Fortress V vs Beta Sphere

[Radio: (A) Main] Marine Lieutenant Assault Kangaroo transmits, "It's time..."

[Radio: (B) Secure] Storm Owl transmits, "Message to all hands: The Fortress V has departed and is enroute to our destination. All crews to their battlestations, begin powering up the ion cannons and laser batteries, and prepare to bring the shields online."

[Radio: (B) Secure] Colonel transmits, "This will be Wily's final stand in Africa. The Robot Masters will fall from power, and Africa will be free once more from the turanny of Wily! Let us begin the final strike. For justice and victory!"

[Radio: (B) Secure] Hi-Max transmits, "Yo Force!"

[Radio: (B) Secure] Marine Lieutenant Assault Kangaroo transmits, "And I will assist the dear Colonel in the liberation... for the RMs don't deserve to control Africa!"

[Radio: (B) Secure] Barrage Raptor transmits, "The Robot Masters don't deserve to exist."

Mirror Desert (Western Sahara)

What once was the magnificent desolation of windblown sand has now become a near blinding expanse of solar panels and monitoring equipment, occasionally sparsely broken up by substations, roads, natural caves, rock formations, and occasional ruins of older structures from the bygone ages when traders plied these sands atop camels and wagons. The largest generating plant ever built, all for the glory of Dr. Albert W. Wily. The heat is incredible, and the sight is breathtaking. But if you don't have a good reason to be here, you might be best leaving.

Metal Man [Armor] [RM] Air Man [Master] [RM]

Ballade [Normal] [RM] Bright Man [Rm] [RM]

Vanishing Gungaroo [Kanga] [RF] Flash Man [Tux] [RM]

Quick Man [Coat] [RM] Sphere Outpost <Beta> [RM]

Submerge <D> leads to Underneath Central Atlantic.

West <W> leads to Eastern Atlantic Ocean.

Northwest <NW> leads to Atlas Mountains.

North <N> leads to Barbary Coast.

East <E> leads to Eastern Sahara.

South <S> leads to Ivory Coast.

Up <U> leads to Sky Above Sahara.

Repliforce Mobile Fortress V <F5> has arrived.

Hi-Max arrives from the Sky Above Sahara.

Hi-Max has arrived.

============================ Players in your Area ============================

Name Alias Siz Idl Short Description

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Storm Owl Butterba5 1s Orange/red/green. Large wings. Big belly

Vanishing Gungaroo Joey 9 3m Pink 'roo with boxing gloves.

Hi-Max Hi 6 6s

Metal Man Metal 3 2m A android in combat armor normally.

Air Man air 4 2m

Quick Man Quick 3 15s Red-Yellow humaform w/boomerang on head.

Flash Man Flash 3 34s A serious and intelligent Robot Master.

========================== Sun Nov 14 17:07:20 2004 ==========================

<Global News Network> This is Anchorman Albatross for GNN Africa. The Fortress V has just appeared over the Mirror Desert. Could this be Repliforce's final push to remove Wily from Africa? We'll keep you apprised of the situation.

Beta Sphere is in the middle of the Mirror Desert. It is surrounded on all sides as far as the eye can see by large solar mirrors, millions of them. Rising from the middle of these mirrors is a rocky bluff. Beta Sphere is on this bluff. It is camoflaged with holographic projectors, but you can detect it with radar and stuff. There are tons and tons of defenses hidden in the mirrors and the sand around the sphere. I'll start posing for them once the F5 poses in."

Hailstorm Eagle arrives from the Eastern Sahara.

Hailstorm Eagle has arrived.

*Message to all hands: The Fortress V has departed and is enroute to our destination. All crews to their battlestations, begin powering up the ion cannons and laser batteries, and prepare to bring the shields online.* With those words, the Fortress V begins to lumber away from her appointed home, slowly streaking downwards and northwest along with several units of Repliforce aerials to serve as escort. Storm Owl sits in his command chair, tapping in commands and relaying information to the rest of the ship as the crews efficiently and expertly prepare for the upcoming battle. Many have heard stories about how Wily has invested heavily into defending this last patch of Robot Master held territory. Most of it is mere rumour, but the sheer thought of what might await them is terrifying indeed.

Robot Master pickets and advanced scouts should be able to detect the ship. Stealth is not the name of her game, but rather brute force. The tension rises slightly as the mighty warship passes from the barren natural desert to the barren artificial one. The solar mirrors lay below, and the Fortress V is on a course taking her directly towards the heart of this land: The Beta Sphere.

On the move, far ahead of the Fortress V, was one of her satellite spotter units: Hailstorm Eagle. On a glide pattern, ears open, telemetry data being forwarded to the Fortress' central servers, she soared at a lower altitude than usual, visible in the sky as a bright pinprick of shiney.

<I see.... only the sphere, so far... I'll keep up my scanning,> she broadcasted to the fellow Forcers.

[Radio: (B) Secure] Colonel transmits, "Begin the assault."

Inside Beta Sphere, Quick Man is sitting in his big, swively command chair. He's been waiting for this. Although none of them knew when the attack would come, it's been obvious for some time now that it was coming.. after all, Beta was one of the only two Spheres left. As the early warning detection sirens begin going off, Quick Man swivels his chair around to face the viewscreen in the command room. "What is it?"

"It's the Fortress 5 sir. They've just crossed over Casablanca and are heading towards us."

Quick Man frowns slightly. "So, they've finally decided to make their move." He stands up, gesturing to the Leader Joe in the room. "Sound the alarm! This isn't a drill. Let's get these defenses up!" Quick vanishes from the room in a flash.

The Sphere begins to come alive as it's defenses activate. It's obvious the RF knows where it is, so the cloak is dropped, revealing the fortress upon the bluff. Legions of Joes begin pouring from it, dispersing into the mirrors surrounding it. Tarps are thrown off of Anti-Aircraft batteries that had been hidden under the sand, Joes sliding into their seats and powering them up. Others begin forming up outside the base itself, forming Phalanxes.. walls of shields with their gun arms placed through the little holes between.

A bay door opens up in the side of the sphere, and with a roar, several squads of aerial fighters zoom outwards, shaped like backwards W's. They take up defensive formations over the Sphere.

Quick Man walks out onto an observation platform high up on the base.. his coat blowing in the wind. He pulls a cigarette from his coat pocket and lights it, blowing some smoke out over the desert. "Let them come."

Barrage Raptor has arrived.

Advancing along with the Fortress V was a peculiar sight. A giant, pink kangaroo with metallic hands... and in its pouch, a small pink joey with red boxing gloves. What in the world was this?

