Phoenix

Motherloader's frame vanished next, and it was at about the time the shadowy figure touched down on the top of an estate building. Hitomi's frame managed to resolve what machine was actually being piloted by then, as well. Unfortunately, Reinstall continued up to the squad of soldaats, committing to a frontal assault with just the beam blade ... "So even a Bosshog got hacked ..." Not surprising in the slightest, but it didn't bode well for the rest of them. "Damn! Reinstall, get out of there! You're gonna get wrecked!" That was Flake, wasn't it? Hitomi was surprised he'd stuck around this long ... "No! We take down that lead unit, we can help Stratus' AIs kick this bastard out of the system!" "... what?" No, Hitomi knew that was all wrong. "There is no lead unit! That's a hacked bosshog! It's not the AI!" She didn't know if her pleading would get through to him, but she had to try. She couldn't possibly help him in any other way from this far back. Sure enough, after Reinstall brought down the shieldless soldaat, his own machine was enveloped by that same violet malevolence. "Uh ... help?! Need backup, guys! They're trying to hack me now, too!" "It's already got you, you idiot! ... damn!" Flake logged out and promptly vanished. "Flake indeed ... it's all in the name, I swear ... BB! Get over here and help! All my stuff's going haywire! Controls aren't responding!" "Just kick the door open and get out of there! Hope they cut the power soon," Aliens belted out. He quickly logged off too, not wanting to be the next victim. [There it is, the signature I was searching for.] "Signature? Let me go, you son of a glitch!" What now? Just log out, leaving Reinstall, a fellow Frame Ops player, to this crazy AI ... or stay here and inevitably have her frame hacked right along with his? Hitomi couldn't move. This was the first time she'd ever been confronted with such a terrible dilemma ... [Now to narrow down your location ...]

Oh, not good. Thankfully, Ignatius arrived in good time, but the Jessica they knew had been more or less deleted, apparently. Since Jessica didn't yet appreciate the gravity of the situation, it would definitely be best to get her up to speed and acting tactically, again. Roxanna asked about herself and Abigail, specifically what Jessica remembered about those relationships, but now wasn't the time for that. "Captain, please just focus on fighting the enemy outside for now and leave the repairs to us," Megumi began quickly, "Tiffany, find out anything you can about Jessica's organic parts from her own systems and what the damage to those is. Ignatius, I need you to seal the bleeding first-" an odd term for an android but it was what it was- "while I figure out the best way to get a life support system setup. Whatever tools you need for the job, my assistants can bring them." "Whatever you need, Valerie nodded, a tad nervous, but ready and willing to do her part. ... Considering the situation, they needed Thorvald with the other half of their forces farther north. "Keep them alive, Papa Bear-" What a strange callsign to actually say out loud ... "This is the weaker side, so hold them off until we finish, then we'll rendezvous and take down the rest." A simple plan, but that seemed to be the direction things were heading, already. The strongest enemies were in Thorvald's area. More importantly, they needed someone over there with enough experience coordinating to keep them all alive until this small fleet regrouped. "Hannah," Firmia tried contacting her again, "get back to the Reign as fast as you can. We have to go on full offense right now. If we smash the reinforcements that just came in we should be able to meet up with the others and plow straight through the main force." The lead units and the Chaldenes were still major concerns, as was the severe damage the Riese had suffered, but if they were fast enough, they could still deal with all of that, too. If only they had been able to rendezvous with their own reinforcements, this would have been much easier ... Firmia activates Focus (Edson ver.)! Probe Your Mind (Chapter I)

"I'm out," GramSlam said, barely a split second before his frame winked out of existence. His timing couldn't have been better it seemed, as the nearby soldaats began to twitch and fidget as that same hideous violet aura began to appear around them, as well. All the soldaats were starting to act the same way, possessed ... "Whoa whoa whoa," Motherloader was immediately put on defense as all the nearby soldaats began firing on him at once. The hail of bullets chipped away at his shield bit by bit, leaving him less and less cover to hide behind. With Sable and Flambre having already logged out, he was alone being forced closer to a second group. That would undoubtedly end in a fortuitous--for the soldaats--pincer maneuver. "What do you think's gonna happen if they beat us?" "You really wanna find out?" SleepyBot almost laughed. He narrowly avoided the answer to that question, as a sniper's bullet was deflected away from him at the last second by BB. "Please log out, now," Hitomi pleaded. SleepyBot's machine quietly and humbly vanished after that, leaving just Mewlanie and Serval Sage in her immediate vicinity. Hitomi took the brief moment of calm she had to start switching off her gadgets, though it was unfortunate she couldn't log out first, wanting to make sure no one was left behind or gunned down in the chaos. She wouldn't have any way to communicate with anyone on the outside with the cockpit compromised. She tried not to think about the fact that she was being suspended in said cockpit more than ten meters above the ground floor of the megasim. "Die you rogue bastard!" Hitomi sighed at Reinstall's battle cry. "Meanwhile in Crazyville ..." Reinstall was one of the stubborn ones, trying to fight his way to the descending AI in his frame WildChild, rather than flee. He had a lot of soldaats in his way and nothing in the way of backup, having pushed as far ahead as he had. "Get out of my way! Your new boss just sent our whole game tits up and I'm not having it!" A single shot fired from Serval Sage destroyed the closest soldaat's shield. That was all the cover the ranged support could provide him. "Gotta go, now. Sorry ..." Serval Sage's frame vanished. "Just leave this to me," Reinstall hollered as he closed in on the weakened soldaat with his beam blade poised to strike.

[Warning. System breach detected. Analyzing ...] "Hm? What's this?" Berk seemed like he was aware of the real-life warning signs going off in Hitomi's--and everyone else's cockpits. How positively meta ... "Odyssey, do you copy? Something's wrong. A new signature has just- ... It- ... eared out of nowh- ...! Wha- ... this?!" "Oh dear." Hitomi didn't know what to think, but the Soldaats were starting to gather their wits again. They were running out of time to finish them off the easy way. "Did anyone else catch that?" What could have breached the system? "What's with the warning?" GramSlam barked over the comms, "You can't just hack an arcade system out of nowhere ..." [Analysis complete. Class A Rogue AI identified. Shutting down all interfaces to protect system and user data.] "Ah, we're done," SleepyBot sighed. "Whoa! She said class A! That's CRAZY!" Motherloader tried to regroup with the others, even as the simulation began to break down visually. That was the strange thing. The simulation wasn't simply going dark like one would expect in an emergency shutdown. Motherloader did have a point, though. A class A Rogue AI was positively bonkers in a situation like this. Class D at the most would make sense. Class As were so powerful that they were used to hack warships in actual combat. Having one show up to ruin an arcade game was just nuts. Kind of a rough day for Stratus ... and why hadn't the system shut down proper yet? [Error. System control lost. Please disconnect manually and contact the administrator if- ... ou hav- ... ny qu- ... tion- ...] "Everyone turn your phones and other crap off right now!" Serval Sage tried to get a warning out, figuring that like any old virus, the Rogue AI would use this opportunity to propagate as far and wide as it could. Amidst all the 'crazy' happening around them, a single figure in the sky above Destin's bullet and crater-ridden roads slowly descended. A haze of 'dark plasma' that glowed a noxious violet hue enveloped them, making what must have been a figura or G-frame look more like an evil spirit ... Mission Over ... but the war was just beginning ... [All PCs + 1,200 XP]

