Myrstrarkia

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The blaring alarms were what brought Captain Raiyn back to the conscious world. With a slight groan she shifted her body a bit that had been thrown forward. A warm hand on her shoulder shook her violently, causing her head to pound even more. With another groan and a frown, she peeled her eyes opened to look up and see her second in command kneeling next to her. His voice was calling to her frantically and she released a heavy sigh.

"I'm awake," she grumbled and slowly sat up with the help of the young man.

"There's severe damage to the hull and the Benjlakki mechs are heading our way."

"What about Lion Team?"

"Most have returned to the ship," her tactician called out as she was still hard at work at her station, "Lextu's machine is still engaged with the Brown Wing's leader it seems. Laurence Howe's machine has returned to the ship along with Cain and Kyle."

Standing up, the Captain swayed a bit on her feet and pressed her hand to her head. Pulling her fingers away she grimaced at the sight of crimson thick on her fingers. Damn... she took a quick look around the bridge, making note of who was injured -which was most of them- and who was still able to work. Grinding her teeth again she moved to take her seat as she started formulating plans to get them all safely out of the danger zone.

"Captain! Mr. Numi is engaging the enemy, he's firing the nuclear canon!"

"Brace!" She shouted just as the ship shook violently. Her eyes narrowed, Damn it all to hell, so close to the ship. What the hell are you trying to do Cain? Releasing her grip on the seat that she'd steadied herself with she straightened. All of her thoughts were starting to boil down to the fact that she was going to have to head out on her own mech to help protect the ship.

"Captain! Lextu's machine's taken heavy damage, he's lost the other limb!" the tactician whirled around, her brown hair flipping wildly as she moved, her dark eyes wide in fear and shock.

Raiyn's own gaze widened as well as she regarded the young woman, "Call him back," she ordered coldly.

As the woman nodded and turned to do as she was asked, the system screens all went red. A sharp intake of breath filled Raiyn's chest as she quickly strode over to the screen where the girl was sitting. Someone had managed to hack into their systems.

"Everything's being turned off!" A shout from the front of the bridge, "There's a virus!"

A soft growl filled the back of her throat as she shoved off the terminal and whirled on her heel to head for the double doors that led to the rest of her ship, "Get rid of that fucking virus!" She screamed in rage, "You two, come with me," she pointed at two of the tacticians on the bridge and motioned for them to follow her, "You have the bridge, Lieutenant," she commanded her second.

As she left, she began speaking as she wiped her hand across the side of her face where blood still trickled from the head wound, laying out her next plans to the two that followed her. All they had to do was out last the Benjlakki navy and wait for the Admiral's vessel to reach them... that was if he was coming at all, "The turret guns are able to be manually operated, I want you both to head to them and start helping to protect the ship. Destroy anything that comes our way that isn't a friendly. At the present we don't have any com's working so you'll have to rely on recognizing what mech is who's, understood?"

They both nodded to her and headed off down separate halls, leaving Raiyn to continue her quick stride down towards the hanger bay where the mechs were and where her head mechanic was. As she entered the bay she spotted Scoar speaking to the head mechanic, "Bibiana. I'm taking one of the mechs out. By the time I'm ready I need you to find me 3-4 people to go out with me. Thanks."

Reaching her hand out, she caught hold of one of the workers, "Where's Laurence Howe?"

"Near that '34, Captain," the man answered swiftly and she released him to allow him to continue working on the repairs to the wings. Making her way over to the Type 34, Raiyn moved swiftly towards where the man had pointed and finally caught sight of the Lion Team member. She came up next to him and caught his attention, "Laurence, prepare to launch. The Titan's communications are out at the moment, so we'll have to rely on the coms between each mech. Wait for my orders."

Leaving, Raiyn could feel her headache growing a bit as she made her way across the hanger bay where she caught Bibiana. Pulling the woman aside she spoke quickly, knowing that they had limited time, "I know this may sound impossible, but I need you to do what you can with what I'm about to tell you. Detach one of the missile bays enough for one of the mechs to hold it. Then see if you can reroute the commands to hook up with the mechs. They'll be using that to help fend off the Benjlakki navy forces. Next, detach one of the continuous strafing beams, another of the mechs will be handling that one as well. I have two of the tacticians working the turrets to help with the situation as well. If you need me, use one of the remaining mechs' coms systems to get to me. The ships systems have a virus, so it may be difficult to do any work at all with the firing systems when you detach the weapons, but do what you can. They're working on getting rid of the virus on the bridge."

With that, Captain Raiyn left the woman to holler out her own orders to the rest of the mechanic teams. Raiyn went to where Scoar had gone and worked her way to her own personal mech. Her boots tapped along the cat walk and then the hatch as she flung herself inside. Getting settled, she called out to the system called Avana to start up. The mech hummed to life, the sleek black machine moving slightly as she closed the hatch and took hold of the controls. Her head pounded hard, but Raiyn ignored it. This was no time to be giving in to a small concussion.

On her right, she tapped a few buttons and two screens came up next to her, showing Scoar and Laurence, "For the moment, this is the best that you'll get Scoar," she said, her tone holding as much respect as possible in the tense situation, "I've asked Bibiana to detach the strafing beam and a section of missile launchers. Either of you can take one and use it to help fend off the attacking Benjlakki until we get more people in other mechs to take over for you," she ordered as she worked her mech towards the bays opened doors. The machine shifted into that of a sleek plane, the engine powering up, "I'm going after Sergeant Lextu. His mech is far too damaged to keep fighting. Once you've both found another pilot to operate those weapons manually, join up with me to protect the Titan."

Raiyn pushed the controls forward and her mecha shot straight out of the hanger bay and lifted up into the sky. The powerful force of her machine crushed her against the seat and she grimaced, one eye closing slightly from the increased pain. Her screen showed several different aspects of the desert area before her. She could see the advancing enemy mech's starting to surround the area where the Titan had crashed. Che she narrowed her eyes as she swung her machine around and shot straight towards Aaron and the one he was fighting with. In one smooth motion, she transformed the mech from it's flying form to the humanoid form. Drawing both enormous black swords, she put herself right between the two, holding out one arm to keep Aaron from advancing any further.

"Sergeant, return to the ship and grab a new mech. I'll need you to help protect the Titan from this barrage," she called out. The move had jarred her in the cockpit and she saw the screen before her swim in a giant circle. Taking a deep breath she steadied herself. Can't stay out here long myself, she thought, but didn't relay that information at all. Her eyes were trained on the other mech, noting all of the damage it had gone through. She might have had the upper hand if not for the light head wound. Raiyn frowned.

"Benjlakki mech," she called, her voice travelling across the coms in a heavy, cold tone, "I suggest you withdraw or risk dying here," Raiyn could only hope her bluff wouldn't be caught. Even so, she would fight him if she had to.

When Kyle opened the cockpit, Laurence was surprised to see that was laughing. Kyle had been one of the friendlier people Laurence had met in Lion however he was not used to being treated so positively even by him.

Laurence would have had plenty to say, had he been given the chance. Laurence had only a short moment to confirm Kyle's question about his "kills" for the day when a particularly important lady started shouting at them.

Laurence would have preferred to refrain from answering and obey the technical export the lady was however since she happened to be his fiancé Laurence was unsure what would make the best possible impression.'

He could not pretend to know who this woman was; apart from her name, the history of her family (Nobility knows nobility) and a few other scraps of general information he could gather Laurence was aware that she was just over two years older than he was of course which was already conservatively speaking a bit of a novelty.

They had talked a bit, even in person since their joined assignment on the Titan however Laurence had the distinct feeling they were not yet all that too comfortable with each other.

All these dazed thoughts of course had made their own answer, instead of saying anything Laurence nodded, added a rather muddled "Of course" and appeared to have been rather insecure during the brief time allocated to that particular converse.

Laurence had the impression he should have gone with a more impulsive assertive response however if damage had been made by his apparent shyness it had been made.

"And do make it back in one piece! We'vealready lost more pilots than we expected, today!"

Laurence saw this as his window at bravado! Laurence gleefully announced "I think I have the situation well under control…"

Laurence broke off as he remembered the extent of the damage to his Mech and how he had essentially allowed himself to be put in a helpless position for quite a while… maybe a bombastic promise such as the one he had just made was ill advised.

Her final demand for further discussion once the business of fighting had been done for the day was answered with a nod and a muttered "Yes of course", Laurence now had a strong yearning to go back to fighting rather than deal with… domestic issues.

After a short while Laurence finally got to lay his eyes on his newly assigned type 34. What was at first the cheerful prospect of another chance at glory was replaced with a harrowing realization of how barley he had escaped his last shave with destiny.

The sudden arrival of Captain Raiyn hurriedly dismissed such concerns and replaced them with new ones. Laurence, green rookie he still was moved to attention and saluted beautify; under the probing gaze of his father Laurence had at the very least become first class in drill drill drill, no matter how inherently pointless some of it could be.

