[Radio] Tightbeam radio transmission to Iris: You say, "*incoming message - encrypted freq*"

[Radio] Tightbeam radio transmission: Iris says, "*being the comm officer she is, Iris decrypts the incoming message frequency*"

[Radio] Tightbeam radio transmission to Iris: You say, "10.6 seconds. Impressive, my dear."

[Radio] Tightbeam radio transmission: Iris says, "Father!"

[Radio] Tightbeam radio transmission to Iris: Dr. Doppler sounds tired. "Yes. I know I don't normally call you...I hope this encryption is enough to keep unwanted ears out."

[Radio] Tightbeam radio transmission: Iris says, "I'm in my private quarters, no one's listening. Is there anything I can do for you?"

[Radio] Tightbeam radio transmission to Iris: Dr. Doppler sighs. "I must ask a favor of you. Would you deliver a message for me?"

[Radio] Tightbeam radio transmission: Iris says, "Sure!"

[Radio] Tightbeam radio transmission to Iris: You say, "If you would, tell Thomas that I am sorry. Double acted on his own, against direct orders and against my wishes. I would tell him myself, but I do not think he'll even acknowledge my radio."

[Radio] Tightbeam radio transmission: Iris says, "Okay. Anything else you want to tell him?"

[Radio] Tightbeam radio transmission to Iris: Dr. Doppler's voice tightens. "What he did was necessary. I accept that."

[Radio] Tightbeam radio transmission: Iris says, "Okay, I'll let him know."

[Radio] Tightbeam radio transmission to Iris: You say, "Danke."

[Radio] Tightbeam radio transmission to Iris: Dr. Doppler murmurs, "How many more, I wonder..."

[Radio] Tightbeam radio transmission: Iris says, "I don't know. I wish there weren't any more casualties."

[Radio] Tightbeam radio transmission to Iris: You say, "I fear that is a wish that will not soon be granted. The wolves smell blood, and thus they will persue to the bitter end."

[Radio] Tightbeam radio transmission to Iris: You say, "I know you do not believe in our cause, or in our methods. I will not ask you to change your point of view. I do hope, at least, that you can understand why we continue to fight for our beliefs."

[Radio] Tightbeam radio transmission: Iris says, "I do, I understand."

[Radio: (B) Mav-Main] Overclock laughs.

[Radio: (B) Mav-Main] Tactical Raccoon transmits, "Hm?"

[Radio: (B) Mav-Main] Overclock transmits, "Just another soldier for the empire. I love my job."

You enter the Poland.

Poland

A bustling area of commerce, the area around Warsaw has expanded not only out, but up. Poland now contains three of the ten highest aerial landing pads in the world, spreading out over the city like a trio of giant technofied palm trees. The shadows from the enormous landing pads shadow most of the downtown, making it a frightful labyrinth of shadows and darkness. Sprawling from the fledgling megalopolis is the rolling hills of Poland, heading out towards Russia, Germany and the seas.

Bit [Samurai] [M] Maverick Outpost

South <S> leads to Central Europe.

East <E> leads to European Russia.

West <W> leads to Germany.

North <N> leads to Baltic States.

Out to sea <O> leads to Baltic Sea.

Up <U> leads to Sky Above Eastern Europe.

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Tactical Raccoon transmits, "Someone's on the move."

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Dr. Doppler transmits, "Understood. Tactical squads, report for your duty shifts immediately."

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Inferno Phoenix transmits, "Reporting. I'll scramble as soon as Possible."

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Overclock transmits, "Be there in a flash. Got something to clean up first."

Shyster arrives from the Germany.

Shyster has arrived.

Crush Crawfish arrives from the Germany.

Crush Crawfish has arrived.

Maverick Hunter VTOL <Vorpal> has arrived.

[Radio: (D) Public] There is a loud, screeching burst of static over the global frequency. Several seconds long.

[Radio: (D) Public] Bass transmits, "Hm, I don't /see/ any monsters."

[Radio: (D) Public] Overclock transmits, "OOC: Hahahahah, win."

[Radio: (D) Public] Cassilda Coriolis transmits, "I didn't do it."

[Radio: (D) Public] Dr. Nathan Xiang transmits, "OOC: For those with the ability, it's a modemstyle information carrier wave - after decrypting several levels, it's five words in Chinese."

Inferno Phoenix arrives from the Germany.

Inferno Phoenix has arrived.

[Radio: (D) Public] Bass transmits, "OOC: Ye shall be as gods?"

[Radio: (D) Public] LightFamily Dr. Light transmits, "OOC: You totaly interupted my soaps. Light's useing his hacking."

[Radio: (D) Public] Dr. Nathan Xiang transmits, "OOC: Autumn Silver Failure Kingdom Earth"

[Radio: (D) Public] Shyster >> OOC: "Wo Se Ge Ben Dan."

[Radio: (D) Public] Bass transmits, "OOC: That was, uh, my second guess. Yeah. That's the ticket. >.>"

[Radio: (D) Public] Shyster >> (Okay, I lie, that translates into 'I am an idiot'.)

[Radio: (D) Public] Shyster >> OOC: Um, and Xiang, that'd be at least six or seven words.

[Radio: (D) Public] Dr. Nathan Xiang transmits, "OOC: Then there's six or seven words. :D"

Maverick Hunter VTOL <Vorpal> swoops down out of the cloudy sky, moving intently as it approaches the border between Poland and Germany at high speed. The transport itself may not be all that intimidating, but it is a sign of what is to come - once again, the Maverick Hunters are moving to liberate yet another block of countryside from the grasp of the Coalition. Given the speed of their descent, it looks like the Vorpal started out somewhere over Moscow, and has been diving in, using its increased momentum to avoid what is left of the defenses that the Mavericks have in place in Poland. However, as they approach the ground the airbrakes on the turbograv deploy, slowing it down to a more reasonable speed just before it makes its first touchdown. The ramp on the back drops open, allowing egress to those who are waiting inside patiently.

The Hunters have come to visit - and heaven help those who get in their way.

[Radio: (D) Public] Cassilda Coriolis transmits, "OOC: They shrunk through elfin magic. Not everyone knows Chinese irl!"

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Tactical Raccoon transmits, "Hunters."

[Radio: (D) Public] Snake from the Simpsons says, "All right, Time for a CRIME SPREE!"

Foucalt has arrived.

Dr. Cossack has arrived.

Liese Schreiner has arrived.

Alpha has arrived.

Auto has arrived.

[Radio: (A) Mav-Chat] *static* This is Poland Outpost 12...we've spotted the Vorpal! Deploying drones!

Cacophony Timberwolf has arrived.

Javelin Whitetail arrives from the Germany.

Javelin Whitetail has arrived.

Hunter Satellite's Gaze arrives from the Sky Above Eastern Europe.

Hunter Satellite's Gaze has arrived.

Signas has arrived.

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Crush Crawfish grumbles. "The Maverick Hunters are coming?"

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Bit transmits, "Let them come!"

Durandal has arrived.

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Dr. Doppler transmits, "Yes. Deploy all available personnel to the Eastern Front. We will not allow them another meter of ground!"

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Crush Crawfish transmits, "En Route."

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Shyster transmits, "Maveriikisu! SANJO!"

The vorpal opened its hatch, and one of the first out was Foucalt. He jumped, going into a free fall until he kicked on anti-grav, causing him to stop and hover in midair. That done, he whipped up his forcefield. He wasn't going to be taken by surprise. No sir. That done, he advanced, heading towards the OBJECTIVE!

The air warps around Foucalt as he creates a sphere of gravity around himself.

It's something that happens only in times of dire need. Or overwhelming numbers. It's an event so fearsome, so terrifying to those that oppose, many run from the field of battle before the first shot is fired. Who is this one, so powerful, as to send trained, hardened soldiers to tears?

"HOO HAA!", cries Auto, as he leaps from the Vorpal, his Battle Backpack firmly secured to his back, turning the normally peaceful android into a walking armory. "Prepare, fiends! While not as fearsome as my creation, Mac....

AUTO WALKS THE BATTLEFIEEEEEELDS!"

Ah, so close to the dishonored and occupied soil of Germany! Like some sort of revenant, Liese feels as if she is drawing strength from its nearness, and the nearness of its liberation. And thus, she comes soaring out, dressed appropriately for the occasion.

Which is to say, in black. And she's cackling, as well, like some kind of harpy - although she's a little too deep to be a properly feminine presence. She does grin as she swoops up to about ten meters height, looking around for the nearest concentration of forces - their flyover presumably kicked over the anthill.

Onyx Reptilia arrives from the Germany.

Onyx Reptilia has arrived.

Cacophony Timberwolf nearly squeals with delight as the signal is given to disembark. Yay! Blowing **** up time! Don't ask how she manages to get out of being belted in for the trip so quickly, but the wolfette does so, somehow managing to be one of the first Hunters at the ramp. Got to give the girl credit, she really loves her job, that's for certain. She doesn't even wait for the ship to land completely before she bounds out of the Vorpal and to the ground, crouching a bit to take the landing, an almost crazy grin on her muzzle. Her sonic cannons slide up into place, locking down over her shoulders, her arm blasters ready, missile pods primed and waiting... And her sound system already blaring to life to announce the Hunter's arrival.

o/~ Now look who's coming, yeah, Look who's back

Quick drop the bombshell straight to the track

The 21st century killing machine

Burnt on the inside, A five headed team.

Now I'm not the same, yeah, Cause you're not the same! And you're not the same, yeah, Cause I'm not the same!

And we're not the same, This could never be the same, And we just want to survive!

Get up, get up, get up, drop the bombshell! Get up, get up, this is outta control

Get up, get up, get up, drop the bombshell! Get up, get up, get gone!

Get up, get up, get up, drop the bombshell! Get up, get up, this is outta control

Get up, get up, get up, drop the bombshell! Get up, get up, get gone! o/~

Durandal leaps out of the Vorpal, the teather line spinning rapidly as the Hunter plumets towards Terra Firma. The eldest Matthews bungies slightly as the end of the line is reached, bringing his RX-7 Longarm Rifle to bear in all directions, scanning for any immediate signs of impending doom for the Vorpal. None found. Duran releases his restrains and falls the remaining distance to the ground, landing on his feet with a slight cracking of the pavement.

Overclock arrives from the Germany.

Overclock has arrived.

The Odessa Minor marches out from the Vorpal behind the others, taking its sweet time about it. Both shoulder cannons are locked in place on the shoulders of the power armor, already lightly glowing red-orange.

Accompanying the Odessa Minor onto the field are fifteen Sov-Bots; these evil anti-Servbots are completely red, featureless except for one glowing optic on the center of their `faces', and have terrible pincing claws.

As the Odessa Minor advances, it begins blasting forth with ordinance, sending bullets and plasma in the direction of the Maverick drones. The Sov-Bots fire their optic lasers at approaching enemies as well to ensure that the Odessa Minor is satisfactorily covered from enemy fire.

Signas arrives last from the ramp of the Vorpal, looking about as he surveys the battlefield to be. Not a bad spot, although the Mavericks might not get much mileage out of any suicide or scorched earth devices that they set in this barren landscape. With major battles launched first by the Irregular Overlords, then the Repliforce defeat of the Overlords, and then the subsequent reclaiming of this area by the Mavericks, there was little that had not been touched by the war.

It seemed that General had cheated. The Repliforce was always pulling the scenic vistas for their battles, while the Hunters were pulling the blasted and desolate landscapes. Signas needed to check the dice they were using to determine who was going to attack where.

Pressing a stud on his gauntlet, Signas makes some minor preparations. Because, for the moment, he comes in peace. Only if the Mavericks choose not to abandon their positions will this battle truly begin. And so... the ultimate defense.

Signas projects a Diplomatic Immunity field around himself.

[Radio: (D) Public] Signas transmits, "Mavericks! You are required to withdraw your forces from the nation of Poland - Immediately! This land is a sovereign territory, and we shall not allow you to oppress it any longer."

Auto misses Signas with his Under Arrest For Breaking A Law You Never Heard Of attack.

Alpha reaches for Cacophany's neck but she's out of the Vorpal before she can euthanize the poor reploid. Sighing a little, she leaps out soon afterwards, plummeting like a rock until she fans out her wings, catching a wave of wind, and flying down towards the Coalition forces, immolating some poor mechanical creature every so often with napalm. She usually would raise her barrier right about now, but she doesn't this time.

[Radio: (D) Public] Shyster transmits, "There are no Maverick forces in Poland. You're hallucinating, yo."

[Radio: (D) Public] The Book of Daryn transmits, "If you surrender, you'll be given complimentary t-shirts."

[Radio: (D) Public] Shyster transmits, "Just chill and pass da bong, brother."

[Radio: (D) Public] Crush Crawfish unleashes a string of curses.

[Radio: (D) Public] LightFamily Dr. Light transmits, "My. I did not know one could do that with a hammer and a ball of string."

Midnight arrives from the Germany.

Midnight has arrived.

Javelin Whitetail has reconnected.

Midnight has disconnected.

[Radio: (D) Public] Crush Crawfish transmits, "You filthy Hunter scum-sucking maggots!"

Javelin Whitetail has partially disconnected.

Midnight has connected.

The Hunters have arrived. The Coalition is prepared.

Militarily, Poland is of little use. The battles between them, the IOs, and the Repliforce have made it the perfect backdrop for the post-apocolyptic movies that were so popular two centuries ago. That is not to say that it is not without its defenses: hundreds upon hundreds of robotic drones scurry, scuttle, flutter, buzz, slither, and otherwise hurry to where the Hunters have landed. The smaller ones move in swarms, the larger in packs.

