Roromi

“Aker it’s Icarus. How are you holding up?” He hardly had time to contemplate the question as he noticed the third Gundam charging at him with both of their beam sabers out. Growling was his only audible retort as the ground type came; it swung down with both it’s beam sabers overhead. Aker had just enough time to bring up his shield arm to block the attack. If I’m not careful… the thought trailed in his head as he realized the predicament he was in, it was foolish to go out alone like this. No, he decided, I’m not going down like this. His own beam saber was still lodged in the second Gundam he had defeated. He let go of the weapon and moved his feet to push back against the attack oppressing him. With his now free right hand he reached for his right hip and drew out the metal saber, reverse gripped. He lashed it out at the belly of the gundam, the metal blade crunching into its’ side. There wasn’t enough power to cleave through his opponent but it was enough to make the Gundam stagger back. As he disengaged his latest opponent two more ground types ran toward him, their machine guns ready. Hunter wasn’t going to have any of that. With his shield still raised high from the block, he cocked it up and jerked his arm down to chuck the shield at one of the Gundams. He hoped it connected, if at the very least give him a distraction. Knowing he had to be quick, Hunter flared his thrusters to charge the staggered double bladed Gundam. In truth, he simply wanted to get behind that opponent so the machine guns couldn’t get a clear shot at him. As he rushed forward he drew out the second blade on his left hip, his right hand poising the weapon to impale his target as he charged. If he wasn’t careful, if he wasn’t perfect, he would get shot down. “8 be ready!” He cautioned as he focused on his attackers.

Despite his best efforts Aker knew he was kicking up snow with his shuffle away from his allies. He spotted a group of three and decided now was his chance to shine. He aimed at the farthest Gundam and paused to level a decent shot at it. Taking a moment he calmed his breathing down before squeezing the trigger. While his own breathing would do little to impact the shot, it was his nerves he wanted to keep in check. The emerald beam lanced out, making his colloid shimmer away from the rifle. His shot hit true, pegging the “collar bone” region of the mobile suit, instantly taking it out of the fight. Aker knew the next few moments would be critical, as he launched the Jäger at the closest enemy. He dashed forward a few steps and tossed the rifle out wide, making the colloid cast off from it and creating a diversion. He likely already had attention from his opening shot and knew that he maybe had one more surprise attack in him. The other two ground types scanned around frantically and the one closest to him did catch the rifle being tossed, but not the shimmer of his mobile suit as he rushed up. His free hand reached back to produce a beam saber and he lashed down at his opponent. The colloid dripped away with the attack fully exposing him. His shield bashed forward to stun the Gundam as his right hand slashed down hard for the mobile suit’s neck. As he attacked he opened up his PA system. “Over here! You cowards!” Of course he didn’t know what kind of NPDs he was dealing with but he hoping to stir the hornet’s nest as his friends got suited up.

Shortly after his two teammates entered the elevator Aker activated his Mirage Colloid. It’s not like he was expecting it to work marvelously, but he figured it was better than standing out in the open. He attempted to stand between the two parked suits for cover as he tried his camouflage. The wind of the storm seemed to die down some and finally the white haze slowly began to rescind, albeit a little. Aker contemplated the cold, and why the environment was tugging on his sense of nostalgia when 8 interrupted his thoughts, “Sir I’ve detected heat signatures, likely mobile suits approaching.” Instantly he jerked forward in his seat, almost appearing like had had been hit. “Crap! Where 8?” He asked as he studied his scopes. Before the computer could even respond he started moving along their snow tracks, essentially back tracking. He knew with the snow his Colloid wouldn’t be as effective, so perhaps using their old tracks could help keep him hidden longer. “It would seem they’re massing around us. Multiple Bogeys, I can’t confirm their exact locations.” Aker hissed a curse under his breath as he still studied his screens. The storm seemed to still be playing havoc with the sensors. He hoisted his shield in front of him and readied his rifle. It wasn’t so much that he was running away; no, he knew that he couldn’t have a fire fight next to the unmanned machines. He needed to appear far enough away from his friends to lure any enemies away. “Hopefully I can give them a chance to suit up and give me support!” He growled as he searched for a target. How he desperately wanted to be the one to fire first if possible. Frantically Aker called out on his radio, hoping his allies would hear his warning, “we got incoming enemies, get back up here!”

As Wade exited his mobile suit to investigate the hatch Aker was already shaking his head. This was looking more and more like a bad horror movie. Outside the mobile suit, he would feel too exposed, too weak. Before Icarus could speak up Aker cut back, “I’ll- I mean I can stay up here and keep watch.” He turned the Astray to regard the DaeDal nodding in an almost pleading fashion. “I can try the colloid and stand guard.” He offered once more. The hairs on his neck were standing up in alarm from this turn of events. Most missions would have dished out some sort of engagement by this point, instead they were getting a sense of eerie suspense. He cautiously looked past the DaeDal to keep his guard up. Last thing he wanted was to get surprised himself.

Gabriel was still flustered by Icarus’s comment about “not having anything to loose” as he was taken a back by the sudden blizzard they were immersed in. His monitor was nearly washed out from the snow and he winced to study his surroundings. There was something nostalgic about the environment, something that reminded him of a long time ago, he just couldn’t place it. Just seeing the snow was making him feel cold. He took a second to change his costume to the red space suit thinking that if it was good enough for space it would be good enough for the cold. He reached up to open the visor of his helmet, looking at his displays to see nothing but white. He could almost hear the word “Winter” in the distance. Wade’s words cut in, through the snow, snapping him to the present. “Negative…” Aker replied, “my unit is more meant for stealth and general combat, all this snow would probably mess with my Mirage Colloid. I doubt I could sneak anywhere.” He hoisted his rifle and shield up as if to reassure himself. “But if we can’t see them they can’t see us right?” He asked suddenly feeling a little nervous of the unknown. He moved his suit in a southern direction as well before asking. “We should all go the same direction, maybe Icarus could fly ahead to scout?” He tried to keep up with what he thought was Wade.

