Description: Backstage brawl brings bruises by bashing brawlers. (Winner: Jaeger)
The fight promoter insisted that 'backstage' would be a complex and dangerous place to do battle, and that both fighters would have to think on their feet in order to navigate their way through the tangled mess of equipment.
To some extent, this is true. It's a hazard filled fighting area. Due to the complexities of the locale, the only thing that really indicates anyone is keeping an eye on this battle are the several dozen cameras overhead.
However, after the few Neo League battles Jaeger has been in, it becomes readily apparent that a lack of an audience is more for the safety of the audience than anyone else.
But after a short scan of the place with a tactical computer, Jaeger feels confident that the cramped area will not impede his combat ability an iota.
The armored war machine arrived very early to inspect the place. He's plotted out int interior and exterior, inspected all the hazards and left very few things uninvestigated. A good soldier knows his battlefeild, and understands exactly how to use it to his advantage. Having done so, he stands there like some kind of twisted modern golem, amidst stacked boxes and cameras, cables and weights overhead.
This should be fascinating.
Nadine was not visible during the inspection. Does she care? Is she going to do this blind?
No; she did her own inspection last night, having had nothing better to do. Nadine already knows enough about the area that she feels comfortable, and she didn't feel like giving Jaeger the opportunity to examine /her/. Of course, that dpesn't mean she's going to be late for her match. She's never actually late.
Nadine walks into the back area, having not yet drawn her knives, and glances around to make sure that things appear to be in more or less the same position as before. Apparently it meets her satisfaction, because she continues to walk in, toward the 'center' where J aeger is standing.
Nadine's appearance gets an immediate reaction. Without so much as a word, Jaeger begins to move. He's not particularly fast, but he's also not really big on introductions or particulars. Not when there's an immediate fight on his hands. Having battled enough opponents in his time to understand the value of an immediate response, Jaeger reaches to his side, and pulls free tall standing stage lights.
The metal constructs immediately crash to the ground, tossing up dust and debris as he immediately seeks to provide cover for himself.
Though slow moving when it comes to foot speed, the machine crouches down, readying his already loaded weapon systems for the battle soon to come.
COMBATSYS: Jaeger has started a fight here.
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Jaeger 0/-------/-------|
Guns and heavy armour, Nadine thinks to herself. Two unusual choices. She's surprised anyone bothers with either, and one of her eyebrows raises, just a little.
That's the only reaction Jaeger gets at first. Nadine spends a few moments watching him, squinting through the dust and keeping it away from her face by the simple method of fanning it with one hand.
A few moments after that, she bends slightly, pulls a knife from its thigh sheath, and flings it into the thickest part of the cloud of dust. Where else is he going to be standing?
COMBATSYS: Nadine has joined the fight here.
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Jaeger 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Nadine
COMBATSYS: Jaeger dodges Nadine's Medium Shot.
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Jaeger 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Nadine
The reason is fairly simple: Jaeger, with his inhuman abilities, make them work.
And he has an option of simply discarding armor in order to acheive a far faster reaction time than Nadine might expect, which is exactly what he does. Bursting free from his heavier confines, the armor blasts away from his frame, the plates clattering to the floor as the machine is nowhere near the point of impact. Instead, he's running up the wall.
Literally.
Like a freakish animal, the droid's clawed hands are ripping through the backstage wall, steel fingers tearing through brick and boots give traction as he hurls along the side of the auditorium before pushing off. The being that lands is a gaunt, almost skeletal figure, head still shrouded in helmet and facemask.
Using the force of the landing as another springboard, the sound of a metal blade deploying from his arm is the only indication Nadine gets that the silver streak of lighting that Jaeger has become is moving in to slash a serrated carbon steel blade across her gut.
COMBATSYS: Jaeger successfully hits Nadine with Tomahawk.
- Power hit! -
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Jaeger 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Nadine
Nadine was not expecting Jaeger to demonstrate an ability like that; she assumed it would take time for him to remove the armour, time she had no intention of giving him. Her first instinct was to throw herself forward in a roll, but - slightly late as she is - she only manages to throw herself into the blade, and gasps in pain.
