2023-05-26: Broken Mirror

Log: 2023-05-26- Broken Mirror
Cast: Akane Shinjo (Aumerei), Rikka Takarada (Treasure Chest), Lilith Aiden (Crossfire Salem), Leina Ashta (Puru-1), Banagher Links, Knight, Mineva Lao Zabi, Garrod Ran, Alouette Pommier, Lucine Azul, Full Frontal, Roux Louka, Sayla Mass, Marida Cruz, Arriety Hearn, Eight York, Seolla Schweizer, Judau Ashta, Lark Straye, BC-001 Minae, Naoko Suzuki, Teletha Testarossa, Faye Valentine, Alto Saotome, Puru Two, Shelby Korts, Char Aznable, Christina MacKenzie, Sheryl Nome, Rena Lancaster, Sousuke Sagara
Where: Federation Administrative Region of Dakar
OOC - IC Date: 0097-05-26
Summary: The Vist Foundation makes a play for the Unicorn Gundam and Laplace's Box with its full might and the borrowed power of multiple lights. While their opposition -- coming from almost all angles, Earth and Space and everything in between -- makes a valiant effort to defend the Unicorn and stop their dark designs, in the end, things take a turn for the worse. Bit by bit, the cruelties of the Vist Foundation's Newtype Corps are revealed. Not everything is hopeless, however; the Ruin Apostle Char Aznable is at last defeated and taken into custody by the Shuffle Alliance. Takes place concurrent with 2023-05-27: Intrigue.
CW: Brainwashing, hostage situations

<Pose Tracker> Aumerei has posed.

Unlike many of the other times the Banshee has made its presence known, it is not acting alone, nor is its "older cousin" the Amabilis its only major support.

Today, the Vist Foundation's Garuda-class atmospheric transport takes the stage, approaching Dakar over Thies. The vessel is here, now, casting a several hundred meter shadow over the Federation's administrative capital. Whatever the Vist Foundation is pursuing today must be its trump card, because the vessel moves in a way that lacks the faintest hint of subtlety.

Admittedly, there has never been anything subtle about the Garuda.

During the Gryps Conflict, the Garuda was conceived as a new-generation supercarrier for the age of the Mobile Suit. While not capable of servicing as many total units as the Macross Quarter-class, the Garuda requires virtually no upkeep and maintenance in comparison.

The existence of the Anksha has further improved the Garuda's force projection potential. By having a small enough profile in MS mode to be serviced as a subflight system and not a mobile suit during docking, its mere existence effectively doubles the already massive complement of MS it can carry.

The Garuda's enormous crew and MS complement has deployed in full; all hands are in the positions that render them most capable of projecting force. Jegans stacked onto Ankshas deploy from the hangar -- as well as a handful of elite aggressor units. The sheer amount of projected force recalls scenes from the One Year War or the Zentradi War; even the war with ZAFT rarely saw deployments of this size within the atmosphere.

Evacuation is... asymmetric. Dakar is an administrative capital, and for that reason, some areas swiftly evacuate or go into lockdown. Even the approach of the Garuda in combat posture is enough to get the port -- the central, wealthy area, and a handful of megafloat structures designed to accommodate defensive platforms and urban sprawl -- to spin to life. Within fifteen minutes, the Dakar Department proper is all but silent.

Other nearby areas are less lucky. By the time you get out to Rufisque, some people aren't even aware that evacuation procedures have begun. Thies, despite having a 3G outpost and a linear train station, only finds out when the Garuda passes over it.

With all that going on...

There's need for extra hands on the bridge. The sheer amount of data generated by a full deployment of the Garuda's assets -- 40 mobile weapons in total, not including the Banshee, the Amabilis, and the Mu Gundam -- doesn't require a second operator, but the bridge could use one. Fortunately, one of the ship's most recent additions seems happy to comply. Three psychoframe-equipped units is a heavy commitment, and the adjustments made to the pilot of the Mu Gundam seem to have only recently stabilized.

The new operator is a young girl clad in a stark white labcoat over a deep purple tube top and a black skirt, her legs covered in sheer, dark stockings and kitten heels. With a flick of her wrists, she pulls out and unfolds a pair of blue blocker glasses, popping them onto her face amid a mop of lilac-grey hair.

The light of the monitors gleams over the cracks.

"Hello, Treasure Chest. Crossfire. Puru-1." Her tone is 'up,' but at the same time there's a flatness to it -- a practicedness. "For everyone else here, too, I'm Akane Shinjo -- codename Aumerei from here forward. That should be the only time you hear that name; please use 'Aumerei' for later transmissions. It's inconvenient if people other than Treasure Chest use it." Already she sounds like she's going through the motions.

"I'm Dr. Murasame's new assistant. A big chunk of you guys are assigned to Treasure Chest or the defense of the Garuda, which means you're my responsibility." It sounds like she scripted the interaction in her head. "I'm 3G-trained, so don't worry if I sound a little young for the job." Stretching out comfortably in her seat, she swallows any residual feelings she might be feeling about this. ... she's been party to science crime before, after all.

"Good luck out there. Treasure Chest, I'm counting on you~ After all, you remember what I told you about your duty to support Puru-1 and Crossfire!"

She settles in. It's not that different from the way things were in Tsutsujidai. Watch the kaiju move. Talk about it with the people on the monitors. It's normal. She can feel whatever way she wants about it, can't she? This was fun, once -- even times when Rikka was in danger because of it.

"Oh, and by the way for the rest of you -- I know you guys are going to be really tempted to split up ground and air teams, but absolutely not. We need the tactical flexibility in case we need everyone up ASAP. Sorry to guys in the Ankshas who like to get up close, but there's no upside to MS mode right now. The battlefield's going to be pretty evenly split." That's the first order of business out of the way, at least.

She looks over the IFF, increasingly thoughtful. "Oh, by the way, I know we're supposed to be one big happy family in the Federation or whatever, but any 3G-asset that shows is a priority capture. Dr. Murasame's interested in someone, and I plan to bring her home!"

What to do, what to do... "Teams A and B, you're on close air support for the Garuda. C and D, you'll be moving to counter enemy battleships' mobile suit deployment! Teams E and F, you're on Treasure Chest and Crossfire, but I need you to give Treasure Chest a pretty wide berth because -- hold on." She switches over to internal comms. "I need you to watch this one, okay, Dr. Murasame? Check the psycommu receiver."

Fluffing out her limp, choppy lilac hair, Aumerei says, "Treasure Chest, one last thing?"

"Wish. Enjoy. 'You said.' 'Head up.' Youthful. SOS. Chime. Glass. Hero. Connected. 'Stand by.' 'Don't cry.' Dream. UNION."

The Garuda's enormous mobile weapon contingent moves as directed. The mood is one of faint unease -- the Garuda's Newtype Corps has gotten unusually large, and become a steadily more all-encompassing part of its operations... and it feels like they're increasingly allowed to run roughshod over even its regular pilots, if need be.

<Pose Tracker> Treasure Chest has posed.

The cockpit of the Mu Gundam has begun to feel familiar by this point. Comfortable, even. Compact and isolated. Dark. ...It feels different, in a way. Is it different? Is that bad? She is alone here.

That's fine. She won't be alone for long. She simply has to eliminate whatever enemy that appears before her. Then they will be together again. And though they may be separated by distance, they'll still be connected. She'll still hear her voice - guiding her, directing her, keeping her pointed in the right direction. It's as it should be. This is all for her sake, after all. This is the only way.

And she hears her now - Aumerei's voice rings out. Treasure Chest sits up attentively. Though there are none around to see her, she nods when addressed.

"Thank you, Akane. I'll do my best." Treasure Chest replies. She remembers, of course. They'd talked about this. She reaches forward, taking the controls in hand. Grasping them feels... natural. This must be what she was made to do. Could there be any other reason? One by one, consoles activate and screens turn on. Their light reflects onto her pilot's helmet, as if giving face to the faceless. In this place, at this time, she doesn't need any other form.

She is Treasure Chest. She knows what she is and what she isn't. She knows - has been told - what she has to do.

She'll perform her role expertly.

The Mu Gundam steps out onto the launch bay, into open sunlight. Once, this model was used as a prototype for the Nu Gundam. It bears some similarity to its successor, though slightly bulkier. Wrapped about its head and shoulders like a cloak is a pitch-black maintenance tarp, from where some recent additions have been made. Bright red straps keep it firmly in place.

Before she deploys, however, Aumerei has one last thing to say. ...And, indeed - the sudden spike in brainwave activity is obvious and evident, to those watching the receiver. The message has been received. Treasure Chest doesn't respond verbally - but she sits up straighter, grips the controls that much tighter.

"Mu Gundam, launching." Treasure Chest announces, her tone neutral. The Mu Gundam accelerates out of the hangar and reveals its full splendor to the open sky, cloak fluttering behind it as it picks up speed to form up with the Banshee and Amabilis while keeping them both at distance, sensors gleaming as it scans the gathered for prey.

<Pose Tracker> Crossfire Salem has posed.

"Amabilis, preparing for launch." Crossfire speaks into the radio calmly. Dakar... this is a big mission. If they can stop the Unicorn here, perhaps she can end her 'deal'. It's time to return home.

As Aumerei speaks, and introduces herself, her youthful voice and her exact way of introducing herself raises hackles in Crossfire's throat. Why all the teenagers? Why a 3G-trained operator? How did Vist get their hands on her? What are they planning... ?

Crossfire takes a second to calm herself, and speaks, voice modulator on high. "Understood, Aumerei. Good luck, everyone. Stay safe."

And then, Crossfire shifts into her serious mode. She straightens her mask, grabs her controls, and speaks again.

"Amabilis, launch!"

Whereas there's both air and ground, Amabilis is definitely a ground-type machine. As soon as it reaches the ground, Crossfire's going to prepare - but not activate - the Psychoframe legs, hoping to gain mobility control over the battlefield as a surprise once her opposition appears.

This needs to go smoothly. For Alma's sake.

<Pose Tracker> Puru-1 has posed.

        Pilot black clad with gold and violet accents, a red shaded faceplate on a helm with glowing patterned visor, she sat within the cockpit same as before, same as every time. That is what she told herself, even as she felt the pervasive embrace of the Banshee's Psycoframe latch on.

        Armed Armor Xeno-Connect ONLINE

        It was never comfortable, it was never meant to be comfortable. Sitting within a mobile suit, shouldn't be. Now that feeling was even worse than before far worse, like icy hot fingers gripping her brain and playing five finger fillet. Puru-1 forced herself to endure it, as the feeling grew to something overwhelming, unbearable.

        She felt her entire being seized tighter than ever before, essence twisted and wrung out. Somewhere between hyperventilating, and dry heaving, she began to titter softly, which became giggling, and then outright laughter as those feelings coursed through her. Within her helmet, she smiled even as she panted. The comms of course, came on at that moment.

        "Puru-1! We detected a spike in your vitals, is everything alright?" It took her a moment to recognize his voice, to recognize the face of Alberto Vist incredibly agitated, "Is everything alright!?" She mimics, before laughing, and laughing harder, "What a laugh!" Disturbed, the man cleared his throat and tried to recompose himself, "Just- just remember, with our new personnel on the field, you can rely even more on others today. So- don't be afraid to do just that!" He seemed increasingly anxious by the moment as she laughed, "And if things get bad like at Seattle, don't be afraid to pull back to the Garuda! Our mobile suit complement will cover you- it's-"

        Eventually he couldn't take the laughter anymore, "What's so funny?" The pilot within had to slow down her laughter through the haze of agony to tell him the answer, "You are! You're the biggest joke of all! There's no falling back today! It's all or nothing!"

        "Puru-1!" He exclaimed in distress, "This isn't normal! I'm delaying your launch behind our MS team until we can run a full diagnostic on the Norn's syst-" His comm cut abruptly, and was replaced by the authoritative voice of an older man, "Self-denial-" "-makes a better pilot." As the girl within finished his sentence, all laughter vanished. "Submission-" "-is strength." She echoed again, "Good. I have cut him off from the comms. There will be no further distractions."

        And then he was gone, replaced by the voices of Aumerei, Treasure Chest, and Crossfire. "Aumerei. Aumerei. Au-me-rei!" She repeats over and over as if committing it to memory more in the moment, humming in a sing songy manner, before smiling viciously, as a myriad of charged emotions settle in, her repeating a single word, "Bring her home. Bring. Her. Home."

          anger rage wrath sorrow despair desolation apprehension
                become a family become a family become a family
                we were supposed to supposed to supposed to

        BGM Start - Banshee Norn theme - SD G Generation Genesis OST - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5SLL6HtJtg

        "Banshee Norn, launching!" She calls over the comms impatiently, the Norn falling out of the Garuda bay, toppling over in a straight down spiral, before jets on the Armed Armor DE kick in, blue jets erupting as its free fall becomes a controlled yet reckless arc over the city of Dakar kicking ahead of the formation of the Amabilis and the Mu. Lacking the Vibronail and Beam Smartgun, the Norn looks deceptively far less dangerous, as if it were equipped more for mobility than firepower.

        Look again.

        Without a word of warning, the Norn grips her Beam Magnum, now equipped with it's Revolving Launcher, and lets fall a salvo of missiles upon an empty palatial reception hall that's held host to such varied dignitaries of the Federation for decades. AEUG and Karaba veterans may recognize it, it was once the objective of a rogue combat mission during the First Neo Zeon War. Now it comes to an end as it disintegrates under the barrage, spewing fire and smoke, roof collapsing in a hail of flaming debris.

        It felt as good a place as any for the carnage to begin. And as it falls apart, she begins to laugh anew as she found this act funny as she chirps childishly over distorted open comms, "Hey everyone!"

           play play play play play play play
         dance for me dance for me dance for me

        "Let's party."

        The tone shifts from playful to jarringly cold all of a sudden, the Banshee Norn abruptly coming to a halt, hovering, backlit by haze of fire and smoke from the building it just set ablaze, with the full complement of mobile suits, escort Mu, Amabilis and the Garuda supporting it. As she told Alberto, it's all or nothing today.

         The Black Lion is here to remind the White Unicorn of its place.

Full Frontal teleports in.

KTS: Full Frontal has deployed in MSN-06S Sinanju.

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

So much has happened.

Too much has happened.

But even so.

Banagher Links accelerates away from the Ra Mari II as they approach Dakar, the Unicorn a streak of white armor and blue starlight. Much of his lingering distress over the disaster at Metis Colony has been cooled by a decent night's sleep. Thanks to Chris, Banagher feels aware and ready.

One more coordinate. Will there be another after this one has unlocked, or will this be the last? There's no way to tell. Banagher tries to put it out of his mind. Focusing on piloting. Beckoning, the icon of the La+ Program urges him forward, deep into the center of the city.

As with Seattle, Vist is here. The Ra Mari II picked them up quite a while ago, but Banagher launched anyway. What else is there to do? This time, though, something's different. They've produced more force than Banagher has ever yet seen, even more than at their attack on the Photon Power Labs. The Garuda, mobile suit contingents, and--

White armor shudders. Psychoframe-enhanced mobile suits. Ghosting against his soul, the Unicorn's NT-D system offers itself to Banagher.

The Banshee is here. Prepare. Prepare.

"I know." Banagher murmurs back to his Gundam. "This time, I won't leave without her."

Something feels direly changed of the Banshee this time, even before Banagher can see the Black Unicorn. Still familiar, but freshly horrific. What is it? The Unicorn soars through space, resolutely approaching Vist's stronghold in the city. He'll find out soon enough.

<"I'm approaching the Coordinate now."> Banagher broadcasts back to his allies, voice strong despite his inner turmoil. <"Please be careful, everyone. This isn't going to be easy.">

With that, the young pilot breathes out, sitting back in his seat. With an echo of graceful psychic strength, light emanates from the heart of the white Gundam. Armor slides apart, revealing her inner Psychoframe, illuminating it with verdant brilliance.

Banagher only has moments before the Banshee is upon him. He's got one chance at unlocking the Coordinate.

"I'm here. Show me what you need to." Banagher closes his eyes again, letting his soul entwine with the radiance of the Unicorn.

<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.

        Knight looks up from his CalorieMate bar, eyes a-narrow.

        "Dakar," he says.

        "Haa?" Nidaime asks, glancing over from where she's nibbling at hers. (This is a Knight food more than her choice, but she likes him enough to try them anyway.)

        "... I hear it." He frowns, a deep scowl across his features. "It's smothered... we have to go."

        The Second hops up from the fence, a frown of concern on her own face. "This isn't what we've been chasing, is it...?" She doesn't feel what he feels, though she's sensitive to how he feels about it; it's Knight who has a sister, out there.

        "No." A beat. "Yes. I don't know."

        They finish their protein bars as they start walking.

        Irregulars like them wouldn't just waste food.

        ~*~*~

        "Excuse me! Excuse me!" A -- Meltrandi? -- office lady with a megaphone makes herself known to Dakar's Rufisque district, eight metres tall and waving her free hand over her head. "This is going to be the site of a mobile site confrontation, so please proceed to the shelters, now! Orderly, orderly! Bring any essential medications with you, please!"

        Anosillus the Second isn't really a Meltrandi, of course, but they can think that if they want.

        As if to punctuate her point, a much LARGER giant looms ahead. Gridknight minds his step as he enters the field. (Consider it a concession to Utsumi.) Their Alliance split up as soon as they hit the field; Nidaime and Knight have different skill-sets, and different ways to assist in a battle. She won't be fighting, even if she's larger than the other civilians she's pointing to safety -- no, literally, she's literally pointing confused citizens to the shelters. Don't worry; she'll be able to get to safety herself once everyone's secured, because she doesn't need a miclonisation chamber to shrink down. And Knight... Gridknight...

        At fifty metres in height, he towers over towers, a striking and sharper purple facsimile of Gridman. They are a sea of reeds and they threaten to part, as he steps through, as he looks up to the Mu Gundam with that distinctive tarp. It's not necessarily connected to that man, of course -- black capes are something of a dime a dozen, in the Earth Sphere -- nevertheless, red's the colour he's seeing.

        "Face me, you bastard!!" He roars, throwing out his arms, all his leashed volume and fury unbound at this scale.

Shelby Korts has connected.

<Pose Tracker> Mineva Lao Zabi has posed.

The world feels like it's crumbling. Everything is slipping out of Mineva Lao Zabi's hands. She couldn't do anything to stop Leina from being snatched by Manhunters, and she's been more or less confined to her second home at the Photon Power Labs since...

The fact that Leina was able to get herself out of trouble does little to help this feeling of powerlessness... but she refuses to give in, as much as she wonders if she should.

And so she sits in the seat beside Banagher in the Unicorn. This coordinate... this location... the seat of the Federation's power.

Everything hinges on this. It must.

The Garuda hangs over Dakar like an ill omen. Mineva stares up at it as mobile weapons begin to pour from the hangar, her hand reaching for Banagher's as she feels the Banshee's baleful presence above them, her breathing shaky. There's so many below them, so many in danger... but... there's no other way.

I'm with you, she affirms, looking to Banagher as the Unicorn's Psychoframe opens. The battlefield blossoms open before her, assaulting her with life-or-death tension. She steels herself... and lets it wash over her.

"I'm ready."

KTS: Shelby Korts has joined Char Aznable's bucket!

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

Alouette impatiently taps her foot at the waiting spot she and Akane agreed upon near the 3G base at Thies. About to send a playful text informing her she's late and it's rude to keep a lady waiting, a dark, long shadow looms over the city.

To her, the shadow isn't yet recognizable as the MS carrier Garuda, but nonetheless it reads as a danger she's trained for over and over. Panic washes over the city in an instant - not a single warning was given it seems, and it might be up to her to begin coordinating the evacuation efforts.

At the Thies Base, Alouette informs the orange jackets on standby to begin (late) evacuation of the city, and have the Carpenters ready to mobilize post-battle. And then finds her way to the hangar - once the silhouette of the Garuda looms over Dakar, it becomes clear the nature of this battle.

The CR-365 is the culmination of Liger Shishiohs dream of a mass-produced weapons platform for the Solitary Wave Riser utilized by Mic Sounders. Once the sprightly scientist departed for the Trinary Solar System, however, the newly appointed Chief Akamatsu deemed maintaining a fleet of CR more trouble than it's worth. Instead, they were used to bolster 3G's remote bases across Earth.

Guardienne Aviaire is still stationed in Nouvelle Tokyo, so Alouette decides one of these bad boys will be her ride for this sortie. Instantly familiarizing herself with the controls, she's able to operate the ship with only about half the available crew - using her intensive training on the terminals used to operate the complex Mobile Unit mechanoids.

Flying the CR-365's intimidating visage, reminiscent of Mic's Baribaren, onto the battlefield, Alouette spares a thought for Akane and Rikka - were they able to evacuate on time? A more sinister thought creeps into her mind, but she tries to push it away. After everything... theres no reason to distrust either of them.

The deployment of the Banshee jolts her attention back onto the battlefield that Dakar is becoming - Leina told her that its compliment is the Garuda, and it seems she was right. The Banshee is different this time.. not just in its new look, but also its 'feel'. It is truly an unsettling machine. This might be their only chance to capture it.. and bring the scientists in charge to justice. Also unsettling is the partner mobile suit, acting with the brutal efficiency of an AI without a heart... or perhaps a kaiju.

When other battleships and their Mobile Units deploy against the Garuda's onslaught of Akasha, Alouette orderly introduces herself. "Ra Mari II, designation 'Toy Box', other combatants - this is Operator Alouette Pommier with the Gutsy Global Guard. We've had our sights on the Banshee and its associated Garuda for some time due to strong suspicion of science criminal activity." Aiming a missile for one of the pesky mobile armours, she adds, "I'll assist in subduing the ship and its mobile unit... and ultimately capturing those responsible."

KTS: Full Frontal has joined Char Aznable's bucket!
KTS: Shelby Korts has deployed in MSN-03 Jagd Doga <Korts Custom>.

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

< "Banagher. This is Lucine. I'm deploying for suppport. I can't help against someone like the Banshee, but I can help subdue the others... Good luck." >

 Thank goodness Liam isn't here. Or maybe, she wishes he was here? It's something she is happy for, but also wishes wasn't the case, as Banagher may need all and any allies he can get for this venture, even if she's not entirely sure what it is, even. All she knows is that she trusts Banagher, and Banagher needs her help.

 And already, it's an undeniable mess. Lucine finds herself wishing she could massage her forehead through her helmet. Her mental state is far better than during the meeting aboard the Ra Mari II, thankfully; this is simply tension making its presence known.

 They needed help, but if Lucine had to pick-- she feels it would be best not to go up against the likes of Char's ghost(?) or the Banshee. So instead, she tries to angle towards one of the outliers, not quite committing yet. She doesn't want to throw the first attack.

<Pose Tracker> Full Frontal has posed.

Full Frontal frowned as he looked down at Dakar. So many pieces, so many players, and so little time. Thanks to Zoltan's catastrophically foolish capture and the loss of the Neo Zeong II, the remnants had lost quite a chip...and that was on top of the still ongoing daily defections of Char loyalists back to the legend's fold. Then again, who could blame them? Following the living Char Aznable...or following his ghost. The choice was simple for most Zeon loyalists.

Even so, the smart and the truly loyal had remained with him. Even a fool could tell that this Char was different, but it took a true soldier to overcome their passions and zealotry, to see that the returned Red Comet was not the same Char Aznable who had commanded their hearts during that final, fateful war.

There is no place for you in this era, Char Aznable. Return to your slumber, and let your revenant take up Neo Zeon's flag.

Entering the cockpit of the Sinanju, once again made whole, Full Frontal gave a grim smile as he launched. There would be a reckoning today for the Box, and a reckoning made also for the fate and soul of the Spacenoids. Who will grasp their hearts? Who will lead them to tomorrow? And does this world, this cursed, blighted world, still need the passionate, rousing flame of the first Red Comet?

Or does this world need the calm rationale of the people's vessel, devoted to carving away even emotion for their sake?

"Come then, my father, brother, progenitor. Come then, Char Aznable. Show me that you still have what it takes to bear the burdens of the souls abandoned in space."

"Show us that you are the rightful Red Comet."

<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.

Roux Louka doesn't announce her launch, for once. It doesn't feel right to do so. She has, perhaps, a bad feeling about this - about all of this - but it is what it is, and what it must be. The Vist Foundation...

Roux took their money, once, to pursue the Phenex. The bird flew away then. Roux had wanted to punch someone in the mouth then - Michele Luio. One of many people whom she has felt this impulse regarding. She meditates on this, as if the ember of lingering anger may guide her somehow. Despite this, she is putting out, if not 'good' vibes, relatively upbeat ones.

The Strike Zeta, which still has the black forearm and left leg from where the Shangri-la salvage people were able to affix a functionally-equivalent limb from a Zeta Plus model that had been, unfortunately, given a certain coloration - flies. If there is an advantage to Earth's atmosphere, Roux thinks, it's that I can outrun anything here.

But the thermonuclear ramjet engines can take me to space, just, Roux thinks. And then I'll be in middle Earth orbit... and they'll be right behind me.

"Hit and fade, right?" Roux says to Banagher, before laughing, and trying not to make it a weak laugh. "Maybe we don't even hit anyone! I'm with you, Banagher," she concludes, and settles back in her seat, breathing deeply. Africa again, she thinks irrelevantly.

<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.

Calendar - Upcoming Events - Sayla Mass

26 May 0097
0800 - Teleconference with Colonial Aid
1300 - Advanced Logistics Update
1415 - Meeting with Colley re: Upcoming Speeches
1600 - Afternoon Paperwork Catchup
1830 - Dinner, Charity, Est Colonie Habitat

27 May 0097
1400 - Meeting with Leina

28 May 0097
No Appointments

29 May 0097
Meet Akane and Rikka at Train Station (No Fixed Time)

Confirm Cancellation of All Appointments for 26 May 0097?

Confirmed. CCed to isogai.sakura@yumifoundation.1030

 ----

 At around 2AM Local time, a transport hover arrived at the Photon Power Labs. It took with it two loads, both slightly larger than an MS, and left only a hastily letter.

 'Koji, Sayaka. Thanks for your help. I have to act now- but I'm not doing alone this time, I promise. I'll see you on the other side.

 -Sayla'

 ----

 She wasn't doing it alone. She knew Banagher and Mineva had to go for the coordinates now. And she knew Casval wouldn't leave the Unicorn alone- and she had to make sure they came back. She stood on the bridge of the TDD-1 as a guest, not an officer. The tension had been obvious in her body language, in the way she paced and then stopped herself. Her secure phone beeps twice. "That's my rendezvous. You have command, Diamond-2." Using the codename helps her stay on task right now. She couldn't think about tomorrow except in the sense that she would be there.

 She put her helmet on, and went to the airlock where her underwater propulsion kit was waiting.

 ----

 This isn't a small force, or an elite MS Squadron they're facing. The hover transport is noti far out from the port- she had planned to approach from a different direction from the TDD-1. People knew this MS now. Knew who piloted it. She needed to keep some discretion. She watched the battle from here.

 "Heart-2 to Ansuz. Hi-Nu Gundam, launching!"

 The tarp that covered the massive Blue and White Gundam with the red and black wings of funnels stands up- then reaches down to the object next to it. It's nearly as big as the Gundam itself. Her eyes track up to the Anksha's. There's so many of them. Time to even the odds. There is a crackle of Photon Power as the gun bursts to life. "Clear the zone! Photon Hyper Mega Bazooka Launcher, firing!"

 Something with the power of the gun of a capital ship *fires* into the sky, with enough power to risk frying any Anksha that gets too close.

 Those familiar with Photon Power can tell- that was a warm up shot. This is a weapon made for regicide.

 She's close enough now to leap from the transport, which heads for the evacuating regions- and then the IFF warms up... and she starts to see who is gathered. "<Banagher! Do what you need to! I'll keep them off your back until he arrives!>" She switches bands quickly. "<All Shuffle Alliance members, support the Unicorn, and follow Anzus' plan!>"

 She sees the battlefield unfolding. The Banshee... with that girl who could be Leina's sister. A new Gundam, the Amabilis- Of course she still fought with them, even now- and the Garuda itself.

 And then there were the ones she didn't expect. Full Frontal was here, the Sinanju falling from the sky. "...So you sense him too." She mutters to herself-

 And then she sees someone she doesn't expect. "<Gridknight!?>" Will laser comms even work to the newest Giant of Light? She doesn't know. "<Why are you here?>" She hadn't called for him, and he hadn't been involved with the box. So why...?

<Pose Tracker> Marida Cruz has posed.

         Marida leans back in her cockpit, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. She knew the Banshee was out there. That Puru was out there. Zinnerman had expressly forbidden her from engaging with Puru, but the thought of even being in her presence was beginning to tie a knot in Marida's stomach. But she had to keep her mind even. As she had told Banagher, the slightest second of mental faltering would allow the Banshee in.

         In her mind, a feather floats up with her exhalation, and falls as she inhales. She needs to keep calm. Emotion is a liability. That's what she had always told herself.

         She wasn't quite so sure anymore, however.

BGM - Mobile Suit - MSG Unicorn OST
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijf6sKIK2Ds

         "I'm heading out!" The Kshatriya folds its wings back and streaks out of the Ra Mari II, glancing over at the Banshee before shooting the other way. "Banagher. Remember what I told you."

<Pose Tracker> Arriety Hearn has posed.

        "blrrgh."

        Arriety barely crawls into the cockpit of the Zeta Gundam, following the signal to deploy; there are deep bags under her eyes, and she's opted to ignore putting her Normal suit again like an Extremely Normal Person, barely carrying herself into her seat in a sugar-stained hoodie jacket and slacks; she hasn't laced up her shoes, and she's wearing a mismatched pair.

        She takes two seconds to pinch the bridge of her nose, taking in the crisp air wafting through the Ra Mari II's hangar, and hating every little synapse firing in her brain. Being wakeful right now is a sin, with the way twin hammers are sundering her brain like it were a forge.

        She takes a long, long swig of bottled water.

        "C'mon, Arriety," she murmurs to herself, then tucks down the hoodie collar and puts the hood up. She breathes in deep, then slams her timbs down on the foot pedals. The Zeta Gundam marches onto the catapult tracks, and huddles into a crouch as she lets the filter of the monitors wash over her red eyes.

        She sees Myrme in the reflection of the main monitor for a moment. "You're a really cheap drunk," she comments.

        Arriety responds by finishing the bottled water, along with her antidepressants and benzos, crumpling the poor thing, and tossing it in a forgotten corner of half-eaten long range patrol gusseted tear-open bags. A passive-aggressive 'Clean up!' post-it note is above.

        "Arriety... Zeta Gundam 3A, deploying."

        The white mobile suit chases out on a bed of vernier flames, quickly shifting into Waverider mode roaring into Senegal airspace. A shower of missile already erupt as she comes close to the Banshee, as it brings carnage everywhere she goes. It's not alone this time. A Garuda-class transport ship... the Amabilis is here too, and... is that a Nu Gundam? No, it's not quitee right... and the assortment of Ankshas and the Jegans on them too.

        It's all out war.

        "Let's party," she chimes in unison with Puru-1.

<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.

The Ra Mari II looms heavy over the capital, approaching from behind the Unicorn by a long distance. The great red battleship is huge, by comparison to most--but its size does not dwarf the sheer amount of force the Garuda and Vist have brought to bear today. It's daunting, for many of the crew--to say the least. The amount of potential opponents...

"Engineering is ready," reports a rumbling voice over the intercom. "All systems at full power. We will keep a certain reserve power for our exit, Captain, but all the rest is yours."

"Noted," Eight York says to Lavnadim over the same intercom, seated in her Captain's chair. "Thank you, Mister Orlodhari. All other stations, continue red alert. It's time."

This is not how Eight expected to visit this place, when she signed up wih the Federation. But that's all gone, now. Now, she is with the Three Ships Alliance. She speaks over the intercom, "Just continue to perform admirably," Eight says to her crew. "And we'll do fine here. Focus on your own operations, trust in each other, and I'll do the same. Captain York out."

With Vist going all-in like this, they have to be ready, so Rezza from the seat next to Eight's deploys many mobile suits from the hangars. "Banagher," Eight says over radio again, "We're with you. Do what you have to do out there."

The GGG speaks up over the radio. Alouette's voice is patched through to Eight by Astelian, and she considers her words. "Then we're allies in this, Pommier," York reports over the radio in return. "If you're in a position to bring them to justice, then we'll facilitate that as the 3SA." Her mission is to protect the Unicorn, to help get this Coordinate--but if they can stop these atrocities...

Consider that a win.

But from the Ra Mari II, many mobile weapons deploy; there are those such as the Unicorn itself, but many others, including a surprising number of old Zentradi war machines that were brought with their pilots to the Alliance, Nousjadeul-Ger and Queadlunn-Rhea. The appearance of the Zentradi monitor is perhaps a reminder of that old war, in and of itself, bringing its full might to bear.

"All allied forces, this is Captain York." Eight sits still in her chair; she finally did get those special-insole shoes that Kall wanted her to get. It might be her last mission for a while...

But she's going to see this through.

"To all who oppose Vist's ambitions..."

"Here we go."

<Pose Tracker> Seolla Schweizer has posed.

Ever since that fateful sunset in Tsutsujidai...Seolla Schweizer hasn't set forth in a mobile suit. No - she's been too busy building some sort of life from the ground up. Recovering and rehabilitating. Studying and learning about a world she's been so far away from for so long.

 It's been nice. A long needed retreat from a turbulent world. But those of the Shuffle Alliance didn't reach out and shelter her as a unique case where she alone was in an unenviable position. There's quite a lot of painful pasts whose echoes have yet to quiet. Seolla would hope her friends would help her with her own unfinished business with the School - she didn't hesitate a moment when it became clear that Leina and the others were in their own dire predicament.

 First things first though - she made sure all of her contacts knew that she'd be in Dakar, and that she promises to come back safe. Just in case anything happened to her - if she was ever 'retrieved'. Even telling Tessa, when she's deploying from the TDD-1 in the first place.

 ...maybe. If she were just a little more social media savvy, she'd be a little more concerned that her messages to Rikka and Akane were left unread.

 < "It's a little bit big for the TDD's hangars, I know, but I'm still learning the ropes of Arm Slaves," > Seolla transmits, gearing up in a sky blue painted Dijeh huddling in the Tuatha de Danaan's launch bay, rocketing from the sea and quickly laying down suppressive fire at the Anksha-mounted Jegans - even from this distant engagement, she's a force to be reckoned with, knocking down a fair few of the less prepared Vist vanguard. < "Uruz-11, Seolla Schweizer, IFF 991-AER, entering Dakar airspace! Tessa...Doctor Mass...Stay safe in there. I can already tell it's going to be a huge mess. Even to this day, it's never a good sign when the enemy deploys two mysterious Gundams..." >

 ...what is this uneasy feeling coming off of that Mu Gundam? Why that one, when the Banshee is the more reputably dangerous threat? Seolla can't stop staring at the pale white Gundam in the distance... is it just the instincts of pursuing combat, of being pulled to a target, or is it something more...

<Pose Tracker> Judau Ashta has posed.

Dakar. Like Dublin, it's a place Judau Ashta can never forget. How could he?

It holds some of the worst memories of his life. He wouldn't dare forget that. Otherwise...

He might forget all the reasons he's still fighting for.

To say this is a happy return, then, is like saying a root canal is an exciting dental procedure. Judau Ashta feels no real joy when he looks out over the city of Dakar, where he first got a true glimpse of how little the Federation cared about its people -- where he almost lost everything. But there's an extra layer of tension that ripples out from the very core of him as he slips into the familiar comforts of the Double Zeta's cockpit and prepares for launch. Something isn't right. It isn't the presence of Vist and their cronies that feels off -- that's expected. Honestly, he wanted them there; he has unfinished business.

But... there's something. Something gnawing at him, at the back of his mind. Something telling him...

Be careful. Be on edge. Be ready.

Something terrible is lurking on the horizon.

Like the glimmering kernels of wariness before the storm.

Sea green eyes narrow.

<"Double Zeta -- let's go!">

But all he can do is hold on to that gnarled knot of intuition as the ZZ Gundam launches from its temporary home in the Ra Mari II, transforming rapidly into G-Fortress mode to remain airborne as he looks out over his bird's eye view of the city. He stares at the ruins of the reception hall in the distance, blinking once. "Wha...?"

So many memories there. So many bad memories. So much anger still suffusing the fresh, smoldering wreckage--

She did this.

"--She's here!"

The G-Fortress banks, then, taking a wide path towards the Unicorn Gundam's nine to provide aerial support to the Psycho-frame machine against the encroach of Vist's machines. Judau pushes past his uncertainty and wariness as he keeps a sharp vigil. To keep Banagher safe. But most importantly --

Judau is looking, for that black Unicorn, who will almost certainly be coming for Banagher. And when she does--

"Elpeo..."

He doesn't care what it costs him.

He has to try to save her. ... or whatever of her is in there.

<Pose Tracker> Lark Straye has posed.

Lark Straye has been, sort of, part of the Garencieres team for the last while. (Though, can you call it part of the Garencieres crew if they aren't on the Garencieres?) At least, she offered her assistance to them and they took her up on it. Her short, strangely shaped MS made the trip, too; repaired and refueled and restored, ready for use.

There was no place for her in the Federation. She couldn't think of anywhere else to go but the Sleeves.

But despite that she had no love for Full Frontal. She didn't believe in him. (She didn't really believe in anyone right now.) But Neo Zeon had been the only place that she had ever belonged, however unfortunate and unpleasant that belonging had been, and whatever it had cost her.

She'd still followed him. Right to Dakar.

Lark's weird-looking MS, barely fifteen meters tall and with strange curved armour plates instead of the straight or rounded ones preferred by most designers, has deployed - though it looks rather different than usual today. Its large rifle has been replaced with a modified Jegan beam rifle, cut down to size, and the unit itself has...

Well, it looks like someone got very overaggressive with weaponry hardpoints. Micromissile launchers, regular missile launchers, an octet of laser cannons (two to each arm, one on each shoulder, and one on each hip plate), and a heavier laser cannon that has been affixed to the underside of the curved shield it carries. It's a veritable Heavyarms of ... whatever the unit is normally called. One day Lark will name it. That day is not today.

"..."

The attack is already well underway. Lark's feelings of unease intensify. This is the biggest Earth battle she has ever been in, far bigger than anything she was ever deployed to Back Then. She doesn't like it. But she can't leave.

She was told there was a Puru in the Banshee. And while she didn't react, at the time, to any of it, that means she has to see. It's the same sick curiosity that makes her look at accidents and corpses; it's better to see and know than not see and always wonder if there was something more there, something that should have been dealt with but wasn't because nobody would look.

Which means that despite her best judgement, she is on a long, bounding approach toward Dakar proper, and the shattered reception hall. Her unit, smaller than an ordinary MS, doesn't draw as much fire even though it's distinctive as hell - it hasn't fought most people here, so who's looking at it?

KTS: Lark Straye has changed loadout.

<Pose Tracker> Garrod Ran has posed.

A few hours ago, Garrod was in Jamil's office aboard the Vulture landship Freeden. The GX was still undergoing repairs, but Jamil said the Shuffle Alliance needed additional manpower in a hurry, and Garrod was one of the few pilots available. Not that jumping into a new mobile suit was unfamiliar for Garrod; if anything, the fact that he wouldn't have to steal an MS from its immediate pilot was going to be a new taste treat.

Here and now, Garrod runs his gaze once more over his borrowed Dijeh SE-R's cockpit, taking in screens, gauges, readouts, and secondary controls; his hands are already on the main sticks, and he's touched his toes against the pedals often enough to know where they are, if not quite with the muscle memory that he'd have in his accustomed Gundam. And then he's out of time to familiarize himself with the controls; the launch order comes through, and he replies, "Circle Blue, launching!!" as he throttles up, his Dijeh flung forward by the TDD-1's catapult. The runway disappears beneath him, and Garrod ascends, taking in the shape of the battlefield as quickly as he can, banking a little further from Heart-2's firing vector when she calls her shot.

Life was so much easier when his biggest concerns about a new mobile suit were "get it to the dealer and get a good price back on it" ... but he's not scraping by on his own any more. He has a crew. He has someone he wants to protect. He even has something like a home, and is learning - bit by painful bit - what friends are.

He knew what enemies were long ago, though - and he's already spotted the massed mecha launching from the Garuda.

Garrod glances over the Dijeh's weapon-readiness display, then confirms the IFF readouts. Time to get to work.

<Pose Tracker> BC-001 Minae has posed.

        An extended map of Dakar's territories plays out in the back of Minae's processors and on a corner of her screen, rendered at a resolution only she can keep track of. The advantage of fighting in an urban setting is that she can bring her nature to bear; several civilian broadcasting stations have already been contacted, negotiated with, and daisy-chained together to give her an overview of the area and the multitude of different evacuations going on. Parts of her map dim and wink out or flash with vivid colour as hostilities get underway.

        Compartmentalizing that operation to set it to one side, the robot allows herself the private little thought that she kind of misses the simpler times on Winter Wonderland. She's the first to admit that an AI shouldn't constrain themselves to just one role, and she's adamant about backing Arriety up as the two of them learn to fight and maneuver together. She just kind of misses comfy breakfasts and peaceful, lazy days.

        Is this the process of growing up? Maybe in a sense. But it's certainly not what she was thinking of when she promised better days ahead. One look at her pilot lays those lies bare; she's deteroriating rapidly, as is the Zeta with her, and Minae can only gently prod her so much before she worries that she's overstepping. She's not Arriety's counsellor any more, but she's still left with the instinct and core belief that counselling requires consent. What can she do other than try to be patient and have her back?

        She watches the other Zetas launch, and wonders for a moment if they might have some advice. Judau and Roux both have the habit of being veterans, but also of being rather-- blunt and forthright. Maybe they would be better able to empathize with how Arriety is feeling, thrown into all of this.

        With those thoughts warring in her mind, it takes even her several moments to sort out the scrambled, confusing feed of new contacts and arrange them as best she can. The Banshee is obvious enough, and she focuses on that as a central component of her tactical map as the Unicorn accelerates towards it, pinpoint contacts spreading outwards from the Banshee in waves as she establishes them. "This is a mess... Ah-ri, I'm tracking which areas have evacuted already. They should be safer to engage in."

        She hesitates, and adds further. "... I've got your back. If it gets too loud, let me know and I'll try to help as best I can."

        A familiar voice comes over the open radio, and she switches over to it without missing a beat. "Alouette, please stand by for a data dump and targeting map. I've formatted it for 3G systems - so, uh, if you can make better sense of this engagement than I can, go for it," she adds with a brief note of sympathy in her voice. "Ra Mari II, I'm probably going to need some help with this too. It would-- probably be best to crowdsource the effort, if you want my recommendation."

<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.

Last time Naoko Suzuki - a.k.a. Nova Stellar - deployed, things got a little... messy for her, reacting quite poorly to Yuliana Kafim's shutdown of the means of communication with her Friends, the small twin AIs serving as her co-pilots. Although she seemed fine by the time she returned to the ship, she did sequester herself in her quarters on the Ra Mari II for some time afterwards. Until there she was, suddenly announcing out of the blue that she wanted to assist with the next Big Mission. Whatever her exact motivations might be, her need to Be Helpful remains a constant.

Considering what happened last time she rocketed off ahead on her own, it was a reasonable decision to make it plain in advance: she is to be part of the Ra Mari II's rear guard, acting as part of the defense against any encroaching ground units. Which makes good enough sense - her machine can't fly, after all. And Naoko didn't argue, not feeling like she was in any potential too, as well as deciding, this might be good for a change. To not be fully at the heart of the action, with the ship and its direct defenders close at hand in case things go bad for her. Much as she hates to admit it, she still has a lot to learn.

Of course, that doesn't mean that she's not going to do the very best she can to be of some use here. The NS-1 Sukeban directs its gaze upwards from its position slightly ahead of the Ra Mari II, spotting the CR-365 flying overhead. She responds to its communication, "Pilot Pommier, this is Nova Stellar, part of the Ra Mari II's defense team. I'll support you from the ground, if... if that's okay?" She's so not used to coordinating with others. Eight didn't give her any specific instructions... is it okay to take this initiative...? Well whatever, she's already said it now. "I'm, uh, purple, look for the purple one, the Arm Slave."

There is indeed a violet Arm Slave among the ground forces. Look, it's even waving. It may be a bit unusual to see what to most would be an unknown custom model Arm Slave here... but stranger things have happened, haven't they?

In the cockpit, Naoko takes a deep breath, then focuses ahead. "Alright. Let's go, Uriel, Ariel!" With that, the Sukeban's copious amount of thrusters spring to life, launching forward with a massive burst of speed. Surely it can't hurt to advance a little bit. She's gonna need to get in close to make the most of her arsenal, anyway.

<Pose Tracker> Teletha Testarossa has posed.

"A Garuda-class? I've heard the rumors, but I can't believe it's real..."
"It looks like a normal ship, just bigger. Just one shot in the right place, and pow, down it goes."
"Quiet comms. We will now begin combat operations."

Mithril is one of the first to bubble up to the news of a Garuda-class transport descending upon Dakar; Notices, alerts, designations, and the movement of who they could afford to shift over on such short notice. People notified, exchanges made, people lifted onto the ship and placed into the hangar along with their suits. Subtlety was something worth having against a mighty foe, and the underwater travel of the submarine was worth its weight in gold.

"Keep steady. Maintain course, and prepare to launch as needed." A press of the button. "To those in the hangar unaffiliated with Mithril: Fight well, and come back alive." Click. Another click. The submarine breached the surface, releasing its swarm of suits one by one, launching in controlled order.

A broadcast, outwards and wide via Shuffle's channels and ancilliary backups. <"This is Anzus, alias Diamond-2. Our primary targets are twofold: The Garuda-class carrier, and the eventuality of Char Aznable. Do what you must, and stay safe. We're not leaving until the battle is won.">

It was time for work.

BGM - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toEBh2uUJt8 - LEUCINE - Yoshimi Kudo

DANA had already designated the targets at hand, the AI working overtime to differntiate friend from foe. Satellite imagery, attempts to scout and seed the land with PRT scounts, however few they could manage to move in the area. Merely to scout the area and keep people abreast, to move in secrecy. The Garuda was a blot in the sky. Primary designation. Other targets marked as appropriate: Banshee. Mu Gundam. The preparations for a singular Red Comet.

Keep these thoughts. These thoughts of the people in Dakar. A breath in, a breath out. Thank you, Sayla. Anzus will take things from here.

"Maintain course, twenty-fives knots. Prepare all missile silos and prepare for sea-to-ground and sea-to-air combat. Kano 5, maintain scouting operations. Engage as required."
"Aye, ma'am. Twenty-five knots! Prepare missile silos!"
<"Copy. Maintaining eye contact on Garuda-class. "> Shots rang out in Dakar: Here and there, suits from the Dakar were peppered by stray shots, PRT working for their keep with Jegans and Gustav Karls, appearing like any other Federation Mobile suit.

Maintain course. Maintain comms. Maintain relations. Keep everything in mind, the battlefield, the situation, the submarine, and most importantly: Maintain oneself.

<Pose Tracker> Faye Valentine has posed.

"Ugh... military stuff is way too much... this is just a little civilian craft, you know that, right?"

Which is rather debatable, looking at the Red Tail's typical loadout. But that stuff's expensive! At least these days she can get her missile budget covered by someone else. Which has led to a lot more explosions.

Still, as much as she might pout about it, Faye Valentine is on the scene. It's not that she believes in things like 'comrades' and 'obligations',
it's just that Sayla is finally asking for help, and what kind of jerk would she be if she refused to show up? It'd give totally the wrong impression, and make her look super flaky. Stuff like that can really mess a lady up, you know.

Still, for all that it's a "civilian" craft, the Red Tail darts through the air as smooth as you please, tossing to and fro in the wind with a gracefulness worthy of envy. Despite her mounting anxiety, or maybe because of it, Faye can't help but bop along with the maneuvers (the Sayla household has, no doubt, noticed that she is the kind of woman who leans into the turns playing racing games, too) as she floats onto the battlefield.

"But... Well, it's not like I owe you one. I'm just doing this out of the goodness of my heart! Because it'd... be empty around that big ass house without all of you there!"

<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.

<"Ease up on your turns a little. This is not like flying in space. Air friction and the aerodynamics of the frame have a big impact. Turn too hard and you're going to lose speed, which makes you an easier target.">

 Some distance away from Dakar, two Variable Fighters are currently flying high through the skies above the African landscape. One of them is the VF-25F Messiah, piloted by the SMS pilot, Alto Saotome. Having no idea what's soon about to happen in the nearby city, Alto is currently out here today for a training session. Helping a certain someone acclimate to flight within an atmosphere.

 Alto has no idea why Sheryl had chosen this part of the world for her training flight, but he had not objected. It didn't matter too much where they were going to do it, provided the weather wasn't too bad. Thankfully the skies have been pretty clear.

 Trailing behind Sheryl's VF, Alto watches as she goes through various maneuvers. He offers tips here and there, but for the most part the training flight is going well.

 Until a beeping comes from Alto's system. Turning to look at one of his screens, he watches as text begins to flow across it.

 -- Priority Order --
 -- Callsign: Skull-4
 -- Immediate redirect: 15 degrees N : 17 degrees W
 -- Mission: Interception. Defense. Hostile forces onsite, civilian lives under threat. Coordinate with local defenders and eliminate enemy forces.
 -- Client: Earth Federation, Office of the Administrated Capital Defense Forces.
 -- Mission Rejection: DENIED
 -- Priority Order --

 Alto frowns. This is terrible timing! He briefly taps his finger against his control stick in thought. He can't just leave Sheryl now... But he also can't refuse this mission. That could be very bad for him. Not to mention there are lives at stake...

 Alto frets over the decision for a moment, before finally radioing, <"Sheryl, hold up. We're going to have to cut this training session short. I'm being redirected to Dakar... Apparently it's under attack.">

 Alto rolls his fighter over and onto a new course. Pushing the throttle forward, the Messiah's engines burn brighter as it rapidly accelerates forwards. As he begins the relatively short flight towards the city of Dakar in the distance, Alto finishes, <"Head back home... I'll catch up later."> Alto doesn't like the idea of leaving Sheryl alone. But what choice does he have?

 ----

 Not long later, Alto eases up on the throttle as the city comes in view ahead of him. There's... So many units registering on his IFF! And many of them appear hostile. Rarely has he seen this many mobile weapons in one battle before... With his own eyes, anyway. Alto squeezes his controls a little tighter, a little anxious about diving into the frey. He's not entirely sure what's going on, after all. He does recognize some of the units being highlighted on his HUD. But that doesn't make it any clearer.

