2023-08-18: Another Cosmic Glow
- Log: 2023-08-18: Another Cosmic Glow
- Cast: Full Frontal, Eight York, Banagher Links, Rena Lancaster, Leina Ashta, Anita Rosetta, Ruri Hoshino, Naoko Suzuki, Casval rem Deikun, Trevor Teach, Guy Shishioh, Judau Ashta, Roux Louka, Alouette Pommier, Lucine Azul, Sayla Mass
- Where: ?????????
- OOC - IC Date: 0097-08-18
- Summary: Full Frontal, having done his best to show the assembled heroes of Earth the futility of their efforts, attempts to settle things the way humanity has been settling things for a century, for 12000 years, backward into infinity and presumably forward into infinity as well.
<Pose Tracker> Full Frontal has posed.
Full Frontal has shown those assembled all he can show them. If they still choose to fight, then... there's truly no hope left for them.
The Neo Zeong awaits, in the nothingness of space. It is just as it was before Full Frontal attempted to show the assembled the futility of miracles -- the Psycho Shard system armed and ready. The massive docking system looms large in front of its panoply of targets.
Full Frontal decides to allow everyone one final chance before engaging them; he says nothing, does nothing. He simply waits for those who have arrayed themselves against him to make their move -- whether it's to retreat from the Sinanju and its massive armor assembly or to aggress. In the end, neither decision matters.
In the cosmic sense, few decisions do.
KTS: Full_Frontal has deployed as a Boss for 9 opponents. KTS: Casval rem Deikun has deployed in MSA-004 Nemo High Maneuver. KTS: Casval rem Deikun has joined Full Frontal's bucket!
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
In a cosmic sense...
Eight York, for one, rejects that cosmic sense today. The ship is online again; suddenly, the bridge is no longer wavering, instead solid; those of the crew who had disappeared have returned, including green-haired Enba Rezza standing next to the Captain's chair, cheerful Tempo Astelian at comms, boisterous Gidon Kall at ops, intent Itsuki Kazami at tactical. Licia Chovan is still at the helm.
And Eight York sits in the Captain's chair.
"Captain," Enba says, dubious, looking around; when last they were aware a few moments ago, everything was going vague, Full Frontal was disappearing on a strange journey. "...You have the bridge."
"Thank you, Captain," Eight answers. "I know I should be resting..."
"But I can't rest until I bring this to an end." Eight leans forward in her seat.
The light warms all of them; the light that Lalah Sune brought to them. Eight feels it, a light in her heart. It fights against the despair she saw, against the things that show that this cycle could continue on and on unto the end...
"There may be an end," Eight says. "There may be a time when none of this matters anymore to anyone. ...But that day isn't today!"
"Allied forces, this is Captain York of the Ra Mari II. Remember the reasons we set out on this mission! Remember that you have people counting on you!"
"...And remember that it isn't Full Frontal's world that we fought to bring about, no matter what 'miracles' he shows us."
Eight turns from the comms and then looks to Itsuki. "Charge particle cannons. Aim for center mass on the Neo Zeong. Fire on my mark."
"...Fire!"
"Yes, Captain!" Itsuki pulls a dial and slides up a slider, and sparks fly as from all over the giant red ship particles begin to slam towards the Neo Zeong, an answer to despair if not the only answer.
"And tell him the 'wrong kind' of Spacenoid isn't giving up!"
KTS: Eight York has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Eight York targets Full Frontal with Guided Beam Cannons - Charge Shot! KTS: Eight York has completed their actions for the round. Full_Frontal has changed Boss level to 10 <Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.
Here, in the place time no longer exists. Slipping into the Unicorn and through his normal suit, a chill curls around Banagher, seeping down to his very soul. Trembling, he feels his mind closing off, and he wraps his arms around his chest more out of despair than an attempt to warm himself.
Audrey, Leina... even Full Frontal, just before him, feels distant in the face of this cold. The only thing Banagher can feel is the Unicorn, and even her light is extinguished, here.
"Nhh..." he squeezes his eyes shut. This can't be it. This can't be all there is. Not after everything they've been through
Just as Banagher's spirit wavers, threatening to gutter out, a voice reaches him. A voice he heard before, in their journey through space and time. He remembers the name Char called out.
"Lalah?" Bangaher murmurs, feeling her light suffuse first the Unicorn, and then his own body. "Thank you. I'm sorry -- I'm sorry for what you went through. Your help here won't be in vain!"
Who knows if she can hear him. But it must be said, or Banagher would not be Banagher.
<"Can everyone hear me?"> He calls out on the comms. <"We're going to be okay. We've got a way home! We just have to put an end to this!">
The Unicorn shudders, as if awakening from a long sleep. Her brilliant green glow seems more powerful than ever, here in this place without light. The Beast of Possibility screams a triumphant call, echoing psychically to all in this desolate place.
<"Even so -- even if this is all there is!"> Banagher shouts, to Full Frontal, as the Unicorn pulls out a beam saber. <"That doesn't mean our experiences are worthless! Even if it's just for a flicker of time, our lives have worth! Even yours, Full Frontal!">
Leading the charge, the Unicorn fearlessly pushes forward, flying to the very heart of the Neo Zeong. Adjusting the grip on her beam saber, she slashes against the crimson armor, empowered by the Light surrounding all her comrades.
KTS: Full Frontal's Beam Wall L2 activates, negating 2000 base damage. KTS: Full Frontal partially guards Eight York's Guided Beam Cannons - Charge Shot, taking 900 damage! KTS: Banagher Links: Will Barrier Activates. KTS: Banagher Links targets Full Frontal with Beam Saber Backslash! KTS: Banagher Links has completed their actions for the round. Escudo Shard teleports out.
KTS: Full Frontal's Beam Wall L2 activates, negating 2000 base damage. KTS: Full Frontal partially guards Banagher Links's Beam Saber Backslash, taking 900 damage! KTS: Banagher Links has engaged Full Frontal! KTS: Sayla Mass has deployed as a Sub Pilot for Leina Ashta! <Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
The Gaia Gear Alpha shoots through space, trailing motes of psychoframe light in its wake. Rena came through the vision of the past with Anita, Eight, Naoko, and Roux; they have come through on the other side.
Guided, as it happens, by that pale yellow light.
Rena sucks a breath in, as she looks at the enormous form of the Neo Zeong -- and the glowing golden ring of psycommu behind it. Her shoulders tense. It still lingers on her mind. She can only imagine what it could do.
They're at a place where time and the stars have stopped. Funny, that they should know the truth of Laplace's Box, now; that if a new humanity should arise, then they should have citizenship in the Earth Federation. If she had any faith in the old order...
It died, today.
"We're with you, Captain," Rena says to Eight. She sucks a breath in. "Leina! Banagher! I said I'd be with you... and I won't let you down!"
Then she leans forward. "Kakapo Squadron... let's see this through. Together, right, Annie?"
She flashes a smile.
The Gaia Gear Alpha reaches over its shoulder -- and draws free its bazooka, the weapon aimed straight for the crimson machine. Then, Rena fires -- and a quartet of rockets explode from the barrel, hurtling one after the other for the huge machine.
She nods, as Banagher speaks. There's a way out.
KTS: Rena Lancaster has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Rena Lancaster: Will Barrier Activates. KTS: Rena Lancaster targets Full Frontal with Hyper Bazooka Salvo! KTS: Rena Lancaster has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Growing up as a child on the colonies, you hear the stories about how the Earthnoids looked up to the stars, and aspired to reach for them. However, you cannot see them for yourselves. You as supposedly the culmination of that dream, but the stars remain a luxury for those with an atmosphere to view them through.
All save one, the warmth and light granted by the sun, it's solar power granting life even from so far away. Perhaps it is what Leina notices first, the absence not of light, but of heat. Even within the Banshee's cockpit and her normal suit, the cold chilling and sending her to shivering, arms crossed and teeth chattering.
It's so cold. So cold. No warmth can exist here surely, it is the point that Full Frontal is making. Rubbing her arms in desperation, she looks about quickly, and reaches out for Sayla with the sort of desperation of someone who is dying. Those hands touch, and grasp through the insulation of the suits.
Even as Lalah's light shines, making this place subtly more hospitable. A woman she resented, for the pain she caused someone she cared about. Perhaps it was misguided, in the end, she was a victim too - wasn't she?
And right now, she is offering to guide them home.
Grasping that hand, she reconsiders her earlier perception, because even in this place. A certain warmth exists, doesn't it? In the people here with her, she can feel them, just as acutely as she felt them.
And she can feel him, too. Even as he rejects the idea of hope and possibility as transient comfort. Hand squeezing Sayla's tightly, she focuses on the warmth of the others around her. "I hear you... Banagher." She takes a deep breath trying to find her nerve, "I feel you. Even here."
It is painful perhaps to know she understands, she understands how Full Frontal could arrive at this viewpoint, because she did so herself. The hopelessness, the meaningless of fighting for change. That it would all amount to nothing. That all their efforts would bring death - or at least prolonged suffering to the people she cares about.
The difference between them, is that he has noone he cares about, because he is no longer human.
But is that really true?
Even as the light of the Unicorn shines, she gathers her resolve, despite everything he has seen, everything he has shown her, to find her voice. "I know you won't, Renalle. Even here..." Momentarily overwhelmed, it takes a moment, to push past the feelings again, to understand her feelings, to articulate them into the idea that she's not alone.
BGM Change - Ego - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v0BQADcGuk
"<Full Frontal. You keep everyone at arm's length with the idea that you're not like us. That you're only a vessel, something inhuman, containing the will of others.>" Leina finally breaks her silence, once she feels warm enough to answer without the chill interrupting her silence, "<But you answered to the desire to see the contents of the box. You believed that our path would close off the possibility you say your answer represents.>"
Remembering how she felt when she was at her worst. Understanding how he came to be what he was, she dwells upon these feelings.
"<'A Mon Seul Desir'. Even as you push everyone and everything away - secretly, you long for human warmth too, don't you?>"
There's something sympathetic in her voice, as she tries to convey a simple idea from the position she was once in.
"<I know I did. BANSHEE!>"
The Banshee begins to shine, bright enough that even the black of its armor gives way to that light. It is not enough to banish the dark of this space, in fact, it seems dimmer than ever, but it still exists even here.
The Neo-Zeong is enormous. In this space, which demonstrates Full Frontal's argument vividly, it feels even deadlier. To the flanks does the Norn fly even as the Unicorn charges forward. And as the Gaia Gear moves in one direction, so does the Norn juke in the opposite, trying to offer an assault on so many sides.
It's revolving Launcher raised, as it fires four shots that try to embed within its armor - to create a bright flash, and a detonation.
Even if it is swallowed by the night, she trusts it will still do harm.
"<I refuse to believe that nothing that Judau, that Sayla, that Banagher, that everyone has done for me matters! I reject that! And this light is the proof! It's not just Lalah Sune's - it belongs to all of us - including you!>"
KTS: Leina Ashta targets Full Frontal with Revolving Launcher MGaP Flash Barrage! KTS: Leina Ashta has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
The trip through history ends... in infinite, eternal darkness. The darkness that awaits everything. The XVF-25I Svipul floats in the void, and within, Anita struggles to breathe. But she holds on, even as Full Frontal's voice rings out. This is what awaits all things.
...But not everyone thinks the same way he does. There is a golden light.
...Her. Lalah Sune.
In their journey through history, they witnessed her fate. Golden light spreads out from the Neo Zeong, encompassing the Svipul. The Valkyrie flickers to life - to strength, once more, and Anita's breathing eases. She exhales.
"...Thanks." Anita murmurs to that light, to Lalah, before rolling her shoulders and focusing her attention on the mobile armor she's occupying - and the one piloting it.
"...Well. Maybe." Anita says, once she has her voice back. "Maybe thing's'll end in a million years. Or a thousand. Or maybe just ten. But that's then."
Anita chuckles, as she hears Eight's voice ring out. That isn't today. And like Banagher says, it doesn't mean their experiences are worthless.
"...We've still got now. This moment, and the next, and the one after that. They mean everything to me, and so does spendin' them with everyone I care about. It's up to us to give meaning to 'em. And if anyone tries to take that away from us, tries to say it don't mean a thing... then they gotta go down. Simple as that." Anita says, and nods.
"Right, Captain. Let's see this through." A grin splits her face, then, as she hears Rena's voice. "Right - together."
With that said, she draws her gunpod - joining Rena's bazooka salvo with a flurry of gatling fire to keep him right where they want him.
"Right!" She replies, as Banagher assures that there's a way out of this.
KTS: Anita Rosetta targets Full Frontal with Leading Fire! KTS: Anita Rosetta has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"Captain." Ruri Hoshino is the diminutive teenaged Systems Operator of the Nadesico, and she interrupts without care. "Phase Transition Engine readings at 114.15% and climbing."
"Causality itself is disrupted here," another voice interrupts.
This one wasn't on the bridge, a moment prior -- but Inez Fressange always knows when an explanation is needed.
"The Phase Transition Engines run off of Inflation Theory -- the idea that the vacuum of space went through a phase transition which released energy when the universe expanded. But right now, the universe is very, very small... or very, very large! It would be interesting to see whose theory was correct, don't you think? Regardless, the Nadesico itself now represents a universe with more energy than the place we're currently in." Inez smiles. There's no warmth behind it. "The Gravity Blast Cannons would be immensely powerful in a situation like this, don't you think? Of course, in this situation... we might very well tear reality apart if we were to fire them. It would be fascinating to find out..."
Captain Yurika Misumaru grasps her console tightly. Her decree as Captain is: "The Nadesico's taking a support position in this fight. Do not directly engage the enemy! We're offering our friends support!"
"Then we'll take it from here," Megumi Reinard, communications officer, nods firmly. "Lucine, did you catch that?" Megumi goes on to ask, twiddling at something on her headset. "The Nadesico's counting on you today! Uh -- tonight! To... time!"
"Right now, I guess the time doesn't really matter," Minato Haruka sighs, sitting at Ruri's other side.
KTS: Ruri Hoshino targets Lucine Azul with All-Out! KTS: Ruri Hoshino has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Ruri Hoshino orders an all-out attack, raising Lucine Azul's Skill! KTS: Full Frontal fails to react to Rena Lancaster's Hyper Bazooka Salvo, taking 6500 damage! KTS: Leina Ashta rattles Full Frontal, making its next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Full Frontal fails to react to Leina Ashta's Revolving Launcher MGaP Flash Barrage, taking 3300 damage! KTS: Full Frontal fails to react to Anita Rosetta's Leading Fire, taking 3780 damage! KTS: Anita Rosetta begins a Formation attack! <Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.
To Naoko, the visions of the past which were shown were sometimes depressing, sometimes wondrous, and sometimes... well, the overall feeling that it ultimately left her with was that of excitement. Getting to see Miracles up close like that, and moreover, getting the chance to actually stand in defense of the Photon Power Labs during some of its biggest moments of crisis. This is one of the most incredible days in her entire life!
There was, of course, a lesson to be learned in all this. It should have been obvious, even when solely focusing on the multiple appearances of the Photon Power Lab under siege. History repeated, in the most blatantly straightforward way. From one battle to the next, an endlessly repeating struggle. Yes, the lesson should have been very obvious indeed.
And Naoko has completely failed to learn it. This was the entirely wrong approach to take with her. Rather than her resolve being worn down, with each passing crisis she only became more motivated to make a difference. Is it so wrong to simply want to do what you can at any given moment, without worrying about what comes next? Naoko doesn't think so. She never has.
Compared to that, being left in pure darkness was far more distressing. But there, too, she has an advantage. The advantage of not being left alone with her thoughts, because of her two constantly companions, who always know exactly what she needs to hear.
>"Calm down, Nova. Remember, this is a vision, just like the rest. He's trying to upset you."<
>"You're not gonna let this guy get the better of you, are you?"<
It's what she needs to hold herself together, long enough for hope to be made manifest in the presence of Lalah Sune - an existence that cannot be denied even in this void. 'Speak your convictions', she says, promising to bring them home. That's all Naoko needed to hear to be all too happy to oblige.
"What the hell are you even saying, it's all pointless because 'eventual heat death of the universe'? And just how long from now is that? What do people even have to do with it? It's not even worth thinking about stuff like that, what matters is what we can do right now!"
Instruments return to life, and the voices of Eight and the Kakapo Squadron come in loud and clear. Naoko grins, as she announces, "This is Nova Stellar, ready to work another miracle!"
With a wave of its arm, the Sukeban unleashes its twin remote weapons, sending the superheated metal discs spinning towards the Neo Zeong, attempting to physically cut into its significant layer of armor. That is a huge machine, especially compared to her Arm Slave... but she has faith that together, surely they can overcome even this. Every little bit adds up!
KTS: Naoko Suzuki has activated the Rouse Spirit Command. KTS: Naoko Suzuki targets Full Frontal with Psycho Ripper! KTS: Naoko Suzuki has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Casval rem Deikun has posed.
A modified Nemo hangs in the lightless infinitude, motionless, drifting away from the Banshee and the Unicorn. Its pilot sits slumped, breathing raggedly with one hand clutching at his heart.
Having seen a painful vision again, Char Aznable struggles to hold on, to not be cast adrift into the endless nothing...
'Even so, the heat of mankind... it warms the universe, doesn't it?'
"... Lalah-Sune?" He murmurs, in disbelief.
The gentle touch of his old friend stirs something in him. Slowly at first, he picks up his helmet, sliding it back on over his head and resealing it with a hiss.
He takes another breath, feeling the filtered air flowing into his lungs.
"It's too much," he says to the formless being gracing their company, "but... I have to keep going."
The Nemo's face-visor comes to light again and it starts to glide through the void towards the Neo Zeong, hefting its Hyaku-Shiki beam rifle.
"I won't leave her behind again." It's so tempting to disappear into the void, and vanish for good this time... but there is a light here. It's not a visible light, but even so he's drawn to it; the courage of his sister's soul, and the souls of her daughter and the other young pilots she's cast her aegis over.
He doesn't want to be in shadow any more.
Golden megaparticle energy gathers at the muzzle of the Hyaku-Shiki rifle as he pulls the trigger, raking the Neo Zeong with bright beams starkly iilluminating the emptiness.
<Pose Tracker> Trevor Teach has posed.
All along, is this what Full Frontal saw? The dream that Angelo so strongly believed in, is this what it was? Nihilism, a philosophy embodying the emptiness at the end of time itself?
All along the way, they had followed this man. This man, distant as he was, was the hand shepherding the Sleeves. Moving them from battle to battle, whether in the background or on the fore of the battlefield. That. All of that--
For what?
Emptiness.
Isadore drifts in the void, the light of its visor pulsing weakly against the crushing tide of darkness--
No. Not even that. Darkness implies the existence of light. At the end of all things, there is simply Nothing. The piratical machine is silent as the cavernous husk of the universe continues merely Unexisting all around him. An eternity of meaninglessness, that is what awaits all of reality.
...And yet, there is light. Light that turns the emptiness into ordinary 'darkness' again. In that moment, the glow shocks the stunned pilot out of his spiralling reverie. "That... this--"
Trevor's voice shakes-- with terror, with blank-brained shock, but above all else, with anger, hot and raw. "THIS is what you were staring at, all this time, Full Frontal!?" Isadore's visor blazes, its glass briefly catching the rippling currents of light washing over it. "Where's everything else? Where's Angelo's loyalty?! Where's the little instants of camaraderie, all those people, hoping for an impossible dream, happy in the moment to finally have a cause they could believe in!?"
Rage. Rage and vitriol, impossible to suppress. For the people who died for this man's dream. Borrowed rage, on the behalf of someone whose face he had only days ago spat in-- for that person's undying, unending fidelity to this man's so-called 'vision.' And now, the mere thought that Full Frontal never so much as cast Angelo a glance in exchange--
It all boils over. Isadore surges forward, its bolt launcher crackling as capacitors discharge, soundlessly hurling rods of solid ultradense alloy directly at the Neo Zeong's enormous frame. "I can't believe so many of us fought for a man like you! All this time, THIS is the future you promised us!? So what if the world ends in emptiness someday!? That doesn't mean the times we lived in joy, the times we suffered together, that those held no meaning!"
KTS: Casval rem Deikun targets Full Frontal with BR-M-87 Beam Rifle Focus Fire! KTS: Casval rem Deikun has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Trevor Teach targets Full Frontal with Hypersonic Bolt! KTS: Trevor Teach has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Trevor Teach has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. <Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
Maybe it was inevitable that Guy Shishioh would see the ending.
GaoGaiGar trembles in the grasp of eternity's hold. Galeon is a veteran traveler of worlds now - from one universe to another, from the past, to the present, to here, at the Final Darkness. Guy is only slightly less familiar with such journeys. Fused with the Mechanoid Lion, Guy's sense of the transit is like his whole body and mind shaking at the screws, torsion forces like air friction but applied by spacetime grinding at what feels like his bone marrow. And when they emerge...
"My body...can't move," Guy groans, with a sort of listless exhaustion. For others it might be their machine; for Guy, it's the very experience of his form that is paralyzed by this place's nature. GaoGaiGar's heroic orange eyes go dim. Even the G-Stone, a dun gray. Devoid of anything to feed upon. "This...is where it ends? Heat death?" The thing his comrades now exert themselves to the utmost to prevent, this crackling, silent nothingness. Something surges in him, like bile in his soul, but with a grimace and grit of his teeth, he resists the fiery despair. "This is...not the sky I wanted...."
The warmth of a past behind them blooms, and Guy experiences something like a deep breath as his G-Stone responds, glimmering and then blooming and then dawning with with brilliant green. "Alouette," he says, tentatively, his voice coming through StealthGao's cockpit radio. "You alright back there? We've got one more hurdle!"