"Hey, Gramguy," Hitomi tried to reach GramSlam over the team's comms. He was so far ahead of the main two groups at this point. Naturally, she was a little worried. "Be careful. You're really out there and your armors all full of holes ..." "It's fine, Bullet, the Soldaats are blind right now. Now's the perfect time to swoop in and take them all out." They had about ... fifteen seconds tops before the soldaats all switched back to their own equipment and reoriented themselves. Then he'd just be surrounded ... and that buster sword of his wasn't doing much against their shields. "Stop being a lone wolf! This is a team effort," Hitomi huffed at him. "Tell that to Keizerin and Slaughter girl. They're all over the place." "Yeah, but ... No, not doing this. Just don't get shot down, please." No point in pointing out that Keizerin and May13Slaughter were taking out enemies quickly instead of trading blows with them and barely making any headway. The Moves Mewlanie right 8, down 5 Fire Miko attempts a Self Recovery and succeeds! (HP 77/330) Fire Miko: Finally ... Mewlanie: Oh, Karina, you are still alive~ Fire Miko: Of course I am! I'm not about to choke here! Mewlanie: Très bien! Keep up ze good work tanking. Fire Miko: I ... I won't be taking any more hits if I can help it! >.> Reinstall moves right 16, down 1, right 3 Sable up 1, right 4, up 1 Fire Miko transforms (-4 AUX) to plane mode and moves down 1, right 15 May13 down 10 Keizerin moves right 12, up 1 Aska moves right 1 BK moves right 9 BB moves right 10, down 6, right 1 GramSlam moves down 1, right 6, down 5, right 8 Aliens moves right 5, up 4, right 11 Flake moves right 5, up 2, right 9 SS moves down 3, right 10 SleepyBot moves up 3, right 7 Sicarius right 4, up 1 Ocelot moves right 3, up 3, right 2, up 1 Motherloader moves right 10 Allied Battle Phase

"That's not much better, Tiffany," Megumi winced, "Anyway, we'll be ready for you." She took a moment to radio the hangar just before they arrived. "This is Doctor Amparo to the hangar, Ignatius, I need you in the infirmary, stat. This is a top priority." She couldn't get into further details without letting the whole ship in on just how crappy the situation was. For morale's sake, she didn't want to risk that right now ... With Jessica having arrived--ow ... Megumi silently directed Tiffany toward the SIEG tank they'd prepared while Valerie got the power cable 'threaded' and covered so it could connect while the patient was inside. This was a real mess, trying to treat such an extensive cyborg with this kind of damage. Megumi was hoping against hope that Ignatius would be able to work in spite of this. Speaking of ... "What are we expecting Ignatius to do, exactly?" she asked the android. Her job was to keep Jessica 'alive,' but she wasn't certain she and the veteran mechanic could each do their jobs at the same time ... not without getting in each other's way. Nevertheless, they didn't have time to get into the exact details. The purpose of the SIEG tank was to help stabilize Jessica and prevent any blood loss related complications, but its instruments weren't up to a cyborg repair job, per se. Even if they were, Ignatius probably didn't know how to use them properly. ... She thought? Hannah wasn't sure? Firmia supposed with Jessica's unique situation, only Megumi could confirm whether that gray matter in Jessica's skull was still viable. Otherwise, they just had a very strangely designed android on their hands. The thought of that was painful for the Alkaev, surprisingly so ... A brief flash of an uncertain future gripped her, the sight of herself trying to get some kind of human reaction out of Jessica, but being met again and again with hollow greetings and ... the obvious questions a nonsentient would have. It took a moment to shake off the mental image. "That's all I can do on that front, then. Let's finish off the rest of them so we can end this war once and for all." What's Mine is Mine (Chapter V)

Not being able to see much of anything that wasn't being directly lit from outside, Jack was quick to get to work on the lantern situation, before things got too dark for even that. "Prime real estate," he murmured as he got the lantern going, "I wonder what the monsters do in here all day ..." When the various paths came into view, Jack could only wince at first. He did not like the idea of splitting up, but who knew just how big this cave was, or how long it would take to explore the whole thing as a single group ... still better than splitting up, but also still a pain. "Well ... if we've gotta pick one--screw splitting up, that's how people get picked off--I say we go~ ... right."

"T-the remains ...?" Megumi had gone pale, hoping against hope that Tiffany was simply being too specific. If Jessica was actually dead ... well if she was actually dead, the doctor ought to brace for impact. Seeing how the ship was still airborne and on the same heading, she opted not to panic. "We're already getting things ready on our end. What's the damage, and how long until you can get her to the infirmary? Are there any other survivors on the bridge that you can bring back with you?" Asking a bit much, but maybe ... ... Another call from Hannah. That was sooner than Firmia expected, so hopefully ... hopefully, whatever Hannah had to say, it wouldn't be on par with that heart rending exchange in the Riese's hangar, after her outing at the mall ... "What's the situation?" Firmia asked reluctantly. The answer she received wasn't great, but it seemed like ... "I-is she still alive? I thought ... well ... never mind. Hopefully Doctor Amparo and the others can still save her." With that kind of blood loss ... she's seen medical miracles before, but nothing quite like this. "... Firmia." Brant, again, though he didn't sound particularly worried. "You calmed down ... that good news for Jess or ...?" "Don't get your hopes up," Firmia cautioned him. She wanted to remind him that in the event Jessica did recover somehow, nothing would change. She didn't want him around her in particular, but after the war, she planned to also keep the rebels at least as far away as the maximum range of the Avalon's main cannons. "They found her, but she hasn't made it to the infirmary yet. Just keep the Riese from taking any more hits." What's Mine is Mine (Chapter IV)

