(Log) Fire From Heaven - Frontal Assault

From Megaman Mush Wiki

WHO: Aeolus, Atlas, Axl, Blaze Heatnix, Bomb Man, Copy Rock, Heat Genblem, Jailbird Gier-Eagle, Klaymoor, Zero, Sewa, Solo, Signas, Sing, Noble Mandrago, Michael Eildath, Pandora, Sergei Vladimir, Tron Bonne, Crazy Yoshi, Guts Man, Sol Titanian, Mino Magnus,
WHAT: The Maverick Hunters mass for a Frontal Assault against Heaven's Fortress. But where did all those new Hunters come from? And since when are they an army?
WHERE: Heaven's Fortress - Grand Causeway
WHEN: Saturday, April 12 2221

The approximate IC time is: Sat Apr 12 20:05:28 2221 EST Heaven's Fortress - Grand Causeway

Set against the side of the Sigunyang Mountain in the Sichuan region of China is a palatial fortress. The fortress overlooks rolling meadows far below, high enough up so that clouds regularly sweep along the edges of its walls. The view from here is breathtaking. This place was constructed hundreds of years ago, but its archaic look conceals a modern military facility.

The fortress itself is contained within a high defensive wall, manned with guard towers at regular intervals. The outer wall focuses on overlooking the grand sweep of the lowlands below, and has a single great gate that allows one access to the fortress from the ground. The long causeway that leads up to the inner wall is lined with classical pavilions which conceal storage areas for supplies, garages for smaller vehicles, or service areas for the Ouroboros army. Even this utilitarian area is beautiful, made to be pleasing to the eye. It is almost always busy.

The inner wall leads to the fortress itself, a six story black pagoda known as Serpent Tower. The tower is lined with the classic sweeping, upturned eaves and red tile shingles that are common in Chinese architecture, with each level of the pagoda lined with verandas to allow the occupants a greater view of the surroundings. The structure itself is rich with small touches, such as numerous dragon carvings along the exterior and elaborate dougong wooden brackets along the exterior support columns.

There is widely believed to be only one way into Serpent Tower, which is through the single gate through the inner wall. Only the elite of Ouroboros may enter, though the inner gate is hardly ever locked, and is only guarded when someone has been placed on punishment duty. The Grandmaster's grandmotherly kindness is security enough.

Contents:                               Contents:                      
Prometheus [Combat] [O]                 Prismatic Spider [On The Hunt] [H]     
Blaze Heatnix [Phoenix] [H]             Zero [Zero] [H]                        
Sewa [Libertas] [H]                     Dr. Light [Casual] [H]                 
Axl [Axl] [H]                           Pureri [Pureri] [C]                    
Bomb Man [Standard] [H]                 Guts Man [Guts Man] [H]                
Copy Rock [H]                           Jailbird Gier-Eagle [H]                
Solo [Armored] [C]                      Sing [Shrike_knight] [H]               
Noble Mandrago [Noble] [O]              Atlas [Atlas] [O]                      
Aeolus [Model H] [O]                    Klaymoor [O]                           
Heat Genblem [O]                        Sergei Vladimir [Colonel] [O]          
Leo [Leo] [SD]                          Pandora [Pandora] [O]
TALOS <BOW> [O]                         Ride Armor <Golden> [H]

It was a day like any other. There was some sun earlier. Then some clouds. At one point there was even a bit of rain. Just a drizzle, really. Nothing dramatic. The daystar travels along the downwards arc of its daily cycle. Birds trill and coo as they soar above the meadows. Crickets chirp among the rolling blades of grass.

Just an ordinary day.

But we all know that nothing 'ordinary' can last for long in this world of future robots fighting armies of ninjapirates for truth and justice. And this ordinary day is no exception.

It begins with a low rumble. A hum, really. Easily mistaken for a cicada, at first. But it builds. It builds to the sound of distant drums. It builds. It builds to the sound of thunder. It builds. It builds to a roaring waterfall.

And it builds still.

The first wave crests the horizon. A glittering, roaring mass of Hunter infantry, Hunter ground vehicles, Hunter recruits with that heroic gleam in their eyes. Flags jut out of their ranks every few dozen meters, with colours and designs denoting different platoons, organised the night before just for this attack. Precision, timing and organisation are needed for a task of this magnitude.

One such flag is black. Black, with gold trim. A stylised golden S sits in the center of the flag, and the flag is attached to a massive reploid. He too is black with gold trim. He walks alongside the transports and infantry, just ahead of the front of the line, somewhere off to the left of the central command platoon. Signas has no delusions about his place in the world. It is not up there, with the Zeros and the Axls and the Rocks. It is here, supporting their flank. His eyes are hard. His mouth curves down. The dying rays of the sun set glittering motes dancing about his shining golden trim.

The line advances and, just outside the range of most weaponry, halts. Signas holds up a hand, clenches it into a fist, bringing his own command to a stop. And he looks up, eyes narrowing at the fortress. It is time.

It is time to bring fire to Heaven.

Copy Rock is cruising on a Ride Chaser. There's a guy in green armor with cool shades and a really popular internet following on the Ride Chaser adjacent to him. Rock glances over at him as the green guy pops a wheelie, wonders about the need for such an ostentatious display of bravado, turns forward, and cranks the throttle on his own Chaser. The duo go roaring forward towards the front of the lines.

Sing stands a bit back and behind from Signas. He looks up the Tower with a grim expression on his face. He's here to do the punching. The thinking has been done by those more qualified to do it. Sing is here to do the requisite punching.

The Shrike Knight cracks his knuckles, lights playing off of the black and red combat armor. He glances at Signas. "Ready when you are."

Oroborous may be one of the most potent threats to the world in decades, they were a army of darkness ready to conquer the earth. But what ws infinitely worse, well in Bomb Man's mind at least was the fact that they took over innocent people's mind and forced them to join in on their rampage. Brainwashing them and using them to take over the world.

Yeah it doesn't take a genius to know why Bomb dislikes them.

So the alpha is here, among his fellow hunters driving one of the hunter jeeps, a cigar hanging out of the corner of his mouth. This could be fun.

"I'm using a bat... I don't care that they are mocking me while I am using a bat. I came here with the firm expectation of killing people with a bat, I brought my bat, and I'm not leaving until I've killed or at least seriously injured someone with a bat!"

That said, Zero is on the front lines, making his way toward the battlefield on foot. He doesn't use a Ride Chaser, letting the green guy borrow his for the night. The guy promised he'd be careful with it, so he didn't see a problem. He has no problem in being direct. After all, the more attention he draws on himself is the less firepower directed on those that aren't nearly as equipped to dodge or suck it up like a man.

Atlas activates her stealth mode.

Chung chung, chung chung...

It's not Magitek armor, but it's damn close. Michael Eildath marches foward, the energy field around the Golden's cockpit shimmering as he surveys the situation. This is going to be an ugly battle, he already knows that. But few battles ever turn out pretty. Mike is no tactician, and he knows when to defer to the wisdom of others. Looking down at Signas, the Hunter commander smirks.

"We'll unleash hell on your go ahead, Signas." He turns, shaking his head at Zero. "Zilch, will you put that ridiculous thing down. Jesus wept." He rolls his eyes, though he's grinning.

Jailbird goes by air, as is typical for him. He's at home in the air. The weather works for him just fine - the drizzle is non-offensive, even if the events of an ending world almost desensitized him to the risks of bad weather by necessity. He can't say he didn't come out of that whole mess all the stronger for it.

The ball is deployed and ready to swing into pretty much anything needed. He's already working out angles in his head based on personal estimates as to when they would be in range of the fortress itself... there was one small break in the sky along the way. It was a bright crimson color. He's taken it as a message from Chroma Bee to help put an end to this threat before it grows any greater.

It's time to do his part. He just waits for the very word from Signas to start laying it in to the target like he does when properly motivated with the understanding that some things have to be torn down, and hard.

Guts Man is seated beside Bomb Man in the jeep, because that's what Alphas do, they stick together, even if the other Alpha happens to be a giant bomb with legs and a mohawk.

Crazy Yoshi has arrived. Crazy Yoshi enters the base.

Sol was here with one thing and one thing in mind: to NOT get killed by Super ninja again. God, being stabbed in the brain hurts. Instead, he will try his own skills of stealth tonight, starting by manuvering underneath the ground, burrowing through it instead of being spotted ontop of the earth. Hopfully this will get him closer to the ground, and prevent ownage until he can pick his time to strike.

Or, perhaps, even manuver inside to try and to look around. Time would tell.

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Sol Salamander transmits, "In position."

Blaze Heatnix is flying above the other Hunters--you actually almost /never/ see her on the ground when combat is brewing--going at what feels like a painfully slow pace so that she doesn't outstrip the ground units (even those with vehicles) multiple times over. Seriously, this is the part of these types of missions which she absolutely /hates/; the phoenix does not do 'slow' (or, well, relatively 'slow') very well when she smells a fight--it just feels so...constricting. But she isn't /completely/ suicidal, and thus is keeping pace with the others.

Mino Magnus has arrived. Mino Magnus enters the base.

Sewa always wanted to ride the Rush Jet. "Whee!" She says. But why does she need to ride the Rush Jet? She has wings! Maybe it's because riding the Rush Jet is more fun. "Wow, no wonder he did this all the time." Sewa surfs the Rush. "It's a lot of fun. Oop, here we are!"

Rush lands and Sewa hops off before the dog reconverts into a Dog again. She pats him on the head and feeds him a treat before patting him on the head even more. "Good boy! Thanks for coming!"

Little does she realize that she's supposed to use Rush Drill for entrances. Oh well, live and learn.

The problem with bringing the fire to Heaven is that sometimes Heaven has thunderbolts of its own.

The armies of Ouroboros respond quickly to the threat, real or percieved, from the sudden influx in Hunter troops. Some march out from the Fortress itself, while others come in from other directions - out and away, mostly, from fortified garrisons and border strongholds. Some of them will take quite a bit of time to get here. Others, the ones actually stationed nearby, arrive almost immediately, thanks to their faster machines and closer positioning. The Fortress itself is silent. Its own weapons have not fired, as the Hunters are still out of range.

And some elites exit the Fortress as well. Pandora is one of them. She does not often lead from the front, and she does not today either; she flies up so she has a good view of the battlefield, sitting sidesaddle on her staff with one leg over the other, and relays suggestions to the field commanders for positioning.

Within the complex, a woman clad in pink and black, her back guarded by a ride armor, sits a console table. A baleful red eye turns to look upon her. Tron Bonne speaks softly, "Red Queen. Access: Tron Bonne. Code: OURO-TRN-************." Tron's fingers glide over the console, even as a virtual reality headset lowers to cover her whole head... as something large wakes up.

A message appears on the screen

Heaven's Fortress looks down upon the wave of Hunters that dares to approach. It is a tall structure, lined with a high defensive wall and many guard towers. The pagoda within is black -- Serpent Tower -- and the red tile shingles and elaborate artistic touches here and there all across the tower and its columns hint at a rich appreciation of architecture. It is a fascinating structure.

This beautiful view is temporary marred by a loud crash from somewhere around the fourth floor of the tower. A green human-sized object is flung out at high velocity, having evidently crashed through a window on the way out. It may go so far as to pass the defensive wall.

Inside Serpent Tower, Atlas dusts her hands off and picks up the soda Aeolus had opened but not yet taken a sip of.

A message appears on the screen: ACCESS GRANTED.

Loading Combat Data.

Launching TALOS.

A single yellow eye opens. A red optic comes online. A fleshless grin glints as what remains of the flesh around it shifts. The liquid filled tube it was inside empties and opens... the TALOS raising great arms and balancing on its kangaroo-like legs.

Systems rumble. Subspace units click online. Lights appear on the snow white armor...

The TALOS, 12 foot fall B.O.W, the match for the Tyrant Program, launches forth with speed and a inhuman roar that echoes out from Heaven's Fortress. It leaping past traps and dodges weapons, to burst out of the grand gates with a boom, springing up to land on a wall overlooking the scene of combat. Red tile shingles crack under it'd massive feet.

The TALOS HOWLS.

Its great left arm cocks upward, and a STORM of rockets begin to fire from the four barrels of the enormous rocket launcher, a rage of explosive death is unleashed for the assembled Hunter forces.

Heat Genblem was not aware the hunters had glittering, roaring masses of infantry or ground vehicles. If every one of these joined the group for their exceptional deeds- if every man here is a hero and paragon-

How glorious will each death be?

Heat Genblem updates his database with their curious numbers. He is waiting, watching. He stands there hunched, supporting himself on his massive forearms, his body barely moving.

He waits and watches...

And as they draw close enough, he rises up, tilting backwards. He puts up his dukes and takes a fighting stance. Let the enemy come to him. Who will fight the Einherjar today?

Sergei Vladimir marches towards the gates steadily, a wireless link to a loudspeaker system of some sort. "Attention all troops, this is the moment you have been training for. Remember your drills and do not hestiate to use whatever tactics you must to keep the enemy from breaching our defenses. The Striders, robots, and Commanders will handle the priority targets, so do not engage the enemy if he is outside of your ability unless necessary. Take advantage of the various traps whenever possible. Trainees are to follow the instructions of their superiors without question unless you wish your first battle to be your last. Fight bravely and if you die, die with honor. Everything for Ouroboros!"

