2023-09-10: The Dance of Light and Dark
- Cast: Asciel Colette, Koji Kabuto, LiSA, Lina Lombardi, Lucine Azul, Qivi, Sayaka Yumi, Tetsuya Tsurugi, Zan, GMX-GH101 Goldymarg, Tenryujin, Rita Bernal
- Where: Fujinomiya City - Free Japan
- Date: U.C. 0097 09 10
- Summary: The heroes of the Photon Power Lab still reeling from the events in Denver Colony, the Ruin Apostles of Triple Zero decide it is the perfect time to make their mark on the legendary symbol of peace. With Orbit Base locked down, the defenders of Fujinomiya must hold off against the dragon of light and darkness and the one who brings down the hammer himself. Meanwhile, in the wake of the battle, another threat seeks to claim the true prize buried underneath Mount Fuji!
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
It's been a rough 48 hours from the beginning of the Denver Colony incident to now, but the Londo Bell transport Paralus made it safely back to near-Earth orbit, beginning the descent towards the OCU.
Aboard: Koji Kabuto ponders the battles surrounding that incident, and the particular struggle with Yuliana Kafim - and her position of sacrificing even one person to save the world. While it makes sense - after all, billions of people live on Earth - something in his gut rejects the cold logic of arithmetic here.
Dwelling on the Phenex's immobile form in the Paralus hangar doesn't really help.
Perhaps it's fortunate, then, that alarms sound unexpectedly, snapping him out of his grim reverie.
"Doctor Kabuto, Doctor Yumi!" The pilot calls down to the hangar. "We're getting an emergency broadcast from Fujinomiya City - they've detected ES Windows opening!"
Koji closes his eyes, then turns towards the Hover Pilder, sprinting towards it. "Anomalous particle readings?" He already knows the answer. The only craft capable of utilising Escape Space technology is -
"High concentration of Z0-Similar emissions!"
- ... still in the thrall of the Oath Over Omega.
"Battle stations, pilot. Let us deploy, then get the hell out of here!" Koji yells as he lowers the Pilder into Mazinger Z's cranial dock.
"... this is going to be a rough one. Photon Power Research Lab, if you're reading this, emergency-launch the Jet Scrander!"
Mazinger Z is still battered from the Denver incident, but... it should still be able to fight.
Koji draws in a deep breath. "MAZIN GO!"
Tetsuya Tsurugi teleports in.
<Pose Tracker> GMX-GH101 Goldymarg has posed.
The Fujinomiya City Photon Power Plant has sent its most stalwart defenders away: Koji Kabuto and Sayaka Yumi, Mazinger Z and Aphrodite Areia, gone to fight a battle in space. GGG is still reeling from its own recent battles...
It's the perfect time.
An ES Window opens over Fujinomiya, and out comes a behemoth. No, rather...a Titan. A Titan G9, a colossal machine looming a hundred meters tall, . A spiked bandolier like a warrior's strap across its chest; a power node over its heart. A sneering smile beneath its beard. The Titan's traditional weapon is absent. Or rather...
"YEEEEEEEEEEEEAH!!!"
...in one hand, it clutches what, in scale, looks to be a dainty little toy hammer. But anyone who defends a place like this knows the shining golden terror of the Goldion Hammer's light.
"Get out of the way, suckers! You're already tired! Comin' at me just means you're gonna die *sad*!"
Last time, when Goldymarg System Changed to attach to the Titan, he was already tired, and Tsutsujidai's defenders routed him before he could use his powers. This time...he's not letting them slow him down.
The Titan stomps forward, toward the heart of the city, tugged along by Goldymarg's gravitational control.
KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg has deployed in Zero Marg Titan G9. KTS: Tenryujin has deployed in Ruin Tenryujin. KTS: Koji Kabuto has deployed in Mazinger Z <Jet Scrander>. <Pose Tracker> Tenryujin has posed.
A second, smaller ES Window opens beside the first. It's smaller in a relative sense--the entity that steps through is still massive, nearly thirty meters tall. Her frame is relatively slender, the structure of her armor female-presenting. One side of her body is bright pink, and bears some sort of folded-up array mounted to the shoulder. The other side is purplish-grey, and mounts a missile rack. She lands in a graceful crouch, and rises, glancing about with dawn-orange optics.
"Deployment successful," says Tenryujin. "Goldymarg and I have completed ES Window transition, and have visual confirmation on the target." She cannot sigh at her comrade's insistence on such... unprofessional tactics, but that's just how he is. Tenryujin follows in Titan G9's wake, focused and alert--focused on the mission they're here to complete. She leaps over a parking lot, sprints down a length of street, and generally does an admirable job of keeping up with Titan's stride... while compensating for the wreckage Goldymarg is leaving just by walking.
"Enemy suit sighted. Mazinger Z." Tenryujin's head swivels for a moment, and the dawn-glow suffusing her intensifies. "As expected."
KTS: Sayaka Yumi has deployed in Aphrodite Areia. KTS: EN Barrier activated! KTS: Sayaka Yumi has joined Tenryujin's bucket! KTS: Zan has deployed in Iron Zanrailer <Ground Rail>. KTS: Lina Lombardi has deployed in Lion 500. KTS: LiSA is now subpiloting for Koji Kabuto. KTS: Lina Lombardi has deployed in MPMZ-17 Ichinana. KTS: Qivi has deployed in Blizzaia L Custom <Sarangay>. KTS: Qivi has changed loadout. KTS: Tenryujin has deployed as a Boss for 4 opponents. KTS: GMX-GH101_Goldymarg has deployed as a Boss for 4 opponents. <Pose Tracker> Zan has posed.
In space, near the Orbital Ring and specifically the 3G Orbit Base is one robot who is still pretty fresh. Perhaps a bit banged up, but repaired.
And still battle ready.
"Triple Zero emissions detected."
Then there is another broadcast from the sensor station that Zan has been monitoring while doing his programmed work.
He hated to rush the job, but, "Carpenters, full power!"
The six Carpenter units salute and the track is quickly reconnected with a patch job for now. Meanwhile, Zan transforms back into his ORCA form and attaches to the train. "Load up! We're needed, team!"
The carpenters load into the Iron Railer before it turns and rockets full tilt towards the Photon Power Plant. The engine turbine spins quickly as a plow deploys in front of the engine and rockets slide open on all of the cars, not to mention Zan's ORCA form turning to help.
Breaking into the atmosphere at record speed from space, the train almost looks like a meteor.
Slowing slightly once in the air, the train angles towards around before it separates suddenly and reforms as electrical energies spark off of it.
"RAIL CHANGE!" Comes out of speakers and over the comms as the engine and first car fold, then join together. Zan's orange form changes into a head section to link to it followed by the first two cars linking to the shoulders, and the last two linking to the rear before the cars expand and the new robot hovers in the air, at an angle towards the Titan's path. Equally tall as it raises it's arms.
"IRON ZANRAILER, GROUND MODE!"
The equally massive robot raises it's arms upwards in a clear show of strength as it flexes it's arms overhead before lowering them and looking down at the Titan.
"Cease your actions. You will put people in danger." Iron Zanrailer says, amplifying his voice to reach that far.
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
In all respects, the ride home should be smoother than anything they have experienced in Denver proper. Forced to fight against allies and companions, fighting as hard as she can to rescue someone put in all-too similar a situation... the helium tanks and the act that stopped them. The spectres of Denver, finally resting in peace.
There's a sense that a chapter has finally come to a close, and yet... their battle is not ever. It never is, is it?
ES Windows, opening in Fujinomiya itself. "That can only mean one thing..." Sayaka starts, but they both already know. "That's right. We're going in!" Aphrodite Areia, battered from two rough battles back to back... and yet, Triple Zero knows as well as they do where the power of a Mazin truly comes from. "Artemis Cross!" Wings attached, Aphrodite Areia soars to meet the Agents of Dawn no matter the odds.
"Titan G9? What in the world..." Sayaka shakes her head - Koji's seen this one already in Tsutsujidai. "No... that's Goldymarg! And TenRyuJin too... this is dire." Her sensors begin to fill with orange light in the wake of Goldymarg's destruction. "How much support can Fujinomiya expect? The labs are one thing, but entire city will be levelled if this keeps up!"
There's no choice but to fight them off, as long as they can. "As expected? You're a member of GGG, so you know more than anything that there's one thing a Mazin pilot can never give up." She challenges the Dragon of Light and Dark. "That's our pride! See if you can expect this - MAZINGER BLADE!" Sayaka knows that while TenRyuJin is just as skilled in close-combat swordfighting, she's at her best when she can snipe you with missiles and cannon fire. Sayaka won't let that happen, attempting to overwhelm her offense with her own, striking the heavy two-handed sword with surprising grace!
KTS: Zan has joined GMX-GH101 Goldymarg's bucket! KTS: Sayaka Yumi has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Sayaka Yumi targets Tenryujin with Mazinger Blade: Sweeping Attack! KTS: Sayaka Yumi has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Rita Bernal has deployed in RX-0 Unicorn Gundam 03 Phenex <Unicorn Mode>. KTS: Tetsuya Tsurugi has deployed in Great Mazinger. <Pose Tracker> Qivi has posed.
Critically, Qivi was *not* at Denver and thus technically has a slight advantage on responding; she's not beat up and battered (physically or mentally) and Sarangay is intact.
And it's Sarangay that's here today: a green and black wanzer, wielding a shotgun in one hand and a weighted knuckle guard with a pair of projecting spikes in the other mismatched, bulkier arm; it has a L-shaped shoulder shield mounted on one side and a blocky, square missile box on the other. The logo on the shield - a snorting bull head, ringed with stylized gems in the colours of the rainbow - is distinctive.
Koji's seen it before, as has the rest of the Photon Power League. GOLDYMARG has also seen it before - because Sarangay opposed him at Tsutsujidai, even though she was under the sway of Bujack, and only pushed past that block at the end of the battle.
This time, Qivi is not lost in thoughts and worry, or at least not more than the usual amount. She certainly brought her share of volume, though, as she switches to a Photon League band: "<Hey! Sarangay, coming in hot! I thought you could use a hand and I was in the area to do some upgrades.>"
Sarangay is indeed coming in hot; Qivi fires a pair of missiles from the shoulder launcher at Goldymarg - well, the Marg Titan - as she approaches. It's almost comedic; the Marg Titan is almost fifteen times Sarangay's height. Qivi doesn't even want to think about what comparative weight category that puts it in.
"Big guy, isn't he?" she adds, a moment later. This, she is slightly concerned about. Not fighting Goldymarg, precisely - just getting stepped on.
KTS: Qivi targets GMX-GH101 Goldymarg with MGR-M Launcher Missiles! KTS: Qivi has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Lucine Azul has deployed in Dianthus Mk. 3.
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
Titan G9 - and the Marg Hand attached to it - are the first targets Koji acquires as Mazinger Z freefalls from the Paralus. "No," he snarls, fury making his hands shake on the Pilder's yoke. "Not my home. Not my life's fucking work. SCRANDER CROSS!"
The crimson wings of the Jet Scrander circle around, remote tracking locking them onto their docking course with Mazinger Z's back. The heavy, gold-buckled clamp extends down, locking into place across the Castle of Iron's waist. Photon Power glows, and the thrusters roar, pulling Mazinger Z out of its fall as Koji steers it towards Titan G9.
"GOLDYMAAAAAAAAAAAAAARG!" He roars, spittle flying from his mouth. "YOU COWARD! SCRANDEEEER - CUT!!!"
Mazinger Z passes too close, tilting just so for its bladed wing to bite into Titan G9's shoulder armour in a vicious, metal-screeching flyby attack. Koji uses the impact to guide Z into a controlled spin, landing in a crouch facing the massive kikaiju as it slides back across the wide streets, a wake of asphalt churned up under Z's feet.
"No more of this," he spits. "Your friends are on the way. Soon you'll be back where you belong. Until then - "
The Iron Cutter blades snap out of Z's forearms as it settles into a bruiser stance. "... You go no further." It seems ridiculous for him to say, Mazinger Z so diminutive against the sheer scope of Titan G9's bulk...
... but the Castle of Iron has to hold. Too many people are depending on Mazinger Z for them to abandon their home.
KTS: Koji Kabuto targets GMX-GH101 Goldymarg with Scrander Cut! KTS: Koji Kabuto has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Koji Kabuto has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Koji Kabuto has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Lina Lombardi targets Tenryujin with Mazinger Blade Lunge! KTS: Lina Lombardi has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Lina Lombardi's Biorhythm activates Focus! <Pose Tracker> Lina Lombardi has posed.
Of course, Orbit Base is aware of the Triple Zero emissions just as soon as the PPRL are, and every member of 3G is made aware. Of course, that also includes one of the newest recruits, who by pure chance had been in the vicinity of Fujinomiya, rushing in with a telltale green Ichinana.
"Orbit Base, read! I've made it to the site. It's not good."
Lina understandably did not recognize the two robots in front of her personally. But she knew what...who they were.
"...They're Braves. They're ours."
She sets her sights on the slightly smaller one. Obviously of the same line as Choryujin and the others. She hadn't figured there were any girl ones outside of Germany's. Clearly riddled with Triple Zero, at that. The Ichinana pulls out its Mazinger Blade.
If she could take care of Amuro Goddamn Ray, a Brave Robo shouldn't be too hard!
