A Young Dragon's Initiation

[liubei013 0]

[OOC: @Roromi: If you don't mind, I'll be assuming that Locke will be right behind me for this part.]

 

As ChengHu entered the refurbished and state-of-the-art Simulator Center, he quickly V-ed his right hand at the officer on duty before sticking his index finger and thumb out.  The officer, who was used to the Lt.Commander's methods, nodded and quickly fingered back thumbs twice, then a V, to indicate that chamber 22 had free Simulator mechanisms.  He nodded his thanks as he gestured for Locke to follow along. 

 

As they entered Chamber 22, he grabbed a helmet from the nearby rack and said, "Crewman Locke, grab a helmet and get settled into Sim 22B.  I'll provide instructions once you're ready."

 

"Let's see how he fares," ChengHu thought as his mind continued to calculate.

[Roromi 417]

(OOC: lol no problem)

 

Locke fallowed ChengHu rather curiously. He could understand the need to be tested; if he was in the commander’s position he would also want to see what the new blood was capable of. After all it was important to know how much you could depend on others especially in combat. The two of them had entered a dark room set with equipment usually used to train pilots for mobile suit operation. Of course Locke was also familiar with the other kinds of things one could do with that kind of equipment and to see his commander pick up a helmet and bide him to do the same made it quite clear what ChengHu Liu had in mind.

 

"Crewman Locke, grab a helmet and get settled into Sim 22B.  I'll provide instructions once you're ready."

 

“Yessir!”

 

Locke picked up one of the generic orange and tan helmets and settled it over his head as he walked to 22B. For a brief moment as he grew concerned that he might fall short of any expectations but the excitement to demonstrate his skills soon eased away what little doubt he had. He climbed into the seat of the simulation and out of habit strapped himself in despite it being just a simulation. The screens flicker on and the young coordinator activated the radio to talk clearly to his commander instead of simply yelling out across the chamber. “I’m ready to go commander!”

 

It took Jonathan a moment as the program booted up, but he soon realized that he was behind the controls of a Windam. While training he usually forced himself to play with the first generation Daggers so he wouldn’t be used to the higher response that a Slaughter Dagger or a Windam could offer. Of course that didn’t mean he didn’t try to use a Windam now and again while in simulation; it was his job to be versatile. 

[liubei013 0]

ChengHu put on the generic helmet before entering Sim 22A.  He quickly typed in his passcode that allowed him to fully customize the simulation.  Then he looked at a small screen which showed Locke in his own sim pod.  He nodded approvingly as the young crewman got himself settled and situated in the pseudo-cockpit.

 

"As you can tell, the Jet Windam is the default mobile weapon of choice for the Red Dragon Guard.  I allow all soldiers under my command to customize the missile configuration and sometimes the optional hand armaments.  For now, the both of us will use the default M9409L beam rifle, two Mk1323 rocket pods, and a mix of Drache and Wurger missiles.  I will now start the simulation," ChengHu stated clearly as the HUD lit up.  The 'sky' was partly cloudy as sunlight shined down and refracted off of the immense river in front of them.  There were majestic cliffs and mountains which lined along the river with the occasional muddy shoreside.

 

"The first part will be a straightforward patrol mission down the Yellow River.  Eliminate all hostiles in your path.  I will be your wingman and will participate but I will observe you as well," ChengHu explained as he completed the startup sequence and then hit the switch that opened the Jet Striker pack's wings.  Then without preamble, he took off and headed down the river at moderate speed.

 

"Try to keep up," he added blandly.

[Roromi 417]

Not wanting to goof up Locke fumbled for a moment before fully recognizing the controls and putting his Windam in the air. Paying attention to ChengHu’s vocabulary Locke assumed the point position and raised his shield and rifle respectively to be prepared for any kind of ambush. He mused as he scanned the synthetic landscape wondering what might be thrown at him.

 

For a few tense moments nothing happened and the landscape almost seemed to repeat itself. In an instant the simulation changed and Jonathan realized that a missile was being fired at him. His knuckles whitened as he jerked the controls to fire his CWIS and move out of the way of the missile that came from below. At first he thought it was a ground unit but a second volley of enemy fire confirmed the less likely scenario.

 

“In the river! A Zuno!” before he even finished his observation he was already returning fire with his rifle. His first few shots missed which gave the UMF-5 a chance to unload all its missle and fire a beam at Locke. Veering wildly, Locke climbed and shifted the windam to try and avoid as much of the fire as possible while taking out some of the threat with his own weapons. If he could just get past the volley quickly then he might be able to rush the ZnO and get him before he dives again. Locke had no time to really monitor what Commander ChengHu was up to but he was already assuming he was working this one alone.

