She breathed a sigh of relief when the Missiles finally stopped coming and her Mother's Lance was back in her hand. "See Sister?" Agalia was grinning at her adorably, "Mmm Good call." The new Orders would then came as Freya sighed, "This fight isn't stopping huh?" Agalia nodded, "That's what a losing battle is all about. Be careful Sister you're reaction speed is starting to dip." Freya nodded, "Unison here, Understood." She acknowledged her orders and began to carve a path through the enemy.

This seemed like a bad idea, getting between two ships guns blazing! Well Freya managed to cut down a squad of missile troopers easily enough before what she thought was an effortless drive to a Rifle Squad. She miscalculated a dodge in her fatigue and paid for it. The Bastard sniped her right hand as the girl howled in pain. She could still wield the lance one handed, but her attack power would decrease.

She boosted past the rest of the rank still grimacing as she began to get into the no man's land of Ship fire going for the closest cannon.

4 Missile Troopers and 5 Riflemen down, Right Hand destroyed (Attack down), Approaching Destroyer Cannon.

"What!? Damn... I assume their next target would be the Anti-Orbital Cannons. Rider Kelley, you must not allow those guns to fall into enemy hands! If all else fails, destroy them!"

Kelley hit the comms, "Copy. We'll take the guns first. All troopers form a defensive perimeter, then move as one to the Anti-Orbital Cannons. Work together" His forces did just that, with Bladesmen in front while the Riflemen fired in between the gaps. The fire from the discipline of the rest of the survivors took a toil, blasting the enemy bladesmen down left and right, taking out enemies after enemies. The enemy bladesmen sold their lives dearly. some reaching even the ally bladesmen but getting cut down by swords and shots, but their sacrifices were not in vain. Soon the riflemen that were spared by the destruction of the bladesmen began firing back, and the two sides exchange deadly fire for each other as Kelley's remaining forces move towards the Anti-Orbital guns.

Kelley didn't wait for the enemy to regroup, launching Void Riptide at another group of Riflemen before they can join the main forces against his. His battle rhythm was kicking into overdrive now, as the first five riflemen died without even knowing what killed them. Their dismembered pieces falling to the ground like rain in the spring. The rest turned, only to find the Riptide amongst them in the middle. Two swords stabbed through two heads, causing them to explode along with the rest of the mecha. The others fired on Void Riptide, only to find Kelley grabbed another riflemen to use as a shield, allowing it to get shot up in the close quarters before taking its gun and firing it at the last two, littering the enemy in shots before they too exploded. Suddenly the comms flared up again, and Dunni's face appeared on screen.

"Kelley, the situation is not good. Both Kyras and Yalei are out of action. Enemy FRAMEs down as well, but we have lost most of our fighting ability. Recommending immediate evac." Before Kelley could respond Lieutenant Moren appeared on another screen.

"Negative. The Anti-Orbital guns have begun to fire on our forces, it is too dangerous to leave atmosphere before taking those guns offline." Kelley hit the comms to command first.

"We're enroute to disable the enemy's use of the Anti-Orbital guns command. Requesting the prep of an evac team on the Starrunner to deploy as soon as they are down." He switched to the team wide comms channel. "Diverting the remaining forces objectives. All troopers assist Riders Kyras and Yalei to a defensible location and dig in. Form a defensive perimeter and await extraction team's arrival. Dunni you're with me. We're clearing this area then dealing with those guns."

With that the remaining troopers shifted their destination from the guns to where Yalei, Dunni and Kyras were. Reaching there, they grabbed a hold of the two severely damaged FRAMEs and dragged them within the courtyard of a nearby building complex that was more or less intact, before forming a perimeter with the bladesmen guarding the lower entrances and Riflemen on the roof. Kelley sped off to the remaining enemy forces in the area while hitting a direct comms channel to Kyras (@Xanxas ) and Yalei.

"Praetorian, Iron Wall. Sitrep."