"Hey! Everyone at Orbit Base is counting on us to get you two back in one piece, so let's get this done quick!" The Ichinana's boosters fire and push Lina towards Tenryujin, blade stretched straight out in a lunge.
KTS: Tenryujin fails to Parry Sayaka Yumi's Mazinger Blade: Sweeping Attack, taking 3600 damage! KTS: Sayaka Yumi has engaged Tenryujin! KTS: Sayaka Yumi begins a Formation attack! KTS: Lina Lombardi anchors Tenryujin, forcing it into close range. KTS: Tenryujin fails to Parry Lina Lombardi's Mazinger Blade Lunge, taking 4320 damage! KTS: Lina Lombardi has engaged Tenryujin! KTS: Lina Lombardi roots her unit, coming to a standstill and leaving her vulnerable. <Pose Tracker> Tetsuya Tsurugi has posed.
Mazinger Z and Aphrodite Areia have never been Fujinomiya's only defenders.
...There's also BOSS BOROT!!
...Whose pilots are currently retired and running the local noodle joint, BOSS RAMEN.
But since the end of the Mycenaean war, there has always been another. The moment the klaxons began to blare, he was on his way. After all--
This isn't just about protecting the labs. Triple Zero is a threat to all who live there.
A threat-- to his wife and son.
"SCRAMBLE--" A voice roars like thunder across the foothills of Mount Fuji, a moment before a black and silver shade nearly clips the tops of several trees with crimson wings. "--CUTTEEEEER!"
A moment later, the sonic boom hits. Simultaneously, Great Mazinger is executing a ramming manuever on King of Ruin Tenryuujin, seeking to carve her in half in a most unpleasant manner (perpendicular, that is, to her symmetrical docking seam). "Tch, you bastards never should have come here. At least wherever you crawled out of, you were still out of my ass-kicking range!" Great Mazinger rolls to a stop, its twin blades sliding into its hands. "You'll never lay a finger on that city, you hear me!?"
KTS: Tetsuya Tsurugi targets Tenryujin with Scramble Cutter! KTS: Tetsuya Tsurugi has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
< ".... Is there a lounge I'll be able to lay down in for a bit? I appreciate you guys looking over the Dianthus. The Nadesico will be in the port nearby in the next two to three days, and Mr. Uribatake said he'll take over any parts left over." >
What Lucine doesn't mention is that Mr. Uribatake meant it in a well-meaning competitive way, aka 'if you guys can't get it up to speed in time, I guess I'll have to take over', but Lucine... has the beginnings of a headache.
Her emergency bottle of headache pills is there to take off some of the strain, but Lucine's 'lucky' colorful owl and flower print compress was loaned to Liam, who has to suffer from an even heftier headache after slamming his psychic mind against the even tighter mental shield of his mind. That's the way Lucine would have termed it, anyway. The best thing a person could do is lay down and sleep, and let their body recover.
Which is what Lucine is doing, having found a corner bench area to snooze in, as if it were the most natural thing to sleep in a place like that.
The swell of alarm from around the ship brings Lucine out of that restful nap, still groggy, poking her head out of her corner. "...... The... ES what...."
Her headache is still here.
=======
The Dianthus deploys like a irritated hawk, zipping up high into the sky, the sun at its back. < "..... Which one...." >
Her eyes go from Goldymarg to Tenryujin, back, and forth.
Eeny, meeny, miney, mo--
The Dianthus dives down on the Tenryujin from above, with no further introductions.
< ".... We're making this quick." >
KTS: Lucine Azul has activated the Dash Spirit Command and has gained proficiency bonus. KTS: Lucine Azul targets Tenryujin with CL0-V3 Glaive Dive! KTS: Lucine Azul has completed their actions for the round.
<Pose Tracker> Zan has posed.
There's a sudden roaring of jets, and the Iron Zanrailer does not wait for Goldymarg's response.
Not when his allies are also attacking. And of course, the thought is how does one enter into a battlefield from orbit regularly?
Zan had at least had some combat basics programmed in, along with some past experiences. This one didn't work on his first deploy, but in this case?
A quick transmission is sent to his allies in the field with a red area of 'Do Not Be Here' as he flies upwards almost like a jump.
And comes downwards at the Titan G9 in a massive stomp.
Straight.
Down.
All bulky 60 meters of robot at that as a nice, big other robot squashing meteor of doom.
"We said stop!" The Iron Zanrailer says.
KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg's Physical Wall L1 activates, negating 1000 base damage. KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg blocks Qivi's MGR-M Launcher Missiles, taking 990 damage! KTS: Zan targets GMX-GH101 Goldymarg with Rail Stomp! KTS: Zan has completed their actions for the round. KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg successfully evades Koji Kabuto's Scrander Cut <Pose Tracker> Rita Bernal has posed.
Within the Paralus hangar, the third Unicorn sister is still. Examinations will find that she's in rough shape -- while not as damaged as she was after the Miracle at Palau, the Phenex has taken significant damage. Most worrying of all, her ever-present glow has extinguished.
Looking at the machine, it's as though Rita Bernal's wish hangs in the air. In her next life...
She's so still.
Alarms blare, echoing even here in the Paralus hangar. Though the Phenex stays still, light flickers deep within her frame, like the first sparks to light a fire. The Photon Power Laboratory had given Rita shelter. They'd given her kindness. It felt warm, and safe, like a memory from when she was a child.
The castle of iron will not fall!
Rita had said this, long ago, in another time and place. A strange twist of fate for her to have witnessed that attack, and the death of Sayaka's partner. Perhaps the similarities between that experience beyond time and this current disaster are enough to speed her flight.
The Phenex's ember-like glow bursts into brilliant radiance. Within her heart, Rita Bernal gasps, having found herself suddenly here, instead of there, in the realm beyond.
It only takes a moment for her to figure out the situation, reading the hearts and minds of those around her. The Light of Dawn has come to attack the Kabuto's home?
Rita familiarizes herself with her Gundam body once again. The Phenex sings at her presence, welcoming her home.
Thank you. They're all safe, now. Able to be themselves and heal.
Humming with psychic strength, the Phenex steps forward. Her wings lift from her back, and she gently takes to the air. It's a silent, graceful motion. No motors. No engines. No thrusters. Rita Bernal's grace is sufficient.
I'm sorry to have kept you waiting! Thank you for bringing the Phenex back!
Rita broadcasts her voice to her friends as the firebird darts out of the hangar, chasing after Mazinger Z. She orbits around him once, playfully, before darting away. Without knowing who these new enemies are, Rita isn't entirely sure how to approach them. But they are upsetting her friends, so they must be dealt with.
Bearers of the Light of Dawn. I will not allow your sickness to spread here. Turn back.
In a burst of light, the Phenex appears before Goldymarg. Her arm raises, and the twin shields at her back answer the gesture. They launch forward at blinding speed, racing to impact with the strange being in front of the Gundam.
Don't be afraid. I'm with you.
A quick word of reassurance for her friends. Rita's tone is warm.
KTS: Rita Bernal targets GMX-GH101 Goldymarg with Phenex Kite Shield Dual Strike! KTS: Rita Bernal has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> LiSA has posed.
There's a pause for a moment before any communication is had with the Photon Power Research Lab, but communications are neatly hooked into the trio - the Mazinger, Great Mazinger, and the Aphrodite Areia with a initial burst of static. The voice that comes in is probably refreshingly familiar.
"Photon Power Research Lab, reaching out to the Paralus transport and pilots Yumi, Kabuto, Tsuruji! This is LiSA, emergency deployment with the Jet Scrander is activated and it's en route!"
The Scrander barely has time to solidify the connection before Koji puts it to good use, and LiSA barely hs time to hook herself into the system before she's calling up status and details. "Uncle Tetsuya won't be as bad, but you and miss Sayaka are going to need to hit fast and hard - but why am I telling you this, you should know this!" She shouts out to Koji, but then pauses at a sight that to her, she is happy to see.
"Hi, Rita!" Truly a teenager.
KTS: LiSA targets Koji Kabuto with Coordinate! KTS: LiSA has completed their actions for the round. KTS: LiSA coordinates maneuvers, raising Koji Kabuto's Piloting! KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg's Physical Wall L1 activates, negating 1000 base damage. KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg fails to evade Zan's Rail Stomp, taking 4050 damage! KTS: Zan has engaged GMX-GH101 Goldymarg! KTS: Zan roots its unit, coming to a standstill and leaving it vulnerable. KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg charges into the attack! KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg's Physical Wall L1 activates, negating 1000 base damage. KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg partially guards Rita Bernal's Phenex Kite Shield Dual Strike, taking 2100 damage! KTS: Tenryujin has activated the Alert Spirit Command. KTS: Tenryujin fails to Parry Tetsuya Tsurugi's Scramble Cutter, taking 3150 damage! KTS: Tetsuya Tsurugi has engaged Tenryujin! KTS: Tenryujin fails to Evade Lucine Azul's CL0-V3 Glaive Dive, taking 2700 damage! KTS: Lucine Azul has engaged Tenryujin! <Pose Tracker> Tenryujin has posed.
They're only going to have one shot at this. TenRyuJin continues her sprint for the Lab--and by now it's clear that's exactly where the both of them are going--with a single-minded focus. But she's a composite Super AI, and she's got processing power to spare for an evolving, chaotic situation.
So focused is she, at first, that she puts up the barest resistance to Sayaka's lunge, an emerald-green blade snapping into existence to turn that deadly stab into something more managable. The Mazinger Blade takes a chunk out of TenRyuJin's shoulder, T0-infected metal spraying across the ground. Lina's blade cuts across the small of her back, tracing a matching wound. Tetsuya comes in a moment later, ripping into TenRyuJin's breastplate, but a last-second twist saves her from damage to crucial machinery. The Dianthus, for its part, jams its glaive into her other shoulder.
Through it all, TenRyuJin's cores calculate, compensate for damage, prioritize, even debate a bit. The mission takes priority, but this resistance...
T0, for all its antipathy for intelligent life, imbues what it infects with a surplus of life. "I respect your courage, Sayaka Yumi." TenRyuJin turns her next step into a leap, pirouetting and landing in a half-crouch, facing Aphrodite Areia. "And yours, Tetsuya Tsurugi." The edges of her wounds erupt into strands of metal, and they start stitching themselves closed.
"But you know what we must do. It pains us, but... our duty comes first. Our comrades come first."
TenRyuJin slips into a gunner's stance, and the missile launcher on her left arm slides open. Bright dawn-orange warheads gleam, and then launch, one after another, towards the Dianthus and Lina's Ichinana. They erupt--either on contact or proximity--into clouds of mildly-corrosive smoke, laced with T0 particles. Not enough to infect, but certainly not something to breathe in.
The maser cannon on TenRyuJin's right arm extends simultaneously, glowing with baleful light. It traces a beam across Great Mazinger's chest, sweeping towards the cockpit in its head, before reflecting off part of Tetsuya's machine. The beam adjusts slightly, the refraction heading right for Aphrodite Areia.
Even then, TenRyuJin picks up a signature that doesn't wholly make sense. <A drone,> she transmits, to Goldymarg. <Detecting vast quantities of Psychoframe, but no life signs.>
It's gorgeous, though, thinks AnRyu. Like something out of one of those magical girl shows, but a Gundam!
KTS: Tenryujin has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Tenryujin targets Tetsuya Tsurugi with Powered Arm Maser Cannon! KTS: Tenryujin targets Sayaka Yumi with Yellowlined Maser Cannon! KTS: Tenryujin Changes attack to Lucine Azul and Lina Lombardi with Smoke Missile Rain. KTS: Tenryujin has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Sayaka Yumi's EN Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage. KTS: Sayaka Yumi fails to react to Tenryujin's Yellowlined Maser Cannon, taking 3410 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 11490 KTS: Your EN is now 77. KTS: Tenryujin rattles Lina Lombardi, making her next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Lina Lombardi blocks Tenryujin's Smoke Missile Rain, taking 2700 damage! KTS: Tenryujin begins a Formation attack! KTS: Lucine Azul has activated the Alert Spirit Command. KTS: Lucine Azul has activated the Alert Spirit Command. KTS: Lucine Azul fails to retreat. KTS: Tenryujin rattles Lucine Azul, making her next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Lucine Azul fails to evade Tenryujin's Smoke Missile Rain, taking 4680 damage! KTS: Tenryujin begins a Formation attack! KTS: Tetsuya Tsurugi blocks Tenryujin's Powered Arm Maser Cannon, taking 3570 damage! <Pose Tracker> GMX-GH101 Goldymarg has posed.
"HAH! Kabuto! There you are, old man!" Goldymarg cackles, and throws the Titan's arm up in the path of the oncoming cutter. It deflects the attack completely, photonizing a few atoms of the wing in the process. He's going all out...he's got his field deployed, even. "Heh. What makes you so sure they're on their way, Black Iron Castle?"
"KOJI!" That voice is staticky, through the radio: It's Guy. "Koji, Lina, Zan, they've got Orbit Base locked down! You're all we can send right now! Alouette's working on getting our systems up but it's gonna take time--HGK!"
That was presumably the sound of him getting socked in the face by a Zero Robo.
The Goldion hammer thrusts out toward Qivi's waves of missiles, a gravitational shockwave turning the whole set of them to scattering photons. "Not gonna make it that easy for ya, little lady!"
