Episode 26 - Operation Maelstrom

[mcred23]

-Team 2-
-Eddie-

"I'm good Eddie. Enough fuel to last me a bit, only real damage is the right arm, so I'll have to use the left for a beam pistol or the saber. Lets hope I can put this cannon back to use." Sophie reported quickly.

Eddie spun his suit to face the direction the 4th was heading in, but kept the left hand of his MSA-099S on the shoulder of Sophie's suit. "Right... I think they were headed toward the ships, so lets go that way. Worst comes to worst, just lob that f***er at the ships and then we run like f***in' hell." Eddie tapped his thrusters to get a bit of seperation from Sophie, then slowly pushed them up to combat speed, so Sophie could keep up as he started toward the Axis warships.

==================================================================

-Marvin-

He almost missed the squadron. From high above, the light show that was the battle almost blended into one giant blur in the few minutes of peace Marvin had. It amazed him that nothing was going on up here, and a part of his mind noted that even one of those weird Axis suits could have easily nailed him. Cowboy had basically been coasting on an arc back toward the fleet, but thankfully, Axis didn't have any long range mobile suits, and their ships had other worries.

Before he knew it, he was almost directly above the Dervish. He tipped his Rick Dias over, bending his dive to get slightly in front of the ship as he hit the proper comm channel and spoke without emotion. "Dervish, this is Hamilton. Returning." He repeated himself twice more before Jane's voice cut through all the Minovsky jamming.

"Okay, Marvin. Land on the port deck." She said sweetly, but slightly tired.

"Roger." He said and angled in to avoid the outgoing fire. He flipped his Rick Dias, getting the feet facing the right way, and came directly down on the catapult deck with a shudder, quickly walking his Rick Dias into the hangar, where techs and mechanics quickly set about their jobs while he waited in the cockpit, not really doing anything.

[mcred23]

-The Kalinin-
-Hangar-

Runnels would have paced, but the lack of gravity didn't allow it. The mechanics actually had Ensign Hicks' Marasai ready in just over eight minutes, and as soon as they declared it ready, she was in the cockpit getting the machine back to full power. She quickly had the machine on the catapult and then back into space, only to find Sunoue had gone rather far out, for he wasn't anywhere near the Kalinin. Sighing to herself, mainly because she noticed other Echo units now returning to the formation, she started off back towards the debris field.

==================================================================

Bate frowned as he finally had enough of it all. He'd spent several minutes heading toward distant combat, only to see the battles break apart before he could get there. One instant, there would be a pitched battle a few klicks ahead, but as quickly as he could sweep his eyes to make sure nothing was coming at him, that fight would be over or moved away. By this point, Alpha had been running around at high speed for some time, only to not be able to get involved in anything, and soon fuel would become an issue. And none of this was supposed to happen.

He turned the Marasai almost at a right angle, cutting right into the debris field at top speed, which he cut down almost instantly as he banked downward to avoid a large rock, and began the process of once again picking his way through it all, hoping that whomever had been lighting the area up before wouldn't start shooting it up again and make things that much worse...

[Wedge14]

-Kenneth Graden-

Graden's voice was firm as he took the bad(?) news. "We're fortunate to be alive, be careful not too move in too tight of formations, fall back to the ship, I'll cover from here."

The lt cmdr grinned coldly from under his helmet. Perhaps Meighans death would prove to be a serious lesson for the young pilots below him.

-Pan Heyden-
Like a snake in grass, Heyden was invisible. He was taking things slow, the normally brash and reckless pilot was acting strangely uncharacteristically. He was taking his time and waiting for his time to strike, unfortunately for a lone AEUG unit Heyden had found his mark.

Seemingly emerging from the darkness of space itself, Heyden's blue Griffin transcended apon the Balrampur team like lightning from the the gods. The machine's gundam inspired eyes glowed a cool green as Heyden fired a tight cluster of shots at his former allies.

"Come get some, chumps!"

-Leandro Alvarez-
There was seriously something wrong with leandro's communication system, but the young lt, didn't neglect his duties. Leandro was the last one to leave the battle field and was a few minutes behind his allies as he continued to pepper the distant AEUG units with some long range beam fire.