 Still. The city has been attacked. That much is obvious. Anchoring himself to that fact, Alto steels himself for the coming fight.

<Pose Tracker> Puru Two has posed.

Dakar.

Capitol city, mired in the darkness of memory for the survivors of the Second Neo-Zeon Conflict. Once again, the tides of conflict steadily rise. The well-fed and the well-connected; all the typical rats scuttle the safety. Those who cannot escape fate's pull or break free from their orbit around these conflicts: welcome, here, again.

(Where she first awoke.)

The sundered Qubeley MK-II grabs hold of the roof above the catapult deck and cranes its avian head to look out at the carnage beyond. A very human movement. In contrast, the girl at the controls sinks low in her seat with nary a muscle moving. She can feel the deep darkness out there, threatening to swallow her up if she leaves the safety of the Ra Mari-II. In contrast to the ferocious fire that burns in the breast of the eldest Ashta brother, whose wish to protect and to save shines brighter still, she feels only a pallid, sick sense of fear.

She failed to rescue her last time, so now--is the only option to put an end to Puru-1...?

The first movement Puru Two makes inside the cockpit is to crane her own head slightly at the sound of Arriety's voice, and then: "Puru Two. Going." the cloaked Qubeley leaps from the catapult, a fluttering comet that soon banks and breaks towards the city centre with a pulsing flare of sky-blue thruster flame.

"Put you down once... I can put you down again. Put you back where you belong." she mutters, sweating.
Christina MacKenzie big is still typing don't worry!

KTS: Christina MacKenzie has deployed in RGN-78AN-02FA Gundam Tristan <GN Failnaught>.
KTS: Puru Two has deployed in AMX-004-03 Qubeley MK. II Repair.

<Pose Tracker> Shelby Korts has posed.

And then, it's her turn to arrive:

 The knockout pink Jagd Doga is most at home in space; the booster pack giving it flight is essentially a breakaway unit that is meant to get her where she needs to go-- then with a hefty click and a few sparks, pops off the back of the ex-Zeonic machine while Shelby touches down amongst the Shuffle deployment, skidding across ground and asphalt before she sets the unit ahead in quick movements.

 Fresh and still a little exhausted from the rescue operations from Yuliana Kafim and her Void oddities a week ago, the presence of psychoframe on the field is quick to press against her mind; Banagher, and -- the Banshee, the Sinanju... she can feel them immediately, the whispers and voices amongst the distress of others ahead in Dakar. Shelby's head tilts, a cant of pain and irritation-- and then the more familiar presences start to trickle in, feelings and pressure from Judau to Lucine-- Roux, too.

 Shelby Korts does not hesitate: The funnels immediately deploy with a *pang* of metallic clamps releasing, the canisters scattering high and wide despite the small amount of focus it will take to keep them moving out there.

 To allied comms, it's the usual check-in: "<Temperance, on field and ready to go.>"

<Pose Tracker> Char Aznable has posed.

====== SOME TIME AFTER THE SEATTLE INCIDENT ======

Memories of a time that seems so long ago; it was only fourteen years, and yet they feel almost as though they belong to a different man.

        "I start by asking the members of this assembly, and all Federation citizens, to please forgive this sudden act of insolence."

The device in his hands is nearly complete. Combined with the newly-written program nestled in the archaic computer of his Zaku, it should sit dormant within a computer system and, upon responding to an activation signal, allow him to trace the movements of those who have committed this unforgivable crime that he now pursues.

        "I am Lieutenant Quattro Bajeena of the A.E.U.G. There is something I must disclose before we begin..."

Should he care about this, in the face of the towering, all-encompassing goal of the Oath burning within him? Perhaps not, and yet... that old urge for vengeance has lit its flame too. Perhaps some things should be destroyed... personally.

He closes up the device, and focuses his will. After a moment, the sensor light on the machine blinks a baleful amber. Satisfied, he shuts it off for now, and climbs up his Zaku, planting the device in the palm of the mobile suit's left hand.

Dakar...

        "I want to talk to you as someone who bears the aspirations of Zeon. Needless to say, not as Char of the Principality of Zeon..."

What good, back then, did that speech do? He was hauled into the political machinations of the Republic, installed as a figurehead leader...

        "Zeon Deikun did not build the Principality of Zeon!"

But his son destroyed it.

        "Considering the present reality, where the Titans do as they please with the Earth Federation Forces, it's evident that the Titans are even more malicious than the Zabi family."

Despite their battles, the Titans' malice survived to today... or were they just another vector for an older, more controlling malice, that collected its assets in the wake of the Gryps Conflict and now is confident enough to make itself actively known?

"We must not repeat that history," he says in time to the memory in his mind, settling in to the Zaku's cockpit.

If, as the Sleeves intelligence he acquired during his command of Palau indicated, the La+ Program guides the Unicorn's Pilot to places of significance to the bloody history of the Universal Century... then it will surely guide him here - how could it not, when so much has happened at the Federation's capital?

When the Unicorn arrives here, so too will the Vist Foundation and their abhorrent Banshee, and then he will make his move.

All he has to do is wait. The Power coursing within him will sustain him.

====== NOW ======

It is not the sense of burgeoning miracles and the activation of the RX-0s' NT-D systems that rouses him from his half-slumber in the cockpit - it is the roar of engines too close to the ground, and the sound of explosions.

"Links wouldn't," he thinks aloud, bringing his mobile suit up to minimum power and activating the external sensors. He watches the Garuda deploy its swarm of Anksha suits and the Banshee lay waste to an evacuated reception hall. "No. This is the Foundation forcing his hand to confront them. Doubtless they think they can simply buy their way out of the consequences for initiating this attack."

"Ironic, that I'm here to defend Dakar in a way," he mutters as the Zaku-II comes up to full power.

A perfectly ordinary warehouse suddenly explodes open as the scarlet, amber-eyed Zaku II rockets upwards into the sky. Its pilot scouts the battlefield: The Banshee, a Gundam with another disturbing presence within it, the Amabilis... and the Garuda.

        Perfect - but perhaps a bit of misdirection.

Thrusters blazing like the final sunset on creation, the Conquering King Zaku-II leaps towards the Unicorn - then leaps over it, firing the jump jets at full power and spraying gunfire at the Garuda's defensive screen of Ankshas and forcing them to split apart or be destroyed. The Zaku-II arcs over and lands on the transport, crouching to plant its left hand on the hull of the supercarrier and let his sleeper program embed itself in the vessel's systems. A contact transmission should distract them enough...

Communications monitors override suddenly in a crackle of amber light, and the unmistakable visage of Char Aznable appears on them. Cold blue eyes regard the images on his own monitors, a dawnflame spark flickering in the pupils. "Consider this your single warning: Your destruction is inevitable. Surrender now to Cosmic Law, and it will be a merciful end."

He knows he will face defiance - when it comes, he smirks. "So be it." Unholstering his Zaku's bazooka, he places the muzzle of the weapon over the supercarrier's engine block. Only the ping of his program's complete installation saves the crew of the Garuda from an inglorious fiery end (he was bluffing to buy time for it to complete, anyway) - but at the same moment, the pilot feels a flash of intent and threat, looking to the side of the screen. "Tch." He cuts the comms and leaps clear of the Garuda, amber monoeye sensor swinging around to stare at the incoming Hi-Nu Gundam.

(( OST: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X20KRhgLNk4 ))

        Artesia.

In that same machine he disabled at Kowloon.

        Is she mad, to try the same thing again?

No sense replacing a perfectly good weapon. He sights the Hi-Nu and fires off a volley of warheads towards it, then chooses other machines to open fire upon in a seemingly-random display of violence - the Strike Zeta and the shocking-pink Jagd Doga.

        No madder than I, I suppose.

The Sinanju approaches too, and Char smiles wickedly, opening comms to all. "Ah, the forgery returns. Let us put this embarrassment to an end, shall we?" The Zaku-II's heat hawk is drawn in its other hand and he swoops in towards Full Frontal, hewing down at the other scarlet machne! "I am none of those things to you. You are but the manifestation of the grasping hands of politicians who need a figurehead for their own ambitions. Better for you to fall than persist in this folly."

KTS: Char Aznable targets Sayla Mass, Shelby Korts, and Roux Louka with Type A2 MS Bazooka Pellet Spray.
KTS: Christina MacKenzie has joined Aumerei's bucket!
KTS: Char Aznable targets Full Frontal with Zaku-II Heat Hawk Dismemberment Strike!

<Pose Tracker> Christina MacKenzie has posed.

The Unicorn's--Banagher's Companion. Yes.
 So, too, Celestial Being Agent on an Armed Intervention. Ally of the Ra Mari II.
 Even so, a Shoe-Fitter, a Veteran of the One Year War. Spacenoid on a Titan Earth. Succor to the Homeless, Vengeance for the Innocents. Believer in the Future of Intelligent Life.

 ...Beloved Member of the Mass Family.

 So many tethers, binding her, bringing her here.

 Christina MacKenzie, Who Could be No Other Place.

 <"Gundam Tristan, Start-up Sequence."> Her voice is calm over the comms to the Ra Mari's air control.
 Thanks to Banagher, she's refueled on good food and deep sleep, full of resolve. Thanks to XAIRO and MAIRO and Haro (LE), the fine-tuning of the Tristan's new engine block was completed amidst deep dreams.

 A fanning drumbeat accelerated up to a vibrating tingle in the air. The old knight's chest thrummed with life and light. Vortexes eddied between Chobham shoulderblades. Still only half-painted, brilliant red alongside dull Luna.

 <'Tristan, you are clear for launch. Good luck out there.'> The redhead grinned, flexed her fingers out, and eased into the throttle.

 <"Christina MacKenzie, Gundam Tristan, I'm launching!">

 The knight leapt into the sky from the grand red cityship, and once clear, all eight vectored thrusters unified their wills, blazing into the wild blue straight for the Garuda's swarms. Those left in the Tristan's wake could maybe have mistaken a brilliant glimmer mixed into the exhaust.

 <"Banagher. Do what you need to do, what only you can do. I'll give you all the room you need,"> she reassured on a tightband. <"We're not stopping at saving one person. If it's us--We'll save everyone.">

 Chris flickered her comms to global, demanding the attention of every potential interloper she could draw from the Unicorn.
 <"Well, then, Vist Puppeteers..."> she purred, before the lion loosed its roar. <"COME ON AND STOP ME!">

<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.

When Sheryl transferred into Mihoshi Academy and specifically joined its flight course last year, she hadn't actually stopped working as the Galactic Fairy, and her grades suffered accordingly. This year, she's decided to take a hiatus from being a megastar and focus on becoming a pilot--to learn to fight so she can take revenge on the Vajra for her lost (missing, not lost, definitely not) home. Part of that is getting flight hours in--in getting used to flying in all sorts of different conditions, both space and atmosphere. And naturally, who best to help her train other than ace pilot Alto Saotome?

 Sure, that tracks. But why Dakar? Because it was almost on the list of stops for Sheryl's Earth Sphere Global Tour, only getting cut because of a scheduling SNAFU on the city's part. Maybe she'll perform there at some point in the future! It'd be nice to check it out from the air while they're around anyway. Right now, they're only 'in the general area' rather than right over the city, though.

 "So my turns aren't great yet! You could stand to compliment me on the good things, you know. Like when I'm flying in a straight line--I'm really getting the hang of keeping it steady!"> she mock-pouts to Alto--over comms, of course; Sheryl's in a flight suit, chest expanded for her bust and heels on the boots, as she's piloting a Variable Fighter not just at the controls but by herself. Alto is nearby, but in his own VF nearby rather than in the same cockpit as her. That, too, is part of her practice. <"You are right about the friction and all that, though. The wind really has a different feel compared to--">

 A beeping on Alto's end cuts her off. Sheryl frowns, but lets it rock; she figures if it's important, he ought to take care of it, and if it's not, he'll turn it off in a second. She absolutely isn't anticipating what he tells her next, though: that the nearby city of Dakar is under attack, and he has to go help defend it. Even in the confines of her flight helmet, her jaw drops. <"What?! You're joking, right? I won't let you off easy if you're trying to bail on me early!">

 "<It's true,>" Grace's gentle voice chimes in then over the comms, audible to Alto and Sheryl both. "<I'm watching radar for the area and a massive ship just arrived over Dakar's airspace. You wouldn't believe how many smaller units are starting to swarm over it. I'm not sure what's going on-->" A little white lie for sensitive ears. "<--but it's clearly nothing good.>"

 For a moment, Sheryl is speechless. A rare event, really. That's probably why, when Alto tells her to go home and rolls his VF towards the city, it seems as though she might actually listen.

 Then her jaw sets, and she eases into a turn to follow after Alto.

 "<Sheryl?! What are you doing?!>" Grace protests, clearly alarmed.

 "<If it's that bad, I need to see it for myself. I'll leave after!>" Sheryl retorts.

 Grace sighs; where she overlooks the battle from a long distance away, she presses a hand to her forehead. "<All right. If a look will satisfy you... but make sure you leave right after, all right? This is something you need to leave to the professionals.>"

 "" Sheryl says grimly.

 No more conversation after that. She's already focused herself on keeping her VF steady... and on all those ships that soon show up on her own plane's scanners. It really does look like something horrible is about to go down. There's even Gundam-types here... Even Sheryl recognizes those iconic V-helmets. Her gaze settles on the Mu Gundam, and she hesitates.

KTS: Roux Louka has activated the Wall Spirit Command.
KTS: Roux Louka fails to evade Char Aznable's Type A2 MS Bazooka Pellet Spray, taking 3375 damage!
KTS: Roux Louka has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
KTS: Shelby Korts's Physical Wall L1 activates, negating 1000 base damage.
KTS: Shelby Korts blocks Char Aznable's Type A2 MS Bazooka Pellet Spray, taking 2625 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Aumerei has posed.

Puru-1's... chattier than Aumerei expects. More playful. ... Laughing...? Laughing. "Doctor, are you getting this?" she asks, tentative -- before saying, "We can discuss it later, actually. Ops time." She cuts it out.

The presence of Gridknight and that woman gives Aumerei momentary pause. At that 'Face me, you bastard!' she glances down and to one side. Even if she's perfectly well-allocated where she is... there are some emotions you can't quite escape. She feels just as she has so many times before.

Aumerei glances toward the Cosmo Robo. There aren't a lot of pilots at the Thies base -- which means...

"That Cosmo Robo is our capture target, just eff-why-eye," she announces to the Garuda's close air support. "Cosmos are tough, though. If you treat her with kid gloves you're going to lose for sure." Some of the Ankshas peel off to deal with her.

The Ra Mari II gets noted. It's a battleship -- like the Garuda itself. "Garuda close air support teams, intercept the Ra Mari. We can't afford to leave a deployment of that size unchecked. Stay safe, you guys! Sorry, I can't order the Newtype Corps to support you on that one. You're on your own."

It's when the ZZ Gundam arrives that she shows that -- even if she can't order the Newtype Corps to support the flight wing against the Ra Mari II -- she can ABSOLUTELY order them around. "Treasure Chest! Intercept the Double Zeta!" For good measure, she follows up by highlighting its IFF. "That pilot cannot be allowed to engage Puru-1!" There's urgency there that she usually doesn't use with Treasure Chest... for some reason, she thinks allowing the ZZ to fire on the Banshee would be a catastrophic result.

The Aura of Dawn... that's an unfortunate addition. She was warned to expect it -- but even so, the presence of that Zaku II... her lips purse. "... Leave that to the opposition," she says. "There's a 3G base nearby. Our opponents will split their attention to deal with it. Don't engage unless engaged."

It feels so -- strange. To be giving tactical oversight to such a large group -- and a group of people she mostly doesn't care about, at that. So different from 3G...

When the submarine peeks up, Aumerei reviews the data she gets. So that's the 'Toy Box...' As she figures out what to do, another operator says, "Forward teams, engage the Toy Box. Don't let it escape!" Aumerei scowls. She was curating their opposition choices so closely -- but one supposes that's just how it is!

Those SMS Variable Fighters put her on edge. That's not an element she expected. One of them seems like a relative novice, too, judging from the speed... she doesn't have much of a taste for getting that kind of person involved. She can't really do much about it in her present position, though.

A hush settles over the Garuda's bridge as it's addressed by a face familiar to some of the staff. Everyone glances at each other, but no one quite knows what to say to this agent of the Dawn. It's the helmsman who's first to off Char a dismissive, "I don't care what you're using to power up that machine -- a Zaku's a Zaku!"

"I really don't think you should --" Aumerei starts, but the mood on the bridge remains defiant.

"Well, hope he doesn't decide to take that personally," she mutters, exasperated.

Aumerei frowns. This battlefield's getting kind of claustrophobic -- she needs to get the balance of power just right... "Hey, Treasure Chest -- I'm activating HADES and adjusting the psycommu receiver throughput to 25 percent. Expect a little bleed-over from Puru-1. Seems like she's feeling playful? So just remember -- if you start feeling that way, that's on her, not you! ... try to have fun with it, though~"

"Crossfire, I'm sending you telemetry data. Puru-1, same deal. Use your best judgment!" Her fingers move to do precisely that.

The Ankshas fan out and begin the work. One group unilaterally decides Aumerei is wrong about whether splitting the air/ground components of the squad is worth it; and the Jegans disengage from their Ankshas, heading out toward the PRT teams while leaving the Ankshas themselves to harass the TDD-1.

The one she allocated to bringing Alouette 'home,' though, actually complies with her advisory statements. The Ankshas pepper the Sukeban with a heavy beam barrage, which gradually extends to that Celestial Being machine and the Cosmo Robo itself, too.

The Garuda itself swivels some of its numerous mega particle cannons toward the Ra Mari. Aumerei has no say over what the gunners do, just the MS teams; she has to just let that happen. The mega particle cannons let out a warning burst. It will be the only 'warning' the Ra Mari II receives, and it's a fairly lethal one.

KTS: Aumerei has activated the Rouse Spirit Command targeting Treasure Chest
KTS: Aumerei targets Treasure Chest with Awe!
KTS: Aumerei Changes attack to Puru-1 and Crossfire Salem with Insight L2.
KTS: Aumerei Changes attack to Naoko Suzuki, Christina MacKenzie, and Alouette Pommier with Anksha Beam Barrage.
KTS: Aumerei targets Eight York with Mega Particle Cannons Burst!
KTS: Aumerei targets Teletha Testarossa with Jegan Wing Ranged Tactics!
KTS: Aumerei has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Aumerei shares insight with Puru-1, making her next attacks more accurate!
KTS: Aumerei inspires awe, increasing Treasure Chest's Morale!
KTS: Aumerei shares insight with Crossfire Salem, making her next attacks more accurate!
KTS: Alouette Pommier fails to intercept Aumerei's Anksha Beam Barrage, taking 2480 damage!
KTS: Aumerei begins a Formation attack!
KTS: [Lucky] Eight York's Forced Insight activates, and luck goes her way!
KTS: Eight York successfully avoids Aumerei's Mega Particle Cannons Burst
KTS: Sayla Mass has activated the Alert Spirit Command.
KTS: Teletha Testarossa has activated the Foresee Spirit Command.
KTS: Sayla Mass successfully Evades Char Aznable's Type A2 MS Bazooka Pellet Spray
KTS: Full Frontal has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Full Frontal has activated the Alert Spirit Command.
KTS: Teletha Testarossa successfully Evades Aumerei's Jegan Wing Ranged Tactics
KTS: Naoko Suzuki charges into the attack!
KTS: Naoko Suzuki successfully avoids Aumerei's Anksha Beam Barrage
KTS: Full Frontal has activated the Alert Spirit Command.
KTS: Char Aznable rattles Full Frontal, making its next maneuvers more difficult.
KTS: Full Frontal parries Char Aznable's Zaku-II Heat Hawk Dismemberment Strike, taking 1140 damage!
KTS: Char Aznable has engaged Full Frontal!
KTS: Christina MacKenzie fails to charge.
KTS: Christina MacKenzie successfully avoids Aumerei's Anksha Beam Barrage
KTS: Full Frontal targets Char Aznable with Beam Rifle Barrage!
KTS: Full Frontal has completed their actions for the round.

<Pose Tracker> Full Frontal has posed.

The Sinanju screams into the battlefield, even as others make their appearance on the board. The emerald monoeye shines brightly in the void of space, moving on its rail as Full Frontal scans the playing field. Suddenly, an all-too familiar presence. The Red Comet had come to meet his ghost, his inheritor, his rival to the title.

"Very well then, Char Aznable. Let us see whether there is still the strength of diamond behind your will...or if you've become naught but dross since your return."

The monoeye of the Sinanju blazes viridian as it swivels to meet the Zaku's own, the past on a breakneck course to crash against the present. Drawing its beam tomahawk, the Sinanju clashes with the Zaku's heat hawk, a weapon that would've been vaporized by the full output of the Sinanju's strike...and yet remained still intact, courtesy of the Oath Over Omega.

Regardless, the heavy strike is parried, but still scorches the armor near the clash, a reminder that nothing in this battle can be taken at face value. Boosting back from the clash, the Sinanju looks down at Char's Zaku.

"This is the best you can greet me with, oh progenitor? This is all you deign to begin with?" Full Frontal sneers, a played up affront to assault the prior Red Comet's pride, if any still remained. "I may be an aberration to you, Char Aznable, but to the Spacenoids, I am their hope. The hope you dashed into the dirt when you abandoned them for the sake of your pitiful pride. Tell me, how did it feel, knowing that your final words in this universe were a babe's desperate pleas for a mother?"

Holding its rifle before it, the Sinanju aims at its ancestor, its verdant gaze withering with disappointment.

"What you left behind, I have gathered. What you betrayed, I have healed. Where you have failed, I will succeed. The world no longer needs you, Char Aznable, and I will bury the legend here, where it belongs most: into memory."

"Now perish, son of Zeon."

<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.

Without words, Roux looks to her left, and without really searching, she can see the G-Fortress. She smiles at it, a little, with relief. A smile that might be subtly felt. And then:

A Photonic ray of immense force arcs out. Roux's eyes turn upwards towards it even as the Strike Zeta's computer identifies it and helpfully tracks back to the distant source, the battle HUD beginning to populate in active mode. The instructions that come from the not-so-far-off Hi-Nu are pretty clear.

Pretty easy to do what I was going to do anyway, thinks Roux to Roux.

But there's something else out there. A red presence. Someone familiar, even if Roux only met him once. It was a very distinctive feeling. But she can't really center it, not in this chaos. (Shelby says something interesting, but Roux files it away for later - if there is a later, for her - because there are some things you shouldn't speak of in this kind of a place.)

And then he shows up.

Char Aznable. Hero of Zeon. Slayer of Zabis. Hero of the AEUG. Slayer, barely foiled, of the modern regime of human habitation of Earth. He is there. He does not have much to say to her. Some part of Roux intuits that his eyes are in large part elsewhere; at his sister, and at his mockery.

He makes them an offer. For a split second Roux has to weigh it fairly. Can they prevail against him? Against a man who stood toe to toe against Amuro Ray and came back, seemingly from nothing, to shake the foundations of the Earth Federation? Against perhaps the definitive figure of the modern age - and infused as he is with a dark and terrible power, a power beyond their typical reckoning? Power magnified immensely? Could she do it? Could she and Judau, she and Shelby, all of the Shuffle Alliance, *every Mobile Suit here*, do it? Defeat him, not simply drown him in enough fire to leave for a minute?

Who could?

His weapon fires and the bazooka pellets slam down against the Strike Zeta, grazing and screaming with buckshot salt-against-the-windshield force, the angle poor and perhaps the one thing that saves her. Roux finds she was steering away but she hadn't steered enough.

Who could stand against this?

Roux's heart pounds. And somewhere in the back of her mind she remembers a sudden red gleam of light. A light and a promise. That in the end it would be worth it.

Fine, Roux thinks: I'll do it myself!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt9XEDTNTsk

Anger blooms in Roux's heart. Anger is a fire, and a poison, but poisons and fires have their place. Without the two, Man would have never reached space, and there wouldn't be a Roux Louka. She answers Char as the Strike Zeta comes down to land momentarily on the top of a building -- luxury apartments. Roux doesn't really know it, just that it was in a sector marked 'secured' last time she looked at the map.

"You know," Roux tells Char, "You lied to Zeon, you lied to the AEUG, you lied to the whole God damn Federation on television... why in the name of ANYTHING should we listen to you about this Cosmic Law business?!" And she punctuates this by firing a rocket - sprouting with a bloom of engine ignition from the Strike Zeta's shoulder after the reborn Zaku II. He's moving to engage with the Sinanju?

"<We have to keep him guessing,>" Roux answers Shelby. "<Don't let him tag you if you can, he's going to win a war of attrition from what they told me... but if Banagher can get the coordinate...!!>"

Then maybe THEY'RE the ones who can run away chortling.

KTS: Roux Louka targets Char Aznable with Standoff Missile!
KTS: Roux Louka has completed their actions for the round.

<Pose Tracker> Puru-1 has posed.

        As Knight rises up, calling his challenge, the Norn veers out of range with a quick burst of its azure trailing thrusters, spinning through the air, "You're a big one." She giggles out, "Bastard bastard bastard!" She echoes the word over and over, and Knight might get a flash of something strange. Like a Hecatoncheires of legend, look at it, there are so many arms, dozens upon dozens extending from the chassis like a monster save that it's curling around the frame itself, twisting and undulating in its all encompassing grasp.

        Blink and it's gone.

        Arriety's Zeta launches across the sky, zipping towards it. And in a flash one might wonder if she's looking at a faceless child reaching for her on the monitor, replacing Myrme's, but it's no longer there after a moment, like an optical illusion. Or a hallucination.

        "You don't sound really into it!" She tut tuts at Arriety, before she changes trajectory and fires full thrust straight towards her, the Armed Armor mounting on its back firing a blue spherical burst from its mega cannon.

        possessiveness envy
        can't stop won't stop
        no way out

        As if it were in childish resistance to her echo at Seattle, to cut this out. Something feels off about this, as if the whole tone she were engaging with her is just different than before. "Better get there quick or something could happen!" The appearance of both the Kshatriya and the Qubeley forces her to make a decision, and abruptly it swings towards the Qubeley.

        "Oh! You're here to kill me." She chirps matter of factly, as if she could feel her intentions. again again again again again The sensations prickle through her Psycommu, like a virus invading her systems, the featherlight touch of fingers infecting her emotions. Even as she swings by and a Beam Saber erupts, a fly by as she slashes right at her Qubeley's funnel skirt in a flash of plasma. "What a laugh! Be back after I say Hi!"

        And straight off on the trajectory, "Judau!" There's a note of warped glee from Puru-1, like she just lights up knowing that he's here, like they're going to play just like the old times. And the Norn swoops right towards the Double Zeta in a spiral flight, but then the Mu cuts her off to the ZZ and it pulls up into a hover pattern. no fair no fair no fair "I wanted to play with him!" She complains over the comms to Aumerei, but then a moment after seems to change her mind as if she heard from her, "Later Judau, after you have fun with Treasure Chest!" family together family together And her tone changes to something raw, vicious "I'll play with the Unicorn first."

        There's something painful against the edge of lark's perception, like static and fingernails scraping against the edge of her mind, trying to get in. A flash of a hollow faceless child, a child that looks just like she used to, save the void pit in her face, right as the Norn changes course, landing right beside her Dijeh, as the Banshee draws its beam saber from its back.

        "You- you, I know you. Don't I?"

        It's suddenly slashed across Lark's mobile suit's frame with great speed, even as she changes it up and a Beam Tonfa erupts from the forearm, trying to offer a quick stab as her tone shifts to RAGE "Why are you SHUTTING ME OUT!?" rejecting us rejecting us rejecting us rejecting us It is probably a fortunate thing, but it is almost immediately distracted from her by the sight of a certain visual. Aumerei's telemetry data filling her systems just in time for the sight of it.

        "Unicorn." The pilot breathes aloud as she finally gets a visual on it's primary target. Then smiles viciously under her shaded faceplate, as he does what she knows he came here for. "Unicorn Unicorn UNICORN!" She repeats over and over in crescendo before she howls with laughter, "There you are!" And both Banagher and Mineva can feel it, that prickling at the back of their necks, the sensation of those fingertips trying to cross that space, to oppress, infect, invade.

        anger sorrow despair resentment fear
        time to come home come home come home
        how did you think this was going to end

        Whipping up it's Beam Magnum, a cylinder rotates as its jump jets fire, and with a flash of smoke something is fired at the Unicorn. Near invisible at first, but if it hits home he'll soon have an assortment of flashing blue spheres latched onto his shield. They blink as if to alarm, before erupting in an explosive flash that tries to take out its shield outright and disorient its occupants as her tone shifts to something intensely cold as the Banshee starts its rise to meet them.

        "Target acquired. You're mine."

KTS: Puru-1 targets Lark Straye and Puru Two with Beam Tonfas and Sabers Rush.
KTS: Puru-1 targets Arriety Hearn with Armed Armor DE Mega Cannon Shot!
KTS: Puru-1 targets Banagher Links with Revolving Launcher MGaP Flash Barrage!
KTS: Puru-1 has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Arriety Hearn's EN Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage.
KTS: Arriety Hearn fails to evade Puru-1's Armed Armor DE Mega Cannon Shot, taking 2775 damage!
Rena Lancaster teleports in.

KTS: Rena Lancaster has deployed in A000-0001 Gaia Gear Alpha.

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

"Yes, allies!" She responds to Eight, in regards to 3SA support, with almost a hint of youthful enthusiasm before her voice returns to its dead serious tone. "That being the case, I'll do my best to coordinate with your troops and avoid interfering with your own goal, especially if we're in agreement in what to do about Vist." She replies. "Just.. stay safe, okay, Captain? This is going to be a dangerous battle... I just know it."

Shortly after that commique, the CR's terminal fills with data, neatly sorted in 3G's formatting. "Minae, that's you?" She recognizes the Super AI over comms. "Merci... I'll make good use of this." There are so so many, Ankshas, but with Minae's help, they begin to become manageable.

Also catching her attention is the purple arm slave, which may not be the most apt camouflauge for a mecha, but it sure is a nice-looking custom paint job. Was that a giggle when she spotted it waving below? "Understood, Pilot Nova Stellar! I can accomodate you with air support!" She reports, downing an Akasha heading land-wards. They're already making quite the progress so far, it seems. It's almost going too well...

Gridknight's also here! Also a very reassuring sight, as she remembers fresh from just a week ago over ice cream when Nidaime assured her the Gridknight Alliance is fighting their hardest. While she prioritizes disaster relief, Gridknight makes a beeline for that unknown mobile suit, with a fervor she hasn't seen since Gridman. "Gridknight! Do you.. feel something from that mobile suit? The way it's fighting, it's kind of..." she hesitates for a moment. "Kaiju-like, don't you think?" The pilot, are they trying to tell them something?

With the arrival of the Conqueror King Zaku II, the CR's terminal flashes orange with a desperate intensity, reading out... "Detecting massive amounts of Z0-Similar particles!" Alouette warns her fellow combatants. "Char Aznable's arrived..." She grimaces.

And pulls out a small pager, signalling a simple, yet forboding message to 3G's headquarters: 'SOS 000'... to no response. Worst case, a Triple Zero pincer attack leaving them already locked into battle elsewhere. Doubtful, considering Char's always attacked alone before... but perhaps he learned a thing or two about cooperation from some of the greatest heroes in the Earth Sphere... even if it's in their genocidal state.

"I'm afraid we might not be able to expect backup from the rest of 3G," she regrettably informs. This was not what she was prepared for. "...Don't let it stop you. You might need to deal with him the old-fashioned way." Sayla's here, and she's a doctor. Surely she can figure something out. So privately, she gives her a little nudge over comms. "Doctor Mass. Fight bravely. Trust in your allies. Use your best judgement. And most importantly... I believe in you." In the form of the painfully earnest words of a sixteen-year old girl.

She won't be able to orient on Char herself, because the Ankshas almost seem to relentlessly target the CR as if they were specifically ordered to do so. In spite of trying to activate every defense system, some damage to the unit is inevitable, and worse, it's still surrounded by Ankshas. Alouette's really starting to miss the sheer mobility of Guardienne Aviaire right now...

It's not as if she's out of the options, this thing is still quite literally armed to the teeth. "Put up a barrage of missiles," she commands, somehow keeping a facade of calm even in this horrid chaos. "Don't let the Anksha mobile unit get any closer than they are... we can't stay surrounded any longer than this." At her word, the mouth-hull of the ship opens, aiming to pellet the machines in the nearby vicinity.

KTS: Alouette Pommier has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Eight York
KTS: Alouette Pommier has activated the Rouse Spirit Command.
KTS: Alouette Pommier targets Aumerei with Many Many Mouth Missiles!
KTS: Alouette Pommier has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Banagher Links fails to charge.
KTS: Puru-1 rattles Banagher Links, making his next maneuvers more difficult.
KTS: Banagher Links partially guards Puru-1's Revolving Launcher MGaP Flash Barrage, taking 2624 damage!
KTS: Aumerei fails to intercept Alouette Pommier's Many Many Mouth Missiles, taking 5400 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Treasure Chest has posed.

Gridknight. He's here? The giant steps through the buildings - and challenges Treasure Chest directly. The Mu Gundam pauses in searching for prey and turns to face him directly. His challenge, too, has been received. The Mu Gundam watches him carefully, silently - is that recognition? Soon, however, her attention is diverted.

Did the Mu Gundam's sensors detect the Dijeh? Or did Treasure Chest sense its pilot's uneasiness? Either way way, Seolla will soon find the Mu Gundam staring right at her.

Her attention is distracted, briefly, by the approaching Variable Fighters - and then, that's when she receives urgent orders from Aumerei. That urgency in her voice... this must be important to her. She could never turn down such an urgent request from her.

"Understood." Treasure Chest replies. The Mu Gundam accelerates through the air. As the Double Zeta moves to engage Puru-1, suddenly, it'll find an obstacle in its path. The Mu Gundam is there, now.

...And, it's time.

"...Okay. I'm ready. I'll try to enjoy it." Treasure Chest assures. HADES-E is activated - and the change is immediate. The Mu Gundam's sensors flash a bright, violent red, and the tarp cloak fans outward as the heat vents are pushed to their limits, glowing red from the sheer amount of heat vented out. And in the process - the Mu Gundam's additions are revealed. The Armed Armor units commonly seen equipped by the Banshee have been passed down to the Mu Gundam, now - and the Vibro-Nail is hauled back before lunging right toward the Double Zeta, the Psycho-Frame claw unfurling as it seeks to grapple the other Gundam. If it can't get out of the way in time, Judau will find himself practically dragged along as she turns to address Knight. The arm bearing the other Armed Armor unit points toward him as the Beam Smartgun extends. Energy builds between its two points before firing off a single shot.

And then...

"Releasing funnels." Treasure Chest announces for Aumerei's sake. The tarp parts as a series of funnels are unleashed. They fly about the battlefield, ultimately seeking Seolla in her Dijeh, and Alto and Sheryl in their Variable Fighters.

Indeed, one of them is clearly a novice. But they are here, at Dakar, in a unit unaffiliated with the Vist Foundation. That makes them a target - an enemy to be eliminated.

The funnels chase them down, and open fire. The way they're aiming... it's evident to those paying attention that the funnels are trying to herd them all toward the Mu Gundam, toward Treasure Chest. She has always had room in her heart for all of them, after all.

And then, a moment later...

"Akane. Puru-1. Let's make this quick." Treasure Chest says.

KTS: Treasure Chest targets Judau Ashta with Armed Armor VN - Grapple!
KTS: Treasure Chest targets Knight with Armed Armor BS - Single Strike!
KTS: Treasure_Chest Changes attack to Seolla Schweizer, Alto Saotome, and Sheryl Nome with Suppressive Fire.
KTS: Knight has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Judau Ashta
KTS: Knight has activated the Trust Spirit Command.
KTS: Seolla Schweizer has activated the Focus Spirit Command.
KTS: Seolla Schweizer successfully evades Treasure Chest's Suppressive Fire

<Pose Tracker> Crossfire Salem has posed.

The Unicorn is here, and so are a whole hell of a lot of allies. Crossfire steels herself, and-

Char Aznable. The Red Comet. He's here. She knew he'd been around, but she had never encountered him.

He's not their focus here, though. He'll take off some of their defenders, as she draws both beam sabers with a flick of the controls, and lands on the ground, dashing around civilian traffic.

She starts with the three mobile suits she's facing. A beam saber each slashes into Garrod's Dijeh and the Dianthus with a solid leap, Psychoframe activating in the legs. Focusing her Newtype powers on manipulating them, she lands smoothly, tilts on an axis, and fires her head vulcans in a dash at the Red Tail, before turning to a more-known enemy.

The Kshatriya.

With a single nod of respect, the Amabilis lunges forward, before suddenly sidesteping, grabbing shock picks from its torso and tossing two straight at the center of mass with enough force to burrow, planning on using electrical damage to weaken it first.

Yet, even with her flashy maneuvers...she's being VERY careful about civilian risk.

<"We don't need to prolong this. You don't have to fight here. I'll make sure he survives whatever they are planning to do."> She sounds exhausted and stressed, even under the voice filter, as she addresses her opposition.

KTS: Treasure Chest targets Aumerei with Sound Spirit!
KTS: Treasure Chest targets Puru-1 with Sound Spirit!
KTS: Treasure Chest has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Treasure Chest's sound spirit flares with her performance, raising Aumerei's Morale!
KTS: Knight successfully evades Treasure Chest's Armed Armor BS - Single Strike
KTS: Treasure Chest's sound spirit flares with her performance, raising Puru-1's Morale!
KTS: Crossfire Salem has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
KTS: Crossfire Salem targets Garrod Ran with Amabilis Twin Beam Sabers Strike!
KTS: Crossfire Salem targets Lucine Azul with Amabilis Twin Beam Sabers Strike!
KTS: Crossfire Salem targets Faye Valentine with Head Vulcans Burst!
KTS: Puru Two fails to react to Puru-1's Beam Tonfas and Sabers Rush, taking 5200 damage!
KTS: Puru-1 has engaged Puru Two!
KTS: Puru-1 begins a Formation attack!
KTS: Lark Straye's Beam Wall L1 activates, negating 1000 base damage.
KTS: Lark Straye blocks Puru-1's Beam Tonfas and Sabers Rush, taking 2250 damage!
KTS: Puru-1 has engaged Lark Straye!
KTS: Puru-1 begins a Formation attack!
KTS: Crossfire Salem targets Marida Cruz with Amabilis Picks Toss!
KTS: Crossfire Salem has completed their actions for the round.

<Pose Tracker> Arriety Hearn has posed.

        Part of deteriorating rapidly is that the shame and guilt comes with it, so Arriety's been sort of evading Minae because she knows she's disappointing people right now. She knows that there's a whole awkward gray zone between them, where everything feels like an overreach, everything feels like it might be smothering, and what questions there are between no longer being counsellor-patient...

        Closeness is, sometimes, a detriment.

        "All right, Minae," Arriety remarks in turn. "Don't overexert yourself, try to not cast too wide a net. Eight and the others will be running battlefield logistics. I'm going to just focus on one part of it."

        The Quebeley pulls up next to her. She pauses for a moment. "Let's go, sis. Work time."

        The rising adrenaline pumping through her body starts to subsume the faint, dull thump of the hangover; then, the pulsating oppression exuding from the Banshee threatens to subsume *that*, too. Arriety's throwing her body wholesale into pools of alcohol, and then pools of violence, and then into pools of psychic fear, and they're all addictive substances to her. One vice right into the other.

        There's something... different, though. The blue sphere erupts from the mega cannon, and she's forced into a block once she realises about half a second ahead that her dodge isn't going to cut it; there's a vicious THOOM as the beam shores off a good two layers of the shield's anti-beam coating, the I-Field Generators working in overtime to compensate.

        Then, Puru-1 taunts her. She blinks once. "You're talking this time. Ready to be a selfish girl? 'cause I am," she remarks in turn.

        The Zeta tails the Banshee as it chases after the Dijeh, and the Unicorn, searching for moments to cut in while she's distracted by the others; and then, finding it, she snaps off two beam rifle shots, followed by a third one aimed at an acute angle from below her.

        "Show me a good time. Make me feel something."

KTS: Arriety Hearn targets Puru-1 with Beam Rifle Trick Shot!
KTS: Arriety Hearn has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Lucine Azul successfully evades Crossfire Salem's Amabilis Twin Beam Sabers Strike
KTS: Marida Cruz fails to evade Crossfire Salem's Amabilis Picks Toss, taking 3162 damage!
KTS: Garrod Ran blocks Crossfire Salem's Amabilis Twin Beam Sabers Strike, taking 3450 damage!
KTS: Crossfire Salem has engaged Garrod Ran!

<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.

        "There's trouble," Gridknight says -- Gridknight hears Sayla's communication, and speaks back to her. He doesn't understand it on the level of laser communications, of course. He hears someone who is trying to reach him; he reaches them in the same spirit they extended out. "Dakar's crying out... something's happening." His intensity is troubled, and Sayla may well be able to tell -- from his tone or his heart or both at once -- that he can't be entirely sure what's wrong, out here.

        But he knows something's wrong.

        So too does he hear: "Eight York," and he remembers her, too. "Don't get cocky just because you're massive now." IS THAT A -- no, that's a comment on the second iteration of the Ra Mari, obviously. "That ship..." He looks to the Garuda, and light glints off of a dozen compound eyes. That shame is so familiar. "It won't be easy. Win anyway."

        Nidaime isn't in charge of transmitting any data about evacuations -- but she's doing a great job of evacuating Rufisque, late to the party as she is compared to the elite areas. All they wanna be are people who get to see a giant woman! Especially a giant woman who's directing them to safety. She does flash Arriety's 3A Type a victory sign, though, as if she can tell that Minae is worried about the evacuations.

        Well, she can tell something about that Zeta, anyway.

        Gridknight goes silent, though, as his attention snaps to the Banshee, echoing him over and over. Once more he sees those dozen-dozen arms, and his hand flexes and grasps in an unconscious desire to tear right through them all and pull that pilot free, once and once again.

        He'd go to her -- if not for --

        Instead, he reaches out to Arriety, too. His voice will transmit over her radio, though he's not using one. "Arriety Hearn," he addresses her, in the particular way he's decided is his. "You helped me, once. I'm asking again. That pilot is," trapped grasped entangled drowning struggling fading, "in danger. You're in position to intercept. Do it!" He trusts Puru Two in much the same way... but perhaps he takes her help as given. Siblings help each other, after all.

        -- and why isn't he reaching in and tearing her out, the same way he did, back then?

        "Judau Ashta!" Gridknight cries, addresses Double Zeta just the same. "Look at the Mu Gundam! And look again! What it's copying... I'm not leaving this alone! I can't, damn it!!" There's a little tear at the edge of his shout, a little more emotion than anger. "It's not like I'm asking you to help me, but I'm not leaving this alone, all right?!"

        The answer he offers Alouette, specifically, is just as tense: "Maybe. I can't just leave it alone."

        He doesn't realise that the Dijeh is with Sayla, of course -- but there's something he does notice. "Where are you looking?" He issues, to Seolla, all too sharp.

        He sees the Variable Fighters swooping in, just the same. "Hey, you!" He barks, to Sheryl's plane, sighting the effort she's putting into steadying it in the air. "Have you even fought before, or are you just following someone who knows better?!" That would be Alto, whose moves look much more reliable. "You'd BETTER not drag me down!" Gridknight, it seems... is not nice to newbies.

        On the bright side, he hasn't attacked her to test her worth. Not that he didn't think about it. Briefly. But -- but Char is come, and with him, new worries. "I'm counting on you," he issues, to Roux. "Don't screw this up." ... the 'please' is silent.

        And it's not just Char, who's a problem. "Head's up," Gridknight growls, too clipped even for an exclamation as the Mu Gundam goes for the Double Zeta. He moves in a whirling spin as he evades around the shotgun blast -- and dives right in to strike at her, one straight palm, another, grasping the Mu Gundam's midsection to drive his knee up into what would have been a solar plexus on a normal humanoid. He doesn't seem to mind the heat coming off of her -- or at least, he doesn't complain.

        "You!" He cries, to the Gundam he's assaulting. "Who are you?!"

KTS: Treasure Chest anchors Judau Ashta, forcing him into close range.
KTS: Judau Ashta blocks Treasure Chest's Armed Armor VN - Grapple, taking 5280 damage!
KTS: Treasure Chest has engaged Judau Ashta!
KTS: Treasure Chest begins a Formation attack!
KTS: Knight targets Treasure Chest with Gridknight Rush Attack!
KTS: Knight has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Treasure Chest has activated the Trust Spirit Command.

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

"Audrey," Banagher says, gently, glancing to the girl by his side. He takes her hand, squeezing it tightly. Her distress shines clearly to him, and Banagher meets it with a wave of as much love and reassurance as he can muster. "We're together. We can do this. Almost there."

Indeed, the Unicorn jets forward, fly-falling past buildings as she seeks the heart of the city. Battles kick up around her, but Banagher focuses in with single-minded determination. His allies can protect them, at least for long enough to get to the Coordinate. After that... They'll take it as it comes.

Audrey feels something odd from the pilots, and Banagher turns his eyes back to the path ahead of him. "I know. I feel it too. I'm counting on you to -- figure this out. I'll get us to the Coordinate while you do."

<"Lucine! Thank you so much!"> Banagher calls, as the Unicorn's light shines. <"Please stay safe. I can't do much to back you up from here.">

Roux calls out with a laugh, and the young pilot pretends he doesn't hear the weak tone of it. <"That's the plan. But I'm not leaving without the Banshee's pilot."> His voice is steel. <"We're not letting Vist get anything they want today. Bring the Banshee's pilot back to the Ra Mari II, and we'll get out of here!">

<"Miss Marida!"> Banagher breathes out at her reminder, rolling his shoulders to loosen them up. <"We can do this. I'm ready. Whatever happens... I won't let my emotions stop me."

Sayla is next. Something in Banagher's heart feels stronger just hearing her voice. <"Heart-2, acknowledged!"> He remembers to use the code name this time, at least. <"We're almost there. I'm sure he will show himself soon. Don't lose yourself. Remember.">

Remember what you said to me in the last battle, Banagher thinks. Sayla will understand.

Much like the comfort Sayla's presence brings, Banagher feels all the more confident knowing Judau is here. <"I can feel her. Judau, watch out -- remember how she reacted to you at the PPL. Something's different today, I can feel it!"> A breath, as the Unicorn navigates around a monument. <"As soon as I get this Coordinate unlocked, I'll be with you. We're bringing her home this time!">

<"Chris."> Banagher's voice is warm. <"Still not letting the Haros pilot?"> It's a gentle joke, made possible by the sweetness of last night's meeting. <"Remember, you count as a person we need to save. Don't forget, we've got a project to finish, I'm counting on you coming back."> Chris roars her determination, and Banagher can't help but smile grimly. <"I believe in you! Give them hell!">

<"Captain York,"> Banagher calls, as the Unicorn's thrusters fire in bursts. Almost to the ground. <"Approaching the Coordinate now. Get ready, I'm not sure what this one's going to--">"

In a burst of crimson dawnfire, the Conquering King Zaku-II leaps up and over the Unicorn, drawing a gasp from the young Gundam pilot. <"Captain York! Heart-2! He's here! The Red Comet -- he's at my location--!">

The Unicorn raises her shield as quickly as she can, prepared to hold back Char's attack, but it never comes. Instead, the corrupted Zaku-II engages Vist's forces, leaving the Unicorn entirely unharmed, giving her time to touch down.

<"...he's not attacking me. He's after Vist. Be careful, I don't know who's side he's on this time!"> Banagher broadcasts to his allies, confusion clear in his voice. <"Proceeding to the Coordinate! Get ready!">

As Banagher announces it, the La+ Program activates -- taking over the screen before him. "Here we go..." He murmurs, squeezing Audrey's hand once more.

---

BGM Change - Remind you - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kKzjEbJ_m8

And just like that, around the city emergency broadcast equipment is hijacked, and a speech starts to play, one likely familiar to many.

"I would like to start by asking the forgiveness of the assembly members and all Federation citizens. We mean no disrespect by taking over this meeting. I am Lieutenant Quattro Bajeena of the Anti-Earth Union Group. There is one more thing I must disclose before I say what I came to say. I have another name. I am also the man who was known as Char Aznable. I have come to you today as someone who carries within him the true aspirations of Zeon. Do not think of me as Char of the Principality of Zeon, but rather as the son of Zeon Deikun. Zeon Deikuns legacy has nothing to do with the evils and hatred of the Zabi family. Zeon Deikun did not build the principality of Zeon! When one sees how the Titans do as they please with the Earth Federation Forces it becomes apparent that they are more depraved then the Zabi family ever was!"

Montage images play out, of the AEUG's formation, from Axis refugees who left under Haman Karn's rule. There are images of Char and a younger Haman Karn together, speaking, embracing, arguing. Things that noone ought to possess, yet do. An image of Char and Blex Forer shaking hands at the AEUG's formation. Then of a battle over Dakar plays out, between the Titans and Karaba, as it shifts to the man giving the speech, a blonde haired man at the podium. Then he vanishes, and a woman's voice replaces him.

"This is Her Majesty Mineva Zabi, the leader of Neo Zeon. At Axis, far from the Earth Sphere, her Majesty has prayed night and day for harmony and prosperity among Earthnoids and Spacenoids. Today on this auspicious occasion, her majesty is delighted to see the footprints of Neo-Zeon in the soil of Dakar. Before you all, who have gathered I, Haman, speak on her behalf as her Majesty's guardian and give heartfelt thanks to the members of the Earth Federation government."

Now it's Neo-Zeon marching through the streets as people throw a parade for Haman Karn. 'A' Mineva Lao Zabi sits in a reinforced glass car, waving to the people. Federation officials kiss Haman's ring, negotiations are had. Early headlines of agreements to cede Side 3 to her plaster the screen. An image of Haman in full military regalia, gesturing authoritatively, as the sky fills with a Colony falling upon Dublin. It sits in the center of the crater like a pillar unto the heavens, raining ash upon the children of Earth.

It returns to Char, younger, giving his speech, it shifts to him older in military regalia, hair slicked back as Supreme Leader of Neo-Zeon, in medias res of his speech at Sweetwater.