Then Zan lands directly on the Titan's head, forces enough that even that goliath sinks into the ground, shattering concrete as the force travels through its body, feet sinking into city substructure. "HHHNG whoa!! Big fella! You one of the new guys? Actually. Trains. Are you with Senpuuji?"
He reaches up with one hand, grabbing Zan by the uhhh entire lower body with an ENORMOUS mitt, and then PITCHES him toward the edge of the city. "NOT LIKE IT MATTERS!"
Then he levels the hammer at the sky. The space above warps, lenses - the air molecules start to shimmer away into a cloud of miasmic light, just before Goldy fires a cannon shot out of the Zero Titan's heart lens, which lenses through the bent gravitation such that it rakes raw power across both Phenex and Qivi. <That's the Phenex. Taiga said it should be down for the count after yesterday...unpiloted replica, maybe? You'd think they'd stop makin' stuff out of shit that can turn the sky inside out. But I guess if they'd do that...this wouldn't be necessary, huh?> Just a little sorrow leaks into his voice, before he redoubles his focus, pointing once more at the sky - and a WAVE of photonizing power rushes away from the Hamemr toward Mazinger Z. "HUAH!"
KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg targets Zan with Colossal Scale Smash! KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg targets Koji Kabuto with Directed Gravity Shockwave! KTS: GMX-GH101_Goldymarg Changes attack to Qivi and Rita Bernal with Zero Warp Blasts. KTS: Rita Bernal has activated the Foresee Spirit Command. KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Qivi fails to Charge. KTS: Qivi partially guards GMX-GH101 Goldymarg's Zero Warp Blasts, taking 5060 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] GMX-GH101 Goldymarg's Brave Spirit activates, causing Sparkle! KTS: Rita Bernal retreats from the attack! KTS: Rita Bernal fails to evade GMX-GH101 Goldymarg's Zero Warp Blasts, taking 5520 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] GMX-GH101 Goldymarg's Brave Spirit activates, causing Sparkle! KTS: Koji Kabuto fails to evade GMX-GH101 Goldymarg's Directed Gravity Shockwave, taking 7080 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] GMX-GH101 Goldymarg's Brave Spirit activates, causing Sparkle! <Pose Tracker> Lina Lombardi has posed.
Lina, unable to dodge in time, tries her best to block the impact of the missiles with the Ichinana's arm. It takes a beating, but she's still in pretty good shape. She lets out an involuntary whistle at that. She'd probably have been toast in the nightmare. "I know it ain't the time, but damn, you sure know how to make 'em, Dr. Kabuto."
At the same time, Rita's voice crosses her mind and she notices the Phenex out of the corner of her eye. Son of a bitch, she could just start crying right then and there if she wasn't so distracted. She attempts to reach out to her. It's been a while, but...
Rita! Dio mio! I'm so glad to see you're okay! ...Is this where you went this whole time? I could have come and visited!
"Gotcha, Guy! I'll make you proud!" Lina pushes back just a bit out of melee range, raising the Ichinana's MG arm towards TenRyuJin. "Open your eyes! Your comrades are standing right in front of you! Article 5, Chapter 14! I know you have to remember it!" A burst of fire shoots from the MG directly towards the Brave.
KTS: Zan blocks GMX-GH101 Goldymarg's Colossal Scale Smash, taking 3300 damage! KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg has engaged Zan! KTS: Lina Lombardi targets Tenryujin with Ichinana MG Burst! KTS: Lina Lombardi has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Lina Lombardi's Biorhythm activates Alert! KTS: Tenryujin successfully Evades Lina Lombardi's Ichinana MG Burst <Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
Koji winces as he hears Guy get socked in the jaw and the transmission cut off, bringing Mazinger Z's arms up to defend against the gravity shockwave.
'Defend against the gravity shockwave' is a fine idea in theory. In practice, though, it basically just means that the Black Iron Castle's bulk and weight is turned against it, Super Alloy Z straining against crushing force.
Warnings sound in the Hover Pilder as its own fuselage shudders against the force. Gritting his teeth, Koji flicks switches, and Mazinger Z's horns crackle with a chill blue light. "REITO BEAM!" twin icy rays jab out into the gravity pressure, aimed originally at Titan's centre-mass - but curving as Koji exploits the attack being pointed at him to redirect the rays towards the massive kikaiju's elbow, where the Marg Hand attaches.
"I'm sure, Goldy... for the same reason I know I have to give my all. They'll make it - because they're Braves, like you."
"Besides," he grins, cockily despite himself. "If I just let you walk right through my hometown, then by the time they do manage to get this energy out of you you'll be stuck throwing just the biggest sulk about all the mess you made of your friends' lives, and nobody wants to see that."
KTS: Koji Kabuto targets GMX-GH101 Goldymarg with Reito Beam! KTS: Koji Kabuto has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Rita Bernal has posed.
Hi, LiSA!
If LiSA's a teenager, Rita isn't far ahead of her. It's refreshing to be greeted with such happiness. The Phenex waves LiSA's way. How nice to see a friend after such an awful battle. And LiSA isn't the only one.
Lina! It's a little complicated. I'll tell you everything the next time we can talk, I promise. It's been a long, strange path, but it's finally, finally over. TenRyuJin speaks of the Phenex, and Rita responds with a quiet laugh.
Yes, exactly. I'm surprised you don't know that much already, with your dawntouched knowledge.
If she could hear AnRyu's thoughts, Rita would certainly be pleased. The Phenex has always been sensitive about looking so different from her sisters. She deserves to be praised.
However, any amusement Rita feels at TenRyuJin's words quickly evaporates as Goldymarg chimes in.
A replica! There could never be another Phenex! Even if you made something in her image, it would be a dead piece of trash in comparison! Nothing can compare to her, and none can match her!
So upset with this concept, Rita fails to react in time to Goldymarg's attack, taking a burst of his power. Golden armor cracks, and the Gundam plummets for a few seconds, but quickly recovers. Darting away, faster than any living pilot could endure, she seeks to gain height on her enemy.
If you can't hear my voice, and you don't believe in what I've done for this world. I'll show you, now.
Miraculous light builds around the Phenex -- unidentifiable and impossible. It seems to have no rational origin, simply appearing around the unpiloted Gundam as she raises her arms. It's only a hint of her strength. Rita isn't sure how far she can push herself after what she went through yesterday.
There will never be an end to Miracles!
Gathering itself into the form of a great bird, the Phenex's otherworldly light races toward Goldymarg in an attempt to vanish some of his armor -- or at least burn him enough to create an opening for her friends.
KTS: Rita Bernal targets GMX-GH101 Goldymarg with Magnetic Midnight! KTS: Rita Bernal has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Zan has posed.
The Iron Zanrailer is distracted by the 3G transmission. Enough that the enormous mitt almost closes in before the train robot pushes back. Steam hisses before the throw happens and the Iron Zanrailer goes head over heels not quite the distance, but still pretty far before it does a roll, flip, and the back jets blaze as it slows itself with both hands on the ground.
Various car alarms go off thanks to all of that, but the other resident big robot stands up.
Switching internally, Zan sends a reply, "We hear you, Guy-sempai. Concentrate there, please. We will handle this. Brave to Brave if we have to."
The Iron Zanrailer rises up to it's feet, head moving back and forth as it gets it's bearings. Being thrown is a new one for him. And he now wonders if he can in a way return the favor. Fighting something that's not an Angel but on an equally as massive scale.
He does feel the need to respond to Goldymarg, however. "Senpuuji is one of the companies that created me. I am one of the new Braves."
Charging forward, a punch is drawn back and thrown, "The Orbital Knight, Iron Zanrailer!"
Said punch is thrown as an uppercut as Zan tries to use his equally massive strength to knock Titan G9 around.
KTS: Zan targets GMX-GH101 Goldymarg with Iron Punch! KTS: Zan has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Qivi has posed.
Qivi takes stock of the battlefield while she's looking for a clean approach. (Mysteriously it's pretty hard to find a safe way to get close to someone who basically dominates his entire area. Especially with someone else doing a disco laser show across the other half.)
She recognizes the Phenex - by this point, how can you not? - but she wasn't expecting to see it *here*. "Hey, watch out!" she calls anyway, possibly unnecessarily - but she knows that normal shielding doesn't stop most of what Goldymarg does, having fought him once before.
Sarangay crouches slightly as its landspinners whine, accelerating rapidly. The back-mounted jump booster that Qivi likes takes a few moments longer to kick on, sending Sarangay into the air -
- just in time for her to pull up when a train robot lands right on Goldymarg's head.
It's not Zan's fault but it does change her flight path enough that she can't avoid the cannon shot; it rakes across Sarangay's front, causing a spray of sparks and half-melted metal without quite penetrating all the way through. "Ah, hot hot hot!" Qivi fires the oversized harken, yanking herself forward toward Goldymarg (she's never going to move the Marg Titan with that thing).
Cranking the harken's cable, Sarangay accelerates rapidly, coming in fist-first to drive the spiked knuckles directly toward Marg Titan's...
...well, hip really. She didn't get up any higher than that. Qivi fires the second harken to try to hook it higher up so she has something else to climb with.
KTS: Qivi targets GMX-GH101 Goldymarg with Double Nail Rush Punch! KTS: Qivi has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Tetsuya Tsurugi has posed.
"Save it, Tenryujin," Tetsuya growls. "You and I both know there's no reasoning with you right now. Good for me, I don't intend to do any reasoning here at all." She's regenerating. Of course, he expected that by now. Triple Zero's scions are nothing if not resilient.
Missiles arc through the air, but what comes for Tetsuya is--
A beam of pure, triple zero-powered microwave energy. It doesn't take him long to understand what she's going for. A direct hit on the cockpit wouldn't just put him out of commission, it'd potentially turn him to their baleful cause.
This is, of course, utterly unnacceptable.
The beam rakes across Great Mazinger's frame, carving a sizzling arc, but when it lances up toward the cockpit, it meets only two heavily-armored limbs before scything away.
"...Not going to be that easy," Tetsuya answers. Great Mazinger rushes in, blade flashing in a sudden arc to try and slice the maser clean off her shoulders. "Everyone, do you read? There's a slight delay between when they take damage and when they regenerate. Regardless of how powerful they are, if we can exploit the interval, we can press the advantage! Tear them apart-- we can always put them back together again afterwards!"
KTS: Tetsuya Tsurugi targets Tenryujin with Mazinger Blade! KTS: Tetsuya Tsurugi has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
"You picked a hell of a time to be in the area," Sayaka remarks as the Sarangay opens communications. "Terribly sorry for the trouble, but thanks for the backup, Qivi!" So brave, that tiny 6m machine charging against the 100m monstrosity with no more than missiles.
More and more allies take to the streets of Fujinomiya - Lucine, a new GGG transfer, a Super AI Brave, and none more reassuring than the Great Hero Tetsuya Tsurugi himself, here to give the Ruin Apostles a good talking to - and a good ass-kicking along with it. "God am I glad you're here," Sayaka breathes out, as Mazinger Blade and Scramble Cutter strike in unison.
Even Rita and the Phenex descend, after she and Koji thought her unconscious, even though she should be resting, declaring that the Castle of Iron will never fall. It begins to sink in - they don't have to defend their life's work, and most of all, their home by themselves.
"Rita, you're..." She can't chide Rita for this, when they need everything they can get. "Thank you. Just don't underestimate them. They were once some of our greatest allies, and now they're bound to be one of the fiercest enemies we've ever faced. And in your state..." GoldyMarg is sure to be a threat even to the miraculous third Unicorn Gundam.
Thanks to LiSA's efforts, she can hear Koji's tone of voice quite vividly. She knows - there's a greater anger underlying it than most foes get to hear. And the way he's fighting? It's unmistakeable - he's not holding back one bit. "We won't let them take our home and destroy everything we've worked towards." She agrees. "So just hang on... wejust need to hold them off until 3G can send purifiers!"
TenRyuJin - dancing forth with certain grace as she engages Aphrodite Areia, regards Sayaka and Tetsuya's courage - but the Ruin Apostles have a duty all the same. "If you get your way, you won't even have a duty left to fulfill." Sayaka counters, as the light of dawn in the form of maser cannon fire washes over Areia's Photon Barrier - almost as if the two energies are utterly repulsed by each other.
"So you'll forgive me if I priortize my own duty of protecting the people of this city, no, of the entire Earth Sphere! I will not let the light of the future be snuffed out by the Aura of Dawn.
Tetsuya has an idea of his own. If they can just disrupt the regeneration of the Light of Dawn... "I got it, Tetsuya! RUUUUUST CYCLOOONE!"
Corrosive winds flow from Areia's heat sink grills that double as a mouthguard. It aims to melt away TenRyuJin's very form, and disrupt the Symmetrical Docking mechanism that keeps her together. Although TenRyuJin can easily simply use the power of Triple Zero to regenerate, it's intended to very much take her off her guard.
In Orbit Base, Alouette finds herself locked into a very different type of battlefield, the digital one! Against none other than Entouji himself, of course. She's able to prevent him from causing the absolute worst case scenario that Inubouzaki did all those years ago, but --
"Ugh... he's just as good as I remember! We're locked in a total stalemate, Guy!" She reports, as he desperately tries to get through to the Photon Power Labs. She'll keep fighting as hard as she must, too.
