2023-07-01: You Can (Not) Stand Alone (SIDE B)

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<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.




LEVEL 2 ALERT! LEVEL 2 ALERT!
                           ANALYSIS COMPLETE

                                                          
                 Pattern Analysis : Blood Type BLUE 11
                      Hypothesized as 11th ANGEL
                                                          

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.


The highways were clogged the day before, the citizens of Tokyo-3 were used to evacuations, but they sensed that this time, it was different. They were not simply all drawn beneath the city into the Geofront.

The dread was thick, as NERV set up for an uncertain ground zero. They knew the target was to be the Geofront, but where? Which point? It could only be predicted so much.

And so the Evangelions, were set up to have the best chance for at least one of them to intercept. 3G, and other NERV personnel as well were deployed on this intercept course.

The lack of ability to deploy Eraser Head for this only accentuated the feeling that the odds of pulling off a success here were not good. Misato briefs them all, her voice a constant over the comms of Entry Plugs and comms alike.

What she's asking for is a miracle - can they deliver?

The briefing ends, as each Eva gets into position, the behemoths placing their fingers down like runners at the block, ready to run the track meet of their lives. Each with eyes forward, legs behind ready to take off with explosive power.

Asuka was silent as Eva Unit-02 knelt down near it's power substation upon one of the rocky hills surrounding Tokyo-3, as suddenly they get a visual, as someone in central dogma announces, "<Target in range, currently @ 6000 meters.>"

They all see it now on their visuals, black, spherical, it's surface offering the ever shifting impression of the outline of eyes that blur together, blending into a chaotic churning exterior of lines and symbols playing about. It felt strange, like it's form was obfuscating something important about its structure. Those who had fought Angels know that such is common enough, often to deadly affect upon those who suffer the inevitable ambush.

In the end, the hypothesized Eleventh Angel was a hurtling missile of mass destruction whose impact could so easily destroy this stronghold of human knowledge.

"<Release the locks.>" Misato commands, and each Umbilical cable ejects from the back of the Eva explosively, the activation timer beginning to count. "<Now GO!>"

That is the moment, and Unit-02 at least, takes off, running, it's feet churning hillside rock as if it was so much natural shrapnel as its feet stab into the ground which each step. Taking off at top speed, arms running at the side, Asuka was caught up in her own sprint from the get go.

All they can do is run. And run, and try to predict where it will fall. And so, they do. For a time, silent in it's intensity, before Asuka smacks that tension as if it were a blunt object with slightly breathless voice, "Hey Curls, if you can, try to keep us updated in real time on the latest predictions for its impact trajectory!"

Before she then asides to Unit-04, across town, "Just another foot race, think you can keep up this time, you Catty Four Eyes?" Wait didn't Gridman and Mari both beat Asuka the last time she issued this kind of challenge-??? ... Probably best just to humor her, UNLESS you want an argument at a time like this, which one very well might.

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

There are fewer safer places to be in the midst of a major operation than one of 3G's main division ships. The only moveable one at the moment is the Intelligence-based Yamatsumi - where Alouette sits in her operator's seat in the Branch Order Room, next to Hana Hatsuno, who's prepared to take over as her backup if necessary.

This is one heck of a first mission back - but Alouette takes it with the grim seriousness of knowing what must be done, finally putting her knowledge from those anti-angel briefings to the test.

"Civilian evacuation is complete. The Yamatsumi is entering the outskirts of the city." She reports. "Additionally, the MP CR squadron is on standby and ready to fire at any time." If any non-Evangelion weaponry's going to be enough firepower for an Angel... it's Disc X.

The biggest trouble is the jamming preventing them from getting a good read on impact trajectory, which Asuka reminds her of with that nickname of hers. "I'm working on it! If I can somehow counteract the jamming, we might be able to narrow it down... until then, do what you do best!"

Although she's overseeing the entire mobile unit the Yamatsumi has out, Alouette has to pay special attention to one... "GaoGaiGar, do you read? Each and every one of our hyper tools is prepared for your use... I'll leave it to your discretion." Even without the G-Tool or Eraser warheads at their disposal, that includes some pretty fearsome tools, like the Molecular Plane and Grand Pressure.

"Our chances are pretty low, you know..." she asides to Guy, eyes on the monitor. "But turning percentages around is what you do best, right? So the Yamatsumi will back you up with everything we've got!"
FPT: Alouette Pommier has acted with Sight and Intuition. 

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.


        Sahaqiel is not the first spaceborne angel to make itself known. Sandalphon's second iteration manifested in the Shoal Zone, and Duma first appeared near the Orbital Ring. This one... there's something different about it. And that difference became horribly clear the moment the MAGI charted its trajectory.

        It's dropping itself from orbit. It's dropping itself from orbit, and its target is Tokyo-3.

        Liam is running on five hours of sleep, accomplished with the help of the drugs he uses when he's too gut-wrenchingly tense to relax. He reported in to the Geofront, but not before furiously calling his neighbors and telling them to get out. Most of them were already on their way, but part of him is too scared to be reassured. What if the Angel fires on the escape routes? What if it changes course?

        What if everything he endured in the Crucible was in vain, and more people die because of him?

        Grim, desperate determination all but radiates from the occupant of the Neo Helios, as it rests next to GaoGaiGar and the two Evas. Liam is terrified, but he can't not be here, when his comrades are putting their lives on the line. He could never live with himself if he lost them like he lost everyone, last time.

        "We have a visual," Liam says. Sahaqiel fills his panoramic screen. It's dizzying. He settles into a runner's crouch, and the Neo Helios mimics him. "Ready to engage." The neurofeedback system lights up, giving him something to focus on, to keep him in the moment, instead of in the past. The moment the Evas take off, the Neo Helios does too, carried by its thrusters. Liam flies close to the ground, so as not to separate himself from the others. Guy is here, too. If Guy is here, everything will be all right.

        Right?

FPT: Liam 7-020 has acted with Sight and Reactor.

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

This is...a bad one. With ZERO dragon twins available, the Eraser Heads weren't an option. And even with them, that would merely expand the width of their net. As is, the best plan they have is to simply support the Evangelions.

Still. GaoGaiGar will always be there to protect the peace from monsters like this. Guy Shishioh is already Fused to Galeon and Final Fused with the Gao Machines, the black-armored King of Braves standing at the edge of the space and contributing GaoGaiGar's own sensor antenna to the scanning efforts.

"I see it," Guy says, only seconds after Central Dogma reports. "Can't judge trajectory with this data, though..."

