Nonpraedico Mendax

[Kazeofwinds]

I'll never forget that day. It all happened in the blink of an eye, First the second moon, then the strange continents, then the giant ring around earth. Along with the new moon, many other strange satellites and colonies appeared around the planet. Federation and Zeon raced to investigate the new landmasses as disasters struck all over the planet, numerous bases and forces simply vanished. All of Africa, Australia, and Antartica, replaced by unfamiliar continents, Tidal waves caused by the appearence of the second moon laid waste to the coastlines, And in the areas around the bases of the ring, new countries with strange mobile suits appeared. The second day was no better, because it was then that the moons collided, filling the sky with debris and increasing the chaos even more.

We moved quickly to gain control of the space around the ring, which turned out to be a massive set of solar arrays connected to the planet by enormous elevators. However, the ring was gaurded by a second set of mobile suits of unfamiliar models, though they were far less unusual in comparison to the animalistic suits on the ground. One group resembled our Zakus, another area of the ring was defended by a group of mobile suits that were capable of transformation into aircraft, and the remaining section was occupied by another group of transforming suits. There have also been reports of a strange carrier craft that disrupts radar and communications hiding amongst the rubble of the moons.

Capture of a few of the strange mobile suits that appeared in our territories have informed us these machines are known as "Zoids", They originate from a place known as Zi, and there are at least two factions within those that use them, The Helic Republic and the Guylos Empire. The function and ownership of the large set of solar rays and what appear to be elevators to space, is as of yet unknown.

-Log of 1st Lieutenant Johnathan Harxley, Zeon



Yes, a Gundam/Zoids Crossover.

Gundam Universes
Universal Century Timeline (somewhere in the middle of the 1-year war)
Gundam 00, Pre-Global Unification/GNX Production

Zoids:
All of it, no Fusion though.

Banned Stuff:

Geno-Zoids
Berserk Fury
Elephander
Ultimate X-Zoids
Death Stinger/Saurer

Other Zoids/MS subject to banning/Restriction on random whim.

Sheet Is the standard, anything suitable for any of the universes is allowed, the exceptions being royalty and such(any exceptionally high-ranked positions subject to veto/nitpicking). Also, As the overlay occured less than a week ago, It's highly unlikely you'd have something from a universe/timeline other than your own.

Name
Age
Affiliation
Zoid/MS+Fittings
Background

Avaliable Affiliations

Zoids:
Guylos Empire
Helic Republic
New Century Zero Zoid Battle Team
Zoid Pilot-Unaffiliated

Gundam:
Federation (UC)
Zeon (UC)
Celestial Being (00)
AEU (00)
Union (00)
HRL (00)

[iHawk]

Name: Hannibal Blitz
Age: 18
Affiliation: Celestial Being
Zoid/MS+Fittings: GN-001 Exia (http://mahq.net/mecha/gundam/00/gn-001.htm)
Background: Hannibal Blitz - like all the Gundam Meisters - was a young, skilled orphan when he was chosen by Veda. He was an only child, he spent most of his childhood traveling as his parents did missionary work in war-torn countries. One day, war broke out anew in the small eastern country where they were working, the village was destroyed and only a handful of lucky souls escaped, Hannibal was one, but neither of his parents were among the others. Having nowhere else to go - and having lost faith in the UN or military powers - he agreed to join as a Gundam Meister and was appointed to the GN-001 Gundam Exia. When the Ptolemaios found that the world suddenly changed, and that new factions had spawned adding to the conflict Hannibal redoubled his resolve to end war once and for all.

[Biohazard]

Name: Haden Chaar

Age: 24

Affiliation: Helic Republic

Zoid: Black RZ-028 Blade Liger with CP-12 Attack Booster (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Liger)

Background: Haden joined the Helic military in order to fight the Guylos Empire. However in light of recent events it seems that he will have to set aside differences in order fight a new enemy.

[Giggilyomeromicon]

Name: Atron Sieg
Age: 21
Affiliation: Helic Republic
Zoid/MS+Fittings: Whitz Wolf (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitz_Wolf)
Background: Atron enlisted in the military to escape his backwater village. After graduating from the Republic's military academy, he was stationed at a base near the Guylos Empire's border.

[kongurous]

Name: James Logan Howlett
Age: 28
Affiliation: Unaffiliated, leans towards Guylos Empire
Zoid/MS+Fittings: RZ-039 Raynos, custom colored red with a souped up engine (goes Mach 3.5 instead of 3.3), an underslung chain gun, and five missiles on the bottom and top of each wing
Background: Although his unassuming childhood in the rural country of the Guylos Empire would not serve to foreshadow his future, James has spent his entire adult life in the air, fighting for whichever side was willing to pay him the most, although he favored a contract with his home country over one with the Helics. An ace with thirty-seven confirmed air kills and many more kills on the ground, he effectively compensates the near-suicidal prospect of flying a Zoid capable of Mach 3.5 by being that damn good.

[Kazeofwinds]

Time to toss up my character sheet, though I'll also be running various NPCs and shit from time to time. Also, Hawk has DM powers whenever I'm not around or being too much of a lazy bastard to do things myself.

Name: Lucien Chulainn
Age: 24
Affiliation: Mercenary, Formerly of Helic Republic
Zoid/MS+Fittings: Custom Command Wolf (http://www.hlj.com/product/KBYZD03) (repainted Red), Fitted with a modified CP-09 Booster Cannon unit in place of the standard 50mm guns, Energy Shield Emitter, and Enhanced Sensor Systems, It also retains the Command Wolf's standard Smokescreen Emitters, and Bite/Claw armaments.
Background: Lucien was born on the borders republic and took up Zoid piloting at a young age, after discovering the downed republican command wolf, previously owned by a now either deceased or fleeing pilot. After scraping up enough money for parts and repairs for his new zoid, he struck out as a wandering mercenary to claim his fortune, though most of it is currently spent on repairs and upgrades to his Zoid. He was in-between jobs at the time of the overlay, his last job being some work cleaning out some Zenebas remnants harassing a small town.

[Nostradamus]

OOC: I'll join but forgive me if my Zoids/Gundam knowledge isn't too brilliant. I used to love Zoids though, until they stopped showing it on TV. I'll post my character sheet in a few hours, coursework to do.

Name: Drake Grenville
Age: 18
Affiliation: Helic Republic
Zoid: Gun Sniper (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunsniper)
Background: Drake was enlisted by the army to fight the Guylos threat. He was stationed in a military camp on the Guylos Empire's border and he was given a standard Gun Sniper. He prides himself on being a crack shot and able to handle himself in a fight.

[Tanis]

Name: Harrison Roarke
Age: 30
Affiliation: Celestial Being
MS: Dynames
Background: I'm ending war by destroying everyone who fights. Yay contradictions and impossible goals!

Harrison is a seasoned veteran with a penchant for being a patient, calculated pilot who would prefer to know everything about his enemy before taking the lethal shot...course if that fails, he doesn't have a problem with using beam pistols or sabers. He's very dedicated to the goal of Celestial Being and more than competent to stand his own. With a strong British ancestry he is prone to bouts of violent profanity if a situation gets hairy. lolpun.

I hear Harrison is a good guy. Eh snipes with a big gun and doesn't afraid of anything.

[Kazeofwinds]

Somewhere in the Boondocks of the Helic Republic- approximately 5 minutes before overlay.
----------

Lucien sat in the cockpit of his cockpit staring at an array of displays that had been hastily duct-taped to his command wolf's dashboard.

"You sure this thing is safe Doc."
"The system has undergone numerous tests when fused with an organoid, and according to my calculations and a few simulations I've run It's almost guaranteed to work just fine. Besides, we're paying you an exorbitant sum and letting you keep the prototype if the system works properly."
"That big pile of money is letting me overlook that 'almost' you just said doc."
"Good, get on with the testing then."
"Rodger that."
Lucien flipped a red cover off a fairly ordinary looking toggle switch.
"Commencing Zoid Overdrive System prototype test in 5...4..3...2...1..Mark"
Lucien flipped the toggle, his cockpit was filled with a white light for a fraction of a second before returning to normal.
"Well doc, it didn't explode, how're your readings?"
About thirty seconds passed with no response.
"Hey doc, you there?"
After again receiving no response He flipped the toggle and tried the radio again.
"Doc, this isn't funny you know."
He waited, then finally noticed the change in his environment.
"Ah shit...well, if it teleported me, let's see what activating it again does."
Lucien flips the switch again, aside from the slight whirring of the active ZOS unit, nothing changes. After waiting a few seconds and swearing to himself, he once again shuts off the device.
"May as well look around, I suppose."
With that, he picks an arbitrary direction, and starts moving in it, hoping to hit some kind of civilization.


