If you were supposed to get an email from the forum but didn't (e.g. to verify your account for registration), email Wes at stararmy@gmail.com or talk to me on Discord for help. Sometimes the server hits our limit of emails we can send per hour.
As the androids began to overrun the Rikugun who had made themselves at home outside the building, a few began to make their way into the building, where Matsuvo was now lurking. He used the gravity systems in the armor he was wearing to allow himself to stick to the ceiling of the room he was in, waiting pensively for an opening. One of the androids entered the room he was in, and seizing the opportunity, he disengaged the gravity systems gently, touching down on the ground with nary a sound, as he fired the wrist-mounted NSP, which was locked in stun mode.
The fairly unobtrusive firing sound of the NSP was lost to the din of battle outside, and as the electronics of the android were scrambled, he quickly used the combat knife that he carried with him to cut important-looking wires, leaving him with a limp and unresponsive android. This was a bad situation, and Matsuvo knew it. He began to look for places to hide, settling on a mostly empty utility closet and closed the door before sticking to the ceiling once again.
Planet Himiko, High Orbit
YSS Dawn Hammer, Maintenance Conduit somewhere
Mizumitsu Hiroshiko was not a well known human looking neko. She was barely 2 years of age and rarely made her presence known to others. All she ever wanted to do was fix things, blow them up, and fix them again into something new. So being stationed at Nataria Fleet Depot after her training kind of was alright. But whether it was just severe bad luck or not, she currently finds herself crawling in the bowels of the YSS Dawn Hammer in her AMES coming away from the last component of the ship's sensors.
"The sensors are completely trashed Chief! Debugging software couldn't find anything conclusive as to the cause and replacing components did not improve them at all. A complete retrofit will need to be done to bring them back up." Hiroshiko would report to the ship's Chief Engineer.
Further along as she crawled, she felt the first rock of the ship. She paused for a moment, confused, before there was another rocking on the ship. Now she knew something was wrong and she needed to get out of the maintenance conduits asap. So she crawled as quickly as she was physically capable of towards the nearest hatch back into the ship.
She nearly hits a number of scrambling technicians running towards something. Her primary job seeming to be done, she decided to run after them to assist.
Clusters of subspace detonation missiles sprayed out from pods on the hulls of the cruisers, dropping the shield facings of the two battleships that faced the inside of the brawl.
As the shield dropped the turrets of each golden vessel focused their fire on the pesky CIWS the well-organized and prepared Kuvexian soldiers struggled to avoid. 25 of them didnβt and weβre cut down by the dangerous little guns. Each cruiser sent two shuttles to their respective targets, aether drills primed to breach airlocks and bay doors like many times before, under a screen of fire from the PA troopers as they fought hard to ward off the fighters.
Arria Smith made a hell of a shot, 2 gunships down along with the blush of every experienced marksman in the Star Army. The last two gunships had no intention of battling with the heavy hitters. Focusing the combined firepower of their shock arrays the duo evaporated the single Chaki, confusing any captain who knew how just how long it took to recharge a weapon of that kind. These were no ordinary gunships. Burning through the enemy fighter formations, AA guns ripping through, the two ships fled for the Nishitama, mines pouring out of the rear airlock as they went.
On the horizon a speck appeared on the screen, a detail that would probably be lost as a wave of 30 Kuvexian fighters decelerated to attack speed, a little late to the party but ultimately the savior of the 75 remaining Kuvexian troops.
Enemies: 2 cruisers
2 High performance gunships
30 fighters
75 light PA troops
YSS Nishitama, Radiotown
Through the combined effort of the Rikugun team and Rikun only two made it inside.
From seemingly nowhere Rikun took a hit from above, her stricken Mindy smashed into the pavement of the street. Shields crackling, she groaned as she tried to stand only for her head to lift upwards and be instantly smashed into the street once more, sinking even deeper into the hole sheβd made. Three of the Rikugun team stepped out of cover to open fire over Rikunβs limp armour, shots dissipating into or deflecting off of an energy shield, itβs huge 13 foot profile lighting up unflinchingly with every hit.
