The next day, Klan sat at her patrol point, waiting for Cal to show up. "He'd better not be late again. I'll bet he's mortified beyond belief to show his face again," she mumbled to herself. A few moments of silence was broken by the radio crackling Cal's voice, "Bang, you're dead." Confused by the statement, Klan turned around to see Cal forming a gun with his battroid's hand and pointing it at the back of her Queadluun.
"How did you--?" she began to ask. Then she remembered her conversation with Ozma after she returned from the simulation yesterday. "He's still a test pilot. NUNS assigned him to test out some new gadgets to increase the survivability of the RVF's, since they seem to perform so weakly in battle. That flashbang was one of the many tricks he has hiding up his sleeve," Ozma told her. Klan decided to keep an open mind around Cal, considering the surprises he may be able to conjure up.
"I heard you still do test piloting. Why didn't you tell me earlier that you were still doing testing, despite being in the NUNS now?" Klan asked Cal. "Because it was classified," he responded, "Now that the cat's out of the bag, I guess I can't continue the charade anymore." "Well, what other little tricks do you have in that bag of yours?" Klan asked. Cal refused to give his tactics away, "You're a Lieutenant Commander, you can read about em if you have the security clearance."
Klan was taken aback at the audacity of his statement, but realized that he was doing the right thing in not talking about classified information over communications lines. She needs to watch her back if she gets into another simulation with Cal. Who knows what he's capable of? Especially seeing as how he was somehow able to mask his EM and fold signatures from her sensors and sneak up on her just now.
The two continued to talk trash to each other as they performed their patrol rounds. "So, the fledgling thinks he's got what it takes to fly with the big boys, doesn't he?" Klan taunted. "You know I almost had you a couple of times. I just need a more agile machine. I'm starting to feel the limitations of the 171. I bet if I had one of those shiny Queadluuns, I might whoop on you a bit," Cal replied. Klan took this as a direct challenge on her skills as a pilot. "Oh really? Then you are gonna need to do some serious growing to fit in one of these," Klan replied.
Cal became a bit silent as he thought about Klan's words. She noticed his silence and inquired as to why he couldn't come up with a retort. "What's wrong? You afraid now?" Klan asked. "Actually, yes," Cal replied, "Those macronization chambers scare the shit out of me and I don't know why," he continued, "Just the thought of having my DNA broken down and reconstructed by a machine... I don't know how people, especially Zentrans, handle it."
"I would love to get into a Queadluun some day and be able to experience it firsthand. I've had a lot of respect for those machines since I first saw one on a documentary as a child. I was amazed at how superior it was compared to the male power armor suits and to the VF-1s of the first Space War. It's no surprise it's still around today, despite the VF-25's slight superiority now. It says a lot about a weapon of war when it continues to remain effective over multiple decades," Cal said, giving a bit of insight into his love of the tools of war.
Klan admired Cal's knowledge and respect of the weapons her people use. However, she was more intrigued by Cal's illogical fear of macronization. "I've used macronization all my life and I never gave a second thought to any of the dangers that the process has. I haven't heard of anything bad happening to anyone, besides small changes in appearance," Klan said. She didn't want to tell him of the changes she goes through when changing into her miclone form; afraid that she'd stoke his fears of macronization. Maybe his fear wasn't completely uncalled for.
"Well, I don't want to hear any excuses from you about losing yesterday," she said with a grin. "They're not excuses, they're reasons!" Cal replied. Klan continued to egg him on about the loss. After a couple of minutes of exchanging taunts, Cal threw up his hands in the cockpit. "Okay, you know what? How about we do it again? Let's fight one on one and I'll show you that this 'chickling' doesn't take things lying down!" he exclaimed. "I will make you eat those words," Klan replied, "I accept your challenge."
The rest of the patrol shift was basically the two pilots trying to one-up each other aeronautically and trading intimidating stares at each other. Challenging taunts traveled back and forth over the comm lines as the they tried to charge each other up for the match.
