2023-07-23 Drifting Dread

• Cast: Liam 7-020, Jona Basta
• Where: Lagrange Point 5
• Date: U.C. 0097 07 23
• Summary: As Jona continues to drift in space, bound to the whims of the NT-D controlled Narrative and Neo Zeong II, he has a chance encounter with Liam's squad. Perhaps some things are better left to drift in the far reaches of space..?

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<Pose Tracker> Jona Basta has posed.

In the grim darkness of space drifts the Neo Zeong II. At first glance, it seems completely inert, devoid of any presence or soul whatsoever. However, those with any form of psychic ability will recognize that beneath the layers of steel and ceramic is a cockpit emanating psychic torment.. One occupied not by the usual Sinanju Stein, but instead filled by the Narrative Gundam...or rather, what was formerly the Narrative Gundam, one could say.

With its NT-D system still engaged and in control, Jona is but a cog in the machine, an organic component feebly bound and held captive by a malevolent program...perhaps in some ways, like Domon Kasshu's older brother Kyoji had been by the Devil Gundam of yesteryear.

Even so, it would take a trained talent to find what remained of the young man beneath the layers of torment and suffering.

Help...Me...

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

        It's hard to understate the enormity of interplanetary space. The odds of finding something as small as a single Mobile Weapon--even one as large as the Neo Zeong II--are infinitesimal. But when factoring in the existence of Awakened souls, and the psychic miasma emanating from the machine, those odds become significantly larger.

        An irregular scout wing sweeps through the void, on long-distance patrol from the Ra Mari II. There are three machines in total: an MP Nu, a GuAIZ, and a custom machine that doesn't fit any profile: Liath Macha, which looks like an evolution of a CGUE, with a Striker Pack with additional thrusters. The three pilots--Jessup, Daltione, and Liam--haven't spoken much, which makes the sudden /gasp/ from the MP Nu's pilot all the more striking. Liath Macha stops in its tracks.

        "Jessup?!" Liam shouts. He's patrol leader, he knows that the Newtype getting a sudden shock out of nowhere is no good. "What's wrong?"

        "S--something's nearby," Jessup sounds like she just got punched in the gut. "I think I--there it is." The three machines turn to face the drifting Neo Zeong II, which rests at the very edge of the sensor envelope.

        Liam's breath catches in his throat. "Stay back, you two," he says. He knows what this machine is. Liath Macha slowly starts to maneuver towards the machine. "Neo Zeong II pilot," he says, carefully, like someone approaching a wounded animal that could bite or claw at any moment. "Please respond."

        "They're hurting," Jessup says. "Sir, I--I don't know if they can--"

<Pose Tracker> Jona Basta has posed.

"Neo Zeong II pilot, please respond."

Jona's eyes crack open wearily at those words. Life support in the Narrative's cockpit should have long run out by now, the atmo-scrubbers far beyond their maximum capacity. Even so, he breathed. Even so, his body functioned. When was the last time he had eaten? Drank? Taken a shower, or used the bathroom?

Within this cursed prison, time itself felt meaningless. He was kept alive through some absurd twist of psychic causality, the NT-D interfacing with the Zeong's psyco-systems to keep him alive through otherworldly means. Yet alive he may be, it was a mere half-life. His vocal chords were clumsily repaired and healed by the emanations, so speaking was still sheer torment for him.

Even so...

"Help...no...GET AWAY!"

The screaming begins again, fresh cuts and blood flowing from his mouth as his throat is eviscerated by the sounds wailing from within.

The Neo Zeong II whirs to life as the Narrative's optics glow a menacing crimson, the NT-D's energy pouring across the lines and crevices of the mobile suit as it turns its destroyer's gaze towards the three units on patrol. It speaks to Jona. It speaks to them.

We shall not be stopped. You. You are an aberration. You must be destroyed.

Megaparticle beams hum to life as they focus their aim on the trio.

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

        Jona should be dead. Assuming the Neo Zeong II hasn't stopped anywhere to refuel and resupply--and where and how would it do /that/?--he should've died of dehydration. The thought hangs in Liam's mind as he waits for his response. The fact that Jessup called him 'Sir' would be a bit more notable if not for the presence before them.

        He has to tell Captain York, and Captain Rezza, and Trevor. He has to tell Rita.

        "I--how is it still functioning?" says Daltione, their voice cracking. "No one's seen it in--"

        'Help...no...GET AWAY!'

        The three pilots take evasive maneuvers; the formation splits apart, backing away from the Neo Zeong II as it comes to life. In an instant, the three Mobile Suits have rifles aimed at the larger machine's center of mass; the MP Nu's Funnels form an interdicting screen.

        "Pilot," Liam pleads, "eject if you can. Eject--!" And then a wave of power so strong even /he/ feels it emanates from the machine. It throbs inside Liam's head. Aberration. "Daltione, Jessup," he croaks. "Get back to the RMII, /now/." This is a /bad idea/, chides his own inner voice, but his wingmates comply without protest. The other machines turn to flee at maximum safe speed, while Liath Macha hangs back, shield raised.

        "You," he says--not to Jona, but to the throbbing, hateful presence he can feel. "What are you?"

<Pose Tracker> Jona Basta has posed.

Jona feebly thrashes against the controls, not that it has served to do anything for him in this moment or the times before. Once again, he is relegated to being a backseat passenger in his own story. Once again, he loses control. Once again...

Yet even as Jona sobs and screams and swears against his fate and imprisonment, the NT-D responds.

"You...what are you?"

I am the cleanser. I am the purifier. I exist to serve my role. You are an aberration. A heresy to be burned. A mutant to be killed. Unclean filth to be purged. Only true humans deserve to inherit this universe.

