2023-08-03: The End and the Beginning
- Log: 2023-08-03: The End and the Beginning
- Cast: Leina Ashta, Banagher Links, Sayla Mass, Judau Ashta, Casval rem Deikun
- Where: Beyond the Time
- OOC - IC Date: 18 August 0097
- Summary: Full Frontal and his Neo Zeong have carved a path through time, to show that the world will not change. When exposed to some of the worst moments of the Universal Century and before- the Miracles that made the world worse. As Frontal tries to break Banagher's will, Judau, Leina, Sayla and Char all face some of the most important and tragic moments of their life as spectators.
KTS: Weapon: 60mm Vulcans KTS: Weapon: Hi-Nu Beam Rifle KTS: Weapon: Hi-Nu Gundam Shield KTS: Weapon: New Hyper Bazooka KTS: Weapon: Photon Funnel Array KTS: Weapon: Photon Sword FPT: Sayla Mass has deployed for Flashpoint in RX-93-v2-MZ Photon Hi-Nu Gundam. FPT: Sayla Mass has joined Leina Ashta's party!
+------------------------------< Flashpoint 1.0 >------------------------------+ +--------------------< FLASHPOINT CHALLENGE: Exploration >---------------------+ | MANDATORY STAT: | | TERRAIN: Space | | ATTRIBUTES: nothing | | BONUS STATS: TAR and RX | +---------------------------< TITLE: Introduction >----------------------------+ - "So... not only Gundams oppose me." An empty space addresses you all, as - - the hulking red form of the Neo Zeong rises. "Me, the vessel filled with - - the collective will of the people! Very well... I accept your challenge, - - warriors!" The shoulders of the Neo Zeong open, and the machine unfurls - - itself -- unfurls a /ring,/ around itself, shining golden with Psycommu. - - The first display of his power is an explosion which rips through several - - weapons, and any attempt to /meet/ the Neo Zeong is met with a horrific - - display of power: whether through crane-clasps which fold out to catch the - - assault, or the machine's giant /hands/ catching the blows, it is clear - - that this foe cannot be taken out so quickly. Only when the Unicorn - - plunges its fists into some of the Neo Zeong's too /many/ fists does Full - - Frontal's attention orient to one of his attackers. He grasps the Unicorn, - - and his words echo, through his suit and through his heart, to all - - assembled: - - - - "It's the Miracle again. Nothing will change! No matter what you do... - - look, Banagher. All of you! Take a look for yourselves!" - - - - When two Psychoframe units resonate with each other... Miracles occur. And - - now, as the Neo Zeong launches, he leaves behind a trail of green light -- - - a trail he /tosses/ the Unicorn into, as he blasts off. Defeating him - - means following his trail -- a trail more RED than green, when entered, - - all molten rock and blazing star-fields. Your cockpit or station will - - tremble with the force of it, as your camera or sensor output is doubled - - over once and once again with strange and bright after-images. This space - - is as much conceptual as it is physical, an overlay of reality, and your - - first struggle is to /adapt./ To keep your machine from shaking to bits -- - - to keep yourself focused on the goal. - - - - It is made all the more difficult as Axis itself resolves, in front of you. - - As all the horrific, wonderous power of Axis Shock washes over your - - machines, and you must find some way to bear the power without being cast - - away into endless space. - - - - "This is where it all began," Full Frontal says, as he swoops past, his - - green trail leading to the next vision. "So, you all see it as well... in - - that case, let us travel together to the end of time in this universe!" - - - - He tells no lie. You're travelling through /time,/ now -- through the - - cruelest parts of history. - - - - Nothing will change, Full Frontal said, and this he intends to /show./ - +------------------------------< DIFFICULTY: 1 >-------------------------------+ +---------------------------------< .SRTMOO. >---------------------------------+
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
In the end, Magallanica itself was a lesson. It was also an argument. A clash of opposing viewpoints. Full Frontal proposed the rebuttal. Words alone however would not settle this.
"So... not only Gundams oppose me." And thus as the Neo-Zeong emerged from the Colony, enormous, it's Psycho-shards unfurling like a Halo did Full Frontal utter his challenge.
"Me, the vessel filled with the collective will of the people! Very well... I accept your challenge, warriors!"
The Banshee Norn, aglow keeps its distance, firing a shot every now and then, as if testing the Zeong's defenses. Each one devoured by an enormous I-Field, like a nebulous prismatic cloud.
"<He fielded this at Palau, but we don't know what it's really capable of-!>" She warns, over the comms. "<Full Frontal-! It doesn't have to be like this! Nothing about what you're doing has anything to do with the Spacenoid will!>"
And after a moment, she simply echoes what he told her, "<It has everything to do with what you saw.>"
Unfortunately- in the fighting, what happens next, "<-BANAGHER!>" As the Unicorn gets caught, grasped mid-attack, and the resonance begins.
Some of them know it already, the horror of a Psychofield, but even those who have not experienced it, can feel it, that sense of foreboding. That feeling like they are being drawn through to a place where time and space mean less.
That energy erupts out like an aurora, and they are being drawn into its wake. A sudden sense of acceleration in the sparkling contrails.
And then they see it. Axis. Perhaps not as Judau or Leina remembers it. Moussa is gone, and Earth is so large, it has struck the atmosphere, a shining red as it burns bright to herald in the Doomsday of the Cradle.
And they all see it, a spherical shape, jammed into the rock. The Nu Gundam pushing against it, along with Jegans and Zulus.
As they have their argument now with Full Frontal, so too do two men have their own. A moment of connection, of misunderstanding amongst so much understanding. Then an auroral light erupts, shoving away all the other suits.
It shines outwards cruel in how it discriminates- catching all of them with a forcefulness that threatens to tear them all apart at their journey's beginning.
"<Oh God- we're-!>" So many feelings in this moment, having been there with Sayla. Having been there on Earth. Clinging to one another - now in space, being forced to witness it with their own eyes.
Faced with little time, Leina in the Norn perhaps follows Shelby's advice in this moment. "<Ride the wave. Hold on-!>" As she powers the thrusters to simply move in the same direction as the wave of Psycho-Energy.
Even should they evade, their passage is not linear, for time itself no longer is. They are passengers on this journey- whether they want to be or not.
"This is where it all began. So, you all see it as well... in - that case, let us travel together to the end of time in this universe!"
Despite it all - bringing all of them here to Axis, the whiplash of experiencing history in this way she can't help but think this is the Newtype debate equivalent of a 'dick move.'
<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.
Chasing after the Neo Zeong, the Unicorn leaves a trail of verdant radiance. Heart pounding in his chest, Banagher grits his teeth, soaring between his allies. This is about him and Full Frontal. Banagher is the reason the Ghost of Char is doing all this -- and the Key to Possibility knows nothing will change until Full Frontal is stopped.
Pushing his machine to new heights of speed, Banagher charges forward. He has to believe in Audrey, back with Syam. He has to protect her. Watching the Neo Zeong's halo of golden Psychoframe is harrowing. The Unicorn can perform untold Miracles with the amount she has. What is Full Frontal planning with such an excess?
Allies and friends alike open fire on the monstrous machine, and one by one, they're stopped. Knowing his weapons will be ineffective, Banagher pushes the Unicorn forward, putting all her momentum into a punch--! The Neo Zeong's hand (one of many) splinters under the Unicorn's attack, and this seems to be all Full Frontal is willing to bear.
Grasped by a crane arm, the Unicorn struggles. Banagher takes a breath. Fiercely, the Beast of Possibility kicks out, severing the crane arm -- her motions now a beautiful mix of vicious ferocity and starlit grace. Darting beneath another attempt by the Neo Zeong to grab her, the Unicorn attempts to punch through the heart of the Monster, only for both her arms to be grasped. She tries to kick out, but the Neo Zeong crushes her legs together. Banagher cries out in pain, feeling her damage as if it was to his own body.
Full Frontal calls out to the heroes as he pins the Unicorn, as the Psychoframes resonate. Banagher yells, trying to stop the Miracle from occuring, but to no avail. The Neo Zeong takes off into its nebulous journey, finally releasing the Unicorn.
<"I'm okay, Leina. We have to go after him."> Banagher rasps out, feeling returning to his legs by degree. <"Whatever he's doing, we can't let it happen!">
It is a choice, though not a difficult one. Banagher and the Unicorn are in perfect unison as they charge forward again, into the Neo Zeong's trail. The Unicorn trembles, threatening to shake apart under the forces surrounding her, and Banagher gasps in overwhelmed horror at the visions before him.
"Stay with me." Banagher murmurs, closing his eyes -- though this does nothing to stop the visions. "We can do this, Unicorn. Just one last fight."
Green radiance builds around the young man as he focuses in, drawing deeply from his soul, offering the entirety of who he is to his Gundam. This influx of power eases the machine's shaking. Pulsing an even more brilliant green, she cuts a path through the red spiritual energy, easing her own way and the journey of her allies.
Soon enough, or perhaps after an eternity, he emerges from the trail. Shaken, the young pilot opens his eyes.
Axis Shock greets him. Banagher's eyes blow wide in shock. He's seen it before, he watched it happen with his mother all those years ago, but now -- they're close enough to touch. Amuro Ray.
"Amuro..." Banagher whispers, as brilliant Miracle Light bursts from his hero's machine and begins to envelop Axis itself. Nearly swept away by the Miracle before him, he goes still, only reacting when Leina speaks once more.
BGM change: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mE8p1D-M2wY
<"Leina! Everyone!"> Banagher calls over his radio, <"We have to stay together! Move forward, don't fight it! Don't get lost in what he shows us!">
Ride the wave. Banagher silently thanks Shelby for her advice so long ago.
FPT: Banagher Links has acted with Intuition and Reactor.
<Pose Tracker> Judau Ashta has posed.
It seems the journey to Magallanica went about as well as Judau Ashta expected it to.
Which is, 'not very, and now there's a giant Zeonic mobile armor unfolding from Industrial 7 like a modern-day Hecatoncheires.'
(except he has no idea what a hecatoncheires would be)
Honestly, the intricacies of Laplace have always sort of been lost on Judau; political intrigue is just not his bag, and if he saw what the Box's contents really were, he would have scoffed because 1) the Federation and breaking their word goes together so well they're basically an old-married couple, AND 2) that wasn't even remotely a box, or even box-shaped.
What he -does- know is that the Federation - and the Sleeves' - interest in this is a problem that far outsizes his own lack of, and...
He knows when trouble is on the horizon.
It's why the Double Zeta has already loaded up for rapid deployment the second Judau gets even the -slightest- twinge of a gut feeling that things are going south. His gut is rewarded as the ZZ launches into space the exact moment the Neo-Zeong makes its massive self known for the first time since Palau, and his first, cogent thought is,
"How the hell can you hide somethin' that damn big?! No fair!"
followed swiftly by,
<"You better get the hell away from them before I kick your ass-- what the hell--?">
as the Double Zeta launches beam fire upon the harrowing red chassis of the Neo-Zeong only to have the shimmering wobble of transparent I-Fields gobble up his offensive before they can even reach it. Seagreen eyes widen. He can feel it, even before the Psycho-Shards bloom like a freshly-forged ring of molten gold at the Mobile Armor's back. Something's wrong with this machine. Something's--
<"That thing -- it's up to somethin' -- shit, Banagher--!">
It's the last real thought that Judau can express before his intuition is once more rewarded -- or cursed, depending on your perspective. He -feels- Full Frontal's words even as he flings the Double Zeta towards the Zeong and the two Unicorns in a blazing blue bloom of rocket propulsion...
... and just as that blue burn is lost within a stream of green and red
and
time
"Wh--"
It's strange, feeling time flow around you. It's similar to other experiences Judau has had, where all the space between people seems to just become nonsense -- there's no way to qualify how it feels to have time fracture and liquefy around him save that the entire concept of it seems to become inherently absurd. What is today, or yesterday, or tomorrow, save for a shift in perspective? And if you held a certain perspective once, why can't you just --
--feel it again--?
The perspective of time and space tilts. And suddenly, Judau is staring at the familiar-but-not form of Axis as it crashes towards Earth, eyes widening in confusion and realization at once. He was lightyears away from Earth when Axis was dropped -- but he remembers it, because even so far away, he -felt- it. The space between people is nonsense to a Newtype. ... and time...
He can feel it. All of it. The desperation, the resolve -- the hatred and confusion and everything that congealed into one moment when human will united in mass amounts for a single goal.
He hears Leina. He hears Banagher. His eyes shut.
<"I know, dammit!">
And Judau tries to surrender himself to move with the flow of Axis Shock rather than against it, uniting his will to the will he felt that day blooming across Earth and beyond.
<"I'm not -- gonna let -- some condescending history lesson get the better of me--!">
Become one with a moment where everyone came together.
And then refused to change.
<"I never -- paid any damn attention in history class -- an' I'm not about to start now with some floofy-haired jerk tryin' to teach it to me--!">
He knows all about how history has refused to change. He's lived it. But he can keep stubbornly pushing on despite the lesson that keeps trying to hammer itself into his soul.
It's just the Judau Way.
<Pose Tracker> Casval rem Deikun has posed.
