2022-07-15: Scheme

• Log: 2022-07-15: Scheme
• Cast: Anti, Rena Lancaster, Arriety Hearn, Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver, Guy Shishioh, Riika Sheder, Rikka Takarada, Asuka Shikinami Langley, Riku Asakura, BC-001 Minae, Nidaime, Liam 7-020, Renais Cardiff, Sho Utsumi, Yuta Hibiki, Alouette Pommier, Mari Makinami Illustrious, Sayla Mass, Kaworu Nagisa, Akane Shinjo, Alexis Kerib
• Where: Cognitive Space - Tsutsujidai; Side 2 - Tsutsujidai
• OOC - IC Date: 0096-07-15
• Summary: Anti communicates. Akane learns something about how the world works.

---

<Pose Tracker> Anti has posed.

        It's a quiet evening. The sun set not long ago; it's time for children to come inside for dinner. In this sleepy district, there's no trouble walking home -- or to the train station.

        Someone's been trying to call defenders to Tsutsujidai, the past little while... whether through suspicious denials, or, in a few cases, expecting their presence outright. But surely, nothing is happening today. Surely --

        It happens when Akane Shinjo least expects it.

        Floating aimlessly through the sky, like a balloon adrift, something like an alien spaceship moves over the streets of Tsutsujidai. Or, to those outside of Tsutsujidai, the district which has known no war for years... perhaps the word for this device is 'fin funnel'. It's hard to see precisely what it looks like from below, but there are several spines jutting from it, and viridian green roils in its round core. It's small -- for a mobile weapon, that is -- perhaps forty metres across, give or take.

        Only once it's disturbed does that satellite UFO begin to dart between quiet streets, a pleasantly green beam firing into mailbox and tree. It flits about at speeds too fast to target with human hands. Here, an office building's windows explode, along with the equipment inside; there, a boutique hole-in-the-wall shop goes up in a green blast. One might note the green glow each of these targets adopt, before they're blown to bits -- as if, in that moment, they've been co-opted.

        To make things worse, it soon becomes clear that there's a second UFO in the city. The spines on this one are hooked like claws or like harpoons, and the green at the hue of its core is, instead, the exact shade of a gilla bill. This one, once disturbed, sends out sonic waves to shatter windows and scour the leaves from trees, flensing metal from cars and plastic from signage. It sounds a lot like... screaming, if the sound were coming straight from hell.

        They're fast, but not so hard to destroy, as soon as someone gets their hands on them. They explode in a perfectly satisfactory manner. The problem is --

        Halos of green -- either hue, really -- hang in the air after the UFO's destruction, and green lightning CRACKLES from them, before white light expands -- and the UFO bursts back into existence. There's a spire at the top of it, floating, disconnected -- a metal dish, below, lowering to cup a -- green core of crackling energy, all infused with black, sitting above and disconnected from -- four spires, with infrared connections, ending in cruel spikes.

        This repeats as many times as Tsutsujidai's rising defenders care to destroy them, with utterly disposable ease. Each time they're destroyed, the UFOs go back to destroying the city, as if venting some unseen frustration on the district.

        These UFOs are certainly the strangest pair of kaiju Tsutsujidai has faced... but surely they're still kaiju, aren't they?

KTS: Anti has deployed in Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver.
KTS: Anti has deployed as a Boss for 6 opponents.
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver has deployed in Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver.
KTS: Kaiju_Navi has deployed as a Boss for 6 opponents.

<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.

Anti told Rena Lancaster to pay attention to Tsutsujidai. To come, when another battle erupted; that Anti would have something in mind.

And so, Rena paid attention. She already does too much, but that makes it easy to overburden herself a little more. She watched, carefully, for an attack; she monitored reports. When one happened, then, she came.

The YF-25A Prophecy is a variable fight, painted orange and white. Down the dorsal side of it, it bears its name proudly. Inside the cockpit, Rena Lancaster leans forward. Her helmet gleams in the light. The Prophecy flies in.

It banks along, wingtips hitting the cloudtops and leaving trails after them. Rena frowns, as she looks at the UFO's. Her eyes widen, and then she lets out a soft hiss as she sees the one explode amidst the city. Her breath catches.

Missiles aren't an option in the city; her eyes widen, as she spots the halo of light from the UFO, and then she moves her hand.

The YF-25A's legs unfold from behind it -- dropping down, thrusters firing as its altitude lowers -- and arms unfurl from underneath it. The Prophecy shifts into GERWALK mode and lifts its gunpod, in preparation. "Is this what he was warning me about...?"

<Pose Tracker> Arriety Hearn has posed.

        Tsutsujidai...

        Arriety hasn't been back there since the last time she came with Rena. That was a fairly pleasant outing that time, wasn't it? She made up with Akane, a little bit, talked a lot about Dozoo Degwa, found a copy of it for Rena... she's even been watching a bit of Tarabaman X4, which makes her think of Akane again.

        But when Rena told her that there's an incident, she dedcides to tag along...

        The Zeta is hovering just above building level, but its propulsion isn't strong enough to truly take it to the skies. She gazes, towards the two UFOs... the fin funnel-like one is... pretty huge, at 40 meters across! But it's not alone -- the second one's sending out sonic waves and damaging the city...

        "... just like the first time I came here ..." Arriety mumbles to herself. The Zeta lifts up its beam rifle and takes a shot, pinkish beam energy lancing through the UFO -- and her eyes widen as it just seems to burst back into existence the moment it's struck.

        "What's going on here...?"

<Pose Tracker> Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver has posed.

'If I say there isn't a kaiju, there isn't a kaiju.'

So the world has progressed up to this point, anyway.

Akane Shinjo looks out her window and sees that this has been violated. Such an alien design, too -- for a moment, she almost thinks it's a new Federation weapon, but... why would they attack here, now, like this?

"Wait a minute --"

"Alexis!" Akane shouts, escalating to anger *instantly*. "What is the meaning of --"

Only now does Alexis actually appear on the monitor. "Oh, that? That's a kaiju from a plan Anti devised."

"Why would you let Anti make a kaiju? Why --...?" she starts, mystified.

"I've told you before, yes? The stronger the feelings, the stronger the kaiju... and Anti loathes Gridman far more than y --"

Another monitor ruined. Akane gets back to looking around.

Her gaze tracks through the room. For days, she'd thought that the footprints left in the room were hers -- that she'd simply forgotten about leaving them. (At least: that was the lie she told herself.) It's now deathly obvious, though, what really happened.

She checks her drawer. Kaiju seeds. ... They're not in the same shape of stack she usually leaves them in, either. Muddy footprints, disruption in her workspace...

Next: her tools. Two out. (Akane prefers to keep her tool storage orderly.)

... He really did let Anti in here.

Akane's shocked expression turns into an acutely displeased frown. Time to clean up Anti's mess. Again. ... She supposes she'll have to smooth this over with Gridman, too.

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

Orbit Base has some foresight into this, thanks to the warnings of a certain friendly turtle child. So when Mobile Operator Hana Hatsuno looks up from her post, announcing, "We're receiving anomalous data out of the dimensional rift! S-something's happening in Tsutsujidai!"

"Right on schedule," Advisor Yang Long-li says, glancing to Chief Akamatsu at the room's head. The Chief of the Gutsy Global Guard puts his hands on his hips, a grin splashing across his face below his bushy mustache. "Then it's up to us to keep the timetable!" he laughs, with the pride of a man who used to own a manufacturing company. "Order Room, deploy to Wadatsumi and head out! All Mobile Division pilots, stand by in the Dive Chamber until transition!"

In that standby room, Guy Shishioh gives his copilot for the day a grin. "That's us," he says, already in his interface-enhancing ID Armor, with its high, golden fins.

Soon, the air over Nouvelle Tokyo is briefly disturbed by the arrival of the Wadatsumi's double-wide train engine-shaped hull, and then it passes behind a cloud...and it's gone.

...

...

Division Ship X: Mobile Execution Fortress Wadatsumi drifts into view over the mountains, well below the cloud line of Tsutsujidai. All crew have come back to their senses - and a beam of light erupts from the forward Mirror Catapult! But rather than an Ultra Technology cannon, this weapon...contains the King of Braves!

"BROKEN PHAAAAAAAAAAAANTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!" Guy Shishioh screams, the Broken Right Arm of Destruction roaring ahead of the boosted GaoFighGar. While he's waiting for the rocket punch to return to his side, GaoFighGar slams into the ground, tearing up concrete, before whipping around its remaining arm. A Program Ring bursts forth in front of it, and then: "PROTECT WAAAAAAAAAAAALL!!" to try and protect the city against stray shots.

Guy says, "You holding on alright, back there? Hope you're strapped in!"

<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.

Riika has been getting the busy work lately. After escaping (being rescued) from the Nadesico, she had stayed on board various ZAFT ships and bases for a time; explaining her actions, filing full reports, and being reassigned to a hellaciously complex piece of cutting-edge equipment in a move that she couldn't decide if it was meant to be a punishment or a promotion.

But she hadn't been able to stay away from active duty forever. She knew that, ZAFT Command knew that - and it had ended rather suddenly when Britannians had attacked the transport she had been working on. After that, Riika was given the same freedom she had before the incident.

Freedom, but also work. Working for the test department was a full-time job, but it wasn't the only one she had, and one of the things she volunteered for (or got volunteered for) was keeping an eye on Junius Seven. It was a good place to do isolated testing, anyway, and she checks in when she can get away with it.

That may go a long way to explain why there is a ZAFT unit, flying ZAFT colours (figuratively speaking), currently in Tsutsujidai.

The colour it actually is is a bright safety orange-yellow, and it is flying on top of a subflight system, wings spread wide. It is hovering, in fact, above Tsutsujidai, and firing its hip-mounted railcannons at the sonic-emitting UFO. Riika's aim is good but the thing is jerky in movement, and she holds her fire whenever she might accidentally hit a building; worse, it doesn't seem to care when it's destroyed, anyway.

Riika is firing the railcannons to avoid tapping into the GuAIZ's battery, which are all safely in the green and she'd like to keep it that way. The thing can power itself, but it also goes through several hours of charge in about ten minutes if she lets it.

"...? What *is* this thing?" It's a mechanical kaiju, kind of like hers, but... weird. Most kaiju stop when they're shot!

She reaches out to the Federation, flipping on her radio. "Ah - sorry! This is Riika Sheder, from ZAFT. I'm not here to attack the city!" Well, hopefully that's clear enough. She recognizes the Prophecy, at least.

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

The Gridman Alliance, through the Shuffle Alliance, had received early warning of a kaiju that would be arriving in Tsutsujidai. Rikka's mind is still reeling from the revelations of the other day, so a kaiju attack... is really the last thing she wants to deal with, but apparently it's supposed to help in some way. And it's not like she can just leave it - Tsutsujidai is her home, however it came to be, and she intends to protect it.

As a result, once the strange UFOs begin to appear, Synchrotank rolls out.

"What is this...? It's not like any of the kaiju we fought before..." Rikka comments. Relatively small and fast, firing green beams... and soon, it's joined by another, it's screams causing destruction. "...I guess we should just take care of them. Be careful, everyone."

Which is good plan on its face, except... the moment one of them is destroyed, it reforms. Rikka stares, perplexed.

"...What are we supposed to do? Just keep shooting them...?" Rikka asks. Without having many other options, Synchrotank's hands point at the nearest UFO, firing a volley of vulcan fire. It feels a little pointless, though, if it's just going to regenerate... but what else can she do?

Fortunately, there is at least a slight distraction in the form of the arrival of other mobile suits. Rikka quickly presses a few buttons on Synchrotank's dashboard, sending them her suit's data and letting them know she's a friend.

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

A heavy train rolls into town near the station, then diverges onto a separate track before halting. There's a release of explosive bolts as a massive tarpouline whips away from the flatbed cars. Evangelion Unit-02 rises with the assistance of titanic hydraulics, platforms unfurling as connections are tested between it's umbilicus connected to fusion reactors on another car and it's current iron womb.

There's another detonation, as a rifle like weapon detonates into the sky, the four green eyes of the Evangelion not even turning as its left hand reaches out to seize it. Its right then does the same for a crossbow that detonates out of the box.

Each arm holding a separate weapon, the pilot breathing comfortably within the confines of its amniotic fluid, "<I'll be taking point.>" A bayonet shnicks out of the rifle, unfolding like a translucent violet switchblade. "<Think you can keep up with me you Catty Four Eyes?>" A crossbow hums into life with sparking electric limbs, "<You better. Don't think I won't leave you in my dust today if you can't match my pace.>"

Off the train and down the streets of Tsutsujidai at a sudden rapid gait she follows the path of destruction, it's not hard to see the source of the green beams, but it's not Mari who may have trouble matching Asuka's pace today. Asuka's eyes rapidly try to follow one of the UFOs, until she snaps up the crossbow and fires a bolt, "GOT YOU!"

It sparks out of existence, then immediately returns back to life. Moments later she sees a shot from across town take out another - and it reform. "Oh so that's how it's going to be." Hearing a familiar voice though over the radio, Asuka actually responds to Rikka for once without snapping at her??? "<Try to pin them down maybe. Knock them out of the sky, incapacitate them without destroying them.>"

... is she actually cooperating for once??? With the Gridman Alliance???

"<That tank of yours can manage that much right?>"

<Pose Tracker> Riku Asakura has posed.

Riku was told by Anti that he had plans, and to trust him because Anti was in turn trusting Riku. He also knows that Anti has no plans to stop trying to kill Gridman. One might think that it's a conflict of interest to be friends with both Yuta, while also trying to help Anti...but it's not really. All Riku, in his mind, has to do is stop Anti when he tries until the change that has started in him started to sink in harder. Alexis had wanted this to stop, wanted their fights to be interrupted...but Riku has an idea of why he wanted this.

So one might think that Riku would be on edge, on constant standby? Nope. He isn't so tense and is instead trying to make dinner when all of this happens. It's uh...going about as well as Anti's attempts to kill Gridman. With a sigh, Riku dumps the pot into the sink and looks at the cabinet full of cup noodles. "Well...I'm getting slightly better.." he says, with a frown. "Maybe I should get cooking lessons.."

This is when a UFO goes right by a window.

Riku is outside in moments, hands on the railing to the apartment to see so many UFOs across the city, and he leaps off the railing and drops straight to the ground in a single action. He starts booking it, trying to get closer on foot. Was this what Anti was planning? Was this Akane? Was it Alexis? He's not sure, but he does know one thing.

The Fusion Z-Raiser manifests in his hand. Two containers sat on his belt. One was for the Ultra Coins, the other was for the Ultra Capsules. The device itself was a fusion of two transformation devices. The handle of the Raiser and the capsule connections, but with the slider of the Z-Raiser with still folded out into its 'fan' formation when the transformation sequence was complete.

"Standing around doing nothing won't get me anywhere!" he says, slowing his pace to a walk. He draws out two capsules first. "You go," he says, sliding a button on it up. Next to him forms Ultraman, which is placed into the Z-Fusion Raiser. "I go," he says this time when the button is flipped up, Ultraman Belial is formed, just like before the capsule is slid into the Raiser.

The final step is that a coin is taken out. The coin with the face of Ultraman Orb on it is slid into a center coin slot. "Here we go!" He pulls the Z-Raiser's activator down. A different voice speaks, probably from the Raiser itself. "Ultraman. Ultraman Belial. Ultraform Orb. Z-Fusion Raise access granted."

He pulls the device to his chest, pulling the trigger on the Raiser. "GEEEEEEEED!" Riku shouts, as on the raiser the Coin is placed at the center of two injectors. The coin spins as the injectors push through first blue light, and then red light. Blue flames start to engulf Riku as the Ultraman transformation starts to activate.

"Ultraman Geed Primitive!" is shouted, as the giant of light grows. When the light dies down, and the form of Ultraman Geed is revealed, it's very much different than what people would be used to. The coloration is silver and red swirled across his body, but his signature eyes remain the same, though still colored blue. The crystal on his chest is a circular ring instead of the standard gem.

Geed breaks into a sprint, diving for the closest UFO and attempting to drag it out of the sky, before aiming to drop kick it. It goes down, satisfyingly.

Until it reforms. Geed makes a confused sound, "What..?"

<Pose Tracker> BC-001 Minae has posed.

        "Logistics online," hums the robot in the Zeta's copilot seat. Her hands don't flick across the navigation console because they don't need to - the advantage of a direct network link to the Myrmekes Zeta. Instead, Arriety's heads-up display starts to fill with targeting information - the patterns of the first UFO's strikes, the timing of the sonic waves from the second, a hastily annotated map of Tsutsujidai to help pinpoint the least populated areas to try to corral them towards.

        Her expression wavers as she watches the display and the way in which Arriety's attack ultimately seems to just slide off of her target instead, dutifully marking the blip with a ??? for good measure. "It's as if we're not here. Is it because we came from outside?" she wonders, half to herself and half to Arriety. For Minae, something about Tsutsujidai prickles at her senses in a way the robot can't identify. She's wondered before about the will behind the closed-off space, but-- whatever that was, it was content to let the district be a sleepy, quiet place. Even the kaiju, quiet and dormant, seemed to exist in line with it. This feels more like an invasion.

        She takes a tiny moment to review who might be present, and for once Minae finds herself lightly chewing her lip. She hesitated to meet back up with GGG at first, both to reassure Arriety that she wasn't going to just up and rejoin them out of the blue but also because she couldn't help feeling a certain level of guilt at the way she responded to their exile by... going and finding herself, and then going and finding a family too. She knows that's not her fault, nor anyone else's, but she also knows that feelings don't work that way.

        The point is, once upon a time she wouldn't have even imagined fighting alongside some of the people here, and it's still kind of a leap for the Minae of today given that the last thing she did was show up to Orbit Base to have a catch up on a missing nine years. It takes her a moment to turn on the radio. "Rena, connection coming your way! GGG units-- ah, this is BC-001 Minae offering a direct link for tactical data."

<Pose Tracker> Nidaime has posed.

EARLIER

Nidaime didn't understand Guy was just being dramatic. "Well he didn't give us a time but... it's happening!" She smiles bigly at Guy who gave her a burger and thus is a true hero. "Eheh... I'll do my best." She couldn't convince Anopapa to come this time...

NOW

Nidaime has shared what she could share to the Shuffle Alliance in advance of the attack but it isn't as if Anti gave a time and date. Nevertheless, they've been warned. That's what Nidaime can do. Anti seemed confidenet in what he was doing and Nidaime was running low on ideas and options. The longer the portals remained open to Tsutsujidai, the more likely An Event was likely to happen. And An Event is BAD NEWS.

Nidaime is strapped into the StealthGao on the GaoFighGar's back. She says, "Don't worry..." Nidaime says confidently. "Auntie Sayla taught me all about the seatbelts. There was this one time I undid it because I was uncomfortable and she stopped the car and ahhhh~~ It's so embarrassing!" She places her hands on her cheeks and wiggles her head from side to side. "But so warm...!"

She lets that hang for a moment before she eases back and adds, "He didn't say much about his plan but if this can help Akane see the truth, all we have to do is fight he said o/~."

She does fret a little bit though. "But if anything happens to Akane..."

She trails off rather than say what would happen because it's too terrible to think of.

Still, these kaiju seem tricky. Even when destroyed they simply respawn.

"That's weird... Kaiju usually are destroyed when they're destroyed. Something might be up, Guy."

She's on Team Anti! But it's okay. She's just SUBBING today. Watch out everybody she subbing!

Yes her headphones are in. And they are playing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbsJv9wX8tk&ab_channel=Ares on loop. That's what Nidaime's mom has to say about the situation.

It's kind of spooky, Nidaime thinks.

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

        EIGHT MINUTES AGO

        An armored supply train thunders down the tracks leading to Tokyo from Tokyo-3. Its cargo is classified, but definitely a Mobile Suit of some sort; its passengers are NERV personnel headed to NISAR under additional security. Liam is one of them. He's headed to NISAR, too, and he knows what the classified cargo is. Gai finally convinced him to let NISAR take a look at his machine, despite his misgivings about Hayato Jin. Anxiety twists his guts--about Hayato, about being attacked, about being in a train.

        But he's so, so sleepy. Why? Is it--

        FIVE MINUTES AGO

        Liam awakens with a start, limbs twitching as he shakes off his grogginess. The stomach-churning anxiety returns in full force as he peers around and sees empty seats. He reaches up and slides a reinforced panel to the side; his eyes widen as he sees a perfectly ordinary civilian train station, and signage that reads "Tsutsujidai".

        A high whine echoes through the air, followed by the distant rumble of an explosion. Liam's face contorts in a look halfway between terror and rage, and he leaps from his seat. He sprints for the secure car; his passkeys will open it.

        NOW

        A streak of white-hot heat rises into the air from one of the district's train stations. The Proto Helios arcs high above the city, all blued steel and bright gold; a blazing thermal sheen surrounds it, and the plasma boiling from its jets leaves visible heat-haze with its passing. In its cockpit, Liam stands, all tension as he looks at the screens.

        "Pilot Seven-Dash-Zero-Two-Zero speaking," he says, his voice hollow. "Engaging hostiles."

        The Proto Helios falls out of the sky, burning its jets hard to mitigate its descent--it twists in mid-air as the UFO with the EM weaponry passes underneath, flowing into a rolling axe kick. No sooner has it touched down on the pavement than Liam responds in a more... human manner. "Langley? Chief Shishioh?!" On one hand, this means he's not alone, but on the other hand, this means the creepy parallel dimension ate them, too. And a city is... not an ideal battleground for the Proto Helios.

<Pose Tracker> Renais Cardiff has posed.

        Renais Cardiff is ready for this. She has been for the better part of a week.

        Anti had gotten a message through to the Shuffle Alliance, the same as he had to others--be ready for a fight. He has a plan in place... and she's not standing idly by. When the time comes, she crosses the wall between worlds in a municipal train car...

        And an M9 Gernsback, trimmed in violet, emerges into the streets, flickering into being like a glitchy video signal resolving itself. Renais is strapped into the cockpit, clad not in a cooling coat but the bodysuit underneath, with thick tubing running from her shoulders into the walls, hooking her into the Gernsback's highly-efficient cooling system.

        She scans the skyline, keying her radio as others manifest. "Renais Cardiff, deploying!" she calls out as she sets up her IFF--an independent unit, but friendly. Her voice is familiar--and probably not pleasantly so--to many of the combatants. The last time she was here... the last time she saw this city from atop the shoulders of a giant... she was a different person.

        Spotting one of the UFOs near her, she grasps the M9's shotcannon and pulls it from its rack, emptying three shells neatly into--and through--one of them. She curses under her breath. "Keep shooting. If they're busy regenerating, they're not wrecking the town! Keep an eye out for anything unusual"

        A grin comes to her lips as she sees--*hears*, really--GaoFighGar's fist streaking across the sky nearby. "Hmh. Refreshing to hear that as an *ally* this time, Shishioh."

<Pose Tracker> Sho Utsumi has posed.

Sho Utsumi is not in the Phormocannon. He almost got in, but his resolve isn't quite there. The revelation about Akane hurt, and he's still at odds about his leadership. But he believes in his friends, so he wasn't sitting this out.

He's stationed at the Junk computer housing Gridman, inside the Synchrotank. "Alright...Gridman Alliance, it's showtime!" He says, not quite fullheartedly, as he analyzes the data coming on a monitor.

"A regenerator-type? No...it's being completely destroyed and returning. Temporal rewind? But they're not rewinding...Gridman! Do your best...I've got your back."

<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.

"Access Flash!"

As Gridman squares off with the strange UFO, Yuta's thoughts race. Akane promised him she'd call before sending another kaiju to attack -- and yet here this thing was! Had Akane just lied? The world spins as Gridman moves into a graceful, acrobatic kick -- seemingly destroying the UFO shooting green beams. It reppears instantly, of course.

"Focus, Yuta!" Gridman chastises, gently. "Right!" Worrying over Akane will have to come later. Tsutsujidai was in danger! Thank goodness so many of their friends had come to help. "Thanks, Utsumi!"

Just as the UFO fires another shot, Gridman ducks beneath it. Maybe attacking from beneath was the answer? "Gridlight Saber Slash!"

The blade of light slices up into the center of the UFO, and once more, it vanishes, only to return a heartbeat later. "This isn't working!"

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

All seems to be going according to plan: as expected, a kaiju has appeared in Tsutsujidai... everything seems to lead back to this city lately. Even if it's a mirage city of sorts... Alouette still wants to do her part to protect it. For Rikka and the Gridman Alliance, for all of the people living in Tsutsujidai. And for Akane. She has always been more attuned to the programming work in 3G, but this time, she is taking on a role new to her; deploying alongside the 3G mobile force.