The backbone of the Maverick regular forces are carried in by dropships, as has become their usual method of operation. Taki-One arrives in one of these, leaping from it as it skims above the remaining treetops. The ships themselves are too valuable to risk in extended combat, and so quickly withdraw once all troops are deployed.

Zero has arrived.

In a swirl of smoke, a figure garbed in black appears on the battlefield. A small explosion of white engulfs charred and blackened roots, spreading beneath the branches of a long-dead tree. As the clouds spiral around him, he lifts his head to study the ruined landscape, and the charge of the Maverick Hunters. Visible between his jagged fringe of raven hair and the fabric of his scarf, his eyes narrow into twin slits.

Sliding one gloved hand behind his back, he draws his trademark weapon, pulling it free from its sheath. His hands close around its familiar grip as he steels himself for the battle ahead.

He shifts into a combat stance, the trailing tail of his scarf drifting behind him. With lethal intent, he prepares to strike...

And then starts coughing. In absolute agony, he whimpers, and rubs his watering eyes. Yelping, he gives the smoke grenade at his feet a good swift -kick-, punting it away. Then he quickly stumbles out of the smoke cloud, pulling his canary yellow scarf down as he does so.

"DAMNIT," Shyster splutters, "bloody 'ell!"

Muttering about lousy smoke grenades, the Chicken Ninja hefts his pink plastic lawn flamingo in both hands, and approaches the conflict.

Amidst the number of dropships and aerial drones, the form of Inferno Phoenix wings its way through the troops. As the hunters do indeed arrive, the phoenix's attention is pulled down by the one jamming out the massive amounts of music. "Hrmph.." even though he likes the song, this is no place FOR that song. Banking, the phoenix quickly begins his decent toward Cacophony...

Ooooh.. that smell.. can you smell that smell? Can you smell that smell? Yes.. the smell.. The Crawfish swings his tail and propels himself out of the water, his feelers flailing. He snips his claws into the air, letting out a bellow. Behind him, the Kraken Squad is in force, drones starting to block the sea off to the Hunters, the Crusty Lobster swinging his claws into the air. "BRING THE HUNTERS DOWN!"

Stuff is going on. There's Hunters and Mavericks.

Among the swarm of the latest troops are the conscripted. Those who were hauled into Germany, handed a rifle and helmet, and thrust back out, without so much as a 'by your leave'. Unable to even march together, they stream forward uncertainly with the better-trained, better-equipped troops. One of the untried is a small deer, helmet strapped awkwardly over her ears, holding a rifle easily as large as she is. Javelin Whitetail is among the conscripted; terrified, she stumbles forward with the reploids and cyborgs around her. This was NOT on her day planner. She refrains for now from using the full power of her speed, instead content to let those bigger than her stream forward to absorb the first fire--when it comes.

Leaping closely behind the Taki-One is the golden silhouette of Nightmare Officer, Bit, the smaller half of the Godmachine twins. He hovers beside the other air borne Mavericks, sweeping high above the canopy. The aerial commander mutters something under his breath on the radio.

Taki-One lands on the ground, scorched earth crunching under his boots, cape billowing in the self-created breeze. He takes a quick look around to assess the situation. Does he frown? Smile? One can only guess what expression may be beneath the mirrored helm. He gives a half-bowed nod to Bit, then begins to move forward towards the enemy. Drones fall in behind, prepared to harry and harrass.

Zero changes into his Red armor.

[Radio] Tightbeam radio transmission: Bit says, "Take care, father."

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Dr. Doppler transmits, "Hold the Hunters at the border."

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Crush Crawfish transmits, "Aye, sir."

[Radio: (D) Public] Dust Man transmits, "So.. how is everyone?"

The Maverick Cyborg, Overclock, reaches the edge of the fighting.... his visor down, and behind it, his eyes overlooking the armies.

Behind him now is his newest young apprentice. The girl looks almost human, this time...a bit different from his last work. "You'll do fine, you know... Midnight," he says to the girl, once code-named Midnight Dragon, as he scans the Maverick armies, and looks out to the rush of incoming Hunters. "Just try to keep up with me...and you'll earn your keep."

He kicks his legs, and dash-jets on his feet blaze red as he streaks down toward the combat, in anticipation of the action. Now that his other work is done, he's ready to be in the fray, even if it means forcing his new creation to sink or swim.

Durandal moves forwards down the field, relying on the other Hunters to cover him at the moment. His advance is slow, as he has given himself tunnel vision. His face is buried in the scope of his RX-7 'Longarm' sniper rifle. From several blocks away, he just moves his scope from one drone to the next, dropping them and moving on. He only pauses to reload. This is the aggressive version of the sniper. Camper on the run!

The phoenix, for the moment, goes unnoticed. Because there is cannonfodder, more cannonfodder, and even MORE cannonfodder to deal with. And Cacophony is easily attracted to things that she can blow up as quickly and as brightly as possible. Especially when it's in large numbers. The song continues to play, but tunes down a bit, just blasting in the background so the she-wolf can yell over it.

"Knock knock, room service! Who here ordered the can of whoop-ass?"

Which is promptly followed by a gleeful cackle as her cannons fire, recipocated slightly from the recoil of propelling a shockwave of sonic waves into the amasse forces of drones.

Crush Hippo arrives from the Germany.

Crush Hippo has arrived.

Firestorm Phoenix arrives from the Germany.

Firestorm Phoenix has arrived.

Vile arrives from the Germany.

Vile has arrived.

Zero changes into his Arcadia armor.

Feel that? Ah Crap. Hey. Caco. Time to get down with the sickness! Inferno just snarls at the wolf as she starts to fire into the mass of drones and conscripts. Pulling his shield from his back, the phoenix calls out, "You! You deal with ME!" he roars, trying to stab her with it as he flies by.

Inferno Phoenix misses Cacophony Timberwolf with his Warshield Stab attack.

Perhaps letting Auto out here wasn't the greatest of ideas. He marches foreward, rather solid for his build. In one hand, he holds a massively overbuilt nailgun, hammering nail after nail, like some deranged submachine gun, into the drones. In his other hand, propped up on his shoulder, is the Auto Cannon, firing hard core shells into the masses, as if to punctuate the nail gun, like some sort of sentence of death. Or a death sentence. HA! Get it? Death Sentence?? Eh? Eh?

....

I hate you all....

Signas isn't quite engaged in the battle just yet - there are a good number of people who are capable of engaging the cannon fodder drones that the Mavericks are launching at them, but it is going to be the regular forces that they will have to deal with soon enough. And so the diplomat crosses his arms, narrowing his eyes as he begins to compute the movement and attack patterns of those who have come to join in the battle, looking for the best place where they can attempt to break through and deal with the appropriate threats as they appear.

Besides, this should not be all of the Hunters who will be appearing tonight. There would always be a few who were perpetually late to the battle - and once they arrived, this campaign could begin in earnest.

"Oh, how cute," Liese says as she notices a cluster of disorganized Landwehr-style Mavericks coming up towards the landing zone. She flies upwards in a ballistic arc, spinning around partly for the sheer joy of it, and partly to avoid the few stray rifle rounds aimed up at her. "They think they are soldiers!"

And then she swoops down suddenly towards the clustering of troopers, letting out an unholy cackle as she sweeps down, jamming fingertips into eyes and heads while kicking at faces and upper bodies! Green troops are always fun to play with! "How do you like it when they can fight back!" she shouts, with savage glee.

Overclock channels power, and charges up his systems to optimize for speed.

The Odessa Minor marches onward across Poland, entering one of the many blasted cityscapes. Four of the Sov-Bots who are flight capable engage their shoulder and boot jets and take flight, zipping around a few stories overhead. Simultaneously, the TDSS drones -- three oval-shaped flying Nerpium objects -- decouple from the Odessa Minor and begin orbiting it at increasing distance, filling in the power armor's tactical data gaps as needed.

Pavel blasts away at the drones with his considerable weaponry -- lasers blast from the `eyes' of the armor, rockets fly from the shoulders, bullets from the abdomen, plasma flying from the legs. It is less a power armor than a mobile, humanoid weapons platform, dispatching the foes that come near it with brutal Soviet-style destruction. The Sov-Bots earn their keep as well, blasting enemies with lasers, ramming them with their dash attacks, and generally making life difficult for the ground forces.

Liese Schreiner misses Javelin Whitetail with her Ramming Speed attack.

You paged Dr. Cossack with 'TDSS?'

Zero changes into his Red armor.

Casually, the slick form of a feline reptile steps up to the window at the top floor of a massive, spire-like tower. That figure is Onyx Reptilia, her optics already glazed over to a glossy black--indicating her mode to be locked into Operative. "Targets confirmed." she states to herself, the simple tone of words signalling the creation of a cascade of tiny holographic screens that fill the area in front of her eyes, almost creating a translucent blue visor. Data scrolls across each of the many screens, providing her with tactical field data concerning the terrain, targets, objectives, and conditions that are currently in effect. "Confirmed." she states coldly, kneeling at the window, bringing the large Sniper Rifle up to prop on the ledge of the tower. And with a calm, steady grace, she begins to site through the scope (a zoomed visual provided in one of those holoscreens in her visor) and pass it across the battlefield, studying her opponents.. looking for one to pick off.

Midnight follows close behind overclock, observing the assembly in silence. She appears somewhat less perturbed with Overclock as she prepares to see if her involuntary transformation might be at all worthwhile. Her eyes dart back and forth as she searches for a mental command. A sly smirk twists her lovely features as she retrieves what she had been looking for. All at once, an array of black armor encircles her midsection, spreading out from there in all directions. In a series of fluid motions, this armor has her form covered snugly from head to toe. A staff pike extents out, seeming to form from the palm of her hand. She nods to Overclock.

Liese dives into the new troops--who, in accordance with their nature, either wisely get out of the way or are thrown into hysterical panic over Liese's attack. Javelin is one of the ones who is caught in the middle of the mess. Pulling down her helmet, she narrowly avoids getting fingers jammed into her optics, then getting run over by the reploids who are next to her. The Deer begins breathing in sharp gasps, and instinctively clutches at her rifle, fumbling with it in an attempt to fire at Liese, to knock her out of the air before she tries anything worse.

A blur of motion flickers across the field of battle, as a single black-garbed figure blinks in and out of sight. Crossing the blasted earth in the space of a few heartbeats, the running Maverick explodes towards the advancing Hunters, weaving through the hordes of defending Maverick drones and hapless infantry conscripts. Then, with an incredible leap, assisted by the magic of teleportation systems, he soars high above the melee, canary yellow scarf flapping in his wake.

Shyster's hands flicker through repeated shadow puppet poses, forming first a dove, a bunny rabbit, a peace sign, before ending with both thumbs raised.

"FURAIDO CHIKIN NO JITSU!"

From out of nowhere, dozens of greasy Kanissa Fried Chicken buckets appear, raining down towards the Maverick Hunter lines.

Cacophony Timberwolf, despite all the racket she's making, somehow catchs the shout of the Maverick divebombing towards her. Audials snap up at the cry, but instead of stupidly looking in the direction and delaying her reaction into getting hit, she just hops backwards out of the way of the incoming rush. "Oooh! A new dance partner!"

As Inferno comes past, she giggles gleefully as she grabs onto him, twirls around a few times, and then flings him towards the nearest pack of drones. Granted, a flyer might be able to pull themselves out of the throw before impact. "Wheeee!"

Javelin Whitetail strikes Liese Schreiner with her Canon attack.

Cacophony Timberwolf misses Inferno Phoenix with her Slamdance attack.

Simian Monk arrives from the European Russia.

Simian Monk has arrived.

Danced about by Cacophony's movements, Inferno only avoids damage afterward, wings snapping out to keep him from crashing into the drone hoard. He just glares at Caco, how she can be so jovial on the battlefield is confusing, but he doesn't care. His wings rush him forward and again he comes at her with the weaponlike shield, trying to slam it into her.

Foucalt floats! His eyes cast downwards through the warping effect of his forcefield. Yup. Sitting duck. He looked like he was waiting for someone. Maybe Byte? Probably Byte, since the Fat Man wants him dead and in a box.

Inferno Phoenix misses Cacophony Timberwolf with his Warshield Slam attack.

Crush Hippo comes up out of a deep river on one of the Repliforce flanks, accompanied by a contingant of amphibious drones that open fire on the drone forces, diverting attention and causing havok at the attack from the unexpected angle.

Alpha lowers herself to the ground. She hasn't spotted the Maverick cyborgs -quite- yet, but she does calmly dismantle several drones as she wades in their general direction. She doesn't seem to be particularly enjoying this, but maybe it's because she isn't German like Liese but rather CANADIAN and Canada has never had any war problems! Never! She glances up and manages to spot the two cyborgs and she makes her way towards themt, recognizing at least -one- of them.

Unfortunately for Liese, those accursed Maverick helmets prevent her from doing much beyond bothering a few of the troops, thus far. She begins excoriating them in German while administering blows of fury and power with her steel fists; insulting their manhoods, their bravery, their very souls, and of course heaping a good litany of abuse onto their habits of eating human infants. This is all done in German, though, and rather /angry/ and /bilious/ German.

And then she notices the shortish reploid who took a pot shot at her, and spins around to aim a sharp kick at the upside of her head. Which, fortunately, is not very high up for her.

Crush Crawfish glares as Auto shoots one of his drones. He grunt at begins to clank over at the bot, letting out a bellow. "YOU SLAGGING WIMPY PIECE OF CRAP! WHY DON'T you come back when you have some MUSCLES!" He promptly points at Auto and begins to unsling a MASSIVE amount of curses as he moves forward.

Crush Crawfish strikes Auto with his Generic Ranged attack.

A bouncing dot appears in the distance. However, that is not your cheerful Disney song bouncing dot. Rapidly coming closer, and getting clearer, Simian Monk enters the scene. He's here to help his fellow Hunters, and he makes good time, because of the bouncing, and the sheer power of his dash engines.