 

Growling Locke pushed the Windam through a rather harsh dodge, something a Natural pilot would likely experience some trouble with. Not missing a beat he narrowly dodged the volley then changed his target from the missiles to the ZnO, which was already trying to dive. He wildly fired his rifle until Zaft unit was no more than a pile of simulated debris. He let out a sigh of relief then chimed in, “I gotta say I didn’t expect a ZnO! It's a shame these things don't simulate G's otherwise this would have been more interesting!” Although he was talking big that didn’t mean he let his guard down as he cautiously scanned the environment. When Jonathan Locke bragged he made sure he was able to back what he was saying, he wasn't about to be made a fool. Locke assumed that there would be more than just one ZnO perhaps this unit was a scout, "Was that one taking point?" Locke bit down on his lip as he realized that ChengHu wasn't likely to disclose any helpful information.

[liubei013 0]

[OOC: I meant to lay out the simulation, but it's a nice start. ]

 

ChengHu noticed that Locke immediately followed him up and along the river.  Then, as expected, an ambush from underwater type suits emerged as a ZnO went after Locke.  A warning indicated missile fire heading toward ChengHu's suit, so he barrelrolled and batted several missiles away with his head-mounted CIWS.  Then he dived just in time as two green beams shot up at his previous location.  He looked down at the ASH that fired the volley at him.

 

"Too simple," ChengHu muttered as he fired a well-aimed Wurger missile from his shield straight down into the ASH's head.  The missile dug in a meter deep before the warhead exploded, ripping internal components out in a haphazard fashion.  He looked over in satisfaction as Locke seemed to have survived this relatively easy first challenge.  Other novice pilots may have been partially damaged because they would have dwelled too much on their own confusion. 

 

“I gotta say I didn’t expect a ZnO! It's a shame these things don't simulate G's otherwise this would have been more interesting!” Though ChengHu didn't like such exclaimations, he did notice that Locke still maintained vigilant watch of the surrounding area, which included the young pilot's comment:

 

"Was that one taking point?"

 

ChengHu smiled slightly as he responded, "I already took out his wingman.  Let us proceed onto the first checkpoint."

 

Then he pushed the throttle up gently as the Windam flew further down the river.

 

"If I recall correctly, a flight of four Murasames will attack two klicks after the first checkpoint..." he thought to himself, eager to see how Locke would continue to fare.

[Roromi 417]

((OOC: sorry lol I figured it wouldn’t hurt that much if I took the initiative. Sorry for taking so long too, its been a busy weekend i'm afraid))

 

Jonathan chided himself for not noticing the other enemy mobile suit as well. It would do him no good to dwell on that fact though; all that mattered was carrying on. After making sure no more enemies were around Jonathan preceded down the river again.

 

It wasn’t long for something quick to appear on his radar. The insistent beeping confirmed Jonathan’s concerns as a group or Orb Murasames blazed past overhead then transformed in front of him to start shooting on Jonathan and ChengHu.

 

Locke’s Windam barely brought his shield up in time to absorb one of the deadly blasts from the Murasame’s rifle. The screen flickered and Locke hissed while pushing the Windam upwards. He knew better than to drive into them; odds were already against him he needed to have them fall into his hands.

 

He fired a volley of pot shots getting the enemies to scatter and attempt to flank him and the commander. Two to one odds were better but the enemy was still more maneuverable and able to transform into a sleek mobile armor mode. “I got the two on the right!” Moving his suit out to meet the Murasames Locke slowly figured out what to do as the enemy transformed into their fighter configuration in order to charge him.

 

Changing his strategy Locke settled his Windam lower until he was a few dozen meters above the ground.  The Murasames would have to transform into their slower mobile suit forms that close to the ground otherwise risk the danger of flying too fast at that altitude. The enemy fighters fired at Locke and he drunkenly made the Windam try to dodge the fire coming from two different angles. Evasion proved to be hard task with the gamble he was taking.

 

He fired his rifle randomly at one Murasame while using his shield to defend from the other. His ambidexterity proved to be helpful as he avoided a lot of the potential damage. A few shots did get past him though, and one even managed to damage his knee causing warnings to flare up in the cockpit. I Guess I’ll just have to stay in the air then, that knee might not work for ground combat now…

 

As the Murasames got closer to the ground, a grin formed on Locke’s face as they transformed into their mobile suit forms. As soon as the transformation started Locke charged for the one his rifle was aimed at, moving in closer to get a better shot. His rifle found its mark just as the Murasame finished shifting into its humanoid configuration. The second mobile suit finished its transformation and immediately went after Locke for revenge, its rifle trying to shoot him down. Locke’s shield took the abuse and the young coordinator shifted his mobile suit to head towards the remaining enemy. Before the simulation could guess what Jonathan was doing he fired his shield missiles into the ground just in front of the Murasame causing fake debris into the air, making a veil between Locke and the Orb suit. This added confusion to the Murasame, which tried to take into account the missile being fired, but failed to comprehend the intentional miss. Locke wasted no time and fired through the cloud destroying the stunned suit.

