Alpha
Despite being on the west flank, dirt, dust and black ash had swept over the members of Alpha, concealing them from each other. Their outlines had simply become shadows in the dark, the muzzle flash of Ylfa's rifle strobing through the gloom as she fired. Even then, their sensors still pierced through as much as possible, outlining not only them, but the environment. As the Sergeant doggedly guarded them from the gun drones as best she could, Mark managed to leap away from the blade wielding Sylph in anger to take cover. Freia, seeing Rachael's drones quickly fanning out to deploy their shield, had leaped back and away, vanishing into the murky shadow of the bomb, her gun drones retreating.
With the momentary breathing room, they could all take stock of how they were; Rachael was in decent shape, Mark lost his primary weapon and some fingers, but Ylfa's shields were mostly drained and spots on her armor wept liquid metal. The drones were wearing her down. "Ara, this is most embarrassing!" the Nekovalkyrja's voice began chiming to them over their comms. Though they got a general direction of the broadcast, they couldn't pin down the dainty power armor's precise location at all.
"Use your heads," Ylfa spoke to the two marines through the comms as well, making sure she could be heard over their enemy's babble. "Your weapons need to be used in combination so they complement each other properly." A faint electronic echo came along with her speech. Chances were, she wasn't even taking the risk of actually speaking to them with her mouth. It was her cybernetics doing the talking. "Otherwise, she'll see right through it."
"I can't believe I got so riled up from all that talk - my team was only outfitted to handle the rabble of heimin from before. Not to properly kill Nepleslians like yourselves. You let them run their mouths on purpose, didn't you, Diadottr?" she delightedly mused.
"I don't expect either of you to get the hang of it so soon, so we need to get back to Delta. Mark, you still have your PPG and some mini-missiles left. Rachael, the same. Plus, you haven't used your mini-guns or mortars - just dial down the blast radius if you're that worried, maybe even airburst it like flak," she told the two. Though it was confusing to hear both of them at once, with two different conversations, there was no other choice. "Well, you got me," Ylfa admitted over the comms at Freia, the words set to a lower volume so they could focus on the important details of her other speech. "So what are you going to do now, huh? Throw in the towel?" she added, trying to buy more time. "Mini-missiles and gun fire is just more fire, so she can dodge that out of habit. Mix it up with the PPG. Toss in some mortars," the Sergeant suggested. "And make sure to either focus on just the drones or her - I can pick up the slack where you two don't, but not for too long."
"Oh, please! Don't be so silly," Freia remarked, addressing them like funny friends. "I'm going to kill you!"
Violet lances of light pierced through the dusty gloom, striking both Rachael and Mark - the drones had deployed and were firing down from above! Their shields crackled and drained as the beams began to bend away, but not enough! Sparks and molten metal flew as their armor was struck, a pair of shallow, glowing pits burning into Rachael's more thinly armored abdomen while Mark was struck in the shin, the shot narrowly missing his missiles. They could both feel the heat rising in their suits as the girlishly dainty power armor burst out from the dark, blade glinting in the dull light - she was heading straight for Ylfa!
Bravo
Through the dark, bright tracers chased after their target across the dusty winds as the Mushroom cloud continued to rise. Despite the towering form being far too close, the Mindy that Wulfe was gunning for was just as unfazed as he was. Bright white blades glowed brightly in the chokingly dusty winds, furiously hissing and howling as the very air was torn apart by their unnatural energy, closing in fast on the Nepleslian. It was nearly impossible for him to get a proper bead on her as she moved like an acrobat despite the armor of her suit. Elegant dives, flips and tucks brought her in, and seeing as she was close, the blades drew back for the final rush and strike! Wulfe simply couldn't bring the gun to bear fast enough as she landed just a few feet from his side, but his hand did.
The Mindy was blasted back by an invisible force and sent tumbling from his PPG, the Heavy Penetrating Rifle in his right hand finally being brought to bear. Shields crackled and air distorted as the liquid metal projectiles peppered her. Despite this, the Mindy looked like it was suddenly dragged across the ground as his tracers chased after it, his foe barely managing to regain its footing as it clumsily retreated away and into cover, some of its limbs locked in place. Already, he could hear the Mindy bashing away at herself, desperate to break apart the Moneyshot's solidifying spray from its joints. But that wasn't what held Wulfe's attention the most - a spot of crimson shone brightly on the blackened forest floor.
At the same time, explosions blossomed nearby as Kelly fought to hold her own against the other Mindy. Unlike Wulfe, she was faring far worse - though her missiles were powerful in numbers, they just didn't have the punch of a rifle. Lisa, further back, could only let out brief, short bursts at the enemy that was bearing down on the stubborn Freespacer. The Mindy had made sure to keep the Hostile between itself and Lisa's VOID as much as possible, using her as a shield. "I could use a hand here!" she yelled, backpedaling as quickly as she could without tripping over the rooty forest floor. Unable to fully close in for the kill, the shoulder mounted cannon spat out white death at the marine at every opportunity, rapidly beating down her shields to nothing. "Lisa! New guy! Get off your lazy asses and do something!"
Calf launchers opened as missiles streaked in on Kelly.
Delta
Pushing forward as far as he could, Richard was caught completely by surprise. Scanning left, scanning right, desperately looking for the enemy through the dark haze as he fought to find them, he came up completely empty. Missiles streaked by overhead as Sawyer fired a volley of mini-missiles while Liam's tracers scything through dead, broken and burnt trees. He had no clue where they had gone, and his suit quietly relayed that to the others behind him. It was frustrating not being able to see them die up close, firing everything they had into the forest only for them to keep coming and going! The Yamataians had slipped away in the aftermath of the GREEN rounds. Except for one. Being further forward of the squad, Richard could make out the staccato sound of a LASR's fire, and then a vibroblade humming to life to the east of himself, out of view in the billowing smoke and ash.
It was Terrance, facing down a sole Daisy. As he squared himself and drew his knife, unfolding his machinegun, his opponent raised her shield. Charging forward like an armored bull, palm outstretched, the unseen hammer of gravitons struck the Daisy dead on, sending it flying back.
"Nope!"
The Daisy tumbled once but recovered as quickly as she could, thrusters flaring as she tried to hop away. Though still in his view, she was definitely running.
As anger coursed through Max, his veins burning with the desire for revenge, he triumphantly rose like a great beast emerging from the abyss. Only to find that the scene was eerily quiet, save for the odd and distant machine-pistol fire. It was obvious now; the Yamataians had short changed them again, denying them any proper satisfaction at having beaten them down with sheer dakka and explosions. They were a complete tease. "Delta!" Ylfa's voice crackled over their comms. "We need reinforcements, ASAP!" she ordered them. "Sawyer, Terrance and Liam, on me. Max and Richard, get to Bravo!"
Though they had a brief moment to catch their breaths - save for one perhaps - there was still plenty going on. Terrance was facing the white rabbit, while at the same time, both of the other fireteams were in need of help. Even if Delta didn't get the satisfaction of literally crushing their enemy under their boots, they still had the golden opportunity to be The Calvary.
