2826/WMAT BQ2 Kongou vs Reina Kinney

WMAT BQ2 Kongou vs Reina Kinney
Date of Scene:	17 August 2015
Location:	WMAT Arena - Devil's Hand
Synopsis:	Reina Kinney faces Kongou in the WMAT qualifiers!
Cast of Characters:	Reina Kinney, 637
Tinyplot:	WMAT 2015

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Reina Kinney has posed:
    Defeat isn't always the end, despite how bad it may seem. No matter how down you might feel after being defeated in something, you can always try again. Even if it's not for awhile, you always have time to prepare yourself to try again. Or, in this case, it's another chance to take part in the WMAT. For Reina Kinney, this means she's got another attempt at fighting someone. Whether or not she wins is up in the air, but she won't let defeat get her down no matter how hard it might be.

    Walking out into the fighting area, Reina's name is announced as she enters, and she gives a wave to the crowd, showing little emotion on her face aside from a slight smirk as she does so. She approaches somewhat quickly, rolling her neck around and cracking her knuckles a little. "Down, but not out," Reina says to herself as she approaches her spot. "I can't change things if I lose, but I've still got plenty of time to train for next year. I can always improve if things go wrong."

Kongou (637) has posed:
    The opponent has not yet arrived! Though an unusual addition to the Devil's Hand is a large warship floating on a nearby lake, a thin plume of black smoke wafting from the twin stacks amidships. Once Reina has arrived and pumps herself up, though, the vessel suddenly unleashes a blast from the foghorn on the bridge, lasting a full second. Once it ends, two shorter blasts are released, half the length, echoing off the surrounding hills.

    As the horn's echo rebounds, the warship's hull adopts a silvery glow and dissolves in a powdery spray. From within, a brown-haired woman in a white hakama steps forth, standing on the water as if it were solid ground, a heavy metal kit affixed to her hips and the small of her back. Strolling from water to shore, Kongou comes to a halt and places a hand on her hip, the other raised, "I have <Arrived~!>" There's a flourish as she draws that hand down and bows at the waist, briefly showing off the cannons attached to her rigging, "We're all fighting our hardest, so there's no need to hold back~!"

Reina Kinney has posed:
    As soon as the battleship appears, Reina looks over and shows a look of surprise at this sudden appearance. That look is briefly interrupted as she covers her ears against the foghorn's blast, and after that she looks forward again, still in disbelief and a little bit of shock too. "I'm taking on THAT thing?! No way!"

    Her shock turns to relief as the battleship transforms into a girl instead. Some might seem shocked, but for Reina who's seen just about everything the Multiverse has to offer, she doesn't show much emotion on her face. "Right, we're fighting our best, and win or lose this is going to be a test for all of us!" She nods a little, smirking. "You're a new opponent to me, so I'm eager to see what you have in store!"

Kongou (637) has posed:
    "New experiences become precious~!" Kongou exclaims, returning to her full height, "But yes, you are taking on <That Thing~,>" Her hand raises, the other still on her hip, and she gestures to herself, "I am the battleship Kongou. Whether you see this form or that form, I am still Kongou!"

    To either side, her main battery turrets swivel around, the barrels elevating into a position based on the range between the two fighters. Reina's smirk is returned with Kongou's usual, warm smile, "But I'll warn you now, I have no intention of losing~."

Reina Kinney has posed:
    "No intention of losing?" Reina now grins a little. "Good, because I don't like a fight where there's no effort made to win the battle!" She doesn't flinch in the least bit at the sight of Kongou's weapons as well as the comments about her forms. "And it doesn't matter what form you use with me. I've taken on many enemies of various forms and I've learned to never back down in the face of danger!"

    As soon as Kongou has made her weapons visible, Reina snaps her fingers, and a pair of energy projectile shooting pistols appear in her hands. "So, shall we get on with our battle?" She fires off a pair of shots from her pistols as she says this.