 

Jonathan had to wonder if perhaps he was taking advantage of the simulation or if a pilot would actually worry about his missile being fired at the ground, or the veil of dust for that matter. Locke’s cocky smirk turned into one of dismay as he recalled a shot landing on his knee. He studied the simulation and gathered that he was correct for not going on the ground with the damaged joint, it would seem that the shot had skimmed and boiled the delicate interior of the right knee joint leaving it barely able to move. He could still fly though and that meant he was still in the fight, “Commander! Two enemy Murasames destroyed, how are you holding up sir?” He silently hoped that ChengHu Liu was having just as much trouble as he was but he doubted that an officer of that rank would. Locke could only pray that his minor damage wouldn’t prove to be black mark on his record, or worse. At least I know there’s still room for improvement…

[liubei013 0]

[OOC: Don't worry about it.]

 

"Good..." ChengHu thought as Locke managed to break up the flight of Murasames.  As Locke reduced altitude, ChengHu quickly jerked suddenly, pitching his Windam to the left and toward the nearby mountain. 

 

Two Murasames in mobile armor mode swarmed in.  One fired a full salvo of air-to-air missiles while the other fired two bursts from its beam rifle.  ChengHu spun and closed on the mountain until he could nearly touch it as he avoided the two beams.  He reduced thrust as he turned and flew backwards in order to face the oncoming missiles.  He used all four CIWS to bat away three missiles and blocked the fourth with his shield.  As his back nearly hit the mountain, he quickly rebounded off using the Windam's feet and thrusters.  The 'launching platform' allowed him to quickly accelerate into one of the Murasames.  It began to convert to mobile suit mode but it was too little too late.  ChengHu quickly switched his rifle for one of his 'Stilettos' and stabbed forward as far as he could.  The Windam used the anti-armor penetrator and impaled the Murasame's cockpit.  A brown-red stain could be seen as he pulled the pointed blade out. 

 

He turned just in time to see the second Murasame, who already switched to mobile suit mode, fire several more shots from its rifle as it flew in.  He quickly kicked the now defunct Murasame forward in order to ward off the oncoming green spears of light.  As the beams hit the Murasame, ChengHu thrusted around the suit and threw the 'Stiletto' at the second Murasame.  The small rockets in the blade ignited, causing it to zip straight at the Orb suit.  Right after that, he shifted to the Murasame's left and fired several unguided rockets at the suit's shield arm.  The Orb suit spun to avoid the blade but had to quickly bring up its shield to block the sudden rocket barrage.  ChengHu took the opportunity to close in as he drew his beam rifle.  The Murasame was knocked into the mountain from the impact of the rockets.  ChengHu, in his Windam, once again went pointblank range, knocked the Murasame's shield out of the way and fired twice into the suit's central torso.  He quickly lifted his suit's feet and leapt away as the suit exploded.  Debris from the explosion dented his left shoulder armor and partially damaged one of his legs' thrusters.

 

As he turned around, he saw Locke take out the second suit through a veil of debris, no doubt created by the young pilot.  As he approached, he noticed the knee damage in Locke's suit.  ChengHu pondered for a moment but decided not to comment until he could review the entire simulation afterwards.

 

“Commander! Two enemy Murasames destroyed, how are you holding up sir?”

 

"Two up, two down, Crewman Locke," ChengHu said with a hint of approval.  He quickly surveyed the area before waving at Locke with his suit. 

 

"One more checkpoint to go," he said softly as he shifted the throttle up again as his Windam headed further downriver.

 

"Now...this last checkpoint will require the defense of a friendly outpost.  If I recall correctly, there will be assorted enemy suits attacking in two or three waves..." ChengHu thought as this final push would truly show Locke's potential.

[Roromi 417]

Jonathan took in a deep breath of relief then pushed his throttle to take the point once again. He spent little time dwelling on his previous failure and shifted his attention to focus on the moment and not get caught up in his ego. He took a moment to reach up and crack his neck then firmly replaced his fingers on the warm controls of the simulation.

