Description: Having heard of the death of Jiro Kasagi, Frei makes his way to the remains of Nenzhao Metalworks... unexpectedly followed by his erstwhile partner in all of this, Nahid. At the site, they're assaulted by an attack helicopter of a most unusual stripe... and which, when disabled, proves to have an even more distinctive pilot, who has his own plans for what's sleeping in Nenzhao. INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Nahid reflects a missile... BY PUNCHING IT.
The outside of the Nenzhao Metalworking Building has been a hotbed of activity for some time, and the state police are here in heavy forces. There's multiple reasons for curious people to wander by, given this is supposedly the final tomb of one Jiro Kasagi amongst other things, but right now that might be a difficult endeavor at best.
Roughly a dozen vehicles are positioned around, and hunkered state police seem incapable of much more then cowering in the face of a sleek black helicopter that swooshes barely fifty feet in the air. A few open fire with shotguns and pistols, but such only ricochets off ablative plating. The monstrous vehicle is truly massive, with two small wings housing ominous missiles... both the sizeable Hellfires and the rotary chaingun-like housings for the Hydra 7's. Beneath the mirrored cockpit is a full sized 30mm rotary chaingun. And all of this considerable armnament is being bared at the defense present.
Two Chinese helicopters noisily swoosh onto the scene. Without missing a beat, the AH-64 Custom Apache swirls around and faces them, with a rather supernatural grace. The opposing air forces open fire with missiles, yet the Apache swishes over them almost casually. One is raked with 30mm fire, cockpit exploding into glass and one rotor flying off, sending the Chinese helicopter spiraling down to erupt into flames on the ground.
The other attempts evasive maneuvers, yet a Hellfire screams out and impacts it on the side with ease, sending molten shrapnel in all directions. A mustered RPG is fired from somewhere, but despite being apparently in a blind spot the Apache nudges backwards enough for a fair miss.
There are no markings on this helicopter. The Boeing symbols have been scraped off. A mercenary? The pilot has demonstrated himself to be incredible, but no information beyond that can be guessed yet...
Nahid does not really have much of a reason to be here anymore, as several people have noticed. She does not know her 'partner' very well, though she's gotten to the point where she trusts him with her back, if only because he seems too noble to try to stab her in it. She has no background with the 'tournament' organizers, nor with most of the people in it. She could go home, or at least stay out of the way and let Frei get himself killed.
And yet.
Nahid has to admit that fighting in this is one of the biggest rushes she's had in a long time. There is still a lingering promise of reward, too, a prize or anything else she can come out of this with. And of course NESTS kind of wants her to keep an eye on things, even if she doesn't have to do much about it.
So she sticks with Frei, more or less. Sure, sometimes she leaves to do something by herself, but today is not one of those days; she has decided to tag along, possibly whether he wants it or not. (In fact, if he /doesn't/ want it, that makes her only more likely to follow him around. It just means she does it further back.)
Nahid expected to run into fights down here. Who didn't? She heard they had it barricaded. She did not really expect a helicopter dogfight, because that's a little bit out of her field of experience. She shades her eyes as she looks up from a distance. "Huh," she sas, mostly to herself. "He's tearing them up."
So much had happened. A reunion with Hotaru, meeting a new, young fighter named Antoine. A walk through the ruins of Taizhou to clear his head. But eventually, Frei knew he would have to return to the Sanctum HQ and rest. He wasn't sure what would come next, but increasingly, the 'judgment' he had come to Taizhou to make was spread in front of him quite clearly. Whatever it was that's going on in this city... whatever it is that makes Jinchuu the tournament that it is... was not worth the pain and suffering that was wrought to bring it about. That, more than anything else, was what Frei wanted to know for himself. Was all of this worth it? Was there an outcome that would, in the end, mean that everyone who died, everyone who paid a great cost, didn't do it for nothing.
When he'd come, he decided not to do so as a member of 'Einherjar', an organization that he's come to distrust in his own weird way. But he did bring his little communicator/radio/cellphone thing, because it was useful, and because keeping up with their intel could be useful. So, as he comes back to his room, he picks it up for no forseeable reason, and hits 'play'.
'Ullr... No. Jiro Kasagi, signing off.'
It's a long moment while he stares at the phone, unblinking, his gaze off in some... distant realm.
Eventually he thinks to 'call in.' Obviously the big names aren't available, but an operator who manages the tech is. The call came from the Nenzhao area. There hasn't been any word nor sighting of 'Ullr' since. The communicator's GPS signal was lost shortly after.
The next morning, he sent a text message to Nahid, out of concern:
'I just wanted to say, thank you for everything you've done so far. Something's come up, and I need to look into it, which means going into Nenzhao. I don't think anyone would blame you if you took off now and didn't come back. But even if it was random chance, it was fun to be your partner for a while. Good luck.'
Then he sent it, and headed for Nenzhao.
No easy task, either. The closer the chi-sensitive fighter gets to the former metalworks, the more he's regretting it; certainly, the persistent feeling of nausea is bad, but there's also the... paranoia-like sense that someone is just behind him. Hairs raised on the back of his neck. Even the air feels thick, like he's walking through semi-solid fog. And when he gets to the edge of the area, there's Nahid. He doesn't say anything; he gives her a smile, and lets that be what it is. Right up until the point when there's an aerial combat suddenly overhead. The redhead shields his eyes with his hand, looking up. "The Chinese must have decided to move in..."
There seems to be no rhyme or reason. The Apache is attacking everything outside the compound, and using almost surgical applications of force. Despite more RPGS being brought to bear, none come close to impacting the vehicle, which continues the relentless onslaught against the state police. It seems to be little more then shooting fish in a barrel, and given the absolute lack of anything to deal with a technology threat of this level -- let alone one being masterfully piloted -- they begin to retreat, abandoning the Metalworking facility for the time being. A few close circles are done by the Apache, before it suddenly hovers in place, the side facing Frei. Then it slowly twists, minigun swiveling about and aiming at the comparatively diminuative fighter. Suddenly the air hisses with the sound of burning lead. From this distance, Frei would easily be able to dodge the shots before they tear up the soil, but it's certainly a less then friendly gesture. After a sufficiently imposing amount of suppressive ammunition, it begins to advance at a low altitude, the nose almost skimming across the ground... apparently, Frei has been recognized as a meaningful threat. That might be even more curious... if not any less potentially dangerous.
Nahid elects to not respond to the obvious comment by Frei. Of /course/ the army moved in. You're looking at them! And of course she's here. What else was she going to do, stand around?
"So who's the winning guy? THere's no flag or anything." Nahid's eyes aren't supernaturally sharp, but they're perfectly fine at discerning the total lack of markings on a hovering helicopter. Not that she really knows which ones she's looking for, not being particularly interested in military technology most of the time.
And then it goes and... fires at Frei? "Whoa, looks like /you/ don't have a friend!" Nahid has rather intelligently cleared off from Frei and used some leftover debris as cover; the debris is not terribly /effective/ as cover, but it makes her feel better. "What'd you do, put sugar in his gas tank or something?"
