Chapter Text
It was monsoon season on Venus, at least in this part of the planet. The air was wet and heavy, making work on the mobile suits hell. They weren’t designed for such wet conditions, the crew had gone through more lithium grease than expected, thrusters that couldn’t be coated with chobham corroded over time and had to be replaced or welded over, and the Sif mobile suits were, at best, grunts. Besides that, the humidity isn’t great for humans either. So thought MS mechanic Layla Kazama, as she welded away on the 3rd set of Sif thrusters that day. Thunder cracked in the distance, and she looked up from her work, welding helmet lazily propped up and looking towards the source of the noise. She sighed.
“Alright ladies, pack it in, she’s decided we’ve worked hard enough for today” Layla barked to the rest of her crew, moving the suits inside. One remained outdoors, and upon seeing whose suit it was, she sighed again and chuckled under her breath. “Rain, you’re a damn fool.”
Freyja Rain Atkins sat on top of her Mobile Suit, a standout from the rest of the grunt suits on base. It was white, gold, and red in color, stocky, and under the boxy armor that had been installed by her PMC, the suit looked weirdly feminine. It was almost a comfort object to Rain, she thought of her body much the same way as Gundam Brynhild’s. She was on top of the Gundam’s head, watching the storm roll in. It was calming to her, the monsoons here on Venus were never too bad, and she liked the pitter patter of the rain on the roof of the barracks at night.
“Rainy sweetie, that includes you too!” Kazama’s voice crackled out of the speaker on her Sif.
“Oh, shit, uh yeah hold on!” Rain shouted back before swinging into the cockpit of Gundam Brynhild. She slipped in the cable to her DNI, and the Gundam lit up starting at the cockpit. The cameras came online, and Rain flipped the switches to engage the Gundam’s reactors. A whirr, a sizzle.
FWOOM!
A neon blue trail of exhaust exited the Gundam’s head like a firey ponytail. Rain smiled, she liked it that way. She walked over to the large tin quonset that the Mobile Suits were stored and worked on in, slowly letting off the reactor throttle and setting her Gundam up on one of the racks. The reactors disengaged, and the ponytail, which had become more of a bun thanks to Rain’s slow disengagement, extinguished and she hopped out of the cockpit, riding one of the scaffolds like a fire pole.
“Never gets old for you, does it Rain?” Layla looked at Rain like she already knew the answer.
“Nah. It's weirdly affirming. Honestly it makes me a better fighter, I think.” Rain said, looking back up at the Brynhild before turning back to Layla. “I like this thing. I’ve been in, uh, a lot of MS before, this is the first one I’ve ever, y’know… liked piloting.” She smiled ever so slightly, brief flashbacks of her time in other PMCs making her shake a little bit, but that couldn’t get her anymore. She was with Asynjur now, and even then, Venus had been abandoned a couple decades ago anyways, most of those old PMCs either left or had been wiped out by the planet’s ever-changing weather. It had finally settled into a pattern 3 years ago, and the planet was… habitable, Rain supposed you could call it that. It wasn’t very good, and PMCs like Asynjur really only worked small security jobs here and there for everyone from farmers to local governments, enough to get by. They’d abandoned the ECGB’s currency a few years back too, finding that they could trade with the few space freighters that still flew out towards Venus, whether it was scraps of old Mobile Suits or other resources, for whatever they needed. Ballistics were enough to work the small jobs on Venus, not like many ever attacked, the worst thing you could find was a lone ranger type with his own custom Sif, which Brynhild always made short work of anyways. It was fun enough though, the occasional tussle with a dude who thought he was hot shit, Rain treated them like a cat does a mouse, she plays with them, makes them think they have a chance and then ends it before they can say “Oh shit.”
Rain followed Layla into the mess hall, where the cook, affectionately known as Gramma, was passing out plates of some sort of orange veggies to the girls that formed Asynjur. “Ah, Rain, Layla, sit down. Rain, don’t worry I made something a little extra today too.” Rain sat down to a big, heaping mound of buta kimchi, which she happily wolfed down before course 2, a fried zucchini that was delightfully spicy.
