"I will." Crunch's voice was like music to your ears. "New guy, callsign?"
"... Patroclus Three."
"Patroclus it is then. Pretty sure your squad is gone."
"That it is." The Heavygun twisted around, pulling a demolition charge from the rack on its side. "You guys know about the jetstream attack?"
"I'll alpha strike, the kid harasses, and you go for the kill?"
"One and the same."
"Got it."
"Oh, we know this one." You glance to the console to your right. Sakura seemed confident in this. You stay quiet for the moment, as the console opened. GN Beam condensation was 715%.
"How does that work?"
"Combat saturation, it's number of GN Particles per air particulate. It means- Actually, we will explain later." Sakura answered.
"Use the GN Sword. Keep the Tachi in reserve."
You nod at that. The sword on the Exia's left arm shifted, the muzzle of a rifle erupting from the end of the shield plate. The batta and their controlled Heavyguns were already beginning to move.
"The machine gun is the ready check!"
"What!?" You let out a cry as the Gespenst erupted forth, split missiles exploding from its back and shooting forth in a storm of hellfire.
"Die!"
The missiles rocketed forth in streaks of white. For a moment, you could only appreciate that they were on your side. You bit your lip. Watching. Waiting. The enemy Heavyguns shot forth, thrusters streaks of blue as they spun and danced around the missiles.
They weren't really the targets, you realized.
"Two batta gone. One critical. Marked, it'll explode when it fires its beam. Ignore it."
"He's good." You mutter. The Gespenst was starting to move. The plasma jets in the back of it's shins burned bright as it shot forth in a streak.
ATATATATATATATATATATATA!
"That's our cue!" 'Patroclus' exclaimed. The Heavygun shot forth far quicker than the Exia. His reflexes were better than yours. That was the takeaway.
The Exia was far faster. The great light from the unit's rear erupted into what looked like a spear of green as you blasted forward, skating along the ground as you took aim and opened fire. Each shot of the GN Sword Rifle kicked your left arm. It was like the feedback of a VR Sim.
You'd only ever used those with a Mobile Worker. Was this what it felt like to use the Alaya-Vijnana System? You skidded wide to the left, separating yourself from Crunch and 'Patroclus' by a wide margin.
"Mark target one!"
"Bogey marked. Commencing attack." Crunch's answer was music to your ears as he took aim at the lead Heavygun, its great spear in hand. The charge on the tip made it look almost like a demented hammer. "Rippers!" Two of the spinning blades sort of fell out of the back of Gespenst, spinning to life and shooting out wide.
"Fangs! Go! Keep the left one away!"
"Got it!" The fangs in the Exia's right arm socket shot forth like little daggers in streaks of green. You lost track of them immediately as you took aim at the lead Heavygun and fired. It didn't seem bothered, the beams sort of twisting briefly around it's form and exploding.
"I can't hit it!"
"Distortion Field. Aim away from the batta if you can." The machine gun fire did not seem to bother the Heavygun at all, crouching forward, its arm touching the ground. "It's laying a mine! Stay away from its current position!"
"Marked."
"Ammo empty! Going in!" The Gespenst spun, hurling the machine gun at the Heavygun. It batted it away with the butt of it's spear. You lost track of the Gespenst after that as it rocketed into the air.
*SKRNNNNNNNG*
The sound of a beam erupting from the batta was familiar to you at this point. The warning light flashed just once in your console as you spun the Exia, skidding low to avoid the beam shooting through where your head had been. You kept firing. The GN Sword Rifle wasn't doing any damage.
Your aim was just bad, you realized.
*SKRNNNNNNNG*
Another twist, the Exia rocketing to the right.
*SKRNNNNNNNG*
Now to the left. You were within thirty meters. The distance would be gone in seconds. The mouth of the GN Sword Rifle retreated. The plate lowered. The sword spun from its original position along the arm into place as a giant long sword.
"CHEEEEEESTOOOOOO!"
The Heavygun twisted as Crunch shot down from the air, a flash of purple erupting from the Plasma Cutter in his Gespent's hand. The Heavygun spun around him like a dancer. The bottom half of the rod it used as a spear glowed red hot from where it'd been cut straight through.
Crunch did not stop, He kept rocketing forth. He simply wasn't there as the spear swung through where his cockpit had been a moment later. Maybe it was confirmation bias, but the batta controlling it now was not as good as the pilot before had been.
"Tyaaaaaaah!" The GN Sword swung in a wide ark. You wanted to claim the batta. You did not. The wide hacking slash did not hit the Heavygun. It pirouetted again, spear twisting as it stabbed back. You could feel it's tip just briefly skid off the side of the Exia's chassis.
