2023-06-23: I. Please Hear Me

• Log: 2023-06-23- Please Hear Me
• Cast: Leina Ashta as Puru-1, Koji Kabuto, Sayaka Yumi, Christina MacKenzie
• Where: On the Approach
• OOC - IC Date: 0097-06-23
• Summary: Puru-1 makes her approach to the battlefield between the Federation, the Sleeves, and the Three Ship's Alliance only to discover the Federation waiting for her with open arms. The Photon Power Labs and Christina MacKenzie defies the Federation to attempt to intercept her. What feelings do they convey to someone this deeply mired in the despair of the Universal Century?

---

<Pose Tracker> Puru-1 has posed.

        Light, Fire, Feeling.

        Even before she could see the firework like display of mega particle cannons tandem firing in the distance she could feel the battlefield. It was not a pleasant sensation. It never was to the once peace-loving girl. Wrapped within the embrace of seething negative emotions, she flew onward, carving azure contrails within the night, feeling the fury, the grief, the despair as if to her senses like stars were guttering out in the distance, going supernova in one last bright flare of defiance, proof that yes, they were alive.

        And now they are not.

        She had to get in there. She had to get to them. So many lives she cared about in this blooming conflagration between the Federation, the Sleeves, and the Three Ship's Alliance. She was about to lose them from them pointlessly opposing that which cannot be changed. She had to get in there.

        Alberto had told her that the Federation might be there to kill her, but she refused to believe him out of hand. Alberto wasn't trustworthy, and if he was wrong? Broadcasting her IFF signal, she tried to establish a laser comm link with the great behemoth. The moment she did, she spoke, "This is Puru-1 in the Banshee Norn, here to back up this operation. I repeat this is Puru-1 in the Banshee-"

        "We read you Puru-1. Continue to approach and we'll send a team for escort."

        It wasn't long before a quartet of ReZELs approached, taking place behind her in a flanking position, as the flight leader hailed her.

        "Well shit! Got a familiar face with us, how you doing kid? Remember me from your first deployment in that Shoal Zone. Enigma Squad? We were your backup out there if things went South."
        
        Puru-1 brushed him off with a sense of cold determination, "No time for pleasantries, we need to get in there." He began to laugh into his comms, "Shit! You're speaking! Downright chatty even compared to the first time you were in our care." The others laughed, as he switched over the comm channels to his team, "You got a link yet?"

        "Who do you take me for? 'Course I got it." "Hit it on my mark. We do this quick."

        Switching back over, all the ReZELs drew their beam rifles all at once, pointing it at the blue flame spewing backside of the Banshee Norn.

        "Sorry kid. Price of going off the reservation." His ReZEL started to press the trigger, "Do it."

        The man with the E-Warfare Suite input the Vist Foundation's Execution Code only to meet unexpected resistance, "It's encrypted!? S'not supposed to-" The other three ReZELs had already fired, leading to the man to sum up this turn of events with a single word.

        "Shit."

        ...---....

        A field of melted slag, three cockpits floating around like red billiard balls in this lack of gravity. And one final one, a beam saber spearing it through the flank while the Banshee Norn's hand palms the head, "Eject." Puru-1 commands.

        "Fucking monster." The Lieutenant spat as the last man standing, though not for long.

        Puru-1 doesn't disagree, as the Norn's hand spasms, crushing its head, the cockpit flies out at that moment. With a pivot of her arm, she throws the dying ReZEL away even as the saber drags down its length to make contact with the reactor. The suit spasms, then goes up in fireworks. The panoramic cockpit shields her from the dying flare, for once it is all light and fury, spared the buzz of a man's dying feelings.

        "Gaspar. Your name is Lieutenant Gaspar Sletcher." She remembers, vaguely, in the fugue of memory of her earliest times in this suit as a maelstrom of negative feelings grew around her, like an approaching stormfront.

        betrayal betrayal betrayal betrayal betrayal
           desperation fury loneliness desolation
        alone alone alone i am alone alone alone

        "It doesn't matter." She told herself with a tone of bitterness that sounded only half like defeat, "It doesn't."

                i don't matter

        What mattered was out there. The Banshee Norn's thrusters fire, carving azure trails into the night, as it makes straight for that field of battle. So many hollow hearts and hollow minds, but not everyone. That's the point.

        BGM Start OST - Bring on a War - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQRNimdhxG4


        "This is Puru-1 to the General Revil. I have six spare E-packs loaded right now and thanks to that stunt you just pulled, fewer compunctions against using them. Try anything like that again and I will melt your bridge to slag with the Beam Magnum. I know Mrs. Vist Carbine promised you a two rank promotion for this operation, so if you don't want it to be granted posthumously, then STAY OUT OF MY GODDAMNED WAY!"

        Flipping off the comms on that channel, her hands gripped the controls. She's perhaps only a good minute or two at most from entering this chaos, becoming battlefield weather personified the moment she does.

        That is, if she isn't stopped.

        OOC Notes: If you haven't read this cutscene, it's recommended for a conceit of how your characters could be here and find her. https://srtmoo.net/mediawiki/index.php/2023-06-23:_Breath_in_the_Cold_World This scene occurs on 06/23 UC 97, just after the scene Insurrection. For the purposes of this scene, she has not yet entered the battlefield proper. Your characters have four rounds to attempt to stop her, before she reaches it. Due to the nature of this conflict, the majority of csys damage will be played out as 'emotional/fatigue' damage since the Banshee has to survive a marathon slog of battles.

KTS: Puru-1 has deployed in RX-0 Unicorn Gundam 02 Banshee Norn. 
KTS: Puru-1 has deployed as a Boss for 3 opponents.
KTS: Sayaka Yumi has deployed in Aphrodite Areia.
KTS: EN Barrier activated!
KTS: Koji Kabuto has deployed in Mazinger Z <Astro Scrander>.
KTS: Christina MacKenzie has deployed in RGN-78AN-02FA Gundam Tristan <GN Failnaught>.

<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.

====== BEFORE: THE PHOTON POWER LAB ======

        an end to - Banagher - tear - lie called Possibility.

Koji Kabuto staggers backwards, clutching his head.

Two thoughts surface as the sudden pain subsides.

The first: impossible. I'm not - Quickly followed by: Leina.

He looks up and meets Sayaka's gaze. Understanding passes wordlessly between them.

"We need to go," he says, running for Fuji's spacedock where a Londo Bell chartered transport has been stationed for a long time.

====== NOW ======

Mazinger Z, Astro Scrander gleaming black and gold in the starlight, streaks towards the battlefield. It's running relatively silent, with no IFF broadcast.

They've just come within visual range. Close enough to see Federation suits open fire upon the Banshee - and the maelstrom of destruction that follows as they taunt a lion.