[Fritz Ashlyn]

- Near Gryps 2 -

- The Kirov -
- Bridge -

"Sir," Chief Kellman quietly acknowledged Trent as the captain approached his command chair. The end of the conversation between Black Friday and Trent had come abruptly, and although the brusque language Trent had hissed was barely above a whisper everyone on the bridge had easily gotten the gist of its message. An uneasy silence had fallen after the captain rose from the separate comm console and angrily shut it off, and Mortimer's lone sign of respect was the only noise apart from the low hum of the equipment. Trent hauled himself up into the seat like a sick man collapsing into bed and sat there brooding for a few moments. Kellman's brows knit at the pallor of his skin and the darkening circles under his eyes. Hadn't he been feeling better not an hour earlier? "Fyodor," Trent spoke up in a heavy monotone, clearing his throat, "Turn off inter-fleet communications,". The comm tech straightened up in his seat and turned around, surprised at the order. "I'm sorry, sir?" he asked. "We're going intra-fleet only until we get back to the staging area. Turn off the inter-fleet comms," Trent repeated, rubbing his forehead.

Fyodor blinked at the order and looked, wide-eyed, to Mortimer for help or confirmation. Kellman glanced sideways at Trent and then gave Fyodor a short nod. "Yes sir..." the operator responded, turning back to his station. With the comm turned off to the outside world, Taskforce Echo would effectively be operating independently until they rejoined the fleet. "I think you should get some rest at the earliest possible convenience, sir," Mortimer said quietly to Trent so that only he would hear him. "I'm fine," Trent answered, his jaw setting as he shifted in his seat. He sighed and his expression softened as he looked at the chief to explain, "I don't have anything more to say to anyone on the Jupitris right now, and they've got nothing important to say to us until we get back. I'd prefer to enjoy a little silence,".

"Captain," Sergei interjected, "More mobile suits are returning to the fleet, but they're still taking their time. Alpha, Beta and Gamma are largely unaccounted for,". "They'll be back. Anyone near that debris could have seen the flares," Trent said, "Prepare to reorient the ship away from this mess and have the taskforce ready to leave as soon as we're ready,". "Yes, sir," Sergei and Gojiro answered as they began to execute the command.

- Alpha Team -

"I am growing tired of this," Stukov grumbled angrily as he tried to pick his way out of the skirmish erupting around him. With Dolk miraculously still in tow, he slowed into a smooth dip to let a bazooka round fired erratically by someone in Beta fly past. "Where the hell is Heyden?" he muttered to himself as he glanced over to peer at the cluster of enemy and friendly suits identified by his Griffin's computer. "Tuesday's gone," Dolk chimed in, his Griffin surging ahead to take the lead even though he was staying close to Stukov. The Russian growled at the nonsensical utterings and spat, "What does this mean? If you have nothing useful to say then remain silent!". He accelerated, a thruster flare jetting out from his suit's backpack as he regained the lead. "If I have to come looking for Heyden too I'll be really angry," he grumbled, smacking the armrest of his linear seat next to the controls.

- Beta Team -

"F*** you! F*** you and the high horse you rode in on Ritter!"

"They won't find enough of you to bury when--" Ritter began to howl back, but he cut himself short when he realized how close they were to the Axis and AEUG units already. “Sir, AEUG Unit approaching fast, what are your orders?” Sven spoke up like clockwork. "No kidding," Wolf grunted, slowing down to take a second to make a decision as Nick punted an ammo drum into the midst of the remaining Gazas. He took aim again and was opening his mouth to give an order when another snippet of Nick's message slipped through the spiking Minovsky. "Are you f*zzzk*idding me?! 4th Squad righ*bsst*" rasped through the speakers in Wolf's helmet. "The WHAT?!" Wolf bellowed, abruptly throwing his suit into a hard climb leaving Daren and Sven lagging behind. His crazed eyes darted left and right, up and down as he scanned for a blue mobile suit. It didn't take him long to find one, and his hands clamped down on the controls as he worked the firing studs like a man possessed. "DIE, DAMN YOU! IF THIS IS ANOTHER CHANCE TO END YOUR MISERABLE LIFE, ASHLYN, THEN TE'LITHA CAN WAIT!" he roared, unloading the majority of his remaining ammo down at the hapless Gaza-C.

