It was an odd amalgam of technologies; grav-tech put together from blueprints and spare parts salvaged from Foundation small-craft; arms moved by myomer bundles based on those used in Boomers; control system that was a bastard child of a Direct Neural Interface from one end and the superweapon linkage of a D.D. Battlemover from the other.
'Unit 00' was a more versatile platform than the rather specialized 01 Fujino Shizuru had requested for herself, mostly because - while 01 had been based, in general at least, on the work that had been done on 00 when Fujino caught wind of the project - it had been made with being predecessor of a production line in mind. Future expansion and all.
As she slewed the, admittedly, somewhat bulky machine across and around to encircle the group of hostiles, cutting them off from more fragile targets - like the currently Robe-less Otome, some of whom had been too shocked by the sudden loss of their weapons/armor to react to their opponents in time ...
... best not to think of that just yet ...
... Tsujimoto Natsumi said a brief prayer of thanks that her longtime friend and chief designer of both the functional C-Class Frames had focused on ranged weapons as the loadout of this particular model.
Twin belt-fed chainguns had been aimed and fired, the Frame's grav-sled configuration making compensating for its motion easier than anticipated. The high density rounds had worked fairly enough against Slaves, and more than well against the whip-wielding Aswad cyborg who'd been about to finish off one of the Corals.
Natsumi shifted targets - that one wasn't likely to get up anytime soon - swerving out of the way of a energy laden chakram even as the gun's muzzles barked again and again from their places just above and slightly behind the Frame's 'hands', forcing the assailants to break off their attack and dodge.
***
"Sentiment? I'd really expected better of you, Sergei," reddish-pink eyes narrowed. Their owner shrugged. "Well, no. Perhaps not."
Sergei Wong looked at his erstwhile superior, his expression a mix of defiance and guilt.
"Where's that ruthlesness the North Hound was so famed for? Your dedication to your country? It's sad that you'd just throw everything away, and for what? No disrespect to Arika-chan, but she isn't even that woman's daughter, now is she? Yet, when even after you'd found out you kept financing her stay and studies in Garderobe I'd thought that you may have simply wanted to acquire another useful defense for your homeland. Now I find you here, helping our enemies escape ... such a pity."
Those around him were clearly not ready for _that_, for various reasons.
"Acting against explicit orders, against your principal, your comrades, assisting in the murder of an important ally ..." Nagi dai Artai's face broke into a smirk.
Again, a gunshot rang out.
The bullet, much as the one that had felled Smith, seemingly came out nowhere, and with deadly accuracy.
It struck steel.
Or close enough to it, at least.
Nagi's form was obscured by a dark blur of motion that could barely be recognized as a person, twin metallic glints held in the blurs that solidified into hands, arms ...
"Fortunately, you did your homeland one very important service that I remain so very thankful for," Nagi was still smirking. "Ne, Nina-chan?"
The face could have just as well been set in stone, save perhaps for the slight bit of moisture around the eyes. Otherwise, though, Nina Wong stood tall and proud, the Meister Otome robe of green and black making her look all the more grim. The image was complete with the two black-metal, fork hilted daggers she wielded as her Element. An utterly black GEM glinted a faint red from where it was set in her earring.
"And in the spirit of that," dai Artai went on, "I feel you should be given one more chance."
Sergei turned to look to Arika, then back to his adopted daugher standing beside the Grand Duke. He hesitated ...
"Oh well," Nagi shrugged. "Nina-chan?"
For a moment, the girl didn't seem to hear ... before her Master stepped back into the protective shadow of the structure as to avoid further fire, and she leapt.
"Arika!" Mashiro called out, holding her hand out even as the named Coral's pendant - which contained a paired set of Meister GEMs - lit up.
The Otome reached for the hand ... but it was clear, in that split-second, that they wouldn't manage the contract in time.
"Yukinooooo!"
Which was when a monumental *CLANG* echoed, as something slammed into the still airborne Nina, and both she and whatever it was crashed into the ground. Dust and dirt were thrown upwards as the landscape gained a new crater.
Or rather, someone.
The voice had certainly been familiar enough, and the manner of arrival only confirmed it.
After all, where she lacked subtlety, Haruka Armitage was wont to make up for it with sheer brute force.
Gah. It's been too long. Also, I can't seem to write Nina-dialogue worth a damn, hence her silence in the latter segment.
-Griever
When tact is required, use brute force. When force is required, use greater force.
When the greatest force is required, use your head. Surprise is everything. - The Book of Cataclysm