2023-09-22: Colombo Will Pay
- Log: Colombo Will Pay
- Cast: Yuliana Kafim, Leina Ashta, Chienne Argent, Liam 7-020, Rain Mikamura, Alto Saotome, Kikka Kobayashi, Sophia Mayhew Castellan, Wendy Yuan, Parminder Chaudhri
- Where: Colombo - Kotte, Sri Lanka
- Date: 2023-09-22
- Summary: Yuliana, incited to rage, descends on Colombo demanding the Prime Minister's head. But she doesn't particularly care if civilians die in the process of getting him -- and there are plenty of people who care about that. For the people of the REA, if not their leadership, several people intersperse themselves -- and Leina has some revelations about Yuliana's ancestry which hit hard, with her reckless endangerment. Siti Dian sought to protect people from war, and now Yuliana, née Dian, is cutting through them... but before she can consider reparations, backup from the REA arrives.
So does martial law.
It's entirely possible that the REA wanted to goad Yuliana into attacking them -- so they'd have an excuse to tighten their control.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
OST: Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - I'm My Own Master Now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9minv0O8rlI
Colombo has been under strain, throughout '97. With the revelation that one of their high-ranking politicians, Gim Dae-Jung, was a blacksite cyborg plant -- who disappeared during G-Hound's assault on the Institute for Continuing Study -- their troubles didn't end with the scandal of that lab operating right by Kotte. Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is the political capital of Sri Lanka, and Colombo's sister city. Many in Sri Lanka viewed the position of the Institute as tacit governmental endorsement.
Sri Lanka used to hold elections -- and while they weren't entirely free or fair, citizens felt their voices had some impact. But the most recent election has been... indefinitely postponed while their new Prime Minister, Tharindu Cabral, works with the DHZ to sort out their corruption. Prime Minister Cabral was allocated his power by the central REA authority, of course -- because the President of Sri Lanka is a position held by Chairman Jie Bo Liao, into perpetuity.
Everyone knows it's a consolidation of power. No one has any particular urge to do anything about it, because the waiting lists for elective surgeries and dental care have become shorter and more efficient, the potholes are finally being fixed, and public television is both more reliably accessible and higher quality. The streets are safer, and their children have more after-school programs to divert them from idle delinquency. Public opinion -- at least, the public opinion whose discussion is supported -- holds that individuals vying for power was what let that blacksite infiltrate their politics to begin with.
No one is equipped to comment on how the reductions of freedom which the Institute oversaw remain in place, cameras monitoring every street. And if those streets are safer because more people are being jailed, surely that's just a comment on the sorry state Colombo was in. If the excellent public broadcasting they've been given is blatant propaganda -- what does it matter, so long as the news is informative and the children entertained? If a few people disappear from those after-school clubs and medical appointments...
... it's better not to talk about some things, for the sake of societal harmony.
Life is getting back to normal, even if normal is more controlled, these days. Many have forgotten about the details of the Institute -- assuming they even found details not prescribed by the State. It is nothing but a past embarrassing period.
That's what makes the attack so shocking.
"Let's do some terrorism, baby," Parminder grins, as he descends in his stolen Salamis Kai -- now the 'Shandor'. "I'll scope shit out from here."
"You better!" Wendy Yuan yells -- and it's Wendy, as of late; now she's not yoked to DHZ culture, she's dropped what was frankly still an obviously fabricated name for the one she'd rather use. "A two-unit insertion... Captain, you're insane!"
"We got support from the Altos," Yuliana Kafim points out, tone sharp. "Don't wimp out on me now, Lettu--!!"
"Not in the business of relying on monsters, Captain!" Wendy snaps, in heated retort. "As far as I'm concerned -- it's you and me!" None of the Altos with them protest her unkind characterisation. Rather... none of them could. The Protivisny, inside them, are nothing close to human; footsoldiers of the Void, Elisa Kafim summoned them to ensure her wife would not be overwhelmed. They are vaguely feline, but hardly mistakable for cats, with squidlike crests atop their heads and tentacles where their whiskers and tails ought to be. Those tentacles grasp the controls of those Altos; they are their pilots, today.
(Yuliana doesn't deem this a situation which requires the use of their human pilots; it is far more difficult to replace the people Elisa employs.)
And the chatter between them is the personal perspective of something much worse. From the outside, it looks like this:
Out of nowhere, a green Salamis Kai descends from high altitude, carving the clouds with the massive icebreaker at its nose. It drops a squadron of emerald Altos at the perimeter of the city -- before it swoops to the heart of Kotte to drop an Arm Slave and a Wanzer. It climbs out of sight almost as soon as it appears, leaving its wing of suits to begin devastating the political capital.
No advance warning. Evacuations are forced to happen under active fire, and none of the Altos, at least, show much humanity in their choice of target. The Deadeye and Da Xukong 0, at least, are choosier in their targets...
... though the Deadeye does snipe a Shangfeng civilian hele-transport fleeing the Parliament Complex, with her Arm Slave's massive sniper rifle. "All citizens -- remain in your homes, or your lives are forfeit!" Wendy projects her voice over Kotte, as she pulls the trigger. "We are shooting to kill! This is your only warning--!"
"Our man's sheltering in place," Parminder tells the two of them, over their private line. "Sooo... standard approach?"
"Damn right," Yuliana grins, as she plunges a clutch forward with the tentacles she uses to help operate her machine. "Lettu, watch my six! I'm gonna dig out their fucking HEART!" She drives in towards the Parliament Complex -- the series of buildings where government is held, here.
"HUA, Captain," Wendy confirms, pulling back -- while Yuliana charges in.
Yuliana switches to open comms, as she crashes into one of the Tierens which deploys to protect the building. "Knock knock, you fucking monsters!" Her scorpion's stinger plunges into the heart of the other wanzer -- through its armoured cockpit -- and she wrenches Da Xukong's tail from the wreckage before her arachnoid machine climbs over it. "You couldn't kill us -- and now the Nega Force is come! Your reckoning is upon you! We KNOW what you did! Every --" Her words punctuated by her violence to those Tierens -- "Single -- One of you! Know your place and BLEED!" And if her murderous assault of the defence force is any indication, what she intends when she screams her demands is plain:
"BRING ME PRIME MINISTER CABRAL, WRETCHED DOG OF THE REA!"
It's becoming increasingly clear that Sri Lanka's immediate defence can't match this level of violence -- and that means the REA is forced to put out a distress call. "All units, respond," they beseech the Federation -- or independent parties; "terrorist attack underway in Colombo, Sri Lanka. We can't hold them back. Civilians are dying, for God's sake! Those damn--!!" The Lieutenant issuing the SOS is cut off, abruptly, by his calmer superior. (Before he can say just what he thinks of them.) "This is Captain Ezhil Iyer of the REA," she reports, stoic. "Requesting all hands. Colombo is a civilian city. This is not a military installation. Terrorists are presently attempting to take the life of our rightly appointed Prime Minister, and they are showing our people no quarter. Please respond."
If they're angry about the Nega Force attacking when the bulk of their forces are elsewhere, forcing them to make such an embarrassing open request while they call for their own forces on the sly -- Captain Iyer keeps those feelings off the radio.
(But really, Yuliana would have been satisfied if their pride kept them from seeking help, too. Embarrassment or abject devastation -- both victories, in her eyes.)
KTS: Yuliana Kafim has deployed in Da Xukong 0. KTS: Yuliana_Kafim has deployed as a Boss for 6 opponents. KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan has deployed in Lion 500. KTS: Alto Saotome has deployed in VF-25F Armored Messiah. KTS: Liam 7-020 has deployed in NRV-00 Neo Helios. KTS: Leina Ashta has deployed in CEK-068 Beguir-Neuer. KTS: Rain Mikamura has deployed in JMF-1336-R Rising Gundam. KTS: Kikka Kobayashi is now subpiloting for Rain Mikamura.
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
It was an unusual feeling being back on Earth and already back on a mobile suit. From politically inconvenient in all the worst ways and a threat to humanity, to politically inconvenient in all the best ways because she was playing ball.
It was hard not to resent it a little.
Not that she resented her new assigned squad for this. She didn't technically need to take this mission, but when the details started coming over the horn while she was getting set up at their HQ on the orbital ring, it was an easy enough decision. She'd rather be at home, finishing up therapy, catching up on homework, cuddling with her cats...
... but sometimes the circumstances of the day don't give what you'd rather be doing an opportunity.
The drop ship's door suddenly opened, and what came out was a Cathedra Dominicus Corps squad, colored purple and accented pink, identified by its enormous cross shields.
"<All units. Fan out and support local defense forces.>" Thrusters fired, as a squad of Beguir-Pentes began to play leap frog with their thrusters, jumping from point to point amongst Sri Lanka, as their forces began to spread out and engage their units with quick bursts of beam fire. "<Subdue and suppress - suspect Yuliana Kafim believed to be leading the fore in suit with scorpion appearance. Engage with caution.>"
"<Kafim right? Heard she was hot shit back in the REA. Why are the higher ups concerned about some bloc pilot that went off the reservation though?" Came another voice over the comms.
The last one out was their newest member, as her Beguir-Neuer, looking no different save by its color scheme of white accented with pink and an additional rack with telltale funnels on the back leapt out, claws digging into the ground, "<Complicated question. Would take a full briefing. Just take my word for it, she's every bit as good as they say.>"
"<Of course you'd think that - rookie! If you're scared you can just stick behind me.>"
Leina didn't answer, as her Beguir-Neuer, began to leap from location to location with bursts from its jump jets. A certain intensity in her eyes... Psycho-frame was supposed to be a window, an aperture. Compared to what she felt before, this was a dim light...
... but her relationship with Psycho-frame felt complicated, like she was being drawn in.
"Too far, Yuliana." As she remembered Axis, the streets detonating, the civilians. A child's tantrum. This was not Axis though, and this was not a child's tantrum. This was a calculated decision.
She thought she knew better, but perhaps it was only a matter of time. The Neuer came screaming over the skyline, before it abruptly dropped down right on the Da Xukong.
Clawed feet extended. One trying to catch its tail, the other to dig into its armoring, and RIPPPPP and twist, before it leaps off and tries to land a good distance away as she tries to fight off the wave of nausea from the brief proximity.
"<Didn't think it'd be so soon. Didn't think it'd be you. This isn't just collateral damage Yuliana - when did civilian's lives become a POLITICAL STATEMENT for you!?>"
It is unmistakably Leina Ashta's voice, to those who know her, in that strange new mobile suit.
KTS: Leina Ashta targets Yuliana Kafim with Beguir Neuer Foot Unit Claw Rip! KTS: Leina Ashta has completed their actions for the round.
<Pose Tracker> Chienne Argent has posed.
When politicians call for help in the REA, they get G-Hound. Especially right now, the Federation has a vested interest in making sure that Sri Lanka, like India and other nearby territories, does not decide to wander off and join the OCU, which means they definitely get elites if they're available. And it turns out some were!
The Zhuk III is a low-slung unit coloured all in black and steel. It has a silhouette closer to an oversized tank than a MS; a heavy body with a turret, equipped with a large cannon. A pair of missile boxes are mounted further back on the body, tiltable for horizontal or vertical launch, and a rotary gun is mounted forward, under the main chassis. But unlike a tank, the body is supported by four sturdy legs, set at angles that make it look more bug-like than anything else.
It's a fairly common unit, and has had versions going back since the One Year War. Anyone who's done an urban assault anywhere in Zaftra - or, really, anywhere in the REA that uses surplus Zaftran units, which is most of it - has had a pretty good chance of coming up against a garrisoned Zhuk I or II, which look pretty much identical even if the gun or the missile or the armour is a little different internally.
The Zhuk is typically controlled by a team of three. And that's the interesting part, because this team of three - while very used to working together as a team - have never deployed into live combat in the same unit before.
The positions, though, are probably not exactly what you'd expect.
Chiot, not Chienne, is up in the 'commander' seat; this is not because he's in charge (technically, he's not) but because it has the computer with all the fancy gear *and* he's the best coordinator of the three.
Chien, the most steady of the three, is driving; he looks completely at ease despite the extremely different situation from his usual cockpit. Also, he barely fits into the driver's seat; his shoulders are really too broad and he's too tall.