"Full Frontal...this barrenness might be the future you see ahead...but you are not the only one with an eye on the future! The steps we take to get here are more than just this infinite difference! GGG...humanity, won't surrender to your empty world! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
And so saying, Star GaoGaiGar's Ul-Tech engines blaze green and send it careening toward Full Frontal's Neo Zeong, sweeping a leg out to begin with a ferocious heel drop straight to the mammoth Neo Zeong's head.
KTS: Guy Shishioh targets Full Frontal with Axe Kick! KTS: Guy Shishioh has completed their actions for the round. Teletha Testarossa teleports in. POT: Teletha Testarossa is now set observer.
KTS: Full Frontal fails to react to Naoko Suzuki's Psycho Ripper, taking 3999 damage! KTS: Naoko Suzuki has engaged Full Frontal! KTS: Full Frontal successfully jobs Casval rem Deikun's BR-M-87 Beam Rifle Focus Fire KTS: Casval rem Deikun completes the Formation attack! KTS: Full Frontal fails to react to Trevor Teach's Hypersonic Bolt, taking 4050 damage! KTS: Full Frontal fails to react to Guy Shishioh's Axe Kick, taking 2960 damage! KTS: Guy Shishioh has engaged Full Frontal! <Pose Tracker> Judau Ashta has posed.
Not for the first time in his life, Judau Ashta has no idea what he's looking at.
For the first time in his life, though, it's because what he's looking at... is nothing.
A journey backwards in time suddenly vaults forward, towards the One Year War and then far, far beyond. Judau can feel it acutely, the way time seems to bleed past the Double Zeta, as he feels infinite possibilities winnow down inevitably towards a single one.
All roads lead here.
All possibility leads here.
And here, is...
nothing
And he has no idea how to put words to what it is he sees, what he feels, because there is -nothing- to see, -nothing- to feel. The only way he can describe it is in the strangled sound that scarcely escapes his throat as wide, seagreen eyes behold the end of all things and the dim gold halo that ushered them here. You'd think it'd be colder, but it's not. Not cold, not warm. Just...
The Biosensor alights.
Even here, even at the very edge of the end -- it ebbs and flows with sudden intensity as it catches and resonates with a sympathetic sentiment.
Even so, the heat of mankind... it warms the universe, doesn't it?
In the dark, a pinkish-red light illuminates the Double Zeta's cockpit in perfect time to the grin blooming at its pilot's lips.
"... Heh," exhales Judau, shutting his eyes as he feels the resolve of Leina, and Banagher, and even Casval -- of everyone, feeding into the Biosensor, letting it become a brilliant, scarlet light in the place where all that is vibrant goes to die.
"Damn right we do!"
And the ZZ's eyes flare with pink-red light as its systems all activate like a spreading domino chain.
"Roux! This isn't the end of a goddamn thing, right? So hang on --"
And instantly, the thrusters of the Double Zeta ignite to maximum burn, flinging it DIRECTLY towards the Neo-Zeong's imposing form in the distance of a now-shining voice.
"-- this is gonna get a little bumpy--!!"
And so it goes that as others shout their defiance at Full Frontal, make their belief known in word as well as deed --
The Double Zeta sees fit to crash into its massive frame wing-shields first, intent to get in past its defenses and -STAY- in there right next to the giant doomsday machine crafted with technology from behind the veil with an eloquent cry of,
<"HEY! EAT THIS, YOU DICK!">
He'll have something more profound to say soon enough promise.
KTS: Judau Ashta targets Full Frontal with Wing Shields - Sheer Recklessness!! KTS: Judau Ashta has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Judau Ashta has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. <Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
https://youtu.be/YKvtbH8qUWU?t=505
Space - time - and memory, which transcends either of them.
What is the great flow of existence? Is it all a great river, the energy of the unthinkable creative force of the universe's origin flowing into the stream towards the end rest state, when all shall be at peace and stillness? Does structure, does life, simply interfere with that flow? When you dam a river, do you not disrupt the river?
And yet, what made the river a river instead of a cloud? Instead of a comet?
Are either any better or any worse?
Roux Louka opens her eyes.
Some of that dissipates. But only some.
Roux is in the cockpit of the Double Zeta. Where else would she want to be?
"It's not," Roux answers Judau, her voice thick. "Not for us, and not for - for everyone who we've seen along the way. Not for, for Mashymere or Chara or --"
A C C E L E R A T I O N
Roux is pressed back into her seat as she says, "I wasn't finished saying my thought, Judau!! Aim for the left arm!!" while clinging to the side of the seat she's in. At the incoming smash, Roux swivels herself slightly off true, reaching for, and finding, the engineering console she can remember.
It was there all along, wasn't it?
"Did you see it too?" Roux asks Judau, after he makes his own declaration, to which Roux has zero objections. "The battle at Axis."
KTS: Roux Louka targets Full Frontal with Pass! KTS: Roux Louka has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
"G-Guy?" Alouette winces, as GaoGaiGar just... stops, frozen in the end of time. "No... do you think this is what the Sol Masters were so terrified of?" Alouette asks, with a shiver down her spine, within the cockpit of StealthGao II, docked to Star GaoGaiGar. This is what awaits the end of a universe... this is what the Ruin Apostles are fighting so hard for. It's unthinkable.
But despite that fear and coldness, the G-Stone's power resurges, and Alouette can feel it from within the jet as that warm yellow light shines over them.
"I'm okay, Guy! Let's show him that this little show of history won't be enough to kill our courage... only make it stronger." Because if they can't overcome the despair of the Universal Century... all that's waiting for them is this.
"I'll take care of getting you the Phantom and Wall Rings on time!" Alouette affirms, splitting some of Guy's own workload, the more mechanical and less kinesthetic aspects of piloting GaoGaiGar. "So give him everything you have!" Her words echo through the StealthGao II's cockpit.
KTS: Alouette Pommier targets Full Frontal with Pass! KTS: Alouette Pommier has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Alouette Pommier has activated the Rouse Spirit Command targeting Guy Shishioh <Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
The cockpit of the Dianthus is silent, save for the breath of Lucine falling against the clear visor of her helmet.
Nothing exists outside of this cockpit. No gas, no heat, no stars, no planets, no life. The annihilation of all existence.
Except, that isn't the truth, and Lucine knows it. A Newtype's senses may be needed to understand the frigid end of all reality, but hers is perfectly able to sense the opposite: those around her. They move, and act, and speak. She sees the magenta glow of the lights on the Dianthus's remodeled chassis.
She hears the voices of her friends and allies, and above all, the crew of the Nadesico, grounding her. < ".... So this is the power of the Neo Zeong...." > Lucine says, as the Nadesico confirms what her own senses feebly try to wrap themselves around. < "..... Inez has a point. Save it for when we have no other option. This may be an illusion, but it's not as if I could open my cockpit and test that theory..." > Between the vacuum of space and the weight of dread this vision carries, it would be hard telling what would tear a human body apart first. < ".... We have the present. That's all of us need to make this work. .... Besides... it's definitely a good way to test Koji's hard work." >
She looks down at the place where her ring would be through her gloves, an artifact of a concert and a happy time together with friends and the person she loves. She looks up now towards the Neo Zeong with quiet yellow-eyed defiance.
< "... This isn't my first time staring into the void..." > Lucine says, softly. < "..... If I had accepted it back then, on Mars, that there was nothing beyond this... I wouldn't have the happiness I do now. When I return to Mars... it will be as someone richer than the person who left it. The future may hold rain... but in the present, I walk in the sun." >
Drawing the retooled glaive, she hears the cries of people like Guy and Judau, and breathes in. A bird led her here, so she'll be the bird, in Rita's place.
< "HHAAAHH!" > The Dianthus dives in at the Neo Zeong with all the fierceness of a hunter's falcon, the sharp blade of her glaive at the ready.
KTS: Marida Cruz's Sub-Pilot has been disabled. KTS: Lucine Azul targets Full Frontal with CL0-V3 Glaive Dive! KTS: Lucine Azul has completed their actions for the round. POT: Marida Cruz is now set observer. <Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
No light. No warmth. Just a freezing, empty world. A place beyond time, beyond light, where life could not survive. A colder world.
She feels Leina's hand reach for her, and grips it tightly. Sayla can feel the way she shivers- but Sayla is doing no better. Her hand shakes with the rest of her body, no matter how tightly she grips.
And then, small yet powerful, warmth and light emerge in the darkness cast by Full Frontal. The light cast by a woman who had never spoken to her, but she had seen in someone else's dreams. A presence that had twice saved her life, despite that.
"...Thank you." She whispers, quietly to the light.
And then the Unicorn glows green, the light of possibility cutting through the darkness. For the moment, she is silent.
She trusts Leina to get them out her here. And she trusts her rebuttal.
"Well said," she says to Leina, releasing her hand so she can pilot.
"<Casval, you heard her, right?>" She doesn't know if her brother has reopened his comms. "<Don't get reckless. We're making it through this together. You too, Banagher. We're all coming home from this.>" Her voice has that firmness, that determination. "<Understood?>"
Even as she starts operating the comms, glancing at the sensors, she casts one more look to Leina. "You can do this, Leina. I know you can. We can. Together."
KTS: Sayla Mass has activated the Rouse Spirit Command targeting Leina Ashta KTS: Sayla Mass targets Casval rem Deikun, Banagher Links, and Leina Ashta with Caution. KTS: Sayla Mass has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Sayla Mass suggests caution, raising Leina Ashta's Intuition! KTS: Sayla Mass suggests caution, raising Casval rem Deikun's Intuition! KTS: Sayla Mass suggests caution, raising Banagher Links's Intuition! KTS: Full Frontal successfully avoids Judau Ashta's Wing Shields - Sheer Recklessness! KTS: Full Frontal fails to react to Lucine Azul's CL0-V3 Glaive Dive, taking 2700 damage! KTS: Lucine Azul has engaged Full Frontal! KTS: Full Frontal fails to react to Roux Louka's Pass, taking 0 damage! KTS: Full Frontal fails to react to Alouette Pommier's Pass, taking 0 damage! <Pose Tracker> Full Frontal has posed.
The Ra Mari II fires on the Neo Zeong, and the shots dissipate against the I-Field of the massive mobile armor. It moves up and forward (relative to the Ra Mari), and the 'fingers' of the machine slide off on wires, beginning to reposition themselves. They fire a few shots here and there.
Banagher closes with a beam saber, scoring the armor. "Banagher Links..." he murmurs, as Banagher shouts at him. "So that is your answer. I look forward to seeing how long such a thing will stay your answer," he says, before bringing the wire-guided Funnel Bits around to entrap Banagher.
The bazooka shot from the Gaia Gear prompts Full Frontal to smile just a little bit. "What an interesting machine," he muses. He finds himself drawn to it, somehow -- though for what reason, he cannot say. Even as the bazooka shots detonate against skirt armor, he moves in closer, allowing his own armor to partially reveal the Sinanju, which slashes at the machine with its sabers.
As he does, though, the Banshee and the Svipul both begin to fire. The armor holds, for now. "Leina Ashta..." he reflects. "Such an empty heat cannot change the world." The funnel bits dart around, movements irregular as they chase the Banshee, heedless of the damage to the mobile armor. A moment later, they rotate to face the Svipul instead; Frontal doesn't have the time to move them again as he's penned in by gunfire.
Naoko's answer to the truth of the world gets a shake of the head. "Not only does it mark the end, but even the universe itself is subject to such a cycle. Old grudges come to inform new grudges without context. Even the universe can uncomprehendingly inherit the suffering of its progenitors. Even if things were to continue on after this point," he says, firing a blast from the shoulder-mounted mega particle cannons, "they would not change." The discs sever a small chunk of the machine's truly massive armor; Full Frontal does not seem concerned.
Trevor shouts vitriol at Full Frontal, and he meets it with but a "Hmf" at first, even as the bolt launcher fires slugs into his machine. "You seem to have the relationship reversed," he offers. "It is I who was created as a vessel for your desires." The funnel bits attempt to lead him along --
-- and he stops before pressing too hard, as Casval Deikun attacks. "Char Aznable... the man who created the mask I now wear." Coldly, he says, "You were unfit to be a vessel for these wills. Begone."All the funnel bits circle around him, firing shot after shot at the Nemo as his own beam rifle fire dissipates against the I-field.
The kick from Guy's machine rings against the Neo Zeong's armor in this soundless space -- and the Neo Zeong drops, sabers once again lashing out from the Sinanju's hands. "The Evoluder -- another of humanity's dead miracles," he says. "Few beings do more to foreclose possibility."
Judau crashes into the Sinanju from the other side, but one of those massive hands comes down and turns away his momentum casually. Full Frontal sees no problem with continuing his close-quarters attack, slashing at his machine in turn. "A man who ran from possibility... of all people, I would think you would have understood the futility that lies at the heart of this world."
The Nadesico's Newtype pilot dives at Frontal's machine with her glaive. "Even the sun does not offer warmth enough to soothe the hearts of those caught in the maelstrom of this era," Frontal replies to her, bringing up both of those hands now, bits reeling back in -- and simply trying to squeeze the life out of the much smaller machine with them.
KTS: Full Frontal has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Full Frontal has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Full Frontal has activated the Daunt Spirit Command targeting Lucine Azul KTS: Full Frontal targets Eight York with Funnel Bits! KTS: Full Frontal targets Banagher Links with Funnel Bits - Castling! KTS: Full Frontal targets Rena Lancaster with Sinanju Sabers! KTS: Full Frontal targets Leina Ashta with Funnel Bits! KTS: Full Frontal targets Anita Rosetta with Funnel Bits! KTS: Full Frontal targets Naoko Suzuki with Large Mega Particle Shoulder Cannon - Scatter! KTS: Full Frontal targets Trevor Teach with Funnel Bits! KTS: Full Frontal targets Casval rem Deikun with Funnel Bits! KTS: Full Frontal targets Guy Shishioh with Sinanju Sabers! KTS: Full Frontal targets Judau Ashta with Sinanju Sabers! KTS: Full Frontal has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Full Frontal targets Lucine Azul with Crushing Hold! KTS: Leina Ashta has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. Full_Frontal has changed Boss level to 11 Escudo Shard teleports in.
KTS: [Spirit Defense] Casval rem Deikun's Mortal Reckoning activates, and his spirit endures. KTS: Full Frontal enervates Casval rem Deikun, reducing his Morale significantly. KTS: Casval rem Deikun blocks Full Frontal's Funnel Bits, taking 4730 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Full Frontal's The Ghost of Char activates, causing Deject! KTS: Leina Ashta has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Banagher Links has activated the Alert Spirit Command. KTS: Banagher Links has activated the Alert Spirit Command. KTS: Trevor Teach blocks Full Frontal's Funnel Bits, taking 2580 damage! KTS: Anita Rosetta has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Anita Rosetta blocks Full Frontal's Funnel Bits, taking 3010 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 11890 KTS: Your EN is now 81. KTS: Banagher Links fails to retreat. KTS: Banagher Links's Will Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage. KTS: Full Frontal anchors Banagher Links, forcing him into close range. KTS: Banagher Links fails to evade Full Frontal's Funnel Bits - Castling, taking 4000 damage! KTS: Full Frontal has engaged Banagher Links! KTS: Judau Ashta parries Full Frontal's Sinanju Sabers, taking 3999 damage! KTS: Full Frontal has engaged Judau Ashta! KTS: Eight York blocks Full Frontal's Funnel Bits, taking 3225 damage! KTS: Leina Ashta partially guards Full Frontal's Funnel Bits, taking 1935 damage! KTS: Full Frontal enervates Naoko Suzuki, reducing her Morale significantly. KTS: Naoko Suzuki fails to evade Full Frontal's Large Mega Particle Shoulder Cannon - Scatter, taking 5640 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Full Frontal's The Ghost of Char activates, causing Deject! KTS: Full Frontal begins a Formation attack! KTS: [Spirit Defense] Rena Lancaster's Belief activates, and her spirit endures. KTS: Full Frontal enervates Rena Lancaster, reducing her Morale significantly. KTS: Rena Lancaster parries Full Frontal's Sinanju Sabers, taking 3999 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Full Frontal's The Ghost of Char activates, causing Deject! KTS: Full Frontal has engaged Rena Lancaster!
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Banagher ahead, leading the charge. They have a way home, he says, and Eight feels that way home, too. And she sees the Unicorn and hears her triumphant call. Even for a flicker of time...
Eight feels for a moment as if she's in the cockpit with Rena, and she smiles at the feeling. She has no faith in that old order anymore, either. It's been gone. The Box... Of course, the Box was something like that.
Anita says they'll see it through. She sys a lot, and Eight smiles to hear it.
On the bridge, Licia pumps her fist. "Right! Go Anita!"
Enba lifts an eyebrow, and Licia grins at them, cheerful despite the grim sight of the Neo Zeong.
"Y-Yeah!" Tempo agrees. "Everyone," he says, "Be careful out there!"
Leina can speak to what Full Frontal believes, to the idea that even he deserves the real world--but Eight doesn't.
Mobile suits deploy from the Ra Mari II's hangars, far more than the Kakapos alone, and the funnels of the massive mobile armor find some of their shots blocked by the shields of those suits--but only some, as the ship is impacted by great beams.
"Leina's heart isn't empty," Eight counters to Full Frontal. "And you act as if the cosmic cycle is all that matters--that these details are unimportant, because they won't change these facts. Well, for the people living them, those lives are everything!"
"Captain," Itsuki says, "The I-Field is all but blocking our shots. We can't get through it with noral fire."
Eight frowns. '...All right." She considers. The Nadesico can't use its Gravity Cannon, but...
"Carge the Converging Spinal Beam Cannon," Eight directs her weapons officer. "Full power."
"Yes, Captain! It'll take some time!"
"Have it ready. For now--launch all missile bays! Pin him down!"
The ship's missiles course out towards the Neo Zeong despite the hostile space around them, that light enough to show their path towards the Neo Zeong where they will explode to try to drive him into the arms of the waiting combatants.
"...Uh, Captain," Licia adds, as she enacts evasive maneuvers. "...Where did Roux go?"
KTS: Eight York targets Full Frontal with High-Power Missile Armament System - Area Denial! KTS: Eight York has completed their actions for the round. Escudo Shard teleports out.
KTS: Full Frontal partially guards Eight York's High-Power Missile Armament System - Area Denial, taking 1755 damage! KTS: Eight York begins a Formation attack! <Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"Annie...!" Rena calls after her, her eyes wide. Then she smiles. The smile flickers off her face, though.
"The I-Field on that thing..." Rena murmurs, softly, as she sees the way blasts are dispersed across the field. Then, her eyes tense -- and she sees the armor parting about the Neo Zeong; revealing the Sinanju, a machine she knows better, from the variant used by Zoltan and the times it was docked inside the Ra Mari II.
She hisses, and then draws forth a beam saber -- the golden blade of light explodes, and she just catches the Sinanju's beam saber. Her own is pushed back, close enough to the Gaia Gear Alpha to make the white rmor heat up.
"Damn...!"
Something familiar about her machine. There's a flash of insight, across her mind. "It's... it was one that Char Aznable rejected," Rena says. "He took the Sazabi instead. I guess it's what could have been."
What wasn't.
"That's not so different from me... or from you," Rena says. "There's still possibilities for you! For you to live your life, not... not the life they decided on for you!"
The Psychoframe inside the Gaia Gear Alpha flares to life. Green motes dance across the white machine, before she swings up her beam saber -- and it slashes up, brilliant green and gold light dancing off her beam saber as she tries to push through the Sinanju's, and strike at the massive red armor.
KTS: Rena Lancaster has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Rena Lancaster targets Full Frontal with Gaia Flash! KTS: Rena Lancaster has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.
The Ra Mari II fires on the center of the Neo Zeong, and the Unicorn banks around the ship's attack, ducking just beneath it to strike with her saber a second after the cannon fire ceases. Hopefully, between the two of them, they'll take out a decent amount of the Neo Zeong's armor. If they can break the Sinanju out of the Neo Zeong, will that be enough to end this fight?
<"Rena!"> Banagher calls in response, a breath of relief in his voice. <"Watch out for the arms! If it grabs you, it'll be tough to get out. But its movements are slowest up close. Let's go!">
With the Banshee by his side, Banagher feels his bond with Leina grow strong again. Here, illuminated by Possibility itself, their connection is evergreen, more powerful than he can remember feeling it. Perhaps because there are no other distractions, far fewer souls around them than usual. Banagher closes his eyes, as the Unicorn pulls back her saber, letting the light of the woman he loves rejuvinate his spirit.
We're never alone. Even here.
Wires emerge from the enormous machine before him, and though Banagher attempts to send the Unicorn rocketing back away from them, he's a second too slow. A half-dozen cables tangle around the Unicorn, restraining her before she can slash at them with her saber.
<"Damn it--!"> Banagher chokes out as his Gundam struggles.
Like this, he's helpless, held right in front of the Neo Zeong's most formidable weapons. The Unicorn strains as Full Frontal addresses his opponents. As he speak Leina's name, Banagher snarls.
<"Don't TALK TO HER LIKE THAT!"> His voice is rough with emotion. <"Leina's heart has the most light of anyone's! Nothing can change that!">
As if rewarding his faith in her, the Banshee fires, freeing the Unicorn from the snare of wires. Immediately, she rockets directly up, trying to get out of range from the Neo Zeong's wire-guided funnels.
With her beam saber lost, the Unicorn pulls out her Beam Magnum. It glows with dangerous power, magenta light gathering in its barrel.
