RP: YSS Miharu Prologue, Day 2

"I cannot project an elaborate hologram more than a meter away from this unit's thermoptic armor." James' Daisy replied.

James sat still, mind racing.

Okay, that didn't quite work out. Let's see, three out of seven possible armors on our sensors, and they most likely have a transport vehicle if they're following deployment strategy. Once they have contact, their friends will probably come charging in.

He readied a grenade and inched over to the corner.

First things first, got to draw some attention.

Leaning out, he fired off the SLAG towards where the enemy armors were supposed to be hiding, already retreating the way he came.

James' initiative saved his hide. It was only just after he fired his grenade around the corner that his power armor was buffeted by the force of explosions - multiple grenades - that tossed his Daisy to the side.

There was no way of knowing how effective his attack had been as the Daisy crashed on its flank and bounced off the pavement twice before the inertial drive system kicked in to allow the geshrin to regain control of his balance and land in a crouch.

Suddenly, there was dust everywhere and visibility dropped considerably. He had lost one of his tactical drones to the explosions, though the other still docilely hovered by his side. He had completely lost any reading of the Kairyuu, though the two Golem IIs, apparently unscathed by his attacked, quickly announced their continued presence with bright muzzlefire as they opened up with Suit-Integrated Assault Rifle.

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Yukari had a different view of what went on. She saw James had moved forward way ahead of the others and she completely lost contact with him. There were a series of violent explosions near the location of Taurus One through Three, with one building slowly crashing down in a large plume of dust. The two Golem IIs maintained their relative position, while the Kairyuu moved away in the general direction of Tom and Morita, though it went to passive sensors a few moments afterwards and disappeared from her sensors.

She had no time to wonder about the geshrin's fate as the Harpy warned her of three new enemy contacts: A Foxhound APC which was 7 kilometers northwest and apparently holding position, a Ph-M1-3C Super Phalanx that was 4989 meters west slowly flying over the battlefield and a Ocelot-type Mobile Frame 6252 meters east and closing fast on the ground. The AIES labelled the Super Phalanx as Taurus Four, the Ocelot as Taurus Five and the Foxhound as Gemini One.

Yukari could only watch as James vanished behind the dust and smoke of the collapsed building. What she saw on her sensors nearly made her cringe. The statistics for the Ocelot-class mobile frame slowly scrawled across the inside of her helmet. The disruptor cannon and practically starship-grade plasma rifle left her group sufficently undergunned that drastic measures had to be taken.

Broadcasting the enemy data was pointless. Though encrypted, the Phoenix armors had communication systems that could just as easily trace her as she could trace them. AIES could crack their communication relays ... with time. But that would not save her people now.

The Ocelot ends it ... if it does not, the Super Phalanx will do so in its place. I cannot tell what the Phalanx has for armaments. But my own rifle is purposeless against either target. Yukari's mind raced by several options. Only the plasma rifles of the Daisy would offer any damage to the two targets.

The three armors in the immediate vicinity, however, posed just as big a problem. Taurus Three was gone from her radar. Taurus One and Two were busy shooting at something -- she prayed to Chiharu-sama that James was not the target. She heard no shots from her friends. That meant the Kairyuu was either not moving or no longer relying on active radar. Activating her own active radar would reveal her position completely.

" ... " She took a slow breath. "Kamiyama-Hei ... slowly leave your position for a barrier that allows you visual access to the road Taurus Three is coming from. Do not use active radar; instead use your drones. Eliminate Taurus Three with plasma, and if possible, Taurus One and Two. There are other targets -- an Ocelot mobile frame and a Super Phalanx -- that are coming toward us. We must eliminate these three first."

Yukari slowly inched forward using anti-gravity, careful to give AIES enough time to adjust the hologram. "I will cover you. Watch for Dige-Hei."

She took another deep breath, let it out slowly, then let the hologram fade as she hurled herself out of the building on anti-gravity. Still stealthed, she rolled in mid-air and floated about four stories above the road the other armors were on.

The rifle settling into her shoulder, she waited for a target.

Reacting purely on instinct, James sprayed the area with gunfire of his own as he activated the anti-gravity drive and flung himself backwards, breaking free of the dust and debris. He wasted no time in getting out of the line of fire and speeding back to where the rest of his squad was.

That was a little too close for comfort, the Geshrin thought grimly, twisting so that he faced back towards the building. As he reached the maximum effective range of the SLAG, he let loose another grenade round.

A few hard impacts rocked James' Daisy, but the forearm shield fended off the worse of the Golem IIs combined assault as he evaded and fired his own counter-attack. Both NDI armors tried to jump aside, but one was just on the edge of the blast radius and found itself tossed aside.

The damaged golem righted itself, still mostly whole saved for scorched armor and a destroyed SIAR: its forcefield barrier had done much in saving it from the actual lethality of the attack. The second Golem weaved past the smoke and dust and continued to pour fire at James.