That'll be the jamming. That's Alouette's job. He can't quite stop himself from smiling at the sound of her voice on the comms. "Roger. If we could pin down the impact point, we could try to...now, Dividing Driver just makes it worse, huh? Actually, get the Gatling Driver on deck. Might be able to throw it off course if we can react with it in time."

But that all depends on getting any useful data.

GaoGaiGar does not break into a run. It is a slow, stomping machine when it has to run. Fortunately, it has a jet plane for a backpack, so instead StealthGao's thrusters roar to life and it takes to the air. It's still slower than a galloping Evangelion, but it'll keep him apace, at least.

"That's right," Guy assures Alouette. "Just like we always do. We'll stop this thing before it can do any irreversible damage!"
FPT: Guy Shishioh has acted with Sight and Intuition. 

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

There's tension in that calm before the storm. In knowing something horrifying is coming but not knowing when or where.

        o/` "The universe is far too vast. Were here, in the city at twilight~
             Different lives come together, holding hands and making their way forward~
             Let's create a brand new world!
             Even though I'm not quite used to my body being this way~" o/`

Fortunately, Mari Makinami Illustrious doesn't believe in tension!

At the very least, the traditional music the undesignated Child of NERV sings this day is something of a cheery balm in an otherwise dire and uncertain scenario. The song has almost a dance music quality to its cadence, Mari's melodic voice coming at a crisp but soothing pace and tone. Tokyo-3 may be obliterated, existence may be ruptured -- but one can always count on Mari to have a song on hand in the face of overwhelming calamity.

The lyrics continue, light and upbeat, behind Colonel Katsuragi's explanation; Mari cuts her voice just low enough to be on the undercurrents of the mission parameters rather than drowning them out, a cheerful accompaniment to a bleak assessment. And when the time finally comes--

        o/` "We dance ~ falling lights!
             forever ~ moving lights!
             At the disco of lights..." o/`

"Oho."

The melody trails, as Evangelion Unit-04, perched at the opposite end of their designated sector from Unit-02, looks up to behold a swaddling sphere of strange symbols and shadows.

"Our biggest, beautiful boy has finally arrived~."

Unit-04's hands touch ground, settling into a runner's ready position.

Mari Makinami's lips curve into the sharpened edge of a smile.

        <Now GO!>

"Aye aye, ma'am!"

And -off- Unit-04 sprints, moving so fast that turf is churned like butter beneath the force of its forward launch. The street beneath it shudders as it hits the ground running, converging towards Unit-02, GaoGaiGar and the Neo Helios at a hellacious pace.

"We won't disappoint you!" she calls out to Alouette, and one can just imagine the saucy salute that'd absolutely be accompanying it. Just as much as one can imagine how much she's smiling an infuriating smile as she heaves out a put-upon sigh at Asuka's challenge.

"Always so demanding of me, especially when I overperformed beyond her highness' expectations the last time!" she proclaims, tragically. "Woe! But I guess given the circumstances I'll just have to accept being at my princess' cruel mercies. Just be gentle with me~"

--

"GANGWAY~!"

Well--

--at least she's-- running fast--?

(Mari's Magical Music: https://youtu.be/5_WockbJpgQ Hikari no disco - CAPSULE)

FPT: Mari Makinami Illustrious has acted with Sight and Reactor. 

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.


"Well figure it out then!" Asuka snaps at Alouette, but at the moment, with the tension so thick, one can perhaps tell she's not actually upset with her.

This situation is just, fraught. So much is resting upon all of their shoulders. The chances of success as she said to Guy are so, so low.

For Asuka at least, Mari's song helps(?) the tension (???) slightly (?????????) because it reframes this as business as usual. "In what world did you overperform MY expectations!? You think that showing was good enough to IMPRESS me!?"

From the apex of the hill, the Evangelion leaps, like a track star clearing a hurdle. It hits the ground explosively, created an enormous pot hole in the rural mountainside just outside of Tokyo-3.

And keeps going. "THAT WAS BARELY A WARM UP!" She insists.

All of them keep running, and Guy, while he's used to this kind of thing finds he has to course correct towards the ever-shifting ground zero perhaps more than is comfortable given the hurtling doom that is above.

"Hey Baldy, remember, let an Eva deploy its AT Field first before you engage! You'll get squashed otherwise!"

Baldy? Well... it's a step up from Labrat at least.

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

"I already told you, I'm trying!" Alouette pouts back as Asuka snaps. "But geez, this thing isn't exactly making it easy..." She doesn't argue further back towards Asuka, pinning the blame on the Angel. That's better for morale!

Another girl sings, and immediately gets caught up in a challenge from Asuka. Alouette can just tell... "You must be the Catty Four-Eyes Asuka told me so much about!" Her enthusiasm is infecteous. "No, you certainly won't disappoint, especially not next to her." She smirks, in a way that is sure to get on Asuka's nerves.

Guy's words are also very reassuring - giving her the courage to stand even before a disaster like this one. "Right! Gatling Driver, standby!" She signals to load the Mirror Catapult.

Suddenly, Sahaquiel weeps. This isn't good... "About that analysis," Alouette taps her screen. "The Eleventh Angel's impact point is now -- everywhere. Those 'tears' are the very extensions of Sahaquiel's body." She notes, gravely. "All combatants, target the wisps! CR squadron, prepare Disc X imminently!' she orders.

As for that Gatling Driver... Alouette imagines its the most efficient way to rid these in GaoGaiGar's entire arsenal. "Guy, looks like you made the right call. The Gatling Driver's headed your way now!" Slamming the button to her side with force, she calls, "Gatling Driver, Kit Number Six! EMISSION!"
FPT: Alouette Pommier has acted with W-Space and Targeting.
BBSYS: Post 1021, 'Diamond-2 - Notice of Leadership Changes' has been published to Shuffle Alliance by Teletha Testarossa.

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

Guy doesn't have control bars to grip, but when GaoGaiGar's own fists clench tighter as he has to keep shifting directions. "Amazing. Even my instincts are telling me to get away...But courage isn't being numb to that fear! It's standing up anyway!"

The Angel shedding tears of shadow-lives is a potential problem for GaoGaiGar, whose area options are limited. Fortunately: "Alouette!" he calls, and nods firmly as she immediately senses his intent, just as surely as the silent signal comes through to her desk. "Perfect!"

