Whoami

Rise of the Shield Hero - From Another World

I plan on getting something out this weekend! Been hella busy this week as it's the first week back to work after having a month off and traveling.

I hope you feel better soon, Van!!

Falling Skies: Reboot ver 2

Alone

(Mood Music)
(Environmental Ambience)

---

--Crash +24 minutes--

Beep... Beep... Beep... Distress beacon activated...

"Hnng..."

Beep... Beep... Beep... Distress beacon activated...

Aurelia shifted and rolled, groaning again as her sore body finally began to animate. The repetitious beeping and words the pod was blaring out was stirring her from unconsciousness.

Beep... Beep... Beep... Distress beacon activated...

Aurelia groaned a third time, "Haaa... Distress... Bea-" she tapered off, then gasped and immediately shot awake at the realization, "Distress Beacon!"

Completely unaware of her sore body, Aurelia practically threw herself to the crew interface of the life pod. It was international law that distress beacons were broadcasted on all channels, and that all citizens, regardless of loyalty, were mandated to respond. That meant everyone could hear the signal... Even the Coalition. Aurelia's hands hovered over the interface as her eyes darted over it, taking in the details and trying to work out how it was used.

Beep... Beep... Beep... Distress beacon activated...

"No! No! No! Turn off, dammit! Turn off!" she said. But one simply couldn't just turn off a life pod's distress beacon. She knew it too, but her sudden distress clouded her sensibilities. She pounded at the display, which yielded no results.

Aurelia looked around the pod, seeing that the air cushions had all deflated, their purposed served. Knick-knacks that Dearil had stored in the life pod were scattered about. There was a simple backpack with Dearil's name on it that was partly torn open in the crash. A first aid kit remained stowed on the pod's door, as well as a locked away pistol two magazines.

Beep... Beep... Beep... Distress beacon activated...

She had to get away from the pod. Now. Aurelia grabbed Dearil's backpack and opened it up, seeing what sort of things he had stowed away in it. There was a change of civilian clothes wrapped in a watertight pouch, too big for her, but at least it was something. She pulled out two bottles of Hyperwater, which made her smile softly despite the fresh loss. He loved that stuff... Also in the bag was a set camping supplies, a roll of para-cord, a multi-tool, a compass, and some firestarters. Dearil obviously never intended to use any of it, but she was glad that he had prepared a survival bag just in case. Even gone, he was still somehow looking out for her.

Searching deeper, Aurelia came upon a small journal and writing utensil. She opened it and immediately saw written letters from his wife and daughter. How old fashioned, but yet so endearing. The letters immediately reminded her of the picture Dearil had given her before they departed the Hammerhand. She reached underneath her chest plate and pulled out the picture, looking over both Jenna and their adorable daughter. She hadn't noticed the lip stick smudge on the corner of the photo. Aurelia felt tears welling up in her eyes. He was so close to seeing them again... Until she had barged her way into his ship... Made him a target... "Oh God, Dearil... I'm so sorry!" she breathed, holding the picture to her chest and letting the tears streak her cheeks.

Then she heard it... Beep... Beep... Beep... Distress signal received. Rescue is en route.

Aurelia looked back at the interface, seeing the display. All responders to a distress beacon always broadcasted an identifying code to the beacon in order to inform the survivor who was coming to get them. Imperial government identifiers always started with UER, followed by the unit's serial number. The ID wasn't Imperial... The Coalition was using the beacon to home in on her position. Aurelia took one last look at Dearil's photo, then carefully placed it back underneath her chest plate. "I'll get this to your family, Dearil... They need to hear it from me..."

She stuffed all of the supplies back into the bag, then she took the first aid kit and put it into the bag as well. Aurelia then took the pistol, loaded a magazine, pulled back the slide, and put it on safe. She placed the pistol on the magnetic carrier on her left thigh plate, then slung the bag over her shoulders. Aurelia then climbed out of the pod, her eyes squinting as the rays of sunlight beamed through the forest canopy above. All around her, she could hear alien creatures singing and communicating. Cerol was quite a vibrant world. Perhaps one day it could be a paradise for all humanity to visit. She didn't let herself get distracted though. She heard a deeper noise, a sort of thrumming that reverbed off of the trees and surrounded her. It was mechanical... Engines... And MAS units...

Aurelia picked a random direction, and began to move...

---

--Crash +2 hours--

(Mood Music)

Just her luck...

Of all of the directions she could have gone... She ended up heading straight for the enemy. Now she was stuck laying on the forest floor underneath a dense bush, hoping the Coalition would move on so she didn't need to hide anymore. What surprised Aurelia the most was the camp that the Coalition was bivouaced in. It looked well developed, like they had been there for quite some time undetected by the UEE. There was equipment and crates strewn about with optical camouflage tents and mesh hung up in the canopy. Four MAS units stood side by side, all unoccupied. A tight beam communications tent was set up to allow for discreet communications off world... But to where? It seemed that the pilots in this camp were so confident and comfortable that they weren't going to be discovered that they had even laxed their security. How many hidden camps were on Cerol right under the UEE's nose? How long were they there for?

Aurelia watched one man sit at the comms tent, monitoring the net. She overheard the chatter... Other patrols were talking, using words that suggested that there were other camps in the area set on locating her. She heard 'princess', 'the daughter', and even her very name being used on the net. She was very clearly their objective, and she had practically just handed herself over to them by stumbling upon their camp. Aurelia remained silent, at least they didn't know she was there. Perhaps she could turn this into an advantage...

Her eyes fixated on the comms tent. She saw a map of the local area on a table, as well as markers pinned on it which she deduced was likely the other camp locations. That tent was a gold mine of valuable intel... But what would she do if she got there? Shoot the guard and alert the whole forest? Go up against three other covert operatives on her own? As valuable as the tent was, it would practically be a suicide mission... Not worth the risk... Then her eyes turned back to the MAS units, their chest cavities opened and awaiting their pilots, should the need arise, and the power already on in all of them for a hasty call to action. Three of the MAS units looked like slightly upgraded Fenrir models, fitted for covert operations. But the fourth looked entirely different. It looked more threatening. It stood taller than the Fenrirs, its legs in a reverse jointed configuration. The armor plating was painted red, which was covered in more optical camo netting to break the color up while it wasn't in use. She recognized the frame from the holos when she was in the academy. A Helheimr, a rare and devastating unit used as a vanguard in initial engagements. They were notorious in the UEE for the punishment they could both take and dish out.