<"My answer will never change."> Banagher declares. <"How could it? With everyone here supporting me -- how could I do anything but believe in the Possibilities ahead of all of us?">
Verdant light bathes the barren starways in radiance. The Unicorn brings her other hand up to the Beam Magnum, steadying it, and after a heartbeat's time -- fires. With an enormous burst of brilliance, power scorches forward, seeking to bore into the Neo Zeong's massive shoulder.
KTS: Banagher Links targets Full Frontal with Beam Magnum Single Shot! KTS: Banagher Links has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Full Frontal partially guards Rena Lancaster's Gaia Flash, taking 3740 damage! KTS: Rena Lancaster has engaged Full Frontal! KTS: Rena Lancaster completes the Formation attack! KTS: Full Frontal partially guards Banagher Links's Beam Magnum Single Shot, taking 3363 damage! <Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"The Converging Spinal Beam Cannon shouldn't have any negative effects in this space," Ruri offers her analysis to the Ra Mari II, a window running through the specs of a cannon almost a kilometre long. "Since it is still conventional weaponry... just very large."
To Anita and Rena's machines -- with a special greeting for the Gaia Gear, of course -- Ruri offers more targeting solutions. "Target bearing north-northeast, sixty-two degrees. The I-Field will be difficult, though."
And her window pops open in Lucine's window, to request, stoic: "Don't open your cockpit hatch. All scans indicate you are still in the vacuum of space, Lucine-san."
Behind them, Inez folds her arms, one hand lifting to cradle her cheek. "Ahh... the vacuum of space, or the vacuum of existence...? Yes," she says, staring through the projections on the main screen, "standing on Mars, we saw oblivion."
KTS: Ruri Hoshino targets Eight York, Anita Rosetta, and Rena Lancaster with Coordinate. KTS: Ruri Hoshino has completed their actions for the round. KTS: [Lucky] Anita Rosetta's Serious Mode activates, and luck goes her way! KTS: Anita Rosetta successfully Accepts Ruri Hoshino's Coordinate KTS: Ruri Hoshino has activated the Attune Spirit Command targeting Lucine Azul KTS: Ruri Hoshino coordinates maneuvers, raising Eight York's Piloting! KTS: Ruri Hoshino coordinates maneuvers, raising Rena Lancaster's Piloting! <Pose Tracker> Casval rem Deikun has posed.
'You were unfit to be the vessel of these wills'.
The Nemo is driven back, shield raised against the tearing light of the Neo Zeong's funnel bits... and the pilot begins to laugh. Chuckling at first, then full-throated and manic, a stark contrast to the bleakness thrust upon his soul only moments before.
Perhaps the incongruity makes it all the funnier.
"Stupid." He replies to Full Frontal. "Neither of us are vessels for the wills of all Spacenoids. You and I both, Full Frontal, were toys for men who had never known struggle or strife, who had the security of political office and yet hungered for more and more power and control over the people. When I failed to suffice as their puppet... they just made a new one, using my legend, my memories, my self - as a figurehead to distract the people from their crimes and indolence."
The Nemo hefts its bazooka, aiming for the Neo Zeong's head. "It's time to cut the strings. The idea of the Red Comet dies today - in the emptiness it deserves."
He fires.
KTS: Casval rem Deikun targets Full Frontal with Nemo Bazooka Curtailing Shot! KTS: Casval rem Deikun has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Sometimes, even if you're not a child any longer, it feels good to have validation from a parent. Her Mother in this instance. She doesn't quite smile, not in this space, but...
... it feels good.
"It's nice to feel heard." Leina tells her, thinking of how she spoke to Syam not so long ago. "... Together. Just stay with me, and even here- we'll find our way home." However, as she sees Judau's plan of attack along with the 'EAT THIS, YOU DICK!' "<JUDAU! Didn't you hear her!? She said don't get reckless and what's the first thing you do!?>"
As the funnels bits chase around the Banshee, at first she uses the momentum of the Armed Armor DE at her back to pivots and dance amidst this place at the end of all things, but then she grasps it in a pivot, even as its beamfire lances towards it's I-Field. Several shots are devoured against it, even as others lance across the Norn's leg.
In this moment, she might doubt herself, because indeed these thoughts are ones she's had. How these feelings can't change the world. It was her own despair, and in her head even now, those thoughts are still there.
But hearing Captain York say her heart isn't empty, to hear that validation no matter how much her head screams at her. And Banagher saying she has the most light of anyone's, even in anger?
She might have laughed. It takes everything she has not to. It's so him to say that. She doesn't though, even if her lip twitches, instead replying to Full Frontal.
"<It doesn't need to. Sometimes all it needs to do is save one person. Full Frontal, you look at how the Axis Shock failed to change the world, and you miss how each and every day human warmth can mean the world to someone in need-!>"
Seeing how Banagher got entangled, the Norn suddenly turns, firing a shot of it's Magnum. The shot lancing across the space to try and melt the wire guided bits, or at least force them to back off from him.
"<The people in our lives? They're the truest miracles of existence! So don't look to the light of Axis-! Look to people like Angelo Sauper!>"
But despite her message, it would be wrong to say he doesn't anger her, rankles her to hear him say that Judau ran from possibility, as she glowers, "<And don't you DARE speak to my brother like that! For someone who pretends to have no heart, you certainly act like you know his!>" Riding high off the heat of the emotions in this moment, she flies in, the Armed Armor DE at the ready.
In combination, a Saber erupts, as she jams it against the I-Field, it disappearing in part with each strike, until she bashes the shield against him repeatedly as she feels out the enormous Neo-Zeong's defenses.
At the last moment, energy gathers within it's Mega Cannon, as she holds it against the Neo-Zeong and fires at point blank range, for a brutal burst of power.
"<Also 'the most light of anyone'?>" She says over the comms to Banagher even as she tries to disengage from her close quarters combat with the Neo Zeong, "<God! You dummy! The things you shout at people!>"
KTS: Leina Ashta targets Full Frontal with Armed Armor DE Relentless Blitz! KTS: Leina Ashta has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
Anita grins at Licia's cheering, and she offers a thumbs-up to the cameras.
"I'm counting on you guys, too." She says. The Ra Mari II's crew are her friends and allies too, after all - and they're always reliable. And when Rena smiles, Anita smiles back.
Full Frontal's funnels face Anita, firing fiercely at her. With a grit of her teeth Anita braces herself, raising her shield as the Svipul is hammered by the volley. With a jerk of the controls, she gets herself stabilized.
He states that Leina's empty heat can't change the world... and Anita shakes her head.
"The Captain's right. And besides... it don't take much to change the world. We all do it, with every action we take. Some changes are bigger than others... but that don't make the smaller ones lesser, either." Anita replies.
And then, a transmission from the Nadesico! Targeting solutions - and when Anita looks them over, she grins.
"Thanks. I think I can use this." She says. With such good data... she might as well put on a show.
The Svipul accelerates, gunpod and vulcans firing in tandem. It looks like she's going in to ram the Neo Zeong directly - but at the last moment she pulls up, limbs retracting as the Svipul reverts into Fighter Mode. With Fighter Mode's speed she flies through the air in acrobatic patterns, making tracking that much more difficult until, eventually, she returns to GERWALK.
All the while she hears Rena's declarations, and she can't help but look proud.
KTS: Anita Rosetta targets Full Frontal with Dazzling Acrobatics! KTS: Anita Rosetta has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Full Frontal enervates Lucine Azul, reducing her Morale significantly. KTS: Full Frontal anchors Lucine Azul, forcing her into close range. KTS: Lucine Azul fails to parry Full Frontal's Crushing Hold, taking 4680 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Full Frontal's The Ghost of Char activates, causing Deject! KTS: Full Frontal has engaged Lucine Azul! BBSYS: Post 1142, '10th Angel Sightings' has been published to IC News/Rumors by Kaworu Nagisa. BBSYS: Post 1143, '10th Angel Update' has been published to NERV by Kaworu Nagisa.
KTS: Casval rem Deikun rattles Full Frontal, making its next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Full Frontal partially guards Casval rem Deikun's Nemo Bazooka Curtailing Shot, taking 2205 damage! KTS: Full Frontal's Beam Wall L2 activates, negating 2000 base damage. KTS: Full Frontal partially guards Leina Ashta's Armed Armor DE Relentless Blitz, taking 5301 damage! KTS: Leina Ashta has engaged Full Frontal! KTS: Anita Rosetta rattles Full Frontal, making its next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Full Frontal fails to react to Anita Rosetta's Dazzling Acrobatics, taking 3600 damage! KTS: Anita Rosetta begins a Formation attack! KTS: Banagher Links has activated the Rouse Spirit Command. <Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.
Because it's what Naoko thought of doing, the Sukeban does a fistpump when Star GaoGaiGar goes mano-a-mano with the Neo Zeong. It's no Mazinger, but a legendary Super Robot in its own right. Of course she loves to see it.
What she loves to see less are mega particle cannons being directed her way. She gives it her best effort to not be where they're aiming, but fails to consider a scatter fire mode. It stands to reason... it makes it easier to hit a smaller machine, which doesn't need to be hit with as much power to take significant damage. She'd be more appreciative of the solid strategy if she wasn't the target, gritting her teeth as so much heat passes narrowly by, close enough to melt part of her armor and cause systems damage by mere proximity. She needs to reposition, quickly.
Not only that, she is being argued against. Though she wants to deny Full Frontal's words, he speaks them with such conviction. Perhaps he's seen ever further than what he's showed. It's... really kind of depressing to think about. Though it's not Full Frontal who she thinks of when she says to herself, "I knew it... being able to see the future is a curse."
Gathering her wits, she shouts her defiance in her own unique way. "I see now - you were hurt by that knowledge, and now the only way you can feel better is to make others share your pain, is that it? No wonder your Royal Guard is full of bullies, they're being led by one!"
...you could interpret that as another way of saying to look to people like Angelo Sauper, to see what he's caused people to become. But you know that's not what she meant. She's as straightforward as her fighting style.
Speaking of which, this is no time to keep by herself. She should form up with others, follow up on their actions. When she sees the green light of Psychoframes activate, she knows exactly where she needs to be. Like a moth to a flame, miracles draw her in like nothing else.
"I'm here with you, Rena, Unicorn Boy!" Will she ever actually use Banagher's name?? "If you've got a plan here, let me know if I can help!"
In the mean time, she chances to go toe-to-toe with the Neo Zeong's many hands for a short moment, just long enough to deliver a single strike with the Sukeban's own oversized right fist, glowing with a faint white light. It may be a poor match by mechanical standards, but there is undeniable power behind that punch, backed as it is by sheer force of will.
"I am Nova Stellar, Miracle Worker! If you don't believe in miracles... then allow me to demonstrate!"
<Pose Tracker> Trevor Teach has posed.
"A vessel for our desires!?" Trevor answers now equally as baffled as he is angry. The mixture ends up being some kind of particularly forceful incredulity. Somewhere between dumbstruck astonishment and-- just, so wildly confused. "Are you trying to say that we wanted all of this!? Because I know for damn sure that I want nothing to do with this! If you really were embodying our desires, then why haven't you ever returned Angelo's feelings!? Dumbass!"
Here he is. Here is Trevor Teach at the very end of all things, the promised void that supposedly comes to all. And he's... He's pushing a ship? Demanding to know why one blatantly starcrossed bubbles on his mental 'these people should probably get together for all of our sakes' wall is as dense as he is?
Truly, this is a place of miracles. For various definitions of the word.
(Some small part of him feels shame. But most of it is just utterly dumbstruck where he's not focused on the here and now.)
Funnels scythe in. Beams rake across the Isadore's armor, but deft movements guide each shot to collide with reinforced surfaces, or to scatter against the hyper-hardened surface of the Isadore's industrial anti-MS claw. But before they can keep up their assault, they-- move on.
To target the Real Red Comet. Fancy that.
"Tch. If you've embodied our desires... Then where's the wish for peace? The hope for a better future? All this emptiness-- is absolutely not the destiny that we were all fighting for!" Isadore's claw hinges open. "But more than anything else..." Thrusters hidden in the forearm ignite, sending the mobile weapon hurtling towards the crimson giant. "No matter what you were 'made for--!'"It snatches out, trying to grab hold of something, anything, to cling to and--
To give him the leverage he needs to punch the Neo Zeong in the face.
"How could anyone 'want' to be like this!? Where are your desires, Full Frontal!?"
KTS: Naoko Suzuki targets Full Frontal with Buster Knuckle! KTS: Naoko Suzuki has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Trevor Teach targets Full Frontal with Rocket Anchor! KTS: Trevor Teach has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Full Frontal fails to react to Naoko Suzuki's Buster Knuckle, taking 4575 damage! KTS: Naoko Suzuki has engaged Full Frontal! KTS: Naoko Suzuki completes the Formation attack! KTS: Trevor Teach anchors Full Frontal, forcing it into close range. KTS: Full Frontal fails to react to Trevor Teach's Rocket Anchor, taking 4620 damage! KTS: Trevor Teach has engaged Full Frontal! KTS: Judau Ashta has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. <Pose Tracker> Judau Ashta has posed.
Did he see it, too? The battle at Axis.
The blinding light of the High Mega Cannon burns uselessly
through a fleet of Federation ships on a battlefield it
cannot ever change.
"... Yeah," Judau exhales, in those brief moments before impact.
"S'why we can't give up here." He looks over his shoulder at Roux, offering her a small smile.
"S'why I refuse to lose."
He's not leaving again.
Not this time.
Not that Full Frontal has any intention of making it easy. The machine is large, but surprisingly deft; the benefits of its bizarre make-up, doubtless. The end result sees Judau's reckless assault fluently exposed and redirected by a single massive hand; the push of that crimson extremity sees the smaller Double Zeta turned aside. "Crap--!" shouts Judau, expanding Newtype senses warning him of the encroaching hostile intent that Full Frontal is so expertly multi-tasking.
The Double Zeta lifts, gripping a shoulder-mounted saber. Within the cockpit, Judau grimaces as the Second Coming of Char dredges up an old scar that remains ever-fresh on Judau's mind.
He doesn't have time to answer. The Sinanju's bristling saber swings.
And don't you DARE speak to my brother like that!
And it meets a crackling edge of red-white beam particles as they forge themselves into the long, whip-like blade of the ZZ's hyper beam saber, rebounding off the edge of the Sinanju's and leading to a more superficial wound that scars a scorching black path across the white, blue and red front of the Double Zeta. Judau feels the brief pulse of heat as beam light flashes across his panoramic.
<"Yeah,"> Judau begins, slowly, <"... maybe we ran. I'm not about to beg forgiveness about it either. It was somethin' we needed. But it proved to me... no matter where you are, you gotta fight for the world you want.">
The Sinanju's saber held against the edge of the Double Zeta's, the bulky Gundam seeks to -push- it back, just as its right arm swings up. The double barrels of its forearm-mounted beam rifle begin to crackle with humming life.
<"But you -- you've ran all the way to the edge of the time just to try to get out of what's happening here and now. All this means everything's futile? There's no way in hell I'd accept that! I can barely understand what your big red death machine's supposed to do, let alone what all this means!">
And the beam rifle unloads, firing at maximum blast directly into the connective joints that hold the Sinanju to the Neo-Zeong -- hoping to, if nothing else, weaken them a little bit more.
<"All I know is I'm gonna keep workin' for a better today and tomorrow for the people I love! If you think that's small, then Leina's right -- maybe YOU'RE the one just missin' the damn point!">
A second passes.
<"An' I'm gonna be reckless if I damn well wanna be reckless, dammit!">
Did he just try to squeeze that counterpoint to Leina in between an utterly fraught conflict just to try avoid any counterpoint--
KTS: Judau Ashta targets Full Frontal with Double Beam Rifle - Maximum Beam! KTS: Judau Ashta has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Full Frontal fails to react to Judau Ashta's Double Beam Rifle - Maximum Beam, taking 5900 damage! <Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
Roux returns that small smile.
An empty heat can't change the world.
The end of old grudges informing the new.
The universe itself inheriting their grudge.
Char Aznable - the man who created that mask. (Roux's eyes flick to the side with sudden shock, thinking for a moment: He's here? But if he's going to do anything for them right now, Roux decides--)
The Double Zeta rises again as Roux watches the panoptical space around them. She can hear others defy Full Frontal, but something sticks in her own throat. Judau is flying and he's moving and he's clashing --
Roux is beyond wincing at the near occasion of such intensity, even if it temporarily overwhelms some of the pixels in the CCDs that are sending data into the cockpit. Roux takes a deep breath and lets it out at what Judau says, feeling her cheeks warm.
"And why does he get to decide," Roux says, and it feels like sticking something into her throat -
Except then it's like a cough -
"Why him and not the AEUG? Why is pain, and war, and horror the one that comes first? Is it because they're more real than happiness? Is emptiness more real than presence?" Roux philosophizes, though it's distant because she's adjusting something subtle and staring at the console feedback.
"It's like a missing tooth," Roux says. "Like when you're a kid, or if something happens later... you get used to it, but that doesn't mean something isn't missing. But..."
Roux sees the power levels dip and twists her hand around in an override. Tilting her head back, she tells Judau, "I'm gonna overcharge the condensers! I'll pay for the maintenance!" And sure enough SOMETHING is making a louder hum than usual.
"Don't worry about him, too much," Roux asides, head turning to look towards where Leina's deployed. "I'll keep an eye out~." For a moment she wants to ask - did you see Axis, too? - but...
Let that be the last time I hide my heart, Roux resolves, as she shifts her hand round to balance out the overcharge burden throughout the ZZ's systems!
POT: Milly Ashford is now set observer.
KTS: Roux Louka has activated the Resupply Spirit Command targeting Judau Ashta KTS: Roux Louka targets Full Frontal with Pass! KTS: Roux Louka has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Full Frontal fails to react to Roux Louka's Pass, taking 0 damage! <Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
The StealthGao II's sensors track that Sinanju Beam Saber whirl towards GaoGaiGar. And Full Frontal speaks. "You're so shallow, did you know that?" Comes not the Evoluder's voice, from StealthGao II. "He's so much more than just the 'Evoluder' and he's certainly done a lot more for humanity than the likes of you!" She can't stab Full Frontal back, but she sure can sass him.
The sight of the two Unicorn Gundam approaching the Neo Zeong is unmistakable. But Alouette can't help but instinctively flinch at the sight of the Banshee, before... no way! "Leina? Is that really you in there?" She realizes how much deliberation it must've took to climb in that cockpit again - she doesn't condescend her.
"Well.. maybe that's not what's important. I heard your answer, and I heard Banagher and Audrey's, too. All that's left to do is to fight to make sure that answer matters, right? And I know you can do it!" The G-Stone turns will into power, and so does the Psychoframe. And in a space like this, everything's connected... can even her emotions help them? It sounds way too abstract for her, but it's certainly worth a try. Regardless, the Unicorns' Psychoframes will receive a small burst in courage as a gift.
KTS: Alouette Pommier targets Leina Ashta and Banagher Links with Awe. KTS: Alouette Pommier has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Alouette Pommier inspires awe, increasing Banagher Links's Morale! KTS: Alouette Pommier inspires awe, increasing Leina Ashta's Morale! <Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
< "... I suppose that is a relief that one thing remains constant..." > Lucine says, with a small smudge of grim humor, at Ruri's information. Inez's cryptic words following soon after inject a heavy dose of sobriety back in, but with it, stands Lucine's own mettle when dancing on the edge of danger. < ".... Perhaps that's why Full Frontal's words always felt hollow to me... The man is locked in an illusion..." >
Flash to several seconds later. Judau may or may not pay for his hubris, but Lucine surely is.
The reinforced chassis holds, the Newtype Martian inside gritting her teeth as the Dianthus's walls around the cockpit voice their complain. ".... Hold on just a little longer-- now!" At the first sign of that grip being loosened by another's attack, the Dianthus slips out like a fish from an unlucky fisherman's hands, though it's clearly suffered for it.
And yet, its pilot has not learned her lesson.
< "Banagher and Trevor are right. Do you even think of Angelo, Full Frontal? You were and likely still are a sun to him... You inspired him to allow in your footsteps... perhaps, if he finds his way, he will not repeat the same mistakes as you. " >
The horns curling back from the Dianthus's head conduct dark magenta energy between them, and then shoot a beam ahead, giving the Dianthus space and time (no pun intended) to build some distance between her and the Neo Zeong.
< ".... A man like you could never represent the dead souls of planets he never even acknowledges, let alone all of space!" >
KTS: Lucine Azul targets Full Frontal with Lunate Crown v.2 Bolt! KTS: Lucine Azul has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
"I'll be right here with you, through all of it." Sayla says- only to wince a little as Leina admonishes her brother.
It's deserved, though.
<You're wrong.>" Sayla says, even though she knows Leina can defend herself- even though Banagher and Eight leap to her defense. "<The only change you can think of to make is change for the worse, Full Frontal. To enforce your coldness on the entire world.>"
Leina continues to rebut Frontal, and Sayla can't help but be proud of her daughter. "<The warmth we provide each other, that's how we change the universe! Our little actions, our small steps still count. We may not live to see it ourselves, but we make this world better for those who come after. All you want to do is visit the pain of others on this world, as though that will equalize things! Pain that isn't yours to lay claim to!>"
'The idea of the Red Comet dies today - in the emptiness it deserves.'
Is her brother's legacy something so easy to put an end to? Maybe not. But it's time it ended. "<Judau... You can only be reckless as long as you make sure you come back, got it?>"" As she says this, she starts sending targeting data. Sayla perhaps knows the futility of reining in a big brother, but she can at least help him fight.