Roughly a Day later, Somewhere in northeastern Russia.
-------------
It was snowing again, it'd been snowing since he'd arrived wherever the hell he was, but one look at the sky with the remnants of the two moons he'd watch destroy themselves told him it certainly wasn't Zi anymore. His command wolf continued to plod through the seemingly constant blizzard, mostly unhindered, but slowed by the fact that visibility was somewhere between five meters and nothing, and unexpectedly running off cliffs or into large rocks was decidedly a bad thing. Lucien reached behind his seat to fish out another one of the large quantity of granola bars and similar food he kept for just this kind of situation, though other worlds weren't exactly what he expected to be using them for.

"Wonder if they locals have any interesting Zoids, and if there are any locals in this hunk of snow"

Just as he took a bite of one of his granola-ration bars, a transmission crackled over his radio.

<Attention unidentified Mobile suit, This is the 12th MS team, Stand down at once. Failure to comply will result in you being deemed an enemy and destroyed.>

Lucien finished chewing and swallowing the food in his mouth before grabbing the radio he'd been using to communicate with the doctor during the tests.

"So you must be the locals. I apologize for not following proper protocals but I'm new in the area and can't find a bloody thing is this snowstorm. I'll power down. You've got ten minutes, Its too damn cold to turn my heat off longer than that"

[kongurous]

Pink and orange tinged clouds drifted slowly across his vision, peaceful and relaxing. He watched them for a few moments and then sat up, feeling wet dew beneath his palms as he pushed himself upright. He saw that he was naked, and as he surveyed his surroundings, he lifted his hand to his face, smelling the sweet scent of the grass and the crystal freshness of the air.

A vista of unsurpassed beauty lay before him, towering snow-capped mountains draped in a shawl of pine and fir, magnificent swathes of emerald green forests as far as the eye could see and a wide river of foaming, icy water. Hundreds of shaggy coated herbivores grazed on the plain and wide pinioned birds circled noisily overhead. Logan sat on the low slopes of the foothills at the base of the mountains, the sun warming his face and the grass wondrously soft beneath him.

“So that's it, then,” he said calmly to himself. “I'm dead. Or dreaming, whichever.”

He took a deep breath, scenting the aroma of good earth: the fragrances of a world unchecked and untamed and of the living things that covered the landscape. He could taste the air and was amazed at its purity. Its crispness filled his lungs like sweet wine, but how he had come here and... where was here?

He had been... where? He couldn't remember. He knew his name was James Howlett, bit beyond that, he knew only fragments and dim recollections that even now grew faint and insubstantial the more he tried to hold onto them.

Deciding that he should try to find out more about his surroundings, he rose to his feet, wincing as his legs pulled tight, and he looked down to the white woolen robes he found himself wearing. Hadn't he been naked a second ago?

His throat was dry and he set off towards the river, feeling the softness of the grass through newly sandaled feet. He was further away than he thought, the journey taking him longer than expected, but he didn't mind. The beauty of the land was worth savoring, and though something insistent nagged at the back of his mind, he ignored it and carried on.

The mountains seemed to reach the very stars, their peaks lost in the clouds and belching noxious fumes into the air as he gazed up at them. Logan blinked; the after-image of dark, smoke wreathed peaks of iron and cement burned onto his retinas like a spliced frame of harsh interference dropped into a mood window. He dismissed it as the newness of his surroundings and headed across the swaying plains of tall grass, feeling the bones and waste of uncounted centuries of industry crunching beneath his feet.

James felt ash in his throat, now needing a drink more than ever, the chemical stink growing worse with each step. The river was just ahead and he splashed through the shallows, enjoying the biting cold as he reached down and scooped a handful of water into his cupped palms.

The icy water burned his skin, molten slag dripping in caustic ropes between his fingers, and he let it splash back into the river, wiping his hands on his robe, which was now soot stained and torn. He looked up and saw that the glittering quartz mountains had become vast towers of brass and iron, wounding the sky with gateways like vast maws that could swallow and vomit forth entire armies. Streams of toxic filth poured from the towers and poisoned the river, the landscape around it withering and dying in an instant.

And so James Logan Howlett woke up in his barracks, looking outside the windows opposite his bed. When he had fallen asleep, it was twilight and as he awoke... it was still twilight, yet he was certain he had fallen asleep. The nightmare he'd just had was evidence enough. The alarm clock beside his bed read 04:19.

He rose up from his bed, slid out, and put on his flight suit. Wherever he was, he had a feeling he wasn't on Zi anymore.

[Biohazard]

Haden Chaar
Pilot Designation 106683
Mission Designation - 0923
0818 Hours
----------------

“Command, I’m surrounded gimme some help!” Haden dodged a swipe from a Rev Rapter. He countered the attack from the crescent shaped blades by grabbing the raptors neck in his Blade Liger’s teeth and snapping it backward, immobilizing it.

“Lieutenant Chaar, scanners have picked up a company of Demantis on their way,” the technician paused for a moment as he consulted another officer, “Our 360mm cannons aren’t ready to be fired yet, maintenance issues, best shot you have is to get to us.”

“…and that means going through the Demantis,” Haden sighed. Things had just gotten even more complicated. The original plan was for Haden to play the role of recon for his battalion. Command had taken volunteers for this operation because of the danger involved and, like an idiot, Haden was first in line. Now here he was, surrounded by Rev Rapters with at least 50 Demantis converging on his position.

Suddenly he felt his Blade Liger lurch forward; there was a Rev Rapter on his back. The blade liger surged forward and stopped abruptly; causing the Rapter to stumble into range of the Liger’s waiting jaws. He clamped down and tossed the Rapter on the ground in front of him. Before it could arise he pounced on it and crushed its neck with a laser claw, disabling it.

“We gotta move,” he activated his CP-12 Attack Booster. The Liger accelerated forward with its blades extended, all of the Rev Rapters in its path scattering out of the way of the glowing blades. Then Haden activated his ion boosters, sending him running forward even faster, and then he saw the Demantis.

“Oh shit,” he uttered aloud, he quickly activated his E-Shield. He highly doubted he would be able to plow his way through, but there wasn’t much option, they stood between him and the Ultrasaurus. Suddenly his viewscreen was filled with a bright light, and his stomach began to do flip-flops in his abdomen.

---------

“Unidentified Mobile Suit, I repeat, you are ordered to power down your suit and await the arrival of a recovery unit, over” a voice broke over Haden’s radio waking him suddenly. He slowly opened his eyes; he had fallen unconscious during what he could only describe as some horrible crash landing. He peered through his viewscreen, he was in a massive blizzard.

“I am unable to comply; I would freeze to death if I did that,” he pondered what they meant by ‘Mobile Suit’.

“If you do not obey the order you will be marked as hostile and destroyed, over”

“Well if you’re going to play it that way, fine. I’ll power down for as long as I can, but if it gets too cold, I have to power back up,” Haden sighed and began to power down.

“Understood, over.”

Haden powered down his Blade Liger and sat back, waiting for what he figured was going to be an interesting confrontation.

[iHawk]

(OOC)Custom Black and White GN-001 Exia (http://kupax.com/view/full/360_dgcx7)(OOC)

It had been only ten hours since the change... what else could one call it? The world was going on as it did, AEU, HRL and Union in their meaningless struggle over territory or the Solar Arrays, terrorists and minor factions squabbling for no reason other than not knowing what else to do. It was sickening, Hannibal was going to change it, but it changed first. Land-masses were replaced, a new moon was simply there, colonies and structures could be found farther out and it seemed that several new factions arose in their own childish fights. It was as if some higher power was taunting them, "Change the world will you? End war? Hah, try this on for size!" but they were accepting this challenge. They'd prevail no matter the obstacles, because no member of Celestial Being would settle for less than complete eradication of war.

Veda has no information on the changes, so Celestial Being rushed to fill in the blanks. They weren't given much time, as five unknown carriers began moving to do their own investigations of a section of the Solar Array controlled by the HRL, there would no doubt be conflict when the HRL defended themselves against this "invasion". Hannibal Blitz, and Harrison Roarke were sent to intervene while Tierria and Allelujah stayed behind to defend the ship in case some of the carriers came to 'investigate' them. What better way to show that war is unacceptable, than to stop one the moment the first rounds are fired

Gripping the controls of his Black and White Gundam, he watched the Container's outer hatch open, revealing the inky black that would become a battleground. As GN particles began filling the space the GN-001 Exia lifted out of the pod and sped towards the presumed location of the upcoming battle.

