Economics of War (MK, Tack)

[ShadowVigilante1]

Zector had its head on a swivel, keeping track of where the F-22 could possibly show up. It didn’t help that it wasn’t appearing anywhere on radar or any tracking systems. This was bad.

Ryan jolted slightly and jerked Zector to view the incoming Canister Shot. He needed to reposition, and do it fast. Otherwise, he was going to be wide open. The small boosters on the back of Zector pulsed before launching itself backwards, away from the hail of projectiles. As it did so however, Ryan spotted the F-22 rapidly approaching from the corner of his vision. He was no good at melee at the moment, but he wouldn’t learn if he never tries. So he was going to give F-22 what it wanted, a close quarters fight.

When the F-22 began its barrage, Zector immediately got caught in a slight amount of fire which thankfully only deflected and chipped away at the Zemurian armor. Ryan flinched slightly at the pain, it felt like bees stinging every part of his body as metal clashed with metal. He can’t survive another long assault such as that, so he had to refrain from getting hit a second time. Regardless, Zector managed to avoid the subsequent barrages. But once it got close, that was the time.

“The only thing you’ll be writing is a letter full of excuses!”

“I’m sorry, but this will hurt you more than it will us.”

Zector’s grip on the Buster Glaive tightened as it boosted towards the F-22 slightly and as it came oh so close, the blades split apart before firing off a high powered round, the recoil of which sent the Zector flying straight towards the chest of the F-22. It’s elbow was stuck out as it moved to ram right into the F-22, targeting underneath the cockpit as it did so. Its goal was to tackle it down to the ground. Should it succeed, Ryan attempted to immediately pin down the arm holding the fire arm with Zector’s feet before using the Buster Glaive to attempt to cut off the knife holding arm.

 

[Tackle Jackie]

“Schiese, du möse!”

Valimar and the Mistrel wound up taking blows from the strange funnels, stepping back for a moment, while the Hector managed to stumble it’s way into the bay of the transport, the massive pointed hammer it was wielding shifting into a red and Orange rocket launcher, aimed down towards the enemy Hector with its backpack.

“Warnschüsse, Strahl!"

Hildeburgs voice rang out over the open radio, as the Mistrel delivered a Cross Break with its Gunbreakers into the F-2, electricity running through it into their opponent, in one last attempt to disable them. And as that attack was struck, two large yellow beams struck into the trees and earth surrounding the big green ship, with a number of explosions erupting around the area they had been forced to land.

“Surrender now, or we won’t be taking prisoners anymore.

 

[MKR]

As the finishing blows were dealt over by the ship, explosions carrying through the air as the Hector shot at the other Hector. One less mobile and presumed as less friendly Filibert grunted, as Zector landed a bodyshot on it. The cockpit, not even properly heralded in shaking as the smaller palatinate knight charged. The larger machine, whose entire mechanical history could be summed up as an effort to make a machine that was suited to dealing with smaller adversaries in melee also capable of taking on foes its own size, loomed over Zector as the Divine Knight drove its elbow into the steel. The larger machine began to be driven backwards, digging into the dirt as it was pushed but not falling backwards.

And now, it reached down, tossing the rifle to the side as the TSF that stood nearly thrice as tall as the Palatinate machine was able to levy its greatest advantage.
"You sure?" the pilot spoke, the flying Zector found both of the hands of its larger adversary gripping its shoulders, the only places its foe could get a decent grip. And sharply would be lifted upwards, the F-22 indeed moving backwards but not in a pin. In a dramatic slam, aiming to drive Zector into the dirt full throttle.

And from that position it saw a new burst of smoke bellow out around the transport, but the Fat Uncle itself remained untouched, the situation needed to be evened out he reasoned as the F-22 used its jump capability to straighten itself, using the moment before Zector, or perhaps more specifically its pilot, could recuperate to get an easier pin down, one that only required his leg to be placed on the back of the Palatinate Knight only to hear the call for surrender as he made the attempt "You think I'm stupid?" He responded angrily "You think I don't know the Erebonians called for my head and not for me to be put in chains? I stepped in here knowing one side wasn't walking away alive."

"The prisoners you take are headed for the gallows anyways why make it easy?"