Accompanying the Gundams - this family forged in fierce flame, while his back was turned - is a modified Nemo with additional control surfaces and boosters, a finalized prototype from the Gryps Conflict era.
The pilot is not speaking much, but his presence is unmistakable to all, and the way the Nemo hangs close to the Banshee is telling, given that his sister is riding pillion in the black RX-0.
Why is he here? Simple:
====== THREE HOURS AGO ======
"The legacy of the Red Comet must be destroyed. Bakharov used my memories and feelings to pursue his agenda... that makes it my responsibility to be involved in any confrontation with Full Frontal."
====== NOW ======
He knows this machine, as its golden Psyco-shard halo unfurls. The battles of Palau are still searingly clear in his memory. Familiarity guides his flight even through a still-aching body - the Nemo is much faster than even an Oath-empowered Zeong was against its descendant.
While he was in the thrall of the Cosmic Egg, his feelings towards the so-called 'Red Comet Reborn' were simple: He was an embodiment of miracles and needed to be stopped. Now, though, the utter revulsion of his self being used to create another figurehead for the corruption in spacenoid politics is no longer buried, and allowed to fully surface.
He feels it early as the Neo Zeong and the Unicorn begin to resonate, even though his Mobile Suit has no psycommu systems - it's a far too familiar feeling, a dreadful sensation of his psyche being pulled along on an invisible current, and his body and machine being compelled to follow. "No, no - "
It's too late.
He's seeing it again.
No, that's not accurate. He couldn't see it before, so close were he and Amuro to Axis as they battled. Now, at this distance... the scope and scale of the battlefield. His own soldiers joining Amuro and the Federation in a desperate attempt to push the massive rock back, even though the heat and pressure is ripping their suits apart. The psycofield only protects the Nu Gundam, and the man in the red cockpit block pressed against the asteroid.
It's only been a handful of months for him, and now he's seeing it all over again. He didn't understand then, how humanity could be so cruel and yet so desperate to save each other in what seemed like their final moments.
He still doesn't... but from this angle, he can see how even Axis's colossal size... is utterly dwarfed by the blue-green sphere of the Earth. Even banded by the Orbital Ring, even scarred by the Gundam Fights and innumerable wars...
... It's still beautiful.
He lets out a shuddering breath, and sets his hands more firmly on the Nemo's controls. He can still see the Neo Zeong, somehow both close enough for his mobile suit to reach out and touch, and yet impossibly far away. They're transcending time and space, and that means...
"I won't let you take us there," he transmits. He won't go back to that burning amber void, and have his mind rewritten again. He won't let that happen to Artesia, or these three who love her. "All units - stay close to me."
Riding the wave... But Char Aznable will not surrender himself, not even to a force like this. Staying on course as this phenomenon overtakes them all is essential - and so the Nemo leads the way.
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
While the confrontation with Syam Vist and Full Frontal occurred inside Magallanica, Sayla had stayed behind. Someone had to guard the Banshee and the Unicorn.
But she could hear it all. The 'truth' of Laplace's box. What the Vist foundation had used as leverage for so long-
And the way that the three of then refute Syam's decision, and the secret of the box. She can't help but feel a pang of pride, even as Leina states Sayla's own father got it wrong.
And then she hears a voice, identical to her brother's and fear grips her. Frontal is dangerous- and Leina's still unarmed. A part of her wants to run in after them. But it would take too long.
And so she starts activating the Banshee. No matter happens, having the suits ready to go she can do.
----
Inside the Banshee Norn, Sayla sits next to Leina, rapidly coordinating comms and data. "<It was enough to be a threat to a Conquerer King. Don't underestimate it!>"
Leina tries again to reach Full Frontal, and Sayla bites her lip. "Leina-"
And then the Unicorn is grabbed. "<Banagher!>"
"<This is... The Axis Shock.>" There's a fear in Sayla's voice. After all, this was the moment that stole their happiness.
She can see the Nu Gundam, pushing desperately.
For a moment, she is silent. She had long wanted to know what happened here. Not what she felt. Not what she had been told after the fact. She wanted to know what had been Amuro and her brother's final moments.
She had seen them from his point of view, what it was to be absorbed into
Seeing it up close is near overwhelming.
Leina rides the wave, as Banagher begs them to stay together. Sayla starts sweeping the laser transmitter, and finds two more signals. Familiar ones. "<Judau, can you reach us? We can ride this out together!>" And then... the other signal. An MS that once belonged to a man named Cuaran, borrowed for a selfish mission. "<...Casval.>" She says, quietly. "Leina, please. We could use his help too." She reaches to activate the comms again. "<Understood. We'll link up as best we can.>"
The message sent, Sayla reaches for something worn under her suit. The sample. The T that that made this miracle happen. "I don't know if you can hear me," Sayla whispers to the ghosts that once protected her through the metal. "You went through this once. Help us make it through it again."
It's so rare for Sayla to put her faith in things like this. But for her sake, for Leina's for Banaghers, for Mineva back in the Magallanica...
She'll rely on anything, anyone who can help.
FPT: Sayla Mass has acted with Intuition and Reactor.
+--------------------------------< TENSION: 8 >--------------------------------+ | PILOT: Leina Ashta | | STATS: INT/RX Charges Used: 0 Failure | | PILOT: Judau Ashta | | STATS: INT/RX Charges Used: 0 Failure | | PILOT: Banagher Links | | STATS: INT/RX Charges Used: 0 Success | | PILOT: Sayla Mass | | STATS: INT/RX Charges Used: 0 Success | | PILOT: Casval rem Deikun | | STATS: INT/TAR Charges Used: 0 Success | +-----------------------------< Round 1 Results >------------------------------+ +---------------------------------< .SRTMOO. >---------------------------------+
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Leina feels a sense of relief when she can tell that Judau is here in the Double Zeta. While she's certainly concerned about the lives of her loved ones... she tells herself, that part of her that fears, that he's better equipped than any of them to deal with what's here.
"<Judau!>"
Leina has absolute faith in Judau's ability to handle things, "<It has too much ass to kick on your own, be careful!>" -it's just she also has absolute faith in him handling things in his way.
Whereas what Banagher says on it- "<Of course just- be careful! This feels like we're...>"
'Dancing to his tune' The words are not uttered, but she certainly is thinking it, feeling it. And indeed, him grabbing Banagher, the Psychoframe resonance...
...it feels like that's true.
And the Nemo as it comes alongside them-
"<You...!>" As she then momentarily looks Sayla's way in the cockpit, before she closes her eyes, and shudders within her seat. Perhaps she's more ready to accept certain things. However as Sayla pleads to her- "Fine."
Perhaps she's ready to accept help, wherever it comes.
Even his.
She has her pride, but that lesson is so fresh that she can't help it, especially with Banagher imperiled - with Sayla and Judau in danger simply by being here with them, "<... Please help us end this.>"
Part of her wishes in this position she could hold Sayla's hand, facing down the Axis Shock. This moment, which hurt her so much.
And while she flies closer to Judau certainly, it would be inaccurate to say she isn't abiding by what Char asks of her.
Riding the wave is easier said than done, as the Psychofield batters the Banshee Norn and Double Zeta, the others finding it a far more smooth experience.
Gritting her teeth, Leina bickers with Judau's attitude on it, "<Nnnghhh-Judau take this more seriously! It's not JUST some history lesson! It's life or death!>"
Perhaps the sibling bickering in front of another pair of siblings might be illuminating in some way...
... but this journey is far from over.
FPT: Leina Ashta's party has drawn a new Challenge!
FPT: Drawing Card 3 for Round 2.
+------------------------------< Flashpoint 1.0 >------------------------------+ +--------------------< FLASHPOINT CHALLENGE: Exploration >---------------------+ | MANDATORY STAT: ARM | | TERRAIN: Space | | ATTRIBUTES: Swarm and Beam L2 | | BONUS STATS: RX and PIL | +---------------------------< TITLE: Silent Voice >----------------------------+ - You are here to fight. - - - - For evil, the wages of evil! For sin, the wages of sin! - - - - You are here to save people. - - - - To mold a true Neo-Zeon with my own hands, I charge you with the task of - - bringing me her head! - - - - Even though none of them desire your salvation. - - - - The battle lines are drawn. - - - - Axis looms large in it's original form, so different from the footage of - - the Shock, with a spherical module asteroid attached on by numerous - - struts. And it's defenders line up in grey, rear armors moving in synch, - - like some hideous intimidating dance. They're backed by an enormous giant - - in green, flanked by a pack of wolves. - - - - And they are hungry for blood. - - - - They are met head on by the other side, Cyclopean giants of metal that - - emerge from the shadows of dummy asteroids. A fleet of ships offering - - hails of fire as the Asteroid defenses return them. A red mobile suit - - carves into their front line, mothers releasing their children to fight, - - while funnels rise to meet the bits. - - - - Soon you are awash in the chaos of the two sides, caught within a field of - - death. Yet another journey upon the mobius strip. - - - - Your desire to fight, to save people, now competing with one far more - - primal. - - - - Survive. - - - - As you fight in this chaotic melee, flashes, an understanding. By the end - - of the day, only ruin and death awaits Neo-Zeon, both sides shattered, - - their leaders killed. - - - - The Federation fleet comes in the silence after, and the wanton destruction - - is met with something worse than a sense of triumph. - - - - Apathy. - - - - One less problem to deal with. The status quo that Haman Karn and Glemy - - Toto sought to challenge not only survives, but thrives. - - - - What meaning was there in this conflict? What hope, what possibility did - - it create? - - - - Ask the silence, and receive your answer. - +------------------------------< DIFFICULTY: 3 >-------------------------------+ +---------------------------------< .SRTMOO. >---------------------------------+
<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.
This has become an oddly familial experience, Banagher thinks to himself, with a pang of dull sadness. The feeling is quickly banished. He has to focus on the events before him, or he'll risk being lost in Full Frontal's terrible Miracle.
<"Judau, Char -- thank you."> Banagher is, perhaps, the least bothered by Char's presence here. The last time they met he and Audrey were saved by the man, after all. <"Sayla, I'm really, really glad you're here, but -- I'm sorry. I'm sorry you have to see this.">
He wants to ask Char and Sayla both if they're okay, seeing Axis again, something that must be nightmarish for both siblings. Banagher feels that neither would want to discuss it now, and so he holds his silence, speaking instead with the protection he tries to offer their mobile suits.
The Unicorn draws closer to the Banshee, and by virtue of that, the ZZ and the Nemo. The Light of Possibility that the Unicorn exudes washes over the machines, an effort from Banagher to protect his friends. Axis is left behind, as the Neo Zeong soars through time and space before them all, Full Frontal not hesitating for a second on his journey of despair.
Again, overwhelming spiritual manifestations assault the senses of both pilot and mobile suit. Again, the heroes must contend with the near-damaging barrage of space and time, but as it (eventually, or quickly, who can say) clears...
Axis rises again before them. This time, stationary and light-less.
<"How are we--"> No, that's not the right question to ask. <"Why is this familiar?">
That isn't the right question either, Banagher thinks, as the defenders of Axis fall in, line by line. But it's at the front of his mind. Something he can't quite place is almost beckoning, and despite the clear danger of the hundreds of enemy machines, Banagher can't help but wish he could answer.
As soon as they've arrived, they're lost in the vicious conflict. Banagher pulls the Unicorn's shield before her body, deflecting stray beam fire. Reaching for the Beam Magnum, he hesitates. This isn't real, but that doesn't mean he wants to kill anyone. Instead, the Unicorn draws a beam saber.
<"We have to fight!"> Banagher calls, as the Unicorn slashes away an enemy machine's arm at the elbow. <"Their attacks -- I don't know if this is real or not, but they're going to kill us if they get the chance!">
Fight. Save. Frozen between impulses, the Unicorn is struck by a salvo of missiles. With the sound of alerts and splintering armor, Banagher comes to the harrowing realization that neither saving people or winning this battle is possible. Shouting in grieved anger, the Unicorn stays on the outskirts of her little group of allies, disabling any enemy that comes too close.
The battle doesn't last long. Not here, where it is merely a spiritual echo. Panting, Banagher lowers his sword. Is it over?
It's only when the Federation fleet silently enters that Banagher realizes where, and when, they are. A terrible, pointless battle against Neo-Zeon with the Federation taking no action? He's heard that story before, and grieved it through Leina's words.
<"Judau, I -- "> Banagher doesn't know what to say. Battleships, far too late to do much of anything, loom before them. In the end, he simply asks, <"...are you okay?">
The Unicorn floats closer to the Banshee. This won't be easy on Leina, either. Reaching out, the white Unicorn brushes her hand against that of the Black Lion's. Letting Banagher's feelings echo through that little contact, carrying his second-hand grief. Ensuring Leina knows that she isn't alone.
FPT: Banagher Links has acted with Armor and Piloting.
<Pose Tracker> Judau Ashta has posed.
<"Yeah, I can make it!">
This is Judau's declaration to Sayla as the ZZ works as best it can through the buffeting timespace winds that are Axis Shock's rippling psychofield.
