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MPC 49A "World of Steel Titans"
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Post by Alicia Westfield on May 11, 2018 14:17:00 GMT
Unfortunately, Alicia wasn’t that well versed in military hardware in general, having been a civilian before her Digimon incursion and this displacement. So she couldn’t properly appreciate just how quickly her partner for this raid had worked. Hiroyo’s answer came so easily that Alicia could certainly see the logic in it, but she still felt like there was something off about this mess. Oh well, nothing to do about it now.
“... I’ll come from above. I have an idea of how to pounce at full speed without suffering the impact. Please trust me on this and stay on the low ground. As soon as I drop on a Gordos, all eyes will be on me. That should open the Gorhecks’ guard enough for you to take it out.” She didn’t give Hiroyo much time to protest, veering off to get to the top of the canyon.
Once she was at the top, Alicia sighed, keeping herself hidden. She had perfect view of the convoy and of Hiroyo and her Dark Spiner. Once she’d confirmed the empire pilot was in position she counted down from five in her head. “Show time, Ritter...” Alicia whispered to ‘her’ Zoid.
The Ritter rumbled back, almost... excited? Either it was expecting to be treated with kid gloves and was happy the displaced red head was daring as well, or this world’s Alicia was not as much of a dare devil as she was. Regardless, she pushed the yokes forward, and the Ritter leaped off, staying close to the canyon wall. The hover jets hummed and heated up, but didn’t ignite yet. And she kept them that way until she was only about thirty meters from the floor. “Now!”
The jets flared to life, and Alicia made the Ritter’s legs kick back against the wall, launching it forward. That, combined with a resounding roar from the Ritter itself, was likely the first heads up the convoy got that they were under attack. Alicia growled rather savagely in the cockpit as the Ritter slammed blades first into one of the massive stegosaurs’ side. The Gordos had no chance to save itself, only being able to groan and be knocked over by the Geno that had reached terminal velocity during it’s fall.
Alicia had already been moving to go for her next move, coiling the Ritter’s legs up as the Gordos collapsed and planting them on the downed Zoid. Ripping her blades up through the spine of the Zoid, she crippled it and destroyed it’s cannons for good measure before using it as a launchpad to leap for the second Gordos. As she did, she passed right over the Gorhecks and flared her jets for everything they were worth, hoping the heat wash from her passing over head would mess up delicate machinery and give Hiroyo an even bigger window of opportunity to take it out and enter the fight proper.
Had they been tuned into the enemy’s comms, they would almost certainly here lots of cursing and panicking from the Ritter’s rather drastic dynamic entry. Trusting her partner, Alicia would go right for the second Gordos right away, still riding the speed high from her drop and planning to decapitate this machine to take it out in one fell swoop, while noting the location of the tigers and wolves so she could react appropriately to them as need be.
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Post by Hiroyo Oda on May 22, 2018 2:51:42 GMT
With a minute left before the two women were due to move out Hiroyo's voice crackled on the speakers outside of her zoid.
"One to time. Mount up Roger!"
The Organoid lifted his head and quietly rumbled what appeared to be an affirmative. He launched himself from the Dark Spiner and sent up a little plume of dust upon landing. Once on the ground he lifted his front half into the air, jaws parted as if he would bite the sky. Panels on his back slid open to reveal a pair of boosters that flared into life.
The boosters carried the organoid in a short arc, a yellow light soon covering him completely. The short, awkward arc looked as if would leave him smashing into the side of the zoid but instead he sank seamlessly into the side. A bright yellow light flared around the Dark Spiner’s joints for a moment before fading back to normal.
“Alright, if you’re sure.” The soldier replied, her zoid lurching into a run. She would run side-by-side with Alicia until they reached the point where their paths diverged. Hiroyo continued on until she came to a stop with her zoid’s nose just inches from the bend in the canyon wall that concealed her from the line of site of their opposition.
Once in place a couple affirmative beeps would sound in Alicia’s cockpit, a signal that the other part of this two-woman show was ready to go. Hiroyo made a few quick adjustments to her sensor array’s settings, then settled in to wait. It was definitely a quick wait. A roar echoed throughout the canyon and the Dark Spiner broke into a run again - whipping around the corner so fast Hiroyo was able to get a front row seat to the Ritter crippling the first of the two Gordos.
The enemy group had been running with two of the Zaber Fangs up front, then two of the Command Wolves, then the Gustav with it’s double trailers, then the Gorhecks flanked by the Gordos with the rear finished up with the last pair of Command Wolves and Zaber Fangs bringing up the rear a klick back. The Ritter’s appearance had caused the lead group to begin turning to bring the fight to her, giving Hiroyo a brief moment to seize the advantage.
Hiroyo grinned, the expression harsh compared to her normal smiles and grins and dialled the Jamming Blade Array up to full. Boosted by Roger it would be enough to keep the enemy soldiers from making use of their long range communications until the Gorhecks adapted. With the way Alicia was washing that zoid’s sensor equipment with heat, Hiroyo would have ample opportunity to bring the fight to it.
The Dark Spiner’s back mounted machine gun roared to life, Roger gleefully directing the targeting reticle to the back mounted guns of the Zaber Fangs as the Dark Spiner shot forwards. The Strike Laser Claws lashed out as it rushed forward, scoring the side armor of the cat-like Zoids and sending waves of paralyzing electricity through their body. The damage was light, but the electrical attack that was Roger’s hallmark move would hopefully buy the women the time needed to knock the trio of Stegosaurus-type Zoids completely out of the fight.
Hiroyo ploughed straight between the two Command Wolves, the machine gun falling silent as she passed only for the backward facing Double Barrel Cannons to open fire on the foes she was leaving behind her. She jerked around the Gustav, barely casting a glance at the heavily armored Zoid as it accelerated in an attempt to flee. Her eyes were on the prize that was backing away from Alicia’s fight with the second gordos.
The Dark Spiner roared in delight at closing in on the Gorhecks, Hiroyo guiding it almost straight ahead on in a headlong rush towards the Gorheck’s head, it’s machine guns chattering away as they pelted the weaponry system on the enemy zoid’s back, disabling many of the systems. The Republic Zoid opened up with all of its weapons in an almost panic, flinging a wave of energy shots at the approaching Spiner.
