2022-03-19: Who Wants Chinese?

• Log: Who Wants Chinese?
• Cast: Dragates ri Becker, Dr. Hell, Asciel Colette, Roux Louka, Yuliana Dispersal, Elisa Kafim, Sousuke Sagara
• Where: Republic of East Asia.
• OOC - IC Date: 0096-03-19
• Summary: Apparently on a whim, Dragates ri Becker has gathered up Amalgam forces and attacked a strategic military base in the Southeast Asia quadrant bordering... nothing? The base is out of the way, there appears to be nothing vitally important to it, and largely there seems to be nothing special other than a few experimental mobile suits and weapons in it. Just what is it that Amalgam is planning and why target some place out here? Let alone, where did they come from and what is it that they are aiming for. The powerful Regele Nebus is said to be in the lead. The only good news is this seems to be well received by the REA's resident enemies, the OCU! To what end remains to be seen.

---

<Pose Tracker> Dragates ri Becker has posed.

There's something to be said for a military base near the ocean. Lots of testing room, lots of crazy stuff they could do. Not to mention it's protecting international waters. At least that's what most intelligence reports say. Now, however, said base has become a target for some reason or another. And the ones targetting it are Amalgam.

The first signs of the attack are a large burst of fire from a nearby forest from something with a rather large cannon to open up the defenses by literally crushing the entrance gate, guard post, and some of the surrounding wall to the facility into one big ball that then explodes causing more damage inside the rather small base. It's not the biggest explosion, but that thing's obviously dangerous whatever it is.

That's the first sign of an attack, followed by the Regele Nebus stepping out of the forest where the shot came from as it starts towards the base. The machine's cannon is out and currently appears to be the source of the odd shot as it continues marching forward, firing again and again.

Inside it, Dragates ri Becker is seated in a command chair as he directs the machine forward. His eyes behind the mask look left and right as he seems to assess a lot of the situation. Then he broadcasts his voice out through his unit's speakers, "Ah, good people of East Asia! We are here to borrow a certain person who seems to like messing with things he should not! He is inside this base, and I am sure he knows who he is! Come out, come out and surrender and we will spare these people their dignity perhaps a little! Do not, and we come in after you."

He pauses, then seems to consider, "On second thought, we are coming in to visit! Please do have some toys for us as our gifts are mayhem, chaos, and throwing off the yoke of the system you so preach!"

And with that, the Regele Nebus continues it's forward march towards the base and facilities inside.

<Pose Tracker> Dr. Hell has posed.

Count Brocken is home.

The Aerial Fortress Gool is a massive airship, shaped vaguely like some sort of predatory bird or fish, floating through the air with terrible intent. It is here mostly to support Dragates in his rage against the civilized world, but as always with Brocken, he has a reason for even the most unusual actions.

"Once the defenses are down, we will drop three units of Iron Cross troopers." The Count says over his broadcast microphone, contacting all Amalgam troops. "Our goal are two scientists and a civilian contractor." Pictures are briefly broadcast of three men; a Chen Lidao, a Lao Jijune, and Caspar Maratov. "They are directly related to the Anaheim situation and need to be taken alive for questioning. The enemy is not to suspect their special treatment. Do not fail me."

Brocken's head detaches as he flies over to survey his troops; silent, patient, efficent. All the benefits of healthy lobotomization. In the depths of the Gool lies a different horror, a gray, pulsing eyeball the size of a Mobile Suit, hanging from the launch bay. "Cyloptucs Rex will ensure our success, even if the children are too busy playing."

Brocken's body slaps a riding crop against his thigh,his head sneering at the sensation. "With discipline, order, and a strict adherence to protocol we will ensure success. There is no time for mistakes. Forward, Iron Cross Corps! Crush the humans!"

"CRUSH!" Two dozen men scream in forced unison.

<Pose Tracker> Asciel Colette has posed.

>"Ah, to be here amidst one of the beginnings of primordial sin. The Nile, Euphrates, Tigris, and Indus...and now here, the lovely Huang He, whose saffron waters nourished humanity's nascent delusion. Were that I could travel back and drink my fill of it before these adorable creatures made their grand mistake, hmmm...?"

Amidst the chaos wrought at the hands of the Regele Nebus, a much smaller machine lurks in a tributary river just off the banks of the military base, its true vision clouded by the yellow-hued sediment. It isn't -the- Huang He, but it's near enough, a split off from it. Once the signal is set, the little teal-hued Codarl tips forward to launch a pack of missiles, emptying the entire salvo in one fell swoop in the direction of...not the military base -directly-, but rather, a smaller fortification just outside of it. A key entry point that'll be important for actually making the breach.

A baleful orange eye peeks up from the surface, gleaming brightly.

<"Say, Mr. Becker, Count Brocken,"> Asciel muses far too casually and cheerily. <"Did you know that in times long gone, the people living in this land believed the river flowed ultimately from the heavens? It's so direct, isn't it?~ And so hilarious with what we know about rivers. My hydrology assessment protocols back at home are tingling with how people managed to survive for so long with such a totally silly assessment of how the world flowed.">

<"Maybe it's more the idea of it, than the reality, that appealed to them. That instead of the impenetrable sponge of knowledge that is geology, the way to rely upon the nourishment of life was to appease something that could feel. That could have opinions about you, and your actions. They needed this water, and cried out in agony, and -perished- when it failed them.">

The eye glows brighter, and the Codarl leaps from the water's shores, flashing out a brilliant and matching-colored beam saber out against the smaller mobile weapons defending this base, sprinting with all the agility and deftness of an actual human being. OWL is completely pleased to serve as the spearhead, lancing directly into the fray, assessing the features of the three men Count Brocken seeks and rapidly scanning every scrambling human she sees for the mere possibility that any of them are out and about.

<"It's terribly sad. Millennia of tragedy soaking this whole land. Tsk~">

KTS: Asciel_Colette has deployed as a Rival.

<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.

A WHILE AGO--

Roux Louka got an email providing an opportunity for detached duty. She's qualified on the GM III, isn't she? (Well, yeah, Roux thinks, but I'm rusty.) So if she could go and provide drill support for some of the personnel at an Earthside base, then she could both get off the Ra Mari and get...

Roux counts zeroes.

> Suggested replies...

Roux chooses 'Awesome!' and 'I'm in.'

MORE RECENTLY--

"So you're not sure what's going on? Well, it's probably a paperwork snarl," says Roux to the hangar quartermaster. "I heard there was a unit I was going to use, though?"

'Oh, you mean the parade model? Sure, check it out. It needs an overhaul anyway, if you're here do you think you could--' "Sure." (I can go on a tour or something when I was done, Roux thinks. With some of that FAT PAYCHECK!)

NOW--

Oh.

"Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit," says Roux Louka as she scrambles out of the pilot's lounge, several flaming Wanzers near the site of the initial landing representing a CRITICAL DEFICIENCY IN IMMEDIATE DEFENSE. "This is all a set-up!! Shit!!" She all but vaults into the GM III's cockpit, closing it up as the lift-mechanism raises the Mobile Suit out of the 'pit' style earthside hangar. Emerging from the open-plan weathering plating, Roux cranes the Mobile Suit's cameras up to see...

An aerial fortress.

And someone is attacking and speaking. Fear alchemizes to anger, and Roux squints. She reaches forwards to press the comm key.

"Attention Titans remnants!" Roux says. "For you, the war is over! Park yourself on the field and don't make it any worse on yourself! I'm giving you one clear warning because I don't think any judge is going to take how upset you were over how it shook out to justify whatever you think it is you're doing!"

Roux turns the comm key to a local band. With some wonder, she says, "I thought those stories on TV about Zeon remnants were mostly propaganda! But I mean, it's pretty much the same thing, right?"

The GM III walks out of the hangar, grasping a Beam Rifle from an upraised truck-mounted rack ("thanks!") as Roux hoists it up. "Oh, they still have the OS the right way!" says Roux to herself, heedless of the fact that she is now acclimated to a heavily patched old-ass build, but even so she takes aim towards the Regele and fires off two screaming shots.

At which point -- "Aquatic assault!? Are they Zeon after all!?" Roux exclaims, even if she doesn't have direct line of sight to the suit lurching out of the briny depths!