A drove of missiles erupted from the Barzam's shoulders and hips supplemented by a near rapid fire stream of bazooka rounds, all of it aimed at Koenig's mobile suit and everything anywhere near it. The first explosions blew him off course and ruined the Spach trio's attempt at linking up as Wolf zoomed in his monitors view to watch the carnage. "Sir, that is a Gaza! Ashlyn's mobile suit isn't blue any more!" Daren raised his voice to get through to his team leader. Koenig was buffeted as missiles continued to rain down around him, and his fragile suit began to spin out of control as systems took damage from the concussive force of the near-misses and shrapnel. "No!" Wolf yelled, angry at his own mistake. His own emotions had led him to waste the bulk of his ammunition on a nobody. "Damn it, this is your fault, Te'Litha!" he accused, seething with anger as he hurried to reload his bazooka with one of the few remaining spare magazines stored on his suit's body. "We need to go now, sir. It's too dangerous to stay here between these enemy forces," Daren insisted, coming to a stop near Wolf.

[Fritz Ashlyn]

- Gryps 2 Space -

- The Dervish -
- Bridge -

"Axis is folding up nice and steady, sir. This crazy plan seems to be working," Filmore said, smiling at the flow of reports coming in from the Argama, Radish and Irish units. "Lt. Bajeena and his wingmen have succeeded in destroying the main transformer and major electrical systems conduits... Gryps 2 has lost power," Jane rattled off part of the backlog of messages that had been received in spite of the interference. Abbey smiled at the news but wagged a finger and warned, "The plan is working but we're still down in the ditch fighting. Save the celebrations for the fleetwide all-clear,". After a moment he chuckled and added, "And I'd be careful calling this operation 'crazy' around certain people that are very rich and very interested in our success here,". "We've got more mobile suits returning for triple R. Sager has 'em working overtime," Jungst grunted, showing a display of incoming friendly units. "I'd expect more of them to have come back already, for fuel if nothing else," Abbey muttered. "Nemos advancing on fire control... Nemos relieving Argama unit at barrel!" Jane kept reading, suddenly perking up when she realized what she had just reported.

"We're further along than I thought, then," Abbey said, growing serious again, "We have to get ourselves into a position to force this Axis unit to withdraw or get themselves destroyed outright,". He looked up at the main fleet display above the operators' heads and did a few mental calculations. There were a few options, but his experience told him one of them would get the job done faster. "Keep on this course, then prepare to roll those Zeke ships closer to their own fleet," he said, rising from his chair to start plotting a few moves with Wade's help. "We're not going to cut them off?" Jungst asked. "If their commander is sharp enough he'll realize he's about to have a rapidly closing window on any chance to link up with their flagship - if they don't move fast enough we can trap them between us and the AEUG units in front of the laser," the captain explained, gesturing at the digital map. "Assuming those enemy positions we're being fed are correct," he added, "If Axis is starting to look for a way to slip out the back door, I want to be there to slam it. In their face or hittin' 'em in the ass on the way out, either one,".

- Hangar -

"Yeah! Get that propellant tank moved and make sure somebody is on the ammo cart down there! I don't want anybody waiting on anything!" Sager yelled instructions down the catwalk at one of his senior men. He pushed away from the metal grating at his feet to float across one of the open spaces as they waited for another Rick Dias to finish landing. "I want this one out in twelve if he doesn't need major work!" he said, hooking a foot on a railing to come to a stop where he could see most of the work going on. In one of the "safe rooms" off the hangar, Dr. Merkwürdigliebe was still watching the battle on one of the monitors and had finally broken down and started taking sloppy notes on a pad of paper. With the normal suit's thick gloves combining with his innate clumsiness and his hand's contrary will, it was proving difficult. "You're holding the pen wrong," Celeine said, causing him to stop writing as he realized she had come to stand next to him. She raised her own hand from the pad she was scrawling notes on to show how she was gripping her writing utensil with more of a claw style to compensate for the heavy gloves. "Sometimes I have a hell of a time reading my own notes afterward, but it works," she said, smiling slightly.