COMBATSYS: Nahid has started a fight here on the left meter side.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Nahid 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Apache has joined the fight here as a boss!
APACHE [W]
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|------------===
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Nahid 0/-------/-------|
Amusingly enough, Frei seems about to stop and respond to Nahid, when all of a sudden his head whips toward the helicopter just in time to hear, over the din, the whine of chainguns spinning up. Reacting surprisingly quickly (for Frei's standards, anyway) he makes a sort of low-angle backwards jump, ending in a crouch on the dusty, destroying ground of Nenzhao shortly before two parallel lines of impact points from the bullets send dirt flying into the air. When the cloud clears, Frei is just standing up, brushing a lock of hair out of his eyes and glancing up at the approaching Apache, which appears to have shown a preference for him rather than continuing to pester the Chinese ground forces.
He frowns, thinking back to a number of situations in the past, and then gets into a fighting stance, his fingers curling and uncurling, hand hovering just above the hilt of the bokken slung through his back belt loops. "Yeah," he says to Nahid, in a distracted and annoying-sounding tone. "I seem to have this thing where I get attacked by people in heavily-armed war vehicles a lot. I don't really get why."
But the things he got from Hotaru... it hadn't been much, mostly a text message, and it had seemed like there was more info to share than she could possibly fit into all of it. The major points stand, though: the massive bomb underneath the former metalworks. The military about to sweep in to try and grab it, but they don't quite get how it works. But the swirling chi matrices in the air, growing denser and more complex with each passing day, do not bode well.
COMBATSYS: Frei has joined the fight here.
APACHE
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|------------===
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Nahid 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Frei
Indeed, it might not be a coincidence at all that this helicopter is attempting to secure the building. Especially if it was able to recognize a pair of fighters, whom might in many ways be much more dangerous in terms of interfering. It continues to barrel towards Frei, before suddenly sweeping over in a broad arc. It approaches in a line with Nahid, the chainguns whirling up into speed once more. Before it erupts into fire once more, turning the ground about Frei into swiss cheese. It seems to be using tactics specialized in fighting the incredibly superhuman capabilities of proper fighters... a hail of bullets, as was just demonstrated, is not dangerous to Frei at range, but with it being this close and this properly aimed, the chance of being hit is very meaningful. However, it would fly so close overhead of Nahid and Frei that they could leap up and touch the bottom if they wanted to! ...or punch it. To each his own, really.
It is probably a good thing that Nahid does not know everything that Frei does. She might want to find out even more. Nobody needs that.
"Hell if I know," Nahid says; why people would pick on Frei with tanks and planes eludes her. Maybe he needs it... which puts a whole new spin on how powerful he is, isn't he? She looks him over thoughtfully.
She keeps looking when it decides to spray him with bullets. Nahid reflexively ducks down behind her cover before realizing that she is, in fact, cowering - and she never cowers and rarely retreats. Standing up straight, Nahid leaps onto the debris, sliding down the far side of it slightly. She's still thoughtful.
She's never tried to kill a plane before.
COMBATSYS: Nahid focuses on her next action.
APACHE
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|--------------=
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Nahid 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Frei
COMBATSYS: Frei fails to slow 30mm Round Burst from Apache with Hatsuyuki.
APACHE
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|-------------==
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Nahid 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Frei
There's a moment where Frei narrows his eyes, trying and failing to see through the mirrored glass of the Apache's cockpit, and indeed, all of his past experiences with vehicles and traps attempting to shoot his face off do come rushing back. Shadaloo's experimental tanks in Thailand, some sort of NESTS or S.I.N. thing during the siege of Southtown, even the chi-empowered Ikizukuri-kai that he and Vanessa had to break down just to get into Taizhou. And for some reason it's always about bullets and missiles and in that one case a small tactical nuclear explosion though, weirdly, in that particular instance it wasn't a big deal in the end.
Whipping one hand through the air, fingers trailing blue-white frost, Frei makes a few motions that almost look like a conductor moving an orchestra through a particularly quick and technical part of a song. His idea is to try and whip ice barriers into the path of the bullets, hoping that if he catches enough, it'll stop the attack completely and give him some breathing room. For whatever reason, however, it doesn't quite work out... it might be that instead of weighing the projectiles down with ice, he tried to use it as a shield and underestimated the velocity of a chaingun bullet by a wide margin. He's a sage, not a physicist.
Regardless, the redhead is peppered with gunfire, a few bullets slamming into him, but in the end he looks more annoyed than injured, visible through the glittering remains of his attempted counterattack as the ice dissipates in the chi-saturated air. "There's got to be some better way to do this," he mutters. "Why don't you land and we can play some Uno."
30mm slugs have a fair amount of weight behind them... after all, they are meant to destroy enemy vehicles. Of course, it's doubtful that Frei questioned this in the first place. The apache rushes forward before suddenly turning sharply once more, hovering in place and facing the pair from a fair distance away. Unsurprisingly, the modified attack helicopter doesn't respond to Frei's pleading for peace. Yet it seems Nahid is not going to escape unscathed, as one of those sizeable Hellfire missiles erupts out without warning. Streaming smoke behind, it arcs violently sideways while homing in on her, intent on letting loose a sizeable payload of explosives. Smoke continues to smolder from the wreckage of the other choppers. It seems that now these two are the last line of defense for the Metalworks, for better or worse. 6
COMBATSYS: Nahid reflects AGM-114 Hellfire from Apache with Solitary Peak Palm.
APACHE
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|--------------=
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Nahid 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Frei
Nahid never pleaded for peace because she /knew/ it wasn't going to work. With her luck, whoever's in there doesn't even speak a normal language, like English (the fact that she is in China, or at least near enough to China that she should be speaking Chinese, is ignored).
"Do /what/?" she practically yells back at Frei. "You want him to go away, I don't think he's interested! Now, if you think you can get it down from there, be my guest, but I can't reach that high unless it comes down again - "
Which it is doing; Nahid is /fairly/ certain she can jump that high, but she isn't even sure she'll need to. It takes aim and launches a missile at her, and in that instant, she acts. Even though she has no fucking clue how she's doing it.
Nahid leaps forward as the missile comes at her, off her junky pile of torn-up road and miscellaneous metal bits. She hits the ground running and dashes for several more feet, legs pumping, trying to force more of her power into her hand. There is no visible sign of it, no gathering glow like a lot of chi-users; her hand vibrates, twitching erratically as the force she uses to control her own body overloads physical nerves.
When she drives her hand forward and up at an angle, /then/ there is a flash, a barely visible ripple in the air that leaves a faintly luminescent wake behind it. She strikes the missile just behind the head, forcing the whole thing to spin out of control back in the direction it came. It might lock onto something, it might just fly wildly and then explode, but Nahid doesn't care either way:
She just punched the fuck out of a live missile and she still has all her fingers. How many fighters can say they managed /that/?