<"We can make it through this if we go together-- huh?">
There's a Nemo over there. A Nemo rapidly catching up to them. A Nemo that has a familiar feeling to it, one he's only really felt himself once before when tinged with something else, something -wrong-, but was distinctive all on its own. Judau blinks, past the emotional, existential turbulence, as it is given a proper name.
<"Char?"> A second passes. <"--How's your face?">
Does Judau know that probably healed up instantly because of Triple Zero? Probably.
he just can't help himself
In the end, the roughness of this transition through history is rough all on its own -- but some things just come naturally. Like prodding at Char. Or bickering with a sibling. Case in point:
<"I - gh! - know it's not just a history lesson!"> shouts Judau, not even a little petulantly. <"But it's still some pompous idiot tryin' to tell me how I oughta feel! Lke when Mr. Montague tried to tell me I shoulda felt bad that one time I snuck outta his class by tossin' my notebook at his face!">
d-does that even count as 'sneaking'--
THE POINT IS: Judau has no time or tolerance for any of that!
<"Life or death, no one can tell me I gotta feel any way I don't wanna! So there!"> is the elder Ashta's conclusion; despite the battering of psycho-fields across the ZZ, inspiring pink-red bursts of psychic fire along the machine with every ripple, the bickering makes him feel more comfortable -- more focused. More alert...
<"I -am- takin' this--">
And then, an achingly familiar battlefield stretches out before him.
"--s-seriously...?"
He knows this setpiece of unfreezing time. He knows the feeling permeating here. He knows the voices echoing in his soul.
He knows all the lives lost here, and how little it mattered when the Federation was only waiting in the wings for the little problem to be resolved for them.
Credit seized, then forgotten. An abandoned moment in history, accumulating the temporal dust of deliberate obscurity.
"..."
"... Dammit, Glemy... dammit, Haman...!"
The words never quite leave Judau's cockpit as he grits his teeth. This moment of time unfolding before them means nothing; it can't be affected or changed, merely shown and felt and experienced, because that's what a lesson is. Esoterica, dredged up to demonstrate the ultimate futility. But all the same --
"Dammit!"
--it doesn't change how Judau Ashta feels one bit.
Missiles unload upon the Unicorn; and as they do, the Double Zeta blazes in, the crackling, broad beam of its saber cleaving into and through the missile pack of the Zssa that launched them.
<"Just hang on, Banagher!"> shouts Judau, his voice caked with anger and frustration.
<"This... this isn't gonna last long.">
Indeed, it doesn't. The conflict between Glemy and Haman is a short-lived one, ultimately, especially when urged on by the necessity of the lesson. The death of Glemy Toto is a thing that can be felt. The death of Haman is a thing that Judau still feels -now-. The Federation announces their victory; they never mention how the leader of Axis took her own life rather than face the ignominy of the Federation's bloated, corrupt judgment. Why should they?
Nothing would change, either way.
In the aftermath of it all, Judau can still feel that frustration and sense of dismay rolling off him in waves; he's not sure where the fighting ended and where the Federation's unceremonious clean-up began, left panting among Zeonic debris, his expression conforted into a grimace. Is he okay?
Judau's answer is a single shout as the High Mega Cannon of the Double Zeta suddenly ignites, a massive, blinding, but brief beam puncturing through false space to streak past those Federation battleships. It never comes close to hitting them. Fake or not... it wouldn't change anything.
The reactor shouts warnings against a second shot. In his cockpit, Judau lurches forward, and a small smile crosses his lips.
<"... hell no.">
His voice comes in an exhale.
<"... but...">
He has to believe. As long as he's here, and Leina's here, and Roux, and Elle, and everyone else...
It wasn't for nothing. And even if that wasn't true then, even if it's not true now...
<"... we're... we're still here. An'... we gotta keep going.">
He needs to make it true. No matter what.
FPT: Judau Ashta has acted with Armor and Piloting.
FPT: Judau Ashta spends 1 ID Charges! They will apply this coming round!
<Pose Tracker> Casval rem Deikun has posed.
"My ears are still ringing," Char replies to Judau about the headbutt that happened several months ago, smiling a little despite himself.
Full Frontal, thankfully, does not immediately catapulted to that strange place where everything began and ended, and Char allows himself to breathe a sigh of relief. Instead, they are thrust from the tragedy of Axis into a desperate battle just to stay alive.
He was raising Mineva when this happened. They were far away, in Sweetwater. They are far away, in Sweetwater, and at the same time he is here and she is in Magallanica, determined to uphold her ideals.
Char grits his teeth, his Nemo raising the Hyaku-Shiki rifle and firing into the approaching Neo-Zeon suits as they descend upon the group. The temptation to throw himself into the fray and let them rip him apart meanders across his mind.
He shakes it off. There's still too much to do.
... How many times has he told himself that?
The need of battle obviates the desire to think too much. All there is is survival.
They have to get through this.
His countenance darkens when the Federation fleet shows up... to observe the ruins of the battlefield. He knew before, but seeing it is different. On the other hand... When Judau yells and turns the terrible power of the ZZ's High Mega Cannon on the Federation fleet, he cannot help a sly, amused smirk crossing his lips.
He cannot help but envy that raw emotional honesty.
FPT: Casval rem Deikun has acted with Armor and Piloting.
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
"...Thank you." Sayla says, just for Leina's ears. She knows she's asking a lot of Leina, in this moment. "<...It's okay, Banagher.>" She responds. It's hard in this moment. "<I can handle this much. This is as close as I'll ever get to seeing it with my own eyes.>"
A part of her wondered if she would feel it again. The moment they vanished. But she can still feel Casval there- and not sense the brother that exists in the memories. That's something at least.
And then Judau makes a sharp comment to her brother, Casval snarks back and Sayla... smirks ever so slightly.
Sayla's left hand clings to her seat as the Banshee Norn is buffeted by the wave, gritting her teeth against it-
And then they are on another battlefield. A battlefield Sayla had never set foot upon...
But she remembers those moments when Leina reached across space, when she was somewhere else.
At least once, it had to be here.
Her hand squeezes Leina's shoulder tightly. "You don't have to shoot them down. We just have to survive." That's about all the gentleness she can offer.
This isn't going to last long, huh?
But she can feel her brother's impulse in here. The channel opens to Char, even though Leina can hear. "<...Don't you dare.>" Sayla's voice is steeled. Angry. "<Judau's right. We've got to keep going. That includes you.>"
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Some part of her is glad Char's ears are still ringing. She doesn't feel bad for that feeling but...
... is he really a changed person, being here? Being here for them? For Sayla? In the end, she can't really condemn him for being here for his sister.
Sibling bickering mercifully distracts her from her contemplation on the nature of Char, "<Judau that's not very sneaky and you should feel bad for throwing a- wait- IS THAT HOW YOU THOUGHT OF ME EVERY TIME I LECTURED YOU FOR CUTTING CLASS?>"
Oh no. It's officially 'on' now, in the middle of a fight. Or at least it would have been...
... because when her vision clears, she sees Axis again. Not as it was during the Shock - but how it once was. The battle lines here, drawn the line of Qubeleys in dull grey defending it. "No!" She was both here with Judau the whole time, and never here at the same time. She recognizes them instantly where they must be, when they must be, "You bastard...!"
It hurts, to know that Judau went through all this, how much it hurt him, to take him away from her for eight years.
It hurts that here in this place, it's like she feels him again, alive. That all of them are right there - alive. If only she could grasp time, and save them from their fates.
"It's not real... not real." It is a denial, and in this space perhaps it's not - but it also, very much is. As a Doven Wolf blows by, she fires three blue globes at it. One of them attaches, blowing off a leg with a bright flash of light. As the Armed Armor is taken from its back, wielded as a shield, devouring beam fire even as it sends a shot with a Mega Cannon as a Gaza-C and it's forced to swerve away. Again she turns to an MP Qubeley on the field - it's charging at her.
Even as Sayla gives her that reassurance. "Survive..." She echoes, feeling Sayla's hand on her shoulder, and there's a bitter quality to it as she lets out this discontented noise.
There is no possibility here. Not in the past. It cannot be changed.
It doesn't matter if it's not, the MP Qubeley releases it's funnels from it's rear armor. And as the mobile suit is forced to dance amidst the storm of beams. Until...
She sees the child funnels from the massive mobile suit joining it, in firing - and firing - and firing.
ENOUGH!
The Norn releases a pulse that spreads out over this section of the battlefield, and the funnels just - stop.
And do not fire again, because even telling herself it isn't real...
... she can't bring herself to fire on the Qubeley or the Geymalk. Tears sting her eyes even as she tries to avoid stray shots from other ships.
Even before Judau turns his High Mega Cannon upon the fleet, even as she watches it, feeling his dismay.
"Stop twisting the knife and GET ON WITH THIS!" She says into the void, as if to Full Frontal. Then closes her eyes, unable to wipe them away without taking time to raise her helmet.
Banagher asks if Judau is okay, and anger flows off of her, along with disquietude. She's not okay either but-
"<... Judau... I'm with you. Just like... back then.>"
She told him back then one thing before his final battles, and this time she tells him the same thing, just with - one small alteration, "<This time - we'll go home together.>"
And perhaps, perhaps, there is something for another older brother too in that one, on what he ought to be doing.
FPT: Leina Ashta spends 1 ID Charges! They will apply this coming round!
FPT: Leina Ashta has acted with Armor and Piloting.
+-------------------------------< TENSION: 20 >--------------------------------+ | PILOT: Leina Ashta | | STATS: ARM/PIL Charges Used: 1 Success | | PILOT: Judau Ashta | | STATS: ARM/PIL Charges Used: 1 Failure | | PILOT: Banagher Links | | STATS: ARM/PIL Charges Used: 0 Failure | | PILOT: Sayla Mass | | STATS: ARM/PIL Charges Used: 1 Failure | | PILOT: Casval rem Deikun | | STATS: ARM/PIL Charges Used: 0 Success | +-----------------------------< Round 2 Results >------------------------------+ +---------------------------------< .SRTMOO. >---------------------------------+
<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.
Banagher barely manages to suppress a snort at Judau's question to Char -- and Char's good-natured answer. A little smile stays on his face through Judau and Leina's bickering, until Judau's silence puts a stop to it.
The Double Zeta comes to the rescue of the Unicorn, cleaving through the pack of missiles that target the Beast of Possibility. Unfortunately, this makes the ZZ a target for further attacks. Missiles and beam fire follow in Judau's wake, as if the ghosts in this memory recognize his spirit.
Banagher, trying to fight defensively, doesn't fare much better. The Unicorn's shield and I-frames take blow after blow, Banagher's distress for his companions distracting him too much to pilot skillfully.
<"I'm alright! Don't worry about me."> He broadcasts, sadness in his voice.
Despite Char's temptation to allow himself to be torn apart, the Nemo skillfully navigates the battlefield. His beam rifle fires true, stopping many enemy mobile suits before they get close enough for Banagher to slash at them.
Banagher is spared the echo of Char's destructive thoughts. Sayla's voice is a comfort, and even in this terrible moment for her, she thinks of the young pilots around her. Her support can only go so far, however -- even with the protection of her brother and three Gundams, some attacks make it through to the Banshee, rattling both the Lion's occupants. Leina's piloting chair is more resilient, so the passenger seat may take the brunt of the impacts.
Banagher reacts in shock to the Banshee's NT-D pulse, following where Leina's gaze must be -- and his shoulders slump. Oh. No wonder.
<"Leina..."> Banagher murmurs. <"I'll take care of it.">
And so, the Unicorn launches herself toward the MP Qubeleys, the battle made far easier with Leina's skill in knocking the funnels out of commission. The NT-D pulse has reached further than just this section of the battlefield -- stopping the use of funnels and other pre-Psychoframe technology entirely.
The Newtype sensation of death sends Banagher reeling. He doesn't know who it was that just died -- but he can guess, well enough. Of all the people Banagher never thought he'd shed tears for... He can't help it, now, taking in a shuddering breath.
Banagher has always been able to hear the final thoughts of the recently dead, and it seems this place between reality and memory is no exception. The words echo, amplified by the Unicorn Gundam until everyone present can make them out.
You! It was you who killed me!? Roux Louka!
It was good that I came back. To meet such a kind boy...
Banagher curls in on himself as much as he can. Leina's grief and anger churn in his heart, Judau's only a step quieter. With his spiritual senses so heightened by the Unicorn's NT-D, it's agonizing to be in this place of sorrow and death.
As he suspected, Judau's High Mega Cannon does nothing but illuminate the battlefield for a brief moment. The light reflects in Banagher's golden eyes, and he looks away from the Federation ships.
<"I'm sorry."> He offers, trying to keep his voice even. <"For all of this.">
They have to keep going.
FPT: Leina Ashta's party has drawn a new Challenge!
FPT: Drawing Card 9 for Round 3.