"Sorry," Tonya winced, "He's too close for any real evasive maneuvers ..." "It's fine," Firmia muttered. That was when Carlos weighed in over the comms. He was laying into the target, too, and getting even more of a rebuttal from them. "Just refuses to go down," she groaned. To the Alkaev's surprise, Carlos also had someone from outside the Avalon's crew contacting him directly. She was monitoring and managing all communications to and from her mobile suits simultaneously, so she expected to hear plenty of chatter, especially with Jessica's current situation ... but this time it was Tarquin. It took Firmia a second to recall that Carlos was the one that crippled Nikolai, but it made sense that he was 'a low priority' due to that. Fair enough, the Avalon's captain mused, Carlos was her responsibility anyhow. Tarquin should only be sticking his neck out for the Riese's pilots as a whole. "If you need repairs," Firmia contacted the Eidolon, "call Sasha and get back inside." What's Mine is Mine (Chapter III)

"... recorded, huh?" For what purpose, Firmia wondered bitterly. If Jessica was gone, only a confused ANF technician would ever be able to play it back. The intended recipient though ...? "Hey, Firmia?" It was Brant calling, again. He could obviously sense ... just how much of a mess she was, right now. She'd seen that coming ... "... is she ...?" There wasn't anything Firmia could tell him that wouldn't make the situation worse for them both. She couldn't ignore him, either. "Just focus, Brant ..." she choked up again, "on the enemies in front of us." It was too late to say goodbye. All they could do now was fight. If not for these warmongering animals ... she and her people wouldn't even be in this situation. "Like this ..." Firmia straightened herself up and tried to track one of the enemy units with her eyes. The Avalon's funnels quickly took off and began to chase down the target. Firmia casts Dreams->Focus (Edson version), moves to 7,6 and attacks Phobos #7 with the Avalon's funnels!

Was that a saber throw just now? Brant was glad for the help, the impromptu coordination, as it were, but now wasn't the time to be showing off, especially not with the Riese in its sorry state. "Glad the missiles work. Feels like we're falling behind, though. We've got to clear out more enemies before they close the net on us ..." Not quite in the back of his mind, the Jessica question was still eating away at him. Firmia said she was still alive, but that wasn't saying much--the Riese was still flying, so he could have figured that out on his own. It wasn't like the last time, when she'd been attacked and he was on the radio with her, talking her through it. Firmia had all of the Regalia's communications routed to the Avalon, so now he couldn't pull something like that even if he tried. Even without the legion in front of them, and the reinforcements behind them, Brant felt powerless ... ... Firmia shot up out of her seat, eyes fixed on the Riese, her sudden gasp filling the relative silence of the Avalon's bridge. Tonya cringed in her seat, only glancing back for a well timed split second. "Captain ...?" The Riese was still in the air, but ... "Auto- ... -matic ... c-commands ..." The Alkaev's breathing grew sporadic as she slowly collapsed back into her seat. It was just like before. That intense hatred she felt was left without a foundation. Rather than simply disappearing as it had with Louise, the sheer weight of it all came crashing down on her. She almost didn't care that the Riese hadn't simply crashed, realizing she might never get another chance to talk to Jessica. Watching the ship drift along from her own radar display, Firmia could only fight back her tears. "Why do you always have to run away ...? ... you can't just bleed to death. I said I was going to save you, remember?" Firmia could feel the mood on the bridge change as she alluded to what had just happened on the Riese, but she almost didn't care about that, either. That was when Hannah called her for a status update. Such good and ... such terrible timing. Firmia couldn't even respond at first, her eyes fixed on the digital representation of the Heion Riese, and its mangled bridge. Despite how awful she felt, her mind seemed intent on pointing even more flaws with the situation, things she might have done to save Jessica. The moment Hannah called, a very good idea occurred to the weary captain, though it was too late to implement it now, of course. ... and if Jessica--the 'personality'--was truly gone, then did it really matter what method they used? She could care less about Abigail, but didn't Hannah at the very least deserve to know what had just happened? And shouldn't she use this opportunity to do something? Anything? "That feeling ..." Firmia winced, speaking to what she assumed, but hoped against hope wasn't a corpse, all the while preparing a message on her tablet for the Reign Team, "It's got nowhere to go, now ..." Firmia let her tears fall. It didn't matter whether or not she did, as her fellow TKs would pick up on things easily enough if they were close by. She was damned if she did and damned if she didn't, and too miserable to fight it anymore. "I didn't want to fight in this war either, Jessica ... I didn't want any part of this. I'm a captain now because I couldn't rely on you, not during this war, and certainly not after. All I wanted to do was make sure Brant was okay, that he could protect himself. Then I met you, the so-called 'captain' of the Riese. Imagine my disappointment," Firmia laughed, a tearfully bitter laugh, "We were screwed, completely 100% screwed with an academy pretender like you in the captain's chair. That's why I spoke out so much ... Brant's survival, and my survival, and everyone's survival depended on you straightening up. No one else was willing to put that much pressure on you." Firmia sent her message once it was finished. The message the Reign received was more of a package than anything, with not only a text message saying, [We're out of time. Save Jessica. A1 and A2 will help you.], but also the estimated position within the wreckage of the Riese's bridge marked for the search, and a small program interface either of the androids could use to directly control A1 and A2. One of the drones, A1, was already moving to meet the Reign half way and give Hannah a ride over to the bridge. A2 was fiddling with its tools, looking for ways to slice through the debris without causing a collapse or harming anyone still alive inside. The twelve remaining drones formed a defensive ring around the command tower. "But more than that, you two were ... well not really ... obviously. Still, as much as the idea of you and Brant being together bothered me, I wanted to at least give you a chance. Brant put up with my worst for months, and I made it clear--without him even having to ask--that I wasn't getting involved with anyone as a minor. And yet he still nearly killed himself helping me through training. Through all the screaming and insults and mistakes. You needed that kind of stubborn devotion from your crew to win, just like I needed it to survive my grandfather's training. If we all survived, then it was worth it ... seeing you two idiots together ... but as soon as I got settled in there, you abandoned him ... without a word." Firmia hated going back there, but it was the source of her grief, a mystery she couldn't piece together, not because she was lacking information, but simply because she couldn't fathom what would cause someone like Jessica to do something like that, and embrace it to her dying moments. "He would have died for you, but all you could do was yell at him for caring and run away. All I could do was watch. I couldn't change what I believed in just because we're in a war. I couldn't throw myself on Brant to help him get over you. Even Tonya couldn't do it. Hannah tried to help him ... and look how that turned out ... "And despite what I believed, what I was determined not to do until I was older, I was the one that had to save her ... before she destroyed her memories. Somehow, I doubt you knew about that ... how could you when you're busy screwing around with Abigail in your free time? That's why I hate you both. You're a coward and she's a moron. You both ruined everything just so you could have more time together. You couldn't even take five minutes out of your busy day to try and help him. Brant was trying to be strong for you, so things would be better on the other side of this, but Alkaev pilots aren't cut out for romantic relationships to begin with ... so he couldn't take it. How would you feel knowing your own rapist has stronger, more genuine feelings for you, and is even more patient with you than the person you're fighting for? That ... is why ... I hate you both. Chris, the dark horse in all of this, had to save him ... and I'm not happy about that pairing, either." Firmia wiped her eyes and then her cheeks on the sleeve of her SKIN suit as she thought back to her siblings' arrival, and the way Chris reacted to them. "I don't understand her at all, but I guess I don't have to, anymore. She saved him. If I never have to feel that despair from Brant again ... then it's worth it. If I never have to hear Hannah talking about erasing her memories to escape the pain ... then it's worth it. But still ... all of this just to fix what you destroyed. I don't understand you, either. Abigail would have killed you the way Soor'Kan did if she had the chance back on Colony One. She would have slept with anyone on the Riese to cope. Now that she has her crew back and you're gone, she'll just go back to how she was before. How could you choose someone like her over Brant? Why couldn't you choose him, instead? Why not us? Hannah, and me ..." Firmia tried to catch more of her tears, but now she just couldn't keep up. Before long, she was curled up in the captain's chair, head tucked beneath her arms. "Why couldn't you choose us as your family ... instead of some random rebel and her band of fools? Where the hell are they, Jessica?! Even at the end, you wouldn't shut up about your precious Abigail ... but she couldn't have saved you, or made you normal ... only we could do that ... so why ...? Please ... tell me why, Jessica ...." What's Mine is Mine (Chapter II)

