Breaking Point

[25K Now!]

IC: October M. Brightbridge

 

No vexation had arisen. The raven had gracefully chosen to soar beneath the ministrations of the fledgling.

 

Could such continue?

 

"Take heart, Private Koizumi," danced amongst the wind, a silken song of comfort. "Do not falter in your motions."

[Void Emissary]

IC: Hassan

 

While the pantry contained a deceptively large variety of condiments (for a kitchen in a military base), too much of it was either unsuitable for kebabs or simply expired. Rummaging through the cupboards, he listed pff the options.

 

"Well, there's chipped beef, or shredded chicken. As for sauce..." he stopped when he found what he was looking for.

 

Soy sauce Here? And some limes...

 

"I can make some peanut sauce to go with the kebab."

 

IC:

 

"Shredded chicken?"

 

Gwen cracked a grin and flexed both biceps like she was the Second Coming of Schwarzenegger himself.

 

"Can't be as shredded as me though, am I right?"

 

-Void

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

IC:

 

As the simulated Týr crumpled to the ground, Fairuza pouted for a moment, then clicked the override to keep the sim pod from opening. Tapping in a new code, she sighed, and opened the comm again.

 

"Fairly won, but you owe me. All of the excitement I was hoping for in this tournament, yes? Now I will spectate from your viewpoint. I don't think I need to request that you tear things up, since that seems to be normal for you."

 

The screens lit up again, though the controls remained retracted, and she felt an immediate, unpleasant lurch as the pod went from simulating nothing in particular to trying to convey the feeling of riding a Raptor high enough to make many of the buildings look small.

[sunflower]

IC: Marcus

 

From her position within the shattered hulks of concrete and steel rebar of the simulated city, Luna directed her machine forward at a steady pace. Sensors had picked up the erratic motion of munitions and mechs not too far away, and the the audio channel from outside played the unmistakable sound of rotary cannon fire echoing through the streets. Something deep down, the small instinctual part that refused to be dislodged despite countless hours of training, urged her to move away from their source.

 

That was quickly forgotten, as a brilliant white shape that required no sensors to see, or identify, caught her attention against the blue sky. Still maneuvering closer towards the sounds of battle and movement picked up by the computers, Luna watched with half an eye as the white-armored Raptor pulled up into the air and started to gain altitude, closely followed by streaks of what only could be surface-to-air missiles. Absently, she wondered just how extensive the simulation was; she herself had never experienced an outward boundary for it, though the Raptor certainly had to be pushing near it. Not for long, as it transitioned into a dive, and actually started firing on some target, undoubtedly the source of the missiles, a thousand meters or so towards the east of her.

 

Towards her south, the sharp crack of explosions echoed. Unwilling to charge head-first into combat given what happened last time, Luna decided to let that settle itself, and moved further into the city to where most of the buildings were still relatively intact despite their size. She had the distinct feeling that it wasn't going to stay that way for long.

[Constructelf]

OOC: going to assume that Walkers have car dashboards with check engine lights and whatnot.

 

IC: Lé Thanh Khiêm

Something slammed into The Boom. Then the dreaded warning light came on.

Heavy damage to torso. Left shoulder non-functional.

Flanked?!

 

Turning the Warrior's ocular unit to the left of his cover, Khiêm saw through the visual feed the form of a samurai spraying lead at him while rapidly closing, brandishing it's mêlée weapon.

 

With a horrible sound of creaking joints and twisting metal, Khiêm engaged his own Warrior's thrusters, attempting to maintain distance between himself and the rabid Shiba Inu. The last two rounds in The Boom's magazine -- both HEDP grenades -- desperately flew towards the mad warrior running him down even as the damaged Warrior rounded a corner, running like a rabbit while being riddled with bullet holes. Khiêm's dashboard continued to light up like a Christmas tree; with so many errors, it was probably over for him no matter how his pursuer fared.

 

"... Please don't shout 'Banzai'. Just don't."