Slung over one shoulder was a fresh pelt of a large predator. She recognized the head of the beast, it was a Cerol Riverdrake. An animal that reached its size and ferocity by living in large rivers of Cerol's famous 'hyperwater' channels and springs. Whoever the pilot of the Helheimr was, he seemed to enjoy big game hunting. A deep, threatening hiss diverted her attention from the intimidating MAS. She followed the sound to look beyond the MAS, spotting a cage hidden under a particularly thick part of the forest canopy. There was another Riverdrake, live and imprisoned... It was most likely waiting to be skinned and carved much like the one on the Helheimr. Maybe it was sort of unit tradition for these operators? To adorn their mechs with a planet's biggest and fiercest inhabitants? Or perhaps it was meant to further adorn the Helheimr. She didn't know, and frankly she didn't care. Aurelia quickly formulated a plan and watched as a pilot stepped out to admire the drake in the cage. The drake stared back at him with intelligent eyes and growled threateningly, not that the pilot was threatened with the bars in between them.

She quietly unslung her backpack and pulled the first aid kit from it. Opening it, Aurelia produced the auto-injector. It was shaped similarly to a pistol. The top would fit phials of different drugs to rapidly administer them to a patient. She looked at what the kit had available and slotted a morphine phial into the auto-injector. She turned a dial on the back of the injector to set the dose to maximum. It would be a single use dose, but it wouldn't make any noise unlike her pistol. And she wouldn't need to take a life...

Aurelia closed the backpack and brought it back over her shoulders. The ripped piece of fabric on the pack snagged a branch and pulled the bush, causing the leaves to rustle. Aurelia froze from the noise and watched the pilot take his eyes away from the drake to bush. He didn't see her, but given the battle in the skies above and the fact they were on an enemy world, he showed caution. "Please think it's just an animal..." she thought to herself, her hand white-knuckling the auto-injector.

The pilot looked back at the drake, then grinned as he slowly drew a long hunting knife. He slowly began stepping toward the bush. Toward her. He let out a little whistle like he was calling a dog. Aurelia's eyes went to the pelt, then to the captive drake. "He does think I'm an animal... And not in a good way..." It was the hunter.

"Come on out, little chickie~ Ol' Jones is hungry."

Aurelia clenched her jaw. She couldn't move anywhere without him seeing her. All she could do was remain in place and let the bush conceal her. She brought the auto-injector slowly at the ready. She would have one shot to get him down quietly. She rattled the bush a bit more, trying to convince him that an animal was indeed occupying it. Meanwhile, she brought a leg up and dig her heel into the soil. She had to be ready to pounce out at him. Looking beyond him, she saw the Riverdrake was growling quietly and watching both the hunter and Aurelia. She heard it take deep sniffs of air, and she could tell that it knew there was a human in the bush. Still, the drake seemed to wait patiently and watch.

A footstep cracking branches turned her attention back on the hunter. He was close now. Just a few more steps and she would be in striking distance. Aurelia braced her other hand in the dirt. The hunter reached a hand out to start slowly shifting branches and leaves. "Come to rescue mommy and daddy drake have you?"

The moment the large leaf in front of Aurelia was being pushed aside, she struck. Aurelia pushed herself toward him, bursting from the bush quickly and driving the auto-injector into his leg, using her free hand to cover his mouth and one of her legs to pin his knife hand to the ground as he fell back with her on top. Auto-injectors are designed to work fast, very fast. And with the morphine dose set to maximum, the hunter was left a slobbering mess on the forest floor in seconds. When Aurelia struck, the Riverdrake made more deep growls and hisses, masking the noise of their tumbling. Aurelia looked up at the drake and saw it staring right back at her. There was much more about the beast than simple ferocity. She could see it in its eyes. There was a burning intelligence in them as it figured her out.

Aurelia stood up over the pilot and cautiously approached the caged drake. It watched her as she made her way to the cage gate. The drake growled again, but not in the same way it had regarded the hunter. It looked away from her and at the spring lock fitted underneath a cover that only a human hand could fit in. Aurelia looked over her shoulder, seeing that the camp hadn't been alerted to the sound of Arelia's takedown. She looked back at the drake. It watched her, and this time it was dead silent. She saw its hind legs tighten up beside it as it aligned its body to the gate of the cage, no doubt getting ready to launch out if she opened the cage for it. Aurelia reached for the lock and took a deep breath. "Please don't eat me... Pleaaase don't eat me!" she whispered quickly and quietly to herself.

Then she pulled the bar up and back against the spring, allowing the large deadbolt to slide back and out of place. The gate slackened and Aurelia dove to the side as the Riverdrake wasted no time to burst out of the cage. It let out an immense roar which drew the three other pilots out of their tents. "Ah shit! Jones' pet got out! Get th-" he was cut off by the drake leaping headlong into him.

The pilot let out a bloodcurdling cry as the drake's jaw clamped around him, sinking the long, venomous fangs into his body. The drake swung its head around, using the force of the swinging to rip and tear into the pilot and break his bones. His mouth was frothing a yellow, acidic foam as the Riverdrake's venom took action. His body began to sizzle and cook from the venom now inside his mangled body. The drake dropped the body and looked at the next pilot who drew his pistol. He screamed and fired at it, but the small caliber rounds plinked harmlessly off of its rock hard scales.

Aurelia didn't stop to watch the carnage. She ran for the Helheimr and climbed up the MAS unit's entry ladder. She jumped into the cockpit and quickly hit the switch to close the cavity around her. The UEE was always behind the Coalition in MAS technology. In fact, if it wasn't for a half dozen captured Fenrir I's, the UEE would have never have even developed a comparable MAS at all. Since so many UEE model MAS units were based off of Coalition designs, the cockpits were naturally similar. There were some differences in the operating systems and layouts of certain buttons and switches, but for the most part, things were very recognizable.

"Welcome aboard, pilot." a virtual intelligence inside the MAS greeted her as the sensors displays in the walls of the cockpit activated. Soon, her steel coffin opened up into a seemingly transparent enclosure, allowing her to see around herself at all angles. She heard a scream, amplified by the Helheimr's audio sensors. Her eyes were once again diverted to the Riverdrake as it was repeatedly raking its massive claws over the pilot that had shot at it.

"The Ragnarok is all systems green. You have the controls." the VI said.

Aurelia took the helmet, which was wired into the MAS and hung up on the side of the seat, and placed it over her head. A bunch of readouts and technical data was highlighted on the helmet's HUD. She quickly took the controls and began with a simple walk. The Ragnarok ripped through its optic camo netting and blankets. Once she was clear of the makeshift MAS harbor, she brought the Ragnarok into a sprint, crashing through trees and brush.

The last coalition pilot in the camp ran into the comms tent and grabbed a hold of the radio. With a quick, ragged breath, she spoke into the radio. "All camps, all camps! This is Gamma Patrol! The princess has been sighted! She is in the Ragnarok! I say again, the princess is in the Rag-" he stopped when he heard a hiss behind him.