Kongou (637) has posed:
    Kongou tips her head forward with a laugh, "I thought you'd <Never Ask!>" Her entire posture shifts, one bolt striking her shoulder while the other ricochets off the armor of her kit below the opposing arm. "It isn't often that I fight an enemy with laser weapons~... But!" There's a clicking sound as her turrets lock into place on the adjusted trajectory, "...I think mine are better~! Let me show you!"

    "<FIYAH~!>"

    Instantly Kongou is enveloped in a cloud of black smoke from the thunderous report of her broadside. Main battery shells are lobbed the short distance between the two fighters, exploding violently on impact. The Type 94 high explosive shells she's been favoring for most of the qualifying round.

Reina Kinney has posed:
    Unfortunately, while Reina has a shield on her person, it's not going to be able to protect her against something THAT huge! The blast hits her directly and sends her flying across the fighting area. She realizes what's going on in mid-air and is able to right herself before hitting the ground, although her boots with their slight heel will leave RATHER interesting skid marks on the ground. "Your weapons definitely ARE better! But I'm only warming up!"

    Reina doesn't approach directly just yet. Instead, she keeps her distance and sidles around, keeping both pistols drawn. "Let's try a few more shots shall we?" As she fires off several shots instead of just one. "There's more where they came from!"

Kongou (637) has posed:
    A metallic clicking echoes from inside Kongou's rigging as she swings herself aside to present a narrower profile. The facing two turrets rotate to counter the motion, keeping their bead on Reina's motions while Kongou turns to stop from exposing her broadside until she's ready. At such an extreme angle, incoming fire has even less armor to find purchase on, glancing off the hull of her rigging and the faces of her gun turrets, where the armor is thickest.

    "Hmm~..?" Is she opting to fight at range? But attacking a battleship at range is playing to the ship's strengths. Then again, she's warned plenty of opponents that getting close to her is just as dangerous, so maybe this woman is just feeling out her defenses. Kongou's eyes narrow slightly and she dips her head forward. Can't have that~!

    "Old guns, new guns~..." Her arm raises, then thrusts out, "Caliber is what matters!" Immediately her two facing turrets open fire, four shells hurled into the air. Given Reina's movements, a high explosive barrage would be disadvantageous, so Kongou has opted for a new round. After covering about two thirds of the distance to target, these four shells all explode. in midair, hurling out cones of shrapnel and flaming magnesium spikes over a wider area.

Reina Kinney has posed:
    This is not good. Reina is finding herself caught a bit up in a series of projectiles instead of just one. And that really leaves her feeling a bit of pain as they strike into her. This time she doesn't leave skid marks, just drops to the ground in pain and bruised. "Unnngh... I never expected I'd get this!" She mutters as she pushes herself up, letting her mental strength guide her as she retains the will to fight.

    Realizing that her pistols may not be powerful enough, she snaps her fingers a few more times. Gone are the twin pistols that made her seem like a futuristic Lara Croft, and instead she has a crossbow shaped weapon that fires energy bolts that look similar to crossbow arrows. "Time to switch weapons I think!" Reina says with a slight smirk. "And you're right, caliber is what matters! But also being able to handle them properly!" She adds as she fires off a shot from her crossbow.

Kongou (637) has posed:
    With a sweeping of one leg, Kongou steps forward and turns herself, bringing her second pair of guns to bear on Reina in a single, rolling motion that only briefly exposes her full profile, raising up her other hand to her chest in preparation to give the order. The shift in her position leaves her broadside exposed for a brief moment, which Reina is able to capitalize on. The energy bolt finds purchase in Kongou's armor belt, piercing just aft of the forward gun turret and lodging there for however long it lasts before the energy dissipates.

    It's dangerously close to Kongou's hip, and given her relationship with the ship, may be just as good as an upper body blow, enough to cause her to close one eye in a wince. This doesn't halt her motion for more than a breath, though, as she throws out her hand with a tense, "FIYAH~!"

    Aimed in much the same way, it's a second barrage of Sanshiki air-burst shrapnel shells, showering Reina with more ordinance designed to shred aircraft by the handful, "I've been handling these for a long time~ so if it comes down to experience, you might be in trouble~!"