Edited September 4, 2016 by Constructman

[The UltimoScorp]

 IC Maigo:

 

"So far, so good...." The larger machine had an entirely different balance, and although walking was easy enough, Maigo had her doubts about doing anything too fancy right now.

 

IC Alex:

 

I stopped. At this range, my Railgun would be too cumbersome to use if a fight got any closer. I'd have to fire and drop it for now.

 

I planted the shield into the ground, deciding not to extend it for now, braced, and directed the shoulder mounted gun at the signature. It was a mostly blind shot, but hopefully my opponent wouldn't know it was coming in time. Beyond that, the warehouses probably wouldn't offer much in the way of defense.

 

I hoped.

 

I pulled the trigger, then hit the release on the gun, freeing up some weight as I readjusted, ready to fire my other weapons when and indeed, if, the other Walker came into view.

[Atton Rand]

OOC: Okay, so I'm probably going to need some time to get fully immersed in this world. I'm not sure if there's a good place to start, so I guess for my introductory post I'll just begin at a moment that seems to make logical sense.

 

IC: Another day on the base and the most action she'd seen so far was the occasional fight in the barracks. Not what Private Maya Logan had signed up for. It seemed like everyone else had been given missions, and so far all she had to do was the occasional tinkering on Dirty Harry. There was no doubt that the machine was something that would have made her fellow marines proud. In the short time she'd owned it, she'd managed to give her Warrior enough firepower for it to live up to its name. Once inside, she hardly imagined herself the kind of person who would play by the rules. That was of course, if she ever got a chance to use it in the field.

 

So far, it seemed most of the division was out on a mission, and she was stuck on maintenance duty. Not the greatest position for a trained marine. Once again, she was tasked with inspecting Dirty Harry's systems, and everything seemed to be in order. The walkers three main weapons seemed to be in good condition. The armor was fine. What she really wanted now was a chance to take it into the field and see how well it actually performed.

 

Maya slowly climbed down from her walker, having finished her inspection. This was getting tedious. She'd hoped owning a walker would mean a chance to do something, a problem that had presented itself in the marines. Without much to do, she took a seat at the bottom of the scaffolding next to her walker, pulling out a pack of cigarettes. She quickly placed one into her mouth and reached for her lighter. 

 

OOC: Maya is open for interaction, and she's ready for a mission.

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

For a split second, it seemed as though Luna Marcus wouldn't have to wait long. With a loud whoop over the open comms, the luminous Raptor soared over the block Marcus was currently hunkered down in - though, apart from a smattering of 100mm rounds fired almost as an afterthought at the aerodynamic Warrior, it could almost be believed that she had missed the Gallia's pilot.

 

The Raptor was headed north over many of the buildings, parallel to the coast. Clearly she already had a spot for their duel in mind.

 

-Tyler

Edited September 5, 2016 by Pip Bernadotte

[sunflower]

IC: Marcus

 

Even without the sensors, it wouldn't have been hard to miss the flashy fighter as it flew overhead with just the Mark I Eyeball. More so given the burst of weapons fire that accompanied its passage, to which Luna responded with a sharp motion to the left with the Gallia's control surfaces. The Walker responded in kind, and did exactly what she had directed it to do, even if it wasn't exactly what she had expected it to do. Thrusters fired up, outright shoving the machine to the left with enough force for her to wonder if she'd been body checked by a Gunner. And enough force to send the Walker clear through the bombed-out building that was having a hard enough time standing up as is, amid a flurry of surprise and panicked cursing.

 

Suffice to say, the small barrage of rotary cannon fire peppered the pavement to her right, though through the hole which she had created for herself, it wasn't hard to tell what the attack really was. For an instant, as she got a handle on the Gallia's movement once again, Luna was fully committed to barreling after the invitation up the coast. That is, until a quick glance over to the state of the street which she had moments ago been positioned on snapped her out of it real quick. This machine wasn't her old Gunner, heck, she wasn't exactly sure if it was completely a Warrior. Either way, she wasn't ready to go fight a battle on an opponent's terms, especially in a new Walker against one of the best pilots to come out of Horizon.

