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MPC 49A "World of Steel Titans"
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Post by Hiroyo Oda on Apr 19, 2018 14:17:02 GMT
The more and more Alicia talked the more and more the arms framing her grew slack until they fell away to Hiroyo's sides. She remained stone-faced for Alicia's explanation, her eyebrows raising once or twice with surprise. It was impossible, miraculous news Alicia was sharing. To be snatched away to fill the shoes of variant of one's self was a little too farfetched believe!
B what other answer could there be? This Alicia and the original had the same face, same voice, everything appeared the same. There wasn't a hologram kit out there that could reproduce the details of hair and clothing movement with the body in such detail, at least not in a size that would be easy to port around camp. She couldn't be a clone either - that kind of technology wasn't that great and why would the enemy clone a random indie pilot instead of someone higher ranked?
Hiroyo took a deep breath and one big step backwards to give the other red head a little more breathing room. Her face was inspection day neutral but her eyes were a whirlwind of confusion. "So if I am to believe you," her voice clearly said she didnt! Not quite yet at least. "my partner for tonight has been replaced by someone who knows nothing of the world or how to pilot a Zoid. I... have mucht to think on and apogize if thats the case."
The soldier rocked back on her heels as Alicia laid out why she thought the group was so small. Hiroyo, after a quiet minute of thinking, could buy that. Admittedly her own interpretation of the mission set up had gone skipping right along the line of paranoia. She really did need to stop taking things so personally.
"I'm sorry for the silly way I acted when you asked. I at first had thought you were doubting my ability, I tend to get a bit testy about that." She paused and offered Alicia a a sad smile. She turned to the corridor and gestured for Alicia to follow her back to the others. The section where the two had been standing had been standing was out of direct line of sight and deeply shadowed enough that it was unlikely anyone would add to the rumor mill. "We should get the others then walk and talk to the mess hall.
"You may be correct about why the group was so small; your... counterpart can outmatch five normal pilots on her own, it's why she was offered a contract and not pressed into service." Hiroyo hesitated then reached out to pat Alicia's shoulder in ehat she hoped would be taken as a supportjve gesture. That was a lot of expectations to live up to! It also seemed like that was all she was planning to say until they collected the Organoids. Good thing the bays were relatively close.
When they reached the others Hiroyo gave Roger a quick shell rub then nodded solemnly to Sol. It was probably obvious to him from the way she looked at him that the gig was up. If Kisara was around she would also ger an appraising look and an invintation to breakfast. "You willvwant to hear all this too, I expect. Talking is thirsty work so we're heading to the mess hall."
She would wait to hear, or see, the reactions to her request and would acknowledge them with a nod before leading the way. "Originally Ali-your other self was going to conduct the raid with Isao because of the electronic warfare measures he has on his modified Sinker. He was going to act as on site aerial support."
Hiroyo stopped talking when they approached guards at the gate, once again getting the whole group through smoothly. She would wait to begin again until they were several meters away from the building and well on their way to the mess hall. "I suspect that with Kisara popping up they may have decided to split the roles between two people under the assumption she will be coming along. We will still have an additional aerial unit guiding us, but since long range communications are to be silenced he will still be leaving us to report back."
That brought them to the mess hall and Hiroyo was quick to take the first spot in line after shooing Roger away to find a table. Hiroyo's face looked more at ease now, evidently sometime during the walk she had found some measure of peace with her decision.
Luckily for Alicia that appeared to be the decision to trust her rather than turn the taller woman in as a potential spy.
"How did you find the cockpit by the way?" Her voice had lost some of its early even confidence, now she spoke with a trepidition to her tone. "Do, do you think you can pilot it? We can spend time going over the controls after breakfast, or maybe previous fight videos? I can get a few from some exercises."
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Post by Alicia Westfield on Apr 19, 2018 14:59:47 GMT
Good things: Hiroyo wasn’t immediately flipping out or carting her off to be imprisoned. That was a fairly positive thing. It didn’t... exactly mean she believed the story, but it did mean she was willing to run with it and give it a chance. Alicia could potentially work with that. There was some hope she’d get out of this mess both alive and free.
Bad things: She had some insanely huge shoes to fill it appeared. Five on one and her counterpart had taken them all down? No wonder this girl seemed to look up to this reality’s Alicia! How was she supposed to get that good that quickly in a scarce few hours!? At least Hiroyo seemed to realize just how big of an ask that was.
“It does get irritating when you know you’re good at what you do and people question you...” Alicia hummed out. She smiled when the soldier woman patted her on the shoulder, appreciating the supportive gesture as they were walking back. This... was going to be a very long day. Hopefully Sol and Kisara would be able to support her enough to make up for it. Though... that assumed they would be in easy contact and able to overview the battle with her... Which might not be the case.
Sol tilted his head down and shook it as Hiroyo gave the pointed look and nod at him. He disagreed with the thought of divulging everything like that. But, he wasn’t in a place to question Alicia’s choices. She did what she thought she should and that’s all anyone can ask. When they were secluded, he would drop the act as well.
Kisara had vanished for the moment, but was almost certainly overlooking the group and understood the invitation was a thing. She had implied she didn’t handle army structure very well after all, something that was apparently consistent between the two versions.
“It certainly makes sense, if this world’s Kisara has a tendency to arrive near my counterpart...” Alicia noted, a bit quietly. She stayed quiet after that until the group had gotten food and were seated. Hiroyo’s questions were very important as well, and deserved an answer.
“Sol filled me in regarding the cockpit, in part of his foresight of trying to keep suspicions down and coast until I could get fully adjusted to what my counter part should be doing.” She said in response to the first question. As for the piloting part? “I... don’t think we need to go over the controls actually. Replays of fights would be nice to review, though.”
And now for the kicker, something Alicia found odd that seemed unique to her counterpart so far. “Hiroyo... did my counterpart ever mention hearing whispers when in the cockpit? Of any kind, frankly, but in particular those that guided and supported her? When I was in there I started hearing some. Then I just... knew how to do bring up the diagnostics, check up on the Geno Ritter, and know what they should’ve looked like despite never seeing it before today... I understand if that sounds crazy but... well is it any crazier than what I’ve already told you?”
She had a point there.
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Post by Hiroyo Oda on Apr 21, 2018 19:26:57 GMT
Hiroyo nodded at Alicia's comment about Kisara's alternate self. Or was the Kisara that was currently here technically the alternate self? Hiroyo was glad the line moved quick enough she could avoid responding back to that because she really wasn't sure what the proper way of referring to the trio was. Calling the ones who started in this world the originals seemed rude, it wasn't like the current ones were copies or fakes! The concept really made her head spin! It would be nice to just never need to refer to this issue at all.
Too bad it was too late for that!