As Guy makes his dramatic entrance in her pet project, GaoFighGar, Alouette smiles a touch, and then prepares to deploy herself, in a simpler Long Dagger Fortrestra which appears miniscule next to Guy's super robot. She will mainly be providing backup today. The fighting has already started, and as it seems, this will not be a simple fight - even the most powerful attacks are rendered completely ineffective as the UFO-shaped kaiju continuously regenerate and and continue their assault on the city. Is this truly Akane's doing...?

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

What's the difference between a kaiju heart and a human heart?

Mari Makinami Illustrious sits on an indistinct rooftop in Tokyo-3, across the street from a similarly unremarkable hospital; the warm breeze of summer feels nice on her cheeks as she watches the skyline, bespectacled gaze pointed in a very specific direction. Her fingers tap on something that looks like it might be a music player -- or might have been, but now is more of a work in progress.

Blue eyes shut. Nostrils flare, as she takes in the scent of the summer air.

"Okay," she decides as she stands up, hands on her hips and a smile on her lips.

"It's go time! Let's see what you're made of, kitten~."

                        ---

Tsutsujidai is a location of intense interest for the agents of NERV, for many reasons. Perhaps most pressing and recent of which being the most recent attack of a kaiju on Tokyo-3 -- or even the fact that certain elements of the city were now chief suspects in the attempted assassination of one Kaworu Nagisa. To say that the strange city was under heavy scrutiny now would be an understatement.

But there's one who's been keeping watch for reasons entirely her own.

It might be surprising that Mari Makinami is already activating her plugsuit, vacuum-sealing it with a relishing sigh by the time the orders to mobilize; but then, isn't that just the way it is?

If pressed about it, her answer is a simple one:

"Intuition, of course!"

                        ---

Ineffably and suspiciously prepared though she might be, that doesn't mean even Mari can't be surprised. Take, for example:

The pale-haired boy currently riding figurative side-saddle in her entry plug.

The news had been met with a blink. And then a smile. "The more the merrier!" she had proclaimed. And, indeed, as the train rolls out to push into the mysterious depths of Tsutsujidai as it had done once more, Mari seems to take the presence of her particular partner today very well in stride. Her eyes shut. She scents the LCL, with a satisfied sigh and a, "Evas with other people's scents still aren't half bad~." And with that,

        o/` "It might just be a silly little game,
     or a white lie to you~
     But those memories
     make my heart ache..." o/`

She falls into her normal routine.

It's a song that is, at least for now, a short-lived one. As the cityscape of Tsutsujidai unfurls before them with the hissing opening of the train doors, and the UFOs are revealed before them, Mari's brows climb.

"Oho," she exhales. Evangelion Unit-04's power cable unfurls as it grabs two assault rifles from the train's personalized weapon loadout.

"<I will do my best to follow your inspiring lead, my princess!>" Mari announces. On loudspeaker. With bubbly affection.

Within, though...

"Alien invasion, or something stranger...?!" muses Mari, tapping her chin.

Blue eyes glance Kaworu's way, on the sly.

"What do you think, partner?"

<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.

        Sayla's movements have been subtle, after Nidaime and Riku sent Anti's warning. She's ben busily in Tsutsujidai, certainly, but her meddling has been oriented in spaces away from the Alliance and Akane directly.

        he goal was to be in position when whatever happened happened, and able to act. That meant bringing in the Saint Lance early was far too risky. When the time came to move out, she took the second cockpit of the Synchrotank- and this time she'd made sure the facility to swap controls was ready in advance.

        Utsumi's voice of command is unconfident. That's not fine, but it's part of why she's here. To provide experience to cover their gaps.

        For now though, she manages the comms array. "<Pilot Sheder, your assistance is acknowledged.>" The voice is modulated, but the tone is definitely not Rikka's. And then Asuka's message comes through. "...Her suggestion is tactically sound. Trying to lock it down with the Synchrotank's additional weapons would be the recommended approach. Does that work with your assessment, Utsumi?"

        For some reason, it feels a bit like being on the White Base again- but this time Sayla's the old hand Captain Cassius was. It's an unpleasant feeling. She'll take charge if need be, she'll support them as best they can.

        "<Message received and acknowledged.>" She replies to Asuka, voice distorted again. "<I'll relay new tactical data as it comes.>" ...That's *definitely* not Rikka.

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        It may not be wise for Kaworu to sortie so soon after being discharged from the hospital. But Tsutsujidai is a matter of high concern for him, and besides which--he's already undergone several tests, including into the field, where he launched with another pilot in their Evangelion. After all, his laidback, accepting personality seems to make him supremely good at synchronizing with just about any Evangelion--and launches with Zoia and Rei have shown that still applies if he's riding along in the entry plug with someone else at the controls.
        
        With Zoia having been transferred back to NERV Zaftra after the attempted assassination, it's only natural that he be paired up with a different pilot to resume these tests. And who better than with Mari Makinami Illustrious, another pilot known for being friendly and willing to roll with about anything?
        
        There really are a lot of reasons why Kaworu shouldn't do this. But this isn't something he can or should look away from.
        
        And so it comes to pass that Kaworu Nagisa launches with Mari in Unit-04, suited up in his silver-ribbed black plug suit marked with an 06. He floats in the LCL beside her, his good left hand resting gently on the back of the entry plug's throne. Next to him, Mari sings a little song. Briefly, Kaworu shuts his eyes and listens, briefly even humming along. He doesn't comment on others' scents.
        
        As the silver Evangelion rises from the train-coffin and retrieves those assault rifles, ready to support Asuka and Unit-02 as they take point, Kaworu gazes out at the UFOs. Sparking, crackling, destroying, being destroyed, and reforming... Yet it doesn't feel like Akane's handiwork. What is this...?
        
        It seems a month is even longer than it feels. In the time while he slept, something here has changed.
        
        There are a wide array of responders, too. Kaworu casts his gaze out towards them. Most units are familiar; some are not. Tsutsujidai has gained quite a bit of focus from quite a few different places, hasn't it... Asuka declares she'll take point and shoots at one of the UFOs, along with many others. It reforms once again.
        
        "Hmmm," he murmurs at Mari's enthused question. Then he smiles over at her, eyes squinting congenially shut. "Certainly something stranger," he concludes.

<Pose Tracker> Anti has posed.

        Arriety's pinkish beam envelops that pleasant green UFO -- and obligingly, it explodes; a plume of smoke, all tinged with the orange of flame. It is destroyed. And yet, that green disc lowers down, slowly, slowly, CRACKLE -- and there, the UFO floats again.

        Guy's Broken Right Arm of Destruction crashes through a gilla-green-cored UFO, and it shatters into a million disparate pieces (of metal, not coins, as much as it really feels like this UFO has that kind of vibe). The pieces fade; the disc hangs in the air -- crackle, CRASH, and the UFO comes back into existence.

        Riika's rail-cannons fire through the sonic UFO; Rikka's vulcan fire sparks and explodes the consumptive UFO. Asuka's crossbow pierces through. Liam strikes out with an axe kick -- Renais opts for a shotcannon; both are entirely effective.

        Thanks to the Protect Wall and to the thoughtfulness of the defender's assaults, the city is shielded from these terrible explosions -- but again, again, the UFOs are destroyed, the UFOs reform.

        And everyone gathers together.

        One last time, with heroic effort, the UFOs are destroyed -- Ultraman Geed drags one down with a drop-kick, and it spins as it shatters down on the open street. (A place with no cars, of course. Tsutsujidai isn't a very crowded district.) Meanwhile, the second UFO faces up to Gridman's Saber Slash -- each part of the UFO slides away from the other, for one exquisite moment, before the whole thing is consumed in a ferocious explosion.

        Now, and not before, the halos shift from green -- to RED. One shade is pale and pinkish; the other, obnoxiously, offensively bright. They start spinning, and the four lower spires suddenly SNAP together, beneath them, as they turn horizontal in the air.

        This time, that bright-cored UFO launches, too, too quickly, to lance past Gridman -- that spike at its tip piercing-tearing, with force and fury which threatens to rip the truth out of him even at a glance. It darts towards Proto Helios, and where it strikes, electricity leaps from its spike to the wound. So, too, does it strike at Rena, lightning charging from its red core and leaping over to her Variable Fighter. It darts away, just as quickly.

        The paler UFO crashes into Ultraman Geed with blinding, burning speed -- only to reverse out of the attack just as quickly, though there's no clear propulsion attached to it. It crashes past Arriety's Myrmekes just as quickly, just as hot to the touch. A heated beam calls down on GaoFighGar, and the lack of power behind it may be, perhaps, a shade nostalgic.

        Their swift, directed movements may better call to mind... a puppet on a string. There's nothing to them, heart and soul -- no purpose to their battle, no feelings, no drive. They act more like weapons than kaiju.

        (Like fin funnels.)

        And they're not finished.

KTS: Anti targets Guy Shishioh with UFO Beam (Low Power)!
KTS: Anti targets Arriety Hearn with UFO Charging Strike!
KTS: Anti targets Riku Asakura with UFO Charging Strike!
KTS: Anti targets Yuta Hibiki with UFO Point Stab!
KTS: Anti targets Liam 7-020 with UFO Electric Burst!
KTS: Anti targets Rena Lancaster with UFO Electric Burst!
KTS: Arriety Hearn has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.

<Pose Tracker> Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver has posed.

One of the UFOs orients on Mari and her Evangelion, firing a low-power heat beam; it sweeps to the ZAFT machine and Riika, and a moment later, Alouette's Dagger. Darting away, it seeks its next targets.

Synchrotank gets special attention immediately; the UFO's midsection begins to heat up to impossible temperatures, two of the points orienting in a V-like shape. Out of each of those 'horns' issues a much more powerful heat beam -- one which threatens to leave the small Guntank armorless practically from the start.

The UFOs converge at the midpoint between Renais's Gernsback and Asuka's Evangelion. They each point outward, orienting carefully. One of them begins to spin; it's not a drill, though, and it doesn't use one of those pointed tips. Rather, it begins to spin along its central axis, picking up speed. Eventually, it drives directly for Renais's Gernsback.

The other, meanwhile, streaks to Asuka before it lets out a pulse of electricity with some force behind it.

---

Akane pulls out her phone. Will texting Yuta even work...? She does owe him the attempt, at least. At worst it'll get there after the fight -- assuming Anti's kaiju doesn't...

... why is she feeling so territorial about this? Anti was made to solve this problem -- and now that he's taking a new step in solving it, she's *upset*? Nonsense behavior.

Regardless, she snaps off a text:

'Not one of mine. Good luck, Mr. Gridman!'

Akane pulls out her tablet and gets her drone moving. She needs to figure out what this kaiju even is.

... The UFOs are clever, at least. The thought of a regenerating kaiju reminds her of Anti -- no wonder he'd start there. The first ways we express ourselves, after all, are expressing *ourselves*.

But... that's not all there is to it, is there?

KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver targets Riika Sheder with UFO Beam (Low Power)!
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver targets Mari Makinami Illustrious with UFO Beam (Low Power)!
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver targets Alouette Pommier with UFO Beam (Low Power)!
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver targets Rikka Takarada with UFO Heat Break!
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with UFO Electric Pulse!
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver targets Renais Cardiff with UFO Magnum!
KTS: Rena Lancaster fails to evade Anti's UFO Electric Burst, taking 2560 damage!
KTS: Anti repulses Rena Lancaster, forcing her to disengage.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has activated the Focus Spirit Command.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
KTS: Yuta Hibiki successfully evades Anti's UFO Point Stab
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley successfully Evades Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver's UFO Electric Pulse
You're not in that channel.

KTS: Arriety Hearn fails to evade Anti's UFO Charging Strike, taking 2400 damage!
KTS: Rikka Takarada fails to evade Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver's UFO Heat Break, taking 5115 damage!
KTS: Riika Sheder successfully Evades Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver's UFO Beam (Low Power)
KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious fails to evade Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver's UFO Beam (Low Power), taking 2880 damage!
KTS: Alouette Pommier has activated the Trust Spirit Command.
KTS: Liam 7-020 charges into the attack!
KTS: Liam 7-020 successfully avoids Anti's UFO Electric Burst
KTS: Renais Cardiff has activated the Alert Spirit Command.
KTS: Alouette Pommier has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Liam 7-020 has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
KTS: Alouette Pommier fails to evade Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver's UFO Beam (Low Power), taking 3200 damage!
KTS: Riku Asakura fails to charge.
KTS: Riku Asakura successfully avoids Anti's UFO Charging Strike
KTS: Renais Cardiff successfully evades Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver's UFO Magnum
KTS: Riku Asakura has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
KTS: Guy Shishioh's EN Barrier activates, negating 1000 base damage.
KTS: Guy Shishioh blocks Anti's UFO Beam (Low Power), taking 660 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.

"I'm not sure," Rena admits to Arriety. "This... this isn't normal. UFOs don't really do this?"

She frowns, a little tense. Anti told her about Akane Shinjo; she hasn't had a chance to bring it up with Arriety, yet. She isn't sure how to -- the words sound absurd to her. She wonders, for a moment, if she should have. She frowns, then her hands tighten around the controls. Then, her eyes widen, when she hears Riika's voice.

"I read you," she says. "I'm glad you're with us! And--" She sees the Broken Phantom soar by. Her eyes widen. "Mister Shishioh...! Miss Cardiff!" She smiles. "You're--you're back, aren't you?"

She swallows, trying to keep herself on task. "I read you, Minae. Looks like we have an Ultraman and Evangelion units inbound, too."

The UFO launches into their midst. Lightning arcs off it -- and strikes the orange-and-white variable fighter. The screens all flicker with static; alarms whine and sound inside the cockpit, before they adjust to the damage. The GERWALK-mode fighter does a tight turn in midair, feet thrusters firing to move it and spin it around, before it levels the gatling gunpod for the bright-cored UFO.

Rena pulls the trigger; the Prophecy does the same. Rounds erupt from the gatling barrels inside, raining down at the UFO.

"This one... it's not like other kaiju!"

KTS: Rena Lancaster targets Anti with GU-17A Gatling Gun Pod!

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

"Yeah," Guy mutters in agreement with Nidaime, watching a clobbered UFO simply pop itself back into being. "Order Room, what's your take?"

Intelligence Operator Yamaji grunts, stretching his back a little before saying, "That's not regeneration...no, don't think it's temporal, either...resupply from a dimensional fold...?"

"Detecting neither spacetime nor biological activity spikes it just sort of happens!!" today's Research Operator, Tamara Gogol, rattles off.

Yamaji scratches his head a few seconds, then hits his mic. "Gonna need more data to be sure, chief, over."

"Understood! We can do that!" Guy declares. "Keep an eye out for me, Nidaime!"

"Liam!" Guy yelps. "You weren't on standby for this! Be careful, we're not sure what these things are up to! I'll route you through the Branch Order Room, we'll centralize comms!"
Similarly; "Renais!? I thought you - you know what, I'm glad to see you! Be careful, we're still figuring this out!" ... "It's good to have you here," he adds.

Through Fusion with GaoFighGar and his Superhuman Evoluder senses, he sees Alouette's Long Dagger Fortrestra scoot past, moving from Operator to Pilot. He's not entirely sure how he feels about that - but it does mean she's his responsibility, as the Mobile Division Captain on-scene. "This is a heck of a battlefield for a debut...but I guess that's how we always do it. Keep your eyes peeled, Alouette."

Meanwhile, from Wadatsumi: "Signal Acknowledged, Minae!" chimes Hana Hatsuno, who gives a little wave. "Hi! Wow, it's been--uhm, oh, sorry! Uhhh..." With quick fingers she grabs several communication lines and threads them together, announcing on a wide-area laser broadcast: "This is Division Ship X: Mobile Execution Fortress Wadatsumi! We're equipped for communications centralization! Orient laser communications on us for general relay!"

And meanwhile, finally, on the streets, Guy watches those UFOs open fire. "What are those," he mutters. "They look like individual ships, but they're not behaving like it at all!"

Seeing one orient at him with blasting intent, he raises his left arm, calling, "PROTECT WAAAAAAAALL!" again. The Program Ring and Protect Hand unite to sharply bend space, and when the heated beam slams into that warped zone, it twists and warps, its firing path reoriented over and over within the warped space until it all but fizzles out.

"HAH!" Guy roars, and releases the Protect Wall, sending the accumulated energy firing back into the sky.

KTS: Guy Shishioh targets Anti with Protect Wall Reflect!

<Pose Tracker> Arriety Hearn has posed.

        The GGG are here too... Arriety does pause to think about Minae for a second as she puts out the call, but then focuses on her subpilot for a moment. "No, I think... there's some trick to it..." she murmurs, with a pause. The kaiju... "Is there some kind of... mother unit or something? I don't quite understand..."

        She watches the others launch their own attack -- and again and again, the UFO comes back. "There's no end to this. We need a different plan..."

        But then there's an uncomfortable shift as the halos move from green to RED. The paler UFO crashes towards her, and she tries to raise her shield in time and fails; there's a loud grimace as the Zeta's shoved against one side of the building and nearly crashes, but she stabilises in time.

        "Um-- this is Arriety from Londo Bell, providing support as well," Arriety stammers, since other people are piping up on the line. Even a member of ZAFT is here to provide support, when she hears Riika. Tsutsujidai really brings people together in unusual ways, doesn't it?

        The Zeta's arms lift up, and red cylindrical grenades fire as she tries to counter the pale UFO before it gets away. "This doesn't feel like a kaiju, Rena... it feels more like... funnels to a mobile suit... so where's the heart?"

KTS: Arriety Hearn targets Anti with Grenade Launcher!

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

The announcement on loudspeakers from her fellow Eva pilot has her complain back, "<So long as it doesn't inspire you to sing in the middle of a firefight again!>" Before her attention turns to the radio message from Sayla who was not the voice she expected, "<Has the Gridman Alliance been recruiting? Well whatever. Keep me appraised.>"

You see, Asuka genuinely feels a bit bad about the way she's dismissed Rikka in the past. Though a lot of things have conspired to make her feel bad in general right now.

As the UFO streaks towards her, she waits until the last second. "Wait for it. Wait for it." She's noted that most of the time, there's a pause right before they attack. When it stops, "NOW!" -her Evangelion leaps at that exact moment, skirting just over the top of the burst of the electricity in that quick leap that ascends rapidly, cable billowing arcing behind the titan. The bayonet turned and angled downward. As she tries to thrust it into one of the UFOs and- "SEE HOW YOU LIKE IT!"

At the exact moment the Bayonet tries to makes impact, the Eva's massive hand hits the switch in synch with a button press within the cockpit. The electricity floods out of it like a sudden instant bolt of lightning in a silhouette shot, a spear of crackling thunder.

Certainly doing enough damage causes it to be destroyed, but she's being experimental right now, seeing if she can stun it, or overload it in a way that might keep it from returning. Using the Bayonet, and the weight of her Eva, she tries to bear whatever she catches to the ground...

... and if it disappears, tries to track where it reappears.

KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver with GB-012 Foe-Piercer!

<Pose Tracker> Riku Asakura has posed.

Ultraman Geed charges right as the UFO spins at him with terrible destructive force, aiming to try and crash into him. Geed responds with his own kind of engagement, but the speed of the UFO causes it to spin right by, but at the same time, Geed's maneuver prevents it from striking Riku.

This leaves them at an impasse, Geed rising back to his feet to turn towards the speeding UFO. Geed keeps a strange fighting style in this, it's hunched over and loose, though his movements are wild and powerful. It's less refined than Galaxy Raising but has its own savage power. Guy is answered by Geed. "They're like those...dart...weapon things that some mobile suits have."

Riku tries again, this time aiming to rush the UFO and drop on top of it. The kick he launches aims to also try and wedge himself on top of it so he can properly force it to engage in glorious fisticuffs so he can deliver onto it the Sweet Science.

That is to say, Geed's going to kick it and then proceed to wrestling match it alot.

KTS: Riku Asakura targets Anti with Geed Kick!

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Asuka suggests pinning them down. Rikka considers her options. Synchrotank is equipped with a birdlime launcher in the hand vulcans, that might be able to do the trick. Phormocannon would be much more useful for that...

...But, it's a little late to bring it out. Besides - if Utsumi doesn't feel like piloting, she's not going to force him. Synchrotank has room for all of them to be seated comfortably, and him managing Junk means she can focus fully on Synchrotank's controls.

"I'll see what I can do." Rikka replies... with a small 'hmph' appended at Asuka's comment against her tank.

"Good luck out there." Rikka says privately to Yuta, before looking back at Sayla. She's here in Synchrotank again, helping manage the systems. Rikka does appreciate the help - she's always more comfortable with others around her lending a hand.

The UFOs begin their retaliation, then, Synchrotank's readings warning of an intense build-up of heat as one of them fixates on her.

"Incoming...! I'll try to evade it!" Rikka warns. Synchrotank quickly folds back into tank mode and attempts to accelerate out of the way, but The UFO is too fast - the two horns each fire a powerful heat beam, searing and melting away a good portion of Synchrotank's protecting armor. Steam wafts out as some of Synchrotank's water reserves are redirected toward temperature regulation, but the damage has already been done.

"Is everyone alright?" Rikka asks. She points Synchrotank's hands at the UFO, then - this time, though, the fingers fold down, issuing forth a spray of birdlime to try and restrict the drone's movements! She also taps in a couple of quick commands, to send data to some of the units present.

KTS: Rikka Takarada targets Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver with Birdlime Launcher!
KTS: Rikka Takarada rattles Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver, making its next maneuvers more difficult.
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver partially guards Rikka Takarada's Birdlime Launcher, taking 4410 damage!
KTS: Rikka Takarada begins a Formation attack!
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Renais Cardiff
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Alouette Pommier
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley anchors Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver, forcing it into close range.
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver partially guards Asuka Shikinami Langley's GB-012 Foe-Piercer, taking 4464 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver!

<Pose Tracker> Renais Cardiff has posed.

        Renais watches the UFOs move, eyes darting between them--everything about them... they're not moving like independent things, she realizes. Something's controlling them. She's about to call this out when the UFO in front of her starts to spin.

        She snaps to action, slamming the pedals and heaving the AS to the right. The vortex rattles the Gernsback's frame, but it's a clean dodge. Barely. She does a half-turn in the air, squeezing the shotcannon's trigger to send a slug flying right along the orb's trajectory.

        "I'm back," she confirms to Rena, her Gernsback nodding its head. To Guy, she replies a simple, "Don't worry about it. --wait. Did you say Alouette...?" Ugh. There's no time for this!

KTS: Renais Cardiff targets Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver with Boxer 57mm Shotcannon Shotshell!
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver fails to react to Renais Cardiff's Boxer 57mm Shotcannon Shotshell, taking 4920 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Renais Cardiff's Defiance activates, causing Sparkle!
KTS: Anti fails to charge.
KTS: Anti partially guards Rena Lancaster's GU-17A Gatling Gun Pod, taking 1485 damage!
KTS: Anti charges into the attack!
KTS: Anti partially guards Arriety Hearn's Grenade Launcher, taking 4085 damage!
KTS: Anti charges into the attack!
KTS: Anti partially guards Guy Shishioh's Protect Wall Reflect, taking 4440 damage!
KTS: Anti rushes into the attack!
KTS: Anti partially guards Riku Asakura's Geed Kick, taking 2520 damage!
KTS: Riku Asakura has engaged Anti!

<Pose Tracker> Nidaime has posed.

Nidaime's sense of smell has a lot to pick out here which makes it difficult to pick out anyone in particular. She looks around for Anti and has yet to spot him. She hasn't shared her new name for Anti with anyone. She is still holding onto it like the One Ring. It's precious and thus guarded.

"What are you trying to show her...?" She murmurs to herself. Regenerating UFOs? Aliens that can't die?

Alexis Kerib?

Maybe it's a message she can't figure out and it's for Akane alone. A story she is missing context for.

She looks up to the skies.

Two UFOs...siblings? Then that means...

"...Guy..." Nidaime murmurs. "Maybe there's a third hiding that is supporting the 'UFOs'."

"We should try looking for something like that." Nidaime tells Guy. "And if there is, we should try to force it out into the open...!"

This is just a theory of hers, she can't be sure--but if there's a truth that Akane has been hiding that Anti wants to force into the light--

--it'd be something like that wouldn't it?

KTS: Nidaime has activated the Rouse Spirit Command targeting Guy Shishioh
KTS: Nidaime targets Guy Shishioh with Awe!

<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.