GaoGaiGar veers upward, toward the flying Gatling Driver, its Mirror Coating falling away in glimmering motes. Guy Shishioh was a trained shuttle pilot, once, and he remains more than comfortable with mid-air docking: Soon, the Driver has slotted over GaoGaiGar's right arm.

Hold on, right?

"WATCH YOURSELVES! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Guy thunders, angling down hard to spear toward the ground in the midst of the massive throng. "GATLING DRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!"

He drives the philips-head device into the ground, and the ground twists. No, actually, the space containing the ground twists, whirling and SHEERING. Fortunately, everyone is evacuated. Normally, this would be dangerous to use on the planet at all, but in this case, the unchecked destruction of the Gatling Driver's spatial torsion will provide more than ample damage to punch through a wave of Sahaquiel's teardrops.
FPT: Guy Shishioh has acted with W-Space and Targeting.

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

You think that showing was good enough to IMPRESS me!?

"Foo! You're impossible to please! And even when I'm so impressive in so many ways!"

Mari's lamentations are as great as they are playful, but more importantly...

"But that's okay. The fact that my princess is never satisfied is one of my favorite things about her." <3

... they're there to help combat the increasing pressure of the moment, too.

In their own subtle, special way.

Unit-04 is cresting over a series of rising pillar walls, using them as a vault to -launch- itself forward, by the time Mari hears Alouette. Ground quaking beneath the white Evangelion, umbilical cable cracking pavement like the snap of a whip, it continues its run even as the girl within lets out a positively demure -gasp-.

"Her highness has been gossiping about me?! Oh, I feel so embarrassed~."

she absolutely does not

She'd pry - of COURSE she'd pry - but the circumstances unfortunately don't allow for much more than that; soon enough, Mari has her sights set on the looming, blooming figure of Sahaquiel in the sky, distant but approaching swiftly. Majestic, shimmering...

... weeping?

Bright blue eyes blink, then squint, at the rainbow shimmer coalescing and falling like raindrops from the great mass of the Angel.

"Oh my," she exhales quietly, to herself. "Got some new tricks up your sleeve. You Angels are scary-tenacious! Not that I can blame you..."

Tokyo-3 is a complex system of moving pieces. Most importantly, it is a fortress. A fortress with a mobile armory.

"... so I hope you don't blame us, either!!"

A mobile armory that springs up to assault rifle rack columns next to Evangelion Unit-04 just in time for it to snap hands to either side and -yank- those guns free.

Unit-04 swings around to point both barrels at the growing, wispy throngs. And then, aloud:

"How could I do anything less than my most terrifying best with the King of Braves around~? LET'S GO!"

And then she -unloads-, Evangelion-scale bulletfire ripping through the city-fortress air in wide, sweeping arcs to tear through a legion of tears until they're smears of crimson in the Evangelion's still-advancing wake.

Well. Ideally.

FPT: Mari Makinami Illustrious has acted with W-Space and Targeting.

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.


        'Hey Baldy, remember, let an Eva deploy its AT Field first before you engage! You'll get squished otherwise!'

        Liam blinks, and turns to face the radio, drawn further out of his catastrophe spiral by--of all things--a new nickname. "Understood," he says. He breathes, and focuses on the neurofeedback tones, and how they grow stronger and more calming as his brain activity grows calmer.

        'Amazing. Even my instincts are telling me to get away...'

        Guy, too? Liam thinks. Too? He's scared. They're all scared, maybe even Mari.

        'But courage isn't being numb to that fear! It's standing up anyway!'

        Tears well up in Liam's eyes, and he blinks them away. "Thanks, Guy. N--needed the reminder."

        The Angel, of course, is still descending. It looks like it's crying. Is it really crying, or is it--

        No.

        A quicksilver droplet the size of a small house lands a hundred meters to Liam's right, bursting on impact. It splashes the Neo Helios with that red fluid, and it sizzles on impact. The machine's already running hot. The next droplets...

        The Neo Helios hurtles on ahead, but for a moment, Liam is elsewhere. Neo-Zeon didn't just drop the colony. They dropped Mobile Suits in first, to barricade the escape routes and kill the trapped civilians. That Zaku III still stalks Liam's memories like a baleful, one-eyed giant.

        Liam's hands twitch, clench into fists, and sweep forwards into a fighting stance. The Neo Helios drives forwards in a jet-propelled punch, and then sweeps into a backhand aimed for another silvery figure. A roar of desperate defiance rips from Liam's throat as he aims a flying kick for the third. Thankfully, he's mindful of Alouette's deployment--thanks in no small part to Alouette's own actions--and leaps clear as the Gatling Driver lands.

FPT: Liam 7-020 has acted with W-Space and Piloting.

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.


"Tck!" Asuka clucks her tongue at being told she's impossible to please, and that's one of Mari's favorite things about her. "Not so impossible, if you'd shown me something worth being satisfied about, even once!"

So cruel, so cruel, given Mari's performance has bested her so many times. Certainly Mari is correct.

"No kidding." Asuka agrees with Alouette, murmuring as the seriousness of the situation truly sinks in. "As if there was much about you worth talking about!"

She pretends, because of course the mystery of Mari Makinami entices even her-

"She disappoints ALL THE TIME!" Asuka calls as Alouette prickles her with those words, "She's always backing me up early - or late! AND SHE NEVER MAKES A STUDENT COUNCIL MEETING ON TIME!"

Somehow that's more of a sore spot than the supposed early or late backup in a fight!? Either way she's gossiping about her NOW.

Through the trees does Eva Unit-02 run, felling them as she goes like some giant rushing the city to sack it. However, it does not stop once it hits the edge.

It's foot smashes down into a drainage culvert in the outskirts, before it launches up over the high voltage lines, one after another.

She pounds into the outlying 'bad' part of town of Tokyo-3, even as the AT Field of the thing morphs, as shapes begin to fall. Alouette points that the Eleventh Angel's impact point is now everywhere. And hearing the Gatling driver being deployed-

"Sounds like Mister Courage has got things handled on his end! But I'm running LIGHT here!" She calls even as she hears the Gatling Driver being deployed. As Misato moves over the controls, hanging over Makoto Hyuga as she commands to him, "Deploy Armaments from 971!"

From the Geofront does a tower rise, sliding open a folding door with an Assault Rifle. The Evangelion doesn't stop running as it grabs it, immediately slamming the butt of a rifle on a shape morphing out of the road beside her.

Cradling it in her arms, Unit-02 begins to burst fire, as it keeps hauling down the main thoroughfare of this side of town. Each burst tearing into the legion that forms to block the way.