Creed didn’t have time to consider his attacks, he didn’t have a chance to weigh any victory or success from his moves. All he knew was that the only rest would come once the fight was over. As he trailed away from the dust cloud he did notice his heads up display flickering to show Shinn being taken out of the fight. “First Risu and now him?!” He growled in frustration. “Hikaru tell me you’re still here with me?” He called out frantically as he saw the other Asshimar shooting out of the dust to charge him, faster than the other ones. “Cheeky bugger!” Creed cried out in surprise. It was the talker once more, blathering on about his homicidal comrades. The Titan really had it out for Marco. On he came rushing down with a fist aimed to bash down. Marco didn’t have time to fully bring his weapon to guard, a move that would have surely impaled idiot. Instead he twisted his suit to the right, using his retreating motion to help reduce the impact of the strike, it was the best he could do. The fist came down hard, catching the left side antenna of Bael’s head and clipped the very front of the chest. The impact stumbled Bael into the sand, making Marco stagger. Bael’s head was now tilted down to the left but was still attached, the chest piece getting caved in some from the fist. Had he been there in person he was certain the impact would have stunned him physically. In response Creed let go of the cumbersome sword mace, at this distance he would not be able to retaliate effectively with it. Instead he jabbed up with the claw like right hand, the fingers forming a blade shape and jamming hard for the gut of the Asshimar, with any luck he would hit the pilot. He found his footing and pushed back to hoist the body of the Titan towards the other two charging at him. His left hand reached down for the pummel of the sword on his right hip, poising for a slash should he get the opening. —— Kamille’s eyes lit up as the Asshimar he was attacking simply went limp and began to fall out of the sky. “Hikaru I got one!” he called out cheerfully. His jubilations were cut short however as a tingling sensation made him dip his right wing to the ground, letting him narrowly dodge two incoming shots from additional Asshimars. He didn’t think anything of the reflexive move as he jerked his controls to avoid more incoming fire, moving the way he was simply felt natural. “Right there!” he announced triumphantly as he took note of where the two enemies were coming from. He spun the Defenser in a barrel roll and brough the craft around to get a firing angle on the new enemies. He had one more salvo of missiles, so he let the computer lock on to one of the Asshimars as he tried to line his crosshairs up with the next. Hearing the lock tone, he fingered the control for the missiles. There was no way any pilot would have that much faith in their armor to simply take the potential abuse from a barrage of missiles. His focus remained locked on the other asshimar which was coming up fast now as he opened up another barrage of fire, hoping to overwhelm his opponent like the last time. Kamille knew that while in Mobile Armor mode the Asshimars were about as fast as he was. Worse still, they were more maneuverable, being able to transform and alter their air speed dramatically. He knew that he had to keep on moving, and he had to keep his distance at all costs. “I’m engaging two more Hikaru!” he called out cautiously as he tried to remained focus on his opponents. All three were closing in fast, Kamille hoping to zip past the Asshimars before they knew any better. —— Cagalli didn’t like being out numbered but that was pretty much every fight they had there at desert. Her two opponents split up and she knew she would be flanked soon. And unlike the Jabbers she couldn’t fly. Her best chance was to try and finish one enemy quickly to focus on the next. The black mobile suit landed in front of her, apparently egging her on for a ground fight. “The nerve…” she began to say just as she noticed the Marasai get some height on her to try and shot her from above. “Fat chance!” Cagalli yelled out as she used her mobility to jerk her direction of movement, forcing the would be Zaku to miss. Dust kicked up from the Dom changing directions suddenly, a small cloud forming. The Goddess of Battle wasn’t quick to forgive and she lined up a shot with her shoulder cannon, aiming at the flying target knowing it couldn’t dodge as easily as she could. Luckily the MKII was still far enough away it likely couldn’t stop her shot.

