From the force that Roc's arm was exerting on her own resisting armor, Vector could be entirely certain of Roc's intention to wipe Prez off the net. Only through his intervention did Prez's head manage to remain on her shoulders; she didn't look grateful, of course, because she didn't really fully understand that Vector was a living armor and might not have thanked him regardless. Her emotion had changed, completely, from defiance to terror, as she realized she was going to be EJO'd from the net. No matter how devoted she was to her cause, there was clearly something about having a fiery sword right next to her neck that had frightened the stern mask off of the terrorist leader's face. "Alright, okay! I'll tell Cruz and Load to stand down!" she agreed, holding her hands up, palms out to show that she wasn't reaching for her gun. She listened to Vector's voice come from the armor, although the identity obviously didn't register with her; she probably assumed now that there must be someone watching the battle remotely through Vector who was now speaking to her. "I'll agree with you on that one point: there has been enough fighting," she sighed.
"Dammit! Getting in my way again. You're lucky it worked," Roc scolded Vector, keeping her sword leveled with the enemy's neck.
Prez cleared her throat and spoke loudly, her voice reverberating through the cockpit and projecting with enough volume so that those below could hear. She didn't want to risk reaching for the console and activating her communications array, when Roc might mistakenly think she was pressing a button to drop TerrorMan's payload. "Load, Cruz, stand down! We're surrendering for today," she shouted, keeping her eyes warily upon Roc.
"Good! Can I delete her now? The other two should be surrendering now anyways, I'll just go pick em off once I'm done," the bird-lady asked her armor. Before either of them had a chance to choose what to do, however, Prez interrupted with another loud proclamation.
"TerrorMan Mark II! It's been an honor to serve with you!" Perhaps there was no way for TerrorMan to 'surrender' and they were planning to destroy him? There were clearly a lot of questions to ask of Prez, but no more time to do it; before anyone could object, the young lady disappeared, jacking out of the net and leaving Roc holding onto nothing...
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While Pestilence hovered rapidly around Load, evading various swats of the woman's dangerous metal arms, Aera made her way to one of the hangar's turrets and kept her eyes on Cruz. MachMan approached the hangar as well, instructing his various charges with how they ought to assist in the mission. Yasu, looking somewhat shaky again as she did her best to avoid watching the ground moving below them, attempted to rise to her feet and board the hangar. As she did, however, Load heard her leader's message, wordlessly jacked out, and disappeared, leaving Pest flying full throttle towards the floor. The little bug-girl's mask ended up stuck through the floor of the platform, a good testament to the sharpness of the needle. All the same, while it might have been amusingly slapstick, the development did put Pest in an unfortunate position. Cruz hadn't heard the message, but seemed to get the idea once Load jacked out, and promptly followed suite.
Yasu, having finally climbed upon the platform and gotten her bearings, glared to her left and right skeptically. "The enemy has retreated. We've won!" she announced, raising her fist into the air. At this point, one might easily worry that TerrorMan was about to jack out as well... but that didn't seem to be the case. The bomber was continuing flying straight forward, even with no crew to man him. "Ha... Perhaps we can commandeer this ship for the Shogun as well! Our very own bomber... We could make good use of it. Of course, I think Arch would be the only one to appreciate this... unique color scheme-"
Arch's opinion of the giant golden bomber's color was irrelevant and also not worth considering at the moment, as it appeared the bomber still had a plan of its own. The eyes on the skull at the front began to glow and the jaw hung open, releasing a blast of steam all at once. A deep voice reverberated out of its throat (spine?) ... "MISSION FAILURE... INITIATING GREEN EARTH AND SELF-DESTRUCT OPERATIONS... DROPPING ALTITUDE..." the voice called out. "ALL HANDS... ABANDON SHIP..." It was pretty clear now what Prez's last words before leaving had meant. There was no countdown sequence, and apparently, no time cushion either; MachMan, from his current angle, could see the thrusters all quickly cease operation. Subtly, the ship was already losing its balance and beginning an ever quickening course of descent. The path didn't seem quite right for it to strike the general's area of the camp, but that would be small relief when considering the tremendous store of bombs on the ship, not to mention the likely destruction the ship itself was going to cause to anyone who ended up caught under it.
There wasn't a lot of time for communication now, but MachMan and Aera, as mission leaders, had a huge list of factors to think about. Chief amongst them were the safety of all of their allies who'd fought under them, but they couldn't discount the progress of the ground evacuation either. They would have to improvise and decide how to best use the little time they had left before the bomber fell. It would be helpful if they had some sort of bulleted checklist of everything they needed to remember, but right now, all they would have to go off of would be their memories and wits.
Under Terror Girls' Attack
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Though Vector had no way to externalize it, he was significantly relieved his actions prevented Roc's intentions of decapitating the Terror Girls leader, and even more so when said leader accepted his demand to surrender. A few seconds later she issued the order to stand down. She also bade farewell to her craft, which seemed odd; did she plan to abandon her primary combat asset? He didn't get the chance to ask, as the girl disappeared with a standard log-out animation. "Let's head back to the others, to ensure her forces retreated as ordered," he advised calmly as his eyes scanned the room for an exit. The way they came was thoroughly blocked, so he looked for a door or something that would lead to the open bay.
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Aera heard the call for surrender as it rang throughout the bomber, and saw Load followed said order with utmost haste. Her abrupt departure had resulted in her attacker, Pest, to careen into the floor below. Aera noticed the navi literally lead with her head, and her needle-like proboscis was firmly imbedded in the platform floor. Aera looked back to locate Cruz, as her ally appeared to be incumbered by the collision, but saw just the tail end of a jackout animation. With no enemies in sight, she floated to Pest. "Everything alright?" she inquired. If her ally had difficulties freeing herself, Aera would've provided assistance, namely by tugging somewhere on the mask. She would've just pulled on her body, but feared it could cause injuries to her neck and/or head.
Yasu had successfully boarded the bomber, and announced their victory before she verbally contemplated the idea of commandeering the ship for the NS's own use. Though not certain to be a literal response to the general, the bomber announced its own intentions. Both Vector and Aera paused and listened, while Mach overheard the craft as he banked around several dozen meters away. TerrorMan intended to carry out "Operation Green Earth," by self-destructing itself, presumably within the confines of the camp. ["Oooh crap."] Mazer accidentally said aloud.
Mach could see the array of thrusters along the bottom of the craft die out, suggesting it planned to cut its engines and plunge into the camp. Mach's throttle kicked forward to push him faster towards the bomber in an attempt to intercept. "Everyone, abandon the bomber!" Mach ordered over the team's comm channel as he approached. He pulled behind the bomber and accelerated towards the platform, but suddenly his aircraft form started to tumble forward and fragment. The flurry of metal and data quickly dissipated, leaving behind the NS Uniformed Mach, cradling Skywriter in his arms. His bird-like wings splayed outwards as he closed in on the platform, and glanced down momentarily to Skywriter before he gave her direction. "I want you to get General Yasu and get her out of here. Fall back as far as you can, alright?"
["Can't you take them both back?"] Mazer asked. Mach paused at the platform and eased the Navi down, then darted towards the back of the bomber. "It's cutting its engines, if it loses airspeed now it'll crash in the encampment. I can't let that happen, send me all of our DashAttacks! Mach braced his arms against the back of the craft, then angled his body and wings parallel to the ground. His wings folded back like a bird in a dive, indicating Mach was raising his thrust output to near maximum. As he pushed harder and harder against the bomber, he opened a line to Sideburns. "The bomber is travelling west, evacuate everyone towards the eastern area of the camp if they aren't already deep underground. This coming down hard."
Aera followed orders dutifully, and ushered Pest off the platform, and Yasu to Skywriter's (hopefully) capable hands. She saw that Mach was attempting to push the bomber further away from the center of the base, and looked around to find Vector. Inside the bomber, Vector's previous suggestion became much more necessary upon hearing TerrorMan planned to crash and detonate itself. "We must depart now! Even if that means cutting our way out!" He expected Roc to understand and react quickly to the situation at hand, and was prepared to call out directions if she appeared to be having trouble navigating to an exit. Even with Mach trying to lessen the decay of the aircraft's speed, Vector could feel the aircraft slowing and starting to pitch downward.
Mazer had uploaded the requested DashAttack1 and 2 battlechips, which Mach activated simultaneously as soon as they were uploaded. Instead of gradually ramping up the amount of thrust, he elected to deliver a "shove" to quickly maintain or even increase the bomber's airspeed. Unless TerrorMan used its flight control surfaces to angle itself towards the ground, it would continue to glide until it slows to the point its wings can no longer produce lift, which would send the aircraft into a stall, followed by a terminal spin. Mach had to delay that as long as possible. The simultaneous activation of the chips along with his thrusters going to maximum caused the .GMO to lose fidelity; the soles of his boots started to glow bright orange for a split second before long trails of cyan flame burst forth with a frantic howl. The dark blue material over his chest suffered a similar fate due to his chest thrusters rocketing at full power. His wings started to 'unravel' as well, as two massive jets of cyan rocketed outwards from each, causing the feathers to be torn loose before promptly getting incinerated in the flames. Mach's groans under the stress of the thrust were drowned out by the roar of his engines, the individual cyan jets quickly became so large they seemed to blend together into one large rocket-like afterburner.
Though his Navi was doing his damnedest to keep the bomber from careening into the camp, Mazer was afraid it wouldn't be enough. He opened a line in the team channel. ["If you're not evacuating, get to the wing roots and help Mach out! Once the bomber is clear, or it's about to crash, fall back!"] Aera was several steps ahead of her NetOp, she had already moved to one of the wing roots and hooked her hands over the trailing edge of the wing with the rest of her body up and over. Her significantly smaller wings buzzed angrily as they quickly reached their upper limit for output, several pale blue bolts of electricity arced between the wings and the bomber's fuselage as the SP struggled to help push the bomber away from the encampment. If Vector and Roc had made it outside, he would've quickly detached from the Navi and swarmed to the opposite wing root. He rapidly reshaped himself into his samurai-esque form and took a similar position to Aera. His calf and back armor opened up like window slats as they rapidly began to glow blue, and inky white mist jetted backwards. The fractal SP's arms seemed to elongate slightly from the strain, but his body continued to hold together.
Though Mach couldn't see ahead of him, he could rely on his own positioning software to determine the bomber's height and rate of descent. Both Mach and his NetOp watched the readouts closely, particularly the rate of descent. They feared the bomber would recognize the group's actions, and actively angle itself towards the ground using its control surfaces. A sudden increase in its vertical velocity would clue them in, and prompt Mazer to wave everyone off early, instead of waiting for the aircraft to overfly the encampment or get too low to save. Once it became apparent the craft was doomed, Mazer signaled the group on the comm channel. ["Break away! Break away! Get clear!"] Aera and Vector would've complied immediately, but would then immediately realize Mach was still actively propelling the bomber. The onset of horror would've been neutralized once they realized Mach had the means to teleport away at the last moment, giving him several more crucial seconds to push the bomber further from the encampment. Mach gave himself a limit of 30 feet above ground, as soon as he reached that point, he would attempt to teleport to a point high above the eastern edge of the camp, to hope his plan worked, and survey the resulting effects.
-Active Chips/Signature Attacks-
DashAttack1 x2, DashAttack2: MachMan.EXE (0dmg + Impact + LineAttack(5) + Movement)
Turbo Dash: Movement + (Microburst(Nova2) x3) + BusterLock (240pts +20Nerf)
SCRAM Boost: Teleport +2TCD (80pts)
-------------------------------
Aera heard the call for surrender as it rang throughout the bomber, and saw Load followed said order with utmost haste. Her abrupt departure had resulted in her attacker, Pest, to careen into the floor below. Aera noticed the navi literally lead with her head, and her needle-like proboscis was firmly imbedded in the platform floor. Aera looked back to locate Cruz, as her ally appeared to be incumbered by the collision, but saw just the tail end of a jackout animation. With no enemies in sight, she floated to Pest. "Everything alright?" she inquired. If her ally had difficulties freeing herself, Aera would've provided assistance, namely by tugging somewhere on the mask. She would've just pulled on her body, but feared it could cause injuries to her neck and/or head.