There was something to be said for the food the mess hall served, and that was that it was edible if bland. There were scrambled eggs reconstituted from powdered mix, some sausage patties and links with questionable percentage of actual meat, and some slightly overcooked pancakes of dubious consistency among the choices. Hiroyo was helpful enough to lean towards Alicia and whisper something about the potato-based food being made from actual potatoes like it was the greatest blessing they could possibly have. Yet another reason to be greatful Alicia probably wouldn't be staying here honestly.
Hiroyo would wait a polite distance from the end of the line for Alicia before walking over to the where Roger had planted his face on a table. He was entertaining himself by attempting to trip anyone who came near with his tail or startling people by slightly lifting his plating and then slamming them all closed at once with a large 'bang'.
Needless to say Hiroyo got some disapproving looks from those nearby when she finally reached the table and took a seat next to the bug. While she was scolding the yellow nuisance the noise area in the immediate area would abruptly lower when Alicia was spotted taking a seat. After a few looks were thrown her way from curious to less-than-friendly the noise would pick right back up again. Hiroyo winced as she scooted her food around, looking quite chagrined. "Oooh, yeah sorry. Probably should have mentioned that would probably happen! At least none of the Aerial units are here! It could be worse."
Food was quickly disappearing from Hiroyo's place into her mouth while she listed to Alicia talk about Sol's help. The soldier girl found a small measure of comfort in that: at least the other red head wasn't totally alone in a new and weird (to her) world. She gave a hum of assent when Alicia mentioned the replays. The soldier left her fork hanging in her mouth as she pulled a small flat-screen phone out of one of her many pockets and sent off a quick message before replacing the device.
She froze completely when Alicia mentioned whispers in the cockpit, the fork continuing to hang from her mouth as her eyebrows attempted to get cosy with her hairline. She slowly pulled the fork from her mouth as she considered the question. "Wel-l no. No, I only met her in person last night for about four hours and three of those were spent with a bunch of brass going over the alterations to the mission and then a quick trip to the hangar and that was about it." She said slowly, her eyes slipping from Alicia's face to her plate and then back up to Alicia's face again. "Honestly if she did hear that she probably thought I'd recommend her for a psyche evaluation immediately. You get a pass because of...all the other stuff."
She got another mouthful and chewed slowly, considering what she had just learned carefully. Whispers in the cockpit was something she had heard of, but only in context of being part of a horror story shared among pilots. There was one fairy tale from her youth that came to mind, but surely that had nothing to do with the current situation. "So Zoids are obviously metal right? But they're not all created in like, a factory. A great deal are, but the very very very first Zoids were actually wild Zoids." Hiroyo knew she didn't have time to impart a history lesson of planet Zi so she decided to take a bunch of shortcuts!
"All Zoids, even the wild ones, have Cores. Scientists mostly have Cores mapped out, we can create them in a lab, but there's still debate over how much autonomy a Zoid has." She said cautiously, carefully waiting to see what Alicia's reaction would be. Some people just couldn't handle the thought that a Zoid might have a mind or a will of its own. She had never had a problem with it, after all Organoids were a Thing that existed but.. "So, some people say some Zoids have more personality than others. Some say very special people can actually hear the Zoids but I don't know what would be the qualifiers for that."
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Post by Alicia Westfield on Apr 21, 2018 21:22:19 GMT
Apparently the rumors surrounding military meals spanned the multiverse, if Hiroyo was whispering hints about it. Still, she filed the advice away and leaned more towards the potato-based products. It made her meal... a little more palatable at least.
And her counterpart’s infamy was starting to make itself even more obvious, what with everything quieting down to scrutinize her and her choice of dining partner for the morning. Man, she was really in the “love ‘em or hate ‘em” camp, wasn’t she? “It’s fine. If they have a problem, I’ll deal with it as best as I can. I suppose I should’ve expected my amazing counterpart to become such a divisive topic.”
That being said, Hiroyo only really got an hour to speak somewhat freely with her role model... Of course she wouldn’t have heard anything about the odd whispers. Still, it was worth asking, now she knew not to bring it up if it came down to it. “I see... I’ll keep that in mind and not mention it to anyone else.”
The crash course about Zoids was quite intriguing though. “So they can be more than just tools... A Zoid could potentially be something of a partner if well trusted enough. Like a rider and his horse. At least, to use an analogy from my reality. Not sure if horses exist here. It would explain the ‘spirit’ I felt in the Ritter. I wonder if my counterpart ever related if it was a wild one or not. Or if she even knows.”
”On the topic of hearing whispers...” Sol suddenly cut in with his deep voice, keeping it low as he could while his intended audience could still hear. ”The possibility exists that the original Alicia did not mention it at all because it was natural for her. I’ve been doing some quiet information delving into my counterpart’s memory banks and came across something interesting. That their was a race other than humans on Zi, though appearing very similar to them. This race’s people are known today as ‘Ancient Zoidians’ and have a far deeper connection to the titans of steel you all work with. The presence of a bonded Organoid is commonplace regarding Zoidians, though normal humans can earn their loyalty as well with more effort. It’s not outright stated how deep the Zoidian’s bond goes with Zoids, but... it is possible that the two are able to commune with one another in some fashion.”
“Wait...” Alicia took that information in with curiousity, one of her own eyebrows mimicking Hiroyo’s. “Are you suggesting...?”
”This world’s Alicia, who has been replaced at the moment... is and Ancient Zoidian, not a human. And the Geno Ritter is a Zoid she’s worked with for quite some time. Certainly long enough for a very strong bond to develop. I can think of no other explanation for the whispers.”
”How fitting, given the kind of person this Alicia is.” Too their credit, Alicia and Sol managed to not jump in surprise as Kisara suddenly sat with them, a plate of her own in hand. She took her time eating, since she didn’t have to rush much. ”There is one thing we can assure you of Hiroyo, this Alicia’s got a lot of fighting experience under her belt as well. The only question is how well it’ll transfer over. But she’s a clever girl. I’m sure she’ll figure something out.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” It sounded like Alicia herself was still worried about that part of this, since it was stupid to think there would be no resistance facing them during tonight’s raid. But at least there was an explanation as to why Alicia heard the voices she heard... “Is your head spinning yet?” She asked to Hiroyo somewhat jokingly.
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Post by Hiroyo Oda on Apr 25, 2018 4:09:48 GMT
Hiroyo stared at Sol with her mouth open. Her expression was one of obvious disbelief. People from other worlds, spirits of Zoids, not dying by Kisara's hand, and now a talking Organoid? Either she'd been spending too much time in her cockpit or the world had gotten a whole lot weirder.
"Whoa, whoa, since when do Organoids talk?" She followed Sol's lead and kept her voice low. The shock and doubt were clear on her face, not just from the fact that Sol was talking but also the subject of his words. "And I thought Ancient Zoidians were just...fairytales! Sometimes some ruins come up but that's, that's a little far-fetched! I mean the whole thing is but this is kind of..." She shook her head a little then chuckled. "Honestly, I'm pretty sure I've lost my head completely. Is it still there?" She joked, reaching up to pat the side of her face."