"Laurence, prepare to launch. The Titan's communications are out at the moment, so we'll have to rely on the coms between each mech. Wait for my orders."

Right away Ma'm! Answered Laurence and then turned to ready his machine. Once inside the captain contacted him again with tidings of the need for greater weaponry on this mission.

Laurence raised the weapons department and ordered that they remove his Mech Gun and replace it with the Strafing beam which was in any case the only addition Laurence could reasonably expect to add to the small structure of the type 34, if he wanted to use the beam he would have to confine himself to fighter mode anyway.

A gunner from the crew reserve was assigned to him within a few moments so Laurence had only to await his Mech's refit and then Launch.

Admiral Lionel stood on the bridge as she surveyed the scene it appeared the Titan was going to make no move to surrender. She opened a comm to Captain Mckenzie. "Captain you are cleared for an attack, I'm ordering the taskforce to attack as well and it appears Brownwing team is engaging Lion team near by."

"Stalker Force is clear to attack" Sandra ordered and from the depths of the ocean the small taskforce turned off silent protocols and moved to battlestations as the cruisers and other ships fired an array of torpedoes and underwater weaponry at the Metargo fleet and the retreating Titan.

"By your orders Admiral" replied Leopold to Sandra. The Dominator flew mere feet above the ocean and then shifted its form to the amphibious mode and sank beneath the waves.
Had the Special Naval Service been here Leopold would have been confident of their chances however with only regular amphibious naval crews and some KLS Cu 2's and 3's; the Dominator's obsolete predecessors, Leopold was worried.

The secret code arrived and thus began a hailstorm of fire.

Leopold launched two of his Torpedo's along with the rest of the force; The Titan was dealt a serious blow however she was by no means lost to her fleet.
A gunfight developed between the small fleet and the Titan, no matter the fire they pounded into her the Titan held up and began to slip away, Leopold could not allow that to happen.

He pushed the throttle to full power and utilized the secondary engines in his Mech's arms to build up a substantial power of propulsion. Leopold caught up with the Titan and approached her, once he had made range Leopold fire his two remaining Torpedo's hoping to score a direct strike on the ship's engines however both Torpedo's where intercepted by defensive turret fire and blew up before reaching their mark.

Leopold activated the comm and bitterly repeated to the Admiral what had occurred; they, he had failed to score a decisive strike at the Titan.

"Awaiting further orders Ma'am" said Leopold as calmly as he could though he could not disguise his barley restrained fury.


"I want you to pursue the vessel at a range captain and support brownwing team the ship is reading a lot of damage but I want this thing out of commission Captain you saw what she could do." Sandra said over the comm.

"Understood, I shall forward the order to all available Mech's here to begin the pursuit" Said Leopold as he patched in the rest of the assault force and issued the new directive.

The Titan gathered speed and departed the ocean before the Mech's could launch a strafing run. Leopold had his Mech enter the flight mod again and the rest of the Mech's followed suite, despite their inadequate armament the group began attacking the titan but caused little damage.

A few strikes at the Titan's wings may have helped bring the monster down faster then she would have under the circumstances but, they could not pin in a decisive strike.

When the Titan curled up in the sands of the land below it seemed like the opportune time to finish her off and Leopold made arrangements to that effect with the rest of the assault group. Just as they split up for the attack run a tremendous blast sent shock waves swirling into the air, many Mech's lost control and crashed landed while others where hit by comet like "fire balls" which brought those unfortunate down within seconds.

Leopold was fortunate enough to have had the distance from the explosion to switch into his redeployment mod and land safely on the ground however this was at the time the least of his worries. Leopold's Hastily assembled attack force was almost entirely populated by obsolete amphibious Mech's not designed to participate in a full blown Mech battle such as this but like it or not Leopold and the reminder of his force where now in the heart of the battle.

Leopold charged up his cannons and prepared to give covering fire to his pilots...
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The bridge of the Benjlakki capital ship turned an eerie red and a tactical officer began to shout something. "Admiral Nuclear weaponry detected! Looks like it might have been a mech fired weapon still waiting on reports of damages and yield." The officer said.

Sandra's face seemed to loose a bit of color upon hearing this. War and missiles were one thing but who in the world would authorize a nuclear weapon. "Fleet wide, Code orange protocols put me on fleet wide comm and have this copied and delivered to the ground forces as well."

"Attention 101st Fleet, This is Admiral Lionel issuing a code orange, I repeat a nuclear weapon has been used and all forces are at apply safety protocols until further notice this is not a drill." Sandra then closed the comm in front of her the bridges blast shields shut and were replaced by camera mounted images.

"Get me a secure line to president Anderson" Sandra said to a tactical officer who nodded when she was patched through.

"Mr. President I have reports of a nuclear weapon being fired and we are operating under protocols. I'm still waiting on preliminary reports of the attack it could be small scale but I don't think we should take any chances here sir. Our defense is holding but if this is a precursor to an enemy nuclear bombardment our defenses will not hold." Sandra said in her recorded message to the admiral.

Sandra knew Brown Wing was near that blast so she opened a comm to Zechariah "Private Malachi, this is Admiral Lionel is your team doing alright? Your guys were close to the blast how are you hanging in there? I'm working on getting support for your team."

Sandra began to order movements of more troops and sent in a fighter squadron to support brown wing team.

"Major Johnson this is Admiral Lionel, I've taken over the bridge in Captain Mckenzie's stead, I know we took some damage but are we going to be alright for anti-radiation procedures? Also on a secondary note our communications with the ground are cut has our communications array taken any damage or is this a jamming effect?"

"Captain Mckenzie, I need you to report back to the ship and take command. It's getting messy up here." She said with a sigh this was already a stressful day and it only looked like it was going to get worse.

"Mam the enemy ship has beached!" Sandra heard from an officer.

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She was constantly running about, fixing, shouting orders. Most of the damage seemed to be coming from Mech's returning or maintenance or to be scrapped for spare parts when too much damage had been taken to make them battle ready again. Olivia had no clue what was happening out in the battle field, for all she could tell from her position they may as well have already lost, or be sending the Metargo into a hasty retreat. There were conflicting reports from the various Mech pilots as they rushed about getting into their replacement Mechs, carted off to the infirmary or waiting impatiently as the Mechs were patched up, ready for the next round.

Reports of damage seemed to coming in from all directions, constantly keeping the mechanic on her toes. Rushing through the maintenance bay she skidded to a halt beside a decrepit pile of metal that had once been a Mech, swiftly pulling out the core systems and anything worth salvaging before making her way back to her the Mech she had been repairing. Lowering the welding goggles she set to work, turning to one of the men under her command, "We need these Mechs up an running to be back out in the battlefield now! MOVE IT!"

The man seemed to flinch at the acid in her voice but was quick to run back into the fray of the bay, setting to work on the closest Mech.

Rolling her eyes Olivia finished the repair and clapped the waiting pilot on the shoulder, "As good as new!"

The man thanked her with a curt nod before climbing into the cockpit, the Mech's engine whirring to life. She went about to the next Mech only to be stopped by one of the other mechanics, "Major Johnson!"

Turning she raised an eyebrow, "What is it?"

"Reports are coming in that communications with the ground have been severed."

Olivia cursed under her breath, assembling a small team and heading towards the communications array, leaving her second with strict orders to keep up the maintenance of the Mechs. Or else.

As she basically ran through the corridors of the Seraphim Olivia felt the blood drain from her face as she contacted by Admiral Lionel, "Major Johnson this is Admiral Lionel, I've taken over the bridge in Captain Mckenzie's stead, I know we took some damage but are we going to be alright for anti-radiation procedures? Also on a secondary note our communications with the ground are cut has our communications array taken any damage or is this a jamming effect?"

Anti-radiation procedures? Had the Metargo truly authorized a nuclear strike? Would they truly sink to such a level? Apparently they would. Gritting her teeth momentarily Olivia was quick to respond, "Admiral Lionel, Major Johnson reporting, we will be fine for anti-radiation procedures. As for the communications array, I'm heading there now to assess the situation."

Moments later she entered the room containing the communications array, rushing forth to do a quick systems diagnostics. There seemed to be only slight structural damage which could be attributed to the onslaught the Serpahim had been under, but definitely not enough to cause the loss of communication. As the diagnostics finished she frowned, the enemy must have set out a frequency, jamming their communications. She set about trying to circumvent the jamming while she relayed the situation to the Admiral, "It appears the enemy has found a way of jamming the signal, there is also slight damage to the actual, array, nothing that can't easily be mended. I'm attempting to bypass the jamming affect now."