"I'm not going to make it at this PACE! OUT OF MY WAY!"

Grasping it by the strap, the Eva instead swings it, like a flail, smashing into a whole grouping of them as she keeps running towards Ground Zero.

FPT: Asuka Shikinami Langley has acted with W-Space and Targeting. 

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

"Yeah... I'm pretty scared, too. There's so much hanging on just us right now..." Alouette admits, as an aside to Guy and Liam. "And that's exactly why I want to put a stop to that Angel!" She declares. If even the ones taking up arms against it are scared, she can't imagine how the evacuees must feel, when it comes to their livelihood.

"She had plenty of interesting things to say about you, you know." She grins as Mari takes up that teasing tone about the gossip. "Mostly how you rule student council by making everyone go along with some nonsense or another... but that'd make a better post-battle conversation. ...If we make it out alive, that is." She adds, all too seriously.

As for Asuka's complaints about her disappointments... "Don't you Eva pilots have competitions about some kind of 'Synchro-rate' all the time? It sounds like you could use some work upping your Synchro-rate with each other~" She teases.

The Gatling Driver, then, makes its grand entrance, warping reality in a way almost never seen on Earth, seemingly flushing Sahaquiel's teardrops into nothingness.

Mari and Asuka are equally quick to impress, stealing the show in her own way by taking advantage of Tokyo-3's nature as a mobile armory, punching through the teardrop AT-field wisps with their respective guns. They actually seemed to fight half-decent together this time, Alouette thinks.

Liam's fear almost gets the best of him here, as the nature of this Angel attack seems to remind him of his past. It means he lags behind a bit in taking down the teardrops, but he should learn for no matter how scared he is, he isn't alone, as his teammates are here to help in this group effort. 

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

Once the Gatling Core discharges, the Driver disengages from GaoGaiGar's right arm, and the King of Braves swings a fist back in preparation to fire the Broken Magnum. But then, he gets targeting indicators. Not on himself, but in his surroundings.

SHEETS of bullets roar overhead and slam down, ripping through the next wave of tear-shades. "Local defense," Guy says, a little surprised, and then his lips split in a grin. "Right, that is how this town works, huh?"

How come HE never had turrets? He'll have to bug Taiga about that. When he's back.

NERV central clarifies their direction, just as another volley of fire obliterates everything in that direction. "Alright, we've got a direction," Guy calls, and charges off at a run. "Let's go!"

The very buildings riseup below them, some sliding away to provide armament, others remaining firm to provide platform, as the city of Tokyo-03 itself rises as far as it may toward the heavens. GaoGaiGar jumps from one block to the next, ascending with bursts from StealthGao's thrusters. His jaw slowly sets, watching that grim eye draw nearer with each leap. "Alouette!"

"If it comes to it...is DoubleMarg ready?"
FPT: Guy Shishioh spends 1 ID Charges! They will apply this coming round!
FPT: Guy Shishioh has acted with Sight and Targeting.

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.


        The neurofeedback device sounds a few dissonant chimes into Liam's ears. He almost doesn't hear it. Nevertheless, it pulls him back into reality--where the teardrop-thing he's been punching drops limply from the Neo Helios' hands, and deliquesces into boiling red fluid. The others have rushed ahead. Liam clamps a hand to his temple, the shadow of that Zaku III still lingering in his mind's eye. He wanted to punch that Zaku until there was nothing left of it or its pilot. He... punched Judau, instead. Why?

        He blinks, and tries to set the thought aside, but it doesn't go away.

        But he's not alone. Tokyo-3 itself makes this clear. The ground beneath the Neo Helios rises, and another pair of anti-MS guns sprout from its sides. Fire pours past him, into the teardrops that would've landed right on top of him.

        "Go, go, GO!" shouts someone Liam doesn't recognize--someone down in the GeoFront, one of dozens of personnel who stayed behind. "We'll keep you covered!"

        "Right," Liam says. "Sorry!" he shouts, to Guy. "Right behind you!"

        The road ahead of the Neo Helios rises and splits, converting into a set of MS-sized stairs. The Mobile Fighter takes them two at a time, sprinting after GaoGaiGar. "What's--DoubleMarg?" he asks, as he reaches the stairs' apex, vaults off, and takes to the air.

FPT: Liam 7-020 has acted with Sight and Targeting. 

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

It'd be a better conversation after. If there's an after.

"Then I've got something to look forward to!"

Mari says this with that same, breezy confidence. She can't say that they'll make it out of this. If asked, she'd say that Ritsuko's assessment of their odds of success is stunningly accurate, and failure is a practical certainty. It's terrifying.

But that's what makes the prospect of juicy gossip to look forward to if they succeed that much more exciting to Mari Makinami Illustrious.

As it stands, the bespectacled Child and her Evangelion are brutally relentless; more to the point, she seems to be -enjoying- herself in the heat of battle despite the overwhelming odds, the sound of her delighted laughter rising above the gunfire and the pop-pop-popping of Sahaquiel's raining appendages. She's spent both rifles' entire clips by the time Tokyo-3's tower turrets finish the job for them all, barrels smoking as she heaves a satisfied sigh and lurches forward.

"She's right, y'know. If I'm too fast or too slow, or too late or too early, it just means your heart needs to beat closer to mine~."

That -- probably wasn't an excuse to evade responsibility, Mari--

By now, the Eleventh Angel looms so close that its scale can begin to be appreciated. Its shadow casts across Tokyo-3; Evangelions are not small by any means, but the approach of that baleful, finned eye makes them seem diminutive in comparison.

The impact of such a thing would be cataclysmic, to say nothing of what the strange nature of Angels might bring to the table.

It might well make one wonder WHY these Angels are so fixated on Tokyo-3 that one would hurl itself at the city like a living colony drop.

For Mari, however, she doesn't really have to think on it -- nor does she take time dwelling on that encroaching figure as targeting algorithms keep shifting and realigning. Evangelion Unit-04 just keeps -running- as segments of Tokyo-3 rise beneath it, creating a curving half-pipe of city blocks that increases Unit-04's ascent even as the gradual curve of it organically and constantly course-corrects the Evangelion's destination.

Blue eyes narrow behind glasses.

"We're making good time--!"

They might just barely make it.

Or barely miss it.

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.


"Of course we do!" Asuka tells Alouette of competitions with their synch rate. "And!?"