The Kangaroo, piloted by Vanishing Joey. He, too, was here to liberate Africa for the people.

He was following the Fortress V in order to find where the Beta Sphere was, but after the Beta Sphere's cloak was dropped, he knew for sure. Without hesitation, he moved toward the Sphere, toward the Joes that were advancing toward the Repliforce soldiers.

. o O (Those guys are cannon fodder compared to my Kangaroo! This is gonna be easy.) O o .

But will that be the truth?

Somewhere in the maze of solar panels and buildings is a mysterious figure in a coat and hood, Flash Man, doing his best to map out the entire desert. It seems he's been at it for a while, too, as his paper is mostly covered, and filled with mathematical calculations over top of the lines. As he hears the radio broadcasts, and sees the defenses of the Beta Sphere being shown in the distance, he begins to run towards the base as quickly as he can, his right hand suddenly retracting to form a gun, and something underneath his hood begins to emit a dull glow.

Metal Man is inside Beta Sphere near Quick Man, Metal seems to be alert but eying the command chair, I mean it was orginally built for his spechs back when he was CO. Metal starks backing orders to several squadrons of Neo Joes, which chis base has been building and stock piling for several years. It was time to let lose the added suprises he had instore. "Should we activate our military units, Quick? Or save them for after the drones take the inital brunt."

Storm Owl receives the transmission from the lead Repliforce picket unit and nods in satisfaction, transmitting back to Hailstorm, "Keep watch for any enemy units. Scouting efforts in this area have shown that any defenses the Robot Masters may have between here and the Sphere are well hidden." Storm Owl is all too well aware that there is no doubt a Robot Master counterpart somewhere out there. Said counterpart has evidently become aware of the Fortress V's arrival as energy signatures from the enemy defenses begin coming online. There are faint murmurs amongst the crew of the ship as the cloak is dropped around the Sphere.

"Joes, sir," one of the bridge officers says, even though everyone can already see them pouring out. The ranks upon ranks of drones with their shields and blasters raised are a formidable sight indeed. Thankfully, so is the Fortress V and her escorts. "Shields now at full power. Enemy aerial units coming within sensor range." someone else reports. Storm nod and issues out orders like he was constructed for it, "Dorsal laser batteries, lock onto the fighters. Ventral laser batteries and ion cannons lock onto the Joes. Forward Dorsal Ion cannons, lock onto the Sphere itself." There's a faint pause as the crew absorb the orders and the gunners take their marks. Some of the light guns are aiming for the fighters, the heavies and remaining light weaponry for Joes and Sphere.

The Fortress V continues on her trek to meet the enemy. As coincidence would have it, at the very moment Quick Man says 'Let them come' Storm Owl issues the order. "Fire." The barrage of lasers and ions begin to pour from the battleship, and the escorts are now allowed to begin picking off targets.

As the first blasts of energy rain down on the sphere and it's defenses, Quick Man turns and looks at Metal Man, former Beta CO and his current XO. "I think so." He says over the roaring of the cannonfire. "Call them up, but keep them behind the drones! We want them ready for when it gets tough." He turns back then, issuing his command over the radio and out loud at the same time. "Return fire. Engage at will."

The numerous anti-air gun platforms hidden among the mirrors begin opening fire on the Fortress and its escorts, hundreds of bright beams and flak shooting upwards from the desert. At the same time, the phalanxes of Joes, marching in formation with their shields locked, begin advancing down into the forest of mirrors slowly, spreading out to meet and block Repliforce ground troops. Also hidden among the mirrors, RF ground troops will find machien gun emplacements, hidden benhind the power structures and placed to catch passing enemies in a murderous crossfire.

In the sky, the squads of W-fighters begin breaking off to engage the RF fighters, and explosions soon blossom in the desert sky as craft on both sides take hits..

Air Man arrives into the Sphere through the teleporter ready for action. Things had been a bit boring in his opinion lately. It's about time something interesting happened. He laughs rather loudly, at the thought of some excitement, thinking 'Bring it on.'

*THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP*

The Kangaroo continued to move toward the Joes. Once it got near, he began to punch across the ground in front of it, intending to start smashing Joes. Vanishing GUNGAROO (not Joey) believed they were all going to drop like flies to the might of his Ride Armor... but is this going to hold up for long?

And so, the battle is joined. The Fortress V rocks under fire from both the Beta Sphere and those hidden away in the solar panels. Storm Owl figured there'd be something coming from them. Although it's likely to cause havoc to the panels themselves (which could otherwise be put to good use after a victory), Storm Owl has no choice but to order the ventral weaponry to return fire on them. Collateral damage is quite a possibility here, but there's no other safe option available. Heavy ion cannons from above are fired towards the Joes in formation. The essential plan is for both the ground forces and the Fortress V to attack from different angles. With luck, those shields won't be able to protect them from both the front and above.

Elsewhere, the aerial Repliforcers and W-Fighters become locked in a bloody and choatic dogfight. The Fortress V's gunners attempt to cover their comrades with the lighter, more accurate laser batteries.

The Repliforce communication lines quickly start becoming packed with reports of progress, and reports of those who have been felled by the Robot Master forces.

[Radio: (B) Secure] Storm Owl transmits, "Ground forces, engage the Joes and anti-air defences within the mirror structures. The Fortress V shall attempt to cover you as best as possible. Aerial combatants, destroy the W-Fighters."

[Radio: (B) Secure] Vanishing Gungaroo transmits, "Already engaging them... Thank you very much!"

Hi-Max is one of the first Repliforcers to leap out of the Fortress V, his thrusters activate as soon as he takes that first step out of the flying airship. It doesn't take long for him to realize how grave the situation is, with all of the W-Fighters firing at anything that has a Repliforce symbol he has no choice but to bring up his reflection system. Adequately protected for his descent Hi-Max increases his speed, simply dive-bombing towards the ground, ready to intercept and destroy any ground forces or air forces that might get in his way.

Keeping up her scanning, the eagle remained at altitude, noting the machineguns as she took up a circular glide position directly above the Sphere. <Machinegun emplacements here, here, and... here! Watch out everyone...>

An energy blast ripped into the air just in front of her. "WHOA!" Dancing back on the air, she drew her rifle, continuing on her glide path and shooting down (or at least trying to shoot down) those drones following and dogging her six.

Metal Man nods, "I'll postion them behind some drone units to let the joes and their ilk weaken the forces up front let the drones take the first shots." The orders are given and from one of the lower levels of Beta Sphers an hanger opens and a number of FAVs start to deploy.

Landing a distance away from the sphere in a gel-packed landing, Barrage steps out into the sand, and cracks her neck, "Alright." She pulls out her assault rifle, and begins to walk towards the sphere, scanning for targets.

