2022-11-25: A Secret Ritual
- Log: A Secret Ritual
- Cast: Yuliana Dispersal, Elisa Kafim, Lilith Aiden, Liu Mei Wang, Koji Kabuto, Milly Ashford, Roux Louka, Banagher Links, Ennil El, Ujico Issa, Leina Ashta, Julia Ampere, Mineva Lao Zabi, Sayaka Yumi, Yuliana Kafim
- Where: Somewhere in Zaftra
- OOC - IC Date: Nov 25, 2022
- Summary: A hell of a wedding.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
OST: Nobuo Uematsu - Heresy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7HyxzzPIHo
It is a sacrifice.
The Holy Table is wrapped in its strachitsa, its burial shroud, and its garments. It must not be approached by the impure.
The Very Reverend Alyosha is more pure, still, than he was a month ago. More honed; more intent. He has a purpose to fulfil, tradition to uphold. The church roils in its consecration.
There is a crystal, green, hung by the entrance. It shines so, so dark. Welcome...
The rings, he places, with veneration, to the altar. There is a new antimension cloth, draped upon it, now. It does not depict a man set to burial. (The iliton cloth wrapped about it is in the style of a woman's scarf.) The dark patterns form a circle, a sigil of power. The rings, at its centre...
Anointed with holy water, the onyx and emerald gems of those gold, gold rings shine, with the promise of a new day.
The words he recites are only neighbour to the human tongue.
No one will be here until tomorrow--
VENCHANIE
A traditional ceremony comprised of two parts.
It is held in a church which serves a forgotten corner of Zaftra; the roads leading here are poorly-kept, and the village it serves dwindling. Nevertheless, the building is stunning -- hundreds of years old, the church rises up alongside the snow-dusted trees which flank it, and the chill sun shines through the coloured glass of its windows. The steps are old, old stone, and there is the sensation of passing into a colder place, when one steps inside. It is a quiet place -- hallowed, in a fashion.
(There is a single dark green crystal, hanging above the entrance. It is too high to reach.)
Yuliana came to the door of the church unescorted. In the Zaftran tradition, it is a statement of will, that she comes to the marriage of her own volition and under her own power. Her dress, too, is a dark mirror of that tradition: black and green, rather than white and red, with rich purple highlights in its elegant and detailed brocade. Green lines her outer sleeves, falls down her chest, cascading out from her waist in an outer-coat bound by a dark belt; her black inner dress has another set of sleeves to her wrists, a dark garment tumbling down with intricate detail. Her head and neck are wrapped in a black hijab, which spills over her front and obscures the stiff neck of her dress.
Nearby stands the pink-haired Wen Yuan, in a plainer echo of a black dress, this one only with green highlights -- as if to state her allegiance. She's the bridesmaid, of course. The ceremony is centred in the middle of the church, and so the attendants are sat around it. Near the front are a tall older Zaftran woman with massive teal hair all clothed in elegant black, and a short Indonesian man dressed in old military regalia; Sashenka and Tri Darma Dian are, by visual recognition if not common introduction, Yuliana's parents. Not too far away from them, another older REA man watches the procession -- Major Pham Van Vinh, a severe Vietnamese man in a traditional black suit, who regrets not dressing up with all his medals given what the retired Major Dian has shown up in. Besides Pham sits a taller Indian man with a vibrant mane of orange hair and a distinct red suit: Parminder Chaudhri, who definitely picked his colours to annoy Yuliana, because that's the kind of friendship(?) they have.
The betrothal ceremony was the first half, after the congregation was seated; the Very Reverend Alyosha, with dull blue eyes, invoked the rites, blessed the rings, and switched them between each wife's right ring-finger three times. (It is supposed to represent the Holy Trinity, but here...) The droning explanation he issues goes like this:
"In married life, the fragility of one wife will be compensated by the strength of the other, the blindness of one, by the sight of the other. Together their imperfections are made perfect, and so one cannot exist without the other."
(His voice holds no particular inflection.)
The candles which Yuliana and Elisa grasp, in their left hands, are black as sin. The flame burns green. It represents a belief in something, certainly, as their right hands are wrapped together in blessed green cloth. Beneath the binding thread, Yuliana's fingers weave between Elisa's, scarred face flushed a fetching pink. Her affection for the other woman is so much softer than she's shown the world; her smile is a gentled thing, her shining green eyes tame and adoring. In her jealous gaze, there is no one here but Elisa, though certainly she must know they have witnesses to their ascension. She is so happy, with no trace of sharp edges or insincerity. Even Yuliana can be honestly, blissfully happy... with no one being hurt to cause it.
Well. Aside from all the people they've subjugated to get this done so quickly. But this isn't about them.
But the ceremonies of Zaftran marriage last a long time, and it's barely started. The archimandrite priestmonk moves now to the Mystery of the Crowning -- the brides standing in the centre of the church before him. He is tall enough that he does not have to stretch, to slip a crown atop Elisa and Yuliana's heads, a tiara fashioned all with onyx and emerald and diamond; in Zaftran tradition, there is no ribbon joining the crowns, because the cloth is about their hands instead. Once more, he switches the crowns between them, three times. For Yuliana, and Elisa, and... surely it was meant to honour the Holy Trinity, but it's a different third force, lurking behind those two.
Their attendants then are permitted to approach, and lift the crowns above their heads, for the family they rule is a regal thing, rising closer to the Divine... and through the void which lies between...
It's supposed to be a beginning.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Dr. Elisa Kafim likewise to Yuliana appears unescorted. This is symbolic of the same things, and more.
Through the door of the church she steps, imperis. Her own dress is much like Yuliana's, part of a set; black and green,with rich and detailed brocade in teal. Her outer sleeves are touched in green, her outer coat; the inner dress of black is bound in darkness, to the wrists and at the waist. Her dress's stiff neck rises up against her hair, down for once, tumbling purple down her shoulders.
Crystals adorn her; a crystal net at her throat over the high neck of her dress, crystals at her hands, crystals at her beautiful heeled shoes. They are a vivid green, gleaming darkly.
Two figures who resemble Elisa are in the Church, a man and a woman, human and Meltrandi respectively. There are others; old colleagues, relatives, perhaps friends but this group is smaller than the group that has attended for Yuliana.
Her hands grip the candles when it is time lightly. But she is ethereal, otherworldly all the time, practically gliding across the floor as if not present in the 'real' world at all. And indeed, her expression is placid, pleasant, only sparking interest when she happens to meet Yuliana's eyes. And then, they practically gleam.
She does not blush or otherwise show much emotion, but she has a presence to her that is undeniable, and an intensity in her gaze that is inexorable. The ceremony continues. Elisa's parents(?) show emotion. And soon, there is the crowning.
It's supposed to be a beginning.
<Pose Tracker> Lilith Aiden has posed.
It's supposed to be a beginning.
Lilith Aiden has prepared all week for this wedding. It was odd when Alma Stirner wasn't with her, but she indicated they took separate rides, and that Alma was stopping to find additional presents last minute and probably lost track of time (not a bad lie).
As the crowning ceremony moves on, with each person crowning the duo, Lilith Aiden starts to step forward. It's not traditional to speak during these, but...
s she moves, her left hand clicks something in her pocket. There's nothing to indicate what she just did, just yet. She takes her steps slowly, deliberately, buying time. It's probably obnoxious, just until she speaks.
"I would say congratulations...but you don't deserve them. Not you, Yuliana Dispersal. You don't deserve happiness."
She doesn't reach for the crown. Instead, her right sleeve is jostled, and a derringer slides out into her hand.
"Till death do you part, right? This is for Alma."
A helicopter is buzzing over the church. Lilith rapidly points the derringer forward, and fires one shot at Yuliana.
Before anyone even has the time to react, Lilith shouts into a hidden mic. "Drop!"
It was supposed to be a beginning.
But as the roof caves in, people moving out of the way just in time to avoid collateral, Lilith rolls to the side, moving her legs in just enough of a way to avoid shockwaves. She leaps back to her feet, as the smoke clears, revealing...
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4oqf4reGh0
A mobile suit has been dropped by a cargo helicopter. It's pitch-black, with gold accents, chest piece, and a horn. A horn like a White Unicorn...but more jagged.
The helicopter lingers for several moments - a pitch black affair, unknown ownership - before flying off.
Lilith keeps the derringer - a two-shot - readied, as she climbs into the Gundam during the shock, closing the cockpit and grabbing the pre-prepared controls, turning on the speakers.
"I would have hoped the bullet made it quick, but I honestly doubted you'd go down that easy. Everyone, out of the way! This is between me and her."
The possibility of collateral is the only thing giving people time to get to their mobile suits.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Lies do not matter much to Elisa Kafim. Delays do not matter much to Elisa Kafim. She regards Lilith Aiden without much interest, smiling slightly. Until the derringer. Then her eyes slowly turn to focus on it.
There is no time to react, but Elisa reacts with superhuman speed. She leaps from her seat in front of Yuliana in an instant, and that shot impacts her chest, blooming red where it strikes her in what must assuredly be the heart. Elisa's eyes widen as she moves, but it is not from fear, or pain. No, it is something altogether different.
Elisa's green eyes are widened in pure, untouchable rage. She is too stunned to react for a momentoh, and she's been shot in the heart. She falls to the ground as a result, slumping underneath Yuliana's feet.
There is a heartbeat before Elisa's hand grips the ground. Her fingers splinter the wooden floor as she pushes herself back up. "You. You DARE!"
"YOU DARE!?"
Her scream echoes into the snowfields. Rising to her feet again, Elisa throws her left arm out in a cutting gesture, and green light wrests from elsewhere to render her mecha into existence. In cascading viridian it shimmers, and becomes brilliant green and gold metal. It is a humanoid silhouette, graceful, with a narrow 'waist', a rounded head, and a helmet. It is armed with numerous weapons, a shield breaking into being with a flash of verdant light, a pistol and beam saber at its hips, a great scythe in its hand.
Elisa, now crackling with power like graying lightning, begins to hover up into the air, towards the open cockpit.
"There is NOTHING between you and my Yuliana that is not also with me. NOTHING!"
KTS: Lilith Aiden has deployed in RX-0 Unicorn Gundam 02 Banshee <Unicorn Mode>. KTS: Elisa Kafim has deployed in EXM-E7W Spinatia (Witchcraft Type). KTS: Lightly Loaded Bonus=10 KTS: Weapon: Green Fold Saber KTS: Weapon: Hyperdimensional Shield KTS: Weapon: Loom A17 Beam Pistol KTS: Weapon: Witchlight Scythe KTS: Green Fold Saber Thrust: 2700 Force,Melee KTS: Green Fold Saber Slash: 3400 Force,Melee,Formation KTS: Green Fold Saber Combo: 4500 Force,Melee,Spread,Technical KTS: Green Fold Saber - Full Rend: 5700 Force,Melee,Barrier Breaker,Root,Anchor KTS: Hyperdimensional Shield Bash: 3700 Magic,Melee,Initiation KTS: Hyperdimensional Shield Vortex: 4700 Magic,Melee,Anchor KTS: Hyperdimensional Shield - Dimensional Gate: 5700 Magic,Melee,Penetrating KTS: Loom A17 Beam Pistol Quick Shot: 2800 Beam,Ranged KTS: Loom A17 Beam Pistol Positioning Shot: 3300 Beam,Ranged,Technical,Formation KTS: Loom A17 Beam Pistol Barrage: 4400 Beam,Ranged,Spread,MAP KTS: Loom A17 Beam Pistol Full Charge: 5500 Beam,Ranged,Barrier Breaker,Initiation KTS: Witchlight Scythe Quick Slash: 3100 Physical,Melee,Accurate,Formation KTS: Witchlight Scythe Piercing Strike: 3800 Physical,Melee,Penetrating,Technical KTS: Witchlight Scythe - Crystalline Dance: 5100 Physical,Melee,Leader,MAP KTS: Witchlight Scythe - Death Whirl: 6000 Physical,Melee,Barrier Breaker,Technical,Spread KTS: Pass: 0 Ranged,Passive,All-Range KTS: Ennil El has deployed in Mistral II. KTS: Ennil El has changed loadout. KTS: Julia Ampere has deployed in Dynamo Queen. KTS: Ujico Issa has deployed in UTX-006 Palisade. KTS: Roux Louka has deployed in ReZ II - <Waverider Mode>. KTS: Milly Ashford has deployed as a Sub Pilot for Julia Ampere! KTS: Koji Kabuto has deployed in MPMZ-17 Ichinana. KTS: Sayaka Yumi has deployed as a Sub Pilot for Koji Kabuto! KTS: Leina Ashta has deployed as a Sub Pilot for Roux Louka! KTS: Liu Mei Wang has deployed as a Sub Pilot for Ujico Issa!
<Pose Tracker> Liu Mei Wang has posed.
The saying goes in the upper echelon of Da Han Zhong: "Marriage is the most destructive force in the world, for it is marriage that musters vaster yet vaster realms together in war."
Isn't it amazing?
If Liu Mei Wang is in any way feeling 'put out' by this marriage, it's only in the sense that the brides have made it oh so important that they do things 'themselves'. Obviously she offered the most lavish gifts and resplendent transports, but it's the nature of this event that it be a unison of two distinct wills. Foisting one's own wealth on this ritual would corrupt its purity - it'd make it about the benefactor, as ever.
The event itself, though? Wonderfully pleasing to Liu Mei's tastes. She arrives in luxurious Zaftran winter fashion - furs upon furs, lengthy coat-tails, yet beneath it all, something awfully tight and clingy, displayed by her comfiest coat being unbuttoned from the navel upwards. At her side, Hong Long, stern and diligent as ever, is almost militaristically dressed, his sheer density of apparel almost -certainly- hiding some sort of automatic weaponry.
Her cheeks are in her hands, beaming from ear to ear as the brides approach, as the world slowly begins to change. Yes, that's what this is - yet another event that will upend the world order, surely. Just as Liu Mei felt sublime joy when Celestial Being first made their debut, so does she when vows are about to be made-
...And in the span of an instant, barely enough for Liu Mei to grasp what's happened, it's all turned upside down.
Suddenly, Elisa is shot in the heart, and Liu Mei is breathless. Suddenly, a Gundam has caved in the ceiling temple, and Liu Mei is being hoisted off her feet by Hong Long's protective instinct. And suddenly, Elisa is rising from the ground, defiant of death - and Liu Mei gleams in wonder and joy.
"...Ufufufufu...ahahahahahaha!~ One rude wedding crasher won't possibly upend a day so important to you!! But isn't this perfect?~ What better way to prove the importance of your vows!!! Go! Make it clear to the whole wide world just how meaningless defiance is at this hour! I'll be eagerly enjoying every last second!"
...Liu Mei's awfully confident and smug for a girl who's literally being carried and sprinted off with. She'll ignore the inelegance of that while she's being ferried off to safety.
KTS: Sayaka Yumi has deployed as a Sub Pilot for Koji Kabuto!
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
It is supposed to be a beginning.
Koji Kabuto came by his invitation last-minute compared to the date of the wedding. Fortunately, he has the obligatory singular formal affair outfit a man like him eventually acquires - a blue dinner jacket with a pink dress shirt. The cufflinks are his one concession to his self, each a stylised depiction of Mazinger Z's head.
This is... an incredibly unusual wedding. The great black-green crystal over everyone's head seems strangely anti-luminous, the candles burn green, the officiator... is delivering his lines in a way that raises his hackles.
To say that Koji Kabuto is unnerved would be an accurate statement, and he only becomes more unsettled as the ceremony proceeds. Yes, it's beautiful, but also: It's eerie!
And then there's a gunshot, a bride shrugging off the shot like it's nothing despite the carmine rose blooming at her breast- and then a Gundam caving in the ceiling, another machine manifesting out of thin air, and suddenly so many people are in danger.
Koji shares only one glance with Sayaka at his side, and they're racing for where their Ichinana is waiting, Koji pulling off his jacket and tie as he runs to throw them into the back of the cockpit.
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
The thing that surprised Milly the most about attending this particular wedding wasn't 'being invited,' nor 'it being in the middle of nowhere': no, the weird element is that she isn't the only one from her family in attendance. When she'd reached out to ask her mother about transportation, it had turned out that her mother was already going. So she hitched a ride, at least.
As the rites drag on, however, Milly starts rubbing her mother's new preferences in home art against Yuliana's dreamy sighing and willingness to throw her career in the trash for the sake of this mystery woman, and in turn against the fact that while Yuliana invited Milly, her mother's invitation came from Elisa's side, and in turn all of that against the vague offness of the rites that Milly can't quite put her finger on. All of that stacks up against the weird rural setting, and --
Oh, she thinks, staring into the middle distance. This is a cult.
She carefully moves her handbag from under her seat to in her lap.
Well, I won't stay for the recepti -- wait. I shared a ride w...
Milly rubs at her own face. This is starting to cross the boundary from tactical error into strategic error.
The good news is that she immediately has more pressing concerns.
The bad news is that she immediately has more pressing concerns.