A bright white glow shined in front of the assailant along with an unmissable energy spike for just a moment before all hell broke loose. A blinding flash engulfed the street along with three of the Rikugun fireteam.
An aether shock array.
A pressure wave blasted up from between the buildings that lined the street leaving every window not melted by the wide angle blast bursting from the deafening, awesome release of raw aesthetic destruction. Metal turned to slag and composite burst into flames leaving every surface aglow.
In the blast a shower of debris containing the corner of an entire building swept over Rohan who narrowly escaped death by the aether blast leaving him pinned beneath a meter of burning, twisted durandium and composite.
Within the building the pressure and heat roared through the halls, every window shattering, every unprotected civilian bursting into flames along with the rest of the interior. Matsuvo was carried, skipping off the floor and thrown behind the receptionist desk. Shields crackling but miraculously not compromised, he lived to see the dismembered parts of the other android that reached the building.
All was quiet in the aftermath of the blast, except for the sound of hissing coolant boiling from the invisible figure standing over Rikun. The holographic camouflage faded out in a flat hexagonal matrix of βtilesβ disappearing after a moment of static to reveal a behemoth wall of armor locked around a huge, spearhead-like rod similar to, but substantially smaller than the nose of a Plumaria. Coolant vapor fumed around the aether shock weapon as the the thick slabs of armor above the weapon rotated to the sides of obvious shoulders belonging to a crouching suit of very heavy powered armor. Standing up to the full height of 16 feet tall revealed the legs on which the bottom two slabs of thick armor were attached. The massive suit of what looked looked like it might have been an Aggressor assault armor once upon a time stood in all its terrible awe, the flat black paint with flames well illustrating the purpose of the borderline mecha who left nothing but the flames of its enemies.
Surrendering the huge aether shock cannon to a waiting support arm the shooter surveyed the scene through the lens of the glowing red mono eye. Smoldering rubble was pushed aside from the collapse of the DoI buildingβs outer wall, from under crawled the gunner of the four person Rikugun crew, parts of her Daisyβs armor, glowing from the heat of the blast even while behind cover.
The suitβs beady little eye narrowed on the injured soldier. One step at a time the heavy suit slowly, casually approached the NH-33a, each heavy step of the powerful, reinforced feet felt in the chest of those close by. Glowing red pavement turned cool around the suit as coolant at near absolute zero spilled down the armor as cold smoke.
Shaking, the comparatively tiny 6 foot soldier looked up from her side as she struggled to her feet. Her shield was gone, weapon melted, she froze in terror of the weapon of war that held her life in its crushing grip.
βRun,β the gruff, masculine voice of the pilot ordered through a loudspeaker as he pointed down the street.
With a moment of hesitation she took a cautious step going around the tank in front of her, the eye still watching. She paused, unsure what he would do. The suit merely nodded in the direction sheβd stepped. Starting with a few limping she worked into a sprint. Looking away the voice came again, βsick βem.β
In a flash, the helmet and head of the soldier disappeared from the running body, collapsing to the floor as blood burst from the freshly made corpse. Decloaking, a gunhund inspired companion of mechanical ingenuity appeared by the hulking armored suit, a Daisy helmet in its metallic jaw, eyes glowing dark red.
βGood boyβ he said, then ordered, βErase the data, then meet at the rendezvous point.β
Dropping the helmet the mechanical gunhund disappeared into the building.
The sound of a hover car stirred the solo soldier who instantly took cover behind the remains of a building. He waited, listening.
louder
Louder
LOUDER
The suit sprang into the air, armored hand sinking into and catching the frame of the flying car and flung it at the ruined building on the other side of the street.
Through the building it went, crashing into the trailer of a wheeled semi hard enough to flip the trailer off the rig. The brrrrrtttttt of twin miniguns filled the air as what was left of the car was ripped apart and all went quiet again.
The soft sound of sliding debris caused the armor the swing about in a blur to face Candon, backed against the wall in a state of shock and caught dead to rights. He didnβt need the data from his SACOS to know how screwed he was. No thought crossed his mind as he stared death in the face sans fear, to the point of terror. With eyes tightly shut he knew what was coming next... and yet it didnβt.
Mocking laughter came from the loudspeaker.
