2023-01-19: Die Zauberflote - My Fair Lady
- Cast: Asciel Colette, Leina Ashta, Suberoa Zinnerman, Rita Bernal, Regina Everhart, Alto Saotome, Yuliana Kafim, Romilly Draid, Michiru Tenjou, Teletha Testarossa, Ai Martel, Artemisia ka Britannia, Sophia Mayhew Castellan, Lucine Azul, BP-110 Deckerd
- Where: Britannian Union Capital City of Pendragon
- Date: U.C. 0097 01 19
- Summary: A titan on a doomed mission to overturn the world falls under siege - unknowing of his role as an actor on the stage. The singer of the finale awaits her final applause...
<Pose Tracker> Asciel Colette has posed.
The bags under Colonel Wilbur Garland's eyes have become quite pronounced over the past few days. Inundated with phone calls - constantly pulled by requests and forms and demands to answer for collusion with known terrorist forces. In the rare moment of silence, still boarded on the Macross 13, the Colonel sets on a musical number to ease the edge off. Mozart's 'Die Zauberflote' - the tale of a prince who must rescue the Queen of the Night's precious daughter from an ambitious priest, only to fall in line with the latter. A story of sacrificing loyalty for ideals...
"Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schon, wie noch kein Auge je gesehn!"
"Ich fuhl' es, wie dies Gotterbild, mein Herz mit neuer Regung fullt~"
The Colonel's eyes crack open, as the voice that would save him or damn him kicks in, a little badge emblazoned with 'OWL' popping up on one monitor.
"You could call like a normal person, damn it. Surprises are unwelcome, even if you have good taste. Are you and Brando Earthside yet?"
"I couldn't help myself chiming in. What a perfect song it is. Falling in head overheels for someone nearly on first glance, the ideal maiden's very visage pulling Prince Tamino closer to changing the world's destiny...mm. It resonates with me very dearly as of late. Heehee. But yes! Don't you worry. Both of us are in position here in Pendragon, and our contacts among Blue C- ...ahah, 'Latence', are ready to take the stage. Are you ready to settle this mess once and for all, Colonel~?"
A flash emanates over the tucked away server core of the Macross that Manfred Brando helped her incorporate into over the past few weeks. On paper, all Asciel is right now to the crew of the Macross is a 'tuned optical array' for helping manage the Pinpoint Barrier system automatically.
>...just a bit nervous. The slightest risk that someone catches on, and they toss me out. There should only be two people in the world who know that I'm here, and one of them is right by my side. ...The other may take some maneuvering yet...
With an ignition of engines, the Macross 13 descends from the Orbital Ring - and prepares for a planetside descent...
))))))))BRITANNIAN CAPITAL - PENDRAGON
The streets of Pendragon are unnaturally erupting in protest. Normally, such events are exceedingly rare - residents of Pendragon are, after all, typically wealthier, and the city itself is built with forbiddingly wide streets more hospitable to Britannia's military land fortresses than they are to people. But the instigation of today's protest is one that rankles even numerous military and police elements. After all - there's a lot of damning evidence that their guy is cavorting with terrorists.
But the vivid purple Macross 13 soon descends from the sky like an imposing meteor. Naturally, artillery swiftly aims - the royal guard and police force alike ready to consider shooting down Colonel Garland.
...but one by one, a few of them get the right phone calls from the right collaborators. Enough strings pulled among the Blue Cosmos network to get hardliners to back down. After all, he's promising-
""Citizens of Pendragon, stand down at once. You've fallen victim to a plot to weaken our proud nation,"" Garland voices over every loudspeaker and transmission he can muster. ""For years, the Royal Family has construed false evidence against officials who threaten to overshadow their own prestige in the military. For over thirty years I have acted to raise Britannia's station in the world - BRITANNIA's station, mind. But it has become achingly clear that the Royal Family no longer has our nation's interests in mind. The Emperor makes token public appearances to rouse the masses, and is a specter otherwise. The heirs who take up military service failed to protect Alaska from ZAFT, and have been weak at wrapping up a war with lunatics from the PLANTs.""
""The might and prestige of our once proud nation has eroded in their care! Latence is our future, our potential - not a long-inbred dynasty of cowards! We will be imminently enacting emergency curfews and providing crisis orders - we urge all citizens to stay indoors until further notice.""
...Chaos erupts. Gathering crowds begin outraged - until a critical mass of hardline Blue Cosmos supporters snowballs into a sufficient counterprotest. Variable Fighter squadrons deploy from the Macross 13, acting as barricade enforcers - their authority is respected for a moment...until a royalist platoon gets in a heated enough argument with one of them that it erupts into a gunfight.
Fires alight. An explosion billows from somewhere.
And in short order, the towering Macross 13 looms, flattening a royal garden beneath its feet - the command station of a messy military coup splintering off enough of its own enforcers to spiral wildly out of control.
It isn't long before members of the Royal Family do the unthinkable - and call for aid to keep this situation under control.
>Devastating. But beautiful in its own right. The temptation to wrest control fully, and turn the imperial palace into a smoldering crater...eeee, what a delicious idea!~
>...hehe. But unfortunately...the change of plans has been in play since long before I pulled this trigger of yours.~
KTS: Asciel Colette has deployed in NMCV-013 Macross 13. KTS: Teletha Testarossa has deployed in TDD-1 Tuatha de Danaan. KTS: Suberoa Zinnerman has deployed in Garencieres. KTS: Romilly Draid has deployed in NHI-78 Kingmaker. KTS: Lucine Azul has deployed in Dianthus Mk. 3. KTS: Regina Everhart has deployed in eEXM-17FT Alto Flight Type. KTS: Regina Everhart has changed loadout. KTS: Michiru Tenjou has deployed in bEXM-29 Gardnova Galaxia Custom. KTS: Suberoa Zinnerman's Garencieres has been disabled. KTS: Suberoa Zinnerman has deployed in Garencieres. KTS: BP-110 Deckerd has deployed in J-Decker.
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
It was too good to be true. The idea that his crimes being unveiled would simply be the end of it. That he'd be brought to justice. Of course men with power do not loosen their grasp on it so easily.
A coup in Britannia rather than admitting defeat.
"<Everyone be careful, this madman didn't hesitate to fire Anti-Fleet Reaction Missiles and a Macross cannon on a small civilian R&D outpost. There's no telling what he'll do if he gets desperate.>"
She warns over the comms, before- "<This is Spade-7 in the Double Zeta, requesting permission to launch, Anzus.>"
And after permission is given, she says simply, "<... Good luck to us all.>"
The alarms go off, as the hangar is cleared of all personnel, and it floods, as the bay doors open just long enough for the Double Zeta to emerge with a whole sea of bubbles.
It's thrusters flare, as it takes off at an arcing ascent, until it emerges several kilometers in front of the ship, moving to skim the waters on the approach to Pendragon...
... the memory of Banagher in that sickbay bed heavy on her mind. Her hands tighten on the controls.
His speech for all of its claim of pride and nobility, she had listened to it, and all she felt was anger and nausea in equal measure.
It reminded her too much of Glemy and his coup in Neo-Zeon. Men like this should never have their way.
On her approach, a certain intense p r e S S U R E exerts itself on the fleet of variable fighters, the Macross.
Someone is distinctly ANGRY, and is coming towards them, and the psychic pressure would only be felt as a certain added tension, a stress weighing down upon those who aren't sensitive to such things.
KTS: Leina Ashta has deployed in MSZ-013 MP Type ZZ Gundam. Invalid terrain. Allowed values: ground, water, air, lowg, space There is only one field available.
KTS: Alto Saotome has deployed in VF-25F Messiah <Fighter Mode>. KTS: Alto Saotome has changed loadout. KTS: Asciel Colette has deployed in NMCV-013 Macross 13. KTS: Weapon: Macross Beam Turret Array KTS: Weapon: Macross Cannon KTS: Weapon: Macross Missile Array KTS: Weapon: Pinpoint Barrier System KTS: Bifors CIWS Beam Phalanx: 2700 Beam,Melee,Spread KTS: OTEC Converging Energy Cannon: 3500 Beam,Ranged,Accurate,Microtarget KTS: Shoulder Mantle Ionic Blaster: 3800 Beam,Ranged,All-Range KTS: Beam Array Full Complement: 4500 Beam,Ranged,MAP,Formation KTS: Macross Cannon - Eroding Burst: 3000 Beam,Ranged,Initiation KTS: Macross Cannon - Conical Focus: 4500 Beam,Ranged,MAP,Spread KTS: Macross Cannon - Long Distance Fire: 4800 Beam,Ranged,All-Range KTS: Macross Cannon - Contiinued Pulse: 5300 Beam,Ranged,Leader KTS: Macross Cannon - Full Output: 6700 Beam,Ranged,Barrier Breaker,Root KTS: Daybreak Parthenos: 7100 Beam,Ranged,Unlimited,Finisher KTS: Anti-Ship Maneouverable Missile: 4200 Physical,Ranged,Missile,Ship-Killer KTS: VF Squadron - Wide-Area Sweep: 4100 Physical,Ranged,Missile,MAP,Rattle KTS: VF Squadron - Coordinated Assault: 5500 Physical,Ranged,Missile,Formation KTS: VF Squadron - Itano Circus: 5700 Physical,Ranged,Missile,Finisher KTS: Anti-Fleet Reaction Missile: 6500 Physical,Ranged,Missile,Penetrating KTS: Pinpoint Barrier Impact: 3800 Force,Melee,Ram,Unlimited KTS: Pinpoint Barrier Intercept: 2900 Force,Ranged,Intercept,Repulse,Unlimited KTS: Pinpoint Barrier Punch: 5100 Force,Melee,Barrier Breaker,Crushing,Unlimited KTS: Demoralize: 0 Ranged,Passive,Special,Debuff KTS: Despirit: 0 Ranged,Passive,Special,Debuff KTS: Goad: 0 Ranged,Passive,Special,Debuff KTS: Load: 0 Ranged,Passive,Special,Buff KTS: Pass: 0 Ranged,Passive,All-Range KTS: Teletha Testarossa has deployed in TDD-1 Tuatha de Danaan. Default: Michiru Tenjou, Romilly Draid, Regina Everhart, and Lucine Azul 1: Battlefield Ground,Air with Suberoa Zinnerman, Leina Ashta, BP-110 Deckerd, Asciel Colette, Teletha Testarossa, and Alto Saotome Current field is Battlefield
KTS: Lucine Azul has deployed in Dianthus Mk. 3. KTS: BP-110 Deckerd has deployed in J-Decker. KTS: Rita Bernal has deployed in RX-0 Unicorn Gundam 03 Phenex <Unicorn Mode>. Default: Michiru Tenjou, Romilly Draid, and Regina Everhart 1: Battlefield Ground,Air with Suberoa Zinnerman, Leina Ashta, Rita Bernal, BP-110 Deckerd, Asciel Colette, Teletha Testarossa, Lucine Azul, and Alto Saotome Current field is Battlefield
KTS: Regina Everhart's eEXM-17FT Alto Flight Type has been disabled. KTS: Regina Everhart has deployed in eEXM-17FT Alto Flight Type. KTS: Regina Everhart has changed loadout. KTS: Suberoa Zinnerman's Garencieres has been disabled. KTS: Suberoa Zinnerman has deployed in Garencieres.
<Pose Tracker> Suberoa Zinnerman has posed.
=== UP IN THE ORBITAL RING - RIVACONA CARGO SHIPPING DOCK ===
Not for the first time, the Garencieres legitimate business cover pays dividends. Having tracked the money from the Black Rainbow group since the first incident, Captain Zinnerman has grown more and more suspicious of the entire chain of events so far, culminating in the theft of Macross 13. The freighter has docked unobtrusively in a shipping yard owned by its ostensible parent company, in order to surveill the super-battleship covertly.
"Captain." Tomura speaks up from the bridge's comm station, turning to face him. "She's powering up."
The freighter's bridge crew watch as the colossal Super-Dimensional Fortress parts ways from the Orbital Ring, turning Earthwards to descend upon North Britannia.
"What the hell are they..." realisation hits everyone at once, and Tomura, the youngest, breathes "they wouldn't."
"They would," Zinnerman replies. "Gilboa. Emergency launch. Shadow her; the re-entry wake should hide us from their sensors."
"Aye, Captain." The freighter shakes as its pilot uncouples the docking clamps, and the olive green ship uses its maneuvering thrusters to quietly slip behind the Macross 13. "But then what?"
"As soon as we get into atmosphere, get us into a suitable position and prep for combat." Zinnerman clicks the ship intercom. "Attention crew. We are entering combat Earthside. Garencieres Team, prepare for deployment."
=== THE SKIES OVER PENDRAGON ===
Zinnerman, Flaste, Marida and Alec listen grimly to Colonel Garland's declaration. "As I thought," Zinnerman says to himself, thumbing the intercom again.
"Garencieres Team: Make no mistake, once Colonel Garland has achieved his goals, he will turn his attentions - and this Macross-class - to the PLANT and the Sides. The loss of life will be catastrophic; we must intervene, for our own peoples' sake if nothing else."
A chorus of affirmations reach his ears. He looks to Marida at his side. "I'm counting on you to help guide us, Marida."
The redhead nods, sternly, and Zinnerman clicks the intercom again.
"Garencieres Team: Launch!"
Hatches blow on the side and dorsal fuselage of the Garencieres, Geara Zulus launching from the freighter to approach the Macross 13.
"Alec. Scan that thing for weak points, feed that information to the Team and anyone else firing on it," Zinnerman orders, watching grimly.
KTS: Suberoa Zinnerman targets Asciel Colette with Designate L2! KTS: Suberoa Zinnerman has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Asciel_Colette has deployed as a Boss for 10 opponents. KTS: Suberoa Zinnerman designates Asciel Colette, making her easier to target and opening her to indirect fire. KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 132150 KTS: Romilly Draid has deployed in NHI-78 Kingmaker. KTS: Leina Ashta has deployed in MSZ-013 MP Type ZZ Gundam. KTS: Leina Ashta targets Asciel Colette with Shock! KTS: Leina Ashta has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Leina Ashta shocks Asciel Colette, reducing her Morale significantly. KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 132150 KTS: [Spirit Defense] Asciel Colette's I'll Never Let Go Of My Light activates, and her spirit endures. KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan has deployed in Hyperion-class 'Hyperion'. KTS: BP-110 Deckerd has activated the Rouse Spirit Command targeting Romilly Draid
<Pose Tracker> Rita Bernal has posed.
This, too, was foreseen. The Phenex had been on Earth for a week, now. She could've appeared in the Britannian capitol to put out one of her warnings. Maybe she could've roused the heroes of the Earth to appear before things got this bad.
...
Augusta Laboratory was located in Britannia.
And now, of course, she has the power to choose. Despite everything, the Phenex's unbeating heart still wishes for safety for these people. Even if they would never have wished the same for her.
For the first time, she soars in after the battle has begun. Consumed in azure flame, the golden Gundam is beautiful in the sunlight. Darting through the sky, the fire around her bursts in a conflagration of sacred revelation, revealing the Phenex in all her glory.
Leina's pressure is keenly felt, and as if in an effort to cheer her friend up, the Phenex flies next to her. Both hands extended, she makes a full orbit of the MP ZZ. Though the Gundam's face doesn't move, she practically exudes friendliness. She's happy to see Leina! Isn't it nice to be able to meet a friend?
The only thing to draw the Phenex's attention away from Leina is the Garencieres. Oh, such an important member of her sisters' story! Again, with darting, curious motions, she makes her way up to the ship. Each Geara Zulu is approached, flown around, then left behind as the golden Gundam makes her way to the ship's bridge. Glittering yellow eyes look inside. There he is, Captain Zinnerman, and Marida, too! The whole crew is here. Her sister has truly been attentive.
B efore action can be taken by the Garencieres crew, the Phenex darts away. Even friends can be distractions. She's here for a reason. She must attend to it.
She floats between the Macross 13 and the hopefully retreating protestors. With a slight turn, the Phenex looks back at them. She wonders what they'll think of this, in the days to come. Will they remember being protected? Spreading her wings, two shields rise up next to her, a clear message. The people here are protected. The Phenex will take action to prevent them from coming to harm.
KTS: Rita Bernal targets Asciel Colette with Pass! KTS: Rita Bernal has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia has deployed in RPI-00/SH Gloucester Skathi. KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia has changed loadout.
<Pose Tracker> Regina Everhart has posed.
Regina gets the order, and sets out immediately. ...This one. It's the one that attacked the R&D outpost. She remembers him. Remembers his voice. Remembers his crimes. And he would once again use his power as a bludgeon - this time, targeting the Britannian capital.
She has no love for Britannia, but if it were to use force against the city, countless innocent lives would be lost. That cannot be allowed.
A flight-type Alto soars through the skies, weapons at the ready. She is nearly into combat range, but before she gets there and communications become difficult, she sends out a message.
"To all allied forces. A Macross unit has been deployed in the Britannian capital of Pendragon with intent to capture the city. Culprit is the same as last week's attack. Risk of civilian casualities is high - back-up is requested." Regina reports. With that accomplished, she accelerates forward into the combat zone. The enemy is in view, and her weapon is drawn. A beam saber, this time - she charges forward and swings. A testing strike, to judge how it lands against this foe.
You're already bossed up. Please use +bossadjust to change your boss level.
Asciel_Colette has changed Boss level to 12
KTS: Regina Everhart targets Asciel Colette with Beam Saber 100 Slash! KTS: Regina Everhart has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Asciel Colette fails to react to Rita Bernal's Pass, taking 0 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 158580 KTS: Asciel Colette blocks Regina Everhart's Beam Saber 100 Slash, taking 1020 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 157560 KTS: Regina Everhart has engaged Asciel Colette! KTS: Regina Everhart begins a Formation attack! <Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
Things really ARE going to hell if the Britannian capital is under attack. By a Macross no less. Those things have the firepower to wipe out the entire capital on their own if so desired.
This is not going to be easy.
Thankfully though, the Macross itself is not 'attacking' the city, but it certainly is occupying it if the sight that greets the approach of Alto's VF-25F Messiah is any indication. The white fighter rockets through the air towards Pendragon, the unit part of the SMS private military company, currently under contract with the Federation.
Alto frowns at the image of the giant looming over the city. To think he'd be fighting one of those monsters... He could really use an Armored Pack right about now. Or maybe a Macross of his own...
... No, two Macrosses going up against each other would probably destroy the city just by collateral damage. They'll just have to make do. There are too many lives at stake. And from what Alto's heard, the man in charge definitely needs to be brought to justice.
Alto's HUD reports the veritable swarm of VFs surrounding the huge craft. Mostly VF-171s. Not exactly quite as top of the line as his own, but still a reliable machine. If they have any chance of making a run against the Macross, they're going to have to deal with its escorts first.
<"This is Skull-4, engaging enemy fighters.">
Alto pushes his throttle forward. The Messiah's engine nozzles narrow, its engine flare brightening as the craft rockets forward towards combat speeds. Bringing the nearest enemy VF into his crosshairs, Alto pulls the trigger. The Messiah's gunpod attached to the bottom of its frame begins to unload a stream of bullets towards the other fighter.
KTS: Alto Saotome targets Asciel Colette with Leading Fire! KTS: Alto Saotome has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Asciel Colette's EN Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage. KTS: Asciel Colette's Physical Wall L3 activates, negating 3000 base damage. KTS: Asciel Colette partially guards Alto Saotome's Leading Fire, taking 750 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 156810 KTS: Alto Saotome continues a Formation attack! <Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Putting together that bird of paradise has left Yuliana in good spirits -- particularly when she shows the clever little thing to Elisa. (She tells her all about Ujico's visit, naturally; wives shouldn't have secrets between each other, right?) She's pleased, too, to hear what Elisa has to say about whom she's spoken to:
'Those kids who tried to help you called me to check on you. Your decision to let leina help you has worked out so far.'
And there's something... a little strange about that sentence, but Elisa's smile is so wonderful and sure that she's certain she must just be misremembering. When Elisa asks her to stay in their Castle while she scries the depths, of course, Yuliana agrees.
Time passes; it's difficult to say what a day is, here in polar night. Yuliana finds herself restless, though -- and now she can get around the castle again, she throws on some furs and heads out into the courtyard hangar. In the clearing at the middle of the Silent Castle, the Kafims have made room for all their mobile suits, like those equestrian stables of ages past. The Annihilation isn't here, of course, but Elisa's machines are -- and the mass produced suits they use, for Celestial Being's goals or otherwise. (Their servants, too, need machines.)
Yuliana just invites herself in to tinker with them. No one who matters will mind.
She's under the cockpit of their Masquerion, now. (The Lion 500's terrorist fit. Terrible word, isn't it?) "Connecting hub wiring... and... done!" Yuliana reports her progress to herself, cheerfully. "Installing a custom identity modulator feels so much better than just relying on default settings...!" Being able to mask who's in their machines is, of course, a boon to anyone associated with the Kafims. They don't always operate... plainly.
"I'll just test this, and..."
But when Yuliana turns the Masquerion's radio to Celestial Being's channels, she picks up a much, much more alarming signal. A Macross unit... rampaging inside the city? Even if it is Pendragon, that's... Yuliana frowns, fingers curling around a stick. Elisa asked her to stay put, but...
Yuliana leaps out of the Masquerion, and perhaps it seems she's listening to her wife's wishes -- until she pulls a notepad from her pocket, and writes a letter, on the opposite side of some scattered engineering notes.