Several of the shots landed, including a particularly nasty one from the Gorheck’s main gun that smashed into the Dark Spiner’s chest. The Spiner’s machine guns opened up again, chattering loudly as they blasted away at the guns on the Gorheck’s back. Now though the Dark Spiner was within melee distance and electricity flared on its fangs and claws as it launched itself at the Gorheck’s side in much the same way Alicia had done earlier, using its weight to knock the quadruped zoid off balance while ripping through the weapons on its sides.
The fight was suddenly over when the lights on the Gorhecks abruptly went dead, Hiroyo’s targeted attack towards the Gorheck’s Core finally reaching its mark and putting the zoid out of the war for good. Electricity suddenly surged around Dark Spiner’s back fin as it posed with one leg still on the Gorheck’s side and roared in triumph, smoke still rising from the partially melted armor on its chest. The enemy pilots suddenly found their targeting systems going array, and more cursing was emanating from their comms. This time, however, they didn’t even have each other to talk to.
The rearguard was caught off-guard by the swiftness of the attacks that had debilitated their fellows but they were quick to respond despite the sudden targeting difficulties. Shoots began to rain towards the two Empire zoids, flying far wide at first when the pilots didn’t realize their targeting systems had been disrupted, then starting hit closer and closer to home as they made put half-forgotten basic aiming skills to use. The Zaber fangs were starting to pull abreast of the Command Wolves now, but they would quickly pass them by and attempt to engage in melee range.
The Gordos, on the other hand, wanting nothing more than to be out of melee range. When it saw its partner fall it immediately began backing up and turning so that its formidable gun array would be pointed in the Ritter’s direction. It didn’t quite get there by the time the Geno attacked it again, but at least this one was able to attempt to repel the Empire zoid by swinging it’s rather formidable tail spikes at it.
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Spire
Better Mod
An In-Spire-ation to Us All
Posts: 17
OOC Name: Spiraga™
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Post by Spire on Jun 3, 2018 15:52:11 GMT
(I'll just cruise by and state that you've both reached the word requirement, so both players get 5,000 bits. You can still continue this great thread if you like).
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Post by Alicia Westfield on Jun 3, 2018 22:49:26 GMT
Something about downing a unit with such ease brought a wicked grin to Alicia’s lips. The second Gordos retreating for her as she evaded what shots actually managed to get close to her fueled her onwards. Unfortunately for it, this Alicia was also a warrior with sharply honed instincts for combat. She saw the tail swipe coming a mile away and quickly severed it with a flick of one of the Ritter’s massive blades, then swung in with the other, driving the sharpened slab through the side and straight into the zoid core.
That was one of the big difference between the weapon types both women used to attack that critical point. The machine guns let you stay a safer distance away, but took much more fire power to chew through armor. A good blade with enough momentum and energy, on the other hand, cleaved through like a hot knife through butter.
Ripping her blade out, the second Gordos collapsed, and Alicia turned her attention fully to the incoming Fangs and Wolves. Shots continued raining down at her, but their reliance on the targeting systems were apparent. The displaced warrior pushed forward and charged to meet the incoming tigers head on, blades flicking into the path of beams and shells that closed in on her Zoid.
The head blade flicked forward as a Zaber Fang jumped at her, and Alicia ducked a bit only to rise up and jam the weapon into the chest of the tiger, ending it’s part in the battle instantly as she shook it off the other Zaber was about to close in on her with it’s fangs. She only had a few seconds to react, but already she was shifting her blade to cut the second tiger down. It would be a cl-
And then the resound retort of heavy cannon fire rang out twice. The first set of shells destroyed the back-mounted guns of the tiger, and the second practically tore it in half as a red and purple plated eagle-like zoid banked hard in the valley to pull out of it’s dive.
There was only one other person they could’ve expected to crash this two-woman show. “You know,” Alicia began, opening a comm to the new flyer, “I had him handled Kisara.”
”Aww, and ruin my daring rescue? You’re so mean, Alicia.” Kisara quipped, making sure Hiroyo was hearing them as well. ”And don’t worry about my Buster Eagle, I already got it adjusted for the Spiner’s jamming array. Not that I need the targeting systems. I’ll make some passes here and there where I can but the valley’s not really friendly to non-Storch flyers.”
While the ice maiden was talking, the redhead in the Ritter was blocking some more shots with what almost seemed like casual ease. “How does that thing support those giant cannons anyways?” As she asked the question, Alicia charged at the wolves, who’s shots were beginning to become more accurate. With any luck, she’d be able to pass between them and slice the tops of their bodies away from their legs in one fell swoop.
”Technobabble you wouldn’t be able to understand. Hell, I’m a bit confused myself.” came the return answer.
“Oh great.”
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Post by Hiroyo Oda on Jun 14, 2018 21:18:34 GMT
The Dark Spiner's posing left it a still target, a foolish thing with the increasing amount of firepower that was being flung through the air. The saurian zoid staggered as two rather sizeable blasts smashed across its side. Inside the cockpit Hiroyo was flung against her safety straps as warnings began blaring from her console. A wire-frame of the Dark Spiner popped up on one side of her screen with multicolored lights denoting damaged areas. She took a quick glance, noted that the majority of the lights were orange or yellow, then slapped the mute button on the alarm.
"Enough grandstanding, Roger! We've still got work to do!" She called as she hauled on the controls to swing the Dark Spiner around to face the two Command Wolves that had hit her. The rearguard was sitting back behind the Zaber Fangs with their feet planted, providing medium-range support with the cannons on their back. Hiroyo grimaced as another shot from them smashed against the Spiner's namesake, smashing through one of the smaller spines in the front. "First thing's first! Let's give their targetting systems hell!"
There was a deep answering rumble from the depths of the Dark Spiner as its pilot flicked a couple switches and then pushed a lever as far forwards as possible. The electricity which had been chaotically hopping about the spines after the strike seemed to stabilized, the visibile discharge fading away until only the occasional flicker could bee seen. There was a click and then the now useless base of the broken blade was ejected to the canyon floor.
The entire enemy forces would find their communcations disrupted by a roar of static, but now too their computers would begin lying to them. Subtle miscalculations in the firing solution, the graphic of the aiming reticule being placed several meters to the side from where the guns were aimed. Sabotage both covert and overt, paired in tandem to destroy the defender's confidence in themselves and their aiming system.
