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RP: 188604 [PsychoPomp] Bananas

Z

Zack

Vice

The freighter was approaching the planet at high speed, mecha and supporting gear being readied to just drop out the back once they reached their destination.

"YOU READY BACK THERE?!"

PsychoPomp's ace pilot had been given very little time to get ready. Her mecha stuffed in the back of the transport and immediately sent off. The amount of time to prepare was limited to just the travel time to their destination: The planet Vice. The majority of the planet seemed to be either untamed jungles or run down cities... land was cheap, and PsychoPomp had several facilities here that were under attack.

"YOU DROP IN 5! Looks like drones on the ground suppressing the defenses. Local muscle is fucking useless here... Just make it quick because we've got plenty more fires to put out."

The pilot wasn't lying, the USO had launched attacks on the majority of PsychoPomp's facilities. They were certainly looking for something... which meant instead of outright destruction they were trying to get people inside.
 
Nomine laid in the dim confines of the cockpit, arms crossed, eyes closed, and breath steady as she mentally prepared herself for the coming battle. She knew with the actions taken within and nearby USO space would have eventually caught the attention of someone important, that and the fact their public reputation could be put at risk should anything sensitive be brought to light. All their secure facilities, filled to the brim with questionable, border-line unethical subjects, with all the proof in the world sitting in isolated server cubes. Just waiting for, and daring, people to come and take it.

The seat was uncomfortable, she noted, as Nomine sat up a bit; the form-fitting combat suit squeaking as it's material shuffled against cheap faux-leather. Slivers of black hair, curled bangs, draped themselves besides her cheeks as she reached over to flick on the communications channel; which had been one way, "Yes, I'm ready. Just release me once we get close and I'll take it from there." The girl replied back, not too keen on flying a machine she had only just gotten adept at several weeks ago.

It's basic armaments hadn't been upgraded as much as they'd been replaced outright, sporting a series of Origin Industries prototypes; all unmarked and disposable, of course. A 125mm Gauss Rifle and a single-use Particle Beam Launcher replaced the weapons the U1 originally came with, the added weight compensated by an overall improved frame and re-design of the engines, which had again been replaced by an improved omni-directional graviton drive; allowing it to function better whilst in it's fighter form and carry the additional tonnage at the same time. At the very least she was guaranteed a package that could take out a small army.

Better time then any to do a test run, even if it's maiden voyage was a live-fire intervention on the part of my employer, Nomine thought to herself; her eyes glowing softly in the darkness as she interfaced with the U1's systems, bringing up a rudimentary HUD and began running it through it's system checks.

Engines ... Check
Liquid Nitrogen Fuel .... Nominal, Peak
Systems Check .... All Green, Minor Error//MMI ... Overridden
Weapons Test-Fire ... 125mm Gauss Rifle //\\ Unknown?.... Safety On ... Safety Off ... Trigger O/F .. Green
Ejection System ... ?????
Propulsion .... Nominal

.... ALL SYSTEMS GREEN
 
"Good."

The pilot of the transport wasn't a warrior... he was really more of a delivery-man... one getting paid extra for prompt delivery, and one that didn't want to spend any time being shot at. Delivering to Vice was bad enough as it is.

His augmented reality display would show the destination fast approaching, a timer counting down until...


DROP!


He slammed his fist down on the release cargo button and started making his way back to orbit...

---

The PsychoPomp facility was built into a shanty town just outside of one of the major cities, the tower built into the side of a cliff, surrounded by sheet metal buildings that extended outward in all directions. A dozen Cupcake AFVs were hovering around outside of the facility, having already blown open the door on the ground floor and destroyed the security turrets on the exterior, they were slowly floating upward, providing fire support for a team of soldiers inside.

Another dozen Cupcakes were spaced out around the exterior, keeping people away from the facility as the human soldiers worked their way through the interior.

One U7 transport shuttle was already on the ground, engines idling, while a second one was circling overhead.

It didn't look like they were in a hurry, and not expecting to be counter-attacked.
 
The first thing Nomine felt was the feeling of emptiness, a sensation that came from the U1 being released from the latches holding it in place, and if she was honest with herself there was a momentary sort of pleasure and peace that came from knowing gravity wasn't pulling at her. The blissful experience lasted only a split-second as the engines started up, it's two rear thrusters, supported by a multitude of secondary verniers adjusted it's position from a free-fall to an upright angle; slowing it's descent down just enough that gravity started pushing back against her. The interior cockpit shuddered from the opposite forces working against each other until the machine she rode in came to maintain a gentle hover.