- The Hamburg -
- Bridge -

Capt. Loweno lowered his field glasses as the new orders and status reports from the Dervish began to come in. "We're cooling off, John. This is the quiet side of the battle and we're still waiting on Ens. Carter," he complained, shaking his head. They had gotten their fair share of excitement for a while, but the promise of a longer fight with the Titans seemed to have fizzled out. Lt. Stalvern looked up from the console he was supervising and said, "Sir, 'cooling off' is exactly what we wanted. The generators are back in the green and--". "Good!" Loweno brightened up, turning away from the bridge windows at the news he had been waiting on. He glided back towards his chair and ordered, "We know what Carl is trying to do with the fleet, so let's figure out a way to be useful and start throwing some punches again. Swing us out wide at the edge of our line so we can come in early on that push the Dervish is setting up, and see if that guy from the Seattle has found Paris yet,". Under his breath he muttered, "I swear, if they hurt her...". "Captain," one of the crew interrupted his thoughts, "Sick bay says Ens. Izuruha is hurt pretty bad but he's stable,".

- Team 1 -

"No, I'm not okay!" Jacob yelled as Celeste and Michiko approached his suit, "Where were you? He was here! The man who killed Clute was here but where were you? If you would have been here we could have brought him to justice for what he did to Clute but it's like you don't even care!". Celeste opened her mouth to speak but found her voice failing her as she tried to respond, but Jacob's accusation cut deep even if it was just his frustration and anger talking. "Jacob!" Michiko gasped admonishingly, moving to get in between his suit and Celeste's. "Go away! You're wasting my time. You're nothing but distractions!" Markado yelled, forcing his way past them to charge Nick's Barzam. "Are you f***ing kidding me?! 4th Squad right? This goes beyond coincidence you know..." Nick's message radiated out on an open channel, causing Celeste to snap out of her emotional shock somewhat. "N-Nick?" she said, recognizing his voice and custom paintjob. Fritz immediately had his beam pistol trained on the Barzam, but he held his fire in spite of his own instincts screaming at him. "Nick Te'Litha? What are you doing here?" he asked, moving laterally to keep an eye on him and Jacob while giving himself a better shot at moving into any opening if it came to that...

That's when Fritz realized that if Nick was there, then Taskforce Echo... "DIE, DAMN YOU!*zzzk*S ANOTHER CHANCE TO END YOUR MISERABLE LIFE, ASHLYN*bkkst*THA CAN WAIT!" Wolf's scream pierced his cockpit, causing his grip on the controls to go white knuckle. His vision shot up to the top of his panoramic monitor where the Rick Dias' computer was wailing for his attention as the rain of fire began to erupt from Wolf's experimental Barzam. Fritz began to throw his suit into a snap evasive and yell for his teammates' attention when he realized the barrage was being fired at a completely different target. "Idiot!" Fritz yelled, completely ignoring Nick despite his better judgment - he rocketed forward as if he were moving to intervene between Jacob and Nick, then 'vaulted' upward to leapfrog the pair to head straight for Ritter. He fired off a few shots before Michiko caught up with him and grabbed the undamaged shoulder of his Rick Dias. "Fritz, no, please!" she pleaded, trying to keep him from going after Ritter on his own. "You get the f**k back ya spacenoid hippie s**twads!" Hepburn interjected, doing his own part to keep Team 1 from splitting apart as he rushed Michiko. "Who the hell are you?" Fritz grunted at Jackson as he turned to help Michiko boost out of the way of his attack.

- Team 3 -

With Wales and Terrace trying to jostle or threaten the Gaza-C off of Ingleshard's back, Wes slowed down and took a chance, darting through some stray long-range fire to link back up with his subordinates. "If he won't let go, cut through that leg," he said, trying to offer some help even though he didn't want to get any closer and make the situation even more dangerous. As the two pilots tried to dislodge the enemy pilot, Wes' eye was attracted to a flash of light closer to the rear of the AEUG line of advance. Near the Balrampur team, a speck of blue... "What the heck is going on back there?" he said aloud as yellow beam fire streamed towards the quartet of Nemos being held in reserve. The pair of survivors from the New Yark team were close by, so he opened the AEUG channel and spoke up, "Guys, take care of the Gaza on Wales and let's figure out who is making trouble in the rear near the Balrampur unit,".