Riika doesn't know the usual pilot of Synchrotank, and so she takes a new one in stride. "<Understood,>" she sends right back, because she sounds official and/or military. Which is fine, she's one too, but...

...it feels weird to be talking with someone who might be Federation. Though in that thing, who knows? She could be retired, independent, or Zeonic or something.

Riika gives Rena a radio click of acknowledgement and debates sending one to Asuka. Will it cause more trouble? Will it not? Eventually she settles on coordination over ignorance: "<Riika here,>" she sends, to Unit-02. "<I know you don't really want to fight with me, but I'll back you up - I'm all heavy weapons over here.>"

And she's going to need them. When they were glowing green, they weren't much of a threat to her - they attacked the city but she could keep ahead of them. Now that they're red, all bets seem to be off; a heat beam lancing out towards the GuAIZ.

Riika pulls up sharply, then leaps off the subflight unit. The GuAIZ's own thrusters keep it up for a few seconds as the beam passes through about halfway between MS and lifter, sweeping on toward Alouette just in time for Riika to re-land on the thing, crouching slightly as it wobbles under the GuAIZ's weight.

Still unsure of how long she'll have to operate without a resupply, Riika fires the hip-mounted railguns again, a quick shot as the UFO passes by. "..." Geed's right. It feels like a weapon. Kaiju... in her experience, they're not quite the same.

And where there's two, there could be more. As she fires, Riika sweeps around her lifter in an arc, alert for a third or fourth coming in from the side or above; it would be just her luck if there was a whole swarm of them waiting in the wings.

KTS: Riika Sheder targets Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver with MMI-M15 Xiphias Rail Cannon Shot!
KTS: Nidaime inspires awe, increasing Guy Shishioh's Morale!

<Pose Tracker> BC-001 Minae has posed.

        The strange crafts don't just soak up Arriety's attack; Minae watches as they endure punishment after punishment and are recreated each and every time. Immediately her senses are on alert; she watches more closely, tracking everything she can think of - infrared, any visual indicators or links back to some kind of mothership that might be supplying energy, their movements - anything to try to pin down how they might be recovering so quickly.

        So she's already in place to give an urgent warning of "Incoming!" the moment they shift to red, anticipating the sudden assault - but not expecting the sheer maneuverability of the UFO as it suddenly pinballs between several targets and rattles the Myrmekes' frame. The movement is sharp and precise in a way she's innately familiar with. It's been some time since she used her own funnel weapon system, but between her own piloting style and the observations she's taken from others using them, it's not hard to pick out the nature of their opponents - and from that, the fact that something else must be pulling their strings.

        "I see them," she replies to Rena as a little Minae graphic clambers up onto the bottom of Rena's display closely followed by the rest of the payload of data she's sent across, extra information layering on top of what's already there. "But don't ask me how you start to say 'hello' to an Evangelion, let alone if you're a computer. I think you're both right," she adds urgently to both of the Kakapos present, giving Arriety a nod of support for good measure. "But I can't see anything to pinpoint it on my end. However they're connecting back, it's not something I can pick up. At least, not yet. But I'm keeping my eyes out."

        She hesitates again at the voice over the radio, then folds into a quiet smile. "It's been too long. Ah," she adds as the communication ship begins enabling her in earnest. The last place she expected to get high-speed fibre was in Tsutsujidai, but the robot isn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. "Uploading to you now!"

<Pose Tracker> Sho Utsumi has posed.

Sayla's here. That's both reassuring and intimidating. "It might work...problem is-"

As he's speaking, they change glow and start attacking! The Synchrotank rattles, and Sho maintains stability barely. "The problem is we don't know everything it's capable of! It's fast and can spear...a threat for our melee-ranged allies. Who do we have with strong armor? -Of course!"

Sho grabs the comms to talk to Yuta and Gridman. "Gridman! Are you capable of grappling the kaiju without destroying it? I've got some data on its speeds and patterns, use whatever weapons you can! You can do this!"

KTS: BC-001 Minae has activated the Resupply Spirit Command targeting Arriety Hearn
KTS: BC-001 Minae has activated the Resupply Spirit Command targeting Rena Lancaster
KTS: Sho Utsumi targets Yuta Hibiki with Sparkle!
KTS: Sho Utsumi has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Yuta Hibiki
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver blocks Riika Sheder's MMI-M15 Xiphias Rail Cannon Shot, taking 2590 damage!
KTS: BC-001 Minae targets Arriety Hearn, Rena Lancaster, and Liam 7-020 with Awe.
KTS: Sho Utsumi sparkles, reducing Yuta Hibiki's incoming damage!
KTS: BC-001 Minae inspires awe, increasing Arriety Hearn's Morale!

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

        Liam blinks as the UFOs change color, a motion that isn't mirrored by the transparent heat shields protecting his eyes. Those are firmly locked in place, as are the coolant cables trailing from his neck. "This place had its own plan," Liam says, a sour note creeping into his otherwise empty voice. "Patch me through."

        The UFO remains stubbornly resilient. Liam bares teeth as it reforms; a hit of dopamine-adrenaline cocktail flows through him, stimulated by a successful hit, but it's still up. Electricity sizzles through the air in a violent discharge. There's more than enough power there to stress the systems. Liam's eyes narrow as he remembers his fight with those spider-drones...

        He charges. The Proto Helios' corona flickers, and a bright electromagnetic sphere ignites around it--its own plasma-control systems, used defensively. The bolt goes wide, repelled away from what should have been a direct hit. It slams into a lamp pole instead, blowing out the lightpanels with a POP POP POP.

        'They're like those...dart...weapon things that some mobile suits have.'

        "...INCOMs?" Liam says, to the mysterious 'Ultraman A'. "Mobile sub-weapons. Fin Funnels? Those require close-range support from a master unit." But where is it? "Camouflaged?" But wherever or whatever it is, they can't let these things do what they please.

        Cannons on the Proto Helios' torso iris open. A crosshairs displays over Liam's right eye, and he lines it with the drone; the Proto Helios twists back and around, bracing itself to provide a stable firing platform. A moment later, bright bolts of plasma sear through the sky, towards the electrical UFO.

        The fact that Alouette is here makes his stomach clench. Isn't she a programmer? A moment later, her GAT-01 lights up brilliantly on Liam's display. Best to keep an eye out.

KTS: Liam 7-020 targets Anti with FACULA - Plasma Shot!

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

"<Ah, how cruel! I can't help but express the passions you make surge forth unbidden from my heart, your highness~!>"

Hopping buoyantly from its open hatch in the train, Evangelion Unit-04 lands in a crouch on the city streets, its power cord unfurling like the snapping ripple of a snake behind it and assault rifles ratcheted at its back.

Within its entry plug, Mari watches as many of the plethora of others brought here today attack those bizarre UFOs. Fast but fragile, they explode with barely any effort when actually caught...

... only to reform as if it were just casually hitting an undo button a second later with the shimmer of that green disc. Gridman attacks.

And the would-be UFOs suddenly shift colors from greens to reds.

"Stranger, then," Mari obligingly concedes, in the seconds before one of the pair turns upon Unit-04.

"Whoopsie--"

It fires. Unit-04 lunges -- but it's too late to avoid reprisal. It's fortunate at least that the beam is not particularly potent: heat scorches along the stretch of the polished silver-white platings of Unit-04's spine, leaving blackened marks. Mari feels the heat riding along her back, gasping out a brief "cheeky!" as she shunts the controls of her Evangelion -forward- further still.

"Hang on, partner, we're riding rough!" she calls out -- and, as promised, the Eva lands in a rocky tumble across the streets beneath it before springing forward, rocking the entirety of its frame as it lands.

Little, faint bubbles rising from her back within the translucent depths of LCL, Mari doesn't yet press an assault. Instead, she watches the way those UFOs move, head tilting faintly to the right as she considers.

"You see it," she exhales in the privacy of her plug, "don't you, Tabby Cat?"

It's phrased like a question. But ultimately, it is rhetorical. After all...

"There's no soul."

... even kaiju have a heart.

She waits, though. And waits. And when Asuka attacks with her Bayonet --

Mari, as promised, follows her lead, trying to capitalize on the Second Child's hopefully debilitating strike to tackle into the funnel-like weapon and -grip- it to try to make -sure- it can't leave. If nothing else...

... maybe she can get a better feel for what she's dealing with, the direct way.

KTS: BC-001 Minae inspires awe, increasing Liam 7-020's Morale!
KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious targets Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver with EVA-04 Unarmed Combat Charging Strike!
KTS: BC-001 Minae inspires awe, increasing Rena Lancaster's Morale!
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver fails to rush.
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver successfully avoids Mari Makinami Illustrious's EVA-04 Unarmed Combat Charging Strike

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

These kaiju move especially fast, it is so unlike the typical behaviour of the Tsutsujidai kaiju she has learned about, known to flatten their way through cities without any regard. Their attacks here seem coordinated and calculated. Alouette's Long Dagger has sustains some damage, but Alouette has calculated that it still has plenty of fight left in it.

"Chief! I'm sorry for the trouble, I cannot sit out of this one!" She calls out. Her unusually reckless actions here must be confusing. "But don't worry... I will fall back and provide support if it gets dangerous." At her core, Alouette still prefers to fight smart, after all.

After the rush of the attack fades, Alouette takes the time to examine her surroundings. Renais is here... Alouette really hopes her unexpected presence doesn't worry her too much. She also recognizes Rikka's Synchrotank and Liam's prototype Helios on the city battleground. Aside from those she is personally familiar with, there is an all-star cast of pilots defending Tsutsujidai today... struggling all the same against these seemingly invincible kaiju.$r$Regardless, Alouette prepares to counterattack - the kaiju must have a weakness, and the more different attacks target them, the quicker it can be uncovered.
BBSYS: Post 107, 'The Plan Commences' has been published to Cutscenes & Logs by Hayato Jin.

<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.

While the UFO reforms, a text message arrives. Yuta doesn't bother thinking about why or how he can read it -- the contents are too important. "Guys, Akane says this isn't one of hers! And, well, she says good luck."

No more thought can be spared for Akane's message. Gridman lunges to the side, avoiding the UFO's new attack -- but the Synchrotank isn't so lucky. "Utsumi! Rikka!" Yuta cries, looking back at the little tank housing his friends. It seems like they're fine for now, but... "Please be careful!"

Gridman's voice comes through, next. "Thank you, Utsumi. We'll do our best!"

Turning back to face his enemy, Gridman holds a combat stance. He waits for the UFO to hold still just enough, and... "There! I'll try to hold it still! Hyper Punch!"

KTS: Yuta Hibiki targets Anti with Hyper Punch!
KTS: Alouette Pommier targets Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver with ES01 Beam Saber Combo!
KTS: You have not deployed a robot. (see +deploy)
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver fails to react to Alouette Pommier's ES01 Beam Saber Combo, taking 5640 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Alouette Pommier's Analyst activates, causing Designate L1!
KTS: Alouette Pommier has engaged Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver!

<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.

        The Synchrotank takes a hit, and the cockpits rattle. "I'm fine." Sayla responds. Utsumi's analyzing, good. But it means he can't command as well. A lesson for later. This an MS- allegedly- not a ship. "Evasive maneuvers are risky against an enemy this fast, using the shovels as shields might be a better option." Sayla's voice is calm as she advises- but doesn't order.

        Laser comm channels flick open: "<Pilot Sheder,>" comes the synth voice. "<If you're taking a heavy weapons position, strong cover at at five o'clock.>" ZAFT are not rookies, generally, but Sayla has time to read the field.

        And then a second comms link up. This voice is not modulated. "<Guy. I know Nidaime's in there. I know she wants to help. But she had better be safe when you try your inevitable GGG bullshit. Understood?>" There's some heartsore from a relevant conversation lately. But only those in the cockpits- including the NGJHS presumably- hear it apart from Guy.

        One more. "<Renais. We're counting on you. Do what you do best, and make it through the other side of this. Understood?>"

        ....She forgot how helpless being comms officer could be.

KTS: Sayla Mass targets Guy Shishioh, Rikka Takarada, and Riika Sheder with Caution.
KTS: Sayla Mass has activated the Rouse Spirit Command targeting Renais Cardiff
KTS: Anti rushes into the attack!
KTS: Anti successfully avoids Liam 7-020's FACULA - Plasma Shot
KTS: Anti rushes into the attack!
KTS: Anti partially guards Yuta Hibiki's Hyper Punch, taking 2240 damage!
KTS: Yuta Hibiki has engaged Anti!
KTS: Yuta Hibiki begins a Formation attack!
KTS: Sayla Mass suggests caution, raising Riika Sheder's Intuition!
KTS: Sayla Mass suggests caution, raising Rikka Takarada's Intuition!
KTS: Sayla Mass suggests caution, raising Guy Shishioh's Intuition!
KTS: Alouette Pommier has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Guy Shishioh

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        After sustaining enough destructions--or perhaps simply in response to Gridman's arrival?--the UFOs change both color and tactics. From green to red, from attacking the city to attacking its defenders... But something still feels off about them. These simply aren't the kind of kaiju that Akane would create. There's no heart to them. She has too much pride in her craft to field something like this. They do certainly have a special viciousness for Gridman, though... Kaworu's lips thin in concern, for him and for the others like Guy and Rikka and Liam.
        
        But not Asuka. She can take care of herself.
        
        The heat beam sears in to strike Unit-04; the force of it impacts the Evangelion and sends ripples through the LCL as well as their hearts. Kaworu grips the back of Mari's throne tighter, but otherwise keeps his pain to himself, even as he glances at Mari's back--then Mari herself. The forewarning is appreciated, at least; Kaworu can better steady himself as Unit-04 takes its tumble and then springs forward. "You really are enjoying yourself, aren't you?" But he smiles as he says it. "Don't worry about me. Pilot as your heart pleases."
        
        He goes back to watching the strange crafts. Mari asks her rhetorical question. Kaworu nods once, even before she says it aloud: there's no soul. "Yes," he agrees. "This isn't..." He trails off, and doesn't pick the train of thought up again.
        
        Instead, he transmits to Rikka, "<Yes, we're all right, thank you,>" Kaworu transmits to Rikka. He chuckles then at Guy--in admiration--as he reflects those beams back with his wall, shouting heroically all the while. His spirit never dampens, does it? Watching him, his gaze tracks over to Renais in her unit. "<Renais Cardiff... Are *you* all right?>" At Riika, he makes a thoughtful noise. "<Ah, it's you... So we meet again.>"
        
        Riika probably won't be especially pleased to hear from him, considering the circumstances in which they first/last met, but Renais and Rikka... perhaps his hails, and thus the knowledge that he's all right after nearly getting killed, will help lift their spirits. As for Mari--what better morale boost could there be than to tell her to fight as she pleases?

KTS: Kaworu Nagisa targets Renais Cardiff, Mari Makinami Illustrious, and Rikka Takarada with Awe.
KTS: Kaworu Nagisa inspires awe, increasing Rikka Takarada's Morale!

<Pose Tracker> Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver has posed.

There are many methods to engage the UFOs -- glorious fisticuffs which briefly take Geed on a rodeo, while meanwhile, Gridman manages engage the other in fisticuffs. They're remarkably slippery when they're not being exploded, though, and both of those so-called Vessels of Light will shortly find themselves evaded if they don't finish the job. Likewise, the Proto Helios will find that as easy as it is to destroy the UFOs, they're fast enough that they can evade some shots.

Fire from the Prophecy is much better at exploding the UFO, however briefly. The Zeta's grenades have much the same effect, with a wider shot arc. (Grenades can be hard to aim at such mobile targets -- but Minae's helping!)

But as the defenders notice: these UFOs are strikingly like Fin Funnels. The memories of Callisto's Qubeley Mk. II, filtered through the understanding of --

Well, there's certainly someone absent from this battle, despite his constant needling presence in Tsutsujidai. Someone who always yelled 'ME AGAIN!' whenever the frustrations over him showing up again bubbled over --

Maybe it's a coincidence. Maybe nothing is.

Maybe there's a master unit, somewhere closer than they think.

One of the UFOs gets pinned down by the birdlime launchers, just as planned; it slows the device down -- and really, slowing it down is all that's necessary in a situation like this. They're terribly fast, after all. Asuka drives a bayonet into it, pinning it to the ground; it appears destroyed -- but reappears a moment later. Unfortunately, it reappears into the path of one of Renais's shotshells, so who can say?

Orienting toward Riika and her GuAIZ, a UFO takes the shot to the metal rather than the core. While Mari's grip doesn't land true, it does force a movement from one of the UFOs; Alouette closes with the Dagger's beam sabers, pressing it while it's maneuvering out of Unit-04's way. The saber bites through the core -- and it's gone.

And it's back.

The reflected energy from the Protect Wall reverberates, and catches -- SOMETHING -- in the sky, pinging off radar and sensors.

Fin funnels have a source. The strings lead up.

Above, then.

Moving above takes effort -- but those who take the first move set the battlefield, so there isn't that oppressive weight that makes it difficult to climb in Tsutsujidai, under normal circumstances.

Pressing up -- up, toward the source of those strings -- eventually locates it: the true kaiju. The funnels continue to regenerate -- but this is their source.

The true kaiju floats, with wicked claws and a body half silvered grey and half deep gunmetal... not unlike the colour of Anti's DG Cell infestation, both before and after he revealed more of the human infringement on his heart. It is the Melancholy Darkness Kaiju -- DIRIVER -- and it is alien, amongst the kaiju of Tsutsujidai. Its cry is... different.

---

Akane's irritation spikes. Her drone begins to climb -- with none of the difficulty of anyone else's machines -- to get a better look.

The good is good because it is beloved by God, after all.

She looks from puppeteer to puppets to the puppeteer beyond. She brings a (fully fine -- intact, unscarred) hand up to her mouth, chewing at a fingernail a bit as she tries to process. Regenerating puppets... a puppeteer... and the one --

--

designing? the puppeteer?

Akane's head inclines. The yellow light of her room reflects off her glasses, obscuring those sunset-red eyes.

---

The UFO that reappeared a moment ago goes into a controlled spin again, this time streaking for Mari's machine. The other UFO provides... support? for the maneuver, driving a point for Synchrotank. Asuka receives a wide-arrayed heat beam like the one that challenged Synchrotank earlier -- threatening to melt through armor. The other UFO then bolts for Riika and her GuAIZ, emitting a wider, more aggressive electric pulse than the prior.

A single shot rings out from one of those red-cored UFOs toward Renais -- a low-powered heat beam, again. Does it... want Renais's attention? (Surely it can't; this is an empty thing, after all. The will of the kaiju is above.)

It's hot... it's so hot...

Even Tsutsujidai's usual summer swelter has nothing on the heat the UFO brings to bear a moment later. That crackling red interior seems to grow all the brighter, colors distorting in the haze -- the white where it isn't red almost looks orange at spots, and green at others.

It swivels, unnaturally, toward Alouette and her Dagger, as if it had no mass -- simply form.

It slams forward -- and it is indeed a slam, as it puts its full mass into the blow. It feels impossibly hot -- like it's trying to take itself and the Dagger out in a bright conflagration, leaving only stillness.

Hit or miss, it ends up skidding across the pavement -- either because it's bounced off the target eventually, or because it's... well, hit the pavement.

The UFOs -- and their hidden controller(s?) -- continue their assault.

KTS: Kaworu Nagisa inspires awe, increasing Mari Makinami Illustrious's Morale!

<Pose Tracker> Anti has posed.

        The ascent upwards is dogged by that obnoxiously red UFO, electricity blasting outwards, channeled through its spikes and into everyone who would climb upwards. They are being opposed... and there is, perhaps, no better clue that they are on the right path.

        Because, when they get up there...

        Atop Diriver's head -- in just the place Akane stood, on his -- a boy stands, eyes full of anger and purpose, hair tossed in the winds up high. His hands clench, obscured by white gloves, to either side of him. He is a tiny thing, all dwarfed by the giants rising up. Even so, his voice carries.

        "I've been waiting for you, Gridman...!!"

        His eyes turn RED -- bright and all-encompassing -- and that red light blurs past him, blurs through him, reduces him to delineated silhouette. An impression of screaming, a mouth thrown too, too wide --

        The Kaiju Anti appears, beside Diriver -- and appears much larger, because Diriver is horizontal, and he stands tall. His silhouette is a cloak, now, thanks to the jets which have formed from his feet; they fall about the lower half of him, a memory of robes made from plating and claws. The claws on his upper half are no longer black, but a silvery, DG Cell-infected GREY, so much closer in colour to the tubing at his arms and under his chest. The spines at his shoulders flare upwards, in a prominent silhouette; so, too, do the spikes on his head. His visor gleams segmented red, as it always has.

        Sky Anti... he's copying Gridman, isn't he?

        (Oh, to a point.)

KTS: Anti targets Yuta Hibiki with UFO Electric Burst!
KTS: Anti targets Liam 7-020 with UFO Electric Burst!
KTS: Anti targets Riku Asakura with UFO Electric Burst!
KTS: Anti targets Arriety Hearn with UFO Electric Burst!
KTS: Anti targets Rena Lancaster with UFO Electric Burst!
KTS: Anti targets Guy Shishioh with UFO Electric Burst!
KTS: Rena Lancaster has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
KTS: Liam 7-020 rushes into the attack!
KTS: Liam 7-020 partially guards Anti's UFO Electric Burst, taking 2624 damage!
KTS: Anti repulses Liam 7-020, forcing him to disengage.
KTS: Rena Lancaster has activated the Focus Spirit Command.
KTS: Rena Lancaster successfully evades Anti's UFO Electric Burst
KTS: Arriety Hearn blocks Anti's UFO Electric Burst, taking 960 damage!
KTS: Anti repulses Arriety Hearn, forcing her to disengage.
KTS: [Spirit Defense] Renais Cardiff's Spirit Endurance activates, and the spirit endures.
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver has activated the Daunt Spirit Command targeting Renais Cardiff
Anti has moved to Tsutsujidai Skies

KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver has activated the Daunt Spirit Command targeting Alouette Pommier
KTS: [Spirit Defense] Rikka Takarada's Spirit Endurance activates, and the spirit endures.
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver has activated the Daunt Spirit Command targeting Rikka Takarada
KTS: Yuta Hibiki partially guards Anti's UFO Electric Burst, taking 1575 damage!
KTS: Anti repulses Yuta Hibiki, forcing him to disengage.
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver targets Mari Makinami Illustrious with UFO Magnum!
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver targets Rikka Takarada with UFO Point Stab!
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver targets Renais Cardiff with UFO Beam (Low Power)!
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with UFO Heat Break!
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver targets Riika Sheder with UFO Electric Pulse!
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver targets Alouette Pommier with Love And Mercy!
KTS: Riku Asakura rushes into the attack!
KTS: Riku Asakura partially guards Anti's UFO Electric Burst, taking 1575 damage!
KTS: Anti repulses Riku Asakura, forcing him to disengage.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley retreats from the attack!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley successfully evades Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver's UFO Heat Break
KTS: Riika Sheder fails to react to Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver's UFO Electric Pulse, taking 6240 damage!
KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious successfully evades Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver's UFO Magnum
KTS: Alouette Pommier successfully Evades Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver's Love And Mercy
Rena Lancaster has moved to Tsutsujidai Skies

KTS: Guy Shishioh's EN Barrier activates, negating 1000 base damage.
KTS: Guy Shishioh blocks Anti's UFO Electric Burst, taking 750 damage!
KTS: Anti repulses Guy Shishioh, forcing him to disengage.
KTS: Arriety Hearn has activated the Assail Spirit Command.
Arriety Hearn has moved to Tsutsujidai Skies
Sho Utsumi has moved to Tsutsujidai Skies
Guy Shishioh has moved to Tsutsujidai Skies
Yuta Hibiki has moved to Tsutsujidai Skies

KTS: Kaworu Nagisa inspires awe, increasing Renais Cardiff's Morale!
KTS: Rikka Takarada blocks Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver's UFO Point Stab, taking 2640 damage!
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver begins a Formation attack!
KTS: Renais Cardiff fails to react to Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver's UFO Beam (Low Power), taking 3520 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

"<Passion!! Unbidden!? As if you can't help it! At least take some responsibility for the racket you're making!>" Definitely no hypocrisy there given how loud Asuka herself is known to be in a fight.

Well there's Rikka. She caught the 'hmph' and maybe gives the monitor a look, but doesn't snap at her, "<Worst case we're just back where we started. Get it done.>" And then Riika, now she's giving her monitor the real stink eye. She doesn't isn't convinced of her trustworthiness, however, if Riika decides to stab her in the back a certain Catty Four-Eyes SHOULD BE WATCHING THAT BACK RIGHT? "<...Until this is over. Just don't get in my way.>" It's not as if her information didn't pan out. And while she doesn't trust ZAFT... well, what she said at the end...

