Economics of War (MK, Tack)

[ShadowVigilante1]

He would nod and watched them leave before looking back to his holo projecting tablet. He would take one last bite out of his sandwich as he pondered for a moment, looking at the ridge position he would be taking.

“Seeing as this is potentially the start… I’m going to need a new name… Something for them to fear and something that goes against what they are, something they can never use.”

He would mark his location before hovering his hand over the keyboard.

”Britannia… your ivory towers won’t protect you for long from me.“

He would type in a single character, his hand on the far right of the keyboard. That singular character was all that was needed to tell the world who he was, and to tell the world he works for no other.

That day, a demon was born.

The demonic messiah known as…

Spoiler: The Birth of the Demon

ZERO

​

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Sistema Iberico, Spain
5:32 p.m



All was quiet on the western front. The natural wildlife was at peace. Birds were chirping, animals were howling, some were eating from the plants.

Sat atop a cliff was Ryan’s Bushnell, equipped with the Smoothbore Rifle, reminiscent of a human sized sniper rifle. It was currently in a crouched position as the Bushnell was not quite flexible enough to lay prone. It kept its rifle nestle between twin rock formations jutting out from the earth underneath.

”Any moment now…”

 

[MKR]

As foretold a lone green eyesore appeared on the horizon, flying low seemingly intent on preventing any coincidental surface to air missiles from chancing upon the overfull turkey that was the Fat Uncle. Inside a table was being set as the hangar shook slightly, one thing the oversized balloon didn't lack was space but in flight comfort was another matter entirely.

"I tell you this is the good stuff." a battlescarred man exclaimed towards his coworkers in the warlording business. Some of which looked less then enthusiastic about the proposition before them. "Did you at least cook it this time, I don't want to get less then my cut because you gave me food poisoning. Again." one retorted.

"Oh come now have you so little faith?"

"Yes." "Yeah." "Mhmm." the only man not nodding in affirmation was one leaning into the window looking out over the environment, reclaimed by nature after the apocalypse some lifetimes ago.

Ego thus bruised the man sighed and returned his attention to the utensils before him.

At which point the door opened, "What's the food situation like." the commanding voice stated.

"Ah boss, just finishing up here."

"Good, alright Zeke head out of the clouds and come get your grub." the man over by the window however didn't move.

"Zeke?"

"Got a bad feeling boss." this got the attention of Filibert as in a moment he went from lax to on edge.
"Food will have to wait for a bit then, what's the situation."

The other men looked between one another in annoyance.
"This space voodoo again boss sure Zeke's hustle is great but-"

A glare shot at the vocal subordinate shutting him up. Zeke, still peering out of the window finally stated "Bad."

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

As the Fat Uncle came into view, the Bushnell readied its rifle, hoisting it up slightly to mount it on the rock formation using the bipod. He would quickly alert the Aschen Knights to prepare themselves.

“Target in sight. Ready up.”

He would run a quick targeting algorithm on the Bushnell’s monitor. Targeting the wing of the Fat Uncle in order to bring it down, aiming mainly for the big rotor blade.

”Wind speed and direction, 20 mph, Southward.”

The Bushnell would slowly begin to adjust the positioning of the Smoothbore rifle, minute movements in order to make the perfect shot.

”Target velocity acquired, accounting for bullet drop…”

Soon the Bushnell would keep the rifle completely still, locking on to the Fat Uncle directly. The crosshairs would line up, a long beep alerting the pilot that the round was ready to fire.

”FIRE!”

The Smoothbore rifle would recoil slightly, the barrel moving backwards into the receiver whilst dust puffed up around it as the round was fired out at incredible speeds. While it was no railgun, it was still fast and sudden enough to likely hit its mark.

 

[Tackle Jackie]

The Knights were waiting patiently among the brush, tarps and camo nets covering them as they waited for their call. They kept their comms quiet for the most part as they lay in ambush. Hilda was doing her best to lean into some mediation before the battle, quietly conversing with Valimar before they received the alert from Ryan.

“Alright. Low power mines have been scattered around the perimeters. Don’t expect much damage from them with those requests of yours. We will focus on disabling and taking their forces alive, as per your request.”

