A Dance of Light and Dark IC

However, as he and his forces moved back now, not moving forward too heavily as was thought, the Bahamut rained down another volley of fire on the heavily armed Noirean line - a large number of the self propelled artillery lines rupturing and exploding as more red blasts descended from the Bahamut. Likewise, the cannons were stricken by more burning red blasts from the Bahamut, the large weapons rupturing and exploding.

As the Heios Leamonde and its allies retreated, using their heavy armor to their advantage, the infantry line behind them either scattered or was simply reduced to a bloody paste.

As his forces rejoined the Blanchean line, however, Serrick overheard a gasp and people falling about as the Bombers caused damage to the Bahamut. He was about to order them to withdraw when his lead lieutenant reported, "Don't worry, Lord Serrick...I will be alright. We're going to be deploying anti-Bomber aircraft from the Bahamut..."

As she said this, numerous smaller Hyperion craft started to exit the Bahamut, beginning to ascend up to face the Bomber squads and shooting at them with many beam fire blasts of similar nature (though smaller scale) to the Bahamut's attacks.

As the Heios Leamonde pulled back, a javelin landed just near the leg, producing a long scrape along the armor. He remembered some intel about a javelin throwing Goliath, and decided to make use of what he had, picking up the javelin in one of the Leamonde's claws.

edited 17th Oct '14 1:58:12 PM by NickTheSwing

Foulke's world erupted into stars for a moment as a starburst of pain exploded in his side. He grunted but didn't let it slow him down. Pain was the infantryman's constant companion. Foulke staggered out of the way of an overhead slash and brought his own sword up to parry the crazy cyber-ninja's follow-ups.

Can't stay in her range. Gotta get inside it.

His opponent undoubtedly had agility over him but as a matter of simple biology, he had weight and momentum. As another downward strike came down, he pushed forward inside her guard and threw a vicious kick of his own at her kneecap, following it up with a strike to the face from the pommel of his rather heavy sword.

"Damn! What now?" Bryant asked through the radio. "Just a soldier, sir, and unlike that dumbass I'm not charging into the frontlines to get shelled half to hell." He readied a second spear, from the other side of his mech to maintain symmetry.

"Way I see it..." The Shrike knelt down, reverse-jointed legs allowing it to drop his profile. "I don't think I feel comfortable plowing into that city until it's been softened up. Good job on getting them past the wall, though, once I won't get sideswiped by a missile that's gonna be fun to go through."

Unfortunately for the air support of Noire, the AA emplacements of Blanche were on the lookout for them since their approach. While they had to stop their fire once the bombers moved over the Bahamut, they resumed their duty as soon as they got line of sight. Additionally to that, the Princess' orders had been very specific for their aircraft... their mission was one of countering the Noire air and that's precisely what they set out to do. As soon as Noire aircraft entered their secure zone, all of Blanche's air units moved in to intercept and attack them, coordinating with the AA emplacements to erase the Noire bombers from the battlefield.

The Princess for her part rushed into battle, Solaris in hand. She didn't move outside of the breached wall, containing the battle into the area within her city, letting them step in before she and the Dragonslayers moved in to make the entrance a killzone. The heavy Dragonslayers acted as her shield, looking out for threats and protecting the Princess so she could make use of the power of Solaris to carve her path through the battlefield. She moved with the unearthly grace, speed and power that came from bearing one of the legendary blades... and her powered armor only made her more of a supernatural warrior.

This Blanchean soldier was not an unskilled grunt, not that Zia really expected them to be lax with recruitment considering all she had heard about their endless regulations. Despite her blow to his ribs clearly staggering him, the man managed to deflect her strikes with a sword of his own - he was slower but not to be underestimated. A thought briefly occurred to her that this bladed fight must have looked ridiculous given the greater battle around them but was quickly silenced as he slipped under her guard with his superior momentum.

Zia just barely turned her leg so his vicious kick contacted closer the back of her knee - collapsing the leg rather than breaking it. However the pommel of his sword was driven up into her jaw, prompting a cry of pain as she feel to one knee and clutched what felt like a fractured jaw. The corporal rolled to the side to prevent an immediate follow up strike and caught a glimpse of the bloodbath that was ensuing at the breach: The Blanche had recovered from the initial shock of their attack, fearsome machines and armored figures leaving few of her fellow Noire alive. To make things worse, they kept careful watch on the breach making retreat difficult. What remained of her squad were doing their best to hold their ground and Marshall had rejoined them for now.

Zia swore under her breath and suddenly brought her leg around under that of the Blanche soldier so as to sweep him to the ground as well.

All systems clear. Paladin Fayth cleared for launch.