Asuka whips around as it disappears, trying to track it. Mari though charges forward behind her as it reappears and... misses, "<What was that!? That backup was so LATE you Catty Four Eyes! A whole point seven five seconds!>" Did she really keep track of the fractions of a second? Can she actually do that? Is she actually upset about her backup being less than a second late? What a harsh taskmistress...

"<Can't you even do this much right?!>"

The UFO immediately punishes her with a wide sweeping beam of heat, and Evangelion Unit-02 checks its flanks for stray civilians then performs a sudden sideways dive, as it lands behind a parking garage and kneels down, the sudden sweeping beam of heat scathing the concrete as it erupts.

Through the rain of burnt dust, the crimson Evangelion rises back up, Crossbow held forward one handed as it fires bolt after bolt, each flying like a railgun as it tries to smash into each UFO.

"<You're going to be working on that the moment we get back!>"

And above, as she fires bolt after bolt, she sees Anti, "What - I killed that one!"

She's... sure of it...

... at least she thought she was sure of it.

"What is going on here?" For someone who's been putting so much into investigation, she... just doesn't know. And that ignorance twists her insides into a knot.

KTS: [Spirit Defense] Mari Makinami Illustrious's Spirit Endurance activates, and the spirit endures.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has activated the Daunt Spirit Command targeting Mari Makinami Illustrious
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver with Super-Electromagnetic Crossbow Barrage!

<Pose Tracker> Sho Utsumi has posed.

As Utsumi monitors the readings and cameras, he calls out to Yuta and Gridman. "The source is up in the air! You'll need to fly...Vit! This is all you!" He calls through the Synchrotank, to get their ally over here. And then he spots something atop Diriver. "A boy...? Why..."

No. That kaiju...the one who keeps trying to kill Gridman. He grits his teeth, unaware of what DG Cell infection looks like but noticing bad changes all the same. Was that kaiju...a person this whole time?!

"Him...! Gridman, giving you more telemetry...try to focus on a strong and swift offense! We need to keep him busy and stop this fight, fast!"

KTS: Sho Utsumi targets Yuta Hibiki with Heart!

<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.

"I'm very glad to hear it. We'll have to catch up--um--not now, though," Rena says, with a smile in the direction of Renais's M9. Guy points out that they're not behaving like individual ships; her eyes widen for a second. "They're like funnels... like they're working together. Geed's right. They must be..."

Controlled by one mind.

She looks at the Zeta Myrmekes, then nods. A mother unit, she thinks. She hesitates for a moment. "Keep your eyes open, in case there's something controlling them!" Rena calls out. She looks at the screen; she smiles, seeing the way that Minae moves across her screen. Her eyes narrow, as she catches the strongs with both her eyes and her other senses. She sucks a breath in; she realizes. "That's--go up!"

The GERWALK-mode Prophecy's thrusters fire, leading it upward -- and it soars up into the sky, going into a tight, sharply angled rise towards Diriver. Her eyes are on the silvered body; the wicked claws. And, then, where she sees that boy she talked to not so long ago.

He told her he was a kaiju. He didn't lie. Rena sees him transform, rushing straight up, and towards Anti and Diriver both. An air combat-capable Anti, Rena thinks.

"Anti!" she calls out, crying up to him. He said he would strike her down, if she got between him and Gridman. "Is this what you wanted me to see!?"

They're up in the air, now. Rena doesn't need to hold back, now. A missile drops off one of the Prophecy's wing-mounted hardpoints, the rocket firing. A vapor trail snakes out after it, as it goes hurtling up for Anti.

"Kakapo leader, fox two!"

KTS: Rena Lancaster targets Anti with AIM-18L Interceptor Missile!
Escudo_Shard goes home.

KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver fails to react to Asuka Shikinami Langley's Super-Electromagnetic Crossbow Barrage, taking 4860 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Arriety Hearn has posed.

        Arriety's leaving most of the battlefield logistics and observations to Minae, because she's already got her hands full just piloting the craft; she grimaces for a moment and mutters, "I don't feel like I can manoeuvre right in a city like this."

        She hears Liam's voice as well, thinking of how they haven't seen each other for a while. "Even if we can't defeat them permanently, it'd still slow down the damage done to the city..."

        Arriety hears Hatsuno's voice through Minae's comm, blinking a few times. "Oh, is that someone you've worked with, Minae?" No, she can't focus on that right now! Don't get distracted, Arriety...

        A pause.

        "Funnels...?" A longer pause, and then there's a flash of inspiration.
        "These... Rena, these remind me of Callie-sis' funnels!"

        Up... the true kaiju is up there? With wicked claws, and a body in half silver and gunmental... Arriety pauses for a moment, intensely focusing on that sensation and how different its cry is.

        What is she feeling?

        Her eyes widen as the monitor electronically beeps, and a zoom-in screen indicates a boy standing atop Diriver's head. "There's a person there?! It--" Her eyes widen further, as his eyes turn RED... and he blurs and reduces himself to a silhouette, replaced by a kaiju.

        She feels a powerful beat in her heart. There's someone else out here with a kaiju's heart...

        ...

        "Rena, the Zeta can't possibly go up that high, I have to--"

        She's interrupted as electricity blasts outwards from the obnoxiously red UFO, shoving her back for a moment; but she resists and focuses inwards, breathing as she says, "Myrme!"

        The Myrmekes Zeta draws its arms into itself, and suddenly, the gossamer insect wings on its back begin to twist and shift in a repulsive, kaiju-like manner. Then, Myrme's jaw snaps open as she howls, and the insect wings enlarge, further and further -- until it's large enough to give it true lift.

        "This is taking up a lot of my energy, Arriety!"
        "I got it, thank you!"

        The Zeta streaks upwards with its newfound flight, the wings unstably shifting and mutating even as it goes; this is kaiju adaptation at its rawest, a creature shifting itself to adjust to its surroundings as needed.

        Arriety's heart is beating hard at this adjustment -- inextricably connected, it's starting to wear hard on her as well.

        "Anti..." she whispers, hearing Rena shout a name out. As Rena launches her missiles, the Zeta shifts as it moves to join in with an incoming weapon, which has apparently been transported here to Tsutsujidai as well--

        "I'll use the Hyper Mega Launcher...! Minae, transmit the firing path to the others!"

        The Myrmekes links up with the frankly absurdly-sized dark blue rifle, mounting it onto its chest as it unfurls from transport to firing mode. The barrel cover unclips and lifts up to reveal motes of pinkish light thrumming as it reaches critical mass.

        "I'm firing...!"

        The resulting beam is less of a swift shot than it is an arcing lance of pink beam fire, locking the Zeta in place with its recoil.

KTS: Arriety Hearn targets Anti with Hyper Mega Launcher Shot!

<Pose Tracker> Riku Asakura has posed.

Ultraman Geed leaps up, before taking flight, not unlike Superman. How do Ultra's fly? That's a very good question.

So anyway...

Geed is smacked by the electrified UFO, while trying to manuever for a better position. A hit, but not enough to force Toku sparks, instead Riku seems determined to fly through the attacks to try and force his way towards the strange 'source' of where they think the Kaiju actually is. Of course, when it decloaks...

"Anti.." he says, seeing the DG cells. He knew about them before and learned a lot more past then. The talk in the rain, where Anti learned what an umbrella was, and despite everything decided to trust him. Inside the Ultraman, Riku himself stares with silent horror. However, the look is replaced. Determination, the desire to help this boy out before Alexis' awful actions doomed him.

They have to get to him before the infection goes into the last stages.

The Fusion Z-Raiser has clutched to Riku again. The Coin stays in the hole, but the two capsules eject. "You go!" he says, fliping the switch up and deploying the image of Ultraman Zero. "I go!" again, the second capsule's switch is flipped. This time the image of the Father of Ultra is deployed.

"Here we go! GEEEEEED!" the transformation happens as he raises over the Kaiju, the blue fire burning and instead of the Primitive form that was fighting. "Ultraman Zero. Father of Ultra. Ultraform Orb. Ultraman Geed: Magnificent!"

Two horns stick out of his head, the eyes are still the same, but there appears to be armor around his body. Blue and red with the silver armor are the primary colors, with large spiked pauldrons on his shoulders. He soars down, aiming to grab one of the UFOs and then start swinging, using the combined strength of the two Ultra's to try and throw the Kaiju into the air for someone to help follow up on.

KTS: Riku Asakura has changed loadout.
KTS: Riku Asakura targets Anti with Mega Swing Whipper!

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

Ultraman speaks. Is that Geed...? Liam processes the thought faster than Guy does. "Like a remote weapon," he summarizes. Nidaime throws him another bone, too: "A mother unit, or a main body. Alright! Alouette, Saint Lance, Order Room, see if you can locate a central body!"

"On it!" he gets back from Hana.

Not that that takes long: "Above! That reflected blast hit something! It's in the sky!" Hana calls.

"Right!" Guy calls back. "Nidaime, hang on!" The Ul-Tech Engines on StealthGao III aren't quite silent, but they're not conventional propulsion, either, as the engine caps look more like some kind of futuristic crystal drive than anything else. They work, though: GaoFighGar roars into the sky, pushing toward the clouds.

"Hah!" Guy says, on Sayla's direct line. "I'll bring her back in one piece! Don't you worry!"
As he transitions zones, he adds, "Alouette, I'm heading up! Keep an eye on things down here!"
And for Renais: "Well, she insisted...it's fine! I'm the Mobile Division Captain! Obviously I'll keep her safe!" He says, as he moves away at top speed.

Another Protect Wall absorbs the worst of that red UFO's force blasts. "Still chasing us, even up here," he mutters.

Guy watches with shock as a kid appears on the target kaiju...and then transforms into a massive accompaniment!? "Nidaime! Is that him!?" Guy calls.

For now, though: He's gotten in close, so he does what GaoFighGars do best.

He stretches out GaoFighGar's right arm and screams as he attempts to clock the zippy marionette master right in its face!!

KTS: Guy Shishioh targets Anti with Broken Fist!

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

        The Proto Helios' sensors light up as something in the sky reflects a tremendous quantity of the Protect Wall's energy. "Target sighted," he says, his voice empty. But for a moment--and only a moment--he hesitates. Alouette's presence feels like a knot tightening in his mind, a string around--

        Strings. A puppeteer.

        "Stay safe, Alouette," he says, and just enough emotion trickles in for his voice to break. "Please."

        Then he plants his feet hard on the jets, tenses his legs, and pulls his arms in tight. The Proto Helios mirrors his motions as it rockets up into the sky. It passes through a low-floating cloud, punching a hole clean through it as the water vapor dissipates under the force of its heat.

        An enemy target flickers below. Liam grits his teeth and throws out his hands; the Proto Helios tilts downwards, its EM barrier igniting once more. But this time, he's a moment too slow. Electric charge punches through the lower half of the sphere before it can form completely, and slams into the Mobile Fighter's leg. Liam bites back a grunt of pain as horrible cramps race through his muscles. "Ghh." He lets that out as a breath. But he's past the cloud layer, and he can see Diriver now, in all its gunmetal glory. "Target sighted--"

        But wait. What--who--is that?

        The head-cam zooms in on Anti's face.

        "Anti?!" Shock seeps into Liam's voice, followed by horror. Red light flashes across his ocular shields as Anti's form smears in front of him, forming...

        "Kaiju B sighted," Liam says, and his voice trembles. The Proto Helios abruptly stops in mid-air before Anti and Diriver, clearly identifiable as the machine BioNet sent him to retrieve. (But that's not nearly as important as killing Gridman, is it?) Its hands clench. Gridman. Who is Gridman, is that the second Ultraman? (Is it an Ultraman?) "Anti. How? Why?!"

        The Gundam jets forwards. Plasma erupts from the vents on its right hand. Liam strikes without thought to technique or self-defense--for a moment, it's all raw self-preservation as the Proto Helios throws a wild, plasma-coated haymaker at Anti's comparatively massive head.

KTS: Liam 7-020 targets Anti with SUNBURST - Burning Arc!
KTS: Renais Cardiff has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
KTS: Riku Asakura has activated the Trick Spirit Command.
KTS: Riku Asakura has activated the Trick Spirit Command.

<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.

"<Got it,>" Riika sends back to Sayla. She at least listens, because she uses the lifter to bank sharply to the side, circling towards the point indicated.

A surprising message. "<You..!>" Riika was not expecting Kaworu of all people to contact her. And he might be expecting an angry response, but instead he gets a delayed one; all of nothing for about five seconds (Riika was maneuvering) and then back on, right back to him: "<You were right. I'm sorry.>" This may be unexpected, coming from a ZAFT soldier, an enemy to most in the Federation, a teenager (if only technically) who brought a kaiju to war. But Riika has already spoken to NERV, more than once; they know her politics. So perhaps it's not that surprising after all.

Asuka responds and, well... it's the best response she can really hope for from her. "<I do know what I'm doing. Don't worry; I can give you fire support just fine.>" She already is, firing the Xiphais in a staggered pattern. Which seems to be working, except...

There has to be more units. Riika can't tell where they're coming from, but then - there is. Someone's found it, a terrible kaiju in the sky: half silver and half gunmetal, screaming at the Tsutsujidai sky.

"What the - " Riika doesn't even transmit that. "What's wrong with it...? With them?" Riika, of all the people here, does not know Anti; she's never met him, never spoken to him. She doesn't recognize him except as another kaiju in the distance, up with the controller, barely visible.

Plan B, she thinks. Break!

Riika has to actually flip down a secondary keyboard. She types on it, rapidly, left-handed, while maneuvering with her right. It actually works - it isn't until after she's done typing that a blast comes at her, so close she can't evade it. She tries, but the electrical pulse washes over the GuAIZ, causing it to stagger across the ground.

Ground? Wasn't it riding a lifter unit?

Well, it WAS, but Riika just gave it new programming. The lifter rockets upward, firing its weapons - two rapid-fire beam cannons, four machine guns at UFOs and then, as it gets higher and gets a lock, Diriver; Riika didn't see Anti when she was programming it and it does not attempt to engage him. The autonomous unit delivers a strafing series of shots and, more critically for Riika, gun-cams the whole way before reversing, diving back downward and firing at UFOs again as it descends.

For her part, Riika has drawn out the beam rifle, firing a surprisingly intensely coloured shot. She has enough power for this, she thinks, as the GuAIZ runs, scrambling across the road for a better position. She'd better - she can't take off again until the lifter gets back.

KTS: Riika Sheder has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Riika Sheder has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Riika Sheder targets Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver with Lifter Support Attacker!
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver fails to react to Riika Sheder's Lifter Support Attacker, taking 5760 damage!
KTS: Sho Utsumi bares his heart, letting Yuta Hibiki deal some extra damage!
KTS: BC-001 Minae targets Arriety Hearn with Heart!

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Through the battle, Rikka hears a familiar voice over communications.

"Is that Alouette?" Rikka asks, a little surprised. "So you ended up in a mobile suit eventually after all... we're with you, okay?"

Yuta passes along some information - this isn't one of Akane's kaiju.

"Got it." Rikka replies with a nod. Somehow she feels a little relieved, hearing that. Sayla provides some advice, then, and Rikka nods.

"Right..." She replies. She'll have to keep that in mind... when they're attacking like this it's a bit intimidating to stay still, but she might be right that it's more effective.

And then, there's another familiar voice!

"Kaworu?" Rikka says, surprised. "Are you really okay to be fighting...? Still, it's good to hear from you again. I was worried."

The UFOs strike, one of them rushing for Synchrotank in a stab. Recalling Sayla's advice Rikka brings up Synchrotank's arms, letting the UFO charge into the bulldozer blades that act as shields. The impact pushes Synchrotank back a bit, but it manages to retain its stability.

But, a revelation is made - these UFOs are a lot like funnels, aren't they? And funnels have a source. And following them reveals... a kaiju. Much like the UFOs, it doesn't look like any kaiju they've fought before. But more importantly, there's someone standing on its head.

"...So it really is him." Rikka notes, studying Anti through Synchrotank's cameras. Familiarity is clear in her voice - as well as a tinge of sadness. She had been expecting something like this, but...

And then he transforms, taking to the skies. Synchrotank doesn't have any aerial capabilities. They'll have to leave this to Vit and Gridman... but for now, if they can see the kaiju, they can shoot it.

"Taking aim at the kaiju... let's see if this works." Rikka says. Synchrotank takes aim with its twin cannons, unleashing a burst of water in a wide-ranged spray in an attack to target both the kaiju and its UFOs.

KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Riika Sheder
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Asuka Shikinami Langley
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Mari Makinami Illustrious
KTS: Rikka Takarada targets Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver with Wide-Range Extinguishing!
KTS: Arriety Hearn has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
KTS: BC-001 Minae bares her heart, letting Arriety Hearn deal some extra damage!

<Pose Tracker> Nidaime has posed.

Nidaime doesn't get Sayla's message. It wouldn't bother her but she is nonetheless oblivious to it. She does seem more concerned about the kaiju and Anti's message. She promised she'd help in whatever way she can.

Is this what you wanted them to see, someone Nidaim doesn't know shouts.

"Ehehee..." Nidaime beams. "He's made so many friends, Guy! I'm so proud of him. You think so too, right Guy? He's cool, right right? Ehehehehee~"

She places her hands back on her cheeks, kicking her legs back adn forth. She is pretty much nothin' but EMOTIONAL SUPPORT since she doesn't know how to even pilot the thing she's stuck in right now but she seems...pretty happy to see him.

Guy asks if the kid that became a kaiju is Anti. "Mmhmm! He's really cute right?"

But even though that smile doesn't fade in the slightest, nor does her tone, there is a shift in her eyes as she sees those DG Celled hands. Is there anything she can do for him?

"Let's help Anti...communicate with Akane...! This must be what they said about talking with their fists. The Shuffles talked about fist talking all the time. I didn't really understand--"

Nidaime bobs her head. "But I think I understand now...!" She brings her hands to her mouth. "Good luck to you too Anti!"

She didn't activate any speakers or anything because she doesn't know how but the sentiment ... might very well still have an effect!

KTS: Nidaime has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Anti
KTS: Nidaime has activated the Rouse Spirit Command targeting Guy Shishioh
KTS: Nidaime targets Guy Shishioh with Prospect!
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver fails to react to Rikka Takarada's Wide-Range Extinguishing, taking 5160 damage!
KTS: Renais Cardiff targets Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver with Anti-Tank Dagger Fan!
KTS: Nidaime assesses Guy Shishioh's prospects, increasing his SP!

<Pose Tracker> Renais Cardiff has posed.

        Renais is... surprised, to say the least, to hear Alouette's voice. She knew she'd joined GGG, but... it drives home the gap in time between her and the rest of the world. Last time she saw the girl, barely two years ago by her clock, she was a child.

        Listening to Sayla's chiding, she sighs. "Understood, Heart-2. This isn't..." that kind of fight, she doesn't say. "I won't.

        "--Kaworu. I'm... glad to hear you're o.." She trails off as a shimmer catches her eye. A string. She looks up, into the clouds and finding the puppet-master far above. She grins a little as Anti calls out from atop it, understanding the statement he's trying to make--puppets and puppeteers.

        Whether Akane will get the same message is... not quite so clear. --Wait. Akane. She opens up a secure line to the Synchrotank. "Heart-2. We need to talk about Akane. It's impor--*agh!*"

        Too much going through her head. The white-hot UFO catches her entirely by surprise, and for a moment, the cockpit flashes hot. The Gernsback works overtime to compensate, and Renais grits her teeth as her body heat rises with the AS' coolant. A brief surge of fear washes over her, quickly replaced with anger.

        "Shit!" she forces out between gritted teeth, whipping out several anti-tank daggers held between the Gernsback's fingers. She levels them at the UFO and launches them without another word, slowly calming her breathing. She discards the handles and gets ready to hammer it with the shotcannon as soon as it reforms.
Yuta Hibiki transforms to Sky Gridman

<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.

"Is that -- Anti?!" Yuta exclaims. "How did he even get up there..."

"Yuta, we need to meet him in the skies! We can't fight him like this!"

Hearing this, Vit, lounging in the cockpit of the Synchrotank, slowly looks up at Utsumi. "If I have to." Is all he offers. He stands, stretches, and approaches Junk. "Access code," Vit sighs, "Sky Vitter." In a now-familiar flash of light, Vit is consumed by Junk. On the battlefield, a similar flash of light appears, releasing a fighter jet. "Hey, sorry to keep you waiting, Gridman!"

"You're just in time, Vit. Empyrean Combine: Sky Gridman!" The two begin to merge. Wings attach to Gridman's back, a pilot's helmet over his head -- and they take to the skies. Anti's Sky form is menacing, every bit as frightening as a kaiju should be, but something feels... wrong. Yuta's heart sinks. Was there really no other way but to fight him..?

Despite Yuta's misgivings, the fight went on. Using the targeting program in his new helmet, Gridman locks onto Anti's S form. "Vitter Beam Canons!"

KTS: Yuta Hibiki targets Anti with Vitter Beam Cannons!
KTS: [Mirage] Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver's UFO Regeneration activates, and it slips into a mirage.
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver partially guards Renais Cardiff's Anti-Tank Dagger Fan, taking 0 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

You really are enjoying yourself, aren't you?

"Of course! There's no where else in the world you can experience something like this!"

She looks back to Kaworu despite the dangers of diverting her attention from the battlefield. The spark of life in her eyes is undeniable and wild.

And that grin is

        "Electrifying, isn't it~?"

She strikes -- but the UFO, for however mechanical its movements, is swift. Mari swipes empty air, but she does -force- it to move. And in return, she spots valuable details in the process.

"Hmm," muses the Undesignated Child, as her blue eyes climb to the skies. She can hear Asuka yelling at her, of course, like the sweetest music to her ears.

Which is why she, jubilant as ever, answers Asuka's reprimand by deferentially clapping Evangelion Unit-04's hands together and bowing its head.

"<Sorry, sorry! But you were actually point two five seconds too early!">

that's right

mari is that insane, too

People pursue skywards. Clouds part. And what they reveal...

... is a puppeteer, and its own puppeteer, floating high above in the heavens.

Mari eyes the distinctive silhouette of Sky Anti for a passing second, the recognition in her blue eyes brief. Her smile is one that lingers, though.

"Very poetic for a kaiju, kitten," she murmurs, her gaze lingering on that stretch of gunmetal grays and silvers that infect the skybound autointelligence kaiju.

"Now -that- has soul."

The UFO reappears, screaming a path towards Mari's Evangelion. This time, however, the Illustrious Child is ready: with a <"wa-HA!"> Unit-04 LEAPS into the air. Its cord unravels further upward as it flips into the air -- and then the prismatic hexagons of a pulsing AT Field blooms, brief enough to intercept that piercing piston -- brief enough to create friction -- that Unit-04 uses as a launchpad to literally -spring- itself further into the air and out of harms way of the UFO.

It's during its rapid descent that the Cursed Evangelion unholsters one of those assault rifles, shooting at the UFO upsidedown in a violent hail of bulletfire as it descends.

When it lands, its powercord whipcracks across the citystreet; it's, perhaps, an unfamiliar voice that answers Rikka and Renais first:

<"Of course it's okay! Don't you worry. I'm taking good care of him~. <3"> yes, the heart is heavily implied

<"Besides...">

And Maki smiles one of those feline, unreadable smiles of hers.

<"... he's a survivor.">

KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious targets Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver with Assault Rifle - Single Fire!

<Pose Tracker> BC-001 Minae has posed.

        Minae braces against the latest round of impacts, her eyes focused out as she turns her attention onto data feeds and readouts without the middleman of a screen in the way. She's normally more active and present, but just as Arriety's finding it hard to move in the midst of the city, Minae is taking on a lot of extra load in trying to keep its residents safe. The map constantly blips with updates as she spots fleeing residents or people barricading into buildings, directing the Zeta as safely through as she can.

        "--I see it!" blurts Minae all of a sudden, the very instant she catches the reflection of the string on radar. For a moment she wonders if she does actually see it, but then a second report comes in from her sensor suite and that's good enough to corroborate matters. "It's upwards in the clouds - high-- er-- really high!" In her eagerness to be of assistance, the new contact on the radars of those receiving her navigational data doesn't just upgrade from ??? to !!!, but also gets a little pixellated Minae tapping it urgently with a pointer.