James' was in a pitted battle now: there wasn't much use for stealth and his AIES pointed it out with a written recommendation to go for military power so he could unleash the full potential of his suit - which included the cloak shield projector, active sensors and a functioning plasma rifle.

James took the AIES' recommendation and switched to combat mode, firing one last sustained burst from his LASR before juking behind cover. Given a moment to rest, he switched over to the plasma rifle and gave it a quick once-over.

Satisfied, quickly took a glance at the active sensors. The Phalanx and the Ocelot did little to raise his spirits, but on the plus side, he would be the only one readily apparent on their own sensor network.

The Geshrin leaned back out into the open, firing to disable or outright destroy the advancing Golem. Whatever happened, he had to buy his allies time to prepare for the rest of the hostiles to arrive.

Tom prepared his rifle, a bit confused as his target had not come into his sights as planned.

All the explosions worried him. He felt quite a bit useless as he sat there.

So... do I just wait here or what? If this isn't going to work, we need some new orders.

Hot plasma shot out of the plasma and clashed against the advancing Golem II's barrier shield. The first strained at the translucent energy bubble, but the second breached through and hit the armor on its right flank. The NDI assault armor's advance stopped cold as it was forced back a step from the substancial damage James' had managed to inflict it despite the barrier protection.

Slightly further away, the downed Golem II righted itself, lining up the Daisy with a kind of shotgun-like weapon that almost immediately spat dazzingly brilliant plasma at him. The torrent of energy nearly engulfed James' suit whole, but the cloak projectors saved him from being 'killed', absorbing enough so that the armor would be only scorched on the surface rather than smelted through.

"Class-C damage, Active Camouflage. Cloak Shield recovery in 12 seconds." The AIES reported as the damage display showed most of his armor's status being in the yellow now. In the meantime though, the Golem II he had previously shot with the plasma rifle decided to add to his misery by hefting the SIAR back up and launched a 17.5mm SARA grenade his way.

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Behind Tom silently dropped another power armor. The Phantom II, the newest NDI stealth power armor, lined up the back of the yamataian's armored helmet and prepared to take him down.

Thanks to the Daisy's skin vision, Tom noticed the interloper just a moment shy from when the enemy tightened its index finger over its Suit Integrated Assault Weapon.

Tom did what he best could in the half second he had to avoid instant death:

He flung himself out of the window, and activated his anti-grav (if possible) to make a hard left around the building. Figuring his position was already a dead giveaway, he opened communications.

"YUKARI! Hostile sighted! Stealth Unit! They know we're here!"

Realizing that his Plasma weapon would have far too slow a firing rate for this close combat, Tom opted to re-equip his LASR, firing some rounds to cover his retreat.

"N -- NANI DESU TE?!"

Yukari nearly dropped her rifle. A stealth armor ... the information came unheeded to her screen. The Phantom II, using Zanarium armor, carrying light weapons.

Her choices trapped her conscience. Abandon Morita to the Kairyu, which he had a slim chance of defeating? Abandon James without helping him at all? Or leave Tom to die from an armor he could barely see, let alone target?

" ... " Her sensors couldn't find the Phantom II any easier than Tom's. But only Morita had the right arms to attack the Kairyu. He needed to strike, and fast, or James was as good as dead.

"Chiharu-sama, protect my shameful soul," she whispered.

With that, Yukari took aim at the Kairyu's head and, with her rifle set to maximum bullet velocity, fired. The shot ricocheted of the armor's helmet. She fired again, the shot causing a tiny dent but otherwise no damage. She switched her loudspeaker up to full.

"ORA ORA ORA!" Yukari shouted wildly, still stealthed. "AHO! DIE, ENEMY!" She fired a third round and, stealth dropped, turned tail and flew like hell toward Tom.

"Freeman-Hei!" she shouted over the radio. "I am coming! Kamiyama-Hei, destroy the Kairyu as it passes, then help Dige-Hei somehow!"

James blanched as the grenade soared through the air while the recovered Golem lined up for a second shot. Taking one last parting shot, he brought the anti-gravity drive to full power and threw himself into the air, hunkering down and bringing his shield to try and save himself from the brunt of the blast.

"Come on, come on...Rise!' he chanted to himself, feeling beads of perspiration start to trickle down his forehead.

The Phantom II Tom had begun firing on apparently had no taste for direct combat and quickly bounded away in the air, making Tom's shot whistle harmlessly where it had stood a moment before. The stealth armor somehow spotted Yukari's arrival and turned its weapon towards her, releasing a spray of shots toward the incoming Harpy.

As Tom's AIES tentatively labelled the new Phantom II as Taurus Six, Taurus Seven made its entry - another Phantom II had been waiting for him over where it had expected Tom to flee and fired its SIAW at him. The disruptor bolt smashed itself in the Daisy's back, twisting the powered armor suit in a forced eighty-or-so degree turn with armor fragments flying to bounce off a nearby wall.