"And the way you're talking, does this mean you just switched uh, minds with the other versions of yourself?" She asked as she speared a sausage on her fork and bit into the end of it. She had just started chewing when Kisara popped up, and then she was very quickly choking instead. She waved off any assistance as Roger clattered with laughter behind her. It didn't take long until she had her breath back and she could resume speaking.
"I forgot you had a propensity for doing that." She admitted before she dug into the rest of her food. Today was weird enough that she was now focused on just finishing her food and getting through the crazy day. She was going to have to do something to settle herself before the fight, if she went into battle like this she was going to get slaughtered. A ping from her pocket mad the soldier pull out her phone again and grin as she tapped out a quick response.
"Hey you can make it to your tent from here, right? I'm going to pick up the recordings then meet you back there." She said as she stood. She gave them a little grin as she collected her tray and nudged Roger to the side. "Give me an hour and I'll return with the clips." She promised before she made her way out of the dining hall.
If truth was to be told she needed a break from the group. Was it any wonder? Today had been full of things that could be thought of as impossible under normal circumstances. When Hiroyo had woken up this morning she could have never known that something like this would happen. It was something she would have to adjust to, but a break from the most obvious signs of the madness would allow her to try and get her focus back.
She wasn't planning anything ridiculous. A quick shower to clear her head and find her balance. A quick visit to the administrative quarters to collect the recordings that were available of the Ritter's previous fight on a laptop and then she would be make her way back to Alicia's tent. Hiroyo stood outside the door and cleared her throat. "Hello, hello! I'm back, are you here? The laptop is already set up, all we have to do is open it and click play."
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Post by Alicia Westfield on Apr 25, 2018 21:09:01 GMT
”Since never, its just an odd quirk of my situation that allows me to talk when I shouldn’t be able to. It would take forever to explain it.” Sol quipped softly, sighing to himself. It was a risk, since Alicia clearly hadn’t let Hiroyo in on that little tidbit. Oh well, better now rather than distracting her in a fight.
”And yes, one could say that. I could go into details why but this is already getting extremely fantastical without such additions. Suffice to say given my counterpart’s mechanical inclination I do have access to things only he would be privy too. I just need some time to familiarize myself with all of it.” Well that would only spark more questions...
Kisara giggled a bit even as Alicia got up to reach over the table in haste. Being waved off left the taller redhead concerned, until her partner finally recovered from that. Then she just shot a pointed look at the icy troll of a woman. Kisara shrugged a bit. It’s not like it was unknown that she pops up whenever she felt like! Hiroyo should’ve been ready and wasn’t! And she realized that too.
“Yeah, I’ll be alright, thanks.” Alicia answered back, finishing up her meal. She, Sol, and Kisara all left in short order after that, with thanks for her time in regards to the situation they were all in. The two groups would part at that point, with Alicia heading straight back to her tent. The less she was out and about the less she’d be recognized by anyone else and she could make the excuse of last minute mental prep for the sortie.
“Alright... hit me, Sol. What’s with this Ancient Zoidian business?” Alicia asked of the Organoid. Learning more about her counterpart’s heritage might help her do better. And unlike Hiroyo she trusted Sol’s words implicitly, his advice had saved her a lot of headache in the past after all.
”The Zoidians were a race from a distant era, when there were no giants among the Zoids, along with no artificially manufactured members at the time. Every Zoid in that distant past was wild and the Zoidians harnessed their abilities much like how Earth’s humans harnessed wild horses and other such animals. The difference being that Zoidians themselves had metallic deposits reinforcing their body which could leave marks upon the skin. And they themselves often had much sharper senses than humans. It’s part of the reason you aren’t startled by Kisara, you can hear her coming much sooner than anyone else could in your position.
Anyways, the technological capability of Zoidians far outstrip even modern day humans. Their ruins still baffle the most dedicated researchers, and the Zoidians were capable of creating Zoids much more massive and powerful than things like the Geno Ritter. Some of today’s Zoids are even distilled and compressed versions of those mythical monsters of the past. More importantly, Zoidians were able to master the art of temporal stasis. Yes it’s exactly as it sounds. They were able to survive into the modern age after a disaster of their own making by sealing most of their race in stasis pods along with their paired Organoids.”
Alicia sat back on her bed and bit her lip. “So... wow. That’s a lot. But... it still seems kinda sparse. Like what the disaster was. Still... my counterpart is actually thousands of years old?”
”That’s a safe estimate. As for what the disaster was? Not even I can answer that. There is some corruption in the memory banks regarding that event. Possibly from damage due to extended stasis, possibly from some other cause. No one can tell for sure.” The saurian Organoid shrugged his shoulders at that, regretting that he couldn’t answer more of the questions Alicia had.
“Well... lets go over as much as we can before Hiroyo gets here... I have huge shoes to fill and very little time to grow into them.” There was still the metaphorical Sword of Damocles hovering over her regarding the sortie...
”You’ll be fine Alicia. Your combat instincts are top notch. I’m sure you’ll slide into the battle field like a fish in familiar waters. Just don’t get sidetracked by your worries.” Kisara commented with a grin. At least one of these people was confident in her ability... Still, the spent their time as efficiently as they could, until Hiroyo arrived and announced herself.
Alicia got up and opened up the flaps to her tent, combing her hair back with one hand. She looked like she’d been quite busy, but with what only she, Sol, and Kisara knew right now. Unfortunately for her, Kisara, troll that she is, had taken to laying in the redheaded merc’s bed while Alicia wasn’t looking.
The indie pilot promptly double takes when she looked back in and mouthed ‘really!?’ at the icy maiden. Kisara just snickered in response and let Hiroyo’s imagination run in whatever direction it would.
“Please ignore her trolling this time, let’s get those recordings running...” Alicia commented, hoping to forestall any thoughts of shenanigans that could’ve occurred.
”Aww, but the rumors are fun...” Kisara poured out and sat up, sighing. Well. That all but proved that she was the one to get the rumor mill started.
“... Unrepentant troll indeed...” was all Alicia had to say about that.
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Post by Hiroyo Oda on Apr 26, 2018 20:15:49 GMT
Hiroyo blinked rapidly when Alicia opened the tent flap, her eyes doing a quick slide from the taller woman's face to her hair and then to Kisara lounging on the bed. Her lips twitched into a smile as the other two began bantering and she stepped inside. Roger decided to curl up in front of the entry and turn his head towards the rest of the camp.
"I'll try not to draw the obvious conclusion, but I think it's a bit late for the rest of camp!" She teased. She set the laptop down on a chair and positioned it so it could be seen clearly from the bed. "You know, I almost want to get some popcorn now. I don't think there's any in camp, but maaan that would taste good."
