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Post by Inferno Rodan on Oct 18, 2009 16:26:31 GMT -5
It's been four days since the GDF meeting at Imar HQ. Both the Orion and Darktide have been completed, and now both machines are meeting on a virtual battlefield.
At Imar, Kevin sits inside the Orion's cockpit, hooked up to its control armatures. Its movement systems have been disengaged, and the screens inside the cockpit show the simulated arena: the Mojave Desert.
Kevin grumbles. "I really hate this place. Way too open for my tastes."
He waits for his opponent to arrive.
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Post by Omegarex24 on Oct 18, 2009 17:00:51 GMT -5
The virtual desert shimmered, as if from a mirage. The very air seemed to waver before the Orion. But this was no mirage. The shimmering peeled away, revealing the new and improved model of the ATMS project: Darktide.
"Nice rust bucket you got there. It'd be a shame to scrap it."
"Ben, don't get cocky. This may just be a simulation, but we still can't afford any screw-ups. Darktide needs a field test just as much as the Orion does."
"So what, General? You want me to go easy on him?"
"On the contrary. I want you to go all out and hold nothing back. This not only tests the limits on our machine, but theirs as well, which makes us both more effective against real adversaries."
"I was hoping you'd say that. Alright then Kevin. May the best pilot win."
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Post by Inferno Rodan on Oct 18, 2009 21:24:18 GMT -5
“Heh. Roger that.”
Without further ado, the Orion fires off a burst from its assault rifle at Darktide. The CEE mech flinches reflexively as the bullets puncture the NXT coating, but are barely able to penetrate the thick armor beneath.
“Ha! Is that the best you’ve got, kid?” mocks Ben as Darktide’s boosters roar to life and send the mech into the sky. A crimson Hyper NOVA beam leaps from Darktide’s maw and flies toward the Orion. The humanoid mech nimbly rolls away before emptying the rest of the assault rifle’s magazine with a full-auto barrage. Nearly all of the bullets connect, but again fail to do any real damage. It releases the empty magazine, allowing it to drop to the ground with a thud as the mech grabs another and clicks it into the gun.
Darktide fires off a volley of Hydra missiles, to which the Orion responds by firing its vulcans, shooting the missiles down before they can hit. The black machine banks, diving toward the Orion. The white machine points its assault rifle at Darktide and prepares to fire, but stops when the flying mech seemingly fades out of existence.
Inside the Orion’s cockpit, Kevin smirks. “Invisibility, huh? Switch to infrared.” The screens around him switch to black-and-white, indicating the change. The Orion looks around, searching for his opponent. After a few seconds with no results, Kevin begins looking more frantically. “What? Shit! It’s got IR suppression!”
“Gotcha!”
The Orion is struck from behind by a Hyper NOVA blast, making it stumble forward. Kevin quickly regains composure and whirls around, instinctively firing at the spot from where the beam originated, barely even confirming he has a target as he empties its magazine into Darktide yet again. The dark machine’s forward speed means the bullets hit slightly harder, but still the damage is negligible. Darktide veers away as the Orion clicks a fresh magazine into its assault rifle and takes aim once again.
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Post by Omegarex24 on Oct 19, 2009 12:43:10 GMT -5
Darktide banks again in the air, this time deploying a Barrier Field to block the incoming projectile assault. Kevin rapidly reloads with another clip and prepares to fire again, when a thunderous roar and a loud explosions shakes his machine. Darktide's railgun barrels rotate to a new barrel, as the Orion regains its composure. Portions of machine's chest plating have been stripped off from the blast, but still the mech is fully functional. Imar's new weapon may have been lacking in some of the overt firepower that Darktide possessed, but they still built a damn fine battlemech.
Even as the Orion opens fire again with the assault rifle, Darktide boosters off again, and fires another plasma stream at his estwhile enemy. Again, the Orion nimbly dodges, avoiding a direct hit from the more powerful weapon to run smack dab into the firing path of another burst of Hydra missiles. Still, the Orion continues to move, dodge and weave, avoiding seriosu damage most of the time.
"Bring out the big guns then. Charge the Ion Linear Cannon and prepare to fire on my mark."
"Affirmative. Ion Linear Cannon charging."
"And initiate a target analysis. I want to test out the Harmonics Disruptor."
"Beginning target analyis."
Another barrage of bullets slam into Riptide fromt he flank, as the Orion is able to quickly out-maneuver the heavier battlemech. The Orion is easily able to keep its distance at first, but once Ben throws the booster engines into overdrive, Riptide catches up exceedingly fast, and almost lsmas into the Orion headfirst, before slashing with the Plasma Cutter, tearing a searing gash in the machine's chest, before veering off to one side and ascending into the sky.
"Pfft. Is that all you got," Kevin shouts over the radio.
"Oh, I think I've got a few more tricks up my sleeve. Fire the ILC."
"Affirmative. Target is locked, awaiting your mark."