Biography Full name: Gabriel Winter Aliases: Hunter, Aker (Akerhero13) Faction: Zapp (indirectly), Fluers de Noblesse Rank: n/a Age: 22 Sex: Male Height: 5’7” Weight: 150 Eyes: Brown Hair: Brown Skin: pale Handiness: Ambidextrous Personality: Gabriel can be emotional if not brash. He values his past to the point of obsession, this has led him to do questionable things in GBN. Despite his volatile attitude he is capable of being incredibly loyal and sensitive to the situation. He often makes plans to help himself stay on task and to keep himself level headed, though reality often makes his plans go out the window. He finds it difficult to connect with other players, often taking awhile to fully come out of his shell. As he’s matured he’s become increasingly pragmatic in how he approaches things, but still struggles to come to terms with reality at times. Strengths and weaknesses Sentimental - Because Gabe is emotional, he can often make bad tactical decisions. If a particular mobile suit reminds him of something negative in his past, he’ll attack it headlong in rage. (Notable units are the GN-X, and Destiny Gundam) Berserker- Gabriel is the textbook battle rager. His reactions sharpen significantly when he is fired up. Resourceful – Gabriel has made a substantial amount of credits within GBN and has access to his own Force Nest. These resources allow him to buy extravagant items or obtain questionable material in the game. Fear of the death – Gabriel has a fear and aversion to dying in GBN. This at times could be at odds with his teammates and objectives. This fear also translates into doing his best to avoid killing enemy NPDs. He greatly distastes pointless deaths in the game and isn’t afraid to oppose his teammates should they needlessly kill NPDs. Appearance He is thinly built, clean cut, and average height. He takes good care of his body, working out regularly. Typically he wears a black poncho and mask, but he will adapt his wardrobe as needed. History Gabriel recalls having a healthy childhood with a loving family. He developed a curiosity in martial arts at a young age and is versed in Kung Fu as well as well as Haidong Gundo (Korean Swordsmanship). As he became a teenager his interest grew to include Gundam and he was consumed by all the possibilities it offered. As GBN became a phenomenon, Gabriel rode the waves of its success. He was never known for being an accomplished diver, and his Gunpla was never anything all that special. * As he continued to enjoy the GBN community he developed a friendship and eventually a romance with another diver. She was initially timid and not confident her abilities, but as their friendship grew he lovingly dubbed her Meer due to her obsession with the Gundam Seed franchise (particularly Lacus). They both ended up joining a Force by the name of Seed Cosplay Coalition, a force focused on cosplay as well as Gunpla. Of course Gabriel was never big into costumes but would play along, often feeling like the third wheel in their group of friends. His conflicting interests with Meer and SCC eventually began to sour their relationship along with them being coupled through a long distance relationship. Meer broke up with Gabriel, sending the young man into a spiral of despair. He drowned his anguish by applying himself to Gunpla and jumped at the chance to join the GBN Beta when he was giving an invitation. (This directly leads into the events of Gunpla Breaker, Heart Taker). As he joined the GBN Beta he spent increasingly more and more time logged in, obsessed with becoming a better diver. Through a series of adventures and circumstances he grew in skill considerably to the point of even developing a reputation. He even was able to defeat Hashmal with the help of a diver named Dave and his Astaroth Smackdown (see Order of the Seven Stars). Despite his accomplishments he still couldn’t get the over his ex. His obsession eventually led to him joining forces with a mysterious figure who claimed to be affiliated with the Zapp corporation. This alliance lead to one of the more destructive hacking events the entire community had seen to date. Together Gabriel with the Zapp associate, raided a peaceful Gundam Seed gathering, the event would be infamously referred to as the “Second Bloody Valentine Massacre”. The outcome of the event led to revelations that caused Gabriel to go into hiding in GBN. With the help of his Zapp associate he has since assumed a second identity known as Akerhero13 or simply Aker. He joined with Wade and Icarus to create a new force by the name Fluer De Noblesse (see Three Musketeers). *there are additional details not entailed publicly Possessions: Quantum Computer 8 – briefcase sized super computer that is capable of aiding operations within GBN, typically housed in the cockpit of his unit, and linked to his com channel. Kills: Hashmal (mobile armor) Role plays: Gunpla Breaker, Heart Taker ; Order of the Seven Stars; Three Musketeers Coliseum battles: n/a

