Three Westfallian vehicles were rolling through the deserted streets. Hastily abandoned cars and echoes of a Kaiju's roars were their only witnesses - prime opportunity to raid the abandoned stores for jewelry or other valuables.
"I can't believe this little suitcase of bling can cost as much one of our trucks"
"Try: our whole squad. How's that for some bling?"
A gunner on one of the vehicles stared at their commanding officer in disbelief.
"The whole squad? What, even with the Spook?"
"Nah, for the Spook we'd need to make another two raids like this. Keep your eyes on the road."
"Oh. Well, that's still a lot of money in one suitcase", the gunner resumed watching for targets, visibly bored. "But really, the Deffies are all busy with the Kaiju over that hill. Aren't we doing this exactly because they don't have time to spare for us?"
"No, we're doing this because the Spook can sneak us in under the radar. There's no guarrantee they won't stuble across us accidentally. Or the Kaiju eats their robot, and then we'll have to run from that. So, keep your eyes out, and shoot down any Deffies before they can radio their friends".
The three vehicles continued along at a respectable pace. All three were some variation of a "flatbed with a robot on it's back", which seemed to quickly become favourite for Westfallian forces.
The two rearguards were Stingers. Their three gun mounts, each on a multi-jointed swing arm, could quickly switch from near-360 degree coverage to concentrated fire in any direction. A clever gyro-stabilizarion system ensured excellent accuracy and stability in any position. They didn't offer much protection, but being able to shoot around corners made up for that somewhat. Their another big drawback - although almost any gun could be mounted on the arm, those with too much recoil would simply tear the arm off.
The leading vehicle had only one gun mount, on the same swing arm as the Stingers. It was fixed in a more-or-less vertical position, and could still cover the ground in a wide arc, but it couldn't point around walls, and couldn't angle much vertically. The vehicle's front, however, was covered by a solid armor plate, and it had two rather flexible and sturdy claws. Thus, it could go decently well head-to-head against all but the hardest opponents, but it's rear and flanks were easily-exploitable weak points. This vehicle design seemed to be the first wholly original Westfallian creation. The swinging motions of it's claws and gun-head, the strange placement of the driver's cockpit and seemingly-mismatched wheels earned it a nickname "Drunk" or "Tipsy".
"Hey, Bill, you got a grudge against vans or something?"
The forward-facing gunner on one of the Stingers, apparently named Bill, was manning a microwave laser. It was a clever way to give Stingers a stronger gun with less recoil. MWLs had no recoil whatsoever, and could set aflame almost anything made out of metal... If one kept in on-target long enough. Even before that point, it could damage more sensitive internal parts without anything being amiss externally. Super-useful for surprise attacks and super-tricky against rapidly moving targets. As it was, Bill used it to ignite the occasional vans the squad was passing. And since those cars weren't made in Hollywood, they weren't exploding, so there was no risk to alert the UEDF prowling nearby.
"Remeber how Red Dogs got wiped two monthes ago?" answered Bill.
"Yeah, I knew one of their drivers".
"Well, I caught a bit of radio chatter just as they were being wiped. Apparently, they got ambushed by a van".
"Whoa, what? A van? And you're just frying random vans for revenge now?"
"Not just random. You know how Deffies got a robot that can become a tank? And one that can become a plane?"
"Wait, you're saying Deffies got van-shaped robots for ambushes?"
"Well, maybe just one. Or maybe none. But I'd rather be safe than sorry. Especially..." The squad rounded a corner right then, and there was a van on the road. Unlike the overturned and hastily abandoned vehicles around it, it was neatly parked, pristine, glossy and bright cherry-red. "Especially if they're obvious like that".
Bill aimed his gun, and thirty seconds later the suspicious van burst into flames. The leading Tipsy pushed it off the way, and Bill spat into the wreckage, passing by. The squad leader, in the Tipsy's gun mount, turned his radio on.
"Squad B, we'll be at the meeting point in less than two minutes".
[Roger, we'll be on time.]
"Spook, you all right there?"
The radio only clicked twice in acknowledgement. Whoever was manning the Spook was, apparently, concerned about radio silence. Less than two minutes later, the Westfallians were at an intersection, approached by another squad. Two Westfallian early-design "robot torso on a pickup truck" vehicles were carrying a robot-sized gun and a big object wrapped in tarp; a Stinger was covering their backs. The two squads quickly merged, the Tipsy going in front, the torso with the gun covering the rear, and the one with the package staying in the middle, covered by the Stingers. The Westfallians almost made it to the intersection when the sound other than the raging Kaiju reached their ears.