(Flavor and other stuff later or in next post) Brant moves to 13,15 and attacks Cressida #3 with TK Missiles. "What the hell ...?" Brant couldn't sense Jessica anymore ... but Firmia could sense him and Jessica's apparent absence. "She's still alive. Focus," Firmia messaged the Regalia directly. "... dammit, how does she keep up with all of this ...?" Brant grit his teeth as they lined up a target. "Right, you want to try out those new missiles, Chris?" Even the battle couldn't distract him from what was going on aboard the Riese, but he had to be careful. There were quite literally three people on board, this time ... (Running formatting tests: Just pretend a horizontal line is here) Megumi hadn't expected to hear from Abigail in the middle of this mess, though to be frank, she hadn't expected to hear from Firmia, either. "I'm fine for now, but keep them off of the Riese as best you can." Wanting to spare Abby the details until she had something to say besides 'Jessica's trapped and we're trying to reach her,' Megumi left that out so her friend could focus. There was a thought, though ... about what to do if they found out there wasn't enough time to save the captain. Keeping people out of the loop to keep morale up was a classic strategy in warfare, but it could rob people of some precious goodbyes, as well. All Megumi could do right now was assume there was time and act accordingly. (Pretend there's another line here) Firmia's fingers curled into fists when Jessica started to cry out in the destroyed bridge. Was she really doing this right now? Even worse, she just had to mention the one person the Alkaev couldn't fathom. "Abigail, Abigail, always with that stupid talking cudgel. I'M the one that's going to save you, NOT her!" Tonya and Marcia didn't have to point out why Abigail was the main person--if not the only one--on Jessica's mind, right now. She already knew. She knew full well how that worked, but it still managed to set her off. Given what she was holding back from her fellow captain and rival, she could never have any patience for it. "Look," Firmia tried to amend herself with a clearly forced calm in her tone, "You can freak out once everything goes dark. Until then ..." Looking at the various camera feeds from the drones, Firmia didn't see a way from them to power through the wreckage without making Jessica's situation worse. She kept them searching, but she was hoping against hope that things were going better on Megumi's end. "Heh ... you see now, Jessica?" Firmia asked with a bitter realization. Perhaps it wasn't a bad idea to try and occupy Jessica's mind a little. "You see what it's like to be put in a situation you didn't deserve? You see why I do what I do? Why being prepared is more important than your hot tubs, pool parties, and sneaky date nights?" ... she was willing to risk getting under her skin to do it ... better than more crying, if it actually worked. "I'm going to prove to the whole world that I'm a better captain than you, that I did more with less, that I never put my people or my crew at unnecessary risk, and that I'm a woman of my word, first and foremost. We're all fighting to stay alive, here. That's why I'm going to save what's left of your stupid annoying face and beat Apotheosis and the Sacarians to death with it. You can fly off into the sunset with your precious rebel fuckup after that." "... sheesh," Tonya shifted uncomfortably in her chair. What's Mine is Mine (Chapter I)

"Don't screw up," Firmia warned Megumi over the comms, "I'm not sure we can do this without the Riese and with the bridge destroyed, Jessica is the only one who can control the ship." The Alkaev didn't know what sort of backups the Riese had, if any, but the Avalon had to be specifically set up to be controlled from the Garden if the bridge controls weren't working ... for whatever reason. If the Riese didn't have anything similar, then Jess' death would turn the ship into a giant brick. They would be guarding it again while trying to salvage their campaign against Apotheosis, and Firmia didn't like their chances. Megumi seemed to get it, finally ... "We have enough heads working together to figure this out," came the doctor's sober reply. Still on the line with Jessica, as well, Firmia winced at the finicky android's thoughts on getting things out in the open and said while she had the time. Talk about death flags ... "I've ... got things to say to you, too," Firmia admitted, "but you're not going to hear one peep out of me if you die, so survive!" Not the best way to motivate Jessica, especially since Firmia rarely had anything positive to say about her anyway, but maybe curiosity would help. "The drones are heading over to inspect the damage, but I need to make sure they won't make things worse before I get them working. Just hang on for now ..." And ... great. Reinforcements, and a good number of them, Firmia noted. To the Alkaev's initial surprise, Astin tried to contact the Luna while the pincer began closing in on them. That had been an almost hilarious mistake on their part. Louise wasn't sparing the traitor any frustration--Firmia couldn't help but appreciate having that psychotic banter on her side for a change. As for the obvious question, 'what was Louise doing in the Luna?' that machine was officially an AMS unit, and so Firmia would only let one of her people pilot it. Vera was still ... Vera, so she would have to settle for a Velite. In either case, Louise seemed like a good fit for the suit. Now if only she wasn't so far away ... it was difficult to coordinate like this. As the Avalon moved forward in step with the Riese, Firmia sent over her emergency signal to the Riese's defense drones to get them flying and inspecting the damage to the bridge more closely along with her own. Meanwhile, the Avalon's drones, six generic ones, and a red and maroon colored one, raced over to the large battleship. It took a moment, but Firmia recalled that in addition to putting some nice finishing touches on her Golden Eyes program, Brant had also moved A1 and A2 into the two new drones the mechanics had built. A1's new body was painted a grayish maroon, same as the Throne prototype and the Mini-Throne it had been occupying, and A2 was painted red, to help distinguish them both from the normal ones. Hopefully fourteen drones all working in tandem could find a solution for Jessica, but otherwise, Firmia was still working on the problem from the other direction with Megumi ...

