2023-02-19: Echoes of Trevelyan
- Log: Echoes of Trevelyan
- Cast: Liam 7-020, Cornelia li Britannia (NPCing Second Lieutenant Elania Brigantia), Mobile Weapon Team, C.C., Gridman, Koji Kabuto, Milly Ashford, Kaworu Nagisa, Alouette Pommier, Kallen Kozuki, Lelouch Lamperouge, Sousuke Sagara
- Where: Tsutsujidai
- OOC - IC Date: UC 0097-01-20
- Summary: After discovering their resources stolen, Britannian forces stranded in Tsutsujidai storm the city to take control. Things swiftly escalate, until a certain intervention... (OOC: This scene is backdated and takes place during A Walled Garden!
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
It's another day in Tsutsujidai. Rain pours from the circuit-studded sky, scouring the streets and trickling through the gutters into the colony wastewater tanks. Inside Tsutsujidai High, civilians line up for their ration allotments. Pickings are starting to grow slim.
But there is hope on the horizon. There are outsiders trapped in this pocket universe--pilots and programmers, engineers and scientists, philanthropists and mechanics and student leaders--who've worked hand in hand with the people who lived here, who're awakening here. Inside one of GGG's flagships, a team of eccentric experts is putting the finishing touches on their latest gambit, a device to bridge worlds and reaffix Tsutsujidai to the Material Layer.
Right now, Liam has his hands full with the garden.
The cyborg has been preparing a fresh batch of soil mix. A paper dust mask keeps airborne particulates at bay as he scoops, weighs, and mixes various fertilizers and trace nutrients into garden-store bags of potting soil. Earlier, he double-checked the hygrometers by hand. There's dirt under his nails, and on his clothes. He is not at peace, but he is at least comfortable with where he is, and what he's doing.
And then the sound of approaching wheels trickles through the murk. A delivery truck? No, too many. Sousuke does delivery runs, but he doesn't have a fleet, and the hum is more like--
Landspinners. Liam's heart skips a beat; he drops the scoop, and it hits the gound with a TING and a cloud of powdered lime. He freezes in place, watching as the unthinkable plays out. A neatly-regimented squad of Knightmare Frames, rolling in towards the High School from the encampment.
<Pose Tracker> Cornelia li Britannia has posed.
Tsutsujidai
Britannian Camp
Before
"This is unacceptable!"
Second Lieutenant Eliana Brigantia shouldn't be here.
This is the mantra that is racing through her head as she sends the chair she had been sitting on just minutes before tumbling away with a frustrated kick. She watches, bright green eyes narrowed in dissatisfaction as the seat goes bouncing and screeching across the ground until it stops at the foot of one of several Britannian Knightmare Frames undergoing roughshod maintenance at this ramshackle excuse for a base.
"They -took- from us. And we're supposed to just sit on our hands?!"
Her companion, a slim young man with sandy brown hair and hazel eyes, approaches with a single, uncertain step. He lifts up a hand as if in a calming gesture; he instantly thinks better of it and tucks it away behind his back.
"I know," he offers, slowly. "... But... the commander made it very clear what our standing orders are. Until we can figure out who the responsible party is and locate them, we need to make sure our territory is secure..."
"The 'commander,'" Lieutenant Brigantia begins, "is just spineless. What do you expect? No one in their right mind would listen to the orders of a weak-blooded honorary. He has no right to command me when he doesn't even have a single drop of Britannian blood in his veins...!"
"... Yes, ma'am, but... remember how we got here. Princess Cornelia herself assigned us to this command--"
"Exiled us--"
"--and our position is extremely delicate right now. Insubordination against the commander is paramount to insubordination against the Princess..."
Eliana Brigantia remains silent for a long time after the damning reality of her disgraced circumstances sink in. Pale green hair spilling over her features, her gloved hands curl into her palms for a few trembling seconds... and then relax. A smile touches her lips.
"... Then that just means I need to succeed, right? Alright. I know what we're going to do. Get our people. -Our- people. Have them prep the Knightmare Frames to move out on my order."
"... ma'am?"
"We're going to secure our territory."
Tsutsujidai
City Center
Now
<<"People of Tsutsujidai! You are now under the protection of the Britannian Union of Solar Energy!">>
The pronouncement is blared over the loudspeaker of a single Gloucester -- but it is just the tip of the spear. Swarms of Britannian model KMFs -- Glasgows, Sutherlands, and one or two more Gloucesters dotting their ranks swarm the streets of Tsutsujidai, swiftly establishing a perimeter around the heart of the walled off city. They do not represent the whole of the Britannian forces stranded here - far from it, instead representing the members of the Purist faction assigned (exiled) to ths post - but they do represent a significant enough chunk that they cannot simply be shrugged off.
All of them, essentially circling the wagons of a city that does not belong to them.
<<"As we have been made painfully aware, there are elements in this city acting in bad faith! Therefor, for your own well-being, the Union will now be taking direct command of this city until such a time that this current crisis has been solved!">>
Eliana Brigantia's voice rings out over the speakers of her Gloucester, loud and authoritative and full of the ease of command of someone who has done nothing but expect subservience for the whole of their life. She talks of protection -- but the way the Britannians swarm and begin to identify buildings most likely to contain valuable resources, it is very clear this is for anything but the benefit of the people of Tsutsujidai.
<<"To ensure that no more resources are taken during this time of need, you are all hereby ordered to surrender your ration stockpiles, medical supplies and other resources to Britannian custody to ensure that they are kept safe and distributed in the way that is proper!">>
There is, after all, only one appropriate way.
<<"This is not a request! I repeat...">>
The Britannian way.
KTS: Cornelia li Britannia has deployed in RPI-209 Gloucester. KTS: Koji Kabuto has deployed in MPMZ-17 Ichinana. KTS: Liam 7-020 has deployed in GAT-01D Long Dagger Fortestra. KTS: Alouette Pommier has deployed in Guardienne Aviaire. KTS: Kallen Kozuki has deployed in Type-02 Guren Mk. II. KTS: Sousuke Sagara has deployed in ARX-7 Arbalest. KTS: Lelouch Lamperouge has deployed in IFX-V3D1 Gawain. KTS: C.C. has deployed as a Sub Pilot for Lelouch Lamperouge! <Pose Tracker> Mobile Weapon Team has posed.
"Wow! This place is a mess... It's about time we brought a little order to it!"
"Ugh, why bother? They're just a bunch of rabble. Let them sit in their squalor. I'd much rather be back at the camp."
"Hey now, it's our duty as their superiors to bring civilization to the masses. Right?"
Grunt.
"See? He agrees with me."
"I'm quite certain civilization doesn't need people like this..."
"Silence, all of you. We are here on a mission. Do not let the Lieutenant down."
"Yes, my lord."
"Yes, my lord."
"Yes, my lord."
Amidst the packs of Glasgows and Sutherlands that have arrived alongside the lead Gloucester, four Sutherlands stand out in particular for the crimson red of their shoulders and faceplates. As well as the large lances they hold in their hands.
These four elite Sutherlands split up, taking up separate positions around the city before coming to a halt and jamming their lances into the ground in front of them. They stand menacingly as the Lieutenant delivers her demands are made. After which, the speakers of the four machines as well as those around them all cry out.
<"All hail Britannia!">
KTS: Gridman has joined Cornelia li Britannia's bucket! KTS: Alouette Pommier has joined Mobile Weapon Team's bucket! KTS: Mobile Weapon Team has deployed in RPI-13P Sutherland Purist. KTS: Kallen Kozuki has joined Mobile Weapon Team's bucket! KTS: Cornelia_li_Britannia has deployed as a Boss for 3 opponents. KTS: Sousuke Sagara has joined Mobile Weapon Team's bucket! KTS: Mobile_Weapon_Team has deployed as a Boss for 3 opponents. KTS: Lelouch Lamperouge has joined Cornelia li Britannia's bucket! KTS: Gridman has deployed in Gridman Primal Fighter. Escudo Shard teleports in.
KTS: Gridman has changed loadout.
<Pose Tracker> C.C. has posed.
"You know, in more ways than one, the king's men are a kaiju in their own right here, aren't they?"
Just one of many airy, slightly less than sensical things C.C.'s mused upon, trailing in the wake of Zero as they follow up on a little crumb of lingering connections from Orpheus Zevon - and the family he rebelled against. Though the rain has yet to stop, forcing everyone to speak just that little bit louder, importantly, it hasn't messed up the witch's hair at all. Because she's wearing a shady robe and hood this time around!
"Acting on behalf of a ruler who may as well not 'exist' in the current state of this world in a bottle - driven by an 'order' without reason. Yet at their heart lies a gemstone of truth."
The witch cranes her neck towards her masked companion at that ever limber angle of hers. "Though in this case - when we pluck that gem out, I doubt it'll make the whole thing collapse. Just a little cyst that we have more use of than they do."
...The 'gem' in question is an awfully poetic way to talk about 'an experimental Knightmare Frame' - one clearly designed less for practical combat, and more for...well, it'd be hard to know just looking at its leaked specs. C.C. knows exactly what the 'Druid System' is for, of course - but it's not really the right time to wrap Lelouch up in that.
...well, is it? Tsutsujidai isn't that different from the Thought Elevator, depending on your perspective.
...it's a trivial matter for the black king and his escort to make their way into the encampment, of course. Its defenses are thorny, but haphazard. A few key personnel 'persuaded' out of the path - or, should that prove awkward, C.C.'s more reluctant application of 'extending' herself outward. Surging a glimpse into a 'truth' that should not be into others. Weaponized existential crises! What fun~
...Lo and behold, their prize. The 'Gawain' in a tucked away, innocuous hangar. Glimmering gold and jet black, four lithe little wings crowning its back. C.C.'s hand falls on the midnight iron, eyes closed - the sigil beneath her forehead briefly alighting.
"Well, obviously this is the one, since it's decidedly unlike any Knightmare Frame in the world - but it definitely has what we're after. Hmhmh."
From the depths of her sleeves, C.C. tosses a key Zero's way - pilfered from one of the mind-crushed technicians, and waits by the entry to the little gantry leading to the Gawain's back.
"...hm, I'd say 'after you', but given its seating configuration, I might find out that'll make it a little awkward to get in should I indeed need to take the front. Hardly in a way you wouldn't enjoy a little, of course."
<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.
"I can do this. I've got to be ready to fight Alexis." Gridman insists to his companions, standing before Junk.
"You are not going alone." Max insists, arms crossed over his chest."
"I need you down in the city protecting everyone!" Gridman counters, resolute. "They could start going after civilians at any second."
"I--I'll go with you." Calibur steps forward, putting a hand on Gridman's shoulder. "T--the others can protect the civilians."
Vit stretches his hands over his head. "Good with that, Gridman?"
Gridman hesitates, then nods. "Alright. Thank you, Calibur. Max, Borr, Vit, I'm counting on you to keep everyone safe from the ground."
"Kick some racist ass!" Borr says, before the three Hyper Agents vanish in a blur of motion.
Calibur and Gridman stand before Junk. "Access... Flash!"
---
"This city already has a protector!" Gridman calls, in response to Eliana's declaration. "We don't need help from people like you! Nobody here trusts you for a second to distribute things fairly."
Bursting into existence with a crackle of lightning, Gridman takes a fighting stance, holding a sword in his hands. Now 70 meters tall, the Giant of Light looms between the City Center and the approaching Britannian models. Choosing to appear with only one of his Assist Weapons has maximized his height, only emphasizing how small the enemy robots are in comparison.
"Stand down." Calibur's calm voice echoes from the gemstone on Gridman's sword. "And none of you will be harmed." </poem>
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
ABOARD THE WADATSUMI
Koji Kabuto leans back in his computer chair, tapping return to send his calculations on the power draw required for the Galeoria Pliers and refined blueprints for the conversion system that feeds power directly from the 3G Division Ship's reactor to the new invention up to the main development hub.
Standing up and stretching, he heads over to one of the ship's portholes, looking out over Tsutsujidai... and frowns.
"KMFs moving from the Britannian encampment...? Oh no - " Spinning, he grabs one of the 3G techs. "Got my files for the day sent up, I'm taking my Ichinana out!"
"Doctor Kabuto, what - " "The Britannians are making their play, I gotta be down there!" He sprints down to the Wadatsumi's hangar.
"I won't let them do it again," he growls under his breath.
===========
Koji can hear Gridman's declaration to Tsutsujidai's protectors as the Giant of Light materialises, his Ichinana hovering next to the Giant's head as he sweeps the battlefield. "Good to finally fight alongside you, Gridman. Let's show these colonizers just how much they're biting off here."
Spotting Eliana's command unit at the head of the pack, Koji dives his mass-produced mazin down to stand off against her. "No deal. Turn around and go back to your encampment and we'll pretend this never happened - or you can do this the hard way."
His Ichinana unhooks the hilt from its mount and the heavy broadsword of its Mazinger Blade snaps out section-by-section, the machine assuming a ready pose. "Your choice."
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
Knightmare Frames fan out into the city; needless to say, the hospital -- where Milly's presently coordinating a ration transfer between the two stockpiles, as the school is starting to run out of staple grains and the hospital stockpile is dangerously low on canned goods -- is a high-priority target. It's both a ration stockpile and a medical facility, after all.
It's also utterly unguarded, which means inside about two minutes it's ringed by Gloucesters and the familiar silhouettes of Britannian infantry, with their skull-like helmets and bullpup rifles. Milly is the first one, of course, to head outside, holding a heavy-duty clipboard with storage compartment; as a Britannian, she thinks she has a better chance of deescalating the situation.
"Excuse me? We're in no position to refuse you," Milly starts, though her expression is flat and her eyes are narrowed. "Nevertheless, this is completely unnecessary. We're in the middle of a ration transfer, so your timing couldn't be..." ... she trails off as her gaze tracks to the infantry commander, presently removing his helmet.
"Reginald?" She sounds incredulous.
"Ah. Milly. I haven't seen you since the Samurai and Ninja Museum," he starts, and his tone is oh-so-pleasant. "I'm surprised. My father reached out to the Majority Leader about the scraps that polite society lets your mother call a title; I assumed you'd be in a gutter by now."
Milly's expression sets into a somewhat starker frown. She does not have a better chance of deescalating this situation. "About the Museum --"
"Save it. The only words I want to hear from you are 'Yes, Warrant Officer, we'll be handing over administration of our stockpiles immediately.'"
Milly, of course, is pragmatic enough to agree to this -- but she makes a mistake.
She takes a step forward and moves to open her clipboard to retrieve the keys to the hospital warehouse rather than lead with a verbal acknowledgment.
(Moreover, she does so while talking to a Britannian officer who knows -- from experience -- that she can overpower him physically.)
The report is inaudible over an explosion of mecha-scale movements and Giants of Light. Even Milly doesn't fully hear it, and she's within 20 feet.