+------------------------------< Flashpoint 1.0 >------------------------------+ +--------------------< FLASHPOINT CHALLENGE: Exploration >---------------------+ | MANDATORY STAT: MOB | | TERRAIN: Space | | ATTRIBUTES: Resolve, Breakthrough, and Response | | BONUS STATS: PIL and WSP | +-----------------< TITLE: Repli-Mamoru: Renegade Replicant >------------------+ - With Zonudas defeat bringing the Primeval War to a close, Mamoru departs - - with Galeon for the far reaches of the Solar System to monitor potential - - new threats. Six months later, he returns making it his sole mission to - - capture the mysterious and powerful Q-Parts which had fallen to Earth. - - - - In spite of his friendly and easygoing nature, Mamoru refused to explain - - his reasoning and attempted to accomplish his goals with overwhelming - - violence, all while taking advantage of GGG and their allies reluctance to - - harm him. After attacking 3Gs international bases for the first two parts, - - he infiltrates Orbit Base for the final two, killing operative Papillon - - Noir in the process, and ignoring all pleas for an explanation. - - - - Making his escape, Mamoru reveals his final trump card: he is not alone, - - summoning Galeon - fusing with the guardian lion to become GaiGar. Evading - - capture by descending to Earth, it seems his next target is the GaoMachines - - - - It is a long journey from here to Earth, and as long as Mamoru is - - harnessing the power of the Pas-Q machine, keeping up with him will be a - - difficult task. Regardless, he has shown himself as a danger to humanity - - - you must steel the courage in your heart and pursue GaiGar before he can - - cause any more damage and grief than he already has. After all, behind him - - is a cosmic threat even the Gutsy Galaxy Guard could never imagine - +------------------------------< DIFFICULTY: 3 >-------------------------------+ +---------------------------------< .SRTMOO. >---------------------------------+
<Pose Tracker> Casval rem Deikun has posed.
Char Aznable had very little direct contact with the Gutsy Galaxy Guard during the Primeval War - and by the time Mamoru returned to the Earth Sphere, he had taken Mineva into his care and done his best to disappear into obscurity. However, even hidden away, the news of the Guard's 'treason' and 'exile from Earth' rankled him.
Is this what spurred it on? He has vague memories of the young boy Mamoru and his contribution to the Primeval War, and now to see him turned against his friends, colleagues and homeworld...
There is something uncomfortably familiar about it.
Quietly, Char steers his Mobile Suit in pursuit of GaiGar. The alien machine's speed is incredible... but perhaps the customised Nemo can keep up, and force a confrontation.
FPT: Casval rem Deikun has acted with Mobility and Piloting.
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
Banagher moves to fight the Qubeleys and a part of Sayla desperately wants to tell Leina to pull back. But there's no looking away from this. "...It'll be over soon." She says, repeating Judau's statement. He was there. He knew. "I'm sorry."
And now they jump forward again, and it unfolds. "<...That's... Mamoru?>" Sayla says, recognizing the boy. Her knowledge of what happened here had been small. She just knew that Orbit Base had been attacked- but seeing it was different.
Mamoru- a child glowing blue with wings of light behind him- tears through the facility with his powers- rooms collapsing even as bulkheads close to keep the oxygen in- something the Repli-jin doesn't have to worry about. Despite his soft demeanor, Mamoru shows no compulsion against hurting his old friends, the Pas-Q machine empowering him.
In the depths of Orbit Base, where the Pas-Q machine stood, a woman lies dying. The light on her forehead, the Limpid Channel, sends her dying thoughts of love.
The battle unfolds above, where Renais- angrier, perhaps, than she has been seen at the Villa- opens fire on Mamoru with a heavy weapon, to no avail. Guy, in his ID armour, goes after him-
And that is when Galeon comes to Mamoru's rescuing, blowing the defenders away with his roar.
Moments later, fused into GaiGar, flies for Earth with the Pas-Q machine. Whatever it is he's planning, the way GaoFighGar follows... he has to be stopped.
"...It's not really him." Sayla says, quietly to Leina. For a while, Mamoru had been one of the children Sayla had reached out to befriend Leina. "...Even if it weren't a memory, it still wouldn't be him."
But maybe she has nothing to worry about there. Or maybe more to worry about.
"<...Focus fire on GaiGar.>" She says, slipping into coordination mode. "<I don't know what will happen if it gets away. I think we have to stop it.>"
Sayla shakes his head. "<...I don't know he he's showing us this.>" She mutters, her comms still open. "<This... the battle we just saw... These aren't your memories, are they Casval?>" She could understand pulling things from Char's memories, but this is an event only GGG saw.
<Pose Tracker> Judau Ashta has posed.
In the end, history refuses to change. What's done is done.
<"... You two got nothin' to apologize for.">
But to say it doesn't leave an affect can't be further from the truth. As long as Judau is alive, what happened at Axis will stay with him. Haman's words will stay with him, even as they echo in his heart.
<"... Forward's the only way we can go.">
It is a motivator as much as it is a demotivator for Judau Ashta, a fact that spurs him on even as the temporal cascade that shuffles them sideways through time to an event if not concurrent, than adjacent to the fall of the first Neo Zeon. Judau was only ever really tangentially aware of the struggles of the Gutsy Galaxy Guard; the struggle against Neo Zeon - and the Mycenae, when he was on Earth - consumed so much of his focus.
It just serves as a reminder: the world continues to move, and threats continue to exist, even when you can't see them.
But as much as he may not know this particular struggle, he does know the -feel- of the struggle. He recognizes faces - Renais, Guy - and he recognizes, most importantly, the sentiment. The struggle against someone wearing the face of a friend.
The struggle of someone willing to give everything for the sake of accomplishing their violent mission.
And the countless forces, endlessly struggling over a single planet. ...
Judau's eyes narrow. He might not have been here, but he knows what he's seeing.
'... Focus fire on the GaiGar.'
<"I'm on it!">
And he knows what he has to do, to push past it towards the goal beyond.
And so, pushing those lingering regrets and guilt aside in the face of something far more pressing, Judau -pushes- the Double Zeta forward towards the GaiGar in a roar of thrusters. The hilts of his beam sabers roll down to lock into place on the ZZ's shoulders, serving as cannon barrels as they unload blast after blast on the descending GaiGar. The ZZ's double-barreled beam rifle swings up shortly thereafter, crackling with accumulating energies.
<"I don't think it's his memories--"> is his contribution to what Sayla says. How could they be? Maybe the man who would become Full Frontal was at both Axis conflicts, maybe, but could he even remember those? And even if so -- this is something he couldn't have been at, could it--?
<"--somethin' about all this feels weird -- flippin' through the universe's scrapbook, or somethin'--!">
He has no idea what that means, really. It's all he can do to really put the weird feeling of his gut into words. This is something... beyond.
FPT: Judau Ashta has acted with Mobility and W-Space.
FPT: Sayla Mass has acted with Mobility and W-Space.
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
"Banagher you-" She can't tell him. She can't tell him not to. It's not real. It's not real.
They have to survive.
Slowly she just nods at Sayla's statement... "Me too." ...but she can't look away. "I hate this." She can't let herself, not out here.
How many actually survived the battle? How many didn't? If she kept watching... would she learn the answer? Or would it be a lie, in the recreation.
"<You didn't do this.>"
Is all Leina tells Banagher at his apology, despite the Psychoframe resonance, it would be a mistake to call this Banagher's fault.
As they're drawn elsewhere Leina finds herself thinking of when Mamoru left. The wedding - at that age, she didn't really think it was really.
Just an adorable ceremony.
It's difficult. It's difficult witnessing something like him do these things. And so as he takes off with that machine, Leina follows. Sayla reassures that it's not really him.
It takes a few long moments to process this to listen to her orders, before she whispers something soft-
"Banshee." It's a plea, that causes the feel of those fingers again. It's a different feel than before. There's uncertainty there...
... but there's also a certain resolve. "Let it be quick." Even if this were reality, it's not really him. And so... as they pursue.
"<I think Judau's right, that it's not something from anyone's memories.>" Leina comments, quietly after a moment to the others, "<He saw something, from his connection to- to you.>"
She doesn't really need to clarify 'which' you in this circumstance, "<While you were being controlled by Oath over Omega. Somehow - it's related to how he's doing this.>"
The tiniest crack in her voice, "<He told me so... when I was...>" The comms crackle with the static of a hot mic, then eventually cut, like she doesn't want to finish the statement.
Like she doesn't want to remember the state she was in, when the two of them spoke. When her state of mind, her world view resonated with him - earned his respect.
The weapon sights align on the determined GaiGar.
And a trigger is pressed the moment they come within range. The Beam Magnum lancing out a shot into space.
It may perhaps be brutal that she could not bring herself to fire upon the Qubeleys, but can upon him. It doesn't disturb her overmuch.
Maybe it should.
Maybe it's another one of Full Frontal's small cruelties, to point out the hypocrisy and force her to confront it.
FPT: Leina Ashta spends 1 ID Charges! They will apply this coming round!
FPT: Leina Ashta has acted with Mobility and W-Space.
<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.
Banagher has only the vaguest idea of who this child is -- someone Leina mentioned, once. Until those fairy wings appear, and the young pilot exclaims, "The fairy guys?!"
Nobody has ever explained that to him. Perhaps nobody ever will, and it will remain a cosmic mystery. Banagher has theories, certainly.
Watching Mamoru fuse with his machine gives Banagher an uneasy feeling, the hairs on the back of his neck rising. He shudders, even as the chase begins. And even beyond that creeping dread Banagher feels at the sight... Is it right to chase down a little boy like this? Even with all the strife he's caused, it's still a little boy.
"Unicorn." Banagher says to his machine, placing one hand over his heart. "Show me how fast you can go!"
Responding to her pilot's request with a clear psychic cry, the white Gundam soars, her thrusters burning at full power. Green radiance melds with blue jetfire, entwining in a beautiful, aurora-like trail. Banagher can't help but feel a rush of euphoria at the sensation of flying together, despite the dire situation they find themselves in. Soaring this fast, feeling their hearts working as one entity--
He doesn't want it to end. If he could just stay in this moment of freedom and connection, wouldn't that be incredible?
But Sayla calls for them to focus fire on GaiGar, which Banagher assumes must be the lion-creature before them. Before he can think of it, the Unicorn equips her Beam Magnum, lining up the shot even as she accelerates further. He didn't want to use this weapon earlier, but something tells Banagher the Gaigar can take it.
<"I don't understand how he's doing this. But Full Frontal's mind -- it's always been twisted."> Banagher says, quietly, thinking of the things he's seen, bonded to the Ghost of Char. <"In ways I couldn't ever figure out. He's seen things he should never have been able to. It made him empty.">
Feeling Leina's distress, Banagher wants to again offer to handle it. This young boy is important to her, she shouldn't have to fight him. Not after everything. But she's already raised her weapon, and Banagher can only accept her choice.
In perfect harmony, the Unicorn and the Banshee charge forward, Beam Magnums raised. Leina fires first, and Banagher a heartbeat later. Twin shots from weapons this powerful should obliterate just about anything.
Later, perhaps, Banagher will ask what the fate of this little boy was. The vision of Mamoru fusing with his machine... It lingers, whispering a warning in the back of the young pilot's mind.
FPT: Banagher Links has acted with Mobility and W-Space.
FPT: Banagher Links spends 1 ID Charges! They will apply this coming round!
+-------------------------------< TENSION: 24 >--------------------------------+ | PILOT: Leina Ashta | | STATS: MOB/WSP Charges Used: 1 Success | | PILOT: Judau Ashta | | STATS: MOB/WSP Charges Used: 0 Failure | | PILOT: Banagher Links | | STATS: MOB/WSP Charges Used: 1 Success | | PILOT: Sayla Mass | | STATS: MOB/WSP Charges Used: 0 Success | | PILOT: Casval rem Deikun | | STATS: MOB/PIL Charges Used: 0 Success | +-----------------------------< Round 3 Results >------------------------------+ +---------------------------------< .SRTMOO. >---------------------------------+
<Pose Tracker> Casval rem Deikun has posed.
"... No, they're not," Char confirms to Sayla. "Somehow, the resonance field is..."
'flippin' through the universe's scrapbook,' Judau says, and there is another quickly-stifled laugh from the man in the Nemo. "... Not quite how I'd have put it, but... yes. Something like that, I think. It's like the resonance has gone beyond just Banagher and Full Frontal."
The Nemo darts in close, cutting off GaiGar's path. Leina and Banagher's beam fire forces the alien lion-mecha to turn as they pursue it, Mamoru's voice echoing from the machine that's paler than it ought to be. "You won't stop me! With the Pas-Q parts, I can save the universe!" Streams of blue electromagnetic energy issue from GaiGar as its hips rotate around 180' and the silver lion roars: "GAOMACHINES! FINAL!! FUSIOOOOOON!!!"
The Mark.I, black-armoured vehicles come to the false Mamoru's call, DrillGao rising to meet Galeon's folded-up legs and the white-and-blue bullet train that is LinerGao sliding into place as the shoulders. Finally, StealthGao slots in on the machine's back, its thruster nacelles slotting down to become the Super Mechanoid's arms.
Even with Sayla's warning and guidance keeping the team focused, there is something dreadful about such a young voice coming from such a powerful machine - alien replica or not.