Yasu had successfully boarded the bomber, and announced their victory before she verbally contemplated the idea of commandeering the ship for the NS's own use. Though not certain to be a literal response to the general, the bomber announced its own intentions. Both Vector and Aera paused and listened, while Mach overheard the craft as he banked around several dozen meters away. TerrorMan intended to carry out "Operation Green Earth," by self-destructing itself, presumably within the confines of the camp. ["Oooh crap."] Mazer accidentally said aloud.
Mach could see the array of thrusters along the bottom of the craft die out, suggesting it planned to cut its engines and plunge into the camp. Mach's throttle kicked forward to push him faster towards the bomber in an attempt to intercept. "Everyone, abandon the bomber!" Mach ordered over the team's comm channel as he approached. He pulled behind the bomber and accelerated towards the platform, but suddenly his aircraft form started to tumble forward and fragment. The flurry of metal and data quickly dissipated, leaving behind the NS Uniformed Mach, cradling Skywriter in his arms. His bird-like wings splayed outwards as he closed in on the platform, and glanced down momentarily to Skywriter before he gave her direction. "I want you to get General Yasu and get her out of here. Fall back as far as you can, alright?"
["Can't you take them both back?"] Mazer asked. Mach paused at the platform and eased the Navi down, then darted towards the back of the bomber. "It's cutting its engines, if it loses airspeed now it'll crash in the encampment. I can't let that happen, send me all of our DashAttacks! Mach braced his arms against the back of the craft, then angled his body and wings parallel to the ground. His wings folded back like a bird in a dive, indicating Mach was raising his thrust output to near maximum. As he pushed harder and harder against the bomber, he opened a line to Sideburns. "The bomber is travelling west, evacuate everyone towards the eastern area of the camp if they aren't already deep underground. This coming down hard."
Aera followed orders dutifully, and ushered Pest off the platform, and Yasu to Skywriter's (hopefully) capable hands. She saw that Mach was attempting to push the bomber further away from the center of the base, and looked around to find Vector. Inside the bomber, Vector's previous suggestion became much more necessary upon hearing TerrorMan planned to crash and detonate itself. "We must depart now! Even if that means cutting our way out!" He expected Roc to understand and react quickly to the situation at hand, and was prepared to call out directions if she appeared to be having trouble navigating to an exit. Even with Mach trying to lessen the decay of the aircraft's speed, Vector could feel the aircraft slowing and starting to pitch downward.
Mazer had uploaded the requested DashAttack1 and 2 battlechips, which Mach activated simultaneously as soon as they were uploaded. Instead of gradually ramping up the amount of thrust, he elected to deliver a "shove" to quickly maintain or even increase the bomber's airspeed. Unless TerrorMan used its flight control surfaces to angle itself towards the ground, it would continue to glide until it slows to the point its wings can no longer produce lift, which would send the aircraft into a stall, followed by a terminal spin. Mach had to delay that as long as possible. The simultaneous activation of the chips along with his thrusters going to maximum caused the .GMO to lose fidelity; the soles of his boots started to glow bright orange for a split second before long trails of cyan flame burst forth with a frantic howl. The dark blue material over his chest suffered a similar fate due to his chest thrusters rocketing at full power. His wings started to 'unravel' as well, as two massive jets of cyan rocketed outwards from each, causing the feathers to be torn loose before promptly getting incinerated in the flames. Mach's groans under the stress of the thrust were drowned out by the roar of his engines, the individual cyan jets quickly became so large they seemed to blend together into one large rocket-like afterburner.
Though his Navi was doing his damnedest to keep the bomber from careening into the camp, Mazer was afraid it wouldn't be enough. He opened a line in the team channel. ["If you're not evacuating, get to the wing roots and help Mach out! Once the bomber is clear, or it's about to crash, fall back!"] Aera was several steps ahead of her NetOp, she had already moved to one of the wing roots and hooked her hands over the trailing edge of the wing with the rest of her body up and over. Her significantly smaller wings buzzed angrily as they quickly reached their upper limit for output, several pale blue bolts of electricity arced between the wings and the bomber's fuselage as the SP struggled to help push the bomber away from the encampment. If Vector and Roc had made it outside, he would've quickly detached from the Navi and swarmed to the opposite wing root. He rapidly reshaped himself into his samurai-esque form and took a similar position to Aera. His calf and back armor opened up like window slats as they rapidly began to glow blue, and inky white mist jetted backwards. The fractal SP's arms seemed to elongate slightly from the strain, but his body continued to hold together.
Though Mach couldn't see ahead of him, he could rely on his own positioning software to determine the bomber's height and rate of descent. Both Mach and his NetOp watched the readouts closely, particularly the rate of descent. They feared the bomber would recognize the group's actions, and actively angle itself towards the ground using its control surfaces. A sudden increase in its vertical velocity would clue them in, and prompt Mazer to wave everyone off early, instead of waiting for the aircraft to overfly the encampment or get too low to save. Once it became apparent the craft was doomed, Mazer signaled the group on the comm channel. ["Break away! Break away! Get clear!"] Aera and Vector would've complied immediately, but would then immediately realize Mach was still actively propelling the bomber. The onset of horror would've been neutralized once they realized Mach had the means to teleport away at the last moment, giving him several more crucial seconds to push the bomber further from the encampment. Mach gave himself a limit of 30 feet above ground, as soon as he reached that point, he would attempt to teleport to a point high above the eastern edge of the camp, to hope his plan worked, and survey the resulting effects.
-Active Chips/Signature Attacks-
DashAttack1 x2, DashAttack2: MachMan.EXE (0dmg + Impact + LineAttack(5) + Movement)
Turbo Dash: Movement + (Microburst(Nova2) x3) + BusterLock (240pts +20Nerf)
SCRAM Boost: Teleport +2TCD (80pts)
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Given the situation that MachMan's crew found themselves in, Vector could at least consider himself fortunate that the exit out of the operating room was easy enough to locate: an open hatch sat near the back of the room, although whatever noises might be coming from below were basically blocked out from a combination of the ship's heavily armored underside and the heavy grinding of machinery above the room. In fact, Roc probably wouldn't have even known it was time to evacuate the ship if she hadn't heard Vector confirm it, seeing as the sound of the skull's voice was so warped inside of the tank-plane itself. The open hatch ended up being a huge blessing for both of them, as, after descending quickly through using flight rather than climbing down, they would both confirm that the armor was pretty thick; cutting through it would have taken a good bit longer than simply tearing through the hidden space between the skull and the operating room.
All Neo-Shogun forces regrouped beneath the ship, in the hanger, which was slowly losing its flat, horizontal orientation. Yasu realized this and, while not panicked, was clearly listening attentively as MachMan gave Skywriter his plans. Skywriter did her best to listen while being carried like a bride, trying to fight the red off of her face and focus on the mission. "Um... so... I'll take Yasu away from the crash! Right!" she affirmed, giving a small salute while still huddled in MachMan's arms. Once she had her feet on the platform, she took a look at Yasu... then turned back to MachMan, with a skeptical, awkward smile. "I-I'm supposed to carry the general?" She couldn't help envisioning herself carrying the larger, muscle-heavy woman in her arms like MachMan had carried her. "This is going to be tricky..."
"Don't disobey orders, Recruit!" Yasu snapped, grabbing her arm hastily. "Our commander for this mission has gotten us this far! Now's not the time to start questioning his decisions!"
"O-Okay! You're right! But you have to let go of my arm or we aren't going to be able to fly... I need both hands free," Skywriter reminded the First General. "So... maybe grab around my shoulders, like you're hugging me... And we'll lift off from the platform, slowly... Ack, n-nevermind, now I'm too front-heavy!" she warned, aborting her first lift-off attempt as soon as it started. "Er, this will be difficult... but I think the best way might be if we hover down to the ground. You'll need to grab hold of my legs and dangle below me, so that my front nor my back become too heavy." The First General was clearly taking offense at the idea that she was too heavy for any of this, but begrudgingly accepted, grabbing hold of her recruit's shapely legs and hugging her face to her thighs. Skywriter became red in the face again and shook her head. "No, still too high! You've got to hold my ankles!" Groaning, Yasu shifted her grasp so that she was holding onto only the thinnest part of the legs. "You'll be swinging for a bit... so keep calm..."
"You're the one who needs to calm down," Yasu warned the recruit, to which Skywriter nodded in response and took off hesitantly. Once Yasu finally left the platform, the scene became even more slapstick, with Skywriter struggling to keep her balance as the two dangled through the air, descending slowly into the distance. Hopefully they'd land okay...? Yasu raised her head for a moment, then looked aside, somewhat distastefully. "What were you hoping to accomplish, coming here with underpants like that?" Those were the last words MachMan heard before they got out of range.
Pestilence was having some troubles of her own; her mask had become stuck into the surface of the hangar floor, and pulling on it didn't appear to be particularly effective. "Bzzzz! Aaah! I can't get it out!" she cried, finally freeing herself from the mask. Thus relieved, her face was... not as comforting as one might hope. Her eyes, while not as bulbous, were still yellow and gridded into a compound surface, implying that she might really have 'bug eyes.' Furthermore, her mouth consisted of only a single-pronged plug slot, where something must connect from her mask into her face. Anyone hoping for her to be a cute girl underneath her iconic mask was bound to be disappointed or shocked, unless they had very odd tastes. "Well, we can leave it... I should be able to refresh it later," she murmured, although she clearly didn't want to abandon it.
Sideburns responded to MachMan, with relatively bad news.
MachMan didn't really have a good chance to respond right now and certainly not to entertain the soldier's Yasu obsession. All of the remaining hands who hadn't evacuated, those being MachMan, his SPs, Roc, and Pest. Using DashAttack battlechips, MachMan attempted to apply as much pressure as possible onto the back of the ship. The good news: TerrorMan did not appear to be correcting his direction to do more damage or firing his thrusters to try to fry MachMan (indeed, he hadn't even spoken since giving his initial message). The bad news: budging the ship appeared nigh-impossible. If the whole thing was as thin as the wings or that under-skull area, it would probably be possible to move it, but trying to budge a tank would be difficult, let alone a tank carrying a giant skull, let alone the same thing outfitted with wings and an underside bomb hangar.
MachMan could feel himself giving the ship some distance, perhaps, but was completely unable to steer it upward. Worse, the ship was beginning to fall into the descent he'd known it would. Pest had joined Aera on her wing and Roc had joined Vector, but soon, Aera and Pest would both be forced to either abandon their wing or be dragged down with the weight of the ship (or at least pop their arms out of their sockets). Roc continued to hold on hard, as did Vector, but they experienced a problem opposite to Aera's; their wing simply broke off, having earlier been nearly severed from the ship. At this point, it didn't seem like it was going to effect the plane's descent or balance much; it was now beginning to sharply nose-dive towards the guest tents at the very opposite side of the camp from the Shogun's quarters. Thankfully, it seemed like Sideburns' prediction was off-base; they'd already passed over the bunker, perhaps owing to the extra thrust MachMan had provided from behind.
"Crap, I'm not losing all of my weapons! I'm getting the hell out of here!" Roc surrendered, making a beeline away from the ship. Around this time, MachMan would be forced to abandon the ship as well, or otherwise risk being caught in the giant, green EMP explosion that was sure to result. Roc, Vector, and MachMan would all rejoin Pest and Aera in a full on retreat from the crash.