KTS: Sayaka Yumi targets Tenryujin with Rust Cyclone! KTS: Sayaka Yumi has completed their actions for the round. KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 77. KTS: SP Regen activates. Your new SP value is 70. KTS: Tenryujin fails to Parry Tetsuya Tsurugi's Mazinger Blade, taking 2025 damage! KTS: Tetsuya Tsurugi has engaged Tenryujin! KTS: Tetsuya Tsurugi continues a Formation attack! KTS: Tenryujin fails to Evade Sayaka Yumi's Rust Cyclone, taking 3720 damage! KTS: Sayaka Yumi repulses Tenryujin, forcing it to disengage. KTS: Sayaka Yumi continues a Formation attack!
<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
The Dianthus lands its mark. < "... Got you." > It's not quite as smooth a 'skip' as Lucine would have liked for the sake of her headache, but that's just how gravity rolls sometimes.
Which also means, since TenRyuJin is faster at calculating how to counterattack, the Dianthus is right in the wrong spot.
< "Ghhh...." > Unable to retreat in time, Lucine's sight is clouded and her mind even cloudier.
Which makes Rita's appearance all the more stirring, since, before, Lucine wasn't even sure if Rita was alive. < "Rita!!" > Lucine looks up towards the Phenex as it rises, once again resembling its namesake in more than just appearance.
Her headache feels a little more distant, now.
< ".... I owe all of you a lot for repairing the Dianthus." > Lucine smiles, hearing Sayaka. < ".... And for helping my friends. I won't let them destroy all your hard work." >
Focusing back towards TenRyujin, gold eyes shining with renewed will, Lucine pilots the Dianthus around, the horned crown at its head charging with ethereal pick light, then focusing into a bright ray.
< ".... we have *exactly* the amount we need to pound you two back." > Foolhardy words from a small unit, but perhaps the orange miasma isn't the only force of will that could be picked up here.
KTS: Lucine Azul targets Tenryujin with Lunate Crown v.2 Bolt! KTS: Lucine Azul has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> LiSA has posed.
"You know..." Lisa says, remarkably calmly, with her own grin on her face as she temporarily kills comms - "I think you're supposed to dodge that, Master!"
Master? There's a term that hasn't been broken out in awhile. "Let's see... that's coordination, I'm keeping an eye on the ... IS THAT QIVI?" LiSA only just now spots the Sarangay going mountain climbing. "... I... impressive..." Now she's definitely a teenager. Listen to her squee.
"... ahem." She coughs. "I'm not going to tell you to chill, but ..." A pause. "You know, perhaps, hit it harder?"
You know, sometimes that's valid advice.
KTS: LiSA targets Koji Kabuto with All-Out! KTS: LiSA has completed their actions for the round. KTS: LiSA orders an all-out attack, raising Koji Kabuto's Skill! KTS: Koji Kabuto rattles GMX-GH101 Goldymarg, making his next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg partially guards Koji Kabuto's Reito Beam, taking 2900 damage! KTS: Koji Kabuto begins a Formation attack! KTS: Tenryujin successfully Evades Lucine Azul's Lunate Crown v.2 Bolt <Pose Tracker> Tenryujin has posed.
Goldymarg's transmission stirs conversation between the cores.
That's the Phenex? thinks AnRyu.
Yes, of course that's the Phenex, thinks KouRyu. As mentioned in the briefing, and the one before that. An embodiment of Miracles.
But there's no pilot, thinks AnRyu. Did they... make one of us that can do that? Wait, why is it waving?
Unknown. Yes, it's pretty, but it's a threat.
<Take it out, then,> is the decision from TenRyuJin, as if the matter were ever in question. If there is sadness in her voice, it must be put aside for the greater good.
"My comrades are risking everything for a future they will never see," says TenRyuJin, whirling on Lina. "Did Orbit Base recruit you in their absence?" Lina sweeps the machine gun for her, and she tumbles out of the way, performing a flawless combat roll as bullets rip into the ground. She comes to a knee behind a (thankfully-evacuated) convenience store, half-hidden by it and the e-vehicle chargers out in front.
"I know. And I will not give up the mission while everything is at stake." A beat. "And there never was any reasoning with you, Tetsuya. That's Jun's job, isn't it?" A playful ribbing of a comrade, as if this weren't a battlefield. As if she didn't have to kill or turn him. "I know, Sayaka. But there's no other way. Besides, even duty cannot last forever."
As she speaks, bright emerald blades snap from TenRyuJin's wrists, and one of them whips up in a parry. She's not prepared for the raw power behind Tetsuya's strike, though--she's never fought him, never had to fight him--and his blade carves into her hip. She steps to the side, the maser cannon whipping up and firing at Great Mazinger at point-blank range. TenRyuJin backflips, lands in the middle of an intersection, and takes aim again. The beam shoots off a lamppost, off an insulated windowpane, off a parked car, and then lances in for a second blast right to Great Mazinger's back. Exactly where the Booster mounts.
Sayaka stops her before she can do anything more. The Rust Hurricane is ruinous to anything robotic, and GGG's Brave Robos are no exception. TenRyuJin braces, as if walking into gale-force winds, and tries to endure it, even as it sandblasts her paint and the armor beneath. Little sparkles of Z0-similar ignite, as she starts to regenerate again, and...
"And who are you?" TenRyuJin asks, as she executes another of those graceful, dance-like dodges. She twists and leaps, and a traffic display eats the Dianthus' fury, shattering and melting.
The smoke continues to drift across the battlefield. The T0 concentration is thin enough to tolerate, but that's not the dangerous part. TenRyuJin takes a knee, and aims her maser cannon at... nothing. At the smoke. At the vast, billowing cloud of smoke, composed of reflective nanoparticulate. Nanoparticulate designed to reflect masers, in emulation of Pasder's ultimate technique.
TenRyuJin fires. The cloud and everything inside turn into a killer maze of refracted energy.
KTS: Tenryujin targets Tetsuya Tsurugi with Primrose Moon! KTS: Tenryujin Changes attack to Lucine Azul, Lina Lombardi, and Sayaka Yumi with Dance of Light and Darkness - Mass Razing. KTS: Tenryujin has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Tetsuya Tsurugi has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Tetsuya Tsurugi has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Tetsuya Tsurugi blocks Tenryujin's Primrose Moon, taking 4575 damage! KTS: Tenryujin roots its unit, coming to a standstill and leaving it vulnerable. KTS: Sayaka Yumi has activated the Foresee Spirit Command. KTS: Sayaka Yumi's EN Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage. KTS: Sayaka Yumi blocks Tenryujin's Dance of Light and Darkness - Mass Razing, taking 2870 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 8620 KTS: Your EN is now 69. KTS: Lina Lombardi has activated the Attune Spirit Command. KTS: Lina Lombardi has activated the Attune Spirit Command. KTS: Lina Lombardi fails to rush. KTS: Lina Lombardi partially guards Tenryujin's Dance of Light and Darkness - Mass Razing, taking 5980 damage! KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg's Physical Wall L1 activates, negating 1000 base damage. KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg partially guards Qivi's Double Nail Rush Punch, taking 2025 damage! KTS: Qivi has engaged GMX-GH101 Goldymarg! 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. KTS: Lucine Azul retreats from the attack! KTS: Lucine Azul fails to evade Tenryujin's Dance of Light and Darkness - Mass Razing, taking 5980 damage! <Pose Tracker> Lina Lombardi has posed.
Lina attempts to boost out of the cloud of energy, but only manages to slightly mitigate the hit. Damn, the Ichinana was good, but a Brave Robo obviously outclassed it a fair bit.
"Yeah, I'm new. Allow me to introduce myself. Lina Lombardi, 3G Green!"
The Ichinana's arms cross over its chest, the panels on the front glowing red.
"I look forward to working with you. And I WILL be working with you!"
The arms pull back to the sides, chest burning red hot.
"Fuoco..."
"AL PETTO!"
The Ichinana's patented Breast Fire shoots out towards Tenryujin!
KTS: Lina Lombardi targets Tenryujin with Ichinana Breast Fire! KTS: Lina Lombardi has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Lina Lombardi's Biorhythm activates Trick!
<Pose Tracker> GMX-GH101 Goldymarg has posed.
Goldymarg emits a startled "WHAARG!?" as the Marg Titan's elbow starts to freeze. It's powerful, but with the enormous mass involved...it's tough to truly lock down the enormous Bravified T0-Infused Kikaiju.
"Khh. That's not a concern you're gonna have for long, Kabuto. The miracle of photon power...there's only one more thing for it to do.[normal}"
Heck does that mean? He doesn't answer before Sarangay swerves in and 3D Maneuvering Gears him directly in the hip, causing the entire strcuture to thunder loudly - but her knuckles flicker and start to fade so close to the machine. The whole Titan is infused with a Gravity Field! Staying up close will be dangerous for long!
Zan also gets to encounter that. The Titan squares up in a boxer's stance in rseponse to Zan's challenge. "Zanrailer, eh!? I like it! But sorry, I can't play fair for you today!" Goldy yells, and a bolt of Zero-infused light erupts from the Titan's laser batteries, spraying across Zan's fist.
The Titan's massive fist grabs at the Marg Hand attached to its other arm, almost comically small in comparison...but it grasps something there. "Alright, let's nip this one in the bud," Goldy says, and draws out a Mirror Particle nail, and then aims to STAB IT into the Sarangay. If he can, it'll pierce harmlessly through the cockpit...and then grab it, ready to completely extract it from the machine.
Then he swerves around and lashes out at Koji iwth the arm he didn't freeze, aiming to simply punch him out of the air. All that attended, he looks toward Rita.
<Battlefield, do you read!? This is Executive Advisor Yang Long-Li. I've received Intelligence's assessment of their plan. It's just like the attack on the Great Wall of China but ZX-05! They're going to plug Tenryujin into the Photon Power Reactor and use it to fire an enormous maser beam! With her abilities they could overwhelm any defensive system anywhere. You must stop them!>
"Yeah," Goldy says, Marg Titan stalking toward Rita...and raising its hand. The hand with the Goldion Hammer. It explodes into light.
"GOOD LUCK WITH THAT! NOT ONE MORE MIRACLE ON MY WATCH!" Goldymarg thunders, and then DESCENDS, trailing an enormous exploding wall of photonized air - and then crashing toward the Phenex.
Anything it touches, transformed by sheering Gravitational Shockwaves into expanding motes of harmless light...!!
KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg targets Qivi with Hammer Heaven! KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg targets Koji Kabuto with Colossal Scale Smash! KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg targets Zan with Zero Blaster Cannon! KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg targets Rita Bernal with Goldion Hammer! KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Zan blocks GMX-GH101 Goldymarg's Zero Blaster Cannon, taking 2870 damage! KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg begins a Formation attack! KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg rattles Qivi, making her next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Qivi blocks GMX-GH101 Goldymarg's Hammer Heaven, taking 5400 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] GMX-GH101 Goldymarg's Brave Spirit activates, causing Sparkle! KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg has engaged Qivi! KTS: Koji Kabuto has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Koji Kabuto has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Rita Bernal has activated the Foresee Spirit Command. KTS: Rita Bernal has activated the Foresee Spirit Command. KTS: Koji Kabuto fails to Parry GMX-GH101 Goldymarg's Colossal Scale Smash, taking 4840 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] GMX-GH101 Goldymarg's Brave Spirit activates, causing Sparkle! KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg has engaged Koji Kabuto! KTS: Rita Bernal has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Qivi KTS: Rita Bernal fails to Evade GMX-GH101 Goldymarg's Goldion Hammer, taking 7320 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] GMX-GH101 Goldymarg's Brave Spirit activates, causing Sparkle! KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg has engaged Rita Bernal! <Pose Tracker> Tetsuya Tsurugi has posed.
"Now more than ever," Tetsuya bites back as the Mazinger Blade hews through Tenryujin's Double Nail Files. It won't be long until they regenerate as well. Though his sword bites into metallic flesh, her deflection served its purpose. That maser cannon is allowed to fire again, blasting again into crossed arms instead of directly into the Brain Condor. The flash, though--
Obscured her second target.
"Ghh-" Tetsuya grunts. Great Mazinger staggers, its scrander flash-boiled. Alerts flash across his display. Safe mounting for the Great Booster is now-- impossible. Tetsuya's teeth grit-- before the corners of his mouth tip up into a terrifying grin. "After all, Jun..."
Great Mazinger twists, as a booming roar suddenly blasts through the smoke cloud. Wind stirs-- bellows. A veritable storm erupts from Great Mazinger's face-grill, tearing through the darkness and scattering it to the far corners...! "...Jun has to make sure I don't give our son any stupid ideas!"
The storm rages as Great Mazinger guides its wrath, directing it straight at the Queen of Ruin herself! It might just be enough to hurl Tenryujin into the distant slopes of Mount Fuji if she's not careful...!
KTS: Tetsuya Tsurugi targets Tenryujin with Great Typhoon! KTS: Tetsuya Tsurugi has completed their actions for the round. KTS: LiSA has activated the Rouse Spirit Command targeting Sayaka Yumi KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg partially guards Rita Bernal's Magnetic Midnight, taking 1860 damage! KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg successfully avoids Zan's Iron Punch KTS: Tenryujin successfully Evades Lina Lombardi's Ichinana Breast Fire KTS: Lina Lombardi completes the Formation attack! <Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
"They're going to - "
Koji doesn't have Rita's 'gift' of foresight - but he has a scientist's imagination.