Her mission was simple, the objectives consisting of 'information control and counter-sabotage', which in simpler terms meant to destroy any and all evidence of their involvements; better to deny the enemy their assets then waste manpower to go through the trouble of retaking and re-securing the facility. Keying in the destination, Nomine adjusted the U1 towards the direction and pushed the throttle up to maximum, giving the yaw and pitch controls a spin as she leaned back in her seat to compensate for the inevitable g-forces. It may have been a hasty custom job but it seemed to function well enough. At least it hadn't fallen apart.

She would arrive, at this rate, in five minutes. Maybe less.
 
The senors on the U1 would see the multitude of ships in orbit, including the freighter that had just dropped her off as it started climbing away from the planet.

Her arrival wasn't something that could be easily missed. 6 of the 12 drones flying in the air near the building would take aim at her, but they wouldn't fire. Perhaps following some rules of engagement she wasn't aware of.

"Yeah, the skys 'round here aren't lookin too friendly. Don't bother calling me for a ride later," the transport pilot radio'd out, booking it out of their as fast as he possibly could, the U7 shuttle that was still in the air would lower its altitude a bit, ducking behind the facility as it hid itself from Nomine's view.
 
There was little hesitation shown in Nomine's actions as she armed, primed, and targeted the facility with the experimental particle beam launcher. The HUD centralized itself into a minimized field, focused primarily on target acquisition, range, radius, and proximity alerts; all coalesced into a dedicated fire and forget package that would gain her the first field advantage of shock and awe. Click. Nothing happened. Click. Again, nothing. She double-checked the connection between the U1 and the particle gun.

Unknown error ... Bypassing Safety Module Gamma-7AOI ... Assessing ....
MBus-88829A CONNECTION ERROR!! ... Manual Activation Required

A click of the tongue as some semblance of passive-aggressive annoyance crossed her mind as she took her hands off the control, letting the U1 continue on it's present course as she buckled herself in and reached down to pick up her helmet, sliding it on in one deft motion as she sat back up and re-took the controls; adjusting the machine so that it didn't smash into one of the metal sheds. The cold cushions surrounding her cheeks and neck reminded her to sit back. Two minutes. She was within firing distance now, then again she would have fired sooner had it not been for this unexpected technical error.

Bracing herself she interfaced, with some brute force, with the U1's systems and gripped the controls tightly as she remote activated the transformation process; the attached particle beam launcher and gauss rifle detaching from the chassis to fly independently nearby, slaved to the control system as the U1 shifted mid-air and began releasing the clamps holding the 'legs' in place. They shot out in front, vernier's blazing as it worked against it's previous velocity, slowing itself down as the arms and body snapped into place. The head was last, it taking it's place at the top of the finished construct. The hands reached out to grab the launcher and rifle, putting them back into place, anchoring them back down onto their magnetic locks.

Again, now with the U1 in it's humanoid form, Nomine had it reach for the launcher and 'manually' interfaced with it using the manipulators. Like a glorified metal soldier, she pointed it towards the facility, again, and targeted it. Click. It seemed like nothing would come of it, until a sudden burst of bright blue light shot out of the pointed barrel. A brief deafness, as the air around the barrel was incinerated and burnt dry, the energy sucking it all in until what sounded like a banshee's shriek streaked towards the breached Psychopomp facility. And as the battery ran out, Nomine dropped the discharged, molted slag of what was once a weapon of mass destruction; switched it out for the gauss rifle and continued her way towards the facility.

The remains of the long black rifle smashed into a series of sheds, laying them and it's inhabitants, if any, to rest.
 
The painfully white beam would lance through the bottom of the structure, blinding anyone who happened to be looking at it.

By the time it was finished, the bottom of the structure had been converted into a pool of molten metal. The structure itself was already starting to collapse downward, the soldiers inside scrambling to find something to hold onto as floor after floor gave way, sending metal and office decor down onto the glowing lake below, only the minimal supports connecting the building to the edge of the cliff was keeping it from collapsing completely.

The few drones that had been aiming at the PsychoPomp mecha had also been blinded by the bloom from the beam, the radiant heat having cooked their exteriors, frying the people in the nearby structures, setting fire to an exposed fabirc for hundreds of feet. The fires were already starting to spread through the shanty-town.

