Episode 30 - Riders in the Skies

The last RPG was "Zeta Gundam: Tales from the Frontlines - The AEUG" which ran from 2006-14.
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Episode 30 - Riders in the Skies

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~February 21, Universal Century 0088~
~ Coordinated Universal Time~

- Gryps 2 Space -

- The Dervish -
- Bridge -

Hour after brutal hour of combat had gone on around Gryps II since the 20th of February, and by the time the Argama returned to the battlefield to buoy their forces the AEUG found themselves in a tenuous position in their attempt to retain control of the powerful colony laser. The 4th Squadron in particular were back in the thick of things, having moved forward from their brief respite near Gryps to plug a gap that had formed in the line between the Irish and Oasis fleets. Battle conditions had deteriorated further since the beginning skirmishes, and now mobile suits from all three sides seemed to be freely making nuisances of themselves everywhere.

"I don't care what that Sally K is doing, just take it out! Get out and throw rocks at the Goddamned thing if you have to!" Abbey growled, pounding a fist on the arm of his chair as a pair of Gazas in MA mode zipped past the bridge, "And for chrissakes somebody shoot down those Zeke mobile suits!". As if on cue, one of them was clipped by the ship's AA fire and spun out of view billowing a thin haze of coolant and fuel. The ship the captain was agitated about, the Titans' vessel Luzon, was attempting to fall back from its firing position alongside its companion the Nunavut after sustaining damage from counter fire. Their mobile suits were doing their best to screen away the New Yark team, and Team 1 was rotating back for fuel and ammo now that Eddie was in the process of getting Team 2 redeployed from their own short resupply break.

Carl impatiently tapped his gloved index finger as he waited for word that Team 2 were finished re-launching. He needed them to replace Team 1 and press the attack on that Titans colonial unit. Filmore gave a quiet chuckle from his station and waved for the captain's attention to report, "Sir, I've got four or five friendly IFFs moving in loose formation out past our zone of control... It's hard to tell, but I think they're flanking that damaged Salamis Kai,". Abbey rapidly rose from his seat and waited for the magnified image to be displayed on one of the bridge monitors. "Hot damn," he said quietly as he observed the warped, grainy images being piped in from their observation cameras, "They're Rick Diases,".

"I think it's the Irish unit," Jane said, "I'm having a hard time staying in contact with them because of interference,". "Maniti's trying to pull our ass out of the fire. I think I love that woman," the captain smiled as he drifted closer to the windows. He craned his neck into an uncomfortable position to look back in the direction of the Oasis, but couldn't see much of anything because of his helmet. That fleet had lost at least one of their ships but a half dozen or so of their Nemos were fighting alongside the Hamburg team who were doing their best to stem what seemed like a never ending tide of Gaza-Cs coming from the Axis fleet looking to press open the gap the Titans had briefly created.

The Dervish let loose with another volley with all of her forward-firing guns in the direction of the Luzon and Nunavut which was joined a moment later by a blast from the New Yark. It was difficult to hit anything with Minovsky density being as high as it was, and besides that the 4th was more or less operating from the edge of their weapons range. Nonetheless, they added more streaks of fire to the deadly light show as the gunnery crew worked to adjust their M-particle crippled aim.

- Hangar -

Sager was clearing the last of his crew for the rotation from Eddie's unit to Fritz' when he heard a voice call out from behind him, "Team 1 is coming in?". "Eh?" he muttered, turning around to find Celeine Caro'd in a normal suit poking out from one of the hallways that emptied onto a catwalk above the work area. "I heard Team 1 is on their way back. Is that true?" she asked again, moving out of the hall and close to him. "Uh, yeah, they are. Is something going on?" he answered hesitantly, bracing himself against the railing. She stopped and reached into one of the pouches on her normal suit and murmured, "Oh, no. Not really,". She finally found what she was looking for and thrust it towards Sager. "I just need you to hold onto this. Take care of it for me, okay?" she said with a smile. He had taken the data disk from her before he realized what she was saying, and then raised his hands defensively. "Now wait a second. I don't like the sound of this. What the heck is this?"

She smiled again and moved away back towards the hall to avoid taking it back. "Don't worry, chief. It's nothing bad. Just some personal stuff," she said, disappearing around the corner before he could protest again. "...the hell?" he muttered, turning the disk over in his hands. It looked like a regular data disk from a personal computer. Before he could consider it further, activity in the hangar called him back to work. He shoved the disk into a pocket on his chest and floated back into the fray.

- The Hamburg -
- Bridge -

Capt. Loweno lowered his binoculars and scratched his chin. He had removed his helmet and attached it to the back of his normal suit because, as he had said, "it was hot and I couldn't see a damn thing,". The Axis unit that had spent time lurking at the edge of the fight had finally made a bold move forward and he had been given the green light to directly oppose them. He felt it was a return to the right and natural state of things, as he had spent an entire war honing his skill at fighting and destroying Zeon. The Nemo team was outnumbered initially, but another eight MS from the Val Verde and Victoria has been sent to assist them. He wasn't concerned by what was currently almost a 2 to 1 disadvantage in numbers; what concerned him was the pair of Musai-like ships that seemed intent on steadily advancing on the 4th.

"No change, sir. Looks like they haven't decided to slow down yet," Stalvern updated him from one of the crew stations. Loweno raised his binoculars again and was silent for a few seconds before ordering, "Give them another minute or two. Then we'll come about if they want to get into a pissing contest to see who wants to maintain course,".