 

Again the warning beeps rang out and Locke toyed with the controls to zoom ahead. A friendly outpost was sending a distress signal and several different units were approaching through the forest without the approval to do so. Locke shifted his camera to zoom in on some of the units. A heavily armed insurgent type Ginn led a duo of first generation strike daggers armed with weapons that weren’t normally associated with suits of that age.

 

The bizarre arrangement could have been a multitude of different forces; it could have been as simple as guerilla fighters, to mercenaries, or even special operatives from an enemy nation, all that did matter was that they were attacking a friendly outpost and that they were marked as hostile units. Locke raised his rifle to open fire on the three obvious units. With the element of surprise his rifle sent off a volley, which scored a punishing blow on the Ginn and destroyed one of the Daggers. Without warning the tip of Jonathan’s rifle flared up in a brilliant light and Locke instinctively let go of the weapon as it exploded. Locke’s quick reaction barely saved the Windam’s hand from being consumed in the explosion.  “What now!?”

 

Even as he recoiled from the surprise attack he fluidly retrieved his beam saber and activated it as he scanned for the source of his trouble. Again the cockpit beeped as a trio of Dinns opened more fire on him. Growling as he pushed his controls forward, Locke charged towards the flying mobile suits. Machine gun fire from the Dinns whirled around him as he banked left and right trying to avoid getting hit and a few shots even clanked against the Windam’s weak armor. None-the-less Locke closed the distance until he was in the Dinns faces. It didn’t dawn on the Dinns to scatter until it was too late and Locke made quick work of the trio, slicing quickly from one suit to the next and then the last.

 

With no more projectile weapons at his disposal (besides his CWIS) he had little choice but to continue charging to his enemies however something was bugging him. The answer to his concern soon became cleared as beam skimmed close to him, the source being traced to a trio of M-1 Astrays. These must have been the bastards who shot my gun! I knew those Dinns couldn’t be that accurate with their machine guns. Locke hesitated for a moment as he realized that there was still a Ginn and a Dagger much closer to the base. Sneering he forced himself to concentrate on the first two suits he noticed earlier, if he didn’t stay on task then the outpost would fall and the scenario would be a failure.

 

Flying low to the ground so he could avoid getting shot at by the Astrays he soon found the duo from before. It would appear that they had already returned trying to attack the base, a stupid choice on their behalf. As the Ginn brought its bazooka back up and tried to aim Locke’s shield violently dug into the mobile suit, effectively taking it out of the fight. Veering around from his first attack of throwing his shield, Jonathan pulled out his second saber and flew in fast at the remaining dagger, which was already trying to shot him with its rifle. The Dagger managed to get off a few shots however none of them landed and before it could react Locke tackled into the Dagger sending it sprawling on the ground. The Dagger tried to stand up after a moment however as soon as it tried to recover, it found Locke’s beam sabers digging into its chest.

 

Jumping off from his kill Locke tried to gain more altitude to see what he should do next. He wasn’t sure if the Astrays were still out there or if there were any other units out there for that matter. Breathing heavily he barely realized how trying the simulation was getting. He didn’t say anything but rather remained silent almost as if he was trying to listen to the enemy movement through the woods. He waited cautiously as he scanned the border around the outpost.

[liubei013 0]

[OOC: Man...we need more Dragons-I mean, REA recruits. ]

 

ChengHu grinned coldly as Locke encountered the dilemma.  He didn't say anything as the young pilot managed to take out numerous enemies and prioritized those attacking the outpost...the best choice, despite having lost his beam rifle.  He watched as Locke skillfully took out the DINNs and the initial group.  Seeing the Astrays closing in on the outpost, he blasted in as he said, "Locke, here's my rifle.  And two BABIs incoming."

 

As he passed Locke, he tossed his M9409L beam rifle.  Immediately after giving up the weapon, he pulled out one beam saber as he zig-zagged towards the trio of M-1s.  They noticed him and began firing a mix of CIWS and beam fire at the Windam.  One beam hit his shield right where his remaining shield-mounted missile lay.  He didn't take the risk and chucked the shield aside.  His caution paid off as the shield exploded throwing large metal chunks around a small area. 

 

ChengHu countered by drawing his second saber and dove in while unleashing a volley of air-to-ground missiles.  Two of the Astrays dodged out of the way, as their path toward the outpost was interrupted.  The third Astray decided not to play on the machine's strength in maneuverability and paid for it as it fell under the salvo of missiles.  Then he closed in on the remaining M-1s while igniting both sabers.  Without a word, he began to 'dance' with the Astrays as he battled them in rapid melee combat.  One Astray tried to get some distance to fire its rifle and partially succeeded, hitting ChengHu's Windam, breaking the suit's right shoulder armor and part of the Jet Striker Pack.  He closed in and stabbed the Astray's 'gun' arm before splitting it from right shoulder to left hip with the other saber. 