KTS: Roux Louka targets Dragates ri Becker with GM III Beam Rifle Shot!
KTS: Dragates ri Becker fails to evade Roux Louka's GM III Beam Rifle Shot, taking 2775 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.

       INSIDE THE BASE:

       Yuliana Dispersal is playing a card game around a table with a woman and a youth of indeterminate gender. There's a man typing away on a laptop with one hand. (His other hand is holding a hand of his own.)

       "Got any twos?" Asks Cadet Casade Wattana, a vague scowl on their face. It's fine; they always look grumpy at work. It might have something to do with their enhanced empathy, and the fact they're sitting opposite their Captain right now.

       "Go fish," Captain Dispersal waves a hand, casually. "Hey, Lt. Chaudhri! Are you sure this was the place? I'm one foot in the grave out here!"

       "If you think my intelligence is faulty, you're welcome to do it yourself," Second Lieutenant Parminder Chaudhri says, handing the two of hearts over without looking up. He sounds pretty confident she won't.

       "We're getting to about that time," First Lietenant Wen Yuan points out, as she draws a card. "Don't you think we ought to suit up?" Someone has to give directions, here.

       "What's the harm in letting them sweat a little?" Yuliana asks, with an easy grin. "They might forget why they employ special operations if this goes too easy."

       "I don't know about you, but I'd like a bonus for mysteriously being in the right place at the right time today," Lt. Yuan points out, deadpan.

       "Aaah, fine! But first, were we aces high..?" Yuliana wonders, as she taps an idle message into her communicator.

       ANYWAY --

       A military base has plenty of defenders, obviously. Even leaving aside the special talent here today, a dozen Tieren immediately sortie to meet the attackers. The base transmits a reply over loudspeaker: "Unprovoked force will be met with force!"

       This, in itself, isn't the worst reaction in the world; entirely estimable, when assaulting a military base. The REA's attitude to warfare likely means any one of those soldiers aren't too challenging by themselves -- that's why there's so many of them.

       But there's a Tiandong 3 in distinctive greens launching, too -- and that's more of a problem. "Minovsky's Woman, on site," Yuliana transmits, cheerfully, as she shoves her clutch in. "Chaos, was it, dear? I do so love a spot of confusion. Don't die too soon!"

       There's an RK-96 Savage II and a Laiying 1 coming in after her, too -- and both of those also have custom signatures, because Wen Yuan and Casade Wattana, respectively, are at the controls. Yuliana transmits -- to them, but it's on a wide band, so everyone can hear it -- "Nega Force, take care of the sky, would you? I'm afraid I don't feel like jumping that high!"

       "Yes, ma'am!" Come the replies, and Yuan and Wattana are thusly designated to make the Gool's life more difficult. It's going to have to keep moving to avoid those rockets! And that Savage II has a sniper rifle, just to make matters worse.

       (Chaudhri is still at base. He's not much of a direct fighter, and this isn't a situation where they need a battleship pilot. He's still monitoring the situation, of course.)

       As for the Tiandong 3 --

       Well, it's a small unit, compared to some of the behemoths stomping onto the scene right now. Regardless, it blows right in, flamethrower in one hand and axe in the other.

       "Come on! It's a party...!"

<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.

"What energetic guests!" A voice comments over local frequency to all involved. "Chaos.... Yes, I think perhaps that's just the thing."

From the hangar comes a very large suit that must have somehow been missed in the confusion. The Queadlunn-Inanna in golds and greens rises from the ground and moves towards the Tiandong 3, moving up beside it.

When did she get here? Well, someone might've noticed a spike in local energy at about the right time, a little after that message from Yuliana...

"I'm not sure you're ready to throw off yokes. Perhaps we should give you another."

<Pose Tracker> Sousuke Sagara has posed.

"Looks like Tessa had the right idea yet again," a brash male voice chuckles across the Shuffle frequency. "Gonna owe Gail another fiver..."

"If she finds out you're betting against her she's gonna be sad," a firm, female voice replies. "And that will be your problem."

As his teammates chatter and prepare themselves, the white machine of the Arbalest contemplates the battlefield, its pilot scanning the scene. "Gool," he says, to himself.

"The enemy's altitude and scale would present a considerable combat advantage," his unit AI, callsign AL, says, flashing several supporting images across his displays.

"Agreed," Sousuke says, then flicks open a comm line. "Uruz-7 to Uruz-2. Submitting tactical plan."

A few moments of quiet. Then: "Go. We'll keep an eye on the evacuees. If Hell survivors are involved, we need to keep an eye out for androids."

"Roger!" and then Arbalest bursts into a run, electric blue light shedding off its white armor as the ECS Invisibility Mode turns off, the lenses that project it sliding back inside their armored slots.

And then it reaches the edge of a cliff and LEAPS. The Generation 2 ARM Slaves can barely jump at all, but the Muscle Packages of a Generation 3 can propel a machine to 40 meters into the air or more, and with the added height, Arbalest looks like it should just about make it to the Gool's wing.

Which he attaches to by simple expedient of driving a Monomolecular Cutter through the armor.

KTS: Sousuke Sagara targets Dr. Hell with GRAW-2 Monomolecular Cutter Slash!
KTS: Dr. Hell fails to evade Sousuke Sagara's GRAW-2 Monomolecular Cutter Slash, taking 2700 damage!
KTS: Sousuke Sagara has engaged Dr. Hell
KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 74.

<Pose Tracker> Asciel Colette has posed.

Asciel makes life much, much harder on those defending this base by repeatedly disengaging and turning on the Electronic Conceal System - vanishing with an uncanny level of obscuring to radars and the naked eye alike. Animals are panicking whenever the Codarl parks near enough to a patch of foliage, but animals are panicking at all the missiles and guns and alarms in the vicinity anyway.

Two primary assailants here on ground level. The first - the much more towering Queadlunn-Inanna. Immediately and obviously recognizable as a Zentradi armor - unless they've happened to hook up a human-compatible control scheme to it. (this is totally a possible thing!). The clearest biggest threat here at the moment. The second - the much humbler, but clearly well armed green Wanzer. Two elite targets this deep in enemy territory.

If Asciel had lips, she'd be licking them eagerly right now.

She waits, hulking down amidst the underbrush, for the Queadlunn to pass- then the Codarl leaps up, detectable as a -thump- in the nearby earth, almost more like a landmine just went off. High in the air - the ECS finally disengages, backed by the sun, and the teal Arm Slave swiftly draws its beam saber from a chest compartment, flashing it out only the moment she targets Elisa, plunging down for a forceful stab.

She doesn't stay there for long, though. Immediately after, she's darting out of range again, the Codarl's eye flashing at Yuliana's Tiandong. The distinctive ponytail of cyan hair fibers gets a distinct glow - and energy readings start rising in the machine's chest, pulsing like a heart.

<"Good afternoon~ I eagerly await learning your reasons for jumping into the fray, swimming in this sea you can't fathom the depths of. Are you here by force? Are you here by delusion? Or, my, wouldn't this be exciting - perhaps you're genuinely worthy of this most primal art? Hmhmhm.~ You should always be willing to -rethink- that.">

A single mote of light shimmers in Yulianna's view. A sparkling little teardrop - that then bursts, so very suddenly, in a sharp explosion of indeterminate force.

KTS: Asciel Colette has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
KTS: Asciel Colette has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
KTS: Asciel Colette targets Elisa Kafim with Beam Saber 100 Thrust!
KTS: Asciel Colette targets Yuliana Dispersal with Lambda Driver Pinpoint!
KTS: Elisa Kafim has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Elisa Kafim fails to parry Asciel Colette's Beam Saber 100 Thrust, taking 3416 damage!
KTS: Asciel Colette has engaged Elisa Kafim
KTS: Yuliana Dispersal has activated the Wall Spirit Command.
KTS: Yuliana Dispersal fails to charge.
KTS: [Mirage] Yuliana Dispersal's Avoid20 activates, and she slips into a mirage.
KTS: Yuliana Dispersal fails to react to Asciel Colette's Lambda Driver Pinpoint, taking 0 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Dragates ri Becker has posed.