The Russian Colonel lowers his arms in front of him and hunches over, red, sinewy threads creep out of his pours and wrap him around as his body pulsates and throbs. He gains mass with each passing second, his skin turning harder, grayer. Full-fledged tentacles appear with time and his whole body goes under a complete metamorphsis. His jaw finally dislocates and drops to reveal a giant, yellow eye.

Man is gone, there is only monster.

Sergei Vladimir changes into his Monster armor.

"CURSE YOU VILE WOMAAAAAAN!" Aeolus howls as he sails through the air at a high rate of speed. He frowns and decides he doesn't want to hit the ground face-first. He's surrounded by a corona of green and encased in a burst of wind, and his sudden descent stops short. The Aesir ascends, thrusters humming as saber hilts appear in his hands and ignite in a crackle of red power.

His eyes narrow with disgust at the hordes at the gates, and with more disgust at being thrown from a window by his brute of a sister. She could have at least thrown him at someone.

As the drums begin, Noble's position from one of the higher levels allows her to notice them. Many of them. Infantry of all kinds, heroic gleams of the warrior machines built to serve on the frontlines against 'evil' and anything they regard as unwanted.

Well Noble regards those recruits as unwanted as well.. but as flags begin to be see, the drills rev in reverse, unplanting herself from her perch.. and then with a slight tap tap tap as she walks, it does not take her long to get underneath Serpent's Tower.

With everything having stopped... perhaps those who are directly on the surface can feel another kind of rumbling. Something is approaching the outer crust of the planet from below.. and it can't afford to be late! No, it has a very important time schedule to keep. The Hunters were clearly punctual! And so Noble had to be as well.

A heavy piercing whistle can be heard, before the ground bends and then breaks, a mass of steam before the black metal war train rips out of the ground.. barreling towards one of the forces, the artillery firing upon those it heads towards.

Clockwork War Machine <Iron Dragon> has arrived.

Noble Mandrago drops Clockwork War Machine <Iron Dragon>.

Noble Mandrago has left.

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Michael Eildath transmits, "Looks like it's time to catch a train."

Klaymoor doesn't enter dramatically. Klaymoor doesn't fly through the sky into the scene in a glorious stream of smoke and energy. Klaymoor doesn't burst from the ground in a huge display of machinery. Klaymoor doesn't utilize drones while hiding away from harm. Klaymoor doesn't unleash his true inner power. Klaymoor doesn't move in stoically. Klaymoor doesn't teleport in with a bright flash of light. Klaymoor doesn't slide in steathily, sure of himself. Klaymoor doesn't lead an army into battle, nor does he ride a cool hovercycle.

Instead, Klaymoor is standing in front of the pagoda. He pulls a can of beer up to his grill. The beer drains in slightly. He then lowers it. A belch comes from the blackness.

Were he a smarterer andoroid, Mino Magnus might find himself in the midst of a truly excellent quandry. The Minotaur stands near the middle of the Ouroboros' legions deploying against the Hunters. He stares out across the heads of the Ouroboros Regulars, surveying the on-coming Hunter forces.

A different android, a smart android, an android with as much brains as chutzpah would look at the surging Hunter assault force and come up with a single question. In battle there are very few questions that need answers so badly as to stop a warrior from charging into the fray. Were this anyone but Mino Magnus this pause would be construed as the Minotaur stopping and staring at his foes, wondering when the Hunters turned into this. This military, this ARMY, that is the Hunters is not the Hunters that have ever been known to the world. The Hunters that anyone but Mino Magnus would be considering was a commando force, made of the best of the best of the best of the best (Of the best of the best).

Mino Magnus is not smartererererererererer. Mino Magnus is not another andoroid. He is Mino Magnus. And he has paused to re-establish his stride-path toward the Hunters. Apparently jostling by the Ouroboros Regulars disrupted his path.

Rock is going about 85% thrust on his Ride Chaser. This is the first time he's ever rode on one, but it seems to come as second nature. He instinctually was able to grasp the controls, balance, and dexterity necessary to successfully navigate one of these things through a hostile fire zone. To his left, the Green Biker Dude pumps his throttle to 110% percent, shooting past Rock.

Just as he moves, Tron Bonne explodes out of Heaven's Fortress. Rockets spray across the front of the Hunter lines, swirling and spinning downward to detonate against the ground all around them. One of them explodes directly in front of Rock, forcing him to twist the sticks of his Ride Chaser to avoid it with a narrow angled cut. Starting to etch the throttle forward more, Rock tries to gain on his wingman ahead. He starts to transmit a request to maintain formation.

The duo breach into the firing perimeter of the fortress wall. Green Biker Dude busts a second wheelie just as the first shot from above streaks out of a laser barrel, slicing across the gap abruptly. It slams into the undercarriage of the Ride Chaser just as it levels out, igniting the fuel supply instantly. The entire thing goes supernova right in front of Rock.

Rock knows that he can't do anything for his companion. He'll have to hope that Lifesaver and the other EMTs can get to him before its too late. Eyes locking firmly forward, he places all his focus into evading the volley of weaponsfire, Pain Trains, and hurled Aesir Ninjas hailing towards him. His Ride Chaser's engines burn blue as he hits full throttle.

Twenty yards later, an RPG detonates directly next to Rock. The explosion tips the Ride Chaser's trajectory off balance, the front of the vehicle hitting the ground and sending it flipping forward. With a white flash of panic, Rock does the only logical thing and slams the throttle to overdrive. The Chaser makes a complete forward flip, him still strapped in to the seat, before he dives free. It continues to roll forward, buoyed by its vectored momentum, into the wall of the Fortress ... Rock rolls on his shoulders a dozen times before settling on his back, his head swimming.

Signas turns towards The Golden and nods to Michael Eildath. Another nod is directed to Sing. And then, Ouroboros mounts its defense. Ninjas and mad gods and clanking machines, screaming and surging against their chains of blood and hellfire. Rockets explode from the Talos, a match for Signas in size, and come screaming towards the inexplicably organised Hunter ranks.

Signas watches the rockets streak across the skies. And then, he bellows a single word: "SHIELDS."

Throughout the frontlines, Forcefield users take up the cue, throwing up a wall of glittering energy, or a collection of junk and drones, or even just good old-fashioned shields. The rockets impact, slamming into the barriers, ripping some away and sending Hunters flying where the defenses weaken. But the line holds. The corners of Signas' mouth rise, forming that flat line that shows his pleasure.

"HUNTERS!" he shouts, voice echoing over the radios of all allies present. There is an unusual note of animation in his voice. "Today we demonstrate the strength of our convictions! Today we demonstrate the strength of our arms! Today we demonstrate the strength of ideals, and willpower!" His arm rises to the sky. "Today, we show Ouroboros... and the WORLD. Fight with honour! Fight with courage! But above all, fight with WISDOM!"

The hand, white as snow, pauses. Then, it drops, slamming into place like an arrow aimed at the heart of Heaven's Fortress. "HUNTERS ARE GO!"

Suiting action to words, Signas surges towards the fortress and its defenders, clenching the hands of peace into the fists of war. He looks up, spotting the coordinator. This 'Pandora'. Eyes narrow further. And then, they fire /lasers/. Twin golden beams bore through the air towards the witch, seeking to knock her from her perch.

You strike Pandora with a glancing hit from your Eye Lasers attack.

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Signas transmits, "It begins. Show them your SPIRIT."

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Sol Salamander transmits, "...I rather not. I like it inside me."

From underneath a Hunter wheeled transport, something moves. A few moments later a voice remarks, "And that.. is another method for hitching a ride on the undercarriage of a land vehicle." A few moments later Solo appears out from under the machine, even as all hell starts to break loose between the Hunters and the forces of Ouroboros.

Just who he was talking to is a MYSTERY that soon may be revealed.

The old soldier's armor shifts in coloration suddenly, adapting for the coloration of the terrain with an interesting ripple effect. He's then on his way towards the Fortress he promised himself he would never come back to without more guns.

Well.. he brought PLENTY more guns.

Solo activates his stealth mode.

Guts Man leans over to his Alpha brother, he whispers to him, "Signas sure gives boring speeches. It would be more motivating if he told us to just go in there and kick some ass."

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Blaze Heatnix transmits, "Hey Signas."

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Blaze Heatnix transmits, "How come you're such a stuff-shirt?"

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Sol Salamander transmits, "Leave him alone, he is doing a great job."

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Blaze Heatnix transmits, "Seriously, you sound like a Repliforcer."

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Signas transmits, "Thank you for the compliment, Blaze Heatnix."

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Blaze Heatnix transmits, "But we're, like, you know, the /Maverick Hunters/."

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Copy Rock explosion noises.

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Jailbird Gier-Eagle transmits, "Eyes on the prize."

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Blaze Heatnix transmits, "But I hear they're pretty good about accepting recruits."

Mike's face is solemn as Green Biker Dude gets shot. Poor guy. He should have known that Ride Chasers are weak on their undersides. But such is the fate of so many Hunters.

...and it's not like it's the first time...

As Signas gives the command, Michael leads the charge, the Golden surging across the battlefield towards the massive Ouroboros train. "TAKE THEM DOWN, HUNTERS! SHOW THEM WHAT YOU'RE MADE OF!" The massive Ride Armor tenses as it runs, one massive hand drawing back, Michael throwing it forward at the heavily armored train, aiming to stop the thing in its lack of tracks. The Golden is /powerful/, but is it hard enough to stop a rushing train?

Ride Armor <Golden> misses Clockwork War Machine <Iron Dragon> with its Slug attack.

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Signas transmits, "Blaze Heatnix. If you have enough time to prattle, you have enough time to be useful for once."

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Signas transmits, "Perhaps this time you can avoid getting blown up."

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Sol Salamander transmits, "Blaze, I am very happy you do not represent us."

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Mac transmits, "Hey, hey, come on. Back up. Look, Blaze."

It's time for the battle to rage on. The plan's been laid out about as carefully as it can, and now Jailbird's contributing to a fine set of Hunter tactics. He goes into a dive in an attempt to throw off any anti-air weapons that may have been aimed at him - he has no idea of their effective ranges, where they are, or even /what/ they are but he attempts to engage in evasive maneuvers upon approach.

Such a risk-minded approach trades away the initiative blow. Even in the company of some of the finest of the finest of the Hunters there are some risks he remains careful of. Regardless, he even manages to do a double barrel-roll as he draws nearer and nearer to the front gates of Heaven's Fortress.

Will this save him from interception before he considers it a prime time to strike? This has yet to be seen.

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Mac transmits, "Hunter or Repliforcer, we fight for justice, that's all that matters."

Sewa knows who is running the TALOS. She wonders just how far Tron will go to perpetuate her charade. "But boy." She says, "That sure is big. How am I gonna have to get up there?" Her wings whirr for a few moments before she claps her hands together. "I know!"

"Rhrrr?" Rush asks.

"I can fly!"

Rush frowns.

Sewa blinks. "Oh...oh right!" She laughs, "Rush Coil, go!"

A large spring poings out of Rush's back and Sewa leaps onto it, firing missiles at the TALOS as she soars up into the sky at the 12 foot Bioweapon!

Sewa strikes TALOS <BOW> with her Good Ol' American Firepower attack.

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Michael Eildath transmits, "Less sniping, more kicking ass, guys."

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Blaze Heatnix transmits, "Hey, I'm doing plenty of that."

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Mac transmits, "Just keep doing that, Blaze."

And so battle is joined, Bomb Man frowns as he hears Signas say something about fighting with wisdom. He'd done very well just fighting with explosive til now and he was planning to continue doing so. "Yeah, reminds me of Fire Man." Bomb Man steps on the gas and grins to guts. "But then again it's not like we ever need to be told to kick ass."

Aiming the jeep at the giant bio monster over there bomb man smiles and pushes the throttle to the max "I bet ya ten bucks I can flatten this sucker. In a few goes."

Bomb Man strikes TALOS <BOW> with his Generic Melee attack.

Some of those guns, unfortunately, are pink.

Solo's stunning mystery companion slides out from underneath the wheeled transport a second later, taking a slow breath; she seems to be fairly calm, considering the situation. "It seems like it would be easier to do with one person," she offers, once she's got her bearings. "But it is an effective maneuver."

Pureri, unlike Solo, does not have active camouflage or anything of the sort. No, her ability to sneak comes entirely from darting from hiding place to hiding place faster than even the trained eye can track. It's probably the best way of doing it, for her -- considering that she wears a bunch of /bright pink/. "We're going to go further in while they're distracted, then?" she asks, darting from convenient hiding place to convenient hiding place behind Solo, barely close enough to be heard.

Colonel Vladamir might have told the Ouroboros troops to avoid getting in over their heads by going after elite Hunters, but there's nothing that says that the elite Hunters can't /make/ them be over their heads, right? Right! Indeed, that's precisely what Blaze is doing; finally able to really spread her wings and go at her full speed, she's engulfed herself in a raging aura of flames and is quite simply using herself as a flaming battering-ram to impact with the soldiers--at speeds near that of sound and a pretty reasonable firepower, this works out pretty well, as not only can she dish out the pain, she can dish out the pain /very quickly/. (Or, like Cinnamon once said, Blaze is practically built to kill armies). "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" she laughs as she indiscriminately tears through anything that moves and isn't Hunter-aligned.