βLooks like they really did call you in!β the pilot shouted, βYouβre one lucky somβbitch boy, the boss wants you alive but with no armor on howβm I supposed to bring you in? That pretty new face ainβt space-proof, now is it?β
Regaining his bearings he realized how familiar the voice was.
βRolland?!β he asked, shocked, scared, and realizing that he was face to face with the past.
βIn the flesh,β he answered, βnow this ainβt over, yaβ hear? The next time we see you, youβd better come willingly, TorΔsu!β
Rolland threatened as he backed away.
βOh, and youβd better cover your ears!β
Lifting into the air on his grav drive, Rollandβs armor began to emit a loud whining sound. The sound of three old school teleports charging. Candon ducked, arms covering ears and hands over his neck as a loud bang and flash vanished the huge suit.
With the threat gone for now, Candon sat in the dust and rubble watching the pavement burn outside as he tried desperately to piece together what had just happened. Ultimately, he already knew exactly what had happened. It was the same thing that has always happened. History repeats itself and the past always catches up.
The past had arrived, and the future would pay dearly.
Planet Himiko, Away from Starport
βYeaaah, why donβt you start with the gun in the glovebox,β Masumi answered, reaching over and pulling the handle of the glove box. The opened compartment had a chrome NSP in a holster that carried two additional batteries, all standard batteries.
βThereβs a laser rifle in the trunk too. You two in the back can get it through the little door behind the armrest if you need. Careful, itβs loaded.β
The more distance the group put between themselves and the starport the easier it was to navigate to the point of keeping a stable speed through traffic that actually let police cars pass. Busses loaded with people were everywhere shuttling civilians to safe places but as they closed in on a military checkpoint they encountered a group of Yamataian soldiers and police in flak vests halting them. beep
The scanner pinged weakly once.
βWait, they might only have blood on them if they shot one,β Masumi said quickly as they came to a stop next to a waving soldier.
βMaβam, the busses to shelters are behind you. The base is off limits, weβre expecting and attack!β he warned.
Masumi flashed her access all areas credentials, βIβm with the SAINT investigation. These are specialists from Nepleslia and a local religious representative.β She knew the drill. Candonβs team had a no questions asked relationship with the local authorities. They scan the card with their communicator and say βthank youβ.
He didnβt.
βPlease step out of-βBANG! rang a shot from under her sweater. She would never know it but the particular Kuvexian sheβd shot had indeed never had sex, thus adding both credibility and irony to her choice of attire.
As blue blood sprayed from the fake copβs neck Masumi was already hard on the accelerator, barreling through the wooden barricade and running down a βsoldierβ. Three police Zephyrs were instantly in pursuit.[/B]
Rohan felt his armor start to cool, the scalding touch of that terrible weapon burning up his visor as he attempted to slide further into the drainage grate he had used for cover. A quick check showed his comms were working. But the singing had fallen silent. No screams, no cries of agony. Nothing, not even the one fireteam survivor who had managed to run. He heard the booming speaker above him, muffled by the thick rubble, but clear enough. She was dead.
Okay, next plan. I have just enough room to move. My shields are almost down, my weapon's inoperable. "Breaker break. If anyone can hear me right now, my name is Rohan Saphura calling mayday, mayday, mayday. Break." A few moments passed as he listened to the hissing comms for a response." I am trapped in a storm grate in a damaged Daisy II power armor. I'm bruised and battered, but alive, and still fit for duty, break."
Another tense moment before he continued. "I have no idea how thick the rubble over me is, but I do know that it's the remains of a Department of Information regional headquarters. Known hostiles are in the area. Unknown how many or what class. I request a seven line. Over."
This time, he would busy himself with digging his way free of the burning metal and composites above himself.
Rikun felt accomplished, her first real battle since her time in the LSDF and here she was actually contributing to the combat and saving lives. She took a moment to reflect and continue firing, a small grin on her face under the helmet before her world went black and she felt squished, even in her armor. It took her time to focus her eyes and when she did the viewscreen she used to see outside of her helmet showed concrete? Ground? She was on her stomach and pressed into the ground and she couldn't figure out why...
