Colony Drop

[thirdtimesthechar]

Who: Char, the forces of Zeon (any or all of you who want to contribute), whatever allies decided to show up on short notice, and Viridi's minions as NPCed by her mun
What: Defending Zeon from Viridi's Reset Bomb
When: Dawn on July 2
Where: The skies above Zeon and the sea to the west of Zeon
Warnings: It's a combat log

Aboard the Rewloola - and surrounding it with every airship Char could muster in an hour - Zeon's defense forces array themselves on the predicted course of the nature goddess's meteoric wrath. Higher than anyone normally travels, all guns, bows, arrows, and anything else they could conceivably throw at the incoming Reset Bomb were trained up and westward. Char himself is ready with rifle and Nightingale, as much as those would even help - at the very least he could defend his artillery from any breakaway rocks or defending nature spirits.

"All ships," Char says, his words transcribed into signal flags to communicate with the other airship commanders even as he speaks over his Crystal to his higher-ranking soldiers. "We've sighted the meteor approaching at high speed from the west. All units are to move toward it at full speed and come about once it is within one half mile. Attempt to match speeds with it or safely enter its wake to maintain fire for as long as possible. We have about five minutes on target to destroy it, starting in two from this point. You are to do everything in your ability to grind it into dust before it strikes our homeland. Sieg Zeon!"

That curt set of instructions finished, Char gives to command to his captain to begin the all-ahead-full charge toward the interception point, all the while glaring up at the falling star. Nothing like this will happen to Zeon on his watch, even if he has to create a miracle with his own hands. That's what people like Zeon's do.

((Subthreads finished, go ahead and post to them. Threads below happen in chronological order, though there may be overlap if needed.))

Comments

[forceofnature]

"Ooh. Spiffy. Remind me to get something for my troops in red."

Someone idly comments through telepathy for no particular reason.

"I'd hate to scuff up your armor. You sure you don't want to just sit this one out?"

[infinitejustice]

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that. I promise you, your forces will have trouble putting so much as a scratch on it."

Athrun raised both beam saber and shield in a salute -- even on the battlefield he intended to show courtesy -- then assumed a fighting stance. He wouldn't deny being scared, but he was also confident he could win. After all, this armor permitted him to fight Taryn to a draw; surely he could handle mooks.

"Now, come at me if you dare!"

[forceofnature]

"It's easy to brave when you haven't even seen the enemy yet. Talk to me in a few minutes."

Viridi signs off. ...And all hell breaks loose as the airship crosses that unseen boundary. Within moments, Athrun will be the target of six or seven Nutskis each shooting laser bursts.

...Still, he had a point. These were the mookiest of the mooks.

[infinitejustice]

For someone with Athrun's capabilities, it didn't take long to figure out the best evasion path and bob and weave his way through the shots. He was once again fortunate that the Magitek infusion procedure had enhanced his reflexes.

That said, he found himself unable to dodge some shots. But that's what a shield is for, right?

It doesn't take Athrun terribly long to reach the Nutskis, at which point he puts his blade to use. In a series of precise movements, he sliced at one enemy, then leaped to the next and attacked while in motion. Rinse, repeat.

[forceofnature]

There goes wave one. She really needed to give her basic troops some endurance training. The last Nutski will, in a display of sheer brilliance (for a Nutski), revolve rapidly around Athrun for several moments to get a shot in from the back.

...It manages to shoot off two before it is bisected.

Luckily for everyone, Viridi's troops are so eco-friendly they leave absolutely no remnants upon death.

Wave Two announces itself by dropping from the sky. A group of three Cacaws and two Lethiniums surround the lone soldier. The former begin to screech as loudly as they possibly can, the sound waves directed straight at Athrun. The latter unfurl their petals and begin to shoot.

[infinitejustice]

And thanks to Athrun's reflexes, he managed to block both shots with the shield -- though just barely.

The next wave, however, proved to be a little tougher -- if only because the screeching did a number on his ears. He instinctively moved to cover them with his hands, and cover them he did -- and he turned toward them, ignoring the other attack for a few seconds.

But just as it seemed it was a desperation move -- not like him to disable his arms, after all -- a second beam saber ignited on Athrun's left foot as he lashed out at the Cacaws with a kick. The joys of secret weapons, eh?

[forceofnature]

The screeching is more than just a raucous noise. Athrun will find that his aim is slightly off; only one of the Cacaws is struck. The remaining two continue to screech in that piercing tone, and with his proximity, covering his ears just doesn't suffice to completely drown out the noise. The longer Athrun listens, the more he will find himself unable to fight. His vision may go blurry and he may lose his balance. He'd better find a way to block that sound or destroy them before he's incapacitated any further.

The Lethiniums, after their initial shot, are charging up. The gigantic flowers turn skyward briefly as they collect power for their next laser. He has about five seconds before they shoot again.

[infinitejustice]

"Hah...damn, what is this...?!" Athrun figures he needs to act quickly. Barely thinking about it, he throws the shield at a Cacaw's neck, then leaps toward the both of them, igniting all four beam sabers, one on each of his limbs.

[forceofnature]

The Cacaw stops screaming long enough to try and swallow the shield. ...It gags. The other one will snap forward to bite Athrun, but it's no match for the two sabers on its end.