Milly has been in multiple places that have devolved into shooting but this is never really a skill you develop without trying; her first reflex is to hit the dirt. Her second reflex is to start running; the safest place she can be right now, if she can't get away, is -- probably with another of the pair's guests? She's worried about her mother, but they're seated on opposite sides of the venue and the whole thing's a mess -- she's already lost track of her. (Milly is taller than her mother by a fair amount, and there's, you know. Chaos.)
So instead, she picks out the first person she does know and moves to form up with her.
(She's looking the other way when Elisa conjures her machine from seemingly thin air.)
While Milly doesn't particularly like asking for help... it is, indeed, the first thing she does, asking, "Do you have a plan for getting out of this?"
KTS: Milly Ashford has deployed as a Sub Pilot for Julia Ampere! KTS: Sayaka Yumi has deployed as a Sub Pilot for Koji Kabuto! KTS: Liu Mei Wang has deployed as a Sub Pilot for Ujico Issa! <Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
Roux Louka was among the individuals invited to this fine ceremony. She put on her best fancy dress, and put up her hair, and tried not to look too spectacular. (She does overestimate herself slightly; while the sleeveless aqua-blue gown with its natural shimmer and slim skirtline is great, and she's not bad herself, she is not Helen of Troy 3.)
At first, things were fine if a little spooky. The great thing is that Roux has no real baseline to this, having grown up in the religiously-neutralized territory of the space colonies, where if religion is a big thing, it's probably idiosyncratic and cultural.
And so Roux accepts that even if this room is creepy - some of which may be the weird vibes she has picked up from Yuliana since *forever*, which Roux has striven to tolerate, as suits an adult - it is because they are foreigners, with ways different from her own. Roux anticipates that they may do some... Folk dancing.
("Don't they look gorgeous? And they *match*, oh my *god*" Roux remarks to Leina Ashta, with whom she has arrived.)
She has a subtle sense of unease... but it's hard to put her finger on it as she watches them. Lilith is approaching them? Roux turns her head and looks. Oh boy, Roux thinks with a sort of *voyeuristic glee*. She's gonna *object*. It's going to be a beautiful ceremony and also messy drama. Roux will feel guilty about this impulse later considering what actually happens.
BANG!
Roux finds out how she really feels about Leina because without even consciously thinking about it she is turning around and throwing herself against Leina, forcing her to the ground and then partway under a pew JUST as the roof starts crashing downwards, sending shrapnel and roofing material scattering around as the room fills with chaos, horror, and violence.
The collapse has stopped - Roux glances once, hears someone cackling, and instead pulls Leina outwards and helps her to her feet as necessary, wordlessly, before keeping an extremely firm grasp on Leina's hand and turning to run towards the exitway. "Thanks for the invite good luck bye!!" Roux says to lingering individuals near the doorway even as the laws of God and Man are defied by the shot-up Elisa.
Out in the open air, Roux keeps running, pausing only half a second to kick her heels off into the Zaftran underbrush. As she does so, she sweeps her hand not anchoring onto Leina outwards and says, exactly in earshot of Koji Kabuto and Sayaka Yumi, "EARTH!!"
Shortly thereafter, in the cockpit of the Waverider-mode-parked ReZ-II, Roux buttons up the hatch and starts prewarming the reactor. As she gets the comms on, she says aloud, "So what do you think, back to Spain? Stick with Koji in case there's heat coming?"
A couple of beats passes and Roux turns. "Oh my God," she says. "I'm sorry, I'm not thinking. Are you OKAY, oh, God, what a garbage fire this is!"
Roux then continues the startup sequence. Lights flicker and glow on the outside of the ReZ; the engines begin to hum...
<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.
Brown hair is tamed, for once, brushed down until it shines and stays firmly in place. The soft light within the venue glistens off a black suit jacket -- perfectly tailored, newly purchased. Probably more expensive than anything the young man has ever owned. Deep, deep green threads are woven through the black fabric, only really visible when the light hits it just right. Beneath his jacket is a vest of two different shades of green, quite similar to the colors of the outfits of the young ladies on either of his arms. A tie emboirdered with glimmering silver stars is tucked in beneath the vest -- and hidden on the very end of said tie is a Haro pin. Nobody can see it, but it puts him at ease.
A part of Banagher feels like he's walking into the den of a vicious beast -- which is silly. This is a lovely wedding, and he's with the people he loves most in the world. Despite not having any idea what the customs and rituals represent, he smiles as he watches -- even if that smile fades a bit as Yuliana walks nearby. Banagher squeezes Leina's and Audrey's hands extra tight as her influence presses down on the three teenaged Newtypes.
Really, they... shouldn't be here. Everything about this feels extremely creepy and wrong. Yuliana's made her vicious intentions clear. But Banagher can't help but see Marida whenever he looks at Yuliana, and his heart aches to find some way to save the void-touched woman. Maybe this could be a first step in building trust.
Crowns and rings are placed, and he quietly watches, every so often glancing at the beautiful young women he sits with. Maybe someday...
A familiar presence. "Captain Aiden..?" Banagher murmurs, confused. Is she a part of the ceremony? Why is she -- "No!" Banagher shouts, leaping to his feet in the same moment Lilith fires the gun. Horror tears through his emotions, turning his blood to ice. He barely has a moment to watch Elisa fall, before the ceiling collapses. Banagher turns, trying to cover Leina and Audrey both from the falling debris.
Memories of Sweetwater flash through his memory -- a heat axe coming through the ceiling of a mansion, throwing himself over Audrey to try and protect her -- and it's happening again. Another mobile suit appears, and Banagher's heart races. They've got to get away from here.
"It's not safe!" He shouts, trying to be heard above the cacaphony. "Audrey, Leina! The Unicorn is close, come on!"
Roux is there, suddenly, pulling Leina away. Banagher clings to Leina for just a moment longer, unwilling to let her go, terrified of what might happen. But -- the last time Leina was in the Unicorn... Squeezing his eyes closed, he lets go of Leina's hand. "Roux! I'm counting on you! Once this is over, Leina, we'll find you! Just be safe. I--!" Banagher cuts himself off, then rushes forward, kissing Leina quickly on the lips. "I'll be waiting!"
As Roux and Leina run, Banagher turns back to Audrey. Their fingers knit together, and he pulls them both toward the Unicorn. "I don't know what that thing is." He manages, between breaths. "I'm going to keep you safe. But we can't let Captain Aiden hurt anyone! Something must be wrong, she wouldn't want this!"
The white Unicorn allows her passengers to enter, coming to life as soon as Banagher presses his hands against the controls. She seems to shudder in an unusual way, but Banagher can't think of it. Between the fear and confusion in his mind, there's no room for curiosity about his Gundam's movements. "We're going to be okay. We'll keep everyone safe, together!"
<Pose Tracker> Ennil El has posed.
Ennil had taken this very seriously. A dark green cocktail dress, the sleeves all winding brocade down to her wrists, softly accented with a glimmering gold necklace in an equally branching pattern of leaves. She'd kept the rest simple - green heels in a similar tone, a pair of small earrings with gold twisted over silver, an understated clutch from which she'd produced both the invitation Wen Yuan had left her and an envelope intended for the brides - but she'd actually tried to do something nice with the dress. The gold softly glimmered with the Dawn, but never so bright as to disturb the ceremony's peace. She was being given an opportunity to celebrate, here, and Yuliana's happiness had genuinely touched her in their brief meeting.
As she'd stepped away from her role in the crowning, something odd had settled into her. A wariness - a crackling sound not born of any special perception aside from a lifetime of learning to smell lightning in the air. There was something about the way Lilith started to move -- And then the sudden explosive violence, both the obvious violence of the gunshot and crumbling ceiling and Elisa's swelling rage.
But violence was just as easy a language for her in a situation like this. It had been Yuliana's intent to avoid strife here, and a handgun would hardly fit in her bag - but a little black transmitter switch? With the flick of her thumb, the Arm Slave that had carried her most of the way here would complete its journey to her current location. Knowing Wen wouldn't fail to see any detail, she lifts her hand from her bag and softly mouths,
"I'm with you on this one. Minute, tops. Get ready."
KTS: Banagher Links has deployed in RX-0 Unicorn Gundam <Unicorn Mode>. KTS: Mineva Lao Zabi has deployed as a Sub Pilot for Banagher Links! KTS: Milly Ashford has deployed as a Sub Pilot for Julia Ampere! KTS: Lilith_Aiden has deployed as a Boss for 7 opponents.
<Pose Tracker> Ujico Issa has posed.
Ujico has never been to a wedding before. And her father was less helpful this time than usual - he's an armchair philosopher and geneticist, not a fashion consultant. So, she asked for help from some of her coworkers.
No, not those coworkers. The civilian ones.
There are a lot of rules for attending a wedding. Don't wear white. Don't upstage the brides. Don't wear too much jewelry. The list just went on and on...! But finally, she found a dress that was approved, and bought a present that (while not very expensive) seemed like it would be both useful and a little romantic - black tea with dried rose petals, in a pretty white bag.
Her dress is knee-length and off the shoulder, fading from black at the scalloped neckline to a peony pink at the hem. Her hair is up in twintails, held in place with black velvet ribbons. The brides are radiant - can something be 'reverse radiant'? Black isn't a color she thinks of as shining. But it doesn't matter! They're beautiful, and they're so in love. Even Ujico can see it.
And then she's frozen, hands clasped in her lap, as a woman interrupts the ceremony. As she pulls a gun, and fires. Ujico's eyes are wide in her face, but she can't move - save for a flinch when the shot echoes off of stone walls.
And then the ceiling comes down, and Ujico finds that her body will still do things even if she doesn't tell it to, because she is running - running for the Palisade, running after Liu Mei and Hong Long, because Liu Mei must be kept safe.
Tieria will kill her if their benefactor eats it!! And she's a human being!
"Hong Long!" she yells after them, booted feet skidding on the aged walkway and then kicking up tufts of dead winter grass. "Put her in the cockpit! She'll be safer!" Does that mean Hong Long can go kick rocks? No! But Ujico incorrectly assumes that he is more capable than his mistress. He's the one running and carrying another human being, after all. He's probably an action hero.
The Palisade is a machine built like a bully, heavy shield arms too long for its body, a pair of fin antennae sweeping backwards from its head kind of like ears. But the cockpit is all Celestial Being, down to the panoramic viewscreens and just enough room for a pilot and one hopefully close friend.
KTS: Liu Mei Wang has deployed as a Sub Pilot for Ujico Issa!
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
This is and isn't like the Zaftra wedding she's attended before. There's something about it that's unsettling. And she can't put her finger on it, perhaps it's simply that Yuliana herself is unsettling. Perhaps its the flat reading she gets off Elisa.
Either way, after they drove here down those unpaved roads, she's been seated throughout the ceremonies alongside the wedding party of Audrey, Banagher and Roux (They're sitting pretty close to Koji for... reasons). Throughout the rituals she's squeezing hands tightly as she asides to Roux ("I knowwww. They look so good together." Leina asides to Roux.)...
Today for the formal occasion, Leina's wearing a sleeveless emerald green halter jumpsuit that asymmetrically wreathes her left shoulder, and a pair of tan flats. She's wearing a rose-gold bracelet on her right wrist, from Sheryl Nome's 'The Kiss' line with a matching necklace, and a subdued floral hairpin on the left side of her hair.
As for their wedding gifts? The trio brought a carefully curated library of Russian Films from a few centuries back on the advice of Audrey. With titles such as 'Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears' 'Wartime Romance' 'Close to Eden' and 'Leviathan'. In addition to that - they slipped in 'Roman Holiday' as a single Western title.
Also because Leina's actually rich even if she doesn't flaunt it there's an envelope of money to help pay for the wedding.
... the Crowning Ceremony begins, and she smiles despite herself. And that's when she feels a more familiar presence. "Captain Aiden?" She mouths, in confusion. Wondering if she's objecting to the ceremony, and why. Except her intent occurs to her moments before that derringer slips out, "DON'T-!" As Roux brings her to the ground.
And then Elisa reacts to the gunshot. The blood blooming from her chest. She's rising, she's screaming, she's crackling with power, and in that puissance of unholy energy she can only sense the barest vestiges of its awfulness, the ones that slip out from beneath Yuliana's aura.
Roux's already grabbed Leina's arm, and is pulling her out in the evacuation of panicking guests. They're already mostly out of the church when the Black Mobile Suit drops, and Elisa rises, that sickening feeling growing all the more.
"... A Unicorn!?" She doesn't get it, why's she going this far, what happened to Alma? Either way, she's being pulled away from Banagher - as he calls out to get to the Unicorn, "I'm okay! Go! Roux's got me! We'll link up later!"
It's a frantic rush to Roux's mobile suit, and in the thick of things, she loses one of her flats, but they at least make it there safely, as she climbs into the back seat. "I don't get it..." She confesses to Roux as she starts the launch sequence and Leina straps in, sounding frazzled and abstracted, "...Alma - she was fine, last I saw her."
And she's sure with that thread of connection, however faint, that if something especially dire happened she'd sense something so... what is Lilith doing here?
Roux asks what she thinks and Leina looks a bit shell shocked for a moment there, from the dizzying display as Roux switches to asking if she's okay, "I'm okay." She says finally, as if Roux's presence has grounded, and smiles at her, as she puts a hand on Roux's shoulder in the seat in front of her, "You've got me. I'm okay." As if she has full faith and confidence that's true. "Let's - let's make sure everyone else is too... before we make any decisions."
KTS: Leina Ashta has deployed as a Sub Pilot for Roux Louka!
<Pose Tracker> Julia Ampere has posed.
A wedding! What a grand occasion. Julia has never been invited to anyone's wedding before. Her profession is more a... solitary one, or so she tells herself, so the only constant company she keeps is her drones. They are her darling creations, yes... but drones are all they are.
She has, of course, dropped off a wedding gift, and takes her seat with the rest of the congregation. She's dressed today in a sleek black tuxedo, her silver hair tied back into a long ponytail with a purple band - though her long, purple-dyed bang is allowed to fly free.
The wedding continues, and, well... it is not quite like any wedding service she has ever heard of. But then again, she hasn't been to any weddings in person, has she? She's certainly not going to judge a friend for her beliefs, if this is the manner in which she chooses to be wed.
She sits, watching the procession politely... until suddenly, things take a turn for the unexpected. A woman arrives, firing a shot at one of the brides - which is intercepted by the other - and then a machine, a Gundam, is dropped through the roof.
That the one who was shot survives, with only anger as the outcome is a surprise, but that is a puzzle to mull over later.
Julia reaches into her pocket, pulling out her phone. She taps on the screen a few times and stands up.
A trio of robots bursts through the chapel doors, moving to stand at attention in front of Julia.
"Alright, darlings! Be a dear and keep an eye on the guests for me, would you? It would be quite unfortunate for anyone to be squished in the tussle." Julia requests. She moves to go retreat to her own machine, as many others have... when suddenly, a young lady approaches her - one she recognizes.
"Ah, hello, dear - Milly, wasn't it? Yes, I do have something in mind, in fact. Come, follow me - you will perhaps be safer that way." Julia says. She hurries out the door to where her machine awaits. The Dynamo Queen - a robot that looks like a giant, four-legged crab with a single eye. It has been outfitted in purple and gold paint since the last time it has been deployed. The face opens and a claw lowers, which Julia steps on - she will give Milly a hand up, if she needs it - before it rises up to let them jump into the cockpit. It's fairly roomy - there's enough room for two to sit comfortably.
"Are you alright back there? If you become distressed, do let me know and I will detach to bring you to safety." Julia asks.
KTS: Mineva Lao Zabi has deployed as a Sub Pilot for Banagher Links! <Pose Tracker> Mineva Lao Zabi has posed.
At Banagher's side is a young woman in a long, form-fitting, sleeveless green dress with a darker-green 'collar' encircling just below her shoulders, trimmed ornately in gold. A diaphanous sash hangs about her lower arms, and a pair of pearl necklaces hangs below her throat.
Yuliana and Elisa didn't likely anticipate that Banagher and Leina's plus-one would be Mineva Lao Zabi.
It's difficult to think about anything except the idea of something going wrong, given her experience with Yuliana. The tension in her is palpable as the ceremony continues. It's beautiful, but any thoughts of romance are crowded out by something approaching paranoia. She keeps expecting something to happen, for something to go wrong, for a trap to be sprung... but no. All is well.
Until it isn't.
Her eyes widen, every muscle tensing at the sight of Lilith. She grabs Banagher's hand--
Lilith draws a gun, and fires. "C- Captain Aiden?!" she says aloud, more out of shock than questioning. She's barely processed Elisa's recovery when the roof collapses, and her heart skips a beat. She doesn't need to process anything for the sight to fill her with dread.
Another Unicorn.
Banagher's voice pulls her back to reality, and as Roux pulls Leina away, she looks the two women in the eye, Leina, then Roux. "Keep her safe!" she yells over the din, as Banagher pulls her away. She lets go of his hand for a moment, leaning down to tear a long slit in the side of the dress-
And she runs, nearly stumbling in her heels, scrambling and leaping up into the white mobile suit's cockpit with him. "We need to make sure everyone is safe!"