Maser beams ripping out from a Zero Robo the size of the city, sweeping through and obliterating even Britannia's incredible defenses.
... The power of the Dawn crawling below the mountain, and finding -
Titan's palm comes down, straight on top of Mazinger Z.
"Rrrrrrgh....." Photon Power flows through buckled, tortured Super Alloy New Z as Koji pushes back, the massive hand being forced back upwards as he hauls back on the Pilder yoke. "Get... Off me...!"
Crackling air is sucked into Mazinger Z's face grille. "RUST HURRICANE!"
The power of the charged energy in the Castle of Iron's terrible devil's breath is unlikely to force Titan G9 back as far as Great's Typhoon might catch TenRyuJin... but more importantly, it'll chew through the massive kikaiju's armour and make it much easier for the others to reduce Goldymarg's puppet to slag and focus their attention on the Marg Hand.
KTS: Koji Kabuto targets GMX-GH101 Goldymarg with Rust Hurricane! KTS: Koji Kabuto has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Zan has posed.
The cannon fire blasts back the Iron Zanrailer's fist, causing it to stumble and turn slightly as it gets it's footing once again.
It turns it's head back to see the one thing that all the reports that Zan has studied show he doesn't want to happen to his allies. Shoot, to him!
"No!" The Iron Zanrailer calls out, staring almost.
When it moves again, it's bringing another fist back. Only it doesn't step this time as it throws a punch. "ROCKET PUNCH!"
There's a loud bang as the thrusters on the wrist release and the rocket punch tries to sock the Titan G9 hard and hopefully drive it backwards away from the allies that are now in danger.
"Get away from them! You will not kill them while I am here!" The train robot yells.
KTS: Zan has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: Zan targets GMX-GH101 Goldymarg with Rocket Punch! KTS: Zan has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
'And who are you?' Lucine doesn't even know if TenRyuJin's words are directed towards her; between just trying to land an attack and dodging TenRyuJin's own.
< ".... I am Lucine Azul... and I..." > A moment passes, as Lucine struggles for something to carry some amount of dramatic flair. < ".... I have a headache..." >
She may have had an easier time with Goldymarg-- on second thought, she never wanted to be smashed into light. That attack is *terrifying*.
That is, when Lucine was able to *see* it, because it's getting harder and harder to see.
Lucine's been through enough Martian sandstorms to know that piloting in them can be deadly enough if you're unable to determine where the ground meets the sky, as well as if you're being hunted by it. < ".... Watch out!" > She can't focus beyond her own suit to help anyone else; she knows what can come next.
Only, she doesn't, because all of her senses simply tell her that she's in danger no matter how far back she retreats.
< "This entire field.... it's worse than a sandstorm, it's the means of attaGK--" >
The Dianthus breaks high enough to pass the field, but only because of the helpful propulsion of TenRyuJin's refracted energy attack.
Beepbeepbeepbeep
The dashboard's in the red again.
< "..... Sayaka. Lina. Tetsuya. Going in with my hardest hitting attack. Make the most of it... Paging coordinates. If she evades me you might be able to catch her during it." > High above in the sky, Lucine has the Dianthus draws the sliver line of her glaive. < "If I catch her, maybe I can pin her down for a few moments." >
And like before, when she first dived, the Dianthus falls down at a dizzying (unfortunately so) rate, the point of the glaive directed squarely as best as she could estimate TenRyuJin's position. However, while that corrected itself moments before landing, this brings the force down upon TenRyuJin, making both potentially vulernable to attacks.
..... If Lucine is lucky enough to land that hit.
KTS: Lucine Azul targets Tenryujin with CL0-V3 Glaive Dragoon! KTS: Lucine Azul has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Tenryujin fails to evade Tetsuya Tsurugi's Great Typhoon, taking 4560 damage! KTS: Tetsuya Tsurugi begins a Formation attack! <Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
Lucine says she owes the Labs for repairing the Dianthus? "That one? It's on the house. Thank you for fighting alongside us at our time of need, Lucine." After all, they need to throw everything they got at those two Ruin Apostles, or there will be no more house to have it on!
TenRyuJin's insistence that there's no other way gets what one might think is a slightly annoyed scoff from Sayaka. "I've been hearing that one a lot, lately." And she's not naming any names, RITA. "If you truly think there's no other way, then I'll prove you wrong everytime!" She challenges the Conqueror Queen in defiance.
"Small and insignificant as we are compared to the cosmos, which give birth to power like Triple Zero, we still hold the power to change fate. I'll show you that power, and reuinite you with your companions for good." But that light - and the darkness that follows is vexing. She knows TenRyuJin has all but perfectly calculate her demise, so she simply raises a shield of Photon Power in defense.
As Supervisor Yang relays the Ruin Apostle's plan. "I read you loud and clear, Orbit Base," Sayaka replies. "The light of Photon Power belongs to us all! Using it to bring the end of everything... it's unthinkable. And we will never let that happen." For she and Koji - they know the secrets of what lies under Mount Fuji.
Now knowing the stakes clearer than ever, Areia lunges towards TenRyuJin's imposing form. Reinforced fists grapple with the Ruin Apostle, following Tetsuya's Great Typhoon, aiming to confuse her impeccable sensors with a flurry of punches coming from any and all directions.
Perhaps too late for her to notice the most key detail of all - the heat sinks just below Areia's chest are glowing hot. "If you're so desperate for a taste of Photon Power... then be washed in it! HEEEEAAARTOOOO FIIIIIIIRE!"
And washed in it, she should be as Photon Powered flame sputters from the Mazin in a curved pattern, aiming to burn away the Light of Dawn.
Not too far away, Goldymarg makes his bid to transform the heroes of Fujinomiya into light with the gravity shockwave generating Goldion Hammer. Silently, the only thing she can manage for Koji is a prayer.
KTS: Sayaka Yumi targets Tenryujin with Heart Fire! KTS: Sayaka Yumi has completed their actions for the round. KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 51. KTS: SP Regen activates. Your new SP value is 80. <Pose Tracker> Rita Bernal has posed.
Qivi shouts a warning, moments too late, even as she's struck with the same weapon the Phenex was. Rita thrusts her hand toward her friend's machine, diverting one of her wing-like shields to orbit around Qivi's small mobile suit. Hopefully it will be able to protect her, at least a little, from Goldymarg's next attack.
I couldn't leave you to protect your home alone, Sayaka. Not after everything you've done for me, and so many others.
Glimmering with sacred fire, the Phenex is incredible mobile on the battlefield, darting in dizzying patterns. As she passes by Sayaka's machine, she nods in understanding.
Don't worry. I promise if it's too much, I'll retreat. I didn't come back just to be destroyed. There's someone waiting on me.
Rita's thoughts turn to Trevor, and his final words to her as he thought she was leaving him. If she could, she would flush bright pink -- instead, the Phenex's fire simply burns more fiercely for a moment. Rita must find the handsome pirate prince as soon as she possibly can.
Lucine calls out, and the Phenex answers her with a jolt of warm psychic strength, infusing her machine with the grace of the Resonant Plane.
I'm so sorry to have worried you, Lucine. I couldn't let those children go on their own. I walked them home, and came back as quickly as I could. They're safe now, I promise.
Goldymarg punches Koji, and Rita flies in close, armored hands aflame, trying to scorch the machine into destruction. Despite the way her radiant grace encompasses her body, this proves to be a terrible mistake.
Goldymarg raises its hand, and the Phenex brings her spare shield up to turn it aside, refusing to be stopped in her charge toward her enemy. She thinks nothing of the hammer the Titan wields, certain her own strength can turn it away. This proves to be a terrible mistake.
The Goldion Hammer crashes through the Phenex's wing as if it were nothing more than a piece of paper, cracking it soundly in half. The remnants fade into motes of light -- but not Rita's light. Not the right kind of light. This is different. In no more than moments, the destroyed shield is entirely gone.
With a shriek, the Phenex comes to a halt, stunned by the loss of her wing, only for the hammer to continue its descent, landing squarely on her left shoulder. The firebird plummets straight down, falling in an uncontrolled dive, even as motes of unholy light appear in her path.
Rita cannot pay attention to her flight. Everything she has is directed toward banishing the Goldion Hammer's destructive influence. The Phenex's shoulder is already cracked and ruined, with her arm hanging useless -- but it can yet be saved. If Rita can counter the horrible, false light trying to devour her from within her cracked armor, she can heal the Phenex later.
It hurts it hurts it hurts--
She doesn't mean to broadcast her thoughts, but it happens all the same, a desperate repetition as the Phenex falls. Rita's arms are extended toward the Gundam's shoulder, Miraculous, rainbow light warring with the corruption from Goldymarg.
It feels like it takes an eternity. She falls, and falls, and falls, being eaten away by the parasitic false light. But in the end...
The Phenex is triumphant. The damage is severe, and her arm dangles by merely a few cables, but she is in no further danger. It still hurts, like freezing ice pressed into an open wound, but it's only a temporary emotion. There are more important things.
You cannot stop me. No one can.
Righting herself in the air, the Phenex ascends, soaring as fast as she dares with such extensive damage. Once more, she positions herself before Goldymarg, fury radiating from the Gundam and her Heart.
Miracles will never be stopped. Not in this life, or the ones that follow. I will make sure of that. There is nothing you can do, no matter how much dawnlight you bring to bear.
Prismatic and beautiful, mystical fire cloaks the Phenex. She raises her one remaining arm, furious gaze locked on Goldymarg.
My name is Rita Bernal, and I am a Miracle. I AM THE PHENEX!
With a screaming, birdlike cry, the firebird launches all the Miraculous light she can muster toward Goldymarg. It takes the shape of a great bird, soaring up into the sky. After it's gained sufficient height, it turns, diving toward the Titan with its wings folded, promising a violent, fiery meeting.
KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg fails to react to Zan's Rocket Punch, taking 7930 damage! KTS: Zan completes the Formation attack! KTS: Tenryujin parries Lucine Azul's CL0-V3 Glaive Dragoon, taking 2160 damage! KTS: Lucine Azul has engaged Tenryujin! KTS: Lucine Azul roots her unit, coming to a standstill and leaving her vulnerable. KTS: Lucine Azul completes the Formation attack! <Pose Tracker> Qivi has posed.
"Shit happens!" is Qivi's response to Sayaka. "Don't worry about it. The last time I fought Goldymarg, Koji had to bail me out... and from more than just him. Least I can do is help pay it back. Or forward. Pick a direction and go, really."
She doesn't notice LiSA being impressed, because she stopped transmitting. It's Qivi's loss!
Anyway, she's a LITTLE busy. Staying next to Goldymarg is dangerous, but she tries it anyway at least for a few moments; another drive of the knuckles right into the hip, heedless of the damage she's causing to Sarangay.
And it is being damaged. Especially when Goldymarg actually *notices* her up there. He reaches for a nail, driving it down at the cockpit, and Qivi reacts the same way she'd react to anything else coming in to stab her - she twists, bringing her shoulder shield up between her and it.
This doesn't really work. The nail stabs in anyway, going straight through the shield. But before he can pull the cockpit out, the damage from the aura gets a little too bad, and -
The cables for the harken all give way, trailing sparks of light behind them.
Qivi falls before Goldymarg can yank the nail. It's still STUCK in Sarangay, incongruously impaling the thing; Qivi has absolutely no idea how Sarangay is still operating, she's pretty sure it's stuck through part of the engine block. "Damn - "
She wheels backwards, simultaneously trying to eject the nail and engage, Sarangay's damaged arm grinding as she brings up the shotgun. She fires the shotgun, then fires it again, accompanying it with a shower of missiles from the OTHER shoulder in a paired assault!
KTS: Qivi has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Qivi has activated the Alert Spirit Command. KTS: Qivi targets GMX-GH101 Goldymarg with Covet V300 Boost Shot! KTS: Qivi has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Rita Bernal targets GMX-GH101 Goldymarg with This Life Isn't All There Is! KTS: Rita Bernal has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Tenryujin has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Tenryujin has activated the Alert Spirit Command. KTS: Tenryujin fails to Evade Sayaka Yumi's Heart Fire, taking 4350 damage! KTS: Sayaka Yumi roots her unit, coming to a standstill and leaving her vulnerable. KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg fails to react to Koji Kabuto's Rust Hurricane, taking 6110 damage! KTS: Koji Kabuto repulses GMX-GH101 Goldymarg, forcing him to disengage. KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg blocks Rita Bernal's This Life Isn't All There Is, taking 3250 damage! KTS: Rita Bernal roots her unit, coming to a standstill and leaving her vulnerable.
<Pose Tracker> LiSA has posed.
"They're going to?!"
Lisa is right behind Koji in that line of understanding. She doesn't need his imagination. Instead, she's had her dreams, and her gaze swivels to Rita and the Phenex, and behind him, Koji can hear a startled gasp. "No no no no no no no no there is absolutely no way no how this is--"
Comms open again, this time on a direct secure line between her, Koji, Sayaka and Tetsuya. "It's going to be a little rough, but the easiest way to bring down something tall is to make it fall. We've got to keep them from reaching Fuji at all- it's dirty, but hit 'em low!"
Is her recommendation, eyes bouncing left, right, back and forth as the stuff on her screen scrolls as quickly as she man manage to process."