The targeting data is sent to Banagher, as well as coming up on Leina's screens. "<Stay focused, Banagher! Wait for your opening!>"
"He really picks the best times, doesn't he?" She says quietly to Leina.
KTS: Sayla Mass targets Judau Ashta, Banagher Links, and Leina Ashta with Coordinate. KTS: Sayla Mass has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Sayla Mass coordinates maneuvers, raising Banagher Links's Piloting! KTS: Sayla Mass coordinates maneuvers, raising Leina Ashta's Piloting! KTS: Sayla Mass coordinates maneuvers, raising Judau Ashta's Piloting! Guy Shishioh has connected.
KTS: Full Frontal's Beam Wall L2 activates, negating 2000 base damage. KTS: Full Frontal fails to react to Lucine Azul's Lunate Crown v.2 Bolt, taking 1350 damage! KTS: Lucine Azul begins a Formation attack! KTS: Guy Shishioh partially guards Full Frontal's Sinanju Sabers, taking 3999 damage! KTS: Full Frontal has engaged Guy Shishioh! <Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
"This again," Guy grimaces. Th darkness here...he does hate it. Maybe it's in his bones, in his nature. He can feel that doom upon him. Perhaps that's part of Full Frontal's...whatever this is. Maybe Alouette can tell - something about what Frontal said there actually hit on Guy, and for a moment he waivered. Full Frontal is not the first man to call Guy Shishioh an evil seed.
GaoGaiGar's fists lash up in a boxer's block, taking Full Frontal's sabers across the forearms, before Guy replies by pulling back his fist. Alouette's words rally him. "That's right. I'm...I'm more than this body! Whatever God gave it to me, whatever they wanted me to do with it, it sure wasn't to end humanity's future! Even if they do one day go dark, the stars are STILL CALLING NOW!"
And with a roar, he swings back, matching Full Frontal in a full-on slug match and lashing out to pound straight into him with a vicious right from GaoGaiGar!
KTS: Guy Shishioh targets Full Frontal with Broken Fist! KTS: Guy Shishioh has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Full Frontal fails to react to Guy Shishioh's Broken Fist, taking 2400 damage! KTS: Guy Shishioh has engaged Full Frontal! <Pose Tracker> Full Frontal has posed.
"A detail that affects nothing is, itself, nothing," Full Frontal replies to Eight's transmission. "Random irregularities are not enough to change the path of such things." An I-field can slow or gently divert missile guidance, but not outright repel it -- this is a better approach to attacking Frontal's machine, leaving it pockmarked from explosions. Frontal responds by initializing the Psyco Shard system. A golden ring glows around the Neo Zeong, and Frontal begins, in this place, to simply actualize his thoughts. Light pulses, and missiles detonate in bays because he wills them to.
Rena tells him of the history of the Gaia Gear. "An unfortunate misapprehension. So long as you pilot that machine, surely you must acknowledge the truth: that so much has been poured into the idea of 'the Red Comet' that there will always be one. Another century could pass and that man's legacy would be as necessary as it is now." 'If God did not exist, we would need to invent him,' so the saying goes. The saber slash bites into Frontal's machine, and another burst of golden light rips through space; Rena's machine is subject to near-infinite pressure.
Frontal cannot crush the Gaia Gear, though, as he's distracted by Banagher and his beam magnum; it pierces through the I-Field, and Frontal turns in his cockpit. "Even were there seven billion hearts that cried out like yours... such things would not matter. It isn't loneliness that makes this world inhospitable to such a heart." The Sinanju takes two pop-out bazookas in hand, and fires both of them for Banagher. Frontal won't, and can't, hesitate -- even as Casval's bazooka shot finds its mark.
His double, his opposite number, chastises him. It meets with a derisive half-laugh. "Naive," he says. "There will always be puppets. An era like this will be decided by the wills of humans -- and human wills desire symbols to capitulate to. Even beings of light are termed 'Vessels' -- for they are always subject to such a will." He locks on, charging the Zeong's mega particle cannons and spraying a wide blast everywhere Char's Nemo may be.
Again, he's begged to turn his gaze to Angelo -- this time by Leina Ashta. He frowns. "... He devotes himself to an illusion," he answers Leina. There's less confidence in that answer than many of those he's given, though, and the cannon shot strikes true. All he can do is meet it with shots from his funnels -- still mounted in the hands, for now. Anita interrupts his barrage -- and he waits for a critical moment in her dancing acrobatics to fire back with the inbuilt mega particle cannons. "Even the smallest elements of people's lives bend toward tragedy. Every meeting is an inevitable parting, and a human who changes will never be understood after undergoing such catastrophic shifts."
"Even miracles ultimately hasten the end of all things, if treated so casually...!" he affirms, as much to Nova's thoughts of miracles as to Anita's. That fist, and the will behind it, though -- those are very real, and connect with the Sinanju at the core of the Neo Zeong. A moment later, so too does the Isadore's fist.
"Syam Vist understood... there are as many 'sole desires' as there are beings. To choose to indulge one individual desire... rejects the possibility of all the others." The Sinanju's beam saber comes up toward the Isadore -- but it's empowered by the force of that Psycho Shard system, as it drives for the machine's cockpit with sufficient force to bowl over Naoko's machine as well.
Judau's shot strikes true -- weakening the hold between the Sinanju and the Neo Zeong. It's not enough to dislodge it, but Full Frontal has to close up the armor again, temporarily making readying the twin bazookas or the sabers more difficult. "Perhaps that non-comprehension, too, makes you human," Frontal muses to Judau. "Tell me, then, Judau Ashta -- what does your 'better tomorrow' look like? Who bears the era's strain, and who reaps its kindnesses?" A brief pulse of golden energy rips through space, and Judau's machine begins to creak under invisible strain.
As Alouette takes him to task for chiding the Evoluder so, Frontal... lets out another of those brief 'Hnf's. "So you're 3G's special Coordinator. Surely you, of all people, would understand the duties that come with being chosen to fulfill the needs of another."
Sayla... "Do you earnestly believe that the world has changed in that way? Over a century of miracles and we remain here, settling our differences with the greatest mobile weapons yet made by human hands. Even as humanity grows, it retains the same shape."
Lucine's beam crown shot splashes against the I-field, and Frontal shakes his head. "The people of Mars are still children of Earth. Humanity has moved beyond the asteroid belt, yet nothing has changed..." Lucine's much smaller machine ends up on the receiving end of funnel fire this time, bits swirling around it.
Full Frontal's machine rejects the possibility stored in the G-Stone with possibiity of its own -- Guy's fist strikes true, but Full Frontal battles back with a barrage of shoulder mega particle cannon fire. "And just where are those stars calling you, Evoluder? Do you see some possibility in them that isn't found in Earth's sun? ... Show me, then."
KTS: [Spirit Defense] Trevor Teach's Pioneer Spirit activates, and the spirit endures. KTS: Full Frontal has activated the Daunt Spirit Command targeting Trevor Teach KTS: [Spirit Defense] Guy Shishioh's Fighting! activates, and the spirit is adjusted. KTS: Full Frontal has activated the Daunt Spirit Command targeting Guy Shishioh KTS: Full Frontal targets Eight York with Psyco-Shard Generator - Ordained Punishment! KTS: Full Frontal targets Rena Lancaster with Psyco-Shard Generator - Everything Into The Dark! KTS: Full Frontal targets Banagher Links with Twin Bazookas! KTS: Full Frontal targets Casval rem Deikun with Large Mega Particle Shoulder Cannon - Focus Fire! KTS: Full Frontal targets Leina Ashta with Campaign of Fire! KTS: Full Frontal targets Anita Rosetta with Large Mega Particle Shoulder Cannon - Scatter! KTS: Full Frontal targets Naoko Suzuki with Psyco-Shard Generator - Everything Into The Dark! KTS: Full Frontal targets Trevor Teach with Psyco-Shard Generator - Emptying The Vessel! KTS: Full Frontal targets Judau Ashta with Psyco-Shard Generator - Ordained Punishment! KTS: Full Frontal targets Lucine Azul with Funnel Bits! KTS: Full Frontal targets Guy Shishioh with Large Mega Particle Shoulder Cannon - Scatter! KTS: Full Frontal has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Full Frontal enervates Leina Ashta, reducing her Morale significantly. KTS: Leina Ashta fails to Evade Full Frontal's Campaign of Fire, taking 6840 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Full Frontal's The Ghost of Char activates, causing Deject! KTS: Banagher Links retreats from the attack! KTS: Banagher Links fails to evade Full Frontal's Twin Bazookas, taking 5040 damage! KTS: Anita Rosetta has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Anita Rosetta blocks Full Frontal's Large Mega Particle Shoulder Cannon - Scatter, taking 3525 damage! KTS: Full Frontal begins a Formation attack! KTS: Rena Lancaster has activated the Alert Spirit Command. KTS: Rena Lancaster retreats from the attack! KTS: Rena Lancaster's Will Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage. KTS: Full Frontal rattles Rena Lancaster, making her next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Rena Lancaster fails to evade Full Frontal's Psyco-Shard Generator - Everything Into The Dark, taking 4160 damage! KTS: Eight York successfully avoids Full Frontal's Psyco-Shard Generator - Ordained Punishment KTS: Naoko Suzuki has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Naoko Suzuki retreats from the attack! KTS: [Spirit Defense] Naoko Suzuki's Guarded Mind activates, and her spirit endures. KTS: Full Frontal enervates Naoko Suzuki, reducing her Morale significantly. KTS: Full Frontal rattles Naoko Suzuki, making her next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Naoko Suzuki fails to evade Full Frontal's Psyco-Shard Generator - Everything Into The Dark, taking 6270 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Full Frontal's The Ghost of Char activates, causing Deject! KTS: Judau Ashta has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Guy Shishioh's EN Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage. KTS: Guy Shishioh blocks Full Frontal's Large Mega Particle Shoulder Cannon - Scatter, taking 2520 damage! KTS: Full Frontal begins a Formation attack! KTS: Casval rem Deikun successfully evades Full Frontal's Large Mega Particle Shoulder Cannon - Focus Fire KTS: Judau Ashta fails to evade Full Frontal's Psyco-Shard Generator - Ordained Punishment, taking 6800 damage! KTS: Full Frontal enervates Trevor Teach, reducing his Morale significantly. KTS: Trevor Teach fails to Evade Full Frontal's Psyco-Shard Generator - Emptying The Vessel, taking 7800 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Full Frontal's The Ghost of Char activates, causing Deject! KTS: Trevor Teach has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Roux Louka has activated the Resupply Spirit Command targeting Judau Ashta KTS: Roux Louka has activated the Resupply Spirit Command targeting Judau Ashta KTS: Lucine Azul has activated the Alert Spirit Command. KTS: Lucine Azul has activated the Alert Spirit Command. KTS: Lucine Azul has activated the Alert Spirit Command. <Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"When people witness the end," Inez Fressange says, "they empty out. When people witness the beginning, they empty out." It's an open line; she's speaking, of course, to Full Frontal. "Which were you, I wonder...? Harbinger of the death of all things, or their birth..?"
Minato Haruka, helmswoman, frowns as she glances back to Inez -- but she has her hands full keeping the Nadesico out of trouble, in this battlefield.
Ruri's window appears with Leina and Sayla, now. "Excuse me," she says, and falls silent for a few beats, as she reaches out to the Banshee instead -- to offer it cautionary advice on avoiding Full Frontal's assault. After those beats of silence, she remembers to say out loud: "Be careful."
Ruri's window appears to Nova, as well, when Ruri transmits the advice to the Sukeban -- though to her, she says, "I think we need a miracle now."
And another window opens for Trevor, as Ruri says: "I don't think what we want actually matters to him. But I don't want you to die here, Trevor-san." Neither does she want Isadore to die, though her advice to the machine is less -- English verbal.
KTS: Ruri Hoshino targets Leina Ashta, Naoko Suzuki, and Trevor Teach with Caution. KTS: Ruri Hoshino has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Ruri Hoshino suggests caution, raising Trevor Teach's Intuition! KTS: Ruri Hoshino suggests caution, raising Leina Ashta's Intuition! KTS: Lucine Azul fails to retreat because of Anchor KTS: Full Frontal enervates Lucine Azul, reducing her Morale significantly. KTS: Lucine Azul fails to evade Full Frontal's Funnel Bits, taking 5160 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Full Frontal's The Ghost of Char activates, causing Deject! <Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"Roger that, Banagher!" Rena calls back. "I'll be careful of them. You do the same!"
Then, Rena sits up a little straighter in the cockpit of her Mobile Suit -- and a brief smile crosses her face. "Thanks, Ruri..." She murmurs it. There's also a brief pulse of awareness, from the Gaia Gear Alpha; an acknowledgement, however faint.
Her beam saber bites into crimson armor, but there's so much of it -- and then golden light surges across her. It roils over her machine, threatening to crush it. Across the panoramic display, warnings cascade -- flashing yellow, a couple flashing red -- and then she breaks free.
"Banagher... thanks!" she says, as she draws backward, thrusters rocketing the Gaia Gear Alpha away. Then, Rena nods. "I know, Nova. We're counting on you." A beat. "A-Also his name is Banagher."
She says that last part a little hurriedly.
She sees Guy's strike -- and she hesitates, at how Full Frontal deflects it. Her lips tense, for a moment, before she answers him. "Legacies can be changed! They can evolve! Even if this was connected to the Red Comet... the Gaia Gear Alpha can grow beyond it," she says. "We all can! And--"
She looks at the Banshee, for a moment, before she looks at the Svipul. "The people around us... the people we find... that's a miracle, but it's also the legacy we make! It's the real thing we leave behind, more than some name!"
The Gaia Gear Alpha swings out, arcing in front of the Ra Mari II, and then Rena calls out: "Funnels! Go!"
From the Gaia Gear's back, a dozen funnels launch. White cylinders explode out, every which way. They form a broad network all around the Neo Zeong. Then, they fire -- and lances of mega particle energy fire. Some slash through space, as the funnels move and drag their beams after.
KTS: Rena Lancaster has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Rena Lancaster has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Rena Lancaster targets Full Frontal with All-Range Attack! KTS: Rena Lancaster has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Ruri Hoshino suggests caution, raising Naoko Suzuki's Intuition! KTS: Full Frontal's Beam Wall L2 activates, negating 2000 base damage. KTS: Full Frontal fails to react to Rena Lancaster's All-Range Attack, taking 4230 damage! KTS: Rena Lancaster completes the Formation attack! KTS: Lucine Azul has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. <Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Ruri's analysis is a relief to Rezza, who was particularly concerned about this possibility. They say, "Thank you, Miss Hoshino. We will still be careful." They're at a console themselves now, directing a part of the battle seamlessly under Eight's command. Their eyes focus, sharply, on the data they're receiving. "Captain," they say. "Incoming."
There's a lot of concern when Char Aznable laughs... but Licia looks down at her console, at what he says. "You'd damn well better make sure it does," Licia Chovan, formerly of Neo Zeon, radios over to Casval rem Deikun. "We're counting on you, whether we like it or not."
"We're not the kind of Spacenoid they ever wanted to fight for," Eight says next to Trevor over the radio. She doesn't touch the shipping business. "We never have been."
A gauge is filling on Itsuki Kazama's console. "Cannon energy 60% and rising, Captain! Initiating release sequence!"
The Ra Mari II begins to shift. Great gouts of exhaust spill off in gaseous clouds from the openings in the ship's hull, as the forward section of the ship begins to split into halves. They slide up the bulk of the ship, revealing a blue-green glow as the Converging Spinal Beam Cannon charges. Soon, the colossal weapon will be fully revealed, and ready to fire. Not yet. But soon.
Light begins to gather at the barrel--
Eight York has no explanation for why the Psycho Shard system does not hit as hard as it should; missiles explode in their bays, but not enough to destroy the ship. Not enough to destroy its offensive. ...but maybe, just maybe--the woman who sacrificed herself for what she believed in protects her home even now. It could be Licia's piloting, but...
Eight is sure, somehow, that they aren't alone, the crew. That Permanence watches over them still.
"Yes!" Eight says. "Pursuing one desire locks out the others--but that's the beauty of life! We don't pursue some nebulous agglomeration of ideas, but a specific path, a specific future! Each of those details is far from nothing--each of those details affects the next, shows the tapestry of our lives for what it is!"
"...And there's more than just humanity's ingenuity at work, here. Humanity has found common cause with more than ourselves. Those stars Guy speaks of will be part of our future, too!"
"Captain!" Itsuki says, "The system is charged! Beam Cannon readiness at one hundred percent!"
"Then ready--fire at these coordinates!"
Itsuki Kazama lifts the glass that prevents the firing of the ship's main cannon. Lights and gauges all over her console sing. And at the barrel of the gigantic ship-cannon, light begins to gather, and gather, and gather more and more brilliantly.
"FIRE!"
The entire ship ROCKS with the recoil of such a weapon, and the Ra Mari II's Converging Spinal Beam Cannon fires a gigantic teal burst of planetary bombartment cannon, the blast big enough to blot out all sight, carefully aimed to avoid their allies.
KTS: Eight York has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Eight York has activated the Enable Spirit Command. KTS: Eight York targets Full Frontal with Converging Spinal Beam Cannon - Full Power! KTS: Eight York has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.
Banagher winces as Char begins to laugh, and laugh, and laugh. Despite having come to terms with who, exactly, Casval is... That's not a great sign. Banagher uneasily opens his radio to Char.
<"Keep it together! I know this has gotta be -- really awful and weird for you, but we have to deal with that later!"> Banagher feels the recoil of the Beam Magnum through the Unicorn's entire frame, ejecting the spent shell. <"Please hold on!">
As Banagher encourages Char, the Nemo fires on the Neo Zeong. Okay. Looks like he's going to be fine, for now at least. Trevor's Isadore rockets past the Unicorn to punch the monstrous machine in the face, and Banagher grins.
<"Stay focused, Trevor. I know how you feel, but don't let it get you killed. We've gotta get home! You promised me--"> Banagher pauses, taking a breath. <"You'd be my brother. I'm counting on you to live up to that back home!">
Alouette's voice comes through the Unicorn's radio, and he glances back at the machine holding her and Guy. <"Alouette, you came all this way? Thank you -- please, be careful. We won't let you down, I promise! Everyone's light... It's going to make a difference!">
With a fae noise, the Unicorn gracefully arcs away from the Neo Zeong, her Beam Magnum held close to her chest. Sayla transmits the targeting data, and the Unicorn focuses in on a weakness in the Monster's neck armor.
<"Leina!"> Banagher calls. The Unicorn takes position at the Banshee's side. Green radiance shines out from the White Unicorn, bathing the Black Lion in her grace and love. Gold and green intertwine, forming a bond as powerful as the one their pilots share.
Leina knows Banagher's thoughts before he expresses them. He doesn't need to say anything. Letting the Unicorn's hand brush against the Banshee's, he projects a single concept.
Together.
In a blaze of miraculous brilliance, the Unicorn charges in again. She soars through the battlefield, dodging around beam fire from her allies and wires shot out from the Neo Zeong. As she closes in, she draws her final two beam sabers, and the mounted two sabers ignite on her arms.
Knowing the Banshee will provide an opening for him, Banagher charges straight ahead, unafraid of the Neo Zeong's might. <"Everyone is capable of creating this light. Of creating Miracles of their own!">
In the moment, his thoughts go back to a conversation with Eight in his room on the Ra Mari II. Little Miracles happen every day -- they just have to realize it. Even if humanity can never truly unite, they will reach a point where they can understand each other!
<"I believe in what's ahead of us! This world will get better, because we'll make it better!">
A burst of green light surrounds the Unicorn, flowing down into her sabers. Empowered with Banagher's pure belief in Possibility, they seem to grow more fierce. With a yell, he strikes at the Neo Zeong, trying to cut away the Neo Zeong and reach into the Sinanju.
KTS: Banagher Links has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Banagher Links has activated the Alert Spirit Command. KTS: Banagher Links targets Full Frontal with Sternengesang! KTS: Banagher Links has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Full Frontal fails to react to Eight York's Converging Spinal Beam Cannon - Full Power, taking 6300 damage! KTS: Eight York roots her unit, coming to a standstill and leaving her vulnerable. KTS: Full Frontal's Beam Wall L2 activates, negating 2000 base damage. KTS: Full Frontal fails to react to Banagher Links's Sternengesang, taking 7280 damage! KTS: Banagher Links has engaged Full Frontal! KTS: Banagher Links roots his unit, coming to a standstill and leaving him vulnerable. KTS: Casval rem Deikun has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Casval rem Deikun has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Casval rem Deikun has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Trevor Teach has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: Trevor Teach has activated the Valor Spirit Command. <Pose Tracker> Casval rem Deikun has posed.
"Perhaps so," Char acknowledges, as Full Frontal proclaims that there will always be puppets. "But then the answer never changes - cut them free of the puppeteers, and make those who would make slaves of the innocent face justice. Tell me - do you not resent the man who made you this, or did he erase even the slightest bit of self-reflection from his perfect vessel?"
The shoulder megaparticle cannons of the Neo Zeong track the Nemo, firing in patterns that no ordinary pilot could possibly dodge - that would certainly blast their mobile suit into smoldering fragments.
He might still ache from the procedure that extracted the burning dawnlight from his body... but Char Aznable is still no ordinary pilot.
The Nemo slips away from the blazing light, dodging between the beams, unslinging the Hyaku-Shiki beam rifle and beginning to funnel energy to the weapon. Char hears a voice from the Ra Mari II... He doesn't recognise the speaker, hearing her so briefly over radio... but the sentiment in her voice - the mark of someone hurt by his own deeds yet choosing to trust in him...