'It,' for the record, is a gunshot to the midriff. Milly is no one special, no Evoluder, no cyborg, no Coordinator; the bullet simply enters into her midsection glancing off her belt buckle a tiny bit, retaining enough momentum to go right out her back with an exit wound not that much bigger than the entry.
The Britannian soldiers continue their encirclement, even as a nurse who'd been coming with the master keys now rushes to Milly instead. Why would the Britannian Union stop for one girl?
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
As ever, Kaworu is inside Tsutsujidai High School during the ration hand-out, helping out with this part of daily life. The pickings have grown slim, but there is plenty of reason to hope. He has a smile for everyone, and as ever, he doesn't accept a daily ration for himself.
The loudspeaker shouting of a woman on the outside draws the attention of the refugees, and several head out towards the windows to see what's going on. Kaworu does not follow. He gazes in that direction, yes--but he does so from where he's stationed, looking as if through the walls themselves. His gentle smile gives way to a faint frown.
He walks away from the hand-out station and heads for the stairs to the rooftop.
~ * ~
The view from here isn't that high. But it's high enough to see the Britannian forces enclosing the city--the center, the hospital, the school. And it's enough to see counter-forces rising up to meet them, including Gridman himself. Kaworu smiles in his direction, but he doubts any Britannians who came this far would bow down to him just because of his superior size. Britannians are, in their minds, bigger than any giant of light.
For now, he watches on, hands tucked in his pants pockets as the rain drips through and down his hair. He pays it no mind. The situation in the city is delicate enough without this happening.
And he isn't the only one whose attention has been piqued...
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
'People of Tsutsujidai! You are now under the protection of the Britannian Union of Solar Energy!'
Liam's blood runs cold. He looks out over the grow-bay and sees looks of shock, confusion, and fear on the faces of his comrades. Yamamoto, the head of the Tsutsujidai High School Horticulture Club, peers out at the crowd of war machines from behind one of the planters. Liam can see the sweat beading on his forehead.
"Yamamoto," Liam says, his voice tight. "Take the others. Basement shelter. Now."
Yamamoto turns to face him, and Liam sees confusion in his eyes, and then the faintest glimmer of recognition. He doesn't remember the kaiju before the Nameless, Liam realizes--but he's starting to.
"Y--yes," Yamamoto says. "But what about you?" The Club leader's eyes glance past Liam, at the highly-specialized Mobile Suit parked outside: an emergency standby.
Liam does not have a ready answer. His heart tightens beneath his ribs as he remembers other Britannian announcements in the hours before Neo-Zeon destroyed Dublin.
Stay in your homes.
Do not attempt to evacuate.
A curfew is now in effect between the hours of--
Liam shakes his head, and just now feels the bile rising in his throat. Tsutsujidai does not need a war in this perilous, fragile time.
But it absolutely does not deserve what the Britannian military will do to it, if given the chance. He follows Yamamoto's gaze out to the Long Dagger. "I..." Liam breathes. They're Federation. Tsutsujidai does not need war.
And then, from nowhere, a Giant appears, and gives challenge to the Emperor's troops. Tells them that this land is under his protection. Liam remembers a promise he made, and the promise that was made to him. Gridman would protect him, and he would protect Gridman's people. Liam's hand reaches up, and streaks Tsutsujidai soil across treated, moss-colored Connemara marble.
Not five minutes later, the Long Dagger finishes its jet-powered, arcing leap, and touches down with a shuddering CRUNCH at Gridman's flank, opposite Koji's Ichinana. Liam, still in his civilian clothes, finishes strapping himself into place. "<On station,>" Liam tightbeams, to Koji, Gridman, and the others. "<Ready to intervene.>" His voice is tight, but there's a sort of raw determination in it that has been so rare in this place.
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
3G has been quite hard at work lately, with the new Galeoria Pliers tech nearly ready to be deployed. Although, one of the major concerns discussed was how the Britannian encampment would react to making use of the weather control tower as a central point for the Pliers.
But it seems like they weren't the ones to provoke them after all, with a squad of knightmare frames being sent out way out of the blue to throw around more weight than they can handle.
At a time like this with their forces split, 3G's options for emergency deployment are limited to the two Kings of Braves, and Guardienne Aviaire (and Porc-Auto too, who is not much more than a car without his GunMachines). After a brief stint of discussion, it was decided Alouette should scout out the situation.. and assist with providing force should it be necessary. It helps that Koji immediately rushed ahead for deployment too!
A very different kind of knight soars from the Wadatsumi division ship to meet the posse of knightmare frames exerting their control over Tsutsujidai. For a mechanoid, Guardienne Aviaire is pretty small, closer to the size of a Ryu robot - but still towers over the Britannian forces nonetheless.
"I strongly recommend you disengage. We're not in Britannia, and you don't have anything close to that kind of authority here. Otherwise..." Guardienne Aviaire reaches a hand forward, emitting a golden-glowing Program Ring. "You'll have a Brave to contend with."
<Pose Tracker> Kallen Kozuki has posed.
The day had gone well enough, as Tsutsujidai days go anyway. For the most part, panic has been low, and morale, while a little dreary, has been generally hopeful, thanks to everyone banding together and working on making the best of their situation. Well... most everyone, anyway. They've had a few problem cases, but that's to be expected, and the way everyone else has pitched in has been absolutely heartwarming.
Of course, that couldn't last, could it? She had been taking inventory and handling the transfer of supplies to the hospital. It was in some ways inevitable of course. She'd partaken in the little raid on the Britannian holdouts, but pulled back early after her piece was done. She'd been assigned a particular goal, and orders were clear. She wasn't supposed to hang around after. So... she didn't.
And just on time to see a man with no helmet, shoot one of the most important people in the world to her. To say her sight becomes nothing but red would be. A drastic understatement. Logic would dictate going to her side immediately, to protect her and help the hospital staff get her to safety. Apparently logic has won a few too many times for her lately, as instead, boiling HATE fills her soul, as she tears off to an out of the way, nondescript building, where the Guren awaits. As she powers it on... perhaps people can hear it. The unearthly, spine-curling wail of a girl filled with rage... hiding the despair lying just below.
Mercy has abandoned these pilots today, and left them at the claws of a crimson devil, hellbent on vengeance and justice.
No chance of surviving this shot.
<Pose Tracker> Lelouch Lamperouge has posed.
"Better for us to use it than them. It's their luck that what they have is something worth of note." If anything, this was a boon in every which way;The fact that there was something in the first place didn't make this a complete waste, however vacant his position was back home. He took C.C.'s banter in kind, striding forward in the rain. Shady robe, but no hood. His mask took care of that.
"They're sticking to what they know." Good for them. It's easier to infiltrate an enemy so sure of themselves they don't bother looking elsewhere. "Though, after so long, the stringent are the ones who will break first." A glance back. He expected her to keep pace; This was more to keep her moving than anything.
An expermiental Knightmare Frame. How quaint. Like it was offered up on a platter in this world, this strange anomaly that segemented everyone off. Rain, rain, more rain the perfect cover for any noise to be dismissed as white noise.
As the Black King made his way in with the Queen, a few were persuaded out of the way, a suggestion here and there, an urge to really, really take multiple breaks, sleep, or to become angry at the food supplies that the Britannian encampment had. Those with glasses had truths in their eyes.
Whether they'd result in philosophical essays later in life was up to their reasoning.
The Gawain. "I don't see any reason for it to stay here." Ah, jackpot. Not necessarily the King, but a Knight to use. Quaint punnery aside, he caught the key without glancing over.
"Then, get in." Ladies first.
BOOM
The hangar wall explodes outwards. The tendrils fling about, sending the steel scattering about in the rain, gold-tipped digits returning to the Gawain's hand. Good. "Simple to maneuver." Keyboards were his minor speciality. Tapping away, maneuvering the Gawain, the Float System doing its work. A slowly rising beast, up and out of the encampment, leaving the trail in its wake...
The radio squwaks. A voice. It's not too unfamiliar. Protection. Seizure. A voice demanding subjugation without representation.
...Perfect. "C.C." The implication was obvious: They will be made an example of.
The sounds echo out. Gridman's shining declration. From above, Koji's own aseertion. From the height of a comfy kite, the Gawain hovered, looming over in its (comparatively minute) frame. The sight is obvious, a gold and black streak in the rain, the red eyes glowing in the comparative darkness.
Click.
<"Eliana Britannia."> A booming voice on comms directed towards the KMF unit at the center, the Gawain itself on a hover overlooking the battlefield. <"Are you an idiot, or just continuing your cruelty?"> The radio sqwuaks. The radio listens in. Setting proper frequencies, checking proper channels-
And cutting into the sound of Kallen's scream echoing through the voids of electrmagnetic waves. Whatever caused it, well...
<"Guren. This is Zero. Do what you must."> What happened, for Kallen to be in such a state...?
<Pose Tracker> Sousuke Sagara has posed.
Sousuke Sagara is About when the commander starts barking, making the deliveries he's been part of for much of the time Tsutsujidai has been stranded. Technically all this is not something he has to act on. He has no personal quarrel with Britannia. In his situation, the best course would be to silently lie low. Slip out and wander on his way. But...there's nowhere to go.
The truck kicks into gear and he drives off.
And a few minutes later, nothing emerges from a secluded, concealed hangar set up by the Shuffle Alliance for housing those trapped here. It alights on a nearby building.
In the cockpit of the invisible Arbalest, Sousuke Sagara scans across monitors. "What do we have, AL?"
<<One command unit, self-identified Eliana Brigantia. No database access for personality assessment.>>
"It's fine, what's the rest?" Sousuke says, taking in the map as AL populates it.
<<Multiple hostiles. Falls well short of the force the full Britannian encampment could bring to bear, even assuming they held forces in reserve.>>
"Someone going rogue...?" Sousuke mutters.
<<That would match to available data.>>
He spots something on the map, an area he knows. "Something at the hospital?"
<<An infantry force has been deployed. The administration is surrendering.>>
"Safest choice," Sousuke says. "If we can repel the rest of the force, mark it for us to circle back."
<<Roger. Other priority targets: Black Knights ace Red Queen. We've lost to her before. Additionally, the large unit is Gridman.>>
Sousuke huffs a breath. "I knew that one, actually. Plot me a position to disrupt the KMF team, it looks like the locals have made their decision."
<<Roger.>>
<Pose Tracker> Cornelia li Britannia has posed.
<<"I repeat! This is not a request! Stand down and relinquish your supplies for proper redistribution, or...">>
Lightning crackles
And before the leader of the detachment of Britannian Purists, a great Giant of Light takes form.
The Hyper Agent known as Gridman is a good seventy meters tall, like this. By contrast, the Gloucester at head height doesn't even make it to four and a half. Decorated in the violet and red colors of the Purists, the Gloucester's head tilts open, Factsphere blooming open with a sonar-like ripple of green as it takes in the sight of a thing that absolutely and in no uncertain terms dwarfs it.
<<"... face the consequences...">>
Lieutenant Brigantia's voice trails at the sight of Tsutsujidai's guardian; it's one thing to have heard of something, and entirely another to see it, and her mouth-agape seconds of shock at the sight of a living entity that she does not even reach the ankle of is palpable in its unfortunate, momentary weakness.
But in the end, Kaworu is right. If the sight of something so immense should inspire something humbling...
<<"Hold your ground!">>
... it's a concept Eliana doesn't quite know the meaning of.
It's the landing of the familiar if-still larger Ichinana and the all-too-recognizable voice of one of Free Japan's most premier heroes that knocks the lieutenant back into reality; lips twisting in ugly, egotistic defiance of that symbol of Free Japan, Brigantia curls gloved fingers along the controls of her unit as she listens to those demands.
'Nobody here trusts you for a second to distribute things fairly.'
<<"... Who said a damn thing about 'fair'?">>
Lieutenant Brigantia's head rears back and up, as if repulsed by the very idea. The Gloucester's right leg sweeps backward with the squeal of Landspinners as its tiny, gray-purple frame lowers, Factsphere shutting closed once more at its forehead.
<<"I said -- Tsutsujidai's resources will be distributed PROPERLY. Those who have earned them shall receive them first, as it should have been from the beginning! And no giants or dogs of the OCU will stop the natural order from being enacted! You all had y--">>
The inaudible sound of a gunshot in the distance is lost in the sound of a BOOMing explosion. Lieutenant Brigantia's bright green eyes widen as she snaps her head to upward to look even higher above. And there she sees...
... a Knightmare frame... flying above them?
"... What in the world..."
The woes of highly confidential weapons development in a land as paranoid as Britannia: so much more often than not, the right hand never knows what the left hand is doing. And when one isn't even a pinky on that right hand, well...
Elania Brigantia has no idea what she's looking at, save that it is something new, something strange, but something of very decidedly Britannian make and registering as a Britannian unit... and yet that voice is one that no Britannia now does -not- know.
"<<... Zero...!>"
Eliana's blood boils at the sight of the man who had helped to see the Purists of Britannia brought so low. <<"How dare you steal from us!!">> She has no earthly idea WHAT it is he stole, exactly. Her response is immediate all the same: the Gloucester grips the hilt of its weapon -- not a lance, but a sword. The dull gray of the blade begins to shimmer as it is unsheathed, vibrations along its edge swiftly ramping to unprecedented levels until the entire blade takes on a bright, crimson hue.
A Maser Vibration Sword. It's not the Gloucester's standard arsenal -- but Brigantia decided she could put it to better use than her commander.
<<"Soldiers of Britannia! The forces of Tsutsujidai are in league with known terrorist elements! Fan out and subdue these rogue forces with extreme prejudice -- but we are to take the flying Knightmare Frame and its pilot intact and alive!">>
The Gloucester -launches- forward at extreme accelerations, landspinners screaming as its free hand unslings its Automatic Rifle. Burst fire opens up, fanning out in a wide sweep that aims for joints on the Ichinana and Liam's Long Dagger, and the center mass of the Gawain above. Its forward momentum, meanwhile, takes it straight towards the Hyper Agent himself --
Where that impossibly sharp MVS looks to carve through the ankle up to the lower calf of the giant; small though it is... its cutting ability is something not to be underestimated.
If she can apprehend Zero -- if they can get their hands on whatever that Knightmare Frame is, then -- then--!
<<"All hail BRITANNIA!">>
KTS: Cornelia li Britannia targets Liam 7-020 with Sutherland AR Shot! KTS: Cornelia li Britannia targets Koji Kabuto with Sutherland AR Shot! KTS: Cornelia li Britannia targets Lelouch Lamperouge with Sutherland AR Shot! KTS: Cornelia li Britannia targets Gridman with MVS! KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 243. KTS: SP Regen activates. Your new SP value is 110. KTS: Cornelia li Britannia has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Gridman rushes into the attack! KTS: Gridman partially guards Cornelia li Britannia's MVS, taking 2310 damage! KTS: Cornelia li Britannia has engaged Gridman! <Pose Tracker> Mobile Weapon Team has posed.