The Neko forced herself up to her hands and knees shakily, her head ringing like a bell as she tried to figure out just what the hell had happened to her and how it wound up like this. The skin vision of her suit caught the tail end of the battle behind her and saw the aftermath, but she couldn't process it just yet. She eventually found her feet and looked around like a deer caught in the headlights, confused and thoroughly out of place at the moment as her rifle rested at her side.
"Uh... Comm check? Anyone around?" She broadcasted out to anyone near her and swayed on her feet.
As they sped past the checkpoint, Alena aimed backwards, towards the police cars that were in pursuit. "Are they Kuvexians?" She askes, not wanting to shoot a police officer who was just doing their jobs. Shots rang out, buzzing past her head, rending the question moot. They were shooting at them, and Alena wasn't going to take her chances. She fired back with her NSP, keeping a steady accurate stream of fire at the car that had shot at them. Accurate for a moving car and a moving target at the least.
The difference between a trained soldier, one who's a professional and has seen the elephant, and one who hasn't, is as wide as night and day. It isn't a matter of training or espirit d'corps or anything like that: it's like getting used to a climate. Someone who had never been in the hot desert wouldn't be able to function as well as someone who had experience there. Going by analogies, if war was a desert, then Menelik would like a nomad atop a camel.
When Masumi had directed him to the NSP in the glovebox, he had pulled it out and checked it over, checking it and getting used to its weight and feel before he lowered it to keep it just out of sight, yet still ready to snap up in an instant and get to work. So it was only by a few portions of a second that he was behind the Neko when the shit once again hit the fan.
His 'draw' from his hip was quick and smooth, practiced yet just off enough to be chalked up to the differences between a heavy pistol like his revolver. That draw had him trained on one of the Kuvexian infiltrators, center mass, before he fired.
He missed that first shot due to the movement of the car, but he quickly reacquired a target by twisting his upper torso and then his entire body until he was sideways in his seat. His thumb flicked the pistol to its 'heavy' mode, his aim centered at about 'center mass of where the driver is probably sitting', and he pulled the trigger all the way down.
Turns out, though he preferred something with some heft, Menelik could learn to love a gun with no recoil. Without even checking to see if his first burst had the desired effect, he shifted his aim again at a different aircar, taking aim at the same spot, and firing.
YSS Nishitima, Radiotown
Department of information ruins
As Matsuvo pushed himself up from the ground. The Junsa armor's crowd containment forcefield had made an effective shield in a pinch, keeping the damage to him from being thrown around to a minimum, but they were unlikely to be able to take an impact like that again for some time. Radio chatter began to flood in. This was, at the very least, something he knew how to deal with.
As he made his way out onto the street where Rikun and the remains of the Rikugun group was. As he hopped down the rubble, he made his way towards the neko in armor. "You all right there?" He asked, though he didn't look in particularly great shape himself, with dust from the building's collapse coating much of the police armor that he was wearing. "I think we've got someone trapped somewhere around here."
Thad had reached into his bag to pull out his favorite weapon of choice, a gunblade. He turned around just in time to see the purple blood mist into the sky. His knew crew seemed hell bent on just blasting anything purple and this pleased him to no end. "Hell yeah" he yelled out towards Masumi who now had a nice hole in her shirt as he launched himself back into his seat. The view was nice and the smell of laser filled his heart with joy. This must be what love at first blood must feel like. Either way he was having the time of his life.
He anchored himself his legs up against Masumi's seat to give him support. If the little scanner thing did a thing he would light the target up like a neko dancing at a nep disco party.
"Breaker break. If anyone can hear me right now, my name is Rohan Saphura calling mayday, mayday, mayday. Break."
The radio chatter from his communicator shook Candon from his shocked, injured state. Feeling the ribs on his left side he knew something was off, but at this point he was just glad to have jumped out of the car the moment he was spooked by the sound of crunching metal. A moments hesitation would have left him in the twisted, holey wreck he was looking at through the building across from him.
I am trapped in a storm grate in a damaged Daisy II power armor. I'm bruised and battered, but alive, and still fit for duty, break. I have no idea how thick the rubble over me is, but I do know that it's the remains of a Department of Information regional headquarters. Known hostiles are in the area. Unknown how many or what class. I request a seven line. Over."