He still doesn't understand it, but he can accept it here, at the end of all things. "I too thought this whole emptiness an inexorable truth. Perhaps that's how you glimpsed it, through the Sazabi's psycoframe... but to choose this fate, rather than to have the Cosmic Egg force its energy upon you..."
"It's the mark of someone who is hollow. Who had already decided nothing mattered."
The Nemo's head tracks towards the Banshee for a moment, before looking back at the Neo Zeong as Char pilots it to find the perfect angle.
"So: I reject this axiom, Full Frontal. I have been through hell itself, seen all it has to offer, had death denied to me three times now... and I reject you."
If this modified Nemo has a flaw, it's that the dual power plant is still not quite enough for full output... so he's forced to steady his aim and be ready.
KTS: Casval rem Deikun targets Full Frontal with Pass! KTS: Casval rem Deikun has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Full Frontal fails to react to Casval rem Deikun's Pass, taking 0 damage! KTS: Casval rem Deikun has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Casval rem Deikun has activated the Focus Spirit Command. <Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
She knows how difficult it's been for Sayla, after everything with her brother, with her, with revealing her place in the world as Artesia Som Deikun, but all the same,t, "I know you will be. I know... just..." A small pause, a breath, she voices a singular selfish request, "... Just, no matter what. No matter what happens, how difficult things get. Don't shut me out, please." Despite the seriousness of it, a small chuckle bubbles out, a flush hidden by the red tint of her helmet, "He really does."
Alouette may get the answer to whether it's her in there because of the sibling bickering over the comms, "<Seriously Judau!? We're fighting a creepy mobile armor at the end of the time and the first thing you do is think 'Let's abandon all strategy!' You showed more sense going along with Mondo's plan to steal hubcaps off police cars at that Shangri-La precinct!>"
There is a bit of a pause, as what Alouette says registers, "<Uh. Yeah. S'me. Hey Alouette.>" However, there is one thing she can't know, and that's that there was not much deliberation at all. From the moment she stepped out of the cockpit, she knew she'd be back. "<I->" For a moment she's overwhelmed, at the idea that Alouette would have so much faith in her after everything, but then... she answers, voice pregnant with emotion, "<... right.>" Despite herself, she smiles, "<We'll make sure of that, together.>"
Full Frontal tells her that Angelo devotes himself to an illusion, and she understands that, but the shots of the wire guided bits stream across the Norn, sending her into a quick retreat as the Norn's glowing Psychoframe is scored again and again, "NNgh!" She bites down trying to maneuver past the shots, before- "<AND WHOSE FAULT IS THAT? You crafted that illusion! But it didn't matter if it was, in the end- his roses, his companionship, his devotion! They brought you warmth, meaning! Like it or not - he touched your life - just like you touched his!>"
The Norn rights itself, even amidst the bit Salvo, "<Because that is what PEOPLE DO! Don't you DARE try to deny it - just like all of us, you're a PERSON!>"
A window opens with Ruri offering a simple 'Excuse me,' and 'Be Careful.' And Leina just blink, blinks, and then there's a smile, as she loses the heat in her voice, "We will. Thank you for looking out for us." It is a steadying influence, at a time when Banagher is calling for her.
"Right!"
In that moment, despite the embarrassment from before, in this moment she accepts everything he has to give, in that simple expression of devotion he offers her. In the love and acceptance, in the desire for the place he has in his life back. The Banshee's hand touches the Unicorn's lightly.
I'm with you.
And then it glows brighter, awash with that yellow glow, intermingled in that green light. The Armed Armor DE is replaced upon it's back, as it suddenly rockets away, and as Banagher strikes, the Banshee suddenly flies by the Neo-Zeong back, slashing at it. When the Unicorn slashes again, suddenly it's coming up, slashing along the length of the Neo-Zeong.
Every time it switches angles, as both Mounted Sabers come out, slashing across it's length in a vicious X, again and again, not letting up, trying not to give the man within a reprieve, with each powerful slash. Until it comes up alongside the Unicorn, bathed in it's silhouette, she raises the Beam Magnum. A spherical shot begins to charge as its' barrel.
This is who I am Full Frontal.
As the Unicorn moves again in it's fury, she presses the trigger, a shot from the Magnum lancing out, crackling as she tries to tear through the force of nature that is the Neo-Zeong.
And I know without a doubt, that this isn't who you are.
"<Even if the way we touch each other's lives is transient, it still matters! So stop hiding behind the idea you're some empty vessel! All of this! ALL OF THIS! It's just you DENYING REALITY!>"
KTS: Leina Ashta has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Leina Ashta has activated the Alert Spirit Command. KTS: Leina Ashta targets Full Frontal with Re: I Am! KTS: Leina Ashta has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Full Frontal fails to react to Leina Ashta's Re: I Am, taking 9360 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Leina Ashta's Mass Effect activates, causing Control Bonus! KTS: Leina Ashta has engaged Full Frontal! <Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
"I know that already. It's your conclusion I'm gonna have to disagree with." Anita replies, as Full Frontal makes his insistence. Every meeting is an inevitable parting - even the smallest elements of people's lives bend toward tragedy. "I know what it's like to lose everything. ...But as long as you've still got your life, you can always build yourself back up, even from nothing. People are always changing. ...Hell, I changed a lot. But I was still able to find people who understood me - who maybe got me more because of it. Maybe we'll part eventually, too - but until then, I'm going to enjoy the time I've got to the fullest!"
Eight's defiance invigorates her - and so does Rena's. Their words resonate with her.
Anita grips the Svipul's controls tightly, and her visor slides down over her eyes as she engages the Visual Link System. The Gungnir SC emerges over her left shoulder and the Extensional Arrestor launches toward the Neo Zeong, to latch onto whatever it can. And she accelerates, vulcans, gunpod, and beam cannon blazing as she rockets through space. Tethered to her opponent she circles around it and releases it, letting herself go flying.
But she isn't done yet. The Svipul rotates itself in mid-air, taking aim as she drifts backward. The missiles emerge from the Svipul's wings and launch outward from her. She takes aim, firing all her weapons at a single point - and as she does the missiles redirect themselves, launching themselves at that point to punctuate her barrage.
KTS: Anita Rosetta has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Anita Rosetta has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Anita Rosetta has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Anita Rosetta targets Full Frontal with Wings of the Valkyrie Outstretched! KTS: Anita Rosetta has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
It's just like what Betterman Lamia called Guy, Alouette realizes, as that shiver of darkness courses through GaoGaiGar. But with her help, Guy rejects Full Frontal and looks to the calling stars. Alouette doesn't know what lies beyond those stars... but maybe that's the point. That the future is so much more uncertain than what Full Frontal or anyone is implying.
Alouette's expression twists into a sharp, melancholy frown as Full Frontal points her out as 3G's 'special Coordinator'. "Surely I can understand? Of course I do... and it just makes me more sad to see you go down this path." She answers him not as the Coordinator born to fulfill BioNet's purposes, but the Brave who chose a different path. "An empty vessel can be filled, become something new... but not like this!"
"I didn't forget about your fight, Banagher." Alouette smiles as the young man in the Unicorn's words reach her. "And as long as people like Full Frontal try to dictate what becomes of humanity, it's my fight too! So I'll believe in that light of ours... and the possibility you speak of."
It might sound strange to place faith in someone who hurt you... but Alouette knows without a doubt that hers is well placed in Leina. That she's surrounded by people who've invested the same in her. "The world is going to change so much... I hope it's for the better." She adds, quietly, and that at least, is a serious sentiment. "But I'm certain one thing never will. You're bickering now of all times?"
But her smile fades as everyone begins to unleash all the power they have on Full Frontal. This might be it... she can't imagine Guy will try to use Hell and Heaven in this situation. They don't have the Hyper Tools, either... "The Ring Generators are all at full power. Got a plan, Guy?"
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
It's hard to refute Frontal, as he states that humanity keeps the same shape. That the world hasn't changed. And yet...
"<I do.>" She says, flatly. "<But it's not miracles that changed the world. It's people- people who cared. We've seen it, even in the Universal Century. In the OAC, on the SDF-1. You say Humanity's shape hasn't changed, and maybe it's true... But shape and substance aren't the same thing!>" She looks, briefly to Leina. "<Miracles, too, are caused by people. We can't rely on the event- but we can believe in the people who made them- and we keep trying to change the world that those miracles saved!>"
Ruri's channel makes itself clear in the Banshee, and Sayla blinks- but it's not them she's talking to, is it. Nonetheless... "Thank you for your assistance, Miss Hoshino," She says, with a nod.
That singular selfish request reaches her ears, and Sayla nods to Leina. "I won't. Never again." She places her hand on Leina's shoulder as she does so. There's only so much she can do from this seat- shaken around as the Banshee is scored.
But it's Leina who manages to make an impact on Frontal's demeanor. "...Keep trying. Keep trying until it's over." She says, quietly. Leina might be the only one able to reach Frontal now.
She looks at the sensors again. "<Banagher, Casval, Judau! On my mark!>" She hopes Leina can cut through that shield of nihilism, if only for Leina's sake. "<I'm counting on all of you! Put an end to this!>"
KTS: Sayla Mass targets Judau Ashta, Casval rem Deikun, and Banagher Links with All-Out. KTS: Sayla Mass has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Sayla Mass orders an all-out attack, raising Banagher Links's Skill! KTS: Sayla Mass has activated the Rouse Spirit Command targeting Judau Ashta KTS: Alouette Pommier has activated the Prospect Spirit Command targeting Eight York KTS: Sayla Mass orders an all-out attack, raising Casval rem Deikun's Skill! KTS: Alouette Pommier has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Guy Shishioh KTS: Alouette Pommier targets Full Frontal with Pass! KTS: Alouette Pommier has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Full Frontal fails to react to Anita Rosetta's Wings of the Valkyrie Outstretched, taking 4875 damage! KTS: Full Frontal fails to react to Alouette Pommier's Pass, taking 0 damage! Escudo Shard teleports in. <Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
Guy jukes back, this time, seeing the shoulder cannons open up. He thrusts his arm out, trusting in Alouette to get the Wall Ring up in time for: "PROTECT WAAAAAAAAAAAAALL!!"
The scattering lasers are swallowed by the bent space of the Protect Wall, twisting and swirling inside it. Guy grimaces. "No, Alouette," he says, a little belated. "It's not what the Sol Masters foresaw..." Char says it first, but Guy repeats it: "it's what the Ruin Apostles do. Even the will of the Oath Surpassing The End fears this darkness. Fears that we'll bring it, with our lust for violence and power. Not even the universe knows what happens after this...if anything ever can again."
"And...the Evoluder line can contribute to this doom....yeah, I guess I can see that." Something heavy hangs in his voice as he says it. "Though how you know about my genes is a great question I now have, Full Frontal!"
He doesn't return fire with the captured megbapartical beams. He grips his fists tight, light gathering in each. One red, swirling; one gold, radiant. "Want to see if this works?" Guy says, and sends Alouette a signal for the Ring activations, despite the fact he's just going to start punching now.
"I don't know what they hold, Full Frontal. This universe contains more mysteries than we can imagine! Ultramen, and Hyper Agents, and Zentradi! The sky is full of people who can still greet each other! I'll show it to you...the courage it takes to walk the stars!!"
Green light casts over GaoGaiGar, the darkness having so little else to reflect teh G-Stone's glow. He surges back in at the Neo Zeong, screaming, "I'LL SHOW YOU!" as he drives a fist toward Neo Zeong, and then swings around wtih the other. A brutal combination of punches, boosted by all the power GaoGaiGar and Alouette can muster.
"OUR OATH SWORN THROUGH COURAGE!!"
Escudo Shard teleports out.
KTS: Guy Shishioh targets Full Frontal with Two Powers Into One! KTS: Guy Shishioh has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Sayla Mass orders an all-out attack, raising Judau Ashta's Skill! <Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.
"I know that!" Naoko responds to Rena's confirmation of Banagher's actual name. Which is exactly what she said last time. This may be no time for running gags, but it looks like one is happening anyway. And what is also happening is punching the Neo Zeong, which she receives unexpected assistance in from Trevor. "Nice teamwork, mister Pirate Delinquent!" Is this going to be another running gag??
This was clearly too much levity to be tolerated. Naoko's eyes go wide when her instruments alert her to another Resonance spike, like she detected earlier when Full Frontal employed the Psycho Shards to send them on a journey through time. This time, the effect is rather more direct, crashing into the Isadore first before the Isadore crashes into the Sukeban.
Even with the other machine having caught the bigger brunt of it, the impact is a solid one, leaving Naoko's ears ringing from the physical force as well as the mental force it was backed by. The Arm Slave is knocked back a significant distance before its pilot is able to regain control, feeling much the worse for wear. Though her initial response to this development is a chuckle, it's a miserable one, in open admission of her current poor condition.
"Heh... heh heh heh... 'hasten the end of all things'... ...as if anything I do could possibly cause something like that."
As much as she likes to go on about her miracles, she's not unaware that a lot of it is bluster. Things she says just to psyche herself up. All she has to do is look around to see so many capable of greater miracles than she is. People who are already as amazing as she wishes she could be. People like--
"--Ruri?" She hadn't noticed that transmission immediately. Hopefully that wasn't overheard... getting down on herself should be a private thing, she's supposed to put on a brave face for others, and...!
I think we need a miracle now.
She can only stare blankly for a moment, before closing her eyes and smiling. Now the chuckle is more genuine. "Heh. Right you are."
Ultimately, this is all she needs. If there's even one person who'll depend on her, believe in her miracles, then she has no choice but to respond. The Sukeban extends a hand, and the previously sent out Remote Saucers return to its side, spinning in place. The words, then, come naturally.
"When the ideal outcome seems impossible, and even compromise unlikely... When all that's left is to give up, and submit to the whims of fate... To have the conviction to reject that and make it happen anyway, that is the soul of a Miracle Worker! SAUCERS! HEAVEN'S FURY!"
On command, the twin discs speed towards the Neo Zeong once more, the speed and force of their approach increased manifold from before. Glowing faintly, they pass the large armor again and again, possessed of that much more destructive force.
"All you are is one man who stopped believing in Possibility! If you would deny our truth, then I deny yours! The future exists, Full Frontal!"
KTS: Naoko Suzuki targets Full Frontal with Heaven's Fury! KTS: Naoko Suzuki has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Full Frontal fails to react to Guy Shishioh's Two Powers Into One, taking 4800 damage! KTS: Guy Shishioh has engaged Full Frontal! KTS: Guy Shishioh begins a Formation attack! KTS: Full Frontal partially guards Naoko Suzuki's Heaven's Fury, taking 4410 damage! KTS: Naoko Suzuki has engaged Full Frontal! KTS: Naoko Suzuki completes the Formation attack! <Pose Tracker> Trevor Teach has posed.
"'Rejecting everyone else's Possibilities?' So, what," Trevor asks, knuckles grinding against the Sinanju's face in dramatic punctuation, "How's that any different from what you're doing right this minute!? This-- this oblivion you believe waits for us all, utterly crushing even the hope for a 'miracle', how is this not rejecting those possibilities!? No-- this is even worse! You're not even doing this because you want to!"
Or is he?
Is this the fate that Full Frontal seeks? Is this his true 'desire?' Oblivion. Rest. Final and complete, for himself, for the universe, for all of the 'wills' that he is forced to embody--
A blaze of heat and light plunges Trevor out of his reverie. "HRAAAAAGH!" He screams as the Isadore's cockpit superheats, the tip of the Sinanju's beam saber driving right into the machine's heart-- only stopped at the last when the mobile weapon plunges its own beam cannon directly into the saber's path. E-caps spark-- and ignite in a catastrophic explosion, tearing Isadore's arm off at the elbow. It tumbles backwards through space, armor scorched, fingers cradling at its half-melted heart. Trevor is--
Exposed. The cockpit is melted through. He hangs from his controls, a hair's breadth from finality, the void yawning wide around him. Monitors are fried, what few remain roil with raging blizzards of white noise. "Gh... agh-- I--" His heart races, pounding in his ears. Fear, the absolute terror of death rages through his consciousness. Isadore seems to shrink back in reply, but--
Audio. A voice cuts through the static. "...I don't want... to die here either," he admits, his hands falling from his levers. He falls back against his seat, a hand pressed to his heart as he stares into the deep, pitiless void.
So close. Too close. To die here is terrifying. The prospect is terrifying.
And yet--
"I don't-- want anyone to die here. But-- Controls are fried. H-heh." Trevor closes his eyes. Even if he wanted to, that thrust destroyed his ability to fight. Exposed like this, even a stray shot could kill him. Without the means to maneuver...
No.
That's just an excuse.
There's still a means available to him.
Trevor sucks in a breath. He's on auxillary air now, but it'll do. One more shot, max. "So I guess-- we do it the hard way. Izzy."
The Isadore's visor flashes. It does not possess a psychoframe-- it can't shine with the light of possibility. But it does possess something else. Where there was once a single resonance radiating from the mauled machine, there are now two. A second consciousness expands, wings overlapping with the first. Isadore curls in on itself as if a coiling spring, and then--
Motion.
"You're just making excuses," Trevor roars as the void races by in front of him. He doesn't need to see to know. Isadore soars towards his target, claw hinged open. It tears forward, skirting around the inferno left in the Ra Mari's destructive wake. Superheated gases twist around the machine's arm as it plunges its claw into the chaotic quantum wake-- as powerful capacitors engage, coating the weapon in a halo of coruscating energies. Ions surge, gathering around the Isadore's outstretched arm until it and the claw mounted to it shine like a beacon, accumulating into a nimbus of stellar protomatter.
"'It denies others' possibilities?' So what!? How do you open new doors if you're afraid to shut other ones? And there's no saying for sure that anything is even being denied!" It charges, driving that arm, already boiling away amidst the tremendous halo of star-stuff, directly at the Neo Zeong's midsection. "Who's to say pursuing your desire won't help others to achieve theirs!? Why stop at just 'your own desire' when you can be greedier than that!?"
"Maybe not everything that is possible can happen all at once, but--" The electric field disengages at the last, falling away first around the Isadore's knuckles-- and providing a weakness in the containment field that allows the accumulated plasma a means to vent catastrophically at the point of impact...! "That's why we hold on so tightly to the things that are precious! Someone who is so afraid of hurting others, of hurting himself, to even have a wish of his own, has no place deciding anyone else's future!"
KTS: Trevor Teach uses hyper reloader KTS: Trevor Teach targets Full Frontal with Keelhaul! KTS: Trevor Teach has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Full Frontal partially guards Trevor Teach's Keelhaul, taking 8520 damage! KTS: Trevor Teach has engaged Full Frontal! <Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
Funnel fire plagues Lucine's view; her own senses detect each direction of fire, but her reflexes can't quite slip from the Neo Zeong's grasp.
The Dianthus's dashboard glows caution red from the readouts.
Still, it's Full Frontal's words that are somehow even worse. < "..... So that's how it is... your true colors come out." > A trembling bitterness enters Lucine's voice, like an unwanted weed in the garden. Whether Full Frontal meant it or not, and whether Lucine had expected that reaction or not, it targetted and squarely hit that small, cold specifically insecure part of her soul--
'Too alien for earth, to mired to a planet to be a spacenoid.'
The pull of oblivion can insert itself in a smallest cracks of a person's psyche, but it can't hold, not when the light cast from so many stars around Lucine is so, so very bright.
Everyone's spirit, and zeal, Leina and Banagher's combined connection, all of it strike against the Neo Zeong, and the breeze of Possibility soothes the young pilot's soul.
< "You've decided you're the arbiter of which voices of the dead get to be heard... and you think all of it points towards oblivion." > Lucine casts the Dianthus up above the fray. < "Then let me be a small voice for what happened on Mars.... and why I think you are very mistaken..." >
( Optional BGM: https://youtu.be/kzeo-4Zwfqo )
< "I felt only a fraction of the deaths that happened that day, when the Jovian Lizards came.... Their despair... their anger, their sadness... even resignation.... _They wanted to live._ Even in the face of complete annihilation and no future, they wanted keep going... Even in the city, with all the refugees coming in... the people still live. There's still cowboys on Mars. Call it a sign of the corruption, or a sign that there's people looking for a future...." >
The Dianthus grips the silvery glaive as it moves into position.
< "Coming to Earth and the surrounding colonies.... I made friends with people here... tasted a little of what life was like for people here. I found love, and many paths for my future... ones those people I felt didn't get to have... and, I felt death here too. And I felt the same thing... people wanted to live. Just as much. No less." >
....
< "The only one deserving oblivion.... is yourself, Full Frontal." >
Down comes the Dianthus in a furious spiral of dark violet red and black, the sharp metal of silver driving home with all the weight Lucine can force behind it.
<Pose Tracker> Judau Ashta has posed.
Judau...
You can only be reckless as long as you make sure you come back, got it?
<"Heh,"> is Judau's response, the grin behind it easily felt even if not seen.
<"'Course I'm gonna. No matter where we end up -- we're all makin' it back.">
Targetting data is received, ultimately enabling the Double Zeta to unleash that point-blank onslaught upon the Sinanju and the massive monstrosity that it empowers, and empowers it in turn. Roux works her mechanic magic on the Double Zeta's condensers, and even as the hum of it intensifies, Judau's seagreen gaze just narrows with a certain, unflappable confidence.
"Charge it to the max! The Double Zeta can take it!"
It may be almost a decade old now, but Judau Ashta knows how strong the ZZ is. If nothing else...
It's his partner. To the bitter end.