 

"Sorry girl," she called over the comm, "Thanks, but no thanks."

 

Keeping an eye on the sky should her rejection of the offer become an invitation in of itself, Luna directed her Walker forward towards the sounds of gunfire, and the location where the computer had identified the open comm signal from the start of the match had originated from.

[NorikSigma]

IC: Hassan

 

Hassan laughed. He had to admit that all the exercise that came from working with mechs 24/7 did make Gwen somewhat "shredded", as she put it.

 

"I'll take it as a yes for the chicken, than?"

 

 

IC: Natalie

 

Natalie's hairs stood on end as she saw the thermal signature of the other Mech stop, before beginning to glow brighter...

 

They're firing! She panicked, wrenching the sticks sideways as the railgun fired.

 

The heavy slug, travelling at supersonic speeds, just missed the Valkyrie, plowing through the cover between both Mecha. While the shot did not hit Natalie, the veritable shotgun of debris struck the Valkyrie, momentarily stunning her.

 

Alarm panels signalled that the debris had dented the shield of the Valkyrie. Natalie cursed. A few more good hits would render it useless.

 

Natalie snarled and slammed the booster controls. Engines roaring, the Valkyrie moved out of cover and charged the Miss Direction, shield raised in anticipation of enemy fire. As the distance closed to half, then a quarter of the original, Natalie shifted the shield away from the front and raised the MA-37. The enemy mecha filled her sights.

 

She fired her shotgun several times as the distance closed, before re-positioning the shield ahead of her in order to slam full on into the Miss Direction.

[Void Emissary]

IC:

 

"You guessed it," she said, shooting a finger gun his way. "You need any help with that?"

 

-Void

[NorikSigma]

IC: Hassan

 

The cook had already begun chopping off pieces of raw chicken in preparation for cooking.

 

"Sure, could you fill up that pot over there with water and heat it over the stove?" He absent mindedly pointed in the direction of the stove, focussed on the act of slicing meat apart with a knife.

[Atton Rand]

OOC: Okay, so perhaps I didn't make the best choice on my first post and I got in right when most of the cast was in the middle of something. I didn't have all the information so it seemed like it was best not to dive in too quickly but now that doesn't leave very many options for interaction.

 

Looks like there are only two other people at the base. I guess that's the logical place to go. Norik and Conway, I hope you don't mind.

 

 

IC: Maya continued to smoke as she wandered out of the hangar bay. Not much to do at the moment other than perhaps visit her old friends at the marines. She had one tough walker but there was still no sign of it actually being used. One of these days, she hoped, someone would finally give her an assignment. There wasn't any obvious sign of that happening now. Everyone else was in the middle of the action and she was still being pushed to the sidelines. It hardly did much good for her current mood.

 

She was passing the mess hall when she noticed two people inside: a man and a woman. The man was in the middle of barbecuing something, looked like chicken. Both were talking among themselves.

Edited September 7, 2016 by Atton Rand

[Krayzikk]

IC:

 

Once truly committed, there was no falling back. To turn the Ronin's back was to open herself up to more damage than she would by pressing on, pursuing victory. The Boom was in sight, it had been weakened, and the Japanese pilot could feel the advantage. 

 

So rather than evade or fall back, she drew the Ronin's shield up higher and brought the Walker closer to the ground. The first HEDP round was accurate, but mostly glanced off of the angled surface the shield provided. The second did much the same, but Ayane's shield was looking worse for wear; they could stand up to a lot, but repeated strikes didn't make it easy. If the Boom had the time to keep up the barrage, she would have been in trouble. Not that his empty magazine would give him the chance.

 

And even if it would, she was too close now.

 

Ronin had pressed forward relentlessly, the unexpected nature of its assault and its swift nature let her close the distance rapidly. By the time the second round connected she was in range. The Warrior fired its thrusters hard, eking just a little more speed to add some force to its next strike, while its sword arm raised up high in preparation to come down. The movement brought the Ronin's shield away from its body just in time to give Khiêm a clear look at its cranial unit...