“Aschen Team is really to engage.”

 

[MKR]

The fat uncle shook as it was struck, those within grabbing their surroundings or at least being close to falling over if not wholesale reaching the floor during the forced, slanted, descent into the tree line.
Birds violently evicted evacuated the surrounding area as dirt and trees were pushed aside by the emergency landing, within the machine now grounded people were moving about.

"Ready for combat, everyone into position!" Filibert called out "Zeke take the Hector with those eorzean things attached." how the hell eorzeans had made a portable design of something that took them magical voodoo to even control perplexed Filibert but they had an appropriately sized set and if the lucky charm was going full cylinders now it was time to test. The rest were already scrambling to the hangar, getting shot down would not go over nicely.

The hangar door slammed open a pair of mono eyes scanning the environment from relative safety.

One of the Zaku IIs left the interior, stepping out as it held its heat hawk. The other peeked a sniper barrel outside of the confines of the hanger, both surveying any possible attack angles.

Behind them several more machines were being readied for the inevitable conflict, Filibert themselves readying their F-22 for combat while a pair of F-4s were prepared at the same time. While the turrets on the side of the craft swiftly moved, still operable.

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

“Damn…” Ryan blurted as he spotted the Zaku II stepping out from the shadow of the Fat Uncle’s hangar bay, that combined with the MS sized sniper barrel cemented his fears. They were VERY well equipped.

He would quickly radio over to the Aschen Knights. ”Looks like the intel might be off, I’m starting to suspect they might have different units as advertised. Approach with caution, and change plans accordingly. If they fill out similar roles to KMFs or Panzer Soldats, proceed as planned.“ Staying in the same sniping position, Ryan would fire off a round aimed directly for the heat hawk Zaku’s head camera as it took a peek outside, seeking to remove the pilot‘s view in a single shot.

The Bushnell would change positions, moving to another vantage point in order to avoid being triangulated and being shot from his previous location.

“Tch… that sniper’s going to be a problem for all of us… I’ll need to take it out, quickly.” After repositioning, Ryan would quickly take aim for the barrel of the sniper rifle sticking out from the hangar before taking a potshot at it. It missed, punching a small hole through the hangar bay doors next to the sniper Zaku. But that was more a warning shot than anything, he had the advantage and he was going to take it in this battle between sharpshooters.

 

[Tackle Jackie]

“Well, folks, if I can be honest, twenty seven thousand mira hardly feels like a fair price for the lot of you, yeah? That must come out to like… a fancy overcoat each. Is that really worth dying over?”

The message went out over general comms, along with a camera view from within Mira’s cockpit, the slender girl smirking into the lens. “Honestly? I’d be a bit offended if I were in your boots. Surely you’re worth more than that. Hell, I think that’s just the price on Mister Natalia’s head.”

The red eyed girl shrugged into her feed, while another camera opened on the stream. Hair pulled back tight, third eye on display, Hildeburg shook her head in a show of exhaustion. “Come now. Do you have to be dismissive of our opponents?”

“Oh please- I’m not being dismissive at all! I’m just saying that clearly, their value has been underestimated by whoever set that bounty. You guys have to agree, right? There’s bound to be a better way to go about this than just engaging in a full on battle.”

“Well… You may have a point. I suppose that would depend on Master Natalia, yes? Would you and your forces be interested in a parlay? We can have our over eager rifleman stand down, and we can discuss this like adults who would rather negotiate than risk the lives of our soldiers, right? I would love nothing more than to meet you on the field out of my machine, as a sign of good will. From one commander to another.”

“I don’t know boss… Isn’t that risky?”

“Oh of course. But again, I believe that this could be beneficial to both parties if we could pursue this as a proper negotiation. It’s not everyday that the people coming after you are in a position to bargain and talk, yes?”

A closed feed would open to the bushnell, an exaggerated sigh coming through. “You gave permission to change accordingly. Honestly, not sure what to expect from this.”

