2022-04-01: The Miracle Operator of 'The Kiss?'
- Log: The Miracle Operator of 'The Kiss?'
- Cast: Ruri Hoshino, Lucine Azul, Rena Lancaster, Alto Saotome, Arriety Hearn, Asuka Shikinami Langley, Kay, Ple Two, BC-001 Minae
- Where: Uchatsurawatosk Island
- Date: 2022-04-01
- Summary: The Nadesico and its allies embark on a rescue mission through Chulip territory -- but the blizzard reduces the Nadesico's engagement and Aestivalis-charging capabilities, which means it's all up to Lucine and the Nadesico's visiting allies to save the day. There's an absolutely unbearable twist at the end.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
OST: Martian Successor Nadesico - Schiaparelli Project https://youtu.be/Zn9-Fqop1D0?t=64
DURING THE PLANNING MEETING:
"Now, then..."
Sadaaki Munetake, the Federation Admiral currently posted to the Nadesico, breaks through the awkwardness of being together. On his orders, the Nadesico called nearby allies to itself, out here over Tokyo-3; everyone's gathered together in the Situation Room, with a map of Earth displayed across the floor display.
Of course, the pilots here aren't just from the Nadesico -- but everyone's friendly enough with the mission of the ship for him to make this request.
"Pardon the suddenness," he says, a confident sort of flamboyancy to his voice, "but the Federation has orders for Nergal. Now, I was hoping our allies would..." He talks with all the self-assured confidence of a man who cannot be interrupted, so of course, he is.
"Admiral!" Interjects Yurika Misumaru -- the Nadesico's Captain. She stands straight, at the head of the situation room; she speaks with confidence, too, but hers isn't so smarmy. His attention on her, she continues: "While Nergal may have signed an alliance with the Federation, we have the right to refuse orders that we deem unacceptable."
Admiral Munetake smiles, too easily. "Yes, technically, you do. And of course, our friends outside Nergal have no obligation to assist us... though you'd like to know what our purpose here is, wouldn't you?" He asides, sly, to their guests.
Yurika doesn't blink. "Understand that as captain, I, Yurika Misumaru, will reject orders that run afoul of the collective interests of this vessel's crew." Yurika is young -- but many eyes are on her, as she lays down her terms. The Aestivalis pilots smile; Minato Haruka turns, from where she's standing, to better see her captain's determination.
Ruri Hoshino, systems operator, keeps her eyes on the situation board, with that same impassive expression she always wears. That doesn't mean she isn't listening. The same will which saw to so many funerals...
... Ruri has always followed Yurika's orders without question or hesitation. It isn't a simple matter of her being in charge.
Admiral Munetake smiles, to Yurika, and does not bother to look at the people around him. "You're saying you won't accept being treated like a pawn in a war," he surmises, and she nods. He rolls back his shoulders, glancing sidelong to the visitors. "Well, you need not worry, because this mission isn't about fighting." Snapping open a paper fan, he explains to the confusion, an aggressive edge to his grin: "... our goal is to elude enemy detection and rescue someone!"
"A rescue operation?" Echo several of the people standing in the room, in perfect unison. Somehow, even the visitors manage to meet this beat. Such is the magic of the Nadesico.
The Admiral fans himself, with that same shit-eating grin. "Although not on Mars, we remain under attack by Jovian forces, and must continue Nadesico's mission of saving innocent lives. Well," he raises his fan over his lips, eyes half-lidded, "wouldn't you agree?"
In the silence which follows, the map of Earth is populated by an alarming number of red dots. "As you can see," Admiral Munetake explains, gesturing his fan downwards, "there are thousands of Chulips on Earth. And here in the Arctic Ocean, we have Uchatsurawatosk Island. Our job is to rescue a goodwill ambassador from a certain nation left behind on this island." It looks to be somewhere in the gap between Zaftra and Britannia's Alaska -- a tight needle to thread, diplomatically.
Yurika raises her hand. "Question!"
"Yes?" Admiral Munetake always manages to sound like he wants to say something else, when he gives a prompt like that.
"Why was the person left behind in a place like that?" Yurika presses, as behind her, her first officer -- one Jun Aoi, used to not being centred by the camera -- nods.
Admiral Munetake shakes his head, with dismay which is as theatric as the fan he hides behind. "The ambassador is a very enthusiastic researcher! While he was checking weather data, touring fisheries and such, the Batta suddenly attacked, oh my...!" He snaps his fan shut, looking to Yurika, as he explains: "Blizzard conditions persist nearly every day in the seas around Uchatsurawatosk Island during this time of year, so it's not an easy place to get to..."
A significant look between Yurika and one of her pilots has some of the other pilots gossiping, for a hot minute, but no sooner have Izumi Maki and Hikaru Amano finished their treatise that Admiral Munetake interrupts, sharply:
"Enough with the chit-chat! In any case, we're relying on Nergal and its allies to complete this mission! The Nadesico has a responsibility! Understood, Captain?" He snaps his fan, frowning to Yurika.
"... yes!" Yurika -- who wasn't distracted, honest -- declares. "Let's do it, everyone!"
EN ROUTE TO THE TARGET:
And the Nadesico has some non-Aestivalis units in its hangar, as it soars through the sky towards the Atlantic Ocean.
"But we pilots sure don't have anything to do," Ryoko Subaru complains, her head on the table, all rested on folded arms.
"Guess we're supposed to save our strength for later," Hikaru Amano supposes. Her chin is rested on her folded arms, still slumped over the table, because she has glasses in the way of putting her head down like Ryoko.
"Savoring sweetness while saving strength," Izumi Maki, resident punster, adds. Her own head slips from the heel of her hand to thud on the table as she thumps it, with laughter joined by her comrade's groans.
Anyway, Nagare Akatsuki -- one of their newer pilots, a mystery transfer from Nergal after they landed back on Earth -- borrows Akito for some training, and the rest of the pilots are left to gossip about the scandalousness of that.
It's all very boring.
BUT ON THE NADESICO'S BRIDGE:
"We are entering the Bering Strait," Ruri announces, as neutral as ever. "The blizzard has reduced our visibility to zero. Electromagnetic interference has reduced the Nadesico's capabilities to 35.27%."
"On the other hand," Goat Hoary, military consultant, says, "conditions for the enemy are also horrible. That is not necessarily a bad thing."
"Optical scanning reveals dangerous reef formations," Jun reports, with concern, looking back to Yurika. "We should be able to make it through, but with visibility like this..."
"So we need guides!" Yurika decides, with confidence. "Engines to minimum power. Please ask some of our pilots to deploy and help us sneak through!"
"The interference may disrupt signals to the Aestivalis's Gravity Wave Antenna," Ruri warns, eyes to her console. She wonders whether a blizzard can really do something like this, but...
Yurika wags a finger, and insists: "... then we'll ask the non-Aestivalis pilots to help!"
Megumi Reinard, communications expert, pops up in a communication window to several of the pilots aboard the Nadesico. "Since our visibility and support capability is compromised," she says, cheerfully, "we're asking our non-Aestivalis pilots to move ahead and be our eyes and ears! Please treat us well!"
Hey, at least some of the pilots here are getting to see some action.
OUT IN THE BERING STRAIT:
Once upon a time, this place was called the 'Ice Curtain' -- and while those wars are long since past, the chill nature of the strait remains. Land crosses close in places, and even on the sea, there are ice floes and iceburgs which threaten their low, stealthy approach. The Nadesico needs a path through these chill obstacles which won't necessitate high-power measures like the Distortion Field -- because this is a sneaking mission, after all.
Luckily, the ice is thick enough that a robot ought to be able to leap from floe to floe... so long as they mind the weaker patches. It's spring, and the world's warming up, after all.
It's hard to tell, in places, which parts are land and which are ice -- that ice rises hundreds of meters, in places, dwarfing even the Nadesico in its low approach. Higher altitudes risk alerting the Jovians in the area, so it's all about signalling, signalling, signalling.
Or physically smashing the ice. That can also be stealthy, so long as the energy signatures aren't TOO flagrant.
Either way, the first step is getting through.
<Pose Tracker> Arriety Hearn has posed.
Arriety is here because the Nadesico rescued her after the events just above Earth's atmosphere involving a Sheryl Nome concert, Zentradi remnants attacking a luxury liner, and the subsequent descent to Earth that has her here on Nergal's battleship until she can be picked up. (Shh, it's a little bit timey-wimey, despite some scenes that've gone down.)
Still, she's kind of curious what kind of missions the Nadesico get up to, though she does get hesitant when she hears it's a request from the Federation. Which is kind of rich given that she's nominally part of Londo Bell, even as a civilian attache. But Yurika's heartfelt declaration that she won't be used as a pawn of war, and the resulting conversation of how it's a rescue mission does soften her suspicion a little...
EN ROUTE
"... mmm," Arriety is seated next to Ryoko and Hikaru, twiddling her thumbs. She'd rather be helping out in the kitchen, but right now, she's stationed as a pilot, so as Izumi says, she needs to conserve her strength... Myrme does, too. Where'd she go, anyway?
Somewhere, Uribatake is having a minor nightmare at the bean-shaped bug eating spare parts in the hangar.
NOW
"Um-- Arriety Hearn, Myrmekes Zeta... launching!"
She's not really sure if the Zeta is equipped with better sensors or whatever passes for 'eyes and ears', but she's also one of the least technical people onboard. If Yurika and Ruri say that she's the best shot they've got, she'll give it a shot, though--
"ARRIETY w-w-w-why're you making me deploy out in this cooold?! My butt's freezing off!!!"
--the Myrmekes Zeta also has an enormous mobile suit-sized knitted scarf around her neck, and is huddling up even as she launches.
"We have to repay Miss Ruri and the others for their kindness. You can do this, can't you?"
"My tushie's freezing in places I didn't know I haaad!!!"
"Shh, be quiet or they'll spot us..."
"Weeeh..."
Arriety looks to the floes ahead -- and her instinct is to use the beam sabre. Beam sabres are hot, right? Then...
"Zeta, melting the ice with the beam sabre," she reports, as a cylindrical tube pops loose and a magenta-pink field of energy erupts to life in its hand. Arriety plunges it into the ice, to carve through a bit at a time... it's going to be hard work, but maybe if she can cause it to slide?
<Pose Tracker> Kay has posed.
EARLIER
Kay was not, as far as anyone saw, at the briefing. In her defense, she doesn't fit in the meeting room.
EN ROUTE
Kay was too shy to say very much. But one of the cameras was on.
NOW
With the variety of non-Aestivalis machinery deployed, Elnath doesn't stand out as much as usual. It's smaller than a Mobile Suit, about the size of a macronized Zentredi - eleven meters or so - with distinctive armour, curved and segmented. It has heavy outer arm armour reinforced like a shield with attached claws, holds a long bladed spear, and peers out at the world through a V-shaped visor that glows faintly green.
Nobody saw a pilot get into it, either, but that's because it hasn't one. Or at least, it doesn't have one that can leave.
Kay has never been on an operation quite like this. She is not quite sure why the Nadesico is the one to make the rescue, but she doesn't have to understand it right now. She spent the first few minutes after the briefing downloading everything she could about Uchatsurawatosk Island and analyzing the weather patterns, because they made more sense to her than the political situation.
Not all that much more sense though. Man, Second Impact really messed up the climate, huh.
Right now Elnath is standing on one of the ice floes, which lets Kay use one of her glaive-like polearm to push another one out of the way. She is doing this with all the focus and determination of a small child playing on a river with a stick and a floating log.
She also finally contacts the other pilots. "This is Kay," Kay says, in her synthesized voice; it's a decent synthesizer but it still sounds slightly computer-created and not quite natural in minor ways. "Do you want heat?" That was, of course, to the Zeta.
<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.
Asuka leans against the wall during the briefing, arms crossed. Her initial impression of the Nadesico crew? Awful. That impression is mostly unfair. Her initial impression of the Admiral? Worse. That one is more fair. He just reminds her of every smarmy ladder-climbing fleet officer she's ever known, she gives it 7030 odds he only got his position due to nepotism.
However Yurika, the ship's captain does rise a notch in her esteem as she stands up to the guy.
"Tck." Asuka rolls her eyes as she's told it's a rescue mission. She was told it was an operation against the Jovians and NERV's cooperation would be appreciated. She'd conceptualized a search and destroy mission for yet another chulip that slipped through the net. Not this.
The explanation of the Ambassador's... research gets a groan out of her. "Another absentminded idiot." She mutters, her pose defensive. Still one should count their blessings that she's not being too disruptive. As the Captain rallies them all towards the mission, she storms out of the room, not joining in the cheer.
-=-=-
It is very boring, and Asuka's place throughout the hangar has changed every few minutes. A few crates of hangar staff supplies that had the misfortune of being in her way got kicked against a wall - giving Uribatake's crew a second source of headache than Myrmekes. She didn't bring her Wonderswan today as she assumed the mission wouldn't involve - "A WHOLE LOT OF NOTHING!" -so she just has no outlet right now.
She's certainly not socializing with the other pilots.
When Megumi's screen comes up and requests the pilots sortie. "FINALLY!" it's probably a breath of relief for more than just her.
-=-=-
Asuka is not in her Evangelion today. There are logistical problems attaching an Eva to a ship that sports an advanced distortion field. So instead she's deployed in a VF-171 Nightmare Plus. "Red-02 - launching!"
While she initially takes off from the hangars in fighter mode, she takes a dive almost immediately, the Variable Fighter transitioning to Gerwalk right before it would hit the ice. Its leg jets then turn on and off in controlled pulses order to skim across the ice at a speedy yet manageable rate - only rarely actually letting the legs touch down to skid for a distance.
The thick ice flow ahead - as Arriety frets over the Beam Saber and slowly carves into the ice. "What are you doing hand-wringing about it!? That's going to take forever-!"