You swung again, so wide it left you spinning in a circle. You felt resistance, ever so brief. As the Heavygun came back into view, you could see the red hot, scorched slag that was its shoulder plate, cleanly sliced in half as it had ducked. 'Patroclus' was here now. You could see him flicking several demolition charges into the air.
"Three!"
A mark for explosion.
You swung again. Straight down. The Heavygun stepped to the side.
"Two!"
It swung back. A wide berth of its spear. You caught it on the side of your GN Swords shield.
KA-BOOM!
The explosion from the tip of the spear rocked your entire frame.
"One!"
You swung one last time, but it was merely a token attack, spinning and skidding backwards as you did so. 'Patroclus' was well clear now, leaving the batta and Heavygun alone with three demolition charges falling in the air about it.
KA-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
The explosion left your ears ringing, metal and slag erupting from smoke.
*SKRNNNNNNNG*
*SKRNNNNNNNG*
You kept dancing and twisting, beams shooting into the spot where you had been. The GN Sword was now in Rifle mode. You opened fire into the smoke cloud.
It can't have been that easy, right.
"Rippers!" A glance to your left, where Crunch was circling around, revealed he'd deployed another two Slash Rippers, directing them forward with the Gespenst's hand. The smoke was beginning to clear.
"Bogey down." Finally, you could see. A pillar of purple had erupted from the Heavygun, just below the cockpit. "Reactor critical in seven. Pull back." 'Patroclus' had drawn his beam saber, the weapon ripping free of the Heavygun with a flick as he shot backwards.
"Re-marking. Kid, to your right. You're point this time."
"I've just gotta attack, right?"
"Right. Lead the way. I'm behind you."
"Fangs!"
"Re-aiming. Particle density here is low. The Fangs will need to recharge in twenty seconds." You appreciated the speed of which Sakura responded, as the three daggers rocketed past in streaks of light. You shot forward. The Exia's feet lifted off the ground as you took to the air. Your right eye closed as you took aim.
You fired. One, two, three, four shots. The first two twisted around the Heavygun and exploded harmlessly. The third, however, struck true. It skidded around the Heavygun's side and smashed into its left arm, ripping it free in a torrent of fire.
"Gottem!"
"Don't get cocky!" 'Patroclus' cut in. "Deploying my last charges. The batta are taking aim!"
"Got it!" You could taste the blood on your lip. You'd bitten into it. The Fangs shot forth, clipping the Heavygun and ripping and nicking steel, but ultimately they retreated to you as you closed in. The GN Sword swapped back to sword mode, blade swinging forth, as you swung.
Too high. The Heavygun ducked under it. The machine's right arm swung forth, and you let out a scream as the entire frame of the Exia shook.
"Shit! It's going to suicide!"
"Not if I have anything to say about it! Rippers!"
The Heavygun had grabbed you in what resembled a bear hug. Even with the rippers tearing out the back of the machine in oil covered strips that reminded you far too much of blood, it refused to move. The batta's cannon lit up as it aimed down.
"Taking over!" Sakura's voice was urgent. You felt yourself being shoved into a ball and pushed to the back of… whatever this was. The thing was in control now. You were just watching your body, and by extension the Exia, like a puppet.
Crystals erupted from the Exia's chassis and head. You screamed as needles ripped through your cheeks and chest.
"Engaging the GN Autoguns!"
What came next was a torrent of pink hellfire erupting from the Exia's torso and head. The Heavygun stood no chance as it was ripped apart, and the batta with it, by the spray of pink. Metal fell from the Exia's form as it shot backwards, the Heavygun's right arm still on it as the wreck smoldered in the distance.
"... Sorry. Returning control."
"That hurt." You tried to bring the Exia's left arm up to remove the Heavygun arm gripping it. Nothing happened.
You looked left. There was no arm where the left arm had been before.
"O-oh."
"... We are sorry. The Exia had no other viable weapons to remove the threat."
"How the hell do I fight?"
"From a distance. Pepper the last Heavygun. I'll lead." 'Patroclus' answer was blunt, as the man guided his Heavygun in front of you, hand reaching forth and drawing the GN Tachi from your side. "Borrowing this." His beam saber looked almost pitiful, a barely ignited purple that he discarded without a second thought, seizing the tachi with both arms and pointing the tip forward. "Not my first choice, but it'll do."
"Bringing the rippers around. Begin when ready."
"Fire!" The Heavygun shot forward, and suddenly you could appreciate the skill 'Patroclus' had. The machine only had about two thirds of its boosters, carrying a weapon balanced for a larger and heavier machine. He was compensating significantly for the right side that had no thrust.