Koji swallows and polarises his visor, taking a deep lungful of his suit's linked O2 supply. "Sayaka, Chris... It looks like Martha has people on retainer to finish the job for her. Stay sharp in case they send a second team.

Mazinger Z's head tracks to watch the General Revil as Puru-1 lambasts the ship - the eyes of a devil, watching and judging, though the bridge crew may have little regard for its opinion.

"C'mon, Z," Koji whispers in the Space Pilder's cockpit. "Let's bring her home. Mazin: Go."

Z's heart - its Photon Reactor - hums harmonically. The horns of the Mazin begin to crackle blue as he closes to optimal range.

"LEINAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" He swoops in from an oblique angle, Reito Beam firing.

KTS: Koji Kabuto targets Puru-1 with Reito Beam!
KTS: Koji Kabuto has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Wall Spirit Command.
KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Wall Spirit Command.
KTS: Koji Kabuto rattles Puru-1, making her next maneuvers more difficult.
KTS: Puru-1 blocks Koji Kabuto's Reito Beam, taking 1320 damage!
KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 28130
KTS: Koji Kabuto begins a Formation attack!

<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.

Sayaka's felt the Banshee before: in many ways, this isn't unlike that, as its pilot vows to tear apart the Unicorn and put an end to all possibility. Her feelings reach more people than Banagher. Is this a challenge... or is it one final cry for help?

"This might be our only chance. And we're not wasting it." With Chris in tow, whether it's truly a challenge or a cry for help... they'll accept it.

Aphrodite Areia, Mazinger Z's eternal partner in battle arrives side-by-side, arms crossed and wings open. She takes Koji's warning to heart, of course, but... "I don't care who she sends. We're leaving with Leina no matter what!" Areia's eyes gleam - they lack the sustained, cold menace of Mazinger Z's, but there's a certain fierce intensity to them, like flames.

...Properties reflected in the Mazin's respective attacks, no less. "SCARLET BEEEEEAM!" The flaming intensity of Areia's eyes pours forward, crackling against the Banshee Norn's cooled armour. "Leina! We heard your call and loud and clear... and we're putting an end to this!"

KTS: Sayaka Yumi targets Puru-1 with Scarlet Beam!
KTS: Sayaka Yumi has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Sayaka Yumi rattles Puru-1, making her next maneuvers more difficult.
KTS: Puru-1 blocks Sayaka Yumi's Scarlet Beam, taking 3300 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Sayaka Yumi's Light of the Future activates, causing Sparkle!
KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 24830
KTS: Sayaka Yumi continues a Formation attack!

<Pose Tracker> Christina MacKenzie has posed.

                        [0091, Spain]
                Christina MacKenzie wakes up, her heart and body so suddenly full of gravity, and doesn't remember how she got here. Simultaneously groggy like being asleep for days, and dizzy like she's been awake. Staggering to the blinds reveals only a burning radiance, and she twists away until her eyes adjust. The afternoon sun is shining through the windows--the sun?--over the Spanish countryside. Villa Mass.
                Slowly, her memories piece together. The truth, the hangar, the work, the obsession. Calls from an ex-paramour, left to buzz. Sayla, it must have been. And she sees, in the sunlight, by the pool, a familiar blonde woman, and also...

                        [0097, The Oberge]
        Christina MacKenzie hears the words, a familiar voice she's heard in her head once or twice before. Yet the tone...the words...could hardly have been more different.

                "LEINA!" she shouts before she even considers the pointlessness of yelling back to a Newtype.
        Still, she has to try. She'll always have to try. Sayla won't give up, and Chris won't let Sayla's conviction go to waste. She must be close...or maybe not? Either way, there's no time to waste poring over news articles. By the time it's written, it'll always be too late to change it.

                "XAIRO, MAIRO, find me a parking lot and set the course--you're both coming with me. XAIRO, you're on sensor sweep. MAIRO, I need a translator." She grabbed her helmet, and she grabbed a small orb.

                        [0097, Gundam Tristan GN]
        Christina MacKenzie, who has already decided on the future that will occur, grit her teeth as the ReZELs made their mistake and paid their price. This wasn't how Leina would fight...which means right now, she needed to be stopped.
                "Koji, Sayaka! I hope they don't test her patience any more, but...XAIRO is on long-range sensors, she'll keep watch if there's more Fed IFFs incoming. I can intercept. I won't let anyone... I won't let anyone take her away!"

        The Tristan pushes into Fullburn to try and cut off the Banshee. With her own speed at its limit, the Tristan raised one arm, carefully aligning a single shot to force the revenant suit to change course or be punished. A brilliant sparkling shower of white GN particles cascades in her wake, as the Tristan holds nothing back, conceals no part of itself.
        It doesn't matter who sees her now. The only thing that matters is bringing Leina back home.

        To her home.
        Their home.

KTS: Christina MacKenzie targets Puru-1 with Finesse!
KTS: Christina MacKenzie has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Puru-1 blocks Christina MacKenzie's Finesse, taking 2700 damage!
KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 22130
KTS: Christina MacKenzie completes the Formation attack!

<Pose Tracker> Puru-1 has posed.

        The Norn is a blue streak across the void space, it hurtles straight at the battlefield like a comet, and yet the moment the Reito beam fires, it pivots, just enough that its armed Armor catches the intense blast of cold from Mazinger Z. Ice forms and crackles on its back, as the blast temporarily gutters out its thrusters offering superior speed.

        "Doctor Kabuto." She says, voice just as icy at the distance she places between them just by foregoing his first name. Then with a sudden yank, and a great tug, she tears the shield off the back, ice scattering into space like sparkling tears.

        Brandishing it like a shield, she nevertheless points it at him, blue spherical energy gathering as it fires one shot at Mazinger Z. There is suddenly a bright flash, as blue thrusters fire, and she inverts, sliding in a flanking position and firing another another at Mazinger Z from the equipped Mega Cannon.

        "What the hell are you doing here?! They won't consider this some minor transgression. Think about what they'll do to everything you built! Go home!"

        Perhaps she is more shaken than she's indicated, because in that moment, Aphrodite Areia fires that flaming ray at the Norn. And while the beam strikes home, there's a sudden flash of blue Psycoflame that seems to brunt the worst of the combination attack before it would compromise the structural integrity of the Banshee. "You too, Director Yumi!? I would have thought you'd have more SENSE!" The Beam Magnum is suddenly pointed right at her, but rather than beamfire lancing out, there's suddenly smoke from a Cylinder beneath it as a cartridge erupts out and then... vanishes!?

        Sayaka will find Aphrodite Areia running into a minefield of clustered micro Hide Bombs before long, if she's not incredibly careful, each one detonating with deceptively powerful force.