Asuka just centers the target, hits a button and a Mauler Beam erupts from the central dorsal section of the VF and sweeps across the ice above Myrmekes Zeta and the Elnath in a wide arc.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
One of the pilots that arrived on the Nadesico is Lieutenant Rena Lancaster.
She is quiet, as she stands there and listens to the explanation. She doesn't make any further remarks; she is here with Londo Bell, to represent them, and that means keeping her mouth shut and showing their Nergal allies a polite, professional face.
Now, the Mass Production-type Nu Gundam is flying alongside the Nadesico. She looks over the strait -- and then peers ahead, which isn't hard with a panoramic cockpit display. Her fingers move over the console, flipping a few switches. The MP Nu looks different, today; the right shoulder has three fin funnels on it. The left has a much larger one, with a large booster on the end of it.
"It'll be okay, Arriety," she transmits. Then, she takes a deep breath, and says: "Lieutenant Lancaster, reporting. I'm going to deploy the long-range fin funnel to assist."
The long-range fin funnel drops down -- with a loud CLANK, in the atmosphere -- and lifts up to fly. Rena observes, for a moment, and starts considering the firing angle for it.
<Pose Tracker> Callisto Diana has posed.
TO SUMMARISE A TEDIOUS EXPLANATION
"... and that's why we're assisting the Nadesico with pathfinding in the Arctic." summarises Callisto Diana, a Zeonic clone-child with a fake name masquerading as a relative nobody in the special task force of ostensibly Federation-aligned space cowboys called Londo Bell. Whadda mouthful. With the crew's permission, one hopes, her AMX-004-03 Qubeley is perched on top of the Nadesico sitting in a cross-legged position with a cute little satellite pointed skyward for transmission purposes.
She terminates the transmission before anyone can ask any smart questions.
The Qubeley leans forward slightly. One big robotic hand comes up to hold its chin. The pilot sighs and hangs her head. "Guess it'd be rude for us not to help." she muses wryly, to nobody but herself and the audience. Alas. The Qubeley is a phenomenally ineffective icebreaker without expending energy, so it remains sitting in its casually dejected position while six funnels scoot out of its raised tail binder, and bobble off into the blizzard-y distance towards the heavy ice floes.
Callie eyes her transmission screen idly in the interim. She watches Rena putting on her game face, and then thinks of the rest of the Nadesico crew in a thought bubble, which is generally full of people falling over each other and making cryptic puns.
Ah, well, prudence was never a bad option.
"Hello, all allies, Kakapo Squadron will assist." she briefly sends a burst of transmission to say g'day, at the very least. The funnels finally catch up and park on the Myrmekes Zeta's shoulders. New fashion get.
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
EARLIER IN THE MEETING:
"A rescue operation?" Alto asks. Though he quickly blinks in surprise as he realizes the whole room just asked that at the same time.
Alto hadn't known what the mission was when his bosses in SMS had told him to board the Nadesico with his VF. Now it's pretty clear that it's a mission for the Federation. And while Alto has to admit that Yurika's determination to not accept orders she doesn't like, Alto unfortunately does not have that much freedom. Not if he wants to keep his job. Which he very much does.
Going over the plan, it seemed risky. Threading through hostile territory where they apparently have superior numbers. But Alto admits it's probably better than just trying to go in full force. Although the more Alto listens, the more he's not sure he likes this Munetake guy. But he doesn't say anything, simply standing there quietly with his arms crossed and a slightly sour expression on his face.
EN ROUTE:
"Look, I couldn't help it. Work came up!"
...
"Yes, I know I said we would-"
...
"I know, I know. Next time! We can... Hello? Hello?"
Alto looks at his phone, shakes it for a moment, then sighs. Glancing at a screen depicting the weather outside, he guesses a bad signal. Well, not much he can do about that either. Great.
At that moment, the call to the pilots comes in and Alto grudingly stands. Even with the heater and his flight suit, it's probably going to be cold out there... And in this weather, he's not going to be able to do much flying.
NOW:
Another VF blasts its way out of the Nadesico's hangar before quickly switching over to GERWALK mode and flying down to skim across just above the water's surface. Though the mostly white Messiah blends in well with this weather.
Alto manages to avoid his instinct to go fast, given the conditions outside and lack of visibility. There's a real risk of crashing into a sudden ice formation. Or sudden rise in the ground. Or sudden energy beam-wait what? Alto swerves as a beam sweeps through an area not far from him.
The enemy already!? ... No wait, he traces the source back to the other VF... <"Hey, watch it! We're trying to avoid being noticed, if you remember. High energy weapons aren't exactly subtle.">
<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
Lucine, having been cajoled from the greenhouse where she was all too happy to spend her time in, still has her apron on as she's gathered in the mission room.
A rescue mission. Lucine can certainly do that.
There's Chulips there. There's Chulips all over the Earth, in fact. The red dots that populate the map seem to suck the color from Lucine's face as she's reminded of a thing she already knew, but wish she didn't.
Though Mars has its share of snowstorms even semi-terraformed as it is, Lucine has never really dealt with them. Why go outside a climate-controlled dome that is programmed to produce an environment suitable for human habitation if the outside was currently in white-out conditions that could very likely lead to a person's death if they get lost? You would only do so if you had to.
For example, if Jovians invaded, and your mother was in a critical state, you would go out into that blizzard. For better or worse, the sky that day was woefully a pleasant shade of warm ochre, and the temperature decent. It was, in fact, the sort of day you would go outside your climate-controlled dome.
==ENROUTE, IN THE GREENHOUSE==
"....." Snipsnipsnip. Dead leaves are cut. Flowers inspected. Pollen collected.
"......" Snipsnipsnip.
".... Ah, I'm sorry I'm so quiet right now. Just.... a lot of thoughts on my mind. I'm being careful, though. This could be a chance to show that I'm stronger now." Snipsnipsnip. "I'm the daughter of Kris Azul, after all! He never backed down! From his bounties, I mean." Snipsnipsnip.
"Maybe they won't need me for this." Snipsnipsnip.
Megumi's face suddenly appearing in front of Lucine causes the gardener to shriek and fall off her stool.
"... Ah-ah.... I'm fine, no, no one else is here... wait, how long was the line open?!"
OUT IN THE BERING STRAIT:
"<..... Ah, I'm here. Dianthus Mk. 3, reporting.>"
The Dianthus Mk. 3, in its dark colors of dark magenta and black, sticks out like a sore thumb among the whiteness of the surroundings, but the snow obscures all at a certain amount of distance. "<.... They know we're coming, right?>" She clears her throat. "<I mean, the crew that we're rescuing? If we rescue them really quick, we'll be fine.>" She tries to keep the question out of her voice.
It'll be fine. Even if the Jovians come, she's survived them twice, in conditions that were far more bleak than here.
Because she was escaping them, her mind reminds her. Lucine grips her controls. ".... It'll all be fine."
KTS: Lucine Azul has deployed in Dianthus Mk. 3.
<Pose Tracker> BC-001 Minae has posed.
It hadn't taken long for Minae to make her way over to the Nadesico once she'd learnt of the unfortunate series of events that happened to befall Arriety. It's not exactly a 'rescue', because it's not like Arriety actually needs rescuing, but the robot can't help but hurry given the way she feels a certain amount of concern over how the young pilot might be taking this sudden shift. It's not the first time she's leveraged her status as a 'civilian', nor the first time she's gently nudged Eight to give her permission, and it probably won't be the last.
And even as she's booking the shuttle it turns out to be wholly unnecessary, as a joint operation brings the two forces together anyway. Minae gets on board the Nadesico with just enough time to shower Arriety with pride and cheer at the way she's managed to adapt to the situation, fuss over Myrme's status as the ship's new mascot, gawk at the size of the ship, and absolutely not pause for thought a few times at the feel of being on a different ship, one that feels a little more chaotic and alive.
(For better or worse, she is too polite to do her usual Londo Bell trick of checking out what machines want to have a chat with her just yet. She only just got on board, she's pretty sure Ruri would give her the biggest frown, and it's not like she wants to get thrown off the ship for security reasons.)
"BC-001 Minae, Kakapo Assist, launching!" she chirps. "Well, I guess I'm not really launching, Arriety is, but I'm giving my full supp--" the rest is drowned out by the noise of the launch. One thing her sudden flight to the Nadesico meant is that she doesn't have her Bits with her to provide more direct support, but she'd never turn down accompanying Arriety in the cockpit.
Glancing over the headrest of the main pilot's seat, the robot looks out over the array of ice that stands in their way. "I think we'll all be due for a hot cocoa when we get back," she chirps, intent on keeping spirits high as her gaze flicks this way and that, glancing at her console as the Elnath makes contact. "But I don't think we'd turn the offer down!"
The Zeta's targeting computer pings, and several pinpoint spots are highlighted in succession as she links up to it. "I think it'll be structurally weak here, here and here - or at least, that's where it's thinnest-- ah--" she watches chunks of it disintegrate under a large beam.
KTS: BC-001 Minae has deployed as a Sub Pilot for Arriety Hearn!
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
BESIDES MINAE, WHEN SHE ENTERS:
A communication window pops up with a box of text. It says:
< HELLO WORLD >
Which means that BC-001 Minae at least gets to greet one of the computers here before everything starts happening so much.
IN THE NADESICO'S HANGAR
"Is this some sort of new Jovian weapon?!" Seiya Uribatake, chief engineer, yelps as he witnesses Myrme's untold destruction.
"Uh, actually, sir, I think that's Ms. Hearn's pet..." One of his men, in a light-blue uniform, points out uncertainly.
Uribatake chases Myrme out of a toolkit and yells: "IT ATE MY SPANNER!"
They're probably fine? They're probably fine.
"A hole's lot is nothing," Izumi comments, aside, to Asuka. She laughs at her own joke.
IN THE GREENHOUSE
Megumi winces, sympathetically, as Lucine crashes down.
"Ahh... you're nervous, huh?" Megumi smiles to her, as she keeps Lucine's window open a moment longer. "Break a leg out there, but if you need to come back, there's no shame in it, okay?"
... she knows where Lucine came from, after all.
ANYWAY, OUT IN THE STRAIT
A Zentradi-sized mobile suit pushes a floe aside, which is harder going than it looks, because Elnath is pretty small as far as mecha go. But with hard work, guts, and all the downloaded knowledge of calculus and liquid mechanics to figure out just how the ice is going to move, she'll be able to push it out of the way..!
Meanwhile, the Myrmekes Zeta... deploys with a scarf. And it even gets fin funnel shoulderpads, courtesy Callisto. A message displays in a boxy communication window in Arriety's cockpit:
< STYLISH ! >
... because someone is a fan of her style. (It's Omoikane. That someone is Omoikane.)
Tragically, someone else isn't a fan of Arriety's careful approach -- which does work well enough, especially with Minae's advice. She can see the ice starting to shift, and if she'd had a few more minutes, she might have been able to cause a graceful collapse. Instead she has no more minutes, because Asuka is here.
(Here is a Variable Fighter instead of an Evangelion, but maybe that's for the best. Does the Nadesico even have charging facilities for NERV's finest? Anyway, the Distortion Field would definitely mess with Asuka's cable management.)
The Mauler Beam is much more effective than Arriety's makeshift icepick -- and much louder, too. Since Kay's done so much work (in very little time, perhaps, but she's a super computer) understanding the geology of the area, she's able to pick up the fact that something which was supposed to be a distant rock formation seems to be moving on her sensors.
Rocks do not, typically, move.
It's probably fine? It might not be fine.
MEANWHILE, BACK ON THE NADESICO:
There's a tanuki, seated to the right of Ruri. A label on its belly declares: 'ON BREAK'. This is the Lunch Tanuki, which the bridge crew uses to indicate their absences. Occasionally, Lunch Tanuki goes on break, to be replaced by Lunch Gekiganger. They have a system.
"Now incorporating pilot data into our flight plan," Ruri reports, stoic. "It seems they're carving a path. I'm inputting magnetic resonance to get a view of the situation... it may take some time." After a beat of slience, she looks to the Lunch Tanuki sidelong, entirely sceptical. "Where did Megumi-san go?" She asks, a little more familiar with her co-workers, and not an inch less critical.
On her other side, Minato turns to her, cheerful and smiling. "Oh, are you interested in knowing, Ruri-Ruri?" She asks, with all the brazen knowledge of an adult.
Ruri turns to her, and answers, plainly: "Yes."
Behind them, with the sound of a slide whistle, Izumi and Hikaru rise up and say in unison: "I knew it!" They're clearly having far too much fun with this, especially as Hikaru goes on to explain: "Now Akatsuki's back from their training, Megumi probably went into the virtual reality room with Akito!"
Izumi, mature and poised, chuckles rather than giggling. "All alone, immersed in their world of amour... I like that."
Ruri's head tilts, slightly, to the side. "Are they on a date?" She asks, because while she recognises the root word amor, she can't quite be sure that's what everyone means.
Up above, at the captain's station, Yurika is zoning out a little... for some reason.
Unfortunately, the Nadesico has two helmswomen.
"Captain! Captain Misumaru!" A voice demands, either driven or bossy depending on one's opinions towards women seeking power, snapping Yurika out of her reverie. She looks to the side to fine Erina Kinjo Won, who -- alongside the ace pilot Nagare Akatsuki, and Admiral Munetake -- came aboard the Nadesico, after it returned to Earth. She insists, scowling: "You should know better while we're on a mission! Acting like that is why your boyfriend ran out on you!"
Yurika's dismay is audible. As she sags, defeated, Jun and Mr. Prospector lean in to whisper to each other.
"Why is Ms. Erina, who's just a helmswoman, acting so bossy?" That's Jun, evidently carrying a few scars himself, with clear concern for what Yurika is going through.