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

When Ryan realized that the F-22 had not quite been pushed to the ground, he immediately swung the Buster Glaive right into the thigh unit of the F-22. He was aiming to give it a good chop before once again firing off the weapon in order to use the recoil to send him back from the still standing TSF. However, he did not remain completely unscathed as the grab still managed to latch onto Zector, causing him to be flipped over slightly before the Buster Glaive fired off another high powered round into the back booster unit. This gave him just a bit more momentum which likely caused the arms of the F-22 to overextend and lose grip. Either way, this recoil would allow Ryan and Zector to escape the F-22’s grasp. Zector would not land on its feet however, Ryan had not really been the most acrobatic and it reflected in his inability to stick the landing. Zector would still manage to plummet to the ground as the F-22 intended, although with less shock and awe as needed to keep Ryan dazed.

”And what makes you think the parameters can’t change? I’m just a Number, and Numbers think differently from Erebonians.”

“Mind your words and footing, sir.”

As the F-22 moved to stick its foot down, Zector quickly rolled to the side in order to avoid it. The blades of the Buster Glaive would close up as a torrent of electricity was channeled through the weapon. As a Divine Knight, Zector had unique access to the element of lightning, and what better way than to use it on machines powered by it? Zector swung it’s sword in a circular motion, aiming to cut down both of the F-22’s legs with the enhanced blade in order to disable the TSF’s movement. Afterwards, Zector attempted to escape by boosting away from underneath the F-22 and into the forest.

 

[Tackle Jackie]

“No gallows today, or tomorrow.”

While the still downed Hector shot at Mira in their Hector, the Mistrel would leap into the Fat Uncle as well, hoping the F-4 would stay down- guns trained at the other mobile weapons. The Mistral spoke this time“Stand down. For fucks sake. We could kill you all right now if we wanted. And I’m starting to lose my patience.”

The Ashen Knight, seeing its comrades handling the situation, turned back to the forest- More specifically to the combat between the F-22 and their apparent Palantite ally. “Lyn, one more boost, if you can manage.” Valimar once more took on a silvery hue, with it rocketing itself in to the air. The gray weapon would make for Filibert with a slashing attack, crying out to draw its attention-

 

[MKR]

As the Buster Glaive struck the leg of the F-22 it cut off a chunk, thunder coursed through the enemy machine as the person inside it suffered the worst effect from it. Though as the most reinforced part of the machine's chassis it was not that easily cut down quite yet as the mech made to contest BETA slid backwards to create space. The place where its feet had touched the ground before scorched black and smoking. Filibert grunted, feeling the muscles in his arms pulse with the power that coursed through them moments prior. Involuntarily did they grow and shrink as the one moment was taken to recuperate.

Fortunately for him, the Ashen Knight had made its approach more than clear as the F-22 twisted around griping the much smaller naginata and deflecting it away with its one hand, immediately relinquishing its grasp to avoid getting shocked once again by these strange machines but using that opportunity to punch Valimar in its face with the free hand. Should this connect the Zemurian ore would be undented, but the concussive damage would be notable, a small dent forming in the mechanical fingers that punched.

"First a call for mutiny, now a 'promise' of survival." Filibert gasped inside the F-22 as he ascertained what he could all do, the Palatinate Knight was still around somewhere but the Ashen Knight was in his face now. An advantage of size was evident but power was debatable, whatever these strange machines were the warlord thought to himself, they were not a normal piece of equipment.

"And the fuck does being a Number matter!" He called out as the F-22 rushed towards Valimar, aiming to use its superior size to grapple the smaller machine by lifting it upwards and then slamming it into the ground full force and back first. "This is not Erebonia! This is not Britannia!" he called out, whether or not the slam had succeeded the man would try to pummel the ever-loving shit out of Valimar, if this was a prototype Soldat the cockpit was in the center and as such a combination of gut punches flowed.

"If you're just some Merc that matters even less, you just kill who you get paid to kill for your masters, whoever puts bread on your platter that's who's rules matter!"
As these calls echoed through the air, the rest of the crew was at gunpoint. Unable to contest the Kerstrel just yet.

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

“You know every well what it means, we’re the one’s who’ve been crushed under Britannia’s boots and forced to lick them. And if you think I have just a simple need for money then you’re wrong!” The Zector had reengaged its stealth system, using it to approach the F-22 from behind as it attempted to grapple with the Valimar. Latching on was very clearly a bad idea given Filibert’s choice of melee combat, so he decided on a different angle of attack.

To start, Zector made use of the Buster Glaive by using it to target the struts that connected to the back boosters of the F-22. Without his mobility, it Filibert will have less options for attack or opportunities to outrun them. Whatever the result of that attack, Zector’s next move was to immediately follow up the swing of the Buster Glaive by spinning it whole Palatinate form and opening the Buster Glaive to clamp down on the joint that connected the right arm of the F-22 to the main body.