"...My father Zeon Deikun had made a request to Earth for autonomy for all space immigrants known as Spacenoids, but he was assassinated by the Zabi family. The Zabis called themselves the Principality of Zeon and launched a war of independence against Earth. You know how it was to the end, the Zabis losing the war sealed their fate. But the Earth's government had grown arrogant, giving birth to rogue Federation movements like the Titans, and resulting in the brazen activities of Haman, who claimed to be a protector of the Zabi family. This history has made us all refugees, but reflecting upon this tragic history I firmly believe mankind must do everything to prevent war from rising up again. This is the true purpose of our operation to drop Axis onto Earth, to change history. Hence, we will discipline the people who continue to live on Earth, and eliminate all war within Earthsphere."

Evidence is shown on screen that he leaked the Psychoframe technology to the Federation. The Nu Gundam appears, clashing with the Sazabi, as Axis falls.

"Everyone, so that we may force our own path and establish a government for the refugees. I ask you, lend me your great strength for just a little longer. When we've succeeded, I will then be able to join my father, Zeon."

Everyone knows what happens next. It cuts out into muted nothingness.

---

Banagher gasps in air, feeling the aftershocks of the start of Axis' Fall as though it was happening before him all over again. Char's speech, Haman Karn's words -- and that false Mineva.

<"Coordinate --"> Banagher cuts himself off as the words of the Banshee reaches him. His voice raises to a shout. <"ENGAGING BANSHEE!">

With a psychic scream, the Unicorn locks her gaze on her sister. Her trumpeted call rolls across the battlefield, echoing in open hearts, resonating in the assembled Psychoframe. With her shield raised, she charges her sister, powering through the barrage of fire. Blue spheres lodge into the Unicorn's white shield, and she tosses it to the side -- where it lifts into the air, soaring after her.

<"MISS PILOT!"> Banagher shouts. <"I'M NOT LEAVING YOU! YOU'RE COMING HOME WITH US!">

Explosives rock the Unicorn's shield, sending it plummeting out of the air, crashing to the road far beneath them. The shield was distant enough not to block the Gundam's cameras, but Banagher still flinches.

<"We're okay. Just the shield."> He broadcasts, as if reassuring himself. <"You can't stop us!">

Drawing her beam saber, the Unicorn races forward, undaunted by the blue explosions ripping her shield away. With an arcing movement, she slashes at the Banshee's legs, trying to bring her sister down to ground level.

<"Nobody here will give up on you!"> A breath, and then a gasp.

The La+ Program activates again, overlaying a map onto Banagher's view of the battle. This isn't a Coordinate. The display is entirely different, it's--

Golden eyes widen. The location of Laplace's Box. Far, far from here, back home in space.

"Audrey, don't say a word. We don't know who's listening. We can talk about it later." Banagher hisses, as the overlay fades away. The location is there, saved to the Unicorn's memory -- as well as her pilot's.

KTS: Treasure Chest blocks Knight's Gridknight Rush Attack, taking 1530 damage!
KTS: Knight has engaged Treasure Chest!
KTS: Faye Valentine successfully evades Crossfire Salem's Head Vulcans Burst
KTS: Sheryl Nome's EN Barrier activates, negating 1000 base damage.
KTS: Treasure Chest rattles Sheryl Nome, making her next maneuvers more difficult.
KTS: Sheryl Nome fails to react to Treasure Chest's Suppressive Fire, taking 3100 damage!
KTS: Banagher Links: Will Barrier Activates.
KTS: Banagher Links targets Puru-1 with Beam Saber Slash!
KTS: Banagher Links has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Alert Spirit Command.
KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Alert Spirit Command.
KTS: Alto Saotome has activated the Focus Spirit Command.
KTS: Puru-1 successfully Evades Arriety Hearn's Beam Rifle Trick Shot
KTS: Puru-1 parries Banagher Links's Beam Saber Slash, taking 1200 damage!
KTS: Banagher Links has engaged Puru-1!
KTS: Alto Saotome's EN Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage.
KTS: Treasure Chest rattles Alto Saotome, making his next maneuvers more difficult.
KTS: Alto Saotome fails to evade Treasure Chest's Suppressive Fire, taking 3600 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Christina MacKenzie has posed.

A flurry of beam fire sweeps across the battlefield, numerous Jegans and Akashas loosing red arrows her way. The Tristan's thrusters burn harder for an instant, but a flicker across her HUD changes her mind. Instead, the flare outwards, modulating, arcing her off in a spiral, a half-torqueroll climb into the sky, before they flicker, all eight fin thrusters making reflexive microadjustments faster than ever before.

 The Failnaught's vector folds around, buckling into a predatory dive back into the storm of beam fire, wrists brandishing large INCOM blades as the other INCOMs take up formation like a feminine skirt.

 With the fins angled out, the fae glimmer trailing from the Tristan's spine might just be perceptible to the Jegans she descends upon. Well, might be, were their sensors not briefly jammed as an eight bladed pirouette cleaves through their formation.

 <"You can't drive me off with just that! Come, it'll take all of you! How much is she paying you? Is it enough to face me?!">

 She whirls, full of vigor, dancing among the firefight, fingers blistering, eyes sharp. She's making as ostentatious a scene as possible.

 And if her words won't draw them to her, the gleam of her swords will.

<Pose Tracker> Teletha Testarossa has posed.

<"Zone has turned hot. I repeat, zone has turned hot."> Expected. <"Copy. Keep them occupied."> The PRT Jegans began their own little war, plinking and shooting away and- <"Comet spotted! I repeat, Red Comet has been spotted! Third-Party Engagment confirmed!"> <"...Copy. Ensure safety."> Expected, but still worrying. Getting in-between two heads vying for political power...It wasn't a thought she wanted to entertain.

The PRT teams work as they're paid: A handsome salary for a handsome job well done. Beams cascading into the battlefield, the units shifting into the richer side of the city: Evacuation confirmed, no need to worry about civilian casualities. Darting from cover to cover, launching off to engage the Vist Jegans in the air and to lead them along.

"Ankshas incoming!" flying only 22.3m tall
"Maintain course. Bearing Zero Six Zero."
"Aye, ma'am! Adjusted bearing Zero Six Zero!"
And the submarine slowly shifted, turning to the right as the missile hatches popped open.
"Fire all missiles!" the pressure will be worse than the shrapnel
"Aye, ma'am! FIRE ALL MISSILES!"

And out of the belly of the beast roared the spears of judgement upwards and out, careening towards the Ankshas in question. Exploding on proximity, a few missiles taking the care to careeen away from the group and towards the Garuda itself. DANA's optics can take care of those; even if shot down, its diversionary.

"Prepare the next missile salvo! Load with intent to clear the skies!"
"Aye, ma'am! Load SLBMs!"
And those same missile hatches snapped shut, humming with information and thoughts. a common diversionary tactic is to lead them on. eople think they win, and that's the time to strike-

<"I would like to start-"> DANA's movements are immediate; Segment. Control. Pulling the sudden rogue broadcast to the side, that speech sounding out. Minerva...The sight of the Zabi heir is barely recognizable to her, but it's familiar enough.

"...Save a copy of the broadcast." Tapping. One mark on the Unicorn. Keep track of it, all the same.

KTS: Christina MacKenzie has activated the Accel Spirit Command and Has NOT engaged with Aumerei
KTS: Teletha Testarossa targets Aumerei with Itano Circus Missile Dance!
KTS: Teletha Testarossa has completed their actions for the round.

<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.

"Right, Minae," Eight answers over the comms. "I've got Rezza eyeing the battlefield for me too. They'll coordinate."

Char's presence, obviously, is a major factor--but not one that Eight can deal with herself, at the moment. She has pilots out, and they have orders for their various engagements; Nova's initiative is perfectly fine by Eight. Puru Two and Arriety have her hopes, too. SHe's worried about both, of course--but Minae can watch over them for now, too.

Alouette is sweet, Eight thinks. That enthusiasm is welcome. "Noted," York answers her. "We're in agreement. And... I will. You too, all right?"

Speaking of danger:

"Licia!" "Right!"

In the same instants that the Garuda's mega particle cannons get a fix on the Ra Mari II, Captain and helmswoman have a flash of insight, and the gigantic ship moves. Oh, it cannot simply dodge; that's physically impossible. But it takes the blast on a reinforced bulkhead, receiving scorching for its trouble but no structural damage thanks to the sheer bulk of the battleship. "Kazama," Eight starts, "Charge all beam batteries. We're going to greet them back. These coordinates..." Ordinarily, she would prefer to focus on disaster relief too... But that's not their option, this time. This is hostile territory, like it or not, and many of these people might not welcome the Alliance's help in the first place. Even so...

The Zentradi and Meltrandi unit from the Ra Mari II engage the Ankshas, the Macronized pilots within a varying degree of experience. A few are from the Zentradi Wars; these are the leaders. They zip and zoom through the sky, harrying and focusing on drawing attention more than taking out their opponents.

"Mark!" Eight calls, and Kazama raises the sliders, firing beam cannons directly for the Garuda's weapons systems, green particles slamming in towards the carrier.

Knight's comments get a lifted eyebrow from a couple of the bridge crew, but Eight understands his meaning immediately. "Winning when it's hard... That's where the real victory is," Eight answers Knight. "We'll come through." And she'll keep an eye on him.

"Whoever's side he's on," Eight reports to Banagher, "We can be sure it's not 'ours.' We'll be careful, Banagher. You, too!"

The message... Eight has to shut off some of those feelings. Zeon, and Neo-Zeon, and the Titans... what it all means. Her hand rests for a moment by her side, and curls into a fist. "Astelian," she says. "Make sure you're recording this battle. All of it, for better and worse."

"If you can get her," Captain York says to Banagher about the Banshee, "...Do it. We'll support you."

KTS: Eight York has activated the Dash Spirit Command and has gained proficiency bonus.
KTS: Eight York targets Aumerei with Guided Beam Cannons - Charge Shot!
KTS: Eight York has completed their actions for the round.

<Pose Tracker> Garrod Ran has posed.

In comes the Amabilis; Garrod gauges its approach, deploying his suit's beam naginata. He's used to the shorter grip of a regular beam saber, but the principles should be the same - and for the large part, they are; the suit's programmed to handle it properly, right?

But there are still differences, like how long it takes to get the blade into a certain position; the Dijeh SE-R winds up with a sparking gash along its left shoulder armor - Garrod at least managed to keep the blow from landing anywhere more vital. And ...

The pilot talks to themm. Female; that's not going to make Garrod go any easier on her. "'Not prolonging this' sounds fine," he replies on the same channel, "but you're not our only problem today. Nothhing personal, though, right?"

He charges, trying to come in low at the Amabilis, the beam naginata's blade arcing at one of the suit's legs. He's still taking the measure of his own suit's handling as well as his opponent's - and given how broadly the Amabilis's pilot spread her attacks, she'd better be ready to dance with as many partners.

KTS: Christina MacKenzie targets Aumerei with Blitz Vector - Sideswipe!
KTS: Christina MacKenzie has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Garrod Ran has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Garrod Ran targets Crossfire Salem with Dijeh SE-R Beam Naginata Slash!
KTS: Garrod Ran has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Crossfire Salem parries Garrod Ran's Dijeh SE-R Beam Naginata Slash, taking 1230 damage!
KTS: Garrod Ran has engaged Crossfire Salem!

<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.

A wash of motes of green light, the tell-tale sign of a Psychoframe being active, snakes and trails through Dakar's airspace. A pair of Jegans from the Garuda turn, quickly, as the trail of Psychoframe particles shoots between them.

The waverider-mode Gaia Gear Alpha blitzes past a pair of Jegans atop a pair of Ankshas, in their Mobile Armor mode. The white Mobile Suit suddenly unfolds -- legs and arms coming out, turning 180-degrees even as it transforms, and starts to fall. The beam rifle snaps up, one shot going for the Anksha to its left. That one jukes to the side -- falling for the feint, as a pair of funnels slash the head and ankles off the Jegan on its back.

A third funnel slams into the decapitated, de-legged Jegan's back -- and slams it into the second Jegan, sending it and the Anksha into a tumble. The one, now rider-less Anksha dives down, mega particle cannons firing. The spears of golden light never quite touch the Gaia Gear Alpha, as it shoots to the side -- reverts into waverider mode -- and then rockets up above the Anksha. Two missiles launch, drop down, and then reverse course to fly into the Mobile Armor's back.

It explodes into a fireball, as the Gaia Gear Alpha transforms again -- and begins plummeting again.

It slams down into the remaining Anskha, landing on its back. The maimed Jegan is smashed aside, as the Gaia Gear slams its right hand into the waist of the Jegan, just above its cockpit. The forearm beam gun pops out, below the arm, and fires a trio of blasts through the Jegan. Then, just as the Anksha starts a barrel roll to toss it free, it leaps off. Two funnels fire a moment later, lances of mega particle energy slashing through in an X-shape. It starts to fall apart in quarters, before the whole thing explodes in a fiery mess.

By then, the Gaia Gear Alpha has changed back into its waverider form. A line of smoke trails from its right dorsal side; a burnt scar from a near-miss with a beam saber is on the left underside. It might be made for fighting multiple opponents, but it didn't come out unscathed from its sortie with two teams from the Garuda.

In the cockpit, Rena Lancaster leans forward, and her eyes lock onto the Banshee. "Ra Mari II," she says, "sorry for the delay. I'm en route to engage the Banshee." She tenses. "Banagher, Arriety, Callie, I'm coming up in formation with you."

The Gaia Gear Alpha's crosshairs flicker across the screen -- then one catches onto Puru-1's Banshee. Rena's finger slams down on the trigger.

Two needle missiles drop off the wing hardpoints, before their thrusters fire -- and they go rocketing in, the tips superheating. "I'm with you Banagher," she says. "Let's do what we can to save her!"

KTS: Rena Lancaster has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
KTS: Rena Lancaster: Will Barrier Activates.
KTS: Rena Lancaster targets Puru-1 with Needle Missile Salvo!
KTS: Rena Lancaster has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Aumerei fails to intercept Teletha Testarossa's Itano Circus Missile Dance, taking 3300 damage!
KTS: Aumerei partially guards Eight York's Guided Beam Cannons - Charge Shot, taking 2320 damage!
KTS: Aumerei partially guards Christina MacKenzie's Blitz Vector - Sideswipe, taking 1800 damage!
KTS: Christina MacKenzie has engaged Aumerei!
KTS: Puru-1 successfully Evades Rena Lancaster's Needle Missile Salvo

<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.

Well, Nova thought that advancing a little bit wouldn't hurt. She certainly wasn't anticipating that the pilot she chose to act in support of would happen to be a priority target. That sure is an awful lot of blips on her radar that are suddenly heading in her direction.

"Wh-what the...! Aren't they supposed to be after the Unicorn? Why are so many of them coming here?!"

Already, she can feel herself starting to panic, and second-guessing her decisions. Things tend to go really bad really fast once that happens. Luckily, she's not alone. She has her two on-board companions, who know just how to handle an impending crisis of confidence.

>"Hey, hey! Keep it cool, now. Remember, you're Nova Stellar, Miracle Worker! Improvising is what you do best! Show 'em what you got!"<

That's right. Nova Stellar wouldn't panic. To her, being outnumbered isn't a crisis, it's a challenge. A challenge she's all too happy to accept.

"Psh, you don't have to tell me! I'll handle it, watch me!"

On the outside, the Sukeban's movement slowed for one short moment, seeming to change its mind about charging forward... only to double down, and charge in even faster. It may appear to be completely reckless and ill-advised. Yet, there's method to the apparent madness. Nova's fingers fly across her terminal, rapidly analyzing the advance to work out which machines will be targeting her and from which angles, the Sukeban responding with minute adjustments in its approach. And by the time it comes into firing range, the Whispered has their number. Accurately predicting the actions of the machines directly in front, the Arm Slave weaves in between the blanket of beam fire, somehow finding the one possible route in which it can safely cross the distance. And when it does...

"Haaaaaa! Eat this!!"

Any Ankshas close enough to the ground may get caught by the Sukeban's fist, the Arm Slave crossing the last bit of distance by leaping up, and coming in swinging armor-shredding, super-heated punches. Not exactly the most common response to beam fire, but this is where she's in her element.

Nova is quick to follow this up with a tightbeam to the Cosmo Robo, all but shouting, "Alouette!" Without even realizing she's switched to first name basis, but that's not important right now. What's important is what she's worked out from observing the enemy's movements. "They're after you! Why are they after you?! Look - here!"

Initiating a transfer, the Sukeban shares the predictive data regarding the enemy's approach that lead to this conclusion. The data is even one step ahead, this may help Alouette to be better prepared for what's to come.

KTS: Naoko Suzuki has activated the Foresee Spirit Command targeting Alouette Pommier
KTS: Naoko Suzuki targets Aumerei with Knuckle Slam!
KTS: Naoko Suzuki has completed their actions for the round.

<Pose Tracker> Marida Cruz has posed.

         Marida attempts to move out of the way of the picks, grunting as they hit her chest. A precision attack, and a plea for surrender...Marida can already see the Federation spin of them as terrorists destroying a city and the Vist Foundation as heroes trying to reduce collateral.

         "That's easy to say when you're the one initiating the fight. I have no intention of prolonging things either, but I'm afraid I can't let you have the Unicorn, and I can't let you keep Elpeo Puru!"

         Two beam sabers drop down from the Kshatriya's wings and into its hands, igniting with a green glow as the beams cross. She supposed for now, close combat would be best. She rushes forward and brings the two beam sabers down multiple times against the Amabilis.

KTS: Marida Cruz targets Crossfire Salem with Beam Saber Multiswing!
KTS: Marida Cruz has completed their actions for the round.

<Pose Tracker> Seolla Schweizer has posed.

Maybe that, above all else, is why Gundams gained the reputation they have.

 The feeling of judgment in their glare. The old mono-eyes of Zeon and the big baleful Feddie visors never felt like they had life in them at a glance to Seolla - but a Gundam? Or something trying to be like it? You don't forget when one's face is turned your way.

 ...It's more than that. It's more it's more it's more. A bead of sweat trickles along Seolla's cheek, her hand unknowingly extending - right up until those funnels start to fly out. Hours upon hours of training set in - an intimate knowledge of the danger remote weapons pose as positioning weapons. You never take the 'easy' way evading them - because it's always 'towards' the enemy's preferred positioning. Instead, you get 'closer' - and Seolla lets out a scream of frustration, her beam naginata twirling out to lance one funnel through its emitter.

 < "Don't worry about me - gh. We never met, but you're familiar. Aren't you that Gridknight I heard about?" > Seolla quickly heralds to Knight's direction. < "...Thanks for making sure we're on the same page. I'm Seolla Schweizer, with Mithril. I'll cover for those Variable Fighters a bit!" > Something about one of those voices on the radio is familiar, somehow - but, well...Seolla hasn't really listened to that much of Sheryl's music, so it's not really immediately obvious!

 The clay bazooka comes out - Seolla figures on a Gundam with large areas of specialized equipment, the best place to start is trying to damage that stuff, so round after round of heavy, but not especially penetrative explosives ferry towards the Mu Gundam, aimed more at the Armed Armor and funnels. < "...Khhh, I don't know WHAT this feeling is - but damn it, it's the Vist Foundation and it's a weird vibe coming off of a Gundam with psycommu weapons, the lot of you don't need me to tell you that there's a nasty tendency for pilots in there to be kinda coerced, okay!? ...Please be careful. ...Though, you, in the Double Zeta - I get the feeling even with your super heavy firepower, you're that guy who has a reputation for dealing with this a whole lot. I'm trusting you, especially...!" >

KTS: Seolla Schweizer targets Treasure Chest with Clay Bazooka Insulation Shot!
KTS: Seolla Schweizer has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Crossfire Salem parries Marida Cruz's Beam Saber Multiswing, taking 1200 damage!
KTS: Marida Cruz has engaged Crossfire Salem!
Sousuke Sagara teleports in.

<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.

She feels him before she sees. And her instincts move her before anything else, the massive Gundam jetting backward and away. She turns to see it. The Red Comet. The original Zaku II that hounded them from Side 7, glowing .

 Casval... You're going backwards. She doesn't say anything yet- but somehow, her words leak.

 The Hi-Nu turns to face the much smaller Zaku... but she knows not to underestimate something like that. To not underestimate him, not again. "<Ansuz! He's here!>" Frontal and Char at once could be a problem- but that's what the plan was for. "<Initiating plan on my end!>"

%She hears Alouette reach out, with that earnestness. 3G wasn't going to be coming. That's fine. In the worst case she has a Joker and a pocket Ace in position to move when she calls- and staying out of the fray until their moment. She's counting on Tessa to keep Sai in line. "<...Thank you, Alouette. I'll put that belief to good use.>"

 Knight responds, and Sayla can hear him. How exactly she isn't sure. "<Dakar's... crying out?>" She doesn't understand what he means. She doesn't feel the world a Giant or a Kaiju does. "<Do what you have to. I'll trust you.>" Knight was family too, after all.

 A new unit enters the field, and Sayla's eyes widen. Those particles belonged to the gundams of Celestial Being- but that Gundam she'd know anywhere, even after years of alterations. And that meant she knew the pilot- because no one else would ever touch the Alex- or the Tristan it became. "<Chris? What the hell is happening? Why are you here too?>"

 Char's closing with Frontal, and she doesn't mind the risk of hitting both of them. "<If you want to fight with him,>" She says, broadcasting to the immediate area, but speaking to to Frontal in particular, "<Then stay the hell out of my way!>" She lifts the Photon HMBL- a gun that should not be MS portable at all- to her shoulder and aims for Char. "Generator mode switched! REITO BEAM, FIRE!" She glares up, and broadcasts to everyone now. "I won't fail again, Char! Stay away from Banagher!"

 The freezing beam heads straight for the Zaku II. As much damage as it will do, it's only a containment method. This was the strategy Ansuz had come up with, and she agreed to. Focus on containing it first. From there, the flow chart only had two directions.

 Purify Char, or put an end to him. Sayla still hoped deep down for the former.

 And then it starts. The spech from the Dakar. The speech that made her realize that this day might come- but she never could have predicted the circumstances. Dakar- a year apart- had changed both their lives forever.

 The laser comm alights for only a few seconds, to connect to the Zaku. ""

KTS: Sayla Mass has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Sayla Mass: Will Barrier Activates.
KTS: Sayla Mass targets Char Aznable with Photon Hyper Mega Bazooka Launcher Reito Beam!
KTS: Sayla Mass has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Treasure Chest has activated the Attune Spirit Command.
KTS: Treasure Chest successfully intercepts Seolla Schweizer's Clay Bazooka Insulation Shot
Crossfire_Salem has changed Boss level to 5

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

< "I'm here to assist you, Banagher. Not the other way around." > There's a smile creeping into Lucine's solemn words. < "I'll be fine. Focus on what you came here to do." >

 Many familiar 'faces' are here, an almost overwhelming amount.

 Alto is here, as well as ... who is that? Maybe.... a romantic fling? A friend? It seems like it, maybe, since the piloting isn't that sharp. Especially since he's leaving them to join the fray.

 ....... or maybe it's a new soldier, since they're following Alto in. Lucine feels a little foolish for assuming; after all, hadn't Alto tried to help her out on her first mission? < "... Skull-4. If you have a trainee with you, be wary of the Banshee and the pilot calling himself Char. They're..." > She stops herself. 'Too dangerous' would be straightforward, but may make it seem she is doubting Alto's abilities to look out for himself and his companion.

 She follows with another blunt < "They're using advanced Newtype technology. I can't speak for the rest, but expect similar. Good lu--!!" >

 This is when Crossfire moves in. Lucine's eyes widen, her body reacting to danger approaching before she has a chance to process it.

 < ".... Good luck." >

 The Dianthus is now flying a few meters away from where it stood, having evaded a near surefire hit with the Amabilis's beam saber. < ".... I guess you're the one on my dance card, then." > Her voice eases away from that formal stiffness, now fully engaged in battle. The Dianthus draws out its sliver glaive and jabs it forward towards Crossfire's unit. < "I appreciate your sincerity, but I doubt the others will listen." >

KTS: Aumerei parries Naoko Suzuki's Knuckle Slam, taking 1320 damage!
KTS: Naoko Suzuki has engaged Aumerei!
KTS: Lucine Azul has activated the Foresee Spirit Command targeting Alto Saotome
KTS: Lucine Azul has activated the Foresee Spirit Command targeting Sheryl Nome

<Pose Tracker> Shelby Korts has posed.

He's here -- Char.

 The once-Neo Zeon pilot steels herself with a grunt; the Jagd Doga's steps and skates across the ground cease and start to change directions to face the Zaku II, the legendary unit of the Red Comet wasting little time in coming to blows with those present-- through the bazooka blasts toward others, and the direct attack on Full Frontal. A soft "Ngh..." slips past clenched teeth, controls violently lurching--

 -- The Jagd Doga's shield lifts, the blast of pellets slamming into and scattering across the rounded, domed surface of her shield. Some make it past the shell, embedding in the surface of the shield while others tear gouges and rips in the armor of the machine. Nothing too bad -- yet -- but definitely not something Anser's going to be able to just pound back out straight with a mallet.

 Thoughts that are not her own:
 how did you think this was going to end

 %Shelby again winces, shifting the Mobile Suit from a defensive to an offensive posture. "<Yeah,>" she replies simply to Roux, mouth pulling into a flat line. "<Roux, Heart-2, I'm going to go for his legs-- If we reduce his mobility, we might have a better shot.>"

 Banagher does his thing: The coordinate broadcast; the stream of data. Shelby's brow creases. "This is..." she murmurs. No-- focus. This is the Red Comet, you can't get bogged down in thought processes or his fancy speeches. She's never, ever going to make that mistake ever again. Her head swivels on cue, pressing her mind against the psycommu equipment...

 The Funnels swirl, flying in less graceful but effective arcs all the same, waiting for their turn amongst attackers to take harrying pot-shots at the Zaku II, angled from on high with the full intent to start slicing into the armor of the knees and legs this early on!

KTS: Shelby Korts has activated the Strike Spirit Command.

<Pose Tracker> Mineva Lao Zabi has posed.

Mineva's heart nearly stops beating as she feels the Red Comet, a chill running up her spine and a drop of sweat down her temple. "Banagher--"

The Zaku II leaps over their heads instead, and she's able to relax again, if only a little... the man who was once Char Aznable has another target, at least for now...

But it's not easy to calm her instincts when her adoptive father's voice speaks over the comms. He's younger... more idealistic, maybe. This is the man she knew as a child...

She watches, quiet, as the images play... and she winces again as she hears Haman Karn's voice. She's angry, now. She knew Haman used a body-double to legitimize herself once Char had taken her away... but seeing it before her, SEEING a her-that-is-not-her paraded through the streets, the colony dropped onto Dublin...

An older Char, announcing his intent to drop Axis. The light in his eyes has gone out, she notices.

Was it ever really there?

She looks away.

Mineva sucks in a gasp as the Banshee bears down on them. That possessive, desperate aura sticks to her skin, emotions battering against her defenses. Puru-1 wants them to... come 'home'? Is this all because they keep fighting, because they won't give in?

Where is home? Why them?

None of it makes sense-- she can't think. Her entire being feels cloudy and hazy. She screws her eyes shut, gripping something tight against her palm inside her right glove. A go stone glows green against her skin, unseen, and focusing on it, she slowly dulls the roar of Puru-1's aura.

She doesn't open her eyes until Banagher addresses her. By then, the coordinate display is gone, and she just looks over at him, nodding. No time to explain.

This ends with you coming home with us, comes Mineva's reply, though shaky and wavering, to the question posed by Puru-1's emotions, even as she shudders from those spectral fingertips. We won't give up.

KTS: Lucine Azul targets Crossfire Salem with CL0-V3 Glaive Stab!
KTS: Lucine Azul has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Shelby Korts targets Char Aznable with Jagd Doga Funnels Basic Formation!
KTS: Shelby Korts has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Crossfire Salem fails to Parry Lucine Azul's CL0-V3 Glaive Stab, taking 2025 damage!
KTS: Lucine Azul has engaged Crossfire Salem!

<Pose Tracker> Puru Two has posed.

"Oh! You're here to kill me." the thought reaches Puru Two, despite merely being spoken aloud. The sullen figure in the normal suit lifts her head and frowns, at first, before the look twists into a bitter scowl.

Am I...?

"You already died. The dead should stay on the other side." she counters, the words acrid on her tongue. "I'll set things right. I already committed this sin once, so nobody else has to."

The Qubeley brandishes one beam saber with a flourish, a lightning-bolt snap of brilliance spilling from the hilt. But the Banshee's ethereal pilot is clearly one step ahead of that game, and wins the initial swordsmanship trade. The banshee's low cut melts the aging machine's leg verniers into fused, smoking solder.

"Tch. Arriety," Puru Two pipes up after a moment's thought. "Don't let her into your head. She's fighting with illusion as much as her other weapons." there's more she wants to warn about, but she can feel the complex feelings roiling off of her would-be sister's psyche like smouldering coals.

Puru Two tugs on one of her gloves and slowly clenches her hand into a fist. Why even leave her hands on the controls? The mind is so much more precise. "Funnels... tear her apart." she mutters, staring at the back of her fingers with a half-lucid intensity. Mind compartmentalized into so many small boxes, it is for a time as if the Qubeley is plugged into her, and not the other way around.

The badly-battered Mobile Weapon soars higher into the air and turns with a spin, facing the fleeing Banshee. "Don't be in such a hurry to skip the greetings. Treat your sister with the respect she deserves." Puru Two lectures with a leering, snide edge to her tone. A toxic flame kindles in the rear of her brain as the funnels rip from the Qubeley's tattered cloak and soar after the Banshee, trailing it with luminous spears of flame.

KTS: Puru Two has activated the Dash Spirit Command and has disengaged.
KTS: Puru Two targets Puru-1 with Qubeley MK-II Funnels - Astrapi Formation!
KTS: Puru Two has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Puru-1 fails to Evade Puru Two's Qubeley MK-II Funnels - Astrapi Formation, taking 4320 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Faye Valentine has posed.

Already, the battlefield is total chaos. And Sayla's jerk brother/attempted global mass murderer Char Aznable is here. Which is something you'd totally expect, but still, like there weren't enough problems.

Unfortunately, Faye doesn't have time to make that 'her' problem. The Amabilis is 'fast', a high-spec weapon of war, and honestly it's barely treating her like a threat. Head vulcans... well, the issue with those is in the name, isn't it? Faye soars up, blasts 'forward', forcing the Amabilis to crane to follow, then drops into a low twist behind the nimble mobile suit, responding in kind with a streak of autocannon fire.

<"Char's right there, and you guys are gonna pick on a nice kid with too much on his plate already? Tch, vultures... Though I suppose it's his dad's lousy trick in the first place, making him carry that box around. Still, could ya just lay off?">

There's a quick flick of a few switches as the Red Tail arcs around the Amabilis in a tight circle, gatlings humming.

<"Sayla, I'll keep you out of trouble from this side. Do whatever it is you gotta do and let's have a nice time catching up afterwards, alright?">

KTS: Mineva Lao Zabi targets Banagher Links with Caution!
KTS: Mineva Lao Zabi has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Faye Valentine targets Crossfire Salem with Autocannon Burst!
KTS: Faye Valentine has completed their actions for the round.

<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.

Alto is a little surprised when he notices Sheryl's VF catching up to him off his wing. He frowns, quickly radioing, <"You shouldn't be here! It's too dangerous."> They haven't reached the fighting proper yet, but even so. Registering as an SMS fighter, Sheryl's unit could definitely be considered a valid target in this airspace. Alto's worried that if she doesn't get out of here, someone might try to-

 -It's too late, as Alto's system warns him of a weapons lock. He can only assume that Sheryl is in the sights too as he calls, <"Look out!">

 Funnels rush the two. The Messiah quickly banks to the side, Alto letting the first shot pass through the space he had been in moments before. However, it's not the only one as more funnels begin to show up. As more and more shots begin to light up the sky around Alto, he attempts to weave his way through them. Until finally one finds purchase, striking against one of his wings. A barrier of light briefly appears, absorbing some of the damage. But still a hole has been seared into the wing. And Alto feels his fighter becoming a bit more sluggish.

 As he tries to compensate for the damage, Alto warns Sheryl, <"Go low! We need to reduce their attack vectors."> Taking his own advice, Alto angles his fighter down, rapidly descending towards the city below.

 Leveling off again, there's a brief moment of respite. This is when Lucine's voice filters into his cockpit, <"Lucine? What the hell's going on here!? ... Wait... Did you say CHAR!?"> The Frontier Fleet may have been in deep space for most of Earth's recent history. But even they heard of the events surrounding that name. Not to mention more recent news.

 This is even worse than Alto expected! He has to find a way to let Sheryl escape...

 Alto narrows down the source of the funnels. A Gundam ahead of them, already engaged with another Gundam... Alto's never fought a Gundam before. But he's heard the stories. Sweating a little, Alto says to Sheryl, <"I'll try and distract it. When you see an opening, get out of here!">

 Lining up the Mu Gundam in his sights, Alto is hesitant for a moment, given the other machine's proximity. But he then pulls the trigger. The gunpod attached beneath the Messiah's frame quickly spins up, spitting out a stream of bullets towards the Mu Gundam.

KTS: Alto Saotome targets Treasure Chest with Gatling Shot!
KTS: Alto Saotome has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Crossfire Salem blocks Faye Valentine's Autocannon Burst, taking 1350 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Christina MacKenzie has posed.

STITCH TO PREVIOUS CHRIS

 In the midst of her revel amidst the skirmish, a young man's words come through.
 <"They did hard work aligning the engine crossfeed, hah, so I'm letting them rest.--Too slow!"> Chris's voice fades out into a muffled explosion as a cheeky Akasha swings in close to avenge, or join, its Jegan partner. <"I'm coming back. Don't worry.">

 She hesitates before she adds, <"...I won't make you cry a second time.">

 Laplace's Demon bequeaths the Unicorn another preserved blossom of history. The Titans... The Zabis... And--that's right, Sayla's brother... speaking of their father. Maybe she should have brought the Haros to pilot, after all, the way the corners of her eyes sting.

 And, identity coopted, used for violence; the name that was meant for a girl now clasping the sound Audrey to her chest. What a burden for such small shoulders...

 "No wonder those three found such solace in each other..." Chris spun the Tristan's deadly skirt around as she wiped her eyes. She opened them to gaze at the path she'd carve for them.

<Pose Tracker> Judau Ashta has posed.

There's something wrong with Puru Two. It's something Judau's felt for months now -- since the mission in Palau. And now, with Puru-1 here, that feeling intensifies.

For Judau... it's just even more reason why he needs to be there to take on the Banshee and its pilot. To make sure Puru Two doesn't end up doing something she'll regret.

Not that circumstances make that easy -- but when have they ever? They've barely arrived at Dakar before that third, existentially horrific party shows itself in a mobile suit forged from history and empowered by the oblivion that sparked before creation. Char Aznable. Another problem -- and another problem Judau can't deal with personally.

The G-Fortress banks, transforming rapidly into the bulky form of the ZZ Gundam as Judau transmits to the Strike Zeta:

<"Roux, be careful! He's a dick, but he's still Char! Which means he's got, like, double dick powers-"> no judau that's not the phrasing to use <"-so keep alert, okay?! Try headbutting him if you get an opening!">

Hey; by Judau's reckoning, it was super effective.

But that's all the attention he can afford to spare on the encroach of Triple Zero's devout disciple; not when he feels that familiar-unfamiliar pressure; not when he knows to a certainty that she's HERE, the Banshee's black and gold form sticking out like a vortex of complex, contradictory impulses. <"Yeah,"> he exhales as Banagher speaks. <"... Somethin's not right. We gotta get her quick, Banagher.">

And then, the Banshee's attention turns. And so, too, does Judau's, as if in perfect time.

'Judau!'

"Elpeo!"

Rocket thrust keeps the Double Zeta aloft in contrails of burning blue as it blazes a trail for the Banshee. The ZZ yanks free one long hyper beam saber hilt and ignites it. Last time they fought, he felt someone inside that cockpit. The pilot -- the person inside the Banshee -- the person gripped within the morass of every negative impulse of Elpeo Puru.

If he can just get close enough...

"Just wait a sec! We're gonna help you, I swear--"

And suddenly, there is another machine in his way.

He barely has time to register what it is, or what its doing, before the familiar talons of the Psycho-frame-laden Vibro-Nail look to claw into the Double Zeta. Judau's eyes widen. "Who are--"

Descending through the air, instinctive counter-thrust is all that manages to give Judau the room he needs to drag up the ZZ's right wing shield to intercept -- but even -that- crunches with an unpleasant, screeching protest of metal as the Vibro-Nail clenches it like the talons of a vengeful dragon.

Puru-1 and the Banshee are peeling away, towards Banagher and the Unicorn. All around him, footage - memories - history is broadcast, so much of it dredging up his own past. But he can't focus on that. The Banshee is getting away -- she is getting away--!

Judau's teeth grit as the Double Zeta's arm struggles and strains against the Mu's Psycho-frame vice. Will surges through the former AEUG weapon's chassis.

<"Get the hell...">

Footage of Haman Karn's Neo-Zeon parading through the streets of Dakar broadcast as the ZZ's thrusters ignite to VIOLENT capacities; Gundam to Gundam, the Double Zeta tries to -push- the Mu through the air even as others target it with their violence, one angry thought driving it forward as it -thrusts- the long, crackling blade of its hyper beam saber forward in a furious arch.

<"... OUTTA MY WAY!">

He can't let her down again. He can't.

KTS: Judau Ashta has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
KTS: Judau Ashta targets Treasure Chest with Hyper Beam Sabers - Heavy Strike!
KTS: Judau Ashta has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Treasure Chest blocks Alto Saotome's Gatling Shot, taking 1170 damage!
KTS: Treasure Chest blocks Judau Ashta's Hyper Beam Sabers - Heavy Strike, taking 1320 damage!
KTS: Judau Ashta has engaged Treasure Chest!

<Pose Tracker> Aumerei has posed.

The broadcast of Char's speech comes through. 'Join my father, Zeon...' Aumerei knows better now what that means than she did when she could have as a middle schooler. It hurts to hear -- but she can't, for now, let that get into her head. She can address it later... if there is a later.

The barrage of missiles from the Cosmo Robo gets through the curtain of anti-missile fire from the Garuda; it's hard to provide CIWS support at this distance, though. A couple of Ankshas are damaged, and have no choice but to fall out of mobile armor mode, leaving their Jegans to make a rough landing without them.

"Hm. Bad," Aumerei murmurs.

Gridknight closes on Treasure Chest. It's at this point that Aumerei can't help herself on showing her agitation; a foot starts to tap-tap-tap-tap-tap, and nails dig into fingers. The Garuda does not stop just because one operator is anxious, though. ... besides, Treasure Chest has just assured her it'll be okay.

The Ra Mari II fires back on the Garuda, and while the Vist Foundation refit does include more extensive armor, it's still a fairly solid hit. The team of Ankshas and Jegans on approach to the Toy Box takes heavy attrition from missiles, too -- one machine destroyed, two disabled. The Garuda's large complement can handle losses like these, though. Christina's Tristan carves through its own opponents easily, as not every pilot copes well with the reduction in information. The Vist Foundation's information advantage has always been high -- not ever pilot knows how to handle the shoe being on the other foot.

The Sukeban's vicious punches tear through an Anksha's arm in mobile armor mode, but its corresponding Jegan inserts its shield into the gap before the next one, allowing both a little time to disengage.

Aumerei takes a moment to make a more comprehensive review of who's on the opposing side. Dr. Mass and her allies... The Macross fleets... even the Zeon remnants are here. It's a long list.

They may as well all be mad at the same thing.

"Hmm. I think I can get them to flinch," she remarks, casually, opening a channel over the broad comms band.

It's Akane Shinjo! Akane Shinjo as you knew her the better part of a year ago, no less -- cracked glasses, lilac hair, and all. "Hi," she begins. "It's me again! Sorry for ruining your whole... feelgood, save-someone-who-sucks moment earlier this year, but I'm back at it. Murasame Labs was pretty persuasive!" She's all smiles as she adds, "I got to keep what was important, anyway."

Hm, hm. She brings up a pen, tapping it against her chin. "I'm going to be pretty surprised if you guys can handle dealing with Treasure Chest. Dr. Murasame really brought out her latent potential! And I owe her more or less everything, so... I'm happy being her operator." Wryly, she adds, "Isn't the romance between the hero and the girl at their comms suite just the best? It's an old-school Taraba staple!"

Those are usually disasters that end with the girl dying, the Tarabaman returning to the sea of stars, their careers and heroism going different ways, or in one case the host dying for the sake of the Taraba and leaving that grand romantic dream unfulfilled, but... maybe she thinks of it differently.

"Treasure Chest -- I'm ramping up the HADES receiver a little more -- 45% ought to do it," she says, quietly. "You're going to need the predictive help."

The Garuda itself continues to trade shots with the Ra Mari; the gunnery section increases the barrage significantly, trying to pressure the Ra Mari out of the sky with immense force. The sheer size makes it difficult, though.

The TDD-1 gets a heavy grenade barrage from the Jegans nearby; it's a feint, though, giving the Ankshas an opportunity to close, enter the water, and use their sabers at closer range. It's risky to approach the TDD like this, but the chance to take down the Toy Box has everyone's attention.

Alouette gets it a little worse this time -- though it isn't the Jegans and Ankshas that give her the worst of it. One of the gunnery team members diverts attention down to her, firing an enormous mega particle cannon blast for the Cosmo Robo. Aumerei gives her a, "HEY! If Dr. Murasame gets mad at you, that one's not on me," but again -- can't stop her.

Chris gets a gradual encirclement from the Ankshas, as they start to lose Jegans to her maneuvers. It seems the Ankshas, despite being relegated to the 'worse' role, tend to be the more aggressive pilots, firing a barrage of beams that pens the Tristan in...

KTS: Aumerei has activated the Rouse Spirit Command targeting Treasure Chest
KTS: Aumerei has activated the Rouse Spirit Command targeting Treasure Chest
KTS: Aumerei targets Eight York and Alouette Pommier with Mega Particle Cannons Increased Barrage.
KTS: Aumerei targets Treasure Chest with Warn L2!
KTS: Aumerei targets Naoko Suzuki with Jegan Wing CQC Tactics!
KTS: Aumerei targets Teletha Testarossa with Anksha Saber Formation!
KTS: Aumerei targets Christina MacKenzie with Anksha Beam Barrage!
KTS: Aumerei has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Char Aznable blocks Full Frontal's Beam Rifle Barrage, taking 1200 damage!
KTS: Full Frontal begins a Formation attack!
KTS: Char Aznable fails to evade Roux Louka's Standoff Missile, taking 3150 damage!
KTS: Char Aznable blocks Sayla Mass's Photon Hyper Mega Bazooka Launcher Reito Beam, taking 3500 damage!
KTS: Aumerei warns Treasure Chest, making her next attacks more accurate!
KTS: Char Aznable fails to Evade Shelby Korts's Jagd Doga Funnels Basic Formation, taking 3800 damage!
KTS: Eight York fails to react to Aumerei's Mega Particle Cannons Increased Barrage, taking 5300 damage!
KTS: Aumerei has activated the Rouse Spirit Command targeting Puru-1
KTS: Aumerei has activated the Prospect Spirit Command targeting Treasure Chest

<Pose Tracker> BC-001 Minae has posed.

        Minae glances towards the Sukeban as it launches, frowning to herself as she considers matters. The note that crossed her desk was deeply familiar - a tale of another pilot deeply disturbed by Yuliana Kafim shutting down one of their senses. It answers some questions about why Nova might be on board the Ra Mari still, and provides her with a sudden wealth of information about how to approach her counselling. Even if it doesn't answer what to do about her deflections, it's still a point to start from.

        Callisto launches as well, and Minae doesn't need to have any kind of extrasensory capabilities to discern the raw difference in how she's approaching this launch compared to those in the past. It's clear that the prior engagement is haunting her - but also that it's preying on her mind in opposition to Callisto's rather fierce sense of independence. As long as Minae's known her, she's preferred to keep her thoughts somewhat guarded and to herself - but the robot suspects that this is a wall that will need help to get over.

        'Bring this up to Eight' gets tacked onto the end of a seemingly endless list of tasks to get done.

        It's difficult to track the Banshee's movements; from what Minae knows and has discerned about the situation, she was expecting a mode of piloting similar to Callisto's. What she actually gets is a chaotic back and forth of unexpected maneuvers and sudden charges, and even if Minae's not the one actively at the controls she still finds herself setting her jaw and having to concentrate to follow the position of their opponent properly in such a protracted dogfight.

        More than her movement is the non-stop litany of taunting and laughter that accompanies it. As far as the robot knows, this is someone who piloted at a desperately young age, who was-- killed? grievously injured to the point they disappeared completely out of view? isolated into insanity? She might have been described as playful by everyone who knew her in the past, but the passing of time still has to be accounted for. The lack of self-care or gravitas, the moodswings, the immaturity - they're probably all important to figuring out how any of this happened, and Minae stashes those impressions away for later.

        Hopefully there's a later.

        "It's me," she promises over the radio to Alouette, thankful to at least have a response to work off of. There's a chunk of her mind that's dizzy just from trying to track contacts, and she has to admit even before Arriety's concerned warning that she might be overwhelmed. The chance to offload some of that effort is welcome; she goes so far as to visibly sag a little in her seat as she realigns her processes. "Sorry to impose!" she adds, sounding not terribly apologetic. "Captain, I'm going to bridge the Ra Mari and 3G systems together."

        "... you're right," she admits back to the pilot with her, and finds herself breaking into a bit of a faint grin. "It feels kind of a shame to leave it up to other people, but it also feels really good too." The only way to try to push through this feeling between them is to... well... try to push through it, and she way she pumps her fists might be a bit performative but she does it anyway as she tries to keep their spirits up. "That goes for you too, okay? There'll always be another chance to face her if we can't get through today. You don't need to risk it all. I'll be really upset if you get yourself hurt."

        No, not those spirits.

        Part of her perception fuzzes as Gridknight doesn't quite usurp their radio, but she doesn't have a better word for the transmission that just happened. Inwardly she finds herself disapproving just a little of the rather curt exhortation - but she watches its effect on Arriety closely. She has to accept that maybe she's being too lenient, and that maybe she needs to observe and compare a wider range of interactions to how she's approached things so far.

        There's simply too much going on to fully pay attention and think through the entirety of the broadcast's implications - Minae deliberately distances herself a little from politics, a science she's not terribly able to fully understand, and even she can pick that much up. At the very least, a burst of attentive prudence makes her transmit a 'record' directive to as many broadcasting towers as she can before they're taken out from under her.

        Rena rockets towards them, and the robot feels a sense of relief as she opens a communication channel towards the Gaia Gear Alpha. "Got you, Rena - passing over tactical information. Please link up with the Ra Mari for the rest of it, I'm going on strike," she quips out of the blue, a rare moment of deadpan for her.

        "Callie's right," she adds on an open link with the others. "She's trying, whether consciously or unconsciously, to disarm you with so much talk. Try not to let it get to you or be goaded. It's okay; we're all here to cover each other's backs, so we just have to push forwards as a combined front." Following Arriety's cue, much of her mental map of the battle falls away, relegated to background processes as she focuses in front of her.

KTS: BC-001 Minae has activated the Resupply Spirit Command targeting Arriety Hearn
KTS: BC-001 Minae has activated the Resupply Spirit Command targeting Puru Two

<Pose Tracker> Char Aznable has posed.

'why in the name of ANYTHING should we listen to you about this Cosmic Law business?!' Roux demands, punctuating her objection with a missile of her own for Char. He takes the blast full on, trusting in the Oath-empowered armour of his ancient mobile suit to weather the blast.

A feeling - no, a thought - from the Photonic Gundam, as Sayla hefts a weapon that an ordinary Mobile Suit's reactor should never be able to pilot - but this Hi-Nu Gundam's reactor is anything but ordinary - and unleashes a devastating blast of hypothermic photon power at him. Shifting to present his left shoulder to the blast, he trusts in the shield mounted there to absorb most of the damage. As he does so, there is a twinge of a response to Sayla's feelings - a sense of ease, focus, and comfort, falling into the role of the Red Comet even as he stances to end the world.

Shelby's funnels cut in with their slicing beams, and Full Frontal aims his own beam barrage at the Zaku-II. Focusing on his imitator, he allows the funnels to cut into his machine's armour, sacrificing evasion in order to raise the shoulder-mounted shield against the Sinanju's beam barrage.

The program aboard the Unicorn begins its work, and Char's own readouts are scrambled and overridden by the broadcast. Much of this he expected - after all, his own memories of this very speech have been haunting him while he waited here for the Foundation's arrival.

The footage of Haman's speech, and his own speech at Sweetwater, were less anticipated - and there, punctuated with the last sentences of the latter, images of him handing the psycoframe sample over to the Federation.

The juxtaposition of Char himself giving Amuro the weapon he needed to fight him and the phrase 'I can finally be with my father, Zeon' should be crystal clear, for all to see.

The broadcast ends, and Char... laughs, over open comms. It is a bitter sound; tired and resigned.

"Battle gives rise to miracles; Cosmic Law demands none. Fighting to prevent them is ironic, I will grant you, but the offer of a merciful death for your surrender stands." Even so, he continues to train the bazooka on the Strike Zeta, unleashing a heavy barrage of warheads.

"Bold for you to say, given that you have forgotten a mother's touch," Char shoots back to Full Frontal. "If you'd see me die, you must overcome the Power - and I know you don't have the ability to do that, so it will be you, not me, who dies here." He punctuates this with a heavy slash towards the Sinanju, aiming to carve apart its defenses and press the attack.

The laser comms from the Hi-Nu Gundam are... reciprocated? "I'm not here for them. Don't waste your time or energy on me, Artesia." Pivoting the body of the Zaku towards the Hi-Nu, he unleashes a barrage of chest Vulcan fire to drive the Photonic Mobile Suit back.

Shelby has no words for him, so he replies with none - only another full barrage from his bazooka.

KTS: BC-001 Minae targets Arriety Hearn, Puru Two, and Rena Lancaster with Awe.
KTS: BC-001 Minae has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Teletha Testarossa has activated the Foresee Spirit Command.
KTS: Alouette Pommier partially guards Aumerei's Mega Particle Cannons Increased Barrage, taking 3709 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Sousuke Sagara has posed.