OOC: RESULTS: 10 bladesmen destroyed, 10 riflemen destroyed.

EPISODE V: DARKNESS FALLS, HEROES RISE

< PLANET TEAM >

< @WanderingJester >

Every trooper in his unit acknowledged the orders given, but there was no response from either of the two downed Riders.

"Rider Kelley, this is command. Rescue unit on standby, awaiting the all-clear." Moren replied

Dunni boosted up to stand near Kelley: "Something's... not right. Those FRAMEs that took them out were autonomous, no Riders... There's no technology for that yet." SuperNova was shaking its head. "Anyway, Rider Hushion, awaiting orders!"

Kelley would find That all of the enemy units were surrounding the Guns, including a FRAME that seemed unarmed.

[ 20 Bladesmen ; 20 Riflemen ; FRAME ]
[ Up to 10 Kills OR 5 and strike at the FRAME ; Use Dunni as support ]

< @Xanxas >

Kyras would (Eventually) awaken to find that his SCARABs had fixed the Rod of the Covenant, giving him at least some form of combat capabilities. He would also awaken to find a message that Kelley had asked for a Sitrep.

< ORBIT TEAM >

< @Andraina >

The Flak guns were firing, always firing, requiring quite a bit of dodging. As Freya dodged, she noticed a Large bauble on the Bottom of the destoyer... the Shield Generator. However, it was much better defended, with its own ring of Flak guns.

[ Strike at a Gun OR Strike at the Generator ]

Kelley pulled up the screen with Dunni's face on it. "Focus on the troopers but keep an eye on that FRAME. It looks unarmed which means that its weapons are hidden on it." He then turned to Veronica, "give me a scan of that FRAME over there Veronica." Veronica saluted and began scanning the enemy while Dunni and Kelley both attacked the enemy troopers.

Supernova fired repeatedly, cutting through the bladesmen around the guns, blasting apart three at first strike, then another two with his repeated firing. Nearby a group of riflemen lifted their weapons at the Supernova, only to have their barrels cut in half by a swing of Void Riptide's sword. Another swing bisected two riflemen, causing them to explode into scrap metal. The others, now weaponless, began to back away, only for the Riptide to descend upon them, cutting them all apart before they could flee from their positions. Kelley quickly turned his FRAME back to face the majority of the enemies, keeping an eye on the "unarmed" FRAME nearby.

OOC: RESULTS: 5 bladesmen, 5 riflemen destroyed.

< @WanderingJester >

Veronica's scan for weapons came back completely negative as Dunni blasted apart another pair of riflemen.

The FRAME was large and bulky, but came at Kelley faster than should have been possible. He launched a heavy punch at Void Riptide, Kelley raising his hands to block even as it connected. Kelley was knocked back as an explosive charge held in the knuckles caused the armor on the back of his arms to crunch in a bit.

"Weapons are unwieldy. Prepare to die" The Rider told Kelley before cutting off transmission, not accepting a response.

[ 5 Bladesmen ; 3 Riflemen ; Pugilist (Boss) ]
[ Wipe out the Troopers using Dunni as support, taking a(nother) light wound OR destroy 3 enemies with Dunni while fighting the Pugilist]

The fist connected with his FRAME's arms, but the force was too great for it to be a simple punch. Knocking back the Riptide, Kelley stabled himself as his FRAME flipped through the air. A transmission opened up.

"Weapons are unwieldy. Prepare to die." It got cut off before Kelley could say anything. Good, his opponent's overconfidence have already defeated him. Void Riptide boosted to the side once more as the large FRAME surged towards him, aiming a fist at the Riptide once more, but this time missing. The two FRAME went at each other, blocking swords with fists and ducking and dodging every which way in the air.