As Candon began scanning his surroundings for where the Chui might be another voice chimed in.
Uh... Comm check? Anyone around?"
For this voice he could see a location and a police officer running towards his colleague, Rikun. With his injury, Candon was slow to stand. Jumping out of the air car in a panic and falling into the buildings debris had exaggerated his injury further. He had no doubt something was broken now but it was hardly the time for weakness. He knew the voices on the air and he knew theyβd be needed in defense of the planet, specifically with the Rikugun and Uchuugun on the Nishitama.
Speaking both aloud and to his communicator he responded. βThis is Suites Heisho, I read you both. Hold tight with that officer, Rikun-Hei,β he instructed, unbeknownst to him that it was Matsuvo helping. He turned his attention to Rohan, βShoi, thereβs no one strong enough to clear that building... and I canβt think up our 7-line. Iβll find an alternate egress for you.β
Drawing the HHG revolver on his left thigh he rotated the cylinder to his desired chamber and inspected the gutters of the street. Applying his introductory engineering training and experience in crawling around drainage tunnels he made a best guess.
βFiring,β he called after walking to the middle of the road close to Rikun and fired three quiet shots, one in the center of the street and then into an opening in the gutter for drainage. The third shot was sent into the DoI as a reference and he relayed the data telepathically through his communicator to Rohan.
βI put out three tracker rounds, you should see a general path to a rain drain, or flood drain... whatever these drains are on a rainless spaceship. Iβm sorry but youβre going to have to climb down into the sewage to come up into the drain... also I broke my ribs.β
In the distance, the sirens of first responders could be heard as emergency workers rushed to the explosion site.
Planet Himiko, Hot Pursuit
The shots from Alenaβs NSP glanced off the windshield of the car while the heavy shots from Menelik shook the Zephyr roughly, causing it to fall behind but otherwise leaving mere scratches to the material they struck.
arm extended outside the window to return fire along with the five others riding 2 to a car. Of 6 gunman 4 of them fired back, somewhat haphazardly as they maintained cover behind the armored windshield. The only two not firing back kept their hands safely inside the car as Menelikβs heavy shots hit.
Seeing this, Thad fired twice into the front hood of the nearest Zephyr puncturing the body panels but hitting nothing more than a reinforced firewall. βTheir armored!β he shouted as the return fire peppered the back of the car.
Masumi wrenched the wheel hard right then left putting the car in a narrow alleyway at the cost of her mirrors. With small effort one of the pursuing Zephyrs followed them in between the buildings and a second followed from above the building with the third disappearing from view.
βMenelik, Scan their windshield,β Masumi called, βtell me if it has a polarized tint!β
"Thay daggone thang aint poluhryzed, it's diamond reinforced composite! We aint gots tha time ta be wastin!" Menelik said, calm yet with the heightened voice of tension that came with being shot at without having anything really substantial to shoot back with. His shots didn't stand much of a chance of getting through the reinforced windshields and protected plating of these police vehicles... so he'd just have to get an angle that didn't have the cars between him and the infiltrators.
"Miss Masumi- slow down for about four seconds." He started as he hit the safety of his pistol, turning fully in his seat, doing the ballistic math in his head and gauging it.
"Alena, Marine- keep eyes on your sectors, don't waste ammo unless its ta keep them frawum getting ayy clean shot aw ya ken get ayy clean shot." He actually moved back along the middle of the car, careful not to disturb any firing as he held himself steady, his eyes focused on the Zodiac trailing them.
"Do you wanna live forever?" He asked to no-one in particular as his strong calves and legs bunched up, sending him flying back towards the stolen police vehicle. Diamond Composite might be good at stopping energy bolts or small, fast impacts... but 355lbs of Nepleslian cyborg impacting balls of the feet first into it would definitely have a different effect.
Either the windshield itself wouldn't stand the stresses, or it's mount would give way. Or, and this was the bad thing that could happen, his legs wouldn't be able to wishtand the force of the impact and would give way themselves. Either way, he aimed to get onto that car and take the fight to them.