- The New Yark -
- Bridge -

"Delay our next barrage by a second. Use the Dervish's fire to adjust ours," Capt. Guanche ordered his XO before returning to the notes he was taking. He frowned at what he had written down and looked back up to the windows in time to see the distant flash of the Titans' ships' guns as they returned fire. The 4th was in a bad position and things could turn very, very ugly. "Hold position," he said forcefully to the helmsman, raising his hand as everyone on the bridge watched the silent, oncoming mega particle beams flash past the ship. The ship was at the front of the 4th's formation and the crew was on edge. "Dervish Team 1 coming back," one of the crew piped up as distant thruster flares grew into red dots.

"Provide a cover barrage - give them time to fall back and support our Nemos," Guanche commanded, and the ship shifted from supporting the Dervish to an eruption of scattered mega particle fire designed to avoid their own MS while driving away anyone dumb enough to come closer to them.

- Team 1 -

Fritz rolled his Rick Dias onto its side and "climbed" closer to Jacob as the trio slid in behind the shield of cannon fire provided by the New Yark. "Path looks clear. Eddie should be coming back out soon, so let's speed this up a little," Fritz said, urging them on as they headed for the flagship. They had spent the bulk of their time fighting that colonial patrol unit, and had been tied up to an annoying degree by outside enemy units running flybys. They had even had to break off a run on the Nunavut because of a group of Gazas of all things. They had all sustained negligible cosmetic damage, but were low on fuel and ammunition. "Looks like at least one hostile close to the Dervish," Michiko said, spotting the rogue Gaza still pestering the fleet from within. Fritz glanced at the sides of his HUD and sighed at the 0% energy level displayed for his beam pistols. He had run through his bazooka ammo rather rapidly, and now likely only had enough power for one or two shots with his pistol if he was lucky.

He flipped the pistol his suit was carrying back into its rack and drew a beam saber. "Stay close to each other and watch for any other units that have slipped through," he warned, turning in his seat to check the area behind them to make sure they were not being directly pursued. He relaxed in his seat a little and opened the visor of his helmet to wipe sweat away from his eyes. The cut on his forehead stung, but there wasn't much he could do about it. He looked over at Michiko's Rick Dias and shook his head. He had staggered back to his quarters during their time off the line and from what he was told afterward he had basically passed out in his room - he had awakened to find Michiko sleeping in the chair at his desk. Apparently she had hauled him into bed and then watched over him. Once he was back on his feet they had had a serious talk over a quick meal, but things didn't seem any more straightened out than before.
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Re: Episode 30 - Riders in the Skies

- Gryps 2 Space -

- The Bindra -
- Bridge -

Wald held onto the arms of his captain's chair so hard his hands trembled. If he could see his knuckles through the gloves of his normal suit he knew they would be snow white. Despite being a glorious hero and veteran of the independence war, this was his first real taste of cataclysmic large-scale combat. In the most secret and personal part of his heart, he thought that if this was what A Baoa Qu was like he was glad he had missed it. There were mobile suits everywhere, friend and foe alike. His entire view of space from the bridge was filled with thruster flares, darting MS, warships, flashes of explosions, and strobing, fading lines of beam fire. It was like watching sheer, violent insanity.

Somebody said something to him, ripping him from his internal thoughts. "What?" he asked, his face turning stern and professional again as he turned to Vada. "Captain, the Trammel is continuing the advance. Maintain course and speed," his XO repeated the orders from M'Quve. "Yes," Wald parroted quietly, "Maintain course and speed,". He still wasn't sure what M'Quve was doing. This was the polar opposite of what they had done before. They were now relying on using their mobile suits as interceptors to tie up or destroy the Nemos in their way long enough to enter effective gunnery range. But they had advanced far enough now that there were Titans on their port flank, and sooner or later the AEUG would give them a stronger response. He wasn't looking forward to it.
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Re: Episode 30 - Riders in the Skies

-The Dervish-
-Hallway-

Eckardy floated down the hall from Team 2's ready room back to the hangar, changing his t-shirt as he went and also trying to get the last bit out of a tube of coffee. He had headed to the ready room and managed to quickly wolf down some food, but had expected the rearming and refueling of the Rick Dias’ to take longer. But, credit to Sager’s crew, they already had the team ready, and now Bernard and Sophie had already taken off and were waiting on him and Marvin, while Team 1 was coming back and the hangar would soon be even busier.

Eddie barely had his pilot suit zipped back up when he got to the airlock to the hangar. He chucked the empty tube and tucked the sweat dampened t-shirt under his arm and floated out. Marvin was boarding his own Rick Dias Custom as Eckardy floated toward his. The suit was already powered up, the beam pistols fully recharged and they had replaced the beam rifle he had lost on his previous sortie. Before sitting back down at the controls, where it seemed to Eddie he had been for a week, he floated to the small storage area on the back of the linear seat, to put his shirt away. “Crap...” Eddie mumbled as he opened it, remembering he had done the exact same thing on his previous stop back to the Dervish, hours earlier. He crammed another t-shirt in the small compartment which was already jammed full of junk accumulated over the months, briefly being thankful for the mask on his pilot suit, for he was sure it had to smell in there, and closed the little door and hopped back into his seat and checked everything.

“You ready, Cowboy?” Eddie asked as he moved his Rick Dias from its berth in the hangar and began to move to the catapult.

“Yeah,” Marvin reported, his mobile suit falling into step behind his as they both moved toward the port side catapult, leaving the other open for whichever team had to be returning back to the ship.

