RP: Setareh Wing [Four] Take On Me

Opera House

It was a mismatch in skill, and now in numbers: Setareh's frame runners had the clear edge in both theatres of battle in the beautiful opera house. But where their enemy had an edge was an utter lack of care for the priceless cultural architecture they laid waste to, or for the long-term outcome of violence in the cityscape in general. And they were quite determined to give no inch of ground without making Setareh Wing bleed for it.

Determined, but as they traded fire for fire, simply not up to the task.

...through will and spirit, Shaanti brought his wounded frame back into the fray, and lined up a shot. There were only two still holding back Team Zoren's advance, and then only one, pinned by the rest of the squad and not long for this mortal plane.

...through skill and calm, measured advance, Naak and Ishtar methodically broke down their opposition, one after another, until three opponents dwindled to one.

...through daring and sheer audacity, Irfan tore through their lines, crippled VANDR scarcely a hindrance to her will to violence, and one become none as it met Lucy's fury.

...through basically just pure stubbornness, Mox pushed their own damaged frame from beneath the destroyed remnants of the enemy, willed it forward step by step, after the rest of Team Butts.

Meanwhile, Altair rejoined the flock, rendezvousing with Karuah as they descended to the subterranean level of the stately opera house. The three frames protecting - ah, holding hostage - their target moved, of a sudden, alerted perhaps to the desperate, losing state of their allies' battle above. Altair and Karuah didn't seem to have their attention yet. An opportunity, perhaps.

Or a trap?

They'd have support from the rest of the wing within moments, but moments could stretch on towards infinity in the chaos of combat.

Opera House
Into the danger zone.

In Altair's cockpit, he opened a video link to Karuah's machine. "We need to engage now. There's no guarantee they'll keep the target alive." He asked. "I think we could take all three of those frames, but we need to be wary of a trap." Altair talked to Hawk briefly. "We're going to be in close quarters. Warm up the VT drivers."

Altair spoke to Karuah again. "When we go in, I think I can blind them with my LEMB by targeting the sensory areas on the frames. That ought to leave them open to attacks from VT drivers, but I won't be able to watch my own back. You'll have to keep me safe if it's a trap while I retrieve the target."

The FIOMNI mercilessly butchered her foes with brutal efficiency. It seemed her commanding officer had done the same. One was left. Ishtar however took the time to run through the various camera and OGNEIR.net feeds again to check the status of the Makuzhar. She relayed her findings back to Naak, and since she was the closer of the two, let the other woman finish off their adversaries.

Opera House - Basement

Karuah looked at the situation in front of her and compared it to what she had of intel for the rest of the wing's situation. Altair was right in that there was no guarantee that things would stay like this. They could not risk a firefight developing though either, the type of weapons they used could seriously harm the civilians with just being too close. She sighed and then spoke up over the comms once she came to a conclusion.

"Once you fire, rush in, I will follow up. Get the hostages and take them out, I will block pursuits and then follow you." Her tone was a bit more serious than usual, she was going to need to focus quite a bit if she wanted this to work.

Opera House
Team Zoren

While the others laid down suppressing fire on the last frame's position, Shaanti cloaked himself and limped Archer off to the side. The hostile was hidden around a corner, using the team's fear of ruining the architecture as a shield. Unluckily for him, Shaanti did not hold such sentimentality. Under normal circumstances, yes, but right now the whole building risked coming down if they didn't act.

Shaanti took a wild guess as to where the hostile was ducked down, and aimed his sniper cannon at the wall.

ZAP!!!

"Target eliminated. No further hostiles detected."

Shaanti sighed and moved to regroup with his team. They moved on, coming to a position above the basement room where the hostages were being held, making sure to remain quiet to avoid spooking them.

The curdatl tapped into Ishtar's camera feeds to see where the hostiles were within the room. Archer conjoined the feed with blueprints of the building to pinpoint exactly were the hostiles were standing below. On his HUD, and the displays of the other frame runners, holographic outlines of the hostile frames marked with read appeared through the walls which updated constantly. In short, they had the closest thing to X-ray vision available. The hostages appeared green.

"Archer in position above the basement. Say the word and I can rain fire from above." he told Karuah.

Interior, Opera House

"Mine's dead."

The words came a bit sour from Irfan, the biggest fan of butts all but disappointed with how her opponents fell. Of course, being an ace meant that her skills were far above such pathetic rabble! But the happy gal wanted a challenge and the rush of things to push her further and beyond to greater heights! It was why she loved to play chicken by jumping off the airships back home. All part of the thrill... probably why she had also been quite fond of a certain someone in the Wing and-

She shook her head, clearing her mind as the damaged Lucidity turned to await orders. Of course, it meant that now she had time to consider butts... but instead, she had a moment of some tactical clarity.

"We need to keep moving. Stopping now gives even the weak a chance to mount an attack against the strong. Saints preserve us if we make a mistake that lets this place get torn up more than necessary in a fight that only escalates." The machine fired a booster experimentally, turning at the right moment to ensure none of the exhaust touched any of the scenery. "At this point, we don't have much options but to keep assaulting, though... right? I mean, slowing down is like letting these bad guys get away with disrupting things. And Lucy and I still got more to tally up for the boss-lady."