On the Macross Quarter's bridge, Monica caught wind of the chatter between the two challengers. The masters of gossip began to spread word of the impending showdown. Word of the fight disseminated amongst the crew of the Quarter and eventually reached the ears of the personnel in the rest of the fleet. The upcoming heavyweight title bout was sure to get a lot of attention.
In the Azusa's galley, Cal began to wonder why the maintenance technicians were cheering at him and giving him words of encouragement. This whole ordeal has made him into something of a semi-celebrity amongst the NUNS soldiers. His teammates joined him for lunch and told him about how they heard about the duel. "Everyone on the ship is rooting for you, Cal! We hope you can defeat the Nephilim and bring recognition to the Azusa," Kyung emphatically said. Other soldiers overheard Kyung's words of encouragement and began to gather around Cal's table to throw in their two cents.
On one side, several soldiers began taking bets on the outcome of the fight. Cal became annoyed by the excessive noise around him. He politely got up, bid everyone goodbye, and left the galley. The shouting and arguing continued to rage on behind him as he exited the room. Maybe now was a good time to sleep, since Cal was not going to get a moment's peace anywhere else. It was unbelievable that there was such a big deal being made about two pilots who just want to see who's the best between them.
Klan had the same ideas as Cal. She didn't have time to deal with the commercializing of the duel and opted to get sleep instead of confronting her shipmates about it. As was the habit of her mind when going to sleep, an image of Michael appeared when she closed her eyes. Going to bed reminded her of the long nights she spent wide awake dwelling on her memories of him for the past few months. She suddenly realized that her attention has been solely focused on keeping Cal in check for the last couple of days. She feared that her desire to assert herself as a superior pilot is turning into an obsession. Because of her distractions, she has not been feeling so alone anymore without Michael somewhere nearby. She cautiously accepts that maybe this is a healthy development for her to get back on the right foot emotionally.
Alto sat in the cockpit of his VF-25 only with his thoughts in his head as he performed his scheduled patrol duty. His mind drifted off to memories of his experiences with Ranka and Sheryl and how he's managed to get this far without completely losing his mind. His most recent mental images of the two are when he parted with them on the pier just before the Quarter left the planet. He suddenly realized that he had not yet read what was in Sheryl's envelope. Even though he is tough on her as a self defense from her mind games, he still knows that he cares enough to be concerned about what she has to say. He waits for the day when he can fully trust the words that come out of her mouth and take them at face value. He's tired of having to translate her words into what it is that she really means. Alto promises himself that he will read the letter at his first opportunity.
Ozma finally has some time to himself. Having made arrangements for the big duel tomorrow, he decides to get to work on his promise to Cathy. Being a commander has its benefits... a full sized-quarters to do as he wishes. The kitchenette had the proper tools for him to practice his pineapple cake and he slaved away on his first concoction. Ranka's custom CD played in the background as his thoughts remained on the two ladies who mattered most to him.
Luca sat in his quarters sifting through the huge box of cookies Nanase gave him. He picked out the best-looking cookie of each type and gently set them up leaning against the wall on the shelf near his bed. He thought back to the warmth and love that he feels from Nanase when they're close together. He gazed intently on the two cookies that represented him and Nanase. He had purposely placed them facing each other as if they were locked in an everlasting kiss. Having never been in a relationship with a girl before, he doesn't fully understand how lucky he really is to have such a caring person to call his own. Hopefully, he won't have to experience another relationship that puts Nanase in a sort of perspective. He'll be fine just staying with her.
Kanaria was fast asleep in her quarters. She embraced the picture she had of her with her son and husband in her arms as she slept. Looks like someone had trouble with their homesickness already, but she'll be fine when she wakes up in the morning.
Captain Wilder and Monica Lang were the only two on the bridge during this shift. The two shared thoughtful words with each other over two cups of hot tea. Even though the rest of the bridge crew encouraged them to get closer together, they remained loving friends. Their companionship on nights like this was all they needed to get by... for now.