'Upping your Synchro-rate with each other~'

"THAT'S NOT A THING!" She sputters, with her entry plug, LCL gagging out of her lungs as she shouts. And as Mari insists that her heart need only beat closer to hers, she coughs audibly over the Mic as more LCL chokes, before belting out at Mari, "DON'T ENCOURAGE HER BY SAYING WHATEVER WEIRD THING POPS INTO YOUR HEAD!" Before she mutters, "Besides, could never be so carefree as you..."

The Assault Rifle trigger is pulled again, "I'm empty!" Only to see towers rising up in front of her at a staggered rate.

Another to the side, sliding open to offer her that Electromagnetic Crossbow. Grasping it, she doesn't even ready it, as the Eva's foot touches down on the rising building in front of it. Then leaping to the tower rising just above it ahead. Then to another. Before she launches into a tremendous leap.

From the sky she sights down the remaining contact she failed to shoot on account of being out of ammo, and fires a stake that PUNCHES through a tower before impaling it to a street.

The Eva lands on the blast shields that rise to catch her, running across them to give her a quicker route running alongside the city. But, it still looks to Asuka, as if she's going to be later than the rest, getting there.

It was bad luck perhaps, on the starting position. If she were trying to do it all on her own, then she'd be in trouble...

... fortunately, she's not any longer, and today is evidence of that.

FPT: Asuka Shikinami Langley has acted with Sight and W-Space.
FPT: Mari Makinami Illustrious has acted with Sight and Targeting. 

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

Teasing Asuka is easy as ever, and with Mari here, it almost feels unfair. "Why not? The Super Brave Robo Corps can do it, even if Sympa-Rate is a slightly different word than Synchro-Rate. If it gets high enough maybe your Evas could..." Come to think, she's not sure she wants to imagine the symmetrical docking between two Evangelions. "Besides, it seems like this much overwhelming odds actually brings out your teamwork pretty well..." She asides with a smile.

With the backup of the MAGI, it's a lot easier to coordinate a direction for the impact point.

Alouette breathes a sigh of relief, at this, and the arrival of all the support Tokyo-3 can provide, giving the perfect opening for the combatants to charge in.

It feels like a turning point for the better but they still have to deal with what amounts to a Colony Drop.

Which is why Alouette very carefully considers Guy's question. "If it comes to it... then we'll make it work!" She asserts, motioning to the two Usshi brothers on maintenance. They silently nod - knowing what must be done, and immediately get to work.

"It was a scrapped upgrade model for the Marg Hand and Goldion Hammer," Alouette explains. Liam knows the story of why that might never come to use. "Theoretically, you could power it with a simplified AI core, but we haven't exactly tested it. But if the situation gets desperate enough..." It might be time to transform Sahaquiel into light.
FPT: Alouette Pommier has acted with Sight and W-Space. 

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

Alouette actually teasing her comrades...Guy can't suppress a smile. Fortunately the only one with a continuous feed is Alouette herself. He does add, "She's right. This kind of danger is really bringing out your team spirit!"

That was like 90% sincere. Guy can already tell attempting to tease Mari is a thing you do at your own peril.

As for DoubleMarg: "When we left for the Trinary Solar System, we left behind Goldy's damaged body, and just brought his AI Box. So GGG Blue has had time to repair it and prototype the DoubleMarg equipment. Goldymarg himself is still with the Ruin Apostles, but a Simple AI can....theoretically, run the Hammer for a while. Without the Eraserheads, that might be our best option for dealing with these kinds of forces!"

He doesn't signal for it, though. Not yet.

The approach is difficult. Even with the City itself rising to guide them, the looming eye drawing ever nearer weighs heavily on the attention...

Like the sky itself is waiting for you to blink. 

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

Guy is wise. Tease not the Mari.

"See? We're making the impossible happen through harrowing adversity, your highness~. I'm so proud of us!"

For here be monsters.

There is -also- a much more existential monster up above; Evangelion Unit-04 comes to the apex of its curving ascent just as Sahaquiel's five-pronged wings truly unfurl. Traveling across a city like Tokyo-3, even when it -is- a city like Tokyo-3, when you only the faintest idea of where you need to be and only moments to get there, is harrowing. Demanding. Exhausting.

And combined with the sheer sight and scale of the Eleventh Angel in all its glory...

... Horrifying.

Like it was producing physical phenomena all its own, as Sahaquiel rapidly falls upon Tokyo-3, the environments of the city seem to change. Blue skies bleed towards violet, the entire city seems to tremble with the force of its acceleration. Its rainbow hues illuminate the world beneath it in an array of nauseating, throbbing light. The 'wings' of the Eleventh Angel pull back and forth like the fins of a fish, or the tendrils of a squid; from this distance, countless little flagella-like extensions can be seen branching across each of those lobes that look almost like... people, their two-pronged 'limbs' making them look as if they were throwing arms up in feverish prayer.

This close, it's easy to see--

"No."

Mari Makinami's eyes widen.

"This isn't where it's landing--!"

Sahaquiel crashes down. They aren't at the point of impact.

        <<AT Field full extension!!>>

But SOMEONE is.

Call it miracle. Call it fluke. Call it the sheer audacity of human will. But with the great rippling extension of octagonal light and the familiar sound of a typically timid boy shouting over the communication lines --

Sahaquiel stops.

Mari blinks. She witnesses, from afar, as Evangelion Unit-01 creates a boundary of impassible AT Field between Tokyo-3 and oblivion. The skies all but bleed darkening violet majesty as winds whip to a hurricane's crescendo in the horrifyingly huge things wake...

... and then something -emerges- from the eye of the Angel.

Mari snaps her head to the side, looking to Unit-02, GaoGaiGar, and Neo Helios beyond. And for someone normally so playful--

"WE NEED TO HELP PUPPY BOY! MOVE!"

The sound of her commanding urgency comes in even more starkly for the sheer contrast as Unit-04 SPRINGS off its perch.

Mari rushes towards that chaotic, hellish epicenter, even as the wet sound of rupturing flesh (flesh--?) and Shinji's agonized screams and determined struggling fill her comms.

FPT: Mari Makinami Illustrious spends 1 ID Charges! They will apply this coming round! 

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.


"Why not?!" She just sounds astounded even at Alouette's teasing, "It's the worst idea in every way! Can turn a radio off, I can't turn HER off!"

Is she really missing Alouette's implication? Is she really that dense!? Or...

"Proud!?!" She echoes at Mari. And indeed, she does feel a strange sense of pride, but that doesn't stop her from immediately snapping at Mari, "Don't you dare even think about getting a BIG HEAD yet, until the Angel is bloody smear on the ground!"