A grin stretched across Hiroyo's face and with a steady shove she pushed the Dark Spiner into action. The Saurian sprinted forward, jaws opened in a roar that was all-but lost in the chattering of the machineguns mounted behind its head. One of the Command wolves took a bracing backwards step as the whole group was subjected to the withering rain of bullets. All continued firing, most of their shots falling helplessly wide. HIroyo could easily imagine the frustrated and terrified yelling in their cockpits. A few lucky shots landed on her back and sides but she continued to press onwards.
As long as they stayed away from the already battered armor on her chest and stomach Hiroyo felt confident in her ability to weather the storm.
Confidence that was well founded as shown a few seconds later as the Dark Spiner finally reached melee range. The green colored saurian might not be as proficient at melee ass Alicia's Ritter, but its electrified bite and claws meant that the Command Wolf it singled out to try and rip the guns off of was stil hard pressed to defend itself. Sadly the lupine zoid's pilot didn't seem to be up to the task as the Wolf quickly found one of its legs stripped of armor and then a barrage of shots fired into a gap in its body armor. During the rather messy tumble Hiroyo caught a brief glimps of something flying high and fast toward Alicia, and as soon as the Wolf was down for the count the Dark Spiner whipped around to observe.
Hiroyo pulled her finger away from the comms button and let her warning die in her throat when the radar system finally supplied an ID tag for the Buster Eagle. The rescue was pulled off smoothly and efficiently and Hiroyo wanted to laugh at the flippant coms chatter. A desire that was quickly stifled as the remaining Command Wolves raked across her flanks and legs with their guns. "I think they've caught on to the shenanigans I was pulling. They seem to have switched to manual targeting."
The red head grit her teeth and returned fire with the cannons at the base of the Spiner's tail before whirling around to find all three of the Command Wolves had retreated back down the canyon. On her radar she caught sight of the front guard finally entering the engagement zone with Alicia's Ritter, and could hear the weapons of those Zabers and Wolves joining the fight. Reluctantly she turned away from the three fleeing wolves to race towards the main fight.
Inspiration struck as she watched the Buster Eagle swing around for another pass and the soldier keyed up her mic to both of the other females. She even manged to muster up enough spine to tease. "Hey sky-lady, I've got three cowardly dogs who are tryiing to flee if you want to hit them on your return trip. I promise to be more appreciative of the assist than Alicia~"
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Post by Alicia Westfield on Jun 15, 2018 3:24:41 GMT
She almost stumbled as she heard Hiroyo teasing over the comms while requesting aid in taking out some stragglers that were making a break for it. And she used a very certain tone of voice too, one that made her grimace as she knew just where Kisara would take it. Fortunately, it didn’t stop her from taking out the wolves she had targeted, dropping them with terrifying efficiency.
”I don’t know... three targets in one pass is a lot to ask for...” The ice maiden drawled out in her own bit of teasing, already lining her cannons up with the escape path of the first retreating hound. She had every intention of following through, but maybe she could get Hiroyo to squirm a bit? ”I’m gonna want something a bit more for pulling something like this off. Kiss me when we get back?” Then she smirked a bit, muting her comm briefly so she could giggle without being heard.
Alicia just face palmed for a second, parrying an incoming shot from the rest of the group as she saw the Spiner moving to meet up with her so they could bring everything they had to bear on the enemy. Then she heard the Buster Eagle’s guns sound off three times and the screaming engines of the bird Zoid as it pulled back up. “She got them, I take it. And she’s not going to let you out of that now that she did it. Kisara is quite unrepentant about her shenanigans.”
Poor empire pilot, she had no idea the can of worms she might as well have dumped on herself, enticing the devious woman like that. Now she had a very embarrassing moment to look forward to when they got back to base. Likely in front of the engineers and other crew as well, for good measure. “Good luck.”
With that last utterance to Hiroyo, she swung her blades in front of herself and backed off, the hail of fire getting too thick for even her to dash through unscathed. So she started charging up. The Ritter’s tail vents started opening up, and anyone who knew a Geno series Zoid knew what would follow after that. The tell tale hum of the CPC began to build up steadily as Alicia mitigated her damages to nicks and scrapes of stray shots. “And don’t get in front of my Ritter, by the way. Just in case you didn’t see the vents opening.”
As soon as they realized what was happening, the Fangs and Wolves in front of her would realize the terrible situation they were in. With the valley walls in so close, and the Ritter pretty much dead center, there was no safe place in front of the Geno Ritter to escape from the shock wave, even if they managed to avoid the beam itself... And trying to pass the Ritter was dicey as well. Her blades were still mobile and usable even when she finally locked down to fire, and would happily carve them to pieces if ignored.
“Some suppressive fire would be appreciated to cut down on this hail though.” Alicia quipped with a laugh as she started getting her own alerts from the hits she started taking. She was fine either way though. This was going to be a big blast it seemed.
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Post by Hiroyo Oda on Jun 28, 2018 19:15:05 GMT
The moment Kisara made a comment about a kiss was when Hiroyo knew she had probably messed up. Still the lack of needing to chase after those three meant that A) the Dark Spiner was taking less damage and B) She didn't have to wast time chasing after the runaways.
"Aaah, yeah I guess that's fair." Hiroyo allowed. She wasn't as savvy to Kisara's behavior as Alicia was, so the Empire pilot thought she could probably get away with just a peck on the cheek in a private location.
Poor naive woman.
The Dark Spiner swerved to run perpendicular to the canyon wall abruptly, the hail of shots from the front guard peppering its sides. Hiroyo bit her lip as she glanced at her radar to confirmi that the three active Core signatures behind her were gone in the wake of the explosions from the Buster Eagle.
"Yep! All three gone, less for us to mop up." Hiroyo guided the Dark Spiner to stand parallel to the Ritter, far enough out of blade range that Alicia wouldn't have to worry about the Spiner getting caught by mistake if one of the Zaber Fangs or Command Wolves made it back to melee range.
Not that the chances of that happening seemed high with the way the Ritter's vents were opening like a threat display. A grin appeared on Hiroyo's face as she backed the Dark Spiner even further, doing her best to present the Zoid's undamaged side to the foes ahead of them.
"I was hoping you'd get a chance to use that." She admitted, flicking a switch on her console as a multitude of targetting reticles popped up over the incoming threats. She double checked the ammo remaining for her Machine Guns then snapped her attention back on task.