Someone might want to do something about that.

Explosions rocket the area around Zero, weapons fire raining down on him. The bullets tear the ground around him, but only a few find their mark the agile Hunter. They bounce off his armor, dinging the nice paint job and making him annoyed in general. He lacks the insanity that once fueled the bloodlust before so he focuses himself on his goal The outer wall. If no forces get in his way, he'll merely start trying to bash his way in. Why go to them when he can get them all to come to him? Lazy jerk.

However, it would seem that someone is actually in front of him. Some sort of Biofreak. "What the hell, decide that getting a bladed arm was already done?" he shouts to Sergei before he fires off a shot in his general direction using his arm buster. It's more of a 'hi' than an 'I'm gunna kill you'. That's what the bat is for.

Zero strikes Sergei Vladimir with his Shot attack.

Axl was around at the begining of the battle. That fact can be accounted by many hunters after the battle. But, suddenly, once they arrived at the Heaven's Fortress, he suddenly...vanished into thin air. That's just when the assault started.

A ride chaser is plowing foward, right out of the Hunter Lines and flying like an arrow toward the Fortress. The special thing about this is that...there is no visible person driving the whole thing. The second? It's seems to be strapped with a bunch of wierd things on the sides and the handles of it. 'Wierd', being simply another word for explosives.

Just so that no ghost rumors are spread around, someone WAS driving this before letting the thing plow foward on automatic. That person, however, has long dissapeared from the thing to hide, profiting from the confusion of the starting battle.

Atlaxl just hopes that nobody is going to scream at him too much for destroying ANOTHER Ride Chaser after this. On the radio, 'she' speaks, contacting his team. "You guys about?"

Axl changes into his Atlas armor.

Axl activates his stealth mode.

Sing blasts forward as soon as the charge command is given, blasting forward past the shield-bearers with a flare of back-mounted dash jets. He bites back a growl when Blaze starts to mouth off; he has many fond memories of when he was in the 'Force, after all.

The Gatebot, however, is not a valid target for irritation or rage however. That Ouroboros Power Armor right in front him however? Totally valid. Sing channels force into a single fist, launching his target back several feet with a well-aimed punch to center mass. With the opening made, Sing wades into the masses, using the people around him as cover and occassionally as weapons as he harkens back to those old bar-room brawlers.

Sol would then slowly burrow up from the ground, making a hole before slowly starting to activate his stealth mode, and moved on the ground on all fours. From here, he would manuver to Axl's location, speaking lightly, but not enough to break his stealth system.

"Here Axl, I'll follow you in."

Sol still stays on all fours, hugging the ground and waiting on how they would approach this situation.

The Golden surges forwards, across the battlefield, the massive Ride Armor coming forwards, pilot yelling. As the massive hand is drawn back, and then thrust towards the heavily armored train.. Michael Eilidath may learn the hard way a simple lesson.

The Express slows for no one.

The Iron dragon crashes into the Golden's grasp, pistons slamming, whistle blowing, and for a moment.. the Golden will seemingly take care of the giant train.. the wheels turning, chugging along. But the train actually chugs faster, attempting to simply crash head on into the Golden.

Noble certainly knows that the guns are more than worthwhile.. but there's a particular sense of enjoyment she gets when something, like a train, crashes into something else.

It's really a trait, and not a flaw!

Clockwork War Machine <Iron Dragon> strikes Ride Armor <Golden> with its The Express attack.

Sol Salamander enters the Most Gentle Entrance.

Sol Salamander has left.

Pandora keeps coordinating troops. They begin to actually open fire now, letting a barrage out at the forcefields; it comes to naught, and they hold their fire, raising weapons and preparing their cannons.

They wait until the attack begins. /Then/ they fire in waves, the ones in front firing and moving back, letting the new front wave fire. The volleying shortly adds the sound of larger emplacements to it, the loud booms of solid cannon and the screams of tortured air after plasma and laser fire carves through it.

Pandora continues to speak quietly until a pair of lasers strike her. One hits the bottom of her staff, and is deflected; the other hits a dangling leg, which actually stings. She claps her hands together, once and loudly, as she looks down toward Signas.

A thunderbolt strikes from a blue sky straight downward at the Hunter commander. Pandora follows, one hand steering her staff while the other rests in her lap. "You are leading," she calls, uncharacteristically raising her voice enough to carry over the sounds of battle. She still, somehow, makes herself seem soft-spoken.

Pandora misses you with her Lightning Blast attack.

Zero's shot strikes Vladimir in the shoulder but causes little more than a slight burnt spot. It is however, enough to get a provoked glare from the Russian monster, who immediates starts moving from the spot where he stopped to undergo his transformation. When the "Tyrant" starts moving it becomes obviously that even that is as grotesque as the rest of its appearance; rather than walking on his legs Sergei instead scurries like some sort of insect using his smaller tentacles. It gives him a surprising bit of speed and agility, letting him move along the exterior wall with relative ease to approach the Red Hunter.

"Ah, Zero. It seems you and your comrades have some business with Ouroboros today. Allow me to be the first to welcome you to Heaven's Fortress!" says the Russian, one of his tentacles suddenly lashing out in an attempt to give Zero a hardy smack in "greeting".

Sergei Vladimir strikes Zero with his Tendril Swing attack.

Copy Rock enters the Most Gentle Entrance. Copy Rock has left.

It will not save the Jailbird. Aeolus is already ticked off from being tossed out a window. Plus, you know, the piles of Hunters here trying to destroy them. Sure, he could go after the phoenix, but she's irritating and stupid and a Gatebot. Where's Gate when you need him to spank his children? The Aesir blasts towards the Hunter in a wash of red power from his thrusters, and he pulls up short, hovering and sneering at the still moving birdbot. "You waste of scrap! All of you! How dare you try to destroy us on our own ground?! Pay the price for your worthless bravado!"

Hopefully he's talking in general, because Jailbird hasn't really shown much. The Aesir drops, cutting his thrusters before he fires them again, whipping around to an intercept course. He crosses in the path of the Jailbird and lashes out with one of his beam sabers. Hopefully he's timed it right.

Aeolus strikes Jailbird Gier-Eagle with his Generic Melee attack.

Solo enters the Most Gentle Entrance.

Solo has left.

Axl enters the Most Gentle Entrance.

Axl has left.

Pureri enters the Most Gentle Entrance.

Pureri has left.

Crazy Yoshi has left.

The TALOS, red tile cracking under its great legs, stands in the face of the rage of the Hunters. The TALOS, however, gets an eyefull of the dangerous Sewa in her Power Armor. The explosives and destruction explode against the armor of the TALOS, as does the car of Bomb Man, SLAMMING against the side of the TALOS.

Tron, deep within Serpent's Tower, smiles.

The right arm of the TALOS shoots forward, the great crushing claw shooting for Bomb Man, to try and rip the explosive Alpha out of the car, then the arm flicks, to try and send Bomb Man hurtling for LIBERTAS-clad Sewa.

The TALOS continues to grin.

Deep within the fortress, where no one by the Servbots around her can hear. "...Hello Sewa, Bomb. Been a while." murmurs Tron, even as she cues up some music to accompany the fight. The strains of 'Living Dead Girl' beginning from the Gustav behind her.

Then a request comes in, and the TALOS springs up on its Kangaroo legs, its clawed arm snaking for Klaymoor. Lifting him easily, the TALOS springs again, this time carrying the massive weapons platform of a Cyborg up onto the top of the battlements.

It remains near by, covering the large Cyborg even as its eyes turn to look back towards its other opponents.

TALOS <BOW> misses Bomb Man with its Throw attack.

TALOS <BOW>'s Throw attack fails to target Sewa.

TALOS <BOW> begins covering Klaymoor.

The main forces of the Hunters splinter as soon as the lines clash. Small, efficient strike groups form out of the massed "platoons," now that the initial confusion has been sown. Where an army marched mere moments ago, now a few dozen Hunter Commando Triads slip into battle, watching each others' backs, fighting with the fury and spirit which have made the Hunters the renowned-- and controversial-- force for freedom and justice they are today.

In Signas' mind, another item is crossed off the checklist. Phase 2: Begin. At the same time, the small portion of his extraordinary CPU dedicated to 'the fight I am currently having' notes Pandora's opening gambit, and blinks out of the way of the lightning strike.

A moment later, he appears in the air next to Pandora, expression grim, large hand raised to strike, palm open. "This is where the shining hero would traditionally make a witty remark about not wanting to hit ladies, and making an exception in this case, et cetera." The hand slashes down towards the Witch. "I am not that kind of hero."

You strike Pandora with a minor hit from your Swat attack.

Cut Man has arrived.

Cut Man enters the base.

Corrections to his guidance program made, Mino Magnus starts stomping forward. It is slow going as he must make sure he does not crush any PUNY HYOOMENS under one of his terrible metal hooves. Mino Magnus' slow, plodding steps eventually draw him into melee with some of the Hunters' mysterious new recruits. Several of their life expectancies are, quite unfortunately, cut very, very short.

One of them is launched across the battlefield by Magnus' sweeping gesture (and gravity). A second plows his ride chaser into Minos' midsection, launching his torso backward and away while his head and limbs suddenly contract down around the rider, crushing them as the ride chaser explodes dramatically against Magnus' midsection several dozen feet distant.

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Signas transmits, "Is anyone available to ride the mechanical bull."

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Signas transmits, "By 'mechanical bull' I mean 'Mino Magnus'."

She was being nice, Aeolus! This way you get to throw yourself at whomever you would like. After all, you presumably got a birds-eye view of the incoming forces on the way down. Surely you've picked out someone AWESOME to fight on your three-second-flight towards the ground.

Oh yeah, Atlas thinks to herself as she glances out the broken window. He can fly now. Shame, that. Having acquired her coveted soda -- one she /didn't/ have to fight through the entire kitchen to get -- Atlas tilts her head back and drains the entire can in one single chug. She wipes her mouth off with the back of her hand and then braces the can in the palm of her hand. She swings it towards her forehead.

CRUNCH.

The can drops to the ground, clattering. Seconds later, a flame-haired woman leaps out of the Serpent Tower, approximating the same path as Aeolus's aborted flight. Where he took to the air, however, the falling woman does not. Atlas drops two stories down and farther out onto the top of first wall. She lands on it with a powerful WHAM and then swings her arms back and forward. The momentum flings her forwards to the second wall. She overshoots, however; striking the far edge, Atlas has a moment of imbalance, teetering precariously. She grabs the edge of the wall with one hand, flips over -- and, hand over hand, drops down the remaining length of the wall to the ground.

Atlas turns to face the incoming forces. Weaponsfire is flying hot and fast; it needs to be handled appropriately. Regular ground forces won't be enough for this. Atlas takes a single step away from the wall, raising one of her hands and clenching it tightly into a fist, and then drives it towards the ground, slamming it into the earth.

"MEGAMERGE!"

A line of fire races across the Aesir's form. Atlas rises up to her full height again, unhooking the guns from her back, and begins walking forwards into the battlefield to unleash hell.

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Signas transmits, "By 'ride' I mean 'destroy'."

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Sing transmits, "Possibly. Though that might be a tall order for me. Magnetics and all that."

Atlas changes into her Model F armor.

Heat Genblem breathes in slowly, and then lets it out. Once again, he has overestimated his unworthy opponents.

He has recieved nobody- there is a distinct lack of noble, enraged, angry young men who wish to throw themselves against his powerful iron wall. And he will have to take the fight to them.

He rumbles, and with a plume of engine exhaust, rockets up and out of the courtyard with significant velocity. Out of the fortress he leaps, rushing towards the Hunter lines with exceptional malice.

He lands in a shockwave of force and brutality, sending a ripple through the heroes. Three soulmates bonded by adventure and time charge towards him, presenting a unified offense of sword, gun and fist. He sends a sweeping arm with a razor edge swinging lazily at all of them, scattering them lick bowling pins. One of them is send crashing into Sewa.

Klaymoor doesn't flinch as the large arm grabs him. He just allows it to pull him up and up onto the wall rather casually. He doesn't even spill his drink. In fact, he drinks during the transport. With a heavy clank, Klaymoor settles on the wall. He brushes the monster aside with the back of his hand and puts his arm forward. Klaymoor holds the beercan in one hand and aims with the other, starting to fire down at Zero from aloft.

Klaymoor strikes Zero with his Blasting Holes In The Ground attack.

The car sweers as it hits the biomonster but Bomb Man can't really compensate as a gigantic claw comes for Bomb that could probably rip him apart if it got a proper hold of him. Thankfully the fat alpha however manages to throw himself out of the car in time to avoid the claw coming for him, this unfortunately sends the car spiraling out of control with guts man in it. Bomb Man calls "Sorry gotta run." to his brother and focuses on the monster in front of him.

Dragging forth several small blue explosives from his belt the alpha smiles at Talos and mutters. "So you want to dance do you. Fair enough, bring it on." and tosses the mini bombs at the monster.

Bomb Man misses TALOS <BOW> with his Mini Bombs attack.

Sewa falls back down.

Sewa lands on Rush who, unlike with Rock, doesn't teleport away just because Sewa has already bounced on him once. "Thanks again, Rush!" She shouts, before...BOING!

Sewa bounces back up into the air and hangs in the air for a moment thanks to small jets on the soles of her feet. She doesn't have to evade Bomb Man because Bomb Man is never thrown.

