Asgard Defense Force Einherjar

Climbing up to where the cockpit was, one of the technicians helped her in. Giving her a quick rundown of what was what in the cockpit, namely where the main controls where, the life support systems and the controls to the weapons so she didn't accidentally start shooting at the wrong time.

Even while she was getting buckled in and the cockpit sealed up with a hiss of air, Elisa's words stuck with her.

I have skill, I have skill. I won that goddamn tournament through my own skill.

The onboard computer came online talking to Chloe with a calm and synthesized voice, running through diagnostics that seemed like a bunch of technical jargon to her. Either way it seemed like everything was at a 100%. Elisa's own calm and collected voice rang out in Chloe's cockpit, sounded like she was all ready to go too.

"Uh..." The long pause was from an uncertainty if the audio system Elisa mentioned was working or not, she didn't hear a click or anything to indicate it at least. "Zero Six, ready for deployment."

At least the Einherjar was ready for certain.
 
The Major gets on the comms once everyone's reported the all-green. "Ok, pilots," he says. "I hope we don't get any surprises from this one, but it looks like it'll be a routine job. Well, if you've done enough to call this sort of thing routine." He takes another look at the displays relaying information on the approaching Gauna. "One gauna approaching from further out. You are to deploy as a squad and intercept it. I'm sure some of you are going to roll your eyes at this, but I'm going to go over the SOP just to be sure you're all on the same page. Don't go past that line on your HUDs that makes the boundaries for the operation area. Watch your fuel usage although I'm pretty sure there's some kinda limit to keep you from burning through so much you can't get back. They put some kinda safety like that in the newer models."

He pauses a bit. "Anyway...Gauna have a vulnerable core you need to expose and destroy to kill them off. It's usually buried somewhere inside their bodies, so you'll probably have to shoot or cut off a good bit of them. If you want to bring back souvenirs for the science team, you'll have to cut them off before you smash the core, because anything still attached to it when you do sublimates away along with it. And as usual, come back alive. You may launch when ready."
 
Elisa doesn't really object to the repetitive information. It may be things that Elisa has heard a million times, but it was likely all new information for Chloe. And either way, it couldn't hurt.

Samples for the science team... That wasn't something she was thinking about right now. It's likely that they'd end up cutting off some part of the thing regardless, but she was more focused on winning and bringing everyone back alive than she was on research. At least right now.

But she doesn't spend much time dwelling on any of this, before moving her Einherjar to deploy. "Zero One, deploying."
 
Chloe exhaled, expelling all the air from her lungs before taking slow and deep breaths. Her eyes were closed from the stimuli of the cockpit while she listened to the Major explaining things more or less for her benefit.

You can do this.

"Is there anyway we can tell where that weak point is? Does it glow or somethin'?"

That'd be something! All those video games training kids to shoot at giant glowing weak spots and the enemies of humanity happen to have giant glowing weak points.

In the background it was clear the automated system was helping out Chloe a lot, she almost missed the voice giving a count down when Elisa launched.

Remain seated during launching sequence in 3...2...1
 
Nestled within the right confines of the cockpit, Randall felt the usual rush of excitement through his nervous system that always preceded an engagement, along with its partner, a shiver of fear creeping up his spine. Linked in, he felt himself as part of Warden. Letting out a slow sigh, he grinned "Six oh four, launching." The complementary countdown ticks down to zero, and a jolt of acceleration is followed by weightlessness. Letting himself drift away from the station to prevent any accidents, he then slowly brings himself to face the distant Guana.

"Don't worry, girls. Don't let any fear overwhelm you, but don't suffocate it. Let it sharpen your mind, and remember. We're here to kill this thing, so don't take any stupid risks, lest it give some back." He begins accelerating for the being, bringing his weapons to bare. "Let's keep at a distance for now, try to weaken it a bit."
 
"I know what I'm doing."

And I'm not afraid of this thing.

Being treated like a newbie was starting to grate on Elisa, but it was likely just because they hadn't been informed ahead of time about her. Either way, it didn't matter right now and she shouldn't be wasting time thinking about it. Instead, Elisa takes a deep breath, preparing to focus on the battle.