The pain makes Nadine react even more quickly. She twists, heedless of the blood trickling down her front, to get a grip on his shoulders. If Nadine manages it, she swivels, putting her whole body into the motion as whipping winds pick up; she performs one revolution and lobs whatever she's gotten ahold of at the closest wall, assisted by the sudden and surprisingly brief gale that kicks up.
COMBATSYS: Nadine successfully hits Jaeger with Twister Toss.
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Jaeger 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Nadine
Quick, grasping hands grab ahold of Jaeger, and the machine is hurled across the backstage, crashing through scaffolding before cratering the wall behind him. A powerful blow, yes, but it's surviveable.
Jaeger always seems to survive, when it comes down to it.
The reaction time is swift. Pushing free from the hole he's made in the wall, he rockets upward with a single bound, grasping ahold of the cables overhead. Hand over hand, he grapples to the scaffolding. His heavy form causes the entire construct to rattle with his footfalls in the dimmer lights above.
Then suddenly, the machine whips from the darkness, a flash of brightness in the corner of the eye as he jabs outward, a squift sucker punch to the back of Nadine's head as he appears to practically spring from the middle of nowhere.
COMBATSYS: Nadine dodges Jaeger's Quick Punch.
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Jaeger 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Nadine
Nadine has, by the time Jaeger comes for the back of her head, vanished.
Specifically, she has made a wind-assisted boost to the scaffolding above, where her relatively light weight and agility works to her benefit; being able to leap around like she was in gymnastics class certainly beats trading hits with him down on even ground.
Balancing easily on a narrow beam, Nadine looks down at Jaeger, squinting in the dim light. She doesn't attack; instead, she keeps an eye on him, waiting for him to come to her rather than vice versa.
COMBATSYS: Nadine focuses on her next action.
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Jaeger 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Nadine
It's never a good idea to let Jaeger get the chance to take stock of his surroundings. Strictly speaking, by giving him a moment to track his target, all Nadine does is allow him more time to funnel into strategizing instead of attacking.
Slowing down, he begins to scan the new layout of the backstage, assessing damage to himself and surrounding structures, keenly aware of the person overhead. Despite this, he does nothing to jump at any apparent opening. Instead he watches and waits, calmly cycling in his weapons systems as the machine awaits even the slightest sound to indicate she's on the move again.
COMBATSYS: Jaeger focuses on his next action.
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Jaeger 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Nadine
Nadine remains up where she is for some time, looking down and letting her eyes finish adjusting to the dimmer light after Jaeger took out a fair bit of the lights.
Eventually, she apparently gets tired of waiting, and throws her remaining knife down. It, as well as the abandoned one that she threw before, are caught up in a small tornado, whipped first at Jaeger and then back up to Nadine; she catches them out of the air one at a time, gripping one in each hand.
She also speaks, for the first time. "Having fun?" It doesn't sound particularly amused.
COMBATSYS: Jaeger dodges Nadine's Zephyr Lance.
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Jaeger 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Nadine
Inhuman eyes move with alacrity the second the sound of wind hits the air. The noisiness of the attack makes them easy to track, and Jaeger jumps backward, the blades slicing through little more than air.
"You are like most swift opponents," he replies conversationally, his synthesized voice not seeming to put much stock in emitting any real emotion to go with it.
"I await a demonstration of actual power, which I am certain you are merely holding back from me." Once again, the droid is shooting through the air. As he does so, however, he goes into a full backflip, his metal leg whipping outward to catch Nadine in the chin to knock her off the scaffodling above with a swift kick before landing once again onto the backstage floor with an audible thud.
COMBATSYS: Nadine blocks Jaeger's Light Kick.
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Jaeger 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Nadine
Nadine swaps one knife to the other hand, holding both of them in one and leaving her other free. The free hand comes up and around as she interposes it between Jaeger's boot and her flesh, taking half a step sideways to absorb the impact. She does not fall off the scaffolding, although it's close.
"Fine," Nadine says, and then jumps. She bends in the air like she was performing a dive into a deep swimming pool, diving down with both arms extended, knife-first.
When she hits - either Jaeger or the ground - she absorbs the shock partially by bending her arms and partially with an upward gust of wind, and flips again, landing on her feet with her knives still in her hands.