"Actually I guess you're too scared to come out. Well how about this, Tron. Once this thing goes down I'll come in and bring you out. Sounds good?" She swings her torch for the TALOS before falling back down again.

"Ooofhh,, head rush!" Sewa gasps.

Sewa strikes TALOS <BOW> with her Torch Of Freedom attack.

Jailbird catches the sight of something green, mean, and really fast once he steadies his flight in the sky after trying to dodge theoretical and likely fictional anti-air weapons fire. Aeolus has a lot of natural advantages from only a brief glance - and the position is just one of them.

The beam saber cuts past a chain like it's nothing and leaves a clean gash in his left side that, were it any deeper, Aeolus might have been able to force him to the ground on significant damages. A small gush of mechfluid sprays out. The chained vulture barely even knows what hit him. If he didn't have the initiative to make a long, clumsy turn to move behind him and look, he may never have.

And he sure doesn't like what he sees. "Aw, no. Hell no!" He didn't... think much of Aeolus' spiritual predecessor neither. He sharpens his turn considerably on the realization, trying to catch up to Aeolus enough so he can swing the ball by his beak with some appreciable accuracy and force before the Mega Man of Wind can get away, double back, continue to hurt him, or what have you.

It's like a zippy green fly versus a white, orange, and black thing trying to throw a super-heavy dodgeball. Is Aeolus up to dodgeball?

Jailbird Gier-Eagle misses Aeolus with his Dropping Charges attack.

Sing continues to punch himself a path through the foot soldiers when he sees Heat Genblem lay a beating on some people. One of them is sent towards Sewa, who appears to have her hands full with a faceful of controlled BOW. Sing's gaze shifts back towards the MechaGamera as he brings a single open hand back as if chambering a punch. He focuses for a moment, pulling stray electrons out of the air around his hand. Lighting crackles around the open hand as he dashes towards Heat. There are no declarations of intent, no oratory of the spirit. Simply a palm-thrust to the midsection as Sing mentally braces himself up for some paining.

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Sing transmits, "Going after Gamera."

Sing misses Heat Genblem with his Touch Point Singularity attack.

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Jailbird Gier-Eagle transmits, "I got the green flier."

The tentacle slaps Zero against the face, but it actually sends him back a couple of steps. The guy has some power to him, but that's what makes the fight interesting, right? "Bringing the creep factor into the fight so early, Serg, I didn't know you cared." With that, Zero races for the fearsome Russian, closing the gap as he tries to crack his head in with a bat. After all, Zero can be very focused when he wants to be.

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Bomb Man transmits, "Engaging mister ugly."

Zero strikes Sergei Vladimir with his Generic Melee attack.

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Sing transmits, "Which one is that, Bomber?"

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Michael Eildath sing-songs distractedly, "Gamera is really neat, he is full of turtle meat, we're all eating Gamera..."

There's a grunt as the train strikes the mighty Ride Armor, Michael grabbing hold with both of its mighty hands, holding on so as not to be dragged underneath and torn to shreds. Grimacing, the Hunter leader narrows his eyes at the powerful Ouroboran vehicle, smirking. "Oh no. You are not getting the best of me."

The Golden digs into the train, trying to climb fully onto it, Michael waiting until he's fairly certain he's got a good hold of it before releasing one hand, drawing it back and sneering at the train and its driver. He decides that there's no point running his mouth, and lets his actions speak for him, driving the fist of the Golden forward, trying to punch right into the structure of the train and rip at the insides of it.

Ride Armor <Golden> strikes Clockwork War Machine <Iron Dragon> with its Deep Punch attack.

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Bomb Man transmits, "The one with all the explosives."

Oh no! The car is going out of control and Guts Man is still in his seat! Fortunately for him, Guts Man doesn't buckle up. He leaps out of the car and onto the battlefield before the car hits oh let us say some type of barrier thing, then explodes in a glorious explosion of glory. Guts Man watches as the car sizzles, "Ooooooooh. Aaaaaah." He then turns around to Bomb Man, "Need any help taking down that thing!?" He points to TALOS.

Crazy Yoshi has arrived.

Crazy Yoshi has left.

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Bomb Man transmits, "Don't worry guts. I can take this schmuck down."

If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball, even a big heavy ball. Aeolus isn't looking, and it even looks like the ball is going to hit him. It slings closer and closer, but just as it's about to brush his feet, the Aesir pulls up sharply, arcing over backwards in a move that would make a normal man pass out from the G-Forces. He barrel rolls as he's flying over the bird, and thrusts downwards with one saber.

"Pathetic! Weak! IS THIS ALL YOU HAVE FOR ME, HUNTERS?!" He rages at the sky, incensed that they would bring such paltry offense to his doorstep.

Aeolus strikes Jailbird Gier-Eagle with his Anemoi Flourish attack.

Again Bomb and Sewa come for the TALOS, the TALOS proves it is still deadly. The explosion of the Minibombs are caught by the monster, but it curls back up on itself, the bombs not even seeming to phase the massive behemoth. Sewa's attack on the other hand smashes home, burning and smacking into the 'living' side of the creature's head.

TALOS rears, and Tron shudders within the Serpent Tower, the rage of the creature translating in dire warning messages.

However, Tron cannot respond to Sewa through the TALOS, unlike other armors. She can, however, respond with pain.

The great right arm of the TALOS comes across, trying to backhand Sewa from the air, before leaping for Bomb Man, the great arm coming down to strike.

A Servbot, standing amid the Ouroboros forces, roars cutely and calls out, "IT'S CLOBBERIN' TIME!"

TALOS <BOW> strikes Bomb Man with its Clobber attack.

TALOS <BOW> strikes Sewa with its Clobber attack.

TALOS <BOW> is no longer covering anyone.

Heat Genblem sees the heroes scatter. His swipe has cut into the abdomen of one, and she clutches her chest to support herself. Another was caught by a finger and has had his armor shattered. Weakened, he fires his pistol...

Heat turns towards them, taking a step forward, fire gathering in his maw. But as he does so, Sing attacks, the electrical blow slamming into his impervious shell.

Heat looks back.

"A suitable opponent?" asks the android, his body spinning around. He lunges forward, his arm thrusting forward as he aims a jab punch at Sing's body.

Heat Genblem misses Sing with his Jab Punch attack.

As the Golden actually climbs onto the train, Noble has to deal with the problem of running into something large.. sometimes it manages to hold on. But the train doesn't stop. The train Mike is on .. don't stop for no one.

But the fist that slams deep into the armor certainly causes it, and Noble, to disagree with the tactics of the Golden! Which is perhaps why the Golden will suddenly feel a bit of a spark... and then another, before the air crackles around it. The huge tesla generators on the train kick to life, before aiming towards the Golden which is hanging onto the main section, and unleashing a ray of pure electric death.

Noble winces as the fist slams down above her, a vine pulling back, as the train barrels forwards, running over at least a few Hunter soldiers.. it's not like it has stopped.

Clockwork War Machine <Iron Dragon> strikes Ride Armor <Golden> with its Tesla Death Ray attack.

As the Hunter forces splinter, so does Ouroboros. They are accustomed to fighting in somewhat larger groups than the Hunters, and it shows; they generally focus a larger number of people on individual Hunter groups to break them quickly rather than spreading out entirely to meet them. The emplacements are meant to cover the rest of it.

They are doing a pretty good job. As the Hunters get closer, shorter-range weaponry starts to fire - napalm launchers, short-range missiles, electrical cannons. Some of them get held back for individual groups that actually get in, but the Fortress is really starting to unload.

Pandora gets smacked so hard she nearly falls off her staff - in fact, she gets off it, floating in midair and holding it instead. Despite the battle damage, she does not appear particularly distressed. "You may do as you wish," she says. "You are against us. You will die."

Pandora makes a short gesture with her staff, releasing it to circle around her. It surrounds itself with a corona of crackling electricity, sparks arcing off it as it circles around her, spraying out other electrical bolts with a solid forcefield 'core' of another staff.

Pandora strikes you with a solid hit from her Swirling Electric Pillars attack

Sing weaves to the side, allowing the massive limb to pass by without causing serious damage. The Shrike Knight reaches for that arm as it passes, looking to spin with it and hurl the massive turtloid into more Ouroboros troopers.

"Remains to be seen," Sing answer enigmatically.

Sing strikes Heat Genblem with his Throwing You Helluva Far attack.

Blaze...continues her rampage through the forces of Ouroborus, having quite a fine time if her mad laughter is any indication. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Not only is she ridiculously fast so far as raw speed goes, but is also quite agile, as well, and more often than not is out of range only a second or two after she gets /in/ range, simply barrelling through whatever gets in her way and slipping through most of the firepower which people /do/ manage to send her way. She's a mad, mobile inferno, and probably isn't going to be stopping any time soon.

The ball does not receive that sort of feedback that tells Jailbird that he hit something - his eyes really deceive him that moment, because that's how fast Aeolus is able to pull up and above. Maneuverability and maximum altitude are yet /another/ thing they can boast.

And then the saber lands home without much incident, cutting deep enough into his back that it nearly pokes out the other end. The only blessing, it's at the angle already cut. It's like saying you were lucky enough to be stabbed where you were already shot. This leaves the less organic of the two to suddenly dip heavily on the more damaged side. The insult just rings closer to home as the pain causes him to drop the chain out of his mouth, caught in his leg.

"Y-You tell me!" A hasty response, almost panicky, as he dips lower and lower to the ground. The elbow of the arm on his injured side, almost foolishly, tries to clench the blade inside of him in case Aeolus there is intent on keeping hold. Sure, he risks grander, more life-threatening injury doing so if his enemy decides to work with that gamble.

But there's something to be said about trying to scrape another aerialist against the ground with what speed you can command.

Turnabout, as they say...

Jailbird Gier-Eagle strikes Aeolus with his Red Light Runner attack.

Heat Genblem's long arm is excellent leverage for a power throw. He's sent flying, and he strikes a small group of Ouroboros soldiers. They're scattered and sent flying, and he checks quickly using a camera mounted within the plates of his back to check he didn't pulp anyone.

He doesn't have to clean his joints out!

"Tell me your name," he says, swinging his arms akimbo. He breathes forcefully, and a flamethrower rips from his jaws, the flame warping into a rippling wave as it billows through the cold air.

Heat Genblem strikes Sing with his Ripple Flamethrower attack.

Sergei Vladimir loses his grip on the wall when the bat comes down upon his head. There's a brief cracking sound and the Tyrant slides for a while thanks to gravity before regaining a hold enough to look back up at Zero. Cover fire comes from Klaymoor at an opportune time, leaving Sergei opening to creep back up the wall and swing another tentacle around at Zero again, this time aiming for his legs instead of his face.

"Such rude guests! You could have at least called ahead so we could give you a proper welcome!" the Colonel quips.

Sergei Vladimir strikes Zero with his Tendril Swipe attack.

Phase 2:

First, there was an unprecedented ARMY of Maverick Hunters. Organised. Militant. Legion. Then, their first ploy was discarded as they formed into more familiar Hunter Commando units. And yet still... where did all these Hunters COME from?

Well, that's the thing about Signas. His giant robot brain is just full of tricks.

As Mino Magnus lays into the Hunter Triads, two in every three he fells simply... vanish in a cloud of slowly-diffusing shapes and colours. Heat Genblem's assault sends two Hunters flying, but one just disappears. All across the battlefield, the same phenomenon plays out again and again. Until, finally, the Hunters have been "reduced" to a third of their initial strength.

At least, that's what it LOOKS like. Back behind the battle, a group of Reploids and Androids lower their arms, and power down their systems. The Hologram Hunter Horde, or H3 as it was dubbed, has served its purpose. Lifesaver, H3 Team Lead, allows himself a small smirk for a job well done. "We've saved lives, as usual. Only someone of my skills and talents could have pulled that off... but there'll be time to brag later. C'mon kids, let's go set up triage. The wounded are gonna be coming in fast, and it's up to me, as /usual/, to fix them up."

Another item is crossed from the list in Signas' mind. Phase 3: Begin.

On the field, the remaining Hunters-- the REAL Hunters-- redouble their efforts. Now that the charade is past, they are free to stop pulling their punches. And they do, laying into the vastly outnumbering Ouroboros forces with the ferocity and tenacity of a pack of wolves. They are undeterred by the Fortress' barrage, though it takes its toll on their armour and, in some cases, their numbers. Each Hunter who falls, wounded or otherwise, only spurs the remainder on to greater heroics.

Signas blinks back to the ground, catching Pandora's reply first with his ears, and then with his torso. "HNNGAAH!" he cries, clutching at the scorching pain caused by the orbiting pillars. Sparks explode from his body as waves of electricity course over his body, causing him to nearly double over in pain. "Hnn... hnnn..." he pants, shaking it off and looking up once again at the Witch. "Not... YET... I won't," he rasps, widening his stance. BLINK. Signas appears, left fist hammering for Pandora's face. BLINK. Signas appears, right fist pistoning towards her back. BLINK. Signas appears, left leg sweeping for her legs. BLINK. Signas appears, right leg scything downwards, aiming to slam her towards the ground.

You strike Pandora with a minor hit from your Combo attack.