As fire and bullets tear through the streets and sky, one could easily miss the fleeting, flickering trail of air moving unnaturally.

<<The mobile suit compliment seems rather excessive,>> a steady, automated, male voice muses within a cockpit lit solely by screens.

"They're serious about whatever this is...is it possible it's a takeover attempt?" the pilot muses, and then grunts as he drives his machine to a final, high leap.

<<Yes, but unlikely,>> the machine replies. <<The force levels suit that, but tactical decisions do not match that objective. Beyond that, I'm unable to speculate.>>

"Right," the pilot sighs, and then turns his eyes on a particular Gundam.

He doesn't even speak before the AI highlights it. <<No data in registry. We're clear of the main interception force. Shall I flag it as primary target?>>

"Yes," Sousuke Sagara says. "Switch to combat power distributions."

<<Transferring. You'll have 10 seconds of ECS.>>

"Roger. TDD-1, this is Uruz Seven. In position. Engaging marked target."

The shadowed blur leaps off a rooftop with a blasted-off stair well, and then in a flash of blue-white light, it's simply there - the ARX-7 Arbalest, knife in hand, descending toward Amabilis with intent to get it straight in the neck.

KTS: Teletha Testarossa fails to Evade Aumerei's Anksha Saber Formation, taking 5500 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Aumerei's Stimulation activates, causing Designate L1!
KTS: Sousuke Sagara has deployed in ARX-7 Arbalest.
KTS: Naoko Suzuki rushes into the attack!
KTS: Naoko Suzuki partially guards Aumerei's Jegan Wing CQC Tactics, taking 3960 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Aumerei's Stimulation activates, causing Designate L1!
KTS: Sousuke Sagara targets Crossfire Salem with GRAW-2 Monomolecular Cutter Slash!
KTS: Sousuke Sagara has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Char Aznable targets Roux Louka with Type A2 MS Bazooka Barrage!
KTS: Char Aznable targets Shelby Korts with Type A2 MS Bazooka Barrage!
KTS: Char Aznable has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Crossfire Salem fails to Parry Sousuke Sagara's GRAW-2 Monomolecular Cutter Slash, taking 3240 damage!
KTS: Sousuke Sagara has engaged Crossfire Salem!
KTS: Char Aznable targets Sayla Mass with Vulcan Burst!
KTS: Char Aznable targets Full Frontal with Zaku-II Heat Hawk Shield Melter!
KTS: BC-001 Minae inspires awe, increasing Puru Two's Morale!
KTS: Roux Louka has activated the Wall Spirit Command.
KTS: Roux Louka has activated the Wall Spirit Command.
KTS: Mineva Lao Zabi suggests caution, raising Banagher Links's Intuition!
KTS: Roux Louka fails to intercept Char Aznable's Type A2 MS Bazooka Barrage, taking 4650 damage!
KTS: BC-001 Minae inspires awe, increasing Arriety Hearn's Morale!

<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.

A battle and a concert have certain similarities--the rhythm of combat and the rhythm of a song and dance have more in common than one might think, and certainly there's more than enough mobile suits here to fill the concert hall of a Sheryl Nome live event. But Sheryl isn't skilled enough at combat to see more than the chaos of it. To see that giant rising up from the city, to see the swarms of suits opening fire on other suits, to see civilians in the city below running for their lives.

 If she'd actually been in Dakar, Sheryl would have been one of the people already evacuated. If she'd been who she was a year and a half ago, she'd have taken a coolly indifferent air to it, content to leave the fighting and the evacuating to--as Grace said a moment ago--to the professionals.

 It's very different from inside a machine. From when you're flying over it, rather than being driven away from it. Rather than being on a stage under it. Sheryl swallows hard and silently sears the way she feels into her memory. ...It's the least she can do for the people who are about to become refugees.

 Still, she has no actual desire to get into a fight. With care borne of tightly controlled fear, she starts to pull on the throttle--just as that strange giant looks over at her and yells at her?? It's honestly baffling, and Sheryl is never one to back down from an argument, so instead of committing to leaving the battlefield like she'd intended, she turns on the outside comms with the flip of a switch and yells back, "<No, I haven't, and I wasn't planning on it!! So mind your own business, creep!>" And to Alto, switching back to plane-to-plane comms, just as hotly but a little more defensive: ""

 Final (?) word seized--and that'll solve the mystery of who Alto's friend is to Lucine--Sheryl focuses back on attempting to peel up and away from the battlefield. This is barely a maneuver she is skilled enough to pull off normally, and absolutely not when that Mu Gundam fans out its tarp-cloak (it did look ominously familiar, Sheryl suddenly realizes, a certain other dark cloaked entity popping into mind) and releases a series of funnels. That's not the only thing the Mu Gundam does, but that's the part that's relevant to Sheryl when several of them zip up and open fire on her.

 She screams as the blasts scorch lines down the side of her plane. Alto's warning was in time, but her reaction time simply isn't good enough. Instinctively, she yanks the controls away, but this takes her off an escape route and--sure enough--back towards the Mu Gundam, the pattern of her flight as jittery as her hands. She wasn't looking for a fight, but a fight has found her... and Minovsky particles means that long-range communication is suddenly down, cutting her off from her manager.

 Grace is going to be so mad, a distant part of Sheryl thinks. Another part of her thinks, How does Alto make this look so beautiful?!

 ...But there isn't anger, fear, or even frustration in that thought. Rather, it's... admiration.

 Not the time or place. Through her pounding heart and head, Sheryl half-registers Lucine's warning about 'advanced Newtype technology,' and fortunately doesn't register the name 'Char.' She doesn't fully understand what that means, but hearing a familiar voice helps her get a grip on the situation. Lucine's a fan--she cannot let a fan down, even if this isn't her normal type of battlefield. "<...A-all right. Right behind you, Alto. And thanks, Lucine,>" she transmits back, following Alto's lead and swooping down towards the city. She doesn't commit well enough, fear of hitting a building holding her back, but it's lower than she was before--and it does mean a crash will be less devastating if that's what it comes to.

 She swallows hard when Alto tells her he'll distract it. A keen understanding that she might have put him in danger--might end up getting him killed--wells up inside her. That's why she's more subdued and certainly more obedient than usual when she transmits back, "<O-okay. You--don't get yourself killed!>"

 But with all those funnels, how can she just see an opening? She looks over at the Mu Gundam and swallows hard. There's a person inside that machine. There's people inside all these machines, aren't there? She shakes her head hard, then focuses on the funnel that fired on her. If she can't see an opening, she'll just have to make one. "<I'm going to punch through!>" she declares, infusing her tone with more confidence than she feels, just before pressing an attack.

 It's just a few shots from one of the VF's guns. Being something she's flying for practice, it's not exactly kitted up to the gills. But it should hopefully be enough to break one of these things and give her that opening she needs.

 Sheryl has no idea how tough a funnel is. But she knows that Gundams are not to be trifled with.

KTS: Sheryl Nome targets Treasure Chest with Gun Pod Shot!
KTS: Sheryl Nome has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Arriety Hearn has activated the Trick Spirit Command.
KTS: BC-001 Minae inspires awe, increasing Rena Lancaster's Morale!
KTS: Treasure Chest blocks Sheryl Nome's Gun Pod Shot, taking 1080 damage!
KTS: Full Frontal has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Sayla Mass's Will Barrier activates, negating 1000 base damage.
KTS: Char Aznable enervates Sayla Mass, reducing her Morale significantly.
KTS: Sayla Mass fails to react to Char Aznable's Vulcan Burst, taking 2970 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Char Aznable's Too Many Masks activates, causing Jam L1!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Char Aznable's Unbreakable Oath activates, causing Deject!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Char Aznable's Red Comet activates, causing Control Bonus!
KTS: Full Frontal rushes into the attack!
KTS: [Spirit Defense] Full Frontal's Collective Will activates, and its spirit endures.
KTS: Char Aznable enervates Full Frontal, reducing its Morale significantly.
KTS: Full Frontal partially guards Char Aznable's Zaku-II Heat Hawk Shield Melter, taking 7800 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Char Aznable's Too Many Masks activates, causing Jam L1!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Char Aznable's Unbreakable Oath activates, causing Deject!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Char Aznable's Red Comet activates, causing Control Bonus!
KTS: Char Aznable has engaged Full Frontal!
KTS: Shelby Korts's Physical Wall L1 activates, negating 1000 base damage.
KTS: Shelby Korts blocks Char Aznable's Type A2 MS Bazooka Barrage, taking 4200 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Puru-1 has posed.

Judau calls out to her, intent plain, and Puru-1 seems delighted at being called Elpeo, "Are you sure you don't need help yourself!?" She chirps, then laughs wildly as him and Treasure Chest clash. "Have fun Judau!" She calls out to him, even as he demands that Treasure Chest get out of his way with his wild assault.

 Arriety trails after the Banshee, and fires a shot. There's a sudden burst of thrusters, and a twist out of the way. The shot which should have struck dead on, instead skips across the I-Field on its Armed Armor, vanishing in a haze of rainbow particles. "Selfish. I AM a selfish girl!" She proclaims, even as she raises the Beam Magnum, as a charge gathers at the barrel. "And always have been! See if you can feel this!"

 She releases the shot right at the flanks of the Zeta's frame, a crimson ray, surrounded by an aurora of blue.

 EMPTINESS DESOLATION LONELINESS DESPAIR
 HOLLOW INSIDE HOLLOW INSIDE HOLLOW INSIDE

 As the Coordinate activates, there's a sudden reaction. Banagher's plea to the Banshee seems to fall on deaf ears as it freezes, hovering in mid-air. Listening. Listening. And then there's a sudden shift within it. This coldness as what unlocks plays longer, and longer. Then there is a sudden Psychic wail from the Banshee, a shriek. A scream that permeates the battlefield.

 The Banshee Norn begins a shift into the NT-D, as it becomes alit with azure fire, the plates shifting and writhing, backpack twisting, faceplate turning. Orange-gold psycoframe appears all over its form, gleaming over its shield, as more plates twist up to frame it like a mane of incandescent light. The scream ends, and it looks across the field at the Ruin Zaku.

 'Let's make this quick.'

 "OH. I. INTEND. TO." The girl within, Puru-1 replies to Treasure Chest, in this moment it's red optics behind the haze of blue fixated on the Ruin Zaku. It is a struggle to tear them away, but all the same her feelings bleed across the field. Char will feel just this light sensation, like a whisper of a creature of the dark within his ear, while Sayla, the hands are there, but less than before. They grip ahold and flood her with a myriad of sensations.

 RAGE WRATH ANGER SORROW SADNESS DESPAIR ENVY
 CASVAL BETRAYER STAY AWAY FROM HIM
 BETRAYER CASVAL HES MINE
 CASVAL BETRAYER OUT OF THIS OUT OF THIS USELESS WORTHLESS TRASH M I N E M I N E M I N E M I N E

 Fortunately, something pulls her attention away between Aumerei's reminder of Murasame as well in Banagher in the Unicorn declaring she's coming home with her. In Mineva's feelings reaching her that they won't give up "No. No. You're both coming with ME!" A Tonfa erupts, twisting the Beam Saber aside so hard that it jerks the Unicorn's arm, "You idiots. Don't you GET ANYTHING?" Putting up the Beam Magnum on its back, the other Tonfa erupts seems to grow, surrounded by that aura of blue flame. And raising them both up, she brings them down viciously on the Unicorn.

 TRAP TRAP TRAP TRAP TRAP TRAP TRAP TRAP
 FELL FOR IT FELL FOR IT FELL FOR IT
 AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN

 "That's what we're COUNTING ON!"

 It's that moment that the Gaia Gear fires it's missiles, and the jets of the Armed Armor DE fire, as it suddenly flies straight forward, close to the streets, zipping as missile after missile plumes into flame. "Renalle. Renalle Kan Zeitun." She tells her over the comms, "Should have known you'd be here, mommy's girl."

 Turning around a city block sharply, she banks to weave between a set of buildings before rising up, bearing the same two Tonfas, the Norn's form spinning lazily as it bears two Tonfas, whirling at her blitz like.

 DESPAIR SORROW RESIGNATION
 FAILURE FAILURE FAILURE
 ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS

 "Ready to prove what you are ALL OVER again?" As she tries to slash both Tonfas into the frame. That's the same moment that Callisto's funnels slide down over her. The funnel fire causes her to juke away abruptly, dodging and weaving, but it scores some shots across its frame. Minae calling her out on her tactics even as Callisto scores shot after shot. Even as the Banshee raises a hand, and there is a sickening pulse in the air.

 "Oh you're right!" She tells her viciously, even as her funnels all swivel and turns towards her Qubeley. Instead of beamfire though, she sees the hands reaching, writhing, moving towards her. "I need to set an example as the big sis."

 ENVY JEALOUSY POSSESSIVENESS ANGER
 M I N E M I N E M I N E
 THIS TIME THIS TIME THIS TIME THIS TIME

 The Norn like a pouncing lion flies right at her, those Tonfa's outstretched with both hands.And within her mind's eye view, there it is again, that hollow faced child, reaching right at her, replacing the Norn, as she tries to slash her Qubeley apart, one, two, three.

 "How about a hug?"

Puru-1 has changed Boss level to 6
Puru-1 transforms to RX-0 Unicorn Gundam 02 Banshee Norn <Destroy Mode>

KTS: Puru-1 targets Arriety Hearn with Beam Magnum Shot!
KTS: Puru-1 targets Banagher Links with Beam Tonfas and Sabers High-Output Combination!
KTS: Puru-1 Changes attack to Rena Lancaster and Puru Two with Beam Tonfas and Sabers Whirling Blitz.
KTS: Puru-1 has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Arriety Hearn fails to evade Puru-1's Beam Magnum Shot, taking 5760 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.

Banagher affirms the other part of their mission. "Heh," Roux answers, with a tight grin in her voice. "Of course. I guess we couldn't be certain she'd show... but now we've got reality, not just our fears."

Judau speaks to her. Roux snorts, briefly, but answers Judau with gravity: <"I'm not going to take him lightly. Save Elpeo!">

The zone is, indeed, now quite hot. As Banagher seems to reach for the coordinate, he is able to find -- something. Roux can't watch more than out of the corner of her eye -- to lose her focus would be suicidally reckless -- but she can spot the AEUG, and... Haman Karn? Roux's brow knits. She remembers her; she remembers what she did to Judau. Anger, mingled with envy, rises within her, however banked.

There's no reason to be angry at Haman Karn now, after all. She can't hurt anyone else. Not unless... ...but some people aren't as lucky as to come back. If you can call it luck.

And as if that isn't enough - Aumurei, or rather, AKANE SHINJO. Roux exclaims in her cockpit, "Are you shitting me?!" as Akane explains herself, but she has chosen the path of fury, and so her heart stays focused despite a rather significant wobble at this discovery. This *horror*. How safe is that damn house?

But then Char answers her.

"You're not making a great argument," Roux answers him. She doesn't say more about this before the bazooka's barrage comes downwards. 60mm cannons on the Strike Zeta's head rips into screaming life, interrupting perhaps one of the shells but only the abrupt abandonment of the building - a little too slow, as the top two floors detonate and shrapnel and detonative force wash over the Strike Zeta despite her efforts - keeps *her* from being struck and exploded.

Roux finds herself coated in sweat. She can tell her body is coated in sweat. It's a little weird, because it's as if she's slipping outwards. Or perhaps that the Strike Zeta is moving with her. She could have felt - pain? - but she has more to say to Char Aznable:

"I want to live, and I want the miracles! So I guess my only choice is to fight you, isn't it?" And then --

Oh my God, thinks Roux as she brings the Strike Zeta into a strafing motion, moving CLOSER - not into melee range as the Zaku turns its fury towards Full Frontal. Am I really going to do this? But, Roux thinks even as the thigh-mounted beam emitters streak intense megaparticulate at the Zaku II.

I'm doing this, Roux thinks.

"... But you were doing this before any of this Cosmic Law crap, weren't you?" Roux's voice comes off more arch than sympathetic, but, as someone might say, even so. (Roux's eyes meanwhile flick towards the far-off Ah-ri and the much-less-far-off Shelby, but it's a brief, almost reflexive saccading.)

KTS: Roux Louka targets Char Aznable with Thigh Beam Engagement!
KTS: Roux Louka has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Rena Lancaster rushes into the attack!
KTS: Rena Lancaster's Will Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage.
KTS: Puru-1 enervates Rena Lancaster, reducing her Morale significantly.
KTS: Rena Lancaster partially guards Puru-1's Beam Tonfas and Sabers Whirling Blitz, taking 4830 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Puru-1's Hands Meant For Holding activates, causing Deject!
KTS: Puru-1 has engaged Rena Lancaster!
KTS: [Spirit Defense] Puru Two's Whispers of the Newtype Battalion activates, and her spirit is adjusted.
KTS: Puru-1 enervates Puru Two, reducing her Morale significantly.
KTS: Puru Two fails to react to Puru-1's Beam Tonfas and Sabers Whirling Blitz, taking 7540 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Puru-1's Hands Meant For Holding activates, causing Deject!
KTS: Puru-1 has engaged Puru Two!
KTS: Puru-1 completes the Formation attack!

<Pose Tracker> Crossfire Salem has posed.

Garrod's naginata swipes out, for a leg of the Amabilis. It dings it up, but the Psychoframe joints react instantly, and the machine shifts back, beam saber catching and pushing back the naginata.

<"It's not about who initiates the fight. This fight would happen whether I was here or not. It's about preventing any more unnecessary deaths in our crusade.">

It has to be the last one, she tells herself as she replies to Marida, deflecting the blows of the two beam sabers and only taking recoil damage to the arms.

Sadly, deflecting those blows allows Lucine to strike forth and hit, unable to parry in time, and raking her lance across the Amabilis.

<"This is my job. I do what I'm told, unfortunately.">

As she readies the counter-attack, suddenly, Sousuke and the Arbalest come in with the dagger, moving for the neck. However, Crossfire's movements are slightly unpredictable, due to the full-joint free flow of the legs. She slides forward, and instead Sousuke buries his blade into her left shoulder, the knife unable to be parried by the beam saber.

<"Nice ambush! It's the only one you'll get.">

Crossfire secures herself in her seat, and prepares to stop holding back. She needs to take these people out, grab the Unicorn, bring it to the Garuda, and then-

And then she can go focus on saving the people who matter.

The Red Tail is shot with vulcans - which miss intentionally. Diversion for the twin shoulder bazookas to fire a linked shot straight at it, try and blast it down.

The Dianthus is fast. In a blur of movement, the Amabilis dashes forward, striking three times in a predictive manner. Whether they hit accurately or not is irrelevant - they'll spread their damage across the speedy machine.

Dashing at the Arbalest, Garrod's Dijeh, and and the Kshatriya, the Amabilis spins, both blades whirling in the close quarters like a dancer, trying to slice them up. She accounts for size difference, aiming low for the Arbalest.

KTS: Crossfire Salem targets Faye Valentine with Twin Shoulder Bazooka Fire Linked Shot!
KTS: Crossfire Salem targets Lucine Azul with Amabilis Twin Beam Sabers Three-Hit Combo!
KTS: Crossfire Salem has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Crossfire Salem targets Marida Cruz with Amabilis Twin Beam Sabers Spin-Dash!
KTS: Crossfire Salem targets Sousuke Sagara with Amabilis Twin Beam Sabers Spin-Dash!
KTS: Crossfire Salem targets Garrod Ran with Amabilis Twin Beam Sabers Spin-Dash!
KTS: Crossfire Salem has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Garrod Ran parries Crossfire Salem's Amabilis Twin Beam Sabers Spin-Dash, taking 1770 damage!
KTS: Crossfire Salem has engaged Garrod Ran!
KTS: Lucine Azul fails to retreat.
KTS: Lucine Azul fails to react to Crossfire Salem's Amabilis Twin Beam Sabers Three-Hit Combo, taking 7710 damage!
KTS: Crossfire Salem has engaged Lucine Azul!
KTS: Faye Valentine has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Faye Valentine fails to intercept Crossfire Salem's Twin Shoulder Bazooka Fire Linked Shot, taking 5880 damage!
KTS: Marida Cruz has activated the Focus Spirit Command.
KTS: Marida Cruz has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Marida Cruz's Beam Wall L2 activates, negating 2000 base damage.
KTS: Marida Cruz fails to parry Crossfire Salem's Amabilis Twin Beam Sabers Spin-Dash, taking 3780 damage!
KTS: Crossfire Salem has engaged Marida Cruz!
KTS: Banagher Links has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Banagher Links has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Banagher Links has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Puru-1 enervates Banagher Links, reducing his Morale significantly.
KTS: Banagher Links fails to Parry Puru-1's Beam Tonfas and Sabers High-Output Combination, taking 7440 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Puru-1's Hands Meant For Holding activates, causing Deject!
KTS: Puru-1 has engaged Banagher Links!
KTS: Sousuke Sagara has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Sousuke Sagara has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Sousuke Sagara fails to parry Crossfire Salem's Amabilis Twin Beam Sabers Spin-Dash, taking 6180 damage!
KTS: Crossfire Salem has engaged Sousuke Sagara!

<Pose Tracker> Teletha Testarossa has posed.

Notes are mentally made, tapped down in the corners of her mind as DANA outlines and elaborates on what's necessary: Views of the battlefield, views of the ones confirmed to be engaging the forces spewing from the Garuda. Familiar and unfamiliar voices, suits familiar and unfamiliar. Fingers are tapping on the screen in front of her, quickly pushing and fielding directives and delegations to the rest of the bridge.

"Confirmed hits. Two bogeys down." <"We're keeping them dragged along!"> Affirmation after affirmation, the subtle thrums of the submarine as stealth is forgoed for pure movement, each missile pushed into place.

Her beginning vocalization dies down on that new broadcast. There's no hesitation in recognition; Sousuke's own accounts of Tsutsujidai were cross-referenced with what Mithril dug up (within proper reason)...Her? Here? Now? It's cruel. sudden showcases are meant to divert the enemy to throw them off to dull their senses to pull the rug Murasame Labs tickle her brain. Cyber newtypes? Experimentation? The slurry of battle crosses the tracks of her mind.

A click of the button. Open comms. <"If Akane is here, then Treasure Chest can be assumed to be her companion."> It's cruel. It's hideously cruel. <"Do what you must to get them back."> Her tone has flattened the slightest bit.

"Incoming!" "Bearing Three One Five!" The submarine immediately turns, forgoing repetition for speed, to push away from the Jegans's volley...

diversions are used to undercut the enemy

And to fall right into the Ankshas's trap, the alarms immediately blaring as sabers are scored along the surface. "EMERGENCY BLOW!" The resolute order is sounded, the submarine itself booming out with pressure to dissaude those suits. Descending under the water, the Captain taking her braid to brush along her nose, cursing herself. Her ship was hit.

"Fire missiles. Set four torpedoes on timed detonation. Ten seconds. Kano 5, intercept Jegans."
"Aye, ma'am! FIRE MISSILES! TIMED EXPLOSIVE TORPEDOES!"
And the Tuatha de Dannan lobs its firepower to the sky and sea, to lash out at the Ankshas with torpedoes that explode, to have those on-land Jegans shifting to engage at those that lobbied the grenades. Out and out, refusing to bow so easily to one trap.

<Pose Tracker> Treasure Chest has posed.

The Vibro-Nail closes in on the Double Zeta's wing shield. ...But the Double Zeta is strong, and so its pilot. It pushes back against her, and she's forced to let go in order to focus on defence as the enemy Gundam goes on offensive. The Vibro-Nail retracts in favor of shifting its shield arm to the front, intercepting the Hyper Beam Saber's thrust. She lunges for him again with the Vibro-Nail - but this time, rather than go for a grapple, she aims to weaken his defenses. The Vibro-Nail swipes violently toward him.

Gridknight evades the Smartgun's fire, and closes in. The Mu Gundam shifts, and the straight meets the Gundam's shield. But, the Gundam is grasped, and then Gridknight's knee slams into it, sending it reeling back. A question is asked, an answer demanded - but not yet received. The only answer he receives right away is the Vibro-Nail - the claw rushes toward him, to dig in and tear, the Psycho-Frame emitting destructive vibrations.

Aumerei announces herself to the battlefield at large - and privately, to Treasure Chest, she tells her that she's turning up the HADES.

"Thank you. I couldn't do this without you." Treasure Chest replies with another nod. HADES is ramped up, and inside the Mu Gundam... Treasure Chest is seeing red. Figuratively as well as literally - all of the internal screens have turned the same violent shade of red as the Mu Gundam's. The influence of HADES is strong, even at only a little 45%. She breathes in sharply, shuddering. Anger and frustration floods in, and it's only amplified by the sounds of the transmission. It's important. She knows it is. But right now, it's only a distraction. And what's more... She can feel them all now - Puru-1 the most strongly, but there are so many Psycho-Frame reactions happening here.

"I can see everyone. I can feel everyone." Treasure Chest murmurs. She can see-

Her thoughts are interrupted as she gets a warning of impending danger. Once more, the Mu Gundam's head snaps toward Seolla. The clay bazooka fires, and vulcan fire rushes out to meet them. Several of the rounds are destroyed on contact, and the rest burst against the armor, but don't pierce through. Before she can retaliate, Alto attempts to distract her. The Mu Gundam leaps back, shield raised as a volley of gatling fire is unleashed in her direction. Sheryl, meanwhile, opens fire on one of the funnels. Indeed, they're quite sturdy - but she manages to do enough damage to knock one out of the air, if only temporarily.

Now, the Beam Smartgun is pointed in the direction of Seolla and the Variable Fighters. She fires, unleashing a beam of twisting energy in her direction - and then, with a jerk of the Mu Gundam's arm, sends it sweeping through the air. Not toward Alto - but toward Sheryl, as if punishing him for trying to distract her, and her for going after its funnels.

But that doesn't mean she leaves him unattended. Her funnels, minus one, converge on Alto, unleashing a concentrated burst of fire onto his Variable Fighter.

Only now does she answer Knight's question. Who is she?

"I'm... Treasure Chest!" She announces, her communications reaching all present. That's what she says. But her voice is familiar, even if they've never heard it quite like this. "And all of you can do me a favor... and DISAPPEAR!"

KTS: Treasure Chest has activated the Enable Spirit Command.
KTS: Treasure Chest has activated the Attune Spirit Command.
KTS: Treasure Chest targets Judau Ashta with Armed Armor VN - Destroy Armor!
KTS: Treasure Chest targets Knight with Armed Armor VN - Tear!
KTS: Treasure_Chest Changes attack to Seolla Schweizer and Sheryl Nome with Armed Armor BS - Smart Sweep.
KTS: Treasure Chest targets Alto Saotome with Concentrated Fire!
KTS: Teletha Testarossa targets Aumerei with Multi-Missile Barrage!
KTS: Teletha Testarossa has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Treasure Chest has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Knight has activated the Trust Spirit Command.
KTS: Knight parries Treasure Chest's Armed Armor VN - Tear, taking 1620 damage!
KTS: Treasure Chest has engaged Knight!

<Pose Tracker> Faye Valentine has posed.

The broadcast from the ship coordinating this MS attack actually makes Faye pause for a moment, the Red Tail obligingly swaying in mid-air.

"Is that... Orange chicken?"

Faye, she was literally staying in the same house as you. Come on. She has a name. You can remember that much, right?

...Orange chicken it is, then. Which means the Gundam she's 'not' fighting right now is... The girlfriend? Rikka? (Why does she remember that one? Sure, she dropped by sometimes.) There's a lot of names and concepts being thrown around right now, very few of which mean a whole lot to 'her'. But you don't need to know much history to get the right kind of vibe from any given mysterious doctor of the Universal Century, especially the kind that apparently employs teen girls and puts them in combat positions.

Ugh. How come these are never the guys who get bounties? Garden variety, down-on-their-luck lowlifes get fat bounties to save the Federation the hassle of doing the work themselves, but nobody's paying to clean up shit like this.

What a bummer.

She twists around the vulcan fire easily enough, but the lazy roll she uses to do so puts her face to face with the follow-up - autocannons buzz, but the Red Tail still rattles as the missiles detonate a little too close. God, this is 'stupid'! What is she even doing here? She's not a soldier, she should just bail - just cut and run.

But she already opened her big mouth, didn't she? Ugh! Fine!

Two can play at that game, can't they? Missiles drop into place, and blast out of the Red Tail's arms - but in a cute reversal of Crossfire's own play, it's the missiles that are designed to detonate a bit early, a plume of heat and smoke covering a steep attack run with gatlings blazing.

KTS: Faye Valentine targets Crossfire Salem with Gatling Chase!
KTS: Faye Valentine has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Judau Ashta has activated the Wall Spirit Command.
KTS: Judau Ashta parries Treasure Chest's Armed Armor VN - Destroy Armor, taking 4557 damage!
KTS: Treasure Chest has engaged Judau Ashta!

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

"I will!" She assures Eight, that she'll make it out safe. Maybe it says something that even in such a dire situation, she's able to retain that optimism. "I have far too much to go home to, but I'm sure that's true for us all, isn't it?" But it makes the fact that they're fighting within a city feel all the more cruel.

"I... don't know!" Alouette answers when Naoko both realizes the Cosmo Robo's being targeted, and asks why that might be. The data, reaching the terminal, is a huge help in evading the Anksha's assaults. Almost to a perfectly predictive degree... And thanks to Minae's efforts in linking the comms systems temporarily, it's a lot easier to receive, too. "Thank you Nova! Really quick thinking on your part." Seemingly, she mirrors Nova in dropping the formalities.

Nova's question remains in her head, though. Why would they be interested in going after her when there's so many high priority targets out there. The worry in the back of her mind that coming here to Dakar was a trap sinks deeper and deeper.

Sayla seems to take Alouette's words to heart, too. "You're welcome and... I'm glad. Good luck, Doctor Mass." Silently, she's also wishing 3G the best of luck in whatever crisis has hit them, as she grasps her pager in the Operator's seat.

That train of thought is lost, when AKANE's voice appears over the comms, followed by sheer disbelief. "A-Akane?!" It's the first time Alouette actually opened a line to the Garuda for the entire battle, made any attempt to hear out its chain of command. "I didn't want to believe the possibility, but you lured me here, didn't you?" In all likelihood, there was never 'lunch at Dakar', there was never even vacation in the first place.

"I already told you, Akane," she adds, coolly. "Science crime was never a good look for you. And Dr. Murasame, really? That detestable man? Even BioNet hated working with him!" It makes her wonder about her being lured here and targeted by the Ankshas. Does that man want his greasy hands on her?

Treasure... chest? While she's a fluent speaker, Japanese isn't her first language so it takes a moment, until she sharply frowns. "You have Rikka in that Gundam then..." Perhaps Akane wasn't lying when she explained that Rikka was 'asleep'. "I know regressing to old habits when I see it. Akane... I thought you were terrified of your relationship becoming like this."

She can't lose herself to this, though, there's an incoming mega particle cannon blast, and the most she can do is brace for impact, letting the defensive systems handle the work.

It's only a single blast, when she was expecting a barrage... almost like it was a freak accident that wasn't supposed to happen, even if it did some sizeable damage to the frame.

There's one more voice, and it's almost incredibly recognizeable... as if you could hear it any day. There's no way... and she's fighting Rikka, their mutual friend. She wants to warn her, but she also trusts that Sheryl can find a way. She was able to find a way for Akane before, and despite her own words, Alouette refuses to believe that meant nothing.

Continuing to stay on the defensive against the mobile unit, the Cosmo Robo sprouts almost comical looking arms, aiming to grab the onslaught of Ankshas and Jagens and ultimately break free.

If it gets bad enough... there's the Solitary Wave Riser on standby. Best not to prolong the devastation of Dakar for the time being, so it stays an ace up her sleeve.

KTS: Alto Saotome successfully evades Treasure Chest's Concentrated Fire
KTS: Alouette Pommier targets Aumerei with Cosmo Shove!
KTS: Alouette Pommier has completed their actions for the round.

<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.

        Knight will have to rely on Eight -- but that's not difficult. Just as he can rely on: "Rena Lancaster," his voice comes over her radio, though he doesn't have one. (Radios, like phones, are connected to human lives.) "I'm counting on you." It's the same vibe of message he sends to the Arbalest, when he sees Sousuke's unit: "Good. You're here." He doesn't have to tell Sousuke he's counting on him; his mentor already knows that part, and he'd be a terrible student if he repeated known information.

        The history with Char... this world isn't Knight's world. It doesn't hit him as hard as it hits some people, that emergency broadcast. It's connected to his life, but only through other threads. (He's trusting Sayla, too.)

        Nidaime -- who has shrunk down now that Rufisque is more or less in order, following some of the last stragglers to a shelter -- is more bothered, as she hears it. She doesn't discuss it. She'll be busy keeping people's spirits up, in here, where they're protected.

        "That's right! I'm Gridknight!" He declares, to Seolla's excellent deduction. As he speaks, he matches that Vibro-Nail with his hands, bare palms striking the claws away from his heart. He squeezes the nail tightly with his hand; if he were human, his fingers would be crushed to nothing, the bones vibrated away. "Seolla Schweizer... I'll hold you to that!!" He'd hold Alto to it, too, if he was privvy to what he said to Sheryl. Let's just say... he's relying on him in spirit.

        He yells to Sheryl, meanwhile: "This is my business! Butt out!" Deep down, his intent is to keep her from being hurt in a serious battle. That might be a little hard to discern, given... well, he's kind of dick.

        It seems that Judau isn't inclined to help him with the Mu Gundam, but... Knight can't fault him, for that.

        There's a reason he didn't ask for his help, though he's proven that he can.

        But why it was important to him --

        The Garuda opens communications, and Gridknight hears it, too. "AKANE SHINJO!" He roars, and it would be easy to say he is angry. "You can't hide from me--!!"

        But it's the Mu Gundam, all locked in combat with the Double Zeta, who he turns to. "'Treasure Chest' -- fuck that! That's Rikka Takarada! Judau Ashta, you'd better listen to me, you thickheaded prick!" It takes one to know one, but never mind that -- or the way he closes in again, with water-flowing movements.

        "It's Rikka Takarada, in there! There's no one else she'd give that name!" 'Takarada' -- 'many treasures'. Gridknight's brain does work like Akane's, even if he tends to be far more direct in his speech. He charges forward, with a hand-spring and a twirling leap, crossing through the smaller Gundam's space with a kick from above. "Just what are you playing at?! Rikka Takarada!" He screams her name again, in unspoken denial of who she claims she is. "AS IF I'M GOING ANYWHERE!"

KTS: Knight targets Treasure Chest with Gridknight Martial Arts!
KTS: Knight has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Sheryl Nome's EN Barrier activates, negating 1000 base damage.
KTS: Sheryl Nome fails to evade Treasure Chest's Armed Armor BS - Smart Sweep, taking 4420 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.

"Welcome to the fight," Eight says warmly to Rena. "Good luck out there." She worries--she fought the Banshee once, herself--but she knows that Rena knows what she's doing. Chose this, as surely as they all did. So she'll believe in her.

But Akane opens a channel across the band.. and Astelian's eyes widen. "Captain!" he says. "It's--" Eight immediately says, "Onscreen."

Akane's words and smiles do indeed throw her off. Treasure Chest... And--

She doesn't know that much Taraba, actually. But the intent behind it makes her feel.. bad, to say the least. "That's..."

Someone they 'saved', who doesn't want to be 'saved' after all. Was it a trick? Was it--?

This time, the Garuda's weapons hit home. The Ra Mari II is peppered with blasts, explosions rocking the armor of the ship as heavy bombardments, even clustered along the area they are, a significant barrage that puts on a lot of pressure. "Captain," Kazama reports, "Armor is down by 27%. Your orders?"

"We hang in there," Eight answers. "We have more to do." And the Banshee has a lot to say today... Eight quietly hopes for her pilots. Minae indicates she's going to bridge the systems together, and Captain York replies, "Do it. We're on the same side for this battle." There's a lot to 'bring up to Eight', and Eight knows how much work it is. But there's only 'now', for the moment--if they can't get through this battle, those tasks won't matter.

"So we do," Eight says to Alouette. Then, the Ra Mari II begins to shift sideways, to better bring to bear most of its weapons, though it's a telling sign that they don't intend to engage the main cannon--which is either good or bad, depending on your perspective. Not with people down there though, certainly. And then, Kazama is working on the dials and sliders at her console. "Ready, Captain."

"Full broadside on my mark. 3... 2... 1. Mark!" Green beams start cascading down towards the Garuda, the ship firing away freely with all its significant, ancient-and-new firepower, even as more of the RMII's units focus on keeping those Federation and Vist units away from the ship.

She hopes Gridknight can get through to--Rikka? She's in there? "...Do your best, Gridknight."

Eight, for her part, will do the same.

KTS: Eight York has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
KTS: Eight York targets Aumerei with Guided Beam Cannons - Volley Shot!
KTS: Eight York has completed their actions for the round.

<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.

That voice... The voice from Garuda chills her to the bone. "Akane!?" The comms broadcast her voice, clear as day. How could... How could this happen. Akane was supposed to be in Britannia. She was supposed to be coming back with Rikka.

 'I got to keep what was important, anyway.'

 To Sayla, that could only mean one thing. "<Knight... Knight if that's really her...>" It was her. She knew it in her soul. "<Then in that Gundam... Rikka!? Rikka!>"

 No. No no no no no no. This couldn't be happening. "<Heart-2 to Ansuz! Heart-2 to Anzus!>" Sayla's trying to keep it together, but her voice is shaking with despair. "<They have Astral Dragon and Akane. They've done something to them, they have to have. We have to take the Garuda and that Gundam with their pilots alive and safe! Please! Contact the Ra Mari and the other combatants, coordinate with them!>"

 But that distraction cost her plenty, and the only thing that stops any of Char's fire is his own warning, and her funnels erecting an electric shield to protect her from the worst of it. "<Casval!? What do you mean!?>" The laser comm reopens. She can't not focus on him. If she pulls away that means Char is free to attack everyone else. She needs to stick to Tessa's plan-

 The hands grab her, and she feels it. All that rage and sorrow. Ordering her to stay away from him. Even when less of them, they are crowding her, trying to pull at her. She can't... she can't-

 She breaks free and hedges it all on something she's suspected her this whole time. Who the source is. Why she wants her. ""

 Her attention turns back to her brother. Even if she's supposed to not pay attention to him, she doesn't give him much of a choice by firing on her. "<Roux, Shelby, be careful!>" She sees a message coming in, but all she can send Faye in the moment is a simple acknowledgment code. Everything happening now is getting to be too much. So much. "<Damnit, Casval! Can you work with me for once in your life! If you still care anything for me, for Artesia... then help me! Help me save them!>"

 It's a hopeless cry, and it's nothing that will break the cosmic will. But right now...

 Right now the fear of what's happened to Akane and Rikka is sending her back to the feelings of that little girl whose big brother abandoned her when she needed him most- and now that he's back in her life, won't listen to a word she has to say.

 But if he really was moving backwards.... maybe she could still reach the person he was.

KTS: Seolla Schweizer has activated the Focus Spirit Command.
KTS: Seolla Schweizer fails to evade Treasure Chest's Armed Armor BS - Smart Sweep, taking 5720 damage!
KTS: Sayla Mass targets Knight, Roux Louka, and Shelby Korts with Caution.
KTS: Sayla Mass has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Sayla Mass suggests caution, raising Roux Louka's Intuition!
KTS: Faye Valentine rattles Crossfire Salem, making her next maneuvers more difficult.
KTS: Crossfire Salem blocks Faye Valentine's Gatling Chase, taking 3520 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.

Nova smiles at the positive response she gets from Alouette. "You're welcome! But watch yourself, okay?"

It's not the best time to have a longer conversation than that. Nova is trying to do a lot of things at once right now, and while she's a good multitasker, she's more used to doing so from the comfort of a workstation. Doing it while piloting is another matter entirely, as is predicting absolutely everything that may happen. Sometimes you forget the obvious things. For instance, she somehow failed to predict that aggressively swinging her fists into a crowd of mobile suits would prompt them to team up on her. For every Anksha attack she manages to parry with the superheated edges of the Sukeban's hands, a Jegan tries to take advantage. The best she can do is try to keep the damage down to nicks rather than clean cuts, until she can find an opening to escape her bad position.

"Guh! D-damn it! Got to... got to do better...!"

With this development, Nova's objective has changed completely. This is no longer about escorting the Unicorn (she wasn't on the escort team anyway), nor about supporting the defense team (she's kind of charged ahead a bit too far for that). She said she would support Alouette, and it becoming clear that actual personal support is required... well, that just makes it seem like she made an objectively correct decision, and it needs to be her priority from here on out. Once she finds a short window, she radios back to the Ra Mari II.

"Nova Stellar here - this pilot, Alouette Pommier, she's being targetted specifically. I don't know why, but I'll do my best to support!"

Approximately one second later, Akane sends her broadcast in turn, and Nova... well, she can only stare at that. Not much to flinch at for her, she has no idea who this is. For once, being out of the loop has an advantage. She can't even really reply to any of that. So therefore replies anyway.

"You sound like the villain of a magical girl anime! Sorry - not a magical girl, but if these are your goons I'm happy to beat them up all the same!" Off mic, she adds a shout of, "Kanabou!" Which... doesn't summon her club in a cool way or anything, it's just what she says before having the Sukuban take the massive spiked weapon off its back. And then... "Time for some shock therapy!" With that, the Sukeban swings its two-handed melee weapon, discharging electricity in time with the swing to deliver punishment upon armor and inner workings simultaneously.

KTS: Naoko Suzuki has activated the Rouse Spirit Command.
KTS: Arriety Hearn has activated the Trick Spirit Command.
KTS: Arriety Hearn has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Naoko Suzuki targets Aumerei with Electro-zap!
KTS: Naoko Suzuki has completed their actions for the round.

<Pose Tracker> Arriety Hearn has posed.

        There's a giant woman (Nidaime) flashing Arriety a V-sign! Arriety looks so startled for a moment that the Zeta gives her a V-sign in turn. That's definitely not something she's seen before. Ultras, yes, Meltrandi, yes, but... she doesn't think Nidaime is a Meltrandi... at least, she doesn't think so. She can't be sure.

        Gridknight, however, reaches out to her. "... it's you," she whispers quietly, not aware she's setting herself up for an 'it's me!'. But perhaps now's not the time. Her eyes narrow in turn. "Yeah. That's the plan. Don't worry... I'm not so broken I can't save another soul." Can she save someone else, when she can't even save herself? She has to believe that. That's always been the way she's believed.

        It's maybe the only thing left she can believe in, saving others. 'Charity starts at home' is just a cheap excuse.

        She pauses, in hesitation, then hits the comms for the Ra Mari II. "I'll be okay, Eight, Rezza. Trying to figure out the Banshee. Let me know if you feel anything." The telltale sensation of the Psychoframe brings the Gaia Gear Alpha to the fore, as it cuts through the Ankshas and Jegans. Arriety remarks in tandem, "Glad you could make it, Rena."

        Callisto warns her that she's fighting with illusions as much as other weapons; she breathes out and murmurs, "Y-yeah... just trying to keep her off-balanced." It sounds so damn fake and unconvincing. She's the one who's off-balance. What's she doing here today?

        Aumerei -- Akane -- erupts on the comms, and true to form, despite Callisto and Minae's warnings, she's disarmed as she angrily shouts in turn: "You SUCK!! We haven't even dealt with this first one and you're already rolling out more mindfucked kids?? Also: hope the girl doesn't get fridged in that setup, much like Murasame does to their kids!"

        The taunt screws her long enough that the Beam Magnum just rips a whole-ass hole through the Zeta's wing binder, shredding white and magenta plates of Gundarium armour in one go with the low, ominous 'fwhooom'.

        Emptiness. Desolation. Loneliness. Despair.

        "I feel it. I feel it!" Arriety shouts in turn, directly equating her lack of progress in this battle with her self-worth. There's a gaping hole where a fictitious Normal Person that Arriety's constructed in her head has hopes and dreams and emotions and joy and wonder. "I told you last time that I feel just the same way... I couldn't have known just how much I feel it!"

        Here she is on the absolute zenith of her manic-depressive pendulum, where 'manic' manifests in the form of uncontrolled anger. Anger is a drug too. It's a really good one. A lot of people die to their anger, losing their cool, losing their control, losing sight of what they need to do.

        Arriety thinks she has it better. (She doesn't.) What she does get to do with that anger, though, is shoot it straight into her very core--

        "I'll end it..."

        --and watch, out-of-body-experience-like, as the Crimson Seed within her mind's eye explodes, rippling upon the shallow refractive pool of her unconsciousness. It's that time again, Minae: it's Shrunken Pupils o' Clock.

        It's also time for Expanded Consciousness, as Arriety exudes herself towards Puru-1. There's damage there, just as much as her. Her psyche sustains a dozen major hairlines and hundreds lesser, fractured by the Biosensor that no longer exists in the Zeta.

        There's loneliness amidst loved ones, and the immense, inconsolable guilt that comes from feeling that way.

        There's emptiness amidst family, and the addicting temptation to compare herself against fictitious versions of other people, in her mind, again and again. How perfect they are. How sweet, and full of life.

        There's desolation and despair. No matter how many kind, sweet words she says....... This isn't anime; she doesn't just learn her lesson and become a better person, she constantly backslides in the way anime characters never do. And with each backslide, it makes every high moment, every grand promise, every meaningful word she's ever said feel absolutely worthless. It smatters them with shame, every time Minae has to patiently tell her it's okay.

        Two are hollow inside here. Hollow inside, but burning outside--

        --since the Zeta starts gunning after the Banshee again; several beam rifle shots come into play to distract, followed by timed-delay grenades that explode prematurely and smokescreen her approach. By the time she's coming out of her own smoke clouds, her vulcans are firing, another distraction for the true strike:

        The Zeta's right arm, shrouded in psychic fire, as Arriety opts to fight with the Hyper Beam Saber again. It's empty, meaningless anger, manifest into meaningless violence shrunk into one expanded e-pac, aimed at the Beam Magnum arm for a Dangerous Impale.

        "I'll END IT!! HERE! TODAY!"

        (She really should listen to Minae more, when she advised her it's okay even if they don't get through today.)

KTS: Arriety Hearn targets Puru-1 with SEED Coordinated Assault!
KTS: Arriety Hearn has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Aumerei partially guards Teletha Testarossa's Multi-Missile Barrage, taking 3610 damage!
KTS: Aumerei partially guards Alouette Pommier's Cosmo Shove, taking 2050 damage!
KTS: Alouette Pommier repulses Aumerei, forcing her to disengage.
KTS: Christina MacKenzie rushes into the attack!
KTS: Christina MacKenzie's Beam Wall L2 activates, negating 2000 base damage.
KTS: Christina MacKenzie partially guards Aumerei's Anksha Beam Barrage, taking 1210 damage!
KTS: Aumerei begins a Formation attack!
KTS: Aumerei partially guards Eight York's Guided Beam Cannons - Volley Shot, taking 2340 damage!
KTS: Naoko Suzuki rattles Aumerei, making her next maneuvers more difficult.
KTS: Aumerei fails to Parry Naoko Suzuki's Electro-zap, taking 4050 damage!
KTS: Naoko Suzuki has engaged Aumerei!
KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Alert Spirit Command.
KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Alert Spirit Command.
KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Alert Spirit Command.
KTS: Puru-1 fails to Evade Arriety Hearn's SEED Coordinated Assault, taking 5640 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Arriety Hearn's SEED activates, causing Insight L1!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Arriety Hearn's SEED activates, causing Jam L1!

<Pose Tracker> Marida Cruz has posed.

Marida likewise fails to parry the Amabilis' own saber attack. She's letting herself get distracted by Puru on the open band. She supposed nobody liked hearing their own voice played back to them. Shut it out. Shut it out. Trust in Banagher.

The Kshatriya's wings stretch open again, even more beam sabers dropping into smaller arms along the sides, surrounding the suit with green energy. "Then I suppose I should take your advice and end this before anyone else gets hurt!" The massive unit boosts forward, holding out the multiple sabers and spinning around to hit the Amabilis in a tornado of blades.

KTS: Marida Cruz targets Crossfire Salem with Beam Saber Corkscrew Drive!
KTS: Marida Cruz has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Crossfire Salem rushes into the attack!
KTS: Crossfire Salem successfully avoids Marida Cruz's Beam Saber Corkscrew Drive

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

<"With all of us together!"> Banagher calls back to Eight, as the Unicorn rockets toward her sister. <"We can make Miracles! We've done it before! There's no way we'll fail!">

If the combined hearts of his companions was enough to lift a ship out of the atmosphere to space, it must be enough to save one pilot. Banagher's soul shines with his belief in Possibility, translating to the Unicorn glowing ever-brighter in its verdant glory.

Rena arrives in a fireball, and Banagher startles, before his instruments identify her. <"Rena!"> He almost laughs at the sheer dramatic energy of her entrance, half-amazed and half-shocked. <"I'm glad to have you here! We've got this -- I know it!">

<"I'm glad they're safe. They can keep Haro company."> Banagher replies to Chris. <"We've got too much waiting for us. Too much I'm willing to fight for, and I know you're with me!"

The closer they get to the Banshee, the worse Audrey feels. Banagher senses it as if it was his own emotions. "Hang on, Audrey, it won't be too long. I know it's bad." Banagher's a little more used to the Banshee's psychic malice from their repeated battles. "We've already got the Coordinate."

Char laughs. Banagher grits his teeth at the sound, not taking his eyes from the Banshee. No matter how world-weary the Red Comet presents himself as, Banagher can't forget the way Char helped try to save the Banshee at Seattle. <"I know you don't really believe that."> The young Gundam pilot says to him, voice soft. <"I know you still care. As if--"> Banagher is cut off as the Unicorn collides with her sister. <"As if the Red Comet is weak enough to get his heart overwritten by some orange daylight!">

Just as the light within the Unicorn and Banagher's soul begin to find true harmony, turning her glow from green to something more miraculous -- a broadcast cuts into the Unicorn. A familiar face appears on his display, clear for both Banagher and Audrey to see.

<"Akane..?">

Shock and horror rend into his heart, tearing him out of harmony with his Gundam. <"No way. No way, I don't --"> He grits his teeth. <"They must've done whatever they did to the Banshee's pilot to Akane and Rikka! We've got to save them!">

It's the only explanation. Snippets of memory flit across Banagher's mind. Mini-Haros and cherry blossoms. Crepes and mochi. The girls he met... There's no way they'd do this willingly.