"Buttery, super buttery popcorn. Or maybe some of this really peppery popcorn the theater back home had." Despite having just eaten the soldier looked as if she might start drooling at the thought of the treat alone. She sighed with regret and shook her self out of her fantasy. "Oh well! This is serious business. There are recordings here of fights at various ranges, or at least they start at various ranges. The swords might've clued you in but the Ritter is a close range powerhouse."
As she spoke this time she pulled up a folder full of more folders, each labelled with what looked like a location name and a date. Hiroyo grumbled a little to herself as she clicked around, giving a quiet "aha" when she finally found the sort by date option. She scooted the chair closer to the bed before she dropped to a cross legged position in front of the bed with a smug loom on her face. At this range the chair was easily within arm's reach, and the difference in elevation, however small, meant it would be easier for the others to watch from behind her. It was great positioning on her part.
"I thought I'd start off with one from her view in the pilot seat, and then with a view from someone else who was on that same fight, sound good to you? Just let me know if you want me to pause or rewind. Or if you have questions! If Sol can't answer them I probably can."
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Post by Alicia Westfield on Apr 28, 2018 3:41:23 GMT
“Yeah I figured with all the glances we were getting...” Alicia muttered out. Sighing, she shook her head and wondered if Kisara really did start the rumors. Both that and just running with it were in character with her...
Still... everyone else involved gave Hiroyo an odd look as she started rambling about popcorn like she was about to watch the movie of the year. Given the content they were about to peruse, it spoke volumes of how much Hiroyo admired her version of Alicia Westfield. Salivating at the thought of the treat and its various preparations only added to the thought. And Alicia was fairly certain she saw Kisara smirk a bit. Oh boy.
“Well, good news is we have similar styles then. When I fight I want to get up close and personal as well. So I should be able to adjust to the Ritter’s style.” It would be interesting to see how her counterpart conducted herself while fighting, though.
When the first recording was opened, the original Alicia looked like she was actually at rest, with arms folded and eyes closed. Was she meditating or something? It’s an interesting thing to note...
”Ready to roll, Ritter...?” it was a very soft voice. Alicia herself only barely heard her counterpart suddenly speak. She doubted Hiroyo, Kisara, and maybe even Sol were able to hear it. What was more obvious was that the Geno Ritter rumbled back to her, and Zoidian Alicia took hold of the control yokes.
If there was a single word to sum up her counterpart’s performance, it was probably precision. In a moment she’d throttled the yokes to full and was off. Each adjustment took only a second, her fingers only left a yoke for a moment to tap a button and was right back on it. Even when her commands to the machine made the Ritter jerk and jostle, shaking her in harness as a result, she never missed a beat. The woman was perfectly in tune to the flow of battle it seemed, and completely calm and collected even if warning klaxons blared.
Consequently, any videos from her opponents were much more panicked. “Wha-, where’d she go!?” “She’s right on top of me!” “What happened to the suppressive fire!?” “How’d she- AH!” All of these shouts and more were common in the other pilot viewpoints, their context potentially changing if Zoidian Alicia was allied with anyone in these matches.
Then there was the Ritter itself. It didn’t matter what trap was set for it. It didn’t matter how far away it began. It didn’t matter what the enemy unit composition was. The Geno Ritter relentlessly closed the distance at maximum speed, dealing with range attacks with quick jerks to the sides, ducking down under certain shots, and even parrying attacks with those large energized blades. For a mechanic especially, the saurian mech was poetry in motion, and Alicia found herself understanding why Hiroyo was ‘fangirling’ so much over her counterpart.
Then came one that Hiroyo was probably especially excited to watch. This appeared to be the match Hiroyo had spoke of earlier. However, it appeared there was only recordings of the battle itself, and nothing of the pilot viewpoints. On one side, the Geno Ritter stood alone. On the other, however?
A squad of five was arrayed against the Ritter. Overhead, a black dragon-like Zoid that was heavily customized circled, an airborne harasser of some kind. It had a pair of small cannons slung over the top of its back as well to give it a respectable punch.
At either edge were a pair of wildly different units. On the left a very smooth and unassuming red tiger type which seemed to have no weapons outside of its fangs and claws. Appearances could be deceiving though and Alicia anticipated it had some kind of hidden system.
On the right edge, a bulky styracosaurus had a much more openly threatening array. Alongside the horn it could gore opponents with, it had an entire weapons platform on its back with a gattling gun, missile pods, and beam cannons a plenty.
The squad’s right hand, however, was a beast that could only be described as some chimeric mutant. It was also draconic in shape, with a very low profile. Two long lance-like horns streamed out from the back of its head and appeared capable of flipping forward in an instant. A scissor contraption was tucked into its neck it appeared, and a rail cannon hung off its right side.
The lead unit was most curious though. On first glance she almost mistook it for another Geno Ritter. However it was only a cousin of the machine, with a vibrant crimson body. Along its back it had numerous thrusters and engines, allowing it to accelerate to surprising speeds. A head blade, far thinner than Ritter’s own, was folded back on the other Geno type. Most prominently, though, it had two shield plates on extra arms, and each of them had a pincer array on it that could capture and hoist lesser Zoids into the air.
“What... are all of those Zoids...?” Alicia asked. Sol deigned to stay silent, even though he knew them, allowing Hiroyo to rattle the names off. She would have just enough time to do so before the signal was given.
Both sides moved immediately, the Ritter blasting to maximum speed right away with its hover jets firing up. The opposing Geno did the same, and the chimeric dragon followed behind shortly. Meanwhile, the tiger and styraco broke to their respective sides to set up.
The tiger’s armor suddenly lifted up and away, revealing the hidden cannons tucked into them which were starting to rev up. Similarly the styraco’s gattling gun was spinning up to prepare to lay down a hail of bullets.
Both of them opened fire and the area around the Ritter exploded into so much dust and debris. The team took no chances however, the Geno type falling short and letting its right hand charge into the smoke. Metal grated against metal in the smoke screen, and the Ritter emerged from the smoke cloud. As it cleared, the dragon was neatly diced into five equal sized pieces.
Not a single scratch was found on the Ritter, though. The opposing Geno recoiled back, and avoided being decapitated right then and there. Then it fired its jets and lunged forward. The Ritter, however, had already jumped and landed on its cousin’s back, and leaped off of it. Alicia had almost asked why out loud...
And promptly swallowed that question when the Ritter’s clawed hands blasted off, tethered by cables and grabbed hold of the flying dragon. That unit let out a screech of shock as it was suddenly torn from the sky and brutally slammed into the ground.
The crimson Geno wheeled around and snapped its head blade forward, and rushed to try to skewer the Ritter from behind. Zoidian Alicia pulsed the Ritter’s jets and shifted to the side, just enough to avoid the Geno.