COMBATSYS: Jaeger dodges Nadine's Deep Strike.
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Jaeger 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Nadine
The angle and speed of the attack is calculated. It's got a lot of force to it, but Jaeger's not going to stick around for the final impact. Instead, he leaps up, passing Nadine as she descends, somersaulting through the air and landing right behind her.
The machine falls into a kickboxer's pose, the chrome gleaming as he rears back a foot. "You lack the exuberance of your fighting comrades. It's rather upsetting," he says offhandedly, the metallic leg shooting forth with a snap kick.
"Still, I shall do my best to meet you with force. Rest be assured that I shall spend every moment during this endevour to make sure you suffer. While killing is expressly forbidden, I feel it is my duty to do my best to at least ensure that you /wish/ you had died."
COMBATSYS: Jaeger successfully hits Nadine with Light Kick.
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Jaeger 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Nadine
Nadine is going to have to admit, when this is over, that Jaeger hits like a truck.
She does not say anything at first due to having the wind knocked out of her; she landed poorly in the first place, having totally missed her target, and the snap kick isn't helping matters - especially because it hits her already wounded stomach.
"Oh, I'm excited," she eventually says, although in a near-monotone. "Would you prefer I started to run around and cheer like some of the dim-witted fighters do? Celebrate before I win? Act like I was barely able to comprehend my surroundings?"
Nadine rather abruptly throws another knife. This one is more accurately aimed than the ones previously, but is only angled to skim Jaeger and keep him moving in a way she can predict.
COMBATSYS: Jaeger dodges Nadine's Medium Shot.
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Jaeger 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Nadine
A glint of metal announces the presence of Jaeger's arm blade once again, the dark, silver edged weapon moving in a wide arc to knock the blade off course, which allows Jaeger to duck underneath it. "You mistake enthusiasm for stupidity," is the pleasant-voiced reply.
Going into a full spin, the machine dives low, skidding across the wooden floor of the backstage as he rolls back up into a crouch behind Nadine. Wooden splinters fly everywhere as the machine completely ruins the polished floor.
Jaeger then leaps up once again, the scaffolding above once again rattling under his footfalls as he speaks. "Certainly, there are those that are easily exciteable. This can be attributed to a lack of intelligence and poor grasp of the obvious. However..."
The ripping sound of fabric can be heard, and Jaeger is descending from the ceiling, an edge of the stage curtain in hand. "I do enjoy my work. There's a certain pleasure I take in doing a job well done." As he descends, he seeks to envelop Nadine in the curtain, and then whip about and stab the lump that she forms underneath the red fabric.
COMBATSYS: Nadine dodges Jaeger's Tomahawk.
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Jaeger 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Nadine
Nadine, still holding two knives, frees herself from being buried in the curtain in perhaps record time; with another ripping sound, she slashes a long slit in it, squeezing out through it as the knife cuts close enough to her that it very nearly stabs her hair.
Nadine takes advantage of the close quarters. Lightning-quick, her left knife whips up toward Jaeger's back, so fast that she's almost back in her combat stance at the same time he'd feel the pain (if he /can/ feel pain, and if she hits at all). She says nothing this time. He's starting to irritate her, by the sour expression on her face.
COMBATSYS: Jaeger dodges Nadine's Gust Return.
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Jaeger 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Nadine
No such luck, unfortunately. Despite the loss in momentum from missing the girl, he hasn't lost enough to get struck by the knife. The tip of the blade glides across the machine's chromed back, and he makes a dive forward.
His hands plant firmly onto the ground, flipping forward with mechanical proficiency.
It would seem the time for talking has since left Nadine, and Jaeger has to take a moment to assess the situation further. His forward motion leads him to a stack of sandbags, having fallen as the curtain no longer provides counterweight. The machine lifts one of the heavy bags and hurls them at Nadine. The powerfully thrown bags seem to rocket to her face... and then promptly detonates as he seems to produce a grenade from nowhere. The blast causes the sandbags to evaporate into a cloud of dust and sand.
From which Jaeger rockets forth, attempting to slam a quick fist into her gut.