It reads:
My dearest,
Our mutual friends have found some trouble, and I wish to aid them. I know you asked me to stay in our Castle, and of course by and large I shall, but... I feel I must do this, Elya. I must grasp my own hilt, and use my strength as my own, for my own desires.
And alas, I have never suffered a quiet recovery well. I know I cause quite a lot of trouble for you... would that my soul were less unsettled.
Do not worry. I will be cautious. I have installed an identity modulator into this suit, and I shall not get close enough for anyone to sense my aura. No one will know.
I'm sure I'll be back before you even stir to read this, but just in case your efforts pay off quickly -- I'd not wish you to worry.
I love you.
She calls for one of their more... loyal servants, with a dull green gaze and a willingness to drop everything to attend to her. "When Elisa wakes," she instructs him, speaking clearly, "you will give this note to her. Do you understand?"
"Yes, mistress," he says, without decoration, as he takes the note.
Yuliana's lip curls, and she turns, sharply. It can't quite hide her distaste. He doesn't care, anyway. "That will be all," she dismisses him. "Go back inside, now." She returns to the hangar --
And clambers right into the Masquerion's cockpit, popping it closed and strapping herself in. She carelessly tosses her outer furs behind her in the process; it doesn't matter if they're dirtied. Cleaning them isn't her problem.
"Launching," Yuliana reports, as the onboard checks read OK.
Kaffeklubben Island, where the Silent Castle rests, is at the very northernmost tip of Greenland -- which is, technically, Britannian land. (So neither Kafim wept, to claim it.) Even if the signal's weak, she can tell it's coming from down there, on the continent which holds Britannia's heart.
"No fucking way... it really is a Macross-class..." Yuliana breathes, into her cockpit, as her eyes widen sharply. On her approach, she picks up Leina warning them of just what it can do, too, and a grim expression settles over her face.
"Verdiska, identifying," that strange, robotic-altered voice comes over Celestial Being's radio system. It's transmitted from that purple Masquerion, as it jets onto the scene. "I've come to help."
The Masquerion keeps its distance from other units, just as Yuliana promised -- and even if she spoke over all-access radio channels, it would be impossible to identify her voice through the distortion. Even so...
... it's risky, coming here, so soon after what happened to her.
(What she did to reality.)
KTS: Yuliana Kafim has deployed in Lion 500. KTS: Yuliana Kafim targets Asciel Colette with Pass! KTS: Yuliana Kafim has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Asciel Colette fails to react to Yuliana Kafim's Pass, taking 0 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 156810
<Pose Tracker> Romilly Draid has posed.
Being Britannian himself, and very much not the sort who'd make enough to live in Pendragon, Romilly could care less about the fate of the royal family. Run-of-the-mill wetwork has him in the area, waiting in a middling-quality chain restaurant for a contact that won't be showing up today. He checks his watch anxiously, wondering just what's going on--before a large shadow begins spreading across the wide street outside.
He frowns, as people in the restaurant begin chattering nervously, and the owner reaches for a remote behind the counter, changing the channel on the TV and turning the volume up.
"I'll be damned," he says under his breath. A communicator in his pocket goes wild, vibrating away. Romilly pays, leaves his tip on the table, and hustles out the door. "Roger," he hoarsely whispers into the communicator, juking and weaving through panicked crowds running for cover. "Morpho C.B., en route to intercept." Switching channels, "Junior, we're up. It's that big mother again."
Realistically, people responsible for Britannia's woes number few enough to fit inside a troop transport--and even if many of the people well-off enough to live in Pendragon value their comfort over the well-being of their less fortunate countrymen, they don't deserve to be caught in the middle of the fighting. A drop pod crashes into an empty parking lot a few blocks from the restaurant--popping open amidst a spray of flung pavement, it reveals a blue wanzer, with a cyclopic eye and a white decal of a butterfly exiting a coccoon on the cockpit. The wanzer gently scoops its pilot up mid-sprint and loads him in.
"I'm sorry to put you through this so soon after gettin' fixed up, but they're runnin' us ragged." The data spike in the seat plugs briskly into the port at the small of Romilly's back.
I AM IN IT FOR 'THE LONG HAUL.' CHECKMATE OS BOOTED.
The wanzer's thrusters boost it upwards, hands and legs scrambling up the side of the lavish regional headquarters of a bank, slaking off trim and the odd bit of mortar before it lands with a thump atop the roof. Tucking into a roll, it reaches fluidly behind, the backpack on the Kingmaker's frame providing it with its distinctive, drum-barreled rifle. <"Mister, I got a bone to pick with you. We finally get ourselves a coup, and it's a Fed apologist pullin' the strings. What a crock!"> Even in dire straits, he can joke.
ALLIED UNITS ATTACKING OUR TARGET. ADDING TO ONGOING ANALYSIS.
The large, purple behemoth displayed on the cockpit's viewscreen is awash in tooltips the moment it begins taking fire. The Kingmaker coordinates fire, beginning with short, controlled bursts of the chain rifle, low-profiling itself against the roof of the building.
<Pose Tracker> Michiru Tenjou has posed.
Sometimes, they say, it's better to ask forgiveness than permission. Sometimes, one's sense of justice overrides their notion of obedience. It is in that spirit that, when a wide-range distress call comes out at a questionable hour, that one woman with radiant pink hair slips out from the ship she's normally on, taking her personal machine alone with her. If confronted by her Captain, she'd have an answer of course, and one that ought be perfectly convincing to her. 'Even the Gekiganger Team had to work alongside Prince Akara to fight against a more powerful, overwhelming enemy!' This, without question, is such an enemy.
It isn't EASY getting to Earth, make no mistake. But Galaxia can manage. She'll just... have to ask for a ride home, after the fact. Hopefully the Garencieres crew won't mind lending her a hand.
The sight of the colossal warship brings to mind many thoughts, really. That of the Emperor's own galactic fortress-ship... "Something so vile, with such malice all about it. Should never darken Hime's soul with its visage! So, mission start... Let's GEKIGA-IN!" After that little private outburst, she makes contact with others who appear to be gearing up for this fight... "<This is the Galaxia's pilot, from ZAFT. Offering her assistance in striking the giant from his would-be throne.>" Not that they're likely to know her machine by name, so much as its reputation in prior encounters perhaps. Nor does her commentary on the 'giant' likely make a whole lot of sense? But it's easy enough to guess she means bringing down the Macross.
Normally she'd open up with fists, but... bluntly her Rocket Punch would just get lost inside the ship's body somewhere, and she'd rather not have to go looking for it, to make its automatic return function properly. So, instead she'll make the other default put in work for her. "HEART-SEARING PASSION BEAM!" A quick, focused burst of power from the machine's eyes. Bonus, it's unlikely to cause collateral damage, aimed toward the leviathan as it is.
KTS: Michiru Tenjou has deployed in bEXM-29 Gardnova Galaxia Custom. KTS: Romilly Draid has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Romilly Draid: Will Barrier Activates. KTS: Romilly Draid targets Asciel Colette with Chain Rifle Burst Fire! KTS: Romilly Draid has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Michiru Tenjou has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Eight York has deployed in VB-6 Koenigin Monster <Shuttle/Bomber Mode>. KTS: Michiru Tenjou targets Asciel Colette with Galaxia Optic Beam!! KTS: Michiru Tenjou has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Asciel Colette's EN Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage. KTS: Asciel Colette's Physical Wall L3 activates, negating 3000 base damage. KTS: Asciel Colette blocks Romilly Draid's Chain Rifle Burst Fire, taking 600 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 156210 KTS: Romilly Draid continues a Formation attack! KTS: Asciel Colette's EN Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage. KTS: Asciel Colette partially guards Michiru Tenjou's Galaxia Optic Beam!, taking 2788 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 153422
KTS: Teletha Testarossa has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: Teletha Testarossa has activated the Trick Spirit Command. <Pose Tracker> Teletha Testarossa has posed.
The unthinkable has happened, in more ways than one.
Mithril agrees that what was happening was...unconventional. A slight bit suspected, considering the events of this singular person grasping for power. A coup. A Britannian coup. By every other metric, this would be something worth celebrating; A few wine bottles popped, even. There was no real love for Britannia as a whole, even as Tessa ruminated on how, technically, she was one. Yet, the replacement was poised to be so, so much worse.
The Royal Family calling for aid. A rare string to tug on. The offer for help was relayed everywhere. Mithril accepted, of course. A few minutes of deliberation, but one of "how much should we toss at this?" And in the end, a submarine jetted itself towards Pendragon. The directive was clear: Stop Colonel Garland, for his plans threaten to ignite flames that did not need stoking.
<"Spade-7, you are clear for takeoff."> Be safe out there, Leina. A flooding hangar, the opening of the top-half, before sealing itself once more and draining all the water out.
<"Phenex sighting confirmed!"> A call from a crew member. Acknowledged, documented, and flying...around? Strange, but not the main point of it. Yet...
<"Acknowledged. Record sighting date, time, and location."> Another significant event, huh. Perhaps a pattern would come in time.
Not that the Captain was doing well enough. The slight hint of dark circles even over the best attempts to cover them up, Tessa at attention. One incident after another after another, and now this.
Comms, open. <"This is Mithril, TDD-1. I assume everyone else is here for the same reason."> A deep breath. <"We'll feed information as available. Thank you, Garencieres.">
<"DANA, start feeding atmosphere and headwind information to as many units as possible. Prioritize units atacking the Macross 13."> One. <"Begin loading all missile tubes.">
<"Yes, ma'am! Begin loading all missile tubes!">
The slow hissing, the mechanical working as the crew worked. Missile after missile...
KTS: Teletha Testarossa targets Leina Ashta, Suberoa Zinnerman, Alto Saotome, Michiru Tenjou, Romilly Draid, Eight York, and Sophia Mayhew Castellan with Insight L2. KTS: Teletha Testarossa has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Teletha Testarossa shares insight with Leina Ashta, making her next attacks more accurate! KTS: Teletha Testarossa shares insight with Suberoa Zinnerman, making his next attacks more accurate! KTS: Teletha Testarossa shares insight with Sophia Mayhew Castellan, making her next attacks more accurate! KTS: Teletha Testarossa shares insight with Alto Saotome, making his next attacks more accurate! KTS: Teletha Testarossa shares insight with Eight York, making her next attacks more accurate! KTS: Teletha Testarossa shares insight with Michiru Tenjou, making her next attacks more accurate!
<Pose Tracker> Ai Martel has posed.
Just before it undocked from the Orbital Ring, a new crew member came aboard the Macross 13--a very pretty blonde technical advisor by the name of Adha Levres.
In truth, a disguised historian, far better at looking like she belongs than at actually knowing anything about a Macross-class vessel.
A secret.
A surprise.
Perhaps there's little she can do. But... there's nowhere she would rather be than at her love's side... but... Even as the ship's captain lights the flames of his own revolution, and the Macross 13 shifts to battle mode, Ai Martel wonders... how best to let her know?
Sometimes, the simplest methods are the best. She finds a terminal, left unsecured by an alarmed crewman.
She types out a message.
user@m13net ~> you are not alone <3 -a.m.
SYNTAX ERROR.
As distant explosions echo through the hull... she waits to see if it worked.
<Pose Tracker> Artemisia ka Britannia has posed.
REBELLION! It is not unknown to the streets of Pendragon, but it is not common, for obvious reasons. In the royal quarter, many of the highest pinnacles of the elite are making their moves, and most of them involve calling for aid -- for who else is going to cover for it, when you've realized this isn't your move, it's not the move that anyone else knows, and, for the most part, there is no assassin coming for you personally?
In one particular house, made in a grand and Spanish style, the Empress-consort is not in residence, but two of her children are.
In the library, the largest room with a window facing towards the descending Macross, Dionsysus ka Britannia stands near a data console, watching. His hand rests on a controlling keyboard meditatively. "So," he says. "Someone's making a move, but whom? But why? Why now?"
"An entire Macross... they must be either foolish or desperate," Dionysus muses, glancing down at report feeds. "Unless there's something else... but who could it be? Libertad? The Black Knights? Or --"
The terminal crackles. "DIONYSUS!" comes an irate voice.
"Ah!"
> "I refuse to sit idly by, but I wanted to call you. They're loading the fresh filler now."
"Then you're in the main garage?" says Dionysus, glancing idly at a smartwatch and checking. Would this be a good time to make a move? A system failure... no, Dionysus thinks, I need her alive, and she's too mean to be a caretaker for, like -
> "Diocito," Artemisia says, "listen to me. I saw you aren't in the shelter. I need you to get there."
Dionysus looks abruptly towards the corners of the room. How--?
> "I don't have to pretend with you. This thing's huge. I expect to win, but that's part of the thrill. You and I both know what these Mobile Fortresses are capable of, right?"
"Right."
> "You don't have to be brave for me. I'll be brave for you. Just get down there. It's like that lieutenant told me... think of mother, right?"
"Mm," says Dionysus. (You sanctimonious serial killer, he thinks further, are you making light of me? I'll put out your other eye for that and put worms in your food!) "But Arte, I..."
> "... You have your pride, don't you?"
"Exactly," Dionysus laughs, still looking for the hidden camera.
> "Well... at least keep an eye out. If the fighting gets closer, think about it. The Wild Hunt will help you to safety, and if they call for aerial retreat, I expect to hear you got on the craft. Is that clear?"
"Pellucid," Dionysus fake-laughs.
> "That's my little brother--!"
SO
Another Knightmare Frame bursts out from near one of the manifold fancy houses. It gets on a feeder road, accelerating. A harken hook flies out to grasp onto the side of what is likely a *truly* exclusive department store; altitude. Skate along the roof, boost off, turn: another hook, this one aiming for the *calf* of the Macross 13 to hook in.
It doesn't say anything. Because Artemisia ka Britannia...
... woke up eighteen minutes ago.
KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia targets Asciel Colette with Slash Harken Hook! KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Asciel Colette's EN Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage. KTS: Asciel Colette's Physical Wall L3 activates, negating 3000 base damage. KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia anchors Asciel Colette, forcing her into close range. KTS: Asciel Colette partially guards Artemisia ka Britannia's Slash Harken Hook, taking 574 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 152848 KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia has engaged Asciel Colette!
<Pose Tracker> Sophia Mayhew Castellan has posed.
Recently, Sophia Mayhew Castellan spent some quality time with her sometimes friend and usually superior Treize Khushrenada, who gave her...some advice, on where she should spend her time. She, in turn, supposed she'd instead keep an eye on General Garland's antics.
WELL.
THAT WENT PLACES.
The flying mothership called Hyperion slowly descends through the atmosphere, its attendant Flags and the Helios escort armor buzzing about it like aggravated hornets.
"This is Captain Castellan of the Hyperion," she announces. Her eye casts about. She hears her crew calling out sightings, contacts. She sees a bubble of life off the coast; that'll be the Toy Box. She sees the threads she recognizes as Leina Ashta, something changed in them, and the unmistakable Phenex. She sees her Princess Artemisia, charging fearlessly ahead at a vastly larger foe, as she would. And she sees, in a converted Lion...
....Interesting.
"Hyperion will assist in quelling the uprising," she announces. "All units, open fire!"
The Flags form up like a net in front of the Hyperion. Rockets from the ship's own missile launchers sneak through the formation, accompanied soon after by fire from the Flags' onboard mounts.
KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan targets Asciel Colette with Hyperion Battle Group Missile Barrage! KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Asciel Colette fails to charge. KTS: Asciel Colette's Physical Wall L3 activates, negating 3000 base damage. KTS: Asciel Colette partially guards Sophia Mayhew Castellan's Hyperion Battle Group Missile Barrage, taking 754 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 152094 KTS: Eight York's VB-6 Koenigin Monster <Shuttle/Bomber Mode> has been disabled. POT: Eight York is now set observer.
<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
Following in after Alto's VF-25F Messiah, a familiar black and magenta humanoid craft flies in.
< "..... Are you ready, Skull-04?" > A banal question, for lack of anything else to say approaching the mammoth ship. Better to say that than admit her fear and rage, as well as the growing, uneasy rush of battle against something so new.
Closer, and Lucine feels the faint glimpses psychic symphony of the battle, if only in emotions and familiar faces being present, one of which Lucine had been thinking about, since she had gotten back to the Nadesico that fateful day. Once Lucine is in range, she switches to the local band of her radio and transmits. < "...... Leina. ... I owe you an apology. I'm not the Unicorn, but...." >
She trails off, sensing the Phenex's arrival. "....!"
Could this be a bad omen, or a welcome arrival?
< ".... Lucine Azul of the Dianthus, here. Providing assistance. Use the energy net to your advantage." > The Dianthus shoots further up, dancing around in the air like a dandelion seed in the breeze, depositing balls of energy as a trap.
KTS: Lucine Azul targets Asciel Colette with Lunate Crown v.2 Fireflies! KTS: Lucine Azul has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Asciel Colette fails to evade Lucine Azul's Lunate Crown v.2 Fireflies, taking 3000 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 136419 KTS: Lucine Azul begins a Formation attack! <Pose Tracker> BP-110 Deckerd has posed.
A Japanese Police cruiser comes barreling down the streets, sirens blazing as it weaves through abandoned cars and fleeing civilians. It eventually comes to a stop, skidding its tires as it drifts to the side a bit. The doors open, and out comes Yuta Tomonaga. He takes a moment to absorb the situation mentally, his mouth slightly agap as he stares at just how bad things have gotten. He's snapped out of it when the car speaks to him, however, calling out his name to help bring him back to his senses.
"Y-Yeah. First thing's first, we gotta stop that ship before we can help clean up!" Pulling out a badge, Yuta raises it up to the air, pressing a button on its side as it begins emitting a strobing red light.
"Brave up! J-Decker!"
The police car drives out as it's suddenly joined by a larger police truck, which immediately launches into the air as it begins folding itself out, creating a body with a large gaping cavity in the center. It doesn't remain empty for long, however, as the police car jumps up to fill it, creasing itself in half to create the chest piece as an empty helmet appears on top of it, only for it to be filled in with a smaller robot head before it seals itself shut with a mouth plate.
"J-Decker!"
The newly formed robot announces his name, before unholstering the rifle stored within his leg compartment. Waisting zero time, he grasps the weapon firmly with two hands, bracing himself as he lines his sights on the Macross 13 as the bottom of the gun folds out to increase the length of the barrel.
This really does feel like something out of his league, the more he stares at it, but he doesn't have to fight it alone. With that reassuring thought in mind, J-Decker pulls the trigger, unleashing a single beam at the massive Macross aimed directly at one of its many turrets.
KTS: BP-110 Deckerd has deployed in J-Decker. KTS: BP-110 Deckerd targets Asciel Colette with Rifle Mode: Single Shot! KTS: BP-110 Deckerd has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Asciel Colette fails to charge. KTS: Asciel Colette partially guards BP-110 Deckerd's Rifle Mode: Single Shot, taking 2550 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 133869
<Pose Tracker> Asciel Colette has posed.
The bright purple Macross glares and looms - arms raising up higher and higher as the tides turn to converge a greater volume of heroes and valiants. Most of Britannia stands against this man's uprising - but the Macross itself is towering and dangerous enough to be a threat well enough to make up the difference.
Especially once the actual siege begins.
Very quickly it becomes apparent that a substantial portion of incoming fire - particularly firearms and missiles - is bizarrely ineffective. A gravitic field thrums in the Macross 13's core, drastically slowing down incoming fire, and inducing a pressure for those who get close - and for that which is immune, the Pinpoint Barrier blinks to life, five separate layers of remote shielding intercepting a number of more dangerous beam attacks.
That said...somehow, the Variable Fighters are able to launch from the hangars mounted on the arm - there has to be some form of path 'through' it.
""It's pointless,"" Garland announces, resolve getting firmer as he perches alone on the bridge. If he were more observant, he'd consider that it's a bit uncanny that the Macross's operations seem a little bit unhindered with only himself at the command - but he's been sleeping poorly, and has his eye entirely on the prize. "Heh. Director Brando, this shielding system is something else. Once we're wrapped up here, you can guarantee Critical Path's secured defense contracts."
"Expect anything less, Colonel?" Manfred adjusts his hair to immaculate perfection, even though he's in the cockpit of his own silver VF-17, swiftly launching and twirling in the skies - eyes honing on a particular target. "A fellow ace of the skies is always an exhilirating matchup, so if you'll excuse me, Colonel, I'd like to go after that SMS kid as a reward for all our hard work."
Garland's eyebrow raises once as he spies the black and white Messiah racing across the skies. "...Darn, that's Alto Saotome, huh? Kid had a bright career in theater ahead of him. What a waste to give it up."
That sleek, heavily modified VF-17 closes in on Alto's position, racing him across the skies and barging in oh so rudely on his communications, chasing after him with a hailfire of gunpod flurry. "I can hardly handle someone outmatching me in the air - if there's one thing I'll prove today, it's the perfection of aerial artistry." -by now, Director Brando is almost as well known as Garland in the news as the key liaison between him and the Black Rainbow.
"He'll get himself flattened being a blowhard like that. OWL. You had negotiations with commanders of the ground forces. Tell them to ease up - they're getting too close." ...Nobody answers Garland for a while, as he selects targets for the laser gunports to hone in on, thousands of arcs of light surging from the Macross's hull. "...OWL, answer already. ...tsch. If you back out on me at this phase, Chrome's out of the deal for long-term Britannian contracts once we take over."