        She doesn't know the figure that stands atop Diriver at all; referenced in talks with other Kakapo members at best. But even if she knew him, she wouldn't really know what to make of this situation. Where a young boy stood, now flies a giant kaiju. Was it a well of emotional duress that made him transform? What will it mean to attack that form, and will they just be feeding the impulse that created him in the first place? ... is it of his own will, she thinks to herself as she catches the telltale glint of grey running up his arms. She's never interacted with DG Cells personally - which she's glad for, if she's honest - but it makes her thin her lips.

        "We need-- ah," she blinks as the Myrmekes Zeta sprouts wings and takes to the sky. It leaves her confused for a moment, then she hurries to catch up. "--I'll give you as much energy as I can to help! All units in the sky, please watch our firing line!" This time she's more forcible with her connections outwards via the GGG communication ship; rather than asking for permission, there's simply a push of data as a bright red line is highlighted across their radars. She doesn't just hit the Zeta and Rena's craft with the transmission - via the bridge, the rest of the Guard's screens display the marker.

        There is a hanging silence after the blast, and Minae allows herself a breath. It's purely symbolic, but gives her a moment to catch herself up - and to turn her attention upwards, as she picks up a scattershot collection of radio chatter and discussion. The more she can learn about the situation the better, for the sake of the boy who they're clashing with... and maybe for Arriety down the line.

KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver fails to react to Mari Makinami Illustrious's Assault Rifle - Single Fire, taking 5060 damage!
KTS: BC-001 Minae has activated the Prospect Spirit Command targeting Arriety Hearn
KTS: BC-001 Minae has activated the Attune Spirit Command targeting Renais Cardiff
KTS: BC-001 Minae has activated the Attune Spirit Command targeting Alouette Pommier

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

The kaiju launches a particularly forceful attack on Dagger, but it was predictable. Alouette manages a perfect evasion, and prepares to take advantage of the miss. She just hopes her strong intuition can take her through the whole battle... causing her allies heart attacks is not in the cards.

Alouette watches the boy atop the kaiju transform into one himself. She isn't surprised by this phenomenon, she already had intel on a mysterious "kaiju boy". But noticing how consumed by rage he was in his appearance and voice made her somewhat sad. She now has a name to match her information - "Anti". She also realizes that this must mean Akane did not have her hand in this attack after all, even if she is connected to this "Anti" in some way.
%Even if he *was* rage-consumed, Alouette thinks forcing the forces to separate was a smart move on Anti's part, as Guy leaves to pursue him. "Understood! I will not let the city down," she responds to his orders. "And on a personal note... please don't be too reckless. We are all waiting for you."

Liam is worried too... he urges her to stay safe before following Anti. "I promise I will. You stay safe too, Liam."

Alouette realizes a lot is weighing on her now that most of their strongest forces are on the chase for Anti in the sky. Can she even keep her promise to back away if she is in danger now...?

KTS: Alouette Pommier has activated the Strike Spirit Command.

<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.

        ...It is Anti. Fine. Time to confirm for anyone who doesn't know. "<The Kaiju has a DG Cell infection.>" The broadcast is from speakers and laser comms both, and it's heavily modulated. "<Be careful when engaging, if you or your unit is cut or injured by it, we have treatment available. We can't afford to let infection spread.>" Sayla looks down at the medical supplies Rain has provided. They'll have to be enough.

        Sayla grimaces about the message. "<It's about the person making Kaiju, right? I'm pretty sure I know. Focus on the fight, we can talk after.>" Her comment to Renais is calm, and controlled, but it's the calm and controlled of someone who is being that way to keep everyone else okay. Guy is all too casual. That's Guy, she supposes. "<You'd better.>" She does sound a bit more relieved, at least.

        Their main targets are revealed, and the UFOs keep attacking. "Rikka, sending you an updated firing solution. Do you what you can." The laser comms are sent to the other two as well. "<Evangelion pilots, I'm providing new firing solutions. Do with it what you will.>" Kaworu can probably work out who is on the other side, he heard the distortion tactic from the Guntank before.

        And then she kills her comms and yells across to Junk. "Gridman! You need to try and save him too! So be careful!" Not that Yuta doesn't know any of this. But it's encouragement all the same.

KTS: Anti fails to evade Guy Shishioh's Broken Fist, taking 3420 damage!
KTS: Guy Shishioh has engaged Anti!
KTS: Anti fails to evade Rena Lancaster's AIM-18L Interceptor Missile, taking 2790 damage!
KTS: Anti blocks Arriety Hearn's Hyper Mega Launcher Shot, taking 6120 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Arriety Hearn's Boundary of Life and Death activates, causing Insight L1!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Arriety Hearn's Boundary of Life and Death activates, causing Jam L1!
KTS: Riku Asakura anchors Anti, forcing him into close range.
KTS: Anti blocks Riku Asakura's Mega Swing Whipper, taking 5640 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Riku Asakura's Primitive Style activates, causing Insight L1!
KTS: Riku Asakura has engaged Anti!
KTS: Riku Asakura begins a Formation attack!
KTS: Sayla Mass targets Asuka Shikinami Langley, Mari Makinami Illustrious, and Rikka Takarada with Coordinate.
KTS: Sayla Mass coordinates maneuvers, raising Rikka Takarada's Piloting!
KTS: Sayla Mass has activated the Rouse Spirit Command targeting Yuta Hibiki
KTS: Sayla Mass coordinates maneuvers, raising Asuka Shikinami Langley's Piloting!
KTS: Anti blocks Liam 7-020's SUNBURST - Burning Arc, taking 4980 damage!
KTS: Liam 7-020 has engaged Anti!
KTS: Anti fails to evade Yuta Hibiki's Vitter Beam Cannons, taking 4050 damage!
KTS: Alouette Pommier targets Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver with M703 Beam Rifle Beam Shot!
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver fails to react to Alouette Pommier's M703 Beam Rifle Beam Shot, taking 2700 damage!
KTS: Sayla Mass coordinates maneuvers, raising Mari Makinami Illustrious's Piloting!

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        'Electrifying, isn't it~?'
        
        Kaworu smiles back at her, genuine and wider than usual. "It is," he agrees. "Fielding one's strength on a battlefield is such a freeing feeling."
        
        It might be an unexpected sentiment from him, considering he usually takes more pacifistic approaches to things. He even ordered Asuka and Ouka to track Anti down not to fight him but to talk to him, even though Anti had attacked one of NERV's own. But Mari will probably get it all the same.
        
        A beat of infernal heat sears towards Unit-04, but Mari's more on the ball this time, or perhaps less inclined to play around. The silver beast flips out of the way, managing to avoid devastation even as heat cooks the air around them. Inside the entry plug, the heat may not reach them through the A.T. Field, but sympathetic pain is sympathetic pain.
        
        More importantly, threads glisten in the heat-haze sky, leading up higher and higher into heaven. Kaworu had already sensed that presence, but the visual is another thing entirely, and as he lifts his gaze to Diriver and the tiny auto-intelligence kaiju driving it--when tiny becomes huge, when deadly silver glitters on infected limbs--his expression tightens with concern. "...Anti..."
        
        But--he is up there, and Unit-04... *can* fly, but not without taking certain extreme measures. He glances at Mari. As the main pilot here, it would be her call.
        
        Asuka, though... she protests (after a lot of banter with Mari that Kaworu tunes out) that she should have killed that kaiju, and what's going on? His lips thin, and he makes a decision. "<...Anti is a kaiju,>" Kaworu transmits to Asuka, even and a little grim in tone. "<It seems as though he's controlling another in turn. And...>"
        
        Sayla says it first: he has a DG Cell infection. Kaworu's grip on the throne tightens momentarily. All the same, he remains even in tone as she transmits through that familiar modulated voice: "<Your help is much appreciated, Heart-2. We'll do precisely that.>"
        
        He glances sidelong at Mari then as she refers to Anti as a 'kitten.' She's not wrong in that assessment, so... has she met him already? ...Kaworu smiles briefly in appreciation of the parallels. The two of them are actually quite a lot alike, he reflects.
        
        "<As she says, it's all right. I'm acting as a support pilot currently. I hope I didn't keep you two worried too much,>" he reassures Rikka and Renais. Mari's heartful addition doesn't get so much as a blink out of him, but it does get a little laugh. "<Yes. That's true.>"
        
        Riika meanwhile responds to his transmission with recognition. He doesn't really know how she'll react, but his smile turns rueful at her eventual response. "<No need to apologize. You aren't the only one he's deceived. I'm simply glad you realized before it was too late.>" ...which, all considered, might itself be a surprising reaction in return. Or perhaps not; he is, after all, also an Evangelion pilot.
        
        For now, though, as Mari takes the offense against a UFO with AT Field tricks and assault rifles, Kaworu reinforces the sparkling crystalline shields to give a little more maneuverability as a defense on top of as platforms, shuffling to either side as she opens fire and ready to snap back in place when the UFO counters.

KTS: Kaworu Nagisa has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Mari Makinami Illustrious

<Pose Tracker> Anti has posed.

        Asuka asks: What's going on here? And the kaiju called Anti -- and yes, Utsumi, he's the boy called Anti, one containing the other, the reason he burned like banked embers -- he yells,

        "This is the truth of Tsutsujidai! Now, I'm the one in control! LOOK AT ME!" He roars, claws to his sides, casting a long, sweeping shadow over the city. "I brought you here to see -- just how small it is from where we're standing!" We, he says, but he is the only one 'standing', in his flight mode. Diriver is prostrate, laid vulnerable, belly to the world below.

        What he wanted Rena to see... was it this, all along? Or perhaps it's the beam he fires out, to seek after her Variable Fighter. Perhaps this was a trap, all along. That would... certainly be a convenient explanation, for some.

        Anti's segmented eye-visor settles on the Zeta, as it adapts. Something he has only fought against... something not native to their sleepy little district, destroyed and rebuilt, again and again. "That's right," he confirms. "Tsutsujidai is connecting! Even though we're different... I SEE YOU!" Anti roars, as Diriver darts forward, to catch that beam against its barrier defences -- another truth of Tsutsujidai -- and lash out, at the Myrmekes, with its claws.

        "This is everything I've learned!" Anti screams, and perhaps it's an answer to why the UFOs resemble what they do, just the same.

        His gaze settles on GaoFighGar. Spoken, now, with more confusion: "Why... why can I feel..." He shakes his head, and grips his metallic grey claws to fists. "The Second..!" It's not a particularly angry exclamation. If anything, he's... grateful..?

        That gratitude doesn't mean he won't fight GaoFighGar -- though perhaps it's the DG infection of his arms which lead to him jetting away from the melee engagement, firing a series of energy bullets off towards Guy, instead.

        Likewise, when Geed comes in to swing, Diriver is the one who gets in the way, lashing out with its claws -- and it gets thrown upwards; subsequently, Diriver crashes into the Proto Helios' path, to get viciously haymade. It claws Liam's suit, just the same.

        Anti keeps moving, to avoid the multitudinous guns of Riika's GuAIZ, Rena's missiles, and even Gridman's Vitter Beam Cannons -- though the explosions still catch the edges of him, as if he's much more vulnerable when being targeted directly.

        He dives forward, to pursue Gridman, with another hail of energy bullets. "EAT THIS, GRIDMAN..!" Anti howls, and that same anger is still there, still entirely present.

        Killing Gridman would still make him happy, even knowing all he does.

KTS: Anti targets Arriety Hearn with Diriver Claws Brawl!
KTS: Anti targets Rena Lancaster with Forehead Beam!
KTS: Anti targets Yuta Hibiki with Bullet Barrage!
KTS: Anti targets Guy Shishioh with Bullet Barrage!
KTS: Arriety Hearn blocks Anti's Diriver Claws Brawl, taking 4350 damage!
KTS: Anti has engaged Arriety Hearn!
KTS: Sho Utsumi has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Yuta Hibiki
KTS: Anti targets Riku Asakura with Diriver Claws Focus Strike!
KTS: Arriety Hearn has activated the Assail Spirit Command.
KTS: Anti targets Liam 7-020 with Diriver Claws Combo!
KTS: Riku Asakura has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Yuta Hibiki
KTS: Liam 7-020 parries Anti's Diriver Claws Combo, taking 1410 damage!
KTS: Anti has engaged Liam 7-020!
KTS: Riku Asakura fails to rush.
KTS: Riku Asakura partially guards Anti's Diriver Claws Focus Strike, taking 6360 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Anti's DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE! activates, causing Sparkle!
KTS: Anti has engaged Riku Asakura!
KTS: Yuta Hibiki partially guards Anti's Bullet Barrage, taking 3608 damage!
KTS: Rena Lancaster successfully evades Anti's Forehead Beam
KTS: Guy Shishioh's EN Barrier activates, negating 1000 base damage.
KTS: Guy Shishioh blocks Anti's Bullet Barrage, taking 1020 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver has posed.

The bolt from Asuka pierces a UFO easily; it doesn't detonate it in a single strike, but it knocks one of the harsh, pointed structures off of it trivially. This leaves its flight path wobbling and makes it a prime target for Riika's lifter attack; the barrage spreads across the whole battlefield, seemingly. (During its maneuvers, the Lifter picks up something strange -- a large energy reading, off beyond the fog...? What could that be?)

Renais hurls anti-tank daggers at one of the UFOs; it is gone in an instant in a cloud of smoke... only to reappear behind Renais a moment later. (Alouette has her back, it seems, with a follow-up rifle shot that at least *momentarily* stops the UFO.)

Rikka blasts the hotter of the two UFOs -- and Diriver, beyond it -- with a wide-range extinguisher burst that immediately cools it off, slowing its attack pattern. (The kaiju fails to right itself, in part due to this, after it's thrown upward, leading it to continue plummeting; this forces a tactical decision from it, a little later on, too.)

Mari distributes a hail of gunfire, the Evangelion putting both UFOs down for several precious seconds. Diriver has to break from serving its master to protect itself -- and that really does mean staying down with the rest. Still -- when Anti jets away through the clouds, inviting chase...

---

Piercing the cloud cover alongside Anti doesn't achieve... quite what one expects. No sooner has everyone pierced Tsutsujidai's cloudy sky in continued pursuit of its newest inhabitant -- chased it beyond the bounds, at strain, as that strangely-low flight ceiling at last gives way -- than do those clouds dissipate altogether, clearing in an almost-too-perfect ring-like pattern around each of Diriver's pursuers.

It would be natural, of course, to assume that piercing those unusually low clouds led to more sky. Instead, however, two distinct sights greet the heroes:

* above, an inverted city, made of perfectly geometric buildings in all shapes and sizes, but colored primarily in green, black, and blue. They bear the texture and shape language of printed circuit boards and Fahrzeugronne chips, with the occasional symbol for a common computing function -- mail, storage, disc removal.

* off to one side, a mountainous region with a tall central pillar, jutting up through everything. Those from the PLANTs -- or who've visited even once -- would recognize this immediately as the same type of central pillar that runs through the full length of a PLANT-type colony, anchoring the opposing hourglasses to one another.

Below, Tsutsujidai remains as it was -- a tiny slice of a neighborhood, just one or two of Nouvelle Tokyo's hexagonal float units' size. Even in this broad, vast space -- even in this miracle-world -- it looks so small, and remains shunted off to one side. Even here, Tsutsujidai crams itself into the smallest space possible. Nothing else inhabited sits in this PLANT -- using not even an eighth of its livable space, supporting not even a quarter of its potential population.

---

The Chaos Bringer. At the smallest scale, an effect of kaiju and reception organs -- a wave? a frequency? -- that allows emotions to manifest in physical space.

At larger and larger scales, a false miracle -- something that creates illusory something from tangible nothing.

A sign that this world is bleeding.

---

Akane's drone moves up and around. Outside: the rest of a PLANT city. ... and a split wreck, almost close enough to crash into Tsutsujidai's (new?) home. Below: The impossibly small world she's created for herself. Above, and to the side: a PLANT's pillar, leading up to a closed, inverted city -- an artificial, skyless sky.

The smaller god looks to her monitor, eyes wide, mouth slightly agape. Akane has rarely looked so much like a child. Her arms hang limp at her sides. Her drone goes into an automatic, circling course, showing her everything.

Is... is this what Anti had wanted? To attack the artifice of the situation for her? To lay everything and everyone in Tsutsujidai bare for all to see?

"No. No... way. My world is..."

False. Real. Intact. Broken.

Small.

Exposed.

"H -- how," she stammers. This is so much at once. She'd started her day certain of the situation -- that she was utterly in control; that the worry of others was condescension.

Each successive movement -- not just of that melancholy darkness (so human in its way), but of all assembled -- has painted a picture rather more like the one Renais spelled out:

Akane has made her hand known, her strings plain, her game real and obvious.

The real 'unknown hand,' then --

-- bears the marks of the 'help' Anti's been getting. (Those marks spread across *Anti's* hands, now -- a cruelty, but more to the metaphor, too.)

'The help I've been getting --'

'Isn't enough?'

Akane understands, now: 'isn't help.'

And the one who'd offered it, then, must be the one who Anti's cast himself as. So the puppeteer's designer, the real unknown hand -- --

The monitor sparks back to life -- cracked, but perfectly capable of relaying that face, that voice, regardless. (Like Akane's phone, in that way.)

"I must say, I share your consternation," Alexis offers from the monitor, gently. "Your paradise is all but lost to you."

Akane grasps for something. Anything.

Alexis is happy to provide it. "Will you allow them to drag your whole world, kicking and screaming, back into a world with such enormous cruelties and such small, petty kindnesses?"

She's spent so long with Alexis as the only voice to latch onto. She has more voices... but Alexis is here, now, when her world is raw and bare and her mind is reeling from the impossible fear of occupying a big world as just one more of its people. A yawning need dawns on her.

Akane Shinjo needs to become as big as she was in Tsutsujidai in this world, too.

Anti has made it abundantly clear she's disposable -- that the invisible strings around her will do more to strangle her than the visible ones can do to protect her.

She can't... leave this space, either. Not really.

"This all started with that shooting star... and our first guest," Alexis whispers. Akane loathes him. It's a loathing she's never felt for anything in her life -- not even herself. She wants to grab that fluffy turtleneck-ruffle around his neck and squeeze it until it pops. Rip it to shreds.

Her body doesn't move an inch.

"The battlefield changes, but the task remains the same. To secure your world -- whether it's as part of this world, or to drag it back to where it belongs," Alexis continues, "you must kill a Vessel of Light."

... how can she do anything else? She's burned every bridge. Renais told her to get out before the trap closed.

They're all the same, Akane realizes. Sayla. Guy. Gridman.

Everyone who could have helped has shown up one step too late. It's always been that way.

And the rest... Renais. Alouette. Riika. Rikka.

'Heroes'? She was a fool; they're even weaker than she is.

She latches onto Alexis. Whether she keeps him as her guardian or crushes him on her path to control of every threat to her is almost irrelevant, at this point.

A stronger person wouldn't have to deal with this, so Akane must simply become a stronger person.

"Then -- that's what I'll do." A voice echoes, slightly, amid the detritus of unexpressed emotions and unvoiced regrets. "I won't let them have this town. I won't be exploited. I won't lose the world I deserve. I'll destroy -- ANYONE, EVERYONE who tries to ruin my world!"

The devil on the monitor remains quiet. What an interesting development.

---

The sad story of Akane Shinjo isn't the UFOs' concern. One of them concerns itself instead, then, with:

Asuka.

The weapon whirls to face her, crackling with electricity; it seems like it intends to do what its twin did a moment ago to Alouette. The weapon darts, darts -- and then spins, the full force of its movement aimed at Asuka. No doubt it'll attempt to drill clean through Earth's giant.

It stops dead an inch in front of NERV's decisive all-purpose anti-kaiju weapon. Its posture there, then, asks a question of an Asuka who no doubt expected a rushing attack:

What -- are you stupid?

All that electricity that it built up discharges at point blank.

It's Diriver itself, all spindly limbs and sharp claws, that dips low to begin attacking the rest. Synchrotank and the M9 both get raked with claws; the UFO that attacked Asuka briefly reorients toward Alouette with a vicious stab. Mari, for her part, receives a hawk-like divebomb and a vicious series of claw swipes.

It's Riika, though, who receives much of the remaining ire -- and it's a familiar shape of ire indeed. The electric UFO darts for her next, and this time, it *does* stab in. It seems to have noticed the GuAIZ's massive power draw, and intends to -- after getting that initial hit -- drain it dry by forcing the Phase Shift Armor to activate with repeated strikes.

KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with What -- Are You Stupid?!
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver targets Riika Sheder with UFO Point Drive!
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver targets Alouette Pommier with UFO Point Stab!
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver targets Mari Makinami Illustrious with Diriver Claws Strike!
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver targets Rikka Takarada with Diriver Claws Strike!
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver targets Renais Cardiff with Diriver Claws Strike!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley successfully Evades Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver's What -- Are You Stupid?
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver roots its unit, coming to a standstill and leaving it vulnerable.
KTS: Rikka Takarada parries Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver's Diriver Claws Strike, taking 555 damage!
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver has engaged Rikka Takarada!
KTS: Riika Sheder has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Riika Sheder has activated the Focus Spirit Command.
KTS: [Lucky] Riika Sheder's Ace Maneuver activates, and luck goes her way!
KTS: Riika Sheder successfully Evades Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver's UFO Point Drive
KTS: Kaworu Nagisa targets Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver with Pass!
KTS: Riku Asakura has activated the Trick Spirit Command.
KTS: Riku Asakura has activated the Trick Spirit Command.
KTS: Riku Asakura has activated the Trick Spirit Command.
KTS: Alouette Pommier fails to react to Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver's UFO Point Stab, taking 2400 damage!
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver begins a Formation attack!

<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.

"Callie's? Then--" Rena frowns, for a moment. She nods, though. "All right--that tells me what we need to do!"

She knows how funnels work. She used fin funnels, in the past. The Prophecy doesn't have them, but it helps Rena deal with that conceptually. She keeps climbing, the GERWALK soaring up higher and higher, even as Arriety speaks. 'The Zeta can't possibly go up that high.' She bites her lip. "Arriety, then--"

Except the Zeta makes wings erupt. Myrme, rather, makes wings appear: huge gossamer wings, that help give it more height as it rises up. "Arriety!?" she calls out. "Are--are you okay in there? Is Minae okay? Is--" A moment's hesitation. "Is Myrme?"

The GERWALK's legs and arms fold in. The Hyper Mega Launcher fires, an immense beam of golden light erupts, and the YF-25A banks around it, before the arms and legs unfold once more, and it keeps climbing upward. She grits her teeth, as she feels the gee forces pick up, slamming her back against the Prophecy's cockpit chair. She sees the beam fire -- there's a sudden flicker of awareness, a moment before it does. It comes like a flash of light, lightning crackling between her eyes, and then the Prophecy moves sharply to one side.

The Prophecy rises up, over the afterimages of the beam, and then comes in closer to Anti. The GERWALK-mode fighter swings back a fist as it gets closer; the pinpoint barriers swing across the hull, all gathering on the fist, which shines brilliantly. Then, Rena slams the Prophecy's fist for the kaiju's head.

"Tsutsujidai is connecting!" Rena says. "And... that's okay! But you don't have to do this! If everything's changing, why are you still hung up on beating Gridman!"

She says that -- but then she draws in a gasp, because she looks up through the cockpit. Above her is a city -- but it's all wrong, somehow, because it's too perfect. Like a circuit or a chip; a PLANT-like a pillar in the middle -- and some gargantuan thing in the sky. Rena's eyes widen.

She starts realizing what Anti must have wanted them to see. "What... what's this? Arriety, Chief Shishioh, are you seeing this?"

KTS: Rena Lancaster targets Anti with Pinpoint Barrier Punch!
KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious has activated the Wall Spirit Command.
KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious's EN Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage.
KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious fails to parry Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver's Diriver Claws Strike, taking 1980 damage!
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver has engaged Mari Makinami Illustrious!
KTS: Riku Asakura has deployed in Ultraform X.
KTS: Riku Asakura has changed loadout.

<Pose Tracker> Sho Utsumi has posed.

The world...

Is fake.

As footage above the cloud cover provides information, Sho's eyes widen. This...explains too much, yet destroys his brain in an instant. "Tsutsujidai is..."

Akane. She creates the kaiju. Did she...?

"No...no! What about my family vacations as a child, my trips out of town..."

This is the moment, Sayla Mass might decide, that will make or break Sho Utsumi as a leader and a captain. For a moment, it seems like he's gonna fall into despair and jeopardize the mission.

"Hah..."

He grabs the microphone slowly, breath unsteady. In his heart, in his mind...as much as this hurts, it doesn't matter. What matters is what's in front of them. Tsutsujidai may be 'fake', but the experiences are real. Allowing it to be destroyed...even if his voice is raw, and his heart is screaming, he shouts out.