Flash Man is moving among the Joes, his hood now taken off and draped on his back, and is looking for anyone of major importance. Not finding anyone in his immediate area that looks too powerful for the drones to take on, he turns his attention to the sky. The Fortress 5 seems like a pretty big threat, literally and figuratively. He's never tried stopping something so far away without stopping the area between him and it as well, and isn't sure if he can. After a few failed attempts, his range not nearly large enough, Flash Man starts running towards the turrets, deciding on something that may or may not work, but is certainly worth a try. Most people probably wouldn't notice him running through the leagues of opposing soldiers, but then again, some might, especially since his clothing is not exactly a normal uniform.

Shattered glass begins to cloud the sky as the Fortress opens fire on the batteries hidden among the mirrors, pieces of machinery and Joes being scattered as the blasts destroy the locations.. but there are hundreds of them, and the Fortress' guns can only fire so fast.

"Sir, should we bring it online yet?" One of the militia men stationed in the command center nervously asks Quick Man. The Beta CO shakes his head, staring up at the Fortress. "Not yet." He responds, squinting slightly. "Wait just a few more minutes.." Noticing troops beginning to air drop behind the lines of the Joes who have already entered the field of Mirrors, Quick frowns and turns to another adjutant in the command room. "You. Release the Special Close Defense." The man nods, and hits a big red button.

Outside, another bay door opens on the Sphere, and out charge.. two giant mets, easily 8 feet tall at the top of their helmets. They both let out a deafening NERP and then charge down towards the oncoming Repliforcers, their eyes glowing red.

In front of Vanishing Gungaroo, the Joes he was approaching drop down to the ground, locking their shields tight.. firing out at him through the little holes between the shields. Is his ride armor strong enough to crack their defenses?

The bridge of the battleship is in a flurry of activity. The weapons need to be coordinated, communications from Hailstorm and other spotters need to be relayed, shields and power need rerouting, and the overall scope of the battle needs to be coordinated. Storm Owl does his best to ensure that each unit is given the information they need while the ship begins to, slowly, work its way through the droves of gumbie Joes with the help of the other forces.

Storm Owl is almost beginning to think that this might be a tad easier than he had calculated when the bay doors open and two massive Mets charge on out.

The Fortress V lumbers and slows down in order to better target them. "Stay clear of the Mets." he orders, hoping that any ground forces are able to get out of the way of the rampaging Metools Of Evil. The ventral ion cannons lock onto the pair and begin firing, attempting to draw their attention towards the ship rather than the more vulnerable ground forces.

Barrage Raptor really needs to have words with Prismatic about getting some kind of short-range jump pack installed, or something. So she can move over open ground faster. But for the moment, she continues along the way, firing at things when they come into her view. Gotta save ammo for when she gets inside, after all.

Air Man heads to the outside of the Sphere, eagerly looking for some action. Some excitement. A chance to beat someone into the ground maybe? Or else he is seriuosly going to get owned, as rather than being subtle, he looks around before yelling out loudly, "Who wants some?" before breaking out into loud laughter.

Vanishing Gungaroo continued to punch, and punch, and punch, and punch as he moved forward in his Ride... He soon noticed that they've started to pull up shields. He could dent them easily with his Armor's fists, but he'd probably have to spend a lot of time trying to destroy the shields.

So, instead, he turned to stepping on the Joes. Pancakes, anyone?

Flash Man eventually reaches one of the groups of anti-air turrets, with no major resistance. His armor seems to have taken a little damage, but nothing major. Strangely enough, he... climbs on top of a turret, which makes him a perfect target for anyone in the air, but he doesn't care. Instead, he yells orders down to the Joes, who begin to fire, once again, strangely, in all directions. Some of the first shots fly off into the distance, more than likely not hitting anything, but soon they are trapped in a field of stopped time set up by Flash Man, forming what seems like a wall of anti-air ammunition. Flash Man keeps this up for several minutes, until either someone attacks him, breaking his concentration and causing the wall of weaponry to disperse, still carrying momentum, or until it becomes completely solid, when he'll release it for himself.

Hi-Max seems to have no problems as he dives towards the ground; a few of the drones did fire at him but he was quick enough to react and reflect the attacks back at its owners. Finally Hi-Max lands on the ground in one of the few areas not occupied with Joes for the time being, but as soon as his foot touches the ground many of the drones turn around, ready to rush towards him. It looks like he's going to have to do things the hard way, raising both of his hands up he fires electrical spheres at the drones, managing to hit several of them without a problem. But he's not unscathed either as a few of the drones manage to hit him as well. This is going to be a long drawn out battle.

The ground battle is in full swing now, Joes and Repliforcers engaged in bloody skirmishes throughout the foresst of mirrors, clashing everywhich way in a chaotic maelstrom. It's hard to tell, but it seems as though the Robot Master forces are slowly getting pushed back towards the Sphere.. the Repliforce advancing through sheer weight of numbers. The Joes shields are notoriously strong.. even a fully charged shot from the Mega Buster can't get through one. However, as Vanishing instructs his Ride Armor to step on them.. e begins walking over them as if they were abig rock, not a phalanx of Joes.

Most of the W-fighters have been taken down by this point, thanks to the F5s guns, but several squads still remain, attempting to pick off RF stragglers. The two Giant Mets come under fire from the F5 itself. They both drop down under their helmets.. and the huge ion blasts ricochet off, hitting mirrors and exploding huge craters in the ground. The mets then get back uup and continue their charge. One gets hit with the next shot, exploding in a giant fireball, but the remaining met charges right towards Hi-Max.

Quick Man, meanwhile, stands on his balcony, overseeing the battle. His face is grim as he sees his lines being pushed back. "Start powering it up." He says over his shoulder.

Hailstorm was still under fire, shooting down aerial drones as she could, but her first objective... keep an eye on the field below. Be the Fortress' primary sensor.

Keeping her telemetry data feed open, along with the transmission channel, she kept her eyes on the field below...

[Radio: (B) Secure] Colonel transmits, "Report."

[Radio: (B) Secure] Marine Lieutenant Assault Kangaroo transmits, "Some soldiers are at battle with Bright Man. Slash Man has decided to take me on."