 

He quickly turned only to meet the M-1's shield.  The shield batted the left side of the Windam, throwing it off-balance briefly.  ChengHu grunted as he gunned everything at max thrust.  His Jet Striker pack ignited and propelled the suit before it could hit the ground.  He slammed down on the auxillary pedal while hovering in order to launch a roundhouse kick straight into the Astray's legs.  It collapsed onto the ground and made attempts to recover.  However, ChengHu walked around and then mercilessly impaled the M-1's cockpit.  The red-hot energy blade stabbed into the small but vulnerable cockpit and made the suit inoperable. 

 

He turned to see how Locke was doing against the BABIs as this was the last part of this simulation. 

 

"Just one more test..." he thought.

[Roromi 417]

Locke put away his left beamsaber and caught ChengHu’s rifle as his commander tossed it to him.

 

“Locke, here's my rifle.  And two BABIs incoming.”

 

Given the intensity of the situation Locke was almost taken back by the control ChengHu Liu seemed to have. Simulation or not it was turning to be quite the work out. Jonathan didn’t have time to ponder too much as the BABI’s stole his attention.

 

Locke’s Windam was begging for a break with damage from the Dinn’s machine guns riddled over its body and his energy flirting near the critical level.

 

A missile barrage from the BABI’s prompted Locke to intercept with his CWIS as he flew backwards to avoid getting hit. His bullets connected making an orange cloud in front of him. As the shockwave pushed him towards the ground he used the force to help him push off the ground and jump straight towards the BABIs in a renewed charge. As the explosion faded away he came into view again and the ZAFT machines transformed to take better shots at him.

 

There was a large distance to cover and Locke wasn’t going to get out of his attack cheaply. The BABI’s unloaded with their variety of weapons as Locke weaved in trying not to get too much damage. Jonathan was able to take into account most of his mobile suit but the bulkier jet pack kept getting damage and Locke was certain it wouldn’t last much longer.

 

As he got closer to the BABI’s altitude he brought his right saber as if to strike at the mobile suit on the same side, instead he swung too early and instead shifted his suit around the slash at the one on his left. The BABI didn’t see the move coming and was helpless against the blow. The second BABI wisely backed away and fired a blast from its chest cannon directly at Locke’s back. There was no way to dodge it at the distance he was at all he could do find a way to make the situation work.

 

The Jet Striker bursts into flame and the monitor flickered in simulated abuse. Locke was already reacting though, and by the time the blast hit he had begun disconnecting the striker pack allowing his windam to fall. As the pack explodedand  he shifted his windam around as it fell below the explosion and fired at the BABI with ChengHu’s rifle. Again they were too close for him or now the BABI to avoid getting hit. The BABI wasn’t even able to show any reaction as the green bolt ripped through the cannon it just fired.

 

Despite his fall Locke still managed to smile from his clever thinking. To avoid making his move a vain one he used his thrusters to slow his descent. He still roughly hit the ground and got more damage on his legs than he wanted to but in the end he was still standing both figuratively and metaphorically. He took a moment to see what else was left then noticed that ChengHu had taken care of the Astrays. From what he could gather by just glancing it looked like the commander had an interesting time too.

 

Just as he was about to open up a channel his HUD flashed a warning about his energy levels and he chuckled, “Two BABI’s destroyed… I’ve got extensive damage looks like this suit would be in the maintenance bay for a few weeks but its still operational for the moment… My energy is at critical…” he tried to move where his commander was however the windam stumbled to one knee and his beamsaber automatically shut off. Locke couldn’t help but burst into laughter. “I’m afraid I reached my limit sir, I spent too much energy firing my rifle and maneuvering!”

[liubei013 0]

As ChengHu carefully landed next to the outpost, he watched as Locke finished off the second BABI with the borrowed rifle.  An incessant beeping noise reminded the commander that his own Windam just hit the red zone in its power meter.  He flicked on a small monitor and quickly reviewed all of Locke's dogfights as the young pilot brought his own nearly-crippled Windam down to the ground.

 

"Quite promising," ChengHu thought, though he may have been understating things.  Some pilots with moderate experience were unable to reach this point due to their suits being disabled or destroyed partway through this last challenge.  Realistically, most pilots would not have to take on such high numbers of mobile suits in the first place, which was exactly why ChengHu tested recruits in this manner.  It was better to throw extremely difficult challenges at them in the sims before confronting real combat.

 

“Two BABI’s destroyed… I’ve got extensive damage looks like this suit would be in the maintenance bay for a few weeks but its still operational for the moment… My energy is at critical…” Locke said over the communication channel.  Then his suit automatically switched off his energy systems and with a laugh, he said, “I’m afraid I reached my limit sir, I spent too much energy firing my rifle and maneuvering!”