The Riese? Safe? Oh Eric ... "The Riese is the biggest target in the world now that the ANF's command structure is in tatters," Megumi explained, her tone stern. She wasn't giving Johnson an inch just because the realities of war had finally dawned on him. He needed to get his head on straight or he'd be useless ... Megumi had to tune Firmia out long enough to get Roxanna into the infirmary, but soon enough, the Alkaev was shouting at her again. "Jessica was CUT IN HALF, do you understand that?! She's going to bleed out in a few minutes at this rate! Find a way up the damn elevator shaft and bring get her to the infirmary! No other injuries matter, right now!" "Alright! Stop badgering us! T-Tiffany, see if you can get around the lift shaft and make it up to the bridge. Stay in contact. Tambre, get one of the SIEG tanks ready for Jessica ... and hope we're fast enough." "I'm on it," Tambre called back, heading in that direction. "Now Firmia," Megumi irritably addressed the Avalon's captain, "I'll keep you up to date, but there's nothing more to add right now, so please focus on the battle. Keep Apotheosis and the Sacarians from hitting the Riese like that, again." "Don't screw up. I'm not sure we can do this without the Riese and with the bridge destroyed, Jessica is the only one who can control the ship." Megumi winced. That was an ... alarmingly good point, and helped explain the Alkaev's barking. "We have enough heads working together to figure this out," the doctor offered. Loyalty (Chapter II)

Turn 5 Movement Phase "Berk here," the voice came through on all the group's comms, "You're doing great, and I have news. Our forces have seized control of Destin's sensor network. Not only are the Soldaat's about to go blind, but we can now track each and every last one of them on radar. We're forwarding the data to you now." Hitomi saw a few more groups of Soldaats show up on the feed. There were plenty of them left, but nothing they hadn't dealt with already. "We've got this." "The Soldaats will switch back to their own sensor suites after a few moments, so use this opportunity to flank them. This is the final stretch, Odyssey. Destroy them all and free Destin Colony." Destin Colony Sensor Network Secured: All enemy locations have been revealed. Enemy Forces Recovering from Sensor Suite Disconnect: All allied units now have a minimum of 20 MOV (total) for 1 turn.

Enemy Battle Phase Trooper 9 Engages SleepyBot! Attacks with Battle Rifle for 49 damage! (SleepyBot HP 411/900) Attacks again with the Battle Rifle and crits for 74 damage! (Full roll 1,1,6) (SleepyBot HP 337/900) Attacks again with the Battle Rifle for 49 damage! (SleepyBot HP 288/900) Battle Rifle -> 49 damage -> Ow! (SleepyBot HP 239/900) One more ... 49 damage! (SleepyBot HP 190/900) SleepyBot: Are you FINISHED?!!! Trooper 9 ends the Engagement! Fire Miko attempts a Self Recovery! The attempt fails! Fire Miko: ... Trooper 27 Engages Sable! Attacks with the Battle Rifle but the Dilitant Barrier takes the hit! -50 to DB Sable counters with the Karasawa MKI! Trooper 27 uses its Defense Plate, which is promptly slagged! Trooper 27 attacks with the Battle Rifle again and the DB takes it! -50 to DB Trooper 27 scratches its head for a moment ... ... attacks with the Battle Rifle again ... DB takes it. Sable follows up with the Karasawa for 360 damage! (Trooper 27 HP 240/600) Trooper 27 DESPERATELY ends the Engagement! [Sable + 180 XP] Trooper 29 Engages GramSlam! Attacks with the Beam Axe for 106 damage! (GS HP 452/770) GramSlam counters with the HF Buster Sword for 68 damage! (Trooper 29 HP 532/600) Trooper 29 attacks with the Beam Axe for 106 damage! (GS HP 452/770) Trooper 29 ends the Engagement! Sniper 2 Engages GramSlam! Attacks with the Sniper Rifle for 106 damage! (GS HP 346/770) Sniper 2 ends the Engagement! End of Turn 4