There's a small bzzap as the Regele Nebus is hit from something. Dragates scans where it came from, and the unit's head turns that way as it's eyes glow. While the zap didn't really do much more than score on the armor, it does give a good target for the machine.

Then he blinks as he hears the pilot call them Titans. He blinks a few more times. Then opens his channel to his Amalgam allies, <"... we have an idiot in the field. She thinks we're with the Titans group. Asciel, please remember what we are to nab if we get the chance. I do agree on the river from heaven theory. On a side, this machine does look pretty well mass produced. A GM III, I believe.">

After that, Dragates flicks a few controls and the Regele Nebus turns towards where it was fired at. The large cannon fires off a return shot at the GM III.

Dragates responds finally to the accusations, "Oh, my! You have found us out! Whatever will we do!" He laughs, very well mocking Roux's assumptions.

KTS: Dragates ri Becker targets Roux Louka with Armor Breaker!
KTS: Roux Louka fails to evade Dragates ri Becker's Armor Breaker, taking 4320 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Dr. Hell has posed.

Count Brocken is mocked by the abominable intelligence. He sneers. "Machine." He whispers faintly into his microphone, "It is the master's interest in your design alone that has kept me from introducing you to the exciting biological concept of pain. Perhaps it will broaden your horizons, seeker of knowledge."

Skreeeeeee.

"Sir!" An Iron Cross shouts, "There's a man on the wing of the plane!"

"Yes, yes, I've watched that one." Brocken says, waving a hand dismissively.

"No, Count, look!"

Brocken detaches his head and sends it flying over to look out the window, where an arm slave is hanging from the wing by a knife. The head, floating by a miniture jump engine, turns at an angle, its monocle gleaming red as if trying to see where the rabbit comes out of the hat.

"Relese Cyclopto." Brocken orders. "And shoot it down."

Sousuke, about half a dozen Iron Cross soldiers come out to the wing, armed with heavy looking machine guns. They just plain old shoot at you, while some horrible greasy gray ball floats out of the Gool's deployment bay, floating in a guarding position around the machine. Iron Cross troopers are rappelling down to the base, marching to take on any foot troops directly. The Iron Cross are heavily armed, highly resilient, and fight with absolutely no fear or mercy. Any attempts to use psychic powers to fool or control them works about as well as trying to Newtype flash a corpse.

KTS: Dr. Hell targets Sousuke Sagara with Heavy CIWS Array Burst!
KTS: Sousuke Sagara successfully evades Dr. Hell's Heavy CIWS Array Burst

<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.

SHUNK

There is no immediate response from the GM III, not least because the enormous shot has hit the Mobile Suit in the ol' South Burning spot - the hip area - and sent it flying backwards, helped no doubt by the fact that it was already warming up the verniers to do some kind of mobility trick. It tumbles in the air, managing to do a 270-degree inversion before landing under partial control and turfing up a large chunk of the grounds. Goodbye, officers' tennis court.

Roux thinks to herself: This doesn't feel like some guy who sat in the forest to be racist for eight years.

The GM III surfaces upright again as Roux exhales.

The comm comes back on. There's somewhat labored breathing, a little too rapid, as if anxious. Then it goes back off after a few seconds. It sounded like fear.

The secret, of course (which might be amenable to Asciel's super-computer analysis or similar, if she isn't busy) is that this was a ploy. Having stalled by demonstrating fear while also kicking on the verniers for a low flight-path lateral to the Regele, landing near the outer corner of the base perimeter, Roux was able to figure out the controls for--

M I S S I L E L A U N C H a barrage from both of the small-bore shoulderpads!

"Gah!" Roux says (to herself). "Loud!"

KTS: Roux Louka has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Roux Louka targets Dragates ri Becker with GM III Small Missile Pods Double Fire!
KTS: Dragates ri Becker fails to intercept Roux Louka's GM III Small Missile Pods Double Fire, taking 3375 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.

       "Hey, visitya!" The Tiandong 3 transmits, to Roux. "Are you going to let this guy talk to you that way?! I'm authorising as much force as you care to apply here!"

       The base transmits: "Minovsky's Woman, you are not cleared to --"

       "Sorry, base, your transmission's breaking up!" It is not. She switches her band to her cell, looking up to the sky. "Are you seeing this? Looks like someone did feel like jumping! Do your best not to shoot him too, won't you?"

       "Captain," the Laiying 1 responds, "it might be hard to --"

       "Too late! I decided I like his style!"

       Well, that might give the Gool a little more breathing room.

       And speaking of breathing room, all a sudden, Yuliana doesn't have any. "Ah!" She exclaims, as the Codarl comes down on the Queadlunn-Inanna. "A volunteer."

       There's something consumptive about the wanzer, as the light shimmers -- but the automatic avoidance system in its legs activates before Yuliana can really react, and the Tiandong 3 leaps out of the way of the explosion. Her laughter is transmitted to everyone: "Hahaha..! Magnificent audacious!"

       Now the Codarl's on her sensors, Yuliana pursues -- but her voice, transmitted out, may well reach her first. "You couldn't possibly fathom the depths of me," she answers, still cheerful. "But I suppose someone like you is just here to enjoy yourself, aren't you? Or perhaps you're hungry for meaning, with how much discount philosophy you're bleeding out here for us!"

       Hers is invitation, as she asks: "Would you like to eat..?"

KTS: [Spirit Defense] Asciel Colette's Spirit Endurance activates, and the spirit endures.
KTS: Yuliana Dispersal has activated the Daunt Spirit Command targeting Asciel Colette
KTS: Yuliana Dispersal targets Asciel Colette with Demoralize!

<Pose Tracker> Dragates ri Becker has posed.

The large cannon swings back before various ports start to fire at the incoming missiles. Unfortately, these do not appear to be that good of a shot against something like missiles firing at it!

The larger Regele Nebus actually stumbles back from the barrage a few steps as it continues opening fire and instead shifts the aim to the source of the missiles.

Inside the Regele Nebus, Dragates hums a bit. Then glances upwards a second, "Mm... not my fault you have a problem with missiles. Just keep her at bay and continue to chip her down."

Then the Regele Nebus actually gives off what sounds like a beastial roar at the GM III as it crouches low, moving more carefully and in a side step fashion as it watches the GM III.

The machine's agenda is still the base and it's starting to side walk that way, as if trying to get closer to it's objective.

KTS: Dragates ri Becker has activated the Daunt Spirit Command targeting Roux Louka
KTS: Dragates ri Becker targets Roux Louka with Bashing Magnums Rapid Fire!
KTS: Roux Louka blocks Dragates ri Becker's Bashing Magnums Rapid Fire, taking 2340 damage!
KTS: Dragates ri Becker begins a Formation attack!

<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.

The sudden ush of the teal Arm Slave should surprise Elisa more. But she doesn't let loose any impression of shock or dismay, even as the bea saber plunges straight down and stabs into the armoring on the Queadlunn-Inanna. It is larger than most Queadlunns, and that means more space for armor and plating to absorb powerful blows like that one without destroying the much more fragile pilot within.

She is gone before Elisa finishes her attempt at a parry, her own beam saber igniting a little too late. But raw pilot skill is not what she brings to bear here.

"Do you now?" Elisa replies to the glowing eye of the machine.

"To fathom depths is to miss the point of depths!" Elisa says in delight. "Show me your primal arts, but ahhhh, yes, you made a request, did you not?"

"I am here because I wish to be, my darling opponent."

As she speaks and turns, misiles start pouring off of her suit, just a few this time, towards the teal Arm Slave.

"And you? What brings you here, my dear? You are so fast, you should consider stopping to enjoy!"

KTS: Elisa Kafim has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Elisa Kafim targets Asciel Colette with Loom XL-38 Missile Launcher Pods Shot!
KTS: Yuliana Dispersal demoralizes Asciel Colette, reducing her Morale drastically.
KTS: [Spirit Defense] Asciel Colette's Unwavering Assurance activates, and her spirit endures.
KTS: Asciel Colette blocks Elisa Kafim's Loom XL-38 Missile Launcher Pods Shot, taking 2220 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Sousuke Sagara has posed.

Arbalest swings its forearm up, mostly blocking the bullets coming from the soldiers at him.

"Alert. Enemy profile matches data for Iron Cross Troopers," AL reports. "Expect extreme capabilities."

