2022-09-11: Radio Brocken

• Cast: Anita Rosetta, Dr. Hell, Koji Kabuto, Leina Ashta, Lin Xiahe, Qivi, Todd Bonzalez, Laila Elsayed
• Where: OCU Australia
• Date: U.C. 0096 09 11
• Summary: Count Brocken hijacks a radio station, and is confronted by heroic types. But something else is happening in the background...

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<Pose Tracker> Dr. Hell has posed.

The OCU has been having a very bad few weeks, if you're a fan of one of the most popular radio stations coming out of Australia.

It all started when a group of Iron Cross Soldiers marched on the station, followed by the infamous Count Brocken himself, wielding his own weapon. Once they'd subdued the personnel, a kikaiju was revealed at just the right time, which latched onto the tower and has barely moved. That was then.

NOW:
There's been weeks of bad 0079 Zeon propaganda music, bad skits bashing Koji Kabuto, and Count Brocken's voice. The OCU has prepared their Federation strike force, having noticed there's an outgoing signal from the kikaiju (and also because Brocken can't be allowed to just tkeep the station). Others may have shown up on their own, since, it's public knowledge this is happening.

The station is based out of a large, high-tech building, single-story. The tower extends from the top, and the kikaiju is latched on at the very tip. Goblos P7 is just a bit larger than the standard Zaku profile, with a satellite dish for a head, a completely metallic blue body, and a pair of standard arms with holes where fingertips should be. Spider-like legs finish off the build, clinging to the tower.

Iron Cross Soldiers, with their guns and lobotomized minds, guard the front door. It is trivial to get past them, but then you have to deal with Count Brocken, and he's no slouch.

<Pose Tracker> Dr. Hell has posed.

ON THE RADIO:
"Ladies and gentlemen, as always, this is your host, the esteemable Count Brocken. Tonight on Radio Brocken, we've got a killer lineup - the finale of 'Koji Kabuto Dies In Magma At The End Of This Show'! I wonder what will happen, aheheheheh! Following that, an oldie - the hit ballad by Shenia Miriset, "Zabi Lover". Ah, what a romantic...I also know that, while a lot of older individuals are avoiding our show, we have quite a following of young people, posting comments on the internets! There's even 'ships' of Koji Kabuto Dies In Magma At The End Of This Show, whatever that means."

<Pose Tracker> Todd Bonzalez has posed.

Hiding above cloud cover, Todd glides closer and closer to the radio station. Engines and and most electronics on standby to reduce detectability on his already hard to detect fighter. He rolls the fighter upside down as he glides and looks out through a gap in the clouds at the radio station, and the Kikaiju latched to it.

"Shortstop to all points. Tally one bandit and a few grunts on the ground, do not appear to be carrying anything that can scratch a mobile weapon." Todd reports on a secure federation channel. "I've never seen this model Kikaiju before, classification and capabilities unknown. Radio station is still hijacked, if that dreck he calls music is any indicator."

Todd maintains his glide, keeping above the clouds for now and preparing for zero hour, double checking the diagnostic read from the weapons module resting in the top side bays.

KTS: Leina Ashta has deployed as a Sub Pilot for Lin Xiahe!
KTS: Dr._Hell has deployed as a Boss for 6 opponents.

<Pose Tracker> Laila Elsayed has posed.

"And so," says the radio voice in her car, "We need you to investigate, O astronomer. Take a look and if you can, resolve the situation."

Laila Elsayed flicks cigarette ash out of her opened window. She is reclined backwards, ankles crossed in the luxurious seating where she spends a distressing quantity of time. "Won't this aggravate His Majesty and Friends? This investigation is going grindingly slow, you know."

"We estimate it shall have naught but beneficial outcomes, leaving aside the inevitable long-tail risks which are the domain of God," replies Control, somewhere in Neo-Egypt. "But if this should continue, the Australian regional authorities will lose face; the OCU will weaken. You know full well, of course, that we -"

A pause.

"You are rolling your eyes this very moment, O astronomer, but we must think of a balance of such matters. Move quickly; you should easily be able to make it there by air."

"Fair enough, control," says Laila, who was, in fact, rolling her eyes; "but I won't be en route for twenty minutes."

"Did we catch you at a bad time, O Astronomer?"

"Not at all, but for a journey this long, I'll have to take one of the Japanese boxed lunches with me."

AND SO,
IN TIME,
BENEATH THE EYE OF THE SOUTHERN CROSS,

huh, where's the Neit?

There is supposed to be a splendid transforming intelligence robot here.

Perhaps approaching from the sky with a lethal missile bombardment. Perhaps approaching to challenge evil.

Look down.

Thirty meters down, and at the end of a painstakingly burrowed tunnel that trails back nearly ninety kilometers and has an armored connector cable to an antenna module that is sitting there, in a field laden excessively with kangaroos, there is a machine; a machine that resembles a snake.

The final approach has been painstakingly slow, for reasons not unlike that of a submarine at sea. Laila eyes the screens, with their ghostlike outline of the sensor feedback of the initial site. Sound imagery is white; the plans of the site are green; the feedback from the Federal pilot in the sky keeps them reconciled.

"Memphis to Shortstop," Laila says, quietly, even though the signal is going down a 90-km wire and then out through a little transcever module which a kangaroo is studying curiously, "do not take a kikaiju lightly. I'm nearly in position for the assault; I will try to disable it, but I would appreciate it if your barrage did not quite come while I have enwrapped it--"

And that is when the ground implodes to the side, off in what had been a drainage pond and is now an erupting glittering copper-scaled snake! You don't see that every day. You also don't see such things hurl themselves with sudden screaming rocket force out of the ground, aiming to strike with a tapered tungsten-layered steel snout plate against the side of a lurking menace!

You do now. NEIT-APEP is flying bodily at you, kikaiju! What do you do!?

<Pose Tracker> Todd Bonzalez has posed.

"Shortstop, engaging!"

Todd pushes his fighter into his almost signature nosedive, positioning the sun behind him as engines roar to life and the rest of the VF's systems wake from standby. Taking aim at the kikiaju and strafng it with the twin machine guns mounted in the nose.

"Guns, guns, guns."

The hail of lead rains down on the Kikiaju before Todd finally ceases fire and pulls up and out of his dive.

<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.

The OCU strike force is ready to go, mostly a team of Ichinanas, but given the undocumented nature of this kikaiju, consensus has been to not engage until 'the specialist' has arrived on site.