”The only rules that I have, are for me and me alone!“ Regardless of whether the Buster Glaive had firmly gripped onto the shoulder joint, Ryan fired away a large round in an effort to disarm his opponent.

”I know about Australia, and you are fighting in the wrong place!”

 

[Tackle Jackie]

“I have to admit. I do have respect for how much your boss seems to care for you all.” This message wasn’t broadcast over the general comms, just from the speakers on the Hector to those held in the hangar of the Fat Uncle. “Do you think he’ll actually… Stop and talk, when they disable his Fighter, or do you all think it’s going to be more “kicking and screaming” dragging him back here to talk.”

The Kestrel would chime in next. “I’m starting to think trying to negotiate before we fight would have been much smarter.”

———

Valimar would take the blow full on to the face, stumbling back a few good meters as Hilde and the Knight would struggling to regain their composure. The revelation of Zector… No, that would still have to wait, as the Ashen Knight’s polearm was swung, wide sweeping arcs that were meant to catch and deflect the series of blows. Had it not been Zemurian Ore, the attacks would more than likely have broken the weapon entirely.
“I must admit, I have lost the plot?”

 

[MKR]

"Does this look like a Britannian frontier boy?" came the retort "They're imperialists not gods, and fighting in the wrong place?" The F-22 whirled around rapidly, evading some but not all of the attacks that were flung its way. Still the booster remained attached "We're here fighting for what we made for ourselves, you're in here talking about a government that's half the world away."

With Valimar on the defensive the moment was exploited to whirl the previously put aside gun around and create distance. Peppering the palatinate knight with a hail of bullets as he wheeled back. Unfortunately for Filibert this put the two knights between him and the ship but he did avoid the disarming technique.
"And yeah, Australia. Talk about losing the plot." A sigh over the comms. "I got to meet one of the Signatures once, we talked over a drink after Britannia dropped the metaphorical Sun on us. Y'know what he said? He told me 'hide', 'we became too big, too notable. No more are nations allowed to be born, only the ones that exist get to spread their shadow'. That's the plot, what killed us there and what's killing us here a story of creeping shadows of nations that need more."

The damaged F-22 eyed the two Divine Knights, which of them was going to make a move first. He expected the purple one to do something first, but the grey one was also capable of closing the distance quick enough. And how was he going to win this. That, was the million mira question.
"If I'd stuck in that dying continent I'd have died of radiation, enemy fire and starvation in that order."

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

As Ryan missed most of the major attacks he made, he suddenly came skidding to a halt right next to the Valimar as it took a defensive stance with its buster glaive. "Made for yourselves? We're living on scraps, do you think that's a way to live?" Just as quickly as Zector place up its guard, it soon began to slowly drop it to the side.

"Awakener?", the Divine Knight asked in a confused tone, unsure of what its small companion was thinking. "Zector, let me out." There was a short silence as the Divine Knight contemplated the action and decided to allow it, curious to see what Ryan's plan was. "Very well." A ball of light erupted from Zector's chest, which slowly floated to the ground before manifesting Ryan out into the outside world again. He stayed there, kneeling on one knee before slowly rising to his feet as he eyed up the towering F-22, seemingly unafraid of the possible consequences of a bullet the size of a car could rip him into a million tiny gibs.

"You hide from the shadow of imperialism, cowering here in the light, right next to Erebonian borders. But where has your pride gone? Did it vanish with the dream of a nation of mercenaries, a nation of the free?" Ryan slowly began to walk forward slowly, still seemingly unfazed by what he was doing, it was as if he had been possessed. "A seasoned mercenary like you should know what it's like to have pride. To have a dream all your own, are you really going to let something like getting blown up stand in the way of that?"

Ryan turned to point towards the ship. "What of your men? What about their pride? Their dreams? Do you think they want it all to end here rotting in the Iberian sun?" He slowly turned back to the F-22. "Tell me Filibert, is this what you want?"

 

[Tackle Jackie]

The Ashen Knight stayed silent, as their Palantite ally opened themselves up to being entirely obliterated, unsure how to follow that reckless path. Sure, she could try and make a grand gesture, but she had far more to lose than the edgy boy on her side. Valimar would slowly just ease itself into a defensive stance, not making any aggressive moves.

“I will admit: I may not entirely understand what intentions my friend here has, and frankly, I think I have just as much reason to smash him as you do at this point. Temporary truce, and then, after we talk, we can go back to killing each other?”