The fight was just beginning when the two Gundams arrived, it seemed as if the carriers were staying back, and that the Tierren-esque suits they deployed had begun engaging the defense forces around the Elevator, more HRL forces would be on their way, they'd have to finish this fight quick.

"Looks like about thirty suits, Exia." Harrison remarked, his face appearing in the lower right of Hannibal's HUD.

"Don't forget the Carriers... do you want to split them up too? Or just wait for them to leave?" Hannibal replied, drawing the Exia's GN Longblade from it's back.

"Let's let em pull back a little. Don't wanna mess with those missile tubes." Roarke was being cautious, it wasn't Hannibal's favorite approach by far, but he trusted his older, more experienced partner. "Worse comes to worse I'll take out the bridges."

Neither enemy had noticed them coming - being as absorbed in battle as they were - but when their sensors and communications ceased function the battle turned to chaos. Longblade ready, he raised his rifle to the nearest foreign suit and opened fire. The first shot tore through the back of the suit's left knee, the next three hit the hip and lower back causing the machine to erupt in a plume of flame and smoke. Two more bursts and another invader, the nearby suits of either side were now turning to retaliate to the Gundam as long-range beams began tearing through the fray as well.

Manipulating the controls delicately the Exia danced to-and-fro between the projectiles coming towards him, raising the shield to deflect a few Harrison had no intention of dodging he finally reached the battle itself and swung the longblade through the first Tierren that he met before continuing straight into the attacker it was engaged with cleaving it too in half. The suits began both breaking formations to clear from Hannibal's path as he swirled and jinked through the battle, his partner picking off the more dangerous targets without remorse.

A yellow invader flew in front of Exia, swinging a strange axe-like weapon down, blocking with the longsword a direct communique opened.

"I don't know who you are or what you think you're doing but I won't just watch you kill my men."

"Then I won't make you watch any longer." Blitz aimed his rifle to fire into the machine's chest but the 'Commander' performed what could be called a summersault to his left before flying back towards Exia and slashing again. This time Hannibal extended the GN Sword to block and slashed across with his longblade, managing to sever one of the Commander's legs as he flew back again. Going back on the offensive Hannibal knocked the axe away with the massive GN Sword and stabbed the longblade into the chest of the machine. Pulling it out, Hannibal flew back and watched the Yellow thing explode brightly. The commander tried to say one last thing before his end, but all that came out was a choking cough. Turning back Hannibal picked out a new target and reentered the battle.

[Tanis]

"Let's let em pull back a little. Don't wanna mess with those missile tubes." Roarke replied to Blitz’ question. "Worse comes to worse I'll take out the bridges."

And so the battle began as Exia, in Blitz’ usual style, charged into battle with his swords cutting a swathe through their ranks that would have made any ace proud. Roarke engaged his hip thrusters, putting himself relatively high over the embattled area, his GN Rifle ready to do what Gundam Dynames had always been meant to do: deliver death from afar. Roarke engaged the sniper mechanism as the mock rifle stock and scope lowered over his face and he took hold.

The battle became a whole lot closer to him through a 300x magnified digital image.

A Tieren Space-Type raised it's carbon blade as it charged in for Exia's blind spot, thrusters burning hard as it cut across several blasts from the general chaos that blotted the earth from sight. Roarke leveled the barrel of his GN Sniper Rifle and fired off a single shot...

...the Tieren was inches from Exia when the powerful beam blew it away, a hole burned through it's chest and droplets of blood forming out of the shattered cockpit. The wrecked drifted out to join the asteroids and carnage that permeated the space around the Elevator. Roarke blasted higher above the fight, GN Particles spilling from his thrusters as he pivoted to the left, taking two quick shots at one of the new looking mobile suits. It weathered the first well, but the second tore it's head off. Roarke was almost caught of guard, mind devoted to his sniping, as a Tieren was coming up from below and to his rear left.

Almost.

His left hip opened up, revealing one of his beam pistols as it jumped into the hand that let go of the rifle. Spinning it around one finger, Roarke fired once, twice, three times, but the Tieren kept coming despite the loss of both of its legs and an arm. He could almost hear the pilot's battle cry as he made a mad charge to take out Dynames. Letting go of the GN Rifle, Roarke pulled his second beam pistol, filling the air between the closing suits with bursts of weapon's fire. Dynames front flipped over the mech as it passed beneath him, beam pistols blasting until it disintegrated under the barrage.

“Duty” Roarke whispered.

Harrison sighed inside the cockpit, holstering his beam pistols in their recharge docks in his hip ‘holsters’. He looked around a bit, spotted his floating rifle, and grabbed it, attaching it to its dock over his right arm.

“This is Dynames, I am coming in.”

Dynames reached behind his hips and grabbed the hilts of his beam sabers, their blades erupting in a fantastic blue blade as his thrusters exploded with propulsive force. Dynames was 100 km out, now 70, now 40, now…point blank.

The first Tieren was bisected across its chest as Dynames rushed past, its left saber cutting it cleanly in half. The Gundam flipped over as it flew, slashing the arm off of another one of the newcomer suits. Roarke cursed suddenly as he moved to stop his suit from moving, pulling up his legs and blasting upwards, front flipping over a Tieren, his twin sabers cutting up it’s length in two, parallel cuts. The mech drifted apart, and exploded behind Dynames.

Roarked turned about, looking for the next threat, but alas, the newcomers where fleeing from the field. Already, they were heading for their carrier craft, dragging heavily damaged combatants from the sea of wreckage. Looking backwards, the remaining Tierens were falling back to their solar array, firing stray shots towards the Gundams and the retreating invaders, but having given up the fight. Roarke opened a communication on all regularly used channels, knowing that any suits nearby would hear it.

“We are Celestial Being, and we will come again.”

[kongurous]

OOC: Because I like a challenge and I think it'd help keep things moving if I was involved in more than one side, I'm going to do another character. Celestial Being, meet Zeon's answer to thee.

Name: Gavin Melange
Age: 23
Affiliation: Principality of Zeon
MS + Fittings: MS-06F Zaku II with custom black and grey colors (http://kupax.com/files/389_bdmkn/kogncustomzaku.png), 75mm Gatling gun worn clipped to the shield and detachable, and two 3-shot missile pods on each leg (http://mahq.net/mecha/gundam/msgundam/lineart/ms-06-missilepod.jpg)
Background: Born to a family in the middle of the middle-class, Gavin's childhood was categorized by one word: average. His grades in school were average, he never participated in sports, he was an only child, and he never stood out in university. Indeed he would probably be doing an average job in Side 3 right now if not for his discovery of the video game. Controller in hand, he found he had a born knack for hand-eye coordination and he already had a passion for large vehicles, so when he learned of that the Principality of Zeon was declaring war upon the Earth Federation with its new, revolutionary line of machines called mobile suits, he signed up almost immediately to go into the mobile suit corp.

Initially piloting a Zaku I, he now uses the trusty MS-06F Zaku II to frighteningly deadly effect, having participated in several large battles and scored over thirty confirmed Federation kills. With every ten confirmed kills he takes, and he keeps careful track with personalized paintings of who or what he destroyed under his Zaku's cyclopic camera mounting, he changes something about his Zaku. For the first ten, he changed the color. For the second ten, he changed guns. For the third ten, he added missile pods, and who knows what he'll do on the fourth.

Only Gavin knows, and he intends to show everyone very soon.

[kongurous]

The familiar feeling of flight was a welcome one in this strange, new land. Although his surroundings upon waking were identical to those upon planet Zi, it had quickly become apparent to Logan that this world was most definitely not his home.

For one, the Guylos base he had been occupying as he went to sleep the night before, although calling it such seemed awkward as this world didn't follow Zi's time at all, was gone. The barracks he'd slept in was intact as was the hangar for his Raynos but beyond that, the only thing there was the immediate surroundings. Thankfully, at some point the mechanics decided to refuel and reload the Raynos prior to the breaching of reality so it was really a matter of just taking off.

About half a kilometer off the ground, the lay of the land seemed mostly correct according to Zi, but out on the horizon, he could see what appeared to be a desert. His radar suddenly went alight with two signatures at a few kilometers out, approaching at a respectable speed. Logan noted their approach and put his Raynos into a dive to gain speed.