Chienne, by far the most aggressive, is up in the gunner's spot. Unlike Chien, she's small and fits readily in the spot, though she has still decided not to wear a helmet and her short, spiky hair is a little flyaway.
"You know what this thing needs?" Chien says, as the Zhuk maneuvers. "Air conditioning."
"It has environmental seals," Chiot points out.
"Then it needs better cooling! I'm sweating through my shirt already!"
"Shut up," Chienne interrupts, "I can see the terrorists. Chien, go top speed. Chiot, gimme radio - "
A few moments later, and the Zhuk III - the newest, shiniest Zhuk model, only three years old or so and completely modernized - lumbers down a road at a dead run, for it. It's not very fast, really, but it's doing its best.
"<ATTENTION TERRORISTS,>" Chienne booms - with relish, because she's only ever gotten that yelled at her before, and never gotten to do the yelling. "<It's time to stand down before you get your asses kicked! If you've even got an ass,>" she adds, because the Da Xukong's multi-legged gait makes her unsure if it really has one. The Zhuk III fires a quartet of missiles from its boxy launchers, dropping them on the wild-shooting Altos.
Off-radio, she asks, "Hey, Chiot, does the Zhuk have an ass?" She figures it'll be the same answer either way.
KTS: Chienne Argent has deployed in Zhuk III. KTS: Chienne Argent targets Yuliana Kafim with Missile Launch! KTS: Chienne Argent has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Yuliana Kafim has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Yuliana Kafim's EN Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage. KTS: Yuliana Kafim parries Leina Ashta's Beguir Neuer Foot Unit Claw Rip, taking 495 damage! KTS: Leina Ashta has engaged Yuliana Kafim! KTS: Yuliana Kafim successfully intercepts Chienne Argent's Missile Launch
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
G-Hound and Dominicus aren't the only parties responding. NERV has a vested interest in the Kafims' activities on account of the kaiju they've summoned, and the continued threat they pose to reality as everyone knows it. Liam has a vested interest in Yuliana Kafim. He has no love for the REA--he got a taste of their corruption firsthand when Desmond bragged about bribing one of their colonels to cover for his kidnapping--but these are civilians. Innocent people are dying because Yuliana Kafim wants revenge.
This is unacceptable.
A streak of blued steel and bronze descends from the sky, the air around it already boiling-hot. It drops towards one of the Altos like a stooping falcon, its leg extended; with weight and velocity behind it, its superheated heel smashes clean through half the other machine's torso. The cockpit crumples.
The Neo Helios lands, and whirls on the wrecked Alto's wingmate, if you could call it that. The plasma emitter on its hand irises open, and a shard of blue-hot plasma snaps into existence. The Neo Helios puts the knife clean through the Alto's torso in a single, precise strike. The thing in the cockpit barely has time to register the heat before it's reduced to less than ash.
The Neo Helios continues to tear through the Altos, making a beeline for their leader. As it comes within engagement range of Da Xukong 0, it shoulder-tackles one of the green machines, knocking it over and very deliberately STOMPING a foot square in the chest until the whole thing gives way.
"YULIANAAA!!" Liam howls, as his rage finally meets its primary target. Jetting towards Da Xukong 0, the Neo Helios snatches up the Alto it just wrecked, and holds it before itself like a shield--letting it take the impact of ramming the Wanzer head-on.
Liam does not normally fight like this. He rarely does, in fact. But in his mind's eye, he sees a Zaku III stomping through the streets, the flames, the screams of the dying. Innocent people being gunned down before the colony even hit.
KTS: Liam 7-020 targets Yuliana Kafim with Blazing Charge! KTS: Liam 7-020 has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Liam 7-020's Biorhythm activates Strike!
<Pose Tracker> Rain Mikamura has posed.
It's not that Rain won't fight. If anything, she has been known to climb into a machine and get around for very obvious reasons if it's something that has her attention. That doesn't mean she has to like it any one bit. However, when there are known civilian casualities does ~doctor~ Mikamura make a crisp decision.
"Hangar Bay, this is Mikamura, prepare the Rising Gundam for immediate launch! If we have an available on-hand subpilot or watcher, route them to an available console or into my machine."
Rain doesn't have to change, as it were, into her pilot uniform - instead, there is a rapid click of heels as she makes her way into the bay and into the machine. The suit up sequence does not vary, and as soon as Kikka is -securely- in, do they launch.
Once on the ground, it is at rapid approach, but she does not move in for melee immediately, frowning as the Rising delicately makes its way around as many buildings as possible. "See what you can do to try to minimize causing damage, get with other defending forces as necessary. Even if we don't stop her directly, I get the feeling the back up of doing as much destruction as possible is also an acceptable endgoal."
Touching her arm, Rain settles back into a straight position, exhaling slightly, and those not familiar will see the sight of a Gundam with a bow. A bow and a very large beam arrow. Insidethe cockpit, Rain gauges, heads tilted back and forth, very slightly, and then fires.
KTS: Rain Mikamura targets Yuliana Kafim with Rising Arrow! KTS: Rain Mikamura has completed their actions for the round.
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
With all the preparation going on for the expedition to Gallia IV, SMS still had contracts that is has to fulfil. Which is why Alto is out on patrol when things started to go down. To be honest, he didn't mind. It gave him a chance to think about said expedition. It would be a strange feeling, leaving the Earth Sphere after almost two years being back. Returning out into deep space again... Though without the comforts of a colony fleet. Still, the idea of getting to fly the skies of another planet... He was looking forward to it.
Alto had been too far away to get any distress call, given the significant amount of interference Jupiter is currently pumping out. But the request for assistance had thankfully been relayed through other means, finally making it into the system of Alto's Messiah in the form of a new mission. Even with the current uncertain state of the Federation, it still has a standing contract with SMS. And so Alto is required to assist.
Not that he's against stopping a terrorist attack and saving civilian lives.
The VF-25F Armored Messiah descends through the upper edges of the atmosphere, burning brightly as its pinpoint barrier absorbs the flames of re-entry. The flames eventually pass and as the Messiah rapidly descends, the city of Colombo spread out beneath. Alto frowns at the sight of the destruction that has already occurred, and the battle playing out above and amidst the city.
A few switch flips and button presses and Alto tunes in to the local radio channels, <"This is Skull-4 with SMS. Responding to the distress call from local defence forces. Engaging the terrorists."> That's all the warning said terrorists get as the Variable Fighter banks, bringing its nose in line towards the group of Altos on the ground. The gunpod slung beneath its frame spins up, before starting to unleash a stream of bullets towards several of the units terrorising the city, strafing them from above.
KTS: Alto Saotome targets Yuliana Kafim with Leading Fire! KTS: Alto Saotome has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Yuliana Kafim's EN Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage. KTS: Yuliana Kafim blocks Liam 7-020's Blazing Charge, taking 570 damage! KTS: Liam 7-020 has engaged Yuliana Kafim! KTS: Yuliana Kafim's EN Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage. KTS: Yuliana Kafim partially guards Rain Mikamura's Rising Arrow, taking 2100 damage! KTS: Yuliana Kafim's EN Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage. KTS: Yuliana Kafim fails to evade Alto Saotome's Leading Fire, taking 2400 damage! KTS: Alto Saotome begins a Formation attack!
<Pose Tracker> Kikka Kobayashi has posed.
The Shuffle Alliance isn't officially on call from the Federation for this one, of course. But ever since the sporadic attacks in Azadistan began, Mithril and their allies already had an eye on the political situation of the AEU and REA.
And well, this is much more loud and proud bona fide terrorism - they can afford to interfere in this one.
And it just happens Kikka is available to support Rain and her Rising Gundam! As a rule, it would be easier to just support her from some terminal - but Kikka is one for putting herself in weird situations, and she's kind of always wanted to see what it's like inside a Mobile Trace Gundam. Being able to support people in their battles means familiarizing herself with all types of mobile suits, not just the conventional ones. Besides, even if she never particularly paid extremely high regard to the Fights, Rain's always had her respect, after all.
"I'm on it, Mikamura-san." Kikka answers her, gravely. She has first-hand experience of what it's like to live on the ground of these firefights. "Part of me really wants to punish the lady responsible for all this. If she really cares so much, how dare she put the people she's trying to 'save' in so much danger! But even if we're fighting for what's right here, the longer we let this continue, the more lives we lose."
The Rising Arrow flies! And Kikka starts crunching data to help make sure Rain strikes true - avoiding putting even more people in danger.
"Looks like aside from us, we've got SMS, NERV, G-Hound... not surprising." She reports, reading off the IFF data. "And, uh... that one's new. Dominicus?" By the very rule of Yuliana's anti-Newtype powers, amplified by the Da Zukong 0's presence, she doesn't figure it out until she hears the girl's voice. Part of her's really annoyed that something so instinctual to her seems to be missing, but...
"Leina? You're here? In a mobile suit?" She doesn't sound upset, just a little shocked. She was aware of the deal - less so she would be back on the field this soon, when she should be graduating!
Well, it doesn't seem like she's being forced to fight, as she scathes Yuliana. That gets Kikka to relax. "But you know... doesn't matter what flag you're flying. I'm going to support you no matter what. And this is something we can absolutely work together on, right?" The data she picks up within the Rising Gundam is shared with the Beguir Neuer, as well.
KTS: Kikka Kobayashi targets Leina Ashta and Rain Mikamura with Coordinate. KTS: Kikka Kobayashi has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Kikka Kobayashi coordinates maneuvers, raising Leina Ashta's Piloting! KTS: Kikka Kobayashi coordinates maneuvers, raising Rain Mikamura's Piloting!
<Pose Tracker> Sophia Mayhew Castellan has posed.
The Hyperion's crew has not yet been informed of the results of the envelope sitting on Sophia's desk - a Commander's office in Pendragon, hastily assigned when it became clear the Hyperion was down for the count.
The unit would need a new ship soon. Sophia needed a new machine, too. The Hyperion Battle Group had been a fine idea, but some of its technology had not held up to the last few years' innovation...and *something* was holding up the new processes. Someone had plans they had not communicated down yet. Sophia read the letter again, put it down...
She was getting better at seeing the world around her, but it was a challenge still. She looked off into the sky, the world crisscrossing with connections of weal and woe. But...moving through that web, passing through it like a silent demon's eye...
"Kafim," Sophia says, and stands up, groping for her phone to activate the base line. "Get me something that flies," she orders.
"Denying a man even the connection to his killer," Sophia says to nobody, watching Yuliana's tail rip itself free from a corpse that cannot connect to its own death. "...has this always been the kind of demon you were, Yuliana Kafim?"
A ReLion roars out of the sky. She was NOT in range to be part of the G-Hound response order, but she's here anyway. High-speed deployment options make things like this possible, if you know the right people.
The Invisible Burst's disruptions make it hard for her to particularly communicate her plans...but all she needs to do is roar out of the sky to make herself known, the missile launchers on her Lion opening up and firing a corkscrewing series of missiles down to rake across Da Xukong.
"There you are, Yuliana Kafim," Sophia sends, simple enough. She can't turn it off - both eyes blazing with the Mark of Kings, though it goes unseen by most.
But she can no longer hide that connection from Yuliana, either.
KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan targets Yuliana Kafim with Cask Missile Launcher! KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Yuliana Kafim's EN Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage. KTS: Yuliana Kafim fails to evade Sophia Mayhew Castellan's Cask Missile Launcher, taking 2070 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Yuliana is accustomed to going too far; and yes, she can be a demon, as the world demands. And here, now --
The Beguir-Neuer comes at her, claws first, and Da Xukong's injector lashes at them -- parrying its claws with its smaller scorpion's tail. (The Beguir-Neuer is over three times its size; Da Xukong 0 stands only five metres tall, though thanks to that tail, it's much longer.) Thanks to that quick manoeuvring -- and the sickly green shield which erupts to meet its other claw -- the scorpionoid wanzer survives with only scratches. Physically, anyway --
"Leina!" Yuliana snaps, and perhaps she's being considerate, not using such a close nickname in a situation like this. Certainly, she wouldn't want to give that information to the REA. "Don't you GET IT?! They KNEW what happened to me! You're one of the people who made sure everyone knew! But has anything changed here, Leina?! No! Look around you! They flee ever more fiercely into the Chairman's arms, without a single care for ANY OF US!" She doesn't attack the Beguir-Neuer in retaliation -- but that abyss around her assaults Leina regardless, in those brief moments before she pulls back. "I don't care if they live or die, but if they're helping those dogs in Parliament escape, their lives are FUCKING FORFEIT!"