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
Although last-minute, the wedding invitation miraculously lines-up with Sayaka's ever-busy schedule. She's honestly surprised about this one, certain that Captain Yuliana Dispersal wouldn't have appreciated her attitude at JOSH-A. In all fairness, it was a stressful and traumatic battle for everyone who survived, and perhaps Yuliana isn't the type to hold such grudges. Besides, there's no reason not to be happy for her and her bride's marriage.
At the ceremony, rather out of the way, but not too out of the way for a couple of life-trained pilots, Sayaka wears a pink-highlighted dress to match with Koji's suit. The ceremony is.. odd, for sure. It's pretty much a ritual, but she doesn't particularly seem bothered by that part of it quite as much. No, she's more bothered about Shiho's warning not to trust Yuliana during the last battle. It sticks at the back of her mind, even as she tries to.. enjoy? the ceremony.
That comes to an end when the chaos erupts, Yuliana Dispersal is shot, and a Gundam BREAKS through the ceiling. Trouble always seems to brew, wherever Sayaka and Koji go, huh?
As Koji glances her way, Sayaka nods, and she takes the Ichinana's passenger seat. "Geez. Good thing I don't have to pilot in this thing," she mutters. "I'll try to watch out for whatever the hell is going on, you focus on piloting!"
KTS: Sayaka Yumi has deployed as a Sub Pilot for Koji Kabuto!
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
And where Elisa is ethereal, Yuliana is terrestrial, eminently here, eminently present. She is all emotion, all existence, with all chthonic weight of the earth to her; where she steps, she scars the world.
Still her eyes shine, when they meet Elisa's, and all her joy redoubles.
But someone moves, someone speaks; Yuliana turns, to Lilith, expression turning imperious just the same. "You --" She starts, angry, and starts to finish turning, she recognises the words --
But Yuliana is still a Natural, even enhanced by her laboratory program; her capacity to react is bounded by the information reaching her brain and her fingertips. She realises she is in danger and a moment later she hears the gunshot, eyes widening.
Her heart beats, hammers, once, and it's there, in front of her, too fast and too red. The green cloth about their hands clusters about hers, as Elisa slips to the ground.
Yuliana is stricken, in harrowed eyes and sharp cry: "Elya!" She knows Elisa's heart could bleed an ocean before she left, but still hers stops, a moment. Her hands lift, fingers curling in, as she chokes out for Lilith: "y--you shot --"
How could she?
How dare she?
Yuliana doesn't look surprised, at least, to see Elisa cracking those floorboards, pushing herself up. Wen, Parminder and Pham are surprised, having taken cover reflexively -- but Sashenka Dian stands from her seat and plunges her heel onto the seat to pull a pistol from a strap on her thigh, some descendant of the Makarov. She fires shots off towards the retreating Lilith, yelling something absolutely scathing in Zaftran behind her.
(She then has to restrain Tri Darma with some hushed insistence that he hasn't gotten in a robot for thirty years and he has to leave this to the professionals.)
Wen nods, to Ennil, catching her eyes before she's off to try and find her own Savage II, grabbing Parminder by the wrist to drag him alongside. She's a sniper; she'll be taking point at the edges of the church to make sure that Gundam doesn't have any backup. Major Pham, meanwhile, disappears into an armored transport.
And Yuliana's shock fades, finally. "You insolent wretch!" She yells, as she picks up the black hem of her dress and runs out of the church. It's harder to climb up into the cockpit of her wanzer in heels, but she manages, with a scramble and a scrape. Through the speakers of Annihilation, as the wanzer initialises, Yuliana screams: "You violate my wedding! You shoot my wife! To you I shall visit HELL UNENDING!"
The green ribbons about her right hand flutter, as she grasps her clutch and plunges it forward --
KTS: Yuliana Dispersal has deployed in Tiandong Annihilation Custom Mk. II. [OOC] Sayaka Yumi says, "blu-ray: Elisa Kafim is shot; apparently I read the wrong person being shot lmao"
<Pose Tracker> Lilith Aiden has posed.
Elisa took the bullet. She's got - magic?! Lilith senses danger. But she can't focus on that right now.
Yuliana's getting away.
As Yuliana climbs into the Annihilation, Banangher, Mineva, and Leina, who were ignored when they cried out, will recognize the weapon that launches out of the backpack and into the right hand, the right arm mounted with a strange, folded back gun.
It's a beam magnum.
"Bogeys count eight. Neutralizing priority target."
The beam magnum is fired, a condensed shot of energy that moves to just blow the cockpit apart and make the Wanzer unfit to pilot, if it doesn't kill Yuliana slowly.
"1 down, 14 up." Lilith counts her ammo to herself, eyes on the prize. Once she's certain the Annihilation won't be a threat...
"Bogeys count seven. No easy exit. Subduing non-priority targets."
The beam magnum is readied again.
"Prioritizing swift subdual."
The Banshee begins strafing around the church's exterior, through each mobile suit in its way. The beam magnum is fired four more times, one for the Spinatia's cockpit straight and lethal, one for the Unicorn's shoulder of the arm holding its own beam magnum, one for Koji's Ichinanna's non-critical torso components, and one for Dynamo Queen's center-mass, away from where a cockpitt block would be.
"Five down, ten up. Cycle."
An e-clip is ejected as a new one is inserted into the magnum before being briefly stowed away, allowing a beam saber to flip down from the wrist.
Dashing forward, thrustters flaring up, the Banshee moves to slash into the ReZ II, thte Palisade, and the Mistral, all non-lethally.
"Go to hell." Her speakers blare. "You know your crimes."
KTS: Lilith Aiden targets Elisa Kafim with Magnum Strafe! KTS: Lilith Aiden targets Banagher Links with Magnum Strafe! KTS: Lilith Aiden targets Koji Kabuto with Magnum Strafe! KTS: Lilith Aiden targets Julia Ampere with Magnum Strafe! KTS: Lilith Aiden targets Roux Louka with Single Blade Strike! KTS: Lilith Aiden targets Ujico Issa with Single Blade Strike! KTS: Lilith Aiden targets Ennil El with Single Blade Strike! KTS: Lilith Aiden has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Yuliana Dispersal's Tiandong Annihilation Custom Mk. II has been disabled. KTS: Possible reactions are React, Evade, Parry, Block, Intercept, Charge, Retreat, Rush, Guard, Accept KTS: Elisa Kafim fails to charge. KTS: Elisa Kafim partially guards Lilith Aiden's Magnum Strafe, taking 3030 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 12230 KTS: Ennil El fails to parry Lilith Aiden's Single Blade Strike, taking 3280 damage! KTS: Lilith Aiden has engaged Ennil El! KTS: Koji Kabuto fails to charge. KTS: Koji Kabuto partially guards Lilith Aiden's Magnum Strafe, taking 4395 damage! KTS: Roux Louka has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Roux Louka fails to evade Lilith Aiden's Single Blade Strike, taking 4510 damage! KTS: Lilith Aiden has engaged Roux Louka! KTS: Julia Ampere partially guards Lilith Aiden's Magnum Strafe, taking 4980 damage! KTS: Banagher Links fails to evade Lilith Aiden's Magnum Strafe, taking 3810 damage! KTS: Ujico Issa blocks Lilith Aiden's Single Blade Strike, taking 3075 damage! KTS: Lilith Aiden has engaged Ujico Issa!
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
It's true. Elisa did not expect Mineva Lao Zabi today. But she also probably didn't expect Lilith Aiden. But she would likely appreciate all the lovely thoughts about her wedding!!
She appreciates little, right now, except for the need for blood. The need for blood and--
"NO," Elisa growls, and it is not the radio that amplifies her voice so that all in the area can hear it. As soon as Lilith fires that beam magnum, Elisa's eyes burn green in her cockpit. A wave of green energy explodes from the Annihilation a half-instant before it explodes. Yuliana immediately appears in the passenger seat of Elisa's Spinatia.
"FOOL!" Elisa calls, and as that rush comes for her cockpit she slams into it, the beams warping around her cockpit and slam into the sides of the robot. Then she whirls that scythe in both gigantic hands and slashes for the Banshee.
"I WILL VISIT SUFFERING UPON YOU!"
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
Milly doesn't super like the idea of leaving her mother to fend for herself in the crush, but... the first thing she needs to do is get herself out alive. Put on your own mask first.
Accepting the hand up to the claw, Milly follows Julia into the cockpit, getting situated comfortably.
"... A one-off machine," Milly murmurs to herself. It's a bit jarring to realize this is the kind of thing Julia has access to -- it suggests some things about Julia. ... she'll do her best not to think about that, for now.
"I'm as comfortable as I'm going to get here," she answers, giving Julia a strained smile. "Let me know if you need systems monitoring. It's not my best talent, but I know the basics. Do you have -- any idea why this is happening?"
KTS: Milly Ashford targets Julia Ampere with Prospect! KTS: Milly Ashford has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Elisa Kafim has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Elisa Kafim has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Elisa Kafim targets Lilith Aiden with Witchlight Scythe Quick Slash! KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 71. KTS: Elisa Kafim has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Yuliana Dispersal has deployed as a Sub Pilot for Elisa Kafim! KTS: Milly Ashford has activated the Rouse Spirit Command targeting Julia Ampere KTS: Milly Ashford has activated the Rouse Spirit Command targeting Julia Ampere KTS: Sayaka Yumi has activated the Foresee Spirit Command targeting Koji Kabuto KTS: Milly Ashford assesses Julia Ampere's prospects, increasing her SP! KTS: Sayaka Yumi has activated the Attune Spirit Command targeting Koji Kabuto
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
Koji catches Lilith's declaration over the standard frequency, hissing as he tries to throw the Ichinana forwards through the Beam Magnum assault, angling its Mazinger Blade to deflect the worst of the beam.
Which is a lot. "That was an entire e-cap," He gasps, glancing at the emissions readouts on his display. "In a single shot!"
"Sayaka, she's reading us all as targets, I've gotta try and take her down." He flips a couple of switches, pinging the Banshee with the Londo Bell frequency. "Captain Aiden! Captain Aiden, stand down, this isn't going to - "
The Annihilation Custom disappears in a blaze of blue-pink Minovsky light.
"... Okay, I guess that did work. Lilith, stop this! There's too many civilians here!" Yet the captain gives herself over to professional dissociation and Koji grimaces. "She's not going to hear me, is she? Sayaka, we're going in. Hold tight!"
Thrusters burn and the Ichinana pushes forwards, bringing its blade around to strike not at the Banshee's cockpit, but at the arm holding the Beam Magnum. "Let's take THAT out of play!"
KTS: Koji Kabuto targets Lilith Aiden with Mazinger Blade Lunge! KTS: Koji Kabuto has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Ennil El has activated the Rouse Spirit Command targeting Banagher Links KTS: Ennil El targets Lilith Aiden with MULS-P2 Dual Launchers Blast Volley! KTS: Ennil El has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Ennil El has posed.
The Black Unicorn is fast. Ennil throws herself into the cockpit, clutch flung against the steel wall with a clatter that pops it open, a little golden pendant too quaint for this formal affair clattering to the floor. It's already firing, and the way that beam weapon splits the air --
Ennil has witnessed a Unicorn twice, once from the outside and once from within. Neither were pleasant experiences. But this thing, in its measured violence --
Something about it feels like a judgment. The Mistral stirs to life and she blasts back out to the perimeter of the building, getting her finger back on the trigger. People are getting clear, or joining her in engaging - including at least one familiar sight that sends an anxious pang through her heart. And though she is forbidden miracles -- she sends one sincere wish.
That moment of worry is cut short when a beam saber flashes towards her. She lashes out with her knife in response, turning the hand of the black beast but still caught by the lash of plasma - Nothing vital, at least. The orange haze settles on her as she considers her options.
Remaining in this position is dangerous. The mobile suit outweighs her - its blade will sear through armor while hers must be forced. This isn't the time for close combat - which means she needs to encourage a retreat. Screeching backward, Ennil El opens up with the Mistral's missile launchers at nearly point blank.
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
In the church, Roux had smiled at Banagher; there had been some passing chat, and a compliment about his vest. And from there, things had gone entirely to shit.
Although there had been a silent, brilliant flash of acknowledgement at the entrustment. As if it were a great responsibility, but one which she had expected - and was even pleased - to accept.
But that was hours ago. Wasn't it? No, it was happening now. No - A unicorn!
No, wait. Roux looks up and blinks several times. "What the ****!" Roux says, using swear words only recently unsealed in Jupiter. "How many of the god damned things are there! Sorry, I'm upset," Roux continues, working the pedals with stockinged feet. She breathes in and breathes out, and turns her head a little to smile at Leina. "Alright," she says. "I have no idea what is going on here."
"But it smells like old history coming alive, to me."
As she keeps through the last of the pre-flight check, Roux thinks for a moment as her eyes flick towards the Ichinana: Maybe this group thing is the root here. Is that trendy, on Earth? What would that even be like? Should I ask Leina later or would it be faster to just drink drain cleaner? Maybe I can read up on it if we survive. Why am I looking at the Ichinana as I think about this?
Roux shakes her head once.
Because... "Hold on!" Roux says as the Banshee begins moving. Even as the Banshee moves in to slash at the other parked suits, Roux slams the throttle forwards, a full-power forced takeoff from a cold start which means that instead of having a wing cleaved off or the front weapons array carved into useless failure states, the ReZ-II gets a long, shallow, sparking gash along its belly while flying towards the southwest!
Bringing up speed -- shaking -- "Well, crap," Roux says, fighting the control sticks. "It can still transform -- I guess she's made our decision for us, huh, Leina? Keep an eye out, will you?" Two other controls are pulled and the mechanical components begin to slide and shift together, the ReZ banking and the banking turning into a twist as a
MOBILE SUIT!
is revealed from within the aircraft. (Who would have ever suspected? Anyone. Literally anyone. It was a Waverider-format airframe.)
"Koji! Banagher! Do you know what the **-- I'm sorry, what the HECC is going on??" Roux says as the ReZ-II descends to land on the Zaftran soil, the Mega Beam Rifle looking indeed like just that thing. The targeting optics shift into place. Turn, turn - twist - center the target on the Beam Magnum *itself* and --
Fire! A huge coruscant ray of magenta!
"Maybe we can call the REA...?" Roux speculates aloud. Even Roux knows this may be a forlorn, 'at least it won't be Torrington II' kind of option.
If they're lucky.
KTS: Roux Louka has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Roux Louka targets Lilith Aiden with Mega Beam Rifle! KTS: Roux Louka has completed their actions for the round.
<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.
"Audrey -- have you ever heard anything about another Unicorn?" Banagher gasps, as he straps into the Unicorn's pilot seat. A quick glance reassures him that Audrey's secured as well, and only then allows the Unicorn to begin moving. She unsheathes her beam magnum, only for Banagher to watch the black Unicorn wielding one of its own.
"How does it have a beam magnum? Audrey --!" The Unicorn tries to dodge to the side, but it isn't fast enough in this form, and Lilith's attack hits home.
Banagher cries out in distress, and the Unicorn rises to answer him. Scarlet light begins to glimmer beneath white armor, and the pilot seat slides -- "No! No--!" Banagher shouts, tugging the controls back down as they try to shift away. "Not now! We can't -- that's Captain Aiden!"
Metal arms extend down, clutching Banagher's head, and he shakes them off. "No! We can't, please!"
There's still people fleeing from the ruined building. The NT-D's power is too great, and if that black Unicorn has Psychoframe as well... The resonance would destroy everything around them for hundreds of yards. This can't be Torrington again. Banagher won't let it be.
"I have no idea!" Banagher replies to Roux, his voice wavering. "I thought the Unicorn was one of a kind! You can't let that beam magnum hit you, it'll tear you apart. And if it transforms--" He cuts himself off. For the moment, the Unicorn's shuddering ceases, the Beast listening to its pilot's wishes. "Thank you," he breathes, then switches to broadcast his voice. "Captain Aiden! Please, stop this! There's civilians everywhere -- this is a wedding! I don't understand!"
She isn't listening. She's firing on him -- on everyone. Leina and Audrey are in danger! Banagher grits his teeth, and directs the Unicorn to raise her weapon. "Please, please stop, Captain Aiden!"
KTS: Banagher Links targets Lilith Aiden with Unicorn Beam Magnum Warning Shot! KTS: Banagher Links has completed their actions for the round.
<Pose Tracker> Liu Mei Wang has posed.
Hong Long's instinct, is, of course to bring Liu Mei to their car and get the hell out of there. It's the sane and rational thing to do, after all - Liu Mei's a most delicate VIP whose greatest value is located 'as far away from this goddamn mess as possible'.
There's one person who'd disagree with that fervently and unfortunately it's Liu Mei herself.
"Ah ah ah, I'm not backing down from a wedding this spectacular. The show must go on, you see, and I must be sure to nudge it along the right path. I think I will, in fact, be making my presence known, be ensuring the world turns in juuust the perfect way." And much to her bodyguard/elder brother's chagrin, Liu Mei's climbing aboard with Ujico in the back.
