2022-03-30: Provocation
- Log: 2022-03-30- Provocation
- Cast: Akane Shinjo, Anti, Elisa Kafim, Riku Asakura, Rei Ayanami, Sho Utsumi, Sanary Rondel, Shinji Ikari, Qivi, Asuka Shikinami Langley, Rikka Takarada, Eisen Daiwel, Nidaime, Yuta Hibiki, Garrod Ran, Mari Makinami Illustrious, Sayla Mass, Kaworu Nagisa, Guy Shishioh, Chibodee Crocket, Haruki Natsukawa
- Where: Tsutsujidai? - Mountains
- OOC - IC Date: 0096-03-30
- Summary: Tsutsujidai's incoming class 2-E takes a break in the mountains. The mountains try to break them, instead.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
It's Akane's first spring break in Tsutsujidai. -- Well, technically, it's her second, but it's the first one that really feels like spring break. The first one in continuity with the year of school prior to it.
Ako Furuma -- Akane's most stylish classmate, in the sense that her style is terribly unique -- has arranged a trip that has spiraled somewhat out of control. At first, she'd intended it to be just her and Marusa Ramo ('Marusan' to most of the class, 'Ramo' to Ako), but then an offhand suggestion of inviting Akane along spiraled into inviting... most of what will soon be 2-E.
There's a few new students -- the classes are a bit undersized by the end of the year, for some reason, so 1-F got broken up across the other rosters in the transition to year 2. (It wouldn't do to leave them unincluded.) As a result, the trip has ballooned to about 30 students.
It's a lot.
It's been a lot, too; there's been a lot of summer fun! A river cuts through these mountains, which means there's been chances for a little rafting. (Akane fell out, to her chagrin; there'd been a little bit of doubt, a little bit of worry about ruining this moment. Now, conveniently: there is not.)
Akane, last anyone saw, was going off to wring out her hair and swimsuit a little bit in the forest, after grabbing her bag from the locker room in case she decides she wants to change back into streetclothes; she's feeling a touch waterlogged, apparently.
Akane pulls her cell phone out of her swimsuit. Despite having gone into the drink with her, it's still working, as if she's simply grabbed it by the particles and demanded it work. There's a second, equally cell phone-shaped device in her bag -- one she looks at thoughtfully.
"Hey, Alexis? Do I need to do anything else? I wanted to use the card myself, but it was too risky to actually bring along... It sounds like it's all up to you after all!"
"No, I can take it from here, Akane-kun. Still! To think you'd choose to overwhelm Gridman with sheer scale..."
"I was kinda hoping I wouldn't have to go this deep into laming it out," comes the girl's concession. "But then, ten-on-one is pretty cheap, too! This time we've got him for sure."
"Instance Abreaction!"
It's about four hours into their little day trip when a roar splits the air. At first, it's not obvious what could be roaring -- until one of the mountains they're nestled so snugly into... moves, off in the distance.
If there's any response here at all, Akane thinks, she'll know that her classmates are exactly who she thinks they are.
Unfortunately, getting that response, that back and forth... that's going to take some time. This isn't a part of Tsutsujidai that's quite -- connected, in the physical sense; to get units there and back without going through the worst of the fog takes using the train tracks. Even getting *word* to someone to *do* that is going to take a couple extra phone calls and some more doing. It's not like Gillvalis, where they'd tracked a sleeping beast into the place it had decided to rest -- there's a problem, *now*, every minute counts, and getting word to where Junk is, then out beyond Tsutsujidai, is steps that take time.
The kaiju's rampage, however, remains... slow. To be sure, it'd be bad if it lumbered over toward the high schoolers, and the risk of something horrible from a stray lava-ball isn't insignificant, but...
As it moves, it becomes easier for those already present to see its full shape; it's practically a small mountain, nearly 400 meters tall, and height is *not* its largest dimension. It's practically an entire *ecosystem* unto itself, with green growth and bubbling volcanoes.
The evacuation is starting to get organized, within the 20 minutes or so it takes to have it start happening in earnest. It could just be that it's a smaller group, but the majority of the students, by this point, have managed to put their ducks in a row and start moving in a fairly orderly fashion toward the train station. It's an improvement -- if a small one -- over the last few rounds of fighting in Tsutsujidai.
Ako and Akko -- yes, there's really both in the class! -- have taken point on this, with Marusan taking head count.
"Wait -- where's Akane? I don't see Utsumi, Hibiki, and Takarada either --"
"Last I saw Akane she was heading into the forest to wring out her top. The other three were heading the wrong way, toward the freight platform -- I tried to call out, but they didn't listen."
"I hope they'll be okay..."
The mecha-scale train line hits this mountain pass at a slightly different angle -- closer to where Go'yavec is stomping about and setting the forest ablaze, knocking over trees, and generally making a mess of things. This is a mixed bag; on the one hand, it makes it relatively easy for the arriving defenders to, well, arrive.
On the other, it means at least some people get attacked *coming in*, as the passive violence of 'a monster that is also a volcano' means several arriving cars and other mecha-carrying assemblies end up bombarded with flames and molten rock.
The *real* problem, though, comes when, as they arrive, a voice rings out through... well, everywhere, really. It's an enthusiastic -- if mildly robotic -- voice, which announces:
"Re-Instance! Maga-Orochi!"
The mountain-monster's tail *had* been the same rock-and-greenery tones as the rest of the monster, almost feathered at the end with vines and roots and other remnants of the natural world. Here, now, it seems to compress into a smooth, segmented tail -- somehow both draconic and insectoid, with a fierce, skewering tip.
The tail thrashes. It punctures one of the nearby mountains. The rockslide is harmless -- but intimidating.
Akane -- freshly deposited at a somewhat higher vantage -- looks out toward the battle. She tugs that scarf (where did she get that?) around her mouth a little bit tighter, glancing at her bag. "Let's see if I can't wrap things up before we even have to deal with Renais," she murmurs, plopping herself down on a rock to watch. She glances off toward the nearby mountain road, already planning her exit -- just in case.
<Pose Tracker> Anti has posed.
About 30, give or take an extra kid on the train ride in. He's stinky and scraggly, and doesn't have any sort of uniform from around here.
He disappeared pretty quick, so he was probably just coincidentally getting off at this station.
Hopefully his home wasn't too close to all this, because...
Heat rises; kaiju do, too. By the gaping maw of Go'yavec, there is a smaller sight -- relatively speaking, because sixty-five metres is small, compared to a mountain -- that same purple reptilian beast who's tried to kill Gridman so many times.
This time, he isn't fighting the mountain, even though the mountain is surely here to kill Gridman just the same.
He'll join his powers with him, because...
... well, it seems Renais has taught him a thing or two.
"Gridman!" Anti yells, into the morass of approaching heroes. "Today's the day I defeat you! And as for the rest of you..."
He fires energy bullets to greet them; really, it's something a small-fry effort, compared to the boiling chunks of MOLTEN ROCK erupting from Go'yavec. "... stay outta my way!"
He says that, but he's already shooting...!
Well, just because Anti's learned the barebones concept of mercy for the rest of his enemies doesn't mean he's not willing to hurt them. Perhaps he realises that his terms aren't something Gridman's allies can agree to.
Or perhaps he's just really, really, really, REALLY mad.
KTS: Anti targets Riku Asakura with ME AGAIN - Shooter! KTS: Anti targets Sho Utsumi with ME AGAIN - Shooter! KTS: Anti targets Mari Makinami Illustrious with ME AGAIN - Shooter! KTS: Anti targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with ME AGAIN - Shooter! KTS: Sho Utsumi blocks Anti's ME AGAIN - Shooter, taking 840 damage! KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley fails to Charge. KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley's EN Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage. KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley fails to react to Anti's ME AGAIN - Shooter, taking 1170 damage! C.C. teleports in. POT: C.C. is now set observer.
KTS: Riku Asakura blocks Anti's ME AGAIN - Shooter, taking 840 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"I can help with that~" comes a voice from nowhere in particular, sing-songing her pleasant reaction to all of this for now. But she can assist for sure, with keeping people out of the way... after all, that's why her little friend is here today.
Rising from the other side of the gigantic mountain of a kaiju is a seventy-foot monstrosity, something with two great legs and two smaller arms, a glassy appearance and two glowing green eyes. The last time someone saw Devadadan, those were red, but not this time. Green!
it stomps into place, crunching a couple of trees under its feet.
"Of course, if you don't play with me, I can always just make some trouble of my own..."
As the voice speaks, the green eyes glow, as if there's a relation between the two somehow.
It is not shooting yet. It is going to step on something important if it isn't stopped, though.
Elsewhere on the mountain, a woman in green regards a tablet fondly. "Ah..."
KTS: Yuta Hibiki has deployed in Gridman Primal.
KTS: Yuta Hibiki has changed loadout. KTS: Shinji Ikari has deployed in Evangelion Unit-01 Test Type.
KTS: Shinji Ikari has changed loadout. KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious's EN Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage. KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious fails to evade Anti's ME AGAIN - Shooter, taking 975 damage! KTS: Nidaime has deployed in Anosillus the First. <Pose Tracker> Riku Asakura has posed.
The Geed barrier flashes, taking the bullets in stride, with only a few whizzing by and causing minor damage to the Ultraman. Geed stares down Anti, as he once more calls out for the death of Gridman...but today it seems he'll have to step in for him. Gridman had other things to fight, and he also had wanted to face Anti himself.
Earlier...
Riku had gotten a call when things over in the mountains went wrong. He would meet people at the junk shop, following then a train ride over. Waking up on the train the moment it stopped, Riku rushes out the door with the others but breaks off. "I'll transform here, go!"
The portal opens and Riku jumps through.
Now...
Riku makes a run for Anti, aiming to try and collide with the kaiju with his shoulder, and start engaging him hand to hand. Attempts to punch him in the center of mass, followed by a luchador-style kick to try and send him off balance. Flipping back to his feet, he speaks at Anti.
"WHY are you so bent on Gridman."
<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBSlo46UFks
A heavy train emerges from the bulk-scale shipping point. The cars are manifold and complicated. But focus, perhaps, on two of them, near the front of the train.
One of them is complicated. A stand-alone armored construct surrounding two ultracompact fusion modules and affiliated fuel tanks. The sheathing guards them and guards their output; any particle emissions are confined, at least for this purpose. Behold the fruits of Man's ingenuity:
HEAVY EVANGELION OPERATIONAL SUPPORT CAR -- "POWERHOUSE"
The reactor modules take up two-thirds of the car, with the remainder being a cowling for nothing more or less than an enormous armored cable, as thick around as a man standing, the shrouding surrounding cryonic fluid pumps and wave-guide jacketing to run the entire power output of those machines - machines that could drive two top-line Mobile Suits into the heat of battle - upwards...
Into the single occupant of the flatbed car in front:
GENERAL-PURPOSE HUMANOID BATTLE-WEAPON ANDROID EVANGELION PROTOTYPE UNIT 00
OR: Evangelion Unit-00.
The orange-hulled Evangelion is crouching low, leaning forwards on its elbows to reduce overhead. It is surrounded by its equipment: weapons, on a scale suitable for the massive machine.
ON LEFT: AIAWM-E EXTREME-RANGE BOLT-ACTION RIFLE - "Sniper Rifle"
x4 RELOAD
ON RIGHT: TYPE MM-99 209MM AU ASSAULT RIFLE
x7 RELOAD
And just a little further forwards - held firmly, grasped in both hands and tilted far back, almost wholly hiding Eva-00's monocular head - is an old friend, reconstructed. Gray and orange, as if matching Eva-00, and with a contoured arrowhead of a shape, layered with thousands of interfacing components distilled from years of anti-beam and anti-missile defense strategy - it is helpfully labelled at the top, just by the rifle rest.
ESV ABSOLUTE DEFENSE OBJECT - "Enchanted Shield of Virtue"
It is baptised immediately by fire when a blob of superheated rock smashes against it, the shuddering impact rippling through the train. The immaculate material is stained black, pitted faintly, but a mere seven layers out of thousands are even partially impaired.
In the entry plug, well within the densest part of the spindly Evangelion, Rei Ayanami grimaces.
"... It's big."
KTS: Riku Asakura targets Anti with Ultraman Martial Arts!
<Pose Tracker> Sho Utsumi has posed.
Sho had absolutely ran off in the wrong direction. Yep. Silly Sho Utsumi, getting lost.
"Alright, let's do this..." He told Rikka and Yuta as they made it to their machines, having made the calls through multiple layers of bullshit to get their Shuffle Alliance and NERV allies here.
Climbing into the cockpit of the Phormocannnon always felt weird, but as he flipped the levers and closed the door, he boosted into the battlefield with the others, moving to pursue the giant volcano monster. But that wasn't who engaged him.
Anti's energy bullets are met with a quick reaction - the Phormocannon's shield going up, allowing it to diffuse a lot of the damage even as it shakes from the initiation.
Since last time, Sho got some standard voice modulation up on his speakers, so he can absolutely shout without revealing himself. "That talking kaiju?! You're not going to get Gridman if I can help it...!"
It's heroic bluster, but it helps Sho feel strong inside the cockpit, as he grabs the giant glue-spray gun, and aims it directly at Anti's legs and arms in a rotational shot, trying to slow his movements and put some lead-up for the others at the same time.
KTS: Sho Utsumi has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Sho Utsumi targets Anti with Glue Buster!
<Pose Tracker> Sanary Rondel has posed.
"How the hell are we supposed to fight that thing?" Sanary asks herself as she spies that mobile mountain in the distance, sitting back in relative safety from behind the controls of her rancid orange Ichinana. She can already feel the color draining from her face a bit the closer they get, but... Well.
There's plenty of pilots ready to fight that thing. How bad could it be with so many people ready to fight this thing? As it turns out, much worse once she hears voice calling out something strange, the mountain monster's tail undergoes a strange transformation, and another kaiju breaks up the group while calling out Gridman in particular.
"Now we got two?! Oh, f-" And then there were three! The voice preceding the third one sounds almost playful rather than murderous, at least, so that's... Actually, that's not going to provide much relief to Sanary. It's still someone else trying to smash up and immolate the place, and there's a clear intent to stir up trouble if that last warning is any indication.
<<"Whoa, hey, hold it!">> Her voice rings out from the Ichinana's loudspeakers as it hurries forward, clearly intending to grab Elisa's attention before she in fact steps on something more important than some trees. <<"You wanna play, right? Then let's play!">>
It sounds like a threat or boast at first, but Sanary doesn't push the Ichinana forward into shooting or attacking just yet. Instead, she keeps it hanging back for a moment as she lets her speakers transmit an awkward silence. It's all in the service of buying time, after all! <<"You got a uh. Any portable stuff or controllers in there? I got some cups, but that's more of a...">>
Don't say 'old people thing.' <<"... Drinking game.">>
KTS: Sanary Rondel targets Elisa Kafim with Pass! KTS: Anti has activated the Trust Spirit Command. KTS: Anti rushes into the attack! KTS: Anti fails to react to Riku Asakura's Ultraman Martial Arts, taking 3300 damage! KTS: Riku Asakura has engaged Anti KTS: Anti charges into the attack! KTS: Sho Utsumi rattles Anti, making his next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Anti fails to react to Sho Utsumi's Glue Buster, taking 2620 damage! KTS: Sho Utsumi begins a Formation attack!
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
"Uncle Kozo's Sausage Shack" is a peppy new building in town, sometimes, consisting of a traditional cramped store format attached to an innocious looking office building. There is a large cardboard cutout of a man who is certainly not Kozo Fuyutsuki, holding a Brittanian style sausage-in-a-bun and giving a thumbs up. The Cardboard Cutout says, "Dyno-mite! Taste that New Yark flavor!"
"This is all so tasteless." Kozo Fuyutsuki says, flipping a few hot dogs. They are actual New Yark style dogs, though he also does Chicago style, red hots, and even a reasonable sausage parm in the back. "I suppose this is what I get for telling Ikari my retirement plans."
All hell breaks loose. Fuyutsuki looks up, raising a gentle eyebrow, and presses a button to summon the summer interns. "Evas, launch."
It takes Shinji Ikari approximately fifteen seconds to get out of his apron, put his dogs on warmer, and snap his plugsuit into place. He's been practicing and also ignoring his head wound from the other day. Sliding down the umbilical entrace retreat, Shinji dives into the LCL and feels the familiar pain of Synchronization.
The sides of the office building snap off like so many lego blocks, and out of the Sausage Shack steps Evangelion Unit-01, equipped with a state of the art anti-armor gattling pellet launcher that NERV requisitioned off of the OCU navy a year ago. Shinji's received basic training with it, which is to say he presses a button and it just starts firing, the fuck everywhere, oh my god.
"SHINJI!" Misato Katsuragi shouts over Fuyutsuki's shoulder, spilling onion sauce everywhere, "Take out the talking one! Sci-ops wants samples of these things, which is why we gave you that gun!"
"To make it sample sized?!"
"You got it big guy!" Misato winks and moves in a way that satisfies the episode preview's promises expertly. "And sir, sir, actually 'eva launch' is sort of, it's sort of my."
"Seniority, Lt. Colonel." Fuyutsuki says, mildly. "I've always wanted to say it."
KTS: Shinji Ikari targets Elisa Kafim with Progressive Gatling Cannon Area Denial! <Pose Tracker> Qivi has posed.
Qivi has been to Tsutsujidai zero times in her life.
She got the brief explanation through the Shuffle Alliance but it's not quite the same as *being* there. So she's not quite sure what to expect when she hears they need help in a place that might not actually exist in the same sort of way that everywhere else does, but you can totally get there by train, except nobody is quite sure how the train gets from Point A to Point T (T stands for Tsutsujidai).
Fortunately Sarangay is small, and small means portable. The heavily modified Blizzaia L (mostly a Blizzaia L, anyway) barely tops six meters and you can fit it all sorts of places. Like wedged in the back of a transport train car courtesy Shuffle Alliance, which are a completely different set of cars than the giant industrial NERV ones.
"What the shit," is Qivi's extremely eloquent commentary when she spots the weirdly altered Go'yavec. It's not like you can miss the thing, it's the size of a mountain (literally). What kind of kaiju is *that*? How do you even hurt something that's literally just the ground? As Sarangay stands to its full height, and then jumps out of the car without bothering to wait for it to slow down, she fires her jetpack thrusters in a long loping bound.
Qivi tries, three times, to lock her shoulder missiles onto Go'yavec. It fails every time because the thing is too big, and too rock, and the targeting computer keeps discarding it because she's clearly aiming at the ground and her small missiles aren't really meant for area bombardment. Cursing, Qivi finally lands, whirling through about sixty degrees on her landspinners and focuses on something coming down the mountain instead.
Fortunately, her missile systems are much more willing to lock onto Devadadan.
KTS: Qivi targets Elisa Kafim with MGR-M Launcher Lock-On! <Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.
As the train rounds the mountain pass, Asuka floats in LCL, grousing. "Sending so many again..." Technically the trip still has some time, but her hands are tight over the induction levers. "...I don't care what intelligence we have. It's just a waste."
It's because today is a competition for her, and it's almost go time. Her opponents both the Kaiju... and her 'allies' from NERV.
And that's when the train lurches and detonates from Go'yavec raining down molten rock on the train. Train wheels screeching, the sounds of hellish chaos erupting, as her armored car partially derails and the force of movement from her car getting hit almost launches her against her entry plug. Asuka doesn't even wait for Fuyutsuki's order. "Screw this - we're sitting ducks out here. Unit-02 - launching!"
The cover of Unit-02's car suddenly snaps off as cables as torn asunder like a titan just threw aside its cover. Unit-02 getting partially wrapped up in the military grade tarp gets caught up, flapping in the wind like some cape behind it as it rises. The crate carrying her crossbow is smashed and smoldering by burning rock. So instead she pounds a cover where the Portable Ordnance - THUNDER SPEAR rests. The cover snaps open and then with the force of an explosion it's launched out sideways, where Eva-02 catches it in mid-air, it's slim bayonet unfolding like a switchblade.
And then there's a familiar face right in front of her, "You again!?" Trying to drive her Eva forward, she gets caught up when the reel of Umbilical cable fails to unravel properly from the smashed state of the train car. Which makes her a sitting duck again to Anti's bullets. With one hand jamming a button to try and shove her Eva off, her second rises as an A.T. Field unfolds, partially absorbing some of his shots.
With a growl, Asuka doesn't so much detach her Umbilical cable as RIPS it off, as the timer of... 5:00 starts its countdown. "If you're worried - feel free to get lost, Commander's Pet." Promptly, her Eva starts to run down the side of the mountain, covering still trailing behind her, leaping forward as she tries immediately to SKEWER him with his bayonet in a relentless charge.
"As for a half-baked Kaiju like you - I'll only need TWO MINUTES!" She vows, though... it's definitely an overestimation of her abilities.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Anti with Thunder Spear Bayonet Stab! KTS: Elisa Kafim fails to react to Sanary Rondel's Pass, taking 0 damage! <Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
It's finally here - spring break! And to celebrate this, Ako has put together a trip to the mountains, where there's a river for swimming and rafting! Rikka's been looking forward to it for a while.
There's a lot more people than she expected, due to some of the new students from the old 1-F having been invited along, but that's fine with Rikka. It's an excellent opportunity to Mingle and get to know her new classmates while hanging out with old friends - she's always been something of a social butterfly, even if it's exhausting sometimes. All in all, it's a fun time... though she does feel awful when Akane falls out of the raft.
The trip continues, and it feels like things are going to end without further incident... when suddenly, a roar splits through the air! Rikka stumbles as the ground shakes, and stares in awe and horror as one of the mountains begins to move. She shakes her head in disbelief.
"...No, that's impossible. A kaiju?" She whispers. "That's... ridiculous, right?"
A kaiju that size... and here, of all places. Did it follow them here? She briefly scans the crowd for Yuta and Utsumi. Fortunately, it looks like they're all on the same page.
In the chaos, it's easy to break off. They run - not with the others, but toward the freight platform.
"I think there's a phone there! We can call Aya!" Rikka says - though one of the others may have already have this same idea. Sometimes they're on the same wavelength!
Of course, the run to the freight platform is a long, tiring trek, and it's been a Day, so she's thoroughly exhausted... but even so, when it's time, she's ready.
The wait for their machines to arrive is excruciating, but the moment Synchrotank does, Rikka immediately climbs in.
"Thanks for coming so quickly..." Rikka says, taking her seat at the front and immediately taking hold of the controls. She hopes everyone's alright. That Hass and Namiko got out alright, not to mention Ako and Marusan, and that Akane was able to reunite with everyone...
It's the thought of protecting them that drives her forward, to point Synchrotank's cannons at the massive mountain kaiju and unleash a pair of high-pressure streams of water into its side.
It's... really big, though, are they even going to be able to put a dent in it...? So distracted, she hasn't realised yet that Synchrotank might have an extra passenger...
KTS: Rikka Takarada targets Akane Shinjo with Twin Hydro Cannon Burst! KTS: Elisa Kafim fails to react to Shinji Ikari's Progressive Gatling Cannon Area Denial, taking 2625 damage! KTS: Shinji Ikari: Will Barrier Activates. KTS: Shinji Ikari begins a Formation attack! KTS: Elisa Kafim fails to evade Qivi's MGR-M Launcher Lock-On, taking 3225 damage! KTS: Akane Shinjo fails to react to Rikka Takarada's Twin Hydro Cannon Burst, taking 2640 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Eisen Daiwel has posed.
"An Island scale Kaiju. Can you imagine the scale? The anatomy of such a beast alone is a danger for sure. But then you also have to consider what happens when it perishes. Does it just disappear, or does its power stop, and everyone begin to sink into its body? How solid is it?" These are questions Eisen proposed on the way over. "Will it just crush itself, or perhaps return to being an island?" To him, this is all utterly fascinating.
Questions that must wait, when another traincar halts right behind Rei Ayanami's designated powerhouse vessel. There's a loud hiss that departs from the train as it finishes halting, and various locking struts slam into place to ensure that the train doesn't fall over as physical forces start applying to it from the flatbed. The various generators spin up, the flow of power rapidly flooding into the black tarped Evangelion - lacking the slim silhouette of the Unit 00, 01, 02.
"Activation sequence, go! RELEASE UNIT ZAHLOS!" Eisen calls out to his own cockpit, followed by the various sync readings ramping up rapidly with a suspicious sense of ease as the boy closes his eyes for just a moment, then opens them at the same time that green light peers through the dark shroud. The machine begins to rise, the shroud ripping apart as its phalanged wings produce their sharp spear-tips and press to the ground, pushing the entire unit up. Tearing up the concrete as it rises with its arms to its chest like a vampire rising from a coffin. Its maw open in a viscious snarl, its eyes intensely staring at the horizon!
Unlike the other Evangelions, it doesn't appear to come with any additional weaponry, short of the pole weapon already clutched along the length of its body. And the moment it is standing, the tail lashes, helping unfurl and ripple out the cable. The spool upon which it lies straining with the sudden violent force, rolling rapidly in response as the glaive is spun.
It has been a while since the world has seen Carestia, and it announces its presence by letting out a fierce howl that is made to send fear into the hearts of living things. Its elbows near its 'hips', its head looming back, almost as it it were breathing something to the skies themselves. Its glowing green light like radiation fallout across its body for a moment.
It then sets its head down, but instead of focusing on the mountain, it is the stomping of another that draws Eisen's attention.
He is no New Type. He is no nothing. But there is a different sense he has. A certain... sense for Aesthetics. While the others begin their climb towards the mountain itself, it is that green light he spots in the difference.
"I see it too, Carestia." Eisen huffs, as the unit spreads its wings, the pressure building against the pilot's shoulders. It stomps once, then twice, and then begins to leap across the island, straight towards the Devadadan. Bounding step after step, until it lands on a crest of mountain, blasts off flame and molten rock behind it. Close, but not quite within true striking range with its Melee weaponry. Its legs wrapped around the stone, claws torn into the small mountainside. A house being crushed by its leg as it comes down...
And the Evangelion throws its arms back, and HOWLS with intense sonic force. Enough that the ground before it ripples and its presence is made clear. It announces; 'I am here!' to the Kaiju, with such violent force that it continues to disrupt the ground and ripples towards the Devadadan itself!
<Pose Tracker> Nidaime has posed.
Has Anti heard about our lord and savior lightning mcqueen? Can he be interested in nicknames like... Stinky?
EARLIER
Nidaime lays on top of Anosillus's shell on top of her stomach. Periodically Anosillus bumps his shell up and down, tossing Nidaime into the air. The kaiju(?) child giggles hysterically with each bump before finally flopping back down onto Anosillus's back and giving the shell a big hug, a hug so big in fact that she's really just kind of swinging her arms from side to side because there's no way she can give an actual fullbodied hug to a giant turtle kaiju.
