The Day That Physics Mattered

[nobel-berserker.livejournal.com]

The last time Allenby had been snatched up by GLaDOS, she had quickly abandoned the AI's preferred agenda in favor of seeking her out to deliver a righteous beatdown. The second time, Allenby hadn't changed anything except to get started on that before hearing GLaDOS' instructions. She hopped walls and dodged flame-shooting floor panels in her quest to get to the computer and put a fist in her processors--her soul was attached to her just fine--and just as suddenly as before, she was in mid-air. Unlike before, she was in the Hangar and surrounded by hostile robots.

"Whoa!" Instinctively, she punched the first one in its banana-shaped head, wincing at the unexpected pain. The hell--bam! Whack! She grabbed another one and hurled it at some of its comrades, which were taking aim at her. It didn't go as far as she'd hoped... ducking and dodging between them and some nastier-looking big guys, she spotted what she was looking for. "Nobel Gundam! Let's go!" she yelled, and launched herself up towards the cockpit.

It became apparent about halfway up that, well, halfway was all the way this time. That made it certain. Something was wrong with her. Had GLaDOS done this? And what the hell were all these robots trying to kill her, anyway?!

It would be a lie to say that Allenby wasn't afraid as she started to drop. But she was too pissed off now to think about being scared. With a bloodcurdling roar, she slammed herself into a clump of battle-bots and went right back to work, trying to ignore the question of how long she'd be able to keep it up.

Comments

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"Allenby!" Who was that in the midst of punching out some robots? It was Zouichi, attempting to pick out another glimpse of his friend through the crowd. "You're not going to let a few robots keep you down, are you?"

Looked like someone had moved his fighter, maybe for repairs. It was further back in the Hangar for now.

[nobel-berserker.livejournal.com]

Zouichi! If there was a list of people Allenby would want to see after getting spat out of a brain maze into a crowd of robots, he'd be at the top.

"No way!" She punctuated it by kicking another battle droid in the head and then ducked a laser blast. "But it woulda been nice to know--yah!--there was a party goin' on first!"

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Zouichi aimed two shots at a small cluster of the droids, sending the broken robots staggering backward. It was too bad the Nightmare was too big to march along the corridors; else he would have boarded it and given their assailants some early shipwide Christmas presents. "I'd tend to agree. How are you going to get up to that cockpit?"

[nobel-berserker.livejournal.com]

"Uh--!" Whoops, no time for 'uh.' Allenby grabbed a fallen blaster and fired a few experimental shots before hurling it at another robot (which turned out to be more accurate).

She spotted something on the ground that looked more useful: a ten-foot section of torn power cable. Snatching it up, she began employing it like a ribbon as she backed towards the shelter of Nobel Gundam's foot. "Guess we gotta clear a path to the catwalks!"

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

The catwalks? What, like a normal human being? Zouichi brought the coil rifle forward with his other hand, unleashing a bright burst of energy that cleared a brief gap in the robot rabble. He began wading his way over the the platform.

"All right, I think that's doable." In fact, Zouichi was already thinking about ways this was all the ship's fault. He could multi-task!

[nobel-berserker.livejournal.com]

"Great!" Allenby was absolutely positive that it was Stacy's fault. She didn't know anything about what was going on right now, but that had to be a fact. She grinned as the rifle blasted a hole in the crowd and rushed right in, jumping over half-melted and scattered robot bits.

...Crap, there wasn't a quick way up around here. No ladders or anything. This had never been a problem! Well, Z was still Z...

"Hey, you still got all your synthetic human muscles?" she asked, lashing another battle droid and using it as a giant bludgeon on another one.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Zouichi paused for a split-second. Then he held out his hands, interlacing them together to form a jumping-off platform for Allenby.

"Ready when you are!"

Leap before you look, right?

[nobel-berserker.livejournal.com]

RIGHT.

Allenby carefully put her foot onto his hands, steadying herself on his head. "Okay--now!" she yelled, springing off.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

He hurled her upward into the air, high above the crowd of robots. WHO NEEDS PHYSICS.

[punchedoutdestiny]

"ALLENBY!" Simon yelled as he barged into the swarm of bots near the other pilot, smacking them in the head with his hand drill. "Are you alright?"

[nobel-berserker.livejournal.com]

"SIMON!" Allenby grabbed up a broken-off droid shin and began using it as a bludgeon. She was going to break her knuckles if she kept up the punching--a Gundam Fighter about to hurt her fists on some measly robots! "I'm fine! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!"

[punchedoutdestiny]

A few more 'bots are knocked aside before Simon finally grabs a blaster from one of the fallen Battle Droids. He tries a few shots, and...well, doesn't do very good. "Some Showdown-lady-program-thing apparently took over while Stacy attempted to do maintenance on GLaDOS!" By now, he's using the rifle as a bludgeon. "She's disabled our powers, and wants to wipe us all out!"

[nobel-berserker.livejournal.com]

"Great!" So it was Stacy's fault. Good job, Stacy. And that would explain why she was feeling so damn wimpy right now. "Well, I ain't gonna let her do that!"