 

Just in time to see its visor flash green, and the red-hot edge of the katana coming down in a vicious vertical strike towards the top of Boom's cranial unit.

 

"Men. Sayōnara."

[sunflower]

IC: Marcus

 

Luna flinched slightly as the crack of an anti-armor explosive rang out nearby, punctuating the light foots of her machine with what would have been a deafening pressure wave, if it weren't for the fact that there were systems in place to prevent that, and well, that it was a simulation. At least, she didn't think that they would program in anything potentially damaging into the virtual environment.

 

Then again the techs were strange sometimes.

 

The second explosion sounded just as she rounded the corner, coming up on the source of both the explosions. Said source was currently steadily spewing sparks from holes in its armor, and back peddling at a rapid pace down the street. And away from the second Walker which was positioned between her own and the first, an unfamiliar red and white armored machine currently gaining ground and hefting a damaged shield and blade. Training kicked in from there, as the situation was analyzed, parsed, and acted upon before Luna was consciously registering the fact that the second explosion had been a fair bit louder than the first. She activated the Gallia's weapon systems as thrusters flared on the second machine, pushing it that much closer to the damaged retreating Walker. A short barrage of soft thumps resonated through her harness as a trio of missiles shot from their launchers, target clearly designated and unobstructed: the back of the ornate Warrior two blocks down currently bringing it's superheated katana down onto the other Walker's head.

 

It took a moment longer for her to raise her machine's carbine, though a burst of armor piercing rounds followed the missiles, which had trifurcated as they streaked towards their target. All the while keeping her current pace, electing to fire on the move rather than risk becoming an easy target for any airborne hostiles above. More specifically, the Ace which was undoubtedly still flying around somewhere.

 

Even so, she readied another barrage should it needed.

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

"Well, this is just rich. What kind of person turns down a gal's invite out..."

 

Though there wasn't much that could be done about the carbine rounds short of some quality dodging on Ronin's part, the three missiles were quickly cut down by a stream of 100mm fire from behind Gallia before they could split and reach Ayane's back. Munequita pulled up and aimed nose down, just as it had a minute before with the Warrior she had destroyed. Nadia had realized within seconds after her first strike on Luna that the one-time Gunner pilot had no attention of following her to the chosen battleground. Apparently she had taken offense.

 

"..and then starts creeping on her girlfriend?"

 

The 100mm gun trained on Gallia - a much faster target than her previous foe, to be sure, but still unable to protect her cranium from an attacker this highly placed.

 

"Now Aya-chan and I will have to just have to pound you as a tag team!"

 

Several rounds spat along the street leading up to Gallia,, aiming to pierce her cranial unit and shoulders even when it attempted evasive maneuvers.

 

-Tyler

[The UltimoScorp]

IC Alex:

 

fastfastfasttoofast

 

Still in the relative cover of my own planted shield, I fired on the other Walker as she approached, holding my ground for now.

 

The enemy (Scout?) was much faster than Miss Direction, but I was tougher. Their rounds did little damage to the heavy shield, but one round caught me in the right shoulder, where I'd been exposed to return fire, digging into the metal.

 

With the other pilot so close, my targeting computer had little trouble acquiring a lock. I stepped a little further out of my cover, and sent three missiles roaring at the other Walker from my right torso.

[NorikSigma]

IC: Natalie

 

Thrown against her straps, Natalie grunted as the first missiles struck the shield. She ducked, dodging the second. But the Valkyrie wasn't agile enough, and the last missile struck the centre of the Valkyrie.

 

The thick armour absorbed most of the blow, the front layer peeling off.

 

Natalie continued onward, smashing full-force into the Miss Direction with the damaged shield. As they made contact, Natalie pushed the shotgun past both their shields and fired point blank, again and again.

Edited September 10, 2016 by Norik Apple Juice

[Atton Rand]

IC: Hassan

 

The cook had already begun chopping off pieces of raw chicken in preparation for cooking.