"Who's that flying up there? Is it a bird? No!"
It was a melody, peppy and out-of-place, and the gunners tensed, scanning the roofs and the corners for anything that might come out flying.
"Is it a plane? No! Is it the Twister?"
And then, with a resounding "YEAAAAAH!", a flying robot moonwalked at hight speed across the intersection in front of them. It was white with rainbow patches and star-shaped spots of glitter here and there. Before it could make it half-way, all the guns were pointed at it, sending a deadly hail of lead and microwave radiation. But none of that seemed to reach it, as the robot remained just as gaudy and colorful when it disappeared out of sight.
"Ambush! Incoming!" cried the rearguard Torso, who couldn't turn far enough ahead, and thus kept watching the back. There was a missle salvo coming out of nowhere at the party's rear, and it wrecked one of the Stingers before anyone could even react.
"Move, move!" ordered the leader in the Tipsy. "Spook, stay sharp, we've got company. Everyone, protect the Big Bag!"
The Westfallians rushed ahead, no longer concerned about noise. In seconds they crossed the intersection, watching out for the gaudy white robot... But they saw only a tank, blue with red insignia. It fired a round, and another one, but the inherent agility of the vehicles and the sharp reflexes of the drivers kept them all intact. The rearguard Torso unloaded it's gun into the tank, to little effect, then picked up a nearby car and threw it at the blue vehicle. The tank rolled to avoid the thrown car and began transforming. The Westfallians didn't linger, trying to lose the tank as quickly as possible. Riding single-file, the Tipsy at the front didn't need to clear up as much space, and the Stingers could still unleash all their firepower. The rearguard Torso pushed the abandoned cars into the middle of the road with one hand and tried to reload his gun with the other.
The tank, now fully transformed into a bulky blue humanoid, gave chase. One red insignia of a bison's head now moved to his face, and another one - to his chest. The cars in his way didn't stop the blue giant, he even picked one up to smash the other cars off his way. If the bullets and lazers bothered him, he didn't show it. Then, a melody once again rang through the air. Two of the gunners turned to the roofs. Trigger fingers itchy, they opened fire as soon as the source of the sound peeked out... And a small drone fell, riddled with holes.
Even as it's motors failed, it kept playing an uplifting song, entirely out of place.
The tank was almost on the rearmost vehicle, but not close enough to hit it. And the Westfallian was almost done reloading. The blue robot used the distraction with the drone to
leap at the enemy, grabbing it by the head unit, and pulling down with his full weight. The Westfallian robot turned over, the blue one rolled over it and wasted no time by smashing a fist into the truck-part's front axle. Continuing his rolling motion, he transformed back into the tank and chased after Westfallians anew. Instead of smashing the civilian cars away, it now smashed through them, and gained ground much more quickly.
"Aaaaargh!" Yelled Bill, the gunner, finally losing his cool. "Fry, you Deffie tin can! When will you fry?!"
A buggy appeared ahead of the Westfallians. It was the same gaudy white as the robot from before, with glittery stars and a rainbow racing stripe. It swerved from side to side like crazy, dodging every bullet, and when it was about to collide with the Tipsy, the buggy jumped, transformed into a jet mid-air, and flew off, blasting the Westfallians with jet exhaust and cheery music. In that half-moment when they were shaken, the tank shot again, and this time shredded a Stinger to pieces.
"Floor it!" demanded the leader of the raiders. "Ignore everything and floor it!"
And so they did, driving no longer recklessly, but suicidally. Bill, the gunner, strained to keep his lazer on the tank regardless. It's blue paint job was already charring and coming off, and Bill's frustrated grin started widening with anticipation. With a lurch, the tank transformed back into the robot and grabbed another nearby car, to shield himself from the lazer. He wasn't fast enough, and Bill saw the enemy's shoulder catch fire, which quickly spread across the whole left hand. The blue robot continued, unperturbed. There was something creepy in his silent, unstopping pursuit, and Bill snapped.
"Shiiiiiit! I'll take you down! I'll take you down if it's the last thing I do!"