KTS: LiSA targets Koji Kabuto, Sayaka Yumi, and Tetsuya Tsurugi with Coordinate. KTS: LiSA has completed their actions for the round. KTS: LiSA coordinates maneuvers, raising Sayaka Yumi's Piloting! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 8620 KTS: Your EN is now 51. <Pose Tracker> Tenryujin has posed.
A new person... What shows do you think she likes? thinks AnRyu.
I don't know. It's irrelevant. thinks KouRyu.
But if we can just convince her, she could join us. And--maybe we could convince Renais to come back? thinks AnRyu.
You know that's not going to happen, thinks KouRyu. It was never about 'convincing'. It was about accepting the Power.
Despite the differences in the back-and-forth, the twins' hearts are focusing, narrowing in on the one thing that matters.
We can't let them suffer any more. Not like Renais. We have to do the right thing, no matter what!
We have our duty. We will not fail.
The twins' SympaRate is climbing, swift and steady. Normally, this would be heartening, but in this case, it is very, very bad, especially with Li taking a risk on that transmission. "Fast, TenRyuJin says, as she makes another jet-assisted leaping dodge, which carries her down the street and through several abandoned cars. Metallic debris sloughs off her as Lina's attack scorches nearby concrete. That was close, but-- "Not fast enough. Face our true power, if you call yourself a Brave!" The maser cannon starts to glow, aiming for the cloud of dust around Lina's Ichinana...
And Tetsuya puts an end to that right quick. TenRyuJin is massive, but the blast of the Great Typhoon hurls her off her feet. She smashes through the front of an office building, and trails bits of metal and concrete as she rises again. The nanoparticle 'smoke' has scattered. "Sound tactics. They won't save you from me."
Lucine comes out of that sensor-scattering smoke, and TenRyuJin is there to meet her. One of those bright emerald blades sweeps up, catching the haft of the Dianthus' glaive and wrenching the smaller machine aside before it can do more than break the armor. Sparks fly from the new wound. TenRyuJin's face is inexpressive as ever, but: "You fly as if you've braved worse storms. Rest assured, you haven't." But Lucine's plan is still in motion. Aphrodite Areia comes right at her, and for a moment, the two giants are locked in close combat. TenRyuJin is no slouch, but Sayaka has the advantage of ambush. And that heat signature--
NO! thinks AnRyu.
Heart Fire slams directly into TenRyuJin's chest, cracking through the armor, burning through the components beneath. <Goldy, this is going sideways! One last barrage, and then--> It's a dumb, desperate solution, but it just might work. <Throw me to the lab! It's the only way!>
TenRyuJin's missile launchers open, and a barrage of warheads race out Aphrodite Areia, at point-blank range. Once again, TenRyuJin is not only attempting to soften them up, but... finish this. Put them all down so she can go for the objective. Smoke engulfs the both of them, but this time... it's setup for an attack that does not come immediately. Rather than refracting the maser everywhere, TenRyuJin lunges at Great Mazinger, driving her right energy blade at the machine's center of mass. The second comes in for a chop at the right arm, the sword arm.
The smoke parts before Lina, to reveal TenRyuJin jetting up towards her, driving a blade forward to try and bisect her machine.
KTS: Tenryujin has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Tenryujin targets Tetsuya Tsurugi with Double Lime a Ongles! KTS: Tenryujin targets Sayaka Yumi with Missile Bombardment! KTS: Tenryujin targets Lucine Azul with Jam! KTS: Tenryujin targets Lina Lombardi with Plasma Nail Files! KTS: Tenryujin has completed their actions for the round. KTS: LiSA coordinates maneuvers, raising Koji Kabuto's Piloting! KTS: Sayaka Yumi has activated the Trust Spirit Command. KTS: Sayaka Yumi's EN Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage. KTS: Sayaka Yumi partially guards Tenryujin's Missile Bombardment, taking 3895 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 4725 KTS: Tenryujin begins a Formation attack! KTS: Your EN is now 48. KTS: Lina Lombardi has activated the Attune Spirit Command. KTS: Lina Lombardi fails to rush. KTS: Lina Lombardi partially guards Tenryujin's Plasma Nail Files, taking 4370 damage! KTS: Tenryujin has engaged Lina Lombardi! KTS: Sayaka Yumi has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Tetsuya Tsurugi KTS: Lina Lombardi has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: LiSA coordinates maneuvers, raising Tetsuya Tsurugi's Piloting! KTS: Tetsuya Tsurugi has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Tetsuya Tsurugi has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Tetsuya Tsurugi has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Tetsuya Tsurugi has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Tetsuya Tsurugi has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Tetsuya Tsurugi has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Tetsuya Tsurugi fails to parry Tenryujin's Double Lime a Ongles, taking 5940 damage! KTS: Tenryujin has engaged Tetsuya Tsurugi! KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg's Physical Wall L1 activates, negating 1000 base damage. KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg blocks Qivi's Covet V300 Boost Shot, taking 2200 damage! KTS: Qivi has engaged GMX-GH101 Goldymarg!
<Pose Tracker> Lina Lombardi has posed.
Lina takes yet another hit from the Conqueror Queen, putting her in critical condition. Her breath becomes ragged and sweat beads down her face under her normal suit. If she calls herself a Brave, huh? She had...never thought about it before. Technically, she had to be as a member of the Guard. But the word still didn't feel right. Had she earned it yet? This felt like her first real test. And she wasn't doing well.
"I may or may not be a true Brave yet..."
She points!
"...but I DO know that YOU'RE the one making a mockery of the word! Of the Gutsy Galaxy Guard! Of the Charter! Of your friends! Your friends who are all waiting for you to come back!"
She rushes forward and shoulder checks Tenryujin, following up with a kick!
KTS: Sayaka Yumi has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: Lina Lombardi targets Tenryujin with Ichinana CQC Brawl! KTS: Lina Lombardi has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Lina Lombardi's Biorhythm activates Wall! KTS: Sayaka Yumi has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: Sayaka Yumi has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: Sayaka Yumi has activated the Trick Spirit Command.
<Pose Tracker> GMX-GH101 Goldymarg has posed.
The dawning of the end, with Photon Power light. Yes; this too is Cosmic Law, isn't it. Surely such a monster could only be called a demon...or a god.
But it hasn't been born yet. There's still time to stop these two corrupted Braves from building this world's doom.
Titan's hand remains down on Koji, but two different moves dissuade him. One is Koji's own Rust Hurricane rapidly turning the Titan's hand to rust. It starts to pull away, but not before Zan's massive rocket punch actually sheers the entire arm off. Triple Zero regeneration will have it back soon, but he's momentarily QUITE vulnerable. "Hrrgh![normal"
Qivi's new wave of missiles are met again by Goldy thrusting the Goldion Hammer at her, sweeping it to simply erase each missile in a massive photonizing streak. Most importantly...the Phenex. "What's this...RESISTANCE!?" Goldy thunders, and leans HARDER into Rita. But the Phenex triumphantly escapes. Goldy grunts, squaring as the Titan's arm starts to reassemble. "That's no replica...It's still moving after all that yesterday!? Alright...FINE!!"
The firebird roars toward him, and the Zero Titan thrusts the Goldion Hammer toward the oncoming assault, twirling the Hammer between its fingers with shocking grace. For all Goldy's a meathead, he's got incredible talent for gravitational control. That's how he's moving the Titan at all, after all. But he can't stop it all, and Goldy roars a shocked "GUOOOHO!?" as chunks of the Titan go flying. The very ground under the Titan's feet starts photonizing, from the sheer gravitational waves he's putting out now. Tenryujin calls for him. ...He can't turn his back on these guys. Alright then.
"Gonna need you folks to CHILL OUT! Hang on, Tenryujin, I'm comin'!" Goldy roars, and then raises the Goldion Hammer again. It BLAZES with sheering gravitational shockwaves. "New Brave....Orbital Knight. Sorry, kid. Wish I coulda known you more. But for Cosmic Law...I need this to be the end."
"Iron Zanrailer...TRANSFORM INTO LIGHT!!!"
So saying, he SWINGS the titanic Goldion Hammer down, the hammerhead erupting with pulsing, sheering gravitational shockwaves. But it's precise, controlled. He passes within millimeters of power lines that don't even rustle on his way to obliterating Zan completely, unless he can defend himself.
And only when he hits that defense does a gravity shockwave rip out, sheering at everyone fighting Goldymarg. Like Guy always would, he screams. Like Hyuuma surely would, he screams. "HUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg targets Zan with Transform into Light!! KTS: GMX-GH101_Goldymarg Changes attack to Koji Kabuto, Qivi, and Rita Bernal with Gravity Shockwave Aura. KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Qivi has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Zan KTS: Tenryujin jams Lucine Azul's sensors, reducing her accuracy. KTS: Rita Bernal has activated the Foresee Spirit Command. KTS: Koji Kabuto has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Koji Kabuto fails to evade GMX-GH101 Goldymarg's Gravity Shockwave Aura, taking 3600 damage! KTS: Rita Bernal fails to retreat. KTS: Rita Bernal fails to evade GMX-GH101 Goldymarg's Gravity Shockwave Aura, taking 6240 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] GMX-GH101 Goldymarg's Brave Spirit activates, causing Sparkle! KTS: Rita Bernal has been defeated! KTS: Qivi blocks GMX-GH101 Goldymarg's Gravity Shockwave Aura, taking 5760 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] GMX-GH101 Goldymarg's Brave Spirit activates, causing Sparkle! KTS: Qivi has been defeated! KTS: Zan has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Zan has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Zan has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Zan has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Zan has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Zan fails to Parry GMX-GH101 Goldymarg's Transform into Light!, taking 9360 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] GMX-GH101 Goldymarg's Brave Spirit activates, causing Sparkle! KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg has engaged Zan! KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg roots his unit, coming to a standstill and leaving him vulnerable. KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg completes the Formation attack! <Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
Heart Fire burns through TenRyuJin's armour just as Sayaka intended - but it seems the crafty Queen of Ruin has just one more trick up her sleeve.
"Is that all you have left? You'll never make it!" Sayaka still insists, even now, as TenRyuJin fires one final volley of attacks. The Cherbourg Rain missiles... the point blank Heart Fire stunt may have worked, but it has left Aphrodite Areia far too vulnerable to make any attempt to avoid or intercept them, using only her own Super Alloy New Z armour to protect herself.
"Thank you, Lisa!" Sayaka takes the data she sends into account - they'll need every drop of it to stop her. "Tetsuya, I'm authorizing you use of the Great Booster. It's the only way to keep up... so go get her!"
As for her own part, Areia is grounded - which just means Sayaka needs to give the reactor a little kick. "MAZIN POWER, full throttle! Give me everything, AREIA!" She commands, as the very Mazin sparkles a golden glow, eveloped with Photon Power.
"ARTEMIS FINAL ARROW! Full bombardment! Shoot her down!" The Artemis Arrow backpack transforms into a crossbow, and instead of aiming one single, powered shot, she fires as many arrows of light as the Mazin can handle, each one sticking to TenRyuJin's armour and exploding into brilliant bursts of energy at once.
Between Photon Power and Goldymarg's own Gravity Shockwaves, though... "I've done my part. Don't you dare turn into light, Koji Kabuto!!"
KTS: Sayaka Yumi targets Tenryujin with Artemis Final Arrow!
KTS: Sayaka Yumi has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 48.
KTS: SP Regen activates. Your new SP value is 35.
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
<poem>
Koji hears Lisa's panic. "I know," he replies to her on the private frequency. "It can't happen. I won't let it."
Mazinger Z, the Phenex, and Sarangay are caught up in the next gravitic shockwave... and Mazinger Z rises again, many plates just outright missing from its chassis. Koji grunts. "Damn it, Guy... Any time now...!"
The Phenex and Sarangay cannot move. "Damn it... Rita, Qivi, you both okay?"
'Don't you dare turn into light, Koji Kabuto!' Sayaka calls from across the battlefield, and Koji takes in another ragged breath. "No chance. I won't... let it happen," he repeats.
His heart is pounding. Sweat beads on his brow. He's pretty sure the gravity shockwaves have ruptured some blood vessels in his left eye.
He's never felt so alive.
Mazinger Z's eyes turn to Iron Zanrailer, miraculously still whole after taking a direct strike from the Goldion Hammer. "... this is it. Do or die time, Zan. Follow me - let's make this count."
Staggering at first, Mazinger Z steps forward, Scrander wings jammed in place and thrusters sputtering. Steadily, though, its weight lends it speed and Koji's focus lends it confidence with every step, until it is charging towards Titan G9 - not the flailing wild charge of the old days, but a hunched, shoulder-forward running tackle - followed by a flying leap towards the Marg Hand. In midair, Koji raises Z's arms high, Iron Cutter blades gleaming - and brings them down in a vicious slash at the socket where the Hand is forcibly docked to Titan G9!
KTS: Koji Kabuto targets GMX-GH101 Goldymarg with Iron Cutter Chop! KTS: Koji Kabuto has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Rita Bernal has posed.
The Phenex, momentarily still as she guides her sacred flame into striking Goldymarg, loses bits of golden armor. They fall from her like so many torn-out feathers, and she still radiates shock and pain from the loss of her wing.
