A Fateful Day (private)

Fawx

@Brank
Thump thump thump….. Thump thump thump….. Thump thump thump….. High Admiral Atra Stevnic tapped her fingers rhythmically along the arm of her chair. She was equal parts bored, apprehensive, tired, but most of all irritated. That’s all this was, an irritation. She wasn’t foolish or dismissive enough to call it a distraction, else she would have sent one of her subordinates to toil away here. No, she knew better than most the threat these “Seekers” posed if left to their devices, especially after their deployment of imitation Qunits to the MISE Schism. So when reports came in of sightings of the Seeker’s main fleet, it took mere days for her to mobilise her own fleet and get en route.

Despite initial momentum, now that they were here it had become somewhat of a wild goose chase. Her fleet was stretched thin, small battlegroups searching all nearby star clusters. Any glimpses they caught of their targets were fleeting at best, not lasting more than a few days before the trail went cold, and never more than a handful of ships. With each passing day their chances of catching these pests grew thinner and thinner still.

And then, a stroke of luck.
“VSA Fated Vanguard is reporting contact! Hostile capital-scale vessel and escorts, believed to be resupplying in the local asteroid belt.”
She couldn’t have asked for a better situation, the ship was practically served on a silver platter. As if to compound the matter, the VSA Undying Star was just one system away, a Vaifay-Class Supercarrier.
“Contact Captain Faysui, vector his battlegroup to intercept. We are NOT losing this opportunity!”

Lieutenant Commander Wiira was relaxing in his squadron’s lounge, listening to an old favourite tune of his. It was a quiet day, no drills, no inspections; may as well take the opportunity to kick back, maybe catch up on lost shuteye… It was then, of course, that the deployment alarm began ringing out. Training kicked in, and before he knew it he was pulling up the straps of his pilot suit and marching to the hangar bay.

His ocular implants briefed him on the deployment on the way there, and he grinned to himself; it had been a while since he’d gotten into a proper dogfight. The end of the briefing gave him pause though, as Qunit deployment had been authorised. As her caretaker, normally he would’ve notified her immediately, but knowing Fleya she was already headed for the launch catapult. He gulped at the thought of what they might be facing if Qunit deployment was approved.

Nevertheless, he briskly boarded his own custom Taroka unit. Officially, this machine no longer existed, as what good was a Qunit grade Taroka when its pilot had a newer machine? Unofficially, all it had taken was a few good nights out with the hangar deck crew to convince them to retool it for regular pilot use.

He booted the systems as the cockpit hatch sealed behind him. Once the panoramic displays came to life, he saw Fleya was indeed already making her way to the catapult, and for a moment he felt a sense of foreboding. He shook his head and finished setup procedures, moving his own Taroka to the catapult.

Switches were flicked and brevities were exchanged, and soon he felt the familiar jerk of being thrown forward at several kilometers per second. A minute later his squadron was forming up, and they streaked out in front of the rest of the strike assets. They were the space superiority squadron, and the best the Pact had to offer at that, Qunit or not.

Brank

Fawx

>>SVS Unending Journey - Yggdrasil Class Supercarrier<<

The bridge of the SVS Unending Journey was calm, collected, and in the dim lighting of non-alert mode. With a soft tone over the intercomms, that all changed, and the bridge was submerged in a deep purple light, Heads-up displays appearing in front of officers getting in their command chairs, linking up to the ship through neural cords. In front of Flotcommodore Mesmeketi, the shipboard AI flickered to life in a full-colour hologram. The AI was tall, regal, and had flowing black hair and dark skin, wearing a sharply detailed copy of a seeker's officer uniform with its simple dark grey, and the dual stripe of blue and red.

"Flotcommodore, ma'am. As expected, the Vaiaelon have dispatched an interception fleet to our position. Among them is an unidentified Vaifay-Class. The Vaifay is appearing in system now, and has launched projectiles- most likely Taroka fighters. No confirmation of qunit presence, but there is highly likely they wont take any chances with us."