Reina Kinney has posed:
    Unfortunately for Kongou, but fortunately for Reina, the GUARDIANS operative's shields kick in this time, and the shrapnel is mostly negated by this. It still gives her a few cuts and bruises as she tries to defend herself, but compared to how it could have been, it's not as bad as it seems. She grits her teeth a little but is relieved to find she's not as badly hurt as she thought she would be.

    "Experience, you say? I'll have you know I'm not just experienced with my weapons you know. I also have a few TECHNICs up my sleeve. Some call them magic, I call them supportive and helpful!" She cocks her head to one side. "That is, of course, unless you're on the receiving end!" She points her finger at Kongou and calls out an incantation which sounds something like, "ZONDE!"

    Immediately, lightning surges through the ground towards Kongou. What she probably won't realize is that Reina actually has a weakness to lightning and electricity. Kind of ironic in a sense.

Kongou (637) has posed:
    Doesn't matter since a 1940s-era battleship lacks that kind of ability! Though she leans forward a bit when the shield appears, "Hmm~!" There's a clicking inside her guns as she swivels her rigging back and starts to approach, "Armor, is that right~? Here I was using shells for lightly armored targets, when you were a heavily armored one all along~!"

    Electricity reaches her feet and then runs up her body, causing the woman to pause mid-step with a shout of surprise. Something cooks off on her rigging, scattering small machine gun tracers through the air behind her and causing a fire across the decking, but on her face she clenches her teeth into a more forced smile.

    "<Full of Tricks> won't slow me down..!" With all four main battery turrets swinging forward, Kongou tucks her arms down against her sides, fists raised, "Ready! Aim! FIYAH~!" At this shorter distance, the plume of smoke obscures Kongou completely for just a few seconds. What comes sailing out of the blackened cordite smoke is, in place of the shells Kongou had been using before, the white-painted Type 91 specifically designed to pierce heavy armor and explode behind it.

Reina Kinney has posed:
    BOOM!

    Even with shields up, Reina finds herself getting hit by another blast. "Yaah!" She cries out with surprise as she goes into the air before landing on her stomach. "Ooooooh," She says as she pushes herself up, rubbing at her stomach a little. "Damn, I'm really getting ahead of myself here." She slaps her face a few times to get herself to snap out of her pain and focus again. "Keep going, Reina! You can do this!"

    She looks at Kongou and says, "Armor? No, that's just my shield. But honestly, it's more than just tricks and traps you know! Sometimes you have to use skill too!" She steadies her aim before firing another shot from her crossbow. "You have to know your capabilities and weaknesses!'

Kongou (637) has posed:
    "I didn't say it didn't take skill~," Kongou admits, closing her eyes with a gesture of one hand, "But~ that's enough banter, <No?>" Radars adjusting, Kongou steps forward again, approaching at a steady pace while her cannons reload. The second crossbow bolt hits in nearly the same place as the first, igniting something inside that causes smoke to billow from both holes. It prompts another wince from the girl, and a little 'tch' sound.

    As she approaches, Kongou reaches back, as if to rub at the damaged sections, but instead grazes past the holes in her armor. There's a loud metallic sound of something unlocking and her entire rigging shifts suddenly, before the woman sweeps it out from behind herself, weilding it by the T-shaped center mast like an enormous hammer. Drawing closer to Reina, Kongou swings this in a low, sweeping arc aimed at swatting the woman away, than swings it around to level two of the mounted main battery turrets, firing a total of four high explosive shells in an immediate followup attack, "Fiyah~! FIYAH~!"

Reina Kinney has posed:
    This time, the shields pop up again and Reina barely feels the impact from the attack. "Oooh!" She calls out as the impact sends her skidding across the area again. Her boots barely leave any skid marks though, and she recovers quickly. "Hmmm, maybe I should've worn sneakers instead?" She says as she looks at the weird skid marks. Then she looks to Kongou and nods a little. "If you want me to end my banter, then that's perfectly fine by me!"

    Reina then rushes in again, this time firing quickly as she advances, almost like she's trying to prove that she's holding nothing back while she moves in.