The pilot looked over his shoulder as saw the long snout of the Riverdrake pushing slowly through the opening in the tent. It's nostrils flared as it opened its jaw just two feet in front of him. The pilot was frozen with fear, but the drake didn't care. It snapped at him, and dove into the tent. The massive body of the Riverdrake ripped the opti-cam blanket apart and destroyed the tent as it threw itself around with the pilot screaming inside.

---

--Crash +2 hours, 29 minutes--

(Mood Musc)

Aurelia had set the Ragnarok's VI to take care of simple ground navigation while she did what she could to familiarize herself with the AAT-9. She reviewed the weapon systems the MAS was outfitted with, as well as the armor specs. Knowing the reputation the Helheimr has throughout the UEE, and seeing the classified armor characteristics for herself, she now completely understood why these MAS units were so notorious. For a medium MAS, these things were practically unstoppable once they were moving! That was great for Aurelia.

Aurelia heard a ping in her ear, followed by the VI's voice. "Be advised, friendly units approaching at your seven o'clock. Check fire."

Aurelia looked back over her shoulder, spotting three Fenrir units barreling through the forest after her. "Pilot override: reconfigure IFF." Aurelia said.

"Override confirmed. Set new IFF parameters now." the VI said.

Aurelia designated Coalition signatures as hostiles. If she got out of this mess, she'd have to spend some time to fully reconfigure the IFFs to include UEE units, but for now this would have to do. The holographic radar projected in front of her changed the blue pips denoting the Fenrirs to red. She powered up the Ragnarok's shields, the energy fields sparking to life around the MAS and sizzling smaller plants and branches around the unit. A hail came through in her ear, "Ragnarok, this is Captain Greer. Stand down and surrender or we will open fire on you. This doesn't need to get bloody, princess."

Aurelia acquired a lock on the lead Fenrir in the pack fired her thrusters to keep her forward momentum as she spun the Rangarok to face her pursuers. She levelled the MAS unit's laser cannon on the Fenrir and opened up with a volley of low power shots. The beams ripped through the brush, causing fires in the proximity of the lasers from the heat alone. The Fenrir's shields took the hits, but it did server to stop all three units in their tracks. Aurelia was met with a volley of ballistic rounds being spat back at her. The high performance shields took the hits and dispersed the kinetic energy.

"You're making a mistake, captain!" Aurelia responded to him, "My forces are already looking for me! How far do you think you'll make it away with me? If you value your life, let me go!"

"It ain't that simple, girl. Now judging by that shot, you aren't the most experienced combat pilot out there. Well my men are. You're outnumbered. Our next shots wont be so merciful. Give up." Captain Greer said flatly. He was right.

Aurelia gritted her teeth and turned away from them again, using her primary boosters to launch ahead faster. The weight and momentum of the MAS allowed it to blow through the smaller trees in her path. More shots ripped through the woods behind the Ragnarok, all of them finding purchase with the Ragnarok's shields. With the shields on the Ragnarok designed to harden in the forward arcs, the rear shields left a little more to be desired. The first three rounds were stopped by the shield, but the fourth and fifth pierced through and hit one of the main boosters. There was a small explosion as the plasma thruster misfired and tipped the Ragnarok off balance. Aurelia gasped as the MAS tumbled forward and fell face first into the soil. She was quick to recover, bringing the MAS to its feet and returning it to a run. Without the assistance of the boosters to skate, Aurelia would be considerably slower.

The Fenrirs were gaining on her now. The red pips now crossing over into the next distance ring at fifty meters. Then, more red pips appeared on her radar in front of her. Aurelia let out a frustrated, defeated sigh. She was being cut off! Then the VI spoke in her ear, "Warning, enemy signatures detected at your twelve o'clock. Scans suggest UEE EM signatures."

Aurelia's eyes lit up. The UEE! They're here for her! Aurelia heard the sound of a lock-on warning, then the flat tone of an incoming missile. A yellow flashing pip showed up on her radar that was approaching her fast. She quickly engaged her side boosters, jinking to the right and blowing through a large tree. The missile hissed past the Ragnarok and slammed into woods ahead, causing a concussive blast that blew down some smaller trees and rocked the Rangarok. Aurelia needed to get into contact with the UEE fast, but she didn't have any way of getting onto their encrypted network. She opted for an open broadcast. It wasn't like her presence in the Ragnarok wasn't known by any of her enemies as it was.

“This is Sunray, requesting assistance!” she said, “I repeat! This is Sunray, I am being pursued by Coalition forces!”

The Ragnarok burst forward through another tree. She was relieved to find herself breaking out into open ground. At least she'd have more freedom of movement, even if it did mean she lost her cover. Aurelia spotted some of the UEE MAS units which made her breathe with relief. Behind her, the Fenrirs burst out into the clearing not far from her. Using her forward boosters, Aurelia turned and fired them to once again keep her momentum while facing the Fenrir units. She brought the arm fitted with the repulsor shield up to add for her forward shield strength while letting loose a few more volleys of laser fire. The extra hardened shield did well to stop the accurate fire the Fenrirs were putting on her.

Aurelia kept on firing as she spoke over the open comms channel, “This is Sunray, I’ve got three Coalition Fenrirs on my tail!”

The VI spoke again, "EM spike detected."She was taken by surprise when a laser shot lanced past her and punched into the nearest Fenrir pursuing her, sending it crashing into the crash in a spray of dirt and fire.

The shot was quickly followed up with a transmission, "Sunray it's Pipsqueak. That laser blast came from my squadmate Grizzly, adjust your course to regroup with his MAS - it's a little hard to miss."

Aurelia understood but didn't transmit back. She didn't want the Coalition to get a semblance of their plans by her speaking on an open channel. She followed the radar signature from the EM spike and began running toward Grizzly. The other two Fenrirs quickly broke for cover to engage the new, more pressing threats. While she moved, Aurelia watched as the Coalition units were quickly being taken care by the UEE units. It almost looked easy... Who were these guys?

"That was... disappointingly easy." DISAPPOINTING?! EASY?! "Sunray, you still with us? Circle back to-" Aurelia saw the immobilized Coalition MAS fire off another one of its missiles at the Kolibri and blast it off its feet.

Aurelia quickly changed the Ragnarok's course to run to the Kolibri and make sure the pilot was unharmed. Thankfully, Aurelia's worries for the pilot were quickly doused when she heard Pipsqueak over the net, "Sunray. This is, unfortunately. Still Pipsqueak. I'm a little banged up now and cannot use my radars to locate you, please return to the…blast site, and we'll regroup."

Already on it. In a matter of seconds, the Ragnarok was co-located with the Kolibri. Aurelia popped the chest cavity of the Helheimr open and jumped out of the cockpit with Dearil's backpack over one shoulder. She climbed up onto the sprawled out MAS and used the emergency access handle to force open the cockpit. Looking inside, Aurelia saw the pilot. "Don't move! Are you hurt?! I have first aid supplies!" she was already fishing out the first aid kit from the bag.

