2023-07-29: Nothing Left of Me
- Log: 2023-07-29- Nothing Left of Me
- Cast: Alma Stirner, Sayaka Yumi, Anita Rosetta
- Where: Western Britannia
- OOC - IC Date: 0097-07-29
- Summary: With little left of her but Yuliana's increasingly contradictory requests, Alma Stirner tries to find release. It's not given to her -- but that's for the best, as Anita and Sayaka never stop believing in her.
<Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.
She needs to settle things with Lilith -- but she can't let Lilith harm her -- but it's okay for her to die in the process of settling things with Lilith, and not if she dies any other way.
Oh, and of course, Yulie doesn't want her anymore. But that essentially goes without saying.
She picks her spot -- a part of the Britannian West Coast far from main roads. During the One Year War, it was a decaying wetland not far from several crags. Nearly 18 years later, it's desertified thoroughly, of course.
Alma sends a message. One would think it would be a message she sent to Lilith, but that would defeat the point; she needs other people entangled with this situation, so she sends it to Dr. Sayaka Yumi and decides to let her handle the business of getting anyone together.
Dr. Yumi,
I want to settle things with Lilith. I know you can find her, even if I can't. Tell her to come meet me at these coordinates on July 29th at 8pm local time and we'll finish things.
Rusalka
The Spinatia Voidsent waits in a small dip in the terrain some 25 meters deep, beneath a rocky overpass. The EXAMACS machine has undergone a fair few substantial refits thanks to Elisa and her... allies; it suits her purposes well enough.
Alma's heart pounds out of her chest.
She needs to settle things. She needs to settle things. She needs to settle things.
On reflex, she takes the time before what will almost certainly be a brutal battle...
... to fix her makeup. Elisa did say Alma would do her best to wear more of it.
KTS: Alma_Stirner has deployed as a Boss for 2 opponents.
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
Sayaka receives Alma's message in short order. She carefully reads it, markedly understanding the intent behind it. If she's going to settle things with Lilith... then it must be through her, then.
She thinks back to her conversation with Doctor Elisa Kafim in this very office. Even she agreed that she wanted to release Alma in a safe and orderly fashion. But if she had to fight Lilith... then she might just be released with a broken heart, just as Elisa said.
Quietly, Sayaka slips into her pilot suit for a classified 'emergency deployment'. But first, she contacts the Ra Mari II, for one Anita Rosetta. Her message details what she received from Alma - her plan to save her without breaking her heart. The Ra Mari II receives the very same coordinates she did - but it's urgently requested only Anita deploy.
Aphrodite Areia, already Pildered On and docked with the Artemis Arrow, arrives at an unusual location for a PPL deployment, in the wetlands of Britannia. "'Rusalka.'" Sayaka greets, cordially. "I've received your message. Lilith isn't here. I won't make you do that... I think this situation has been cruel enough to you. You'll fight us in her stead." She signals for Anita's Svipul, in Gerwalk mode. "Ensign Rosetta, are you ready? Let's put an end to this once and for all, shall we?" The Mazin raises a fist at the Voidsent Spinatia in challenge, charging forth with a solid punch, augmented by the piercing blades of light that are Aphrodite Areia's wings.
KTS: Sayaka Yumi targets Alma Stirner with Artemis Wingsweep! KTS: Sayaka Yumi has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Alma Stirner fails to react to Sayaka Yumi's Artemis Wingsweep, taking 3150 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 21740 KTS: Sayaka Yumi has engaged Alma Stirner! KTS: Your EN is now 76. <Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
Anita had a talk with Yuliana. It was... enlightening, to say the least. She learned a lot - most relevantly to why the XVF-25I Svipul is currently flying through Britannian wasteland, she learned about what had been done to Alma. It's... well, it was difficult to hear. But now that she's heard, the only thing she can do is try to track her down.
She was prepared to scour the globe and beyond for her - but thankfully, in the end she doesn't have to do that. A well-timed message reaches the Ra Mari II and, in response, a thumbs-up signed by Anita.
She relays what she heard once they actually join up, of course - why this happened, and what Yuliana told her about what they needed to do to save her. To fight her - to reach her. How she said that only once her life was in their hands would she have a path forward.
...She doesn't like doing things her way. But fighting for her beliefs - that's something she can do.