"Well, well, well. Damn foxes know how to put on a show, don't they? Power up tachyon catapults, Launch Defensive fighters, and get our XF-13s out there. Have escorts begin firing fission rounds, detonate at mid-range for screening. Otherwise, engage normally."

"Ma'am, what about Malsit?"

"Hm," she pondered. If they sent him out, the battle would be a win- nearly guaranteed- but if anyone were to escape, they'd have more detailed info on his capabilities, and hunt him down. "Foxes cant just live and let live, can they. Gotta get their noses shoved into every little thing they can find. Send him out, I want this fight over soon as possible. Keep him on the lookout for Qunits, but im not sure if we'll find any."

"Understood, Mesmeketi."

Malsit grappled onto the side of his specially-made XF-14 'Exaltation' Unit. The mech was tall, and had a sort of digitigrade leg structure. It was coloured a deep black with streaks of red and gold down it.

"Alright, Exie. Let's get this done and over with, aye aye?" spoke Malsit, seemingly to no-one as he sat down in the chair of the mech. There were controls in it, but he never touched any of them, instead hooking a cord in the back of his chair into a slot on his neck as his consciousness melded with that of the mech, 'Exie'.

"Aye aye, Mal'." responded the Mech's sapient AI Core- sharing the same name as the mech itself. She could hear his every thought, and he hers without any sounds in the cockpit. The XF-14 powered up and took a tight grip on its hammer as the servos and hydraulic bits powered up, lights flickering on as the large visor of the Mech's head shone a bright red. It's wings folded out, then back in, warming up as the mech stepped forwards with a rumble and crash, locking into the catapult.

"Ready whenever you are, Exie."

"Ready."

The Gravitic-Electromagnetic catapult shot them forth from the various arms of the Yggdrasil-Class, nearing very low numbers of lightspeed for only the first instant of leaving the barrel- and they were headed straight towards the Vaiaelon Squadron.

Fawx

Brank
For a few tense minutes, both compliments streaked towards each other in silence. The void of space rushed by with little to show for it beyond changing numbers on displays. Occasionally, the spinal pulse lasers of Maidar-class Battlecruisers ripped through the space between and towards the Dominion carrier group, one wing of unlucky fighter craft getting caught in the crossfire and subsequently vaporised.

Wiira's squadron, Hajiik, was the first to make contact, all 16 Taroka spreading out circularly around the battlespace. The VSA's advanced and pervasive datalink systems began working overtime as highly accurate sensor pictures of all Dominion strike craft in range were drawn up. Weaponry pods mounted to the Tarokas' forearms unfolded to launch a storm of medium range interception missiles, each co-ordinating with every other in flight to ensure even if one missile missed a target, it would ensure another could hit.

At this point in the battle, nothing special about Malsit was apparent, just another inbound target to launch a few missiles at. Fleya, better known as F13Y4, sat back and observed for now; floating "above" (relative to the solar plane) the battlespace, and shielding herself from sensor sweeps with a technique gained from her sister. There was no need for her to engage yet, the Lieutenant could handle a peer-peer engagement, charging in would just make her a target.

Brank

Fawx

The battle raged on in the angry silence of the void. Glowing orbs of plasma clashed across the darkness alongside particle weapons of various origin, complimented by the vast explosions of blinding fusion warheads and antimatter weaponry chucked by electromagnetic catapults for long range combat. Railguns shunted electromagnetic projectiles with gravitic assistance at low-relativistic speeds, while different layers of active shielding tried to stave off waves of long-range fire from the VSA, entire decks of ships being cordoned off to fight the waves of radiation and fire sparked by particle beams slipping through particle shielding.

The Taroka squadron was quickly met by seeker strike craft, their flowing forms even more agile and wispy than that of old dominion craft, with bleeding trails of plasma streaking behind them, missiles being chucked from internal bays, and wings swung backwards to minimize their profiles.