The shuttle that was hiding behind the structure wasn't doing much better, though its shields were up, the intense light had burnt away the paint along one side, leaving it charred, the ship moving to remain in cover, while the shuttle circling overhead would open its side doors...

The initial response was a swarm of small missiles, swarming out of the side of the shuttle as it took aim with its anti-armor cannon. The weapon had been bolted to the interior of the door, requiring the entire shuttle turn itself towards Nomine's craft so that it could start shooting. Its weapon fire was soon joined by the numerous smaller guns of the surviving dozen drones as they all lifted up and spread out.
 
Nomine ignored the signals blaring from within the cockpit, blocking them out entirely as she focused on what was left of the invading force. She ignored the weapons fire that came, the U1 kicking up a cloud of dirt, sand, sheets of destroyed metal, and even bits of organic material that may or may not have belonged to people once. It temporarily obscured the mecha from view, just for a few seconds, though it did little to stop the missiles and gunfire that made their way inside. The interior shuddered violently as the ordinance bombarded her, the corner of her eye registering the damage it was taking as the very basic energy shielding system took the brunt of the attacks.

WARNING --- SHIELDS AT 88% CAPACITY
PROXIMITY ALERT ... PROXIMITY ALERT ... WARNING - WARNING - WARNING

The 125mm rifle was now in the U1's hands, it's coils charged and thrumming with energy as she pushed the mecha forwards, loading in the first round and snapping the opened rifle back into place to register the ammunition. Nomine immediately pointed the gun towards the shuttle currently out in the open and not in cover, the one with the brave crew shooting at her, and pulled the trigger. A heavy thunk, followed by what sounded like an electrical charge being built up, originated from the rifle as the ejection port discarded the spent charge; a large, smoking piece of what looked like a giant white casing falling off towards the U1's side.

She did not stop to register whether or not she hit or miss, her target still being the still relatively intact PP structure. Nomine found reloading the weapon was proving to be an annoyance, something of which she would have to bring up with the OI representative the next time she visited Yamatai space. Everything was manual, from retrieving the round to opening the rifle to expose the breech, to loading and firing.

In the four-point-eight seconds she had to move and reload, the rifle was ready and pre-pointed towards the cliff-face holding the structure up.

Thunk.

Nomine pondered why they would build such a fanciful structure in front of a shanty-town. She wondered if, perhaps, her employer wanted this to be found on purpose. And it made her wonder if, perhaps, her employer planned to have her die here.

Or perhaps he was just an idiot.
 
The shuttle would tilt right, trying to evade the shot by hovering and sliding in one direction. Nomine's shot would end up landing off to one side, collapsing part of the front shell and shearing off the doors and wing along one side. The heavy cannon on the other side would end up missing entirely, its shots going wide.

The second shot would cut right through the building, impacting the cliff face, the explosion blasting out the upper parts of the building. The whole thing starting to collapse downward. The soldiers inside rushing to leap out windows or otherwise make it to an exit as the entire structure collapsed downward. Of the hundreds of people in the structure, Ragnarok and PsychoPomp alike, only a handful would get out, the drones swooping down to catch as many as they could, some ending up landing face first into the molten metal below.

Whatever PsychoPomp was trying to keep secret, was certainly being burned and burried both at the same time.

There were still two Ragnarok soldiers left, making their way to the remaining shuttle...

... but there was also another object approaching the area at high speed.
 
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Alex plummeted through the atmosphere of Vice in fighter mode, visibly armed with two rifle style gunpods , two racks of ammunition packs mounted on the legs for storage and mounted two sets of submunition dispensers loaded with mini missiles.

As he closed in on the unidentified U-1 below, he opened fire with the gunpods, their fire sounding like a dull buzzing through the hull as rounds rained down around the enemy below, and then closed in to target its weapon.
 
Nomine watched the building fall, breathing in and gently exhaling as she ignored the remaining personnel scattered about. As she began the process of reloading the rifle in the U1's hands, she received another warning, this time from her own HUD; directing her attention towards the skies. Without cause or reason, she pushed her machine forward and jumped, utilizing the vernier jets in the legs to propel it as she transitioned it back into it's fighter mode; the rifle that was in it's hands automatically sensed the new mode change and magnetically attached and anchored itself onto the U1's underside.

She pushed the throttle to the maximum, the sudden momentum slapping her against the cushioned seat as it blasted it's way up to meet the new, unknown contact. As the interior stabilized and the g-forces no longer worked against her, she slid her helmet back on and closed her eyes. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Her breathing normalized, the helmet sealing in the vacuum, allowing her suit to begin providing the air she would need to fight in the high atmosphere.