She's forced to adjourn her angry screed, though, by a quartet of missiles -- and with a quick toggle of switches and dials, the great curved horns along either shoulder of the Da Xukong darken, and a black beam meets them in the air. The Abyssal Coil cools, curled about her wanzer's shoulders and chest, as she skitters back to face the even greater Zhuk III. "Hahaha... oh, man, I remember those things!" She laughs, brought joy, if momentarily. "It's got a tail, it's got an ass, come on, this is basic biology," she transmits, "but I'll tell you what isn't --" ... as that tail raises above her wanzer's blocky head, and fires salvos of burning hot plasma at the many-legged Mobile Weapon.
She's a little careless in her targeting, though -- or is she? Because that salvo doesn't just soar towards the Zhuk III; balls of plasma soar towards Alto's Armored Messiah and Rain's Rising Gundam, too. The Altos who Alto -- altoppropriately? -- peppers with bullets are satisfactorily damaged; these suits are Ground-types, so aside from his aim bringing one down in a smoking heap, the rest of them can do little more but fire their rifles in the air to try to catch him from the air. Birds in the air do tend to taunt cats, this way.
Rain's Arrow, meanwhile, finds Da Xukong 0 -- and meets that green barrier, just the same, before it hits her. "Who threw that?!" She demands, wheeling around to find --
"LIAAAAMMMM!!!" Yuliana howls, as she's interrupted by the Neo Helios battering her with one of her very own Protivisny. (It's been thoroughly defeated; the suit is of armour, now, and nothing more.) She pulls out her Cleave Axe and SLAMS it down, carving THROUGH the wrecked Alto he holds between them to get to the Neo Helios. "Do you expect me to mourn?! The Protivisny feel no pain nor loss!"
She snaps, over her general radio channels, when she hears Kikka's surprise: "Oh, yes, that's Leina," sounding terribly cross about it all. "Even though she should be resting --"
Perhaps she's distracted; perhaps she just wasn't expecting a Lion to tear in from the sky, missiles-forward. But she's interrupted by, "Shit!", in a way which might be entirely familiar to Sophia. Thanks to Wendy's quick aiming, the Deadeye shoots down some of those missiles -- but sniper rifles are not known for quick arming, and so two of them continue their corkscrew down to meet the Da Xukong 0. It does try to get out of the way.
Emphasis try.
That green barrier flaring to protect her machine from the blast, as the scorpionoid wanzer re-orients to face Sophia's Lion. "Sophia!" She yells, hand grasping white-knuckled at her clutch. "I should have known--!" And the black power which builds in the Abyssal Coil, slung across her shoulders, is plainly un-visible to Sophia's eyes: it is the strength of the Void, focused through those protrusions on her shoulders to fall upon her Lion like a beam. (It is no beam weaponry.)
KTS: Yuliana Kafim targets Leina Ashta with Demoralize! KTS: Yuliana_Kafim Changes attack to Chienne Argent, Alto Saotome, and Rain Mikamura with Infernal Arachnid Injector Stinger Salvo. KTS: Yuliana Kafim targets Liam 7-020 with MULS-P Cleave Axe Lunge! KTS: Yuliana Kafim targets Sophia Mayhew Castellan with Abyssal Coil Herald Devastation! KTS: Yuliana Kafim has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Yuliana Kafim demoralizes Leina Ashta, reducing her Morale drastically. KTS: Leina Ashta has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Leina Ashta has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Yuliana Kafim rattles Chienne Argent, making her next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Chienne Argent partially guards Yuliana Kafim's Infernal Arachnid Injector Stinger Salvo, taking 1800 damage! KTS: Yuliana Kafim begins a Formation attack! KTS: Yuliana Kafim anchors Liam 7-020, forcing him into close range. KTS: Liam 7-020 fails to Parry Yuliana Kafim's MULS-P Cleave Axe Lunge, taking 4140 damage! KTS: Yuliana Kafim has engaged Liam 7-020! KTS: Yuliana Kafim roots her unit, coming to a standstill and leaving her vulnerable. KTS: Rain Mikamura charges into the attack! KTS: Yuliana Kafim rattles Rain Mikamura, making her next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Rain Mikamura partially guards Yuliana Kafim's Infernal Arachnid Injector Stinger Salvo, taking 5200 damage! KTS: Yuliana Kafim begins a Formation attack! KTS: Chienne Argent has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Yuliana Kafim rattles Sophia Mayhew Castellan, making her next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan fails to evade Yuliana Kafim's Abyssal Coil Herald Devastation, taking 3348 damage! KTS: Yuliana Kafim begins a Formation attack! KTS: Alto Saotome blocks Yuliana Kafim's Infernal Arachnid Injector Stinger Salvo, taking 2400 damage! KTS: Yuliana Kafim begins a Formation attack!
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
The Da Xukong parries the claws, even as the Beguir leaps away to prevent reprisal. In that moment she listens, feels all that anger and frustration, that despair for the way the world is. It hurts to hear it, she used to care for the lives of civilians. She used to empathize with them, having survived the floods.
"<Yeah I get it.>"
Is Leina's simple reply to Yuliana, even feeling it herself, for all the ways the world refuses to change in response to such actions.
"<You've lost the plot if you're punishing civilians for their own powerlessness. What's your expectation? That they all rise up and get MOWED DOWN?>"
Still, she feels something familiar for a time even before she spies the Rising Gundam, Leina double takes, before, "<Rain!?>" Ho boy, Leina hopes Sayla has kept Shuffle Command appraised of her situation. Either way... "<Let's stop this before it goes any further.>"
And indeed others arrive, Liam, a G-Hound contingent in a Zhuk III, and Skull 4 of the SMS... and...
"<... Just as surprised you're here Kikka!>" She asks, alarmed if she's on site, because well, if she is, then suddenly her priority definitely shifted, "<Running logistics and support today?>" And indeed that gets soft confirmed to her by the data that comes her way, "<Appreciated. I definitely won't reject a helping hand!>"
The Beguir suddenly leaps away, skidding in a pivot as it whirls around on the Da Xukong.
"<I WOULD be resting if you weren't here doing this!>"
Funnels suddenly rise up from the rack on it's back, six of them moving above, and beginning to fire, again and again. Whenever she lacks a direct visual, she targets by when others can fall into that absence and this feeling disappear. And that absence is where she targets.
"<Tell me Yuliana, I saw a vision once of your ancestor making a deal to save your people from endless war.>"
They fire again and again, as funnels spray beam fire against her barrier, trying to pin her down and cut her off for others.
"<Would she be proud of you for this?>"
KTS: Leina Ashta targets Yuliana Kafim with Beguir Neuer Funnel Array Strike Formation! KTS: Leina Ashta has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Yuliana Kafim successfully evades Leina Ashta's Beguir Neuer Funnel Array Strike Formation
<Pose Tracker> Chienne Argent has posed.
Chienne gives Chiot a moment to answer while she transmits to Leina, "<Hey, Dominicus. Don't forget who's in charge here, huh?>"
"No, the Zhuk doesn't have an ass," Chiot replies, incredulously. "It's a robot. Also, its legs are further up the body, it has a rear segment. Ugh, why do you *ask* me these things?"
"I think that counts as an ass," Chien says, jerking the controls so that the Zhuk nimbly sidesteps around a car. "Like... an ass part. See? She agrees."
"But we can definitely kick it," Chienne finishes, before turning the radio back on. "<Right! Ass-kicking, as requested!>"
The Argents' Zhuk is deceptively agile for all that it lacks a lot of straight-line speed. The way its legs are arranged, it can walk sideways or backwards as fast as forwards, or diagonally; it zig-zags as it approaches to make a harder target of itself, but has to stop and hunker down when the plasma comes. The armour's tough, but it still rocks the Zhuk, forcing it to stagger drunkenly and nearly slam into a building.
"Watch where you're going!" Chienne is by now trying to get a solid lock on Da Xukong with the main cannon, but the bouncy, staggering gait nearly slammed her into the wall and also made her lose her aim.
Chien grits his teeth and wrenches the controls, causing the Zhuk to start to run sidewise down a side street. Chienne, guided by Chiot, keeps the cannon aimed at a very specific place as walls and cars slide past her field of view.
When the Zhuk bursts back out onto the main road, miracle of miracles, the Zhuk's main cannon is aimed directly at the Da Xukong 0, a clear shot with no barrier Chienne can detect. "Gotcha," she says, self-satisfied, as she pulls the trigger, going for a direct hit with a heavy shell - all kinetic armour-piercing.
"Whoo! That's one hell of a kick!" The Zhuk takes a step, recalibrating itself after the recoil.
KTS: Chienne Argent targets Yuliana Kafim with Impact Shot! KTS: Chienne Argent has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Yuliana Kafim's EN Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage. KTS: Yuliana Kafim fails to evade Chienne Argent's Impact Shot, taking 3600 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
"BULLSHIT!" is Liam's roared denial, even though Yuliana was talking to Leina, not him. "You came here, you brought those THINGS here to KILL PEOPLE!" He sucks in a breath through clenched teeth.
CRUNCH.
Yuliana's Cleave Axe carves through what's left of the Alto as Liam shoves it forwards; the weapon cuts into the Neo Helios' chest, carving a wide diagonal gash in the metal. The ablative layer starts to ooze back together, but the wound is still there, and still mirrored on Liam's body via the Mobile Trace. It feels like he's been halfway cut open. "Ghk," he chokes out. The Neo Helios takes a half-step back, and both halves of the wrecked Alto falling to the street. "They don't," Liam grates. "People do. You think this is MAKING THINGS BETTER?!"
The Neo Helios jets forward, leaving a seared line down the pavement as it whips an arm up and around in an overhead smash. The armor on that hand blebs and shifts, like it's not wholly solid, because it isn't. The moment that fist hits Da Xukong 0--if it does--the armor melts, forming a long, sticky strand of high-tensile metamaterial. If he manages that, Liam's next move is to try and whip the smaller machine into the ground.
KTS: Liam 7-020 targets Yuliana Kafim with Bolide Strike! KTS: Liam 7-020 has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Liam 7-020's Biorhythm activates Wall!
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
Alto's jaw clenches as the mobile weapons that share his name start to fire back. No, that's not why he's angry, as it the return fire is easy enough to deal with. He jams one of his flight sticks down and pulls it back, triggering the Messiah's transformation. Even with the added mass of the Armored Pack's components, the machine still swiftly alters its form in mid-air, separating before recombining in its GERWALK mode.
Engines blasting out if its feet bring it to a hover in the air above its prey, while the shield on its left arm is brought up to tank the shots fired at it.
Even as he feels the impacts against his shield reverberating through his machine's frame, Alto listens to the chatter of the channels. His grip tightens a little before finally he calls out, <"You're crazy! Because of some shit someone in authority did to do you in the past, you're going to murder all these innocent people!? They're not even doing anything except being in the wrong place at the wrong time! You really are a monster.">
The Messiah floats in the air above the Altos. Alto is a little wary about using anything especially explosive, given the potential for collateral damage. So he decides to avoid making use of the Armored Pack's numerous missiles. Instead, the two large beam cannons mounted beneath the wing sections rotate towards the terrorist units beneath. They begin to fire, slowly blasting large bolts of energy towards the hostile machines.
KTS: Alto Saotome has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Alto Saotome has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Alto Saotome has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Alto Saotome targets Yuliana Kafim with OttoSentinel 57mm Beam Cannons! KTS: Alto Saotome has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Yuliana Kafim's EN Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage. KTS: Liam 7-020 anchors Yuliana Kafim, forcing her into close range. KTS: Yuliana Kafim parries Liam 7-020's Bolide Strike, taking 495 damage! KTS: Liam 7-020 has engaged Yuliana Kafim! KTS: Yuliana Kafim successfully evades Alto Saotome's OttoSentinel 57mm Beam Cannons KTS: Alto Saotome completes the Formation attack! KTS: Yuliana Kafim's EN Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage.