But then... VOLCANO MONSTER?!
"Yeep...!" Nidaime yelps.
Anosillus is turtle fast to react as he extends out his neck just so to create an impromptu slide for Nidaime.
Nidaime pouts a little but then sighs as she slides her earbuds back into in before sliding down Anosillus into a pouch that Anosillus is wearing around his turtle neck, poking her tiny head out like a cat.
TODAY'S NIDAIME's BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m50p-XScreM
Nidaime hums along merrily to the song. She only knows the main melody by heart so eventually she sings along, "We didn't start the fire o/~ It was always burning since the world was turning! We didn't start the fire o/~ No we didn't light it but we tried to fight it o/~"
Anopapa waddles towards Maga-Orochi. Volcano turtle versus turtle turtle?? It roars out a challenge!
KTS: Nidaime targets Akane Shinjo with Goad! KTS: Eisen Daiwel targets Elisa Kafim with Annihilator's Roar! KTS: Eisen Daiwel has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Eisen Daiwel has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. Incoming attacks: 1: Nidaime attacking with Goad (Ranged, Passive, Special, Debuff) ----
KTS: Nidaime goads Akane Shinjo, reducing her Intuition drastically.
KTS: Elisa Kafim fails to rush. KTS: Eisen Daiwel anchors Elisa Kafim, forcing her into close range. KTS: Elisa Kafim fails to react to Eisen Daiwel's Annihilator's Roar, taking 4200 damage! KTS: Eisen Daiwel has engaged Elisa Kafim KTS: Eisen Daiwel continues a Formation attack!
<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.
Yuta had thoroughly enjoyed himself in the four hours he was allowed to - hanging out with his friends and classmates and getting up to mischief in the water. It was the kind of ideal celebration episode for Golden Week you might see on your favorite seasonal television program. The kind where everyone gets to just breathe, regardless of the stakes that were normally at play.
Like an alchoholic despot greedily chugs from his flask, Yuta fully immerses himself in the tropes of being a teenage boy - from getting embarassed at seeing cute girls in bikinis while trying and failing to show off his string-bean physique with his swimming trunks, to the hijinks of brainstorming for the hotpot competition that had seen the class split into squads of four to see just who could make the tastiest brew of them all.
But even as much of an escapist fantasy as Tsutsuidai and its surrounding territory could seem, reality didn't wait forever - not for anyone, or anything.
"Thank goodness the main kaiju there is so slow.." Yuta murmurs, clad in soggy black and red swimming trunks and a pair of brown sandals, stained with dirt and dust caking on it from the long jog over to the freight platform.
"Be safe!" he calls out to Sho before climbing into the Synchrotank himself, eyes widening as he got inside. "It's - just you guys? - and .. " he blinks, giving Kaworu an owlish stare.
Quietly, Calibur nods, "y-yes .. vit was nowhere to be found, and max was out of town..."
Borr's arms remain crossed imperiously, "Doesn't matter! Lazybones wouldn't have gone out without some elbow grease, and Max wouldn't have been very effective at taking down that living volcano."
Yuta scratches his cheek, "Well ... it's not like Calibur can cut it in half or anything, either, and blowing it up could be dangerous."
Calibur thins his lips sheepishly, before Borr loudly declares, "Ain't you ever heard of that super famous saying? Fight fire with fire! If it's gonna' erupt when it blows up, then blow up the eruption, duh!"
Gridman cuts in, simply saying, "Yuta, you must fight."
"..right."
Despite his reservations about doing this in-front of Kaworu after that whole song and dance to try and obfsucate the truth they'd gone through, people's lives were at risk. Whatever complications might arise from doing this, he'd cross that bridge when he got to it. Placing his hand over the wristband he always wore, it became replaced with the the Primal Acceptor, which he bears up high, sucking in a deep breath through his teeth.
"ACCESS - FLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!"
Yuta becomes a mass of light as he is sucked into Junk, falling into the fizzling image of Gridman before the screen turns a bright white and moments later, the super electric giant himself rises in a shining burst from the ground outside.%
Junk now displays a status screen.
"I don't have time to deal with you right now..!" Gridman responds to Anti, before engaging in the futility of trying to beat a moving mountain into submission, repelling volcanic rocks with his fists when necessary. "This is - bad..I really will need Borr's help at this rate..!"
I can only hope that wherever Akane is now, after she disappeared earlier .. that she's doing alright in all of this.
KTS: Yuta Hibiki targets Akane Shinjo with Hyper Rush! <Pose Tracker> Garrod Ran has posed.
One of the mecha-scale train cars turns out to have been transporting, not an Evangelion, but a Gundam, complete with white armor, characteristic V-fin antennae, and a gun across its back which would nearly equal the Gundam X's standing height. Within its cockpit, Garrod's attention goes first (and naturally enough) to the biggest monster, the literally mountain-sized one.
Then the IFF pings an update, and the GX maneuvers laterally, trying not to flatten too many trees as Garrod zeroes in on -
- an all too familiar kaiju. "What the ..." The messy-haired teen blinks, then flicks on his comm. "That metal-plated one looks just like one that was sighted in Africa. Be careful, everyone - that one soaks up beam weapons, and returns fire in kind. It can get overloaded but it takes a *lot* all at once."
And despite most of his weaponry being energy-based, Garrod closes the GX in on Devadadan (Mk II?), mentally tallying up familiar and unfamiliar allies. The Evangelions are pretty easy to spot, as is the big ol' turtle ... and both Geed and Gridman are familiar as well, relatively welcome sights.
Anyway. One target at a time: Garrod opens up on Devadadan with his Gundam's chest-mounted cannons without further ado.
KTS: Garrod Ran targets Elisa Kafim with Chest Vulcans - Volley! KTS: Elisa Kafim fails to react to Garrod Ran's Chest Vulcans - Volley, taking 2610 damage! Incoming attacks: 1: Yuta_Hibiki attacking with Hyper Rush (Physical, Melee, Technical, Anchor, Initiation) ----
KTS: Yuta Hibiki anchors Akane Shinjo, forcing her into close range. KTS: Akane Shinjo fails to react to Yuta Hibiki's Hyper Rush, taking 3225 damage!
KTS: Yuta Hibiki has engaged Akane Shinjo
<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.
A heavy train emerges from the bulk-scale shipping point. The cars are manifold and complicated. But past the multitude of the hissing, chugging, screeching noises of its imposing arrival into this forested outcropping of spring gone wrong --
o/` "Recalling the tight bonds of friendship,
so many youthful days hard to tell~
Sometimes we're hurt, sometimes delighted~" o/`
-- there is... singing.
Soft. Airy. Pleasant, if incessant. The sound of a woman singing creates the faint background accompaniment to the more ominous sounds of the Evangelion Support Car's unfolding. It comes somewhere from within the middle cars of the tremendous train, helpfully broadcast so that it isn't COMPLETELY lost over the din of the chaos and blooming violence.
o/` "Those days we encouraged each other~
How many years have passed by?
How many suns did I count?
Are there still old friends of your home town in your heart~?" o/`
Shrouded within darkness, a chrome-white Evangelion kneels, cables attaching it to the portable power source the train provides and pumping re-animated life into its spindly limbs. The doors hiss open, revealing a new world to the white-plated monstrosity within.
o/` "Kanpai! Now you appear on the big, big stage of your life,
You are about to walk the longest way--" o/`
CHOOM CHOOM CHOOM
And so the would-be cursed Evangelion Unit-04 is activated for its first live combat mission to the sounds of singing and bubbling flame and a towering mountain of a monster.
Its greets the sight unfolding before her with a smile.
o/` "May you have great, happy days--"
'--stay outta my way!'
Bullets of bright energy bombard the car Evangelion Unit-04 occupies. It leaps forth with a sudden, sinewy groan -- but it's not quite fast enough. Energy rains across its polished white frame as the octagonal blossom of an AT Field greets it, diffusing much of the force -- but not all of it.
Bright light and power pelts the Evangelion, sending it veering off course to land with an earth-shuddering crash and roll across the rocky, forested ground.
Mari Makinami Illustrious, jostling within her LCL-filled entry plug, can only sigh in satisfaction.
"You're a feisty one, huh?" enthuses the Evangelion pilot. Blue eyes alight behind those glasses.
And with a hydraulic hiss, two Evangelion-sized assault rifles eject from the depths of the train, soaring through mid-air until Unit-04 catches both with a flighty "WAHA!", spinning about, facing that strange, talking purple Kaiju, aims--
"Lucky~!"
And squeezes the trigger of one of those rifles, quite joyfully unloading a hail of bullets upon the really, really, really, REALLY mad Anti.
KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious targets Anti with Assault Rifle - Single Fire! <Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
The nuances of travelling to Tsutsujidai continue to get more complicated- there was no buzzing in directly from Junius Seven or just taking the train to Tsutsujidai this time. And using the mecha scale train line involved risks Sayla didn't like.
Those risks were outweighed by the fact there was a call for help.
She was getting used to falling asleep on the way in, but it never made her happy to startle awake in the cockpit, the Saint Lance covered by a giant train car. The visor on her her pilot suit is darkened, and the voice changer engaged- Shuffle comms (or Guy, not that she can *stop* an evoluder listening in. Yet.) will hear Sayla, but any other tight beams or loudspeaker use will hear a distorted voice.
"As long as the people are safe, we don't have to worry about collateral damage. Focus on eliminating the Kaiju as quickly as possible. Geed, Gridman, Astral Dragon and," Sayla sighs, "Tarabaman S are the experts here. I'll provide operation support, and anyone who wants to hit things, follow Chibodee's lead." Queen the Spade doesn't need a code name. She sees Anosillus the First enter the field, and blinks. Damnit, Nidaime, tell her you're going to be there! "And the smaller turtle kaiju and his rider are on our side! Designated codename Banner Bell, do *not* fire on them!" She looks at her readouts. "Club-8!" She indicates Qivi. "You're with my team. Saint Lance, engaging!"
The Gundam colured not a Bawoo steps forward, walking into the battlefield. The monsters are massive, but that big one... Is that artificial, or one of the Kaiju of the heart? It doesn't matter. TCCG have got that one. Garrod messages her and she nods. "Acknowledged, Circle Blue. Minimize beam fire on the mechanical one!"
To lead by example, one of the many missile binders on the Saint Lance pivots, and fires at the green eyed Devadadan, the missile's path being unorthodox winding. Sayla focuses through the psycommu system, and aims to try and drive that missile into one of the gaps in the Kaiju's armour.
KTS: Sayla Mass targets Elisa Kafim with Psycommu Guided Missile! KTS: Elisa Kafim fails to evade Sayla Mass's Psycommu Guided Missile, taking 2850 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
By sheer coincidence, when the call for assistance had gone out, he'd been at the Takarada family's junk shop, chatting with Rikka's mother over a cup of tea. The topic? The girl who lives in the house next door, and her relationship with Rikka... But that was then, and this is now. His offer to help had been accepted, and calls have already been made to NERV to ensure that NERV pilots would be sent to deal with the matter on their end. And so now, he simply waits, seated cross-legged with hands tucked in his pockets inside the Synchrotank.
When Rikka drops inside and takes hold of the controls, Kaworu smiles over at her from that seat at the support controls. "Hey," he says, as casual and natural as if he were *supposed* to be there. "You're quite welcome. It was a stroke of good luck that I happened to be at your family's shop when you called in. I hope I can be of some assistance this way."
He turns his smile Yuta's way, apparently unbothered by *his* being bothered that he's here. He's not bothered by the Neon Genesis Junior High Schoolers either. With a name like that, how could he be? Nor is he surprised nor even off-put when Yuta puts up his arm and calls out a certain phrase. He simply watches as Gridman appears on the battlefield and Junk's screen turns into a status screen, nods politely to Calibur and Borr, and reaches for the sub-controls to assist in Rikka's maneuvering. That will indeed have to be a conversation for later.
"Well then, shall we?" he prompts as he inputs commands to help increase the Synchrotank's fuel efficiency.
KTS: Kaworu Nagisa targets Rikka Takarada with Prospect! KTS: Kaworu Nagisa assesses Rikka Takarada's prospects, increasing her SP!
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
Owing to NERV's personal connections with the Gridman Alliance, the 3G Orbit Base is close to the end of the line of calls that alert the outside world that Tsutsujidai('s outskirts) are in peril. "Chief!" comes a sharp call from the blonde at the Mobile Operator's desk. "We're receiving a relay from Geofront! Something's going on in the Tsutsujidai dimensional subfield! There's a request for reinforcements! No word from our own line inside!"
3G Blue Chief Akamatsu thinks about that one for a few seconds, but then nods. "We'll take that as sign that this isn't our big moment. Guy!"
"I'll take GaoFighGar through!" comes an audio-only call through the line. "We'll have to do Final Fusion on this side! From these reports, communication back to Orbit Base won't be easy!"
Soon, Division Ship X: Mobile Execution Fortress Wadatsumi departs from Orbit Base, en route to the space over Nouvelle Tokyo; and soon after that, the Mirror Catapult lights up, firing PhantomGao and the Gao Machines toward the Tsutsujidai link point.
ALL OF WHICH IS TO SAY:
One of the machines riding in on the NERV end of the Freight Train from Another Space is GaoFighGar, the titan in black and blue. Inside, the superhuman Evoluder Guy floats in a formless nothingness, GaoFighGar's eyes as good as his own. But when they arrive...
"What?! It's massive!" Guy yelps. "What a time to be missing Goldy..."
No answer, of course. Wadatsumi doesn't fit on a train.
"Alright," Guy says to - himself, mostly. Quick scan of the situation. Other units, two other kaiju, including that talking one from the other day. "GaoFighGar, engaging the giant kaiju!"
GaoFighGar's Ul-Tech wings turn green and extend slightly, and GaoFighGar alights on Ultra Technology light!
Hovering over the mountainous enemy, GaoFighGar's chest projects a Program Ring, hovering in front of it. "Looks like NERV is engaging the smaller ones...Good. Hope there's nobody in the area, with that thing spewing magma everywhere..."
"For now! BROKEN! PHANTOM!!!" Guy roars, and throws his weight into a punch through the Program Ring. The spinning fist and forearm, blazing with the Light of Destruction, burns toward the mega-sized kaiju to drill into its side!!
KTS: Guy Shishioh targets Akane Shinjo with Broken Phantom! KTS: Akane Shinjo fails to react to Guy Shishioh's Broken Phantom, taking 4230 damage!
KTS: Anti fails to parry Asuka Shikinami Langley's Thunder Spear Bayonet Stab, taking 4050 damage! KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Anti KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley continues a Formation attack! KTS: Anti fails to react to Mari Makinami Illustrious's Assault Rifle - Single Fire, taking 3150 damage! KTS: Rei Ayanami targets Akane Shinjo with Pass! KTS: Akane Shinjo fails to react to Rei Ayanami's Pass, taking 0 damage! <Pose Tracker> Chibodee Crocket has posed.
Chibodee was at Uncle Kozo's Sausage Shack peacably having a Chicago style hot dog -- the vegetables are good for him -- when all hell broke loose. He was about to spend some time complimenting Shinji on his preparatory methods, too! Terrible.
Gundam Maxter just shows up. How does it get here? Don't ask a lot of questions. It's riding in on its flying surfboard and blasting at the ... land mass? It's really like trying to fight a jungle that's moving around. Chibodee isn't sure that bullets can even hurt it, but it takes Maxter time to close to melee.
KTS: Chibodee Crocket has deployed in GF04-006NA Gundam Maxter. KTS: Chibodee Crocket targets Akane Shinjo with Anyway I Started Blasting! KTS: Akane Shinjo fails to react to Chibodee Crocket's Anyway I Started Blasting, taking 3360 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Haruki Natsukawa has posed.
"You know, with all the prep work we have to do to get in here, it really makes you wonder how we wound up here by accident the first time, right?"
Haruki, sitting inside the cockpit of the Sevenger as the train carries it, idly talks out loud to Z. He doesn't get a response, he never really does. But he's pretty sure he can hear! Which is weird. Maybe he's only paying attention some of the time but just doesn't choose to say anything out of a respect for his privacy. Or maybe he just can't... Because usually when he does want to talk, he just opens up the Hero's Gate...
He's so caught up on Z's weird habits, he lets out a startled yelp when he suddenly feels the train come to a halt, his attention now quickly focusing on the screen in front of him as he evaluates the scene in front of him.
It's not good, all things considered, but if they weren't here, it'd become worse. With that train of thought in mind, Haruki pushes forward on one of the levers inside of Sevenger, and the giant cylindrical robot almost immediately springs to life, a three minute timer appearing on screen to let him know that the unit's batteries are in use. Before he leaves though, he grabs a giant sized battle rifle off of one of the nearby weapon racks, gearing up for the oncoming storm that's about to happen.
Well, a storm was a more on the nose description than he intended, maybe, possibly. Volcanic hellfire counts as a type of storm in weather reports, he's pretty sure. Actually maybe it isn't... Well, whatever the case, Haruki just simply drives forward through the blazing forest, the massive Sevenger just doing a really fast shimmy that could generously be called a full on sprint. The mechanical tube furrows its eyes into an angry glare as it lifts the assault rifle up in its hand and aims, unleashing a hail of mecha sized bullets at the moving mountain.
No incoming attacks.
KTS: Haruki Natsukawa targets Akane Shinjo with Autocannon Shot! KTS: Akane Shinjo successfully avoids Haruki Natsukawa's Autocannon Shot KTS: Haruki Natsukawa has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
<Pose Tracker> Anti has posed.
Anti is not, particularly, interested in nicknames. This is human knowledge, inconsequential to him.
"ME AGAIN!" He yells, instead, as Unit-02 recognises her. Luckily, Anti's barrage is great at getting attention. Tragically, so is his stated desire to kill someone who some of these people like.
And lo -- the fake Gridman collides with him. (The... Ultraman? Were these Ultramen? Anti's pretty sure that's the word for the not-Gridman Gridmen.) One hand comes to his armoured shoulder; it shifts back, as he swings his opposite claws FORWARD, all heavy momentum as one swing leads to another. But Anti's going high with his swings, and Geed aims LOW, with a punch-kick combination which sends him flying back.
Not out of the shadow of Go'yavec, though.
It's much, MUCH too large for that.
"Killing Gridman is all that matters to me!" Anti yells, in response. Always he is yelling, always he is heated, always he is angry; he has no voice modulation, because Anti is Anti is Anti, but it may be difficult to place this boiling rage with the quiet intensity of that strange scruffy boy from earlier. "Today's the day I'll kill him! Today's the day!"
It's an extremely unambiguous promise, all in all.
Perhaps, then, it's no wonder that junker alongside Gridman takes exception to him. Anti both knows and does not know this, as he regains his footing and charges towards Phormocannon. "You can't help it!" He yells --
RIGHT BEFORE --
THE GLUE --
Glorp! Anti's moving parts are connected by corrugated tubing; they're well-articulated, but a good shot of glue will mess any suit up. "What the hell's this?!" Anti yelps, as he wrenches his legs back and forth against the glorpy glut of the grievous glue gun. He is quite stuck, which he angrily explains: "I can't move!"
This is the precise moment where Asuka's movements meet the others.
"Shit --" Anti yelps, as the Thunder Spear crashes into him. There's a hiss of air escaping, and a rather, RATHER big hole on both entry and exit. "Don't underestimate me!" Anti yells, which suggests it isn't quite a killing blow, despite the fact that Asuka both has excellent aim and no hesitation in using it.
This is shortly followed up by a hail of bullets, which, again, Anti is far too glued down to really handle right now. "You!" He swipes his claws, at Unit-04. "Go back to singing! This doesn't have to involve you!"
With a growl which is much more human than kaiju, really, Anti adds: "Just what are all these outsiders doing here, anyway?!"
Clearly, Anti doesn't appreciate the true power... of pay phones.
A beam fires from the nodes on his body, all collecting to one lance which crashes into Unit-02, Phormocannon, and Ultraman Geed as Anti thrashes around. Strangely, the cursed Unit-04 manages to evade getting blasted entirely.
KTS: Anti targets Mari Makinami Illustrious with Goad! KTS: Anti targets Riku Asakura with Buster Beam! KTS: Anti targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Buster Beam! KTS: Anti targets Sho Utsumi with Buster Beam! KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley successfully Evades Anti's Buster Beam KTS: Sho Utsumi has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Sho Utsumi successfully Evades Anti's Buster Beam
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Akane watches Anti. He's not attacking today's kaiju, at least; maybe he's learning. ... It's hard for her to fully open her heart back up to him, even though today he seems to be doing a much, much better job. "Hrm. Maybe eventually he'll get it," she says, stretching out a bit.
"Eugh. Wow. I'd almost take my chances with the smoke." She makes a face.
Heroes assemble, as they do. There's a lot of them this time -- each time it seems like there's a little more in the way of opposition. Even if their numbers don't grow -- though this time, obviously, they've grown a fair bit -- their intensity always does. It seems like more and more people want to fight for this world, without even knowing what they're really fighting for.
Go'yavec -- now Maga-Go'yavec -- rounds on the assembling heroes. It takes their opening volleys in stride; this creature marks an escalation from the God of Tsutsujidai. Its sheer scope is tremendous -- at 399 meters on its *smallest* dimension, it dwarfs everything. Quite literally: fighting it entails fighting a mountain.
The smaller (yet remarkably similarly shaped) kaiju seems to disrupt something about Maga-Go'yavec. Its already slow frame moves even slower amid the music. Attacks carve bits and pieces off, but the volcanic kaiju seems unhurried and unbothered. The crumbling pieces begin to strike the earth as a high-pressure water jet cuts through. Gridman's fists find... a little purchase, at least -- but this thing is truly massive. It'd take hours to pummel through it like that.
GaoFighGar's spinning fist drills through -- it's one of the cleaner hits landed on Maga-Go'yavec, at that. Maxter Gundam's bullets find fair purchase -- even pierce enough to cause a small lava flow -- but even then... Sevenger's autocannon *technically* finds purchase -- but a slump to Go'yavec's side means that what the autocannon bullets find is a volcano, where they burn up in the lava.
Akane experimentally pokes at the cell phone-like device she'd had in her bag. "So if Juggler was being honest with me, this can tell me what my kaiju are saying and feeling, huh? Hmmm... let's try it out." Akane taps at it a bit.
Activating Gao Diction.
"Well, that's a start," she says, as three bars begin to fill.
Alexis Kerib appears on Elisa's tablet. "I do appreciate the help on such short notice. I'm always happy to lend out the young lady's creations, especially to help her.
The great beast crackles. Those up close get a taste of something Akane never made Go'yavec to do -- a barrage of crackling green lightning arcing through its body. It's not even really -- actively doing that; its existence is simply violence unto itself. Another slice of forest sets itself ablaze.
Those a little further away receive arcing blasts of fire from the volcano-like protrusions on its back. Of particular note seems to be its response to Anosillus, radically disproportionate; the music seems to draw its ire, with the large kaiju attempting to stomp onto the much smaller one and simply press it into the ground.
The evacuation gets steadily more organized. By this point, everyone -- save Akane, Rikka, Yuta, and Sho -- has been accounted for; the kids are finally moving as a group. Ako has taken a position about 100 feet ahead of the rest, getting a sense of damaged roads well before anyone else. For a bunch of high schoolers, this is honestly a *really* orderly evacuation...
KTS: Akane Shinjo targets Yuta Hibiki with Body Lightning! KTS: Akane Shinjo targets Nidaime with Go'yavec Flatten! KTS: Akane Shinjo targets Rikka Takarada with Go'yavec Fireball Blast! KTS: Akane Shinjo targets Chibodee Crocket with Go'yavec Fireball Blast! KTS: Akane Shinjo targets Rei Ayanami with Go'yavec Fireball Blast! KTS: Akane Shinjo targets Guy Shishioh with Go'yavec Fireball Blast! KTS: Akane Shinjo targets Haruki Natsukawa with Go'yavec Fireball Blast! KTS: Riku Asakura fails to evade Anti's Buster Beam, taking 7920 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Anti's DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE! activates, causing Sparkle! KTS: Chibodee Crocket charges into the attack! KTS: Chibodee Crocket fails to react to Akane Shinjo's Go'yavec Fireball Blast, taking 3900 damage! KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 77. KTS: Rikka Takarada blocks Akane Shinjo's Go'yavec Fireball Blast, taking 1560 damage! KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 113. KTS: Guy Shishioh's EN Barrier activates, negating 1000 base damage. KTS: Guy Shishioh blocks Akane Shinjo's Go'yavec Fireball Blast, taking 2940 damage! KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 149.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Far from the battlefield, Elisa smiles at her tablet. "You are more than welcome! It is a lovely opportunity to gather some data of my own, and I do enjoy helping a colleague..."
But closer: It is probably not reassuring that Elisa's voice behind this kaiju is more playful. Especially not when she's on a collision course with more people. But a voice rings out from the loudspeakers, and...
"Ahahahahah," the other voice replies, musical laughter lilting through the air. (Curiously, it doesn't actually come over the radio; it's just 'audible'.) "The game we're going to play is to test this kaiju's limits. I'm afraid I don't have any other games on this system..."
The awkward silence helps a little. It does slow the kaiju down; but it wouldn't have done so much longer, because the Devadadan starts forward again... only for it to get shot at by Shinji's Eva!! the shots just, go, friggin', everywhere. All over. Specifically they batter the Devadadan heavily, slamming into its surface. Despite its glassy look, it doesn't shatter; it just takes the blows and goes on, much like it does Qivi's missiles a moment later. Oh, it tries to evade, tries to move out of the way, but that fails rathr conclusively, leaving explosions and clouds of smoke rocking its form.
Even the very ground betrays it as Eisen's attack sinks in, and it loses its footing for an instant, rocked by the quake but not quite removed from its feet. it is in increasingly a bad position, however, already...
Even as the chest-mounted cannons slam into it!! It has had no energy yet to absorb, which is something of a problem. "Well, that's hardly fair," the 'voice' says then. "You're giving away the game!" There is a sense of intent focusing on Garrod in the moment, and then the kaiju turns to face him.
From its torso erupts a beam at the Saint Lance, burning through the air towards it, even as the kaiju moves to simply try to crush Eisen's Evangelion outright. And that is all it does for a moment. Then, shadows begin to gather around it--from its own shadow, and then crackling with green light.
"We'll just have to invest more power..."
Elisa, far away and out of sight, pulls the kaiju tablet to go with her data-gathering tablet, and smiles before she points at it--and begins to channel energy into it, and thus into the kaiju.