"Oh look. The circus freaks are coming out to play."
"Holy... That man is HUGE! ... I wonder if EVERYTHING grows."
"Even you couldn't handle that."
"Hmph. Like I would dare with such a lowly plebeian."
"You know she only goes after the ones with status."
"Cut the chatter! We've got reports of gunfire and-"
"W-What the hell is that!? Is... Is that one of ours!?"
"I don't recognize it!"
"IFF confirms its ours."
"So why is it disrespecting the Lieutenant?"
"Is it a traitor!?"
"Focus! We have our orders. Subdue the rabble. Secure the primary objectives. Show them the futility of opposing the Britannian Union! All units, weapons free!"
With the obvious refusal to submit to Britannian authority, the BU Forces arrayed do not hesitate to try and enforce that authority. The gathered Knightmares begin to charge, moving into streets, grappling up onto rooftops, taking cover behind fallen wreckage. The crimson coloured elites are leading the charge, lances in one hand, assault rifles in the other.
As the KMFs close in with the city's defenders, they unleash their battle cries once more.
<"All hail Britannia!">
Assault rifles are raised, bullets starting to rain down on the city and its defenders from multiple directions. No one has yet been focused on as a specific target, but that just means the destruction is a lot more widespread!
KTS: Mobile Weapon Team targets Alouette Pommier with Sutherland AR Shot! KTS: Mobile Weapon Team targets Kallen Kozuki with Sutherland AR Shot! KTS: Mobile Weapon Team targets Sousuke Sagara with Sutherland AR Shot! KTS: Mobile Weapon Team has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Koji Kabuto blocks Cornelia li Britannia's Sutherland AR Shot, taking 2520 damage! KTS: Sousuke Sagara successfully avoids Mobile Weapon Team's Sutherland AR Shot KTS: Kallen Kozuki charges into the attack! KTS: Kallen Kozuki partially guards Mobile Weapon Team's Sutherland AR Shot, taking 2088 damage! KTS: Liam 7-020 blocks Cornelia li Britannia's Sutherland AR Shot, taking 2160 damage! KTS: Alouette Pommier fails to react to Mobile Weapon Team's Sutherland AR Shot, taking 2880 damage! <Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
Koji turns his Ichinana's head towards Liam's Long Dagger as it arrives on the scene. Remembering their conversations a long time ago, the pilot lifts his yoke up and pushes it forward once, his machine offering the Long Dagger a stern, stoic nod, flashing the mass-produced mazin's face-visor green in acknowledgment.
Eliana speaks, and is so very Britannian about breaking the illusion, and Koji's stern expression breaks too - into a wide, wicked grin. (If you squint right, you can see the white flash of teeth through the polarised dome atop the Ichinana.) "Oh, good. The hard way it is. Small correction though, 'Eliana Brigantia' - you're not fighting a mere dog."
He plants the Mazinger Blade tip-first in the tarmac, using the flat of the weapon to deflect most of the incoming gunfire.
"Today you're fighting a devil. MAZIN: GO!"
The Ichinana explodes into movement, bearing down on Eliana's KMF in a brutal shoulder-tackle followed by a swift kick!
KTS: Koji Kabuto targets Cornelia li Britannia with Ichinana CQC Strike! KTS: Koji Kabuto has completed their actions for the round.
<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.
Allies join Gridman, and his heart swells with hope. As long as Tsutsujidai has people like this watching over it, they're going to be just fine.
Trying not to reveal anyone's identity, Gridman gives both the Ichinana and the Long Dagger a salute. "I'm grateful for your aid. Together, we can protect everyone!"
Placing his faith in his allies, the Giant of Light's unfettered hope shines. The lightning that heralded his appearance fades, though he is no less impressive. Shining, brilliant colors glimmer in the sunlight.
Lieutenant Brigantia is, unfortunately, undeterred. Gridman shakes his head at her continued announcements. "Whatever horrible things you subject your own people to won't be allowed here. You don't have to earn the things you need to survive!"
Gridman has no idea who "Zero" is, not really, or why they seem to enrage Eliana so. Keeping his attention on the Gloucester, Gridman manages a, "Really!?" as it charges him.
"You know I could just--" Taking two running steps, he meets Eliana mid-attack, dragging the tip of sword along the ground. "Literally kick you out of the city, right? -- Ow!"
It's not really damaging, but damn, that smarts. The MVS managed to slice the Giant of Light's ankle, and he hisses in pain. "All right, then! Calibur, let's go!"
"Right." Calibur responds, supremely unimpressed by Britannian Bluster.
Despite his threat, Gridman doesn't want to kill this terrible woman, so he simply brings Calibur's tip off the ground in an upward curve, trying to slash through the Gloucester and bring it to a halt. It's an almost gentle motion, only performed with the movement of one wrist.
"Careful... Calibur Slash!"
KTS: Gridman has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Koji Kabuto KTS: Gridman has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Liam 7-020 KTS: Gridman targets Cornelia li Britannia with Calibur Slash! KTS: Gridman has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Cornelia li Britannia successfully evades Koji Kabuto's Ichinana CQC Strike KTS: Cornelia li Britannia retreats from the attack! KTS: Cornelia li Britannia fails to react to Gridman's Calibur Slash, taking 3255 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Gridman's Telepathic Link activates, causing Insight L1! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Gridman's Mediumship activates, causing Nullify! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 34245 SCENESYS: Escudo Shard has posted scene #282, 'Testing', at 19:00 ET on 03/01. <Pose Tracker> C.C. has posed.
For just a moment, C.C. takes command of the Gawain's communications, to make a public announcement. (just her voice shouldn't be too recognizable, right?)
<<Ah, looks like some of you've gotten rather confused. We're currently not even on the same plane of existence as Britannia, so if you could knock off the obnoxious war cry, it'd be a kindness.>>
Zero can have the intercoms back - she just couldn't hold herself back.
The two-seater configuration suits them, though. C.C. handling the motions and rudimentary bread and butter stuff - manually operating the harkens to train the learning computer and giving each maneuver a name for Lelouch to call upon later. He's hopeless at the physicality involved in piloting - she's hopeless at navigating large databases, so they're a good pair in a supercomputer of a mobile weapon like this.
C.C.'s eye does fall upon a familiar sight, of course - the fierce red Guren on an absolute rampage through the streets of Tsutsujidai, raising an eyebrow. She could infer as much from the intensity Kallen has - no, she's always 'intense', but rarely so...unrestrained? Q-1 would fight like this as directed, but she's out here of her own accord.
\But something boils, searing hot like the acrid fumes of a volcano./
Instinctively, C.C. plugs her nose, and carefully pipes in her own communication towards Kallen. <"...I'll spare you the usual. ...Something's gone wrong down there, hasn't it? Britannians are Britannians, but something else has incensed you. ...Knowing you-">
<"Someone's hurt, aren't they?">
Her gaze flickers back up to Lelouch's, one eye over her shoulder as a harken blindly surges out to wrap around a Sutherland's AR. "Hm. I hope your plans weren't too reliant on her. Factor in that she might be difficult to rein in."
KTS: C.C. has activated the Attune Spirit Command targeting Kallen Kozuki KTS: Lelouch Lamperouge has activated the Foresee Spirit Command. KTS: Lelouch Lamperouge fails to Evade Cornelia li Britannia's Sutherland AR Shot, taking 3240 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
'All hail Britannia'.. seems like this squad's will is nothing more than extension of the woman in charge, and if there's no talking her down.. Alouette doubts they'll be talked down either.
"So that's the game you're going to play. In that case... *EEEEEMISSION!*" From the golden Program Ring is an even more gold shield, imbued with the power of Protection. Striking a pose, Alouette tries to ward off the rain of bullets from reaching the city and putting people in danger.
Such a shield isn't so capable of violence in its own right, but it does have a small trick up its sleeve. "Plaaaaasma Repel!"
Crackling plasma-like energy emits from the shield, reaching out to attempt to push the callous knightmare frame pilots away from where people are trying to evacuate. "Begone!"
Allies in her immediate surroundings... it's hard not to notice Gridman, effortlessly tossing aside the Britannian squad leader with Calibur. There's also the Arbalest.. she takes a moment to transfer over some additional combat data on the enemy's brazen movement patterns, but it might be more accurate to say it's AL who receives the information for use than Sousuke. And that red unit... she doesn't recognize it.. and it's hard to call it an ally as it rampages through the streets - but at least they have the same targets in mind for the time being.
KTS: Alouette Pommier has activated the Attune Spirit Command targeting Sousuke Sagara KTS: Alouette Pommier targets Mobile Weapon Team with Plasma Repel! KTS: Alouette Pommier has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
Liam hoped--desperately hoped--that the leader, whomever she is, would back down and see reason at the sight of Gridman. But deep inside, he knows what Kaworu knows. Adrenaline floods his bloodstream.
'I said -- Tsutsujidai's resources will be distributed PROPERLY. Those who have earned them shall receive them first, as it should have been from the beginning!'
Liam's lips peel from his teeth. Eliana said as much the moment she opened that loudspeaker, but hearing her spell it out--it's like she took a knife to some of Liam's oldest and deepest scars.
Honorary Britannians don't deserve a 'fair share'. They don't even deserve a 'share'. They deserve scraps and dregs, whatever's left over after the aristocracy and military have glutted themselves. Liam's breath hisses between clenched teeth. It takes effort to take that anger and shift it back towards use.
"This city," Liam chokes out. His voice rises to a roar as the Long Dagger shifts into a defensive crouch, its shield swinging down to latch onto its left forearm. "THIS ISN'T YOURS TO TAKE!" Bullets hammer into the Long Dagger's shield, pockmarking the surface with hot lead, but it holds. In the cockpit, Liam registers the hit and snarls. It feels like something that's been stuck in his throat for years is finally starting to work its way free.
"Won't let you--!" The Gloucester is barely knee-height when compared to the Long Dagger--an obvious Coordinator-use suit, typically earmarked for unfortunates like the Boosted Humans--but it moves with superhuman precision, tracking the smaller mech and twisting to face it. Liam waits for his shot--when the Gloucester is in motion, or on those cables--and then suddenly that shield is there, a building-sized obstacle rushing directly at the Knightmare Frame.
"You've taken too much already!" Liam pauses, his rage cooling for a moment. Zero. That's... the person who claimed responsibility for the murder of Prince Clovis. Right? A Black Knight.
KTS: Liam 7-020 targets Cornelia li Britannia with Shield Bash! KTS: Liam 7-020 has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
The good news is that being shot outside a hospital -- even one that's also a conflict zone at the moment -- significantly improves your chances. Under normal circumstances, Milly might be hard to easily and safely move.
Fortunately, a certain Hyper Agent -- or a fragment of one, at least -- is here to help. Milly is the first of today's trauma patients; she likely won't be the last.
... she's not likely to have much else to say, at the moment. Calls are already going out to both known non-local doctors with actual combat-zone experience... but even so, this flurry of activity in the hospital will likely do little to dissuade Britannia from its present course.
<Pose Tracker> Lelouch Lamperouge has posed.
He barely musters a grunt at C.C.'s own interruption. There's no reason to really contest it, especially as it had the desired effect. While he's busy pulling up the weapon specifications, the map of the city, and arranging his trackers (and setting the Gawain's controls juuuust the way he likes them), he keeps an eye out. That scream was vaguely noted, given acceptance, and let loose. Kallen could handle herself.
...Even if it was a roiling ball of rage, that was what he needed right now. Shock, awe, and a message.
<<Steal? Hmph. Considering your confusion, I don't think you know what was stolen. Can you?>> Not even an attempt to deny the "accusation", tapping a few buttons in preparation.
Name after name pops up on the sidelines, mentally filing them away. Easy to call upon them, simple to remember. Maneuvers, and other things, besides...
"That's exactly what we need right now. If Britannia decides to cow here, then it won't do us any good." No, there was only the proper response for such a setup: Douse the embers in gasoline.
The small nudge to dodge that barrage of bullets, only the final bits of that burst pinging off of the shoulder, the armor crashing down onto the field below. "Adjust boosters. Set them for 10% more." Tap tap, tap tap.
<<You believe that taking from others is a right, is it not? Let he without sin cast the first stone.>> The Gawain's hand raises upwards, the palm spinning, locking into the Sutherland proper before sweeping wide, aiming along the path. One, two, three.
One of the Hardon Cannons flick open, red charging before firing downwards at that unit.
<<You, who would attack a starving dog for its meat. Are you that cowardly?>>
KTS: Lelouch Lamperouge targets Mobile Weapon Team with Hadron Cannon - Pawn Passant! KTS: Lelouch Lamperouge has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Cornelia li Britannia rushes into the attack! KTS: Cornelia li Britannia partially guards Liam 7-020's Shield Bash, taking 3360 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 30885 KTS: Liam 7-020 has engaged Cornelia li Britannia! KTS: Lelouch Lamperouge targets Cornelia li Britannia with Hadron Cannon - Pawn Passant! KTS: Lelouch Lamperouge has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Cornelia li Britannia successfully evades Lelouch Lamperouge's Hadron Cannon - Pawn Passant
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
Already violence has broken out. In the hospital, a life flickers dangerously; in the city, screams of rage and loss resound; in the air, a dark Knightmare Frame arises, conveying voices both imperious and contemptuous; and on the ground, the second lieutenant satisfies expectations, to the satisfaction of none. All that and more. One thing in particular stands out, however: if Eliana immediately recognizes the voice of Zero, then C.C.'s voice is one Kaworu knows quite well.
It doesn't surprise him any. He simply takes it all in with the sad resignation of one who has already decided he will not contribute to this or any violence in the city made from a young woman's fragile, bleeding heart--of one who, even without that, has already decided that he has no place in interfering with conflicts between Lilim.
The rainclouds above are just that, clouds of rain. Somewhere beyond them, though, another sort of cloud glimmers distantly in rainbow colors, so soft and silent that it would be easy to not notice with the rainclouds in the way and everything else going on. Those more sensitive might be hard-pressed not to notice the approach of so enormous a presence. They're still approaching, slow, cautious, but insatiable in their curiosity, and they blink a question that only one can hear, much less understand.
Kaworu lifts his chin, eyes rising to a point past the rain. "Yes. It's lamentable, isn't it," he murmurs, more statement than question. "You shouldn't linger. It will only make you sad."
A blink, a glint, and a flash, cyan shading into deep blue, all noiseless behind the incessant rainfall.
But that's not why Kaworu's eyebrows furrow. "Hm?"
Blue, blue, orange.
"It isn't my place," he replies, almost taken aback. A pause, and he adds, "It isn't your place, either."
The colors from space dim to a dark, dark indigo, almost black. It matches the void un-nicely.
<Pose Tracker> Sousuke Sagara has posed.
AL suddenly says, <<Someone appears to be injured at the hospital. Should we intervene?>>
"No," Sousuke says. "If we intervene before we disable the active Knightmares, we'll just make the hospital a fully active battlefield."