"Alright. Let's soften it up at a range, then." She offers her agreement, pausing slightly before continuing. "Myself and Zero One lean towards close combat, I'll close into melee when I see a good chance to." While she speaks, Elisa moves her Einherjar up to keep pace with Randall's Warden. She's clearly intending to stay on the front lines instead of hanging back.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Chloe didn't notice the neural link as anything more than a vague tingling in her head, right up until after launch when she tried moving the Einherjar slightly. A wash of vertigo swept over her, but she knew not to try and move to counter the spinning sensation that was in her head. A few moments passed and it faded away a bit, the way she would describe it was her head felt fuzzy. Still, tentatively she tried raising her hands and clenching the fists. Without hesitation or latency issues, the Einherjar mirrored her movements.

It was an odd realization, to think of her body being much larger than what she could feel. Chloe could reach out an effect things at a greater distance with this mechanical weapon. It'd take time for her perception to get used to this, to acclimate and figure out what was in her Einherjar's personal space.

The others were already pulling head which suited her just fine, much to Chloe's surprise.

The cool voice inside was disengaging the safeties on her weapons, inside the cockpit she couldn't hear the rifle in her arms hum but she definitely felt a little vibration when it kicked to life. A series of projected icons appeared on the screen, a little reticule that dragged around where she aimed the rifle made her feel nostalgic. Even if she had never been in a forty story tall robot before.

The propulsion flared to life, pushing her unit and Chloe's rising sense of nervousness forward.
 
Nodding, Randall watches Elisa's Einherjar near his own "I can respect that, and I trust you can use your judgment when the moment comes. Take the best chance you find." Raising hisrifle to track the creature as it flew, he slowly watched the range counter tick down. As the numbers on it turned to red, he immediately opened fire. The recoil from the rifle begins slowing him as physics comes into play, the rounds launched at the beast in quick succession. Finally, as the rounds bring him to a complete stop, he ceases fire to simply watch the rounds fly through space. No reason to waste more ammunition, if this things armor was to strong.
 
The approaching Gauna doesn't look like all that much, initially. Its body has an oblong form similar to a coffin or chrysalis, wide at the head and shoulders and tapering down toward the posterior end. There isn't much to say about the head either, it's mostly featureless aside from the eyes and what's probably a mouth. It almost seems innocuous, just moving along through space under its own power, but it quickly changes when the first salvo of rounds make impact, tearing into its flesh and sending streamers of debris flying away from it. The alien stops, as if it only now noticed the approaching Einherjar. Its body quickly changes from its compact traveling form, a number of long tentacles splitting off from the body and quickly growing in overall length. It changes course to meet with the Einherjar, sections of its body beginning to harden into bone-like armor as it does.

It practically fires a number of tentacles toward the lead Einherjar units, the tips of them moving almost like guided missiles and just as deadly.
 
Elisa's eyes sweep over the enemy as they approach it. This was it. One of the creatures threatening to destroy humanity. One of the creatures she'd trained all too long to defeat. Elisa doesn't allow herself much time to take the sight in, offering only a quick nod in acknowledgement to Randall's statement.

She says only one more thing: "Alright. Let's do this!"

Without further hesitation, the girl starts lining up a shot on the thing, deftly manipulating the joystick that controlled the targeting for 01's shoulder mounted rail rifle. Once the targeting reticule is lined up with the enemy's center of mass, Elisa depresses the trigger, sending a single piece of metal screaming out of the barrel towards her enemy. And then she's off, adjusting the boosters to send 01 off to the right. The last thing she wants to do right now is approach the enemy in a straight line - moving like that wasn't much better than standing still, as far as avoiding attacks was concerned. This proves to have been a wise move when the tentacles speed off towards 01, since it puts Elisa in a position to avoid most of the strike by flaring her boosters. Only most of it, though. A tentacle contacts 01's left side, and warnings appear in corner of Elisa's screen indicating the hit. She reacts almost instantly, 01's gauntleted left arm snapping out towards the tentacle and trying to grab onto the thing before it can retract.
 