Who is that specialist, you ask?

C'mon, is asking really necessary?

"The music isn't bad," LiSA opines from the copilot seat as Koji pilots Mazinger Z in on a high approach, "but that show is just... So tacky! Even apart from the subject matter!"

"It's been a while since Brocken's been causing trouble," Koji agrees, "but he's not changed much. This quality level is.. what's that old pre-UC robot show called again? Well, it makes that look like the latest Tarabaman."

He can have a little fun with this, though. "Okay, Lisa, you're on." He dials through to the radio station, waiting for Brocken to pick up, sliding a disc into the console dashboard of the Hover Pilder.

As soon as Brocken picks up and does his Call In Host bit:

"Hiiiiiiiii!" Lisa chirps brightly. "My name's Liiiisa and can I just say I, like, adore the old-timey seventy-niner vibe? Way different from what this station usually plays." As she babbles at Brocken over the line, her fingers blur at the holographic display projected in front of her face from her headset until she's hijacked the line - at which point Koji interjects.

"Sorry, Count, but that's all we have time for from you! Try not to lose your head over it. In the meantime, to all the listeners in the OCU: Normal service will resume shortly, but as an apology, we've prepared something special for you all to listen to. I'm dedicating this one to my pals back in Fuji City, Boss, Nuke and Mucha. Everyone else, let's make this a message to all those who'd threaten the safety of the innocent:

"Mazinger Z is back in action."

He thumbs the play button on the dashboard as Mazinger Z swoops into the battlefield, hovering on its Scrander thrusters before landing in front of the OCU strike force, ready to engage the kikaiju.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4CPchVAw5g

"KOUSHIRYOKU BEAM!" Bright yellow-white light blazes forth from Z's eyes, boring into the new kikaiju!

KTS: Koji Kabuto targets Dr. Hell with Koushiryoku Beam!

<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.

Anita is a big fan of the radio. She enjoys her relaxation time(to put it mildly, she's well-known among those she works with for lazing about and yet somehow still getting all her assigned tasks and more done), and listening to the radio can be a great way to pass the time. ...So, naturally, when one of the more popular radio stations in the OCU, where her job has currently taken her, she takes offense. It's enough to get her to directly volunteer to help with the attack - and it's rare to see her take initiative like that when her friends aren't directly involved.

The VF-25 Messiah Rosetta circles the sky above the radio station in Fighter Mode... and then suddenly descends, arms and legs unfolding from the Variable Fighter before pointing directly at the radio station.

"Hey, I'm here to file a complaint about your programming?" Anita announces, switching on wide-band communications. "...I don't know any polite way to say this, so I'm just gonna say it straight - it just... really suuucks. If you're just trying to rile people up then great, mission accomplished, but you really need to get better material if you wanna attract a larger crowd. No one's gonna be able to relax listening to junk like that."

Anita pauses for a moment, realising that she is here on duty, and continues -

"...Oh, and, uh - you're also in violation of, like, several Federation broadcasting ordinances." She finishes, then points toward the Kikaiju attached to the antenna. "I mean, there's no way that's up to code. In fact... lemme help get rid of that for you."

In one quick motion Anita draws her machine's gatling pod, opening fire on the Kikaiju!

Sitting in her passenger seat is her companion Haro, currently safely strapped in... and, playing the audio from the radio station with its speakers. Hey, she might as well tune in while she's here - it might be fun to hear what they play in response to this. Entertaining, and strategically useful!

<Pose Tracker> Lin Xiahe has posed.

        Xiahe is very familiar with Brocken, because she's a veteran of the Mycenae Wars.

        Technically, he's not her problem anymore, because she's a ~villain~ now. But on a particular day of exceptional dreary doldrums, she finds herself surfing through radio channels and...

        Her lips just curl up into the largest grin she's had in a while, listening to Brocken's bad skits. Amazing. This is what Dr. Hell's forces are up to these days? Oh, she just can't resist, just like old days--

        NOW

        The Goblos P7 doesn't end up being the only kaiju... do kikaiju count as kaiju? Well, Xiahe's shinju is also something of an offshoot from 'regular' kaiju as well, given its spiritual, misty coalescence into reality. She can't help but admire the profile of the kikaiju for a while. "The satellite dish is interesting... we have not seen anything quite like that. The body's classic too, reminds me of the good old Garada K7..."

        Xiahe listens to the radio for a moment, and she just ends up laughing harder. She rummages into her bag and puts on the Pilder Hat she bought at the Mazinger Museum months ago and puts it on. It's kind of held up by her little qilin horns, but it'll do.

        The Starbuster and NEIT-APEP are already on the move; Xiahe rubs her chin and says, "Ah, they're fast. Well..."

        She sucks in a deep breath, and dramatically declares:

        "Count Brocken! It is I, Lin Xiahe! How long has it been? Six, seven years? Let us dance the eternal dance of battle, 'til the moonlight draws near, 'til our blood soaks the ground so deep, as Pangu's once did, that it blossoms to a new dawn on Earth!"

        Xiahe hums for a moment. "Not a bad heroic speech, if I say so myself."

        And Mazinger Z's here too! Xiahe's eyes light up as she waves over to the Castle of Iron. "Yoohoo! Koji, it's been a while!"

        And then the shinju's eyes glow, mist surrounding the area around the station for a moment -- and one of its claws seems to just creep out of the mist to strike at the Goblos P7 out of nowhere!

        "Ah, old times," Xiahe sags for a moment. "I'm allowed to be nostalgic too."

KTS: Anita Rosetta targets Dr. Hell with Gatling Shot!
KTS: Lin Xiahe targets Dr. Hell with Mist-Hidden Strike!

<Pose Tracker> Qivi has posed.

Qivi is not a member of the OCU forces. You couldn't get her to be one if you paid her. (Which is obvious, or she'd be one; they do pay.)

But she heard about it anyway. She *certainly* heard about the radio broadcasts; that she happened to be at least in OCU territory during the attack is a happy coincidence, but one she was perfectly willing to take advantage of. What, did you think she was the sort of person to just let Count Brocken have something?

But it's not like she, as an 'independent operator', can exactly call up the OCU and tell them that she's going to show up and start shooting. Instead Qivi just resolved to do it

Sarangay is a green and black wanzer about six meters tall - clearly a Blizzaia variant for those who know, though with one arm replaced with something heavier - carrying (today) a shotgun in one hand, a two-pronged spiked knuckle that can probably punch great holes in whatever she hits with it, and a blocky shoulder launcher on the shoulder that doesn't have a shield affixed. Its shoulder-shield has a distinctive logo on it: a snorting bull head surrounded by a ring of multicoloured gems.