The Spiner, as if sensing her intent which it probably was with Roger merged as he was, ducked its head and roared defiance. The machine guns openned up as they had so many times before. They chattered loudly as they began shredding armor and raked across front several of the enemy Zoids.
A few of the opponents, realize they were about to get hit hard, turnred and fled back the way they had come with the intent to shelter around the corner that Hiroyo had sprung out o
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Post by Alicia Westfield on Jul 16, 2018 0:45:45 GMT
“I can see why,” Alicia mused softly in acknowledgement, grinning to herself. Her cannon was ready to go and the enemy had started their retreat too late. The foot locks slammed down on the ground, anchoring the Ritter in place, and then the blades swung back to their resting position, clearing the path of the extended barrel and the building mass of energy.
“Firing!” With that one word, the Ritter loosed a roar that was quickly drowned out by the burst of the large beam tearing through the canyon. One unfortunate Wolf, whose leg had been hammered a bit by Hiroyo’s machine gun fire and thus wasn’t as fast as it could’ve been, was outright vaporized in the blast itself. But as was the CPC’s tendency, the following shockwave was just as debilitating.
Those that escaped the main shot were suddenly overcome by heavy winds well in excess of a category 5 tornado for a short time, long enough to be lifted from the ground and dashed against the rocky walls, snapping mechanical limbs and caving in chassises like so much plywood. Some of the Zoids were technically still ‘active’ even after that, but with no way to move and no functional weaponry, they might as well have been completely destroyed anyways.
“Well...” Alicia said after a breathless moment with wide eyes. “That... was even more powerful than I was expecting...” The Geno Ritter rumbled with a vicious glee at the victory they had accomplished. Out numbered to such a degree and yet for the most part they’d made the fight look easy. Who wouldn’t be proud of that kind of power?
”Hehe! Way to go ‘Ace pilot’!” Kisara quipped with a grin. Then her eyes widened. Something was approaching at a down right ludicrous speed! Too fast for ground radar to pick up in time in the canyon! ”Crap! LO-”
She never had the time to finish her warning. Fortunately she didn’t need to. An instinctive response from the displaced red head fired, and she swung a blade out just a split second before she was pounced upon by what could only be described as a red blur. A keening note rang out as blades clashed, the blur deflected to the side, only to dash up the wall without missing a beat, bound over to the other wall, and lunge for another attack in the half-second after the clash.
The clang of steel meeting steel resounded again, the Ritter’s second blade already in position to defend again. This time the red blur skidded across the ground, cutting an arc with what could be assumed to be claws as it repositioned again to maintain momentum. A third leap came, and then a bright flash changed the blur from red to white.
Alicia had already crossed her blades in front again though, meeting the lunge head on. The Ritter slid back several meters and howled in defiance as the white blur smashed into it’s blades, finally coming to a stop and letting them get a good look at the new contact.
The new Zoid was another feline, but a bit sleeker than the earlier Zaber Fangs, its armor ending in more shaped and angled points then the bulky rounded examples of the Tiger Zoids. Though this one most definitely wasn’t meant to emulate a Tiger. All around its head it sported a mane of gleaming blades, with the largest and most prominent ones sprouting from the top. It’s overall color scheme was primarily white with numerous gold highlights, along with a semi-transparent black ‘visor’ over it’s eyes. From it’s back there were a pair of ‘arms’ ending in the handles of the new Zoid’s primary weapons, a pair of massive claymores not too dissimilar in function to the Ritter’s own blades, though wildly different in shape. The left blade was a jagged and vicious thing on the front edge, while it’s counter part on the right was as sleek and uniform as they came, both weapons being single edged in comparison to the Ritter’s double edged blades.
The lion, or as Hiroyo would quickly realize, Liger growled aggressively as it pressed into the blade lock. The Ritter met that growl in turn, and perhaps over the comms Hiroyo might even hear a similar snarl coming from Alicia herself. Both seemed to have completely forgotten about the Dark Spiner in favor of focusing on overpowering each other or otherwise finding a way to favorably end the lock. Whoever the new pilot was very clearly was a cut far above the chaff they’d dealt with earlier.
”... This situation is... worrying...” Sol muttered into the Empire units’ comms. ”That opening assault was performed at just above the speed of sound. And is quite telling of the pilot’s ability to parse data manually and react accordingly.” Well that would probably be a chilling revelation for Hiroyo...
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Post by Hiroyo Oda on Aug 7, 2018 20:02:20 GMT
The alarmed shout from Kisara was as sudden and upsetting as was the arrival of what it heralded. At first the newcomer and the Ritter were trading blows and positions too quickly for Hiroyo to get a solid identification on the new foe although she could take a very educated guess at the general type of Zoid. With the opposing faction being who they were Hiroyo would slap down a month's pay on the bet that it was some kind of Liger, and one of the rarer ones to boot.
The arrival meant that the job had just gone from 'almost a cakewalk' to 'in danger of failing'.
"Alicia be careful! That Liger doesn't have a complete entry in the database!" She called out over the comline as her fingers danced over her keyboard. The enemy Zoid in front of her wasn't completely unknown, but information on it was almost as rare as its appearances and she was almost certain it was the same one that had appeared three months ago and decimated several squads the way the normal Alicia had. A small, semi-translucent circle in the middle of her forward screen popped up showcasing a regular Shield Liger. Hiroyo began to scroll, small 3D models of the more common Ligers racing by great speed until the redhead slowed her search, stopping on a Liger with a similar mane but only one great blade on its back. She frowned and edged the visual search over two notches then pushed the select key.
Incomplete schematics of the Liger and guesses at its capabilities transposed themselves over Hiroyo's view of the fight, her cockpit quickly looking more like a mechanic's planning room than the control room of a war machine. She scanned everything carefully, frowning at the scant knowledge her side had managed to collect on this relatively unknown enemy. She battled too with deciding whether to speak up with what she knew or if that would distract Alicia from the fight.
She relaxed as Sol spoke up, deciding that if the Organoid was doing so then she would as well. "It's one of their Aces. We don't know much of anything about the pilot, they and the Zoid have only started showing up on the battlefield a few months ago. Not much is known beyond a preference for melee combat and the fact that it's armor is made from materials we don't know anything about. It's tougher than anything we have." There was a bitterness in her voice as she finished sharing the facts in the file. There were a few more things that were noted down but Alicia needed details, not rumor-mill stories about the Zoid being able to transform. "We've caught chatter about a 'Mugen'. I'm going to try messing with his electronics now!"
