2023-06-01: Psycommu Test Array 4

• Cast: Leina Ashta, Banagher Links, Rikka Takarada
• Where: The Garuda
• OOC - IC Date: 2023-05-27
• Summary: Puru-1 and Treasure Chest are put into another training battery -- but this time, a familiar face makes his way to their side.

---

<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.

This feeling of being grasped, pulled, stretched. A strange disorientation. It takes some time for the details to return to you.

The where returns first. You're in Dakar. A palatial reception hall that's been set up to receive the dignitaries of Neo-Zeon. The officers are dressed in odd military robes which hearken to a bygone era, but with Neo-Zeon heraldry, whereas the Federation aristocrats and officials are dressed in old-fashioned formal suits and tuxedoes.

The when? It's August. You struggle to pick up more details than that at first, but then they come. 31st. UC 0088.

And there are the sounds of bombs falling all around the city.

        HATE HATE HATE HATE
                A N G E R
        THEY DARE THEY DARE THEY DARE
                HOW HOW HOW HOW HOW

The who finally returns in the cascade of feelings, you're Rikka Takarada, regent of Neo-Zeon. In your formal dress, you just bade Mineva's maids to take her upstairs. And you can sense him, somewhere in this hall...

... a continual thorn in your side, Banagher Links, AEUG Ace Pilot. Often you feel drawn to him, like he might understand, but he has rejected you again and again and again.

...---...

The light of the Unicorn shines, but there is something darker too. The connection is indirect but present. You could swear that, someone close to you is... scared, terrified even. And even though they're not alone, they feel alone.

That connection is something that must be ridden, swam upwards, until there is the feeling of darkness, and the grasp of those ever greedy fingers.

Suddenly you are there. You are not supposed to be. You are an intruder here.

It takes some time for the who, when, where to come to you, but eventually all do. You are Banagher Links, AEUG Ace, and you are here to rescue...

... Leina? Yes. Leina.

She's here, she's been a prisoner in the hands of Neo-Zeon for some time, she needs you.

But in order to reach her, you can feel that smoldering hatred of Rikka Takarada. She's here. You've rejected the temptation to join her again and again and again.

Because what motivates you is...

There is a window in front of you, you must break in, this is an empty back hall of the Reception Hall, but you must move swiftly.

If you ran into her... it could be bad, even though you're armed, a gun at your side.

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

Is this what he was doing..?

Running a thumb against the cuff of his brilliant blue jacket, Banagher pauses. Something feels different. He can't tell what this feeling is, but-- it doesn't matter. Only Leina matters! Getting her away from from Neo-Zeon is the only thing that's kept him going lately. She's been trapped too long already, and he'll be damned if he makes her wait any longer.

But it won't be that simple, Banagher knows, feeling the distant embers of Rikka Takarada. That woman will do anything to bring him over to her side.

There's a window. Right. That's what he was doing -- breaking into this trashy, rich-person party. Get in, get Leina, and get out. Banagher knows she's here tonight. It's just a matter of finding her.

"Leina," he murmurs, trying to reach out to her with his heart, "I'm coming."

Banagher puts an elbow through the window and climbs through the broken glass. One of his hands brushes against the pistol at his side, and he freezes in place. Was he really--

Ghostly memories press at his consciousness. The sound of a shot. The sound of screaming. A name. A body.

Banagher shakes his head, brushing away the gossamer threads.

Nothing matters more than saving Leina. If he has to use a gun, he will. Banagher grits his teeth and heads further into the event hall, trying to sense Leina as he begins to run.

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

The sensation has become familiar by this point. Of being grasped, pulled, stretched... Familiar, but never easier. She's... disoriented, but gradually, the situation falls into place.

This is... Dakar. Bombs are falling.

And emotions flood into her. Hate, and anger. They meet much less resistance than they have in the past. Wrapping around her, worming their way into her core... and flaring outward. Rikka takes a deep breath, and her expression sets.

...She knows who she is, now. And she knows who he is.

...And he is here.