<<Rog-->>
"--Who's injured?" Sousuke asks, suddenly, a thought crackling through his hindbrain.
<<I do not have database access to be sure. A blonde woman. Approximately teenaged.>>
Sousuke doesn't reply immediately.
But when the Sutherlands open fire, and their bullets crackle across Arbalest, every one of them slams into an invisible barrier of flexing ligh and air, seconds before Arbalest itself melts out of nothing.
<<Lambda Driver activation successful. Sergeant?>>
Sousuke takes a single, long breath, and then Arbalest leaps a hundred meters straight up, jumping OVER Gridman, and then arcing over to slam into the ground directly in front of one of the patrolling KMFs.
Arbalest swings around and drives a glowing monocutter straight toward the cockpit, an energy that isn't heat guiding it.
"We need to finish this quickly," Sousuke says, eyes all but glowing blue-green in the monitors' light.
Sousuke Sagara transforms to ARX-7 Arbalest - Lambda Driver Online
KTS: Sousuke Sagara: Will Barrier Activates. KTS: Sousuke Sagara targets Mobile Weapon Team with Lambda Monomolecular Cutter Soar! KTS: Sousuke Sagara has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Kallen Kozuki has posed.
Somewhere distantly, Kallen hears Zero. His order isn't like usual. He heard her pain and grief. Told her to do what she needs to do. That was never in question. That the order was given doesn't matter. She'll do what she has to. And right now the pounding, unstable beat of her heart only has one demand.
She's vaguely aware of the KMFs shooting at her, as the Guren races forth... but it doesn't slow her. Guren's claw raises, taking most of the shots that DO connect with her, while several simply go wide. After all, few soldiers expect their worst nightmare to just come flying straight at them. Fewer still amongst those with as much excess pride as Britannia's Purists.
C.C.'s voice is familiar. Taunting in that way only it can be, able to pierce into her no matter the state she's in. Of course, getting Kallen's attention means C.C. can see it clearly, doesn't it? Her mind is an open window right now after all. So the sight of a familiar blonde, a gunshot, and a collapse would be easy to catch. Were C.C. inclined to look for it. <"Hospital."> The one word she says, freely for both of them to hear. Though it sounds almost like a death metal growl when it comes out. Britannia attacking a hospital of all things. No wonder she's lost it.
The rank and file don't know what hits them. And certainly don't live long enough for regrets. This isn't a situation like normal. Usually she'd avoid taking lives. Do everything she can to keep away from the ejection blocks. That restraint isn't here now. KMFs are skewered on the claw as the Guren is bathed in oil and Sakuradite residue, among other things. She can barely register the difference right now, between the rank and file, and the four command units. Rather... to her there is none. They'll all die in flames tonight, choking on their own blood.
Still, eventually she MUST reach one of the leaders. And what a sight they're greeted to. A bloodstained claw, so freshly dyed to match the color of the rest of the Guren. And coming from above, as the Guren had flung itself off a ramp made from uneven ground. Maybe close enough to them, someone might hear the screaming inside. But there is No radio hails. No attempts at getting them to back down or riling them up with barbed remarks. There is only death here tonight.
KTS: Kallen Kozuki has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Kallen Kozuki has activated the Accel Spirit Command and Has NOT engaged with Mobile Weapon Team KTS: Kallen Kozuki targets Mobile Weapon Team with Iron Nail Slash! KTS: Kallen Kozuki has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Cornelia li Britannia has posed.
The ground literally rumbles like an earthquake at Gridman's approach, but Eliana's Gloucester stays the course. Her gloved fingers tremble, her mouth feels dry.
Something so large can't help but be intimidating. But if nothing else, Britannian propaganda is very good at breeding a suicidal degree of pride in its soldiers.
Even so... pride only goes so far. There is a second's hesitation on the stroke of that Maser Vibration Sword; it scores its hit all the same, but it sends Eliana's Gloucester into a defensive spinout immediately after, as if unwilling to stay within Stepping Range of the Hyper Agent for very long, especially when Gridman threatens to literally punt her like a football out of the city limits. "Ghh--" is her grimacing grunt of disgruntlement as she controls the wild spin of her Purist-colored Gloucester as best she can...
... bringing it directly in front of the Devil of Free Japan with a squeal of tires.
Green eyes widen as the lieutenant takes in the sight of that mass-production Mazin bearing down on her. "Shit--!" The Gloucester's height words to its advantage, here: on ground, even as outpaced as it is swiftly becoming, the Knightmare Frame's mobility is nothing to scoff at, and it proves it as it -pivots- away just barely from that shoulder tackle.
<<"A dog-- a dog is a dog!">> Eliana shouts out in defiance, but it's difficult to maintain banter when you're also trying to fight in a life-or-death conflict. For example: that hastily-thrown barb costs Brigantia a precious two seconds of attention needed to evade the Ichinana's follow up; the much larger knee of the Mazin-based machine grazes the dead-center of the Gloucester just enough to dent black chest armor in slightly and send it veering off-course --
Straight into the seeming gentle motion of Gridman and Samurai Calibur, working in tandem.
A sound of strangled fury escapes Eliana as her entire world shakes and shudders; a gentle graze of the giant is enough to send the Gloucester -spinning- backwards like a ragdoll, wind buffeting at its considerably smaller frame; it smashes into the side of a fenced-in enclosure, metal bars bending around it as that forward momentum is brought to a complete halt. Within her cockpit, Eliana's teeth grit.
<<"I should have known -Koji Kabuto- would stoop to cavorting with terrorist scum,">> she mutters. <<"Elevens, down to your bones. Without a heel to grind you, you all run rampant--">>
An alarm rings in the Gloucester. Eliana hears Zero's condescending, goading voice, and it works like a charm -- bile rises in the back of the lieutenant's throat and rage boils at the back of her brain even as uneasiness settles in. She -doesn't- know what was taken. She -doesn't- know what that machine is. The fact that Zero can so easily tell galls her. The fact that she can't think of any rebuttal beyond a kneejerk, childishly spat,
<<"It doesn't matter! It's ours! And it will be again--!">>
infuriates her to no end -- but she can't even manage to inflict the full weight of her churlish lack of eloquence before she sees the shoulders of the Gawain hitch open.
"What in the world..."
The Gawain opens fire. A hailstorm of black and red pummels the battlefield. The lieutenant has no idea what she's dealing with; she can only react, the Gloucester immediately and fervently trying to -weave- through the strange blitz of energy as best it can as the ground beneath it is churned like butter. What is this thing? What were they making here--?!
Brigantia's anxiety mounts, faced with so many unknowns and so many more fearsome knowns; all of this feels as if it is ramping up beyond her paygrade in a way her Britannian arrogance simply cannot accept. She barely manages to escape the onslaught of the Gawain, staring in a wide-eyed cross between wonder and horror at the glowing, molten remnants its assault has left behind--
"H-how..."
--when that Dagger CRASHES bodily into the smaller frame of the Gloucester with a CRUNCH of metal on metal.
"What-- NO!"
Back the Gloucester screams, locked in combat with Liam's Dagger; armor crunching, Eliana reacts instantly, firing off both chest-mounted slash harkens. Embedding into a nearby building, they retract, sending the lieutenant's Purist-colored Frame -snapping- upwards through the air. As it goes airborne, it attempts to -jam- its sword violently into the head of the Dagger and -drag- across it, the damaged frame spinning through the air and holstering its assault rifle as it goes...
<<"Fairness-- is a virus! No one... except Britannia understands that truth! And that's why--">>
... so that it can produce a Chaos Mine, -tossing- it in the air between Gridman and the Gawain; it suspends in mid-air and goes off the EXACT second the Gloucester lands into a scarcely-controlled spin, high-velocity ball bearings and shrapnel spitting out between them in a distracting pulse of the canister's contents... as the Gloucester itself -accelerates- for Koji Kabuto's Ichinana, very pointedly trying to avoid getting back into melee with Gridman as much as possible as it tries to RUN that MVS through the Ichinana's midsection and -tear- outward as violently as possible.
<<"-- The rest of you don't deserve anything more than our table scraps!!">>
So lost in the chaos of combat, Eliana is not nearly observant enough to notice the approach of an unnatural cloud above them.
Eliana would insists she hates clouds and sees no reason to pay attention to them, anyway; they are far too fluffy.
KTS: Cornelia li Britannia targets Gridman with Chaos Mine! KTS: Cornelia li Britannia targets Lelouch Lamperouge with Chaos Mine! KTS: Cornelia li Britannia targets Liam 7-020 with MVS Dual Swords! KTS: Cornelia li Britannia targets Koji Kabuto with MVS Jab! KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 282. KTS: SP Regen activates. Your new SP value is 150. KTS: Cornelia li Britannia has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Liam 7-020 has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Mobile Weapon Team fails to evade Alouette Pommier's Plasma Repel, taking 2880 damage! KTS: Alouette Pommier repulses Mobile Weapon Team, forcing him to disengage. KTS: Sousuke Sagara enervates Mobile Weapon Team, reducing his Morale significantly. KTS: Mobile Weapon Team fails to parry Sousuke Sagara's Lambda Monomolecular Cutter Soar, taking 4200 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Sousuke Sagara's Where'd He Go!? activates, causing Deject! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Sousuke Sagara's Battlefield Mastery activates, causing Control Bonus! KTS: Sousuke Sagara has engaged Mobile Weapon Team! KTS: Mobile Weapon Team fails to parry Kallen Kozuki's Iron Nail Slash, taking 3750 damage! KTS: Kallen Kozuki has engaged Mobile Weapon Team! KTS: Koji Kabuto blocks Cornelia li Britannia's MVS Jab, taking 5520 damage! KTS: Cornelia li Britannia has engaged Koji Kabuto! KTS: Liam 7-020 has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Cornelia li Britannia rattles Gridman, making his next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Gridman blocks Cornelia li Britannia's Chaos Mine, taking 1300 damage! KTS: Liam 7-020 fails to Parry Cornelia li Britannia's MVS Dual Swords, taking 3510 damage! KTS: Cornelia li Britannia has engaged Liam 7-020! KTS: Lelouch Lamperouge has activated the Foresee Spirit Command. KTS: Lelouch Lamperouge has activated the Foresee Spirit Command.
KTS: Lelouch Lamperouge successfully Evades Cornelia li Britannia's Chaos Mine <Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
Koji brings the Mazinger Blade around again, deflecting a lancing strike that would core his Ichinana straight through and pierce the reactor into one that would 'just' bore straight through a mobile suit's cockpit and certainly kill the pilot.
An Ichinana is not piloted from within the chest.
"Hey. Eyes up here," he growls, staring down at the comparatively diminutive machine.
"'Elevens'." He spits it too. "That's your word. You think that by reducing us to just a number you can justify walking all over us. Well, let me tell you something, Eliana Brigantia."
"Fairness! Freedom! Justice! Those are all salient rights, and I will not allow you to take them from these people who didn't even know there was an occupation for them to be worried about - no more will Britannia shatter the peace of the innocent!" The Ichinana grabs the haft of the maser sword and the shoulder of the KMF with its hands, dropping the great blade as Koji amps up the power flow to its chest array. The wild-haired pilot's pupils have dwindled and in a more intense style his mouth might be filled with fangs.
"There's no backup waiting for you. No communication that will get there in time. Your homeland will never find out what you did here, or what happened to you. I have waited seven years to yell this at one of you," he snarls, feral. The chest array burns white hot. "BREAST!!! FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRE!!!!!"
At point-blank range, heat and flame explodes from the Ichinana's front.
KTS: Koji Kabuto has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Koji Kabuto has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Koji Kabuto targets Cornelia li Britannia with Ichinana Breast Fire! KTS: Koji Kabuto has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Cornelia li Britannia fails to react to Koji Kabuto's Ichinana Breast Fire, taking 6480 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 24405
<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.
Across Tsutsujidai, the remaining Neon Genesis Junior High Students appear in places of the most need.
"Put me to work." Max says, at the hospital, prepared to carry Milly inside in his powerful arms.
Borr puts themself between civilians and danger at the high school, both knives drawn.
And Vit darts around the battlefield at the City Center, grabbing civilians and rushing them to safety.
Together, they allow Gridman to focus on the fight before him, knowing the rest of Tsutsujidai is in safe hands.
Something -- the Arablest -- leaps over the Giant of Light, and he ducks his head helpfully. They seem to be another ally, so the least he can do is make himself a bit easier to travel around.
Irritated, Gridman says, "Stop insulting my friends. Nobody here wants to hurt you, but you're really making that hard, lady."
The Gloucester launches a mine toward Gridman, and the Giant responds by holding Calibur across his body defensively. It still explodes, hurting him again, but he's going to be okay.
But even if Gridman is alright, his companions are taking far more damage, not to mention the danger to Tsutsujidai. "Calibur, we need to finish this. These people aren't going to give up."
"Fighting in the city is only ever going to hurt people." Calibur responds. "You need to take this seriously."
"Right. I warned you!" Gridman switches his grasp on Calibur's hilt. The sword pointed up and out of the way, he breaks into a run, approaching Eliana at high speed.
Despite threatening to kick her out of the city, Gridman could never actually do it. That'd be fatal to a human being, without a doubt. Instead, he skids to a stop on one heel just before the Gloucester. Raising his foot, he attempts to bring it down squarely atop the small robot, trying to force it down into the earth. If she can't move, she can't keep hurting people.
KTS: Gridman targets Cornelia li Britannia with Hyper Kick! KTS: Gridman has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Gridman has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Koji Kabuto KTS: Cornelia li Britannia fails to evade Gridman's Hyper Kick, taking 4440 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Gridman's Telepathic Link activates, causing Insight L1! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Gridman's Mediumship activates, causing Nullify! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 19965 KTS: Gridman repulses Cornelia li Britannia, forcing her to disengage.
<Pose Tracker> Mobile Weapon Team has posed.
The transmission from C.C. is mostly missed by many of the rank and file of the Britannian force here. But one of the elites does take notice, quickly countering back:
<"The realm of Britannia extends to all places where its flag flies. Where its loyal subjects battle. So long as we exist here, Britannia exists here!">
There is a rallying cry from the other Britannians as the battle quickly escalates.
Alouette's shield pulses, impacting against several of the callous Knightmares. It sends them flying back and crashing to the ground on the backs and sides. While they're still trying to pick themselves up, one of the crimson colloured elites comes rushing through them on its landspinners, announcing, <"Out of the way, weaklings!"> Rapidly approaching the Guardienne Aviaire, the elite Sutherland calls out, <"A Brave? Hah! You're nothing but a glorified exterminator!"> It raises the lance in its hand, leaping at the last moment in an attempt to run the weapon through Alouette's machine.
The Arbalest comes crashing down in front of a Sutherland, clearly surprising the pilot who rapidly kicks his landspinners into reverse in an attempt to backpeddle away. He's not fast enough though, the Arm Slave's glowing blade piercing through the Knightmare's armor and into its cockpit for likely fatal results. The Knightmare goes still, before falling onto its back limply.