She flung herself into her task feverishly, the Dark Spiner digging into the floor of the canyon as electricity began sparking more energetically along its back spines. The green head was focused solely on the Liger. It really wasn't a surprise that the sound of a Zoid moving from the direction of the devastation from the earlier Charged Particle Cannon came as a shock.
The Gustav that the two women had been sent to deal with had thrown its motor into high gear again. It had been off to the side of direct line of fire, and with its low build and heavy weight it wasn't as easily tossed to the side the way the smaller Zoids had been. There was a long sear of red-hot melted metal high on the its shell, showing just how close the beam had come to incinerating it. The top portion of its singular trailer had partially melted and collapsed on itself, giving a rather lopsided view but now the snail was doing its best to make tracks.
"Fuck! I should..." Hiroyo trailed off, hesitant as she tried to decide which path she should take. Chase or support? Her training told her to finish the objective. The gash in the Gustav's shell was a weak point she could exploit. With its overall low speed it wouldn't drag her too far away from the fight, but at the same time it's overall armor was incredibly thick and even if she could take advantage of the gash she couldn't be sure she would be able to hit anything vital from there.
Her hands clenched around her joysticks just before she punched a button on her console to tag the Gustav's core signal on her radar. With a wordless cry she took advantage of the current blade lock to open up with the last of the ammo for the machine guns. "We'll chase it later, lets focus this one down now!"
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Post by Alicia Westfield on Aug 7, 2018 23:14:48 GMT
With a growl of frustration Alicia mentally filed away what she was hearing from Sol and Hiroyo, twitching the controls ever so slightly to make minor adjustments in the blade lock. She was trying to scope out the silver-plated Liger’s reactions, and potentially bait out an over commitment to one path or another. But she was having no luck whatsoever there, the enemy Ace was just as composed and focused as she was. And they weren’t going to make a mistake nearly as easily as the rank and file. The fact that they hadn’t filed it’s full capabilities had told the redhead that either it didn’t show up much even after its debut, or it was just that good at taking targets out with minimal effort. Or possibly both, that could be a factor. Either way she knew she was in for the fight of her life right now. And desperately hoped her advisors were right, that this world’s Alicia’s skill would come through when she needed it most.
“You failed to mention it was some kind of transformer. I know that kind of stance change anywhere. I use it a lot myself back home...” Alicia shot back as she grit her teeth. The first two blows were rapid fire hit and runs, but the third was a more focused strike and had resulted in their current lock. Not to mention she had caught a glimpse of the hard points the blades were attached to earlier. This form had them on its back. The other, though? Those had been secured to its front ankles. Not to mention that one had been clearly red and this one a silver-white in coloration. The drastic color change combined with what she’d seen of the weapon placement, factoring in the utilization of an aspect of one form to enhance a move from another... It painted a worrying picture in Alicia’s mind.
Hearing about incoming electronic warfare assistance was briefly reassuring, both Ritter and pilot preparing to take advantage of the inevitable break in pressure from the pilot having to take a moment and adapt. Every moment was critical against an enemy like this, she’d learned quite painfully more than once. Any minute now, the lock would slacken a bit and she could take a shot. Any second the Spiner’s devastating power, unhindered by opposing Gorehecks support would take its toll...
... And yet, the “Mugen Liger” never even so much as twitched in acknowledgement of the interference. Nothing, as if it wasn’t being effected at all. Was in insulated against this type of weapon on top of everything else!? Or was there another, even more distressing reason that their enemy seemed completely unfazed by the Spiner’s electronic assault? But if that were the case, wouldn’t this world’s Alicia have gotten some similar for her Geno Ritter? Hiroyo had had to adjust for the Ritter’s presence just to be sure, so either this unit was benefiting from the first example of bleeding edge ECM systems or... or what? An independent development? In the chaos of her thoughts whirling about from the conundrum before her, the Gustav firing up and making a break for it slipped her notice. But certainly she could be forgiven for that?
It was only the Spiner moving to open fire with its guns that got a bigger reaction from the Liger, which suddenly pulled back swiftly enough that it seemed to leave an after image behind for a moment, the Geno Ritter stuttering a bit into Hiroyo’s firing path from the abrupt disengagement. The same moment though, the Ritter’s jets fired and pushed in onward, clearing that path just as quickly, leaving the spray of bullets to chew up nothing but rock and dirt. Alicia let out a roar and closed again with a flurry of swift and precise slashes, trying to put pressure and get some kind of position advantage over the opposing Ace.
The Liger pilot was having none of it though, repelling each strike and arresting the saurian’s forward moment as it did. Alicia flicked the Zoid’s head blade forward and tried gouging a slash into the head and likely cockpit of the Zoid, but a quick shake of its head repelled that as well on the bladed mane. “Damnit...”
”Ha... truly the Queen of Blades lives up to her terrifyingly potent reputation as the Greatest Sword of Zenebas.” the Liger pilot suddenly quipped over the external speakers. Something that made Alicia quirk an eyebrow at the fact that their opponent was feeling confident enough to open a dialogue with them. “Queen of Blades” she could technically understand but... the Greatest Sword of Zenebas? Fortunately her musings didn’t distract her, and she was able to side step the Liger’s attempt at literally taking a bite out of her Zoid’s chest. ”Actually winning against you will require some effort. Especially with that bird in the sky and the Spiner on the ground. But taking you out will certainly be worth the effort.”
It also gave them an idea of who they were up against, another young woman. How odd that an ace on both sides were of the female persuasion. Alicia didn’t particularly pay much attention to that fact, more focused on the other pilot’s earlier comment while they were in a stalemate again. “Greatest Sword of Zenebas? That’s an awfully lofty title to lay on me. Especially given I’m not even a proper soldier.” Maybe she could get some more information out of their opponent?
The comment was responded to at first with an action, and quite the acrobatic one. With a braced backflip, the Mugen Liger kicked the Geno Ritter in the head and sent it rolling back, while having used that same kick as a launching point to build some distance. An attempt that was promptly countered when Alicia righted herself and sent a claw careening off on its cable, latching onto the feline’s ankle and slamming it back down. Now the enemy Ace was between her and Hiroyo, perhaps the other redhead could make something of that?