[Fritz Ashlyn]

- Gryps 2 Space -

- The Bindra -
- Bridge -

"CPO. Northran reporting. 2nd Gaza has been netted and the pilot seems to have no injuries. I won't know for sure till I take a good look at Matthew's suit but from the looks of both Gazas we could probably make one operational unit," Shellia reported from the hangar, causing Capt. Wald to breathe a sigh of relief. Another violent crash in the hangar would have kept an already strained damage control crew spread thin. "Good work. Start work on assembling a functional unit but keep a priority on supporting our units that are still returning from combat," he ordered, hoping they wouldn't need to send out a cobbled-together mobile suit. The communications connection with the Trammel was open again to facilitate quick changes in orders, and Pizal could hear M'Quve arguing with a member of his bridge crew. "Yes, I know that! Why was I not told Haman-sama was engaging the Argama unit on her own?" the Trammel's captain snarled, sounding less smooth and aloof than usual. "Haman-sama launched the Qubeley?" one of Wald's own crew muttered. "The Argama? But she could be..." someone else whispered. "Quiet!" the captain said, "Haman-sama is perfectly capable of protecting herself, even against the AEUG's newtypes,".

"Wald!" M'Quve said, barking for his attention, "The fleet is preparing to withdraw. The AEUG came at our defensive lines faster than we anticipated, and their attack has been coordinated to an annoyingly high degree. Our defenses are struggling near the laser and it's not worth expending any more effort to hold Gryps 2,". "W-what?" Pizal stammered, "We're retreating? We've failed the princess?". "No, you fool. We haven't failed. We'll reorganize and counterattack as soon as the fleet is away from this zone. Now we wait for the Titans to involve themselves further," M'Quve folded his arms as he corrected Wald. "Damage control says the damage amidships is temporarily patched and stable unless we take another hit like that," Vada reported quietly. Ignoring Vada, Pizal pressed M'Quve further, "Fine, we'll counterattack - is Haman-sama safe?". "If she were not we would soon find out," M'Quve answered, "She's already landed on the Gwanban,".

- Spach Team -

Koenig's fatally damaged Gaza-C spun past Spach as he concentrated on flying his way out of the line of fire. Avoiding the dumbfire missiles was easier said than done due to the sheer number of them aimed in their direction, but by transforming back into MA mode he built up some speed and did his best to clear the area before taking any direct hits. He turned to look for McCoy's mobile suit and in doing so was distracted for a split second, and paid the price by being caught near the kill zone of one of Wolf's erratic bazooka shots. Metal shrapnel bit into the Gaza's armor and weak joints, raising alarms in the cockpit as the stoic pilot did his best to regain full control to avoid becoming an easy kill. Somewhere above him Koenig's suit finally gave out and exploded, it's pilot already dead from the blasts. "Spach, this is insane!" McCoy yelled, though he was still in one of Spach's blind spots. "The Titans have a stronger presence here than I anticipated. It may work in our favor yet - the AEUG will have to respond in force to keep them at bay, and we may get a chance to escape. Attempting to combat either side directly in our condition will be a futile act," Spach assessed their situation as he struggled to fly his damaged suit in a straight line.

[Kite_Ishma]

-Debris field

Kite sighed heavily having found the Nemo. Damn thing looked liek hell but the pilot was alive. Judging by the type of damage it had it was safe to say that teh cockpit was some how breached and that hte pilot could be injured inside. Taht being said he couldn't really pull this woman inside with him withotu killing her. Especially if she coudlnt seal ehr suit on her own. He went on teh channel now that teh Nemo settled in next to teh damaged on. "Ensign Paris? the Hamburg sent me to get you out of here. Can you here me?" He hadn't noticed the other units enter teh debris field just yet, but how could he?"

The Nemo slowly moved behind its damaged counter part and moved its hands to the small of hte damaged Nemo's back and nudged it forward slightly. "I'll do my best to get you out of here withtou causing anymore damage. But i'm not going to make any promises."