You took aim, breathed in, and felt the GN Autoguns light up. A storm of pink erupted like pattering rain. The distortion field around the batta became really obvious when there was so much fire that it couldn't block it all. From its spot on the right shoulder, it only really covered the head, cockpit, right arm and right leg. The storm of pink ate away at the left arm and leg and reduced them to molten metal in moments.
"Haaah!" The Heavygun darted in, tachi swinging. The first swing missed. The Heavygun was hilariously overbalanced without its left arm and leg and 'Patroclus' had overshot. 'Patroclus' left thrusters erupted, spinning the entire machine in a circle as he swung straight from left to right.
"HAAAAH!"
You could see the molten line where the torso had been cut straight through. The Heavygun had simply stopped moving. 'Patroclus' spun the tachi one last time, before stabbing it down on the batta.
When he finally ripped the tachi free, the Heavygun and it's batta crumpled in a ruined heap.
"Remaining bogeys?"
"None. My rippers got the last two batta." Crunch declared. "We did it. Good work guys."
"Good work…" You echoed, crumpling deeper into your chair. "Is the arm gone?"
"It will take us some time to reconfigure the Exia again. The Autoguns from the Jinx were not intended for the Exia's use." Sakura noted.
"We would rather do without the arm then lower the Exia's performance."
"Good work kiddo." You let out a squeak as 'Patroclus' ripped the Heavygun arm gripping the Exia free, throwing it away, before returning the tachi to your side. "Gespenst, this is Patroclus Three. Confirm operational command. Are you the highest ranking officer in the area?"
"... That would be me." Crunch admitted, as the rippers returned to the Gespenst's backpack. "What a shitshow. Galba-IV wreckage and Base Camp Sigma, this is Lieutenant Vogel. I'm assuming operational command. Full copy."
There was a long silence.
"What does that mean?" You asked. Crunch just groaned.
"It means there are no surviving soldiers." He answered. "Get to scanning, guys. There's gotta be survivors here somewhere."
"I wouldn't hold my breath," the Heavygun's pilot answered. "This reeks of an old Vanguard tactic for seizing colonies during the war. Those bugs didn't come out of nowhere, and they sure as hell didn't blow through that ship's nanolaminate with beam guns, so where's their carrier?" He let the question hang for a moment. "If Chryse's garrison is still alive they're going to need reinforcements."
"But I don't exactly have arms. Do we even have any bullets left?" You ask.
"Here in the camp?" Crunch replied, "Hell no. But if we can find any survivors hiding around, there's good odds we could get their help and salvage anything usable from the mountain cycle. This Gespenst here was modeled after working mobile weapons dug out of holes in the ground like this. There's a good chance there could be something we can salvage in there, but it'll take time. Time we could spend bailing to Chryse."
The Gespenst turns to face your machine, "Kid, you were in the mountain cycle. If anyone saw shit worth salvaging in there, it's you. Stop and pull the junk out of there, or go reinforce the city now? Your call."
COMBAT STATUS
-
Rain (Sakura Flag)
-
Rain: Neutral
Unit Integrity: Compromised
Ammo
-GN Fang (3/3) (Undeployed)
-GN Auto Gun (95/99)
-GN Tachi (1/1)
-GN Beam Saber (1/1)
Conditions
-Right arm missing
-Left arm missing
-GN Shield missing
-GN Condenser 4 missing
-Armour condition minimal
-ELS Integrated
-
Crunch (Gespenst Test Type)
-
Crunch: Neutral
Unit Integrity: Good
Ammo
-Machine Gun (Empty)
-Plasma Cutters (2/2)
-Split Missiles (0/2)
-Slash Rippers (4/6) (4 Undeployed)
Conditions
-None
-
"Patroclus Three" (Heavygun Excavator Type)
-
Unknown: Neutral
Unit Integrity: Compromised
Ammo
-Beam Saber (0/1) (1 Awaiting Recharge)
-Demolition charges (0/8)
Conditions
-Two thrusters disabled (Movement imbalanced, Decreased maneuverability)
[ ] Sweep the Galba IV's crash and the camp for survivors, refit the mobile suits, and secure the mobile weapons in the mountain cycle for transport. You'll be slower to arrive at Chryse however, and there's no telling what will happen by then.
[ ] Prioritize immediately reinforcing local defenses against a Jovian attack on Chryse. Any personnel and materials that may be at the camp and mountain cycle will be left behind and your armaments will be sparse, but a swifter and more coordinated response is guaranteed.