He dived for a few dozen meters and then spun and pulled out, going opposite the direction he'd been heading and towards the signatures. He pushed the throttle forward slightly. As he got a closer look at about a kilometer and a half, the signatures disappeared from his radar. Confused, he manually configured the zoom feature on his cockpit to magnify the two signatures and what he saw was... odd, to say the least.

Two humanoid zoids, one green and the other a grey and black combination, were en route towards him. On their right shoulders, they bore shields and their left pauldrons were spiked. The green one carried some sort of gun with a circular drum on top while the black one had a gun similar to Logan's own in his right hand. The black one had what appeared to be missile launchers on both of his legs, while the green one did not.

"Unknown flying signature, identify yourself immediately." A hailing signal from the black one said.

"The name's Logan Howlett, currently flying for the Guylos Empire although I'm a mercenary with no real affiliation. What about yourselves?" Logan said as he sped between the two strange zoids and pulled into a lazy starboard turn to come around by them again. He decelerated to about 322 KPH and his weapons were cool. A harmless target except for his claws, which were mostly useless anyway.

"First Lieutenant Gavin Melange of the Principality of Zeon's Mobile Suit Corp, 88th army, fourth team. My companion here is Second Lieutenant Nanai Medoz, same command structure. Are your weapons armed and do you have sufficient fuel supplies?" The pilot of the black zoid, although he seemed to call them mobile suits, said.

"I have enough fuel and my weapons are not armed. Is something wrong?"

"You're going to have to come back with us, Logan Howlett. Our target is a few hundred kilometers to the northwest. You are to stay between the two of us and to match our speed, is this clear?"

"I understand," Logan said, distracted as he targeted the mobile suit piloted by this Gavin Melange and set his Zoid to match the speed. He caught up to them and flew between the two of them, physically nodding towards each.

"So uh... anyone know any good jokes?"

"With due respect, I'd love to get back into space as soon as possible, so let's keep this quiet and smooth, Mr. Howlett."

"Bah, no fun," he mumbled.

"What was that?" Gavin's voice was somewhat raised.

"Nothing," James set his Zoid to maintain altitude and speed and looked over towards the green mobile suit. "Your companion hasn't said anything, is something the matter? And what kind of... eh, mobile suits, you called them? Yeah, what kind are you flying?"

"I don't like speaking with those I consider fools. No offense to you, you just seem... eh, doltish." The voice was cool and androgynous but seemed feminine.

"Well sooorry," Logan put a sarcastic spin on the remark and looked to Gavin.

"Pardon the Second Lieutenant. Not the friendliest person ever. As for our mobile suits, this is the MS-06F Zaku II. Not the smartest machine for ground combat, but it gets the job done. Now please, I'm trying to concentrate."

"Understood," Logan said and turned off his communications system. "This is gonna be a real fun ride."

[Nostradamus]

[[OOC: Sorry guys but you're going to have to count me out on this one. I've got my exams approaching very quickly and so I need to devote a lot of my time to revision. Sorry.]]

[Anoiktos]

Kattri Halen
28 years old
Neutral Pilot / Engineer

Otto
16 year old design
Republic-forged Shadow fox

Modifications

RZ-312 was heavily damaged during an artillery shelling of the area it was cloaked in, and due to the secretive nature of its mission at the time was left unaccounted for by the Republic's administration. Its pilot has not been heard from since.

It has been 'adopted' and refitted rather crudely but effectively by the noncombattant Kattri Halen, rumored to be the daughter of a prominent Guylos mechanist, over the past fourteen years.

Armament: Otto has little in the way of weapons any longer, as Kattri's efforts to optimize the robot's agility and stealth systems have caused her to reject any weapon she has yet found. The mecha's subsystems have been almost entirely replaced with a mishmash of other Zoid's, as Otto's more than capable stealth systems have allowed Kattri to loot nearby battlefields with relative impunity.

As of the moment of worldshift, Otto's only true weapons are its claws, as its mouth and cockpit regions have been under extensive repair. Its sensor systems, however, are near peerless, having been adapted from the advanced sensory systems of multiple scout mecha. Lighter, faster, and more agile than even the newer fire fox model, Otto's maneuverability and Kattri's customization of its sensors and controls to allow her to better use this maneuverability more than make up for its lack of weapons.

Background:

Kattri is not, in fact, the daughter of any Guylos mechanist, but a gifted mechanist-in-training. Unhappy with her parents' decision to send her to help build mecha for the war effort, and disagreeing with the war itself, she opted to abandon a transport snail in mid-route, and had been hiding in the forest and collecting parts to fashion a means of transportation when Otto practically fell into her lap.

She was displeased at the pilot's death, her hopes to earn favor with the Helic republic through him dashed even as his wounds festered and his color faded, but has managed well enough since, eventually deciding not to side with either Helic or Guylos, but to continue life as a scavenger.

She holds little in common with either faction, considering their acts of war little more than murderous and petty; neither has she elected to act as a mercenary, preferring to keep attention away from herself.

Recently, a Helic liger-type Zoid managed to locate Otto, and call for a retrieval and capture team from the Republic, but when they arrived, Kattri had already left, and the liger pilot could scarcely follow without first repairing his unit's mangled legs.

Otto, for his part, was at first too addled from the crash to realize anything was different, and too pampered afterwards to care.

[Tanis]

The light in the front of the cargo bay in the huge, jet engine transport flashed flashed from red to green as the huge plumes of of angry, black flak filled the sky above Odessa, Ukraine. The biggest aerial delivery of mobile suits up to this point was well underway, and Thomas cursed slightly as a near miss shook the plane he was riding in, his GM rocking in it's position.

"We are green for combat drop, good lu-"

The pilot was cut off as an AAA shell tore the cockpit off of the nose of the plain, leaving the cargo master the only crewman alive, but only barely with one arm gone spilling red lifeblood into the interior of the transport plane. Karl keyed his mic.

"Get the motherfucking hatch open if it's your last act! I'D RATHER DIE ON THE GROUND!" He screamed.

The hatch opened and the dead cargo master tumbled out. Being the first suit in the plane, he would be the last to jump as the rest of his team, the 19th MS Team, dropped out the opened hatch of the damaged plane. Thomas closed his eyes as the mobile suit pulled out the back of the craft, which exploded just as he cleared the bay.

Falling towards the earth from an unimaginable height, Karl flipped the GM over, feet pointing down as his arms were held high into the sky. His partner, Jameson, got one scream out before the AAA fire from the ground riddled his GM with holes. Other suits dropped from their craft, other planes exploded from missiles and triple AAA.

It was hell.

Welcome to Odessa, Karl Gutenberg. Welcome to Odessa.

SECOND CHARACTER
-----------
Karl Gutenberg
Twenty four
Earth Federation
MS: http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/index.htm
German volunteer for the 19th Mobile Suit Team of the Earth Federation, limited combat experience...he likes to swear a lot.

[Giggilyomeromicon]

(OOC: Yeah, in Zoids they have a tenancy to line their armies up and have them shoot each other until one stops. They have brilliant commanders.)

The Empire was making a move. Obviously, they were trying to capitalize on the confusion that was running rampant in the administration of the Republic. As far as Atron could tell, though, the Empire was in just as much turmoil over the recent events as the Republic.

There were rumors spreading everywhere about what had happened. Most of the world had suddenly vanished, being replaced with the landmasses of some alien planet. Although, he didn't know all that much about the situation.

He was currently sitting in the cockpit of his Whitz Wolf. There had already been some small skirmishes with imperial forces, but the main bulk of their army hadn't been engaged. It wasn't large by any standards, but given the chaos of their current situation, it would probably be enough to inflict some serious damage.

His role in the upcoming battle was simple enough. He and the rest of his squad were to cover the left flank of the main force. They were to make sure that the Imperials didn't flank the main army. The plan was simple enough.

Atron was still doing some last minute checks on his Zoid when his officer's voice rang inside his cockpit.

“All ready?”

“Two, ready.”

“Three, ready.”

“Four, ready.” That was Atron. He stopped paying attention to the status checks after that. Over all there were fifteen zoids in his unit. He was one of the few with a Whitz Wolf. More common were Liger variants or Command Wolves.

A short while later, they were off. The battle was already entering its initial stages. Most of the base's forces had been mobilized. Even a few Goujulases had come along. The terrain was incredibly flat. There was nothing green in the entire area, just the open desert.

“Sabre Tigers, 11 o'clock.”

“Fire at will.”

