Pursuit (CA)

GEAR

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#1
Winding its way through space, an emerald-colored shape twirled haphazardly, like a drunken ballerina,

Its wing-shaped chassis was clean and linear, a perfect fusion of form and function. Unbeknownst to the denizens of the sparkling Lunar city on the horizon, it was merely the latest of its kind - an observational drone that had been collecting information on not only this particular battlefield, but countless others, for an unseen presence. A silent, hidden group lurking on the fringes - watching, waiting, and patiently calculating to unknown ends, just barely out of sight-

That was... until now.

It had made a mistake.

The Opus hadn't calculated for the massive increase in range granted by the D-Extractor to the Sapphiard. It had run on a standard 20% increase in power - but the overall effect was closer to 300%. In its rear camera, the flogging machine managed to catch sight of something - and, were it capable of fear and alarm, it would certainly have blanched. The elegant forms of the Lunar Knights' mobile weapons - the Coustwell and its hulking partner, the Sapphiard, were visible in the distance.. and growing closer with every second.

Something... had to be done.




Clang!

William Exeter grimaced as the controls of the Super Robot rattled under his grip, a chunk of Colony debris bouncing off his machine's shoulder armor. Their foe had managed to draw them into a chase - and soon, would be cornered. It had dipped into a debris field on the very outskirts of the Lunar Colony's territory, one that the two of them were now approaching fast.

"Sir Lanius." He spoke suddenly to his companion, the azure Knight turning its head as it flew on jets of glowing, Dimensional energy.

"Have you ever seen a craft like that yourself?"
 
Dec 16, 2018
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#2
"Nothing like it." Lanius' voice echoed. "Whatever's piloting it, I have a feeling it was looking at the machines.. Not the pilots. I have an idea, by the way." The pink Orgone machine exploded into a flurry of green lights, which created a line in its wake as it swiftly blasted off. It swung past bits of debris, letting off bits of its great inertial energy to launch smaller shards of metal outwards as it smashed through.

Lanius' attentive eyes gazed over the larger batches of debris in front of the strange green craft, before the Coustwell accelerated once more towards the peeping tom. With a quick hand, the Lunarian shifted some levers.. Resulting in the Coustwell tossing a bolt of Orgone Energy at a part of the debris which was seemingly hanging by a few structural pieces.
 

GEAR

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#3
"You might be right."

But, tugged the question at the back of his mind, who?

The Sapphiard nodded approvingly as Lanius' after images spread out into the gloom. The smaller machine pulverized apart the debris field, leaving William to simply watch, as he quietly gave a grudging admission as to Orgone's value. As the last bolt lashed out, however - his sensors finally registered a reaction, causing him to cry out as the Super Robot turned.

"Well spotted!" He called out to Lanius, before turning his attention to the spot near where the bolt had impacted, still sparking and flickering.

"Show yourselves!"

The Orgone particles spread out out across the debris, flecks of emerald glittering against the cosmos, like little stars. For a moment, there was only silence, and then...

A ripple.

Like gravel raining on a pond, the space before the two seemed to... bend, and distort, bolts of electricity crackling across its "surface". What they saw before them was... No, not quite a part of the debris field. It was almost like... a mirrored sphere, upon the surface of which was projected an image of sorts, a hyper-realistic depiction that allowed it to blend in almost perfectly with its surroundings, something that could fool even their advanced sensors, but which was reacting in some fashion to the Orgone particles.

"What... in the world...?"


Swiftly regaining its composure, the "sphere" turned white - and then dissipated in a cloud of pixel-like particles. What was left, was...

It stood roughly forty meters in height, similar to William's own machine - but the two couldn't have been more different in design. Sapphiard was ornate and regal, but the newcomer was... utilitarian. Its shape was all boxy and gangly, an almost T-shaped body with two long, dangling arms, and a pair of thick, almost oval legs that terminated in points, flanked by six massive thrusters that jutted out below a keen white skirt. Above it all, a winged head ensconed an amber mask-like face, behind which glowed a sinister monoeye, flickering to life as the Madhava rose from its hunch.