"He's here." She mutters. "Banagher Links..."

She can sense him. His presence... it unsettles her to her very core. While he is here she can't focus, she can't relax. She needs to deal with this now, one way or another. She excuses herself and begins to move, regal garment whirling about as she begins to move with purpose.

He, too, might feel her on the move.

Searching.

Hunting.

<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.

The window shatters under the strength of Banagher's Elbow, he can feel the shards jabbing towards his blue jacket, but they don't penetrate at that angle, moving in.

And strangely, he can feel Leina now too? Is he SUPPOSED to feel her? Some part of him tells him that he isn't.

Another says he's felt her as long as he's known her.

The contradictory knowledge pulls and tugs at the gossamer threads of his being.

As he moves throughout the hall, he turns a corner up a stairwell...

-=-=-

You are on the hunt, the move. You feel him. He's here, an intruder, on the night of your victory. He won't steal it away from you.

These Federation dogs scrape and whimper and defecate all over the planet that ought to be sacred, that is yours by right.

You feel him around the corner.

There's a gun on your person, hidden in your dress.

-=-=-

You've only taken a few steps up, when a gunshot rings out, grazing your right bicep. The gun you were holding goes flying down the stairs.

Smoke hangs heavy in the air, as she holds the gun on you - she has you dead to rights and could fire on you any time. But you've always felt, something. Like she could be MORE than what she is.

You always feel compelled to reach out to her.

-=-=-

You have him. He's disarmed, if you shoot him once more, he's out of your life forever. However, is that truly what you want? Perhaps this time he would join you, if you just convince him of the righteousness of your cause...

...---...

And at the same time, both of them hear, "Banagher!" As a girl in a red ruffled, formal dress, accessorized with ribbons, and another in her hair hikes up her skirt.

Strides over the gun, and moves to get between them, holding her arms outstretched, protectively.

Rikka knows her as the pet doll of one of her favorite officers. Someone typically beneath her notice, but right now she might remember she's connected to this boy. She's what... motivates him, even.

This officer of hers had this trump card all along, and never used it.

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

Rikka Takarada knows he's here. Banagher knows and accepts the strange knowledge. Just the same way he can feel Leina, he can feel Rikka Takarada.

Glass shards pierce the blue jacket, but they don't hurt. Nothing matters but saving Leina. He doesn't even brush them away, simply racing toward the feeling of Leina's soul. The person he loves most...

Something about the way his feet land on the stairwell feels just the slightest bit off, as if his body isn't quite orienting it should. It's a half-breath's difference, an eyelash out of place. In the face of his desperation to find her, it's so easy to brush away.

Rikka Takarada's soul feels close, now. Banagher pulls the gun into his hand as he reaches the top of the stairs, and the weight brings with it the ghost of nausea. He slows, now, rounding the corner--

Pain hits before the sound does. Banagher cries out, though it was a grazing blow. With a grimace, he looks up and sees her -- her, the woman he wanted to avoid most of all, and yet--. A glance after his gun reveals it is far out of reach. Banagher knows she could kill him effortlessly.

"Rikka Takarada." Banagher's voice is shaky. He's afraid. He's not giving up. "You don't have to do this. You don't have to stay here! You're not happy, are you?!" He takes a step closer. "Leave with me. We can figure this out!"

Someone else breaks through the encounter. Another voice, another soul, the woman he wanted to find most of all. His heart leaps to have her close, and yet-- Terror echoes onto his face.

"No! Leina, get away from here!" Banagher freezes. Any movement could set off Rikka Takarada, he knows how vicious she is. "I'm going to be okay, just -- come stand behind me, please!"

Golden eyes dart between the back of Leina's head and Rikka Takarada's face.

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

She feels him. Closer.

Closer.

There.

In an instant her gun is drawn and fired. She's rewarded with a cry of pain, and the sound of a metal object clattering to the floor. Rikka rounds on Banagher, her gun leveled and at the ready to fire again.