At least her attack was effective. She lowers her arm as Goldymarg loses bits of his own armor. The Titan is not defeated, however, as he screams and emits gravitational shockwaves. Rita, exhausted and injured, cannot move out of the way in time.
Goldymarg's power tears through the Phenex. She can endure no more -- her injuries from the past few days' battles threaten to tear her apart entirely, now that she's been worn down by Goldymarg's incredible might.
I'm sorry. That's all I can do.
Rita's voice, tight with pain, echoes to her allies. A moment later, the Phenex and her singular remaining shield ascend into the sky, leaving behind nothing but broken golden armor.
<Pose Tracker> Tetsuya Tsurugi has posed.
"Try me, Tenryujin. I don't care how much computational power you have. You'll never be able to predict me and Great Mazinger." Of course, that might all be bluster. The fog returns, and this time, when Tenryujin emerges from it, she finds Tetsuya's defenses... somewhat wanting.
A cosmogone blade carves a gash into Great Mazinger's armor, followed shortly thereafter by a devastating blow that cleaves straight through its arm at the shoulder. Tetsuya clicks his teeth and backs away, arm falling to the ground. But...
For some reason--
He's still smiling that horrible, awful, terrifying smile. The smile that does not belong on Tetsuya Tsurugi's face at all.
"I heard you, Sayaka," Tetsuya drawls. It's dangerous. The chances of success without catastrophic material failure are slim. But... "I'll just have to make up the probability of success with courage, won't I? Launch! Great Booster!"
At first, nothing seems to happen, but Tenryujin might suddenly find herself in a desperate race to kill Great Mazinger before that thing appears. And yet, Tetsuya leaps, Scramble Dash expands, hurling the machine high into the air. It-- doesn't close. It can't. The maser cannon melted the joint. Great Booster is racing in, at this trajectory, it might run him through--
"GREAAAAAT--" Tetsuya yells, ripping the Scramble Dash from Great Mazinger's back with his left arm! "BOOOOOOOMERANG!" He hurls it, sending it flying like a buzzsaw into the roiling cloud of Tenryujin's smoke.
Hitting her is secondary. The real target--
Was the smoke itself...!
Great Boomerang may not be a Great Typhoon, but the wind currents it stirs are more than enough to carve the cloud of darkness in half. Meanwhile, Great Mazinger--
Is gone...?
...No! There! From around the far side of Mount Fuji! Great Booster roars past, before turning over to reveal, on its underside...
Tetsuya Tsurugi and Great Mazinger, intact. "Target locked," Tetsuya growls through the impossible G-Forces as Great Booster banks, turning toward the Ruin Apostle only a few heartbeats away. "Booster..." Tetsuya smirks, "RELEASE!"
This time, the joint doesn't fail.
Great Mazinger disengages, falling to the ground and digging a trench into the earth with its landing. Great Booster--
Is racing straight on a collision course for Ruin Tenryujin.
...At hypersonic speeds.
KTS: Tetsuya Tsurugi targets Tenryujin with Great Booster! KTS: Tetsuya Tsurugi has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Qivi has posed.
Qivi empties her entire missile box into Goldymarg... well, into Goldymarg's hammer as it turns out, but if it distracts him for more than a couple seconds it's doing its job.
"I don't think Sarangay's exactly the right machine for the job!" Qivi is really pushing its limits here. The engine is starting to give some concerning warnings, not to mention the armour, the missile launcher, the entire arm she was punching with, and several other things that she'd actually have to look at the warnings to see what they are. "Damn, I can barely sting him..."
Not that that's going to stop her from trying. Flaring the jump jets, Qivi lifts up, rocketing forward again. She roars as she prepares to punch, drawing the arm back and releasing at least one safety catch -
The shockwave washes over her.
Qivi's engine and booster thrusters both immediately shut off as the solar battery or some of its connectors rattle away into light. It follows a ballistic arc, no longer under thrust.
Sarangay hits the street - and Qivi, somehow, manages to make it stay up, coasting more than anything else. She has no fine control and no way to accelerate, steer - or brake, really, as she finds out a moment later.
Skidding along the road and kicking up sparks, Sarangay plows into a (thankfully emptied) building, half-embedding itself inside. It's intact enough that Qivi is probably alive (if probably bruised), but with its power source offline, it is immobile and (for the moment, until she finds the emergency radio) mute.
<Pose Tracker> LiSA has posed.
"We really can't..." Lisa breathes out the word in gentle exhalation.
Then she focuses down. "Rita's down - well, up - Qivi is down. You're in the next worse shape, please don't even sneeze sideways, Master, or we're both in for a tumble. Miss Sayaka is in the best, but it's not by a whole lot. We've got to hope backup comes, or something better." Lisa adds on, softly. "Where's the rest of the Orbit base....?"
"I wish I was joking about the sneeze, but you and I both know I'm not!" She thinks to add on, acerbically. "It's now or never, I think all around, please, Mazinger Z..." A beat. "Please--!"
KTS: Tenryujin fails to react to Lina Lombardi's Ichinana CQC Brawl, taking 7150 damage! KTS: Lina Lombardi has engaged Tenryujin! KTS: LiSA targets Koji Kabuto with All-Out! KTS: LiSA has completed their actions for the round. KTS: LiSA orders an all-out attack, raising Koji Kabuto's Skill! KTS: Tenryujin's Beam Wall L1 activates, negating 1000 base damage. KTS: Tenryujin fails to Evade Sayaka Yumi's Artemis Final Arrow, taking 4680 damage! <Pose Tracker> Zan has posed.
Heaven and Hell is one thing.
The Goldion Hammer, however, is definitely much more powerful.
And it shows as the Iron Zanrailer brings out it's trusty dozer shields. Large bulldozer blades that cover his arms as the hammer closes in and the train robot brings them up.
Internally it's going through everything. Zan is trying desperately to find a way to do something about the incoming destructiveness.
The shields start to disintegrate. Deciding to save some part of himself, panels open and eject all six Carpenters quickly before closing back.
The six orange robots float in the air, watching worriedly.
Then Zan notices something. Matter. Matter turns to light. But light does not. The robot's reasoning even as his armor starts to break apart. His fusion with the Iron Railer ready to come apart almost as there is a sharp whine in the air.
"TURBINE TORNADO!" The massive electrical tornado blasts out, stopping the incoming death to the Brave.
By the end of it the Iron Zanrailer is on a knee, chest plate open as the electrical energy flares out at the Goldion Hammer until it stops.
The forces have rocked the Iron Zanrailer so hard that it almost looks like one can see the frames inside. The workings of it all from top to bottom. Even the head section where Zan himself is has had armor stripped down to near bare frames.
But he's still functioning. Still existing after that.
The words from Koji has the robot trying to rise, but almost failing. Instead, it uses what it tried to save.
"CARPENTERS!" Comes Zan's voice from the shattered armor even as he starts to rise up.
The six robots deploy their various tools, beeping in unison. A binary response coming from them.
"ATTACK!"
Followed by their charge forward to aide the Mazinger Z in taking off the Marg Hand. Various blades, hands, and just for good measure two of them going to try to spray Titan G9 in the eyes with adhesive.
It's a wonder the Zanrailer can even stand back up in the face of all that, but the Carpenters? They are definitely going to earn their worth and then some in attempting to get Goldymarg and make sure he's captured.
KTS: Zan has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: Zan has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Zan targets GMX-GH101 Goldymarg with Carpenters Attack! KTS: Zan has completed their actions for the round. KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg's Physical Wall L1 activates, negating 1000 base damage. KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg fails to react to Koji Kabuto's Iron Cutter Chop, taking 4290 damage! KTS: Koji Kabuto has engaged GMX-GH101 Goldymarg! KTS: Tenryujin parries Tetsuya Tsurugi's Great Booster, taking 1920 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Tetsuya Tsurugi's For My Child's Future! activates, causing Sparkle! KTS: Tetsuya Tsurugi has engaged Tenryujin! KTS: Lucine Azul has activated the Dash Spirit Command and has disengaged. KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg's Physical Wall L1 activates, negating 1000 base damage. KTS: Zan rattles GMX-GH101 Goldymarg, making his next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg fails to react to Zan's Carpenters Attack, taking 5720 damage! KTS: GMX-GH101 Goldymarg has been defeated! KTS: Lucine Azul has activated the Focus Spirit Command.
<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
Lucine had calculated where the TenRyuJin was, but she hadn't calculated where TenRyuJin would be if she anticipated the Dianthus coming back in with another attack.
Precious seconds that could have made that blow that much more powerful are wasted instead on recalibrating her attack. While it hits, it's not as strong as it could have been.
Her allies, however, fare better.
Lucine finally releases that breath she had been holding in for far too long, as Sayaka's Areia springs her ambush. < "..... I definitely haven't... but I'm with people who have." >
Rita's signature begins to weaken, and she voices her regrets. < "... Rita, it's okay. Pull back. We'll take over from here." > Lucine smiles through her display, up at the Phenex. < "I'm just glad you came to help us." >
Tetsuya slings by under Dianthus's radar before she realizes what he's about to do. < "....!" >
It's no time to be impressed, though; this is the opening she has to take advantage of. Switching the glaibve for the Arbalest with a spin, the Dianthus charges up and aims, Lucine's eyes opened wide as she calculates the shot.
< "Orion shot!" > Because shouting the attack just feels good.
KTS: Lucine Azul targets Tenryujin with Argen-21 Beam Arbalest Orion Shot! KTS: Lucine Azul has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Tenryujin fails to react to Lucine Azul's Argen-21 Beam Arbalest Orion Shot, taking 7410 damage! KTS: Tenryujin has been defeated!
<Pose Tracker> GMX-GH101 Goldymarg has posed.
"HANG ON!" Goldy roars, as the Goldion Hammer's power is released. The sheering gravitational waves turn some of the surroundings to light, biting chunks out of buildings and pillars - the sheer forces released too much even for the terribly clever Goldymarg to finely control. He's got Phenex down, that's something...he's got that Wanzer off the board, too, he sees she's not moving. She'll become light soon enough. Everyone will.
And the new kid...poor guy, but he gets to leave early, at l...
"say what" Goldy says, shocked to find Zan's shields holding fact - and then "WHAAARGH!!" as the Turbine Tornado sends an electromagnetic STORM into and through the gravity waves, energy striking clean through the sheering gravity shockwaves and causing systems damage that makes Goldy jerk and flex. Hesitate.
It's enough. He rears back to SMASH Zan again, already down on his knees from the first blow, but the second won't come. Koji slams into the Zero Titan, a confident veteran's maneuver. That puts him off-balance just enough that the Iron Cutters can saw right into that socket. The power coursing through Titan starts to wane, but it's just quite enough to sever it completely thanks to Goldy's precise controls.
Then: "CARPENTERS!?"
The Carpenters are not, at all, combat machines, but they are extremely good at pulling things apart. They have controls that prevent them from attacking occupied machines, but years ago, when GGG fled the solar system, they proved their strength against unmanned munitions.
If you think about it, the Marg Hand is one BIG unmanned munition.
There's damage done. Coming too close to the Marg Hand right now turns things to light. But they're still able to persevere, because even these little robots have the hearts of Braves.
In under a minute, the Marg Hand has been quite neatly disassembled, and falls apart in piles of metal and springs and panels on the streets. Each half of the Hammerhead falls down separately, unpowered.
...Goldy's AI Block, completely decoupled, SMASHES through the street entirely and ends up in a subway tunnel facing up.
His eyes blip orange.
"Nuts."
<Pose Tracker> Tenryujin has posed.
This has to work. The team attacking Orbit Base is counting on them. The universe itself is counting on them. And for one moment, as Goldymarg brings himself down on Iron Zanrailer, TenRyuJin thinks this battle is a solved problem. But as the dust clears, and the blinding light fades...
He's... still there. How?
Focus, AnRyu! The wanzer and that thing are out of the fight! We need to do our part!
TenRyuJin hitches for a brief second--
And that's when Lina, seizing on the moment, slams into her. The shoulder check sends her reeling down the street, smashing through streetlights and crushing trees--it's deeply fortunate that Fujinomiya has secure shelters and regular emergency drills, or things could be far worse. The Ichinana's followup kick sends TenRyujin skyward, and she crosses her arms, the light of a Reflector Shield igniting with a sickly dawn-orange.
All she can do is reroute power to it, to withstand the withering hail of arrows Sayaka sends her way. TenRyuJin is too busy focused on staying in one piece to debate Lina--but was there ever any real debate with someone whose CPUs are infected by a baleful cosmic force? The barrier amplifies as the arrows start to detonate, the sickly glow of Triple Zero washing out from TenRyuJin as she overclocks a few key systems. (She can handle an overheat. The mission comes first.)
But Sayaka does not relent. One arrow too many strikes home, and that barrier shatters into coruscating fragments of energy. A moment later, the Dianthus' beam strikes through, and thanks to Sayaka, Lucine doesn't have to contend with TenRyuJin's defenses. It hits her dead-on, burning clean through her, and giving Tetsuya exactly the opening he needs.
"Goldy!" TenRyuJin screams.
SOEUR! scream KouRyu and AnRyu, terrified for each other.
The Great Booster disengages. Tetsuya boosted it to speeds where even a Super AI doesn't have time to dodge; there's a CRACK as it breaks the sound barrier, and then the sound of agonized, shredding metal as it slams dead-on into TenRyuJin. The horrid squealing carries down the street as the Great Booster keeps going, only losing momentum when it slams into an office building. Bits of metal and masonry fall to the street. A cloud of dust fills the air, revealing...
