draft_set132

[start of cutscene]

This situation has gone south. And Chuchu knows it.

<<Demi Barding system, Chutaury Panlunch to all open channels, mayday, mayday! We're being chased down by an unknown mobile weapon!>>

None of this was supposed to happen.

<<All units! Anyone! I don't care if you're a bogey! Just help me shake this thing off me!>>

If this goes on any further, it might be too late!

<<Grr! I'm not dying here, I swear...>>

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

See, this was supposed to be straightforward.

It was a handbook-mandated combat course that Chuchu took as an elective. She overheard rumors of a wide-scale conflict that was sure to affect her folks at home and knew that if she was to be of any help, she had to learn how to fight seriously in a war environment. Fortunately, the GUND-Arm deal granted access to Peil Technologies testing programs and the services of one Elan Ceres, so on the next experimental exercise, she volunteered with no hesitation.

Chuchu's first question, just before launching, was simple. <<So why is Guel's brother and that hooved unit in this, too?>>

The Fifth had an answer ready. <<Lauda's a replacement for one of the pilots. I told him to bring the Schwarzrette to help spice up the whole endeavor.>>

<<Hey! He wasn't part of this plan! And what's this about "spicing up the whole endeavor," huh? I see a total of 18 remote weapons between you three.>>

Elan let the waveforms die down before talking. <<We'll be dealing with potentially 100 times more once this war goes hot, so if anything, this should help get you up to speed quickly.>>

Guel instantly butted in. <<Don't be ridiculous, Elan. We're supposed to take it slow.>>

Lauda continued: <<I've been seeing her fly with the Mercurian and her sister for a while now. Eleven's a lot to ask already.>>

Chuchu took offense to that: <<Well excuse you, rustbucket, at least I pilot regularly. Are you sure that YOU can handle that Pharact?>>

<<Of course I can. He's just any other pilot.>>

All Elan could do was exhale. He took offense to that. <<Alright, alright. Pipe down, everyone. Besides, the program didn't change. It's still gonna be me and Guel for 90% of this stint. We take a short break, then you dance with Lauda later.>>

Chuchu shook her head, then put her helmet on. <<These guys sure are a pain, huh? Anyway. Launch me out.>>

The Peil double-ace was true to his word, at least. A large part of the exercise was focused on developing agility and reflexes, with a regiment that looked more like an alpine skiing course where the flags also fired back at the skier. Chuchu bobbed and weaved in and out of the drones, almost to the limits of G-loading on her body, but it worked. Where at first she'd be caught off guard by a bit she didn't see, now she's able to keep all eyes on any target, then either tag it with a swipe of a beam saber or shoot with a rifle.

For the most part, Elan held nothing back, going up to the line of actively killing Chuchu. She had demanded it to be a real fight, after all, and the pressure of having a Gundam-type hunt her down was supposed to sharpen her reflexes and bolster her resolve. It only made her a more ferocious animal in response, going forward more often than not. This impressed him considerably.

<<Miorine should really consider giving you a Gundam, too. Go tell her.>>

Chuchu charged her rifle in response. <<Backhanded compliments do jack shit on me, Fifth.>>

That's when her controls started to reverse. Another Corax tether. Elan could only chuckle. <<Told you.>>

By contrast, Guel was the more lenient proctor, not deploying all of his remote weapons at once. He did, however, use his shields as a barrier limiting where Chuchu could go. The cosmic space Peil allotted for the drill was huge, but each time Chuchu thought of going for the "ring-out" option, those shields pushed her back to where Corax bits could stun her. It didn't help that the forearms were stalking her, almost in a taunting way, a Sword of Damocles over every move she made.

When Chuchu finally got close to the Schwarzrette, however, she turned on her saber.

That shocked Lauda enough to force a block. <<Holy shit!>>

<<Yeah, sorry, tough guy, but you sent your remotes out too far.>>

Chuchu then bugged out, cutting her losses as soon as she saw the hooved suit's blades chase her. She flew upwards from Lauda's viewpoint...and became unresponsive.

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

Only just now has Chuchu gotten a response.

<<Chuchu!>>

It's Guel's voice. And Chuchu almost cries in relief. <<I'm still here! There's a black machine at my rear!>>

<<We're on our way. Someone is ahead of us, though.>>

<<Copy. Just get here before I-->>

A light so bright flashes before Chuchu's visor. It is much too wide to tell where it came from, but at that point Chuchu realizes precisely what fate awaits her.

But before she could even process the idea of dying, the light fades. And the spectacle before her throws her jaw wide open.

<<Hey, Pom-poms! You okay?>>

This is the voice of Shaddiq Zenelli, the Grassley scion, on the radio. The javelin bracer on his Michaelis has blocked a beam saber swing from the unknown black mobile weapon.

He radios Chuchu again. <<Just go! I'll keep this one occupied here.>>

All Chuchu can muster is a quick <<Thanks!>> before training her Demi Barding to the two Jeturn-marked points careening towards the center of her radar. She sees the Pharact flying in the other direction, towards the newfound enemy, guns alight.

Then he turns on his comms. <<No biological life signs in the cockpit. This unit is autonomously piloted.>>

The unknown rig swerved and spun, avoiding blaster fire only to turn around and clash with the Schwarzrette's Guardian sword.

<<Elan. You say it's an autonomous suit?>>

<<Positive.>>

Lauda's face turns red, a sign of Permet overclocking, then opens the sword. <<So there’s no human piloting that? Good! No regrets killing it, then!>>

A frenetic three-party duel ensues between Shaddiq and Lauda, now executing split-S turns, and the jet-black mobile weapon.

The Darilbalde arrives just in time to help reorient the Demi Barding by grabbing its hand. <<Chuchu, was this the unit assaulting you?>>

<<You’re damn right it’s this sicko! That thing just popped up all of a sudden. I don't even know where it came from -- it just started chasing me!>>

Elan fires a sustained blue-hot line of energy at the black suit, but it dodges, sweeping a saber to both the Michaelis and Schwarzrette. They barely avoid the cut. The black suit then retaliates, targeting the Barding, but the Darilbalde's shields protect Chuchu just in time.

<<Thanks, Guel. I owe you one.>>

<<Don't even think about it. This is the least I can do.>>

Chuchu then switches to the open channel. <<So how do we kill this thing?>>

Suddenly, a voice rings through the radios of all five pilots. It matches the IFF frequency of the black suit.

<<It seems like the machines produced in this sector are as impeccable as ever. But, I'll teach you amateurs once and for all that your machine is no match for my Raven.>>

[end of cutscene]