It is also accelerating at a remarkably good pace on the landspinners fast-moving wanzers use, kicking up sparks occasionally as Qivi weaves it around an obstacle. Qivi knows what subtlety is but she doesn't have much of a use for it. Especially because she can already see a battle ahead. As she accelerates, the shoulder launcher pops open, releasing a quartet of missiles from the boxy launcher.

"<Hey!>" she transmits, over local radio. "<Just so you know, I'm on your side.>" Pause. "<Hey, it's Mazinger Z!>"

Well, at least one person is happy about it.

<Pose Tracker> Dr. Hell has posed.

The 'nose of flint' suddenly strikes againt Goblos P7, as a massive snake emerges! Goblos P7 has a powerful body that blocks the brunt of the blow, as Starbuster follows up on Neit-Apep, gunfire blasting into the chassis. The kikaiju is on alert now, as it turns that radar dish head towards the group.

Koji Kabuto calls in. "Caller 1, what's your name? Lisa, eh? What a lovely name! Ah, thank you for the compliments, as an old Zeon soldier-"

And then his show is hijacked by his nemesis. He's shocked by it, and by Mazinger Z's return, enough that Koji gets his full speech off. Goblos rotates its head, allowing transmissions again. "KOJI KABUTO! You're ruining my show! Goblos P7, destroy Mazinger Z!"

Koushiryoku Beam impacts against the arm of the machine, sparking metal, as the head keeps spinning. Anita and Xiahe both send their declarations. "Bah, everyone's a critic - Lin Xiahe, Lin Xiahe...ah! AH! You! Aren't you robbing banks or something now?!" Word gets around quick to supervillains, apparently. The galing sho and the claw are both deflected, sparking more of that torso, but Qivi's missiles are attempted to be destroyed entirely.

The radar head launches out a sonic wave, but the missiles explode too close, battering it and causing it to fall off the tower. Minovsky interference is also making the calls shaky, though as long as Goblos lives, there'll be Some Sort of frequency, transmitting to 'who knows where'.

Responding with its own attacks, Goblos P7 sends out highly-accurate sonic blasts at the VFs and Wanzer, while the giant snake has a set of beam claws pop out of those finger-holes, moving to rake into its armor!

Koji and Xiahe get the worst of it, the curse of being known: Xiahe gets a burst of pure sonic waves to damage her kaiju, while Koji's Mazinger Z gets a full-focused spray, doing the same to internals while doing more damage!

<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.

There's a call after Lisa's to Brocken Radio, after Brocken regains control.

When it connects, there's the feminine voice of a teenager on the air, "Hello, is this Count Brocken?"

Once he does his DJ greeting... that's when the yelling starts, as inexorable as a hurricane.

"You should be ashamed of yourself! Are you supposed to be a minion of Dr. Hell and a proud soldier of Zeon or some lowbrow internet troll? You took all of those people hostage for what? To shitpost on the air?"

Oh God she's not stopping, or even taking a breath, "Do you really think you're impressing anyone here? If you wanted to get Koji's attention you could have just called him out for a duel. Instead we're all having to endure the most uninspired theater since Casval!! because you just couldn't help yourself, you amateur!"

She finally takes a breath.

"Also hi Lisa! You're doing amazing Sweetie!"

<Pose Tracker> Todd Bonzalez has posed.

"Active Triple A! Taking evasive action!"

Todd rolls hard to the right but it's no good, his path having been predicted by the Kikaiju. He takes the worst of the shot on his pinpoint guard system, but enough bleeds through to rock the VF as he corrects and brings it back around, swlinging close to Mazinger Z.

"Hey, nobody told me Mazinger Z was going to be here, let me set out the red carpet for you. Rust Squall!"

Todd throws his craft into a tight aileron roll, spinning as a whirlwind whips up around his wingtips, collecting a large cloud of rust particles before the whirlwind leaps forward towards the enemy Kikaiju!

"Just a little something I threw together, I hope you don't mind." Todd adds as he pulls away to gain altitude again.

KTS: Todd Bonzalez targets Dr. Hell with Ichinana Rust Squall!

<Pose Tracker> Dr. Hell has posed.

A feminine teenager comes on line. "Caller 2, please don't be Tetsuya- great, great-" And then he's hammered with insults. It *does* hurt! But it's monologue time, and there's something...muted about it, in that he doesn't give the actual plan. Is this really all him?

"Aheheheh! Do you really think I, Count Brocken, servant of the late great Dr. Hell, would do anythting low-brow? Everything has a meaning. Besides, Koji Kabuto Dies In Magma At The End Of This Show, according to my social media soldier, is doing 'gangbusters'! Whatever that means! It's hip! Get with the times, kid!"

<Pose Tracker> Laila Elsayed has posed.

Other people are on the comm. Laila feels a certain thrill of victory at the simple presence of Mazinger Z; ah, she thinks, what I fool I was to think it 'lame' when I was a callow teenager. Yes! This is power!

But is it power enough to overcome this THING? Laila has not time to worry about it. The haptic controls of Neit require focus and attention in aerial maneuvers like this. Closer, closer--

SHOCK!

Count Brocken is coming through loud and clear, because Neit-Apep does not need a funky buoy to get radio transmissions now. The great snake pivots away from Goblos P7, moving to reel around. There is a problem, of course; it's rather long. Cornering is a problem. As this happens, she sees the approaching Wanzer - good, good, she thinks --

and: "A friend of yours, Koji Kabuto?" comes the transmission from the snake, as it finally completes its motion JUST in time for gashing beam claws to strike into its neck. The maw of the snake opens - oh, did you expect it to not have a mouth? How else would it eat people? - in a silent echo of the behavior of such a creature; rising upwards, then, as yard-long tapered injector blades snap out at the appropriate place. They glisten; a fallen droplet sizzles a tiny patch of Australian landscape.

And then comes the bite; and after, the twist to try and get distance. The great snake must not have liked that. As she wheels, Laila reaches over the key something int hte console phone.

KTS: Laila Elsayed targets Dr. Hell with The Fang of Venom!

<Pose Tracker> Qivi has posed.