The Svipul trails along behind Aphrodite Areia in Fighter Mode, and once they come to a stop, gradually unfolds into GERWALK mode and comes in for a landing.
"Hey there. Been a bit." Anita greets with a wry smile from within her cockpit. "...Sorry. What she said."
She nods, then, rolling her neck.
"...Yeah, I'm ready, Doc. Let's do this." Anita confirms. Her expression becomes serious - and as Aphrodite Areia closes in for a melee attack Anita takes aim and unleashes a spray of vulcan fire in Alma's direction to hem her in.
KTS: Anita Rosetta targets Alma Stirner with Vulcan Barrage! KTS: Anita Rosetta has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Alma Stirner charges into the attack! KTS: Alma Stirner partially guards Anita Rosetta's Vulcan Barrage, taking 1575 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 20165 KTS: Anita Rosetta begins a Formation attack! KTS: Your EN is now 76. <Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.
All right -- it looks like they're here. Alma brings the Spinatia forward, bat wing and halberd and all, the instant she sees contacts. ... Not Lilith, then.
Every part of her, at least, can agree that that's the result she wants -- even if it's for different reasons.
"That's fine!" Rusalka says, and she sounds happy for it; as Aphrodite comes in and swings for the machine, she tries to weave to one side and fails, taking the punch cleanly. Staggering back, she continues her pattern of almost totally blind aggression, charging through the vulcan fire without any hesitation. "Anita... I was kind of hoping it wouldn't be you," she murmurs.
She's back there, again. Even if Lilith isn't here. It's like the One Year War again...
She raises the halberd, giving it a wide sweep for Sayaka's Aphrodite, hoping to set it off balance. "I wouldn't have asked you for this, but... there wasn't any other way," she murmurs. "Either of you, really --!"
Setting that wing shield just a bit further forward, Alma rushes the Svipul at top speed, trying to get it off balance with a forceful shoulder check. She has to come at them like she'll kill them, if she has any hope of --
KTS: Alma Stirner has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Alma Stirner has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: Alma Stirner targets Sayaka Yumi with Voidsent Axe Slash! KTS: Alma Stirner targets Anita Rosetta with Wing Shield Shoulder Check! KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 120. KTS: SP Regen activates. Your new SP value is 25. KTS: Alma Stirner has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Sayaka Yumi has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Anita Rosetta KTS: Sayaka Yumi has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Sayaka Yumi's EN Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage. KTS: Sayaka Yumi parries Alma Stirner's Voidsent Axe Slash, taking 1260 damage! KTS: Alma Stirner has engaged Sayaka Yumi! KTS: Anita Rosetta blocks Alma Stirner's Wing Shield Shoulder Check, taking 2325 damage! KTS: Alma Stirner has engaged Anita Rosetta! <Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
If Sayaka was fighting Alma alone, she's not sure if she could reach her. She's mostly coasting through with her connections to Londo Bell through Koji. But even as Alma hoped it wasn't Anita, Sayaka feels like she can do it with her. She has to trust in that.
She can't take Rusalka's formidable aggression lightly, either, as she charges forth, halberd in hand. Raising the Mazinger Blade from her weapons skirt, Sayaka clashes blade against axe - with that really quite unpleasant creaking sound of metal against metal backdropping Alma's words. "Likewise, I'm not pleased to fight you," Sayaka answers. "I hope that by standing against you today, we can show you there are far more possibilities than this...!" Her words are struggled, as Aphrodite Areia and the Spinatia continue to clash.
But the moment she gets an opening, as Alma raises the Wing Shield to attack Anita, Sayaka takes the opening and pounces from behind with the Mazinger Blade! It's a cheap, unfair trick, maybe - but there's benefits to fighting as a team.
KTS: Sayaka Yumi targets Alma Stirner with Mazinger Blade Slice! KTS: Sayaka Yumi has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Alma Stirner parries Sayaka Yumi's Mazinger Blade Slice, taking 1470 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 18695 KTS: Sayaka Yumi has engaged Alma Stirner! KTS: Sayaka Yumi completes the Formation attack! KTS: Your EN is now 120.
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
"It was always gonna be me. I wasn't going to just leave you." Anita replies with a shrug and a small smile. She expresses a similar confidence in Sayaka. If she had to do this alone... she's not sure that she could. But someone having her back? That's the boost she needs.