Jen Wentz lay in her bed wondering what the future held for her. The way things were going, she may find herself serving on the same ship as Cal. When she and Cal spent the night together before they left Aimo, she had not imagined that they would see each other again. Her seemingly clean break from Cal was beginning to look like it wasn't a break at all. How is she going to behave around him if he transfers onto the Quarter? Why does she find herself spending so much time with Bobby on and off duty? Is she getting desperate to find someone to call her own now?
Eight hours or so later, the mood of the soldiers in the fleet borders on hysteria in anticipation for the big bout about to start. Cal had spent some of his night playing with his VF models trying out new maneuvering techniques to help him out-pilot his upcoming opponent. He also finished reading the manuals of the countermeasures systems he was supposed to be testing all this time. After conferring with the team mechanic, he decided to install the holographic projector on the hardpoint closest to the fuselage. To counterbalance the load, he had the mechanic rig up a missile pack full of scrap metal and attach it to the other side. This was a huge chance Cal was taking by adding on that weight. It was surely going to slow him down if he needed to make high-speed maneuvers.
Since technicians had figured out a way to equip the RVF-171EX with a shield for the GERWALK and battroid's left arm, the loadout weight has changed somewhat. Cal briefly considered having it removed to offset the added weight of his loadout, but his love of melee combat would not allow him go into space without one.
Flying in a holding pattern around the perimeter of the engagement area, Cal's heart was pounding in his chest. This event was definitely going to be huge in his life if he can manage to pull out the win. His mind wanders to the facts about the physical limitations that his RVF has when compared to the capabilities of the Queadluun Rhea. There's no way he's going to be able to win a fight in empty space. He'll have to use the debris in the planet's rings to keep Klan at bay.
The mood in Klan's Queadluun was a confident one. She couldn't wait to mess up Cal's RVF with some paint rounds. "His RVF is going to be dripping wet with paint by the time I'm done with him," she laughs to herself.
All eyes remained glued to the nearest display screen showing the duel. Viewing parties gathered around the big screens located in the galley of each carrier and cruiser. The event was truly turning into a spectacle... perhaps too much so for a military operation in progress in what could be considered hostile territory.
The hangar in the Quarter was virtually deserted, as most of the personnel had gathered in the pilot briefing room to watch the fight. All of the pilots, minus Ozma and Kanaria, cheered on their wingmate.
Kanaria's Monster slowly floated into the engagement area, ready for Ozma to announce the beginning of the duel. The battle zone was greatly reduced in size, to facilitate the smaller complement of fighters being involved. The two contestants drifted just outside of each other's sensor range. No doubt, they would use the debris to conceal their positions until they run into each other.
"Special Simulation; Skull 5 versus Helios 14. Last man standing, no missiles, only fuselage hits will count. Begin!" Ozma announced. The two fighters dipped into the rings of Coral-5 to begin their game of cat and mouse.
Cal decided to leave his music playing in his cockpit to keep him alert and charged up. He repeated his strategy to himself so he would be less likely to deviate from his plan, "Keep her in melee range, do not engage her in open space, stay patient." Cal began to jam his EM and fold signatures to conceal his position as best as possible. The waiting game began. Each pilot carefully searched the areas around them, moving around in leaps. The first attack is always the most important one, and neither pilot was willing to compromise that advantage by trying anything stupid.
Cal's sensitive radome would serve as his trump card. He remained attentively fixed on the readouts on his console, while keeping an eye out of the canopy for any visual cues of movement. He continuously cycled through sensor modes to catch any anomalies. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see fine dust particles ejecting from the tight orbits of the rings. Only engine exhaust would cause this phenomenon. Cal tightened the sensor sweep onto that area, programming the radome to detect changes in particle densities above and below the rings. He decided to forego conventional propulsion until he could find his target. He couldn't afford to allow Klan to see the dust he'd be kicking up by boosting around. Good ol' foot power was going to be his propulsion method.