If any of them had time to look behind themselves, they'd witness a spectacle unlikely to be repeated on the net. The tremendous golden vessel smashed into the ground, continuing to skid across the ground and losing its hanger somewhere in the process; the platform may have been crushed beneath it or the supports may have been damaged. Regardless, they could watch the ship drag for only a moment, devastating the wall at the back of the compound and the many guest tents established for visitors to the encampment, before everything disappeared in a vibrant green light, too bright to stare at for any length of time. Hopefully, everyone had been evacuated. Fortune followed MachMan and his soldiers, as none of them began to feel weak, nauseous, or otherwise eternally deprived of their weapons (at least not any more so than they were already feeling). There was a possibility that Prez had bluffed somewhat about the effective range or damage the bombs could cause... but then, no-one could speak to whether the ground would remain "radioactive" from the explosion, as she'd implied it might. There was also, of course, a large, ugly blemish where the ship had taken out the guest's quarters and scorched the earth beneath it; several small fires had started , spreading slowly through the wreckage but not developing into a wildfire or anything particularly threatening.
Now, the five would have to decide where, exactly, to report back to. The most likely answer was the Neo-Shogun's on-site residence, a mysterious wooden lodge on the other side of the compound. Also in that area was an open-air bath (obviously empty, that much being apparent even from a distance) and a small building with an unknown purpose. Ordinarily, these were hidden behind a large gate dividing the main camp from the general's area, but MachMan would be able to see them as he approached using his unique gift of flight. He could also see that the gate was, indeed, still locked, probably for fear of intruders sneaking in.
"My arms feel like they're going to fall off, bzzzz," Pest commented, drooping sadly in the air as her eyes faded back from yellow to red. There was a good chance she would have let go of the plane earlier, had it not been for the boost of energy she'd absorbed. She didn't seem to be aware if she was making anyone uncomfortable with her bizarre face.
"Bah! If only we hadn't tried to cut through that wing earlier, I could have given us some more height and made that plane go way farther before it crashed," Roc commented; while that was likely not true and a little rude, it was, perhaps, impressive to hear her talking as though she genuinely cared about the wreckage to the camp.
All Neo-Shogun forces regrouped beneath the ship, in the hanger, which was slowly losing its flat, horizontal orientation. Yasu realized this and, while not panicked, was clearly listening attentively as MachMan gave Skywriter his plans. Skywriter did her best to listen while being carried like a bride, trying to fight the red off of her face and focus on the mission. "Um... so... I'll take Yasu away from the crash! Right!" she affirmed, giving a small salute while still huddled in MachMan's arms. Once she had her feet on the platform, she took a look at Yasu... then turned back to MachMan, with a skeptical, awkward smile. "I-I'm supposed to carry the general?" She couldn't help envisioning herself carrying the larger, muscle-heavy woman in her arms like MachMan had carried her. "This is going to be tricky..."
"Don't disobey orders, Recruit!" Yasu snapped, grabbing her arm hastily. "Our commander for this mission has gotten us this far! Now's not the time to start questioning his decisions!"
"O-Okay! You're right! But you have to let go of my arm or we aren't going to be able to fly... I need both hands free," Skywriter reminded the First General. "So... maybe grab around my shoulders, like you're hugging me... And we'll lift off from the platform, slowly... Ack, n-nevermind, now I'm too front-heavy!" she warned, aborting her first lift-off attempt as soon as it started. "Er, this will be difficult... but I think the best way might be if we hover down to the ground. You'll need to grab hold of my legs and dangle below me, so that my front nor my back become too heavy." The First General was clearly taking offense at the idea that she was too heavy for any of this, but begrudgingly accepted, grabbing hold of her recruit's shapely legs and hugging her face to her thighs. Skywriter became red in the face again and shook her head. "No, still too high! You've got to hold my ankles!" Groaning, Yasu shifted her grasp so that she was holding onto only the thinnest part of the legs. "You'll be swinging for a bit... so keep calm..."
"You're the one who needs to calm down," Yasu warned the recruit, to which Skywriter nodded in response and took off hesitantly. Once Yasu finally left the platform, the scene became even more slapstick, with Skywriter struggling to keep her balance as the two dangled through the air, descending slowly into the distance. Hopefully they'd land okay...? Yasu raised her head for a moment, then looked aside, somewhat distastefully. "What were you hoping to accomplish, coming here with underpants like that?" Those were the last words MachMan heard before they got out of range.
Pestilence was having some troubles of her own; her mask had become stuck into the surface of the hangar floor, and pulling on it didn't appear to be particularly effective. "Bzzzz! Aaah! I can't get it out!" she cried, finally freeing herself from the mask. Thus relieved, her face was... not as comforting as one might hope. Her eyes, while not as bulbous, were still yellow and gridded into a compound surface, implying that she might really have 'bug eyes.' Furthermore, her mouth consisted of only a single-pronged plug slot, where something must connect from her mask into her face. Anyone hoping for her to be a cute girl underneath her iconic mask was bound to be disappointed or shocked, unless they had very odd tastes. "Well, we can leave it... I should be able to refresh it later," she murmured, although she clearly didn't want to abandon it.
Sideburns responded to MachMan, with relatively bad news.
Quote ()
"I've got everyone on the other side of the camp, but we can't really get underground on this side... I've been moving everyone around as the ship changes direction. But if it's really coming down right now, the bunker's the worst place to be; your ship's headed right towards the bunker. I don't think we're in any danger, but if that ship hits the bunker, you're probably going to detonate the bombs underground too... So nobody better be near the ship when it connects. Where's the First General?"
MachMan didn't really have a good chance to respond right now and certainly not to entertain the soldier's Yasu obsession. All of the remaining hands who hadn't evacuated, those being MachMan, his SPs, Roc, and Pest. Using DashAttack battlechips, MachMan attempted to apply as much pressure as possible onto the back of the ship. The good news: TerrorMan did not appear to be correcting his direction to do more damage or firing his thrusters to try to fry MachMan (indeed, he hadn't even spoken since giving his initial message). The bad news: budging the ship appeared nigh-impossible. If the whole thing was as thin as the wings or that under-skull area, it would probably be possible to move it, but trying to budge a tank would be difficult, let alone a tank carrying a giant skull, let alone the same thing outfitted with wings and an underside bomb hangar.
MachMan could feel himself giving the ship some distance, perhaps, but was completely unable to steer it upward. Worse, the ship was beginning to fall into the descent he'd known it would. Pest had joined Aera on her wing and Roc had joined Vector, but soon, Aera and Pest would both be forced to either abandon their wing or be dragged down with the weight of the ship (or at least pop their arms out of their sockets). Roc continued to hold on hard, as did Vector, but they experienced a problem opposite to Aera's; their wing simply broke off, having earlier been nearly severed from the ship. At this point, it didn't seem like it was going to effect the plane's descent or balance much; it was now beginning to sharply nose-dive towards the guest tents at the very opposite side of the camp from the Shogun's quarters. Thankfully, it seemed like Sideburns' prediction was off-base; they'd already passed over the bunker, perhaps owing to the extra thrust MachMan had provided from behind.
"Crap, I'm not losing all of my weapons! I'm getting the hell out of here!" Roc surrendered, making a beeline away from the ship. Around this time, MachMan would be forced to abandon the ship as well, or otherwise risk being caught in the giant, green EMP explosion that was sure to result. Roc, Vector, and MachMan would all rejoin Pest and Aera in a full on retreat from the crash.
If any of them had time to look behind themselves, they'd witness a spectacle unlikely to be repeated on the net. The tremendous golden vessel smashed into the ground, continuing to skid across the ground and losing its hanger somewhere in the process; the platform may have been crushed beneath it or the supports may have been damaged. Regardless, they could watch the ship drag for only a moment, devastating the wall at the back of the compound and the many guest tents established for visitors to the encampment, before everything disappeared in a vibrant green light, too bright to stare at for any length of time. Hopefully, everyone had been evacuated. Fortune followed MachMan and his soldiers, as none of them began to feel weak, nauseous, or otherwise eternally deprived of their weapons (at least not any more so than they were already feeling). There was a possibility that Prez had bluffed somewhat about the effective range or damage the bombs could cause... but then, no-one could speak to whether the ground would remain "radioactive" from the explosion, as she'd implied it might. There was also, of course, a large, ugly blemish where the ship had taken out the guest's quarters and scorched the earth beneath it; several small fires had started , spreading slowly through the wreckage but not developing into a wildfire or anything particularly threatening.
Now, the five would have to decide where, exactly, to report back to. The most likely answer was the Neo-Shogun's on-site residence, a mysterious wooden lodge on the other side of the compound. Also in that area was an open-air bath (obviously empty, that much being apparent even from a distance) and a small building with an unknown purpose. Ordinarily, these were hidden behind a large gate dividing the main camp from the general's area, but MachMan would be able to see them as he approached using his unique gift of flight. He could also see that the gate was, indeed, still locked, probably for fear of intruders sneaking in.
"My arms feel like they're going to fall off, bzzzz," Pest commented, drooping sadly in the air as her eyes faded back from yellow to red. There was a good chance she would have let go of the plane earlier, had it not been for the boost of energy she'd absorbed. She didn't seem to be aware if she was making anyone uncomfortable with her bizarre face.
"Bah! If only we hadn't tried to cut through that wing earlier, I could have given us some more height and made that plane go way farther before it crashed," Roc commented; while that was likely not true and a little rude, it was, perhaps, impressive to hear her talking as though she genuinely cared about the wreckage to the camp.
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The good news was everyone was able to egress from the bomber, but the bad news was the added help proved to be too much for the bomber's already weakened wing structure. Roc and Vector were nearly thrown from the bomber as the wing was sheared from the fuselage. Vector essentially tumbled over the top of the wing as it hurtled up and away, freed from the weight of the rest of the bomber. He quickly reoriented himself and looked back towards both Aera and Mach as the bomber started to roll sharply, beginning its fatal nosedive. Mazer quickly waved off the crew, but Aera (and likely Pest) had already fallen back from the wing and began their hasty retreat behind Vector and Roc. Mach watched his own orientation point further and further below the horizon to the ground below along with a rapidly increasing roll, following the movement of TerrorMan itself. It didn't take long for him to realize they were in a situation of diminishing returns, as TerrorMan was mere moments from impacting terrain.
A blink of an eye and a cyan flash later, Mach was a safe distance away, watching the golden crippled aircraft touch down just past the bunker. TerrorMan's structure surprisingly didn't immediately crumple under its own weight, and slid along the ground before being drowned out in a blindingly green explosion. Mach raised his arm to shield his eyes out of reflex, then looked away as he began to evaluate his systems. He didn't see any immediate changes, maybe one had to be caught in the physical explosion to feel the effects? As the explosion subsided, he turned back to see if he could visually confirm his crew had successfully egressed from the area. "All players, all players, report status," he said over the comm channel. Aera was first to respond, she tried to stay close to Pest, especially since she started to voice her apparent fatigue. "Pest and I are safe, worn out though." Vector responded as well, he tried to stay within eyeshot of Roc, though her strength and speed made it difficult to keep up. "Miss Roc and I are also safe and sound. What of General Yasu and Miss Skywriter?"
Mach had last seen and heard Skywriter and Yasu feebly sinking away from the bomber several seconds before he started his attempt to push the bomber, so it was possible they managed to gain some significant distance before the explosion. He waited for their response tentatively as he scanned the area below, hoping to get clued in from their movement. Hopefully he received a response, and decided it would be best for them to regroup on the ground to assess the situation and debrief. Mach saw a compound just below him, opposite the base from the marred impact crater. As it stood out from the rest of the architecture of the encampment, he assumed it was either dedicated to the generals or possibly the Shogun himself. Though landing on the Shogun's doorstep might be a breach in etiquette, he'd be close enough to give an immediate report on the status of the encampment and the NS forces. "Regroup in the wooden walled compound below, near the bath," he directed, using the open air bath as a large, unique ground feature to help his team navigate to the new rendezvous point. As Vector and Aera made their way towards their Mach, he began to descend gradually towards the compound, occasionally looking out to see if any other hostiles decided to pop up, as well as confirming his teammates' positions.