Help arrived a lot sooner than Megumi expected, but Eric was still in complete shock. "Eric, get a grip," Megumi scolded him. Stopping just short of smacking him, she refocused her attention on Tristan and Roxanna. Since the androids had the former, she motioned for Bennet to help her carry the latter. "Just ... get to the infirmary for now and try to calm down." He was in no mental state to be helping right now--he'd probably even manage something stupid and unhelpful, so the doctor decided to rely strictly on her assistants and the androids. "Is there any way we can contact the bridge? If anyone else survived, we need to find a way to get to them." "Doctor Amparo," Megumi's comm lit up and Firmia's voice came through, "I need your help." "We're fairly busy right now, Firmia ..." "You're going to be even busier if the ship crashes," Firmia snapped, "Drop what you're doing and help! Jessica doesn't have a lot of time!" Uh oh ... "Grgh, apologize to my face," Firmia hissed, not sure what to do now that she knew how bad the situation really was. A normal person would be gone in seconds after being torn in half and losing an arm on top of that. Jessica being conscious at all was probably due to her being an android. Or rather, a cyborg. That didn't mean they had a lot of time. The human brain needed a steady supply of oxygen and Jessica was losing the fluid vital for delivery. Nervously thumbing at her comms, trying to decide who to drag into this mess, Firmia said, "For now, focus on the battle. I'll find a way to get you out of there. Alive." Already half a dozen plans were tried and failed in the Alkaev's head. The main problem was retrieving Gefalscht without damaging her or compromising her control of the Riese, not to mention managing it in the next few minutes, before things became even dicier. "Doctor Amparo," Firmia tried to get ahold of the Riese's doctor. She knew the woman would be at least near the scene by now, "I need your help." "We're fairly busy right now, Firmia ..." Busy? Screw that. If Roxanna was alive, then let the assistants take care of her for now. Things would be a lot worse if they didn't do something, right now. "You're going to be even busier if the ship crashes. Drop what you're doing and help! Jessica doesn't have a lot of time! First, I need you to inspect the lift up to the bridge. If it's not working then we'll have to find a way around it to get up to the bridge." Firmia wanted to send over some of the drones to peel away the wreckage. That way, they could carry what was left of Jessica back into the ship, either through a docking hatch or the mech hangar, but there were a few problems, unknowns mainly. One was whether or not they could safely move her, to begin with, and if moving her wouldn't somehow accelerate the blood loss. Another was moving her outside of the ship. Could she maintain control and consciousness while being moved around from outside? Firmia didn't know, so she wasn't willing to try that plan just yet. One thing that might work was breaking through the roof of the lift up to the bridge, climbing up, grabbing Jessica, and bringing her back down to the first deck. The infirmary was a short run from there. The unknown there was if the androids could clear any obstructions between them and Jessica ... Firmia's train of thought was interrupted when she saw Soor'Kan, desperately trying to escape. That was when the Artemis unleashed something new that completely overpowered the Sacarian Sphere. Soor'Kan didn't have time to react and was shot down in flames. Firmia could only sigh at the sad sight. He'd barely gotten away when he had backup, so what made him think he would beat them coming in by himself? Whatever prompted the foolhardy maneuver, it had ultimately failed ... Firmia was resolved to save that idiot on the Riese's shattered bridge no matter what it took. "He's gone ..." Brant gawked briefly, "A few more like that and it'll just be the usual grunts left. Brant put the Regalia through its transformation sequence and started off ahead of the Avalon. "Hey, Fi--Vivian, we're pushing ahead. How're things on the Riese?" He had to ask now that the immediate danger had passed. Not that another Sacarian couldn't just warp in and smash up something else, but that seemed a lot less likely, now ... "Focus on the enemy ... ... I'll let you know if anything changes." Brant winced, not because he was being kept out of the loop, but because of what being kept out of the loop usually meant. "Jess isn't out of the woods yet, is she ...? Damn ..." Brant transforms the Regalia into flight mode and moves to 12,9! Firmia moves the Avalon to 11,8!

Crushed the bridge?! Megumi's face went pale, the implications almost freezing her solid. Almost but not quite. Even that wasn't enough to slow her down, though. "Alright, get up and help me get them into the infirmary. We'll have to send the androids back up to rescue any survivors ..." Those instructions had been surprisingly hard to give, especially since Megumi really wasn't sure there were survivors ... maybe Jessica, but the others? ... and holy crap, what if she hadn't been tardy this one time? She could have died ... or maybe just wound up unconscious in a heap with Eric panicking even more since the Doctor herself was out. Either way, Cheryl probably had a new patient on the way after this. With no hope of dragging, much less carrying a fit man like Tristan on her own, she opted for Roxanna. "Bennet, Tambre," she called the infirmary, "The bridge was just destroyed, but we've got survivors. Get the androids and some stretchers ready. We have three incoming for now, but possibly more in the next few minutes." She said nothing of the ship crashing in the absence of the main flight controls since ... well, that should have become evident by now. Jessica was definitely still alive, somehow. Firmia breathed a sigh of relief at the news. There were casualties, but everyone crucial was still alive. Jessica clearly felt guilty about the others, and Firmia couldn't blame her, but she could mourn later. The bastard who killed members of her crew was still right outside. The rest of Jessica's news was decidedly irritating. As if they didn't have enough problems, she was once again in danger of shutting down. "Urgh, can we get through just one battle without you breaking? Anyway, focus on keeping the Riese in the fight. I'll figure something out. No one else is going to die, Jessica." The android's profuse bleeding didn't make a lot of sense, but fluids belonged inside the body, not out. The Riese's captain was rightly concerned about that, even if neither of them knew what was going on. Hannah hadn't reacted to that attack any less severely than Brant had, but Firmia hadn't seen it coming quickly enough. "Hannah, focus on helping the Riese take out Soor'Kan. Jessica's alive, don't worry." ... Firmia 'just so happened' to use the Avalon's main combat channel to send that message, so the other units received the same message. Don't panic, just focus on the enemy like you always do. That and ... make sure Jessica doesn't shut down and crash the ship ... Brant sighed. His instincts hadn't failed him, and now there was the matter of Soor'Kan to deal with ... well, not just him. One of their own machines was overflowing with murderous rage. To say he didn't 'trust' Alriana right now was a bit of an understatement. Worse, attacking Soor'Kan was something of a danger close scenario for the Riese and their close range pilots. If they all dogpiled him at once, there would be some friendly fire incidents. That was absolutely the last thing they needed right now. "We're going to have to hold here and let them handle this. This furball's going to be too hectic."

While Felicity did some 'preliminary scouting' ... a.k.a. being a curious cat, Jack idly listened to the others as their suggestions came. He liked the idea of Ocelotlal ... Jose, being the vanguard, but he made a very good point about a rear guard, as well. Amaterawhatsit also seemed like a good fit for the role. So it looked like they had two good candidates and a few workable alternatives. Definitely enough for a vanguard and a rear guard. "Well we definitely need someone covering our backs. To keep it simple, why not have Jose guard the rear and Amy take the front? Anyone else can do the lantern thing." Jack shrugged. "I'll even do it. This way it won't matter if they try to hit us from behind once we're inside and Amy can use that maul of hers on the first goblins we bump into."