Kongou (637) has posed:
    "Tch..!" Kongou raises an arm to shield her face, shots impacting her sleeve in the same way they'd strike armor. Her other hand reaches back, reattaching her equipment with an equally noisy metallic sound as when it was disengaged, still smoking in places. So, if it's silencing she wants... All Kongou suggested was an 'enough talk, let's fight' angle! But if that's what Reina wants!

    The woman suddenly skips backwards, reversing her advance while shedding motes of silvery light. With three quick hops, she lands in the shallow water and then jumps back a fourth time. In midair, a sphere of glow appears around her, rapidly expanding until the prow of the fully sized battleship erupts forth, crashing down into the lake's deeper water and coming to a rest. Still on fire in places, and sporting those two (now quite large) holes in her armor belt, this is clearly Kongou. Her main battery already swings over the side, all four 35.5cm gun turrets drawing aim on where Reina stands. Amidships, numerous 15.2cm single gun casemates also swing outward, while any number of machine gun emplacements and flak guns also swing around, all with the audible metallic clicking of bullets loading into chambers.

    Oh dear.

    In quick order, everything on board Kongou opens fire. The dull thuds of her secondary batteries as well as the 20mm and 40mm anti-air guns, hammering Reina's location with ordinance. The finale comes with a thunderous roar as the main battery unleashes its payload one gun at a time, a total of eight reports that echo through the Devil's Hand for miles, pounding the shoreline with half-ton high explosive shells.

    "<BURNING LOVE~!>"

Reina Kinney has posed:
    OK, so attacking with one weapon at a time is no problem. Being hit by the whole shebang though? Now THAT'S a problem. Reina's hit numerous times and is sent sailing into the barrier separating the spectators from the fighting area. Then when she drops to the ground, there's an impression in the shape of Reina left in the barrier! She lies flat on her stomach until her inner voice reminds her that she's still got fight left in her and she should get up. And that's what she does, although when she gets back up, she has rips in her uniform and a few more bruises than before.

    "That was a good one," Reina says, although whether it's in general or to Kongou specifically is uncertain since she's still a bit of a ways from Kongou. She doesn't run back this time, though; Instead she has a slight limp as she moves. "This is worse than being attacked by a De Rol Le twice without Monomate or Resta!" She comments to herself, before pointing at Kongou again and calling out, "BARTA!" This time, a chilling blast flies across the ground, aimed at the shipgirl!

Kongou (637) has posed:
    Currently the shipgirl is more ship than girl, though the ice sweeps across the lakewater she floats in. Something jams as the water begins to freeze and the vessel is immobilized, however briefly. Mercifully, the sudden chill seems to choke out the fires on deck as well as below deck, as the plumes of smoke become more hazy, smoldering. With a straining sound echoing through the ship's PA system, ice cracks across the surface of the main battery, then shatters as Kongou adjusts her aim.

    "Maybe my exertions are catching up to me~.." she reflects to herself, "..But I can't give in yet..! Ready! Aim!" This time, it's only the forward two turrets that can fire, the aft pair still straining against an icy coating. The smoke from the blast isn't enough to obscure the entire battleship, though it's a huge plume that flash-thaws the whole front section of the ship while hurling distinctive red shells ashore, bursting in midair-- Full sized Sanshiki that rain shrapnel and blazing magnesium on Reina from above!

Reina Kinney has posed:
    More shrapnel? This time, Reina seems to be ready for it as her shields pop up.

    More minor damage, that's definitely for sure. It doesn't hurt as bad as it could've, and it seems even though Reina's getting worn out, she's still got the defense in her. She shakes her head as her shields kick in and she says, "This isn't too bad I suppose, but my shields are running out of power fast. I'm gonna have to figure something out." She takes a deep labored breath as she levels her crossbow and fires yet another round.