Malsit's uniqueness became immediatley apparent as his mecha- not dissimilar from a taroka but with wide sprouting wings, a darker, more ominous colouration, and a more humanoid face- swept into the fray. It moved around with the agility and speed of a photon bouncing around in a house of mirrors, occasionally zipping in and out of the reality to avoid swarms of missiles at the nick of time- a qswitch. Missiles fired from it's shoulders in volleys as it fired off white beams of death from it's right wrist in the form of various types of particle weaponry- neutrons, electrons, and tachyons being the most prominent ammunition.

The mecha popped up behind one of the Tarokas, and matched it's speed and velocity, lifting up a powerful great-hammer as tall as the mech itself with thrusters in it's hands, and made a mighty swing towards said taroka, aiming to bash off it's nearest limb.

Fawx

Brank
The Taroka was caught almost entirely off guard, barely able to turn around before its arm was crushed against the torso. The payloads of the missiles still stored on the forearm detonated as they were crushed, the explosion forcing the two craft away from each other and crippling the Taroka's reactor. Railgun shots quickly tore apart the space around Malsit, in a vain attempt to disable Exie before more damage could be dealt.

Fleya immediately took notice of Malsit at the very first turn he made. Perhaps it was a sensor fluke; rare but not impossible. The second turn put any doubts to rest. Whatever this thing was it was far beyond the Lieutenant's pay grade...but fit squarely into hers. She gently positioned her Taroka atop a nearby drifting asteroid, crouching down on it, before leaping off with thrusters at full burn, the several thousand tonne rock shattering from the sheer force of the jump.

Malsit caught sight of a thruster trail off in the distance that was matching his maneuvering turn for turn. A brief flash of light and a gigantic blade ripped through the void towards him. Of course it was easily dodged, but the blade seemed to start turning back around of its own accord. He only just turned around in time to see a Taroka aiming a kick squarely for Exie's head. After the kick missed it quickly pulled back before he could retaliate, gripping the handle of another giant blade and spinning it towards him. In fact, a whole swarm of the blades followed in the wake of the machine, flying around evasively.

This relentless assault continued until Malsit had been driven a good distance away from the rest of the battle. Only then did Fleya allow herself to exhale. The blades fell back into formation and docked into the clamps on the Taroka's wings, giving off the impression of feathers, and only now did Malsit get a good look at the machine. It was marginally similar to the ones he had been facing, perhaps sharing an inner frame, but with a far thinner and streamlined look, an extended back segment, a pair of katanas attached to the hips, and of course the selection of flying blades now attached onto the wings.

Fleya: "Your opponent... shall be me."

Brank

Fawx
One of the numerous blades scraped against Exie's shoulder-plate as the mecha pushed itself away from the onslaught, turning to face the Qunit's Taroka. Inside, Malsit began to chuckle enthusiastically- no longer was this some routine combat mission, but it seems he's got a qunit on his hands.

"Seems the might of the Vaiaelon have come to bare! How about we see what this bastard can throw at us?"

"Mhm," responded Exie. The mech's 'eyes' burst in a more intense red colour for a moment, and it prepared itself for this fight of an ages. Its arm extended as the hammer changed hands, and a red hardlight barrier- small, but useful for deflecting the blades- formed, hovering a foot away from the metal of the arm. Clenching it's fist, the mech aimed it's arm towards the taroka, and fired off a burst of tachyonic beams.

After that, Exie shot off with powerful thrusters, making a microjump with it's qswitch to jump closer to the qunit's taroka, plumes of red thruster trails from it's wingthrusters in a beautiful display as the hammer was swung again, using inertia and thrusters in the mech's arm to swing it one-handed, while the shielded arm prepared to protect from the numerous blades wielded by the qunit. When the first swing missed, and then the second, Malsit backed off in frustration. The mech's shoulders began to rocket off with guided missiles, tiny pinpricks of blood-red thruster trails barreling towards the qunit.

It may not hit, but it had ought to make a good distraction as Malsit prepared to make another swing with the hammer.