Barnett Belvedere and Minmei Midori

As Barnett sniffed the flowers that were left to her mysteriously earlier that day she blushed. She tried not to get her hopes up about having a secret admirer like Minmei had inferred. Soon a sudden trimmer hit the ship. The attack seemed to worsen. “What’s going on out there!?”, Barnett shouted from her bed.

Minmei held onto the dresser in the room for stability as the ship shook violently. “I think I had better return to the bridge. It looks like things are taking a turn for the worse out there.” Minmei replied.

Barnett furrowed her brow , she was determined to help out in some way. “That’s it!! I’ve got to get to my mech now! The rest of the lion team needs Sailor-Multi out there! I can’t just lay here while the team struggles on the battlefield!” Barnett fussed and Minmei quickly turned away from the door to face Barnett.

“You get yourself right back into that bed Barnett!! You’re in absolutely no condition to be knocked around in a mech in the middle of a losing battle! Trust your teammates why don’t you. They’ll be fine, they want you to rest so that you’ll be back soon and better than ever okay?” Minmei said as she helped Barnett back into bed.

“Oh alright… Hey Minmei! Why don’t you Pilot Sailor-Mate and fill in for me on the Lion Team!? Sailor-Mate and Sailor Multi are sister Mechs after all!” Barnett said in a perky manor.

Minmei gulped heavily and trembled a bit. “M-me? Well… I’m not the best battler and I’m not nearly as good as you Barnett… I’d only slow the lion team down with Sailor Mate. I couldn’t possibly stand in for you.”

“Awe come on Minmei!! You don’t give yourself nearly enough credit! You passed fighter pilot training with flying colors and you’re still not convinced that you’re a good pilot. Gee whiz what is it gonna take? Perhaps you’d feel more comfortable using Sailor-Multi instead of Sailor Mate? Sailor-Multi is a newer model that your Sailor Mate mech after all.” Barnett replied.

“Well… I don’t think it would make much of a difference. Besides Sailor-Multi’s skill set isn’t really my style, she’s a tad different from Sailor Mate. Remember the last time…?” Minmei retorted sheepishly.

Barnett let out a tired sigh. “I guess you’ve got a point there. But you’ve gotta help them somehow. The Titan’s Bridge has plenty of operators and analysts. But it’s only you and I who are best at taking the analyst and operator’s job to the battlefield. So what do you say Minmei?” Barnett was dripping with enthusiasm.

“Oh… alright!! I’ll take Neutranurse and continue my tactical duties on the field. If that acceptable Barnett?” Minmei replied in a frustrated tone.

“That’s my girl!” Barnett applauded. “Now hurry up!! It sounds like things are getting pretty real ou there!” Barnett said as she shooed Minmei out of the recovery room.

Minmei returned to the bridge of the Titan and informed the other operators that she’d be taking Neutranurse out into the field to continue her analyst duties and to perform rescue missions for stranded mechs during the retreat. Minmei hurried to the holding area and boarded Neutranurse.

“This is Metargo Analyst Minmei Midori. Neutranurse is online. All systems are go, ready for launch.” After departing from the Tiatan in Neutranurse, Minmei did a quick scan of the Titan’s damages and system info. She saw that the situation was dire. “I need to contact Admiral Preston stat…” Minmei said as she typed swiftly into the database. “I can’t believe this! Metargo on the run from such a backwater fleet!” Minmei muttered to herself as she worked on her transmission.


Azaka Oikawa and Zane Preston

Zane prepped his mech for battle when he received a transmission from Minmei Midori via com link. “Admiral Preston the sonic cannon is under fire and the Titan has taken considerable damage from enemy fire. We are currently experiencing 47% damage to the exterior hull of the ship sir! I am switching on the emergency damage protocols now. That should give us more time for quick patch repairs while we escape. The Titan Invisibility cloak is at 39% and won’t have fully cloaked the ship until another 7 minutes.”

Zane cringed at such difficult conditions. “Minmei it looks like things are a bit tight. However that’s alright though, I’ve never minded a tight squeeze. I’ll deploy at once. The sonic cannon must be protected if the Titan is to have any chance of escape. The royal family is on board and I am not going to lose them. Good call on taking Neutranure out into the field, we need that mech for rescue missions right about now. Keep up the good work Minmei and keep me posted.” Zane replied. He climbed aboard the Hyaku Shiki and took off into the battle.

Zane could see on his monitor that the Sonic Cannon was under fire. He hurried to protect it. Azaka’s second song was beginning. “I’ll protect you Azaka. I swear my life on it.” Zane said to himself as the Hyaku Shiki zoomed toward the sonic cannon. With his beam sword drawn, he cut down two Benjlakki mechs and proceeded to move toward the sonic cannon. Zane could hear Azaka’s second song and see his image holographically projected into the atmosphere. It was as if Azaka was performing at a concert hall and not a battlefield. He didn’t let the damage to the sonic cannon shake his focus. Many emulators would have great trouble achieving such a feat.

Azaka knew that his initial attack was a success. A large portion of the enemy’s fire was redirected from the Titan to the Sonic Cannon thus giving the Titan an opportunity to escape. The Sonic cannon was durable and could take plenty of hits if need be. At the first song’s conclusion Azaka turned to his band and smiled. “Alright guys that was excellent work! But it looks like we’ll have to amp things up a bit. The Titan needs a chance to escape and we’ve got to help them do it. The Sonic Cannon’s blasts amp up on our “Professional Griefers” song. We’ll knock as many as we can out of the sky. Let’s begin!” Azaka said as he started the second song. His image could be seen once more on the battlefield and the song blared across the atmosphere. The sonic canon fired many high powered beams out and took down enemy mechs with its sonic sound based blasts.

(Azaka’s 2nd song: http://youtu.be/QJelsOHe6xk)

Zane battled with an enemy mech that got a little too close to the sonic cannon. The two grappled and the enemy mech thrusted backward and pulling beam sword slashed away at the Hyaku Shiki. Zane simply smirked. “Clever move my opponent. However the Hyaku Shiki isn’t much impressed with beam swords. It’ll take a lot more than that to damage it’s golden coating. Too bad you’ve wasted your last chance.” Zane said, then he delivered a blow to the mech’s arm with his own beam sword, severing the arm. Zane flew off to continue to protect the Sonic Cannon as well as Azaka.

“Minmei, get this transmission out there to everyone, Wrap up your battles and retreat. Got it?” Zane said calmly, he knew that this couldn’t continue much longer. Benjlakki had proven themselves a strong enemy not to be underestimated.

“Rodger that Admiral!” Minmei replied. She then sent a transmission to all of the Metargo fighter pilots. “All pilots proceed to retreat pending the Titan’s escape. Admiral Preston has ordered that you wrap up your battles and retreat. The Sonic Cannon will cover our escape.” Just then Minmei caught an alert on Neutranure’s radar scanners. “Attention Titan operators there is are guided missiles headed for the Titan, do you copy? We need someone anyone to intercept as many as possible now! Someone please!” Minmei communicated with the rest of the Lion Team and the people on the open com link of the Metargo Fleets.

Queen Karen Lunaria Metargo’s Mech, Red Moon, came into view. “Targeting missiles. Four are on confirmed lock. Ready to fire and intercept. Karen fired several lasers and detonated a few of the missiles bound for the Titan. However as accurate as the Red moon was it was not possible for Karen to shoot down all incoming missiles headed for the Titan. The Titan took three good hits to its large frame. Karen communicated via the comm Link. “Sorry I missed a few missiles officer Midori. I suppose there were too many to shoot down at once.” Karen said calmly.

“Y-your majesty! Wha-what are you doing on the battlefield?! I MEAN UM SORRY FOR MY RUDENESS!!” Minmei was nervous.

“It’s quite alright Minmei. I am trying to do what I can for Metargo. You all could use the help and the Red Moon was dying to get in on the action. It’s been quite depressed since Barnett has been place in recovery.” Karen could communicate with the heart of machinery so to her a mech had a voice much like a human did. “Admiral Preston, please look after Azaka. I won’t stand for him getting hurt out here. You two still have to tie the knot you know.” Karen teased Zane via com link. She was much like a mother figure to everyone. The red moon fired away at the missiles but with every round of guided missiles there were bound to be a few that would escape the red moon’s lock on due to there being so many deployed at once.

“Copy that my queen.” Zane replied with a wink.

Cain started descending from the air into a desolated part of the area to give his mech time to recharge another shot. His goal was to give Metargo back the winning place in the field but it failed thanks to his brothers counter. Seriously. Out of all sides to be fighting on, why would he betray Metargo and fight with Benjlakk? It really made no sense to Cain. Still, it didn't matter anymore. If his brother posed a threat to Metargo, Cain would have to handle him. He soon realized his systems were being hacked and power was slowly deteriorating from the Near Shadow.

''Apologizes sir but I am going to hack you. If you experience malfunctions it might be down to the fact that I am currently at this moment clearing your nano byte viruses and using the connection to power up Axl's mech up further. I am also learning about your large entity ship, called Titan.'' A person called over his speakers.