"Well," Mr. Prospector, the Nadesico's chief accountant, whispers from behind a hand: "she used to be secretary to the chairman of Nergal." He hangs his head, as he admits: "She's stuck-up and thinks --"
Whatever she thinks is lost to time, because Erina's head snaps around to glare at them, jostling the strange blue crystals she wears as earrings. "Everyone, please return to your seats!" With their obvious assent, she moves to lean down to address Izumi and Hikaru as they hang about the lower level of the bridge, hands to the console: "You two go down below to be on standby!"
Erina is vicious, uncompromising, as she turns to lambast Yurika. "Do you understand, Captain?! Straighten up! Straighten up!"
Yurika sighs, and bows her head. Perhaps she's taken criticism like that to heart..?
BACK OUT IN THE BERING STRAIT
Rena's considerate firing angles shoot through an iceberg -- or at least the top tip of the iceberg, which is what worries them right now, never mind the mass floating beneath. Meanwhile, Alto's consideration towards not going fast means that he doesn't run aground of any ice, either.
Meanwhile, Lucine has excellent questions. (On the bridge of the Nadesico, Yurika questions the Admiral about it, only to be reassured that the ambassador truly expects to be taken care of.) She's more of a mind to escape than fight, but the path she takes through the ice is useful data for the Nadesico, too.
FINALLY, ABOARD THE NADESICO:
"No obstacles ahead," Ruri reports the success of their escort, with the same neutral tone she uses for everything else. "All clear."
She transmits, to the pilots outside: "All units, please return to the Nadesico. We'll have a short break until we arrive at the coordinates."
Ruri is the one transmitting that, because...
... almost everyone else is gone.
And once she's sent those messages, she speaks to the bridge: "Switching to auto-pilot." She doesn't put Lunch Tanuki in her chair, because Lunch Tanuki is already taken. So is Lunch Gekiganger. And that's because --
"Captain! Captain!" Ruri stops, before Yurika's console. Even standing up straight, she's barely taller than Yurika, sagged forward on her folded arms. "Since the hard part is over, everyone's gone to lunch," Ruri points out, stoically incisive as ever. "What about you, Captain?"
"Oh, I'm fine," Yurika assures her, with a fond smile. "Why don't you go ahead, Ruri."
"Okay." Ruri accepts it easily enough, turning and leaving. She was concerned -- but her concern is so easily redirected, with a little reassurance. She is, after all, the youngest crewmember here by a wide margin.
She doesn't stay long enough to see the melancholy replace that gentle reassurance, on Yurika's face.
"Akito, how do you feel...?" Yurika asks no one at all, looking down to Lunch Tanuki, still indicating that Megumi is very much not here. Alone on the bridge, alone with her thoughts and her fears, Yurika finally straightens up and slams her hands down. "No, I won't have it!"
Of course, she hit the big red button.
Omoikane immediately assents -- because his sensors have just picked up that same problem Kay noticed, perhaps even with her help -- as a series of warning windows flash up across the bridge. The most prominent amongst them reads:
< AUTOMATIC INTERCEPTION DEFENCE SYSTEM -- START >
... and the Gravity Wave Cannon opens.
Without delay, the Cannon blasts out along the twin prongs, annihilating the threat directly in front of them--!!
And all across the ship, and all throughout the returning pilot's cockpits, windows flash up.
< EMERGENCY >
< EMERGENCY >
< EMERGENCY >
It's a good thing the bridge crew only just left, because it just takes a few moments of scrambling for them to get back to their posts. "Maintain our shields and retreat out of enemy fire range!" Goat barks, immediately.
Even their discombobulated sensors can tell: the Batta who weren't dead ahead are moving in, and moving in FAST. Each one individually is tough, but managable -- but like the grasshoppers they're referred to as, they swarm.
"Distortion field holding steady," Ruri reports. "Graviton sensors indicate numerous surviving enemy units."
It's Goat's face which appears on the communication screens of the sortied pilots, this time. "All units, this is an emergency engagement. Destroy the enemy!"
It's Goat's face, because Yurika is stunned to silence.
KTS: Armor of the Week has deployed in Batta Swarm.
KTS: Armor_of_the_Week has deployed as a Boss for 7 opponents.
<Pose Tracker> Armor of the Week has posed.
Batta -- Grasshoppers -- aren't, exactly. Round and individually Small, they have four legs which fold into themselves when flying, and a face made of a machine gun. Their yellow shells conceal missiles, and, notably...
... no pilots to speak of.
There was no sense of danger, for the Awakened -- because there was no one to feel ill intent. The Batta are fully-robotic, unmanned, and entirely intent on destruction.
They fly in swarm formation, which is why they're called Grasshoppers, really.
And you're the harvest.
<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.
Izumi gets a dark look at her statement - for some reason it amps up her anger all the more. That was then though...
The Qubeley's appearance on the field though causes Asuka to double take as its funnels launch, and Asuka mutters to herself, "What's she doing here?!" Before hitting the radio, "As if I'd ever actually need your assistance - Gremmie!"
Her nicknames for her sadly hasn't improved much, chalk it up to a lack of personal knowledge or even a visual on her to try to find something that would actually hit home.
Whereas Alto's indignation causes her to radio back, "Oh, what, was that too hot for you-" Asuka has a half beat pause to consider nicknames and can only come up with Mari's for her, "-'Princess'?" Apparently she caught a glimpse of his appearance back when he was on his phone, "In case you don't remember - the Jovian Lizards aren't known for taking prisoners. Just because we're on a stealth mission doesn't mean we're not also on the clock here. So don't tell me what to do!"
It's not long before the obstacle is cleared though, and they're given the okay to turn back, "Already? We've barely got our feet wet." She's turning on her way back when... the Gravity Wave cannon fires overhead!?
"What the hell!?"
Her Gerwalk pivots around suddenly to see such DEVASTATION that was apparently not the Nadesico's INTENTION. Asuka's visual appears in front of Ruri's, "Hey Fairy what's wrong with you firing the main gun without warning!?"
Hypocrisy much?
As the Grasshoppers start to swarm, Asuka sends her Gerwalk around on the ice and water, leg jets skimming the surface as the gun pod overhead starts to sweep and pepper a few of the grasshoppers in the swarm as she turns to try and keep spraying any that get on her tail.
Despite her rage at what she perceives as Ruri's incompetence, in her cockpit she's got this confident smirk on her face.
Because despite what happened, this turn of events is just fine by her actually.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Armor of the Week with Gun Pod Barrage!
<Pose Tracker> Arriety Hearn has posed.
Delicious spanners. Well, Myrme has to work for her food now!
Kay is the first to speak up after Arriety. "Oh, yes, please!" Kay's synthesised voice rather reminds her of Minae... who, speaking of, is assisting her today!
"I didn't think it'd be so cold, even with the heater on..." Arriety admits to Minae.
Then, a message: STYLISH! Arriety blinks a few times, then smiles. "It must be Omoikane. Did you say hello to him, Minae?"
Still, it's hard to be too nervous when Rena, Minae and Callisto are all here! It's a relief to have her closest friends backing her up. It's also a really good thing that Callie-sis has the official explanations squared away in case one of the more stuffy guys from the Federation come knocking. The funnels on her shoulders also make her feel safer, thanks to sis. Speaking of funnels though, aren't Rena's funnels a little different? One of them's...
"Wow, you got the family size Funnel!" Myrme blurts out. "Is that one a snack for me?"
"Haven't you had enough? Mr. Uribatake's still fuming..."
"He's so stingy. The mechanics onboard the Ra Mari are more generous."
"That's because they let you eat space rocks and debris..."
Still, tuning into some of the gossip happening around the Nadesico has her looking at the MP Nu for some reason. "Eeh...? Who's going on a date while we're out here freezing? Hmm... I hope no one runs out on me."
Miss Lucine is here too. She remembers her calming her down when they were fighting the Zentradi. "I'm glad you're here, Miss Azul!"
Asuka, on the other hand, has other ideas. Asuka's been pretty loud and bold, so she's been shying away from her as is her natural tendency when faced with this kind of situation. Still-- Asuka shouts and--
"W-wah! Hold on, Miss Asuka!" she yelps as she instinctively gets out of the way, in case anything starts to crack and fall ontop of them. At least Alto's there to tell her off too...
Before she can even react further, though, the Gravity Wave Cannon opens and suddenly fires a blast!! Arriety finds herself scrambling from the sudden fire, as emergency warnings flare up on her screen. Goat's voice rings out on the radio: An emergency engagement. Destroy the enemy!
D-destroy... ...
She spots them on the monitor. Round, small yellow shells flying effectively on autopilot, and...
"I can't... I can't sense them at all. There's no one on board?" Arriety murmurs. This is a problem. She's so used to sensing the life -- and darkness -- aboard the enemy unit that she realises that she actually has to pay attention to her cameras and sensors now. Uugh, it's time to summon her Basic Training back...!
"S-still, what should I--"
"HEY! If there's no one on board, then there's no PROBLEM with me doing this, right?"
The Zeta suddenly swerves forward with impressive speed, rocking Arriety in her five-point harness. The Mobile Suit's eyes suddenly look like +_+ as its JAW opens, revealing a fine row of pointy teeth! Quina Quen is inspiring to Myrme!
"Itadakimaaaaaaa-su!"
CHOMP. Myrme tries to take a bite out of the nearest Batta and just, uh, let's... cut to a beautiful grassy field with a clear blue sky... ah, how wonderful... suteki, even, while Myrme turns the enemy into steak-y bits.
KTS: Arriety Hearn targets Armor of the Week with Devour!
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"I'm glad for the backup, Callisto," Rena transmits to the Qubeley. She smiles for a second -- and then she breathes out with a little relief at Minae being in the cockpit with Arriety.
The Battas are a surprise. They are a surprise on several levels -- not the least of which is that Rena doesn't sense them, until they suddenly fly up in formation. Her head snaps towards them; her eyes widen, and the ashen-haired woman's fingers curl tightly about the controls.
"Gh--!"
She shakes her head. "Unmanned units, Arriety," she says. "Okay--fan out, we don't want them getting through!" Rena takes a deep breath, then barks out: "Fin funnels! Go!"
The other three fin funnels drop off -- and begin hovering about the MP Nu, as it lands on the ice. Its feet hit pack ice, causing ice dust to shoot up, and then the three fin funnels shoot forward. They blast, beams of mega particle energy raining down at several of the grasshoppers -- and trying to drive them towards Rena's Gundam.
KTS: Rena Lancaster has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
KTS: Arriety Hearn has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
KTS: Rena Lancaster targets Armor of the Week with Prominence Revolution!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
Asuka Shikinami Langley has cancelled her attack.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Armor of the Week with Gun Pod Barrage!
KTS: Armor of the Week successfully evades Asuka Shikinami Langley's Gun Pod Barrage
KTS: Arriety Hearn rattles Armor of the Week, making its next maneuvers more difficult.
KTS: Armor of the Week fails to react to Arriety Hearn's Devour, taking 3060 damage!
KTS: Arriety Hearn has engaged Armor of the Week
KTS: Rena Lancaster anchors Armor of the Week, forcing it into close range.
KTS: Armor of the Week fails to evade Rena Lancaster's Prominence Revolution, taking 2520 damage!
KTS: Rena Lancaster has engaged Armor of the Week
<Pose Tracker> Kay has posed.
EARLIER
Kay's cameras spent particular attention on Myrme and Minae, for completely different reasons.
She also tried to introduce herself to Omoikane. There might have been some text windows popping back and forth for a while. Kay has been more comfortable with those lately, for some reason.
NOW
Over this whole trip, Kay has very carefully stayed out of Asuka's way. She doesn't know how to react to that and so she's not, while waiting to see what everyone else does about the outburst from the other pilot.
Kay actually doesn't have much she can do to keep Myrme warm - Proto Elnath does not come equipped with thermal weaponry - but she can vent a little bit. Rather than standing on the ice floe, Elnath takes off, opening its back vents to expel hot air from the thrusters. It's low, relatively speaking, but it's slightly better than nothing if you're big enough to avoid being blown away by them.
It doesn't look like it's a powerful enough thrust to keep Elnath up, and yet it does. Mysterious! "I do not have anything to eat, though. Please do not eat Proto Elnath." Kay needs that! It's her body.
Kay is good at multitasking, at least when the multitasking does not require more hands than she has (zero or two, depending on how you count it). Watching scanners, comparing them to data she's already acquired, running a quick check-up probe - she can do that with one of her possibly-nonexistent hands behind her back.
< ??? > is what she sends to Omoikane - it's less words than a brief heads-up with what she's found, which may indeed tell him to point sensors in the proper direction.
Only then does she actually use her words: "I think I may have detected an anomalous ice flow," Kay says. But it turns out to not be that at all! It turns out to be
"Batta." Kay has seen these images before, though she has never fought them. There's no pilot there, but Kay isn't quite that kind of sensitive, anyway; to her they're just machines, but that may be the intent.
She is momentarily taken by the Zeta having teeth. Even Kay doesn't have teeth! She is mildly jealous of the other pilot (?) and her ability to eat something, even if it is a singularly unpleasant meal.
But rather than comment, Kay engages the closest Batta. Elnath accelerates; the thrusters flare and it's certainly enough to push Proto Elnath but probably still not enough to hold it up in 1G. It still glides above the water as Kay sweeps the glaive-like polearm, less piercing the Batta and more slashing through it.
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
Alto is starting to believe this is actually WORSE than a firefight because you can't even fly right. Too hard to see. Significant turbulence forcing you to always be on the controls and adjusting. And mapping work is so dull. So Alto is already in a bit of a sour mood when Asuka's retort comes in. His jaw goes a little tight as he seethes for several moments, before suddenly raising his voice and asking, <"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A-">
BZZZRRRRRRTTTTTFFFFFFWWWWWWOOOOOOOOMMMMMSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
Alto is cut off as the Nadesico's massive weapon rips a huge swath through the air nearby. Alto looks on in extreme confusion and some fearful awe at the sight. He's about to ask what the hell is going on when the warnings start coming in. High numbers of enemy units begin appearing on his HUD. Did they come because the Nadesico fired, or did it already see them and fire in response?
