Remember EBA from The Gaslight Invasion Principle ?
"The alien ~
Tall
grey, a combination of emaciated bulk and stretched musculature, thinly armored
over in a way to assume the celebration of his form among his people.
Draped fabrics from the aged metal pieces, flags torn from conquered
worlds, ragged and singed.
Wide eyes as a classic 'alien' dark
but with a recognizable look set in deep sockets. High cheeked and
stretched flesh over an elongated head. He stares out the window in the
otherwise darkened room, watching the distant Profane Wars, unseen to
the others but Nocturne."
________________
('The Final Countdown' by Europe)
Apollo (Eggs Benedict Arnold) walks to the console in a dark empty room, touches the main, a display lights. Missiles and rockets launch from the hunter fleet, more porting in.
His own ships depart the docking ring surrounding the planetoid, hidden in the mist. Moving the monitor to different locations her targets across, his ships fire.
Lowering view to the ground across before his center, beast of the Profane Wars prepare, launching across from ground.
___
The hunter fleet continues it's launch, more waves porting and deploying on entry, asteroids drifting behind.
The hunter queen (facing opposite) watches the field of launches from her vessels, the incoming targeted by anti-incoming. Gazing ahead, she smiles.
Hector and Sally lower from across the aft just feet over the fore bridge view port, blinding the view.
~ 石 Tales ~
Hunter - "No ..."
They lower along the hull beneath the anti missile barrage and settle lost among the rockets out the fore.
Hunter - Jumps from her chair, "! No !"
Gunnery command - "Pursuit ?"
She settles into her chair with a sigh ... then a little laugh.
Hunter - "No ... a distraction. Continue main assault."
She watches last sight of them, disappearing among the tiny blares.
Hunter - Quietly to herself, "Good hunting sisters. Dare to die."
__
Hector and Sally continue among the missiles as some veer off to their targets, thinning to hard rocket fire around all them. Those veering close are targeted by the UFO on Hector's back, on a swivel with forward dual cannon, newly mounted.
They meet the oncoming fleet, their counters deploying, avoided with fair ease and surrounded barely detected among the rockets in their pass. Angling in along hulls, they pass without striking, missiles and rockets hitting hard behind.
Triangulated, noses to the central Nibiru fleet, three waves of hunter destroyers port in, angled at 40 degrees into. They immediately begin bombing the Nibiru ships from bottom, assaulting the ring deployment from the top.
Nibiru ships disembark the docking ring into a hard forced turn while the hunters move beneath toward surface attack, Nibiru hulls pelted along their wide turns by the main hunter fleet holding position and snipe spotting the weak targets.
Hunter fighters swarm with harpoons firing, locking their harpoons and stabbing hull. They seem to struggle on entry into hard hulls, more inclined to crack in layers than be pierced under pin force.
Inside the hunters clear decks as they board, empty.
Sally and Hector continue to pass through the battle and veering wreckage without strike and barely a notice beyond random shot taken, readout on Hector's display shows Apollo's command tower in approach, entry dive.
(All
songs in this part cycle through the audio effects of entry, one mixed
straight to the next, this scene in high entry compression)
('New Woman' by Pain Teens)
As
they break atmosphere, surrounded still by surviving rockets, the music
shifts. Outside, the surviving
missiles continue in parallel, ground counter-measures responding. Hard
glide entry.
Inside, the rumbling, the gear up. They go one by one, through guns
blades and magazines, Nocturne loads a game, chin strap adjusted in
close grinning view.
('Strange Relationship (Crystal Ball version) by Prince)
As they pull up speed for ground parallel across the last defenses,
along the wide march road seen through the gate in 'Gaslight' filled
with beasts of all kinds, some greater reaching, just short.
He observes the pelting of the side turning craft, in to the hunter main.
__
Running forty feet above ground, Hector and Sally approach the closing gap ordered by Apollo. Sally's central rocket opens panels across, glass vials on short rockets gear into position.
They drop into fire toward the oncoming armies, randomly spinning here and there, makeshift, effective, swathes opened as they make through the smoked path.
Above and behind the hunter ground assault begins porting in, many taking advantage of the cleared areas behind them for air drop. They appear much like the school bus, larger bulk and ornate. They drop from beneath, no open decks.
They fall into glide chutes along side wind-dragon like support craft twirling. Jointed sections, rockets giving burst at the twist points, they dance through the sky, covering the drop zones before landing.
More hunters deploy from within before they take off again, tail slapping the ground hard and springing for initial thrust, then moving to clear ahead.
Crimson fills the field as they work out, a broad carpet forming behind Sally while they continue clearing forward, yet more port in behind.
__
Apollo continues to monitor and adjust strategy, pulling in equal and greater force from out skirt and lining nearby mountain to pin the assault ...
Thought ...
He brings two flanks in at the tower base, then pushes forward against the approach, another two flanks over the mounts behind.
To the sky around, he watches the mixed battles ... victors unclear now tangled. His craft take the greater beating, but the strategy of the hunters is superior, swapping between independence and into another unison.
Notably, he has no fighters, while those of the hunters bring only ship to ship advantages.
Thought ...
He moves the scan to front of the swarm forming, Hector and Sally flying through, UFO underneath still working, last of the mini rockets deployed.
He moves to a readout cross section of the central rocket.
__
Sally drops the central rocket as a bomb (bunker buster). Chain reacting explosions ahead to the base of the spire, then launches the two boosters against the entry. Close flanks are blown back while debris showers.
They pass and land into hard conversion at the base of the spire in the smoke, humans deploying at close ground points in the mid convert.
('Can't Truss It' by Public Enemy)
The teams gather giving circumferential fire, bots tackling after the remaining greater beasts. Nocturne (wearing a vaguely stupid crash helmet with a unicorn horn) joins with Nix, Mishil, and Qiu.
Nix - While Nocturne bounces and knee kick stretches, jogging in place, "Okay ... Doe usually does this. It's kinda weird. So ... don't die ... ?"
Nocturne - Grinning, "Yah ! Don't die !" Jumping jacks.
Nix - "Okay and ... um ... go ... kill Apollo ... ?"
Nocturne charges screaming "! Must ! Kill ! Apollooooo !", roaring through the blown hole from the booster launch, the settling smoke, horn forward (she's using her arms).
Mishil looks after, at Qiu, they look at Nix.
Nix - "Oh. It's okay. She killed his daddy."
They stare at her, battle making between hunters and Nibiru approaching the distance.
Mishil - "... Does she know that ?"
Nix - "Oh. Hm."
...
Nix - "It's cool."
__
Last greater's head torn off, Sally pulls a rifle from her chest storage and checks it. The UFO pops off Hector's back, the sides go up, front and back down. Arms and legs extended simply, cannon mounts back over the shoulders around the dome head, loaded.
They turn to Hector ... he looks around ... flaps the face cannon a bit ...
Tears off an abandoned spire turret and tries to poke at the seated control with massive finger ... looks at a nearby crewman ... gestures to the cannon.
Hector - "You gotta hook me up man."
Crewman - "Fuck that." Looks around ... a giggle. "Okay let's do that." Climbs into the gunner seat and straps in while Hector crushes the base to a decent grip.
Battle continues while they hold the gate.
____
Nocturne tears roaring down a hallway, horn forward.