Targeting the enemy contact, she aimed with her eyes and .. click ... thunk. A muffled thud resounded within the cockpit as the gauss rifle fired it's 125mm cartridge, it automatically reloaded by the system as it interfaced and linked itself with the ammunition cartridge, doubling as a feed in it's fighter mode.

125mm Gauss Rifle - OI // 26 Rounds Remaining - GREEN
 
As Alex fell through the sky, weapons blazing, Mikali provided targeting data and information on the enemy below, along with encouragements that were perhaps a little too enthusiastic. "Yes! That one! Burn him, Alex!" she cried from the speakers with glee, giggling in a maniacal fashion. "Tear them up! Riddle them! Smack them down, Alex!" Her avatar on one of the screens in front of him was as adorable as ever.
 
Alex stopped firing as he saw his opponent turn towards him. He attempted to lead the now transformed enemy U-1 away from the current area, once or twice folding out the arms of the Unicorn to fire the rifle gunpods backwards. He allowed Mikali to keep the shots relatively on target. Once he was satisfied with the distance between his opponent and the USO forces on site he transformed completely and turned to face his foe.

If this was who he thought it was, Alex was going to have a very very tough fight, which would be made even tougher by the fact that he didn't want to kill his opponent.

"Nomine, is that you?" He spoke over an open radio channel.
 
She could tell by the random fire coming her way, predictably on-target but so clearly meant to lead her away from the remnants of which Nomine had already planned to leave behind herself, that this was going to be an annoyance.

Pitching and yawing the controls, she spun and evaded, like an ugly airborne acrobat as the twenty-ton machine flitted through the air. Her finger hardened against the trigger, until that voice brought an unusual sense of familiarity to bear, though it was quickly disintegrated and shuffled away by the need to escape and report her successful mission.

Click. Thunk.

Another shot flew from the under-slung gauss rifle towards the Unicorn, what the U1 she flew in seemed to recognize. Perhaps she should have wiped the IFF and internal systems clean before taking it out. After firing that one shot, she broke off and headed towards Vice's upper atmosphere.
 
Alex slid to the side to avoid the shot, and transformed to chase after Nomine. He was clearly more heavily armed than she was, but that gauss rifle looked nasty. He fired a few more bursts of his coilgun rifles at Nomine's engines, knowing that they would most likely be avoided. If she didn't she'd face disabled engines.

After the burst of fire, Alex fired off 8 mini missiles aimed at her wings, enough that he thought he could box her in with them.
 
Clutching the control stick, Nomine pushed down on the pedals and began spinning the U1, pushing and rolling it off towards the right as a flurry of rounds sparked against the rudimentary shield; gently pulling the throttle back as she let kinetic energy take over. She loathed how underdeveloped the technology seemed, despite it's unique little gimmick, as she pulled back on the stick, her fingers worked the finer controls for the vector thrusters to maneuver the nose back down. It was all she needed as Nomine lined up a quick shot and fired it towards the enemy combatant, the force of the gun's blast actually pushing the free-falling U1 back just a bit as it drifted.

Shields - 48%

Thunk.

125mm Gauss Rifle OI - 24 Rounds Remaining

Pushing the throttle back up to full, Nomine was clearly working the U1 overtime as the thrusters and engines struggled to match what the pilot was attempting to do as it propelled the U1 forwards.

WARNING! WARNING! PROXIMITY ALERT! MISSILE LOCK ON! EVADE .. EVADE .. EVADE!

What she did next would have killed a normal pilot, though really what was normal anymore in a galaxy filled with genetically enhanced super-soldiers, impeccably beautiful and deadly clone soldiers, and cybernetically enhanced humanoids. It was impossible to avoid all of the oncoming missiles, so Nomine did the next best thing, which was a suicidal head-on utilizing a controlled spin.

Like a corkscrew, the U1 dove rapidly back down towards the atmosphere of Vice, the missiles locked onto her following the erratic movement until they made contact, the initial detonation buffeting the front of her cockpit view with smoke and fire as the rest followed suit. The explosions knocking her around as, once again, the shield took the brunt of the damage.