"Ultraman Geed! GRIDMAN! Don't allow this to hold you back! Stop this Anti, and...save him! He's exposed the world, we'll expose a truth to him and the person listening - heroism still exists! This is my Taraba Theory!" He mashes on the keyboard, sending them his observational data.

"LET'S GO, GRIDMAN!"

KTS: Sho Utsumi targets Riku Asakura and Yuta Hibiki with All-Out.
KTS: Sho Utsumi orders an all-out attack, raising Yuta Hibiki's Skill!
KTS: Sho Utsumi has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Riku Asakura
KTS: Sho Utsumi has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Yuta Hibiki
KTS: Sho Utsumi has activated the Foresee Spirit Command targeting Riku Asakura
KTS: Sho Utsumi has activated the Foresee Spirit Command targeting Yuta Hibiki
KTS: Sho Utsumi orders an all-out attack, raising Riku Asakura's Skill!
KTS: Riika Sheder has activated the Trick Spirit Command.
KTS: Riku Asakura uses Install

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

From Sayla's section of Synchrotank, Rikka receives updated data taking the new situation in consideration.

"This is good, thanks." Rikka replies. It'll be much easier to act with this.

Indeed, Rikka hasn't met Mari before - it's an unfamiliar pilot that responds to her when she mentions Kaworu.

"Okay... I'll trust you, then." Rikka replies with a nod. Kaworu assures her, then, that he's just acting as a support pilot. "...That's good. And, it's okay, don't worry about that."

Anti speaks - this is the truth of Tsutsujidai. The clouds part, and truth is revealed. Rikka stares in disbelief - at the city hanging over their heads, at the mountainous region in the distance...

"...What is this? What are we seeing?" She asks, finding it difficult to process all of this. "Has all of this been here the whole time...?"

It was not long ago that her world had been flipped onto its head. Here it is again - another blow to her view of the world. It's all so much to take in... but the kaiju has no intention of letting her process it.

Diriver dips down, and its only thanks to a blip of warning from Synchrotank that Rikka realises it's descending upon her. Quickly, Synchrotank's parrying knife is drawn, catching the raking claws and redirecting them. Diriver's claws scrape across already melted armor, resulting in much less damage inflicted than could have been.

Rikka is still distracted... but, she can hear Utsumi speak from near Junk. ...He isn't wrong. It might not be directed at her, but his speech helps all the same.

"I guess we still have to deal with this." Rikka decides. Synchrotank takes aim at Diriver, hand vulcans opening fire - all for the goal of forcing it into the firing range of her other allies.

KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Riika Sheder
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Renais Cardiff
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Alouette Pommier
KTS: Rikka Takarada targets Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver with Hand Vulcan Leading Fire!

<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.

"<It's *what*?>" Riika blurts that out on open comms. She knows about DG Cells, of course, but she's never seen any in person and she was pretty glad of that before. If that kaiju is DG Cell infected... "<Aren't they supposed to be gone?>" She's not entirely sure she wants to put herself in the hands of the Federation again.

She'll just have to *not* touch it. Or hope the Phase Shift armour holds. Would it even work against that? She has no idea.

She has to deal with a UFO first, though. Riika sees it coming for her, and there seems to be no way she can get out of it. The GuAIZ is capable enough on the ground but it came at a bad moment, crouched down to fire more accurately, and it looks like it's a sitting duck. The UFO darts in, stabbing -

At the last moment, Riika isn't there. The lifter, left alone, has returned for her. Riika doesn't even have time to mount it properly; she hangs off it with both the GuAIZ' hands gripping it, dangling in exactly the way they told her never ever to do when she first tested the thing. She wouldn't have done it *now* except she couldn't think of any other way to avoid the UFO. As is the GuAIZ is getting thruster exhaust to the head and scorch marks on its arms. Dangling, she fires, doing her best to deter the UFO from chasing her down and grabbing by using the hip-mounted cannons to drive it - or herself - away.

It hikes her up about two hundred meters, then she drops from it, landing on it feet-first. It's about that instant that the skies clear for her, and she sees:

Home. Sort of.

Riika has lived on a PLANT for her entire life. The pillar, the mirror - those are as well-known to her as the back of her own hand. Better; she doesn't look at the back of her hands all that often. The impossible city, the upside-down city at the pinch of the hourglass, less so. Nothing should be there, certainly not ... something like that.

And, through the cables, or where the cables should be, a split wreck. Her lifter's guncam spotted it. Riika knows that one, too. You can't live in PLANTs and not know it, even if she hadn't flown to it plenty. Even if she hadn't flown there *today*.

"This is - the PLANT! That's Junius Seven..." Riika's heart catches. What is going on? It's the worst-case scenario - she had originally started investigating because she wanted to make sure nobody could walk through, end up in space... possibly die for it. Now the entire thing is here.

An impossible, improbable PLANT.

KTS: Riika Sheder targets Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver with MMI-M15 Xiphias Rail Cannon Staggered Fire!
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver fails to react to Kaworu Nagisa's Pass, taking 0 damage!
Riika Sheder has cancelled her attack.

KTS: Riika Sheder targets Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver with Pass!
Riika Sheder has cancelled her attack.

KTS: Riika Sheder targets Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver with MMI-M15 Xiphias Rail Cannon Proximity Shot!
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver successfully avoids Rikka Takarada's Hand Vulcan Leading Fire
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver partially guards Riika Sheder's MMI-M15 Xiphias Rail Cannon Proximity Shot, taking 6600 damage!
KTS: Riika Sheder repulses Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver, forcing it to disengage.

<Pose Tracker> Arriety Hearn has posed.

        Arriety's always felt a connection she can't quite put into words with Myrmekes, but this particular adaption makes it one thing clear: they're inextricably linked... and 'adaptation' isn't only something that's physical. Just as much as she's expanding her senses, adapting to the big and scary world...

        She listens to Sayla. "DG Cell...? From that incident three years ago..." She grimaces tighter. "Myrme, it'll be really bad if that gets to us. Let's be careful."

        A longer pause, and she says, "Thanks for the warning, um... Doctor Mass." She doesn't know codenames, so she's hoping it won't be an issue.

        Rena asks if Myrme's okay, and Myrme chirps back through the tightbeam: "Hanging... in there...!"

        Minae's doing a lot of the work, and even as Arriety sweats, she listens to her; it's a lot of difficulty to keep an eye on everything, but she's starting to get used to it, little by little...

        But Anti yells -- THIS is the truth of Tsutsujidai! The truth...

        Arriety doesn't miss the significance of the posture -- that he's now the one 'standing', so high above, that the rest of the world is now 'little'... standing above a kaiju that is laid prostrate, its most vulnerable parts exposed to the world before...

        ... and the world above. An inverted city, in greens, blues and blacks... it reminds her of something very electronic, like a computer. And there's a pillar in the center... she hasn't been to a colony like that, but she's seen pictures of the PLANTs before...

        Rena asks her and Guy if she's seeing what they're seeing. "I do... it's like the pictures of the PLANT that we wanted to visit, Rena, Guy, isn't it? What does that mean? Are we in space, in the end? I--"

        Anti directly addresses her, and she feels a cut directly at her heart--

        He sees her.

        "I don't... I don't disagree. My own world is expanding..."

        Arriety's hands grip the controls of the Zeta. "Once, I shrivelled up in my own little world, afraid of everything that could possibly enter it... then Myrme entered my world..."

        Her eyes flash, as Diriver roars forward and lashes out with its claws and tears a horrendous gash across its torso -- unlike the other machines here, Anti's claws definitely touch against something that's a mixture of flesh and metal.

        Not unlike...

        The DG Cells are going to be a problem, as Dr. Mass warned. "Minae, are-- are we infected? What do we need to do?"

        She can't focus on that at the moment, though.

        "... what you're feeling right now ... I know that feeling! That feeling that you've finally gotten power! That you can stand tall above everyone else and push back with violence like they've done to you!!"

        Arriety's vitals are shooting through the roof. Her teeth tighten as her eyes begin to tear up. Minae can feel it start to flicker -- the Bio-Sensor is coming online, as that bizarre pinkish fire starts to erupt through the darkness of Tsutsujidai's Truth.

        As her own pupils shrink, a crimson seed bursting in the forefront of her mind as it alights upon a shallow pool of clear water.

        "... but it didn't make me feel better in the end! Watching the drama club burn down, watching the whole high school go up in flames... if anything, it made me feel more horrible... more hollow!"

        The panel in front of the sensor is warping again, and Minae can see all the circuits in the mysterious machine flicker and warp and erratically twist: nothing's operating on pure systems engineering anymore, just raw emotion, as the burning Zeta pops a cylindrical tube from its forearm and generates a beam saber...

        "Don't fall into that darkness!"

        And it grows -- larger, larger, larger, until she seeks to just bear it all down upon Diriver and Sky Anti, if she can catch both in the wake of its hollow, regretful wake.

KTS: Arriety Hearn targets Anti with Hyper Beam Sword - Burst Strike!

<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.

As the clouds clear, Gridman looks up at the upside-down city in the sky. He hovers in place, staring. "What is that..?" Yuta asks, in equal parts wonder and horror. "Utsumi, can you see -- agh!" Anti's attack hits Gridman head-on, sending him spiraling downward for a few moments.

- heroism still exists!" Shouts Utsumi, and Gridman finds the strength to stabilize himself. He flies in a wide arc, coming in close to Sky Anti at top speed. "He's right! It doesn't matter -- none of this matters, not right now! We're going to save you, Anti!"

Light builds around Gridman's left arm. "Gridlight Saber... slash!" Almost as though he were jousting, the attack strikes Anti as Gridman races past.

KTS: Yuta Hibiki targets Anti with Gridlight Saber Slash!

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

Nidaime seems deeply pleased. Guy feels suddenly acutely like Sayla should be the one having this conversation. "That entrance was pretty great," he says. "Though...." ... The claws....

And Sayla makes the connection for him. "We're gonna have to be careful of those claws, then," Guy says. "Yeah. We'll get his message through! Even if--!"

He finally actually notices the new surroundings. "Even if," he says, limply. "What....is this...!?"

The Wadatsumi's Branch Order Room answers swiftly. "Collecting data now!" Yamaji hollers. "Structural similarity to a PLANT-type Colony is high but not perfect!" Tamara rattles. "Spectrometer reading on the reverse city is inconclusive all I can tell you is it probably has mass!" "That's not sure at all!" Yamaji belts back.

For now: "No. If this place was just some hidden PLANT we'd have found this much sooner. Something else is going on. Let's trust in the Order Room, for now!"

"That's right, Anti," Guy says. "Just like you asked." Unfortunately, Guy isn't the most obliging about the 'no hitting' thing, but he can do the next best: He throws out his left arm, lightning crackling along the fingers. "But I do have to ask you to SIT STILL! PLASMA! HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLD!"

Lightning blazes out from GaoFighGar's left hand, burning across the revealed night to grasp Anti and drag him closer. "If we're communicating with our fists...I need you up close!!"

KTS: Guy Shishioh has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Anti fails to evade Rena Lancaster's Pinpoint Barrier Punch, taking 2700 damage!
KTS: Rena Lancaster has engaged Anti!
KTS: Guy Shishioh has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Guy Shishioh targets Anti with Plasma Hold!

<Pose Tracker> Nidaime has posed.

Shit starts getting real.

But before that Nidaime smiles because if she could understand what Anti is trying to say, surely Akane could. "What a knight..." She murmurs fondly. "I'm here... Like I said I'd be." Anti is a little freer with his language. He shares what he learned. He communicates. He...

Nidaime curls her hand, as if she were trying to hold another's--even at this distance. She doesn't say anything for a moment. And nothing for another moment. She's hear. She's listening.

But then she recognizes how close they are to breaking the clouds--A concern hits her and she says, "Guy wait--" a little too slowly as they pierce the cover of the clouds and into...

The reality and the cognitive mix.

"No...!" Nidaime shouts. "Guy...! This isn't good! I need to-- communicate...! Can I...?"

Suddenly Guy might notice a shimmering outline of a woman wearing a long dress with a treble clef sitting in the StealthGao with Nidaime.

"It's happening..." Unison murmurs. "But it can't be this way. This isn't simply..."

Nidaime activates the speaksers of the StealthGao and speaks.

"Um. Everyone. Hi."

"This is really bad. We are experiencing a Chaos Bringer effect. The Cognitive Layer is merging with your reality, the Corporeal Layer. This isn't simply Tsutsujidai entering your reality. It's merging with it. If this isn't stopped, it could get worse real fast. Emotions will be able to reshape reality, and not neccessary needing an act of will to make it so. Kaiju of the hearts might sprout out without any guiding will. And the worse it gets, the more likely the bonds humanity has with one another might be severed and all we'd have is Tsutsujidais all to our self. And if that's tempting...I understand. But please... protect your bonds with one another instead of a world of false heavens."

"I'm sorry, I tried to stop it," Nidaime says. "I'm sorry." Her good mood evaporates in an instant as she sinks back. "Why now... We were so close, Guy... If only we could have convinced her sooner."

She lowers her head. "I don't... know how to fix this. Mama...what do I do?"

"You did your best, dear. You made us proud." Unison strokes the side of Nidaime's cheek.

"Don't give up on them yet. There's still Gridman."

Nidaime nods once to her mother. "Okay, mama..."

She clasps her hands together.

And she prays.

And Unison hums a soft lullaby, one Nidaime hadn't heard since shortly after her creation. They hold each other close.

KTS: Nidaime targets Guy Shishioh and Yuta Hibiki with Awe.
KTS: Nidaime has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Guy Shishioh
KTS: Nidaime has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Yuta Hibiki
KTS: Nidaime has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Riku Asakura
KTS: Renais Cardiff fails to react to Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver's Diriver Claws Strike, taking 2775 damage!
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver has engaged Renais Cardiff!
KTS: Nidaime inspires awe, increasing Yuta Hibiki's Morale!

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

"<I won't be expecting anything from you.>" Asuka says to Riika, however, it isn't an outright rejection, after all... "<See if you can manage exceed that bar.>"

Mari's rebuttal and accusation of being that early gets a sudden turn of Eva-02's head at her clap and bow. As her own unit gesticulates the Thunder Spear at Eva-04 angrily. "<I'm going with the flow! You're expected to improvise damnit!>" For however acerbic Asuka is, she does not actually curse often, which of course means that Mari's reaction just brings the passion out of her too, doesn't it?

Rikka though with her rush points out an important detail, and Asuka snaps to catching it. Whereas Sayla offers a firing solution, as Asuka's eyes follow the data the mysterious individual on the Comms is offering. If she'd demanded her compliance, she would have rejected it outright. However, 'Do with it what you will' is just fine by her, "<... Alright. We'll get the job done.>"

Asuka's about to do just that, as her Evangelion starts to advance... when Kaworu transmits an important fact to her. If it were tactical advice, there's a strong chance she'd ignore it. However it's something more important to her, and her Evangelion abruptly freezes in response to her shock. "<... No way. That munchkin... is a Kaiju?>" She doesn't want to believe it. That kid. That awkward kid shouting at Nouvelle Tokyo about Tarabaman, stealing scraps of food off the table. ... The one being abused by his big sister, taken advantage of, neglected, ridiculed - who freezes when Asuka raises her voice is the same as that Accordion armed Purple Kaiju she'd fought time after time.

The one with a single-minded purpose to kill Gridman, her with just as single minded a purpose towards being an Eva pilot and killing Angels.

Her whole body shakes, trembles... "I offered that... to a Kaiju." Her teeth gnash so hard the LCL bubbles, as she's filled with anger at the betrayal, remorse at her actions... and understanding, of monsters that she killed time after time as just another day at the office.

... this one is like her, in so many uncomfortable ways, so much so that she tried to offer him a better life...

A UFO faces her, crackling with electricity. And then surges forward as a drill, the Evangelion hooks up her Thunderspear as if to match the Drill's advance. It stops point blank in front of Asuka, even in front of her Bayonet. Even through the intense blinding wave of anger, she can understand the feint. She understands its message. The girl within bellows her rage at these revelations, with a second curse of the night, "ggggoooOOOOODDDDD-" The Evangelion's whole body jerks down as the point of the drill discharges right over where its chest once was. The blindingly bright wave of electricity discharging over Unit-02's head, "-DAMNNNNNIT!"

The Evangelion suddenly takes off like a sprinter at the block, feet cratering the city's unreinforced streets in certain spots from the violence of her advance, as she screams her rage, "LET ME TEACH YOU HOW TO DO IT-" The Evangelion streaks up to Diriver, discarding the crossbow on the way, as she holds the Bayonet with one hand leading. "-RIGHT YOU BRAT!"

There's a sudden alarming build of energy, lightning crackling from the tip as its about to enter the center mass of Diriver. At the last possible second though, the Evangelion drops it. As its right hand hooks UP to try grasp Diriver by the neck with a sudden leaping surge of motion. Its left hand, now empty draws backwards to try to strike it in the face brutally, again, and again - uncaring of whatever blows it would trade, before the Evangelion ducks down looks up where it's trying to hold it by the neck.

A pylon explodes open, and she tries to send a faceful of impaling stakes right into its upper torso and body in a display of alarming savagery. Her Evangelion... takes one of them through the forearm, and another through the hand doing this.

The pilot within doesn't care, even through the haze of sudden pain that wracks her.

KTS: Nidaime has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Yuta Hibiki
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver with EVA-02 Martial Arts Focus Strike!
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver fails to react to Asuka Shikinami Langley's EVA-02 Martial Arts Focus Strike, taking 5940 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asuka Shikinami Langley's Sole Shikinami activates, causing Insight L1!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver!

<Pose Tracker> BC-001 Minae has posed.

        "... there's nothing wrong with someone's world being small," the robot says after a moment of thought. Minae doesn't broadcast the words, doesn't yell them aloud like Guy or Gridman might. Instead she just keeps her eyes trained on the monitor, talking almost to herself. Maybe it's a rehearsal for when he can be more receptive tot them - or maybe she thinks they actually can reach Anti even now.

        She glances at her copilot - one of her dearest friends, and a testament to what she's about to say. "And there's nothing wrong with someone's world starting to connect outwards, either. I think that's generally a good thing, so long as it's done at its own pace. ... but it can be a slow, lengthy process. Even if you want that process to be recognized, this might be forcing it too much."

        There's sympathy in her voice - and realisation, as well. She'd been speaking from gut instinct, but an important aspect of Tsutsujidai just clicked into place for her. And then several more, as she registers what awaits for them behind the cloud cover, her eyes widening in surprise. Automatically, she finds herself trying to chart the available space, but her attempts to revise her onboard map are confused and preliminary, and it takes her longer than she'd like to actually get a sense of the space they're in.

        "Ah-- we're all okay! I think!" her voice is maybe a little too cheery when she addresses Rena, because the robot doesn't really have any experience with this side of the Zeta's abilities. "There's a lot of extra power drain, but I'm helping as much as I can!" In a literal sense - she may not be a Super-Big Super AI, but she still has a G-Stone inside of her whose output she can control if she really needs it.

        Are they in an actual place? She's not really sure. Tsutsujidai felt so dreamlike and disconnected that even with it laid bare like this, Minae isn't sure if she's seeing euclidean space. Part of her briefly thinks in pure logic: they can't see anything outside, so they might be in an enclosed area, a PLANT colony that has been kept hidden and secret. Part of her counters: okay, but the train? And why are we below a circuit board? It's something to consider later.

        Minae feels that shiver run through the Myrmekes, and draws in a second breath. In the past, she'd been fearful of the change that this caused in Arriety, in a phenomenon she could see but couldn't feel. Extrasensory perception she's used to; she's accepted that as something she can't feel, but this is a clear disparity between what her senses and her brain are telling her. ... she decides, ultimately, to trust Arriety. That's the most important thing.

        Thankfully she still has a route into the Myrmekes' systems, as strange and confusing as it is right at this moment. It lets her confirm once thing, at least: "We're alright. It's only on him," she notes with relief, because as a mechanical construct she can't help but feel especially wary of DG Cells. What it might do to her sense of self, her core, if she were taken over by rewriting nanomachines... she can't begin to guess.

        "You've got this," she adds a promises as she places a hand on the girl's back. "You've come a long way. Let them know how you feel."

KTS: BC-001 Minae targets Arriety Hearn with Sparkle!
KTS: BC-001 Minae sparkles, reducing Arriety Hearn's incoming damage!

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

        Diriver dives to intercept, and Liam is quietly grateful for it. He feels the impact travel up his arm; he overextended a little, but compensates for it anyway, using a burst of the jets to correct. The Proto Helios whips through a 180-degree arc, executing the turn with what should be crushing, disorienting speed. Vent covers on its upper arms and chest detach, forming shields on the back of its arms. Diriver's claws gouge through one shield, but the Proto Helios jets up and to the side, putting metal in the way. A horrible scraping noise echoes through the sky.

        Liam glances at his HUD, and sees the little pixellated Minae tapping urgently at his objective. "Engaging as ordered," he says, his voice tight as he responds to the Super-AI. "Kaiju B--Anti--is secondary target?" But the HUD is still highlighting something else: Alouette's GAT-01. Still in one piece, and operational. Good. Her voice crackles over his radio.

        'I promise I will. You stay safe too, Liam.'

        "Understood," Liam says. He can't make any promises right now. Not when the boy who tried to drag him back is right over there, a colossal, airborne beast with God-knows-what in the way of armaments. Liam saw 'Kaiju B' endure the concentrated attacks of a Vajra heavy and 'Kaiju A', as well as splash fire from the VFs. Anti still had enough left in the tank to suplex the Vajra into 'Kaiju A'.

        'This is the truth of Tsutsujidai! Now, I'm the one in control! LOOK AT ME!'

        "Your handlers," Liam says, his voice almost breaking again. The Proto Helios jukes left and right like a boxer, jetting back and forth in midair. It has the feeling of automatic motion. Mentally, Liam is back in the Crucible test chamber, watching from his deactivated simulator pod as Hephaestus takes orders from someone who is merely a scrambled voice over text-to-speech. "BioNet? Someone else? Who did this? Please. Stop. We can help."

        '<The Kaiju has a DG Cell infection.>' The modulated voice speaks, and the pieces fall into place with sickening little clicks. Anti was the Protector. Anti drove a Death Army unit into Nouvelle Tokyo.

        Chaos Bringer effect. Merging. Worse. Kaiju. Bonds. Severed. Kaiju. Goddammit.

        Sweat drips down Liam's brow. The Proto Helios stops its weak, back-and-forth bobbing, and hangs in the air, its frame shaking. The heat-aura around it grows bright and hot enough to ionize the air.

        "Who did this?" Liam says, his voice a ragged sob. "Why--why do they do this?" They're in a PLANT. They're in another dimension. Liam has lost all pretense of knowing what's going on. A dull roar emanates from within the belly of his machine, and it twirls in mid-air; plasma vents violently from its weaponized reactor, curling into a long streamer, a bright, burning arc. The Proto Helios lunges forward, throwing the streamer like a javelin. It launches forward with violent speed, turning end over end as it seeks out Diriver.

        Liam can't bring himself to strike at Anti right now.

KTS: Liam 7-020 targets Anti with FACULA - Solar Flare!

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

Alouette's Dagger takes a hefty hit from the kaiju's blade attack, knocking it back and causing not-insignificant damage. Flinching from the attack, but electing to continue the fight, Alouette opens her eyes to a completely different scenery. Tsutsujidai has warped... or more accurately, it has exposed its true form. "The psychic rupture..." Everything she is seeing was outlined in Akane's chart. But why now? The quickest conclusion is that it must be Anti's doing but no... the only person who can do this must be the *center* of the world itself. And Alouette has all the reason to believe that this city was the creation of Akane.

For the first time in this battle, Alouette begins to lose the will to fight... but she remembers her conversation with the Chief. He would never give up fighting for this city - the people of Tsutsujidai are still *people*. And Akane may fancy herself a god, but she's human too. She must be just as scared that her world is crumbling, is she not?

Alouette calls out to her allies still fighting on the ground. "Everyone, do not lose hope! Tsutsujidai may be artificial but... we still have people to protect." Is that what the other Braves would say? Alouette recalibrates the Dagger and prepares to open fire at the kaiju.