Rise of the Shield Hero - From Another World

Showdown

(Mood Music)

Auriel watched Rayla as she explained how many times she had heard the very line Auriel had delivered. Quite frankly, she didn't care how many times she had heard it. When she mentioned Cole running the risk of bleeding out, Auriel shook her head. "He'll be fine. Because unlike you, he has friends to watch his back."

As if on cue, Fer was already providing a healing potion to Cole. "Things must really be tight for you if you forgot about even the most essential pieces of equipment for any adventurer. I don't care how many times people have told you that you're meeting your end. The bottom line is this: You have no men. You're cornered. You're outnumbered. And this little church rat has trained her whole life to fight battles more important than you. To slay monsters more sinister and more invincible than you think you are. As the chosen Holy Warrior of the Four, I, Auriel Asher, sentence you, Rayla Winters, to death. You may defend yourself, but your life is already forfeit."

As she spoke those last words, Auriel's body began to emanate holy light. In an instant, the light flashed out brightly, flooding the dark cave with what seemed like the light of an unblocked star. The flash was bright enough to force one to look away, and that was all Auriel needed to lunge forward with her legendary spear of Archiel. The deadly golden tip lanced forward amidst the light, intent on striking Rayla in the shoulder of her sword arm. It would have been all to easy to go for the heart, but that would have been the most obvious move, and even blinded, a skilled warrior would reflexively try and parry that. She was hoping Rayla would do just that, and leave herself exposed for the disarming jab.

Rise of the Shield Hero - From Another World

I will do my damnedest to make so.e time and get a post out today. I still have some things on my plate for the day, but if I have to stay up a bit later tonight to get a post out I will.

EDIT: Oh hey I posted :D

Auriel has a new skill! It was perhaps one she always knew to use, but hadn't had the strength to use it since her defeat against the hordes. Nevertheless, Auriel can now use 'Blinding Light'! Her divine power radiates outward from her body is an impossibly bright, but brief flash, in order to stun, blind, and disorient those around her. Being that she can't direct the light, it unfortunately will effect anyone, friend or foe, around her unless they're warned to cover their eyes. Against undead and demonic beings, Blinding Light will even cause then to burn and scorch, and the closer they are to Auriel at the time of the flash, the more severe the effect is for them. For undead and demons within arm's reach of her, the flash will disintegrate lesser undead and demons.

Rise of the Shield Hero - From Another World

I am currently busy with army things but I can get something out this week. ^.^

Rise of the Shield Hero - From Another World

I've been waiting on Omni >.>

Falling Skies: Reboot ver 2

Pursuit

(Mood Music)

Dearil powered the transport on and flipped through all of the switches the pre-flight called for. He fitted his helmet on and spoke over the ship's intercom, "Welcome aboard the River Styx. We'll be departing momentarily. Please ensure your helmets are on and your seals are secure as I will be depressurizing the ship prior before take-off. Wouldn't want a piece of space debris puncturing the hull and sucking you all into space now." Dearil made sure not to finish that sentence with the fact that it happens frequently... An set of inquisitive eyes would easily spot the myriad of welded breach panels all over the walls of the ship's interior. Such things were common in a battle space.

After the pre-flight was complete, Dearil confirmed with his passengers that their helmets were secured before closing the rear ramp and depressurizing the hold. There was a hiss as the air was vented from the ship. Dearil watched on a display as the ship's O2 storage tanks filled. An atmospheric readout showed that internal pressure was nil. He nodded to himself and powered up the engines, the landing gear of the ship leaving the deck of the Hammerhand. "Hammerhand Tower, this is River Styx. Pre-flight checks completed. Requesting permission to launch. Over."

"River Styx. Hammerhand Tower. You are clear to launch. Take egress lane five for five kilometers before breaking to your destination. Over."

"Roger, Hammerhand. River Styx launching now, out." With that, Dearil pushed forward on his throttle. The VTOL engines rotated to be parallel with the ship. They fired, sending loose papers and space dust flying backward in the Hammerhand's hangar. One unlucky deckhand had his bottle of hyperwater sent flying out the air shield hangar's ingress gate. Good thing Dearil already got the money for that one.

The River Styx was a cumbersome beast. As were all Carry-Alls. They weren't meant for fancy aerobatics or high speed. They were heavy lifters, and such instant acceleration would jostle the cargo or the passengers in the hold too much. The power the engines had to put out to get the ship moving at a decent speed was quite high. It also had the tack-on effect that slowing the Carry-All down was just as tough. But once it reached cruising speed, there would be little in its size range that could stop it. Dearil banked the ship right and pulled into the egress lane prescribed to him by the Hammerhand. It was a UEE standard for all ships to have multiple lanes to enter and exit the ship through for non-combative ships. In larger scales, the space between ships would often be cluttered and abuzz with activity. Such lanes prevented avoidable collisions from happening. Dearil had been reprimanded once or twice for accidentally flying into another lane. The lanes were uploaded to the ship's flight computer and projected into the pilot's visor as an AR overlay.

Dearil did his usual line of sight checks, rotating and swiveling his head on his shoulders to find out what was immediately visible to him from the cockpit. He saw the Hammerhand to his right as he flew down his lane, and the Horizon Point station more ahead of him. To his left, Dearil saw the distant destination marker on his HUD denoting the Roanoke, the ship he was posted to. As he flew down the lane and continued to slowly accelerate, Dearil noticed a brief flash of light on Horizon Point station. "What the..."

He zoomed in with the HUD on his helmet, the advanced sensors and computers superimposing a window in his immediate field of view of an enlarged picture. The computers worked to enhance the definition of the zoom in, allowing him to see Horizon Point in much greater detail than what his eyes would have allowed. He saw a black scorch mark and debris getting sucked out into space where the flash had been observed. Then he saw another flash- no... an explosion! Then another! And soon all of Horizon Point was breaking up and alight with brief fireballs. The concussive force of the blasts knocked the station off of its orbit, spinning it slightly on its axis as the centrifuge was disrupted and breaking up.

In seconds, Dearil's alarmed were blaring and his comms screen was alight with emergency signals. "Shit." he said, gritting his teeth. Not long after, Dearil was receiving orders to divert his flight path to assist in recovery operations, to which Dearil instantly denied. His flight path was going to take him right past Horizon Point, and thus its debris field. He wasn't about to risk the Princess trying to fly through that. He suddenly banked left and broke out of his egress lane to peel straight for the Roanoke. Dearil heard his radio start squawking his callsign like crazy.

"River Styx, you WILL obey this emergency directive!"

"River Styx, you will incur severe penalties if you do not carry out your orders for humanitarian aid."

"River Styx, return to your lane!"

Dearil growled and responded, "Fleet, this is River Styx! Sunray is aboard my transport. I say again! SUNRAY is aboard my transport. My mission supercedes yours. Kindly get the hell out of my ear!"