        And indeed, the two of them receive a transmission in short order from a comm link established by the enormous grey Dogosse Giar battleship, "Mazinger Z, Aphrodite Areia. This is Captain Maseki Danbaef of the General Revil. The OCU has no jurisdiction to be present for this operation. Out of respect, I'm giving you a full two minutes to reconsider your presence here and depart. Fail to comply and you'll be branded as a hostile entity to Earth Federation Forces."

         Despite sacrificing the maneuverability in this moment, she seems to regain it simply by remounting the Armed Armor on its back again, the extra thrusters firing as she tries to gain on speed and outpace her pursuers. The Tristan however, empowered by GN engines quickly starts to gain on her until suddenly she's cut off by the beam shot, forcing her to pivot back around as the I-Field catches the majority of it, the beam swirling before it winks out.

        "Christina. MACKENZIE!" Comes the sudden irate voice over the comms to Chris, different from how she addresses the other two, as if she were scolding her furiously, "I warned you-" And suddenly there's this flash of Bernie within her skull, like this child's conception, told second hand, "-to STAY AWAY!" The Beam Magnum again slips up, as the cylinder turns, and a salvo of BOP missiles suddenly erupt, firing out towards the Tristan, trying to pepper it with incentive to do just that.

        I don't deserve you.

        All of them feel that overarching feeling perhaps, pervasive. Not so much as words, but this negative feeling that seeps in. "What a joke. What a goddamned joke. Are you actually trying to STOP ME!? All you're doing is guaranteeing THEM an early grave and ruin to the lives YOU'VE BUILT!"

        There's bitter, hollow laughter, over the comms, as the Banshee Norn turns around and tries to fly off yet again.

        "Go home, and accept the things you can't change for once in your miserable lives."

KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Dash Spirit Command and has gained proficiency bonus.
KTS: Puru-1 targets Koji Kabuto with Armed Armor DE Mega Cannon Shot!
KTS: Puru-1 targets Sayaka Yumi with Revolving Launcher Micro Hide Bomb Launch!
KTS: Puru-1 targets Christina MacKenzie with Revolving Launcher BOP Missile Salvo!
KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 144.
KTS: SP Regen activates. Your new SP value is 45.
KTS: Puru-1 has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Sayaka Yumi has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
KTS: Sayaka Yumi's EN Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage.
KTS: Sayaka Yumi fails to intercept Puru-1's Revolving Launcher Micro Hide Bomb Launch, taking 2800 damage!
KTS: Koji Kabuto fails to charge.
KTS: Koji Kabuto partially guards Puru-1's Armed Armor DE Mega Cannon Shot, taking 3444 damage!
KTS: Puru-1 enervates Christina MacKenzie, reducing her Morale significantly.
KTS: Christina MacKenzie blocks Puru-1's Revolving Launcher BOP Missile Salvo, taking 4400 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Puru-1's Hands Meant For Holding activates, causing Deject!

<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.

Koji hears the General Revil's broadcast and turns in his seat to flick a middle finger up at the Vist-owned ship. They can't see him at this angle and distance, but it makes him feel better. He mutes the battleship's frequency, talking to his partner instead with a faux-cheerful 'I wish I could punch out every single bastard on that ship' tone: "You should take that, Sayaka. I'll just make things worse." He leans over and flicks on his IFF, broadcasting Londo Bell codes. It's not much of a shield, but it at least deflects from the OCU a little.

"We're here for - " he's interrupted by a blast engulfing Mazinger Z, sending him spinning away from the Banshee. Shaking his head to clear it and glancing down at his radar, he pivots the machine, slipping away from the second shot.

"We're here for YOU, Leina! When have we ever given a damn what the bastards up top think of us - they just tried to kill you, anyway, they can suck vacuum for all I care!"

That's why they're trying to chase us off, he realises. They're worried we might WIN, and get her away from them.

"What am I supposed to tell Shiro, that I knew you were out here and I did NOTHING? KOUSHIRYOKU CIRCUS!"

A volley of stars - no, Photon Missiles - blossoms from the launchers mounted on the Astro Scrander, spiraling and arcing through the void to explode in close proximity to the Banshee - not direct hits, just enough to keep her busy.

KTS: Koji Kabuto targets Puru-1 with Photonic Missile Circus!
KTS: Koji Kabuto has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Puru-1 successfully Intercepts Koji Kabuto's Photonic Missile Circus

<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.

"I'm not going to be nice," Sayaka warns Koji, as he urges her to take the General Revil's call. "I'm not here on behalf of the OCU, I'm not my father." Sayaka states, calmly. "I'm a civilian, and considering the atrocities you're defending, you're going to end up on the wrong side of history. So, I'm not taking your 'operation' in good faith, or your threats seriously. That is all."

Leina's words, she considers more carefully... "How could I not, Leina! It's not a matter of sense." The Hide Bombs detonate, rocking the Super Alloy Z armour... but Areia continues to move forward. "The real senselessness would be abandoning you. Because like it or not, 'everything we built' means nothing without you as part of it!"

The Banshee Norn is fast - and if given the chance would easily outpace the three of them. "Artemis Arrow! Full throttle!" The wings glowing gold with the sheer output of Photon Power, as Areia attempts to 'catch' the Banshee Norn with her wingspan.

Leina's words are so scathing, just like the words that brought them here. "Lots of things don't change, Leina. That's what being stubborn is about... and it's why we're still here. You can't just get rid of the people who love you that easily."

KTS: Sayaka Yumi targets Puru-1 with Artemis Wingsweep!
KTS: Sayaka Yumi has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Alert Spirit Command.
KTS: Puru-1 parries Sayaka Yumi's Artemis Wingsweep, taking 1260 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Sayaka Yumi's Light of the Future activates, causing Sparkle!
KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 20870
KTS: Sayaka Yumi has engaged Puru-1!

<Pose Tracker> Christina MacKenzie has posed.

        Despite the dents in her ability to express it, the scold does make Chris's shoulders shrink a little. However, seeing Bernie's face...rather than pushing her deeper, it snaps her out of it.
                "Don'T YOU DAre!" she growled, "He would never stay away either!"

        However, against the Norn, every second of hesitation is a deadly weapon, and the relative velocities are far too great for Chris to evade the missiles streaking towards her. The most she can do is attempt to mitigate the damage, pulling up both of the Failnaught's armored forearms in a boxer's guard. The BOP ordinance fills the void with violent reds and concussive force, Chris subtly shifting her impact angle. Even if the reverberations shook the 60-ton machine, she wasn't willing to lose again the distance she'd closed, .

        She wasn't willing to lose anything, not today.