A blink of an eye and a cyan flash later, Mach was a safe distance away, watching the golden crippled aircraft touch down just past the bunker. TerrorMan's structure surprisingly didn't immediately crumple under its own weight, and slid along the ground before being drowned out in a blindingly green explosion. Mach raised his arm to shield his eyes out of reflex, then looked away as he began to evaluate his systems. He didn't see any immediate changes, maybe one had to be caught in the physical explosion to feel the effects? As the explosion subsided, he turned back to see if he could visually confirm his crew had successfully egressed from the area. "All players, all players, report status," he said over the comm channel. Aera was first to respond, she tried to stay close to Pest, especially since she started to voice her apparent fatigue. "Pest and I are safe, worn out though." Vector responded as well, he tried to stay within eyeshot of Roc, though her strength and speed made it difficult to keep up. "Miss Roc and I are also safe and sound. What of General Yasu and Miss Skywriter?"
Mach had last seen and heard Skywriter and Yasu feebly sinking away from the bomber several seconds before he started his attempt to push the bomber, so it was possible they managed to gain some significant distance before the explosion. He waited for their response tentatively as he scanned the area below, hoping to get clued in from their movement. Hopefully he received a response, and decided it would be best for them to regroup on the ground to assess the situation and debrief. Mach saw a compound just below him, opposite the base from the marred impact crater. As it stood out from the rest of the architecture of the encampment, he assumed it was either dedicated to the generals or possibly the Shogun himself. Though landing on the Shogun's doorstep might be a breach in etiquette, he'd be close enough to give an immediate report on the status of the encampment and the NS forces. "Regroup in the wooden walled compound below, near the bath," he directed, using the open air bath as a large, unique ground feature to help his team navigate to the new rendezvous point. As Vector and Aera made their way towards their Mach, he began to descend gradually towards the compound, occasionally looking out to see if any other hostiles decided to pop up, as well as confirming his teammates' positions.
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MachMan and company reported their status over communication channels to the others. Yasu piped in soon enough, explaining the situation with herself and Skywriter:
"Huh?! That bitch! I did all the work during this operation and she doesn't trust me in front of the Shogun cause, what, she thinks I'm not going to rub him the way he likes it?! Screw that!" Roc commented, basically proving Yasu's point. "There's no way I'm waiting outside. The whole point of this was so I could get people from the Shogun army to help me rescue my sister. I'm not passing up the chance to talk about it to the Shogun." It seemed it would be difficult to keep Roc out of the room, although Vector might at least want to cover up her chest before she went in. Then again, maybe the Shogun was used to (or even enjoyed?) that kind of thing, given what he seemed willing to approve for his other subordinates to wear.
Soon enough, the group reassembled in front of the Shogun's lodge, with the exception of Yasu and Skywriter, who were already inside. Pestilence took a moment to refresh her mask onto her face, after getting the sense that people might be staring... not that the mask was much more ordinary. The sound of chatter coming from within the walls made it clear that most of the Shogun's forces, who hadn't already jacked out, must be assembled inside. Opening the door proved that theory, as the inside was jam-packed with similar looking, muscular men in yellow tunics. It was like seeing about a hundred copies of Sideburns, but without the sideburns. The inside of the building itself was highly unremarkable, dimly lit with wooden walls and floors, looking a bit more like it was intended for silent, solitary meditation than to receive guests. The men all parted about as well as they could, to leave a pathway wide enough for a line two-persons thick to make their way through. Roc wasn't giving up the chance to get inside, and muscled her way near the front of the group as they proceeded inwards. Several soldiers seemed to be having a hard time keeping their hands to themselves, seeing new recruits come through, but they were thankfully able to restrain themselves... possibly because the one they'd be most likely to grope had giant talons on her hands. Chatter buzzed eagerly around, although the room was now quieting down, since it was clear MachMan was going to be addressing the Shogun.
Near the end of the path, MachMan and his crew found a colorful assortment of generals and subordinates assembled, who again parted to allow him into the circle. At the center sat Neo-ShogunMan, with Yasu seated on his left and a gray-clad woman on his right. She didn't have the ordinary NS army look... which was to say, her hair was a bit scraggly and white, her body very thin and fully covered in gray, and her face eerie, with a long, mechanical monocle extending off of her eyepatch (amusingly, that meant both the Shogun's left and right sides held a girl with an eyepatch currently). "Thank you for the report, Survey," Neo-ShogunMan's voice boomed, as he raised one hand indicating they were done speaking. The woman bowed, then stepped into the ring surrounding the group. MachMan also spotted Skywriter inside the ring; she immediately began clutching her tunic down again when he looked at her. "MachMan, you have come. Survey and Yasu have both delivered their reports, regarding the state of the camp and the battle in the skies, respectively. I understand that we have you to thank for the safety of our new recruits, as well as the minimal damage that the camp received. I thank you," the Shogun began, sitting very still. "In fact, I'd say the BodyPack seems hardly enough to reward your efforts today, but then, I'm worried that the generous Dee, who funds most of our efforts here, would scold me for that," he joked.
The crowd all chuckled, as perhaps was only courteous when the Shogun made a joke. Neo-ShogunMan gave a nod to Yasu, who closed her eyes, moved forward with a stern frown, and handed over a data packet containing the aforementioned item.
*MachMan obtained BodyPack NCP!*
"We will also award you with an additional allotment of 20 faction points for your good work, in following with the army's guidelines," the armored man continued.
*MachMan received 20 FP!*
"I'd like to hear your opinion on the recruits: whether or not they are worthy of being bestowed subordinate status. Of course, if there is anything else that you desire from the army, while we are gathered in this audience, I'd wish to hear it," he finished, placing his hands into his lap. Yasu, still frowning seriously, made a motion with her eyes to indicate that anyone who wanted to speak to the Shogun had to kneel to him. Roc was probably about to speak up if MachMan didn't... and probably wasn't going to bow... so it would probably be a good idea for him to deliver her request himself if he wanted to avoid another fun headbutting session between the winged recruit and the first general.
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"The landing was not ideal in its execution; we were lucky that the enemy had surrendered and disengaged, because that maneuver left us both easy targets for a substantial period of time, not to mention that, without my trained muscles to act as a cushion upon landing, Skywriter and myself could have been injured when touching down. In the future, we will need to either outfit Skywriter more appropriately for such a task, perhaps with handles or a rope that can be lowered from her lower body, or otherwise think of an alternative option. I understand that you didn't have a lot of time to think about the most appropriate strategy, of course, so we'll chock it up to the best that could be done on-the-spot.
The two of us have reached the Shogun's visiting hall in the back of the compound. As you all will be in the presence of the Shogun, I would ask that you all keep in mind that the utmost respect be shown to Him at all times. Ordinarily, no Neo-Shogun member below General rank- including subordinates, recruits, or soldiers- are allowed into this area, but it will be both a privilege and a necessity that we gather there today.
Please, either reign in Roc before she enters or otherwise leave her outside.
"Huh?! That bitch! I did all the work during this operation and she doesn't trust me in front of the Shogun cause, what, she thinks I'm not going to rub him the way he likes it?! Screw that!" Roc commented, basically proving Yasu's point. "There's no way I'm waiting outside. The whole point of this was so I could get people from the Shogun army to help me rescue my sister. I'm not passing up the chance to talk about it to the Shogun." It seemed it would be difficult to keep Roc out of the room, although Vector might at least want to cover up her chest before she went in. Then again, maybe the Shogun was used to (or even enjoyed?) that kind of thing, given what he seemed willing to approve for his other subordinates to wear.
Soon enough, the group reassembled in front of the Shogun's lodge, with the exception of Yasu and Skywriter, who were already inside. Pestilence took a moment to refresh her mask onto her face, after getting the sense that people might be staring... not that the mask was much more ordinary. The sound of chatter coming from within the walls made it clear that most of the Shogun's forces, who hadn't already jacked out, must be assembled inside. Opening the door proved that theory, as the inside was jam-packed with similar looking, muscular men in yellow tunics. It was like seeing about a hundred copies of Sideburns, but without the sideburns. The inside of the building itself was highly unremarkable, dimly lit with wooden walls and floors, looking a bit more like it was intended for silent, solitary meditation than to receive guests. The men all parted about as well as they could, to leave a pathway wide enough for a line two-persons thick to make their way through. Roc wasn't giving up the chance to get inside, and muscled her way near the front of the group as they proceeded inwards. Several soldiers seemed to be having a hard time keeping their hands to themselves, seeing new recruits come through, but they were thankfully able to restrain themselves... possibly because the one they'd be most likely to grope had giant talons on her hands. Chatter buzzed eagerly around, although the room was now quieting down, since it was clear MachMan was going to be addressing the Shogun.
Near the end of the path, MachMan and his crew found a colorful assortment of generals and subordinates assembled, who again parted to allow him into the circle. At the center sat Neo-ShogunMan, with Yasu seated on his left and a gray-clad woman on his right. She didn't have the ordinary NS army look... which was to say, her hair was a bit scraggly and white, her body very thin and fully covered in gray, and her face eerie, with a long, mechanical monocle extending off of her eyepatch (amusingly, that meant both the Shogun's left and right sides held a girl with an eyepatch currently). "Thank you for the report, Survey," Neo-ShogunMan's voice boomed, as he raised one hand indicating they were done speaking. The woman bowed, then stepped into the ring surrounding the group. MachMan also spotted Skywriter inside the ring; she immediately began clutching her tunic down again when he looked at her. "MachMan, you have come. Survey and Yasu have both delivered their reports, regarding the state of the camp and the battle in the skies, respectively. I understand that we have you to thank for the safety of our new recruits, as well as the minimal damage that the camp received. I thank you," the Shogun began, sitting very still. "In fact, I'd say the BodyPack seems hardly enough to reward your efforts today, but then, I'm worried that the generous Dee, who funds most of our efforts here, would scold me for that," he joked.
The crowd all chuckled, as perhaps was only courteous when the Shogun made a joke. Neo-ShogunMan gave a nod to Yasu, who closed her eyes, moved forward with a stern frown, and handed over a data packet containing the aforementioned item.
*MachMan obtained BodyPack NCP!*
"We will also award you with an additional allotment of 20 faction points for your good work, in following with the army's guidelines," the armored man continued.
*MachMan received 20 FP!*
"I'd like to hear your opinion on the recruits: whether or not they are worthy of being bestowed subordinate status. Of course, if there is anything else that you desire from the army, while we are gathered in this audience, I'd wish to hear it," he finished, placing his hands into his lap. Yasu, still frowning seriously, made a motion with her eyes to indicate that anyone who wanted to speak to the Shogun had to kneel to him. Roc was probably about to speak up if MachMan didn't... and probably wasn't going to bow... so it would probably be a good idea for him to deliver her request himself if he wanted to avoid another fun headbutting session between the winged recruit and the first general.
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Thankfully Yasu responded quickly, and though it didn't go as she would've liked both she and Skywriter had successfully landed. Her following suggestions to improve Skywriter's aerial lift capabilities were quite ridiculous, but they gave Mach an amusing mental picture, especially the rope ladder idea... Yasu snapped back to business at hand, and gave him de facto approval for entry in the visiting hall at the back border of the compound, as well as a requests to muzzle or leave his avian ally outside. Roc's immediate protest was neither surprising nor subdued, though the general's request wasn't entirely unfounded thanks to Roc's previously observed behavior.