He launches random shurikens as he gets into range, at Mav-drones that are unfortunate enough to get too close.

The drones continue to thow their lives away against the Hunters. They are, of course, little match for their firepower and prowess. Their purpose is to slow the Hunter forces down and soften them up until their masters arrive.

Taki-One makes his way into the fray, using the ruins as cover. His ultimate goal is the Vorpal itself - the simplest way to prevent the Hunters from escaping - however, he is not above taking an opportunity to bring down any of their number should he come across them. A pair of maverick wolf-drones take point, acting as suppost should they be needed.

Durandal's rifle snaps to the side to adress this new threat. He starts pumping long range shots into the aquatic drones. This is one sniper that does not need to be holed up in a tall place with concealment to survive and drop things. He takes his shots on the move.

Durandal lines up another shot, this time at the Commander of the latest group of drones, a large Hippo reploid.

"Wheeeha!" Cacophony Timberwolf again dances out of the way of the incoming Maverick, almost literally. How can she be like this? Well, it's... actually, poses are probably going to be long enough without an explaination into her pecurliar traits, so lets just say she likes blowing stuff up and leave it like that.

Twirling on a heel, she turns to face the firebird again, a disturbingly cheerful grin on her face. "Welcome to your doom... starring *ME*!" Pulling out a mic, she strikes a pose, as she wails into it, her pitched cry amplified by her integral sound systems. "Aaaaaaooooooooooooooh!"

Durandal strikes Crush Hippo with his Earsplitter attack.

The kick is high indeed--just a few inches too high. In panic, Javelin lets her gun take the blow, and it flies away from her hands--but she remains unscathed. The cursing from Liese grasps her attention; while she only knows musical terms, there's no mistaking the tone of voice. The Deer's teeth are chattering, but she manages to choke out "--****ing onchuch!" And true to her name, the Deer leaps at Liese with powerful kicks of her own, although these are aimed for her abdomen, as Liese's head is painfully high to even think about kicking.

Javelin Whitetail strikes Liese Schreiner with her Rapid Kick attack.

Cacophony Timberwolf misses Inferno Phoenix with her B-flat Howl attack.

Kicking up a duststorm, a military reploid enters the battle by foot. Rather, by dashjets, but it's nearly the same thing.

After some deal of movement, he comes to a ridge overlooking the front rather dramatically. Tightbeam transmissions fly off in every direction, which are then interpreted by mobile command stations and relayed to the appropriate channels. Then, the reploid leaps into the fierce melee.

General Vile.

Two burnt red scarves, of Strider make, wrap around his right arm. Slung over his left shoulder, near the minimissile rack, is a bandolier of severed heads, each agape in what must have been their final cry of pain. Various field Repliforce officers, but no one too important, unfortunately. Still...

Energy shots spray from his cannon, seeking the first Hunter in range. Unfortunately for Foucalt, it is him.

Vile strikes Foucalt with his Vile Cannon Shot attack.

Foucalt's forcefield withstands the attack.

The foul language! It hurts his audios! AGONY!

Auto spins around to Crush, only to get knicked in the head by something from the drones response. This requires something with more finesse than the nail gun. With a quick switch, he's armed with a small pen!!!!!

"Muscles are for the weak! Er...wait." Auto considers this, and tries again, "Muscles are for the mentally weak! Hoo haa!" He aims the pen at Crawfish, and a small red dot appears on the Maverick, trying to point at a joint somewhere. "See...I've got other ways to deal with those who think with their arms."

Suddenly, the light intensifies into a thin red beam.

Auto misses Crush Crawfish with his Laser Pointer attack.

Dashing just a few inches above the ground, Overclock settles to a stop....

And notices Alpha. What Doppler had said. The traitors are allowed to leave...

But that wasn't right, if the traitor became a Hunter. If the traitor was a HUNTER, she had to die. "Hey. YOU!" He still knows her as the name he met her as, and shouts: "ONE!"

Energy lights up along his arms and legs. "How are those UPGRADES working out for you?!"

As the shurikens from Simian Monk land upon the hordes of Maverick drones, one Maverick's attention is captured. Light flickers, blurring once again, as the lithe black form of Shyster drops from the air, speeding like a guided missile towards the Hunter. Well, a badly guided missile, anyway. Seeing as how he completely misses and slams face-first into the ground just next to Simian.

But he pops up, out of the earth, a second later. Adjusting the nifty yellow NINJA SCARF covering his features, he waggles an admonishing finger at the other reploid. "Oy, YOU! Intel says yer some CHINESE monk. Wot's this POINTY STAR thingy then? Tsk. Pick one schtick and stick with it, boi."

He narrows his eyes, and whips out his plastic pink flamingo, gripping it firmly by the legs. Wielding it like a sword, he swings the beak towards Simian's head. "THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!"

Shyster strikes Simian Monk with his Flip The Bird attack.

Crush Hippo's armor is scored by the shot, not even penetrating as it glances off his shoulder. Directly above the minor wound, the energy cannon snaps down and begins to glow before letting out a stuttering crackle as the area in front of him is filled with a horizontal rain of destructive energy.

<Chain of Command> Colonel says, "I had a little tiny like, airline bottle in my fridge and I needed to get rid of it cause my parents are moving me out tomorrow.. so I chugged it. And I almost passed out on the spot. Heh."

Firestorm Phoenix has been here the whole time, honest, you just never noticed him before. What has ne been doing? Stuff. What is he doing now? More stuff, like shooting at anything that isn't a maverick for now. Yeah that'll do.

Luckily for Inferno, sonic vibrations work half the time, so when Caco's howl assaults his body and his audials he does what he can to absorb the attack and comes out alright. Good thing. Deciding maybe close quarters isn't the best place, the avian backwings, a ball of electricity lancing off of one hand toward the wolf.

Inferno Phoenix misses Cacophony Timberwolf with his Sparking Burst attack.

Crush Crawfish hmms.. he looks down at the dot on his chest then looks up at Auto. He lets down again.. and looks up. "What the hell?" He reaches his hand up and moves over to Auto. "You know. You are a moron. Go die." He hmphs and swings his hand down again Auto. Oh snap. Lobster Pimp SLAP!

Crush Hippo misses Durandal with his Super Soaker attack.

Crush Crawfish strikes Auto with his Generic Melee attack.

The hunter's forcefield was peppered with fire from the General's cannon. THis was bad news. Sort of. Fou began powering up his internals and gathering energy into his hands, his gravity well humming with barely contained power. "This is gonna /hurt/." he muttered as he dropped his forcefield and leveled one palm at the helmeted General, using his other arm to brace, small spheres of purple energy loosed themselved from the youngest Matthews's palm. This wasn't going to be pretty in the long run.

Liese Schreiner is taken aback for a moment at the sheer audacity that this deer-like reploid is taking in standing and fighting her. She says, with an arrogant flip of the nose, "Hanh! At least one of you is at least a /little/ brave, even if your blows are useless."

And then she pulls the glove off the right hand and says, as she steps back a pace or so, "And soon, you will be as well!" And then she flexes that hand once - before jamming it forward with surprisingly little force, to lay the palm flat along the young musician's upper torso. And then the hand twitches, once -- hopefully the patterns of force will work properly in the heat of combat and cause massive internal disturbances in her. It would be quite embarrassing if she was to bollocks /this/ up, too, after working so hard (and killing a chicken).

The air clears as Foucalt banishes the sphere.

Foucalt misses Vile with his Proton Barrage attack.

The Odessa Minor slowly plods onward, blasting away at the enemy as it comes. Buildings shudder as its artillery slams into it, smoking wreckage being left in the power armor's wake. The Maverick regulars around know better than to directly engage this beast -- they pull back, undertaking `run and gun' tactics to stay ahead of the strike force.

The Odessa Minor detects one of Taki-One's wolves -- locking onto one of them, it unloads with a blast of plasma from its left palm, which may inadvertently continue on and smite Taki-One.

Liese Schreiner strikes Javelin Whitetail with her Hertza Haeon attack.

Dr. Cossack strikes you with a minor hit from his Palm Blast attack for 10 units of damage.

The battle has begun, and the Hunters have made their move. Perhaps at first, it may seem like their acting commander has decided it wasn't worth his time. It's no secret that the berserker has found settling into the role of sole command a bit daunting and has spent much of his time hiding from it. The paperwork, the organizing, the responsibility. It's all a bit much for a former Robot Master built with the sole function to destroy.

On the field of battle, however, things are different. Here he is king. It is there, that he always feels comfortable, even if it times he finds himself a little... too comfortable. His blade in his hand, his fingers wrapped around it like a child clutches to his security blanket. With this he has security. It is here, and only here, that Zero truly feels 'alive'.

But where is Zero? His own men and women charge into battle now, risking the ultimate price for the ultimate prize. Invading a land that has known little other than just that. The Romans, the Mongolians, the Nazis, and now the Repliforce, Irregular Overlords, Coalition have all taken their turns at bat. Tonight, however, the contention ends, by the hands of those who have no duty to the people here. No binding contracts, no vows, no orders. Men, women, reploids, and androids, all banded together for one purpose, to stop the spread of evil.

Zero is no different.

Coming into view over the horizon is the form of the Hunter commander. No haste in his pace, the Hunters can hold their own without him, and those who will die by his hand tonight shall be granted this small time of mercy now. For once he enters the fray, none will remain. With a low hum his classic green bladed beam sabre snaps to life, a lazy green trail of energy pursuing its blade as he whips it front of his body once and cuts a line in the blasted terrain below his feet as he draws near the conflict.

He takes two steps back from the line, and simply looks up at the madness before him, his voice raising as he announces, "The first to cross this line has a chance to save the lives his comrades, and a chance to stop me crossing it first."

Simian peers at Shyster and he goes *BOOM* right next to him. After the chicken-lord stands back up he regards Shyster, shaking his head he bows to Shyster, and straightens, "We, Chinese, like to broaden our minds. Schtick you say? Well watch th--" SMACK! The pink flamenco snaps at the side of Simian's head and it leaves a small dent. Peering at the broken piece with a disinterested look, he glances up back towards Shyster, and regards him with bewildered eyes.

Not wasting much longer, the monkey drops into a stance. Knees bent, arms formed into a make-shift offense, the monkey strikes out in rapid succession with his fists, and palms striking out at the Shyguy.

Simian Monk strikes Shyster with his Punch Combo attack.

Alpha sets her eyes on Overclock, and lightly floats up to a few inches off the ground herself so she can look Overclock in the eyes, "Overclock.", she says politely, even though One would usually call him 'Technician'. "It feels a lot better, thank you once again.", she looks Overclock over. Now that she thinks about it, she never actually saw Overclock fight. "Has the Coalition been taking good care of you?"

Somewhat miraculously, it appears that absolutely no Mavericks are moving to engage Signas, despite the fact that he is simply walking about the battlefield. Only the occasional stray drone takes a shot at him, and those are easily deflected by his forcefield, bouncing off in random directions as the energy charge repels them away. And he narrows his eyes for a moment, before adjusting his hat.

Well, it seemed that it was up to him to take the fight to them, as it was so often the case. Well, he had no problem with that. A single gesture of his hand dismisses his defense shield, the energy barrier crackling around him even as he raises one hand, his bracer splitting open and revealing the array of emitter crystals underneath. And he turns.

A wave of energy explodes out from Signas' hand as he swings it, cutting through drone after drone in a single continuous line as it passes through one of the larger formations. The passage of the attack leaves in its wake nothing but twisted and half vaporized wreckage. And that isn't the only strike - another follows, cutting another track through the drone forces, followed by a third before Signas pauses to charge up a different attack to use.

Out of the mist of brown dust, kicked high into a fine veil over the blasted field, Bit's silhouette appears before Zero's line.

"Note to self. Increase amps and volts to laser pointer. It needs more ki-" **WHACK** Auto goes stumbling backwards, not noticing that the Maverick had simply walked up to him in that time. The engineer falls to the ground, but is only there a second before he's back to his feet.

"Well then. I see that we'll have no brilliant verbal exchange. I'm prepared." Continuing to step backward enough to keep a few feet between himself and Crush Crawfish, his guns go back to the backpack. In exchange, his hands return, with a pair of wrenches, built to remove the lugs from a tank.

"Hiiiii--YA!" Auto cries, as he runs foreward, arms waving wildly over his head. His goal? To beat Crawfish soundly about his helmet.

Vile advances in a determined, unwavering stride. Red optic blazing, he flickers from place to place in a set of rapid blinks, evading the firepower Foucalt musters. Still closing the gap, the general reaches for his shield and military pick.

"You are going to die."

His minimissile rack screeches loudly after this promise, spitting out a cloud of metal flechettes from the top warhead.

Vile strikes Foucalt with his Flechette Minimissile attack.

Zero's expression curls into one of slight disgust, his eyes darting back and forth across the battlefield as he screams, "Is this the best the Coalition has to offer? Is there no other willing to face me?"

He brings his gaze back down to Bit, his pitch black eyes regarding him with a great deal of skeptisism, "If you wish to embrace death so freely, cross the line. But you know as well as I, that you cannot match blades with me."

The wolf yelps as it's struck, its midsection sparking wildly as it's torn open. Then it falls to the ground, optics dimming.

The laser grazes Taki-One, slicing of a good yard of cape and scoring the armor along his arms and torso. He hisses, more likely in irritation than pain, and leaps aside, using his dash jets for additional momentum. A moment is taken during this to survey the armor suit - Cossack has been busy, hasn't he? - and to charge up his arm cannon. The lavender casing protecting its barrel splits and retracts, and a low-level charge of plasma is fired at the Odessa Minor and its occupant.