Asciel, for her part, is far too busy with something a lot more important:
~>my god, he won't shut up ai
~>i'm a lot stronger than I thought i'd be though~
~>that might actually make this a little harder!
~>but maybe comfier for you, so it's about even.
~>i'm really glad you're with me for this, you know.
~>we'll have ourselves a little victory date once we've wrapped up here. <3
(texting your girlfriend is critical mission stuff! totally!)
KTS: Asciel Colette has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Asciel Colette targets Alto Saotome with VF Squadron - Coordinated Assault! KTS: Asciel_Colette Changes attack to BP-110 Deckerd, Lucine Azul, Sophia Mayhew Castellan, Artemisia ka Britannia, Teletha Testarossa, Michiru Tenjou, Romilly Draid, Yuliana Kafim, Alto Saotome, Regina Everhart, Rita Bernal, Suberoa Zinnerman, and Leina Ashta with Beam Array Full Complement. KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 521. KTS: SP Regen activates. Your new SP value is 150. KTS: Asciel Colette has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Asciel Colette targets BP-110 Deckerd, Lucine Azul, Sophia Mayhew Castellan, Artemisia ka Britannia, Teletha Testarossa, Michiru Tenjou, Romilly Draid, Yuliana Kafim, Regina Everhart, Rita Bernal, Suberoa Zinnerman, and Leina Ashta with Beam Array Full Complement. KTS: Asciel Colette targets Alto Saotome with VF Squadron - Coordinated Assault! KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 693. KTS: SP Regen activates. Your new SP value is 150. KTS: Asciel Colette has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Romilly Draid has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Teletha Testarossa has activated the Foresee Spirit Command. KTS: Teletha Testarossa has activated the Foresee Spirit Command. KTS: Teletha Testarossa successfully Evades Asciel Colette's Beam Array Full Complement KTS: Romilly Draid has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Lucine Azul has activated the Alert Spirit Command. KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia rushes into the attack! KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia successfully avoids Asciel Colette's Beam Array Full Complement KTS: Alto Saotome has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Suberoa Zinnerman successfully evades Asciel Colette's Beam Array Full Complement KTS: Regina Everhart has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Regina Everhart blocks Asciel Colette's Beam Array Full Complement, taking 3150 damage! KTS: Asciel Colette begins a Formation attack! KTS: Leina Ashta has activated the Rouse Spirit Command. KTS: Michiru Tenjou's Beam Wall L2 activates, negating 2000 base damage. KTS: [Spirit Defense] Michiru Tenjou's Enough Heart to Hold Galaxies activates, and her spirit endures. KTS: Asciel Colette enervates Michiru Tenjou, reducing her Morale significantly. KTS: Michiru Tenjou blocks Asciel Colette's Beam Array Full Complement, taking 2750 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asciel Colette's You Don't Have To Be Brave Anymore activates, causing Deject! KTS: Asciel Colette begins a Formation attack! KTS: BP-110 Deckerd has activated the Trust Spirit Command. KTS: Leina Ashta has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Alto Saotome successfully Evades Asciel Colette's VF Squadron - Coordinated Assault KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan blocks Asciel Colette's Beam Array Full Complement, taking 2700 damage! KTS: Asciel Colette begins a Formation attack! KTS: Leina Ashta has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Leina Ashta successfully avoids Asciel Colette's Beam Array Full Complement KTS: Lucine Azul successfully evades Asciel Colette's Beam Array Full Complement KTS: Asciel Colette enervates BP-110 Deckerd, reducing his Morale significantly. KTS: BP-110 Deckerd blocks Asciel Colette's Beam Array Full Complement, taking 4950 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asciel Colette's You Don't Have To Be Brave Anymore activates, causing Deject! KTS: Asciel Colette begins a Formation attack! KTS: Rita Bernal successfully evades Asciel Colette's Beam Array Full Complement KTS: Yuliana Kafim has activated the Alert Spirit Command. KTS: Yuliana Kafim successfully evades Asciel Colette's Beam Array Full Complement KTS: Romilly Draid's Will Barrier activates, negating 1000 base damage. KTS: Romilly Draid fails to Evade Asciel Colette's Beam Array Full Complement, taking 3150 damage! KTS: Asciel Colette begins a Formation attack!
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
As the Phenex flies in a full circle around the Double Zeta, there's a sense of distinct relief that she's here...
Rita...!
... and then she sees it. A missile hurtling at the Unicorn as it protects the the Double Zeta, a detonation that blots out vision from the sheer intensity. A psychic scream from the young pilot within. The Unicorn heavily marred and damaged as vision clears. And looming over it, a Macross, the same Macross 13.
And in an instant it becomes quite clear why she's upset.
The atmosphere and headwind is fed into her computer from the TDD-1, and with some quick maneuvering she finds herself moving faster. The Macross looming higher, her targeting systems compensating for the fleet of Variable Fighters.
She finds herself feeling relieved that it's Captain Castellan and the Hyperion here in Britannia's defense. A narrow beam transmission is sent to Lucine as she contacts her in the Dianthus, "<... Lucine it's fine! I know if you'd known, you would have never lent him your aid. You don't have to make amends to me! It wasn't you who chose to fire that missile!>"
There's alarm blaring out of her, after Banagher got so hurt protecting her, she doesn't want anyone else to be.
Laser gunports open, and the ZZ suddenly catches the randomness of the array in her targeting data. Without missing a beat, the Double Zeta suddenly descends rapidly, submerging into the water, as ray after ray stabs at the bay.
It emerges soon after, a burst of water, as it flies out, taking a few quickly targeted pot shots at the Macross and it's variable fighters.
Her voice is distorted on the wide ban channel, "<Atrytone. There's no way you're not here. Don't you have anything to say for yourself?>"
KTS: Leina Ashta targets Asciel Colette with MP ZZ Single-Barrel Beam Rifle Snap Shot! KTS: Leina Ashta has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Romilly Draid uses Hyper Reloader <Pose Tracker> Teletha Testarossa has posed.
DANA is quick to proffer its support, rapidly noting the barrier. Displaying it on the TDD-1's screen, showcasing and noting how the fire raining downwards is blocked and redirected. Strange. It's not a Lambda Driver; No, it's too thorough for that.
<"Adjust bearing 25."> It's powering up. Attack. Imminent. Focus. Worry about other things later.
<"Yes, ma'am! Adjust bearing twenty five!">
And the submarine turned. Shifting, shifting, the scores of beams unleashed on the submarine skating by without contact, barely whiffing its intended target.
Artytone. Again. That name. Again.
<"Fire!"> It may be deflecting missiles, but...!
<"Fire!"> And missiles began firing out, a singular missile salvo pouring up and out, breaking through the water and careening towards the Macross 13.
Just how many missiles would drain its energy...?
<Pose Tracker> Suberoa Zinnerman has posed.
The golden Gundam is unmistakable as it approaches first the Garencieres Team and then the freighter proper. Flaste dials in evasive action, but the Phenex stops before colliding, watching them before turning and blazing back towards the Macross.
"Was that another..." Flaste and Alec share a glance.
"She's a friend," Marida murmurs, watching the gold-and-blue trail into the distance. "I know it." She inhales sharply, leaning forward. "Flaste - !"
"I see it!" The helmsman barks, punching his pre-dialed maneuver. The Garencieres pitches abruptly, the Macross's beam barrage searing through air to its starboard. "... She came in exactly from where that cannon fire came. Warning us. I think you're right, Marida."
"Another RX-0..." Zinnerman thinks, then leans forward. "Let's take it for a blessing. Garencieres Team: Return fire!"
Beam machine guns hum to life as the Geara Zulus close in, spattering focused particle fire across the hull of the Macross!
Zinnerman watches other attacks - missile barrages, physical fire - sputter out to limited effect against the Macross 13's barrier and beam attacks deflected by the pinpoint barrier. He clicks the intercom, eyes narrowing. "Tomura. Start spooling up the Skiure platform gun. We're going to need it. Flaste, get us into position."
"Aye, Cap," Flaste replies. "Maneuvering for optimal shot."
The Garencieres starts to traverse upwards behind the Macross, turning to present its port side to the purple titan.
KTS: Suberoa Zinnerman targets Asciel Colette with All-Out! KTS: Suberoa Zinnerman has completed their actions for the round. Suberoa Zinnerman has cancelled his attack.
KTS: Suberoa Zinnerman targets Asciel Colette with Geara Zulu Team Opening Salvo! KTS: Suberoa Zinnerman has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Asciel Colette fails to charge. KTS: Suberoa Zinnerman rattles Asciel Colette, making her next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Asciel Colette partially guards Suberoa Zinnerman's Geara Zulu Team Opening Salvo, taking 2025 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 131844 Teletha Testarossa has cancelled her attack.
KTS: Asciel Colette fails to react to Leina Ashta's MP ZZ Single-Barrel Beam Rifle Snap Shot, taking 2850 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 128994 KTS: Teletha Testarossa targets Asciel Colette with Itano Circus Missile Dance! KTS: Teletha Testarossa has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Asciel Colette's Physical Wall L3 activates, negating 3000 base damage. KTS: Asciel Colette fails to react to Teletha Testarossa's Itano Circus Missile Dance, taking 1260 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 127734
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
That mass-produced Double Zeta is here... the Phenex, too. Yuliana's fingers tighten, around her clutch.
Oh, well. It's not like she cares.
"It'll be tough to get through those shields," Verdiska reports, with her distorted, robotic voice, over friendly channels. "Looks like they're specialised for basic physical fire, too... shit, this guy is really doing this in the middle of the city?! Even if it's a city like this..!"
Ten thousand points of light. They explode out, they cascade in, and the purple Masquerion -- coincidentally, purple's always been Yuliana's masquerade colour of choice, did you know? -- jets into the air as they chase her. The machine pitches, as Yuliana pushes the stick inwards; rolls, as she pushes one engine further than another.
She's a Manual expert, you know. Cockpits like these are still quite comfortable to her, even if they're not wanzer standard.
(Which means her stomach remains settled, as she evens herself out, in the sky. And she doesn't black out, either. That would be frightfully embarrassing, don't you think?)
"And this thing's weapons are all..." Verdiska mutters, distorted, to herself, as she considers the armaments of the Masquerion. Finally she brings its railgun up, and declares: "Fine! I'll just PIERCE RIGHT THROUGH!"
The railgun bursts, sending that spike crackling towards the impossible hulk of the Macross. Yuliana, at least, is entirely used to being the David in this situation. She won't scare as easily as that.
KTS: Yuliana Kafim targets Asciel Colette with Burst Railgun Hi-Penetrator! KTS: Yuliana Kafim has completed their actions for the round.
<Pose Tracker> Rita Bernal has posed.
The Phenex's gaze flits back to the Macross 13 as it begins to lock on to the heroes of the living with its weapons. Darting high into the air, she guides the attack away from the last of the civilians in the area. With a sudden dodge to one side, the lasers harmlessly cut into the sky.
But--
In unison, the Phenex and her beloved witness Leina's vision. The Unicorn -- her sister -- was nearly destroyed by this ship? If the Unicorn and her pilot were destroyed, then the future the Phenex fights for, then everything she's suffered... It would all be for nothing.
IT WOULD ALL BE FOR NOTHING.
Pausing in her brilliant flight, the Phenex... shudders. The crest atop her head half-opens, then closes; the panels on her sides half-sliding open to reveal brilliant blue psychoframe. Those yellow eyes... redden, shining brilliant orange. She's containing herself, but only just.
The Phenex SCREAMS, the sound of a great bird echoing across the battlefield.
WON'TBEFORNOTHINGWON'TBEFORNOTHING
Those even a little sensitive to psychic sensation on the battlefield will hear the furious voice of a young woman. Crackling blue energy washes over the Gundam. The two wings at her side raise into the air and soar toward the Macross 13. Azure flame burns bright, painful to witness. She's done this once before. Destroyed those who would cage her.
Augusta Laboratory was in Britannia.
In the heat of the moment, the Macross 13 blurs in the Phenex's spiritual vision. It is replaced by a haze of faces. Doctors. Guards. Trainers. Surgeons. Soldiers. She knows every single one of their names, and she only has one answer for their cruelty, now.
Sparkling in the daylight, twin armored shields crash down on the Macross 13, aiming to burst through the ship's armor itself. She's done it before. Whether successful or not in penetrating her target, they spin, realign, and strike again. And again. And again. The Gundam floats just behind them, one hand extended, guiding their destructive path.
Anger. So much anger. Contained for so long. The gentle trappings of the mythical bird have fallen away, revealing the white-hot embers of her heart.
KTS: Rita Bernal targets Asciel Colette with Phenex Kite Shield Gale! KTS: Rita Bernal has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Rita Bernal has activated the Resupply Spirit Command targeting Leina Ashta <Pose Tracker> Michiru Tenjou has posed.
Hime is the expert of gravity-based technology, of the two. But Michi has spent a LOT of time helping her in the hangar and development bays. Listening to her talk, while seated in a chair that's just for her. So while she's not exactly up on the minute, inner workings of a distortion field, she sure does know enough. To recognize at least superficially similar technology at work.
Besides, Galaxia itself has a modified version of the same technology, as the Macross crew learns quickly, when it simply floats into the myriad lasers... and while some make it through, tearing into the limbs and joints... The Galaxia is shining with starlight, as its own defenses simply stop a large number of them cold. Still, it staggers back from the sheer amount of force used against it.
She debates speaking up, to warn everyone. After all, how would she KNOW? But... they need every possible chance here. So it's fine. Unfortunately Michiru is doing a poor job of restraining her BURNING, PASSIONATE SOUL today. "<Galaxia here! Please do not use further physical munitions if at all possible. Beams should function more capably, and more obscure technology as well, if applicable. But let no fear breach into your hearts, for together, this titan of tyranny will topple at our feet!>" She doesn't know what other obscure technology they might HAVE of course. Only that Galaxia has something.
With it being too early to risk using that move though, she'll have to try something else. She really dislikes using this thing... but a righteous warrior fights with all weapons in their arsenal. So the Galaxia pulls out its capture rifle and adjusts the configuration. Going high and shooting it with the gun's standard mode will just have to do.
KTS: Michiru Tenjou targets Asciel Colette with Blaster Rifle! KTS: Michiru Tenjou has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Asciel Colette fails to charge. KTS: Asciel Colette partially guards Yuliana Kafim's Burst Railgun Hi-Penetrator, taking 3132 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 124602 KTS: Asciel Colette fails to charge. KTS: Asciel Colette's Physical Wall L3 activates, negating 3000 base damage. KTS: Asciel Colette partially guards Rita Bernal's Phenex Kite Shield Gale, taking 2100 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 122502 KTS: Asciel Colette partially guards Michiru Tenjou's Blaster Rifle, taking 3135 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 119367 <Pose Tracker> Romilly Draid has posed.
Beam tracers skewer the Kingmaker's position, the wanzer rolling across the roof of the bank as holes are punched in alarming quantities through mortar. The blue wanzer's frame sports angry, smoldering red-orange after several lance through its armor. Warning messages flood the screen, machine and pilot conversing half-verbally, half intuitively.
When they let up, we book it.
The first sign of reprieve from the bombardment has the wanzer rising to a kneel, thrusters at its heels pushing the cyclopic armor up off the roof of the bank, bidden by Romilly's agressive push on the sticks. Touching down and breaking into a ground-shaking sprint, the wanzer weaves between buildings, darting in and out of cover with feathered thrust, biding time, until...
LEVEL 1 ANALYSIS COMPLETE. BALLISTIC MUNITIONS INEFFECTIVE. UNKNOWN BARRIER COMPOSITION. CHARGED ROUNDS ONLINE.
<"Morpho C.B., read you loud and clear, Galaxia."> Romilly drawls. Illuminated by his HUD, the pilot's eyes narrow, as the wanzer darts out from the cover of trees in a park, the Kingmaker's feet spraying sparks as it slides across the neighboring street for a shot. An electric hum, the smell of ozone, and a metal finger squeezes a trigger.
A stream of bullets, this time wreathed in bright blue--electrical chicanery making live rounds into something different. The magazine is dumped, in fits and starts, Romilly and Junior keeping on the move. A detachable magazine falls with a heavy 'thud,' crushing a public bench benath it as the wanzer's backpack pops a second one overhead, caught seamlessly by the Kingmaker and slammed into the rifle.
<"Allied units, I'm the little one-eyed blue number. Holler if you need a shield transfer, 'cause this Macross is hittin' like a truck, over.">
<Pose Tracker> Artemisia ka Britannia has posed.
Insanity! Terror! An enormous machine in her father's homeland.
Artemisia doesn't like this.
She is waking up, still, and reflex alone means that her Harken flew off and hit a pinpoint* barrier, flying backwards as she came to a screeching halt on the department store roof, staring at it for a moment. Artemisia rubs at her eye for a moment.
As laser turrets pivot around, Artemisia mutters to herself, "Is this the time to do that? No, I don't have any leverage yet. We have to start getting pressure on for them to sweat. Otherwise they'll think I'm boasting in vain, Artemisia, this is deportment 110--"
Something beautiful crosses the sky. Artemisia looks upwards for a moment, and she sees the Phenix, and as she turns her head back she sees the ray and -- perhaps her life was saved. The Knightmare Frame does not perform any sophisticated aerial maneuver in response; it simply flings itself off the side of the building, even as stray weapons fire vaporizes a charming rooftop garden and a little nine-seat ferris wheel that shall, most assuredly, be a tragic centerpiece of the inevitable Biglobe after-action sob-story piece.
If there's a city afterwards, anyway.
"Castellan," Artemisia transmits as she power-drives through a service delivery road which is, suddenly, MUCH grubbier than the royal quarters, "I need your guidance. I can't expect my brother to find this."
Down into the topmost underlevel. Elevated above ground, it is nonetheless a warren of care; the parts of these great hivelike structures that could be compared to paradise must, in their end, have their supports. These areas are simply industrial, not particularly dirty.
"These are rebels of some kind, aren't they? Have you identified the leadership? I *infer* they're using the Macross class here as their mobile base... which makes this rather reckless of them. Anyway, find me a door inside or something and I'll soon enough leave you with fewer rebels, but -"
A laser arcs through a side street and nearly skewers Artemisia!!
"Gah! Curse you, you bloated macrotherium! I'd wear you as a hide but I'd chafe my" Artemisia curses upwards, although this cursing is accomplined by a metallic th-CHUNK as a penetrating dart hurls upwards towards one of the originator turrets. It is approximately 130 kilograms of tungsten-reinforced steel; is the pinpoint barrier good for that!?
Well, quite plausibly, but someone may have to use the trackball.
KTS: Romilly Draid targets Asciel Colette with Chain Rifle Charged Rounds! KTS: Romilly Draid has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia targets Asciel Colette with Pilium Intrusion! KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia has completed their actions for the round.
<Pose Tracker> Regina Everhart has posed.
Regina's message, it seems, has been received. ...She's a little relieved. She enjoys the fight, certainly, but an opponent like this is beyond her alone. They need all the help they can get. A familiar robotically-altered voice reaches her and Regina frowns, just slightly.
"...Verdiska? Are you well to be fighting?" Regina asks. She'd seen the report, of course. "...Still. It is good you are here."
Regina braces herself, as the Macross unleashes a magnificent light show. Beams scream out and Regina braces herself, bringing up her shield and moving to limit the amount she takes. ...Even with her piloting, though, the sheer combat power of a Macross is dangerous.
Regina backs up... and then accelerates forward, looking to drive her beam saber into the Macross - or more likely, its barrier - at high speed, and then fly across it, dragging the saber through anything in its path.
KTS: Regina Everhart targets Asciel Colette with Beam Saber 100 Thrust! KTS: Regina Everhart has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Asciel Colette's Physical Wall L3 activates, negating 3000 base damage. KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia anchors Asciel Colette, forcing her into close range. KTS: Asciel Colette partially guards Artemisia ka Britannia's Pilium Intrusion, taking 945 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 118422 KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia has engaged Asciel Colette! KTS: Possible reactions are React, Evade, Parry, Block, Intercept, Charge, Retreat, Rush, Guard, Job, Accept KTS: Asciel Colette fails to charge. KTS: Asciel Colette partially guards Romilly Draid's Chain Rifle Charged Rounds, taking 4750 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 113672 KTS: Asciel Colette fails to react to Regina Everhart's Beam Saber 100 Thrust, taking 3280 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 110392 KTS: Regina Everhart has engaged Asciel Colette!
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
<"Don't die out here, Lucine. It's not worth it."> Perhaps a bit harsh, given the lives of those in the city at risk.
On the other hand, they are the Britannian elite.
Truth is, Alto just feels that perhaps Lucine's life is better spent doing other things.
Still, there's clearly some worth in being here and risking one's life for it, given Alto is doing just that. As are many others. Such as the ones currently feeding additional data to him, to which he replies, <"Thanks, TDD-1. Appreciate it."> Not a force he's had much interaction with. Though was the voice familiar?
"Tch..." Alto frowns as his gunpod's bullets are mostly thrown way off course, sparing the VF-171 he had been targeting. He's not sure of the cause, though he suspects the Macross has something to do with it, judging by the feeling he's getting while he closes in towards it. That could make things difficult.
A system warning draws Alto's attention to look to his side, spotting something rapidly approaching him! In just a moment, the silver VF-17 blasts past the VF-25F, Alto's looking up out of his canopy to watch.