[Xvlai]

- Beta Team –

Sven had been hesitantly trying to keep an eye on four different areas of his monitor when Wolf surged upwards. Wolfs guttural screams cracked through the wall of silence that had surrounded Sven, “DIE, DAMN YOU! IF THIS IS ANOTHER CHANCE TO END YOUR MISERABLE LIFE, ASHLYN, THEN TE'LITHA CAN WAIT!” Focusing on the approaching AEUG units Sven had utterly failed to hear Te’Lithas exclamation over the open channel. As his computer droned loudly to announce the release of Wolf’s ordinance Sven rolled upwards to try and reach Wolf. Ashlyn, Sven knew the name all too well. For the briefest of moments he was back on the Kirov’s Bridge in front of the Commodore. The Commodore had known of these traitors, but they had got to him first. Sven had failed that day, today he had no intentions of failing again. The memory passed but a second darker memory seemingly attached to it arouse. The Kirov, a shower filled with blood, the knife in his hands, the twitching body of a dying man.

Closing his eyes did not stop the image; rather it only served to materialize the phantoms as if they were truly there in his cockpit. The white from his Computer forced his eyes open and yet the vivid memory persisted. A brief glimpse at the battlefield showed it relatively unchanged from Wolf’s barrage. Continuing his ascent Sven suddenly noticed something odd. Two AEUG suites had broken off and darted straight for Wolf and Daren after Wolf’s declaration and subsequent barrage at the Gaza’s. Sven was not a gambling man but he was willing to bet his life that Ashlyn was the pilot of one of the Rick Dias’s. “Daren, stay with Wolf!” turning sharply Sven broke into a shallow dive at the two suites. As he dove downwards the two AEUG suits turned aside. In an entirely leveled voice Sven communicated over the open channel as he released a burst of micro missiles and two rounds from his clay bazooka at Michiko and Fritz, “Perhaps Traitor your death will fulfill my duty?”

[wonton bob]

- Delta Team -
- Kirov Hanger -

Ltjg. Kyle Roberts

After contacting the bridge he proceeded to land and walk over to his team's section of the hanger. Once his Barzam was locked in place he exited while mechanics poured in for a quick check.

"Pretty effective weapon..too bad it comes at such a late hour," he sadly remarks as he looks up at his mobile suit.

Another suit catches his eye, Allister's Marasai which is being tended to by techs.

"Everyone's home except for Leandro? I wonder what happened," he asks himself as he makes his way toward Grant's suit to inquire about the C.O.



- Dervish -
- Hanger Bay -

Ens. Bernard Korbel

Bernard looks over his shoulder to see Marvin's Rick Dias approach. Instantly he felt relieved for a few seconds before returning his attention to his own suit. It would take longer to replace the missing arm but at least only the left hip missile launcher needed to be reloaded. Not that it is actually a useful tool but in his opinion it's better than a shield. He was so eager to fly out again that he began pacing back and forth on the catwalk waiting for the repair crew to finish their job. As soon as they gave the 'OK' he can return to look for that Axis pilot. It might be a needle-in-haystack chance to find him but that pilot being familar bugs him. He's too young to have served with me...how do I know him..

[King Monkey]

-Bindra Team-

Djorn was not the least bit surprised that so many of his teammates had survived the encounter so far. They were, after all, superior Axis pilots flying superior Axis machines. In fact, he was much more surprised that they had not already defeated the AEUG.

"His loss will be missed. And honored with the blood of the enemies of Axis," Djorn solemnly swore when Nikolai revealed that Julian had been killed in combat.

He took Graden's orders to heart, expending a bit of propellant to give himself distance from the other Gaza C's and set himself up in a formation with Pris. "Let's get back to the ship. The faster we refuel, the faster we can get back out here and punish more enemies of Axis!"

-Team 1-

The glow and spark of their clashing beam sabers clearly outlined the unique, tiger striped pattern of his opponent's Mobile Suit, but Jacob didn't notice. The time when he would have been afraid of facing an ace pilot in a beam saber duel was long past. The only color scheme he cared about now was blue.

His suit drifted back from the impact with the Titan but a quick burst of propellant put a stop to that. Before he could counter, another Titan shouted a challenge to Fritz. It only made Jacob laugh.