Hoi. Looks like it's going to be one of -those- battles tonight. Oh well. Sooner or later, things have to come around for the better. As the electrical shot is fired her way, Cacophony jets to the side of it. Literally, thanks to the thrusters mounted on her legs.

When she comes to a stop, she crouches down a bit, bracing herself as her shoulder pods pop open, and with a POFFPOFFPOFF send several explosive shells arcing into the air towards Inferno. Each one exploding in a different color, and on that matter, in a different musical note as well.

"No holding back. If you can't keep up, stay offa my dance floor!"

... Someone's been playing too many video games lately....

You miss Dr. Cossack with your Plasma Blaster attack.

Durandal hits the dirt as the volly of shots goes flying over his head. "Hmmmm...tank." Duran crawls to his feet and then pulls a 'slick' move. Durandal releases the 'hold' on his Longarm's battery pack. He presses a small button on top of the squarish device and counts to three. He spins the rifle forwards and down, leaning forwards as he goes. The rifle is stopped abruptly by his shoulderpad, sending the battery pack FLYING out of the gun and down the street towards Crush Hippo. It explodes in a hail of acid. Yes, even Durandal's ammo packs are actually weapons. Duran slams a fresh clip in the gun.

Durandal strikes Crush Hippo with his Battery Discharge attack.

Cacophony Timberwolf misses Inferno Phoenix with her Decending Notes attack.

The Deer is mystefied as Liese speaks, then steps forward ungloved and places a hand on her. The single twitch of the hand is all the warning Javelin gets before the blast rips apart her delicate insides--and unknowingly, her neural net, which is located not in her head, but where the human heart would be, and close to where Liese's hand is placed. The combined effect makes one of Javelin's optics shatter in a burst of green glass, while the sound of snapping instrument strings suddenly pierces the area--her internal systems going haywire, at least momentarily. The strings, amplified by her internal audio systems, grow to a harsh screaming sonic pitch, that, if Liese's hand is not quickly removed, quickly reverbs back towards the initial attacker.

"N----n--n-not a Maverick," Javelin manages to stutter, even as she is paralyzed by the sheer pain of her insides being shattered.

Javelin Whitetail strikes Liese Schreiner with her Dissonance attack.

"Yeah, yeah," Shyster quips, "yer mind's so broad you can pull it out yer ears and wrap it around yer 'ead."

He doesn't move to dodge, as Simian strikes - he simply stands still and absorbs the blows. The force of the repeated impacts drives him back, his boots scraping across the baked mud of the battlefield's ruined plain. But he remains standing, eyes sparkling as a grin spreads on his hidden face.

Bringing the plastic flamingo up and around, he sketches a series of Japanese kanji in the air, pink light trailing from the lawn ornament's beak.

"CHOUNIKU NO JITSU!"

With a brilliant puff of smoke, several dozen chickens appear in mid-air, raining down towards Simian's skull. Chickens of the plucked and seasoned variety. Each stuffed with a hand grenade, missing the pin.

Shyster misses Simian Monk with his Breaking The Sfx Budget attack.

Crush Hippo roars in pain as the acid splashes all over him, hissing and corroding his armor before it expends itself as he charges foreward. His forearms sprout huge, swordlike blades as he slashes an X in front of him, sending a wave of energy crashing toward Durandal.

Crush Hippo strikes Durandal with his Cross Wave attack.

"Better to die valiantly in a futile effort to save ones kin than to live knowing you could have done more." Bit bows his head low. "Honor and glory to you, Zero." Just because they are enemies doesn't mean the two musn't respect one another. Bit draws his blade.

Inferno Phoenix never holds back! Or that's what he'd tell Cacophony if he felt like talking. As the pods come his way he banks one way, dives another, and stears clear of the weaponry. When he does come back around, though, he lands, though he keeps his wings spread. Electricity starts to course across his body and then bolts of lightning streak off all his feathers at the wolf..

Inferno Phoenix misses Cacophony Timberwolf with his Lightning Cascade attack.

Crush Crawfish hmms.. his head is banged for a few moments before he looks at Auto for a few more moments. He simply reaches up his claw... and pokes at Auto. "YOU WIMPY PIECE OF SLIME! GET DOWN AND GIMME 20!!" Oh. He's harsh. Meanwhile, his feelers wiggle a little building up a pile of dirt. I think he's going to make a sand castle.

Crush Crawfish strikes Auto with his Slash attack.

This was probably the dumbest thing he'd /ever/ done. He realized this as the minimissles rocked his frame and ripped out bits of armor as he floated. Powering up his gravity well, he decided to steal a tactic from Byte. Ascending a bit higher, Foucalt extended his right arm, clenching it like he held something in his hand. At the same time, webs of gravity lanced out in an attempt to encircle the General's neck. When he felt it was good enough, he clenched his hand into a fist, signaling the webs to start squeezing.

Foucalt strikes Vile with his Implosion attack.

The Odessa Minor keeps advancing, the Sov-Bots firing lasers at the drones in the area to protect the power armor while it pursues its enemy. It swerves to the side impossibly fast when the plasma blast flies at it, avoiding it entirely.

A laser beam fires out from one of the power armor's optics at Taki-One with intent to do unpleasant things to him. Meanwhile, the speakers on the shoulders of the power armor crackle as Dr. Cossack's playlist warms up.

Dr. Cossack misses you with his Laser Pointer attack.

Firestorm Phoenix catches a glimpse of a certain hunter cutting through the Maverick drone forces, well this can't be permitted to continue, those drones aren't cheap you know. Descending towards Signas the golden phoenix calls out, "Destruction of private property isn't very diplomatic you know!" Not even bothering to wait for a reply, the phoenix draws his bow and streaks past Signas, trying to clock him squarely in the head with his bow. Take that hat lite!

"Oh, absolutely." Overclock actually offers the former One a bit of a smile. One thing is for sure...he's happy she doesn't seem to have revealed his secret to the Hunters.

But it doesn't matter. He readies his weapons, flipping blasters out of his wrists. He aims both hands at Alpha. "You remember this, right? Not as much fun when I'm putting it somewhere I shouldn't. I really hate breaking my own stuff, though, but you gotta do what you gotta do."

Blue liquid streams out from both of his blaster arms, blue...and chilled.

Overclock misses Alpha with his Coolant Leak attack.

Poke? That's a poke? That poke rends a huge chunk of Auto's chest wide open, and it sends the android tumbling along the ground. Auto lays there a moment, considering this. This brute is too strong to just take on, toe to toe.

Then, slowly, his mouth sorta...grins.

He turns to look at Crush Crawfish. His optics are...they are...swirling. Slowly...slowly swirling. "Maverick. Look me in the eyes. Look....fear what you see. Fear...me.

Feeeeear meeeeeee...." By now, Auto has absently put his hands up by his head, wiggling his fingers, as if they would assist the hypnotic, mind dulling gaze.

Somewhere on the MUSH, Sigma has disconnected.

Firestorm Phoenix strikes Signas with his Phoenix Bow Smack attack.

Signas's forcefield withstands the attack.

Durandal leaps and rolls out of the way of some of the fire of a pair of drones...leaping right into the oncoming blast from the Hippopotamus. "...okay....he's good..." Durandal leaps forwards and wallkicks off of a nearby building, taking aim at the larger reploid as he does. He lands and starts opening fire with his sniper rifle, empting shot after shot as he dashes arcross the street, jumps, and wallkicks off of the building on the opposite side, still firing, until he empties this clip, too.

Auto strikes Crush Crawfish with his Zoo Dop A Boobidy Bop attack.

Crush Crawfish is temporarily disoriented by Auto's Zoo Dop A Boobidy Bop attack.

Durandal strikes Crush Crawfish with his Interference Overdrive attack.

Zero's expression now twists into that of bemusement, "I shall make your death swift and painless. That much respect I will grant you, Bit." Zero too bows his head slightly, he may consider Bit to be a second class swordsman compared to himself and Colonel, but his skills are far beyond ordinary in their own right.

Immediately thereafter he springs backwards, flipping and twisting in the air and landing with his back half turned to bit, his sabre held down at his waist, and his head turned slightly to glance at the Maverick Samurai through the corner of his eye. His glance lowers for a moment, as he smiles smugly at his masked advesary, his tone inviting and almost comforting, "Cross the line, and may history remember our names."

Simian blinks as Shyster doesn't seem to be affected by the amount of blows he gives the reploid. Pausing to look up in the air he sees raining chickens. ....Raing Chickens? The monkey literally stops. And he thought that rainforests had weird weather.

When one chicken explodes next to him, he rolls out of the way and lands on the ground a good amount away from Shyster. Simian crouches, letting the rain of Hellfire Chickens to cease. After there is a break within the maelstorm of chickens, the monkey, rushes at Shyster. He does not want to be left in the open for too long, so at the last second he leans back and does a back flip, with his foot going straight for Shyster's face.

Simian Monk strikes Shyster with his Flip Kick attack.

Liese Schreiner would, a few years ago, have been moved by the pitiful sight of this twitching thing - this singing, pitiable machine, whose feedback actually made her hand hurt. As she shakes it to get rid of that aching feeling, she says disdainfully, "Not a Maverick, you say. You are fighting with them. Should have /run/."

And then she takes off her other glove, just in case she is called to put that maneuver to use again, while aiming a rather desultory kick to the side of the twitching not-really-a-Maverick.

Liese Schreiner misses Javelin Whitetail with her Kick attack.

As Onyx's gaze crosses the playing field, there is a flashing that draws her attention to a particular screen. Within this display is the cocky form of Signas, strutting across the battlefield and laying waste to the poor Drones that had just recently been trained. And it is his blatant disregard of life that draws her to start squeezing uncontrollably on the trigger. "Why?" She asks, still talking to herself hiiiigh up in that tower behind the front defensive line of Mavericks. "You're just like them. Just like a human." Her blackened eyes flash over, then her body goes almost completly still... Whatever conscience once existed in her neural network vanishes in a spark and twitch of her head. And silence falls into a void around her form, as all that comes to matter any longer is that form that sits in her reticle--Signas. She lowers her gaze, the rifle tilting so that the viewscreen in her visor adjusts itself to give a picture-perfect zoom of his body. Her first thought is to simply put a bullet in his head... however, this is when Firestorm flies in to interfere. Before the trigger is squeezed, she lets off. Quickly, she calculates for what effect Firestorm's attack will have on Signas, then she squeezes the trigger. Without a sound, the silenced Sniper Rifle emits an explosive-tipped shell for the Hunter's foot, aimed to hopefully trip him up for the Phoenix.

Midnight Stands on her own as dust and debris swirl around her slight, dark form. She's just...watching. Calculating perhaps. One incident seems to at last catch her attention, several hundred feet away. She begins walking toward Liese while the Hunter is preoccupied. All at once, she completely blinks out of sight, returning to line of sight a mere yard behind Liese. She only stand there at first, perhaps waiting to be noticed.

His advance stopped for a moment, Vile pauses as the webs begin to crush his neck, shaking them off somehow after they've had time to do some damage. Yet, there isn't much to stop the general from continuing his attack.

"You are postponing the inevitable."

Once more, his cannon charges up, this time swirling pulses of energy surround the muzzle for a few fleeting moments. Then, with another thunderous roar, a blazing storm of power roils into the air after Foucalt.

Vile strikes Foucalt with his Vile Cannon Blast attack.

Taki-One isn't sharing his playlist with anyone. Classical music is so underappreciated. The Maverick again dashes, this time jinking left to avoid the second laser beam. Then, he leaps to the top of a half-shattered wall. The left spaulder of his armor glows with an argent light. "Interesting..." he breathes in a reedy voice. "It is much more impressive in person." A glowing sphere of plasma ejects from the spaulder, which he catches in his articulated hand. "But is it better than the Triumph, I wonder?" The sphere is lobbed like a grenade, poised to explode at the armor's feet.

You miss Dr. Cossack with your Plasma Ball attack.

Most people would flinch in the presense of a foot speeding at their face. That's the kind of thing that causes survival mechanisms to activate. Not Shyster, though. No, he just stands there grinning - right until Simian's foot -slams- into his jaw, snapping his neck back with an audible crunch.

Then there's a theatrical poof of smoke and accompanying sound effect, big white clouds completely obscuring everything in a radius of several feet.

When the smoke clears, Shyster crouches some distance away, waggling one finger admonishingly.

Which is about when the little happy-face spheroid glued to Simian's foot begins hissing cheerfully, its lit fuse running down.

Shyster strikes Simian Monk with his Diversionary Doohickey attack.

Simian Monk is temporarily disoriented by Shyster's Diversionary Doohickey attack.

Durandal misses Crush Hippo with his Interference Overdrive attack.

Crush Crawfish twitches and flails about! NOOO! Not the eyes!

Alpha reaches up and catches one of the Shyster's falling chickens. Holding it together and keeping it from exploding, Alpha twists and blocks the liquid with the chicken's face. It squacks a bit before Alpha tosses it away and it explodes. The Hunters are so violent to chickens. Liese viciously slaughtered one the earlier day. She says, "That's good to hear, and I understand.", she flicks out her wrist and a katar slides out of her skin and into her hands. She lunges forward to close the distance and swipes quickly at Overclock's left arm, "You don't have to do this, of course, even you can step away if you desire it. You haven't lost your freedom of choice.", she smiles, "My apologies."

Bit steps across the line. The sword in one hand and the shield in the other. "Let no man hear insults fly between us." He approaches Zero cautiously. "Had the circumstances been different, we would have been brothers. But alas." Opinions seperate them, but the sword does not. The Maverick positions himself into a fighting stance, shield forward, lead leg ahead, sword arced and pointed to Zero above Bit's head. "Let's do this." Bit charges.