There was a long silence over the radio for a moment before one traffic controller responded, "River Styx, carry on with your assignment. Out."

Dearil let out a long sigh and slumped back in his seat. One nice thing about working with royalty, rules were tantalizingly easy to bend. Dearil lined his vector up with the Roanoke and sped toward the distant carrier. "Roanoke Tower, this is River Styx. I am on approach, ETA: twenty minutes. Be advised, Sunray is aboard my transport. Requesting landing priority."

"Roger, River Styx. Landing priority confirmed. All ingress lanes have been halted for your arrival- wait..."

Dearil blinked. He'd never been told to wait like that for landing clearance. What the hell was going on today? Was the Roanoke being assigned to help at Horizon Point too? While Dearil waited silently, he heard multiple pings on his short range scanner. He looked up and saw a number of red pips on the display. More alerts and alarmed sounded in his cockpit. The most harrowing of the alerts was a cold, emotionless "Contact. Coalition IFFs detected within Fleet security perimeter." Horizon Point was no accident.

The shockwave from Horizon Point's explosion finally reached the River Styx, causing the whole ship to shake and groan. He heard a voice chime in through the ship's intercom, "Is everything alright, Dearil?"

Dearil didn't want to tell the princess that things were most certainly not alright. But he didn't really have much of a choice. "Strap in, princess! The Coalition is here and Horizon Point is sunk! I'm burning hard for the Roanoke!"

---

<<: ... Incoming transmission ... ;
<<: ... Signal Origin: UEES Hammerhand ... ;

<<: ... "This is Hightower. Confirmed. The target is aboard a lone transport and has just departed the Hammerhand. It has no escorts. Now is the chance to secure her." ... ;

<<: ... Transmission ends ... ;

Captain Fernaldo Ghent of the Coalition Special Tasks and Intelligence Fleet sat in the captain's chair of his stealth cruiser. He listened to the transmission and smirked. It seemed that black mailing and threatening the chief petty officer's family paid off. That was precisely the information he wanted to hear. Not only that, but his double agents in the UEE orbital platform pulled off their part of the plan without a hitch. It was all too easy. The black cruiser remained just outside the detection range of the fleet's inner perimeter, the stealth materials used in the STIF ship were more than capable at remaining undetected in passive sensors.

He order his sensors operator to filter out the UEE fleet before them to find this transport that Hightower had identified. He would see a number of transports, all headed toward the wreckage of Horizon Point. But one wasn't. One was headed away from the wreckage unlike everything else. Surely enough. THAT was the one that held his target. He tapped at a comms screen built into the armrest of his chair, "Commander. Your squadron has been waiting long enough. Our quarry has been found. Capture the target, kill the rest."

In the compact hangar of the stealth cruiser, four C-MAD MAS units waiting in launch tubes began powering up. Much like the stealth cruiser that carried them, these units were all black and fitted with stealth materials as well to compliment the cruiser's capabilities. The stealth armor was lighter and offered less protection against attacks. But it allowed for greater speeds and greatly reduced the distance the distance the MAS would need to be at in order to be detected by radar. They were the perfect units for a stealthy retrieval mission such as this. Fitted to the backs of the stealth units were overboosters to quickly launch them through a defensive perimeter.

The launch tubes powered on and sent the MAS units out into the cold vacuum of space. They all reoriented toward their highlighted target and fired the overboosters. The blue ion thrusters accelerating them to unprecedented speeds remarkably quick. They would show up on the UEE's sensors only briefly before the overboosters were discarded.

---

Dearil looked ahead and saw that a battle had already broken out between the River Styx and the Roanoke. It was likely the 7th giving the Coalition hell. But it didn't bode well for him or the princess as they had to pass right through the chaos. "This is going to be a rough ride, princess! Hold on tight!"

After saying that, Dearil heard some voices over the radio. Fleet command had dispatched an ISS frigate and a squadron of ISS MAS units to link up with the River Styx and act as escorts. But they were ten minutes out, and they were requesting that the transport powered down to reduce its signature and wait for them to arrive. Dearil wasn't keen on being dead in the water while a battle was waged all around them. Plus all the extra attention from the ISS would draw all the action toward them anyways. Dearil kept powering ahead toward the Roanoke and hailed the carrier. "Roanoke, this is River Styx. I'm going to need an escort as I pass through the battle space. The ISS is too far out to provide support for Sunray. Requesting the 7th's supp-"

The Carry-All was suddenly and violently rocked by a shot from a ballistic cannon. The ship span from the impact as alarms blared. It took Dearil a moment to regain control of the ship. "What the hell was that?! he looked around from his cockpit and spotted four black MAS units firing at the River Styx. An alarm sounded, which drew his attention to the diagnostics readout. Engine two was disabled and fuel was leaking from the nacelle.

"This is River Styx! Contact! I am being engaged by four times Coalition irregulars! I've lost power to one engine. Sunray is aboard this ship! I say again! Sunray is aboard! I need immediate assistance!"

Another shot hit the River Styx, rocking it once again. Thankfully, Dearil was prepared this time and kept the ship under control. More alarms blared, and Dearil saw that life support had been disabled. Good thing they weren't using that right now. Another shot hit the engine remaining engine, but the armor held. They're trying to disable the ship! Do they know who's on board?!

Dearil looked at a screen that had a video feed of the cargo hold. He saw Aurelia sitting straight backed in her seat, her whitened knuckles clutching tightly at the seat's restraints. She had her eyes closed. One of her ISS bodyguards laid unconscious on the floor, a crack in his helmet showed that he likely was hit in the head by loose crate. The other agent was knelt over him, trying to seal the crack with a plasticene foam. This was bad... Dearil knew that at that this rate, these irregular MAS units would have the princess before help could arrive. He switched off the inertial dampeners of his ship, allowing it to drift on its vector without input from the pilot. He then rotated the ship on its axis, bringing the nose to face its pursuers. Dearil tried to acquire a lock on the MAS units, but their stealth coating was making it difficult. "Fuck... Manual it is."

A shot ripped past the ship and missed. Dearil slaved the nose turret of the River Styx to his helmet, which tracked his eye movement. It would aim wherever he looked. He looked down, seeing that the AR display of his visor linked to the sensors underneath the cockpit of the ship. He was effectively able to see through the floor of the River Styx and operate the turret outside of what he could normally see. One MAS passed in front of him, which he quickly began to track. A quick burst of the small caliber ammunition traced out and missed the MAS. Manual aiming wasn't easy... He fired another burst, closer this time but still no dice. Another cannon shot came at the River Styx and hit just to the right of the cockpit, piercing directly into one of the large retro thrusters. The shot caused a small explosion, and the reinforced glass of the cockpit shattered, exposing Dearil directly to the vacuum of space. He was once again glad that he depressurized the ship. The glass exploded in every direction through the cockpit, a larger shard embedding itself in his lower abdomen. He groaned and bit down hard on his teeth to fight back the pain. Dearil kept piloting however. His third burst tracked a different MAS ahead of him, and he managed to score a series of hits on the armor of the MAS. The shield generator on the MAS stopped a number of the rounds, but some made it through and connected with the armor. He saw sparking flying from the shoulder joint of the MAS as it began to take evasive maneuvers.