Doesn't really matter either way as Alto quickly switches into combat mode. The combat chatter picks up, during which Alto catches that these are unmanned units. That's a bonus at least... Though he knows not to underestimate them, given what he's seen of the Ghost units.
<"This is Skull 4. Engaging.">
The Messiah's leg thrusters ignite, pushing the machine up and away from the surface. They no longer need to stay low and Alto would definitely prefer to be in the skies where he is less likely to crash into something. Especially with the bad weather.
A quick flick of a switch engages his missile targeting and Alto picks a few larger clusters of the attacking drones. He then pulls the trigger.
Four of the missiles mounted on the VF's wings detach and then blast forward. They streak out towards those Batta groups before exploding, unleashing large fireballs in the air that will hopefully catch quite a few of the swarming machines.
KTS: Alto Saotome targets Armor of the Week with Wing Mounted Missiles Barrage!
KTS: Kay has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
KTS: Kay targets Armor of the Week with Proto Lancer Strike!
<Pose Tracker> Callisto Diana has posed.
The Qubeley has a large ! appear over its head for a split-second as one Asuka Shikinami Langley spots it, calling back memories of goofy barbs traded over the radio, no doubt. Luckily, more pressing matters toss this concern to the back of the room. Namely, the Nadesico suddenly opening up with the main guns and turning a map-sized cone of stuff into vapor. The Qubeley flails its arms in surprise and slides off the top of the hull, where it had been content to perch and help from afar.
The rotund Zeonic suit falls past Rena's viewscreen as a comical footnote, though it eventually floats back up on plumes of sky-blue thruster flame soon afterwards. Callisto's helmeted face soon pops up in Rena's comms window, wearing a mildly exasperated look. "Don't sweat the formality with the Nadesico crew too much, they're on a different wavelength." that's what she's worried about!?
There's a pause. The red-suited girl's brow knits in confusion as Asuka's verbal jab sails clear over her head, possibly into orbit. Her retort is to open a line to the Second Child and stare at her in silent disbelief for a few moments. "... so--signal if you need a hand." she adds, then signs off as the hostilities begin.
Switching lines now. The Qubeley does a mid-air twirl and departs for the icy front in a contrasting blur of dark armour and bright contrails. "Minae, how's it look from there? My sensors can't get through much of this blizzard." Callie queries the robot riding shotgun in the Zeta. "I'll be with you two in about... ten seconds."
Each of the little round funnels which have perched on the Zeta's shoulders wobble in agreement, and then belch neon-green particle fire into the Batta that Myrme is lifting up to chomp. Think of it like a searing a steak for just a moment before you take a bite. Molto bene~
KTS: Callisto Diana targets Armor of the Week with Qubeley MK-II Funnels - Astrapi Formation!
KTS: Armor of the Week successfully evades Callisto Diana's Qubeley MK-II Funnels - Astrapi Formation
KTS: Armor of the Week fails to evade Kay's Proto Lancer Strike, taking 3420 damage!
KTS: Kay has engaged Armor of the Week
KTS: Armor of the Week fails to evade Alto Saotome's Wing Mounted Missiles Barrage, taking 5760 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
IN THE GREENHOUSE
Megumi's subtle display of sympathy isn't overlooked by Lucine, who lets her head bob forward. ".... Thank you. Yeah, I'm... very nervous. But." She raises her head to look directly into the window, determination cutting through her meek exterior. "I've already shown them how good I am at evading them. I need to show them that I can also fight back."
Maybe the Gekiganger anime's beginning to wear its charms even onto Lucine, or maybe, Megumi's small word of compassion has given Lucine further reason to push forward.
They'll see. With teamwork and determination--
==NOW==
<"... Princess...?"> Between the gossip aboard the Nadesico and the friendly fire aimed at secret members of royalty, Lucine just stares at her screen, face blank, like a deer watching two other deer duke it out as gunfire is heard in the distance.
Also, Arriety is here! <"Oh, you're a pilot as well? Thank goodness you were with us!"> Pause. "<Ah, is your suit...>"
EMERGENCY EMERGENCY EMERGENCY
LASER BLASTS
LUCINE IS PANICKING
<"We're being fired on?! O-oh, it's just the Nadesico...">
Lucine tries to compose herself, pulling her lips tight.
<"The other pilots are right, Arriety. There's no pilots or intelligent AI to sense. They are automatic. They destroy."> These quiet, toneless words are coming from the same person who tried to assure a nervous Arriety just before the concert. But, at the very least, she's not being fearful- just realistic. <".... They may be small, but they'll try to overwhelm you with numbers. Retreat to a better vantage point if you can if you're in a bad spot. They won't think anything of protecting each oth--">
Did Arriety's suit just.... open its mouth...?
And was courteous enough to thank someone for the food?
<"... I never thought of it like that. I suppose that is an advantage, not having to worry about a pilot.">
The Dianthus finally moves, zipping ahead in the space Lucine knows is available, depositing a field of glowing orbs. If touched by the Batta, the orbs will explode, hopefully taking a few out with them.
KTS: Lucine Azul targets Armor of the Week with Lunate Crown v.2 Fireflies!
<Pose Tracker> BC-001 Minae has posed.
Minae pauses as the first little box pops up on the screen in front of her, her eyebrows raising as she taps it thoughtfully. Without saying a word, the first thing she does is instinctively start checking the Zeta's systems for intrusion - the last thing she wants to do is have Myrme get compromised by anything more serious than a doughnut. It's only when she manages to pinpoint the rough direction of the transmission that she chooses to relax slightly, and it's only when Arriety follows up that she looks up in surprise.
"Space... is real cold," she nods in affirmation, giving the statement far more pomp than it actually needs. Her solemnity breaks in an instant as she switches back to a smile, reassured and curious about the string of follow-up messages that immediately follow. "And most mobile suits aren't as alive as this one. Myrme, let us know if it gets too much, okay? And no eating Rena's funnels. She'll ground us for days," she calls up above her to the ceiling of the cockpit, patting the wall a couple of times where it seems... fleshiest.
She'll worry about that later, as she always tells herself. "Ah, I didn't get time to say hello in person before the operation was underway! I want to, though. He's come highly recommended, after all." Connected up, she doesn't need to type out the reply, at the same time both technological and much more casual:
< HELLO YOU! >
The communication protocol gives her a syntax error, but some level of intuition tells her the message got through anyway. She springboards off the attempt, opening her channel wider to encompass the units present. "This is Minae from Kakapo Squadron, available to assist with targeting data and analysis on the fly if requested. I'm correcting the Zeta's radar for altitude and spray, so if you need it-- ah, basically just think of me as a handy-dandy expansion pack? Give me just a couple seconds, Callie!" she adds lightly.
She switches her attention back to the Betta as they approach. "They're kind of cute, in a way?" she adds in the brief space before engagement, realising the same thing as Arriety. Without any prompting, she's started painting targets on Arriety's computer - but she also leans forward to offer the girl a smile of encouragement. "At least that means there's no-one on board," she adds, unable in the moment to see it as anything other than a very silver lining."Besides, it'll be okay. You've got Rena and Callie watching your back." Or charging forwards, as the two of them fire their funnels with gusto. "That's probably worth another < STYLISH ! >, right?" she coos, pronouncing the angle brackets perfectly. If she's affected by Lucine's calm summary of the situation, she doesn't show it - rather, she's quietly nodding along.
She clears her throat loudly over the open channel as Myrme takes its first bite of big yellow bug. It's probably meant to be an attempt to drown out the noise, but it's not like she can do that all on her own. "Adjustments complete - Kakapos, I'm pushing them out to you. Anyone else, yell if you want them." True to her word, there's a soft ping from a series of nav computers, as much of the static and disruption abruptly clears. She probably didn't need to add the little desktop Minae peeking up from the bottom of the screen with a 'go! go!' speech bubble, but she likes to think it's appreciated.
KTS: BC-001 Minae targets Arriety Hearn, Rena Lancaster, and Callisto Diana with Awe.
KTS: BC-001 Minae inspires awe, increasing Rena Lancaster's Morale!
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
EARLIER
Omoikane has enough text boxes for everybody, including Kay! Especially when he can 'talk' as fast as he's comfortable with, each message box flashing up for a brief instant only to be replaced by another. It's nice to meet other Super AI, isn't it?
AND NOW
"It's a reasonable question," Ruri transmits back to the pilots. "Since I left my post, I accept blame. System program administration is my responsibility. I apologise."
Izumi, seated in the pilot's chair at the bottom of the bridge, whispers scandalously to Hikaru. "She's covering for the Captain... give the Captain caftan..."
Hikaru whispers back, as Izumi cackles: "Has she graduated from calling people 'fools'?"
"Fools," Ruri says, impassive, looking over her console to glare down at them.
Anyway, back to the Strait: the Batta are fast. Fast enough to weave through Asuka's bullets -- and one fires a burst of its own, towards her Variable Fighter. Right out of its face. How is its face a gun?
The Batta which Myrme has grasped gets lightly char-broiled by Callisto, but, functionally, this doesn't do nearly as much damage as what follows. It's horrifying. It's terrifying. It's...
"Economically viable," Mr. Prospector notes, transmitting from the back of the bridge, tapping some buttons on his pocket calculator. (As the Nadesico's chief accountant, he's never without it.) "Ms. Hearn, do you often make a habit of consuming metal foes? And did you know we offer a remarkable transfer bonus?"
"You're awfully bold to come out with that when all her friends are here," Minato notes, entirely too sly.
"The finances may still balance out if we hire all of them," Mr. Prospector points out. "The Jovians only ever send drones like these to Earth, after all!"
"Can ONE of us FOCUS?!" Erina snaps, glaring at Yurika the whole time.
Focusing on something other than the battling communication windows is probably a great idea, because
The Fin Funnels which Rena sends out aren't here to toast the Batta -- they're here to blast them. The Grasshoppers, as it turns out, aren't individually very smart, which means that it's not difficult at all to get them to rush Rena's Gundam.
In response to Minae's cooing, a text box does, indeed, pop up:
< GREAT JOB ! >
(There's a little stamp of a heavy bell on the bottom of the window.)
Meanwhile, Elnath accelerates into her own Batta, too fast for it to flee. It goes flying back; there's a SCREAM of sparks, as she finds that armor to be surprisingly difficult to carve through. With the power of thrusters, she finally manages to find the point in its armor where its legs connect, and from there, slash through. Before it explodes, its wings open, and a truly unfair amount of missiles pour out to greet Elnath for her trouble.
The Batta fail to fly through a field of flowers, meanwhile -- the explosions rock them, and one, smoking, turns its horrible little gaze
straight
on
Lucine.
It aggresses, charging forward with machine gun blazing.
Three Batta takes exception to Myrmekes Zeta, because they're at least smart enough to recognise a predator when they see one. The volley of missiles is a definite statement.
Meanwhile, Alto takes to the skies. He may not be a princess, but does he have to be, to claim royal right? With the high ground secured, he answers missiles with missiles -- and the fireball does, indeed, claim one of the grasshoppers aggressing Arriety.
The other two are helpfully lit up, on sensors, by Minae's assistance, alongside the rest of the Batta. Still, just, way too many Batta. An unreasonable amount of Batta.
Aboard the Nadesico, Yurika shakes her head, centring herself. "Status report, please!"
"We are currently proceeding through the path the pilots are making for us," Ruri reports.
Admiral Munetake, seated to the back of the bridge, has his cheek firmly planted in a hand. "This is no time to get bogged down!" He criticises them, sharply, and opens a communication window of his own to demand of everyone: "Hurry up so that our goodwill ambassador doesn't starve!"
Minato cranes her head backwards, to look towards him. "Well, that's easy for you to say. Our pilots are fighting hard out there, you know."
Megumi -- who returned with the emergency alerts, looks back to add: "But wouldn't they freeze to death first when the fuel runs out?"
Admiral Munetake sounds utterly unbothered by the idea. "Oh, well, that's not very likely." It's only with the audible stares he receives from Yurika and Goat that he startles, thrusting a hand into the air. "Just hurry it up!"
He shortly falls over as a stray shot impacts the Nadesico. It's tragic. No one goes to help him.
KTS: Armor of the Week has activated the Accel Spirit Command and Has Engaged with Arriety Hearn
KTS: Armor of the Week has activated the Accel Spirit Command and Has Engaged with Rena Lancaster
KTS: Armor of the Week has activated the Accel Spirit Command and Has Engaged with Kay
KTS: Armor of the Week targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Light Machine Gun Blitz!
KTS: Armor of the Week targets Rena Lancaster with Light Machine Gun Blitz!
KTS: Armor of the Week targets Kay with Batta Missile Volley!
KTS: Armor of the Week targets Lucine Azul with Heavy Machine Gun Barrage!
KTS: Armor of the Week targets Arriety Hearn with Batta Missile Anti-Ship Volley!
KTS: Kay blocks Armor of the Week's Batta Missile Volley, taking 4125 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley's EN Barrier activates, negating 1000 base damage.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley fails to Evade Armor of the Week's Light Machine Gun Blitz, taking 5400 damage!
KTS: Armor of the Week targets Alto Saotome with Batta Missile Single Missile!
KTS: Rena Lancaster successfully evades Armor of the Week's Light Machine Gun Blitz
KTS: Armor of the Week targets Callisto Diana with Batta Missile Single Missile!
KTS: Arriety Hearn blocks Armor of the Week's Batta Missile Anti-Ship Volley, taking 3050 damage!