The Talos's arm rips into Bomb Man's abdomen, it's powerful claw-arm cutting deep into the black body armor and making the fat master stumble backwards, holding the rip in his side. That hurt, still Bomb Man was designed to take damage and so he just grunts and takes it. he glances at Sewa however with concern, he's not entirely sure how her power armor or whatever it was was holding up.

Taking another look at the towering biomonster and thinking hard the alpha finally decides on a plan. Since fire seemed to do some damage against it, the alpha takes forth a small bottle filled with some very potent brew from his belt and tosses it at the spot where the sewa burned the talos seconds before.

Bomb Man strikes TALOS <BOW> with his Molotov Cocktail attack.

Klaymoor tosses the empty can over the front of the wall, this time holding his arm forward. He grasps it tightly, slowly leading his shot down on Zero. He is taking his sweet time firing on Zero, blasting with steady and pausing blasts, rather than full auto. Better to trip him up a little than cover him full on in energy blasts.

Klaymoor misses Zero with his Generic Ranged attack.

When Sewa is smacked by the Talos arm, she crashes into the cheerful Servbot so hard that he is thrown a full zipcode away. If Copy Rock wasn't an unholy abomination, he'd get to kick him while returning to the area until his armor went black. Because black is evil, you see.

Sewa shakes her head and rolls back up to her feet. "Come on, Rush! Let's so Tron what we can do! Transform into a yeti!" She throws a treat into the air. Rush leaps up and snags it in his mouth before swallowing it. He gives Sewa a look indicating that he can't turn into a yeti.

"I see!" Sewa bounces back onto the Rush Spring, "Then I will have to keep using Rush Coil!" BOING!

Once she gets close enough to the TALOS she smacks both her hands down for the Talos, her arms crackling with...electricity! Perhaps even electricititity.

Sewa strikes TALOS <BOW> with her A Shocking Experience attack.

Sing pulls his arms in front of him as the fires crash into him, scorching his armor. The Shrike shakes his forearms to dispel the remaining heat as he regards Heat Genblem stoically for a moment. The Shrike Knight charges in, bringing a fist up high.

The fist charges with increased density. "I am every reploid that has been murdered in the name of human supremacy," he says before smashing that heavy fist onto the top of Heat Genblem's head.

Sing strikes Heat Genblem with his Grav Smash attack.

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Signas transmits, "Pandora's primary mode of attack appears to be Electric."

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Signas transmits, "This is unfortunate news for me."

Aeolus is a little surprised by the gambit. Moreso when he's dragged down through the air and shoved to the ground. He drags furrows through it, the armor on his back craping up pretty badly. The Aesir is furious. His red eyes narrow at the Hunter above him, and he fires his jets at full blast. He twists his body so that his thrusters are pointed down, which will rocket the two of them upwards at nearly three hundred miles an hour. That is, unless the bird decides to let go.

The Mega Man of Wind snarls right after the sudden direction change and forces the issue of his weapon. As it's still imbedded in the Jailbird, he pushes hard to the right with his arm, muscles that could lift a car straining against the strength of the Hunter. If he's successful, it will be free! And, you know, nearly cut the bird in two. Maybe. It all depends on angle.

Aeolus strikes Jailbird Gier-Eagle with his Boreas - Slice attack.

Mino Magnus finds himself very confused by the lack of people where his deadly, deadly impacts should have levied tremendous blooms of blood and gore. The Minotaur's confusion is allayed as he receives a request for assistance. His dim optics shift toward Blaze Heatnix, a growing rumble of disdain rising in Magnus' vocalizer as he watches the speedy flier.

Magnus' right hand drops to his side, slowly rising upward as a chunk of the earth itself is ripped assunder by unknown tidal forces. It inexorably comes to rest in the palm of his tremendous white hand and the Minotaur takes aim for several seconds. Bullets and plasma blasts ricochet and ripple across his armored form, doing only marginally more damage than the holographic explosion did to his torso.

And then Mino Magnus throws the tremendous hunk of rock and earth at Blaze Heatnix, perhaps intending to 'ground' the bird.

Mino Magnus strikes Blaze Heatnix with his Large Thrown Object attack.

Those Hunters disappear! Clearly they were soulmates in the sense that... it's a chap with the ability to produce two copies of himself. Only one's female. I hear Repliforce has a Kappa that pulls that trick. In any case, he's uninjured!

Heat gets a thump to the noggin, which rattles hollowly against his flat head. His head vanishes for a moment as it smashes into his torso, but he meant to do that.

"Curious," he says, voice resonating within his chest cavity. He buffets Sing with the back of his forearm, pushing him off, and activates his reflect system in case he needs that extra edge. Then he charges forward and delivers a "Shoryuken!"

Heat Genblem brings his reflect system online.

Heat Genblem strikes Sing with his Shoryuken attack.

Electricity plays over the Golden's superstructure, smoke rising from joints as heat builds in the electrical dispersion system of the Ride Armor. Michael is insulated, and he thanks his lucky stars for that, having no great love for massive electric shocks. The Golden hangs on, Michael digging the feet of the Ride Armor in to find as good a purchase as he can, still holding on with only one hand, leaving the other one in the superstructure of the train.

Michael switches to one of the weapons systems on the golden, the underslung chaingun on the arm whirring to life, Michael pouring bullets at the Iron Dragon.

Will this further complicate Mandrago's life, or will the train manage to shake Mike loose before he can perforate the murdertrain?

Ride Armor <Golden> strikes Clockwork War Machine <Iron Dragon> with its Chaingun Assault attack.

The bat does little against the fiendish man, but Zero is only using it with one hand. It is time to bring out the true potential of the bat. Of course, before he does, he gets swiped in the chest yet again by another tentacle. Alright, that does it.

As Zero prepares to ravage Sergei in a much more brutal fashion, he realizes that he's gotten shot in the back. A rather painful blow as well. Someone tried to kill him while he was dueling. The jerk. But who would do such a thing? The answer is soon given to as Klaymoor opens fire on him again. "Alright, you punks want to play? FINE, time to get crazy!" With, he takes the bat with both hands as he races up for Sergei. "He's got one chance... Bases loaded..." he says as he winds up, the bat in a classic batting position. Zero gives one heck of a swing.

Should it hit, the bat will shatter and the Colonel will find himself flying right for a certain large target. If not, well, the children will weep for it shall be the day the mighty Zero struck out.

Zero strikes Sergei Vladimir with his Zero Against Many attack.

Zero strikes Klaymoor with his Zero Against Many attack.

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Zero transmits, "And that's why I brought a bat."

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Signas transmits, "Well... hng... done."

Bomb and Sewa's LIBERTAS once more prove deadly enemies for the TALOS, the Red Queen gathering combat data as Tron guides the behemoth with her superior Ride Armor piloting skills. Tron is a bit sad to have torn open Bomb so grievously, and Sewa and his comments to him strike a nerve.

But Tron is exactly where she belongs. With the Professor. Serving him with a more fierce, emblazoned loyalty then she ever gave Wily, and with a harder conviction instilled in her then ever Epsilon gave her with his speeches.

The Molotov Cocktail sets the TALOS alight, the thing SCREAMING with a surprisingly human scream... the scream of a man in utter agony as its RAGE indicator rises on Tron's screen. Tron shakes is away, only to have Sewa smash her arms into the TALOS, shocking it painfully.

Again, the RAGE rises.

The Red Queen beeps a warning, and Tron winces... this was going to hurt.

The TALOS HOWLS, its armor hissing as 'steam' vents out from it... and TENDRILS launch from the cracks. Hideously fanged, they launch for Bomb Man, Sewa, and even poor Rush, snapping and snarling, slavering out drool in what is a hideous attack.

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Michael Eildath transmits, "Cute, Zilch. Do you think you can hold out, Signas? It's risky, but I might be able to switch targets if you think you can take on a freakin' train."

TALOS <BOW> strikes Bomb Man with its Attack attack.

TALOS <BOW> strikes Sewa with its Attack attack.

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Signas transmits, "Is it... an /electric/ train."

Sing is slammed back by the brutal uppercut, sending him skidding across the field. A large dent is readily apparent on his torso as he tries to keep track of Heat Genblem in his field of vision. Something's... off about the Turtleslave.

Sing flexes, setting into a horse stance as he prepares his next move. The air around him vibrates a bit, as the ground beneath him craters from the accumulated force that Sing builds up.

Sing forfeits a turn to charge WE.

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Michael Eildath transmits, "Hmm. Good point."

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Sing transmits, "Somehow, that does not surprise me."

Guts Man has left.

Jailbird meets the narrowed red optic with one of his own. He doesn't have teeth to grit, but his beak hangs out open a little. Maybe he's trying to think of some snappy remark to say about the whole superiority angle while he's sending Aeolus through the dirt. The ball drags through the ground not far behind Jailbird, collecting a growing amount of displaced environs that, in time, slows the speed he can keep going at which gives Aeolus a perfect point to break free.

The Hunter doesn't intend to make it easy. Still, letting someone keep a sword inside you, what the hell were you thinking JB, he'd reason later - if there is a later - that's all he could think of doing. He tries to keep Aeolus there, Aeolus would rather not and succeeds in ripping the sword straight upwards. It cuts off a lot on that side then and there. An arm won't move any more. Systems start being vague about whether or not he's still air-worthy. Aeolus pulls out faster than his optics can follow.

His leg is nowhere near as strong as his neck. ut in a fit of frustration and one loud, terrible swear, he tries to heft the ball up in a semi-circular arc in an attempt to catch Aeolus and bring him back down to his level. It's a long shot, given what speed the Aesir has demonstrated compared to himself. Jailbird... is not a fast flier.

But even his weakest limb is full of hydraulics that can lift and toss a bunch of cars stacked together a decent distance. That ball is way way heavier than a car. This is an important difference that quite possibly works against both of them right now.

Jailbird Gier-Eagle misses Aeolus with his Life Behind Balls attack.

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Michael Eildath transmits, "Nnng, this thing is tenacious."

As the Golden hangs on.. Noble frowns, as much as it can look like she's frowning, the train plowing forwards all the same as the Golden begins to pour lead through the train. Some of it is stopped by the heavy shell.. and inside, Noble, whom is not a fan of rain, is not also, a fan of metal rain!

A few shots whiz in, but the android tilts this way and that, head and body moving oddly, dancing about the shots. Yet, this is just getting more bothersome! As such.. the dynamos are cranked upwards. He brought this on himself!

No words are shared.. if only to hopefully cool the anger that one like Michael may harbor in such a fight... but in the end, the Iron Dragon's tesla generators don't give Michael a moment either.. but they might be a bit too damaged to fire off properly!

The assault continues, tesla's arcing electricity towards the Golden.. time to make it really shine!

Clockwork War Machine <Iron Dragon> strikes Ride Armor <Golden> with its Dynamos To Half Power attack.

Heat Genblem brings his arm across his face, and looks at Sing critically. Those tiny point eyes bore into him. "Then, like every reploid murdered in the name of human supremacy, you seem like a useless waste of materials."

He puts his hands forward, and creates a flickering ball of fire. It shines, and turns gold and bright, before he tosses it. It becomes a moving blossom, and is heralded by a shout of "HADOUKEN!"

Heat Genblem strikes Sing with his D. Hdkn Ex attack. Sing is temporarily disoriented by Heat Genblem's D. Hdkn Ex attack.

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Signas transmits, "That answers THAT question."

Blaze has been riding something of an invincible high since this battle really got underway, and when someone who's most definitely on her level suddenly attacks her, it rather blindsides her. Indeed, the gigantic piece of rock and earth impacts solidly into the phoenix, slamming her painfully to the ground with a sharp cry of pain. She's still for a moment, but then suddenly arcs up into the air, coming down in a corkscrew maneuver directly for Mino, seeming none too happy. "JUST /DIE/, YOU ****** ******* ******* *****," she screams--that really fraggin' hurt.

Blaze Heatnix strikes Mino Magnus with her Divebomb attack.

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Solo transmits, "Ice slicks and fountains of flaming napalm. I think we made him angry last time."

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Michael Eildath transmits, "Yeah, yeah... dammit, one of the capacitors just blew in the Golden. This thing is really dishing it out."

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Sol Salamander transmits, "...I got this."

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Michael Eildath transmits, "Time to turn this baby up to eleven."

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Sol Salamander transmits, "Allow me to take the lead, I am resistant to flame, and I can redirect the heat to help us."

Sing is scorched by the attack, joints melting together a bit under the extreme heat of Genblem's attack. The former Irregular starts to snap sudden welds and fusing of joints as he tries to get himself freed in time to defend himself from the next attack.

"Again, remains to be seen," he says almost conversationally.

Sergei is struck solidly by the bat and Zero gets the double play by sending him crashing into Klaymoor. As the Tyrant does show signs of stopping right away he drives his large claw into the side of the wall to stop his momentum. Once stopped the Colonel plants gets a firm hold on the wall again so he can move freely and begins dashing back down the wall again with a spidery gait. As he nears Zero he brings his massive claw around this time rather than the little tendrils, intending to give Zero and equally powerful slap-if that's possible.

"Nice swing, comrade! Now it's my turn up at bat! Klaymoor, can you supply covering fire?"

Sergei Vladimir misses Zero with his Tendril Smack attack.

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Sing transmits coordinates, "Over here, then. Burning Turtle's giving me a workout.

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Signas transmits, "Sol is indisposed."