"Banagher Links." Rikka practically hisses the name. "You of all people should understand. You've seen them. You can feel them. ...No."

She opens her mouth to speak - but before she can continue, a third voice breaks into the conversation. A girl. One she'd thought inconsequential - a permitted distraction, and nothing more. But right now... She may play an important part yet.

Rikka's gun diverts - leveling on Leina, instead.

"Banagher Links. You'll be coming with me. We have a lot to talk about, I think." She says. Nothing about her stance suggests she's bluffing.

<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.

"I won't!" Leina tells Banagher. He gets the disturbing feeling she ought to be younger here. She ought to be. And yet, there she is, the same as he's always known her.

The contradictory sensations, the idea that she never wears a dress, but is now. The feeling how that is wrong, and right at the same time.

"This time I'm going to protect you!"

She doesn't change position, keeping her arms outspread, making herself as large a target as possible to cover him.

Banagher can feel it, this protectiveness, this gratitude. This idea that she has to return the favor for all the times he protected her...

... Rikka can feel it too, in a way that gets under her skin. Because as she is now, she is alone. She has nobody. Her desires can be made manifest in the world in any way she wants because she has power.

But in achieving this power, she has lost voice to her deepest desire of all. A desire to connect. This Silent Voice inside of her.

ANGER HATE CONTEMPT ENVY

It floods her, this Banagher connects so easily with other people. The bond these two share, even viewing it just once, it's enough to fill her with loathing.

Leina stands still, facing down the barrel of the gun. And suddenly, the urge to just HURT him by hurting her, floods her. To make him SUFFER for rejecting this feeling she cannot give voice to.

The girl doesn't move, it would be SO easy.

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

Banagher hisses in a breath as Rikka Takarada's gun levels on Leina. Fear blows his pupils wide.

"Leina, please--" He tries, before he's overtaken by a wave of confusion. Banagher brings one hand over his left eye, his expression pained. "W--wait, what's..?"

Golden eyes go hazy. Leina..? That's Leina. She's wearing a dress. But--

"But you don't wear--" His frown gets deeper. The feeling of the shallow gunshot wound feels further away. "But you don't..."

Then, Leina shouts her desire to protect him, and Bangher's brought back to the moment, confusion pushed away by fear. Something sticks in his brain, though, and a distant piece of himself puzzles away at it, trying to make it makes sense.

"Please--"

Banagher feels the malice and violence build up in Rikka Takarada, surrounding her like a malevolent aura. Bargaining isn't going to work against someone like this.

"Alright, Rikka, whatever you want. Just don't hurt her." Putting his hands up, Banagher walks forward, slowly making his way around Leina. "Let her go back home, and I'll do whatever you want."

A flash of intent broadcasts from Banagher the instant before he begins to move.

I won't let us be apart again!

With a cry, Banagher charges Rikka Takarada, reaching to grab her gun and try to point it harmlessly up at the ceiling.

Bombs outside shake the building. Banagher fights like a man possessed, trying with all his strength to end this without bloodshed.

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Leina stands between the two of them, the strength of her resolve like the highest of walls. Her protectiveness, her gratitude... All for him. Protecting him, because he protected her.

...Why? Why does it sting so much? She draws in a sharp breath. They're the same, aren't they? And yet... he has what she could never have. Jealous fury crosses over her face. Her grip on the gun tightens. Her arm shakes.

Why does it hurt so much? Her teeth grit. Her mind pounds with the desire to hurt him, to make him suffer.

She's only distracted briefly by Banagher putting his hands up and starting to make his way around her. ...He's doing as she asked. She should do as she said. But that desire to HURT HIM rings so strongly in her head - her hurt and envy warring within her. A finger closes around the trigger. And then - suddenly, she feels a flash of intent from him.

A lot of things happen very quickly.

He charges her. She starts to pull the trigger - just as he grabs the gun and points it upward. It fires.

"BANAGHER LINKS!" She roars. FURY crosses her face, and she tries to shove him away. She's operating on pure rage, but he has the weight advantage over her.

<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.