Oh no you don't.

Cain realized that if he activated the anti-hacking system it would take a majority of his power if not all of it. Still, he was ready to deal with that chance. He pressed a button that projected a keyboard with more than a hundred keys. Typing at a highly fast pace he directed the nano-bytes into a server that blocked the intel and instead pushed their powers to the Titan. It wasn't long until the Titan became invisible.

Going over to his intercom he messeged both King Saul and Queen Lunaria. "I've spent all my mechs power to insure the Titan become invisible. I hate to overstep my bounds but I think it is safe to say that we have to do a tactical retreat for the time being to regroup and change out mechs. Casualty possibility is high otherwise. Also, I am stranded for the time being. I don't mind staying behind as decoy but if you were to send me recovery, my coordinates are 5 Alpha 2.3.45.32.4.433."
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Axl looked steadily as the Titan seemed to disappear from sight. His frown appeared once again on his face. "Damn Metargo. I didn't even know the Near Shadow system was capable of shielding other devices. Vika, send word to Brown wing, telling them to be careful. It looks like Metargo might retreat but if they fired now, we wouldn't be able to hit a blind target."
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In all the commotion, Scoar found himself following Captain Raiyn Ire. She along with him and a man named Laurance Howe went to the only available mechs area. Before they launched Scoar asked Bibi to have all the heavy artillery taken from the mech. He wanted to be as fast as possible. "I know what the Captain said, but I need only a rifle and a beam saber. Come on. Let's do this quickly."
From the treble that happened earlier he knew that Cain was probably close or out of power. For the next 10 to 20 minutes he wouldn't be able to fly.
He waited for the Captain to leave first and then followed, giving her cover fire with his mechs standard rifle. He wasn't amused with the mechs speed at all. After being in the Near Shadow, flying in lower grade mechs felt like he was sitting still. However, the loss of some of the heavy art. was a good boost. He was able to maneuver at an acceptable rate. Once the ground he gave cover fire until they reached the Lion team. Once there he said, "Okay, this is where we separate. I'm going to catch up to Cain and make sure he's safe. Contact my father for further orders."

He then zoomed backwards to where Cain had landed, keeping close to the ground so that he wouldn't be an easy target.
................................................................................................................................................
Cain sat inside of his mech waiting for the recover time to finish. '1 hour' is what was displayed on his screen. He didn't know if that was exactly accurate because the time hadn't changed in the last 15 minutes. Giving a sigh his eyes traveled to the scouter. It was picking up 2 duplicate Benjlakki mechs. He groaned a little and opened the cockpit. He jumped down and hid behind the the Near Shadows under. If there really were two Benjlakki's coming, he was going to be ready.

Kal had been providing some ground support but he knew he was running low on missiles and was only down to two air to air missiles and then all he had left was his energy weapons. Suddenly though he recieved an order to reinforce the battle by the Titan after the code orange had been called.


Bringing his fighter to mach 4 he raced toward the battle as he approached the dropped blow mach 1 and was traveling just fast enough to remain airbourn he was a target like this but in reality he just looked to be having engine troubles. He roatated the craft to face the massive sonic cannon ship in the distance and brought up his targeting.

Flipping switches he activated the rails on his craft. He could hear the humm and see purple jets of electricity pass between the rails at an increasing frequency. E-WEB WEAPON ARMED AND CHARGED. He heard his ships AI say. Pausing he made one final check on his alignment with the sonic cannon ship before he pressed the trigger. His entire ship lurched as a large ball of electricity was flung towards the sonic cannon ship. If the electricity hit the ship it would most likely wreak havoc on any unhardened electronics. Also upon impact it would release a secondary electronic burst in the form of lightning.

"You're not the only ones with fancy new toys." Kal said with a smirk. After firing he sped back up to Mach two and looked for a new firing position he knew he could get off at least one or two more shots with this thing before it over heated plus he needed to collect some damage specs on this weapon.

Getting tired of the damned Benjilakki's persistent assault and chase, Alan is slowly getting consumed by irritation. "Damn this pilot! How stubborn can he be!? Why won't he just piss off somewhere and leave me alone!?" His tantrum ended abruptly when the enemy pilot got even closer. If he thought about it, the pilot will soon overcome the gap between them, and by the time he actually realizes it, the pilot will be - "Gah! Too much thinking hurts my brain!" And a shot hit directly at his right shoulder. A burned shot now replaces the same dull dark green, but as if magic was in work, it slowly 'repairs' itself and it became just like the same again.

"Okay, screw this! I'm just gonna use that! I don't even care anymore!" His mech brought down it's huge rifle and started flying off, leaving behind some rifle bits behind to distract the enemy. The mech flexibly maneuvered in the sky, and somewhere in his flight, it made a rather risky action. With the rifle bits disrupting every moment, Alan was sure that the enemy would be somewhere behind chasing for him. Dean took great care into not letting any of the bits hit while observing the enemy's action.

This is when Alan pulled his handles hard enough to force the mech to brake completely. Moving its legs up as if forming a 'C', the thrust fires off at a high output. The entire mech was moving backwards at a speed that might or might not compare with an Eagle. Nonetheless, it was fast. Just as the action was initiated, the rifle bits stopped its shooting and formed a circle around the barrel of the rifle the mech was still holding. It started moving around in circles like a gatling gun. The shield bits did the same, only a bit outer than the rifle bits. As if making a tunnel, the shield bits fanned itself outwards while the rifle bits was still moving. With a shout yell to no one in particular, Alan started his last assault on his enemy.

"EAT THIS! TORNADO CANNON!"(Alan has a bad sense of naming and also has a habit of naming his attacks/possessions)

He clicks on the button on his handle, and immediately, the rifle fired. But, that was not all. The rifle bits all followed the same motion and fired as well, only that it's surrounding the main beam and it didn't stop until the rifle stopped. The shield bits was there to help him aim, so Alan said. But it really serves no purposes whatsoever and is there to beautify his attack. However, the attack itself is not something to be dismissed easily. Because of the rifle's original high output of powerful concentrated beam cannon, it's attacks are always very destructive. Yet, unlike other cannons, his does not affect anything outside of the range. Once you step even a millimeter away from it, you will have next to no damage. That is where the rifle bits come in.

The attack, although highly noticeable from close range because of Alan's tendency to shout the title of the attack before firing (Where it will then take up even a second to fire, and a second in war is a huge difference), it is very deadly when dealt from a far range, where the enemy can not predict his next shot.

The shot was ultimately dodged in the end, and it headed straight into the deeper parts of the battlefield, where plenty of Benjilakkis and Metargos fought against each other. Perhaps it was fate or she was just lucky, Cecilia saw the shot coming. Her battle with the new enemy that replaced her old one wasn't going as well, as her attacks wasn't dealing much attack unlike earlier. "What the hell is with the thickness!? Why can't I break this bastard like that one just now!?" She tried to distract the enemy with her fangs and take a chance to strike with her blade. But the armor was thick enough to actually part of her attack and by the time she could inflict any deeper strikes, the pilot had already noticed her presence and shooed her away like a fly.

She decided to make use of the attack coming at her directly. She lured the opponent into a position where she could block the sight of the attack enough for it to reach the enemy and make a direct hit then for her to escape in time for that to happen. A moment passed and she already had the instincts telling her that the attack was close enough for her to escape. But at the last moment, her handles was jammed midway floating sideways and with what happened, she expected it and braced for impact. The beam barely scratched her left arms at first, which relieved her, but then came a sudden barrage of lighter attacks. While flying midair, the wind somehow helped her by blowing towards her direction and she avoided most of the attack.

However, the same can't be said to the ones in the way of the attack, as many explosions came right after the beam passed by her. "How in the world did I get hit so many times!?" She tried asking herself that, but with the way her mech is now, she need to regroup and get it repaired. Better safe than sorry, she thought to herself. While her initial opponent was confused by the attack, she took the chance and slipped past him, going back to the resupply area nearby.

---

---

"Your going to need to launch in the next 30 seconds sir"
Jin-giro with a quick nod of the head to the flight operator who had just prepped his mech for departure quickly climbed into his pilot cabin flipping several switches initiating cabin pressurization along with the flight prep sequence.

"This is the real deal Jin, not a simulation." He thought to himself with the commanding officer's voice playing over his cockpits PA system as he rose to flight deck

"Your objective is to fly in and assist the Titan along with the remaining soldiers who accompany it in their retreat. You will be using the Lighting Striker mod for this mission, and remember pilot failure is not an option"

"Never is..." were the last words Jin-giro spoke before throwing the thruster controls forward and activating the overdrive function which violently threw his body back into his seat but launched his mech from 0 to mach 1 speeds in a matter of seconds.
60 seconds later Lighting Striker Champ's external boosters were completely drained and fell off into the crystal blue water that he now found himself hovering over. A few 100 meters before him lay the fruits of the battle that was still in full swing.

