Chapter 2: Front 1; Combat – Part 1/2

The UnderCurrent Experience
A Dramatized Re-telling of the UnderCurrent Event
"By Pierre Havelock - OBE"

'One day, It's amazing how much difference one day can make' - Una pondered longingly.

One day ago had been her first aboard the Battleship 'Am-Fluchtig'.
 One day ago she hadn't been surrounded by the oppressive smell of freshly oiled machine parts.
   One day ago she hadn't been staring down the barrel of an enemy rifle-scope.

The faint streak of pulsing light soared past Una's screen, careering forward into a cluster of detritus that seemed to disintegrate to dust and explode all at once. Una quickly pulled at the two massive handles of the control grips, hurriedly moving herself and her machine further behind a massive piece of lifeless silver metal.

She could feel the uncomfortable sensation from the beads of sweat that glistened across her forehead, her hands clammy as they moved between the complicated equipped of her machine.
 In front of her was a series of monitor screens, some displaying grainy imagery of her surroundings, others streaming with numbers indicative of the various complex systems running through-out her craft and most of all, the largest screen directly to the front displaying the main-camera-feed.
 Said feed currently showed two other mechs some 100 spans away, hiding behind their own field of rubble - Her 'comrades-in-arms'; The gruff older man, Kolme Nilas and the younger but equally worn looking Sabban Vint.

She hadn't meant to fly so far ahead of her allies, only to find somewhere out in the distance lay a Vijaik with a mighty rifle of some kind.

Talking a deep breath she fumbled with a small board of switches on her right, flipping on the laser-light radio in response to a similar flashing coming from lieutenant Nilas'es machine. Mech's in the heat of battle couldn't afford to use conventional means of communication, especially if it gave away their position to an enemy ambush in waiting - Instead nearly all machines were out-fitted with a form of discreet laser that allowed for hard to detect close-quarters communication.

Kolme's machine, Una noticed in particular was fitted with an array of equipment more than just this laser.
 A large retractable litany of small dishes and narrow towers could protrude out from one of the machine's two broud shoulders - A standard set-up for a team's vice-leader to have for the purpose of detecting an enemy or alternate forms of communication - Not so standard was the rest.

Where Una had been thrilled to just that morning receive responsibility over a brand new Vijaik Neo-Type-C - A hulking nearly 20 metres tall humanoid machine, with fresh paint in it's signature dark greens and blue stylings.
 Amply equipped with the latest in standardised energy rifles and an accompanying arc staff (a cage like weapon that emitted an intense field of flame that could cut through almost anything, in much the same way a conventional plasma-cutter migth) - All topped off with a sliding gauntlet shield and magnetic weapon clamps - Truly a first class machine in her eyes, Kolme and Sabban had very different work spaces.

Looking at them now through the screen of her own machine she could get a better feel for them than when she had first seen them standing sullenly aboard the ship's lower hanger bay.
 Kolme's machine along with it's radar array, also had a massive double-barrelled cannon strapped to it's back with the appearance of a small ship's-battery to it.
 Accompanying this was two large un-standard leg's on the machine, and further it's paint was a stark contrast to Una's machine, scorch marks covered almost every open space - There even looked to be rust in places.

Then there was Ensign Sabban's Vijaik, again it was technically the same model as her own, all the squad's machines were, but it was hard to tell that at a glance.
 The greens and blues of its paint seemed a little deeper, seemingly brown in places contrasted by a white (thought greying) number on each shoulder pad reading "26" and "27".

Also like Kolme's massive canon, Sabban's mechanical home boasted a sort of backpack consisting of three massive thrusters, capable of allowing his machine to move at remarkable speeds over short distances - At the cost of an excessive amount of fuel.