Sewa is smashed by a Talos Tendril and goes flying into Rush. They both roll for several moments before going to a stop. "Oh no!" Sewa gasps, once she pulls up to her feet and looks down at the poor doggy. "Are you okay?!"

Rush, who is more durable than Sewa, whines pathetically and waggles his upper right paw. "Oh," Sewa cries, "You'll be okay, you'll be okay!" She reaches into her pocket and gives Rush /another/ snack. "There you go! There you go, so you'll be okay, right? Okay?"

Rush gobbles it up. Sucker.

This done, Sewa dashes for Bomb Man, an electrical field erupting around her body. Clearly, she intends to protect her Alpha brother?! Even if she is adopted!

Sewa projects a forcefield around herself.

Sewa begins covering Bomb Man.

Atlas, laying down suppressant fire, notices something. Some of the targets she hit start to... fade. She is too attentive to a fallen enemy, just in case they are not really fallen. It has happened before. But when a fallen enemy /vanishes/, that's just as worrisome.

Atlas concentrates her fire, continuing to trudge forwards, but striking one target at a time with the full force of her two blasters. One returns fire, falls -- one vanishes. Two vanish. The swirls of colour indicate that this is no blinking feat, as far as she knows.

But then, /all/ of them seem to fade, depopulating the space surrounding the Serpent Tower in an instant. Atlas executes a swift 360-degree turn, staring around as the remaining Hunters roar and suddenly tear into their targets. A feint, and a clever one. Likely cover for some to slip inside -- no wonder there were so many of them present.

The forces narrowed down sufficiently, Atlas returns to pacing the defensive wall, with the occasional glance up or over her shoulder towards the towering black pagoda. She is unworried about whatever might have gotten in, but when it comes back /out/ again, she wants to be ready.

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Signas transmits, "If I was not busy with this Pandora I would help, Sing."

[Radio: (D) A Secure] Telos transmits, "Warning, the Ouroboros system called "Talos" has reached its capacity. Whatever this weapon is, it will be utilized in moments most likely."

Bomb Man throws himself backwards after hitting Talos, however when that things screams, the scream reminds the alpha of a lot of other similar screams and for a second he hesitates. That is when Talos strikes, tentacles rip into the alpha's and hands, crushing and tearing into him. Bomb Man is hurt. But he's not out, not just yet.

Hissing in pain the alpha grabs another fire bomb from his belt and tosses it at the giant mutated creature's center, since it seemed to do the trick last time. He allows sewa to cover for him, his pride being defeated by his instinct for survival.

Bomb Man strikes TALOS <BOW> with his Fire Bomb attack.

[Radio: (D) A Secure] Sewa transmits, "That really sucks!"

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Signas transmits, "Pull back when your damage becomes too great, Hunters. We are not here to take the fortress."

[Radio: (D) A Secure] Sing transmits, "Thanks!"

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Jailbird Gier-Eagle transmits, "I copy."

Ouroboros, perhaps unexpectedly, does not seem to lose morale from the trick. If anything they seem to gain it; they believe they have the enemy on the run, now, as there were far less of them than expected, and focus in on the remaining ones, ganging up when possible. They are taking losses, and notable losses; the Hunters may not have many people but the ones they have are excellent. There are just a lot /more/ Ouroboros soldiers, and their officers know how to take advantage of that.

The swirling pillars around Pandora do not last very long, unfortunately, and leave an opening for Signas to take advantage of. He takes advantage of it. She finds herself regaining conciousness a moment later on a collision course with the ground and a crack in her face; she can feel it throb from the wind pressure from her fall. The two detachable parts of her helmet seperate and move upward, toward Signas.

Only inches before the ground, Pandora pulls up, managing to get her staff under herself and regain control of her flight. She transforms the momentum from the fall into horizontal speed, accidentally running through a knot of fighting Ouroboros and Hunter troops before she regains her height, flying across the battlefield like the witch she has the nickname of.

Pandora swings around in a very wide arc, heading back toward her detached helmet parts. Said helmet parts are firing shards of ice /everywhere/ - some at Signas, others at Hunter troops below. They have very precise aim, and don't seem to go anywhere Pandora doesn't want them to, despite the fact that she cannot clearly see what they are doing at this distance.

Pandora misses you with her Option Defense - Ice Spikes attack.

[Radio: (D) A Secure] Signas transmits, "Disengage if necessary."

[Radio: (D) A Secure] Sewa transmits, "but thanks for the headsup!"

Aeolus is free and rocketing upwards. He ascends for a short time before he stops dead and turns to face the Jailbird. It's just in time to see the balls flying for his face. His sneer just deepens as he brings both blades up. There are two arc-flashes of red and the ball flys past him in two pieces, the chain attached to one. "Pathetic! Worthless! You inferior beings have /no chance/!" The Aesir laughs, it's not a happy sound, full of venom and contempt for everything that isn't him, but especially those against him.

Once more, the Aesir pits his speed against Jailbird's as he flings himself into a dive. His boosters howl as he redlines them, red power blazing behind him like the firey wings of some demon from the east. With gravity's help, he's cleared the three hundred and fifty mile per hour mark. With arms trailing behind him, it looks like he's going to pull the old Sage Harpuia move of ramming him, except he's better than that. With superhuman reflexes, Aeolus waits until the last second to cut his thrusters and flip over so his feet are leading. He's trying to kick Jailbird in the face. At three hundred miles an hour. Ouch.

Aeolus misses Jailbird Gier-Eagle with his Shining Glory attack.

Heat Genblem eyes the area. The Hunter he failed to hurt before is moving towards him, as are several others. Transports are there, as are seasoned troopers and heroes. They rally together against their common foe, every hero willing to respond when their lives are on the line. Such teamwork!

"The answer... will be found in the broken remains of those who lie in the dirt, at the end of this combat," he says, as a gang of Hunters leap at him. He takes one and tosses him into another, and begins to weave artful curves of fire with his fist as he slowly and methodically strikes out against them. He sends injured men and women scattering, some crashing into the Shrike.

Heat Genblem strikes Sing with his The Prize Fighter Inferno attack.

Klaymoor's left foot slides backwards three inches. This puts Klaymoor into an awkward stance, but he shifts Sergei forward off of him. He grunts in response, nodding his helmet. "Sure can." When Sergei moves away, one can see the minor dent in his body. Klaymoor is built like the wall underneath him. This time, Klaymoor shifts to a full-auto gun, aiming the arm downward. A heavy energy blasting rains down from the wall towards Zero.

Klaymoor strikes Zero with his Suppression Fire attack.

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Sing transmits, "Man. This dude hits hard."

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Bomb Man transmits, "So does this one."

Sing braces up, having broken the last of those immobilizing meltings. He tries to soften falls as best as he can, though he takes a bit of a beating in the process.

"Perhaps, puppet," Sing replies as he throws a jumping uppercut of his own at Heat Genblem. A surprising amount of force is imparted from the uppercut, perhaps enough to take the larger mech off of his feet!

Sing misses Heat Genblem with his Event Horizon attack.

Deep inside the Serpent Tower, Tron Bonne runs her hands over the controls, the red eye of the Red Queen upon her as warning messages speed across the screen.

TALOS Rage Counter: Critical.

Time Till TALOS Breaks Control: 0:30

Suggested Operation: Control.

Tron, running her hands over the controls, keys them rapidly. Inside the TALOS, injectors slam home and inject sedatives. Inside the TALOS, systems thrum to sooth the savage beast. The Red Queen, on Tron's command, gathers its control on the savage monster. Its head lowering, human eye closing and red optic powering down. Its body slumping slightly. The tendrils simply wither from it, collapsing into ash that disintegrates as the armor reseals itself. Within the B.O.W., its systems turn over, generating more energy for the TALOS ranged weapon system.

Rockets slot into place with a series of loud clicks from the massive left arm that is a giant rocket launcher.

The Fire Bomb slams home on the TALOS, shattering and singing its armored form, charring away more flesh around its terrible grin.

Then its head comes up, its red optic locks on Bomb and the covering Sewa and Rush.

The TALOS grins a death's head rictus.

It really doesn't have any other choice.

TALOS <BOW> forfeits a turn to charge WE.

"And it's a home run. Hunters win! Hunters win!" Zero cheers, despite the epic fighting around him. As Sergei leaps down, Zero sighs. "Ooops, forgot I have to finish what I start before the victory dance."

The counter assault comes quickly, but that's expected. The cover fire digs into Zero's armor, causing a multitude of wounds. Despite the mounting pain, Z rolls under the powerful claw as it comes toward him, merely giving a powerful slash of his sword. It's a simple midsection slash, but if Sergei doesn't get out of the way, he might find himself in danger of being cleaved in two. It's a no nonsense killing move. "Would love to drag this out, but I have to kill your friend after this dance." To Klaymoor, Zero shouts, "I'll be with in a second, large ass!"

Zero strikes Sergei Vladimir with his Z Slash attack.

Mino Magnus lumbers forward, seeming almost to be chasing that giant mound of rock and earth that he wung (yes, wung) at the Winged Hunter: Blaze Heatnix. Unfortunately for Magnus, he doesn't get very far. Between having to evade PUNY HYOOMENS and Blaze Heatnix descending from the heavens above to Screw Attack Mino Magnus, Mino Magnus doesn't have time to either get up to speed or travel very far.

Magnus staggers back a step before he digs his hoof into the ground, hands coming up to brace him against Blaze Heatnix as she corkscrews him in the chest/face. He continues to lose ground under the onslaught, skidding slowly backward, plowing a trough into the earth from the raw velocity Heatnix brings to the impact.

When it stops though, Heatnix might find herself being subsumed by Mino Magnus. The Minotaur's torso starts to shift backwards, gravitational force trying to suck the flaming bird into his midsection for a few potentially frightening seconds. And then, rather abruptly, Magnus' body produces a wave of gravity in an attempt to launch Heatnix out and into the earth itself like so much garbage into a fill.

Mino Magnus strikes Blaze Heatnix with his Better Than Dust Man attack.

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Sol Salamander transmits, "Nice trick, eh?"

Cut Man has left.

The Golden sizzles as electricity again plays across its surface, the large metal Ride Armor more than conductive enough to soak up the Teslaic onslaught. The energy field around the cockpit sputters and sizzles as it protects Michael, though there's a burst of black smoke from the Ride as one of the energy-dispersing capacitors burns itself out.

Michael looks over his options, and decides that he needs to stop this thing from moving. He shifts, letting the feet of the Golden fly out, planting them into the ground in front of the train, tearing up twin furrows of landscape as Michael grits his teeth for what he's about to try.

With a shriek of metal fatigue, the Golden attempts to turn the leverage of the Iron Dragon against it, twisting, turning... Michael is going to attempt to /throw/ the train with the power of the Golden. It might work...

...and if it does, Mike tries to vector it towards Heat Gemblem and Aeolus, who could use a little extra attention right now.

Ride Armor <Golden> strikes Clockwork War Machine <Iron Dragon> with its Throw attack.

Ride Armor <Golden> strikes Heat Genblem with its Throw attack.

Heat Genblem successfully reflects Throw.

Ride Armor <Golden> strikes Aeolus with its Throw attack.

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Michael Eildath transmits, "Watch this... HYEEEAAHH!"

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Sing transmits, "HOLY HECK!"

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Michael Eildath, nonchalantly. "Train."

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Jailbird Gier-Eagle transmits, "Aw ****!!"

The Hunter forces are outnumbered, but not outgunned, and each one has the fighting spirit of an entire army. Some fall. Others retreat. None are anything less than a true hero. They strive, and they fight, weaving their way towards the wall, attempting to get between the ranges of the Fortress defense weapons. Strangely enough, though, they don't seem to be trying to get IN to Heaven's Fortress. In fact, they're fighting defensively and, in many cases, conservatively.

It's almost as if this isn't a real offensive at ALL.

If Signas were capable of smirking, he probably would. His legs tense, and he LAUNCHES into the air, foregoing the Blink system this time. Somehow, the Strategist manages to avoid the ice attack. Perhaps through sheer luck. Perhaps not. Other Hunters are not so fortunate. Signas almost flies towards Pandora, trying to catch up with rising Witch. When he does, his arms spread wide as he comes in for the 'flying' tackle. For once, he lets his actions speak for themselves.

You strike Pandora with a solid hit from your Pointed Remarks attack.

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Signas transmits, "Axl. Status."

Well this isn't going completely according to plan Bomb Man thinks as he backs away from Talos as it seems to be charging up. He's pretty sure that whatever it is going to unleash on the two of them next will be nasty. It's time to get serious.

"Well seems this is about to get interesting." Bomb Man says, giving sewa a cheerful grin. The alpha then reaches into subspace and drags forth a gigantic grenade about the size of a small car and tosses it at the biomonster. He had to hurt it, even if he fell here. he had to weaken this thing so that Sewa could at least escape.

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Signas transmits, "That was an excellent assault, Commander."

Bomb Man strikes TALOS <BOW> with his Big Badda Boom attack.

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Aeoulaxl transmits, "We're in. Running the trap gauntlet, now.

Cut Man has arrived.

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Michael Eildath transmits, "Godspeed, Gunslinger."

Sewa, naturally, keeps that forcefield up. If it's just going to stand their charging its lazor, Sewa figures it'll give Bomb Man plenty of time to rip it to bits! She covers Bomb Man's flank--ready to chuck him out of the way!