"Notify Uruz-2!" Sousuke barks, then sweeps Arbalest's head-mounted chainguns across the wing, hoping to scatter the soldiers attacking him. He's about to pull his monomolecular cutter and charge straight at the main body, when the Machine Beast drops out, hovering defensively. "Alert. Machine Beast deployment," AL says.

"Focus on the Gool for now!" Sousuke calls, and then redoubles his efforts, firing from Arbalest's head-mounted chaingun in an attempt to repel every soldier and blast the wing to shreds while he's at it.

KTS: Sousuke Sagara targets Dr. Hell with AM 11 12.7mm Chain Gun Burst!

<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.

Roux answers the Tiandong, "Thanks" in a quiet voice, before she continues in the same quiet voice despite using a tightbeam microwave laser, "I'm luring him out. This trick pays off for me a lot, especially against dumb men. There's only one man who's seen through it..."

"Did his mobile suit just roar?" Roux asks Yuliana. Then, "Wait, are you actually related to Mi--"

INCOMING FIRE. Something makes Roux shiver awake and she turns the GM III round, bringing up the shield a heartbeat or so before the strike smashes against the Mobile Suit -- the old reliable is rocked backwards, the smoke and explosive residue clearing from the red and gold-- oh, didn't we mention? This thing had national colors for when it flew out to high schools for recruitment things.

It's red.

"I don't like the roaring," Roux decides to herself, bringing out a side console. She glances at it, then up at the optics.

The GM III stares down the Regele Nebus... its shoulder pods close...

And then it fires the most deadly weapon of all: KNEE MISSILES. Yes: two sudden streaking and much thicker missiles firing outwards, popping down and then one rising directly upwards and taking a broad "O" of an arc to try and hit the Regele at the same time as the other one, which stutter-fires and then streaks dead center! And just before then do, the OTHER two discharge-- at which point they jettison!

"Are there reloads?" Roux asks Yuliana. "... And do you know that guy who just jumped up there? Because..." Her eyes turn once more heavensward, even if in the sky there is only-- HELL

And past that, space, but that's a long way off at the bottom of a well.

KTS: Roux Louka has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Roux Louka has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Roux Louka targets Dragates ri Becker with GM III Large Missile Pods Barrage!
KTS: Dr. Hell fails to rush.
KTS: Dr. Hell fails to react to Sousuke Sagara's AM 11 12.7mm Chain Gun Burst, taking 1950 damage!
KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 94.
KTS: Dragates ri Becker has activated the Wall Spirit Command.
KTS: Dragates ri Becker has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Dragates ri Becker has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Dragates ri Becker successfully Intercepts Roux Louka's GM III Large Missile Pods Barrage

<Pose Tracker> Asciel Colette has posed.

A little something alights in Asciel at Brocken's sneering. On any monitor her avatar's happening to be left on - her eyes are going oh so very wide.

<"Dear me, this is what I get for lightening the mood a bit. Tsk~ Besides, do you think it's even possible to evade the notion of pain? Humans talk about it just as much as love. It's their bodily diagnostic routines for avoiding damage, all wrapped up in some terribly convoluted and oversized perception of it. I think if someone fired a cannon at me, I'd pretty well get the gist of what pain is, you know~">

She's already dangerously expending her Sass Reserves now that she's in the wake of two who can absolutely dish it right back out at her. The illusory high-mobility burst of the Wanzer surprises Asciel a bit, but it helps that it wasn't a strike she had to commit to. Indeed, the moment that singular burst of light blossoms to no avail - it pivots right back around towards Elisa's Queadluun in a perfectly circular arc, whipping around from missile to missile to intercept - though some invariably make it through what almost resembles a Pinpoint Barrier-type system, setting Asciel's Codarl briefly alight in flames.

<"Hmmmm? I'm used to cute defiance. This is a different flavor altogether. I'm not sure it's all that palatable..."> Asciel muses, sensors shifting in the Codarl's eye to better analyze the Wanzer before her, glaring at its motors and powerplant, trying to divine parameters of its mobility and output. Her own ECS keeps flickering on and off, to try and disrupt attempts to do the same. <"Hehehe. Bleeding? You misunderstand. I need not sacrifice anything from myself to fill up peoples' cognition. It flows from me as much as I please - just the same indeed, as this lovely river that once spouted from the heavens! I think the cuter image, is when this was conceived as a -dragon-, winding and flowing through the valleys."> Her arm sweeps to frame the gentle curves of the nearby yellow-hued river. First, palm-up - then, transitioning into a snap, and a gesture upwards.

And just like a dragon, a torrent of that water erupts from behind, first as an uncontrolled geyser, then repeatedly pushed, contorted and weaved into the shape of an angry serpent, coiling in the air a few times, wreathed in light - then surging towards Yulianna, 'jaws' wide open.

<"It's better to clarify early on. My role here is to feed you all, you see! You'd do well to drink deep from this oh so tangible world...">

A second 'serpent' seems to flow from some amorphous point in the air. Wreathed not in light, not in whatever, but in pure, ungainly chaos. Static. A decidedly 'prickly' sensation, flaring and buzzing, its movements more like an angry hornet's nest, aiming to encoil Elisa's armor, all while 'tightening' its grip.

<"And you, perhaps, could do with a hearty filling of boredom, to better recall the dreariness that was war for your ancestors~">

KTS: Asciel Colette targets Elisa Kafim with Lambda Driver Static!
KTS: Asciel Colette targets Yuliana Dispersal with Goad!
KTS: Asciel Colette goads Yuliana Dispersal, reducing her Intuition drastically.
KTS: Elisa Kafim rushes into the attack!
KTS: Elisa Kafim fails to react to Asciel Colette's Lambda Driver Static, taking 3017 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Dragates ri Becker has posed.

This time the missiles are intercepted by the rapid fire from the chest guns, exploding in mid air between the GM III and the Regele Nebus.

The machine seems to growl. And Dragates inside sighs, "Fine, fine... just make it quick."

From the waist of the Regele Nebus comes a sudden blast of it's own slightly more useful version of rockets. Slash Harkens lash out, attempting to hook into the GM III and yank it in closer to the larger machine.

Dragates comments over the Amalgam comlink, "<It seems as if my Regele Nebus is annoyed and hungry. Count Brocken, did I ever send the specifics on this unit to you?>"

KTS: Dragates ri Becker targets Roux Louka with Harken Hook!
KTS: Dragates ri Becker anchors Roux Louka, forcing her into close range.
KTS: Roux Louka fails to evade Dragates ri Becker's Harken Hook, taking 3300 damage!
KTS: Dragates ri Becker has engaged Roux Louka

<Pose Tracker> Dr. Hell has posed.

The Iron Cross Corps are brutal, efficient, and utterly silent. They move as if one organism, defended from Mobile Suits and other walking artillery by Cyclopto, the floating eyeball firing a broad, screaming beam of ionized plasma that melts through anything sassy enough to cause too much trouble.

The damndest thing is they don't shoot anyone unarmed. If you fire at them sure, but otherwise the Crosses grab civilians and scientists, run a device over their faces, and shove them aside unmolested. For now.

Atop the Gool, soldiers are shot by a machine gun. This is a tale as old as time, and Brocken is unbothered, the madman sneering slightly at the sight. He switches the microphone on so the Uruz can hear him, even as the Gool simply starts to bank on its side, letting the bodies fall and making it harder for Sousuke to hold on.

"What fascinates me about your generation is the sheer repetition of it all. You have machines trying to be human and humans trying to be machines and no one learns a goddamn thing except how to traumatize themselves more efficiently. You think, because you do it fast, and cheap, you do it well. You seem to believe that your only defense against a place and time that hates the young with inspired passion is to make war as boring a business as possible, and so play into the hands of the men that make things like the pair of you. Tell me something, would you like to see your future if you allow this banality to continue?" Brocken gestures, and a Iron Cross corpsman takes off his helmet.

There is no skull. There is a brain, poorly treated, chemicals to force the corpse to life, and wires dug into soft, secret places. "What I am trying to say is the superman is here, and Doctor Hell has mass produced him. Behold: soldiering on the next level. What Zeon, and the Titans, and even the Zentraedi try to turn their infants into at the cost of everything they care about, we can do with a few wires and a potato battery."