Qivi snorts in amusement as Lisa calls in - only to be replaced by Koji Kabuto. Does she recognize Lisa? Nope. Does she need to? Also nope. She *did* recognize Koji. Similarly, she recognized Valkyries as OCU forces.

The snake, though. That's a surprise. She knows of Laila but she's never *seen* Neit-Apep, and seeing it erupt out of the ground is enough to get her to turn sharply to one side. She can feel the quiver under her wanzer's feet, though she's too far away to get knocked over.

And there's one other. "TWO kaiju?" Well, one kaiju and one kikaiju - Qivi knows they're not the same, but she was still only expecting one. 'Lin Xaihe'... Qivi doesn't immediately recognize the name, but her lips purse. Is she supposed to fight both of them? Even though this one's engaging the Goblos -

"Ah, screw it," Qivi says to herself, and hits the gas.

Sarangay, already going fast, fires its back-mounted jetpack. It's less a flight system than a jump booster - but it certainly does that, slamming Qivi back hard in her seat. The sonic vibrations impact the Sarangay midleap, rattling the wanzer like a tin can and making Qivi flinch away, yanking her headset off for a moment (and missing half of Leina's harangue because of it) but by this point there's no stopping the Sarangay as it rockets in a long, ballistic arc through the air toward the now de-towered kikaiju.

Qivi comes in shield-first, (hopefully) slamming against the kikaiju - and literally rolling across its back, aiming to end up gripping it and hanging on for dear life while she tries to bring up the wanzer's feet for a better 'grip'. It's a tiny robot, comparatively; all of six meters, Qivi figures her best bet is to try to hang on.

KTS: Qivi targets Dr. Hell with Integrated Shield Tackle!

<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.

Soundwaves rattle the panels of Mazinger's armour and jostle the Hover Pilder. "Master!" LiSA calls petulantly, "I can't very well keep this hack going if we get thrown around like this!"

"Combat hazard, Lisa! We knew it wouldn't hold up well going into this!" Koji grits his teeth, allowing Z to take a single step backwards before standing its ground. "Goblos P7? Not bad, not bad, you guys haven't slacked off on the weird etymology... So soundwaves, huh. Those need something to vibrate, so... Let's try putting you on ice! REITO BEAM!"

Mazinger Z's horns crackle with energy before emitting Photon Power tuned to a particular frequency that somehow saps heat from the point it strikes, causing the rapid onset and crystallization of ice out of thin air as it sweeps over the new Kikaiju!

As the ice beam starts disabling essential functions on Goblos P7, Koji turns Z's head to regard the serpent machine on the ground. "The one and only Count Brocken. Although I like that new caller, she has a point - what's the deal, Count? Sitting back watching while I rip another one-of-a-kind masterpiece into so many spare parts? Must piss you off, not being out here yourself!"

KTS: Koji Kabuto targets Dr. Hell with Reito Beam!

<Pose Tracker> Lin Xiahe has posed.

        The pure sonic waves are a problem, indeed; the Elaphoros attempts to simply outrange the waves, but it's not faster than sound, and there's a moment where the Shinju starts to screech as its magic is disrupted by pure waves; Xiahe herself has to throw a barrier up around herself to prevent the worst of it, but then there's a grin and a laugh.

        "Oh, you have heard? I have been up to some petty crimes as of late, yes, but is that truly worse than this radio show you've put on?" Xiahe pauses for a moment as a very familiar feminine voice comes and just starts blasting at full force.

        "Goodness, Leina," she murmurs to herself with a smirk. "Your words truly are your strongest weapon. And 'Casval!!' truly was a sore spot, hmm."

        Qivi expresses some concern, however, so Xiahe does turn to the radio to say: "Don't worry, sweetie. I'm on the heroic side of ~*~justice~*~ today." You could just very much hear the sparkles coming out of the word, somehow! "Call it responding to an old favour, perhaps."

        Xiahe lets her breath centre, and trails a simple glyph in the air with two fingers; she chants as she lets her qi gather through her dantian, and then--

        "Flying Sword!"

        She's not lying, because a moment later, a giant flying sword sails through the air straight at Goblos P7.

        Sometimes the violence is short, sweet and exactly what it says on the tin.

<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.

There's another kaiju here, too? Anita raises an eyebrow and briefly considers the possibility of whether or not it's going to attack... but then, its rider announces herself and Anita relaxes. That's Minae's friend, right? And she's going after the kikaiju... in that case, it's probably fine if she forgets to report that she was here.

"Long time no see." Anita notes to her, before turning her attention back to the kikaiju. They've got a good team put together here today, but there's still no telling yet what this new kikaiju is capable of... There's some people here she doesn't recognize, including the pilot of the wanzer who announces that she's on their side, among those she does, so she switches over her communications real quick.

"Cool, cool. Ensign Anita Rosetta of Londo Bell here, great to have you." Anita introduces herself, before switching back to wideband.

"You're making a public broadcast, dude. If you can't handle critics, get off the air." Anita replies. "If you want more constructive advice, uhh... it kind of seems like you're just making stuff you like? And there's nothing wrong with that, but if you're gonna do something crazy like, say, take over a radio station, you gotta cater to other tastes too if you want to cultivate an audience."

...Which is about when a caller on the radio does a vicious teardown. Anita can't help but be impressed - though she isn't given much time to appreciate it, as the Goblos P7 retaliates! The kikaiju unleashes sonic blasts and Anita quickly raises her shield. The force of the soundwaves pushing her machine back. And what's more, that snake... it's really fully of surprises.

"This one packs a punch... guess I'm gonna have to punch back too." Anita comments. She takes aim and unleashes a hail of gatling-fire - though aimed more to leave it open to further attack than to directly damage it herself.

<Pose Tracker> Dr. Hell has posed.

The Rust Squall bursts from Todd's VF, blasting into the armor barrier as Goblos skitters down to the roof to make sure the frequency isn't damaged. The giant snake moves to bite, doing major systems damage, even as Goblos P7's beam claws move to interface with the shield tackle, parrying rapidly.

Koji's ice blast leads to Goblos jumping, but the Reito Beam impacts anyways, freezing essential parts. Yet, the frequency does not die down. And then a sword flies forth, as Anita fires more gatling fire. Both are blocked, impacting.

"I can take criticism when it's good! You just can't understand peak comedy!" Brocken is lying - he has never been able to take criticism. But Koji tries to get him to monologue, but he's still muted - even so, he lets off one key fact he probably shouldn't.