Rush licks his paw and turns into Sub Rush for no apparent reason, especially since there isn't any water.

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Signas transmits, "This TALOS creature is about to go critical. Many of our forces may need to withdraw. Is your CRAB still functional."

Sewa forfeits a turn to charge WE.

Sewa begins covering Bomb Man.

Heat Genblem allows himself to fall backwards, giving himself a boost with his feet to slide neatly across the grass. Sing misses him entirely, but he's clipped by the rapidly moving train, dinging him just a little.

Now, normally, if he was a turtle that was of any normal stripe, he'd flail his legs and wheel sadly. However, Heat Genblem has flame thrusters, and he can use them. He tucks his limbs into his body and spins, becoming a catherine wheel that skids and bounces along, bouncing and smashing around and eventually smashing into Sing.

Heat Genblem strikes Sing with his Catherine Wheel attack.

Klaymoor has all the time in the world, luckily. Zero is slow to attack on him. So Klaymoor lends aid. But it looks like Sergei is actually starting to have trouble. Klaymoor better pick up the pace. He produces a very large disc from subspace, holding it up in his hand. He grips it around the side, twisting his body about. With a swing of his torso, Klaymoor swings around the disc, which starts up in an energy blade, sailing down towards Zero. Maybe it will cut his hair.

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Aeoluaxl transmits, "Yeeeep. It'll have to wait after this, thought. Kinda risky now."

Klaymoor strikes Zero with his Killer Disc attack.

Blaze is suddenly sicked /into/ the giant Minotaur, a look of momentary terror on her face as she finds herself unable to resist its terrible pull, despite throwing on every single ounce of power her very-considerable jet systems can bring to bear. And then the phoenix is launched back out at ridiculous speeds, slamming into the very hard, very unyielding earth; armor crumples underneath the force of the blow, and her internal systems take no insignificant amount of beating from the blunt trauma.

Torso caving in on itself, one wing hanging limply at her side, bleeding mechfluid from a dozen places, the phoenix is a rather pitiful sight already, slowing pulling herself back to her feet. "You ******," she says weakly, creating a small burst of air pressure via manipulation of the surrounding air temperature and sending it hurtling at the gigantic Android's head.

Blaze Heatnix strikes Mino Magnus with her Pressure Burst attack.

The ball hits the ground somewhere away from relevancy as it regards the duel between Mega Man of Wind and a reploid that appears to have a bondage fetish. The ball itself is large and extremely sturdy - ignore the stupid pun on 'life behind bars,' it is singular and always is - but Aeolus is badass enough to stop it clean with awesome sword slashes. If anything, this might look more like some kind of stylized boss battle against a generic themed animal form boss that the 'good guy' is winning. So did Aeolus fight the right boss before picking this one's stage?!

...Er... never mind. Moving on.

Jailbird's not looking healthy right now. All it took was three strokes to really put the hurt on him. Cut in the side, deep stab in the side, violent removal that went up and out of his shoulder and past his face, that happened quick enough he didn't catch the trail. Outmatched... maybe.

His face looks above, to where Aeolus continues to mock and deride him as nothing more than garbage. Jailbird snorts, a surge of power in his flight systems giving him that temporary boost of added movement to an already damaged frame so that he's not directly below. But then there's another matter... A FLYING TRAIN HEADED HIS DIRECTION OH HELL.

He already spent 'heroic speed dodge' on avoiding the dive. He can only pray that he doesn't get crushed underneath it if he's caught. But the fact of the matter is, Aeolus is coming down fast, and he just might be in neck's reach.

One gagging noise later, a glint of light flashes off something sharp and metallic held between his beak as he uncomfortably rights himself and tries to poke his beak - and something much more unpleasant than most metallic beaks within - through the back of the armor and maybe into the meat of his back if he can press it in far enough. If he's given the chance.

Whether or not the train hits him, that's up for the fates to decide. Too busy shanking.

Jailbird Gier-Eagle misses Aeolus with his Shank attack.

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Sing transmits, "I think I can buy us a moment or two more, but I need coordinates for every threat in this immediate area."

The Tyrant roars in pain as Zero brings his Z-Saber down his midsection. There is a moment of scalding pain which, though the grotesque features of the mutated Russian hide it, is followed by a strange pleasure passing through the Colonel. This is the true thrill of battle. This pain is the greatest pleasure of his altered genetics. Sergei has a certain sick quality about him that he tends to hide well. It's the same reason why he carries that blade around with him.

Sergei's wound up closes up, at least partially. "Yes! This is a true battle! With each blow I become stronger! My purpose is as clear as ever!" The Russian brings his tentacle around again to follow up Klaymoor's attack. If successful Sergei hopes to grasp Zero in the massive clam, give him a good squeeze, then smash him into the wall forcefully.

Sergei Vladimir strikes Zero with his Tendril Pummel attack.

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Michael Eildath transmits, "Watch out for the train."

Is there a roll cage on a train?

No. But as the Golden, this time, is able to stop the train.. the Golden ends up throwing the train alright.. the huge metal monster being lifted and chucked like so much a heap of metal .. is sent flying. Noble is calm up until the Iron Dragon stops moving. "..This can't be-" She's shut up when it's lifted upwards.. and then the drills dig into the bottom of the train. She'll need to anchor herself.

Because the train suddenly inverts. Upside down, the vines are still wrapped around the controls, and the train is tilting wildly.. it's already hitting Heat Genblem.. and so Noble veers hard to the left. The back of the train listens, and the heavily armored, and just plain heavy back ends suddenly shifts towards Sing.. and the train continues to strike against Aeolus.. perhaps ramming him onto the front of the train's grill, preventing Jailbird's strike!

While the train shifts again, Noble pulling to the left, the back end once more swinging.. like some kind of aerial train dance.

And then the train lands, hover jets kicking in hard.. but not being able to stop the heavy sound, a small earthquake of a train striking the ground, before it is back under control.

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Sewa tries to say something but a train goes by, like Alloy's Vent Window.

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Cut Man transmits, "Traaaaaaaaaain."

[Radio: (B) H Secure] INTERN CHORUS, "TRAIN!"

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Zero curses under his breath. "...Looks like I underestimate the two bozos fighting me. I'll see if I can still kill them."

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Signas, deadpan: "Toot toot."

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Sing transmits, "Understood!"

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Sewa transmits, "Sorry guys, there was a train!"

Clockwork War Machine <Iron Dragon> strikes Sing with its Dancing With The Train attack.

Clockwork War Machine <Iron Dragon> strikes Jailbird Gier-Eagle with its Dancing With The Train attack.

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Sing transmits a sickening crunching noise.

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Michael Eildath winces audibly.

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Cinnamon, belatedly: "Was that a /train/?"

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Sewa transmits, "It was!"

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Michael Eildath transmits, "It might have been."

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Sing a bit weakly, "I need to punch out."

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Signas transmits, "Only history may judge that.'"

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Sing transmits, "...it was."

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Jailbird Gier-Eagle seems to have been trying to transmit something but it got interrupted by a terrible 'CRUNCH' noise.

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Signas transmits, "Fall back, Hunter. Lifesaver has set up triage a few kilometers behind battle lines."

The train saves him. As Aeolus careens downwards at the Jailbird, he's clipped by a /thrown train/. The ridiculousness of it is enough to offset the fact that it hurt a little. Well, as little as thousands of pounds of metal can as it brushes past you at a crazy speed, anyway. This makes him miss the Jailbird, which makes the shiv skitter across armor plates on his thrusters, doing nothing more than dinging up the paint. Superhuman reflexes and stamina make it so that when Aeolus hits the ground, he doesn't die.

His angle makes him skid on the stones for a few feet, sparks kicking up from his boots as he twists and fires his boosters again, kicking off the ground. Airborne once more, the Aesir makes for the Hunter, blades crackling hungrily. He blasts right past the slower aerialbot and lashes out with a hungry strike, the blade doing its best to feed power back into Model H.

Jailbird Gier-Eagle deflects Notus - Famine from Aeolus.

ka-BOOM!

The TALOS' insane grin opens to howl again as a large chunk is blown out of its armor, a black liquid trailing out of the armor and all over the soil at its feet. The creature is bleeding hideously. Then its human eye and red optic lock on the pair of them. It drops low, raising its great left arm up, the giant four barreled rocket launcher taking aim at Sewa and Bomb Man. Its right arm SLAMS into the ground, steadying it.

Deep within the Serpent's Tower, Tron keys the TALOS' systems with a grin of an almost vicious triumph.

"Lets light up the night."

The TALOS ratches up, its left arm rising skyward...

-fhutfhutfhutfhut- -fhutfhutfhutfhut- -fhutfhutfhutfhut-

Rockets launch skyward, then bank downward to fall upoon the enemy Hunter forces, each series of launches accompanied by jets of exhaust from the back of the four barreled launcher. The explosives fall upon the Hunter lines, and upon Sewa and Bomb Man.

Sewa fails her attempt to cover Bomb Man.

TALOS <BOW> strikes Bomb Man with its Rocket Fusillade attack.

TALOS <BOW> strikes Sewa with its Rocket Fusillade attack.

Sewa's forcefield withstands the attack.

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Signas transmits, "Hh."

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Signas transmits, "Is that the best you can do, TALOS."

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Copy Rock transmits, "B-Beat?!"

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Beat preeps.

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Axl transmits, "Wow, Beat!"

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Copy Rock transmits, ".... Thanks."

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Beat beeps.

Sing brings his hands up, catching the massive turtlebot in an attempt to lessen the impact somewhat. In this, he is successful.

However, nothing can compare you for The Train. Sing is thrown clear back to the Hunter lines on his back, his wing emitters shorn off from the impact, his whole body a massive collection of dents and tears. Sing slowly pulls himself to his feet, wobbling a bit before heading for the rear and Lifesaver's triage center per orders.

Sing retreats from the area swiftly, leaving him open to pursuit or parting shots from Blaze Heatnix, Jailbird Gier-Eagle, Clockwork War Machine <Iron Dragon>, and Aeolus.

While Blaze Heatnix recollects herself from the impact crater at the far end of the trough she and he dug into the earth, Mino Magnus slowly starts to lumber back out of the earth. His dim optics glow dimly as he moves toward the grievously wounded Heatnix. For the briefest of moments, he looks almost startled by the appearance of his foe. Perhaps Magnus was not expecting such a disasterous result, perhaps he simply forgot his own strength. The world may never know.

Air Pressure builds and whirls forward, crashing against the implaccable rocks that is Mino Magnus' terrible metal body. The Einherjar meat-shield's face dents in, partially collapsing under the terrible strain. Lemony armor sheathing shears off of Magnus' shoulders and small grooves are etched into the armor underneath. It is not enough to do much but give Minos pause.

Pause enough for him to throw one mighty fist across the intervening meters in an attempt to finish Heatnix... Once and for all.

Mino Magnus strikes Blaze Heatnix with his Punch attack.

Michael winces as Noble starts pitching the train this way and that. Well. That wasn't fun to watch. He bites his lip with frustration, trying to figure out how best to ameliorate what turned south on him. And he can only think of one way to do it. Debris from the throw plunks against the armor, ignored by the Hunter for the time being. It was just dent.

The Golden drops to one knee, Michael letting his ride's arm servos have a rest as one hand goes up, resting one hand the shoulder-mounted plasma cannon of the Ride Armor. "Okay, time to end this," he mutters, hoping he can aim well enough with the damage he's already sustained.

The Golden shunts power from the main reactor into the plasma cannon, which glows as Michael lines up his target, not wanting to let it out of his sight. "All right, take this!" A massive blast of plasma energy lances from the Ride Armor, streaking across the battlefield at the mighty train.

"GOLDEN BEAM!"

Ride Armor <Golden> strikes Clockwork War Machine <Iron Dragon> with its Golden Beam attack.

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Sing transmits, "Mike, you owe me a beer for that one."

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Sing transmits, "And none of that Wily Beer, either."

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Michael Eildath transmits, "Yeah, okay. Sorry about that. I didn't think he could maneuver that damn thing in the air."

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Sing goodnaturedly, "Lessons learned, and all that."

FUNKAFUNKAFUNKAFUNKA. The missiles slam into Sewa's forcefield, exploding gloriously--but it's not enough to take the field down.

Sewa pushes through the explosion, rolling down and crashing to the ground before spinning up and sliding on her feet. "Yikes. That thing is unreal! Come on, Sewa, Bomb Man needs a hand!" She slides towards Bomb Man and ducks down by his body, "Hold on," She murmurs, "Rush, over here!"

Rush trots over and a hatch opens up along his back--and a large energy capsule bounce pops out.

Sewa catches it and proceeds to, well, feed it to Bomb Man while sealing up some of his armor together.

Sewa lowers her forcefield.

Sewa takes out a medical scanner and scans Bomb Man.

Sewa effects some minor repair work on Bomb Man.

Sewa takes out a medical scanner and scans Bomb Man.

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Jailbird Gier-Eagle transmits a loud 'PLINK!' noise. The classic plink. So very classic plink.

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Jailbird Gier-Eagle transmits, "Don't do that **** again."

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Michael Eildath transmits, "Like I said, most trains don't have pitch and yaw controls."