"You Titans scum have bitten off more than you can chew this time! We're not letting you out of here. We're going to massacre you and then we're going to chase down that blue mobile suit. Your reign of terror ends here...with your life!"

He dove for Nick, pushing his Suit to it's acceleration limits and made a slash for the enemy suit's chest. But it was only a feint as a flick of the controls threw him to the right so that he slid past the tiger striped suit. He was not as good with his left hand but that's where his beam saber already was and it put his weapon on his opponents undefended side. As he shot past, he took a second, back handed swipe at Nick's side and back.

[Wedge14]

[Pan Heyden]
(Doing the ol' spring cleaning.)
Heyden's sudden arrival was an unfortunate turn of events for the unlucky Balrampur team. The treacherous Titan pilot's aim was true when his first shot hit Ash Black's nemo right in the money spot. The ill fated AEUG pilot never knew what hit him was the beam tore right through the nemo's cockpit obliterating him instantly.

Heyden was still on his collison course with the AEUG squadron, but the sudden explosion of one of their units caught them off guard as Heyden managed to fly right through the middle of their formation. Heyden quickly fired his thrusters as he made his pass, pulling off a gut wrenching maneuver that orienteered his blue griffin right behind Lt. Miller's Nemo.

Heyden grinned cooly his as he rolled his cigarette in his mouth and fired only once at the unfortunate pilot.

[Graden]

Graden had no little to say to his subordinate, he had preserved his fuel levels throughout this battle for exactly this moment. He'd need to protect the Bindra and his unit, all on his own.
"Double time, all units refuel."

[Leandro]
Leandro was a bit late coming down in the hangar, but he was quick to voice his complaints.
"Theres something wrong with my communicator, and it's not minovsky interferance."

[Inferno]

-Kou-

"OH SHI-" Kou panicked as the Blue MS came out of nowhere, effortlessly obliterating two of his Nemos. He was thinking about Axis, and ironically enough, he forgot the Titans. Before anyone else could die, Kou jetted away and fired two shots from his Beam Rifle at the Titans MS.

[Inferno]

=The Herakles=

-Marco-

Marco simply saluted Alex to acknowledge his order, and quickly floated off, composing a mental address to Orsino. OK, he likes it rough, he can have it rough. I won't have him ruining a promising recruit like Criss.

-Orsino's mind-
Heheheheheh, that was fun. And I even made a new friend! I wonder if the poor bast*rd lives. I really hope so. Monologuing to the dead is boring. But why did Criss look at me like that? Was it what I said? She's looking at me like the rest. Like back at Solomon. And every other base. Gaaah, why do they look at me like that? I was trying to impress her, not scare her. I can scare people, but why can't I get them to like me? No, I'm not crazy! They're all wrong! I'm not crazy! This is normal! I'm a normal person doing a normal job! I'M NOT CRAZY!

[blind_dead_mcjones]

-Team 3-

Wales had just about had it with the stubborn axis pilot, the suspense had made him so antsy he was sure he'd try to shootthe gaza despite it being so close, reactor explosion be damned, fortunately wes's voice brought him back to rational thought

"If he won't let go, cut through that leg," the team leader suggested, "mine or his?" wales asked, before shrugging "nevermind"

"terrace, i'm going to count to three, if the clingly p**** doesn't let go by then please just stab him and be done with it" he then looked down at the gaza-C "you hear that?! three seconds, after that your zeke kebab!" with that he rolled his head and checked to see if terrace was ready before he started counting

"One!" nothing happened

"Two!" again nothing, but before he could say three. the Axis pilot relented, a loud 'thunk' made itself felt throughout the rick dias'es frame as the claw released the leg, immediately wales featherd the boosters to put a bit of distance between him and the gaza-C, while making sure terrace was still covered "right, i'm good now" he said over the channel, looking back down at the pink jalopy of a mobile suit. you're getting off light buddy.

-debris field-

"Ensign Paris? the Hamburg sent me to get you out of here. Can you hear me?"