On Klan's end, she figured he'd be sneakier than usual. His little stunt on their last patrol mission taught her that valuable lesson. Her sensors will not be as reliable, so it's up to her eyes and her instincts to bring her victory. Unknowingly, she's using her engines to boost around and it's kicking up dust all around her. An oversight that may cost her that initial first shot.
Cal could see the ejections getting closer to him. It was time to plan his ambush. He found the largest debris particle nearby and hid himself on the far side, staying as close to it as he possibly could. His battroid held its gunpod close to its chest, waiting for the first hint of movement to fire upon. By now, Cal's heart was racing and his breathing became heavy in anticipation of the first contact. He turned his music down to focus.
Klan's instincts began to warn her of an impending attack and she stopped moving forward until she was sure the area was secure. Cal's sensors were picking up the acceleration of dust particles being caused by engine exhaust. The blob on the sensor screen remained motionless, though. "Come on, come on," Cal said to himself. He suspected she might know he was there. It's time for a quick change of plans...
Klan opened up the comm line to Cal, "I can smell your fear. You're close, chickling." Cal had to distract Klan, or she'd fire on him the very moment he emerged from behind the rock. He released the magnetic coupling on one of his flashbangs and kicked the battroids leg to the side to sling it away from his position. The timer on the flashbang expired and detonated. Klan reacted to the movement and aimed at the flash, but quickly realized it was a diversionary tactic. The very same instant the flashbang detonated, Cal emerged from behind the rock, sailed over Klan's head, and opened fire as he passed over. Klan reacted by using her arms to block the paint rounds from hitting the body of her Queadluun. As Cal's inertia caused him to lose line of sight, he transformed into a fighter to speed away and hope that he can duck back into the rings undetected.
Unfortunately, Klan was as aggressive as she always is and immediately entered pursuit of the fleeing RVF. "You're not getting away that easily!" she said. Cal quickly released two more flares to conceal his path. Klan's sharp eyes noticed the two projectiles and steered around them to avoid any detrimental effects. Cal was not in a good position and he needed to do something before she locked onto his six. He knew that once that happened, it was going to be impossible to shake her.
In a surprising move, Cal climbed away from the rings for a moment, pulled a tight loop and thrust himself downwards towards the pursuing Klan. The RVF groaned as the airframe struggled to handle the intense G-forces he just pulled with the maneuver. Klan did not expect such a bold counterattack, but was ready to punish Cal for it. She opened fire with both of her arm-mounted guns. Cal knew this was going to be a dangerous move and positioned his battroid to reduce its profile behind the shield attached to his left arm, while he fired upon Klan with the gunpod in right hand.
"Gyeaahhh!!" Cal yelled while charging towards the Queadluun. Several paint rounds impacted directly on the RVF's shield as Cal accelerated towards Klan in a falling motion. Klan had to dodge Cal's shots the old fashioned way using her agile vernier thrusters and engine. Cal's plan was to not only get shots off towards Klan, but he intended on bashing her with his shield. Cal seemed to enjoy the melee combat, so he made precautions to prevent being disarmed again.
The two ships bashed into each other with an awful force; both of them falling back into Coral-5's rings. Spectators groaned as they could almost feel the impact from where they stood. Klan boosted her engines to arrest the fall and force Cal's RVF out of melee range so she could fire upon him again. She succeeded in separating the two ships momentarily, but Cal was not about to allow her to aim at him. He boosted towards her again, flipping over and placing two kicks to her chest, further accelerating her Queadluun towards the debris field.
The Queadluun bounced off of the first rock particle it hit, momentarily stunning the pilot. Klan frantically opened fire, hoping to scare Cal off before he could get a good shot at her. Her desperation shots came very close to hitting Cal and he was forced to reposition before firing. This was more than enough time for her to escape the situation. "You're a lucky one!" Cal yelled in frustration to his missed opportunity. Perhaps it was time for Klan to out-pilot him through the debris field so she could turn the tables on him.