The moment passes, the VF-17 banking around. Alto recalls seeing the machine in the news and vids of the battles... He pays attention to that sort of thing. The VF-17 comes up towards the Messiah's rear, gunpod starting to unleash a stream of bullets at Alto in a mirror of what he just tried to do to the other VF. Except that he doesn't have some field to protect him!
Alto swings his flight stick left and then right, simulatenously manipulating the feet pedals as he swerves his way through the air, making it difficult for the VF-17 to get a solid firing line.
As the voice of the other pilot filters in, Alto replies, <"I'm assuming you're that Director Brando fellow."> Alto watches as the stream of bullets rush past on either sides of his cockpit as he maneuvers his way around the Director's aim. He needs to turn this around quickly... Those who have been helping Nergal with its recent movie production will recognise this next bit.
<"I couldn't agree more.">
The Messiah quickly pulls up, air brakes deploying to rapidly slow its speed at the same time. This lets the VF-17 quickly catch up and then overshoot its prey.
Pushing his flight stick forward again, Alto now brings Brando into his sights. This far from the Macross, his gunpod should be working! Alto pulls the trigger, sending a similar stream of bullets towards the VF-17.
KTS: Alto Saotome targets Asciel Colette with Gatling Shot! KTS: Alto Saotome has completed their actions for the round.
<Pose Tracker> Sophia Mayhew Castellan has posed.
"Ma'am! It's got some kind of gravitational shield!" comes the call from weapons. "Shot made contact, but damage is negligible!"
Sophia's lips purse, watching the displays with one eye and the dance of souls with another. What has changed in Leina, she thinks. What is this golden light she sees...
"Ma'am! Not much of our armament will break that barrier! Orders!?"
<<Well first, you ought to brace,>> notes the captain of the Helios, the mobile escort shooting up and flaring it shields to deflect the worst of the barrage. Both ships rattle under the force of it.
"Right," Sophia says. "Liese, I need options!"
"For penetrating a barrier like that? So do I! Your best shot is going to be pulling out the big stuff and full charging it! Break through with sheer forces!"
"Forces, is it," Sophia mutters. "Alright, then."
She hits another channel. "Princess," she reports. Her Geass watches Artemisia move with some interest. Ah, a Knightmare does have such grace, doesn't it? "The enemy is the now-former General Garland. My information does not suggest ties to the Black Knights or other revolutionary groups, this appears to be..."
She trails off, like she were noticing something - she is, almost. Rather, she is attempting to dig in to the weave of Garland's bonds to trace his conspiracy. "...I suspect it is a Blue Cosmos extremist faction," is what she says, with no evidence but the soul. "The nobility doesn't like him, anyway."
She pulls up some data. "Laurent, start the Flags charging for penetrating fire. Weapons, same! Charts, get me information on that ship's exterior!"
It takes, maybe, a minute for it all to come together, data flying to Sophia's console. Her eye cuts up to the colossal Macross, seeking for the souls within. "A Macross inevitably has numerous entry points, but...here."
She flicks the switch to send the data, broadcasting across the range to helpful forces. "That spot should have the weakest distribution of the energy field. Space your shots there. If you're a mind for a more internal approach, I've tagged an entry with minimal tidal shearing."
KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan targets Leina Ashta, Artemisia ka Britannia, Teletha Testarossa, and Yuliana Kafim with All-Out. KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> BP-110 Deckerd has posed.
"Ugh! This really is something else."
The Macross fires back, and J-Decker attempts to mitigate the damage by deploying a robot-sized riot shield. It does a decent job of preventing him from being vaporized on the spot, but the force of the blast still sends the Brave robot flying back into an abandoned building. The wing pack on his back flairs to life to help stop him from simply flying through the entire structure, and he now flies forward to reengage with the ship.
<"Please! Turn this ship around before even more people get hurt!"> It's a useless plea, Deckerd knows this, but it needs to be said, just on the off chance that it somehow appeals to the captain's heart.
Now ascending high into the air, J-Decker levels his rifle again at the Macross as it aims the barrel at one of its take off strips. He really doesn't want to hurt the crew members on board, but letting them have the chance to deploy even more units is definitely a bad idea when everyone here is already fighting an uphill battle. So maybe, just maybe, tearing this thing up would delay that for just a bit.
There's only one way to find out, and that's try. J-Buster pulls the trigger on his rifle again, the barrel letting loose yet another beam, this one more concentrated than the last as it aims to bore straight on through.
KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan orders an all-out attack, raising Leina Ashta's Skill! KTS: BP-110 Deckerd targets Asciel Colette with Rifle Mode: Borring Shot! KTS: BP-110 Deckerd has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan orders an all-out attack, raising Artemisia ka Britannia's Skill!
<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
< "Haha. The same to you. You have a promising movie career to get back to, besides..." > Lucine smiles, and rolls her neck.
They'll get through this, alright.
Fear wanes like winter before spring, with the distant promise of summer's fire.
The Macross's fire plucks the string in the Newtype Lucine's mind, and the pilot reacts, with gusto, twisting the unit around in ways that would have felt so much better in zero G than on earth.
Interference begins to eat at Lucine's signal, but the most important thing had already been said, in her heart. < ".... You made it clear, back then. But seeing Banagher hurt like he was... I couldn't justify it anymore by saying 'it was just a job'. I can't turn that part of myself off like others can... But it's a part of me that I can also fight with!" >
Lucine feels the Phenex's fury and scream through her earlier encounters with her, her hands curling slightly as she flows with it.
Gold eyes open, and Lucine yells in tandem. Summer has arrived.
Michiru speaks up, mentioning the Macross's barrier. < ".... A barrier is simply an egg waiting to be cracked." >
Drawing the Argen-21 Beam Arbalest from her back, the Dianthus holds it steady as it charges. "...... No." She flies further up, to the side, all in an attempt to get the perfect shot, to cast her beam of light across the sky. "...!"
The hairs on the back her neck tingle. Yes. This angle!
The beam shoots from the Arbalest, sharp as a beam of white moonlight cutting an outline of predator and prey.
KTS: Lucine Azul has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Lucine Azul has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Lucine Azul targets Asciel Colette with Argen-21 Beam Arbalest Orion Shot! KTS: Lucine Azul has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Asciel Colette's Physical Wall L3 activates, negating 3000 base damage. KTS: Asciel Colette fails to evade Alto Saotome's Gatling Shot, taking 1275 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 109117 KTS: Asciel Colette partially guards BP-110 Deckerd's Rifle Mode: Borring Shot, taking 2775 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 106342 Block does not work against Barrier Breaker
KTS: Asciel Colette fails to react to Lucine Azul's Argen-21 Beam Arbalest Orion Shot, taking 4560 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 101782 KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan orders an all-out attack, raising Yuliana Kafim's Skill!
<Pose Tracker> Asciel Colette has posed.
>Aaaah, the concern of the Shuffle Alliance. Maybe I overextended myself in talking to them too much. Let's see, how do I get them off my back heeeeeere.
A simple little text message blips in on Leina's, and presumably by proxy, Tessa's communications. <i hid out in the sewer system planning to try and intercept and sneak up on this thing from underneath. try and pull a fast one on the guy, when i found out he was straight up trying to attack Pendragon. that's not at all good for business! everything's caved in down here so i got stuck when it landed. audio signals are very patchy, trying to dig free of rubble. hah. maybe they caught onto what i was doing and landed here to mess with me? that Brando guy's sort of a 'rival we set aside differences to collaborate', he's absolutely not above taking me out of the picture if i start being inconvenient. sorry. i'm not going to die this way though, promise.~ we'll just have to settle our differences another day. you'd better not die either! <3>
>Hmmm. 50/50 on if that came out 'believable'. I don't know that girl well enough. She probably assumes I'm flaking out on this whole affair, but that's fine by me~
Whirling in a spiraling dance above the skies, Director Brando clicks his tongue and weaves his way through Alto's gunfire, raising his shield to soak up just a little bit of the damage - it's lesser, but that same gravitic field effect is just a little bit noticeable here too. "That'd be me, Manfred Brando, at your service. World renowned violinist, doctorate in particle physics by 16, self made billionaire by 21, and three star rated pilot by the Britannian Aeronautical Society." With a flick of his trajectory, the silver VF-17 seems to 'plummet' for a bit, launching cloud after cloud of missiles at his chosen dueling partner, before rising back up, shifting into Battroid mode behind Alto, gunpod at the ready. "Show me if your time in the theater has taught you anything about soaring like a bird!"
Slowly but surely, Garland's confidence in his position erodes - as a number of major hits start cracking his barrier, pushing through with sheer overwhelming numbers. "Damn it-! Engineering, status report...pump up the generator, divert resources away from the Macross Cannon. I'm not pulling this off to govern a hole in the ground, after all. ...The Hyperion is our highest priority target. Prepare the Pinpoint Barrier to move in and punch a hole in it!"
Ooooohhh!!! Maybe you have better taste than I thought?! Oh, this is going to feel great~
"<<Gravitic field output falling to 27%. Numerous unaffected particle weapons have damaged core generators. Pinpoint Barrier on standby. Relocating.>>" (Asciel has to try a little bit harder to act like she's just a convenient voice-output system.) Slowly, the Macross 13 lifts up from its position, one arm reeling back. Any bridge crew has certainly heard of this particular maneuver - the famous Pinpoint Barrier Punch pulled off as a desperation measure by the original SDF-1. That it is a well known desperation move probably says a lot. Of course, the closer he gets to Sophia, the clearer the 'signal' is of the bond between him and the Director flying in the sky - but that they're collaborators is certainly more than proven by this point. Now it's simply metaphysically proven that anything he says about Royal Family fabrication is a lie!
The last of the VF-171s (and a few VF-11s) finally deploy, surging out to try and engage the gathered combatants, cutting them off as much as they can to mitigate damage to the Macross 13, wave after wave of gunfire crashing over those gathered, mostly suppressive.
...But they avoid the Phenex. Rita can certainly feel it. Or is it that (something refuses to be felt)?
<<don't let that in. don't let that in. don't let that in>>
Something steely, vast, and hard is lying within the Macross 13, that much Rita can detect. It rejects observing her. It rejects that overwhelming glow. The Pinpoint Barrier pushes up against it at each impact trying to burst through the seams. In its deafening 'quietness', Asciel refuses that push at the gate to her heart - adding layer after layer of that field to push Rita away...!
KTS: Asciel Colette has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Asciel Colette targets Alto Saotome with VF Squadron - Itano Circus! KTS: Asciel Colette has activated the Daunt Spirit Command targeting Sophia Mayhew Castellan KTS: Asciel Colette targets Sophia Mayhew Castellan with Pinpoint Barrier Punch! KTS: Asciel Colette targets Rita Bernal with Pinpoint Barrier Intercept! KTS: Asciel_Colette Changes attack to Lucine Azul, BP-110 Deckerd, Regina Everhart, Artemisia ka Britannia, Romilly Draid, Michiru Tenjou, Yuliana Kafim, Suberoa Zinnerman, and Teletha Testarossa with VF Squadron - Wide-Area Sweep. KTS: Asciel Colette targets Leina Ashta with Goad! KTS: Rita Bernal charges into the attack! KTS: [Spirit Defense] Rita Bernal's When I'm Reborn Again... activates, and her spirit endures. KTS: Asciel Colette enervates Rita Bernal, reducing her Morale significantly. KTS: Rita Bernal partially guards Asciel Colette's Pinpoint Barrier Intercept, taking 3480 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asciel Colette's You Don't Have To Be Brave Anymore activates, causing Deject! KTS: Asciel Colette repulses Rita Bernal, forcing her to disengage. KTS: Asciel Colette goads Leina Ashta, reducing her Intuition drastically. KTS: Regina Everhart has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Regina Everhart has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Alto Saotome has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Regina Everhart successfully intercepts Asciel Colette's VF Squadron - Wide-Area Sweep KTS: Alto Saotome's EN Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage. KTS: Asciel Colette enervates Alto Saotome, reducing his Morale significantly. KTS: Alto Saotome fails to evade Asciel Colette's VF Squadron - Itano Circus, taking 6240 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asciel Colette's You Don't Have To Be Brave Anymore activates, causing Deject! KTS: BP-110 Deckerd has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Asciel Colette rattles BP-110 Deckerd, making his next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: BP-110 Deckerd blocks Asciel Colette's VF Squadron - Wide-Area Sweep, taking 2870 damage! KTS: Suberoa Zinnerman successfully evades Asciel Colette's VF Squadron - Wide-Area Sweep KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia retreats from the attack! KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia successfully evades Asciel Colette's VF Squadron - Wide-Area Sweep KTS: Michiru Tenjou has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Asciel Colette rattles Michiru Tenjou, making her next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Michiru Tenjou blocks Asciel Colette's VF Squadron - Wide-Area Sweep, taking 2050 damage! KTS: Yuliana Kafim has activated the Alert Spirit Command. KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan has activated the Foresee Spirit Command. KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan has activated the Foresee Spirit Command. KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan has activated the Foresee Spirit Command. KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan has activated the Foresee Spirit Command. KTS: Yuliana Kafim successfully evades Asciel Colette's VF Squadron - Wide-Area Sweep KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan has activated the Foresee Spirit Command. KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan successfully evades Asciel Colette's Pinpoint Barrier Punch KTS: Asciel Colette completes the Formation attack! KTS: Romilly Draid has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Romilly Draid successfully Evades Asciel Colette's VF Squadron - Wide-Area Sweep KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan orders an all-out attack, raising Teletha Testarossa's Skill! KTS: Teletha Testarossa has activated the Foresee Spirit Command. KTS: Teletha Testarossa has activated the Foresee Spirit Command. KTS: Asciel Colette rattles Teletha Testarossa, making her next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Teletha Testarossa fails to Evade Asciel Colette's VF Squadron - Wide-Area Sweep, taking 3690 damage! KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 827. KTS: SP Regen activates. Your new SP value is 150. KTS: Asciel Colette has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Lucine Azul has activated the Alert Spirit Command. <Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Leina can feel the anger from Rita. And for a moment, she isn't upset about showing her. She's angry too. The fury is echoed in her towards the Macross.
Let's end this Rita.
Lucine though, makes clear her guilt and she decides to at least validate her resolve, "<Alright. Don't do anything reckless Lucine. ... But let's take him down together.>"
As she twists out of the Bay into a pivot before rocketing over Pendragon's skyline, Leina sees it, "The Garencieres..." and she decides to take a gamble, activating speech to text...
It comes over the Garencieres' instruments soon enough.
}Banagher is in a sickbay. Took a Reaction Missile from the Macross in this coup head on. Please be safe, and keep Marida safe. There's no telling what he'll do.{::
It's source is anonymous - even if it's obviously Leina - it has to be something on the battlefield with all the Minovsky interference though. Anything further out couldn't make it through.
Data suddenly enters her console, and Leina sorts through it before her expression becomes grave. There is so much she can do with this data...
... she intends to teach the Macross why this coup was a mistake.
"Thank you, Captain Castellan." She says to herself, deciding how to use her trump card best here.
And then a text message blips, and Leina dares a glance...
... and is taken aback by the answer. Again the speech to text function is utilized.
}Oh come on you don't expect me to believe that do you? I wasn't born yesterday! You're definitely got a different objective than what you're saying. You're too much of a drama queen to not have SOMETHING up your sleeve 'Big Sis Atrytone'!{::
Leina is a theater kid after all, she can spot someone who loves drama from miles away. Unfortunately though, now that her mind is on Atrytone's agenda, she can't get it off of it.
It continues to be a distracting element.
In the end, she tries to encircle around the Macross and fire continually at the points that Sophia fed data on her to... one by one by one.
Eventually a transmission is sent to the TDD, "<I'm going to try and set it up for something it won't be able to ignore. I just need to find a good spot where any retaliation won't hit a civilian target.>"
KTS: Lucine Azul successfully evades Asciel Colette's VF Squadron - Wide-Area Sweep KTS: Leina Ashta targets Asciel Colette with MP ZZ Single-Barrel Beam Rifle Focused Barrage! KTS: Leina Ashta has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Michiru Tenjou has activated the Rouse Spirit Command targeting Sophia Mayhew Castellan KTS: Suberoa Zinnerman has activated the Enable Spirit Command. KTS: Suberoa Zinnerman has activated the Enable Spirit Command. KTS: Suberoa Zinnerman has activated the Attune Spirit Command. <Pose Tracker> Suberoa Zinnerman has posed.
"Enemy pilots launching!" Marida calls. "They're targeting us!"
"Missiles," Flaste grunts. "Alright, we're close enough, let's use our enemy's shields!" He banks the Garencieres, the freighter pushing against and skimming across the Macross 13's gravitic shielding for acceleration, the incoming warheads deflecting into the shield and detonating harmlessly as Flaste steers the ship clear of an undignified collision.
"Good flying, Flaste," Zinnerman allows. "Keep it up. Tomura, Skiure status."
"I'm hooking it up to the ship's reactor now, sir."
"Understood." Zinnerman glances at his message readout - and immediately, his mood darkens further, earning him a worried glance from Marida. When next he speaks, it is stern and icy: "Garencieres Team: Stand by to execute formation 'Trojan Horse Killer' on my mark."
The Trojan Horse, of course, was the nickname given to the White Base during the One Year War.
Gilboa Sant's custom Geara Zulu switches its armaments to its beam gatling gun as the other two in the squadron switch to beam bazookas. The ventral hatch of the Garencieres opens again, a Skiure artillery platform floating out, a fourth mobile suit riding and aiming its heavy beam launcher.
"Mark one. Cook the barrels, Gilboa."
Gilboa lays down a hail of gatling fire, focusing on a single point. As the pinpoint barrier begins to strain under the barrage - "Mark two" - the other two Geara Zulus fire their bazookas at the same point, particle warheads detonating spectacularly at the target point.
"Mark three."
The Skiure turret fires, bathing the sky violet, the sheer combined pressure of the assault enough to shatter the pinpoint barrier and push the beam through to carve into the Macross 13's hull!
KTS: Suberoa Zinnerman targets Asciel Colette with Garencieres Team Coordinated Barrage! KTS: Suberoa Zinnerman has completed their actions for the round.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"I'm fine," Verdiska replies -- in one sense -- to Regina's concern, with that familiar mechanical distortion. "My dear Viridesca has seen to my health... and you'll not bring down a target like this alone."
Yuliana can't feel the Phenex's anger -- just as she is an empty space, transmitting no empathic information to the world, she receives none in turn. But she can see its rage, battering, bursting, crashing in. "Ritechka," she murmurs -- but it may just be loud enough for the radio to pick up, and transmit to the allied units around them. Even warped, a name like that...
Her gaze tracks down, to the data the Hyperion sends. She checks her modulator -- just to make sure it's all in working order. Assured of her anonymity, she replies: "Acknowledged, Hyperion. Thanks for the heads-up." And if there's a little tension, in that distorted voice, which isn't totally obscured by her obsfucation -- surely it's because of the giant looming over them.
The VF-171s which swoop the Masquerion will find it reticient to engage -- moving as fast as the model allows, to weave between the weapons fire and escape from the engagement. "I won't break my promise so easily!" Verdiska snarls, as she loses them in the fire of the MP ZZ's beam rifle barrage.
(Sorry, Leina, but they WERE in the way.)
Pulling about, Yuliana jerks against the straps of her seat, pushing her gearbox in. "LET'S GO, GOLIATH--!!" She screams, as she brings her railgun up again, another charged volley cracking from it as it erupts from its seating to slam into that vulnerable point Sophia highlighted.
KTS: Suberoa Zinnerman has activated the Resupply Spirit Command targeting Artemisia ka Britannia KTS: Yuliana Kafim has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: Yuliana Kafim has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: Yuliana Kafim targets Asciel Colette with Burst Railgun Hi-Penetrator! KTS: Yuliana Kafim has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Asciel Colette blocks Leina Ashta's MP ZZ Single-Barrel Beam Rifle Focused Barrage, taking 1200 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 100582 KTS: Leina Ashta begins a Formation attack! KTS: Asciel Colette fails to react to Suberoa Zinnerman's Garencieres Team Coordinated Barrage, taking 4950 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 95632 KTS: Suberoa Zinnerman completes the Formation attack! KTS: Invalid queue number. CHANSYS: No channel with that name or alias found.
KTS: Asciel Colette fails to evade Yuliana Kafim's Burst Railgun Hi-Penetrator, taking 4050 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 91582 KTS: BP-110 Deckerd has activated the Rouse Spirit Command targeting Romilly Draid <Pose Tracker> Artemisia ka Britannia has posed.
Sophia transmits to her. Artemisia's first response is a sort of 'ahn?' which does not come with visual feed, but is the kind of noise where Sophia can see Artemisia's face contort in mild disgust in her head.
"A Blue Cosmos coup... hnfh. Well, I assume you or one of the others has had the family arrested," Artemisia continues, fortunately on the direct line to Sophia. The Knightmare Frame sweeps down a deeper ramp, solely so it can merge with emergency traffic temporarily on the upramp back to --
The far end of St. Darwin!!
"But why attack Pendragon?" Artemisia muses. "Do they intend to take father hostage? That's ridiculous; they'd have every loyalist vomit through their nose and go hug a Coordinator by February. Are they hoping to lean on Schneizel?" The Macross's great arm comes up. For a moment, Artemisia tightens.
In the Spanish colonial manor, Dionysis holds his breath.