"This is River Styx! Where is that god damn support!" he yelled. Pain lanced through his body from the glass in his gut. Thankfully his flight suit had worked to seal around the shard so he wouldn't be exposed to the radiation of space.

Another accurate shot from one of the stealth MAS units went straight into the nose turret. He let go of the turret controls with a frustrated gasp. A second shot hit the last engine, and this time it had done what it needed to do. The engine exploded, and with the inertial dampeners off, the River Styx was sent into a spin. Dearil tried to rearm the inertial dampeners, but they were disabled as well. There was nothing he could do in the pilot seat anymore. Dearil removed his harness and climbed from the pilot's seat, a hand firmly placed on his gut as blood floated from the shard. He held firmly onto a hand rail and made his way down into the cargo bay, the ship rocking again. Red emergency lights flared and span in the bay and klaxons sounded, though all Dearil could hear was the klaxons being dull and muffled through the vibrations of the hull. He saw that the ISS agent with the cracked helmet was dead, and the other was standing in front of the princess to shield her from debris in the hold.

Aurelia looked up and saw the injured Ferryman stagger down from the cockpit. "Dearil!"

The ISS agent looked over to him and took Aurelia's cry as a sign to go and help him. The ship rocked again as he took a few steps toward him. Suddenly, another cannon round pierced the hull. It ripped right through the ISS agent, turning his entire upper half into red mist. Dearil's suit was smeared with the ISS agent's blood, and his visor was blinded briefly until he used his hand to wiped the blood away. Dearil heard another alert sound in ear, which made him look at his wrist computer. The River Styx was sent into a decaying orbit. It was falling toward Cerol! He knelt before Aurelia who had a very worried expression on her face, "Princess! You need to get out of your seat!"

"What's happening?!" she asked worriedly, "You're injured, Dearil! How do I help you?"

Dearil shook his head, "Don't worry about me." He pointed next to the ladder that lead to the cockpit. "There's an escape pod there! It's good for four people. We need to get into it now!"

Aurelia nodded as Dearil took her hand and pulled her from her seat. He pushed her ahead of him, "I'm right behind you, Aurelia! Go!"

The ship rocked again and Aurelia fell to her knees. Dearil picked her up and moved her along. He reached into a pouch and pulled out his good luck charm. "Come on, baby, hold together!" he said to his ship.

Another round pierced the hull and just narrowly missed the two. Then they heard the sound of something heavy making contact with the ship. A MAS had just grabbed hold of the River Styx. They were going to board! Dearil reached out and shoved Aurelia forward into the escape pod with the hand that was holding his charm. It floated into the pod with her. Before she could turn around, Dearil slammed on a button to seal the pod. Aurelia screamed and pounded against the door of the pod. "Dearil! What are you doing?!"

"This is Ferryman. Sunray is aboard a lifepod and is ejecting toward Cerol. Send a recovery team immediately."

Dearil saw a plasma cutter beginning to shear away at the cargo bay ramp. He pulled a submachine gun off of a weapons rack and stood in front of the lifepod's door.

"Dearil! Let me out! Don't do this!" she cried.

The ramp blew open and a pilot in tan and black armor surged through. Dearil opened fire on the pilot, but he was inaccurate in his wounded state. The shots missed, and Dearil was answered with three fatal shots to the chest. He gasps and slumped back against the door. He heard Aurelia scream again just as the pod launched.

---

Aurelia watched through the small window at the River Styx. The wounded beast was flaming in more than one place as it span violently. She cried out for Dearil again, ignoring the fact that he wouldn't hear her. Then the River Styx exploded, taking the MAS that was attached to it with it. Her eyes widened as the fireball illuminated the dark pod. Then she heard alarms blaring within the pod. It took her a moment to collect herself and realize her situation.

"Warning... Atmospheric reentry detected. All survivors brace for landfall. Warning... Atmospheric reentry detected. All survivors brace for landfall. Warning..."

Aurelia looked around the pod and saw a display showing the pod's speed and time until it made impact. She grabbed a hold of a handrail and clung to it for dear life. The automated system in the lifepod continued to brief her.

"Landfall imminent. Deploying chute. Firing retro thrusters. Engaging crash padding."

Multiple panels in the hull of the pod opened up. Large air bags quickly inflated and obscured the steel walls. Aurelia could feel the deceleration from the pod's automated landfall procedures. The whole pod rumbled as it breached through the atmosphere. The surface of Cerol was fast approaching.

"Landfall in ten... nine... eight... SOS beacon active... seven... six... five... Brace for impact... four... three... two... one... Impact..."

Aurelia was sent into one of the air bags, and all went dark...

Falling Skies: Reboot ver 2

Dossier, Aurelia Invicta

Casual Appearance

MAS Flight Suit

Imperial Uniform

Aurelia Invicta

The Emperor's Youngest

Age
20

Callsign/Nicknames/Monikers
Princess - For obvious reasons, it is her official title after all
Heiress - Used by her siblings to tease her that she will likely never be the Empress of the UEE
Sunray - The military codeword used in reference to Aurelia in order to mask her identity during transmissions, datalogs, and radio communications

Kills
0

Psychological Analysis
Aurelia is a very conflicted young woman. She recognizes her status as a daughter of the Emperor, and understands that there are certain responsibilities and duties that are required of the royal family. But she also doesn't like that her destiny has been set in stone merely because of the family she was born to. Not to be misunderstood, Aurelia is a proud member of the Invicta royal line. However, she has set out to accomplish her own goals and forge a reputation for herself instead of simply inheriting the respect and reputation that is afforded to her family name. To that end, Aurelia has become somewhat disconnected from her other siblings after seeing how they so quickly adopted the Invicta history of their forebears. Much to Aurelia's personal distaste, she sees her family's ideology of perpetuating the war with the Coalition as a means to justify the need for power and control over the people. Aurelia isn't fond of war, and she is especially off put by the thought that billions of people across hundreds of worlds are surviving, fighting, and dying for a dynasty of people that they will never even lay eyes on.