<Pose Tracker> Rain Mikamura has posed.
"<Ashta?!>" Rain adds on to the comms, her voice reaching out to all.
"<Hold that thought->" Plasma. Balls of plasma. Aren't scorpions only supposed to inject with the stinger? Rain wonders, briefly, before realizing that she should move. The Wanzer is so small, though, and there's so many in melee that she decides the best thing to do is join the brawl.
A misjudgement, though, and-
"Oh, that's a screw-up-" Rain, is now really the best time to remind everyone that honesty is probably the best policy? "Kikka, hold on-!"
The Rising goes down on one knee and slides, Rain stowing the bow away in an attempt to sling the shield off of the Gundam's left upper shoulder. This does not cause what she wants, and the Rising slams straight into a pair of plasma shots, the whole machine shuddering like someone walked over its' grave, Rain gasping slightly from where she's kneeling down.
"Alright. Fine." Rain says, calmly enough.
She lifts herself up, right hand thrown out into the air, a long pole in it's grip, before the blade shimmers to life, the heat-beam naginata tight in her grip. "This blade of mine is burning red!" Oh no. (Oh yes.)
Rain, Rising, in sync, stomp the ground, foot forward, before it moves with a surpsing amount of agility, the blade coming down in a sweeping slice towards the Da Xukong.
KTS: Rain Mikamura targets Yuliana Kafim with Slash! KTS: Rain Mikamura has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Yuliana Kafim parries Rain Mikamura's Slash, taking 525 damage! KTS: Rain Mikamura has engaged Yuliana Kafim!
<Pose Tracker> Sophia Mayhew Castellan has posed.
Leina Ashta. Sophia can't help but see her now, renewed but with her Connections transformed. When last they met, that was a different person at the center of that web. But now...to whom does she tie herself?
It seems, at least, that the tie is her own.
"I could see you skulking about all the way from Pendragon," Sophia replies, coldly. "So yes. You should have." It's boasting, somewhat needlessly, but she knows her abilities bother Yuliana and right now that's the best card she's got. Her missiles don't entirely go down - one of Yuliana's crew gets the rest. Decent shot. There's a problem. The bigger problem is the Inchoate Badness rakes across her frame, nearly sawing an arm completely off. Fortunately, she's clear before it gets that far, whirling away with an expert's touch.
"...I feel like these others have made my point rather eloquently," she muses. Honestly, she doesn't entirely disagree with Yuliana's motives, but...
This world has laws. As she sees bonds of fear and terror rake across the Da Xukong, forming and disappearing into Yuliana's gullet of a void, she knows more and more, this can't be the way.
"So instead," she says, and raises her Lion's railgun, and simply fires linear bolts downrange across the scorpion-Wanzer's hide. "At least be a woman of principle and murder the man in the night like an adult!"
<Pose Tracker> Kikka Kobayashi has posed.
"You got it," Kikka answers Leina. "This is part of my job, too... so I guess I'd better pick up some field experience at some point! I know I can trust Rain to keep me safe, even if these things are a really wiIII-"
She's rudely interrupted by that shocking scorpion stinger plunging for the Rising Gundam. "Really wild ride." She concludes, much more exasperated. "I-I'm fine! Are you.. alright, Mikamura-san?!" She asks, a touch worried - she's keenly aware those suits make the pilots feel the pain, too.
Yuliana laments that Leina really should be resting, and although Kikka certainly agrees... she's just as quick to point out, "You're the one who caused this mess in the first place, Mrs. Kafim. If you really felt sorry your actions dragged her into a mobile suit, you and your terrorists would dismount where you stand!" Which is to say, she doesn't expect Yuliana to do that at all.
Suddenly, the Rising Gundam charges forward in sync with Rain, who Kikka notes, says the line even in a real battle. "That Wanzer is armed to the teeth in all aspects to excel in melee. Really, as your mission control, I'd advise against a charge like that." She tells Rain, all too honestly. "But now that you've committed - you're the larger machine. Try to nail that thing with one clean swipe!"
KTS: Kikka Kobayashi targets Yuliana Kafim with Shock! KTS: Kikka Kobayashi has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Kikka Kobayashi has activated the Foresee Spirit Command targeting Rain Mikamura KTS: Kikka Kobayashi has activated the Rouse Spirit Command targeting Rain Mikamura KTS: Kikka Kobayashi has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Leina Ashta KTS: Kikka Kobayashi shocks Yuliana Kafim, reducing her Morale significantly. KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan targets Yuliana Kafim with Burst Railgun Burst ! KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Yuliana Kafim's EN Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage. KTS: Yuliana Kafim blocks Sophia Mayhew Castellan's Burst Railgun Burst , taking 690 damage! KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan begins a Formation attack!
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"THEY SHOULD HAVE CARED!" Yuliana screams her pain to Leina, rattling at the bars of her cage. (Both figuratively, and literally; her cockpit bars her in, to stop her from being thrown about by her daredevil manuevers.) "THEY DIDN'T CARE, LEINA! So now! So now...!! If you'd just unblind your eyes a moment, you'd see I'm doing them a FAVOUR, despite all their wrongs! You know Cabral's a Republic plant, don't you?! No one here wanted him in charge! It was just a decree from the State, like always...! A decision from the Central FUCKING Authority!"
And to Liam, she affirms: "You're damn right! I'm here to kill Cabral and all his fucking cronies! I'll settle for nothing less than a complete fucking purification of the Parliament Complex, JUST LIKE THESE COMPLACENT IDIOTS SHOULD HAVE DEMANDED!"
She's still mad, as she snaps to Chienne: "NOT WHAT I SAID!" Apparently she didn't request an asskicking. Unfortunately...
Her blood set to boil, she snaps, to Leina: "So, what, this is MY fault?!" She demands to know, on the topic of Leina fighting instead of resting, with zero insight. "And you," she adds, speaking to Kikka with anger dripping from her words, "you would have me return to the arms of my torturers? What waits me if I surrender here is worse than any death."
Yuliana growls, and focuses on the Zhuk's jerky movement, instead. "First time on four legs?" She asks, and gains more stability from focusing on something less infuriating. "You need to calculate your angles -- it's not as simple as being on two legs, you're lumbering because you're overbalancing." Never mind that the Zhuk III is trying to kill her, there's always time for a little unsolicited advice.
But the Beguir's funnels orient on the Da Xukong 0, and Yuliana is forced to pour her attention into her alacrity. The tentacles which weave from her back work shift gears to control those eight legs -- objectively too many legs for one pilot, as the Argent siblings might be cottoning onto, given their own adventures in quad-motion -- to skitter away from that fire, again, again, again. It's a testament to the skill Leina underlined that she's able to do this, even as she asks: "What...?" There's honest shock in the Oracle's voice, as Leina shares her own vision. "My... ancestor...? S--surely you're speaking nonsense, Leina!" But her voice hitches on the denial; she can't be sure in the slightest.
But even though Yuliana can evade all of the Beguir's funnels, doing so has put it in an unfortunate position: pinned between a now-abandoned truck and a building, it can't escape the Zhuk's main cannon. The heavy shell is armour-piercing -- but first it has to get through that green barrier, which evidently isn't normal armour. What pierces through, though, shreds through the Da Xukong's armour, leaving several holes peppered through.
"Damn," Yuliana bites out, as she flicks a series of toggle-switches to account for the damage. Her tail raises, as she's taking that evasive action, to fire off a quick, blazing shot of flame to distract the Mobile Weapon.
"I think I deserve some fucking revenge," Yuliana says, as she skitters forward to meet the Neo Helios. "And if some people who couldn't even bother caring get hurt in the process -- why do I have to care about that?! Why do I have to care about people who NEVER CARED ABOUT ME?!" The wanzer's tail lashes up to meet Neo Helios's fist, and Liam melts his way around the Infernal Injector, proceeding to take the Da Xukong by the tail and slam it into the road. Another pothole to fix.
"Gh," she grunts, as she painfully angles the Injector in such close quarters to burn itself away from the Neo Helios. She's able to free herself, and quickly escapes from the shadow of the larger machine.
And there's Alto, calling her crazy. "In the past? Do you know why I'm so angry now, Messiah man? Because of how the Federation speaks of me now, present day, present time! For almost two weeks, my Elisa has been mired in diplomatic talks with people who hate us -- cowards who won't even clearly admit how they see me! But I know! I KNOW! The REA sees me as nothing more than stolen military equipment! All their concerns -- the concerns of someone nervous a gun registered to them will be used in a massacre! Why should I bear it--?!" As she demands it, she charges the Abyssal Coil again, to blast Voidbound black energy up towards Alto's Messiah in a dark lack of a beam.
(Alto does manage to make targeted work of a few of those Altos, at least -- though more escape his wrath, with feline grace enough for this. They're at least too occupied with fighting him to commit much of their mindless carnage, right now; it's an important role to play, given how they don't seem to have any humanity in their decision-making processes.)
"There is a reason it must be this way," she insists, to Sophia, as she raises the broad side of her Cleave Axe to defend her against the titanic physical blow of the Lion's railgun. "Purposes I cannot fulfil with my usual methods. Had I no greater aims, I would very much agree with you..." She takes that Cleave Axe, then, and skitters forward to bury it in the Lion's chassis.
(Notably, she at least isn't going for killshots with the non-REA defenders who have come. Yuliana knows very much where the Lion's cockpit is; she's not aiming for it, now.)
Kikka's right to notice Yuliana's skill in melee -- is that why, when the Rising Gundam charges in, Da Xukong's tail rises up to clash Rain's naginata away? "That's... the Gundam which defeated the Four Heavenly Kings?" She seems to recognise it, and skitters away, with a jet of flame to distract its pilot as she goes. "I've no quarrel with you," she insists, hotly. "Leave me!"
KTS: Yuliana Kafim targets Alto Saotome with Abyssal Coil Herald Devastation! KTS: Yuliana Kafim targets Liam 7-020 with Infernal Arachnid Injector Heat Warper! KTS: Yuliana Kafim targets Chienne Argent with Infernal Arachnid Injector Flare Display! KTS: Yuliana Kafim targets Rain Mikamura with Infernal Arachnid Injector Flare Display! KTS: Yuliana Kafim targets Sophia Mayhew Castellan with MULS-P Cleave Axe Swing! KTS: Yuliana Kafim targets Leina Ashta with Despirit! KTS: Yuliana Kafim has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Yuliana Kafim despirits Leina Ashta, reducing her SP drastically. KTS: Rain Mikamura retreats from the attack! KTS: Yuliana Kafim rattles Rain Mikamura, making her next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Rain Mikamura fails to evade Yuliana Kafim's Infernal Arachnid Injector Flare Display, taking 2600 damage! KTS: Yuliana Kafim repulses Rain Mikamura, forcing her to disengage. KTS: Liam 7-020 has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Liam 7-020's Force Wall L1 activates, negating 1000 base damage. KTS: Yuliana Kafim rattles Liam 7-020, making his next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Liam 7-020 blocks Yuliana Kafim's Infernal Arachnid Injector Heat Warper, taking 840 damage! KTS: Yuliana Kafim has engaged Liam 7-020! KTS: Yuliana Kafim begins a Formation attack!
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
"<Copy that, G-Hound.>" Says Leina, "<Problem is our jurisdictional mandate says otherwise. How about we worry about stopping this than whose stepping on whose toes?>"
It's an interesting question why Cathedra thinks this is worth their time at all to exercise their jurisdictional authority, certainly, yet- apparently they are, here and now. Is it really the terrorist attack or is it...
... the pilot of the Da Xukong.
Inside the Beguir, the pilot looks momentarily sheepish at Rain's 'hold that thought', "<That's fine by me-!>" On holding that thought until it's a better moment.
And indeed, it's little surprise to her that Sophia is here to try and collar Yuliana again. The two still haven't spoken since... before all of this began, but she suspects that her fire is here to consume Yuliana. Unbeknownst to all of them she's hoping to prevent that, if possible.