 

"Sure, could you fill up that pot over there with water and heat it over the stove?" He absent mindedly pointed in the direction of the stove, focussed on the act of slicing meat apart with a knife

 

 

IC: Maya stood at the kitchen door, watching the two people inside. At least she wasn't the only one with nothing to do at the moment. It looked like they were making chicken of some kind, and whatever they were doing it was probably better than the rations normally given. It was probably against regulation, not that she cared much. If anything, that would have made her more inclined to get involved.

 

She slowly stepped into the mess hall, glancing at the chef. "What's going on in here?' She asked.

[NorikSigma]

IC: Hassan

 

"Oh, hi there, didn't see you."

 

Hassan tossed the chicken slices into the boiling water, before starting to squeeze the limes into another cup.

 

"We're making kebab. You can have some once we're done!"

[The UltimoScorp]

IC Alex:

 

Way, way, way too close! Not a Scout! Two rounds went off point blank, nearly blowing open my shoulder, but I reacted in time to deflect the third, grabbing the barrel and directing it away from me, before raising my own weapon and pulling the trigger for a good long burst of heavy machine gun fire. I also fired the head vulcans for good measure, more for their blinding fire than any damage they'd do. 

 

"Right arm: Armor critical."

 

I was regretting dropping my railgun.....

[NorikSigma]

IC: Natalie

 

"Merde!"

 

The Valkyrie shook as heavy rounds pounded into her front armour. Natalie pushed away from the enemy mech and activated the boosters for a second, causing her to move back several metres, dodging the rest of the gunfire.

 

"I've been waiting for this..." Natalie switched her shotgun for the K8(s) vibro-longsword, shield still upright. As the Miss Direction started to struggle upright, the sensors of her mecha picked up the damage in the right arm and shoulder of Miss Direction.

 

Grinning, Natalie activated her weapon. She charged forward and closed the gap, glowing sword swinging down on the enemy mech's arm.

[Atton Rand]

 

IC: "Yeah, sure," Maya replied as she entered. "It's got to be better than the usual rations."

[The UltimoScorp]

IC Alex:

 

I snapped an arm out, triggering the shield's extending mechanism, and the metal plate expanded out ward, intercepting the weapon and knocking it aside, and maybe even (I could hope, right?) out of the Warrior's hands.

 

I backed up, letting my now much larger cover give me some breathing room.

[NorikSigma]

IC: Natalie

 

The electrified blade should have shut off some of the Miss Direction's arm systems. Perhaps she didn't hit hard enough?

 

Natalie held tight as the blow bounced off the shield. The enemy's shield now practically covered the front arc of the enemy Mech.

 

Natalie reacted before she'd even realised what she did: she activated the thrusters, and the Valkyrie launched upward and toward the Gunner Mech. Counting on the huge civer blocking her enemy's line of sight, she cleared the top lip of the shield, and thrust the shield downwards, connecting with the top of the Miss Direction's expanded cover. Pushing herself off and letting go, the Valkyrie vaulted over and above the enemy Mech.

 

Up in the air, Natalie wrenched the controls, bringing her Mecha around to face the enemy from above and behind. The telltale glow indicated that the electrical discharge was active.

 

Then, descending from on high like a vengeful Valkyrie, shimmering sword held aloft, teal wings roaring fire against the picturesque simulated blue sky, Natalie charged again, both hands wielding the sword, cleaving downwards as she reached the exposed head and rear of the enemy.

 

IC: Hassan

 

"That's a certainty when I'm around!" Hassan smiled.

 

"Especially since the rations are usually ######," he muttered under his breath, grabbing a handful of peanuts and tossing them into the bowl of soy sauce and lime juice.

 

"Gwen could you pass me the grinding stone over there?"

Edited September 12, 2016 by Norik Apple Juice

[Atton Rand]

IC: "Is that even regulation?" Maya asked, not that she cared much. It wasn't like she was going to report a few soldiers trying to make things slightly more bearable. She leaned against one of the tables, taking a moment to exhale a small stream of smoke.

 

"At least I'm not the only one stuck here," the soldier muttered. "When they transferred me out of the marines I was hoping to get some real action. I've spent the last few weeks maintaining a new walker without ever once getting to use it in the field."

