(8/2/02)
So. This is it.
Finally, after months of planning and preparation, it is time. Not everyone who started with the Shevvite cause is still with them, not all maintained their feelings and opinions through the entire effort. Some things went to plan- Most importantly, some did not.
And in that light, even the perpetually calm Yui suffers a few butterflies in the stomach. Although she is good enough to hide them away, to look every inch a perfectly collected and calm leader. Even if she is nervous in every concieveable way that something, /anything/ will go horribly wrong.
So. Let us hope she is not leading her Shevvites to their demise. The element of surprise may benearly all they have against the Solarian forces, if that alone. But the Freya leads ahead, an elegant battle-ready Shevvite gear, keeping propulsion down to a carefully marked level, as not to give any unnecesary warning to those in the fort. And despite fear, despite worry, despite nervousness... The voice that rings out over the Shevvite frequency radio is amazingly calm and even.
"Are you all ready?"
The equally beautiful, yet likely less heavily armed Clarion drifts softly through the air, following behind Freya. Inside, its pilot sighs softly, cracking his knuckles a bit as he grips the controls of his gear. He'd chosen older, more traditional analog controls over the new technologies availible to him, since it was easier to focus on ether when all he needed to do to move the gear was work the switches. However, it was a greater physical strain, one the frail, emaciated ether master wasn't looking forward to. He flipped his radio on, responding back to Freya. "This is Tognotti, prepped and ready to go."
Bullseye (Gear) zooms through the air, appearing next to Clarion. "Miss Yui, Private Granle is here! All systems are go!" The Gear hovers mid-air as it surveys the Fort Jasper. "As I understand, the target is heavily guarded?" Granle licks his lips in anticipation. "I suppose we should wait until reinforcements come, or will we find an alternate way into the fort...?"
"Wonderful." Is the so calm and even responce. Of course Yui's not nervous- Of course not! A million things could easily go wrong, and she has walked her mind through more than a fair share of them before. And so anything but calm can be smothered away, left to be dealt with later, as she offers a brief but unseen smile to Granle, "Did you think we were going to take on the entire fort with just the three of us? Do not worry. It is perhaps not best to have scattered forces, but we will all gather upon the fort." Ah, the nameless troops. The sort that you couldn't put into one great stampede towards the fort, lest it be a blatant flag of what is coming. And Yui means to take every advantage she can out of the element surprise that she can.
If they even still have that. With a silent deep breath, the Freya continues towards the Fort, keeping the speed and the power down. It's best to reserve it, after all. That, and she wants to avoid every risk she can.
And so, a calm, "Prepare to approach, then." And... Let us hope.
With a soft hum and the flick of a wrist, Tognotti increases the speed slightly to keep up with Freya. He had still been getting used to the gear. Sword, shield, pistol, ether ducts - it was much more elaborate than, say, the tin robos he'd been operating undercover in Gebler. In any case, it's a good machine, he thought to himself. "Roger that." The Clarion continues to drift into position.
Bullseye (Gear) flares its engines and speeds up to match the speed of Freya and Clarion. The sniper rifle on the back of Bullseye flips onto the shoulder and a scope with crosshairs secures itself to Granle's eye. "High-powered sniper rifle in position." Hopefully, he'll be safe out here -- the rifle's the only real firepower he has on his Gear. "I'm going to remain in position for a few more minutes then pull back in case some Solarian Gears come out."
"Lovely." Hrm, not the most formal of responces, but it works just as well. Yui trusts her soldiers to do what is most rational and reasonable- At least to a reasonable point, those like Kaori figured in. Details. Anyway. With a small pause for last minute checks- The Fort doesn't seem to have responded yet, no one is approaching them, all is clear. The other troops are in position and ready to move in... And any more hesitation will ruin the bonuses that they have.
So. Let us begin this.
"Begin first apporach." Is all that Yui says, short and simple. And with that, the low profile approach is dropped. Her gear drops into full power forward, blaring with the sudden sound of heated metal thrown into speed. As well should the troops approaching from the various sides of the fort. Oh, she has planned this as well as she could possibly do so. Let us simply hope.. That it turns out to be good for something. There is, after all, no turning back now. Only full-speed forward.
Clarion (Gear) bursts forward almost immediatly, following Freya's lead. As it streaks towards Fort Jasper, one hand reaches to it's right hip and draws out the gear's energy pistol, while the other snakes around behind to unhinge and swing forward the ornate, crested shield. The pistol raises simply, ready to fire at any targets.
"You heard her! Forward!" Engines flare as hundreds of Gears advance upon the Fort. "Prepare yourselves for close- and long-range combat!"
Bullseye (Gear) advances more slowly than the other Gears, until it nearly at the end of the Gear forces. "Targeting the Fort!" Granle shouts over the intercom. "Large Ether and regular guns targeted upon Fort Jasper! We await your signal to fire, Miss Yui!" The crosshairs of his sniper gun rest upon the docking doors of the Fort. If any Gears poke their noses out, they're fried.
Well, then. Let us get this thing moving. "All troops, prepare. The moment that they exit, focus on their ports of exit. We'll make our own entrances out of theirs." Simple enough. The Freya is certainly not a long distance fighting Gear. And yet she is keeping her speed up as she approaches the fort, "Until then, I want half of the long distance focus to be on anything that looks like it can shoot at us." A pause for this to register, as she stops her appraoch a bit away, ready to go, "On my mark... Now."
The BladeGash Gear has arrived.
Collin has arrived.