Fawx

Brank
Fleya was caught off guard by the use of a Qswitch. It was known that the Seekers had access to Qswitch technology, but to mount it to a domestically developed mecha already was another matter. She only just managed to dodge out of the swing, sending out several of the blades to strike back, only for them to be deflected by the shield.

F: "Already predicting my moves... Update threat report; category orange."

The missiles weren't even worth their own cost as a distraction, Fleya easily taking the swarm out with only a single burst from her shoulder CIWS, not one shot missed. As Malsit charged through the ensuing smoke cloud, he found his hammer swinging through clean empty space. He only just realised in time what was happening, barely managing to block the heavy handed katana swing from behind with the pole arm of his hammer. Instead of breaking off, Fleya instead brought the other blade crashing down onto the pole arm, putting the full thrust of her Taroka into the vicious charge. With Malsit trapped in the engagement, again several blades detached from the Taroka's wings, curving around to strike at Exie from behind...

Brank

Fawx

Malsit's hand slightly shifted on the handle of the polearm as he pushed back with the full might of Exie's thrusters. The top of his right wrist pointed towards Fleya's Taroka, and it began to glow white-hot at the tip of an opening- the particle cannon.

"FIRE!" he yelled out, grinning wildly as his mind shifted the mech. "Get her off of us before those blades kill us!"

With a silent scream, the particle cannon released a packet of nearly light-speed particles straight for the torso-region of Fleya's mech, white hot energy shooting out while Malsit moved to let go of the pole with one hand, pulling back the left while the right held and fired- the left curving it's shoulder back to fire off a burst of defensive missiles against the oncoming blades.

Fawx

Brank
As her blades slowly cut into the pole arm, Fleya only just noticed the glowing cannon barrel, time slowing to nearly a stand still as she calculated her next move.

F: "Analysis the emission spectra recorded from previous firings of the weapon indicates I have about 0.6 seconds before it fires. An Object-0 class Taroka's kinematics wouldn't allow for evading in time; the shot would manage to clip a leg or a wing. Furthermore, any potential evasion would require retreating from the clash first, leaving me a sitting duck. Breaking off the clash to throw off their aim wouldn't work, that'd leave me open for a hammer swing. Only option to maximise retained advantage afterwards is revealing Class-4 Qswitch ability; strategically unfavourable but tactically necessary. Beginning trace..."

The blades veered off their attack to evade the missiles, and as Malsit turned his attention back to the clash, he was shocked to see the particle shot connect with the Taroka's torso. The bright beam tore right through, though instead of the usual explosions and other fanfare, the Vaiaelon mecha seemed to just... dissipate, drifting apart as though it had just been a cloud resembling his intended target.

Exie's systems suddenly lit up with warnings of multiple inbound hostiles, apparently dozens of hostiles surrounding them, each one identical to the Qunit's machine, though simply observing. One rushed forward to take a slash, and when Malsit moved to meet it, again it dispersed like dust, a kick connecting with Exie's back while he was distracted, sending them flying.

F: "I really didn't want to reveal this so early in our campaign... but so be it. Show me what you'll do if you can't trust your own targets."

Brank

Fawx

Malsit laughed heartily, heaving the mech's hammer around as the metal beast regained its composure, the kick having sent it flying. With so many targets around, he figured the hammer would now be somewhat useless- it was better in single-target engagements. With that, he swung it around and towards one of the presumed shadows, before reaching behind him. From the vast wings of his mecha came two small pieces of the wing, which swiftly reformed themselves into the shape of handles. Blades of plasma sparked out and crackled from the makeshift hilts, and Exie brandished them closely.

The mech's manouvering thrusters worked harshly to keep itself constantly moving, hoping to mitigate the chances of being attacked. It was futile, however- kicks and punches continued to bash the mecha.

"Fuck- Exie! Get us the hell out of here!"

"Understood, I have a plan."

Another kick- the mech shook and Malsit cursed again. "That being!? Just do it!"