And used it’s own attack attempt to spear the remaining dragon through its core. The pilot of the Geno seemed to freeze in surprise, and that was all the opening Zoidian Alicia needed to slice the lead unit in half. That left just the tiger and styraco up, and they had closed to get more accurate shots, having anticipated the three others to last much longer than they did.
Now, down to two on one, the more mobile tiger growled and leaped, claws and fangs radiating heat as it did. The Ritter’s helmet snapped down, and its blade slide forward. Zoidian Alicia lunged at the leaping tiger, and gutted it with her head blade, along with slicing the back legs off.
That left just the styraco, which panicked and began unloading all of its munitions as fast as it could. The Ritter used its momentum to pivot and start circling to avoid the firepower raining down on it. Which also revealed that the stryacosaurus had a terrible turning radius. Which left it wide open for the Ritter to close in and decapitate it.
Five against one... and the Geno Ritter had not only crushed them, it embarrassed them completely and totally.
Alicia blinked, having started leaning in closer and closer in awe as her counterpart went to town on everything in her way. “And... I have to live up to this...” It was one thing to hear of her counterpart’s exploits. It was another thing entirely to see her in action. This was... rather imposing.
”So, she’s certainly impressive. And I see why you idolize her.” Kisara began once the recordings were done. ”So... if you like watching her so much, why not ‘make a move’ on her when she comes back?” Wait, What was she going on about?
”I know someone who would love to help you practice too.” And then Kisara bumped into Alicia, unbalancing her.
“Wh-Wha- AAAH!” Alicia, consequently, started falling forward. With Hiroyo directly in her path and no chance of catching herself in time. The taller redhead at least manage to keep from ending up hitting her head by slamming her hands on the floor.
But... Her and Hiroyo’s positions meant that the originally very clever plan to let everyone watch freely ended up with Alicia hanging over the end of the bed. Which put the army pilot in a very compromising position regarding what was currently right in her face...
Kisara was truly the Queen of Mischief. And her mischief knew no boundary whatsoever as long as it wasn’t hurting anyone. Embarrassing the ever living hell out of them was entirely fair game however. And Alicia had no convenient wrench to wallop her with.
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Post by Hiroyo Oda on May 1, 2018 4:48:10 GMT
Hiroyo completely missed the smirk Kisara had, it was probably for the best since seeing it would only have made the soldier worry about was coming. Instead she got to enjoy the anticipating of the show to come, and the responses of those watching. The one regret Hiroyo had about showing them some of these videos was that they probably didn't have the piloting experience to truly appreciate what they were about to see.
Still the shorter red head was careful to keep her words behind tightly sealed lips except when a question was asked. Which meant she was careful to keep quiet while watching the first videos. Watching this world's Alicia's battle clips had become a hobby for Hiroyo, she admired the female pilot and now she got to share some of the most amazing moments with her idol! Except without actually dealing with the disappointment that sometimes came with meeting one's idols. It was great!
"Oh! The one that looks a little like your Ritter is a Geno Breaker, I think they're based off the same Wild Zoid. The weird dragon is Chimera Dragon, and the cat-like one is a Brastle Tiger. The one with the horns and the gun platform is a Dark Horn, while the flying one is a Bloodler." Sol was nice enough to let Hiroyo rattle off the names of the opponents but honestly the red head was so quick to answer she didn't even notice.
Once the clip resumed Hiroyo would have to bite her lower lip to keep from saying anything. There were a few stilted twitches of her shoulders as if she was going to gesture or speak about something. She kept herself quiet, even though it was still hard not to crow in delight as a particular two pilots (the Dark Horn and the Brastle Tiger) got their prides slaughtered mercilessly. Hiroyo had run ins with those two before that had been rather awful, so she settled for grinning fiercely at the video clip instead.
"So what'd you think?" She asked just before the clip ended, turning her head up and back to grin at the others. She would nod when Alicia mentioned 'living up to' the display that had been shown, her expression sobering a bit. it was another reminder of the challenge the displaced female faced. She opened her mouth to say something then closed it again as Kisara started speaking. Hiroyo's forehead creased with confusion. What exactly did the mischievous pilot mean?
Oh! Those kinds of moves!
Just as Hiroyo's face went red and she tried to stammer out a counter argument she was suddenly dealing with the physical look-alike of her affections being shoved on top of her in a rather awkward way. At least the rather close up view Hiroyo got was nice! She truly did appreciate it even if she almost immediately shut her eyes and tried (unsuccessfully) to move her face away without making things worse. At best all the military pilot could do was splutter what sounded like a muffled protest and several apologies all mixed into one!
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Post by Alicia Westfield on May 1, 2018 13:11:48 GMT
“Mmmph...” Alicia groaned as she managed to push herself back up and cobble a way back up onto the bed, freeing her sortie partner from the very embarrassing situation they had been put into. “Sadly I have the feeling that if Kisara gets her way, that won’t be the only close up we do... It certainly isn’t the first time I’ve had a young lady practically face planted into my chest thanks to her.” the displaced redhead grumbled out, shooting a glare at the ice maiden over her shoulder. Kisara responded with continued grinning and lack of repentance for her actions.
“Kisara, please, we need to be a little more serious about this. With the sortie tonight...” Alicia trailed off with a sigh. “I can only adjust so much in such a short time period. We have reasons to be seriously concerned, which is why I took up the offer to watch these recordings. I need to get a better feel for my counterpart’s near peerless skill. So-”
”And you’re worrying for nothing.” Kisara cut in, dropping her grin and sitting up completely. It was so abrupt and contrary to Alicia’s thought process that it forced her to shut up this time. ”You are Alicia Westfield. Being in a different world doesn’t matter. Operating under new rules of combat won’t matter. You are already a warrior who has honed her senses and instincts to a razor sharpness most humans never could. You’ve lived where others would have died for sure, and kept fighting all the while. You won’t let a little speed bump like this bother you for more than a moment.”
”I second Kisara’s opinion on the matters here.” Sol added, folding his arms a bit and nodding. The lights in the optics going dark were the best indication of closed eyes as he did. ”Once the initial awkwardness is overcome, I doubt anyone in the Empire’s army would even realize you aren’t the same Alicia that fought those five aces. You have a tenacity about you that will keep you relevant once you’re seated in that cockpit. You have our full confidence in your capacity to match what we’ve witnessed here. That skill is with few peers, yes, but at the end of the day, despite your different lives you are more or less the same person. The potential is already sleeping within you. Call for it when you need it most, and it will surge forth in answer.”