Yet she'll hardly say that thought aloud.
"<Hell of an incident to pick up field experience from Kikka.>" Leina says wryly, as if it usually it's some journalistic field trip, not an active terrorist incident. "<But I'm glad to know you've got my back.>"
Yuliana in this moment just starts yelling, and- "<You know FULL AND WELL that when people are suffering it's hard to look beyond their own situation! The powers that be weaponize apathy! They crush them economically until they don't have TIME to think beyond their own lives!>"
How upset was she when people were apathetic over the First Neo-Zeon war? All of this hurts, as it's certainly thoughts she's felt before, but as Yuliana asks if she's calling it her fault she tells her. "<What they did to you isn't your fault? But what you're doing now!? All you're doing is adding to that suffering!>" Yuliana doesn't believe, or at least is in denial of the belief. "<And giving the people in power more ammunition!>"
And indeed, as the funnels spray more beam fire around, suddenly, abruptly, they scatter like a flock of birds, right as the Beguir-Neuer drives right in towards the Da Xukong shield at the fore, it feels like a charge meant to pin her against a building with that enormous shield, bigger than her unit on its own.
"<Dian. Her name was Siti Dian.>"
Then at the last second it twists, as that foot mounted claw unit comes up, swinging by in a brutal kick that's meant to use its weight and momentum to shred right past its shields and catch hold of the smaller unit, its crab like claw trying to shred through its armor plating and slam it to the ground.
"<After three years of drone warfare that destroyed her village, she'd had enough. And you're spitting on her good intentions by forgetting what's really important here!>"
KTS: Leina Ashta targets Yuliana Kafim with Beguir Neur Foot Unit Claw Shred! KTS: Leina Ashta has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Yuliana Kafim fails to react to Leina Ashta's Beguir Neur Foot Unit Claw Shred, taking 5490 damage! KTS: Leina Ashta has engaged Yuliana Kafim! KTS: Leina Ashta completes the Formation attack! KTS: Chienne Argent successfully Evades Yuliana Kafim's Infernal Arachnid Injector Flare Display KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan has activated the Foresee Spirit Command. KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan has activated the Attune Spirit Command. KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan fails to parry Yuliana Kafim's MULS-P Cleave Axe Swing, taking 5700 damage! KTS: Yuliana Kafim has engaged Sophia Mayhew Castellan! KTS: Yuliana Kafim rattles Alto Saotome, making his next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Alto Saotome fails to react to Yuliana Kafim's Abyssal Coil Herald Devastation, taking 3348 damage! KTS: Yuliana Kafim continues a Formation attack!
<Pose Tracker> Chienne Argent has posed.
Chienne starts to respond to Leina, but is interrupted by Chien getting it first, which means that Leina is suddenly looking at a large, burly man with a bandana rather than a dark-skinned woman with silver-white hair. "<We got it,>" he says. "<Don't worry, we've got your back. We can figure it out after - just don't get your ass killed!>" He laughs before shutting the connection down.
Chienne elects not to make a fuss, because she's distracted by trying to line up a second shot on the Da Xukong. This is harder than it looks - the wanzer is small and people keep darting into melee range of it, which completely obscures her firing lines. "<Oi, if you don't want to get shot leave me a line!>" At least she hasn't started shooting through people yet.
Privately, Chienne approves of Yuliana's dedication to getting even. How could she not? They're more alike than different, in this way. Under normal circumstances, if Yuliana expressed her desire to slaughter a bunch of people who treated her like stolen military equipment, she'd be cheering her on from the sidelines. She might even help, just for the fun of it.
But to the Argents, this is a test. They've been challenged to cooperate in a single unit as opposed to their squad tactics, which means they want to *win*. Not that any of them is ever particularly interested in losing.
Chien puts the Zhuk in reverse, walking it backwards at full speed and slowly angling it - it looks like a mistake except that it means that by the time it gets to an intersection it's at the proper angle to shift and dodge down it.
Which he does, taking cover from the blasts behind a building. It's a write-off - hopefully it was evacuated, none of the Argents checked - but the Zhuk is perfectly functional, and Yuliana might be picking up the distinctive lock-on of missiles.
"That barrier's a pain," Chiot says, with a sigh, as he triggers the sudden missile barrage.
The area around the Da Xukong is struck - saturated - with a barrage of missiles, all twelve tubes firing. But these missiles are specialty; they flare out with nets of energy, surging through and overloading barriers, forcing it to activate in the wrong place or at the wrong time or simply burn through energy reserves. He's tuning the missiles as they launch, too, to try to get an energy frequency that works best against that effect that he doesn't entirely understand, to get a better look at it and how to penetrate it.
KTS: Chienne Argent targets Yuliana Kafim with Nullify! KTS: Chienne Argent has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Chienne Argent nullifies Yuliana Kafim's defensive abilities.
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
"'Complacent idiots,'" Liam breathes, his voice shaking. "You SELF-RIGHTEOUS PEISTE!" It means 'snake'. It means 'dragon'. The line between snake and dragon is blurry. "YOU DON'T GET TO ACT LIKE THE WORLD'S SAVIOR AND THEN GUN PEOPLE DOWN IN THEIR BLOODY HOMES!" He hears what Chienne's saying, and it heats his blood with irrational pride. He hears what Leina's saying, and once this horror is over, he'll have time to be more grateful for it. Right now, the CRUNCH of Da Xukong 0 hitting the pavement reverberates in Liam's ears. His augmentations dial up the adrenal output. The slow, steady beat of his heart is like the pounding of a war drum in his chest.
(Even then, it can only hide the shock, and the horror, at watching this happen. Who knows how he'll feel when the adrenaline and rage wear off?)
Da Xukong 0's heat injector is a fearsome thing. That strike could easily shear through the hand of another Mobile Fighter, which (as Rain would surely know) would cause horrible Trace feedback. The moment it comes within reach of the Neo Helios, though, several things happen. The armor deforms--by design, like it did when Liam struck the Wanzer earlier--and the highest-spec coolant available starts pumping into the affected limb. All that's left is a painful black mark, like Liam gripped a hot pan and didn't let go immediately. Unpleasant, but better than the alternative.
And then, Liam gets a good look at the other Mobile Suit engaging at close quarters. The other Mobile Fighter. The Rising Gundam. Dr. Rain Mikamura. Technical and medical support for Domon Kasshu--
There's a sudden hitch in the Neo Helios' relentless assault, and it's not because of anything Yuliana did. It stumbles back--conveniently for Chiot--and stares at the Rising Gundam. Its hands shake a little as the palm emitter irises open, and spits blue-hot plasma into a waiting EM field.
The moment the missile storm lets up, Liam darts towards the Da Xukong 0, raises the knife, and falls forward, trying to impale the smaller machine in one go.
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
<"And all you're doing right now is PROVING THEM RIGHT!">
Alto is still trying to deal with the annoyingly agile Altos when that black energy comes streaking towards him. It's unexpected. He tries to react in time, just barely avoiding a fatal blow as the non-beam rips into part of the Armored pack. The armor its named for does its job, though several sparking components force Alto to eject that section lest something more vital go boom.
Despite that attack, Alto keeps his focus on the other machines, letting those going after Yuliana handle her. The Messiah's legs kick up to provide some sideward boosting as Alto re-angles his aim on one of those hostile Altos (wow this isn't confusing at all!).
As he's bringing the Alto into the sights in his HUD, he continues over the radio, <"If you're so concerned about people hating you then stop doing shit like this!"> Alto pulls the trigger, unleashing a rapid fire barrage of bullets from the machine guns in the Messiah's wings.
KTS: Alto Saotome has activated the Dash Spirit Command and has gained proficiency bonus. KTS: Alto Saotome targets Yuliana Kafim with ES-25A High Speed Machine Guns Shredding Burst! KTS: Alto Saotome has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Liam 7-020 has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Liam 7-020 targets Yuliana Kafim with Starshard Knife! KTS: Liam 7-020 has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Liam 7-020's Biorhythm activates Trick!
<Pose Tracker> Rain Mikamura has posed.
Listening to the comms, Rain can't help but speak up. "<Kobayashi is my fault. I told them to nab who they could.>" Rain admits wryly. "<She could have turned me down to ride along, though, so not entirely...>"
The slice goes in clean enough, but the shimmering barrier causes Rain to nod. "Listen, it's just how the mobile fighters work--" A pause as Rain shifts the blade back, using it as a counterforce to jerk the Rising to the side as smoothly as possible. "It's what our bodies let us do. Really. Talk to George. He's most likely to explain things the best over the rest of the Crest Holders."
Yuliana and Rain have a moment of COMBAT SYNCHRONIZATION as the Da Xukong sprays fire and skitters away, and the Rising jumps backwards in a couple of hops, pivoting so the left is facing-forward, the flames roasting the side. Rain cries out in the cockpit, the Gundam and she both leaning forward heavily as she uses the naginata's pole as an anchor to keep them up, the woman breathing heavily as she regains her stance.
"But..." She adds on heavily, opening her comms to address Yuliana's addressing of her. "<... I can't... you're doing the worst thing I can think of. What happens if, when we're done with the fighting, if there's no one left but you and -->" A very momentary pause as Rain recalls reports- "<Your wife...?>" She asks of the woman fighting for others. "<... isn't this what you're doing? Fighting for the people that have been harmed, but... you're just making it worse! It's why I ... it's why we need to stop you...!">
If she notices Liam's reaction to her, it is gently tucked away. The battlefield can only handle so many things at one time and she's only woman.
The naginata is laid to the side as the bow makes an appearance in Rain's grip, exhaling slow, quietly, her left arm trembling in still post-defense action. "One to me, three to thee..." The Rising really is a funny Gundam, isn't it? Instead of the Fighter suit, Rain should be in a shrine maiden's outfit. An arrow is set, two more shimmering without actually being cocked - Rain sights down, breathes, and fires, loads, fires, loads, fires, three shots, aiming for the same spot, each go.
KTS: Rain Mikamura targets Yuliana Kafim with Triple Fire! KTS: Rain Mikamura has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Yuliana Kafim blocks Alto Saotome's ES-25A High Speed Machine Guns Shredding Burst, taking 2280 damage! KTS: Yuliana Kafim blocks Liam 7-020's Starshard Knife, taking 2775 damage! KTS: Liam 7-020 has engaged Yuliana Kafim! KTS: Rain Mikamura rattles Yuliana Kafim, making her next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Yuliana Kafim fails to evade Rain Mikamura's Triple Fire, taking 3360 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Kikka Kobayashi has posed.
"Hate to say it, but this is nothing I haven't seen before. But I've always wanted to at least be able to make a difference with my own hands," Kikka answers Leina, clouded, before perking back up. "Not that I wouldn't rather be chasing leads than chasing Wanzers. But I wasn't about to say no, Mikamura-san. In any case... glad we got each other's backs, too, Leina." She affirms.
But Yuliana's ire turns to face her in its full wrath. "'Course not." She replies, that unmistakeably Spacenoid accent inevitably coming out. "I don't have any more love for the Federation than you do... and I definitely wouldn't stand for it if they tried whatever awful torture they did to you again."
But for whatever sympathy she holds in her heart to Yuliana Kafim, the city still burns, not so dissimilar from the way Side 7 burned in the very first Federation-Zeon skirmish in the One Year War. The way Jaburo burned, and the way she began to feel the weight of every life lost.
"But every innocent life you're stomping across in your wake? They were powerless, Mrs. Kafim. They didn't ask to be born in a Federation that treats rights as suggestions. And if you keep going like this... I don't know if you'll be able to pay the debt of the revenge you're serving up anymore."
That fellow Mobile Fighter from NERV, an ally, slows as if watching the Rising Gundam. "I can't say I can feel that one's intent, like this..." Nor can she recognize him as that young man who encountered the Tenth Angel with her. A Neo-Japanese Gundam fighter who really looked up to Rain? Somehow, Kikka feels like that isn't the case. "We'll focus on the fight for now... seems they're an ally anyways."
Yuliana herself, seems to recognize Rain as a hero of the Devil Gundam conflict, too. She lets her handle that, while she handles targeting patterns for the storm of Rising Arrows...