[NorikSigma]

IC: Hassan

 

"Regulation Schmegulation. Ingredients don't come in ration packs.
 

"No action, though? Huh. Missed the base attack a week ago?"

[Atton Rand]

IC: "That is true. They don't."

 

"I wasn't deployed during the attack. They said I was a reserve in case reinforcements were needed. Probably didn't think I was ready."

Edited September 12, 2016 by Atton Rand

[Constructelf]

IC: Lé Thanh Khiêm

Opponent advancing coming in quick quick quickquick######### -- GRENADES NOW NOW!!!!!!!!

 

The Boom's damaged left arm meant that switching to mêlée would be impossible in this short amount of time. All that Khiêm could do was unload the shoulder grenade cannons as fast as he could. In desperation, 40mm grenades began flying out from The Boom but before Khiêm could appraise what damage he had done (if any) to Ronin or notice the approaching Gallia, the camera feed cut off as Khiêm's simulation ended.

 

"... It's over."

Edited September 12, 2016 by Constructman

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

OOC: Given the location of the base, I would actually be shocked if they were eating, like, MREs all day. Tropical fruit and fish seem like things I'd expect on the menu, because they're not exactly in a remote, inhospitable region.

 

IC:

 

It was a shame that snacks were not permitted in sim pods, because the borrowed view was really too entertaining to not be accompanied by a fizzy drink and various crunchy snacks.

 

"So," Fairuza said, trying to keep it quiet and casual and totally absent of any indication that she was excited about meeting interesting new people who cut Walkers apart with swords, "that's your girlfriend? The other glorious warrior I am buying drinks for is the one who just cut down a Walker with a sword to the face?"

[NorikSigma]

OOC: Yeah, that's why some simple rummaging turned up fresh ingredients in the pantry.

 

IC: Hassan

 

"Don't feel bad, I didn't get out onto the field in my Mech in time. Maintenance problems. Thankfully, Gwen here fixed her up.

 

"Speaking of which, where'd she go?" Hassan asked, looking up from the bowl to find the over-excitable mechanic.

[Atton Rand]

 

IC: "My mech's fine," Maya replied. "I think it's lookin pretty good. I've added some extra armour and greater firepower. Nobody's going to want to mess with me. The only problem is the officers don't think I'm ready for a field mission yet."

[25K Now!]

IC: October M. Brightbridge       
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"Is your confidence growing?"

 

Lilting tones questioning a child.

[NorikSigma]

IC: Hassan

 

"And why would that be?"

[Atton Rand]

IC: "Because I'm a fresh recruit with no field experience."

[NorikSigma]

IC: Hassan

 

"Well they'll think you're ready only when you do get experience, which you can't get if they don't trust you to go out...

 

"To be honest though, I think all of us will be dragged out onto the field sooner rather than later, given the current... Situation."

[Atton Rand]

IC: "What situation?"

[NorikSigma]

IC: Hassan

 

"You know, the ongoing war between a world government and her rebellious colonies that started a week ago with the swift and violent seizure of every orbital mass driver on the planet except, well, here? Sooner or later the Ark Union will be putting a lot of pressure on us."

 

Hassan stopped mixing the sauce and set it aside.

 

"Time to check the chicken..."

[Atton Rand]

IC: "Oh, THAT situation," Maya smiled, somewhat embarrassed at even having to ask the question. "I'm sorry, Nobody tells me much. I've spent the last week either sharing the barracks with a bunch of recruits or workin on my mech. I haven't exactly been briefed on what's going on. The other recruits know as much as I do, sometimes even less. And while I'm still seen as not ready nobody's felt the need to keep me posted on anything."

Edited September 14, 2016 by Atton Rand

[25K Now!]

IC: Christoph Lockheed

 

"What are your thoughts on the new member?"

 

It was rare for Christoph to casually speak up, but the leader of the Test Team had done so, glancing over to where his comrade Benjamin was tinkering. A plastic cup of water was in his hands, having been nabbed from the nearest water cooler down the hallway,