"Evil has already won, here. This is just the allocation of resources."

KTS: Dr. Hell has activated the Daunt Spirit Command targeting Sousuke Sagara
KTS: Dr. Hell targets Sousuke Sagara with Goad!
KTS: Dr. Hell goads Sousuke Sagara, reducing his Intuition drastically.
Your unit's HP stands at 15100

<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.

       "Roar right back at him, sweetie!" Yuliana transmits to Roux, with that selfsame cheer. "As for Commando up there, I have no clue, but I'm sure he's a riot. And hey, if you can get back to the garage, you can have as many missiles as you like!"

       As for whether she's related, well...

       That is a secret! o/`

       (She's not.)

       "It seems our advice is falling on deaf ears," Yuliana's sigh reaches Elisa, now, as Asciel keeps pattering. "Tragic, isn't it?"

       She doesn't bother dodging the river dragon that comes to wash away her soul, crashing over the Tiandong 3, sensors screaming as everything speaks to the merits of the waterfall. She has no defence; equally, she has no defences to LOWER. Everyone has some hunch about people, some instinctive recognition of how they might feel, what they might do. Except --

       "You could never pour enough to fill me up," Yuliana purrs, unpalatable. "But I welcome you to try. Offer all your gifts to oblivion, and flare bright as the Sun."

       She flicks a toggle atop one of her sensor readings -- narrows in on the Codarl's flickering signal. All at once the Tiandong 3 is moving again, charging forward to engage the other diminutive unit. It's her flamethrower, not her axe, which comes forward as she closes into melee range -- consumption range -- and flares into existence, with broiling heat all concentrated to a point.

       "I offer you... destruction."

       She isn't talking to Asciel.

KTS: Yuliana Dispersal targets Asciel Colette with Achilles' Flame!

<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.

"Sad indeed..."

But to everyone, "Such generosity of spirit!" Elisa exclaims over the radio again. "But hmmmm, I wonder. You speak of the dragons, but... Can you keep up with her hunger?"

There the 'dragon' goes, coiling in the air, in some kind of chaos and static. The movements encoil Elisa's armor all right. As that happens, she tilts her head, looing at the displays on her machine and how they largely fail to comprehend the nature of this assault.

So she rushes into it, naturally, and that does not, as it turns out, appear to help very much. "Oh, I could never be bored with such a fascinating opponent! So I'm afraid I'll have to introduce you to a different kind of warfare than my ancestors enjoyed..."

She is close up, now, moving through the water even at it encoils her, step by ungainly step. The ground shakes under her power suit's footfalls. And soon--

"Did you invite destruction?" she wonders, and lifts her hands, the control mechanisms bringing the Queadlunn-Inanna's arms up with hers. Se sighs, once, and then feels the energy present...

Ah, yes. A fine vintage. Come into her parlor...

"TASTE THE UNSEEN, GENEROUS ONE!"

Black lightning suddenly crackles from the machine's hands, rushing towards her opponent in a crash of ozone-smelling horror, space itself rent and torn in the wake of energy that once came from life and now comes from something... else.

It's still crackling as the Queadlunn-Inanna tries to grab the Arm Slave and hold it down to absorb more lightning.

KTS: Elisa Kafim has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Elisa Kafim has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Elisa Kafim targets Asciel Colette with Calamitous Grasp!
KTS: Asciel Colette fails to parry Yuliana Dispersal's Achilles' Flame, taking 4400 damage!
KTS: Yuliana Dispersal has engaged Asciel Colette
KTS: Yuliana Dispersal begins a Formation attack!

<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.

The smoke clears from the missiles --

-- "Oh come on!!" Roux shouts in frustration. "It shot down all of them!? What good are these stupid rockets in gravity if --" At this point a burning, screaming hook of a Slash Harken snaps out, digging into the GM III's 'thigh' and another smashing into its thigh.

Roux tightens up, cursing internally. She is at least not in her Normal Suit right now. That mostly just means the sweat isn't sticking to her. The GM III leans backwards, digging in heels as it's dragged forwards. Pulled, ripped at. Struggling...

"Nice try!"

Roux says this as two things happen at once. (It's not three hearts that beat as one, but that's probably a good thing for everyone.)

Thing the first: The beam saber comes out and whips down into the connector cables, having been previously lurking unseen in the GM III's other hand. That hand hasn't come into play much. You could say it's a killer hand, but it is only there to break that connection. At which point the GM III jets backwards, towards the 'garage'.

Which is when thing the second happens: while in the air, the Beam Rifle is brought round for a quick bracketing pair of shots followed by a zeroed-in one, aimed towards the strange suit's center of mass while the GM III repositions!

KTS: Roux Louka has activated the Dash Spirit Command and has disengaged.
KTS: Roux Louka targets Dragates ri Becker with GM III Beam Rifle Rapid Fire!
KTS: Asciel Colette retreats from the attack!
KTS: Asciel Colette fails to react to Elisa Kafim's Calamitous Grasp, taking 6750 damage!
KTS: Elisa Kafim completes the Formation attack!
KTS: Dragates ri Becker fails to Evade Roux Louka's GM III Beam Rifle Rapid Fire, taking 3820 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Dragates ri Becker has posed.

The cut cables has the Regele Nebus roaring again, just as much as the beam rifle rapid shots splash over the armor, scorching it as it tries to evade the first few shots before bringing up it's arms and the cannon swinging around again.

Dragates seems to consider, "Mmm... fine. Finish this."

Then he speaks over the speakers as the cannon actually seems to be charging up a pretty large ball of some sort of purple or magenta looking energy. "My apologies, madam, but I have a prior engagement and can no longer toy with you. Big Cannon Shot."

The Regele Nebus actually moves to stabilize itself with it's footing before firing. But the large sphere easily has enough apparent force behind it that it skids a bit back as it unleashes it, even with both it's hands holding on to the cannon itself.

KTS: Dragates ri Becker has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Dragates ri Becker targets Roux Louka with Big Cannon Shot!

KTS: Roux Louka has activated the Focus Spirit Command.
KTS: Roux Louka fails to evade Dragates ri Becker's Big Cannon Shot, taking 9120 damage!
KTS: Roux Louka's RGM-86 GM III has been disabled.
KTS: Dragates ri Becker roots his unit, coming to a standstill and leaving him vulnerable.

<Pose Tracker> Sousuke Sagara has posed.

A tale as old as time. Sousuke didn't even think of mowing them down. Sometimes he bothers with tasers and such, and saves the chainguns for armored targets, but when you're dealing with Hell's supersoldier Iron Cross army, you pull out the lethal options. His eyes cut to the Machine Beast, expecting it to come alive, but that's...not the thing he sees. Neither the Machine Beast, nor life. His jaw sets.

Some part of him imagines a fluttering red ribbon behind that helmet.

If AL has some separate thought, the machine does not voice it. Though, it is also unusually silent.

Ultimately, Sousuke says to the world, "Perhaps. But a regime frequently loses everything long after declaring victory."

       'If you don't stop them, they'll take me away from here and do whatever they want to me!'

"AL. Start the Lambda Driver."

Arbalest's shoulders erupt open, heat-venting fins jutting outwards as Arbalest's thermal load increases drastically. Light and heat whirl around Arbalest, forces that don't exist sparking and shining around it.

He draws his shotcannon and fires, three shots into the side of the Gool, pellets drilling through armor like it was butter.

KTS: Sousuke Sagara has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
KTS: Sousuke Sagara has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
Sousuke Sagara transforms to ARX-7 Arbalest - Lambda Driver Online
KTS: Sousuke Sagara targets Dr. Hell with Lambda Shotcannon Obliteration!
KTS: Dr. Hell retreats from the attack!
KTS: Dr. Hell fails to evade Sousuke Sagara's Lambda Shotcannon Obliteration, taking 5940 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Sousuke Sagara's Outmaneuver activates, causing Control Bonus!
KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 61.

<Pose Tracker> Asciel Colette has posed.

Destiny descends.

They do not defy, or resist, or recoil. The twin dragons fizzle away once it's abundantly clear that Elisa and Yulianna won't be restrained or restricted by this.