The Devadadan seethes with green-black power and opens its 'mouth' to belch forth crackling black lightning at its other foes, including Qivi's Sarangay, Shinji's Evangelion, Sanary's sadly gameless Ichinana, and Garrod's Gundam.
These strange bolts shine through the air, absorbing light, and are definitely not beams.
To the tablet, Elisa from afar says, "I'll just have to improvise, I think."
KTS: Elisa Kafim has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Elisa Kafim has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Elisa Kafim has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Elisa Kafim targets Sayla Mass with Devadadan Torso Unsteady Shot! KTS: Elisa Kafim targets Eisen Daiwel with Desperation Strike! KTS: Elisa Kafim targets Shinji Ikari with Saturnine Bolt! KTS: Haruki Natsukawa has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Elisa Kafim targets Garrod Ran with Saturnine Bolt! KTS: Elisa Kafim targets Sanary Rondel with Saturnine Bolt! KTS: Haruki Natsukawa blocks Akane Shinjo's Go'yavec Fireball Blast, taking 2600 damage! KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 185. KTS: Elisa Kafim targets Qivi with Saturnine Bolt! KTS: Rei Ayanami blocks Akane Shinjo's Go'yavec Fireball Blast, taking 1560 damage! KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 221. KTS: Anti goads Mari Makinami Illustrious, reducing her Intuition drastically. KTS: Nidaime parries Akane Shinjo's Go'yavec Flatten, taking 2040 damage! KTS: Akane Shinjo has engaged Nidaime KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 257. Haruki Natsukawa transforms to Ultraman Z Alpha Edge
KTS: Haruki Natsukawa has changed loadout. KTS: Garrod Ran blocks Elisa Kafim's Saturnine Bolt, taking 3075 damage! KTS: Elisa Kafim begins a Formation attack! KTS: Qivi successfully Evades Elisa Kafim's Saturnine Bolt KTS: Shinji Ikari's Will Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage. KTS: Shinji Ikari fails to evade Elisa Kafim's Saturnine Bolt, taking 3600 damage! KTS: Elisa Kafim begins a Formation attack! KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Eisen Daiwel's Will Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage. KTS: [Spirit Defense] Eisen Daiwel's I Must... Go On! activates, and his spirit endures. KTS: Elisa Kafim enervates Eisen Daiwel, reducing his Morale significantly. KTS: Eisen Daiwel blocks Elisa Kafim's Desperation Strike, taking 2860 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Elisa Kafim's Beyond the Void activates, causing Deject! KTS: Elisa Kafim has engaged Eisen Daiwel KTS: [Spirit Defense] Sanary Rondel's We are Implacable activates, and her spirit endures. KTS: Elisa Kafim enervates Sanary Rondel, reducing her Morale significantly. KTS: Sanary Rondel blocks Elisa Kafim's Saturnine Bolt, taking 4510 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Elisa Kafim's Beyond the Void activates, causing Deject! KTS: Elisa Kafim begins a Formation attack!
<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.
Asuka tried to ignore the singing at first, but like an itch that she doesn't scratch, it bothers her more... and more. And more. Until in the middle of the fray, Asuka shouts over the comms at Mari in Unit-04, "Did you... mistake your entry plug for some KARAOKE BOOTH YOU FOUR EYED CRONY!?"
Mari's already stopped singing, but it doesn't stop her either from shouting at her as she jukes Unit-02 to the side to try and avoid her burst of assault fire from Unit-04's armaments. Part of her wondering what it was capable of, and whether it'd cause another disaster with that strange girl behind the wheel... even if she'd acknowledged her talents.
"I'd only count myself ~Lucky~ if you weren't here distracting me!"
The bayonet strikes home, as Asuka charges in with all of her usual reckless aplomb. As Anti yells not to underestimate him, Asuka shouts back, "Got a high opinion of yourself - for a Kaiju who only know how to FAIL!"
Still, she knows she has to be careful, he's... gotten marginally more threatening each time. And he's strange for a Kaiju.
Yet one comment of his snaps her back to attention as she shouts at him over her loudspeakers, "DON'T YOU DARE ENCOURAGE HER TO START SINGING AGAIN!" Anti's beams fire at point blank, and Asuka wheels Unit-02 to extract the Thunder Spear's bayonet, as she suddenly dives her unit into a roll, the beams lancing along the mountainside and disintegrating trees under the Eva's weight. Rising up to one knee at point blank range, Asuka grins in her entry plug. "Got you."
Her shoulder pylons open, sending out a hail of spikes point blank that seem to all be aimed center mass at Anti, an act trying to pincushion him into submission. "Moron." She adds, quite necessarily.
04:16
At least she hopes she's got him, as she's trying to ignore the ticking of the clock.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Anti with Pencil Roc Nailgun Surprise! KTS: Yuta Hibiki has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Yuta Hibiki successfully evades Akane Shinjo's Body Lightning KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 293. <Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
"Oh my God there's two of them." Shinji says, as Mari bursts out of the ground singing about how great it is to pilot a giant robot. "I don't know if I can handle two of you, Daiwel. I don't know if my nerves can take your bright pink sister who thinks I'm a dog."
Unit-01 moves like a boxer forced to take ballet classes, expertly dancing around the carnage to lay support fire for Eisen's bulky, flying Evangelion. Shinji almost seems to be piloting by instinct, his only real trouble in keeping the bullet stream steady. "Asuka it's not a speedrun! That thing has DG cells, be careful!" Shinji shouts, and then.
And then that guy on the surfboard. "Hey did he pay?"
Misato frowns at a paper 'IOU'. "With a busniess card."
"I can't believe the Gundam Fighters dine and ditch." Shinji says, "Man and I got the cucumbers right and everything. That's how you know it's a real Chicago dog, you don't use pickles."
"Shinji!" Misato says, very seriously, "You can't let one dine and ditch break your spirit! Besides, we got a photo of him eating the dog; we can hang that on the wall and call it a celebrity endorsement!"
"So we win for losing!" Shinji says, spirits restored.
"That's how you have to play the small chain game, Shinji! These places are capitalism at its most pure." Misato wanes, getting into it, "A do or die small busniess environment not unlike the semi-nomadic Yamato hunters of old, erking out a living on the edges of an unkind world!"
"Damn it, lasers." Shinji tries to move the bulk of his Evangelion out of the way, but it's a mug's game and he knows it. Unit-01 takes a blast of green lightning dead in the chest, while whatever foul intellegence is controlling the kaiju gloats about how fun everything is. Shinji thinks he hates this person already. "That's a sick game, whoever you are!" Shinji says, and his voice cracks a bit, ruining any heroic onus to the retort. He turns.
Sees the Zentraedi ship, and his hands shake a little, remembering the feel of alien flesh caving in to the pressure of his machine-
no time. No time. They're shooting the kaiju, they're on his side. For now. Shinji aims the gattling cannon directly at the kaiju, progressive pellets designed to ruin strange matter and alien threats ripping through the air at a truly astonishing expense to the taxpayer.
No incoming attacks.
<Pose Tracker> Sho Utsumi has posed.
"Take that!" Sho shouts out as the glue slows down Anti, but his eyes widen at the beam lance, barely holding back a curse. "Max power - to thrusters!" He fumbles for the switch even as he makes his triumphant call, but he's just fast enough, weaving backwards and to the side.
The lance barely misses the Phormocannon, allowing it to pull back and take cover behind molten trees and rock. Taking a knee, those two fluid cannons on the shoulders are given power...
"Focusing power to cannons. PHORMOCANNON...DUAL BLAST!" He hasn't figured out names yet.
With targeting locked, the two cannons spray a focused shot straight for Anti's center of mass!
"I can't let you kill Gridman! No matter how much you want it! He's carrying our hopes and dreams! Why won't you quit?!"
Another bluster, but one Sho truly believes in. He hasn't yet caught on how serious this is - after all, everyone evacuated, right?
<Pose Tracker> Qivi has posed.
Qivi says in the privacy of her own cockpit, "If you want to hustle..." It's not really fair. That evacuation is going pretty quickly, for somewhere that isn't a war zone; Qivi grew up for some of her life in Huffman Island, and their protocols are top-notch, but Tsutsujidai's aren't exactly bad, either.
But then... "Oh come ON!" Qivi can't believe her (bad) luck. It's that Evangelion that she fought on the train before!
Qivi spends about five seconds deciding if she wants to acknowledge he exists while she maneuvers. Another leap in the air and Sarangay comes down on a slope. The wheels engage, picking up speed kind of diagonally forward.
Eventually, she decides the answer is yes. She uses her thumb to trigger her comms systems, leaving Eisen able to hear an annoyed-sounding pilot - and, if he has visuals, see Qivi, scowling. She doesn't like Eisen even if she couldn't explain why. "Truce?" she asks. "I'm not here for you. Just the kaiju. Kaijus. Whichever."
She mutes herself afterwards (she can still hear him) to flip over to Shuffles communication. "Got it," she says to Garrod - there's no real issues for her, most wanzers don't mount beams and Sarangay is no exception. Sayla only gets a moment of acknowledgement, because Qivi, as Qivi does, immediately guns the engines and charges. So much for falling into line.
Devadadan is something like ten times the height of Sarangay. Qivi doesn't care. She drives straight at it, crouching slightly to engage its knees as shock absorbers. She weaves left, then right, to avoid crackling lightning - having never seen Devadadan before, she doesn't know it isn't what she should expect from it.
The arm holding the shotgun comes up and Qivi fires once, twice, three times as she closes into Devadadan - unless Devadadan moves she goes straight between its legs, though she has to really crouch to do it, and fires another shot at the tail as she passes.
"Most kaiju aren't this chatty," Qivi says, this time more generally. "What gives?"
KTS: Qivi targets Elisa Kafim with Covet V300 Boost Shot! <Pose Tracker> Chibodee Crocket has posed.
Chibodee was still eating the hot dog on the way in. Provided he's not in the hospital, he fully intends to come back to pay. But sometimes he ends up in the hospital.
Gundam Maxter keeps firing at Maga-Go'yavec, the giant mobile land feature. The Gundam Fighter closes in against it, which some part of him knows is a clear act of madness. And yet what else can he do? This thing has to be stopped. Chibodee can't even see everyone fighting it because too much of the creature is in his way.
"Shirley I'm gonna fight a volcano," Chibodee radios back to his support team.
"Don't punch it," Shirley radios back.
"I'mma punch it," Chibodee answers.
"It's going to hurt and then you're gonna do the surprised Char face," Bunny replies.
"No I'm not," Chibodee insists.
"This happens every time you fight a volcano," Cath radios.
"Well maybe it doesn't happen this time."
"It's gonna," Bunny radios.
"Man whatever," Chibodee says, and then gets hit with a blast of lava that knocks Gundam Maxter off its flying surfboard and sends it sprawling onto the kaiju itself, tumbling down its side, ripping through some trees, and getting battered to absolute shit by incidental rubble. Chibodee barely has time to use verniers to roll in the air and get Maxter back to his feet. His entire Trace Suit briefly glows red in horrific force-feedback. Chibodee mercifully manages to cut comms before he screams loud enough to nearly throw up by the time his lungs empty.
"He punched the volcano," Shirley says back at base, putting her hand over the microphone to be extra sure Chibodee didn't hear it.
Only THEN does Gundam Maxter furiously drive an overhand right into the side of Maga-Go'yavec out of spite.
KTS: Chibodee Crocket targets Akane Shinjo with Overhand Right!
<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.
The connection interfaces transmit a message to Rei from the pilot of Eva-02. Rei glances at the display pane and doesn't reply for a moment, beyond the fact that she hears 'you again?' But it isn't the massive monster.
Right?
The effervescent vaulting of Unit-04 is tracked as well. Now that they are clear, Rei considers her options in weaponry for a moment, even as Eva-00 shifts round the Enchanted Shield of Virtue to guard her supporting equipment for a moment. Her section of the track is not far from the station; the benefit of having been in front.
It has downsides, of course.
Like the second barrage of lava. This one is met with an upraising of the ESV but it is a more active, higher-angle block; some of the material slops outwards, running down along Eva-00's shoulder and causing an enormous shudder as Rei hisses through her teeth, feeling a simmering sensation and sensing a cavitation break in the enclosed fluidic space of the Entry Plug.
The scale of the deployment surprises Rei, as she makes her decision (snyper rifle, pro elite) and hups her enormous equipment to an adjacent spot of something loosely resembling a ridge line. It's exposed, but that's where the Shield comes in, but then Eva-00's head turns -- and the precise scale of the enemy Go'yavec is interpreted. Rei's eyes widen slightly in the plug.
With an industrially-titanic 'clank!' the barrel of the rifle is set into the shield's top notch and Rei leans backwards. Yes: she is laying down, in a sense, to fight. Her lips part as she breathes steadily. The optics power on, zeroing-in on the foreparts of the creature. She resolves an eye, and the optical interval narrows.
Of course, given the scale of this, Rei dumps the entire six-round clip at Go'yavec's face and then goes for a reload, following the drill. "Are they in shelter?" Rei asks, during the mechanical operation, though it might slip in among other statements.
KTS: Sho Utsumi has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Sho Utsumi targets Anti with Focused Cannon Shot! KTS: Rei Ayanami targets Akane Shinjo with Sniper Rifle Aimed Shot!
<Pose Tracker> Garrod Ran has posed.
"Dwa?!" is Garrod "Circle Blue" Ran's cogent assessment as the black lightning-ish barrage rakes across the GX and several other allied units; he brings up the shield buster rifle, the defensive panels flipped open to provide a measure of defense, but it doesn't cover enough of the Gundam to ward the attack off entirely. "Okay," he transmits, "THAT wasn't in its playbook last time ..."
This may come down to overloading the kaiju's absorption after all, he thinks, but hopefully not - he'd like to be able to take down a kaiju *without* resorting to the GX's biggest and most infamous weapon. Plus, with three hostiles and a whole bunch of allies ...
What's the friendly-fire equivalent of a 'target-rich environment,' anyway? Besides "bad," which even Garrod can work out for himself.
Garrod has his doubts about getting any closer to a vaguely-known kaiju with *unknown* abilities, but he doesn't have many better options. The GX's thrusters flare to life, boosting it up above the trees for a short distance - and then they cut out, before a Vulcan cannon pops out over the Gundam X's shoulder, unloading a lot of (admittedly smallish) bullets at Devadadan.
Garrod's also doing his best not to let that transmission unnerve him ... there are plenty of other things already making him less than comfy. Like the aforementioned black lightning.
KTS: Garrod Ran targets Elisa Kafim with Shoulder Gatling - Volley! KTS: Shinji Ikari has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Shinji Ikari targets Elisa Kafim with Progressive Gatling Cannon Burst! KTS: Chibodee Crocket anchors Akane Shinjo, forcing her into close range. KTS: Akane Shinjo fails to react to Chibodee Crocket's Overhand Right, taking 2880 damage! KTS: Chibodee Crocket has engaged Akane Shinjo KTS: Akane Shinjo fails to react to Rei Ayanami's Sniper Rifle Aimed Shot, taking 3280 damage! <Pose Tracker> Riku Asakura has posed.
Ultraman Geed backs up when that spear starts to form, trying to guess just how it was going to go. He could already tell the barrier couldn't handle it, so trying to avoid it was the only solution. The problem with that is that being a larger target didn't make it easier to dodge. The beam tears through the Ultraman, as Toku sparks run across his body and throws Geed to the ground.
The attack was devastating but didn't take out Geed yet. In fact, one might say that Riku fights better the worse things are for him. Rolling to his feet in a low crouch, Geed takes a moment to assess the situation. "Singing?" he asks, which was something that caught him off guard. Why would someone who was a Kaiju, who wanted to kill Gridman, encourage someone to stop fighting and go back to singing?
Back on his feet, Geed is trying to close the distance again, even as they fight under the shadow of the colossal Kaiju, he doesn't lose sight of his target today. He brings the Z-Raiser up and charging it with energy he brings it down attempting to slash it through whatever defenses Anti might bring up against him.
"You know, for a Kaiju who only cares about killing Gridman, you're awfully kind towards those who aren't," he says, though not chiddingly, more of an observation. "Do you like singing?" he asks, despite the fact they're fighting, and are grievously wounding each other.
KTS: Riku Asakura targets Anti with Energy Slash! KTS: Sayla Mass fails to Evade Elisa Kafim's Devadadan Torso Unsteady Shot, taking 4750 damage! <Pose Tracker> Nidaime has posed.
"Braaaaap." Anopapa responds to Sayla which, translated from turtle, means something along the lines of 'Haven't really talked since the wedding! We should catch up!' But it's probably not too difficult to sense a powerful PROTECTIVE INSTINCT from the giant turtle creature, even without the help of a special tool to help you feel what kaiju are feeling--but even so if you can imagine a bear protecting its cubs, you've got the general sort of idea. Is the protective instinct for Nidaime herself or just Tsutsujidai? Or all of the above?
Anosillus is smaller than Go'yavec but compared to most of the present fighters, it's the big boy and it's trying to be the big boy even when it isn't the biggest boy. A foot comes down upon the hero in a full shell and the ground bursts down from underneath it. The shell itself holds sturdy, for now, but it's straining.
It unleashes another turtle moan of distress.
SAMPLE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYX7ZDV5pR4
Nidaime wraps a cloth around the lower portion of her face. Its horns crackle with sound energies as they flash and then an eruption of NOISE bursts out of it, trying to push the volcano off, or at least give its foot a bruising!
"Braaaaap!" It tells Chibodee which, loosely translates to 'Oh no good sir did you happen to lose your lunch? Perhaps we can enjoy some traditional okonomiyaki later.' Or maybe it's just worried because it doesn't seem like Chibodee is having a good time.
KTS: Nidaime targets Akane Shinjo with Sonic Blast! KTS: Akane Shinjo successfully avoids Nidaime's Sonic Blast
<Pose Tracker> Sanary Rondel has posed.
That's shinji's Eva! Now that she's finally seeing it in action, Sanary watches it from the corner of her Ichinana's cameras before realizing that they're not the only ones facing off with the strange Devadadan. It takes her a moment to register the Sarangay's presence with how small it is, although the missiles certainly help with that. The howl of the Carestia initially has her gripping her controls defensively, but there's some small relief at realizing that it's not aiming that rippling attack at her. The GX actually provides some small layer of relief, too, with that familiar-ish headfin and color combo, even if she can't quite pick out which one it is in specific. The Saint Lance's color scheme throws her off briefly, too, but it's easy enough to identify it is not-a-Gundam and also an ally when the pilot's distorted voice gives some much needed direction.
Her real concern, however, lies primarily with the Devadadan's controller. Pilot? It's not clear with the sound quality, but she can definitely hear Elisa speaking. <<"Darn. I was hoping you'd have more of a selection, but I'll take what I can get. I ain't about to let you wreck up this place without a fight, anyway!">>
Despite the bravado in her tone, there's still a moment of hesitation on Sanary's part as she brings out the Ichinana's gun and shield, and that moment costs her. The Devadadan's eerie lightning rakes across the Ichinana's everything, creating a spectacular array of explosions and warping its shield and machine gun considerably.
<<"Keh... So much for that. Fine, we'll just take it up close!">> Sanary shouts as the Ichinana starts hurtling towards the Devadadan at an angle, not quite running straight at it while still approaching. <<"This ain't exactly a duel, though, so don't blame me if you get roughed up inside there. We've got the power of beams! Guns! Missiles! Indomitable spirit! The yawning abyss!">>
She's really starting to get into it now, and it culminates in the Ichinana hurling itself forward in a rather atrocious-looking, but full-weight dropkick at the Devadadan's center mass.
KTS: Sanary Rondel has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Sanary Rondel targets Elisa Kafim with Ichinana CQC Brawl!
<Pose Tracker> Eisen Daiwel has posed.
It seems the other boy is also here with him. The Unit-01's presence gattling launcher sailing across the same opponent the Carestia is trying to gain the attention of; <"Let's do this Shinji, I need some samples!"> It seems that all of SciOps seems to think along the very same lines. <"You should just aim to be more like me, Shinji."> Eisen then adds. <"Learn to enjoy yourself and be true to yourself!">
When Garrod pipes up about this particular specimen, Mannaz tunes in; <"Got it! That won't be a problem. Carestia doesn't really have anything along the lines of beam weaponry."> The machine then releases from its strange vampire-like perch and begins to slide down the mountain as the voice rings out and Devadadan begins to react.
<"Let's do this, Fell Beast!"> Eisen demands! The Carestia coming forward, pressing its arms into the Devadadan's, struggling! Only to hear a voice coming in from Qivi! Truce?
<"It's you!"> Eisen dramatically declares! <"Black Knight - Ally to the Kaiju user."> He can't help but grin as the Carestia begins to be pushed back by the Devadadan. Its claws pushing in Carestia's more slim body's hands. The unit being pushed back, claws digging to the ground, but being overwhelmed by sheer might. Enough that Eisen is forced to disengage after its hands almost get crushed in, activating the A.T. field just in time for the next crushing blow, being sent back.
<"I don't really care to play Politics. I'm not here for you either. Just show yourself to be cool while fighting this thing!"> Eisen answers Qivi. <"Speaking of cool... IS THAT A FUCKING MOUTH LASER IT IS CHARGING!?">
The Evangelion's wings shift, and it maneuvers to the sides, getting out of the line of fire as it engages that warping black and green light! Fuck, he has to learn how to do that himself! But he doubts the current Energy Supply could even remotely support that!
<"YES! Show me more!"> Eisen demands of the 'speaking' Kaiju, as the Glaive is spun, and electric light begins to spark along its length. <"Let's see what makes you tick! Mason's Architect - aid me!"> He calls out to Sanary, before; <"FIRST HAUNTING ENUCLEATION TECHNIQUE!"> The machine digs its legs in and ducks low, its wings shifting to touch the ground, aiding in getting an even lower Silhouette as it rushes forward, bringing its spear up as it spins, using its entire body to bend like a practiced spearman, aiming for the small spot of its armpit, in an attempt to pierce through, before stopping, grounding itself, and turning the blade, hoping to CUT from that incisition and rending apart its shoulder!
<"HOOOWLIIIIING BLAAAAAAAAAADE!">
KTS: Eisen Daiwel targets Elisa Kafim with Sonic Glaive Cut! <Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
Guy Shishioh has fought beasts the scale of this Kaiju before. He's fought bigger, enemies at celestial scale and scope. But that was with every one of this allies cheering him on, with the full might of the Strongest Brave Robo Corps. at his side, with the Last Warrior of the Red Planet along for the ride, and with full access to 3G's many Hyper Tools. He has roughly none of those right now.
But he still has his courage, even though he feels his stomach turn in recognition of the scale of his foe. GaoFighGar's arm rockets back to him, just as the waves of lava fly his way. Guy thrusts his arm forward and the Left Arm of Protection follows suit, glowing with golden light as Guy erects the, "PROTECT WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALL!!"
The lava blasts slam into the Protect Shade's barrier, the matter of it rapidly redirected in numerous, scattering directions. The Protect Shade does its best to cancel it out, and it does a good job, but still, some lava sloughs onto GaoFighGar. Guy grits out in pain at the heat searing what feels like his body, but still, he's able to force some of that gathered energy through the Protect Wall barrier, bind it together, and: "HAAAAH!" Guy screams, as a star of fire blasts from GaoFighGar toward Maga-Go'yavec!
Huffing a breath, he opens a direct-link laser channel with a thought.
"Nice trick with the encoding, Sayla. Your folks all OK?"
KTS: Guy Shishioh targets Akane Shinjo with Protect Wall Reflect! KTS: Akane Shinjo fails to react to Guy Shishioh's Protect Wall Reflect, taking 2775 damage! KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley rattles Anti, making his next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Anti fails to parry Asuka Shikinami Langley's Pencil Roc Nailgun Surprise, taking 3060 damage! KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Anti KTS: Anti has activated the Trust Spirit Command. KTS: Anti fails to parry Riku Asakura's Energy Slash, taking 3075 damage! KTS: Riku Asakura has engaged Anti KTS: Anti fails to react to Sho Utsumi's Focused Cannon Shot, taking 3660 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
As soon as Rikka fires, someone makes his presence known.
"Nagisa!?" Rikka says, surprised, jumping slightly in her chair as she looks back at him. She has enough discipline now that she doesn't jerk the controls when she does. He was at the shop when Synchrotank mobilized... "...Oh. Sorry, I should've let people know I wouldn't be in today..."
...Of course she automatically assumes he was there to talk to her. Rikka doesn't realise that there's a slight issue, though, until a voice comes over the communicator. She pauses, looks down, and then looks back at Kaworu.
...And he saw the Access Flash, too.
"This is Astral Dragon in Synchrotank... and guest." Rikka responds, a subtle way of letting the others know that she isn't alone in the cockpit. She's... going to have to really apologize to Sayla later about this. With that, she looks back to Kaworu.
"Uh, can I ask you to keep this," She says, gesturing at Junk, before gesturing to the communicator. "And this a secret...? Sorry."
She pauses for a moment.
"...But, thanks... I'm probably going to need the extra help with a Kaiju like this." Rikka replies. Especially with some of the NGJHS not present. "This one's... big."
There's something odd about it, too, but she can't really quite figure out what. Not that she has much time to dwell on it, as the massive kaiju sends a blast of volcanic flame hurtling right toward her. Kaworu's assistance pays immediate dividends as Rikka hunkers down, the added response time letting her find cover and shield Synchrotank from the greater brunt of the blast.
"Here, I'm sending the data I've gathered so far..." Rikka says, pressing a few buttons on the dashboard and some on Junk. Targeting data to help Gridman fight, and a quick scan of the area to help some of the others defend themselves from the kaiju's assault if necessary.
With that, Synchrotank begins to move, lowering itself into the more mobile tank mode. They need to remain a mobile target against something of this size.
"I'm going to try to make aiming difficult for it..." Rikka says. Synchrotank's torso pivots, pointing the shield-mounted missile launchers at the kaiju. A series of smoke missiles launch in succession, aiming for the closest approximation of a face she can spot on Maga-Go'yavec.
KTS: Rikka Takarada targets Akane Shinjo with Jam! KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Yuta Hibiki KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Haruki Natsukawa KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Guy Shishioh KTS: Rikka Takarada jams Akane Shinjo's sensors, reducing her accuracy. <Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.
"Music changes the world, your highness~!"
Is what Mari Makinami brightly beams over her loudspeakers for all the world, endlessly chipper and relentlessly enthusiastic in the face of Asuka's fury.
The kaiju yells at her. Aggressively.
With words.
Aggressive, yelly words.
Within the confines of her entry plug, Mari's brows climb.