"yeah...i can hear you...."she replied, he words slurring slighty due to her being exhausted, she fought off the urge to sleep as she listened to what this guy had to say
"I'll do my best to get you out of here without causing anymore damage. But i'm not going to make any promises."
"no!" she said abruptly, not wanting to be stuck in this suit any longer "i mean..can i ride shotgun inside your suit?...i..i don't wanna be couped up inside this thing...there's glass everywhere..."

[Kite_Ishma]

-Debris Field

Kite thought for a moment looking the suit over. He was hapyp to hear she was alive but just going by the sound of her voice she wasn't in the best shape. "That would be a lot easier. If you're sure your suit hasn't been breached then I'm all for it. I was just worried that from the damage I can see that you were in one hell of a bind." His nomo moved back around as the cockpit slowly opened. He looked around checking his surroundings before continuing. "Are you sure you can do this without any problems?" He wanted to make sure before jsut opening the damn thing in space. What would he say? Oh I'm sorry, but I killed the Ensign by accident?

[Wedge14]

[Pan Heyden]

Like a mega tiger on steriods Pan Heyden rolled to the left avoiding the shot from the AEUG pilot. Like a turbo powered mega lightning bolt made of blue, Heyden continued on his original course, pushing both body and machine as he juked his Griffin back and forth irreguraily like a demon possessed washing machine.

Heyden was laughing like a mad man, hoping one of those AEUG units would be brave enough to give chase, if not he'd just circle right back and try a similar technique.

[wonton bob]

- Gryps 2 Space -

- The Bindra -
- Hanger -

"Good work. Start work on assembling a functional unit but keep a priority on supporting our units that are still returning from combat,"

"Aye, aye sir," Shellia responds looking at a clock on the wall noting the time and estimating how much flight time the Gazas have left before returning to refuel.
She breaks connection with the bridge and gathers a crew, still surprised that the chief hasn't returned yet.

"Moishe, pick three others and get started on those two. Strip anything useful for one working unit," she barks as she points to Ball's and Korbel's Gazas that have been piled up to one side. "The rest of us, lets set up for refueling. I want those Gazas in and out --3 minutes tops if need be!"

[Cardi Doorl]

- Balrampur Team Vicinity -

“HEYDEN”

Stukov swept in on the combat area to the AEUG suits’ rear just in time to see two Nemos explode in short succession. Only one of the surviving Nemos returned fire, the other possibly too staggered by the suddenness and ferocity of Pan’s onslaught. Located in a position “above” Balrampur’s suit team – or at least it would seem to their perspective – Stukov pointed his beam rifle at the Nemo cannon and fired without really aiming, more concentrated as he was on his out-of-control subordinate.

“Heyden,” he continued in a forceful stentorian, “You do not die here; return immediately.”

[Inferno]

-Kou-

"Dammit, get out of there!" Kou screamed at the Nemo cannon, hoping the pilot would respond, or better yet, move. He looked back at the Titans suit. "Bastard..." Keeping his distance, he let out a salvo of beam shots. However, rather than follow, he moved backward. "Ltjg. Kou Uraki here. We've lost two suits and are pulling back the the Balrampur."

[Inferno]

=The Herakles=

-O&M-

Orsino took a deep breath. I'm OK. Everything's OK. Suddenly, his door opened and Marco stepped in.

"OK, let me explain how things are going to be around here."
Oh really? You will?
"Because you jumped the gun and gave the entire fleet's presence away, Ltjg. Weber has decided to enact disciplinary measures."
No, you did. Weber couldn't find his sack if he used both hands. Quit lying, you're better than that.
"It has been decided that you are not fit to act independently."
Better tell them to get ready for me in the brig.
"Therefore, you be accompanied by a responsible individual at all times. You will require someone around you every hour of your day. In combat, you will fly with a wingman at all times."
I almost feel sorry for the poor sucker.
"If you under any circumstances break formation to lead an attack like you did last time, expect nobody following you."
That's all the reinforcements I need.
"And if you return to friendly lines, you will be court-martialed."
Assuming there'll be a friendly line to return to.
"I will be assuming direct responsiblity for you. You answer to me now."
Kinky.
"That being said, you will follow my every command."
Oh my.
"You will not so much as speak unless I give you permission."
I think I need a towel.