The light in the Codarl's heart pulses, faster and faster. To think today welcomes Asciel with such validation. Not one, but -two- who clearly display that they would boundlessly swallow up all miracles.

She isn't fast enough to escape a pincer attack like this, a muscle in the Arm Slave's leg giving out when such immense heat is applied - leaving her skidding along the ground. In the wake of that furious lightning, though, Asciel can't let herself get grasped, not when it licks so harshly at all of her senses. She keeps pushing anyways even with one limp leg, before planting one hand up to spring a little bit more to her senses.

Alert after alert. Frantic re-calculation straining her every processor to avoid this situation. The intense conclusion that any more damage to that leg must be avoided at all costs. Is this not 'pain'? She's plenty familiar with the idea, thank you very much.

<"Aaaaaaah. I think it all becomes so much clearer. It's no wonder I can't fill either of you this way. Both of you are an... 'as soon as possible', where my eye would seek what is 'as long as possible'. It's so wonderful to encounter something like you. Finally, after all this time. I get to see how well that abyss handles my resolve directly.~">

Up high above, Asciel gains brief witness to something familiar. She's seen that Arm Slave before, the one engaged with Dr. Hell up in the sky. The whirlwind of light enveloping each shot...Asciel can't help but laugh.

>"...the power of heaven, used for something so terribly mundane? So uncreative? It's a marvel that they can even use it at all! It's so -cold-! There's a perverse miracle...taking such a thing, and applying it to what already is. An assertion that the here and now is that which shines. ...terrible. The hearts of humans really have become hopeless by now."

She deigns to prove herself above the Arbalest, even if only to herself. Heat starts to shimmer around the Codarl, threatening to boil the water in the air. A cute giggle emanates from the speaker. That heat gets more dense. More oppressive. Blazing in a rapidly intensifying sphere around Asciel, kicking up what feels like a fierce hurricane-force wind buffetting Yuliana.

<"At this juncture though...you must surrender your sights on my star. It is mine alone, and you will only partake of it once you no longer hunger so deeply.~">

From this spreading windy inferno, Asciel presses down on her good leg, and exits her gale before it strikes Elisa's Queadluun - beam saber flashing in a quick lunge aimed right at the head.

KTS: Asciel Colette targets Yuliana Dispersal with Lambda Driver Reject!
KTS: Asciel Colette targets Elisa Kafim with Beam Saber 100 Slash!
KTS: Elisa Kafim blocks Asciel Colette's Beam Saber 100 Slash, taking 1062 damage!
KTS: Asciel Colette has engaged Elisa Kafim
KTS: Asciel Colette begins a Formation attack!
KTS: Yuliana Dispersal rushes into the attack!
KTS: Asciel Colette enervates Yuliana Dispersal, reducing her Morale significantly.
KTS: Asciel Colette rattles Yuliana Dispersal, making her next maneuvers more difficult.
KTS: Yuliana Dispersal fails to react to Asciel Colette's Lambda Driver Reject, taking 4039 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asciel Colette's Vex Routine - JUDGE activates, causing Deject!
KTS: Asciel Colette repulses Yuliana Dispersal, forcing her to disengage.

<Pose Tracker> Dr. Hell has posed.

The Gool shakes.

The shotcannon blast cripples the left wing, sending thick black smoke flying everywhere. The Gool is largely a carrier, and the Arm Slave keeping attached is ultimately capable of doing a tremendous amount of damage because its already deployed its defensive Machine Beast.

Brocken snarls, drawing his sword. "Cyclopto! Destroy this meddling child!"

Sousuke can feel it before he sees it. The Great Eye abandons its charges, slowing the Iron Cross advance, floating up to look the Arm Slave in the eye. The great beast blinks, once.

And then: Fire, as its eye weeps tears of irradiated death in an attempt to shove Sousuke off of the wing.

KTS: Dr. Hell targets Sousuke Sagara with Cyclopto Eye Rapid Fire!
KTS: Sousuke Sagara blocks Dr. Hell's Cyclopto Eye Rapid Fire, taking 5460 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Sousuke Sagara has posed.

"Callsign VENOM unit is on the field," AL notes.

"We'll deal with it later," Sousuke says, jaw tense. It came on when he called it, this time. Perhaps he simply had a clearer than usual vision of what he wanted it to do. What Blocken was saying got to him deeper than he expected, but...

At least he's feeling it now. The damage he does to the Gool in seconds is proof enough of the device's strange power. Unfortunately for Sousuke, he does, still, have a problem.

"Machine Beast designate 'CYCLOPTO' is beginning attack preparations," AL announces. Sousuke turns to face it. It's so hard to think properly about how to defend against a horrible flying eye, but he sets his jaw and imagines a wall, as clearly as he can. No, a shield!

It works, sort of. That annihilating light blasts across Arbalest, but if one were to pay close attention to the readings, it's more like that light washes AROUND the machine, stripping at an invisible, crude barrier like a river wearing at a stone. Armor rips off and flies away; Arbalest skids backwards, forced backwards by the force.

Until eventually, it LEAPS into the air, forced from its perch. But rather than disengage, it draws its knife, the air around it flickering from impossible light. He draws his monomolecular cutter, shining like a beacon as he streaks down toward Cyclopto, the knife shimmering at the edges with an energy imbued with nothing more or less than a will to pierce. Can't find target.

KTS: Sousuke Sagara targets Dr. Hell with Lambda Monomolecular Cutter Pierce!
KTS: Dr. Hell rushes into the attack!
KTS: Dr. Hell fails to react to Sousuke Sagara's Lambda Monomolecular Cutter Pierce, taking 5000 damage!
KTS: Sousuke Sagara has engaged Dr. Hell
KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 71.

<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.

       Yuliana's invitation is more than met; how marvellous!, she thinks, as she beholds the way Elisa translates that energy.

       "Remarkable!" She says, in kind, and it's both a comment on the destruction and the survival. She's still quite close to the Codarl, in the wake of that. "You're a rather driven woman, aren't you?"

       The heat is rising, but --

       Well, Yuliana is the sort of person who uses a flamethrower as a melee weapon.

       She's not about to run away just because things are getting a little hot. A little oppressive. A little arc on the thermometers on the internal paneling, measuring the engine overheating point, the place whereby the belts start warping and the pistons jam. The uncomfortable internals --

       Well, the REA isn't really a force which values the safety of any one individual pilot. The cost of introducing safety measures in all their wanzers is more than the cost of just training up more soldiers from so many citizens.

       But, again, Yuliana is the sort of person who uses a flamethrower as a melee weapon. She modded her wanzer to be able to cope with heat without cooking herself. That's the trick which keeps the Annihilation Custom kicking, even as the bellows of Asciel's billows flare.

       "Must I..?" Yuliana wonders, a little more pained -- she's human, she knows the definition -- but still quite light. "My, that just makes me want to swallow the stars even more!"

       Asciel jumps up out of the inferno, and Yuliana clicks her tongue against her teeth, as she sees just where she's going. "I admire your bloodlust, but I won't just allow that!" Her transmission catches her rising voice, with the way her machine launches up, and this time it's the handaxe in her other hand crashing in towards the Codarl's core.

       When she lands, her machine vents steam in a harsh cloud; the sensors are screaming. "Fine, fine," she sighs, flicking a few switches. Catching a glance of what one of those sensors is picking up --

       "Canary Cadet," Yuliana transmits, to her squadron, "new orders -- cover the GM III. I want that pilot out of here."

       "That's NOT my -- yes, Captain," Cadet Wattana sighs, and the heavily-armored Laiying 1 shifts its attention from the background mayhem of the Gool to stomp forward. It fires its rockets in explosive cover fire, as Yuliana opens a channel to Roux.

       "Hey, visitya! If you can still move, you're worth getting out of here! You're good enough to get that thing back to base, aren't you?"

       (What happens if she isn't is, well, background reading.)

KTS: Yuliana Dispersal has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Yuliana Dispersal has activated the Alert Spirit Command.
KTS: Yuliana Dispersal targets Asciel Colette with MULS-P Cleave Axe Revenge Strike!

<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.