"Hmmmm," muses the Evangelion pilot, and for a moment, Unit-04 stalls, umbilical cable collapsing across trees and rock with the cessation of its movement as its bespectacled controller takes a moment to peer at the glue-glopped purple lizard(-cat) before her.
What this means is that Evangelion Unit-04 just completely stops fighting for a solid ten seconds as Anti rages against Unit-02, Phormocannon, and the Ultraman (-that- also earns a sidelong glance from Mari) as the would-be Child just sort of stares at the would-be Kaiju before her, critically.
"Hmmmmm."
Evangelion Unit-02 rolls right past Unit-04, which has now abandoned its assault rifles, both collapsing noisily on the ground, so that it might cross its arms in a thoughtful pose strangely reflective of the pilot within. Three more seconds pass.
04:16
"Ufu~."
And then, the Evangelion moves.
It's a forward charge that sends it sprinting towards the vaguely-reptilian creature before it. And since he asked --
o/` "At a cafe terrace, painted by the vermilion sun,
along with the fragrance of Turkish coffee,
the somber tango rhythm fills the air~" o/`
Mari's singing fills the air just seconds before Unit-04 ducks below those spikes from its red companion and looks to just -shoulder-check- Anti in a tackle that almost seems more -- playful than it is threatening.
"As lonely as I may be, if I dance,
it will bring a breath of fresh air into my heart -- HUP~!"
If it weren't coming from a giant built for anti-monster violence, anyway.
In the immediate aftermath, the singing stops. A question chases after Geed's own.
"So why does it have to involve you, then?"
KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious targets Anti with EVA-04 Unarmed Combat Tackle! KTS: Anti fails to parry Mari Makinami Illustrious's EVA-04 Unarmed Combat Tackle, taking 5640 damage! KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious has engaged Anti
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
For a moment, Kaworu turns his attention to another side of the battlefield, where a familiar lizard-like kaiju has immediately jumped Gridman, howled at Unit-04 and its pilot to go back to singing, yelled at Unit-02 that it is indeed him again, gotten glued up by Phormocannon, and repeated his old message at Ultraman Geed. Breathing a faint, what-can-you-do sort of sigh even as he continues to smile, he returns his attention to his side of the battlefield--or most of it, anyway. There's a lot over there (really *everywhere* in the battlefield today) that's worth keeping an eye on.
Part of that battlefield includes the evacuation process. His laidback demeanor--doesn't *go away*, but it does take on a certain thoughtful air as he considers the high schoolers below, getting herded by Ako, as they evacuate. He recognizes Ako from the time he'd come with Shinji and Asuka to investigate the town, and there's something about her presence that's different since the last time... Not just hers, really. His smile widens.
"Hmmm," he murmurs. "More and more of them now... Will this be a step towards hope for her...?"
Rei meanwhile asks if 'they' are in shelter. "They're well on their way, First," he radios back to her. "Keep on the defensive for now, and they should be safe momentarily."
Especially since Maga-Go'yavec is changing in a strange way... Not so much attacking as *exuding* force in the form of green lightning on the close range, and volcanic blasts on the far. Code names fly back and forth over transmissions. Kaworu doesn't interrupt them. Instead, he looks to Rikka as Synchrotank hunkers down to weather the fiery blasts.
"Sorry for startling you. And it's all right; I had a nice chat with your mother instead," he apologizes/reassures her. After all, he hadn't sat down to talk with her mother until after he'd learned Rikka wasn't there for the day.
As for Junk and the rest, Kaworu's smile both broadens and gentles. "Of course," he replies, again reassuringly. "You don't need to apologize for having things you can't tell others. I'll make sure to be discreet."
He looks up towards Maga-Go'yavec. "Yes... Quite bigger than usual. And there's something else..." he observes, smile fading. It doesn't linger, though, as Rikka announces her intent. He smiles again at her, and replies, "I'll continue to ensure this vehicle's fuel efficiency for the time being, then. The longer we can last against a target of this size, the better for everyone."
KTS: Kaworu Nagisa has activated the Resupply Spirit Command targeting Rikka Takarada KTS: Kaworu Nagisa targets Rikka Takarada with Prospect! <Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
Well. Sayla hired Qivi because she'd fall in with the crest holders easily, and she does. Going charging in is just what they do. Still, talk of a 'Surprised Char face' crosses her comms, and she frowns. And then... Anosillus just... Timing, people/kaiju! Timing!
The beam fire scores right through the armour of the Saint Lance, the lightweight MS being knocked back and falling, sliding through trees and ground. Knocking them aside like nothing. Sayla screams out, in her cockpit, but not to anyone else. How does it have that much power behind it?
And most of her weaponry is beam based. Fine. Time to change things. She's seen how they strike, and how they move, so if she links up her targeting systems, wires the comms. Guy's message reaches her. "For now!" She responds, working furiously- that many separate tightbeams is going to take time but- "Guy, I'm sending you some firing data, can you forward that to your allies? It'll be faster."
But to her allies, comes an attack pattern, with suggested targeting points, to hit the Kaiju hard, and ensure they don't escape.
<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.
"tough," Samurai Calibur murmurs, keeping an eye on the gargantuan kaiju they were tangoing with, mulling over the situation at large. From his perspective - it probably wasn't all that bad for Kaworu to know what he now does, as Calibur figured he'd already sussed out at least some of it on his own. He felt somewhat confident in the belief that unless particualrly quizzed over the matter, he probably wouldn't go out of his way to spill the beans.
No, he was more concerned with how on the nose his snooping was, knowing where he'd been and who he had been talking to. It was disconcerting.
Borr didn't bother with any of these perilous thoughts and instead angrily taps his foot on the grated floor, waiting for his chance to shine. "Yeah. It's almost like he's a mountain, or something." he grouses.
Of course, there was a reason he hadn't gone out yet. Transforming cost Gridman a lot of his stamina and, as he was now, he didn't have the energy to fight in his high-powered forms for very long. Unless their backs were to the wall or they knew the attack would be decisive, it was just too risky to transform yet.
And, as Vit had brought up several days ago in a shocking fit of helpfulness...
It's all fine and dandy to go out and get your hands dirty without combining, but that just makes you an easy target, yup. Take that talking kaiju for instance - he'd totally tear me to bits, mhm.
And so, it was agreed that they'd only deploy if absolutely necessary, at least in situations like this.
In the meantime, Gridman shows off just how much sharper than usual his acuity is as he tumbles into a backflip, "Toh!" twsiting his body this way and that to avoid the veridian lightning strikes arcing off of Go'yevac's body. If I keep plinking away at it like this, it'll take forever to force him into a full stop,even with everyone helping. Conserving my energy is important, yet ..!
"Thanks, Ri - erm, uhm .. " Yuta visibly struggles to recall her codename, after catching himself.
Astral Dragon. "Oh, Astral Dragon." he finishes lamely, with an inspiring thumbs up thrown the Synchrotank's way.
Teaming up with the mobile tank giving him an opportunity to act, Gridman taps his heels together before jumping high, "TOH!" and bringing one leg down to deliver a charged blow at the heel with his full weigh behind it, right to the crown of Go'yavec's skull.
KTS: Yuta Hibiki has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Kaworu Nagisa assesses Rikka Takarada's prospects, increasing her SP! KTS: Yuta Hibiki targets Akane Shinjo with Ankle Kick Cutter! Incoming attacks: 1: Yuta_Hibiki attacking with Ankle Kick Cutter (Physical, Melee, Technical, Penetrating) ----
KTS: Sayla Mass targets Akane Shinjo, Anti, and Elisa Kafim with Designate L2. KTS: Akane Shinjo fails to react to Yuta Hibiki's Ankle Kick Cutter, taking 3420 damage! KTS: Yuta Hibiki has engaged Akane Shinjo KTS: Sayla Mass designates Akane Shinjo, making her easier to target and opening her to indirect fire. Your unit's HP stands at 69110
KTS: Elisa Kafim fails to evade Shinji Ikari's Progressive Gatling Cannon Burst, taking 4050 damage! KTS: Elisa Kafim fails to rush. KTS: Elisa Kafim fails to react to Qivi's Covet V300 Boost Shot, taking 4050 damage! KTS: Qivi has engaged Elisa Kafim KTS: Elisa Kafim fails to react to Garrod Ran's Shoulder Gatling - Volley, taking 2775 damage! KTS: Elisa Kafim fails to react to Sanary Rondel's Ichinana CQC Brawl, taking 4950 damage! KTS: Sanary Rondel has engaged Elisa Kafim KTS: Elisa Kafim fails to rush. KTS: Elisa Kafim fails to react to Eisen Daiwel's Sonic Glaive Cut, taking 5130 damage! KTS: Eisen Daiwel has engaged Elisa Kafim KTS: Sayla Mass designates Elisa Kafim, making her easier to target and opening her to indirect fire.
<Pose Tracker> Anti has posed.
"THAT'S NOT ALL I KNOW!" Anti yells, with extra volume. Apparently, his breadth of knowledge is something of a sore spot.
He is an Auto-Intelligence kaiju, after all.
He grasps the spikes as they come -- clang-CLANG he catches one, then the other, until he finds himself all out of hands and with a few still coming for him. "Gaaah!" He bends backwards, all a-flail, as they impact his armor. Chonk, ka-CHONK.
For the artistic here, it's the same sort of noise as staple-gunning a model together.
He can't quite right himself in time to deal with that Dual Blast, either, and his response is soundly drowned out for a few moments. This is precisely the moment in which the Z-Raiser, all a-charge, comes down between his flailing claws.
"Hopes and dreams?" Anti snaps, as he swats the Z-Raiser away -- after it's cut off one of his shoulder spikes, which is going to take forever to fix -- to get a little space to breathe. "Don't give me that crap! If you don't understand that much about the situation, FIGURE IT OUT YOURSELF!"
He's entirely sullen about it. Maybe it has something to do with the magic being thrown around by beams, courtesy Devadadan. At what point are Anti's insults just reflections of Anti's own anxieties?
Don't look at him. He's not answering that.
"Anyway, I only need to kill Gridman, Ultraman!" Anti yells, still quite, quite angry. "As for you, I'll -- I'll -- I'll make you leave! Yeah! So just GET OUT OF MY LIFE!"
Anyway, that's when Anti gets bodily tackled by Unit-04.
Arms around his torso, all a-roll-roll-roll, the sheer strength of a kaiju-annihilating Evangelion is enough to finally tear Anti out of his gluey prison. Anti returns the favour by moving with the motion to toss Mari upwards, so that he can claw himself back up. "I belong here!" He yells, to her. "You don't! So just get out of my way! Get out of my way -- I'm killing Gridman! That's the only way!"
He jumps up, to emphasise the point, grabbing Unit-04 with his claws and FLINGING her off towards Unit-02; when he lands, he charges Ultraman Geed, each claw coming up to strike what may well be each of his opposite hands before he bodily rams himself forward into him. Into, and past him -- to jump on Phormocannon, with lashing claws.
Claws long and sharp and very, very, Calibrated.
Perhaps there's more than one good reason for those mysterious students who know Gridman not to commit to their own Access Flashes...
KTS: Anti targets Mari Makinami Illustrious with In My Grasp! KTS: Anti targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with In My Grasp! KTS: Anti targets Riku Asakura with Calibrated Claws! KTS: Anti targets Sho Utsumi with Crush Claw! KTS: Sho Utsumi has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Riku Asakura KTS: Sho Utsumi has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Asuka Shikinami Langley KTS: Sho Utsumi has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Mari Makinami Illustrious KTS: Sho Utsumi blocks Anti's Crush Claw, taking 6710 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Anti's DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE! activates, causing Sparkle! KTS: Anti has engaged Sho Utsumi KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley rushes into the attack! KTS: Anti anchors Asuka Shikinami Langley, forcing her into close range. KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley fails to react to Anti's In My Grasp, taking 6000 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Anti's DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE! activates, causing Sparkle! KTS: Anti has engaged Asuka Shikinami Langley KTS: Riku Asakura's Will Barrier activates, negating 1000 base damage. KTS: Riku Asakura blocks Anti's Calibrated Claws, taking 990 damage! KTS: Anti has engaged Riku Asakura
<Pose Tracker> Haruki Natsukawa has posed.
Guy and Gridman are here! Haruki's not about to let them down...
But unfortunately, Sevenger's bullets are instead going to let Haruki down as they're evaporated by the giant volcano monster's magma.
Haruki goes to fire another round to hopefully land a hit, but unfortunately after seemingly one round of fire the gun has already jammed. Sevenger begins desperately attempting to get the weapon working again, metallic hands smacking against it like one would a unruly computer monitor, but its effort all ends for naught anyway, as even though there's an audible click of the firing mechanism falling back into place, the STORAGE robot is suddenly engulfed in flames.
"Ah! I'm sorry, Sevenger-san! I don't think this is a battle we can win..."
Apologizing to the robot, Haruki reaches into his uniform, pulling out the Z-Riser which he raises overhead. With a press of a button, he's teleported away, and Sevenger's now pilotless body falls to the ground.
Not long after though, Ultraman Z descends from the sky in front of Sevenger, as if to safeguard it. Turning to make sure the robot is still in one piece, Z refocuses back on Maga-Gyozac.
"This is... No, they've never shown me this monster before, but why does the way it looks bother me? I should have paid more attention in class... Haruki! We need to end this quickly before something worse happens, I've got a bad feeling"
Fighting off his unnerved feeling, Ultraman Z reaches up towards the protrusions on its head with both hands, placing its fingers against them before throwing forward. A flurry of crescent shaped beams fire forth from the motion, aiming to carve into the volcanic giant's side in an attempt to avenge the poor bullets that couldn't.
KTS: Haruki Natsukawa targets Akane Shinjo with Z Tri Slugger! KTS: Akane Shinjo fails to react to Haruki Natsukawa's Z Tri Slugger, taking 4840 damage! KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious fails to retreat. KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious's EN Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage. KTS: Anti anchors Mari Makinami Illustrious, forcing her into close range. KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious fails to react to Anti's In My Grasp, taking 4200 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Anti's DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE! activates, causing Sparkle! KTS: Anti has engaged Mari Makinami Illustrious KTS: Sayla Mass designates Anti, making him easier to target and opening him to indirect fire. <Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
The bars on Akane's cool new toy continue spinning up. 33... 38...
"Come on! You'd think this cool future space gadget would have the processing power of, like, at least three whole potatoes." Akane huffs, and her nose scrunches up.
Unit-00's sniper rifle hits Go'yavec just below the eye -- its mouth hinges a little bit 'up' as well as down, leading to that bright red not *quite* taking it. It does seem quite displeased to be getting hit, though. Guy redirects some of the fire from the volcanoes back at Maga-Go'yavec itself; it melts some of the rock. This is an *undertaking*, though.
Chibodee hurls a punch. Surprisingly, it might actually hurt *less* than punching mobile weapons; there's a crumble, and there's a fair amount of greenery atop Maga-Go'yavec, too. It's still painful, but there's a limit to such things. Anosillus's sonic blast dissipates against the trees. It does *remove* things, but very little of what it removes is particularly essential. Sometimes you're just dealing with too much bulk.
Rikka goes for the eyes, too -- Go'yavec was designed to deal with the smoke it'd kick up, but this is something else entirely. This gives Yuta -- no, Gridman -- an opportunity to charge in and deliver a blow. It doesn't penetrate much -- but it does seem to leave the beast stunned. The slugger-blast rips through the side of the lumbering beast, carving a scar in the landscape-on-top-of-the-landscape.
"Ah, good. I'll have another duplicate prepared for you as compensation, unless you'd prefer a copy of *this* great beast," Alexis replies to Elisa, teal panels blinking on and off across the picture of his face. "It's only fair -- and I'm certain you can find use for any of them."
Maga-Go'yavec staggers forward; its movements bring it *mostly* toward Rei and Unit-00, though it's not really trying to arrive at any particular place, given the bombardment it's just received in the whole face zone. The meat of its attention, though, goes toward Gridman; Maga-Go'yavec tilts its head back to try to dislodge him, then opens its mouth and blasts out a barrage of green electricity similar to that which rolled off its body not too long ago.
It roars. One of the volcanoes on its back tilts toward Maxter Gundam, disgorging a blast of lava directly into it that lasts longer than you'd expect from such an eruption -- and continues to pivot back toward Maxter even as it starts moving forward, for that little extra bit of hurt. It picks up speed, now, starting to charge through some of the other assembled units (though it's so slow that Sayla's telemetry remains VERY useful). Even movement presents a threat, from something this size. It fires a mid-size fireball forward, toward Rei, from another volcano, with another screech.
50... 58...
The class is really booking it toward the trains. Ako has made a judgment call -- a smart one -- to take a route that puts a hill between them and Maga-Go'yavec; it'll give them at least a minute of relative safety... but the beast's current path toward Rei will take it close to the spot they'd come *out* of cover, which presents a future problem. Someone will need to cover the remainder of their evacuation route; Rei is closest.
KTS: Akane Shinjo targets Yuta Hibiki with Maga-Thunderclap! KTS: Akane Shinjo targets Chibodee Crocket with Go'yavec Fireball Rapid Fire! KTS: Akane Shinjo targets Nidaime with Go'yavec Smash! KTS: Akane Shinjo targets Rikka Takarada with Go'yavec Smash! KTS: Akane Shinjo targets Rei Ayanami with Go'yavec Fireball Bombardment! KTS: Akane Shinjo targets Guy Shishioh with Go'yavec Smash! KTS: Akane Shinjo targets Haruki Natsukawa with Go'yavec Smash! KTS: Rei Ayanami's EN Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage. KTS: Rei Ayanami fails to react to Akane Shinjo's Go'yavec Fireball Bombardment, taking 5400 damage! KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 111. KTS: Rikka Takarada blocks Akane Shinjo's Go'yavec Smash, taking 2640 damage! KTS: Akane Shinjo has engaged Rikka Takarada KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 147. KTS: Chibodee Crocket has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Chibodee Crocket successfully evades Akane Shinjo's Go'yavec Fireball Rapid Fire KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 183. KTS: Yuta Hibiki successfully evades Akane Shinjo's Maga-Thunderclap KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 219. KTS: Haruki Natsukawa's Will Barrier activates, negating 1000 base damage. KTS: Haruki Natsukawa blocks Akane Shinjo's Go'yavec Smash, taking 2380 damage! KTS: Akane Shinjo has engaged Haruki Natsukawa KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 255. <Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"Is it?" the voice wonders of Shinji, a 'sick game'. "It's not as if you can simply take a kaiju to the dog park to test it out." At great expense to the taxpayer, the Evangelion shatters bits of metal-and-maybe-glass plating on the kaiju's chest, rocketing up its form and leaving craters whee it passes.
Qivi's mecha goes straight through Devadadan's legs, and indeed it can't move out of the way of that so easily. It attempts to stomp her, but instead explosions rock its back and underside. Garrod's attack may be small bullets, but they're still bullets. They shatter against its shoulder and ruin more of its plating still.
When Garrod says nothing to her for the moment, the mysterious voice does not single him out. The black lightning is enough for that. However she does reply to Qivi's general radio, "Chatting a bit doesn't particularly influence the results of the experiment. It's more interesting that way, don't you think?"
Sanary, on the other hand, speaks defiance! "I would expect nothing less," the voice says to her. "It would be terribly unsporting if you rolled over and died. Worthless data, too." She does not clarify whether she is within the kaiju or not.
But the kaiju is stuck in place with Sanary's Ichinana all right, battered by the smaller machine's close-quarters assault. But the glaive on the shoulder--
"Yes! Yes! That's the kind of enthusiasm I wish to see!" the strange voice replies to Eisen. His mecha's glaive crashes forward, and while it doesn't take the whole arm off, it scores a nasty line into the kaiju's form. It's terrible! But...
"Ah, music... who is that singing?" the voice wonders in response to Mari's voice. Perhaps one of them will even tell her--though it suggests she might have trouble telling the mecha apart. For some reason. Regardless, the Devadadan moves to counterattack.
Fair is fair; Shinji's many bullets are met by a a single blip of a blast, a great round mass of energy that seeks to ovewhelm the Evangelion outright. Qivi's machine instead gets a great leg stomping straight down towards it, attempting to crush it outright with greater size. While it's still off-balance, it shoots another blast straight for Garrod's Gundam, almost as big itself as some smaller mecha the blast itself! And from there it just tries to kick Sanary's Ichinana out of the way!
"And you... we shall give you something more to overcome, yes?" the voice says to Eisen, and more energy crackles into the tablet--and thus, around the Devadadan. Between Carestia appears a sudden rent in the air, as if the atmosphere itself was cut. Inky darkness spreads from within the green, and the rift opens violently to attempt to send the machine crashing backwards and away.
And then the Devadadan just charges Sayla's mecha, attempting to overrun it with its own incredible bulk.
--
Elisa laughs musically to Alexis. "Perhaps I will!! It is quite impressive. Your supplier does good work. But I've grown attached to this variety..."
--
In the wake of its attacks, the Devadadan, briefly on its own, turns to face down its many oppponents in a ready stance!
KTS: Elisa Kafim has activated the Dash Spirit Command and has disengaged. KTS: Elisa Kafim targets Shinji Ikari with Devadadan Torso Pulse! KTS: Elisa Kafim targets Qivi with Desperation Strike! KTS: Elisa Kafim targets Garrod Ran with Devadadan Torso Unsteady Shot! KTS: Elisa Kafim targets Sanary Rondel with Desperation Crash! KTS: Elisa Kafim targets Eisen Daiwel with Tenebrous Rift! KTS: Elisa Kafim targets Sayla Mass with Desperation Crash!
<Pose Tracker> Riku Asakura has posed.
Those words hit a bit close to home for Riku. He belongs here, and the fact he's fighting so hard against them suddenly. Geed doesn't back down though, when the enraged Anti goes for him, he swings his arms out inside of the claw swipes, aiming to block them by parrying the slashes themselves with martial maneuvers. This doesn't stop his Momentum, which DOES cause him to stagger as he dives for the Phormocannon. "Watch out!" he calls out for Sho, even as Sho aims to solidify their defenses.
Riku recovers, aiming to close the distance between him and Anti again. "GALAXY CUTTING!" he shouts, as he closes the distance. The blades on the back of his arms glow bright yellow, as he attempts to slash the Kaiju repeatedly. Each slash leaves behind a black and red 'slash' every time he hits.
He doesn't stop, keeping himself mobile around Anti as he slashes, before coming down with both blades across the middle of the Kaiju. "You don't have to deny everything else to have your own place. I am here because I have found a home here, and I'm willing to protect it from people who threaten it. Just like Gridman does."
"Your desire to kill Gridman puts people in danger, you know that? You are yelling for others to not get involved, yet you're already involving them. Are you SURE this is what you want? You don't have to kill to keep living, all you need is the desire to!"
KTS: Qivi successfully avoids Elisa Kafim's Desperation Strike KTS: Riku Asakura targets Anti with Galaxy Cutting! KTS: Guy Shishioh's EN Barrier activates, negating 1000 base damage. KTS: Guy Shishioh blocks Akane Shinjo's Go'yavec Smash, taking 1700 damage! KTS: Akane Shinjo has engaged Guy Shishioh KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 291. KTS: Shinji Ikari has activated the Trust Spirit Command. KTS: Shinji Ikari's Will Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage. KTS: Shinji Ikari blocks Elisa Kafim's Devadadan Torso Pulse, taking 2175 damage! KTS: Garrod Ran has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Garrod Ran successfully Evades Elisa Kafim's Devadadan Torso Unsteady Shot KTS: Nidaime blocks Akane Shinjo's Go'yavec Smash, taking 1320 damage! KTS: Akane Shinjo has engaged Nidaime KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 327. KTS: Eisen Daiwel's Will Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage. KTS: Eisen Daiwel blocks Elisa Kafim's Tenebrous Rift, taking 3150 damage! KTS: Elisa Kafim repulses Eisen Daiwel, forcing him to disengage. <Pose Tracker> Sho Utsumi has posed.
As Anti comes forth with the claws, Sho's sending out targeting data so the others can take defensive protocols - even if they didn't ask for it. "Use this! Geed, this way!"
And then the claw strikes Phormocannon, sparking its junked body and flaying armor, forcing it backwards as Sho sweats inside. But weirdly, he isn't focused on being scared.
He's too busy being angry to be truly scared.
"I'm trying! I'm trying to figure it out - to protect the people of Tsutsujidai! But *monsters* like you continue to devastate and destroy! You know nothing but rage - and you turn it against the hero who proved there's still a fight left for us!"
"I may not be as big or as strong as him...but I'm not going to let him down. Gridman gave me hope! And that's why I'm here, instead of cowering at home!"
"Phormocannon! Increase power to weapons!"
His shaking hand moves over the lever. It pushes forward. The gravity of the situation still hasn't been realized - but his passion has.
"GLUE BUSTER - FULL BODY! FIRE!"
The glue gun's tank rapidly empties as he attempts a disengage, focuses the buster, and fires, trying to cover Anti's entire body with debilitating, movement-preventing glue, enough to keep a mobile suit down if done correctly. He's not sure it'll work that way, but it should do reliable damage if it hits.
KTS: Sho Utsumi has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: Sho Utsumi has activated the Dash Spirit Command and has disengaged. <Pose Tracker> Chibodee Crocket has posed.
Chibodee just gets Anosillus somehow. He opens local comms after he catches his breath. "Got the wind knocked out of me," he says. "I'm OK. Don't sweat it big guy." Inside the Trace Chamber, Chibodee wipes a few spicy chunks off the side of his mouth.
Gundam Maxter, already battered from that first strike, is now extra vigilant. Lava flies down at Maxter, and Maxter's answer is to do a full action-hero leap, throwing the extremely expensive gundam across the turf to send it into a tumble to evade the blast of hot fire. The evasion is almost worse than being hit by lava as Maxter is not made to take dives. Chibodee curses and spits as he scrapes Maxter up and gets back to its feet, throughly getting his ass kicked just trying to survive this encounter.
"I will fight the entire God damn ground!" Chibodee yells, either concussed or nearly there, and starts swinging wildly at the "ground" of Maga-Go'yavec. Gundam Maxter rampages as if it were trying to beat the Earth up to make it accept an expired BOGO coupon, yelling incoherently. Occasionally Chibodee becomes momentarily understandable if inexplicable: "the jim-jamming consarn lava," more shouting, "hitting me with lava like that bitch eating crackers," screaming, "just wanted to eat a fucking hot dog with a real onion on it for once," and so on. Do not ask this man to make sense.