"Koji Kabuto! Do you really think our plan will be thwarted so easily? Do you really think we're just here for a laugh? Have we ever? Dr. Hell's ideals live on through me! I will serve his will until the day I die for good!"

Both hands launch forward to thrust claws into Laila and Qivi's machines, while the soundwave antenna is focused hard to send out a powerful focused shot at Mazinger Z! Two of those burstts from earlier are launched at the VF internals, as well! Instead of attacking Xiahe, though, Brocken radios up.

"Are you really such a loser, Lin Xiahe? Going from good to bad so pettily? What happen? Get bored? Your love and hope die? Lose someone important in the rainbow? You're pathetic! Heroes stay heroes until the end, and villains are built that way! Me? Never had a good bone in my body."

<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.

It's not long after Brocken's very POINTED speech that Xiahe's phone rings... and when she picks up.

"Hey Xiahe. I thought I heard you out there... and well he just confirmed it. Don't listen to him. Fighting Brocken just because you're bored? Valid, honestly. Whatever your reason might be, the people inside that radio station? They need you. Who cares if he thinks you're a hero, or a villain? You're you. That's what's important."

Pause.

"Anyhow, I won't distract you anymore. You take care of yourself out there okay? Kick his butt off the air for all of us back home!"

Sure Xiahe announced her intent to be a villain to Leina... but she'd been reading up on her crimes. No civilian casualties...

... honestly if more villains were like her, the world would be a better place.

<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.

Critical damage alarms flash red in the cockpit as Mazinger Z takes another soundwave blast full-on. Despite himself, and the shaking, Koji wipes blood from his lips and grins. "Okay! Soundwaves like that still kind of do a number on us, write that down!"

LiSA gives him a Look from the back seat.

"Nothing for it but to get in close!" The Scrander thrusters fire and Koji leaps forwards off the ground just as the jets kick to full burn, driving wing-first towards Goblos! "SCRANDER CUT!"

<Pose Tracker> Todd Bonzalez has posed.

Todd swings the starbuster into a rapid dive but while it can go supersonic, doing so in a dogfight isn't a good plan and another blast of sonic waves rocks the Starbuster, bleeding through it's pinpoint guard and shaking the mecha violently as it tumbles toward the ground. Todd flips the mecha right side up, transforming just before it touches the ground, landing on it's own two feet as Todd dials into Brocken's show. Brocken gets through his intro before an upbeat and triumphant tune begins to play, punctuated by trumpets, and guitars?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgcap-5IBsY

"I'm afraid I can't say I'm a fan of the neo-zeon schtick you have going on, Count. This is all low hanging fruit, even for a washed up has-been like you. It's sad really, you've never had an original thought in your life, parrotting everything your precious Dr. Hell says like a trained parrot! I think it's time we turn up the heat, and take you off air for good! BREAST FIRE!!!"

Todd's mecha adopts a T-Pose, asserting dominance as two panels shift down over the unit's chest and light up with photon energy. A half second later the energy condenses into a beam and leaps from Starbuster's chest, streaking towards the enemy machine in a bright lance of fire and energy!
Todd Bonzalez transforms to VF/A-44 Starbuster <Battroid Mode>

<Pose Tracker> Laila Elsayed has posed.

"It's quite a sight, isn't it? Perhaps we will see more of these friendly monsters as we go along," Laila answers Qivi, tense but in control. The snake is moving towards her -- rude?? But then it makes some sense to form a cluster, and the Black Castle of Iron can only cover so many people. In spirit, anyway, obviously it stands for all people. Just not, presumably, at once.

"Is there context for this that I am missing, madam?" Laila asks Qivi, before the great thing comes towards her. Qivi may be somewhat concerned but the Active Frame is coiling itself up, heap upon heap and it's clearly going to do something. And that something involves a shimmering ripple in copperine scales, the heaped up serpent rising upwards--

There is a shower of rainbow-iridescent particle that becomes something almost like a firework before cohering and then with a CLASH and a locking interference, a strange but saber-like weapon locks with the Kikaiju's beam claws!

"Good afternoon, Mr. Kikaiju," Laila says, "and its esteemed supervisor as well. You mentioned that you follow the values of Doctor Hell, yes?" The Active Frame, now revealed to be a shape something like a skinny Mobile Suit with an odd-shaped head, sinks downwards while freeing one hand - to snap forth writhing steel tendrils, like subdivided forms of the classical Gouf Whip Thing That Nearly Got Amuro Ray, at the lower leg of the machine.

"Could you tell us what they are, exactly?"

<Pose Tracker> Qivi has posed.

Hanging on the outside of the kikaiju is dangerous. Qivi swings around wildly and - several moments later - loses her grip; Sarangay drops back to the ground with a heavy impact, jostling Qivi around in the seat again - she had half-risen from it to hunch over the controls, as she sometimes does.

The air momentarily knocked out of her, she doesn't immediately respond, but: "Sweetie?" she sends back in response to Lin. Her voice is somewhere between shocked and angry. "*Sweetie*?" she repeats, with more emphasis. "I'm Qivi, piloting Sarangay! I'm nobody's 'sweetie'!" Pause. "And I think you're a little old for me, anyway."

Qivi has no idea how old Xiahe is. (It's a safe bet, though; in 0087, when she first got public attention, Qivi was eleven or twelve. But Qivi doesn't know enough to make that bet.)

Sarangay circles back around the kikaiju. "Well, you heard me," she replies to Anita. Then to Laila: "Context? Probably, but I'm not sure what you mean. C'mon, let's deal with this thing. I think Kabuto has him angrier than I could ever make him, much as I'd appreciate the opportunity, so - "

Qivi darts in again. Not fast enough; the great claws come down, and Qivi's machine isn't able to smack them away with the spiked weight. The blades dig in, leaving a great gash across Sarangay's left side; alarms sound in Qivi's cockpit.

"Hey, Brocken," Qivi says, sounding pained. "Your toy missed my head."

She comes in, suddenly, with the spiked knuckle. Qivi lets out a roar in the cockpit as she slams it home, hard enough that - with the side damage already caused by the kikaiju - a spray of sparks comes out of the shoulder at full extension as she tries to impact with full force. She even triggers the jetpack at the same instant, turning it from a powerful blow to literally trying to drive through the kikaiju, shattering a hole!

<Pose Tracker> Lin Xiahe has posed.