It's a buttplug!

Thankfully Chloe had enough sense not to say that on the comms, but the thought still made her snicker for a moment. The others were already starting to engage it, soften it up as Randall said. A small picture in picture window appeared, a magnified shot of the gauna up close. It took a moment for Chloe to figure out this was actually linked to the sight line of her rifle.

Whether they actually wounded it or just woke it up, the Gauna was changing and launching a counterattack of its own.

On the main view it was too distant for Chloe to get a good view, but through the magnified picture she could see Elisa and Randall were right in the thick of it. She couldn't be certain but it looked like the other girl was actually going hand-to-hand with the thing. The tension she was feeling ratcheted up as she centered the reticule on the Gauna. Flaring the thrusters underneath Chloe shot her Einherjar up further to make sure the angle of her shots had less of a chance to hit the other two.

The problem was wrestling with the new sensation of the neural link while trying to make effective use of all these things she had to touch before today...her accuracy wasn't quite the best when she pulled the trigger on her rail rifle. There wasn't a mechanical body in the way at least!
 
The gauna is easy to hit, and its tentacle easy to catch. The rail rifle round tears a large gouge out of its body, showing that it's pretty much the same stuff all the way through, although there is a hint of some more solid form just exposed by the shot. As for the tentacle Elisa grabbed onto, it does thrash around and try to wrap itself around her einherjar's arm, and a few more tentacles turn to converge on her mecha as well.
 
The second Elisa gets a good grip on the tentacle, she moves into action. The sword in 01's right hand flashes out for the appendage, slashing into it and cutting it free from the body of the Gauna. There, now the science team would have their sample. Almost simultaneously, the girl hits another button inside her cockpit, causing one of 01's special systems to come to life, while at the same time she boosts hard forward and to the left. Meanwhile, it only takes a split second for Elisa to analyze the situation and decide what to do. This thing had the advantage at range, with its multiple tentacle attacks. Severing them wasn't the best solution either - it'd take too long, and she'd take damage in the process. This left the obvious course of action...

"I'm going in! Cover me!" And with that, Elisa hits the button again, and 01's boosters flare out brilliantly, sending the Einherjar hurtling through space for the Gauna at far higher than normal speeds. The incoming tentacles are still a problem, but Elisa manages to partially solve that by raising her sword, putting the weapon in the way of the incoming attacks. One tentacle is cut away from 01, a few more miss, and one manages to land some minor damage on 01's right side. A couple more warnings show up on Elisa's screen, but the damage isn't enough to affect 01's operational capacity. The armor was there for a reason, and it was doing its job.

Once 01 is past the tentacles, Elisa flares the boosters, decelerating slightly. Not enough to stop her charge, just enough so that she wouldn't slam into the thing at full speed (or go flying past it if it dodged.) Even with the deceleration, it's not long until 01 is bearing in on the Gauna, the blade in its right hand poised and ready to strike, and the gauntlet on its left arm poised and ready to defend itself. The second 01 is within striking distance of the thing, Elisa brings the blade around in a deft slash towards the same area she'd blasted with her rail rifle. That hint of a solid form... The core must be there, and Elisa was intending to expose it as quickly as possible.
 
Jetting to the side as the tentacles nearly slam into the hull of his einherjar, Randall checks through one of the side monitors the status of Elisa. Seeing her begin her somewhat reckless charge, he inwardly acknowledges that she'd done it in a fashion that would get her there without it being suicide. However, knowing that it was going to get a bit hairy for her in such close range, he calls out "Careful, I'm moving in in your ten."

Engaging his boosters to start him moving toward the Gauna, he then cuts them so that he's drifting closer. Using the bulk odd the creature to defend the other einherjar from his shots, he begins peppering it's flank, at best working toward another core and at worst distracting it from zero-one. Preparing his jets once more to decelerate him quickly once he was close, he spent the rest of the drifting time working on getting his marksman medal, as he filled the Gauna's side with holes.
 