And what is this, if not the most bitter of ends? It's a fact that Full Frontal makes clearer than crystal, clearer than the nothing that encompasses all their burning light, as he turns his focus upon Judau, Roux and the ZZ once more. <"It sure as hell does!"> he shouts in the face of the glowing bloom of the Psycho Shards, a mass of pulsating, molten gold that feels so -wrong- and yet so natural, so familiar. His defiance does not flag. <"To hell with Newtype or Oldtype, Natural or Coordinator! One's not anymore one of us than the other! Part of bein' human -- means sometimes not knowin' a damn thing but pushin' on anyway!">
It's the sentiment that matters there. Past the words. Are there some that understand this nothing better than Judau ever could? Certainly. It doesn't make them less human. They have their strength. Judau has his.
The fact that they are willing to keep pushing? That's what matters.
<"Bein' human is -- guhf--!">
The Psycho Shards pulse. Judau Ashta reacts, as swift as he can. It's not swift enough, however, to outpace the pulse of gold that seethes through the scant emptiness that separates the ZZ and the Neo Zeong. Golden force grips upon the Double Zeta, pours into it like liquid metal pouring into a mould. Every nook and cranny of it, and the pilots within, feel the touch of the Neo Zeon here at the end of time where all things exist to exemplify Full Frontal's nihilistic view. Red wars with gold, losing ground as systems shut down, as motors and servos and joints all stop and are unwound, as piece by piece the Double Zeta fails. Armor plates peel off as if they had simply stopped trying to stay connected to the ZZ; the particles of the Hyper Beam Saber sputter and die as the Minovsky Reactor that acts as the furnace of the Double Zeta's heart gutters out. Arms and legs simple seem to fall apart, until...
... all that is left is the ZZ, a colorless lump of metal, floating through the nothing of space.
Within its cockpit, Judau Ashta leans forward; his breath is a shallow, sucking thing, like someone panicked, wounded, despite the fact that he has not been physically touched. The panoramic view of lights dancing amid void has been shut down, as everything that surrounds him and Roux becomes lukewarm metal. There's nothing. Not even a vacuum to crush them in. Maybe this is all there is. Maybe...
So: I reject this axiom, Full Frontal. I have been through hell itself, seen all it has to offer, had death denied to me three times now... and I reject you.
Judau blinks, once. His gloved hands tighten on the prominent 'ZZ'-labeled lever to his left.
But it's not miracles that changed the world. It's people- people who cared.
He rears himself up, slumping only slightly against the back of his chair.
Even if the way we touch each other's lives is transient, it still matters!
I believe in what's ahead of us! This world will get better, because we'll make it better!
He grits his teeth.
Tell me, then, Judau Ashta -- what does your 'better tomorrow' look like?
And he manages a smile amid the darkness.
"Roux..." he looks towards her. That smile becomes a grin. The reckless kind.
The kind that comes with a single, offered hand.
"... let's show 'em."
The Biosensor ignites again.
And the guttered reactor of the ZZ burns with life once more as Judau fills it with every sentiment of everyone gathered here that he can seize hold of. Rose-red light loops from the prone, colorless form of the ZZ, bathing it in vibrancy once more as it seizes upon its falling joints and draws them back towards itself.
Eyes alight, red and pink. And the cannon at the Double Zeta's forehead ignites with power.
Banagher, Casval, Judau! On my mark!
<"You don't gotta tell me twice!!">
The Double Zeta rises upwards, above the Sinanju. The High Mega Cannon bristles with blinding light, smearing with countless colors representing the sheer defiance of everyone still fighting at the end of everything.
What is Judau Ashta's tomorrow?
He's never been the best with words. And so --
f w o o o m
He chooses to show Full Frontal instead.
The light from the High Mega Cannon is blinding within the nothingness. It screams past the Nemo, past the Unicorns, past everyone that engages directly with the Neo Zeong -- past and harmlessly THROUGH them, as a column of will is channeled and shot directly into that massive, red machine fueled by power from beyond time.
Within it, Judau seeks to give Leina and Banagher - ALL of them - the opening they need to reach through.
Within it, Judau seeks to give Full Frontal the answer to his question.
What does his tomorrow look like?
It's listening raptly to the lesson Leina excitedly tells him, even if he listens so raptly he falls asleep.
It's sharing ice cream with Puru Two.
It's helping Sayla keep up around the villa to earn his keep only to inevitably get lost.
It's showing Banagher the best way to quickly acquire and dismantle a mobile suit before anyone notices.
It's sharing rice and beans with Roux only to get into a vicious fork fight when he tries to eat more than his fair share.
It's all of them, everyone at the villa, even Casval, just sitting down and sharing dinner, talking about nothing.
This is his tomorrow. And the tomorrow after that. And after. It's not much different than his life now -- but it's what is important. It's the little, everyday miracle, that he has all these things. Does he know what he sees for tomorrow, for everyone?
There are glimpses there. A kernal of a thought inside Judau Ashta that has been nurturing in the back of his thoughts since he left for Jupiter. Vague visions of a day, some day, where humans aren't bound by the blue cradle of their birth, where they spread far past this solar system into the greater galaxy... what wonders could they make, when the gravity of the place that gave them life no longer holds them back?
He wants to see it.
Perhaps he doesn't know the answer right now. The solid mechanics of how to get there. But he does know this:
Who bears the era's strain, and who reaps its kindnesses?
All of us.
KTS: Lucine Azul has activated the Dash Spirit Command and has disengaged. KTS: Judau Ashta has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: Judau Ashta has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Judau Ashta targets Full Frontal with Silent Voice! KTS: Judau Ashta has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Lucine Azul targets Full Frontal with CL0-V3 Glaive Dragoon! KTS: Lucine Azul has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Full Frontal partially guards Lucine Azul's CL0-V3 Glaive Dragoon, taking 3769 damage! KTS: Lucine Azul has engaged Full Frontal! KTS: Lucine Azul roots her unit, coming to a standstill and leaving her vulnerable. KTS: Full Frontal fails to react to Judau Ashta's Silent Voice, taking 11440 damage! KTS: Judau Ashta roots his unit, coming to a standstill and leaving him vulnerable. <Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
"Even Oath Over Omega fears this..." Alouette repeats, as Guy corrects her. "It makes sense. If our technology leads us down this road, of course the universe would be afraid."
"But I don't want to be afraid of that possibility forever. We're only at the beginning... so I won't accept an end like that!" She agrees, as Guy points to all the mysteries and allies they've found in the stars. She wordlessly nods, as Guy suggests testing something new.
Two Powers Into One... enhanced by the Phantom and Wall Rings. GaoGaiGar surges green as Guy unleashes a devastating combination of punches at the Neo Zeong.
"-OUR OATH SWORN THROUGH COURAGE!" Alouette shouts in sync with Guy, as she diverts as much energy into those punches as she can!
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
The lights are shining.
Will it be enough?
Roux, in fact, doesn't worry about that; she's too busy manipulating some quirk of the ZZ to squeeze out more power output here in the desperate clash. She can feel her heart pounding. The world seems to be expanding around them.
Weird, Roux thinks. Usually I don't feel this for... this. Was it the residual effects of that weird... induction? She can't tell.
It's almost nice, Roux thinks, before she looks towards the front and sees the looming shape of Full Frontal's terrible machine. Others cry out, some familiar (Leina, Banagher, Rena, Eight) others less (Guy, Alouette,) -- but one is strangest, somehow, of all: Hearing the words from Casval Deikun - better known by other names - is stranger yet.
"Got it," Roux answers Judau, and she clicks SOMETHING up to two. Her head turns then as Judau speaks with fire that's familiar. Fire she knew had never gone out -- but which has not, she thinks, even dimmed. If anything it grew in the banking. But then --
The Double Zeta begins to shake. Roux shrieks for a moment, though she isn't thrown clear of her seat; she ends up sprawling forwards, one hand against the wall of the panoramic cockpit. Dark now.
She looks over her shoulder. The faint emergency light gleams in her eyes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GikVI9oUSo
Roux reaches out with her other hand, and she takes Judau. She takes a deep breath-- (Come on, Double Zeta,) Roux thinks, eyes closing.
The Biosensor lights up. Microfusion peristalsis wavers and then compresses, injected helium-3 from a world with no surface pumped into the reaction center as the power flow begins to flow. Light rises, and Roux, somehow, laughs for a moment.
The Double Zeta rises, relative to the enemy.
Roux can tell with an electric surge that makes her hand tighten downwards and her fingers lace with Judau's for a moment, disengaging only if he needs it for the controls. It's all flowing upwards. Towards the brow of the Gundam: towards the High Mega Cannon.
"I wish," Roux says as her eyes brim over again, "you could have loved him the way he loved you. Maybe --"
The light begins.
"-- none of this..."
Her head bows forwards for a moment, the tears that had wicked to her eyelashes breaking off in micro-gravity, tiny diamonds.
"... Would have had to happen."
<Pose Tracker> Full Frontal has posed.
Inez Fressange opens a line to Full Frontal to wonder. "The end and the beginning are the same. All things were content in the emptiness before their birth, and return to the same state." It's a non-answer... or is it?
"Those specific desires will never align. The world will always be under the yoke of some force or another -- and those forces will always contradict. That, too, is the truth of a world of infinite personal justice." The Ra Mari II's beam cannon fires on the Sinanju -- and the Psycho Shard defends it, meeting force with force. To defend in such a way strains the system -- but also allows Full Frontal to turn that same force forward, firing straight through the cannon assembly with sheer will.
"Do you think your grandfather felt differently?" Full Frontal asks, as Banagher insists he'll do better. "To attempt to strangle the Federation at its inception was the position of 'making it better' once, too. In the end, that system consumed him, even as he at once worked with and against it. That machine of yours is no different." Banagher carves at Full Frontal's massive armor, and while staying in range of the Psycho Shard and the I-Field attenuates his ability to deal real damage, he ends up carving through plate after plate anyway. "In the end, such words are empty platitudes. Even you seek to place a yoke upon the era and call it 'freedom!'" he declares.
Rena's all-range attack circles around the Neo Zeong. "Such a legacy is hardly a blessing. Parents leave them for their children, not realizing that their inability to communicate the meaning behind that legacy will turn it into a curse," he says, even as shots rock his machine. Both Rena and Banagher feel a sudden pressure -- before one by one, their weapons begin to detonate.
Full Frontal senses the intent of the original -- and immediately moves to foreclose possibility. There is a great pulse of golden light that reaches out to the Nemo, as Frontal answers him. "The feelings of a vessel remain irrelevant. Even the decor of Palau was decided for me; if I did resent it, would that feeling amount to anything? And if I loved it, would I come to hate it when it, too, was torn away from me..." Everything seems to fold in on the Nemo, a pulse of miraculous orange giving way to green, then finally to concentric rings of unimaginable colors and un-colors. "In the end, my role is simply to perform the one you abdicated. You've become a shade the world no longer needs!"
Leina continues to try to drag Full Frontal from the infinite to the personal, bit by bit. He offers that close quarters Beam Magnum shot zero resistance. "... One cannot be both human and vessel. Whatever path you've chosen... is a possibility foreclosed to me by the miracle of my existence." It's the closest he can come to acknowledging her -- and while Full Frontal's walls are quite high...
... the pain of that sentence climbs just a little higher still, as Frontal turns it into a weapon, lashing out at Leina with the full force of the Psyco Shard generator, trying to simply unmake her machine.
It's easier than acknowledging her further.
The Svipul's barrage stops him from doubling down -- and the Neo Zeong whirls to face it. "Not everyone can live like that. What of another being like you, not given the same chance to connect? All human hearts need possibility to cling to -- and to be bestowed such by your friends is a rare possibility!" Now desperate enough to risk losing the connection with the Neo Zeong, Frontal opens the armor again, firing on Anita with the bazookas.
"Those changes did little," Frontal chides Sayla. "The OAC's tragedy now plays out with the Federation. Five blocs, with divergent desires, making war upon each other to feed machines they don't understand. The Vist Foundation simply plays Cerberus Garde to the world." He's cut off by Guy's barrage of punches, though, and meets the possibility of the G-Stone with his own. "Once, humanity called a human who could choose his own morals 'choujin.' That designation has since passed to Zentradi, to Evoluders, to Ultramen, to Hyper Agents. Perhaps someday it will be mobile weapons, instead, which bear that name. Your 'mysteries' are all unified by the same throughline -- being the largest possibility a human can conceptualize!" Blazing orange and green intermix in a rainbow that threatens to shear Guy's machine apart simply for the crime of existing. "Words like 'Choujin,' 'Ultraman,' 'Newtype,' 'Coordinator' -- these are not humanity's courage... but its arrogance."
Trevor's words give Frontal pause for a moment -- but when he finishes, even as he vents that plasma into his machine with that fist... that's when Full Frontal smiles. "... That fear lies in every human heart. Have you never felt the mortification of stepping on a cat's tail? Never cringed at bumping into another person on the train?" A high-pitched noise begins to issue from the funnel bits, as the Sinanju turns its wrists inward toward that machine. "Even humans who choose to love still carry the fear of harming another in the pursuit of their own desires." He pushes out with the cannons themselves a moment later, continuing, "That fear lies in your heart as well, or you would never have stopped fighting for Neo Zeon."
Nova decides that she simply rejects his truth just as intensely as he denies hers. "So be it. Then this is a battle for whose truth will guide humanity..." The Psyco-Shards cannot stop Naoko's saucers -- but as they return to her mobile weapon, they can attempt to destroy them in a brilliant explosive pulse.
"Then give it to me," Frontal answers Lucine, as he takes the Neo Zeong into evasive maneuvers -- it strikes down into one of the propellant tanks, detonating it. "But as you do, remember that you have become one more human deciding which possibilities live or die. What separates the justice you choose from that of the drones of the Jovian Lizards?" He uses the shards this time to pen the Dianthus in rather than to attack directly -- as he sends the Funnel Bits out for one last wire-guided pass.
They're incinerated by Judau's High-Mega Cannon, though, before they can fully commit. He senses Roux's sorrow above all else -- and a moment later, as time and space in this place bend just a little bit around each other in a strange moebius, Judau's determination to share small tomorrows. The Neo Zeong is starting to show frame, now --
-- so all he can do is speak to the joy in Judau's heart, and tell him:
"Even if you live to see those wonders, you'll still be chained to that mobile suit."
The psyco-shards start to strain -- but he can still try to show Judau the futility of such small possibilities, here at the end of all things. The High-Mega Cannon seems to be his target -- continuing its maximum load... and then, should Frontal's will be enough, detonating it inside the head.
KTS: Full Frontal has activated the Daunt Spirit Command targeting Leina Ashta KTS: [Spirit Defense] Anita Rosetta's Easygoing activates, and the spirit endures. KTS: Full Frontal has activated the Daunt Spirit Command targeting Anita Rosetta KTS: Full Frontal targets Eight York with Psyco-Shard Generator - Everything Into The Dark! KTS: Full Frontal targets Casval rem Deikun with Psyco-Shard Generator - To The End Of Time! KTS: Full_Frontal Changes attack to Rena Lancaster, Banagher Links, and Naoko Suzuki with Psyco-Shard Generator - Everything Into The Dark. KTS: Full Frontal targets Leina Ashta with Psyco-Shard Generator - Emptying The Vessel! KTS: Full Frontal targets Anita Rosetta with Twin Bazookas! KTS: Full Frontal targets Guy Shishioh with Psyco-Shard Generator - Ordained Punishment! KTS: Full Frontal targets Trevor Teach with Campaign of Fire! KTS: Full Frontal targets Lucine Azul with Funnel Bits - En Passant! KTS: Full Frontal targets Judau Ashta with Psyco-Shard Generator - To The End Of Time! KTS: Full Frontal has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Trevor Teach has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Trevor Teach has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Trevor Teach successfully evades Full Frontal's Campaign of Fire KTS: Anita Rosetta has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Anita Rosetta successfully Intercepts Full Frontal's Twin Bazookas KTS: Full Frontal completes the Formation attack! KTS: [Spirit Defense] Eight York's This Path Was Our Choice activates, and her spirit endures. KTS: Full Frontal enervates Eight York, reducing her Morale significantly. KTS: Full Frontal rattles Eight York, making her next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Eight York blocks Full Frontal's Psyco-Shard Generator - Everything Into The Dark, taking 6840 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Full Frontal's The Ghost of Char activates, causing Deject! KTS: Rena Lancaster has activated the Alert Spirit Command. KTS: Leina Ashta has activated the Trust Spirit Command. KTS: Rena Lancaster has activated the Alert Spirit Command. KTS: Rena Lancaster's Will Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage. KTS: Full Frontal rattles Rena Lancaster, making her next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Rena Lancaster fails to evade Full Frontal's Psyco-Shard Generator - Everything Into The Dark, taking 4680 damage! KTS: Leina Ashta has activated the Trust Spirit Command. KTS: Leina Ashta blocks Full Frontal's Psyco-Shard Generator - Emptying The Vessel, taking 3900 damage! KTS: Banagher Links has activated the Alert Spirit Command. KTS: Banagher Links's Will Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage. KTS: Full Frontal rattles Banagher Links, making his next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Banagher Links blocks Full Frontal's Psyco-Shard Generator - Everything Into The Dark, taking 1560 damage! KTS: Full Frontal enervates Casval rem Deikun, reducing his Morale significantly. KTS: Full Frontal anchors Casval rem Deikun, forcing him into close range. KTS: Casval rem Deikun parries Full Frontal's Psyco-Shard Generator - To The End Of Time, taking 2190 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Full Frontal's The Ghost of Char activates, causing Deject! KTS: Full Frontal has engaged Casval rem Deikun! KTS: Naoko Suzuki has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Naoko Suzuki has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Full Frontal enervates Naoko Suzuki, reducing her Morale significantly. KTS: Full Frontal rattles Naoko Suzuki, making her next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Naoko Suzuki fails to evade Full Frontal's Psyco-Shard Generator - Everything Into The Dark, taking 6840 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Full Frontal's The Ghost of Char activates, causing Deject! KTS: Naoko Suzuki has been defeated! KTS: Guy Shishioh has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Guy Shishioh has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Guy Shishioh has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Guy Shishioh partially guards Full Frontal's Psyco-Shard Generator - Ordained Punishment, taking 3375 damage! KTS: Full Frontal completes the Formation attack! KTS: Full Frontal anchors Judau Ashta, forcing him into close range. KTS: Judau Ashta partially guards Full Frontal's Psyco-Shard Generator - To The End Of Time, taking 6935 damage! KTS: Judau Ashta has been defeated! KTS: Full Frontal has engaged Judau Ashta! Sterling Locke teleports in. POT: Sterling Locke is now set observer.
KTS: Alouette Pommier targets Guy Shishioh with Prospect! KTS: Alouette Pommier has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Eight York has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Rena Lancaster KTS: Eight York has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Anita Rosetta KTS: You have not deployed a robot. (see +deploy) Target is not in combat. <Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Eight knows full well--the fact that Anita knows what it is to lose is part of what has forged their friendship. They both do. And yet, Anita can be this person, this strong person so sure of herself, despite that.
Maybe Eight's defiance invigorates Anita, but Anita's in turn amps Eight up. She is sure of their path--the path that they have chosen.
And GGG is a source of courage, too. That faith in Leina that Alouette has; that faith in Banagher. It joins with Eight's own faith in both of them, and Eight is sure, in the moment, of what she must do. Because as Alouette says, they're only at the beginning.
But Full Frontal's words and deeds are not easy to refute. Eight cannot reply immediately because Eight is shaken as the entire ship shakes while Full Frontal turns the great beam of the ship against it, firing through the cannon straight to it. Explosions rock the front of the ship; thankfully no people are in that sector of the ship, but the great cannon of the Ra Mari II will not be firing again anytime soon, or without repairs.
"I don't believe that!" Eight calls back. "That people can't come together--we came together with the Zentradi! We can reconcile Naturals and Coordinators, Oldtypes and Newtypes, too!"
Consoles have burst on the bridge; fuses fail, energy cascading through the bridge even as the ship's cannon begins to close again. But still they endure.
"Captain!" Licia calls. "I still have control!"
"Captain!" Itsuki calls. "The Converging Spinal Beam Cannon is offline."
"Captain!" Tempo calls. "Our allies are holding firm!"
They all call; Eight answers. "...Then we keep going. We'll show him... the power of our choices!"
BGM INTERRUPT: You Will Know Our Names
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE6Hwocvy6M
"Remaining missiles in starboard and port launchers!" Eight directs. "Target the Neo Zeong's core! Open them a path!"
"RIGHT!"
The bridge crew of the Ra Mari II executues as one, their eyes on their consoles, working together seamlessly. The missiles start, and Eight stares into the viewscreen. "Fire!"
Missiles pour off of the ship, one after another, rushing through the endless space at the End of Time, straight for the Neo Zeong's center.
"Rena, Annie..." Eight smiles. "I know you two can bring it home for us. And we'll make those choices together, once again!"
"Nova," Eight says, "You did great out there. Come on back to us. We'll finish showing him our 'truth' together!"
NORMAL BGM RESUME
"Everyone!" Eight calls. "Do your best!"
KTS: Eight York has activated the Dash Spirit Command and has gained proficiency bonus. KTS: Eight York targets Full Frontal with High-Power Missile Armament System - Full Volley! KTS: Eight York has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Full Frontal fails to evade Eight York's High-Power Missile Armament System - Full Volley, taking 5220 damage! KTS: Full Frontal has been defeated! <Pose Tracker> Casval rem Deikun has posed.
Reality seems to cascade again around the Nemo, the empty void turning amber then green then indescribable hues beyond human sight or understanding, rings upon rings of energy assaulting the mobile suit, time itself aglow as Full Frontal threatens to cast his originator into the depths of history.