                "Hrg... Death and ruin, huh?! Leina, there are worse things than an early grave. And I won't let you choose for me!" She cants her head to the side as she calls into the rear cockpit "MAIRO! Wake the kid up!"

                From the Tristan's comms comes a burbling electronic whine, as a new Haro is awakened for the first time. It 'breeep's inquisitively, and on MAIRO's further prodding, produces an agreeable "Haroharo? Haroharo!" before a recording begins to play.


                        It's Ramo Marusa's voice, over a medium-grade multi-point recording microphone. The Foundation at least gets its employees reasonable tech. Marusan begins speaking her message.

                        "Yikes. Even when I started reading stuff at the Yumi Foundation about child soldiers, Cyber-Newtypes, reeducation program survivors... part of it just -- didn't seem real. Like it was someone else's world, and I was pushing papers around the table about it for Miss Mass. And I guess it kind of was someone else's world. Even when Akane brought that stuff to me it was kinda like... 'Oh, that's what her world is like,' 'she's sure got some real problems to deal with."

                        "Now, I... kinda get it. It's the only world you've got to come back to. There's no screwing off to your mom's house because the atmosphere sucks at your dad's? I mean, there kinda is but like -- well, anyway."

                        "Leina, thanks for teaching me how to meddle. Bet you've still got a few lessons. I wanna learn 'em."


        Once the recording ceases, Chris lets it sit for a moment, and then follows it up.
                "See? Everyone wants you back! You'd meddle for us when we're wrong! We're gonna meddle until we stop you!"

KTS: Christina MacKenzie has activated the Accel Spirit Command and Has Engaged with Puru-1
KTS: Christina MacKenzie targets Puru-1 with Blitz Vector - Sideswipe!
KTS: Christina MacKenzie has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Puru-1 parries Christina MacKenzie's Blitz Vector - Sideswipe, taking 1200 damage!
KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 19670
KTS: Christina MacKenzie has engaged Puru-1!

<Pose Tracker> Puru-1 has posed.

        "He'd have LEARNED!" She tells Chris immediately, with so much fire of conviction, "If he'd LIVED TO FIGURE IT OUT!" It's so hard to imagine the kind child she knew would ever say this kind of thing. Would ever be cruel like this, especially to her. She didn't have a cruel bone in her body.

        Is it really cruelty though? Or does she simply believe this? That eventually the weight of gravity crushes the spirits of everyone?

        Koji seems to momentarily stun her for a moment with the idea, "You're here for ME?" As if that were a concept she couldn't even fathom. The launch of the missiles thus is met with no reaction for a moment for the fleeing Banshee, and then in an instant, its Armed Armor is taken up off its back, and the Banshee turns, firing a blue spherical blast mid Circus that strikes one missile and causes a chain reaction of more erupting, the Vulcans then spewing fire as it catches the remainder of his shooting stars.

        "What you tell him is, you made the right call, to protect your family." There's hollow, broken laughter and again, there's that image of Rumi and Lorelai flashing across his senses, "I'm poison Doctor Kabuto. What's your plan here? Welcoming a snake like me back with open arms?"

        There's a distinct pause, before she utters more plainly, "Clear headed people know that the correct call when something like that darkens your doorstep is to reach for the axe."

        And then as if to demonstrate, the Beam Magnum is mounted on its back, as twin Mounted Sabers erupt from the Banshee's forearms. There's a sudden blur of motion, as she rushes the Mazinger Z, it's 'fangs' seeking to dig into the Mazinger Z and test whether enough applied force might melt straight through Superalloy Z, as the momentum of the Norn DRAGS the beam weapon across the joint.

        "Better still to keep your door closed AND YOUR LOVED ONES OUT OF REACH OF MY FANGS!"
        
        The IFF signal being switched isn't even dignified with a response by the Captain. He does however answer Sayaka cooly, "I have no idea what you're talking about, this is a fully sanctioned EFF operation." Which then turns into increasing heat, "So lemme be more clear, I don't give two fucks about your opinion, and care even less who your Daddy is, get off my battlefield or you'll be facing a military tribunal."

        The Banshee Norn however is immediately beset by Aphrodite Areia, its wings glowing gold, as it turns around and suddenly raises both Sabers which skirt against the wings. Sparks flying off of it as the sheer mass forces the Norn back further and further, until eventually its thrusters lever itself under those deadly wings, the Norn cutting power and slashing its Sabers out in a vicious whirling cleave that tries to drag them alongside its frame as it flies past.

        "Stubborn!? You think STUBBORNESS will change anything!?" She tells her, as if aghast hearing that, as if believing that the others could just, accept these things as truth, "Love. You love me? Stupid. Just-" There's just this sort of, ripple of negative feelings, "-this attachment you all have. How do none of you realize what you WELCOMED INTO YOUR LIVES!"
        
        despair desolation loneliness fury emptiness

        But Chris? Chris tells her there are worse things. "You're right. Worse things. Like lashing out against the world by becoming a terrorist for Celestial Being. Killing more and more soldiers, making yourself a scapegoat for the ELITE as they laugh and CELEBRATE your interventions with resounding applause!"

        Mounting the shield like Armed Armor on her back again, it becomes a rocket blazing bright, as she tries to match the pace of the GN poweredTristan, the recording comes on, and Sabers flash again and again at the Tristan's sideswipe. Clashing and breaking time and time again, before she suddenly parries, and jukes sideways, trying to spear the Gundam with a whirling slash as a feint before the other thrusts at waist level.

        It takes a moment for it to settle in, the recording from Ramo, and there's a certain warm sensation in her eyes as she comprehends the message Chris' Haros delivered to her.

        'Leina, thanks for teaching how to meddle. Bet you've still got a few lessons. I wanna learn 'em.'

        "Even Glemy Toto managed to get it right, every now and then." Puru-1 admits, regarding what good her and Ramo did together, rather than give ground, "Fooled even her about the kind of person I am- there's only one way that path takes you in the end. Selling out, ending up in someone like Vist-Carbine's office. S'why I've always been such a good student." As she breaks into her rougher Spacenoid accident. Rather than follow up on her brutal actions, she simply fires her thrusters, pivoting up and over, before hurtling back on a trajectory towards the blindingly bright battlefield ahead, there's something breaking in her voice, emotional and raw.

        "More proof. More proof that after this is over, I have to get away from you. ALL OF YOU! Because none of you have ever had the slightest idea what's BEST for you!"