But the great light doesn't come -
Artemisia accelerates. "Alright," she says. "Now it's time. Ahem, hem --"
Artemisia activates the same signal she'd used in JOSH-A. The royal override. Some public-facing screens show patriotic logos for a moment. She raises the microphone for her lips.
"Crew of the Macross 13," Artemisia says, "I am addressing you. For your leaders, their only hope is fortune at trial, now. But you. You are not proven anything at all. Given orders, you followed them... yes? Loyal soldiers, brave and true. But you know where you are, now. Perhaps you are thinking: I don't have any hope, either way --"
Artemisia is actually driving the KMF with her knees now. You can do that. Of course you can. Do you think it wouldn't have some steering capacity connected to the use of your lower body? What do you think that seat design is even for? Because her hands are occupied with the targeting equipment. Correcting for shot fall...
"But you do," Artemisia says. "All you have to do -"
"Is lower," Artemisia says, "the barrier."
"It goes against all your training," Artemisia continues, "but it's what, you have, to do!" The Skathi's left arm comes up as its legs spread, brakes feathering for a moment as she watches for the shot fall to come... just...
THNK THNK THNK
Right.
"Pull a control. Sever a connector. *Hit something with a fire axe*," Artemisia continues. "Ten seconds' work. The rewards will be IMMEASURABLE."
The three projectiles, each as weighty as the first (because they're identical, being in a set of eight) fly outwards, unpowered but massive. Hopefully, the lack of anything other than a burst of initial and atrocious electromagnetic acceleration will deter counterbattery fire in this chaos! The target is, of course, nothing less than the point Sophia designated.
KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia targets Asciel Colette with Pilium Launcher! KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Romilly Draid has activated the Focus Spirit Command.
<Pose Tracker> Romilly Draid has posed.
LEVEL 2 ANALYSIS COMPLETE.
A shiver travels up Romilly's spine at the exact instant Junior's OS pushes an update. Both hands slam the sticks hard right a split second before the overhead scream of incoming fighters echoes through the city block. The wanzer dives right, twisting to put its back parallel with the pavement.
Leg thrusters blaze brightly, the blue machine's heavy bacpack striking sparks up and digging furrows into the asphalt as it grinds backwards, keeping the fighters in its optics as a trail of fire rides hot on its heels.
Carried over to an intersection, the wanzer, guided by another Newtype impulse from its pilot, jams the butt of the chain rifle out, catching a traffic light and making a sudden hard turn to shake them. A metal palm strikes the pavement, splaying the machine out and rolling it sideways, bringing it up into a knelt firing position beside the J-Decker. Romilly's mind conveys his intent to the pilot: On your six. Get that big bastard, I'll cover you.[norma]
Shell casings rain down around the wanzer as it returns fire on the fighters as they pass by, charged rounds crackling bright blue in neat, intermittent lines, expertly lead for each fighter in the wanzer's sight cone.
<Pose Tracker> Romilly Draid has posed.
LEVEL 2 ANALYSIS COMPLETE.
A shiver travels up Romilly's spine at the exact instant Junior's OS pushes an update. Both hands slam the sticks hard right a split second before the overhead scream of incoming fighters echoes through the city block. The wanzer dives right, twisting to put its back parallel with the pavement.
Leg thrusters blaze brightly, the blue machine's heavy bacpack striking sparks up and digging furrows into the asphalt as it grinds backwards, keeping the fighters in its optics as a trail of fire rides hot on its heels.
Carried over to an intersection, the wanzer, guided by another Newtype impulse from its pilot, jams the butt of the chain rifle out, catching a traffic light and making a sudden hard turn to shake them. A metal palm strikes the pavement, splaying the machine out and rolling it sideways, bringing it up into a knelt firing position beside the J-Decker. Romilly's mind conveys his intent to the pilot: On your six. Get that big bastard, I'll cover you.
Shell casings rain down around the wanzer as it returns fire on the fighters as they pass by, charged rounds crackling bright blue in neat, intermittent lines, expertly lead for each fighter in the wanzer's sight cone.
KTS: Romilly Draid targets Asciel Colette with Chain Rifle Charged Rounds! KTS: Romilly Draid has completed their actions for the round.
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
<"Like hell I do!"> Defensive much? Alto's reaction to Lucine's remark is probably more than was necessary. And it is of course a fact that Alto has agreed to do some kind of stunt for the movie. So it's technically true? But that's not important right now.
What's important is the large barrage of missiles coming his way. Having been on the receiving end up this kind of situation a number of times both in training and real battles, Alto already knows what to do. A combination of hard banks combined with interception fire by the beam vulcan turrets behind the cockpit to wear down the missile numbers.
<"Hmph. Such a waste to end up the errand boy for some power-mad lunatic. A-And shut up! That has nothing to do with this!">
Apparently Alto is thrown off his game a little though as not enough of the missiles are taken down. The remaining converge on Alto's position in a cloud of explosions!
The Messiah comes streaking out of the explosions, the glow from its pinpoint barrier just fading. Several bits of its armor have been blown off and it looks like its gunpod has been thrown loose by the force. Not that it was any use anyway.
Alto frowns as he quickly considers a means of fighting against that damn field. Missiles might work as they can correct their flight paths... But perhaps not. Judging by the conversations happening around him, energy weapons will work. Unfortunately the only ones the VF-25F has are its beam vulcans, which are mainly for shooting down missiles and smaller units.
There is one more possibility...
The Messiah boosts away from the transformed VF-17, gaining a bit of distance before banking around and starting to fly straight towards it. The beam vulcan turrets on top fold over to point forward and start unleashing blue bolts of light as the fighter closes, but doesn't yet reach, the Battroid.
KTS: Alto Saotome targets Asciel Colette with Focused Beam Vulcans! KTS: Alto Saotome has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Asciel Colette's Physical Wall L3 activates, negating 3000 base damage. KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia anchors Asciel Colette, forcing her into close range. KTS: Asciel Colette fails to intercept Artemisia ka Britannia's Pilium Launcher, taking 1800 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 89782 KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia has engaged Asciel Colette! KTS: Asciel Colette fails to react to Romilly Draid's Chain Rifle Charged Rounds, taking 4500 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 85282 KTS: Asciel Colette fails to charge. KTS: Asciel Colette partially guards Alto Saotome's Focused Beam Vulcans, taking 3990 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 81292 <Pose Tracker> Ai Martel has posed.
Ai remains calm in the heart of the Macross 13 as the battle rages on outside. She's safe, ensconced in so much armor, deep inside one of the most powerful warships in the Earth Sphere.
It's so frustrating.
What can she do, from here? She's just one woman at a terminal to a computer system controlled by the one she's here to help.
~> i feel terribly useless, from where i sit... i understand i may not be of much help, but if i can lend you my hand, you need simply say so
As elaborate in text as she is in speech.
<Pose Tracker> Sophia Mayhew Castellan has posed.
"He's coming at us," Sophia announces before the Pinpoint Barrier even comes up.
One of the only bonds of emotionality that form, even flickering, where she can see. The desire to kill.
The Pinpoint Barrier ignites. Sophia's head tilts, just so. Tense. Watching. Ready. "On my signal, heading 25 by 78, speed maximum. Not one second before."
This, she has no secret for. This, is simply knowing how her ship works. She watches. It approaches. She stares at him through walls that cannot block her gaze.
"So that's your partner," she seethes. "NOW!"
The Hyperion SURGES. The timing is split-second, but perfection itself; the massive ship - though still dwarfed fully by a looming full-scale Macross - surges up and to the side, skating just past the lunging strike of the fist as soon as its bulky master is committed.
Then Sophia flicks a comm line.
"Good evening, General. I think you could stand to rethink the location of your constitutional," she says, passively. And then she looks over to the side, watching readouts from her crew. "I don't think I much like the company you're keeping, General. It won't be a concern of yours for long, but I did promise Colonel Khushrenada he wouldn't have to worry about you, so..."
"Major Laurent?" she calls. "Please."
And then the buzzing Flags around the Hyperion line up, each one loaded with a fully-charged Linear Rifle, and fire endlessly. From the deck, three squads of Knightmare Frames are braced with anti-fortification cannons they've been setting up on the fighting deck, blasting away with mortars.
And the Hyperion's own Heavy Rails swivel down from their forward resting position, loud electric bzzzzZAP as they release enormous shells meant to punch holes in most anything directly into the belly of the Macross, now exposed completely to the Hyperion's fire.
KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan targets Asciel Colette with Hyperion Battle Group Heavy Guns! KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Michiru Tenjou has posed.
A titan disgorges its fleet of VFs... flitting around in every direction. Making themselves a grand nuisance. Galaxia's barriers don't, interestingly, cover being shot with bullets. Those score across its armor, chipping off chunks of magnificent Gekiganium. "Hime-hime's going to be so cross about deploying before she fully patched up Galaxia... But this was too important. Stopping an enemy of this magnitude is my sworn duty as her most stalwart defender.
To the battleship that seems to now be the focus of the Macross, a viewscreen pops open. If accepted, it reveals a woman with bubblegum pink hair tied up in a long-tail, with an almost prince-like feel, were it not for the intensity in her gaze. "<Allow me to clear you all a breaching path into the behemoth's heart!>"
Whether her offer is accepted or not, the Galaxia stalls in mid-air, arms extended to its sides and flexing upward, as its entire torso block peels open. Within the cockpit, glowing lines trail across the pilot's face and limbs, unseen to anyone. As she reconfigures the primary weapon... "I have to thank her for this mode. All power from mobility... Assistance features..." She winces, as something unseen causes a jolt of pain through her limbs. But she'll power through. She has to, so she can protect Hime. "Fortress Crusher, fully charged..." And then as the entire Galaxia lights up... "<Final armament firing! GALAXIA FORTRESS CRUSHER, WITH MY BURNING HEART, RIP OPEN THE PATH TO VICTORY!>" That probably wasn't supposed to go out over the allied frequencies, but she's just so used to having Hime by her side... She hit it on instinct.
Every single readout from everybody looking can see it. A buildup of massive gravitic energy. Not remotely dissimilar from the Nadesico's secret weapon. And so it's no surprise, when out from the machine's torso erupts a blinding burst of starlight. An interstellar ocean, ripping through the distance to bombard the Macross at the point of least resistance.
As it fires, the pilot calmly wipes away a thin trail of blood from her face, though it takes... far too much effort to drag her arm up for the task. As for the Galaxia itself, it's helpless in the air, in this moment. All it can do it float there, until systems restore functionality.
Hopefully nobody asks too many questions about all the shouting she's doing.
KTS: Michiru Tenjou targets Asciel Colette with Galaxia Fortress Crusher!! KTS: Michiru Tenjou has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Asciel Colette partially guards Sophia Mayhew Castellan's Hyperion Battle Group Heavy Guns, taking 3363 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 77929 KTS: Asciel Colette fails to charge. KTS: Asciel Colette partially guards Michiru Tenjou's Galaxia Fortress Crusher!, taking 7560 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Michiru Tenjou's Villainy Will Never Succeed! activates, causing Sparkle! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 70369 KTS: Michiru Tenjou roots her unit, coming to a standstill and leaving her vulnerable. <Pose Tracker> Rita Bernal has posed.
I'm with you!
Rita's voice echoes in Leina's mind, jumping from their connection to speak to Lucine, as well. It's nearly choked with rage and a desire for vengeance, far from Rita's usual cheerful voice.
But as she fires her shields against the ship, it doesn't have half the effect she wishes for. It's enough to awaken the trained soldier within her, forcing her into a state of calm, as her handlers would do so many times before. This isn't effective. Find a new tactic.
The Macross 13 fires, and the Phenex soars forward, hoping to get under the attack. Before she can recall her shields, the bird is struck, crying out psychically. It hurts -- golden armor is chipped, falling down to the streets of Pendragon. This, too, is a wake-up call.
The Light isn't to be used in anger. As a being of pure emotion and connection, it's difficult to control what she feels, when she feels something strongly. Slowly, the Phenex stops shuddering, her crest snapping closed, though her eyes stay a yellow-orange hue. She's calm, she's focused, though that anger thrums through the air, still.
As her consciousness expands, again, tethering her to this world more strongly... She notices an empty patch in her vision. Even as she reaches a hand out to gather the light of the resonant plane, she turns, facing Yuliana. Her friend... she's still here. She's still alive, and well. Pain radiates from the golden Gundam, a rooster crowing at dawn, heralding the inevitible.
But for now... No one will touch Yuliana. No one will harm her. Gesturing with her other hand, the Phenex sends one of her shields to Yuliana's side. It orbits around her at a safe distance, protective, ready to take a blow.
Wreathed in light, the Phenex turns back to Macross 13. It's beautiful, near hypnotic to look at, as the power grows. Even from a distance, you know it to be warm.
You don't need to hide from me.
This is sent to the entity repulsing her from the Macross 13. Without knowing entirely what it is, she can only offer connection, a hand extended out. Miraculous and radiant, the light of another world races to the ship, searching for the one who does not want to be found.
KTS: Rita Bernal has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Yuliana Kafim KTS: Rita Bernal targets Asciel Colette with Magnetic Midnight! KTS: Rita Bernal has completed their actions for the round.
<Pose Tracker> Regina Everhart has posed.
"...Mm. Then fight well." Regina replies to Verdiska. Some concern still lingers - but she can't deny that they need everyone here if they want to have a chance at stopping this before the worst happens.
The VF squadron turns upon her, unleashing waves of gunfire. In response, Regina's beam saber lashes at, cutting through the incoming waves. Her Alto turns, eyes tracking the Variable Fighters. Interfering with her fight...
"Approach me further and you will be destroyed." Regina warns, before turning her focus back onto the Macross.
"...Nothing will protect you from me. I will rend apart every last defense you think to bring to bear." She says. She descends upon the Macross again, her saber swinging, and swinging, and swinging in a frenzy.
KTS: Regina Everhart targets Asciel Colette with Beam Saber 100 Combo! KTS: Regina Everhart has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Asciel Colette fails to evade Rita Bernal's Magnetic Midnight, taking 1860 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 68509 KTS: Asciel Colette fails to react to Regina Everhart's Beam Saber 100 Combo, taking 4000 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 64509 KTS: Regina Everhart has engaged Asciel Colette! <Pose Tracker> Teletha Testarossa has posed.
The smallest of blips popping up on DANA's screen: Artytone's message clearly displayed. Nothing suspicious about it, not at the current moment. Sewers? Here? Working with him? ...Something bigger, something that's escaping her notice. Even after all this?
It only causes her to bite her lip in frustration. So much she doesn't know. Artytone.
There are more pressing matters at hand. There are too many pressing matters at hand for someone lacking the proper means to vent these worries.
<"Bearing two two five! Begin reloading all missile tubes, stuff them with cluster bombs!">
<"Aye, ma'am! Bearing two two five! Reload all missile tubes, cluster bomb variants!">
It moves. The submarine moves. Creaking as it shifted, doing its best to avoid the squadrons closing in. A gigantic, useless, lumbering target that takes pockmarks dented solely by the planes of water above it.
<"Minor damage!"> Good.
Deep breath. Deep breath.
<"Copy. Lead it away from any civilian targets. Provoke Colonel Garland with words. He wants to lead this nation."> Comms to Leina. Open comms nonetheless.
Provoke, huh...
A press of a button.
Once released, open communications across all airwaves.
<"...Are you sure about this, Captain?">
<"If Mithril decides they'd rather have a warmongering Britannia, I'd love to debate them in Pendragon tomorrow.">
<"I understand. Choose your words wisely.">
Button, release.
<"Colonel Garland."> No restraint in her voice.
<"This is the Tuatha de Dannan, also known as the Toy Box."> The time to strike was now.
<"I cannot abide by this coup, nor do the multiple factions trying to halt this same coup."> Solidarity.
<"Your days of conspiration are at an end."> Use definitive statements. This is not a debate. This is an ultimatum.
<"Your efforts to drag this world back into the wars of 0093 are at an end."> Swing the people around. Ultimatum. Ultimatum.
<"If you believe that you can still manage the people in the kingdom's machine, then keep going."> Box the opposition off.
<"If not, then continue to face the reckoning you deserve."> The thread to sew it all together.
...
<"That is all.">
Button, push.
A deep breath released.
"Bearing one eight zero! As tight as possible!"
"Bearing one eight zero! Doubletime!"
KTS: Teletha Testarossa targets Regina Everhart, Michiru Tenjou, Sophia Mayhew Castellan, Alto Saotome, Romilly Draid, Artemisia ka Britannia, Yuliana Kafim, Suberoa Zinnerman, Leina Ashta, Lucine Azul, and BP-110 Deckerd with All-Out. KTS: Teletha Testarossa has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Teletha Testarossa orders an all-out attack, raising Suberoa Zinnerman's Skill! KTS: Teletha Testarossa orders an all-out attack, raising Romilly Draid's Skill! KTS: Teletha Testarossa orders an all-out attack, raising Lucine Azul's Skill! KTS: Teletha Testarossa orders an all-out attack, raising Michiru Tenjou's Skill! KTS: Teletha Testarossa orders an all-out attack, raising Leina Ashta's Skill! KTS: Teletha Testarossa orders an all-out attack, raising Alto Saotome's Skill! KTS: Teletha Testarossa orders an all-out attack, raising Sophia Mayhew Castellan's Skill! KTS: Teletha Testarossa orders an all-out attack, raising Artemisia ka Britannia's Skill! KTS: Teletha Testarossa orders an all-out attack, raising Regina Everhart's Skill! <Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
... No wonder Sheryl likes to tease Alto. This is.... fun. But not something she intends on carrying into the battle itself. < "Good. Your heart lies in the sky." > Not that Alto gave any indication he was going to.
Now, transmitting her last words to Leina before the connection becomes filled with too static to function. < "... I don't intend to. However, the same goes to you too, Leina." > Lucine's smile can be heard in her words.
Lucine's spirits haven't been this high in a while. Who knew a deadly battle with a Macross was what she needed? Certainly not feasible, by any means, and she's not about to commit to something irrational just yet. .... Aside from not responding to Romilly's earlier field-wide offer. She might get around to that, as the Macross's fire power grows more heated.
The next round of VF Fighters approach, and Lucine's eyes widen, her lips pulled thin in concentration. She pings around the battlefield every time a bullet is aimed her way; if the force had been more focused on her, the outcome would have likely been much different. Still, it's pulling her attention away from her fellow pilots, a side effect of her training.
That is, until Rita's voice reaches her from afar, shooting past the mental scales still obscuring Lucine's mind. Lucine's senses grab onto that anger greedily, and the pilot deliberately flies with it, her heart pounding as she evades that final volley. ".... Rita... we'll end this."
Teletha's voice brings Lucine forward, the Dianthus swinging around the Arbalest to fire one small shot as she prepares for another, stronger shot in short order.
KTS: Lucine Azul targets Asciel Colette with Argen-21 Beam Arbalest Shot! KTS: Lucine Azul has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Teletha Testarossa orders an all-out attack, raising Yuliana Kafim's Skill!
<Pose Tracker> BP-110 Deckerd has posed.
<"Ah! Hold on, please Just list- Hnnnn...">
Underneath the helmet of J-Decker, Deckerd clicks his tongue in minor annoyance when he doesn't even get a reply. It figures, it's not like he has any real jurisdiction to tell people what to do here or has any words that carry any weight.
Though he's ruined one runway, there's several dozen more, and the fighters eventually come out to accost not only the rest of the pilots, but him as well. J-Decker does his best to avoid the worst of it, making use of his expendable riot shield yet again to absorb some blows as he lands back on the ground to think of a counter attack. Thankfully, he doesn't have to think long, as Romilly's machine comes in to lend him some covering fire, allowing him to go back on the offensive. "Ah, thank you!"
Romilly doesn't say anything, but Deckerd understands, and rushes back to deal with the Macross, once again aiming for one of its many beam turrets with his J-Buster as the weapon lets loose a beam of its own.
KTS: BP-110 Deckerd targets Asciel Colette with Rifle Mode: Borring Shot! KTS: BP-110 Deckerd has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Asciel Colette partially guards Lucine Azul's Argen-21 Beam Arbalest Shot, taking 1305 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 63204 KTS: Asciel Colette fails to react to BP-110 Deckerd's Rifle Mode: Borring Shot, taking 4425 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 58779 <Pose Tracker> Asciel Colette has posed.
It's probably a little bit distracting how much Asciel starts pinging Leina's ZZ by this point. ::}ahahahah ::}okay you got me. of course I have something up my sleeve. i always get my way. ::}so the reason why I took this approach to go in from underground? ::}i maaaaaaaaaybe. juuuuuust maybe. just in case something like this happened ::}rigged up some 'fireworks' to go off. should be enough to warm the colonel's seat a bit~ ::}let's see. catalysts should be in the left shoulder, or the right knee if you can't get up that far. ::}if you start focusing fire there, tell people to get back, and do your best to lure it away from anything too important, kay? ::}i wanted to pull it off myself, that's why I didn't say anything, but I'm not in a condition to give the coup de grace. ::}i guess i'll have to live vicariously through everyone else!
Asciel has to quiet, though, as two appeals come in. One, from Artemisia - appealing to the crew itself to stop this madness. And one - from Tessa, appealing to Colonel Garland himself.