Eddie’s Rick Dias was quickly locked down. “Eddie, for the fourth damn time...” He mumbled as he was catapulted away from the Dervish. As soon as he was clear of the ship, he called ahead to Sophie and Bernard, “Head forward, I think they want us taking Team 1's spot on the line. Me and Cowboy’ll be right behind ya!” Previously, they’d been sent to a different sector every time they had deployed, but they hadn’t been given any specific orders this time around.

Back on the Dervish, Marvin’s MSA-099S was secured on the catapult. “Marvin Hamilton, Rick Dias Custom, Launching,” he reported tiredly as the Rick Dias was fired out into space. The suit was barely clear of the Dervish when a stay beam from the Titan ships hit it square in the chest and the suit loaded with fuel and rockets instantly exploded, leaving behind nothing bit tiny fragments of Gundarium.

Eddie saw the flash on the panoramic screen behind him and twisted in his seat to see the explosion already fading away. “Holy s***!” He exclaimed without even realizing it. He turned back in his seat, and picked up his speed to catch up with Sophie and Bernard. “Holy s***...” he muttered again quietly, trying to focus on what was still ahead of him, and the rest of the unit...
I must betray Stalindog!!!

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Re: Episode 30 - Riders in the Skies

-Kalinin Team-

Bate spun his Marasai back towards the Kalinin and headed back towards the Salamis Kai, Runnels’ Hizack not far behind. As he got closer, the damage made itself clear. A Gaza-C had crashed into the forward section of the ship, taking a few meters off the front and totally wrecking the missile launchers. There were marks of beam hits in a few places, but the ship seemed intact and capable of still fighting after surviving the minor swarm of Axis suits that had hit them.

As he got closer to the ship, the Minovsky interference died away enough for him to hear the transmission coming from the ship. “Commander Bate, report!”

“We’re back, how’s the ship?” He reported, and much to his annoyance, he was answered by Nugyen.

“Still operational. What is the status of your team?” Even under the current circumstances, Nguyen still gave the impression he was concerned with his more mundane responsibilities like record keeping.

“Me and Runnels are fine. Sunoue flew off toward the Kirov sector chasing a pair of Gazas, and Hicks and Craig were killed in the swarm that hit us right after,” Bate reported quietly, not trying to hide his fatigue, both from the fighting and Nguyen.

“Are you sure, Commander?” Nguyen sounded bored.

“Yes,” Alpha growled, which Nguyen either misunderstood or ignored.

“Remain near the ship for now, the other teams are pushing forward,” Nguyen ordered and cut the transmission before Bate could make any kind of reply. Bate fumed silently for a moment, then spun his Marasai around and moved forward of the ship to keep a look out for any Axis or AEUG suits that might get past the other Echo units, with Runnels right behind him.
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Re: Episode 30 - Riders in the Skies

- Gryps 2 Space -
- Dervish Team 1 -

Should have made good on that threat of yours, Trask. Guess you just weren't brave enough. Jacob thought, taking note of the fact that he was where he belonged, in the cockpit, out in the battlefield, instead of being confined to his quarters or some shit like that. He figured that despite what had been said between them, some part of Trask knew they were already low enough on manpower as it was and chose not to pursue the matter. 'Matter'... The young man inwardly scoffed. He still felt pissed off by Trask's persistence to let it go. No, I won't let it go...Clute deserves better than that.

So far, that blue Griffin hadn't come into sight just yet. But when it did...when it does, it's mine and I'll break him just like he broke Clute...and Celeste... Jacob could feel his blood boil at the thought, but it boiled even harder when he got the order to pull back. Unfortunately, looking over at his HUD, it made sense in hindsight. He was low on power for the cannons and he'd already ditched his bazooka. For now, it made sense for him to retreat back to the Dervish for resupply and rearmament. So he complied, the Kanone Dias with its scratches, dents and carbon scoring damage staying in close formation with Fritz's Rick Dias as they began retreating from their place on the battlefield.

"I'll handle that Gaza once we're in range, sir." He spoke deadpan as they noticed the lone Gaza harassing the AEUG fleets from within. The fact that no one had managed to shoot that pest down yet was a testament to how strained and exhausted they'd become over the past twenty-four hours.
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Re: Episode 30 - Riders in the Skies

- Team 3 -

Trask growled in frustration as the last round left his bazooka and sailed off into the distance, the battle was so chaotic that he almost didn't bother trying to confirm hits anymore, it was a small wonder his team was still intact to be honest, between the five Titans cruisers in his field of view and all the associated mobile suits in between, including those damned M-156 monsters that were bearing down on the squad, he figured that this was what being forcibly bent over felt like, the only consolation being that by some bizarre miracle Axis' attempt to flank them drew some of the titans attention, preventing them from focusing all their fire on the 4th.

as quickly as he dared Trask took a very quick glance around to ascertain the situation, Griff had handled himself rather well given the circumstances and only suffered minor damage to the b-type's shoulder, Ingleshard had lost a fuel binder, and Irene looked to be in one piece, all in all it could've been a lot worse

"Griff you still have some rockets left?" he asked, a static filled 'yes, half' came back over the comm.
"Good, here's the plan. Ingleshard, you see those Marasais in front of us? play chicken with them. Griff, if they take the bait and come close enough for you to get a lock, lay into them with every rocket you have. I'l try and finish off that damaged Sally K to our left. once-" before he could continue a yellow beam hurtled out from the titans lines taking off the kanone's right leg

"damn!" Trask swore, "Kawamura! get on the horn and tell Victoria squad to pull back closer to us! those M-156'es are in weapons range and we need as many units near us as possible when it becomes a knife fight." he paused very briefly "and see if you can get the Hamburg to pour some fire this way while you're at it, tell them not to worry about danger close. now move!"