Does she really think Mari doesn't have a big head already?

Mysteries!

Either way Sahaquiel looms larger, and larger. Asuka truly won't make it before it impacts, but someone else is there. As Mari notes that it's not where he's landing, "It's fine!" Asuka says, as she sees it, "Looks like Stupid Shinji made it to the finish line first, for once!"

Does she sound at least, pleased? Perhaps a little. She doesn't sound upset certainly that he beat her there.

She can see the shape of the Angel's body forming out of its strange iris, its hands holding Eva-01. And Eva-02 runs, and keeps running. At this range, it's crossbow won't be effective. Especially against that AT Field.

"Need to get in close. Just hold down the fort for a-"

So instead both Pylons of Unit-02 open, as the Eva grips two enormous Prog Knives, and brandishes them both while on the run.

Right as Shinji starts SCREAMING.

"-second." She can see it, Eva-01's hands now impaled. The Eva pilots know the double edged sword of a synch rate, far too well.

Making a frustrated sound as Mari pushes them all towards what her brain was already telling her, "MOVE!" And pushes Eva-02 into a dead sprint, as it leaps towards his position, "FASTER!" Landing hard it's steps just keep pounding on the move to get her there, "NOW!"

FPT: Asuka Shikinami Langley spends 1 ID Charges! They will apply this coming round!

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.


        Guy and Alouette lay out the last option. Liam's gut twists as he remembers what Goldymarg did to Tsutsujidai--his only frame of reference for what the Goldion Hammer can do. "If it saves everyone..." he says, but he trails off, unconsciously mimicking what Alouette did moments earlier.

        The Neo Helios keeps its frenetic pace, onward and upward, but it's careful to keep the Evas between it and Sahaqiel--Liam remembers what Asuka said, and even if he didn't, there's no way his machine would survive being caught between the Angel and the ground. He has to trust in Mari and Asuka. It's a lot easier than it used to be. The Neo Helios makes one final leap, vaulting up to stand, for a moment, beside Eva-02. It looks up at the sky, and Liam's stomach lurches again as he sees the Angel in all its horrid, psychedelic glory. It's then, that he realizes where it's going to land.

        "No," Liam says, and his voice is tiny, terrified.

        'AT Field full extension!!'

        Someone else catches the Angel instead.

        "SHINJI!" Liam screams, "Mari, what's it--oh god, oh GOD!" His eye widen in horror as the Angel reaches out and mangles Unit-01's arms. Shinji keeps pushing. Liam's protective instincts take over. "HANG ON! WE'RE RIGHT BEHIND YOU!"

        Liam guns it. The Neo Helios streaks through the air, blazing blue-white as the reactors inch towards redline. The ASTRA system has been powering up for an Angel-killing strike. There is no other way out of this: they either win, or they die.

FPT: Liam 7-020 spends 1 ID Charges! They will apply this coming round!
FPT: Liam 7-020 has acted with Mobility and Reactor. 

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

Alouette notices Guy's smile, and can't suppress a giggle of her own as he agrees with her about the Evangelions' teamwork and fighting spirit - as well as at Asuka's indignant reaction. "Well... doesn't seem your radio is off now, is it?" It says a lot that she can focus both on this and on preparing one of the most destructive tools in 3G's entire arsenal...

In the meantime, Shinji's out there fighting for his life, while Mari pleads that they save... 'puppy boy', really? She sounds serious, though. Alouette looks at this with a dire expression on her face and decides preparations must hasten, especially since Shinji earned them the opening they need.

Soon after, the Goldion DoubleHammer is fully ready for live combat use, if you can call it that without even a test. It's what they must do though, if they're to stop the Angel and save Shinji.

Alouette receives that dual request-approval from Guy... it's time. "Roger..." She breathes out. Just like Mikoto did it, she remembers. "Goldion DoubleHammer!" She calls, slipping the two Gold Cards between her fingers, her computer screen transforming into a card reader with two slots. "SAFETY DEVICE, REEEEEELEEEEEEASE!"

The cards are deftly swiped in with primadonna grace, and the Goldy DoubleMarg is sent out - AI-controlled but under Alouette's supervision the whole time, transforming into the Marg Hand for the original King of Braves to grasp the hammer as he once did so many times!
FPT: Alouette Pommier spends 1 ID Charges! They will apply this coming round!
FPT: Alouette Pommier has acted with Mobility and Reactor. 

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

It's SO huge. It's unimaginably massive. He's faced down tremendous foes before - the final forms of the Primevals, and Z-Master's stolen chunk of Jupiter's mass. But still, to see the entire sky fill with a mere portion of a single monster is still enough to send a chill down his spine. But he doesn't falter.

Because he can tell. "We're too far out!!" he calls, and his G-Stone flares, signals filtering down the Genesic Filaments in his body to force GaoGaiGar to go to its very utmost and more. "ALOUETTE!" he screams, and sends two signals: One, the official request packet for the Goldion Hammer's release.

And two, his approval as Chief for that same request.

Alouette's cry rings out on his radio as he pushes as fast as he can to cover the distance. "RIGHT!" he barks to Mari's decree. He veers slightly to match the indicated dock path of the Marg Hand, a massive BRICK of an arm agumentation. "HAMMER! COOOONNEEEEEEEEEEEEEECT!" he screams, and SLAMS GaoGaiGar's fist into the back of the Marg Hand, internal locks clamping down firmly. There's no familiar echo from Goldymarg, merely the acknowledgment packets from the onboard system. But it's enough. The Marg Hand creaks open, as if merely OPENING those powerful digits took the King of Braves' whole strength.

And then he lashes out to grab the hammer out of the air.

"GOLDION!! DOUBLE HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!!!"

GaoGaiGar EXPLODES with a blazing yellow radiance, crawling up its arm from the Hammer and engulfing the entire machine. The Goldion DoubleHammer is the entire normal Goldion Hammer, already itself nearly the size of a Mobile Suit, a massive square-headed brick of a sledgehammer, orange; and then, at the end of the handle, a second, smaller hammer, maybe half the size. And at the top of each hammerhead, another new addition: A pair of massive spheres, about the same diameter as the hammerheads themselves are tall. Those are new! What are they...?

"CLACKER BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLS!!"

The two gigantic Clacker Balls fire off from the Goldion DoubleHammer, held to the apparatus by crackling Plasma Hold lightning. Guy swings the hammer one way, then another, causing the two balls to SMASH into each other, emitting a thunderous, indeed, CLACK!