((Compilation post between me, Frosty, and Judge)) “Nice job with the Freedom!” Wade’s voice came in loud and clear across the comms as Icarus took the controls again. -“Thanks,” he said, looking at the ‘mission complete’ screen that had popped up. Apparently they had gotten a bonus for spared enemies, but only two of them. “I guess I went a little overboard though. I don’t think Yzak made it.” The cockpit faded away around him and before he knew it, Icarus had returned to the GBN lobby. A couple feet away, Aker had his menu open and was looking at something intently when his avatar changed clothing to that of the red ZAFT uniform. Icarus too brought up his menu and saw the mission rewards waiting for him. He opted not to change into the uniform however, choosing instead to stay in his normal suit. Closing the menu, Icarus approached Aker and folded his arms. “What did you think of the mission?” Aker asked him. “Well, aside from obliterating a teenager, I thought it was fun,” he said with the hint of a smile on his face. “It was pretty quick work, but I think we did well.” Icarus turned to Wade and nodded. “Quick thinking with that leg stunt—I’d never have thought of that,” -Wade put his hand behind his head, rubbing it. “Thanks, but I was honestly kinda desperate. They were tough, but we pulled through!” The diver scurried around the menus on his main screen. “In fact, I think we make a very good team.” He slid the Diver force request towards the middle. “I was right-oh wait sorry-I was right about you two. UNIVERZ would love to have you!” Wade was very excited about their possible acceptance. In fact, he wasn’t paying much attention to the recruitment screen... -Aker kept his arms crossed with a skeptical look on his face. Last time he dealt with a force it led to a lot of drama. On the other hand he had been running solo for so long that he admitted that he forgot the advantages of working as a team. With the way things were going now maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to sign up with a force? “Yeah I gotta admit we pulled that off pretty good together...” shrugging he accepted the request. Maybe running with a larger crowd would keep him under the radar better. “I’m in.” He stated as he looked to Icarus to see what they would do. -Icarus looked at the force request as it popped up in his menu. A team-up, eh? His students had already offered him a place in theirs once he reached a high enough rank, but he was sure that they would do just fine without him and they could still run club missions regardless. With that being the case, Icarus looked at Wade and Aker then pressed the ‘accept’ button with a nod. “I’m in too,” he said, looking at Wade once more. “Only, I thought that your force was called UNIVERZ. I didn’t see that name pop up at all on the offer,” -“Wait a minute. Aw man, wrong one.” Wade said while cancelling the requests. “Come on... there we go.” The diver slid what he thought was a recruitment form to Icarus and Aker, except he made it worse! A screen, meant for giving new forces a name, appeared in front of the novice player, while the recruitment form for the new team was given to the ZAFT uniformed diver. -“Oh,” Icarus said with mild surprise as a new form popped up on his menu, prompting him to input a name for the new force. Anxiety gripped him. He glanced up at Wade and Aker, but both divers seemed preoccupied with their own menus. Surely this was intentional right? Maybe they were deferring to him since he seemed to be the oldest—or maybe it was tradition for the newest player to name the force. A bead of sweat rolled down Ray’s in the real world. With a deep breath, he typed in the name for their union. “Fleurs de Noblesse,” he said, looking back at them as confidently as he could. “It means Flowers of Nobility in French…I thought it was thematically appropriate since we just finished a mission called Three Musketeers.” Icarus scratched the back of his head nervously. “I, uh, I’m a bit of a nerd for literature, you see. It might not be as cool as some of the other names you see around here but, well…I like it. See there’s this old concept called Noblesse oblige and it was about how the elite had to treat those lower than them with generosity and…ah, yeah, I thought it was...good,” -Aker raised an eye brow at Icarus as the man yammered on about literature. “What do you mean?” He asked slowly as he looked at his heads up display. He hadn’t seen the force menu in the Beta yet so he was curious if there was something he missed. It was then he saw the title next to his own tag “Fleurs de Noblesse?” He tried out the word out loud. By this point he caught on what happened and he did his best to stifle his laughter as he looked to Wade. It made little difference to him, a force was a force and these two didn’t seem all that bad. -“Fleurs de what?” Wade looked down at his display, a horrified look painted his face. Thoughts raced into his head, mostly wondering (and worrying) about Chris’ reaction, but they suddenly stopped. “Kyle and Amy left to do their own thing.” He pondered. “I can too!” Wade pushed the menu away and began to speak. “Looks like I created a force on accident, but I think it’s for the best. We can do many different things when it’s just the three of us, so let’s make Fleurs de Nob...es... the best team in GBN!” -Gabriel couldn’t help but laugh as wade played off the mistake. He had to admit their leader had some spirit. For the first time in awhile Gabriel let the laughter come out of his belly. “Yeah! I’m down for a challenge!” His face grew more somber but a grin etched his face at the possibility. He nodded approvingly at his new teammates. -“Fleurs de Noblesse,” Icarus repeated as Wade enthusiastically stated his goal to make their new force the best in GBN, which elicited laughter and agreement from Aker. “Then it’s official. The three of us are a team now and we’re going to soar to some extraordinary heights,” Icarus said, pulling up his menu. “So we should really power through as many missions as possible and as quickly as we can. I’m making a list of the ones that seem like they’d be right for us and as soon as the DaeDAL is repaired we can head out...” the man continued speaking, listing the various details of the missions he had planned for them without stopping to think about whether or not they were even still listening. He was just happy to have some people to play with that weren’t his students. -One of the missions Icarus gave catched Wade’s attention. It wasn’t the hardest, but had a high amount of money given for completion. “We’ll need some cash to get a Force Nest.” The diver exclaimed, realizing the Shield would no longer be accessible to him. “What about this one?” Mission: Redacted Experiment Difficulty: Hard Description: The Earth Federation will go to extreme lengths for their secrets... “What do you guys think?” -Gabriel shuffled some at the mention of a force nest but kept his mouth shut. Teammates or not these were strangers he just met and he wasn’t certain about sharing all his resources just yet. Besides he was supposed to be playing the part of a newbie. Still, the mission Wade selected wasn’t something to bat an eye at, it looked hard. Slowly he nodded his agreement however. They couldn’t be taken seriously without their own nest. “That certainly looks like it would help us on our way...” he nodded at the mission. “You sure that’s a good idea? That’s like climbing a mountain after scaling a hill just now?” He kept his arms crossed as he leaned in close to Wade to look at what their leader was looking at. -“Hm... Well we don’t know what we’ll be up against, but it’s a high intake of treasures.” He pointed to the three secret rewards underneath the credits. “It COULD be crap, but if it’s hidden, it normally means something good...” -Gabriel bit his tongue, he held back his more experienced remark and instead said, “well you’re the veteran, I’m down for whatever you think... what about you Icarus?” He nodded to the other man. -"No risk, no reward," Icarus said. In truth, the difficulty of the mission concerned him. He was barely able to hold his own in the mission they had just finished, but this new one was labelled hard. He didn't want to slow his new teammates down. Wade had made a salient point though--higher rewards would give them the jump start their new force needed and would go a long way in finding their Force Nest, which Icarus assumed was a sort of guild hall. "I mean, what do we have to lose really? A little humiliation maybe? But then, I can take the blame if that happens--I'm the newbie after all" -"Well, then it's settled!" Wade uttered as he clicked ACCEPT on the mission screen. "Whatever comes next, I know that we'll be able to handle it." Soon after, the three new members of Fleurs de Noblesse were no longer in the main lobby, now appearing near the next mission objective. Wade scratched his head while looking around, only seeing almost pure white on his screens. "Uh... is something wrong?" He asked the others. Suddenly, a large gust of wind pulled him away from his teammates, although Wade had no clue where they even were.