--

as instructed Wales surged forward towards the Buxuro team, beam pistol and sabre at the ready, despite heading forward towards what looked like insurmountable odds he was in a remarkably good mood, mostly due to what had happened some 6 hours ago, a stupid grin formed on his face as he thought about it while taking three pot shots at the incomming Marasais, seconds later two massive beams from Trask's kanone dias flew over him, heading in the direction of the Kalinin.
"Come on, over here!" he yelled, firing another two shots at the enemy ahead "what're you waiting for, a hand-written invitation?"


-The Dervish-
-Hangar-

around the corner from the hangar entrance, Celeste waited for celeine to return, her fingers tapping on the side of her helmet impatiently, the plan they had wasn't a good one but it was only one they had, this was their last chance to get through to nick and nothing was going to stop them this time.

"whats taking so long?" she muttered to herself, feeling the entire ship shudder as it let off another barrage
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Re: Episode 30 - Riders in the Skies

- Team 2 -

“Holy s***! Holy s***...” Eddie's voice filled Sophie's helmet as the monitor of he C-Type Rick Dias adjusted to the bright flair from the explosion of Marvin.

"Cowboy..." she choked out. It was the sheer suddenness of his death that really got to her.

Luck had been on her side that she had been able to see Rem before taking off this time. Only for a moment, but it was far better then to sortie again without looking at one another. But now wasn't the time to let her mind drift and lose focus.

"Lets give the New Yark team a hand Eddie," trying her best to keep an even tone of voice/

-----------------------

- Gamma Team -

He hadn't realized it with all that was going on around him, but Aaron had turned 22 yesterday. Not that anybody aboard the Kirov would have cared, but he'd made it to 22. He planed to make it to a ripe old age and die in a bed somewhere quiet, but for now the goal was to make it to the next day. Being Nick Te'litha's wing-man however didn't seem to be the best of places to be to achieve that goal. He still hadn't heard from Jason or Grace as his rendezvous with them had been prevented by his strange encounter with Dolk.

All Aaron knew for sure at that moment was a team of eight Gaza's were bearing down on them. Taking proactive measures he swung the 120mm into place and let a large burst of machine gun fire loose into the oncoming Trammel unit.

-----------------------

- Buxoro Team -

"We got a lone gunman incoming Lt.," Tim joked as Wales approached to engage the entire Buxoro Team. "I think I know the right welcoming," he let two blasts from his beam rifle fly at the Rick Dias as he moved to engage without waiting on Elijah's orders.

-----------------------

- Bindra Team -

Something was wrong with his hand, but Nikolai had the doc tape it up after Pris had left him at sick bay. Even now it throbbed every time he manipulated the controls of his Gaza-C. Pain however wasn't going to keep him away from this battle. For now the team was flying in formation, waiting for Lt. Ball to give orders.
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Re: Episode 30 - Riders in the Skies

- Gryps 2 Space -
- Team 2 -


Bernard knew instantly what happened when Marvin's IFF signal disappeared and heard Eddie's reaction. Tightening his grip on the controls and clentching his teeth in anger, Bernard let loose on his thrusters and rocketed in the direction of the New York's mobile suit squadron leaving behind the remainder of team 2.


~ ~ ~ ~

- Delta Team -

Kyle could barely make out the shape of the Musai type ships but using the radome on his type-3 made the details more clear. Unfortunately it only slightly helped with the aim in this Minovsky soup. After a few seconds of a blank screen the comp automatically adjusted the targeting as the radome powered down.

"Heads up," he alerted Leandro as he raised the heavy beam launcher and fired at the Trammel.
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Re: Episode 30 - Riders in the Skies

- Team 3 -

Five hundreds meters from the rest of the group, Irene peppered the lone Marasai that broke through her line. Before she could even make up what happened with it, she already facing an angry looking Hizack that lost a limb but nonetheless dashed toward her with melee weapon in hand. She let go one Bazooka round but missed the target. Beam sabre in hand she decided engage hand to hand combat but the said Hizack was pierced by beam from behind and passed like a discarded toy. She couldn’t tell whose beam it was but it’s been a while since things go beyond the normal dog fight and become a wholesale of everybody shooting around their nearest visible target.

I’m okay – I’m okay. She thought when she heard her CO’s voice in the radio. Only then she realized he was giving an order and not asking about her.

“Roger that,” she replied and relayed the messaged to Victoria while zig zagging through the area, catching up with the rest of the team. “Dervish Team 3 to Hamburg, do you copy? Requesting fire support to this area, we’ll take the risk but try to watch out for allies. Her hailing to the Hamburg was rather difficult due to static but Loweno’s crew replied they acknowledge the message.

She spotted a duo of Marasai seemed to chased her team. Both of them looked like already being beaten up by somebody but they didn’t alter course when she fired twice toward their direction with beam gun. Without warning beam shots were fired toward her from left side but it was rather sporadic and she got away with just bruises on the armor. Or so she thought before warning of dislocated elbow joints being shown on screen alongside with a group of other failures on the left arm. “Damn you!” she let go thrice of beam bolts to the Marasai that hit her to deter him from doing further damage, while trying to get a solid lock into the incoming two Marasai with the broken arm that wield the bazooka. Left arm target acquisition become extremely unlikely.