However, that's likely when Sousuke will realize there's another Knightmare standing behind him. One of the elite Sutherlands. Its speaker lets out a grunt that sounds to have a tone of respect reflected within it. The Sutherland spins its lance around and jams it into the ground, while the other hand stows the assault rifle on its waist. It then spreads its arms out wide, two large metal tonfas swinging out and locking into place. They begin to crackle with electricity. There's another grunt, before the Sutherland charges forward to engage Sousuke in close range with the melee weapons.
The Guren cleaves its way through several rank and file Knightmares to the sounds of numerous cries across the Britiannian channels...
"Oh my god what is that!?"
"I can't shake it! I can't shake it!"
"Shit! It's coming!"
"AHHHHH-kshhhhhhhhhhh."
But finally it does reach one of the elite Sutherlands, which turns towards the red devil machine, <"Submit, or die!"> Of course, there's no response from the enraged Kallen. Just an attempt to slash. The elite Sutherland rapidly darts to the side, bringing its lance around to try and deflect the blow, but is too slow. It cuts across the side of the machine, digging in quite a bit, but not yet destroying it, <"Impossible! How did that hit!?">
Another elite Sutherland rolls up, replying, <"Careful! That's the machine that took down Lord Kewell!">
The first pauses for a moment... Before saying, <"Damn, you're right! Let's take it down!">
The two Sutherlands begin to act in concert, starting to circle the Guren in different directions. They both unleash their slash Harkens, attempting to tie up the unique Knightmare, before one of them charges in to try and take advantage of the maneuver, <"Lord Kewell will be avenged!">
KTS: Mobile Weapon Team targets Alouette Pommier with Jousting Lance Charge! KTS: Mobile Weapon Team targets Sousuke Sagara with Stun Tonfa Discharge! KTS: Mobile Weapon Team targets Kallen Kozuki with Slash Harken Hook! KTS: Mobile Weapon Team has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Alouette Pommier has activated the Rouse Spirit Command. <Pose Tracker> C.C. has posed.
"...oh, they've got it terrible, don't they?" C.C. muses, testing the Gawain's Float System in a fiercer dive. The power draw on this thing is a little unstable - a high speed maneuver alongside the Hadron Cannon dims the latter's output, so she has to halt mid-swoop to let the thing actually fire out. Small mobile weapons like this still struggle with aerial maneuvers - though the Float System seems to be a bit...ambitious?
"...Hm. Lelouch, take care when positioning this thing. Unbelievably, the flight seems to be something attempting to compare to Celestial Being's Gundams, stopping and starting at will. They've kind of managed it, actually. But it's nothing like an airplane, or really anything I've flown, so I'm adjusting to it too." - the witch clicks her throat, knowing full well this isn't Lelouch's area of expertise.
"...Also, I can't help myself. Pardon me a second."
C.C. steals the comms again, laughing under her breath at Eliana. <<Come now. A dog is a dog? You should aspire to greater heights than that.>> "That's all. ...You're getting the hang of this pretty well, Lelouch - give me a few minutes. Think of it like a test of how much you've learned, alright? Not like this has a lot of weapons systems to sift through."
...that's all, because a much more immense presence alights the skies. C.C's staring up for the next while, hands going on autopilot - Lelouch might notice that she also seems to be...hogging some of the processing power a little bit on the Druid System. Her eyes are staring. The Gawain's eyes are staring, at the looming rainbow. The iridescent 'shadow' of someone familiar.
Her voice reaches Kaworu's as clearly as if she were standing right next to him.
\\It's uncanny to witness, when the past months have felt like this became a cocoon of healing.'
\\Maybe it's a balancing act. The latent nature to 'hide' and 'recover' pushes out the instinct to 'emerge' and 'take'.'
\\It's been a fascinating closed system experiment, hasn't it? But you recognize it. You 'both' do. The will to restore is greater than the urge to take - and this is just the ugly recoil.'
\\...have you enjoyed it? I've found it an amusing distraction.'
KTS: Alouette Pommier fails to parry Mobile Weapon Team's Jousting Lance Charge, taking 5940 damage! KTS: Mobile Weapon Team has engaged Alouette Pommier! KTS: C.C. has activated the Daunt Spirit Command targeting Cornelia li Britannia KTS: Kallen Kozuki rushes into the attack! KTS: Mobile Weapon Team anchors Kallen Kozuki, forcing her into close range. KTS: Kallen Kozuki partially guards Mobile Weapon Team's Slash Harken Hook, taking 3780 damage! KTS: Mobile Weapon Team has engaged Kallen Kozuki! KTS: Sousuke Sagara has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Sousuke Sagara's Will Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage. KTS: Sousuke Sagara parries Mobile Weapon Team's Stun Tonfa Discharge, taking 4020 damage! KTS: Mobile Weapon Team has engaged Sousuke Sagara!
<Pose Tracker> Lelouch Lamperouge has posed.
"They don't know what they have and they've been guarding it for nearly two months. Any fool would be checking the fridge by now." He notes the power draw, tapping away. Slight rerouting, focusing more on keeping airborne than letting C.C. have its full potential. The kinks will work out eventually.
Guiding, razing the ground with every passing moment, inching her closer to danger with every sweep and nudge of that laser. Even if there's no real chance he'd be good enough to follow the lockon-system the exact way he wants it, it still is enough for the ultimate goal: A distraction for another to follow up on. "Oh? You don't know how to do something? That's a first." Really, how irresistle it is to jab back a woman who thought she knew everything.
There's a sense of satisfaction of seeing someone devolve so readily, especially as that Dagger digs in. It is nothing more than empty words meant to antagonize. With the chaos, the talk is serving its primary purpose.
<<A donkey is much more your speed, Eliana. Braying, annoying, and not knowing what you have shouldered on your back.>> A followup, a line worked up as he tweaks, again and again. Position here. No, here. Wait for Koji, go here. Liam's voice. Here. There. Positions worked out, predictions ghosting along the screen, again and again and again, the keys clacking in increasingly faster paces as the machine is molded to his workflow.
A few singular taps to fuel the Float System, to watch the sensors bray about the shards of mine shrapnel bouncing off of the Gawain's armor. A few more taps. Reroute power. Direct. "Of course. What sort of person would I be if I couldn't?" His voice is thick with confidence.
Tap. Tap tap. The giant's motions are easy to read. Simple. THe windup. Simple. The Hardon Cannons flick closed, then open, then closed, then fully open. The Gawain sweeping its arms wide, red collecting before FIRING. Minute adjustments for the display of power, both lasers honing in on a singular target: The Gloucester, ankle and Ichihana be damned.
Damn power drain. It won't be a total barrage, but the power should still "convince" that woman to bow down.
KTS: Lelouch Lamperouge targets Cornelia li Britannia with Hadron Cannon - Bishop Strike! KTS: Lelouch Lamperouge has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
Second by second, the violence only escalates. The Guren in particular might be tiny, but it is possessed of ferocious power and a pilot with an iron will beyond reason. Kaworu remembers when it (she) took on Unit-02 without fear or hesitation; against foes her own size, they are as wheat before the scythe.
Nor is she the only one with death in her heart and her hands. The Arbalest cuts down Knightmares while Eliana spears through Koji's Ichinana, and in response Koji opens fire, quite literally. Gridman does his best to be gentle with the mobile suits that are like toy cars at his feet, but even a small mistake on his part could have fatal consequences. The Neon Genesis Junior High Students are at least out and about to protect the civilian population; Kaworu gazes down at Borr as they bare their blades in defense of the high schoolers before he lifts his regard once more.
The rainclouds are heavier now--not with rain, but with blotches of dark reds, dirty oranges, and mottled purples that shift with increasing rapidity. Their presence might still be mistaken for the constant storm intensifying, especially when those below have far more pressing things to pay attention to. But there is at least one who's taken notice, and who extends her voice to him--to both of them.
"I can't say I have," Kaworu says, addressing C.C. first, even though any normal onlookers would see him continuing to talk to empty air. "The more that Akane Shinjo breaks down, the greater the threat to this world that is her heart. That will affect far more than just her." He huffs a little breath. "But you're not wrong, either. Lilim are infinitely variegated between the will to restore and the urge to take. That is what makes them both beautiful and horrifying."
Speaking of variegated, the ugly flashing of bloody bruise colors only grows more heated, to the point where it might start to draw notice among the rest of the fighters below. Seems someone is very much not enjoying it at all.
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
Alouette clenches her teeth as she hears that ever so bold claim about how Britannia is everywhere - colonizer rhetoric if she ever heard it. Which only keeps her motivated to keep up that Plasma Hold long as she can, to keep these people away from the innocent civilians of Tsutsujidai.
But one of those crimon machines rushes forward, jousting with his lance. Alouette tries to call for the Aile Rapier, but it's too late... and besides, swords aren't so effective against lances after all, are they?
A glorified exterminator... that's his idea of an insult? "My, but I've only shown you what the power of Protection is capable of." She muses back, almost playful enough to sound taunting... but her expression remains dead serious. "If that's the case, I wonder how a pest like you will be able to handle the broken claw of Destruction."
Her voice rises back up in pitch, as she calls, true to her warning: "Phantom Ring PLUS!" Which is provided by the Program Ring hatch, coupled with a foreboding whirling sound.
"BROKEN! PHANTOOOOOOM!" The bladed talon-fist of Guardienne Aviaire is fired forth, attempting to relentlessly cut through each of the Sutherlands, starting with the one who tried to lance through her.
KTS: Alouette Pommier has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Alouette Pommier targets Mobile Weapon Team with Broken Phantom! KTS: Alouette Pommier has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Mobile Weapon Team successfully evades Alouette Pommier's Broken Phantom KTS: Cornelia li Britannia successfully avoids Lelouch Lamperouge's Hadron Cannon - Bishop Strike KTS: Liam 7-020 has changed loadout. <Pose Tracker> Sousuke Sagara has posed.
Arbalest is like a ghost.
AL reports, <<Another unit in the formation.>>
Sousuke swings up with his offhanded monomolecular cutter, but the shock from that jolting electricity fires through Arbalest, forcing it back. It leaps away, impossibly high, impossibly fast, completely OVER a building, and when his pursuer gets there he's just gone.
Perhaps the Britannian man's sensors alert him to movement in the parking lot across the way. Perhaps a sign blips in and out, a warning that something is there, but unable to be picked out amid the vehicles.
Perhaps he has an entire second to watch as Arbalest suddenly melts out of the shadows next to a bus, PICKS IT UP and then THROWS IT LIKE A JAVELIN to smash his machine completely into scrap, and himself into jelly.
The Arbalest's head vulcans go off shortly after, setting off the bus's fuel tank and making good and god damn sure the Sutherland is totaled. Arbalest leaps off again, engaging the next KMFs it sees with a spread of Anti-Tnak daggers, spearing down and exploding a moment after breaching armor.
KTS: Sousuke Sagara targets Mobile Weapon Team with Anti-Tank Dagger Fan! KTS: Sousuke Sagara has completed their actions for the round.
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyDQhl0zVL4&ab_channel=GuilhermePallas
'A dog-- a dog is a dog!'
Liam's grin turns into a grimace as the Second Lieutenant spits those words. He's been called worse, but that epithet lodges right in his brain, and--
'Congratulations, Puppy, you're a man, now!
Liam grits his teeth as memories of Hephaestus' voice break loose. He'd told Koji months ago that dealing with his augmented adrenal response was sometimes like balancing atop a rushing wave. He can feel himself slipping. The anger's taking him, and he can't stop it. He's spent too long trapped here, and his resounding defeat at Julia Ampere's hands only made him feel more helpless.
The Gloucester slams into the Long Dagger's shield, and the whole Mobile Suit rocks, slightly, from impact. In the cockpit, Liam sways back and forth, his smile turning feral. (He hates it.) The KMF puts its maneuverability on full display, and immediately he's on the back foot again. The Mobile Suit raises its arm, sweeps it through empty air in a parry that comes a split-second too late. The blade digs into the Long Dagger's head with an ugly crunch, and it peels its masked 'face' wide open. The Suit reels back. In the cockpit, Liam scowls and snarls as one of the main cameras goes dead, its feed cut. He forces himself to breathe, to suck in air even as Koji Kabuto screams out his rage. He wants to join him. (He has to join him.) He can't join him. (His family is dead.) He can't. (Dublin is dead.) He can't. (They just take and take and take and TAKE AND LEAVE YOU TO DIE WHEN THERE'S NOTHING LEFT)
Helpless tears well up in Liam's eyes. Is this what the Crucible turned him into?
Or was this... there all along, and they just broke it, like they broke the rest of him? They didn't want or need a berserker. He wasn't one to begin with. He is...
He's angry. But who wouldn't be?
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFqfN-ju1MQ&ab_channel=MekkahDee
...and that was how Setanta, son of Lugh, became...
The Long Dagger rocks forwards, coming to rest with its shield held before it. There's a moment of perfect stillness to it, despite the furious battle outside--despite Kallen's rage-driven rampage through the Britannian rank-and-file, stopped only by the Second Lieutenant's elites.
"...That's cu to you," Liam says, and the anger in his voice has a whole different character to it. It's no longer desperate. "And I'm going to teach you just what that means." The Long Dagger erupts in a flash of blinding light as the bolts holding its Fortestra in place blow free. The explosion isn't as violent as it could be--Liam moves the machine forward, letting most of them fall harmlessly to the street--posing a hazard, perhaps, to the enemy KMFs, but not to civilians. "I told Gridman I'd protect this place! I'd protect his people! And if that makes me his dog--" The flash dies just in time to reveal the haft of a beam naginata-like weapon telescoping into place. "Better that than the likes of you!" The spear sweeps down, moving in a street-grazing arc as Liam tries to sweep the KMF's legs out from under it. If he can take one or more of them off, so much the better.
<Pose Tracker> Kallen Kozuki has posed.
The Britannians around her have been screaming. She doesn't hear it. Barely registers when the KMFs slump off Guren's claw, never to again rise. When they explode outright in some cases. The first thing to catch her attention is when one... doesn't explode. When it survives a grazing hit. In the flames, the 'eyes' of the Guren seem to shine with malevolent intelligence. Though of course, the machine itself has no such thing. This... bloodbath, is all at the hands of the pilot.
And then a teammate joins the show. Two nearly identical Sutherlands, both woefully inadequate... They release their Harkens together, succeeding in snaring the Guren. But then, it wasn't even attempting to dodge. It just raced in at the more damaged one, seeming to just accept taking the hits, as if its own condition meant nothing. And maybe it doesn't. Certainly there are rumors about the Guren and its pilot. People talk, Britannia in particular is a vicious gossip mill. And considering the pride in their people, of course there are exaggerations made to make the losses more... palatable. Painting this thing as less of a KMF, and more of a monster. In this moment, maybe the rumors don't seem so exaggerated.