Brant smiled, glad Chris was ready to truly dive into things. No Tonyas, Rosas, Jessicas, or hypotheticals would get in the way going forward. All that was standing between them and their life together was a detachment of Apotheosis and the Sacarians' finest. "Let's do this. Regalia, launching!" Oh the timing ... as soon as the Regalia cleared the catapult, Soor'Kan materialized out of thin air. Brant didn't even have time to transform or aim his rifle before the Heion Riese's bridge was crushed by the Praxis Alpha's massive claw. "Oh no! Hey-" "Don't even think about it!" Firmia radioed the Regalia directly, Brant's transmission being rerouted, "Focus on fighting and keep comm chatter to a minimum. Let me worry about the Riese." The Alkaev didn't wait for Brant's okay, since she had full control of her mobile suits' comms anyway and could simply keep them quiet the hard way if need be. "You've got to be kidding me ..." Brant hissed. The damage to the bridge looked ... complete. Was Jessica alive? There were no energy weapons involved, so the odds weren't trivial ... still, that looked terrible, and even if Jessica survived, anyone on the bridge with her likely hadn't ... ... or maybe they had? Brant could definitely sense more than just Soor'Kan's anger and confusion from that direction. Even more good news to go along with the Riese's deploying mobile suits, the ship's weapons started moving again in short order. "She's still alive ... she has to be." Firmia sat uneasily in her captain's chair, her thoughts racing as she tried to keep herself composed and get a hold of the situation. Having a number of her own androids to look after, Firmia had been immunized from the fear of Jessica dying to a cheap maneuver like the one Soor'Kan had just pulled. She was far more concerned with the chain of command, and whether or not Roxanna had survived. The defense drones hadn't had enough time to act, unfortunately, and so Jessica wound up using the ship's main weapons to damage Soor'Kan's Praxis. The trouble now was deciding whether or not to stick to the original plan, or try and take command temporarily. "Jessica! Jessica, respond! I know you're still alive, so plug into a radio or something and tell me what's going on!" If she couldn't get a hold of her in the next ... three and a half seconds, give or take, she'd make the call, take command until further notice, and have them blow the hell out of Soor'Kan before his friends showed up. Megumi had been lagging behind, but only because she thought she had enough time to reach the bridge without running before the opening salvos were fired. She was ten feet from the lift up to the bridge when the ship got shaken violently, and the doctor nearly lost her footing. "That's not good ..." Suddenly her comm lit up. "Megumi! Megumi, doctor! Doctor please!" That was Eric's voice, wasn't it? She'd never heard him that scared before ... ... and then the lift came down ... "What happened?!" All she could do was rush over and start checking Roxanna and Tristan for any obvious injuries, but chances were the bridge was where that attack had landed, and she likely had a lot more patients to deal with ... or maybe not ... worst case scenario.

Jack didn't want to load his stomach up too much before their first quest, so he only had what he'd consider a drink and a snack ... it felt real, alright. Even by the time they arrived at the cave, Jack still felt like he'd 'put something on his stomach,' and that was a good thing. The last thing he wanted was to be distracted in a place like this. They could be facing enough issues in the dark. "We definitely need a vanguard. I can hold a shield and a lantern at the same time but that's going to make it harder to fight. You feylines can see better in the dark, right?"

Allied Battle Phase May13 Engages Soldaat Leader 3! Attacks with Long Range Missile and crits! (Full roll 2,2,6) Leader 3 blocks with the Defense Plate May13 attacks with LRM again and Leader 3 blocks again, but the Defense Plate is destroyed! May13 attacks with another LRM for 135 damage! (Leader 3 HP 765/900) May13->LRM->Leader 3->135 damage! (Leader 3 HP 630/900) May13 fires another LRM for another 135 damage! (Leader 3 HP 495/900) May13 switches things up with a Large Missile for 225 damage! (Leader 3 HP 270/900) May13 fires another LRM for 135 damage! (Leader 3 HP 135/900) May13 finishes with ... you guessed it, another LRM! Leader 3 crumbles! May13: Eliminated enemy support unit, these small fry are all yours, Majestic. Crimson Meteor out! SleepyBot: Nice fireworks! May13 ends the Engagement! [May13 + 450 XP] Keizerin Engages Gunner 3! Opens with the Moonlight! The Gunner blocks with their Defense Plate and it promptly melts ... Keizerin activates Flurry and attacks with the Moonlight 3 times ... second kills, third destroys. Keizerin cloaks and ends the Engagement! [Keizering + 300 XP] Black Knight takes activates Flight! Mewlanie Engages Trooper 25! Attacks with the Karasawa and crits for 360 damage! (Full roll 3,3,5) (Trooper HP 240/600) Mewlanie follows up with a Heavy MAC for another 360 damage and a KO! Mewlanie attacks one more time with the Sniper Rifle and lands a crit! Trooper 25 explodes! (Full roll 6,6,2) Mewlanie: Like shooting feesh een ze barrel~ Mewlanie ends the Engagement! [Mewlanie + 300 XP] Aska Engages Trooper 35! Attacks with the Moonlight for 243 damage! Trooper 35 desperately wants to counter but doesn't have enough ATK yet! Aska activates Flurry and strikes with the Moonlight 2 more times for a KO! Finishes Trooper 35 off with the Vulcans! Aska moves down 1 (Vernier B) Aska ends the Engagement! [Aska + 300 XP] Doctor Flambre activates Add. Boosters and moves right 3! Fire Miko Engages Soldaat Trooper 35! Attacks with the Firespray for 153 damage! (Trooper 35 HP 357/600) Trooper 35 counters with the Beam Axe and scores a critical hit! (Full roll 1,1,1) (Dilitant Barrier takes the hit) Mewlanie: Pfft... Are you sure you did not cheat een our duel? Fire Miko: Shush! This was only my barrier, I'm ready. >.> Mewlanie: Hah, needing a barrier~ Fire Miko: Ok, you're becoming charcoal today. Attacks with the Firespray again for 153 damage! Trooper 35 counters again with the Beam Axe for 180 damage! (Miko HP 420/600) Fire Miko: I'LL TOAST YOU! Fire Miko attacks with the Firespray but misses! Trooper 35 counters with its Beam Axe for 180 damage! (Miko HP 340/600) Fire Miko attacks with the Firespray and hits for 153 damage! Trooper 35 counters again with the Beam Axe and hits for 180 damage! (Miko HP 60/600) Fire Miko: G-GET OUT OF HERE! Fire Miko attacks with Dual Vulcans but the bullets go wide! Trooper 35 counters with the Beam Axe and scores a critical hit! (Full roll 4,4,5) Fire Miko is defeated! Fire Miko: curls up in cockpit Engagement ended [Fire Miko + 270 XP] Reinstall Engages Trooper 35! Attacks with the Battle Rifle and crits for 135 damage! Trooper 35 is KO'd (Full roll 2,2,1) Reinstall ends the Engagement! GramSlam Engages Trooper 29! Attacks with HF Buster Sword! Trooper 29 blocks it with his Defense Plate! DF takes 8 damage! Trooper 29 counters with the Beam Axe for 106 damage! GramSlam attacks with Oculus Beam! Trooper 29 blocks with Defense Plate! DP takes 108 damage! Trooper 29 counters with the Beam Axe for 106 damage! GramSlam ends the Engagement! Flake Engages Trooper 29! Attacks with the Heavy MAC! Trooper 29 blocks with the Defense Plate and it's shot to pieces! Flake ends the Engagement! Serval Sage Engages Trooper 11! Attacks with the Beam Launcher! Trooper 11 blocks with their Defense Plate ... and it melts. Serval Sage ends the Engagement! SleepyBot Engages Trooper 11! Attacks with the HEAT Stake for 270 damage! Trooper 11 counters with the Beam Axe for 88 damage! Trooper 11 counters again with the Beam Axe for another 88 damage! SleepyBot attacks with the HEAT Stake for 270 damage! Trooper 11 counters with the Beam Axe again for another 88 damage! SleepyBot attacks with the Plasma Burst and crits for the KO! (Full roll 5,5,2) SleepyBot ends the Engagement!