KTS: Puru-1 targets Koji Kabuto with Beam Tonfas and Sabers Rush!
KTS: Puru-1 Changes attack to Christina MacKenzie and Sayaka Yumi with Beam Tonfas and Sabers Whirling Blitz.
KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 173.
KTS: SP Regen activates. Your new SP value is 45.
KTS: Puru-1 has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Koji Kabuto has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Koji Kabuto has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: [Spirit Defense] Koji Kabuto's Mazin Pride activates, and his spirit endures.
KTS: Puru-1 enervates Koji Kabuto, reducing his Morale significantly.
KTS: Koji Kabuto fails to Parry Puru-1's Beam Tonfas and Sabers Rush, taking 4800 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Puru-1's Hands Meant For Holding activates, causing Deject!
KTS: Puru-1 has engaged Koji Kabuto!
KTS: Puru-1 begins a Formation attack!
KTS: Sayaka Yumi has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
KTS: Sayaka Yumi's EN Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage.
KTS: Sayaka Yumi parries Puru-1's Beam Tonfas and Sabers Whirling Blitz, taking 1200 damage!
KTS: Puru-1 has engaged Sayaka Yumi!

<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.

If only the General Revil's captain knew how seriously the OCU was taking his 'sponsor's' activities, he might realise he needs to suit up for a tribunal regardless.

Koji can't say anything to that effect, though - he didn't hear the battleship's broadcast, and besides - he's busy.

"IRON CUT - augh!!" Mazinger Z's right arm is cleaved clean through as he attempts to parry the strike, and the fuel tank in the projectile fist detonates spectacularly, secondary explosions in the elbow-mounted drill missile launchers disabling the limb completely.

That two minute timer is looking a little more severe than he'd like, in this state.

His throat tightens - that feeling like he can't let out the tears boiling behind his eyes. "I've heard you say this before, remember? It wasn't true then, and it isn't true now. If there's poison, then it's in your own head."

How dare they. How dare they drag all this out of her heart and use it against her. How dare Martha condemn her to die thinking she's a monster.

"You've been part of this family ever since you and Shiro started hanging out." He knows she can't really hear him, in this state, but even so: "That's never gonna change, no matter how hard you try to push us away. So let us in, goddammit. Let us help!"

Right arm out of action, but the left side is still functional. Don't hold back - she can take it. He brings the heavy fist in to strike at the Banshee's core - and hits the trigger for a point-blank Rocket Punch to force the separation!

KTS: Koji Kabuto targets Puru-1 with Rocket Punch!
KTS: Koji Kabuto has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Alert Spirit Command.
KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Alert Spirit Command.
KTS: Puru-1 successfully Evades Koji Kabuto's Rocket Punch

<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.

The General Revil's response only makes it more clear to Sayaka they're not acting on good faith. She shuts them out. They're not what's important to Sayaka right now. There's far more she can be doing than arguing with some washed-out captain soon to be war criminal.

Leina's desperation shines through as she escapes the hold of Areia's wings with some clever maneuvering. If Leina fought like Sayaka remembers - it'd probably end there.

But the way she is now, her counterattack is vicious as she relentlessly to clip the very wings that tried to hold her back.

Koji's Iron Cutter shatters under the pressure, but the Mazinger Blade greatsword is far broader and heavier, managing to push back the beam sabers with a little force. Although not unscathed, it spares severe damage to the wings that grant Areia her mobility.

"My convictions have failed me before, Leina." Sayaka responds to her anger, simply. While Koji's forced to remember Rumi and Lorelei - Sayaka is reminded of someone else on her own, the Super AI Minerva X - one of the casualities in the Hell War directly on her own hands.

"Don't you understand? I've already had to sacrifice someone to save my family and I've hated it ever since. You're not so different right now, and if there's another way I'm going to take it!"

The Mazinger Blade is pushed towards the Banshee Norn after overwhelming it weapon-to-weapon: it's a brutal weapon, but Sayaka manages to make even a greatsword look graceful as it aims to cleave the Banshee's saber hand. "That's my promise to you, Leina!"

KTS: Sayaka Yumi targets Puru-1 with Mazinger Blade: Areia Combo!
KTS: Sayaka Yumi has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Puru-1 fails to Parry Sayaka Yumi's Mazinger Blade: Areia Combo, taking 5500 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Sayaka Yumi's Light of the Future activates, causing Sparkle!
KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 14170
KTS: Sayaka Yumi has engaged Puru-1!
KTS: Christina MacKenzie has activated the Dash Spirit Command and has disengaged.
KTS: Christina MacKenzie's Beam Wall L2 activates, negating 2000 base damage.
KTS: Puru-1 enervates Christina MacKenzie, reducing her Morale significantly.
KTS: Christina MacKenzie fails to parry Puru-1's Beam Tonfas and Sabers Whirling Blitz, taking 3000 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Puru-1's Hands Meant For Holding activates, causing Deject!
KTS: Puru-1 has engaged Christina MacKenzie!

<Pose Tracker> Christina MacKenzie has posed.

        "He-..." Chris swallows, hard enough for the onboard mic to pic it up. Her voice is soft, small, but rising back. "He, wouldn't...He knew he'd die...die to save a home that wasn't even his! Even if you break his body," Chris's voice wavered, then resurged. "Even if I killed him! He, Bernie, can still...live that kindness, through me!"

        A gap in the Tristan's movements as Chris was forced to dry her tears, but fortunately, Sayaka forces Leina back away from Koji before the Mazin can be disarmed any further.

        She's just regained her sight in time for Puru-1's next barbs--both the voiced ones and the Minovsky beam ones. Chris and the Tristan are deft and quick, but the agility, ferocity, and sheer power of the Norn leave room only for calculation and evasion. She can't find words to shield herself from the weight of those lives, heavy in her gut.

        Finally, the Banshee's strike is a fraction slower, more deliberate, and the Failnaught vectors laterally, hard, trying to get enough distance to deploy the INCOMs for pressure.

        But it was the feint she was evading. The real strike doesn't carve into any critical components, but it burns deep into the Chobham skirting, flaring warnings all over the margins of her HUD as heat builds near the cockpit. All three Haros whine in concern, and Chris mutters reassurances while she engages the INCOMs for flight.

        They wouldn't be enough to stop the Banshee on their on, but with Sayaka forcing focus on her, Chris has enough breathing room to try to pin down both the Banshee and its pilot, with her own volley.
                "I...I'll take those sins. I'll take them and then climb my way to every Carbine-Vist and drag them down myself! If it means you, you and Banagher and Audrey-Mineva can make a better future, I'll soak myself in blood! If you want to stop me, you better show me how to make a better future than that!" There's not much point in blustering such hyperbole against such a powerful Newtype, normally, but maybe there's too much flowing from the Banshee, maybe it takes half-lies to get through.
                "And if you think you've fooled everyone...so what? You've given us all...so, so much... This Haro is full of proof of that!"

KTS: Christina MacKenzie targets Puru-1 with Ribbon Dance!
KTS: Christina MacKenzie has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Puru-1 successfully Evades Christina MacKenzie's Ribbon Dance

<Pose Tracker> Puru-1 has posed.