Clarion (Gear) wastes no time, speeding forwards yet more and letting a barrage of shots from the energy pistol fly, a couple shots aimed at the standard gears, but more aimed intently at the powerful looking BladeGash gear which had just emerged. They had counted on the element of suprise. Hopefully, Tognotti thought, they had it. His foot pushed down on the pedal, forcing the gear to slow a little, as he fired more shots at the emerging gears.
Bullseye (Gear) flares its engines as it surges forward. "Solarian troops have arrived! Commence firing salvo!" The sniper rifle, already in position, begins to aim precariously at a number of Gears. It fastens itself to a Solarian Gear, and the rifle fires, blasting Bullseye dozens of feet back from where it was originally.
The element of surprise? At least over Dominia, they certainly had that. And this makes a Very. Unhappy. Element. It's one thing to exit out of the Jasper to be met by a hoard of Shevvite Gears. Much less exiting headfirst into a literal deluge of shots. The dark rose-hued Gear known as Bladegash soars out of Jasper, sword tightly at hand, backing up a little in surprise... But backing down not an inch more. Merely, the pilot grits her teeth in supreme irritation, snapping a sharp, "What the hell is going on out here?! Where did all of these things come from?" Over the radio system. Oh, but let's not trust her judgement here. It's hardly a moment's pause before she launches her gear at breakneck speed towards the nearest Gear in her path, sword at hand. No one's bothering this fort while -this- Element is on duty.
It's been at least a year since he's handled a Gear, especially in combat-- being a spy tends to force you to be on foot a lot. Yet leaping into one of the Gears avalable, strapping in... A leap to the top of the Fort, sprinting off and activating the flight systems... yes, it's time to see if the generic machine can pack enough of a punch. Careening down in a wide arc to the side, splitting almost to the opposite of Dominia, the autocannon clutched taut in the machine's grip whirs as it prepares... "What the hell do they think they're doing..." he mutters more to himself than anything. Heads up, incoming Gears-- the Generic Solarian Gear is on it's way. And attempting to give the Bladegash coverfire from above, the autocannon begins to spray gunfire down at the nearest cluster of incoming avalable.
A legion of Gears is not the only surprise that the Shevvites have planned today. Not by any stretch. The Freya hangs back a bit, certainly not one of the front line assault, instead chosing to hang back for a moment and give orders when needed until an opening appears. And she looks almost serene, the Gear hovering while the first blows are dealt.
And that's when things become even stranger.
Jasper is equipped with quite pretty defence systems- Automatic and manual both, designed to defend it in a time like this. And in a shudder of a moment, they go out. All at once. Backup firing support, reports from the command center at Jasper at all. Ah, how lovely help from the inside is. And an effective edge, as well. Yui must practically smother a sigh of relief as Ryoji finally gets to work within. And yet she hardly gives herself a moment's more pause before the Freya launches towards an entrance port, along with a few other Gears, quite ready to fend off anything in it's way. Shall we see if we can get inside, then?
Bullseye (Gear) shouts over the intercom. "Heavy artillery units! Stop firing at the Fort! All defenses are down!" The crosshairs slide over his eye again as he spits out orders. "Attack the Gear units! Ignore the minor Solarian Gears; instead, attack the str--" Collin's earlier spat of machine gun fire brushes by him. Damn! One leg's damage. He'll have to stay in the air as combat support. "Scatter! Scatter and attack that Gear who shot me!" he practically screams.
Stupid! Annoying! Irriating! Little! Twits! No one causes large-scale havoc when the Element of Earth is around to stop it. But as she drags her sword into some poor Shevvite Gear's middle in a shower of sparks, she grits her teeth and backs up a bit, trying to locate the leader in the middle of all this mess. Gears and gears and gears.. Sheesh. With a thin hiss between her teeth, she locates the Gear and it's small group heading towards one of the now gaping-open entrance hatches of the Fort--Why did the Fort have to give out on them -now- of all times?!--Speeding off towards Freya with all the hope to put a sword through it's back before it gets in the Fort, the weapon beginning to catch a soft ether glow as she goes on.
The gunfire comes in sporadic bursts, flecking away at a few Gears that dare stray too far or too close. You want some?! Eh?! "Flank left and cover the line!!" Collin shouts over his radio to a few more Solarian Gears, the units moving as appropriately to help provide adequate gunfire to where it's most nessicary. His head cocks as the Gear he just shot, it ascends-- and his head shakes a bit as a few of the Gears with it begin to fire toward him. "Aw, SHIT-!" he curses, jerking hard on his reverse-thrust. Backing up a suitable distance, he begins to alter the course of his flight, to 'strafe' to his right and continue to fire upon Bullseye. "Stay DOWN!" he shouts in utter aggrivation, the machine shuddering with each spray of gunfire.
Wyvern (Gear) has arrived.
Oh dear. Did the Element of Earth want some? It's all for the best that Yui had several Shevvite Gears tagging along with her- One sees the Bladegash coming and moves up to take the brunt of Dominia's blow. Poor fellow. But Yui is warned just in time, only pushing the Freya faster, farther. It's more important to get in the Fort than to deal with Dominia- That's only reasonable, after all- And so the ambassador of Shevat and the current commander of these troops snaps a sharp order out, "Hold off that reckless one in the pink Gear, wont you? All others that can, follow me into the fort."
It's so nice to have lackies when they can take the blows for you and deal it out with equal joy. And better yet, Yui's little squad well outnumbers Dominia.