"Roger that. Canos deploying to battle. Ordine vitae est!" The Fayth launched forward, already late to the battle due to maintenance taking longer than was planned.

The late comer rushed to Heios Leamonde's vicinity to provide support.

Sorry I was late Serrick. Irana said over the com.

Twas my own fault, good pilot, for misjudging the enemy's assault capabilities - my thanks for the assistance. For now, we must make sure their advance is broken. A warning, however, there is a Goliath out here that throws very sharp spears.

Such was his answer to her.

As other Blanchean forces advanced and attacked other Noirean forces, this left Serrick and his new ally to fight against the Shrike.

He smirked inside his cockpit, as much as it hurt, things were being adapted to - the plan was almost entirely able to be done now. With his forces positioned here, the Noireans were going to find their lines forced to focus on getting through the Paladin pilots.

For now, though, he returned the favour to the Shrike by way of his machine's harkens, the two katar styled blades flying forward, connected to wires, and rushing at the Shrike. Such was a diversion, though, for the main cannon, the eye-like points on the Heios Leamonde lighting up.

"There..." Wil hissed over the com and set a waypoint. "Was that-?... Yes. Solaris. My counterpart... All units be advised, high value target in the vicinity. Snipers, look for the one with the shiny energy blade. Goliaths, you too. If you have a shot, take it!" he hissed.

"Roger that..." Bryant craned his neck around to get a better look at the second Paladin that had made its way to them. He also shuffled around a little bit, trying to get a clear view of the princess... and took a pair of wired katars straight through his hull. As they passed through the cockpit he veered down, the weapons grazing his armor. He wheeled back in a panic and yelped a little. Radio was... half-functional. Lights in the cockpit were dead, climate control... that hit hurt him in all the little ways that made piloting The Shrike bearable. He rapidly staggered back some more, yanking the blades back out the way they came.

"Okay, it might be worth a shot." He replied over radio. "I'm not moving to melee until those Anti-Armor folks are eliminated, though."

With that... The Shrike turned around and began wheeling in the completely opposite direction, still staying low to the ground. Once it was about a hundred yards away, Bryant turned around and stood it up to its full height. He readied another spear to throw, and fired up the enormous rocket mounted to his back. Gathering speed as he traveled back down those hundred yards, Bryant hucked the spear at the princess once he was back to where he started, skidding to a stop in a massive cloud of smoke and crouching down once again.

edited 21st Oct '14 10:39:45 AM by Taco

After helping the crew of a trapped tank escape with delicate and clever usage of the hammer on his back, Francis once again assesses the situation on the Blanche lines and finds it rather... Unsavory. The airship was still there and despite having confirmed its presence from spy planes and scouting attempts several days ago, the brassholes neglected to heed the information and suggestions to bring Mobile SA Ms and AA guns during the initial deployment and mustering phase; putting all of their faith in those fucking Goliaths and their own proximity to the airbases in friendly soil for Air superiority. What superiority? Only one Goliath against an entire squadron and a single wing of strike bombers? What was his country doing?! Were they hoping that by not giving the prince as much materiel and manpower, he can prove his competence by leading an improperly balanced force to victory?! Putting aside the rather treasonous thoughts for a moment to focus on what to do next... That is until the Airship takes out some of the boys from Hornet squadron.

"Where in the name of the Regi's ark are our fighters?"

As the Princess continued to carve her path through the battlefield, something not altogether unexpected happened as her shields and armor groaned as a sniper scored a direct hit upon it. The blow threw Ekaterina back from the sheer force that was diffused all along her body instead of allowing it to pierce through her.

Ekaterina groaned, the screens before her helmet assessing the damage as she saw members of the Dragonslayers moving around her in defense. Still, despite the situation she managed to smile. If they wanted to take her as a priority, then she would take that to her advantage.

"Snipers, look for however peeks their head through the wall to take a shot at me... counter snipe them. Soldiers, I'll be more careful... as they trip over themselves to hit me, take advantage of it to punish their overreach" says Ekaterina as she stands up... only for danger to be processed in her computers.

"Princess Ekaterina, be careful!" Cries one of the Dragonslayers, as they roughly shove her away from the danger taking the blow of the Shrike's javelin for himself on her highly armored machine to save her. Though the machine lost its combat readiness, the Princess managed to hear from the pilot signs of life after his noble sacrifice.

"Everyone, be careful! I'll need you to be my shield and blades on this moment! We shall not fall!" Cries out Ekaterina as she darts out, mobility being her greatest asset in this moment. She had to keep taunting the enemy, daring them to score the ultimate prize. She moved among her armored Dragonslayers... darting back into buildings to rest after mad dashes through the battlefield, taking small chances to assault enemies coming through the wall when she had enough to cover to be worth it.