KTS: Chibodee Crocket targets Akane Shinjo with Dempsey Roll! KTS: Sho Utsumi targets Anti with Full-Body Glue Buster! KTS: Elisa Kafim enervates Sanary Rondel, reducing her Morale significantly. KTS: Sanary Rondel blocks Elisa Kafim's Desperation Crash, taking 3000 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Elisa Kafim's Beyond the Void activates, causing Deject! KTS: Elisa Kafim has engaged Sanary Rondel KTS: Anti has activated the Trust Spirit Command. KTS: Anti fails to parry Riku Asakura's Galaxy Cutting, taking 3150 damage! KTS: Riku Asakura has engaged Anti KTS: Anti successfully evades Sho Utsumi's Full-Body Glue Buster
<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.
It is a speed run for her since she detached her Umbilical cable. Though she doesn't say that as she doesn't want to sound unconfident. "And just what makes you think I'm interested in your battle advice Daddy's Boy!?"
Mari's chipper statements though just continue to get so far under her skin. It's like that tone is a direct challenge to Asuka taking these battles so seriously. Mari may have beaten her recently, but she's never going to admit loss to her. Instead... "As if you crooning off-key could change anything! Today I'm settling things between us!"
As Unit-02 rolls by, Unit-04 holds that pose with its arms crossed, and after taking her own shot it's like Asuka gets the biggest tic inside her entry plug as her eyebrow twitches. "You-!" As she shouts her indignation as if thinking the other Eva is looking down at her. Mari starting to sing again... as she watches Unit-04 careen into the Kaiju.
"And what about its motivations matter?" She grouses over Mari's questions, "We'll figure it out once it's corpse is back at the lab!" Somehow there's a disconnect between the idea of figuring Anti out after he's dead, yet, Asuka truly believes a Kaiju has nothing worth offering.
And that's when Unit-04 is picked up by Anti. Unit-02 from its kneel takes off like a sprinter at the block, rushing right at Anti as Sho's defensive protocols alert her with a warning, "I DON'T NEED YOUR HE-" =unfortunately despite Sho's attempt Unit-04 is flying right at her, causing her to get cold-cocked unexpectedly by Unit-04's massive bulk as the two Evas become entangled on the ground right near Anti - the pilot biting back a scream as her whole body feels the blunt force impact.
"How'd you... manage to screw that one up you four-eyed crony!? GET OFF!" As Eva Unit-02 tries to palm 04's face and with a hand as she tries to shove her right off. Though it may take a second - and maybe not at all until Mari movies Unit-04 herself given the awkward position. Wrenching her units arm to the side to snatch the Thunder spear back up, she grabs it with both arms and tries a rising stab from her awkward angle in an attempt to get up.
The stab itself has hardly any force on its own. "You know what Kaiju? I'll admit you're right about one thing." Asuka's Evangelion thumbs the trigger, "YOU KNOW HOW TO HURT TOO!" The nozzle of the Thunderspear starts to spray a wide arc of electricity through the Kaiju's entire body, a torrent that electrifies his whole form mercilessly.
3:04
"Come on... come on!" She hopes that's enough, she needs it to be enough.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Anti with Thunder Spear Electric Pulse! KTS: Elisa Kafim enervates Sayla Mass, reducing her Morale significantly. KTS: Sayla Mass blocks Elisa Kafim's Desperation Crash, taking 3000 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Elisa Kafim's Beyond the Void activates, causing Deject! KTS: Elisa Kafim has engaged Sayla Mass
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
"Hey, Ayanami, this shooting stuff isn't so bad." Shinji manages, giving Eisen a long, slow look as he suggests Shinji emulate him. They're alive, nothing is on fire, all of the passionate people are making speeches, things are going pretty good. "I mean I could use a few more backflips, but, hey."
Then the giant monster just sort of shoots its giant monster version of breast fire at Unit-01. Shinji knows he can't move in time, so he calls up his ATFIeld, closing his eyes as the light of his soul is shattered from the sheer force of the impact. Unit-01 is flown backwards into the makeshift defensive building, and Shinji can hear the fear and panic of the technicians below. He almost laughs, no geofront to hide in now, huh? Not as dispassionate on the front line, you fucking ants, are you?
Is someone bleeding in there? Shinji can't see. Every second he's close to this building people are in danger, so Shinji grits his teeth, putting the smoking fires on his chest out with his free arm. He can see the burns on his flesh, where his plug suit has melted and deformed.
"It's kind of funny." Shinji says, "Just hearing all this green text like it's a train safety video and all I can think of is how much my skin looks like those hot dogs. Ha ha ha."
Unit-01 just starts walking towards the green monster, having switched its gating cannon to 'automatic' in a sincere effort to do the impossible and run out of bullets. "Ha ha ha!"
KTS: Shinji Ikari targets Elisa Kafim with Progressive Gatling Cannon Chaindump!
<Pose Tracker> Sanary Rondel has posed.
That's what Sanary's been forgetting to do: Come up with cool names for the Ichinana's attacks! She's got a title now thanks to Eisen, at least, and his call for aid is heeded once the Ichinana isn't being punted right through a pile of trees.
Also, the Ichinana is being punted right through a pile of trees. To its credit, it does weather the initial attack at least somewhat by bringing up that partially slagged shield, but the metal can't quite hold up against the Devadadan's kick, nor does it actually stop the kick from launching Sanary's mech backwards into causing the very property damage she was trying to avoid.
"Son of... Really need to get in good with one of those braniacs for a better suit." She mutters to herself as she brings the Ichinana back upright, looking over briefly in the direction of... Singing? One of the Eva pilots is singing, and it's actually not half bad. She can't let herself get too distracted, though, as she still needs to come up with a good attack name if she's going to meet or exceed anyone's expectations (however small they may be)!
<<"You're really just doing this for sceince, then? That's...">> She groans audibly at first, then lets out a 'well, maybe' kind of affirming noise while drawing out the Ichinana's sword. <<"You ever think of just signing up to work with NERV or someone instead? We've got loads of smartasses doing wonders over here already!">>
She conveniently leaves out the 'as pilots' part of the equation there. She's also not actually sure how old Elisa is, but...
Regardless, that much stalling has given Sanary some time to inspire herself to greatness, if at least enough to try and make up for a prior failure. <<"But if you're looking for enthusiasm, then say no more! This Ichinana isn't just a regular one, but a Greater Machine that's been folded over ten thousand times to harness my own powers!">>
A lie. It's just whatever's powering this thing that she doesn't fully understand, but it's power nonetheless as the not-really-a-Mazinger adopts that classic Mazinger pose: Arms up and bent towards the head as it the symbol on its chest glows fiercely. <<"Burn to the ground! Blaze Multiply!">>
Her timing of that shout is a little off as the Ichinana keeps building up power, only releasing a full five seconds later in mighty burning beam directed slightly upwards at the Devadadan! She's still conscious of potential collateral damage if it misses, after all.
KTS: Sanary Rondel has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Sanary Rondel has activated the Focus Spirit Command. <Pose Tracker> Qivi has posed.
Qivi is no longer with the Black Knights, but she doesn't feel any particular need to correct Eisen's misapprehension. It would lead to all sorts of annoying questions about who she *is* working with that she really doesn't want to answer, least of all here and now.
So she doesn't say anything else to him specifically. They've agreed to leave off on each other, and that's enough for now. Though there's the *other* NERV units to worry about; hopefully they all fall into line. The other Evangelion at least can probably be reasoned with, but she still gives Shinji's machine a bit of a side-eye.
More of her attention is on dodging, anyway. Sarangay is small, but it's not actually all that agile for its size; it is a kind of chunky-looking wanzer, reinforced and armoured, rather than being built for speed. The back-mounted jetpack helps, at least.
Fortunately, being stepped on is well within her experience, mostly. Being kicked by Mobile Suits is *certainly* something she's had to experience before. It's close, despite Devadadan's off-balance melee strike; Qivi bends further, jabbing her free hand against the ground and pivoting on it with a squeal of complaint from the landspinners. It does get her out of a stomping, getting her so close in that Devadadan would have trouble shooting her with its chest blaster.
"This is an experiment to you?" Qivi was tense before. Now she's angry, and Elisa has however accidentally given her an appropriate target. She raises her voice, her emotion rising: "Joining in the attack with the giant monster, to - do what? Just wreck the place?"
Qivi emphasizes her words with fists. Sarangay is a modified Blizzaia L... mostly. The right arm, the arm carrying a spiked weight and knuckle guard, is different; bigger, heavier, a repurposed Zinc arm from a line of powerful melee-specialist wanzers that mostly lost out because of economic reasons.
She slams in at Devadadan's legs as if trying to topple it, striking at the sides and back of the knees - and she follows up her fist with a shotgun blast, skidding backwards quickly afterwards so that if Devadadan falls over it won't be on *her*.
Qivi is mad. It doesn't show in her strikes - her attacks are just as controlled, just as steady as before - but it does show in her voice. "Fall *down*, won't you - !"
KTS: Sanary Rondel has activated the Enable Spirit Command. KTS: Qivi has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Qivi has activated the Alert Spirit Command. KTS: Sanary Rondel targets Elisa Kafim with Ichinana Breast Fire! KTS: Qivi targets Elisa Kafim with Covet V300 Double Assault! <Pose Tracker> Nidaime has posed.
Anosillus like other friendly kaiju throughout history can somehow be understood by those with a pure heart. It's just how the genre works.
Nidaime is strangely worried for Anti. The life of the Enemy Kaiju can be pretty harsh even if they are smart--sometimes ESPECIALLY if they are smart but Anti is the first kaiju besides Nidaime she has met that she could talk to, not like the way Anopapa talks. Now, sure, Anti when they DID talk was pretty shy but Chibodee explained all that for her.
Anosillus is just trying to tank the volcanic kaiju so it hurts few people. Defeating the magma beast is something for the others to worry about, really--Anosillus knows that their fighting power is top notch but they can take a lot of punishment!
The Maga-Go'yavec roars. The turtle roars back firmly but it's starting to shudder under the creature's relentless assault. The tackle SLAMMING into Anosillus hard enough that it nearly flips over.
It lets out a more mournful and concerned turtle growl before shaking its head from side to side and firming up.
Anosillus looks towards Rikka's Synchrotank, then over to the Gundam Maxter...
And then towards its old friend Gridman...
And it lets out another, louder roar. There's a strange...melodic nature to this particular roar.
KTS: Nidaime targets Yuta Hibiki, Chibodee Crocket, and Rikka Takarada with Awe. KTS: Nidaime inspires awe, increasing Rikka Takarada's Morale! KTS: Nidaime: Will Barrier Activates. KTS: Nidaime inspires awe, increasing Chibodee Crocket's Morale! <Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
"Yeah..." Rikka mutters in agreement with Borr. "I didn't know they could be this big."
She briefly returns Gridman's thumbs-up with a wave of Synchrotank's right arm. As for Kaworu, Rikka shakes her head.
"...It's alright." She replies, of startling her. ...And then she hesitates a bit when he says he was talking with her mom. "O-oh yeah...?"
...It's always awkward knowing someone was talking with your parents when you weren't there!!
Thankfully, though, Kaworu agrees to be discrete, and Rikka relaxes a little.
"...Thanks." She replies. Somehow, she feels like she can trust him on this. ...Not that there's much she can do if he decides to go spill everything.
As for Maga-Go'yavec, Kaworu notices something up, too. But...
"...Yeah, I guess surviving is all we can do right now..." She agrees. Kaworu's help will definitely make a difference - Synchrotank is already surprisingly fuel-efficient already for a machine constructed from discarded mobile suits and the hearts and bonds of those involved, and with his help it'll go that much further.
...Which is good, because now the kaiju - which is, as previously stated, basically the size of a mountain - is charging at them. It's not very fast, but at its size it doesn't really need to be to cause major damage just by moving.
"Hold on tight...!" Rikka says, gritting her teeth and holding on tight to the wheel. Synchrotank accelerates to try and get out of charge range. They're quick enough to minimize the damage - Maga-Go'yavec manages to just graze them.
'Graze', in this case, meaning its side scrapes against Synchrotank with enough force to send the machine spinning out - some quick control work being required to prevent the mobile suit from toppling over. It's looking a little worse for wear... but it could have been much worse.
"Everyone alright...?" Rikka says, a bit dazed but otherwise alright. Synchrotank's treads rev up again and charge forward. Once again, she sends out some targeting data - its much easier to take some time out to manage this with Kaworu's support.
But now, it's her turn to fight back.
"Taking aim again... we need to distract it." She says. The hydro cannons fixate on Maga-Go'yavec again. This time, she waits and lets some extra pressure build before unleashing it in a pair of piercing jets.
In the distance, she hears a familiar, melodic roar... that must be Anosillus. She knows the kaiju's name now, thanks to her talk with Nidaime. Anosillus - and Nidaime - will also receive a wave of thanks. It's good to know they're there to help.
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Chibodee Crocket KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Rei Ayanami KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Nidaime KTS: Rikka Takarada targets Akane Shinjo with High-Pressure Hydro Cannons! KTS: Elisa Kafim fails to evade Shinji Ikari's Progressive Gatling Cannon Chaindump, taking 8840 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Shinji Ikari's Find The Core activates, causing Nullify!
<Pose Tracker> Eisen Daiwel has posed.
<"So this is the same as the other one. Qivi - is this an associate of yours? This appears to be another Kaiju User."> Eisen calls out to the Black Knight, before his attention is drawn to the voice before him, as well as the rend in space.
<"What the!?"> This kind of physics anomaly isn't easily done! <"A rift in space!?"> Still, the youth can't help but grin at the suggestion that this is a challenge. That this is something for him to overcome. It seems to just rile him on more! <"I, the great Eisen Daiwel, accept your challenge and will overcome it!">
The violent rift blows against him, and the A.T. field once again comes up. The wings of the Carestia spread, the gossamer glint between its phalanged wings lighting up as it starts its engine. The powerful jet turbine against its back activating, trying to rest being blown back. But the energies from beyond the veil of space end up picking it up and throwing it back!
<"Don't go asking them to join our side now! We need a brilliant scientist on the other side like that! Who else is going to challenge us over the long run!?"> Eisen calls out to Sanary as the wings of the Carestia spread wide, and it arrests its movement rather suddenly, pushing Eisen far back in his seat. The security systems locking tighter into place, as the youth pushes the controls back forward.
It seems like Sanary is finally getting in the mood though. Which only serves to rile Eisen up even further. Spiralling further into the depths, his synchronicity rate increasing further. <"Deeper."> He demands. <"Let me deeper, Carestia."> He demands. As the machine rockets by means of that Jet Turbine straight for his enemy - their enemy - and follows right along with that flaming beam cast forth from Sanary's attack, aiming to throw the arm of the Carestia around its neck and to use close quarters combat techniques to lift it slightly by the neck and hold it in place for Shinji to more accurately fire upon. Erecting the A.T. field to guard himself from spill-over from Shinji's attacks!
KTS: Akane Shinjo fails to react to Rikka Takarada's High-Pressure Hydro Cannons, taking 4410 damage! KTS: Akane Shinjo fails to react to Chibodee Crocket's Dempsey Roll, taking 5640 damage! KTS: Chibodee Crocket has engaged Akane Shinjo KTS: Eisen Daiwel targets Elisa Kafim with Oppression! <Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.
Leap!
Crash!
Fly!
This is the sequence of events in Mari Makinami Illustrious' life, summarized.
Unit-04 makes contact with Anti. But it's a short-lived embrace of bittersweet violence, as it is immediately proceeded by the (auto-)intelligent Kaiju rolling with the motion in a way Mari is all too familiar with. Within a little lake of LCL, Mari's eyes pitch a touch wider.
"Wh--"
She begins, buyt whatever she meant to say is cut short by that upwards toss. Unit-04 goes flipping forward -- but before it can collide with the ground, it is gripped tight within a pair of claws that scrach deep into armor plating enough to briefly scrape something that is -not- at all armor, and
HURL
Mari lets out a brief, choked sound; LCL bubbles vaporously at her waist where Anti's claws clenched tightest. Unit-04 goes hurtling --
And Mari knows she's alive by the sharp, sweet sting of pain lancing through her shoulder as she becomes the Mari Missile she always was at heart and crashes shoulder-first into Asuka's Evangelion Unit-02.
A crunch of metal. A sound not all that different from a yelp. The crunch of shrubbery. And with that, Unit-04 ends up splayed out ungracefully atop of Unit-02 in a tangle of limbs, armored helm lurched forward.
"Whoof... you can really feel the higher synchro..." Mari murmurs to herself within her entry plug, her head lurched forward much like her Eva's. Bubbles bloom from her shoulder. But she's smiling.
"Hah. It's so nostalgic..."
Mari's head tilts. Blue eyes peer at Unit-02. And through the speakers, she finally murmurs.
"... A thousand apologies, Princess! I think we were just three seconds out of sync!"
The three seconds she waited before engaging--
"But..." Unit-04 disentangles. It staggers back up, turning to look at the rampaging Kaiju over its shoulder.
"... sorry, your highness. I don't want to waste a single second of this moment."
She's just too curious.
Which is why, when she finally parses the data given by Sho, Mari turns her unit around fully. The tremendous, unwieldy-looking gauntlets connected to Unit-04's arms hiss as they begin to slide along its forearms.
In the last few seconds before its hands disappear beneath those gauntlets enfolding around them and locking into place, Evangelion Unit-04 flashes the Phormocannon an 'OKAY' sign with its fingers.
"This is some neat info, thanks! You're my favorite Glue Gun~."
And with this glowing praise (??) delivered, the Rapidborers lock into place, circular drill bits beginning to spin with terrifying acceleration. Being up close is dangerous. Very dangerous.
Which is why Mari -dives right back into the heat of it- to get -as close to Anti as humanly possible- to pound drill-bearing boxing gauntlets -directly- into its torso -- and yet, inexplicably, avoiding anything that might be intentionally construed as lethal. Painful, sure. But --
-- that's part of the fun. Just like...
"The only way to what?" booms Mari's voice over the loudspeakers, curious as a cat.
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
"Roger!" Guy agrees, and switches channels. "NERV! I'm feeding through some tactical data from a Brave in the area! Should help you hit your marks!"
Unfortunately, one of those attacks knocks Sevenger instantly out of the fight. "Damn!" Guy curses. "Sevenger, is that pilot alright!?"
Nothing. Unconscious, he assumes.
He refocuses. As long as none of the lava bullets land on the downed mech, they can deal with that later. He sees a descending mass of stone from Maga-Go'yavec attacking him and throws the Protect Hand up, shimmering spatial distortion trying to force aside the strength of the blow. It can't - the Protect Wall was never the best on physical attacks, and a physical attack that amounts to a mountain stepping on you is worse than usual - but it shoves enough aside that Guy is able to escape with a blast of thrust from Stealth Gao II. He finds himself hovering near the tree line, looking down on the foe. "Really wish I had Goldy right now," he mutters, watching as Gridman basically bounces off and Rei unloads into it with A Gun. Neither seem like they're cutting it much. Well, in that case...!
Guy thrusts downward - with his drill knee pointed down, for the beast's head! Maybe he can destabilize it at a critical area! "DRILL!" Guy screams, as the drill hits rock. "KNEE!!"
KTS: Guy Shishioh targets Akane Shinjo with Drill Knee! KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious targets Anti with Rapidborer - Pulverizing! KTS: Elisa Kafim fails to evade Sanary Rondel's Ichinana Breast Fire, taking 4860 damage! KTS: Elisa Kafim fails to rush. KTS: Elisa Kafim fails to react to Qivi's Covet V300 Double Assault, taking 5850 damage! KTS: Qivi has engaged Elisa Kafim KTS: Akane Shinjo fails to react to Guy Shishioh's Drill Knee, taking 3300 damage! KTS: Guy Shishioh has engaged Akane Shinjo KTS: Eisen Daiwel enervates Elisa Kafim, reducing her Morale significantly. KTS: Elisa Kafim fails to evade Eisen Daiwel's Oppression, taking 5390 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Eisen Daiwel's Experience This Curse With Me! activates, causing Deject! KTS: Eisen Daiwel has engaged Elisa Kafim KTS: Eisen Daiwel begins a Formation attack!
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
Across the battlefield, a child shouts: 'If you don't understand that much about the situation, FIGURE IT OUT YOURSELF!'
Kaworu glances in that direction, unsmiling. ...It seems like Akane hasn't been teaching him the right lessons. Though he suspects she'd disagree... He'll leave it up to Geed to counter that sentiment, though. Geed might be just what Anti needs right now.
Past that, though, he quirks a slanted smile at Ultraman Z's arrival seemingly in Sevenger's defense, and makes a low 'tsk' as Unit-02 and Unit-04 struggle against each other. "Utsumi has a lot of spirit, doesn't he? It's touching how much his hope from Gridman inspires him," he remarks to Rikka, his tone admiring. He doesn't remark on what he might've been talking to her mother about, though--only gives her a smile back and, at her warning, holds on tight.
It's a hell of a ride as the Synchrotank spins around. Kaworu seems curiously fine by the end of it, nodding once when Rikka asks after everyone's well-bring. "Agreed. It would be best if we could direct it away from here," he observes.
After all, the evacuees are in more trouble as Maga-Go'yavec comes closer and closer to where they are--and the closest person to stand in their defense is Rei in Unit-00. With the massive shield she has, it's just sensible for her to act in their defense, so he sends her a transmission: "First, the kaiju's charge is taking it towards the evacuees. Can you adjust position to the side to provide cover for the remainder of their route? If so, I'll leave it to you."
Shifting from maintaining the Synchrotank's increased fuel efficiency, Kaworu takes advantage of the hydro cannons Rikka has it discharges at Maga-Go'yavec to drop an electric charge along the current into the kaiju. It's too mild to significantly hurt it, but it might take some of the fight out of the creature.
KTS: Kaworu Nagisa has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Rei Ayanami KTS: Kaworu Nagisa targets Akane Shinjo with Shock! KTS: Kaworu Nagisa shocks Akane Shinjo, reducing her Morale significantly.
<Pose Tracker> Haruki Natsukawa has posed.
The mountain known as Maga-Go'yavec slams into Ultraman Z. Stubbornly, the Giant of Light tries to contest its strength and weight, but he immediately buckles, nearly being crushed flat in the process, though still somehow hanging on.
"Haruki! We need to swap!"
"On it!"
Within the confines of Z's inner space, Haruki swaps in three new medals into the Z-Riser. Outwardly, this is reflected by Z's outfit suddenly changing and his primary colors changing from blue to red, as well as a sudden increase in overall bulk.
The bulk is what helps more than the wardrobe change, the additional muscle mass allowing them to contest back. But still, even with the increased strength, it's a bit too much. Z needs to get them off somehow... And Haruki has an idea how.
Focusing all the strength into his legs, Z slowly lifts himself up, picking up the mountain of a kaiju with him as he does so. It's not more than a couple of meters. It's not really all that impressive looking either, it looks a lot like someone struggling to lift a dresser up from its bottom on moving day. But it's enough, hopefully.
Straining himself to the absolute limit, Z lets out a primal grunt as it uses all of its strength to lift Maga-Go'yavec completely off the ground, before clumsily tossing it away.
There's not much distance to it, all things considered, but there doesn't need to be. Big things going up and down is never a good thing for the object that's big, even with short distances...
At least, that's what Haruki's hoping. For all he knows, the mountain might have some sort of rubber-like property.
KTS: Haruki Natsukawa has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Haruki Natsukawa targets Akane Shinjo with Beta Arrow Swing! KTS: Akane Shinjo fails to react to Haruki Natsukawa's Beta Arrow Swing, taking 5400 damage! KTS: Haruki Natsukawa has engaged Akane Shinjo
<Pose Tracker> Garrod Ran has posed.
The firing data from Sayla should be useful - but Garrod needs to be able to actually shoot the kaiju *effectively* to make use of it, and limiting himself to physical ballistics removes about eighty percent of his combat options. Still, the black lightning and stuff are definitely different from the similar kaiju in Africa - maybe this version is less vulnerable to beam weapons, or at least, more susceptible to *taking* damage instead of soaking them up and returning them in kind?
The focused blast is bigger, and potentially more intimidating - but it's also a good bit more coherent, and this time, he's able to steer the GX clear of it - and when Devadadan comes to a halt, Garrod is ready. He's keeping a wary eye open after that chest-mounted heat-blast from the Ichinana; it might be beam-like enough that the kaiju can capitalize ...
But for now, Garrod toggles over to his Gundam's chest vulcans once again, this time trying to pinpoint one of the weak spots in Sayla's data dump.
KTS: Garrod Ran targets Elisa Kafim with Chest Vulcans - Bracketing Salvo! KTS: Anti fails to retreat. KTS: Anti fails to react to Asuka Shikinami Langley's Thunder Spear Electric Pulse, taking 5600 damage! KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Anti KTS: Anti fails to parry Mari Makinami Illustrious's Rapidborer - Pulverizing, taking 5280 damage! KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious has engaged Anti
<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.
"It's - Ultraman!" Yuta remarks. While he didn't doubt Geed's ability to overcome Anti with the help of his own allies, it was a spirit-lifter to have Z giving him his aid again. Hopefully, this time, he would't get hurled straight at the enemy.
Taking the opportunity provided by his own stunning blow to the head and Z's Tri-Slugger, Gridman aims and punches down with a barrage of punches against the hard rock below that made up Go'yavec's right-most eyeridge in futility. Despite the size of Gridman and Ultraman, it was still much larger, after all - and much, much sturdier than Gridman's fist, now sparking and bent around the plates lining his knuckles. "Geh..!"
Meanwhile...
"the forest fires are getting out of hand," Calibur quietly informs the rest of the Synchrotank's crew. It went without saying that as long as that living lavaland was spewing lightning and magma everywhere, the forest would still continue being lit ablaze. And as everyone there likely well knew, a fire that out of hand would be a monumental disaster for the town to try and deal with.
But it wasn't like Rikka could just take her attention off of Go'yavec, regardless. "Then it looks like it's my time to shine! Finally!" Borr announces with a harrumph, unstrapping himself from his seat. "are you sure?" Calibur wonders.
"I'm not gonna' both with the witty banter, this time."
Clenching his fist in front of him, Borr's twintails whip behind him as he shouts, "ACCESS CODE: BUSTER BORR!" and disappears in a flash of light, similar to Yuta.
Popping out of a bright blue, snowflake-shaped gate on the ground, an armored tank mounting two massive, augur-like drills comes roaring out at highspeed, "Here I goooooooooooo!! FOREST EXTINGUISHER MISSILE!"
Nodes lining Borr's hole pop open and begin raining volley after volley of micromissiles onto the forest, which explode into a damp and foaming liquid that saps the heat and makes it difficult for the flames to spread.