”Oof! Well, I suppose there is no harm in telling. There’s a little betting pool going on in the Alliance. A lot of evidence in this war points to the possibility that you being defeated will cause the Empire’s war machine to grind to a complete halt, and maybe even scare them into a full retreat. After all, how many times now have you been sent out with barely any support units?” the pointed question at the end would be one that Hiroyo would be able to answer... that it was actually a fairly common occurrence. And one that would get Alicia thinking quite a bit. Still, they had a fight to focus on, the Liger trying to pull its paw free from the Ritter’s grip while the Ritter itself was braced to resist the pulling, blades swinging into position to suddenly change gears and pounce. It was another tense stand off yet again, both Aces evaluating the situation. Sparks have certainly flown far and wide but neither were particularly injured yet.
Perhaps someone should go tail that Gustav in case this drags on longer then they expect?
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Post by Hiroyo Oda on Aug 25, 2018 12:44:07 GMT
"I, I didn't know that was possible." A cold spike of fear lodged itself in Hiroyo's gut as she spoke to herself in her cockpit. Her mouth hung open as she looked at the Liger in front of them, in awe of both the transformation abilities Alicia suggested it may have and the way it didn't even seem to register her attempts at messing with its electronics.
Was it really completely unaffected by what she was attempting? Or, or did the pilot simply not care. Most of what Hiroyo could do was focused on screwing with targeting systems and communication channels, but neither of that was really coming into play now. Those targeting systems could be turned off and honestly were probably not needed by a skilled and experienced pilot. External speakers had a separate hard line to the cockpit in case the Zoid was disabled and the pilot needed to signal that they were still alive.
The red head nodded as she finished tallying up all the reasons why her electronic warfare was probably still working, just being completely useless in the current situation.
Unsurprisingly she didn't find it reassuring at all. There was still that doubt, that doubt that it really was some bleeding edge defense against her Zoid's abilities.
Hiroyo swallowed dryly as the enemy pilot spoke, and as if echoing her mental state the Spiner took a single step backwards. There was something that felt uncomfortably like 'truth' in the opposing soldier's words, something Hiroyo didn't want to acknowledge.
Alicia's Zoidian counterpart had been sent out many times before with low support, and the realization sat heavy in Hiroyo's stomach. She had been rather self-centered earlier, hadn't she? Thinking that the reason for the small group size was because the higher-ups wanted to be rid of them. It was painfully possible that it was the opposite. Hiroyo didn't have access to exact troop counts but she could still count the difference in rows when this section of the army assembled in preparation to march.
At the same time, didn't this just mean that the higher-ups trusted Alicia? To send her out with such little support to complete high-risk, high-reward missions... that wasn't a lack of faith but rather the opposite.
Still, would anyone else be able to complete the high risk missions Alicia had?
She clutched the yokes tighter, her brain warring with itself. Just now, just now hadn't the Ritter been forced to dodge Hiroyo's attempt at attacking? She didn't want to admit it, but she was as clumsy as a toddler learning to stand in the face of these two experienced fighters. In short: She was getting in the way. Even the transplanted Alicia from a different world was better than her.
Hiroyo closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It hurt to admit even a complete novice in the cockpit, a version of an ace from another world was better than she was. There was no place for pride on the battle field, but that didn't mean she could just take it off.
"Alicia." She spoke with a calmness he didn't truly feel as she opened her eyes. Her fingers danced on her keypad as she brought up the incomplete data on two more Ligers on her own screen. She leaned forward against her restraint straps to get a better look, blowing up the magnification so she could examine the hard points more closely. "I apologize, our knowledge was incomplete. We didn't know, didn't know that it could transform. I'm sending over what's known about the two we suspect to be its other forms. There's no confirmation, no visual records of the transformation. Just the fact that these three all showed up around the same timeframe." With a flick of her finger she did, and leaned back in her seat.
There was a tired buzzing growl from within the depths of the Dark Spiner. Roger was running out of power and they were running out of time. Hiroyo clenched her eyes shut and then opened them again, resettling her hands firmly on her controls. She was a soldier and she had a job to deal with.
"Roger's running out and I'm in the way here." She said curtly then abruptly hauled on the yokes with all her strength and shoved them forward as far as they could go as if that would quiet the feeling of desertion in her gut. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry."
The Spiner spun almost on a dime then broke immediately into a flat run in the direction of the fleeing Gustav. Hiroyo bit her lip as she ran away from the fight, the blinking orange lights denoting her damaged state beginning to reflect on her cheeks as tears tracked their way down. Her back and shoulders were tensed as if expecting a blade borne by the Liger to come slicing into her cockpit. But if Alicia's skill and Hiroyo's own luck were enough, then the Dark Spiner would have slipped away to trail after the Gustav.
"I don't think I'll be getting that kiss after this." Hiroyo mumbled to herself, her hands carefully away from the 'on' button for her comline.
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Post by Alicia Westfield on Nov 4, 2018 1:51:31 GMT
“It’s fine. I’ll keep our ‘friend’ here busy.” Alicia answered back. “Tell Kisara I’m sorry, please?” she suddenly asked, a solemnly grim tone to her voice as the Dark Spiner began to retreat. The Liger snarled and tugged harder on the grapple claw holding it as Hiroyo made to finish the mission over fighting the ace with Alicia. But with that request... did Alicia notice something that provoked a sense of dread in her? Regardless, the aces both knew neither of them were leaving this spot without defeating the other. Neither one would allow it of their counterpart in the opposing army. Both of them understood the strategic and tactical value the other held. The Liger had been recruited and deployed to curtail the Ritter’s utter domination of the war effort. The Ritter now had an opponent of a caliber it had to expend significant effort on to defeat in the Liger, stoking the animalistic desire to prove it’s superiority. Fate always seemed to drag these two Zoid types into conflict, even if all involved were unaware.
Shield Liger and Genosaurer had given way to Blade Liger and Geno Breaker. They had given way to the Ultimate X Zoids of another time known as Liger Zero and Berserk Fury. A third reality saw the Fury give way to the Gairyuki and it’s opposing Liger Zero had gained forms the other had no knowledge of. Even the Murasame and its two alternate forms had already had a sworn foe in the Bio-Volcano. And there was a distinctly worrying fact about all of these confrontations. The Liger had always come out on top in the end. Regardless of the circumstances between each pair, the truth was what it was. Only time would tell if the pattern continued into this pairing.