Flash Man isn't paying attention to the troops on the ground. All he cares about now is the Fortress. If that's taken down, as unlikely as it is, the Repliforce may drive them out, but it'll still be a moral defeat. And so, he continues to stop bullets, until there are three "waves" of them, and he turns off the timestopper. They fly everywhere, and because of the fact that there were three walls by now, it'll most likely hit anything of any significant size in the air, and possibly some small things that are unlucky enough not to dodge. And the Fortress 5, being as large as it is, will almost definitely be hit. Whether or not the bullets will penetrate the shielding, Flash Man is not sure. But he hopes that they will. Unfortunately, there Flash Man has all but forgotten about the Betas' aerial forces. While they might be quick enough to dodge the assault, he isn't sure, but the bullets have already gone too far for him to stop by the time he notices this. Hopefully not too many will be hit.

Vanishing Gungaroo's Kangaroo continued to walk all over the Joes. Literally. It was so easy... so powerful... so wonderful. Shield yourselves against THAT, you losers!

Continuing to do this, Gungaroo wondered if he could take out all the Joes by the time the mission was over...

As the met charges towards Hi-Max the Repliforcer seems to accept this challenge head on, his reflect system is still on, as a large pellet is fired at him he reflects it back at the met, only to watch it be deflected right off of its armored hat. It looks like this could end in a stalemate between these two if they keep up with this tactic. He has to hit the met in the face or flip it over and blast its large vulnerable underbelly. At this time all he can do is fire different types of electrical energy, hoping that the blasts will dance across the nerpium hat and fry a vulnerable spot.

[Radio: (A) Main] Vanishing Gungaroo transmits, "...This is too easy!"

Storm Owl nods with satisfaction as the ship and her aerial units have almost finished laying waste to the W-Fighters. Many of the Repliforcers have moved on to assault the Sphere itself even as the Fortress V resumes its course towards the Sphere. One of the Mets is down, but the other is now entangling itself with Hi-Max. Hopefully the super-soldier can pull off a victory against the menace, as the FV is required against the Sphere.

The war bird begins calculating vectors for the final assault on the Sphere, preparing to blow the defences away so the ground forces can move in unhindered. But just as the mighty vessel is maneuvering into position, everything -freezes-. For a brief moment, the entire Repliforce battlestation is held in suspended time, vulnerable. Her shields still flicker, but her weapons are silent, and communication relays is now impossible. Use the advantage while you have it.

As the command is given, several militiamen in the command center begin pushing buttons, bringing the base's ultimate defensive weapon online.. concieved directly to counter the Fortress 5. Hundreds of mirrors on top of a nearby hill begin subtly shifting position.. alining with each other, and with the blazing sun overhead. Soon the light begins to brighten.. a second sun flooding the battlefield with light. What's going on?

"Get a lock. We only get one shot." Quick says to the men at the consoles, before striding back to the observation balcony. "Good job, Flash." He radios to his fellow Beta down on the field, noticing his inventive tactics.

The Giant Met tussels with Hi-Max.. deflecting his shots off of it's impenetrable helmet. However, it doesn't seem to have very many modes of attack.. it just keeps charging at him and trying to ram him with it's helmet.

The Kangaroo was getting closer... closer... closer... closer... closer. While Joes were still trying to defend themselves, it had the size and weight advantage.

Follow the green metal rooooooad, follow the green metal rooooooad...

Vanishing's confident that he'll get to the Sphere before long...

The mirrors tilted... and it was plain as day to Hailstorm what was going on. She'd worked on these for a living, after all, so when she worked out where those mirrors were aiming...

She aimed downward, taking potshots at the mirrors themselves, calling out over the channels.

Flash Man notices the mirrors shifting, and gapes in surprise. He didn't even know that they /worked/ anymore. However, he doesn't plan on getting caught in the path of whatever this is, so he jumps back down and hides in a turret, along with one of the Joes manning it. However, he keeps a close eye on the viewing screen. Just because he doesn't want to see this close up doesn't mean he doesn't want to see it at all.

That met is nigh unstoppable! Hi-Max rethinks his strategy, peering over his shoulder he notices a downed W-Fighter. He stares back in front of him, the met is once again readying to charge towards him. Activating his flight system he flies backwards for the wreck, landing but a few short feet away from some burning wreckage. Digging through some of the burning wreckage Hi-Max comes upon the thing he's been seeking, a long metal pole. Perfect! This should do nicely in battle and not a moment too soon as the met is near him again, charging like an angered bull. Trying to time this perfectly he lowers the pole and readies to press down on it once the met is close enough, hoping that he's able to flip the armored menace upside down to reveal its vulnerable underbelly.

The Fortress V has, up until now, been able to weather everything thrown her way. The W-Fighters, the anti-air batteries hidden within the mirror structures. But alas, one of the original tricks of Beta serves to be one of the most potent. The timestopper works perfectly, however briefly. The bullets, first stopped by Flash Man, and then sent on their merry way all at once, rips into the shields of the mighty, but stilled, vessel. Normally the crews of the ship would be able to reroute power away from the other shields and systems and compensate for the sudden barrage from below and to try and make heads or tails of the subtle shifting of mirrors and the brightening light. But the timestopper prevents this from occurring, and for another brief second, the Fortress is stilled.

Storm Owl suddenly blinks as his internal clock comes back online, immediately noticing it does not match up with those of the rest of the fleet. As the crew and ship recover from the time-lock, the war bird deduces the Beta's plan with the mirrors in a fraction of a second. "Evasive maneuvers!" he orders, "Hard to port!" The ship groans and lumbers awkwardly in the sky, still recovering, yet still vulnerable...

Some of the individual mirrors on the hill are shattered, lessening the glow, but there are literally hundreds involved, and so the effect is minimal to the overall output. As more andm ore mirrors lock into place, the glow becomes blinding, flooding the battlefield in burning bright light. Finally, the last mirror locks into place, completing the chain.

"Fire." Quick Man says from inside the Sphere, and the man in charge pushes the Biggest Red Button. A surge of power from the base, from ALL the mirrors in the entire desert, is re-directed to those on the hill.. channeled through their focusers put into reverse, and blasted out towards the Fortress.

The result is a beam of energy, a giant laser if you will, on the order of a hundred yards in diameter. The force of the blast is such that it slags all the mirrors on the hill.. Quick Man wasn't kidding when he said they were only getting one shot. He watches from the Sphere, shading his eyes as the flash of white light washes over the field, mirrors shattering and troops falling from the shockwave.. waiting to see it's effects..

Oh yeah, and while this is happening, the Met is fighting Hi-Max. It charges into him, impacting with a clang of metal.. but it's momentum is stopped by the bulk of the Repliforce Supersoldier! But, alas, he has found it's one weakness. As pressure is applied to the pole, the whole big met flips over onto it's back wiht an enraged NERP!"

*THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP*

The Kangaroo continued to stomp on toward the Beta Sphere... when, all of a sudden... BLAM! A gigantic laser was fired! Closing his eyes, Vanishing Gungaroo looked down as the white flash went over the area... still walking all over Joes as he went...