“... Thanks you guys...” Alicia mused with a smile. These two always seemed to know what to say to help her out in most circumstances. “Right then, we should probably not waste any more time. Controls shouldn’t be too much of an issue from what I’ve seen both personally and of my counterpart’s handling of them... You so kindly relayed the operation details to me that we have earlier. And these recordings have been helpful, if quite imposing. Is there anything else we should go over before it’s time to go?”
That question had been directed at Hiroyo, and then she sweatdropped as she remembered just how much this young woman idolized her counterpart. Which meant that certain embarrassing moments were that much more potent. “Um... assuming you feel like you’re of sound enough mind to go over things. I’m not trying to brush what happened under the carpet or anything. And I am very sorry about Kisara’s antics. So... please don’t feel bad about the whole thing?”
This was going to be a mess. Hiroyo had probably spent some of her time alone trying to recover from the earlier mess of the reveal of Alicia’s displacement. Would she be safe to pilot after a... ‘head long collision’?
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Post by Hiroyo Oda on May 5, 2018 21:05:28 GMT
Hiroyo groaned a little as she slowly sat back upright from the awkward position she'd fallen into. She rolled her shoulders to loosen them as she rolled her eyes at Kisara's continued shenanigans in an attempt to cover her own embarrassment. Her face was looking rather pinkish around the cheekbone region. Hiroyo normally didn't mind getting in other people's spaces, but to do so with a part of the body that was normally reserved for intimate interactions? Well, that was proving to bit much for her sensibilities. "Well! I'm, uh sorry you have to deal with her shoving your uh, chest in other people's faces? That is a weird sentence."
Weird enough that a certain worm-type organoid had popped his head into the tent and was now swaying his head side to side slightly. Another of those plate-rattling laughs was coming from him, and his human partner was just glad the duct tape was holding on his beak. Hiroyo pointed at him, her jaw firmly set as her eyes narrowed. Her embarrassment taking backseat to dealing with a rather pressing threat to her sanity. "Oh no. You don't get to help contribute to the scandal brigade's gossip! Out! So help me, you so much as wiggle suggestively later and I will bolt you to the backside of a Pingitrain and leave you there."
Roger's face plating shifted enough for him to vent steam in an angry hiss. Hiroyo rolled to her feet and stalked forwards a couple steps. Roger threw his head back in visible disgust at the situation and withdrew, leaving the tent entrance askew and allowing light in. Hiroyo sighed in relief and sag a little where she stood. She passed a hand over her face and then tuned back in to the conversation the other three were having. She relaxed a little as she noticed that they seemed to be safely past any sort of topic involving the aforementioned hi-jinks.
As long as talk was focused on more serious topics she would be fine! At least that was what she was telling herself. There was some truth to it, she would not have made it through her basic training if she could not handle her emotions or at least suppress them for a time. She was just failing miserably on that front today for a myriad of reasons she didn't want to think about.
Tonight's battle was also something she had mixed feelings on. On one hand she loved fighting in the Dark Spiner, the cries of her foes was music to her ears. This fight was going to be a hard one, the odds stacked a little too much in the enemy's favor. During her shower earlier Hiroyo had realized that the person she wasn't worried the most about wasn't herself - she knew her own capabilities and had faith she could get her self out of trouble. Electronic warfare was great for that! Hiroyo had little clue how trying to get this Alicia out of danger would go. The soldier knew she should have reported to the brass, gotten the mission cancelled or at least delayed until they knew what had happened. But as she had stood with suds in her hair and water running down her back she just couldn't picture them believing her. No, carrying out the mission and hoping (praying) that this Alicia could keep up was the best option. She would prefer to stay standing here letting the three talk among each other rather than go out on the sortie tonight. They were strangers to her, yet as she stared how the light caught in Alicia's hair and the smile that spread on Alicia's face from the reassurances of the other two. There was something captivating about what that smile did to Alicia's face, a softening that Hiroyo thought the other woman deserved. 'he indie pilot should always wear such positive expression-wait, what was she musing right now?
wait. WaitwaitwaitwaitwaitWA-IT!
....
Oh no.
Oh no.
Flames seemed to spring up under Hiroyo's skin as her face did its very best to turn the color of a tomato under her rather dark tan. She brought one hand up over her mouth, the other hand holding onto her first's elbow as if to support it. Alicia was talking to her now, and Hiroyo silently cursed the timing. Couldn't the other two have spread out their reassurances better? Maybe in little pieces from each of them interwoven and supporting each other instead of giant monologues that somehow moved too quickly? Why were they such fast talkers! Unfair, unfair, unfair!
"Ah, I think it might be best for you to go over the other videos with, ah, Sol? helping you out with the tactics being used by each side! I just realized I completely forgot to take Roger to get his face fixed, which I guess is understandable in the face of having someone say they're actually from another world? Right?" She was babbling as she moved to the door, her steps quicker and surer than the words that were spilling out of her face. There were many awkward pauses as she pulled the tent flap open and prepared to step out. "In about, ah, three hours we'll need to go over the check list with the mechanics assigned to our Zoids before we leave, maybe it'd benefit you to do that early? Your counterpart seemed to get along well with them so just go with the flow! I've got to hope they have time to fix Roger's issues though, bye!"
She slipped quickly out of the tent and let the flap fall behind her, her sides heaving as she breathed heavily through her nose. Roger froze from where he had been trying to pull one of the support ties out of the ground and twisted his head towards her almost expectantly. "Don't!" She threatened, raising one finger at him. "Don't or I'll, I'll let the mechanics leave that duct tape on afterwards! Come! Let's get that off." She warned him as she started striding as quickly and surely away from Alicia's tent as she could. Roger looked between her and the tent for a moment before following after in a way that managed to be smug.
Today was just full of pregame entertainment!
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Post by Alicia Westfield on May 6, 2018 11:09:37 GMT
“Yeah that’s a sentence you don’t want to hear out of context...” Alicia mused to herself at Hiroyo’s acknowledgement of how... strange things were. “And it’s not much better in context either...” The worm organoid seemed to be having a blast overhearing things, a pity she was busy with her advisors and companions. She would’ve leveled quite the chilly glare in his direction if she were paying attention to him.
However... Hiroyo looked like she’d been struck by a sudden fever as well once she was addressed. Still, she had the right idea. “Alright, sounds like a plan to me.” It certainly seemed logical. And Sol was arguably her go to for combat theory and analysis. Still... what was that excuse she made?
“But isn’t he fine aside from the-” Alicia trailed off as Hiroyo slipped out of her tent surprising speed and urgency. Oh well, nothing to do about it now. She didn’t really have the luxury of pursuing the empire pilot on the matter. But if what she overheard was any indication, wouldn’t leaving with such a red face and with such haste only serve to feed this ‘scandal brigade’ even more anyways? Damned if she did, damned if she didn’t it seemed.
“... She’s fallen head over heels for my counterpart, hasn’t she?” the Bearer of Steel decided to ask rhetorically. This was almost out of some cheesy and cliche’d anime with a focus on harem hijinks.