True enough, a small force of Tigers were heading towards the Republican lines. They would never make it. Atron pushed both throttles as far forward as they would go. He lurched backwards in his seat as his Zoid rapidly accelerated. A few seconds later a red box appeared around the nearest Tigers. He slowed down, and moved in behind them.

The Tigers knew that they were in for a fight, and were beginning to turn around. “SHOOT” appeared on the bottom of his canopy window in bold red letters. Pressing down on the appropriate buttons, the Whitz's two Hyper Canons fired a salvo towards the nearest Tiger. One of the shots missed, scarring the desert earth behind the Tiger. The second shot connected with one of the Tiger's hind legs, causing it to lurch backwards suddenly, and fall over. Another blast from the Hyper Canons brought it down. A second Tiger was brought down in a similar fashion. By this time the Ligers were carving up the main group of Sabre Tigers.

Looking towards the main battle, Atron could already see plumes of smoke rising.

[Kazeofwinds]

Russian Blizzard, Sometime about a Day after the Overlay
---------

Lucien Stood on the nose of his command wolf, face-to-face with a man in a flight suit. The other two GMs had their backs turned to the pair of open cockpits, partially shielding the two outside from the inhospitable weather around them.

"So then, I take it my willingness to cooperate and step out of my nice warm zoid into this bloody snowstorm Is sufficient to demonstrate my peaceful intentions, and we can talk more once we're not in the center of a snowstorm?"

"I suppose so...but if you do anything suspicious we'll blow you to hell."

"Those terms seem reasonable. I'll follow you back to your base then."

Lucien wasted no more time jumping back into his zoid and closing the cockpit- and cranking the heat.

The group of four that somewhat resembled a scaled up and mechanical version of a group of hunters and their dog walked for roughly ten minutes in a somewhat uneasy silence. This uneasy silence, along with the storm clouds, was broken by something falling from orbit and slamming into the ground nearby. A large black capsule hoisted itself out of a crater and popped open, revealing a somewhat humanoid looking black robot with colored panels for hands. A Radio transmission crackled over the airwaves.

<The surrounding area is now a Zoid Battlefield, The Backdraft versus....you guys, Battlemode 0999, Fight>

Lucien scratched his head for a moment as the trio of GMs with him all moved into position forming a roughly triangle.

"Backdraft....hmm, nope, never heard of 'em."

His command wolf rotated to cover an unwatched area as Lucien reactivated it's guns, along with flipping on the energy shield, resulting in something of a rounded cone of energy emitting in front of and around the sides of his wolf. This coincided with a group of Rev Raptors bursting out of ambush positions and charging the group.

"Imperials?"

Lucien Opened fire with his Wolf's pair of 100mm Beam cannons, dropping the charging raptor in two volleys. The crash of a Rev Raptor slamming into the shield of one of the GMs and Knocking it to the ground echoed behind him, it was followed shortly afterwards by the sound of something slicing metal and an explosion, A few seconds passed and the flurry of weapons fire stopped.

The Black capsule closed and shot back off towards the sky. Lucien noticed his radio was now emitting rather irritating white noise. There was a pause lasting a minute or two, then one of the GMs gestured for the group to keep moving, though the other GMs seemed to have figured this out already.

Lucien shrugged, deactivated his shield, and returned to his position in the march back to wherever these strange zoids called mobile suits were based out of.

[Anoiktos]

The Edge of Madness

--------------------

It had been a long week. The battles between Helic and Guylos were never few, or subtle, but both noisy and violent, leaving charred earth, seared metal, and burned flesh in their wake. At first, Kattri felt an urge to help, in these battles. She remembers well the face of a man, left without his Zoid in the wake of a particularly thorough artillery barrage; she picked him up and helped him heal his wounds, but was repaid by being treated as a child, an interloper, an interfering idiot.

Otto crushed him, then, and she dug his grave, leaving it unmarked and unseen. She shed tears, then, but they were as much for the cruel necessity of her friend's act as they were for the man's death.

Since that time, she has not thought to interfere, preferring to stand aside, alone, and leave madmen to their madness, even as men and women died defending it. Something in that one encounter, in her treatment as a child, brought a certain prescient idea of who she might have become, had she not escaped the destiny set out for her.

It is with these brooding thoughts roiling about her skull that Otto first sets paw upon the new world, though he does not yet know it. The snow in this area is thicker than any she has encountered, the blizzard howls more loudly than she would like, but these only serve to calm her, even as the opalline snow beats against Otto's vitreous eyes.

The storm is thick enough that she almost misses the Zoid - a humaniform one, built as none she has seen before. It walks purposefully, and the radio signals from it are strange, encrypted by some method she has not yet encountered. Both Helic and Guylos codes change frequently, not so much simple strings of characters as carefully programmed algorithms, but with careful study and the aid of the brainstems of damaged zoids she has collected both - though even then, the codes change often enough that this may simply be one she hasn't found yet.

It continues its cautious walk, and she follows, scanning the thing with Otto's advanced sensors as best she can. Whatever odd construction adorns its back, however, she cannot tell; some form of interference plagues his sensors, and she sits back in her seat, letting Otto's warm buzz loosen her thoughts. Soon enough, the scanning is finished, and as she reviews the images she is surprised to find that the construction of this creature is entirely different from that of either faction. Not merely in specifics, but in style; this robot is unlike any Zoid she has examined.

Curiosity piqued, she is surprised and jarred when Otto, answering to his own powerful reflexes, leaps to the side; the easily recognizable signature of a gunbluster barrage in the vicinity assails her ears even as she has once again reason to be thankful for the extensive padding within Otto's cockpit. Some sort of shockwave blasts forth, pushing Otto away from the wreck of a suit, but this auxilary explosion is little more than hot air at this range.

Repositioning her harness restraints, Kattri looks back towards the ruins of the strangely-built Zoid to find even less than she had expected; pieces here and there remain mostly intact, but the creature itself is devastated.

At first, Kattri is affronted at the waste of potential knowledge that the smouldering remains of her newest project entails, but soon enough she recalls that Gunbluster captains tend to be unusually thorough in their covering of an area, and she homes in on her target, practically flying as Otto's boosters kick in. A Gunbluster's armor is formidable, designed to withstand even the strongest of non-capital assaults from any side, and the creature is surrounded by powerful shielding, but neither of these are designed to counter a slow, brute-force attack by a sharp weapon, especially one targeting the weapons of the machine.

Otto, his jaw still permanently closed due to Kattri's modifications, elects instead to leap on top of the creature, grinding through the shields from sheer weight as the Gunbluster's power systems fail and its emergency reserves activate for motion only. Within seconds, the slow, bulky, and powerful zoid remains only as a set of carefully trimmed pieces, its piloting station neatly sliced in half. The creature slowly and laboriously collapses, in sharp contrast to the noisy explosion of the humanoid unit.

Kattri is impressed by the speed of the humanoid unit's allies' response; She can already sense a small number of units approaching, though Otto's sensors seem to be on the fritz, reporting a larger area of nonresponsive material like that surrounding the rear of the humanoid. After carefully making sure that Otto's cloaking subsystems are undamaged, the pair skitter closer to the site of first impact even as the reinforcements arrive - and with them, hiding in the nonsensory field but visible to Otto's optical senses, a larger and more dangerous looking mech.

[Protoss_Honor]

Name: Wesley "West" Moroe a.k.a "Asgard"
Age: 22
Affiliation: Celestial Being
Zoid/MS+Fittings: A GN-005 Virtue (http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/00/gn-005.htm) with a custom Red and Purple paint job.
Background: West is a pilot with great skills and potential, but he has not yet earned the title of ace. He is a cynical, sarcastic man who treats friends (of which he has very few), foes, and everyone else with contempt.



A new personality type for me. This should prove to be an interesting learning experience.

Also, I AM BACK!

[kongurous]

"Thank the stars for the Minovsky particle. May that crazy old bastard rest in peace." Gavin chuckled ever so slightly, not wanting to create unnecessary noise. It was highly likely the Feds were aware of his presence, just they hadn't scattered their GMs yet. Such was the price of being undetectable by radar; it's sort of hard to disguise the sound of a 60 metric ton monstrosity rampaging through a jungle, so sonar is a good way of finding enemy mobile suits.

He checked his watch one last time and pulled back the thruster and put his mobile suit in a crouch, which was somewhat awkward all things considered. In a custom painted MS-07B-3 Gouf, his other custom weapons, such as the massive 75mm Gatling gun attached to his shield, made crouching a difficult prospect. The watch read 05:20 local Banda Aceh time, which was perfect.