<"AKANE! RIKKA!"> Banagher yells, the Unicorn unwisely turning from her sister. <"We're coming for--!">

The Banshee wails. Banagher screams in response, covering his ears. It cuts down to the very core of his heart, shattering his willpower and leaving him stunned. Sweat beads on his forehead, and his head lolls forward, struck half-conscious.

As though it were nothing more than an annoyance, the Banshee bats away the Unicorn's beam saber. The white Gundam staggers, helpless before her sister's raised weapons.

In his nearly sleeping state, Banagher is struck by a flash of Newtype awareness. Something bad -- something terrible, toward someone important--.

Time stills as the Banshee brings down her Tonfas. Banagher straightens in his seat, golden eyes gleaming with a miraculous green sheen.

A hand is reached out. Far below on the street, the Unicorn's shield raises into the air, rocketing away. Despite the pockmarks and cracks from the Banshee's explosives, the shield forces itself between Char and Full Frontal in the half-second before the Red Comet would slay his ghost.

CRACK

Split soundly in half, the Unicorn's shield crashes into the Sinanju and falls again to Earth. Green psychoframe flickers out. Banagher blinks in shock. What? Why-- of all people, him?

<"Full Frontal--"> Banagher shouts. <"Don't take up my attention in the middle of a battle, you piece of--!">

Whatever Banagher was about to call his hated foe is lost in an explosion of beam Tonfa on beam saber as the Banshee carves away at the Unicorn. Banagher screams Audrey's name, throwing his arm in front of her, as if he could shield her from the blow with his strength alone.

<"You sound -- different."> Banagher manages to keep the Unicorn on her feet, but only just. A horrible cut exposes much of the Gundam's Psychoframe, nearly shearing away her armor to leave the cockpit exposed. <"This isn't you. What have they done to you, miss Pilot?">

Shaking his head against the encroaching despair and pain of the Banshee's NT-D, Banagher's eyes blaze with fury. <"I'm not letting this stand. No matter what you do. This ends today!">

Despite her terrible state, the Unicorn shines all the more brightly, radiance bathing the surrounding cityscape in light brighter than the sun above. Starlight glimmers around her.

<"I'll keep falling for it! Every time!"> Banagher vows. <"I'll never give up on you! We're going home together!">

Banagher breathes in. The light of his Psychoframe extends beyond the Unicorn, carried on the breath of the stars, pressing against the Banshee. Psychic pressure rolls from her in waves, intimidating and oppressive despite Banagher's pure intentions.

<"UNICORN!">

Four sabers ignite. Though the Banshee cut through her chest, the Gundam still has four good limbs, and she charges her sister again, raising her weapons. Light of green and magenta melds and harmonizes, swirling around the Banshee like a newborn nebula.

As it has before, Banagher's spirit manifests outside the Unicorn, perhaps invisible to all but the Banshee's pilot. He attempts to force his way into her cockpit, reaching out toward the woman piloting the Lion.

Take my hand! I'll never stop asking! I'm not going anywhere!

KTS: Banagher Links targets Puru-1 with Four-Saber Combo!
KTS: Banagher Links has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Banagher Links has activated the Resupply Spirit Command targeting Full Frontal

<Pose Tracker> Shelby Korts has posed.

Maybe it was her exposure to the Void, the inverted miracle of mind and space, but Shelby still feels a little bit raw; the scrape of psychic energies and power and the presence of the man in front of him all together-- a nerve that should not be touched, dragged across with rough sandpaper. The more fiercely the psychoframes burn, the more it causes her to clamp up tighter, try to focus even through the raw telepathic input-- the voices that she absolutely cannot shut out.

 Maybe that's why she reacts a bit slower, too -- though she gets her shield in position and her thrusters flare to try to push her back, the barrage of explosive shots impacts against her shield and all around her, biting and tearing into the Jagd Doga while Shelby spins out and struggles to maintain control; the Mobile Suit pitching down with one leg hitting a knee to try to keep it steady in the midst of the fire.

 'Roux, Shelby, be careful!'
 "<Y-Yeah,>" the young woman replies, her Mobile Suit's verniers again firing in the course of getting her footing again.

 Finally, as the beam gatling is hefted, Shelby stands her ground -- allows the barrels to spin up as she continues to target the machine's legs. She's ... angry. It's a feeling that bubbles up now and then, like anyone, but there's something more palpable-- something more personal. "<We believed in you once, and you lied to us.>"

 A flicker of a memory -- of shimmering, scintillating light. The moment that her heart let go of hate-- but anger? Anger's a good tool.

 "<Fuck your Cosmic Law!!>"

 And then the gun blazes, a sustained and fierce barrage of beam fire chattering through the air-- shots that try to shred the machine's legs further, allowing the drift and shake of the weapon to start pulling the shots upward while trying to deal as much damage as possible in the volley!

KTS: Arriety Hearn has activated the Trick Spirit Command.
KTS: Shelby Korts has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Shelby Korts targets Char Aznable with Beam Gatling Gun Constant Barrage!
KTS: Shelby Korts has completed their actions for the round.

<Pose Tracker> Garrod Ran has posed.

"'Crusade,' huh?" Garrod pronounces the first word like it tastes unspeakably horrible in his mouth, and he has some old memories which give him a strong reference for things that taste really bad. "You know you can avoid those casualties by giving it up, right?"

Then Aumerei opens her comms to a wide broadcast, and if Garrod had been drinking anything (instead of, y'know, fighting for his life), he would have done a textbook spittake. "AKANE?!?!?" he yells at his comm, and at the image of Tsutsujidai's old resident troublemaker. "What in blue blazes are you --"

She keeps talking; maybe she didn't hear his outburst. Garrod isn't sure who 'Treasure Chest' is, but he guesses she's also from Tsutsujidai, and there were only so many people in Tsutsujidai who could pilot anything worthwhile - and only one of those was a female around Akane's age. That's about as far as Garrod's able to analyze on his own, but he does come away with one certainty: however many machines they need to disable, keeping the enemy pilots alive is vastly more important than it already was.

Which, as a general rule, suits Garrod just fine.

He has more immediate problems - and a new ally joins the fight at about that moment. "Uruz-7, glad to see ya," Garrod greets Sousuke on the Shuffles' operational channel - just before Crossfire Salem comes in with her beam sabers; Garrod manages to repel more of the assault this time than before, but "more" isn't "all" and the Dijeh winds up with more armor missing. There's a moment of wry relief in Garrod's head that it isn't Kid who's going to be mad at him for coming back with a damaged mobile suit ... but he's not sure who *will* be in charge of repairing the Dijeh, so being relieved is probably not smart.

Besides, he still has to do his part to try and *win* this fight, no matter who else is on his side in this part of it. With that in mind, Garrod keeps up the pressure from his side, beam naginata spinning and slashing as he pursues the Amabilis. If his opponent wants to focus on close combat, he might as well oblige her for a bit longer ...

KTS: Garrod Ran has activated the Strike Spirit Command.

<Pose Tracker> Sousuke Sagara has posed.

<<Apologies for the delay. Door guards,>> AL supplies, mostly to Gridknight.

For both the young man and the yonger machine that comprise Arbalest, communication at distance means radio. A channel appears on Sousuke's radio tracker. The frequency is encoded letters only AL could read.

Sousuke lets AL handle that interaction, because he's busy trying to parry a beam saber with a knife. It...almost, works? It almost works. But the beam overflows the tiny weapon by sheer scale, and scores a solid slash against Arbalest, sending the smaller machine flying with serious burn marks across the armor.

...which is when Akane Shinjo transmits.

"Akane Shinjo," Sousuke breathes. His own relationship with the girl was... ...remote. But they fought hard to save her. Did she relapse? But that's...

<<It is likely the opposing forces here have kidnapped and compromised Akane Shinjo. Based on available context,>> such as everybody shouting about it on open channels, <>

Sousuke sucks in a deep breath, something he doesn't understand in his stomach. Compromise. Betrayal. He's endured it before. Been stabbed in the back and left to rot. But that's not what this is. That's not what they're saying. Rikka was...just a girl. She ran support, sometimes, she was just a girl who helped people because they needed to be helped. She's not talking like a person converted to fanatics. She's talking like they destroyed her.

Seolla, terrified of her own communicator.

Acts like this...they're not natural. They don't belong in this world. He--

<<Sergeant,>> AL interrupts, noticing Sousuke's heartrate before the man himself does.

'Do what you must to get them back,' is the instruction AL does not relay to Sousuke.

<<Is this not an occasion for 'rescue'?>>

Sousuke didn't realize his eyes were squeezing shut until they snap open. The Arbalest's shoulders slide open, radiator fins unfurling from within the pauldron-like armor, and out of the back. And then a pulsing blue-white field of light erupts out of Arbalest, and its green eyes flash.

Sousuke locks on Crossfire. He can't get to Rikka from here. But.

The tension in his gut demands he must push through. He rips the Shotcannon from the Arbalest's back and snaps it into firing position.

"You're in the way," Sousuke says, with the calm of a killer, and fires a bolt of light that obliterates whatever it touches.
Sousuke Sagara transforms to ARX-7 Arbalest - Lambda Driver Online

<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.

"Yeah... I know, Minae. But she didn't talk much before," Rena responds. "So... maybe it means something's changing. Maybe we'll get through."

She hopes so, at least.

Because it stings when Puru-1 calls her by her old name and brings out the specter of her mother. She tenses, her fingers squeezing tighter on the controls, and the missiles she fired explode out behind her.

"That used to be my name," she says. "My mother... she hurt people like they hurt you. So I'm going to try to bring you back... so you can live your own life!"

The Banshee Norn comes flying in, beam tonfas raised -- and the Gaia Gear Alpha's feet unfold, nose cone slamming down, and arms tear free. One, mid-transformation, rips out a beam saber. The golden blade of light explodes to life, the tonfa and beam saber colliding.

The other tonfa cuts into the left side, the near-miss leaving a gash of molten silver across it. Warnings flash across the panoramic cockpit display, cascading across each other, before they fade out.

Her eyes widen, though, when she hears a voice. A familiar one; one she didn't expect to hear, here. "Sheryl--!?" she says, with a stare. Then, she shakes her head.

No, focus.

"Thanks, Arriety," Rena answers. Her teeth clench, when Akane Shinjo speaks -- and reveals what must be happening here. It gives her an idea of what happened to Puru-1, too.

"Yeah, Banagher--we can do this!" Rena answers him. "We'll help them! All of them!"

Her eyes turn back to the Banshee Norn.

"If you want to see who I really am," Rena answers Puru-1, "then I'll show you!"

The Gaia Gear Alpha surges forward, as the Norn pounces from her and towards the Qubeley. The beam saber in the right hand sweeps out, held to the side, as the wing binders fire their thrusters. The beam saber slashes across the side of the Banshee, before the white Mobile Suit rockets past.

It does a pivot as it does, foot smashing through the lower level of a parking garage. Concrete, dust, and shattered glass explode out after it, before it tears past and in front of the Banshee.

The Gaia Gear Alpha grips the beam saber in both hands.

"Don't talk down to her," Rena says. "You might be her big sister. And maybe she calls herself Puru-2 now... but she's also Callisto Diane. The same girl who looked after me, Eight, Annie, and Arriety! We can become someone other than who we used to be!"

The beam saber flares, a brilliant flash of gold that reflects across the polished white armor. "Something you're going to learn!"

KTS: Rena Lancaster targets Puru-1 with Beam Saber Cleave!
KTS: Rena Lancaster has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Garrod Ran targets Crossfire Salem with Dijeh SE-R Beam Naginata Double Slash!
KTS: Garrod Ran has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Sousuke Sagara: Will Barrier Activates.
KTS: Sousuke Sagara targets Crossfire Salem with Lambda Shotcannon Strike True!
KTS: Sousuke Sagara has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Puru-1 parries Banagher Links's Four-Saber Combo, taking 1380 damage!
KTS: Banagher Links has engaged Puru-1!
KTS: Sousuke Sagara has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
KTS: Puru-1 parries Rena Lancaster's Beam Saber Cleave, taking 1350 damage!
KTS: Rena Lancaster has engaged Puru-1!
KTS: Crossfire Salem parries Garrod Ran's Dijeh SE-R Beam Naginata Double Slash, taking 1410 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Garrod Ran's Precision Attacker activates, causing Nullify!
KTS: Garrod Ran has engaged Crossfire Salem!
KTS: Crossfire Salem has activated the Wall Spirit Command.
KTS: Crossfire Salem has activated the Wall Spirit Command.
KTS: Crossfire Salem has activated the Wall Spirit Command.
KTS: Crossfire Salem successfully Evades Sousuke Sagara's Lambda Shotcannon Strike True

<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.

As Alto is trying to draw the Mu Gundam's attention, he's hearing a lot of chatter through his radio. Soon enough, one name is being speaking frequently. Akane Shinjo. A name Alto has heard. He can even recall the appearance of the girl, though he's not interacted directly with her. Why is this happening? Why her? Why this attack? Why here? Why are he and Sheryl caught up in it!?

 The Mu Gundam's beam shots sweep out towards Sheryl's VF. Alto cries out in concern, <"Sheryl!"> He tries to raise his altitude to get closer to her. But he has his own problems to worry about as the funnels descend on him. As beam shots start to fire on him from multiple directions in even greater numbers than before, Alto grits his teeth, pulling his flight stack back and jamming it down.

 The VF-25F Messiah briefly separates into multiple parts, before electromagnetic forces rearrange its shape into its half-fighter half-humanoid GERWALK mode. Recombining, the machine starts to dance through the air, rolling around beam shots as its legs rapidly reposition, the thrust firing out of its feet to rapidly adjust its path between the funnels.

 The sky and the city rapidly move into and out of view from his fighter's cockpit as Alto rapidly maneuvers between the remote weapons. As he does so, he glance in their direction. The cockpit's sensors register the movements of his eyes, assigning missile locks to each of the funnels as they dart around him.

 Getting a lock on the final funnel assaulting him, Alto presses a trigger. Several missile ports built into the additional parts attached to the Messiah unleash their payload. A barrage of micro-missiles blossom out from the half-fighter, splitting up and tracking all of the funnels assaulting Alto. Then exploding once they get close enough.

 Guiding his VF around a couple of the explosions, Alto calls out to the Mu Gundam's pilot, <"What are you even trying to accomplish here!?">

KTS: Alto Saotome has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Alto Saotome has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Alto Saotome targets Treasure Chest with CIMM-3A Micro-missile Launchers Multi-directional Assault!
KTS: Alto Saotome has completed their actions for the round.

<Pose Tracker> Mineva Lao Zabi has posed.

A video window opens for her and Banagher to see... the face of Akane Shinjo. Their friend.

Her eyes go wide, and her heart sinks. "No..."

Treasure Chest. If Akane's here, does that mean--

She tries to sort through the cacophony in her psychic sense, searching for a flash of familiarity she felt earlier.

The shriek from the Banshee stops her cold, her hands moving to clutch her head, wincing in pain. She looks up again as Puru-1 yells back at them. "A trap..." she murmurs.

"Banagher--"

An open comm from Treasure Chest interrupts her, and confirms what she was thinking. "No... that's Rikka...! Akane and Rikka..."

It's all crumbling again. Her friends... people she thought she could trust...

No... she has to be stronger than this. For Banagher. For Leina. For Puru-1.

For Akane and Rikka. She reminds herself of who they're fighting... This can't be them. This can't be who they really are.

The tonfas come down on them, and she screams as the Banshee carves away at its sister, her head smacking against her seat *hard*. Thank God for padded helmets...

They can't give up. If they give in, it's over. She grabs Banagher's hand again, holding it tight, pouring herself into him. She's here to be his strength... there's no time to object, no time to come up with something else. Just... trust him...

And don't give up.

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

The gambit worked-- even if 'advanced Newtype technology' could be something Lucine was pulling up on the fly, it gets the message across: 'this is a shitty situation'.

 That's Sheryl's voice, on the comms. That's _Sheryl_.

 Lucine's disbelief can be heard in her next transmission, even if she tries to disguise it for their sake. < "... It's someone wearing the name. But assume he is who he says he is on the battlefield." > Lucine's response may be vague enough, but she's also not sure how to explain Char's entire situation, or even if she understands it.

 The transmission breaks, Lucine gasping as a new face arrives from the ones already gathered. It's like this unit is a soldier! A soldier, like _Sousuke_, though Lucine is unaware of that.

 Lucine's Dianthus had the advantage of some leeway when it came to evasion before, but now, there's none of that. Even if Lucine tries to retreat backwards in the air, the Dianthus's nonviable legs clip against a car, throwing the pilot off just enough for the Amabilis's attacks to all land.

 "Gh!" Lucine's cockpit shakes; another one of those and she might have to retreat.

 She attempts to open a line to the others caught on this side of the battlefield-- namely, Garrod, Faye, Marida, and Sousuke. < "They're hitting hard. Another hit like that and I'll have to retreat, but I intend to do all I can until then-- wait, Akane...? She's one of the attackers?!" > Lucine's gold eyes blink in confusion, AL's offered explanation for her and Rikka subduing her a little. < ".... That's terrible.... maybe it's the fault of triple zero?" >

 The Dianthus raises its glaive high and downwards in a smooth, savage strike. < ".... This is getting more complicated than I thought..." >

KTS: Lucine Azul targets Crossfire Salem with CL0-V3 Glaive Shine!
KTS: Lucine Azul has completed their actions for the round.

<Pose Tracker> Christina MacKenzie has posed.

<"Sayla! Sayla..."> Last night's memories are hazy, overlapping, superimposed, yet still crystal clear. The panic and shame caught in her throat. <"I'm protecting Banagher,"> she says, more curtly than she meant to.

 She doesn't quite realize that Sayla's incredible perceptivity has already caught her up to what Leina had already called her on, yet she feels seen through all the same.
 <"Char--that is, ah, your br...--nevermind. It doesn't matter. Just be careful. People need you.">

 Chris grits her teeth and focuses back on the battle. She's forged ahead far enough that she can't sustain split attention for long. The sturdier suits have been thinned, yes, but the more maneuverable ones are zipping around wildly. Certainly, the Tristan's vectored funnels--and its helios drive adds a dynamic advantage to his agility, but this many, this fast, it's beginning to exceed her instincts' reaction speed. Still, she can match a force of this level!

 That's when the comm call rings out.

 'Hi~'

 <"Wh...what."> What is this what is this whatisthiswhATISTHIS? <"I just texted...no!"> She's battered by the Akashas as her movements falter. She's stopped slashing, and is mostly just flicking the stick back and forth to avoid being pummeled too hard.

 'Murasame was pretty persuasive...' 'I got to keep what was important...' 'It's a Taraba staple.'

 And yet...

 "It's...Spike's own way of being a Taraba... given nothing, nobody... he doesn't have any power outside kaiju."

 <"Akane."> It's cool. An iced-over calm? No, it's the cool touch of lead around a ballistic autocannon shell.

 <"I see. If you needed picked up, you should have called me sooner. I'll be right there.">

 <"I'LL COME GET YOU RIGHT NOW!!">

 The Tristan, Incoms deployed in an octohedron around her to buffer the energy assault, breaks out of its own barrier and bashes the Akashas aside, weaving around some and just plain tackling others. The battering weaponry is hard, the G-forces are harder, and the Chobham impacts of the raging, glimmering Gundam are more so.

 But the hardest thing would be walking away from this.

KTS: Crossfire Salem fails to rush.
KTS: Crossfire Salem partially guards Lucine Azul's CL0-V3 Glaive Shine, taking 2385 damage!
KTS: Lucine Azul has engaged Crossfire Salem!
KTS: Mineva Lao Zabi has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Banagher Links
KTS: Mineva Lao Zabi has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Banagher Links
KTS: Mineva Lao Zabi has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Banagher Links
KTS: Christina MacKenzie has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.

<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.

So wrapped up in just trying to survive and get out of this battlefield, Sheryl doesn't register Akane's message at first. She hears her voice, but she doesn't hear the words, and she's so caught up in the moment that it takes her a moment to realize that she shouldn't be hearing Akane's voice at all. But then the pilot of the Mu Gundam responds, and Sheryl recogizes that voice instantly as one that REALLY doesn't belong.

 "Rikka...?!" she utters, wide-eyed. To her, this makes no sense. Akane and Rikka were just starting to date--had just had a prom--and now, all of a sudden, they're doing... whatever this is?

 She doesn't understand. But she can understand that energy beam that scores across her plane, only narrowly avoiding bisecting it thanks to an automatic energy shield she didn't even know she had. She spirals off course from her attempted rise, smoke rising from her Variable Fighter as she jerks sharply to one side and scrapes the buildings of Dakar in the process.

 She pants in fear and stress. Gridknight tells her it is his business and she should butt out. It's evidence of how frazzled she is that she doesn't respond. She doesn't even respond to Alto's concerned shout, though she certainly hears it. She only speaks when he bears the brunt of the Mu Gundam's wrath next. "<Alto!>" gasps--though relief floods her when she sees he at least is okay, weaving between the funnel fire with that same beautiful ease. As if he were the one to worry about in this situation. Still, it's all she can manage to stay in the air--but as far as Gridknight is concerned, she does see and hear him scream that this is RIKKA RIKKA RIKKA, confirming what her ears already know.

 She should butt out. She should absolutely leave this to professionals like him and Alto--like Judau and Seolla, who she doesn't know, but who clearly know what they're doing and are doing way better than she possibly can right now.

 But now it's personal.

 "<Rikka, it's me! Sheryl! What are you and Akane doing?!>" she demands, shaking now with not just fear but anger as she transmits over the comms. "<Neither of you should be doing anything like this! This is ridiculous! Tell me what's going on, right now!!>"

 She won't attack again this time, a little too emotionally involved to manage that and try to maneuver around the funnels for an escape at the same time. To some, it might be obvious that they've been altered mentally, but she hasn't been involved in any of that--she doesn't know about all that. She and Alto just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Even so, just hearing Sheryl's voice crack like a whip here, in this place, might have an effect on 'Treasure Chest.'

 But then again, maybe not. Just how far gone is she now?

KTS: Sheryl Nome targets Treasure Chest with Shock!
KTS: Sheryl Nome has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Christina MacKenzie targets Aumerei with Blitz Vector - Pressure !
KTS: Christina MacKenzie has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Aumerei retreats from the attack!
KTS: Christina MacKenzie rattles Aumerei, making her next maneuvers more difficult.
KTS: Aumerei fails to react to Christina MacKenzie's Blitz Vector - Pressure , taking 1875 damage!
KTS: Christina MacKenzie begins a Formation attack!

<Pose Tracker> Full Frontal has posed.

Full Frontal's helmet reels back from the sheer force of the Zaku's assault. Half a shield goes flying into the Sinanju as it's sent rocketing backwards from the Red Comet's strike. Truly, the spectacle of Triple O was something to behold, turning an antique into a lethal foe. One whose power rivaled...no, perhaps even surpassed the Sinanju's own considerable specifications. Even so, the Ghost remains unfazed, despite the severe damage to the Sinanju.

The shield was cleaved in twain, though at least one of the attached emitters still functioned...and perhaps ironically, the blow had carved a gouge into the proud filigree emblazoned on the Sinanju's chest. There should have been more damage from a blow as powerful as that, normally. However, normal circumstances don't take into account outside assistance.

Particularly from an foolishly idealistic boy.

Full Frontal opens a comms line. "Do not think I will thank you for this, boy. Especially not after what you've subjected my mind to through this accursed link. However..." The Ghost of Char drums his fingers against the console, much like a certain other Char clone. "...There are more pressing matters at hand than my distaste for you. For this one battle, boy, I propose to you a truce."

Without waiting to hear a response back, the Sinanju lifts its head, monoeye blazing with emerald wrath as the suit screams back to life, its backpack thrusters igniting at full force. The reactor was flashing warnings and readouts on the cockpit's main monitor; Char's strike had severed some of the couplings in the Sinanju's torso, and it would take a moment to properly redirect the reactor's output. So be it.

Reopening the comms link to the Unicorn, Full Frontal gave a curt command, treating the Unicorn's pilot as he would any of his other soldiers. "Buy me some time, boy."

Dashing behind an asteroid, Full Frontal clamps the Sinanju onto the errant celestial body as he exits the cockpit. He would do what needed to be done.

We are endless, you and I. Our story will not falter here.

KTS: Full Frontal has completed their actions for the round.

<Pose Tracker> Seolla Schweizer has posed.

From the moment Seolla hears Akane's voice from the Garuda - From the moment everything falls into place, about why she never heard back from Akane, or Rikka -

 dakar becomes drenched in tar-like paint, textures flattening, objects on their lowest settings

 Everything but the Mu Gundam and the Garuda no longer 'matters'. Seolla feels the urge to vomit rising - in swallowing it down, her grip tightens, despite the mounting sweat on her palms. That little moment, where she disengages, and re-engages - that's when the Dijeh is slammed square in the side with a spray of beam-fire. Blood coats her tongue from a nasty bit of biting - Seolla spits it out onto a screen. Body temperature cools. Her legs, once hyper aware of their position down in the panoramic cockpit, stop fidgeting entirely. Pupils contract.

 Seolla's voice prepares to go cold. To prepare for retrieval. The blood-freezing delicate act to block out of combat with someone she cares about.

 -that's what it would've done, in the past.

 < "Rikka Takarada, I've got to - FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO WIND UP WITH YOU IN THAT THING-GGHLK- "> Seolla coughs raggedly, not having breathed in enough to handle her outburst of emotion, as the Dijeh's thrusters blare to full, a long-handled saber deploying from the suit's side skirt, twirling around in one hand. < "Get a hold of yourself - THERE'S NO WAY YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE HERE! I'M NOT HAVING ANY OF IT! I can hear it, I can hear it, because I've heard it before. The change in your voice, for BOTH of you!" >

 G-forces rising. Pulling on Seolla's cheeks - tears streaking along her temples and soaking her hair. All she sees is the Mu Gundam's arms and legs - joints that exist highlit in red, trajectories for the arc of her polearm.

 < "...Rikka...! I'm giving you my hand this time - and if you run away from it, that just makes us even! As soon as I find out what's binding you two, WHO's doing this to you...they're going RIGHT on my list!" >

KTS: Seolla Schweizer targets Treasure Chest with Dijeh SE-R Beam Naginata Charge!
KTS: Seolla Schweizer has completed their actions for the round.
Alto Saotome transforms to VF-25F Messiah <GERWALK Mode>

KTS: Alto Saotome has changed loadout.
KTS: Char Aznable fails to evade Roux Louka's Thigh Beam Engagement, taking 2480 damage!
KTS: Char Aznable successfully evades Shelby Korts's Beam Gatling Gun Constant Barrage

<Pose Tracker> Puru Two has posed.

> There's something wrong with Puru Two <

Judau thinks this, and his intuition is right. There is something viscerally wrong. Moreso than usual, even, lest we forget the phenomenal amount of trauma you can dump on a child by getting them to start boiling people away into space-dust at age 8. More than the self-centred anguish and the hunger for revenge, this is an illness. A sickness. An infection.

And so the girl, so sick and detached from the greater goings-on of the world, has no regard for the pronouncements that fill the airwaves. The chatter of a terminally online girl. The adjudications of Cosmic Law. The very War engulfing Dakar. None of that matters. Her world shrinks to a handful of bright sparks in a darkened sea.

One such spark is Arriety. No matter how dark her colour may warp and twist, no matter how dreadful the march to adulthood may be for her. Her adoptive sister, and all her struggles... they shine brighter than all the politics of the world. Arriety's consciousness expands, and Puru Two can feel the ripples of change reach her. A word of advice from one sister to another, even as Arriety yells that she'll end it:

"Don't leave a job half-finished, Arriety."

As terrible a sentiment as it may be, it is trust. Total and final. Utter.

Back in the world of the physical. The Qubeley MK-II is a generation or two behind the Banshee. Puru Two talks a tall game, but her habit of bringing a gun to a hypersonic missile engagement will eventually be her undoing. To wit, the machine is comparatively lumbering when it comes to putting up a defense. The Norn is a pouncing beast from the wilds of the jungle, and the Qubeley is little more than prey in its talons.

"Found your tongue since last time, huh?" Puru Two's snide tone grows sharper with each word. Acid glistens along the edge of her voice. An incoming tonfa strike is blocked with a rigid arm movement, and the suit's elbow soon twists at an unnatural angle. Puru Two reels in her seat as the impact wave ripples through the cockpit. The image of a void-eyed child flares in her mind, terror rippling through the mental circuits of her mind.

And yet... the overload does not come.

"Don't invite yourself into my head, you shade...!" Puru Two leans forward in her seat, fingers scrabbling around the edges of her controls. Astrally, she rears back and lunges for the confusing, maddening presence at the helm of the Norn. All of her misplaced anguish, hate, confusion goes with it. She hurls it at her aggressor, even as the Norn's beam weapons shear legs from their sockets and clash with the Qubeley's lone saber.

What few funnels remain, having been circling around the Banshee Norn until now, thrum and pulse with the emotional fire of their master. One last counterstrike.

The Qubeley's monoeye glowers balefully at the Norn, as multiple fields of fire converge on the shining black Mobile Suit from the remote weapons. Each lance of golden flame carries a terrible emotional resonance with it. All of those horrid feelings? The sickness? The perfect impulse for those flying bits to be fed. A good kill command, if ever there was one.

KTS: Puru Two has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Puru Two targets Puru-1 with Qubeley MK-II Funnels - Pneuma Formation!
KTS: Puru Two has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Puru-1 fails to Evade Puru Two's Qubeley MK-II Funnels - Pneuma Formation, taking 6030 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Char Aznable has posed.

Char glowers as the new operator aboard the Garuda broadcasts to everyone on the field. "Murasame Labs," he repeats, comms off. "... Of course." Unfinished business upon unfinished business. Perhaps he's more of a ghost than even the man in the other red suit is.

Touching down, Char takes stock of his opposition - those fighting him, and those he came here to fight. A laser comm opens to the Amabilis. "'Just Following Orders' has never sufficed as a defense. I wonder what justice will make of you when your masters fall," he says coldly. "By all means, though, keep telling yourself that this will end when you've won, while they boast about their atrocities for all to hear."

"They sound familiar, don't they?" They sound like the Titans.

Roux jets close, firing beams from her suit's thighs (always a curious choice to weaponise, in his opinion) as Shelby opens up with a crossfire from her gatling gun. Evading the latter puts him directly in the path of the former, but again, the Zaku-II can weather the attack.

"... Then we have nothing more to discuss," he replies to the Strike Zeta's pilot - but there is something of a smile in his voice, as though he respects her honesty. "Come then - face the inevitable, if you can." To Shelby: "It is my greatest skill." The tone of his voice is... unreadable. Ironic? Bitter?

Sayla focuses on calling advice to her comrades and begins to panic, reaching out to him in desperation. At the controls of the Zaku, Char hesitates in kind. Should he say what he knows? Should he distract her with even more fear and grief?

...

He opens a private comm again to the Hi-Nu Gundam. "Artesia, you are letting the complications of this battle and the cruelty of your enemy distract you. Choose one thing you want - and claim it with all your might."

This moment of focus is costly - the Sinanju lunges, and Char watches in amazement as Full Frontal opens his cockpit to approach his.

"You are a fool, Full Frontal." After all, he was patterned after the biggest fool in the Earth Sphere, wasn't he? He focuses, and the armour of the Ruin Zaku-II burns with terrifying amber light. "You've seen the Truth; now become part of it." The Power saturating the machine is subtle at first, then overwhelming. The threat of its omnicidal oath should make a sane man retreat. Oughtn't it?

Regardless of whether his doppelganger persists, Char forces the issue, smashing his heat hawk down on the Sinanju and bracing a foot against it before kicking off and firing his jump jets to wrench clear of the newer mobile suit's grasp.

Stowing his bazooka, Char switches to his Zaku's machine gun, peppering the Strike Zeta and Jagd Doga with actual bullets in UC0097 - yet bullets that burn amber and cut through more armour than they ought.

As Full Frontal retreats behind cover, Char considers. "Hm." Stowing the heat hawk, he draws an anti-MS rifle and trains it on the wrecked structure.

Going through will almost certainly hit his mark.

The beam sears the air amber as it shatters the bunker.

KTS: Char Aznable targets Sayla Mass with Pass!
KTS: Char Aznable targets Full Frontal with Zaku-II Heat Hawk Carve and Smash!
KTS: Char Aznable has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Treasure Chest blocks Knight's Gridknight Martial Arts, taking 780 damage!
KTS: Knight has engaged Treasure Chest!
KTS: Treasure Chest has activated the Trust Spirit Command.
KTS: Char_Aznable Changes attack to Roux Louka and Shelby Korts with Zaku-II Machine Gun Barrage.
KTS: Treasure Chest fails to charge.
KTS: Treasure Chest partially guards Alto Saotome's CIMM-3A Micro-missile Launchers Multi-directional Assault, taking
2600 damage!
KTS: Sayla Mass fails to react to Char Aznable's Pass, taking 0 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Judau Ashta has posed.

The fact is, right now? Almost the whole of Judau's focus and concern is on the Banshee. The Mu, in this moment, is a frustrating roadblock keeping him from that machine and its pilot. It's something that costs him precious attention in a time where he can't afford to divert -any- of it, but, well -- he can't help it. This is who Judau Ashta is: a creature defined almost entirely by the connections to the people in his life.

And the people he failed always ring out the most strongly.

It's a fact that's just underscored by the recordings of Haman that play out as he thrusts the ZZ's Hyper Beam Saber for the chassis of the Mu Gundam. The world drowns out into the narrow focus of that woman's voice, the way she sounded when she held him at gunpoint -- the anger he felt when she shot Leina.

The way he felt when...

Thank goodness I returned... to meet such a nice kid...

"Dammit!"

Judau's curse rings out through his panoramic cockpit as the tip of his long beam saber meets the bulwark of the Mu Gundam's shield. Its counter comes swift, and Judau, too, is swift to intercept -- but even as the Hyper Beam Saber rises to deflect the Vibro Nail with impeccable timing, the nail simply goes -through- it, tearing into the front torso of the ZZ in a way that shears chunks of blue and white from it in a discharge of electricity and an angry spark of metal.

"-Dammit-!"

It's going to happen again, isn't it? Every time he comes to Earth, he loses someone important. And these people... these damn people... every time, only caring about their own, ugly interests...!

Pressure mounts within the ZZ Gundam as it -shunts- backwards, looking to disengage and land on the streets of Dakar. Flickers of something pinkish-scarlet slithers along its damaged, sparking armor, a corona seething with anger. <"I'm so damn tired of you people, always tryin' to use us up an' then make us just disappear--!">

Pink-red bleeds towards the green of the ZZ's optics, and then --

Judau Ashta, you'd better listen to me, you thickheaded prick!'

<"Wh -- who're you callin' thick-headed?! Your head's like fifty times the size of mine, that's gotta be like -- sixty times the relativistic thickness!! So take THAT, you dick!">

Judau how did you learn the word relativistic

and how did you learn to use it so wrong

It's a different sort of baffled anger that knocks him -out- of his budding rage, though; Judau blinks, green eyes widening as he finally starts registering what's going on around him. Akane, he -- doesn't recognize at first, considering he only met her -after- everything was said and done in Tsutsujidai. But the voice -- and Gridknight's words -- bring everything together. Akane. Akane Shinjo. His housemate. And that makes 'Treasure Chest'...

It's Rikka Takarada, in there!

Sea green eyes shutter in a brief blink.

"... What the hell...?"

A second passes, as the reddish hue of the ZZ fades into nothing. He registers Gridknight, crashing down on the Mu Gundam from above with a mighty foot. The Valkyries, and the rest...

<"What is your play here?! What're you tryin' to do, don't you realize who you're workin' for?! What they're doin' to that girl in the Banshee--!">

The girl. Puru. Puru? -- But who is the one he saw when they connected--?

<"Argh! Why does everything have to be so complicated?!"> Judau suddenly shouts in frustration; the Double Zeta takes off as its pilot reorients himself, the arm-mounted double barrel of its beam rifle swinging up to pinpoint the Mu -- and fire off a rapid series of shots, aiming to try to keep it on the defensive -- and avoid the cockpit.

<"Oi! Thickhead!!"> no he's not going to let that go <"What's the play here?! I'm followin' your lead!">

He needs to get to the Banshee.

But what's the point if he ignores people who need him right now, too--?

KTS: Judau Ashta has activated the Dash Spirit Command and has disengaged.
KTS: Roux Louka has activated the Wall Spirit Command.
KTS: Sayla Mass suggests caution, raising Shelby Korts's Intuition!
KTS: Roux Louka charges into the attack!
KTS: Roux Louka partially guards Char Aznable's Zaku-II Machine Gun Barrage, taking 4370 damage!
KTS: Judau Ashta targets Treasure Chest with Double Beam Rifle - Overload Volley!
KTS: Judau Ashta has completed their actions for the round.

<Pose Tracker> Aumerei has posed.

Ah. Attention. Just like she wanted!

Faye remembers her from the food -- and that gives Aumerei a reason to laugh. "Yep. Orange chicken. It was nice to get to feed you guys and talk, that time," she says, a little wistful. 'Are you shitting me,' Roux asks. "Hmm -- no? Like I said, Murasame Labs. Pretty persuasive." Is she -- compromised? How? When? Why?

Breezing along to Gridknight as Treasure Chest tells them all to disappear, Aumerei transmits a slightly dull laugh. "I never could hide from you... I bet you know exactly what I'm thinking right now." Even Akane can feel Sayla's heart breaking. Maybe that's for the best.

Arriety's comment on 'more mindfucked kids' gets an exasperated sigh. "I'm in full control of my faculties. Like, sure, they rolled out the torture wagon here, but not for me." She gestures vaguely -- then gets back to providing operator support for the Garuda's MS wing. She does spare the time to give Garrod a, "Oh. Hey, um -- you know, I don't think I remember your name? But hi there~"

Every MS team seems committed to rapid offense now; there's definitely an urgency that starts to spike as Aumerei notes, "We need you guys to finish before Puru-1 does? This doesn't work any other way."

Alouette starts talking. Yawn. Aumerei leaves the coordination of the Garuda's air support to everyone else while she talks shit. "If I told you this was the only option besides us getting dumped in a ditch, would you buy it? At a certain point, you gotta cut your potential losses down."

Banagher reaches out to her and Rikka. ... she'll let that be Rikka and Puru-1's responsibility, emotionally, though she does give him a, "Sounds like someone's splitting his attention way too many directions."

The group surrounding Alouette seems to have gotten the hint at this point; they're not going to get a better opportunity to bring that Cosmo Robo down safely, so they fold in in formation. One of them initiates with a barrage of beams, while another re-mounts a Jegan and swirls around Alouette's Cosmo Robo.

"Sorry, bestie. There was never lunch," Aumerei confirms. "The Antheia-Cecilia cosplay and the Rikka being asleep was all very real though!" she says as one drives a saber straight for the Disc X emitter.

The Ankshas and Jegans closest to the Garuda take up a defensive posture with their shields; while a couple end up cooked by a one-two from the TDD-1's missile barrage followed by the Ra Mari II's beam attacks, the Garuda itself gets off comparatively easy. That massive melee weapon thins the herd further, the kanabo scrambling electronics and causing no small amount of blunt trauma.

The comment on being a magical girl anime villain gets a laugh. "I'd be pretty in-place in something like Persimmon, yeah," she shoots right back, without missing a beat.

She needs to move this along. Her expression sours a little as Alouette pushes through the MS wing with those arms -- but they respond with continued swarming, including a second shot at the Disc X emitter. "Well then," she remarks, calmly.

Jegans begin to swarm the Garuda's primary attackers -- Naoko gets a particularly vicious barrage from a group equipped with solid-state machine guns instead of the usual beam rifles. As they attend to the Sukeban, Akane responds to Chris in turn. "Sorry. No pickup this time. It's really not that simple. Sorry you had to find out this way." A group of Ankshas folds in on Chris. Their superior sensor suites fare a little better with the GN Drive, and they use that slight advantage as best they can, two penning her in with beam rifle shots while another drives straight for the machine's center of mass with a beam saber.

The Garuda itself swivels almost every mega particle cannon for the Ra Mari II. It can't rely on the MS wing anymore, after how much damage has been done to it by Rena, the Ra Mari II, the Toy Box, and everything else; to get rid of that Zentradi vessel, it needs to open fire all the way.

Sheryl Nome's transmissions to Treasure Chest get a 'hm,' but Aumerei can't spare any time for them. There's too much going on with the Garuda, and however she may feel about the situation as it's transpiring... she can't really fail to do her job here. After all, if it sinks, she's still dead.

The TDD-1's opposition thins -- its land fire support gets decimated by those missiles, especially. Those Ankshas close up, however, form up at either side of the TDD-1, trying to cut through the hull from either side.

How to end this, how to end this -- what could --

Aumerei nods to herself. It's time. "Treasure Chest!" she commands, voice suddenly firm -- almost manic. The performance is a little 'high school drama club,' perhaps, but at the same time, Akane Shinjo never was a girl with great command of how she came off.

"Initiate Kingfisher! Target the Double Zeta Gundam! Crush the head, if you have to -- you can't let it slip away without taking hold of it!"

There are some things you can only communicate with the help of another.

There are some things you can only communicate with violence.

KTS: Shelby Korts has activated the Wall Spirit Command.
KTS: Shelby Korts's Physical Wall L1 activates, negating 1000 base damage.
KTS: Char Aznable enervates Shelby Korts, reducing her Morale significantly.
KTS: Shelby Korts blocks Char Aznable's Zaku-II Machine Gun Barrage, taking 3960 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Char Aznable's Too Many Masks activates, causing Jam L1!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Char Aznable's Unbreakable Oath activates, causing Deject!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Char Aznable's Red Comet activates, causing Control Bonus!
KTS: Aumerei targets Christina MacKenzie with Anksha Formation Strike!
KTS: Aumerei targets Alouette Pommier with Anksha Formation Strike!
KTS: Aumerei targets Eight York with Mega Particle Cannons Focused Assault!
KTS: Aumerei targets Teletha Testarossa with Anksha Formation Strike!
KTS: Aumerei targets Naoko Suzuki with Anksha Formation Strike!
KTS: Aumerei has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Aumerei has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Treasure Chest
KTS: Aumerei has activated the Rouse Spirit Command targeting Treasure Chest
KTS: Aumerei has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Treasure Chest

<Pose Tracker> Crossfire Salem has posed.

Garrod's naginata is once again parried back with recoil damage, as Faye's gatling diversion (clever) is blocked and Lucine's spear sparks across the Amabilis in a failed rush attempt. Marida's blades are rushed as well, each one effortlessly avoided before pulling back.

And yet, it's that soldier's voice that scares her the most. She knows those words.

As the Lambda blast comes firing forward, the Amabilis leaps high into the air, thrusters on, narrowly avoiding it as it impacts an evacuated building. As she spots the hole...

<"Holy shit.">

Yet, when Char addresses her - doubts come to Crossfire's head. Char Aznable has a fucking point. The same doubts from earlier. People are crying for their friends to stop... they've been brainwashed, haven't they? And she's fighting alongside them.

She can't stop fighting yet. She still has the movement going, but-

<"Fine. Fine! Such a shitty reason... I'm not that kind of person. Someone needs to be there for Puru-1. Someone needs to be there for these girls. I have someone, out there, waiting...">

<"But there's nothing left of her...!"> Crossfire clutches her head, as she pushes the Psychoframe into overdrive.

<"I have somewhere I need to be! And as much as I hate it, Vist holds my leash! So as long as I can make it better for those under the same leash, as long as I can push towards saving the one I love... I will.">

She's near an emotional breaking point. She's radiating stress and anger, but at herself.

Even so, her movements aren't clumsy. She comes at her foes as a whirling blade of murder. She swipes, over, and over, and over again at the Dijeh, Arbalest, and Dianthus, before firing shoulder missiles at the Kshatriya and Red Tail as a pure salvo.

Somewhere on the Garuda, Crossfire's 'manager' purses his lips. This isn't very good. He'll probably have to remind her where her loyalties lie in a moment.

KTS: Crossfire Salem has activated the Daunt Spirit Command.
KTS: Eight York partially guards Aumerei's Mega Particle Cannons Focused Assault, taking 7320 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Aumerei's Stimulation activates, causing Designate L1!
KTS: Crossfire Salem targets Faye Valentine with Queen Cutter!
KTS: Crossfire Salem has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Crossfire Salem has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Crossfire Salem targets Marida Cruz with Queen Cutter!
Char Aznable has cancelled his attack.

KTS: Alouette Pommier fails to charge.
KTS: Alouette Pommier partially guards Aumerei's Anksha Formation Strike, taking 6820 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Aumerei's Stimulation activates, causing Designate L1!
KTS: Aumerei completes the Formation attack!
KTS: Crossfire Salem targets Lucine Azul with Code Fairy!
KTS: BC-001 Minae has activated the Attune Spirit Command targeting Arriety Hearn
KTS: BC-001 Minae targets Arriety Hearn with Prospect!
KTS: BC-001 Minae has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Lucine Azul has activated the Alert Spirit Command.
KTS: Naoko Suzuki has activated the Focus Spirit Command.
KTS: Lucine Azul has activated the Alert Spirit Command.
KTS: Naoko Suzuki fails to evade Aumerei's Anksha Formation Strike, taking 8060 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Aumerei's Stimulation activates, causing Designate L1!

<Pose Tracker> BC-001 Minae has posed.

        "Don't try to fight fire with fire!" Minae cuts in to Arriety, trying a stern but well-meaning tone on for size, then immediately catching herself. "It's alright if you can't meet her in terms of words! Just like you said to me just now, concentrate on what you can do, okay?" Any prior concerns about how Arriety might be doing in life are washed away, if for a while, as she mentally steps back to take a breath, then does her best to perk the pilot up in the moment. "Besides, I-- don't think that putting her off-balance is going to do a whole lot. At least, not much more than it's doing already."

        The historical broadcast is not the only thing to press 'record' on today. Shortly after it ends, another transmission starts - this time from a face Minae absolutely did not expect to see out here in this melee, one she thought was still safely in 3G protective custody. Her transmission channel to Alouette suddenly lights up with a collection of messages that amount to '???????', though-- well, in the end, she can't really blame them. There's been so much chaos going on she hadn't had the opportunity to return and offer Akane some assistance despite her convictions, so it's not like she's in a position to chastise anyone for - for whatever might be happening here.

        Any other thoughts on the matter are completely derailed by the way Arriety positively explodes at the transmission, and then the Banshee presses the attack; Minae's hands do not fly over the console, but only because they don't need to as page after page of system directives scroll up the screen she's connected to, redirecting the shields as quickly as she can react. There's a gap that she's still attuning to; as a robot she might be able to 'think' faster than a pilot, but that doesn't mean she has the same instinctual understanding of battle that Arriety or Puru-1 have.

        Rena has a point. She's lucid and communicating with them directly more than ever before, Minae thinks as the Banshee screams and enters NT-D mode, but the robot still isn't sure who's really driving who. There's a number of reports on her office computer about the properties of Psychoframe machines; she's crossreferenced those in the past along with Arriety's tales of being heavily influenced by people's thoughts and unable to block them out. Is that what they're looking at here? Even Callisto's alluded to it in the past - when she's talked about rescuing Puru, it's been in terms of getting her 'out of that machine'.

        But that doesn't necessarily mean that they should just discount what she says, either, and Minae frowns. Once again, she finds herself wishing that she had more of a heart, to be better able to sense the other side of this battle and the feelings that course behind it. But she's also deeply, deeply aware that getting stuck wishing for one, trying to hurry beyond her means, risks letting what she does have slip through her fingers like sand in a desert.

        She doesn't try to stop Arriety's process of-- of indulgence or catharsis, she's not really sure which. She still can't fully sense the sheer expanded consciousness around her, brushing against it only very faintly, but even that is enough for her to reach forwards and rest a hand on the pilot's shoulder. Even after all of this there is trust in the touch, her hand squeezing lightly. She wouldn't be in this cockpit if she didn't have trust in Arriety.

        Maybe she and Callisto both need this more than she can say; it's something for them both to work through in the moment, perhaps. All the robot can be sure about is that she'll be there for them both afterwards.

KTS: Lucine Azul has activated the Alert Spirit Command.
KTS: Lucine Azul fails to retreat.
KTS: [Mirage] Lucine Azul's Glimmer Engine activates, and she slips into a mirage.
KTS: Lucine Azul fails to react to Crossfire Salem's Code Fairy, taking 0 damage!
KTS: Crossfire Salem has engaged Lucine Azul!
KTS: Crossfire Salem roots her unit, coming to a standstill and leaving her vulnerable.
KTS: Char Aznable targets Full Frontal with ASR-78 MS Anti-Ship Rifle Perfect Shot!
KTS: Crossfire Salem targets Sousuke Sagara with Amabilis Twin Beam Sabers Strike!
KTS: Char Aznable has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Sheryl Nome shocks Treasure Chest, reducing her Morale significantly.
KTS: [Spirit Defense] Treasure Chest's Steadfast Resolve activates, and her spirit endures.
KTS: Crossfire Salem targets Garrod Ran with Amabilis Twin Beam Sabers Strike!
KTS: Crossfire Salem has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Sousuke Sagara's Will Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage.
KTS: Sousuke Sagara blocks Crossfire Salem's Amabilis Twin Beam Sabers Strike, taking 4700 damage!
KTS: Crossfire Salem has engaged Sousuke Sagara!

<Pose Tracker> Puru-1 has posed.

        Sayla Mass calls out to Puru-1 that Leina is waiting, and she cries out erratically, "Leina! Leina! It's always about LEINA to everyone! Why does everyone always care so much about how LEINA feels?" And then the Norn looks straight at the Hi Nu Gundam, "Where is she!? WHERE?" She shrieks out in this contrarian agony, "Judau! JUDAU YOU PROMISED!"

        DESPAIR DESPAIR DESPAIR DESPAIR DESPAIR
        FAMILY TOGETHER FAMILY TOGETHER FAMILY TOGETHER

        "You shouldn't make promises you can't KEEP!"

        Arriety catches her in the throes of this odd fit, and that crimson seed appears again. This appears sobering to the girl that is Puru-1, who says, "The same way. You feel, the same way." The Hyper Beam Saber comes at her in meaningless anger, and she tries her hardest to dodge, telling her that she'll end it.

        "If you feel the same way as me."

        Scoring a hit across the Armed Armor XC to sever part of the mane, it twists, carving a line across the Norn's body in mid-air before it gets away.