        "Oh, that's Anita, isn't it? Yoohoo! Hello, Anita!" Xiahe always has the time to work the charm and go for a battleside chat, because she won't be caught in a dry and dreary situation where she's simply too busy to say hello. "How's the rest of the Ra Mari doing? I should go and say hello again sometime. Do you like wine? I'll bring some fine baijiu."

        Qivi protests about being called sweetie. "Aw. It's just a polite term of endearment, Qivi, my goodness! But I will take your displeasure to note."

        Xiahe's readying herself for another attack, but one never quite comes the way of the Elaphoros -- instead, Brocken hops on the radio and--

        "... ... ..."

        Her shoulders slump for a moment as she remarks, "I will give you that I was exceedingly bored today and that was the primary reason I came out here." Did her love and hope die? She's keeping very much quiet about that.

        "Haah..." she shakes her head and makes a shrugging motion, a real 'what can you do' gesture. "I envy you, Brocken. You've never wavered from your purpose even once, not throughout the Hell nor Mycenae Wars. If everyone had your sense of purpose in life... that's a One Year War vet for you, I suppose. Heroes remain heroes, and villains remain villains, hmm...?"

        But then the unexpected happens, and her phone rings! She has a cute gara-ke antique with a checkered phonecase, and flips it open and answers.

        "Leina?? Goodness me, I also thought that was you." A pause, as Leina delivers inspiring words. "... hm hm," she chuckles, and then says, "... thank you, Leina. You've always had a way with words, haven't you? 'We know what we are, but now not what we may be...'"

        Leina hangs up, and then there's a dangerous grin on her face.

        "Sorry, I had to take this call. You're right, Brocken, about that. Heroes should stay heroes..." she glances towards Koji, and towards Anita. She's less sure about Todd, Qivi and Laila, but she's sure they've each got their own battles going on.

        "But you're wrong about one thing."

        Suddenly, an enormous glyph erupts underneath her feet, and she's surrounded by the symbols of the yin-yang, around which form the Ba Gua, and out in the borders, the Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions...

        "Guangfeng Jiyue Heavenly Arte...!!
         Come hither, noble and fantastic spirits,
         Behold the winds of lonesome emptiness...
         Fill the sky with your star-sparked iridescence!"

        The skies around the cultivator are, for a moment, night: speckled and glimmering with the wonders of the constellations near and far. She spreads her hands, and the Shinju follows suit, the Elaphoros letting out a low cry as its magic vortices power her spell--

        "Eightfold Seals of Anterior Heaven!"

        --and what emerges are eight colourful, kaleidoscopic spheres around which chains of paper seals fly ever which way. The rainbow spheres surround her, and then launch, each of them seeking to slam straight into Goblos P7 and drain it dry of its power.

        As she withdraws her hands and returns to neutral stance, she grins and drops the last line:

        "I was always a bad girl!"

        ... she says, unironically, while doing her heroic-themed magical girl finisher ... well, Leina's right. Xiahe will be Xiahe.

<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.

"Guilty as charged. Good to see you again." Anita replies with a grin. "Well, we're all hanging in there, at least... you know how it is."

As for the wine, she considers that for a moment.

"I don't dislike it, but I'm afraid it don't do much for me... Wouldn't say no, though." Anita replies. She doesn't elaborate on the why over open channels. (It's her cybernetics, they process alcohol differently.)

Her attention turns back to the radio station, then.

"The way you say that... You mean criticism that only talks about how good you are, right?" Anita replies, with a shake of her head. "Anyway, it's up to you to make it so people can understand. You clearly like making stuff... even if it is just making fun of the rival you're still obsessed over, I guess."

Should she... really be trying to help the villain improve his radio station? Probably not, but he's somehow managed to get her uniquely riled up.

Whatever she can say about his radio programming, though, his kikaiju is not to be underestimated. The antenna unleashes a focused sonic blast, and Anita tries to accelerate out of the way - but she isn't fast enough and it strikes her machine solidly, reverberating through the VF-25 Messiah Rosetta. Anita grits her teeth as her machine shakes - and she can feel it in her left arm and leg, too, the cybernetic prosthetics reverberating along with it. She grasps her left arm with her right for a moment until it stops, then looks back.

"You still okay back there, Haro?" Anita asks, looking back. In response, her Haro opens a flap and extends a hand in a thumbs-up.

"Okay! Okay!" Comes the respond and Anita nods, turning her attention back to the fight.

"Okay... can't let that happen again. Time to close in." Anita decides. The Variable Fighter folds back up into Fighter Mode and shoots up into the area, circling around the radio tower once more before pointing its nose toward the kikaiju and descending at high speed! Once it draws close... it transforms into Battroid Mode and draws its combat knife, hauling it back. Briefly, the Pinpoint Barrier System surges over the blade of the knife, enhancing its cutting edge... before she lands on the kikaiju, attempting to grab hold of it and drive the knife deep!
Anita Rosetta transforms to VF-25 Messiah Rosetta <Battroid Mode>

KTS: Anita Rosetta has changed loadout.
KTS: Anita Rosetta has activated the Enable Spirit Command.
KTS: Anita Rosetta has activated the Enable Spirit Command.
KTS: Anita Rosetta has activated the Focus Spirit Command.
KTS: Anita Rosetta targets Dr. Hell with Pinpoint Barrier Knife Thrust!
KTS: Dr. Hell fails to parry Anita Rosetta's Pinpoint Barrier Knife Thrust, taking 8160 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Anita Rosetta's Keen Eye activates, causing Nullify!
KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 5378
KTS: Anita Rosetta has engaged Dr. Hell!

<Pose Tracker> Dr. Hell has posed.

Brocken is getting angry, but his role here is done.

The Breast Fire blasts into Goblos P7, melting an arm. The Scrander cut helps slice it off completely, as Laila's whip wraps around the machine, anchoring the kikaiju. But Brocken answers her anyways.

"The ideals of changing the world. Into one that is interesting and worth observation. The world is too stagnant and boring - someone has to be a chaos agent to make it matter!"

It's half-possible Brocken is just bad at sharing those ideals. He IS a soldier, not a philosopher or scientist.

Qivi's jetpack punch goes straight through the Kikaiju's torso, and she can make clearance if she tries. It's almost down, but even so, the head is still transmitting...and as it continues doing so, it attempts to evade those seals, which ring true on the body as it leaps off the tower. Anita's Messiah Rosetta thrusts its knife in...it's done any second now.

Inside the radio station, Brocken gets the confirmation, as he goes to escape.