And, also, a massive cutting gravity blade, which arcs straight at Sahaquiel and, being composed of gravity itself, should...*SHOULD*...cut through anything that behaves as if it has mass.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Guy screams, swinging the hammer back and forth to make the clackers hit each other again and again, raining scything gravity blades on the angel. This isn't the complete device, and Angels are strange. He doesn't expect this to win the day.

But hopefully, it will buy them the time they need to reach Shinji's side.
FPT: Guy Shishioh spends 1 ID Charges! They will apply this coming round!
FPT: Guy Shishioh has acted with Mobility and Reactor. 

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

They advance. A thing of this size, though...

This close to landfall, it's frighteningly similar to the effects of a colony drop. The winds batter at them all with violent, crushing power, as if the wind force itself could simply whip them away like ragdolls. It catches at Evangelion Unit-02 especially harshly -- perhaps not enough to stop -Asuka-, not like this, but enough to slow and potentially compromise that red Evangelion.

Debris from the initial attack of the Angel's extensions, even chunks of land and trees are shorn free from the earth and sent about in a violent twister around the immense form of the Angel. It's a practical shield of ruin that encompasses the gently wobbling Angel still stuck mid-impact. It might well be enough to cost them time through pure, maddening happenstance --

--if it weren't for the massive BLADES of gravity that crush and carve through them all, -straight- through to the Angel itself.

The effort isn't without its costs -- but it opens the way for them, a straight path towards the epicenter of Sahaquiel. Towards Shinji.

And there...

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.


        The Angel hangs above Tokyo-3 like the Sword of Damocles, its descent arrested by Eva-01's AT Field. Shinji is struggling, audibly, over the local comm. As the rest of NERV converges on him, they see the extent of the spindly figure that impaled his Eva. Compared to Sahaquiel's bulk, it's almost comically tiny. But it's still Eva-sized. Guy's daring deployment of the DoubleMarg has bought them all precious time, but they still need to hurry.

        But at long last--

        "CORE SIGHTED!" Liam's heartbeat thunders in his ears. And it's like the Angel notices, because the Core immediately starts to skitter about, joined by decoy Cores, of all things. There's no way to take them out, one by one.

        But then, the same was true for Jophiel's jaws, wasn't it? Everyone had to work together to hold them open so Asuka could get that perfect Core shot. And with all of Tokyo-3's defenders converging to help Shinji, it's come down to that same principle: Trust in each other. Work together.

        With a single motion, Liam redlines the ASTRA system. Sahaquiel is seething with otherworldly heat, but the Neo Helios is bringing otherworldly heat of its own. It jets up into that pit while Shinji holds the Angel's bulk at bay. Tears stream down Liam's face. "You look Shinji in the eye," he whispers to the Angel. "You do it, and know he stopped you. We won't lose to you!" Plasma boils out of the Neo Helios' hands, forming a spear longer than it is tall, and as broad across as its arm.

        "And I won't lose another home!" Liam howls. He drives the spear directly into the pit, and it immediately splits in two, chasing after two of the maybe-Cores. Whatever else he was going to say becomes a wordless roar. If the world weren't at stake, he might think Koji and Guy and Tetsuya were rubbing off on him in more ways than one.

FPT: Liam 7-020 spends 2 ID Charges! They will apply this coming round!
FPT: Liam 7-020 has acted with Skill and Intuition.

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

The Angel falls closer, and closer... terrifyingly so. From the distance of the Yamatsumi, Alouette hadn't gotten to truly appreciate the visuals of the massive angel, especially as it shifts and changes and reveals its true self. "Ugh... that thing is so disgusting, it's almost beautiful in a twisted way." She frowns - although the Angel has no understanding of such human terms as those, of course.

She can't comment on its appearance for too long though - the performance of the Goldion DoubleHammer's going to need all her attention. The Clacker Balls and their gravity shockwaves are successful in piercing through to the Angel, but she sees noticeable flaws in the simplified AI's performance - possibly not being able to handle such a grand task. It's not Goldymarg, after all. But she already said it: they'll make it work.

Alouette's completed her task of sending Guy the Key to Victory, but their work isn't yet done. "GaoGaiGar! I'll make every single possible adjustment to the AI I know to keep it running even under this much pressure, so don't hold back!" Her last three words are fierce, no matter how scared she is or how impossible this seems.
FPT: Alouette Pommier spends 1 ID Charges! They will apply this coming round!
FPT: Alouette Pommier has acted with Skill and Intuition.

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.


An Evangelion is a towering thing, but the wind is a force of nature, it's whipping, battering power STUMBLES the Eva into an imperfect landing, forcing her to move forward against the resistance.

Her pace slowing even as the debris slams into the Eva.

And yet she keeps moving forward, a snarl in her throat, and two claws in her hand. Guy's efforts clear the way forward, but she's still not moving as fast as she likes.

She needs to do this now. NOW! The Eva in range leaps, with both knives driving forward, she can see the Core at the base of the strange body impaling Shinji.

Unit-02 slams into the Angel's monstrous AT Field, its knifes deflecting off of it, dancing upon it they try to vibrate through, only to find she can't push it through.

'Asuka... hurry...'

The urgency stresses her out, she can feel the need. In the end, if they fail, it's quite possible they all die, even if an Eva is one of the safest place in the world from such things. But she can only focus on the fact that he's suffering, he's counting on her to end this suffering. To end this...

"I'M TRYING DAMNIT!"

... and she's FAILING. The core, the core keeps moving, "IT'S JUST SKITTERING ABOUT ALL OVER!"

This is a problem, she's slowly, slowly getting through the AT Field, but even once she does, it's too fast a moving target for her knives.

"EVERYONE - WE NEED TO GET IT PINNED DOWN!"

As she asks, perhaps even PLEADS to all of them for help. If they're going to destroy this core, save Shinji, save so many people - they need to work together to get through the AT Field and get it held still.

For now, she's just driving both those Prog knives through, far too slowly for her liking, to the anguished sounds of Shinji's suffering over the comms.

FPT: Asuka Shikinami Langley spends 2 ID Charges! They will apply this coming round!
FPT: Asuka Shikinami Langley has acted with Skill and Intuition.

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

Normally, Goldymarg's masterful command of gravity allows him to keep GaoGaiGar shielded from all but the most incredible environmental forces; that's a task quite beyond DoubleMarg's Simple AI, and GaoGaiGar with StealthGao I is struggling mightily to remain positioned. Firing the shockwaves did cause Guy to fall behind a ways, and that's provided everyone else a vital opening.