She's maybe regretting the relative lack of luxury that comes with 'just kinda clinging behind the actual seat' about ten minutes in.
"Hmmmm. Uji, I'll take charge of the communications here. I'm sure you know what to do. In fact, if you look under Directory 12-A, there's a few counter-plans for fighting a Gundam. Obviously they're tuned after our -own- Gundams, as a failsafe, but I'm sure that hellish black thing is similar enough, yes?"
Over shared airwaves, Liu Mei makes herself well and clear, piping in first to Elisa, <"You're not pushing yourself too hard, are you? You may be quite amazing, but you DID just get shot in the chest. It looked a lot like you're totally fine, but for all I know, you're not. I know you can only be in absolutely dreadful a state...but your wedding is rather important to me as well. I'll raise hell to make sure you're covered~">
And then, to the oh so fortuitous presence of the great hero Koji Kabuto, she chimes in, <"Darn, I'd have hoped the Fortress of Iron would be valiantly defending us, but I know that in your hands, even the imitation will suffice. Mmmm, but where are my manners? I'm Liu Mei Wang, a girl who lives to see the right pieces moving and shaking, and I'm eagerly cheering you on. Maybe if you're convincing enough, I can get footage of this edited to make it -look- like the wonderful Mazinger Z proved it could be a god that slays a devilish Gundam, and the press will eat it up splendidly!~">
KTS: Liu Mei Wang targets Ujico Issa, Elisa Kafim, and Koji Kabuto with Awe. KTS: Liu Mei Wang has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Liu Mei Wang inspires awe, increasing Elisa Kafim's Morale! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 12230
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
"Me too." She tells Roux to being upset. Frazzled as she is, she tries to center herself, to calm herself and... "Promise, not all Earth weddings are like this." She tells Roux, tension in her voice, through trying to lighten the mood.
Closing her eyes, she tries her best to reach her feelings out towards the Unicorn, which is easily sensed, as she tries to bring a current of calm towards both Banagher and Mineva.
I'm safe with Roux. Stay calm. We'll figure this out.
The Beam Magnum is certainly recognized, and Leina's eyes grow wide as Yuliana calls out her curses, and Lilith just as coldly fires it at her cockpit.
"Afraid so. Don't worry - I've got your back. I don't doubt you can fly circles even around that suit."
Hitting the radio in her co-pilot seat as Lilith comes at them with a Beam Saber. Despite her alarm as the ship rocks from the impact, she calls out over the radio, "<Captain Aiden! Why are you doing this!? I don't understand what you think she did to Alma! Please! Hold your fire! If Vist put you up to this - we can help!>"
Leina checks her instruments, and in a moment of intuition, subtly feeds some targeting data over to Roux.
"Don't know if I trust the REA to clean up this mess." She murmurs softly to Roux.
KTS: Leina Ashta has activated the Attune Spirit Command targeting Roux Louka KTS: Leina Ashta targets Roux Louka and Banagher Links with Awe. KTS: Leina Ashta has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Leina Ashta inspires awe, increasing Banagher Links's Morale!
<Pose Tracker> Ujico Issa has posed.
The Palisade is a black machine, the details picked out in silver and cherry red. The hatch closes on her and Liu Mei, the displays lighting up in a nearly 360-degree panorama. Ujico briefly misses the familiar grip of her normal suit, but the embrace of the safety harness is grounding. Here she is safe.
Here she is real.
--Except that Liu Mei Wang is also in here and Ujico doesn't like it, even as the neural link between herself and the Palisade blooms. Its body is her body. Her body is -- supposed to be a backup but she can't get into the zone with someone else here! "I read through... I think," she mumbles, eyes unfocused. "Please handle the comms then," she agrees, sighing quietly in relief. It's one less thing for Ujico to worry about - talking to other people.
It's the Palisade's big beefy arm that she raises to shield them from the black Unicorn's shot, her own hands loose on the secondary control sticks.
It's okay. She's still here.
The Palisade stands, leaning forward like it wants to rest on its knuckles like a gorilla, or maybe take off sprinting -- and it does both, the beam claws activating to grip the earth beneath it, the suit pushing off into a four-legged gallop towards where the black Unicorn waits.
She lifts a heavy paw, every finger ending in a two-foot long beam dagger, and swipes for the joint at the Banshee's knee.
KTS: Ujico Issa targets Lilith Aiden with Scratching Post! KTS: Ujico Issa has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Leina Ashta inspires awe, increasing Roux Louka's Morale! KTS: Lilith Aiden blocks Elisa Kafim's Witchlight Scythe Quick Slash, taking 2850 damage! KTS: Elisa Kafim has engaged Lilith Aiden! KTS: Elisa Kafim begins a Formation attack! KTS: Koji Kabuto anchors Lilith Aiden, forcing her into close range. KTS: Lilith Aiden fails to Parry Koji Kabuto's Mazinger Blade Lunge, taking 4320 damage! KTS: Koji Kabuto has engaged Lilith Aiden! KTS: Koji Kabuto roots his unit, coming to a standstill and leaving him vulnerable. KTS: Lilith Aiden rushes into the attack! KTS: Lilith Aiden partially guards Ennil El's MULS-P2 Dual Launchers Blast Volley, taking 3826 damage! KTS: Lilith Aiden blocks Roux Louka's Mega Beam Rifle, taking 2880 damage! KTS: Lilith Aiden blocks Banagher Links's Unicorn Beam Magnum Warning Shot, taking 1650 damage! <Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
"Seems this captain of yours has something to settle with Captain Dispersal, doesn't she?" Seems like a lot of people do, really. Although... she wonders what those "crimes" she was talking about were. The same ones Shiho alluded to? "Suppose it's too late for them to just work it out privately," she notes as Yuliana's custom wanzer is downed in an instant. She has to wonder why everyone is being marked a target, though.
A panicked communication is beamed to the Ichinana from Roux. "We're not sure either! Koji's trying to talk her down, but it doesn't seem like it's working..." She stares forward at the Ichinana's state-of-the-art operating system. "Here! I'll send you two what data the Ichinana does have." She includes Banagher in this one too - he's just as in the dark as the rest of them.
"As for the REA... I wouldn't. I'm confident we can put an end to this ourselves." Should she be confident? She barely knows this Captain Aiden, nor Captain Dispersal for that matter. In spite of that, she gets a sense that involving the military would only worsen the situation.
KTS: Sayaka Yumi targets Koji Kabuto, Banagher Links, and Roux Louka with Coordinate. KTS: Sayaka Yumi has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Liu Mei Wang inspires awe, increasing Koji Kabuto's Morale! KTS: Sayaka Yumi coordinates maneuvers, raising Koji Kabuto's Piloting! KTS: Sayaka Yumi coordinates maneuvers, raising Roux Louka's Piloting! KTS: Sayaka Yumi coordinates maneuvers, raising Banagher Links's Piloting! <Pose Tracker> Julia Ampere has posed.
Julia hears Milly's comment, but she doesn't respond to it. It's something they can discuss later if Milly chooses to ask her right now, but the important topic at hand here is survival - theirs, and that of anyone present here who might be important to them.
She nods when Milly says she'll be as comfortable as she's going to get, and turns to offer a small smile of her own when she makes her offer.
"That would be lovely. If you can alert me any time the readings change, I'll be able to prioritize my piloting." Julia replies gratefully. She doesn't get a chance to answer her question right away, as her piloting is immediately put to the test.
The Banshee fires, multiple times. The Dynamo Queen moves, raising its massive claws for defense - but Julia realises, too late, the sheer power of the Beam Magnum. She tries to move out of the way, but doesn't quite succeed - the beam shearing right through part of the claw. Julia grimaces.
"Ah. And I just finished painting it, too. So it goes." She comments, then looks back toward Milly again. "Hold on, dear, this might get rough for just a moment."
Her warning given, the Dynamo Queen accelerates toward the Banshee. Its claws raise and then slam down, twice, to hammer on the Banshee with its sheer weight.
"She's aiming nonlethally... and, she's chosen to take the fight outside. I cannot speak for her attitude, but I appreciate that she's taking care to avoid collateral..." Julia murmurs, mostly to herself. "Quite stylish, Miss Aiden. Ah, if only the priest had uttered that immortal line, 'should any have reason these two should not be wed'... this would have been quite cinematic!"
She pauses, remembering that she isn't alone, but addressing Milly's question.
"Ah - I'm afraid I know as much as you do, dear. But given her words this woman, Captain Aiden, from the concerned cries, must have been wronged by our dear Yuliana somehow. ...Given the sorts of rumors you hear about the REA, well. I can only imagine what may have transpired between them." Julia supposes. It's a pretty frank way to talk about one's friend, but... she works with Bio-Net. With that said, she flips on her external speakers.
"I don't suppose we could halt this confrontation for the time being? Give us a nice, clear lot in which to express our disagreements with one another!" Julia considers aloud. "But I suppose there's a certain grace in a punch-up like this, as well..."
KTS: Julia Ampere has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Julia Ampere has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Julia Ampere targets Lilith Aiden with Claw Tantrum! KTS: Julia Ampere has completed their actions for the round. KTS: [Lucky] Ujico Issa's luck activates, and luck goes her way! KTS: Lilith Aiden fails to Parry Ujico Issa's Scratching Post, taking 2700 damage! KTS: Ujico Issa has engaged Lilith Aiden! KTS: Ujico Issa begins a Formation attack! KTS: Lilith Aiden fails to Parry Julia Ampere's Claw Tantrum, taking 4000 damage! KTS: Julia Ampere has engaged Lilith Aiden!
<Pose Tracker> Mineva Lao Zabi has posed.
Mineva shakes her head vigorously to Banagher's question, "No, I- I've never heard of anything like this before!"
When she went to seek out the Unicorn, she didn't know what it was--she only knew about Laplace's Box, not even that it was a mobile suit; much less that the Unicorn was simply the key to the box. Is this black Unicorn another key to the box? She dreads the notion that all their hiding and struggling, all their efforts to keep the Unicorn out of the hands of others, have been for naught.
"Banagher--!" She cries out as the cockpit fills with red, reaching out to grasp onto him, remind him of her presence, *anything* to stave off the system, or at least keep it under control...
As the NT-D system deactivates, she shifts her grip from his arm to his hand. "The beam magnum..." She opens a comm channel. "<We need to get the battle away from here, if the magnum fires at full power it'll blow them apart! Lure it away from the church!>"
She looks over at Banagher, her eyes intense. "Don't worry about me. I know what I'm getting into," she reminds him. "Concentrate on ending this."
KTS: Mineva Lao Zabi targets Banagher Links with All-Out! KTS: Mineva Lao Zabi has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Mineva Lao Zabi orders an all-out attack, raising Banagher Links's Skill! [OOC] Mineva Lao Zabi says, "blu-ray: 'it'll blow the civilians apart!'"
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
Major Pham is certainly trying to contact the REA as they speak, but, well -- they're in something of a remote location, out here. Even if he manages to get a message through (a struggle, with all these Minovsky particles), it will be a while before help arrives.
Captain Dispersal doesn't have a while to spare.
The Beam Magnum comes for the Annihilation, and -- give it credit -- the Tiandong 3 does try to get out of the way. Yuliana's not about to lie down and die. But it comes too quickly, with too much force, and the radios may well catch some thread of, "Shit--!!"
She faces death like a memory.
There is a flash of green light, and the Annihilation explodes. The cockpit fuses with the initial wash of power, before it flows through, catches on the flamethrower integrated with the Tiandong 3's back; the flammable material there, as ever, catches fire and BURNS, even as the light explodes out.
The wanzer slumps to the ground, steaming, burning. No one inside could have survived.
No one --
Yuliana finishes her gasp inside the Spinatia, and it's Elisa who can see the way her face is drawn in fear and horror, the way her breathing resolves to something so shallow. "Elya," she murmurs, halfway to a whimper, even as her hands reflexively strap her into the seat. She reaches out, to delicately rest her fingers on Elisa's shoulder. (Her hand is still wrapped in that green cloth. She has not forgot.) Her voice is shaken, hushed: "Even being this careful... even doing this much, they still... we'll never know peace here, will we...?"
She's upset.
Yuliana is upset.
With a grimace, she looks out, to the cameras of the Spinatia. "You!" She issues, sharply, to the Banshee, and it's immediately obvious she's not talking to Elisa any more -- her tone too hard, too harsh, though still jagged and raw at its edges. "You think you know suffering now?! I won't forgive you! I will destroy every INCH of you... you..!!"
Whatever Lilith is she leaves to imagination; she grits her teeth before her voice can tremble.
A thin trickle of red falls from her single fang down her chin, by way of her lip.
KTS: Yuliana Dispersal targets Lilith Aiden with Demoralize! KTS: Yuliana Dispersal has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Yuliana Dispersal demoralizes Lilith Aiden, reducing her Morale drastically. KTS: [Spirit Defense] Lilith Aiden's Everlasting Rage activates, and her spirit endures. KTS: Lilith Aiden has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Lilith Aiden has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
<Pose Tracker> Lilith Aiden has posed.
"Banagher. Leina. Mineva." Lilith responds calmly via speakers as everyone moves to counter-attack. Not Links?
"She hates our kind. She'd like to see us eradicated. I'm doing everyone a favor - her bride's a bit of collateral, but I'd be surprised if they didn't collude to manipulate my Alma..."
"I've gotta kill her NOW! IT'S THE ONLY WAY TO PROTECT HER!" Lilith pushes forth, gloves shifting levers as she takes a full view of attacks.
The scythe comes down, as the left hand's weird 'gauntlet shield' goes up, deflecting the slash down her unit's arm and being moved to push backwards, even as they're engaged. Koji's blade is deflected with the beam saber, trying to parry him but failing as the lunge gouges armor.
Ennil's missiles are rushed into, exploding against the guarded armor, as botth the Mega Beam Rifle and the other Beam Magnum shot are blocked - the latter melting a small hole into the reinforced i-field shield.
Another attempt at parrying the two sets of claws fails, as the gouges into the shoulder armor force Lilith's Banshee back.
The beam saber is stowed. The beam magnum is gone.
The two strange weapons - the left arm's strange 'gauntlet' and the right arm's folded gun, are readied.
"Armed Armor BS, VN, activate."
The Beam Smartgun and VibroNail are both unloaded. It's the VibroNail on the left hand that gets the most love here,
Dashing between melee combatants, before launching upwards towards the Unicorn, she moves to impale it into shoulder components before tearing back out, forcing people to stay in melee with her - where she excels - and do as much damage as possible.
The Beam Smartgun, meanwhile, is fired at the Spinatia's cockpit again. It's not a straight shot like the magnum, and it's much thinnner.
It also undulates. There's something wrong with those beams, those sniper shots of focused accuracy that are difficult to dodge due to their unerring movemens.
This Gundam...is using psycommu to aim them.
KTS: Lilith Aiden targets Elisa Kafim with Armed Armor BS Sniper Shot! KTS: Lilith Aiden targets Banagher Links with Armed Armor VN Impale! KTS: Lilith Aiden targets Koji Kabuto with Armed Armor VN Impale! KTS: Lilith Aiden targets Julia Ampere with Armed Armor VN Impale! KTS: Lilith Aiden targets Roux Louka with Armed Armor VN Impale! KTS: Lilith Aiden targets Ujico Issa with Armed Armor VN Impale! KTS: Lilith Aiden targets Ennil El with Armed Armor VN Impale! KTS: Lilith Aiden has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Julia Ampere has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Lilith Aiden anchors Julia Ampere, forcing her into close range. KTS: Julia Ampere blocks Lilith Aiden's Armed Armor VN Impale, taking 2460 damage! KTS: Lilith Aiden has engaged Julia Ampere! KTS: Lilith Aiden anchors Koji Kabuto, forcing him into close range. KTS: Koji Kabuto blocks Lilith Aiden's Armed Armor VN Impale, taking 3075 damage! KTS: Lilith Aiden has engaged Koji Kabuto! KTS: [Mirage] Elisa Kafim's Void's Call activates, and she slips into a mirage. KTS: Elisa Kafim blocks Lilith Aiden's Armed Armor BS Sniper Shot, taking 0 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 12230 KTS: Banagher Links fails to rush. KTS: Lilith Aiden anchors Banagher Links, forcing him into close range. KTS: Banagher Links partially guards Lilith Aiden's Armed Armor VN Impale, taking 3895 damage! KTS: Lilith Aiden has engaged Banagher Links! <Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Vaguely, Elisa is aware that other mecha are being used. She is aware of the blood staining her dress, soaking through her clothes, though the wound beneath is gone. She is aware of so many things, in the moment, but none more than Yuliana's fingers on her shoulder.
"Darling," Elsa says, tenderly. And then she answers her. "Never," she says. "This blasted world will always seek to undo us. She is but one." Elisa's eyes are still faintly aglow.