Cost was the key word, or so Una had been told at some length. During a lecture of sorts that very morning when she had been ogling the customised machines, Kolme had explained that all the mechs aboard the Fluchtig had been heavily modified with experimental equipment.
 The likes of his twin cannon and Sabban's thrusters were examples of this, capable of pushing a Vijaik's performance and offensive power exponentially sure, but equally likely to break down or leave the machine floating freely in space with no power left.

Another of these 'experiments' caught her eye as she looked at the monitor, Sabban's duo of 'shotguns'.
 In recent years energy weaponry had all but superseded conventional physical forms of ammunition, making the guns an anomaly. The idea was to press them right against an enemy's cockpit, with them firing twice near simultaneously.
 The first round to pierce the armour, the second to kill the pilot inside - However they apparently had a terrible habit of melting or jamming before the second round could hit, leaving a potential wielder at risk of blowing off their own arm during intense close-combat.

Una had to admit that while initially she'd thought her ally's machines appeared impressive with their rugged aesthetics, the more she heard about the machines - The gladder she was to have a simpler, more straightforward one that was easier to get around. The laser link now established, the voice of Lt.Kolme Nilas slinked it's ways in;
 "I told ya' not to stray ahead lass." Came the exasperated voice of the older man, he sounded almost as thought he had palm to his face in despair.

"Strange thought--" The second voice Una identified as Sabban's, it was younger by rights yet the tone of it wasn't far off Nilas'es own;
 "--They should of blasted the Rookie to bits by now, I mean that rubble she's behind is paper thin".

Una reflexively glanced behind herself to, of course only see the back of her chair, her face flushed at this act.
 "Hmm guess there at it again." Kolme responded sounding ever more dejected, "But that migth not be all bad...ya let's do that then." The older man added, his voice lifting.

Una asked what he meant and soon Kolme began to divulge a plan to the two young pilots.
 "----So think ya 'an handle that Rookie? I mean before this me and the lad had a little bet." Kolme finished with a tone of mischief.'
 'The Rookie' swallowed hard, "What sort of bet?"

"Oh nothin' really, he reckons ten to one you'll get taken out first but I think it's more like 5 to 1 ya hear?"

Una couldn't exactly say she hadn't expected this sort of thing, hazing was normal and she was well aware of her own inexperience, still she would of been lying if she had said it didn't sting a little to be talked about in such degrading terms.
  
Before she could try to think up a suitable retort however, one of her machine's screens flashed a warning light in a startling bright red, while elsewhere an alarm rang out before mere seconds later, far too few for her to actually do anything about these alerts, a sleek Navy Blue line of solid light burst forth through the wall of metal she'd made her hiding place.
 She watched on the screen as it soared ever onwards, seemingly heading into the blackness of space without any sign of ever stopping. She gulped down far harder this time, one of the smaller monitors indicated the blast had been only a couple inches away from hitting her.

"Ho-ho, looks like were on kiddos. Sab-lad I'll leave it to you."
 Sabban didn't reply to Kolme's final comment so much in words, as much as in a confident grunt. Una did her best to put in her own reply but found herself cut off as another blast, to her left this time, once again pierced through her scant cover - Only centimetres off this time.

By now she realised her hands weren't just clammy but downright pouring, any second could bring that third shot straight on top of her. 'Blue means it's very, very strong right?'
 She did her best to calm her breathing, it felt tight, as though something were squeezing her wind-pipe, she fought back the urge to open the cockpit in a vain attempt to get more air. Further the place was warm, hazily so.

'The Plan, focus on the plan.'
 It wasn't an especially complicated strategy, atleast not on paper.
Kolme seemed to think that the two enemy combatants were squabbling, hence why they had yet to make a proper assault or land a shot on Una's machine - To that end they would make the first move.
 Utilising his superior thrusters, Sabban would cover the distance as fast as needed, with Una falling in behind him. The closer they could get, the less effective the enemies long range rifle would be, that was the idea atleast.

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Una held her breath, trying her best to ready herself. There it was, Sabban's bulky custom-mech breaking forth from cover and bottling towards her at a remarkable speed, covering the distance in seconds.
 And then it was gone.