"Recieving your data, sir. May be off comms for a bit, I gotta ditch my armor to get through the drain." Rohan had taken the liberty of connecting to the ship's internal maps to reference Candon's data.
A small push of concentration caused the damaged Mindy to start opening, keeping the comms and his connection to it active as he slid deeper into the drain. Finally free of the armor, his eyes slipped into their infrared mode, picking out details as he ordered his body to luminesce in the desired wavelengths. The smell was pungent, the environment stifling. But it wouldn't take long for him to find the exit.
The manhole cover slid aside as Rohan floated up, seemingly unconcerned with his ruined uniform and coating of debris, grime, and trash. almost casually, he let his toes touch the floor and flicked a snack wrapper off his jacket. "Mister Suites. Sir. Sit down and I will treat you when able. Are there any other injuries?"
Candon made no protest to sitting. There was no denying that he needed it.
βWell, sir, it feels like three broken ribs here,β he answered, gesturing to the left side of his torso as he took a seat on the curb, βIβve been in two and a half aerial collisions today so I have no doubt something else is wrong.β
Looking over to Rikun he said further, βplease, check her first. She got hit hard by something huge.β
Planet Himiko, Hot Pursuit
βWait, wait, wait-β Masumi rushed breathlessly as she realized what he was about to do, not able to stop the man from attempting his daring assault.
THUD was the sound that came from the car as Menelick bounced off of the diamond hard surface and flipped over the roof, the collision making the rear of the armored hover car sink and scuff the asphalt from the impact, itβs collision avoidance system lowering the cars natural altitude to nearly the ground in a desperate attempt to avoid the human projectile.
Though none of our heroes would hear it, nor be able to understand their language, the driver and passenger of the Zephyr involved would indeed respond to the situation between themselves. The best translation of the ideas conveyed would be a blend of βwhy would he do that?β and βwhat was he thinking?β with the ultimate conclusion being equivalent to a nonchalant shrug.
βDammit!β Masumi yelled as the third Zephyr reappeared at the other end of the alleyway.
The half-blind Sharies, internally, seemed to freeze for a moment as their connection to their escort was cut, their network being forced into a rapid re-calibration of the incoming data, with one source missing. This left a tiny, near-imperceptible gap in the linked CIWSs, netting that fraction of a second ace pilots might have needed to move somewhere safe - be it against the hull of their target, or against the shuttles charging through the hellstorm, or... Well, those were basically the only places.
On the larger scale, the Chakis sent an aggressive volley of projectiles towards the gunships, attempting to avenge their fallen comrade to no avail as their elusive targets weaved around their firepower. The Sharies, for the moment, ignored the souped-up duo, still engaging the cruisers charging them.
"Now," Kaede commanded, commanding the fighters and strike craft to launch. The sudden influx of supporting small craft swarming around the battleships made a hellish life even worse for the Kuvexians, but they were thankfully spared from a massacre as their own fighters dueled the Yamataian ones. Some of the fighters broke off, escorting the two flights of Ginga bombers, loaded with heavy torpedoes and charging the nearest cruiser. The Chakis spent time re-positioning themselves, attempting to counter-flank the cruisers, and shield some of the fighters that had started hunting down the two hyper-gunships.
"Put your helmet on!" Hiroshiko shouted at another Santo Hei as they attempted to put out one of the fires resulting from the Kuvexians aiming for the CIWS. Who knew fuses can be so touchy. The flood of reports of battle damage from the ship's KAMI and from the crew members reporting damaged sections of the ship. It takes all of her remaining mental focus not to go nuts over it.
Instead, she does her best to filter out what she can specifically repair as an Electrician/Sensors Specialist.Distributing power is going to be a huge issue if this keeps up, but the fires needed to be taken care of first. Hopefully those fly girls can keep them at bay long enough for her start working on replacing the power cables in the most jury rigged fashion imaginable.
Thad watched as his new buddy Menelick took charge. This was followed by the most stupid but glorious action, to jump out of a moving car. It was at this moment he knew he was in the company of good people. This cause Thad to double down his efforts to be just as over the top. He had buddies to impress and only death would stop him from doing some amazing shit.