After taking in the horrific sight of death and destruction before his eyes Jin opened a private channel to the Titan warship "Titan, come in this is GAT-01A2R Slaughter Dagger, I am approximately 370 meters east of your position, I request that all units move toward this direction for evac. I will be covering your escape with two type 70-31 Electromagnetic Cannons" during his transmission he had already begun charging up his cannons to temporarily neutralize the enemy infantry beach units which seemed to be converging on the beached Titan war ship.

With a loud whirring sound the cannons reached full charge and Jin released two massive EMP blasts targeted toward the inbound enemy units, completely short circuiting most of the lesser units and causing total system reboot in the other units.
"That should give them enough time to take off " he thought after evaluating his handy work

"Who else wants some" No sooner before Jin finished his rhetorical question did a a squadron of Benjlakki fighters begin closing in on his position and with a quick targeting adjustment and another whirring blast of EMP energy the powerless aircraft were sent nosediving into the ocean below.

A small flashing icon appeared across Jin's HUD display "Warning! two shots remaining before mandatory cool down sequence"
"Good to know " He thought to himself as he began charging for his next shot.

Collaborative post with ZacharyTC

Kyle saw the Neutranurse come out some time after he reentered the battle using a Lama Rossa. He thought the aesthetics of that repair mech were rather cheesy for a Metargo mech. (Then again, so were those on the Sailor-Multi and Sailor-Mate.) Then again, despite the goofy appearance, it was efficient. It was partly because of the wacky designs that it lasted for so long, since it has been regarded, at times, as not a major threat. Then again, the enemies who typically did not take Barnett or Minmei's mechs seriously were inexperienced pilots.

With that in mind, he flew to Minmei's side and told her on the comm channel, "I'll keep the hounds at bay, Minmei. With the battle this intense, it's suicide to be out here alone." Just then, a Sabre Bleu showed up, beam blades activated, heading right for the Neutranurse. "Look out!"

He got in front and slashed at the hilt of the enemy's beam sword on that attempted a stab, disabling the weapon. "These guys are tough! Would not expect anything less from the country that, 70 years ago, literally invented mechs and mech unit warfare, not to mention built its military reputation on utter conquest in retaliation for attacks made on them! Benjlakk should never be underestimated!" All the while he mentioned all that, he entered a lethal dance to bring down the Sabre Bleu before him. Soon enough, Kyle finally stabbed it in the cockpit. From there, he escorted Minmei as she did repairs and rescues. Any Benjlakki mech that came her way would have to contend with Kyle in his Lama Rossa.

Minmei’s brow furrowed with Kyle’s comments regarding Benjlakki. She knew that the nation was accomplished but she simply felt Metargo was better. Such a stubborn girl about some things and docile about others. She was raised to believe Metargo was the best nation out there and that made its citizens the best as well in her perspective. She knew it was an unfair assumption but she chose to snub the Benjakki nation because that was what she was taught to do.

Minmei let out a tired sigh, “Thanks for the assistance and the history lesson Kyle. Maybe when this travesty of a battle is over you can send the Benlakki fan mail. I’m sure they’ll love it. I’m almost done with repairs on the Mech’s booster engine. He should be good to fly in about 30 seconds.” Neutranurse’s electronic voice alerted Minmei, “Repairs to Mech No. 8273 complete. Booster engine repaired.”

Minmei communicated to the soldier inside the now repaired mech. “You’re good to fly properly now, Private. Are you alright in there?”

The young man smiled gratefully, “Yes Minmei, I’m fine thanks to you two. Kyle thanks for having Minmei’s back while she repaired my Mech. We could’ve been finished there. I owe you one man!” The soldier said excitedly.

Minmei replied, “Kyle, my knight in shining armor. I suppose I owe you a drink later.” Then Neutranurse picked up a signal on an incoming attacker. Minmei had Neutranurse quickly maneuver in front of Lama Rossa and commanded Neutranurse to erect the Neutra-Wall. The enemy mech broke it’s arm on impact with the sturdy Neutra-wall. “See Kyle, Neutranurse isn’t without her charms. I guess we’re even now huh.” Neutranurse flew closer to the enemy mech and hit it hard with a swift melee attack. The enemy took considerable damage and fell out of the sky.

“I have two more units to repair. Kyle are you still willing to escort Neutranurse a bit more?” Minmei replied with a shy smile. She Thought Kyle was quite cute but she didn’t really feel he had any attraction to her. If he had shown any sign of interest in her she’d clam up as soon as she noticed it.


Kyle gritted his teeth at the thought of 'fan mail'. One thing she should know about him by now: he has no pride for any country, not since he lost his entire family to that meltdown; his parents to its explosion, his sister to a fatal illness resulting from it. He only wanted to live a life away from street life and the reminder of the loss of his family (that being, nuclear plants), that was all. However, a drink did not sound bad. He could not tell her his response right away, though, since he still had enemy mechs to deal with trying to get near Neautranurse.

Kyle said to her. "Why do you think I came towards you, in the first place!? And, we can talk about a drink later! Don't let your guard down!"

---

---

"This is Caprtain Ire, of the Titan. Forward your coordinates to Admiral Preston so he can give the orders to retreat from there. He will want to regroup at that point before taking an alternate route into Benjlakki territory."

"Captain Ire I have direct orders to lead you and your soldiers back to friendly soil and thats what I plan to do, the orders I have to carry supersede yours, so if you would be so kind as to follow them." The tone in Jin voice was stern and that of commanding officer even though she outranked him. Now down to one shot before mandatory cool down Jin hesitantly scanned for a group of enemy targets to fire upon making sure to stay on the outskirts of the battlefield. The last thing He wanted was to have to engage in real combat.

Watching all that was occurring on the beach from his location and listening to the Metargo frequency channel Jin overheard the chatter between what seemed a young boy and the captain who were fighting within the vicinity of the beach.

"Captain, there is an entire group of enemy Mech's incoming. I have one on my tale so I shall proceed with evasive maneuvers"

"Ma’am, this does not make any sense. Scans reveal that the enemy Mech's are amphibious types with little prowess at Mech combat, why would the Benjlakki send these to engage us?

"Why isn't she responding?" Jin thought to himself as he watched the two. What occurred next brought only two emotion Anger & Courage

With his eyes locked on the captain Jin could only watch as an enemy mech destroyed hers in a fiery explosion presumably killing her instantly. Jin rushed immediately in to provide his assistance to the now captain-less soldiers.

"Mayday, Mayday the captain is down, I repeat the captain is down! Requesting immediate assistance!" blasted over the Metargo frequency.

"Great, cause a mass panic why don't you" He said to himself while attempting to open a private line to Admiral Preston to fulfill the captains last request.

"Admiral Preston this is the pilot of the GAT-01A2R Slaughter Dagger Jin-Giro on special assignment to help coordinate and facilitate an immediate retreat, Im sure you've heard of Captain Ire's unfortunate death but it is my duty to inform you that you are now the commanding officer who must lead the soldiers back to friendly soil, I am currently on route to the titan for a weapons swap and I will forward you my coordinate when I touch down on board." Again His voice was stern and that of commanding officer even though the Admiral also out ranked him.

Shortly after sending his transmission to Admiral Preston Jin reached the hanger of the titan firing his last EMP blast at a group of the amphibious attackers to cover his entrance and further weaken the enemies forces. Immediately he called for a weapons swap for Champ, purging his Lightning Striker armaments.

"Sword Striker modifications stat!" Time was of the essence or at least thats how he perceived it as he barked out orders to the Titan's hanger mechanics. A 15.78 meter Anti-ship Sword was attached to Champs back along with a left shoulder pauldron/beam boomerang combo and a Panzer Eisen" Rocket Anchor which was also attached to the left arm.

Now that the modification were complete Jin swiftly exited the Titan hanger making sure to grab a beam rifle with his left hand and drawing his anti ship sword with his right, as he exited he cut down two enemy units who were attempting to rush the hanger doors upon his exit.

Looking at Cain fly away with the help of another mech, Axl glared angrily at his monitor. He sat there for awhile unitil he was ready to shrug the whole thing off. Giving a sigh he listened to Vika's analysis of the whole thing that went down.

"I told you it was a waste of time to try to hack the Near Shadow. You could've gotten hurt or something. It's not a good idea to chase the enemy at this time. Let's just regroup with the Brown Wingers and see what their next move is. Maybe they might retreat too."

Axl piloted the Beta Shadow over to the Brown Wing teams position on the field. He changed his comm command to target one of the crews mechs.

"Zechariah ... Is this Zechariah s comm link. Whatever. Listen. What are we going to do now that Metargo has started to retreat? Are we gonna chase them or regroup?"