Flash Man's eyes widen at the beam of energy, and he smirks. Had he been a human, he might've gone blind even in here. Luckily, he is not human, and so, while he cannot see a thing clearly right now, he is not permanently blinded. However, he is increasingly glad that he did not stay on top of the turret, as he might have ended up with his entire body melded to the turret. That is, if he's estimating the heat produced correctly.

With the Fortress V's ventral shields depleted from Flash Man's trick, and there being no time (literally, thanks to Flash Man) to restore power to that section, the mighty Repliforce flagship has only her grace and maneuverability to save her. Alas... 'grace and maneuverability' go with the Fortress V about as well as 'Zero and mentally stable' do. Storm Owl attempts to get the ship out of the line of fire as fast as possible, but the effort an uphill battle.

The awe-inspiring beam, coming from all the mirrors that this gigantic power station has to offer, rips past the shields of the Fortress and clips her starboard side, tearing a devastating hole in the hull. There's a terrifying fiery explosion as one of the ship's huge engines is torn off from the concussive force, spewing debris, fire, and the engine itself, down towards the ground where it crashes, annihilating whatever was unlucky to be below (get out of the way if that's you!). The Fortress V, meanwhile, still remaining in the air due to the courage of her crew and expert construction (constant malfunctions notwithstanding), has an uncanny resemblance to a wounded animal. But nonetheless, the flagship still has her teeth, and Storm Owl is able to get several of the huge ion cannons back online to resume the unrelentless bombardment of the Beta Sphere and its defences.

Hi-Max takes a step backwards twirling the pole in one hand, "This is for the good people of Africa monster!" The super-soldier leaps high into the air before coming back down at the met. With both hands firmly holding onto the pole he stabs the met thru the belly. But he doesn't stop there; his hands charge up with electricity only to quickly discharge the energy through the pole. Acting as a giant lightning rod, the pole channels all of the electrical output coming from Hi-Max's hands into the poor met.

[Radio: (B) Secure] Colonel transmits, "/Report/!"

[Radio: (B) Secure] Marine Lieutenant Assault Kangaroo transmits, "Oww... Slash Man just cut me after restricting me with gel. The soldiers are still at work firing upon the RMs."

[Radio: (B) Secure] Marine Lieutenant Assault Kangaroo transmits, "I am, as a note, okay, though."

Quick Man, high in his Sphere, curses loudly as the clever Owl manages to pull his ship to the side enough to avoid a fatal blow. "DAMMMIT!" He smacks his hand on the railing of the balcony.. frowning as he looks up at the listing but still airborne battle platform. "Alright! We've wasted enough time here. And we've given them one hell of a repair bill." He glances down at the battlefield, now filled with shattered mirrors and bodies nearly as far as the eye can see. "It's time we let them have what they came for and get out of here." He turns and strides back into the room. "Metal, tell the milita to start pulling back. We're getting out of here." Then he turns to one of the militiamen in the room. "Set th self-destruct charges. 10 minute timer. THen get out of here." Turning back to Metal, Quick nods. "We'll leave the drones to die. We can always make more."

Meanwhile, the poor giant Met is impaled and electrocuted. As expected, it explodes brilliantly.. ending the greatest one on one match of our times.

Air Man pauses from what he was doing at the light from the beam of energy. "Dang..." As he notices the beam hitting the Fortress V, he yells out one of the more idiotic things to say at the moment laughing loudly, "Hey, we even got fireworks today!"

[Radio: (B) Secure] Storm Owl transmits, "The Fortress V has suffered critical damage, Colonel. We are continuing our assault, however."

[Radio: (B) Secure] Hi-Max transmits, "Taking care of business sir. I'm at Beta Sphere's doorstep, I've just impaled a large met. *BOOM!* Well what was left of it anyways."

Barrage has finally made her way to the outpost, fairly unopposed, "Alright." She pulls out one of her large charges, and plants it on the wall. Since Hi-Max has them busy at the door, she'll just make her own door.

Hailstorm watched in horror as her efforts were totally in vain, screeching angrily and firing a charged rifle blast down at the sphere, continuing to relay what data she could...

Flash Man lets out what sounds almost like a growl. By now, the shields are almost surely back up, and he doesn't have enough energy left to pull off another Time Stopper stunt like that. He quickly whispers something to the Joe, and begins to jump out of the turret, yelling some more orders. The Joes begin firing at the Fortress again, but not before Flash Man can electrify several of the bullets. He really doubts that this'll work, but whatever chance he can take that the electricity might disrupt the field, he's willing to. He then begins to run, far and fast, away from the base and turrets and desert.

[Radio: (E) RF-MH-Secure] Ebony Fox transmits, "Attention Joint Forces. A Russian Children's Hospital is under attack by a stealthed intruder."

[Radio: (E) RF-MH-Secure] Bullet transmits, "*&^. And I'm still being repaired!"

[Radio: (C) Chat] Colonel's beacon goes off. "Unit Kanissa is Offline due to massive damage."

[Radio: (E) RF-MH-Secure] Simian Monk transmits, "I am on my way! *leap* *thwomp*."

[Radio: (E) RF-MH-Secure] Rush Raccoon transmits, "Roger, that. On my way, too."

[Radio: (B) Secure] Storm Owl transmits, "Plasma Harrier, I am ordering you away from the battle to the Eta Sphere. Find Colonel and recover him. If the situation there is hopeless, have the troops fall back."

Storm Owl watches the battle unfold on a strategic readout display, and his calculating mind takes note of the retreating Robot Master forces. Storm Owl is not one for emotions, but this is definitely a relief to see them begin to pull back. Well... except for the drones, of course, which seem to be fighting to the last. Storm Owl begins concentrating the Fortress V's firepower upon the drones. The bullets, some of which electrified, strike the Fortress's slowly recharging shields, but many make it past and -thunk- into the thick hull. The damage to the starboard engine has left many holes in the shield grid, and energy is flickering erratically. But thankfully the guns work relatively fine, and the Fortress V attempts to persuade Flash Man into retreating even faster than he already is!

[Radio] Tightbeam transmission to Plasma Harrier: You say, "Plasma Harrier, I am ordering you away from the battle to the Eta Sphere. Find Colonel and recover him. If the situation there is hopeless, have the troops fall back."

[Radio: (B) Secure] Jet Stingray transmits, "This is Jet Stingray reporting in... Just got online. Am I need as reenforcements or you have it handled down there?"

[Radio: (C) Chat] Colonel's beacon is still pinging.