"i guess it's a good thing that Borr has special equipment to deal with forest fires," Calibur intones to himself.
Back with Gridman --
Having backflipped off of the kaiju's head, with legs tucked to his chest to curl himself into a ball perfect for gaining the distance he wanted, Gridman breaks into a roll just in time to throw his arm up vertically, a rainbow myriad of light travelling along his arm and gathering into the Primal Acceptor.
"GRIDBEAAAAM!"
Go'yavec's breath attack is met with a surge of light roaring from Gridman's arm and slamming into it halfway, struggling against the tide for several seconds before pushing its way through in a mighty, booming explosion as the two blasts cancel eachother out. "Borr's out now..!"
"Please cover me!"
Gridman requests, calling out to Ultraman, Synchrotank, Maxter, and the Evangelion in his immediate vicinity.
KTS: Yuta Hibiki has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Yuta Hibiki targets Akane Shinjo with Buster Borr!
<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.
The voice of Kaworu (or, in Rei's mind, 'the Administrator') is simultaneously reassuring and worrying. The reassurance is that it means there are resources on the field, and what he says is itself positive to hear; fight somewhat further and the civilian residents and occupants of the area will be out of the line of (literal) fire.
The worrying is that Rei is counting 0, 1, 2, 4, Zahlos, and now the Adminstrator as well. This is not a small operation. On some level, in the back of her neck, she wonders...
"Yes," Rei answers Shinji. "A useful skill."
Sight in on the target. The Evangelion's adaptive optic adjusts. It's moving. Nearer - approximately nearer. Rei flicks the scope magnification just a bit further. Anosillus is the first thing to resolve, followed by the Gundam Maxter. At this point a volcanic aperture turns towards her and--
The ESV comes round again, propped up suddenly. The great device lives up to its name, to a certain extent, in that it once again endures the burst of flame; the same cannot be said of either the sniper rifle, whose barrel deforms and twists backwards with a subsidiary BANG as several primer packages go off in the clip, nor of the rest of the Evangelion as that notchlike space once again spills off magma. This time it bobbles on something, sizzling in the air as Rei winces -- and then pours off...
... Onto the cable.
*PIIII* 00:05:00.0000
This is also the moment when Kaworu updates her. Rei turns Eva-00's head, and there-- snaking in the shelter of a scenic little hill with its own private staircase and table-miniature-seeming observation on top-- people, on foot. Walking, or perhaps more clearly running, towards the station where the narrower-gauge rail breaks off from the rights-of-way. A train can easily outrun Go'yavec, Rei reasons.
"Copy," Rei answers Kaworu.
In the course of twenty seconds of operation, Rei makes her move. She advances several giants' paces, down into the roadway. Looking at the figures on foot, almost antlike, she makes Eva-00's head turn so they *see* the look.
I will protect you, she resolves, sweeping Eva-00's hand towards the station, even while dropping the devastated rifle and leaning forwards to place the Enchanted Shield of Virtue partly athwart the stairway up. Carefully posturing it; an incomplete shelter. Perhaps against shrapnel or stray fire-blasts.
00:04:01
But Rei is fortunate today. Much like the child of yore, who received *TWO* hot dogs, she has *TWO* rifles, with different performance characteristics. Why does she receive two rifles? No parents? Regardless, it leaves her with a 209mm automatic artillery piece optimized for direct fire.
When Rikka's targetting data reaches Eva-00's computers, she answers her, "copy!" with more urgency than before, the hunched-over Evangelion moving away from that dab of open roadway, past the bus parking lot, and across a thankfully-empty stretch of local traffic road to bring the gun upwards. With Rikka's data she can fire and move - and she does exactly that, discharging an entire artillery batallion's ration of shells at Go'yavec while back-pedalling, up the side of the mountain. The noise is atrocious, but good news: No shell casings.
The clip out, Rei pops out the old one. It demolishes that old bus parked in the far corner. Fortunately, nobody liked it anyway.
KTS: Elisa Kafim has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Elisa Kafim has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Elisa Kafim has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Rei Ayanami targets Akane Shinjo with Type MM-99 209mm AU Assault Rifle Barrage! KTS: Elisa Kafim fails to react to Garrod Ran's Chest Vulcans - Bracketing Salvo, taking 3400 damage! KTS: Rei Ayanami has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Rikka Takarada KTS: Rei Ayanami has activated the Resupply Spirit Command targeting Shinji Ikari KTS: Akane Shinjo fails to react to Yuta Hibiki's Buster Borr, taking 3780 damage! KTS: Yuta Hibiki has engaged Akane Shinjo KTS: Akane Shinjo fails to react to Rei Ayanami's Type MM-99 209mm AU Assault Rifle Barrage, taking 3200 damage! KTS: Nidaime inspires awe, increasing Yuta Hibiki's Morale!
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
It turns out, if you're not fast enough to stop being prone, you get caught by an angry giant manned Kaiju, that sends you sprawling- and then that Kaiju, more than twice your units size, is crushing you underfoot. The only thing blocking it is the Saint Lance's shield. Normally, she'd fire off the shield's five megaparticle cannons but against this...
Fine, she'll have to improvise. She drives the grenade launcher on the Saint Lance's arm right at the sole of the foot. Her thrusters are ready to fire as soon as the pressure lets up. Mana is going to have a field day with this one... "I'm going to try and unbalance it! Capitalize on it if you can!" The voice would be distorted for Rikka now, but Sayla doesn't have the time to rework the encoding. Damnit.
And then she fire four repulsion grenades in quick succession, to try and knock it off and away from her, and maybe even topple it. And utterly destroy the shoulder and elbow joints under the sudden repeated impact. But an arm is a fair cost for the rest of her if it works.
And if it doesn't, well... Then she has to consider ordering people to charge it and pull her out.
Which means she'd order them to focus on killing it instead.
KTS: Sayla Mass targets Elisa Kafim with Concussion Grenade! <Pose Tracker> Anti has posed.
Riku's Galaxy Cutter impacts with Anti's copied claws, in a shower of light and sparks like all the stars in the sky. It's all very impressive -- particularly given the grunt of effort he makes when he jumps back. It took work not to get carved up like last week's model clay, there.
"YOU'RE threatening it!" Anti yells -- inclusively, though it may not be entirely obvious -- as he brandishes his claws. "I...!"
Don't have to kill to keep living, is that it..?
His attention snaps to Phormocannon, as its pilot yells his own declarations. "You know what?" He says -- and he was halfway here already, mind you, all thanks to the help he's been getting out in the real world -- "To you, I AM the bad guy! I'll fix the world in ways you hate! So COME AT ME, DAMN IT!"
... if the heroes are gathering, and he's not with them, that must make Anti the villain, instead.
Because the sort of people who would do that to Renais are also...
Rather than dwell on that, Anti fully leaps over Glue Buster's full-body firing, spinning in mid-air in a way not unlike the graceful motions of the Vessels of Light before he lands in a heavy, thudding way which is very much UNLIKE them. "All of you in the outside world... you'd love to put me in a lab, wouldn't you?!" Anti cries, and -- yes, these insults are literally just his worries, so hopefully no one's taking notes. "Like I'd let you!"
The fact that Asuka was going to put his dead body in a lab isn't something which factors into Anti's evaluation of how well he'd be able to fight it off, apparently.
Maybe they're both very confident.
Unfortunately, Asuka's evaluation of how good he is at hurting may well be true -- he actually flees away from her Thunder Spear, and he might have even been fast enough to get away with it, if not for the fact that the horns sweeping back from his head also make excellent lightning rods. "Ugh! You're a pain in my ass!" He yells, as he whirls --
oh, hi, unit-04
"GUAH!" Anti yelps, as Mari gives him a good one-two punch, with spice. He slices back at her -- and, she might note, he's also striking at her Unit's arms and legs rather than anywhere a pilot would logically sit -- but tragically, his all-out offensive means that it's devastatingly easy to slip in between his claws. His suit gets some more holes in it. What's underneath is black and indistinct; he does not bleed oil, blood, or even green alien goo.
"The only way to GET GRIDMAN OUT OF MY LIFE!" Anti yells, angrily. Oh, he's been angry this whole time, certainly -- but now he's EXTRA angry, entirely pissed, completely livid. He has an extra anger stomach, just for Gridman. "I was created solely to defeat him! I WILL defeat him! Today's the day! Today's the day!"
He looks at the armored tank, crashing in. "And if I can't do it like this, then I'll just USE HIS FRIENDS TO KILL HIM!" Anti yells, as he spreads his arms, with an angry yell.
As it happens, by the way, he's a kaiju. And kaiju occasionally do strange things, especially when the light on their foreheads flares with that sense of urgency. Things like --
From his chest erupts a MAW, a hundred teeth ill-fitting in his newly-shaped jaws, open and hungry. "GRIDMAAAAN!" Anti howls, as those teeth jet out of his mouth, crashing in towards anyone and everyone and -- Gridman. Mostly Gridman.
Someone's going to have to intercept them, or--!!
KTS: Elisa Kafim fails to evade Sayla Mass's Concussion Grenade, taking 2550 damage! KTS: Elisa Kafim's Devadadan has been disabled. KTS: Anti has activated the Detonate Spirit Command, reducing the Buster Anti to 1 HP! KTS: Anti has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Anti has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Anti has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Anti has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Anti has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Anti targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Incisive Missile! KTS: Anti targets Sho Utsumi with Missile Bite! KTS: Anti targets Riku Asakura with Missile Bite! KTS: Anti targets Mari Makinami Illustrious with Missile Bite! <Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
66... 78...
The more chatty the Maga-Go'yavec, the more data the Bio Devizer has to work with, and the faster it goes. Akane remains utterly impatient. "I swear if it doesn't finish out in the next minute I'm gonna break it!" she shouts at no one, at nothing. "Maybe I should get a little closer..." She moves from her rocky perch to the road; the smoke has started to clear a bit anyway.
Chibodee's fists *really* dig into Maga-Go'yavec's body. He will fight the entire ground, and honestly, it seems to be working. At this point he is genuinely *digging*, though again -- burrowing through Go'yavec, even without its borrowed power, would take an age. Then again -- if anything would work, it'd be the combination of Guy Shishioh's drill knee to form a hole and Rikka's high-pressure cannons to safely remove the rubble. Kaworu's efforts to sabotage *mostly* go to ground (heh), but there's a real sense that it bothers the monster. The beast starts to sag -- and sags directly into Ultraman Z's waiting arms. That newfound heft can only get it up about 40 meters and to one side about 30 -- but coming down nearly shatters one of its legs.
The barrage of bullets from Eva Unit-00 leaves Go'yavec -- and some of the countryside surrounding it -- pockmarked... and then Gridman at last deploys his perfect tool for the job: Buster Borr.
The combination of extinguisher missiles and Grid Beam works wonders; Borr slows the roll of Maga-Go'yavec's volcanoes, and the actual Grid Beam leaves the monster in clear pain. It's dangerous for it to still be this hale and hearty after all this punishment... but this, at least, is a more manageable thing than it was at the start. Still... it's moving. And as it keeps moving, that only gets more worrisome
Maga-Go'yavec arrives dangerously close to the evacuees. Ako -- up to this point comfortably in the lead -- isn't ready for a monster this close, mouth and teeth and claws and eyes all dripping with threat. She screams; she'd been feeling decisive today, since the whole trip was her idea... but ultimately, she's a moody high schooler who can't work up the guts to ask a girl out for real. Her guts break, and she cowers a bit.
Akane's eyebrows rise slightly. That... isn't where she wants that to be going. "C'mon, Ako -- you can move those feet," she says, doing her best to sound like she's having fun. ... she *is* having fun, right?
A giant intercedes -- though not one of light, but of flesh, bone, and steel. Interposed between the moving mountain and the terrified teenager, its shield gives Maga-Go'yavec genuine pause. Its foot slows.
That unnatural, newly-draconic tail -- looking for all the world like it was stitched into a body that never wanted it -- whips over the rest of its body. It lances straight for Unit-00's body; at this scale, it could not just pierce but simply *carve in two* just by pressing all the way through. Every volcanic pore blasts lava in all directions, as if feeling particularly victorious. It's purposeless, wide-area violence, spread across everything but what it's presently directly menacing with that stabbing tail.
"Frustration. Resignation. Fear, target: Vessels of Light. Other feelings detected. Below parse threshold."
Akane's eyes widen. She blinks. "You've gotta be kidding me..." Her focus on the Bio Devizer -- a new toy, and one seemingly capable of telling her how her kaiju really feel -- means she mostly ignores Anti, for now. He can handle this one on his own. It's a familiar problem, right? That means he already knows how to solve it.
KTS: Akane Shinjo targets Rei Ayanami with Spear Tail! KTS: Akane Shinjo targets Chibodee Crocket with Go'yavec Fireball Bombardment! KTS: Akane Shinjo targets Nidaime with Go'yavec Fireball Bombardment! KTS: Akane Shinjo targets Rikka Takarada with Go'yavec Fireball Bombardment! KTS: Akane Shinjo targets Yuta Hibiki with Go'yavec Fireball Bombardment! KTS: Akane Shinjo targets Guy Shishioh with Go'yavec Fireball Bombardment! KTS: Akane Shinjo targets Haruki Natsukawa with Go'yavec Fireball Bombardment! KTS: Haruki Natsukawa's Will Barrier activates, negating 1000 base damage. KTS: Haruki Natsukawa blocks Akane Shinjo's Go'yavec Fireball Bombardment, taking 1500 damage! KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 77. KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley's EN Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage. KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley fails to Evade Anti's Incisive Missile, taking 4320 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Anti's DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE! activates, causing Sparkle! KTS: Rei Ayanami fails to react to Akane Shinjo's Spear Tail, taking 6600 damage! KTS: Rei Ayanami's Evangelion Unit-00 has been disabled. KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 113. KTS: Rikka Takarada blocks Akane Shinjo's Go'yavec Fireball Bombardment, taking 3600 damage! KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 149. KTS: Yuta Hibiki fails to evade Akane Shinjo's Go'yavec Fireball Bombardment, taking 6000 damage! KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 185. KTS: Sho Utsumi fails to Intercept Anti's Missile Bite, taking 8760 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Anti's DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE! activates, causing Sparkle! KTS: Sho Utsumi's Phormocannon has been disabled. KTS: Chibodee Crocket has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Chibodee Crocket successfully evades Akane Shinjo's Go'yavec Fireball Bombardment KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 221.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"That is kind of funny," the voice agrees with Shinji. And then the Eva unloads just, a purely unreasonable number of bullets into the Devadadan. Oh, it tries to evade, turning on its heel and starting to get out of the way... but there's just way too many bullets,, and as they crash into the thing's torso, they start to melt plates and crater sections. More than that, a ripple goes through the thing--as if some shield that was in place is momentarily... gone. Especially as the Carestia attempts to hold it down.
The Ichinana's pilot Sanary poses a worthwhile question, from the way the voice 'hmms.' "I did try that once," the voice replies. "But the office politics were terrible. I can't tell you how upsetting the whole thing was, really."
But Sanary has more than questions. "A Greater Machine, is it? All the better!"
Does she recognize the Mazinger pose? It's hard to say. But the mighty, burning beam that crashes towards the Devadadan is not absorbed by its powerful absorbtion. Instead it's slammed partially backward, knocked rumbling steps aside and rocking the ground with its nearly falling. Into this comes Qivi's angry blast, and perhaps she will topple it--it wobbles dangerously with that shotgun blast to its knees, to its sides. But it doesn't fall--mostly because the Carestia grabs it by what is approximately a neck and holds it in place for Shinji's continued bullet assault. It roars in displeasure? pain? something, but the voice is unperturbed.
"I'll remember that name. This is only a taste of the true power kaiju can bring to bear. And you...," the voice 'focuses' on Qivi, "Of couse it's an experiment. The local environment will recover in time. On a geological scale, this incident is almost meaningless."
Garrod does not give her much to talk about--but he gives the kaiju much to worry about. He fires for the weak spots Sayla gave him, and cracks start to form through the kaiju's entire body, another roar punctuating its wobbling in place.
...But none of those has prevented it from continuing to try to crush the Saint Lance, thoroughly underfoot; the kaiju has tried to move, but that's only made its position worse for Sayla. And indeed, it looks bad. The 'voice' is silent for a few moments, as the kaiju begins to crackle with green-and-black power.
--
"I'm afraid that I'll have to introduce much, much more energy to finish this satisfactorily," Elisa laments to Alexis. "But the data we've achieved is..."
--
"What? But that one was--" Explosions rock from beneath it. Four repulsion grenades slam into the kaiju, and it finally breaks the Carestia's grip--as explosions rock it, the kaiju starting to come apart entirely. The power Elisa was channeling into it bursts--and implodes, creating a brief rift in space through which all that remains of the kaiju is drawn. There is a flash of light...
And it is gone.
--
"Tch," Elisa says, far off, as the tablet in her other hand breaks. Her computer tablet gathers still more data. "...Should I have given it more power more quickly...?"
--
The voice doesn't even say goodbye. That's just all there is. The devastation left by the battle will have to be its final answer.
KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Nidaime's Will Barrier activates, negating 1000 base damage. KTS: Nidaime blocks Akane Shinjo's Go'yavec Fireball Bombardment, taking 1500 damage! KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 257. KTS: Riku Asakura's Will Barrier activates, negating 1000 base damage. KTS: Riku Asakura blocks Anti's Missile Bite, taking 6930 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Anti's DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE! activates, causing Sparkle! KTS: Riku Asakura's Ultraman Geed Galaxy Rising has been disabled. KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Haruki Natsukawa has activated the Trick Spirit Command.
<Pose Tracker> Sho Utsumi has posed.
The Glue Buster is evaded gracefully, and Sho moves to try and regain energy - he put a lot into that. But instead, Anti's words hit him even through his anger. 'You'd love to put me in a lab'. Why? Why is this thing supposed to be sympathetic?!
These are feelings he can't process in a fight, as the missile bite impacts with Phormocannon, doing critical damage. Any more and it'd be gone, and so would he. As much as Sho wants to grab the mattock and make a heavy swing...survival instinct overrides.
He radios the Shuffles, emotion in his voice. "This is Tarabaman S. I'm retreating."
The Phormocannon retreats with all its boosters, zigging and zagging to not be pursued. Sho said all those words, made all those declarations...
Can he even back them up?
KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious rushes into the attack! KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious's EN Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage. KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious fails to react to Anti's Missile Bite, taking 5220 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Sanary Rondel has posed.
@emit <<"Ah, I forgot about that! Still, there's always gonna be someone opposing humanity, so unless she really hates humans being around...!">> Sanary calls out to Eisen in return as the Ichinana lowers its arms from that moderately mistimed fire blast. <<"Besides, having more great minds among us means more opportunities to hone and prepare our own powers for when the seals finally have to be broken!">>
Somehow, she still isn't embarassed spouting stuff like that. She does, however, have to turn off her microphone briefly at hearing the next things Eisen says. It's not until the Devadadan's ???? that she finally recovers enough that she can turn her speakers back on and not sputter at the same time.
<<"Office... Really? They seemed pretty cool when they were hiring me.">> She sounds uncertain despite leaving out the 'as a construction worker' part of that, clearly not figuring the distinction between her job and a scientist's job to be too important to bring up there. <<"Bad day, maybe. But if you ever decide to turn over a new leaf and join us...">>
The Ichinana raises its hand towards the Devadadan, clearly the results of Sanary taking too much time practicing fine motor control with a steering wheel. <<"My hand will be waiting for yours!">>
And then the Devadadan explodes. Or implodes, rather, before disappearing in that flash of light. Sanary remains silent for a moment as she tries to come up with a proper response to that, clearing her throat a few times to try and keep her brief burst of anxiety down before finally speaking again.
<<"Good work, everyone! I don't think that's the last we've seen of her, but we'll be ready for next time! Hopefully, as an ally rather than... All of this. How are things going with the moving mountain?">>
KTS: Guy Shishioh's EN Barrier activates, negating 1000 base damage. KTS: Guy Shishioh fails to evade Akane Shinjo's Go'yavec Fireball Bombardment, taking 3750 damage! KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 293.
<Pose Tracker> Chibodee Crocket has posed.
Gundam Maxter keeps hitting. Chibodee has foam at the corners of his mouth as he yells and swings, blood in his eyes from how badly he's been thumped in the fight. Maxter is not really so bad off but the man within it is functionally fighting through a car accident whenever he makes Maxter dive.
Like he's going to do again. Chibodee manages to clench on his mouthguard properly before leaping to dive away from another fuscillade of magma. Gundam Maxter gets into an outright shoulder-dive roll, tumbling awkwardly as Chibodee poorly executes an evasive maneuver that nonetheless works because he's made out of magic and bruises.
"Dirt holds me down!!" Chibodee yells, thrashing Gundam Maxter up in a surge of core strength in his Trace Chamber and genius engineering in the robot. "I'm feeling that colony mojo! I'm feeling this thing is holding me down and so I'm gonna drop bombs on it!"
Chibodee swings down on the same spot, again and again, trying to spread the cracks that Guy and others have put into the beast from sheer force. "I had crinkle fries coming! They were gonna put Old Bay on them! I was going to ask if they had any real mayonnaise! And I was going to drink a beer!"
Chibodee pounds down into the beast with another punch with every syllable. "A COLD! BRIT-TAN-IAN! BEER!"
KTS: Chibodee Crocket targets Akane Shinjo with Left Hook! KTS: Akane Shinjo fails to react to Chibodee Crocket's Left Hook, taking 5100 damage! KTS: Chibodee Crocket has engaged Akane Shinjo KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Resupply Spirit Command targeting Haruki Natsukawa
<Pose Tracker> Riku Asakura has posed.
The missiles are going for Gridman as well as the rest of them.
Riku Asakura says, "Damn.." Riku says, not seeing much choice in what he can do here. He dives ahead of them, trying to put himself between where Gridman was fighting and Anti, and raises the barrier. "
Riku Asakura says, "Born for a purpose.." he says, frowning. What monster would create life just to use it like this? There's not much he can do now, or get any answers, so he tries to get to cover before he gets stepped on, or exploded in a stray shot."
<Pose Tracker> Riku Asakura has posed.
The missiles are going for Gridman as well as the rest of them.
"Damn.." Riku says, not seeing much choice in what he can do here. He dives ahead of them, trying to put himself between where Gridman was fighting and Anti, and raises the barrier.
What follows is explosions and toku sparks, throwing Geed to the ground in an explosion and fire. In the aftermath the Vessel of Light is gone, Riku being hit so hard that he was detransformed hard. He finds himself face up in the center of that explosion, groaning as he forces himself up.
"Born for a purpose.." he says, frowning. What monster would create life just to use it like this? There's not much he can do now, or get any answers, so he tries to get to cover before he gets stepped on, or exploded in a stray shot.
<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.
Eva-00 stares at the enormity of what it is before it. The Evangelion is taller, standing well higher than Mobile Suits and many other machines - taller no doubt than Anosillus though surely not bulkier. But compared to Go'yavec?
It isn't all that big. There's always something bigger.
It's moving to them Rei thinks, and then she slams the two control systems forwards as Eva-00 discards its assault rifle and the clock reminder in the cockpit helpfully turns tracking down from somewhere around 3m40s to
MAXIMUM OUTPUT - EST. 00:00:44.3376--
and it skids forwards. Back the way it came. How vexing. The good sense and emotional state of the evacuees can't be helped by something orange-dappled appearing in front of them. Having slid forwards, the Evangelion throws its hands forwards as if it hopes to catch the vast incoming *forelimb* of the massive creature. The light seems to change, growing lurid and faintly purple as a haze forms --
The leg smashes against an enormous coruscant field! Octagonal ripples echo outwards, a low and oddly choral effect as the AT Field unfolds and develops and TILTS and as the foot skids along it, rising upwards as Eva-00's head follows it.
I meant it
Stop it
you're going to die
The lurid-purple lighting grows as the Evangelion rocks backwards, arms forced apart as if strapped to machinery. Something cracks and rips in one arm but they struggle together, the outstretched palms trembling but not contracting. The foot reaches an angle where its interior momentum can't move it further.
In the plug Rei hyperventilates the LCL while leaning forwards. "no," Rei says. Eva-00 lurches-- one knee and thigh jerking backwards, carving a three-meter-deep furrow in the roadbed while another spasm shakes it, the luminscent glow fading in intensity.
"No," Rei says as the Eva's foot flexes -- leverage - push, rise - the enormous joint of the kaiju moving too.
A mountain walks. Bleeding in rage. Mindless.
It's thin. Faint. A body ill suited for a shield.
I don't know them. I am what is here:
you've waitedfor this
The other foot comes up and pushes. The AT Field's luminance ripples -- tightens inwards. Instead of a curtain it is more concentrated. Panting as indicators in the plugsuit feed alarming amounts of data; as intention pushes the plug itself nearer to the Eva's core; setting, however briefly, a personal best for sync ratio, Rei actually shouts, "No!"
One last push: Fully upright; and Go'yavec's leg swings backwards, smashing through the observation deck and perhaps forty yards of ancient eroded lava in that little scenic fixture. And then it comes to rest, erupting fire but not standing atop them. Eva-00's hands come down.
Rei's lips breathe out as she eases on the controls:
Just in time for the kaiju's tail to come downwards out of the left side of the field of view and
The view in the entry plug flickers as Rei turns her head.
The tip of the kaiju's tail slams into the left upper torso of Eva-00 from the top - into the fleshy space where in a human body there is a gap between shoulder becoming neck. It dives in there: deep, deep. Deep, deep, until something stops it:
The world itself is suddenly punctured by the veriest tip of the kaiju's tail in a moment of shock. There is only the briefest delay of nerve pulses before a sudden burning violet patch on the corresponding space of Rei erupts and Rei herself SCREAMS IN AGONY for three seconds.
Which were the last three seconds of power. The Evangelion shudders and goes limp; the tip of the tail pulls *partially* out, hundreds of liters of red fluid spraying outwards in a sudden morbid hiss of maimed machinery.
Rei clutches a shoulder that is curiously numb, screaming again into the dark chaos of a damaged entry plug.
KTS: Kaworu Nagisa has activated the Resupply Spirit Command targeting Haruki Natsukawa <Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.
Mari's statement at the idea they were three seconds out of sync actually seems to disarm Asuka for a second, "What!? What... are you talking about...?"
It seems to click though, half a second later. "... you actually thought I was TEAMING UP WITH YOU!?!" Asuka roars over the comms, her arms shaking in her livid pose. "You've... not my TEAMMATE! You're my COMPETITION!"