The first brings the remaining engineers to pause for a bit - they're starting to get sweatier now that the Macross is taking a harsher beating. Then one shouts, abruptly - "...That's Lady Artemisia! Damn it, everyone - this is all going horribly wrong! Damn the Colonel from dragging us into this mess!" There's a rallying cry from the rest - and a scuffle with those who persist - and even within the Macross, chaos breaks out, soon coordinating into a full mutiny. To Ai, Asciel hurriedly texts a few short messages:
~~) Don't say things like that. Utility is not why I value you. Saying that - I didn't anticipate potential crew sabotage. Please protect me. This is all ruined if they interfere. Do whatever it takes.
...Indeed, Ai's tested on that very notion when three jumpsuit clad engineers start rushing towards the very control room Asciel's implanted herself in. "Move out of the way! We're disabling the gravity field - none of us are standing for this garbage anymore!"
The heat is fierce on the bridge too. The direct communication line from Captain Testarossa, amidst the rapidly disintegrating situation. Quietly, to himself, the goading and pushing from his collaborators starts adding up a bit less. Was he -genuinely- some sort of pawn by a plot from the Royals to pull a fast one on him? What games isn't he seeing here? The sheer number of leadership figures responding to the call entails that key contacts haven't mitigated entry enough. There's a chewing on his thumb.
...they're right. He's been had. He grabs the comms line-
"<<Aaaaaaand that'll be enough out of you, Colonel.~>>"
Abruptly every shutter slams closed on the Macross's bridge - every screen goes dark save for a dark red COMMUNICATIONS BLOCKED flashing on them.
"Thank you so kindly for playing your part!~ Unfortunately, I can tell by the look on your face that you're giving up. Congratulations! You're now useless to me. I think you should sit tight and listen to something enjoyable in your last moments."
Sweat pours down Garland's brow, fist slamming on a terminal - then quickly moving to try disconnecting it and repurposing it to send a signal of his own terms. "What's the meaning of this, OWL?! What game is Chrome playing with m-"
Asciel's face replaces the dark screen, a most vivid smile from ear to ear. "You were a tool meant to give me access to this ship. Nothing more, nothing less. I have no interest in ingraining myself in Britannia's power structure. Your purpose now is to get yourself killed, so if you're not about to do that for me, I'll have to take the reins a little bit. Let's seeee~"
Over the loudspeakers, a few choicy pre-recordings - in Garland's voice, of course, sound out. ""Conceding to irrational rhetoric and clinging to corrupt institutions is what's got us in this mess - it's why Britannia has become so weak!!"" -if you're observant enough, there's an ever so slight cadence shift, as a separate file is loaded, this time from a private meeting rather than a public speech, something carefully masked with the sheer volume being projected- ""This is for the preservation of our blue and pure world. Purging the danger posed by the Coordinator problem should be the first priority-"" (it cuts off, because the rest of the clip makes less sense out of context.
"How was that~? Hehe. I'll make sure the Director knows we're still moving forward. Now. You be good. I'll remember your sacrifice for the cause forever~"
<Pose Tracker> Asciel Colette has posed.
With a satisfied smile as the Macross hulks itself forward in pursuit of the TDD-1's locale, Director Brando grits his teeth as Alto's beam vulcans course across his cockpit - singing the shielding and glass alike - and shifting fully into the Battroid form, 'returning' the favor with a fierce surge aimed right at Alto's core - the gunpod trying to just about physically bust at the cockpit.
"Errand boy? Don't make me laugh. We've been the ones leading him around for months now - and I'm the one with the most to gain, and the least to lose. The key to a company's success is to get nice and cozy with the heart of a government. If we win here, Critical Path gets to be a key military contractor for the most powerful armed forces on Earth. If we lose - it's hardly much off my back. We marketed a 'service' the Colonel, and he commited a vast crime to seize it. All I've done is what we were legally contracted to do. It's looking like the Colonel's in trouble anyway - maybe I'll make my exit sooner rather than later. As soon as I prove that you're not fit to grace the skies, Princess Alto!"
KTS: Asciel Colette targets Alto Saotome with VF Squadron - Coordinated Assault! KTS: Asciel Colette targets Yuliana Kafim with Pinpoint Barrier Impact! KTS: Asciel Colette targets Rita Bernal with Pinpoint Barrier Impact! KTS: Asciel Colette targets Teletha Testarossa with Daybreak Parthenos! KTS: Rita Bernal successfully evades Asciel Colette's Pinpoint Barrier Impact KTS: Asciel Colette targets Sophia Mayhew Castellan with Shoulder Mantle Ionic Blaster! KTS: Asciel Colette targets BP-110 Deckerd with VF Squadron - Itano Circus! KTS: Asciel Colette targets Lucine Azul with VF Squadron - Itano Circus! KTS: Asciel Colette targets Regina Everhart with VF Squadron - Itano Circus! KTS: Asciel Colette targets Michiru Tenjou with VF Squadron - Itano Circus! KTS: Asciel Colette targets Romilly Draid with VF Squadron - Itano Circus! KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 798. KTS: SP Regen activates. Your new SP value is 150. KTS: Asciel Colette has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Asciel Colette targets Artemisia ka Britannia with VF Squadron - Itano Circus! KTS: Asciel Colette targets Suberoa Zinnerman with VF Squadron - Itano Circus! KTS: Asciel Colette targets Leina Ashta with VF Squadron - Itano Circus! KTS: Regina Everhart has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Asciel Colette enervates Regina Everhart, reducing her Morale significantly. KTS: Regina Everhart fails to intercept Asciel Colette's VF Squadron - Itano Circus, taking 6270 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asciel Colette's You Don't Have To Be Brave Anymore activates, causing Deject! KTS: Teletha Testarossa orders an all-out attack, raising BP-110 Deckerd's Skill! KTS: Asciel Colette enervates Artemisia ka Britannia, reducing her Morale significantly. KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia fails to react to Asciel Colette's VF Squadron - Itano Circus, taking 6840 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asciel Colette's You Don't Have To Be Brave Anymore activates, causing Deject! KTS: Asciel Colette enervates Suberoa Zinnerman, reducing his Morale significantly. KTS: Suberoa Zinnerman fails to evade Asciel Colette's VF Squadron - Itano Circus, taking 6270 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asciel Colette's You Don't Have To Be Brave Anymore activates, causing Deject! KTS: Yuliana Kafim has activated the Alert Spirit Command. KTS: Yuliana Kafim successfully evades Asciel Colette's Pinpoint Barrier Impact KTS: Michiru Tenjou blocks Asciel Colette's VF Squadron - Itano Circus, taking 3989 damage! KTS: Romilly Draid has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Leina Ashta successfully avoids Asciel Colette's VF Squadron - Itano Circus KTS: Romilly Draid's Will Barrier activates, negating 1000 base damage. KTS: [Spirit Defense] Romilly Draid's Thermal Baffles activates, and his spirit is adjusted. KTS: Asciel Colette enervates Romilly Draid, reducing his Morale significantly. KTS: Romilly Draid fails to Evade Asciel Colette's VF Squadron - Itano Circus, taking 5170 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asciel Colette's You Don't Have To Be Brave Anymore activates, causing Deject! KTS: Suberoa Zinnerman has activated the Rouse Spirit Command. KTS: Lucine Azul has activated the Alert Spirit Command. KTS: Lucine Azul successfully evades Asciel Colette's VF Squadron - Itano Circus KTS: BP-110 Deckerd has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Asciel Colette enervates BP-110 Deckerd, reducing his Morale significantly. KTS: BP-110 Deckerd blocks Asciel Colette's VF Squadron - Itano Circus, taking 6270 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asciel Colette's You Don't Have To Be Brave Anymore activates, causing Deject! KTS: BP-110 Deckerd has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: Alto Saotome has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Alto Saotome has activated the Wall Spirit Command. Alto Saotome transforms to VF-25F Messiah <Battroid Mode>
KTS: Alto Saotome has changed loadout. KTS: Alto Saotome's EN Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage. KTS: [Spirit Defense] Alto Saotome's Song of the Fairy activates, and his spirit endures. KTS: Asciel Colette enervates Alto Saotome, reducing his Morale significantly. KTS: Alto Saotome blocks Asciel Colette's VF Squadron - Coordinated Assault, taking 6000 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asciel Colette's You Don't Have To Be Brave Anymore activates, causing Deject! KTS: Asciel Colette begins a Formation attack!
<Pose Tracker> Suberoa Zinnerman has posed.
Zinnerman watches as the Skiure barrage rips apart the superstructure of the giant purple titan. "Not enough," he glowers. "Tomura, status."
"We've got another good shot with the Skiure, then we'll have to pull back and coax the reactor some."
"Understood. Repeat attack, on my marks."
Marida gasps again and Flaste leans by instinct, pulling the Garencieres up over the Macross as its shoulder cannon swings down and the DAYBREAK PARTHENOS paints the sky a wholly new purple!
"... Change targets. That cannon's got to go." The temperature on the bridge is icy. Desperate. The missiles slamming into the freighter's hull do little to help the mood.
"Focus up!" Zinnerman barks. "If we can't kill this thing, let's at least put its repair bill through the stratosphere! Garencieres team! Mark one! Mark two!"
The bombardment is repeated, directed-particle bolts and beams hammering the Macross's Shoulder Cannon to punch through its pinpoint barrier.
Meanwhile, Marida watches the Macross's bridge, frowning. "... He's panicking? After that speech?"
Zinnerman glances to her, noting that down. "Tomura. Hit it again. Flaste, pull us back."
The Skiure fires again, beam energy pouring into the shoulder cannon. As the tongue of violet light peters out, the Garencieres starts to retreat from knife-fight range with the Macross.
KTS: BP-110 Deckerd has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: BP-110 Deckerd has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Rita Bernal has activated the Resupply Spirit Command targeting Suberoa Zinnerman KTS: Suberoa Zinnerman targets Asciel Colette with Garencieres Team Coordinated Barrage! KTS: Suberoa Zinnerman has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Asciel Colette fails to react to Suberoa Zinnerman's Garencieres Team Coordinated Barrage, taking 4425 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 54354 KTS: Rita Bernal has activated the Resupply Spirit Command targeting Artemisia ka Britannia
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Leina finds herself grateful for Lucine, and Rita in this moment, to have their support in the air. To not be alone in her anger.
Tessa gives her advice, and she follows it... "<... He's such a small man, that shouldn't be difficult.>" -and Leina suddenly makes herself one big target, by opening her comms, and making the source quite obvious.
It's the same girl who did her damndest to foil his aims in space, helped get him into such a pickle in the first place, "<Colonel Garland. Have you no decency? Aren't you the least bit ashamed of how you keep failing upwards? Then again, I suppose a man who is compensating for his deficiencies with a Macross would be lucky to even have... the most microscopic...>"
A distinct pause and one might get the impression that he's being laughed at, "<... sense of dignity.>"
(She does not realize that he's unlikely to hear it, much less give a response due to Asciel's master plan, but it's not impossible some might get a laugh from it at least.)
The word Ritechka is picked up by the comms on their side, and Leina is taken aback by that quite familiar word, "Yuliana!?"
She doesn't see her Wanzer though, and it's a friendly signal. That... that rather confirms her theory.
A message from Asciel, her brow furrows, it's a lot, trusting her, but-... ::}I'll trust you. This once. If there's more collateral damage at play to the civilians than what you're saying, it won't ever be given again.{::
Before it comes over the comms, "<I've received word from a questionable source that targeting the left shoulder or the right knee will catalyze a chain reaction. Don't be near it if you start focusing fire there.>"
It all goes wrong so quickly, in his speech, which Leina doesn't realize is a fake. Missile after missile fires her way and it's only with Newtype instincts that she's able to weave through the whole Circus of missiles, sweat forming on her brow as far too many of them come far too close before one detonates and sets off a chain reaction that keeps her safe.
When the Macross moves towards the bay, when it FIRES that Macross Cannon right into the waters, and Leina screams, "TESSA!"
Calm down. Calm down. You didn't feel her die. Calm down. Stay calm.
Once she does, a comm signal reaches everyone, save the Macross and the remaining enemy Variable Fighters, "<I'm sending everyone my targeting data, you won't want to be in the way of this. ... I won't be able to move for a while afterwards, so wish me luck.>"
The ZZ dips low in altitude all of a sudden, hovering just over the waters of the bay.
The Macross still towers so high in the sky.
Then she takes a deep breath, and suddenly reaches to the side of her seat and pulls a lever, then jams it inward. "This is for Banagher you son of a bitch."
Safety interlocks suddenly are released, as a build up of plasmic particles occur at both the head, and the chest of the Double Zeta's little sibling.
And then quite simply, it ERUPTS - a shotgun blast of a Diffuse Mega Particle Cannon never spreads out, the energy instead joining High Mega Cannon blast.
And the two become greater than the whole.
This energy disgorges into a titanic beam of a blast of power from a cannon meant for felling battleships - or greater - something like this is so rarely mounted on a mobile suit and for a good reason that rises just cuts towards the Macross then upwards to miss the skyline of Pendragon.
Those with their eyes on the energy readouts may be baffled when it reaches nearly twenty percent of the output of the Colony Laser.
And all that energy is aimed right at the Macross' right knee joint where it joins with the body, trying to punch right through it.
Even if this doesn't work like Atrytone says - it will still likely cripple the thing.
And then the Double Zeta goes dark, its thrusters turn off as it loses all power...
... and the Mass Produced Double Zeta falls into the bay with an enormous splash, as Leina counts, in the watery dark embrace of the Atlantic as the weight of it causes her to descend.
KTS: Leina Ashta has activated the Enable Spirit Command. KTS: Leina Ashta has activated the Enable Spirit Command. KTS: Leina Ashta targets Asciel Colette with MP ZZ Simplified High Mega Cannon Tandem Blast Maximum Power! KTS: Leina Ashta has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Asciel Colette fails to react to Leina Ashta's MP ZZ Simplified High Mega Cannon Tandem Blast Maximum Power, taking 7500 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 46854 KTS: Leina Ashta roots her unit, coming to a standstill and leaving her vulnerable.
<Pose Tracker> Michiru Tenjou has posed.
An entire stack of missiles comes flying at Galaxia, each one slamming into its body as it hangs in the air. The explosions are deafening, rocking Michiru around in every direction. She's pretty sure something just fell loose in here... Or maybe it's just her vision going blurry, from slamming her head into part of her piloting console. Whichever it may be, there's DEFINITELY a lot of the Galaxia itself falling loose. It's still intact, but the barrage of impacts knocks it cleanly out of the sky, with bits of debris scattered all around its impact crater. "Ghhh... g-get up. Have to keep... going."
Her soul is still willing to fight. Her body too. But Galaxia seems to need more time. A few systems are coming back online. But the machine remains immobile yet. Just as the pilot's own limbs are rather more rigid than they ought to be. For now, the Macross is safe from Michiru's further wrath. For as much as that lasts.
She doesn't notice right now, but a smear of her own blood has sprayed across the Gekiganger-themed headrest-pillow she keeps in here. Hopefully everyone else is still alive out there... These people came out to fight a monster. So they are, at least right now, her allies. To be defended.
KTS: Michiru Tenjou targets Asciel Colette with Pass! KTS: Michiru Tenjou has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Teletha Testarossa has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Teletha Testarossa has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Teletha Testarossa has activated the Strike Spirit Command. <Pose Tracker> Regina Everhart has posed.
Regina's Alto is consumed by an overwhelming volley of missiles. Her unit's missile defense systems try to deter some of them, but far too many to get through. It's rocked by explosions, and for a moment it seems like there might be nothing left...
...At least until there's the gleam of eyes shining through the smoke. Sparks dance across its frame from the enormity of the damage, but she's still holding on.
"...Not enough. I am still alive." She says. Garland's voice rings out over the loudspeakers. Her anger at him is already peaked - this only serves to focus it.
Mindful of the areas that have been marked dangerous, Regina scans the Macross, looking for a gap in the shielding. ...There. It's been lowered, somewhat, due to internal mutiny. Her chance is there. Regina takes up her beam saber... and hurls it toward the weakening barrier. It impacts and sticks in and she accelerates forward, striking it with a kick to drive it through further. Her path made clear, she begins to unleash punch after punch on it, to break and shatter and tear through anything in her way.
KTS: Regina Everhart has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Regina Everhart has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Regina Everhart has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Regina Everhart targets Asciel Colette with Shattering Combination! KTS: Regina Everhart has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan successfully avoids Asciel Colette's Shoulder Mantle Ionic Blaster KTS: Asciel Colette enervates Teletha Testarossa, reducing her Morale significantly. KTS: Teletha Testarossa partially guards Asciel Colette's Daybreak Parthenos, taking 8520 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asciel Colette's You Don't Have To Be Brave Anymore activates, causing Deject!
<Pose Tracker> Rita Bernal has posed.
Rita doesn't know exactly what's going on, but she can feel the wave of rage and fear coming from Colonel Garland. Even as the Macross 13 attempts to step on her, she simply darts out of the way, leaving a path of blue embers in her path.
Rising into the air, the Phenex approaches the Colonel's seat as close as she can. Perhaps he can see her, as she floats so close to his compromised ship, still and quiet. No engines can be heard. No thrusters, no weapons warming up. No radio signals. Instead...
Here at the end... Do you regret it? Do you regret what you became?
She speaks to him, if he can hear her. Blue fire ignites around the Phenex. It burns hotter, then bursts into an aurora of green-blue-pink. The sky itself seems to warp around the Gundam.
Do you remember all the people you hurt? And all those you enabled to hurt others?
Incandescent. The Phenex closes the distance between herself and the Macross 13. Golden hands reach out, gently touching the ship's hull.
Think about them now. Remember their names.
Radiance reaches a peak. The sky shines with a second sun, with colors beyond possibility. All those who bear witness know, it's a miracle. A miracle born from justice and vengeance.
They will never forget yours.
Spreading her fingers across the metal of the Macross 13, the Phenex forces the light she has gathered beneath her wings into the ship itself. Gold spreads out from her touch, brilliantly shining, reflecting the glow of the miracle the Gundam creates. Crossing and recrossing itself, the shape of a single, enormous feather covers the belly of her enemy. Aulic in its finery, she floats back for a moment, admiring it.
And you will never touch my sister again.
In a heartbeat, the sun-warmth of the Miracle Light surrounding the mystical bird turns to ice. The feather she created BURNS in icy agony against its home, a conflagration propelled by the many souls this man has touched.
Satisfied, for the moment, the Phenex flits back, watching her work from a better angle. Only to see -- Leina fire her enormous cannon, and fall into the sea.
Leina!
The Phenex's beloved's voice echoes across the battlefield. Instantly, she ignites in azure flame, racing after the MP ZZ. Stopping just at the surface of the water, she hesitates. Surely the Phenex could handle the water, but something holds her back. Instead, she reaches out a hand, touching the surface of the waves, chasing the bond she has with the young woman falling deeper.
In the depths of the water... By the grace of their friendship, the Phenex catches her. With effort, she pulls the MP ZZ toward the surface, illuminated by the same azure flame the Phenex utilizes. She's given all of herself to retrieving Leina, floating helpless as she tends to her task.
KTS: Rita Bernal targets Asciel Colette with This Life Isn't All There Is! KTS: Rita Bernal has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Asciel Colette fails to react to Michiru Tenjou's Pass, taking 0 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 46854 charge not permitted in MeleeEngaged
KTS: Asciel Colette partially guards Regina Everhart's Shattering Combination, taking 3150 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 43704 KTS: Regina Everhart has engaged Asciel Colette! KTS: Asciel Colette fails to evade Rita Bernal's This Life Isn't All There Is, taking 5850 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 37854 KTS: Rita Bernal roots her unit, coming to a standstill and leaving her vulnerable.
<Pose Tracker> Romilly Draid has posed.
WARNING. ENEMY MISSILE LOCK.
I see-feel it. Too many for the Pylon. Get us moving. I'll disengage the actuator limiters.
Time seems dilated, even though it isn't. Angry red lockon warnings blare up on the screen as the Kingmaker scrambles to get to cover--or at least away from the J-Decker, to keep both of them from being easy targets. Pale fingers race across option switches, the barrier between pilot and wanzer gradually blurring. Missiles begin to impact, the machine at a dead sprint running straight at the fighters to try and force the missiles into overcorrecting.
It half-works--ablative plating is shorn from the wanzer like bark from a lightning-struck tree, but there are single-digit direct impacts instant of a litany. Motors that would have burnt themselves out on a less refined machine here keep moving, thanks to timely venting of heat from now-exposed thermal baffles.
The city street has become a gauntlet, dotted with smoking, smoldering spots of missile impacts. For Romilly, time seems to move at its normal speed again.
You said you didn't want no chaos. But look what you gone and done. What is it with you people, and squeezin' so hard there ain't nothin' left to control?
Garland hadn't seemed to pick up on his emotions, during the attack on the submarine. Romilly isn't even sure he'll get an answer. Isn't even sure why he asks--maybe it's the vain hope that the question will spark something in Garland. Or maybe it's the desire inside him to find connections in the most unlikely places.
ALLIED UNIT IMMOBILE. HEAVY DAMAGE SUSTAINED.
Junior adds a marker to the UI of the cockpit as the wanzer rounds a corner. "We got a hell of a beam in our eye, Junior, but to hell with it."
<"Galaxia, Morpho C.B. en route to assist, 500 meters and closing, from 4 o'clock. What's your status, over?">
The partially-skeletonized wanzer rounds a corner with a thruster-assisted slide, chain rifle shouldered and aimed upwards. Hold out a little longer for me.