KTS: Callisto Diana has activated the TRUST Spirit Command.
KTS: Callisto Diana successfully intercepts Armor of the Week's Batta Missile Single Missile
<Pose Tracker> Arriety Hearn has posed.
Kay requests that Myrme doesn't eat Proto Elnath. "Umm-- I think it'll be okay... she knows I'll spritz her with a water bottle if she tries to attack any allies." T-that's it?! For a terrifying beast that can devour metal and maybe flesh alike, the only thing that gets her to behave is a spritz bottle?! Myrme is more cat-like than she'd like to admit...
(She'd probably also get upset at being called a cat, like a certain pink dragonet.)
Rena deploys her funnels and urges them to fan out. "R-right!" it's nice to have guidance from someone, given Ruri's pretty busy with what's going on in the Nadesico right now. Callisto's funnels fire from her shoulders!
"This is tough... I haven't realised how much I'm relying on just sensing without the camera..." she admits. Still, Callisto's note that she's bringing the Qubeley to assist fills her with relief. Then, Lucine speaks up to guide her as well -- they are automatic, they destroy... she should retreat if she's in a bad spot.
"I--I think I understand, Miss Lucine. Thank you. If they're going to protect each other, I'm going to just do the same on our end!"
Alto and Asuka are also working in tandem... well, no, she can't really call it 'in tandem', but Skull 4's assisting, and Asuka's probably going to draw most of their attention.
"What does 'in person' even mean...?" Arriety has to wonder to Minae, since the way AI works is particularly novel even to her, after all. For all she knows, Minae could be in two places at once, having digital tea with Omoikane and Ruri while advising her in combat here.
Minae's adjustments and words of comfort buoy her further, and this time, she's got a better view of the battle with how much Minae's massaged the targeting and camera data in a way her untrained eyes can comprehend.
Then Prospector asks her a question. "E-eh?! It's not me! It's Myrme doing it on her own, but-- uh--" A pause. "Wait, are you trying to recruit me to the Nadesico?? Right now??"
That gets her distracted enough that three Batta send a shower of missiles at her, and her eyes widen as she frantically tries to get the head vulcans to steer around and shoot them down-- too late--
"Uwahh!"
A series of ice-cold explosions, underscored by the sweep of the blizzard; Myrme has drawn her arms around the Zeta's chest, though her chitinous shell has melted and is missing several layers when all's said and done. The Sabre is gone too.
Lucine's advice to back up comes ringing in her mind, as she tries to not panic; she fires on the pedals and the retro-verniers erupt into light, and a moment later Myrmekes picks up on her intent as they bail from immediate range. "Thank you, Skull 4!"
The Zeta's arms lock into place -- melted as its armour is, the Grenade Launcher mechanism is just barely hanging on, the perfect time to just dump the payload underneath before they have a risk of exploding while still mounted on.
BOMF, twin Grenades fire in a smoky arc towards the nearest of the Battas.
KTS: Arriety Hearn targets Armor of the Week with Grenade Launcher!
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"Roger, I'm picking them up," Rena says. "Thanks, Minae."
The Battas are rushing into towards the MP Nu Gundam. Rena takes a deep breath; there is a flash of something like concern, as she realizes she can't feel them. But, Callie is right: she doesn't have to feel bad about this. They come in close, and Rena makes the RX-94 level the beam rifle in its hands at them. The barrel gleams in the arctic sunlight.
And then two lances of beam energy fire, as the Mobile Suit leaps. The rounds they fire shoot into ice and rock, leaving smashed up bits of stone and ice, but none of the Jovian shells touch the Gundam. It leaps up over the drones, in a high arc.
The beam rifle fires again and again, two more shots hurtling down -- and then a grenade from the under-mounted launcher, hurtling towards one of the Battas.
"Nadesico, please don't try to recruit my squadmates mid-battle..."
KTS: Lucine Azul successfully evades Armor of the Week's Heavy Machine Gun Barrage
KTS: Rena Lancaster targets Armor of the Week with Parallebum Strafe!
<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.
Asuka just gets all the more smug at Alto's responsiveness... glad he's a gold mine for getting a rise out of him. Though she doesn't say much until the firefight starts. Lucine gives her an in at hitting it again, "Yeah. Princess of the Skulls." Asuka says, less conversationally with Lucine and more trying to get right back under Alto's skin - as she slaps Princess right onto his Callsign.
Asuka burns the brief visual she gets of Callisto in her head as it comes up. The look of confusion amping up her anger. It's a vintage pilot insult to be sure, but it upsets her that she keeps missing the mark so hard. She has no concept of how much more of a veteran Callisto is Asuka's game in every single way.
Callisto's statement about signaling if she needs a hand gets exactly the expected hostilities, "What are you stupid? IF YOU THINK I'D EVER SIGNAL YOU FOR HELP THEN-" A long flow of expletives follows, Asuka completely not realizing that she's signed off and isn't hearing a single one.
Ruri though distracts her from her tirade by taking the blame, "Just what I expect from you." Asuka says darkly, before adding, "Hey wait a minute - if you weren't at your post then who fired?!"
Unfortunately for Asuka, the Batta are indeed fast, and a burst of fire rakes across her VF. She quickly shifts the pinpoint barrier to protect her flank but still takes a few shots, as it dips precariously before rocketing off again. "You! Let's see how you like this." Suddenly she hits a sharp deceleration, jets at the fore instead offering some reverse force, allowing the Batta to fly overhead as the top half of her Variable Fighter pops up into its Battroid form - still sliding backwards on the ice on its legs. Trying to center the target she tries to get a lock before sending off a few missiles from a pod that opens up on the units leg.
This strange angle allows her to catch sight of Myrmekes opening its jaw and the inevitable result, especially as Prospector offers a bonus... "Hey - whoever's piloting Myrmekes Zeta-" She didn't bother to learn her name, "-tell me what model that is you're piloting again." She demands. Not disturbed so much as suspicious. "And what's a Myrme?"
Asuka Shikinami Langley transforms to VF-171 Nightmare Plus <Battroid Mode>
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Armor of the Week with Micro-Missile Array Lock!
<Pose Tracker> Kay has posed.
...? A water bottle? Well, if it works, but Kay quickly checks her slang database to see what the heck Arriety is talking about. As expected, she finds nothing relevant.
Of course Kay has a slang database. She made it herself. It has helped exactly one time, ever.
Kay has never spoken to another Super AI before (seriously, she hasn't) so anything with Omoikane is New and Exciting. She wanted to talk to Minae too but didn't have a good opening that she was sure was appropriate, so she didn't take it.
But right now, she does! Sort of! "I will take the data," she says, with an added, "Thank you." Her conversational voice remains calm despite the fact that Elnath is engaged in DEADLY COMBAT.
Seriously. The missiles open up on Elnath, and it's only quick action on Kay's part that protects the head and face of the machine; the reinforced shield-like bracers unfold into proper buckler-like shields as she does what she can, but it's still not great. Shrapnel erupts from the shield, and the arm, as Elnath's visor begins to glow brightly.
The Nadesico (and anyone else with the right kind of sensors) detects a minor, but present, dimensional distortion in Elnath's reactor. "Engaging System K," Kay says, more mechanical-sounding than she was before. The orb set into the chest of Elnath begins to glow, some sort of emitter winding up -
A sudden blast of vibrant green energy erupts from Elnath in all directions, a perfectly spherical shockwave that not only trips the dimensional distortion scanners, but gravitational ones too; in the center, Elnath appears distorted as it bends even light, rippling and pulsing as if it was oscillating from further away and closer again. Objects caught in the wave are flung backwards as all their mass is repelled from the suddenly twisted space; this includes ice, as a floe begins to slide away from Elnath with stately dignity and a lot slower than lighter Batta would, and the ground, which has the side effect of pushing Elnath upwards to float in the air.
The sphere exists for one second, two, three as Elnath continues to fly into the crowd of Batta that Rena has just fired at, using the outer edge of the sphere as a battering ram, and then pulls itself in, vanishing as suddenly as it came.
Alto Saotome transforms to VF-25F Messiah <Fighter Mode>
KTS: Kay targets Armor of the Week with Dimensional Energy Shockwave!
KTS: Alto Saotome has changed loadout.
KTS: Armor of the Week retreats from the attack!
KTS: Armor of the Week successfully evades Arriety Hearn's Grenade Launcher
KTS: Armor of the Week rushes into the attack!
KTS: Armor of the Week fails to react to Rena Lancaster's Parallebum Strafe, taking 6600 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
Warnings pop up on Alto's HUD as it reports the swarm of missiles coming his way. He quickly brings the gunpod in his right arm up and starts rapidly firing rounds from it towards the swarm. He's focusing on his aim when another Princess comment comes in, to which he replies, <"Shut it-GAH!"> A missile makes it through Alto's barrage to impact his machine in a small explosion.
The Messiah comes rushing out of the resulting smoke cloud, now back into Fighter mode as it streaks in towards the Batta that fired it. As the Jovian drone lines up in his crosshairs, Alto pulls the trigger. The high speed machine guns mounted in the wings of the craft start spitting out rapid fire shots as the distance quickly closes, before the two flies rush past each other.
Alto pulls up, going into a high-g turn. He turns his head to look to see if he downed his target, though he can hear the chatter in the background, <"Some of us are a bit busy right now for a rescue! Is anyone able to break away from the fight?">
KTS: Alto Saotome targets Armor of the Week with ES-25A High Speed Machine Guns Closing Assault!
KTS: Armor of the Week fails to evade Asuka Shikinami Langley's Micro-Missile Array Lock, taking 5280 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asuka Shikinami Langley's Sole Shikinami activates, causing Insight L1!
KTS: Armor of the Week rushes into the attack!
KTS: Armor of the Week fails to react to Kay's Dimensional Energy Shockwave, taking 3150 damage!
KTS: Kay repulses Armor of the Week, forcing it to disengage.
KTS: Armor of the Week fails to evade Alto Saotome's ES-25A High Speed Machine Guns Closing Assault, taking 4000 damage!
KTS: Alto Saotome has engaged Armor of the Week
<Pose Tracker> Callisto Diana has posed.
Callisto's hands are busy hauling the Qubeley through its paces, too busy to help get that uplink to hook Minae into the suit's systems. Luckily, we invented the psycommu so newtypes could weaponize their trauma and run SensorHookup.bat. "Right. Minae, I'm connecting now." she reports back swiftly. Still glancing over her shoulder at the chaos, an errant thought pings from her mind into the quantum receivers in the Qubeley's cockpit.
<--CONNECTING-->
Now that helps. The picture in Callisto's cockpit is augmented and overlaid with all kinds of extra information. That 4K upgrade, baby.
"Nadesico, Callisto here. I'm keeping the forward quadrant at bay with the other birds, let us know if you need to fire the ship's guns again." she radios back, as the Qubeley soars into the air to draw aggro. A juicy, round target for robot bugs.
But not an easy one. The sleek, avian mobile suit folds its arms haughtily as a spiralling salvo of missiles curls towards it from the floes below. Callie narrows her eyes in concentration, looking a lot more Ple Two in this camera shot than the (slightly) fluffier persona she's tried so hard to cultivate. "Right." she mutters. "Focus on me, not on her..."
The remainder of the Qubeley's funnel salvo bursts from its tail binder. Another six remote guns, spiralling away from the main body on burning trails of blue. She glances towards Asuka's Valkyrie as it darts around the battlefield. "Tch. That pride is gonna get her hurt..." she fumes. But there's only so many weapons to go around, and she can't protect everyone at once.
There's a brief, dazzling burst of beams that form a cage around the Qubeley as its many remote guns scythe through the incoming Batta missiles. A dangerous play, but this time it's paid off. The mobile suit emerges from the blooming cloud of fire, and all twelve funnels form a loose ring above a wing of grasshoppers coming up on the Kakapos' flank before loosing a huge spray of beam fire. "Got you! Fall!"
Also,
"Rena, you should try the cooking on board the Nadesico before you go shooting down that idea." she adds, completely straight-faced.
KTS: Callisto Diana has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Callisto Diana targets Armor of the Week with Qubeley MK-II Funnels - Spathi Formation!
<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
<"O-Oh, ah...."> Arriety's words are sweetly encouraging, but it points out Lucine's own mistake. "<Sorry, I wasn't clear... they're actually.... not big on protecting each other. But, that's why I thought it was both a danger and an advantage for us, depending on the strategy. Oh, and uh... to what the other pilots were saying, Ms. Howmei is an excellent cook."> That is Lucine, innocently wandering across Rena and Callisto's conversation. <"Maybe when this is over, we could all see if she and her staff could make something to warm everyone up.">
Princess. <"Princess of the... Skulls...."> The gentle confusion in Lucine's tone likely only makes the situation worse (or better, depending on the perspective). <".... It sounds like a character from a movie."> Lucine hasn't seen Alto face to face just yet.
Lucine's also too distracted to realize the most important tenants of engaging trolling behavior: don't. It can only lead to destruction.
Like how the Batta's attention leads to automatic destruction.
And how Lucine reflexes engage the moment the wave of bullets come straight for her.
Like a needle through fine fabric, the Dianthus weaves its escape, Lucine's hawk gold eyes narrowing as her suit twists and flows through the air.
Sudden passion cracks the teal-haired pilot's normally soft voice.
<".... _you will never touch me._">
She's fast. She can evade. She might.... she might be the perfect pilot for rescuing that ambassador!
"<Skull-4, this is the Dianthus. I'll take care of it."> Lucine breathes, her high already breaking back to a neutral, nervous plateau. <"I've done a rescue before. With everyone's help, I should be able to do it again. Disengaging once I have the coordinates.">
The five thin blades on the Dianthus Mk. 3's back swing upward and snap into place in a radial five petal display behind it, projecting a strong wave-length of disruptive energy and sound towards the closest pursuing Batta.