02:14
Mari's apology for her curiosity as she keeps asking Anti questions, curious as a cat causes her to sideeye the panel of her entry plug with a visual on Mari's in it. Though she doesn't say anything, only glare at her. Inevitably, her focusing on what it has to say makes Asuka be unable to block it out as something less than just inane Kaiju ranting.
Anti whirls away, and the Thunder Spear runs out of charge as the gauge runs dry, smoke sizzling from the nozzle, "Tck." Clucking her tongue in annoyance, Unit-02 casts it aside. And instead extracts two Prog Knives out of each shoulder pylon. She's about to drive one of them right into the Kaiju when a maw erupts from Anti's chest - and missiles flow out of it.
Jutting out a hand holding the knife, Unit-02's AT Field is...
... too late to unfold. Missiles slam into the Restraint armor, as the pilot screams inside, not expecting to have to lower her synch rate to deal with it, not expecting it to impact at all. The Evangelion reels back, staggering, before the green ocular 'sensors' of the Eva focus on Anti. And the girl attached to the titan looks at him with a strange intensity. 'Tarabaman S' is retreating, and some part of her distantly thinks 'Good, he doesn't belong here.' Yet, at the moment her focus is on something more immediate... "If that's your purpose..." The girl says she pushes the induction levers forward Unit-02 runs at the Titan. "... I'LL JUST RELIEVE YOU OF IT!"
00:56
It's stupid. Stupid of her to be talking to it. It's Mari's fault, talking to it, making it speak on its reason for being created. Making her think about this inhuman thing's purpose. The Evangelion flings one prog knife at Anti's torso at close range. With one hand free, the left hand joins the right to the other Prog Knife's hilt as she thrusts it nearby, like she is trying to hit the same bullseye - assuming both hits the mark.
Then ducking down low, the Evangelion pivots around, then up, it's broad arm slamming into the hilts of both brutally punching both of them... further in if the strike lands.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Anti with Progressive Knife Drive! <Pose Tracker> Garrod Ran has posed.
"The mountain's still moving," Garrod replies to Sanary, hesitant to actually *let out* a sigh of relief after the Devadadan's vanishing act. It might reappear as suddenly as it disappeared, after all - but given the thrashing which immediately preceded the disappearance, it seems unlikely.
Plus, the mountain that's still moving *should* be a lot safer to use beam weapons on ... and with that thought, Garrod brings the GX's Shield Buster Rifle up, opening fire even as he takes his Gundam into the air for a mix of better aim and better maneuverability.
... he might not have noticed just how dangerous Maga-Go'yavec's tail is, though. At least not yet.
Asuka Shikinami Langley has cancelled her attack.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Anti with Progressive Knife Drive! KTS: Garrod Ran targets Akane Shinjo with Buster Rifle - Blast! <Pose Tracker> Eisen Daiwel has posed.
Another rift in space, this one forms after the Kaiju wrests out of the Carestia's grip, causing the Evangelion to back-pedal two or three steps in order to regain its balance. The hairs on Eisen's neck are practically standing up at attention as the thing is 'warped away' through space itself, leaving him with nothing to vent his frustrations out on.
<"Don't leave now! I wasn't finished preparing my next technique yet!"> Eisen demands from the now emptied space and scorched lands around the group. The youth grimacing at the sudden lack of Kaiju to empty out his emotions upon. Instead, he turns the Evangelion's head down towards the source of all of this conflict originally.
The very ground upon which they rest. The movement. The enormous tail. <"This isn't done yet. Let's help our allies!"> Eisen tries to snap Sanary to attention, as she claims they'd done good work. The machine then puts one hand to the ground, and sprints off, away from the tail. Rushing across the island. The rapidly unfurling cable suddenly snapping... and then RELEASES from the tail. The 5:00:00 signal rapidly showing, but Eisen doesn't stop.
The Carestia keeps running, past hills, crushing trees, wings coming almost flat to reduce its aerodynamic shape. Some of them rattle like chimes in the wind, the Glaive stabbed into the side of a mountain on the way as Eisen goes off of the data that has come in so far...
The Evangelion suddenly seems to go right over a Ravine... only to grab for the edge of it.
<"It should be..."> His eyes rapidly darting, the jet turbine activating at he spots the red glint! <"THERE! BEHEMOTH SLAYING TECHNIQUE!">
The machine swings, releasing the edge of stone near its 'brow', and sails for one of its eyes, claws outstretched, feet grabbing to the retina of the eyes, tearing into them as if trying to detach them, as its wings STAB forward like massive spikes, and the machine brings its arms forward.
<"DEVIL'S IRIS SUBMERSION!"> As the machine turns and tries to dig THROUGH its eyes, assuming that any 'biological adjacent being' should be weakest in the eye, and tries to start burrowing through! Gripping to its wings, trying to bring out the Progressive Spears hidden within, and starts stabbing them in, hoping to get a chance to swim within the liquid of its eye and burrow to the back of them to stab into even more vulnerable places!
KTS: Eisen Daiwel has activated the Accel Spirit Command and Has Engaged with Akane Shinjo KTS: Eisen Daiwel targets Akane Shinjo with Code: Annihilation!
<Pose Tracker> Qivi has posed.
Qivi's grip tightens around her controls, her knuckles whitening until she relaxes her hands slightly. "No! I don't know her." she actually responds to Eisen. "I wouldn't work with someone who decides the best experiment is going to burn down a goddamn *mountain*, or - whatever."
"And as for you," she finishes, focusing on Elisa (well, her Devadadan) again, "I'm going to show you what I think about this kind of bullshit - "
Qivi brings up her shotgun to fire it again, but the Devadadan is abruptly not there. Jerking her head left and right, Sarangay follows her movements as Qivi tries to determined whether it's just teleported behind her, or around - but she can't see it anywhere.
At least Sayla is now free. Qivi wasn't entirely sure how she was going to try to lift her out of there.
"C'mon!" she says to the crew instead. "The volcano is still there - " Though how is she going to do damage to something the size of Go'yavec, at distance, with Sarangay? She cycles through her options, barreling past the part of the battlefield she was on toward the gigantic kaiju. There's one place a missile can go, if she circles around far enough -
Qivi waits for its mouth to open, just a little, because when you are a wanzer firing lightweight missiles in bursts of four and your target is a mountain 'a little' goes a long way. She doesn't bother to lock on; she fires manually, guiding them as far as she can and letting autotargeting handle the rest, cruising into the mouth. Hopefully.
"I'll buy you a beer afterwards!" she sends, on Shuffle lines afterwards, to Chibodee. (She will, too.)
KTS: Qivi targets Akane Shinjo with MGR-M Launcher Missiles! KTS: Akane Shinjo fails to react to Qivi's MGR-M Launcher Missiles, taking 3440 damage! KTS: Eisen Daiwel enervates Akane Shinjo, reducing her Morale significantly. KTS: Akane Shinjo fails to react to Eisen Daiwel's Code: Annihilation, taking 9360 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Eisen Daiwel's Experience This Curse With Me! activates, causing Deject! KTS: Eisen Daiwel has engaged Akane Shinjo KTS: Akane Shinjo successfully avoids Garrod Ran's Buster Rifle - Blast
<Pose Tracker> Nidaime has posed.
"Oh no...! Are Chibi's crinkle fries getting cold because of magma?! That's both ironic and sad...!" Nidaime cries out in sorrow.
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmUOJkt-lV8
"Chibi...! Help...! A sad song came onto my playlist...! If we don't stop it soon, I'm going to associate this kaiju with the sad fry song...!"
Anosillus roars because he would never eat NIdaime's fries without permission and he doesn't want to be associated with deadbeate fry-stealing dads!!
Anosillus trots back a few feet, crouchiung down low to protect Nidaime from the fireballs. But the magma hurts. The Turtle Shell splinter and cracks. "Ggrrraaawwww....Brrrrp..."
Energy coalesces around its horns before zapping in front of its mouth as it steadies itself--
--before unleashing a massive sonic blast out from its mouth towards the Maga-Go'yavec! Though perhasp for that particular beast, it's merely sizeable. Anosillus is taking this one pretty seriously.
Nidaime waves to Rikka but it's hard to see because a giant turtle is hovering protectively over her.
KTS: Nidaime has activated the Enable Spirit Command. KTS: Nidaime targets Akane Shinjo with SuperSonic Wave! Incoming attacks: 1: Nidaime attacking with SuperSonic Wave (Force, Ranged, Barrier Breaker, Root, Finisher) ----
KTS: Akane Shinjo fails to react to Nidaime's SuperSonic Wave, taking 4425 damage! KTS: Nidaime roots her unit, coming to a standstill and leaving her vulnerable.
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
Guy's drilling knee creates a nice dugout cavity that allows others to wash out some of the debris. Eroding this titan's body might just be the best thing they can do, except...
Guy watches it delight as it chases down those kids. He grits his teeth, tries desperately to signal for the Dividing Driver - if he can part the mountains, they'll have minutes to beat this thing! But no answer comes, of course. Wadatsumi is several dimension faults away.
And so, a hero must stand up. He watches with a certain numb awe as Rei gives herself to the moment, that AT FIeld fending off the mountain-tighten for as long as possible before Go'yavec's mutated tail finishes the deed. "AYANAMI!" Guy screams.
He thrusts his hand forward, the G-Stone emblem on his Protect Hand glowing, and then Guy screams, "EXPAND!"
And then the Protect Ring he stuck in the heart of the beast at the start of the fight grows by doubles and triples, SHOVING anything it encounters aside and forcing a huge hole into the beast's body. If he can disrupt its form enough, will that force it to change its plans!?
<Pose Tracker> Sanary Rondel has posed.
All it takes is looking a little to the left when Garrod mentions that the mountain is still moving. <<"That, it is! Let's bring it down, Gundam pilot! Uh. Which one is that, anyway?">> It's sort of ringing bells, at least, but she can't put her finger on why exactly.
<<"Right, let's... I've got your backs! Don't let up now!">> Sanary tries to play off her lapse in judgment as she follows Eisen's lead, sending the Ichinana forward as it picks up what's left of its weapons to prepare for battle with the mountainous monster next! Without knowing where to aim, though, she's somewhat hesitant to just shoot a mountain.
Qivi's missile shots give her some ideas on what to look for though, though. It's hard to tell that the Sarangay is even shooting at a mouth, but between that and the attacks on the tail, the sword now has several points to aim at! Sanary's Ichinana rears back its mighty blade from a distance as it launches the blade forward, spinning the blade in midair like a pseudo boomerang minus the returning part.
That, in turn, is followed by the Ichinana raising its arms once again. Rather than firing off that signature beam right away, however, it instead fires off an odd tornado designed to tear through and rust whatever it comes into contact with. That, in turn, is meant to buy time for the Ichinana to charge up and unleash yet another blast of flames upon the...
She's still not aiming particularly well, but it's still a lot of firepower in a short amount of time.
KTS: Sanary Rondel has activated the Enable Spirit Command. KTS: Guy Shishioh targets Akane Shinjo with Program Ring Expansion! <Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
The talker's dead. Talking monsters. Maybe an Angel'll talk, sometime. That'd be wild. At least they'd know why they're being invaded, Shinji thinks, tossing the useless chaingun aside. It lands on top of a new bus in the same parking lot, which was kind of okay but cheaply put together. Shinji breathes, looking at another dead monster and the living monsters he works with.
His power bar takes a spark up, and looks over at Ayanami, his lips curling into a little smile as he's about to say something.
Shinji sees everything. He sees the volcano monster wail on Unit-00, he sees it beat her, and burn her, and break Unit-00 as it struggles desperately to keep on its legs and he can hear Rei finally show a little emotion, like he'd always secretly hoped. She screams, and screams, and screams.
The Umbillical cord detaches, smashing something unimportant. 5:00:00.
Shinji can't talk. His throat strains. Unit-01 grabs at its throat, eyes glowing a horrible color of orange as it chokes itself, trying to squeeze something out. The machine stumbles around, drunkenly, as precious seconds are wasted. It needs to come out, something needs to come out of him, or it will surely kill him and then who knows what will happen. Ghosts, there are ghosts in this giant I ride, Shinji thinks, his eyes empty and as he looks at his own reflection he sees a pair of eyes that aren't his. Blood red, slit like a wild animal's. A dog. Puppy-kun. His jaw buckles, it shakes under the pressure, metal strains and screams under unnatural force as finally.
It breaks. Rows of blood red teeth are revealed as Unit-01 holds its head back, beats is chest, and SCREAMS at the sky.
"AYANAMI!"
Unit-01 lunges forward, moving unnaturally, shoulders limp and legs pumping with animal efficiency. It hops and skips, building speed, leaping off of building off of building, finally landing like some hideous predatory bird to lurk on the top of a building and hurtling forward, twisting around in mid air as its ATField explodes to life.
"You're so smart." The ghost says, her Mona Lisa smile branding itself into his brain forever. "I'm going to pilot it. So you can pilot it."
"I don't understand." You say, small and alone.
"That's why you're perfect." The ghost doesn't kiss your forehead, though you think she might. Kisses need to be earned, you remember. "Because you'll do it anyway."
"AYANAMI!" Unit-01 bellows, as it flies through the air and DIVES into the volcano monster, trying to dig through the beast's flesh heedless of the steaming, burning magma or the boiling heat or anything but the fundamental truth: everything has a heart, and that heart can be, with patient effort, stopped. "DON'T YOU TOUCH HER!"
KTS: Sanary Rondel targets Akane Shinjo with Ichinana Full Volley! KTS: Shinji Ikari has activated the Accel Spirit Command and Has Engaged with Akane Shinjo KTS: Shinji Ikari has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Akane Shinjo successfully avoids Sanary Rondel's Ichinana Full Volley KTS: Akane Shinjo successfully avoids Guy Shishioh's Program Ring Expansion KTS: Shinji Ikari targets Akane Shinjo with Rip and Tear! KTS: Akane Shinjo fails to react to Shinji Ikari's Rip and Tear, taking 6900 damage! KTS: Shinji Ikari has engaged Akane Shinjo
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
Well. Sayla didn't expect to enact both plans at once. The shield *cracks* under Devadadan's weight in that last moment, before the grenades obliterate it into light? She's not sure what happened there, and if it was piloted... She registers the comms going around. Tarabaman S and Geed are down, which means...
"One target down! Circle Blue, Club-8! Focus on the big one!" This is getting messy, and those Eva pilots are getting loud. She *feels* Rei's scream in her head, from here, that level of pain... For a moment she almost feels it, before the walls are up. Her eyes soar over to the source, that Unit that is so briefly impaled.
That wasn't a cockpit shot, was it? If it was she'd be dead. So why was there that much pain? What the hell are those things?
She has to focus on the threat at hand. The others have the smaller one.
The Saint Lance pulls to it's feet wth one arm, the right hanging limply at it's side. The Missile Binders on the shoulders pivot. This thing has weak points now- and she has to shoot around an enraged Guy and the purple one. Fine. "Firing!"
The two high explosive warheads from the missile binders arc towards Go'yavec, flying patterns that can only be pulled off by mechanical control, like a pair of fight aces dogfighting through space. She has to hope it's enough.
KTS: Sayla Mass has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Sayla Mass has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Sayla Mass has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Sayla Mass has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Sayla Mass targets Akane Shinjo with High-Explosive Psycommu Guided Missile! KTS: Akane Shinjo fails to react to Sayla Mass's High-Explosive Psycommu Guided Missile, taking 4125 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
"Almost too much, sometimes." Rikka says with a sigh, but then pauses, hesitating for a moment a bit more quietly. "...But I guess he does help keep us motivated. We wouldn't really be the 'Gridman Alliance' without him."
Obviously it'd be too embarrassing to admit that out loud. To her question on what Kaworu was talking about with her mother, she receives only a smile. That's... pretty worrying!!
They both seem to be in agreement on what needs to be done, though, and thankfully Kaworu knows someone who can help. There's another issue, though, that Calibur brings up.
"Yeah... That wouldn't be great for them, either." Rikka replies with a frown as he mentions the forest fires. Her friends on the ground, still trying to escape, or Tsutsujidai either. Fortunately, Borr's on the case! "Thanks... We're counting on you."
His forest extinguisher missiles will definitely cover more ground than her cannons will.
Unfortunately, they have other problems too - Maga-Go'yavec is getting that much more aggressive, and so are the other kaiju. In particular, Synchrotank finds it has to steer its way around a rain of lava as the kaiju unleashes it over a wide area. Both shields raise to intercept - but with how much heat they've been taking, they're starting to get a little molten. She's not sure how much longer they'll last.
Sho, meanwhile, is forced to retreat.
"Alright... just be careful, okay?" Rikka replies. The last thing she wants is to lose anyone. She can't handle that.
But, the Evangelion that went to defend the others... it takes a vicious blow and goes limp. Rikka's eyes go wide in shock, and her breath is caught in her throat.
"N-no..." She murmurs. ...They'll be okay, right? Right...? It's hard to tell, but that wound looks serious. After a moment, her gaze steels itself.
"...I'm going in. Strap in, everyone." Rikka says. She takes a moment to type something into to Junk - that should help Gridman get the cover he needs.
And then, Synchrotank accelerates toward and, upon getting close enough, unfolds into humanoid form and goes for a leap, drawing out its combat shovel and swinging it down to bury it in the side of the mountain.
"I won't... I won't let it hurt them...!" Rikka mutters from her chair. She can't lose anymore classmates - not today, of all days. She doesn't have a big shield to protect everyone with, but maybe she can help draw its attention away...
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Yuta Hibiki KTS: Rikka Takarada targets Akane Shinjo with Shovel Strike! KTS: Akane Shinjo parries Rikka Takarada's Shovel Strike, taking 1710 damage! KTS: Rikka Takarada has engaged Akane Shinjo
<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.
All those blows, this close, could be deadly. From either one of them.
But they're not. Deliberately not. Not from Unit-04, and not from...
'I was created solely to defeat him!'
...
'I WILL defeat him!'
...
Drill bits spin against Anti's armored hide in a rain of sparks that punch holes into a vague blackness lying in wait beneath; it might be expected, from Kaiju, to not follow any sort of standard biology, but Mari isn't thinking about that right now. Within her entry plug, she yanks back upon her Evangelion's controls, -ripping- away her right Rapidborer in a chunk of disgorged purple.
She watches, but that feverishly enthusiastic stare is gone. Hidden within her entry plug, Mari just looks...
... pensive.
"..."
It lasts only for the few seconds in which it takes for Anti to show something important: that he grows. In response to new stimulus, the Kaiju suddenly CHANGES, his torso erupting into a carvernous, fang-filled maw as if in warped response to the presence of that tank. The teeth fly; not for Unit-04, not for Unit-02 -- not really.
It's aiming for that giant, in the distance. The one Mari understands to be Gridman.
She doesn't know Gridman, of course. They've never met. It's not really in mission parameters to care about what a Gridman is, at the moment. But --
'I was created solely to defeat him!'
Fangs fly.
'GRIDMAAAAN!'
And Unit-04 immediately dives.
Shunk.
R Shunk.
ShunkshunkSHUNKSHUNKSHUNK--
BOOM
Heat ripples across the devastated, forested habitat.
Not a single one of those sharpened, fanged missiles reaches Gridman. Some hit Ultraman Geed. Some, the Phormocannon, taking both brutally out of the fight. Some even get in Unit-02's way.
But, standing in front of the trajectory of those missiles aimed towards Gridman stands Evangelion Unit-04. Its once bright chrome-white armor restraint plates are rended open in several areas. Lingering chunks of fang missiles are wedged between them, at its shoulder joints, in its torso. One has dragged a long, hideous scar across the side of its face, exposing what looks like -- teeth? metal teeth -- bolted down beneath.
Smoke belches from Unit-04 as it lurches forward where it stands.
"... hahhh..."
Inside the Eva, Mari Makinami Illustrious hangs forward, blood smearing a thick path down her lower lip. She's bleeding from the ear at the side her Evangelion has been scarred in. Her whole body feels on fire.
But mostly, she just looks --
"... Sorry."
Apologetic.
"I know you... really really wanna kill this Gridman thing..."
She sounds very, very sorry. That she didn't let him kill Gridman. It's disconcertingly sincere, as Evangelion Unit-04 takes a staggering step backwards. Sparks spit from its severed umbilical cord.
"... it just sounds like it'd be--"
The Evangelion takes a single staggering step, a strange sound groaning from between its face plates like a hissing protest of an animal as it reaches out--
"... a really boring life if you did that--"
Whereupon, the Evangelion just collapses onto its knees, seconds before Asuka comes barreling at Anti with that prog knife.
KTS: Mari Makinami Illustrious targets Anti with Pass!
<Pose Tracker> Haruki Natsukawa has posed.
The toss works! Ultraman Z heaves his shoulders it a bit as he relaxes his muscles, only to soon be retaliated with a sudden eruption. He fairs a lot better than Sevenger at least, raising a hand overhead to create a small barrier.
Honestly, it's the Ultraman's physique that does most of the heavy lifting in taking the blow than the actual projected shield, as not only does the shield break easily, but it wasn't fully covering his body to begin with. If anything, the more annoying thing is the lost of sight amidst all the burning forest, but eventually Z stumbles his way out of the fire, Color Timer now blinking due to how long the fight has gone on, only to hear the scream of Ako. This kaiju... Is it specifically trying to hurt civilians? Despite the opposition everyone has been putting up, it's been marching on while treating everyone like mere obstacles in the way... Or maybe it just needs to go somewhere... There's a few other possibilities, and all of them seem just as likely, but it's definitely different than the ones they've fought before.
Both Haruki and Z will have to think about it later though. Jumping straight into the air, Ultraman Z does a small lazy flight in a last ditch attempt to cut Maga-Go'Yavec off, the Ultra Warrior creating an audible thud and a small dirt cloud as he lands back down and plants his feet.
"GUY-SAN! GRIDMAN-SAN! EVERYONE! POOL TOGETHER YOUR ULTRA-TAMASHII AND LET'S IKUZO!"
Clenching one hand tightly, Ultraman Z channels the last of his energy into his fist, squatting downwards as he pools all of his strength into his legs before leaping upward. Empowered fist meets extremely hot rock, and even though one can't feasibly uppercut an entire mountain, Z does his best, attempting to use the raw force of his attack to send the behemoth tumbling backwards.
KTS: Haruki Natsukawa targets Akane Shinjo with Zestium Upper!
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
"It sounds like he's a dear friend to you all," Kaworu says to Rikka of Sho, voice warm. But that's a topic on which, perhaps fortunately for Rikka, they don't linger long. Because...
Well. It's very much like Rei Ayanami to sacrifice herself to protect others. Kaworu is well aware of this. With Maga-Go'yavac as massive an enemy as it is, this outcome had always been a possibility. But with the evacuees just past her--with the one controlling the kaiju being who she is--he hadn't considered it a *likely* possibility.
That tail swings up and *pierces* a neck.
Kaworu rises to his feet, one hand still on the control panel as he raises the other, fingers curling into his palm. "First!!" he calls sharply as Unit-00 is pierced, as her batteries run out and she slumps over.
It isn't just her who goes down. Sho is forced to retreat after hearing Anti's snarls ('You'd love to put me in a lab!!', a thing Kaworu suspects he talks about because of what he has been taught), and Geed has been struck so hard by explosions and fire that his light shell has dissolved. And Shinji... Shinji has leapt across the battlefield, volleyed full-body into Maga-Go'yavec, seeking a heart that can be stopped so he (they) can stop it.
Kaworu breathes a noiseless breath. Then, composure regained in the face of furious violence, he reclaims his seat. Synchrotank's shields are managing so far, but there's only so long a machine made of metal can last in the face of molten lava. "You have my support," he tells Rikka evenly--though in this case, as he inputs commands on his side of the controls, 'support' goes not directly to Rikka but to those she in turn is supporting, especially as the robot transforms into its humanoid form. The shield that Rei embedded into the earth should be enough to protect the evacuees for now, and between all the heat that Maga-Go'yavac has suddenly acquired, a little more ferocity might be all that's left.
"Gridman. Please... Put an end to this, for them," he communicates verbally to the Giant of Data. To the Giant of Meats that are Shinji IkariUnit-01 and, maybe surprisingly, Asuka Shikinami LangleyUnit-02, he aims and fires miniature batteries meant to disassemble in the air and provide a few crucial seconds of reenergization without the need to be plugged directly in. It's not a lot, but sometimes a few seconds make all the difference--especially at the end of a battle.
KTS: Kaworu Nagisa has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Yuta Hibiki KTS: Kaworu Nagisa targets Shinji Ikari and Asuka Shikinami Langley with Awe. KTS: Kaworu Nagisa inspires awe, increasing Shinji Ikari's Morale! KTS: Kaworu Nagisa inspires awe, increasing Asuka Shikinami Langley's Morale! KTS: Anti fails to react to Mari Makinami Illustrious's Pass, taking 0 damage! KTS: Anti fails to react to Asuka Shikinami Langley's Progressive Knife Drive, taking 5040 damage! KTS: Anti's Buster Anti has been disabled.
<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.
"Shoot, I should've come out here earlier..!" Borr relishes the momentum shifting in their favor. Yuta didn't necessarily agree, and Vit's earlier advice rings in his head - along with his own memory of fighting Anti. I have a bad feeling.
"Oi! Gridman! Don't zone out in the middle of a friggin fight -!!"
Realizing his mistake too late, Yuta cringes internally, I missed my chance to link up with Borr!
Seemingly just in time for Anti to approach him directly again, "It's you again - I already told y..ou..."
Meanwhile..
"he copied Borr's missile attack," Calibur frowns, mulling it over. He can copy things more or less as soon as he sees them, then. Calibur concludes.
Gridman is protected stalwartly by Phormocannon, Geed, and the other Evangelions as well who put their bodies between him and Anti. "E-everyone...!"
Yuta, focus! Gridman commands in his mind, "But, I ..!"
Gridman is pinned down immediately in his inaction, battered and body shaken as it is repeatedly pelted with volcanic fury, "Gh...!"
Sparks fly with each blow that dents his body, bringing him just a little bit closer to the ground.
As that happens..
With how close that Go'yavec had gotten to the evacuees, you couldn't be blamed for getting swept up in things, especially when you were used to a cushy every day life. Even so, being stuck there was tantamount to being at ground zero of some of the worst natural disasters ever, and the danger went without saying.
A thin and dainty hand reaches down to tighten a grip on Ako's arm and begin tugging her up, the owner being a dark haired man with an almost pretty face and, for some reason, a body clad in a charcoal toned suit despite the hiking gear equipped to his person. "Hi~hi~. As incredible as stuff like this must look up close, it's also super duper dangerous, isn't it? Well, situations like this aren't usually how I'd like to talk to women, either, but.."