Kongou (637) has posed:
    The size difference makes penetration with the crossbow a bit trickier than when Kongou was human-sized. For one, there's a lot more to /aim/ at, and it's plenty easy to land a hit, as evidenced by the bolt striking the ship's distinctive pagoda mast and piercing through the superstructure. However, where size comes in is that it's a lot harder to hit something vital like that, as evidenced by the ship seeming nonplussed by the new, smoldering hole in its bridge tower.

    Ice shatters on the aft turrets, which promptly swing around to adjust aim. It's the aft-most guns that open up first, hurling high explosives ashore. The gunfire is answered by the next turret, then the two forward gunhouses as they complete their reload, a ripple effect of concussive blasts and smoke from stern to bow. Seems the battered warship hasn't given up yet, either!

Reina Kinney has posed:
    This hits harder than before, and the shields are completely down. Reina is blasted across the arena, this time crashing into a cart with hot dogs being sold. And the hot dogs are being cooked right there. "YOWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!" Reina yells as she flies off of the cart and onto the ground, rolling around to put the fire out. Then once those flames are out, Reina finds herself with barely any fire left in her. Which is kind of ironic given what she's planning right about now. She struggles to get up and then points at Kongou.

    "I'm afraid things are getting close to the end. Someone has to end up all burned out... and I think you should do the honors!" She points at Kongou once again and calls out "FOIE!" This time flames shoot at the battleship girl. Can the battleship girl handle the heat, or should she never have been in the kitchen to begin with?

Kongou (637) has posed:
    Normally a little fire would be a concern, but not a major issue for a fully sized warship. However, in her current damaged state, Kongou's armor has several holes in it. Fire ignites on the forward deck, already damaged through combat, and while her main guns track Reina's new position, something hisses suddenly. A jet of flames shoots out the holes in her side and the woman's voice lets out a surprised sound through her PA. The battered #2 turret suddenly detonates, hurled off its mounting and flipping several times before it impacts the shoreline, upside-down and burning. An inferno rages in the huge circular hole where it was mounted, while hoses and suppression systems hiss away, mixing steam with black smoke.

    Knocked off its axis by the explosion, the #1 turret grinds to a halt, though the aft two turrets are still functional-- and reloaded. They aim more carefully, taking their time while Kongou's secondary batteries open up again, peppering the shoreline with smaller 15.2cm shells until the big guns speak again with artillery more than twice the size. If that hot dog cart was in trouble before, it's about to have a VERY bad day.

Reina Kinney has posed:
    The GUARDIANS operative is badly beaten, just like Kongou is. Reina's down on one knee, barely even able to keep her crossbow lifted. But because she's not unconscious yet, the fight is still going on. And Reina's still got a little fight left in her. She's determined to win this battle at any cost. That is, as long as she doesn't break any rules, for even the toughest members of GUARDIANS know better than to intentionally breach the rules for any reason.

    "Gotta keep going..." Reina says, lifting her crossbow weakly. "Can't give up!" She fires off a shot, though she's wondering how her accuracy is...

Kongou (637) has posed:
    Smoke pours from the aft two gun turrets as they lower for another reload, the woman within the warship hissing in pain over her PA system. The reload doesn't come fast enough, however, as the crossbow bolt pierces the bridge tower again, in a different place. Perhaps it struck something vital, or it might be the straw that broke the battleship's keel, but there's a sudden pause in activity aboard. Various anti-air mounts go still and even start to sag, as if no longer manned-- even though there was nobody there to begin with.

    Kongou's hull starts to sparkle, shimmering brightly and then, as it grows brighter, dissolving into mist until the woman is left floating on her back in the water, unconscious and surrounded by burning wreckage. But she won't sink today, that's against the rules.

Reina Kinney has posed:
    "Good fight, young lady," Reina says with a smile as she gives a thumbs up, while the referee declares her the victor. As the medics tend to Kongou, Reina meanwhile collapses again. But the smile she had disappears. Not because of her injuries or because of her concern for her opponent.

    Rather, it's because there's something else going on inside of her mind. Something to do with her harsh past that she doesn't exactly deal with openly. Is it something triggered by today's events or something else? Regardless, she is helped off of the fighting grounds while she retains that unusual look on her face.