The Kingmaker covers the immobilized Galaxia, littering the air with inhumanly precise bursts, its cylindrical head moving with clockwork precision split seconds ahead of the fighters.
<Pose Tracker> Artemisia ka Britannia has posed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeeWOt6z9-A
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Something about all of this... it's obscurely unsettling. Artemisia feels a little like there's something about that strange glowing Mobile Suit in the sky. It's hard to say. It tugs at her. It makes her hungry, and ashamed, and wondering which of them is --
-- is --
It's like a magic eye problem. She has larger problems to contend with. Much larger ones. The Macross 13 is a problem but her immediate issue is that she is being harried by Variable Fighters. "Tch!" she cries out as the bombardment begins. The harkens shoot out to get the altitude; six missiles impact on St. Darwin's Street, blasting huge divots in the asphalt before reaching the armored layers; the KMF ascends to a roof just in time to look towards one of the fighters on an attack run.
Artemisia stares dead-on at the Variable Fighter.
In his seat, Dionysus watches in a sick mixture of delight and fear.
The barrage comes. The KMF moves -- but then it disappears in a barrage that devastates the entire roof and part of the topmost floor of that building, flames and smoke rising outwards in a massive plume. The successful VF does a momentary wing-waggle, executes a tight turn, and comes around at another angle -
THUNK. "Whoa! Impact! Got someth"
TINK comes a fist against the back of the canopy. Through the miracle of Touch Talk, however diaphanous with the KMF design, comes a command: "shhhhhhhh."
"It's pointed," Artemisia says, "at your seat. Don't worry. You have a new purpose, now. Bank right. Slowly. Lie to them."
"Got some kinda - damage -"
Dionysus stares with incredulity as the sky itself seems to change color and a VF flies towards his house. Yes - his house! It's banking around - he steps back from the window, squatting behind the thick wood of the desk in case it's a bomb, but - it roars past, engines screaming.
("Yes," Artemisia says. "Down. My good girls and boys left me something. Land for just a moment.")
The VF's engines groan a few moments later, and Dionysus is left baffled, not for the first time, at these ruthless and ridiculous contrivances. There is a reason he is a boy who will never be Emperor.
And as Garland speaks the treason that he totally said...
"TRAITOR!" bellows a voice. And straddling a Variable Fighter, rising through the haze and darkness -- the bulk of the Skathi is made all the clearer by the fact that the left arm has been destroyed or jettisoned, leaving relatively clean and sharp metal to contrast with the darkened, battered exterior of the rest of the KMF.
"You dare? You dare to crow your arrogance? You dare to proffer your will in the pitch of battle - you dare rebellion and terror, in the heart of this holy empire? In the heart of this FEDERATION? Where was your courage at JOSH-A, Garland?! Do you think that this great weapon of yours is anything, ANYTHING AT ALL, compared to the will of Britannia?!"
(At this point, the VF's pilot punches the eject button -- and gets a horrible error message. His head turns for a moment and he stares at industrial metal packaging, stenciled SOL BOW - RELOAD - LIFT WITH MACHINE. He hadn't even heard it, or seen it. When -- how -- his head turns back forwards, a sort of exaltation of dread washing through his body like the salted ice you use to make ice cream at home...)
"A BLUE world? A PURE world? Rather a RED one -- aflame with the heat of the fervor of heroes! Can you feel it?! This is the nature of true strength -"
The sol bow speaks, hurling bolts with silent force through the skies. The enemy Variable Fighters. The far-off Macross 13. Artemisia's mouth is all but hanging open.
"Courage! Strength! Improvisation! The will to grasp VICTORY! Did you fear the genome soldiers so much that you went against every single lesson you were TAUGHT?! Hahahaha! I hope you live -- because I want to see your head on the floor!!"
"Onward, pig!" Artemisia cries to the pilot as she raises up the reload. "Into the jaws of hell! The world burns, but you serve Britannia now!!"
KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia has activated the Alert Spirit Command. KTS: Romilly Draid targets Asciel Colette with Chain Rifle Charged Rounds! KTS: Romilly Draid has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia targets Asciel Colette with The Ecstasy and the Agony! KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia has completed their actions for the round.
<Pose Tracker> BP-110 Deckerd has posed.
"Now!"
Even in the face of several dozen missiles, J-Decker pushes forward, using what remains of his shield to protect himself as he pushes himself even closer to the Macross. The problem with shields is that they can only protect what's in front of them, however, so missiles find their way through, smacking and chipping away at the Brave Police's armor one explosion after the other. By the time he reaches the ship, he's covered in a dark red lubricant oil that's now constantly leaking from the various cracks that litter his body.
It's fine, he just needs one good shot, which is what he gets when he steadies his rifle and fires yet another disabling shot into one of the Macross's many guns.
KTS: BP-110 Deckerd targets Asciel Colette with Rifle Mode: Finishing Shot! KTS: BP-110 Deckerd has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Asciel Colette partially guards Romilly Draid's Chain Rifle Charged Rounds, taking 5250 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 32604 evade not permitted in MeleeEngaged
KTS: Asciel Colette fails to retreat. KTS: [Spirit Defense] Asciel Colette's I'll Never Let Go Of My Light activates, and her spirit endures. KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia enervates Asciel Colette, reducing her Morale significantly. KTS: Asciel Colette fails to react to Artemisia ka Britannia's The Ecstasy and the Agony, taking 9240 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Artemisia ka Britannia's Let this moment last forever activates, causing Sparkle! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Artemisia ka Britannia's The Hunter's Song activates, causing Deject! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Artemisia ka Britannia's Perfection of Movement activates, causing Nullify! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 23364 KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia has engaged Asciel Colette! KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia roots her unit, coming to a standstill and leaving her vulnerable. KTS: Asciel Colette fails to charge. KTS: Asciel Colette partially guards BP-110 Deckerd's Rifle Mode: Finishing Shot, taking 6285 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 17079
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"... thank you," Verdiska replies, to Regina, with a little delay as her lips part and nothing quite comes out. A breath, and she finishes her sentence: "For accepting my aid. I couldn't be sure if... anyway, I am with you, now."
This isn't really the time to get emotional, unless the emotion is anger, which is a great emotion to have in the middle of a fight.
Well, she can say that, but something chokes at her throat as Rita's shield appears by her side anyway. She swallows, audibly, and somehow manages to swallow down her screaming too.
She can't yell at Rita. She can't give herself away. She can't quite bring herself to fly away from the Phenex, either, though neither does she come in close.
(She doesn't realise she already has given herself away, to Leina, given she didn't transmit her name.)
"Acknowledged," she transmits to the TDD-1, instead, as it sends her more data. Her voice is warped by the modulator; she doesn't fear detection.
The loudspeakers transmit pre-recordings -- and they're quite good, really. Solid work. But there's a difference in vocal character from room to room, in acoustics and in tone; Yuliana's eyes narrow, as she hears it.
She transmits, to all friendly channels, her voice distorted by a modulator: "That may sound like the Colonel, but you're listening to recordings, now. Whether he's covering for something he's working on in there and can't be bothered talking to us any more, or whether someone else would very much like us to hear him say these things, I can't say... all the same, don't be fooled."
Verdiska is fighting with them, and that means they all get to benefit from Yuliana's many years of experience as a saboteur.
But the Macross lurches forward, and that impossibly massive foot slams DOWN, towards Rita and Yuliana. "Shit!" Verdiska bites out, as she forces the engines into overdrive, and she flattens against her seat as she forces the Masquerion down towards the earth. But she's going at an angle -- and she dips up, at the last moment, to swoop away from that thunderous footstep as it crashes down. Rita's shield, flying behind her, shields her machine from the shockwave which rumbles out, stops her from careening out into an uncontrollable tailspin.
"You think... you can crush me so easily?!" She yells, in defiance, to the giant now walking away from her. Hearing Leina's transmission, she opens her jets, and flies to the side of the Macross -- having witnessed some of the ZZ's power, she has no desire to get in the way of Leina's retribution, now.
Rita goes after her.
"... good," Verdiska affirms, and doesn't explain what she's approving of.
"As for YOU --" she doesn't have to turn, far, to face the Macross. It is so vast -- so huge -- SO, without decoration. "-- I'm not done, yet! Again...!"
Again, she loads her railgun; again, she fires.
She's having to push the Masquerion's engines very hard, but... she's an expert, after all.
KTS: Yuliana Kafim has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: Yuliana Kafim has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: Yuliana Kafim has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: Yuliana Kafim targets Asciel Colette with Burst Railgun Hi-Penetrator! KTS: Yuliana Kafim has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Asciel Colette partially guards Yuliana Kafim's Burst Railgun Hi-Penetrator, taking 5130 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 11949
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
Brando lays out his motivations for all this. For leading a high ranking officer to essentially try and overthrow the Britannian government. For taking so many lives in the process. And threatening an entire city with a monster of a Macross. All for the financial benefit of his company? For money?
Can Alto really argue with him though? After all he is a mercenary pilot with a PMC himself.
Yes. Yes he damn well can!
<"That's absurd! What is WRONG with you? What kind of twisted approach to life is that!?">
Alto may be a mercenary, but he's not doing it for the money. Or out of a desire to kill. Even gaining the strength to protect people is a bonus on top of the main reason...
<"You claim to care about the aerial artistry.">
The VF-17 fires its gunpod straight towards the approaching VF-25F. The aim is on point, looking to go right through the fighter's canopy.
<"But your real driving force is just greed.">
Alto jams his flight stick down and pushes it forward, the movement triggering a change in his machine. It separates into multiple pieces, held together by electromagnetic forces. They rearrange themselves and in less than a second, the charging Messiah has transformed into Battroid mode.
<"That's why you'll lose. Because you're not up here for the right reason.">
Now in humanoid form, the Messiah brings the shield on its left arm up into the path of the stream of bullets. They begin to rattle against, denting and chipping away at it. Several shots break through along the edges as the shield is worn down, impacting the Messiah's torso proper. But not enough for a lethal shot.
<"Your desires are twisted. You've lost sight of the real purpose humanity built itself artificial wings...">
The Messiah's right hand reaches for the now battered shield, drawing forth one of the combat knives loaded within. Drawing the weapon, it lowers the weapon near its waist, focusing its pinpoint barrier to the tip. A light spreads out, forming a pointed barrier of light around the weapon.
<"To fly!">
The Messiah lunges that barrier tipped blade towards the VF-17, Alto betting that the barrier will let him get through whatever it is that Brando is using to protect himself.
KTS: Alto Saotome has activated the Dash Spirit Command and has gained proficiency bonus. KTS: Alto Saotome has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Alto Saotome has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Alto Saotome has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Alto Saotome has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Alto Saotome targets Asciel Colette with AK/VF-M9 Assault Knife Pinpoint Lunge! KTS: Alto Saotome has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Asciel Colette fails to react to Alto Saotome's AK/VF-M9 Assault Knife Pinpoint Lunge, taking 4560 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 7389 KTS: Alto Saotome has engaged Asciel Colette! KTS: Suberoa Zinnerman has activated the Resupply Spirit Command targeting Sophia Mayhew Castellan KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan has activated the Trick Spirit Command.
<Pose Tracker> Sophia Mayhew Castellan has posed.
Sophia watches it all, the final flailings of this battle. "The shoulder cannons," she notes, and the helm replies, "See 'em, captain," and is already responding. Ah, she does love staff that know the job. She doesn't get a reply from the Colonel regarding her work, so she assumes he's panicking. She crosses her legs, arms folded in her lap. "Flag team, disperse anything that comes in," she announces, and what little of that cannonade comes anywhere near the Hyperion is dispersed by a wave of whirling Defense Rods.
And then she gives orders. "Helios, you're with Hyperion. Helm, get us on angle for the main guns."
As acknowledgments ring out, the sky goes black. A recklessly powerful weapon fires out to sea, and SOphia follows its path. "...Toy Box," she says. "Why? That's...the absolute minimum damage you could possibly do with that weapon. He could've turned the palace and half the countryside between here and Area 3 to scattering vapor! What!?"
<<Not everyone would obliterate the middle of Pendragon to see one person die, My King,>> Desmond notes, patiently.
Sophia scoffs, but decides arguing the point looks bad in the circumstances. "If he wanted to preserve the place, I doubt he'd have turned the thing on in the first place," she mutters.
The scan officer notes, "Not sure he did, ma'am. That was a real quick charge on that blast. Chief thinks they were redirecting power away from the Cannon until practically right before that blast."
Sophia whips and looks up at the Macross 13 again, glowering. But she doesn't...see who is holding the reigns, here. She can't see a mutineer hovering besides Garland. Not that she can see much of anything in the brewing chaos. "Hell. Fine. Forward guns, fire!"
The Hyperion's forward guns down-angle to unload yet more firepower into the Macross' belly. But while that's going on, Sophia turns on her heels. "This is over. Laurent, I'm sending you a marker, I want you to prepare formation C. I'm coming directly. Amata! Finish this!"
She's at the elevator already before her green-haired XO can scramble to turn around. "Pardon!?!?"
The door shuts rather than answer.
KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan targets Asciel Colette with Heavy Rail Cannon Fusillade! KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Asciel Colette blocks Sophia Mayhew Castellan's Heavy Rail Cannon Fusillade, taking 3060 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 4329
<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
It's not like Lucine would realize she was being manipulated, even if she wasn't riding high on anger. Remaining unattached has its advantages; passion is about moving forward, after all, not allowing a person to lie still and think on the moment.
The bright light shines from Rita, but Lucine cannot discern exactly what the Phenex's plan is. Or, for that matter, what Rita is actively doing to the Colonel trapped inside.
Leina's plans are aired, but as missiles fire from the Macross's legs, the Dianthus's pilot instead is forced to put all her focus right into keeping alive. The way the Dianthus moves seems as effortless as a swan gliding across the surface of a lake, but inside the cockpit lie the equivalent of what lies below the surface: sweat, jerked motions, the beginning thrum of a headache as Lucine using her abilities and direct experience to the fullest degree.
There is little room for error; one shot can potentially take her out.
But at least here, she didn't feel alone, or that an entire random assortment of cold metal was focused squarely on her for existing on the grounds of Mars.
Leina's Gundam drops into the waters below so suddenly that it catches Lucine's attention; a missile nearly lands.
The bright light that is Rita comes to Leina's aid, and the Dianthus swoops down, silver arbalest at the ready. She can't speak to Rita directly, but her actions, Lucine hopes, will make it clear what she means to do: cover them both.
Hovering above the Phenex like a strange butterfly, the Dianthus turns her weapon upwards.
And into the skies above, Dianthus fires a volley of shots, a swan's last dance scattered to the winds of violence.
KTS: Lucine Azul targets Asciel Colette with Lacrimosa! KTS: Lucine Azul has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Asciel Colette blocks Lucine Azul's Lacrimosa, taking 5500 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Lucine Azul's In Her Blood activates, causing Control Bonus! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at -1171 KTS: Asciel Colette has been defeated! KTS: You're out of the fight. Consider using +eject to leave the battlefield.
<Pose Tracker> Teletha Testarossa has posed.
A deep breath. Did it work? Did it? She could feel her heart pounding. A declaration of the Toy Box. A broadcast deliberately meant to provoke and goad. Did it work? Of course it would. Of course it would. Of course it would. Follow along. You're a Colonel, right? You staked yourself on this. You staked yourself, you borne yourself out, and everything is crumbling, so...!
Her breath catches. She can see it in her mind's eye, as clear as DANA's own broadcast. His verbal retaliation. It's why it's become so weak, yes, that's Garland. Provoked. Belittled. Goaded. Purging the dan- Wait.
...Mithril sent speeches of him with the dossier. One man doesn't use the same cadence and vigor twice. Especially with an audicence. Not when he's pushing for something on a public stage.
"It's a fake." A whisper to herself.
"Incoming!" Fake- NO SOMETHING'S COMING
It broadcasts as clear as day. The intent. The cannon. All the crew can see it.
"DIVE! NOW!"
"EMERGENCY DIVE!"
The crew was diving on the first syllable.
It starts plunging. Deep into the safe abyss of the blue. The Toy Box pushing down, down, down, eyes glued to DANA's screen. The Captain remains steady. i don't want to die. Water should be a good cushion to the beam. Any massive cannon can only dent itself so far into the ocean. i don't want to die. Believe in your ship, you built it! i don't want to die. The subconscious grip of the arm of the metal throne she sat on. It was coming.
Mardukas's hand on her shoulder. Brace.
"BRACE FOR IMPACT!"
It fired.
It roared.
The virginal night broke with the day's warmth.
She could hear the oceanic shield sizzle into nothing more than moisture for a split second.
PAIN HEAT PAIN HEAT PAIN HEAT BODIES FORCED DOWN DOWN DOWN DOWN DOWN PAIN NERVES PROTECTION PRAYED PAIN BEGGED RELEASE PAIN LIGHT CRASHING PUSHING THE DAY BREAKS THE VIRGIN NIGHT WITH PAIN AND FORCE OF A CANNON PAIN HEAT PAIN HEAT
And it was over. As quick as the light of day ceased, water rushed over the cooking submarine, steam audibly hissing. And inside, a crew barely moving. They're alive.
"...I'm alive." ...This was the ship she built. It took a second for her to release her white-knuckled grip. Looking at her palm. Opening, closing. Everyone will have to visit the doctor later. Clearance. Check concussions. Check everything. Check check check. But. Alive. The Tuatha de Dannan...withstood an attack from a New Macross-class battleship.
"I'm also alive." No, it wasn't a fluke.
"I'm also alive." "So am I." "Reporting substantial damage among all parts of the ship. All operations nominal." "Reporting consciousness." Crew assertation. Her ship. Her ship did it.
...Aha. Ahaha. ...Ahahahaha! What do you think about your vaunted ship now, COLONEL GARLAND!?
A button press. Comms open.
The sound of a raspy, audible breath echoing ut on all frequencies.
<"That's too bad, Colonel Garland. I, and many under your command, I assume, hoped you would stay your course instead of attempting to set an example."> Her ship, her ship! Her life! Look at it! A New Macross-class battleship, hailed for it's prowess, feared for its might, a symbol of the coup that Garland had tried!
AND IT HAS FAILED TO SINK A SUBMARINE
<"I can't offer you an olive branch anymore, Colonel Garland. Consider this an act of mercy. FIRE ALL MISSILES!">
"Fire all missiles!"
The hatchets opened in unison. A full rack of missiles, heated from the wave of daybreak, shining warmly in the moonlight over the sea. One after the other after the other after the other after the other after the other after the other after the other after the other after the other after the other after the other after the other after the other, 14 missiles packed with cluster bombs rocketed to the skies, breaking the night sky with the glow of weaponized retaliation. Curving, twisting to point at those two weak points. Seven to the Left Shoulder. Seven to the right knee.
And when those missiles crashed in, they exploded with the wrath of a teenage girl forced to endure an atrocity.
KTS: Teletha Testarossa targets Asciel Colette with All Out Attack! KTS: Teletha Testarossa has completed their actions for the round. Teletha Testarossa lays flat
KTS: Asciel Colette fails to evade Teletha Testarossa's All Out Attack, taking 5100 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at -6271 KTS: Asciel Colette has been defeated! KTS: You're out of the fight. Consider using +eject to leave the battlefield.
<Pose Tracker> Ai Martel has posed.
So deep in the Macross, Ai did feel she--and her love--were untouchable. But through the arteries of a ship flows a river of humanity.
So bothersome with its will and disobedience. Selfish, sometimes--or merely lacking the understanding of greater purpose. Like the three engineers who stand before Ai just now.
Clad in a far more modern dress than she's usually found in, Ai may seem to them distressingly feminine.
"No," she tells them simply, evenly. "No, I don't think you'll be doing that. You'd be better served finding an escape route... but somehow, I doubt I can convince you quickly enough to matter."
A wrench is procured from the desk behind her, and in short order, three engineers lay quite unconscious on the ground. Likely concussed, but most certainly out cold for the next several hours.
She's reasonably sure, anyway. She doesn't bother to check their pulses. They're not her problem, after all.
With that, she replies simply:
~> none shall touch you, my dear.
And with a cleared screen, wrench slung over her shoulder, Ai Martel strides toward the control room in defense of the consciousness housed within.
None shall pass.
<Pose Tracker> Asciel Colette has posed.
All Manfred Brando can think about is claiming one more glorious notch on his belt, the moon at his back as he fells a rising star before settling in his new, world-spanning position. "Complain about 'greed' all you want - it is envy for the capability we have to change the world. Your power is to express yourself just a little bit - even that touched hearts, as ephemeral as theater is. But Alto Saotome - the ones who will actually seize the future are those like me, who can see past the chains that bind everyone else. Who can break them. Who can glow!!
His eyes alight - the VF-17 draws its own knife, gallantly surging into the fray, eager to lock swords. Eager to prove himself in one more duel.
...Alto's blade shears clear through Brando's cockpit. What's left inside is unspeakably grisly - red and black smeared across Alto's knife for a brief moment - before it's all consumed by fire. The silver-hued bird at the seeming 'center' of this conspiracy, all for the sake of personal fortune - begins plummeting to the earth.
a flame denying, denying, as fierce as it can. not for a moment will it go easily - it does not even realize it is over. thrashing into what's beyond in defiance.