        "Then what good are you?"

        There is a hushed despair to the question. Rena tells her that she'll show her, and strangely, the Norn cocks its head, as if the Psycoframe were mimicking the motions of its pilot's thoughts. "What do you have to show me about you that I haven't seen?" She asks her even as Rena comes at her. A flare of Sabers, and they're caught, smashed away, again and again, though it's clear with each parry the Norn is slowing. The pilot is getting tired, or the NT-D is coming to an end. Even the strange shroud of azure flame spewing from its vents is changing in cadence.

        "You think people can CHANGE?" The pilot within asks, and from that hollow despair, comes back laughter, more and more, as if she thinks it's the funniest thing ever. "Renalle. Renalle. She's STILL the same girl that KILLED ME!" The Banshee abruptly shoves her away, off balance, even as it flies back towards Aumerei. "And you're the same girl that still wants your mother's LOVE!" She declares, words dripping with contempt.

        BGM Change - Psychofield - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsKV9uAgNDo

        Even as Banagher calls out to Akane and Rikka, "It's Aumerei and Treasure Chest." She corrects him, even as he calls out to her, insists that he's not letting this stand. And his feelings shine, resonating with the Banshee's Psycoframe in a contrast of darkness and light even as Mineva offers her quiet support, reinforcing his. Negative and positive feelings. His sabers are met with aggressive parries, even as the Banshee steps inside the Unicorn's Guard to be far too close. Banagher feels like he's swimming through a quagmire of negativity again, hands writhing and grasping on all sides pushing and pulling him away from the image he gets of the violet spirit within, who dwells within this space.

        AND THAT IS WHY I HAVE TO STOP YOU
        BECAUSE YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN TO QUIT

        The Psychofield cascades out, ripping through several buildings of Dakar's block in that moment, striking them as if they were struck by an atomic bomb, ripping out and disintegrating them, destroying reinforced concrete and steel. Eventually in this contest of feelings however, the negativity is overwhelming, as it pushes him away. As the Banshee suddenly slips its arm under the Unicorn's shoulder, and twists, hurling the Unicorn away, as the moment breaks, as the field, the connection between them breaks.

        "Fool. Look at what you've done. Was it worth it?"

        WAS I WORTH IT

        Callisto reasserts control, forming a counterstrike, "Why shouldn't I let myself in?" She asks her, even as the funnels scream beam after beam across the Banshee Norn, it hurls itself into the sky even as a beam traces across one leg, then another, then comes perilously close to her Beam Magnum.

        "You look in the mirror and see me. Breaking it, is just denial. It's self-harm."

        Once skyward, the Norn simply moves in a lazy circle above Dakar, whirling about suddenly, the barrel of the Beam Magnum charging a spherical blast.

        "We're done playing. I have a mission to complete." She declares, as her telemetry delivers her a firing solution, and she suddenly discharges one, two, three, four, five blasts of the Beam Magnum into Dakar. Each one lancing past mobile suit after mobile suit for disabling shots whose indirect fire would just miss the reactor or the cockpit. It doesn't need to hit either to get the job done.

        "Disappear."

KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Dash Spirit Command and has disengaged.
KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Dash Spirit Command and has gained proficiency bonus.
KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Faye Valentine has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Faye Valentine has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Faye Valentine partially guards Crossfire Salem's Queen Cutter, taking 8580 damage!
KTS: Faye Valentine has been defeated!
KTS: Crossfire Salem has engaged Faye Valentine!
KTS: Crossfire Salem roots her unit, coming to a standstill and leaving her vulnerable.
KTS: Puru-1 targets Arriety Hearn, Rena Lancaster, Banagher Links, and Puru Two with Beam Magnum All-Out Barrage.
KTS: Puru-1 has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Lark Straye's MSA-0120 has left
KTS: [Spirit Defense] Puru Two's Whispers of the Newtype Battalion activates, and her spirit is adjusted.
KTS: Puru-1 enervates Puru Two, reducing her Morale significantly.
KTS: Puru Two fails to react to Puru-1's Beam Magnum All-Out Barrage, taking 9230 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Puru-1's Hands Meant For Holding activates, causing Deject!
KTS: Puru Two has been defeated!
KTS: BC-001 Minae assesses Arriety Hearn's prospects, increasing her SP!
KTS: Banagher Links has activated the Accel Spirit Command and Has Engaged with Puru-1
KTS: Arriety Hearn has activated the Wall Spirit Command.
KTS: Arriety Hearn has activated the Wall Spirit Command.
KTS: Banagher Links has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Arriety Hearn has activated the Wall Spirit Command.
KTS: Arriety Hearn fails to evade Puru-1's Beam Magnum All-Out Barrage, taking 6390 damage!
KTS: Banagher Links rushes into the attack!
KTS: Puru-1 enervates Banagher Links, reducing his Morale significantly.
KTS: Banagher Links partially guards Puru-1's Beam Magnum All-Out Barrage, taking 7455 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Puru-1's Hands Meant For Holding activates, causing Deject!
KTS: Banagher Links has been defeated!
KTS: Rena Lancaster has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
KTS: Rena Lancaster has activated the Alert Spirit Command.
KTS: Rena Lancaster has activated the Alert Spirit Command.
KTS: Rena Lancaster successfully evades Puru-1's Beam Magnum All-Out Barrage
KTS: Arriety Hearn has activated the Trick Spirit Command.
KTS: Arriety Hearn has activated the Trick Spirit Command.
KTS: Seolla Schweizer anchors Treasure Chest, forcing her into close range.
KTS: Treasure Chest blocks Seolla Schweizer's Dijeh SE-R Beam Naginata Charge, taking 1350 damage!
KTS: Seolla Schweizer has engaged Treasure Chest!
KTS: Teletha Testarossa has activated the Foresee Spirit Command.
KTS: Teletha Testarossa fails to Charge.
KTS: Teletha Testarossa partially guards Aumerei's Anksha Formation Strike, taking 8060 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Aumerei's Stimulation activates, causing Designate L1!

<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.

Sayla pleads with them. She warns them too. Roux's eyes turn towards Sayla and for a moment her heart trembles - but there's that damn memory, isn't there, even now. That faint sense, like spotting one of the red supergiants, the ones that could have exploded at any time in the last thousand years and they'd never know it until any moment. The great, twinkling red lights, which Earth's lights and air dim and steal away.

It puts iron in her back. "I will be," Roux tells Sayla, but her eyes don't leave the Zaku II. In the distance she can see, perhaps feel, speaking to -- to the others. She can feel his growing rage. And it makes Roux draw back, a little, from the rage inside of her, even as Char Aznable speaks to her again:

To say they have nothing to say to each other.

Roux's eyes widen for a moment before the signal ends. In her mind, a number of things flash in sequence.

The first: best summarized as: OMFG HOW FUKKIN DARE HE. A raw, quick thought, coming from deep within.

And then Roux sees something else, sideways. She sees a story and a legend in oblique view; she sees a humble Lieutenant, who she never met and knew only by story even if they were in theory comrades, simply separated by time and space; she sees that story brought back, swelling to vast, Axis-projecting size...

And someone is holding it up - like a - a bludgeon? A flail?

A shield?

Rounds rip forwards, several of them punching through armor that ought to at least dimple to the first few shots rather than yielding, but cosmic law, perhaps, has armor piercing qualities. Roux knows what she ought to do now. The Strike Zeta swerves out of some of the barrage and Roux tells Shelby as she does, <"Cover me if he does a dash, alright?"> And then Roux reaches for the throttle, waits a moment -- sees the attention move -- and then she slams the throttle forwards. She is not going in a straight dash AT the Zaku - she is moving at a line perhaps thirty degrees off from the imaginary line between 'the Strike Zeta' and the 'Zaku II,' but she's going closer and as she does she pivots around.

The Strike Zeta reorients itself, facing towards the Zaku II in a much smaller profile; head uplifted, one arm raised and the other bolstering it. Why not? It's not aerodynamic like this. The target profile is thinner and it's a *firing pass* -- and as she fires, Roux finds that she just smiled. She doesn't quite know why.

What's probably more important for Char are the four or five enormous shrieking rays of magenta-purple light bursting out of the Hyper Mega Launcher, which seems to have been charging up all of this time and which are coming from an unusually-oriented target. Roux tries to reorient to fly down behind several buildings, but playing it safe (thanks to Earth's gravitational field -- in this moment she understands the Ground Attack Force's complaints about gravity, completely) means she swerves upwards at the last moment, staying exposed a lot longer than she'd hoped.

<"Judau I don't know what happened to her but she's gonna try to piss us off,"> Roux says towards the ZZ even if she doesn't turn her head. She doesn't seem to finish the thought, but maybe she doesn't have to. Even if her eyes flick around to the amber-hued warnings and oh, great sign, she thinks, first red light of the day, this is going *real frigging well.*

KTS: Roux Louka targets Char Aznable with Hyper Mega Launcher Barrage!
KTS: Roux Louka has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Marida Cruz has activated the Focus Spirit Command.
KTS: Marida Cruz has activated the Focus Spirit Command.
KTS: Marida Cruz fails to parry Crossfire Salem's Queen Cutter, taking 8580 damage!
KTS: Crossfire Salem has engaged Marida Cruz!
KTS: Crossfire Salem roots her unit, coming to a standstill and leaving her vulnerable.
KTS: Treasure Chest blocks Judau Ashta's Double Beam Rifle - Overload Volley, taking 2400 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Teletha Testarossa has posed.

"Confirmed hits. None on the Garuda."
"Load torpedoes. Prepare for emergency blows and chaff."
"Aye, ma'am! Load torpedoes! Prepare chaff!"

Breathe. Keep steady. The objective is survival. Of everyone. Mithril is meant to keep stuff at bay, to direct and help. Keep steady. Have faith. Direct where you can, how you can. It's hard to keep that faith when they've pulled one over on you, but one slip up doesn't wipe a battlefield it only invigorates it only pushes PUSHES PUSHES the many instances of War Theory positritiogt posit this and Sayla's voice cuts her back to reality.

<"Heart-2, copy! Focus on yourself."> Keep a steady voice, keep a steady clip. Begin movement, as you already knew but never did. A quick tap. The most important thing, the most important thing...

A quick communication to the Ra Mari II. <"Captain York, this is the Toy Box. I'm sending you some data on what we can see. Our forces have engaged the Jengans on land, so you should only have to worry about your own crew."> Her voice is curt, steady. Forced, possibly. <"We're being hounded by Ankshas, but they can't push forever.">

the most powerful thing on a field is information

Another tap. Uruz 7. Sousuke Sagara.
<"Uruz 7. Acknowledged. Do what you do best.">
SRT personnel follow their own directives in cases like these. guide the pieces and let them scatter

Another tap follows soon. Seolla. She was rescued thanks to Tsutsujidai. <"Seolla."> A pause. <"I'm not ordering you to do the obvious. Do what you think is right."> soldiers according to war theory have a few pillars

to bring those out from those in danger, a commander must bolster their spirits

Information. A few swift taps on the screen, to hastily attempt to connect and to guide. Streams of information, of a submarine's view down below. Outwards, an open broadcast to canvass the battlefield, to narrow down on the Garuda. Its movements, its thrusters, its predicted paths on this and that, DANA's collated conclusions on the matter. This was one of the primary targets.

...She couldn't fail anyone.

A harsh set of her jaw, continuing to quickly shift through communication bands. The purple Arm Slave. Unknown. Reach out. The fighting. <"This is the Toy Box. I don't know any Arm Slave by your desgination, but do your best."> the enemy of my enemy is my friend

She couldn't.

"Anksha's are coming around!"
"Top speed! Keep bearing! Release chaff!" sometimes the only way out is through
"Full speed! Release the chaff!"

Charging directly at the swarm of Ankshas, Tessa gripping at the armrest. Her ship. Her beloved ship screaming as the sabers carve through metal, the metal she designed, the chaff she concocted, the plans she had in her head. To push through and away. She held trust in her crew, to keep the land-side Jengans in line. Stalemate, victory, either was a successful push in the right direction, both for the battle and for the current state of Dakar's buildings.

they're hurting my ship and i will not stand for it

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

"Listen, Three Ships Alliance and Shuffle Alliance too - anyone engaged with the Garuda and designation 'Mu Gundam'. Our priority has shifted to extracting the pilot and its operator." Alouette comms, grimly. "Akane Shinjo is a 3G employee, my junior operator. I don't believe she'd turn to this unless in dire peril." She knows, Sayla in Shuffle command must have made the very same decision.

Akane confirms it, it seems. "Would I buy that? Absolutely. Your initial story was a hard sell." Her tone tenses. "Making ugly decisions, working with awful people, playing risky games... just to survive? Of course I know what that's like. It just means I have to hold nothing back in bringing you and Rikka home from your vacation!"

Lucine's speculation wasn't directed at her but well, it was directed over Ra Mari II lines, which she currently has access to. "No," she replies. "It's not Triple Zero. The only unit emitting Z0-similar particles is the Conqueror King Zaku II." She frowns. "Whatever the case is, though... I don't think we're getting an answer unless we can get them back."

Akane continues to put up a fight, verbally and in combat. "I.. probably should've taken that as a sign." She replies, dejected about the cosplay. She knew something was vaguely unusual, but she thought it would be okay if she could see her in person. "I promise, this time I won't fail you."

Even if she has to force Akane's hand. The mobile unit, in their relentless assault to bring down the Cosmo Robo, strike the most dangerous weapon of the unit. If there's any time to activate it... it's now. "Solitary Wave Riser, activating." Alouette reports. Of course she doesn't plan to make use of Disc X directly on the Garuda. She would never, she could never. What it is, is a bluff taken right out of the playbook of Yang Long-Li, having studied the tactics he used against the escaping 3G Green when they were branded traitors.

"Garuda," she begins, tone cold. "If I vaporize your entire Anksha and Jagen contingent here and now you'll have absolutely no choice but to surrender... I hope you're willing to discuss terms before it comes to that." A force of energy that utilizes soundwaves to destroy its target, and its target alone, at the atomic level. Although a weapon designed to destroy Zonder, it would be trivial to tune it for the type of metal that mobile suits use.

"Please, Akane. Don't make me..." Even over her words, the Cosmo Robo hums an ominious tune.

KTS: Garrod Ran fails to rush.
KTS: Garrod Ran partially guards Crossfire Salem's Amabilis Twin Beam Sabers Strike, taking 5025 damage!
KTS: Crossfire Salem has engaged Garrod Ran!
KTS: Alouette Pommier targets Aumerei with Melt!
KTS: Alouette Pommier has completed their actions for the round.

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

"Audrey! Stay with me!" Banagher calls to the girl by his side, desperation cracking his voice. "We're getting them back! Don't give up!"

If she gives up, there's no way he'll be able to keep going.

"All of them!" His teeth creak from how hard he clenches them. "Miss Pilot, Akane, and Rikka. We're not leaving anyone behind! We're all going home--"

Audrey's strength flows into him, translating directly into the Unicorn's psychic power. Splintering cracks break the road beneath her feet, an overwhelming excess of strength with nowhere to go -- yet.

"TOGETHER!" Banagher roars.

<"Their names are Rikka Takarada and Akane Shinjo!"> Banagher shouts back to the Banshee's pilot.

If he believes hard enough. If he fills his heart with enough light. He can do this. A Miracle will happen. Desperate, iron-clad determination suffuses his heart, enabling him to power through the Banshee's dark aura. Grasping hands tear away at him, leaving gaps in the young pilot's spiritual form, but still, he forces his way forward.

NEVER -- I'LL NEVER --

It's like swimming against the tide. Banagher's spirit is being torn apart. But even so, he gets to the wall of the cockpit, forcing his head and torso through. Clinging to the Banshee's Psychoframe as if it were a lifeline with one hand, he reaches out with his other, stretching as far as he can.

GIVE UP! TAKE MY HAND!

But even so...

Banagher's spirit dissipates, eviscerated by the Banshee's pilot's writhing hands.

He returns to his physical body in the same moment the Psychofrield builds and explodes. Banagher screams, the sound blowing out his microphone. The Unicorn, undeterred, sinks one of her beam sabers in the Banshee's shoulder, continuing her attack even as Dakar vaporizes around them.

Buildings evaporate down to their metal girders. Concrete and asphalt are thrown into the air, raining down and being warped into nothingness before the hit the ground. If not for Nidaime's evacuation efforts, the death toll would be catastrophic.

A second saber lodges in the Lion's knee, and the Unicorn reaches for her sister even as the world around them turns to a hellish storm of destruction.

It's only when the Banshee gets a grip on the white Gundam, tossing her away, that the Psychofield dissipates. Dropping her remaining two sabers, the Unicorn is sent skidding back, Banagher's head hitting the back of his pilot's seat with a resounding thud.

Blood drips down from his nose.

<"I didn't--">

Everything is destroyed. Only twisted metal remains. Like a bomb went off, like a stray shot--

Like the remains of Industrial-7. Banagher's shoulders tremble, and he brings a hand up to his chest, covering the Vist Foundation logo on his white-and-red normal suit. Despair swirls around him, encouraged by the Banshee.

Was she worth it? Banagher is struck silent, tears tracking down his chest as his resolve begins to break.

Full Frontal's voice, as if summoned by the destruction and pain, crackles through the Unicorn's radio.

<"Alright. Fine.">

Bereft of her weapons or shield, the Unicorn has only her Beam Magnum left. She pulls it out, aiming up and away from the Banshee, locking the dawnlit Zaku II in her sights.

There's no way he could shoot the Banshee, anyway. Even if he doesn't have an answer for her -- shooting something with the Beam magnum from this close would be fatal. He can't risk it. He can't.

<"CHAR AZNABLE!"> Banagher shouts, alerting the Conquering Red Comet. He doesn't want to kill Char, either, even if it's temporary. <"GET AWAY FROM HIM!">

Magenta light bursts forth, scorching the air, burning away oxygen as it streaks toward the Zaku II. His aim isn't true -- the bolt flies harmlessly between Full Frontal and the Red Comet. But perhaps it will be enough to buy the Ghost the time he needs.

"Audrey. I'm sorry." Banagher says, squeezing her hand tightly. He looks away from the Banshee, taking in the green of her eyes through her helmet. "I couldn't shoot her. Just hold on, I'll get us out of this. I promise."

With the sensation of the Banshee charging up a shot brushing against his awareness, Banagher keeps his gaze on the girl he loves, managing a little smile. Vist won't kill them. Vist needs him alive.

But he knows the terrifying power of a Unicorn. There's every chance the Banshee could destroy them right now. And if that comes to pass, Banagher knows what he wants his last sight to be.

"I love you."

The Banshee fires. Energy explodes around the Unicorn -- the I-field absorbing as much as it can. Ash and dirt kick up around the Gundam, obscuring it from sight.

Once it can be seen again, the Unicorn's light has faded. Transformed back into her single-horned mode, the Gundam collapses to one knee, white armor laying around her in splinters.

KTS: Teletha Testarossa targets Christina MacKenzie, Naoko Suzuki, and Eight York with Awe.
KTS: Teletha Testarossa has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Teletha Testarossa inspires awe, increasing Eight York's Morale!
KTS: Teletha Testarossa inspires awe, increasing Naoko Suzuki's Morale!
KTS: Teletha Testarossa inspires awe, increasing Christina MacKenzie's Morale!
KTS: Christina MacKenzie has activated the Alert Spirit Command.
KTS: Full Frontal blocks Char Aznable's ASR-78 MS Anti-Ship Rifle Perfect Shot, taking 5100 damage!
KTS: Char Aznable roots his unit, coming to a standstill and leaving him vulnerable.
KTS: Christina MacKenzie charges into the attack!
KTS: Christina MacKenzie's Beam Wall L2 activates, negating 2000 base damage.
KTS: Christina MacKenzie partially guards Aumerei's Anksha Formation Strike, taking 5390 damage!
KTS: Aumerei completes the Formation attack!

<Pose Tracker> Garrod Ran has posed.

Garrod grits his teeth and leans into the controls - not trying to dodge or deflect, but meeting the Amabilis's charge head-on, aiming to make the pilot pay for her aggression. It might even have worked, except that - for all Garrod's adaptability to new machines - he's still not used to the handling; he expects it to move faster, more fluidly, and ... good as the Dijeh is, it doesn't.

But he keeps up the pressure regardless. "Yeah, about those leashes?" Garrod snaps over the radio. "You're not the only one we need to free, now that we know!" If anything, he's fighting even harder now - as if he intends to cut the Amabilis open and pull the pilot out of her cockpit with the MS's own hands, or possibly with *his own* hands if it came to that. "There's this girl I know, people have wanted her in their labs for reasons of their own for years now ... I swore to do whatever I could to save her from that happening again ... and no matter who you are in there -"

The Dijeh's thrusters explode into full-throated life as Garrod throws himself into an all-or-nothing charge.

"- YOU DESERVE TO BE RESCUED, TOO!!"

KTS: Garrod Ran has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Alouette Pommier has activated the Prospect Spirit Command targeting Rena Lancaster
KTS: Garrod Ran targets Crossfire Salem with Dijeh SE-R Beam Naginata Power Charge!
KTS: Garrod Ran has completed their actions for the round.

<Pose Tracker> Marida Cruz has posed.

         The Kshatriya tries to drive back the flailing attack with its sabers, but Crossfire's frantic movements are too difficult for her to read and she takes the full brunt of the attack. Alerts and warning blare through her cockpit as the mammoth machine's stance wavers. She didn't have much left in her...

         "As I live and breathe, your people will never get their hands on the Box!"

         The Kshatriya's wings eject all 24 of its funnels, floating in the air and surrounding the Amabilis and firing a single coordinated shot each, the beams meeting in the center of the suit's mass.

KTS: Crossfire Salem fails to react to Garrod Ran's Dijeh SE-R Beam Naginata Power Charge, taking 4720 damage!
KTS: Garrod Ran has engaged Crossfire Salem!
KTS: Marida Cruz has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Alouette Pommier melts Aumerei's armor.
KTS: Marida Cruz targets Crossfire Salem with Funnel Binder Concentrated Blast!
KTS: Marida Cruz has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Sheryl Nome has activated the Prospect Spirit Command targeting Christina MacKenzie
KTS: Crossfire Salem successfully avoids Marida Cruz's Funnel Binder Concentrated Blast
KTS: Char Aznable fails to react to Roux Louka's Hyper Mega Launcher Barrage, taking 8190 damage!
KTS: Roux Louka completes the Formation attack!

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

Distantly, Lucine hears Sheryl's reaction to the news.

 If those two are infected with Cosmic Law, she'll need to quickly land yet another warning to Alto and Sheryl, mainly for the latter's sake.

 Alouette thankfully corrects Lucine on her assumption before her own theory could spread. < ".... Thank you. .... I suppose it would have made things easier, in some ways, to have a ready answer..." > One that could be purified, but would that even be possible here on this battlefield?

 Crossfire wages her own war of wills; Lucine takes advantage of this, if barely. Kit's Glimmer Engine (Lucine had supplied the name) kicks in, leaving a brief reflection of light to disguise the Dianthus's own retreat. The humanoid craft springs into the air above, giving itself as much advantage as needed. The glaive is exchanged for the Argen-21 Beam Arbalest, which begins to charge. Lucine would be lying if she didn't feel guilty for attacking straight away; by now, she's noticed Crossfire's own careful movements in how she avoids unnecessary damage to the cityscape.

 However, from this vantage point, Lucine can also see the damaged Unicorn on one knee. This could get ugly fast. "Banagher... please don't get captured..."

 The Beam Arbalest has finished charging.

 < ".... I apologize, but... You're right where I need you." > The weapon fires a bright shot like a lance, straight down towards the Amabilis.

KTS: Lucine Azul targets Crossfire Salem with Argen-21 Beam Arbalest Orion Shot!
KTS: Lucine Azul has completed their actions for the round.

<Pose Tracker> Mineva Lao Zabi has posed.

The link goes both ways, of course; Mineva is opening herself up to that negativity all the more, though it's spread across them both... but she's opened up to his resolve, as well. It feeds back, too. Strengthens him, steels him against the flensing tides...

We'll never give up. We'll never give up.

Everything may crumble... but even so...

She feels the emotional tide surge from him as he screams, alongside the psychic thunderclap as the psychofield snaps. She lets out an exerted, pained yelp, eyes opening in time to see the destruction it wreaks.

Even so...

She knows the possibility of finality, here, just as well as he does. She wishes it hadn't come to this... so much they could have done, and it could all amount to nothing in a flash of magenta.

She looks at Banagher, a faint smile adorning her tear-streaked cheeks. "I love you too."

The Banshee fires.

KTS: Crossfire Salem successfully evades Lucine Azul's Argen-21 Beam Arbalest Orion Shot

<Pose Tracker> Treasure Chest has posed.

Gridknight rejects the notion - denies her name. And what's more, he isn't going anywhere. He takes an acrobatic leap through the air. Treasure Chest is forced to react immediately, raising her shield. The damage is mitigated, but the sheer force pushes the Mu Gundam to the ground. Treasure Chest grits her teeth.

"I'm not playing! But... fine! If you won't leave... then I'll just have to CRUSH YOU, GRIDKNIGHT!" Treasure Chest roars. The Beam Smartgun is leveled at him. Energy builds, and then fires. Beams are unleashed, coiling through the air like serpents - and they strike, swift and deadly as the same.

Other people are crying the name of a girl who isn't here. She doesn't let it distract her. She has to focus. Focus. Focus on the enemy.

Right now, that enemy is Alto. Explosions detonate around the funnels, knocking them off-course - and earning him her attention.

"We're making things right." She declares.

...And then, Sheryl. Sheryl's here. She calls out to her, fear and anger in her voice. That - gives Treasure Chest pause. She's always been a beacon of confidence - and for a moment, it pierces through the haze of HADES.

"...I thought we could do it. I thought if we just loved each other enough, it'd be fine! ...But the world doesn't work like that! This is the only way!" Treasure Chest replies. "Sheryl... you shouldn't be here! GET OUT OF HERE!"

Seolla's voice reaches her next. There's quiet for a moment. And then...

"I'm right where I need to be! This is who I am! If you can't accept that...!" Treasure Chest starts. She's forced onto the defensive, though, as the Beam Naginata comes out, aiming for her joints. She backpedals, shield shifting to intercept the attack. It's narrow - if she had been a second slower on the defense... "...Then I'll force you to accept it!"

The funnels rise from where they'd fallen. They accelerate violently, dancing around the cityscape, raining down beam after beam in a coordinated effort to give them no opportunity to escape.

And then, Judau.

"I know." She replies. The beam rifle swings up, and the Mu Gundam raises its shield to block. It's pushed back... but before it can attack again, Aumerei delivers a command. The Mu Gundam freezes, stock still - and deathly silent, compared to how she's been.

Initiate Kingfisher.

Immediately, with violent precision, the Mu Gundam whirls on the Double Zeta. The Beam Smartgun extends, unleashing several beams toward the enemy Gundam - but this is just a feint. It chases after them and drives the Beam Smartgun toward one of the Double Zeta's arms to catch and hold it between the prongs. She drives the casing of the Vibro-Nail into the Gundam's stomach to knock it off-balance - and then the claw unfurls, going straight for the head.

KTS: Treasure Chest has activated the Enable Spirit Command.
KTS: Treasure Chest has activated the Attune Spirit Command.
KTS: Treasure Chest targets Knight with Armed Armor BS - Coiling Shots!
KTS: Treasure_Chest Changes attack to Seolla Schweizer, Sheryl Nome, and Alto Saotome with Divided Assault.
KTS: Treasure Chest targets Judau Ashta with Data Eroded!

<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.

Sayla's already far too shaken to take her brother's advice. "<What do you mean!? Answer me!>" But it's too late for such advice. Puru-1's screams and upset tear into her too. Her walls are cracking under the strain. She can still feel the hands, grabbing her- even if the Banshee's pilot has let go. None of this makes any sense. None at all.

 'Focus on yourself' come Tessa's words. Herself. Her battle. The plan. Saving her brother or putting an end to him. That's the plan. She... She has to believe that Knight and Alouette can save Rikka. She has to believe that Tessa can down the Garuda without risking Akane. She has to believe that Banagher and Mineva will bring back Elpeo.

 But for someone like Sayla... it's so hard to believe in anyone else. So hard to leave those fates in others hands.

 Focus on herself. "<...Acknowledged, Ansuz.>"

 Choose one thing she wants. One thing no one else here wants. Not even something anyone else here would want.

 "<...I'm bringing you back, and then I'm tearing that energy out of you know matter what. What happens after that is up to you.>"

 The Hyper Mega Bazooka Launcher crackles to life with electricity as a Funnel flies into the air to direct lightning into it. This is a Mazin trick. "LUMINAIRE SALVO!" She yells-

 And a barrage of lightning powered blasts fire straight for the Conquerer King. She's ending this now.

 She'll have her brother back, even if the world hates her for it.

 She can't handle losing any more family.

KTS: Sayla Mass has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Sayla Mass has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Sayla Mass has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Christina MacKenzie has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
Escudo Shard teleports in.

KTS: Knight has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Judau Ashta
KTS: Treasure Chest has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Sayla Mass suggests caution, raising Knight's Intuition!
KTS: Treasure Chest rattles Knight, making his next maneuvers more difficult.
KTS: Knight fails to evade Treasure Chest's Armed Armor BS - Coiling Shots, taking 6820 damage!
KTS: Treasure Chest begins a Formation attack!
Escudo Shard teleports out.

KTS: Sayla Mass targets Char Aznable with Photon Hyper Mega Bazooka Launcher Luminaire Salvo!
KTS: Sayla Mass has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Seolla Schweizer has activated the Wall Spirit Command.
KTS: Char Aznable fails to react to Sayla Mass's Photon Hyper Mega Bazooka Launcher Luminaire Salvo, taking 7540 damage!
KTS: Seolla Schweizer has activated the Wall Spirit Command.

<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.

"We can," Eight agrees with Banagher. "We have. And we will."

She told him, once, about 'smaller miracles'--but perhaps they'll need one of those bigger today. It remains to be seen. But Eight, for her part, will not hesitate to try to save that pilot, for the very reasons Rena gives. "To live your own life..."

"That matters!"

But the 'Toy Box' gives them information, and Captain York considers it carefully. They have the Jegans engaged... "Thank you," York answers, her voice serious and concise. "The Ankshas are thinning out up here. They can onloy field so many." ...But 'so many' is still a great deal. Still, if she can commuicate useful information... Regardless, it helps. Knowing she has an ally matters. And Eight feels herself at the ready.

But Pommier tells her her forces' new priority, and Eight's expression goes grim. Rezza looks to her in a moment, sharply understanding her meaning. The entire bridge crew glances Eight's way--and she shakes her head.

"...Our objective is unchanged," she says, not over the radio. "If we see an opportunity we take it. Short of that, you have your orders." It feels heavy to say. But she cannot change their goal now.

"...Akane Shinjo," Eight announces over the radio. "Whatever your reasons, it doesn't change what we've come here to do." She starts to say more, but there's a voice at the sensor station: Astelian's. "Captain! Captain, it's--"

She makes the 'kill' gesture to cancel comms and turns to Tempo, frowning sharply. "What is it?"

"It's Banagher, Captain!"

But before she can respond...The Garuda's cannons do a number on the Ra Mari II. Every cannon the Garuda has seems to engage, and the ship's armor can only take so much. It holds, for now--but there are blackened scorchmarks on the hull, a few breaches in nonessential places, designed to take the damage first. The red ship's armor holds, though, and Eight, still holding onto the armrests of her chair as the Ra Mari II shakes with the impacts, lets out a breath.

"Captain," Kall reports. "Another couple hits like that and we're going to have big problems." The Captain inclines her head. "Noted, Mister Kall. Reroute power from the damaged sections. We don't need the Spinal Beam Cannon in-atmosphere anyway."

"On it, ma'am."

Only then does Eight have a chance to review the footage Astelian sends her over Banagher, and her expression grows more grim by the moment. The Unicorn's light has faded...

"Mr. Orlodhari," Eight then directs. "Make sure the engines are ready to move at any moment. We're going to have to beat a hasty retreat, however this goes." Even if they do disable the incredible force arrayed against them... the Federation has plenty of backup incoming. This is not a fight for unconditional victory. This is a fight to accomplish goals, and if Eight can keep sight of that, maybe she can bring her people home.

"Kazama. Pattern 3, focusing on the Garuda's engines. Fire at will." Eight presses her hands together, steepling them with elbows on the armrests, as she leans in. There is only one chance at this...

"Banagher... Get out of there," she murmurs, and he may hear her voice, an empathic transmission as her heart is with him.

Meanwhile, straight for the engines and center mass of the Garuda, the Ra Mari II's beam cannons light up from all across its hull, slamming green beams down, down, down towards the transport, a storm of particles that briefly blots out all other light where it passes.

She hopes Rena is all right down there, too...

KTS: Judau Ashta has activated the Wall Spirit Command.
KTS: Seolla Schweizer rushes into the attack!
KTS: Seolla Schweizer partially guards Treasure Chest's Divided Assault, taking 7080 damage!
KTS: Sheryl Nome's EN Barrier activates, negating 1000 base damage.
KTS: Sheryl Nome fails to evade Treasure Chest's Divided Assault, taking 5880 damage!
KTS: Eight York targets Aumerei with Guided Beam Cannons - Pattern 3!
KTS: Eight York has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Judau Ashta has activated the Wall Spirit Command.
KTS: Judau Ashta has activated the Wall Spirit Command.
KTS: Judau Ashta fails to parry Treasure Chest's Data Eroded, taking 8880 damage!
KTS: Judau Ashta has been defeated!
KTS: Treasure Chest has engaged Judau Ashta!
KTS: Treasure Chest roots her unit, coming to a standstill and leaving her vulnerable.
KTS: Treasure Chest completes the Formation attack!
KTS: Alto Saotome has activated the Wall Spirit Command.
KTS: Alto Saotome has activated the Wall Spirit Command.
KTS: Alto Saotome's EN Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage.
KTS: Alto Saotome blocks Treasure Chest's Divided Assault, taking 3779 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.

Dammit, she just made the villain laugh, Nova thinks to herself. She really needs to work on her dissing skills. Those are important if you're gonna be considered a good pilot, she's pretty sure.

She can't worry about things like keeping up appearances for very long, however. As many mobile suits as she manages to strike, there just... always seem to be more. Not holding anything back as she is, she's rapidly tiring herself out, a poor way to handle a protracted battle. She seriously misjudged her ability to end a fight like this quickly.

That's when the barrage starts. She's at a disadvantage against ranged weaponry to begin with, but this is quite simply... too many. Too many enemies, coming from too many directions, shooting way too many bullets. She does her level best to get the heck out of dodge, but there simply isn't a good direction to dodge in. Plus she does it while fumbling to put her weapon away at the same time, which doesn't help the balance situation.

By the end of all that, the Sukeban has been shot so many times, much of its haphazardly applied additional armor plating has come clean off. Internals are exposed in several areas, mostly on the back side after the machine turned to flee. It was the only option she had in that situation. And now she finds herself pinned down, unable to get back in to close range. She knows what this is. They're forcing her away from the Cosmo Robo. "Damn it... is there nothing we can do?" Her Friends remain distressingly silent. Instead...

This is the Toy Box.

"The submarine...?" she questions aloud. That sure wasn't where she was expecting encouragement to come from. But she'll take it. Positive reinforcement is quick to give her a second wind, it happens as naturally as breathing. "Well you two," she addresses her AI pals, "It seems we've attracted a bit of a high-profile audience. Let's give them a show, shall we?"

The Sukeban spreads its arms to its side, as its pilot yells, "SAUCERS! HEAVEN'S FURY!"

With that, the large discs on the Arm Slave's shoulders prove to be more than ornamental, detaching and launching themselves into the fray of Ankshas and Jegans. With blinding speed, the twin saucers and their superheated edges slice through the armor of all they touch, buzzsaws in all but name. Completely impossible to track, fast to the point where there might appear to be more than the mere two there really are.

In the cockpit, Naoko is sweating bullets. Guiding the saucers with her mind is taking every little bit of her concentration. She has to make this count.

KTS: Naoko Suzuki targets Aumerei with Heaven's Fury!
KTS: Naoko Suzuki has completed their actions for the round.

<Pose Tracker> Faye Valentine has posed.

Faye's doing her best. It's not enough. Missiles meet missiles in midair, setting off a bright plume... and something in one of the Red Tail's wings bursts, sending it spiraling.

Well, it's not the worst landing she's ever had to manage. But if she wants to start getting out of here, it needs to be now, because things here aren't going to get any better.

<"I'm heading back... sorry, I stuck it out as long as I could.">

The Amabilis pilot says her piece and Faye chews a little on the edge of her lip.

<"Sounds like you feel pretty bad about it already. So I don't wanna make you feel any worse, but... guys like this never make good. If they think you're building yourself up, they'll just set you up to fall again. You gotta be... a little more selfish to get what you want, okay?">

<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.

"People are always changing!" Rena answers Puru-1, as she hits the thrusters. "They don't stay the same! Even if she did that in the past... she can grow past that! And I grew past that, too!"

The Psychofield ripples through the air, through buildings and roads; the parking garage that the Gaia Gear Alpha left damaged earlier is turn into shattered debris, blown outward ahead of it, even as the Gaia Gear's wing binders fire and it rockets above the wave of power.

The Banshee Norn's Beam Magnum fires -- bolts of mega particle energy screaming in towards her Mobile Suit. The Gaia Gear flies up, surging just ahead of three shots that chase after it. It launches into a parabolic arc--

--and then cuts the engines. It drops, and the fourth shot shoots through the air just over the Gaia Gear Alpha's head. The Gaia Gear Alpha slams down onto the ground, hydraulics and shock absorbers in its legs flaring to life. Warnings flash across the panoramic display.

But still, it stands.

She looks to where the Unicorn Gundam fell -- where it lies, lightless. Rena's eyes widen for a moment. "B-Banagher..." she says. "Don't worry. I'm not out yet...! We'll save them! We'll save all of them!"

There is a cleared, circular field around the Banshee Norn -- where the Psychofield obliterated buildings and left it scarred and destroyed -- and then the Gaia Gear Alpha launches across that field. It swings back its beam saber, glowing bright gold.

And then green light dances up it. The Gaia Gear Alpha's Psychoframe explodes to life, motes of green light dancing all around it. The beam saber erupts, as Rena's will propels the Gaia Gear Alpha forward. Faster.

And faster.

And faster.

If she can just be fast enough to save Banagher and Audrey. If she can just be fast enough to save Callie. If she can just be fast enough to stop this, before Arriety takes this further.

"We won't stop being who we are!" Rena shouts at Puru-1. "You can't take that way from us... from them!"

Rena slams the golden beam saber for the Banshee's neck, with a single strike. And as she does, the Psychoframe sends out a massive burst of green light. It rolls like a tsunami over the cleared field and breaks like waves on its edges. Rena's awareness, her essence, and her thoughts slam into Puru-1 with those waves.

"AND THEY CAN'T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM YOU EITHER!"

KTS: Rena Lancaster has activated the Alert Spirit Command.
KTS: Rena Lancaster has activated the Alert Spirit Command.
KTS: Rena Lancaster has activated the Alert Spirit Command.
KTS: Rena Lancaster targets Puru-1 with Gaia Flash!
KTS: Rena Lancaster has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Aumerei partially guards Eight York's Guided Beam Cannons - Pattern 3, taking 7030 damage!
KTS: Eight York completes the Formation attack!
KTS: Aumerei partially guards Naoko Suzuki's Heaven's Fury, taking 5795 damage!
KTS: Naoko Suzuki has engaged Aumerei!
KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Strike Spirit Command.

<Pose Tracker> Shelby Korts has posed.

He evades, with far more agility than she gave him -- and the Zaku II-- credit for. She's still a little bit blinded by her own anger; the way her mouth is pulled into a tight line, the way her hands tighten up on the sticks. She feels old habits bubbling up inside; an urge to lash out, strike harder and faster-- but then a voice seems to snap her out of it-- Sayla, over the comms.

 'Roux, Shelby, be careful!'

 It's almost too late-- though Sayla ultimately gets her out of that momentary haze of seeing red, no pun intended, the shield is too late to get itself into a good defensable position; the empowered rounds from the machine gun shredding into the Jagd Doga's armor and tearing hole and score and gaps into the Mobile Suit, bursts of sparks and snapping light setting off through the gaps and burns in the armor; holes cut through and through in her shield going into areas of the torso and abdomen, even-- her displays blitzing with angry static and glitching data.

 Is this going to work...?

 they're hurting my ship and i will not stand for it

 Shelby flinches; closing her eyes and catching her breath. "" she replies to Roux-- and then sets off forward, flying toward Char even with the damage that her machine has been dealt, leveraging the forward thrust of her main verniers and feeling the rattle and shake of the chassis through her seat. Hold together--

 Is she going to play a game of Chicken with Char Aznable? Why is she moving in so fast, so directly?

 Her own thoughts turn briefly to Nanai Miguel.

 "<You lied to her, too.>"

 And then Shelby twists hard to the left, driving away just shy of melee range-- but with all six of her canister funnels in her wake, all six swirling and firing at Char at full force, attempting to rip, shear, and tear right through the empowered Zaku with all force!

KTS: Shelby Korts has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Puru-1 fails to Parry Rena Lancaster's Gaia Flash, taking 5750 damage!
KTS: Rena Lancaster has engaged Puru-1!
KTS: Shelby Korts targets Char Aznable with Jagd Doga Funnels Follow-Up Formation!
KTS: Shelby Korts has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Char Aznable fails to react to Shelby Korts's Jagd Doga Funnels Follow-Up Formation, taking 7410 damage!
KTS: Char Aznable has been defeated!

<Pose Tracker> Sousuke Sagara has posed.

Sousuke and AL cannot sense Crossfire's faltering resolve, but perhaps they can read it in her movements. She DESCENDS on Arbalest, almost in passing, a horrid sheering of blades of light, but rather than strike the ARM Slave clean, it smashes into some kind of barrier, a will to protect oneself which defies destruction. It blazes, searing to look at, and the blades do not penetrate before Amabilis moves along.

The cockpit buzzes with crosschatter that AL should be filtering out. Akane's not-quite spite...that's familiar, actually. He remembers he's heard it in combat recordings. Rikka, declaring a name that isn't hers. Knight. Alouette, pleading for this to end with the same breath as she threatens to vporize hundreds of people.

"....this shouldn't be happening," Sousuke croaks.

<<Affirmative.>>

"I can't allow this....!"

<<Agreed.>>

Sousuke hardly notices the sound in the cockpit, instruments humming out a quiet, slow tune. There's the sounds of distant gunfire in the capture. "Dear Lord in Heaven, back when I was deep in love with you...

And that's not Sheryl Nome. A recording AL thought might just turn the Sergeant's dials at this crucial moment.

The light of the Lambda Driver explodes even higher, seeming to fill the entire spam of the street as Arbalest marches toward Amabilis. "She doesn't belong here," Sousuke says slowly. Stalking forward. "And you're in the way."

Do the power fields converge? Conenct? Psycoframe and Lambda Driver.... what resonance will this have?

It begins as streamers of light, clashing wills made visual, start to arc at the intersection point like an over-the-air short circuit. "I don't care about your reasons," he says. "I don't care what you hate!"

"SHE DOESN'T BELONG HERE!"

Arbalest pulls up the shotcannon again, and perhaps this time the entire field goes white, with only a few words escaping the thunderclap of clashing wills.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

KTS: Sousuke Sagara targets Crossfire Salem with Lambda Shotcannon Obliteration!
KTS: Sousuke Sagara has completed their actions for the round.

<Pose Tracker> Christina MacKenzie has posed.

The Tristan's path is straight for the Garuda, there's no mistaking it. There's obvious counterplays to a straight line advance, but Chris simply...can't afford to be stopped. Not here, not now, not by anything. Those beam rifles... Funneling her, pushing her towards a planned trajectory. That's not enough.
 There--that Anksha pulling back to reposition--that's the real threat. Still not enough. That's not enough to stop her!

 <"I won't! I won't turn back, Akane! You won't be one more person I couldn't save!">

 Chris hears the Unicorn's comms--Banagher's words--fall silent far behind her. "No... No!" <"Banagher, I'll cut through this, to the very heart of it all!">

 Tristan feeds her the advanced telemetry from the powerful battleship orthogonal to her, refining the real and predicted movements from the Anksha flight and pointing out the flaws, the miniscule errors in their execution. Just enough...Just enough, just a little bit--!

 She's been listening to Sheryl Nome's songs while engineering for about as long as Sheryl's had a career. There's no way that voice doesn't reach her.

 <"I'll sing my own song this time! And Akane, we'll watch Tarabaman Hammer together! GUNDAM TRISTAN, HOLDING NOTHING BACK!">

 It's a glimmer, a gleam, and finally a cascade of sparkles and shining glitter floods the sky, as those thrust plumes sharpen, broaden.

 The beams become a blur as she skates past the Anksha. Damage, not enough!
 <"I'LL CARVE THE BRIDGE RIGHT OFF THAT SHIP!"> This is no Northern Cross...

 <"POLARIS CROSS IMPACT !!">

KTS: [Spirit Defense] Crossfire Salem's Everlasting Rage activates, and her spirit endures.
KTS: Sousuke Sagara enervates Crossfire Salem, reducing her Morale significantly.
KTS: Crossfire Salem fails to react to Sousuke Sagara's Lambda Shotcannon Obliteration, taking 6480 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: Will Barrier Activates.
KTS: Christina MacKenzie has activated the Trick Spirit Command.
KTS: Christina MacKenzie targets Aumerei with Polaris Cross Impact!
KTS: Christina MacKenzie has completed their actions for the round.

<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.

        It is him, but Gridknight is mature enough to let Arriety finish her thought. "If you've shattered," he tells her, "pour gold in the cracks." Kintsukuroi -- repairing shattered plates with precious metals -- is an art Minae might well be familiar with, one way or another. He doesn't need her approval, but maybe it says something that he's the one reaching out, these days.

        And if that's really her, then in that Gundam -- yes, it's Rikka. Knight's yelling is evidence enough of that.

        Distantly, he hears someone yelling, 'Fuck your Cosmic Law!' And though Knight has never met Shelby Korts... in this moment... they are in total accord. He's relieved he can leave Char Aznable to people like that.

        "Make it up by getting it through their thick skulls!" He yells, to Al -- and Sousuke, implicitly, they're in the same general area -- which is like saying it's fine that he's late. He doesn't know what's going on with Crossfire Salem, but he can guess he'll hate it as much as what's going on with Akane, and Rikka, and the hands the hands the hands the Banshee's pilot. (Of course he thinks people can change. He is, after all.)

        "CRUSH ME?! HELL NO!" Gridknight cries, but the power of crushing the enemy is a mighty one. Though Gridknight weaves away from the beams, they curl BACK, through the air, to crash into him from behind. "--aghhhhh!!!" He cries, as he falls forward, into a thankfully-abandoned office tower. He grasps at it, and it crumbles from its foundations as he leverages his great bulk back upwards using its help. "You bastard...!!" He cries, again, though he's placed who Rikka is now. "Damn... that hurt!"

        There's something else, he hears, connected to this battlefield through so many red threads all tied to his pinky --

        "Callisto Diane," he addresses Puru-2, after Rena introduces her properly. "So that's your name... I understand. I never got to thank you for knocking sense into my thick skull, back then." His hand twists, grasping into a fist which jerks down. "And not just once, either... all right. Don't die." If Nidaime heard him say that, she'd tweak him by the ear and INSIST he meant to say 'nice to meet you!', but Nidaime isn't here, is she?

        But then, his attention snaps back to -- "You wanna go, Judau Ashta?! COME ON!" Gridknight isn't about to fight his ally right here in -- no, he absolutely is about to. The one thing that stops him is, "-- hey, wait, it's RELATIVE thickness, you oaf! Relative! You don't sound smarter by making it an adjective!!" Oh. You'd think it was the dire battle for their friends' and family's souls which would stop him, but that's REMARKABLY petty.

        It's a shock to hear the novice in the Variable Fighter introduce herself as Sheryl Nome -- obviously Knight is a fan! -- but it doesn't make him feel bad about yelling at her in the slightest. She's a songstress, not a samurai. She shouldn't be here, as far as Gridknight is concerned.

        But what he hears from one of the Dijeh on the field -- "Seolla Schweizer!" Gridknight calls, to her. "Don't you dare choke on me, you little punk!" Just because she literally choked on her own hotbloodedness?! Oh, that's cold!

        And lo, Thickhead Gridknight, who in any just world would get a transformation to match but we ran out of budget, looks up to the looming Garuda. "You're ashamed," he spits out, his hands curling to fists again. "You were fooled again, Akane Shinjo. And I think you know it. We'll just have to drag you ALL back home--!!" THAT'S their plan?! "That's our plan!" DEAR GOD, HE EVEN SPELLED IT OUT. But then again, Judau did ask.

        Unfortunately, everything goes wrong, very quickly.

        The concrete shakes at the shelters; inside, a little boy cries out, latching onto the nearest person. That happens to be Nidaime, and she pats his head, and raises her voice. "It's okay!" She calls out, in the murmurs of worry and anxiety. "I know this shelter is old -- but they made them tough, back then! You can believe in those people, out there... they'll keep you safe!" It's hardly a foolproof measure, their lives all hanging by a thread, but it helps. She helps.

        And the Mu Gundam --

        "I won't let you!" Gridknight cries, as he sees Rikka go for the Double Zeta's head. "Now you've done it! KNIGHT... CIRCULAR... STRAIGHT!" With a twirl of his hand, he summons that circular saw into being, and flings it at the Mu Gundam -- aiming to cut that unfurling claw right off before it can finish the job.

KTS: Aumerei fails to Parry Christina MacKenzie's Polaris Cross Impact, taking 6380 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Christina MacKenzie's Now'sMyChance! activates, causing Control Bonus!
KTS: Christina MacKenzie has engaged Aumerei!
KTS: Knight has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Knight targets Treasure Chest with Knight Circular Straight!
KTS: Knight has completed their actions for the round.

<Pose Tracker> Char Aznable has posed.

Char Aznable's focus is locked-in on his double in the Sinanju. He is aware of the way the Strike Zeta closes in - he expects an attack that never comes until Roux has achieved the oblique angle she desired - and the attack is much stronger than he anticipated. The multiple shots from the Hyper Mega Launcher tear plate after plate from the Zaku-II's armour.