"<I will be able to do this!!>"
KTS: Lucine Azul targets Armor of the Week with Lunate Crown v.2 Scream!
KTS: Callisto Diana enervates Armor of the Week, reducing its Morale significantly.
KTS: Armor of the Week fails to evade Callisto Diana's Qubeley MK-II Funnels - Spathi Formation, taking 6480 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Callisto Diana's Pressure of Aggression activates, causing Deject!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Callisto Diana's Pressure of Aggression activates, causing Control Bonus!
KTS: Armor of the Week fails to charge.
KTS: Armor of the Week successfully avoids Lucine Azul's Lunate Crown v.2 Scream
<Pose Tracker> BC-001 Minae has posed.
Another couple of textboxes blip back and forth between Minae and the ~mysterious~ communicator, and between the difference in their reply speed and Arriety's comments on what it means for an AI to speak 'in-person', the robot is left with further pause for thought. "That's a good question!" she muses as if they weren't in a dogfight, even though Arriety's targeting computer continues to ping with consistent updates. "I suppose I've just been around humans enough to put a lot of stock in that sort of thing. It's important for my job, after all. I don't think we'd have become friends if I were just a text box."
She makes a bit of a face towards the radio, though she can't help the glimpse of amusement that flashes across her face, chipping in after Arriety with a snigger in her voice. "Sir, I think we appreciate the offer, but I'm pretty sure there's stuff in the Federation handbook about not negotiating a pay raise while under fire. I mean, the coercion usually comes from the other side of the equation, it's true, but--"
Cutting herself off as a series of attacks pummel the Zeta, Minae instinctively reaches out for her Bits, only to remember that they're not there with her, far enough away that she doesn't have a hope of calling them to her - or for them to arrive in time. She doesn't bother to grimace; instead, she switches tack and focuses inwards on the stone that technically acts as her 'heart'. "Mryme, I'm gonna try to help out a little," she promises, and the displays in the cockpit flicker slightly as a jamming wave slowly expands outwards from the cockpit.
"It's okay," she reiterates for Arriety as the field builds. It's rough and untrained, not something that Minae's actively done in a very long time; she thinks it must feel like stretching a muscle she'd forgotten about, even if she doesn't have the firsthand experience to confidently make that comparison. "We can recover them later, or Myrme can grow more." A flight path is mapped for Arriety's disengagement, and the robot nods in encouragement. "Just get ready for them to follow. They probably won't pause for breath."
She catches her own curt wording, and immediately contradicts herself by taking a moment to focus, opening her eyes when Kay's request comes through. "Okay, got you both-- sorry, this is a bit more bandwidth than I've handled in a while, but I'll catch up," she hums as her eyes flick across the state of battle, adjusting her augmentations on the fly as she pushes update after update. Despite that, it's easier than she expects - something about the connection to the Elnath strikes her as odd, or more direct, or...
"... I'm starting to come round to Callie's idea a bit. Or at least, I wouldn't mind taking a good long peek around the ship," she adds mostly to herself.
Lucine states her intention to drive forwards to find the ambassador; Minae nods to herself, and immediately starts opening another avenue with which to share telemetry in that direction. "Sending you a wider-scale map and a suggested path of attack-- good luck, you can do this!" she adds, because something about the other pilot reminds her of her own charge, even if just on first impressions. Besides, there's a spike of pride at Arriety making friends that hasn't gone away yet.
For better and for worse, she is left with just a sliver of attention span to answer Asuka. "Uh, ma'am, you just said it. This is the Myrmekes Zeta? Myrme's just kind of hungry 'cause it's been an hour since lunch," she adds, as if that helps matters any.
KTS: BC-001 Minae has activated the Prospect Spirit Command targeting Kay
KTS: BC-001 Minae has activated the Rouse Spirit Command targeting Lucine Azul
KTS: BC-001 Minae targets Arriety Hearn with Sparkle!
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"Please excuse him," Ruri opens up a communication window, stoic as ever. "Mr. Prospector is the sort of person who believes money can buy anything. He's a fool, so pay him no mind."
Luckily, the sheer embarrassment she feels does not get transmitted over her communication window. (Kay might pick it up anyway, because she keeps an open emotional port with her when she talks to her. For the same reason, Minae might pick it up, too. But, you know. Generally, her secret is safe.)
Speaking of not being able to sense something important: the Batta are complete non-starters when it comes to Newtype intuition. Luckily, Minae is here to help with the sensors! Unluckily: they're still very fast, and so the Batta zooms away from Arriety's grenades. It fires a missile as a parting gift!
Unfortunately, this path takes it right into Elnath's face. Its machine-gun fire is interrupted by the dimensional distortion which tosses it back into an iceberg -- it's shortly joined by several of its friends, and the avalanche of ice they bring down on themselves muffles the subsequent explosion.
"Now picking up dimensional distortion," Ruri reports, unmoved. "Elnath is currently twisting space." Without a Phase Transition Engine?, she wonders, and does not ask, because it isn't relevant to the mission.
Omoikane transmits an indecipherably excited computer message to Kay which essentially translates to 'SAME HAT. THE SAME HAT!' It's probably not exactly the same hat, but gravity crimes love company.
"It isn't relevant right now," Ruri repeats her thoughts, out loud, but this time it's for Asuka's benefit. "Unfortunately, it happened. Please focus on the mission, Red-02."
Naturally, the two Variable Fighters take two variable approaches. One bulks up to Battroid, as Asuka's VF skips leg day in order to skate over the ice. The missiles soar up, and catch two Batta where they fly -- already damaged, they finally deign to explode. One manages to get a missile off before it dies. It would have sent five others, but they got caught in the fireball.
Meanwhile, Alto, in Fighter Mode, has evidently decided to show these drones what speed really means. He blasts past the Batta, as the grasshopper fires --
-- and the Batta hangs in the air for a moment --
-- and then, as if it took a moment for it to catch up and realise it was already dead, it explodes in spectacular fashion.
Together, Callisto and Rena present a magnificent defence. The MP Nu leaps through the air, and energy beams blast down on a Batta, scoring a point of weakness -- only for that grenade to follow through, exploding the bug entirely. (This isn't, in fact, an enemy she has to feel bad about fighting; instead of blood and screaming, the explosion only creates a shower of unthinking electronics.)
At the same time, the Qubeley's funnels fan out to Spathi formation, and the Batta who were trying to get into the Kakapo's sphere of influence find themselves -- well, many are blown to bits. A couple manage to limp through, but it's clear that now the Nadesico's impromptu wing has managed to lay some damage down, the Batta can be destroyed. Unfortunately, those few stragglers DO still have functional machine guns, so Callisto and Rena still have problems to deal with.
"I'd prefer it if they didn't grab all the good scenes," Nagare Akatsuki sighs, aboard the Nadesico. He looks up at the screens from his position in a pilot's chair, observing Nergal's talent -- and Londo Bell and NERV's, to boot.
"People like that don't need ulterior motives to safeguard the Nadesico!" Akito Tenkawa, the pilot who insists he's really a cook, shoots back.
Meanwhile, the Batta chasing Lucine doesn't manage to catch her -- but it does manage to swerve out of the way of that disruptive energy. It lays in a machine-gun-firing pursuit, which is really the worst kind of pursuit, because it isn't trivial at all.
Yurika pauses, looking at the displays on screen, as the Dianthus replies. "Reference the coordinates in map A-13," she answers, a moment later. Other units, lay cover fire to assist Lucine and the Nadesico!"
"Now matching coordinates to Ms. Minae's improved map," Ruri reports, without a shred of burning passion. (She thinks it's strange, on reflection, how similar her tone is to Lucine's, when she's in danger like this.) "Since our sensors are compromised by these strange conditions, we'll rely on her, Ms. Azul."
She doesn't say 'good luck'.
That isn't relevant to the mission, either.
Breaking off from the pack is a dangerous proposition, but Lucine knows that very well. The grasshopper chasing her keeps firing on her tail, with a dogged determination. She'll have to find some way to destroy it -- though she's piloting straight into the worst of the storm, and visibility is at an all-time low.
In a storm like this...
... it's easy to disappear.
But if she manages to overcome the demon on her back, she'll find Minae's maps to be extremely helpful, routing low through the snow and the icy wind onto the lower part of one of those icebergs.
Perched there, head lifted to sniff the sky... is a polar bear.
A polar bear with a very expensive helmet, and a sign tied to its neck: 'GOODWILL AMBASSADOR'.
Is this what everyone was fighting for--?!
KTS: Armor of the Week targets Arriety Hearn with Batta Missile Single Missile!
KTS: Armor of the Week targets Kay with Light Machine Gun Burst!
KTS: Armor of the Week targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Batta Missile Single Missile!
KTS: Armor of the Week targets Alto Saotome with Heavy Machine Gun Burst!
KTS: Armor of the Week targets Callisto Diana with Heavy Machine Gun Barrage!
KTS: Armor of the Week targets Rena Lancaster with Heavy Machine Gun Chaindump!
KTS: Armor of the Week targets Lucine Azul with Light Machine Gun Maneuver Shot!
KTS: Rena Lancaster blocks Armor of the Week's Heavy Machine Gun Chaindump, taking 4575 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley successfully Intercepts Armor of the Week's Batta Missile Single Missile
KTS: Kay has activated the Focus Spirit Command.
KTS: Kay fails to Evade Armor of the Week's Light Machine Gun Burst, taking 2700 damage!
KTS: Arriety Hearn blocks Armor of the Week's Batta Missile Single Missile, taking 5500 damage!
Alto Saotome transforms to VF-25F Messiah <Battroid Mode>
KTS: Alto Saotome has changed loadout.
KTS: Alto Saotome's EN Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage.
KTS: Alto Saotome blocks Armor of the Week's Heavy Machine Gun Burst, taking 5040 damage!
KTS: Callisto Diana successfully evades Armor of the Week's Heavy Machine Gun Barrage
KTS: Lucine Azul fails to charge.
KTS: Lucine Azul fails to react to Armor of the Week's Light Machine Gun Maneuver Shot, taking 5520 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
KTS: Arriety Hearn has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Arriety Hearn has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"C-Callie," Rena groans at Callisto. "It's maybe something to worry about after we've handled these things...!" Then, Lucine interjects, and the ash-haired woman makes a flat-eyed stare at her monitor. "That--that isn't helping! Even if I'm a sucker for good food..."
Ruri offers her expert opinion on Mr. Prospector. Rena blinks, then she sighs.
The Battas are sent scurrying under her beam rifle's shots. The MP Nu lands, even as some of the stragglers open fire. Machinegun rounds fly out -- and slam into a field of shimmering pink energy, held between two of the smaller fin funnels. Rena grimaces, as several rounds get past that barrier. They strike into the side of the MP Nu Gundam, leaving bullet holes punched into the armor across the torso and left hip.
Warnings flash across the panoramic display. Rena lets out a shaking breath -- she takes stock of where the others are -- and then her mind reaches out to the long-range fin funnel. There is a crackle of lightning across her mind, as she feels its presence, as much as one of her own limbs.
She lines up her shot -- the offending Battas, and then several in the distance. The long-range fin funnel separates; arcs of plasma shoot across the two halves of the armament. Then, a massive column of pink energy explodes from them -- burning a bright white at the center, and flash-melting the ice in its wake. That blast shoots out across the battlefield.
And, hopefully, across a score of ill-fated grasshoppers.
KTS: Rena Lancaster has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Rena Lancaster has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Rena Lancaster has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Rena Lancaster has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Rena Lancaster has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Rena Lancaster has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Rena Lancaster targets Armor of the Week with Long-Range Fin Funnel!
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
It's a good thing that Alto is not the one who went to collect the so-called ambassador. Cause he would be extremely annoyed at what he found. That'll just have to come later.
For now, Alto finds himself under gun fire from even more of those drones. It's true that they don't have the skill to match someone like him. But they certainly have the numbers to make this difficult!
As the Batta comes in behind him to fire its guns, Alto pulls up into a climb. He quickly rises upwards as the Jovian drone chases, continuing to blast bullets in his direction. And it seems to be gaining!
But only because Alto was luring it in.
The Messiah separates, quickly rearranging into its humanoid form. The sudden drop in both thrust and aerodynamics slow its ascent quickly, causing it to rapidly close in on the Batta.
The Messiah spins around in the air, bringing its arm-mounted shield to bear. It starts to take those gunshots, assisted by the circular barrier of light that appears just beyond the armour plating. The Messiah attaches the gunpod in its other hand to its leg and then reaches for its shield. It then draws a knife.
"AaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Alto cries out as he and the Batta quickly close towards each other and finally collide.
Alto grunts from the impact, but is only shaken for a moment. He quickly recovers and then swings his control up, then down again. In response the Messiah raises the knife-wielding hand. Light forms around the blade of the weapon as the VF's pinpoint barrier focuses on it, providing additional penetrating power. The Messiah then drives the glowing knife down into the Grasshopper!
KTS: Alto Saotome has activated the Focus Spirit Command.
KTS: Alto Saotome has activated the Focus Spirit Command.
KTS: Alto Saotome has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Alto Saotome has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Alto Saotome targets Armor of the Week with AKVF-M9 Assault Knife Pinpoint Lunge!
<Pose Tracker> Arriety Hearn has posed.
Minae comes to the rescue as Arriety's still reeling from the missile detonations happening around her, creating a barrier that starts to surround the mobile suit. She can do that...? Well, she doesn't know that it's a jamming field, or what a jamming field is, but protection is protection! "Y-yeah, I'm trying to not panic..."
Ruri pops up to explain that Mr. Prospector believes money can buy anything, and is a fool. "I--I see... I mean, it's kind of nice to have money like that, I guess, but... but that's the kind of adult I don't want to be. Sorry, Mr. Prospector!"