They might not have hurt as much as they could have, but they're still bullets, and it takes Frei a moment or two to recover from getting, you know, SHOT. "I never expect them to actually do it," he replies to Nahid, pressing a hand against his stomach palm-down. That stings an awful lot, never mind that it's aggravating the already-persistent nausea thanks to the Katsuten's soaking the air with chi. Standing up fully and shaking his head out, he closes his eyes for a second. "I just, you know. Want to give them the opportunity. If they accept, it's usually--"
He's cut off by the sound of roaring and something very large moving through the air. Turning his head toward Nahid and opening his eyes, he manages to just catch her punching a missile back at the Apache. "...a windfall."
He doesn't take the time to consider things. Instead he starts chasing the missile, hopping from perch to perch until he jumps ONTO THE MISSILE, which he rides back toward the Apache for a moment. When it looks like the thing is about to impact, he leaps off, using it as a springboard, and appears to be attempting to ram his fist -- swirling with an aura of forceful energy -- right into the cockpit windshield. "Just so you know," he shouts, in midair, "this could have been a Draw Four."
COMBATSYS: Nahid successfully hits Apache with Reflected AGM-114 Hellfire.
APACHE [W]
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|------------===
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Nahid 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Frei
COMBATSYS: Apache blocks Frei's Fierce Punch.
APACHE [W]
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|----------=====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Nahid 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Frei
Well. It's rather uncommon for one's own fired missile to be bared against him, but the pilot of the Apache seems to have won that particular lottery. The chi manages to zot the internal circuits momentarily, and when things come back in order it locks onto the largest heat-seeping thing nearby... the helicopter. Despite a rather suspiciously impressive evasive maneuver, it collides heavily with the side near the back, just as Frei manages to lunge off and slam his fist right beside the cockpit. It still causes a massive amount of cracks and a significant dent, knocking off a rather large armor paneling. Only one piece of curious information is seen... it seems the two man Apache only has a single pilot. That's -- well, it should be impossible, but Frei is shrugged off before he can get more clues. Pieces of armor and steel rain off, and it's sent spiraling sideways with an unsettling thrum of the rotors. Yet at the last moment it manages to reset, angling upwards and swishing up, firmly skidding across the ground. Despite this meaningful distraction, it again rockets forward, swishing nearby while multiple small rockets shoot out, each detonating with significant force for the smaller payload. Turning the ground into swiss cheese, and with any luck both of the fighters as well!
COMBATSYS: Nahid dodges Apache's Hydra 7 Triple Shot.
APACHE
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|-----------====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Nahid 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Frei
One missile she might be able to punch back. Nahid is /not/ going to try to strike back multiples, because even though she has an immense amount of guts, there /are/ limits. She's not going to push her luck.
Instead she runs. Nahid ducks her head and charges forward, moving toward part of the fence that never got knocked down by the fighting. The Apache itself is low, so Nahid springs off the fence and directly at it; she isn't intentionally aiming where Frei cracked, but she's at least in the vicinity. Her experience with fighting helicopters is limited (zero) but she figures it's a lot like hitting someone in the face, isn't it?
Nahid comes in foot-first and yelling. It has more power than finesse, but sometimes that's what you need when dealing with... whoever is in there. "Hey, you!" she demands, in English. "What's your name? Huh?"
COMBATSYS: Apache successfully hits Frei with Hydra 7 Triple Shot.
APACHE
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|----------=====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Nahid 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Frei
Hm. Now that's...
MISSILES.
With a sigh, Frei hurls himself forward, looking to try something a little more aggressive than usual; he can hopefully run around them as they fly past, letting him continue on toward the Apache and...
EXPLOSION.
When the smoke clears, Frei's standing, arms crossed over his face and marked with burns, the long sleeves of his shirt tattered and burned away by the detonation, but thankfully still on his feet. Whatever armament that Apache's packing, he doesn't appear to be too critically damaged by it just yet, but if this keeps up it's not going to be pretty. Shaking off his fatigue and shock, he resumes his rush forward, right hand trailing along the ground and glowing with purple lightning; when he manages to catch up with the super helicopter, he thrusts that hand forward at short range, the stored electric chi exploding as a static burst, hopefully shorting out some systems and making this go a little smoother.
COMBATSYS: Nahid dodges Apache's Hydra 7 Triple Shot.
APACHE
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|-----------====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Nahid 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Frei
COMBATSYS: Apache successfully hits Frei with Hydra 7 Triple Shot.
APACHE
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|----------=====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Nahid 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Frei
COMBATSYS: Apache dodges Frei's Reiki.
APACHE [W]
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|----------=====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Nahid 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Frei
COMBATSYS: Apache blocks Nahid's Heavy Kick.
APACHE [W]
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|--------=======
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Nahid 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Frei
It seems that whoever is piloting this helicopter is somewhat shy, given that they twist around so that rather then hitting the vulnerable cockpit, Nahid's heel swiftly cracks against reinforced steel. There's a fair dent made, but that probably hurt like hell. However, it used the built up inertia to whirl to the side, and the crackling fist just barely grazes the undercarriage. A hiss of static is heard, before a deep voice growls out, "Irrelevant. Leave the premises immediately. I have acquisitioned this facility until further notice." Seeming to decide that the pair might need more incentive then that vague warning, the chaingun begins to whirr, before unleashing a suitably lead-based wall of scorching .30mm shrapnel right towards Nahid, attempting to train it on them and make evading to be a pain, if nothign else. It has to hover rather low to the ground to manage such with any ease... it certainly seems to know the perfect range to maximize threat but also maximize defense.
COMBATSYS: Nahid blocks Apache's 30mm Sustained Fire.
APACHE
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|-----------====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Nahid 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Frei
'Acquisitioned'?, Nahid mouths to herself. Man, what a loser, can't he even use normal language -
Bullets. Nahid has been shot before encountering the helicopter, but only by handheld guns that were nice enough to shoot one bullet at a time, none of this 'hail of bullets' crap. She wraps her arms around her body and hunkers down, tensing her muscles just so; some of the bullets actually bounce, and others don't penetrate deeply but do leave bloody wounds behind. "Hell, you can have it," Nahid says, slightly muffled, "what the fuck would I want a broken-down metalworking plant for?"
As the bullets slow - slightly - Nahid gets back up, face red. "At least you could've before you /shot/ me! Now I'm going to kick your ass, you and your goddamned helicopter! What the hell, do you not have the /guts/ to just fight me straight-up, is that it?"
Nahid is getting tired of the thing hovering around rather than being on the ground. This time when she charges and jumps, she tries to literally land on it, hanging on long enough to drive her hand at the rear rotor - a hand made practically invulnerable by the tension of her muscles and her internal psionic power, though the effect weakens as it gets further up her arm and ends entirely by the point it reaches her shoulder. It's just enough that she is pretty sure she is not going to have her hand ripped off it she tries to stop a rotor bare-handed.
Which she is.