 

[MKR]

Filibert blinked at the sight in front of him, the cessation of an offensive against him as a ball of light shot out but it was no violent projectile. Instead the youth appeared as the other opponent took a defensive posture, his eyes passed back to the situation at the ship for a moment before the F-22 turned its head towards the Ashen Knight.

Then its gaze landed on the boy below, couldn't be more than two dozen years in age the pilot reckoned.
"God damn.. If you all are that desperate to talk how 'bout you have your men stand down back there as well." The machine did not open, but neither did it take the opportunity to squish the Awakener into a fine paste. "Kid if you had half the brains you had balls, you'd make it incredibly far. You think what got blasted to kingdom come that day was the land of the free? Maybe to some but those folks had what makes one free anywhere, cash."

"Soldiers fight for ideals, mercs for money. Like I told you, the rules are made by those who pay and there that was the Cabal." Inside the F-22 Filibert crossed his arms one hand moving inside his clothes, leaning back as he glanced at the Ashen machine. "And let me tell you something about scraps, much better than being nothing but bones."
A cigar was pulled out of a pocket, and lit. Dinner well and truly ruined for a multitude of reasons.
"Those who staked their lives on Australia, the Cabal, the Red Shoulders and everyone caught in between all saw the light that day. Their dreams, their pride those did squat against the unified death they received. Those like me, those who got out of the sinking ship before the hole was made, we got to consider those things. And for my part, I decided I don't need a nation, I had my home before Erebonia came but those can be replaced, moved. Its the men and comrades that can't."

"And go ahead and ask them how they feel about this when they are no longer held at gunpoint. I'm sure some of them have some interesting answers when they ain't under duress." The line of smoke moved up, hanging at the top of the cockpit where it began to slowly accumulate.
"Aight, my turn."

"What is it you want kid? I figured it was to drop morale and distract first but now you went and exposed yourself so that even a grunt with a gun could make this fight equal." Bringing up Britannia, the Numbers and Australia. The question was just, why? It seemed, especially with this maneuver of getting out of one's mech, borderline insane.

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

“Cash… Cash in a world like this, it’s temporary. All you’ll do is spend it on repairs, resupplies and upgrades. The essentials as well, but with the rest? There’s next to no use for it out here in the middle of nowhere.“ He said in reply to mercs running on money, well he knew that wasn’t entirely true for him. He ran on something much different. “As for what I want, no… what my leader wants is an army. Not a cabal of mercenaries that answer to money, a full blown army that answers to them and them alone.”

He held his arms out to his sides as if giving a proclamation. “An army who wish to bring about true change to the world, to destroy a common enemy. Britannia.“ He knew that was going to get immediately rebuked, so he decided to follow up on such a crazy idea by talking about how they would go about it as he placed his arms to his sides. “But what can you possibly do against something that obliterated everyone you knew? The attacks don’t need to be devastating, small and effective strikes will win the day.“

”Why do I want to destroy them? Because Britannia has oppressed people for long enough! I worked for them once, destroyed their enemies for them, eliminated targets for them. But clearly they had other ideas, anyone and everything is just a tool to them. Even you, who they barely scathed as you escaped. You’re nothing but a reminder of their might, is that how you want people to see your bones? The people who took oppression lying down in the dirt despite running to see another day? And what of your comrades who aren’t here? They wouldn’t want you to die in vain surely, but I can imagine they wouldn’t want you to live in vain either!”

He looked up into the sky as he took a deep breath, calming down a little from that rant, hopefully that wouldn’t bleed over to his other self soon. But then if this didn’t work, he decided to go with what Filibert mentioned earlier. ”But if you still don’t wish to join this cause, I would ask for something else instead. You mentioned you met a Signature earlier, where can I find them?”

 

[Tackle Jackie]

“Team, stand down. I think they’re actually talking things out. Take a breath.”

The Hector and Mistral would awkwardly start to shuffle backwards out of the Fat Uncle, lowering their arms. Hildeburg didn’t have anything to add. Yet.

 

[MKR]

"So let me get this straight." Filibert spoke as he pulled the smoking cigar from his lips "To destroy Britannia your boss and by virtue you want a loyal army suited for guerilla warfare. Can't say that if anything would be able to piss em off while living like a cockroach that wouldn't be it. Still, ya know what this all sounds like. The Britannian army."

Currently he didn't really care whether or not the kid bought the idea fully, which he seemingly did, nor whether or not this suddenly brought up superior truly existed. It was the hypocracy in it that stood out, a memory of a mercenary cabal. Through loyalty and not because of money, an army to destroy Britannia. More or less by mimicking its hierarchy.