That said, Mach also knew Roc would do anything to make her voice heard, including tearing down any barriers in her way. "Understood, General," he replied, then shot a glance to Roc as he continued. "All of us will be there shortly, I'd imagine the Shogun would like to see the team in its entirety." Aera and Vector fell in behind Mach as they calmly cruised down towards the presumed visiting hall, hoping Pest and Roc would follow suit. They touched down less than a minute later at the entrance, and took a moment to catch their breath down on solid ground. Aera ran her fingers through her hair to wrangle any stray/wind-blown bangs, Pest thankfully refreshed her mask, and Vector's armor plating folded down from flight mode. Mach looked at Roc, who still had her body suit pulled down from her chest, leaving herself bouncing freely. He was about to comment, but then realized he himself wasn't exactly in "regs" either. He had two seared, jagged holes in his tunic from his now exposed thrusters, and many of the feathers in his wings were scorched or missing entirely. He tried to refresh the .GMO, and while the missing material/feathers began to slowly reform, the process appeared to require a significant amount of time. He sighed as he brushed his tunic with the back of his hand. "Well, guess that'll just have to do." He looked back up at his team, and nodded with an unseen grin under his mask. "Alright, let's head in. We're going to be talking to the Shogun himself, so we should try to be on our best behavior."
Vector stepped forward and opened the door, revealing a surprising number of similarly-dressed occupants inside. Mach and Aera thanked the fractal SP as they stepped inside; he continued to hold the door open for Pest and Roc, nodding as they entered before he too stepped inside and closed the door behind him. Though the hall was packed with people, the almost clone-like soldiers cleared a path for the group as they made their way through. Mach tried to stay at the front, with Aera just behind him and slightly to his right, then hopefully Roc and Pest behind them with Vector taking up the rear. Mach kept his head caged forward, though his eyes occasionally glanced about to take in the fairly plain details of the dimly lit room. Soon later they approached a ring of much more colorful characters and they too parted slightly to give the group room to pass. Mach noticed the chatter simmered down, and thought he might've caught a glance of Escort out of the corner of his eye, but his attention was focused on the Shogun, General Yasu, and an unknown Navi seated directly ahead. He also saw Skywriter within the ring of Navis surrounding the Shogun, she was still concerned with her tunic, and tugged it down when their eyes met.
The Navi in gray, apparently called "Survey" had just finished providing a report to NeoShogunMan, so the NS leader shifted his focus to Mach. He bowed as the Shogun addressed him, while Aera stayed back with the rest of the group as they caught up and moved in to get a good view. Mach was then praised for his efforts to protect both the recruits and the camp, then presented with his requested payment. While the rest of the room chuckled at the Shogun's joke about the reward and the group's apparently stingy financial manager, Mach kept a straight face as he accepted his payment from General Yasu. "Thank you, sir. It's more than enough." The Shogun also asked him his opinion of the recruits, as well as giving him the floor while the majority of his forces were present. The data packets disappeared as he downloaded them to his PET, and met Yasu's glare as she non-verbally indicated the necessity to bow. Mach complied, as he was already planning to do so, since Survey had done the same. He eased down to one knee, then placed his hands to the floor as he got on both of his knees in a partially hunched, seated position. His wings remained folded tightly against his back, and his eyes looked directly to the seated Shogun.
"Thank you, Honorable Shogun," he began with a bow. "My team performed admirably; I'm very proud of them. They never met until less than an hour ago, but were able to work together as a team to successfully bring down a formidable enemy force. Skywriter drew enemy fire away from our strike force to allow them to approach and attack unimpeded, Pestilence did significant damage to the bomber as well as pacified their attempts to sortie against us, and Roc cut her way in to secure the enemy commander and ultimately force their surrender. Those actions alone have me convinced they are more than deserving of the title," he explained proudly. Though they likely wouldn't have performed as well without the guidance and support of himself and his two SPs, they were still very deserving of praise for a job well done. Not forgetting Roc, and trying to bring up the subject to avoid her from making a scene beyond she was likely already making, he made one last remark while he still had the floor. "I believe they're deserving of our full support. In fact, Roc is requesting our help to rescue her sister from the NetMafia. I will gladly help, but she could use others to support her cause." Though he understood bringing up another mission while parts of the camp were still smoldering wasn't entirely appropriate, this was the best chance he had to bring Roc's plight to the attention of the NS leadership.
That said, Mach also knew Roc would do anything to make her voice heard, including tearing down any barriers in her way. "Understood, General," he replied, then shot a glance to Roc as he continued. "All of us will be there shortly, I'd imagine the Shogun would like to see the team in its entirety." Aera and Vector fell in behind Mach as they calmly cruised down towards the presumed visiting hall, hoping Pest and Roc would follow suit. They touched down less than a minute later at the entrance, and took a moment to catch their breath down on solid ground. Aera ran her fingers through her hair to wrangle any stray/wind-blown bangs, Pest thankfully refreshed her mask, and Vector's armor plating folded down from flight mode. Mach looked at Roc, who still had her body suit pulled down from her chest, leaving herself bouncing freely. He was about to comment, but then realized he himself wasn't exactly in "regs" either. He had two seared, jagged holes in his tunic from his now exposed thrusters, and many of the feathers in his wings were scorched or missing entirely. He tried to refresh the .GMO, and while the missing material/feathers began to slowly reform, the process appeared to require a significant amount of time. He sighed as he brushed his tunic with the back of his hand. "Well, guess that'll just have to do." He looked back up at his team, and nodded with an unseen grin under his mask. "Alright, let's head in. We're going to be talking to the Shogun himself, so we should try to be on our best behavior."
Vector stepped forward and opened the door, revealing a surprising number of similarly-dressed occupants inside. Mach and Aera thanked the fractal SP as they stepped inside; he continued to hold the door open for Pest and Roc, nodding as they entered before he too stepped inside and closed the door behind him. Though the hall was packed with people, the almost clone-like soldiers cleared a path for the group as they made their way through. Mach tried to stay at the front, with Aera just behind him and slightly to his right, then hopefully Roc and Pest behind them with Vector taking up the rear. Mach kept his head caged forward, though his eyes occasionally glanced about to take in the fairly plain details of the dimly lit room. Soon later they approached a ring of much more colorful characters and they too parted slightly to give the group room to pass. Mach noticed the chatter simmered down, and thought he might've caught a glance of Escort out of the corner of his eye, but his attention was focused on the Shogun, General Yasu, and an unknown Navi seated directly ahead. He also saw Skywriter within the ring of Navis surrounding the Shogun, she was still concerned with her tunic, and tugged it down when their eyes met.
The Navi in gray, apparently called "Survey" had just finished providing a report to NeoShogunMan, so the NS leader shifted his focus to Mach. He bowed as the Shogun addressed him, while Aera stayed back with the rest of the group as they caught up and moved in to get a good view. Mach was then praised for his efforts to protect both the recruits and the camp, then presented with his requested payment. While the rest of the room chuckled at the Shogun's joke about the reward and the group's apparently stingy financial manager, Mach kept a straight face as he accepted his payment from General Yasu. "Thank you, sir. It's more than enough." The Shogun also asked him his opinion of the recruits, as well as giving him the floor while the majority of his forces were present. The data packets disappeared as he downloaded them to his PET, and met Yasu's glare as she non-verbally indicated the necessity to bow. Mach complied, as he was already planning to do so, since Survey had done the same. He eased down to one knee, then placed his hands to the floor as he got on both of his knees in a partially hunched, seated position. His wings remained folded tightly against his back, and his eyes looked directly to the seated Shogun.
"Thank you, Honorable Shogun," he began with a bow. "My team performed admirably; I'm very proud of them. They never met until less than an hour ago, but were able to work together as a team to successfully bring down a formidable enemy force. Skywriter drew enemy fire away from our strike force to allow them to approach and attack unimpeded, Pestilence did significant damage to the bomber as well as pacified their attempts to sortie against us, and Roc cut her way in to secure the enemy commander and ultimately force their surrender. Those actions alone have me convinced they are more than deserving of the title," he explained proudly. Though they likely wouldn't have performed as well without the guidance and support of himself and his two SPs, they were still very deserving of praise for a job well done. Not forgetting Roc, and trying to bring up the subject to avoid her from making a scene beyond she was likely already making, he made one last remark while he still had the floor. "I believe they're deserving of our full support. In fact, Roc is requesting our help to rescue her sister from the NetMafia. I will gladly help, but she could use others to support her cause." Though he understood bringing up another mission while parts of the camp were still smoldering wasn't entirely appropriate, this was the best chance he had to bring Roc's plight to the attention of the NS leadership.
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"As you may know, we in the Neo-Shogun Empire pride ourselves on our sense of unity. Of family. We may have ranks, but the majority of our forces come through recommendation, and one of my trusted officers must speak for any new recruit we taken into our forces. You are now one of my trusted officers and your word is as good as any promise I could ask for; I shall accept the three new recruits, the beginnings of our own anti-air attack squadron. This is a necessary role- one I'm glad to see we've now filled. You, MachMan, we will treat as our anti-air specialist, given your unique affinity for aerial combat. Hopefully, driving back the Terror Girls will dissuade any others from trying to exploit that perceived weakness in our defenses here at the Subordinate Headquarters, which has really become the most active of our holdings, if I am speaking honestly," Neo-ShogunMan boomed in response to MachMan. "On the note of treating our own as family, it is, of course, important that we recognize Roc's request on behalf of her sister. I would hear from her what sort of situation her sister is in, so that we can help her as expediently as possible."
"Finally!" Roc sighed, behaving a good shade more rudely than MachMan had probably hoped she would. She was clearly disinterested in all of the old, feudal-Japanese rigamarole that Neo-ShogunMan and the others tended towards, despite having just been named a subordinate rank officer. "I'll clear things up: I don't actually know if the Mafia has my sister. Hell, I don't even know if she's still alive. Scavenger was part of the Mafia, see, and she was partnered with two other girls named Idol and Stalker on a mission to drum up recruits at a NetPolice safe-house for unoperated navis. Somewhere during the battle, all three disappeared: Idol was seen being captured by the NetPolice, but the weird part is, the other two were seemingly redirected upon jacking out. If the NetPolice used cuffs and a van to take away Idol, why would they take the other two another way? Also, who specializes in invisible, area-wide jack-out prevention tech? The only answer is that the Mafia abducted her and Stalker somehow," Roc explained; one had to wonder how long she'd been investigating to learn this much, and whose head she'd already had to crack. "I managed to get all of that from ChronicleMan while he was busy pissing himself," she clarified. MachMan might recall him as the highly unsuccessful, book-wearing bandit who'd tried to hold up Escort and him earlier, but then again, ChronicleMan might not have made much of an impression on him just between being run over and ordering his dinosaur underling to perform a pole dance.
"I see. So it is most likely that the Mafia has Scavenger and Stalker," Neo-ShogunMan agreed. "While, on the face of it, the NetMafia are still our enemies, our goals being unequivocally opposed, we do have a few friends in their ranks. We'll pull some strings with Meridian and see if she knows anything. She's a ranked member of the Techari Family, ones who are likely to know about any captives captured through NetMafia technology-"
"Bah! I mean, I appreciate it, but let's be serious: if it was as easy as asking anybody, I'd go ask Merry-whatever herself. Nah, the only ones who are properly equipped to answer this question are gonna be the ones who don't want to answer it. I'm thinking the Head Family. They're the ones who keep up with where everybody's at, I'll bet," Roc posited, not appreciating the Shogun's attempt to solve her problem without ruffling the Mafia's feathers.