“Heads up, incoming from behind. 3 Marasai!” she warned the rest of the team before fired her bazooka rounds. She’s up to her last spare clip. That is if she could reload with the broken left arm.
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Re: Episode 30 - Riders in the Skies

- Gryps 2 Space -
- Herakles Team -


"Alex Weber, launching!"

Hizack being catapulted from the hangar, freshly resupplied and a switch from the machine gun-beam saber set up to the beam rifle-heat axe, Alex joined up with the rest of his team ahead of the Herakles. With all the stray lights from beams and flares around him, Alex was actually feeling a bit nervous. The Captain did say they'd be in the thick of it but this was his first time in such a firefight.

Well there was a first time for everything.

Looking at the sensors in the cockpit he frowned at the amount of enemy blips headed in their direction and few allies facing them. Well this is why they were put in a forward position.

"Looks like Zeon is making a push on us so let's hop to it guys" he called out as his Hizack took off towards Gamma Team and their Gaza opposition.
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Re: Episode 30 - Riders in the Skies

- Gryps 2 Space -
- Hamburg Team -

Kou checked the radar and frowned. Zeon was dangerously close to their flank and the Val Verde team would need backup. On the other hand, Team 3 and the Victoria team would be taking on half of the titans fleet...

Thinking quickly, he came up with an unorthodox idea. "Ok, here's the plan. We'll split up. Kite and I will hold the flank and engage Zeon. Paris, Al, back up the Victoria team and Team 3. Keep in contact and don't do anything stupid. Just hold the line." He gestured to Kite with his Nemo and jetted to the side to join the Val Verde team.

- Peoron Team -

Astor groaned as Brutus did his typical exultation to battle. He made a tally in his head of every time the word "Glory" or "honor" was thrown around. 23. Well, if they made it out of this, he'd be buying him a thesaurus. It wasn't until "FOR THE GLORY (24) AND HONOR (25) OF OUR GREAT NATION- CHARGE! SEIG ZEON!" that Astor hit his jets and advanced in mobile armor form, along with Brutus. The two both opened fire on the Val Verde team, beam shots blazing.

- Herakles Team -

Marco shook his head. "Looks like they're going for the AEUG, sir. Let's just let Gamma Team herd them in the right direction while we focus on breaking their lines. After all, this is where our liabilities start to become an asset, right?"

Criss laughed nervously as she looked over to Orsino's Hizack. Orsino's comment made her gasp in suprise. "Marco's right."

He continued. "Gamma Team will most likely try to force the massive Axis group into combat with the AEUG, since it gets our enemies to save a lot of ammunition and trouble. Not to mention, right now there's a weak spot in the AEUG lines. We outnumber the Victoria Team two to one. down on them quick enough, we can sink our teeth into their ships."

Marco nodded, and grunted his reluctant approval. Of course, Orsino just wanted to take on the weak ones so he could kill as many as possible. But right now winning was important.
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Re: Episode 30 - Riders in the Skies

- Gryps 2 Space -
- the Bindra-


Clutching the helm and perilous fireworks around them, a piece of Raquel's mind only wanted to know how the other veterans were enduring this. At least half of the ship's pilots. Even the captain. All veterans from the One Year War like herself. And Raquel had been through it from beginning outburst to the desperate end.

This intensity, between the AEUG and Titans and Axis, was no different. But steering the Bindra and her crew through and into this cluster still held her jaw in a tight enough clench she wondered if she could open her mouth again. Or if all her teeth were still intact.

"Maintaining course and speed," wrenching her mouth open to speak.

-Bindra team-
"Not a battle. Now this is a var!" Exhaled Pris. "Didn't think I'd see an orgy like this again." Her breath steady but no less rising with excitement.

"Now if only I had my old Dom. Or one of those Dias instead of this garbage." Then quietly threatened her Gaza-C not to fail on her in this battle.
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Re: Episode 30 - Riders in the Skies

-Hamburg team-

"What did you just say?!" Paris yelped in surprise at Kou's suggestion, but before she could protest any further he had already darted to one side leaving her little option but to slide backwards and to the right so as to avoid getting blindsided by any axis pilots looking to try their luck.

"*sigh* ok Alfred, lets do as he says." she murmured before heading towards the beleaguered Team 3, trying to squash any melancholy feelings from welling up

-Team 3-

“Heads up, incoming from behind. 3 Marasai!”

"Sonouva-" Griff didn't get a chance to finish cursing, opting instead to avoid the hail of beams from the Marasai's, as he was about to return fire one of the enemy suits took a beam shot square to the chest courtesy of the regrouping Victoria squad, the remaining two tried to pull away from the stricken Marasai before its reactor went critical, unfortunately for them one of the pair wasn't fast enough and got caught in the blast.

capitalizing on the moment Griff took his chance before the titans pilot could regroup, tapping the trigger three times in quick succession

--

further ahead events were slightly less peachy for Trask, though he was certain he had scored a hit on that damaged Sally K. due to the minovsky interference even with the Kanones' main sensor he couldn't see if it had done any meaningful damage to the enemy frigate, adding to his list of things to worry about was the number enemy MS that had taken an interest in his units' position.

shaking his head he fired off another volley at the Kalinin before switching targets, aiming roughly at the swarm of titans MS in front of the ship in an effort to dissuade from coming closer.

--

Wales smirked as one of the Buxoro teams suits took the bait, rolling the suit to one side and letting the two beams sail past but not changing his heading

that all you got? he thought as he fired off another two shots at the Marasai that shot at him, edging forward slowly before coming to a stop
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Re: Episode 30 - Riders in the Skies

-Team 2-

“Let’s give the New Yark team a hand, Eddie,” Sophie’s voice came through the radio, which had the effect of shocking Eddie back into the right frame of mind.