His fingers still trail lightning as Frei's hand comes back down from his attack, and he sits there giving the helicopter and its presumed pilot a level gaze for a moment. Whatever it is that's going on, it's annoying him. A lot. For someone whose reputation for staying calm and unruffled in any given situation, it's a bizarre sight, the eyes narrowed and the entire body visibly tense. But the redhead doesn't attack, despite seeing Nahid now apparently wishing to tear the helicopter apart with her bare hands. One thing does catch his ear, though: why would anyone want the metalworks, ruined as they are?
If it weren't for Hotaru's largess, Frei might be wondering the exact same thing.
Frei's right hand clenches into a fist as he focuses his attention. The chi in the air around him responds as he gathers it nearby; the visual effect would be dramatic even in a typical situation. Around Nenzhao, where the Katsuten's expanding chi field is becoming increasingly wide, it's considerably moreso. Lightning from the eternal storm overhead grounds itself around him, cratering the ruined ground. Even the wind picks up, but Frei is heard loud and clear over it. "You know, Seishirou and/or his people blowing this city up was bad enough. Some jerk in a helicopter pretending to sweep in and try to take what's down there like it's groceries you can drop in and take home is just insult to injury at this point." When he sweeps his arm out to the side, there's a thunder-like crack of sound. "Seriously, just go away."
COMBATSYS: Frei gathers his will.
APACHE
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|-----------====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Nahid 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1 Frei
COMBATSYS: Nahid successfully hits Apache with Stone Hand Soul.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
APACHE [W]
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|--------=======
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Nahid 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Frei
The helicopter had begun to swerve towards Frei in an attempt to ward him off, apparently expecting some kind of assault thereafter. But Nahid sweeped in quicker then was expected. Testament to the helicopter, it had begun to swerve away, but it was in no position to make any meaningful evasion. Her fist slams into the rear rotor, which prompty /explodes/, sending shrapnel everywhere. The helicopter then wildly swirls into the air, spinning madly. It begins to skew dangerously to the side, but it's very obvious that the thing is going down. The main rotors suddenly disengage, which mildly stabilizes it. That really doesn't amount to much, as the front of it /slams/ into the ground, pancaking nearly flat. It skids a long, deep furrow through the ground... before erupting into flame and black smoke, pouring up into the air. One can only wonder what happened to the poor pilot in the midst of this, but they are completely inaccessible at this point. Well, Nahid intended to ground it... and that's what she managed!
COMBATSYS: Apache takes no action.
APACHE [W]
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|--------=======
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Nahid 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Frei
Nahid has enough control to spring off as the helicopter starts to bank alarmingly, coming in at an angle that even she can tell is far too steep and too... sideways.
She lands on the street not far off, breathing heavily. Her arm may not have been removed, but it hurts like a bitch after that one. "Heh," she half-says, half-sighs. "Nahid one, helicopters zero."
Nahid advances on it, but it is pretty clear she no longer considers it much of a threat because she's not coming from in front; she takes her time and catches her breath.
COMBATSYS: Nahid gains composure.
APACHE
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|--------=======
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Nahid 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1 Frei
With a tilt of the head, Frei observes that entire scenario wearing an expression of... detached curiosity. It's an amazingly straight line for Nahid, as far as the sword-sage perceives: helicopter makes her mad, she punches helicopter until it stops moving. And then, amazingly, there it is on the ground. You have to admire that sort of thing, in the end, but frankly, the already tense Frei is just happy the thing is on the ground. He glances between the helicopter and Nahid for a moment, raising an eyebrow at the young woman's unconcerned stride right to the cabin door.
Scratching his head a little, Frei doesn't walk at it; he just observes, eyes darting nervously to the actual Nenzhao ruins for a moment or two every now and then. "If this were a horror movie the helicopter would be empty," he throws out, conversationally.
COMBATSYS: Frei gains composure.
APACHE
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|--------=======
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Nahid 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Frei
Quite suddenly, the ammunition of the helicopter erupts into flames and explosions. It sends scorching shrapnel flying in all directions, and a huge plume of flames and black smoke boiling up towards the heavens. However, something can be seen in the midst... what seems to be a round ball, flying out and spinning heavily. It appears to be coming in the direction of the two, quickly descending before unfurling at the last moment. Landing in a crouch abruptly is a figure that Frei at least is liable to recognize... in a distinctive uniform shown many times on Saturday Night Fight, gripping an already unsheathed baton, is none other then Rolento Schugerg. "Unacceptable... that modified Apache was expensive..." He looks to be scorched here and there, smudges of soot on his face, but otherwise quite robust given the whole 'exploding helicopter'. It seems the peculiar language and otherworldly flying aptitude are now explained. "...I had wished to suppress my presence here...!! What interest do you have in this facility?!"
COMBATSYS: Rolento has joined the fight here on the top side.
APACHE
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|--------=======
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Rolento 0|-------|------=
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Nahid 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Frei
COMBATSYS: Apache has left the fight here.
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Rolento 0|-------|------=
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Nahid 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Frei
COMBATSYS: Apache successfully hits Rolento with Helicopter Explosion.
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Rolento 0|-------|-----==
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Nahid 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Frei
"Fffff - "
Well, Nahid was right - it wasn't going to shoot her. It was just going to /blow the fuck up/ instead. The explosion starts on the far side of the helicopter from her, which gives her enough time to cover her face again; the force is enough to bowl her over but not to hurt much more than her pride.
"Oh come on, seriously?" Nahid complains, once she sees who it is - yes, she recognizes him, if only because she was a SNF regular spectator before she became a competitor. That said... well, she's not the one about to answer that question, because she has no especial interest in the place other than seeing why everyone /else/ was nosing about the place.
Instead she attempts a feint toward Rolento that turns into a quick jab, as much to keep him off-balance as anything else. "I'm still pissed at you for shooting me, you know!"
Right, okay. Now it's a known terrorist. Who Nahid has just thrown herself at, though her rationale is 'you just shot me' and really, while Frei has no similar desire to exact retribution for being shot, he can understand where she's coming from. Perhaps unfortunately, that means he's not up there running interference for the poor girl if Rolento decides to do something mean because he doesn't want to be punched and, really, who does?
Instead, he stays where he is, deciding to answer the question posed to him, though Frei's green eyes track Rolento carefully as he responds. Just because he's not immediately trying to knock the yelllow-clad baton fighter's head off his shoulders like a Mortal Kombat fatality doesn't mean he's going to let his guard down around the man. "A friend died here," he responds, in a flat tone of voice. No point in mentioning just who it was, anyway... and maybe if he focuses on the fact that he didn't see it HAPPEN, that there's no proof, Frei can pretend Jiro is just missing.
"But there's other reasons, probably similar to the reason *you're* interested in this facility," Frei says, without any particular rancor; he lets the statement fall into the conversation emotionlessly, a statement of fact, neither for or against. It's only after he says this that Frei's right hand drops back and clenches tightly around the hilt of the wooden sword in his belt loops. "I'd like to hope you can see sense and let enough alone, but I'm an optimist."