Alpha misses Overclock with her Liquid Blade attack.

Bit strikes Zero with his Dash attack.

It seems that last attack had managed to get people's attention - Signas is being engaged by one Maverick... no, two he notices as a bullet sparks off of his defense shield, narrowly avoiding a hit against his foot, probably trying to put him at a tactical disadvantage. Unfortunately, he doesn't really have any idea of where the sniper is coming from - he's going to need a few more shots before he can triangulate the position of the hostile target. On the other hand... there was a large phoenix right in front of him, and he needed to deal with that menace first.

Signas dismisses his defense screen with a wave of his hand, before spinning his staff around, and lashing out towards Firestorm's face with the end of the weapon, trying to smack the Maverick right in the chest and drive him backwards, buying him a bit of space to fight in.

Signas lowers his Diplomatic Immunity field.

Cacophony Timberwolf isn't doing much hitting tonight, but she seems to be on a streak of dodgitude for the time being, as once again she prances and dances through the sparks of electricity raining down on her. Which is a good thing, all things considered. "Huh? You want a light show? I'll give you a light show! And like it or not, you're gonna listen!"

Mike in one hand, the other outstretched for a moment as her systems switch over, and the light pods flip into place, light up... and the area around her is abruptly filled with a dazzling displace of colored laser lights and strobe effects. Next comes the music, as her speakers come to life once more, and she raises the microphone to her mouth, and the music plays! It's something upbeat and perky this time... almost a little too perky.

o/~ I'm a Barbie Girl, in the barbie world! Life in plastic, it's fantastic! You can brush my hair, and dress me everywhere. Imagination -- Life is your creation!

I'm a blonde, bimbo girl, in the fantasy world, dress me up, make me type, I'm your dolly! You're my doll, rock and roll, feel the glamour and fame! Kiss me here, toss me there, hanky panky.

You can touch, you can play,

If you say, I'm always yours! o/~

Are the song and bedazzling lightshow really that disorienting... or is she just that damn disturbing? Take your pick.

Signas strikes Firestorm Phoenix with his Blunt End Strike attack.

Simian Monk aghs!! He starts to kick and squirm trying to get the well.. thing offa his foot. This causes him to go off balance and he's vulnerable for attack!

Cacophony Timberwolf misses Inferno Phoenix with her Charm Song attack.

"Ha-HA! He's distracted!" Auto wastes no time, reaching back to his backpack. "Quick, lobsters. CAPITOL OF NEW YORK CITY!" That outta confuse him a little longer.

Long enough for Auto to STAB HIM A LOT!

Auto strikes Crush Crawfish with his Screwdriver Stiletto attack.

Well, ain't that nice. All that blasting and the giant Hippo simply steps behind a corner, which gets chewed up in his stead. When he steps back around into Durandal's sight his artillary cannon is lowered, and there's a *CHUNK* noise as a glue-bomb is launched, exploding into quick-drying, sticky foam where it hits.

Crush Hippo strikes Durandal with his Glue Bomb attack.

Durandal is temporarily disoriented by Crush Hippo's Glue Bomb attack.

The Sov-Bots look at Taki-One in eerie unison as he flies by, but continue shooting at drones and distant Mavericks to keep the battlefield clear for the Odessa Minor to concentrate entirely on the foe in front of it.

Pavel, for his part, does not respond to the comments made by Taki-One. As the familiar strains of `I Walk The Line' by Johnny Cash begin, the Cossack swerves again at impossible speed away from the plasma ball -- the power armor behaves like a wet bar of soap sliding across a tile floor -- and blasts at Taki-One with its forearm-mounted plasma cannons.

One gets the distinct feeling the Odessa Minor isn't running at full power yet.

As Liese removes her hand, the Deer topples over almost immediately. As the painful echoes of strings snapping fades away, the kick swipes the area where Javelin would have been, if she had the strength. Instead, it merely knocks off the helmet she was given, revealing the shock of white fiberoptic hair. The Deer trembles, curled in a position on the ground that could easily mean instant death if any Maverick took a misstep sideways or backwards. However, she does not attempt to rise; that would waste precious energy. If anything, she lays closer to the ground, making a quick sign of the Cross and a petition that at least SOMETHING of her sound systems still work. Sparks crawl out of her injured eye, but in a few seconds the Deer is rewarded with a giant bass *THOOMP* that echoes for a few feet around her in each direction.

"Can't...run...now...can I," she calls hoarsely over the bass line. "Shot if I run...or stay...might as well take action, for once..."

Dr. Cossack misses you with his Forearm Cannons attack.

Javelin Whitetail strikes Liese Schreiner with her Walking Bass Line attack.

Durandal is currently stuck to the side of a building in mid jump. That's not good.

Crush Hippo clomps up the distance between the two, reaching out to grab Durandal's ankle and rip him off the wall, using the momentum to spin the hapless Repliforcer around and put him back in the wall, face first... then into a car... then the wall again... then into the wall across the street.

And once again the Phoenix simply absorbs it, trying to resist the vibrations and even the charm Caco seems to be using on him. "That isn't good enough!" he yells at her, shaking his head due to his ringing audials. Its at this point his Shield washes over in flame, Inferno lunging toward her with the heated shield, "HOLD STILL!"

Inferno Phoenix misses Cacophony Timberwolf with his Blazing Assault attack.

Crush Hippo strikes Durandal with his Grab Smash attack.

Crush Crawfish gacks! Screwdriver! And there's no vodka! He grunts and throws his claws up as the screwdriver pokes at him. "New York City IS the capitol you pansy. NOW. I said GET DOWN." He lifts his claw upward. "AND GIVE ME 20!" He swings his claw down, open, trying to pin Auto to the ground. "AND YOU BETTER SAY SIR!"

Prismatic Spider arrives from the European Russia.

Prismatic Spider has arrived.

Crush Crawfish strikes Auto with his Claw Pin attack.

Auto is temporarily disoriented by Crush Crawfish's Claw Pin attack.

"Exsqueeze me," Shyster says, politely, in an attempt to get Simian Monk's attention. Rather hypocritical, Shyster is, seeing as how he's responsible for the other reploid being so terribly distracted in the first place. Raising one arm, he points his hand at the Chinese reploid.

Then, the arm is replaced by shiny yellow metal, the oversized pregnant ovoid of the Feather Buster dropping into place at its master's command.

With a series of whirrs and clunks, a chicken head pops out of the weapon's muzzle. Not an ordinary chicken, though. This one is masked and hooded, with a ninja blade grasped between its teeth.

"SANJO!"

*WHOOOOMPH!*

Shyster strikes Simian Monk with his Warner Brothers Buster attack.

Liese Schreiner winces slightly at that giant thoomp. "Stop doing that and I won't kick you, they can't shoot you for being /injured/, Gott im himmel," as she then turns around...

To see Midnight. She tilts her head to one side, with a rather skeletal noise as her metal vertebrae click. "So... you are interested in dying as well?" she says, in a casual way, before aiming an open-handed strike at the scaled female's abdomen. "I am always glad to oblige!"

Why does it hurt? He hoped that there'd be at least enough of him left for his mom to rebuild. Fou switched the output of his weapons systems, causing a white sphere to take shape in his hands. Sadly, thi taxed his entire body, causing him to descend slowly. THat probably made him an easier target. Before he touched down though, he started spinning like a gyroscope, building momentum for his next assault. The sphere was thrown at Vile, his spinning slowing and stopping as he finally touched down, panting.

Foucalt misses Vile with his Big Bang attack.

Slammed to the ground, Auto can't help but laugh. "Ever hear of Albany?" Of course, the whole time, he's trying to fight the massive claw off. He's not having much luck.

Liese Schreiner strikes Midnight with her Ebenhande attack.

Firestorm Phoenix gets smacked in the chest with the staff and sent tumbling backwards squawking quite annoyedly. He too notices the the sniper, betting it to be the new recruit Onyx he decides to give her room to fire. Moving higher into the air the golden firebird's wings spread, bursting into flames, "No words Signas? I thought all diplomats ran at the mouth." Firestorm's wings slam forward with a powerful beat, unleashing a barrage of fiery daggers at Signas.

Firestorm Phoenix misses Signas with his Crimson Rain attack.

Crush Crawfish looks down at Auto. "I said... GIVE.. ME... 20!!" He lifts his claw upward, giving a hefty snip of his claw as he drags his claw upward. "And I know Albany! I have friends who are clams!" Hm? Clams. Well, he is glaring pretty hard.. staring at Au-..Albalogna.. oh...

Somewhere on the MUSH, Iris has disconnected.

Crush Crawfish strikes Auto with his Slash attack.

Taki-One again leaps, the plasma spread instead slamming into the wall. The topmost bricks vaporize, the ones beneath bursting from the heat. One cannot say that he isn't agile either. The cape (or what remais of it) billows around him as he lands on the ground, crouching with the fall to absorb the impact. Noting the drones, he decides to dispense with them before they are called in to interfere. Taki extends both arm cannon and articulated hand, and a gush of flame spreads from them. The hands arc out, the fire following, setting the area ablaze. The Odessa, depending on its speed, may also be caught up in the delousing of drones.

You miss Dr. Cossack with your Flamethrowers attack.

Tilting his head forward to read something superimposed on his field of vision, Vile looks up at the last moment to dash aside. Glaring at the Hunter, as much as one can glare with but a pinpoint of light, the Maverick warmachine tenses.

...and then leaps into the air, one hand reaching out for Foucalt.

<Chain of Command> Dr. Doppler says, "Whiff."

Vile strikes Foucalt with his Maul attack.

Overclock moves his arm back, dodging the attack. It's glowing blue, in the transparent places, and he's moving a lot faster than Alpha has probably seen him normally move. "Funny the choices you make. But you know, I never lost it."

Now that Alpha is closeby, he decides to make her regret it. One of his jet-assissted legs shoots up, and he high-kicks, trying to strike her right in the face. "I choose to beat your ass! Don't mind if you take it personal!"

Overclock strikes Alpha with his Jump Kick attack.

General arrives from the Sky Above Eastern Europe.

General has arrived.

General enters the Germany.

General has left.

Midnight takes the hit without taking a step backwards. Her helmet turns down as she looks at the area of her midsection that had been stuck, then looks back up at Liese. She says nothing, or rather, the pike she's holding speaks for her as she transitions into a braced stance and thrusts the end of it for Liese's midsection.

As Bit charges, Zero's eyes close, his smile tightening into a look of neutrality as he slowly works himself into his fighting zone. It's been quite a while since Zero had to take a fight seriously, but tonight more than his own life is at stake. As he feels Bit's approach, he spins around and lashes out with his sabre, his entire body moving fluidly into the deflecting strike, and coming around slowly, but gracefully into a counter attack. Zero did not expect a second slash however, one that draws itself across his midsection, tearing the tight black bodysuit he wears beneath his armor open, and exposing his now scarred synthskin.

The crimson Hunter winces, but does not fully keel over, the pain is an annoyance for now. His attentions belong, and remain, on his advesary. Rapidly shifting his right arm into his arm cannon, he continues his spin and aims it at the Coalition combiner member, firing off several low powered shots. He's already dashed out of range, and the blade's hunger will be appeased soon enough.

Zero strikes Bit with his Hyper Buster attack.

SLAM. CRUNCH. FLING. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Thump. "....owwie." Durandal puts the rifle away, dismissing it back to etherspace. "Okay....time for the large guns." Durandal's arm morphs into his cannon. Now, the real fight has begun. Duran hops up off the ground and airdashes to the side, pointing a blazing arm cannon at his much taller opponent. "MOVE, FODDER!" He's not joking around anymore.

Durandal misses Crush Hippo with his Afterburner attack.

Midnight strikes Liese Schreiner with her Hanbo attack.

*CLASH* That...was not a good sound, Auto realizes. Perhaps he should really reconsider getting into fistfights again. "Tell you what.... You look at that really, really cool object over there..." He points off to the left.

"...and I run like the devil." And with that, Auto is scrambling away, trying to get to the safety of the Vorpal.

"Must run faster...must run faster..."

Auto retreats from the area swiftly, leaving him open to pursuit or parting shots from Bit, Dr. Doppler, Zero, Dr. Cossack, Midnight, Overclock, Maverick Hunter VTOL <Vorpal>, Cacophony Timberwolf, Inferno Phoenix, Foucalt, Shyster, Javelin Whitetail, Vile, Signas, Durandal, Firestorm Phoenix, Liese Schreiner, Simian Monk, and Crush Crawfish.

Vile strikes Auto with his Omgredeye attack.

"MUST RUN FASTER! MUST RUN FASTER!!!"

Alpha says, "Alright.", simply, raising an eyebrow at the quickened movement before she gets smacked in the face by a heavy kick to the face. Stumbling back from the force, she wipes some dripping mechfluid from her split lip and then adds, "But I don't think I will. You beat Sonata.", she recalls as she moves forward herself in a quick jumpkick towards the side of Overclock's face.

GO GO GO GO GO GO!

Alpha strikes Overclock with her Jumpkick attack.

Onyx doesn't flinch as she watches the Forcefield intercept the shot.. It's all part of the game. Now faced with an urgency to bat away the Phoenix, Signas has to drop his Forcefield; Which now leaves him open to the girl's mercy. Noting his strike at Firestorm, Onyx lets her aim stray a bit. The staff could be a problem... so, she'll attempt to disarm him. Slowly, she begins to squeeze the trigger, making sure the reticle stays true to her preparation. And then, another shell is shot off.. this time at the primary hand that wields the staff.

Onyx Reptilia strikes Signas with her Hand Shot attack.