        Puru-1 feels absolutely wretched for Chris' feelings in this moment. She knows she hurt her. She tells herself she'd do it again. This time she isn't certain if it's another lie to herself.

        Koji, despite it all tells her it's in her own head, and there's a broken hitch of a sob that turns into hollow laughter, "How would you have ANY CONCEPT-" A flash, the world a photonegative, an empty room, white gloved hands applauding into a buzz of white noise, "-WHAT IS IN MY HEAD!? When I was ten I used honeyed words to talk a bunch of aristocratic FOSSILS into dying to save my own skin!"

        And the white gloved hands become purplish, ghoulish. Reaching- Mazinger's fist is far too close, far too close. But perhaps she is closer to Koji than she knows, because a flash of intuition, of instinct. It doesn't matter how strong the Norn is, taking a hit from something of that size and mass will finish it in one stroke. And thus when it detaches, the Banshee is suddenly rolling sideways in a maneuver more akin to a fighter jet than a mobile suit the fist nearly giving it the cleanest shave. It barely avoids a fist larger than it's whole body, the Superalloy Z sparking at a graze along its body.

        "Never told you THAT one, did I!?" She breathes raggedly, harder, and faster under the grip of those hands, covering her, writhing as they infect her with all of those negative emotions. The others can't see them here, save when she sends out those flashes, those glimpses. Yet as Koji's words settle in, it's like they recede, just subtly. Not so much as if they're dissolving, but more like they are having more trouble existing in the same space as those positive emotions.

        "Let you in." She takes a breath. The Sabers suddenly gutter out, as she grips the Beam Magnum. "Let you in." She repeats again, softer as if genuinely touched but... "Care for you all too much to let you punish yourselves like that." Instead, the barrel of the Beam Magnum charges up, as she points it dead on at the Mazinger Z. "So I'll just take it away."

        It fires, one hellish crimson blast at the Fortress of Iron, auroral blue. And yet despite it all she has enough sense or care or both to avoid shooting anywhere vital. Where even an indirect blast might do critical damage.

        "Everything that lets you DO THESE THINGS TO YOURSELVES!"

        The firing of the Incoms suddenly try to pin her down, to bait her in, to force her to focus on Sayaka. There are small, jerking motions from the thrusters, which keep her just one step ahead of the incom fire. The gambit works, for asthe Mazinger Blade falls, at that size and mass, Puru-1 has no time in the Banshee to pull her sabers again. There's no time. And so, rather than that, a Beam Jutte erupts from the cylinder, scraping the blade, even as the force and weight and momentum smashes the Norn away like a baseball. It was that split second act from the tiny holdout weapon that prevented the Norn from taking a more devastating blow that might have 'disarmed' it, literally.

        Yet that doesn't mean that the Norn didn't feel it. It screams away into the night, before correcting suddenly with a bright flare of blue as its AMBAC adjusts for the momentum of blow.

        "I hate it too." She admits, "I hate it. Hate it. HATE IT!" She says with an almost childishness, as if she were complaining about a particularly arduous homework assignment and school itself, but then something slumps, as if defeated. As if Sayaka's promise had gotten through to her some, just a little, as if that girl awash in misery saw the sun enough to complain about her circumstances. "But- come to realize over time, sometimes there is no other way, Sayaka." As she drops the Director title, perhaps for something more honest, "And someone has to make those hard decisions. For Banagher... Mineva."

        "You." The Beam Magnum is leveled at the Areia. It charges up, before another bolt lances in the night, awful in its bright intensity, "Don't worry, I'll make the hardest ones for you. Can hate that too."

        There's a look out of the corner of her eye, in the Panoramic cockpit, at the Tristan, through the haze of psychic miasma clouding her senses. Her resolve setting in, she takes a breath, "You would." She tells her quietly, "You really would, at that." It's a struggle for a long moment, "You deserve better than that though." She tells her just as softly, "Deserve a rest. Fight's over, soldier." It's perhaps telling that she spares the Tristan the Beam Magnum. The Mazins she can fire and worry less about the results. Instead the Norn grabs two Sabers from its forearms, erupting as their output grows, their grey form limmed in blue fire as they suddenly grow larger, brighter. "You're right. I'll... admit that much. Was nice to dream, even if was just lying to myself all along."

        A bright flash of thrusters as she tries to bring down both Sabers viciously on each of the Tristan's limbs.

        "I'll take care of the rest for both of them... just leave it to me."

        Without any further fanfare, the blue thrusters flare, as she tries to make a break for it... for the battlefield, for Banagher, for Mineva. For everyone on the Ra Mari II.

        There's no time to spare. There's, never enough time.

        "Three of you, deserve your rest." She says sorrowfully. Lying to herself even now in the idea that they'll be allowed it, after this.

KTS: Puru-1 targets Koji Kabuto with Beam Magnum Fleet Slayer!
KTS: Puru-1 targets Sayaka Yumi with Beam Magnum Fleet Slayer!
KTS: Puru-1 targets Christina MacKenzie with Beam Tonfas and Sabers High-Output Combination!
KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 103.
KTS: SP Regen activates. Your new SP value is 30.
KTS: Puru-1 has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Koji Kabuto partially guards Puru-1's Beam Magnum Fleet Slayer, taking 3769 damage!
KTS: Puru-1 completes the Formation attack!
KTS: Sayaka Yumi has activated the Foresee Spirit Command.
KTS: Sayaka Yumi fails to react to Puru-1's Beam Magnum Fleet Slayer, taking 5220 damage!
KTS: Christina MacKenzie has activated the Trust Spirit Command.
KTS: Christina MacKenzie has activated the Trust Spirit Command.
KTS: Christina MacKenzie has activated the Alert Spirit Command.
KTS: Christina MacKenzie has activated the Alert Spirit Command.
KTS: Christina MacKenzie fails to rush.
KTS: Christina MacKenzie partially guards Puru-1's Beam Tonfas and Sabers High-Output Combination, taking 4592 damage!
KTS: Puru-1 has engaged Christina MacKenzie!

<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.

A direct hit from the Beam Magnum is devastating, even not at full power. Koji knows this - he's studied the specs enough. Even being too close to the beam could rip apart a mobile suit.

He's not a newtype. He doesn't have the preternatural senses that let Amuro or Kamille or Judau dance through an impossible web of beam-fire with barely a scratch on their mobile suits - but he's survived a hundred and more nightmares of Super Steel and destructive spite, on nothing more than instinct and determination.

Those instincts take over and he stops thinking, nudging the Pilder's control yoke and feeling Mazinger Z's inertial response to guide him. Pilot and machine in harmony, in a different way than psycoframe. He might have been out of the seat for ten years...