"Finally... I can become GaoGaiGar too! BROKEN... MAGNUM!!" The Repli-King of Braves winds up its right arm and punches, the whole nacelle-forearm rocketing off towards the group! Even as it soars forwards, though... the waves of psyco-resonance carry the group forward, though the ZZ is almost cast adrift by the Right Arm of Destruction's narrow passing.
+------------------------------< Flashpoint 1.0 >------------------------------+ +--------------------< FLASHPOINT CHALLENGE: Exploration >---------------------+ | MANDATORY STAT: TAR | | TERRAIN: Ground | | ATTRIBUTES: Swarm and Rally | | BONUS STATS: MOB and HP | +-----------------< TITLE: 2153 CE: Three-Island Unification >-----------------+ - War was different, before the Universal Century. It is a mark of - - Indonesia's desperation, fighting here on Sumatra Island, that there are - - /people/ inside their tanks -- Leopard 4SPs, the /serangan pertama/ - - variant, and lighter Harimau Repeaters. So many of the weapons on this - - battlefield -- though primitive by your standards -- are /automated,/ if - - not by the robust AI you're familiar with. (There are operators, stashed - - safely away in mobile facilities, controlling their drones with joysticks - - uncomfortably similar to something from a video game.) Singapore's - - Swift-series UCAVs are striking, today -- but Malaysia will surely take - - advantage of the fight soon, if it hasn't already. Don't mistake a lack of - - blood on /both/ sides for a bloodless war: the town which is today's - - battleground is /strewn/ with bodies, and few wear military uniforms. - - Homes, some barely more than hovels after years of war, have been reduced - - to rubble, and the tanks roll over them as they aim their long-distance - - cannons towards the mobile deployment platforms which control the Swifts. - - - - Two civilians, on the battlefield, are /not/ running and screaming -- - - though one grasps the shoulder of the other, to grant her stability and - - courage. Tall and stately and all in ethereal shades of pink and white, - - broad of chest but not of waist, she speaks with a wisdom beyond this - - bloodshed: "Siti Dian, are you prepared to unite your people?" - - - - "I... I hope so," the Indonesian woman in front of her says, her dark - - fingers resting over the other woman's pale hand. "But... I'm scared, - - Cypripedioidea. What if they can't hear me..?" - - - - "They will," Cypripedioidea assures her, with a beatific smile framed by - - the crystals around her face. "Thanks to our /dear/ cousin, they will - - obey... and you are of me, now. This is a new beginning for both of us, - - Siti." She closes her eyes, and takes a breath. "I cannot go back, now... - - no, I've nothing to return to. My hopes, I place in you." - - - - Siti Dian, in her hijab and her village dress, needs to raise her voice -- - - or something like it. But the fight is so vicious... and even with units - - of this size, she's still so /small./ One could try to reach her, and - - bolster her resolve... but a better way to defend her may well be to try - - and take down some of those endless, unmanned Swifts, before they can - - finish picking off the people of Bagansiapiapi. - +------------------------------< DIFFICULTY: 1 >-------------------------------+ +---------------------------------< .SRTMOO. >---------------------------------+
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
"<The universe will be saved - but not by you.>" Leina replies evenly to Repli-Mamoru. "<You need to be stopped before you can do more harm.>"
It's a surprising thing when it undergoes Final Fusion, and she moves the Norn evasively in response, "<Don't you dare-!>" Broken Magnum flies at the Double Zeta, and Leina- despite it all holds her breath. Before the Psycho-resonance carries them on.
One moment the black of space is covered by a flood of prismatic light, and when it clears - a blue sky, filled with smoke. There is gravity suddenly weighing down upon their mobile suits.
Earth.
A battlefield. Most of them would be hard pressed to understand even what era it is. The technology is not what any of them are thinking.
There are no mobile suits here, but it hardly matters. No matter the time frame, there is war on Earth.
"<This is- God!>" They'll all see what caused the exclamation right away because... there are casualties, even if most of the weapons are automated. Drone warfare, civilian hovels flattened, bodies and bodies and bodies.
A sucked in breath as she stares at the number, and then there are civilians. One human - the other - otherworldly.
"Dian..."
The name sticks with her, rolls off her tongue, the name familiar in a way that doesn't click immediately. It does a moment later, after all, she's heard it from her lips, she's read it from the files.
"Dian."
Unite one's people? Obey? There is an ill sense of foreboding about her in how those words string together.
"<This is... Yuliana's ancestor, I think.>"
Leina finally says, and something - something about this situation. Perhaps she needs to be encouraged, perhaps she needs to find her voice, her resolve.
"<Come on. Let's buy the people here some time.>"
She can't bring herself to be the one to encourage her. Instead the cylinder of the Revolving Launcher turns, and missiles fire in a salvo, one after another as the Swifts begin to fall in swarms.
Perhaps they can change nothing that happened here, perhaps none of it matters - but maybe if nothing matters, then what matters is what they do.
Replacing the Armed Armor DE on her back, the jets fire, and she starts to shoot down drone after drone.
It feels unfair - almost, with this weapon of the future.
Her mind turns back to the doomed village full of bodies and blood.
Suddenly she feels like being a little unfair.
FPT: Leina Ashta has acted with Targeting and Mobility.
<Pose Tracker> Casval rem Deikun has posed.
War is no less horrific, no matter what era it happens in... but the dispassion of this atrocity, a handful of manned war machines facing off against autonomous, uncaring remotes... Char grimaces and sets his bearings again, as Leina identifies somebody they need to protect.
And so like armoured angels the Mobile Suits form a cordon around this significant ancestor of a name he doesn't recognise... except the Nemo. After all, with its speed and high-power armaments, it's much better suited to hit-and-run strafing attacks through the enemy forces than for holding the line.
"... I won't," he answers Sayla, finally, about her earlier admonishment. "All of this... It's going to be a lot to think about when we're back home." The temptation is still there... but it's lesser, for having been acknowledged.
FPT: Casval rem Deikun has acted with Targeting and Mobility.
<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.
GaiGar transforms further, and Banagher gets a flash of warning just before it attacks. Pushing himself in front of the Banshee, Banagher raises his shield -- only for time and space to carry them away once again. Breathing out harshly, he lets the Unicorn's arm fall, waiting to see what despair they'll be shown next.
When the terrifying visions of spiritual in-between realms fade away, they're on Earth. Banagher can tell that much just from the heaviness on the Unicorn. His eyes adjust to the new light, and the Unicorn's cameras display something horrible. A battlefield. Bodies littering the ground, specifically of civilians.
Immediately, Banagher thinks back to Torrington. He trembles in his seat, gasping out, <"Where -- where...">
It must be a long time ago. Desperately, Banagher's brain latches onto the models of the ancient weaponry. Takuya would love this stuff. He's got to remember so he can tell his friend what it was like. It's a distraction from the horror surrounding them, Banagher's mind trying to protect him from something he can barely stand seeing.
As ever, Leina's voice draws him back from his distraction, and Banagher focuses the Unicorn's camera in on the speaking pair. Zoom in, in, in -- he doesn't know either of the women. But the names are familiar, just as Leina says.
<"Even Yuliana's ancestor was taken advantage of by -- some creepy person?"> Banagher does not like the look of the ephemeral woman in pink. Something about her makes him feel wary. <"In the middle of a war. Does anything ever change?">
Bitter revulsion threatens to make the young pilot sick. <"I'm with you, Leina."> He murmurs, and the Unicorn lifts her arm.
Surrounded by an aura of green spiritual strength, the NT-D enhanced shield rises into the air and begins to orbit the group. Leina has most of the drones covered, so Bangaher focuses on defense -- specifically protecting these two women. Despite knowing nothing will change from his actions, he guides the Unicorn in more closely to them, carefully considering his words.
<"Miss Dian, I know you're scared, and I think you're right to be. This is -- this is horrific. This woman with you, Miss--"> It takes him a moment to be able to pronounce it. <"Cypripedioidea. Please be careful of her. I've got a really bad feeling about her... If you want to unite your people, then, I think -- you don't need her. You can do this! We'll protect you as long as we're here.">
The Unicorn kneels and places an arm around the two women, so tiny compared to her incredible strength. Just above her shoulder, her shield fires on a drone that got a little too close, sending it hurtling to the ground. Banagher tries very, very hard not to watch where it lands, onto the body-covered battlefield.
FPT: Banagher Links has acted with Targeting and Mobility.
<Pose Tracker> Judau Ashta has posed.
These might not be events they can affect -- but the events certainly can affect -them-. The impact of the Broken Magnum, even glancing as it is, is something that Judau Ashta can -feel-, -powerfully-, as it blows past. Time and space warp and drag them forward even as raw kinetic force knocks the Double Zeta off towards its side. It careens through the sparking ripples of time beyond time --
--and it lands with heavy impact upon a very different sort of battlefield from the ones he's familiar with.
Seagreen eyes close and open in a slow blink. The Double Zeta, collapsed on hands and knees, slowly drags up into a slow stand as its cockpit reveals to Judau a panoramic shot of a war waged with ancient, manned weaponry.
The war is different. Far older than anything Judau knows of. Perhaps that isn't saying -much-, but all the same... he watches as drones blaze past, as Leina speaks a certain name. Yuliana's ancestory.
Yuliana. He's only encountered her personally once, but at this point, the woman's reputation precedes her. "Tck," he manages to voice, a grimace etching across his features. So these are events that Yuliana's family had to suffer through? How far back did they go...?
His gaze falls down to the bodies that decorate the rubble-strewn mass that was once a town as tanks roll over ambivalently, and instantly, his eyes narrow and hands clench tightly to the controls of the ZZ.
The face of war might be different now, whenever this is--
But it's still the same, damn, ugly thing that he can never fail to recognize.
<"Bastards,"> Judau bites out. That woman - Cypripedioidea - he's not going to begin to pretend he can pronounce that name. But he's seen beatific individuals before, promising something wonderful when someone is desperate enough to give in to anything...
He doesn't trust it, anymore than Banagher does. Which is why--
<"Banagher! Keep tryin' to get through to her! I'll hold the line with Leina!">
It won't change whatever happened here. But that's not the point. Judau launches off -immediately- after the Banshee, taking to the air in a mighty leap as the Double Zeta starts to target and shoot down whatever drone they can find.
Even this far back, war is the same, unfair, ugly thing it's always been. To some, that might mean it's pointless to keep trying to change it.
... But...
Defying what's expected, even when it's completely absurd to do so --
That's something that Judau Ashta is always going to do, no matter what.
FPT: Judau Ashta has acted with Targeting and Mobility.
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
"I'm sorry." Sayla says, wishing she could offer Leina more. More than just light words. But the situation doesn't allow for it. They have to keep fighting.
But here and now, in these flashes of the past, she is given a glimpse at what Judau had to fight through to build the strength he has now. Something of the weight that cheer masks.
"<...Triple Zero again...>" Sayla mutters, as Char confirms it's not his memories, and Leina and Judau make ther theories known to her. What could he pull from a dying universe?
The answer seems to be far enough in the past that Sayla has no chance of recognizing it. Drones filling the air, and civilians littering the battleground.
But Banagher tries desperately to reach out to the woman- and Judau swears to hold the line.
"Yuliana's...?" Sayla shakes her head. "<....I'll watch the skies.>" Sayla says, starting to transmit targeting data. She doesn't think that holding the line will change anything. History can't be changed like this.
But she can't stop them trying, either.
FPT: Leina Ashta's Mass Effect Ability assists!
FPT: Sayla Mass's Photon Funnel Field Ability assists!
FPT: Casval rem Deikun's A Love of Speed Ability assists!
FPT: Round Complete!
+-------------------------------< TENSION: 24 >--------------------------------+ | PILOT: Leina Ashta | | STATS: TAR/MOB Charges Used: 0 Success | | PILOT: Judau Ashta | | STATS: TAR/MOB Charges Used: 0 Success | | PILOT: Banagher Links | | STATS: TAR/MOB Charges Used: 0 Success | | PILOT: Sayla Mass | | STATS: TAR/MOB Charges Used: 0 Success | | PILOT: Casval rem Deikun | | STATS: TAR/MOB Charges Used: 0 Success | +-----------------------------< Round 4 Results >------------------------------+ +---------------------------------< .SRTMOO. >---------------------------------+
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
It's hard to hear her offer something to someone obviously so desperate. She can tell how it will blow up in her face. However- what disturbs her, prevents her from engaging is, somehow-
-somehow she just knows she's the source of Yuliana's suffering. "<Yeah, me and Judau have got this.>" But she won't tell him not to engage, she might as well tell Banagher to stop breathing.
However... she can perhaps tell what passed between Char and Sayla, because, "<Good, because if you give her any cause to mourn you again I'm gonna have Kamille call you back just so I can chew you out.>"
He tells her not to trust her. In it there is a shade of an echo of her husband's disapproval. Cypripedioidea looks briefly at the Unicorn, before ignoring him, but Siti Dian does not-
"Did my husband put you up to this, outsider? You... don't understand." She says to the boy in the Unicorn as if he were not within some weapon of the future. "You were not there when they came. You did not see what they did. It was..." Her brow furrows, as if she's lost track of time, "... it is... 2153." Her voice takes on a sort of hollow abstraction, "Did it really only take them three years to destroy all we hold dear?"