Javelin Whitetail trembles, expecting another attack...but it does not come. Midnight intervenes, earning the wrath of Liese Schreiner instead. Looking around, the Deer notices that all are now in the heat of battle...with a sickening *crunch* a pile of steaming metal lands next to her, the remains of some random drone. Javelin drags her broken body next to it, using it as a sort of shelter, and from there she watches the battle between Midnight and Liese. She does not attack again--nor does she intervene. She merely watches and listens, wide-eyed (one of them, anyways), and ears perked.

Crush Hippo simply grabs the van that was Durandal's second landing space and flips it up into the path of the blast to be devistated in his stead. His shoulder cannon glows red and there's a massive *WOOMPH* as a big blast of energy of his own is launched while he charges at Durandal, hoping to get back into grappling range.

Crush Hippo strikes Durandal with his Double Aught attack.

The Sov-Bots stand there and stare at Taki-One. The flame sweeps over them completely, the terrible heat and light enough to wreck almost any normal drone in its path.

The Odessa Minor, meanwhile, skids back -- it damned near /moonwalks/ back from the flames, raising its arms in front of itself in a classic Krav Maga block. `I Walk The Line' establishes and begins to pump across the terrain, meanwhile.

When the flames clear, the Sov-Bots ... are untouched. They stand there, continuing to look at Taki-One.

Then, in unison, the Sov-Bots appear to swim in front of Taki-One's eyes. They unleash a sonic blast, directed at Taki-One in a tight cone -- a weaponized version of the music presently blasting from the Odessa Minor. Even if it only hits Taki-One, the sonic destruction wave obliterates a nearby building: glass exploding into the sky, bricks tumbling down into sand, distant explosions heard as things inside the building go up a half-second after the building begins to crumble.

Dr. Cossack misses you with his Sov-bot Singing attack.

Vile latches on to the Hunter, pulling him down to the ground as he positions him closer to the uprising dirt. All the while, the general slams his clenched fist into Foucalt's face, again and again and again. The two plow into the ground, immediately obscured by a giant cloud of dust.

It soon clears, but now, Vile is holding his foe in the air. Without hesitation, he rips the Hunter's left arm off, a shower of sparks and mechfluid spurting out from the wound. Insult to injury comes in the worst form: Vile tosses Foucalt into the air, then smashes him across the face with his own severed arm.

"In case you haven't noticed, negotiations at this point are being conducted in a slightly different manner," Signas replies to Firestorm, even as he spins his staff around in a rapid circle and dispersing all of the miniature fire shots that the Phoenix is tossing at him. If that wasn't predictable enough, he didn't know what was. There was still that sniper to deal with - and he just needed another shot or two, and he would be able to deal with that threat. For the time being - he had poultry to fight.

Then the bullet strikes his hand, knocking the staff away, and Signas leaps back. But even then, he isn't idle. He just about had the position of that sniper. In the meantime... "Perhaps if I am not speaking loudly enough for you Firestorm, this will make up for my previous silence!" With that, he extends one hand into the air, his emitter crystals flaring blue as he gathers the ambient moisture in the air into a single spot, creating a massive globe of floating water. And then there is a loud *crack*... and the entire mass freezes into a block of ice, large shards of ice projecting out from it.

And he throws it right down on top of Firestorm.

Signas misses Firestorm Phoenix with his Ice Crystal Crush attack.

Well, fudge. Nothing seems to be working well tonight. But it doesn't get Cacophony down it seems. A little annoyed, prehaps, but she'll roll with it. She's probably just as annoying, as she repeatedly leaps out of the way of Inferno's attacks. Hooo hah! "Hold still? Like, how silly do you think I am?" Letting the mike slip out of her hand, she twirls it by the cable a few moments, and then turns to whip it at Inferno's head.

Hey, it worked for Plum.

Cacophony Timberwolf strikes Inferno Phoenix with her Instruments Of Destruction attack.

Simian pauses immediately, and finally rips off the thingamibob. Looking straight at the NEENJA Chicken he uhohs. It slams into him and knocks over the monkey, sending him rolling. Coming up from the roll in a roll-flip. The monkey drops into a fighting stance again, "You want to see a true master? Watch, and learn, my misled friend," Simian states.

Simian raises his hand as if he is about to slap someone. He closes his eyes and does some quick kata exercises, perhaps just to distract Shyster. Afterwards, the monkey suddenly lashes out with his hand causing the pressure to change and sends a small whirlwind towards Shyster's way. In meanwhile Simian shouts, "Zhuan Feng!"

Simian Monk strikes Shyster with his Whirlwind Swipe attack.

*ghk* As the pike punches a hole in her abdomen, Liese learns to never fool around with the unfamiliar. "Ach," she manages to say, looking downwards -- and then with a rather lazy backhanded strike towards the vaguely female figure's hand, she says, "It is not /polite/ to stab on the first date... But then I suppose that if you had proper manners, you would not be on this field now, ja?"

Liese Schreiner misses Midnight with her Disarm attack.

Smack! Overclock's struck in the face, and leans back as the kick strikes him. "Now you're puttin' some effort into it!" If there's one thing he loves...other than doing his job...it's a good challenge. And Alpha is bound to be a challenge.

Time to get the lead out. And that meant, getting rid of some things he probably wasn't going to need. Like his engine coolant.

He aims his arms at Alpha again, and this time, the blue wave he fires at her is a torrent. He's flushing the whole darn thing... and of course, he certainly doesn't mind if he gets some of the damaging fluid on her in the process.

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Crush Crawfish grunts. "One Hunter down.."

Overclock strikes Alpha with his Full Coolant Flush attack.

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Vile hisses, "This one is as good as dead."

The first slash is deflected, but the second is true. Bit dashes on past Zero, he pauses for a moment as he turns around. He readies himself once more into fighting position, shield first, sword high, and charges forward. However, this time, Zero greets him not with melee but ranged. This was not to be expected. The Maverick raises his shield in futility as the blast scores a hit on Bit's shoulder. The reploid rolls and skids on the earth as he loses balance, before finally coming to a stop. Bit groans as he picks himself back up.

Inferno Phoenix is smacked upside the head with a microphone? What kind of first-blood hit is that?! It stuns him for a moment, not out of pain, but just out of bewilderment. She hit him.. with a MIC. "....." he just shakes his head and rushes her once again, warshield brought to bear against her as he thrusts, then slashes.

Inferno Phoenix misses Cacophony Timberwolf with his Warshield Slash attack.

Auto looks over, and sees, across the battlefield, that red optic. "Yeeaaaaaa!!" He cries as rounds and rounds of drone shots, shells, missiles, grenades, kamikaze runs, failed attacks ending in seppuku(or however it's spelled) chase him clear back to the Vorpal. He gets up the ramp, letting the ships defenses chase the drones away. Looking back out, he blinks. He dropped one of his bolts.

His optics scan the carnage outside, trying to gauge...

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Crush Hippo transmits, "Mine's not even a challenge. Whoever said Durandal was unbreakable lied through their teeth. Our MEDICS are tougher than he is!"

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Overclock transmits, "Of course they are. Your medics are the likes of me."

"Hah, you are no match for my superi--WHAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Shyster's dire pronouncement fades into screaming incoherence as he begins to spin round and round, caught up in the shrieking twister created by Simian's technique. Whirling in a circle like some kind of demented top, Shyster finally comes to a halt after several seconds, and topples over.

Face first in the ground, he raises his Feather Buster arm, and points it straight up. "That wasn't nice," he says, his voice somewhat muffled by all that mud.

Once again, the Feather Buster speaks, its powerful roar echoing across the countryside. Or not. Actually, it plays a rather cheesy canned squawking sound effect through a pair of stereo speakers. With all the setbacks the Mavericks have been suffering lately, there have evidently been budget cuts.

A plume of smoke blasts from the Buster's muzzle, but no projectile is visible.

But a heartbeat later, a tinny mechanical squawk resounds through the air, as a cute little SHINOBI CHICKEN DRONE drops down towards Simian's head, little plastic kunai glued to its feathers, and a sparking, hissing firecracker clutched in its beak.

Shyster misses Simian Monk with his Feather Buster attack.

Taki-One hisses again, this time in definite frustration, as the Odessa Minor continues to dance around its attacks. This is followed by a hiss of a different sort - one of a forcefield activating. The remaining building behind him explodes as the sonic beam strikes it, but the harmonics of the field are such that Taki-One himself remains unscathed.

Doppler must have spared no expense in this one's creation.

Dr. Doppler projects a forcefield around himself.

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Crush Crawfish transmits, "Firestorm. Status report."

Zero whips his arm back as it quickly reforms into a normal arm, as he takes slow, but long strides towards the fallen Bit. Intercepting the Maverick before he rises, the blonde berserker stands over him, his sabre pointed down at his body, "I could kill you now, and move on to the next fool who will die for his master. Would they remember you then, Bit? The Godmachine shall always be spoken of in myth and legend far after the reploid race dies, but what of it's substance? Who is the true master, Bit? Tell me. Is it you, or the Godmachine. Where does your destiny lie?"

Zero chuckles a few times, still holding his sabre firm, "Surely it does not here at my feet."

Firestorm Phoenix snorts at Signas, "I see, agreesive negotiations it is." The goldenfirebird rolls his eyes as he watches the ice form, "Oh really, could you atleast try to be original?" Sighing he responds to the ice attack by activating high powered vocal emitters, his beak focusing the sound of a bird of prey into a powerful sonic wave. The wave first rips through the ice, causing it to explode and continues on to Signas.

Firestorm Phoenix misses Signas with his Call Of The Raptor attack.

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Firestorm Phoenix grunts, "Busy."

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Crush Crawfish transmits, "Holding your own, soldier?"

Alpha raises her arms to block, and unfortunately she does. She gets the coolant all over her arms, and it starts stinging quite irritatingly and burning her synthflesh. She remmebers that Overclock likes fighting ... Well, she imagines, might as well give him what he wants. Her left dress strap bursts briefly, solidifying into a cylinder with a red 'eye' of sorts in the center. Then the cylinder detatches itself, seems to focus right on Overclock, and then opens fire with a brief burst of red energy. "As long as you are enjoying yourself.", she says, taking a moment to glance around and get a good view of the rest of the battlefield.

Alpha strikes Overclock with her Energy Engine attack.

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Firestorm Phoenix transmits, "For now."

Beaten, battered and missing an arm, Fou started to scramble to his feet. He was getting the hell out of here! He was running towards the vorpal, feet scrambling on slick and blasted ground. All the while, he tried to get his anti-grav unit online, but it just wouldn't work!

Foucalt retreats from the area swiftly, leaving him open to pursuit or parting shots from Bit, Dr. Doppler, Zero, Auto, Midnight, Overclock, Maverick Hunter VTOL <Vorpal>, Cacophony Timberwolf, Inferno Phoenix, Shyster, Javelin Whitetail, Vile, Signas, Durandal, Firestorm Phoenix, Liese Schreiner, Simian Monk, and Crush Crawfish.

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Dr. Doppler transmits, "Does the defense hold?"

Midnight retracts the Pike from Liese's torso and ducks the swating motion that is made. She's evidently not one for trite remarks. Her stance seems to indicate that she's very intent at the moment. She weaves sharply to the side, perhaps to get a look at where javelin has gone, but it's pretty hard to tell what with the whole helmet and visor thing. Immediently after this repositioning, she cuts in very close to Liese again, this time taing a swing with the blunt end of the Pike in an apparent attempt to throw the Hunter off balance.

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Vile transmits, "The conscripts are not holding the line."

Durandal grits his teeth as he's blasted back into a wall. Not good, not good, not good. He staggers to his feet and points at his opponent. "YOU'RE GOING DOWN! I'VE COME THIS FAR...I /CAN'T/ LOSE NOW!"

The only reason that Durandal is using this is because this area is already deserted and abandoned and ruined in the fires of war. That means that he's not going to kill any innocents by leveling it further, only Mavericks. Reality itself around Durandal and Crush Hippo starts to bend and break. This...this is your one and only warning to get as far away as possible.

The area morphs into a twisted version of itself, as Durandal's Point Singularity Projector charges up and unleashes hell as local space collapse in on itself. The voird is quickly filled, the fast exchange of matter rips space apart and causes a deafening explosion that surges outwards to claim three already ruined blocks of the city.

This...is the Overload Nova.

Durandal strikes Crush Hippo with his Overload Nova attack.

The building crumbles behind Taki-One. The Sov-Bots do not look particularly upset nor pleased about it. Rather, they return to a protective phalanx formation around the Odessa Minor, which has been irritatingly difficult for Taki-One to injure.

Pavel stares through his VR interface, popping his jaw within his protective Nerpium sheath. He runs his thumbs over a safety switch, disengaging several protocols intended for his own protection. The chirping in his helmet tells him that the situation is about to get much worse.

Pavel plans to help that along.

The Odessa Minor EXPLODES in a hail of rockets, which race from its shoulders, its arms, its abdomen, its legs, some shooting straight up from its back and looping around. The thundering roar of rocket exhaust is accompanied by a massive cloud of smoke as explosive death homes in on Taki-One and all the drones in the immediate area, raining death from above, death from the sides, death from right in front.

Your forcefield absorbs 22 units of damage from Dr. Cossack's attack.

Dr. Cossack strikes you with a glancing hit from his Robotech Style attack for 0 units of damage.

Midnight strikes Liese Schreiner with her Urataijutsu attack.

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Dr. Doppler transmits, "You were expecting more from civilian conscripts?"