... but here, in this moment, fighting to save a member of his family, it's like he never grew up. Mazinger Z slips through the Beam Magnum barrage, Super Alloy Z searing and the Astro Scrander's portside control thruster slagged from passing a hair too close to the beam...

But he's whole. And in the clarity of battle...

        Fighting isn't working, he realises suddenly.
        The more we crash against her, the more we reinforce the combat personality they drilled into her.

        If the Leina we love is still in there, then...
He keys his comm again. "Sayaka, Chris - I'm going to try something stupid."
        You don't have to follow my lead.

On Aphrodite Areia's readouts, the signature of Mazinger Z's reactor dims from full combat output to basic cruise power as Koji flicks switches engaging reactor safeties, shutting the Castle of Iron's weapons down as he steers it to drift back in front of the muzzle of the Beam Magnum.

"... Okay then. If this is what you think has to happen - if you're going to destroy anything that lets us be idiots... then you have to finish the job, Leina. The Castle of Iron can always be rebuilt, even if you reduce it to nothing but slag - but I will never stop trying to bring you back home."

"So pull the trigger, and make me."

Nerves and uncertainty teeter on a knife's edge... but the feelings radiating from Koji, even under that, are unmistakable: Faith, hope, and love.

        Lorelei died because I wouldn't stop fighting... I have to believe.

KTS: Koji Kabuto targets Puru-1 with Pass!
KTS: Koji Kabuto has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Puru-1 fails to react to Koji Kabuto's Pass, taking 0 damage!
KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 14170

<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.

"I understand," Sayaka tells Leina. "It must look like we're not just blindly, but willingly crashing into the abyss to pull something like this off, huh?" And she's learned, as Director, that as tempting as it can be to just sit down and make the hard decisions for everyone... it's never how decision making turns out to work.

Although, Leina isn't speaking to her as Director... but as Sayaka, in that moment. "It's not just us, Leina. If you fly away, you'll probably just hear the same things from someone else... someone else who cares deeply about you.

The beam magnum fire flies forth, effortlessly piercing right through Areia's Photon Barrier, forcing the Super Alloy Z to hold, no matter how much the armour wants to crack apart. "That's the reason we're so confident we made the right call!" The Mazin's cameras shutter, obstructing her view of the Banshee, Leina's prison.

Koji does something very stupid, indeed - opening himself for the Castle of Iron to be melted into nothing. She gets the gist of it - if he separates his own will from Mazinger Z's frame, will that show Leina that she's not tied to the Banshee, either?

"Well... it's always been up to me to look after you when you try something stupid." It's not annoyance in Sayaka's tone, though. But she stands ready to pull Koji out if Mazinger Z really does get destroyed. "Chris! Stay close - I don't know what's going to happen next..." She warns.

Still, she feels her point has been made. If Leina tries to fight the same way against Banagher and Mineva, or Sayla, or countless others... she knows they'll never give up on her, either. It so often takes the effort and believing hearts of so many people.

KTS: Sayaka Yumi targets Koji Kabuto and Christina MacKenzie with Caution.
KTS: Sayaka Yumi has completed their actions for the round.

<Pose Tracker> Christina MacKenzie has posed.

                        > 'You would. You really would.'

        Chris blurted such a wild notion out like that, not really believing it herself. If someone had called her on it, she might even laugh it off as a joke. But hearing Leina...Leina, of all people say it...like that.

        She would. She's taken lives before. She's weighed the options and chosen to bear those burdens before. She already sleeps with guilt, with a scrapbook of her victims, and she's sturdy enough to handle more.

        Of course she would do it. She'd make the whole world her enemy just for the people that matter most to her. She told Sayla, she'd do anything. And she was told she was loved. Told she was needed. Told she couldn't sacrifice herself.
                "Love really makes you crazy, doesn't it, Bernie..." she murmurs into the void.

        When the Banshee raises those gleaming swords overhead, the Tristan itself seems to hum with defiance. The Failnaught's wrist docks blaze as hard as they can, the Resonance Reactor huffing and puffing, the GN particle density rising rapidly. Fingers dance across controls, triggers, and an INCOM barrier materializes above her, then separates into a flutter of six INCOM blades.

        Tristan meets the two blades with all eight of his own, though sparks fly, though one of the INCOMs surges and fails. Chris puts everything she has into keeping the Tristan intact, but... sometimes you have to make hard decisions. It's true. Sometimes you have to lose something to keep anything. A second INCOM blade flickers and retracts, and the pressure grows. The Tristans shoulders crackle, the wound on his waist releases smoke into the vacuum.

        Lose something. Chris presses inwards, towards the Banshee's embrace, and darts to the side, under all her blades before she runs out of time. Both of the ashen blades sweep down, together, cleaving the Tristan's right arm off, along with all four fin funnels on that side.

        The cockpit dims and strobes as the Mazin-inspired circuits rebalance the power feeds to and from the Resonance Reactor... She'll be able to fight the next battle, but for now, she's dead in the water, nothing to do but watch Koji and hear Sayaka. Keep anything.

        "Koji..." Even if Leina doesn't shoot, if they don't stop her here... if she slips away again, if Vist and her payrolls find a way to take her away forever... A crazy thought enters her mind.

                "Leina, you said it yourself that I'm a terrorist. How could I deserve rest if you don't...? How could the fight be over, if you're still fighting? ...I just want your omelets again. It's not home without you."

                "I need you. I can't rest... I need you, Leina. You're my family."

        The Tristan's imbalanced thrusters struggle to keep a steady course, but the suit finally makes it next to the Banshee, as Koji stares down the Magnum.

                "If you're going...I'm going."

KTS: Christina MacKenzie targets Puru-1 with Pass!
KTS: Christina MacKenzie has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Sayaka Yumi suggests caution, raising Koji Kabuto's Intuition!
KTS: Sayaka Yumi suggests caution, raising Christina MacKenzie's Intuition!
KTS: Sayaka Yumi has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Puru-1

<Pose Tracker> Puru-1 has posed.

        "That's exactly it." She replies quietly to Sayaka, "It sucks. Sucks watching it. Knowing you're just rolling a boulder up a hill and it's gonna keep rolling BACK DOWN! Sucks knowing that even if Banagher wins, it's going to DESTROY him! Both him and Mineva." She murmurs quietly, "Just like it did Judau - except this time? This time they care enough to make them both fugitives forever." A small laugh, "What kind of shitty deal is THAT?"

        Still, she makes the point, that this isn't it. There'll be others. It was easier before right now to think that they'd all make the 'right' call of abandoning her, cutting her off. Now she's not so certain. "Stupid." She whispers through a hitched sob, "Stupid. Just means... just means I'll have to hurt them all even more."