Blaze is struck by the punch to the face, knocking her back down to the ground even as she attempts to get her balance fully back from the last assault. This is not going so well, and, indeed, the only reason that Mino might take any damage at all from her is the simple fact that, well, she's really, really, /really/ hot to the touch. Enough that it's not such a good idea to touch her in combat (she has enough control not to burn everyone when she doesn't want to, however).

Blaze Heatnix strikes Mino Magnus with her Heat Touch attack.

The shots continue to rain down and Zero finds himself crushed into the wall. He looks like hell. Battered and beaten, Zero seems like he's at the end of his rope. Red fluid drips down the wall through the many holes Klaymoor as punctured through him. Is Zero defeated? It looks like as his eyes dim. Suddenly, they shoot back open, blue eyes staring intently through the red light that shines from his armor. The light brightens to a swift flash, and Zero is standing on his own two feet, dressed in red armor that is much more sexy and stylish. In his hand is not a saber, but a whip of pure energy. Looks like Zero has acquired a new toy.

"It's time to pray that you can end this quickly, because I'm gunna make this painful. But first, I could use a drink." With, Zero retracts the whip into a rod like weapon before he thrusts it toward Sergei. Should it hit, the chain will lodge itself into Sergi's flesh, going for a bluish color to a blood red as Zero's wounds heal slightly. If not, well, sucks to be Zero.

Zero changes into his Zero Arcadia armor.

Zero misses Sergei Vladimir with his Energy Chain attack.

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Sing transmits, "Any luck finding anything?"

Crazy Yoshi arrives from the Most Gentle Entrance.

Crazy Yoshi has arrived.

The rockets strike down around Bomb Man, blowing up chunks of the earth around him. The alpha however was designed to withstand just this sort of pressure and so is not as damaged as he would have been. Still the injuries are starting to show. Luckily Sewa is there to offer a helping energy drink.

The alpha grins down at his little 'sister' and says thanks as he gulps down the energy drink. Slowly many of his wounds start to seal them self.

The train finally readies itself, turning about in it's motion, slowly getting back up to speed... and then suddenly the train turns into .. an onslaught. Nobel, from her position, is looking on towards a massive blast of plasma, unending.

She yelps.

Ducking, the controls stay up, but the energy explodes the glass, as well as the armoring of the Train nearby the cockpit. It's a horrendous sight, as well as horrible to live through. Noble is, however, an android in the service of Meio. The train rocks from the giant cannon.

But Michael may dislike the end result of the assault. The train begins to speed up, the crackling dynamo charging itself more as it closes the distance. It's aim is simple!

Once close enough.. the train will unleash an eruption of electrical energy, the charge being completely dispersed! But there is no guarantee the Golden will sit still and pretty!

Clockwork War Machine <Iron Dragon> strikes Ride Armor <Golden> with its Tesla Annihilation attack.

[Radio: (A) H Chat] The Golden's Automated System transmits, "Critical hit."

Hm. Zero can change into... a three year old? That's an amazing power. Really. It is. Klaymoor has his own transformation powers. He holds his arms out, slots over his shoulders opening up. "Hey! Girly boy! Get the hell out of my new digs!" A dozen set of missiles suddenly sprout out, locking down towards Zero. They all fire straight up into the air, then arc downward in a cloud of smoke, swirling for Zero. One rockets off somewhere.

Klaymoor misses Zero with his Fusillade attack.

The officers of Ouroboros are starting to notice the Hunter defensive strategy. A few of them start looking for the trick. They do not seem to realize that the primary trick is already over, and the Hunter infiltrators are inside, even though Pandora warns them to be wary.

The warning is the distraction that allows Signas an especially powerful strike. The flying tackle drives Pandora back, and she feels her light armour start to crumple under the blow even as Signas continues to propel her. She makes a very small sound in her throat, then vanishes, having Blinked away.

She reappears above Signas, holding her electric-wreathed staff in her left hand as she makes a quick gesture at the Hunter commander. A thin bolt of electricity lances out from her fingers - and hangs there in blatant defiance of electrical physics, connecting her and whatever the bolt hit as she tries to sap power away from it.

Pandora strikes you with a solid hit from her Stealing Lightning attack

Pandora drains energy from you.

Bomb Man begins covering Sewa.

Well, actually, Heatnix might find she needs to really turn up the heat on Magnus' offending hand. It started crawling for her throat, probably intending to try throttling the life out of her like something from the only good episode of Angel.

The heat rises.

And rises.

And rises some more.

The rock and earth around Blaze starts to smoke and steam, some rock actually melting and bubbling as Magnus' hand slowly, /SLOWLY/ starts to change from white to an ominously glowing red. Smoke starts rising from Minos' hand after quite a bit of time and the hand pauses in its inexorable climb toward Blaze's neck. Magnus' head tilts to one side, dim optics squinting as he tries to process the 'sensory' information. His optics suddenly widen, their glow intensifying significantly before Magnus' hand suddenly jerks back toward his body along unseen lines of Force.

Unfortunately that same Force might well drag Blaze Heatnix along for the ride... And you know what they say about falling victim to gravity...

It's not the fall that gets you. It's the sudden stop.

Electrictiy slams into the Golden, taking it up and off the ground as another capacitor explodes noisily, taking out a chunk of the Ride's armor plating with it. Michael is thrown hard in the cockpit, protected from the shock but not from the impact, seeing spots before his eyes as he groans from the landing, the armor cratering the ground behind it.

"Cute. But let's see if you have any more of that shit." He grimaces, pulling himself back up into a kneeling position, lifting the left arm of the Golden, not bearing a chaingun like the right. No, this one has a rocket launcher.

"How about you go back to the station, Little Engine that Could?" A series of rockets launch from the left arm, streaking towards the Iron Dragon as Michael trusts in the Golden's guidance systems.

As the whip comes for him Sergei plants his claw into the wall again and literally pulls himself out of harms way. Once on the wall again Sergei starts scurrying farther away again to get his bearings. "I see I'm not the only one with whips, eh Zero?"

Missiles abound, leading Sergei to keep moving so as to avoid being hit as well, after carefully avoiding any of the crossfire the Colonel calls out to pirate again. "Klaymoor! Take point!" After that the Tyrant spits up the large, red eye-like organ in his mouth. It flies into the air and then explodes into a red mist, raining down bits of larvae-like objects upon the Hunter-that is, if he's not agile enough to avoid them.

Mino Magnus misses Blaze Heatnix with his Get Over Here attack.

Ride Armor <Golden> misses Clockwork War Machine <Iron Dragon> with its Rocket Fusillade attack.

Sergei Vladimir misses Zero with his Blood Blob attack.

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Zero transmits, "Huh, guess this might not be my night."

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Michael Eildath transmits, "Damn, I missed."

Crazy Yoshi changes into his Crazy Yoshi armor.

Fight on, brave Hunters. More and more of the Hunter forces begin to withdraw, making tactical retreats towards the rear, fighting and defending as they go. Then: TALOS.

The Beast of War unloads its deadly payload, sending a rain of destruction down towards the entangled Hunter and Ouroboros forces. Too much rage. Not enough precision. The Hunters react with grace and speed.

Shields and fields fling themselves into the paths of the missiles. One grouping of five Hunters, each one a colour of the prism's rainbow, raise their blaster arms in unison. "STAR PRISM BARRAAAAAGE!" they cry, in unison. Their blasts sweep the sky, taking out a third of the incoming missiles. But even that is not enough. Shields buckle. Fields collapse. Mighty Mecha Magenta Man, the heart and soul of the Mighty Mecha Prism Squad... is struck down in the prime of his ebbulient youth. His armor explodes in five seperate places, then flies apart as expanding circles of concentric light fill the sky.

A howl of grief and rage unites the remaining Mighty Mecha Prism Squad Hunters. And their rage becomes a deadly fusillade of colourful beams, narrowing to a single point... where they become a single beam or purest white, slashing into the ranks of the Ouroboros defenders.

Signas' frown deepens. Even a handful of casualties is far too much. Pandora Blinks away, and the large Hunter slams into the ground. He rolls with it, coming to a knee just in time for Pandora's assault to rip into his back. "GNNNN!" he grunts, gritting his teeth against the pain. His back simply explodes, sparks flying in all directions, revealing a patchwork of grey under-armor and glowing circuitry beneath.

Signas hacks and coughs, head falling forward. He barely catches himself before falling to the ground, spitting up vibrant reploid life fluids. A moment passes. Then he rises, and turns. His fists begin to glow, gathering kinetic energy from dynamos in his large forearms. An incandescent aura surrounds them, and he makes his charge. The right fist draws back. "IMPACT!" It slams forward. "KNUUUUUUUUUUUUCKLLLLLLLLE!"

You strike Pandora with a major hit from your Impact Knuckle attack.

Crazy Yoshi is free, FREEEE! And he's got to get rid of all this evidence, er, great bargain merchandise pretty quick, he's got a court date in about a week.

A black helicopter, with a Noposinium shield shimmering around it and Crazy Yoshi's giant logo emblazaned on both sides, flies over the battle field. If there's anywhere that needs weapons right now, surely this is it, thinks Yoshi. The helicopter flies right between Zero and Klaymoor and is promptly exploded, the weapon payload already on board helping to make it an impressive site.

"YOU BREAK IT YOU BOUGHT IIIIIIITTTT" screams the salesman as he goes flying through the air, desperately hoping to land on something which is not hard or pointy.

Crazy Yoshi strikes Klaymoor with his Brittle Old Man Hip Crash attack.

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Sol Salamander transmits, "...Did she just..?"

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Beat preeps solemnly.

The Aesir is still at the top of his game. His enemy is weak, battered, but not broken yet. He will have to fix this. His eyes flicker in surprise as his blade plinks off of the ball harmlessly. That's pretty irritating right there. Aeolus spins in the air laterally, much like a football player evading a tackle as the ball slings at him. It brushes past his contrail, briefly gathering glittering red motes on its surface before they fade. He regards his enemy and dives again, leading with his right blade.

"I am ever so slightly impressed, worm. Amazing that you are not /dead yet/!" When he closes, he flicks the right blade at the Eagle in a feint and blazes past him, stopping dead and pivoting, only to lash out, hopefully from surprise, at Jailbird's back.

Aeolus misses Jailbird Gier-Eagle with his Notus - Blight attack.

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Signas transmits, "Sound off, Hunters. Who's still on the field."

The TALOS unleashes its rocket storm, its head coming back down, and cocks to one side as it regards Sewa and Bomb Man. Below, Tron smiles radiantly herself. She is enjoying this, despite the damage inflicted to the TALOS. She feels sorry for the thing having hurt Rush, but she doesn't feel THAT sorry.

Stupid dogs. She still hated them, even if she wasn't TERRIFIED of them anymore.

Tron sits in the light of the Red Queen, relaxing and enjoying herself in the heat of this terrible conflict. She barely cares how many of the Hunter trainees who fight with valor and die. She doesn't bat an eyelash at the loss of that tragic hero that was Green Biker Dude. Or the Mighty Mecha Magenta Man. Tron only smiles as the TALOS smiles.

The TALOS rachets down its great arm, lifting its claw out of the ground even as its bleeding begins to ebb. It is still injured, but its regenerative powers have cut off those flows of black ichor. It was time to destroy.

The TALOS armored body turns, its right arm coming up and before its face even as it crouches down, then it SPRINGS for Sewa and Bomb. Its hideous strength comes into play once more as it merely tries to SWAT away the two that have so damaged and tormented it.

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Blaze Heatnix transmits, "I...am."

Bomb Man fails his attempt to cover Sewa.

TALOS <BOW> strikes Sewa with its Swat attack.

TALOS <BOW> strikes Bomb Man with its Swat attack.

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Bomb Man transmits, "As am I."

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Jailbird Gier-Eagle transmits, "Me... don't know for how long."

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Signas transmits, "Stay only as long as is safe. Do not go martyring yourselves over this."

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Sewa transmits, "I am! Hi!"

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Copy Rock transmits, "Why is this fish hurting me with liiiiiiiiightning?!"

[Radio: (B) H Secure] Signas transmits, "We have already lost too many good Hunters today."

[Radio: (A) H Chat] Sewa freezes Copy Rock, "Be careful of Lightning, Rock, and of fish! Sometimes fish like to eat you!", unfreezes Copy Rock.

Heat Genblem picks himself up as Sing beats his retreat. He looks around and quickly finds a suitable opponent to carry on his pain train- the one abusing his poor, easily squashed sister. Yeah, the one piloting the other pain train.

He looks at Mike, and begins lumbering towards the ride with murder on his mind. He begins to gain speed. He is making short, leap-like steps on his small arms, and--

With a mighty grunt, he slams his fist into the Golden ride armor, its end surrounded in charged flame. The energy fused fist and spiralling fire combine to create a roaring fang of fire that hopes to pierce clean through into the pilot and burn him to ash.

Heat Genblem misses Ride Armor <Golden> with his Charged Flaming Uppercut attack.

Don't knock Noble off just yet. She's a fighter.. even if she's really NOT a fighter! It's got some odd tit for tat going on, but you can understand it. The Golden groans.. and Michael makes his statement. Noble, usually quite to herself.. suddenly glares through the petals towards the Hunter Leader, and as the missiles crash towards the Iron Dragon.. Noble Mandrago aims to make the Golden's pilot eat his words.