Suddenly, as if a signal only the two of them could notice was given, the two Zoids suddenly lunged at each other, howling and snarling like the animals they were modeled after. Alicia gritted her teeth and growled as she manipulated the Ritter’s controls, blades swinging with fierce precision and blistering speed. And yet even with how fast she was moving, the enemy ace seemed to be at least on par or even one step ahead of her, parrying her blows and lashing back, steel whistling in the wind as the two dueled and everything else fell to the wayside. That wasn’t to say they were unaware of anything else around them, it just became unimportant in the wake of the blows being rained upon each other. The deadly tango they danced around each other warranted their full attention.
The displaced redhead had to bite back a curse, jerking to avoid a swing she wasn’t quite fast enough to parry. And it left her confused and pressured. How had her opponent found such an impossibly small window of opportunity to push a strike past her guard? With the Ritter’s head blade in the equation, Alicia technically had a superior number of weapons that she could bring to bear compared to the Mugen, the length of the blade nullifying the negligible reach of her foe’s fangs.
And yet every so often it felt as if she was the one who was being overwhelmed by numbers. “Damnit!” This time she couldn’t hold the curse back as again an impossible attack nearly bisected her Zoid’s head. That time she was sure the enemy’s swords were too far out of position to make that attack. One had been re-chambering to block a strike of hers, the other off to the side after being parried by Alicia’s head blade. With the two known blades accounted for... that lead to the logically illogical conclusion that her opponent could manifest a third blade already on the attack at will. And yet her Zoid couldn’t possibly support the frame work to utilize it, it was already too heavily occupied by the twin claymores she already had.
This fight had gotten far more complex than she had been expecting. She hoped beyond hope that her advisors were right, that her counterpart’s skill and experience would surge forth now that she needed it more than ever.
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With Hiroyo seeing the wisdom in leaving the aces to themselves, Kisara had no recourse but to follow suit. The Spiner could at best offer minor distraction if timed well, but her Buster Eagle couldn’t even do that. Her swoops were large and heavily telegraphed. Someone of the Liger pilot’s skill would’ve had to be a complete airhead to not see her coming and neutralize the threat or even turn it to her advantage. And an airhead she most certainly was not if she made it this far.
”You’re not the only one who has to bail in favor of completing the mission, Hiroyo...” the ice maiden mused to the local redhead as she pulled away from the fight, falling into metaphorical ‘step’ right above the Spiner as they went to chase down the Gustav ”Alicia’s been in tough binds before though. That woman won’t be beaten so easily, even if dealt a fatal wound. Speaking from experience here. I’m sure she’ll pull through some how.”
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Post by Hiroyo Oda on Dec 20, 2018 22:00:47 GMT
“…It's good to hear that from someone who knows her.” Hiroyo said after a short silence. The two were rapidly catching up to the Gustav, the fight and sounds from it falling further and further behind. Part of Hiroyo wished the airborne pilot had stayed with the other fight, but the logical side of her mind pointed out how difficult it would be to cut through the hauler’s thick armor with only her own weapons.
The quicker she disabled to cargo Zoid the closer she could turn back to the fight.
A left around a canyon wall, a right, another left - the twists and turns were getting tighter and tighter and more than once the Dark Spiner’s armor scraped against rocky wall. Hiroyo frowned.
How much time had passed since the beginning of the fight? Ten minutes, twenty? Regardless it didn’t change the reality that Hiroyo was facing at the controls of the metal beast she piloted. The noise from the servos, from the joints and the pistons and all the systems that made it move. She frowned. IT was weird to think such mechanical sounds could sound tired - she could believe it from the Zoid’s growls or roars, but from the turning of gears?
Her disbelief couldn’t disprove reality though. Responses were slow, and the sensors acted as if they were lagging. It wasn’t much time-wise: milliseconds at best, but it was enough for her to notice. A frustrated growl bubbled up from her throat. She had piloted her Dark Spine for a far longer stretch of time before, it should have more in reserve than this. Then again never before had it had an Organoid bonded to its core for such strenuous battle.
“C’mon Roger! You’ve got more than this!” Hiroyo called, half-cajoling and half-encouraging the organoid. A growl echoed back from the depths of the saurian Zoid. She pursed her lips, glancing at the clock among the various other graphs on her overview. She hadn’t taken note of the time when the battle began so she could only roughly guess at how much time had passed.
As she lifted her gaze from the clock her attention was caught once more by the damage report of the Dark Spiner. Her forehead furrowed and her pursed lips smoothed out into a tight, worried line instead. There was a lot more red and orange on the display than she had noticed before. No wonder Roger and the Spiner were slowing down, Roger was probably siphoning power off the core to compensate.
The fact she wasn't Roger's 'person' probably didn't help matters either.
“Only a little more, then we can rest.” She said outlaid as they rushed into the dissipating end of a dust cloud. The radar bleeped as it picked up her target and she flexed her hands around the controls. The Gustav had a patch of exposed internals that were only partially covered by the slagged and pierced metal around them. She lit it up with bright red crosshairs on her screen. She patched the data through to Kisara’s console to do what she wished with it. It wasn’t a large patch, shooting it at speed would be tricky. There was friendly challenge in Hiroyo’s voice as the canyon began widening around them, soon there would be plenty of room for Kisara’s to maneuver as she pleased.
“Can you make that?”
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Post by Alicia Westfield on Mar 27, 2019 4:31:13 GMT
A snarl crossed her lips as Alicia backed off a bit, trying to buy a moment to assess her situation and the Liger’s abilities. So far she’d been able to avoid a severe hit, but her Zoid was displaying a distressing amount of yellow from times where her foe’s blade had scored her armor. “Damnit...” she muttered to herself, before her eyes narrowed. She was starting to get a feel for when the Liger manifested it’s third, phantom blade...
The silver plated feline, confident in it’s victory, charged forward. The enemy ace didn’t want to give her any breathing room whatsoever. A fine idea for the most part, but one did have to be careful to not approach too recklessly. Not that Alicia was going to warn her enemy of that.
”What’s wrong, oh Queen of Blades?” the Liger pilot called out tauntingly, followed by another series of clangs from their blades slamming against each other. ”Finally lost your touch? Perhaps even reconsi-IIIIIII-!”
Her taunting was promptly answered by Alicia ducking down and diving in as the phantom blade swung through open air. The Ritter’s head blade was then jammed in under the shoulder joint, lifting the heavy armored feline up and allowing Alicia to flip her foe over her head. With energy coursing through her blades she tried to slash the Liger, smirking as she heard the satisfying shear of metal and loud cursing.