The Beam Rifle is thrown aside and the GM III is starting to spread out its arms as if to assume the natural posture for a missile barrage. A grand total of one head-mounted vulcan round is fired, a little 'spang!' only good for range finding, when

THWAM

The GM III's left arm and shoulder are violently ripped loose, and in addition, explode (thanks to the arming of the missile pod). Roux, naturally enough, screams in dismay and astonishment. For a horrible moment she expects the hot white light of reactor detonation but --

--

It doesn't, and there's some kind of communication coming in through the ten thousand warning alarms. Roux doesn't answer, but the GM III staggers towards the base perimeter, rights itself, and then fires thrusters at a crazy-cornered angle, moving in a ballistic arc closer to a leap and then coming down in a somersault on the far side of the base.

It lands on something like control. About twenty seconds later there's a loud BANG if no giant cloud of particle-suffused fire.

A mystery, but DEFINITELY a mission kill.

KTS: Dr. Hell has activated the Trick Spirit Command.

<Pose Tracker> Dr. Hell has posed.

The Iron Cross are pulling out.

They absolutely do not have everything they came for, or even anything they came for. There's one man with a black bag on his head being rocket packed to the Gool, but the message is clear: it is time to LEAVE and have an angry conversation with the kids about planning our attacks out.

The Cyclopso seems doomed, as the will-powered magic knife seems to deflate it like a great greasy balloon. The Machine Beast has no mouth with which to scream but, in a way, serves its purpose in distracting Sousuke long enough for the brass to move away. The eye starts to glow again, ominously. It wouldn't, would it?

Of course it would. The Machine Beast starts to melt as it overcharges its power centers, unloading its full destructive potential point blank at Sousuke's arm slave!

KTS: Dr. Hell targets Sousuke Sagara with Cyclopto Eye Focus Fire!
KTS: Sousuke Sagara has activated the Focus Spirit Command.
KTS: Sousuke Sagara has activated the Focus Spirit Command.
KTS: Sousuke Sagara's Will Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage.
KTS: Sousuke Sagara blocks Dr. Hell's Cyclopto Eye Focus Fire, taking 1950 damage!
KTS: Dr. Hell roots his unit, coming to a standstill and leaving him vulnerable.

<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.

Elia does not have a name for her opponent, though it would be nice to have one. She has something of them, though. She cannot 'sense' Codarl's pain, but it all becomes clearer as she speaks, and ah--yes. There it is.

"The future hungers, darling. We must not disappoint it."

Despite the clear damage to her Queadlunn's systems, Elisa sounds delighted. She sounds interested. She sounds engaged. Because she is!

"Yes, let us see this resolve of yours."

The beam saber swings and rushes forward, right for the head of Elisa's machine, even as she speaks of stars and hunger. But she brings up a shield attached to her arm, and deflects that blow, the shield taking a terrible gouge but her head remaining quite intact.

"The future hungers," she reiterates. "Whether today or another day... that hunger will be sated."

She regards Rou'x GM III for a moment. Hmmmmm.

But she reaches out, and space warps and twists. Instead of a yellow-tinged river and a base, there is a starless void, a devouring field that seeks to swallow up all that is. The ground crumbles. Sound melts away.

...and as quickly as it came on it is gone, an illusion after all, but that illusion leaves a cold, cold darkness on a heart. But can it do so on a heart like this one?

KTS: Elisa Kafim has activated the Daunt Spirit Command targeting Asciel Colette
KTS: Elisa Kafim targets Asciel Colette with Touch of the Void!
KTS: Asciel Colette fails to parry Yuliana Dispersal's MULS-P Cleave Axe Revenge Strike, taking 5970 damage!
KTS: Yuliana Dispersal has engaged Asciel Colette
KTS: Yuliana Dispersal roots her unit, coming to a standstill and leaving her vulnerable.
KTS: Asciel Colette fails to retreat.
KTS: Elisa Kafim rattles Asciel Colette, making her next maneuvers more difficult.
KTS: Asciel Colette fails to react to Elisa Kafim's Touch of the Void, taking 4080 damage!
KTS: Elisa Kafim has engaged Asciel Colette

<Pose Tracker> Sousuke Sagara has posed.

"Good work up there, Sousuke!" Mao calls at him. "Looks like they're pulling back! Keep it up just a little longer!"

The M9s for the rest of Sousuke's team have been busy helping people evacuate, as best they can - though with the Iron Cross's strange behavior, maybe that's not fully needed, itself.

But it does mean that Sousuke is up close and personal when AL announces, "Core energy output increasing rapidly!"

Sousuke reflexively throws his arms up in a cross-arm block, and the Lambda Driver field flares around him to a near-solar luminance that is nonetheless devoured by the awesome light of the Machine Beast discharging the last of its strength into the Arbalest! That kind of strength should reduce an Arm Slave to slag, but when the lights clear...there's Arbalest yet, smoldering, the heat around it whirling in visible waves, but undimmed.

"Damage is within tolerances," AL reports.

"Good," Sousuke says, and lowers his shotgun, and fires what he believes will be the last few shots into the machine beast, hoping to disable its main systems.

KTS: Sousuke Sagara targets Dr. Hell with Lambda Shotcannon Piercer!

<Pose Tracker> Asciel Colette has posed.

>Record subject: YOU NEED TO KEEP EVERY DETAIL OF THESE TWO ON IMMEDIATE PRIORITY

      >0096-03-19 "Illusory Wanzer"
      >Saving backup. >Saving backup.
      >0096-03-19 "Distorting Zentradi"
      >save combat records >save material analysis >save dialogue records >save material output logs >save backup >save backup >save backup

      >...isolate most of these from Chrome staff. This is -my- calculation to resolve.

As much as she can, Asciel relies on whatever sensors -aren't- left a dizzying mess from the brief engulfing of the void. Her visuals tell her things are lost. Her sense of gravity gets thrown out of balance. Sound departs. She has fai- know- has absolute faith that what Elisa is inflicting on her is a falsehood. The same as she's inflicted countless times. It simply cannot be that the full brunt of that which would engulf miracles is already at hand. This is the -intent-. A -taste- of what that would be like. Oh yes, her heart is not seized by despair so easily - but her calculations absolutely are going wild to anchor herself. And what she believes in...

<"Heh...what you show me is what I long saw in the far distance. Don't...you...dare.~">

The Codarl remains disoriented at the same moment Yuliana's axe comes crashing down. It sinks, it cleaves a great hole in the chest of that Arm Slave. And in that moment, Asciel plants her hands firmly around the Wanzer's, clasping the manipulator with the feverish strength in those muscle packages.

<"Inevitability will be defied. Uncertainty will be made certain. The all-enveloping darkness that -will be-, for you two...">

<"I exist for the sake of this pitiable's world wish that it'll never come to pass!!!~">

      The brilliant light at Asciel's heart engulfs her.

      For a brief moment, an indomitable girl's smile replaces that cold single eye.

      Twin irises burning like the world's last sunset.

      She keeps holding Yuliana's hands.

"The world would be more dazzling if you abandoned your hunger."

      Her hair billows against Elisa's touch.

"The world would be more inspiring if you danced to my voice."

And that indescribable light of judgment howls unfailingly, deafeningly, blazing in an almost pure, all-enveloping column of cyan will.

KTS: Asciel Colette has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
KTS: Asciel Colette targets Yuliana Dispersal with Lambda Driver Smite!
KTS: Asciel Colette targets Elisa Kafim with Lambda Driver Smite!
KTS: Asciel Colette enervates Elisa Kafim, reducing her Morale significantly.
KTS: Elisa Kafim blocks Asciel Colette's Lambda Driver Smite, taking 8265 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asciel Colette's Vex Routine - JUDGE activates, causing Deject!
KTS: Elisa Kafim's Queadlunn-Inanna has been disabled.
KTS: Yuliana Dispersal has activated the Wall Spirit Command.
KTS: Asciel Colette enervates Yuliana Dispersal, reducing her Morale significantly.
KTS: Yuliana Dispersal blocks Asciel Colette's Lambda Driver Smite, taking 7281 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asciel Colette's Vex Routine - JUDGE activates, causing Deject!
KTS: Dr. Hell fails to retreat.
KTS: Dr. Hell fails to evade Sousuke Sagara's Lambda Shotcannon Piercer, taking 4464 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Sousuke Sagara's Outmaneuver activates, causing Control Bonus!
KTS: Dr. Hell's Aerial Fortress Gool has been disabled.
KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 91.