COMBATSYS: Frei focuses on his next action.
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Rolento 0|-------|-----==
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Nahid 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Frei
COMBATSYS: Rolento fails to interrupt Quick Punch from Nahid with Medium Throw.
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Rolento 0|-------|----===
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Nahid 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Frei
Somewhat lazily, Rolento attempts to simply shift up his free hand, stance spreading as he aims to catch that intervening wrist. But being somewhat woozy from being trapped in a crashing helicopter until it explodes, his reflexes are not up to the task. He's given a stout slug across the face, and he staggers backwards, momentarily rendered more impotent then usual. "I'm afraid your trifling scars are less then the cost of an apache!!" he growls, looking to be no more composed then anyone else here. It doesn't seem he's particularly interested in immediately extracting vengeance for that. "...You are Frei, correct?" He slowly stretches out, rolling his shoulder and sliding into an aggressive stance. "You should not be so close-minded to my true ideals. There is not only a weapon here, but an oppressed nation. Both of which I have a significant interest in. There are countless hands at play in the shadows... and many of those hands I refuse to allow possession of the item beneath this building." His neck slowly rolls and cracks. "The death of your friend in this pointless war is indeed pitiable. But I have full intent on possessing this facility, and preventing others from doing so. If you wish to oppose me... I will engage with my full capabilities...!!" He looks confident enough, exploded or not.
Nahid seems fairly satisfied with getting a solid (or at least unimpeded) punch across Rolento's jaw. She takes half a step back afterwards rather than following it up with something more painful.
Uncharacteristically, she listens. This is the kind of thing NESTS pays her for; information that she can't get any other way. Whether it's notes on how a psion fights or simply being in the right place at the right time... and hey, Frei might answer, might tell her why they came all the way out here.
She holds her ground and watches. This time.
COMBATSYS: Nahid focuses on her next action.
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Rolento 0|-------|----===
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Nahid 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Frei
Frei doesn't seem particularly troubled or angry at this point, perhaps because Rolento used the magic word that comes out of Seishirou's mouth in every one of his public appearances on this matter so far: 'ideals'. Could the paramilitary commander have been working with Seishirou all along? Given the helicopter, and what he just said, that doesn't seem likely. Still...
Though he speaks to Nahid next, he keeps his eyes on Rolento. "I met with Hotaru, Nahid," he says evenly, taking a breath. It had been a chance encounter, maybe a few moments and nothing more. The blue-haired fighter had her own things to attend to, as did Frei. "She told me what she found out from her 'wishes'. The important thing is that somewhere underneath all... that," he bites out, waving a hand at the former metalworks, now so much slag, "is basically a massive bomb. I forget the name, but I don't think the name's terribly important. I just know it's supposed to be really, really dangerous."
He pauses, taking a breath, and then looks to Rolento. He doesn't seem angry, apparently having regained his typical calm, but his purpose appears to be set. "I don't really know your ideals. Maybe some other time you can give me the summary. But the people of Taizhou whose lives have been ruined, who might yet see all this wiped off the map... they don't have an advocate, so I'm stepping in. Whatever's down there, I have to find some way to stop."
A pause, and he shakes his head. "When I first saw Sanctum, I thought that maybe Seishirou might have had some sort of noble intention. That when he was done this place would be better than before. To find out it's just so there could be some new, stupid way for people to kill each other hidden down here really sets me on edge, you know? So... sorry that we have to do this the hard way, but I can't let anyone get their hands on what's down there. This needs to come to an end."
With that, he charges forward, a straightforward sort of thing to do. When he gets close enough, he snaps out a hand to try and grab Rolento's wrist; if he gets the grip, he plants his foot, pivots, and attempts to spin and hurl the military fighter out of the way in a burst of centripetal force and bursts of wind chi.
COMBATSYS: Rolento blocks Frei's Medium Throw.
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Rolento 0|-------|----===
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Nahid 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\0 Frei
"You fool. Do you think I do not wish to stop it as well? There is no political value in destroying this nation!! Weapons must be deterrants to government, not to be used on the civilians!! Seishirou is irrelevant to me." Of course, it seems they will also be talking with fists. Or with other things, as the time might have it. He is gripped, but rather then go against the flow, he moves with it. Kicking off the ground, whirling about in a tight ball, and landing rather heavily to skid away, wrist mildly singed from the burst of wind. He takes a few moments to appraise either of the fighters, before suddenly leaping high into the air. His knees pull up to his chest, baton whirling around. Yet this turns out to be a feint, as he instead snaps out his free hand, and spiraling steel shoots down towards Frei. Attempting to sink into his thigh and inhibit his movement and ability to put weight on it, arching overhead to land some distance away. "You have mere desires. But I have something more. I have an army. And I have experience in war. And I have information sources you can only dream of. If you wish to end this, then you should work for me!!"
There's a bomb under there.
Nahid's eyes do not show much of note. She has a poor poker face, and is showing excitement - but she has been doing that since the threat of violence became a reality, so it doesn't really signify anything new.
"Y'all are both crazy, you know," Nahid says, instead. "One of you is trying to save the world, and the other's trying to control it. Neither one's gonna work worth a damn." Her body is tense, but she does not move from her position. "I only came here for the excitement of it. Enter a tournament, win cash prizes, have a hell of a fight." Or whatever kind of 'tournament' this is.
She suddenly dashes toward Rolento as he comes down for a landing, attempting to grab him out of the air and throw him the last bit to the ground, spiking him straight vertically. "But only one of you has pissed me off so far!"
COMBATSYS: Frei just-defends Rolento's Stinger!
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Rolento 0|-------|---====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Nahid 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\0 Frei
There's a sort of *snap!* sound as, with snakebite speed, Frei's hand blurs through the air, catching the blade that was just thrown at him. With a sigh, he turns his head away a bit and tosses the knife to the side.
"Helping you means giving up one type of overlord for another, though, doesn't it?" he asks of Rolento conversationally, though he glances at Nahid as the girl who's stuck by him all this time -- even if only for the 'excitement' of it -- says that they're both crazy. Well, Frei probably is a little bit nuts, though he would be the first to admit it if pressed on the issue. "I mean, maybe you wouldn't have blown up Taizhou to prove it in the first place. Maybe you wouldn't build a giant chi-powered bomb. To your credit, for sure. But I think what these people want most is to get on with their lives. And as long as people like us -- people with 'power' -- are messing around with them, that's never going to happen."
Yes, things will be settled with fists. At this point, Frei knows that's about all that can be done. Something about these people with high ideals, with visions of how the universe should be and isn't -- Seishirou, Rolento, even Alma -- is just so damn *unreasonable* in his eyes, that somehow violence always seems to be the answer. But Frei made a promise, to a lot of different people, not the least of all himself... a promise to take the first step and follow his intuition. To take the initiative.
He steps in as Nahid does, waiting for his opportunity to, frankly, snap out one hand and grip Rolento around the throat, letting a purple-black aura of yin chi -- the energy of 'death' -- seep into the terrorists body... perhaps to make a point as much as to get him to submit.