Klan dove into the debris field, expecting Cal to follow her, but he opted to stay back. He knew that she'd be able to outmaneuver him, especially with the additional weight he was carrying. Cal dove into the rings to set up another ambush. His key to victory had to be to keep her in melee range and hope to stun her long enough to plant the paint rounds on her.
"Dammit!" Klan clicked her tongue as she realized Cal wouldn't follow. She realizes that he is fierce at close range and her only chance to win then is to continue to attempt to disarm him. Once he's been separated from his gunpod, he won't be able to finish her off. Klan left the debris field to try to draw Cal out of his hiding place. She's depending on his impatience to give away his position, as most new pilots suffer from itchy trigger fingers.
The tempo of the fight died down for a couple of minutes while Klan cruised about one kilometer above the surface of the rings. She visually scanned the debris for any clues as to Cal's whereabouts. All over the fleet, soldiers remained attentively glued to display screens, cheering the fight on. On the bridge of the Quarter, even Jen had removed all inhibitions as she cheered Cal on. Unfortunately, the rest of the crew was cheering on their beloved Klan.
Ozma and Kanaria continued to watch the fevered fighting from the Monster. "Fights like this don't happen too often. It usually takes two young and talented pilots to lock in battle like this. It's almost like watching a married couple get into their first argument. Both have a lot to prove!" Kanaria scoffed at Ozma's terrible analogy. "If that's what you think being married is all about, then you're going to be divorced pretty quick," Kanaria stated. "No, I am just saying that-- Oh, nevermind. Forget I even said anything," Ozma replied, attempting to defend himself. Kanaria smiled and glued her attention back to watching the fight.
Cal sat patiently in the safety of the debris field, watching Klan float overhead. "Here, chicky chicky chicky!" she called out to Cal. His mind raced as he tried to come up with a plan before the conditions changed. The only thing he could think of was to take a few potshots at Klan to see if he could lure her in closer and spring a trap. Klan noticed the muzzle flashes from Cal's gunpod as he squeezed off three-round bursts. She easily dodged the projectiles, but was nonetheless annoyed by Cal's unwillingness to take her on in an open setting. "Come out here and fight me... unless you're afraid of fighting a woman!" Klan taunted. Cal waited a few seconds before responding, "Being a woman has nothing to do with it. Remember, you're the ace and I'm the chickling. What are YOU afraid of?" Cal asked.
Klan's over-confidence in herself won the battle that raged on inside of her during those couple of minutes of cruising. Cal's challenge was just the straw that broke the camel's back. She moved towards the rings and targeted her entry point about 500 meters away from where Cal was shooting from. While she slowly made her way towards Cal's last known position, she stopped to assess the situation for a moment. As she passed over one of the larger particles, it suddenly began to quickly climb to her position. Cal must be pushing it from the other side.
Her best bet was to boost away from the debris out to open space again and let Cal expose himself with only the one boulder for him to use as cover. After traveling a few hundred meters away from the safety of the debris field, Cal knew his little trick was not going to work out well as long as Klan matched position on the other side of the rock, patiently waiting for him to make a move. He had no choice but to boost himself away from the rock before it was too late. "She's patient... I think the only way I'm going to win this is by instigating her into losing that patience."
Pushing off from the rock in battroid mode, Cal quickly switched to fighter mode and sped away, trying his best to conceal his move from Klan's line of sight. Klan saw the exhaust burst from the other side and moved into attack position to try to tag Cal before he disappeared into the rings again. Cal found himself briefly vulnerable to fire and released two more flashbangs to increase his odds of coming out of this one unscathed. Klan managed to angle herself away from the flashbangs to avoid being inundated with intense light. As she closed the distance, Cal released the missile pack full of scrap metal from under his wing, transformed into a battroid, and roundhouse kicked the package. The casing broke open and showered Klan with hundreds of shreds of metal. She instinctively raised her arms to protect herself, thereby taking away her ability to fire on Cal, and slightly obscuring her vision.