"No!" She exclaims, stubbornly, unwilling to put herself out of harm's way. As he focuses on the contradiction, on the fact she doesn't wear such things, she tells him sharply.

"Banagher - Focus!" She says authoritatively before offering a second command "Run!"

Even Leina can't help but tremble as the feelings rise out of Rikka, "Don't hand yourself over for me!" She admonishes him, and tries to prevent him, but he easily pushes past her arm.

"Banagher!" She cries, as he throws himself at Rikka, but Leina... she's not a fighter. She's always believed in her words, not violence. She's always tried to do the right thing.

Perhaps that is why she stepped over the gun Banagher dropped.

The swirl of emotions is so strong in the moment, and she lets out a small cry, "Nnn-!" But Rikka's fury is unmistakable as she pushes Banagher away, and Leina moves to his side.

DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT

The urge pounds into Rikka's head, her ears like a pulse. All she has to do is pull the trigger. Either at him, or her. One way she eliminates her greatest obstacle.

The other she HURTS him.

Banagher does not have long to react, to change this, because there is a way this is SUPPOSED to play out. For some reason he knows this, and doesn't know how.

Can he change that? Can he convince Rikka Takarada? Or is she doomed to succumb to that awful all-consuming hatred?

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

Banagher can feel Rikka Takarada's pain echoing against his awareness, and it hurts. They've always had a connection, but this feels... more emotional than it should. Tears spring to his eyes as he tries to endure.

"Rikka." Banagher grits out. "Stop, please. This isn't right--!"

...Why did he say that?

He can't answer Leina, not now, consumed with trying to hold off Rikka Takarada. Banagher can feel Leina's distress, and it cuts him to the quick, but if he lets go, they're both going to be killed!

Even with his size advantage, Rikka is strong, her rage empowering her far more than Banagher's fear strengthens him. His own words echo in his mind. This isn't right. Is there no way he can reach her? Is this the way things have to be?

BANG roars the gun, firing into the ceiling, right next to Bangaher's ear.

Golden eyes go clear.

Everything snaps into place. Banagher's seen this before, all of it, point by point. It was a memory when he saw it through his bond with Leina, and it's a memory now. A much crueler one.

Realization makes Banagher weak for a moment, and a moment is all it takes. He loses hold of the gun. He knows he can't overcome Rikka's enraged strength to get it back. There's only a heartbeat to react. What can he do, in such short time, to reach Rikka? What would get through to her true self?

He takes a breath.

"Akane," Banagher says, sorrow in his expression. "loves who you really are."

With that, he turns to Leina and wraps her in his arms, putting the whole of his body between Rikka and Leina. It's an all-encompassing hug, trying to cover Leina as much as possible, knowing what comes next. Hoping he can change it.

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Banagher pleads with her to stop. This isn't right. His words don't penetrate the haze of anger roiling through her mind. They're evenly matched for a moment - and then, in his distraction, she's able to recover and force him away. She takes aim again. For a moment, she looks triumphant -

And then, Banagher makes a statement.

Akane... loves who she really is.

...Who is she, really?

It's... it's difficult to remember, when there's a storm of anger, and fury, and envy clouding her mind.

But Akane loves her.

Pain and regret creeps onto her face. For a moment, she looks strained. Banagher hugs Leina tightly, shielding her with his body. The stairwell goes deathly silent, like the calm before a terrible tragedy.

...But the expected sound of gunfire doesn't happen. Not yet. Rikka stands, frozen in place, hand trembling - even as she brings a second up in an attempt to steady it. Tears bead at the corner of her eyes - but she can't yet force herself to lower the weapon.

<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.

Banagher reaches out to Rikka, tries to appeal to her. Then, tells her someone loves her for whom she really is. However, Leina lurches as Banagher is shoved away, like she is going to get in front of him.

Only to find Banagher's arms wrapped around her, "BANAGHER!" She shrieks in alarm, as if predicting the inevitable coming next.

Rikka feels the pulse pound into her ears louder.