The Unicorn joining the barrage with the Beam Magnum, in its last throes of the fight, is even less expected and most certainly doesn't help matters - the Zaku-II is fully engulfed by that devastating beam, almost disintegrating wholly under the barrage, held only together by wisps of cosmic dawnlight spooling from its chassis.

Still though, it can move, and turn to -

"LUMINAIRE SALVO!"

Taken aback by Sayla crying out like those shows they used to watch so long ago, Char takes this blast dead on as well, yelling in pain as the electricity courses through the entireity of his mobile suit and through the damaged insulation around the cockpit block.

Thoughts of Nanai Miguel from Shelby reach him, and her funnels carve through what's left behind of the Conquering King mobile suit's chassis and frame. As small enough pieces are carved away, the light of the Dawn fails to hold on to them and they hit the scorched asphalt as only so much ordinary metal.

After the eviscerating barrage of Shelby's funnels, barely any stability remains in the Conquering King Zaku-II's chassis. Char looks up, and raises the machine's hands to guard against the descending Sinanju -

The left leg is the first to go, exploding into shrapnel as the dawnfire of the Oath dissipates from its fragmented armour. Then the right. Then the arms, too, collapse in on themselves and fall apart, the torso of the Zaku-II crashing to the ground.

The monoeye sensor stutters and flickers as the Zaku's attackers mount up damage even the inevitable power of the Oath Over Omega cannot withstand. It focuses on the Hi-Nu Gundam for one final transmission, Char barely hanging onto consciousness.

"Arte--a --Bansh--pil----it's---------"

The transmission disintegrates into static as Char slumps against his own controls, the Zaku-II collapsing into so much wreckage with only the cockpit block intact.

<Pose Tracker> Arriety Hearn has posed.
<poem>
 The hyper beam saber shreds inwards, meaninglessly. There are no noble minds here. No one's having a good time.

 If you feel the same way as me.
 Then what good are you?

 Her failure in taking out the Armed Armor comes back in spades, when the Banshee turns and discharges the Beam Magnum once more; the peak of which her pique causes such a colossal failure of awareness to dodge nearly costs her her entire life, as--

 --as the Psychofield ripples through the air; as the Zeta is forced to pull up and away from the sheer sphere of destruction. As the Beam Magnum lances straight through the Zeta's side, and there's a sudden explosion and darkness as the cockpit lights turn off; there's a rip-roaring explosion that follows through afterwards, and Arriety's blown back against her five-point harness by the sheer force of the attack and suddenly realises that a sugar-stained hoodie is far less protection for her body than a Normal suit.

 This is why you should wear a Normal suit.

 She's bleeding somewhere, but it's not as bad as when she threw herself in the path of the attack for Puru Two; it's her arm that hurts this time. Smoke's filling the cockpit, but emergency systems are immediately kicking in, taking care of it.

 "Nghhh--"

 Don't leave a job half-finished, Arriety.

 Damnit. There's the rub. There's her being caught by her own twisted logic. She wants to save someone, save a soul? That doesn't just mean beating them out of the devilsmachine and then calling it a day. It's an ongoing, laborious thing; she's got to be there. Arriety's a spark for Puru Two, and that means she can't just... throw it all away. Right now, she can't move; that might be her fate, but she won't give up anymore.

 Minae cuts in at this point -- it's like a cold splash of water over not-terribly-proverbial fire, the way the Zeta's starting to glow with unrestrained psychic emanation. Arriety forces herself to have to breathe several times, and mutters, "I-- I know, I know..."

 Gridknight has wise words for her. If she's shattered... pour gold in the cracks. ... is it that easy? "Not rich enough for gold. All I have is soju and videogames. They don't hold plates together all that well..."

 She glances over to where Banagher's manifested the last of his power to protect, leaving him exposed with the Unicorn down to one knee. This isn't good...

 What now? The cockpit is literally breached. She's wounded; should she retreat? Is that the right thing to do?

 "You keep telling yourself that," Arriety bitterly remarks to Aumerei. "You think the fish in the pond knows they're just swimming in a cage of their own? And even if you really weren't, that just makes you extra horrible. That's love? That's your so-called hero?"

 There's a faint but bitter smile at Puru-1's pitching of the question. She answers in turn: "I'm good enough for one Puru, over there, is what. But honestly? I don't know the real answer to that question. What good am I? What good is anyone, to anyone else?"

 The Hyper Beam Saber hasn't faded, even as Arriety feels Rena's own psychoframe expanding. It continues to roil in the Zeta's hand, further and further sweltering with the dark and cloudy emotions within; where the magenta-pinkness of the beam saber start to fade, there's nothing inside.

 "I was born with the opposite of that that horrible Void-woman, Yuliana, was given." Arriety didn't get the memo that Yuliana isn't all that different, but she's coming to, ironically, the same conclusion: "I had all the Newtype powers in the world to connect, and feel, and grasp how others feel, and it turns out: You can be the most gifted empath and end up not understanding anyone else in the world."

 There's a wicked grin on her face.

 "I still want to save you. Not just because better people like Rena and Banagher want to save you. But I've been wondering all this time what someone like me can offer you, and it turns out..."

 The Zeta's violently dark saber comes in as she throws herself in for one last hit. It roars, amidst Rena's golden saber; there's no hope there, unlike hers -- just despair, as she threatens to cut her legs off when Rena's going for the head.

 "... let's be two selfish, hollow girls in the dark. Doesn't matter how fucked up you are. I'll be your fucked-up friend."

KTS: Arriety Hearn has activated the Trick Spirit Command.
KTS: Arriety Hearn has activated the Trick Spirit Command.
KTS: Arriety Hearn targets Puru-1 with SEED Full Burst!
KTS: Arriety Hearn has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Puru-1 successfully avoids Arriety Hearn's SEED Full Burst
KTS: Arriety Hearn roots her unit, coming to a standstill and leaving her vulnerable.
KTS: Full Frontal targets Char Aznable with Red Comet Kick!
KTS: Full Frontal has completed their actions for the round.

<Pose Tracker> Full Frontal has posed.

Noting the sheer hostility aimed his way, Full Frontal brings a hand to his helmet and concentrates his will, even as the Sinanju's reactor lays exposed behind an open maintenance hatch. Pulsing green, the Sinanju's monoeye flares as it brings up what is left of its shield to block the incoming shot from Char Aznable. Shorn as it may be, the Sinanju's shield is more than enough to cover its pilot and the open hatch.

Even so, the damage is brutal.

While the Unicorn's final beam magnum shot managed to soften the round, the sheer velocity still shatters the shield and shears off the Sinanju's arm. Shrapnel goes everywhere, including into the shoulder of Full Frontal. A smartphone sized shard is lodged into the Ghost's body, but even so, he refuses to relent on repairs.

This pain is nothing compared to that day.

A beep echoes over his helmet as the reactor's reroute is completed. Leaping back into the cockpit, Full Frontal pauses for a moment to dislodge the shrapnel, bandaging up his shoulder with the cockpit's emergency medical kit. The bandage immediately blossoms into a scarlet flower, but Full Frontal maintains the pressure, the bleeding eventually ebbing for the moment.

"Now then, where were we?"

The Sinanju rockets skywards, shattered but undefeated. Destruction lays before him, as he witness the broken corpse of the Unicorn. Hmph. This would not be enough to kill the boy. Still, for a moment, the carrier of the Key has Full Frontal's respect. Turning away from the sight to focus on Char Aznable, a single thought echoes loudly to the two of them.

Well fought, Banagher Links.

As the two crimson suits face one another, an onlooker might find it morbidly amusing: one of the most powerful, advanced suits in the Neo Zeon Arsenal, perhaps even in the Earth Sphere itself, being mercilessly thrashed by a relic almost two decades its senior. This was not a fight he could win in the literal sense, perhaps.

But defiance itself is its own reward.

"You've tried to break me, Char Aznable, because what I represent to you is your absolute anathema. The idea that you are no longer needed in this world. The belief that there is no need for Char Aznable, the man, merely the legend of the Red Comet. You can shatter my bones, break my body, and naught will change. For you and I are merely vessels for the people's hopes."

Immense pressure begins emanating from the Sinanju as it rockets skywards, the boosters screaming as a sonic boom threatens to tear apart what remains of the battered icon of Neo Zeon. Higher and higher and higher...until the Sinanju is merely a red dot above the horizon of Dakar. The thrusters are cut...and the Red Comet begins to fall towards the firmament.

"But what I desire of you, Char Aznable, isn't succor."

The thrusters ignite, as the Sinanju puts everything it has into a vicious kick from the heavens.

"It is satisfaction!"

<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.

<"Making things right!?">

 The funnels descend on Alto again, pressuring him once more. Their offensive has stepped up, making it difficult to avoid them all. So he starts moving the shield on his unit's left arm into the path of shots he can't avoid.

 The Messiah rockets forward, its legs trailing behind its half-fighter form to provide the thrust it needs. The funnels attacking Alto follow, his pinpoint barrier flashing to life with each strike.

 <"You're attacking a city full of people! There's nothing right about this!">

 The heavy armour the of the Messiah's shield is slowly being worn away as the funnels continue their assault. But it does its job, keeping the damage to the rest of the machine relatively low as Alto continues to approach the Mu Gundam.

 <"There's no way that doing all this is going to bring about the world you want. It's just going to destroy the one you already have!">

 The Messiah rushes past the Mu Gundam, rising up above it before its legs fold down and forwards, engines firing to rapidly stop its ascent. Alto jams his throttle controls up and over, triggering another transformation. The Messiah separates again, reforming into the humanoid Battroid mode.

 The Battroid's right hand reaches over, pulling a combat knife from behind the shield on its left arm. The blade of the knife begins to glow with light as the machine's pinpoint barrier focuses on it. The Messiah's engines fire up again, thrust burning brightly from its feet as it now rockets down towards the Gundam.

 <"Wake up, before you do something you'll truly regret!">

 Moving to hold the glowing knife in both hands, the Messiah attempts to drive it into the Gundam and across its frame.

Alto Saotome transforms to VF-25F Messiah <Battroid Mode>

KTS: Alto Saotome has changed loadout.
KTS: Alto Saotome has changed loadout.
KTS: Alto Saotome has activated the Dash Spirit Command and has gained proficiency bonus.
KTS: Alto Saotome targets Treasure Chest with AK/VF-M9 Assault Knife Pinpoint Lunge!
KTS: Alto Saotome has completed their actions for the round.

<Pose Tracker> Seolla Schweizer has posed.

A little more color fills the world when Seolla hears Tessa's voice propelling her onward - like, with a sudden hiccup, the gray color and triangular shape of the sea returns to its baleful, splashing blue. < "...I'm squeezed between the wall of what I have to do at any cost...and what I actually can do. ...Akane's handling it 'well', she sounds so at peace with this, but...I know from experience that she's the type to wield a fake smile as her weapon through hell, no matter what it'll do to her later. And I know that Rikka's the sort who gets so, so, so unimaginably strong when put in a corner, when she's got someone to protect, when the war's lost but there's a battle to win." >

 < "...I know it, because...I used to know people just like that. I can't let the same thing happen to them. And yet...and yet...is it even possible...to gain the strength they have, that can wrench people free from this?!" >

 Seolla's sent plummeting to the streets of Dakar, the Dijeh landing in a fuming crater, a scream escaping her lips over the airwaves. <"I'M NOT DEAD YET-!"> she spits, a trickle of blood meandering down her forehead, one eye closed from the flower of pain blooming at the side of her head and her elbow alike. < "I'm not going out like this, Gridknight, don't you DARE count me out-!!!" > Good. If anyone's a stabilizing presence, it's the kind of fiery and thickheaded leaping into the fray Knight provides. For all Seolla's thrashing against fate - she fights half her battle just convincing herself to keep it up, in an oh so unnatural way.

 Using the naginata to prop her mobile suit up, Seolla gets a spot of world-spinning vertigo, jaw clenched oh so tight to keep her gaze laser-fixed on the looming Gundam - that thing hovering imposingly above, cape fluttering indomitably, while Seolla's down on the soil below.

 Even if she can't get up, even if her wings are tattered-

 She doesn't belong anywhere except the clouds.

 Igniting every thruster to its breaking point, a guttural scream erupts from Seolla's throat, surging skyward, rocketing past Rikka, her arm swaying as it tries to keep the breachgun on target - taking Seolla's left hand stabilizing her right on the trigger.

 < "Rikka...everything I'm hearing out of you...it sounds like everything I've said back when we first met! It sounds like the last thing I've heard so many most important friends ever tell me! DON'T YOU DARE THINK I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT'S LIKE TO FEEL LIKE THERE'S NO OTHER WAY!!!" >

 An arc of light bursts from the angle of Seolla's fingertip. She can't stand the way that Gundam imperiously leers at her - judgmentally looms at both its enemies and captives alike.

 If Seolla can't prevail above the smog...she can at least stop that thing glaring at her so horribly.

KTS: Seolla Schweizer has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Seolla Schweizer targets Treasure Chest with Beam Breachgun Storm!
KTS: Seolla Schweizer has completed their actions for the round.

<Pose Tracker> Crossfire Salem has posed.

The beam naginata slashes into the armor of the Amabilis, as she pushes back. When the beam funnels fire at all angles, and Lucine fires from the top, Crossfire closes her eyes.

Seconds later, the Amabilis is flipping back, weaving through beams, dodging every single one as if she was a ballerina.

The pilot's losing it. Her emotions are frayed. What Faye said gets to her - they'll never help her, will they?

She doesn't get much of a chance to think through either Garrod's words or Sousuke's.

The Lambda Driver fires.

The backlash between LD and Psychoframe is strong. It's not a full Psychoframe fit, but it's active Psychoframe nonetheless.

As the shockwaves erupt, the shotcannon blast engulfs the Amabilis. The ground cracks under foot, and cars are sent flying if not destroyed outright. When it fades...

The Amabilis is rushing in, moving to double spinslash the Arbalest.

Oh, it didn't dodge. It ate the damn thing. Armor slags, repairable but difficult. Psychoframe joints hold on, but another shot like that would kill the pilot. It should have killed her in the first place, but...

Wiping blood from her lip and nose, she grins. She's gotta regress to survive here, huh? Juyst narrowly missed the cockpit.

<"Looks like you scratched the paint.">

Then, it dashes (while sparking) at the Kshatriya, Dianthus, and Dijeh with a flurry of blades - the Kshatriya getting the worst of it, but all three getting sliced up.

<"IF YOU'RE TRYING TO SEND ME TO HELL, I'LL TAKE YOU ALL WITH ME! FOR HER SAKE!">

As she slashes towards the Dijeh and the Dianthus, Crossfire suddenly changes tactics, firing off two curtailing shots from the bazooka. Seems her reactor's frying from the Lambda blast, and the beam sabers are starting to dim.

<Pose Tracker> Puru Two has posed.

One can only hold back the tide for so long. To have done so even for a minute or two at best, well, that's a miracle in itself.

Even in the waning minutes of the Norn's NT-D charge, the system designed to counteract those pesky psychics proves perfectly ample for the task. After an initial volley of fire, the Qubeley's funnels twitch and grow silent as mental static fills their receptive circuits. The Qubeley's psycommu system errors and ceases to function, similarly.

It goes blessedly silent, in a manner of speaking, inside Puru Two's head. Disconnected from the thoughts and emotions of other people. Left only to stew in her own experience. A welcome novelty. Alas, the bubble of silence fades as the NT-D's timer soon runs short, and all the Hells of the outside world pour in anew. A queasy rumbling creeps up Puru Two's spine as the Psycho-field in the near distance crushes a slice of the cityscape like a weak model built with twigs and sticks.

"Ah... did you have more power between us? I can't remember..." she wonders aloud, smirking bitterly. Funnels in the sky are swept along in the blastwave, splintering into little dust-devils of splintered metal.

There's a surprising transmission that slices through the reverie: a young man's voice. It belongs to a fellow named Knight, not that Puru Two would know him by name. However, the tone, and that distant feeling recalls memories of a Death Knight (how apt) mobile suit, and a zealous fervor for the defense of a place named Tsutsujidai. To leave him hanging would be rude.

"That voice--I remember you. I have no plans on dying, so," her tone is dark (but not dreary). "I'll ask the same of you. But if I do, look after a girl named Arriety Hearn."

Clarity seeps back into Puru Two's vision, into her thoughts. So odd was that moment's conversation, it knocks the good sense of self-preservation into her. And her current situation is not a good one, if survival is a goal. With all the controls jammed and offline, thanks to the feedback crash in the psycommu system, the Qubeley is effectively dead weight. Gloved hand swiftly lift the buckle of her harness, freeing her from the only seat in this linear cockpit.

"Rena... you shouldn't have so much faith in me changing. Besides, what if I changed for the worse?" she muses darkly, hearing the sentiment as much as she can feel it. She rakes her fingers across the hatched yellow and black yoke of the escape lever, then squeezes tight and pulls.

There's a hiss, a fizz, and the smell of smoke fills the cockpit. But no explosive journey to freedom.

Outside, the Banshee Norn has soared high above the silent, still Qubeley. The time to act is measured in sections, if not fractions of them. The girl's helmet rolls onto the floor at her feet, discarded.

"Arriety, not sure if you can hear me, but don't panic." Puru Two speaks aloud, conversational almost. The weaponlike intensity from earlier still rings true in her mind, somewhere, but it isn't intended for these words. It is instead something for the task at hand. "I'm going to bail on the Qubeley, it's toast. Don't freak if you see it destroyed. Hope these thoughts reach you." she narrates while tearing open the control panel at the Qubeley's cockpit hatch and biting the insulation from the wires inside.

"Don't freak out about getting angry, either, war sucks."

There's a bright spark as the door's circuit is short-circuited, and the Qubeley's midsection creaks open to reveal the cockpit. Smoke billows from the innards of the one-armed, one-legged mobile weapon as it sinks to the ground. A human-sized silhouette takes a running leap from the cockpit towards the war-torn streets of Dakar, catching the gutter of a building a few metres down.

Of the Qubeley, well, it slowly tilts backwards as its balance mechanisms fail. And then, it is little more than an ashen silhouette that vanishes within the pillar of destructive hatred of the Norn's beam magnum. With little fanfare, the machine is cored from head to stern, falling into two melted halves.

KTS: Crossfire Salem targets Sousuke Sagara with Code Fairy!
KTS: Crossfire Salem targets Marida Cruz with Code Fairy!
KTS: Marida Cruz has activated the Wall Spirit Command.
KTS: Marida Cruz has activated the Wall Spirit Command.
KTS: Marida Cruz fails to rush.
KTS: Marida Cruz's Beam Wall L2 activates, negating 2000 base damage.
KTS: Marida Cruz partially guards Crossfire Salem's Code Fairy, taking 5335 damage!
KTS: Marida Cruz has been defeated!
KTS: Crossfire Salem has engaged Marida Cruz!
KTS: Crossfire Salem roots her unit, coming to a standstill and leaving her vulnerable.
KTS: Sousuke Sagara has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Sousuke Sagara has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Sousuke Sagara's Will Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage.
KTS: Sousuke Sagara fails to parry Crossfire Salem's Code Fairy, taking 7100 damage!
KTS: Sousuke Sagara has been defeated!
KTS: Crossfire Salem has engaged Sousuke Sagara!
KTS: Crossfire Salem roots her unit, coming to a standstill and leaving her vulnerable.
KTS: Crossfire Salem targets Lucine Azul with Twin Shoulder Bazooka Curtailing Shot!
KTS: Crossfire Salem targets Garrod Ran with Twin Shoulder Bazooka Curtailing Shot!
KTS: Lucine Azul retreats from the attack!
KTS: Crossfire Salem anchors Lucine Azul, forcing her into close range.
KTS: Lucine Azul fails to evade Crossfire Salem's Twin Shoulder Bazooka Curtailing Shot, taking 2800 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.

It's easy to be confident when you're in your seat of strength, where you belong. This isn't where either of them should be--Rikka or Sheryl. Right now, for both of them, all of this is all wrong. Those funnels rise again, raining down beams that trap not just Alto and the others, but also Sheryl right here in this battlefield. Mu Gundam might be ordered to go all-out against the Double Zeta Gundam, but that doesn't mean Sheryl doesn't get hit with the byblows either. Warning signals blare within the cockpit, and her Variable Fighter keels dangerously to one side as smoke now billows out the back like a volcano ready to melt down.

 As she desperately attempts to keep herself upright, Sheryl shouts, "Don't tell me to get out of here and then give me nowhere to go! And what do you mean, 'make things right'? What do you mean 'this is the only way'? I have NO idea what you're talking about! Explain everything in a way I can understand!!"

 There is a simple solution on how to reach out to Rikka; it was what she'd planned on doing with Akane before that dimensional divide cut Tsutsujidai off from the rest of the world. But Sheryl isn't standing on a stage right now. She doesn't know how her voice is inspiring Christina; she can't hear her song playing in Sousuke's cockpit; she doesn't know how Lucine worries about her getting infected by the Cosmic Law. What she has at her hands are the controls of a fighter plane, not her iconic golden microphone.

 And, as far as she knows, she's doing so badly at it.

 She isn't even doing a good job at understanding Rikka. That other girl--Seolla--yells back about how she's gone through exactly the same thing in the past; that giant Gridknight knew her right away and is taking her on head-on; Alto points out that doing all this will only destroy the world Rikka has already, and he barely knows her if at all. At least Judau doesn't seem to have any more idea of what's up with Rikka than she does, but Sheryl doesn't know him, so that doesn't really help. She takes a deep breath, and another, and grips the controls of her VF. Her flight... more or less evens out, though a dangerous wobble remains in the barely-intact wings. If she gives shooting through the funnels another shot, then guns it... If Rikka really wants her gone, then she won't shoot her down from behind, and then Alto won't have to worry about her.

 "<Fine! I'll get out of here, Rikka! But you and Akane owe me an explanation!>" she shouts as she aims. The funnels are moving so fast that it's impossible for her to aim for any particular one, but that's okay because they're so many that she just needs to blow a hole in their dance. Several shots blast out from the VF's guns--then click on empty as the few bullets that were there run out.

 If she's struck true, Sheryl will gun it out of there past the wall of funnels, up into the sky, and away from Dakar. Otherwise...

 Otherwise, she's in big trouble.

KTS: Sheryl Nome targets Treasure Chest with Gun Pod Barrage!
KTS: Sheryl Nome has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Garrod Ran has activated the Focus Spirit Command.
KTS: Crossfire Salem anchors Garrod Ran, forcing him into close range.
KTS: Garrod Ran fails to Evade Crossfire Salem's Twin Shoulder Bazooka Curtailing Shot, taking 2800 damage!
KTS: Crossfire Salem has engaged Garrod Ran!

<Pose Tracker> Marida Cruz has posed.

         Marida grits her teeth and pushes through the flurry, the Kshatriya's remaining power escaping it as every blow hits. At the first opportunity, she pulls back, the mobile suit too damaged to continue any further.

         "...I'll respect your wish to avoid unneeded death by preventing you from becoming a murderer. Banagher, I'm heading back to the ship."

         She hesitates for a second. Zinnerman said not to fight her, but she was about to retreat anyway. She had to say something.

         "....Elpeo Puru. We're going to save you. This life shouldn't be yours."

         Saying nothing else, the Kshatriya retreats to the Ra Mari.
BBSYS: Post 924, 'A mind that can slice through butter' has been published to Daily Spotlight by Lucine Azul.

<Pose Tracker> Judau Ashta has posed.

<"Uhhh. Relative on earth, maybe! In space it's relativistic! Space's got it's own - y'know - space-words!!">

Judau is just literally pulling things out of his ass to try to win an argument against a giant Hyper Agent who he is -pretty sure- was like twelve years old until like a month ago. (Kaiju are weird.)

<"Don't disrespect our space-words!">

but let's be real Judau would not be above arguing about this even if Knight was a child

Red-white mega particle discharge fizzles off the twin barrels of the Double Zeta's rifle. Thrusters ignite, launching it skywards in a coordinated jump to cut the distance between it and the Mu Gundam. Despite the fact that ill feeling in his gut hasn't gone anywhere, Judau still manages a grin as Gridknight boldly announces his plans to just, like, everyone, including him, and they amount to 'winning, that's good strategy.'

"Heh," begins Judau, swiping his nose.

<"Now that's more like it, Thickhead!">

See, like, to Judau 'Announce to Bright Noa's Face He's Gonna Steal the Zeta' Ashta? This is a good plan.

And a -very good delivery-.

And it's one Judau plans to make good on, too, as he cuts the thrust of the Double Zeta to begin falling towards the Mu. <"You heard 'em! I'm not usually the one doing the dragging, but I learned a thing or two from Leina! If you're gonna keep gettin' in my way, actin' like a buncha idiots -- then I'm gonna OUT-IDIOT YOU!">

The Double Zeta falls towards the Mu. The Mu whirls towards it. Once more, both Hyper Beam Sabers ignite. Thruster ignitions weave the Double Zeta through beam fire as it falls towards the Mu. The old Mobile Suit swings, to drive those weapons towards the shoulders of the Mu to disable its limbs --

SHUNK
 C R U N C H

... A second too late.

Arm caught by the Smartgun, Judau doesn't see that nail coming until its a second too late. It DRIVES into the Mobile Suit's midsection; the impact is enough to rattle Judau violently backwards, the back of his head cracking painfully against the cockpit seat. He sees stars, nausea swimming in his gut as he slumps forward with a thick "gnuh!" of a gasp.

And then that Nail ensnares the distinctive head of the ZZ with the sound of metal pinching metal.

For a while, the Double Zeta just stands there, sparking and limp, head caught in the Mu's vise -- and yet, for the moment, still intact. Whatever fight it still had in it, Judau brings to bear: arms lift, hands groping -- but with vibrations from the Psycho-Frame weapon disrupting visual sensors, it is a blind grope that grasps at the air as it struggles in vain against that grip.

"Dammit! Let go so I can kick your ass! Let--" Judau begins, swiping drool from his lips with one hand as he futile-y works the controls with the other. But then... something happens.

Something happens, in a touch that should convey violence.

 'I'm not going to be able to repeat myself, so I need you to listen carefully...'

Judau Ashta blinks. "Eh--?"

 'Puru-1, the pilot of the Banshee...'

Something happens, in a touch that conveys no violence, but undoubtedly provides pain.

Words are offered. And Judau Ashta's world goes blank.

Within his cockpit, Judau Ashta stares straight forward, eyes wide but unfocused. His hands are at the controls, but they don't move; he doesn't even -feel- them beyond the numb tingle of shocked nerves asserting their dull presence. Everything feels so distant. His throat feels like he hasn't had anything to drink in days as he forces a swallow down.

"... What?"

The pilot of the Banshee... the one who always felt so strange to call Elpeo.

Something happens, in a touch that provides information Judau Ashta never thought he'd hear. And suddenly, with the last vestiges of its operational power, the ZZ tries to -tear- away from the Mu in a sudden and VIOLENT ignition of thrusters. If it releases, so be it. If it doesn't, Judau won't even register the fact of the Double Zeta's head being shorn from its shoulders. Because all of his focus, all of his attention, is on--

<"Banagher! It's not Elpeo!">

The Double Zeta falters and stumbles as the Banshee fires upon the Unicorn. But even as it does -- a flare of pure, bright red sentiment BLOOMS from the crippled machine.

 <"LEINA! STOP IT!">

<Pose Tracker> Puru-1 has posed.

        Arriety's persistence is to be admired, but then again, the pilot has struck a chord with her hasn't she? "There's nothing worth saving." She tells her, Whereas Rena calls out that people are always changing. The pilot in the Banshee Norn begins to brokenly laugh at her. The Gaia Gear Alpha is still coming, it comes at her, and suddenly the Beam Saber carves across the Banshee Norn's neck. A little deeper, and it's head might have been severed. It's Tonfa just barely slips in just enough under the blade, just enough, to prevent it from going deeper.

        "Oh Renalle. You actually think there's something worth taking?"

        LONELINESS DESPAIR DESOLATION

        In that moment, Rena and Arriety both catch a glimpse, as things resonate, of hands, countless white gloved hands clapping. There is no feeling. There are no people. They are alone in a crowded room with hollow hearts carrying out gestures without feeling. It is an awful static that numbs the entire being with but a glimpse.

        It is enough, just enough, that when the Dark Saber of the Zeta comes in to assist its Golden one, that it is utilized as a distraction. The Gaia Gear is struck with a stunning blow from its knee at close range, and the Banshee abruptly dives away from the violence of Arriety's Saber as it just misses it by a hair. "You don't want to be alone in the dark with me. Not really. Noone deserves that."

        The next moment, despite the Gaia Gear's speed, the Banshee knees it with a stunning blow, driving it away just as all azure thrusters fire and the Norn quickly slides around towards the Unicorn, moving to get behind its tortured form, its arms slipping around the mobile suit. It is more, gentle a gesture than might be expected.

        At least until those words issue to all from the pilot of the Double Zeta.

        'LEINA! STOP IT!'

        There is a prolonged pause on the battlefield as those words settle in, as the dust settles in, as everything settles. When the emergency broadcast system comes on, it almost feels like the other shoe dropped, or rather - was thrown into the fire.

        On several screens peppered throughout the battlefield. Martha Vist Carbine sits in her office, the Empress of the Moon immaculate in her presentation with her fashionable business suit, and jewelry. She looks irritated. "My colleague guaranteed to me that couldn't happen. I'll have words with him later on what his guarantees are worth. I would have preferred to conduct this off the battlefield, like civilized people, but since I'm being forced to play this card..."

        She taps a button in front of her, the screen splits, to show an image in the cockpit with a message on a laser comm link in the bottom corner. The shaded faceplate of the pilot's helmet is up, and within, the pilot is breathing hard and fast, her face sweaty-

        BGM Change - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GET8ax8uWXk

        -Leina Ashta's face. Look closer, and the psychically sensitive will see them. The hands, they're covering her body, latched on and twisted about her like a violet, knotted miasma of psychic horror. It feels like it permeates her very being.

        "The NT-D is still so hard on our Ms. Ashta, but she is quite the trooper. Honestly, you should be proud that you raised such a fine daughter, Doctor Deikun." And even though she can't see her, it's like she's looking right at her. "Her diligence is inspirational, really. A shame you failed her when it comes to the most important lessons a young woman need learn to survive in a man's world."

        With that, she brings up a file onto her desk, stamped with a Federation Classified seal, "Now I could show you the deferred adjudication I have here for her from a Federation military tribunal for aiding and abetting terrorists, treason, and various other high crimes - for which the punishment is death." And indeed she flips through it as if she were doing that very thing, but then she abruptly closes it, "But let us dispense with all pretense, and call her what she is."

        A smile graces her face in that moment.

        "A hostage."

        She makes a calm gesture as if looking directly upon the Unicorn, "Banagher Links and Princess Mineva Lao Zabi will be coming with us, as will the RX-0 model mobile suit, the Gundam Unicorn. Hostilities will cease, none shall follow, and no rescue attempts will be conducted. Fail to abide and I will switch the injectors of the Norn's NT-D system to a deadly neurotoxin. She will be dead in under a minute - and she will be fighting you until her very last breath. Should you obey, however, then once the box is sealed she will be returned to her home. Her family. Your little - 'Shuffle Alliance' may have her and our other latest 'acquisitions' in exchange for reassurances of a permanent armistice."

        Martha Vist Carbine places a palm to her chin, with self-assured viciousness. Her other finger plays upon a comm button and hits it, her green eyes flicking towards a screen. "Ms. Ashta now that the proverbial cat is out of the bag, would you like to say a few words to them before you go?"

        Her finger then moves aside, to tap a separate key.

Leina Ashta teleports in.

<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.

The NT-D shifts off at that moment, the mane like frill around the NT-D disappearing as its fade shift, entire body retracting in upon itself as the majority of gleaming Psycoframe plating vanished in an instant within its beam scored obsidian armor.

Armed Armor Xeno-Connect OFFLINE

The screen stops its split, and now it's just focused on her, as she forces herself to sit up straighter, there's something stricken on her face, like this whole thing is shattering some side of her. Perhaps her whole life. And yet, she forces it back on her face, as the sickening psychic miasma of negativity recedes just subtly, with the soft sensation of a wail on the edges of perception, those fingers like hooks receding from the inside of her brain.

The Banshee Norn's loudspeakers come on, and it speaks across the field. She breathes easier, she speaks easier, there is no distortion left to be had.

"I need everyone to understand, I'm collaborating of my own free will." Leina begins in a cold and clinical tone. Did she not hear what Martha just said, that she's a hostage? "Because some people take longer than others to learn the lesson that there is no 'possibility'. There is no better way forward."

In this moment, it's like her attention is focused on the Unicorn, Banagher and Mineva can feel the pressure of it, "That even if they dance on the edge of a razor and achieve 'victory', it's indistinguishable from defeat."

Something in her expression momentarily cracks under the weight of that despair, "Nothing will ever change. And Newtypes? The only thing Newtypes will ever be to them are weapons. The only way to live, is to accept this, and do what you can to protect the people you love." Then quietly, "And I'm out of options to do that."

And then she steels up, flint in her eyes, and one single final spark. It feels as if she is addressing everyone she knows that in her mind is uninvolved, or perhaps 'ought to be' in the Shuffle Alliance, in the Three Ships Alliance. As if she were speaking directly to everyone on the battlefield that means something to her, everyone that might try to oppose this, "Save one. If you follow us, if you try to stop us, I will take away your ability to oppose the system from you. Your mobile suits. Your arm slaves. Your battleships. And I'll do it as many times as I need to until the job is done."

Why is Martha doing this? Allowing this twisted show, where the only one who doesn't know she's a brainwashed hostage is the victim? Perhaps only to show her power in this situation. What she and her people have taken from her.

Sayla will feel the prickle of her intentionality against her, as she tells her quietly, in the wake of her ultimatum, "Your brother had the right idea about me, Sayla." And then...

... her attention moves to Judau. The two have spoken, about that day, but they've never talked about everything that happened on that last day they were both here in Dakar. He's carrying her to his core fighter, and she's wearing a blood stained formal dress that Glemy had dressed her in, like a doll.

I'm such a bad girl, telling all those lies. At this rate, heaven won't want me.

"Just stay home Judau, live your life, forget about me. I'm not worth your effort..."

Azure thrusters fire on the back mounted Armed Armor DE, as the Banshee Norn becomes aerial once more, pivots, and turns on a trajectory towards the Garuda with the Unicorn in tow, containing its precious cargo.

"...and I never have been."

<Pose Tracker> BC-001 Minae has posed.

        If there's anything that Minae latches onto it's the way in which Puru-1's voice almost quivers as she poses that question to Arriety. She'd been working off of her general assumption that what the other pilot most wanted was to be empathized with, but something in the tone at the back of that voice makes her rethink that. If she takes into account the positions of Arriety and Callisto, what she knows of Judau-- maybe she's looking for someone to look high, high up to instead, to better pull herself back up to that level.

        Maybe. It's ultimately a half-formed thought; the robot isn't used to situations as adversarial as this one, where she's having to deduce what she can from half of a conversation and without a comfortable couch and a steaming teapot. There's a lot she'd like to know about Puru-1 and much of it is happening on a level she can't access, but it's a point from which to start from, and on which to follow up after this. The laughter at the thought of someone ever changing, the angry demands that follow afterwards, the robot quietly notes each of them.

        A multitude of beams tears through the air around them; it's simply too fast for Minae to keep up with. She's dimly aware that the Gaia Gear Alpha has rocketed forwards through the storm in an impossibly sharp maneuver, but her ability to keep up with everything around her is impaired to the point where she simply loses Rena's marker on her map, the position of it flickering wildly before her telemetry gives up on trying to track the other machine.

        In her distraction, she's left momentary completely confused by Gridknight's transmission, and it takes her several seconds of trying to work out the significance of gold before an errant process actually goes to look it up online and work through the somewhat oblique logic involved. It still takes her a moment even then, stuck between the practicality of a robot ('molten gold is very bad for people's health!') and her knowledge of idioms. "... I'd prefer something more flexible," she mumbles back to the radio.

        It's just in time for the impact to hit, and her vision fuzzes out into white static for a moment as several of her systems receive much more of a jolt than she ever expect. She shakes her head, momentarily blind and gripping at the seats of her console before her self-repair systems kick on. Somewhere in her chest, the miniature G-Stone that powers her pulses in a way it hasn't had to in a long time, and then she blinks and the cockpit is back.

        "Ah-ri!" she yells at the sight that greets her, what heart she does have leaping into her throat in an almost tangible way, panicked like never before at the sight of the blood on Arriety. She grips the console hard enough that it creaks in distress, though the sound is lost over the warning alarms ringing out in the cockpit. "We should--"

        -- should what?

        She falls silent as Arriety works through the rest of her speech, maybe not fully understanding or resonating with the path of thought that gets her to that conclusion but at least doing her best to accept the line of reasoning. And, really, if she's going to stay true to what she promised Arriety, there's really only one thing she can come up with as the second part of that sentence:

        "--show her what you've got."

        The Zeta's charge leads them through carnage; somewhere to her side she registers the Unicorn falling away, and Callisto's Qubeley on the other side, and the latter terrifies her all over again for a moment before she registers the lifesign descending from it. In the end, all she can do is hold on grimly and place her trust in the other pilot, even when the world abruptly drops out from under them as the pilot of the Banshee is revealed. She chose to trust Arriety long ago; she reaffirmed that trust only recently. She's not about to give up on that now.

KTS: Treasure Chest blocks Knight's Knight Circular Straight, taking 1740 damage!
KTS: Knight roots his unit, coming to a standstill and leaving him vulnerable.

<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.

She watches it be reduced to nothing- the Zaku II, Char's last mask, is carved away by the funnels-

Before the so called second coming of the Red Comet finishes the first.

"<Anzus! The Retrieval Unit, now!>" She yells- It just has to hold him. Hold him long enough that they can get him away and purified. They may not be able to rely on the traditional methods of purification. They have to adapt.

And then she hears that last transmission. "<The Banshee...? Casval!?>"

Judau answers the question for her. "Leina?"

BGM: https://youtu.be/otouU3o---U

And in an instant, what fight Sayla had left in her is torn out. This was her greatest fear, the one that she had held for nearly a decade. And for all Sayla's fretting, she wasn't the reason.

She sees Leina, the hands covering her. She can't doubt it.Martha's words fall on her, but she can't process them. Can't process what's being said.

The anti ship cannon held by the Hi Nu hits the ground with a thud- and so do the Hi-Nu's funnels. She can't breathe, She can't breathe, she can't think. She can't do anything but-

"LEINA!" She screams, all facades fallen, all walls shattered. Those who can feel it know this feeeling. Despair. Hopelessness. Failure.

As Martha lays out her terms, they only get worse. They put a neurotoxin in her suit? Of course they did. Martha Vist has everything she wants. And no reason to hold back, when presented with this hand...

Folding is her only choice. There's a hiss of heat being released as the Hi-Nu's weapons power down, the funnels falling from the air, not even being returned to their mounts.

"Ansuz." It's a false calm in her voice, a practiced coldness. "Give the order to stand down. She's not bluffing." She feels like she already knows Banagher's heart on this. But to give up Mineva, to give up her brother's daughter to save her own- when he's so close to her. So close and so far. Her heart continues to bleed. "Just... Just keep her safe." She doesn't hide her messages. No fancy comms tricks. She can't take that risk.

But can she really -

And then Leina's words lay the final blow that causes Sayla's heart to rupture, all the poison and pus and blood and everything she had left there. "Don't... Pollito, please don't. Please don't say that." Her voice is raw, anguished, her body is shaking. She feels like she's going to throw up. "Just. Once this is over, I'll be there. I promise. So please... please don't say that. Please."

The sheer helplessness. She tries to muster the anger she thought would come. But all that happens is a weak, feeble cry. "As soon as the box is gone... the terms are met. But if Leina doesn't come home safe... If you expose her to more harm..." Her knuckles are weight, clutching her controls. "I will ensure you see your Empire fall to ruin. I promise you." The weakness in her voice is prevalent but... it's not a hollow threat.

She cuts comms immediately on the last word. It would undermine everything if Dakar could hear the sobs that wrack her body as the Hi-Nu stays motionless.

The Second Battle of Dakar, September 0088, 2100 Hours

The battle was intense, and she was not prepared for it. She hadn't piloted since the one year war- but she was the only member of the Shuffle Alliance who could get into Dakar on short notice without drawing the wrong kind of attention. She could observe the Haman Karn situation from there, and alert them if the Shuffles needed to intervene.

Now, she was in a Hover Lander she had stolen, her distress signal blaring.

"God *damnit*, Shuji, Tris, Jamil, one of you respond! I need an evac now-" She reached for a different frequency- Karaba distress. "Audumhla, do you read, Audumhla, do you read? Hayato, it's Sayla, for fucks sake answer!"

It's no good. The Minovsky Pollution is already too much. Her vehicle barely evades it as an MS- a Gundam, maybe- shoots down one of the many Gaza-C's and it crashes as her Hover Lander guns it under it-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlRxAIYy-WU

She hears something, and she looks up in time to see it- a Core Lander making a crash landing in the water- or an island.

She should continue trying to get away. She should be trying to get intel to Karaba or the Alliance...

But someone there cried out for help.

September 0088, 2142

It had taken her time to get there. The distress had gotten louder. On this little island, a newtype was dying and Sayla was the only one in range to help her.

She didn't expect to find a child, bleeding from a gunshot wound. Someone had treated it, but she needed surgery not-

"Roux!" The girl cries out, and Sayla rushes over to her. Whoever Roux is, Sayla won't have a chance to ask her. She's blacked out agained. Carefully, Sayla wraps her in her coat, and lifts her as carefully as she can... The girl is so light and so heavy at the same time.

"...It'll be okay. You'll be okay. I promise." She whispers, and carries her to the hover outside. She can hear a battle starting. She has to drive carefully-

"-yla, Sayla, respond!" It's a gruff older man's voice. She'd know it anywhere.

"Shuji!" She's already driving as she responds on open come. "I need evac, now, I have a wounded child and I need to get her out of here!"

Another voice comes on, with strong French accented English. "I'll get them! I can leave covering our exit to you, oui King of Heart?"

Sayla doesn't hear the rest of the conversation, as the minovsky radiation blocks out the communication again- and then she hears the explosion behind her. The hut the girl was sheltering in, estroyed by a stray shot. She has to get her out of there. looking up just in time to see the Shuffle Diamond flying toward her.

Now the girl had a chance... and Sayla was going to make sure she made up the rest of the odds herself.

"Leina.... Akane... Rikka... Please be safe. Please. Please..."

Dakar is where she had found Leina. Where she had found the most important in her life.

She had never suspected she might lose her there too.

<Pose Tracker> Teletha Testarossa has posed.

<"Confirmation! The Zaku-II is down! I repeat, the Zaku-II is down!"> A new voice comes through Tessa's radio, one familiar to her. Hummer's gruff voice under a sea of static and ambient noise echoed out. <"Uruz 4, heading in for retrieval! Go, go, go! If I don't see that block strung up within the minute, I'll have you all scrubbing the underside of that submarine for barnacles again!

The response is near-instantaneous; Helicopters with wire-guide magnets attached to where a turret would be on their undersides swooping in with practiced motions; Moving low, fast, taking a wide angle for any Jegens and Ankshas afoot. A few soldiers aim rifles at the slightly sunken cockpit, armed and ready as four helicopters descend.

One after the other, the INCOMs fire out, magnets stopping just short of the cockpit itself, an airgapped lift for the cockpit in question. Up and up, flying off the ground.

<"Go! Get it away now! If any of you get shot, expect to get Kalilin's borscht for supper for WEEKS, you hear me!? WEEKS!">" Up and away, pushing and flying off.

<Pose Tracker> Aumerei has posed.

Aumerei shrugs. "Do whatever you want, but I feel like you've been down this road before. I guess we kinda both have?" she transmits to Alouette. Evidently, she's feeling chatty. "Anyway -- I can't really afford to waste more time on you. Nice threat, and I know you'd do it, but we don't really have time for this."

An Anksha -- previously engaged with the Ra Mari II -- drops straight for the Cosmo Robo from an angle and engagement that wasn't in Alouette's plans. The others swarm the Robo all at once, from all angles, moving to detain it as the battle... starts to turn sideways.

The Ra Mari II fires on the Garuda. An Anksha confidently interposes its Jegan, shield and all; the shield melts clean through, and a moment later, the Jegan itself melts clean through. The beam gets most of the way through the Anksha before finally achieving sufficient dispersal; while both machines explode, the Garuda itself remains intact... barely. There's blast scoring along the wing, just the same -- from both the explosion and the shot.

Naoko takes C Squadron apart with relative ease; the buzzsaws cut through, those saucers leaving wreckage in their wake. By the time this is done, the Garuda's MS complement will be cut by more than half, and Naoko's doing a lot to make that 'more than' do some heavy lifting.

Gridknight and Chris both insist on taking them all home -- and Akane glances off. "I guess that's... what you guys do best," she says, noncommittally. "I don't think it's going to work that way this time." A A Jegan interposes itself with Chris at the last moment, carried by an Anksha fully willing to use its partner as a shield for the Garuda rather than itself. (In the end, of course, this kind of thinking never works out. Chris's shouted attack carves through both MS like nothing.)

Aumerei opens comms to the Ra Mari II as debris takes out one of the Garuda's front sensor arrays. The viewscreens flicker as they redistribute sensor load to accommodate. "Looks like we've all got something going on," she says, with that dull chirp she often favors. "Sorry it had to turn out like this!"

Gridknight... Aumerei sighs. "It's Aumerei now," she says, toneless. "I know you think you can help. But I'm not asking you for help, and Treasure Chest can't. Find somewhere else to be." The next words drip out slowly, in a cadence that isn't quite hers. "Hikari~ no~ kyooooooojin~."

Arriety's words... sting in a way that Aumerei -- Akane -- can't quite casually walk her way through. "... yeah. It makes me much worse," she agrees. "The sort of person who sits back while everything goes bad would have to be pretty rotten."

Her gaze tracks out along that flickering viewscreen... but it sounds like it's go time, regardless. The impossible turned possible... "I guess we can't count on deflecting a bond that close," she mumbles to herself, glancing off to one side, the cynicism apparent on her face. She's silent as Martha -- and then Leina herself -- speak. What could she say to make this better? What could she say that would make it worse?

She sits back, delivering a flat request over comms once that sad play is all finished. "Remaining MS wings, return immediately. Bring the Cosmo Robo with you. I think we can service that."

Exhaustedly, she adds, "Deactivating HADES. Reducing psycommu aperture to 0%. Come back, Treasure Chest. Escort the Cosmo Robo." Her gaze flicks over to the brainwave monitor. ... Values not unexpected.

... sounds like she'll be waiting for that permanent armistice.

KTS: Aumerei targets Alouette Pommier with Anksha Saber Formation!

<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.

Roux scores several direct hits. If that was a classical One Year War Zaku II, it would be air pollution now, and even a modernized Geara Doga would be breaking apart. Even so, the machine lives; it endures; but it is wounded. Roux finds her trajectory puts her on the other side of a building, which she grasps with one hand in abject, total surprise. From here, she can see (and also hear and feel the grip point of the Gundam begin to collapse; this building may have been able to bear a Mobile Suit on top, but not a Mobile Suit's weight hanging from one hand).

The immense ray from Sayla. The beam strikes dead on. Roux gazes -- and she can all but hear the scream coming from Char. It *hurt* him. *HURT* - not damaged his machine, caused HIM pain. A few moments later funnels rip and tear at the orange-infused red machine, carving and tearing.

He's trying to say something, but Full Frontal makes his sentiments clear. Roux thrusts her way to stand on the building in a crouch, eyes still on the battle as the Zaku II disintegrates into several large portions. It's going to be silent for hours, unless Roux is really over-estimating the Oath over Omega.

The tactic worked. It worked on *Earth* against *Char Aznable*. Char Aznable infused with incomprehensible powers.

The secret rests in Roux's heart and, if carefully analyzed, the Strike Zeta's black box. There is a moment of shuddering, but Roux does not feel like cheering right now. Something is -

It's not Elpeo!

- coming -

LEINA! STOP IT!

And Roux's mouth hangs open for a moment, just a moment, as pure tremendous shock washes away almost everything else. For a moment it's a total emptiness, but soon enough habit reasserts itself, and the first thing it asserts is discipline and grit - <"Shelby-- I have to get there, get with her-- I'm sorry--"> and the Strike Zeta, though lurching somewhat, is vectoring towards the Double Zeta.

And then comes the signal.

To hide this box, to conceal the whatever-it-is, Roux realizes, they'd go this far. They *already have*. She realizes it while she's moving.

Roux lands the Strike Zeta near the Double Zeta, or at least approximately near - her attention turning to the Mu for a moment, but just for a moment. She looks back towards the screen as Martha finishes her speech.

Leina takes the stage.

To herself, all alone, Roux says: "Martha Vist Carbine."

A power of the stars. Like one of the two self-appointed self-loathing overlords who have bloodied and torn each other apart a few blocks away to determine which of them has the right to command her people.

"I hope you die," Roux says quietly, to herself. "I hope you die in pain. Alone." A beat. And she says one more word: "Slowly."

After this she makes herself pant for breath, reaching up to unfasten the faceplate of her Normal Suit to let the relatively cooler air brush over her sweaty face. She swallows.

Then Roux reaches out with the Strike Zeta's hand. Touch talk; a close connection. She does not speak, herself, but she holds the Hyper Mega Launcher ready in the opposing arm.

Quietly, something in the hip catches fire, but it seems to put itself out after a few seconds.

<Pose Tracker> Marida Cruz has posed.

         As Marida watches from the hangar, her blood runs cold, breath catches in her throat, vision blurs. Puru...was Leina...and now the Vists had both Banagher and Mineva...

         They had failed. The absolute worst outcome had occurred.

         What would the Captain say? She had promised to keep Banagher safe.

         She couldn't even do that.

         As her breath returns, it begins to run ragged. The feather in her mind shook and wavered in the air.

                           The only thing Newtypes will ever be to them are weapons.

         No! That's not true!

                           She said it herself. She's accepted it. Just like you have.

         Leina isn't being given a choice in the matter!

                           And are you saying that you were?

         Even if I didn't want to, I...

                  I...

                           It shouldn't matter what I want.

<Pose Tracker> Crossfire Salem has posed.

As the fighting continues - everything stops to a halt when Martha speaks up, and Crossfire sees the return signal. She's about to retreat, when-

Leina?!