"I see... That can, perhaps, also be arranged. There are Mafia dissenters who may be willing to leak to us information about specific meeting locations and hideouts. An infiltration or assault on one of those gatherings might be a good way to pump the Head Family for information. It will be costly, but a cost I will gladly cover to assist you," Neo-ShogunMan added. "I don't want to draw an abundance of NetMafia hostility, however. I'm leaning towards the option of a covert infiltration... Vee, let's speak after the meeting," he murmured. The yellow-garbed ninja standing in the ring around the Shogun, almost hidden behind the others due to her short stature, nodded quickly. "I'd consider it a last resort, but we might even be able to pull a double turn, throwing the Mafia back their traitor in exchange for information from the Head Family. We'll need to be in a negotiation position before that can be considered, however. That option can be revisited once the mission is underway." The Shogun certainly wasn't hesitating to propose some brutal tactics. It appeared that being a member of the Neo-Shogun family really required being a part of the Neo-Shogun Army, based on the scenario he'd just proposed.
"So? Who's going to come with me to go bust their skulls?" Roc asked, placing one big, taloned fist into the other menacingly and impatiently.
The Shogun raised one hand, indicating her to stop. "No one. Not yet," he responded, causing her to grow visibly aggravated. "As I said, Vee and I will discuss the specifics of the infiltration mission. Once that's done, we'll start assembling resources and a team. Only after these steps are complete can we begin the rescue operation. You came to us for our resources, so please, allow me to arrange those resources to provide their optimal effect," he encouraged her, placing his hands back upon his broad lap. "Thank you. Now, MachMan, if there is nothing else, you may take your leave. Reflect upon the good work you've done today," he encouraged MachMan, giving a small nod. Yasu turned her one eye upon MachMan again, neither smiling nor frowning. She really seemed to stiffen up even more than usual in the Shogun's presence.
"Finally!" Roc sighed, behaving a good shade more rudely than MachMan had probably hoped she would. She was clearly disinterested in all of the old, feudal-Japanese rigamarole that Neo-ShogunMan and the others tended towards, despite having just been named a subordinate rank officer. "I'll clear things up: I don't actually know if the Mafia has my sister. Hell, I don't even know if she's still alive. Scavenger was part of the Mafia, see, and she was partnered with two other girls named Idol and Stalker on a mission to drum up recruits at a NetPolice safe-house for unoperated navis. Somewhere during the battle, all three disappeared: Idol was seen being captured by the NetPolice, but the weird part is, the other two were seemingly redirected upon jacking out. If the NetPolice used cuffs and a van to take away Idol, why would they take the other two another way? Also, who specializes in invisible, area-wide jack-out prevention tech? The only answer is that the Mafia abducted her and Stalker somehow," Roc explained; one had to wonder how long she'd been investigating to learn this much, and whose head she'd already had to crack. "I managed to get all of that from ChronicleMan while he was busy pissing himself," she clarified. MachMan might recall him as the highly unsuccessful, book-wearing bandit who'd tried to hold up Escort and him earlier, but then again, ChronicleMan might not have made much of an impression on him just between being run over and ordering his dinosaur underling to perform a pole dance.
"I see. So it is most likely that the Mafia has Scavenger and Stalker," Neo-ShogunMan agreed. "While, on the face of it, the NetMafia are still our enemies, our goals being unequivocally opposed, we do have a few friends in their ranks. We'll pull some strings with Meridian and see if she knows anything. She's a ranked member of the Techari Family, ones who are likely to know about any captives captured through NetMafia technology-"
"Bah! I mean, I appreciate it, but let's be serious: if it was as easy as asking anybody, I'd go ask Merry-whatever herself. Nah, the only ones who are properly equipped to answer this question are gonna be the ones who don't want to answer it. I'm thinking the Head Family. They're the ones who keep up with where everybody's at, I'll bet," Roc posited, not appreciating the Shogun's attempt to solve her problem without ruffling the Mafia's feathers.
"I see... That can, perhaps, also be arranged. There are Mafia dissenters who may be willing to leak to us information about specific meeting locations and hideouts. An infiltration or assault on one of those gatherings might be a good way to pump the Head Family for information. It will be costly, but a cost I will gladly cover to assist you," Neo-ShogunMan added. "I don't want to draw an abundance of NetMafia hostility, however. I'm leaning towards the option of a covert infiltration... Vee, let's speak after the meeting," he murmured. The yellow-garbed ninja standing in the ring around the Shogun, almost hidden behind the others due to her short stature, nodded quickly. "I'd consider it a last resort, but we might even be able to pull a double turn, throwing the Mafia back their traitor in exchange for information from the Head Family. We'll need to be in a negotiation position before that can be considered, however. That option can be revisited once the mission is underway." The Shogun certainly wasn't hesitating to propose some brutal tactics. It appeared that being a member of the Neo-Shogun family really required being a part of the Neo-Shogun Army, based on the scenario he'd just proposed.
"So? Who's going to come with me to go bust their skulls?" Roc asked, placing one big, taloned fist into the other menacingly and impatiently.
The Shogun raised one hand, indicating her to stop. "No one. Not yet," he responded, causing her to grow visibly aggravated. "As I said, Vee and I will discuss the specifics of the infiltration mission. Once that's done, we'll start assembling resources and a team. Only after these steps are complete can we begin the rescue operation. You came to us for our resources, so please, allow me to arrange those resources to provide their optimal effect," he encouraged her, placing his hands back upon his broad lap. "Thank you. Now, MachMan, if there is nothing else, you may take your leave. Reflect upon the good work you've done today," he encouraged MachMan, giving a small nod. Yasu turned her one eye upon MachMan again, neither smiling nor frowning. She really seemed to stiffen up even more than usual in the Shogun's presence.
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Mach listened to the Shogun's response, and did his best not to grin in response to the Shogun's lauding and apparent promotion to "Anti-Air Specialist." The Shogun also appeared to have accepted Roc's request with nearly no visible reservation. Mach looked back to Roc, to see her reaction; Aera and Vector had turned their attention towards the avian Navi as well. Roc didn't show much delight as one would expect upon hearing a leader with significant power and personnel accept one's cause, but then again, it's Roc. She elaborated on her sister's disappearance, which helped explain some of the frustration she exhibited regarding the situation. It became apparent Mach had only a very small fraction of the story, and the Mafia's role was only assumed instead of proven.
Roc explained the alleged events that led to her sister, Scavenger, disappearing along with her supposed partner. Apparently they attempted to jack out, but were either prevented from doing so or were redirected somewhere. She alluded to some sort of jack-out area denial tech, something that piqued Mach's curiosity. Such a capability could be devastating in the right (or wrong) hands, such as the NetMafia. Coincidentally, Roc had squeezed this information from a familiar name, ChronicleMan. Mach tilted his head slightly to the side and his eyes narrowed ever so slightly, showing even more interest. [[i]Small Net. I wonder how he's involved.[/i]] Mach wondered to himself. Both Aera and Vector also recognized the Navi's name, and had similar ponderings regarding his involvement.
NeoShogunMan also showed interest, and a surprising amount of relevant background info and contacts directly applicable to the situation. Similarly to how he'd previously advised MachMan to make friends/contacts in the NP, he himself had some friends in the Mafia he could utilize. This supported the albeit still debatable notion the NS had changed their doctrine from mostly open conquest and traditional warfare to more subtle, non-traditional operations. However, it was apparently not enough for Roc's liking. She urged they instead pressed the Mafia's Head Family for information. Mach wouldn't put it past her to go for a blunt, direct route, but even that seemed unreasonable for her. That said, Mach admittedly didn't know much about the NetMafia beyond what he needed to know for previous missions, and past dealings with them directly.
Either Mach overestimated the impregnability of the Head Family, underestimated Neo-ShogunMan's hospitality, or both; the NS leader actually considered Roc's suggestion. He showed an appropriate level of concern for reducing the amount of fall-out with the Mafia, and began to coordinate plans to hash out a possible mission to exploit disloyalty amongst the Mafia ranks. Vee was a familiar name, but Mach and company had yet to meet her formally. Mach's eyes traced in on the movement of the woman in black and yellow ninja attire, and gave her a quick once-over to help associate a face with the name. Roc was raring to go immediately, but Neo-ShogunMan was firm on his position to form a plan and a team first, much to her annoyance. While Roc likely fumed, the Shogun dismissed Mach and his companions. "Thank you, Honorable Shogun. We will." Mach responded with a bow, then returned to an upright position before getting back to his feet. Still facing the Shogun, he took a few steps back into the ring of other Navis, then turned towards the door. Aera and Vector, who were watching attentively, silently made their way from the group to follow their Navi. Mach waited a moment for his SPs to catch up, and in the meantime sent out a quick message to Skywriter, Roc, Pest, and General Yasu. [[i]I will be outside, if you want to debrief or provide me with some feedback/constructive criticism, you can meet me just behind the doors. If not, then it was a pleasure working with all of you. Congratulations on your promotions and a job well done, I look forward to flying with you all again soon.[/i]]
As they continued towards the door through the crowd of people, Aera moved a bit closer to Mach, so she could speak quietly as not to interrupt any additional conversations back in the circle of generals and the Shogun. "We're leaving? I remember mention of the first round being on you." she said playfully with a grin. Mach raised his eyebrows, and took a moment to recall his statements prior to the mission starting before looking back at his SP. "Yeah, you're right, but I'm not sure there's a place to get drinks around here, or if our teammates are in the mood for pleasantries at the moment." Mazer, having overheard the exchange, chimed in as well. ["Sounds to me you're just wussing out."] "Heh," Mach said with a sigh, amused at how eager they were to call him out on it. With the mission over and associated stresses waned, the crew had the chance to 'let their hair down' as it were and take a much deserved break.
The trio made their way out through the doors, and gathered up off to the side. Mach's GMO continued to refresh as they took a moment outside. Depending on any responses to Mach's message, they would wait to meet up with the rest of the team as required.
Roc explained the alleged events that led to her sister, Scavenger, disappearing along with her supposed partner. Apparently they attempted to jack out, but were either prevented from doing so or were redirected somewhere. She alluded to some sort of jack-out area denial tech, something that piqued Mach's curiosity. Such a capability could be devastating in the right (or wrong) hands, such as the NetMafia. Coincidentally, Roc had squeezed this information from a familiar name, ChronicleMan. Mach tilted his head slightly to the side and his eyes narrowed ever so slightly, showing even more interest. [[i]Small Net. I wonder how he's involved.[/i]] Mach wondered to himself. Both Aera and Vector also recognized the Navi's name, and had similar ponderings regarding his involvement.
NeoShogunMan also showed interest, and a surprising amount of relevant background info and contacts directly applicable to the situation. Similarly to how he'd previously advised MachMan to make friends/contacts in the NP, he himself had some friends in the Mafia he could utilize. This supported the albeit still debatable notion the NS had changed their doctrine from mostly open conquest and traditional warfare to more subtle, non-traditional operations. However, it was apparently not enough for Roc's liking. She urged they instead pressed the Mafia's Head Family for information. Mach wouldn't put it past her to go for a blunt, direct route, but even that seemed unreasonable for her. That said, Mach admittedly didn't know much about the NetMafia beyond what he needed to know for previous missions, and past dealings with them directly.