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Dec 16, 2018
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#4
"Hmm.. Didn't know I would do that, but that works. I'll take it from its flanks while you face it head on, alright?"

Once his confident speech was over, Lanius broke into an all out sprint in his machine, taking advantage of his smaller size by surfing between pieces of debris before popping an arm out of the top of a pile of metallic junk to fire a single shot of green energy. By now, Lanius was eyeballing the displayed amount of energy left in the machine...
 

GEAR

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#5
"Lanius!"

The young lord would barely have heard as William called out to him, Sapphiard's arm outstretched as the Coustwell tore away. The master of House Exeter cursed under his breath and grappled with the controls, willing the Super Robot to follow - but his path was barred as an emerald green beam slashed out just inches before his own machine.

The Opus from before - three of them, were on the approach, gun barrels along their wing-tips blazing as they rained down a hail of fire on the Special, causing it to raise its arms in defense, blasts slashing gouges into its armor as William sucked his teeth in frustration. What in the name of the Lady, he thought, were these things?

Meanwhile, the Madhava watched the Coustwell's movement with lazy interest, specks of incandescent data flickering across its glassy eye like droplets of fire. As Lanius ducked behind the debris, its forearms snapped out as parts rearranged, the machine cannonballing forward with shocking speed on twin plumes of blue fire, skimming under Lanius blast with grace unfitting of its bulk. It raised one of its arms, and-

Crack!

A ray of blistering blue energy - perhaps recognizable as Proton Energy - smashed out from the machine's forearm mounted emitter, pulverizing apart Lanius' cover, as the second whipped forward, readying a second blast aimed to surge straight into the chest of the Lunarian Knight-Machine...
 
Dec 16, 2018
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#6
Once the debris was blown away, the Coustwell was laid bare without any time to do much of anything due to the strange machine's Proton Energy reaching towards it. Lanius placed the Coustwell's arms in front of its torso unit, and let go of the controls to brace himself while his eyes closed tightly. Over the communications, his voice came through to Exeter with a painful inflection.

"This definitely isn't my day..!"
 

GEAR

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#7
As the Coustwell was blasted back the Madhava pressed its attack. It surfed easily through the cloud of debris, chunks of metal parting before its gleaming chassis, closing ranks with the purple machine. It didn't seem entirely hostile - no, it was almost as it was curious, much like the devices before - though what kind of reptilian intelligence lay behind that glowing eye, none could say.

Twin emitters on its chest blinked to life as it pulled up, a short way from the Coustwell, sections prying open to reveal a pair of oblong pincers, crackling with energy. The two protrusions lanced out towards Lanius' machine, attempting to seize it by its forearms, preventing any kind of escape...

Meanwhile, the Saphiard rumbled as cannonfire smashed into its frame, causing William to grit his teeth as he tried to keep his attention both on his comrade, and the enemies. Numbers alone might drag them down, he thought, but it was beneath a man of Exeter to go down without a fight!

As if answering the resolve of its pilot, the blue knight-machine reached back, one of the gigantic maces sliding into its grasp - and lurched forward, with speed the Opus units didn't seem to be anticipating. An overhead swing connected with the foremost drone, crushing it into a hundred pieces before it detonated in a cloud of atomic fury, sending shockwaves across the field as it did so.
 
Dec 16, 2018
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#8
Lanius' eyes peered at the attack of the machine, before his hands twitched into action and sent the Coustwell forcefully flying upwards while its fists shot bolts of fist-shaped Orgone to the machine's body. He quickly changed course, dashing to the left and attempting to encircle the large enemy while two devices flew out with tiny jets of energy from the Orgone Boxer Machine's back.

The pilot's grin was almost palpable, as the two devices immediately slammed and combined together in front of the Coustwell. In a single punch and a few seconds, Orgone Energy was now gathering in thick enough swaths that it was beginning to gain a crystalline sheen like glass. Within another split second, an overwhelming flash preceded the sight of gigantic claw-shaped blades coming from the devices. A characteristic attack call-out only magnified the intensity of the display of power.

"ORGONE CLAW!"