Aurelia performs her duty as a battlespace commander both to honor the tradition of the royal line, and to discover a means to end the bloodshed for the good of all people: UEE, Coalition, or otherwise. Aurelia is often seen as a bit fragile compared to her siblings. Where her older brothers and sisters take flight into battles and revel in battle honors at the expense of Coalition lives, Aurelia would much prefer to take a gentler approach. She has earned a reputation for being a bit too soft, and as an inexperienced commander, it has drawn out the skepticism of her newly appointed senior staff. Aurelia promises that she will command to attain victory for the UEE, but the gentler soul she has always been while growing in the Imperial Palace on Terra suggests that when push comes to shove, she wont be able to bring herself to command the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands of lives.

Personal Record
Born as the sixth and final child of the aging Emperor Octavius Invicta, Aurelia grew up being pampered and closely guarded. All through her young years, she showed traits that were very unlike her older siblings. Aurelia was a gentle girl who preferred not to command her servants and use her authority, but instead befriended them and learned things that no one else in her family would even be bothered to know. When her brothers and sisters were learning the family's esteemed history of war and the theory behind their strategic successes at her age, Aurelia was nose deep in books that wrote of history's greatest pacifists, humanitarians, and saints. Her interest in such things worried the Emperor since Aurelia would inevitably be sent to the Royal Academy to one day command one of the Empire's battlegroups, a tradition among the Invicta line to establish respect fit for a prince or princess, and perhaps one day a ruler.

He demanded that Aurelia's tutors forced the important teachings before her so that she would at the very least have a fundamental understanding of the position she was to step into. And thus, Aurelia began studying war in all of its facets. She didn't quite like it. While the grand stories of heroism were entertaining to Aurelia, she always seemed to show distaste for everything else. It was clear to her siblings and her father that Aurelia was going to struggle with dispensing her duty aboard a flagship. But he wasn't about to abandon the Invicta ways, and so he once again forced even more lessons and teaching onto her. Before being sent to the Academy, Aurelia was being thrust into the cockpit of a custom built MAS unit and sent into simulations both as a pilot and as a commander. Aurelia showed a great deal of disinterest in it all, she had certainly been paying attention. Even when pitted against her siblings, Aurelia proved herself to be capable at holding her own, even if she had favored more evasive and defensive tactics in contrast to usual UEE way of maximum battlespace aggression. In one instance, Aurelia had managed to outmaneuver the Crown Prince and heir to the Empire, Ardin, in a simulated battle around the infamous moon of Jehan, a battle that Ardin himself had taken part in.

While Aurelia still held her non-violent ways near and dear to her heart, she couldn't help but to feel a certain pang of pride in her victory over her older brother who was credited to be a very competent commander. That pride took her through the academy, where she continued to take the least violent and least aggressive paths to success. Her instructors and class mates grew rather tired of her ability to dance around a battle or force a surrender from the opposing team, but they couldn't help but to admit it was a thing of strategic brilliance to de-escalate a battle that had costed other candidate commander's hundreds of thousands of lives on both sides. She was effective at everything her instructors were trying to groom her not to be. The royal family had bred another fine commander, but completely unlike any other officer in the upper echelon of the Empire's command structure.

Having freshly graduated from the Royal Academy, Aurelia left Terra for the first time. By her father's decree, Aurelia was given command of the 5th fleet where she would rotate out with her older brother Prince Commodus Invicta, who had earned a respected reputation in the fleet as a keen and ruthless commander that only took prisoners if they held any importance to the enemy. Aurelia knew that upon taking command of the fleet, she would have the command staff questioning her after having served with distinction under Commodus' command. Her methods would be alien and at times unwelcome to the veteran fleet, and it was something she knew she'd have to work out quickly.

Equipment
Family Signet Ring w/ Tracking Beacon
Personal sidearm
A small book with the UEE's Charter of Individual Rights and Freedoms transcribed in it
Personal shield generator effective against up to five shots of standard small arms ammunitions, the efficacy may vary depending on what ammo is used

MAS Technical Data, Ragnarok --COMMANDEERED--

Ragnarok

Role
Vanguard, Close Assault, Brawler, Short Range, Shock & Awe

Chassis
AAT-9 Helheimr

Description
An exceptionally rare reverse joint legged MAS unit used by the Coalition. It is commonly used by the most elite pilots the Coalition has at its disposal. The AAT-9's name has led to many UEE troops referring to it as the Hellhammer, which is very fitting as most AAT-9 models are designed to close in with the enemy and deliver a decisive blow against any UEE that comes into contact with it. The Helheimr features a new composite armor that manages to maintain the usual agility of the medium class, while affording higher levels of protection to withstand the focused fire that the AAT-9's presence encourages. To add onto that protection, the Helheimr is outfitted with a massive shield mounted onto the right forearm that can withstand most common weapons save for those mounted on warships. The shield is flanged and bladed at the end to allow for it to double as an effective melee weapon. Also within the shielded forearm is an additional directional shield generator to disperse energy weapons and slow ballistics. This dual layered defense in conjunction with the MAS unit's standard shields means that the Helheimr can take an absolute pounding and still be very healthy by the time it reaches close quarters. And even if its shields have been depleted and its mounted shield arm is damaged to the point of inefficacy, the ultra-dense composite armor of the unit's frame can keep it going while it brawls.

For the Ragnarok specifically, the original pilot of the MAS seems to have adorned it with the pelt of a large alien apex predator. The pelt and skull add to the already aggressive and violent stature of the feared AAT-9, and make the Ragnarok stand out as a truly brutal and intimidating war machine.

Systems
--Heavy Mount--
EPS-20 Power Pack
A heavy external power pack that is capable of both generating its own power independently from the AAT-9's internal reactor, and storing that power for long term use. The EPS-20 is meant for consistent, repetitive use of laser cannons while also supplementing its power to the energy load of the MAS unit itself. While the power pack is heavy and must be mounted on the back of the MAS, the additional power that the EPS-20 provides allows the MAS to stay active almost indefinitely. Because of this, the EPS-20 is a favorite among Coalition pilots whose common tasks involve lingering in enemy territory for long stretches of time, or who find themselves on the front line and constantly needing to be on the move. The EPS-20 is EMP shielded to prevent its power supply from being siphoned, and in a pinch, the power pack can also emit its own EMP pulse out to one hundred meters at the cost of a significant amount of charge stored in the EPS-20 and a reduced rate of energy generation. As the AAT-9's EMP shielding is rather weak, an EMP pulse from the EPS-20 can also have adverse effects on the MAS unit itself.

The EPS-20 is what allows the AAT-9 to simultaneously operate the Repulsor and Reflex shields while also firing its main laser cannon.