Liu Mei sends Elisa the most delightful message. "Oh, I'm quite fine," Elisa answers ovr the radio to her, "Merely very angry. But I have my darling here with me, and so all will be well. All will be as it must."
Important to her...
"You will be remembered fondly," Elisa assures her.
Elisa narrows her eyes as she sees the new weapons deployed by the Black Unicorn. And indeed, soon enough--
"Hahahahahaha. You think I am 'collateral'?" Elisa inquires. "You understand little and less."
The Beam Smartgun fires straight for the cockpit. There's something strange, wrong, with the beams, and it is a perfect shot; there is no reason that it will not simply pass right through the cockpit on this heading, and Elisa does not maneuver out of the way.
She doesn't have to; a green tear in the world rips open, and a hungry void devours the beams outright, sucking them away into nothingness before it fades again.
"HAHAHAHAHA. Filthy, foolish woman! YOU WILL UNDERSTAND YET."
Then she turns her head. "You are all that matters, my darling Yuliana. ...The cloth is still upon us; the only witnesses that matter shine upon us. Come. Let us say our vows, my beloved, and complete this moment ourselves."
Then she lunges, the Spinatia suddenly cracking across the ground, seeming to shimmer mid-movement as if not quite touching the surface. And the scythe slams down, point-first, straight for the Black Unicorn's center mass. "Yes... you will learn."
CHANSYS: No channel with that name or alias found.
KTS: Elisa Kafim targets Lilith Aiden with Witchlight Scythe Piercing Strike! KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 84. KTS: Elisa Kafim has completed their actions for the round. KTS: [Lucky] Ujico Issa's luck activates, and luck goes her way! KTS: Ujico Issa successfully accepts Liu Mei Wang's Awe KTS: Lilith Aiden anchors Ennil El, forcing her into close range. KTS: Ennil El fails to parry Lilith Aiden's Armed Armor VN Impale, taking 3690 damage! KTS: Lilith Aiden has engaged Ennil El! KTS: Ujico Issa has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Roux Louka has activated the Wall Spirit Command. <Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
Lilith leans into the attack, and the Ichinana brings up the blade to wedge against the nail, the metal-on-metal screech just audible in the Ichinana's cockpit.
"This thing is a monster," Koji grunts. "We might have to punch out sooner than I hoped, Sayaka. Still - " He taps the reactor display, shunting power through the Ichinana's systems to its chest array. "We can at least leave a mark while we're in the thick of it! BURNING FIRE!"
Radiance spills forth from the chest array, focused into a red-hot beam to cut into the Banshee's armoured nail!
"Whatever she wants to do to you, Lilith, this is wrong! You've put so many people at risk for this vengeance!"
The wounded bride shouts her defiance at Lilith, though, and even in the thick of the melee, Koji hesitates. "... Sayaka, are you getting Ashura vibes from her or is it just me?"
KTS: Lilith Aiden anchors Roux Louka, forcing her into close range. KTS: Roux Louka fails to parry Lilith Aiden's Armed Armor VN Impale, taking 4100 damage! KTS: Lilith Aiden has engaged Roux Louka! KTS: Koji Kabuto targets Lilith Aiden with Burning Fire! KTS: Koji Kabuto has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Lilith Aiden anchors Ujico Issa, forcing her into close range. KTS: Ujico Issa fails to parry Lilith Aiden's Armed Armor VN Impale, taking 3690 damage! KTS: Lilith Aiden has engaged Ujico Issa!
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
As the machine's weight shifts after getting pierced by the Beam Magnum and then springing forward, Milly... rattles around a little bit. Piloting gives you a much greater sense of yourself and where you are than instrument monitoring -- she doesn't have the same capacity to brace herself. On the other hand, well, she's a tough young lady. She'll be fine with the general rattling-around she's getting.
"Weight distribution on the claws is getting lopsided," Milly notes; this is a life or death matter, so no matter how sketchy the situation is all around, well. She ought to do her best.
"That makes more sense than a lot of other options," Milly murmurs, at the idea that Yuliana wronged this woman in the course of her work with the REA. To risk so many lives, though...
"There's a lot about her that doesn't add up, but it doesn't excuse any of this, either..." Milly gets distracted, at this point, from monitoring. ... she's still worried about her mother -- she can't provide as thorough of support as she'd like.
You paged Ennil El 'share it on Discord?'
KTS: Milly Ashford targets Julia Ampere with Prospect! KTS: Milly Ashford has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Milly Ashford assesses Julia Ampere's prospects, increasing her SP! KTS: Leina Ashta has activated the Foresee Spirit Command targeting Roux Louka KTS: Ennil El targets Elisa Kafim with Prospect! KTS: Ennil El has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Ennil El has posed.
The twisted pressure off the black beast intensifies. The battlefield roar intensifies. The misery, the endless misery, of blood for blood until the world is pale and dry -- continues. Ennil El groans. It's unbearable.
"Another door to Possibility... What a miserable machine. There's no future fit for you but Ruin."
The Mistral slows as the Banshee's shield sweeps in. It tears brutal tracks into the tiny machine, long gouges that bleed radiant orange. The Mistral's engine gutters out an angry howl.
She'll endure it. Even a monster like this can't kill her, after all. That flickering dawnlight stretches across the air, carried on stagnant malice and exhaustion. The broadcast goes out in all directions.
<<"Tear her apart. She wants blood for blood? I hope she drowns in it.">>
The heroes of the Earth Sphere here today might not hear her clearly, but she has a feeling there are a few people standing here today who will more than appreciate the offer she's making.
KTS: Ennil El assesses Elisa Kafim's prospects, increasing her SP! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 12230 KTS: Lilith Aiden parries Elisa Kafim's Witchlight Scythe Piercing Strike, taking 1530 damage! KTS: Elisa Kafim has engaged Lilith Aiden!
<Pose Tracker> Liu Mei Wang has posed.
It's a little dizzying for Liu Mei to parse...much of anything that's going on. She's been in a handful of mobile weapons, but she can't deny that being within one in the heat of combat is sudddenly getting to her a bit. Sweat's pouring down her brow and marring her -immaculate- makeup, and her butt's starting to get sore from where she's perched.
But she can't help but let out a little gasp and grimace with the Tiandong explodes. "...Haaah??? Impossible. How can this obscene false Gundam take out Yuliana in one fell swoop? I can't get in contact, surely she's not-"
Elisa's voice comes in as reassurance - and somehow, through impossible miracles, Yuliana's safe and sound in a space she shouldn't have been a few minutes ago. Bewildering. And yet... "...heh. Heehee. You two really are almost frighteningly amazing. A maelstrom that'll suck the world right up. Unbelievable. Impossible to look away from."
Liu Mei's attention turns to her current guardian, who seems...somewhat zoned out? No, that's not right - the Palisade is quite clearly moving with intense alertness. She tries to remember just what R&D division this one came from - then it clicks, and she just realizes Ujico's 'plugged in' to its senses. Deftly, she sneaks her arm around to pull an attached tablet closer, and begins piping in a few handy little data graphs and HUDs to Ujico's vision, alerting her to incoming threats - though not fast enough to avoid the fierce, tumbling impact of the Unicorn's claws raking the Palisade, Liu Mei biting her tongue momentarily at the impact. "Ouchie, ouchie...!! Are we really in something that's so close-ranged focused yet outmatched in hand to hand combat? Tsk, tsk...!! I'll do all I can to give you a few timers on when and where its strikes land...!" The technical aspect of Celestial Being's projects are a liiiiiiittle bit out of Liu Mei's grasp, but inherently she has to know a -little- bit about them. You don't get anywhere on big projects you care about by -just- throwing money out!
KTS: Liu Mei Wang targets Ujico Issa with Prospect! KTS: Liu Mei Wang has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.
Leina's feelings reach Banagher, and a smile tugs at his lips. "Leina... Thank you." He murmurs. He can trust Roux. She's been through worse than this -- she'll keep Leina safe. And herself. The tips of his fingers feel warm, and Banagher turns his focus back to the battle.
"Thank you for the data!" Banagher calls, unsure who exactly sent it his way. It'll help, that's all that matters. They can figure it out once everyone is safe.
Audrey's touch helps so much, grounding the young man, letting the scarlet light fade away. Their hands entertwine, and he breathes out a bit easier. This is real. Gentle, cool moonlight replaces the harsh glare of the NT-D in Banagher's mind's eye. "I'm going to try and get Captain Aiden to follow me. Try and get her into the forest and away from the village!"
Before Banagher can move, Lilith calls his name, and once again mentions Alma. "Miss Alma? I Just saw her, she was alright! She was fighting by my side! What happened? Just let us help, we can work this out!"
The Unicorn takes a few steps, then leaps toward the forest, only for the Banshee to come flying at them. Banagher gasps, his hand tightening on Audrey's. A stab of pain echoes through his body as the Unicorn is struck, his mostly-healed chest wound protesting. "Nnh--!" White armor shatters and breaks as Lilith pulls away, rushing to attack someone else.
"Audrey." Banagher glances at her, fear in his eyes. "I don't know if we can beat her without the NT-D. But I -- don't think I can hold on if I let it out. If that black Unicorn is like mine, it must be all Psychoframe, and -- last time --"
The Unicorn shudders. Feeling Banagher's fear. Feeling the danger. "I can't let this be Torrington again." His voice is soft, as he focuses on pushing away the NT-D. "I'm going to do all I can. The Unicorn is the only one who could match this black Gundam. Please stay with me, Audrey."
Stowing the beam magnum, the Unicorn pulls forth two beam sabers. Magenta light burns the air, and Banagher grits his teeth. "Captain Aiden. I'm sorry. I don't know what's wrong, but I have to stop you. You did the same thing for me at Torrington. Please forgive me!"
With a cry, Banagher urges the Unicorn forward. The Beast launches itself at its sister, red light flickering beneath its damaged armor, straining against its pilot's hold, wanting to run wild. Twin sabers try to rake against the Banshee's armor, going for the shoulder joins, just as Lilith has done to Banagher.
KTS: Banagher Links has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Banagher Links has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Banagher Links has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Banagher Links targets Lilith Aiden with Unicorn Beam Sabers Combo! KTS: Banagher Links has completed their actions for the round.
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
"... Also Roux I'm not ten anymore! Curse all you want! I too sometimes curse." ...which may not be all that convincing to the cause of Roux thinking cursing is okay around Judau's kid sister. A shot from the Beam Magnum careens into Yuliana's cockpit only for... wait, is she calling out invective at Lilith still? The fact that she's okay, she's glad however...
Lilith calmly responds, far too calmly for this kind of thing in her eyes, and Leina is speechless for a few short seconds before, "<... Captain Ai- Lilith! Are you serious right now!? 'Manipulate'? She's 'manipulating' your girlfriend so you're shooting up a wedding in a top of the line mobile suit and trying to assassinate the bride!? What is wrong with you! Aren't you the least bit ashamed of yourself?! In what world would Alma want this!?>"
The Rez II rocks as Lilith tries to impale its shoulder component, and Leina yelps as she's shaken within her seat against the straps. The datastream is coming too fast with the Banshee, so she foregoes it to just tell Roux, "Try striking left!" As she can't help but glance towards the Unicorn to see how they're doing.
Shakily, she works the radio and a narrow beam transmission is sent over to the Banshee - and only the Banshee soon after if she can manage it, as she cries out to her over the radio, "<Have you never asked yourself why she hates us - for the love of God Lilith! ... She came from one of those labs! She's a Cyber Newtype herself!>"
The wrongness of the flickering dawnlight in the air grows, and the message over the radio finally causes the cold realization to hit her, as she murmurs, "Ennil? Here? Why-?" As she asides to Roux, "Don't let that Arm Slave get too close either! That light would be bad for us! It's like mind control rays from Jupiter!"
You can tell she's a bit frazzled as she's explaining it to her that way.
KTS: Leina Ashta targets Lilith Aiden with Shock! KTS: Leina Ashta has completed their actions for the round.
<Pose Tracker> Mineva Lao Zabi has posed.
Mineva yelps as the Banshee jolts the Unicorn, holding her armrest tight. She sends a sensation of encouragement and confidence to Leina.
"<Collateral?!>" yells Mineva, her disgust palpable. "<What about *everyone else* here, Captain? You're endangering innocent lives with this! Crushed under a collapsing building, incinerated by that goddamn beam magnum!>"
Disgust overlaps with disappointment. Betrayal.
She'd told herself Lilith couldn't have been responsible for the prisoner transfer she so narrowly missed. But now...
To Banagher, she murmurs, "I trusted her."
She takes a deep breath and nods to his warning, to his request. She nods to him, "I understand... I think I can handle it."
She has to handle it.
"No. I know I can. I have to." She gives him a second nod. "Do what you need to." She steels herself in anticipation.
KTS: Liu Mei Wang assesses Ujico Issa's prospects, increasing her SP! KTS: Lilith Aiden blocks Koji Kabuto's Burning Fire, taking 3220 damage! KTS: Lilith Aiden blocks Banagher Links's Unicorn Beam Sabers Combo, taking 6120 damage! KTS: Banagher Links has engaged Lilith Aiden! KTS: Leina Ashta shocks Lilith Aiden, reducing her Morale significantly.
<Pose Tracker> Ujico Issa has posed.
The Tiandong is destroyed. Yuliana-- she was nice to Ujico, she invited her to her wedding-- she's--
She's alive Somehow. She must have misunderstood somehow. She must have... but she and Elisa and Lilith are all spilling poison from their lips, ready to murder each other over and over and over. This is, to be fair, the first time Ujico has heard anything about Yuliana Dispersal wanting to kill anybody's kind.
"...So protect them. So stop her. Don't kill her at her wedding. Don't involve civilians." Ujico hasn't turned her own mic on, though if Liu Mei has left hers on it might pick up. She's not really talking to anybody, though. Humans don't listen to her, in her experience.
The beam claws rake through the black Unicorn's armor plate, shallower than needed, but everybody's piling on. Every little bit helps. That wave-motion-ish gun's going to be a problem though - it moves like a living thing, too fast for Ujico to parry it away with her claws. But it isn't enough to stop them.
They can do this. They can bring the black Unicorn down, and they can stop the older women from killing each other, and nobody has to die at a wedding. Her body twitches a little when the new feed comes up, both on the view screens and directly into her brain. "...Thanks," she says, chin dipping in a nod. "...Don't worry. Palisade is a good friend."
It will protect her, and she will protect Liu Mei, and Liu Mei will help them both.
The fins at the sides of Palisade's head flick forward as the machine comes to rest on its feet and hands, as Ujico decides that "We'll start by making it harder for her to see us."
KTS: Ujico Issa targets Lilith Aiden with Jam! KTS: Ujico Issa has completed their actions for the round.
<Pose Tracker> Julia Ampere has posed.
"Ah... So the picture becomes a bit clearer." Julia murmurs, as she hears Lilith speak. She's trying to protect someone - someone who's been manipulated... A normal person would accept this, and keep fighting because her vengeance puts others at risk. Julia keeps fighting because this sweetens the stakes, makes the fight that much more fascinating. Perhaps that's why she seems unbothered by Elisa's speech.
"Thank you - I'll adjust accordingly!" Julia replies gratefully as Milly updates her on the status of her machine. It is much easier when you have someone else to keep track of the vitals. That's something that could've gone unaccounted for
The beam magnum is gone, for the moment. Julia is a bit relieved, at that - even as sturdy as the Dynamo Queen is, she's not sure how many more of that it can take. Instead, the Banshee draws two new weapons a gun and a melee weapon of some kind. It's the latter that comes for the Dynamo Queen. It goes for its shoulder but Julia repositions the claw, letting it stab into it where there's much more armor to soak up the hit.
"Ah... you'd prefer to stay close? That I can oblige, though I hope you don't mind that I've brought some friends with me." Julia says, a grin crossing her face. Hatches on the Dynamo Queen's back open up, launching out several purple orbs toward the Banshee. They unfold midflight into her mechanical drones, Electrocrawlers - insect-like robots with flexible wires for attack and defense and a sharp proboscis. "Darlings, drain that Gundam dry!"
If the Electrocrawlers manage to latch on they'll stab it with their proboscises, attempting to drain the Banshee's energy.
She looks back at Milly then, as she speaks and - pauses for a moment. ...She looks distracted. Julia doesn't know what exactly is the cause of it, but it's a little difficult to keep up her usual facade in the face of it. When there's a worried face right there to stress the reality of the situation.
"Ah - yes... It's quite the conundrum, but... I suppose that is as good a reason as any to try and bring this to a close as quickly as possible." She pauses, hesitating for a moment as a little of her usual bravado leaks out. "Ah... I'm certain it will be alright."
...She's not exactly used to trying to reassure children. It's not exactly in her job description.
KTS: Julia Ampere has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: Julia Ampere has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Julia Ampere has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Julia Ampere targets Lilith Aiden with Electrocrawler Draining Grapple! KTS: Julia Ampere has completed their actions for the round.
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
"If it wasn't for the threat of death, it'd be kind of thrilling," Roux answers Leina, as much for her as for herself. She hears others come in. The words of Leina, who is trying to get in touch with her. Captain Aiden. Leina knows her. Roux breathes out.