COMBATSYS: Jaeger successfully hits Nadine with Quick Punch.
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Jaeger 0/-------/--=====|=======\==-----\1 Nadine
The dust and dirt are caught in a tornado that whips up around Nadine rather abruptly, but the windstorm does not stop a fist striking her in the gut. Nadine staggers back, winded, and the howling storm around her intensifies to the point that small objects start to be caught up in it.
The number of small objects increases significantly when Nadine throws a knife up, at the scaffolding, at a weak spot she located last night and worked on for a while. The wood above groans and falls, one of the boards shattering and its shards being caught almost entirely in the whirlwind.
Nadine leaps backwards as the tornado rockets forward, sharp and pointy objects included, straight for Jaeger. If nothing else, the blinding spray of dust and the fact that it does a good job of pushing people back ought to buy her some time.
COMBATSYS: Jaeger blocks Nadine's Iron Cyclone.
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Jaeger 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Nadine
The blast of air is worrisome to say the least, and the shards of wood at this velocity would be enough to compromise his systems. So Jaeger does what he can, and weatherts the assault by discharging his point defense batteries.
The experimental shimmering feild of energy envelops the robot, the crackling power forming a bubble around his chrome form. The gust of wind howls around him, whipping up more than just wooden spinters. Random bits of machinery rocket forth towards him, shattering on the defensive screen.
Eventually, the feild does die, but not after having halted most of the force. A glass shard from a fallen spotlight whips towards his head, shattering against his armored helm. The blow causes him to jerk backwards. For a moment, anyhow.
"Excellent. i knew you had it in you," he says, taking a glance around to view the way the place has been rearranged by the powerful wind gusts. "Let's finish this, shall we?"
COMBATSYS: Jaeger focuses on his next action.
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Jaeger 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Nadine
"Yes, let's." Nadine controls her voice so she doesn't sound exhausted; she's not, although she is starting to tire slightly from the repeated exertion of her powers. She is hiding even that, though. To be honest, she was rather impressed by the shimmering field; /that/ isn't anything she can do, although she could see how it would be useful. Maybe it's something she should learn...
Nadine waits. He's focusing. She isn't terribly interested in giving him the chance to, and she rushes forward, knife at the ready. She goes for a solid strike to his middle torso, a straight thrust followed by ripping it out to the side, sharply.
COMBATSYS: Nadine successfully hits Jaeger with Fierce Strike.
- Power hit! -
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Jaeger 1/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Nadine
This time, Jaeger's not so nimble. The rapidly moving machine is caught off guard, and the knife finally strikes hime, tearing into his armored torso. Sparks fly and metal shrieks with protest as they rend through his normally nimble form. That'll teach him to ignore his opponent instead of his surroundings.
That hit, however, will give him enough time to retaliate.
Reeling back from the assault, he lowers down, slamming to one knee. The hit was heavy, but he hasn't shown any kind of reaction to a hit before. Perhaps she's hit a critical system? Who can tell, with Jaeger.
His right arm raises, and undergoes a change. The hand recesses back into his forearm, which widens into a boxy shape. The arm seems to tablize, locking into place and recessing into his torso. Then, fron the front of the now gaping maw of the weapon, row upon row of tiny, micronized missiles.
Individually, they're not enough to do severe damage to even a normal person.
However, the machine doesn't fire just one. The attacks come in a debilitating swarm, filling to entire backstage corridor with swarming death. There's some cover in the form of fallen equipment, but the small rockets are moving at a disturbingly fast pace. They detonate aginst brick, shatter lights and scaffolding. Sandbags explode and the hardwood shatters under the salvos. Some of the rockets fly into the auditorium proper, vaporizing seats.
It's a scene from a war zone... a place Jaeger is the most comfortable in.
COMBATSYS: Nadine dodges Jaeger's Veritech - Alpha.
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Jaeger 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Nadine
Nadine has never seen an arm do anything like that before.
That doesn't matter. She is alert enough to realize that an arm twisting like that is bad, and almost before it finishes turning into a weapon, Nadine is in motion - up to the scaffolding again, which she grips and throws herself from, landing behind Jaeger.