No, no... this isn't what she was told. The poison? Was that there all along? Was that there when she was in it?!

She starts shouting on the mic. Her manager starts scolding her, when- she goes to broadband. Suddenly, she clicks off her voice modulator. To some, the voice is eminently recognizable.

<"MARTHA VIST! THIS WASN'T THE DEAL! You said so much, yet meant so little...you BASTARD! Let her go! She didn't do anything to deserve this! None of them did! If all you wanted was the stupid box, why do you need child soldiers and fucked up robots? Goddamn you! Go to hell! GO TO HELL!">

A line cuts in. It's Crossfire's manager, radioing her personally.

<"Crossfire Salem. You still have a chance. Return witht thte Amabilis, and-">

With that, something snaps. Crossfire suddenly grasps both sides of her metal mask, fingers latching into the locks, as she pulls, and pulls, and as she finally snaps it off, she screams.

"MY NAME! IS! LILITH AIDEN!"

She's defected.

Yet, she has nowhere to go. So, the Amabilis suddenly diverts towards the Toy Box, and...

Sheathes it weapons, lifts its arms up, as Lilith closes her eyes.

"I surrender. Don't harm the Amabilis." Her machine, oon the IFF.

"It's all I have left."

KTS: Treasure Chest partially guards Alto Saotome's AK/VF-M9 Assault Knife Pinpoint Lunge, taking 2565 damage!
KTS: Alto Saotome has engaged Treasure Chest!

<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.

Rena's focus, at the moment, is on the Banshee. The beam saber catches the neck -- carves into it -- until the beam tonfa stops it, with a flash of sparks. The Banshee slams it backward -- a blow at the knee, which sends red boxes cascading across the panoramic display.

Then, a hard blow that slams the Gaia Gear backward. It smashes into the ground, kicking up dirt and dust, and the cockpit flickers as the Banshee moves to its sister Mobile Suit. Rena grits her teeth, grabbing the controlls, and it starts to stand.

'LEINA! STOP IT!'

Rena sees who the pilot was -- the faceplate up, and a very familiar face there. The hollow echoing of clapping hands fills her mind, still; the same vision she saw but a moment more.

Martha speaks, and Rena's heart falls.

UC 0088 -- AXIS

Renalle Kan Zeitun tugged on her uniform's collar. The school uniforms on Axis were, as ever, styled after the military uniforms of Zeon. Little uniforms for little soldiers.

And in the eternal summer of Axis, it meant that it was very hot.

Her mother told her what she needed to do. She needed to speak to this new girl -- brought to Axis, showing Lady Haman's mercy -- and befriend her. She was supposed to be from one of the rural colonies. Renalle did whatever her mother told her. Her mother knew best.

And, if she could just do what she was told... just make her happy, then...

She sucked a breath in, then she stepped into the room. A classroom, with desks, books, and a screen for the teacher. But it was just the two of them. She looked at Leina Ashta, and hesitated for a moment.

Then, she smiled. "...Hi," she said. "I'm Renale Kan Zeitun. I thought... I'd help tutor you. It can be overwhelming here, can't it?"

UC 0097 -- DAKAR

"No," Rena says. It sounds resolute, before her voice starts to break. "No, no no no--we're not giving her up! We're not giving any of them up!" she shouts. "Stop it! Why are you doing this!? What could you possibly get out of this, that makes it worth it?"

She swallows, then looks back at the Banshee Norn -- at Leina -- and her eyes widen.

UC 0088 -- AXIS

Renalle had never had a friend before. She had come to realize that over the last several weeks. Everyone she knew were the children of her mother's friends, but they weren't her friends. Leina was the first one.

She hadn't told her that, though. It sounded pathetic. And admitting something was pathetic...

It felt so like admitting something was wrong.

But she almost wished she didn't have a friend, because she knew what it was to worry, now. She sat down in a room inside Axis, waiting while her mother was in a meeting. Something happened with Lady Haman; something had gone terribly wrong. Leina was nowhere to be seen, and...

And she felt sick to her stomach.

People walked by her, but they didn't pay her any mind. Soldiers and clerks; bureaucrats and technicians. Renalle found people didn't look at her unless she was with her mother. They paid attention when the famous Dr. Zeitun was there, of course.

But she was there. She did hear. And she heard two soldiers talking, as they walked past.

"Security's tight," one said. "You hear? Lady Haman shot her."

"Leina Ashta?" the other replied. "Yeah... guess she must have been a traitor. That's how they are, though. The colonies that didn't rise up with Zeon."

"Yeah. Got what she deserved."

The worry left Renalle. But what replaced it was far emptier. And far, far more crushing. Her fingers trembled as she rose them to her lips, trying to hide the sob that started to bubble up.

UC 0097 -- DAKAR

"C-C'mon, Leina," Rena manages. Her voice trembles with a laugh. No, it's a sob; she feels tears stinging her eyes. "Don't... don't talk like that. It's Banagher and Mineva. You care so much about them both. And..."

She stammers. "It's us. We both made it. We both lived, when so many people didn't. It--it can't end like this."

Her gloved fingers slacken, then fall off the controls of the Gaia Gear Alpha. Her head hangs, tears falling down onto the pants of her normal suit. "It was our miracle, wasn't it?"

KTS: Treasure Chest blocks Seolla Schweizer's Beam Breachgun Storm, taking 1500 damage!
KTS: Lilith Aiden's MSN-05R Amabilis has been disabled.

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

Alto's display, visible from Lucine's point in the sky, draws her attention. Sheryl implores her own message, fighting on a battlefield she never trained for with the skills of impassioned words.

 As Sheryl retreats, Lucine attempts to send her a message: < "... Sheryl... Thank you. I don't know what's going on, but I hope your words got through to the both of them." >

 Maybe, there's a space of words on Lucine's side of the battle as well.

 < ".... You're too good for Hell." > Lucine's words are directed towards Crossfire. < ".... You're fighting for the person you care about. It's... not as if I can't empathize with that." >

 The Dianthus is sparking now, having caught the worst of Crossfire's last attack. It's still able to fly and to attack, and she'll--

 'Banagher! It's not Elpeo!'
 'LEINA! STOP IT!'

 At first, Lucine suspected Leina had piloted in to save the day, placing herself in danger. But that didn't sit right with the earlier comment.

 It doesn't sit right with Leina's own words.

 < ".... L-Leina...." > Leina, the person that showed Lucine a universe inside a single handshake, who gave her the context for dealing with Elisa and Yuliana. Who ran a company working towards the good of many. Who stood up to Dr. Hell.

 Who stood in the middle of a ballroom as static began to cover everywhere, until she was the only one left.

 < "...." > First it was Akane and Rikka. Now... Leina.

 All Newtypes will ever be is weapons. Lucine's mom emphasized as such, even when she was young. Never let anyone know. Never fully trust anyone.

 "...."

 Crossfire is defecting.

 The Dianthus instantly moves to guard the Amabilis. < ".... I don't know what say I have on anything right now, but...." > But the small craft guards Lilith's own, right now.

 < "Right now, this is all I have too..." >

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

<"We're alive."> Banagher broadcasts, once the dust clears, his voice rough. <"We're okay. The Unicorn is down, though. I can't move.">

Eight's warmth reaches him, and Banagher manages a deep breath. He's in terrible shape, mirroring his Gundam. Bruises are already blooming beneath his normal suit, the blood from his nose smeared across one of his cheeks.

Full Frontal actually uses Banagher's name, and praises him, and despite himself, pride sparks in his heart. He doesn't reply, but squeezes his hand shut over his heart. Finally.

Once the Unicorn's internal lights flicker back on, Banagher returns his hands to the controls, trying to work out exactly what they're still capable of. The Gundam shakily begins to move, only for the ZZ to rocket toward them, Judau shouting.

<"What? Judau, I don't under--">

Leina

Everything turns to ice.

Leina

Banagher's heart stops beating. His breath halts.

Leina

<"No, please--"> He whispers, unable to tear his eyes from the Banshee. <"No, no...">

Tears don't come. Aunt Martha--

A gasped breath. He chokes, retching, and rips his helmet off, throwing it to the floor of the cockpit.

Martha Vist-Carbine. Makes her demands. Banagher can only stare, his hands starting to shake where they rest on the Unicorn's controls. It's as though as spell has been cast on the young pilot of the white Gundam, holding him still and silent."

Leina comes onto the screen, and the spell is broken. Banagher screams, wordless agony pouring out of him until his voice breaks and he goes silent.

He misses Martha's threats. He doesn't need to hear it. As if they needed anything more than Leina to force his surrender. As if there was anything Banagher could do against a threat to his own heart.

<"PLEASE STOP!"> Banagher begs, desperate, looking nowhere but Leina's eyes. <"STOP HURTING HER, PLEASE, I'LL DO WHATEVER YOU WANT, JUST STOP--!">

Damn the Box, damn his father, none of it matters. It isn't until Martha mentions Audrey's name that Banagher goes silent again.

Fists clench, releasing the controls. Opening a private line, his voice comes through, frantic and soft. <"Full Frontal. Anyone. Please, come get Audrey, please get her away, I'm begging you, don't them take her too.">

Leina's shattered expression silences him again. Banagher reaches out as she sits up straight, nausea roiling in his body. It's too much. He can't take it, he's going to break apart.

<"That's not true, that's not--"> Banagher's back to a whisper. <"No. No, no no... I didn't -- no, I didn't want -- I didn't mean for--">

"Audrey." Banagher turns to her, physically reaching over to remove her safety restraints. "Get out of the Unicorn. Right now. I'm sorry we're so high up, but you have to--"

A choked-off noise of anguish escapes the young pilot's mouth, knowing it's futile. The Banshee is already approaching. He doesn't have a choice.

<"Sayla, Judau, I'm sorry. I'll get Leina home, no matter what I have to do, I swear it. C--chris, please take care of Haro for me. His enrichment routine is in his files-- nngh."

The Banshee grabs the Unicorn. Time's up. Banagher makes no effort to escape. On the contrary, the Beast of Possibility raises a hand to hold onto her sister, utterly compliant. The Beam Magnum is left behind, dropped into the dirt.

<"Leina, oh god, Leina--"> Banagher projects to her alone. <"I'm so sorry, I'm --"> Finally, he breaks, a flurry of sobs wrenching from his throat. <"Please, don't say-- This isn't your fault, and I swear I'll get you home, okay? I'll get all of us--">

Dakar begins to fade behind them.

<"I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I'm so sorry...">

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

Learning what became of Akane and Rikka on their misfortunate road trip was enough... now Alouette has to hear that the pilot of the Banshee - Puru-1, this whole time... has been...

"L-Leina...?" Alouette chokes out. It doesn't feel possible. They were sitting, on the benches in Tsutsujidai just over a week ago. They discussed what it would take to save Elpeo's soul trpaped in the Banshee, Alouette's own past as a BioNet experiment.

And above all, Alouette promised to live out her second chance to the fullest, in honour of Elpeo and everyone else who never got one's memory. To learn that this whole time, it was Leina being forced to fight, Leina who deserved this chance just as much as she did... it's all so much.

Leina's despair, her conceding that this is the only way things ever have been or can be, is resonant. She can grasps similar sentiments in Akane's cruelty, too, and even Rikka's aggression.

Perhaps it's that lapse in emotion that leads to a retrospectively obvious, yet tiny, tactical hole in her Disc X formation, as one Anksha turns into a swarm of them like roaches to a carcass. It's over, Alouette realizes, as the Cosmo Robo is thoroughly disarmed and detained.

"Fine," she concedes to Akane in one word. "I'm coming with you. Let the rest of the crew go... they have absolutely nothing to do with this." She doesn't have a choice in the matter where she goes, for the time being, it's being escorted by Treasure Chest.

"I hope you realize this doesn't mean I've given up. Not on myself, not on Rikka or Leina... not even you. I don't care how many trips down this road it takes." She glares before ultimately consciousness cuts out from the sheer physical and mental strain of the battle.

KTS: Treasure Chest blocks Sheryl Nome's Gun Pod Barrage, taking 1170 damage!
KTS: Alouette Pommier fails to react to Aumerei's Anksha Saber Formation, taking 6500 damage!
KTS: Alouette Pommier has been defeated!

<Pose Tracker> Garrod Ran has posed.

The Amabilis changes its tactics, deploying its bazookas; Garrod tries to take advantage of the break in the pattern to pull away - melee really isn't working favorably - but he winds up dodging straight into the single-unit crossfire, and the Dijeh SE-R gets knocked flat from the blasts. At the same time, a number of yellow lights on the cockpit displays flare to red, and the few lights which were still green toggle to yellow.

This really ISN'T going well ... and then it gets worse.

A lot worse.

Martha Vist Carbine addresses all of the combatants, mostly those who were opposing her forces. Garrod had already come to the conclusion that the opposing forces were being run by genuine bad guys - whoever the 'Murasame Labs' are that Akane named as those who 'helped' her and Rikka. And one of the enemy pilots is unveiled as a hostage, albeit one who's either been brainwashed or is in the full grip of ... what was it called, when a captive lets their captor inside their head, even their heart?

But there's one positive break in the process: one of the enemy pilots rejects Vist entirely, names herself - not a codename but her REAL name. Lilith Aiden. Garrod is going to need to remember that one.

The battle is over; the Shuffles lost - and their backs are to the wall now. But Garrod brings his MS back to its feet, depowering the beam naginata and stowing it away. "My codename's Circle Blue," he transmits to Lilith on a short-range tight-beam signal. "I'm not sure where I can get you to safety, but - I'll make sure you *do*."

He switches back over to Shuffle frequencies. "Anzus, Heart-2, please advise: Should I bring Lilith to the TDD, or is there a better place for us to house and protect her?"

<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.

It's almost working. Almost. Eight York watches her ship batter through defenses, begin to score the Garuda's very hull. If they can keep at it, perhaps they can push through. And yet...

The viewscreens flicker. That dull chirp of Akane's gets a stony look from Eight. "...I wonder if you really are," Eight answers, before the transmission dies.

But with Banagher down there, in danger, what can they do? "Mobile wing--" Eight starts to make the order to a set of Zentradi warriors to go and retrieve the Unicorn--but she stops short, suddenly. Those words settle in, and the broadcast comes. Eight gasps aloud when the image changes. That face. Those hands. Dismay ripples across the bridge as Licia Chovan, too, sees it. Others. She can't help it; the shock is considerable. It makes her feel nauseous. All along, that horrible presence was...

It was her. The girl she spoke with about such things. But before she can fully feel that betrayal, Vist speaks up, and...

Rezza is the one to stare into the screen hardest, as York is silent through Leina's words. Eight does not respond to Leina's last statement. The talk of 'taking away their ability'. She responds to the rest. The only thing, that nothing will change....

"I don't believe any of that," Eight York says over the radio to Leina. "Not a single damned word." She has to keep her composure, long enough. "...But..."

Alouette's machine, too. Eight's shoulders sag. She doesn't see a way out. No daring strategy, no clever maneuvering.

"Rezza," she says, just to the bridge. "Anything?"

Rezza shakes their head. Still only audible on the bridge, "...No more than you have, Captain. Even if we were willing to sacrifice her, we'd be alone."

Quietly, "And we're not," Eight confirms. "No..."

"But," Eight says over the radio after all, to finish her thought, "...We acknowledge your terms."

"All 3SA forces. This is Captain York. You are hereby ordered to withdraw to the ship. Repeat, this is Captain York. All 3SA forces, withdraw."

Her mind calls out, her heart calls out, to Rena. 'I'm sorry.'

She has no time for most of these revelations; 'Dr. Deikun?' How much of her personal life does Vist know, thanks to their hostage?

Mobile weapons pour back to the Ra Mari II, fewer than left it in the first place but still a great many. They have suffered losses, this fight. But perhaps they will not have to suffer more. But what can she say, that she can't find Puru Two? What can she say to let her own sister be lost?

"Banagher," Eight answers, her voice strained. "Just... Hang on. Hang on to them." She doesn't know what she will figure out. She doesn't know what she can do. But there must be something.

"Captain, what do... what do we do?" Tempo turns, to look at Eight, his eyes wide. This isn't what he signed up for.

"Today," Eight says wearily, "We lose. And we live. Tomorrow..."

"Tomorrow, I don't know yet." She looks down. "Keep red alert until we clear Earth," Eight instructs. "...Chovan, get us out of here." Astelian, meanwhile, looks back to his station. "Y-yes, ma'am..."

When all those who need to be are back aboard the ship... the Ra Mari II will start to advance into the atmosphere, weapons at the ready in case of another betrayal.

Tomorrow... She doesn't know.

<Pose Tracker> Treasure Chest has posed.

The Mu Gundam grasps the Double Zeta's head. She doesn't reply, even as it struggles - even as it challenges her to let go. She holds tight. But then the struggling intensifies - and Gridknight declares that he won't let her. If she doesn't do anything, the damage that he'll inflict will be severe. She's forced to make a choice - and ultimately, she chooses to release the Double Zeta and focus on defense as Gridknight comes for her with the Knight Circular Straight. It digs into the casing of the Armed Armor - but she shifts her shield at the last moment to retrieve it before it can be cut right through entirely.

Alto's Variable Fighter comes in to drive its knife right into the Mu Gundam. She shifts, raising her shield - and the knife punches right through it, burying through it and into the Mu Gundam's armor.

"...This world is cruel. I'm fighting it the only way I can!" Treasure Chest retorts. "I'm already wide awake!"

Of course, there's someone here's who's heard the things she's said many, many times before.

"Seolla..." Treasure Chest. ...This is the first time she's said her name this whole encounter. "...Maybe you do know. But it doesn't change anything! This is who I need to be!"

Seolla charges, blasting the Mu Gundam with her breachgun. It shudders back.

And Sheryl... She doesn't understand.

"...This is the only way I can help Akane. That's all. You don't need to understand more than that! You shouldn't-" Treasure Chest stops herself. "You shouldn't put yourself at risk like this!"

Sheryl says that she'll get out of here, like she asked. She fires at the funnels - and they don't move to stop her as she moves to retreat.

...And with Sheryl gone, Treasure Chest raises her Beam Smartgun. The funnels return to their formation. Energy builds, and builds, and builds, and she takes aim...

...Certainly she's charged enough to finish them, at this point.

But before she fires...

HADES is deactivated. The red sensors return to their normal color - the overheating vents slowly start to cool. The built energy dissipates, and she lowers her weapon.

"...Understood." Treasure Chest nods. The influence of HADES slowly starts to retreat. "...I'm exiting the battlefield to escort the Cosmo Robo."

The Mu Gundam turns, leaving them behind to do what's been asked of her with no further violence.

<Pose Tracker> Mineva Lao Zabi has posed.

Mineva... is grateful to be alive, right now. That seems to be the only solace she can take in this. She closes her eyes a moment. "I'm... okay," she confirms to Banagher, lying. She's in a lot of pain after all that, and she's afraid to move too much and find out just how badly she's hurt.

Judau screams. It's not Elpeo... it's Leina.

The light disappears from Mineva's eyes.

Where Banagher pleads and begs, she remains silent, shocked, disbelieving, until Leina's face appears on the screen. The sight makes her choke, the well-worn paths of her tears running with a new cascade of sobs.

She just buries her head against her knees as her seat restraints are undone, instead of making any move to leave. There's a deep undercurrent of guilt. Responsibility.

Resignation.

Everything they've done... and it's all amounted to nothing. Nothing but pain for the people she loves most.

Tears tap-tap-tap against the visor of her helmet. She doesn't move.

<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.

Yes. This is working. She's doing it! She's all set to make a big comeback and turn it all around. So go the thoughts of Nova Stellar, who by measure of her success in striking back against her aggressors estimates that she's about to work another miracle here. Except...

Except that there's more going on in this battle than just her little corner of it. Martha Vist speaks. Leina Ashta is revealed to be the Banshee's pilot. Terms are laid down. Eight gives her orders.

Without any fanfare, the saucers return and reconnect with the Sukeban. Its pilot is complying. And that... should be all, shouldn't it?

'It has nothing to with me. I don't know these people. This shouldn't mean anything to me.'

Naoko can repeat the familiar refrain that kept her safely sequestered from emotional attachments all she wants. It won't work for her, not this time. Whether she likes her or not, her mind is working on its own, connecting pieces of the puzzle from all the loose threads she sees before her. The reactions to a tragedy - a travesty, that affects so many on such a deep level. It's impossible to not feel anything. To not want to fix this, somehow. But what can she do...?

On top of everything, she can see Alouette's Cosmo Robo being taken. Can't she even do the one thing she'd set her mind to accomplishing today, to safeguard one single pilot? She's right there, maybe she could...

>"Nova... no. You can't. Not right now."<

That's what her Friends are there for. To spur her into action as needed... and to stop her from taking action as needed. Instead, Naoko vents her frustration by slamming a fist down on her instruments.

"Damn it! Don't think this is over...!" she shouts to no one. This, all this... everything is wrong. It needs to be made right again. She needs to do something to help make it right again. But, for the time being... the Sukeban momentarily slumps, then its thrusters flare to life, retreating from the battlefield.

<Pose Tracker> Sousuke Sagara has posed.

The collilsion of forces explodes with lights that don't come from the world. It's not full Lambda Driver resonance, either, but the field does something that it sure doesn't normally do, rippling and crackling in eyebending ways. In the end, the blast fires straight through, nearly scrapping Amabilis, but her retort does similar work to Arbalest, twin forces plowing into and through each other. One of Arbalest's arms goes flying, the chest armor scrapes open, showing the twisting and jerking Muscle Packages that drive an ARM Slave. A small rent in the cockpit might just reveal Sousuke Sagara's face, if not for the monitors behind it. Arbalest crumples to one knee. The music stops. <<Class A damage to the entire frame. Sergeant. We have to-->>

"This...we CAN'T ALLOW THIS, AL!"

<<Sergeant,>>

"You agreed!"

<<Yes. But-->>

"So WHY IS THIS USELESS MACHINE STUCK HERE AGAIN!?"

<<-->>

Silence, on the internal line. Partly, because he has no answer. Partly...partly because Martha Vist Carbine reveals her play.

The helpless rage in Sousuke is tampered down mostly by shock. He makes a frustrated noise in his throat, and then SCREAMS, slamming his helmeted face into the monitor. "YOU! DO YOU THINK YOU'RE SAFE!? I'LL--"

the chilling orders from Sayla. From Tessa. The smug assurance of a poisoned cockpit. Sousuke doesn't even hear Hammer ordering people to handle the extraction of Char, not with all this going on. He grits his teeth, ice and fire in every nerve. He manages, with difficulty, to force Arbalest to its feet, but, he can't...DO anything!

And while he's steaming about that, a quiet voice echoes in the cockpit. <<Leina...>>

Sousuke nearly bites his tongue off in attempting to keep it calm. "...compromised," Sousuke husks.

<<She's...she said it was voluntary, but...>>

"No," Sousuke says. Arbalest's shoulders shake. "People can be made to say things they don't mean."

<<I...>>

Sousuke watches, helplessly, as this horrible woman's forces drag his friends away, barely able to move.

<>

With a clearer mind, Sousuke might note the exceptional meaning of such a phrase coming from the thing he calls a machine. Instead, he quivers with his own anger. "Affirmative," he says.

<> AL says, changing subjects without signalling. But Sousuke knows the meaning.

"We'll do it together," he says.

Long seconds pass.

Sousuke sighs first. "Uruz Seven. Returning to base."

<<........affirmative.>>

Arbalest turns, and makes for the rendezvous. It's a long time before it moves from a walk to a jog.

<Pose Tracker> Christina MacKenzie has posed.

Anksha. Not enough. None of it, none of it could stop her blaze. Could barely even slow her down. Sparkles fell from the sky, from the Tristan, from the glowing molten fragments of those Ankshas

 Those blades, ready to cut a battleship apart, to disassemble it hand over fist if she had to, they...freeze.

 The Banshee. Luio. Leina, Michele, Leina told her, about Michele, about Rita, Leina listened, the only person...there at Bernie's... No but, the pilot...how could...two places at...but...

 The blades, stilled, begin to move again, recklessly, violently, shaking.

 <" I ' l L k I lL Y oOuU U ">

 The Tristan blazes. That balanced white light from its spine, that hum of gallantry, turns into a deep keening grind, spitting out orange, pink, red. The pilot's heart isn't the only one palpitating.

Chris smashes heavily on her console, trying to get even two percent, three percent more, to push past. But the resonance compensation doesn't work that way, and she screams in frustration, roaring over the entire city.

 But the instant the neurotoxin is said, in that dull, disinterested voice...

 The blades extinguish.

 Ankshas tackle and crow d the Tristan, restR
ain it.

 No matter. it's silent. One finger tip floats up towards the Banshee and the Unicorn, as the slow bobbing of the Tristan weighs down the smaller convertible suits.

 That's the last sign of life or light.

The Anksha comms mutter a buzz about what they're supposed to do with this one--take it anyway? But when one tries to lift the Tristan upwards, it finally thrashes
like a rabid dog, and speeds off acro ss the ocean. There are n't words.
wha cou ld words ev

<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.

        Violence is the method. Rikka's copying him, now. And Judau --

        "Shit."

        It's a crass reaction to Martha's revelations; don't ask how he gets it, but to know, again, that the crux of the metaphor is communication.

        Zeon Deikun... Dr. Deikun.

        Sayla.

        Martha threatens her with neurotoxin, and Knight remembers the feeling of the DG Cells, worming in from his hands towards his heart.

        "Is this really what you need?" He asks Leina, unmoving.
        "Or is it only what you think you need?"

        If she knows, she knows. If she doesn't --

        Crossfire Salem -- Lilith Aiden's -- betrayal washes over him, another wave to break the shore. An information game played on many levels. Alexis Kerib, he thinks, is here. It would be kind to say he is fierce, thinking of it, but the fear stabs right in from his eye.

        His hands flex to fists, gripping tightly; the way his teeth grit is carried in the hiss of his voice, if not the stoicness of his suit. He can hear Banagher, giving up. He can hear Rikka, too. But the voice that keeps echoing in his head is, "Akane Shinjo... I know... what you're trying to do," and he sounds close to crying, though it's only carried in the tremble of his shoulders and his fists. "You..." Succeeded. She's hurt him. It hurts.

        Because it's what he told her, when he pulled her from the abyss.

        He wanted to go here.

        (Where she needed help.)

        He looks away. "Rikka Takarada," he hisses, voice low. "I'm trusting you." Trusting her with what..?

        His fists only tighten, as he adds, "Alouette Pommier..."

        Damn it. Damn it. "Damn it!" Gridknight cries, and turns, sharply, from the battle. "I'm leaving. I won't follow you. But if any of them are hurt, you'll regret it."

        He takes off, at a run.

        The lamp at the centre of his head flickers.

        A young man runs through the streets, instead.

<Pose Tracker> Arriety Hearn has posed.

        Puru Two tells her to not panic, but panicking is the only thing Arriety's really good at?! No, she doesn't, though; she's too locked up in her Eyes Phenomenon to really panic -- panicking isn't a thing she's capable of in that mode, so coated under a wet towel is she on anything else that isn't the object of her obsession at present. It's messed up all on its own, without needing a Murasame Institute or a Glemy Toto.

        She doesn't dwell on that fact for long.

        "... I get it, sis. See you... see you back home," she murmurs, not even brooking the possibility of her not making it back. Don't freak out about getting angry.

        War sucks.

        "... it sure does."

        But she listens deep to Judau as he cuts in -- that it's not Elpeo. It's not...

        Suddenly, realisation dawns on her, in a way that sinks in deep mere microseconds before the Double Zeta flares in red and the words are dropped.

        ...

        ...

        In an instant, Arriety is thrown back to being wounded after the battle in Palau; she's thrown back to talking to Leina at that time, who brought her a tupperware box of bulgogi. She's brought back to thinking about how they're both scarred, in their own ways.

        Martha plays her trump card.

        The image, of the shaded pilot's helmet. Leina's face. No, more than that... the hands. So many hands, covering her body, latched on, twisting her about; whatever despair Arriety felt before, it's doubled now; despair, leading into anger, leading into...

        Martha's words wash over her, and with every syllable she speaks, she feels that anger roiling into a boil, as if every word sizzled against the surface of her burning skin. She throws her hood down, takes her gloves off; the ache of her mangled arms feels more palpable than ever. She warns her to not pursue, or Leina will be poisoned, where she will fight to her death.

        The NT-D shuts off, and the loudspeakers come on. Despite the battle still raging on in parts, it feels as if everything has come to an extremely cold denouement. Leina begins to speak... and it's impossible to not feel anything. Arriety's grip has become so tight on the controls that she-- she--

        She checks on Minae, first and foremost; it's startling to her that the Brave Counselor has to reboot as much as she does, not immune to shock and wear and tear just as she is. But it's too much. She can't... she can't...

        She does. She lifts at the cockpit hatch and actually pries it open, the Zeta's chestpiece pushing forward as she steps out and holds onto a handle, her hoodie and hair flaring at the battleworn air of Dakar. Her gloves are completely off.

        She's showing her burn scars, in full view. It's something they've shared. Leina and her scars; and her own. It's meaningful, at this moment.

        "You expect me to believe that, Leina?! You expect me to believe all this time, every battle you've been fighting, every time you've risked your life, and there was really just a lukewarm defeatist attitude in your heart?! That you were just patronising me of everything we shared when you visited that infirmary?! You expect me to believe you yourself trampled on Elpeo's memories, the girl Glemy so manipulated against you, all of your own free will?! Do you even think you're protecting your loved ones right now?! Because I can feel Judau and Dr. Mass' feelings right now, and they sure as hell aren't being protected!"

        She's shouting so hard that her voice is giving way; she's biting her lip so hard she's drawing blood. She's going to just tumble off the edge of the Zeta's plank if she's not careful.

        "You know, Leina... hey, Leina..." her head is spinning at a million miles, with everything that she's put it through. "I used to think just like that. That the world is dark and violent, and that I wanted no part of it... that maybe if I just grabbed hold of everyone I loved and looked away, that everything would be fine."

        The twisted expression suddenly latches onto her face.

        "That didn't fucking work! Everything leaked out like a sieve and it sucked! And it's not going to work for you either!"

        Azure thrusters start to fire on the back of the Armed Armor, and it takes all of Arriety's self-restraint to not instinctively fling herself to her death in a vain attempt to fly like a bird after her, forgetting that she has no wings.

        "Don't you dare leave! Don't you dare! LEINA!"

        Her voice is useless in the wind, as the MS wings pull back; as Banagher is... forced to leave alongside them, Audrey with them.

        And it turns out, left to her own devices, her rage impotent and useless and meaningless, all she can do is imagine Martha Vist Carbine's voice ringing against her eardrums, the way she speaks, the exact quality of her voice...

        "You rea~lly didn't need me after all. I was just a distraction," Myrme coos from the reflection of a nearby safety mirror on the side of the Zeta's released hatch. "You beautiful little kaiju wearing human flesh."

        There's always a deeper wellspring of hatred for despair to drink from.

<Pose Tracker> Christina MacKenzie has posed.

<Maintenance-Assisting Independent Repair Operant has posed>

 Captain Eight York receives an audio transmission.

 The call is coming from inside the ship. Hangar P6B.

 It's warbled, repeating, but finally is translated.

 "Her hope. All three. All three. All three. All three. All three."

<Pose Tracker> Teletha Testarossa has posed.

Pushing, pushing, pushing through. To make sense of it all, to try and keep herself relatively above water. She's doing her best, gulping as the sweat creeps on the back of her neck. A slow, steady, controlled hand as the submarine accelerates, brushing the strands of her braided hair across her nose. We'll make it. We always have.

The radio blares. Messages coming through, words of acknowledgement. They give her hope. Comfort. Every word is a boost to her own confidence, to her own morale. Even if Sayla is dealing with her brother, that means...The weight is on her shoulders. It's mildly comfortable by now. Naoko's affirmation. Seolla's own words. Sousuke's confirmed activation. Doing her best to keep everything on track, to keep the Garuda on track.

Hummer does his thing. It's so nice, to have allies to depend upon. Mithril coordination may have its downsides, but they always keep their word. Char Aznable is being towed away, wrested from Dakar...

The sentiment of brotherly love knocks her into a minor loop. Jolting in surprise, eyes widening at the sheer psychic scream across the city. What was it? What wa- Leina?

...Leina?

"Slow to five knots!" Mardukas, taking command.

Leina. It's as if the world has taken a breath. Leina. DANA's screen pushes the information aside, pulling up the Empress of the Moon for the TDD-1's bridge to see. The sight of Leina occupies the other half. It's her. It's Leina. Banshee. Puru-1. Things clicking into place one by one.

"...Not her." A faint whisper. The terms. The ceasefire. Of course she couldn't fight that. It only made logical sense. Three people for the lives of many. The utilitarian way. ...There was no way to counter this. not more people

A breath. One after the other. Watching, unable to do anything as people were taken. As the grand crusade she heard so much about was pulled out from everything. Cruelty.

you are worth the effort damn it

It's an internal scream she can't act on. There's duties. There's common sense. There's the chains of rationality to keep herself centered, the weight of command sloughed onto her shoulders.

Sayla's message comes clear. Her eyes stay on the screen, staying until the Unicorn is gone. Staying until the Banshee is gone.

<"This is Diamond-2 of the Shuffle Alliance. Stand down. Weapons restrained. Anyone who disobeys will be neutralized."> A short, curt, restrained command. The PRT units stand down, pausing in place before sheating its weapon. <"Whomever is nearby, please help Sayla to the Toy Box. Coordinates will be sent."> Deikun? Dr Deikun? ...No, she couldn't place such a name on the woman she looked up to.

A single viewscreen towards the Cosmos Robo. A few lives for many. It hurts it hurts it hurts so much so bad so empty how can emptiness be this uniquely scathing A breath. Keep oneself steady.

"The Amabilis is surrendering."
<"...Restrain the unit, and ensure the safety of the pilot. Bring them in."> There's no reason to distrust a defector. If they defect back...No. Don't be pessimistic.

Not when everything is crumbling.

<"All units in Dakar. This is the Toy Box...I'm not the person to be saying this, but I'm sorry."> Don't make any promises. <"..."> Don't make any reassurances that you know you can't cash.

<"..."> Don't crumble when your entire crew is looking at you. <"..."> You're on the job. Push this feeling down for later. <"..."> A commander can't be shown to be in distress when there's only them left. <"...All Shuffle units, you are free to board the Toy Box. I don't want to be here any longer than anyone else.">

there is nothing more painful than the void where something was

<Pose Tracker> Shelby Korts has posed.

She stands watch over what's left of Char's cockpit bloc, her hands trembling on the controls. She could do it -- the firing solution would be easy. Pop him right here and now, and then the vengeful ghost of the Red Comet would be torn to pieces. Surely he'd not be able to resist being shot *and* crushed, right?

 But then as the team moves in to retrieve him-- as she gets to focused on her own thoughts and her own anger, the revelation is upon them:

 It's Leina in there.

 At first, she's shocked-- her eyes wide and then lowering. How could this--? How did they have any clue? When did she... when did Vist-Carbine actually...

 She could do it -- her Funnels could take the shot, too; Shelby's mind flooding with the mental tweaks and nudges and shortcuts that would send the funnels up into the sky to just end it. She doesn't, her gaze instead drifting down, eyes searching for anything. Answers. Information. A way to shake loose the pounding in her skull, even.

 The only thing Shelby can hear, for a moment, is her own breathing, the sound of her own pulse pounding in her skull. And then her head turns. Sayla...

 <"On it, Toy Box."> The pink-haired newtype's voice is forced to be anything other than a harsh whisper of a reply, through trembling, clenched fingers. Quickly, the shredded Jagd Doga makes a few short skipping movements to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Hi-Nu.

 "Doctor Mass-- we have to go."

 The scrambled displays try to highlight the retreat, and her eyes narrow beneath her visor.

 "We'll get her back. ... I owe her."

BBSYS: Post 925, 'OPENING: Char Aznable' has been published to Character Announcements by Beam Coat.

<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.

        "Leina...?!"

        As if the situation couldn't get more confusing, Sheryl's comms come alive with a new familiar voice--one insisting that she's doing this of her own free will even after she was introduced as a hostage. Sheryl doesn't know Leina well, but she does know her, and this doesn't seem like her at all. Not that young woman who shoved the harsh realities of the world into the faces of the rich and complacent.

        But is Sheryl much better the way she is now? She doesn't know any better about this than she does about Rikka or Akane's current situation. All she knows is that something is terribly, horribly wrong... and that there's nothing she can do about it.

        Gritting her teeth, Sheryl turns away and focuses on getting out of here safely so she can leave all of this to the professionals--even as it's getting decided that the best thing to do is cut their losses and go with this baffling, hideously human enemy. She can't even look as Alouette submits herself to them, too. Lucine's transmission makes it through, and she murmurs, "...I hope so."

        Somehow, it feels far more bitter now than it did that day the Vajra attacked the Frontier.

<Pose Tracker> Judau Ashta has posed.

The Double Zeta tears across the battlefield. Strands of pinkish-red bleed into the blue of its rocket thrust, the will power of the Double Zeta's pilot supplementing and powering the dying machine past its breaking point.

But even will can only do so much, in situations like this.

The Double Zeta cannot defy the oppressive bondage of gravity -- not for long enough. Soon enough, the Gundam hits the streets violently, its impact kicking through concrete like it was so much butter to be churned as the machine almost bowls over in its approach. Within the cockpit, Judau rocks back and forth with the violent turbulence of his landing, feeling a shoulder dislocate from the impact. It's distant; it's all so distant, words from Sayla, from Banagher and Roux and everyone else sounding like so much static in his ears.

It's not even close to truly reaching the shrinking form of the Banshee, as its Destroyer mode disengages. He can see it clearly now. Why it felt like Elpeo, and yet not. Why it had all the negativity of the poor girl so used and abused by Glemy Toto, and yet none of the good.

Why the pilot in the Banshee had been -so desperate- for him not to see.

He understands, now. Why does he always understand too late--?

Hanging within the cockpit seat of the Double Zeta, Judau yanks the accelerators back and forth, back and forth. The Gundam doesn't budge. "C'mon c'mon c'mon--" Back and forth, back and forth. The Gundam doesn't budge.

"Don't do this to me, don't do this, don't -- just fucking MOVE!"

Pink sparks within the Double Zeta. Courses up through one arm from its kneeling position. It reaches out one, sparking, struggling hand.

But she's too far away. Just like last time. Just like--

Someone called 'Martha' is gloating, and setting down terms. Judau yanks the secure straps of his seat loose, freeing him to gravity's embrace; he hits the control console of the ZZ with a "ump--!" and the painful feeling of his ribs rebounding off hard metal. He coughs once, wetly, before he scrambles to force an emergency opening of the cockpit hatch.

        A shame you failed her when it comes to the most important lessons a young woman need learn to survive in a man's world.

"SHUT UP!" Judau Ashta's voice suddenly broadcasts, heard and felt in turn as the fire of his anger stokes. "Just shut UP! You got no place and no right to lecture her! No one wants to listen to a single damn thing comin' from an asshole like you!" Gripping onto the dangling straps of his seatbelts with his gloved hands, Judau's teeth grit.

"You think you got some great reason for all this sleazy shit you do?! Well that just makes you more pathetic! An' I've got NO TIME to spare on some moron who can't even realize that!"

He braces.

"I'm only talking to Leina!"

And then, body screaming in protest, Judau uses those harness straps to -swing- towards the opening doors of the Double Zeta. He hits the edge, stumbles forward, and -grips- the top of the opening, feeling something like cracked ribs straining and worsening as he chokes back a sound of pain.

Months ago, he abandoned the ZZ to get to the Unicorn, to try to help calm Banagher down -- to rescue Leina. Now...

... Now, the winds of Dakar whip at brown hair, sand and dirt stinging at blinking eyes as Judau watches the Banshee start to retreat -- leaving Leina's words, and Banagher's apologies drifting in the air. His teeth grit. Green eyes squinting against the wind, Judau's body demands he stop -- but his heart's always had a hard time listening to his head.

And that's why it shouldn't be any surprise that he makes the leap to that outstretched arm again. His chest hits its immense, damaged bicep; he feels his palm cut against a jagged stretch of shorn armor as he grips tight. He ignores the pain as he drags himself -up-, and -runs- to that open palm.

Last time, he was able to reach the Unicorn. Now...

Now they're both so far away, as Judau grasps onto the index finger of the Double Zeta, forced to listen to Leina's painful parting as she drags Banagher, Mineva and the Unicorn away with her.

                        Just stay home Judau, live your life, forget about me. I'm not worth your effort...
                                ...and I never have been.

"TO HELL WITH THAT!"

Judau shouts against the winds. So far away from his cockpit, he can't broadcast his voice. But he shouts from the top of his lungs, even knowing his voice can't carry. Because he knows he'll be heard. One way or the other.

"That's the stupidest damn thing you've ever said! Way stupider than any of the stupid shit I've said!" I'm such a bad girl, Leina had said all those years ago. Telling all those lies. At this rate...

"I don't accept any of that! I'm not gonna forget -any of it-! I never will! You know what you'd do, if you saw me pulling an idiot stunt like this?! You'd drag me back home by the ear! You'd bring me back, you'd set me right! And that's what I'm gonna do for you! Leina! I'm gonna find you, I swear it! I'm gonna find you, and I'm gonna drag you back - ALL of you - and I'm gonna show you how dumb you're being right now! Because--

"Because I'm not livin' a life you're not a part of!!"

His throat aches; and as he heaves out those final, hoarse words -- Judau collapses onto his knees on the palm of the Double Zeta, exhaustion creeping up on him as his gloved hands hold onto that finger for support. The Banshee is gone, by now. All that's there with him is the Strike Zeta - is Roux - at his side, and the others...

He looks over at the Strike Zeta, so close. And his hands clench, tremblingly tight, against the ZZ's finger.

"I'm gonna find you, Leina... I will. I will..."

<Pose Tracker> Seolla Schweizer has posed.

Time crumbles like sand in Seolla's palms.

 Her voice, too hoarse and scratchy to truly hear, barely manages to let out a shuddering "L...Leina...?" at the unveiling of the Banshee's secret. ...She just saw Leina, the other day - how can - to what depths did they get Leina to-

 Memories fire off in her mind like shotgun wounds.

>I'm sure that your name was Mirella, why won't you remember?<
 >That's the 8th signal...no matter what they do to me, I'll have a way back.<

 Fingers clawing at her own face - one that feels like a fruit from which tears spurt as its overripe juice.
 >Then I tell you what. I'll get your argumentative self back. Do you trust me? It's going to feel like I'm bullying you a bit. I just can't stand knowing that you didn't have a choice but to 'let' them do that to you.<

 Eyebrows knitting together. It feels like a roiling ball of flame is growing in Seolla's belly.

 It's right when she thinks that she has to quell it. To survive. To make it back home. To push that down into where she can cry about it later -

 That Martha's voice, so different, and yet so [similar] to what still haunts Seolla's dreams, forces it right back up.

 The sound is borderline inhuman. Gurgling, trembling, throat so raw that it can only be painful to speak. "I know...I KNOW...what you've DONE to them. I know every second they've endured. I know every fight they've lost with themselves. I know every lie you have to have told them! I know EVERY WAY YOU CRUSHED THEIR SPIRIT."

 Jaw hanging open, the fury gives way to Seolla's own flattened heart. When Alouette and Banagher and Mineva get no choice but to surrender to this horrible maelstrom of...of...

""re-education""

 There's no amount of strength that could stop Seolla sobbing for a while. High up above the world, seeing everything play out, yet caught on a thermal updraft of fate pushing her away - not strong enough to fight back. Not strong enough to risk the fall.

 <^v--crash--^v\ - goes the sound of Seolla's fist shattering one section of the panorama's cockpit displays - palm quickly coated in blood. Arm shaking as her hand grips unwisely at cables and tubes within, searing but fading arcs of electricity surging up her nerves for just a moment.

 "...but don't you all have piss poor luck? ...since you've made an enemy of me...and my little collection of all the ways you can maim a person's heart. Martha Vist Carbine..."

 Seolla's quaking lips contort into a tense, unnatural smile.

 "I'll become someone who doesn't think twice before killing anyone like you."

<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.

After Alto's Messiah drives its knife into the Mu Gundam's armor, the Battroid continues to fall past the other machine. It spins around in the air, raising its damaged shield in preparation of the counterattack that appears to be coming.

 But it doesn't.

 Events play out quickly and confusingly, though Alto doesn't grasp the specifics, he's able to piece enough together to frown both in concern and sympathy. Still, just what the hell is happening on this planet!?

 As signals of retreat begin to pop up amongst the forces arrayed here, Alto considers that he has fulfilled the requirements of this sudden contract... Which means he can get the hell out of here before something worse happens.

 The Messiah quickly transforms back into fighter mode as it falls, engines lighting up as it angles itself and rockets away from the battlefield. Seeing the signal from Sheryl's machine still coming in strong and leaving the area, Alto feels relief flood into him. He pushes his throttle forward, moving to catch up with Sheryl.

 Coming up on Sheryl's wing, Alto turns to look through the canopy towards her cockpit, <"That was idiotic! You could have gotten yourself killed!"> His words are harsh. But there is a definite tone of relief mixed into his voice too.

<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.

When Judau looks towards the Strike Zeta --

The palm is already upraised towards him, and Roux has opened the cockpit. "C-come on already," Roux calls across the space. "You're gonna fall!"

There is subtext beneath what she's saying. There's tears on her face. Frustrated tears; sympathy echoed. She might not have heard everything Judau said exactly, word for word, but oh - yes - she got the idea.

"Come on," Roux chokes. "I got the first aid kit!!"

At least tending to the cuts and gashes from clambering on a badly damaged Mobile Suit are something she *can* do for Judau, right now.

<Pose Tracker> Aumerei has posed.

Aumerei tries her hardest to shut out Knight's misery. She had to fight so hard to be able to tell him she wanted him at her side in an honest way -- a kind way -- as family. She has to push him away again, though -- and she has to hope, desperately, that it doesn't crush his spirit to be pushed away again.

Alouette begs for the rest of the Cosmo Robo's crew to be let go. "Dr. Murasame really only wants you. Anksha Team, let them. We have no actual beef with 3G."

Pushing so many people to the edge. Feeling their hearts break the way a human feels a heart breaking, and not the way a kaiju feels a heart breaking. All for the sake of -- what? Bearing up against this... static, cruel world? The sake of pushing their hearts to-and-beyond the limits imposed on them? To fight against an enemy that turns things like 'hearts' and 'morals' and 'courage' into weapons -- an enemy that she has no capacity to fight on...

... her...

... own.

I'm kind of curious why you don't like the Aura of Dawn, though.
I'm quite fond of the miracle of a believing heart.

"Aumerei leaving post," she says, immediately and with an unusual sense of urgency for how she's acted on this ship. Switching her headset's channel to address Dr. Murasame's office instead, she says, "I need to use the little kaiju's room! It might be a half hour before I can post-mortem this one with you," forcing that chirpiness again -- and cutting him off before he can tell her to delay, swapping channels again.

<Pose Tracker> Puru Two has posed.

In the wake of the Qubeley's destruction, there is ... nothing. No emotional tug, no great sigh of spirits freed. There is the sagging creak of collapsing metal on the streets of Dakar, as old Zeonic engineering is triumphed over by new Federation engineering. A tale as old as time, for most adults in the Earth Sphere.

From the tenth floor of an office block, a single figure in a 3SA normal suit clings with both hands overhead to a length of storm-drain piping, silently counting the seconds as she slowly works towards a less tenuous position. A shuffling of one hand. And another. Cursing the smooth construction, the lack of window ledges. The contrived comedy of it all! To survive such a close call and then wind up in so sad a situation. Puru Two, you understand, does not find the funny side to it.

"Eight? Arriety? Anyone listening?" she repeats the question, the microphone at her throat picking up and transmitting exactly nothing, for it is broken. "I'm on the Council building, about--damn, a hundred feet up?"

The blood is going to struggle to get up there, and her grip won't last forever. She'll have to make her own luck. Hand over hand, she continues to move. Deaf to the struggles of her kin and the world. Oblivious to what is to come. She squints once as the high whine of a turbine engine tickles her ears, but the sound fades. Whatever it was, it isn't looking for stragglers.

                      You know why you're hanging here, right now...?

                                    Because you're weak.

"I guess I see the Unicorn, leaving... I think. I can't see Arriety's Zeta... but I would've felt if it got shot down, so..." Puru Two muses to herself, distracting herself from the severity of the situation. When one's internal monologue becomes external, well, that's not usually a good sign.

But what Puru Two hasn't counted on, dear reader, is that she might still be surprised and shocked by something. Even if her allies are unscathed, escaping, that there might still be a stunner waiting in the wings. And wouldn't you know it? The little psychic with the circlet, trying to make her way over to where those pipe sections join so she can shimmy down from her perch, catches a firmly out-of-body experience.

Namely, she is visited by the feeling of sudden proximity to a presence she hasn't felt in a long while now. Leina Ashta. The presence magnified and projected through the dark warpings of both the Vist Foundation's fel work, and the Banshee's hateful circuitry. Familiar enough to be certain, but different enough to be... alarming. She is not treated to words and phrases, no, but she feels these things in waves of *vibes*. Betrayal. Confusion. Hopelessness. The ultimate centrist darkness at the heart of the Federation, given form!

"The hell--" she spits the words in confusion, trying to piece together a story. But unfortunately for young newtypes with great power, and weakened defenses, sometimes you don't get to choose what bits of information are coming in. And so Puru Two is soon overwhelmed by the cacophony of rage that swells in the breast of the oh-so-many who bear witness to the goings-on in more detail. Again, and again, the sentiment lying in people's hearts reaches her:

Kill. Kill. Kill.

Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill.

From somewhere far away, in a mechanical tomb with a locked door inside the Ra Mari II, a voice echoes this sentiment back at her.

                                           Kill.

It's too much. Puru Two reflexively lifts one hand to her aching temples as her mind threatens to break the shackles of her skull entirely, and in doing so, relinquishes her grasp on

the

building.

There's a scuffled gasp of surprise. She catches hold of the wall, as the sensation of vertigo and of falling overtakes her. Gravity, forever her worst nemesis. Gloves fray against pitted concrete as Puru Two slows her descent for a moment, hopeful for a brief instant. Alas. It is only for a moment. The roof of a car, parked on the street and abandoned, rushes up to meet her.

                                      Sweet dreams...

                                  If you wake up again...

                          then we'll really start to fix things...

2023-05-26: Broken Mirror

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