"Fire!"
A stream of compressed particles erupts from the barrel of the largeshoulder mounted weapon, heading right for the Orion's chest...
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Post by Inferno Rodan on Oct 19, 2009 15:10:00 GMT -5
Kevin snarls as the particle beam slams into the Orion. “Alright, enough screwing around!” Throwing its assault rifle to the ground, the Orion reaches up behind its back and grabs the massive sniper rifle. The air is filled with a deafening boom as the weapon fires, Darktide’s entire left shoulder pad exploding into a shower of smoke and bits of metal an instant later. The power of the blow alone nearly knocks Darktide from the sky, but Kevin finishes the job by flinging one of the Orion’s wrist wires at the other mech, its magnetic tip attaching to Darktide’s wing. The Orion braces itself, nearly being pulled off its feet as the wire pulls taught. Darktide doesn’t fare as well, the sudden jolt of the added weight throwing it even further off balance and sending it to the ground (no damage). Not wasting a moment, the Orion drops its sniper rifle and rushes toward Darktide, detaching and retracting the wire as it does.
Inside Darktide’s cockpit, Ben shakes his head to clear the cobwebs. “Ah, where the hell did that come from?” Before he can think on the matter any further, the buzz of a warning klaxon quickly brings his attention back to the battle.
The black mech quickly fires off its Hyper NOVA, but the Orion leaps over it, doing a somersault in the air and smashing its heel down on Darktide’s head in a devastating axe kick which slams its reptilian face into the ground. The white machine draws its large Monomolecular Blade and drives it downward to impale its opponent, but Darktide just manages to roll out of the way, avoiding the blade by literally inches while slashing the Orion’s leg with its own Plasma Cutter. Not bothering to pull the blade out of the ground, the Orion quickly reaches up with its left hand and grabs the Shotcannon off its left shoulder and promptly blasts Darktide with it in the chest at point-blank. The winged mech is floored again before it can even get up, this time left with a gaping hole in its chest. Leaving its blade in the ground, the Orion stands up straight and switches the shotgun over to its right hand and brings its left hand up to work the pump and chamber another shell. It then lowers the barrel to fire again, this time aiming for Darktide's head.
“Any last words?”
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Post by Omegarex24 on Oct 20, 2009 7:06:09 GMT -5
"Yeah. Sonic Boom!"
And with that, Darktide unleashes a blast from the Harmonics Disruptor, which is currently keyed to the Orion's armor plating. The sonic vibrations literally shake the machine's frame apart at the molecular level, as jagged cracks start appearing in the armor plating.
"What the..."
Ben takes advantage of his foe's momentary confusion to hit the Orion with a low powered blast from the Hyper NOVA. Not enough to do serious damage, but enough to knock it off balance and give Darktide some breathing room. Darktide's thrusters kick in as the machine slides backwards along the sand and rocks, before ascending and properly righting itself. Kevin takes the opportunity to nail Darktide in the back with another blast from the Shot Cannon, but Darktide is able to recover before plummeting to earth.
"Fire another Impact Cannon round!"
The air reverberates with another thunderous roar as the railgun discharges its payload. This time, kevin is ready, but even his machine enhanced reflexes cannot totally avoid the projectile, which hits the Orion in the leg, fragging armor and knocking the machine back, sending it sprawling into the desert sands.
"Now you see me, now you don't."
And with that, Darktide once again disappeared from view, all the while setting the Orion in its sights for another particle beam attack...
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Post by Inferno Rodan on Oct 20, 2009 15:33:05 GMT -5
Instead of bothering to look for Darktide, Kevin makes his mech kneel down. He closes his eyes and begins to count...
“1... 2... 3... 4...”
Suddenly, the Orion leaps straight up, the particle beam passing harmlessly beneath it a fraction of a second later.
“You’re too predictable!”
The mech spins in mid-air, hurling one of its Bowie knives, attached to a wrist wire, at the origin point of the beam. The blade hits its mark, sinking its entire length into the invisible mech. The Orion pulls back on the wire, retracting it and yanking the knife out as Darktide flickers back into view with a sparking hole where its right clavicle would be. It replaces the knife back in its sheath as it reaches up and grabs the Plasma Rifle off its right shoulder, firing off a shot with it before landing. Darktide raises its arm and blocks with its Barrier Field before countering with a Hyper NOVA blast. The white mech rolls away and fires another shot from the Plasma Rifle, this time striking Darktide in the chest. Much to Kevin’s dismay, the attack has barely any effect.
“Damn... guess I haven’t damaged the NXT enough yet.”
He drops the Plasma Rifle and flings a wrist wire at the Shotcannon, its magnetic tip attaching to the weapon and pulling it back into the mech’s hand. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Darktide fires off another particle beam. Kevin attempts to dodge, but it still strikes the mech’s shoulder. As the Orion falls sideways, it fires the Shotcannon, punching some more holes in Darktide’s armor. The mech pumps the shotgun and gets ready to fire again as it gets to its feet.