With nothing that could even equate to a break, the Coustwell blasted towards the grappling hooks while readying the claw for a downwards-oriented smash.
 

GEAR

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Jun 15, 2018
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#9
Interesting.

This was what could best describe the thought patterns of the Madhava as it unleashed its twin claws, sending the hurtling through the void in search of its prey. The Orgone powered machine, however, eluded its grasp, rocketing over the grasping claws in a shocking contrast to how it had just been rendered prone. The Madhava turned this aspect over in its mind as the Coustwell continued spiraling in the vacuum, calculating its own approach stoically.

It wasn't particularly afraid, it thought. Its thrusters were more than sufficient to carry it away from any kind of counterattack the machine's fists could-

Wrong.

A miscalculation.

The Orgone Claw jutted out into space, a five-fingered emerald mountain of agony, dramatically increasing the Coustwell's range as it lunged. The Madhava processed this - but, perhaps slowed somewhat by the data-enhanced connections to its subordinates, it was slower than it otherwise would have been, thrusters flaring... Just the slightest bit too late.

Lanius attack struck home with a terrific screech of metal, the fingers of the Orgone palm smashing deep into the chest of the Madhava, crushing its head in one swift blow. As if a chain reaction, the remaining Opus units that swirled about William sparked - and then detonated, causing him to cry out and shield himself as they burst into miniature supernovas.

Sparking and burning, the Madhava raised its arms towards the Coustwell haltingly - perhaps it was one final, desperate attempt to grasp its target within its own claws, so that it might rend him asunder, but even headless as it were, its form seemed somehow even more terrifying, looming over Lanius as it did like the Dullahan of legend...
 
Dec 16, 2018
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#10
Without a moment for the realization to hit the machine, the Coustwell swung and spun with great agility. Lanius breathed slowly, tracing the silhouette of the target against the background of scrap and lunar stone with eyes that lacked any singular semblance of mercy. As he suddenly closed in, his machine flared up as the claws returned to its back.. And twin fists were clenched. The two-word epitaph of the enemy in front of him was no less terrifying... Before the battle cries came.

"Orgone... SLAAAAASSSHHHH! ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!"

Blinking streams of green energy could be seen from afar, as the Coustwell began to pelt the machine's headless torso with a furious flurry of punches that overruled every other colour with a thick shade of green light. In mere moments, armour began to fly.. Before the gigantic shape began to lift up in the low gravity with the amount of attacks coming from the Orgone brawler. The angle of his attacks had altered to the point where they were lifting the Madhava up, only piling on the force that was already deadly.
 
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GEAR

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Jun 15, 2018
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#11
Blow after blow rained down upon the Madhava, an endless avalanche of fist. Each emerald-encrusted strike smashed deeper, causing alloys of unknown composition to bend and buckle - the machine's thin, lanky arms were no match for the sheer fury of the Coustwell's piston-like assault, being shorn clear away, or smashed into unrecognizable flayed sprues of metal.

Still, it thought briefly before it was silenced for good, it had accomplished its goal. Operational security had been compromised... but not for long. After all, the way things were going?

This would be the least of the Kingdom's worries.

As the Coustwell brought one final, crushing blow home into the Madhava's chest, the crumpled hunk of metal gave a tinny shriek - and the exploded, a cloud of flame and light in the asteroid field. When it cleared... Only the Sapphiard and its diminuitive

"That was well fought, Sir Lanius."

"...My actions nearly brought ruin to us both. I apologize."
 
Dec 16, 2018
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#12
"No need, I've managed to scramble these metal eggs and cook a delicious explosive omelette. Without question, this little impromptu fight was way more exciting than a one-on-one.. And you got to see Orgone energy shine through even the toughest of obstacles, Sapphiard."

The Coustwell spun to face the Sapphiard, shining in tones of green which slowly faded back to the ambient glow of the moon as the clenched fists were finally opened once more. Inside, Lanius let out hushed breathing while a stealthy smile betrayed the amount of fatigue he was advertising. His machine began to float towards the Sapphiard on smaller jets of green that were like the small glimmer of a lighter compared to the housefire that was the end of the Madhava.