Absolutely perfect.

He keyed his map and set it to overlay over his HUD and studied his position. He was ten klicks west of a known Federation base due south 2 klicks from the local capital, Banda Aceh city. This base was the regional headquarters of the Federation, armed to the teeth with 12 Ground Type GMs, 3 Gundam Mass Production types, and who knows how many RGMs. It also had stationary defenses ranging from light 20mm vulcan guns to full-sized artillery cannons, just ready to open fire.

This base had to fall for Zeon's regional supremacy to become more than a pipe dream. The only one crazy enough to willingly be the distraction was, of course, Second Lieutenant Gavin Melange.

Hoping to take advantage of his Gouf's close combat capability, he was going to open fire upon the base's defenses facing Banda and lead the counter-attack into the urban sprawl to be picked off. Aceh itself had been evacuated long ago when Zeon first moved in so it was mostly bombed out buildings. Plenty of places to hide.

Scheduled attack time was 06:00 sharp, with the main offensive coming in two hours later. He'd been sitting here studying for about two minutes, giving his estimation at 05:22. Thirty-eight minutes to get into position, which would require a lot of concentration and skill to do quietly, if such were even possible.

"I'm not an ace because I'm sexy," Melange audibly reassured his mind.

Standing his Gouf up, the local trees still towered over him by at least a meter. Activating his low-light vision, his heart skipped a beat as he saw what lay before him.

A patrol of... three, four, five... nine Federation RGM-79[G] Ground types were in front of him. Three teams, all heading in his direction. If he stayed, he'd be spotted. If he moved, he'd be spotted. Hell, he was probably already spotted unless the pilots were just dumb and were going off thermal imaging.

Only one choice.

Logging their positions on his targeting display, Gavin collapsed the map and powered up to full display. He prepared a blue flare for firing when the sun was up, for now it was time to fight. No explosions, no guns. He hit the release to his chain gun and it dropped with the thud of a massive dropping branch onto the jungle floor. Silently as he could, he drew his Gouf's heat saber and leaned to his left in preparation.

They were within 50 meters.

His engines warmed with anticipation.

40 meters. 35.

30.

Go!

Jumping hard left, he thundered through the trees and shoulder-pushed one of the GMs, fourth in line from the front, out of position. Regaining his stance, he spun his Gouf around and lodged his saber into the cockpit of the GM in the 3rd line, stabbing down from the neck and down.

Wrenching his arm around, he pulled his now bloody saber out and knocked the GM towards the other mobile suits further back in line with his elbow as he aimed the magnetic grappling hook in his right arm forward as he placed his saber back into the sheath inside his shield.

The hook shot forward and lodged itself inside the GM's left arm, in the pit, and a lance of electricity shot through the hook's cord. The shock shorted the GM's circuits. The suit went limp and crumbled in a heap downwards as Gavin pushed the Gouf to its best acceleration and bounded heavily over the still falling electrified mobile suit.

His feet connected with the torso of the lead GM, who had finally turned around to fight back. The center torso collapsed under the weight and the cockpit burst open like an overripe tomato, the pilot, clearly visible, crushed as he tried to undo his restraints.

Detaching his hook, Melange charged his Gouf forward, picked up his chain gun, and bounded through the trees due northeast. He had every confidence the GMs were calling for reinforcements, which is what he was banking on.

He quickly glanced at his clock and became aware of sweat on his brow. Wiping his forehead, the time read as 05:45 local time. Fifteen minutes.

Attaching his Gatling gun, Gavin glanced east and saw the sun creeping over the horizon that was just barely visible through these abnormally large trees. What was also visible was the Federation base, which was perfect for attack right now. Not entirely alert but not totally asleep, he could easily instill fear.

Stopping and moving closer near the clearing, the Gouf's camouflage of black and grey would be useless in a few minutes. It was 5:50. Almost time. Just a layer of trees between him and the largest Feddie concentration in the area.

He smiled as he locked onto the fuel tanks just barely visible, in the hangars for the mobile suits. He counted off five, four, three, two, and one and then depressed the trigger that would fire his gun.

Bullets spat out, expending ammo at wholesale rates. He swung his arm wide from the fuel tanks, raking the mobile suits he could see with gunfire, causing one to have a minor explosion in the chest. He stopped firing and adjusted his aim to what barracks he could see and raked those as well, but unfortunately saw no artillery or a vehicle pool from his position.

All the same, he thought. It was 6:00 flat, and it was time to move into the city. Melding back into the shadows of the jungle, the speedy giant lumbered towards Banda Aceh, setting the distance to detonate on his flare to 1km in the air. He fired the rocket as he reached the city proper, signaling he was in position to the Zeon forces observing, and moved to find himself a suitable skyscraper to snipe the Feds with his Gatling gun from.

[OOC: http://kupax.com/view/full/415_yhoan picture of the Gouf used in this post, apologies for not listing it in Gavin's sheet. What you see is what you get in regards to the picture, although the heat saber is normally stored inside the shield.]

[Protoss_Honor]

West studied the output on his display screen, then signaled the closest of his comrades. "Hannibal, this is Asgard, I'm picking up signs of ongoing conflict in northern Sumatra. Whaddya say we go down and put an end to it? Two Mobile Suits are better than one and all that."

<tag Hawk>


~~~~~~~~
a short time later
~~~~~~~~


The sun slowly rose over the horizon, as if it was trying to keep pace with West and his Mobile Suit. "Yeah right," West muttered to himself, shaking away the sentimentalist thoughts that were trying to sneak into his mind. He had no time for such things. All they did was distract a person, and keep them from focusing fully on the task at hand. The task at hand... discover what in the world, or out of it for that matter, is happening, why Earth got a face lift, who all these new arrivals are, and what their intentions are.

West glanced at the clock on one of his display screens. 6:27 a.m. local time. "Local" in this case, was several miles off the coast of Indonesia, or rather, what was left of Indonesia.

"Just when you get used to the current state of chaos that is collectively known as life, she screws you over like this."

6:34 a.m. local time. West came upon the first signs of battle. Destroyed Mobile Suits formed very effective road blocks, whether they lay in a road or not. Haphazard piles of rubble that had at one time formed buildings were strewn across the battlefield. And the most telling sign that a battle had just come through here, innumerable spent shell casings of various sizes littered the ground. Such waste. Such senseless waste. Humans were hellbent on destroying themselves. That much has been obvious since the dawn of time.

The only warning West had was all of the GN-005's systems went crazy a moment before it was sent tumbling from the sky, abruptly and rudely yanking West out of his pessimistic musings.

"Dammit West!" he shouted at himself as he pulled his MS out of its fall. "This is why you need to stay focused!" He activated the GN Field, encompassing his MS in a womb of protective energy, and brought his GN Bazooka to bear on the position he thought the shot had come from. What he saw made him conclude that the shot had not been intended for him, and it was only by pure chance that he was even hit. He saw what appeared to be three mobile suits engaged in battle. One mobile suit was gray and black and armed with a Gatling gun. The other two were identical mostly white mobile suits armed with machine guns. And from what West could see, they were losing, badly. West moved in to put a stop to the fighting......


(ooc) tag kong and iHawk

[Anoiktos]

The Seat of Madness
--------------------

"Otis, report. What have you found out about the wreck?"

"Nothing good, Sarge. The MS looks like it was battered down by some sort of heavy artillery. Never seen this sort of damage before. Probably from somewhere down east, from the angle, but it's pretty high. Doesn't look like it --"

"Sergeant Gulley, this is FF-X7 Bravo. We're reporting some sort of debris to the east of your position, atop a hill. Doesn't look active."

"Well, Otis? Check it. Will, Ivan, secure the area. C-"

--------------------

The static is a bit overwhelming, and pieces of the conversation seem to be cut at random from a greater whole, as though some other method of relay were being used, but Kattri has finally managed to make headway in breaking these Zoid's radio communications.

"heck r -- freq -- scan comp -- nar", the badly staticized report comes through. Otto seems... Afraid, or at least nervous. Kattri decides that the safest place to be is likely fairly near these mechs, as the few sensor types that can bypass a Shadow Fox's cloaking systems are less effective with heavy distortion. She yawns, realizing it's been quite some time since last she slept, and blinks once or twice, grabbing a couple of berries from her stash in Otto's muzzle.