A chorus of “Thanks Gramma!” erupted from the girls, ranging from 12 to 30 years of age, to which Gramma, who was in her 50s, chuckled and brushed it off.
“Don’t mention it, I’m happy that you kids give me a roof over my head!”, the entire mess hall bursting into laughter. Rain just smiled softly. Piloting the Brynhild was exhausting but she really loved these girls, they were more family than anything else she’d ever had. She thanked whoever may be watching for them, and that Asynjur may keep the peaceful jobs that they’d been getting for years at this point. She liked the flow of her life these days. She brushed her salmon-colored hair out of her face and dug into the second course of the night. This was alright, Rain could go for a few more years of this.
A gavel struck 3 times, resonating throughout the Congress Hall. “The Earth Conglomerate Governing Body, in collaboration with board members from Goldman Macrotechnology, GMF Natural Resource, and the Mars Commonwealth Board, have unanimously ratified Congressional Order #45734, initiating Operation Tabula Rasa.” The hall erupted into clapping and cheering, most citizens didn’t even know what this operation was meant to do. They thought it was just another military thing, something the ECGB was always attempting to pull. Few people on Earth or Mars cared about this, really. It didn’t affect them so it must be good, right?
Mobile suits, tanks, frigates and other manners of war machinery were loaded onto giant mega carriers, bound for Venus. On the outside, the government and corporate generals maintained this would be a peaceful mission, where they were going, if there was anyone left, they would be helping those people! Clearly, the ECGB was doing some good here, and having corporate sponsors was great for PR too. They painted themselves as pioneers going west, exploring new territory, and for everyone watching the news they might as well have been. The Earth always needed resources, and Venus seemed to be chock full of them. If there wasn’t anyone there, they were free for the Earth to take.
On Mars, they’d long forgotten their struggles against the old Earth governments to establish themselves as an independent power, not a colony. That was centuries ago, and for the Martian citizens, it was ancient history. They saw themselves now as a power on par to the ECGB, and with the Earth reaching out to form a joint exploratory force with the Martian army, who were they to say no? Peace was a nice thing to have when it came to interplanetary relations, and everyone working together would be the feel-good story of the century at the very least.
200 years before our present day, the ECGB hadn’t even existed. Instead, the governments of Earth saw it fit to try to tame Venus and procure it’s resources. This was considered a failure, as the governments of Earth had conflicting visions for Venus and never once considered the thoughts of those living and working on Venus, seeing it as no more than a pile of resources with a poisonous atmosphere. Riots ensued, and the records were buried and Venus forgotten about when conflict on the homefront created the ECGB and it’s sister government, the MCB. People have largely forgotten about the attempted colonization of Venus, and it’s records are only known to the ECGB and MCB, along with select corporate partners that are essential to the success of Tabula Rasa.
The citizens of Venus had been forgotten about decades ago, and were not informed of the decision.
Another day, another small patrol, this time for the town of Helvetia. Helvetia is located in the Guinevere Planitia, what is now a fertile region. It is a farming town, mainly concentrated on cereal grains with small dairies peppered throughout the town’s surrounding area. Today’s crew was the Brynhild, and 2 Sifs piloted by 2 fresh pilots, Livvy Harte & Danielle Romero. Asynjur has a policy of not letting anyone under 18 fight unless completely necessary. This was actually suggested by Rain, being a former child soldier scarred her for life, both physically and mentally, and she wasn’t about to inflict that on anyone else willingly. Livvy & Danielle had turned 18 about 6 and 7 months ago, and had trained in Sif simulators since turning 18, rather than be ground troops. This was their first real world mission, though they’d gotten some practice in the Sifs before, because moving a Sif in a sim is a lot different than moving a real hunk of metal. Rain was quite impressed at their abilities to maneuver the Sif to the pickup point as they’re sometimes described as “clunky old cannon fodder suits”, at least in some of her old positions, mechanics hated the Sif because it was poorly built. However, it turns out that if you take care of them properly, Sifs aren’t half bad. It is possible to become an ace in a Sif, as Rain had used to be, before she became the pilot of the Gundam Brynhild.