----

Una blinked.
 Weather it was nerves or the mesmerisation at the sight of a 60-tonne rocket passing by, she had solidly missed her que. Glancing briefly at the screen to see Kolme's mech too had made itself scares, she painedly threw the controls to their full output and gave chase. Ahead was Sabban's machine which had clearly slowed some in an effort to prevent himself from getting too far ahead. Further past that she could see their quarry.

As Kolme had said, two machines lay ahead in an interesting formation:
 One was painted in shades of cyan and a slightly lighter hue of emerald green to that of her own machine. On it's back lay a massive rectangular shape with a slew of wires ejecting hence into a massive rifle, easily 5 metres in length at a cursory glance.
 'It's heads different to' - Where Una and Co's had a face consisting of an angular orange visor, acting as their primary vantage point - This machine had something almost akin to an expression with two blue coloured, diamond-shaped eyes and even a rectangular grating in place of a mouth.
 Further an outcropping rectangle was mounted to the forehead, an 'old school view enhancer', Kolme had said.

The machine sat prone on one knee against some old rock debris floating slowly through the blackness. It should of been ready to shoot both herself and Sabban easily out of the sky, however to Una's relief it's head was pointed to the side, towards the other mech.

Where the sniper's Vijaik was ready for action (withstanding its head) the other machine looked downright expressive.
 No weapons drawn, it floated alongside it's ally waving it's massive arms around, almost like a person trying to emphasis a point during a heated argument.
 It wasn't just it's actions that Una noted as strange, the body of the machine was covered in thicker armour than her own, almost giving it an overweight look, a similar set of oversized feet to Kolme's machine also added to this visual and then there was it's head.

Even more out of place then 'its friends', the machine coloured in deep Reds and greens had a sort of triangular head that rounded down into a curved shape. Said curved shape circled around in a 360-degree band where a person's mouth level would be.
 Una recognised the type from her days in training, they had been a popular design among Abhailien pilots during The First War - A bright red orb glowed inside the pyramidal dome which moved freely, allowing for a much narrow field of vision but one that could look around in all directions. A number of smaller pinprick-lights also adorned the strange machine's visage in a spider like fashion.

Finally there was it's lopsided shoulders, one was a regular armour plated rectangular shape, but the other was a massive domed object, with a series of words embedded into it - Which from her current distance Una couldn't hope to read. Behind these shoulders were two more items Una knew from her history textbooks, massive 'Calabar-Blades'.
 Like the helmet these colossal swords had been used in the early days of Vijaik development.

Unlike an 'Arc-Staff' that projected energy in, well an arc, these were a solid physical blade, with a chainsaw like collection of smaller points, that when activate made the sword seem to glow a shade of light red or orange.
 It allowed for a similar ability to cut through the likes of a battleship's armour plating as the Arc-Staff did but with far less sustainability than it's Energy based descendant.

With both enemy machines now properly in sight, Una wasn't entirely sure what to think. A mix of embarrassment and nerves had held her till moments ago but now apprehension at just what exactly she was up against swept over,
 'Focus on the plan, that's all I need to do.'

As if to answer her internal thinking the two machines turned, clearly having detected the encroaching threat. Una cursed her luck, and lay a hand to her radio. She switched on the regular signal length, being spotted no longer a worry.
 "Sab- Ensign they've seen us, w-what now?" She said quickly to the point of stumbling over her words.

They were moving fast but not enough, the enemy was still leagues ahead of them - The riflemen would have no issue picking off two objects moving in straight lines at this distance. Despite the danger Sabban's reply was brief;
 "Trust Kolme's plan Rookie."

With that his microphone cut off. Una stared at her monitors, checked the speed of her machines, then regretted it.
 Seeing the numbers only made her feel nauseous, it was difficult to process the fact she was moving forward at a speed of 1G, her mind swam trying to process why that number didn't make out-right her sick.
 She turned away from it towards the distance calculator, then it came.
Just like before a single bolt of blue lighting streaking a colourful line across the blackness of empty space, this time aimed squarely at Sabban.