Either Mach overestimated the impregnability of the Head Family, underestimated Neo-ShogunMan's hospitality, or both; the NS leader actually considered Roc's suggestion. He showed an appropriate level of concern for reducing the amount of fall-out with the Mafia, and began to coordinate plans to hash out a possible mission to exploit disloyalty amongst the Mafia ranks. Vee was a familiar name, but Mach and company had yet to meet her formally. Mach's eyes traced in on the movement of the woman in black and yellow ninja attire, and gave her a quick once-over to help associate a face with the name. Roc was raring to go immediately, but Neo-ShogunMan was firm on his position to form a plan and a team first, much to her annoyance. While Roc likely fumed, the Shogun dismissed Mach and his companions. "Thank you, Honorable Shogun. We will." Mach responded with a bow, then returned to an upright position before getting back to his feet. Still facing the Shogun, he took a few steps back into the ring of other Navis, then turned towards the door. Aera and Vector, who were watching attentively, silently made their way from the group to follow their Navi. Mach waited a moment for his SPs to catch up, and in the meantime sent out a quick message to Skywriter, Roc, Pest, and General Yasu. [[i]I will be outside, if you want to debrief or provide me with some feedback/constructive criticism, you can meet me just behind the doors. If not, then it was a pleasure working with all of you. Congratulations on your promotions and a job well done, I look forward to flying with you all again soon.[/i]]
As they continued towards the door through the crowd of people, Aera moved a bit closer to Mach, so she could speak quietly as not to interrupt any additional conversations back in the circle of generals and the Shogun. "We're leaving? I remember mention of the first round being on you." she said playfully with a grin. Mach raised his eyebrows, and took a moment to recall his statements prior to the mission starting before looking back at his SP. "Yeah, you're right, but I'm not sure there's a place to get drinks around here, or if our teammates are in the mood for pleasantries at the moment." Mazer, having overheard the exchange, chimed in as well. ["Sounds to me you're just wussing out."] "Heh," Mach said with a sigh, amused at how eager they were to call him out on it. With the mission over and associated stresses waned, the crew had the chance to 'let their hair down' as it were and take a much deserved break.
The trio made their way out through the doors, and gathered up off to the side. Mach's GMO continued to refresh as they took a moment outside. Depending on any responses to Mach's message, they would wait to meet up with the rest of the team as required.
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Vee gave MachMan a similar, evaluative look, then turned her eyes back to the Shogun, looking disinterested. She certainly didn't appear to be the expressive type.
While he might have expected Roc to keep arguing the point of immediacy, she seemed to have accepted that it was a good idea for the Shogun to use all of his resources. Her irascibility had momentarily taken backseat to her desire to have her sister rescued, as she'd joined the Neo-Shogun Empire to achieve. The Shogun raised one hand in a silent gesture of approval for the trio to leave; Roc didn't follow them, as she appeared eager to stay and contribute to the conversation about her sister's rescue operation. MachMan and his group were able to leave, without perceptibly being followed...
... Although, once they got back outside, it was clear that at least one figure had followed them out. The little girl MachMan had met earlier, Sake, who had assembled the three recruits for his mission, now appeared again, stumbling out from the doors of the meditation hall. "I heard someone say drinks! Ta-da!" she chortled, producing two small saucers of strong-smelling sake from inside of her sleeves and handing them over quickly to both MachMan and Aera; she skipped Vector, as he didn't seemingly have a mouth with which to ingest it. She raised one finger as if she had something to important, then gave a big smile and wagged it in an authoritative gesture. "Don't spill any! That'd be bad manners," she hiccuped. Somewhat amazingly, she'd managed to make the hand-off without spilling any herself, though now the ball was in their court.
Two more figures showed up from inside: Skywriter and Pestilence. "Roc and Yasu are still buzzzzy inside, working with the Shogun and his ninja. We figured we'd come out and celebrate, though, and hear your evaluation, bzzz!" Pest announced. Before the two could hear anything, though, Sake thrust another two new bowls forward, one into each girl's hands. "Oh... Thank you. Bzzz..." It wasn't clear if Pest was modeled after the right age to be drinking, but then again, Sake certainly wasn't, and she was drunk as a skunk with no one really complaining. The bug-girl dipped her head and drank out of the saucer, holding it neatly in both hands while using the long needle protruding from her face. She looked a bit like a toy water-bird, dipping its beak.
Skywriter accepted hers as well, chuckling nervously. "Nothing like a stiff drink after a tough day of work, right?" she played along, tilting the saucer back carefully to drink from the lip. Once she'd gotten a bit, she lowered it back down, smiling over the cup at MachMan again. "I was really worried when I heard we were going to be thrown right into an airship battle, in my first ever mission for the Neo-Shogun Empire. With your guidance, though, we all got through it without a bit of damage. I just hope I'll be able to help you more on our next mission... Since I'm part of your squadron, after all." A touch of red came to her cheeks again, either out of infatuation or just the drink.
Sake nodded along, holding both hands to her hips. "Me too! I'll help out as part of your squad, too!" she hiccupped drunkenly, although there had been no mention so far of her joining, nor could she seemingly fly. It was probably just some confusion on her part. Another thought seemed to occur to her suddenly; her eyelids blinked open and shut rapidly for a moment, before she finally exclaimed. "Ah! Right, I forgot what else I came out here to do!" With no further warning, she grabbed the belt of Skywriter's tunic, then expertly pulled it off, carrying the thin tunic along with it. Skywriter stayed frozen in place, holding the cup at her lips with her head tilted back. Sake made a grab for Pest's too, but the other girl buzzed and shot into the sky, taking Sake into the sky with her. "W-Waaaait! I'm supposed to take these tunics back to the supply houuuuuse! And you're going to spill the saaaa~keeeee!"
The last girl standing was Skywriter, who was now looking aghast over the lip of her tilted cup, realizing that everyone was probably staring at her. The undergarments Yasu had mentioned earlier were now Skywriter's only garments apart from her dusty white hand-wraps and foot-wraps that were known to accompany a soldier's uniform. They didn't match at all, considering the underwear was an eye-catching wine-red color, somehow stringy and lacy at the same time, sparing not a lot of fabric to cover anything, save just the important parts. MachMan's group couldn't see the back, but it seemed easy to bet it was a T-back, given the rest of the coverage. Her face slowly began to glow a red color matching her wardrobe. "Th-Th-This... This is..." she began, keeping the cup clenched tightly in both hands, although the ceramic was now jittering against her fingernails. "P-P-P... PTSD! P-P-Post traumatic stress disorder! Like, uh... w-we all got scared by that bomber plane so... so we're hallucinating!" she laughed, throwing her cup aside so that it shattered on the ground and gesturing with her hands, which would be better used to cover up her delicate areas given the micro-bikini she was wearing. "I'll uh... I'll hear your evaluation next time... S-So let's all try to get over our... P-PTSD!" she cried, flying off into the sky in an opposite direction from the other girls. Anyone with good enough eye-sight would realize they'd been correct on their hunch about the T-back.
All-in-all, it didn't appear there was anyone left for MachMan to speak with face to face. Only he could decide whether he was truly happy with the motley crew that fate had dealt him for squad-mates. All that was left besides that was to finish his sake and take off.
While he might have expected Roc to keep arguing the point of immediacy, she seemed to have accepted that it was a good idea for the Shogun to use all of his resources. Her irascibility had momentarily taken backseat to her desire to have her sister rescued, as she'd joined the Neo-Shogun Empire to achieve. The Shogun raised one hand in a silent gesture of approval for the trio to leave; Roc didn't follow them, as she appeared eager to stay and contribute to the conversation about her sister's rescue operation. MachMan and his group were able to leave, without perceptibly being followed...
... Although, once they got back outside, it was clear that at least one figure had followed them out. The little girl MachMan had met earlier, Sake, who had assembled the three recruits for his mission, now appeared again, stumbling out from the doors of the meditation hall. "I heard someone say drinks! Ta-da!" she chortled, producing two small saucers of strong-smelling sake from inside of her sleeves and handing them over quickly to both MachMan and Aera; she skipped Vector, as he didn't seemingly have a mouth with which to ingest it. She raised one finger as if she had something to important, then gave a big smile and wagged it in an authoritative gesture. "Don't spill any! That'd be bad manners," she hiccuped. Somewhat amazingly, she'd managed to make the hand-off without spilling any herself, though now the ball was in their court.
Two more figures showed up from inside: Skywriter and Pestilence. "Roc and Yasu are still buzzzzy inside, working with the Shogun and his ninja. We figured we'd come out and celebrate, though, and hear your evaluation, bzzz!" Pest announced. Before the two could hear anything, though, Sake thrust another two new bowls forward, one into each girl's hands. "Oh... Thank you. Bzzz..." It wasn't clear if Pest was modeled after the right age to be drinking, but then again, Sake certainly wasn't, and she was drunk as a skunk with no one really complaining. The bug-girl dipped her head and drank out of the saucer, holding it neatly in both hands while using the long needle protruding from her face. She looked a bit like a toy water-bird, dipping its beak.
Skywriter accepted hers as well, chuckling nervously. "Nothing like a stiff drink after a tough day of work, right?" she played along, tilting the saucer back carefully to drink from the lip. Once she'd gotten a bit, she lowered it back down, smiling over the cup at MachMan again. "I was really worried when I heard we were going to be thrown right into an airship battle, in my first ever mission for the Neo-Shogun Empire. With your guidance, though, we all got through it without a bit of damage. I just hope I'll be able to help you more on our next mission... Since I'm part of your squadron, after all." A touch of red came to her cheeks again, either out of infatuation or just the drink.
Sake nodded along, holding both hands to her hips. "Me too! I'll help out as part of your squad, too!" she hiccupped drunkenly, although there had been no mention so far of her joining, nor could she seemingly fly. It was probably just some confusion on her part. Another thought seemed to occur to her suddenly; her eyelids blinked open and shut rapidly for a moment, before she finally exclaimed. "Ah! Right, I forgot what else I came out here to do!" With no further warning, she grabbed the belt of Skywriter's tunic, then expertly pulled it off, carrying the thin tunic along with it. Skywriter stayed frozen in place, holding the cup at her lips with her head tilted back. Sake made a grab for Pest's too, but the other girl buzzed and shot into the sky, taking Sake into the sky with her. "W-Waaaait! I'm supposed to take these tunics back to the supply houuuuuse! And you're going to spill the saaaa~keeeee!"
The last girl standing was Skywriter, who was now looking aghast over the lip of her tilted cup, realizing that everyone was probably staring at her. The undergarments Yasu had mentioned earlier were now Skywriter's only garments apart from her dusty white hand-wraps and foot-wraps that were known to accompany a soldier's uniform. They didn't match at all, considering the underwear was an eye-catching wine-red color, somehow stringy and lacy at the same time, sparing not a lot of fabric to cover anything, save just the important parts. MachMan's group couldn't see the back, but it seemed easy to bet it was a T-back, given the rest of the coverage. Her face slowly began to glow a red color matching her wardrobe. "Th-Th-This... This is..." she began, keeping the cup clenched tightly in both hands, although the ceramic was now jittering against her fingernails. "P-P-P... PTSD! P-P-Post traumatic stress disorder! Like, uh... w-we all got scared by that bomber plane so... so we're hallucinating!" she laughed, throwing her cup aside so that it shattered on the ground and gesturing with her hands, which would be better used to cover up her delicate areas given the micro-bikini she was wearing. "I'll uh... I'll hear your evaluation next time... S-So let's all try to get over our... P-PTSD!" she cried, flying off into the sky in an opposite direction from the other girls. Anyone with good enough eye-sight would realize they'd been correct on their hunch about the T-back.
All-in-all, it didn't appear there was anyone left for MachMan to speak with face to face. Only he could decide whether he was truly happy with the motley crew that fate had dealt him for squad-mates. All that was left besides that was to finish his sake and take off.
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Vector had reflexively moved forward and opened the door for both Mach and Aera to step out, but to his surprise a 3rd passed by. He recognized the short, brown-haired, white-robed girl as the one who ushered the recruits near the start of the mission. Vector's eye followed Sake's stumbling movements all the way out, but seeing no threat he didn't react beyond waiting for her to pass prior to allowing the door to close behind them. She quickly got Mach's attention, who apparently got her attention with the mention of drinks. In an almost comedic fashion, the short Navi produced two saucers modestly filled with clear, strong-smelling liquid. "Oh, hey good timing!" Mach managed to reply as Sake quickly handed off one of the saucers to him. He held the oddly-designed cup gently with both hands, and glanced over to Aera just as she had one handed to her as well. "Ah, thank you!" she replied with a slight bow of her head, then looked down in concentration as she attempted to keep the wide, shallow saucer steady. Sake didn't hand one to Vector, it was understandable of her to think he wasn't physically capable of drinking.