But the devil always has another surprise. When the KMF moves in for the follow-up, the cords on the two sets of Harkens strain, finding themselves winding closer as its claw begins to PULL on them. And 'in close' is the last place anyone ever wants to be with the Guren. The lucky one of the pair has been selected. It's the first of the duo. The one who survived the initial rake. But while they might be expecting a certain attack... that's not what's coming. Instead, the smaller, regular red arm jabs at the damaged Sutherland. Or rather, is aiming to shove the arm into its gashes. Followed by an ominous 'k-thunk, plip' as it fires off a grenade from the arm mounted launcher, while burrowed in. Self-inflicted damage be damned.
Still... even as horrifying as that might be, both to be involved in, or just to witness... If that attack works out, that pilot is STILL the luckier one. Because now as Guren turns away to face the remaining vermin... the Wave Surger is beginning to glow a hateful, sickly crimson. Making the air begin churning and distorting around the arm. Preparing its fatal charge.
KTS: Liam 7-020 targets Cornelia li Britannia with Beam Spear Slash! KTS: Liam 7-020 has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Kallen Kozuki targets Mobile Weapon Team with Arm Cannon Grenade Shot! KTS: Kallen Kozuki has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Mobile Weapon Team fails to evade Sousuke Sagara's Anti-Tank Dagger Fan, taking 3680 damage! KTS: Mobile Weapon Team has activated the Dash Spirit Command and has disengaged. KTS: Mobile Weapon Team fails to intercept Kallen Kozuki's Arm Cannon Grenade Shot, taking 4300 damage!
KTS: Cornelia li Britannia fails to parry Liam 7-020's Beam Spear Slash, taking 3870 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 16095 KTS: Liam 7-020 has engaged Cornelia li Britannia!
<Pose Tracker> Cornelia li Britannia has posed.
Between Eliana's response to C.C.:
<<"I am pure of Britannian blood, why should I aspire to higher than this -- wait, who on earth are you even supposed to be, you -- you -- sassy, oafish terrorist?!">>
OR to Gridman:
<<"The only people insulting your friends are themselves, with their -- their -- stubborn idiocy!!">
Let it be known that Eliana Brigantia, disgraced officer of the Britannian Union, did not earn or lose her ranks because of her razor-sharp verbal swordsmanship.
The MVS is a shockingly powerful melee weapon even for something at so small a scale as the Knightmare Frame. Unfortunately, it can only do so much when the weapon fails to deliver a killing blow due to a failure in targeting a cockpit. It -had- been Eliana's intention. However...
"What?! Who puts a cockpit in such a stupid position--"
... Well, it'd be lying to say Eliana ever put much effort into learning the ins and outs of the Ichinana's design.
Some things just separate the goods from the greats when it comes to combat.
The difference between 'good' and 'great' shows itself, too, when Koji Kabuto suddenly uses the lieutenant's own offensive against her; the Gloucester rattles as a large hand grips at the Knightmare Frame's shoulder, a second at the haft of that MVS. Brigantia's eyes widen. She yanks the controls; the Gloucester, in turn, yanks upon that grip on it and its sword. It begins to loosen, even as the pale-haired pilot hears the pronouncement of the former pilot of the Mazinger Z.
<<"That's -- ridiculous!">> she tries to shout over his own words. <<"We don't need backup! This glory is for the Purists! For the late Lords Kewell and Gottwald! And when I-- dammit, loosen -- when I and my men have beaten you, we'll be back where we-- where we--">>
YANK
<<"--BELONG--">>
CRUNCH
The very second the Gloucester frees itself is the very second that Gridman's boot comes down. The MVS lifts in an attempt to ward off the blow, seconds too late; it sends it CRASHING to one knee, servos and hydraulics whining and spitting as sakuradite reserves swiftly overheat in the struggle. Warning alarms blare over Eliana's angry shouts of "NO! NO!!"
BREAST!!! FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRE!!!!!
"oh, no."
Heat and flame erupt. The Gloucester is caught in the torrent for two entire seconds before it manages to -wrest- itself free. One might not think two seconds is all that much time.
But everything is relative.
Two seconds. That's all it takes to start boiling metal to a melting point, to fry the Gloucester's Factsphere. Two seconds is all it takes to rupture one of the remaining Chaos Mines in the Knightmare Frame's arsenal, the spew of swiftly-molten sharpnel shredding through superheated armor.
Two seconds is all it takes to leave the Gloucester's front a molten, dripping mess of what was once proud, Pureblood colors as it -rips- away from the titanic form of Gridman and out of the path of that remaining Breastfire torrent, skidding out wildly and firing upon both the Hyper Agent and the mass produced Mazin furiously with its assault rifle, a ranged assault that continues --
Until the Hadron Cannon's churning red beam converge on the spot the Gloucester once occupied, sheering close enough that it carves -straight- into that extended, firing limb.
The Gloucester's arm is ejected, seconds before it can explode -violently- in the wake of that assault that scarcely missed finishing it and its pilot off; the KMF stumbles and drags across the cooling, ruined earth created by the Gawain's earlier Hadron barrage.
Sweat drips thick from Eliana's brow as she pants. Her eyes wide and fidgeting wildly, her fingers trembling at her controls, her features a strange mixture of heat-flushed and pale as a ghost; the Britannian lieutenant has all the look of someone who has experienced their first brush with death. She sucks in deep breaths, feeling the way the built up heat dries out her mouth. The Gloucester's system work on rapidly cooling down where it is possible.
"H-how... how... how..."
But Eliana's heart burns. With panic...
"... how dare...!!"
... and indignation.
<<"... how DARE YOU!!">>
The words are shouted with venom in the wake of Zero's cool taunting; spittle sizzles along the heated controls of the Gloucester as Eliana -jams- on the acceleration. The Gloucester's chest-mounted Harkens fire, and look to STAB into the front of that strange, implacable Gawain, as it combines both the retracting reel of the harkens and its full-bore acceleration in an attempt to YANK the flying Knightmare Frame and send it crashing towards the grounds of Tsutsujidai.
It's an effort that Eliana hopes to capitalize on, brandishing the Maser Vibration Sword as she attempts to charge to the location she thinks - hopes - the Gawain will land.
Only for
... That's cu to you.
<<"What--">>
CRASH
Eliana sees the Long Dagger's approach seconds before it makes impact. It affords her only enough time to wheel in the mobile suit's direction and -thrust- that sword towards -Liam's- machine instead of Zero's, but the surprise of, combined with that unexpected, blinding flare of -light- makes the blow go wide; what's intended to be a parrying stroke instead ends up going for the chest of Liam's machine. Lieutenant Brigantia does not even see the naginata until its beamed blade is -sweeping- low.
Whatever the result of her own brutally misplaced attack, there is a shriek of metal and a screamed <<"I DON'T KNOW OR CARE WHAT THAT MEANS--">> before it's drowned out by the sound of a crashing Gloucester, toppling to earth with a violent crash.
Its left leg sparking and sputtering, its remaining arm gripping at its sword to STAB it into the ground to try to drag the partially-melted Knightmare Frame up, Eliana is sputtering a string of superlatives into her heated cockpit as she desperately tries to regain her footing.
"... cu... as if that even... ..."
And then she blinks.
As her gaze tilts, bemused, towards bruising colors pulsing in the sky.
"... what..."
KTS: Cornelia li Britannia targets Liam 7-020 with MVS Heavy Strike! KTS: Cornelia li Britannia targets Koji Kabuto with Sutherland AR Barrage! KTS: Cornelia li Britannia targets Gridman with Sutherland AR Barrage! KTS: Cornelia li Britannia targets Lelouch Lamperouge with Slash Harken Entangle! KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 295. KTS: SP Regen activates. Your new SP value is 150. KTS: Cornelia li Britannia has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Koji Kabuto rushes into the attack! KTS: Koji Kabuto partially guards Cornelia li Britannia's Sutherland AR Barrage, taking 4680 damage! KTS: Liam 7-020 has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Liam 7-020 has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Koji Kabuto has activated the Trick Spirit Command. <Pose Tracker> Mobile Weapon Team has posed.
The Guardienne Aviaire fires off its fist. The first one in the firing line is the elite Sutherland. Its pilot quickly turns the machine on its landspinners, letting the first fly past its chest just barely. The Sutherland's head turns to watch as several other of its kin are not so like, the fist smashing through them and sending them crashing to the ground.
The elite replies, <"I handled it better than those guys, clearly."> Awfully callous of him after seeing his comrades killed. Still, the pilot is quick to return to dealing with Alouette, starting to circle around her machine and firing up at it with a heavy barrage of gunfire from its assault rifle. It's trying to out-maneuver the Guardienne in an attempt to bypass that shield of its.
The elite Sutherland fighting the Arbalest attempts to give chase to its fleeing foe, but finds it gone once it arrives. The Sutherland's faceplate opens, factsphere beneath trying to pick up any signs of the elusive Arm Slave... Its head turns!
Just in time to see a bus hurtling towards it. The Knightmare raises its arms! The flying vehicle's fuel tank is targetted! There's an explosion of flame!
The Arbalest turns to continue hunting down the Britannian Knightmares assaulting the city, taking a couple more down with well aimed throwing daggers.
But suddenly, a system alert!
The elite Sutherland comes rushing out of the burning remains of the bus, missing one arm and armor slagged in numerous places. The pilot's annoyed grunt echoes from the machine's speakers, before it rushes forward, still intact arm rushing forward to deliver a strong jab from the tip of its stun tonfa.
The two elites going after the Guren seem to have it all tied up. They're feeling awfully confident about this. Like maybe the stories about this machine were exaggerated.
And then the Guren starts pulling both machines in, using their own cables.
The two Sutherlands start to struggle, trying to pull back against the Guren, landspinners kicking up a cloud of dust. But to no success! Finally the first of the two is in reach and the Guren jams its arm into the machine, delivering a grenade. "Fuck!" is the only response the pilot has time to give as she activates her ejection system. The Sutherland's cockpit module jettisons out of the machine and rockets away, moments before the Knightmare explodes from the inside out.
Finding himself alone and somewhat outmatched, the other elite calls out, "Impossible! How is this thing so strong!?" He quickly cuts the line connecting the two so he has time to backaway and gain some distance. Dropping both weapons in its hands, the Sutherland reaches for its waist and pulls out a pair of devices. It throws them into the air between the two machines.
The Chaos Mines snap open, thrusters firing to make them hover in the air, before unleashing a veritable barrage of shrapnel towards the Guren.
KTS: Mobile Weapon Team has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Mobile Weapon Team targets Alouette Pommier with Sutherland AR Barrage! KTS: Mobile Weapon Team has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Mobile Weapon Team targets Sousuke Sagara with Stun Tonfa Heavy Discharge! KTS: Mobile Weapon Team has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Mobile Weapon Team targets Kallen Kozuki with Double Chaos Mine! KTS: Mobile Weapon Team has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Gridman has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Gridman blocks Cornelia li Britannia's Sutherland AR Barrage, taking 2340 damage! KTS: Sousuke Sagara has activated the Alert Spirit Command. KTS: Sousuke Sagara successfully evades Mobile Weapon Team's Stun Tonfa Heavy Discharge KTS: Liam 7-020 fails to Parry Cornelia li Britannia's MVS Heavy Strike, taking 6960 damage! KTS: Cornelia li Britannia has engaged Liam 7-020! KTS: Alouette Pommier fails to react to Mobile Weapon Team's Sutherland AR Barrage, taking 3900 damage! KTS: Kallen Kozuki charges into the attack! KTS: Kallen Kozuki successfully avoids Mobile Weapon Team's Double Chaos Mine <Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
The heat and light fades, and Koji finds himself panting from exertion, wrestling with the Ichinana's controls.
He's finally letting every frustration he has with the world out, screaming it raw to the heavens -
- heavens aglow with unusual lights, even for Tsutsujidai's gloomy, polygonal sky. Koji pauses too, feeling a flash of guilt - this vague sense that he is being judged? No, that they're all being judged. By... something.
"Sorry," he says, quietly, unsure of to whom. "Us humans hold a little bit of god and devil in us." He looks down at one hand - his palm's itching - and clenches it tight. "And sometimes you need to be a monster to protect what's precious."
He's distracted - Eliana fires on him, holding down the trigger and not letting up. Snapping out of it as bullets ricochet off the Ichinana's armour, some shots bouncing around inside the hole cored through the machine's torso, Koji yells wordlessly and burns back towards her Sutherland, sweeping the Mazinger Blade off the ground again.
The blade comes up. "Stay... DOWN!"
It crashes down.
<Pose Tracker> C.C. has posed.
Ferocity rages in the heavens - just as it does on the earth below. For a moment, C.C. considers what it would mean to quell that storm. To ease its synchronous, swelling emotional outburst.
...and then she considers again, and gives it her biggest, most radiant smile.
\\That's a valid way to feel, for sure.'
Hand resting on her cheek in the cockpit, the witch thinks back to when she still felt so strongly. When was the last time she was angry? Can she even say she understands the fervor of - no, it's not just Kallen. It's everyone.
Finally, C.C. looks around her. It's become a storm of so much intensity. From Koji Kabuto. From Liam. The lights pulsing from the streets of Tsutsujidai simply echo what emits up above. Is that so?
\\Treasure that feeling there. It's quite valuable in its own right.'
\\Even act on it, just to see how it feels. Maybe it's guiding. I'd like to try it again myself.'
...And then, at last, C.C.'s net across this little world contracts back inward. Anger. Anger. Dig it up, just for a change. Just to see how it is.
"...Uhhhhm. Tricky, tricky..." Two fingers tapped to her lips, before finally, C.C. sighs, leaning far back in her chair and gazing balefully up at Lelouch. "...Ah, in this confined little space - I like the way you're getting there, to be sure. But it's not quite the emotion I was hoping to tap into just this second. Maybe it'll help - maybe it won't? I feel like I have a score to settle with some of these Britannians, but at the same time, it's not like I really..."
A pouty little puff of air. "Well. Don't change yourself for my sake, that's for sure. Just forgive me if it feels like I'm getting clingy in a part of you I shouldn't be really careless in."
And in just that moment - C.C. guides the hand deciding on the Hadron Cannon's output levels - and gives it that little extra manual alteration of power draw, to make sure that if Lelouch is in any way angry, any way judgmental-
He can freely feel it a little bit more, now.
KTS: C.C. has activated the Attune Spirit Command targeting Lelouch Lamperouge KTS: Koji Kabuto targets Cornelia li Britannia with Mazinger Blade Lunge! KTS: Koji Kabuto has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Lelouch Lamperouge has activated the Foresee Spirit Command. KTS: Cornelia li Britannia anchors Lelouch Lamperouge, forcing him into close range. KTS: Lelouch Lamperouge fails to Evade Cornelia li Britannia's Slash Harken Entangle, taking 4320 damage! KTS: Cornelia li Britannia has engaged Lelouch Lamperouge!