The humanoid mech that had headed up towards the fallen Gunbluster is only just returning as the others finish their scan, and she figures she's pretty safe at this point; whatever scans they were doing don't appear to have revealed her, so she takes the occasion to scan the larger mech. Its construction, too, is fairly alien, and the strange radar-distorting power source on its back more powerful than those on the smaller mechs.

--------------------

"Nothing, Sergeant. Area's clear. Thought I picked up something right near us, but it didn't match any of the optical scans, so I figure this ol' GM's scsanners are up for some maintenance when we get back."

"Good. Otis, have you got a visual on the debris?"

"Uh... Yeah, Sarge. You aren't gonna believe this, though..."

"You'll find there's quite a bit I can believe, nowadays. Do you need backup?"

"I don't think it's moving. Jeez, I'm not even sure how this thing could move. It's like a huge... As best I can piece together from the bits... A Lizard. With guns on the back. I think we found our culprit, though ... This raises more questions..."

"Otis, stop messing around. A giant lizard with guns on the back? Figure it's a mutation?"

"No, uh. A mechanical lizard. A mech of some sort. But Sarge, it's all ripped to pieces, like.. Something got to it before we did."

"Good. Better it than us. Any clues as to what did it?"

"Not.. Really. It's very clean. But I haven't seen anything like this before, Sarge; it's got traces of biomatter, but no Minovski traces."

"How can you tell?"

"Well, it's not blown up, for one thing. And whoever was piloting it, well... Whatever killed these guys did it recently, and it cut them open like sacks of meat."

"Spare me the details. Sensor sweep was clear, so whatever it was, it's gone now. Can you salvage the mech for analysis back at base?"

"Uh. Sure, but I doubt they'll find much. This thing's totaled."

"Otis, if our boys can reverse engineer the remains of Zeon mechas with skywards Minovski engines, the mess you're looking at can hardly be more difficult. Let's get a move on, boys."

--------------------

As the mechas make to leave, Kattri sits, puzzled at the conversation she just heard. The Gunbluster is hardly a new model, and these people were talking as though they'd never hinted of it before. She contemplates showing herself out of simple curiosity, but decides better of it, slowly moving Otto to follow the 'GM's. As she moves through the snow, just far enough away from the GM's to make sonar chancy, she puzzles over the schematics she's gotten from the mechs, trying to figure out what sort of power source would be powerful enough to move things that size with enough auxilary power to stabilize bipedal movement.

After some time, she recalls the 'GM''s talk about a 'Minovsky' engine or somesuch, and the strange distortions about these mech's backplates.

[iHawk]

Virtue had called in for backup, they were without a plan right now, so all they had to work on was their own mission statement and their individual instincts. Hannibal's told him to go, stop as many conflicts as he could. Stop those who would start conflicts, protect those who were caught in the cross-fire. Eradicate war and protect the new world as it begins it's life. Then... disappear, for there would be no place for warriors in the world they would create.

It would take several minutes for Hannibal and Harrison to arrive. But West would be able to handle himself....

Their conversation was done, the Gouf pilot lunged before the Virtue's shield reactivated, West moved quickly to the right, but not quite fast enough as some form of magnetic weapon connected with the joint in his left arm apparently shorting something out. The Virtue's shoulder mounted cannons aimed and fired as the Gouf dropped down again, with it's shields online the pilot apparently found it to be a less appetizing target and retreated into the city.

"This is Blitz," He spoke to Moroe, "You hang back and watch for his retreat, Don't shoot into the city unless you're sure there's no one still there. I'll flush him out."

Not awaiting a reply he darted between the buildings and slowed down as he approached for the streets, hovering only a meter or so above them. Extending the large GN blade, he slowly drifted between streets, keeping eyes and ears peeled for signs of the troublesome pilot. He heard the GN Bazooka go off behind him, signaling that more enemies had shown up to fight eachother, or attack the Gundams. West was apparently dispatching of them post-haste. The sound of breaking concrete alerted Hannibal to the mostly grey mobile suit emerging violently from a warehouse sword forwards. Blocking with his shield, he attempted to attack with his own blade but the suit leaned out of the way before the blade could connect and succeeded in pushing the floating Exia into the building behind.

"You're not the suit I was fighting earlier, a friend perhaps?"

"Hannibal Blitz, Gundam Pilot of Celestial Being."

"Gavi-"

"You're assisting warfare, who you are is unimportant. Since your surrender is doubtful, you will die here for the new world."

Withdrawing the GN blade he fired at the machine's torso, it was fast though, moving quickly to avoid it merely took a single glancing blow that was little more than cosmetic. Dashing around the corner Blitz charged after it finding it to be gone. He was good, hit and run seemed to be his current strategy. Did he hope to destroy Hannibal? Did he honestly think himself strong enough to take down a Gundam? Perhaps he was hoping to outlast them, hide until they left. He must've assumed they needed to refuel... if so he'd find himself to be sorely mistaken. Unless it was something else entirely... none of the other suits nearby resembled his, was he perhaps a scout? Or merely what remained of his force?

His train of thought was interrupted when the machine once again emerged from hiding, swinging with some form of claw, flying up and back he narrowly avoided, only to be pelted with a barrage of chaingun fire. His shield's managed to block most of them, but several more rounds slipped through and met the Exia's armour itself. Flying to the side he entered another street and escaped the hail of fire, the pilot did not pursue... he wasn't going to risk a full out fight apparently. But for the moment he didn't know Hannibal's exact location, he was expecting him to come again so that he could set up another ambush. Time to turn the tables.

Landing on one of the shorter buildings, hannibal almost completely powered down the reactor.

"Exia, activate stealth mode." A message flashed across his HUD acknowledging the command, as the Exia shrouded itself in a shell of light-bending particles. Along with minimal GN particle dispersion, the machine was now undetectable by almost anything short of running into it. With it's back to a tall building, Hannibal simply watched the street and buildings ahead, waiting for his 'hunter' to become the prey once more. Waiting for the pilot to receive judgment on his blade.

[Anoiktos]

Kattri Halen
Premeditated

------------

"Sergeant Gulley, this is Kattri Halen reporting on your secure channel. I witnessed the destruction of your friend by the Gunbluster, and have been eavesdropping since, waiting for the right time to introduce myself. From your conversations, I gather that you have never encountered the forces of my world - and, judging from the differences in local star charts, that this is an entirely different place than that which I am used to. I am a self-taught... What you would call Mobile Suit engineer, though I have been neutral for some time among the factions of my planet."

------------

Sweating nervously as she speaks, Kattri drops the bombshell. She cannot be sure that this is a different world, but the coincidences - the stars, the engineering differences, this Minovski engine - stack up far too quickly, far too well.

It is a mark of the Sergeant's self-control that he does not panic, and replies on an equally secure line, using the same encryption scheme she addressed to him.

"Ms. Halen, this is Graham Gulley, of the Federation. I'm going to go ahead and assume, now that I've had some time to review the scans of what you call a 'Gunbluster', that you're not insane. That doesn't mean I trust you. Where are you calling from, anyway? The FF-X7's haven't reported any recent unauthorized air traffic."

"I am calling from my own Mobile Suit, Otis. He's a shadow fox", she says with pride. Gulley coughs politely, and she continues. "Uh, he can hide from your sensors. Like you say, you don't trust me. I'd be kind of silly to show myself before finding out whether we can come to an agreement. I've seen too many people die to want to become one of them."

Something in her voice causes Sergeant Gulley not to scoff back - he's seen plenty of death in his time, and the tolls of the War thus far aren't exactly hidden knowledge.

"Lady, we all have. This world was nuked not long ago. Don't know if they have those where you're from. Billions of people died, incinerated instantly. The ground ain't exactly liveable, either, so unless you've got rad shielding on that ... Otis of yours, I'd suggest you show yourself and let us get you out of there."

"Rad.. Radiation. I have shielding, yes. Thank you for the warning. I was unaware.... Radiation isn't usually a weapon used where I come from. They prefer big explosions."

"Yeah, well we've got that too. All right, kid. I'll be frank: I like your style, and I think you're legit, but high command won't necessarily see it that way. So unless you can prove that you're a worthy ally to our cause, I probably can't wrangle you away from a testing lab and Otis from disassembly if you come with us. So stay hidden."

"I destroyed the Gunbluster. Three swipes of Otis's claws. Is that the proof you need?"

"I'm sorry to say that none of us saw you do the deed."

"Very well, Sergeant. I won't trouble you any longer."