"Bill! Bill, cool down!" His own driver tried to reason with him. "Quit yelling!"
There was a lapse in attention, and Bill's Stinger almost crashed into a wall. With a screech of brakes, the driver stopped just in time, and immediately accelerated again - but that was enough. The blue robot tossed his makeshift shield in front of the Stinger, gained speed himself, and charged... Right past the Westfallian vehicle, and up the wall of the nearby building. There, he jumped and slammed his burning left elbow hard into the middle of the Stinger.
The remaining two Westfallian vehicles never looked back. They squeezed every last drop of speed from their engines, and slowed down only to reposition a large truck across the street. With one mighty pull from the Torso and several blows from the Tipsy, the truck blocked off the way completely.
"Go", ordered the Westfallian commander. "Lose them. The Big Bag is important. I'll hold them back".
He turned around his Tipsy, claws in a ready stance. The remaining Westfallian sped off. Suddenly, the sound of a claxon drew the commander's attention. He swung his gun around, and saw a small-ish green and gray robot that wasn't there a minute ago. It spat a pellet right into the commander's face, which disintegrated into smoke and dust. And in the moment when the commander lifted his hand off the triggers to shield his eyest, the green robot drew a katana as tall as itself, and in one motion bisected the Tipsy diagonally, front-to-back, top-to-bottom. Further down the street, the white flying robot landed on top of the last Westfallian and blasted it with a wave of pure sound, knocking the driver out.
"Chop wood, carry water". Stated the green robot, stashing his katana... Somewhere.
A minute later the blue robot climbed on top of the overturned truck, a torn-off street sight in his right hand, the left one still smoking.
"Oh, you've finished them off", he spoke, surprisingly calmly.
The gaudy white robot sauntered up to the other two, humming a victorious tune.
"Where have you been, Bro?" he demanded from the green one. "We've taken out the whole squad! Well, except those two".
The green robot lifted his finger. A series of loud pops resounded in the distance.
"Oh, right, that Spook business".
"If these guys are all taken care of", asked the blue robot, "Could you look at my shoulder, please? I think something's leaking. If it's nothing serious, we might still help out Perseus".
The green robot quietly pulled out his toolbox... From somewhere.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
That's not exactly a hard/fast time limit,
@Not in Person. I reckon you've got some time before I call it closed. Probably will be sometime late Monday, verging on the Tuesday line (EST).
For everyone sticking with this, by the by - thank you for your patience.
I know this isn't exactly rolling updates hot off the press anymore like the olden days, but I appreciate you waiting and still participating in the updates. ^_^
If it's not done today, Monday would be too late. Would have been.
And it's okay, man. You're no Shakespeare - and that's good. People who are called a "national treasure" are just as often way overrated.
Anyway. The green robot is the chuunibyou ninja one. He's not a medic, but he does get a "Fix Minor Scratches" skill. His body is a Shade (the van thing), because it blends well, and because he can pack a few extra missiles into the van's cargo hold. His favourite pranks invovle smoke, paint, and/or sneaking up on somebody. Also, he was supposed to be the DPS, but... Well, read on.
The blue tank is supposed to be the Bison. Originally, I wanted to give him red "boots" and "gloves", as well as a red "mask", but eh, he can gain those as the story goes on. For now, a mask and a chest insignia will do. His body is a Centurion, because that's one platform that can shrug off lethal wounds. Phalanx is the other, but Tellison is already riding it. Again, this can change as the story goes along. He's got most of the kills in this snippet, because I figured people think he's too bland, and wanted to show him off. And, well, he is kind of too bland in peacetime. But spectacular during fights.
The white plane is the Twister. As you've already guessed, his body is the Seeker. Or rather, a Steed in a Very Fancy Suit, with which fact he is most pleased. He's funky... Maybe too funky, I couldn't come up with much for him in the fight.
Of course, this kind of a fight, against mostly mooks, is sort of underwhelming. And I did want to show them off in a fight against a "real" mecha, or maybe a kaiju, but then I figured they'd never do that without Tellison , and I don't know how he fights. ... And, as I was writing this sentence down, I realized they could have a training fight against, say, Valiant, Galbinus, Callaghan and/or Banner.
Anyway, this is it; I can give you some more useless trivia if you ask; and hope you liked that.