”Yes, she did. Hard.” Both of her displaced companions replied in sync. And Kisara was grinning like a loon the whole time. ”It even looks like she just realized it right now. And was too embarrassed to stick around.
“Well, we’ll let her handle the consequences of that in full, should we ever swap back. Sol, the rest of the clips please?” It was time to get her head in the game. The clock had been ticking since she woke up, and she was running out of time. Three hours to match one of the top Aces of this world... Even with Sol and Kisara reassuring her, she was daunted by the enormity of the task once more.
She wound up pouring over every single clip multiple times for most of the period allotted to them, making ample use of her advisors many lifetimes worth of experiences to hone her knowledge of the Geno Ritter’s combat ability, most efficient tactics, and operating procedures seen in both sides of the war going on. The one thing that irked her most was that she would be stuck with a single set of weapons and statistics whether she liked it or not. She wasn’t unfamiliar with such circumstances, but to be forced into them ticked a nerve she didn’t know she had until now.
There was only about ten minutes left by the time she arrived in the hangar, flagging down the mechanics tasked to the Ritter and going over the final checks with them. She was honestly surprised at just how easy it was to work with them... they really did get along with her counterpart, didn’t they?
... Somehow she suspected at least part of it was that at most they generally only had to refuel and buff out a few scrapes and dings on the Ritter after it returned to base. And maybe give it a once over if anyone involved was concerned. Anybody who does such a good job at keeping their work load to a minimum was bound to earn a few brownie points with these poor souls. Alicia was fairly certain her counterpart didn’t take many hits over the course of the fighting so far, which would make her one such person.
With all said and done and everything in order, Alicia sat herself in the saurian mech’s cockpit once again. This time, she truly brought the Ritter to life, smiling as it growled out softly. With some gentle nudges on the yokes, She brought the Ritter out and met up with Hiroyo soon enough. Ritter and Spiner would take off after that, South-Southeast at first as the mission plan dictated, with Sol hitching a ride in the crook of one of the Ritter’s proper, clawed arms.
For the time being, the displaced redhead kept radio silence, not willing to crack the ice first while they travelled. It would be up to Hiroyo to do that if the quietness got to be too much for her.
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Post by Hiroyo Oda on May 7, 2018 3:03:11 GMT
When they met up again Hiroyo would be safely tucked into her Dark Spiner's seat, the safety restraints a comfortable net around her. The Spiner was facing an organized massing of Zoids to the South of the camp. More and more of the great mechanical beasts were filtering out of the loading area and into the staging area as squads and occasionally platoons. There was a feel of organized chaos to it, gaps that were left in the ranks were quickly filled by those assigned to that location.
There was a streak of yellow and blank huddled up against the Dark Spiner's titular armament. Roger would lift his head as they approached and swivel his head towards them, his jaws opening in silent greeting before settling again. Laid out nose to tail he was facing the back of the 144mm Machine Guns that pointed over the Saurian's head. The Zoid itself turned its head towards the Ritter as Alicia approached, a low bassy rumble of acknowledgement coming from the Zoid. A brief text message from Hiroyo would pop up on Alicia's screen.
[The Storch scout is waiting at the rendezvous point. We are to proceed under long-range communication silence until we return.]
With that rather short and to the point message the Spiner would turn away from it's companion and immediately head out.
It would be a while before Hiroyo spoke up, which would be plenty of time for the two to have pulled a surprisingly considerable distance away from the forward base. Her voice sounded calm and controlled. The landscape had gone from the edge of the desert on one side and a plateau on the other to canyon country. The ground here was a deep reddish-brown between the grass, and the walls of the canyons themselves were layered with various yellows and oranges. Hiroyo would keep to the bottom of the canyons when possible. Doing so would keep the signals of long range scanners from reaching them easily, and in those open spaces between canyons Hiroyo was working a little of her own magic in the Spiner's cockpit.
"Sorry about running off earlier, I realized I had something I needed to take care of." Her voice was genuinely apologetic, but she didn't expand on what that 'something' was either. Considering the last time she had snuck off it could be anything from another cold shower to pretend maintenance on her Zoid. Either way at least she sounded steadier than she had before, there was a firm edge of resolute determination to her words.
"Did you find the rest of the videos helpful in grasping your counterpart's style?" There was a faint crackle of static on the local voice channel that synced with an obvious ripple of electricity that arced between the Spiner's fins. "Let me know if you're getting static - I'm syncing the masking frequency to the Ritter's Core but it's proving a bit tricky. Make sure you are set to direct local transmission, sending long-range would be like throwing up fireworks."
"Roger will be merging with Morgan, the Spiner, once we've reached the rendezvous with the Storch. It should be right around this next bend." True to the soldier's words the next bend in the canyon would bring them within sight of the aforementioned Zoid. It was perched about half-way up the canyon wall in deep shadow, the claws on its wings and feet dug into the rock and dirt. The head would tilt towards them, the tail giving a small flick before text messages began popping up on their screens.
[Target Gustav and two containers spotted with escort of Gordos: 2, Saber Fang: 4, Command Wolf: 4 Gorhecks: 1. Radio chatter suggests another Zoid will be joining them at 1900. Past coordinates are and the current estimated coordinates are-]
The coordinates would flash up on the screen then, ones that would take between eight to ten minutes to reach at top speed.
[My Storch and I shall return back to base to inform them of your pursuit. Wait twenty minutes then begin your assault. May you find good hunting pilots.]
[Roger. Clear skies to you.]
Once Hiroyo's reply had been sent the STorch would release it's hold on the wall and push against it with it's legs. Once it had safetly gained space from the wall a quick pulse of boosters on its back and some minor adjustments of wing position took it swiftly out of the the canyon. It kept low to the ground as it flew, appearing to only barely clear the rock wall safely. Eventually the two female pilots would hear a faint 'BOOM' as it rocketed up to full speed quicker than sound could keep up. There would be a faint crackling from the speakers before Hiroyo's voice would pop up again.
"Alright, this is going to be a difficult one. I'll be able to assist you by scrambling their targeting system but it won't take them long to switch to manual. There's a few things other tricks I can use but they've got a Gorhecks." A quiet sigh could be heard. Besides that faint sound of resignation the soldier actually sounded quite steady, maybe even a little excited as she talked tactics. She truly did enjoy going into battle, and honestly while she was nervous about current Alicia's skill level this many zoids was much lighter than she had been expecting. "I'm going to focus my firepower on the Gorhecks, it's Electronic Counter Measures are going to get in my way of screwing with everyone else. Once that's down I'm free to attack whatever you think I should. Oh! Your Ritter should have all of the basic load outs that we know of for those zoids in its databanks."