The Lethinium have finished charging. From behind, they will begin to spit their lasers towards Athrun once again.

"I just fed you. That's not even edible!"

[infinitejustice]

"Then I hope you won't mind me taking it back!" Athrun yanks on the shield, and at the same time launches as heavy a kick as he can muster. His objective is to get the Cacaw into the line of fire of the Lethinium, then dodge whatever it doesn't take.

[forceofnature]

"And I hope you enjoy indigestion."

Athrun will successfully retrieve his shield, though it's a lot more sticky and Cacaw-vomit-covered than he would probably like it to be. His kick barely budges the bird-tree fusion creature, but given that he's standing directly in front of it, anyway, all he really needs to do to pull his plan off is duck.

"Huh. Nice strategy."

[infinitejustice]

And duck Athrun does. He raises his shield as a precaution, though.

"I wouldn't be much of a knight if I couldn't think on my feet!"

And once he's got a clear line of sight, he'll dash at full speed at the remaining enemies to cut them up.

[forceofnature]

The Cacaw is destroyed by the laser blast. These aren't normal single attacks, though; the lasers continue to pulse forward for a good ten to fifteen seconds afterward. Athrun will find it hard to make much headway while walking directly against the blast.

"Let's just skip to Wave 3."

Thud goes something behind the knight.

"That's a Jitterthug. It's completely immune to physical attacks when it's green like that. What are you going to do now?"

The Jitterthug is indeed a vivid green. The mask on its face is quite monstrous indeed.

[infinitejustice]

"I'll thank the engineers for giving me weapons that aren't physical!"

Once the lasers die down, Athrun spins around to get a look at the monster. It was times like these when he wished his beam sabers were hand-carried rather than mounted directly in the armor. Oh, well, he'd make do. He crouches, then leaps up into the air, augmented by the energy output from outlets on the legs, aiming to stab the beast in the center of the mask with a beam saber.

[forceofnature]

Athrun's beam saber bounces off the mask completely harmlessly. Have a taste of your own medicine, physical-attack-impervious-guy.

"Oops. Sorry, I think I meant to say melee weapons. ...You have too many weird classifications."

The Jitterthug looks quite angry as it lifts its massive arms into the air and slams down towards Athrun.

[infinitejustice]

Athrun braces for the blow as he's descending, and when it hits, a burst of sparks erupts, and both human and monster are forced backwards.

"Damn!" Athrun had been hoping to not have to bring out the big guns, but it appears he has no choice. Luckily, he has some distance. He spreads his feet, extends both arms, and concentrates mana into the component on his chest, exposed from spreading his limbs. It spends a second or three glowing, then fires a large beam of light at the Jitterthug.

[forceofnature]

"And when it's red, it's completely immune to al -- Hey!"

The Jitterthug turns red alright as it explodes.

"I didn't even finish my explanation! You are so not taking this seriously!"

[infinitejustice]

Well, that took out a chunk of Athrun's mana supply. He still had plenty left to fight with -- as long as he didn't need to fire more than three more Scylla shots.

Oh, and he's going to ignore that outburst. There's no retort Athrun can come up with that won't make things worse. So instead he goes after the monsters that were previously shooting lasers again.

[forceofnature]

"Forget it. I'm toning up the difficulty of this mission the next time around."

Viridi's voice cuts off as the Lethiniums attempt to fend off Athrun. The lasers shoot once more, but unless Athrun's armor has suddenly developed a crack, he just needs to sit it out before they have to recharge once again.

Congratulations! ...It looks like he's won!

He will find his prize when he turns around: one adorable, small rock-like creature with a single eye gazing innocently upward at him. The ticking sound is just a part of its charm.

[infinitejustice]

Athrun prefers using his shield, anyway. At least hits to that don't cost mana. He quickly dispatches the remaining enemies, then turns around...

"What the..."

...Then he hears the ticking and it dawns on him.

"SHIT!"

As quickly as he can, Athrun grabs the creature and hurls it toward the descending chunk of space rock above him. His wife would probably gasp at the treatment to such a cute creature...but hey, she wasn't around. And hey, it could still land on the rock...

[forceofnature]

The Bumpety Bomb explodes a second after it leaves his hands. It keeps its single, teary eye fixed on Athrun as it sails through the air in slow motion, the shaking from the throw being the catalyst for the explosion.

"Murderer."

[infinitejustice]

"I don't need to hear that from you!" With that, Athrun deactivates his beam saber and drops his hands on his knees, bending over to rest for a bit.

[forceofnature]

"Please. You kill more living creatures in a month than I ever have in my entire existence."

Viridi takes the opportunity to drop a Toxiecap on his head. ...Well, that's what she ought to do, but it seems to be time for an unspoken intermission.

"While we're on this topic, my forces are born from the remnants of the life wiped out by humans, by the way. I wasn't joking about revenge."

[infinitejustice]

"That depends. Is it truly murder when done in self-defense or for sustenance?"

Athrun straightens back up. "So you reanimate them instead of letting them rest in peace? How is that any different from the Rift?"

[forceofnature]

"What?! ...Ugh, you just say that kind of thing to annoy me on purpose. It's the same thing as reincarnation for you humans."