The wreckage of TenRyuJin, whose disassembly was not as neat or orderly as Goldy's. Twin AI cores glow bright orange in thr ruin that was her chest--but those are exactly what need to be removed and purified.
<Pose Tracker> Lina Lombardi has posed.
As Tenryujin falls to pieces, Lina pulls off the helmet of her normal suit, pulling off the hood underneath to let her hair fall out, slightly matted with sweat. She takes in a deep breath, releasing it with a sigh.
"Orbit Base, do you read? Both Brave Robos have been disabled. Their cores are ready to be purified. Everything good up there?"
She looks back over to the wrecked robots, still breathing heavily. Glancing at her displays, she realizes just how close she was to going down herself. She supposed that pushing the odds of victory was just something Braves did.
Lina the Brave.
She supposed...it was starting to sound a bit better to her.
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
The Carpenters swarm over Mazinger Z's head as the Castle of Iron lands one knee in the asphalt after its mighty leap. Koji watches Goldymarg's AI block tumble - winces as it crashed through the street into the subway. "Scrander off."
The Jet Scrander detaches, thudding to the ground with its fuel spent, as Mazinger Z strides forward. "Hang on, Goldymarg." It might not be safe, per se, to handle the AI block right now, but he can at least scoop up the concrete he landed on and lift it out of the subway with a mighty leap.
He sets the 'platter' of hardened cement down on the street, for an easier retrieval by 3G, and takes in the ruins of the battlfield. "Sayaka, Tetsuya..." There's relief in his voice as he realises they're still kicking. "Lina, Lucine, Qivi..."
Rita left the field. He can't blame her - Ruin Apostle Goldymarg was the definition of a terrible foe, and she's been through a lot. Still, she's in his thoughts: 'thanks for holding the line as long as you could'. Hopefully she can hear that sentiment.
Mazinger Z's readings are in the red, and the Mazin's endoskeleton is showing through in places after plates of its armour were simply photonized by the Goldion Hammer's overwhelming power. Replacing those parts and repairing the Castle of Iron will take weeks...
But it still stands.
There is still a future for them to light.
<Pose Tracker> LiSA has posed.
The Jet Scrander detaches and Lisa accepts this fate.
"Oh thank goodness..." She mutters, glancing at Mt. Fuji ... and promptly sneezes.
At least several plates fall off.
<Pose Tracker> GMX-GH101 Goldymarg has posed.
Orbit Base's response is staticky and unclear. Must still be wrapping up up there.
Goldymarg's disembodied AI Block means he is presently an orange box. He can't do anything, at least. For the moment. ...maybe make sure he doesn't get too close to the pile of parts that used to be the rest of his body though.
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
"It's over. We made it..." Sayaka breathes in and out in the Pilder of Aphrodite Areia - as the battered bodies of GoldyMarg and the French Ryu sisters lay, ready to be retrieved for purification.
"Defenders of Fujinomiya..." Sayaka broadcasts for everyone present to hear. "We could not have achieved this victory without all of your help. Each and every one of you." Aphrodite Areia, wings already detached, lands and takes a kneel.
"So I only have one thing to say to you all, and that's thank you. For deciding that this institution of peace was nonetheless worth fighting for. And moreso, that this world is worth fighting for." Her sentiment is for Rita, too, the bird who wishes to be human, although she already flew off.
Her own gaze meets Mt. Fuji proper for a moment, too. The Photon Power Labs still retain a grand secret - one that Sayaka only feels all the more cannot yet be revealed to the world, after the Ruin Apostles almost uncovered it by total accident.
<Pose Tracker> Zan has posed.
Meanwhile, the other giant of the battlefield is standing finally. Creaking, but standing and moving to a more stable footing where it is.
With the Carpenters swarming around the Mazinger prepared to offer support, there is a collective turn as an absence of noise might be noticed. The Iron Zanrailer's turbine has quieted down noticeably.
Internally, Zan is amazed at how close he came to his own destruction. It was a terrifying weapon to fight against.
Externally, his head bows.
It's a quiet moment or two. And really? The others have said just about everything he could say.
He sends a retrieval request up to the Orbit Base as his last act, followed by his just standing there. The eyes of his giant form dim. If it wasn't for the turbine still running and as exposed as it is that shows he is still in there.
<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
Staring at the messes left behind by the two (three) agents of Triple Zero (?), Lucine stares down from the Dianthus.
< "..... ah.... aha....... we did it...." >
And, as the adrenaline high begins to fade--
< "..... oh godi'mgonnathrowup--" >
Maybe Uribatake can take this part of fixing up the Dianthus.
<Pose Tracker> Tetsuya Tsurugi has posed.
Great Mazinger's body crackles and hisses, sparks leaping from overtaxed joints. It's not meant to take a landing right out of deploying Great Booster; coming down with that kind of kinetic energy is not at all kind to... much of anything, really.
"...Tch. Leg actuators are fried, and Scramble Dash is way the hell over there," Tetsuya grunts, hitting the eject for Brain Condor. Great Mazinger's eyes darken as he lifts into the air. "Koji, Sayaka, gonna need a retrieval and heavy maintenance for Great. Looks like we pulled out a win though, at least."
...And against Triple Zero, no less.
Asciel Colette teleports in.
<Pose Tracker> Asciel Colette has posed.
A star falls from the heavens.
The storminess of the weather is irrelevant - it is the pure and glimmering cyan of the clear midday sky, like a piece of an idyllic day has broken off in dissent. Blazing hotter and hotter, until it finally crashes....far to the north of Japan, impacting the oceans of Korea with an eruptive impact.
...On the shore of Khanka, a massive warehouse, one that was the subject of rumor and controversy escalating all the way to being supernaturally haunted, begins to crack and crumble and overheat. Jets of water burst through its ceiling...as does a colossal hand, the size of an aircraft carrier, gripping and straining. A king under the mountain that 'promised' its return.
>My promise made manifest in this body. The Final Divine Form. It is too early to awaken, to incarnate as it. It is incomplete, lacking the Mind and the Heart I needed.
>...well- guess the mind and the heart I've already got are gonna have to fill in for now!
The titanic, reworked form of the Macross 13 erupts from its coffin, repainted in glossy cyan, its proportions...a little less bulky and blocky. A vast and indomitable form with heels of fire, soaring in one decisive direction...
Across the sea, and towards the Photon Power Labs.
As it nears the erupting battle with the Oath Over Omega, the Macross surges with a deluge of missiles and arcing beamfire. It is not particularly discretionary - the intent is not 'just' to rid the area of one side or p = another. It is to purge all resistance, to sweep the land clean, to give the opening arrows that would portend 'their' arrival.
A familiar voice calls out to them all. Asciel, self-professed Virtual Sage, self-professed goddess of possibility, and self-professed guardian of Earth - the one who forced the Photon Power Labs to grapple with the disaster looming in its depths.
"It's long past time, brave devils and angels. The calamity brewing in Mt. Fuji must never, ever be allowed to touch anyone else's hands. The day has finally come to make sure the nexus of 'decision' is held in hands that will use it for a tranquil future, rather than clutch it in indecision. And I'm not alone. Far from it~"
---------------------------------
A roar erupts from the earth.
No matter the reality or feasibility of it, echoes of the past reach up where they should never be. They do not claw from the soil. They do not rise from hitherto unseen graves or bunkers.
As though one rubbed their eyes and saw the world change...an army of Kikaiju now exists upon the horizon. Countless swarms of every last machine Mazinger Z ever did battle with during Dr. Hell's plot to conquer the world - no. Not just each of them. Dozens of Titan G9s, their footalls flattening forests in their wake. A phalanx of rolling Damdam L2s, pulverizing barriers and military opposition beneath their spiked wheels. The clouds themselves replaced with the whirling bladed forms of Deathcross V9s. And needless to say - hundreds of Garada K7s and Doublas M2s, marching inorexibly as the vanguard, the skulls and serpentine faces leering with an almost unbidden glee at their task.
In the general's position of the unthinkable legion of Mechanical Beasts...two 'new', yet painfully familiar faces lurk and command the amassed forces.
"The power of the Magine is due to awaken! Koji Kabuto. Sayaka Yumi, Tetsuya Tsurugi, all of your doomed allies. To say nothing of the foolish 'miracle eaters' known as the Oath Over Omega...all of your efforts are for nothing!!" A voice that is two in harmony booms out over the landscape from the familiar sight of Baron Ashura - or rather, a giant mechanical rendition of Dr. Hell's most loyal revived general, one half purple and the other all in black. Red tendrils wiggle restlessly on her right side's hands - in his left, a staff held high, each motion and pulse from its apex commanding the endless tide of monsters to put the Photon Power Lab under siege.
"There is only one in this world who could truly make use of the power Infinity holds!" Ashura laughs, her smile wide and creasing into her cheek.
"The genius humanity rejected long ago in foolish self-destruction. We've come here to ensure the Magine returns to his hands!!" Ashura roars, his grimace firm and intense.
"And for that, whether you're the will of the past, Triple Zero - or the useless and pitiful future, Mazinger Z - you will all have no choice but to die, crushed under the un-assailable willpower of Dr. Hell, this world's true inheritor!!" Soaring in circles closer to the front-line of the charge - a headless paladin raises its sword, with the unmistakeable floating head of Count Brocken in mechanical rendition hovering at its side, a manaiacal grin etched into its steely surface, in a wicked effigy of Mazinger Z's own demonic smile.
"Cower in fear, all of you! In Dr. Hell's endless mercy, he has no time to pursue the cowardice of mankind which has betrayed him! Those who resist will be pulverized!!!"
"Go, our mechanical legions! And bring about -GORAGON!!!!!-"
<Pose Tracker> Lina Lombardi has posed.
"Che cazzo?!"
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
Everyone seems to settle down after the chaos of the fight. But one blink after the next, and suddenly they're upon them - an entire army of kikaiju. Led by Baron Ashura and Count Brocken, in stead of Doctor Hell himself.
"How on Earth..." Sayaka gasps upon seeing them all. "...Make no mistake. These are no remnants, everyone. This is a far larger army than Hell was ever capable of bringing to bear during the war. Some of these are models we've never even seen before!"
The power of the 'Magine', 'Goragon'... even without understanding these terms, Sayaka knows what this is all about. Doctor Hell has discovered the ultimate prize buried beneath Mount Fuji - the ball is no longer in her court whether they should disseminate it.
"There's no time to spare, we're making those retrievals now!" She commands. "Don't even think about trying to hold them off. We're taking everyone, and getting the hell out of here. No ifs and buts! Hell may take Fujinomiya, but he won't take our lives!" She uh, at least hopes GGG has the Ruin Cores covered.
Besides, she has one final trump card in mind. Even if Dr. Hell finds Infinity, she's almost certain Lisa is a vital component to getting the thing to move. As long as the Hell Army isn't aware of that fact... that might just be the key to stopping them.
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
Suddenly - Missiles are fired upon a civilian city. Already a battleground and thankfully evacuated, the unexpected assault in the wake of this hard-fought victory comes as a shock to Koji, who looks up towards the Macross 13.
"Colette!" He yells. "I told you, if you wanted to know - "
Wait - she's not alone?
He blinks. He blinks again, squinting through a half-red gaze, at the inexplicable multitude on the horizon. "Kikaiju..."
So many - and familiar voices echo out, too. Voices he's only heard in his nightmares for so long... until last year, at least.
"Ashura and Brocken!?"
Z turns its yellow gaze skyward to the Macross.
"You idiot. You'd trust them with that? You'd trust HIM!?"
There's no time to wait for a reply. The force before them is more numerous than ever before - he can even see kikaiju he doesn't recognise among the force.
They have wounded, and casualties in need of healing. Mazinger Z... cannot hold the line like this. Bile settles in his stomach. "All units: Fall back outside the city. Prioritise recovery of the 3G Super AI blocks and injured allies."
If what Ashura and Brocken is yelling is true... they're going for Mt. Fuji, not the city - the city just happens to be a convenient obstacle. If they can minimise the threat... "Anomaly Research Site, evacuate if possible."
Grabbing the Jet Scrander off the ground and snapping it back into place - to at least make sure Lisa is safe - Mazinger Z scoops up the rubble containing Goldymarg's AI block and begins to limp out of the city.
<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
Someone is talking, but Lucine is currently... busy. Maybe, if she wasn't, she'd know why another part of her mind is sparking with alarm, like something bad was about to happen.
See, sometimes that's just because she has a headache. A false alarm.
It makes the rocking of the Dianthus feel like it was simply the dizziness that naturally comes from having to deal with certain messes that sometimes come with headaches that aren't allowed to naturally be blotted out by sleep and rest.
It wasn't a false alarm. < ".... This isn't..." > 'This isn't real', she had thought, when the forces refused to lessen--
And they were all forced to flee, but there was only her craft-
< ".... I can fit..." > Lucine's head swims. She can feel her mother's blood on the seat, even if it's not there. < "..... One... p-person." > One person. It'd be better if it were more, right? More people, why wasn't it another scientist--
-THIS ISN'T MARS.-
< "I can fit two if they're small." > Lucine grips her controls. < "..... It'll be a rough ride for them. But I can do this. Please... let me help." >