The gauna reacts to defend itself, attacking both einherjar with additional fervor, although its clear that it can't quite direct its attention both ways at once. It also seems to rely more on healing faster than it can be damaged than anything else, when it comes to staying alive. The wounds from the initial volley are already beginning to fill in with more flesh, but the fresher injuries are still there. 01's sword strikes true and cuts a large gash into the alien, before it hits something solid and comes to a sharp stop. Even when it's a 40 meter robot, the impact's rather jarring.

The guana seems to have felt that one, as it starts to panic. Or at least suddenly changes its heading, trying to get away from 01 and the battle. A flood of smaller tendrils push toward 01, trying to punch it away.
 
Shit, shit, shit, shit!

Chloe's line of sight tracked onto the mass of tentacles going for Elisa's unit. They were smaller for certain, but the sheer number represented a problem. Although they also presented a good sized target for her to track onto.

"Taking a shot!" Chloe herself was unaware of it, but the computer onboard was projecting her trajectory to the other pilots. While it might not help in the heat of the close quarters they were in, the projected holographic might catch their attention and stop a hit.

It might have been the adrenaline or concern for the other pilots, but the fuzzy feeling in her head faded for a moment. Everything came to a smooth and calm pace as the gauna's pack of tendrils were centered in her sights. She had chosen to aim towards near their base, in hopes of severing as many as possible in one swoop.

Click.

The soft sound announced the rapidly moving piece of metal towards the target.
 
"That's right. Run away, Gauna." The taunt rings out over the comms, almost certainly lost on the giant monster it was aimed at.

But, despite her boast, Elisa isn't eager to continue her aggressive pursuit. Pushing further right now would be toeing the line between controlled aggression and recklessness. And that's not really a line that she had any need to dance on, right now. The decision not to pursue doesn't take her long, and soon 01 is boosting to the left and away from the tentacles. Thanks to the fire support from 06, she doesn't even need to do anything further to keep them off her. This leaves her free to focus on what's important, and it's not long until her hand is manipulating the targeting joystick again, lining up a shot on the enemy's core. It would be a difficult one, with both the enemy and 01 currently in motion. Not to mention the tentacles it was flailing around in an attempt to keep her unit away, and the small size of the target. Either way, Elisa doesn't hesitate, taking only as long as necessary to aim the shot before she pulls the trigger.
 
Blasting his thrusters at full as he finally gets close to the Gauna, Randall calls out "Let's see if I can give it something else to worry about." Taking hold of the blade that was standard issue for the Einherjar, he pulls it back before stabbing it forward, intentionally trying to strike the very solid parts of the Gauna. As soon as the blade got buried in the creatures flesh, he cranks up the power on his reverse boosters. The waste from those engines would be spewed, at close range, into the Gauna, likely wreaking havoc as they also begin to heat up six-oh-four. "I'm not sure how long I can stay like this, before I have to back off because of heat."
 
Elisa's shot isn't quite on target, only grazing the gauna's core, causing it to visibly crack, rather than a clean hit for the kill. When Randall's unit slams into the gauna and begins its extended burn, the both of them begin to tumble together from the thrust, as the gauna's flesh begins to be blown away by the thrusters, sloughing off in large amounts. By the time Randall is forced to disengage the boosters, the gauna is raggedly held together, and while it is already recovering, for now most of one side of it has been blown away, leaving its core a much easier target.
 
Elisa pulls her Einherjar to a halt upon seeing how much damage it's taken. No need to keep moving away from it right now. While she isn't foolish enough to drop her guard, it seemed like the Gauna was ready to be put out of its misery. But Elisa doesn't rush it. Instead, she takes a deep breath, and carefully aims for the thing's core, taking time to line her shot up.

"Time to finish this."

And with that, 01's pilot pulls the trigger. A piece of metal screams out of the electromagnetic accelerator mounted on 01's shoulder, blasting through space for its target. She doesn't let herself relax, though. Just because it felt like a kill shot didn't mean it necessarily would be, and there's always the chance this thing had more up its sleeves.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back