There was a pause while Hiroyo fiddled with her own Zoid. "Try typing the zoid into the command line. Hey, my topographical map is putting the convoy at the bottom of a long canyon right about the time we're suppose to hit them. It's not a particularly big canyon but the sides look pretty sheer. Means we'll have to look out for anything shooting at us from above. We'll leave from the North end of this canyon, there's an easy ramp up there. Do you want to lead the way or do you want me to?"
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Post by Alicia Westfield on May 7, 2018 12:53:19 GMT
The displaced redhead nodded softly to the text message, making the necessary adjustments so she would be on the direct local transmission Hiroyo would mention later. It required a bit of support from Sol to pull off, but she was good and secure long before they reached the canyon. She followed soldier’s lead, sticking close to the Dark Spiner as it was most likely the ideal positions for them to avoid detection.
“All’s good.” Alicia would answer back regarding Hiroyo’s apology. Given the circumstances, she didn’t ask about it beyond knowing ‘something she needed to do’. Whatever that was likely calmed her down so she could deploy in a good state of mind. “And yeah. The three of us went over them again and again for as long as we could, and fortunately Sol and Kisara have... far more experience than their appearances suggest, we’ll say.”
With the arc of electricity, Alicia nodded softly and reported the minor static to help Hiroyo tune the Jamming Blade Array so the Ritter would be safe from it. The Storch they met up with was... an odd looking Zoid, a gangly thing appearing to be based on some kind of prehistoric bird. Alicia refrained from commenting on it, though. Her focus was on something much more concerning in her eyes.
Another enemy was going to meet up with the supply convoy. One single unit would reinforce the fairly small group. Even with the sparsity of enemy units, the note of one Zoid being the only known reinforcements was nagging at her.
“I don’t like this one bit, Hiroyo... Why only a single unit scheduled to meet up...? Why such a small escort in the first place.” She had to bring up her concern, as her hands tensed on the yokes. The Ritter rumbled quietly in response, sensing it’s pilot’s concern, and it’s helmet slowly slid down into place in preparation. “I feel like we need to get in, do what damage we can, and get out before that one guy arrives... Call it whatever you want, but I’m suspecting an enemy ace. Like we’re taking the bait of a trap.”
Regardless, she went about bringing up readouts on the known enemy Zoid types, humming softly. “You’re right about getting that Gorhecks out of the picture as soon as possible, and I’ll leave it to you. The Gordos’ meanwhile look like they can shell either of us regardless of distance or position, but are somewhat low mobility. I should be able to get away with rushing them down at full speed in the opening confusion before they adjust and take aim. Which would just leave the Fangs and Wolves... If you can suppress any number of the Wolves for about fifteen to thirty seconds, that would give me the breathing room I need to take out the Fangs. Then we can go for any remaining Wolves together. All going well, that would leave the Gustav completely defenseless. Well, unless that extra unit arrives early...”
It was a daring battle plan, one that would put her dead center in the action with a distressing number of enemy units. Alicia didn’t really have much of an option though. Outside of something called a “Charged Particle Cannon”, the Ritter seemed to have nothing in the way of ranged attacks. And she suspected with a name starting in ‘Charged’ that the cannon was not a very stealthy weapon. Unfortunately, she wasn’t sure if the suppression request she was making was even reasonable for Hiroyo to accomplish with what she had available to her.
“If I’m talking crazy, though, feel free to let me know. And I get the feeling my counterpart liked to be leading the way... Still, if you agree to my plan, I’ll wait until you’re ready to engage the Gorhecks before charging into the thick of this.” It was getting close to the reckoning of chaos. She took a breath to force her heart to settle after noticing it was starting to hammer like a war drum. No wonder her counterpart appeared to be meditating. “Lets get going...”
The time was upon them. Whether Hiroyo agreed with Alicia’s strategy or proposed her own, the two would have to adjust quickly and flawlessly. There was no more time to worry whether or not Alicia could keep up with her counterpart’s performance. It would be on the Spiner pilot to give the signal to engage, seeing as she was running the Jamming Blades, and would be targeting down the Gorhecks so she could then scrambled the enemy Zoids.
And yet Alicia still couldn’t shake that worried itch that things wouldn’t go smoothly...
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Post by Hiroyo Oda on May 10, 2018 2:56:09 GMT
It wouldn't take Hiroyo long to adjust the Spiner's systems to the Ritter's core. If Alicia had known anything about the world she might even be impressed with out quickly the soldier managed it. As it was they would just have to be content with interference free voice line and a masking signal that would hopefully keep them off most forms of long range sensors.
"Mm, it's hard to say. We'll sometimes have small convoys for small goods. A smaller group typically means a lower chance of being spotted. Like with us, if we were a big blob of Dark Spiners than the interference methods we use would start to show up on the radar, kind of a 'causing suspicion because what should be there isn't' type of deal." The answer came easily enough, although Hiroyo did rub her chin on her chest for a moment as she thought about it. Having a single pilot coming out wasn't odd if it was an air unit doing a quick visual check to make sure the convoy wasn't a group of disguised Empire soldiers. The times the Storch pilot had given them didn't make sense for an air pilot though.
"You might be right about the lone pilot being a problem. It sounds like it's a land pilot...they might turn around when they get wind that our main army is moving. They should have it on sensors back at their main base by now. Granted, them turning around is going to depend a lot on what exactly is being transported." Hiroyo bit her lower lip as she thought about it. The reason the convoy was being targeted had been kept hidden but Hiroyo didn't really think it mattered. Logistics were the most important part of an army but also the most boring in her opinion. Any strike against a logistics operation was a good one. She had a sneaky suspicious though that even Brass didn't know what was being transported.
Of course, there was always the chance the answer was 'who' and not 'what'.
Once the Alicia started in on her plan Hiroyo listened intently, her head bobbing along with a few points. For a rough plan it seemed solid enough to Hiroyo. "Yeah, that sounds good. The Command Wolves tend to stay at range so I can throw up enough interference on their sensors to keep direct shots off me, at least until the Gorhecks is out of the picture. We won't win any beauty pageants coming out of this fight but hitting them hard while they're unprepared is good. That won't be for long with the Gorhecks about." The redhead groaned loudly off the commline, her head dropping dramatically. She and Roger were excellent at interfering with signals but the Gorhecks would be looking for that. Keeping the fins off wouldn't provide much of a benefit either.
"I guess, I guess we just hit them as hard as we possibly can right from the start. If they're in the canyon we could try to launch from the tops...but that's probably a bad idea. Even if we hit our targets from that high up we would have to slow our fall to a speed that would make the shock of impact minimal." That was rather frustrating to think about really, such nice high ground but their Zoids weren't really meant for long range assault! The CPC was normally a great choice for attacks like that but with only two of them being there, Hiroyo couldn't promise she could perfectly cover for whatever recovery time the Ritter might have afterwards.
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