The Brynhild. Standing 20m tall with a white, gold, and faded red paint scheme, weighing 30 tons loaded for bear, it was maybe 3m taller than the standard Sif suit, and definitely stuck out against the dusty yellow-orange of the Sif. Boxy white plates of old Chobham were added by Asynjur when Rain joined their ranks, however this is usually optional as Rain prefers the sleeker form of the Brynhild sans armor. The power plant is a pair of 200 year old microfusion reactors that run extremely hot, of which the exhaust ignites in Venus’ atmosphere, creating the signature Heat Haze Tail. Normally, on Mars or Earth, this tail is non-existant, but due to residual compounds in the atmosphere of Venus, the Brynhild has a 3m long ponytail made of neon blue trailing it when it’s in operation. The Gundam was designed to use a beam rifle and sabers at some point during it's original tenure, but these have since been lost, destroyed or gotten rid of. Beam weapons are expensive to run and maintain, and this is something a PMC like Asynjur cannot afford working for mainly barter. The rifle has been replaced with a 300mm anti-material rifle and a large, metal vibroblade. Alternatively, the Gundam Hammer, a rocket booster powered flail can also be used for 1 on 1 engagements versus other Mobile Suits. However, Rain's skill with the vibroblade far outclasses that of any other weapon in her arsenal. Rain is a close combatant first and foremost.
Rain. She came into possession of the Brynhild around the time she was 17. This was after her original suit, a Sif she'd maintained for years under another PMC, was cored and resulted in Rain losing her arm. The PMC assumed she was dead, as a reactor explosion like that doesn't leave survivors. They hadn't seen Rain eject. The crater left by her Sif exploding had unearthed the Brynhild, of which she was familiar with, due to the records of 10 Gundam Class Mobile Suits having been used in the First Conquest of Venus 200 years ago. She'd assumed they were all lost to the planet, with the ever changing weather and volatility. But the Brynhild was intact. Operable, even. She stumbled over to the Gundam, wrapping the stump of her arm in her undershirt, and clambered into the cockpit. A DNI. Rain had one put in just a year ago for her own MS, she found it easier than trying to control it like a heavy piece of machinery. And she lucked out when the Gundam could read the info her DNI put out. She piloted the Gundam, nursing her torn off arm back to her PMC. They didn't see it fit to keep Rain around anymore due to her missing an arm, and tried to take the Brynhild for themselves. Rain couldn't do much, except watch as the guy they wanted to pilot the suit get his brain fried. The suit didn't like his DNI, she supposed.
Rain and the Brynhild had been inseparable ever since. She fell in with Asynjur after taking the Gundam one night and jetting off to the other side of the planet, trying to find a cyberdoc that could make her a new arm or at least clean this stump up.
Lost in thought, Rain flexed her cyberarm's fingers. Felt fine, but weird. She had gotten used to the arm being a little funny feeling, and the phantom pain hadn't gone away in the 5 years since she found the Brynhild. She could deal though. She's a big girl. She shook herself out of the daydream, letting Dani and Livvy handle the negotiating was also a good call on her part, then they wouldn't have to rely on Rain to do it in the future, which would allow Asynjur to take more jobs in the future. She had the Gundam kneel so she could swing out of the cockpit, as she saw the girls returning.
"How's it looking ladies?" She swung down on one of the safety rails along the Gundam’s leg, landing in front of Dani and Livvy.
“All good Rain!” They both gave a thumbs up. “It looks like they’re gonna pay us pretty well. A few acres of sweet corn, some of their potato and bean stores too. Also a couple pounds of various meats, so that’ll make Gramma happy.” Livvy looked at some pen she’d written on the back of her hand.
“Yeah, anything else? Ammo or bits n’ pieces?”