 

"That's fine.  This was meant to be quite challenging.  Wait one, Crewman," ChengHu said as he tapped several keys rapidly on his command console, something only commander officers could access in simulations.  The terrain around them shimmered and then shifted to a large park next to suburban housing.  It simulated an area similar to that near Shanghai.  After a few more taps, both Windams 'reset' back to full condition, including armor and energy.  He tweaked it slightly so he held his custom optional loadout of two Shorty beam rifles and discarded the shield while he gave Locke the default loadout. 

 

"We both are wore out to an extent by the first simulation, but I would like to finish up with a duel.  Just a little extra condition that I'll give you a hint by...casualties do matter," ChengHu explained as he lifted up into the air and back a little from Locke's machine.

 

"Now, Crewman Locke, come at me," he said with an extra edge in his voice as he held one pistol-like rifle above his head and the other straight forward with both beam pistols pointed at Locke's Windam.

Edited September 4, 2007 by Guest

[Roromi 417]

Locke was taken back by the challenge of the duel; he wasn’t prepared for that kind of situation to arise. Never-the-less Jonathan Locke was a soldier and that meant he had to be ready for anything, or at least adapt quickly. He quickly studied his commander’s load out with some curiosity, with no shield ChengHu would be more susceptible to damage however he would also be quicker with the weapons he had selected. Hopefully that’ll mean he’ll burn his energy quicker.

 

As ChengHu took aim so did Jonathan, he remained on the ground and only adjusted his stance and shield so he could better aim and absorb any shots. He took little time picking a target, and aimed for the Windam’s cockpit. Given his load out Locke felt that it would be a wiser decision to try and hold his ground, at least in the beginning. He needed to get a better feel for how the commander fought in a one-on-one scenario. Holding his breath he squeezed the control to fire his rifle.

[liubei013 0]

ChengHu watched as Locke took a stationary defensive stance.

 

"Good..." he thought as he quickly dashed to the right slightly in order to dodge the beam.  The green beam of light zipped past him and shot infinitely into the sky.  Then he fired three shots, two with his right 'pistol' and one with his left.  He made sure that the beams were angled downward so that any missed shots would only hit the park grounds.  The first two beams were aimed at Locke's shield and right shoulder, while the third was aimed low at his knees. 

 

As soon as the shots left, he quickly dropped down to the ground and dashed to Locke's left, launching a quick front snap-kick at Locke's flank as he quickly closed the distance.

Edited September 8, 2007 by Guest

[Roromi 417]

As Locke expected the Commander was fast. A volley of beam fire hailed down on him his shield taking most of the hits however a shot came through and pierced through his rifle arm. He hissed as the arm fell limp and dropped the weapon. He barely had time to recover his senses as the enemy Windam came storming in, moving to his left shifting to do a snap kick. Now it’s my turn!

 

Locke raised his shield to meet the kick and shifted his mobile suit to face ChengHu’s, he tried to raise his shield in a angle to throw off the commander’s balance.  Jonathan doubted he would get a good angle to fire off his missiles however he still had the rockets on his striker pack. “Lets see how you handle this!” As he spoke the wings rose up making it clear he meant to fire; at that range he would shred the commanders suit to pieces.

[liubei013 0]

ChengHu smiled slightly as one of his shots inadvertantly destroyed Locke's beam rifle.  But his smile immediately disappeared as Locke skillfully reacted to his kick, his shield warding off the brunt of the potential damage.  Then he looked at the back of Locke's suit as the Windam's wings rose up, revealing the full arsenal of missiles and rockets.

 

"Interesting..." ChengHu thought as he quickly reacted.  He used Locke's shield to leverage himself up and with the strong thrust of his Jet Striker pack, he vaulted several meters above Locke's Windam.  He was still too close to use his pistols so instead, he blazed away with his head-mounted CIWS to rain down a hail of bullets.

[Roromi 417]

Luckily for Locke the commander reacted before he could waste his rocket ammunition. As ChengHu Liu flew away he tried to harass Jonathan with a barrage of CIWS fire. Such a low caliber barrage would take awhile before it did major damage especially with Locke’s shield still able to protect him. He knew though that without his rifle he had to keep the commander close to him. “You’re not getting away from me yet!”

Locke’s Windam fallowed in pursuit, jumping into the air after ChengHu, he was determined to keep them close to each other. As the barrage beat against his mobile suit he returned CIWS fire as well aiming for one of the commander’s rifles.