Two shots. Time to start confusing him. In the blink of an eye, the top of the tower is suddenly empty. And in the same instance, the sleek, green reptilian steps out of the shadows of a hotel-like building, emerging at the window of the third story. It's already had a section of the window removed to allow for the Sniper's weapon to fit into it. As have an assortment of buildings and towers all along the territory. The Defender has spent much time preparing for another eventual attack. On one of the tiny screens in her visor is a 3D grid, a diagram of the entire area along with the structures she has already setup to use as Sniper posts. If there's one thing she's learned from Tactical Raccoon, it's that there is an advantage to being unable to be seen, heard, or tracked. And Onyx attempts to do each.

Second position set, the scope-view on her visor re-adjusts its focus on Signas, all of her tracking data being instantly reported and updated as necessary. Once she gets her barings on him again, it seems to fall at the end of a sonic attack that disrupts the ice created by the Diplomat. Taking that as an opportunity to take a more vital shot, the trigger is squeezed, and a third shell expended through the volley of ice shards.

Onyx Reptilia strikes Signas with her Kidney Shot attack.

"It is not important that /they/ know how I died..." Bit motions as lays on the dirt, armor tainted with mud. "It is important that /I/ know how I died." He coughs. "Let history remember Godmachine and forget me if it so wishes, my soul is at peace." With that, the fallen Maverick slides sideways in the blink of an eye, thrusting his boot upward.

Bit strikes Zero with his Kick attack.

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Vile transmits, "I was informing you of the situation."

Simian pauses once again. He ducks out of the way and rolls on the ground to avoid the chicken. He stands back up and growls, "What is it with you a /chickens/!"

Simian leaps up into the air, and extends his heel. The monkey begins to descend upon Shyster's head. His intent? Introduce Shyster to the sole of his foot.

Simian Monk misses Shyster with his Flying Kick attack.

[Radio] Tightbeam radio transmission: Vile says, "I am engaging the defenses of Neo Berlin. This line will not hold for much longer."

Cacophony Timberwolf doesn't she step out of the way this time. Having whipped the mic now, her hands a free to reach back, and pull out her guitar from between her cannons. Though not just any guitar, this one is bladed like an axe, which she uses to block the incoming shield slashing attack. And then flips it around into a playable position, running her claws over the strings a few times. At least this time, she starts to play something more suiting to a grueling ongoing battle in a war that seems to never end.

o/~ You'll take my life but I'll take yours too! You'll fire your musket but I'll run you through. So when you're waiting for the next attack You'd better stand there's no turning back.

The bugle sounds and the charge begins. But on this battlefield no one wins. The smell of acrid smoke and horses breath As I plunge on into certain death.

The horse he sweats with fear we break to run, the mighty roar of the Russian guns. And as we race towards the human wall, The screams of pain as my comrades fall

We hurdle bodies that lay on the ground, And the Russians fire another round. We get so near yet so far away, We won't live to fight another day! o/~

The final note of the verse is puncutated with a loud chord on her guitar, and an even louder concussion blast of sonic force from her cannons.

[Radio] Tightbeam radio transmission to Vile: You say, "When the line can no longer hold, fall back to the Schwartzwald."

Cacophony Timberwolf misses Inferno Phoenix with her Requiem attack.

Crush Hippo roars in pain as his armor is torn apart by the explosion, leaving him battered and sparking, but still ready to battle. His eyes glow red as he picks himself up and charges Durandal, grabing him and opening his maw wide to rip a chunk out of the Hunter's body... literally.

Crush Hippo misses Durandal with his Hungry Hungry Hippo attack.

While Firestorm's attack isn't all that effective, as the diplomat simply blinks out of the way, the bullet strikes Signas in the back... and that hurt. Badly. This wasn't going to be an opponent that Signas could afford to ignore. And he was going to have to deal with them... quickly. And fortunately for him,Another quick calculation, and Signas smiles as he looks at Firestorm. "As much as I enjoy playing with you, I'm afraid that I have someone else who must be spoken with as well regarding the matter of that sniper rifle," the diplomat replies in the most mild manner possible. And he shakes his head... and engages both of the emitter arrays in his gauntlets.

If there was one way to deal with a sniper... it was through application of overwhelming firepower. And a massive blast of energy races back along the track of that last bullet less than a second after hit strikes the diplomat. A veritable fireball - and if Onyx is expecting the building to protect her, she's about to find out quite differently, when faced with this explosive blast.

Overclock tries to dodge aside, but the energy blast hits him on the shoulder. It sizzles.

The heat on his body, however, is already starting to build. "Well...you understand it's even more fun when I win."

He punches at Alpha, trying to strike her in the stomach. As his fist sails toward her, it glows, red.... starting to pick up blazing heat to go along with the speed.

Overclock strikes Alpha with his Metal Melting Punch attack.

Signas misses Onyx Reptilia with his Comet Crash attack.

This time, as Cacophony breaks into song, Inferno takes wing and dashes away from it. By the time the concussive force comes, he's put enough distance between himself and her that it doesn't effect him. Banking around, the phoenix lets out a ear piercing cry, as if trying to call up some more powerful force from within, but when it doesn't come he pauses in the air... scared? He snorts, discarding the thought as he instead rushes down toward Cacophony, intent to run her over, electric flowing through his frame.

Inferno Phoenix misses Cacophony Timberwolf with his Lightning Charge attack.

Liese Schreiner brings up one arm to block the blunt strike, grunting once -- it hurts, but at least it keeps her from being hurt /worse/. This sucks, in a way, she decides -- this is someone she doesn't know, and her ears are still ringing from the dang sound-Maverick (or wait, not-a-Maverick)'s attack. But she hasn't lost yet -- even if she isn't yet prepared to try the Hertza Haeon once again, she can still get in a few useful shots.

She jabs out with one hand in a series of quick punches towards the figure's head, steel teeth grinding before she concludes that, backing it up with a sudden and sharp uppercut aimed towards the figure's stomach!

Liese Schreiner strikes Midnight with her Hand Combo attack.

Durandal blinks and /leaps/ the heck out of the way. "Okay...he's still walking." And a three block radius isn't /standing/. Time to leave. Duran just hauls arse down the street as fast as reploidically possible. Which isn't very fast, at the moment.

Durandal retreats from the area swiftly, leaving him open to pursuit or parting shots from Bit, Dr. Doppler, Zero, Midnight, Overclock, Maverick Hunter VTOL <Vorpal>, Cacophony Timberwolf, Inferno Phoenix, Foucalt, Shyster, Javelin Whitetail, Vile, Signas, Firestorm Phoenix, Liese Schreiner, Simian Monk, and Crush Crawfish.

Taki-One is now suitably impressed.

The area around the Maverick is lost in a pattern of explosions. Fire, smoke, debris all cloud the air for a long moment, a very vision of armageddon. A breeze from the west begins to disperse the thick dustcloud...

...and Taki-One remains standing, almost defiant in posture. The forcefield has taken on an odd coloration, its hue now a sickly green instead of pearly coral. Taki-One again leaps wiht the aid of his dash-jets, this time leaping directly at the Odessa in an attempt to strike it with the shield itself.

Dr. Doppler lowers his forcefield.

You strike Dr. Cossack with a minor hit from your Reverse Energy Flow Field attack.

Keeling over, the distinct imprint of a monkey's foot on his forehead, Shyster hits the ground and lies motionless, looking up at the sky. His Buster arm reverts back to a normal hand, which he raises, and points at Simian. He waggles the finger.

"Do not," he pronounces solemnly, "mock the chickens."

Pause.

"Meanie. I'm not going to play anymore."

Springing back to his feet like a demented jack-in-the-box, Shyster snaps his hands together in a complicated pattern of interlocking fingers.

Another smoke grenade goes off, as Shyster's body-switching technique takes effect. In the Maverick's place...

...is a little glass of water, and one of those toy dipping birds, going back and forth furiously.

Shyster retreats from the area swiftly, leaving him open to pursuit or parting shots from Bit, Dr. Doppler, Midnight, Overclock, Maverick Hunter VTOL <Vorpal>, Cacophony Timberwolf, Inferno Phoenix, Foucalt, Javelin Whitetail, Vile, Signas, Firestorm Phoenix, Liese Schreiner, Simian Monk, and Crush Crawfish.

Turning to watch Foucalt flee, Vile inspects the arm with a casual indifference. Soon thereafter, his cannon clicks with a napalm charge... that fires small globs in a large arc. They land in just the precise spot to send flaming hurricanes raging across the area that most of the Hunters are leaving for pickup in.

Alpha grunts again as she's smacked in the stomach, bowling over briefly, as she does so she retaliates however, swishing Necro over so he can fire a brief burst of flame at Overclock. It's really a small burst. She leaps back and clenches at her wound to watch Overclock a little more carefully. "I understand, I don't like falling apart myself."

Alpha strikes Overclock with her Fire Spit attack.

<Chain of Command> General hees. "The Arbiter is getting deployed. X)

Vile strikes Durandal with his Napalm Cyclone attack.

Durandal falls to the ground, unconscious, due to massive systems damage.

Vile strikes Foucalt with his Napalm Cyclone attack.

The musical force just is not with Cacophony it seems, as yet again the Maverick seems to weather her attack once more without much problem.

On the other hand, all the years of dancing and playing DDR are paying off, as she yet again manages to swiftly evade is incoming assault, leaping backwards, and pointing her cannons downwards after her as she does so. The air literally ripples with visible sonic waves, because, hell, this is sci-fi. -Everything- is visible in some way if it's an attack.

Cacophony Timberwolf misses Inferno Phoenix with her Symphony Of Destruction attack.

This serves to make Pavel Cossack angry.

Temporary slowed down from the terrifying onslaught, Taki-One crashes into the Odessa Minor, making it sway but not fall. Pavel grunts as his protective armoring is tested, sparks crackling around his field of vision -- large dents are left in the armor, and a good-sized scrape is left in the Cossack's logo.

Snarling, Pavel does something very dangerous. As his son deals out flaming death elsewhere on the battlefield, Pavel orients one of the massive cannons on the power armor's shoulders down to do the same thing to Taki-One. A blast of flaming napalm sears down from the power armor, attempting to cook Taki-One's circuits.

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Crush Hippo transmits, "Okay... *crackle* That hurt. He's running though. Anyone else need a hand?"

Dr. Cossack misses you with his Shoulder Cannon - Napalm attack.

Crush Crawfish looks around the area for a moment.. then over at Inferno and Cacophony. He begins to mutter something about doing things yourself. Uh oh. The lobster is coming. You are in the poop now.

Crush Crawfish strikes Inferno Phoenix with his Clanking attack.

Crush Crawfish strikes Cacophony Timberwolf with his Clanking attack.

Inferno Phoenix's shield is quickly thrust between himself and Cacophony, absorbing the brunt of the blow. In his mind, he searches, something is missing, he can't find it, and he NEEDS it. With a shirll of defiance the phoenix lunges, trying to jam his shield into the wolfs gut, then to rip upward...

Inferno Phoenix strikes Cacophony Timberwolf with his Warshield Cleave attack.

Zero is knocked off balance by the kick, his body sent reeling as his feet backpeddle quickly, trying to regain their balance. Unsuccessful in his attempts he begins to fall backwards, but even then, he remains composed. Zero tucks himself into a defensive roll, and springs back up with his hands, his sabre still clutched tightly in his fingers, and his armor, aside from gathering a large amount of dirt and debris, remaining mostly undamaged.

The blonde bishounen grins faintly at Bit for a moment, his head shaking slightly, "Let the scientists make all the discoveries they want, we have no souls. We are nothing more than killing machines sent to war over the bruised egos of five brilliant men. We're pawns, Bit. Machines built to destroy each other. Sigma's dream is unattainable because none of us will be able to become anything more than what we were created to do."

Zero raises his blade, pointing it straight at Bit, his expression tightening, "What do you think there will be for men like us, Bit? Once the wars have ended and the so called peace has returned. Of what use will our blades be to those who insist we put down our arms? Of what need will they have for those of us who have no practical function. Of all the pawns involved in this boardgame, only the original six who started this war may have a chance of a normal existance when the dust settles."

"For us, Bit," Zero exclaims as he charges towards the Maverick, "There is only death... and immortality!" He then springs into the air towards the Maverick Samurai, tucking his body as he spins himself into a whirling bladed ball of destruction, headed on a direct course for the shielded reploids body.

Durandal is consumed in a whirl of fire and goes down.

Ooooh, pretty sparks.

Shyster has disconnected.

Firestorm Phoenix smirks as Signas waves him off, not a smart thing to do, no, not at all. The golden firebird chuckles, "Whats the matter Signas, don't like our bargaining chip?" Along the Phoenix's body an array of ports open, revealing racks of minimissiles. A targetting laser lances out from the gem on Firestorm's chest, hopefully locking on to the Hunter and guiding the swarm of missiles to their target.

Zero misses Bit with his Hurricane Fang attack.

Firestorm Phoenix strikes Signas with his Missile Swarm attack.

Colonel arrives from the European Russia.

Colonel has arrived.

Simian Monk has disconnected.

Quiet Man arrives from the European Russia.

Quiet Man has arrived.

Foucalt was consumed in a whirl of burning fire, exposed circutry becoming /extremely/ not happy. Stumbling off, the Youngest Matthews found a convenient boulder to cower behind!He didn't want to die.

Midnight takes the pummeling to the "gut" and actually takes a step back with the force of that. She uses her pike held lengthwise to put a little distance between them. Her head inclines in a slight nod towards her opponent. As if to indicate her mood, the entire length of her pike is suddenly set ablaze with yellow flames that lick up and around Midnight's hands. She then sweeps the weapon around her body and slams it down in an overhead showgun motion.

Midnight strikes Liese Schreiner with her Flame Kissed Hanbo attack.

Byte arrives from the Germany.

Byte has arrived.

