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Get this: In space, no one can hear you scream. In dense concentrations of Minovsky particles in space, no one can see you scream. At least not with anything except a damn good camera. So it was that Synapse was caught off-guard; a man by his very nature omniscient, crippled by the curious particle. Here the Earth Federation Space Forces resupply fleet resided, a school of cargo ships and obsolete space combat vessels fouling the otherwise glamorous diamond of the Magellan Revised class, the Atlantis of Synapse's charge. As I said earlier, no one can see you scream in Minovsky-age warfare. "You" in this case refers to a variety of things, not the least of which being weapons, and in this circumstance, a barrage of extravagant missiles - extravagant for the fact that they had ignored no anti-Minovsky measures, a fact that more than doubled the price of a conventional munition. Optical sensors maintain their efficiency within the human visible spectrum within a certain range of a spacefaring warship; it would be ridiculous to equip such vital machines without the necessary components. It would be like denying a blind man eyesight enhancements because he had developed his life since childbirth around a sightless world. The sensors detected the missiles at their optimum range, but far too late for any defenses to activate, save for the Atlantis' laser batteries. Few missiles were destroyed before impact, and though their explosive payload had been diminished, their fragmented remains posed no significantly smaller threat than the survivors. Survivors and shrapnel alike collided with the fleet; a handful of destinationless missiles ejected out of the fleet's formation and out of sight as the EFSF supply fleet recovered from the impacts. Cuyler, Florian Cuyler, a cuylious name for a cuylious pilot and a cuylious Mobile Suit. The Schnee Weiss, a beautiful heat-resistant white - a simple afterthought to account for the unit's under-developed heat sinks; they were only that of the standard Dom its parts had once been designed for. The boy's breath was even, mechanical, efficient. What more was there to any other human that made them different from a tool to be used? If there was something - did Florian have it? Questions weren't for him, he didn't ask himself these questions, but the neural sea had a way of composing its own works, an orchestra of impulsive waves against the beach. Thoughts other than the ones he needed to have, the ones he had once had and the ones designed for him, and the ones that created themselves never crossed. They crashed down on a consciousness that had never been his, but was one of the many possible selv- Wait, where was I? I got lost, what with the bits flying around and whatnot. So, there are these bits escaping from the Schnee Weiss's pack, an extension of Florian's consciousness, like delicate fingers terminating in glass shards. He breathed out. Bits released. Operation commencing. Glorious ship for glorious Kaptain! Kaptain Beria is most cherished leader in all Lucifer's Fury. The crew are like the skittish bear cub. Yet they do not require as much salmon. They are satisfied with what every man gets. But now is not Kaptain Beria's show. Now is Veronica Wu's show. The Lucifer's Fury and Athena's Wrath fired a mixed pantheon of beams, directed at the Salamis Revised, the Relentless, of the resupply fleet. Captain Wu, two ranks higher than her late husband, and a rank above her recently departed brother-in-law, she was well equipped to carry out a campaign of honor and retribution against the Earth Federation. Beria... I shall not let you sully Jinyuan's legacy. "Captain! Enemy fleet is preparing to fire!" "Launch anti-beam chaff and missiles. Hold steady." Her eyes bore through the abyss, contracting like laser lenses. "Give me the target's status." "Target Salamis destroyed, the Azrael and the Musai classes have downed their target as well." Excellent. The ships seemed to lazily drift as they fired on their Federation counterparts - a mathematical shifting to avoid the enemy's fire. The red lobster (with a depressing lack of cheesey biscuits), the Val Varo flanked a Salamis whose attention was until the last second focused on more apparent enemies and ships. Its massive cannon opened to fire as the Impenetrable's turrets turned to face the approaching squad. The prototype Gelgoog, Caleb DeGrau's unit, along with Yoritomo Naizen's Act Zaku aligned with the red Mobile Armor. The prototype Gelgoog dashed out of a mega particle cannon's sights just before a pink beam shot through the space where he was. The green Mobile Suit's left manipulator grasped a grenade from the unit's hip and flung it at the commonly-known targeting array on the ship's flank. A bright burst of light broke the beam firing, giving Felix time enough to let off his cannon. "Not bad, Mendalshon! Next time, let's get it done before I have to waste a grenade," Caleb commended, staring at the glowing hole where there had once been... the meat of a ship. Naizen moved in for the kill - it seemed like the Mobile Armor's shot, while debilitating, hadn't been enough to remove its combat capabilities. "Hey, Naizen, what're y- oh. Nevermind." Caleb moved away as the Act Zaku boosted towards the Impenetrable's bridge. The Zaku crashed its gun through the spacescreen and pulled the trigger as matter ejected out of the evacuating chamber around his gun. "Next target," Naizen spoke simply. "Next target," Mendalshon confirmed. "Moving on," Caleb said. He still wasn't too keen on the soldier-talk. The remaning Salamis-class ships quickly fell against the combination of the Mobile Armor's team and the Zeon ships' assaults. Without any real support, they fell, unable to defend the Columbuses which were quickly being destroyed by the Schnee Weiss's bits. Guided by the Hardboiled and Florian's newtype abilities, there was nothing unarmed cargo vessels could do to defend themselves. The Azrael maneuvered slightly too slowly as the Magellan fired once more. A laser pierced the bridge, and a mega particle cannon gutted its innards. The explosion was brief, and left behind an only slightly charred husk. Density. Absolute saturation. Clusterfuck, to borrow a term from a certain Federation corps. Or was it Moonfuck? No, that's different. The term is definitely clusterfuck. It seemed as though the Federation's individual combat craft had formed an iron sea or curtain between the Rick Doms and Zakus and the Atlantis. Emil quivered skittishly. He must've made some whimpering noise because Richard radioed him to calm him down. "Don't worry, Emil. When they're packed so tightly, they can't maneuver at all. And don't forget, your Dom's armored like a tank." That made him feel a little better. "Is there a problem?" Ghettid sounded firm, but somewhat easy to listen to, either an inherent ability that contributed to his leadership skills, or there were some wires crossed in the radio. "No problem, sir," Emil said, feeling a little more confident. The Federation's forces fired on the approaching MS, downing few Zakus and even less Rick Doms. They were quickly destroyed, impaled by heat sabers or destroyed by a bazooka round. The Atlantis fired on them, beam cannons unable to lock on due to their proximity, and due to being obscured by the field of fighters and balls. The laser cannons destroyed one more Rick Dom, the last Mobile Suit it would ever destroy. Emil shirked around the cannons and destroyed a MPC turret, a mega particle accelerated explosion taking out the entire area. The engines fell into utter uselessness as Richard and Ghettid used their largest guns to crush them. Ghettid's Zaku floated around to the front of the ship and stared Synapse himself down. And then - Boom. Synapse died with his ship. Felix Mendalshon: 9 VP gained, Repairing 1 Florian Cuyler: 8 VP gained, Injured 2 Yoritomo Naizen: 9 VP gained, Repairing 3 Veronica Wu: 10 VP gained, No damage Caleb DeGrau: 8 VP gained, Repairing 2 Emil Myberg: 8 VP gained, Repairing 3 Richard Banks: 9 VP gained, Repairing 2 Junichi Ghettid: 9 VP gained, Repairing 2 |