Gabriel breathed a little easier with each confirmation from his teammates. He then took a moment to study them and see the battlefield for what it was. It was then that he frowned as Wade mentioned the Freedom, and the wreckage confirmed that reality. So… Yzak bit it huh? His gaze shifted to his allies and the substantial damage they all took. His own unit wasn’t without some interior strain, with his conventional armor it was almost like piloting a glass cannon. Not that he wasn’t used to piloting anything with thicker armor, so to him this was fairly normal. Shaking the thought of his head he looked at Rusty who stood with his hands up in the open hatch of the Strike. It was then the glorious confirmation splayed across his screen: Mission Accomplished! Spared Enemy Pilot Bonus X 2 He sighed relief as he realized it must have meant Dearka made it out of the Justice in one piece, or was at least breathing. “8 we’ll catch up later. Take care of the Jager for me?” “Affirmative!” the deep tinny voice replied, and Gabriel lifted his hands from the controls just as his reality shifted away into the familiar lobby of GBN. That sensation was always, unnerving, and he wasn’t certain he would ever get used to being spirted away like that. As he regained his footing a message popped up in his HUD and he lifted his hand to open it. The mission rewards were fairly generous; some good credits, along with a teamwork bonus. There was also an extra reward for not killing two the pilots as well: a full set of red ZAFT flight uniform with space suit. Curious, he opted to change his clothing right there, his outfit instantly shimmered from his black poncho to the signature red uniform of a ZAFT elite. Oddly enough the mask stayed on his face, something he didn’t notice as he lifted his arms to study the uniform. “Not bad! he announced as he put his HUD away. He looked at his teammates curious what Wade would say about the mission, and how Icarus would react from the event. Nodding to the newbie he asked, “What did you think of the mission?”

Yzak’s eyes went wide as the Justice exploded right beside him. The explosion rocked the Freedom in a linear path but Yzak was too stunned by the turn of events. Probably his closest friend had just been vaporized, seemingly out of no where. The shock subsided for sheer rage and in a fit he flared the wings out, pausing his drift. He then focused on the one target he could see, Icarus, and blindly charged straight at him in a rage. “You bastards! You’ll pay!” He couldn’t recall the last time he felt such rage, such intensity. All he knew was he had to avenge. He dropped his rifle to draw both beam sabers, igniting their fusia blades with malicious intent. The angle he was afforded him a clear enough shot that he brought his shoulder cannons out to aim. All he could see was red, all he wanted to see was blood. He fired the cannons almost in a panic as he was intent on getting in close for the kill. It wasn’t until the golden light began to almost blind him that he realized his mistake. To his credit he aligned his shoulder cannons in time to get an accurate shot in return, but the blast from the mega cannon was far less forgiving, and more brutal. —- Several LMG shots dug into the strike but not enough to slow down the machine. The shield still led Rusty’s charge as he yelled in anger. But then the IFF for the Justice disappeared, accented by the brilliant eruption from his ally unit. The Justice and Freedom were supposed to be the pinnacle of ZAFT engineering, how could one of them get destroyed? His distraction cost him dearly as two missiles slammed into the Strike, setting off the remaining grenades on the shoulder, excellent shots that would have crippled a normal suit. His alarms blared, warning him of a drained battery. The mobile suit dulled in color, but the Strike still remained intact, even as the smoke from some of the grenades made a cloud around him. Rusty still held a Grenade in hand and colorful shield in the other. “I don’t care if you drained my battery I can still move!” He poised his arm to throw the grenade. But as he moved the throw an odd vibration rocked his cockpit and nothing flew at his target. —- Gabriel was stunned from the blast but he wasn’t out of the fight. Alarms blared around him of stress damage and other fun things, but he found he could still move. He lost his grips on his beam sabers and shield which left him with an even more limited arsenal. As he gained his senses he saw Icarus take aim for the Freedom and knew he dint want to be around for that exchange of fire. He pulled out his Katana and searched for Wade and the Strike. He found the leg less SD looking almost in a panic as it fired its’ missiles at the Strike. Part of him wondered why he should even help the recruiter? It’s not as if he was exactly charmed by the kid, and his attempts to recruit the newbie. But as he looked at the expression of the SD he knew he had to, even if it meant risking Rusty’s existence. “8 activate the colloid.” He said determinedly. He flared his thrusters to dive in towards the Strike. “Affirmative!” The computer responded as he moved to close the distance. He didn’t know of his attack would have any impact with the Phase Shift but between the two of them they should be able to- His concerns were answered as the pesky phase shift bled off the Strike and he knew it was suddenly a fight he could win. Again he didn’t necessarily want to kill the pilot, and the cocked arm was too tempting a target not to slice at. The katana cleanly sliced the joint severing the arm and the grenade before it could get thrown at Wade. The colloid faded away revealing his Astray once again. He wasn’t exactly recovered from his slice but he spun his suit around to level the blade at the mobile suit. “Do you yield?” He asked daringly at Rusty. He then shifted his channel to address his teammates. “Are you guys alright?” All the while he kept his blade aimed at the Strike. Rusty still had his shield as well as two knives, and the shoulder cannons; but he didn’t know how reckless the Zaft pilot was willing to be. —- Dearka groaned and his eyes fluttered open. He could see that he was miraculously outside the cockpit of the Justice. As his vision came into focus he could see the debris of his machine floating around him like ghostly pieces. His eyes then moved to lock onto the electrical arcs webbing off of another machine. “Yzak!” He slowly groaned out, realizing the Freedom had been shot down as well. He then turned to see the Strike with its’ shield slung across its back, one arm raised up in surrender. “Coward…” he rasped, realizing that they had all soundly been defeated. “Just… who are… these guys?” He asked no one in particular. His body slowly floated away along with fragments of his machine.