<Pose Tracker> Dr. Hell has posed.

The Machine Beast is destroyed. It finds a sort of peace.

Brocken looks down, as missiles launch to cover the escape of the mobile suit pilots.

"Adjunct. Write down that Mobile Suit's number. I want to remember him." Brocken says, moving back to his chair to brood over a brandy.

<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.

       INSIDE THE BASE --

       Second Lieutenant Parminder Chaudhri is an intelligence operative. He is exceptionally good at making sure other people can't keep secrets, and at putting patterns together. It also so happens that he's quite good with a sidearm, because occasionally intelligence involves getting into other people's brains, too.

       As soon as he puts together the Iron Cross's patterns on the cameras, the way they're searching, he alerts the on-base security detail. They've been shooting ever since. This organisation, at least, protects two victims from being kidnapped -- not by protecting the people of interest, but from arming everyone and banding them together. But --

       Unfortunately --

       "They're pulling back. Why..?"

       "Lieutenant! They grabbed someone!"

       Lieutenant Chaudhri has some choice words to say, particularly when a headcount reveals that Caspar Maratov is missing.

       He doesn't pursue them, though. He doesn't have enough information.

       BACK ON THE FIELD --

       Yuliana is a little too occupied to worry about who else is blowing up, right now.

       The wanzer is holding weapons in its hands -- which leaves its wrists free to grasp. "This pitiable world's wish..?" Yuliana marvels, as she pulls back on a lever, only to find her machine is still steaming too hot to protest. Without regard for the danger she's in, she wonders: "Are you afraid?"

       The light is so, SO bright.

       Yuliana folds her hands over Asciel's, leans in --

       "No."

       It isn't defiant, or cocky, or dismissive; if anything, it's gentle, a comforting reassurance from the abyss.

       She doesn't pull away; she doesn't turn away, either. It proves so, so difficult to pour enough light into her; she is an event horizon. But the systems -- the systems! They scream, they howl, just the way Yuliana ought. She comes to herself. She comes to her controls.

       "You're awfully bold," Yuliana remarks, "clutching me so close."

       The hand holding her axe thrusts forward, with all the force of a wanzer, to slam through Asciel's grasp to crush into her hull. It's as much a blunt-force weapon as a slashing one; in this way, MULS-P weapons aren't so unlike Yuliana.

       "But it seems your friends are getting a little hot under the collar, too," she points out, level-voiced. "Don't you think it's about time to leave, dear?"

       She's still smiling.

       "... for now, I won't offer you anything."

       But Asciel isn't the only one who'll remember.

KTS: Yuliana Dispersal has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Yuliana Dispersal targets Asciel Colette with MULS-P Cleave Axe Topple Strike!
KTS: Yuliana Dispersal rattles Asciel Colette, making her next maneuvers more difficult.
KTS: Asciel Colette blocks Yuliana Dispersal's MULS-P Cleave Axe Topple Strike, taking 4050 damage!
KTS: Yuliana Dispersal has engaged Asciel Colette

<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.

Absolute faith is a strong thing. But alone, none can challenge the void forever. This, Elisa is certain of. And so the fact that the Codarl has seen it... Interesting.

Something she's seen in the distance. And her existence...

"So that is what you 'live' for," she murmurs back over the radio, before that brilliant heart burns. There is a smile. Ah--it is beautiful. So beautiful.

The erupting column of cyan will tears through the Queadlunn-Inanna's armor, crackling with destroyed missiles that never get to send their payoff, with plates that buckle. Within, Elisa herself can feel the blaze of light, the judgement within. And it is...

Glorious.

"Ah..." It burns, of course. Ah, it burns terribly. She will feel it later, more than the average pilot because she takes up more space than the average pilot does in her suit. And yet it is still brilliant light...

"The world's wish does not change what must be," comes a a distant voice over the radio's, like Elisa's but somehow distinct. "Ah...."

"I am afraid I must be going," she tells Yuliana. "It burns quite terribly. But ah, such radiance...!"

"I must have it."

The Queadlunn-Inanna creaaaaks as Elisa turns towards Asciel. The missiles pouring down from the Gool would deter her if her own systems' failure didn't. She draws on the crystals at her wrists, those at her neck, and she closes her eyes.

When the light fades, the Queadlunn is simply gone.

<Pose Tracker> Dragates ri Becker has posed.

The Regele Nebus gives a roar as it's target somewhat escapes. But, the other defenders look to be busy. That gives it ample opportunity.

When the Regele Nebus next is heard from, it's in a hangar of all things. A hangar that systemically gets destroyed and a few parts taken along here and there.

Whatever the Regele Nebus took and evidence of it is flattened on the missile barrage as well as a few well placed and timed cannon shots from it that collapse the entire hangar in one go, along with some other buildings near it. And a long line Slash Harken cables has it wrapped neatly on it's back whenever it eventually jets up to join the Gool and get away from the battlefield.

Turning around, it prepares it's cannon just in case so it can take out any pursuers just in case with that crazily powerful cannon.

Internally, Dragates is dealing with the Regele being somewhat unhappy. Like literally unhappy. He sighs, "Oh, you got to fight. I know it wasn't the best." There's a growl and he sighs, "Do I have to flip the switch?" That's met with silence. "Good boy."

<Pose Tracker> Sousuke Sagara has posed.

The Machine Beast is destroyed. Sousuke leaps away before the eruption takes him. Arbalest lands some distance away, Sousuke's breath coming in puffs.

The shoulders retract and close up. AL reports, "Alert: Lambda Driver disengaged."

Sousuke huffs a breath. "Roger," he mutters. "Highlight Uruz-2 on map, let's get moving to rendezvous. Any active hostiles?"

The map on one of his monitors pings, first with the location of Uruz-2 and Uruz-6, and then with tracked hostiles. Those are all leaving. "Hostiles are departing the area," AL reports.

"Good," Sousuke says. "Might just make it back to Jindai by tonight, then."

<Pose Tracker> Asciel Colette has posed.

There is no comfort in this void.

Not for a single second does it offer Asciel a mote of consolation, of direction, of anything.

"No, you say?"

The light slowly filters away. Asciel's smile is once more obscured by the expressionless faceplate of the Codarl. She almost wants to reach out to Elisa. The one who more undoubtedly heard her song, understood its brilliance. The Zentradi is gone before she can express this, and it makes her frown within, just a little bit.

She decides she can partake, but she cannot have it.

"No, is all you can tell me?"

"Well, that's as simple as that!~" Asciel cheerily chimes, as that second blow of the axe comes close to ripping a truly devastating hole in this body of iron. She gave it her all, but that radiant light isn't on its last legs yet. It still outputs just enough of a barrier to defend itself, and Asciel can still grasp it and yank it back out of her.

<"It could have been nice for you to till the soil of this world just a little bit, if you could promise me that it'd be for my sake. But I guess I simply have to resolve myself to eliminate you. What a tragically stubborn outcome.~">

The...difficult situation Brocken's gotten himself into, and Becker's move to seize the warehouse for the brief moments they have before reinforcements, does re-inform Asciel's plans a little bit. With a sigh, she pivots around, every inch of the Codarl shaky and crackling with sparks...

Then tosses down a strange canister that sparks and spews with a sudden cloud of Minovsky particles whirring and sparkling in a dense and obnoxious cloud.

When it's cleared, she's gone with the wind (actually sneaking around covering Brocken's escape and intercepting anyone who thinks they're gonna track him down)

KTS: Asciel Colette targets Yuliana Dispersal with Point Blank Minovsky Particle Chaff Release!
KTS: Yuliana Dispersal retreats from the attack!
KTS: Asciel Colette enervates Yuliana Dispersal, reducing her Morale significantly.
KTS: Asciel Colette rattles Yuliana Dispersal, making her next maneuvers more difficult.
KTS: Yuliana Dispersal fails to react to Asciel Colette's Point Blank Minovsky Particle Chaff Release, taking 1283
damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asciel Colette's Vex Routine - JUDGE activates, causing Deject!
KTS: Asciel Colette repulses Yuliana Dispersal, forcing her to disengage.