 

[MKR]

The first shot passed through the air, striking the Zaku it was aimed for, cutting the gas mask like structure in twain. The barrel of the rifle retreated inwards after the second shot, the other Zaku eyeing where it came from carefully. In the meanwhile the public comms were harassed by the Erebonian. Filibert rolled his eyes at the dramatic display over the line.
"Really? Firing one shot and then crying for mutiny and parlay?" He shook his head as the TSF was released from its place in storage. "I'd be more concerned about why, if this pays diddly squat we'd be having this exchange."

The F-22 gripped it's weapon, they had a sniper and were clearly prepared so who knew what waited outside for them.
"Maybe you aught to go talk to the invading erebonians and negotiate some improved pay. Instead of trying the oldest trick in the book. You're giving away your hand girl and how little you truly have." some boisterous words, he wasn't being intimidated by some quick ploy but underestimating them wasn't in the plans either.

The F-22 angled it's gun, a round firing forth from the assault cannon at an upwards angle, slowly beginning to curve back down as it burst open, the cannister shot barraging downward over the immediate area.

They had a clear view, it was only fair they had one too. While the pellets rained down on the canopy the F-4s burst forth, rushing forwards during the chaos as the Zaku II looked and prepared for movement.

At the same time, what looked like four drones burst forth from the hangar door, or perhaps they were more like the funnels seen in space. They spread out, tracking the moving units as one stayed with each of them, the two F-4s, the forward Zaku and the F-22 as it calmly stepped forth.

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

‘For a member of Britannian nobility, she sure is a loud mouth.’ He thought as he heard Mira talking on their comms. But hearing the attempts of a parley, he sighed. This was an absolutely terrible time to ask for surrender. Filibert already had a target painted on their backs and he hit the mark, there was no way they would stand down. No, they would fight back like a wild beast that mauled inexperienced hunters, but he was far from inexperienced.

”For the record Hildeburg, allow me to handle the negotiations. It’s my money, my mission. Not to mention my plan to talk them down after this. First, you need to break their spirits or their fighting chance, only then can negotiations be made with people such as this.”

He would soon spot the projectiles spew forth from the payload launched by the F-22. That wasn’t good. As some projectiles made contact with the ground, a small chain reaction of explosions occurred. The mines went off, knocking some trees down as a result, possibly barring the path of the F-4s as they dashed through the terrain. “TSFs?“ He said as he caught a glimpse of the silhouettes dashing through the smoke, as well as the more sophisticated model hanging around the back. “Be careful with these things, they’ve got short range flight capabilities. And I think there’s a high end model out there too, I’ve never seen this one before.”

He would decide to make a split decision choice, deciding to fire a round right towards the F-22’s leg and thruster unit, hoping to disable its movement. Whether or not he made the shot wouldn’t matter, his next problem would be the Zaku Sniper hiding behind the hangar doors. He would once again line up his rifle, somewhere near where the Zaku’s neck would be in order to help him adjust his aim towards the head unit and sniper scope should it crouch, or sever the connection between the head and the torso to disable the camera and by extension the Zaku’s ability to use a sniper rifle.

 

[Tackle Jackie]

“Alright.”

The F-4s would find themselves lit up from the left flank as their enemies made themselves known- A sweeping barrage of gunfire from a metallic blue Kestrel Beta, peppering the optics of the pair as it streaked through the growth off to their side, quickly weaving its way back into the standing forest to the sides of the carrier. Second to the barrage was a blur of gray, a seven meter blur clearly augmented by something as i it drove a spear through the upper hip the rightmost F-4s. Valimar would spare the strange bit a passing glance as it ripped the Zemurian Naginata out from its temporary sheathe and leapt backwards, hastened by some kind of magic.

The Ashen Knight began to speed towards the back of the Fat Uncle, sliding past the anti air gun on its side with a small leap.

 

[MKR]

As the first shot headed for the F-22 there was a moment of calm and then a reflective glow, a prism of light forming in front of the round and catching it before it could hit the TSF. Inside the target a laugh.
"Get a taste of a prototype from Sharlemald or whatever its called!" the bit then moved behind the elite machine as the man inside followed the trajectory and rushed Ryan's location.

The F-4s were less fortunate having a barricade appear before them and an assault to their side one gained many dents and the other a notable hole the leg rendered less useful than before as the so called sheath fired back with its assault cannon.