[Kazeofwinds]

Somewhere In Former Africa
36 hours after the overlay
---------

A man in dark clothing standing in the open cockpit of a large winged zoid, described by some as a gargoyle, stares up into the sky that glows a vibrant red. The reddish light reflects off the man's sunglasses. It shouldn't be this red or this bright at this time of night, but then the moons don't usually collide either.

In other places people were panicking, he knew, and soon some of the wayward chunks would rain from the sky causing unknown amounts of damage. Most would see this event as a sign of the end, the apocalypse, divine judgment, or other such nonsense. The man in sunglasses saw it, and the changes in Zi, as something much different, an opportunity, both for himself, and for comrades and his Emperor.

He smiled. Things were going to be a lot more interesting from now on, and the time to hide in the shadows, was nearly at an end.


------------

Federation Base, Siberia.
-------

Lucien sat in a fairly room that was quite obviously a military leader's office. Not a particularly high ranked military leader's office, but still. He wasn't handcuffed as he had come to this meeting voluntarily, however the pair of armed guards in the room made it obvious they weren't ready to trust some stranger alone with their commander. The past four or so hours had been the same, the commander asked a question, he answered, and occasionally managed to slip one or two of his own in (there was of course, a break for lunch). The primary piece of information both of them gained from the exchange, was that neither of them had a clue what was going on.

[Anoiktos]

Moonfall, AO 0/0/1 12:31
North Canadian Tundra
Federation Territory

-------------------

"Sergeant?"
"Yes, Otis? Are you getting any more scanner anomalies?"
"No, sir. Uh, well, yes. But not the same kind. Detecting minor earth tremors, and, well, the stars are all wrong."
"There are quite a few shooting stars tonight. And the moon isn't up yet."
"The.. Constellations are wrong. There are extra stars where there shouldn't be any, and fewer in other places, but -"

-----

Above the Gundam, a shadow grows; such is the speed of its descent that by the time the mecha's radar has adequately detected its speed, it is almost too late to move. Upon impact, the ground rises and falls, cascading in an eery waterfall of rock and ice. Sergeant Gulley falls to the side , and the other MS are just quick and lucky enough to get out of the way as the deep layer of ice beneath the soil cracks open, pulling the gundam downwards. As the darkness of dusk descends, the sky is tinged with orange flame, the violet shadows flickering as flaming chunks of rock and metal descend towards the earth.

The permafrost cracks, and melts, the speed of each passing meteorite piercing holes into the ice, and Gulley's gundam begins to slip downwards, the damaged legs of his mobile suit frighteningly ineffective.

"Mobile Suits, evacuate. I repeat, evacuate", Gulley's voice commands them. Gulley himself is surprised to hear the command, and still more to find his gundam lifted from the falling ice as a dog-shaped mech grasps its torso in two fearsome claws.

-----

Mumbling quietly to her friend, Kattri disengages the boost rockets and quietly waits for the falling shards of moon to stop. Her hands are shaking, causing the linked Zoid to purr softly, and the effect is not unpleasant but the fact remains that she had not planned this far ahead.

Otto's sensors reveal that the place they have landed is atop an unusual rock formation, a place where the permafrost has divided, and thus less susceptible to sliding should the meteorite storms begin again. She looks up towards the double moon, a fiery, clashing orb in the sky, and sighs.

Her life, as it was, is over. There is little to no chance that this man's recon planes have not studied Otto by now, and with the use of the afterburners, she scarcely has enough energy to cloak, let alone move to a safe location. Otto extends his head downwards, and she exits the cockpit only to be met by a wall of heat; the normally freezing arctic temperatures are much different in the wake of the storm, and she breathes a sigh of relief; she had not thought to include winter gear during her explorations.

Through her com, she sends a message using Gulley's code to the other MS's:

"Independent Kat here, your commander's gundam is heavily damaged. Sensors show that the nearby area is safe from subterrestrial effects of the meteor strike. Attempting repair, please assist. My mecha's name is Otto."

"What's that, miss? Where'd you come from?"

"Never mind about that", she snaps irritably. "Do any of you have schematics for this thing? No? Then call for backup, I'm familiar with basic organic systems but you'll need a specialist to deal with any system damage to the reactor."

"Uh. M'aam, we're going to have to ask you to -"

"Listen, mister. I don't have time for your politics or protocols. Kill me if you like, but in my experience semiorganic systems can go into shock if they're left damaged for too long, and we need your commander's Gundam to be in shape. Is his com broken or something?"

"I was just waiting to see how you'd get on, 'Independent Kat'. Not the cleanest rescue I've seen, but certainly timely. If you have scans of this mech from before the damage was done, I'm sure you can get it back into shape if you repaired something as complicated as Otto there."

"Sarge! Who -"

"Listen, Corporal, this is a special ops scout from another world, probably under a security clearing I'm not allowed to know about. You'd be best served by forgetting about her."

"You been taking crazy pills? Sarge? She's talking about hacking apart your -"

"Stand down, Corporal. That's an order."

-----

Hours later, the gundam is in functional shape. Its armor has taken a beating, and Kattri feels the parts she's used to repair it aren't quite optimal, but it works well enough. Around her workspace stand three men; the sergeant, with a bemused expression on his face, Otis, slightly less aghast than he was earlier but now, perhaps, with even more unanswered questions trying to slip out of his mouth, and a radioman trying to contact the Federation. Otis stares somewhat incuriously at the display, content to purr and hum as his power supplies regenerate. Meanwhile, the other two Mobile Suits are on patrol, scanning the area for anomalies. There are plenty.

"Seems you found the only safe place for about a mile, Kat. At least, the only one large enough to hold a full gundam. I haven't seen tools like the ones you use, to be honest. Usually we use specialized repair suits."

"These are pieced together from Zoid weaponry, actually. I had to improvise, as I could hardly apply to the Republic for help."

"Mmm.", the man says, his mustache bristling as he breathes in through his nose. "Well, I can hardly keep you a secret now, can I. Still, with this kind of knowledge of engineering and a salvaged Gundam in tow, I hardly think you'll have too many problems."

"Sir, base protocol treats all -"

"- unknowns as prisoners until further notice. I know, Otis. Independent Kat, however, is an ally, not an unknown. As she has firmly demonstrated."

"I'm not sure -"

"I am. Let's get going. And watch the damn sky for attacks, this time; we don't have any FF-X7 support, and we don't know if or when there'll be another storm like that."

"Yessir."

[kongurous]

In order to confuse or throw off the enemy mobile suit pilot, Melange took the long way. He had, though, circled back around and was now essentially hiding behind a skyscraper, although this was technically impossible, peering through a bombed out portion of it, looking for some sign of the enemy.

Suddenly, he noticed something didn't look right at all. He couldn't put his finger on it immediately, just something seemed wrong. He could see lamp posts, bombed out buildings, abandoned cars, foot prints, a bird hovering over the street. He stopped and did a double take. Foot prints? He hadn't come the way they were heading. A bird hovering? It wasn't hovering. It was...

...Sitting on something Gavin couldn't see. His face curled into a wide grin as the realization hit him. One of his enemies was invisible, somehow, and trying to ambush him. Or so it seemed, at least.

"Crafty. Oh my, you are definitely crafty. Still, you've never fought me before," Gavin said and turned on the loudspeakers. He then maneuvered the thrusters on his back to aim straight back at a 90 degree angle to send him completely forward. Crouching slightly, he leaped loudly and pushed the throttle full as the thrusters came to life and began to push the several ton monstrosity known as a Gouf through the body of the building and towards where he expected the shape to be.

"Why must you be so rude, Hannibal Blitz?" Gavin said mockingly as he cleared the rubble and flung his Gouf's arms wide. He clamped them tightly around where the enemy had to have been. Apparently his prediction had been correct, but exactly what he had grabbed was a mystery. "My name is Gavin Melange, First Lieutenant, Principality of Zeon Mobile Suit Corps. We'll meet again"

The Gouf continued to fly forward with its "package" for a time and then Gavin hefted it aside, angled his thrusters slightly, and leaned into the direction he wished to speed off to. Right shoulder down. he peered his camera to his left and trained his Gatling gun down the corridor of lanes to ensure he wasn't caught by surprise.

This continued until he was out into the jungle, where he knew he wouldn't be easily found. Finally, eight kilometers out from the city and deep inside the new-growth jungle that had sprung up, Gavin put his Gouf into a kneeling position and opened the cockpit. For now, it was time to wait, and he had plenty of patience.

[time skip for Gavin Melange and Logan Howlett is now in effect]