KTS: Guy Shishioh anchors Anti, forcing him into close range.
KTS: Anti fails to evade Guy Shishioh's Plasma Hold, taking 2800 damage!
KTS: Guy Shishioh has engaged Anti!
KTS: Anti fails to evade Yuta Hibiki's Gridlight Saber Slash, taking 5800 damage!
KTS: Yuta Hibiki has engaged Anti!
KTS: Kaworu Nagisa has activated the Resupply Spirit Command targeting Mari Makinami Illustrious
KTS: Anti blocks Liam 7-020's FACULA - Solar Flare, taking 6050 damage!
KTS: Anti fails to retreat.
KTS: Anti fails to react to Arriety Hearn's Hyper Beam Sword - Burst Strike, taking 6840 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Arriety Hearn's Boundary of Life and Death activates, causing Insight L1!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Arriety Hearn's Boundary of Life and Death activates, causing Jam L1!
KTS: Arriety Hearn has engaged Anti!
KTS: Nidaime inspires awe, increasing Guy Shishioh's Morale!
KTS: Alouette Pommier targets Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver with 8-Tube Missile Launcher!
KTS: You have not deployed a robot. (see +deploy)
Target is not in combat.

KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver fails to react to Alouette Pommier's 8-Tube Missile Launcher, taking 5280 damage!
KTS: Alouette Pommier has activated the Attune Spirit Command targeting Liam 7-020

<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.

        So this is the truth of Tsutsujidai. A digital city above. An empty world below. The pillar that connects them like a PLANT colony-

        Akane arrived at just before the last school year, didn't she? And that you can reach this place from Junius 7. "It's the Bloody Valentine Incident." She says, inside of the Synchrotank. "Akane arrived just before March 0095, right? Then this place..."

        Sayla grimaces. Rikka and Sho and Yuta and Gridman, they should know. Renais should know. If they don't know already. "...Akane's not just not from Tsutsujidai, she's from our world. And the destruction of Junius 7 pushed her over the edge." She grimaces. "THAT'S when Alexis grabbed her, and took her here."

        Sayla remembers that voice. She heard it once, incredibly briefly, when Nidaime had come into her care. "...Unison." This must be serious. "...You heard them, I'm echoing Utsumi's command, we need to-" And thern the horrid surge of emotion rolls off of Unit-02 and Sayla is washed back with it, losing her footing. She grits her teeth, and reforwards Utsumi's data- to Rikka, to Alouette, to Renais. "<You need to put a stop a to this. Anti has a will to survive, we have to rely on it.>" Alouette gets the benefit of Sayla's actual voice here. Guy already knows, after all.

        She looks at the control switch function. That will to survive better be strong.

KTS: Sayla Mass targets Rikka Takarada, Renais Cardiff, and Alouette Pommier with All-Out.
KTS: Sayla Mass orders an all-out attack, raising Rikka Takarada's Skill!
KTS: Sayla Mass has activated the Rouse Spirit Command targeting Alouette Pommier
KTS: Kaworu Nagisa has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Mari Makinami Illustrious
KTS: Riku Asakura has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
KTS: Riku Asakura: Will Barrier Activates.

<Pose Tracker> Riku Asakura has posed.

For a moment, the world is inverted for Riku, he's falling a different way...but quickly recovers and maneuvers back towards where gravity went the other way. It's a feeling of vertigo, he realizes, not gravity. There is a world above him, beyond the reds, greens, and blues of the circuit board. Below them is the large pillar. The mountains that the Pillar hooked into.

The world...that was the truth of Tsutsujidai. Riku, inside the Ultra that is his outer body stares in awe...but now some things fall into place. The Kaiju, makes sense now. The outsiders are connected by invisible strings. From this angle, the world isn't what they were led to believe. The real city only occupied such a little space. He takes a breath...

More than that, he sees that Anti refuses to get into melee with them. "Oh...Anti.." he says, but knows the Kaiju still needs to be stopped. That is why he called on them. Why Anti TRUSTED Riku. It wasn't just a last-ditch at Gridman, but it was also to show them the truth...but to also show her.

Diriver's claws dive in, Riku attempting to move closer, to duck under the attack and get closer. However, this time it was Diriver that comes up on top of the attack, the claws getting Toku sparks from their strike and sending Ultraman Geed flying downwards.

It's Nidaime's voice that first reaches him. The direness of the situation...the implications of it. To seal each and every person in their own personal heaven but at the cost of cutting themselves off from everything else...from everyone else. This is followed by Utsumi, in this critical stage of his life. The realization that everything he thought might be a lie.

Instead, refusing to fall into false happiness. Refusing to fall into despair. Those feelings reach Geed. Riku's eyes snap open. The coin from Orb pops out and he places it in the coin with X's face. There is a change, it's subtle at first but Riku changes direction, flying back up at Diriver and Anti. The Circle gem on his chest was replaced with a small X. "Ultraform X, Magnificent!"

"You put your faith in us Anti, and now it's time to show you that it wasn't misplaced. You too Sho...Yuta...Guy..." a pause, "Akane, if you can hear me...do not lose yourself to this. Don't avert your eyes from this! Break free!" With that, a Slugger appears on his forehead, filled with the colors of the Rainbow. Sparks of energy, in every color of the rainbow, shoot out from him in strange electric patterns.

Ultraman Geed flies up and over the two Kaiju, his hands sparking with dangerous electrical light as he brings both hands into an L shape. "BIG BUSTAWAY!" Which is followed by a stream of light in the shape of a beam, aiming to strike right through to the Kaiju. Challenging it is an exercise in futility, everything it strikes it crushes through, aiming to pierce anything.

KTS: Riku Asakura targets Anti with Big Bustaway!
KTS: Anti fails to retreat.
KTS: [Mirage] Anti's UFO Regeneration activates, and he slips into a mirage.
KTS: Anti fails to react to Riku Asakura's Big Bustaway, taking 0 damage!
KTS: Riku Asakura has engaged Anti!

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

Unit-04 -can- fly. It's a fact perhaps very few outside the very two people currently inside its entry plug would know. Because what it requires...

Well, it's a requirement that will remain a mystery for now, our dear readers.

Today, Mari Makinami elects not to take wing. With the UFOs briefly destroyed, she instead holsters her assault rifle at her Evangelion's back; the gleaming yellow of its eyes regard the piercing fog as its head tilts up.

'...Anti...' murmurs Kaworu.

"It's spread far," she notes evenly in the aftermath of Kaworu's concern. "He probably doesn't have much time left. But you know... even the tiniest sliver of time is all the time in the world when you have something you want to live for." Want. Not need.

It's a fact that she would expand on, except --

A false sky opens up on a false world, revealing an upside-down city of circuits caught in a PLANT's hourglass.

Mari Makinami Illustrious stares, wide-eyed, at the world of circuitry above her. In the fact of all that, she really has only one thing left to say:

"Ara."

There's so much to take in, and so much that Mari processes with disconcerting rapidity. Blue eyes narrow. Her smile briefly fades into a thin-lipped neutrality.

She can see Unit-02, she can feel the building rage from it in her peripherals. She knows why; after all, she knows her highness very well. But...

"Do you think the Wizard of Oz enjoys it when they fail to pay no attention to the man behind the curtain?"

It's a question she leaves for the pale-haired partner left in her care beside her. But it's one that doesn't get much time to be dwelled upon; soon enough, it's the Diriver itself, the puppeteer puppet, that dives down deep past the parted clouds to bring a direct offensive Mari's way. Her eyes widen -- but her response is an immediate, and visceral one:

She -jams- on the controls of the Evangelion Unit-04 to send it -charging- straight into the divebombing kaiju.

<"BRING IT ON!">

Unit-04 leaps. Its Rapidborers snap into place with the whining hiss of spinning drillbits. But those weapons wind up a singular second too late; Diriver meets the bloom of Unit-04's AT Field with a pulsating POUND of impact, but it only slows and mutes the initial impact. Those claws tear into armor plating, sheering off chunks of silver-white without mercy. Bubbles -burst- off Mari's left arm and the right side of her chest, both parts of her plugsuit glowing a bright, violent red as she yanks backwards in her throne as Unit-04 crashes into the ground below. Several seconds of silence pass by. And then:

"D-damn," hisses Mari, as her Evangelion draws itself up. "Your symbolism is as ferocious as you are, kitten. I like it!"

She rolls her shoulders, an action mimicked by her Eva. And then--

<"But don't think--">

And with that, she -charges- at Diriver, in perfect time to Unit-02's savage attack. And as Asuka pounds at it, tries to wrangle it --

--Unit-04 comes in from underneath, aiming one Rapidborer to -uppercut- into the spindly Kaiju's midsection.

<"--I'm gonna let you off THAT EASY!">

And then, it activates those drill bits, to full speed, as it continues to -shove- that gauntlet violently upwards, drills screaming a violent chorus as they go.

KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious has activated the Attune Spirit Command.
KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious targets Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver with Rapidborer - Savaging!

<Pose Tracker> Renais Cardiff has posed.

        The clouds part... and the veil lifts away from the world.

        Renais looks out from Tsutsujidai... into the inky black of space in one direction, then toward the mountain-pillar in the other. The strange city in the sky, far above...

        "This world is..." She thinks back to her time spent at the edge of town, atop the Sluice Gate with Kaworu. Looking back, away from the city--there was land. There was a world beyond. "But how..." she murmurs, staring up at the tilted mirror far above.

        She grunts, trying to sidestep Diriver's claws... and failing. The Gernsback nearly loses its footing, skidding back, and Renais draws and slashes across the kaiju with her Monomolecular Blade. "Shit!"

        She doesn't understand what Nidaime's telling her--but she understands enough. What's happening--what would happen from here--is bad... but... they can use it. "Focus on the bonds between each other..." she murmurs. She lifts her hand, and the Gernsback mirrors the motion. The G-Stone on her wrist shines, the 'G' sigil within flickering to life.

        On the Gernsback's wrist, the same symbol flickers into being. Her mind reaches out, weak and hesitant at first, through the G-Stone, to touch Guy and Minae's--and to touch them in turn. The bonds of Braves, connected through the Infinite Information Circuit.

Renais reaching out is palpable to the psychics in the area--an *opening* of something closed up, though along channels not quite open *to* them. There's a shift, a change to the tone, the hue of her thoughts. A little clearer... like the filter's been pulled away, a little.

        She speaks without words, without sound, in determination and courage. 'We'll protect this world. We'll protect ours. We'll protect Anti, and Akane, and everyone else.' As Geed releases overwhelming power against Diriver, Renais racks the Boxer in her Gernsback's hands, tagging every UFO in range in her mind--and then, one after another, blasting them away.

        They may not stay dead. But every moment they spend regenerating is a moment they're not attacking.

KTS: Renais Cardiff targets Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver with Boxer 57mm Shotcannon Shotshell Magdump!
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver fails to react to Mari Makinami Illustrious's Rapidborer - Savaging, taking 7680 damage!
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver has been defeated!
KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious has engaged Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver!
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver fails to react to Renais Cardiff's Boxer 57mm Shotcannon Shotshell Magdump, taking 7540 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Renais Cardiff's Defiance activates, causing Sparkle!
KTS: Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver has been defeated!

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        The clouds are pierced, and the truth of this small world is revealed.
        
        Kaworu isn't surprised by this. This is something he's known a long time. He entered Tsutsujidai already knowing the basic shape of it, and has only become more familiar with its shape the more he's visited. But... His eyes turn towards a certain drone, a mere speck in the sky amidst everyone's mechs. Akane is watching. If she's watching this... if what Anti wants to show is the truth, then--
        
        "I see--so that's what you meant to do, Anti...!"
        
        Mari weighs in on the matter of the DG Cells. Kaworu doesn't look her way. It does confirm his suspicions, but that's not tremendously important. "...Yes. He truly is devoted to her..." he murmurs. "But... we share a battlefield with those who would defy fate and create their own destiny." He looks in particular to Gridman and Geed, his expression softening some. "If anyone can save him..."
        
        He leaves it at that, particularly when Nidaime projects the explanation of the situation to everyone. Kaworu's grateful for it; everyone will understand now. But... this means that they were too late, that they took too long. Kaworu's gaze returns to on the drone. There's no changing the past... They can only go forward. He must speak to Akane soon. For now, though--
        
        For now, Asuka takes his news far more harshly than he could have imagined. He'd realized that she and Anti had a bond, but to think she'd react this violently to the truth... Kaworu looks to her as he remembers uncomfortably the traits she has in common with Akane.
        
        He doesn't try to say anything else to her, though. At this point, she surely has no ears for anyone.
        
        ...And it's not as though anyone could convince her to not hate a kaiju.
        
        'Do you think the Wizard of Oz enjoys it when they fail to pay no attention to the man behind the curtain?'
        
        "I suppose it depends on how much they suffer for it," he replies. He doesn't clarify which 'they' he means.
        
        It's just as well, since the Diriver puppet comes careening towards and into Unit-04. Its AT Field blossoms and cracks, and Diriver shreds through it into the unit's armor. As bubbles seethe around Mari, Kaworu grits his teeth in sympathetic pain; he only keeps his right arm still and his left on the throne through an act of will.
        
        But will is a crucial part of piloting an Evangelion. And in a place like this, here and now... it can only give more and greater power to the Unit the two of them currently share. Mari slams the controls, and Kaworu leans down next to her, putting their faces side by side.
        
        He doesn't say anything. He only glances at her a little as she hurls her body and soul into battle. But Mari can no doubt feel his support all the same.

<Pose Tracker> Anti has posed.

        Their world is fake. Their world is created. Their world is designed.

        Anti might not entirely misunderstand Utsumi's feelings, in this moment.

        They're probably not so different to...

        ... his own feelings, opening up a drawer of kaiju seeds, that thing which lies at his heart, which lies in his skin, which forms and contains and shapes and informs him.

        "I was created SOLELY TO CRUSH GRIDMAN!" Anti yells, to Rena. His screams echo through the sky -- perhaps they're even audible down below, loud enough for sensors to pick up and translate. "Even if the reason why is shattering... even if everything we know is wrong... that's the reason I exist! I won't abandon my purpose! I won't abandon the reason why--!!"

        There are some things, perhaps, it would be better to say outright. Not bury the lede with deniable statements which can be dismissed, like trying to clarify the nature of the help he's getting -- the help they're both getting.

        Even so, Anti believes that Akane wishes to figure it out for herself. If he just told her, he's sure she'd ignore him.

        It hurts, all radiating from his claws to his heart, but he'll bear it.

        (A kaiju shouldn't be infected with DG Cells. What, then, does this say about Anti..?)

        Liam asks who, and Anti says, voice tight: "I've already shown you. Who oversees the destruction... who's taking advantage... who's doing the damage." He screams: "The help I've been getting -- IT'S COMING FROM BIONET! We're involved with BioNet! It's dangerous!" There's a tremor to his voice, as if they're words he's been waiting to say for some months.

        "YOU BASTARD!" He yells, to Gridman, in defiance to his will to save him. "As if I'd ever accept your help! AS IF I HAVE A HUMAN HEART!" His anger at Gridman is, if anything, in argument with his stance in the rest of this battle, all conflicted, all twisted up. He doesn't entirely intend it, but... maybe this is another truth of Tsutsujidai, just the same. Even when he's trying to help... "You make me sick! I'LL CRUSH YOU!"

        But it's precisely because his claws are such a metallic grey that he moves away from attempts to engage him physically -- and where he can't dodge, he meets them at his chest, not with his claws. "You don't want that!" He yells, to Guy, even as he manages to grasp him and pull him in. "The metal of my claws is different to my kaiju's -- someone like YOU wouldn't survive!" Thanks to Guy's grapple, Arriety's Hyper Beam Sword is able to catch him, tearing a long vertical gash in his costume.

        As always -- and perhaps this, too, is a metaphor -- there's nothing underneath.

        "I never fell in! I LIVE HERE! I AM hollow!" Anti twists, and screams, to Arriety. "I always WAS! And all I had was my hate! But when I copied everyone's powers... when I adapted... now I'm filled up, now it's horrible! That's what it means when it doesn't feel better, right?! When it feels... when it FEELS...!!"

        A human-hearted kaiju... would come from a different direction, wouldn't he...?

        He wrests away from Guy -- with some effort, given the effort he is, implicitly, making -- only to meet Yuta's Gridlight Saber Slash as he evades, slashing another gash in the costume, another hollow beneath. The light which Gridman holds builds within, and explodes, throwing Anti backwards --

        And there Ultraman Geed catches him, with electric majesty and all the force of his hope and conviction, striking, meeting him with that beam of light. For a moment, there is silence.

        Then, in an explosion so like the UFOs, with just the same logic of disposability, Anti disappears in a cloud of smoke and sparking flame.

        From that explosion comes a voice:

        "FIGURE -- SOMETHING OUT ABOUT HOW THE WORLD WORKS!"

        But what falls in its aftermath is much too small to see.

        Anti sails down. He bounces, just the once, when he hits the ground. A human would have been killed on impact, but despite all his infection and encroachment, he is still not simply human.

        He lies there, scuffed up but unharmed, looking up to the sky.

        "The Second... I'm trusting you with this," he says, to himself, as his aching hands press against the dirt. "Don't mess it up."

        He told them every truth he knows, about Tsutsujidai, but he's not the only kaiju of Tsutsujidai. The kaiju born from Tsutsujidai itself is...

        If Tsutsujidai is going to survive its connection, he needs Nidaime's help.

        ... Anti's world got bigger, too.

<Pose Tracker> Melancholy Darkness Kaiju Diriver has posed.

Do kaiju exist just to be destroyed?

Diriver... just might.

Rikka's bullets don't land true -- but their purpose is to get Diriver and its UFO to *move*, so it doesn't make a difference. The world spins for Riika, but the rail cannons still land true -- Diriver's UFO detonates.

This time, it doesn't come back immediately. Instead, Alouette's missile launcher finds a solid firing solution, bouncing Diriver back around and up, up --

Shot after shot from the Gernsback keeps the remaining UFO subdued, while the Rapidborer comes up to Diriver itself.

When the dust clears, Diriver -- with its anger, and all of its sorrow -- is gone. Tsutsujidai burns, but it burns in stillness once again -- and more than that...

It burns in the world everyone fights for, if imperfectly. The sky seems to flicker between a PLANT's simulated atmosphere and the inverted computer-city... but... it's begun to bleed between the layers, now.

All leaving would entail is passing through one of the mobile suit access airlocks.

---

A room, still as it ever is. Yellow-lit. No signs of life.

Summoning that level of anger -- sorting through where to direct it -- these things deplete the heart at Tsutsujidai's center. Watching Anti fail again, too -- after making himself another intruder -- stings.

"It would appear Anti was no good after all. Only a human can make true kaiju. No one else really has the sheer depth of feeling you do... even your kaiju ultimately bear your feelings."

A human... It isn't felt at all. Anti demonstrated that monsters can make monsters too. ... but surely Alexis knows the situation best. After all, he engineered it.

"Yeah. ... Something only I can do."

"As for that pathetic Anti..." Alexis pauses to think for only a moment. "Allow me to discipline him."

Euphemism, understood.

"Please." Said before processing. ... It doesn't matter. He's infected with DG Cells. Anything Alexis can do will be a kindness.

A slump. "Don't let anyone into this room again."

Figure something out about how the world works... Nonsense. The world's workings present as obvious to anyone paying attention.

<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.

"Let's try to keep it that way!" Rena answers Myrme.

She frowns, as Arriety confirms she isn't seeing things. Her fingers tense around the controls for a moment, before she leans forward. Arriety's calling out to Anti. She takes a couple of deep breaths, doing her best to keep herself centered, and her eyes are on Anti for a moment longer.

Nidaime explains why this is bad -- and her eyes widen. She swallows, after a moment. "Then... then it could get out of control," she says. "I get it--why you might... want a world that's just yours."

TWELVE YEARS AGO

It always felt warm at home. Rena remembered that, as she walked hand-in-hand with her mother. She pulled at the collar of her school uniform -- even eight years old had them -- and her eyes looked up at her. A woman with the same ash blue hair as her, but ice blue eyes instead.

She hesitated, as she looked at her. Then, she looked around the massive chamber they were in. It was cavernous; enough to have an atmosphere inside, and some humidity. It was different, she was told, than the colonies.

"It's still summer, mama..."

Her mother paused, for a moment. Then, she looked down at her. "...Yes," she said. "It is. That is the way that she prefers it. And when you have the kind of power that she does... you can make sure that the world is the one you want."

TODAY

'I won't abandon the reason why--'

Rena shakes her head, teeth gritting. The feeling of warm summer on her skin, her uniform too hot for that weather, is remembered. It sticks with her, the memory radiating through her. "Even if you were made for something... deciding to move on--that's not giving up! That's not abandoning something! It's deciding to grow!"

She looks down at Anti, as he falls. She looks away from the city above, down at the kaiju, and she frowns. He received something from BioNet. She tenses, for a moment.

"You--you can get out of this sort of thing, Anti!" she says. "It's hard, but--"

But he is gone down there. Rena stares for a second, then slumps in her cockpit, and sighs.

<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.

Riika Sheder can't bring herself to react to Asuka's needling, because, if she's being completely honest, Riika is having a very quiet freakout right about now.

Tsutsujidai is a PLANT, but not one anyone built. It floats near Junius Seven but it isn't Junius Seven, or anywhere else; Riika knows there is no PLANT like this, with the impossible inverted city. Someone - she doesn't know them - says that it's the 'cognitive layer', whatever that is.

"I..." Riika swallows, torn in three directions at once.

It's a threat, her ZAFT training tells her. It's a danger to have something that isn't PLANT so close. She should try to destroy it - she doesn't really have the guns for it but she could make a go at it. Failing that, she should get as much data as she can, pull out (regardless of the battle inside) and start signaling as soon as she got enough distance to do so successfully.

It's a disaster, her allies tell her. It's a risk for everyone. It could get worse. Riika can't comprehend what 'worse' would look like. She should leave it to the experts. Get help. Stop getting in their way. Do they even want her here?

But what does her heart tell her?

Riika leaves her hands over her controls for a moment, eyeing her energy (down into the yellow; she's been very careful with the Phase Shift armour and the heavy beams, so it's not gone down further). And she makes a decision.

This is a PLANT. She knew Akane was from her world, because Alexis told her - because Akane didn't deny it. 'This is the second time it's come up', he said, when she told him why she wanted to make a kaiju to fight Ptolemaeus. And Akane listened to her when she said to watch the news about it, because she was going to try...

"Oh, no..." Riika's mind follows the same path as Sayla's; a slightly different route but the same destination. She wants to talk to Akane again, more than ever. She feels fury toward Alexis that she didn't have before. And she feels something else she doesn't put into words immediately.

The UFOs stop. Anti departs, more or less. Riika takes her hands away from the controls for a moment, and the GuAIZ comes to a stop, hovering in place on its lifter unit. A kaiju, talking, isn't anything she knows about. She wishes she did. It might help.

Riika flips on her radio. "<Everyone... this is the PLANTs. I think I know why we're here, but not how we're here... but this is Junius Seven, outside. ...I don't think I have the authority to promise anything on behalf of ZAFT, but I'll do what I can to make sure they know you're not trying to invade or anything. This is bigger than I thought when I first started investigating.>"

She's not giving this up. She needs to find the rest of the truth of Tsutsujidai, more than ever before - and if Nidaime is right, help deal with it.

"<So, uh... let me go out first. So that you don't get shot. Please.>"

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Rikka pauses, hearing Nidaime's voice over the speakers, explaining the 'Chaos Bringer' effect. Tsutsujidai is merging with the other world...

"That's... horrible." Rikka replies, shaking her head in disbelief. What's causing this...? She doesn't want to see any more bonds severed.

Sayla recounts some other information, relating to Akane. Bloody Valentine... It came up when they spoke with Koji and Guy, too. She had heard how horrible it was... so it had this strong of an effect on Akane...

...But, Sayla's right. They need to put a stop to this. She accepts the forwarded data, welcoming it into her system.

In the end, though... it isn't needed. Anti disappears in a cloud of smoke and flame, and Diriver is soon too destroyed.

Everything becomes still and silent once more.

"...Is it over?" Rikka asks. ...But, no - the way the sky flickers... this fight may be over, but this may be where things truly begin, for good or ill. ...She's not sure what to think about that. It's concerning.

"...Do you think he'll be okay? Anti..." She murmurs. She can only hope...

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

Anti's ranting echoes through Alouette's communications. "The help I've been getting -- IT'S COMING FROM BIONET! We're involved with BioNet! It's dangerous!" he said... Of course BioNet had their hands in this. Alouette re-affirms herself that joining the battle was the right decision, no matter how anyone else feels. As with Akane, she does not feel Anti is her enemy - even if he took an antagonistic stance. At the same time, she doesn't feel she can get through to him either. She has a lot of... emotions she has to sort through.

Her tone completely flat, she calls into comms. "The kaiju have been eliminated. Returning to my operator station." Even her brain has her limits - Alouette is *tired*.