COMBATSYS: Nahid successfully hits Rolento with Whipping Wind Descent.
[ |||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Rolento 0|-------|---====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Nahid 0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0 Frei
COMBATSYS: Frei successfully hits Rolento with Shihaku.
[ |||||||||||||||||| ]
Rolento 0|-------|-======
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Nahid 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\1 Frei
The swishing lunge forward manages to catch Rolento and hurl him downwards as desired, and he slams heavily upon a shoulder before rolling away, slipping back languidly to a crouching position. "I have no interest in owning the world." Rolento states matter of factly, before looking evenly at Frei. A lunge backwards is too slow! Caught, he spasms with an agonized grunt as the chi flares within him, before his baton sweeps upwards and slams the grappling hand away. Backflipping fluidly, he coughs heavily into a closed fist, white eyes narrowing opposite. "Exactly. EXACTLY." he growls towards Frei. "The helpless, blind people, victims of large government and corporations, is precisely what I am trying to save!! The very media you draw your conclusions of me from is that of the enemy I wish to destroy. People are oppressed worldwide, and human lives and war are mere devices for gain, an economy kept in business through the blood of the innocent and faithful." He pulls off a grenade, lazily flicking the pin away. "We see things differently, Frei. You try to help people one at a time, within your morals. Yet I am a monster, created by this world, who will do anything it takes to stop the true oppressing class..." And with that he twists, hurling the grenade with a snarl. This is an anti-vehicle mine, highly modified to work on powered people. If compared to a rocket, Frei might highly appreciate the quality!
Nahid lands this time and does not have to jump back in the air to avoid an explosion. It's not aimed at her, but at Frei - and while she likes Frei, she does not like him enough to take a bomb for him.
Sorry, Frei.
"Heh," Nahid says, without making it particularly clear what (if anything) she actually finds amusing. She weighs the odds of darting off and getting to the bomb before /either/ of them, but she probably couldn't carry it out, and if Frei wins it's not like it'll be going anywhere anyway.
Plus, she /did/ want to test herself against someone strong. Rolento counts.
"You're lookin' the wrong way," Nahid says, instants before she actually acts; Nahid comes from behind, locking her knees and planting her feet, making herself as stable as the ground she stands on before lashing out with a heavily reinforced fist - not once, but several times, a slow barrage of blows she delivers without ever lifting a foot.
COMBATSYS: Frei blocks Rolento's Grenadier.
[ ||||||||||||||||||| ]
Rolento 0|-------|-======
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Nahid 0/-------/-----==|=======\=------\1 Frei
Well, that's not good.
Frei doesn't bother to try and catch a *grenade*. What would you even do with it? Nor does trying to outrun the blast seem like a particularly good idea either. Instead he stays where he is, crosses his arms in front of him, and tries his damndest to weather the blast. And it's an impressive explosion, at that. The sage's body disappears in an expanding haze of flame for a brief moment, but when the smoke clears, he appears damaged but unbowed. The grenade did a number on him superficially; shrapnel and burn marks cover his arms and a few cuts in his jeans reveal the same on his hips... but in the end it could have been a lot worse.
"I don't let the media do my thinking for me," he says to Rolento, quietly, looking at the military man with an even expression. "But you're a big picture talker, just like Seishirou. It's not the same picture, probably, but the problem is that in a big picture scenario the little people get crushed. They become 'acceptable sacrifices' and 'friendly fire victims' and all that rot. So your intentions probably are noble, for all I know."
A hand goes back, gripping the end of the wooden sword that he's recently begun to use as a fighter, fingers curling around the polished, smooth grip tightly... the only visible sign of the tension he feels. "It might even be that I don't really care what you do here once it's all over. But I'm telling you, you can't have that weapon. Nobody can. It's... where I draw the line. Sorry. It's not personal," he adds at the end, as if it makes this any easier.
Rushing in, he attempts to grab the front of Rolento's shirt with his free hand, then shove him backwards off balance... before swinging a chi-empowered drawing sword-swing right at Rolento's head in an attempt to end it all in one risky attack.
COMBATSYS: Nahid successfully hits Rolento with Rooted Mountain Heart.
[ ||||||||||||||| ]
Rolento 0|-------|=======
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Nahid 0/-------/----===|=======\=------\1 Frei
COMBATSYS: Rolento dodges Frei's Close-Quarters Draw.
[ ||||||||||||||| ]
Rolento 0|-------|=======
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Nahid 0/-------/----===|=======\=------\1 Frei
Nahid seems rather able to leverage on the threat that Frei is posing to Rolento, slamming her fist heavily into his side as he fails to twist out of the way. Each feels more like it's hitting a rooted mountain then anything, but he does stagger from the raw number. Before his eyes widen, grasped by Frei. There's a flash of steel and a sudden, intense backflip. The weapon cuts only air, leaving the swordsman holding a shred of his uniform that he cut free at the last moment. Planting hands on the ground, he then skids to a stop opposite Frei. Before lunging forward with a loud roar, his weapon spiraling madly like a rotorblade. He sweeps it out to crush through his guard and slam into him, then again, before launching a savage uppercut intending to send Frei right into the air. "War is about opposing ideals. You should not apologize for your beliefs!! If you do not have the strength to enforce them, you are as powerless as the civilians in this world. What is best is determined by the victor... be it history, or the fate of countries and civilizations!!"
Nahid would have tried to punch back a grenade, but she has already established insanity on that front.
Nahid's hands theoretically feel pain but she doesn't really react to it; they're as hard as what she's hitting right now. Moving her feet, Nahid's knees and ankles crack audibly as the unnatural strain she was putting on the joints releases; it's a wonder she doesn't break her own limbs doing this kind of thing, having invincible flesh doesn't help the bones any.
"I've got a belief /and/ an ideal for you," Nahid says, slipping forward, hands up and ready to defend herself from Rolento's inevitable attack. "Can you guess what it is? I've got it /right here/!"
Those last words are accompanied with her driving her hard head directly toward Rolento's nose. Nahid isn't using any tricks this time. Her head is just /that hard/.
COMBATSYS: Frei fails to interrupt Patriot Circle from Rolento with Ashura Ressenjin EX.
[ ||||||||||||||| ]
Rolento 1|-------|=======
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Nahid 0/-------/------=|=====--\-------\0 Frei
If this were an old movie, there'd be a brief moment of bullet time, as Rolento approaches with his weapon and Frei puts his grip on his. Ultimately, however, Rolento has had considerably more experience with weapon combat, and Frei is relying mostly on muscle memory and instinct. He's about to draw, attempting to slice through Rolento's spinning attack, but the twirling baton cheerleaders through his guard three times, knocking the (comparatively) light fighter right into the air and then on his back.