The mighty met has fallen! The super-soldier shouts as it explodes raining debris all over him, "Their defenses are broken! Let the liberating begin!" Wasting no time bragging about his victory or celebrating it he charges towards Beta sphere head on, ready to battle whatever troops may storm out or whatever defenses that are still left.

[Radio] Tightbeam transmission: Plasma Harrier says, "Huh? Yes, commander... I'm right on it."

Air Man decides enough is enough. Time to make an escape. He then runs as quick as he can tyo get out of her, considering that the Sphere is a lost cause.

[Radio: (B) Secure] Sgt. Hailstorm Eagle transmits, ".. They're retreating!"

[Radio: (B) Secure] Storm Owl transmits, "The Eta Sphere and Colonel's force requires attention, Jet Stingray."

Vanishing finally looked up after the flash had disappeared, and looked toward where the beam had fired. The Fortress V, which was hit... was still there. He then noticed that the forces were retreating.

We won! We won!

He then made a radio message to ask a question...

[Radio: (A) Main] Vanishing Gungaroo transmits, "The forces are retreating... do I move into the Sphere?"

Several of the Fortress' gunshots hit Flash Man. He might have been able to dodge them, but he's tripping over broken glass and machinery as he dodges, not making him run any faster. His back is full of dents and holes by the time he gets out of there, but it's probably better looking than the Fortress, seeing as how nothing's falling out, yet. He keeps running, though, now that he's been noticed and fired upon.

[Radio: (A) Main] Plasma Harrier transmits, "Sergeant Harrier, en route to desired position, Commander Owl."

Quick Man strides out of the command center after the last of the Militiamen. A big red clock on the wall is counting down from 10 minutes. Beep. Beep. The militiamen pile into supersonic escape jets, which moments later blast out of the sphere.. smashing through the sound barrier as they streak away, braving the fire of the Fortress to make their escape. Quick himself simply leaps out of a window and starts running.. a red and gold streak weaving around debris as he makes his way southwards..

[Radio: (A) Main] Storm Owl transmits, "Negative, Vanishing. The weaponsfire from the sphere has dwindled drastically. We'll enter once the threat outside has been eliminated."

[Radio: (A) Main] Vanishing Gungaroo transmits, "All right. I'll move a little further away..."

[Radio: (A) Main] Barrage Raptor transmits, "Nobody enter the sphere."

[Radio: (A) Main] Barrage Raptor transmits, "That's a direct order."

[Radio: (A) Main] Vanishing Gungaroo transmits, "I won't."

[Radio: (A) Main] Sgt. Hailstorm Eagle transmits, "Roger, Major."

[Radio: (A) Main] Barrage Raptor transmits, "With all due respect to your ship, Major Owl, with all the damage it's sustained, I'd feel better if I demolished this sphere the old fashioned way."

Storm Owl and the Fortress V do indeed attempt to bring down as many of the craft as they can, thus shifting the focus away from Flash Man and his retraet. But with the recent damage she's taken, and the suddenness of the departure, it'd take a miracle to take any of them down. The firing is erratic, and so long as the pilots know what they're doing, they'll be able to retreat safely.

Once the Robot Master forces have made their withdrawl, the Fortress V's guns start to become silent as emergency damage control begins. The ground and aerial forces can mop up the remaining drones. "All hands, this is the Captain." Storm Owl says, "The ship has suffered critical damage. I have decided it will be required to land the ship in order to conduct repairs to the engines and the power grid." The Fortress V begins to lumber slowly away from the hill so she can make her touchdown. "Barrage Raptor will handle the Sphere."

[Radio: (A) Main] Storm Owl transmits, "All hands, this is the Captain. The ship has suffered critical damage. I have decided it will be required to land the ship in order to conduct repairs to the engines and the power grid."

[Radio: (A) Main] Storm Owl transmits, "Your logic is sound, Barrage."

The denizens of the sphere all seem to be retreating at an alarming rate. This seems to be typical of villains when they are finally cornered. With the troops fleeing like rats Hi-Max is ready to enter the sphere to destroy it. However the super-soldier stops in his tracks as the order to steer clear of the Sphere is giving. Not one to disobey he backs off to let those authorized to enter do their job. For the time being he idly stands by, ready to assist should something go wrong.

[Radio: (A) Main] Plasma Harrier transmits, "Archangel here... Just to make sure, Major Owl, rescue and try to avoid engagement in doing so?"

[Radio: (A) Main] Sgt. Hailstorm Eagle transmits, "Understood. Holding spotter position."

Hearing his orders, Vanishing Gungaroo decided to get away while Barrage did her job.

Without further ado, the Kangaroo turned around and headed back over the Green Metal Road, crushing the fallen Joes more than it did before...

[Radio: (A) Main] Storm Owl transmits, "With Colonel disabled, Plasma, I am unaware of the situation there. If Lt. Assault is still functional, refer to him for further orders."

[Radio: (A) Main] Marine Lieutenant Assault Kangaroo transmits, "I am functional."

[Radio: (A) Main] Plasma Harrier transmits, "Yes, commander... Orders, Lt. Kangaroo?"

Hailstorm winced as the Fortress went down, and shifted her position to watch both of them - the sphere and the FV. Just a little spark in the air, not to be minded... right? Well, at least all of the enemies she could see had fled.

[Radio: (A) Main] Marine Lieutenant Assault Kangaroo transmits, "Ballade seems to have vanished. While I deal with Slash Man, I believe either A, my soldiers will hold, or B, my soldiers would be breaking into the sphere to destroy it from within. A seems to be wiser."

[Radio: (A) Main] Marine Lieutenant Assault Kangaroo transmits, "As for you, Harrier, you came here to rescue Colonel... so that's what you should do."

[Radio: (A) Main] Plasma Harrier transmits, "Understood, Lieutenant."

[Radio: (A) Main] Barrage Raptor transmits, "Robot Master forces are in full retreat."

[Radio: (A) Main] Sgt. Hailstorm Eagle transmits, "I can confirm that... keeping watch on the Fortress as well."

The Fortress V groans and shudders as she lowers herself ungracefully towards the ground. Landing struts appear on the bottom of her hull, although many of the ones on the starboard side near the hole fail to respond, and as a result, when the flagship finally does touch down in the desert (crushing a good number of already damaged mirrors underneath her bulk), the ship is slightly lopsided, leaning towards her damaged section. The huge warship has been grounded, but is, at least, still functional and alive. And Joes that approach it will still have laser battery weaponsfire to deal with.

[Radio: (A) Main] Marine Lieutenant Assault Kangaroo transmits, "By the way, Harrier, Colonel is not too far from Dust Man, who I fell with my own feet."