...Still. The way Alma just... rushes in to their attacks... it's a little unsettling.
"This is the decision you came, to huh...? Then, watch us. We'll show you ours." Anita replies. Alma's Spinatia rushes forward with a shoulder-check. At this range, there's no getting out of it. Anita braces herself, raising her shield to put something between the two of them as the two machines smash into each other. The Svipul staggers back - but the Aphrodite Areia approaches from behind with the Mazinger Blade! Anita's more than willing to make use of that, too. Thrusters flare as the Svipul leaps back in an attempt to put some distance between the two of them, drawing its gatling pod as it moves and opening fire on the Spinatia Voidsent.
KTS: Anita Rosetta has activated the Dash Spirit Command and has failed to disengage. KTS: Anita Rosetta targets Alma Stirner with Gatling Sweep! KTS: Anita Rosetta has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Alma Stirner fails to react to Anita Rosetta's Gatling Sweep, taking 3600 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 15095 KTS: Your EN is now 115. <Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.
Some part of Alma reflexively insists on fighting -- Killy did an excellent job training her for war, and those reflexes have brought her to this point. At this point, it's hard to turn them off. She doesn't want to win, but she absolutely has to fight.
"Sayaka -- those possibilities -- they're yours. All I have is this -- I'm nothing but Yulie's, and she doesn't even want me! All I do is hurt her! I'm supposed to be helping her," she pleads, increasingly desperate as she turns and meets that blade with her halberd, "and I can't even do that!"
Pushing off from Sayaka's attack, Alma turns and tries to shift her machine to the side but gets penned in by the sweep of that gunpod. "Nnh -- Anita... you won't be able to keep up with me --" Alma insists, and she follows up by shifting her machine's grip on that halberd to a single hand and drawing a saber as well.
Going into a quick retreat from Anita while firing her vulcans, she turns and whirls toward Sayaka, the saber taking an eerie green light as Alma brings it up and around. She slashes to one side, then the other -- then brings her whole machine low into a controlled spin forward. On paper, it's a lot like her standard swordplay -- but instead of the heart, there's just...
... nothing.
KTS: Alma Stirner has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Alma Stirner targets Sayaka Yumi with Wingclipper! KTS: Alma Stirner targets Anita Rosetta with Witchlight Vulcans Retreating Volley! KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 135. KTS: SP Regen activates. Your new SP value is 30. KTS: Alma Stirner has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Anita Rosetta blocks Alma Stirner's Witchlight Vulcans Retreating Volley, taking 1725 damage! KTS: Alma Stirner repulses Anita Rosetta, forcing her to disengage. KTS: Sayaka Yumi has activated the Attune Spirit Command. KTS: Sayaka Yumi's EN Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage. KTS: Sayaka Yumi fails to parry Alma Stirner's Wingclipper, taking 5500 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Alma Stirner's Guard Shift activates, causing Sparkle! KTS: Alma Stirner has engaged Sayaka Yumi!
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
Alma may be trained for war... but this isn't war. Not in the conventional sense. Even still, she won't stand down, and Sayaka can't force herself to do so. She and Anita have to keep fighting, too.
"And who would I be if I never offered them to anyone else?" Sayaka counters, about possibilities. "Your life can be your own, Alma. And I won't stop fighting until I can help you understand that." She says, as the Mazinger Blade clashes with the Voidsent Halberd once again. "How will you ever get to settle things with Lilith otherwise?"
She braces herself for Alma's counterattack then, adding a saber to her repertoire. The way it glows green... she recognizes that light. And her strike is a good one, clipping the Artemis Arrow, cutting down her mobility severely. "Not bad... not bad at all." Sayaka breathes out. "But something's missing." She adds, as Aphrodite Areia regains her footing.
And if Alma's going to use the Void against her... Sayaka can only match it with pure Photon Power, as she drives the reactor higher and higher. Anita's screens get a warning ping, as it's about to get very heated. "This is for Lilith Aiden, for Killy Garrett, and yes, for everyone who wants to see you home. Everyone who misses you, Alma. If I can just show you that..." The big red level is pulled. "HEART FIRE!!" She calls, unleashing a storm of flame. It's different from the Breast Fire, unleashing multiple, smaller bursts of flame at rapid fire towards the Voidsent Spinatia. There are too many sparks to count, as if they represent every heart that's Alma's touched just by being herself.