“Yzak!” Dearka cried out and in response the Freedom fired a full volley at the boomerang. The shots exploded the weapons and Dearka tried to get a bead on the mobile armor. “Damn you!” He cried out as his emerald shots trailed the strange transforming suit. He decided to repay the favor and reached for one of his boomerangs as well. “Follow my lead Dearka!’ The Freedom announced as it moved to follow the quick suit, something the Freedom was capable of doing. Gripping his boomerang, Dearka Followed and poised a throw. Yzak closed the distance and unfurled his wings and weapons to unleash another full volley just for Icarus. As his leader did that Dearka shot up from behind the freedom to follow with his own boomerang. “Fight you coward!” Yzak called out behind his attack. — Gabriel grimaced as Icarus kept the hit and fade tactics heading his way. “Damnit I should have clued them in huh 8?” He asked the Computer duct taped to the side of his seat. “It would have greatly increased your effectiveness as a force.” The computer chirped back in what Gabe assumed was a snarky tone. Still Gabriel made the situation work for him. He edged his way toward the duo, believing that they hadn’t wisened up to his plan just yet. “Hopefully I don’t get hit by friendly fire…” he muttered as he came up beside the Justice. It wasn’t anything dramatic or exceptional as he slide up to the distracted suit and pressed the emitter of the saber to the side of the belly. He could have killed the NPD, but he didn’t think that was a fate Dearka deserved. Instead he went for the “Shin” style blow and activated his weapon in the belly. His attack making his cloak fade away as his pink blade ignited into the body of the Justice. He didn’t linger instead he flared his thrusters to get away from the crippled suit. He could hear Dearka’s alarm over the radio. “Eject you dummy…” he implored as he tried to shift his focus to the dangerous Freedom. Taking out Dearka would likely put Yzak into a frenzy. “Icarus try to keep Yzak interested in you!” Gabriel pleaded, hoping to line up another sneak attack. His concerns were interrupted however as the Justice exploded in a grand fashion. Nuclear you idiot, he chided as the Astray was violently knocked backwards away from Yzak and Icarus. —- Rusty was so focused on firing on the bizarre Gundam they he didn’t think much when it attempted to throw the grenade his way. Of course there wasn’t the range and the projectile didn’t even get close. “Pathetic!” Rusty announced victoriously as he took his time for another shot. He dialed in his reticle and smirked as he locked on. “No where else to run!” He concluded. But as he took his time aiming Wade preformed his own self surgery, removing a foot and throwing it at him? Rusty did pause and consider the odd movement. He hasn’t hit that limb, had he? Why would they throw a foot? His curiosity was violently answered as the nature of physics went to work sending the harmless looking grenade Rusty’s way. The projectile time out perfectly and exploded against the poised battle of his Rail gun. The explosion sent the strike flying back and Rusty growled out in anger, “damn it!” The phase shift reduced a lot of damage secondary damage but his main weapon was out of commission now. “You’ve done it!” Rusty yelled, “you’re gonna pay now pipsqueak!” He flared his thrusters and moved to produce a grenade in one hand to fly towards Wade with the intention of repaying the attack.

Gabriel worked his controls to avoid getting shot. His attention was diverted as he heard Icarus announce shooting a mega beam cannon. “Go for it!” He responded as the DaeDal fired off a large golden shot. Gabriel took that opportunity to time his move correctly. He let the warm glow of Icarus’ attack alarm everyone else and that’s when Gabriel activated his Mirage Colloid. The Jager Astray shimmered our of view and he rocked his controls to divert his direction from the way he was moving before. He holstered his rifle on the Astray’s butt and moved both of his hands to pull out his beam sabers.it was unfortunate for him that his enemies had phase shift, as that nullified half his weaponry. And if he relied solely on the beam rifle he was worried he would drain his battery too fast. If he timed his attacks with the beam sabers he could activated them just as he was going to attack. This would both conserve energy, and keep himself concealed. He wondered if everyone would think he was shot down already by his stunt. —- “Why is he targeting me?” Dearka complained as he tried not getting incinerated by the golden blast. He managed a cheeky dodge by separating the flight back from the back of the Justice only for the glider to get squarely impacted by the death ray. “Damnit!” Dearka cried out, “Yzak let’s get this bastard!” It wasn’t that he wasn’t thinking of Rusty, he merely trusted Yzak more in desperate situations and the damage to his mobile suit was a bad as bruising his ego, something the two coordinators had in common. The Justice and Freedom directed their attention to the mobile suit with the big cannon and spiraled towards it while firing shots from their rifles. “You won’t get off so easily!” Yzak cried out as he fired on the big threat. —- “You call that an attack?” Rusty mocked as his phase shift absorbed the missile barrage from the minuscule mobile suit. His taunt was cut short as a barrage of beams lanced at him. He raised his shield in time to absorb many of the hits but a few stray shots got past the barrier. One burning the inside of his left foot. “Just what kind of lame Alliance weapon are you supposed to be?” He taunted as he leveled his rail gun to return fire at the enemy. He fired consecutive shots hopping his barrage would panic the enemy. Each blast attempted to go in front of Wade, to box him into facing Rusty.