She looked around frantically. "We should get into our mechs! You can show me how great your Lagann is, 'kay?!"

[punchedoutdestiny]

Okay, this gun wasn't very useful. Simon pitches it, switching back to the drill for smashing 'bot heads in. "Just one little problem with that plan," he calls back with a hesitant tone. "With our powers disabled like this, I can't start Lagann!" As he says this, one unlucky battle droid gets an especially forceful face full of cone drill. He's...pretty sore about that, to say the least.

[nobel-berserker.livejournal.com]

"You can't!? OW!" Allenby grabbed her arm. The son-of-a--she slapped her shoulder to make the plantsuit's sleeve extend down over the injury. "Well can ya pilot a regular mobile suit?!" There were still Zakus and those Gundam-looking Windam things. Right now, she'd even lower her standards to use one of those.

[punchedoutdestiny]

There was a frustrated grunt as Allenby emphasized that once more. "Her stupid dampeners or whatever are keeping me from getting properly fired up! I..." He sputters for a moment, then growls, smacking a droid out of the way to get closer.

"I don't know, I've only ever piloted Gunmen, but the cow-guy said I should use a Zaku."

[nobel-berserker.livejournal.com]

"Ugh, no way. Zakus--" Aw crap, they really didn't have time to discuss it though, did they? Looked like Simon was going to have to pilot one of those ugly things just for now. And honestly, if he'd never piloted a suit before, a Zaku was a good (ugly, clunky) place to start--

"Follow me!" she said, breaking into a run. "And tell me more about these dampeners! Know where they are?!"

[jesushasagundam]

And then a voice, amplified and electronic - as though coming out of a large speaker - rang through the hangar. "Allenby! Get away from them so I can shoot!"

And indeed, the moment she put some space between them at the robots, the air screamed with green energy blasts courtesy of the Strike Freedom.

[nobel-berserker.livejournal.com]

Allenby might be bad at following orders off the battlefield, but even she knew that when someone in a mobile suit said to get out of the way, you got out of the way.

"Nice shootin'!" She didn't waste more than a second gaping at the pile of blackened slag that had been a battle droid squad, instead grabbing a length of broken power cable, using it the same way she would her beam ribbon--at least to pull down droids. Couldn't cut them up--

"Nobel--dammit!" There was no energy inside to summon. That meant Superball wouldn't work either! Not on foot, anyway. "Kira! Can ya help me get into my Gundam?! I'm all--wimpy!"

[jesushasagundam]

Wimpy? Had he heard that right? Kira didn't know if he would ever properly term Allenby Beardsley as "wimpy," but they could argue semantics later. "Hang on," he said over the external speakers, the Freedom jetting into the air and then carefully setting down next to the Nobel so as not to collide with any of the other craft.

His mobile suit crouched to a knee, one metal hand coming down to the ground as a platform. "Quickly, get on!"

There were more battle droids coming quick.

[nobel-berserker.livejournal.com]

Well what do you call it when a person can't jump fifty feet straight up from a standing start, Kira?!

"Okay!" She clambered onto the Gundam's hand as quickly as possible, grimacing as a shot went by a bit too close overhead--she could smell burning hair and slapped it quickly. Well, she needed a haircut anyway. "What the hell are these things?! Don't tell me Stacy set 'em all loose on us!"

[jesushasagundam]

Being human, duh.

Kira had been intending to deliver Allenby straight to her Gundam, but the barrage of bolts that flew past her exposed form led to a quick change in plans. Curling metal fingers around her, Kira instead brought the mobile suit's hand to the cockpit embedded in its chest - and it slid open.

"Quickly," he called, standing up out of the top hatch and extending a hand. "Get in!"

[nobel-berserker.livejournal.com]

There wasn't much time to argue or ask questions. Allenby took the offered hand and scrambled in, trying to squeeze to the side without accidentally tripping any buttons or levers. No doubt about it, mobile fighters were way better for things like this.

Of course, if it kept her from getting filled with laser holes, it was all right.

"Man, if I could just use a specialty technique!" she growled, glaring out of the cockpit. "Can't jump high, either. I dunno what it is!"

[jesushasagundam]

There was a little room to squeeze in next to the pilot's seat, but it'd be a tight fit. Sorry Allenby, not everybody has your fancy pants kung-fu cockpits. Some of them have to make do with buttons and sticks.

Kira's hands flew over the input terminal keyboard as the cockpit door sealed shut in front of them, the viewscreens flaring to life once more. "You can't... jump high?" He said with a note of confusion in his voice, even as he locked onto a group of battle droids and opened precise fire. "You weren't really going to jump up to your cockpit from the ground, were you?"

[nobel-berserker.livejournal.com]

"Well, yeah," said Allenby, raising her eyebrows. Oh, wait... right... most people thought that was kinda weird, didn't they? The universal reaction of what the hell do you think you're doing from the people who'd found her training in Awesome World had been driven far from her mind.

She gritted her teeth as Kira opened fire, frustrated at being unable to punch anything right now. "I can't hit as fast or as hard either. Somethin' isn't right here!"