“Yup, a few crates of 300, 3 pallets of 120mm…”
Rain smiled big, she was awfully proud of them and what they managed to pull off. “Wonderful. So then let’s make it worth what they’ve given us, alright?” The two younger girls nodded as Rain climbed back up into the Brynhild’s cockpit and engaged the DNI. The Gundam’s reactors span up and the trademark ponytail appeared with a sound like a moon-sized blowtorch. The Brynhild stood up at it’s full height, chambering a round into the 300mm rifle in case things went south. The pair of Sifs behind her also stood up, their 180mm carbines primed for combat should it ever come to that. Not that it ever did, jobs in Helvetia were usually peaceful. However, because of where the town is located, they have an abundance of resources that may be ripe for the taking, so in the event that anything would go wrong, it would be well protected by Asynjur’s Mobile Suits. Today’s job was escorting an important cargo convoy from another town, Truth’s Well, to Helvetia. Fuel cells for the town’s microfusion power plant, basic bulk foodstuffs, and trade items from the raw materials procured in Truth’s Well to those in Helvetia that could make something out of it. After negotiating payment in Helvetia, the lance would make their way over to Truth’s Well at the base of a crater nearby, at least by MS, and escort the convoy from there.
Upon landing in Truth’s Well, the lance found their convoy at the town’s depot. For a bunch of little independent anarchist towns governing themselves, the civilians of Venus are very well organized in helping each other. It’s all for mutual benefit, there’s no reason to withhold it and not work together. With no currency or other economic incentive to do so, those who live on Venus openly collaborate in exchange for whatever, this includes the PMCs. The convoy was made of roveresque trucks with multiple trailers, the Brynhild taking the helm, one Sif on the side and one at the rear.
It was a very standard convoy operation. Just escort the trucks to Helvetia and pick up the ammo and food and all good. A very calm first mission for Dani & Livvy. They may not appreciate the lack of combat, but as Rain thought to herself, that’s probably for the best. Better complaining than dead , she thought. The later they saw combat, the easier they’d accept that this job isn’t all glory and crazy fights. Sometimes being a Mobile Suit pilot is boring work like this, and you do it because it’s what you’re good at and what they pay you to do. Or, if you’re the altruistic type like Rain, you do it for the good of the towns and the planet. If you’re like Rain, you’ve lived in the same spot your whole life but hadn’t found home or a family until recently, and you’d do anything to protect that family. If that meant spending an hour in the cockpit of a Mobile Suit to procure food and ammo for her family? She’d take it, and she’d have to teach Dani and Livvy to accept this as well. The most combat Venus had these days was skirmishes between PMCs, nothing special, nothing like 200 years ago, the wartime her Gundam was designed for.
It was a very standard convoy operation. Two Otr Mobile Suits stood far, far out of the convoy’s field of view. “Seems to be 3 trucks, 2 Sifs, and… some other white mobile suit.”
“Don’t worry about it, it doesn’t look to be much of a threat. See, they’re carrying ballistics, they don’t pose too much of a threat. Also, two of them are Sifs. We can take them easily. So the plan is” the pilot lowered his Otr’s beam rifle, “We take out the Sifs from at range and then go in and deal with the white one.”
The other Otr, holding a beam sniper, the extra reactor in a large backpack, knelt down and took position. “Yes Sir!” the pilot said as he took aim at the rear Sif. The other Otr revealed a missile rack, and took aim at the other.
“Remember, don’t damage the cargo! That’s what we’re here to take Ensign Vosky!”
“Yes Sir!” as the beam left the end of the rifle, and rockets streaked towards the convoy.
Dani’s Sif, on the rear, was the first to sound the alarm. “Behind us! Rockets incoming!”
“Use your thrusters Dani! Just go off to one side!” as Rain barked this into her comms, Dani went diving off into the ditch, hastily drawing for her Carbine. “Deep breaths girl. You’ll be ok.” In the spot where Dani’s Sif was, a laser burned through the air, Dani gulping in horror as she thought,
That could have been my head.
“Girls keep your head on a swivel! Where’d that beam come from?” Rain was all serious, the stiff bark in her voice taking the reins of the situation.