Arriety takes the advice to fall back in line to heart, and moves next to Rena's MP Nu as she fires a twin lance of beam energy to cover her. "I'm with you, Rena...!"
A pause, as Asuka, of all people, speak up! "U-um, that's me..." she blurts out, nervously. "Um, it's a Zeta Gundam, I think? MSZ... Six, I think? Uh, with an 'ME' for Myrme."
What's a Myrme?
"I'm a Myrme!" Myrmekes 'echoes' throughout the radio conversation, given that she is... technically the radio, and all of the mobile suit.
"Nice to meetcha! I love eating, belly scritches, being spoiled, and high narrow places to nap in!!"
"She hates being ignored, getting spritzed, and getting the cone of shame put on her..."
"Et tu, Arriety!!"
Lucine explains that she wasn't clear, and Arriety 'ohhs' in understanding. "Um... but in a way, that explanation helped! Maybe they're not protecting each other, but they know how to move in a formation, which I haven't even gotten to in Basic Training..."
She can't help but hear some of the banter Rena and Callisto and Lucine are trading, though. "Ahaha... actually, once we're back, I'll make you all some galbi, Rena, just like we used to. Miss Howmei showed me how to make a really tasty one. Do you want to try it too, Miss Lucine? .. Miss Lucine?"
A passion cracks in Lucine's voice as she says she'll take care of it. WHat was that...? But, she says she'll take care of the rescue. "I believe in you!"
As Kay engages System K and sounds more mechanical than before, she wonders just how she and Minae are different... she's curious to know too. Still, the Elnath's erupting energy in a way she doesn't expect! Whoa... she wouldn't want to get caught in that.
The Qubeley's funnels erupt next -- she senses them before she can even see them. Compared to how she can sense nothing from the Batta, she's coming to really appreciate how surrounded by allies she is... she can do this!
She can do this, up until a single missile manages to slip through all the defenses, skims through the jamming field, and explodes point-blank in the Zeta's chest and sends it crumpling back in a shower of sparks and explosions.
< !! WARNING - COCKPIT BREACH !! >
"M-Miss Roux's gonna give me an earful when she sees the combat log..." Arriety mopes, finding that she absolutely sucks at defending against missiles. A remote, unmanned object firing a remote, unmanned object turns out to be an absolute double whammy for a psychic. Ugh... is that... blood? She can taste something metallic in her mouth...
She tries to shift her way past the smoke and cool air rapidly coming in, grimacing as she fumbles for the controls. "Come on, come on... I don't want to die here, not in front of everyone, out in the cold like this... come on--"
fzzzt --I don't want to die-- fzzzt
The panel in front of her starts to spark and erratically twist and spout absolute rubbish for data; Minae, in the cockpit, senses the Bio-Sensor inside the heart of the cockpit go from zero to 100 percent in the blink of an eye, and suddenly everything is on fire again!!
The Zeta is suddenly a beacon, both one of light and of psychic radiance: it is veritably on fire, flecks of psionic emanation erupting in the form of flames pinkish-magenta in hue. "Not again--"
Myrme is notably silent in this entire procession. She always is. It's like she's disappeared, no, it's like she's been swallowed, Arriety thinks, everything so clear at this point that she doesn't even realise...
Her pupils have dilated into tiny dots, as a crimson-red seed shatters in the shallow wellspring her mind.
"I don't... I don't want to DIE...!!" Arriety shouts fervently, suddenly pressing forward against her harness, and--
A sudden wail erupts through the battlefield on the psychic wavelength, bearing with it an extremely transient but unmistakable stench of death. The Zeta similarly erupts, an emanation of psychic flame stretching out as wild and flailing tendrils that burn and tear away at any Batta that dares approach, bearing the screaming spirits of the dead within...
KTS: Arriety Hearn has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Arriety Hearn targets Armor of the Week with The Boundary of Life and Death!
<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.
"Isn't relevant!?"
The idea of someone taking a fall for someone else is unfathomably stupid to her, so she doesn't even consider it. "... Tch. What's with you?"
Callisto is correct. She doesn't know how correct she is. And Asuka doesn't know how wrong she is. Asuka's just been twisted up by her experiences into so many knots that now she feels she has to do everything by herself... and sooner or later she's going to learn the hard way.
Right now though she's trying to do everything on her own.
Asuka seems smug over the idea that her gamble worked, because of course it did. The unmanned, autonomous Batta sends a missile in her direction though before it does explode, and that annoys her as she thumbs a button to fire off a flare from her defense system, "Trying to get me even after you've been shot down?" Waiting for it to swerve on a new heat source, she begins firing the Battroids rifle at its more predictable position - it ultimately detonating in the hail of fire successfully away from her. "It won't work moron!" She's not sure whether it's actually automated, or if there's an alien on the other side directing it with some sophisticated communication system - but part of her hopes its the latter.
Arriety's comment causes her to grab another visual on that 'Zeta Gundam' despite being in a pitched battle. "What you just did sure doesn't seem like a standard feature on any Gundam I've ever heard of." Though when... Myrme pipes in, and the exchange that follows, "Yeah? Sure the two of you aren't describing some freaking cat?" Asuka's not sure what to think, does she have some strange co-pilot with a weird sense of humor? There's something fishy about this model. So she just keeps an eye on it.
Minae only adds to the confusion, "And what do you mean Myrme's hungry? What's that got to do with anything!?"
Lucine's broken off to deal with the hostage rescue, which is to be honest fine by her. She's never been one for search and rescue. That's not the type of mission she was ever sent on. "Don't screw it up." Is all she says, as the Dianthus moves quickly in the distance. Asuka turns the Battroid around - and has her targeting computer start tracking the bogeys in the sky. "Never thought I'd climb into one of these again..." Locking onto as many as she can. Her eye movements rapid and then...
"... just try dodging this!" Suddenly every single missile pod opens from the front of the Battroid, sending a winding circus of tiny rockets through the air as they try to careen into several grasshoppers and take them down with an overwhelming amount of aircraft ordnance.
Even if they don't hit a single one... well, that's still a lot of fireworks.
Asuka does not hear the psychic wail as anything more than a strange twinge... but she sure does see the tendrils of flame, "What's... with her?" Asuka says to herself in her cockpit, a little disquieted. She too will be EXTREMELY annoyed to learn they came to rescue a Polar Bear, just not yet.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Armor of the Week with Micro-Missile Array Itano Circus!
<Pose Tracker> Kay has posed.
"Thank you," Kay says to Minae.
And because she caught the little desktop Minae before, even though it wasn't aimed at her, she sends back an equally friendly (in her mind) message; it is a tiny chibi-formed Elnath sitting down near the bottom. It looks sketchy and is unanimated, because Kay didn't really have much time for that, and even when you're a machine you can't pull these things out of your hat instantaneously.
The others are talking about food, which definitely makes Kay feel a little... something. She doesn't know what the right word to describe it is and so she pushes it down so she doesn't have to think about it right now.
But something in Elnath responds to it. Ruri noticed the dimensional distortion (without a Phase Transition Engine, and indeed Proto Elnath does not seem to have one of those - the readings are all wrong). It intensifies - not out of control, but in a steady way, as if Elnath was simply drawing power from... somewhere else.
It gives Kay more thrust to play with, though not enough. The Batta fires at her, and though Kay is driving a powerful machine and can calculate optimal routes she doesn't actually have very much experience. Intellectually she can tell what works, analyzing the motion patterns of the Batta and how they fire, but she's a moment late, and bullets pierce Proto Elnath's side despite everything.
Arriety becomes a psychic flare, and even Kay can feel that, somehow; a wavering, unusual sensation. On the side of Proto Elnath closest to Arriety's Zeta Myrme, the green glow intensifies and Proto Elnath wavers as if in a heat haze. It's not a barrier. It's just a reaction, as if the distortion from Arriety was causing interference with whatever Kay was doing.
< ??? >
Kay sends off a wordless message - she wants some kind of clarification - and moves as if trying to protect Arriety. She winds up, literally hefting the lancer and throwing it like a javelin, accelerating it away from her with a pulse of green energy and an audible thrum as it is repelled.
The lancer trails that green light as it flies toward the Batta, focusing to a point that's far, far sharper than the actual physical weapon and actually causing its flight path to bend slightly. At no point does the weapon bend or rotate. It's just that its straight doesn't seem to quite be straight for everyone else.
And whether it hits or misses the Batta, its green shroud completely engulfs it, pulling inward. The lancer is no longer there; it's back in Elnath's hands, as Kay swings it reflexively at the one shooting at her, just to be sure about it.
No, she has no idea how it did that. She didn't even know it could do that.
KTS: Kay has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Kay has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Kay has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
KTS: Kay targets Armor of the Week with Proto Lancer Javelin!
KTS: Armor of the Week fails to react to Rena Lancaster's Long-Range Fin Funnel, taking 6600 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Rena Lancaster's Ultrasonic activates, causing Control Bonus!
KTS: Armor of the Week fails to react to Arriety Hearn's The Boundary of Life and Death, taking 9120 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Arriety Hearn's Boundary of Life and Death activates, causing Insight L1!
KTS: Arriety Hearn roots her unit, coming to a standstill and leaving her vulnerable.
KTS: Armor of the Week fails to react to Asuka Shikinami Langley's Micro-Missile Array Itano Circus, taking 6000 damage!
KTS: Armor of the Week fails to react to Kay's Proto Lancer Javelin, taking 6360 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Kay's Motion Analysis activates, causing Designate L1!
KTS: Armor of the Week fails to react to Alto Saotome's AKVF-M9 Assault Knife Pinpoint Lunge, taking 6840 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Alto Saotome's The Twinkle Of A Tearful Planet activates, causing Insight L1!
KTS: Alto Saotome has engaged Armor of the Week
<Pose Tracker> Callisto Diana has posed.
A vaguely-familiar voice floats across Callisto's comm suite. It's Lucine! Not that they're on a close, first-name basis kinda thing, but Callie's been poking around looking after Arriety on the Nadesico, so... surely they've bumped paths at least once or twice.
One idea to backfill later.
"Don't get distracted by food. Don't get distracted by food..." Callisto mutters to herself. There's no emotional pulse from the Batta, no aggressive flash to react to before they shoot. It's all prediction, instinct, and well-drilled movements here. Her eyes dart to and fro across the Heads-Up Display as a searing line of tracer bullets whips right past the cockpit camera, mere inches from the target.
The Qubeley's OS gives an unhappy blurp about the fuel pressure on the vernier thrusters, which haven't had much of a chance to rest since this gig began. As multiple grasshoppers bound to the fore and pour on the pressure, the space-superiority mobile suit struggles to react with enough speed. She cuts all thrusters and plummets onto a convenient little raft of ice, the Qubeley throughouly rattled by an oncoming volley of small-calibre autocannon fire. Sparks fly and fragmented bullets ricochet off of the now-dented pauldrons as the mobile suit turns on one side. It's not pretty, but it works: it's turned an oncoming hit to a glancing blow from the slant of the armor, before the funnels do their thing and return fire. Ganbare, grasshopper...
That's about when the Zeta erupts with psychic flame, piercing through the fog of war with blinding clarity to Callisto's newtype senses. Her expression darkens in a heartbeat.
(Let me handle this.)
"Arriety, retreat. Back!" it's not so much a request as it is an order. Her voice is as sharp as a blade's edge, as her senses peer beyond the veil of the physical. The Qubeley makes a lunge for the beleaguered Zeta, buoyed on the last of its current stock of (prepared) thruster fuel. There's a fair bit of distance between the two, so it's not like she can just dive in and take the hits, but it's the gesture that counts. It's the feeling, the intent, you know?
(Protect.)
All twelve funnels fly above the Zeta in a real hurry, forming a loose halo somewhere above it. They rain destruction on anything left that would come near her charge! How heroic!
Thank god the polar bear is NOT near this emotional moment. Polar bear is too good and pure for war teens.
KTS: Callisto Diana has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Callisto Diana has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Callisto Diana targets Armor of the Week with Qubeley MK-II Funnels - Pneuma Formation!
<Pose Tracker> BC-001 Minae has posed.
"Ahaha, well... I mean, it's kinda hard to say he's wrong exactly, but it's more like we'd each have our own reasons to talk through first," Minae notes towards the little Ruri that pops up, her fingers flying across the keyboard. Sometimes, at times like this, it's helpful to feel the tactile sensation rather than doing everything automatically. Part of her wonders if that makes her a very strange robot - but she always had a suspicion that she was a very strange robot anyway, so it's not like she minds.
"Honestly, a cat isn't far off. Uh-- anyway, we promise, it's not like it's anything bad!" she hurriedly replies to Asuka in the space between volleys, feeling a little stretched thin as she tries to figure out how to sum up what exactly the whole deal with the Zeta is without giving away too much information or else upsetting the creature she is currently riding around in. It's a delicate balance that she's still not really gotten down.
Minae spares enough time to gawk at the shot that Rena strafes across the battlefield, scattering Batta in its wake, before her array of sensors pings at the notification that something awaits them on the ground. "Contact spotted!" she blurts, preferring to announce it to the group as a whole in hopes of bolstering their morale. The Ambassador seems to be alright! Actually, he's looking pretty chill." She doesn't elaborate further on that, which might be for the best - just shifts her map, adjusting it on the fly as the topography is sharpened via the Dianthus' sensors.
She squints against the effort of maintaining her field while performing the advanced calculus of navigation; as much as she'd like to keep protecting Arriety, she has to trust at the same time that the pilot has it in hand and that Myrme will do what she can to look after the two of them. "I know. It must be kinda scary, but you're doing good--"
That turns out to have been exactly the wrong thing to say - there's a sudden shock combined with the dangerous hiss of escaping air, and Minae finds herself yelping out of sheer surprise as she's nearly thrown out of her seat, tangled up in her harness as her habit of not fully strapping herself in turns against her. "Ah-ri!" is her first and overriding point of concern, a rare instant of panic joining the concern in her voice; she grimaces as she pulls against the straps, wanting first and foremost a point of contact with the girl.