He laid back in his chair tapping his fingers on the side of the arm rest. "Haaaaaa." He let out an overdone sigh. "Vika I wish you had message programming. My back hurts." He said grumpily. "You do have your uses. Hacking into the Near Shadow caused it to go offline for a while, but still..." He looked to his side. "I wish I had a masseuse or something right now."
................................................................................................................................................

Once they were back on the Titan, Cain took the unconscious girl over his arms and brought her off the ship.

"What should I do with her?" He asked, looking at Scoar with question on his face.

"Hmm." Scoar shrugged. "Just take her to the infirmary for now. It's small enough so you can guard her there. I, on the other hand, am going to call my father with the report."
"Gotcha." Cain said heading back to the elevator.

Once he was out of sight, Scoar went to the nearest comm receiver and called his dad. "Dad, we lost the Titan's captain in that last collision. Other than that, everyone seems to be safe.... for the most part I guess. In other news, Cain captured a soldier from Benjlakks side. From what he tells me, she may have an alteration in her Genetic makeup. What should we do with her now? Cain injected her with the sleeping chemical but I'm not sure how long she'll be in that state for."
................................................................................................................................................

Cain walked into the infirmary room and saw that Barnett was up.

"Oh. Miss Barnett. I'm sorry if I woke you. I just have to put this girl in here." He said thinking that he'd woke her.

Cain gently put the Benjlakki woman's body on the empty bed in the room and sat down on a chair in between both beds.
"So." He said quietly. "Are you feeling better?"

Jin was still in some what of a rage mode for being dragged into combat due to the death of Captain Ire, hacking down every enemy in range even managing to land a few shots with his beam rifle. He just knew he was going to get an ear full from command when he got back to base so for the time being every enemy mech he cut down or shot relieved him a little on the inside.

Piercing his sword into the cabin of an enemy mech and using its metallic carcass to shield himself from enemy fire, Jin activated his quick boost thrusters to close in on this next target and after getting within a few meters he raised his rifle and fired decapitating and destroying another Benjlakk mech, but this time he noticed something. Some Benjlakk forces stopped firing at him and had begun falling back and organizing a retreat of their own.

"Oh no you don..." Jin caught himself trying not to let his fighting past take him over again. "Wait this is just what we needed" he exclaimed with a brief moment of joy

"Where is Admiral Zane? someone needs to lead these men and women, and command is going to wonder whats taking me so long." After taking a second to contemplate Jin made a major decision and punched in his PA authorization codes

"All Metargo forces in the immediate area this is junior command tactician Jin-giro, pilot of the GAT-01A2R Slaughter Dagger I have orders for you all to convene on the Titan for immediate evac. I repeat do not pursue the enemy forces." His voice rang over the Metargo private channel

Zane fought hard to protect the Sonic Cannon from further damage. The fleet was retreating and Zane could see that Minmei and Kyle had successfully rescued several allied mechs from harm’s way. Zane patched himself into the com device of the Sonic Cannon. “Sonic Cannon this is Admiral Preston of the Hyaku Shiki. You’re clear to cease Operation Azaka and head home. I’ll remain and cove your retreat. Oh, and operator please make sure Azaka doesn’t do anything rash and follow me out here in an attempt to help me alright.” Zane said with a wink to the Sonic Cannon Operator.

Zane received a transmission "Admiral Preston this is the pilot of the GAT-01A2R Slaughter Dagger Jin-Giro on special assignment to help coordinate and facilitate an immediate retreat, Im sure you've heard of Captain Ire's unfortunate death but it is my duty to inform you that you are now the commanding officer who must lead the soldiers back to friendly soil, I am currently on route to the titan for a weapons swap and I will forward you my coordinate when I touch down on board." Jin’s voice was stern and that of commanding officer even though the Admiral also out ranked him.

Zane cringed at the thought of Captain Ire's passing. It was unfortunate to loose such a good captain like this. After a small moment of hesitation he was ready to respond, “GAT-01A2R Slaughter Dagger Jin-“ he said as an enemy mech fired on the Hyaku Shiki with heavy cannon fire. “Shit… I guess a response will have t wait until my hasty new playmate is quelled.” Zane said as he returned cannon fire. He moved swiftly to the right and flew downward and ascended in front of the enemy mech and cut it in half with his beam sword. The enemy mech exploded with a bright flash. “An eye for an eye. That was for Captain Ire.” Zane said solemnly.

"All Metargo forces in the immediate area this is junior command tactician Jin-giro, pilot of the DGAT-01A2R Slaughter Dagger I have orders for you all to convene on the Titan for immediate evac. I repeat do not pursue the enemy forces." His voice rang over the Metargo private channel.

Zane let out a sigh, “Gosh who’s the dumb blonde today?” He said to himself sarcastically. Zane opened his com link and responded. “Sorry about that delay Slaughter Dagger, I ran into a spot of trouble as I was about to respond. Follow through with the retreat. I want this executed in no more than ten minutes. And good call Jin.” Zane said with a smile.

Azaka Oikawa

Azaka watched from the sonic cannon monitors as the Hyaku Shiki took the cannon fire and then destroyed the attacking mech. He couldn’t help but to hold his breath in anticipation. He was hoping that there was something more he could do for Zane but he knew he’d only make things worse by trying to help. In the end Zane got himself out of trouble anyway. This fact was much to Azaka’s relief.

"All Metargo forces in the immediate area this is junior command tactician Jin-giro, pilot of the GAT-01A2R Slaughter Dagger I have orders for you all to convene on the Titan for immediate evac. I repeat do not pursue the enemy forces." His voice rang over the Metargo private channel.

Azaka heard the transmission and turned to the rest of the Sonic Cannon’s crew. “Great job everyone! We put on a stellar performance out there! The enemy didn’t know what hit them. Let head home.”

Karen Lunaria Metargo

Karen used her mech’s shielding to cover the retreating mechs so that they wouldn’t sustain any further enemy fire. She was glad that this battle was drawing to an end. It seemed that Metargo learned a valuable lesson in the results of pushing one’s weight around. “This is Queen Karen Lunaria Metargo aboard the Red Moon. My shields are covering the escape route. I shall return to the Titan in just a few moments. Minmei has confirmed that most allied units have returned.” With that the queen headed back to the Titan.

Barnett Belvedere

Barnett watched as the door had opened to the infirmary and in walked Cain with a sleeping woman. Barnett blushed a little as she saw Cain, she always thought Cain was attractive. However her blushing ceased when she saw the woman. “Who the heck is she?” Barnett thought to herself.

"Oh. Miss Barnett. I'm sorry if I woke you. I just have to put this girl in here." Cain said thinking that he'd woke her.

Cain gently put the Benjlakki woman's body on the empty bed in the room and sat down on a chair in between both beds.
"So." He said quietly. "Are you feeling better?"

Barnett smiled brightly. “Yes I am. At this point the doctor said that if I stick with the pain killers then I should be up and about in a day or so. What actually gotten me down is this lying in bed while the others are fighting out there. I just wish I could be doing something useful ya know.” Barnett brushed her bangs out of her face and looked up at Cain. “So Cain who is this woman you’ve brought here? I don’t recognize her at all, and I’m pretty good with faces.” Barnett asked while looking curiously.

Jin had ceased fighting and was now in the process of facilitating the loading of the Titan when he received a transmission.

“Sorry about that delay Slaughter Dagger, I ran into a spot of trouble as I was about to respond. Follow through with the retreat. I want this executed in no more than ten minutes. And good call Jin.” He could hear the approval in the admirals voice and this brought a slick smile to his face.

He Opened his com link and began his reply "No problem sir, just glad to hear you're still with us, I will make sure the mechanics leave a space in the hanger for your arrival." There was a sense of relief in his voice as he finished his transmission

Jin called out for one of the deck hands to bring the head mechanic to him and he replied "Oh you mean Bibi?" and laughed slightly shaking his head "Oh she's gonna chew you out" the deck hand said laughing again. "But sure ill tell her you send for her" and with that the deck hand disappeared onto the ship. "Whats he mean she's gonna chew me out? I don't even know the woman." Jin though to himself trying to remember if he knew the name.

After giving further thought to the deck hands comment Jin just began to mentally prepare himself for the multiple tongue lashings he was going to receive in this day but his thoughts drifted as he watched the wounded and tired solider march on board some attempting to hold back tears of joy that they would live to see another day and others holding back tears of sorrow for theirs lost comrades.

Saul was relieved the battle was over. Of course, he knew that thousands of troops perished in the amphibious assault that ultimately ended in failure, something which placed him in a deeper internal depression. He hid such depression so well, only his wife, son, and daughter knew about it. To the rest of the Metargo Kingdom, he had a charismatic aura about him. Seeing Karen return back to the ship safely brought a soft smile to him as he walked up to her and hugged her. "Karen..."