It only takes a second for something like that to reach it's goal.
 Apparently a second was all he needed as Sabban's mech twirled elegantly to one side in an impressive barrel-roll action, the accurately placed lightening bolt aimlessly passing by, Una's jaw dropped but that wasn't the last of the shocks.

Dodge or not any sensible pilot would fire again, Sabban had to keep dodging, even one minor hit would kill his momentum and leave him a sitting duck, while the sniper only had to get lucky the once - But instead, just as Kolme had predicted in his earlier plan, the second mech (The one in red) surged forward, effectively blocking the line of sight for its own stationary ally.
 Now was time for the second portion of Lt.Nilas'es 'masterplan', this had been where he'd begun to grow more vague in the details.
 Nonetheless Una watched on as Sabban carried it out to what could only be called the letter. Boosting forward at that rattling speed from before once more, he closed the distance with the almost as fast approaching Red-Mech.

In a flash too fast for Una to watch they had both drawn their weapons. The red mech had opted for one of the large, now seemingly flaming Calibre blades that it swung from it's back, forwards over it's head in one single motion, gripping it mightily in both hands - While Sabban had gone for a more slender Arc Staff in one palm (after all the word 'staff' referred more to it's technical workings then it's actual, more sword like functions), drawn sleekly from the waist in a single flourish, it's telescopic components sliding outwards and the arc emitting into one single orange line - While grabbing a shotgun larger then Una's entire body, in the other palm.

The two machines colliding would surely of blown the ear drums of all in range had they not been in space, with the arc staff sizzling callously against the Calibre blade. The staff was clearly the more durable of the two but the red mech had put far more force behind it's strike, handily pushing Sabban's staff to one side - Only for him to round back with a shell from the shotgun, which in turn the red mech dodged by throwing it's thrusters into an impressive downwards manoeuvre.
 All giving the impression of it ducking out of sight beneath the shotgun spread.

Una rapidly put her own part of the plan into action, inaction now would be untenable.
 Carefully she moved her own machine's speed back down to a crawl, while piloting it into a space some distance behind the battle going on in front of her, in this manner she could use the two fighters as a sort of shield, preventing the sniper from attacking her without the risk of hitting its own ally in red.

Now she had to wait, simply making sure to keep herself in the enemy's 'self-made blind-spot' until the time was right - But it hardly felt like waiting. She had never partaken in a space battle like this before.
 The simulations were always tame, pilots using simple techniques, mostly just trading blows with their rifles, seldom getting close enough to draw blades. There were so few competent snipers that, that alone would of been a new experience to witness -  But to also see a close-quarters bout of this nature was wholly unique.

She observed as the two strove against one another again and again, Sabban's method she quickly picked up relied on speed and quantity. He would rush forward staff or gun first, only to faint to the left and go for a minor strike against an arm or leg of his opponent's armour - Moving in every and any direction seemingly at once and swapping between weapons without hesitation, his machine a murky brown blur.
 On the other hand was the Red-Machine which seemed to move entirely different to Sabban, its hits were slower than his but more calculated, each strike had serious weight behind it - Every hit seemed likely that in the right circumstances, it could of been enough to wipe out a lesser pilot - But it wasn't just the heavier hits that mattered.

Una watched as the Red Vijaik fluidly ducked another of Sabban's staff strikes, before letting go of it's own broadsword-like Calibre mid-maneuverer, and drawing out an Arc-Staff from it's own waist, before striking upwards in an almost uppercut-stab like fashion.
 Sabban had no where to run this time as he tossed out one of his shotguns, sacrificing it to take the brunt of the enemy strike before regaining his lost metaphorical footing.

That was the other difference Una noted between the two combatants - 'The red one is winning...'

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