NorikSigma

IC: Geuua - Gym.

 

My lost hand was aching. Never a good sign... 

 

A lot of beings discounted Rahkshi suits as simple machines, disposable and replaceable, but that wasn't the case. Each suit of rahkshi armour was born from a living, breathing kraata, drowned and mutated in a cocktail of Makuta viruses and energised protodermis. The sentience of one kraata was snuffed out, to provide a home for another.

 

Our suits had bones, musculature, a circulatory system, and functioning nerves. We felt pain, endured exhaustion, and suffered through the world's trials and tribulations with all five senses. So it stood to reason that we would experience phantom limb pain as well. 

 

My hand had been smashed completely apart by a mace blow, and what little had been left had been sawed off when my Earth Claw had been installed, but sometimes, like now, it still felt like my hand was there, broken and dangling, throbbing with a persistent, painful ache. It was a foreboding feeling, and had more than once preceded a moment of danger or disaster. 

 

As I made my way up onto the platform, ready to face my next opponent, I found myself wondering if my lost hand was trying, once again, to warn me. Here we go again...

IC: Glass

Well, time for the next round.

I'm hungry

Not this again.

Glass sized up his opponent. Huge, a transplanted mechanical hand, a warhammer...

I'm not so hungry now.

Come on, don't be such a-

"Greetings! Great to meet a new face!"

I hope you don't break this one, then. It's got a good-looking faceplate.

Now, I've never broken a face. Yet.

IC: Natalie

"Here's to hoping hers does."

IC: Natalie

"Lance Corporal Natalie Adelaide Martel. Pleased to meet, and have fought against, you."

Natalie lowered her voice.

"Between you and me, maybe she should smoke in her walker. She might learn some humility when the smoke detector auto ejects her."

IC: Natalie

"Well, you're certainly leading the charge against air quality," Natalie muttered to herself in her native tongue.

"Isn't there a, what's it called, designated smoking point in the base?" She asked Alex. "So the open flames don't blow up all the fumes in here?" Natalie gestured at the Mech repair bay nearby.

IC: Hassan

"Hey, where'd she go?" Hassan looked up from the dishes. "That Private Logan or something."

IC: Natalie

"Not very long, actually. The explosion took out the Valkyrie. Good thinking on baiting me in. Didn't think you'd use your weapons at close range, but the point-blank missiles were very painful. And that last part, throwing your missiles at me... Good thing we're on the same side out here."

IC: Natalie

Clambering out of the pod, the pilot made her way away from the crowd of onlookers gaping at the display screens. The rush of emotions that had so overwhelmed her was over, and the cold void that was left was strangely comforting.

She took a position away from the crowd, spotting a thin young man exiing one of the pods. His pod number corresponded with that of the screen that displayed the downed Miss Direction.

So this is the pilot...

She walked over, waiting for him to fully extract himself from the pod.

"Good match," she said simply, giving a small smile and offering her hand for a shake.

IC: Glass

"Man, I don't recognise these guys... So much for being 'special' Rahks."

Glass looked around, and only spotted one only other familiar face, Exxan.

OOC: Open for interaction

Rebellion Against the Toa Empire

IC: Hassan

"Breakfast Pizza sounds amazing, to be sure."

Hassan crossed over to the sink to start washing up the plates.

"How do you find life here so far? Other than the recent attack, of course."

 

IC: Hassan

 

"So, Gwen, how did you get around to working on Mechs? You seem to have quite the knack for it," Hassan said, changing the subject.

 

IC:

 

"Spent most of my life 'round machines. Pops used to say I used a motherboard for a pacifier when I was a kid," she said, shrugging. "I was a kid, thought the Walkers were the coolest thing since I'd discovered such a thing as a food court, and I didn't have much of another idea what I was gonna do with my life. Signed up as an engineer here and the rest's history."

 

-Void

 

IC: Hassan

"Food courts are pretty cool. Great place to sample the wide palate of human cuisine!"

Hassan finished his kebab and threw the skewering stick into the bin.

IC: Hassan

"I hope we find that soon, then."

They are in silence.

"So, Gwen, how did you get around to working on Mechs? You seem to have quite the knack for it," Hassan said, changing the subject.

IC: Natalie

The screen went white, the sound of screaming metal blasting into Natalie's ears...

All went black. The only sounds in the pod were Natalie's ragged breathing and the computer beeping softly.

Simulation End. Analysis: Core Meltdown. Score: Analyzing...[]

Natalie sat back, calming her nerves. She had gone over the edge again, the primal roar of battle swamping her thoughts again.

She removed her gloves and waited for her breathing to slow.

IC: Natalie

The missiles, flung in her general direction, were easily dodged, and the electirc current in the blade wasn't so unrestrained at to cook them off. Nonetheless, one of them hit the Valkyrie's head and almost blew it off. As Natalie's screen quickly started losing resolution and colour, another warning popped up:

REACTOR STATUS: FAILING.

"That's it then," Natalie resigned herself to the fact that she wasnt going to win the competition after all. But she had gotten back in the cockpit and do some conbat practice, which was al she had aimed for.

Warning alarms of the core going critical sounded.

"So that's how those warnings sound like..."

Stumbling forward, the Walker continued on, tip of the sword barely a few metres from the enemy...