HATE LONELINESS ANGER HATE LONELINESS ANGER HATE LONELINESS ANGER
        DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT

But now there's a thought she can't get out of her head, Akane. Who is Akane? She's alone. She's alone, but Akane loves her. She's alone, but Akane loves her.

What is going on here? Who is Akane? How can someone like her exist?

The gun is in her hands, and so in lies the choice. A moment ago, and it didn't feel like a choice at all.

Now? The inevitable feels more mutable.

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

Rikka's anger coils around her, holding her fast despite Banagher's best efforts. He's tense, ready for the pain of a gunshot wound to rip through his body, all-but praying for it, if it means Leina won't have to experience being shot again.

But it doesn't come.

Bangaher is terrified to move, holding Leina as tightly as he can, his own eyes squeezed shut. "I'm sorry. I know you want to protect me." He breathes against her hair, kissing it quickly. Holding her more tightly than he ever has, she can almost certainly feel his heart beating, quick and frantic.

"Rikka." He calls, voice starting to tremble. "It's okay. I--if you need to -- it's okay." A pause. Banagher audibly swallows down a wave of fear. "But try to remember Akane. She has dark hair like mine, right? We all saw the cherry blossoms together!"

Even as he experiences it just reflected off Rikka, the disembodied hatred in the room is overwhelming. Banagher wants to scoop Leina into his arms and run, but he's certain that any movement will force Rikka to act.

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Hate, loneliness, and anger pound in her ears. Demanding she do it. Demanding she shoot him, or hurt him. Make him suffer, for the gall of having something she doesn't - can't. She's alone. She doesn't have anyone.

...But... there is someone, isn't there?

Watching Leina and Banagher... it still hurts, but the hurt feels different, now. The way he apologises and expresses care for her...

...And then he calls out to her. He says that it's okay. It's okay if she needs to.

"...D-don't-" Rikka starts, but he continues. Try to remember Akane, with her dark hair. They saw the cherry blossoms...

Her hands tremble.

Akane... Someone who loves her deeply and utterly.

A double date amidst the cherry blossoms - the culmination of a serendipitous encounter so long ago.

She... She...

...She remembers her voice. Recounting the things she loves about her.

...And there's one thing the Rikka Takarada Akane loves definitely isn't.

The gun shakes out of her hand, clattering to the floor - and Rikka collapses to her knees, sobbing.

<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.

"It's not okay!" Leina admonishes Banagher instantly. Feeling absolutely terrified, but restrained in this moment, helpless to do anything. She isn't even struggling, "Don't tell her it's okay to SHOOT YOU!"

Rikka however, remembers, overwhelmed by the vague sense of memory, Rikka's hands tremble, and then she starts to break down.

As the gun falls out of her hands and Rikka starts to sob, Leina gives Rikka a look of shock, "You... you do have someone..."

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

There is a sensation like the world is blurring, like everything is becoming indistinct, the memories are returning rapidly, and there is this feeling like they are being SHOVED away from the Banshee.

...---...

Treasure Chest abruptly awakens in the Mu Gundam in a daze. On the intercoms...

"Your performance numbers dropped today during this basic Psycommu test, Treasure Chest. We are, disappointed."

The cockpit hatch opens, and staff start to assist her out of the Mu Gundam.

Her memory isn't quite distinct of the incident, but she has the feeling that something horrible 'almost' happened, and she didn't let it.

...---...

Banagher awakens within his cell. The Unicorn has a subtle, almost indistinct green light to it, that he can see from a distance. His memories too, are not quite distinct, but he feels like...

... somehow, he protected Leina?

...---...

A lab assistant looks over the data again, "I, don't know what to make of this at all. Look at these Quantum Brainwave patterns right here, Doctor?"

Dr. Murasame looks over the readout, expression unreadable, and then abruptly, he smiles, "And he's not even in the RX-0. Remarkable."

"Doctor?"

So quiet that it was almost inaudible, Dr. Murasame utters his conclusion to this in just three words.

"... I want him."