The strange bit joined in as well, energy beams firing from its tip in pursuit of the kestrel while the others had the Ashen Knight in their sights. Others like the Zaku through whose neck a bullet fairly ripped, and though it would take a moment longer and its accuracy was flawed a shot did fire, it would appear someone was now acting as a spotter for the poor Zaku.

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

“A Magitek Bit? Well that’s not exactly tech you get to see everyday, even from the Garleans.” Ryan would assume as the Bushnell began to stand up as fast as it could. Given how slow he was, he was a sitting duck atop the cliffs. There was almost next to no cover on the rocky platform. Even worse was the aerial mobility of his opponent, the worst thing he could come across in the old 2nd Gen AS. But of course, he still had an ace up his sleeve.

”Didn’t want to bring you out for this, but I suppose we won’t have a choice.” The Bushnell would soon turn tail and began running away from the cliffside as fast as it could, narrowly dodging the stray sniper round from the Zaku that would have ripped it in half as it broke apart the edge of the cliff from the impact alone.

“Then allow me to fulfill my duty as you command. You only need call mine name.” The echoey voice of the Divine Knight would ring in his head, as it sat watching closely whilst staying hidden. It’s body bending light in such a way it would be unnoticeable unless someone looked directly at it with their full attention. It seemed to be waiting for just the right moment.

”Right then…” The Bushnell would drop its long range Smoothbore Rifle and would pull out from its back a smaller handheld weapon. A Shotcannon. The shotgun of the typical AS loadout. Loaded with deadly slugs, the Bushnell would dig its feet into the ground as it pivoted and shot a couple of rounds at the approaching F-22. 3 shots all in all were fired before the Bushnell fired a cluster of chaff missiles right at the F-22, hoping to confuse the electronics for at least a moment.

 

[Tackle Jackie]

The Kestrel would be making the most of its smaller form and agility as the strange bit pursued them, zig zagging behind trees, returning fire at intermittent intervals, seemingly more intent on throwing off its aim than to push for a full engagement yet.

“Garlemald? Dear goodness, please don’t tell me you’re being sponsored by my family.”
Valimar turned round the corner of the Fat Uncle as the TSF opened fire with its cannon, using their own vessel as a deterrent for the moment. As the Aschen Knight was rounding the rear of the airship, it was joined by a second unit bursting through the tree line, wielding a massive pointed hammer. Valimar would speed past the F-4 that had been peppered by Mineva’s Kestrel earlier, slashing at its own assault cannon while the Hector would swing Naglfar violently into the TSF, hoping to break or bypass the barrier-

 

[MKR]

"Good question, you are?" the voice responded to the Garlean as the F-22 raced towards the Bushnell, they knew the machine well enough to be used to its usual equipment. Various mercs and goons had and have toted around that machine throughout the years that it was in that category of things one needed to know how to fight to survive in this business. A gun like that, wouldn't do at a range like this so whatever they had as a sidearm would need to be revealed quick else the F-22 would be cutting them up like a birthday cake.

Shotcannon, that was expected. A dash to the side to evade the first shot. Putting obstacles in the way for the second and third to eat the brunt of punishment coming out of the shotgun while suffering anything beyond minor damage only on the extra leg plating. The thickest of the armor for a reason, even if that reason wasn't present on this part of the world.

Except the Chaff came as a surprise, cams, communication, the bit that had been following it. It all dropped in a moment, still even with all that trying to reboot this was still the opportunity to double down. The tactical knife lunged forwards, intending to go through the eye on the Bushnell and wreak revenge for lost senses by inflicting the very same back. While also forcing the machine in close combat with one much more tailored for exactly that scenario.

On the other side of the battle, the Ashen Knight and its compatriot came swinging, the first cutting the weapon held by the F-4 in two as another round fired forth, causing the weapon to detonate in the hands of the machine, and in front of the Divine Knight. While the F-4 lost its respective hand to the blast its other, remaining, appendage to go for the knife it had as backup and bring it down on the strange machine before it.