Even when they obviously didn't.
She looks at him, at the Unicorn as if it were not there. There is no symbol of hope within it in her eyes.
Just a boy.
"My people need hope and you would deny us it in your mistrust. Please, leave us to our own affairs."
Instead, he defends her, there is a look of wonder perhaps, but in the end, she turns to Cypripedioidea.
"I'm ready."
Unmanned drones detonate, automated weaponry becoming shrapnel before the onslaught of weaponry from a future not yet witnessed... and then the sky becomes awash with a watercolor of light...
... and they are carried onward.
+------------------------------< Flashpoint 1.0 >------------------------------+ +--------------------< FLASHPOINT CHALLENGE: Exploration >---------------------+ | MANDATORY STAT: SKL | | TERRAIN: Ground | | ATTRIBUTES: Resolve and Coordinate | | BONUS STATS: SGT and INT |
+---------------< TITLE: When We Grow Up And Forget Our Dreams >---------------+ - Sakuragaoka, 0071. - - - - For a small part of Tokyo, this was the first contact humanity ever made - - with a fundamentally alien form of life -- not something like the - - Zentradi, not simply culturally-different humans but something else - - entirely. - - - - "Humans! Fall into chaos!" a voice booms over a massive screen on the side - - of a building. A masked alien in a cloak stands tall on that monitor -- - - and the moment seems to shift. An armored man in red and silver begins to - - fight the masked alien. The two of them clash over and over again on the - - screen, and the alien seems to have the upper hand... - - - - ... but more saliently for you, the city indeed falls into chaos at - - command. Almost every device in the city, big and small, seems to be - - haywire to some extent or another. Every screen displays either the alien - - and the giant or news about their battle. Whatever the effect is, it's - - spreading, too -- by the minute it seems to spread further and further. - - - - The fight is the giant's. This is a battle your heart, your hands -- they - - cannot reach. You are left to pick up the pieces. Prying passengers from - - crashing cars, putting out fires caused by device explosions. It's worthy - - work -- but desperate, too. - - - - Some part of you knows that this is a special moment -- humanity touching - - the inhuman and, as it did a decade ago, allowing it to share in the value - - of humanity. Something that was once beyond human understanding learning - - what it means to call someone "friend." - - - - If that's true, though... - - - - Shouldn't things have changed? - - - - Shouldn't someone have seen the beauty in that moment? - - - - Shouldn't this feeling of, "even though I've never lived the way a human - - lives, I understand that a trustworthy friend is the most powerful - - weapon," have transformed human understanding? - - - - (Three years after this moment, the Second Huffman Conflict begins.) - - - - (Three years after that, Sakuragaoka's representative in the Diet is among - - those implicated in the scandals surrounding Sakata Industries' - - participation in the Second Huffman Conflict.) - - - - (Three years after that, his replacement votes against humanitarian aid - - during the Impact Wars.) - - - - (This year, he has resumed his seat, and his replacement has taken a seat - - in the Federal Assembly. Both of them claim, at different times, that "the - - OCU always stands ready to help a friend.") - +------------------------------< DIFFICULTY: 3 >-------------------------------+ +---------------------------------< .SRTMOO. >---------------------------------+
<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.
<"Thanks, Judau!"> Banagher replies, quickly, before he speaks to Dian. There is a feeling of absolute trust from the young pilot toward Judau and Leina -- even when the drones and tanks grow close, the Unicorn doesn't flinch. The Ashtas are the people Banagher trusts most to watch his back.
He knows it's foolish to try and change a memory. Nothing they've done so far has made so much as a dent in the despair of the past. But even so, but even despite it all, there's no way Banagher will leave things as they are!
Siti Dian and Cypripedioidea look at the Unicorn, and it's enough to send a chill down the young pilot's spine. Have the other memories been this responsive?
<"No, no one is putting me up to this!"> Banagher desperately tries to find the words to let Siti Dian understand. <"I'm from -- far away. But I know your descendant. She's suffering, and I think whatever you do here is the start of it, somehow!">
But she's right. He wasn't here when they came. He wasn't here for any of this horror and destruction. Banagher can't help but look across the field covered in bodies again, feeling echoes of the newly-dead press against his consciousness.
2153. It could be thousands of years ago, for all the difference the pilot of the Unicorn can make.
<"I'm sorry. I'm -- "> Siti Dian turns away, and Banagher thinks of Yuliana bleeding out in his arms. <"Please! Please don't do this! I know things are desperate, but there's someone who is going to pay the price for all of this! There has to be another--!">
Siti Dian has made her choice, and all Banagher can do is watch as they are pulled forward. Again, one hand comes up to his chest, pressing in just over the Vist Foundation's logo.
"...way."
Reality spins and warps around them, and once it stops...
It takes Banagher a moment to raise his head. A voice booms, a Giant battles a malevolent alien, and the pilot of the Unicorn feels lost in the middle of it all.
For long moments, Banagher is stunned, watching people panic, watching the city explode into electronic chaos. The Giant of Light -- red and silver, has he seen that before? -- fights on, despite his clear disadvantage.
<"Why is this happening?"> The grief and loss of beauty hit him, terribly hard. If even something like this can't change the way humanity views the world, then what are they doing? <"Is there any way to really change this world..?">
Abruptly, the Unicorn's cameras zoom in on nearby movement. Two girls, trapped in a burning car -- struggling and crying. Banagher reaches out to them with a hand, and the Unicorn mirrors his action. Maybe they can't change what humanity saw today, but they can change things for the people experiencing it first-hand.
<"I'm sorry it took me so long."> Banagher says, quietly, as the Unicorn delicately rips the door off of the car. <"Please try and get somewhere safe.">
There are more people in need. More than even the Unicorn to attend to. Will saving them really do anything? Maybe not, but who would Banagher be if he ignored the suffering in front of him?
<Pose Tracker> Casval rem Deikun has posed.
This is a battle he doesn't understand - the two giants, the alien with wicked twin blades and the silver-and-red hero - it happened while he and Artesia were still children, growing up as Edouard and Sayla Mass.
Does he remember this? There were news broadcasts, maybe. Jimba Ral played it off as a remarkably-realistic TV show to comfort them, now he thinks about it.
It was real. It is real. Again, the vagaries of travelling through history like this assault him.
Again the Nemo's speed is its key advantage in navigating the city as digital chaos descends upon it, machines and computers failing and causing chaos that puts civilian lives in deep peril. Precisely calibrated sights and systems pick out thermal life-signs in the rubble, and Char begins to direct the group to save as many as they can.
... 'It's all just a TV show' he remembers. Is that why this didn't change anything? Because only Tokyo remembered it happened... and eventually even they forgot?
I see no "%tBanagher's heartbreak" here.
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
Banagher's heartbreak is real, and even Sayla can feel it radiating off the young newtype. "<Banagher...>" They can't change what happened here. You can't play with the past-
Even if the past acknowledges them, but briefly.
No other moment has addressed even one of them so directly. "<We can't stop this, Banagher. It has to happen.>" If it didn't...
How far could their time change, if they could influence their past so?
But once again they are moved, far forward from those moments.
To where a Giant of Light fights with a creature of darkness. The shapes are familiar, even if the exact forms are not. "<...I think... that's Gridman.>" Sayla says, looking up at the battlefield. So this is when it happened. The first time he came to Earth.
She didn't remember it either, and if Casval does he's not saying anything.
Still... disaster zones are an area she can do some good- if the people will listen. The mobile suits could be just as frightening as the giants, to people of 0071.
"<A Kaiju attack is underway! Please proceed to the nearest shelter, and take cover there!>" There's a firmness to Sayla's voice, an authority. This she knows how to do. This she can help with, even from the passenger seat. "<These mobile suits- these machines will aid with rescue efforts, please, stay calm!>" As she does so, she works the sensors as best she can, looking for signs of life. "Leina, over there!"
Banagher's despair still reaches out, as he asks is there is any way to change the world. It's a question Sayla has grappled with for years. Is there any hope to change the world as it is?
"<...I choose to believe there is, Banagher.>" Sayla's voice is soft. It's the choice she has to make when she wakes up every day. It's the one she made to keep herself going. There were days she couldn't. After Axis, Leina had to pick up the pieces when she just couldn't make that choice.
"<Even if it's hard. Even if it feels impossible. We can change this world for the better, if we choose to.>"
The words aren't just meant for Banagher. They're meant for the man in the Nemo, hurriedly looking for life signs. They're meant for the man in the ZZ, who somehow kept going, who came back despite it all.
They're meant for her daughter in the seat next to here, who had her hope for change stolen from her.
Despite it all, Sayla Mass still has hope.
<Pose Tracker> Judau Ashta has posed.
They weren't there before.
And they won't be there after.
Not until all of these events have long come and gone, leaving only the bitter aftertaste of their effects in their wake.
Even if Judau Ashta couldn't tell you the mechanics of any of this beyond 'The Char With a Blowout is drowning them in sparklespace power,' he does intuitively grasp a lot of what this is in terms of gut feeling -- and in the end, that is perhaps one of the greatest guiding forces to truly understanding anything related to Newtype phenomena. So he understands on some, instinctive level...
This isn't showing them Full Frontal's memories, anymore than it is literally transporting them through the past. There's no changing what's come, no altering what they've seen.
But that doesn't mean he's going to tell Banagher -not- to do what comes naturally to him, anymore than anyone told him -not- to vent his frustrations upon that battlefield of futility he remembers so well.
In the end, what was is what is; Judau sees only the tail end failure of Banagher's attempts to reach out before spacetime churns and bleeds away not further in towards the past -- but rebounding forward, towards far more recent, if obscure, history.
The ZZ, falling through the skies of an ancient battlefield, lands in the chaotic city streets of Sakuragaoka; seagreen eyes widen as they take in the unfamiliar cityscape. At this point, he's started to adjust to these transitions, but this...
... this is another setting he doesn't recognize. Before his time, very literally, and - well - Judau Ashta was never a history buff to begin with, let alone history you had to look for. So all of this? It's very unfamiliar to the elder Ashta. The digitizing chaos, the strange theatricality of emblazoning a battle between two larger-than-life entities on every screen in sight; it reminds him of the more outrageous cartoons he managed to catch glimpses of every now and then as a kid. Something unreal; superheroic.
But even if he doesn't know this, he's seen things reminiscent of it. He knows - even superheroism isn't enough to change the shape of the real world. It's just that much more easily dismissed as unrealistic.
So what can?
It's a thought that lingers at the back of Judau's mind, even as his foot depresses on the accelerator of the Double Zeta. Tilting upwards, it launches skywards as Banagher struggles in the midst of doubt, flinging past the Unicorn towards a collapsing piece of construction equipment a few blocks down. It intercepts, catching the thing between its hands and pushing it away from disorganized streets and panicked citizens, as Sayla reaches out with words to Banagher. A grin of encouragement burns at Judau's lips and in his heart, seconds before the ZZ is tearing off once more towards a burning building. He never stops. Whatever doubts this moment might inspire --
<"Banagher, don't be a dumbass! Sayla's right! If the world keeps tellin' you 'I can't,' you keep shoutin' 'YOU CAN' louder til you beat it by bein' ten times louder an' infinity times more blockheaded! All this means is we gotta push that much harder to prove that floofy-haired prick wrong, right?!">
Judau really is the type that just has to keep swimming.
<"Now c'mon and let's save Paris already!">
Did he --
-- see Tokyo Tower while he was in mid-air and just assume the only place with a tower is--
--
-- --
what void there might be in judau ashta regarding earth geography has been filled with pure heart, ok
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
It's really no surprise to her, when reality warps them away. The viewscreen of the Banshee Norn however, it zooms in one last time on her face as she makes that decision.
The cynical side of Leina wonders if the cost will be worth it, and thinking back to Yuliana, she's sure it won't be.
It never is.
An alien. Leina struggles to try and figure out where - when this happened. Before she was born certainly. The Zentradi War? Before? After?
It doesn't matter, a Giant grapples it, and the city falls into chaos. It is an age before Mobile Suits certainly, as she can see none among the defenders.
A building starts to collapse, support beams disintegrating as the Norn descends quickly, to the image of an alien overhead on the screen. The digital depiction fades into static, as the Norn tries to catch one of the upper floors.
There's a sudden flash of intuition, as a body comes tumbling out of a window, and the Norn's hand shifts to try and catch it, even as it tries to ease the fast disintegrating upper floors down.
She misses.
And other than a small gasp from her lips, it goes unremarked upon by her. It's such a small thing amidst the disaster. Perhaps they were already dead, or doomed already in some way.
All of them understand intrinsically in this space they can't change anything but-
-it doesn't mean their actions are meaningless.
Leina takes a breath, trying not to be overwhelmed by the knowledge of what happened, as she tries to ease the crumbling pieces down over a parking garage.
It's hard in this moment, to feel hope. It's hard for her on most days right now, after what Vist did to her. Hearing what Sayla has to say, she says quietly on the tail end of that.
"<Change is never as fast as we want, as much as we want. It's always going to fall short. It's never going to be enough.>"
It sounds like cynicism in action. There's a bitterness in there that she's been holding back against for years, ever since her exposure to Neo-Zeon and the worst of the Federation.