Blabbering non-sense, he leaves a beaten and abused looking bike that had no place being taken off-road behind him to scoop her up onto his back with the precision of a trained piggy-back expert. "Even this wry Vit has to have a cool side to him sometimes. This is a today only special service, so please appreciate it..- hup!"
And with that, the mysteriously missing Vit went missing once again. Only, this time it was sensibly away from danger rather than scouring the terrain for suspicious figures.
Back with Gridman -
Why am I such a let-down? Everyone's getting hurt .. no, they're going to be killed because of my incompetence.
The defeatism flowing through his mind was hard for Yuta to staunch. It was just one slip up, but that slip up had cascaded into this awful situation. The piercing scream from Unit-00 practically stops his heart in shame and guilt.
If you continue to wallow like this, they'll all die for nothing. Are you okay with that?
Of course not! I .. I don't want anyone to die, but I'm..
Yuta .. it's not about being strong or weak. Whether you're capable of something or incapable of something .. all of that means nothing. If you want to save them, then there's no such thing as can or cannot - only what you must do. Even if you remember nothing else, Yuta - remember that you must fight!
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!"
Picking himself off the floor with a battle cry, Gridman manages to push through the suppressing volley of hot slag, "Borr -!"
"I got'cha! But just this once, okay?!" Borr responds, as Gridman presses one foot to the sliding in Buster Borr to use him as a springboard and propel himself closer to Unit-00, arm raised and glowing with a rainbow of light.
"GRIDLIGHT SAAAABEEER!"
A stream of light condenses into a cutting edge as he swings down, intent on severing the offending appendage skewering Rei's EVA through before it can dig any deeper and get closer to her entry plug.
"Don't die ...!" Yuta says, even as Gridman's headlamp begins to flash in warning. " - I don't know you .. but, I know that I don't want you to die. You still have things you want to say and do, so .. don't worry. I won't let the people here down anymore. It's alright if you sit things out now, because.."
"Gridman is here..!"
"Then if you're done running your mouth, it's time to combine! C'MON!"
Buster Borr shoots into the air, his form unfolding into an apparatus for Gridman to synch up to, armored plates and hinges wrapping around his arms and legs to secure it all to his core. A new pair of thin, mechanical arms hold up and manipulate Borr's treads, while a red helmet secures itself over Gridman's head and ties itself down with the tubes and metal straps that also overlapped with the two drills now firmly placed on his shoulders.
"FULL ARMOR COMBINE: BUSTER GRIDMAN!"
"Alright. It's time to really let this guy have it - a truly endless sea of explosive power!" "Right!"
The wheels of the tank treads begin to spin while releasing a gatling stream of energy bullets concentrated on Go'yavec's head. Soon after, an equally overzealous volley of missiles begin to pour from the boxes of them stored in the treads between the four gatling installments, releasing a thousand or more mortars. "TWIN -"
"GRIIIIIDDD!"
Both drills split open to reveal a high-powered emitters that were gathering up enormous amounts of energy. Much more than even Max Gridman's Max Gridbeam.
"BEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!!"
A sweeping sea of energy pours out to engulf the side of its head, which Gridman drags up into the rest of its body by angling his chest at an upwards angle over the next few moments.
KTS: Yuta Hibiki has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Yuta Hibiki targets Akane Shinjo with Buster Gridman! KTS: Akane Shinjo fails to react to Yuta Hibiki's Buster Gridman, taking 7800 damage! KTS: Akane Shinjo's Go'yavec has been disabled.
<Pose Tracker> Anti has posed.
Anti is aware -- however distantly, in this moment, focused as he is on an opponent across the way -- of how much damage his foes are taking. The Phormocannon flares its boosters to retreat; Ultraman Geed flares his shield, instead, all until he breaks through and hits him so hard he disappears in the volley.
Anti lets up his attack, on those angles. It might be hard to miss, because it's just a case of not firing any more missiles on that particular side. That doesn't mean he's eased up on killing Gridman -- it just means he's attacking by another route.
(So he won't hit Phormocannon when its systems are in that condition, or finish off Geed, now he's downed. But never mind that.)
Unfortunately, on his other side is Asuka and Mari, and that's -- that doesn't make him feel any better about his rampant violence, hearing outsiders who don't have any reason to get hurt over this screaming like that. Unit-02 is an unpleasant woman, but if being cruel was enough to warrant being hurt like this, then --
Anti's not going to finish that thought. That thought can just go somewhere else.
It seems Anti spent all his knockout luck on the locals (including immigrants), though, because after that volley -- the Evangelions are still standing. Barely so, in Unit-04's case, but...
Anti tells himself it's her fault. It's her fault she got in the way, knowing that he was out to kill Gridman. It's her fault she got in the way of something he MEANT to be lethal, instead of the attacks he laid into her Evangelion.
He tells himself that once, twice, three times, and he can't do it for the 04th, because he knows it's a lie.
It's not her fault.
The one who attacked first here was --
"You won't! You can't! It's MINE!" Anti yells, as Asuka declares she'll relieve him of his purpose. "That's why I exist! It's why I exist! IT'S WHY I EXIST!" His barrage ceased, he's reduced to yelling -- only for his attention to snap to Mari, when he hears her talk again.
Why is she talking to him in such a friendly way, anyway..?
Her, and Geed, too... even that damn Gridman... what's wrong with these people?!, Anti thinks, reflexively.
And says, reflexively: "A boring life... if that's how the world is, that's how the world is!" If that's how SHE arranged her world, who is Anti to argue? A world where he has no more purpose once he kills Gridman...
Why does he hurt, when they didn't even hit him that time?
Luckily, Anti won't have to wonder that for long, courtesy Asuka. He REALLY shouldn't have taken his eyes off the body. "You--!" Is all he's able to say, before the knife impacts his torso, cutting through tubing and armour to the mysteries beneath. "You damn pilot...!"
In go the knives -- and THRUST. Anti yells as he's thrown back, falling right into a piece of Maga-Go'yavec, dislodged by all that Ultra-violence. It shortly turns into a yelp. Down he goes.
He does not climb back up for another round.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Ako looks up in mute shock. Blood pours down from the Evangelion onto the road before her. She sees the Evangelion impaled before her. Her mouth hangs open, leaving her looking like so much stunned livestock. Debris rains toward her -- not large debris, thankfully. Unit-00 prevents that. It's the little things -- dirt and splintered wood. She doesn't even move.
As she stands there, Vit approaches. She wordlessly, still-a-little-dazed, hops up onto his back as offered. She's not expecting the hop -- grips a little tighter when it happens -- but even so... she's thankful.
Hass -- a dark-haired girl in a medical mask, as if dealing with perpetual allergy season -- calls her name to her, staying level. "Okay -- Marusan, we'll have to trust the stranger... but you'll need to be ready to take care of Ako when we get back together," she starts. "I'm going to keep an eye on the monster, even if it looks like those guys might have it handled... Namiko, can you pick up what Ako was doing?" If one falters, someone else has to step up, right? A heart can only stay lively when connected with others.
Namiko gives her a nod -- and a little smile, too. Namiko's always been on the peppy side, but this is different -- like some part of her is waking up, a bit.
With little left to defend Go'yavec, one by one, the assembled heroes begin to turn their attention fully to the monster itself. Missiles fly down its gullet. Chibodee pounds a genuine *hole* in it, using the previous damage to dig into a part of it that 'bleeds' -- lava pours out, but thanks to the earlier extinguisher missiles, it cools much faster. Garrod's beam rifle has a good angle -- but hits volcano rather than the meat of the unit, and as a result, its heat gets substantially dissipated. The Ichinana's blast of fire and wind disrupts the greenery atop, but that leaves it firing into fire -- if the beast were *smaller*, this would probably destroy it outright, but the sheer scope makes it difficult. The sonic blast finds better purchase than it otherwise might, though, thanks to the total clear of greenery from the top.
Guy creates a hole -- but finds only more rock beneath. It does set up *Sayla*, though -- Maga-Go'yavec takes those missiles right in that new gap, and slumps onto its side. Rikka strikes the earth with Synchrotank's shovel, and while Go'yavec moves a claw to intercept... it's that already-damaged claw, and cracks spider through it.
In the end, though: a giant problem finds giant solutions. Four of them, to be precise.
From one end: Eisen digs through the eye. He finds lava to swim in, behind it -- the eyes are windows to the soul, and yet, in Go'yavec all they find is its hollow middle. He tears the creature apart from the inside, where the heat inside it has made it even softer.
From the other end: Shinji moves to protect Ayanami -- and digs to the beast's center. He finds a hollow thing -- after all, this kaiju's heart is somewhere else. But he kicks everything up getting there.
From one side: Haruki and Z drive their fist straight up with as much force as their bodies can muster. Maga-Go'yavec brings a green-crackling claw up to catch it -- but the uppercut blows through it. It puts down a stump.
And of course: Gridman carves off that added tail with a mighty swing, all at once. It's a heroic -- and herculean -- maneuver.
The follow-up beam, though -- that's enough to carve Maga-Go'yavec clean in two. The monster falls apart -- some of it falling onto Anti -- and becomes so much inert landscape.
Alexis meets Elisa's lament with the faint 'Neh' of an audible shrug. "Oh yes. I'm *quite* pleased with what we've learned here, today... thank you as always for your cooperation. I'll need to see to the young lady, for now -- but by all means! Don't be a stranger..."
"... Well, that's how it went, I guess!" Akane says, looking down at the catastrophe. By this point, the fire has cleared up substantially, at least at *her* vantage; she finally discards the scarf. It's a far cry from the teeth-grinding irritation she's had at every previous loss; here, she played every card and then some, and yet...
... she doesn't feel bad? Well. She feels a little weird about having the Bio Devizer spell things out for her, but even then, it's... for having just taken another massive L, she feels pretty relaxed. There's just one lingering thing:
"Kinda wonder why Alexis brought out another one of the old kaiju without telling me, though..."
The scarf drifts harmlessly away; Akane, for her own part, slips into a brief tunnel in a mountain pass -- and then, like that, is back home, comfortably at her desk.
"Hey, Alexis," she says, tone the sort of flat she usually reserves for a Repli-Compoid not answering her questions -- a far cry from the unbothered shrug she gave losing. "Go get my crap from my locker, back in the mountains. After that, we're gonna have a talk!"
<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.
Asuka watches Unit-04 dive right into the path of the missiles. A wave of devastation ravaging its restraint armor. Mari didn't get out of that unscathed. She can hear it in her voice.
Why?
Why'd she save Gridman?
So what if something happens to him?
She talks to him. Telling him it'd be a really boring life if he managed.
Why does that sting so much?
He's just a Kaiju.
Ayanami goes down - Unit-00 becomes a maimed mass of machinery. Guy and Shinji scream her name.
Why?
Asuka's thoughts seem even more distant not fully there in the moment.
She's just a doll.
So what if she dies?
Asuka responds distantly yet coldly to Anti. "Yeah... it was."
00:00
Anti goes down, cursing her. She truly thinks he must be dead this time. Asuka's cockpit suddenly goes dark, as her entire Evangelion goes inert. To herself, in the dark, she says angrily, "I don't... get it!" She hates it, watching, listening to all of them react in such human ways. She can't understand them... she can't understand them because she's...
And then a battery connects to the back of Unit-02, suddenly powering it up, as the timer reverts to: 00:21
Surprisingly she doesn't yell at Kaworu, despite anyone having every reason to think she might. Instead she stalks towards Maga-Go'yavec - and Gridman, power combined with the support of so many has already finished it... it's just in time to see his Twin Grid Beam utterly finish off the mountain of a Kaiju.
<Pose Tracker> Qivi has posed.
Qivi brakes after landing from a jump, landspinners squealing, as Shinji tears past her in EVA-01. She has a perfect position to see its jaw split the ... armouring? Mask? over it, and though she would never admit it, there is a spike of fear from her.
It turns into something like confusion and disgust a moment later. "What *is* that...?" she blurts out, without really meaning to. She does not want to be underfoot - she's not even sure Shinji noticed her in that instant, and not just because Sarangay is small.
Reloading the missiles, Qivi prepares another salvo, but never fires it. Go'yavec - Maga-Go'yavec - falls apart into stone and debris, and Qivi holds it back. She lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She didn't know how she was going to fight that thing. "And stay gone!" she yells, more out of bravado than anything else; *she* didn't fight it.
She gives EVA-01 another very long look, then -00 as if to make sure the pilot is alive. But she doesn't know anything about Evangelions, honestly, so it's lost on her; rather than linger, she wheels herself - not toward the NERV crew, which she is very definitely staying away from, not wanting to give Eisen an opportunity or excuse to try anything with her, but toward the Shuffles on the field, especially Sayla.
<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.
Eva-00 is silent, an enormous puppet on a single horrible string. The shuddering of Go'yavec's body as it no doubt moves; the shifting of the penetrating tip that gives the pressurized LCL a chance to flood outwards and simultaneously add delirium and hypoxia to Rei's other woes; she stops screaming, and she sags onto a side she can't feel, and her eyes roll back in her head.
For a dim moment she sees a gentle face. The Commander, looking down on her. Proud, perhaps. But he's faint; he's far away. Her eyes turn but in the churning dark she cannot see it for long. In the far, far distance there is chaos. Her head pounds; her pulse flutters.
He's -
Someone speaks to her. A voice mingling. 'First! Ayanami!'
All of these things called 'Rei Ayanami.'
They call to me. An attachment to a dispensible object.
If the enemy strikes, it's better that I...
I can be...[normal
The pressure suddenly surges and Rei cries out, but weakly. Like a dropped bag of air. Before somebody unfamiliar speaks. Her eyes crack open. Someone. Is it the Administrator, she wonders, in a different register? But --
'You still have things you want to say and do,' comes through, clearly if in low-fidelity sound through the auxiliary powered communication loop into the Entry Plug, one speaker broken but the other entirely functional.
She does not recognize that it is Gridman.
But for a moment, despite the mixture of pain and *troubling* lack of sensation, Rei feels seen; or at least, perceived.
And she even says - which may ease Qivi: "The attack... stopped."
(Eva-00 slumps forwards slightly, but is propped, at least for a moment, upon the severed tail of the kaiju. Its arms dangle. Take photos, children. Enjoy spring break!)
<Pose Tracker> Eisen Daiwel has posed.
Lava and heat is something Eisen can only deal with for a limited time. It rapidly is plummeting the energy reserves of his Evangelion unit. And finding a hollowness within rather than the expected weak points, he's forced to retreat from the eye as his reserves are hitting one minute remaining, his A.T. field strained to its limits, and starts to slowly make his return towards the trainyard.
"Now where'd that woman go? I meant to ask her about that Kaiju woman." Eisen mumbles in regards to Qivi, the winged Evangelion slowly stepping its way along the remaining mountains towards his allies to check up on.
Of course, it doesn't help that the matter of that Kaiju User has been kept somewhat of a secret from him by his own NERV mates.
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
With an enemy like that, Guy'd have to go into Hell and Heaven Slash for about half an hour to even attempt to find the core, if it has one; it's not a realistic option. And with Hell and Heaven being mostly useless on such a thing as that...
ANd then, one of the Ultramen who's shown up calls out to him, to lend his spirit. He focuses deeper, willing the Program Ring to saw away! It...only kind of helps! But it at least sets up Sayla. Ultimately, the Ring disperses shortly before Gridman saws entirely through the thing, cutting it to ribbons with boosted heart and also some BIG cannons.
GaoFighGar's Ul-Tech engines slowly lower it back down, before powering off. Moments like this Guy wishes he had a chair in here. "Did everyone get out?" he calls, because he's Guy Shishioh and people got shot down earlier.
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
Shinji lands on a giant monster seconds before a bunch of Ultragridmen blow it up with Destroy Beams.
This isn't even the third time this has happened, what rational part of him remains insists, as he tries to keep in place as the living mountain is reduced to its component atoms.
Unit-01 turns on its allies, lips stained red, hunks of boiling magma-flesh dripping from its burnt and ruined features, eyes wild as it takes slow, desperate gulps of air. Red streaks gleam from the green LED paint that highlights so much of Unit-01, only now visible for what it is: a warning system.
The Beast looks right at you, Qivi, taking a thick snort of air like a predator trying to catch a scent. It lingers.
Someone mentions she's alive.
The red bleeds away from the green, as Shinji slumps into his throne of the soul. Hospital. Got to get her to the hospital. The timer is nothing, it has no power over him, as Unit-01 simply steps forward, heedless of anything stupid enough to get in its way, moving to roughly tug Unit-00 over its shoulder as if they were people being dragged from a battlefield.
<Pose Tracker> Chibodee Crocket has posed.
It's a big messy hit. Chibodee is punching even as the beams and sabers and all manner of forces rip the kaiju beneath him apart. His one piece of the kaiju ruptures off, sending Gundam Maxter once more tumbling through a bunch of rubble. Its paint job is trashed, but the machine is surprisingly intact for being in the middle of a lava shoving match with an angry living mountain.
Gundam Maxter hauls itself out of the rubble. It can see the big Evas in the distance but they're some ways off from his part of the fight. The gundam moves like it's in a lot of pain as it tries to recover its surfboard, climbing back onto it to get towed back to the nearest Shuffle depot.
"That's what you get, dirt," Chibodee mutters, before speaking on the general comms again. "Beer and fries. And another of them onion hot dogs. And a big bag of ice."
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
Rikka's shovel finds purchase. It's a good enough distraction to let the others finish it off. Maga-Go'yavec is cleaved in two, and she has to carefully maneuver herself off of the kaiju to make sure she isn't buried, but once that's done... with a sigh, she lets herself sag into her seat. This has been ... exhausting, in more ways than one.
But, things aren't done yet. She can relax a little now that it seems that the pilot of the Evangelion that was hurt is still alive. She'll have to thank her for that sometime...
"...Thanks for your help, Nagisa. That would've been rough without you." Rikka says, forcing herself to sit up. One can tell there's still a worry on her mind. She'll wait for Yuta and Borr to return, but...
"Can you handle getting Synchrotank back to the shop...? I'm really worried about everyone... I want to go check up on them." Rikka says. ...She should probably go collect her things, too - she's been piloting in a swimsuit the entire time. There hadn't exactly been a lot of time to hurry back to the locker room in all the rush.
Once everything's handled, she'll leave Synchrotank and try to slip away and reunite with the class. From what she's seen, they really took charge... She's proud of them, even if only some of them will remember why after today.
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
The problem with a battle like this is you can't process everything that happens at once, but all the cameras will be reviewed after. At least it's over. She grimaces. "...Guy." She tightbeams, very quietly. "Does 3G Blue have medical on standby? Otherwise I can provide limited medical care. One of the NERV pilots..." Screamed like she was dying? Is that the way to phrase it? "Anyway, if you need it, I'll stay. But my people need to get clear."
This time, she redistorts the voice, broadcasting to the Shuffles. "Sound off, then clear out. Tarabaman S and Cavallo Baton are accounted for. Leave the way you entered, it's cleanest, and it means you can return easiest. TCCG," she pauses. "I think we need a debrief after this. This invite extends to you, 'guest'. But just you."
More than 4000 years of secrecy, and Sayla's going to have lost it in a year. Good work, Sayla.
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
Such a massive foe, and ultimately it is hollow.
Kaworu thinks of Alexis, and wonders.
But that is a non-immediate concern for the time being. With Maga-Go'yavec falling to the combined forces that assail it, his attention turns, keen and intent, on Unit-00. But it turns out it's--well. Not *fine*. But that the worst has been salved. A slow, relieved smile spreads across his lips.
"Thank you, Gridman," he murmurs into the communicator. Then he stands and fetches a rectangular package he'd tucked away out of sight under the seats. It's long and relatively thin and hard, and is wrapped in elegant white wrapping paper tied together with a blue ribbon and bow. A handwritten card is tucked under the bow:
'Happy birthday, R'
The bow obscures the rest of the name.
"And thank you too, Rikka. It was a pleasure to have the chance to fight alongside you," he adds conversationally. He laughs faintly at Sayla's transmission, or that part of it that was addressed to the 'guest'. "Certainly. But if you'll excuse me, I have work to which I must attend." He looks back at Rikka. "If you could please let me off near the NERV cars, I'd greatly appreciate it."
Whether she does give him a ride or not, Kaworu will soon thereafter let himself out and re-join NERV forces to see to getting the Evangelions gathered together on the train cars and brought back to base.
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
Before Rikka exits Synchrotank -
"...Y-yeah. Yeah." Rikka says, in response to Sayla's communication. She looks Kaworu's way. She knows she messed up, and this is going to take some explaining, but she still thinks this ended up being the best outcome.
<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.
We did it ... somehow, no one died in the end.
The idea of someone fighting at his side being killed by a kaiju and being 'erased' was .. - terrifying. That was the kind of weighty failure that he didn't think he could possibly bear. The kind that would crush him to death the entire time he was alive. "Yeah," Borr says, surprisingly somber. "Y'know .. you can't save everyone, right?" he asks Yuta, gently; or atleast as gentle as Borr could get.
"I know that. But I don't think I want to save everyone .. or, maybe I do. I don't know. I just don't think I could withstand the sorrow of seeing others die or be erased in front of me."
Borr would frown if he still had a mouth to do it with, "Even if their choices have nothing to do with you? It's too much to ask someone to take resposibility for someone else's decisions."
"But it still concerns me, doesn't it? I won't argue semantics like, 'if I had done better they wouldn't have had to consider that choice' even if it's how I feel. At the end of the day, I feel responsibility for saving them because...that's Gridman's responsibility..no, even more than that. I just don't want them to die, it's just that simple."
" 'I don't want anyone to die' is super childish. It's also really dangerous to think that way." Borr points out.
"I don't really have anything to say to that," Yuta admits. "Well, y'don't have to, just...hng. this feelsy stuff is no good for me. I'm more about guts and energy than thinking things through. I'll leave the psycho-babble to someone else, just stop thinking so hard, stupid!"
Gridman raises one hand to rub at his cheekplate as Yuta responds to Borr, "I'm sorry, I can't really turn my brain off."
While Gridman himself has no response for Kaworu, there is a sense of - pointed interest, or maybe, acknowledgement. And perhaps a bit of regret, for things getting to the point they did.
Meanwhile..
With the danger passed, Vit lets Ako down - "Fuu..~" with a light huff of air. They weren't that far away from where he'd gotten to her, but enough so that they hadn't been at risk of being stepped on or worse. "Hmm...guess you're basically checked out, huh. I can't blame you. Oh, woe is me, I get the chance to show off and won't even get a thank you kiss or a free tea or even an IOU .. talk about getting shortchanged," he jokes. "Actually, I guess I'm pretty lucky to run my mouth off saying awful things like that since you're shellshocked." he concludes, a little more seriously as he ensures that it really wasn't something that was going to do her lasting harm. After his appraisal, he breathes out in relief. Kind of sucks that I didn't catch wind of that creep, though. He really seemed like the kind to hang out in the woods and watch over the battle while cackling to himself about how Gridman is finished .. in the end, all I found were critters and teenagers.
For the Vit who rarely expended un-necessary effort, it almost felt like a waste. But, he'd like to think otherwise and that he'd at least saved someone's life. Probably. Maybe.
"Well, I'll stay here with you until I see your friends coming - and, as I wouldn't want to intrude on your heartfelt reunion full of lots of hugs and gentle affection, I'll retreat all cooly." he thinks aloud again, only half-talking to Ako herself. No one likes a third wheel, after all.
Back with Gridman..
Gridman and Buster Borr had disappeared in a flash of light that left the exhausted Yuta collapsing onto his back, Borr stretched horizontally across his abdomen. "It was nice to let off some steam, but I kind of want to take a nap now." Borr admits.
"Yeah .. well, I don't think I could sleep now if I wanted to."
Yuta looks up, between the other three occupants and finally settles on Rikka with a small smile, "...I really don't know what I'd do without you. Or any of the others who've been helping us out. I'll do my best not to lean so much on you in the future."
Once things settle down, Yuta peels himself off the floor and follows after Rikka not long after she departs the Synchrotank too. Being bone tired was no excuse to keep himself MIA.
And, seeing all of his classmates whole and safe and certainly remembered put him a little further at ease - "Eh? Isn't that my bike?" he wonders, looking at the now thoroughly trashed bicycle abandoned by the wayside. "How'd it end up here .." he wonders, sadly.
Naturally, the perpetrator would not take responsibility.
<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.
It takes time.
Even for her, enough pain, however refreshing, requires a breather.
But eventually...
The entry plug for Evangelion Unit-04 hisses out. The hatch pops open.
A bespectacled girl in a pink plugsuit climbs out, dripping LCL as she perches on the precarious edge where her plug borders the sharp, rent armor platings of her Evangelion.
Blood drools down the side of her face, dripping off her chin. She casually spits some aside, before she takes in her surroundings, focusing, for a moment, on the retreating form of Unit-02. A smile touches Mari's lips, fond and something else in equal measure, before she looks down at her Evangelion.
"You did good, Evangelion Unit-04," she praises warmly, as her clad fingers stroke the dangerously sharp, sundered plates of the battered Evangelion. She closes her eyes as she feels the shards of it prick at her fingers.
"What a good day," decides Mari Makinami Illustrious, sore and battered and hurting and happy. Her nostrils flare as she takes in the scent of battle and Tsutsujidai. It's a nice cocktail, she thinks. There's something about it...
"And what an interesting place~."
She'll fall back, eventually.
She just wants to enjoy this strange scent, for a little while longer.
<Pose Tracker> Haruki Natsukawa has posed.
It takes a while, but eventually, Ultraman Z falls back down, and when he does, he crashes down dramatically and fist first, creating a giant plume of dust that obscures most of him, save for the brightly blinking red light on his chest that continues to emit a whining beep. "Hey. Z-san?"
"Hmm?"
"You're not supposed to know Guy-san's name, right?"
" That's...W-Well, I'm sure you can just say you mentioned him to me in passing or something. You're pretty good at that sort of thing, Haruki."
"So you are listening! Why don't you say anything!?"
"You see..."
Both Z and Haruki drop the conversation once they realize they really don't have the luxury to talk. The kaiju might be defeated, but they still need help with cleaning up. Well, Haruki does, anyway. Z's time is almost up.
Turning around, the giant of light gives the group a gracious nod before bending his knees and jumping upward as he flies off into the horizon, seemingly leaving the rest of the group behind.
Not long after, Sevenger's local radio turns on. It's predictably noticeably scuffed sounding for a robot that fell over and spent most of its time cooking in high temperatures.
"S-Sorry about that. I fell out again... A-Anyway, this is Haruki Natsukawa! I'll be helping with clean up and recovery now that the kaijus have been dealt with, over!"