"Ah-ri, it's okay," she tries to strike a balance between hurried and forceful, unused to being in quite so fraught a position. "Everyone's here to defend us, we just need to report our status. It's okay, Ah-ri-- Ah-ri!" she tries again-- but that's when she realises that the rising note of alarm in the back of her head is being matched by half the telemetry equipment in front of her. She has enough time to set her mouth into a line, to try to desperately figure out what to do next, and then--
--and then everything bursts into flame, and she's too captured by confusion to do anything else. Her sensors are either lying to her or the flames are not hot, and there's nothing she can do to reconcile what her eyes are telling her versus what the rest of her is feeling. She's always been aware of Arriety's extra-sensory capabilities - it's how she ended up the pilot's guardian, after all - and she's come to terms with the fact that she, Rena and Callie can sometimes be having a conversation on another level to what she can experience. But this is something entirely new to her, and she's left stunned.
"Uh--" is what comes out when she fumbles for the radio, not sure which of her senses she can trust until she feels the pressure of the button on the side. Finding the catch of her seatbelt helps - the physicality of things seems more reliable than anything else right now. "Callie, Rena! Gonna need you here!" she's not afraid to admit, her voice somehow indistinct and quiet as if she's imagining the roar of the flames. She shoves out of her seat immediately afterwards, unbothered by the cockpit breach, and swings herself round to in front of the pilot, trying to catch her gaze.
"We need to pull back. Listen to Callie, okay?" she offers as softly and carefully as she can, her gaze flashing across Arriety's features and her dilated pupils. Minae isn't sure whether she's looking at anything in the cockpit. "It's okay. You're not gonna die, I promise. So long as I'm here, so long as the others are here."
<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
There is no ill intent to detect. But the spatial gymnastics required to dodge those attacks takes all kinds of skill, and those little boosts in insight Lucine has only helps.
Being a grizzled war vet probably helps even more, which Lucine.... is not.
Asuka's comment for Lucine to not screw it up is taken as a small vote of confidence. Lucine smiles as she receives Minae's map. <"I intend not to.">
Just a bit further, and she could show she's flown past the scars of her recent past. Something like this can't pin her down, when she's in the Dianthus, her shield, her armor, her link.
"...!" Lucine grits her teeth as at least one batta evades her wave attack, dealing volley of machine gun fire.
If she charges ahead fast enough, she can ride under that wave and make her way to the ambassador.
If it's timed right. But that time is already over.
Even if she's further away, Arriety's burst hits a particularly naked wiring in Lucine's psychic self.
<"... death... don't want to die...."> Lucine mindlessly echoes the sentiment in the waves she rides like a leaf in the tidal wave, weighted enough in this world to feel it, but too scared to allow herself to submerge further.
Because of a moment, several moments, like this, like white grapes bursting on a rotten vine. Or bullets, against the Dianthus armor.
<".... _There's no time for dying._>" Lucine's words travel as soft, jagged little sentiment, almost managing to register on the physic level as a message. The tiniest bit of psychic thought broadcasted, overlaid with the static of someone that roughly falls back down from that briefest touch.
Minae's coordinates, coupled with Ruri's, provide a template for Lucine's ragged unit in a ocean of cold, blowing snow.
.....
........
it's like landing on another planet and making contact. For a Martian, seeing a polar bear in the flesh is no different than seeing a unicorn. <".... they exist...">
She's tearing up now. <"I suppose it makes sense now...."> The polar bear grunts in greeting, which is to say 'i am a polar bear, please do not cuddle me i am a deadly predator'. <".... They are endangered, but... I think me trying to escort it might not end well for me, even in my unit.">
KTS: Lucine Azul targets Armor of the Week with Pass!
KTS: BC-001 Minae targets Armor of the Week with Pass!
KTS: Armor of the Week fails to react to BC-001 Minae's Pass, taking 0 damage!
KTS: Armor of the Week fails to react to Lucine Azul's Pass, taking 0 damage!
KTS: Callisto Diana enervates Armor of the Week, reducing its Morale significantly.
KTS: Armor of the Week fails to react to Callisto Diana's Qubeley MK-II Funnels - Pneuma Formation, taking 8280 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Callisto Diana's Pressure of Aggression activates, causing Deject!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Callisto Diana's Pressure of Aggression activates, causing Control Bonus!
KTS: Armor of the Week's Batta Swarm has been disabled.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"I'm working right now," Ruri explains, to Asuka, with neither apology nor acid. In her mind, she's answered the question. She doesn't expect to have to explain her hyper-focus to someone like the second Child.
The Nadesico really ought to appreciate the artistry with which Rena destroys the distant Batta. (And, in fact, he does. That's just what happens when you make your ship home to a person.) The energy charges, discharges; there is a beam of light, of heat; global warming ain't got nothing on robots when it comes to destroying the ice RIGHT NOW. Luckily, it destroys grasshoppers as well as it does icebergs, and --
Let's just say there's a new hole in the cliffs of the island, where the land meets the sea. That's probably fine? It's probably fine.
(There was a Chulip there. It's gone now.)
The Messiah, meanwhile, plays favourites with gravity. Like Icarus, the Batta climbs; Alto plays the part of the sun, in this theatre, with one small alteration.
Once the Batta climbs too high -- he'll happily come to it.
Down they go, and the grasshopper does not scream, does not blink, offers no indication there is passion there at all. It finds itself under Alto, and finds itself the victim of something not unlike the tricks of the Aestivalis, really -- the both of them do terrible things with barriers. The pinpoint barrier glides the blade into the Batta -- and one lanced, it explodes.
Meanwhile, the other VF goes once again for the opposite strategy. Instead of pinpoint rapier accuracy, Asuka's tracking system enables something else entirely: area devastation. The sky is peppered with little orange blips of smoke and debris, as the Batta explode.
Their enemies are no longer functionally infinite -- but there are still too many here.
Too many missiles, and one too many, for Arriety.
Ruri looks down at the readings, and her discontent over Arriety's terror is a shadow of a frown across her face. The distant Batta have been soundly defeated by Asuka and Rena's efforts; now, it seems, the grasshoppers who've clustered closer are going to have a bad day. They're still quite fast, but the sheer volume of Arriety's psychic strength is enough to blindly catch four, eight -- a dozen Batta, each unwitting of its fate.
Included in these numbers are the one which broke away to chase Lucine; it was just barely close enough to be struck down with the others.
Meanwhile, the Elnath continues giving the Nadesico wild sensor data -- which is getting easier to collect, now. The storm's lifting, too. Kay flings her lancer, and to the left it flies true, striking one of those impressively armoured Batta clean through. Its defences were not -- could not be -- calibrated for this.
Before it was stuck, it meant, very well, to shoot that open cockpit. It doesn't take intuition to read the malice of a machine-gun spinning up. Someone like Callisto must see it, emotions or no emotions, right..?
And so her Fin Funnels form a halo around Zeta, and the destruction she brings to bear to protect the people she cares about cannot be questioned. Certainly not by the Batta, who respond in the only respectable way: blowing very much up.
Callisto will find that there's something else creeping up behind her. Something BIG, something MEAN, something -- oh, it's the Nadesico. The ship comes in close to Arriety, in a way which would make it very easy for the Distortion Field to raise and protect her, too. It doesn't, though. Ruri pops up, in another of those audio-visual communication windows, to explain: "Arriety-san," that's enough! "the battle is over." What she says, at least, is dispassionate. "All units, please return to dock."
"Good work! You all really came through for us!" Yurika adds, because Ruri isn't the type to be so emphatic about it.
Once the Nadesico has docked its allied units, Engineering sets about getting them out -- which might be a struggle, in Arriety's case, but they're really good at this -- and the ship begins tracking the Dianthus's signal, now they can.
As the snow dies down, and the sun shines too, too bright, they come to find...
Helpfully displayed in communication windows for people who can't get to a window...
The Dianthus, at a respectable distance to a polar bear.
An emissary bear.
As everyone stares at the truth of the ambassador, Admiral Munetake stammers, smiling, behind his fan. "Um, well, you see... the Federation spent a whole lot of money on this lab bear and experimental equipment, so we needed to rescue the bear. But who'd risk their lives for a bear?! Ohohohoho...!" His tone rises, incredulously, before he laughs with all the derision of a nobleman.
Ruri looks down at the bear, with an expression too vague to be called much of anything at all.
(She wonders what lengths Nergal would go to, if they had to rescue her.)
... well, the good news is, they can retrieve the Goodwill Ambassador, now they're not being distracted by being shot at. And for now, at least, they have a clear shot out of Uchatsurawatosk Island.
Ms. Howmei does, in fact, make everyone piping hot cocoa.
(Omoikane instead shares an episode of Gekiganger with Minae and Kay, sent over standard protocols, which is hot-blooded enough to count as warming even though they can't eat.)
<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.
During the debriefing...
Asuka just stares at the bear. The emissary bear. Waiting for an explanation... and when the explanation comes, both of her hands clench into fists as she peels herself off the wall, "You bowl-headed SNAKE!"
As she starts stalking towards him with obviously violent intent, "You think you can just mess with me like this and get away with it!?"
Fortunately, Hoary Goat holds her back before she does something that would get her into more trouble than being called into the NERV offices for insubordination.
He still has to 'escort' (drag) her to her guest quarters.
<Pose Tracker> Arriety Hearn has posed.
Dizzy and somewhat out of it, Arriety nearly misses Kay's movements to protect her, misses the way she accidentally deterrs Lucine; she's drowning right now in a field of death, her own death, an insurmountable weave of others' deaths, they're reaching out to her...
In that instance, with her mind's eye opened with the shattering of her seed, she sees it.
She is standing on a shallow pool of water, the crimson-red remnants of the seed scattered around her. A grand and glowing door rising tall before her. It opens, ever so slowly. She can hear the laughter of her parents, even though they look weirdly indistinct. Like blurs... like ghosts. They peek at her, just beyond the door yawning open slowly...
"Ah-ri," they call, beckoning to her. "Come here, Ah-ri."
Their voice is irresistable, entrancing. She hasn't heard from them since she was six years old. The day they disappeared underneath the heavy burst of beam-fire. She reaches out, her own hand and arm freshly mottled from the beam...
"Arriety, retreat. Back!"
"Ah-ri, it's okay. Ah-ri -- Ah-ri!"
Arriety turns, and--
Callisto's voice cuts razor-sharp and slashes her wholesale from her reverie. The Arctic cold immediately digs into her from the thin gash in the cockpit, like a splash of cold water to the face.
Her pupils return to normal at this instant, too.
"I, I'm here, I believe you, Minae," Arriety sounds clammy and cold. "I'm... I'm pulling back," she half-heartedly says as Myrme comes to life once more, silently drawing back as the retro-thrusters fire, AMBAC adjusters feathering in turn to give her sufficient lift to withdraw.
"I'm, I was..." About to die...? She was so close to them... dad. Mom. Just what is it that she wants? To stay here, in the world of the living with those who love her? Or...
She hears Ruri calmly tell her the battle is over. She works through her breathing, trying to wind herself down from the panicked high. "... thank you, Miss Ruri."
She bites her lip later, deep and ruminating in thought as the poor Nadesico's engineering crew have to cut their way through the melted blast door to just get her out. At least she's not running out of oxygen in there.
And later... when the unBEARable truth is revealed...
"He's... he's really cute," Arriety answers, now sporting a minorly Rei Ayanami-like bandage because she did take some minor shrapnel to her cheek. And then, despite Lucine's VERY OWN WARNINGS of 'do not cuddle me i am a deadly predator', proceeds to cuddle the polar bear.
"Ahh..."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Because the Goodwill Ambassador is a genetically engineered bear, it turns out that Lucine's fears don't come true -- the bear is even-tempered enough to be hugged.
This may mean the Admiral will have to wait a little while to actually take the Ambassador back home, but no one really minds inconveniencing the Admiral much.
<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
But who'd risk their lives for a bear?
Lucine might, judging by the happy smile she has as she later settles in, with a blanket around her shoulders, to a nice cup of cocoa.
"....... I got to see a polar bear...."
A strangely worn but still very satisfied gardener sips her cocoa, still smiling like an idiot. ".... it was so cute... with its black nose..."
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
Once Alto is sure that his blade has penetrated deeply enough and into something Important, he proceeds to rip it out (not necessarily at the same angle, thus producing more damage) and then quickly use the thrusters in his machine's feet to burst away. One does not remain attached to an enemy machine when there is a chance of explosion.
And explode it does!
The Messiah falls out of the sky-an unusual feeling for Alto who is still getting used to this whole 'gravity' thing-as it greatly lacks the flight characteristics of its fighter form. Which is why Alto quickly transforms back into said mode, main engines lighting up once more as he blasts away from the exploding Batta behind him.
Looking at his radar, Alto grimaces somewhat. It looks like there is still a bunch of them, along with more coming.
This could get rough...
Or not! The Nadesico calls for a retreat and Alto is more than happy to oblige, figuring he's risked his life enough for today.
The Messiah pulls around, a series of chaff explosions lighting up in the air behind it to throw off any ideas of taking advantage of the craft's retreat. It pushes its engines hard, quickly rushing away from the front line at high speed. In the cockpit, Alto sighs in relief. He hopes the one they came to rescue is grateful for all the effort.
Fast forward to the bridge, where Alto has ended up after landing. The so-called Ambassador appears on screen as Munetake explains. Alto can't help but agree about the risking one's life for a bear thing... He probably would have reconsidered seriously if he'd known. Alto stares incredulously at Munetake, before placing his head in his palm and muttering under his breath, "Idiot..."