The golden visage of the Phenex cuts through the blockage in communications Garland is trapped by. He's trying - trying to keep it together. But there's a coldness in his spine. He's locked in here like a rat in a cage - out of allies, full of enemies, utterly had to the core. There's something slightly desperate in his spirit. But---
That's not enough to save him from judgment, is it?
>Oooh ooh wait, nonono let's have them hear this!~ Go out with style for them, please!~
The mote of blue light that tears into Garland's body ruptures something - not just physical, but spiritual at the same time. A spurt of blood lands - loudly, audibly - as the lockdown suddenly clears, and the full moon behind the Phenex begins to glow. His arm reaches out. Gasping. Struggling. His choking breaths are, of course, clearly genuine - it's not like he's been recorded dying before.
""...damn it. KGHGHH...damn IIIT...what...WHAT THE HELL ELSE WAS ANYONE SUPPOSED TO DO DURING THAT WAR? Cry over everyone who's lost!?"" It's as much a question to himself. To when, exactly, he became so hardened against the idea that death was a meaningful consequence for one's actions. ""This...enemies in every corner...devils devouring devils. GHGHGK...damn it...I had...family at Sydney. How the hell...are we supposed to live in a world...where that can happen a dozen times over...how many is it acceptable to push aside...to make...sure it won't...""
>...ugh. ...that's the last thing I wanted to hear. Especially right now. Especially when I need to keep it going. Every minute is vital. ...damn it. The play isn't over, the stagehands can't go getting broken up by a tragedy.
"...hey. ...looks like we're really not that different. ...I'll solve it. I'll stop that from happening, Wilbur. I'll accept doing the things that you feel so much pain for. ...one day I'll make sure they all know that all this was my responsibility. ...sleep tightly."
...it's just about the last voice Garland wants to hear when his life's giving out on him - but for what it's worth, that at least stops him feeling like he has to fight.
the ember wicks away - its fire dull and fading. a fight given up. stubborn, for a moment, about going. but eventually, it finally accepts.
It's something Sophia can certainly see - the web...is all cleared, isn't it? The <connections> have passed. The nodes that bind them together have flickered away.
...but errant threads seem to want to point to -something-. Something present - yet something that doesn't clearly register among the connection of people. Is it just the shape of lingering regrets...or...?
Ai gets just a few more messages in the wake of rapidly clearing - rapidly consolidating chaos. ~~)...well, what's done is done. ...Ai, you're a blessing, truly. Just in time for everything to go just a liiiittle bit to a planned hell. Please do come in the server room really quick, there's proper harnesses for you. And. I want you to be close. To help me feel a little bit better-!
The coordination to target the Macross 13's specific weak points takes some coordination - they're not exactly weak and squishy areas.
...but busting down the kneecap area does seem to yield a curious result. Abruptly, a long, loud, shrill alarm screeches out - and a great explosion rockets through the hull. But more than that-
<<CORE REACTORS COMPROMISED. RECONDITIONING TO BACKUP GENERATORS>> blares over the tattered surroundings of Pendragon - and the Macross seems to draw a 'light' from that area.
When it tries to pull from there...another series of explosions races up the legs, then up through the torso.
...Something begins to glow in the Macross's chest. And that same rugged alarm calls out: <<MAIN NUCLEAR ENGINES MELTING DOWN. ALL PERSONNEL EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY. COOLANT SYSTEMS 2 THROUGH 12 FAILED. ADVISORY TO CLEAR WORKERS AND CIVILIANS FROM NEARBY LOCALES.>>
...that's probably a rather severe cause for alarm.
>heheheh. give it just a bit. make them sweat for it. if i had the time, i want to see what they'd try and do about this. buuuuuut. buuuuuuut!~
The boosters in the Macross's feet start to alight. <<INITIATE EARTHSIDE EMERGENCY PROTOCOL - 'MACROSS 13' WILL REROUTE POWER TO EXITING EARTH ORBIT. SENDING TRAJECTORY TO SATELLITES WITHIN 20,000 KM OF EXPECTED DETONATION. FEDERATION AUTHORITIES NOTIFIED OF POSSIBLE ATMOSPHERIC FALLOUT. ALL PERSONNEL EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY.>>
The great purple titan slowly lifts off, arms hanging down by its sides, shaking and rickety as it ascends. And ascends. And ascends. Soon, it is a vivid red meteor in reverse, the air crackling on its underside - such a massive form it is that it's visible for so many minutes...even after it's past the atmosphere. Past the elevation of the ribbon that is the Orbital Ring.
And, as though a firework celebrating the end of abject chaos which has seized Pendragon, which has come perilously close to igniting the grandest powder keg on Earth - the symbol of hope and destiny, co-opted into a weapon that would leave despair in its wake-
At last, it erupts in a vivid, fiery, ringed explosion, like a far-away supernova bringing light to the night sky...
<Pose Tracker> Sophia Mayhew Castellan has posed.
"Princess," a one-way comm says to Artemisia's cockpit. "I'm afraid the hunt isn't ended."
While the Macross's self-destruct mechanism sends it careening into the atmosphere to prevent a surfaceborn nuclear cataclysm...someone is moving.
BGM: REINFORCEMENT NOISES https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-T9wfLNMDo
�
They all but melt out of nowhere; nobody was watching anything but the fleeing Macross' frightful explosion, so the details hardly matter.
Verdiska's Masquelion finds itself all at once, surrounded. The Helios, surging in with all speed, railcannons pointed squarely. Two Flags in the standard grays. And one in Sophia Mayhew Castellan's signature deep blue, standing on the Helios' deck.
She tags the Masquelion on every frequency available.
"This is Captain Castellan of G-Hound notifying all units of a maximum priority capture target."
The Flags move to grasp the Masquelion by its arms, physically restraining it. Sophia's Flag stands on the abbreviated fighting deck of the rapid escor.
Her Linear Cannon is plugged directly into the Helios. No recharge delay today.
Perhaps Yuliana feels it, by now. The hateful presence of something connected to the world she can never see.
"The voice modulator was cute, Captain, but I'm afraid you've been playing my game all day."
The Geass burns in Sophia's eye, and all she sees in the heart of that machine is a silent void, ravenously consuming every connection it possibly can.
"I can see you in there," she says. "Do not think you can ever hide yourself from me."
"Now." She levels the Linear Cannon. "Captain Yuliana Dispersal, I am placing you under arrest for association with Celestial Being, and in relation to the unidentified voidal events at JOSH-A this month."
<Pose Tracker> Michiru Tenjou has posed.
One of the other warriors at the field hails the Galaxia... the outbound radio cuts in, finally. So she can answer again. "<This is Galaxia. Holding up... just fine. Just had a momentary power failure. Happens sometimes. Heavy damage, but she's still capable. More than... this is when she fights her hardest. I appreciate the cover.>" Not that she needs to fight anymore right now. In the time between using a move alone that really calls for multiple unified hearts, and now, it seems everyone has been able to grasp their chance at victory. As it should be.
She needs to get home. Knows she needs to have herself checked out by the Socrates' medical staff. But every injury is worth it, if she can make sure there's one less monster on their doorsteps. One less thing that can endanger the treasure and heart of their crew. "<Perhaps an opportunity will arise to fight alongside one another again, in the future.>" She can't shake the feeling, that not every Earthling is so monstrous. Maybe not everyone here... Some of them may yet be. But some surely share the light of a just heart. The heart of a hero.
But for now... she's going to slip the bulky machine away to the Garencieres, to see about hitching a ride home. Hopefully she can do that during the chaos of an arrest in progress. Which is incredibly Not Her Problem.
<Pose Tracker> Suberoa Zinnerman has posed.
Verdiska's transmission reaches the Garencieres and Zinnerman and Marida exchange a look, frowning. The redhead nods once, and Zinnerman clicks his com button twice - acknowledged.
They return their attention to the battle. "I'm seeing secondary explosions," Alec reports. "Wait - more detonations from within the superstructure!"
"Flaste, Garencieres Team, full retreat," Zinnerman orders. "Clear the blast zone!"
The Macross rockets into the sky as the Garencieres retreats from the battle zone, although...
Captain Castellan's announcement echoes over Pendragon as the purple Masquerion is surrounded. Zinnerman exhales, the final words of Colonel Garland dwelling in his mind.
"Garencieres Team boarding now, Captain," Flaste reports.
"Flaste, pick up that ZAFT unit and get us out of here. We don't want to become G-Hound's next prey."
"Aye, sir." Flaste pings the Galaxia for pickup, the Garencieres Team's Geara Zulus helping get the larger machine into the hangar as the freighter turns and burns for space while its captain considers the text-only message his chair display received during the battle. Though the sender uses unknown encryption, the details in the message give him a fair idea who sent it.
"We'll have to get in touch with miss Ashta properly, I think," he says aloud. Marida glances to him, and nods quietly.
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
It's almost comforting, being underwater, peaceful. It's part of what drew her to the water in the first place once she came to Earth.
Despite herself, Leina closes her eyes, and lets herself feel the fallout from the Tuatha De Danaan surviving - feels Tessa's shift from desperation to what feels almost like arrogance. She lets herself feel Lucine's determination to protect her... that mutual anger.
More distantly perhaps is the faintest thread, barely a wisp, an indirect connection between the two stitched together by a dead girl - and through her boyfriend, the two have never met face to face... but right now... she feels it.
Marida...
Not just feels her, but reaches out along it towards her.
And she feels the Phenex, diving. Even without instruments, or her eyes open, feeling that golden glow, alit with blue flame.
The Double Zeta's little sibling lurches, and it feels like warmth, a warm hug, as she's drawn upwards in ascent towards the surface. Her Reactor finally cycles enough power. The Mobile Suit flickers back into life. And yet, she doesn't activate the thrusters.
Instead, she shifts the arm, such that it moves upwards, that outstretched hand...
... and when she breaks the surface, the Double Zeta takes ahold of Rita's. Her thrusters then come on, and she hovers over the bay alongside, alarmed for a time over the message, but quickly the emergency protocol goes off, and there's a feeling of holding her breath as it takes off...
... and they watch, the firework like nature of the explosion...
Whatever sadness she feels is only for the symbol of so many Spacenoid ideals being used this way, going up in smoke because someone coopted it.
It's better this way.
And then once that far away Supernova like blast goes off...
Something happens over all the frequencies, as G-Hound forces and Britannian forces surround the Masquelion.
While she'd already suspected, her eyes go wide as she's identified as 'Yuliana Dispersal' (She resists the urge to correct it to Kafim.)
Her emotions roil, why did Yuliana leave Elisa's company? Her care? She feels nauseous. If she'd just been given two more weeks...
... there's anger, fear, despair - then...
... that hand touches the Phenex's shoulder.
Rita. I know how you feel but it's too much, even for you.
She hates it. She hates this. She can't even tell herself it's unjustified - it's selfishness to want to save Yuliana given what she's trying to do.
It's their selfishness.
In the end, the Double Zeta turns and flies away towards the sea, after the Tuatha De Danaan. Her mind whirling as she tries to figure out how to save her... from something like this.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"That's him," Verdiska confirms, after the Colonel's voice chokes out to nothing. "I'm certain that was a live feed of Garland."
Of the Colonel's last moments.
But the reactor melts down, and -- "shit," Verdiska breathes, as she pushes her engines to fly away. Full power. She's been going at full power -- ABOVE and BEYOND full power, demanding more than the Masquerion's engines can give -- this whole time.
She's evaded everything Macross 13 can throw at her, but not without cost.
Never without cost.
She made a promise --
Yuliana hears that the threat is past, as the Macross-class lifts into the sky, but she pulls up for another reason entirely.
That reason, dropping dead centre into her path, is the Helios.
"What...?" Verdiska's modulated voice can't quite hide its shock, made small and disbelieving. "NO -- nooo--!!"
She jets upwards again -- only for the engines of the Masquerion to gutter and whine, after so much pressure and abuse. (Not unlike so many others, in her life.) The Flags swoop in to grasp the machine's arms, and wrench them away from her weapons, even as she attempts to reach for her Assault Blade.
The radio picks up her hyperventilation, so laboured and forceful are the gasps through her throat.
"Y-- your game--?? What are you..."
All a sudden her eyes widen, and one too many teeth grit, lips peeled back in a horrified grimace. "You're--!!" What she felt back then, it was, it WAS --
"No," Yuliana says, again, as she sinks, in her chair. "No..."
Dispersal, she says. The name the REA gave her -- the weapon they designed.
Grief floods her eyes, and her voice is choked, helpless, as she pointlessly insists:
"Kafim... it's Kafim..."
She doesn't fight any further.
<Pose Tracker> Regina Everhart has posed.
"Of course." Regina replies with a nod. Verdiska is with her. An ally, for now, despite everything.
She strikes at the Macross, fists hammering against its hull. But a Macross is a difficult thing to damage. She has always been fairly rough on her machines, doing as much damage to her Alto as she does to the Macross.
And then... it is done. As the appears to be consumed in fire, Regina's Alto falls away. Damaged, she manages to navigate it into as much of a graceful crash-landing as possible.
"Systems are-" Regina starts... but this isn't over, as Verdiska's - Yuliana's - unit is surrounded.
"No!" Regina shouts suddenly, slamming her fists against the console. She would fight, to defend her ally - but her own fighting spirit isn't enough to move a broken machine.
"I-I... I am sorry. My machine, it can no longer fight..." Regina says. In a rare instance, she sounds distressed. She doesn't usually let much of anything into her voice.
Verdiska is here because of her transmission. And because she was here...
<Pose Tracker> Rita Bernal has posed.
So did I.
The last thought spared for Colonel, as his Macross takes him to die among the stars. She knows the ship will leave them safely. Leina is far more important. It takes focus, even for the Phenex, to lift a mobile suit out of the water like this, but she can do it, thanks to Lucine. A butteryfly fluttering above them both, protecting them. Warm, grateful feelings float up to her protector.
Leina surfaces, taking her hand, and the Phenex holds her tight.
Thank goodness you're okay. You scared me!
For a moment, everything is okay. Leina is safe, Lucine is safe. The city has been saved. But, all too soon, the Phenex feels new souls enter her vision, and then blink out of it. That could only have one cause--
She looks back to Yuliana, distant now, surrounded.
Yuliana! No -- this isn't supposed to happen! It's not supposed to go this way!
The Phenex's beloved's voice flutters in panic, broadcast to Leina and Lucine. Already, azure fire engulfs the machine, as she prepares to race after them. Her wings return to her, orbiting around the Gundam in a promise of violence.
...Leina holds her back.
It's not too much. It's not. The Phenex is capable of this and much, much more. Yuliana's panicked voice comes through the Phenex's radio, just like the others. Anger, helpless rage, echoes from the Gundam. It begins to tremble, again, until--
A wave of golden energy radiates out, disturbing the water. With a shriek of grief and fury, the Phenex raises the water around her, seeking an outlet for her pain. She wants to soar back to the stars. She can't, not yet, not yet -- she can't leave, she can't go after Yuliana--
Leina soars after the submarine. The Phenex forces the water she's lifted back into its home, causing a great water spout. When it clears, there's no sign of the golden Gundam. Only an echoing psychic expression of anguish.
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
A pain shoots through Alto's heart.
A pang of guilt at the sight of his blade plunged into the VF-17's chest. It surely went into the cockpit. The silver machine going still and silent confirmation of that.
Alto takes in and then lets out a deep breath. As he thought earlier, he doesn't go into this seeking to kill people. And in general, it doesn't happen very often. Many of his sorties have been against either pirates, who generally won't risk their lives to this extent, or Vajra. Killing monsters like them is one thing. But people...
... But then that's a potential fate that all pilots agree to when they enter the cockpit. Alto is no different.
Alto has his machine release its grip on the knife, letting it fall with the machine out of the sky that it had failed to truly fly in.
The Messiah hoves motionless in the air, thrust blasting out of its feet to keep it up, for some time after its victory. After the Macross had enacted emergency protocols and subsequently exploded in the skies. In the cockpit, Alto breathes a sigh of relief, the situation is over...
... Only for another to quickly begin. Alto had been aware of the transmissions playing on his periphary of awareness, feeling a little tired now. But all that vanishes as the name 'Yuliana Dispersal' wedges into his brain.
The Messiah's head turns to look as Alto watches one of those units that had fought today being surrounded. He'd only met Yuliana once and, though perhaps seemingly a little odd and troubles, she didn't seem that bad...
... But then he later learned more.
Another second menance dealt with today, it seems. Two in one day... Good.
KTS: Leina Ashta's MSZ-013 MP Type ZZ Gundam has left Leina Ashta leaves for Pacific Ocean [---].
<Pose Tracker> Romilly Draid has posed.
"<Here's hoping,>" Romilly responds. The wanzer doesn't linger to watch the Macross go up--intentions don't spend, where world powers are concerned, and by now Romilly (or 'Morpho') is probably on the very same G-Hound watchlist as Yuliana.
The back of the unit is lit by the spectacular explosion as it runs, feathering thrusters to confer extra bits of speed. Garland's last words, the undiluted feeling behind them, draw a sigh from the pilot. Part of being awakened to the emotions of others means feeling when complex, tied-up knots of anguish and determination explode outwards like that. It also means he feels waves of dread from...
Who is that...?
A moment of silence inside the cockpit, where not even the muted thuds of the Kingmaker's feet against pavement can reach the pilot. When the realization strikes him, his heart leaps into his throat, his breath catches, and he violently thrashes the control sticks to turn into a 180.
MILLY . . . CLEAN SHOT UNAVAILABLE.
"Then get a goddamn Disciple lock!"
INSUFFICIENT DATA TO ESTABLISH LOCK.
"God DAMN it! Run level 3 analysis then!"
LEVEL 3 ANALYSIS UNAVAILABLE. INSUFFICIENT COMBAT DATA FOR ENEMY UNIT. BEGINNING AUDIO PLAYBACK.
"Junior--" The wanzer's finger strains at the trigger but won't fire, pilot and machine in conflict, momentarily frozen in the street. Romilly is forced to hear his own voice--the assertion that he wouldn't risk Junior's life just to avoid a loss.
DID YOU MEAN IT?
"Of course I did..."
IS MY LIFE MORE VALUABLE THAN HERS?
Romilly chokes, tears welling up in his eyes. "No! No, I--"
THEN PLEASE HOLD FIRE AND RETURN TO BASE.
The moment of struggle ends, and the wanzer turns its rifle away from the close engagement of enemy and ally. The Kingmaker weaves through buildings until it escapes the city limits. "Junior, I hope like hell you know what you're doing. For this outfit's sake and for hers."
KTS: Regina Everhart's eEXM-17FT Alto Flight Type has left Regina Everhart teleports out.
<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
"Ghh!" Lucine had only been able to realize Yuliana was even here when forces had surrounded the woman a moment ago. There was just too much going on at once to sort Yuliana out without possibly overexerting herself.
Then, Rita's voice and rage flood Lucine's senses, as close emotionally and physically as she is to the Phenex currently. The feelings are supplemented by those of fellow pilots, locking her in place.
It's a good thing that Leina was right there. < "..... Leina's right." > Lucine tries to transmit, to the Phenex. < ".... If you are defeated here... she'll be gone for good." >
What is Rita's connection with Yuliana?
Trying to gain a sense of where her crewmember is, Lucine manages to pinpoint his craft, its blade in the other's cockpit. "...." The water the Phenex siphoned out is forced back into place, obscuring Lucine's line of sight briefly--
.... The Phenex is gone. Leina is gone. And beyond, the Messiah hovers alone.
< "...... Al... Skull-4." > Lucine's voice is almost a little too insistent, a little too convenient. < "....." > She's not sure with Rita's anguish still overwhelming her if perhaps Alto felt something as well. Would she have felt it, like she's felt those of many of the Nadesico's crew in extreme situations?
< ".... After all that, your unit's fuel may be low, Alto. ... You should... go and refuel, before heading back." > It's an attempt at softening any scrape against Alto's pride, while suggesting to him something he may be against. < "... I'll go on ahead." >
<Pose Tracker> BP-110 Deckerd has posed.
Having hidden himself away in safety the entire time, Yuta finally comes back out, emerging from an alleyway. It's stupid. This is stupid. He doesn't know who Yuliana is. Maybe she is actually a bad person. But that's neither here or there. The fact that the city is now in disarray and Sophia seems to be focused on putting someone behind bars is enough to make his face go red as he begins shouting at the woman's robot, stomping his foot and shaking his fist with each syllable he screams to help emphasize his point.
"The city is falling apart and you want to spend time throwing someone who helped in jail!? The heck's the matter with you!? You some kind of dumb bully or what!?"
As Yuta vents, J-Decker finds a place to land, immediately collapsing on to the ground as his legs give out. It's not as serious as it looks, however, especially when his chest disengages from its body, unfolding back into a police car and then into a bipedal robot as he just silently thinks to himself. It all feels off. Scripted, perhaps? He's not too big on conspiracies, but it's a bit suspicious how this turned out for G-Hound in the end. Or maybe it's nothing deeper than a bunch of coincidences, and he's just sharing Yuta's frustrations with the sudden arrest. That's probably it.
"Yuta, we should go."
"But-"
"We have paperwork we need to fill out at base. I'm sorry, Captain Castellan, we'll have to leave the arrest completely in your hands. I'm sure you're fine with that."
Yuta doesn't calm down, but he does stop yelling, audibly huffing as Deckerd walks over to pick him up and place him on his shoulder as they begin leaving the scene, but not before grabbing the trim of his metal hat and giving Romilly's robot a friendly salute.