Without another word, the XF-14 flashed out as it's qswitch fired off, dropping it a ways above the kill-circle that the Qunit had formed. Exie's thrusters flared brightly and the mecha began to move away from the taroka, in an oddly slow fashion. The hammer from before kicked off it's thrusters and shot past the mech, returning to the supercarrier for later retrieval.

"Command, requesting weapon's package delta-zero, posthaste."

After the supply-request was sent out, a catapult on the Unending Journey fired off once more. A drone-craft loaded with antimatter missiles streaked through the sky on limited fuel, maneuvering fighting and wreckages as it finally made it's way to Exie's frame. There, it shifted itself and it's wings broke off onto maneuverable hinges, the whole frame connecting to the XF-14's in front of it's half-floating wings, providing Malsit's mech with more weapons to toy around with.

"Bring it on, 'Lon fucker!" he cried out to no-one who could hear him, seething at the thought of finally finishing this fight. Exie brandished her blades and prepared to fight the following qunit and it's shades.

Fawx

Brank
Fleya was still testing the waters of just how Malsit would react. Committing to a full force attack so early left her open in the event her opponent did in fact have a plan, so for now she simply harassed him, ready to jump away at the slightest hint of serious retaliation. When it became apparent that the knockoff Taroka was in fact just reacting to her onslaught, she reached for her mecha's hips, unsheathing her colossal katanas once again.

Just as she was about to cleave Exie in half from behind, a trio of shadows distracting from the front, her target Switched right above her and flew off at breakneck speed. Irritating... The shadows dissipated as drew power from the Qswitch back to her engines, the wave function collapsing. Trying to switch into his escape path would prove too risky as it risked unplanned collision at these speeds. Instead she remained hot on his tail, blasting off the occasional railgun shot or missile volley. The gap slowly widened between them, Fleya marginally impressed at Exie's apparent superior acceleration.

Once Malsit was finally done docking with the weapons pack, he had all of 2 seconds before Fleya closed the gap, the 7m long katanas coming crashing down onto Exie as the esoteric flying blades detached again from her wings, circling the pair like sharks in the water.

Meanwhile, Wiira launched another barrage at the Seeker fighter he was engaged with. They dodged the dumbfire rounds of course, but in doing so left themselves wide open for his sudden charge forward, his Qunit grade Taroka's claws tearing the fragile craft in two. He let up on the acceleration as the explosion rippled behind him, collapsing down into his haptics and panting while his body recovered from the G's.

W: "Right... that makes 7. Tien'raach Wing, the path is clear, move up and hit those bastards hard!"

He made sure the anti-ship squadron made it safely past the furball, taking the moment to assess the battlespace. The battle was progressing slightly in their favour, the element of surprise serving them well but the Seekers reacting professionally. Two high velocity contact caught his attention, Fleya and that strange human Taroka thing. Seemed like she had it on the run now, but it was outsprinting her. A quick pathfinder estimation said he was in a good position to intercept it before it made it back to the Seekers' defensive lines... Fuck it, his machine could take it!

Object-0's eyes flashed as its engines went to full burn, the acceleration slamming Wiira hard as his haptics worked overtime to prevent him becoming a bloody stain on the back of his cockpit. He didn't care, this was the sort of shit he lived for! Right as the two godlike beings resumed their clash, Wiira came within effective range, his weapons saturating the battle with railgun fire. Completely ineffective against either party of course, and likely just an irritation for Malsit...

Brank

Fawx

Exie shoved herself back as thrusters kicked in, the mech's right sword lashing out at one of the katanas to block it as small CIWS turrets on the newly arrived weapons pods fired out at them, trying to ward them away, to little avail. Fleya's handheld sword cut a gash into Exie's right arm, cutting armour but not damaging any of the hydraulics very heavily. She reached out with the other hand, dropping the sword in it as thrusters kept it nearby in grabbing range, and the hand shot forwards, trying to latch around the katana and rip it out of fleya's hands.