---

Bibi saw the Champ model and realized right away it was the same pilot. She heard what she was going to be asked to do, so she simply walked up to the pilot during the conversation he was having after she told one of the mechanics to prepare a spot for the admiral. The mechanic in front of her next noticed that and then introduce her to him.

"Pilot of the Slaughter Dagger, here is the Head Mechanic, Ensign Durrans." Whispering, the man added, "Her full name is Bibiana Armine Durrans. She's the eldest daughter of and eventual successor to Duke Adelias Durrans of Lexcorvi. As you know, Dukes and Duchesses often act as advisors to the royal court. Anyway, whatever you do, don't refer to her by any titles referring to a noblewoman. She gets a bit touchy about her status. If not refer to her by her military rank, just call her 'Bibi', and you'll be fine." That same man next went over to Laurence Vincent Howe and whispered the same warning to him about Bibi.

Meanwhile, Bibi glared at Jin while saying, "So, you're the guy who's been doing my job when it comes to my mechanics division on this ship! I am familiar with that model, by the way! I kind of have to be! I'm the one who laid the schematics for the prototype and helped build it, too! Next time, just request the switch to the mode of your choice, and I'll take it from there, all right?"

After she got her answer and told him she already prepared a place for Zane Preston's mech, she next walked up to her fiancé and suddenly, her expression was a bit softer. She realized it was an arranged thing, so she could not exactly blame the boy. That is not to say she would suddenly warm up to him. That would take time. "Laurence, my office is this way." Her office was one typical for a military mechanic on a ship, which also acted as part of a living quarters for multiple people (of course, there were separate bunks in the adjacent room). "This is the two of us will be staying in between battles. I personally requested that from Captain Ire, before the now-over battle, that is. We're engaged, anyway, right? So, we might as well get used to that fact." She washed her hands before going up to the fridge, then brought out two vanilla protein shakes and shook them well before setting one on the table next to the desk. "You'll need the supplements, trust me. Being in the military really takes a lot out of you." Sitting down in one chair and waiting for him to sit in the other, she asked with an arched eyebrow, "Not so glamorous once you're actually in a fight for your life, is it?" Shrugging, she added, "Well, that's reality for ya."

---

While Aaron used colorful language to describe how he and Lion Team lost several good pilots to a bunch of rookies, Kyle walked beside Minmei with a clam, yet stressed-out demeanor. Placing a hand on his forehead with a disgruntled sigh, he said, "I could sure use a drink, about now. Still want to do that?"

---

Zechariah and Benjamin made it back to the Seraphim with the rest of the remaining Brown Wings that were accounted for. Still, there was no sign of Chemda nor Adira. What happened to them? When Zechariah spotted Captain McKenzie, a burning anger seethed in him. Walking up to him, Zech said in a clam, but stern voice, "Captain, that mech pilot was already out of the fight. If she did not intend what she said to me to be a bluff, I would have already been dead." Benjamin pulled Zechariah aside and shouted at him with, "Zech, this is a war! This is what we do, we destroy the enemy! Forget that, and you're a dead man!" Pushing Ben away, Zechariah asked him, "What makes you think I wanted to be a part of any war, to begin with? When was the last time you heard me express any interest in that?"

With that, he walked away to leave his older brother to his thoughts. Meanwhile, Ben noticed Catrina nearby and told her, "Don't worry about my brother. He's just stressed out, is all."

---

Back on the Titan, after letting go of Karen, Saul spotted Jin in the aftermath of Bibi talking to that pilot. The King went up to him and said, "Bibi is often like that. You get used to it, after a time." He then said to Karen with a soft smile, "Oh! I almost forgot that you had something to say to this young man. I better check on Scoar and tell Viki of the results of the battle."

First, he gave his message on the results to Viki, which went like this:

My daughter, while the whole family is safe, for the moment, the amphibious assault on the beaches of the Gatwashiim peninsula nearest our country ultimately failed. The amphibious troops were all but decimated by the enemy garrison, roughly totaling a number of 6555 foot soldiers, 210 pilots, and 15 ships. Elsewhere, such as the southern-most shorelines of Benjlakki territory, the weaker resistance resulted in advancement further inland, though not without reinforcements from different places within Benjlakk arriving to try to counter them. Progress in this war has been made, but for how long from now, I cannot say. These matters are never so simple. The fleet I am with still has 21 ships, despite the heavy losses. I suspect neither this fleet nor the enemy one we face will be capable of any fierce combat for a while, considering the damage most ships on both sides sustained. Repairs may take at least a week, if not more. After that, we shall plan an alternate route inland to continue the military campaign. I pray to Marlextov that this war end soon, lest internal problems within the kingdom become our downfall.

---

Adira took a risk and activated the electronic map for a brief moment. Once she saw that the battle was over, she realized that this was an opportune time to test her stealth while piloting a mech. She took a guess as to where the enemy would go and took an alternate route to get there. Metargo territory was not that far, and with the mountains in the nearest enemy territory on the other side of the sea, radars would have difficulty locating her if she flew in low. Next stop, Fort Ordimarga. I'm not going back to the Seraphim without my sister.

---

Speaking of whom, Chemda was slowly regaining consciousness, yet it was barely noticeable. She had yet to be able to move, though she could hear a couple people speaking in the Metargo language. Although the words were similar to those in the Benjlakki language, some she could not comprehend everything. What she could gather was the male voice apologized for possibly waking the female one's up, while the female said something about being down while everyone else was fighting. Were they talking about the aftermath of the battle?

---

Field Marhsal Constantini received word that the defensive was successful and also heard about Vance's success in taking out three Leo Vermilions by himself. Knowing that at least one squadron needed more pilots, he personally went on speakers to make an announcement:

Listen up, boys! We may have taken some significant losses during this defensive, but thanks to everyone involved, we managed to repel the enemy amphibious assault. I would personally like to congratulate Private 1st Class Vance in defeating three Leo Vermilions all by himself with a Praetorian. He is now two kills away from being a mech ace, and his skills as a pilot, I believe, the Benjlakki Republic Navy could use. Therefore, I am requesting a transport and escort be made ready for his trip to the Seraphim, where Rear Admiral Lionel of the 101st Fleet shall be informed of his achievement and requested transfer.

One of the mechanics approached Jin with a woman who seemed about his age but carried herself as that of someone who was raised in high society. "Pilot of the Slaughter Dagger, here is the Head Mechanic, Ensign Durrans." the man said giving a former introduction, next the man added whispering, "Her full name is Bibiana Armine Durrans. She's the eldest daughter of and eventual successor to Duke Adelias Durrans of Lexcorvi. As you know, Dukes and Duchesses often act as advisors to the royal court. Anyway, whatever you do, don't refer to her by any titles referring to a noblewoman. She gets a bit touchy about her status. If not refer to her by her military rank, just call her 'Bibi', and you'll be fine." this shocked Jin at first, not because he couldn't tell she was of an important lineage but that she disdained being referred to by her noble title's. With one eye brow raised Jin offered a salute to the woman as the man walked off to go talk to a younger looking male pilot.

Bibi glared at Jin while saying, "So, you're the guy who's been doing my job when it comes to my mechanics division on this ship!" she began to lecture as if she had prepared a speech. "Doing you're Job? No" Jin tried to begin to explain but the woman just continued to lecture him. "I am familiar with that model, by the way! I kind of have to be! I'm the one who laid the schematics for the prototype and helped build it, too!" "And i am indebted to you for that, its a wonderful piece of machinery but due to the severity of the situation at the time..." again Jin was cut off from talking as Bibi finished her rant "Next time, just request the switch to the mode of your choice, and I'll take it from there, all right?" "Uhmm sure" Jin said knowing that was the answer she required, and finally content Bibi turned around and began walking away. Jin opened his mouth to inquire about Admiral Zane space on the ship but before he uttered a word Bibi answered him assuring she would have a space for him available on the titan.

Slightly ah struck as he stood in silence and watched the well figured woman walk away to the young man the mechanic was previously talking to. "She's quite a piece of work" Jin said to himself with a slight smile as he watched Bibi walk away.

While eyeing Bibi from the spot she left him in the King came up to Jin saying, "Bibi is often like that. You get used to it, after a time." Jin was surprised and slightly star struck to see the king and Queen standing right beside him although Jin didn't care much for titles, most of his life he had only seen pictures and heard recordings of them from the streets he lived off of. Saul then said to his wife with a soft smile, "Oh! I almost forgot that you had something to say to this young man. I better check on Scoar and tell Viki of the results of the battle." and with that he walked away.

"Queen Karen, you have something to speak to me about?" Jin wast expecting this and was hoping to not receive a royal chewing out, although it would just add to his collection of the day.