Opera House - Basement

Altair prepared himself, Soaring hawk tensing up as it prepared to spring into action. He rounded the corner into the room with the target and the three frames, the feet of the VANDR skimming just above the ground. The LEMB lasers in the Raevr's chest began to spit lasers at the sensory areas of the unidentified frames, attempting to blind them as he made a beeline for the target and scooped it up in one of his hands.

Altair then gave a vicious spinning kick to the head of one of the frames with the right leg of the VANDR, the VT driver activated and in blade shape. Hopefully that attack would blind it. He didn't want to kill the pilots, even if they were his enemies. As he came around from the kick, Altair activated the VT driver in Soaring Hawk's free hand, and attempted to slice off the weapons of another unidentified frame.

Opera House - Basement

Karuah followed in right behind Altair like she had said. The blades on her arms flared to life as she came around the side and slashed at the arm of an opposing unit. She had to be careful of her moment and minimize possible collateral so the attack was just to get their attention.

There was a moment of surprise when she heard Shaanti's voice, but she smiled, the situation had gotten better. "Wait for our retreat, then give support fire to cover us." She spoke into the comm line with energy, seeing a way out now.

She leaned forward as Saeid rushed a second frame and tried to tackle it and drag it as far away from the civilians as she could before hitting it into a wall.

Opera House

Many of those in the basement holdout were stunned by Altair's tactics, while others where able to work with sensors that were not inhibited and were able to fight, of which there were only two.

"Karuah," Naak said as she watched on visuals as the frame the mechanic was rushing was knocked into the wall and then slumped to the ground. As that happened, the Soaring Hawk took off the main weapon of an enemy frame, which stanced up to attack with a polearm type powered weapon."Down the opponents and get the Makuzhar out of there and to Ishtar and my position, which is right behind you. Ishtar, I am counting on you to move him to safety inside of your Sahti VANDR. Irfan, behind you!" Naak called as Irfan was being attacked. Naak had to get to the basement's position with Ishtar, and fast. She made her way there quickly and decisively while looking out for enemies. One came stampeding down the hall they had just turned down, bee-lining for Ishtar's VANDR as they did in their own hulking powered frame.

Opera House

Ishtar's VANDR raised its arms, flailing them about in front of itself. Clearly the thought of the Makuzhar being in the cockpit pod with the FIOMNI had been a distressing thought. The elected leader of the Commonwealth? Inside of her VANDR? The thought made her sputter; making the Prajna in the cockpit bubble a little. She had little time to contemplate badgering the Makuzhar with questions as her sensors alerted her to an incoming enemy. Her frame swiveled to meet the threat with its CIVWS clutched into dagger points. Her VT Fangs thrummed and buzzed about her unit casting shadows along the interior walls. Her VANDR surged forward with a vicious thrust of one hand while the hovering Fangs zipped forward to slice this threat apart.

Opera House
Above Target Room

Shaanti watched the two blips on his sensors, displaying the current locations of the hostiles in the room below in red, the hostage in green. He didn't want to try and guess exactly where to shoot, however. Too big a risk his estimate would be off. So, he would do it the analog way.

First, the cuurdatl switched off his comm. The others could never know the words that were about to escape his lips, and Shaanti would never reveal them even under the pain of torture. Shaanti reached down and drove his frame's claws into the floor, ripping up drywall and other building materials, creating a small peep-hole into the room below.

Next, he lowered his frame's head so that he could aim the head-mounted sniper-cannon through said hole.

"Heeeeere's Shaanti!" he greeted in his usual deep, booming voice.

He'd waited a lifetime for the perfect opportunity to say those words. And no, he had no regrets what so ever.

ZAP!

Shaanti slagged the first hostile from above before they could turn their guns on him. He reactivated his comm and announced:

"Archer engaging."

Opera House

Irfan had no time to respond to the callout with a thank you, her frame spinning at top speed and dodging out of the way of one of the swings. The polearm came back far quicker on its off-swing, however, the clawed right hand of her machine raising in defiance to swipe its claws through the weapon's shaft. A quick turn of the weapon's angle let sparks shower the area between the two machines... but not before Lucidity was severed of its left arm with the completion of the strike. A series of micro-explosions detonated shook Irfan within the cockpit, the warnings going from light to blaring danger readings.

"Saints!"

The still-present arm swung through and simply eviscerated her opponent's frame with a trisecting slash through its torso, fluids from a ruptured cockpit spilling out from the polearm-wielding enemy for a moment before detonation triggered and erupted the pair of machines in a wreath of flame. Lucidity was still standing, flames licking the now-amputee frame, but its pilot's breathing was running ragged. The oozing sight of Prajna was slipping out of her machine's torso, Irfan's vision fuzzing up as her compact space was slowly losing its precious life-supporting fluid.

"Damage suffered... breathable O2 count dropping. I need to open up Lucy! I'd bet I'm runnin' on only two or three minutes if I keep this sustained leak and at peak fighting capacity. It already hurts like looking at a flat butt just to focus in and normally pilot... but I'm still combat capable! Still got my left shoulder, too!"