 

He tired to maneuver to keep up with ChengHu, if he didn’t so something soon then he was certain he would loose control of the situation. He pitched his angle to aim the rockets on his striker pack to the height that ChengHu was trying to reach while aiming his shield missile innocently at the commander’s feet. If he could make the commander hesitate to avoid his rocket fire he might be able to hit him with his shield Würgers. He fired his entire stock of rockets on his jet pack and a split-second later his shield missiles. Locke held his breath to see what would happen, he knew he had to be ready to continue attacking.

[liubei013 0]

[OOC: *switches to poorly imitated Vader's voice* Impressive.  Most impressive.  ]

 

ChengHu grimaced as Locke finally moved to pursue him while firing his CIWS.  The way the head was tilted and aimed told him that the young pilot was going for ChengHu's rifles.  He increased his altitude and moved laterally while lifting his suit's arms.  The bullets passed by harmlessly until a sudden beep on his monitor which informed him that he lost his right beam saber.

 

Before he could comment on Locke's maneuver, he saw him aim and fire a fusillade of rockets.  He quickly dashed away but then he noticed two missiles, most likely from the Windam's shield zip in.  He grunted from exertion as he quickly twisted his control sticks to aim his rifles at the oncoming missiles.  He exhaled halfway before pulling the triggers.  Beams shot out and hit the missiles dead on.  The fragments from the explosion dented armor here and there and managed to take out his top left head-mounted CIWS.

 

He didn't worry about that as he used the explosion to his advantage as he fired another pair of beams through the smoke cloud.  Then he flew down and to the left as he awaited Locke's next and probably interesting move...

[Roromi 417]

(OOC: lmao thank you, you're too kind, however this is an elite unit after all  )

 

Locke hardly paid attention to the effect his attack had done he was too focused on the next step of their little dance and he knew it would take more than simple tricks to have any chance of defeated ChengHu. A pair of beam fire came through the smoke that his barrage had created, and managed to strike through his left wing and hit inside of his shield effectively damaging it from the inside out.

 

Finding it useless now Locke tossed the shield and reached for his beam saber, which was about the last weapon he had left. Given the angle of the beam shots Locke imagined that ChengHu was probably down low somewhere. Zig-zagging to the general direction he flew through the smoke to find his commander at his lower left. Without his shield he would have to be evasive to try and get close. He knew that with his arsenal running low and with no apparent signs of major damage things were going to get more intense.

 

Breathing heavily he studied his commander for a moment and wondered what he was going to do. I’ve still got a trick or two up my sleeve. Pushing forward he began to zig zag again to try and close the gap safely, he wanted to force ChengHu to use his beam saber and to do that he needed to be close enough so the rifles wouldn’t be a good option.

[liubei013 0]

ChengHu reduced his thrust until his Jet Striker pack was on standby in order to conserve what energy he had left.  Then he saw the pink glow of a beam saber as Locke zigzagged his way toward ChengHu's location.  ChengHu quickly holstered his pistols not because Locke wanted to go melee, but for the reason half a kilometer behind Locke...

 

Then he quickly drew his remaining beam saber with his suit's right hand and took a 'Stiletto' anti-armor penetrator with his left.  Then he too closed the distance between him and Locke.  He fired a burst with his CIWS to the side with Locke's beam saber before tossing the rocket-propelled blade to where Locke would may dodge toward.

[Roromi 417]

Locke’s eyes widened in surprise as ChengHu fired another round from his CIWS he dodged accordingly not wanting to take any unnecessary damage. Moving along with his plan he went ahead and threw his beamsaber at the Commander hoping to score a hit with his weapon as he reached down to grab his spare in a reverse grip. A glimmer caught his eye as he realized he was flying straight into a Stilletto he tried to shift his mobile suit out of the way but it was too late the Anti-Armor drove into his left arm and shattered through it sending debris smashing against his Windam. The impact forced Locke into a flip. He tried to recover however he landed hard on his back sacrificing his Jet Striker. With nothing left but his legs and possibly his CIWS this would be the point where he would hit the self-destruct and bail out.

 

“Wow you got me good Commander!” Locke finally sighed in relief. He leaned back in his seat and removed his helmet to wipe the sweat on his face.

[liubei013 0]

ChengHu expected some type of unorthodox attack but he didn't expect an ignited beam saber to fly haphazardly at him.  He forced his suit to lunge to the side but the energy blade manage to slice off his suit's left arm and managed to nick his left holstered rifle.  Then he approached cautiously only to see a fallen Windam.  Then he heard Locke's honest exclamation over the channel.