<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.
Liam's fury and sadness reach Gridman, who looks to the Long Dagger, concerned. There must be more to this fight for Liam. What can he do to help..?
...Wait, Gridman's dog? Cu?
"Liam!" The Giant of Light calls, "You're my friend, and I trust you! We're all here with you. We're going to stop these people. Keep fighting bravely!"
It doesn't feel like enough. But it's all he can manage in the middle of a battle.
The Gloucester is roasted by Koji and Gridman's combined attack, though it scorches the Giant's foot a little, too. By now, the enemy machine is looking pretty rough.
"Give up." Gridman orders, again protecting himself with Calibur's shielded hilt. Damage is starting to build up. He can't ignore it. "You're in no condition to keep fighting. You can't defeat us like this."
The Ichinana looks rough, too, and Gridman calls out to its pilot. "Dr. Kabuto, please, be careful! Fall back if it's too much!"
Clearly, Eliana isn't going to give up. Gridman, resigned to tearing the Gloucester apart, holds his sword with both hands.
"Wait. Gridman." Calibur speaks up. "Above us."
"What?"
Standing up at his full height, Gridman raises his eyes, seeing the approaching cloud for the first time. Immediately, he recognizes it.
---
Across town, Borr looks up as well, and notices a certain person atop the roof in the middle of a battle.
"KAWORU, WHAT THE FUCK. GET INSIDE!" Borr shouts.
---
"I remember you." Gridman calls out to the cloud. "From the park. I'm sorry I scared you with the soda back then. Please stay back, it's dangerous here."
This is still a battle. Gridman lowers his gaze back to the Gloucester. His hands tighten on Calibur's hilt. This is still a battle, and it needs to stop.
Lightning sparks around Gridman, jumping from his enormous form to the tops of buildings. "Tsutsujidai is protected. Nothing will change that. And you'll never forget, after today."
With two steps, Gridman looms in front of Eliana once again. Electricity builds around him, gathering around the sword in his hands. The sword is lifted high, and together, Gridman and Calibur shout--
"Grid... Calibur... END!"
With all his strength, the Giant of Light brings his sword down, wreathed in lightning.
KTS: Gridman targets Cornelia li Britannia with Grid Calibur End! KTS: Gridman has completed their actions for the round.
<Pose Tracker> Kallen Kozuki has posed.
The evidence that Guren is in fact a devil, is beginning to mount beyond refutation. Particularly in the backlighting of the Sutherland erupting into a fireball, with its body half-turned. The launcher arm hangs limp. It won't be needed any further right now. The damage to it from the outside is oddly low, perhaps because the other explosives held within were prevented from cooking off by its armoring. But the connections and motors that give it motion are fried. The first point of failure perhaps, since Kallen is redlining the Guren about as hard as it goes.
Landspinners are half-melted and kicking up showers of sparks and liquid debris as they whirl the machine to fully face the panic-stricken elite. And then to boost it straight at the Sutherland.
How does not a single shot of the TWIN chaos mines land a blow? It's statistically impossible. And yet the Guren seems to find the most miniscule gaps to fit into along its course. Or... perhaps it's because of the haze. The heat coming off the once-silver claw, jutting forward every step of the way. More than a few times now, this weapon has stopped bullets cold. Perhaps what is being lost in the chaos, is chunks of the shrapnel simply melting and plopping to the ground as globs of molten warcrime.
He can hear the low whine of the claw as a joint extends. Closing the gap further between him and certain death. The fear taking grip on his mind. The sight, not yet real, of each oversized nail wrapping around the body of his Sutherland, squeezing as Wave Surger releases its charge, to boil and liquify the KMF. To force its armor to expand and cook. He couldn't possibly escape... He can see what will happen in his mind. Ejection failure, as the metal warps and swells. Perhaps he'd get lucky and something exploding would jettison him before it's too late. Before this machine cooks HIM.
All of that in an instant flash. Before the Guren has quite reached his position. But surely, that fate is just what this monster seeks. It must be... right? So... what can he do about it?
KTS: Kallen Kozuki has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Lelouch Lamperouge has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: Kallen Kozuki targets Mobile Weapon Team with Wave Surger Eruption! KTS: Kallen Kozuki has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Lelouch Lamperouge has activated the Trick Spirit Command.
KTS: Koji Kabuto anchors Cornelia li Britannia, forcing her into close range. KTS: Cornelia li Britannia fails to parry Koji Kabuto's Mazinger Blade Lunge, taking 4800 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 11295 KTS: Koji Kabuto has engaged Cornelia li Britannia! KTS: Koji Kabuto roots his unit, coming to a standstill and leaving him vulnerable. KTS: Cornelia li Britannia fails to evade Gridman's Grid Calibur End, taking 5952 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 5343 KTS: Gridman has engaged Cornelia li Britannia! KTS: Mobile Weapon Team fails to retreat. KTS: Mobile Weapon Team fails to react to Kallen Kozuki's Wave Surger Eruption, taking 6345 damage! KTS: Kallen Kozuki has engaged Mobile Weapon Team! <Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
"It means hound," Liam says. "Second-grade teacher hit my knuckles for saying it. Wasn't the Emperor's English." He sweeps the haft of the spear inwards, trying to herd the KMF away before it can close the distance, but that sword packs a punch disproportionate to its size. It digs maybe halfway into the Mobile Suit's chest, but the microwave radiation starts frying everything in its path--the Long Dagger's hands twitch and jerk, and then the AMBAC starts to compensate for lost servos. A smoking wound remains.
"Gridman," Liam says. There's a tremble in his words, but it's not the anxiety of that day in the clothing store--just intense emotion. "I know. Just--claiming the word. Dogs are loyal and brave and loving. Ferocious protectors, gentle companions." A Historic Kingdom accent starts to surface--Irish. Dublin Irish. "Of course the likes of her look down on them." The Long Dagger takes a street-shaking step towards the half-molten KMF. It's part bluster. Liam does not bluster. But the enemy is in a fragile, vulnerable spot, and so is he, and he knows what it's like to be trapped and enraged, inside a melting machine. If he can stop this without--
The Second Lieutenant's Gloucester looks up, and the Long Dagger does too.
"The Cloud," Liam says. "It's been here, but this--" This fight has attracted it. What's it going to do? It intervened to protect them all from Sandalphon. But those colors. They're all Liam has to go on.
"It's distressed." A twinge of guilt builds in his heart. "You're right," Liam says, to Gridman. "This stops now." How much of the KMF can they hack away without ripping the cockpit block open? Liam can only guess. The Long Dagger sweeps that spear down, the pavement scorching as he sweeps it for the Gloucester's remaining leg. It reverses course, and brings it sweeping back and up, to relieve it of that remaining arm. Even now, Liam tries to keep himself from that threshold he's so afraid of crossing again.
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
Despite the wildly destructive and sometimes unpredictable nature of the Broken array of abilities, the Program Ring is there for a reason: it at least lets her attune the trajectory to avoid immediately smashing apart the cockpit ejection systems in its wake. Whether the pilots are smart and not too stubborn to use it, she can't predict of course.
Still, the callous nature of the standing elite pilot doesn't go unnoticed as he doesn't even try to assist his comrades. "There's not an ounce of courage in you, is there?" He is able to outmaneuver Aviaire, peppering her with bullets, but the larger fighting mechanoid is still standing, her own faceplate chipped.
A glimpse to the sky. "I'm not done with you," she breathes out, remembering why she's fighting in the first place. For this city and the people living in it. And the longer the battle rages on... "Let's put an end to this dance, shall we? EEEEMISSION!"
Aviaire jumps backwards, cape-wings flowing, as another Program Ring is produced. This time a graceful red rapier emerging in the right arm instead of a fierce claw. Alouette's movements are precise and minute, feinting out the ace pilot before aiming one last decisive strike at the Knightmare's head housing the Factsphere. "Once we open a path out... never show your faces in Tsutsujidai again."
<Pose Tracker> Lelouch Lamperouge has posed.
A smile blossoming on the face of Zero, watching Eliana be bounced around. The chewtoy flailing, rummaging about without any guidance or course of how to respond, noting with glee as those communications breakdown further and further. To see the high and mighty "Britannian Prowess" fall so easily, to watch a Commander fall from grace faster than one could imagine.
<<Ridiculous.>> That was all that needed to be said; To watch someone flounder so hard on something so disproven, watching and noting. It's a sideshow to learning the ins and outs of the machine, to tweaking and adjusting and fiddling and setting and pushing everything to its proper place, setting the pieces on the chessboard down where they best were.
"Adjust deviance by 4%." Ah, that was the way to regulate it. How to control it. Trust in C.C., but keep the reins for himself. And by controlling this beast, he could control the battlefield.
Bait, snatched. Hovering implacably above, the angel of damnation looming over the Gloucester without an attempt to move, watching, waiting. The craft nudges a bit at Zero's command; Shifting, those Harkens missing their mark...and snagging onto the legs of the Gawain, forcing out a click of his tongue. Dragged in. Not good.
"Bit more power to the engines and we'll be free." The Harkens will be fine. Scratches and mangled, lightly crumbled legs, but survivable. Even if the way this craft moves is like a balloon, it's still agile.
Of course, those words are taken, ignored, and instead...Lelouch recieves something else entirely. The little extra bit of power in the Gawain, the glow of its wings visibly dimming as it dips lower.
"You..." Of course there's anger. Anger at C.C., for tweaking this bit of his mind, for stepping over that small line. The radiance of anger. The spite. The want to raze this country to the ground. The teenager who wants to commit patricide.
Taptaptaptap, tap.
<<Elania Brigantia!>> A voice as clear as day.
<<For the crimes of being a Britannian cur that knows only how to scavenge the riches of others, your sentence is death!>>
Both Hardon Cannons flick open, the red ominously gathering. Narrowing in brightness, twin orbs of judgement and derision aimed at the Gloucester. There is a cloud. There is the perfect diversion.
<<Die.>>
And it fires.
KTS: Liam 7-020 targets Cornelia li Britannia with Beam Spear Combo! KTS: Liam 7-020 has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Alouette Pommier has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: Alouette Pommier targets Mobile Weapon Team with Coup de Grace! KTS: Alouette Pommier has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Lelouch Lamperouge targets Cornelia li Britannia with Hadron Cannon - King Oblivion! KTS: Lelouch Lamperouge has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Cornelia li Britannia fails to react to Liam 7-020's Beam Spear Combo, taking 7320 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at -1977 KTS: Cornelia li Britannia has been defeated! KTS: You're out of the fight. Consider using +eject to leave the battlefield. KTS: Liam 7-020 has engaged Cornelia li Britannia! KTS: Cornelia li Britannia fails to react to Lelouch Lamperouge's Hadron Cannon - King Oblivion, taking 5670 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at -7647 KTS: Cornelia li Britannia has been defeated! KTS: You're out of the fight. Consider using +eject to leave the battlefield. KTS: Mobile Weapon Team has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Mobile Weapon Team fails to parry Alouette Pommier's Coup de Grace, taking 6960 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Alouette Pommier's Vividity activates, causing Designate L1! KTS: Mobile Weapon Team has been defeated! KTS: Alouette Pommier has engaged Mobile Weapon Team! <Pose Tracker> Sousuke Sagara has posed.
<<New unit incoming. Beyond-normal specifications. Supposition: Enemy command unit.>>
"Tag it!" Sousuke barks, and immediately he sees a ping closing on him fast. It comes at him - it jabs at where he should be.
Arbalest has moved incredibly nimbly. It surges to the right, stepping around the tonfa dancer-quick, and then THROWS its weight onto the smaller machine, driving the Monocutter into the chest and, if it hits, clean through the back of the cockpit block.
No mercy. No attempt to save them. It's not, necessarily, murderous anger.
It's simply the elimination of a threat to something he cannot allow to be endangered.
KTS: Sousuke Sagara targets Mobile Weapon Team with Lambda Monomolecular Cutter Pierce! KTS: Sousuke Sagara has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Mobile Weapon Team fails to evade Sousuke Sagara's Lambda Monomolecular Cutter Pierce, taking 5000 damage! KTS: Mobile Weapon Team has been defeated! KTS: Sousuke Sagara has engaged Mobile Weapon Team! KTS: Sousuke Sagara: Will Barrier Activates. <Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
The whisperings of a witch are powerful indeed. Kaworu frowns as C.C. urges his brethren on, to act on their feelings. "That's not--"
Borr yells at him just then to get inside. He looks down at them.
Across the city, Gridman looks up too, and bids the entity known as the Glow Cloud to stay back, for it's dangerous.
It is dangerous. And that is why tendrils like lightning in a massive cloud of flowing colors whooshes down through the rainclouds, flowing into and through and out them to overtake the rainy skies.
For a moment, the rain stops, taken in by the form of this strange creature whose form veils what might be a red sphere deep within its center. But it's hard to say, because it takes up quite literally the entire sky. Koji murmurs his apologies, but this being has no ears for them.
Kaworu looks up sharply. "No, don't--" he begins to say.
Two swords from two foes fall towards Eliana's half-melted Knightmare Frame.
The microwave arm of the Guren reaches out to snare its foe, to cook him to death.
A spear sweeps around to slice off the Gloucester's remaining arm.
A rapier sweeps elegantly towards a Knightmare's head to pierce it through.
The Arbalest hurls itself, Monocutter-first, towards the foe that drives so rapidly towards it.
And the Hadron Cannons open to unleash their crimson orbs of death.
All of a sudden, several pieces of the air shimmer crystalline, almost rainbow-like. The Glow Cloud burns from within a brilliant white--and all of those attacks, with fatal intent or not, strike not metal but dozens of small, impenetrable barriers that shine brilliantly in visible light.
It's not just them, either. Any counter-attacks any of the Britannian forces might have mustered in response are just as much stopped by these barriers, implacable in their defense.
In an instant, they grow, expand, swoop around the Britannian Union forces almost like transparent Venus fly traps, swallowing each and every unit that has caused this battle in translucent bubbles.
And then they implode. Like bubbles popped.
An instant later, those surviving Knightmare Frames and their pilots will reappear in their camp, no worse for the wear beyond the psychological effects of a sudden uninvited trip through dimensions. They are alive, but they have been definitively ejected from the battlefield. Returning to it wouldn't be wise, either, considering they were millimeters away from death.
Above, the entity known as the Glow Cloud shifts through sea green and into a bright sky blue. Its thready tendrils crackle and spark.
Kaworu, still on the roof of Tsutsujidai High, is frowning, but it is a settled frown. He'll handle Borr in a moment. For now: "...Very well," he murmurs. "But you should know, it isn't as simple as that, either."
The Glow Cloud pulses a beat of red in the midst of that blue. Then it rises up back through the clouds and leaves gray in its wake. A second later, rain falls anew.
<Pose Tracker> Mobile Weapon Team has posed.