Opera House

Altair attempted to hold off the polearm wielding frame in order to let Karuah extract their objective safely. He used the VT drivers in the VANDR's arms and blocked an attack, hoping to slice off the harmful portion of the weapon. After he deflected that polearm thrust, Soaring Hawk's'left arm was melted down to a stump, the energy weapon having take its toll on the VANDR when he blocked.

With his remaining arm, Altair swiped at his now vulnerable enemy, severing its arms and legs and rendering it harmless. Then he turned to the other frame that was still operational, which caught him off guard and sliced through the chest of Soaring Hawk, removing the viewscreen from operation but leaving a gash which Altair could see through.

Altair called out in frustration; "Damn! Hawk, I'm going to need to trust you to do most of the maneuvering. I can only see well enough to attack."

Opera House

Karuah hesitated a moment at the slight change of plan, but she quickly changed up her strategy. She used the blades to stab at the torso of the enemy suit before she turned and picked up the Makuzhar in her VANDR's arms, after deactivating weapons of course. She made a dash out of the room as quickly as she could and headed for Ishatar and Naak.

Opera House

Soaring Hawk compensated for Altair going sensor blind by rocketing forward and to the side of the enemy, behind their defenses. Soon, there was an opening in the frame's back to land a strike, and Soaring Hawk told him to do so at just the most opportune moment.

Naak called out, "Irfan, you need to hitch a ride with a friendly! Get in someone's cockpit and fast, we're getting out of hostile territory. Now!"

The Makuzhar was never treated in such a way, but this is what the wing and his people had to do to save him today. Saied soared through the halls and stairways of the opera house with the leader of the free people of the Iromakuanhe in the clutches of his huge, biomechanical form. Soon, he had reached Ishtar and Naak and the commanding Iromakuanhe woman spoke out.

"I am Naak Behea, Lanranr of the Astral Vanguard and this is the FIOMNI that is going to save your life today!" Naak said over her VANDR's microphones as she saw the Makuzhar being brought to the Sahti VANDR.

Dispatching her foe, Ishtar's VANDR turned about and focused the frame's optic cluster on the Makuzhar. Dressed for an evening out, the man wore an impeccable tailored suit. Looking up, the man waited for the claw-tipped outstretched hand of the Sahti to bring him up to the cockpit plug. The Prajna-filled cockpit drained to allow entry, the FIOMNI's eyes wide as dinnerplates once the Makuzhar settled in while the cockpit closed in around them. Seated behind Ishtar, Orin, as he offered her to address him as held on tight once the VANDR went from kneeling to stand at its full height.

"Such a waste. . ." the man murmured upon seeing the destruction wrought on such a fine example of Maekardanii architecture.

Opera House

"B-But... abandon Lucy?"

Abandoning her suit to the enemy? Irfan hated the idea, even though it was getting hard or even outright difficult to even try to pilot it. But orders were orders. She'd already pushed Lucidity well beyond its original limits, punching the emergency shutdown button. The life-fluid seeped out and her body was let loose, grabbing her trusty pistol to holster it whilst grabbing the other tool in her kit. Her favorite, the Faelraig. Thumbing the laser activation, she approached the cockpit's exit and pressed it against the emergency release section. The cockpit opened up a moment later, letting fresh air in and spilling what wasn't fully drained from her craft. Leaning out and carefully looking around, she deactivated the weapon and could only hope that someone would grab her. Particularly before they all retreated.

But as she stood there, she did feel uncomfortable... almost like the now-safe to touch tool was heavy. Looking to her arm, she wondered if all those tales of severely damaged craft transferring feelings were true... or perhaps the sense of dread of being left was getting to her. All she knew was that if she got left here, things couldn't get better. They could only get worse.

"Waiting for pick-up... hopefully you don't leave me here..."

Opera House

"A tempting thought." Shaanti murmured dreamily to Irfan, Archer materializing out of thin air beside her. The cockpit opened and revealed the hulking curdatl himself, his customized rifle- which looked like a pistol compared to him, and just enough room for a passenger. Shaanti stared into space.

"Though who would be the butt of our jokes, then?" he pondered with a stony expression.

Yes, Shaanti had just made a pun.

No, it was not a figment of the imagination.

With the Makuzhar settled in with Ishtar, Karuah's mission now changed slightly, she would have to run escort and make sure that Ishtar was able to leave the combat area unharmed. Combat was not her thing, but this was closer to her skill set than trying to get the target out on her own. Now that her mind was a littel more free, she did a scan with Saied to see if there were any other life signs outside of frames, to make sure there were no people that needed rescuing.

Opera House

"Your butt isn't even that good, Shaanbutti."

Irfan leaped the distance, pushing past him and into the space with a grumpy harrumph. They'd just have to get Lucidity back another day. Settling in and putting her things across her lap, the girl crossed her legs and grabbed the pilot's chair to patiently wait. Riding shotgun with someone else wasn't on her agenda of things planned today. But considering how lucky she was to not bite the dust, she couldn't do much more than grumble and give Shaanti small shoves.

"Come on, come on, let's go!"