"Dreams don't fill stomachs, and hopes don't repair equipment." Wait? Didn't Getter do that. Eh whatever, besides the point. "If you want me on your side, we can discuss rates. But if you want folks to cry for liberty, try the Japanese or what have you." There was an island where some old hold out was located wasn't there? He never really cared about all that since it was half the world away and as such not his problem.

It was when the Signature was brought up again the warlord realized the negotiations had flipped.
"If you want that intel, I've got a simple barter for you." What came next was likely no surprise at all "My men and I get to walk free, no gallows, no nothing. You all leave, we leave. Simple as."

The cigar was put to the side, "In return you get info on how to find the Signature." The question was left to hang in the air, given the two opponents didn't quite seem in synch the question was what would happen next. Sure he could see the two Soldats walk back in the background but that didn't mean they would let them go.

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

Well… that didn’t work as planned. He was expecting a bit more fervor from these guys. But they’re just a bunch of cowards really, all they want is to do what their greedy stomachs lead them to. Well… he was right about using money though. But he barely even has enough to sustain himself as is. And having a loyalty of people? Like Britannia? No, he already knew the difference between himself and some man born with a silver spoon. They kept freedom to themselves, he would give it. But clearly, these men didn’t want that. To remain a slave to their money. Another time then, perhaps when he has their undivided attention.

Ryan then let out a deep sigh before speaking up again. “That was the plan anyways, we had no intention to kill you. If you did refuse my offer, that was it. Simply just on the condition you setup shop elsewhere aside from Spain. And… one more question.”

Ryan reached for something in the pocket of his coat, which he then flashed up towards the towering F-22. It was the picture of a man, a bit rough around the edges but nonetheless looked quite athletic in appearance. “Have you seen this man? His name is Jack Kessler, he’s recently taken up trading in the black market under a different name. Have you seen or heard of him?”

 

[Tackle Jackie]

“Something something, cut off one head, and two more will take its place, yes? If you’re going to be staging a war, be it cold or out in the open, you’re still going to need money. Wishes and dreams, like Mr. Natalia says, will only get you so far. If you’re prepared to March to war, you’re going to need to show others what tangible assets you have.”

Hildeburg didn’t quite buy what Zector’s Awakener was putting down, all these lofty ideals and stuff, it was good to get people inspired, but it did little to provide evidence.

“In regards to the Ashen Knight’s involvement, I do not believe it was the… spirit of the original bounty, but I am sure we can finagle something. Although, that might have to wait until after I interrogate our friend myself.”

The end of her statement was very pointedly directed to the her “ally” on the ground.

 

[MKR]

Inside the F-22 Filibert nodded along with the words of Valimar's Awakener. In his mind much more reasonable things to expect and to say.
"Great, sooner the better." Then something clicked. "Now wait a goddamn minute."

The frustration was in this case, free fire and unisex. Both the Awakeners being the intended targets.
"If you all just wanted to talk, why shoot us out of the sky. What was the point of all that!" A sensible frustration all in all, after all usually when one had a meeting it was not done by causing someone's plane to fall out of the sky. Sure the Fat Uncle would just need to have its engines restarted in all likelihood. But the fact that was even required was not exactly a friendly greeting and a good reason to not buy 'we didn't want to kill you'.

Saying 'I accept the offer' was one thing but this, this just raised new questions.

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

”I made the plan on the assumption that you weren’t going to accept hails from an Erebonian airship. The last time you encountered Erebonians you got shot after all. You were more likely to fire at us first before we could even get a word out. So I thought a fight where we disabled you would be a better option. It was going to be a bit of a trial by fire if you were going to join my group as well. Though it seems that option is very much off the table now.”

While Ryan was externally keeping his cool, inside he was quite the rambling mess. ‘Oh crap. DO NOT SAY YOU NEEDED THE MONEY, RYAN. Don’t say it.’ Well at least now he learned a valuable lesson, even he can’t escape money. Oh the wonders he could accomplish with a bottomless pit of gold. But alas, the poor amount of money from this bounty will have to do. If they give it to him anyways.

”But yes, have you seen this man? Or who exactly do you get your equipment from?” He said in an attempt to quickly change the subject before anything else could be said.

 

[Tackle Jackie]

“Wait. Why didn’t you just use your own Bushnell to do it then? Or we could have spoofed an IFF, or maybe even just waved a white flag from the ground. Why have us engage if you weren’t planning on actually pursuing the bounty? What if we had actually decided to strike with lethal intent?”

“And because I simply cannot wrap my head around this, when were you planning on revealing yourself to be an Awakener?”