        Why can't they all just give up on her? She knows why. In the end, denial of their nature is denying the miraculous warmth that was their presence in her lives. It's why she feels she can do this for them, no matter what.

        "In what world can hurting yourselves for me be... the right call?"

        It's difficult to listen to it, through these feelings. These feelings validate to her what she's known ever since she was a child. Of course they do, they're her feelings. And now they can only exist through her. Koji offering Mazinger Z up to her on a platter, as an act of love and trust. Her resolve was such, that she promised to take these weapons away from them.

        She promised to take away their means to oppose this horrifying status quo. Force them to just live their lives as best they can, in acceptance of how the world can't change. No matter how much they hated it, especially if they hated it. At least they'd be safe. They don't deserve a life of EROSION.

        The Norn stops in its flight, despite her desperation to get there, that challenge to her resolve is there, staring her down. It's even harder with Chris right there, telling her she can't rest. That she's her family. "... You're not a terrorist at heart. You just got caught up in your own sprint. Didn't think it through, not really." She breathes the words out, "Would have scolded you ages ago, if it wouldn't make me the biggest hypocrite." She laughs hollowly, "Just look at me, Chris. Look at me! I'm family? I sold out!" The Beam Magnum is raised at the Fortress of Iron at that moment, "I sold out. Was trying to give you all new family, better family. Was the whole point of... filling that house."

        She is after all, pointing that magnum at family right now.

        Silence permeates everything for a time, as she stares down Koji, "Stop it." She tells him, "This isn't you daring me to destroy your Mazin. You're daring me to kill you? You think I wouldn't do it. You actually think..." As something more raw, and heartbroken enters her voice, "...she's dead. Callie's DEAD you know! I KILLED HER! I TOOK HER SECOND CHANCE AWAY! THAT WAS ME! ME! ME AND NOBODY ELSE!"

        With a seething breath through the comms, the Beam Magnum starts to charge.

        "AND I'D DO IT AGAIN YOU GODDAMNED IDIOT!"

        Yet at the moment it releases, that bright charged beam lancing across the space. It may take them a moment to see, it's angle was jerked sideways, to rake across its flanks and cripple one of its main thrusters on the back from indirect contact. To make it impossible for him to follow her into the battlefield.

        In the wake of that moment, in perhaps the confusion of what she did, she capitalizes blue thrusters flare bright as she suddenly shoves away the Tristan with the Norn's bare hands.

        "They're coming. Don't go anywhere Chris. Sayaka and Koji will need you."

        It's at that moment that the Norn dodges two shots of beam fire, as six ReZELs enter the area. Two break off to follow the Banshee Norn, while the other four remain.

        Weapons hot. They start firing at the other three. There's no further warning. There's no message that they'll be under arrest if they don't comply. None of that.

        This is a warzone.

        "They're worth your effort."

        Is Puru-1's last transmission as she speeds off, faster and faster, ahead of her two pursuers, into a battlefield with potentially hundreds fighting.

        Dare they risk following in this state?

KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Dash Spirit Command and has disengaged.
KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Dash Spirit Command and has gained proficiency bonus.
KTS: Puru-1 targets Koji Kabuto with Beam Magnum Focused Burst!
KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 166.
KTS: SP Regen activates. Your new SP value is 30.
KTS: Puru-1 has completed their actions for the round.
KTS: Koji Kabuto has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Koji Kabuto has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Koji Kabuto has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Koji Kabuto has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Koji Kabuto has activated the Strike Spirit Command.

<Pose Tracker> Christina MacKenzie has posed.

The Tristan, and her pilot's loyalty, devotion, is pushed away.

        Chris is silent. MAIRO is silent. XAIRO is silent.

        The youngest Haro, less than two minutes awake, chirps briefly, and begins playing another recording unbidden, transmitting it before the Banshee leaves local comm range.


        For Kikkas contribution, the Haro seems to read out the content of a recipe; Leina might recognize what the ingredients come together to make. Its the cookies that Frau often had out for her when she visited their house: extra sugary and full of chocolate.

        Attached to the recipe is a short, heartfelt message:

                Leina, we all miss you very much. Youve been through so much, giving you this is the very least we can do. We hope youll enjoy it when you get your appetite for sweets back. Or at the very least, it will serve as a reminder of everyone whos still rooting for you and waiting for you to come home.

                - The Kobayashi family

                PS: Just like ask me if you need the handwritten copy of the recipe because I have no clue how easy thats gonna be to remember!

KTS: Koji Kabuto partially guards Puru-1's Beam Magnum Focused Burst, taking 4510 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.

The Beam Magnum charges. Koji stares at the Banshee's cameras. The terrible light in the weapon's muzzle reaches its full incandescence... and he doesn't flinch.

A twitch at the last second, and it's the starboard thruster of the Astro Scrander that disintegrates in that baleful megaparticle assault, leaving Mazinger Z unable to pursue, but still barely functional - and Koji still alive.

He lets out a long breath, glancing down at his sensors. "More coming in. I'll signal our transport for pickup. Let's get the hell out of here."

The three of them alone might not be able to reach Leina... but Sayaka's right. It's not just the three of them - there's a whole chorus of hearts Leina's touched in her short life. A chorus of love and trust that she won't be able to deny; and he's proud to be among that number.

Mazinger Z limps - well, drifts under low power - away from the hostile ReZELs and out of the combat zone.

"She said our names," he says over the comm. That means something got through, at least.

<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.

In what world can hurting themselves for Leina be the right call? Sayaka thinks Leina's starting to understand it, if for only a moment. In a world cruel enough to build a weapon like the Banshee and make you its pilot... what could be the right call except for bringing kindness into it? After all... this world's the only shot they get, and there's no way they're going to accept sacrificing Leina to it.

It's hard to tell at first, but Mazinger Z... just barely holds on. "Koji! Do you read me? You're... still there, right?" Sayaka has to ask, but she already knows deep down... because she believed in Koji's belief in Leina.

And with that, the Banshee Norn is gone in that trial of blue, pursued by a pair of ReZELs. With four of the mobile suits oriented on them. Koji gets into contact with the transport... while Sayaka brandishes the Mazinger Blade again, eyes gleaming to prepare to fire a volley of Scarlet Beams. "Koji, Chris, hang on tight! Areia's the only one in any condition to take it, so I'll cover our escape!"

As Mazinger Z and the Tristan drift away, Sayaka shoots to disable, or at least slow, the pack of ReZELs after them before they get on the shuttle.

"...Yeah. I know we'll see her again.. And we'll be there to help her every step of the road just like we promised." She agrees, when she finally has time to just... take in what they just went through.

KTS: Koji Kabuto's Mazinger Z <Astro Scrander> has left