--Primary Mount--
VLC-5A2 Laser Battle Cannon
A MAS laser rifle that is commonly carried in both hands. The VLC-5 is often seen in the hands of Coalition MAS units, and it isn't an uncommon weapon by any stretch of the imagination. The A2 variant of the VLC-5 however, is a bit rarer. The weapon is made of a lighter weight material than its predecessor, allowing it to be carried in one hand at the cost of accuracy and stability, but it is still best used in both hands. The retaining prongs that hold the focusing crystal in place within the weapon system can be deliberately loosened to allow the laser weapon to fire its shots in a smaller cone rather than be perfectly accurate all the time, thus enabling the weapon to become a suppression device when required. The A2 features more control over the power of the laser that the rifle is emitting. When drawing power from the EPS-20, the pilot can set both the rate of fire and the amount of charge is to be used each shot. This allows the VLC-5A2 a great deal of versatility being able to be used as a high powered laser lance for armored targets, or as a rapid firing pulse laser for fast movers or soft targets, or it can be used as anything in between that range. The weapon's heat restrictions list that range of uses as being in the 'green zone' for safety limits. But if the pilot chooses, the limiter can be disabled, and both the charge level and rate of fire can be unlinked for ultimate freedom.

The risks of such things should always be considered, as a rapid fire laser lance, while incredibly powerful, will very quickly overheat not only the weapon system, but the MAS as well as the suit's heat sinks are quickly damaged beyond the repair. The power draw of such a setting would also quickly overwhelm the consistent supply of the EPS-20, and begin to draw from the AAT-9's internal supply, thus reducing the effectiveness of the rest of the AAT-9's components. Worse yet, such strains on the focusing crystal inside of the weapon system will damage it and warp the retaining prongs that are holding the focus crystal in place, thus negatively effecting the precise accuracy of the laser weapon until a weapon's technician can repair it. Finally, the immense power draw of the disabled limiters could also cause damage to the EPS-20 and permanently reduce its maximum supply if it is constantly drawn from in this state for too long. Coalition pilots who have been trained in the use of the VLC-2A5 have been instructed to disable the limiter only when they come into contact with something they are not otherwise equipped for, or if all other options have been exhausted and the pilot is forced to resort to more extreme measures.

--Primary Mount--
AMS-2 Repulsor Shield
Mounted directly onto the right forearm of the Helheimr, the repulsor is an advanced, heavily armored secondary shield generator. The armor itself can sustain a large amount of damage before becoming compromised. Within the forearm of the AAT-9, the secondary shield generator can project a durable energy shield, the trade off for this is that it cannot be projected completely around the MAS, and can only be directed in to face one direction. The repulsor allows for a very aggressive approach as it can stave off a handful of shots from even heavy weaponry. Even when the shield generator isn't active, the armor plates on the repulsor can still stop some larger munitions. When both the repulsor's shield generator and the MAS unit's primary shield generators are both active, the repulsor serves to act as a sort of shield hardener to that facing rather than as a second layer. A weakness of the shield is that since it is mounted on the right arm, it ergonomically makes it difficult to bolster the defense on the left side of the MAS. It also means that it is rather ineffective to the rear as well.

The repulsor is frequently the subject of drastic battlefield modifications. For the Ragnarok in particular, the original pilot of the MAS has added blades to the front and sides to serve as an improvised melee weapon. Since the repulsor is directly mounted to the forearm of the MAS, it leaves the hand available to wield the Multi Cannon. This also means that when the MAS is firing ahead, that the repulsor is generally also protecting the front of the MAS as well. Despite the Helheimr's original intention of being a close assault MAS, the sturdy armor and formidable defense of the repulsor while being held in the firing position allow for the Helheimr to become a very potent firebase.

--Secondary Mount--
MHG-40 AutoMag
The preferred sidearm of Coalition MAS veterans. The 40mm MAS handgun can hold eight heavy rounds, in either the high explosive or sabot varieties. The handgun is short ranged and is only really effective up to one hundred meters. The storage module for the MGH-40 also carries two reserve magazines for the weapon, allowing for a total of twenty-four shots to be carried for the weapon. Thankfully, the large 40mm rounds that this weapon fires give it plenty of stopping power so twenty-four rounds when things are desperate should be more than enough if the situation has devolved to a point where the handgun needs to be relied on.

--Secondary Mount--
MAS Hand Grenades
To capitalize on the AAT-9's deadliness in close quarters, the original pilot has outfitted the Ragnarok with a grenade mount capable of carrying four large anti-MAS hand grenades. Thrown weapons are uncommon for MAS units, but they are undoubtedly extremely vicious in urban settings where dominating corners in the name of the game. Being an upscaled grenade, the destructive force of these weapons has brought them to the forefront of many war ethics debates. The Coalition has manufactured a variety of these grenades, and their simplicity makes them easily replicated by the UEE. The most common types of MAS Hand Grenades are simple high explosive ones, but EMP grenades and flechette grenades aren't uncommon either. There are also non-lethal grenades such as sensor scrambling chaff and thermal-smoke grenades. There are even more utilitarian variants of the MAS Hand Grenade like the ping grenades which can be thrown to emit a sensor pulse and feed information of the blind corner to the pilot, or a light emitting flare to overwhelm optical sensors and blind the eyes of infantry while also providing light in otherwise dark conditions.

--Utility System--
Reflex Energy Shield
A standard Reflex Shield used by many MAS units. When used in conjunction with the Repulsor, the physical defense of the AAT-9 can become nearly unparalleled by any other MAS in human space.

--Utility System--
Solid Fuel Afterburners
Used when the Helheimr is supposed to lead an assault and breach enemy lines. While the AAT-9 can reach rush ahead quickly, it doesn't do as well while strafing, thus the Helheimr must rely on its superior protection to simply wade through enemy fire rather than evade it.

Rise of the Shield Hero - From Another World

Posted! I realized I should keep it short since it is a fight scene with more than a few moving pieces.

Rise of the Shield Hero - From Another World

Arrival

(Mood Music)

Auriel heard the sounds of steel on steel echoing ahead through the cave. The grunts and groans that came with the stresses of battle made her hurry her pace. She was close now, and from the sounds of things, the heroes would need her help. Auriel held her spear in one hand, the shaft held tight to her back so as to not catch on the jagged rock surfaces around her. She ran through a mouth in the cave wall and came out into the chamber just in time to see Fer use an unusual ability from his shield. She breathed easy, seeing that the two of them were still okay... Then she saw Rayla's sword strike at Cole's chest, tracing a red line in the arch of the swing. The sight of a blow connecting with the sword hero made Auriel burst into action. She wasn't about to stand by and let this notorious bandit queen end her heroes so soon!

Another repulse came from Fer's shield, and Auriel used the opportunity to follow up with the ability step into all three combatant's line of sight, the golden spear stabbing forward with lightning speed toward Rayla's chest. Regardless of whether or not the strike would hit, Auriel stood between Rayla and the tiring heroes, her wings spread wide as if to dominate the room and force Rayla's attention onto her instead. She pointed the tip of her spear at Rayla, her hand holding the weapon just below the long bladed edge of the spear, "Rayla Winters," she declared, "Your time has come."