Char Aznable will not go quietly.
"It is a role I never wanted, that I took upon myself to protect somebody I care about," he retorts, drawing a beam saber and slashing at each enclosing ring, will and precision cutting apart the psycowaves before they can rot away the Nemo's armour completely. "You cannot understand that. I am alive, Full Frontal - I may not deserve it, but I cannot deny it. If anyone here is little more than a shade, it's you."
He lifts up the Hyaku-Shiki rifle, now fully charged.
"It's time for you to fade away."
He dumps both reactors into the beam rifle, and holds the trigger down, an unrelenting cascade of golden beamfire burning down towards the Neo Zeong - a target so big that hitting it should be trivially easy.
This is the power of burning away all your masks in the name of those you love, perhaps.
KTS: Casval rem Deikun targets Full Frontal with BR-M-87 Beam Rifle Continuous Stream! KTS: Casval rem Deikun has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"W-Wait, that doesn't make it better!"
Rena's complaint to Naoko may miss the point, though.
The massive blast of the Ra Mari II is presaged across the Gaia Gear Alpha's panoramic display, lines of digital light showing the firing pattern. Rena sucks a breath in, as she directs her Mobile Suit away from it; then, she looks out, towards the Svipul.
She smiles a little, to see them both fighting so hard. Then, her eyes shift -- back towards the Neo Zeong.
Around her, the funnels begin to explode; they erupt into fireballs, one by one, exploding outward. Rena's mind reels under the pressure of Full Frontal, and she lifts up her beam rifle -- but it also explodes apart, into so much half-molten shrapnel.
She hears what he says. To all of them; to Leina. Rena shakes her head once. "No--"
The tremendous power of the Neo Zeong slams into them. Answering blow for blow; she sees the psyco-shards shine that sickly, and the Double Zeta in the distance, after firing. Rena sucks a breath in, then the Gaia Gear Alpha's thrusters fire.
She swings back the right fist, while the left hand draws a beam saber.
"Leina!" she calls out to her friend. "You can do this! Just... just a little more. And we'll laugh about this, some day! That's the future we wanted, right!?"
She hits the thrusters harder, as the beam saber starts to glow. Rena's mind does the calculations: the amount of force projected by an exploding beam saber freshly off the recharge rack, the direction she's flying in, and the Gaia Gear Alpha turns. The beam saber explodes in the left hand, a brilliant gold-white flash of light--
--and it rockets the Gaia Gear Alpha forward, as it spins around. She can't stop this monstrosity alone. But she isn't alone. She just has to give a chance for the others to.
Green motes of light explode across the intact right hand of the Gaia Gear, trailing after it like a comet. "You're wrong!" Rena calls out to Full Frontal. "About what people leave behind... because their children can understand--and about Annie! Yeah, she has people who reached out to her..."
She SLAMS the fist down, and her cockpit -- her Mobile Suit -- and the dead, cold void around them light up with a brilliant starburst of her will, as the Gaia Gear's fist slams for the Sinanju's chest.
"...because reaching out is a two person job! YOU HAVE TO TAKE THEIR HAND!"
KTS: Rena Lancaster targets Full Frontal with Gaia Flash! KTS: Rena Lancaster has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Full Frontal fails to react to Casval rem Deikun's BR-M-87 Beam Rifle Continuous Stream, taking 5100 damage! KTS: Full Frontal has been defeated! KTS: Casval rem Deikun roots his unit, coming to a standstill and leaving him vulnerable. KTS: Full Frontal fails to react to Rena Lancaster's Gaia Flash, taking 5750 damage! KTS: Full Frontal has been defeated! KTS: Rena Lancaster has engaged Full Frontal! KTS: Lucine Azul fails to rush. KTS: [Mirage] Lucine Azul's Glimmer Engine activates, and she slips into a mirage. KTS: Lucine Azul partially guards Full Frontal's Funnel Bits - En Passant, taking 0 damage! <Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Inez hears this, and she smiles, and the light shines past her eyes.
"Ah, yes... hahahaha, you're such a nostalgic young man. Knowing without knowing... this pointed intuition... Lucine," her smile does not shift an inch, "show him Mars' hospitality."
Writ red like blood or sand, the planet of war, undying, rises with the ship built from its bones.
Ruri Hoshino isn't going to fire the Gravity Blast Cannons here, though. Not in defiance of Yurika's orders; not in a place where she could place reality itself at risk. Instead she reaches out to those machines around her -- some reactor cycling advice for Isadore and Svipul and the Dianthus, and, for Judau and Banagher and Guy:
A window popping up in his cockpit, showing a fourteen-year-old-girl. "My analysis suggests that you're the most foolish pilots here," she delivers, dryly. "Please accept these firing solutions to help you 'get away with it'."
KTS: Ruri Hoshino targets Banagher Links, Judau Ashta, and Guy Shishioh with All-Out. KTS: Ruri Hoshino has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Ruri Hoshino orders an all-out attack, raising Banagher Links's Skill! KTS: Ruri Hoshino has activated the Resupply Spirit Command targeting Trevor Teach KTS: Ruri Hoshino has activated the Resupply Spirit Command targeting Lucine Azul KTS: Ruri Hoshino has activated the Resupply Spirit Command targeting Anita Rosetta <Pose Tracker> Trevor Teach has posed.
"Of course it does," Trevor answers. He doesn't even bother trying to refute Full Frontal's words-- because they are, after all, true. "If we weren't afraid of hurting one another, then we'd be devils, not people. That fear is how we know we still care for one another. But--"
The funnels fire. Cannons, too. This time, Isadore is not so easy a target. He fades back, moving less like a machine and more like a living thing. Trevor's eye swims, as if he were tracking a swarm of bees with his pupil. No-- Ruri was doing the tracking. Trevor was just processing it all on Isadore's behalf. This fight is theirs-- all of theirs.
"You've got two things wrong. One, I left Neo Zeon because I couldn't stand the hypocrisy anymore. It can't claim to be advancing the well-being of all spacenoids with one hand while slapping those same spacenoids across the face with the other. I was lucky that most of the people I loved there felt the same. That we all found a new home that fit better for all of us. If I couldn't overcome that fear, I never would have left Neo Zeon." Isadore's visor flashes, its aggressively overtuned targeting laser raking across several of the funnels, superheating them to the point of failure and opening a path-- as the Ra Mari's missiles streak in and widen the breach.
"And second... pushing through that fear, reaching out to others, lifting each other up-- and achieving all of our dreams, no matter how much the world or our own fears tell us otherwise--" Isadore races in one more time, its claw reaching out, capacitors drinking deep of the machine's energy reserves to muster one more charge...! "--That's Courage! Ordinary, every day courage! You don't even have to pilot a space lion to have it-- to use it!"
Char Aznable, Casval Deikun, says that Full Frontal deserves to fade away.
"He was never really here to begin with," Trevor says in response, as he goes to deliver a final pulse of electrical energy into the Neo Zeon's systems. "Someone like that... I can't think that anyone who never really 'existed' deserves to 'disappear.' Everyone should know what it means to be 'themselves' at least once before they go! That goes for you too, Full Frontal!"
KTS: Trevor Teach targets Full Frontal with Plasma Scissor! KTS: Trevor Teach has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
Guy's heart is in turmoil, as well as he hides it. A foreclosure of possibility, Full Frontal called him; the Root of Evil, Lamia said. He has an inkling of what it means, from something Hinoki told him not that long ago. A curse within him that might just--
There's no air where he is, but he breathes deeply anyway, lines of Genesic light traveling up his body, in and out of his eyes to the connection with Galeon. Alouette's right. He can't afford to relax enough to smile, but he embraces that much. Even if this darkness is the ultimate challenge of Humanity, they've still barely started.
Full Frontal's blazing light tries to sheer through him, but Guy is not so easily broken. He screams, once, "HAUGH!" and then manages to pull his strength together, reinforcing GaoGaiGar with his own will to keep the machine from shattering under the Psycho-Shard's power. "To yearn for ever greater possibility...to expand our horizons ever further...you betray yourself to spite it! Potential brings pain, but that's part of living! I only have one thing to say to someone who'd curse at that arrogance!"
He slams his still-glowing hands together, clasping their grip, and GaoGaiGar ERUPTS in green light.
A window opens at his side, forced open through channels to GaogaiGar. He grins. But he doesn't speak. He just has one word left to say.
The vents on StealthGao roar open, propelling GaoGaiGar rapidly toward Full Frontal, screaming a single word:
"VIIIIIIIIIIIIIITAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
Trevor Teach has cancelled his attack.
KTS: Guy Shishioh has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: Guy Shishioh has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: Guy Shishioh has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: Guy Shishioh has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: Ruri Hoshino orders an all-out attack, raising Guy Shishioh's Skill! KTS: Alouette Pommier assesses Guy Shishioh's prospects, increasing his SP! KTS: Guy Shishioh has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: Guy Shishioh has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Guy Shishioh has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Trevor Teach has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Trevor Teach has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Guy Shishioh targets Full Frontal with Hell and Heaven! KTS: Guy Shishioh has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Trevor Teach targets Full Frontal with Scissor Claw! KTS: Trevor Teach has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.
There is always a point when remote weapons have to return to the machine. Naoko, for her part, is quite prepared to follow up when that time comes, already charging ahead to deliver a close-range beatdown. But just when the two discs are about to re-dock with the Sukeban's shoulders...
A pair of brilliant explosions rock the Arm Slave and knock it backwards, when its shoulder discs simply... detonate. Seemingly spontaneously, though that's not something that would just happen. Full Frontal did something... and now her arsenal is seriously reduced, not just through the loss of the Saucers, but the damage to its arms is severe, making it ill-advised to go through with the intended punching.
And yet... Naoko tests the arms. She can still move them. Maybe they'll last for one more punch...
>"Nova. Don't. It's too dangerous."<
Naoko balls her fists in frustration. "So, what, you want me to just back off? Now?"
>"Hate to say it, but Ariel's right, Nova. This can't end well."<
Naoko's fist shakes, then slams down on her instruments. "Damn it! Ganging up on me... fine! I'll pull back! Whatever!"
Beneath the surface, her anger is already making way for self-castigation. Eight may say she did great, but she can't be satisfied with an outcome like this. Even if she has complete faith that the others can finish this... if she can't personally prove the power of her miracles, what's even the point of anything? She needs to get stronger if she's going to measure up...
The Sukeban drifts back slowly, more unwilling than unable to return. The pilot is going to need a moment to sort herself out.
<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.
<"Thanks, Alouette. I won't forget what you said about courage."> Banagher needs it now most of all.
The Banshee soars next to the Unicorn, the two in perfect harmony. As they attack cutting into the Neo Zeong in unison, Banagher feels his heart beating in time with Leina's. Quick, frightened, but radiating the same conviction.
<"Sorry for being embarrassing."> Banagher says, softly, now that he's caught his breath. There is no hint of apology in his tone. <"But I think you might just have to deal with it. You're too incredible for me to say anything else, love.">
It's a little moment of sweetness, a breath's rest, in the middle of the battlefield. Banagher urges the Unicorn to chase after the Banshee, knowing they're stronger together. Weaving through the battlefield, leaving a trail of green starlight, he comes to an abrupt halt as awareness flashes across his mind.
<"Look out!"> Banagher calls to his allies -- and moments later:
The ZZ fires. Banagher has seen this once before, but only toward an empty battlefield. Not aimed at anyone. It must be at least as strong as the Beam Magnum. Probably far stronger. It makes Leina's High Mega Cannon look like a pale imitation. How is a machine that old capable of an attack like this?
<"Judau!"> Banagher looks toward the other Newtype, feeling his heart catch in his chest at the sight of the demolished ZZ. <"Get out of here! You and Roux can't take any more!">
Full Frontal puts an end to the brief reprieve. Banagher grits his teeth at his words. <"I can't know what my grandfather wanted. Or my great-grandfather, or my father. I only know what I'm willing to do."> The Unicorn tears away a plate of armor, sending it flying away from the Neo Zeong a scorched wreck. <"What I'm willing to believe in!">
Ruri's face appears to Banagher, and he looks at her, dumbstruck, for a moment. Isn't this the little girl they bumped into at HaroCon? How is she here, at the end of time..?<"U--uh, thank you!"> He stutters, rhythm broken. <"Please stay safe!">
A breath, and his attention returns to Full Frontal. <"The Unicorn is her own being! She and I -- we're here because we chose to be. Not because of what we were born as. The same is true for everyone here! It could be true for you, if you reach out!">
Banagher ducks back, stowing his blades, pulling out the Beam Magnum again. With the weak spot he's created, combined with the missiles of the Ra Mari II one shot should cut through to the Sinanju's workings and stop all this. Finally.
Magenta light builds, radiant and terrible, until -- a flash of awareness. With a cry, Banagher grabs the gun and throws it as far as he can. It explodes, far too close -- and as if on reflex, the Unicorn's shields fly in, interlocking to block most of the damage.
The dire, threatening feeling doesn't fade. Banagher looks at Leina, grimacing in horror at what Full Frontal is trying to do. Even if this is an illusion, there's no way she and Sayla could survive the destruction of the Banshee.
<"Leina -- Sayla, hold on!"> Banagher calls. Leina and Sayla aren't the only ones struggling.
This has to end. Now.
<"STOP IT!"> Banagher screams at Full Frontal, feeling the distress of his loved ones reach a desperate pitch.
Once more, the Unicorn charges at the red Monster, her three shields orbiting around her form. Without the Beam Magnum, he has no way to get through the armor.
Even so.
There is one thing Banagher wants in this moment above all else. One Possibility he's willing to give his life for.
STOP!
The Psychoframe is a machine created of and for Miracles. Hearing her pilot's wish, she connects with him further than ever before, their bond twisting, braiding, growing as strong as steel.
Beautiful green light consumes the Unicorn, illuminating her, almost blindingly bright. She shines, as she soars up to the Neo-Zeong's head, radiating belief and depthless strength. What is she capable of?
What isn't she capable of?
Raising her hands, Banagher watches as they illuminate with miraculous light. Without knowing who truly wished it, the Unicorn thrusts her hands forward. Somehow, this armor that's turned away sabers and cannons and missiles splinters before her touch. She tears through it, digging into the machine.
Stop.
With a loud CRACK, she finds what she was searching for. Pulling it up and out, the Unicorn shrieks triumphantly at the Neo Zeong's face. In her hand is the heart of the Monster -- an unidentifiable set of machinery, radiating Miracle-green light. But whatever it is...
The Neo Zeong stops.
KTS: Banagher Links targets Full Frontal with Unicorn Hand to Hand! KTS: Banagher Links has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
"Well... then that sucks, I guess. Sorry." Anita replies, massaging the back of her neck. "Sure. I know not everyone's gonna get the same shot I got. But-"
Anita cuts herself off as the armor opens, twin bazookas pointing at her. Drifting backwards, she has more time to react - but it's precious little time as she finds a pair of missiles heading right for her. She can see them like this. It's going to cut it really close, but -
She takes aim with her gunpod, unleashing a pair of controlled bursts toward each of the missiles, ripping through each of them before they can reach her with only a second to spare. She exhales in relief.
She can hear the smile in Eight's voice as she reaches out to her, and Anita smiles back.
"Right. I know we will." She says. And Rena... Rena declares that Full Frontal is wrong. Reaching out is a two person job - and Anita nods decisively.
"What she said." Anita says. "The thing about 'possibility' is... you can't just wait for it to drop everything in your lap. Sometimes you gotta step out and make connections yourself. It's hard, and sometimes your opportunities to do that are pretty slim - but you gotta try!"
Anita points her gunpod at the open hatch.
"If you just wait for 'possibility' to make them come to you... you're gonna be waiting till the end of time." And with that, she opens fire, and fires, and fires - aiming to jam the armor open with her bullets before it closes. Reactor-cycling advice courtesy of Ruri and the Nadesico lets her fire efficiently - and her gun's super-cooled barrel, a relatively recent invention, will let her keep the barrage going for some time.
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Once upon a time, in response to Alouette's words, she might have offered the cynical response of: Will it? Her mind, still wired towards Puru One, thinks it certainly. Even if it changes, will it be in the right direction? Or will it be in the wrong one? Ever spiraling towards cruelty and apathy, towards the hollow interests of the elite? Towards warfare that sweeps away human lives on a mass scale?
And yet right now, she knows that so many of them worked so hard to bring her home. Her connections, their lives, they all mattered. Truly mattered. And she'll work towards a future worthy of what they gave her. Even if it only changes things for a few people- maybe that's enough.
"<Judau just brings it out of me, he's always been a stubborn pain in my ass.>" Is her response to her, instead, focusing on her brother. Despite her words, there's certainly affection. Just as there is for Sayla, as she tells her 'Never again.' There's a faint smile, before it becomes a look of resolve, "I will. ...Until it's over." And then... "... Despite it all, in a strange way he's family too, isn't he?"
It is perhaps, a jarring thought. But there is certainly precedent for it before in her life, isn't it? If some part of him is Char Aznable, then some part of him is Sayla's Brother. And if that's true, then some part of him...
As Judau fires through him, she's awash with feelings. This visions of happiness, despite it all, she feels something choke up in her. The reinforcement that this - this is his happiness, too.
Her eyes are still wet with tears as Full Frontal makes his claim about his existence. His Psyco-Shard generator hums, and his will tries to unmake the Banshee. It's shining Psychoframe starting to crumple, and crack in ways that might make Sayla wonder if indeed this is it.
In the wake of this strain, Banagher tells her to hold on, she can feel his panic, she's panicking too. Yet something strange focuses her back on the feelings from before.
Yet in this moment, Leina's focus is strange. "We'll laugh about this, someday?" She whispers at Rena's sentiment, as she pushes it further. "What the hell, Renalle?" There's a small, broken laugh to that, as if in this moment despite all odds, that day was now. "What's there to laugh about?"
BGM Change - A letter - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGIl8o9fVkk
And the Banshee's response? It's radiant light shines brighter, and brighter. The feelings Judau sent through her, entrusted to her, the answer he gave to Full Frontal. The feelings Banagher offers, connected to her. The touch of Sayla's hand. Anyone and everyone that brought her home.
She refuses. It's light shines brighter, and pushes back against the Psycoshard Generator's will, until it ceases trying, or at least reaches an equilibrium.
"<Who cares about that!? Stop talking about a false dichotomy! Just - stop pretending like your existence is incompatible! It's not- It's NOT!>"
She calls out to him, reaches out to him she's going to cry, despite it all. Despite how he'd always treated her, every single time. Calling her Glemy's pet doll, rejecting what she had to say, goading the people she loved into violence just to prove a point.
"<She said she'd bring all of us home. So come with us.>"
Even if he rejects it, she still is who she is. She will never forget that she was that girl on a beach, grappling with another girl - fighting for her life. And she will never forget who she was in those labs, what happened to her.
As a girl who has experienced both things, pain at the hands of a Cyber Newtype, and the sort of experiments that shape him, she reaches out to him.
"<... Let's just go home. Please.>"
It is not to prove a point. There is no argument anymore, just an appeal to emotion. In the end, he says that the miracle of his existence disallows anything else - and her reply is to offer human warmth in return.
An offer.
"<It shouldn't have to end like this.>"
There is something mournful about that, like remembering a girl who she last saw on a beach, and never again - save in dreams. The Banshee suddenly rushes forward trailing light like a comet, the light as its shield. As it suddenly grasps the Psycho Shard Generator with its bare hands.
And attempts to rip it off, tearing the Halo off of an Angel, attempting to strip it of it's mysterious miraculous powers over reality.
Because even despite the offer, she cannot allow him to finish off Banagher, off Judau - off anyone here. She won't sacrifice their possibility for his.
Never that.
Empowered by their warmth, the truest miracles of her existence, she tries to offer Banagher an opening, to finish reaching in- to touch that heart.
KTS: Leina Ashta targets Full Frontal with Shining Advance! KTS: Leina Ashta has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Anita Rosetta targets Full Frontal with Sustained Fire! KTS: Anita Rosetta has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
"<For now, it does. But to assume that the positive change people make will never happen again, while the negative change will always succeed? I refuse to accept that! I believe in the coming generation, and the future they'll create for themselves!>" Her eyes fix briefly on the Unicorn, then the ZZ, then GaoGaiGar. Finally settle again on her daughter next to her. Her own hope... "<So I'll keep trying to fix what I can in this world so that when they're time comes they can change it into the world they dream of! That's the choice I've made!>" 'Despite it all, he's family to us too, isn't he?'
For a second, Sayla is stunned into silence by the proposition. That Full Frontal would be family...?
But she also knew he still had those memories, twisted as they were. Memories of the life of Edouard Mass, of Char Aznable, those bonds denied him. If Leina has decided that, made that choice... "I suppose so," she says, uneasily. Some part of him was her brother. And she'd reached out to save him, despite it all.