[Radio: (A) Main] Marine Lieutenant Assault Kangaroo transmits, "OOC: felled."

While the Joes continue to fight to the death in sporatic engagements across the field, the self-destruct inside the Sphere continues to count down. Tick tock. When the counter finally reaches zero, whether or not Barrage has finished with her charges, the whole Sphere implodes.. collapsing inwards with a thunderous crash, destroying all the systems. The rumbling shockwave shatters most of the mirrors in the area that weren't broken by the battle itself. A lot of Africa is going to be out of power after this one. Congratulations Repliforce. You won.

After blowing a hole in the wall, Barrage had moved in to check on the situation inside and plant her charges. She was in the process of doing so until she found the control room and it's countdown timer. She quickly turned and ran for the exit she had made. She wouldn't have much time before this place blew itself straight to hell, and if she didn't move fast enough, it was probably going to take her with it!

The literal light at the end of the tunnel as explosions start to rock the base. She runs, and leaps out of the exit as the base explodes into one big fireball, sending dust and dirt up into the air and covering the area with debris. It's not clear whether or not she made it out or not! Oh no. Whatever will the Repliforce do?

[Radio: (A) Main] Plasma Harrier transmits, "Alright..."

[Radio: (A) Main] Barrage Raptor transmits, "The base is on a self destruct timer! Everybody get back! It's going to-" The sound is cut off by a loud explosion and a blast of static."

[Radio: (A) Main] Storm Owl transmits, "Maj. Barrage, please respond."

[Radio: (A) Main] Sgt. Hailstorm Eagle transmits, "MAJOR!"

[Radio: (A) Main] Sgt. Hailstorm Eagle transmits, "The base just exploded.. I don't know if she got out in time..."

Flash Man continues running, and suddenly looks up as a bit of new information is fed to him. He changes course, still running out of the desert, but in a different direction, still hoping no one notices him.

[Radio: (A) Main] Plasma Harrier transmits, "Damn it... That didn't sound good at all..."

Storm Owl is suddenly quite glad he had the ship land away from the Sphere. The shields, however battered and erratic they are, manage to withstand the explosion thanks to the distance. The ship rocks, but manages to stay upright on her struts. Storm Owl frowns and begins conducting a damage review of ship systems. Yes, Repliforce may have won, but many lives were lost. Almost as an afterthought, Storm Owl radios to find out whether Barrage Raptor can be included in the growing list of casualities suffered this day.

[Radio: (A) Main] Flame Hyenard grumbles. "DAMMITAGILE.."

Hi-Max notices Barrage's form leap from out of the tunnel as the base starts to explode. As debris rains upon the area he raises his force field for protection all the while scanning the area to see where Barrage might be. Once the debris has stopped raining upon the area the force field is shut off, quickly he dashes towards the area where Barrage was last seen.

[Radio: (A) Main] Flame Hyenard transmits, "ISHOULDBETHERE."

[Radio: (A) Main] Storm Owl transmits, "The medical bay is standing by to receive additional casualties. Hailstorm, find Barrage and determine whether she still functions."

Flash Man enters the Eastern Sahara.

Flash Man has left.

By the time the explosion occurred, Vanishing was quite a distance away from the Sphere.

However, he still noticed Barrage leaping out... and then seemingly getting buried under everything. Where was she now? Was she dead?

Nobody knew. And neither did Gungaroo.

[Radio: (A) Main] Flame Hyenard grumbles..

The spotter eagle, however, remained above, keeping an eye on the situation, until she got the order and plummeted toward the site where Barrage was last seen, starting to dig through debris if necessary to try and uncover the Marine CO's body.

Quick Man goes home.

Quick Man has left.

Metal Man is somwhere in the dark thinking of the carnage they caused, he grins faintly then laughs....

[Radio: (A) Main] Marine Lieutenant Assault Kangaroo transmits, "...Dust Man appears to have become zombified. He's only got one arm and his body's slowly moving toward the sphere."

[Radio: (A) Main] Marine Lieutenant Assault Kangaroo transmits, "WAUGH! *STATIC*"

[Radio: (A) Main] Sgt. Hailstorm Eagle transmits, "Assault!"

[Radio: (A) Main] Barrage Raptor coughs, "Boy, that was a close one.."

[Radio: (A) Main] Storm Owl transmits, "Anyone at the Eta Sphere, report in immediately."

[Radio: (A) Main] Sgt. Hailstorm Eagle transmits, "Major! Where are you?"

[Radio: (A) Main] Storm Owl sounds a touch surprised, "Ah, Major. You survived."

[Radio: (A) Main] Barrage Raptor transmits, "I think I'm under a big pile of sand or something."

[Radio: (A) Main] Sgt. Hailstorm Eagle transmits, "We'll get you out."

[Radio: (A) Main] Plasma Harrier transmits, "This is Plasma Harrier... Assault just went down! Tempest Griffon is going to give the two evac while I give them fire support."

[Radio: (A) Main] Storm Owl transmits, "Are you going to be able to take the Sphere, Sgt. Plasma?"

[Radio: (A) Main] Plasma Harrier transmits, "It's hard to say, Commander... Slash Man is still around, but even if I did take him out, it might be hard to do. Orders?"

[Radio: (A) Main] Storm Owl transmits, "As all command personnel in charge of the Eta assault are disabled, I have little choice but to order a retreat. The Fortress V is at the Mirror Desert and is accepting wounded."

[Radio: (A) Main] Plasma Harrier transmits, "Understood, Commander... I'll have Corporal Tempest bring Assault and Colonel back ASAP."

Hi-Max digs through debris and sand in hopes of finding Barrage Raptor.

Hailstorm Eagle continues digging too.

Storm Owl is still on the bridge, working with the rest of the crew to organize the emergency damage teams to ensure the damage done to the starboard engine doesn't result in the ship exploding and killing everyone within five miles. Barrage's welfare is a distant second to that in Storm Owl's mind.

[Radio: (A) Main] Barrage Raptor transmits, "Somebody get me a transport."

[Radio: (A) Main] Barrage Raptor transmits, "I'm going down to Eta sphere myself."

[Radio: (A) Main] Sgt. Hailstorm Eagle transmits, "For one?"

[Radio: (A) Main] Sgt. Hailstorm Eagle transmits, "... I can do that, but... Major Storm?"

[Radio: (A) Main] Barrage Raptor transmits, "I am /not/ letting the Robot Masters have any sort of foothold in Africa any longer."

[Radio: (A) Main] Storm Owl transmits, "Major, you cannot be serious..."

[Radio: (A) Main] Barrage Raptor transmits, "I'm frickin' sick and tired of it."