KTS: Kikka Kobayashi targets Yuliana Kafim with Pass! KTS: Kikka Kobayashi has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Kikka Kobayashi has activated the Attune Spirit Command targeting Rain Mikamura
<Pose Tracker> Sophia Mayhew Castellan has posed.
IS that what Sophia's here for? She supposes that's how that ends, yes. Capture the enemy. But...what then? The last time she captured Yuliana, she was put through horrors Sophia till hasn't avenged either of them for.
Her feelings about all this remain mixed, but...the fact is, her duties are clear, even if her heart is clouded. People are dying. She has to stop that.
"A swath of destruction? A smoldering hole to point at in pride? Yes, I suspect I understand. It's an impulse I too possess."
She draws her assault blade, the thing buzzing to life, and slashes it up to counter that Cleave Axe, but she underestimates Da Xukong's strength, and the blade slams hard into the shoulder, damaging the arm badly. "Ghnk!" Sophia groans, the damage rattling through her machine. She can tell...Yuliana spared her, there.
She grits her teeth. She really doesn't have herself together here, does she...
But she must. Her Geass burns in her eyes ever brighter. This close to Yuliana she has trouble properly seeing the lines of Connections that define a soul. It's almost a relief, from the constant barrage she's lately suffered.
"Then you know I have done my own math on the subject," Sophia says, quietly. "Math I can't say I see you demonstrating, Yuliana."
The FT Railgun swings up over the shoulders, buzzing loudly at full charge already.
"...so this silence is what you shroud yourself in," she whispers, and fires.
KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan targets Yuliana Kafim with FT Railgun Full Fire! KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Yuliana Kafim fails to react to Kikka Kobayashi's Pass, taking 0 damage! KTS: Yuliana Kafim fails to evade Sophia Mayhew Castellan's FT Railgun Full Fire, taking 4640 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"And I took care of them for YEARS! For WHAT?! What was it all for, Leina?!" Yuliana cries, tears in her eyes and on her breath. "The minute the State damned us -- we were nothing but a rogue cell! Everyone was all too happy to think we were the root of the problem, even as we screamed the truth!" Yuliana isn't being entirely fair, in her pain. There were questions and doubts, in the wake of the Institute's publicisation, even if others happily swallowed the State's propaganda.
They just... quietly... disappeared.
And she'd know how.
At first when those funnels spray fire, Da Xukong 0 evades them -- but Leina has something to say, as she crashes in, and it stops Yuliana in her tracks. "... Siti... Dian...?" She asks, hollowed out -- once and once again, as that claw digs right THROUGH the green barrier around her machine, pinning it to the ground with a sonorous thud. "But -- how could she do such a thing?" Yuliana asks, uncomprehending, even as Da Xukong twitches in a futile attempt to rise. "... this is... what I can do, Leina... let me go," she hisses, voice thin.
But the Beguir is larger and larger still than the Da Xukong; she cannot simply twist free from its pinning claws. "I don't want to hurt you," she says, a touch plaintive; even so, the scorpion's tail twists around, to jet a gout of flame into the face of the Beguir's systems. Yuliana uses the distraction to free herself -- but one of the Da Xukong's legs stays with the Beguir's claws, ripped clean from the wanzer's chassis in the struggle.
It lists, a little, but the benefit of having eight legs is that losing one isn't a death knell; even with seven, it's still remarkably agile.
The Argents aren't particularly interested in losing, and Yuliana can tell -- but she doesn't much fault them for it. Whatever they're trapped in, she doubts they're the final arbiters. Luckily for them, the city does seem to be evacuated by now -- it was touch-and-go, at the beginning, but no one much wanted to be caught out here with murderous mobile suits in the streets.
"Captain, incoming!" Wendy barks, on a private channel -- she can't shoot down all twelve of the missiles coming for the Da Xukong, though she manages to get a couple. Unfortunately, with seven legs instead of eight, Yuliana's not fast enough to get away from the rest of them; and Yuliana swears, vividly, as she slams at her crackling console.
"Son of a--!" You know, like that. "Rrrghhh..." Yuliana toggles some switches, powering off the Abyssal Veil rather than risk the Abyss Engine overloading in the face of so much interference. "Force my fucking hand," she grumbles, hotly, as she fires another volley of plasma at the Argent's Zhuk.
"Ummm," Wendy -- Wen, as Liam would know her -- takes point to transmit to the heroes, given Yuliana is busy using all her very best swears to cope with what Chiot has done, "actually, I specifically said they'd be safe if they stayed in their homes... like, we're shooting the guys who run? Isn't that reasonable? The people who wanna run away have gotta be the guilty ones who know we'd kill them anyway!" She sounds confident enough in her logic, but she's too busy fighting another of Colombo's Tieren defenders to accost Liam with anything more than her words.
The fact that anyone would run in the face of terror doesn't seem to have been factored into their mercy at all.
Yuliana is shortly distracted from her raving anger by Liam's Neo Helios forcing the issue with his knife. "Goddamn--!" She uses one of her very best swears on him, instead, as she brings her Cleave Axe up to meet his knife. The velocity of his approach still pushes the smaller machine back, though, slamming into the back of a building. "Act like?" She registers, at length. "I DID save the world, you UNGRATEFUL WRETCH! Or shall you attribute to Rita my works, as well?! Were she to have done it alone, she would have BURNED TO NOTHING! I saved her, and the Earth below! And what do I GET--?!" She forces the Cleave Axe free, to swing it at the Neo Helios again, with angry -- though still not lethal -- force.
Alto really has an excellent point, in all of this, as he blasts another Alto away. It sags in its suit; it falls. Another steps over its fallen comrade with no consideration at all, to try and get a better angle to shoot him down. "I..." Yuliana starts, looking up to the Messiah, before her anger comes again. "You say it like it's so easy! No one will accept me! No one understands! Whether I'm acting for good or for ill, I'm always scrutinised! So why shouldn't I just TAKE MY POUND OF FLESH?!" As she screams, she fires a volley of flame up to meet the Messiah, in the air.
"Why do I... always have to pay the debt?" She asks, quieter, hands grasping her clutch as she glares at Kikka's voice on the radio. "Why do I..."
"Mm... I get what you're saying, Captain," Wendy transmits, on a wide band again, "but it's not like she's wrong, either. I did tell you we'd probably get some kids growing up intent on revenge, right?"
"And how would you do it?!" Yuliana demands, hotly, to the Deadeye supporting her. "How the HELL would you do this better, Lettu?! PLEASE tell me, because APPARENTLY it never came up in the FUCKING MISSION BRIEFING!"
"... I don't know... I can't really say I don't want them to pay, either," is all Wendy has to say to that.
She notices the way Rain leans on her naginata, though. "That's not our intention at all," she snaps, her scowl visible. "If we simply wanted to be alone, with no one left in the world, we would just retreat from society! We act to save this world, Gundam!" The Da Xukong can't quite evade all of those Rising Arrows, though, and they land -- one-two-three -- centre mass. "Ch...!" She snarls, one too many teeth bared. "You're crying out, aren't you?! You're aching, aren't you?! Go home!"
But when Sophia fires her railgun, this time Yuliana tries to get out of the way, now she isn't protected by the Abyssal Veil. Tries -- and fails, one more leg being lost to a great CHUNKING impact. "Silence is all that's ever brought me comfort," she hisses, as she silences alarms in her cockpit. "You'd never understand...!"
She charges forward, of course, to slam her Cleave Axe into the Lion. She's always been terribly direct, that way.
KTS: Yuliana Kafim targets Leina Ashta with Infernal Arachnid Injector Flare Display! KTS: Yuliana Kafim targets Chienne Argent with Infernal Arachnid Injector Stinger Salvo! KTS: Yuliana Kafim targets Liam 7-020 with MULS-P Cleave Axe Topple Strike! KTS: Yuliana Kafim targets Alto Saotome with Infernal Arachnid Injector Tail Flamer! KTS: Yuliana Kafim targets Rain Mikamura with Goad! KTS: Yuliana Kafim targets Sophia Mayhew Castellan with MULS-P Cleave Axe Lunge! KTS: Yuliana Kafim has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Yuliana Kafim rattles Leina Ashta, making her next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Leina Ashta blocks Yuliana Kafim's Infernal Arachnid Injector Flare Display, taking 1950 damage! KTS: Yuliana Kafim repulses Leina Ashta, forcing her to disengage. KTS: Yuliana Kafim rattles Chienne Argent, making her next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Chienne Argent partially guards Yuliana Kafim's Infernal Arachnid Injector Stinger Salvo, taking 3800 damage! KTS: Yuliana Kafim continues a Formation attack! KTS: Rain Mikamura has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Rain Mikamura has activated the Trust Spirit Command. KTS: Alto Saotome partially guards Yuliana Kafim's Infernal Arachnid Injector Tail Flamer, taking 7680 damage! KTS: Yuliana Kafim completes the Formation attack! KTS: Rain Mikamura has activated the Trust Spirit Command. KTS: Yuliana Kafim goads Rain Mikamura, reducing her Intuition drastically.
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
"<Do my best.>" Leina replies to the burly man good naturedly, "<My cats at home would miss my ass.>" She jests, and she doesn't really have the ATTITUDE of a cop, even as she speaks of jurisdiction. "<You two do the same, alright?>"
There's something about them that... no, she can't focus on that. Not right now. She's fighting Yuliana. As she soon makes clear. The funnels fly about like buzzing bees, even as she answers Rain, "<Your fault huh? Trying to show Domon how it's supposed to be done huh~?>" She says playfully, because indeed, Domon was the type to shut others out of his fights.
Whereas Kikka, there's something that subtly softens in her eyes, "<Well, be careful where that path takes you, Kikka.>" Leina knows full well, that her own path where she fully intended to never climb into a mobile suit and change things with her own hands...
... eventually put her in a situation where she had no choice, if she wanted to change anything with her own two hands, "<Your line just... tends to move, the more involved you get in things like this.>"
"<What was it all for!? It was supposed to be FOR THEM!>" She replies, volume and heat on her voice, "<It was so people could sleep another night safe in their beds! You got screwed by the powers that be! Taking it out on people who can't think beyond how they're going to put food on the table!? I thought BETTER of you than that!>"
She doesn't want to hurt her? "<I don't want to hurt you either.>" Leina has never once wanted to hurt someone of her own accord in her entire life. Even if she has, even if she's thought she had to.
A gout of flame suddenly erupts from the tail, and despite her Newtype senses being dulled, the Beguir suddenly leaps right off of her. Its held shield taking the brunt of the flame gout. 'this is... what I can do,' How swiftly do those words get corrupted? "<This isn't what ANYONE should be doing!>"
Yet she asked a question, and Leina weighs her answer. "<You really don't know?>"
And the rifle comes up, suddenly charging bursts as the Beguir leaps after the Da Xukong, each one causing a long stream of fire to be aimed across the Da Xukong's less vital systems.
"<...Why do you think you were chosen for the program to begin with Yuliana? It wasn't an accident, what they did to you, why it worked.>" Even as it didn't for so many clones of her. "<She was offered the power to save people, and whatever happened after marked you for this!>"
One stream after another, the rifle fires, and indeed the funnels rise back up around her, each adding their own bursts of fire, creating a whole firing squad of beam fire, save, without the intent of putting her to death.
"<Open your eyes damnit! The people in power coopted her good intentions in trying to turn you into their weapon, but she was always trying to save people like the ones you're killing RIGHT NOW!>"
KTS: Leina Ashta has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Leina Ashta targets Yuliana Kafim with Beguir Neuer Beam Rifle Firing Squad! KTS: Leina Ashta has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Yuliana Kafim fails to react to Leina Ashta's Beguir Neuer Beam Rifle Firing Squad, taking 6490 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Leina Ashta's Mass Effect activates, causing Control Bonus! KTS: Alto Saotome transforms to VF-25F Messiah <Fighter Mode>
<Pose Tracker> Chienne Argent has posed.
"<Heh. I like you. I'll tell the others. Go kick some ass,>" Chien responds to Leina, before he cuts the line to focus on driving. 'The others', though - there's three in there, after all. Chienne, Chien... and Chiot.