The wooden sword slams into the ground with a crunching noise as Frei uses it to get to his feet. Curious, that a long series of grenades, bullets, missiles, and damn near anything else barely fazes him, but an expertly-wielded length of metal no longer than a wiffle bat really does quite a number on Frei by comparison. Still, it's far from being enough to knock him out just quite yet, and the redhead pulls himself standing, the bokken slipped back into his beltloops. He glances at Nahid dispensing indiscriminate fisting and for the first time actually starts to wonder about what's going to happen if she remains by his side for the rest of what goes on in Taizhou.
"All winning proves is that in any given fight, you had superior power... and maybe good luck. But it doesn't prove right and wrong." He grits his teeth, placing a hand gingerly palm-down over his stomach. That hurt rather more than he first thought, too... but he's come back from worse. Hopefully he can again. "So if -- when -- we beat you back, what is it you plan to do here, exactly?"
COMBATSYS: Nahid successfully hits Rolento with Summit Drive.
[ |||||||||||||| ]
Rolento 1|------=|=======
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Nahid 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Frei
A close thing. All the cards were against him. Were this a world of probability, Frei would of struck clean and true. Yet this is a battlefield, and it was those innumerable inconsistencies and mild distractions -- which Rolento is a master of adapting to and using -- that allowed him to prevail. Experience, after all, is his true strength. Yet truly proof of Frei's assault is that it's far too intense for him to spare any focus on Nahid, who expertly continues to whittle away the superior warrior, blow by blow. He's struck in the face, whipping to the side and skidding his stance apart. Blood splatters the ground, and he slowly rubs his fist upon the wound. "...Don't be naive. Battles mean nothing. But wars mean everything. This engagement is ultimately meaningless. You do not have the capability to defeat me permanently, nor the resources to hold this site for more then hours. Even the State Police can evict you. If you wish access for a brief time... you might succeed. But I believe that to be useless in the end...!!" Having had QUITE ENOUGH of Nahid's antics, he then whirls towards her, sweeping out his hand and trying to catch her by the face. To then twist around and hurl her head over heals with a snarl, trying to send her flying across the rugged terrain.
COMBATSYS: Nahid blocks Rolento's Medium Throw.
[ ||||||||||||||| ]
Rolento 1|-----==|=======
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Nahid 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Frei
Nahid says, "Well, if you can't beat me - and him too, I guess," Nahid adds, "how're /you/ going to hold it? I'm the 'new kid'"
Nahid is pretty quick despite the fact that she's been tiring herself out with her extremely aggressive barrage of attacks, and she manages to interpose an arm between Rolento's grabbing hand and her face. Of course, she'd been expecting a punch... so he just throws her by the arm instead of the head.
This doesn't actually change very much except that Nahid can see when she's going to hit the ground and tuck in before she does. She comes up no more angry than she was before, and no less energetic, though she is starting to slow.
"Well, if you can't beat me - and him too, I guess," Nahid adds, "how're /you/ going to hold it? I'm the 'new kid'." She even does the finger quotes. "Never been in a tournament before. And here I am, kicking - your - ass!"
The last three words are accompanied with solid punches. Nothing fancy about them, really; she's just swinging, letting herself get some breath back.
"They're welcome to try."
Frei brings up his hand, glowing blue-white with accumulated chi... and he can feel the place responding to him. Most fighters who use chi don't use their *internal* chi -- the energy that keeps them alive. They shape and imprint on chi in the air, in the world, around them. A focused act of will impresses a form on unruly, shapeless energy for the briefest of moments, just long enough to be effective. The genius of Ryouhara technology, not that Frei knows this, is that it can turn the ephemerality of chi manipulation into a long-term thing. But even that can have local effects. The Katsuten far below is extending its energy field outward in preparation, but a clever person like Frei can use that to his advantage.
"Wars are just things... they're not noble, they're a taxonomy. Fight enough battles of a similar style and bam, there's your war. Individual battles still mean something, though. Even this one." With that, he sweeps his hand down and the air around Rolento itself suddenly glistens, then freezes completely solid. The idea is nothing less than trapping Rolento -- however briefly -- in a prison of pure chi ice.
COMBATSYS: Rolento blocks Frei's Hatsuyuki.
[ ||||||||||||| ]
Rolento 1|-----==|=======
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Nahid 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Frei
COMBATSYS: Rolento interrupts Strong Punch from Nahid with Mine Sweeper.
[ ||||||||||| ]
Rolento 1|----===|=======
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Nahid 1/----===/=======|====---\-------\0 Frei
"Tch. This is no time for semantics. This battle has meaning, if different ones for different people. In my case, it would be an aggravating setback!!" He then quickly compresses inwards, shielding his vitals as the ice swirls over him. Indeed, he's paused for a second, but only such. It shatters outwards in all directions with a roar, just as Nahid is slithering forward with punching intent. The first... whiffs. Something bounces between her legs. A moment later, she will realize via HORRENDOUS EXPLOSION it was a grenade. Scratch that; a chain of grenades. Literally juggled by the heavy ordinance, Rolento comes to a stop as Nahid flies overhead, likely smoldering neatly, to tumble to a stop some distance away. "GOOOOO!!!"
Nahid is not in favour of explosives, at least not when they don't come in easily knock-backable missiles.
Nahid vanishes from view entirely behind a cloud of smoke and flash, hitting the ground and rolling several yards without saying anything. (How about that? She /can/ choose to not run her mouth.) Perhaps she's actually defeated?
Nah. Nahid lurches back to her feet, brushing herself off, picking out a scrap of road debris that appears to have embedded itself in her glove with a painful wince. "That it?" she asks, though her voice sounds a little raspy and she can't... quite get the energy to run up and hit him. Her ears are ringing rather than providing any useful input and she's not entirely sure her volume was right on that.
COMBATSYS: Nahid gains composure.
[ ||||||||||| ]
Rolento 0|-------|------=
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Nahid 1/------=/=======|====---\-------\0 Frei
Shielding his eyes, Frei watches as Nahid gets an unfortunate delivery of grenades thrown right in her face at unavoidably point-blank range... and then, once the smoke clears she appears to be, for the most part, unharmed. For the most part. One dark red eyebrow goes up; even among fighters, being still on your feet after a massive grenade burst is pretty impressive. "Wishing you'd stayed behind?" he asks Nahid, though there's a faint smile on his face as he says it. He's grateful for her presence, even if part of him knows that she's going to be in for even more miserable times than this if she sticks by his side until the end.
As for Rolento...
"You know," Frei says carefully, turning back toward the freedom fighter. "A long time ago I used to think if people just made a reasoned argument then this sort of thing would just settle itself." Slowly, he starts walking toward Rolento... at a speed where, if he needs to get out of the way, he can, but it's still a steady advance, his hands coming up as Frei cracks his knuckles. A surprisingly old school gesture from someone who's not prone to making them. "I think I've been disabused of that notion, by now. Occasionally if you want to make a point, you've just got to accept the other guy disagrees with you and move on with getting things done."
Which is why, when he gets close enough, Frei brings his hand back, and then -- fist trailing an aura of scarlet fire -- attempts to just give Rolento a right cross to the face. "Get the hell out of my way!"