[Radio: (A) Main] Barrage Raptor transmits, "I'm not dead, and my weapons systems still work. So I'm going to go down there and take that sphere out."

[Radio: (A) Main] Storm Owl transmits, "Perhaps, but dying in a futile solo assault will not change the status of the Eta Sphere."

[Radio: (A) Main] Plasma Harrier transmits, "Barrage? If you need support... then I'll stick around to assist. Under Commander Storm's approval."

[Radio: (A) Main] Barrage Raptor transmits, "It's just slash Man."

[Radio: (A) Main] Barrage Raptor transmits, "I've taken him down before."

[Radio: (A) Main] Storm Owl sighs in his logical holier-than-thou manner, "I cannot overrule your decision involving the troopers under your own command, Maj. Barrage Raptor. I have no official authorization to do so."

[Radio: (A) Main] Storm Owl transmits, "Therefore, I cannot stop you should you wish to attack the Eta sphere."

[Radio: (A) Main] Barrage Raptor transmits, "You know me well enough that even if you did order me to stop I'd go do it anyway."

[Radio: (A) Main] Plasma Harrier transmits, "Commander, shall I give Major Barrage support then? I can hold off Slash if she wants to attempt to take out the Sphere..."

[Radio: (A) Main] Storm Owl transmits, "Confirmed, Major. Confirmed."

[Radio: (A) Main] Storm Owl transmits, "Affirmative, Plasma."

Barrage Raptor is, thankfully, dug out of the sand by her loyal minions...Er, troopers. Right. That second one is what I meant. Really! "Alright." She dusts herself off as best she can, "I feel like I've just been sandblasted. Anyway, let's get down to Eta sphere ASAP."

[Radio: (A) Main] Plasma Harrier transmits, "It shall be done then."

Storm Owl is, of course, not going to be going to the Eta sphere. He has enough things to worry about here. He can only hope that Barrage is successful and does not lead her headstrong troopers to death. He has calculated the odds of her succeeding at approximately 37.5%. But perhaps she'll be able to beat the odds.

Hailstorm pulls Barrage from the wreckage! Nodding, she lands back on the sand, replying, "Let's go then." She spread her wings, lifting off and gesturing for Barrage to grab onto her foot talons.

================================ Robot Master ================================

Message: 15/65 Posted Author

Beta Sphere Sun Nov 14 Quick Man

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"The Repliforce finally attacked Beta Sphere today. We've known for some time this was going to happen, and were prepared. Five legions of Joes as well as the Steel Legion and most of Beta Squad were on hand to defend. It was quite a battle. I'll cut to the chase: Beta Sphere was destroyed. However, this was expected. We self-destructed it ourselves before we withdrew.

On the positive side, we dealt a crippling blow to the Fortress Five. The mirror-laser I designed and implemented hit it on the side, blowing one of it'e engines clean off and taking it out of the fight. Last seen, it was making an emergency landing in the desert.

We lost most of the joes, but the majority of the militiamen survived, and none of Beta Squad took serious damage. I want to make special note of Flash Man's performance. He managed to do a neat trick with bullets that took down the F5's shields, as well as Timestop the whole damn Fortress so the mirror laser could hit. Great show Flash. And the rest of you, good job too.

The Repliforce blew up our Sphere, but we had written it off anyway. They paid heavily with lives and resources today for relatively little gain. I'd consider this operation a complete success. The Mirror Desert has also been taken completely offline. I'd estimate as much as 35 percent of Africa with no power right now. That outta look good for the RF. Anyway, that's the sitch. Quick Man out."

<Coded to Wily and Elites only> The Refuge was not revealed. It's safe, and ready to begin operations now that the Sphere is gone. Our plans worked out perfectly in that regard."

Check your wallets - The Speedster was here!

==============================================================================

================================= Repliforce =================================

Message: 14/28 Posted Author

AAR: Log - Mirror Desert Sun Nov 14 Storm Owl

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Storm Owl gives a voiceover while appropriate schematics and files are shown at various points on the screen.

"Captain's log, November 14th, 2217. The Fortress V has made an emergency landing in the Mirror Desert after suffering major damage. The cause of this shall be related in this log."

"At approximately 4:56pm local ship time, Col. Colonel, Maj. Barrage Raptor, and Lt. Assault Kangaroo began their plan to eradicate the remaining Robot Master resistance in Africa: The Eta and Beta Spheres, located in the African Rainforest and Mirror Desert, respectively. This account is my official log of the Beta invasion. The Fortress V and her escorts <see attached file beta_invasion_force> passed into Beta territory at approximately 5:21pm local ship time. Picket scouts, under the command of Sgt. Hailstorm Eagle, detected the Beta Sphere's defences which consisted of several legions of Joe class drones, squadrons of W-Fighters, dozens of anti-aircraft turrets, and two giant Metool war machines <see attached file beta_defence>."

The screen briefly shows the files for anyone who wants to see them during the log. "Hi-Max, Vanishing Gungaroo, Barrage Raptor, and the ground forces under their command successfully dealt with the giant Met and other various drones. The Fortress V provided cover fire, annihilated the enemy fighters, and began to assault the Sphere itself. Unfortunately, it was here the battle took a turn for the worse."

"Flash Man and his anti-aircraft artillery, combined with his timestopping powers, successfully breached the ventral defensive shields. The opposing Commander in charge of the Robot Masters (OOC: Quick Man) then launched a devastating attack powered by all of the solar panel mirrors around the sphere. The starboard engine has been completely destroyed, and the hull has been breached in numerous locations. Despite her injuries, however, we were able to continue the bombardment of the Sphere."

"As our ground forces successfully broke through the enemy lines, the majority of the Robot Master forces retreated. I brought the ship down near the sphere in a successful landing. Damage has been extensive, and I would prefer not to become airborne again for at least two weeks <see attached file damage_report>. In an emergency, however, we do have power to lift off. Until then, the Fortress V can still function as our headquarters without a problem."

"The Robot Masters then detonated their sphere, nearly taking Maj. Barrage with it. She recovered and led a force to the Eta Sphere to aid the Eta Sphere's attack force, which had taken heavy losses including Colonel himself and Lt. Assault Kangaroo. I leave the details to them. Rest assured, Repliforce, I shall see to it that the ship is fully functional as soon as possible. Commander Prismatic, if we may meet and speak of our options, I would appreciate it. End log."

Major Storm Owl, Commanding Fortress V, Mirror Desert

OOC: The ship has landed in the desert. The starboard engine has blown off and the hull has been breached there. If your quarters or any personal belongings were there, it's up to you how well they fared.

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