OOC: Yeah, the valk is gonna blow, though the miss direction doesn't look in any batter shape

IC: Natalie

Grey orbs staring out from under caramel hair, Natalie grinned, a feral smile that distorted her delicate features. Valkyrie dropped her arm and pulled out her sword. The shotgun might have been safer, but it was clear the other mech would not stop until it was shut down completely.

The ruined sensors of the enemy made the first two missiles careen past, easily, dodged, but the last flew dead center.

Natalie twisted and the proximity charge detonated, damaging the "wing" thrusters of the Valkyrie.

Armour Integrity: 21.1%

"Montjoie!" Servos whirring and engines audibly chugging, the Valkyrie charged, sword held forward, aimed dead centre at where the Miss Direction's cockpit would be.

IC: Natalie

"Didn't penetrate cockpit? Wha-"

Natalie was cut off by the Miss Direction landing a solid blow into the Valkyrie's head.

The screens started to turn to static.

"Why you little-"

French expletives punctuated Natalie tearing off her now useless right arm and swinging it into the legs of the enemy Mech, hoping to topple it.

IC: Natalie

WARNING: Torso Armour Integrity: 32.3%

"That's it, then!"

Teeth rattling as the Vulcans chewed into her armour, Natalie felt the Miss Direction's rifle crumple under the fingers of the Valkyrie through the feedback sensors.

Natalie unstowed her shotgun from the back of her Mech and delivered point blank blasts of hot tungsten alloy into the enemy's head, before proceeding to point it up the exposed side torso portion of the Miss Direction and squeezing the trigger.

IC: Hassan

Hassan beamed. Another satisfied customer.

"You're welcome! Have another if you want. It's not every day I get to give away free kebabs.

"So what about you, Gwen? What do you think 'bout the war?"

OOC: Oops, sorry, got a bit carried away xP

IC: Natalie

The rifle aimed up, and Natalie didn't have time to think as it blasted away, riping into the chest armor.

Thrown aginst her straps, Natalie knew that the point-blank shots would destroy the chest soon. Shaking the dizziness away, she hurriedly yanked the controls to the left, stashing the sword at her hip and pushed the remaining Miss Direction arm inward, attempting to wrest the gun away by grabbing the barrel, twisting it inwards. At the same time she activated the boosters and shoulder slammed the enemy mech.

Underground Lab of the Great Beings

IC: Natalie

The Valkyrie had proven her worth in battle dozens of times, shrugging off pounding attacks for extended periods of time in heated battle.

But six missiles at point-blank were something else.

Natalie could only pray the Mech had not blown up as she followed through with the now useless swing, exposing her right profile to the missiles as opposed to the frontage of the Valkyrie. Sim competition or no, the wrench of terror that twisted her gut was real enough as she envisioned the missiles penetrating the armour, detonating inside and causing the core of the Mech to go critical...

"Yaaaargh!" Adrenaline pumped into her veins as three of the six missiles struck the Valkyrie. She could faintly hear the armour integrity alarms blare in her ears, but her mind was now filled with too many bad memories, flooding into her mind to take notice of the annoying alarm.

No, not now, don't let the memories take hold-

Too late.

With a cry of rage and anguish, Natalie boosted again, slamming the ruined shoulder and arm into the Miss Direction at full speed.

And kept going.

The engines sounded alarms and her cockpit monitors started to crack, but her vision was too blurred, too tinged in red, to elicit a response.

Slamming the Miss Direction into a nearby warehouse, Natalie slashed down, again and again, vibroblade on full charge, the kaleidoscope of colour formed by the energised blade blinding her, shorting out any component if it touched them.

And on and on the blows fell.

IC: Hassan

"Huh? Oh, sorry. Memories."

The chicken was taken out and deposited on a plate. Peanut sauce drizzled onto it. Skewers produced and pushed into the meat, separated by the vegetables he'd need cooking to the side.

"Kamal. I wanted to wrap it in that Italian pita bread, but no such luck."

Hassan took one of the kebabs and ate it.

IC: Hassan

"I'd say that the Marines do important work for the Federation, but I guess it's been a while since they've been needed.

"Until now. In fact, if you're looking for action, I'm sure we'll see some soon, foot slogger or mech jockey."

The chicken started to char as the Levantine stared out the window.

"And I'm not too excited about the prospect."

IC: Natalie

Pulling the blade out to a shower of sparks, Natalie punched the thrusters and surged forward to grab the Miss Direction's remaining usable arm with one hand, using the other hand to swing the sword down on it. With the added speed and the other pilot unable to backpedal beyond a certain speed, she swas sure to catch him.

IC: Hassan

"Oh? And how did you find the transition?" Sizzling in one corner, the last pieces of chicken were closing to perfection...

OOC: The Ark Union, a political and economic alliance of space colonies and settlements on Mars, launched a surprise attack on Earth Federation bases after decades of increasingly worsening tensions(due to the Ark Union employing outlawed technology as a matter of necessity), most importantly seizing or causing the destruction of all of Earth's mass drivers except for the one in Horizon thanks to the players. It's been a week since then.

IC: Hassan

"Huh, I'd have thought the modern soldier gave more thought to why they fight."

IC: Hassan

"So what's your thoughts on the war?"

IC: "And I'm just a soldier. I go where they tell me to go. I shoot when they tell me to shoot."

 

Maya paused.

 

"I suppose I should introduce myself. "Private Logan."

IC: Hassan

"Ah, excuse my manners."

Hassan stopped with the meat and washed his hands.

"Hassan bin Ahmad, Lance Corporal of the Walker Corps," he said, offering his hand.