For the other by the time the hammer came the barrier was long gone, the machine behind it waylaid by the swing and sent back like the baseball hit by a batter. Launched into the hangar with exceeding force. The Zaku II that had been sniping with its lost sight now switched to the heat axe, a not quite accurare swing returning against the Hector. Intending for its head to be cleaved but aiming at its shoulder. Further inside the hangar, now clearly visible was a Hector unit with a strange backpack attached. It was almost slumped over, but it was still quite clear from the designs that this was where those bits came from.

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

“Armor’s too thick!” He commented as the Shotcannon’s slugs made direct impact, but no joy. The chaff worked perfectly however, disabling the sensors of the F-22 for a brief moment. As the knife directed itself at the Bushnell’s head unit, dangerously close to the cockpit, the clunky machine would perform a slow duck. As the Bushnell crouched down above the charging F-22, it would eject an explosive anti-tank dagger from the side of the chest unit into it left hand. The blade would quickly extend out from the small handle before it was thrusted right towards the F-22’s waist, aiming mainly for the point where the legs connected to the waist.

’Need to move fast before he outpaces me again!’

Whether or not the anti-tank dagger hit its mark, the Bushnell would quickly perform a dodge roll out from underneath the F-22. It would then fire the rest of its chaff at the F-22 to buy it just a little longer window of time. The stoic blocky head of the Bushnell would tip forwards as Ryan hurriedly scurried out from the Arm Slave’s cockpit. He would be standing atop the Bushnell’s shoulder as he raised his right hand up high.

“Knight clad in Palatinate, heed my call! Zector!”

The air around the Bushnell began to flicker and spark, a slight static would cause Ryan’s hair to stand on end. Behind him, patterns appearing like a twisting rainbow would appear, a hazy and almost cloudy visage. “Very well, the sword is yours, Awakener.” Ryan would be enveloped in a blue light as his body would be transferred into Zector’s chassis as the purple armor began to slowly peek out from the Divine Knight’s stealth system. It would then engage its stealth mode once again as it leapt into the air, seemingly leaving no trace from the point of view of the F-22 should it manage to get a glimpse of the Knight during its sudden appearance.

As Zector leapt into the air, it would fire down two large projectiles from its Zemurian Buster Glaive, one aimed at the F-22’s booster unit, the other at the mysterious bit from Hydealyn.

 

[Tackle Jackie]

"Oh, did I forget to introduce myself? My apologies, it entirely slipped my mind."

Valimar would start swirling it's bladed staff around, pushing the knife wielding manipulator to the side as they built up speed, a swooping figure eight motion filling the air as they pushed forward. As they pushed the knife to the side, the Aschen Knight followed through with the blade, trying to slice into the wrist of the F-4 and handily disarm her opponent.

"Hildeburg Cheesewright, viator Priscus. And yours?"

Mira's Hector fell to a knee at the heat hawk was brought down to bear on her, hammer raised and just barely catching the attack before it could cleave her arm off. This gave little room to manuever in a counterattack from her end, but it did present an opportunity for another. The Kestrel, now freed from it's engagement with the bit, began to pepper the F2 from afar as it now rushed in to join the others. None of the crew would seem to acknowledge the sudden arrival of yet another Knight, at least, they weren't going out of their way at this moment.

 

[MKR]

The F-22 ducked to the side as the retaliation came, putting the protective leg plating in the way of the weapon and avoiding the worst of it all. Still the gash was a nasty one, but that should be that as the Bushnell was now within his playground. Snipers, one trick pony's those folks. All you had to do was close the distance and they would be scurrying from their cockpit- why was that guy on the shoulder of his machine. The dagger drove up through the unpiloted armor, aiming to cut the poor sap where he stood. Instead some shout came into his ears. At the time Filibert had been busy responding to the other major voice in this forested arena and as such...

"Thanks for letting me know who to send a card to I- What the hell?!" The purple visage erupted before him, the kid vanished. Some eorzean witchcraft, or Thaumaturgy as the bastards preferred to call it, he reasoned as quickly the Bushnell was brought up and lobbed at the new machine, if it was even that. The unfortunate Arms Slave took the first hit, the second one blasted the bit into oblivion. The detonation caused the F-22 pilot to squint his eyes allowing the Kerstel to get a hit in at the same time, sending flying the damaged plating on the leg.