The two Chaos Mines continue to unleash their shrapnel barrage towards the Guren. A sheer wall of rapid fire projectiles that kick up quite the dust storm as they rip into the street and surrounding debris. Until finally they exhaust their ammo and fuel, going silent as they fall out of the air to strike the ground.
All that and not a scratch on the Guren.
The elite Sutherland steps back, "I-Impossible! Its... Its a monster!"
Framed by the still burning wreckage of the other Britannian unit, the Guren reaches out towards the Sutherland with that demonic hand. The Sutherland's pilot does the only natural thing... He runs!
Or tries to. For as the Sutherland turns around to try and get the hell out of there, the Guren's arm extends out to from hold of it, stopping any further progress. That dreaded weapon built within that arm activates and everything around the elite pilot goes red. Even as pain fills his mind, he desperately tries the ejection controls, but as prophesized, they fail to work. There's no escape. No hope of survival...
... Or not! Barriers of light suddenly surround the Sutherland under assault, blocking the harmful rays of the surger.
Likewise, a thrust aimed for the heart of another elite Sutherland, threatening to pierce through its cockpit and pilot alike, is blocked just short of the machine itself.
Much the same happens for the rapier aimed for the other elite Sutherland's head.
There is a sudden air of confusion across the battlefield, as the Britannian knightmares find themselves not only saved, but also unable to actually press the attack. Questions begin to arise. But before anyone can really figure out what's going on or how to continue their assault...
... They find themselves back at their home camp.
The four elite Sutherland pilots (one simply in an ejected cockpit block) climb out of their cockpits and look around, finding their fellows doing similar. Then one just shouts, "WHAT THE F-"
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
The Mazinger Blade bites true - but on a shimmering, gossamer-thin barrier of crystalline light, not the steel of a KMF Koji was expecting.
In fairness, he was aiming for the leg rather than the cockpit, but even so, to have it blocked so abruptly attracts his attention immediately.
A flash of memory - a sketchy, flip-note animation doodled as a presentation.
"That's an - " And then Eliana's KMF is gone, encased in a bubble of light and vanished in the span of Koji's breath.
The formerly retired hero stares blankly at the spot where the Britannian machine was, for a long moment. Then his Ichinana looks up to survey the field - and locks on to the Gawain floating imperiously in midair. Its face-visor flashes amber.
"So you're the infamous Zero, huh?" The Ichinana lifts its blade -jerkingly, haltingly, sparks flying from its joints - to point up at the Gawain. Smoke is starting to plume from the hole through its torso.
"I would have words with you." The emphasised word is grim - a challenge to the vaunted leader of the Black Knights - but then Koji allows fatigue to creep into his voice. "... but not tonight. There's still work to be done."
The Ichinana's left elbow joint chooses this moment to fail completely, the forearm thudding into the asphalt beneath it. Even the magnificent engineering of NISAR and the endurance of Super Alloy Z will struggle under the pressures of two months of bare-minimum maintenance, after all.
Koji sighs, looking at his readouts, opening the storage compartment under the cockpit block's operations console and fishing out a small charm on a necklace. "You did good, 'chi." He pats the console affectionately. "Lived up to your big brothers. I'll make sure we get you back when this whole thing's over."
There is no AI aboard. The onboard systems can't hear him. His reassurance is meaningless. Nevertheless, the control console, its displays already jittering and glitching out, seems to take this as permission to finally shut down before Koji reaches down and hits the override switch that forces the Ichinana's reactor to start cooling off.
He pulls the manual release on the canopy and dismounts, carefully descending the overworked machine - though one visored eye remains on the Gawain the entire time.
He looks back to where Eliana's Gloucester was lying before it suddenly wasn't. "An AT field..." he murmurs, worry creasing his brow.
<Pose Tracker> Cornelia li Britannia has posed.
For a long time, Eliana stares up at that pulsating cloud, uncomprehending. Her chapped lips twist.
"... I huh-hate... hate this wretched place."
S H U N K
goes Eliana Brigantia's unearned Maser Vibration Sword as it cleaves the earth beneath it. The Second Lieutenant uses that anchor to drag her Gloucester back onto its feet, but it is an unsteady thing: the knee joint of its damaged, left leg sputters and sparks in a way that suggests that, at best, it's not long for this world: at worst, it might simply explode the second it pushes that Knightmare Frame too hard.
She needs to retreat. They need to retreat. They failed. Didn't they?
But she can't. She can't go back now. If she does, their commanding officer will surely report this insubordination back to Cornelia when - IF - they ever get out of this wretched, lost position.
And then--
--and then--!
Competing sources of fear rage in the Second Lieutenant's mind -- but at least in the short term, Britannian ego combines with the unknown fear of what hell awaits her back in the homeland if she fails this moment to push her into recklessness. She -rips- that MSV out of the ground with the Gloucester's remaining hand; the red on it sputters with fragmenting, weakening vibrations as the KMF prepares as best it can.
"I-I fight for Britannia," she mumbles beneath her breath, voice dry. "I fuh-fight for Britannia. I fight for Britannia. I fight for Britannia. I fight for Britannia!"
The mantra comes not with the defiance the truly brave can muster up, but with the manic desperation of a fanatic who cannot reckon with losing a single ounce of ground to failure. Eliana points the MVS towards the charging, titanic defender of all of Tsutsujidai, the proud, spear-wielding dog who has reclaimed the nobility of what might have been an insult, and the champion of Free Japan, and her eyes burn with fury and fear in equal measure. Above her, her death churns with an inevitability of coruscating black and crimson.
<<"MY LIFE FOR THE EMPEROR! ALL HAIL BRITANNIA--">>
And just as she charges to meet what will surely be her end--
The tip of her sword rebounds off a barrier of shimmering rainbow at the exact same time as the offenses that would surely have finished her off.
Hadron Cannons caught within a shield of pacifying light illuminate Eliana's world in a burning storm of crimson; between it, that protective rainbow shimmer, and the crackle of Gridman's lightning, it all almost looks... beautiful.
She stares. She can't comprehend what she's seeing at all. Her fingers tremor as her dry lips smack and her head shakes.
<<"No, n-no, no no no no nonono-- STAY AWAY FROM ME--!">>
And a third kind of fear wins out, as a bubble of force wraps around her Gloucester.
<<"PLEASE--!">>
pop
A second later, the Gloucester is no longer there.
A second later, Eliana is back at the Britannian base as if nothing had ever happened, unconscious and pale white, her eyes rapidly twitching behind closed lids as she slumps weakly against the seat of the cockpit that was sure to be her grave.
A life that's known only earthly superiority and domination can't comprehend an unearthly gesture of peace.
And the gesture alone will be enough to give her nightmares for days.
<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.
"If that's true... You're absolutely a dog, Liam. Loyal, brave, loving, gentle but fierce." There's a smile in Gridman's voice. "I've never met a dog before. But you're surely the most amazing of all of them."
The rain stops. Gridman doesn't notice, as encompassed in lightning as he is.
...he does notice as Calibur stops, mid-strike. Calibur grunts in surprise, and Gridman lets out a "What?"
Pulling his sword away, Gridman takes a step back from the Gloucester. "What..." He breathes, ever so softly, as the barriers begin to form.
As the 'bubbles' burst, Gridman throws his arms out in front of Koji and Liam, trying to protect his friends against this unknown threat. But they're safe, and their enemies are just... gone.
"Calibur... What just happened?" Gridman asks, holding the sword loosely.
"N--no idea." A slight tone of awe is in the samurai's voice. "B--but this fight is over."
The sky turns blue, for the first time in what feels like ages. Gridman looks up to the glowing Cloud. He'd smile, if his face could move. Instead, he extends a hand -- perhaps he's tall enough to reach.
"Thank you."
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
The rapier of destruction hits against a... barrier. Strange, those machines didn't have barriers of any sorts, and this weapon was designed to strike through them anyways. Alouette hasn't fought any angels in her time around NERV so she can't cross-reference how an AT-Field would feel against a weapon, even if she understands the principles. Alouette chooses to dissipate the blade back into Program Matter, not seeing the sense in pushing back anymore.
It's when she sees and feels the presence of the Glow Cloud more closely that she sort of understands what's going on, even just a little. Stranger still, the enemy's vanished. As if they were never there. This was the Glow Cloud's doing, too? She should be grateful that it stopped the battle... but she can't help but feel uneasy about it in equal measure. Maybe it did the right thing today, and maybe there's no malice behind what it did... but will that always be the case? Besides, it's not like she saw where the Britannian soldiers vanished to.
Either way, Guardienne Aviaire takes flight back to the Wadatsumi. The Carpenters are going to have a lot of unexpected last-minute maintenance work to clean up before they can get the Pliers into gear.
<Pose Tracker> C.C. has posed.
The breaking point of fury.
Kallen's hand of destruction and chaos - a weapon she wields unique in its sense of viscerality. Impractical but for specific purposes - those purposes being but to wreak out a singular point of unthinkable violence.
The rush of ferocity emanating from Lelouch. Towards - the world. Towards so many things - he acts because he's capable of this much emotion. Towards his assistant, for a moment. All culminating in a judgment.
The roar of that ethereal being tethered to Kaworu Nagisa - flashing out in ways perhaps 'natural' to it, but unspeakable to others. The will of something capable of doing something deeply horrible to ordinary humans.
Throughout these thunderclaps that echo through the rain-
-A middle finger rising to lips, the two next to them framing the sides. A relaxed, languid little posture. Her other hand cupped under one elbow.
..."I was right, hm?" C.C. breathes.
\_It's delicious when it's not aimed at me, isn't it?\_
Being able to just bathe in it. No need to run away. No need to act. Maybe a little teasing, stroking, delicately plucking the aligned strings of fury. Tethers between people pulled taut. Hostility, but imbalanced - and in tune because it is imbalanced. A hero like Koji Kabuto gets to unleash the fury of the devil, and be in the right for it, really - only spurring it on further.
"Well, in that way, I sort of failed, because I'm not really angry myself, hm? I'm just tasting it." - A little bit of wetness clings to C.C.'s finger. Tasting a little too intensely, she gathers.
"I'm pleased with the performance of both of you tonight," C.C. muses to Lelouch, curling around in her seat now that the whirlwind of combat has ended, chin resting on the headrest right around Lelouch's feet.
-what a strange positioning to thrive in. To be comfortable in.
"Now that you've gotten the sense of wielding the physical power of the gods, Lelouch vi Britannia - is it fulfilling, having an advantage in might? Is it refreshing? Tasting the wine that true kings wield is intoxicating, but educational, too. It's okay to try it a little, but be warned."
A catty smile crosses the witch's lips.
"It's not in my nature to stop you if you get drunk on it."
<Pose Tracker> Kallen Kozuki has posed.
For the Guren and its pilot... none of this makes sense. Rather, in the state they're in, it makes no sense. But that is... sufficient, to pull Kallen out of her blind rage, as none of the typical facets of the Wave Surger's work are happening. Rather. As the Wave Surger seems to be repelled. By... what? The girl within blinks... She's seen this once, perhaps? That was one of her more formative modern experiences after all. To that, C.C. and Le... sorry, ZERO, hear the first intelligent words from her in a while. <"An... Angel...?"> The Wave Surger begins to cool down. As does her boiling, blinding rage. There's no target. If that bastard that shot Milly isn't already dead... then he's definitely been sent off where the rest went. And with no target or plan... the Guren slinks off. No longer a monster. Now... damaged heavily, and exhausted. And with further words no radio will hear, to a target Kallen doesn't know, but hopes can hear her anyway. "Whoever you are. Thank you... For helping pull me back from the edge."
She needs to get it back to the hiding area. No. She needs to swap hiding spots after that. Once she takes Guren back... then she can rush to the hospital to be there for that person who means so much to her. Where she should have been from the beginning. "...I'm sorry Milly..." She won't be leaving her side for... a while. Barring exceptional circumstances.
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
For a split second, Liam is all purposeful, violent motion, driving that spear at the stricken Gloucester in what he hopes is the final blow. Then--
Something happens...
And the spear hits an impossible, impenetrable barrier, the beam-field sputtering and unleashing gouts of high-energy particles. The Long Dagger steps back, its pilot abruptly ceasing hostilities and glancing up, up, up at the Glow Cloud. One by one, the IFFs of the surviving Knightmare Frames wink out, transported off to God-knows-where. It... saved them. It stopped this. (Did it? It wouldn't make sense to protect them just to kill them itself, would it?) Liam's shoulders sag under a weight he didn't realize he was carrying until now.
"Thank you," he says.
And then Liam realizes what Gridman said to him, and laughs, faint but honest. "Where I come from, 'Hound' was a warrior's title. They weren't always good people. I'm... still not sure if I am. But I think I tried, today."
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
Gridman extends a hand up to the sky as the so-called Glow Cloud begins to retreat. They pause, their shape billowing through the rainclouds. Then one of those tendrils reaches out and brushes, feather-light and feather-like, along his fingertips.
Spots of sunny yellow and bright white bubble amongst the sky blue backdrop of their form. Then, ignorant of both the gratitude and the realizations of the Lilim below, they slip up and away and out for real this time.
"...Is it?" Kaworu murmurs to C.C., watching his brethren go. "It might be all right for now, without the MAGI here to identify them. But if they insist on this, then next time..."
...If their true nature becomes known, they will not be suffered to live. It might already be too late. ...Yet was it really the wrong thing to do?
"...Until we meet again," Kaworu concludes instead. Does he mean C.C. or his kin? Well... yes. He turns away from the rooftop's edge and walks to the door leading back inside. Perhaps Borr will even get to think it's because they told him to.
<Pose Tracker> Sousuke Sagara has posed.
<poem> A move to kill. Eliminate a threat. That's all. For Sousuke, even now, after Kaname struggled with the idea in front of him in Khanka a year ago, killing an enemy soldier is not a particularly difficult task. Especially not if what he thinks happened, has happened.
But for all the Lambda Driver's phenomenal power, Sousuke's impulse for it to Cut Through does not, quite, surpass the power brought to bear in that moment. Perhaps it gets further than most.
But it still does not fulfill its final task. <<Unidentified energy field. Several of them. Lambda Driver output is unable to cut through it all.>>
"What!?" Sousuke yells, wrenching his arm to pull the the blade free. That also doesn't work.
Moments pass, as the force in the sky looms almighty for a long few moments. And then....they're gone.
<<Unknown energy reaction,>> AL supplies, and provides Sousuke with a picture of the Entire Sky.
Sousuke watches, a sunken pit in his gut.
"Log it," is his final decision, and he stows the monocutter. "Returning to base."
<<You won't go directly to the hospital?>>
"...It seems there's no longer a hurry," Sousuke says.
Once again, impossibility in the way of his task, he thinks, frustrated. This place is an infuriating mixture of a world he knows and a world that makes no sense at all.
Simmering in mixed emotions, Sousuke turns, and Arbalest's ECS Invisibility flashes electric blue before the machine disappears from all sight, moving to return to the Shuffle dock.