“And that’s why you shouldn’t gloat, let alone early.” Alicia commented to her opponent, turning to face the Liger again and seeing to nice slashes against the side armor of the opposing Zoid. Curiously, though, it didn’t cut quite as deep as she was expecting. “But damn that armor is sturdy.”
”... Fine. I’m gonna stop playing around now. Now that I know your blades are still sharp enough to damage me; I can’t afford to hold back anymore.” the return quip came as the Liger rose. Despite herself Alicia felt a pit of dread in her stomach again, bracing for further conflict. ”ZOS... Full power!”
She could’ve never expected what was brought to bear against her. Everything went to hell in an instant. She only had time to hear her emerald advisor shout a warning that was already far too late.
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Kisara smiled a bit falsely, glad that there was no image being projected at that moment. Fortunately her Buster Eagle hadn’t been in the thick of things for nearly as long, so the avian wasn’t as tired as the two saurians were. If she was being honest, she couldn’t help but feel something was going to go horribly wrong. Something they couldn’t have possibly anticipated. She only hoped that Alicia had some kind of miracle up her sleeve.
They were closing on the damaged hauler though, Kisara sighing a bit as she got her head back in the game while Hiroyo sent targeting data her way. This time the rogue flier’s smirk was more genuine.
”Sweetheart, I could make that shot in my sleep. Watch this.” With the arrogant boast the ice maiden gunned the jets on the Eagle, accelerating as she trained the Buster Cannons on the slagged hole. With a pull of the trigger, the cannons barked with a shot, scoring a clean blow with enough force to rock the Gustav to the side with a distressed whine. Immediately after, the Eagle banked, lining the cannons up again in a moment and Kisara took another shot, blasting the poor snail Zoid before it had even recovered from the first shot, sending it skidding and resulting the thing jack-knifing around on its own trailers.
The Eagle finished the display with a quick aileron roll, firing the third shot while the bird was upside down and blasting an entire loosened armored plate off, finally putting the Gustav out of it’s misery. Even if it was active, it would take far to long to right itself to the point where it could take off again. More then long enough for Hiroyo to close the distance and finish crippling it, recover the cargo, and be back in time for dinner.
”One plate of metal escargot, fried to order. Bon appetite!” Kisara quipped with a giggle, circling and keeping an eye on her radar for Alicia to arrive. She had to pull through, right...? Sure the Liger pilot was good, but not insurmountable. So Alicia would rejoin them soon. It couldn’t possibly end any other way. At least, she kept telling herself that.
Then a marker appeared from the valley on her radar. She was about to try making contact... when two more markers quickly joined it. ”Wh-What the hell!?” Kisara couldn’t help but cry out over the speakers. ”Three contacts, Hiroyo! They’re not friendly!”
She didn’t know about the native redhead, but horror had gripped her heart. Had the other two been waiting under some kind of cloak, ready to ambush Alicia as soon as they left her behind...? Had they fallen right into an even more elaborate trap then they could’ve imagined?
Once they caught sight of them, though, it would be even more confusing then before. Alicia had already outright stated that the Liger was a transformer, and it’s three forms had all appeared at the same time. But now? As soon as they came into view, there would be three Ligers.
Murasame, Hayate, and Mugen all ran in formation. The blue rain led the pack, the crimson inferno settled to it’s right, and the eternal silver thundered on to it’s left. A set of triplets was the only explanation for this, and yet it couldn’t answer how they seamlessly switched with each other like they had earlier... Something fishy was going on.
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Post by Hiroyo Oda on May 3, 2019 22:33:19 GMT
Hiroyo grins as Kiara rises to her challenge. She doesn't doubt the other female's prowess in the least. For that all the things she's known for poor aim isn't one of them.
There isn't a giant explosion that arises from the hauler mech. There's the smash of the projectile penetrating through the previously weakened armor and piercing the delicate internals beyond. There's a screech as internal mechanisms are damaged and smoke begins to pour out of the Gustav's hull. Its not moving anywhere now and Hiroyo points her Dark Spiner's tail at the trailer the Zoid was carrying. Her rear facing energy cannons fire quickly, melting through the flimsier material of the trailers.
They're slagged within moments and Hiroyo is hopeful as she turns the Dark Spiner back to visually inspect her work and the piles of slagged and smoking metal. All they have to do now is collect Alicia from her no-doubt successful duel with the other ace and they can head home.
It's looking less like the suicide mission she had initially feared with every objective they complete.
Roger hissed static into the internal speakers and she was alerted to the readings on her core-tracking radar. The canyons bounce and distort signals with all the twists and bends and at first that's what she thinks she sees. There's four Zoid cores at Alicia's location and three are reading as indistinguishable from each other. Something tightens in Hiroyo's chest and she twists the Spiner back the way they came and immediately pushes it into a run.
"Kisara! I'm getting strange readings from Alicia's location." She called out, one hand keeping the Spiner at top speed along the twisty canyon path while the other tapped at a couple filter commands. Nothing cleared the extra two cores but as she watched the signal marked with the other red head's name starts to dim. "I'm losing her signal on the scanner and getting readings of three identical zoids at the location. Someone might be messing with our sensors but I'm not reading any interference nor any other presence in the vicinity."
She hopes the latter is the case, hopes that just when things were seeming bright the enemy ace didn't pull something nasty out of their pocket. She pulls up the fragmented data she has on the Liger again, biting her lip as she looks between the the three forms and the three identical cores readings. The obvious answer is that one of the forms carries powerful electronic tracking counter measures but there's nothing in the file about that.
'It wouldn't be hard to spoof the signals.' She thought as they neared the corner that will bring the battlefield into view. 'Maybe it's like the fake core-generators we ran into three months ago.'
She looked at the readings again and bit her lower lip as she watched. The three blips are all moving and very quickly she's forced to reevaluate her thoughts.
Why would they need to drop a counter measure like that when Alicia had a visual on them anyways?
She looked up as she rounds the corner and then hauls back into Spiner's controls, slamming on the metaphorical and literal brakes as hard as she can. Her eyes were blown wide as she took in the scene: the three Liger-types similar but not copies, and the unmistakable but heavily damaged form of Alicia's zoid laying on the ground.
"No..."
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