Bryant pumped a fist and The Shrike roared again, but he felt more than a little disappointed that he had to blow a spear on some random henchman instead of the actual objective.

"Sir..." At this point, Bryant wasn't even sure who he was supposed to speak to on the chain of command. He just pressed the communications button and hoped for the best. Maybe even the prince himself! "Or ma'am. The Shrike won't last too long if we just stall out the siege. I'm requesting permission to power it down and engage on the anti-armor units man-to-man; I'm packing rocket skates, a handheld punt gun, and a spear, I'm sure I can be impactful here. If I can pick off the princess's lackeys first I should be able to assert The Shrike's dominance a little more."

With me, Fayth.

With that, Serrick started toward the location of that Goliath that had attacked him earlier with the spear.

He sent word up to the Bahamut to get aerial confirmation of the Shrike's location.

Yes sir.

The Fayth followed suit as the Omega blade flipped into combat position, the blade heating to dangerous(for the enemy) levels.

I wonder if this is him... The Goliath pilot who killed mom and dad... Ira thought as she went forward.

As the Dragonslayers accompanied their princess, they would then hear a distinctive and rather ugly sound coming from above... The sound of an artillery shell headed for their position. It seems that one Noireian officer/NCO nearby thought: "Screw this honor and glory bullshit, the princess and her guards have to die NOW." and promptly called a fire mission on her general location; Danger Close and friendly fire be damned.

"Ugh. They're actually getting practical." He took out a second spear, dual-wielding now, and stood the Shrike back up. Leaning forward, both spears at his side, he briefly snapped open the Goliath's cockpit. "COME ON!" He roared; regardless of whether or not they could actually hear him, it also allowed Bryant to display his trophies—intimidation was the name of the game here. He slid the cockpit closed again and moved up to the battlefront, waiting for one of them to strike.

The Goliath pilot was taunting them it seemed. He had opened his cockpit too, showing his suit with such random looking adornments. Ira's mind started to process this as she realized what those decorations were. They were pieces from Paladin pilots' suits. It was him.

Sir. She said over the com to Serrick. Requesting permission to confront Goliath personally. Serrick would probably be able to hear a barely constrained tone of rage in her voice.

Cat had tracked down the sniper that had taken a shot at the princess earlier. It had been a short fight, if it could be called that. The bounty hunter had dropped down with her spear and knife out and stabbed both the sniper and the spotter as they lay next to each other.

Now however Cat took up the fallen sniper's rifle and began searching the battlefield for the Prince of Noire. Perhaps her main goal should have been to protect the princess, but the bounty for the prince, or any of the opposing royalty was much higher than how much she'd be paid for a protection detail.

Where are you princeling? She thought to herself as she continued to scan.

Foulke was moving before he felt himself really falling, scrabbling backwards. He lost his grip on his weapon with the sudden shock but felt himself stumbling over it as he disengaged, so he snatched it up as best he could and brought it around, disengaging the blade as he did so. From the cry of pain, he was sure he had broken something but he couldn't waste too much time on one soldier no matter how good she was at sword-fighting range. He had to get back to the wider battle before the rest of his team was killed.

With the click of another switch he disengaged the blade on his Gypsy and backed up while continuing to shoot at the Noire soldier, this time in more controlled and accurate bursts.

Permission given. Strike him down quickly and without hesitation.

He knew she was a person he could count on in the war, and he hoped that the other Paladin pilots would get here soon, so as to support him and Ira.

It looked like the Princess managed to get herself out of trouble, though, so for now he focused on clearing away Noirean troops, outright crushing and slashing into them as they moved about the battlefield. The Shrike was for his fellow pilot - she deserved the satisfaction if what he suspected was true.

edited 21st Oct '14 9:08:22 PM by NickTheSwing

Thank you sir. Ira said as she launched the Fayth forward, the Omega blade extending outwards as she locked her sights on the Shrike.

"Attention, please leave this one to me." Bryant took a few skittering steps back. "Save your effort for everything else." He pulled up a few more locking tools, tried to get a heat scan on the mech charging him... and they shorted out too. He was entirely visual now. The Shrike was fast, and its reverse-joints allowed it to move backwards just as quickly as it moved forwards!

He met the Paladin's heated sword with a quick deflection from his spear, running backwards such that the mech continued its charge while they fought across the battlefield. While it worked, the spear also broke, sending a shaft of superheated metal spiraling away from the deflected sword. He grunted in annoyance and attempted to respond with a stab from his other spear, aiming for the machine's feet in an attempt to pin it.