Sandra watched as the enemy began their retreat it seemed the battle was finally over at least for now. "Bring the fleet to a full stop, And damaged ships I want pulled from the lines and sent to the docks for repairs. " Sandra said to one of her officers she knew this was a victorious moment but who knew when the enemy would return. She had received Zech's message about Brownwings team's status.

Making her way to the main hanger she went to greet the group. "Lieutenant You have the bridge." She said to the First officer there before she left.

Sandra arrived in the hangar moments after Zechariah had stormed off but she spotted Captain Mckenzie and walked over to him. "Captain Excellent work out there." She said, she knew he was upset over his torpedo run but overall the mission was a success though she was completely unaware of the missing mech pilots at this point.

She had recieved word of Vance's success and as she was talking to Leo kept an eye out for the transport that he was to arrive in,
-----


Kal brought his fighter back into the hangar and jumped out. He was glad this battle was over and thankfully it seemed it was a success.

While Aaron used colorful language to describe how he and Lion Team lost several good pilots to a bunch of rookies, Kyle walked beside Minmei with a clam, yet stressed-out demeanor. Placing a hand on his forehead with a disgruntled sigh, he said, "I could sure use a drink, about now. Still want to do that?"

Minmei looked at Kyle and let out a sigh. “Yeah I could use a drink about now. That last battle was quite depressing…” She said. The two went the resident bar aboard the Titan. They sat at the bar itself and the bartender asked the two “What will it be?”

Minmei replied, “I’ll have a cosmo please.” She then turned to kyle, “Order what you like Kyle.” She said. She was a bit down. Shehad such high hopes for that battle and they were utterly dashed. Minmei said to Kyle while they waited for their drinks, “So it seems you’ve a lot of respect for the Benjlakki. I gotta admit they are brave and not as easy as I thought they’d be. The upper crust of Metargo always seems so confident when they talk about defeating the Benjlakki. I guess their pompousness was misplaced. Although I respect them more, I still dislike them.” Minmei sat staring at the neon lit wording that hung from the wall as she spoke. “Perhaps I should marry that politician my mother introduced me to and then convince him to move us someplace cozy and safe. He was nice and handsome, and at least I wouldn’t have to see this mess of a war straight on.” Minmei said with a sigh.

Karen Lunaria

Karen was most glad to feel her husband’s embrace and to have made it back safely. She knew it was a bit much for the queen to fight in a war, but she wanted to do whatever she could to help the troops. After letting go of Karen, Saul spotted Jin in the aftermath of Bibi talking to that pilot. The King went up to him and said, "Bibi is often like that. You get used to it, after a time." He then said to Karen with a soft smile, "Oh! I almost forgot that you had something to say to this young man. I better check on Scoar and tell Viki of the results of the battle."

Karen replied, “Alright dear. Send Viki my love.”

"Queen Karen, you have something to speak to me about?" Jin said as Karen approached him.

She smiled and he seemed surprised by it. “I am horrible with the military ranking system, please forgive me. May I call you Jin?” The queen asked politely. She then continued, “My husband and I, as well as Admiral Preston have been monitoring your progress for some time now, and we thought to ask of your help in a greater capacity. You’re of a brilliant tactical mind it seems and I wanted to ask if you would receive the bestowing of the Tactician’s rank for the Metargo Fleets. Admiral Preston said he could use the assistance form someone such as yourself and you were the perfect choice for recommendation. I agreed and so does Saul. Will you accept my offer Sir Jin?” Karen asked with her dainty voice.

Zane Preston and Azaka Oikawa

Zane had returned to the Titan and docked the Hyaku Shiki in the hanger. He saw Queen Karen speaking with Jin in the distance and smiled. He reoved his helmet and his blonde lock fell down to his shoulders. “Please say yes!” He called over to Jin from where he was. He then continued walking toward the hangar’s exit as he wiped the sweat from his brow. Azaka appeared in the doorway with a soft smile. Zane grinned and reached his hand out to Azaka to shake it but Azaka simply dashed toward Zane and locked him into a deep embrace.

“I was a little scared for you. Don’t be so reckless out there okay?” Azaka said to his lover.

Zane replied softly, “Alright. I’ll slow down on the heroics in the future.” The two shared a quick kiss and let go of each other. Zane continued, “Let’s grab a bite to eat songbird.” The two walked down the Tiatan hallways. “Honestly had you not been out there operating the Sonic Cannon, things would have been a hell of a lot worse. I’m glad you so stubbornly insisted on protecting me. We needed the help.” Zane said solemnly.

“Anything for you love. I’m sorry to hear about the loss of Captain Ire. I wish this war hadn’t happened. So many would still be alive. I plan to write a requiem song for the fallen. It’s the least I can do.” Azaka said as the two neared the restaurant.

Zane stopped short. Azaka turned around to see what was the matter. Zane replied, “No songbird, the least would be to continue living, for the sake of peace and those that died fighting for it. Pray to the heavens that we don’t those numbers.” Zane said quietly. He then took Azaka’s hand and led him into the restaurant.

Azaka grew increasingly worried about Zane. “Oh Zane… you look as if all the sorrow of Metargo is on your shoulders.” Azaka thought to himself.

The queen smiled as she began to speak to Jin. He gave a slight bow and Introduced himself as Jin-Giro

“I am horrible with the military ranking system, please forgive me. May I call you Jin?” The queen asked politely. "Why of course ma'am" he said slightly shocked at her politeness and sincerity. She then continued, “My husband and I, as well as Admiral Preston have been monitoring your progress for some time now, and we thought to ask of your help in a greater capacity. You’re of a brilliant tactical mind it seems and I wanted to ask if you would receive the bestowing of the Tactician’s rank for the Metargo Fleets." a look of surprise took over Jin's face as he couldn't believe what was happening, he was receiving a promotion from the errand boy scapegoat position he was currently stuck in back at the Metargo military base.

while Jin was still in disbelief Karen continued "Admiral Preston said he could use the assistance form someone such as yourself and you were the perfect choice for recommendation. I agreed and so does Saul. Will you accept my offer Sir Jin?” she asked with her dainty voice. "I'd be honored" he announced with the look of shock still labeled on his face. "So will I be staying onboard the Titan and operating out the command room here? he asked hopefully
"Please say yes so I don't had to go back to that hell hole and get chewed out by those idiots at HQ" He thought to himself.

This new position fulfilled Jin's deepest wish, the position that would allow him too end this war sooner rather than just fight in it under the command of his incompetent superiors.

The previous battle was quite hectic out there. The only upside was his involvement was minimal. Not that he could say he honestly cared about avoiding battle. After he was a soldier and chose the soldier's life, he knew the risks he would face. Though he won't look a gift horse in the mouth, and will count his blessings over not seeing much action. After Kal contacted him, Vance responded with a, "Thanks for the help!" He went to a repair station after Kal kept more of the LVs at bay. It was no sooner than he was escorted by other pilots back to the bay. With the Metargo's amphibious assault put at bay, he was placed on standby for further orders. Vance sat outside the Praetorian taking the time to have some rest. He kept a bottle of water to drink as he wiped the sweat off his brow.

He was bit of a nervous wreck. Surviving that battle out there, he could have been killed at anytime. His performance wasn't exactly professional, his mech suffered quite a bit of external damage. Not to mention his style of combat was more...impulsive than strategic. Not very well thought out, but Vance was pretty good about acting in the moment. He had the instinct of a soldier at least. That was enough today but if he faced a more skilled opponent...well he might not be sitting in the bay right now. The Field Marshal voice sounded over the bay. He actually praised Vance, wow he felt like a celebrity. Never thought he would be a war hero so soon! Though he may be getting ahead of himself.

Though being an Ace Pilot sounded good. Mech Ace Pilot Laurence Keenan Vance, yeah niiiice. Vance thought to himself as he gave a cocksure smile. It was then a group of Benjlakk Soldiers appeared. "Private First Class Vance!" One of them spoke. Vance quickly stirred and launched to his feet and saluted. "Yes sir!" Vance spoke hoping he wasn't in trouble. "At ease." The soldier spoke. Vance deflated as the man spoke, "We are your escort sir." "If you will please follow us to the transport where we will take you to the Seraphim." He spoke. Vance was confused, "If I may ask a question?" Vance asked. "Yes?" The soldier responded. "Why am I going to the Seraphim?" Vance asked. "Why?" "Because Field Marsahl Constantini has transferred you to the Seraphim, sir!" He answered. Vance was stunned.

He's heard of the Seraphim, quite the renown naval vessel. He didn't think he would be working for Captain Mckenzie. Vance nodded and followed the escort. They brought him to the transport which Vance docked and departed. A couple of ships kept pace with the transport as they came upon the Seraphim. Vance looked at the battleship and was more than a little anxious. He didn't think a transfer would come this soon. He was then brought aboard as he walked upon the deck of the Seraphim. It is quite the impressive ship. He just wondered why he was wanted in the first place?

((Sorry about the double post))