Firmia doubted they could take out any battleships before they launched all of their units, at least not without a bit of luck. Then again, deploying all of their machines wasn't necessarily an Apotheosis tactic, to begin with. These people generally kept a lot in reserve, so maybe Jessica's strategy had merit beyond taking out the biggest guns early on. As for Firmia, she still preferred to take out the grunts first. Thinking back to when she had been surrounded by Cressidas at Great Lake Base, it was always going to be her preference to keep enemy numbers down ... "Alright then. You'll know if we're changing tactics, but for now, the Avalon's priorities are enemy mobile suits." She had more or less the same update for Louise when she radio'd in. "I want to make sure we don't have to worry about getting surrounded or outmaneuvered, so focus on enemy mobile suits until the situation changes. Just carve them up one by one while we close in on whoever's leading this attack." "You sure love to pick on the weak, don't you?" Tonya teased. "If Apotheosis was weak, I wouldn't waste the ammunition," Firmia countered sternly, her eyes fixed on the radar display. Having said that, Firmia found herself thinking beyond the war, again. What was going to happen once Apotheosis was out of the way and only the Sacarians and the EU were left? And what about Gabriel and Juliya? The former was in bed with at least a few Sacarians now, so where would that lead ...? Archangel (Chapter II)

Firmia wanted to be in a good mood this morning. She wanted it so badly since so much had been going well for her lately. The Riese's defense drones had been delivered and were combat ready, the Avalon's original six drones had been supplemented by two more drones by Brant and all of them upgraded into a more useful configuration, the battle preparations aboard the Athena were going well according to the last report, Sasha's Eidolon project was progressing quickly and was nearly ready for live trials, and Firmia had even managed to get in touch with Brant's parents, who were quietly aiding her with another important project with the help of an AI they called Faber. She even had an early morning drink courtesy of Hannah to help her ease into the daily grind. Everything was going well ... except the news coming out of Russia, that was ... Archangel (Chapter I) Gabriel Ziv Alkaev Katz, was the son of Yuri Alkaev Katz, and both men were in the Alkaev Journal, though with no significant information about either. Yuri was Rosa's older brother, and he was also dead. Gabriel was alive and exceedingly well. A former EU light infantryman, he was uniquely suited to not outright dying in the kinds of situations Apotheosis had forced most of their enemies into ... and he was the one severely pissing Firmia off, right now. Thanks to Gabriel, things weren't all quiet over there. According to her grandfather, the Vaska, Russia's sole battleship, had suffered a mutiny, one Firmia's own sister had aided in, and was now working right alongside Gabriel. Firmia would never plainly admit it, but hidden deep in her own notes were plans for acquiring the ship for herself. There were both legal and illegal methods listed for consideration, but they were all practically worthless, now. How a former foot soldier from the EU could suddenly swoop in and affect so much change would have been a mystery to her, had Dima not explained that he was giving her cousin some financial and material aid. He didn't have to explain. Firmia knew the implications. Dima always had a backup plan, in case she failed to live up to his expectations or simply died. That wasn't all Dima told her, though ... Apparently, there were Sacarians aiding him. That sounded eerily familiar to Apotheosis' Faustian deal with the Sacarians, and helped explain how the Vaska was captured so quickly. What Firmia wasn't sure of were the finer details. Were the Sacarians using Gabriel and Juliya to weaken the remaining Russian forces since Apotheosis was taking too long? Wouldn't both Alkaevs be able to see through a scheme like that and reject it out of hand? Were they both just fine with Russia collapsing in the end? The curiosity was painful and infuriating. It seemed like the moment they defeated Apotheosis, Firmia would have to take her own people and prepare for more fighting back in her home country ... though it wasn't clear right now where the battle lines would be drawn, or just how much the ANF could afford to get involved. Gabriel was a nuisance, but was he a friend or a foe? Juliya was a moron, but was she a friend or a foe? One benefit of sending over the defense drones to the Riese was that they still ran on the same programs as the Avalon's and had some residual data feeds set up. Relying on the Riese's sensors and sharing data continuously, they realized enemies were coming the very moment Jessica did, and as a result, the Avalon's alarms went off at almost the same time. It might not have been optimal, but with things set up this way, the Avalon could fly close to the ground during travel, making it significantly harder to detect from long range, though at the cost of its own radar performance. Flying below a juggernaut like the Riese only obscured the enemy's view further, barring any advanced Sacarian technology they might be using. Having already been dressed for T-Link use, Firmia started off toward the bridge from the cafeteria. She let Hannah go to prep the Reign and addressed the crew from her tablet along the way. "Still every few days it seems like ... Ahem ... all combat teams, get to your machines and launch, immediately. There are unknowns incoming, probably a vanguard. We're going to shoot them down and press forward, just like always." Arriving at the bridge, Firmia said, "Tonya, bring us down to combat speed, and keep us just above the ground. Marcia, make sure that Excalibur move is ready." "Hah!" Tonya clearly remembered that move, and the name never ceased to be amusing. Firmia could sense something was still bothering Tonya, but it was way too late for anything personal. Whatever it was would have to wait until later. As long as there was a later, Firmia reminded herself, she could resolve just about any problems her crew was having. The Alkaev quickly plopped herself down in the captain's chair and hailed the Riese. "Jessica, my suits are about to launch. If you have any battle plans in mind, I need to know ASAP. Otherwise, we're focusing on targets of opportunity." That essentially meant killing the closest, most weakly defended enemies first."

Turn 4 Movement Phase Sable right 6 Trooper 28 up 3, left 1 Mewlanie down 4 Trooper 27 left 4 Aska right 1, down 5 Trooper 29 left 4 Monika left 1, down 6 Trooper 25 left 4 Dr.Flambre right 1, up 2 right 1 Trooper 11 left 2, up 2 Reinstall right 2, down 2 Trooper 9 left 4 Serval Sage down 4 Leader 3 left 4 Aliens down 2, right 3 Trooper 25 right 1 SleepyBot right 3 Gunnder 3 bumps into Keizerin and stops ... GramSlam moves right 8 Remaining Soldaats decline to move Motherloader moves right 3 BB moves right 2, down 2 Flake moves right 5 May13 right 1, down 2 Fire Miko down 4, right 2 Sicarius right 2, down 1