Chiot, at the computer center, is almost completely occupied running the energy-pulsing payloads from the missiles and dealing with the return on it. It's similar to radar work - reading the reflection rather than the actual emission, distinguishing a real return from a false one - which means it's easy to get lost in it. He stares into the inside of his opaque visor, fingers dancing across the controls without looking.
Chien maneuvers the Zhuk back out. Too early; the arachid stinger blasts fall around it, and rather than try to dodge around them Chien drops the Zhuk hull-down, somewhere between crouching and squatting as it braces against the impacts.
This time the Zhuk doesn't even rock, except when part of its plating is blasted away, revealing a second layer of plates and internal structure. It's damaged, but still functional enough to rise afterwards; one of the legs grinds for a moment before smoothing out, the Zhuk breaking back into its awkward-looking scuttle-run.
"<Hey, Yuliana,>" Chienne transmits to the Da Xukong on a private line, completely casually. "<We owe you one for Hellgate. You wanna go hunting *outside* the Federation, give me a call. But tonight, here and now...>"
"<...You're in our hunting grounds. And our sights. Hounds! Fire!>"
The Zhuk stops its run very suddenly, planting itself in the middle of an intersection. It's open - but it also gives them a completely clear shot at Da Xukong. Them - because all three of them take it, simultaneously.
Chien, no longer driving - which is why the Zhuk has come to a sudden and complete stop - opens up with the underbody rotary gun, firing an enormous number of bullets, tracking the Da Xukong's movements. Tracers are intermixed, giving the others better tracking for their own shots -
Though Chiot, using the missile boxes, doesn't really need it; he's got a lock-on based on the return from the last set of missiles. This time he's armed them with proper missiles, anti-WAP rounds designed to lock onto the particular sizes and armours of wanzers.
And Chienne, well... she still has the main gun, a single enormous shot that shrouds the front of the Zhuk in smoke before it disperses. It's a tank gun, basically - but a very good, very modern one.
KTS: Chienne Argent has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: Chienne Argent has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Chienne Argent targets Yuliana Kafim with Cerberus Shot! KTS: Chienne Argent has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Chienne Argent enervates Yuliana Kafim, reducing her Morale significantly. KTS: Yuliana Kafim fails to react to Chienne Argent's Cerberus Shot, taking 9120 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Chienne Argent's Chase Down activates, causing Insight L1! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Chienne Argent's Hound of Hell activates, causing Deject! KTS: Chienne Argent roots her unit, coming to a standstill and leaving her vulnerable.
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
As Alto is busy dealing with this Altos (who the hell is piloting them anyway!?) he's too distracted to notice the gout of flames rushing at him. They wash over the Messiah, melting through the heavy armour of its pack. There are a few secondary explosions and the Messiah is lost in a cloud of fire and light...
Until it comes rushing out of the explosions in fighter mode, its additional components purged leaving only its standard frame remaining.
<"Because it DOESN'T SOLVE ANYTHING!">
The Messiah dives towards the Altos, the machine guns in its wings lighting up again and spraying them with bullets. The Messiah rolls and dukes as it does so, trying to keep moving and avoiding return fire.
<"All you're going to do is keep repeating the same cycle over and over again. Until you're nothing but a bitter husk of what you once were. And then you'll be nothing.">
KTS: Alto Saotome has activated the Dash Spirit Command and has gained proficiency bonus. KTS: Alto Saotome has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Alto Saotome has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Alto Saotome has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Alto Saotome targets Yuliana Kafim with ES-25A High Speed Machine Guns Concentrated Barrage! KTS: Alto Saotome has completed their actions for the round.
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
A second voice--the woman in the Arm Slave--speaks up, and Liam listens. He is at once here, in his body, and somewhere far away. "Stay in your homes," he echoes, though he's repeating words from memory. Britannian public-service broadcasts from immediately before the drop on Dublin. "For your own safety, a curfew has--has--" His voice breaks, "And why should they--trust you?"
The plasma knife's containment field loses integrity. The axe drives through Liam's guard, and carves a second gouge in the Neo Helios' chest. Liam's scream echoes over the local lasercomm band, clearly illustrating what manner of control system his suit is using... and how Yuliana is digging in with the truth, as well as her weapon. Tears well up in Liam's eyes. His Mobile Fighter grabs the sides of the axe, and shoves. Despite the size difference, Da Xukong 0 is devilishly strong It takes effort to get the blade loose, and there's a second spike of pain.
"f--f--FUCK YOU!" Liam howls. It's all he can manage. Everything has gotten away from him. Plasma boils out of the Neo Helios' palms, twisting into a long, rough-edged spike of a weapon. A spear that doesn't quite achieve focus, because its wielder cannot. Liam drives the weapon at Da Xukong 0's right side, trying to chop off some of those legs, incinerate the armor, do something that makes him feel less like his head is boiling.
KTS: Liam 7-020 targets Yuliana Kafim with Sunbright Spear! KTS: Liam 7-020 has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Liam 7-020's Biorhythm activates Wall! KTS: Yuliana Kafim fails to react to Alto Saotome's ES-25A High Speed Machine Guns Concentrated Barrage, taking 5720 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Alto Saotome's The Twinkle Of A Tearful Planet activates, causing Insight L1! KTS: Yuliana Kafim fails to react to Liam 7-020's Sunbright Spear, taking 8640 damage! KTS: Liam 7-020 has engaged Yuliana Kafim!
<Pose Tracker> Sophia Mayhew Castellan has posed.
You'd never understand, Yuliana declares. "You're right, I don't!" Sophia roars back, and flicks up with her Assault Blade, and--
COMPLETELY misses the incoming axe and gets the Lion's entire head chopped off. Her screens cut to static except for a couple emergency cameras.
"I see dozens of screaming souls roaring their terror! I can tell that the ones you are hurting have done none of the injuries you hate! I despise what was done to you and the creatures that did it! I'll spill their wretched blood with my own hands! But...!"
With her remaining arm, she jams the Burst Railgun up to the joint of the scorpion tail.
"NOT ONE OF THEM IS HERE, YOU FOOL!"
zzzzPOW!!!
KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan targets Yuliana Kafim with Burst Railgun Precision Shot! KTS: Sophia Mayhew Castellan has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Yuliana Kafim fails to react to Sophia Mayhew Castellan's Burst Railgun Precision Shot, taking 3300 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Rain Mikamura has posed.
"<I am hurting, yes, but it doesn't matter how much I'm hurting...>" Rain says, with the quietness of a woman who has accepted some things. "<Things aren't always so nice and easy. So I'm going to fight, til I can't any more... because keeping you distracted and busy here, means we keep you, well... here.>"
Rain understands this method. Domon being interested in something means he kept doggedly at it, and while she didn't want to mentally think of him as a dog, well... if it works, it works.
"Kikka. I apologize. I've been not interacting as much and you have been a great help. I hope my actions in trying to protect myself, the Rising, are also me trying to protect you. Now, breathe ..." She says, encouragingly.
The Rising turns, ever so slowly. The bow remains notched, the arrow thrumming as she tracks the Da Xukong. It's never been the easiest for small, mobile targets, in an archery contest, but Rain is very, very calm... and after moments, she shifts the slightest, and fires, exhaling as it goes.
"Most of us are about to fall over, I suspect." She adds on after doing so. Hopefully this means Yuliana as well.
KTS: Rain Mikamura targets Yuliana Kafim with Meditated Shot! KTS: Rain Mikamura has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Yuliana Kafim fails to react to Rain Mikamura's Meditated Shot, taking 3780 damage! KTS: Yuliana Kafim has been defeated!
<Pose Tracker> Kikka Kobayashi has posed.
"That's... sound advice. I'll keep it close, promise." Kikka admits to Leina, on where the line starts and where it ends, considering her friend's own experience. And for all she's willing to walk in Amuro Ray's footsteps... when she thinks about how much people like Sayla hurt, there are some steps she does not wish to repeat.
Yuliana questions her words, while one of her own Lieutenants sees the merit in them. Walking a tight rope between revenge and senseless killing... "We both know that this is a nation that sees its people as acceptable sacrifices. And you think you're doing any good by shooting at them? You're playing into their hands far more than you might realise." She frowns - she's much less trying to make a smug point, but does feel a profound sadness at the cycle of destruction, death, and hatred that the torture and experimentation programs Yuliana spoke of foster.
The Rising Gundam is spared from another of Da Xukong 0's assaults, but Yuliana does seem to try to get a... rise out of Rain. "You fought with your heart. It's the least I could ask of you." Kikka answers her apologies and her hopes with a smile. At her advice, she takes a deep breath, and --
Grants everything within her power for Rain to make one final shot, one with the calmness of a shrine maiden rather than the intensity of a super robot pilot. "We can't have this go on any longer - so let this be the end. Breathe... and fire!" she watches Da Xukong 0 very carefully, marking down the status of both its Wanzer frame and the pilot inside.
KTS: Kikka Kobayashi targets Yuliana Kafim with Pass! KTS: Kikka Kobayashi has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Yuliana Kafim fails to react to Kikka Kobayashi's Pass, taking 0 damage! KTS: Yuliana Kafim has been defeated!
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"DON'T YOU DARE LOOK DOWN ON ME!" Yuliana screams, wounded, when Leina says she thought better of Yuliana than her actions today.
"You think you can just distract me, and I'll forget all about why I'm here?!" She demands, of Rain -- never mind that they've been succeeding at exactly that.
"The REA are the ones who should know their place!" Yuliana yells, to Kikka. "I've always been able to do what must be done! If I just cut off their heads, this hydra will fall! If civilians get in the way, THEY SHOULD HAVE CARED ABOUT ME!" Is that really how you kill a hydra?
But what Leina has to say about what Yuliana doesn't know -- clearly it shakes her, the way Da Xukong 0 slows to a stop as she speaks. The Beguir fires on her targeting systems, her weapons systems, but something trembles at Yuliana's fingers as she grasps her clutch. "Offered...?" She echoes, fragile.
"But... but I wasn't... I signed up," she insists, raw. "I volunteered. I chose to..." Silence, for a moment; audibly, she swallows. "... but they approached me," she realises, haggard. "As soon as I aced basic training... I thought it was because I did so well. They planned it from the start?"
Haplessly, tearfully, she insists: "I thought... it was my choice." She thinks many things are her choice, when she's been led to them. She has always been sold on the myth of autonomy. That's why Wendy calls her 'Captain', even though the REA held her collar tightly.
Chienne opens a private line, though, and Yuliana has to laugh inside it. It's a wretched, haggard sort of thing. "Hunting like this didn't get me anything I wanted," she confesses. "Cabral's probably gonna live through this, too... goddamnit, Sophia was right, but there's no way I'll be able to get to him after this. Hahaha, goddamn... looks like you win this one. Maybe we'll hunt later." Spirit wounded as much as her wanzer -- and her wanzer is quite wounded, now down two legs and that shielding barrier -- the trio of guns which the Argent trio spin up meet their mark, blowing through the chassis of Da Xukong 0. Several plates of outer armour slag away, but thankfully, the cockpit has much thicker armouring than the rest of the machine.
Yuliana swears, under her breath, as she sees a button labelled 'lliath'll'yafoll' go dark. The Zhuk's damaged Da Xukong's outer armour so badly, they've compromised the magic circle built around the wanzer. She won't be teleporting out of this one -- not under her own power, anyway.
"Repeating a cycle, over and over..." Yuliana laughs, this time on an open channel, hearing what Alto has to say. "What kind of hell would that be? I..." She sighs, deeply. "... but I am already nothing," she says, a moment later. "As I must be. Nothing is more sacred than that." The Altos can't withstand the force of Alto's final assault, and Yuliana looks to them, sorrowful, as the last machines fall. "Koshki," she sighs, with regret; she calls them cats, in Zaftran fashion. "You did well..."
She has no answer, for Liam, when he asks why they should trust them. Perhaps she ought to; perhaps she would have, were she not so weighted down. But the Neo Helios boils a plasma spear, and carves another leg from Da Xukong 0 before Yuliana thinks to pull away. She's down to five, now. "Mm," she hums, hearing his anguish. "That sounds so familiar..."