“15 degrees North by Northwest!” Livvy frantically yelped into her comms. She was also on the defense, the convoy having pulled over to the side. Both Sifs lay prone to the ground, Carbines drawn and poised to fire should the enemy show themselves. Rain was doing a sweep of the area, the anti-material rifle looking for something to blast to smithereens. She saw a glint on the horizon. A Mobile Suit. She engaged the Brynhild's thrusters and dashed towards the Otr.
"Sir! The white suit has spotted us!" The ensign was beginning to lose his cool. He fired a shot at the fast approaching MS, not taking the time to aim. The Gundam appeared to fall out of the way of the blast, resuming it's mad dash towards the offending Otr. Dust kicked up behind the Brynhild as the ponytail danced around behind it, leaving a blue trail behind the Mobile Suit.
“Girls, provide cover fire, I’m engaging at close range.” Rain slammed the foot throttle on the Gundam, sending it hurtling forward with a cloud of dust and rock behind it. Digging in its heels, Rain stopped right in front of the Otr Sniper, and barked though the speaker, “Excuse me, who might you be and what are you doing firing at
my
convoy?”. She stuck the rifle right under the Otr’s chin, finger on the trigger. “Make it snappy.”
“E-Ensign Roland V-Volsky I I I” The pilot stammered, clearly scared for his life. Rain just smiled.
“Oh? And who are you with?” Rain jammed the gun further into the Mobile Suit. Playing with her food again, that’s typical Rain. She radioed the rest of her Lance. “Anything look funny? Any additional suits?” Her eyes flicked around the cockpit’s AR view, looking for any signs of additional suits or even tanks. Should a tank find the right spot, an anti armor shell could pierce the Chobham armor, or worse, the plate steel on the thrusters, and she’d be a sitting duck.
“One more MS! Another Otr! 5 o’clock!” Dani shouted back, her gun trained on the suit she’d just called out.
“Alright ladies new plan!” Rain shouted as she drew her blade, whipping around while keeping the gun anchored in Volsky’s Otr. Her idea, bring the sword down hard on the guy trying to charge her. If he decided to engage at range, she’d use the cannon to blow Volsky away and get into her favorite place, up in the enemy’s face. She also had fire support from Dani & Livvy, this should be fine. “I’m gonna blow this guy away if the other one tries anything funny! Though I’d rather take this babbling idiot hostage, the mystery pilot might have to do! Move in ladies, it’s time for your first taste of combat!”
“Yes Ma'am!” Dani & Livvy seemed to yell in sync. They sounded excited, Rain didn’t feel super good about that, but enthusiasm gets you far in a lot of cases. Rain shrugged, and in one fluid motion, drew the Brynhild’s sword and turned to face the other Otr. It was heavily decorated unlike the one she currently held at gunpoint, and she could swear it was shaking thanks to the pilot doing the same. Hilarious.
Lieutenant Olaff Argoe watched as this strange white Mobile Suit had zipped up, avoided a sniper shot, and now, holding the Ensign at gunpoint, apparently with the intention of interrogation. “How unprofessional.” he muttered as he drew the Otr’s beam rifle. He wasn’t ready for the Gundam to turn around to face him, a shot intended for the back thrusters landing on the Gundam’s shoulder, a burn spot forming and the smell of singed fiberglass filling the air. Olaff stood his ground, steeling his face and shouting through the speaker, “Crossing Jormungand was your last mistake, missy.”
Rain raised an eyebrow. “Uh huh, sure. Whatever you say.” she muttered and drew her sword. As Dani & Livvy came from behind to engage the Ensign, Rain removed the gun from his suit’s range and catapulted forward, blade held tight to get into range. The blue tail billowed and flared up as the foot throttle was slammed into the floor of the cockpit, Rain getting right up in the Lieutenant’s face, blade digging into a hastily raised arm. The Otr’s beam rifle was pointing right at the Brynhild’s chest, Rain nodding sagely. “Smart move old man,” as she brought the Brynhild’s knee up into the cockpit of the Otr. “But not smart enough!”