KTS: Sayaka Yumi has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Sayaka Yumi targets Alma Stirner with Heart Fire! KTS: Sayaka Yumi has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Alma Stirner partially guards Sayaka Yumi's Heart Fire, taking 6090 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Sayaka Yumi's Light of the Future activates, causing Sparkle! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 9005 KTS: Sayaka Yumi roots her unit, coming to a standstill and leaving her vulnerable. KTS: Your EN is now 135.
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
Alma says she's nothing but Yuliana's, and Anita frowns.
"Is that really what you're supposed to do? You don't belong to her." Anita says. She nods, as Sayka speaks. "The Doc's right. Maybe you can't see it now... but you're your own person. You don't need her! If you lose your purpose... find a new one! You've got so many people ready and waiting with a shoulder to lean on, to prop you up until you're ready to move forward on your own. Not just us!"
Alma insists that she can't keep up with her... and Anita has to admit through clenched teeth that isn't entirely inaccurate. Up close like this, it's difficult to get away - though ultimately it's Alma who backs off first, retreating with a volley of vulcan fire that forces her to raise her shield to protect herself.
It's fortunate, too, as Alma's weapons begin to glow with an eerie green light, and a ping on her console warns her of imminent high temperatures.
In response the Svipul leaps into the air out of the danger zone, hovering in place as the Gungnir SC beam cannon emerges over the Valkyrie's left shoulder. In the cockpit, Anita's visor slides down over her eyes as she engages the Visual Link System.
"You've just met back up with some of your old team, right? Don't you want to spend more time with them? And I want to spend more time with you, too!" Anita says. She takes aim, beam cannon opening fire. It's hard to see through the flames - the heat of the hearts Alma has touched...
...But Anita's a sharpshooter. She can make a shot like this, all while minimizing risk to the pilot.
KTS: Anita Rosetta targets Alma Stirner with Cannon Mode - Aimed Shot! KTS: Anita Rosetta has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Alma Stirner fails to react to Anita Rosetta's Cannon Mode - Aimed Shot, taking 3750 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 5255 KTS: Your EN is now 135.
<Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.
"A normal person!" Alma shouts back at Sayaka. "I don't think -- I don't -- this is settling things with --" Alma tries desperately to explain the situation, but she finds she can't; the logic that held it together until she got here is starting to fall apart in the face of other people.
"L-Lilith sees me as a child! I bet Killy does too! They're -- when Lilith found out Yuliana was abusing me, she just tore off and wrecked our life together for the sake of getting revenge!" Alma insists, wrapping that wing around and forward again -- she can't block much of that fire, though, and it ends up more or less pushing through the wing. Alma tries desperately to imbue that wing with more energy, in some vain hope --
Her earrings splinter, and her grip on the controls turns white-knuckled. Rushing forward toward Anita again, she shouts, "I'm not the person they knew anymore! It'll just hurt them to see me like this! Don't you -- don't you get it, Anita?! This is..."
Her expression sours. Has she grown so little since the One Year War? Solving things by getting herself killed for the sake of ending a conflict...
Hunching over the controls, she tries her best to clear her head. "I don't -- want more time! They'll never... they'll just get hurt!" Alma's machine loses the saber-holding arm outright, leaving her with only that halberd.
Boosting in toward Anita, Rusalka's halberd begins to pulse erratically, crackling with green light. She's not even sure what she hopes to accomplish, at this point. Taking to the sky, Alma brings the weapon down on the Svipul with tremendous force -- and then follows through her swing with enough force to send the axe flying out of her hands, sailing for Sayaka's machine. Alma's unarmed, now, save for the vulcans...
KTS: Alma Stirner has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Alma Stirner targets Anita Rosetta with Rusalka! KTS: Alma Stirner targets Sayaka Yumi with Voidsent Axe Heavy Slash! KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 92. KTS: SP Regen activates. Your new SP value is 35. KTS: Alma Stirner has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Anita Rosetta has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Anita Rosetta blocks Alma Stirner's Rusalka, taking 9360 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Alma Stirner's Guard Shift activates, causing Sparkle! KTS: Alma Stirner has engaged Anita Rosetta! KTS: Alma Stirner roots her unit, coming to a standstill and leaving her vulnerable. KTS: Sayaka Yumi partially guards Alma Stirner's Voidsent Axe Heavy Slash, taking 4270 damage! KTS: Alma Stirner has engaged Sayaka Yumi!