<Pose Tracker> Arriety Hearn has posed.

        The StealthGao's speakers speak up, and Nidaime speaks to them about a... Chaos Bringer effect. Of emotions being able to reshape reality... without an act of will to do so. Where the kaiju of the heart might be able to sprout without any guiding will...

        Kaiju... of the heart...

        "Then... what can we do?" Arriety asks, then shakes her head. If she doesn't focus on the target in front of her right now, she won't be around to even focus on the threat of the Cognitive Layer spreading!

        She feels a swell of pride at Minae's own acknowledgement -- that it's fine for someone's world to be small, and yet, it's not wrong for their world to connect either...

        But having it be exerted outward upon this... if they stay in their own little bubbles forever... Once, there was a time where she would've loved that! But now...

        But now...

        Arriety is too distracted, because she's crying with all her heart at the moment.

        "You're absolutely right! When my friends left to the outside world, I felt nothing but disgust! I blamed the outside world for taking them away from me!" she shouts, clenching both of her hands to her chest.

        "When I myself was forced into the outside world... when my own heart became filled, with all of these sensations, whether it's sights of people and places, scents of things both horrible and wonderful, tastes of foods I've never had... and all of their emotions..."

        She grimaces.

        "It feels horrible, doesn't it?! It doesn't feel better, doesn't it?! It's confusing, and you're being led around by twelve different things all at once, and yet... and yet..."

        Minae might need to take the lead here, because the mobile suit's power is waning even as the psychic fire burns brightly, and Arriety's in no position to keep them aloft and it's a long way down.

        "It's so hard and burns me to admit... ... to admit that I think... I like it! That I was wrong! It's so FRUSTRATING!"

        Her eyes widen as Anti sails down and bounces against the ground. Is... is he dead? She can't tell. She doesn't really understand up from down right now.

        Arriety feels Renais' pulse for a moment. What is it...? An opening of some kind... a shift... her heart is so full of chaos right now.

        She hears Rena's words too. Even if someone is made for something... deciding to move on is... "I'm-- Minae, I can't quite figure it out at the moment, can you take over...?"

        Tsutsujidai has... merged, with the world outside. It burns, in the world everyone fights for. They don't sleep through the train anymore, now, masking the truth of it all...

        They leave as one would a colony, so long ago.

        Riika speaks of how she'll try to sort things out so ZAFT doesn't shoot them. "... thank you," is all she can barely muster.

        The black-haired girl slumps back in her seat as she reflects. Now she understands the truth, too. Why Myrme seems to go silent whenever the Zeta becomes like this. It's not because she goes focused or anything, it's because...

        The boundary between them thins to the point where the truth becomes real.

        Because the kaiju was always in her own heart, all this time. Where Anti has Diriver...

        She's always been sitting atop Myrmekes, hasn't she?

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

"Chaos Bringer!?" Supervisor Yang Long-li mutters to himself, then turns to look first at Yamaji, who shrugs; then at his peer Advisor Cactus Prickle, who looks COMPLETELY at sea; then at Chief Shigeru Akamatsu, who also clearly has no idea.

"Sensors ARE showing unusual spatiotemporal activity I've never seen anything like this!!" Tamara hollers. "But we don't have any theoretical structure for what to do here!" She turns to Yang, eyes wide.

"Nidaime," Supervisor Yang finally asks through the radio. "My name is Yang. 3G has tools that might be able to help. What do you need for us to do?"

Guy, however, has better vision on the apparition in StealthGao's cockpit. He takes a deep breath, deep in the tangle of machinery that qualifies as GaoFar's. "...trust, I think," he says.

He feels Renais' intent, pulsating through the G-Stone. His connection to the Limpid Channel isn't near as strong as Mikoto's ever was, but as an Evoluder, every cell of his body is part of the G-Stone that is his entire body. He feels that data, the focus of her intent, burn through him like fire. But...there's not so much he can do, actually, himself, just now, other than continue fighting. "You'd be surprised!" he all but jeers back at Anti. "I've survived a lot of things that should kill me!"

He rears back, aiming to pursue...but Geed catches him first. Guy just watches. His head tilted down at Anti's screams - defiance, but information, too.

He watches him fall. GaoFighGar loses him below the clouds. ...he has to have faith. Guy knows better than to underestimate bold young men.

"Both enemy kaiju are defeated. No hostile forces detected on the scope," Hana calls from the Wadatsumi. "Uhm. Still...crunching the numbers on what's going on, but you can come back for now, Chi--" Oh, right, Alouette: "Oh, everyone, I mean!"

<Pose Tracker> Riku Asakura has posed.

Riku stares down at Anti, losing his transformation and staring back up at them. Even filled with the emotions and feelings from the people around him, fighting the threat...he still can feel Anti. He knows now more than ever that he has a heart, that he's a person. Human? Well, Riku wasn't human either, not exactly. It wasn't what you were or how you were born. It was how you lived your life, and how you connected to others.

"He's not trying to get out of it," Geed speaks to Rena. "Just the opposite...he's put it all on the line to show us this truth. Even as affected by the DG cells as he is. He is something created and thrust into the world, and he desires and protects things."

He disappears, and then Geed falls to the earth. "Damn it, don't..." Riku was sure what Anti was trying to do, but he wasn't about to let it end like that. He looks like he's about to land on the building. However, at the last second, he transforms back into his human form. Looking around he tries to figure out which way Anti went.

Running to the side of the building he thinks Anti jumped off from, he follows, hitting the ground and disappearing into the streets of Tsutsujidai. Even if the act is fruitless, he isn't about to stand around doing nothing. Especially now of all times.

<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.

Gridman reaches out for Anti as he falls, but it's too late -- Gridman, Yuta, and Vit are already fading into light, appearing back in the Synchrotank with Rikka and the others.

While Vit returns to relaxing, Yuta looks anxious. "I'm sure you guys heard all that. This is going to be harder than I thought it'd be. Can you save someone who doesn't want to be saved?" In particular, Yuta looks to Sayla as he says this. She's the veteran here, surely she'd know more than he would.

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

Asuka actually tries to have Evangelion-02 catch Diriver in order to push him into Mari's drill. She likely doesn't succeed in the chaos. Still though, in the battle frenzy of its death throes, she actually does say to Mari, "<NOW THAT'S MORE LIKE IT!>" On the timing at least. The rush, the anger.

And Evangelion Unit-02 looks to the sky for the first time, unable to focus on it before over her rage at Anti, at herself. And the sight steals part of that anger from her, that inverted sky.

To see the shouting Anti in all of his desperation. And despite her anger, she listens.

Bionet. A human heart. Live here. Hollow. Hate. Copied. Adapted.

Within her entry plug, Asuka breathes hard, over and over, the bubbles spilling out of her mouth like froth just from breathing as she listens.

'FIGURE -- SOMETHING OUT ABOUT HOW THE WORLD WORKS!'

"That's ... what this... was about... what he wanted...?"

Just to help them, in their investigation. The thought, makes her feelings all the more complex. And Riika... the Evangelion follows to her unit, then looks up. "...Junius... Seven?"

The thought steals something out of her. As much as she hates ZAFT, as much as she thinks their war is one they have a duty not to fight... she never thought Junius 7 was right... she thought it was a waste.

... It's all so much... she thought if she investigated, it would simply lead to a Devil for her to fight, to kill.

Now she doesn't know what the end of this looks like.

With the input side of her comms off, she speaks quietly to herself as if she were one of her dolls giving a peptalk to a Kaiju, "You've survived worse... so hang in there munchkin."

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

        'I was created SOLELY TO CRUSH GRIDMAN!'

        Liam's eyes widen. The memory of pain spikes through his mind. They put him through simulation after simulation, trying to see if their new cyborg assassin could stand up to the champions of the Gundam Fight at the peak of their power. It was barely a contest. Liam's hands twitch, and the Proto Helios mirrors the motion. Plasma curls into its hands. Its jets are burning; torrents of white-hot energy spray from its back. Liam doesn't dare touch down for fear of setting the city on fire.

        And then Anti addresses him, directly, and Liam's heart all but falls into his stomach. "Anti," he says, and it's like he's back in the Crucible, and one of the younger subjects is screaming and sobbing. It's like that, right?

        No, worse. Liam had a life, once. Anti never had that luxury.

        "We'll stop them," Liam says, but his voice is hollow. The Proto Helios stays frozen in mid-air, slowly cooking itself from the outside-in. Its outer armor starts to soften and deform. Below, Diriver detonates, but watching its light wink out is no relief at all. "Anti, please." Liam is pleading, now. He didn't plead, even when Anti was threatening to drag him back to the lab. When he was hurting him. "Please. You still have a choice. You still have a choice!"

        Tears drip down Liam's face, and start to evaporate in the heat of the cockpit. And then Geed, and a bright light, and Anti is gone. Liam sees that small something fall, and wonders if it's that boy who could be Akane's little brother.

        And then everything seems to drain out of Liam, leaving only the banked embers of helpless rage.

        "Acknowledged, Riika," Liam says, his brain filling in the name like an automatic form. A moment later, the Proto Helios twitches, and turns to stare at the ZAFT unit. "...ZAFT space," he says. "I--" Pause. Breathe. "Acknowledged, Wadatsumi. Requesting heat shields or coolant; am running in excess of a thousand kelvin." And it's back to that monotone. His safe space.

        He was right. He didn't want to be right. Liam's hands clench and unclench, and his machine mirrors his anger, and for a desperate moment he wishes he could be like Guy, who endured all that and stayed so strong. "Otherwise largely undamaged."

        The machine, that is. Liam's heart will take a while to recover.

<Pose Tracker> BC-001 Minae has posed.

        The robot blinks, and a part of her takes a moment to glance to one side, in the direction of the Helios. "It's not an order," she promises over the radio with the ghost of a smile in her voice. "Just a warning." Where she hesitates is in Liam's question back to her, and she looks impassively back to the main viewscreen for a few beats. Is Anti the secondary target? "... I don't know. Personally, I don't think targeting him is the right thing to do, but... I'll leave that up to your judgement."

        She can't make that call for other people, not with civilians caught in the crossfire. Whether those civilians are artificial or real, she's not sure - but it's not as if the distinction matters to her. She knows that if she ever tried to claim she weren't a real person due to being made of metal rather than flesh, there would be countless people standing up to call her wrong. It's only fair for her to extend that same courtesy and hope to others as well.

        The cries from Anti leave Minae frowning, more of that sympathy written over her face before it firms up with determination. It strikes her just how much of a mirror he is to Arriety, and she feels a pang of regret that their first meeting would be here, like this, blade to blade. But before she can even open her mouth to start voicing something, he's gone.

        From the robot's point of view, it's the worst possible outcome. Contradictory though it might be to his arguments, abrasive though it might be to his current mental state, Minae reckons the last thing anyone in that situation needs is to be truly alone, and hurt and infected on top. It's important to offer a hand, even if it's slapped away. She lets a moment pass in silence, then nods. "Let's find him, when we can," is the first thing she says towards her copilot, firm and solemn. "Him and whoever else needs our help here."

        She's increasingly sure there's at least one other.

        Arriety is a little too distant and distracted to hear that proclamation right now, though, and Minae yelps as the Myrmekes suddenly begins to dip. "Ah-- I've got you," she blurts, not actually sure she _has_ until with some coaxing the Zeta's engines start to fire and bring them safely towards ground level. She hesitates - she doesn't want to interrupt the other girl's heartfelt admission - but eventually brings her seat in alongside to offer a light touch at Arriety's arm. "I've got you," she promises again. "Let it out all you need." Now doesn't feel like the time for a lecture; she remains where she is, offering wordless support.

        And even if Minae has no psychic signature, nor can she consciously pick up the nature of Renais' resonance - maybe there's something there. A little spark, grown over the course of nine long years of life and change and growth, that can.
BBSYS: Post 108, 'Tsutsujidai - Changes' has been published to Public by Akane Shinjo.

<Pose Tracker> Nidaime has posed.

"I'm sorry, mom." Nidaime says.

"You're sorry?" Unison asks. "Oh my little hatchling, my dearest song... You've nothing to apologize for. Not to us."

"I didn't...stop this from happening. I was too slow because... I made a friend." Nidaime then hesitates and shakes her head. "I made friends. I went to see Chibodee, I stayed with Auntie Sayla, and I ate food I didn't need to eat because it tasted good." She starts openly weeping once she remembers how delicious Sayla's ice cream days were. "I wanted to live with them, mama... I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She sniffs. "I didn't want to be alone anymore... I'm sorry... If I didn't tell all these people, if I just...worked things out with Akane somehow... I really tried..."

"Anosillus..." Unison says, using Nidaime's true name.

But Nidaime is unconsolable. "I doomed their world just because I wanted to be a part of it. I couldn't do what I needed to do to make sure the portals closed, I didn't tell Gridman the truth quickly enough because I was more scared of hurting him than--"

"ANOSILLUS." Unison says, louder.

Nidaime quiets down. She look sdown at her hands. Guy is there, hearing all this, but for the moment Nidaime is mentally withdrawn into her familial world.

"You did the best you could. You can do everything right and still fail. You could have closed the path to Tsutsujidai...but then you'd have given up on a very special girl. Are you willing to sacrifice one life for many others?"

Nidaime is quiet, listening.

"Your friend, his heart is true." Unison continues. "He's doing the best he can too. He trusts you. You trust him too, don't you?"

Nidaime nods numbly.

"...And your other friends, don't you think they care for you and would be sad if they felt you never should have entered their lives? My dear Anosillus, we never expected you to live alone."

Nidaime looks up, rubbing tears from her eyes.

"Even if you wanted to, it is impossible--no heartlessly cruel to create a world in which imagination never becomes reality. This isn't even the first time an event like this happened." Unison assures her. "What matters is the care. And the faith. Gridman believed in your father, and because of that you came into our lives. Believe in them, my beautiful girl... Because in any reality, courage can turn what a 0 into a 100."

"Don't worry," Unison assures Nidaime. "About reality for one moment. Think deep down about what you want. Learn from the girl you've been chasing. What do you want? What do you think is the kindest outcome with the hand you've been dealt. Find that answer, and you'll know what to do."

Unison embraces Nidaime and Nidaime returns the hug. "....Thanks mom."

She takes in another deep breath.

Nidaime. My name is Yang. 3G has tools that might be able to help. What do you need for us to do?

Nidaime didn't have an answer before. She was just trying to reach out to Gridman in the hopes that he would find the way forward. If Akane simply destroyed Tsutsujida, countless good Repli-Compoids would have been desttroyed along with it. The same would have happened if Akane herself was killed. The problem wasn't Akane's beautiful creation. "...She created something beautiful but she never thinks it's good enough. She too...is reaching for an extreme..."

She reaches forward to the comms and flicks it back on.

"...We can't seal Tsutsujidai away anymore. But we can't let it merge with our reality like this either. The Chaos Bringer effect must still be stopped."

"So if the problem is that Tsutsujidai is simply a cognitive reality... Then there's only one solution now." Pause. "No...Maybe there was only ever one solution."

"We have to make Akane's dream a reality." Nidaime says. "Tsutsujidai, we have to make it real within the confines of our existence and accept it within the terms of your reality. In order to do that..."

"In order to do that, Akane has to accept reality. And we have to accept Tsutsujidai. But that might not be enough... So we'll need Gridman."

Anti, she thinks, she hopes that's enough. She hopes that's the right answer.

"Mom... I think I understand Akane a little better. I tried to make my world small too. And I told myself I was doing the right thing."

She manages a smile. "But I'll be brave and risk the real world. I'll do it. Guy is my witness."

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

'Can you save someone who doesn't want to be saved'? Yuta asks. Rikka considers that for a moment, looking down at the controls of Synchrotank for a moment. She considers this for a moment.

"...I don't know. But we still have to try." Rikka decides. She couldn't accept it otherwise.

<Pose Tracker> Anti has posed.

        Anti isn't really the best at fleeing, tired as he is. At least, when he turns to face Riku -- he looks tired, not battered. A bit dirty, a bit scuffed up, but he's standing and moving without ginger care.

        (Aside from his hands -- his fingers curl, in a shadow of pain. He hasn't manifested with his gloves, now he's revealed everything. The DG Cells are metallic grey, active, shining.)

        "You're following me." He says, voice low again, contained again. He doesn't say that Riku cared enough to follow him; he doesn't know the words, in his growing heart.

        "... I expected you, and you appeared. I'm satisfied with that. But even though I put everything into this attack... don't think I'm working with you," Anti insists, looking away. "I'm not working with a Vessel of Light. I just went easy on you, this time."

        His lips tug down. His heart -- he feels -- he's worried, about how she's feeling. "... the Second's the one who needs your support," Anti tells Riku, hands tightening to fists. "Leave me alone for now."

        A pause, woven from gossamer.

        "I'm fine. I can handle it." He doesn't have the words for care, but he knows the word for kindness. He can draw the inference. "I just need to think. I..." Anti looks up, to the sky.

        "... I'll figure it out, too. So... go easy on me, this time."

        As if it's a fight. Maybe it's easier for Anti to ask for space this way.

        With that, Anti makes another attempt to flee, into the city all tucked into the corner of existence.

        ... at least that means Riku can tell them he survived that drop.

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

If anyone can save him...

"They can save him from that," Mari doesn't dispute.

"... but the rest is something only he can save himself from."

Unit-04 stands there in the aftermath of Diriver's demise, dust swirling around its silvery legs. Its right arm is still lifted -- the drill bits of its Rapidborer still spin for seven frenetic seconds longer before their furious inertia dims. And only then, does that arm lower, Rapidborer locking back into place against its elbow, nestled parallel to its forearm. Only then she note to the gray-haired young man beside her:

"That's true. Suffering's important."

Things are far from resolved. Even just the potential, dangerous ramifications of just -where- they find themselves now is dangerous. But that doesn't stop Mari Makinami Illustrious from suddenly leaning over in Kaworu's direction with a brief "pardon, pardon!" to fiddle with the controls.

A second later, the entry plug hisses out from Evangelion Unit-04 until it is halfway-revealed from its input. The hatch of it slides open soon after.

And from it, Mari emerges, shaking dribbling LCL loose from her drenched twintails as she settles into a seated position, and watches, just as she did the first time she entered this strange space. She takes in the scent, and as she does, she dwells on Nidaime's words. Chaos Bringer effect.

So that was what smelled so strange about this place.

Her eyes fall towards where Anti's trajectory must have taken him. Her brows soften.

"Those first few steps are pretty painful, aren't they, kitten?" muses Mari to the open air -- and to her partner in Evangelion crime.

"Don't worry. You're going to have a lot more steps yet to get it right."

That blue-eyed gaze falls on Evangelion Unit-02 for a moment, sympathy etching plain in their bright depths. They linger for a moment before turning to Kaworu, whether he's elected to stay in the plug or join her. Mari doesn't say much, in this moment. The look says it all. Something they both already know.

They need to talk.




"--Ah! We should leave before they have us executed, huh? Maybe after a little bit."

...

"Hum. But what do we do about the train..."

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        Once again, Anti transforms--this time from full kaiju form to his diminutive humanoid self. Gridman tries to catch him, but dissolves into light along with Geed. It's all right, though. Kaworu watches Anti fall without concern; a mere impact will bother him little. It's those DG Cells, combined with the tumult in his heart, that have him worried. He'd advised Anti to do something about them, but... it seems he hadn't impressed upon him strongly enough just how dangerous they are.
        
        More than that... he's concerned about how Alexis will react all of this. What move he'll make next in this field he's made his personal game of shogi. But... for now, he'll entrust Anti to Riku.
        
        He glances to the display screen as Riika sends out that message about the PLANTs, saying she'll talk to ZAFT about it. "<Thank you. We'll be counting on you,>" he transmits back simply.
        
        Asuka comes down from her battle high, and seems even to be affected by what's going on. Kaworu slides a glance her way and says nothing. Mari surely has it handled, anyway.
        
        Speaking of whom:
        
        "...True," he concedes. "To be moved, a heart must first be willing to move." He smiles faintly at her thoughts on suffering, and moves out of her way; a moment later, the two of them stand at the entrance of Unit-04's entry plug, dripping gently. He glances at her as she muses to the air, sending her thoughts and feelings to a small kaiju. Because of that, he catches her glance his way quite easy.
        
        They do need to talk. But not right now.
        
        "After a little bit," he agrees. "We won't be able to leave right away, anyway." He peers out at the tiny city below and the vast PLANT above and around. "I'll leave the matter of the train and the Second to you. For now, there's something to which I must attend."
        
        He steps forward into open air. A moment later, some 70 to 80 meters away, he lands feather-light on the ground.
        
        Surely an effect of the now-altered gravity.

<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.

        This is... different. And much more complicated. Now they're in PLANT space. Now Tsutsujidai is in a warzone... sort of.

        Yuta's question makes Sayla pause. Because deep down, after trying futilely for so long, she thinks the answer might be no. But maybe the Gridman Alliance have a better answer down there, somewhere.

        "<...Pilot Sheder.>" The modulated voice comes through. "<There is someone here who may be able to assist you with that. Maybe two. If you give me time to make contact- 20 minutes or so- I can arrange for at least one of them to join you, if you would accept that.>" She looks at the PPE she had for dealing with DG Cells. That would hide her identity well enough.

        "<Guy. I may need your help with some diplomacy, and you'd provide some legitimacy that we're not a Federation attack squad. We still need access to Tsutsujidai, and I'd rather not get the people here in a battlezone- or Kaiju striking back at ZAFT.>" Sayla's frustrated. She doesn't like being on the back foot but... This is her job as Heart-2. This is *why* she's in the Shuffle Alliance. "...I'm leaving everything here to the Gridman Alliance. I need to make sure the rest of us can come back safely. I'm counting on you." This is a big task for them too but-

        They've show they can, so far. And there's too much happening for her to have a hand in every incident. The Shuffle Alliance isn't the small isolated organization it was a few years ago.

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        And in another part of the mirrored colony-world, a cloud glitters in rainbow colors as streaks of lightning pulse like veins...

<Pose Tracker> Riku Asakura has posed.

"Of course not," Riku says, to Anti who says he wasn't working with him, that he was just going easy on them all. Though when he says those words...that he's fine, that he can handle it, Riku pauses. He wants to say no, that he can't handle it. That he's not fine, but that might be a trait he shares with her.

Riku sighs, "Alright, I'll go easy this time...but the next time I won't, alright? When we meet again, I'll be making sure you're safe and not hurting anymore. So...I'm trusting you to be alright, as you're trusting me to be there for The Second. Just.."

The words are caught in his throat. "We can't have that rematch if something happens to you, alright? I can't take you to that Ramen place...if you don't come back. She won't forgive you or yourself if that happens."

"So come back, when you're ready," Riku says, and watches Anti leave. He wipes his eyes with the back of his coat sleeve. Okay, big breath Riku, he thinks to himself and walks back. He sends a message to the others the moment he can get close enough. <<"He's fine," Riku says, evenly. I don't know exactly everything that's going on, but I'm here to keep helping.">>

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

Giving someone within a GaoMachine privacy isn't quite so easy - not when Guy is in a very real sense part of the machine right now. Still...he lets the moment happen with little more than a small smile, GaoFighGar drifting at cruising speed back toward Wadatsumi.

There's a long, thoughtful silence after Nidaime's words. Then, Yang chuckles. "Well, and here I was worried it would be difficult," he says; a surprising kindness in the voice of the often quite clipped REA doctor. "It sounds like we can make due, for now. Whatever comes next...the Gutsy Global Guard will be there to help."

"You're damn right!" Akamatsu bellows, thumping his chest.

"Chief, there's children on the line," Hana chides him.

"And don't forget about the Gutsy Galaxy Guard, either!!" Guy chimes in.

Ah, but before everything can devolve into laughter: Complications.

"Ah, right, that," Guy replies to Sayla, adopting a more sober posture. "I'm returning to Wadatsumi to Fusion Out and offload Nidaime. If there's anyone we need to hide, getting them aboard before we figure out how exactly we're going to operate the dock airlock is a good idea. We've got the whole Branch Order Room here so I can bring both our leadership to bear."

Akamatsu harrumphs. "And what exactly are you signing me up for, Shishioh!" ... "But of course I'll help!!"

<Pose Tracker> Renais Cardiff has posed.

        Renais exhales slowly, the Gernsback tromping through the streets of Tsutsujidai, her pace placid as she lets its reactor cool from combat mode, cooling her in turn. "Heart-2," she reports over private comms, "I'm gonna find a place to park my Gernsback and... see if I can calm myself down. Leaving my comm open if you need me."

        Where does one park a Mobile Weapon at a time like this?