So she can't deny Leina that part of herself. "<...Listen to her, Full Frontal.>" Sayla says, that hand on Leina's shoulder. "<There's still a chance. Even for you.>"
She doesn't believe he'll hear her. But she owes it to Leina to try. To believe in the possibility he does. "<You can put an end to this legacy too.>"
KTS: Full Frontal fails to react to Guy Shishioh's Hell and Heaven, taking 9000 damage! KTS: Full Frontal has been defeated! KTS: Guy Shishioh has engaged Full Frontal! KTS: Guy Shishioh roots his unit, coming to a standstill and leaving him vulnerable. KTS: Trevor Teach anchors Full Frontal, forcing it into close range. KTS: Full Frontal partially guards Trevor Teach's Scissor Claw, taking 6090 damage! KTS: Full Frontal has been defeated! KTS: Trevor Teach has engaged Full Frontal! KTS: Full Frontal partially guards Banagher Links's Unicorn Hand to Hand, taking 3990 damage! KTS: Full Frontal has been defeated! KTS: Banagher Links has engaged Full Frontal! KTS: Full Frontal partially guards Leina Ashta's Shining Advance, taking 6080 damage! KTS: Full Frontal has been defeated! KTS: Leina Ashta has engaged Full Frontal! KTS: Full Frontal partially guards Anita Rosetta's Sustained Fire, taking 3132 damage! KTS: Full Frontal has been defeated! <Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"I-I don't know!" Rena answers Leina after a moment, her cheeks flushing. "I-I guess... um... ha ha, we didn't die? I-It sounded cool in my head...?"
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
That her words can help Banagher keep going even in the darkest of places, Alouette isn't sure what to say... but there is joy in it. "I won't forget all the kindnesses you showed me back then, either." She replies, referring to his words of hope to her on the Garuda.
As far as Alouette's concerned, the world is already changing, but not because of the Box itself. They'll never get to see it if Full Frontal wins... so she can't even bring herself to smile at Leina's words about Judau, as he unleashes all his feelings into the Ghost of Char. Because a changing world isn't worth it without all of them in it.
And then... the window is emitted through Fusion Space, so Alouette doesn't see her face. But she sure does hear Ruri's voice... that girl really is full of surprises. "Hehe... she's not wrong, you know." She musters the ghost of a grin.
Foolish maybe, but sometimes that's a necessary component of bravery. She feels as Eight, a woman she's only met once on one of her worst days in recent memory, joins her strength and belief with hers. So many hearts from so many places, at once... that must be how they overcome the end that Full Frontal is so desperate to show them.
Guy says the magic word, and Alouette jolts forward in her seat as StealthGao II rockets forth, green light overwhelming the cockpit. But Alouette does not falter here, expanding the Phantom and Wall Rings to the point where they converge in a way they were never designed to. "Phantom Ring... PRIME!" Crackling with green energy, the rings pop into a brilliant explosion in synergy with Guy's final chant, while GaoGaiGar smashes into the frame of the Neo Zeong.
<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
'Then give it to me.'
Lucine's first reaction is to reject it, say she's not capable. The same sorts of reactions that have come to be expected from the girl.
'What separates the justice you choose from that of the drones of the Jovian Lizards?'
Whatever appeal her mind would have had to a higher purpose beyond base revenge, whatever the memory of the ethereal bird that led her here would have told her, whatever sense of community she feels with all around her, the sudden idea that Lucine would naturally extend the same soft understanding to mysterious beings that had affected her so personally, taken so much away from her--
The weed in the garden has grown, and it is now blooming.
The funnels try to pen the Dianthus in, but it's simply a glimmer of light; the real one has slipped away.
Leina attempts to rip the Psycho Shard Generator from this human ghost. She may have meant for it to be a gate for Banagher and others to reach out, but Lucine's soul retreats back, folding in on itself.
Inez's command couldn't have come at a better time.
Lucine's reply is crisp and prompt. < ".... On it." >
The petals from the back of the Dianthus fan out on a rail behind it, glowing like a morning's red sky.
< ".... You want that release so badly, Full Frontal? _Then here's my contribution_." >
The albarest's redesigned bolts slide in a fan formation on the plane of the weapon, at the ready.
< "_One last swan song before you go_." >
White bolts explode into the vaccuum of the void. There is nothing else for Lucine, but this anger, _this challenge_, no matter how simple, to the contradiction hidden deep in her.
< "LACRIMOSA!" >
KTS: Lucine Azul has activated the Dash Spirit Command and has disengaged. KTS: Lucine Azul has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Lucine Azul targets Full Frontal with Argen-21 Beam Arbalest Lacrimosa! KTS: Lucine Azul has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Judau Ashta has posed.
How does a machine this old have a weapon so powerful? There's many contributing factors. The fact is, the High Mega Cannon on its own is a weapon with a power output that hasn't really been seen before or since.
But this? This sort of power isn't just the ZZ. It isn't -just- Judau. It's never just him. This power?
It's all of them.
This time, however, it very literally isn't just him: at the heart of that blindingly maelstrom of ebb-and-flowing red and pink is not just Judau, but Roux. Both of them come together to bind all those dreams, all those fears, all those desires -- the will to keep going on, even if the end is a blank black -- together.
And it's that much more powerful for it.
Judau just brings it out of me, he's always been a stubborn pain in my ass.
<"I-I'm not stubborn! You're stubborn! An' I'm not budgin' on that--!">
Within the epicenter of that offensive, Judau proves Leina's point as he belligerently continues to keep up the pressure. His hand is pressing down on that big, prominent lever like his life depended on it, even if the gesture is largely symbolic with the Double Zeta in such a state. Time and space bends and loops around the ZZ and the Neo Zeong, an infinity ring of competing ideology funneling through the void without beginning or end. He can feel the strain. He always feels it. But now it's not just his. It's Roux's, too.
... and Full Frontal's.
He keeps it up. As long as he can. To keep Full Frontal open and vulnerable. For as long as he can. And within that moebius strip, he sees Full Frontal too. ... He's not so different from Haman in the end, is he?
Someone backed into a corner.
Someone seeing no escape.
Even if you live to see those wonders, you'll still be chained to that mobile suit.
Judau's lips twist; his head pounds. His voice strains out around a thick gasp as he speaks back,
"Maybe -- maybe I'll be an old man, stumblin' around with a scrap heap at my side -- but that--"
"-- doesn't make those wonders any lesser--!"
He could try to back off; he doesn't. He strives for as long as he can.
But nothing is forever.
A second later, psycho-shards strain. There is a golden shimmer within the forehead cannon of the Double Zeta.
"Wait -- shit--!"
And the entire thing is seized upon and detonates, creating a fiery bloom of rupturing heat that engulfs the entire head of the ZZ Gundam within the dark depths at the boundary of all beginnings and all endings.
Like a chain reaction, the saber hilts of the Double Zeta shimmer soon after, followed by the double-barreled beam rifle -- all the missile bays -- and all of them rupture like a daisy chain of causality, sending the ZZ banking backwards through the darkness as the cockpit is rocked violently enough to send Judau CAREENING forward, helmeted head knocking into the controls with a "hhk--!" before he snaps back in his seat, cracklines forming in his visor.
The single remaining optic of the Double Zeta's mangled head sparks and sputters as backup optics crackle on, providing Judau a view within the ZZ. He shakes his head blearily, cursing to himself -- and to Roux.
"Shit," he exhales, voice hoarse. "... guess that's all we could do."
But that's okay.
There's still people to carry the torch.
There's still people who will always keep fighting.
And as Banagher shouts at the ZZ to fall back, Judau has only one thing to say in response, on that open communication line for everyone to hear:
<"I'll do what I wanna do!!">
...
<"So go save his dumb ass, you dumbasses!">
It comes from the heart. It really does.
After all...
Judau tried - and failed - to save someone similar, once.
But he believes in them.
In all of them.
P O S T S C R I P T
The Double Zeta, unable to fight, but unwilling to leave, drifts through the nothing to see the end of this through, when some coordinates come in. Judau blinks. He listens to the flat voice on the other end of the line.
My analysis suggests that you're the most foolish pilots here. Please accept these firing solutions to help you 'get away with it'.
Judau Ashta stares blankly at Roux Louka and somehow feels deeply guilty which he finds to be completely unfair, like he's about to get scolded by a teacher. A tiny teacher.
<"uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yeah you're gonna laugh ha ha ha but--">
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"I see," the light of Ruri's consoles reflects off of her too-gold eyes, when Judau tells her it's quite funny. "You have already failed to 'get away with it'." She doesn't laugh. "Please hold. We'll retrieve you." How embarrassing...
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
Potential.
Nihility.
And between them, what?
Them, it would seem.
Roux breathes out at the power of the beam, and then she looks upwards, almost by coincidence. Judau curses and she says, "Damn - damn it! Don't DO this to" 'us' she almost said but then there was a BANG and Roux, already rocked once to the side, rocks the other way. She finds herself momentarily adrift, her mostly-healing arm throbbing... but...
"Look at me, would you?" Roux says, reaching out to Judau. For a moment she rests a hand on either side of his helmet, but it seems to just be a quick searching of his face for subtle signs. It lasts several seconds more before she lets go, exhaling, ducking her head low to pick up the actual comm panel.
Leina's given a brief update: "He's fine," in case she couldn't guess.
Then --
"We could use the dock thrusters," Roux says, in the quiet sphere. "But it's probably better if we sit tight, huh? I think... I don't know if anything ended here, but..."
She reaches down to unclasp her normal suit helmet and take it off. Shaking her hair out, Roux looks back at Judau and opens her mouth JUST in time for Ruri Hoshino to appear on the monitor.
Roux side-eyes the living hell out of this apparition of disapproving sassy child. But then she weakly raises up one hand to throw a V-sign. "I guess the operation's a success if you're already doing retrieval ops, huh! Thanks for your support!" Roux tells the monitor.
Quietly to Judau she mutters, "Kill the feed," before she begins to talk, her cheery demeanor having completely evaporated. It's probably a stress reaction; yeah, that's it.
'What the HELL are they doing over there if they're letting a flight control officer talk to people like that!? Even if the chances are slim, one moment of negative feelings or discouragement at a critical point like docking is going to be a total accident risk! You could fubar up the entire docking assembly if you were unlucky! If you're in flight control, you have to have a professional voice! Professional, clear, and CARING! If someone's in bad straits, you need to make sure they know how to do your best! And is that just skin injections or is she actually like a child? maybe it's a simulation, like those variety show people--'
How much of this actually gets kept between themselves?
That's up to Judau.
<Pose Tracker> Judau Ashta has posed.
Judau Ashta gets the most matter-of-fact one-note dress-down he has ever experienced.
Then Roux tanks it like a champ which thank god because Judau feels like his brain is going to evaporate into fine mist from his ears.
Then she requests he kills the feed, which he says "Got it" to but doesn't actually do because he's just really tired and that's a big ask man.
Then she starts in on the tear and he realizes the error of his ways.
He's sympathetically "uh huh"ing and "yyyyuppp"ing his way through the tidal wave tirade as he very subtly moves his hand to very subtly turn off communications, very subtly.
And is that just skin injections or is she actually like a child--
is about where it gets to before he manages to click things off.
Because trying to be very subtle about it takes -time- man.
<Pose Tracker> Full Frontal has posed.
The Neo Zeong becomes a vessel for the world's will -- insofar as it's rejected by that world, bit by bit. The Ra Mari II fires on it; Casval fires his rifle until it gives out; Rena's 'possibility of Char' converges on his, continuing to shred armor down. The Isadore rips through armor and into frame, and Guy combines two powers into one and charges straight forward.
No matter how much the Neo Zeong is torn away, though -- somehow, it still seems to hold its shape. Anita's barrage takes out the bazookas; Leina's pleading as she advances and offers human warmth gives her the strength to tear away the shard generator. Lucine blows away the other propellant tank, and with it a large chunk of the skirt armor.
It's Banagher, though, who finds its heart -- pulls it out by force. It's that that sets the Neo Zeong to crumbling, as if whatever power sustained it simply fell away under the inevitability of its demise. Within moments, it disappears, leaving only the Sinanju -- and then, a moment later, only the Sinanju's cockpit block, floating in space.
Full Frontal has no more strength with which to march words out into battle against words. These are humans of the Universal Century, too, and he is as much a vessel for their desires as anyone else's.
"... Go, then," Full Frontal murmurs, as his awareness fades; he's audible to all, in this space. "Do what you must." Whether returning to that world is meant for him as well...
... is no longer his choice, he concludes. This, too, is the path of a vessel.
Time and space seem to ripple yellow for a moment -- the last task, perhaps, of a ghost ready to cede the future of the world to the living.
<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.
With the combined strength of his loved ones, and the Miraculous power of the Unicorn, the Neo Zeong crumbles before them. Even the debris of the machine turns to dust and is lost, until nothing remains, save for the cockpit block.
Banaghers breath comes in haggard pants. They did it. It's over. As Lalah Sune's yellow light guides them back home, providing everyone (including Full Frontal) a path through that psychic mindscape, Banagher starts to relax. Everyone survived. It's over. It's ov--
They return home, and Banagher straightens in his seat, ramrod straight as if struck by lightning. Still bonded this tightly to the Unicorn, his senses stretch out far further than they should be. A flash of awareness, a bolt out of the blue, practically screams into his heart.
<"Captain York!"> Banagher calls, fumbling on his radio. <"You need to evacuate the Ra Mari II and the Nadesico from this sector right away! Take everyone with you!">
The Unicorn turns, facing a distant danger. Perhaps others in tune with their senses will feel the ominous shadow falling upon them.
Banagher looks back to Magallanica. Audrey, and Syam -- there's no way they can get out in time. Can the ships even make it far enough? Banagher takes in a breath, brings a hand to his heart, and lets it out.
<"I'll put up a Psychofield in front of Magallanica. I know all of you will want to stay and help me, but please, think. You all have people back waiting for you. People relying on you. We have no idea what Psychofields are capable of -- this might not even work. Please think this through, and evacuate.">
With that, the Unicorn propels herself between the faraway enemy and Magallanica. Her shields orbit around her. Banagher takes slow breaths, contrasting the terrified beating of his heart. "I'm sorry, Audrey. I'm going to break my promise." He murmurs. The last time he tried to do anything so Miraculous with the Unicorn, he felt himself slipping. If he does this now, logically, there's no coming back.
Even so. In his soul echoes the same few words, over and over, bearing the same promise Banagher can feel with his own heart.
Something is targeting you.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
A ghost helps them back. And... "Causality readings returning to normal limits. No aberrant blue-shift or red-shift readings... I've localised us in space." Ruri Hoshino is terrible at appreciating this sort of thing. ROUX MIGHT JUST BE RIGHT!
(Unfortunately for Roux, Ruri heard enough.)
But Banagher screams out a warning, and Yurika barely has time to go, "Eeeehhhh?!", before --
"Shadow observed in the vicinity of Luna-2," Ruri reports to everyone gathered, stoic. "Displaying at maximum magnification..." And, indeed, everyone gets a Nadesico Communication Window popping up with a view of what's to come.
"It's huge!" Megumi yelps, across the channels.
"Object analysis: colony-class armament. Dimensions, 36 kilometres long, 6.4 kilometres deep. Weapons analysis... sustained-fire solar powered laser. Estimated output capacity is sufficient to destroy an open-type cylindrical colony."
"You mean... in one shot...?" Minato asks, nervously, looking over to Ruri with widened eyes.
Ruri's face doesn't shift much, though. She's focused; she remains focused. "Yes."
What they do with this information --
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Eight laughs, on the bridge, at Rena's embarrassment. Her inner voice reaches out to her, 'You're so cute when you're like that.'
But she's entirely too serious to say that aloud, so she says nothing there. Instead, she looks to the battlefield... where Banagher finishes it. Where they have to rely on Lalah Sune, to get home.
...whereupon a lot happens immediately.
"Captain!" someone calls in alarm, and Eight's eyes widen. She gives an order--
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
O-OCTO. >:T
(Don't ask how Rena can emote through telepathy.)
She makes the same face, though, for a moment; then her expression evens out, as she sees the heart torn free of the Neo Zeong. She stares at it -- a feeling of relief washing over her. Such a terrible power. And--
And a power that is not terrible. She follows Lalah Sune out; she follows that golden light, her eyes on the other machines. She doesn't know how well Anita can sense her... so she keeps a close eye out.
There's another awareness, then, though.
And Banagher makes his plea. Rena's eyes go wide. "Banagher, but--"
<Pose Tracker> Casval rem Deikun has posed.
The Neo Zeong... stops. Slowly, it disintegrates, as though the entropy of travelling so far into this terrible empty future finally caught up with it. The Sinanju, too... until there's just a cockpit block, floating there in the uncaring void.
It's a terribly familiar sight.
The decay of inevitability threatens to catch up with the Nemo, already pushed so far beyond its Gryps-era limitations, its left arm beginning to rust away... and then there's a rush of warm sunflower light, and a gentle touch on his soul.
Live, Captain. You can do that truly now, can't you?
Bright green eyes pierce straight through the tattered remnants of his masks, a soft smile he had almost forgotten the brightness of blazing before him.
"... I will, Lalah. Goodbye."
The yellow light disappears, replaced by the twinkling cosmos, Magellanica not so far away, backed by the blue-green sphere of Earth. Char exhales --
-- and Banagher's dread hits him like a club. Something is targeting you. The Nadesico reports: A colony laser.
The Unicorn accelerates towards Magellanica, leaving the Nemo in the dust...
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
Gradually, the Neo Zeong is dismantled by their assault... and Full Frontal leaves it to them. Anita can see Lalah's golden light - but more importantly, she can see the Gaia Gear. The Svipul flies over to it, sticking close as they return from the end of time to their own...
...Only to receive dire news from Banagher and the Nadesico. Anita stares in disbelief.
"...Well."
Right now, faced with the enormity of the situation before her, Anita can only do one thing.
Anita swears, disengaging her Visual Link System and letting herself sink into her seat..
And then there's...
"...Banagher." Anita murmurs. What can they even do right now...?
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Roux's reassurance floods relief into her heart. She didn't feel Judau die after all, but that space - that space is strange enough that the confirmation from someone there helps.
It contrasts with a moment later, as she feels Full Frontal's desolation. There is a helplessness in this moment, a lack of agency.
She almost reaches out to him again, but time - or perhaps the world doesn't let her. In the end, her eyes close, and she exhales once.
And she feels something she hasn't felt in a long time in moments like these.
Acceptance.
It's awful, perhaps, but she did all she could. There's no guilt, or regret within her heart. As reality comes back into view, she gets that same sense of intuition that bolts across her senses.
And a moment of-
c o n n e c t i o n
AKANE! AKANE! Leina! Alouette! Guy! Doctor Mass! THEY'RE ALL UP THERE!
"Alberto?" Leina whispers, as her eyes widen in horror. The feelings of panic, the context. She doesn't know what's happening, but she knows something is-
Her eyes look sidelong at Sayla, hearing what's going on over the comms, the horror setting in, in complete silence.
She doesn't say anything, about what must be done. There's no time to take Sayla elsewhere, to evacuate Judau or Mineva.
There's only one option for Leina. Yet the look she gives Sayla is one of apology, as if apologizing for dragging her into this. That she doesn't have a choice.
That Leina is making this one for them both.
Then she takes a deep breath, as a sentiment from Banagher floods her.
No. You won't.
Because a moment later, the Banshee flies towards the Unicorn, around him, to the line of defense that he's setting up. It wasn't something he said as aloud and yet...
"<You're not breaking any promises to her, not to her and not to me.>"
She issues over the comms. It's not a rebuke, it's a gesture of solidarity, and determination.
"<Because you're not doing this alone, and that's final. Don't even try to argue.>"
It wasn't just Audrey that Banagher made a promise to, after all.
Maybe she doesn't realize what's coming, just a distant feeling of dread.
"<There's no time. And better things we can be doing with it.>"
Out here, there's no time to get out of the cockpits, no time to do this properly. So instead, the Banshee simply reaches out, and touches the Unicorn's hand.
It has to be enough.
She won't say goodbye, not to anyone - because as far as she's concerned, it won't be.
It can't be.
Not after everything they've been through.
<Pose Tracker> Trevor Teach has posed.
Finally, the Neo Zeong collapses, imploding upon its own weight until nothing is left. The void is filled with a soft, golden light as the terrible machine's power fades. Exposed in his cockpit, Trevor basks for a moment in the warmth, before--
Frontal's cockpit block. Isadore reaches out, fingers of its only hand carefully cradling the package.
Someone who never got to exist surely deserves a chance to know himself before he disappears. That's what he said, isn't it?
...The light fades, and reality reasserts itself. Finally, it's over--
No. Not yet.
"Banagher!?" Trevor gapes as the Unicorn races away. Something is coming. Something--
"A weapon-- that can wipe out a colony in a single shot!? Who the hell is firing something like that at us now!?" He's distracted, but Full Frontal's cockpit is still clutched carefully in the Isadore's hand.
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
Two powers combine into one and Full Frontal collapses at the weight of that energy, and so many hearts... culminating in Banagher's final act with the Unicorn.
The mysterious Lalah Sune guides them back into the reality where they belong, but... an overwhelming sense of dread remains.
"Restoring communications with Orbit Base!" Alouette announces, and that, at least, goes swimmingly. But roughly concurrently, Banagher says he's going to place up a Psychofield and requests an evacuation, and the Nadesico brings them a grave transmission: a Colony Laser is imminent.
What Alouette picks up from Orbit Base next makes her heart drop:
/'Gryps 2 still active - ~220 seconds to fire'.
"We... we don't have time to evacuate! We have less than five minutes!" She reports. "But... if there's even a sliver of a chance of stopping that laser, we have to take it. Otherwise... it's over." What would Chief Taiga say? Something about statistical percentages being meaningless in the face of true courage.
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
Leina did her best. That's all she could do.
They follow the way out of this space, back to reality- but they only have a few seconds to breathe. Only a few seconds to process. Only a few seconds before the warning comes.
Leina gives her a look of apology... and Sayla shakes her head. There's nothing to apologise for here. There's only one choice either of them could make here. And Sayla agrees entirely with Leina. "Go." She says, squeezing Leina's shoulder one more time.
There was no way she'd want to leave Leina in this moment anyway, so she braces herself as the Banshee bursts forward after the Unicorn.