"<Even so. It isn't meaningless. It never is.>"
And in this moment, she thinks of singular people, like Ramo Marusa, or Akane Shinjo.
Or even just Puru Two, the singular person Judau saved.
"<If it can mean the world even for one person - then that's what we can do. We can give them back the world.>"
Through the rubble, a few shapes of people moving out can be seen, and the Norn moves them aside.
There's something softer in her voice in that moment, relief perhaps, a balance of grief and despair versus - hope.
"<Isn't that what you and Judau did for me?>"
... For once, for once, she gives Judau a pass.
(...DESPITE THE WHOLE CITY BEING COVERED IN HIRAGANA, KATAKANA, AND KANJI JUDAU HOW DO YOU THINK FRENCH IS WRITTEN?)
(Ahem.)
+-------------------------------< TENSION: 28 >--------------------------------+ | PILOT: Leina Ashta | | STATS: SKL/INT Charges Used: 1 Failure | | PILOT: Judau Ashta | | STATS: SKL/SGT Charges Used: 2 Success | | PILOT: Banagher Links | | STATS: SKL/INT Charges Used: 1 Success | | PILOT: Sayla Mass | | STATS: SKL/SGT Charges Used: 1 Success | | PILOT: Casval rem Deikun | | STATS: SKL/SGT Charges Used: 0 Success | +-----------------------------< Round 5 Results >------------------------------+
<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.
Banagher shares Char's feelings about the surreal nature of the fight. This world of aliens and Giants is so far from the mobile suit battles Banagher has experienced. Where does the Unicorn fit in a world with such larger-than-life battles?
At Sayla's reassurance, Banagher snaps out of his wondering. 'Gridman', she mentions. An image from a Shuffle Alliance report comes to mind. <"Oh, I've heard that name."> He murmurs, the Unicorn briefly looking up at the Giant. <"So he was here so long ago...">
Sayla, Leina, and Judau's hearts are in perfect harmony as they encourage Banagher. He shakes his head, quickly moving to extinguish the fire of a nearby car by smothering it with the Unicorn's hand.
<"Right!"> Banagher calls.
If all they can do is save a few people, that's still saving entire worlds to those who survive. Leina is right -- and Judau's shouted encouragement drives the point home (though Banagher can't suppress a "huh?" at Judau's determination to save 'Paris'.)
<"Maybe this world can't ever be truly 'saved' or changed. But even so!"> The Unicorn's shield deflects some rubble in a nearby alleyway, shielding a stray cat. <"Nothing we do is worthless, not in a situation like this!">
Banagher feels tears sting at his eyes at Leina's words, and he laughs softly. This time, the young Key to Possibility feels the tug of space-time just before it hits, and the Unicorn straightens up, looking straight at the Giant -- at Gridman -- as he is thrown into a nearby building.
<"Gridman!"> Banagher shouts. The Unicorn brings a clenched fist up to her heart, almost a salute of sorts. <"We all believe in you! You're not alone! Fight bravely!">
Perhaps the Giant's head tilts toward the group just a touch -- but if he had any reply, it's lost to this spiritual memory. The Unicorn, Nemo, Banshee, and ZZ are pulled forward once more.
BONUS CARD A nail fashioned of rock looms before you, ready for the hammer strike. As if representative of Zeon's solution to the Federation. A supply line of Columbus-class ships trails like a comet behind the Salamis and Magellan class ships. You are a part of this. An impenetrable fortress looms before you. History calls to you. You have a role to play. In the darkness of space, two eyes open, ephemeral, all-seeing. And beside you, a Salamis Cruiser is suddenly skewered by a salvo of beamfire. It erupts, quickly becoming a fireball, in the void. Another salvo consumes a supply ship. Where is the enemy? Where? Where? It's not even a blip on your sensors. Not even the best snipers could blow up a battleship from this range. Your heart pounds. You have a direction, that's all. And the overwhelming realization that she sees you. Your duty is clear, it is too much of a threat for this unknown assailant to be allowed to continue decimating the Federation fleet. Will you become another victim of history's flow? It is a harrowing journey into the unknown, shots fire at almost regular intervals, predicting where you will be far ahead of time, with nary a warning on your instruments. You must trust your eyes, your senses, your intuition. Until eventually you see it, a green mobile armor, shaped like a Tricorne hat. The sense of eyes are overwhelming. Reality blurs and distorts. You see it, a Core Booster flying, Zeon's daughter within. Zeon's son carves off the top of her ship with the Beam Naginata of his Gelgoog, pulling the blow at the last moment. The White devil flies at him, offering certain death with a Beam Saber. And the green Tricorne hat intercepts the blow meant to end the life of Zeon's son. LALAH! Her scream, becomes her melting into a whirlpool of light, flooding all the senses expanding more and more as she diffuses into the fabric of reality. Four points of light, a bright star joining their destinies together in a constellation whose full dimensions are beyond one's capacity to comprehend. They all see it, for time is meaningless. They are caught in the event horizon of fate and cannot escape. The light of the Axis Shock akin to a Black Hole. Cause and effect. Possibility annihilated. The path to the rainbow a linear, foregone conclusion. (OOC Note: Mandatory Stat: INT Bonus Stats: MOB, ARM.)
</poem>
<Pose Tracker> Casval rem Deikun has posed.
The giant and the alien vanish into the cascade of timeless moments... and they emerge into the blackness.
A Salamis-class is ripped apart by an unseen foe. The presence of hostile intent ripples across the stars.
He knows that presence. He knows this battle.
"No," he croaks. "Not this. Not again..."
But the chains of time are heedless of his pain. The Elmeth looms large, the tricorne-shaped mobile armour's funnels wreaking havoc across the battlefield.
"How dare you make me watch this?" There's a spike of anger from the man in the Nemo as they chase after the Elmeth, desperately trying to stop its assault. Then - a flash of white to the side - the RX-78-2. "Amuro." Of course he's here. Why wouldn't he be? This scene has played out in Char's nightmares so many times, he knows it moment for moment now... but this time he's seeing it from outside himself again, just like at Axis.
Everything ripples and shudders as the Gundam and the Elmeth clash, and then -
He understands who's flying in the Core Booster, now. He understands why Lalah prevented him from shooting down that fighter. He understands too why she places herself in Amuro's path - because she believes in him. "No - Lalah, don't - "
He knows it's futile - either she can't hear him, or even if she can this moment will carry her forward nonetheless... but as the Gundam's blade strikes tragically true, the two Chars here cry out in pain and distress, at the exact same moment.
Four stars, hanging in the rainbow firmament. Inexorably bound together by the tragedy of battle.
Char shuts off his comms broadcast, pulling his helmet off and gasping for air. He's feeling it all again. All the tragedies of his past, everything that drove him to leave Artesia behind and begin his quest for vengeance, culminating in this tragedy... and tragedy after tragedy mounted atop it...
The Nemo hangs motionless in the stream of colour, its pilot no longer doggedly pursuing his ghost.
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
That all Leina does is gasp...
Sayla bites down a concern. Such a change was inevitable, after what happened. She just wished she hadn't seen it in Leina.
The are washed forward again. A battlefield in Space.
GMs fight Zakus and Rick Doms, while Musais and Gwazines fire upon Salamis'
Amongst it all, Sayla sees something she could never forget.
The White Base opens fire on the rival ships, as a white mobile suit wades further into battle.
"...No..." Sayla says, whisper quiet, that only Leina could hear her.
DECEMBER 30, 0079
TWO DAYS BEFORE THE END OF THE ONE YEAR WAR
The day when the wounds that would fested into the Axis Shock were struck.
Ships on the Federation side start exploding, struck by weapons no one can see. Bits- the precursors to Funnels. Larger than anything fielded in the Neo Zeon conflicts. They open fire on the gathered Mobile Suits- the Banshee, the Nemo, the ZZ, the Unicorn= all registered as enemy targets.
But their focus is on one Mobile Suit.
The RX-78-2 Gundam. The first of it's line.
The Gundam frantically avoids the shots- and in a moment, it sees them. The first funnel explodes, and then another.
The Tricorne Hat- The Elmeth- fires it's main cannon, destroying the Gundam's rifle.
And then a Swan flies between the Gundam and the Elmeth- a vision.
"<...Another twist of the knife is it?>" Sayla says, quietly. "<That we have to come back to this moment.>"
"You're too powerful. If I don't defeat you, Char will die!"
"Char? But..."
"You came to me too late! Why? Why did you have to show up now?"
The Elmeth's assault continues, as the Gundam moves acrobatically through space. "Why do you fight like this? Why? You have no one! Nothing to fight for!"
"What do you mean?"
"I can see it. You have no home, no family, no one you love!"
"So? What difference does that make!?"
Sayla's heart stings at the words. Was that the truth, back then, what Lalah had seen? Amuro didn't deny it. But... "<Casval. We can't look away from this.>" Her voice, pained, reaches for her brother. "<I can't. You can't. Not from this moment.>"
And then- there's a flash.
And the moment of perfect understanding happens.
This was a space they'd all encountered, blue with specks of light. Lalah Sune and Amuro Ray float in it, two teenagers thrust into war. Here, there were no boundaries, no limitations, not even time itself.
"Is it wrong to fight when you have nothing to fight for?" Amuro's voice is pained.
"It isn't natural."
"Then why do you fight?"
"I fight for the one who saved me."
"Is that all?"
"It's a truth that people live for!"
"But how do you explain us? Why have we met?"
In response, Lalah lets out a scream. "Why? Why did I meet you now, after it's too late!?"
"If it's fate, it's a horrible one. Cruel."
"Nothing can come of our meeting with each other. Nothing!"
"But this is happening! You have to accept it!"
"And if I do accept it? Nothing can come of our meeting each other!"
And then, two more flashes occur, in the distance. Two voices echo.
"Lalah!"
"Amuro!"
Sayla hears herself cry out for a man she loved- and her brother call out for Lalah.
And on the bridge of the White Base, a third flash- "Amuro! Oh no..."
"<Mirai too...?>" Sayla says, her comms still open.
The moment of understanding continues, even as the red Gelgoog and the Core Booster fly towards it.
"Why did I have to meet you like this? When you came to me it as too late..."
"And for me, it was too soon. It's always this way for people..."
Crashing waves fill the space, and a light glows-
And then, in a moment, the time of perfect understanding Zeon Zum Deikun had long written about is cut short by his own son.
"Lalah! Stop playing around with him!"
The Gelgoog fires, and the Gundam and Elmeth dodge, the Red Comet's Gelgoog flying past them. Seconds later, the Core Booster, Sayla- younger, desperate- launches into the battle.
"The Gundam and a red mobile suit!" She hurriedly tries to activate her comms. "Casval! Get out of here!" Her brother doesn't hear her, too engrossed in the fight with Amuro, the lower blade of the Gelgoog's naginata accidentally slicing the stabilizer from the Core Booster. The Gundam and the Gelgoog continue to Clash. "Casval!" The younger Sayla calls out, but she doesn't reach. She flies into the fray again- flying past the Gundam-
And in that moment, for minds connect.
But Lalah Sune is the only one to realize what is about to happen.
The Gelgoog moves to strike the Core Booster- "Captain, don't!"
"What?"
The glass of the Core Booster's cockpit shatters, and Char finally sees who he's striking at, pulling the blow at the last second. "Artesia..."
His moment of hesitation costs him, as the Gundam strikes and removes the Gelgoog's blade arm with it's Beam Saber. "Char, prepare to die!" Amuro shouts. Char, unable to move move in time, grits his teeth.
"Captain...!"
It happens in the space of a second, maybe less. The Elmeth shoves Char's Gelgoog out of the way, and the Gundam's beam saber drives into it's cockpit.
"Lalah..."
"Lalah... Lalah!" Desperately, the Gundam presses it's hand on the Elmeth, to try and pull the blade back- but it's too late.
She screams- and the waters rise again.
In her seat, Sayla's grip on Leina's shoulder grows tight. This was the moment that unsettled all their lives. Despite being there, there was so much she didn't know.
Time stops again.
"People are changing. They're becoming like us."
"Yes. You're right, Lalah."
"Do you really believe that, Amuro?"
"I do. Because we were able to understand each other. Perhaps, someday, people may even control time itself."
"Oh, Amuro, I can see time!"
And then, she vanishes into light.
The light that heralded the Axis Shock. The perfect understanding that would destroy so many lives. The Elmeth explodes into light, as Char's Gelgoog speeds away.
"I've done something I can never take back..." Amuro's voice is choked with tears. "I've killed Lalah."
In the cockpit of the Gelgoog. Char sheds a single tear.
This was the moment where the seeds of the Second Neo Zeon conflict were born. This is the path that leads to Axis.
"<Casval...>" Sayla says, shaken. Hearing her brother's despair. She has no words of comfort. She just sits there, her own guilt rising.
She too, played a factor in this moment, by charging in unprepared. But would it have really changed anything? Was her guilt just arrogance, thinking she could have changed anything in that moment, if she had just been a better pilot? If she could have just made Char hear her?
<Pose Tracker> Judau Ashta has posed.