COMBATSYS: Frei successfully hits Rolento with Fierce Punch.
[ |||||||| ]
Rolento 0|-------|----===
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Nahid 1/------=/=======|=====--\-------\0 Frei
The intense strike hits Rolento clear in the face. And sends the warrior staggering backwards, finally losing his footing and crashing to the ground. His world seems to be reeling, rubbing blood away from his mouth and slowly clambering back up. "..." He's lost this fight. He is not a suicidal man by nature, only by impulse. "Very well... take this building for now...!! But this battle means nothing for my war!!" Aching head to toe, he then leaps backwards, throwing a pair of grenades towards the ground at the same moment. "That weapon will be acquired by me in the end!!" A massive eruption of smoke whirls out, ballooning out dozens of yards in an instant. It would even wash over Frei and Nahid, although this does not seem to be some attempt to ambush... when it disperses, he would be nowhere in sight. Certainly an accomplishment -- not everyone can punch down an Apache and then take on a smoldering Rolento immediately afterwards!
COMBATSYS: Rolento has left the fight here.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Nahid 1/------=/=======|=====--\-------\0 Frei
"Wishing this guy knew what was good for him," is Nahid's almost immediate response. She doesn't look any better than she did a few moments ago even if she's breathing a little easier; she bounces back fine (and quickly) but sometimes it takes her appearance some time to catch up.
Just in case, Nahid holds her breath through the smoke cloud. She doesn't want to end up coughing her lungs out because of some poison... but one doesn't seem to be there, and she lets it out when it starts to dissipate, fanning rapidly in front of her face with her eyes tearing a little.
"Fuckin'... You don't do things by halves, huh. Pissing off Rolento now?"
The redhead's eyes narrow as the smoke cloud washes over both himself and Nahid, fist still upraised, but when all is said and done, Rolento apparently took the opportunity to retreat... for the time being, anyway. When it becomes reasonably clear that Nahid is the only one looking, he sucks air in through his teeth and then shakes out his right hand, which now hurts quite a bit. "God... for all that monkey jumping around he does that guy's got a jaw like a cinderblock. Ow." This is then interrupted by a short coughing jag, as he attempts to get what's left of the smoke bomb out of his lungs, rubbing at his eyes as well.
At Nahid's question, Frei turns around, and processes what she just said. Deciding that being truthful couldn't hurt, he rubs the back of his neck in a gesture of sheepish embarassment. "Well, I used to," he admits. Half measures... that might be a good way to describe it. Always neutral, always trying to see multiple sides. It wasn't bad, but it had its downsides, too... that feeling of paralysis and helplessness, not wanting to get too involved. "But lately I've just been getting caught up in the moment."
Turning, Frei looks back at what's left of Nenzhao. If the intelligence Hotaru passed on to him is right, there's a massive chi-powered explosive device in there, somewhere. But more importantly...
After a moment of silence, he turns back to Nahid. "I don't know if you've ever heard the name Jiro Kasagi or not," Frei says unexpectedly, "but... well. He was a friend of mine." Turning back, Frei steps into the debris and scuffs a bit of it with a toe, like he's about to dig through it, or something along those lines. "He sent a transmission from this area a few days ago, and then nobody's heard from him since. What he sent made it sound like..."
He trails off, then turns to look at Nahid with a penetrating sort of gaze. "So what are you going to do now?"
Nahid elects not to answer at first. Instead she undoes the tie in her hair (which makes it go everywhere) and brushes ash and grit out of it with her fingers. She redoes the cheap tie afterwards. Her hair does not look appreciably neater.
"As far as I'm concerned, you can have the bomb. Nothing I care about if I can avoid getting exploded by it." Nahid decides that NESTS doesn't need a bomb either. They investigate fighters. What would they need one for? (She has not been given the rule-the-world lecture, apparently, or she would realize just /how much/ Igniz would want a chi bomb.)
She spits off to the side. "I'm just getting tired of this place. I wanted a fight, a good fight, not Civil War: Now With Ninjas. I don't care about this shit, I barely understand what's going on half the time, and yes, I read the stupid notes. So here's what I'm going to do now: I'm going to take a nap, and then I'm going to find someone and beat the shit out of them. Or they beat me, I dunno yet."
"I see," is all Frei says in response to that. He doesn't blame her. Once upon a time he was interested in fighting only for what it could do for him: he had been a scholar of chi, and fighters used chi more than anyone else, so a fighter he became. He's never had the love of battle for the sake of battle, though, that might be one of the traits that separates the truly great from the merely good; when another route will do, Frei prefers not to fight, and when he does in a non-friendly way, it's an attempt to get it over with as soon as possible. For not the first time, he wishes as he sometimes does, that he had this love of fighting that seems to propel so many people he knows forward.
"I'm kind of jealous of that," Frei says aloud, looking up at the stormy sky. "It seems like whenever I'm fighting, it's because of some crazy thing or another. Someone attacks the YFCC and I'm the one at the desk. Some jerk decides to take over Southtown. Some ninjas might want to destroy the world." He pauses, then turns back to Nahid with a smile. "It'd be nice maybe, to have a battle and not have it be part of some crazy conflict between good and evil, or something like that."
Yet funnily enough, Frei isn't a Seishirou, or an Alma, or a Rolento either. He doesn't fight for an 'ideal' so much as to satisfy what's important to him. A fundamentally selfish urge, in his own mind, but one he has of late decided to indulge. "Well... if this is where we part ways, let me say good luck. It's been... interesting knowing you, Nahid. I'm sorry being my partner has gotten you in such sticky situations."
Nahid still lives for that excitement, that thrill. Immature? Maybe. It hasn't stopped Nahid yet, though, and probably never will; she's the sort of person to love her adrenaline and love the challenge of it. She /enjoyed/ fighting Rolento and the Apache rather than fleeing or paying attention to that lingering feeling of dread and fear.
"You think too much about that," Nahid says, before shoving her hands in her jacket pockets and walking away. "And don't apologize. One, it makes you look weak, and two, where the hell else was I going to do some of that stuff? It was an opportunity."
She pauses, about halfway to gone. "When you're done, call me. I'll give /you/ a fight then." She'll probably lose, but what does she care? It's another shot she wouldn't have otherwise.
That gets a laugh. In spite of their differences, Frei finds Nahid a breath of fresh air, all things considered. He nods once. "Alright... you've got a deal. Take care of yourself. I don't know what's going to happen in the next day or so, but I'm betting this place is going to get even more dangerous than it has been." He pauses, then grins a little. "Although given this conversation, you'll... probably like that, I guess."
With a nod and a wave, Frei turns to head into the dephts of Nenzhao, to the extent that it's possible. Whatever's down there, he can't let anyone have it. Not Seishirou, not Rolento... nobody. How he's going to accomplish that? Well... that's anyone's guess.
Log created on 17:40:41 06/13/2010 by Frei, and last modified on 01:03:37 06/23/2010.