Cal predicted that reaction and reversed direction to engage Klan in melee combat once again, without fear of retaliation. The two mecha clashed together again with furious intensity. Klan had managed to grab Cal's right arm, which was carrying the gunpod, and turn it away so she won't be hit by it if he fires. She used her leg to sweep Cal's battroid from below and disorient him while she used her free hand to fire rounds off. Cal reacted quickly by switching to GERWALK, just as she fired. The new configuration shrunk the height of the RVF enough to duck underneath Klan's burst of rounds.
Cal opened the throttle with his GERWALK RVF pointing downwards, causing Klan's Queadluun to tumble overhead. She lost her grip on Cal's arm and the momentum caused her to spin in place for just a brief moment. Cal took advantage of the situation and opened fire after whipping around with his verniers. Klan sensed the opening and boosted away to get out of the line of fire. This was Cal's chance to get on her six and get some shots off.
He followed closely behind in fighter form, trying desperately to lock onto his target. Klan's Queadluun was difficult to follow at close range, so Cal throttled down a bit to increase the distance between them. This allowed Klan to dip into the debris field and conceal her position with the ice and rock particles. Several paint rounds splattered on the boulders as Klan flew into their cover.
Rather than continuing on her current course, Klan did a 180 and blasted back out of the cover of rocks and lunged to disarm Cal at melee range. "Oh, crap..." Cal said as he switched to battroid to engage the Queadluun. She succeeded in knocking the gunpod out of his hands, but Cal had taken care of that problem back in the hangar. A retractable steel tether brought the gunpod back into it's resting place on the side of his battroid's arm. Fortunately for Klan, it was not operable in that position and she maintained an ironclad grip on both of Cal's battroid's hands. The dogfight has momentarily turned into a bit of a wrestling match.
The two pilots strained with their controls, looking for an opportunity to overpower the other. Cal's biggest threat was the guns mounted on the Queadluun's arms. He struggled to keep her arms pointing outwards, while she tried to move her arms inwards to fire upon the defenseless battroid. Another fortunate thing for Cal was that the chest-mounted guns on the Queadluun were not armed with paint rounds. He only had to worry about the arm cannons. "What's the matter? Are you going to let a girl hold you down you like that?" Klan said with a noticeable strain in her voice as she struggled to apply more force to her controls.
The two pilots traded low kicks with each other as they attempted to change each others' orientations. Klan realized the advantage she had with her engines being more powerful than the RVF's while it's in battroid mode. There's no way he'd be able to out-thrust her like this. She used her verniers to turn the pair around and put Cal's back to the debris field. She then opened up to full throttle as she held on tightly to the battroid's hands.
The intense acceleration kept Cal pinned in front of the Queadluun. He tried firing his main engines to turn the pair of fighters to a different direction, but Klan's quick piloting maneuvers and agile thrusters kept them turned in the direction she wanted. Impact alarms sounded in Cal's cockpit, as the computers warned him of the incoming collision. "Shit!" Cal yelled. The 171 collided against the large rock with bone-crunching concussive force. Cal physically bounced in his chair from the shock. Klan pushed off of Cal's RVF and assumed her attack posture to deliver the final blow to the stunned pilot.
Cal's only chance was to use his final flashbangs to blind Klan. He kicked the battroid's legs upwards to propel the shell in between the two fighters. The quick fuse detonated and blinded both pilots, due to their close proximity to the flashbang. Klan, having already positioned her arms to fire upon Cal, pulled the trigger and hoped that her rounds would hit, despite not being able to see what she was firing at. Cal opened up his throttle out of desperation to get out of the way. The battroid's orientation actually spun the boulder around, giving him cover from Klan's assault.
The flashbang still affected both pilots' vision, but Cal could see just well enough to get the heck out of there before Klan corners him again. Melee is becoming less effective, as Klan quickly learns Cal's techniques. "I need to end this very soon or she's going to win," Cal thought to himself. He's running out of tricks and Klan is becoming more of a threat with each passing second. His main wildcard, the flashbangs, was no longer an option since he was now out of them.