But Sophia screams, and drives her Railgun right into the Injector. Thanks to Yuliana's weapons going offline, there's little she can do to stop Sophia from firing. Yuliana's bayonet flamethrower was infamous for hurting Yuliana as frequently as it hurt the enemy -- but the Infernal Injector was built much better; it takes real effort, to destroy the fuel tanks which create those flames, now.
Sophia goes to real effort, and the explosion which rips over the back of Da Xukong 0 is far more than the physical impact of that railgun. "Ugh--!" Yuliana grunts, as she's tossed forward in her cage of a seat, a dozen alarms screaming.
She doesn't quite manage to skitter far away. She's... distracted. Horrified, perhaps, as she asks: "No one...? Everyone I've hurt, they're all...?" Innocent, she does not quite manage to say.
Rain can tell that the Da Xukong 0 is about to fall over, though -- physically, at least; balancing on five legs, most of its armour decimated and its barrier disabled, it's an absolute wreck. She manages to fire off one last leg -- leaving Yuliana down to four, just like most other quad-legged wanzers out there.
But it's not just her wanzer, taking a beating.
"... my legacy... is to defend these, complicit..." She spits out the word, but she can't deny what Leina's saying, either. Deep to her bones she feels it, all settled in like a great weight. "I just wanted them to feel how I felt!" She cries, whining, wounded. "To get back at those wretched politicians begging for scraps at Jie's table while they send us to death damnation! But what you're saying... what you're saying...!" Stress clutters her words again; she repeats herself, desperate.
"Oh, God," Yuliana breathes in, harsh and sharp. "This isn't satisfying at all... I wanted, I wanted them to... oh, God, Leina, I went too far." She draws in a shuddering breath, shaking her head, fiercely. "... I always tried to protect normal people... now they're screaming out... Leina. Leina, what do I do?"
It might have been a turning point.
If not for what happens next.
From the waters of the Kelani River crawl two Bogomols -- Mobile Weapons designed by Zaftra, fifteen metres long and still bristling with firepower, even though they haven't been new for some time. Their missile launchers release in concert, showering the invading Altos -- and forcing Wendy to shoot down one coming right for them.
In the sky, the Baba Yaga looms. It's Colonel Vera Dmitriyevna Novikov's personal Salamis Kai, and her voice rings out, across Colombo. "Responders, the REA thanks you for your assistance," she assures them, first. "And as for this 'Nega Force'... you may surrender to us, now."
"LIKE HELL!" Yuliana yells, even as a squadron of Tiandong 3s drop from the Baba Yaga, as if in stark mockery. They're much better armed than the Tierens were, and combined with the beating they've already taken, and the Bogomols closing in... "Lettu!" Yuliana makes a decision, regardless of the counsel she's sought. "Time to go!"
The Shandor descends down, leads dropping for its mobile suits to grasp. With four legs, Da Xukong 0 is still able to skitter over to it -- though not without difficulty; the Deadeye's taken damage, too, but not enough to stop her from escaping. Parminder laughs, as he faces up to the other Salamis Kai, in the air. "Haha, the Baba Yaga, this sucks..." And, indeed, it's immediately clear that Colonel Novikov's ship is far better armed than Parminder's is -- because it's rocked by the Baba Yaga's missiles, even as the Deadeye and Da Xukong 0 are pulled back up into the Shandor's hangars. "We outtie!" He barks, as his green Salamis Kai rises sharply into the air and away.
"A shame," Colonel Novikov sighs, "but not unexpected. At least the city is safe. Defenders, you are welcome to board the Baba Yaga to discuss your reparations... I see you've been damaged in our defence. We're grateful."
The Tiandong 3s and the Bogomols, marching through the streets of Sri Lanka, paint an interesting picture even as she offers such a kind invitation. Their speakers transmit messages to the people, in Mandarin and Sinhala and Tamil and English: "We must address terrorist activities. Let us respect martial law..."
Colonel Novikov will remain in Kotte to offer Prime Minister Cabral the finest protection, of course, until such time as they're able to organise proper security. Alto's efforts to shoot down so many Altos proves useful, in the end; with that squadron destroyed, Liam is able to bring one back to NERV, to study the Protivisny which piloted them. Any other organisations which assisted are welcome to take a sample, if they've interest, as well. The REA, of course, keeps an Alto and the kaiju within for its own study; Colonel Novikov has no comment on the Republic's intentions towards Yuliana's strange powers going forward, except to assure everyone that of course her paranoia is unfounded. Yuliana, apparently, is one of the REA's most wanted purely due to the Nega Force's crimes.
... but martial law has come to Sri Lanka, as the iron fist of the REA closes around its people.
Was the REA one step ahead of them, again?
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
Should he have even come here? That's another question Liam doesn't have the bandwidth to ask himself, much less properly answer. The plasma spear sputters out of existence, and the Neo Helios staggers back, its posture hunched, its hands twitching. It's mirroring its pilot's stance, on the Mobile Trace platform. Its head jerks back to stare at the Rising Gundam for another long, uncomfortable moment, before turning back to Yuliana. "Stop," he begs, "Please. I--I know how--how it feels, but you can't!"
Coward, hisses the little inner voice. All it took was words for you to lose it, and start whining.
Colonel Norikov makes it very clear that this fight is now over. Liam at least has the reflexes to kill his end of the transmission, lest the Colonel hear him trying not to sob. As the show of force continues--and that's precisely what it is, Liam realizes--he swallows, hard, disconnects part of the Mobile Trace, and wipes his eyes.
"Understood," Liam says, once he's opened his transmission. "NERV requests samples of enemy suits and pilots; kaiju of this kind are a field of active study." God, he woke up today, turned on the news, and immediately felt like the world was falling apart, and now this, and Kaworu's still in prison and it's his fault, and there might not even be an Earth to come back to, and--
"NERV thanks you for your assistance," Liam says, his voice numb.
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Leina certainly did think better of Yuliana than her actions today, at the very least, she didn't believe she'd participate in the wanton slaughter of civilians to PUNISH them for perceived wrongs to her, for the belief they're complicit in their inaction.
Yet her confusion, it also tugs at her heart, even as she fires at her, again and again to try and take her prisoner.
That admission that she went too far, that question...
'Leina. Leina, what do I do?'
It's a good question, what does one do? "<You stop.>" Leina says after a moment, "<You admit you were wrong and you stop.>"
It's a moment where perhaps she hopes that she might do that. "<Come with me. We'll figure this out. It's never too late for a fresh start.>" But-
-the REA responds, and Yuliana does not stop. She flees, while the ship Parminder brings them out of here on while taking fire.
The Beguir-Neuer instead...
"<Suspect in flight, taking fire from the REA.>" Leina says, tiredly all of a sudden.
"<Yeah? Well I bagged myself one of those Altos myself.>" Another member of the squad says over the comms, "<That's what you get for chatting rather than fighting, rookie.>"
Another member of the squad says after a moment, "<Lay off, for her first mission out with us she did more than acquit herself well. The terrorist ace was our whole mission, in case you didn't remember.>"
"<Yeah yeah. Sure I'll give the Princess her due.>"
Leina doesn't even answer them, she hasn't even really learned all of their names yet, that's how new she is.
"<We'll be taking our own samples of the unidentified entities into custody.>" Says another member. "<NERV is welcome to collect its own or put in a request with the main office.>"
Instead the pilot of the Neuer looks up at the Baba Yaga, as if weighing, assessing and-
"I want no part in this." She says softly to herself, before the mobile suits turns and heads back to their own transport.
What was supposed to be her day back...
... well maybe there's still time to go home and cuddle with her cats.
<Pose Tracker> Sophia Mayhew Castellan has posed.
The explosion knocks Sophia's Lion free, and the redhead groans when it slams into the side of a building. Her cameras are down. She can see nothing. But wih the Da Xukong 0 knocked away, she can see what she must.
"Today? None. I see their final lines reaching to grasp you. Their fears, their angers. But none of them did this to you."
She sets her jaw. "They hide behind such villainies," she notes, quietly. She cannot see Yuliana's pains. Cannot see the bonds she would make to her enemies. She shuts her eyes rather than see more. Part of her wants to give recommendations. In the end, Yuliana's goal here is no different from something Sophia's own heart desires. But in the end...
It is not her own to solve, now. Novikov arrives.
Sophia does nothing to help or hinder. She cracks her eyes again, watching on a layer beyond the silent walls of her cockpit as Yuliana flees at speed. She can see a few others. Perhaps her chorts.
She sees the bond of distrust forming with Leina and Novikov. And Leina and her new 'comrades', as well. She sets her head back against the headrest of her cockpit. "Colonel," she sighs.
"Would your war stop even this...?"
<Pose Tracker> Kikka Kobayashi has posed.
Yuliana's Da Xukong 0 begins to collapse, although it may be more accurate to say it was everyone's words that did her in - especially Leina's about her ancestors, and that... strange power that Castellan woman possesses.
Kikka's expression twists into a glare at the arrival of the REA's forces to bring order to Sri Lanka, followed by Yuliana and her party's escape. She hates that she was right - that the REA anticipated this very situation happening and moved to take advantage of it.
At that woman, Colonel Novikov's offer, to board the Baba Yaga, Kikka is inclined to decline, she's an enemy of the Federation, too, after all - and they didn't come here for mere pay or thanks from the leaders of the Republic.
Ultimately, the decision is up to Rain, acknowledging the damage the Rising Gundam took - but she's aware she's a mechanic, too - and that she might as well prefer to repair the Gundam herself, especially as Natasha Zabigov's ship approaches for pickup.
"Hey, we should probably get out of here..." Kikka suggests to Rain, as the city begins to lock down under rule of law. "She got away, but we did what we came for. And I'd /really/ hate to keep Captain Zabigov waiting too long."
But whatever the case, one of those Altos and its mysterious pilots will discretely disappear from the scene, procured for the Shuffle Alliance's research division to do what they would please with them.
<Pose Tracker> Chienne Argent has posed.
Chienne doesn't hate Yuliana - she's still on the positive swing of her emotions - and so she wasn't especially trying to kill her; that the cockpit isn't breached is -
Well, it's not a relief. Chienne wouldn't shed tears if she *had* punched through it. But it's fine; it's enough to send her running, she figures, and that's the Argents' mission here. "Good shot," she says to Chien and Chiot, as the wanzer slows, losing all but four of its legs. "We all ACED it out there!"
She's listening, of course. Listening to Yuliana's breakdown, or near-breakdown, which elicits a scowl. Weak, she thinks. Not as bad as the little bird - at least she's got the guts to try. But even so. Chienne decided long ago she'd never be weak. Strength is survival. Not whatever this whining is. She should've stayed mad.
And up come the Bogomols; down comes the Shandor, enough to pick up the remaining units. Chienne cranks up the elevation on the cannon and fires a shot at the Shandor, an explosive round that goes off hot and bright and leaves shrapnel behind. But it's desultory, just a shot to *be* a shell, to prove that she's a team player working with REA officials and G-Hound; see? She's not just an ill-mannered mercenary but a valuable member.
"Chiot, gimme the radio again," Chienne says afterwards, before it emits a horrible crackle. She slams it against the control panel to get it to stop, and amazingly doesn't break it, though she chips some of the plastic. The Invisible Burst is kind to nobody.
"<Chienne Argent, captain of the Zhuk III, of G-Hound,>" she sends back, sounding almost professional for once in her life. She does kind of ruin it a moment later with, "<We got you, but we got our own pickup - I can't get this thing up to the Salamis anyway. Good luck with the rest of it.>" Chienne thumbs the comms off a moment later.
Off-radio, there's a bit of a discussion: "It's a pain, though." Chiot leans back in his chair... not far, there's simply not enough room for him to go any further. "If we're too slow we'll get tied up securing the city, and that's way too much work."
"So pick up the pace! We'll get back to the land transporter." Chienne doesn't care that the REA is enacting martial law - it's no skin off her back either way, it's not like she's going to be particularly affected by it.
"You got it," Chien says, surprisingly cheerful for someone who's just gone through a battlefield. "Heh, we showed 'em. The Argents stick together - and we're winners!"