More signals from Sayaka. "Got it," Roux answers her, pursing her lips. Consensus is building to NOT call the cops. Which is honestly usually a good call. But wouldn't they find out already? From Ring cameras or something? Roux asks Sayaka, "Can you spot any weak points? This seems to be a second version of the Unicorn or something... hopefully it's like an MP or something like that."
"Of course," Roux continues, "the GM had a lot of handling advantages over the RX-78, so just because it's - forget I said anything! Banagher's saying the Beam Magnum is the big threat, can you spot any weaknesses...?"
"I'm counting on you," Roux adds, frowning slightly as she slips the comm off. Why did I add that.
"Is my perfume thick in here? I get a little nose blind about it but I try to make sure it's just sort of in my hair, but now it's all bunched up so I don't know if it's bothering you," Roux says to Leina, which Leina can tell like crystal glass is her anxiety talking, because of the still-catching-up status of her thoughts from 'watching a creepy goth wedding she was kind of getting into' into 'pilot lady, heroine of the Second Zeon War'.
She leans forwards slightly as Lilith speaks. 'I gotta kill her NOW! It's the only way to protect her!'
Roux reaches back to draw out the Beam Saber but before she can swing it down SMASH -- the nail crashes into the personal-flare hiragana on the ReZ-II's shoulder, smashing into it and making the entire machine shake violently with an nngggh! Roux rolls her head back and swings the Beam Saber down - backhand grip -
"Are you kidding me!?" Roux says. (Except... Leina can tell she doesn't mean it.)
"Nnghh -- you're lying! You might not mean to be, but you're not thinking this through! This is a miserable excuse for an assassination, Captain! If someone put you up to this - just - stop attacking, we'll help you! We can get you - out of -"
And then she sweeps the failed-to-function Beam Saber downwards-- surprise! It works fine! The beam erupts to life, possibly after Lilith's attention is elsewhere -- Roux strives to limit its reach through the arm, the shoulder assembly, not the central mass...
"Leina, if this gets bad," Roux says, "I keep the survival kit in the rear pouch here. I think if I'm reading her right, she'd lose focus if we - get behind a ridge -"
"Is it that Triple Sec Zero thing?" Roux answers Leina at the commentary about Ennil. Her head turns for a moment. "Koji briefed me; I'll keep it off! If I can," Roux adds, to be honest about herself. Because she's kind of getting rocked.
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
"If it wasn't for the threat of death, it'd be kind of thrilling," Roux answers Leina, as much for her as for herself. She hears others come in. The words of Leina, who is trying to get in touch with her. Captain Aiden. Leina knows her. Roux breathes out.
More signals from Sayaka. "Got it," Roux answers her, pursing her lips. Consensus is building to NOT call the cops. Which is honestly usually a good call. But wouldn't they find out already? From Ring cameras or something? Roux asks Sayaka, "Can you spot any weak points? This seems to be a second version of the Unicorn or something... hopefully it's like an MP or something like that."
"Of course," Roux continues, "the GM had a lot of handling advantages over the RX-78, so just because it's - forget I said anything! Banagher's saying the Beam Magnum is the big threat, can you spot any weaknesses...?"
"I'm counting on you," Roux adds, frowning slightly as she slips the comm off. Why did I add that.
"Is my perfume thick in here? I get a little nose blind about it but I try to make sure it's just sort of in my hair, but now it's all bunched up so I don't know if it's bothering you," Roux says to Leina, which Leina can tell like crystal glass is her anxiety talking, because of the still-catching-up status of her thoughts from 'watching a creepy goth wedding she was kind of getting into' into 'pilot lady, heroine of the Second Zeon War'.
She leans forwards slightly as Lilith speaks. 'I gotta kill her NOW! It's the only way to protect her!'
Roux reaches back to draw out the Beam Saber but before she can swing it down SMASH -- the nail crashes into the personal-flare hiragana on the ReZ-II's shoulder, smashing into it and making the entire machine shake violently with an nngggh! Roux rolls her head back and swings the Beam Saber down - backhand grip -
It bonks slightly against the Banshee, accomplishing nothing. Dead emitter or something.
"Are you kidding me!?" Roux says. (Except... Leina can tell she doesn't mean it.)
"Nnghh -- you're lying! You might not mean to be, but you're not thinking this through! This is a miserable excuse for an assassination, Captain! If someone put you up to this - just - stop attacking, we'll help you! We can get you - out of -"
And then she sweeps the failed-to-function Beam Saber downwards-- surprise! It works fine! The beam erupts to life, possibly after Lilith's attention is elsewhere -- Roux strives to limit its reach through the arm, the shoulder assembly, not the central mass...
"Leina, if this gets bad," Roux says, "I keep the survival kit in the rear pouch here. I think if I'm reading her right, she'd lose focus if we - get behind a ridge -"
"Is it that Triple Sec Zero thing?" Roux answers Leina at the commentary about Ennil. Her head turns for a moment. "Koji briefed me; I'll keep it off! If I can," Roux adds, to be honest about herself. Because she's kind of getting rocked.
KTS: Roux Louka targets Lilith Aiden with Beam Saber - Feigned Failure! KTS: Roux Louka has completed their actions for the round.
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
The loud screeching of steel is overwhelming even for someone in the co-pilot's seat, but Sayaka remains unflinching, focused on the battle and the communications buzzing around the Ichinana. Koji says they may have to punch out soon. For the sake of the citizens embroiled in a dispute like this, Sayaka hopes it's not the case.
Roux responds to her communication, asking for any information on a weak point. "That's what we're working on. The Beam Magnum is extremely powerful, but Captain Aiden won't- perhaps isn't able to make use of its full power. The best we can do is take advantage of that, for now."
"...Yeah." Sayaka agrees at the comparison of Elisa's tone to that of Baron Ashura. "Captain Aiden mentioned something about 'hating their kind'. I get the feeling this is so much worse than we kn-"
A familiar warning ever since Koji and Sayaka began assisting 3G flashes on the screen. Z0-Similar readings ahead. "No!! Koji, Triple Zero readings nearby!" It's a lone unit from the looks of things- an Arm Slave, certainly not one of GGG's personnel, but nonetheless dangerous. But are they.. helping the newlyweds?
KTS: Sayaka Yumi targets Koji Kabuto, Roux Louka, and Banagher Links with Caution. KTS: Sayaka Yumi has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Ujico Issa jams Lilith Aiden's sensors, reducing her accuracy. KTS: Sayaka Yumi suggests caution, raising Banagher Links's Intuition! KTS: Sayaka Yumi has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Koji Kabuto KTS: Sayaka Yumi suggests caution, raising Koji Kabuto's Intuition! KTS: Julia Ampere rattles Lilith Aiden, making her next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Lilith Aiden fails to react to Julia Ampere's Electrocrawler Draining Grapple, taking 4092 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Julia Ampere's Immaculate Scheme activates, causing Designate L1! KTS: Julia Ampere has engaged Lilith Aiden! KTS: Julia Ampere begins a Formation attack! KTS: Lilith Aiden blocks Roux Louka's Beam Saber - Feigned Failure, taking 6480 damage! KTS: Roux Louka has engaged Lilith Aiden! KTS: Roux Louka completes the Formation attack! KTS: Sayaka Yumi has activated the Attune Spirit Command targeting Koji Kabuto KTS: Sayaka Yumi has activated the Attune Spirit Command targeting Roux Louka KTS: Sayaka Yumi suggests caution, raising Roux Louka's Intuition! <Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
"You protect no one," Yuliana issues, cold to shaking, in response to Lilith's declaration. "You doom all you know. You endanger my guests. And you will not speak of my Elisa with such DISRESPECT!" She isn't controlling the Spinatia's radio, but thanks to Elisa's consideration, her words reach the congregation anyway.
She looks to Elisa with adoration, and then her gaze snaps to the world, as it rips apart. Her breath catches in her throat as she looks through existence,
in all its inhuman rage and desire,
and all her mind is MINE, for a shuddering moment, before the world reasserts itself against her. The rift in reality lasted a moment; what she shares is so much longer.
That she does not dwell on the Light of Dawn is, perhaps, only because she is busy seeing something else.
She takes a breath to orient herself, and responds to Liu Mei, calmer: "I'm so happy you appreciate us. It's deeply unfortunate that our hospitality has been made a mockery by this bloodshed... I intended the ritual to be sacrosanct."
That she doesn't hear Leina's explanation is, perhaps, a kindness.
OST: Yuki Kajiura - Nowhere https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og4i5Dp5e7Q
Yuliana gentles, when her jealous green gaze meets Elisa's, again. "Elya," she sighs, smiling to her, "my love... of course, she could never hope to stop our union."
Her gaze slides, sidelong, to the cameras, before she returns all her attention to Elisa. "But let them see," she insists, though they don't matter. "All these gathered... let them witness the advent. They will know."
A heartbeat,
"There is nothing they can do."
She reaches out, with her right hand, all wrapped in green bindings, to lay her fingers on Elisa's arm. "I, Yuliana Dispersal, offer you myself in marriage, under Her gaze." She does not swear to God; she invokes something deeper to her, instead. Her tone now is gentled and tame, and her caring is entirely genuine. "I promise you love, honor and respect, to be faithful to you, and not to forsake you in this existence and the next." This much is not so strange, for a Byzantine wedding; it's expected that death doesn't release one from one's vows, in this corner of the world. "I pledge, in honesty and with sincerity, to be for you an obedient and insightful wife," she finishes her sacred vow, and the judgement of anyone present for her traditional delivery is the farthest thing from her mind.
And from her eyes, green on jealous green, as they gaze up to Elisa, with no time nor thought for that world outside.
KTS: Yuliana Dispersal targets Lilith Aiden with Goad! KTS: Yuliana Dispersal has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Yuliana Dispersal goads Lilith Aiden, reducing her Intuition drastically. KTS: Lilith Aiden has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: Lilith Aiden has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: Lilith Aiden has activated the Trick Spirit Command.
<Pose Tracker> Lilith Aiden has posed.
"Scratch that, then." Lilith says with unhinged politenness. "You're target two. Welcome to the club, Elisa Kafim."
As the scythe comes down, the VibroNail goes up, and parries it away, allowing it to gouge through the side lightly.
Leina gets a quick response. "Do you think I'd not take the alternative if I had one? She's got my number, no matter what she is. I should have killed her back during the Mycenae War."
"This is the second best chance. She's in Alma's head - and I don't mean metaphorically." That static she felt...she blames it on Yuliana, not Elisa.
Mineva, meanwhile, gets a sad laugh. "Is there even such a thing as innocence anymore?"
The Armed Armor is brought back up for Koji's shot, deflecting it even as it burns a hole to expose under-armor. Slashes and shots are blocked, though the electrowires go straight through the shield.
"I'm certainly not. No, I never was."
As Banagher's beam sabers come riding in, Lilith's Banshee is raked over the coals. "GET OUT OF HERE! I don't want to *hurt you*!"
And yet, she will.
The massive VibroNail is pulled back, and then rammed straight into the Unicorn Gundam's cockpit - explicitly trying not to kill him, but to disable the machine in one fierce blow.
"If you truly care, you'll protect Alma too!"
The Beam Smartgun is readied. And then-
The undulating beams are fired, moving to massacre the machines of everyone else. Killing them isn't the goal here. Just disabling their machines.
Except for the Spinatia - it must be exerminated. "Shut UP, Dispersal!"
KTS: Lilith Aiden targets Banagher Links with Armed Armor VN Death Rattle! KTS: Lilith Aiden rattles Banagher Links, making his next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Banagher Links blocks Lilith Aiden's Armed Armor VN Death Rattle, taking 6930 damage! KTS: Lilith Aiden has engaged Banagher Links! KTS: Lilith Aiden roots her unit, coming to a standstill and leaving her vulnerable. KTS: Leina Ashta has activated the Attune Spirit Command targeting Banagher Links KTS: Leina Ashta has activated the Foresee Spirit Command targeting Roux Louka KTS: Lilith Aiden targets Elisa Kafim, Julia Ampere, Roux Louka, Koji Kabuto, Ujico Issa, and Ennil El with Armed Armor BS Massacre. KTS: Lilith Aiden has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Ujico Issa has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Ujico Issa has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Koji Kabuto fails to rush. KTS: Koji Kabuto partially guards Lilith Aiden's Armed Armor BS Massacre, taking 4243 damage! KTS: Elisa Kafim has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Ennil El has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Julia Ampere has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Elisa Kafim fails to evade Lilith Aiden's Armed Armor BS Massacre, taking 7100 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 5130 KTS: Julia Ampere has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Ennil El fails to rush. KTS: Ennil El partially guards Lilith Aiden's Armed Armor BS Massacre, taking 8460 damage! KTS: Ennil El has been defeated! KTS: Ujico Issa has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: Roux Louka retreats from the attack! KTS: Roux Louka successfully evades Lilith Aiden's Armed Armor BS Massacre KTS: Julia Ampere partially guards Lilith Aiden's Armed Armor BS Massacre, taking 4243 damage! KTS: Ujico Issa fails to evade Lilith Aiden's Armed Armor BS Massacre, taking 8460 damage! KTS: Koji Kabuto has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: Koji Kabuto has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: Koji Kabuto targets Lilith Aiden with Ichinana Breast Fire! KTS: Koji Kabuto has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Ennil El has posed.
The Arm Slave clutches its knife. Hungry Dawn encircles the Banshee, Ennil anticipating its violence the way she always has. Waiting for the glint of psycoframe, the promise of Miracles...
And then the Banshee lunges. A blade thrust at the heart -- a perfect opportunity to sink her fangs into the arm and deposit her venom, dooming this woman to her fate --
The blade presses against the shield, shifting it only the barest inch as it tears into the Unicorn and exposes red. Rather than putting an end to miracles, Ennil has chosen to perform one.
The universe rewards her with a storm. Beams rip through the Arm Slave, separating the arm, ending its violence. The tearing of the machine sends more Triple Zero spilling into the air, a deep and bloody orange. The cockpit begins to buckle apart, pieces of the machine spilling through the rent steel --
Ennil El clutches at a twisting gold pendant, hanging in the air. She feels it bite into her fingers. There's a blast that devours the air around her as the Mistral vanishes into the treeline.
Everything goes black.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"Yes," Elisa answers Liu Mei. "Regard us! See what is to come!" She is probably aware of who Liu Mei is aside from 'that nice lady who likes me now.' Probably. But what she does recognize... the Orange of that machine, the light of Dawn.
Elisa hears its broadcast, though it does not touch her heart... this time. She simply smiles from within the Spinatia. "Yes," she says, over the wide band, "I believe I shall."
It doesn't seem to alarm her too much.
She will have to send Julia a fruit basket later, too. 'She could never hope to stop our union', Yuliana says, and Elisa too glances to the cameras. Then, she considers. Let them see...
The Beam Smartgun's terrible beam crashes into the Spinatia once again. Once again, the beam shifts, wending its way away from the cockpit as it fires, though it does catastrophic damage to the Spinatia all the same. Its legs burn, and it should not stand. Its armor scorches, and it should not hold. Darkness radiates from it all the same.
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZfAn1BXcF8 - Magia
And suddenly, an image is projected from the cockpit down to where the altar was, an image of Elisa and Yuliana, together. It shimmers, in green, and then is visible. The words Yuliana speaks to Elisa are audible to all. And the words Elisa speaks to Yuliana...
Elisa reaches out with her right hand, likewise wrapped in green, her chest still bloody, Yuliana's lip still bloody. But her gaze is intent. She is adoring. She does not care for the damage to her unit.
"I, Elisa Kafim, take you, Yuliana Dispersal, as my wedded wife, in accordance with Her vision. I promise you love, honor, and respect, to be faithful to you, and not to forsake you in this existence and the next. I pledge, in honesty and with sincerity, to be for you a protector and helpful wife."
The Spinatia, meanwhile, lifts its shield, and at the climax of the vows, at the next moment, it opens. The shield becomes a portal into a dimension beyond imagining--a portal aimed directly at Lilith's Banshee. Extradiemsnional energy crackles forth, shoving the gate to the Void open for a barest instant.
Every candle within a mile's radius winks out. The vision disappears. The Triple Zero that was present disappears, too. But that could be a coincidence.
Regardless, the church's altar, too, is cracked.
KTS: Elisa Kafim has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Elisa Kafim has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Elisa Kafim targets Lilith Aiden with Hyperdimensional Shield - Dimensional Gate! KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 66. KTS: Elisa Kafim has completed their actions for the round. <Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
As the Unicorn comes in, Banagher crying out, Koji flicks over his commline. "Banagher! Don't let the panic overwhelm you. Take a deep breath and focus up, I've got your back!"
Koji Kabuto says, "Come on," he murmurs. "Don't fail me now, Ichinana. Give me everything you've got.""
Koji Kabuto says, "BREAST... FIIIIIIIIIIIRE!""