"Floor it Masumi, I have an idea." Thad yelled out. He folded to the side and reached dig around for the toy the young lady spoke about. It took only a moment before he pulled out the laser rifle. Thad was not super familiar with this model but figured like most weapons, setting everything to max gave the best results. He leaned back up and hopped part way up on the back seat. His gunblade facing backwards with the laser rifle facing forward. "They might have armor but they don't mean they can see through busted glass." He yelled as round from his gunblade slammed into the windshield of the car following them. He made sure not to hit his new buddy by accident.
His attention then turned to the hover car in front of them. His eyes narrowed treating this like a show down at high noon. He tapped his foot to steady his breathing to ensure the shot would hit true. His eyes narrowed down and at just the right moment the head of the driver came into view. The laser rifle glowed to life and let a round rip down the barrel. This was followed by more rounds as he had set the weapon to full auto. He then stood then dropped his 250 pound ass hard into the seat. He perfectly intended to ramp this car to compete with Menelick and all his glory.
Menelik wasn't entirely sure why he had done that, or why he had thought that doing it would work... but what he was sure of was that oh by the creator that really fucking hurt. Nothing felt permanantly injured, but that could definitely just be adrenaline and shock helping push him through the pain to get on with doing something, anything.
That was going to be hard though, given the man's current state: one hand had a firm grip on the flashing lights atop the zephyr, keeping him form rolling back and being left behind. The other was holding his pistol, half surprising Menelik who was sure that he would've dropped it after he rolled off the windshield. Still, it was better than nothing, and this was still a better position than where he had been.
With a deep breath, the Hanyadai buried his pain and focused on what he had to do, right arm tensing as it began pulling the rest of his bulk up to a more stable position on the roof of the stolen car.
"Get the-" Masumi paused, seeing Thad in the rearview mirror, PDW already in hand. The generator whined as she pressed the accelerator to the floor, the oncoming Zephyr doing similar. The two cars charged headlong at each other with nowhere to go as bullets and laser pulses flew. While Thad's bullets deflected angrily off the windshield of the pursuing car the drivers of the oncoming car were perforated by the laser pulses without a chance to ever know what hit them. As the heavy man slammed into the seat the floating car bucked, but only a little. Not enough!
The living occupants panicked in their own unique ways as they realized a collision was imminent when at the last moment a loud 'beep beep beep' rang out from the dashboards of each car, the grav drives of all three cars screeching electronically as they clawed at the asphalt in full reverse.
The cars came to a halt just inches from each others bumpers, compliments to their anti-collision software, and flinging Menelik from the roof of the Police car he clung to, compliments to Isaac Newton.
...
For a moment there was silence as both parties collected themselves and regained their bearings, afterwhich the following Kuvexians realized that their slightly chipped, yet nigh unbreakable armor had a grave design oversight toward archaic weapons. The occupants in the cab scrambled, the ducking while haphazardly firing from the dangerously narrow gap between their windows and brick walls as the driver put his car in full reverse.
Matsuvo surveyed the area. The Department Of Information building was about half rubble now, and that dog was inside. There was no telling when it was going to make its way out and come after the rest of them. He looked at the people around him; A medic, from the looks of it, a soldier in power armor, and Candon. Now there was a surprise. He tapped on the side of his shoulder, triggering the helmet to split open, revealing his face.
"Long time no see, Suites-Heisho. I'm afraid whatever catching up we plan to do will have to wait until later. As soon as everyone is ready, we should make for the military district. This police armor won't hold out against whatever's in that building, and we need to see if any other local forces are still active and try to organize a response."
Thaddeaus was a strong man but this still was not strong enough to keep himself from falling forward. He was braced to ramp a car, not keep himself from ending up in the lap of Masumi. He did at least manage not to pin the poor girl or break anything for that matter so at least this was a good start. He wasted no time to get himself out of her lap and looking back towards the car behind them. He managed to wrap himself around her upper body, his knees digging into the back of the seat to provide support. "Hope you don't mind getting cozy." He said with a chuckle as he brought the laser rifle to sight and started to put shots down range. The alleyway was as tight as a just born neko so even a perfectly sober nep could land killing shots.