"GOBLOS P7! FULL TRANSMISSION!"

No one is sure what they're transmitting, which stops right as Xiahe's seals finish their drain job, but in Goblos P7's final throes, it manages to transmit a powerful encrypted Mycenae signal. And then, it collapses, exploding to make sure nothing is left.

Not far from the headquarters, a sewer manhole is open. Brocken took the smelly way out.

<Pose Tracker> Todd Bonzalez has posed.

"Hell yeah! Splash one pretentious and creatively bankrupt bandit!"

Todd lowers the Starbuster's arms as the panels he launched his breast fire from retract. He takes a step or two forward to inspect the wreck before it explodes, Todd raising the shield on his arm and focusing his Pinpoint Guard to protect Starbuster from the blast.

"Damn, looks like a self destruct, didn't want to leave anything behind, or hoping to take one or two of us with it. Anyone get caught in that?" He asks, looking around the area for other pilots or cvilians who may be in distress after the battle.

<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.

The Scrander wing cleaves through an arm and Mazinger alights on the opposite side of the Radio Kikaiju. Koji turns to get back into the fight, watching the other defenders rip more holes into Goblos P7, ready to get back into the fight -

And suddenly LiSA screams from behind him, clutching her head as her hair and eyes glow with the light of Photon Power. Koji turns in his seat, concerned for the girl who's been helping him these past months -

And Goblos P7 self-destructs, ending the transmission, and the teenage girl-slash-living interface's hair and eyes return to their normal blue hues, though she's still pressing the heel of her hand into her temple. "It was - it sent some kind of signal - it hurt, Master..."

"It's okay. It's destroyed - won't be sending any new signals any more. You did great, Lisa." He smiles gently. "I'm going to detach the Pilder and touch base with the people on the ground, you rest if you need to."

The young girl/entity in the copilot seat nods. "Mm-hm."

Koji turns back to the controls, running a quick diagnostic. "Okay. That was... not so bad, on the whole. Pilder off." Z's eyes fade from luminous yellow to dull and empty as the red control craft pops free of its docking socket, wing rotors folding out as he steers it back towards the OCU line, opening comms to the other combatants. "Kabuto here. Confirming destruction of the priority target." He glances down at the open manhole as he swoops past. "... Okay so this was Ashura's idea, then, they'd love making Brocken escape through the sewers part of the scheme. How's everyone holding up?"

<Pose Tracker> Dr. Hell has posed.

ON AN ISLAND IN THE PACIFIC:
Baron Ashura stands at the center of a monument. Three young women lay lifeless in the center of it, exposed wiring needing panels to close up. A storm is brewing - lightning will strike any minute.

"The transmission must sync simultaneously..." "Of course, my dear. It will. The great master has assured us we will get what we have earned." "To rely on Brocken...how disgusting. However, I will accept the master's assurances..." The two sides speak to one another, masculine and feminine. Baron Ashura sees the thunder crackle, and they smile.

"Brocken. Transmit." They send, needing no delays. Even a second off...

Lightning strikes. A nearby antenna picks up a signal. The three robot girls take a surge of power, but do not move. Ashura waits. Was this a failure? Were they robbed?

And then, the blonde-haired machine rises. She raises a smoking arm, before turning to Ashura. Another, with black hair, rolls forward. One with red hair starts flexing her digits, not yet rising.

"Who...are we?" The three say, as they look upon each other. Ashura smiles. They step forward, offering a hand. "You are our daughters."

"You are Gamia NX. Rise forth, and claim the world for yourself!"

<Pose Tracker> Lin Xiahe has posed.

        Xiahe frowns very quietly as Brocken talks about changing a stagnant and boring world, which...

        She certainly doesn't disagree with that. And being a chaos agent? That's in part what she's been playing at too, with Julia. But where does she want to take her so-called brand of 'villainy'?

        She'd never admit it, but glancing over to Mazinger Z, the many years of fighting alongside Koji and the others...

        ...

        If your heart's been changed enough that you don't want to burn the world down, but you do think the world is stagnant and boring... what're the options left to you?

        "You're not wrong, Brocken. We're nearly a hundred years into the Universal Century and there's little to celebrate," Xiahe murmurs. But as the Goblos P7 explodes...

        "Hmm. Full transmission...?" Xiahe quietly remarks, but encrypted comms isn't exactly anywhere near her strong suit. A sigh and a shrug, and she remarks, "... I should go pay Leina a visit."

        There's a sympathetic smile to Anita as she says, "Well, you let me know what you prefer, and I'll throw a party your way~"

        And with that, the strange mist-shrouded Kaiju just seems to fold in on itself as Xiahe escapes through a girly portal of Fae colours.

<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.

Changing the world, huh... Anita frowns. She doesn't think she likes his idea of 'change'. The Goblos P7 is about to go down... so Anita's machine backflips off and away from it, returning to Fighter Mode to put some distance between it and herself in just enough time for it to explode.

"I'm good - my Valkyrie's a little banged up, but nothin' some maintenance can't fix." Anita replies, as Todd asks if anyone got caught in that. "Feel like this may be just the beginning of a big headache, though..."

She grins, though as Xiahe mentions a party.

"Me, I like something sweet and sugary. Can't go wrong with that." She replies, as Xiahe then vanishes from the scene.

She considers, then, as Koji mentions Ashura making Brocken escape through the manhole.

"You think he's gone, then? In that case..." Anita says. She pops her cockpit open, reaching behind her to unbuckle her Haro and carry it under one arm. "I'm gonna go check on the station - see if anyone's still alive in there."

<Pose Tracker> Todd Bonzalez has posed.

"Shortstop here, minor damage to internals from those sonic strikes but otherwise I'm good." He responds to Koji before turning his attention towards the larger group again. "Glad you've made it out OK Anita. Any day where nobody needed to punch out is a good day."

<Pose Tracker> Qivi has posed.

Sarangay touches down again after Qivi's reckless charge, landspinner wheels squealing as she attempts to brake before she runs into a building.

It's a good thing she made some distance, though, because the explosion behind her rocks Sarangay again. The wanzer staggers, bracing itself and just barely staying up. The left arm is slightly smoking, but at least it's still attached... more or less.

"I'm fine," Qivi says back to Koji, though if she's being honest she's a little headachey from catching that sonic blast and getting the feedback. "Not sure Sarangay's arm is, though..." She raises it, rotating it slightly; the smoke is starting to die down by this point, but it's still locking up. "Uh. Wasn't expecting to run into you here. I figured I'd lend a hand, but..."