WARNING! SHIELDS AT 12%
HULL INTEGRITY AT 90%

Unsophisticated shield systems were crap compared to the more advanced sectors Yamatai had, as even just minor contact with the outer field was enough to deplete it's energy, although in this case it was handy in that instead of taking several direct hits she had only taken one. The maneuver she had done was risky, flawed, and spawned from a tactical whimsy as Nomine utilized the low-tech shield and quick movements to blast the rest off-course once the first missile hit. Although this did nothing but deplete the energy reserves, she had saved herself from the more vexing situation of being blown out of the sky.

As blood trickled from her nose, dripping down onto her helmet's pristine display, Nomine vectored off the opposite direction and gradually resumed gaining altitude to escape Vice's atmosphere.
 
"Alex? Why do you keep missing? Is my targeting data off?" Mikki asked Alex with a look of confusion. "We need to finish this one quick so we can get on with our mission! It's getting away!"
 
Alex attempted to dodge the inoming shot, but it glanced off his shields. They were now at half strength after only one hit from that monster of a rifle, and he was sure that a single shot from that thing would blow off a limb after he lost shields.

Grimacing, Alex consigned himself to a fight. There was clearly no way for him to take her out quickly without killing her.

"Mikali, I don't want to shoot it down." He explained, "I know the pilot. I want to talk to them, but I don't think I can disable the craft without killing the pilot."

Alex pulled up into a high G climb, attempting to gain the height advantage on Nomine. "Nomine, please... I don't want to do this... You don't have to do this!"

His voice was distressed audibly, and both anger and sadness mixed in equal parts filled him.
 
Mikali squinted for a brief moment with an expression bordering on contempt, before closing her eyes. "Gotcha," she replied, and amended her targeting data on Normine's U1, highlighting weak points that might assist in disabling the craft. "Don't waste too much time on them, Alex. If they're shooting high-power rail guns at us, they probably don't want to talk."
 
It would appear the enemy pilot wouldn't give up, this wasn't unexpected, after all she was used to the pleas of men and women; their mouths moving as one to vomit out all the things that made up their lives. Families, loved ones, dogs, cats, lovers, girlfriends, boyfriends, money, fame, glory; all things Nomine had long grown numb to. If anything, the only real use for this little dog-fight was that it allowed her to see the flaws and future improvements she could obtain for the U1. Better shields, for sure, and something fully automatic and fast to make up for the powerful weapons that could be brought to bear and mounted. Ballistic or energy. Whatever she chose, it would have to be integrated directly into the chassis to allow a variable load-out as taking it apart just to slap a gun on would take far too much time.

It was odd, really, since she knew by the pilot's open transmission that there was hesitation in his actions; but clearly they weren't the same as whatever he was feeling as could be shown by the fact she had been hit several times in the past few minutes. Had it been a few minutes? It felt like forever to her as she eyed the space above, the indicator showing they had reached an altitude of approximately forty-six thousand eight-hundred and twelve kilometers. She wasn't sure how much further she had to go but judging by how much more she had to slow and control her breathing, Nomine assumed they were in Vice's stratosphere and were fast approaching it's mesosphere.

Again, she spun the U1 around towards the left, the friction threatening to tear the fragile little thing apart as the wings and intake valves shuddered. Bracing herself against the cushion of the cockpit seat, she pulled one hand away from the throttle and gripped the buckles snapped tightly between her chest; holding on as the fighter began the four-second transition into it's mecha form. The legs shot out, pushing the U1 back down towards Vice, this caused the buckles to strain; digging into her suit and nearly breaching the material as her body suffered through seven-g's throughout the process. If it weren't for the fact her eyes were cybernetic, they most likely would have burst from the pressure.

The rifle came up, a round already pre-loaded with a round, and as she passed by and underneath her counter-part, it was raised and aimed towards it's general direction; a few milliseconds of lead to compensate for movement.

Click.

Thunk.

And then she transitioned again, the U1's legs nearly buckling as it struggled to simultaneously maintain it's altitude and go back to it's intended position in fighter mode, but it held together and that was enough for Nomine as she blasted off the opposite direction at full speed. She had lost a few thousand kilometers doing that and now she would have to make up for it.

Again. Her enhanced body was repairing what it could, and her chest hurt from where the buckles pressed in. A rib must have snapped too because it was registering on her senses. If it weren't for the helmet around her head she would have spit the blood gathered up in her mouth out, but because it was on, she swallowed it down and licked her lips clean of the speckles. Nomine didn't need an obstruction when the only thing keeping her from passing out was this enclosed environmental combat suit.

Counter-measures, that's it. She needed those too. And some missiles. Perhaps even a weapon for close-quarters.
 
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