Dunni, seeing Kelley focused on the enemy FRAME in order to buy him time to finish things up here, turned Supernova and began firing on the enemy bladesmen once more. His shots cut through another bladesmen in half, exploding it and causing the enemy to scatter. With that happening, the rest were easy pickings for Dunni, as he shot two more bladesmen down. They really need to add shields to the old models.

OCC: RESULTS: 3 bladesmen destroyed.

< @WanderingJester >

Golden light surged from the SuperNova's arm over and over, slicing and detonating Troopers left and right.
Duuni was laughing as he blew the last of the Troopers away, letting his guard down for just a second, which turned out to be just long enough to allow a hidden sniper to take off his auxiliary arm.

"Sniper! Keep alert!" He roared through obvious pain. "Kelley! Give me some time! I'm gonna blow the Guns!" He yells into comms as he jumps into cover, a golden globe of light starting to grow from the end of his cannon.

At the same time, the Pugilist pulled another surprising maneuver, spinning about and kicking the joint of Kelley's right leg, another hidden explosives reserve completely destroying it, the lower leg hanging from a few wires, which soon enough snapped and sent the leg to the ground below.

[ Pugilist (boss) ; Sniper (Hidden) ; Whatcha gonna do? Keep in mind Dunni needs cover.]

OOC: Trading a medium wound from last post for another.

"Sniper! Keep alert! Kelley! Give me some time! I'm gonna blow the Guns!" With that Dunni charged the guns. Kelley opened the comms to the last functioning rider in his unit.

"Try and divert the targeting computer to target the enemy ships in orbit instead of destroying the weapon. I'll join you shortly." He turned to Veronica, who had already nodded without him needed to say anything.

Kelley had had enough of this FRAME, the mission was going to hell very quickly, and he needed to end things now. So when the FRAME literally kicked off his leg, causing massive pain that caused the Rider of Void Riptide to spit into the inside of his helmet. Feeling blood starting to pour onto his leg, Kelley maneuvered his FRAME to face the Pugilist and charged it.

The enemy watched the entire maneuver, expected the swing down with Kelley's straight sword on his FRAME's head. Expectantly, he repeated the same defensive move to block the sword while punching his other fist at Void Riptide's mid section, intending the explosives in the other fist to blow out Kelley's rider chamber and kill him. As physics dictated, the straight sword slammed to a stop on the arm of the Pugilist, but before the rider could retaliate his attack, the sword collapsed.

It split into sections of razor sharp pieces along the wipe and wrapped itself around the arm. Kelley pulled back the right arm violently, causing the whip sword to cut deeper into the blocking arm, and the sheer force from Void Riptide cleanly ripped the entire arm off the enemy FRAME. Before the Pugilist could recovered from this shock, the harpoon had speared its mid section, and dragged it toward the still charging Void Riptide, who tackled the FRAME's waist and using all of its rear thrusters, speared the large FRAME backwards.

Just then a light from Veronica blinked on, and Kelley's eyes spotted a large building nearby and diverted the Riptide/Pugilist towards it. He'll slam both of them into it, and he'll bet the enemy still have a few more explosives in his FRAME. With luck he'll bring the entire building down on the sniper's head and be able to drag himself out afterwards. Veronica diverted all other power to the shields and armor not already used by the back burners in overdrive, intending to push through the incoming destruction.

< @WanderingJester >

"Kelley! They've locked out all UTC codes from the system! We'd need a Technomancer to change it from here, but Yalei's out cold! Requesting... Oh, shit!" Dunni obviously just saw what was going on, and he did not expect it.

Kelley's gamble worked perfectly... almost. as the building collapsed, a large chunk of the building knocked Kelley to the ground, crushing his beam sword and corresponding arm and shoulder, pinning him. Kelley blacked out from the pain momentarily, and when he came to he would see Dunni standing over him

"You're stuck good, Kelley... not that I could pull you out, anyway. I could blast you'd free but... you'd lose the arm. Didn't want to do that without your permission. Also, unless we can get a Technomancer here, there's no way we can change the targeting. Perhaps one of the troopers...?"