“Yeah, let’s get over there,” Eddie mumbled and kicked his Rick Dias’ thrusters and caught up a bit to the other two in his team as they headed toward the flashing lights of beams and mobile suits just ahead of them, where the New Yark team was clearly engaged…

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

-New Yark Team-

Thibaut grimaced as his Nemo popped backwards and away from the Hizack, leaving it’s left leg floating behind near the Hizack’s left arm as the Nemo rocketed upwards, firing a pair of beams at the Hizack, which rattled off a burst from its 120mm machine gun. Thibaut’s shots missed wide as the Hizack corkscrewed roughly back toward the Titan lines, as did the machinegun rounds, aside from one which landed with a thud on his shield.

He glanced to his left to catch the trail end of a Gaza-C exploding from a direct hit by Mart’s 240mm cannon. Thibaut had been closing in with the Hizack when the Axis suit had raced in, spraying away with beam fire that had damaged him and the Hizack, which had apparently pulled back to regroup with its own team, a trio of Hizacks that had been giving them as much trouble as the random Gaza-C’s that seemed to be everywhere.

Thibaut’s Nemo closed with Bort’s Nemo Cannon, which remained untouched. “Where’s Ramon?”

Bort’s voice cracked through the Minovsky jamming in the area as his MS gestured with its beam rifle. “Pushing ahead there. His radio’s going in and out,” And with that the two suits turned and headed toward the nearby combat.

Ahead of them, Hard AE spun his suit to the right as his left hand swept upwards with the beam saber, meeting the Hizack’s saber for an instant before the Titan kicked his thrusters to full power and rocketed upward. Hard AE similarly accelerated, shutting down his beam saber and turning his spin into an arc off to his right as a line of tracers raced into the area his suit had been, and briefly adjusted to follow but failed to get close.

“Not so fast, fooooo~!” He grinned, seeing Thibaut and Bort finally catching back up to him. With another powerful kick to the proper thrusters, he flipped his Nemo upside down, so it was now heading feet first but facing the Titans, and fired a quick quartet of shots at the group of nearby Hizacks.
I must betray Stalindog!!!

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Re: Episode 30 - Riders in the Skies

-Kalinin Team-

“Incoming beams,” Runnels reported rather calmly, with the pair of MS separating slightly to avoid the shots.

But the Kalinin obviously couldn’t react as quickly. One beam missed cleanly, but the other passed low near the bridge tower, wiping away one of the secondary guns at the starboard base and leaving another firing burning for a moment on the ship.

“Any idea where it came from?” Bate growled, having been looking elsewhere.

“No.”

Bate swore silently to himself. There was so much going on that the beams, which had been larger than mere beam rifle shots, could have been from a ship on the other side of the perimeter for all he knew, and the idea that they were catching over shots from other Titans dozens or hundreds of kilometers away made Alpha even more annoyed.

“Commander Bate, the Captain wants to know did you spot whichever machine is targeting us?” The voice of the comm tech on the Kalinin came through.

“Tell him no, I didn’t see-wait a moment…” Bate paused as another, similar pair of beams raced in, both narrowly missing the big Salamis Kai to the right of the ship. “I think I might know where it is.”

Nguyen’s face appeared among the static on the video comm screen. “Commander, give us targeting coordinates for the source of those beams.”

“Sir, I couldn’t tell if those came from a ship or what, they might be from our units on the other side of Gryps,” Bate warned, not wanting to risk such a thing, and wondering to himself why the crew on the Kalinin couldn’t generate the proper firing data themselves.

“Don’t concern yourself with that, Commander,” Nguyen sighed from the ship.

Bate shook his head and relayed the appropriate data. A moment late, the main guns of the Kalinin unleashed a quick barrage of beam fire in the direction from where the other beams had come.

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

-Nunavut Team-

Ensign Akizawa cursed as he raced back toward the rest of the team. Although his Hizack had only lost an arm, several beams had come close enough that he knew there was other damage to the machine, which was shuddering quite a bit more than it ought.

He found Babineaux drifting and firing away with her machine gun at a rapidly fleeing Nemo as Faisal drifted away from the AEUG suit, deactivating his beam saber and pausing to reload his own machine gun. “You okay?” Faisal’s strained voice came through.

“Yeah. What about you, Lieutenant?” Akizawa asked, knowing the extent of Faisal’s previous injuries.

“I’ll survive-head’s up!” He warned and the trio scattered a bit as the now distant Nemo fired several shots in their area, which they almost easily avoided.

“They’re coming back,” Babineaux noted unhappily.

“Akizawa, get behind and backstop us. If they rush in hard, we’ll pull back and let the Nunavut support us fire as the Echo units push up,” Faisal grunted out.

“Yes sir,” Akizawa responded quickly and shifted back a short distance, while Babineaux and Faisal put some distance between the two, roughly forming a triangle with the point aimed back at their ship. Faisal unleashed a few quick bursts incoming AEUG team while Babineaux took the moment to load her last remaining ammo drum.
I must betray Stalindog!!!

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Re: Episode 30 - Riders in the Skies

-Delta Team-

“Heads up,” Kyle alerted Leandro as he fired another shot towards the distant Axis ships.

Leandro adjusted his position, keeping an eye on his sensors but deciding not to fire himself. The jamming was too thick, so he let Kyle take the shots at the Axis ships, and instead he concerned himself with the swarms of MS that were everywhere. All too often, they were close to Delta team, but at the moment, there area was clear.