"Warning, another Q-grade Taroka inbound; firing ineffectuate, inaccurate rounds, and is sluggish. 10% probability of it being piloted by a qunit."

"God fucking- then shoot it with a few antimatter missiles! We cant have any distractions!"

"Understood, firing," Exie replied. From the missile pods, a sextuple burst of projectiles shot out, streaking their way at absurd speeds towards Wiira. While Malsit and Fleya dodged and weaved through eachother, so dide the missiles through point-defense fire in attempts to not be struck down. At the same time, the missiles spread out from one another widely across the battlefield as to not detonate eachother in the event they are intercepted. Immediately one missile is struck down, a powerful detonation larger than twelve tarokas blinding the region for a flash of a second in blue, and then dissipating. The rest of the missiles continued on their path, in a winding shot towards Wiira's Taroka.

In the midst of the fighting, Malsit demanded Exie hail a message directly to Fleya's qunit, and- despite her protests- she complied.

"You know you're dying today, qunit!? The throne your high and mighty species sits on is being torn to pieces right beneath it's flattened, unmoving ass! I will detonate us both here and now if it means your blood and dust is splattered across the cosmos, all for showing the peoples of the galaxy that-

-YOU. ARE. NOT. INVINCIBLE!"

His voice had grown so loud through the communique that he had to take a shuddering breath and stop talking. The pain in his scratched throat lasted for all of a few moments as small micrite stem-cell analogues replicated and replaced themselves as new cells, in the sake of repairing the damage.

Fawx

Brank
The sum total reaction from Fleya was a mild furrowing of her brow. She was just disappointed really, the famous “Hands of God” apparently resort to ad hominem as a combat tactic, no discipline to be found... She decided to humour this little attempt at intimidation, keeping the commline open long enough to calmly state:

F: “By all means, kill yourself.”

Her thought out and well formulated response said, she took her next move. The immensely powerful thrusters lining her Taroka’s legs lit up, delivering a powerful knee to Exie’s torso for the sake of breaking her grip on the katana. Instead of using the opening to take a slash with the now freed blade as one might expect, the handle neatly slid out of her hand. This gave said hand just enough time to curl into a fist, all thrusters firing to deliver the mother of all sucker punches to Exie’s head, the impact all but severing the extremity from its housing.

As Malsit’s mech tumbled back through the void, Fleya calmly reached up to snatch the drifting katana. She levelled the finely-crafted, truck-sized weapon squarely at Exie’s cockpit, before charging. The plasma lined blade cut neatly through Exie’s plating, and the left side of Malsit’s cockpit burst open in a shower of sparks and broken glass as the blow narrowly missed where he was sitting.

Wiira very quickly broke off his attack run, blasting away CIWS and micro missiles at the swarm following after him. The acceleration required to keep him out ahead of the missiles compacted him into his seat, and he struggled to maintain a grip on the controls. In a stroke of either genius or an actual stroke, he pushed his machine as far as it would go, managing to put some distance between himself and the missiles. He watched the G counter steadily tick up, warnings and alarms blazing in his ears; 9G… 11G… 14G… 15G... The moment he was far enough for the triangulation of a networked swarm to be ineffective, he ejected all the spent casings from his coilguns, then flicked on every stealth system he hand and janked to the side. He coughed up blood as the acceleration suddenly shifted vector, but that didn’t stop him letting loose a hail of CIWS fire on the missiles now briefly chasing a swarm of debris, managing to set off a chain reaction as the missiles’ own evasion inadvertently drove them just close enough to each other.

As he recovered from his own hubris, he swung the main sensor of his Taroka back to the unfolding battle between gods of the battlefield.

Brank

Fawx

At the tail end of the communications link, there was a loud chuckle which was then cut off. CRASH, Exie's head flew off. Warning lights flashed as sirens screamed away, Malsit yelling out in a shared agony at the same time as Exie as the sword tore through the mech's torso. Tears welled up at the corners of his eyes, not in sorrow, but determination, and terror.