"Class-B damage, Gravimetric Engine. Class-D damage, Armor Integrated Electronic System." The Daisy reported, signaling his anti-gravity was serisouly crippled and that its sensor/communication suite had taken light damage. His armor diagram showed the Daisy's rear torso shining light red.

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Just as James cleared the grenade's blast radius, his own plasma rifle belched plasma in turn. The brilliant bolt raced from the weapon's muzzle and ripped through the Golem II's energy barrier, striking and destroying the NDI assault armor's helmet. The enemy suit was flung away like a rag doll and lay limply on the fissured roadway.

"Taurus One destroyed!" His AIES confirmed just as the other Golem tried to take another shot at it - his remaining AIES-controlled tactical had other ideas though and fired, wrecking the killer shotgun-like contraption.

Above, the Super Phalanx had begun moving toward the shadowy KFY-produced armor that had attacked the Kairyuu, but in reaction to the first casuality in its squad, it whirled around and blazed toward James, firing twin disruptor bolts at the Geshrin with its carbines.

Finally managing to pull herself away from the baths and back to her quarters, the young Masako dried herself and dressed herself in her bodysuit uniform. It was strange to her that her hair was slower to dry than normal, but she supposed it was to happen now that her hair was longer. "KAMI, could you direct me to where Suzuka-Chui is," the warrant officer asked.

The KAMI provided Masako with a map similar to the one it had shown Yukari earlier. "Project Inoue, Powered Armor Simulation. Suzuka-Chui is currently engaged in training exercises with three other members of the crew. Eight simulation suits remain available."

"Arigatou Gozaimasu, KAMI," Masako thanked as she exited her room and headed out, following KAMI's directions. It was a long walk to the simulation room. A long and boring walk to make it worse, but she knew it probably wouldn't be boring on the way back. After all, if Suzuka-Chui was in the simulation room, then most of the crew had to be with her.

She finally reached the simulation room, noting that a Juni sat at a console by the door. "Is this where Project Inoue is?" she asked the Juni.

The brown-haired Juni rewarded Masako with a grin from her reception desk, with a few more holowindows open to display the battle the other Miharu participants were in. "Yes. Your crewmates are running a simulation in an urban combat situation and things are really heating up. You feel like joining in and trying out one of the new ground armors?"

Yukari couldn't see the Kairyuu. But she could see the Phantom armor that fired on her.

Chaos seemed to have erupted. All seven units were now accounted for as she realized as Taurus Seven was highlighted somewhere behind Tom. Wait --

The thought couldn't finish. Pain ripped through Yukari's right leg as two of the Phantom's shots connected, according to her helmet screen. She ground her teeth together and ignored the armor diagram which flashed red over the right calf.

All she could see was Tom being blasted in the back, sending his armor reeling.

"FREEMAN-HEI!" A split-second later, Yukari crashed mid-air into the side of a ruined building, blurring her vision as she saw the flash of Taurus Six's rifle brightly in her helmet. The pain was not as bad as it could have been, she was sure. The bullet that knocked off the thin right shoulderpad of her armor would've hurt much worse.

She managed to speed to the ground, skidding to her feet and falling to a kneeling position. Rifle raised, she took half a second to aim and fired at Taurus Seven.

Oh. Morita definitely had a hard time keeping up with what just happened. So they were on the losing side right now and in the middle of a tactical withdrawal? Getting outnumbered two to one practically? The frantic commands coming from Yukari didn't exactly make the matters any easier - in fact, it probably escalated his confusion.

"AIES, uh, lock onto Taurus Three...Wait, no, target the Kairyuu (was that one even right?), and paint Dige's suit. Uh...Switch from active radar to drone visuals?"

The HUD lit up with activity and he got a bearing on Dige's suit and what the AIES identified for him as the Kairyuu.

As far as his expertise in firearms went, Morita understood the basic principles of not being hit - lying prone when there are enemies moving about isn't exactly the most prime of ideas. As far as it seemed from the situation, the stealth system wasn't really doing any good - or at least, that's what it seemed like to him. If these hostiles could hit accurately, what's the real point? It was time to try something different.

"AIES, cycle Active Camoflauge, or do something that will confuse the enemy. Jamming systems, turning radar on and off, whatever you can do while I'm busy shooting and getting shot at."

With plasma rifle in hand, Morita tried to take a shot at what AIES painted as his mark. One shot, and then he was off and running to somewhere, anywhere. Wherever there's cover, high ground, anything that could get him into a better position than he is right now. Just need to keep moving and shooting.

After several more files had finally been completed Nyton paused and stretched. "I believe this is a good stopping point." he said. "Can't really plan much else without some field work now. Speaking of field work, I believe it is time I joined the others during their simulation training." Nyton continued as he stood up. "By your leave." he said to Kotori with a slight bow before he turned and left the room. He hurried his way down to the simulation chamber reception desk.