The mega particle cannons that serve as the Neo Zeong II's arms fire towards the fleeing wingmates, only to be stopped by the Fin Funnel barrier from the MP Nu. The Narrative instead opts for a different command, shooting out hijack bits from its arms towards the retreating units.

"Rita...Rita..! RITA!!!!!!!!"

A howl of anguish echoes throughout the cockpit and Narrative, the NT-D corrupted suit letting out a roar of rage, mighty enough to equal any of the Evangelion units.

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

        Liam has no idea who or what is speaking to him. Is it another psychic fragment, like the one in the Banshee? Is it an AI of some sort? He doesn't know enough about the Unicorn-series and the Narrative to know the exact details of the NT-D.

        But he doesn't need to know that to know this thing is tremendously dangerous. "Go!" Liam shouts. "Get out of here!" Liath Macha jukes left, holding its shield steady, but those blasts weren't aimed at /him/. Jessup's funnels serve as a distraction; the megaparticle beam burns through the cloud, vaporizing half of them in a single strike.

        "Let him go!" Liam demands, of that malign presence. There's venom in his voice; he's not a Newtype, but he was Boosted against his will. The NT-D is echoing some of his darkest thoughts, the ones replete with internalized Purist bigotry. "Let him go, n--" Then the hijack bits unspool. Daltione manages a bit of desperate, artful swordplay with their beam saber, slashing through the bits, but Jessup isn't as fortunate. A cable slams into the MP Nu's thigh.

        "What's--what's it--NO!"

        "LET THEM GO, MONSTER!" Liam demands. Liath Macha draws its beam glaive, and descends on the cables seizing control of Jessup'a machine. The beam emitter shapes into a wide, broad blade, the better to catch the cables as he tries to cleave through them.

<Pose Tracker> Jona Basta has posed.

The Narrative and Neo Zeong swivel to track Liam's machine. Even as it aims to sever its connection to the MP Nu Gundam, another arm cannon aims at the Liath Macha. Golden fire arches through the pitch darkness of space as the first shot narrowly misses the Liath. Even so, there was another plan in place. With its malign corruption seeping through the MP Nu Gundam, the Narrative and Neo Zeong II send forth their command.

Kill the aberration.

The MP Nu struggles to resist, but slowly, its arm clutches ahold of its beam rifle, and aims at the Liath.

Jona, trapped as he may be, witnesses the exchange through one of the few remaining undamaged monitors.

"No. Stop it. Stop it! STOP IT!!!!!!"

Jona's own psychic scream is enough to distract the NT-D'd Narrative momentarily, and its control over the MP NU falters.

Would it be enough?

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

        /Shit/, Liam thinks, as he sees that cannon aiming. Liath Macha jets sharply to the right, and just in time. It's enough to force Liam on the defensive, to chase him away from the hijack bits for a few crucial seconds.

        "LIAM!" Jessup's voice is raw, terrified. He can still hear her, just like he can hear Jona in the Neo Zeong II. "It's in my head, I CAN'T--! NO! STOP! GET OUT! GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!"

        "JESSUP!" Liam screams. His Mobile Suit jets back, but does not return fire. He hesitates--does he risk killing a comrade in self-defense? The NT-D's words hang in his mind.

        Jona's desperate distraction gives Daltione the time they need to act. Their beam saber flashes through the void, severing the cables. Their other hand grabs the MP Nu's shoulder, and despite the substantial size difference, the GUAiZ boosts it out of there. In a matter of seconds, the two terrified pilots are well out of the engagement range of those bits.

        Liath Macha hangs behind a moment longer, due to foolishness or the need to /help/ on Liam's part (both). "I'll tell Rita," Liam says. "I swear we'll get you out of there. Please--please hold on!"

<Pose Tracker> Jona Basta has posed.

/I'll tell Rita./

Those words. That name. It's enough to set off Jona once more. The one he had cared for, all this time, had used him. Betrayed him. Played his and Michele's lives like game pieces on her board.

No. It hurts.

The sting of betrayal.

The rage of realization.

"Rita...I'll...I'll never forgive you! AAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!"

As Jona's rage reaches its peak once more, shockwaves emanate from the Narrative and Neo Zeong II, forcing the Liath Macha back.

Thrusters that should long be out of fuel roar to life, forcing the hulk to speed as it once again lurches forth on its path to the distant helium storage facility.

Liam's words no longer reach Jona. All that he feels, all that he can see is his rage and Rita's betrayal. Tears of blood flow down his face as crimson, bloodshot eyes focus on a distant goal.

This world must burn.

This world must burn.

This world must burn.

This was his prison. This was his cradle. This was his coffin.

This was his fate.

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

        "JONA!" Liam screams. The fear and rage turn inward--how could he make such a /stupid/ mistake? Did he think Jona would somehow stop hating Rita when he still has every reason to? "Please--!" Both of them have suffered so much. He has to--

        There is nothing in the void to conduct a shockwave, but try telling that to a Psychoframe suit drunk on its pilot's emotions. Liath Macha is thrown back, and Liam's head whiplashes from the force of it. He's suffered through far worse. He lets out a sharp grunt of pain, and shakes away the spots. The NZII is already speeding off. Liam makes no effort to chase it.

        "Jessup, Daltione, are you... operational?" Weak affirmatives answer Liam from both suits. "Back to base, max speed." Another round of affirmatives. Jessup's voice is still shaking.

        Liath Macha reassumes its place at the head of the formation as the three pilots start the journey back. /How/, Liam thinks, is he going to explain this to Rita?