She ignores the destruction as best she can, although it is surprising. Missiles, in a SNF? They'll be surprised to hear about /that/, she thinks. Whipping her hand in a wide motion, Nadine sends a spinning (although much smaller, about waist high) tornado at Jaeger, an upward-blasting whirlwind. Her lips are pursed. She's concentrating like she rarely has had to in combat.
COMBATSYS: Jaeger parries Nadine's Rolling Storm!
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Jaeger 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Nadine
The miniature tornado is watched with interest. Chi power always fascinates Jaeger on some level. After all, he can't generate the stuff. Without a life force of his own, he can't manipulate it at all, nor can he even begin to understand psionic power.
This is all moot, really. So long as he can rip the users of the stuff apart, it'll never be anything more than a curiousity.
Nadine's complete avoidance of his fantastic storm of destruction is a little upsetting, but no more so than any other mistake he may have made. Leaping over the micro tornado, he lets it whirl around and kick up debris as he jinks through the smoking ruin of the backstage, the deadly glint of his combat blade in view.
This time, it's not a slash. The blade is pulled back with a reared arm as the machine threatens to ram the deadly killing implement straight into the woman's shoulder.
COMBATSYS: Jaeger successfully hits Nadine with Tomahawk EX.
- Power hit! -
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Jaeger 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Nadine
That works better than most things have throughout this fight. The weapon pierces Nadine's shoulder deeply, but she doesn't cry out; she's cut herself enough on her own knives, or when practicing against others, to be as stoic as possible.
Mostly pain makes her determined...even when she's close to passing out, like now. She can feel the strength draining out of her arms, especially the one that Jaeger just pierced through. Still, unwilling to give up (quite yet), she brings her foot forward and down, striking downward at the hopefully-vulnerable arch on Jaeger's foot. It might not cripple him, but it should at least slow him down. She hopes.
COMBATSYS: Nadine successfully hits Jaeger with Light Kick.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
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Jaeger 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Nadine
Jaeger moves at full throttle, but the strategic attack does far more than just a stimple kick would normally do. It tosses him off his balance, sending him crashing backward. The machine ends up tumbling against a support beam, which sends a rack of lighting down on him.
Sometimes, you just have poor luck.
However, Jaeger's not done yet. Bursting forth from the wreckage, the machine tosses aside the trash surrounding him and charges forward. Focused on the girl in front of him, he seems to practically disappear...
For a second, the auditorium is a very quiet place. For a second. Then, with a rush of wind, Jaeger appears behind Nadine, and turns around in a defensive position as a small metal sphere rolls underneath Nadine lazily, the concussion grenade going off in a fraction of a second.
COMBATSYS: Jaeger successfully hits Nadine with Defender.
- Power hit! -
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Jaeger 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\0 Nadine
"Ah," Nadine says, when she sees the object rolling towards her. "Another toy."
It bursts. The shockwave picks her up and throws her backwards; the half-formed tornado just in front of her bursts from her control and whips out. It's rather erratic and random and hardly goes in a straight line; it also has an annoying tendency to vanish, possibly before getting to her target in the first place.
Nadine stays down, passed out.
COMBATSYS: Nadine can no longer fight.
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Jaeger 0/-------/--=====|
COMBATSYS: Jaeger dodges Nadine's Rolling Storm.
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Jaeger 0/-------/--=====|
The tornado whirls around randomly, which makes the avoidance of the attack to be a rather simple matter. The nimble machine simply steps around it, waiting for the thing to simply peter out and disappear.
Nadine's collapse to the floor and subsequent unconcious state means that Jaeger doesn't have to give a response. Therefore, he doesn't. The machine's first SNF battle was interesting, although his opponent was somewhat less than engaging. Jaeger does like to chat at least a little.
Despite that, it would look like the mission is a success. Always a good thing to report to your superiors. Jaeger abruptly leaves, not wishing to spend much more time in the place, a gust of wind kicking up from where he once stood, leaving behind him a throrughly destroyed auditorium.
COMBATSYS: Jaeger has ended the fight here.
Log created on 22:00:34 08/11/2007 by Nadine, and last modified on 17:56:20 08/13/2007.