One of which caused his sensors to start beeping. Making sure to stay out of Kyle’s line of fire, he rotated to find the target, which quickly developed into a MS high above the battle zone. Leandro gave the radome a few moments to try and make sense of it, a few moments that seemed to last forever thanks to all the Minovsky jamming.

Finally, it came back as a Gaza-C, flying alone lazily in a straight line, and Leandro acted. Swinging the heavy beam launcher upward, he tracked the suit for a second before squeezing the trigger. The beam lanced out and struck the suit, causing just another distant explosion.

Leandro briefly wondered what the pilot had been thinking, and resumed scanning the area around him.

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

-Iota Team-

They were near the middle of Echo’s formation, themselves strung out in a line with Grace to the left, Allister and Jason off to her right, far enough away so they wouldn’t be an easy target but close enough that their radios could cut through the jamming, more or less.

The area to their right, around the Herakles, had been generally clear, but to her left was the Kalinin, which had taken several hits when it had been nearly swarmed with Gaza-C’s, several of which had flown off toward the center of Echo’s formation. Iota team hadn’t done more than fire a few shots at those who came close, keeping to their assigned sector for the time being, but things were clearly picking up. The Kalinin was firing away at some distant target, with what was left of its’ team screening the ship. The teams ahead of Iota were pushing forward and getting into close combat with AEUG and Axis suits, creating something of a gap.

Grace frowned as she scanned the area around them, with an extra moment to checking Jason’s side of their line that helped ease the butterflies in her stomach slightly. There was another flurry of lights ahead of them as Alpha Team pushed into contact. Iota Team’s mission had been rather vague, but it was ultimately Allister’s call whether they would push forward or keep hanging back. And the possibility of what might be kept her stomach churning.
I must betray Stalindog!!!

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Re: Episode 30 - Riders in the Skies

-Alpha Team-

They raced in at top speed, the distant team of AEUG MS that was fighting a group of another Echo unit. They would be a suitable enough target.

“Engage,” Stukov bit over the team’s radio channel. Heyden’s response was just static from the jamming, while Dolk’s was a slightly longer blast of static through which Stukov barely determined was more music than words from the pilots, but both Griffins neatly followed him in formation as they bored in on Team 3, weapons up and at the ready.

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

-The Luzon-
-Bridge-

Lieutenant Commander Esfahani grimaced as he looked out the bridge windows. His ship had taken several hits and was trying to pull back from the worst of the fire the AEUG unit was putting up, with the Nunavut and Echo providing what cover they could, but now there was another threat coming in on their flank.

“Eye-Zack confirms they’re another Rick Dias team, at least five of them,” the communications tech relayed.

“Standard interception plan, keep them away,” Esfahani ordered, knowing his Barzams and Hizack Customs should be able to handle them, “Port side batteries prepare for more action,” he told the gunnery officer, hoping they wouldn’t have to be used. Although the Luzon was damaged and was having trouble maneuver, all the weapons were still operational or nearly so. They were still in the fight.

And so were his mobile suits. The Barzams of Team 1 raced off to intercept the incoming Rick Dias group, while the Hizack Customs spread out, keeping back to try and use their long range weapons to their advantage, while the Eye-Zack played rear guard, for whatever good it might be in combat. It was only a few seconds before Team 1 and the Rick Dias were exchanging shots, which included a bazooka round passing rather close behind the bridge tower of the Luzon.

“Eye-Zack has another group coming in, different angle than the Dias’s,” Communications relayed.

“Now what?” Esfahani breathed, worried about yet more Rick Dias coming from God knew where.

The comm tech relayed the question, while adjusting some of his radio controls to keep a strong signal to the reconnaissance that had been a life saver up to this point. “Gaza-C’s, sir. A large group,” he reported, giving a vector. “ETA is three minutes.”

Esfahani was out of his chair and close to the window, his binoculars to his eyes. Sure enough, from roughly the same area of utter chaos that the latest Rick Dias unit had come, he spotted a group of around a dozen lights. The 10th Patrol Squadron and Taskforce Echo had already dealt with their fair share of the swarms of Axis mobile suits, and now another group was coming in, this time straight for his ship.

“Pass the word to the MS teams, alert the anti-air gunners, and prepare to fire once they are in effecive range,” Esfahani said quietly, moving back to his seat, checking his helmet’s air tight seal for all the good it might do.
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Re: Episode 30 - Riders in the Skies

- Gryps 2 Space -
- Team 2 -


Approaching the New Yark suit's area of operation from above, Bernard noticed a Nemo's (Hard AE) strange maneuver and assisted by firing twice at the same target it was also firing at.

The trio seemed to have fended off a large amount of enemy units, made noticeable by all the wreckage floating in the area, no doubt they were in need of refueling.

"Anyone need a lunch break?"


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

- Delta Team -

Unable to see if his latest shot was a hit, Kyle looked up to see Leandro's hit and sighed at the result of all their potshots= one Gaza, confirmed.

Opening his comm, he relayed his feelings to his superior " L-T. At this point all we're doing is confusing the enemy, and briefly at that. Maybe we should get in closer by the Kalinin, that area seems clear of enemy suits? We'd be more effective..at least feel useful."

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

- Iota Team -


Allister silently kept a close watch on the HUD for signs of any incoming enemy suits but highlighted Alpha team instead. He drew a long breath when he saw them roll way forward and make contact with the enemy. This sector was already stretched thin if they left this 'open' space for the enemy then Alpha team would be surrounded. Last thing Allister wanted to do was engage a unit down a man but he couldn't leave his route of escape unguarded. Against his better judgment, he would push forward to back up Alpha team leaving his top wing-man behind.