"COMMAND! IF YOURE GOING TO DO SOMETHING, DO IT NOW!" they screamed in unison through the communications with the Supercarrier.

At first, nothing. Fleya began to pull out the Katana, rearing it back for a slashing motion directly at the torso of the nigh-immobile Exie. The sword began to swing down, and then, as Malsit flinched and Exie's hand came up-

It stopped.

Fleya, her blade, every single one of the blades that flew and harrassed the Hand of God stopped dead in their tracks, as Exie began to float away. Fleya's Taroka screamed at her as static encompassed the entirety of her sensors, and the metal of her mecha began to creak and scream at her. Heat built up at the edges as electronics began to melt and warp under the immense power of the Yggdrasil-Class Supercarrier SVS Unending Journey, it's field focusing down on the Taroka to the point it couldn't move a muscle.

Malsit laughed heartily, coughing blood as shrapnel dust had made it's way into his lungs- nothing that couldnt be fixed with some time. Exie giggled as thrusters shoved them forwards, and the mecha latched onto the static Taroka. Exie's sword flew back into her hand, and she angled the tip directly towards the taroka's cockpit, dead center. She placed her other hand firmly on the Taroka's head. Loudspeakers inside of Exie screamed out with malsit's voice, the vibrations of the metal transferring into Fleya's cockpit.

"I TOLD YOU, QUNIT! BUT YOU GOT COCKY!"

The hand let go, and the blade was thrust forwards, towards the cockpit of the immobile Taroka. Fleya shalt be rendered nothingness.

Fawx

Brank
Fleya clutched at her head as the magnetic field triggered. All of her implants were ferro neutral, so she wasn't immediately torn to shreds by her own skeleton being ripped free, but her mind was still subject to induction. Even as her thoughts were scrambled, she found the strength to slam the throttle forward, her reduced mental state confused and enraged when her Taroka remained largely still.

The machine struggled valiantly against its magnetic binds, arms slowly reaching forward as though to try choke Exie, but it was far too little and far too slow. The very same field that trapped the Taroka in place slammed Exie's blade through it, piercing the cockpit and cruising right on through the mech's back. Fleya clenched her teeth and groaned in agony as her vision was overtaken with multiple warnings.

Unlike Fleya's own attack, Malsit's hadn't missed the mark; Fleya's body was bisected cleanly in two across her abdomen. Even this wouldn't normally be fatal for a Qunit, were it not for the fact the core of her cold fusion reactor had been breached, nuclear reagents flowing out and mixing in with her flowing blood. She began to hyperventilate as her body instinctually tried to generate enough bioelectricity to make up for the lost generator. Her eyes glazed over as her ocular implants shut down alongside the others, all power desperately trying to keep the brain alive.

Wiira turned his attention back to the battle just in time to see Fleya's Taroka get impaled. His eyes went wide and he kicked his own machine back up to maximum power, completely disregarding his own safety while calling out for her over the comms.

W: "Fleya! Hadalen damn it Fleya respond, that's an order!"
He turned his attention to the crippled Exie.
W: "You cheap fucking knock off! WHAT DID YOU DO!?"

As Malsit revelled in his kill, Alerts began to blare as that second Qunit-grade Taroka returned and resumed its engagement. The fire from its coilguns was far more accurate this time around, several hits glancing Exie's armour before he could respond. As the distance rapidly closed, CIWS fire belted away at Exie's sealed missile pods, as if daring them to launch and feel the wrath of their own warheads.

This should have been an easy victory. Malsit should have killed Wiira with little more than an afterthought and a bolt of particle fire. Instead, his own injuries, the combat stims wearing off, and Exie's damaged state left them nearly as sluggish as their opponent.

The experimental claws adorning the Taroka unfolded as the displacement between them ticked down to zero, the plasma lined blades shearing off one of Exie's legs below the knee. A powerful kick sent the Hand of God flying off course, but by the time Malsit had eyes on his opponent once again, Wiira was gone, charging at full burn back to Fleya's Taroka.