It talked. It fucking talked, that had to be some speaker on the outside for dramatic effect right? The F-22 vanished amidst the trees, if he wasn't going to get to see the magic doodad machine it would be going both ways, instead the Erebonian prototype would have to do. Take one hostage, force them to fuck off without their machine sell it for profit and repair costs if it couldn't be piloted by them. Easy right?

The F-4 on the other side suffered a handy injury as Valimar outpaced the poor, and much larger, machine at every step. Forcing it to fall back to only the Anti-Beta weapons lining its body, or much more sane of an option, fall back. The latter was elected this time as the poor lad inside was not prepared for the Ashen Knight's gap in both skill and machine.

The blind Zaku for its part kept pushing the axe down, a wind swing being made with the other hand to swipe at the head of the Hector as the larger machine loomed over the Panzer Soldat. Leveraging its size and weight where it could.

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

“Oh you have got to be kidding me!” There was nothing that pissed off Ryan more than a waste of good equipment and money for that matter. But it was a good thing he had Zector, otherwise he’d be toast by now. ”Zector, we’re going after him. Mira, cut him off in the forest.”

“As you wish, Awakener.” Zector would respond as the cloak disengage when a barrage of machine gun fire exited the barrel of the buster glaive’s gun mode. It peppered the forest with a hail of bullets, cutting down a couple of trees as a result, creating an opening within the forest which Ryan used as a location to land in. The Palatinate Knight’s purple armor would be on full display as it surveyed the area around it, waiting for the F-22 to take an opportunity to strike. The Buster Glaive would convert into its blade mode as it awaited for an attack.

”Come at me. I’m sure you wanna make this quick. Your men won’t last forever down there.”

 

[Tackle Jackie]

“Oh, a card? That’s rather thoughtful of you-“

The tone of Hildeburg’s response gave a sense of bewilderment that switched to pleasant quite quickly, as she took the opportunity granted by the Damaged F-4’s step back. The grey Soldat lunged past their larger dance partner, clearly aiming to bring the blade of their polearm swiftly upwards into manipulator of the blind Zaku wielding the tomahawk.

The F-4 wouldn’t find itself without a dance partner for very long, however. The Kestrel, not seeking to engage the 22 while it was fighting that new… Knight, turned its gunbreakers onto the F-4, peppering it’s limbs, but not going for any kind of fatal blow.

Last was the Hector, taking the blow to its head with as much grace as it could- Struggling for just a few seconds before the force combined with the tomahawk pushed her to the ground, taking whatever opportunity Hildeburg would buy her to scramble back a few meters and return to her feet.

 

[MKR]

The blind Zaku was struck, collapsing backwards as it finally was disabled. The F-4 which was perfectly fine without a new dance partner thank you very much received some rounds for its trouble, the situation had turned dire for the grunts and goons, though looking into the hanger things were not quite over yet. Or well, not unless the knights put a stop to some back up plans.

Some well worn Glasgows and Drakkhens which had seen many many better days were in the back of the hangar. Gradually being prepared for combat use now that the newer machines had been disabled. The only of these older machines which looked remotely active was the Hector with its peculiar backpack. Of which most of the bits had returned except the destroyed one.
Now however instead of the defense these 'funnels' took the opportunity to assail all three of the Panzer Soldats, which barely had a moment to bask in their triumph with beams.

Which left Zector, which had carved an arena into the forest for it and the F-22 whose stealth properties were coming in handy about now. The target of the challenge was nowhere to be seen currently, had it run past to ambush the knights?
A lone bang indicated otherwise, a projectile firing through the air before opening up. Canister shot burst outwards, raining upon the purple machine which had exited stealth. The F-22 had indeed taken the opportunity to attack, but not into melee.

Instead the sound of motion went among the trees as the explosion rung louder, Filibert using this to disorient his opponent before rushing from the left side. Assault Cannon now ready in the off hand as the main one still held the knife. A barrage of basic fire being the second prelude to the melee engagement that was imminent as the F-22's pilot aimed for Zector's wrist. Intent to cut one hand off to make that massive weapon perceived as impractical by the pilot unusable.

"And you think you can last longer?" Came the simple reply "Looks like I should write a card to your family first."