Qivi - Sarangay - is a wanzer arena battler. She's shown up a few times to 'help out' on various operations, mostly against kaiju, but she's not military. She, of course, doesn't say anything about the Shuffles. Laila knows and that's enough.

"...She was in a hurry," Qivi adds, glancing toward Xiahe's vanishing point. "Didn't think I pissed her off that bad, so it must have been Brocken."

<Pose Tracker> Laila Elsayed has posed.

"Nothing too bad on my end," Laila muses. "Not bad for a post-graduate student."

Apep-Set straightens upwards. The fountain of compressed magnetic monopoles cascading out of its 'spear' stops, and it is absently twisted round into a resting position. The Active Frame remains relatively... inactive for a moment.

"Dr. Kabuto," Laila transmits, "Could I trouble you to come over here? You'll find the passenger access hatch in Set's neck here."

On the center console the screen flashes in Arabic:

> FILE SECURED
> FLASHED BACKUP 2/2...... OK
> DECRYPT SURVEY BEGINNING....
> OK TO TRANSMIT FILE

"Oh no," Laila murmurs, and she means it. "How awful. Do you have an insurance plan afoot?" It's a somewhat knowing question to Qivi.

<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.

"There might still be Iron Cross goons in there, Lieutenant, don't go unarmed." Oh, she's bringing her Haro. That's probably fine, you can play some real good distraction tricks with a beeping Haro.

Koji deftly wheels the Pilder around to the serpentine unit, whistling appreciatively. "Quite a machine you've got here! Must be rough keeping the bodywork chromed on a burrowing unit." He pulls up alongside Apep-Set, carefully setting the Pilder to a comfortable stationary hover, and pops the canopy, standing up in the seat and jumping over to the much larger machine to clamber into its passenger compartment.

<Pose Tracker> Todd Bonzalez has posed.

"What's our budget on property damage? I could drop the entire building if clearing it is going to be a problem." Todd remarks. "Unless they still have hostages inside... problematic."

Todd approaches the building, keeping his shield up and pinpoint guard active in case of Iron Cross soldiers with anti-mobile suit weapons.

<Pose Tracker> Qivi has posed.

"I could probably get Sarangay in there if I really had to," Qivi says.

This is not easily true; Sarangay is about three to four times as tall as a person. Maybe crouching and not caring very much if she puts her shoulders through a ceiling.

A moment later, and she pops the cockpit hatch too, pulling herself up. She's in her green and black piloting suit herself, a helmet pushed up and no longer covering her eyes with a visor. "Oh, don't worry, I've got insurance. I'm pretty sure my mechanic gets bored if I don't bring him something to do once in a while," she jokes right back at Laila.

<Pose Tracker> Laila Elsayed has posed.

"Good, good... to lose your arm in a battle like this is rather embarrassing. At least it's just the wanzer - though," Laila admits, "'just' is the wrong way to put it."

Once Koji has made his way upwards and through the additional layers of armoring, he would suddenly feel as if he's entered the cabin of a luxury sports car.

In fact, it's the exact size and shape of a fairly dramatic luxury sports car. There's leather seat cushioning. It smells of six hour old perfume and a recently eaten bento box. "What a pleasure, Dr. Kabuto," Laila says, turning her head to look at the pilot of Mazinger Z with half-lidded eyes. She slides a thumb drive into a console socket.

"You'd be surprised," Laila says, as what is obviously File Transfer Animation gets done. "Excuse me." She reaches for the console. "Shortstop, this is Memphis - secure the area. I believe the OCU ground forces will arrive now that the coast, as they say, is clear."

The chip finishes loading, and Laila leans closer to Koji Kabuto, probably closer than Sayaka would like. "I was able to capture the signal the Kikaiju transmitted. Naturally, you've likely got one yourself, but my Active Frame is configured for radio astronomy as well." The chip is proffered. "Can I help you in any other way, perhaps?"

<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.

"Thanks for the warning. I should be good - I'm always armed." Anita says, waving with her left hand. At least when she brings one of her combat-oriented arms, anyway - which she did today! It has all kind of useful features built in for subduing opponents. "I'll let you know if I run into any trouble."

As for Todd...

"I'd, uh, prefer to avoid too much property damage now that the kaiju's gone, if we can help it." Anita replies. She is concerned about the livelihood of the station's proper hosts, and that's a large part of it... but it'd be great if they could resume normal broadcasting soon so that she can resume her normal relaxation times, too. "...But, I'll let you know if I find anyone in there."

She isn't too concerned - but she has to check.

<Pose Tracker> Todd Bonzalez has posed.

"Any word on potential hostages? I can go in hard but I'd rather not step on someone who isn't asking for it." Todd asks, surveying the exterior of the building, noting some lingering Iron Cross near the entrance and on the roof. "I've got eyes on grunts on the roof and near the door. Starbuster isn't going to fit inside. I can clean out your way in and follow you on foot, nobody should be operating solo."

<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.

Koji pulls his helmet off as he steps into a luxury sports car inside a giant robot, but he's still all business as he leans over to check the screen. "Oh, great, Mazinger Z is definitely not built for transmission interception." He smiles earnestly. She might be a bit closer than Sayaka might appreciate, but Koji is not in 'notice attractive lady' mode right now, he's in 'weird Brocken shit' mode. "Thanks for the help - this, and in the fight. The Photon Power Research Institute appreciates your support!" Laila, for her troubles, gets a beaming Heroic Smile as Koji takes the drive. "If I think of anything else, I'll let you know."

With that, he ducks out of the cockpit of Apep-Set and jumps back into the cockpit of the Pilder, getting a quick once-over of the situation on the ground. "Alright, I'll cover you outside, Shortstop and Lieutenant Rosetta."

KTS: Lin Xiahe's Shinju -Elaphoros- has left
Lin Xiahe teleports out.

<Pose Tracker> Todd Bonzalez has posed.

Todd makes the first move, the Starbuster surging forward with a pair of bursts from it's head vulcans pulverizing the two groups of enemy grunts, while inflicting minimum damage on the structure. Stopping at the front door, and satisfied that there's no more resistance outside the building, Todd pops the canopy and climbs out. In one hand, a compact and boxy sub machine gun is ready to help deal with anything he finds inside. "At least the count has finally shut up, guy needs to fire whoever writes his jokes." Clearing the building, comparatively, should be easy.