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Post by Omegarex24 on Oct 22, 2009 17:58:08 GMT -5
Darktide once again deflects the blast with a well timed Barrier Field, as the pellets slam into the force field harmlessly. Ben activates the cloaking systems again, and Kevin seems prepared to dodge again, when this time, Darktide hits him from the front with a jet assisted tackle, knocking the machine over and plowing it in to the ground, gouging a massive trench in the landscape. Before the Orion can move, Darktide offloads with another shot from Impact Cannon, the blast splintering armor with ease, as the shockwave ripples across the desert.
"That all you got," Kevin jeers as the Orion quickly rights itself. "Let me show you how a real pilot fights."
Kevin fires off the wrist wires again, their magnetic tips attaching to a damaged section of Darktide's armor, before yanking forward, pulling the dark machine off balance. The retro-rockets only manage to soften the blow, but not stop it entirely. Before Ben can blink, the Orion leaps into the air and prepares to plunge a knife into the Barrier Field generator on the left arm, but quick reacting on Ben's part avoids such an unpleasant blow, and instead, the blade buries itself up to the hilt in Darktide's upper arm.
"Hmmph. Ameatuer."
Darktide fires off another blast from the Harmonics Disruptor at close range, the sonic vibrations tearing the machine's circuitry apart at the molecular level. The Orion seems to falter for a moment, which gives Ben an idea for a future attack. But first...
"Fire the Hyper NOVA again. Let him feel the burn."
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Post by Inferno Rodan on Oct 22, 2009 20:47:32 GMT -5
[OOC: Goddamn, this has been a fun match. Shame we've gotta cut it short.]
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With its control circuitry thrown off by the Harmonics Disruptor, the Orion cannot avoid the beam and is toppled over backwards with a scorched chest. The two mechs get to their feet a couple seconds later.
Darktide thrusts its arm forward and fires the Harmonics Disruptor again, but the Orion ducks below and rams one of its Bowie knives through the machine’s forearm from underneath, destroying the weapon. Darktide immediately counters with a downward swing of its Plasma Cutter. The Orion leaps backwards, narrowly avoiding bifurcation as the tip of the blade slices a gash down its face, taking out one of its eyes in the process. The Shotcannon is less fortunate, and is cleaved cleanly in two. The Orion drops the useless rear half of the gun from its left hand and slings its right wrist wire out, attaching it to its Monomolecular sword a couple hundred meters away and drawing it back into its hands as it takes a defensive stance.
The two mechs stand motionless for what seems like an eternity, staring at each other. A light breeze rolls across the battlefield, kicking up little clouds of dust. Suddenly, both machines launch themselves at each other. Darktide thrusts its large energy blade forward, but the Orion parries by jamming its own blade against one of the prongs at the base of the Plasma Cutter unit. While holding the energy blade off, the white mech grabs the Bowie knife it left imbedded in Darktide’s left forearm and rips it out. The black mech immediately spins in a complete 360, swinging its blade in an attempt to decapitate the Orion. The other machine ducks once again, then thrusts upward in an attempt to impale Darktide’s head. It barely manages to avoid such, the blade of the sword splitting the tip of its snout and lower jaw. Another swing of the Plasma Cutter and the Orion is leaping back again, this time with a fresh slice across its chest. After another short stare-down, they launch themselves at each other once again, both pilots shouting “TIME TO END THIS!”
Both thrust their swords.
Darktide’s Plasma Cutter slices partway through the Orion’s extended left arm and passes within inches of its neck. The damaged arm drops its sword.
Inside Darktide’s cockpit, Ben smirks. “Nice try kid, but I win.”
His smile quickly changes to a look of confusion as a hollow clanging sound reverberates through his mech’s hull. Outside, the Orion’s other arm is tapping the tip of a Bowie knife against Darktide’s chest.
Kevin is smirking like Ben was moments ago. “I may lose my head, but I’ll still be active long enough to ram this clear through your generator. Draw.”
The simulated world fades to white and the resistance in the Orion’s armatures disappears, the screens around the cockpit switching to a live view of the hangar around it. Kevin leans back in the seat, sweat beads running off his forehead as he closes his eyes and exhales deeply.
“Damn he’s good.”
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Post by Omegarex24 on Oct 23, 2009 1:58:27 GMT -5
The simulator cuts on on CEE's end of the connection as the test run concludes.
"Not bad, man. You gave me quite a run for my money. Glad you're on our side," Ben comments.
"Hey, same to you. Hell, between the two of us we could probably wipe the floor with just about anything that crossed our paths. Forget Jericho, we got all the firepower we need right here."
"You can say that again. Next time though, I'm not holding back."
"Ha! That's rich. I'm the one who's gonna have to not hold back."
"Wiseguy," Ben remarks good-naturedly.
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