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Leina actually laughs nervously as Roux says it'd be kind of thrilling if not for the threat of death. "I know right?" As she remembers the first time she climbed into a fighter with Roux in that Shoal Zone to pursue her brother, but she doesn't actually invoke that aloud. "The threat of death actually feels a little nostalgic."
Roux asks Sayaka for weak points on the Beam Magnum and she responds with her own experiences from the Unicorn, "She doesn't have many shots left before she loses charge. That thing eats power." As Roux talks about her perfume, the anxiety is talking, and she knows it so, "Hey, Roux." She says to try and interrupt her babbling before she tells her quietly, "... I like your perfume." She knows sometimes just telling someone to relax, or calm down doesn't work, so she just tries to focus her in on the idea that her perfume is fine. "Share your brand with me later?"
Lilith calls out that if she had an alternative, she would use it, that she's in her head. And for a while she's stunned, trying to think of Alma being mind controlled during their last meeting over sweets, "<If you're serious about that. Then - contact me later. Don't you think I'd want to help Alma too? That we all would?>"
A Newtype flash bolts across her senses as she cries, "Watch ou-!" And Roux's hasty retreat snaps her backwards in the G-Forces. A little dazed, she reaches for the kit and the pouch, "Yeah. Triple Zero. Ennil is..." Pause, "... someone I knew from Axis." Then quieter, "The dummy made the worst kind of call." Part of her almost cries out as she sees the Arm Slave is destroyed, but distantly she remembers...
... that can't finish her.
Her liberal use of dummy is perhaps not the biggest point in favor of cursing being okay.
However, the hasty retreat allows her to see the terrible blow the Unicorn took and- Leina looks at the instruments and works with the data stream as best as she can, trying to remember the locations of every REA flight lane and base nearby that could potentially intercept them and sends it to them, "<Banagher - Audrey - I'm charting you a route out of here. Don't worry about us! Go!>"
The moment she says that though, the vision happens, a projected image, and their vows occur in the midst of a bloody assassination attempt. Leina is stunned, as she watches the pair complete their union. Just as that sickening void feeling is projected from the cockpit. Despite not being targetted by it directly, she cries out from the sickening feeling psychically from that split second of awful wrongness that spreads out for a mile.
In the aftermath, Roux might notice she's hyperventilating, and clinching Roux's seat, white knuckled as she presses her forehead against it, "... You-you mentioned a ridge?" Before she'd seemed rather composed, but now she seems... scared, and more than just her composure slipping, something in that energy, that vision - it terrified her. "Can we- can we get out of here? Please. I think... I think I'd like to get out of here too."
KTS: Leina Ashta targets Roux Louka with Prospect! KTS: Leina Ashta has completed their actions for the round.
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
As the Unicorn comes in, Banagher crying out, Koji flicks over his commline. "Banagher! Don't let the panic overwhelm you. Take a deep breath and focus up, I've got your back!" Shouldn't he be worrying about himself? The Beam Smartgun fire dances around them all, forming a mesh of Minovsky particles that is impossible to evade.
So Koji doesn't bother trying. Sayaka's faith in him keeping him focused, he flies the Ichinana straight through the mentally-directed crossfire, its armour plates blasted and burned away - but it's still functional enough as it closes in.
And then - the machine the bride summoned opens up a terrible void at the Banshee ("what the fuck", mouths Koji), and something impossible happens.
For a single moment, the Japanium core burning at the heart of the Ichinana flickers. Infinite light, smothered for the barest instant.
The jolt of the power disruption makes Koji start. "What the fuck?" he repeats, glancing at the Ichinana's power readout. "That shouldn't be - "
A lot of impossible things have happened today, he interrupts himself. What's one more?
"Come on," he murmurs. "Don't fail me now, Ichinana. Give me everything you've got." The reactor seems, however, to have gotten over its stutter, surging to life and spilling light forth into the Ichinana's chest array. As he said to Banagher, Koji draws in a breath, refocusing on the fight.
"BREAST... FIIIIIIIIIIIRE!" Incandescent flame cascades from the Ichinana's chest into the Banshee to drive it away.
KTS: Elisa Kafim enervates Lilith Aiden, reducing her Morale significantly. KTS: Lilith Aiden blocks Elisa Kafim's Hyperdimensional Shield - Dimensional Gate, taking 7500 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Elisa Kafim's Beyond the Void activates, causing Deject! KTS: Elisa Kafim has engaged Lilith Aiden! KTS: Lilith Aiden blocks Koji Kabuto's Ichinana Breast Fire, taking 6480 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Liu Mei Wang has posed.
Briefly, Liu Mei flashes a short text message onto Ujico's display. She's obviously a little bit frazzled and disoriented and keeping her eye on like five different prizes right now: but she's thoroughly entrusted her life into the hands of someone she's probably invested in a little bit.
>Hm, it's almost a little troublesome how pure-hearted you are.
>Don't lose that. It's what makes you belong where we are.
The Unicorn's sheer fervor in combat - the rabid rage of Lilith's that desires naught but destruction of her foes, is as amazing as it is terrifying. Liu Mei has to know more about these things - when they aren't about to get her damn -killed-. A shockingly undignified "kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!" emits when the Palisade is nearly eviscerated by this impact, Liu Mei clutching the seat for dear life, her heart nearly leaping out of her chest. "This...this MIGHT have been a bad idea. Damn it, damn it, now I have to think about how to avoid getting killed out here, I halfway wish I'd happened to jump into something with a little more dodginess! Do I need to make it R&D priority to install additional seats in all of our suits? Khh."
>...Give that Gundam your best shot. Now, if possible.
>Then don't hesitate to get out of dodge!
>Elisa and Yuliana are pretty important, but so are we!
...And then the gate opens, and that horrible, unspeakable light reflects in Liu Mei's eyes. It's terrible. It's incredible. It's the display of the century, sure to fill hearts with love. It's an unspeakable parting of that which must not be parted.
It turns Liu Mei's stomach. But she wishes she could observe it with her own eyes, rather than filtered through this panorama.
<"...Hong Long! My provisions were auspicious indeed! You're in our transport, right? FIRE IT!">
-Several kilometers away...-
A man who was not, at all, prepared for any of this is having less than a great day. Hong Long Wang is in his position exactly because he did not have that worthiness. He cannot look upon this gate to the unknown with his own eyes. Destiny did not favor him - he did not favor destiny. All he can do is strain his limits in service of the dragon who did inherit it.
What can be said for her younger sister's ingenuity besides how she'd prepared this?
His fist slams down on a massive red button...
And the rear of the Wangs' transport unfurls...hurling an absolutely massive bouquet of gladiolus flowers tinged a deep, ghastly purple, shedding petals along its trajectory. It's aimed the best it can towards Yuliana and Elisa, and bursts in a skyward small explosion, raining these midnight purple blossoms in a shower above them which swiftly spread in a swirling spiral.
<"...It's more perfect than I could've imagined~">
KTS: Liu Mei Wang targets Ujico Issa with Prospect! KTS: Liu Mei Wang has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Liu Mei Wang has activated the Prospect Spirit Command targeting Ujico Issa KTS: Leina Ashta has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Roux Louka
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
Alarms start going off basically everywhere -- Milly can remain level, especially because Julia is level, but she's starting to feel scared in spite of being somewhere relatively safe. ... after all, even if Lilith is trying to keep the damage to a minimum, she's still actively fighting.
She can remain level, though. The simple truth of it is that their best chance of getting out of this alive and safe is if Milly continues to do the thing she said she would do.
"Virtually everything but power draw and drone control is throwing something, but the claws are getting the worst of it -- you might not get away with blocking with it like you've been doing anymore," Milly helpfully volunteers.
Milly doesn't need much to feel reassured; her energy is and always has been the most stable, at Ashford. This is so far beyond her that she has to kick everything but survival down the road right now.
... in the long term, though... "This seems like more than just a little friction between blocs. This could be bad for the whole Federation, depending on how she chooses to play it," Milly murmurs. Taking a breath, she tells Julia:
"I'll trust your judgment to get us out of this one, but this isn't looking great right now."
KTS: Milly Ashford has activated the Attune Spirit Command targeting Julia Ampere KTS: Milly Ashford has activated the Attune Spirit Command targeting Julia Ampere KTS: Milly Ashford has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Julia Ampere <Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.
"Koji." Banagher latches onto the older man's voice. He takes a breath, in the moments between the Unicorn attacking the Banshee and the Banshee's response. "Thank you."
Lilith screams at him, and Banagher holds his ground, readying the beam sabers again -- but the Banshee moves faster. The Banshee isn't a perfect twin of her sister, it seems. That VibroNail is like nothing the young man has ever seen before.
Something resonates between the two sister Gundams in the moments between the Banshee's attack. Banagher's eyes open wide, feeling the connection. It's not quite the radiant, peaceful place Banagher and Leina connected in. There's no color or light -- there's only fear, and depthless anger. Where the Unicorn, even at her worst, feels as though she wants to protect Banager... This Banshee only echoes rage.
"What is this -- Captain Aiden's feelings..?" Banagher wonders, in the micro-seconds between his heartbeats. "This desperate hopelessness, this hatred..?"
The resonance snaps. Banagher is torn away from the dreamlike state, eyes widening. The VibroNail -- it'll tear them apart! Lilith is aiming for the cockpit. Lilith is going to kill them.
With a desperate cry, Banagher swings the Unicorn's arm in, catching the VibroNail on a shield. For a moment, it looks as though things are going to be alright, but the nail doesn't stop. White armor cracks. Breaks. Falls to pieces. Bits of red psychoframe rain down as the Unicorn's shield is driven through and Lilith strikes the cockpit.
Banagher goes quiet, freezing in place, squeezing his eyes closed. All he can do is squeeze Audrey's hand.
...
They're alive. The VibroNail stops just short of completely breaking into the cockpit. The Unicorn is falling to pieces around him, sunlight creeping in through gaps in her armor, but they're alive. Banagher feels lightheaded. Tears sting his eyes.
"...to be for you a protector and helpful wife."
Is the wedding still happening? Half the Unicorn's cameras are no longer working, but just enough are left to reveal that horrible gate opening. Sweat beads on the young man's neck. Horrible. Empty. Cold -- no, no --
In that moment, Leina's voice breaks through his panic. A route appears before him, and Banagher moves automatically. The Unicorn leaps away from the Banshee -- and that gate -- trailing more broken armor behind her. Leina guides them away from the battle, toward the forest, and the Unicorn lurches its way there.
Banagher leans forward when they arrive, running his free hand in his hair. "Audrey -- are you okay? Are -- we okay, are we -- what was that? I..."
He's stammering more than talking. Banagher can't shake the fear -- of the gate. Of the Banshee. Golden eyes close, then open, and he manages to straighten up. The battle isn't over yet. He has to keep watching.
KTS: Milly Ashford has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Julia Ampere KTS: Banagher Links targets Lilith Aiden with Pass! KTS: Banagher Links has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Milly Ashford targets Julia Ampere with Prospect! KTS: Milly Ashford has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Milly Ashford assesses Julia Ampere's prospects, increasing her SP! KTS: Lilith Aiden fails to react to Banagher Links's Pass, taking 0 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Ujico Issa has posed.
Even though Liu Mei is helping, Ujico is still not comfortable with another person in the cockpit. But this is fine. She was the one who suggested it, after all.
"You could have killed civilians," Ujico tries to explain, flicking on the external audio-only comms. "Do you think that... attacking a wedding is okay?"
The undulating energy beams come down again and Ujico misjudges, juking right into one - it melts a gash right through one of the arms, leaving the left hand unresponsive. Ujico lets out a frustrated, wordless sound, a hand reaching out to pet the top edge of a targeting monitor as if she were soothing a hurt, or encouraging the injured.
"...Liumy," she tries, after a moment's hesitation. After all, Liu Mei had used a nickname for her. She should reciprocate, right? "...Understood." Her stomach feels funny.
She's not really paying a lot of attention to the vows, although they register in a corner of her vision. It must be romantic, to have a partner, to feel so passionately about another person that you would complete your vows in the middle of a battle, where someone is trying to murder you.
A little thread of apprehension curls somewhere behind her heart. Dangerous.
And then the air rends itself open, and Ujico stumbles back as [nothing] pours out--
All of her senses are open. She can smell the makeup melting down Liu Mei's cheek, finest mica and added fragrance. The light of creation. The darkness. Inside is hollowhollowhollowhollowhollowhollow
Ujico grits her teeth. "We're going!" Even crippled, Palisade stumbles into a gallop, compensating for its damaged forelimb. It moves like a living thing, a four-beat gallop... right for the Spinatia.
No, just past it--! And as they pass, Ujico lifts her good arm; all five beam claws flare bright and strong, along with the beam saber hidden in the palm. She gives a rough, poorly-aimed palm thrust for the Spinatia's hip joint and keeps going.
"Um, only if you want to ride along more."
KTS: Ujico Issa targets Lilith Aiden with Tunnel Through! KTS: Ujico Issa has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Lilith Aiden fails to Parry Ujico Issa's Tunnel Through, taking 7200 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Ujico Issa's Defiance activates, causing Sparkle! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Ujico Issa's Disruptor activates, causing Jam L1! KTS: Ujico Issa has engaged Lilith Aiden! KTS: Liu Mei Wang assesses Ujico Issa's prospects, increasing her SP!
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
Hating their kind, Roux thinks. Who are our kind? Newtypes? Spacenoids? Humans? What? There's like twelve different overlapping kinds in play. The world seems to be slowing down, even looking faintly luminous; Roux assumes she is hyperventilating even as the ReZ-II pulls backwards and Sayaka's voice ripple through the cockpit.
And whatever evil there is at foot here - whatever darkness lurks in the hearts of Yuliana and her potentially un-dead dracula bride - they are proceeding with a solemn promise. For a moment Roux is heartened --
-- and then -- Elisa does something -- a great blank NOTHING appears -- some sort of --
Roux's expression is one of disgust, although only Leina would have the opportunity to see it. Roux is developing a strong negative opinion of most of Earth outside of a few square hectacres in Spain and maybe around Mt. Fuji.
And yet, and yet. Averted love; frustration; treachery and reversals. Where love and passion might sing to one soul, or the burning determination that makes three hearts beat as one, does not this agile welter of confusion speak to the soul of Roux Louka? There is that shining moment, that advance warning, and Roux reaches down to pull the throttle in the *wrong direction* -- Reversing suddenly, suddenly, just as that wave of hyperfocused particles gouges a ditch into the soil not far behind where she was standing.
Somehow, Roux laughs a little.
And her voice has iron in it when she answers Leina: "We're leaving --"
The Mega Beam Rifle is docked upright, but: Roux pulls off something else... the Clay Bazooka. As she dumps out one shell and slots in another, Roux continues, "-- but I'm not running. I don't trust this idiot to not kill Koji or Banagher because she can't kill the people she wants to kill."
"Don't wrap others up in your vendetta, Aiden!" Roux shouts as she lines up the reticules and selects some options for a smart weapon. "Stay on THAT side of the planet if you know what's good for you! CLAY BAZOOKA!" why did I do that, Roux thinks as she pulls the trigger and -
KTHOOM! Rocket assisted 300mm submunition flies out-
THAM it separates into four smaller clusters
BLAM! They in turn separate into tumbling penetrators, a metallized high-velocity rain aimed at the side of the Banshee!
"Banagher! Can you move? North by northwest! It dips twenty meters, we'll be out of visual from this site!"
"And thank you," Roux says as she ejects the shell casing, "about the perfume, I forget which one I grabbed. I have two I use usually--"
KTS: Roux Louka targets Lilith Aiden with Clay Bazooka - Pellet Round! KTS: Roux Louka has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Lilith Aiden fails to Intercept Roux Louka's Clay Bazooka - Pellet Round, taking 5940 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
For a split second, the Ichinana's brilliant light is snuffed out - Sayaka looks to Koji in utter confusion as she clicks through the system's interface, trying to troubleshoot the problem that should by all means by an impossibility.
"It has to be that... black hole," she suggests, obvious as that may be. The black hole that appeared for the same split-second is the unknown in this situation; as far as her advanced understanding of the energy source goes, photon power shouldn't do this on its own.
Regardless of that issue, the Ichinana returns to its normal functionality as the Breast Fire's flames rend upon the Banshee!
<Pose Tracker> Julia Ampere has posed.
The Beam Smartgun is readied. It'll probably cut right through her armor, too... A frown crosses Julia's face and then, after a quick thinking, she considers her current location. There are no civilians in her current vicinity, so she has some room to act. Instead of coming up to block the beams, the Dynamo Queen's claws dig down, jamming into the earth before heaving it upward - a large slab of land brought up to act as a wall. The undulating beams scream outward to annihilate the opposing machines. The slab of earth gives them some protection - but it isn't long before its eaten away, beams biting into the Dynamo Queen's armor.
"...How are we doing? Are you alright back there, dear?" Julia asks. The response is... well, the situation isn't the best, but... "Ah. I can work with those."
But before she can act... Something is projected onto the church's altar, drawing her attention. Julia is distracted, for a brief moment, and cracks a smile.