Klan strained to regain the light sensitivity in her eyes as the flashbang's effects wore off. Only a slowly-rotating boulder remained in front of her with several paint rounds impacted on it. He got away again! Klan was beginning to get impatient as she growled into the comm line. This upstart chickling pilot is matching her skills at every turn, even though he needs to use his classified countermeasures to combat her on an even level. Still, though, her pride as an ace pilot and Zentraedi warrior was taking a beating the longer she remained in combat with him. Angrily, she sped off towards the direction her sensors told her Cal went.
After about 15 seconds, another large boulder began to lift out of the rings, apparently being pushed out by Cal and used as cover. Klan's sensor screen indicated a fighter hiding on the other side. Her patience had run out and she wasn't about to waste her time waiting for Cal to make his move anymore. "This trick again?? It's time to end this now!" Klan yelled out.
Klan sped past the boulder to plant her paint rounds on the battroid that was on the other side. She vectored herself to pass close by the boulder and fire on the RVF at point-blank range. Sure enough, there was the RVF in battroid mode, looking the other direction, as if he was expecting an attack from the other side. "Gotcha!" Klan said as she moved in for the kill. She placed her arm-mounted cannons right at the chest of the RVF, and pulled the trigger.
The battroid didn't even move as she fired several rounds into its chest. As she stopped firing, she realized that her shots had passed through the fighter! "What??" she exclaimed, trying to figure out what's going on. She noticed Cal's holographic projector carefully placed on the surface of the boulder. Her memory quickly flashed a picture of the projector and missile pack installed under his wings at the beginning of the fight. When she had first seen them, Klan thought that he was crazy for adding that weight. Cal's voice crackled over the comm line, "I am NOT a chickling." Just as she turned the Queadluun's torso around to see behind her, she was stopped by a the barrel of Cal's gunpod pointed directly at her face. Klan was not in a position to fire back and she gasped in anticipation of the gunfire.
Cal fired a single paint round directly at the faceplate of the Queadluun. The paint round hit its target, completely enveloping the sensor array. Klan's visual displays were obscured from the inside due to the inking. She could feel the Queadluun being pummeled by multiple rounds as the stinging bite of defeat fell over her darkened cockpit.
Almost instantly, Klan's cockpit was filled with the sound of heavy metal being played over the comm line. She reeled in reaction to her eardrums being pounded by the sonic assault. She used the Queadluun's hand to wipe away a portion of the paint so she could see what the heck Cal was doing.
Cal's battroid played the gunpod like a guitar and it was headbanging to the beat of the music. "Oh YEAHHHH!!!" Cal yelled out at the top of his voice on the comm lines. All of the viewing parties on the ships went absolutely nuts following the conclusion to the epic bout. The Azusa erupted in cheer for their darling pilot. Jen Wentz cheered and applauded for her so-called "man" to the backdrop of shocked silence from the bridge crew. The group of pilots and maintenance crew in the Quarter's hangar watched in amazement and disbelief that their wingmate was defeated by a nobody flying an RVF-171EX.
"That... was an incredible fight," Alto became the first to say amongst the Skull pilots. "Even Klan was on another level. She was just a little too aggressive and got outsmarted by him," he continued. Only a couple of voices chimed in with agreement. The rest of the crew slowly left the room in disappointment.
On Kanaria's monster, Ozma was impressed by what he saw. "Is it safe to assume that we've found one of our new pilots?" Kanaria asked. Ozma was a bit concerned by something, however. Kanaria could see it on his face as he looked in her direction to answer. "He's good, but I feel like there's something missing... I'm concerned about his penchant for bending the rules and his teamwork needs some improvement. I read Klan's patrol reports about his behavior. I'll have to consider it a bit more to make sure he'd fit in well," Ozma answered.
Klan was infuriated by Cal's gloating and scoffed as she flew away to return home. "I can't believe I let him beat me. I'm gonna make his life a living hell for this..." she promised to herself, "I will get my retaliation one way or another."