((Kudos to Frosty for the amazing work on the suits!)) Satisfied that he didn’t load in by himself, Gabriel studied his displays to look for the enemy. Wade’s question weighed in on the radio and Gabe responded. “I recon Icarus will keep some distance until we know wheat were up against exactly, you will move in closer with me since you have some fire power. Sound good?” Scanning his scopes he added under his breath, “ I got a trick or two under my sleeve as well…” His search didn’t last long as they got hailed over the radio, “attention unknown mobile suits, you have trespassed into a restricted air space. If you do not withdraw now you will be fired upon.” The voice was familiar, he just couldn’t place it. He scanned the area and his eyes lit up as he saw the three stars approaching them. Unable to resist himself he responded back, “and whose going to make us?” He readied his beam rifle to aim at the dots in the distance. The snarky voice responded, “the Jule team that’s who! Now stand down!” There was clear irritation in their voice. Gabriel smirked thinking they would be engaging the Duel or more likely a Zaku. His eyes grew wide as he spotted the distinct silhouette of a mobile suit he wasn’t expected. “Spread out!” Gabriel yelled in terror as the Freedom attempted to lock onto them all. The other two “stars” whipped out to the sides and slowly the picture became more clear. “Look out for the Justice and the Strike!” He grunted as he worked the controls to try and stay wide of the beam volley launching out of the Freedom. —— Yzak yelled out as he unleashed the volley from the Freedom, “Dearka! Rusty! Spread out and flank them!” The way the enemy reacted had him surprised that they didn’t fall for his initial attack like most enemies did. “These guys might be trouble!” He growled out.

((Good collab guys!)) Gabriel groaned inwardly as the prospective recruiter approached him and the newbie. He would be lying to himself if he said he wasn’t offended about being looked over by the guy as he pointed a finger at the newbie however. It was only then that he pieced together all the nonsense the guy was spouting out about UNIVERZ. Second place? 18thbest? His claims could very well be true but Gabriel knew what this fellow was trying to do, he was trying to get a lucky recruit, someone who was already talented enough and would be sure to elevate their lesser peers. Gabriel chuckled, he was more than certain he had shot down a handful of these guys before. Greater quantity didn’t equate to quality. “And just how good are you Mr. Recruiter?” Gabriel asked with a snarky tone. “What is it you have to offer new players like us?” He lied but was curious to see how the guy would react. -“Oh where do it start, my good friend.” Wade turned to the other diver, pulling up a large picture of the extravagant base UNIZERZ used, a gray circular shaped building. “This is the Shield. Easily the biggest base in the Moralia section.” Smaller pictures appeared around it, showing many different recreational areas, MS catapults, and training areas. “Everything here is something you’d have complete access to just by joining.” Wade smirked, hoping it would impress the others. -Icarus’s head whipped over to the newcomer that had just appeared and instinctively took a step back. The diver, who introduced themselves as Wade, a ‘star player’ for a group called UNIVERZ, was enthusiastic—to put it mildly “Can’t say that I have. And how can there be something special about me? I haven’t even battled anyone yet,” The black clad man—who’s screen name was…AkerHero13? Was this some kind of Mr.Bushido fanboy? The black clad man had responded to Wade as well, asking about accommodations and perks, to which Wade happily responded by pulling up several screenshots. “I mean, it looks impressive, but what’s the catch? Why us?” Icarus was grateful for any kind of help, but his age had made him skeptical about things that seemed to good to be true.- -Gabriel furrowed his brow and crossed his arms, “I think you misunderstood me…” he bit his tongue not wanting to come off as too hostile, “I asked how good are you? Are you able to cover his back in a situation? Do you have what it takes to be credible yourself? Or are you merely some lackey sent to do the dirty work for your force?” -Wade’s eyes widened after the diver’s statement. “Aw crap!” He thought, trying to keep his cool. “He noticed I didn’t talk about that.” Wade watched as the others waited, so he had to come up with a good excuse. “Alright then. I’ll prove how good I am to you.” He turned slightly, pondering. “How about we do a...” Wade didn’t know this man, but he realized that losing to him in a battle would ruin his chances at recruitment. “a mission together!” He pushed away the pictures and pointed at the mission area in the middle of the lobby. “All three of us could do a mission together. Any preference, guys?” -Gabriel’s cocky grin didn’t go away as he brought up his menu and swiped the mission he was looking at to both players. “I was actually just looking at this one. With the three of us we would have enough to do it...” he looked at them both as he sent the “Three Musketeers” mission for them to study. The description: “Do you have what it takes to raid the homeland? This is not the tomorrow you know about. What would the Plants be like if fate was a little different? What Knights would you run into on this dangerous mission?” -Watching the two others waving their hands about, Icarus did the same and was pleasantly surprised when his own menu popped up. "There we go," he muttered to himself. Looking past the menu at Wade and AkerHero13, Icarus smiled softly. "A mission sounds good to me. I prefer co-op to pvp anyway. For now at least," he watched as the mission popped up on his menu and nodded. The Three Musketeers--he had taught this book just last semester. "I'm Icarus by the way," he said, accepting the mission. "It's Wade right? And...can I call you Aker? What kind of gunpla are you running?" -Gabriel grimaced at the attention and forced a friendly smile in response to Icarus, “yes, you can call me Aker, it’s nice to meet you too… Icarus.” He tried out the name and looked at Wade as he answered, “I’m running an Astray variant, how about you guys?”he eyed Wade in particular to see if he would go along with the proposed mission. -The Diver pulled up a picture of his SD Gunpla. “I pilot the Command Gundam FSD. It’s got missiles, grenades, and a nice Beam LMG. I think it’ll be good to use in the mission.” Wade twisted his hat backwards. “Seems like a fun challenge!” -Icarus nodded as the others spoke of their machines. His eyes lingered on the SD gundam and he chuckled slightly. "That's a cute mobile suit," he said, fully earnest though his words perhaps rang a little bit more condescending than he intended. "I'm not running anything special--a custom ReZEL with some long range variations that I cobbled together. Kind of a hit-and-run fighter," he was actually quite proud of the DaeDAL. For his first usable gunpla and a budget one as well, it turned out pretty well, though he would neglect to mention the botched Wing Zero EW version that came before it. "How about we get this mission started? Do we know our objective?" -“Guess I’ll be up close an personal with them.” Gabriel nodded his agreement as he read from the description. “It just says we have to defeat an enemy ZAFT patrol by the Plants…. Lets get to it.” He grinned as he nodded to his new teammates and activated the mission. The world shimmered around him and he soon found himself in the cockpit of his mobile suit. He was slightly concerned about the ramifications of doing a mission but knew he had to keep his skills sharp. “This is Aker… Jäger Astray launching!” As expected his mobile suit appeared in a star field of sorts. He checked his screens to see if his allies had materialized around him yet. ((thanks to frosty for the pictures!))