 

"You did quite well, Crewman Locke," ChengHu said as his HUD slowly deactivated.  He took off the stifling helmet and leaned back against the seat.  He took the brief luxury of just sitting back and relaxing for a moment as he collected his thoughts. 

 

He keyed the comm. one more time, "Crewman Locke, I'll discuss the results out in Observation Room 2.  Oh...welcome to the Red Dragon Guard."

 

Then ChengHu opened the pseudo hatch and got out.  He brought the helmet with him as he stretched a little before making his way to Observation Room 2.

[Roromi 417]

A chuckle of relief washed over Locke as he heard the magic words: “welcome to the Red Dragon Guard.” He took off his helmet and got up to replace it on the shelf he retrieved it from. Straightening out his uniform he straightened his back and made his way to the Observation room. He felt a lot better about himself, like things were finally getting on track with his life.

 

As he entered the room he saluted to Commander ChengHu, “Reporting as ordered sir” the excitement was obvious in his voice but at the moment he was happy he felt like he was doing his father’s wishes by becoming apart of a distinguished group of mobile suit pilots. 

[liubei013 0]

He turned toward Locke and returned his salute.

 

"At ease, Crewman," ChengHu said as he walked over to a console in order to bring up the simulation.  He wasn't planning on dissecting each and every aspect, since this was merely a test of Locke's abilities.  He brought up the various scenes from the patrol simulation on the main screen.

 

"You did quite well and managed to survive the entire engagement, albeit a bit worse for wear.  Only some recruits and experienced veterans made it that far.  I was less concerned about your kill count and more toward how you reacted and handled each situation," he said.  Then he switched the display to their duel.  He also changed it so there was a high aerial few of their fight.

 

"One aspect of this particular duel was to avoid any significant civilian collateral damage, hence when I mentioned 'casualties do matter' at the start of the duel.  It was probably by accident, but your focus on me managed to minimize such damage," he explained as he pointed out all the houses around the large park where they fought.

 

"Though one needs to focus and complete one's tasks, the regards for the people must always take priority.  This does not mean that you should be paralyzed by overriding decisions but you should act calm and quick," he concluded as he switched off the display.  Then his cell phone rang, so he picked it up.

 

"Commander Liu here.  Yes...I just finished...are you sure?...very well, we'll make preparations to depart soon."

 

He turned toward Locke and gave a knowing look.

 

"Apparantly we have some business with the Eurasian Federation.  President Liao is unable to attend, so I was asked to bring a small group from the Red Dragon Guard to attend.  Pack your things, Crewman, since you'll need to get exposed to the other aspect of being part of an elite unit," he said with a hint of urgency.

Edited September 12, 2007 by Guest

[Roromi 417]

Jonathan had sat patiently through ChengHu’s lecture about being careful about casualties. The commander was right about one thing, he had been way to focused on him during the duel. I’m sure people would have evacuated if they would have seen two mobile suits go at it anyways…

 

The commander picked up his phone which perked Locke’s interest a bit more. He hung up then returned his attention to young Locke.

 

"Apparantly we have some business with the Eurasian Federation.  President Liao is unable to attend, so I was asked to bring a small group from the Red Dragon Guard to attend.  Pack your things, Crewman, since you'll need to get exposed to the other aspect of being part of an elite unit,"

 

Locke Snapped to attention, “Yessir!” After getting the details of their departure from ChengHu Liu Jonathan went back to his room to repack his bag full of the things he needed for the trip. After a few minutes of packing up his duffle back Jonathan was on his way to location where he was going to meet up with his commander.

 

Locke’s mind kept racing around with different ideas as to what the meeting could be about. Well he did say that we would be going in place of the President which is kind of odd for a unit like us to do… it must be something very interesting if we’re getting sent to Eurasia for some rendezvous. In the end things were bound to get interesting, he silently wondered if the meeting had something to do with the rumors regarding the USSA.

[liubei013 0]

After ChengHu dismissed Locke, he quickly returned to his own quarters to pack.  The contents were rather spartan, as he only packed his typical suit, tie, and shoes along with some other standard articles.  Everything else such as keycards, identification, and his sidearms he kept at his side so any possible loss of his bag would merely be an inconvenience.  Then he remembered to leave a message for XueLi.  So he briefly mentioned the trip and his sudden departure.  He knew she'd understand.

 

Afterwards, he arrived at the runway, where a light transport waited.  He assembled four other Red Dragon Guardsmen, Locke included, into his entourage.  They were all in their uniforms, which were of the same design and cut as the rest of the Earth Alliance, but it had more red highlights throughout.  As he sat down, he wondered what this visit was about but he didn't vocalize it as he did not permit such chatter among his men.

 

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Edited September 17, 2007 by Guest