[ Make your decisions. If you lose an arm, you can emote Dunni blasting you out ]

"Kelley! They've locked out all UTC codes from the system! We'd need a Technomancer to change it from here, but Yalei's out cold! Requesting... Oh, shit!"

The building came down, completely destroying the Pugilist and the sniper in the process. Unfortunately that meant it also came down on Void Riptide, crushing and pinning its left arm under the debris. Once again Kelley sent a silent scream as pain rushed into his left arm and blood ran down his left upper limb. Veronica gasp and began sending out emergency signals and asking the condition of Kelley. For a second the world went dark. Just one second though.

The comms opened up, and Dunni's face appeared. "You're stuck good, Kelley... not that I could pull you out, anyway. I could blast you'd free but... you'd lose the arm. Didn't want to do that without your permission. Also, unless we can get a Technomancer here, there's no way we can change the targeting. Perhaps one of the troopers...?" Kelley took a deep breath and looked around. The Riptide was already missing a leg, with the left laser sword crushed, there was no point to saving that arm. Though without two limbs the FRAME was more of a hindrance than asset to the mission. He took a moment, then came to a decision. Kelley first turned to Veronica.

"Veronica, stay here and take care of Void Riptide. I'll be right back." He then began disconnecting himself from his FRAME. Veronica instantly looked panicked.

"But Mr. Kelley you're in no cond-"

"No buts Veronica! The mission must always come first! You have your orders!" Kelley finished with the rest of the arms as Veronica looked like she was about to cry, but wiped her eyes and saluted bitterly before her screen disappeared. Kelley turned back at Dunni.

"Do what you gotta do to find another technomancer and turn those guns Rider Hushion. But here is what we are going to do first..."

_________________________________

A lone enemy rifleman had somehow escaped the destruction visited upon his unit by Void Riptide and Supernova. He wandered around, cautious to not reveal his position. This was the pilot's second battle only, and the first one barely involved more than 10 trooper units total on both sides. As he moved about, looking at the screen in front and around him, he spotted something particular. Something was pinned under a collapsed building. He looked closer. It's a FRAME! And quite advanced by the look of it.

Grinning, the pilot took aim with his rifle. If he took out an enemy FRAME they might just make him a FRAME Rider himself! The finger pulled on the trigger just as an arm wrapped around its weapon arm, pulling it up and causing the weapon to miss horribly.

"What? What's going on?" The pilot wondered out loud. He attempted to move, only to find himself pinned down by something behind him. Outside, Supernova gripped the Riflemen tightly as Kelley scrambled out of nearby ruins. Dunni yelled over comms.

"Now Kelley!" But the Riptide's rider was already moving. He pulled out a nonweapon grappling hook, firing it at the midsection of the trooper and having the rubber suction head stick to the armor. Quickly the firing mechanism in his hands pulled him up next to the cockpit in the torso. Kelley slammed a tech device on the outside of the cockpit, the hacker shutting down the mecha and opening the piloting cockpit to the exterior. The Pilot inside screamed as Kelley punched him in the face then tossed him out of the cockpit and off the mecha.

"Rider Hushion go! I've got it from here." Supernova nodded and flew off, though not at the Anti Orbital gun, but rather to the outskirt of the city. Meanwhile Kelley sat where the pilot had been moments before and shut the cockpit doors, the hacking device outside falling away, now useless. He grabbed the controls, familiar to him due to hours of training in simulators even after he had become a FRAME rider, much to the chagrin of Veronica. As he got the Riflemen up and running again, Dunni returned, cradling Ioren's one handed sword in his FRAME's armpit. He dropped it down on the ground in front of the riflemen, and without a word went to find the Technomancer to complete the mission. Meanwhile Kelley picked up the sword in the Riflemen's right hand, keeping the rifle in his left, and moved towards the guns, intending on reconning the situation ahead and to stand guard if the area was cleared.