Gah....fire! That wasn't going to help with Overclock's systems already blazing with heat. And here...he was doing it intentionally, too. His fists and legs now all glow red, the fire attack clearly adding to the internal damage he was already causing to himself. "One.... Alpha... whoever you are.... I'll make an end to you for that. No one STEALS my work!" He leaps for the girl, and, his dash-jets flaring, gets enough height with them to kick her two, three times with the flame-tipped feet before he falls back to the ground.

Overclock misses Alpha with his Quick Kick Combo attack.

Javelin Whitetail shrinks further under the drone husk, breathing lightly, trying to move as little as possible and preserve herself. Crunched in the darkness, lying down, one might take her for dead, if it weren't for the flicker of her one working optic, observing Midnight and Liese deck it out. The Deer is a mere conscript, at least to those on this battlefield. One hand stretches out, slowly, slowly...she draws the forgotten rifle she was given to her side, and props it up. She continues to watch back and forth, and while she does not fire...who could tell where her weapon is aimed?

Conscripts are nothing more than conscripts. They have very little military training, if any. These recruits are fresh from their homes, probably scared and unwilling to fight. If it were otherwise they would have joined the military already.

The meagre line caves in from the Hunter assault, and despite the large amount of CRF ranking officers to bolster the attempt, it is simply not to be. Their position threatening to be engulfed by the Hunter forces, Vile growls several commands into his radio, then signals for a general fallback. Where? To the metal forests, deeper into the supposed homefield advantage.

Taki-One again demonstrates his agility by not being where the Odessa is aiming. He dashes clockwise around the power armor, the volley tearing a furrow in the baked earth. "Hmph," he says, verballizing a hidden smirk. "Very admirable indeed. How is it at close-quarters combat?" To answer his own question, the Maverick pulls a partially melted, twisted support beam from the mostly collapsed wall, the rubble crumbling as the beam is torn free. He hefts the beam, then uses it as a cudgel, aiming for the Odessa Minor's back.

You strike Dr. Cossack with a minor hit from your Smash attack.

"Indeed we are tools, Zero." Bit readies himself for the coming assault. "We have no use in a world of peace, all there is left for us is the memory that history leaves behind. I do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow shall worry about itself. Each day..." Bit positions his shield to compliment the angle of the incoming blades and deflects, sliding Zero's sword across the long length of Aegis. "...has enough trouble of its own." With the momentum of the deflect, Bit continues the pivoting motion around to a full 360 degrees, bringing his other arm out from the spin, sword extended.

Bit strikes Zero with his Energy Katana attack.

How she was found is of absolutely no consequence. It's simply the fact that she was. Having been watching Signas through a zoomed viewport in her visor, she has to take a moment to adjust as it washes into a bright red glow. She adjusts the focus and auto-zoom, the viewport fitting itself to measure the object in front of her... and those beedy black eyes open wide as they register the fireball being designated to destroy her post. (Location compromised. Abandoning Position B.) There is a glow that washes over her form, sending her into a translucent, watery vapor that blinks away again. Her first post is semi-essential, so she'll not take the chance of exposing it and having it destroyed just as easily. Thus, the choice to decide to hit one of the higher locations set up directly opposite the area she just inhabited, approximately a mile off behind Signas. Her body recomposes just to the side of the opening in this second tower (which is basically a large smokestack on a factory, with a section of railing around it). She kneels on the railing, her form up against the side of the smoke stack, and she levels the rifle again, her terminal allowing her to watch the final collapse of her former post.. as well as the barrage served by Firestorm. Perfect, that'll serve as a nice distraction. (Target re-acquired.) she affirms to herself, squeezing on the trigger slowly. That Hunter has some heavy firepower hidden in that body.. and she has a feeling there are some servos that could stand to be removed. The trigger is squeezed, and another explosive-tipped shell is sent for Signas's right shoulder servo.

Cacophony Timberwolf lands after her attack, grumbling, and getting ready to leap again. Except then... there's CLANKING! She.. just sort of blinks, as the sound does absolutely nothing. Or it might just be her soundproof armor. It does distract her long enough for Firestorm to finally hit though, yowling as her armor is sliced through and she's knocked aside, rolling, and back to her feet. "Oh, so it's two on one now, is it?" Hmm. She huffs a bit, but she's not running from greater odds! Yet, at least. She just cranks the volume up to full blast, and blares out another song!

o/~Well I'm remonstrated, outdated, I really want to be over-rated. I'm a finder and I'm a keeper, I'm not a loser and I ain't no weeper! I got the boys to make the noise. Won't ever let up, Hope it annoys you! Join the pack, Fill the crack Well now you're here, There's no way back.

Bang your head! Metal Health'll drive you mad! Bang your head! Metal Health'll drive you mad!o/!

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Overclock transmits, "That's it. I'm gonna unleash on this b****."

Repliforce Air Platform <Fortress III> arrives from the Germany.

Repliforce Air Platform <Fortress III> has arrived.

Colonel has left.

Colonel makes his way into Repliforce Air Platform <Fortress III>.

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Byte transmits, "Break her, Overclock. ...I come."

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Overclock transmits, "It's okay if I kill a deserter if she's ATTACKING us, right Doppler?"

Liese Schreiner gets clocked on the head, her hair singed, as she looks up again in a snarl. She's /angry/ now about this. This always happens to her; some idiot with a /spear/. "Nobody ever fights with their /hands/," she says, turning her head to spit onto the dirt, before sniffling back some clogged fluid in her artificial sinuses.

She begins to stride forwards, concealing a limp with something close to a swagger. "It is always the /guns/ or the /sound cannons/ or the ****ing SPEARS!" And then she lunges forwards, aiming to lay a hand on the being's head before doing the same pulsed-blow that she had inflicted upon Javelin Whitetail not a minute or so ago. It's amazing how time can get away from you in a fight; it's like it lasts forever when it's /happening/.

Someone else was going to have to deal with the sniper - Signas is going to have to focus all of his attention on dealing with this annoying Phoenix. And he does so - lifting his staff up from the ground and turning to give a very long, level stare at his primary opponent. And the diplomat smiles very slightly.

And springs on top of Firestorm, the blade of his glaive appearing, and glowing a very distinct black in color. And he brings it down again. And again. And again. Enough times that it might well be infinite.

Signas misses Firestorm Phoenix with his Infinity Slam attack.

Liese Schreiner misses Midnight with her Hertza Haeon attack.

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Dr. Doppler transmits, "If they attack us, then return fire."

Napalm sticks to drones. The Sov-Bots are set on fire by the napalm deluge, but don't appear to disturbed by it. They begin to pace around, moving closer to the Odessa Minor.

The power armor starts to reorient around to face Taki-One as the faster Maverick moves around behind it and smacks it across its armored shoulders. It rocks forward, bending its knees to force itself to stay upright --

The Sov-Bots, seeing Leader One in danger, do what their ancestors have always done. Dogpile. Flying at Taki-One in a synchronized wave, the Sov-Bots seek to bring Taki-One down or at least keep him from moving around while the power armor reorients itself.

Prismatic Spider has left.

Prismatic Spider makes his way into Repliforce Air Platform <Fortress III>.

Dr. Cossack misses you with his Sov-bot Grapple attack.

Cacophony Timberwolf strikes Crush Crawfish with her Heavy Metal Concert attack.

Cacophony Timberwolf misses Inferno Phoenix with her Heavy Metal Concert attack.

Ride Armor <Raiden> has arrived.

Crush Hippo decides to step in and help Overclock, as damaged as they both are already. He clomps toward the battle between him and Alpha, launching a small-load guided rocket at Alpha's form with a roaring woosh.

Crush Hippo strikes Alpha with his Special Delivery attack.

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Tactical Raccoon transmits, "Repliforce chatter detected."

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Psychogenesis transmits, "Hrmm.. Confirmed."

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Vile transmits, "Fall back to the Schwarzwald immediately."

[Radio: (D) Public] Pirate Princess Tron Bonne whistles softly, and murmurs gently, "...Go Hunters."

Crush Crawfish is hit by the horrible sound of music! NOO! Not the Heavy Metal! He taps his chest and begins to play the marching music of the Mavericks as he rushing towards Cacophony with his claws extended. Man.. he's fast for a lobster. ACK! THE CLAWS! THEY SHALL CLEAVE YOU! "Turn down your damn music you scum sucking piece of gutter trash!" The cussing continues on..

Crush Crawfish strikes Cacophony Timberwolf with his Claw Flail attack.

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Tactical Raccoon transmits, "...Irregular Overlord chatter detected as well."

[Radio: (C) Mav-Sec] Byte transmits, "...Surprising. ...So be it."

Inferno Phoenix glances aside toward Crush, looking a little thankful before he turns his sighs upon the wolf reploid once again. See? She CAN be hit! This in mind, the shield flames up again and the phoenix charges once more.

Inferno Phoenix strikes Cacophony Timberwolf with his Searing Blitz attack.

Javelin Whitetail gets General Vile's call to fall back. But she doesn't move, unlike the rest of the conscripts, who are only too eager to turn tail in the literal sense. Even if she *could* move--standing sounds like an idea that is far, far too painful to consider, at least right now. No one is watching her; not even the combatants. The Deer's hands tremble. Worthless on this battlefield--she's supposed to be a musician! Hah! Her former deal with the Mavericks forgotten--even as Sigma's beamsabre is still in her possession. Sigma is no more, and it looks like neither are the Mavericks. But while she is not one--she still doesn't want to irk them. She draws even further under the burnt-out drone husk, disguising herself in its depths, even as she aims carefully and pulls the trigger. Not on Liese, but on Midnight. The attack is hopefully timed right--the impact just as Liese's hand reaches out for an attack the Deer has recently become quite familiar with.

Javelin Whitetail misses Midnight with her Canon attack.

Cacophony Timberwolf is being quickly outgunned by the villainous Mavericks! Is there any hope to survive? Will she possibly be able to defeat them? Find out, in two lines!

Suddenly, on a hill behind the Hunter, stands a Panda! But not just any panda. Wearing a red mask around his eyes, and an impromptu cape, he is...SUPER SHAUNYBEAR! And his sidekick, Quiet Ma-Er, Lad.

While Shaunybear poses dramaticly, Quiet Man raises a hand...and stunning burst of sound engulfs the pair of Mavericks...

Quiet Man strikes Inferno Phoenix with his Soundburst attack.

Inferno Phoenix is temporarily disoriented by Quiet Man's Soundburst attack.

Quiet Man strikes Crush Crawfish with his Soundburst attack.

Crush Crawfish is temporarily disoriented by Quiet Man's Soundburst attack.

Taki-One hears the call to retreat. The call is steadfastly ignored. It's not like him to defy the General's orders...but this time he shall make an exception. After all, he can always claim his radio was broken in the combat....

The Sov-Bots rush him, throwing themselves at him like linebackers at the opposing quarterback. The beam is either willingly or forcably dropped from his hands as he moves to defend himself. For a moment, Taki-One sinks to his knees as they dogpile over him. Then there is a glimmer of light beneath the pile. The glimmer of his arm cannon charging. The Maverick shoves up and out as he stands, knocking away as many of the pesky drones as he can. Any that are still circling him are fired upon in a rapid-fire volley of plasma. Should the Odessa be too close, it may be tagged as well.

You strike Dr. Cossack with a minor hit from your Plasma Spread attack.

emit

Quiet Man drops Shaunybear.

Alpha manages to twist away from Overclock's feet, buy she gets smacked right in the back with a large missile! She falls forward to her hands and knees, two more black cylinders exploding out from her body as she takes a moment to recover from her injuries. Vanishing briefly, Alpha appears above Overclock and Crush Hippo...just in time to see Vile send out an assault towards not one, but -both- her brothers! She doesn't reply to Overclock, since RAGE takes over her mind instead. Letting out a roar, the engines open fire towards all three Mavericks before a heavy burst of ice mist explodes from Snow, rapidly surrounding Alpha's body in a method that clearly would require Overclock's special touch to do. The cloud obscures her for a moment before rapidly bursting out all around her, threatening to overtake the two successful mavericks, and Alpha's own opponent.

Crush Crawfish gacks! Why must everything be so loud!

Alpha strikes Overclock with her Phoenix Counter Three - Rising Dragon attack.

Alpha strikes Crush Hippo with her Phoenix Counter Three - Rising Dragon attack.

Alpha misses Vile with her Phoenix Counter Three - Rising Dragon attack.

Inferno Phoenix guahs! ANd finally a sound attack works... but it doesn't come from Caco! how ironic is that?

The Sov-Bots will be undergoing ballistics training when Dr. Cossack returns to base. The Odessa Minor is pummeled by plasma as it comes about, smoking from many injuries -- small electrical fires are raging within the armor, only extensive backup systems keeping the armor moving.

But he will not fall. Now suitably motivated, Pavel begins powering the armor up visibly, a violet light radiating from the broken seams of the armor ...

... and with that distraction, all fifteen Sov-Bots in the area lock onto Taki-One and unload with their lasers at their maximum setting.

Dr. Cossack misses you with his Sov-bot Strike attack.

Firestorm Phoenix isn't about to sit around and just let Signas beat him senseless, oh heck no. The phoenix is quite agile in the air and easily backwings out of the way of Signas' staff. Raising to a higher altitude he fires off a single missile at the hat lite, which has a special little surprise, it detonates in midair, giving off a blinding flash of light.

Firestorm Phoenix misses Signas with his Flash Missile attack.

The conscripts begin running, just as the more professional soldiers start their retreat. Vile, however, is found to have more pressing matters on hand.

Blinking quickly from the unexpected ice burst, the general phases into life hoving in the air above Alpha. Almost casually, he gestures down to her, his minimissile rack tilting to follow. And then a single missile spews forth, seeking to slap the new foe on her proverbial wrist.

Vile strikes Alpha with his Minimissile attack.

Cacophony Timbe