of making different environments, and inside of it was a woman who appeared to be in full combat mode. Asagi was in there, holding one of the robot's rifles and kicking it into two others before gunning them down with their own non-lethal ammo. For the room, this counted as lethal against the target, even if the ordinance really wasn't.

The situation? Karine was out of bullets for her own guns, so she'd started appropriating their weapons. If Nina was looking in, via camera or the doorway, she could easily see that the black-haired Japanese woman had all four limbs cybered up, as they sometimes did a move where they attacked a robot via bending the wrong way. She had a training room rifle in her hands, one of their swords on her belt, and two training pistols shoved into her Glocks' holsters. She had paid no heed to time or score or level of combat. Level 40 was pretty damn tough, mind you. They came quietly out of the darkness, and they attacked without warning...except that her sense of anticipation had had her reacting in split-seconds to even the slightest of movements or sounds that couldn't be accounted for by anything else than the enemies in the room. Operating under the assumption that she was constantly in danger and under observation by potential attackers, Asagi lashed out quickly and without second thought, just as her training had always shown her. Execute and move on. Her movements were either quick and precise or smooth and fluid, followed by a crunch of hardware.

Thing is, though, this session's been running non-stop, and it looks like she could keep this up a long time. It looked like it could be paused or joined or even that you could just shout out at her if you needed to. But the question is...what do ya do?

Dragon Ball: Universe Zero

Somewhere in the crowds, you find the inevitable hapening: Some guy messing with his phone. In Niko's case, it was a chatroon online. Had to be by text. Not only was it too noisy in here, but the people probably wouldn't appreciate being talked about out-loud.

Eclipse: There's alot of people here, right now.
Winger: No problem. You got this, bro.
Eclipse: You know, you could have helped me.
Winger: Hey, you were the one who wanted to get out. Besides that, I'm good, but you're better at this sort of thing. If it were a flying competition, that'd be my deal, but it's not. Now, do us all proud. Teacher's watching.
Eclipse: You told Athena?!

Athena has joined the chat.

Athena: You bet your ass. For all the work I put into you, I'd better see you standing over alot of dead-to-the-world fighters.
Niko: Uhh...yes, ma'am.

Niko has left the chat.

Fastest Logout in the West. His instructor - the one who taught many of the troops in his sector - was a woman of devastating force and technique. Truly, she scared alot of people, but what made her so fearsome was that she could also be your friend. She was very kind to people, and only leaned harder on you because she cared for those around her. The harder she fought and taught, the more chances you had to survive. This was the one who trained Niko to fight, and out of a combination of fear and admiration, 90% of her students succeed. Niko himself had a special kind of honor, one he was reliving now in his head. One day, in her class...

You've all been doing well, for the most part, but every time I teach a group of cadets, I need to do this. I have to show you the reality of things, that you can lose the fight and your life, and that you have to be mentally prepared for that. Anyone who wishes to run away may do so. This will not be reflected on your record. For those who stay, get ready to fight...

This was flashing back in his head, a master martial artist and combat expert calling people forward and swiftly taking them down. Athena's moves were unparalleled, and she only held back to not kill or seriously injure those she taught. As Niko remembered, he responded to his being called in real life the same way he did back then. He approached looking very tense and his mind working things out at about light speed. His opponent in the fighting ring was trying to toss some banter at him, but Niko didn't even hear him. He was some wrestler looking to get his name in lights. When he got impatient, he approached Niko to grab him, and...well...that poor man. Niko saw Athena's approach in his mind as the other fighter came forward, there was a sudden yell, and he simultaneously grabbed an arm while kicking into the man's stomach and pulling back, so that he was flipped and hit the mat hard with Niko landing knees-down on the diaphragm to knock the wind out of his opponent. The man could not get up.

Back then, Niko had done this to his instructor, saw the look of shock on her face, and ran. This time, he was the one confused as he stood up and looked around, saying "What happened?". The referee paused to collect himself after seeing that, and then explained that he won. Niko looked from him to the guy on the mat and went "Oh.", before excusing himself from the ring.

Dragon Ball: Universe Zero

Eclipse

Name: Niko Renzo

Alias: Eclipse

Age: 20

Species: Human

Max Health / Power Level: 700

Focuses: Speed > Attack > Defense

Appearance:


Niko stands at about 5'8" and looks to have had physical training to the tune of more an athletic approach than bulk strength. He is a wiry sort, rather flexible in terms of build. Generally seen in collared shirts and jeans, gloves or not. Usually in darker colors out of preference, but he has others in his wardrobe. Also, he has a tendency to stare, like he's either people-watching or lost in thought. Sometimes, it looks more like he's trying to figure something out, specifically in a combat-related sense.

Biography:

Even in the future, things go wrong, sometimes. We may have increased scientific advancements in technology, medicine, and so on...but we can't cure things like human greed. That's taken willingly by anybody who ever did something crazy to make a buck. For instance, let's talk about that colonization of Mars. Not many people live there, but certainly you could mine there for new sources of material, fuels, chemicals, etc. When the door slammed open to allow access to all that Mars had to offer, the top company to make it big was the all-in and somewhat-dubious Martian Mining Corporation (MMC), staying only a small margin ahead of Resource and Management Incorporated (RAMI). This was due to the company somewat gambling its future, and also because of an incident that's been in litigation hell for a while now, the supposed sabotage and destruction of a vessel containing mining equipment and employees...including the parents of Niko Renzo.

Niko and his brother lost their parents at about the high school age. They had gone to Mars to oversee equipment personally and get more money for the boys' upcoming college years and...died in space, owing to what many believe was a deliberate act against the company, but could never be proven. With priorities changing towards a powerful need to support their lives, the two of them lived off of what their parents' deaths provided for them until they could join the armed services and train up to something useful. They were both naturally very sharp, and took to armed and unarmed combat training well. Niko managed especially well in his training, but accelerated in fighting in the dark or blind, and was a natural in sniping and gunplay. So, in his time, he was sometimes called upon to take out dangerous targets, spot for other soldiers, and essentially work in stealth when he had to get up-close-and-personal.

This all seemed to work in the act of supporting oneself, but for Niko it wasn't enough for two important reasons. First, although he was good at it, Niko didn't enjoy sniping. He performed his tasks because they were necessary, not because they might somehow amuse him. And the second was that his never heard anything about whether or not the MMC was responsible for the explosion in space. It could have been an accident, but it was the information was too scarce to really tell, or had been obsfucated. He wanted to do something about this, but how? This was a company. He couldn't just shoot them. He needed to find some way to re-open the case, locate new data, and so on. That was going to cost money, money he didn't have. Except...there WAS this martial arts tournament coming up, and there could be no doubt that he could fight as well as he could shoot a gun. What could he lose by trying?

Special Techniques: Tatsumaki-Ken (Tornado Fist) - Attack Boost

Theme!: For the heck of it.