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
Even as the fire melts around Alma - around Rusalka - so too does her logic begin to melt, as she slips into desperation. "If a normal person ignores someone in need, that's not what I want to be!" Sayaka fires back. "You trusted me with this, so I will not abandon you here!" As she speaks, the Heart Fire of Aphrodite Areia begins to thin, as the reactor slows down.
"The Kafims are exactly the same." Sayaka insists, about life-ruining revenge. Elisa told her as much. "But unlike them, Lilith is willing to make things right. She's been trying for months! It doesn't have to go back to the way things were before... but you don't need to stay like this either."
And when she invokes Killy... "Have you ever even tried to talk to her since she came back? Haven't you been looking for each other for years?" She remembers Killy Garrett faintly from the days of the AEUG and Karaba. Even back then, she was looking for her squad. "If she's been looking for that long... I don't think she wants to let you go. Not even like this."
But Sayaka sees that her greatest fear is hurting Lilith and Killy. "That's precisely why I declined to bring them with me. But after this battle, we'll find them together. You don't have to hurt each other anymore..."
But even depsite her words, and Anita's... Rusalka doesn't stop fighting. That glow is... worrisome, and it's levelled right Anita. It's so bright, and with the sensors as frazzled as they are, Sayaka doesn't realize she has Alma's axe lodged in Aphrodite Areia's arm until after the fact.
She's more worried about her ally, though... "Anita - Ensign Rosetta! Are... are you okay?" She reaches out, genuine worry in her tone. "Can you still fight? If so... we have to end this now." She asserts, raising the Voidsent Axe, tossing it aside as if a rejection of what it stands for. "RUST!" The very grill mouthplate of Aphrodite Areia begins to churn - the airflow being one of the few operable weapons left. "CYCLONE!" The corrosive winds aim to shred apart Alma's nearly unarmed Spinatia's armour, hoping to finally put an end to this battle that's lasted so many months.
"Anita, now!" If they can use their last remaining strength to free Alma...
KTS: Sayaka Yumi targets Alma Stirner with Rust Cyclone! KTS: Sayaka Yumi has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Alma Stirner fails to rush. KTS: Alma Stirner partially guards Sayaka Yumi's Rust Cyclone, taking 3720 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 1535 KTS: Sayaka Yumi repulses Alma Stirner, forcing her to disengage. KTS: Sayaka Yumi begins a Formation attack! KTS: Your EN is now 92.
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
"Yeah, I get it. But I just can't agree with you, there." Anita replies, shaking her head. "Ain't that their choice to make? You're worrying about hurting them... but they're big girls! They can take it! You can't - shouldn't - decide how they feel for them. Maybe you've changed - but you're still Alma!"
She nods along as Sayaka speaks, assuring her that Lilith is willing to make things right.
"If you feel that way, talk to her about it. Sometimes you just gotta argue things out." Anita says - and then, her expression gets serious, holding her breath as Alma descends upon her. The Pinpoint Barrier system sparks to life - but doesn't form in time, that halberd, crackling with green light, ripping past it and into into Svipul's right side, through the wing and into the arm, causing the machine to crumple into a heap.
It takes a second - but when Sayaka reaches out to her with genuine worry.
"...Yeah. I've still got some juice left in me." Anita says. With a grunt, she forces her Valkyrie back into a standing position, and then... she laughs, just a little.
"...Look at me, shouting like this. Making a big scene. Even just last year, you wouldn't catch me dead doin' something like this. Too much effort." Anita replies. "...But no one stays the same person they were forever, y'know? Better or worse, people change. And they keep changing. Just how it goes."
She rolls her neck. It's a little stiff...
Energy begins to build within the Gungnir SC. Sputtering at first - and then it stabilizes.
"So I guess what I'm saying is... even now, you've still got a chance to change, too! And I'm gonna do everything in my power to make sure you get that chance! So, you gotta walk away from this one, ALMA!" Anita shouts. Sayaka unleashes the Rust Cyclone - and Anita follows it up by unleashing the built up energy in the Gungir SC, to break away the rest so they can reach Alma inside.