"YOU GOT IT!" Guy roars in response to Asuka's call. "ALOUETTE, SWITCHING MODES!"

And then he shifts the stance on the DoubleHammer, grabbing the shorter handle of the second hammer, and disconnects them at their seam, leaving him holding a hammer in each hand. With a yank, the two Clackers return to their roosts on the tops of the hammer, and he calls, "HAMMER MODE!" which prompts both hammerheads to explode with yellow light anew.

The core is skittering around. Normally against precision like that he'd need to use Hell and Heaven trickly to find and extract it. But with duplicates on top of everything else...

Destroy everything he can reach.

This, ultimately, is what he knew he'd need the hammer for.

"...c'mon, DoubleMarg," he encourages the little AI. "Need you to handle this carefully."

Because a runaway Goldino DoubleHammer could cause a disaster different, but nearly as terrible, as failing to stop the Angel.

Yet still, he smashes the Clackers together in defiance rather than activation, and then flares StealthGao to its utmost. "ELEVENTH ANGEL!" he screams, swings both hammers back, BARRELING straight at the horrid center of that eye the size of the world.

        "TRANSFORM INTO LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!!!"

He swings both hammerheads forward, pulsing, writhing gravitational shockwaves exploding forward...

An AT Field would hold it back, for certain....but anything the two hammers can reach decoheres into nothing more than scattering photons.
FPT: Guy Shishioh has acted with Skill and W-Space. 

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

No more time for teasing. No more time for games.

As flippant as Mari can be even in the most dire of circumstances, when it comes time to act?

She acts. Without hesitation.

And acting, in this case, means a full-tilt mad dash towards the epicenter of the Angel's paused point of impact, Unit-04's arms heaving forward and back like a sprinter's as Mari pushes her Evangelion as fast as it can go. Debris and dust coughs up in thick contrails behind the strange anti-Angel ordinance as it pushes past all that wind force and clearing rubble and ruin.

And as she gets good sight of Evangelion Unit-01 in the distance, its arms rendered into such a mess of bloodied stumps--

It just makes her push HARDER.

Liam shouts out the location of the Core. And the Core reacts, skittering wildly about in a flurry of fleshy ripples and deceptive pass-bys with that false core. Unit-04 comes to a squealing stop just beneath the immensity of Sahaquiel. Here the sheer weight of it can be felt like it had gravity all its own -crushing- down on her. She pushes past it.

        And I won't lose another home!

"YOU'RE GODDAMN RIGHT, SOLDIER BOY!"

The Core's moving too much?

Unit-04's right Rapidborer locks into place.

"I'VE GOT YOU, PRINCESS!"

And Mari seeks to solve this problem by DRIVING that Rapidborer straight up into the pit to shred the localized AT Fields of the Eleventh Angel against screaming drillbits and JAM into that pit, becoming a massive roadblock on the chaotic Core's path. And when it knocks into that massive drill gauntlet--

The left hand of the Evangelion SNAPS up, to try to SEIZE it with its hand.

The heat burns. It sets the chrome armor plating of Unit-04 aglow with a hideous, painful orange as the limb literally starts to -melt- from the heat. Within her entry plug, Mari chokes back a scream as bubbles ignite furious, frothing paths all the way down her forearm.

But she holds onto it. Fast and hard. As long as she can. To keep it exposed for the Neo Helios' spears. Unit-02's knives. The great power of GaoGaiGar's Goldion DoubleHammer. All of them, no matter how much it costs.

Her eyes are bulging wide. But it's not with pain

"G-g...geh... GET THIS BASTARD!!"

It's with wild, determined -fury-.

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.


        The vast pit of the Angel's body writhes, Cores skittering and slithering every which way. Which one is real? Which are fake?

        'EVERYONE - WE NEED TO GET IT PINNED DOWN!'

        Perhaps fittingly, it is Asuka who concludes that none of them can do this alone. She's right. Everyone brings to bear as much as they can, because they can afford nothing less. To do otherwise means certain death. Who cracks that core? It's... not entirely clear, but what does happen...

        Alouette mitigates an unfathomable risk. GGG is making a dangerous gambit here. If deployed and controlled with precision, the DoubleMarg will kill the Angel. If not... Alouette knows what will happen. It isn't pretty. From her control room, she guides the Simple AI in real time, and by extension, guiding Guy.

        Mari pushes herself through fire and pain, burying the Rapidborer into the pit. The other hand grabs the Angel's body, and the furious writhing of its flesh starts to abate, because Mari is wrenching it taut. The skittering of the cores slows, because she makes it slow.

        Asuka has her opening. Her Prog Knives scrape relentlessly against the AT Field, adding a source of continuous disruption. And then, there is no resistant, and the knives go THUNK-THUNK, up to their hilts in the Angel's mass. She starts to carve. Blood-like fluid pours down in what might be the first torrent of the Angel's demise. She does not let up.

        'YOU'RE GODDAMN RIGHT, SOLDIER BOY!'

        Liam's spear divides. It divides again. The Neo Helios' armor starts to melt from the sheer intensity of the forces it's conducting--it's built to do that, but there's also the forces the Angel's bringing to bear. Liam roars until his voice is raw. More and more of the Angel's mass is reduced to atoms. And then...

        BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-c7hClqvBR8&ab_channel=AXF-2

        Guy speaks encouragement to the little AI. The clackers SMACK TOGETHER with a sound like a hundred thunderclaps. He makes his demand. He draws the hammer back.

        And Sahaquiel meets with the raw force of the Goldion Hammer's newest incarnation--the successor to the weapon that felled the Primevals, wielded by the King of Braves. And much of Sahaquiel does become light.

        Some does not. Some becomes a localized airburst explosion that HAMMERS the NERV team downwards, into a brand-new crater. More becomes an APOCALYPTIC DELUGE OF BLOOD, washing over them and spilling out into the city streets. A bright red-gold cross rises in the sky, a gravestone for the Eleventh Angel.

        A few moments pass. The Neo Helios lies on its back in the blood crater, so hot it's boiling the Core Fluid around it. Inside, Liam stares up at the clear, blue sky, and the rainbow formed from aerosol droplets of water and the Angel's fluids. He lets out a soft sob--not of sadness, but raw, cathartic relief, and triumph. "...we..." he manages, after a moment. "Is... everyone...?"

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