With a mighty CRUNCH, the Lieutenant’s Otr was sent staggering backwards, Rain maintaining short range. Seizing the opportunity, she grabbed the hand that held the beam rifle, attempting to mangle the hand that held it like trying to crush someone’s hand in a handshake. She grinned menacingly as she increased the grip strength, taunting Olaff. “What’s the matter? Can’t keep up with a lady?” Olaff stood his ground however, getting face to face with the Gundam.
“I don’t know what kind of suit you are, but it’s not about the suit-” Olaff took his free hand and swung it hard at the Gundam, a hidden pile bunker in his arm sending the Gundam backwards. “- It’s about the PILOT.” The Otr dropped the beam rifle off to the side and took a stance like a Sumo wrestler.
“We’ll see who’s the better pilot then.” Rain growled through the speaker, blood dripping from her nose. She’d taken a smack flying backwards, along with minor stress from the DNI. She was breathing hard, and getting quite a bit pissed off with this high-and-mighty old guy. She’d also been part of Jormungand when she was younger, maybe about 14. She
knew
this dude, and while he was a talented commander, he was too old school for Rain’s liking, and if she remembered right, a bit of a bigot to boot. She was gonna teach this guy what a ‘fruity little rat’ like her could do.
Meanwhile, the pair of Sifs were dashing around the Sniper suit, trying to get in range for their Carbines to unload a few well aimed shots. “What do we do?!” Livvy said frustratedly, rolling out of the way of another sniper shot. “How do we move in on a guy that can core us with one shot?”
Dani was attempting to maintain her cool. “How do we distract this guy….” She thought to herself while dodging another shot. “Wait. Livvy! I have an idea! It’s just like the simulator! We have more mobility than him, so let’s get fast! Squiggly Squid!”
Livvy’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “OF COURSE DANI! You’re so smart I could kiss you!” Dani giggled and blushed. Kiss her? She wouldn’t mind that. Livvy started dashing and rolling around, whooping and hollering. This might actually be fun! She drew her Carbine in the meantime, placing shots at the Otr’s feet to distract the Ensign. “Come on buddy! Let’s tussle!” She hollered, slamming on the thruster throttle. She took a glance over at Brynhild,
Rain would be ok, she’s tough as nails,
Livvy reassured herself. Rain was like her and Dani’s big sister, the infallible, probably the greatest Mobile Suit pilot they’d ever seen.
Danielle was busy sneaking behind, her targeting computer flashing red, then yellow, and finally… green! She let a burst of 3 rounds go, aimed right at the Sniper Otr’s backpack. Thump THUNK CRUNCH. All 3 bullets managed to hit, the first two creating large dents in the backpack that lucky #3 was able to use to punch through.
Thunk thunk BONK. Ensign Volsky started sweating buckets. That came from behind him. That sounded like his sniper backpack getting hit. Oh. Oh no. Volksy screamed into his comms, “LIEUTENANT CLEAR OUT I’M GOING TO GO BOOM THEY HIT MY BACKPACK!” as his suit started shaking. It was then Livvy appeared, reaching for the Otr’s cockpit and ripping it out like one would with a heart in a horror movie.
“You’re coming with me!” she quipped, flipping her Sif and jetting away from the suit which was about to become a nuclear bomb. She carried the cockpit like you do a football, jetting away from the inevitable small explosion that would be caused by a damaged microfusion reactor. That backpack looked pretty cheap and the hydrogen cells that supplied the reactor were also probably on the less-safe side; that thing was going to be a NASTY boom. At least it’s not a nuke… Livvy shuddered as she thought about it. Her first combat outing could have been much scarier had that been an unstable reactor. She shook off the thought as she tuned into her new hostage babbling away, attempting to bargain for his freedom. Rain was going to enjoy this. Once she was far enough away, she turned around to give Danielle a thumbs up. They now looked to Rain, to see what kind of fight she’d gotten into with the Brynhild.
Rain leveled her sword. This was just an Otr, a bulkier Sif with some tricks up its sleeve. Though this guy was an accomplished pilot. That pose had her unnerved, what exactly was this guy about to try. Her eyes locked ahead, trying to figure out where to put the sword to end this as soon as possible. The exhaust ponytail got bigger and bigger as she fed the reactor more fuel. She was going to need it to get rid of this guy. All that was left was to see who would make the first move.