Allister’s steady voice cut through a burst of static, "Kelborn, I need you to hold this sector, it being our only way out. Jason, form on me and stay close", Allister raised his Marasai's rifle and rocketed toward Alpha's right flank.

Jason looked back down at Grace's Marasai and reached his suit's arm to initiate skin-talk. It was the last thing he wanted to do, but if he could look into her eyes once more it would give him the strength to follow Allister through hell and back just to be in her arms once more. "After all we've been through.. I don't think.. Grace, I'm coming back and then I have something to ask you", he said breathing heavily as nervousness engulfed him. Pulling back his suit's arm abruptly closed skin-talk. His smile slightly faded and blinked a few time to keep his eyes from watering. The red Marasai soon disappeared after Allister.
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Re: Episode 30 - Riders in the Skies

- Gryps 2 Space -
- Hamburg Team -

Kite gave a slight tilt to his head, stretching until a pop echoed through his back. His Nemo turned back toward Al and Paris, lifting its shield arm slightly in a mock wave. "You two take care now," his tone was somewhat sarcastic. He didn’t really have any doubts that they would be fine. The group had done well so far.

The Nemo turned away following after Kou. "On you boss." The shield was held mid-level over the lower torso with the beam carbine leveled out. "Man this thing is one hell of a mess. It's like a freggin free for all and oddly we're caught in the middle." Kite glared as he tried to focus on the task at hand, but sadly this all seemed....somewhat hopeless. Despite his outward optimism and attitude he did feel it creeping in.

Too many close friends and allies, not to mention the enemy had been perishing left and right. No one was walking away from this whole.
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Re: Episode 30 - Riders in the Skies

-Beta Team-

The pair of Barzams and a Marasai moved forward cautiously in tight formation, the pilots paying extra attention to their sensors for the brief moments when Minovsky jamming didn’t render them useless. It wasn’t just the formidable AEUG group they were attacking, or the Axis gnats that seemed to slip in and out of Echo’s formation all too easily and had forced Beta to defend their ship briefly, that worried them. Wolf, Sven, and Daren knew Te'litha was out there somewhere, among other supposed allies who might use the utter chaos around them to settle things, something Wolf would fully embrace even if the other two might not, not that he had asked recently, or cared at this point. And they weren’t sure where any of the other Echo teams were. Kirov had told them where they had been ordered, but that wasn’t much help.

“He’s still trailing,” Daren reported as they headed toward the area where the Nunavut team was starting to engage. The whole flank being covered by the 10th Colonial had been the source of many problems for Echo.

“He’s nothing,” Wolf growled, glancing at the rear monitor at the Hizack that was following them at a moderate distance. The pilot was some nobody named Sunoue from the Kalinin who had ended up near the Kirov chasing Gazas that Beta team had swatted down, and rather than rejoin his own team, had instead hung around them. Not that Wolf really gave a damn.

But the distant incoming groups of MS, hostiles of some kind, were something. Wolf angled to pass over the Nunavut, the other two Beta suits staying in formation, and the trailing Hizack awkwardly trying to keep up.

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

-Gamma Team-

Nick fumed silently. This wasn’t where he wanted to be. This wasn’t the enemy he really wanted to fight. But there wasn’t much he could do about it, just yet. Aaron opened fire on a distant team of Gaza-C’s, with more Axis units beyond them that might be heading their way, and the idea hit him.

“Pull back,” He said calmly, and very quietly, letting loose two short bursts of machine gun fire of his own as he flipped his X-2 around and raced back quickly.

It was simple enough. The Herakles and its team was behind them, ready to assist, and Iota was somewhere nearby. Why take on at least eight Axis MS by themselves when there were enough suits behind to turn the numbers in their favor, plus the warships. And then Gamma and the rest could resume their attack on the Axis units in force.

Not that Nick planned on being present for that.

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

-Delta Team-

“L-T. At this point all we're doing is confusing the enemy, and briefly at that. Maybe we should get in closer by the Kalinin, that area seems clear of enemy suits? We'd be more effective… At least feel useful," Kyle asked, his tone making clear that was what he’d prefer to do.

And Leandro couldn’t disagree. “Let me ask Kirov, make sure they don’t have anything else planned for us…” He said, switching to the proper comm channel.

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

-Iota Team-

"Kelborn, I need you to hold this sector, it being our only way out. Jason, form on me and stay close," Allister ordered and rocketed off toward Alpha’s sector.

Jason came close and for an all to brief moment, the Marasais were in skin talk. "After all we've been through… I don't think… Grace, I'm coming back and then I have something to ask you."

And as quickly as Jason’s voice had come through her helmet, he was gone too, catching up to Allister, and leaving Grace alone, her mouth slightly open somewhere between surprise and a smile.

She shook her head. There were more flashes to her right, where Gamma was doing something. Things were about to get very busy.

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

-The Kirov-
-Bridge-

Fyodor Pavlichenko relayed Delta Team’s request to relocate to Trent, who sat partially slumped in his chair, looking exhausted as he always seemed to be of late. But that didn’t lead to much hesitation in his making a decision.

“Have them take up a position between the Kalinin and the 10th and keep an eye on things over there, but be ready to relocate again if something comes up,” Trent ordered, his voice a bit stronger than his normal of late.

Outside, the pair of Barzams promptly started off toward the other side of Echo’s formation.
I must betray Stalindog!!!

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