Time lurches and then spills forward.
Forward, once more. Forward, past an all-but forgotten moment in history...
... towards a single moment that has left a scar that has only deepened all the way into the present.
The One Year War. Even Judau Ashta knows about it; he knows enough, at least, to know many of the major players... and more importantly, the effect it left on those who would come after.
But the specifics -- the personal moments, the moments that have defined so many of the people in his life? Those, he knows scarcely anything about. How could he, really?
But now, he knows at least one of them.
In a way that someone cannot possibly ever forget.
Ejected into the middle of a battlefield, the Double Zeta finds itself face to face with its precursor and origin; the original Gundam blazes past its bulkier descendant even as Judau Ashta blinks in both confusion and undeniable recognition.
<"Wait a sec -- holy shit, is this--">
f l a s h
<"?! -- crap, everyone move--!!">
He barely has the time to get that shout of warning out before particle fire lances outward from beneath the ZZ Gundam; it shunts backwards, evasive maneuvers seeing it spiral past and through that fire. He doesn't see it, not at first. But he -feels- it, seconds before he catches a glimpse of those large, telltale bits.
This feeling...
Past the aggression, past the determination, past the... resignation...?
... something about it feels so...
... familiar...?
It's seconds later that the tricorne form of the Elmeth emerges at the Double Zeta's peripherals. Judau jukes the Double Zeta backwards and weaves it through beam fire; he remains on that defensive, unwilling to launch a full assault on this slice of history. There's just something about it that feels... inviolable. Too personal a moment to intercede on, like... a moment of purest regret, encased in a prison of temporal amber.
Personal, not just to the memories of history that strive against each other here today, but also...
... to two of the people with him on this journey through the most damning moments of the Universal Century.
"... Sayla? ... Char? Or... however you wanna call yourself--">
He can't finish what is likely a genuine uncertainty on his part -- not in the face of what comes next. This feeling; this feeling that suddenly seizes him, seeks to pull him out of the moment, out of his body, out of time -- it's so similar to what brought them -here- in the first place that he knows -exactly- what he's feeling. His eyes widen. A strangled gasp escapes him.
And he bears witness to something he should never be able to, past time and flesh and bone and steel and violence -- a crystalized moment in a shimmering green world of emotion, Judau sees all of them. Sees every moment, inescapable and unavoidable. Between Amuro... Sayla... Char... even further beyond that...
... and...
"... I... know you...."
Green eyes focus on that distant, ephemeral silhouette of Lalah Sune, and the recognition is as immediate as it is impossible. He was barely a child when Lalah Sune died. And yet... and yet...
When the reactor of the Double Zeta died, when all hope seemed lost in his duel with Haman, when he reached out to draw power from the resolve of countless people across the Earth Sphere, there was one among them he didn't recognize, and yet felt familiar at the same time. A smiling woman, with eyes that somehow reminded him of Haman's--
"--Lalah--?"
A sliver of infinity passes by.
And reality cascades cruelly past, a moment that would stay with so many people for so long ending in a matter of seconds.
And Judau Ashta is left staring wide-eyed at the wreckage it leaves in its wake as a flash draws his mind and his perspective unavoidably towards the future, towards Haman's war, towards Axis Shock, towards--
--Full Frontal--
"ah"
The sound is a small, choking thing, like clearing a lump in one's throat that they just can't shake. In the empty aftermath, Judau searches for words, but all he can see to say is--
<"Are you-- are you okay--?">
Sayla?
Casval?
No --
Both of them.
All of them.
<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.
Somehow, he knew it'd come to this. What else could Full Frontal do to twist the knife, after everything he's shown them? What could hurt more than this?
...there's still a part of Banagher that goes breathless because of the thrill. Seeing this part of history, the moment Amuro became the hero of Banagher's childhood. There was no way he could've ever known what it was like, but how many days did he spend daydreaming? The final clash of Amuro Ray and the Red Comet! A climactic duel!
...but who are these others? Lalah? That name -- Banagher's heard it from Leina, at least, but --
A flash. Perfect understanding. Banagher, already so sensitive, with his nonexistent walls, feels it all, enhanced by the Unicorn's NT-D. Voices call out, explosions illuminate the darkness of space, and all of it, all of it, in the breadth of a heartbeat.
Lalah Sune is dead.
Char and Sayla cry out. Banagher screams from the echoed emotion, resounding against his heart again and again with the Unicorn's grace.
This isn't at all what he expected.
The Unicorn shudders, responding to her pilot's extreme emotion, screaming her own psychic shriek, echoing across the battlefield. Banagher gasps, sobbing, tearing his own helmet off and burying his face in his hands. The old-fasioned beam weaponry has no chance against the Unicorn's I-field technology, each blast harmlessly deflected away.
Amuro mourns, and for a moment, it looks like the Unicorn is going to fly to the other white Gundam, but...
Char -- this Char, from back in reality -- goes silent, and his radio cuts off. He's vulnerable in a suit like the Nemo. As much as Banagher wants to go to his hero in his moment of (triumph? sorrow?), someone else needs him more.
The Unicorn, thrusters firing a gentle azure, lines herself up with the Nemo. On its other side, the NT-D enhanced shield hovers, surrounding Char's machine in a perfect sphere of the Unicorn's I-frames.
What is there to say? Banagher's grief and shock speak loudly enough for him. Everyone here is a Newtype -- everyone here will understand.
<"You've carried this on your own for so long."> Banagher's voice is rough with tears. <"I'm sorry. All those years, I thought you were --"> A pause, as he scrubs at his face. <"But you never meant for things to... happen the way they happened. Not back here.">
Golden eyes, shimmering with green light, watch the original Gundam through the Unicorn's cameras.
<"I know you don't want to go on. I -- this is so painful, even just feeling it through you and Sayla --"> A shuddering breath. <"But even so.">
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
BGM Change - Remind you (Instrumental) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrMVZCVEnxE
It takes Leina some time to adjust to the change in surroundings. One glimpse, and she recognizes where they are. One gasp, and she recognizes where they must be.
Sayla kept it to herself after all, all those years she'd known them, until the withholding of it might have hurt her.
Newtype Bonds. Amuro and Char. The woman that showed up in her dreams every night, even when she was with him. How the bond was so strong it caused the Axis Shock, one of the worst nights of Leina's life after the First Neo-Zeon War.
The Psychoframe resonance is strong, she doesn't fight what it shows her, nor does she fight the impulse as the warning bolts across her senses, as Judau shouts, as she jerks the Norn sideways at his warning and down, as the ship shreds.
For a while, she just lets herself breath, heart pounding as she comprehends the danger, as she comprehends the emotion, the sorrow from events that happened when she was but a toddler, "Hang on." She tells Sayla quietly, with only a touch of breathlessness, "I'll get us through this. ... You're not alone here, I won't let you be."
Even as the Norn swerves to avoid shots from the distant bits. It is another twist of the knife just like she says, just like bringing Judau and her back to the First Neo Zeon War.
She isn't drawn to something past it all like Judau, that sliver of infinity. She's more distant from it, and she can feel Judau growing more distant still. "<...Judau?>"
The echoes of past words resonate with her. The resentment from Char, the anger, the sorrow- and the Norn plunges onward.
Yet as he turns off his comms, as Sayla reaches out to her, as she feels the squeeze of her hand. Part of this indeed, feels too personal for her to touch upon.
And part of her knows that past the the fear, the anger, the grief, the resentment-
-there was a brother and sister hurting from this moment, hurting in separation. Hurting from closing each other off, despite having gone through so much trauma together.
As Banagher moves to intercept, to protect, the Norn moves still further ahead of them on the firing line, blocking the line of fire. The Armed Armor DE is retrieved from the back, as it becomes a shield in the I-Field it generates to buy them some time.
Reexperiencing this grief so vast and so pure should be inviolable, sacred- and so, she doesn't let it be, as her open mic becomes her speaking to Char aftermath, "<She was dealing with the pain of this alone for so long. She shut me out from it, no matter how much it hurt her to hold it all in.>"
Is there bitterness in her voice? Sorrow? Resentment? Yes, but more importantly, "<I couldn't help her - and feeling you right now? You two are so alike in some ways it hurts. I hate it...>"
She trails off for a moment, because she still, on some level hates the man, and doesn't forgive him... but... "<...but I can at least understand it.>"
Some things can be as simple as the bond between a little sister and a big brother, it becomes a mild scolding in her tone, "<So don't you dare shut her out again after all she went through to bring you back - not from something you both went through together.>"
It's hard, she's so distant from Lalah, and yet the final moments of connection as she goes Beyond Time - as she communicates the incommunicable to Amuro in a way that cannot truly be comprehended.
She feels herself being drawn towards it all the same. Despite it all, she tries to look away, and the Norn won't let her.
Because she can feel it, how they're being drawn forward, past this moment, past the defining moments of her life - of so many lives that were indirectly shaped by it.
For a time, she's overwhelmed by the knowledge, and-
"<No.>"
She answers Judau, eventually, but while it has that honesty in the moment, it doesn't feel like it's something that has crushed her.
"<But I think, maybe, we can be.>"
It feels like, despite what Full Frontal is trying to convey to him, that possibility doesn't exist - that it actually does in this moment.
Because if Char and Sayla could move on from this, can grow from this, can move forward together as brother and sister...
... it's a long road, but maybe the problem is that the denial of possibility exists when it's on a macroscale ...
...maybe they should look smaller, because that's where human warmth can dwell.
+---------------------------------< .SRTMOO. >---------------------------------+ +------------------------------< Flashpoint 1.0 >------------------------------+ +-------------------< FLASHPOINT CHALLENGE: Strong success >-------------------+ | MANDATORY STAT: | | TERRAIN: Space | | ATTRIBUTES: nothing | | BONUS STATS: nothing | +-----------------------< TITLE: Heat... Warm Light... >-----------------------+ - The final beacon of these visions pulses, a black hole surrounded by bright - - white-yellow-red light, and it is a difficult navigation -- those - - doubled-over visions of your consoles are at their worst, now, coming to - - the end, and many machines will tremble as they fly inside. - - - - Where everything is black. - - - - But let us pretend you can see. Let us pretend there is ANYTHING to see, - - here, in the infinite blackness after time's own end. The gold Psycommu - - ring of the Neo Zeong is all that shines, now, and its light barely even - - reaches the machine it surrounds. It is consumed, too. - - - - Your machine somehow manages to hold onto itself, in the dark. Your systems - - still struggle to respond, but they remain /online,/ at least. The light - - in your cockpit may well be the only light remaining in the world, save - - for the lines of psycommu on the other machines out here. - - - - "Witness it for yourselves," Full Frontal invites you all. "Complete - - nothingness, devoid of light... even the passage of time does not exist - - here. This is how the world ends, at the end of its time. Beyond the - - deepest truths of reality... annihilation." - - - - Not even Triple Zero is here. - - - - Here, there is nothing. - - - - Full Frontal's voice rings hollow and fervent through the grave. "Struggle - - against it all you like, but the outcome will not change. Surely, you must - - understand this. Hope and possibility are nothing but fleeting dreams - - glimpsed at from the doorstep of this nothingness! Illusions that offer no - - comfort! They lead people astray, and create meaningless conflict! Only - - Newtypes understand the sheer cold at reality's end..." - - - - It is not only Newtypes who will speak against him. - - - - But here, in the place time forgot... - - - - "Even so, the heat of mankind... it warms the universe, doesn't it?" Lalah - - Sune's gentle voice reaches out, with her hand, upon Full Frontal's - - shoulder. "The thoughts and ideals you had as Captain have been heard. - - Now, it's time..." - - - - Her light, gentle and gold, fans out from the Neo Zeong -- and the end of - - time becomes just that little more HOSPITABLE. The struggles of your - - machines are eased, as all your consoles and systems rush online again. - - - - "Speak your convictions," her voice echoes, amongst you all, "and don't be - - afraid." - - - - "I'll bring you home." - - - - (Since you received the Great Success card, you'll start the boss battle - - with an additional +30 EN! Please let your bossrunners know you received - - this result.) - +------------------------------< DIFFICULTY: - >-------------------------------+ +---------------------------------< .SRTMOO. >---------------------------------+
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
As the barrage of Bits continue their assault, Judau's warning reaches all of them. As the Nemo comes to a halt, the Unicorn's shields come to their defense. The Banshee's i-Field acts as a shield, while the ZZ fights on the defensive. Between them, the bits never strike home, even as the battlefield continues to explode into violence.
'You're not alone here, I won't let you be.'
"Thank you." Sayla whispers. She won't shut her out anymore. She'll accept Leina's support, as she should have done so, so long ago. "I'm counting on you."
But the bits asault ends with Lalah's life. They fall silent, unmoving. The Elmeth is gone- and the fall of Zeon is an inevitability. In two days, the One Year War will be over.
Judau asks a question, and Leina answers for Sayla and herself.
Everything starts to fade into darkness. Nothingness.
The end of all things.
But in the darkness, threatening to swallow them all, a voice speaks. Soft and kind, a voice they heard in distress just moments ago.
"Even so, the heat of mankind... it warms the universe, doesn't it?"