Creed hooted in victory as his weapon crashed down on the Asshimar. The mobile suit went tumbling down and for a second, he thought he had an easy kill. The notion unsettled him but not as much as when the stubborn Titan transformed to fly around with minimal damage. “huh… so you cant hurt me, and I can only tickle you..” he mused and was curious how he should react next. His curiosity quickly grew into concern as the single Asshimar was soon joined by multiple other ones. He was surrounded. “Cheeky buggers aren’t you…” he growled as he held his sword mace at the ready. They caught on quick, shelving their weapons and opting, opting for what? Marco scrunched his face and realized they meant to use their armor to their advantage. Then one of them spoke, why did the NPDs have to speak? You can hear me, can’t you? I just wanted you to know… meeting here’s your unlucky day.” Marco sighed and focused his breathing; things were about to get interesting. Part of him wanted to retort back but he knew better than to waste his breath. Although he was still torn up about having to shoot down Kira; these Titans on the other hand, they were a different breed. He would gladly rid GBN of these walking war criminals. Just before they could advance Marco flared the wings up on Bael, spreading them out like a majestic bird. He flared the engines hard, redlining and shooting thrust into the sand. He spun Bael around, swinging the great sword in a horizontal slice, kicking up a small dust storm. He had to go off instinct, timing when he figured the Titans would enter his dust cloud, and that was when he pounced. He punched out at a random direction; he knew he couldn’t afford to get mobbed down. He shoulder bashed hard into one Asshimar, it wasn’t enough to knock the Titan back but it was enough to stop Marco from being caught in the middle. The action stunned the Asshimar and Marco followed through with a powerful stroke of the sword mace, ripping his weapon in hard across the belly of the Titan. He used the momentum of his attack to spin around and face all the Asshimars. Raising his wings up, he aimed the Rail Cannons and started firing into the dust cloud, the solid rounds would have a favorable result he knew. Flying backwards while firing away, he hoped to kite the enemies as much as possible. He readied his new weapon in front of him, waiting to fend off additional attacks. In the end, Marco was determined to prove that they were the ones who sorely underestimated Bael. ——- Cagalli was still getting used to the controls of her DOM. In many respects, having her pilot this behemoth was as much about inspiring her men rather than ability. Despite her misgivings, Cagalli was not one to squander generosity and she was determined to repay the faith the Desert Dawn had given her. When their group moved to charge the Archangel, they weren’t trekking along the desert for a new camp, they were ready for trouble. When the beams of a Distant MKII angled for her she moved into motion, kicking up sand and using the ground mobility the mobile suit was graced with to dance in an erratic weave. Seeing that the shots were aimed at her and not the convoy, she called out of her comrade, “they’re going for me, I’ll lure them away, while you guys go for the objective!”. Kisaka cried some protest back but Cagalli was as stubborn as they come. She readied her sword for a swipe at the Hizak, while aiming her shoulder cannon at Mu. She traded fire with the MKII seeing who would get lucky first in the exchange as she hoped to close the distance. ——- Kamille gently tested the controls of the G-Defenser, each slight movement rocked the mobile armor a particular way and within a few moments he felt like he had a solid idea on how to move it. Hikaru’s words rang in his head about attacking from a distance so he moved to gain some altitude away from the Beta Gundam. As he reached the operational height he decided to mimic what they had done entering into the battle field and moved to dive downward. Before he had even completed his U-turn he noticed he had a bogie on his tail. He decided that this would be the best chance to attack while it was playing catch up. “Let’s see you handle this!” He yelled out as he let hell loose on the Titan. The reticle lined up and he fired shots from his Linear rifle. Once had knew he locked on he followed up with a volley of missiles. He remember that he had the smart beam file as well and fired with that, alternating between linear and beam rifle. Each squeeze of the trigger reminded him of Green Noa, each squeeze - of all the destruction the damned Titans did to his home. “Die!” He screamed as he kept squeezing the trigger, hoping that the vengeance would soothe his mounting rage. As he got closer to the Titan he opened fire with the 4 laser guns and Vulcans, making sure the enemy didn’t have a chance to recover from the overwhelming initial attack. “This is for home!” He yelled in pure emotion as the G-Defenser whizzed by the smoking heap of the Asshimar in the sky. As he made his pass he checked his sensors to see if the attack worked or if he would have to come around to line up another attack, or worse if he would have to evade a counter attack.