KTS: Anita Rosetta targets Alma Stirner with Cannon Mode - Fully-Charged! KTS: Anita Rosetta has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Alma Stirner blocks Anita Rosetta's Cannon Mode - Fully-Charged, taking 2010 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at -475 KTS: Alma Stirner has been defeated! KTS: You're out of the fight. Consider using +eject to leave the battlefield. KTS: Anita Rosetta completes the Formation attack! KTS: Your EN is now 82. <Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.
"I tried to kill her!" Alma shoots back to Sayaka. "I would've, too, if Yulie asked! But all she wanted was for me to disengage, so I never resolved anything, and --" She practically whimpers at this point, trying to figure out what she's even saying. In the moment it had felt so obvious to fight Killy for Yuliana's sake, and equally obvious to disengage...
The Spinatia already has so little armor. Sayaka's assault shreds almost all of it, save the torso, and she still has to defend herself against Anita, still has to --
Anita fires the Gungnir, and throws the Spinatia's arm in front of its torso. She could -- she could give more of herself to this machine, could press forward even with it this wrecked, if she gave herself over to -- to --
The quartz at her throat pulses, but --
-- cracks, as she simultaneously tries to beg it for more and beg it for less. The other arm goes flying off, and the machine tumbles. It's unclear for a moment what's happening -- if there's indeed nothing left of Alma -- but...
"... help," she transmits, crackling, as the Spinatia sparks on the ground. "I can't -- trust myself anymore. This... I'll be out of Yulie's hair, like this, too -- do, do whatever you want with me." She can't quite manage to tear off all that conditioning in an instant...
... but maybe she doesn't need to, if she just lets Sayaka and Anita do what they want to... It'll -- she'll be... everything will be fine. She has no idea how.
... that's fine, too.
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
"And you didn't!" Sayaka shoots back, about how she tried to kill Killy. "If you did... it would absolutely be too late. But you still have a chance! She's just waiting for you to take it." Somehow, she just knows Killy has already forgiven her...
Anita's fine, which is such a relief... but she can't help but chuckle herself, when Anita comments about how she'd never shout like this before. "Must be the Mazin pilot rubbing off on you," Sayaka comments. And more seriously... "Yeah. We can't stay the same forever. And that's what the Kafims are trying to do to you in the first place - keep you in one spot. But people don't work like that."
And with that, her final gambit pays off, as Alma shoots the Gungnir cannon, with fire in her veins. And something cracks. They can't see it, but...
They can hear her, pleading. "You're safe now, Alma." Sayaka assures her. "Pilder off!" The jet that makes up Areia's hair maneuvers to help Alma out of the Spinatia. She's not completely okay... but she's safe. And that's what's most important.
As for what to do next? Sayaka and Anita likely both know. "I'd like to call Killy and Lilith." Killy... she might be able to get ahold of through old Karaba contact. Sayla might know a way. "As for Lilith... I'll probably need your help. That's why you called me here anyways, isn't it? You'll get to settle things on your own terms now." But until that heartfelt reunion... Alma will get the rest she finally deserved.
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
"Maybe." Anita replies with a chuckle at Sayaka's comment - before focusing down. The Gungnir SC fires...
...And for a moment, Anita feels her breath caught in her throat. Was this too much? Did she -
...But then, there's a cry for help. Anita releases her breath.
"...It's alright. We're here for you, Alma. We've got you." Anita assures. The Svipul approaches the Spinatia, just as Aphrodite Areia does. Her EX-Gear releases her and the cockpit opens and Anita hops out, leaping over to the Spinatia's.
She'll give her a hand out of the cockpit, if need be - even if it comes down to carrying her out of it.
As for what's next... Anita nods.
"Yeah. That'll be good, I think." She says.
She believes in her - that she'll see the other side of this.
<Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.
Rusalka still feels like she ought to just -- return to Yuliana and find some new way to satisfy her. But -- she can't. She can't... let that be everything. Can she? She wants to. (No, she realizes on some level -- she was told she needed to.)
"C-call whoever you want," Alma says, going through the motions of unbuckling herself. (She doesn't have a helmet or a normal suit to remove; she's still wearing that dress. "I'm... I'll go." She awkwardly slides herself out of the seat, sweating, miserable. Her hand moves toward Anita's -- then shies away, again --
-- then finally takes it, nodding. "Th --" Cutting herself off, she takes a shuddering breath, and says, "Thank you. I'm sorry it came to -- all this..."