Before they had the chance to sample or toast with Sake, the doors opened once more and Pest and Skywriter appeared. Pest reported Yasu and Roc were occupied with the ongoing discussion, and would likely remain there for a while. The newly appointed subordinates both received drinks as well, which seemed to appear out of Sake's long sleeves, more impressive was the complete lack of visible spillage. With everyone's hands occupied, save for Vector, Mach raised the saucer carefully a few inches, uttering a quick "Cheers." before he brought its lip carefully to the front of his facemask. He tilted it back, and the liquid seemed to impossibly pass through the material of his mask. The taste was strong, but not at all unpleasant. Aera did the same, taking a quick sip. She smiled, apparently pleased with the taste as well (or putting up a convincing front).
Pest drank in her own slightly disconcerting, but unique, way while Skywriter sipped in a more traditional sense. Mach's attention shifted to Skywriter as she confessed her initial concerns of the mission, then continued with her hopes to contribute more in further missions. As she spoke, Aera glanced over to Vector, who was standing silently beside her. Vector's masked face moved to meet her glance, to which Aera raised the saucer up and towards the SP, her eyebrows raised as if asking "want to try some?" Vector nodded slightly, and raised his hands towards the saucer. He was slightly apprehensive handling the fragile-looking container, but his design allowed his hands to quite expertly take hold and keep it still before he brought it up to his mask. The angry grimace over the faceplate seemed to open slightly, allowing the SP to tilt the saucer back and try some of the sake.
"Looking forward to it," Mach responded to Skywriter with a nod, as Vector slowly handed the saucer back to Aera. Mach noted the slight blush on Skywriter's cheeks, but mentally chalked it up to her shy personality and the alcohol. Mazer, on the other hand, wasn't as dense. [Heh, someone's got a crush,] he mused to himself, recalling several other situations earlier in the mission to support his claim. He felt a bit of pride, as he helped develop the Navi's appearance and personality, and it was nice to see someone complement his partner, even if it was in the form of small, silent infatuation. Aera also took notice, but didn't take offense. She liked her the most out of the trio, and respected her good taste. She grinned with a twinge of smugness before she took another sip of her sake. Vector was the only one as equally clueless as his Navi, and was busy pondering the new taste he sampled.
Sake then announced she too was part of the newly formed squadron, which was mostly a surprise to everyone present. The drunken girl didn't give off any indication she was capable combat, let alone flight. Maybe it was an inadvertent, inebriation-induced exclamation? Silence fell upon the group for a couple seconds while Sake seemed to make a realization, then suddenly stripped Skywriter of her tunic mid-drink with one smooth motion. She grabbed Pest as well, but the winged Navi immediately took to the sky in an attempt to flee, taking Sake along as well. The trio watched the two girls swoop up and away, and clearly heard the drunken girl's cries of protest before they were nearly out of sight beyond the wall of the compound. "...huh," uttered Mach as they flew out of sight. ["Very eloquent, Mach,"] Mazer muttered under his breath.
The three then shifted their focus back to Skywriter, and were greeted with an... interesting sight. The Navi, seemingly frozen in time (save for the rapidly intensifying jitter of the saucer in her trembling hands), was wearing a surprising choice in undergarments. The wrappings on her arms and feet were ordinary enough, but the deep red, lacy, lingere-esque underwear seemed very much out of place. Mach would've frozen up in a similar fashion to the mostly disrobed Skywriter, but the NS had done quite an effective job of desensitizing the Navi to such inappropriateness. He couldn't help but glance down momentarily to take in the full picture. Aera's reaction was a mix of amusement and empathy; she didn't at all expect that choice in undergarments from the demure Navi, but knew she had to feel absolutely horrified by her embarrassing situation. It was probably even worse for her if she had feelings for Mach, since she likely realized she was going to be working with/for him again, possibly soon. The disrobed Skywriter proceeded to have a stutter-filled meltdown, and quickly tossed the saucer to the side before she fled in the opposite direction. The view from below revealed her panties were even less modest in the back...
With the trio left alone with their sake, they took a moment to digest what they just saw. "That's one way to end a mission..." Mach mused aloud. "Poor girl..." Aera added with a slight frown. Mach looked back down at his cup, and saw there was still a good amount of sake left. He looked over at Aera and Vector, then raised the cup in an impromptu toast. "Well, can't let this go to waste; to another job well done! You two did great out there." "I'll drink to that," Aera said with a smile as she joined Mach as they both took a swig from the bowl. After her sip, she looked back at Vector. "If you want some more, it's all yours!" Vector received the saucer from Aera with a bow. "Thank you very much," He held the saucer with one hand, and raised it towards Mach as he returned the toast. "And to future missions; may they be equally fruitful." Mach smiled and raised his own saucer. "Hear, hear!" They quickly finished the sake, and neatly stacked the cups on the ground near the door, if Sake returned looking for them.
A pop up window appeared in front of the group, displaying Mazer's smiling face. ["Great work, guys! It'll take me a bit to implement to apply the new NaviCust Program, so you all can head back if you want."] "Sure," Mach replied, then glanced around as he pondered something briefly. "That said, if it's alright with you, in the meantime we could see if anyone needs some help in the camp. They could probably use the help." Mazer nodded as he scratched the side of his head with a finger. ["Yeah, that should be fine. I'll get to it, let me know if you guys need anything else."] "Of course. Thanks, Mazer!" Aera responded energetically. The window closed as Mazer got to work optimizing the new upgrade. Mach's wings unfolded as he prepared to take flight, which prompted his SPs to prepare in kind. A second later, all three catapulted into the sky as they leaped up and over the wall and made their way out of the compound. As they slowly cruised about a dozen feet above the camp floor, they kept their eyes out for activity, to see if they could lend a hand.
Before they had the chance to sample or toast with Sake, the doors opened once more and Pest and Skywriter appeared. Pest reported Yasu and Roc were occupied with the ongoing discussion, and would likely remain there for a while. The newly appointed subordinates both received drinks as well, which seemed to appear out of Sake's long sleeves, more impressive was the complete lack of visible spillage. With everyone's hands occupied, save for Vector, Mach raised the saucer carefully a few inches, uttering a quick "Cheers." before he brought its lip carefully to the front of his facemask. He tilted it back, and the liquid seemed to impossibly pass through the material of his mask. The taste was strong, but not at all unpleasant. Aera did the same, taking a quick sip. She smiled, apparently pleased with the taste as well (or putting up a convincing front).
Pest drank in her own slightly disconcerting, but unique, way while Skywriter sipped in a more traditional sense. Mach's attention shifted to Skywriter as she confessed her initial concerns of the mission, then continued with her hopes to contribute more in further missions. As she spoke, Aera glanced over to Vector, who was standing silently beside her. Vector's masked face moved to meet her glance, to which Aera raised the saucer up and towards the SP, her eyebrows raised as if asking "want to try some?" Vector nodded slightly, and raised his hands towards the saucer. He was slightly apprehensive handling the fragile-looking container, but his design allowed his hands to quite expertly take hold and keep it still before he brought it up to his mask. The angry grimace over the faceplate seemed to open slightly, allowing the SP to tilt the saucer back and try some of the sake.
"Looking forward to it," Mach responded to Skywriter with a nod, as Vector slowly handed the saucer back to Aera. Mach noted the slight blush on Skywriter's cheeks, but mentally chalked it up to her shy personality and the alcohol. Mazer, on the other hand, wasn't as dense. [Heh, someone's got a crush,] he mused to himself, recalling several other situations earlier in the mission to support his claim. He felt a bit of pride, as he helped develop the Navi's appearance and personality, and it was nice to see someone complement his partner, even if it was in the form of small, silent infatuation. Aera also took notice, but didn't take offense. She liked her the most out of the trio, and respected her good taste. She grinned with a twinge of smugness before she took another sip of her sake. Vector was the only one as equally clueless as his Navi, and was busy pondering the new taste he sampled.
Sake then announced she too was part of the newly formed squadron, which was mostly a surprise to everyone present. The drunken girl didn't give off any indication she was capable combat, let alone flight. Maybe it was an inadvertent, inebriation-induced exclamation? Silence fell upon the group for a couple seconds while Sake seemed to make a realization, then suddenly stripped Skywriter of her tunic mid-drink with one smooth motion. She grabbed Pest as well, but the winged Navi immediately took to the sky in an attempt to flee, taking Sake along as well. The trio watched the two girls swoop up and away, and clearly heard the drunken girl's cries of protest before they were nearly out of sight beyond the wall of the compound. "...huh," uttered Mach as they flew out of sight. ["Very eloquent, Mach,"] Mazer muttered under his breath.
The three then shifted their focus back to Skywriter, and were greeted with an... interesting sight. The Navi, seemingly frozen in time (save for the rapidly intensifying jitter of the saucer in her trembling hands), was wearing a surprising choice in undergarments. The wrappings on her arms and feet were ordinary enough, but the deep red, lacy, lingere-esque underwear seemed very much out of place. Mach would've frozen up in a similar fashion to the mostly disrobed Skywriter, but the NS had done quite an effective job of desensitizing the Navi to such inappropriateness. He couldn't help but glance down momentarily to take in the full picture. Aera's reaction was a mix of amusement and empathy; she didn't at all expect that choice in undergarments from the demure Navi, but knew she had to feel absolutely horrified by her embarrassing situation. It was probably even worse for her if she had feelings for Mach, since she likely realized she was going to be working with/for him again, possibly soon. The disrobed Skywriter proceeded to have a stutter-filled meltdown, and quickly tossed the saucer to the side before she fled in the opposite direction. The view from below revealed her panties were even less modest in the back...
With the trio left alone with their sake, they took a moment to digest what they just saw. "That's one way to end a mission..." Mach mused aloud. "Poor girl..." Aera added with a slight frown. Mach looked back down at his cup, and saw there was still a good amount of sake left. He looked over at Aera and Vector, then raised the cup in an impromptu toast. "Well, can't let this go to waste; to another job well done! You two did great out there." "I'll drink to that," Aera said with a smile as she joined Mach as they both took a swig from the bowl. After her sip, she looked back at Vector. "If you want some more, it's all yours!" Vector received the saucer from Aera with a bow. "Thank you very much," He held the saucer with one hand, and raised it towards Mach as he returned the toast. "And to future missions; may they be equally fruitful." Mach smiled and raised his own saucer. "Hear, hear!" They quickly finished the sake, and neatly stacked the cups on the ground near the door, if Sake returned looking for them.
A pop up window appeared in front of the group, displaying Mazer's smiling face. ["Great work, guys! It'll take me a bit to implement to apply the new NaviCust Program, so you all can head back if you want."] "Sure," Mach replied, then glanced around as he pondered something briefly. "That said, if it's alright with you, in the meantime we could see if anyone needs some help in the camp. They could probably use the help." Mazer nodded as he scratched the side of his head with a finger. ["Yeah, that should be fine. I'll get to it, let me know if you guys need anything else."] "Of course. Thanks, Mazer!" Aera responded energetically. The window closed as Mazer got to work optimizing the new upgrade. Mach's wings unfolded as he prepared to take flight, which prompted his SPs to prepare in kind. A second later, all three catapulted into the sky as they leaped up and over the wall and made their way out of the compound. As they slowly cruised about a dozen feet above the camp floor, they kept their eyes out for activity, to see if they could lend a hand.