“Puffing your chest out like a rooster huh?” The Lieutenant's voice crackled out over the Otr’s speaker. He maintained his Sumo stance, this way he could remain stable should the white suit try to knee him in the chest again.
“Maybe. Maybe not.” Rain dryly replied.
Measure twice cut once, that’s what they used to say right?
She took her time, not like this guy was going to move at all, he was determined to get the second hit, not the first. He was waiting for Rain to make a mistake, waiting for her to make the first bullheaded move and use that to press advantage the whole time. She wasn’t about to fall for it. Sweep the legs? No… Hack off an arm? No…. Wait.
She would go on the defensive at first, feinting a swing and then backing up to get him to move on her, which, for some reason he went along with, Rain not having the time to be perplexed at his decision as the Otr made a grab at one of her arms. She dug the Gundam’s feet into the ground and pushed back, punching with her free hand into the Otr’s chest. She was attempting to rough the pilot up a bit, give him a little shake in the cockpit. It worked but the Lieutenant was not deterred, twisting the Gundam’s arm behind it. Rain, annoyed, engaged her thrusters in an effort to throw him off, however, instead was on the receiving end of a Judo throw and was flipped onto her back, the Brynhild sliding a few meters before she was able to get back up.
Rain’s nosebleed had gotten worse in the meantime, both nostrils starting to leak now. She was gonna have a massive migraine after this one, but that wasn’t quite her decision to make, she had to keep on going. She propped herself up on her sword, making a gesture that said “Come on, I’ve got more fight in me.” The Lieutenant took her invitation, smashing into her torso with the pile bunker arm. Rain stood her ground, using the opportunity to back up and swing the sword around into the Otr’s other arm, ripping the sword backwards and sicing it off at the elbow, throwing the Mobile Suit off balance. She gave the Otr a little kick, sending it stumbling backwards so she could gain her footing. Rain engaged the thrusters and rocketed forward, raising her Gundam’s sword above its head, before quickly diving down and burying the blade in the knee joint of the Otr. Lieutenant Argoe wasn’t ready for that.
The alarm in the Otr’s cockpit was going off, screens flashing red warning of a coolant failure. A glance down at the Mobile Suit’s leg and sure enough, bright blue coolant was leaking out of a hose encased in the knee joint. Rain simply looked directly into the Otr’s cameras before yanking on the blade, hard. The teeth on the cutting edge of the blade ripped through the joint, cutting hoses, control lines, everything in the most barbaric and rough fashion. This wasn’t a clean cut, this would take ages to repair, that is, if the Lieutenant and his Mobile Suit survived. The Otr toppled to the ground onto it’s back, Rain burying her sword into the other side of the torso, pinning it to the rocky ground, placing the Gundam’s foot on the cockpit as if to open it like a trash can.
Rain emerged from the Gundam’s cockpit brandishing a large, chunky revolver. She was confident the Otr was unable to move, effectively done save for it’s pilot. “Hey, open up your cockpit, your suit is cooked, unless you want me to pry it open.” Rain tossed a rock that had been on the Gundam’s arm at the cockpit of the Otr. The cranky old Lieutenant took some coaxing to emerge, but eventually, he did. She looked down at the Lieutenant and scoffed. “Huh, you look to be in a sorry state. Last time I saw you you were in a fair bit better health. What happened, you let yourself go Olaff?”
The Lieutenant was surprised. He could swear that… No. It couldn’t be that rat he got rid of years ago. He was dead for sure! No way that this girl standing in front of him was related in any way shape or form. However, he had nowhere to run. The Lieutenant simply looked up, and studied Rain’s face for a second. It couldn’t be…. “J-”
“No.”
BANG. BANG. BANG.
“I killed him a long time ago.” Rain blew the smoke off the end of the revolver, climbing back into the Gundam’s cockpit and making plans to rendezvous with the rest of her Lance. “All taken care of ladies, let’s head home.”