"...Ah. As far as wedding processions go, I suppose little speaks more than swearing your vows right in the midst of an assassination attempt." Julia remarks, before turning on the speakers again. "Congratulations, dears! May you have a positively lovely honeymoon!"
Should she be concerned by the shield of the Spinatia, briefly opening a portal into a realm in which all light dies?
Probably. But it's not her problem right now, so it's fine.
But Milly's concerns... those are her problem right now, as she's here with her now in her machine. Julia frowns, turning off the speakers again.
"...Yes. I wonder how this will be spun. Will she be disowned, I wonder...? Or will this spark something...?" Julia considers with a frown. ...The part she doesn't say is that, admittedly, friction within the Federation is good for her line of work. Trouble means more opportunity to crime. But... "Don't worry, dear. While you're under my protection, I won't allow a single hair on your head to be harmed. ...But yes, this could be quite troublesome..."
Once more, the Dynamo Queen's back hatches open, unleashing more Electrocrawlers. These, however, don't fly out to the Banshee. They unfurl and latch onto the onto the machine, proboscises aiming at the Banshee. In this way, they've turned themselves into turrets of a sort. The Dynamo Queen's claws, too, point outward, opening wide. Electricity begins to build, in Julia's drones as well as in the claws, before unleashing a combined barrage of electric blast after electric blast toward the Banshee.
KTS: Julia Ampere has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Julia Ampere has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Julia Ampere targets Lilith Aiden with Electrocrawler Focused Attack! KTS: Julia Ampere has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Lilith Aiden fails to Parry Julia Ampere's Electrocrawler Focused Attack, taking 8280 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Julia Ampere's Immaculate Scheme activates, causing Designate L1! KTS: Lilith Aiden has been defeated! KTS: Julia Ampere has engaged Lilith Aiden!
<Pose Tracker> Mineva Lao Zabi has posed.
Mineva fears for her life as the vibro-nail stabs in toward them, shielding her face as it shatters the Unicorn's shield. She can't be the rock Banagher needs her to be right now, barely holding herself together.
There must be something she can say, some way to get through to Lilith-
She's submerged into a void.
For a moment, she's alone. Even Banagher feels like he's a million miles away. She's unmoored, twisting in the wind--
The portal closes, and Mineva feels like she can breathe again. She doesn't really pull herself back to awareness until the Unicorn is underway.
"I... I don't know..." she whispers, hand held pensively over her heart.
"... all she's going to do is hurt people."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Yuliana feels Elisa's fingers, over hers, and she is doe-eyed, all wrapped up in the witch's gaze. Tears of joy spring to her envy-green eyes, face flush with affection, lips parting to make room for how much smile lands across her cheeks. It's a beautiful expression, for all her face is frightening, scarred down one side and lip bloodied on the other.
And it is something everyone can see.
This, and the way her gaze grows glassy and distant and so, SO green, as the Void encroaches on reality -- eyes widening, expression blanking with a long intake of breath, rapt in the embrace of something wyrd and wending. It is a familiar expression, perhaps, to anyone who has seen things their eyes can't see.
No one would believe her visions. They are so unlike what the seers see. Aren't they?
"Ah," she gasps, all her volume escaping her, as she slumps forward in her harness, towards Elisa, fingers tightening about the Meltrandi's arm.
"... she is... pleased." What lies beyond is an incomprensible thing, and yet Yuliana's sigh has all the certainty of long exposure.
She knows the void; she understands the void.
It is terrible.
And so, Yuliana, so affected by her dark connection, sags too much to look to the place where Ennil was --
But the Savage II monitoring the outskirts can see what happened perfectly well, and Wen Yuan frowns, fingers curling in her Arm Slave's controls. (Not overmuch. She has excellent trigger discipline.) "Ennil," she murmurs, frown creasing her face. "You were such a kind woman... what have you really gotten involved in...?" It's something she tells her own cockpit; her radio isn't hot.
Dazed and ungrounded (a play on words Julia would surely appreciate), Yuliana is quiet, reflective, for long moments. But when that bouquet of massive flowers flies towards the Spinatia, Yuliana spies it, on the cameras, from the corner of her eye -- and she lifts her head to look at those purple blossoms, and laughs, in returning delight.
Finally, finally, she thinks back to Lilith's last snappish remark, the way she told her to shut up. She looks out, to the Banshee, through the Spinatia's cameras. "'Dispersal'?" Yuliana echoes, at length, with unveiled contempt. "You abject, unwitting simpleton, ignorant to the truth of your eyes."
Her lip curls, as she insists, to all the world: "It's 'Yuliana Kafim', now!" It is a sharp, vicious thing, all the violence of her union poured outward to this wretched world.
Within the armored transport, Major Pham -- who's given up on getting a message out in an atmosphere this thick with Minovsky particles, and has instead devoted himself to taking readings and recordings of the battle -- sighs, burying his head in a hand.
He was made aware of what her designation meant when he took on this assignment -- the way they named her 'Dispersal' when she became their weapon.
That she has abandoned such a pivotal part of the identity they designed for her...
He'll have to handle this later.
<Pose Tracker> Lilith Aiden has posed.
Everything goes dark, as the vows continue. Lilith's readying her followup on the Spinatia, when-
The void consumes all for but a moment, and focuses on her. Her eyes widen in the cockpit, as she sees Something, and immediately turns to hard evade, even as bits of armor are sheared off.
"Is that-"
"That is-"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Lilith screams, as she sees Something. Whatever it is can't be placed by the human mind.
"Goddamnit...no..." Lilith says to herself, as she decides she Needs to book a retreat, to survive...for Alma's sake, she tells herself. Vist will take care of it.
Ichinana Beams, clay bazooka shots, tunnelling palms and electrical drones damage sensors and armor as she makes this choice, making the fight a loss.
Despite all of this, and the frayed armor of the Banshee - it's just the armor. The machine can't fight reliably anymore, but even so, it retreats smoothtly, keeping the Beam Smartgun out to dissuade pursuit.
Everybody here may have lost, in one way or another, even if love triumphed.
devil wins, as Lilith makes it to the hidden rendezvous point, and the Banshee is taken away.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
There are many reactions to Elisa and Yuliana's love, and to what they bring. The only ne that matters is Yuliana's doe-eyed gaze, those tears of joy, that glassy distance as she Sees. Ah, yes...
Elisa smiles. "Good," she says, as 'she is pleased'. And then she catches Yuliana.
She hears, distantly, Lilith's scream. She smiles for that, too. But Yuliana rises, and that last snappish comment--
Elisa is delighted by this, visibly in the cockpit, showing a semblence of true emotion as she does. The introduction--
"My wife, everyone," Elisa says, and it is audible regardles of radio. She looks up to the flowers Liu Mei has brought them...
"...Ah..."
She looks down at Yuliana, in the cockpit of her damaged Spinatia.
She does not bother looking at the ruined church, the hiding congregants, anything of that nature, though a man who looks much like her stares into the devastation.
"What a beautiful day," says Elisa Kafim, and places her hand on Yuliana's cheek.
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
Milly remains silent for now. She wants to be happy for Yuliana, who -- despite how sketchy she is, despite the subtle ways in which she hasn't quite passed scrutiny -- seems, at least, happy to be married.
There's too much that doesn't add up, though. Nothing about this situation feels right -- and she feels like she's seen the cracks in an edifice that she assumed was steel-hard.
(Not just because of Lilith's seeming instance of Federation-on-Federation violence, either.)
Lilith retreats and winks off of sensors; Milly looks at the instrument panels, incredulous. "... What was that all for...?" she asks, as she slumps backward. She finally answers Julia's question, though:
"I'm okay, and that's mostly on you. ... Thank you."
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
The Banshee retreats, and Koji exhales, checking over the reactor again. "We'll have to take this one apart and go over the readings with a fine-tooth comb," he opines to Sayaka.
Roux and Banagher pull their Mobile Suits out. "Joining you at the rendezvous," Koji comms to them, taking one last look at the Spinatia before he turns his Ichinana away.
Politeness, if nothing else, accords him to respond with a "Congratulations, Mrs. and Mrs. Kafim," before the thrusters burn and the Mass-Produced Mazin takes off to regroup with the group that huddled near he and Sayaka for protection.
KTS: Lilith Aiden's RX-0 Unicorn Gundam 02 Banshee <Unicorn Mode> has left Lilith Aiden goes home. <Pose Tracker> Julia Ampere has posed.
The Banshee retreats. Julia doesn't take her attention off the space it left quite yet, just in case it comes back for another attempt... But, eventually, she relaxes. She hears a comment that doesn't quite seem to come through the radio. For now, though, she looks back toward Milly.
...She's quiet. Julia supposes this must have been a lot for her - it's more common than it should be, but live-fire combat is not exactly a common experience for a teenager. To say nothing of the sheer tension and complexity of the situation. She doesn't have an answer for Milly's question - the only ones who know the truth aren't talking. So instead, she offers her a smile.
"You're welcome, dear. Now then - did you come here with someone? Shall we get you back to them, then?" Julia asks.
Leito Igaguri teleports in.
<Pose Tracker> Liu Mei Wang has posed.
The devil screams in terror and flees.
...After the exhilirating high of putting forth a splendid little touch to a perfectly imperfect wedding, Liu Mei...understands that.
The adrenaline fades. The willpower has served its purpose. That gut-emptying flash of fear lingers. The sheer exhaustion of clinging for dear life in a mobile weapon cockpit kicks in.
And worst yet.
...Liu Mei looks downward at herself, and realizes at some point the tight-clinging under-dress has a tear riding up one leg.
Vertigo and nausea slam her oh so suddenly. She's not prepared to contain them.
...rather raggedly, Liu Mei chokes out, "...say, Ujico. When you get repairs, I think it'd be a really great idea if you immediately step out, ask for an interior powerwash, and don't look or ask questions. ...ugh. I'm not making a -habit- of this, I assure you."
It's not too long before Liu Mei's ~cool pink space car~ hovers close to the Palisade's access point, with the most pallid and ragged looking Hong Long ojou-sama-ing his way through this whole situation. She's fine. She's FINE oh god oh heck save the explaining.
The pallid duo securely set in their seats, Hong Long begrudgingly murmurs, "...Thank you for protecting her. These impulses can be...a handful. ...At the same time, they're what's gotten her this far..."
The slightly messy Liu Mei, brushing away discoloration in her dress, also glances back at Ujico, wiping her brow clean of sweat. "...Don't you dare worry for a second about costs of repairs or anything. Give any supply depot you rely on my number, I'll sort it out. Thanks for the lift!~" She tries to give her most photo-friendly wink, then has to clutch her head from the sudden onset of dizziness. There's quite a haste to roll up the tinted windows to hide Liu Mei's irresponsibly unsavory current appearance from any errant photos.
KTS: Ennil El's Mistral II has left Ennil El teleports out. <Pose Tracker> Ujico Issa has posed.
But finally, it's over.
...What was that void? What was that? It felt like [nothing], if [nothing] could kick her in the brain. She's staring off into nothing, for a completely different reason this time, when-- "Wait!!!"
She doesn't hold a grudge. Ujico also threw up a few times when she was still learning to pilot. "Drink some ginger ale," she tells Liu Mei once the heiress is safely ensconced in the safety of her sickass pink space ride. "My dad always gave it to me when I was sick. It really helps."
They thank her. "Uh-- you're welcome. ...Don't push yourself too hard," she adds, because it seems like the sort of thing someone should say to Liu Mei Wang now and then.
Later on she'll throw down a towel and take Liu Mei's good advice - and her offer.
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Leaving, but not retreating? "Ok-Okay."
There's a sickening, twisting feeling churning in her gut still as Roux thanks her for the perfume. Is it strange that some part of her wants to congratulate the happy couple? Another part of her wants to run for her life and never look back. There is a reason that Yuliana considers Elisa to be the only real person in the world. Leina has the most foreboding feeling now as to what that might be.
Roux might feel her calm down slowly... as she eases off, in the seat behind her. There's this silence for a time between them...
... and then Leina's arms curl around the seat to wrap around Roux's shoulders, just loosely, not enough to restrict movement, as she says, "Thank you..." Is she thanking her for retreating after all, getting her away? "...for being here."
She knows Roux is uncomfortable with Earth, and the pompous aristocrats who run it, and everything from here to Jupiter that is defined by it. That they came back only to be rewarded by having to face the same problems, and trials. And so, she thanks her, for having come back, for being here today... whether it's for her sake or not...
... it means the world to her that she was here today, when she was going through that.
She doesn't hug her uncomfortably long though. Eventually she unravels herself, settles back in the seat, and sends a transmission to the Unicorn, "<We're out. We're okay. You two holding up alright?>" There's a pause, and- "<Let's... let's go home. We can figure this out in the morning.>"
<Pose Tracker> Roux Louka has posed.
Something unknown, unknowable, terrible has been glimpsed here. Perhaps they were invited to the awful entrepot to some kind of tragic outcome. But Roux can't overlook that; she can't overlook the effort here. Perhaps, some day, she will be able to have a conversation with Lilith about what happened today.
Some day. But it will not be today.
The ReZ-II lands for a moment so Roux can rebalance the thrusters, because from the various error messages it's pretty clear that she's not transforming into Waverider mode in a hurry. The Gundam's head turns towards where the Spinatia and - Yuliana - Roux can feel her presence, or rather, can feel a sort of blind spot, distantly, now that she looks.
"... Congratulations!" Roux concludes. "Happy honeymoon!"
And that's enough time to make it past the long-prophesied ridgeline, and, therefore, Not Quite In The Same Place, any more. As the ReZ-II flies, Roux lets out an enormous breath, one she didn't realize she was holding.
Leina embraces her. She shivers for a moment. "Hey," Roux says with a weaker laugh, "I have to - fly it, I don't think we're going to be able to get out of Zaftra without a transfer or repairs - but - you're welcome."
Long seconds pass.
"Now I'm all soaked in sweat," Roux mutters. "I guess it's good I went hard on the perfume, huh. Are they alright, over there?"
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
Now that the adrenaline is starting to wear off, Milly feels a little sick to her stomach; between getting rattled around in ways she doesn't have full visual context for and, well, the sheer terror of everything else... it's a lot.
Julia keeps her grounded in practicals, though. "Not -- with, but also kind of with. I got my invitation from Yuliana, but my mother apparently knows Elisa in passing... she doesn't look a lot like me, so I think you might have a hard time spotting her. I'll see about tracking her down, if you let me down."
She's got a lot to think about.
KTS: Koji Kabuto's MPMZ-17 Ichinana has left Koji Kabuto teleports out.
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
"Yeah." Weak laughter joins hers after a moment, "Yeah. You do." As she agrees, ceasing in the hug.
"... Maybe I should have done the same." On going heavy on the perfume that is, "Didn't expect to be running for my life only days out of finishing physical therapy."
Are they alright over there?
"... The Unicorn's made of stern stuff and I think... I'd know if one of them was badly injured... but..." Some part of her deflates in her seat, as she mumbles, "... alright might be too strong a word for what they are, right now."
<Pose Tracker> Julia Ampere has posed.
So it was by sheer coincidence... It raises a few question that Milly came here alone, but Julia supposes she's probably at least old enough to handle that much on her own.
"Ah, I see... Well then, let's see you to her." Julia says. She brings the Dynamo Queen to a park - it protests a little from the sheer amount of damage its taken, but it's still able to move. It lowers itself to the ground and like before the machine's face opens, a claw rising up to act as a platform to let them both down. As before she'll offer her a hand both onto it and then onto the ground.
She'll stick with Milly until she's reunited with her mother, but not for long after that - she doesn't want to take the chances her mother might be more familiar with her. It's better that way - she'll probably be more helpful for Milly than she would be, she supposes.
Lacus Clyne has connected.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Her wife, Elisa declares to the world, and Yuliana's heart is warm. (She has always been the one who runs hot, between them.) She hears the congregation's well-wishes, certainly, but her gaze does not stray from Elisa's again.
Unbound from her seat, all caught up in Elisa's arms, Yuliana smiles with her own bright shade of delight. She leans her cheek into Elisa's hand, eyelids lowering, with a contented sigh. "I'm so happy," she murmurs, though someone just tried so hard to kill them, because the woman who matters is right here with her.
Elisa is real, in Yuliana's eyes. Under... whose gaze, precisely?
She places a hand on Elisa's chest, and straightens up, closer to her face.
"Now," Yuliana says, because she's the only one who could have the power to say it, "you simply must kiss the bride."
And she does.
...---...
In the ruins of the church, a tall, Zaftran woman with even taller teal hair claps a hand on that man's shoulder, the one who looks so much like Elisa.
"Now, they have each other," Sashenka Dian says, her words accented but clear.
"Where they go, we cannot follow," she says, and her own green gaze is darker than Yuliana's, troubled as she gazes on the cracked altar. "We must hope we raised them well, or else the weight will surely crush them."
She squeezes his shoulder, and takes a breath.
"... I believe they are strong."
She does not clarify the nature of their strength.