2022-06-05: A Shocking Showdown
- Log: A Shocking Showdown
- Cast: Julia Ampere, BP-119 Duke, Shinji Ikari, Lina Lombardi, Yuliana Dispersal, Shari Loom, Guy Shishioh, Liam 7-020
- Where: Nouvelle Tokyo
- OOC - IC Date: 2022-06-05
- Summary: The infamous energy thief, Julia Ampere, has decided to make a bold move. Setting her eyes on Nouvelle Tokyo she aims to take the port city's power for herself, targeting one of its power distribution facilities - a veritable challenge aimed directly at the heart of the heroes who call it home. Can anyone short-circuit this villainous ne'er-do-well's schemes?
<Pose Tracker> Julia Ampere has posed.
Nouvelle Tokyo is state of the art, filled with the hustle and bustle of the modern era and packed to the brim with anything one might desire in a city. Such a modern city, however, requires a great deal of power to keep it running... but a certain villain intends to divert some of it for her own purposes. The energy thief Julia Ampere's eyes fixate upon a particular, sizable electrical substation in the north-eastern party of the city.
The day before, she had sent the facility a declaration of intent - a warning that she would be arriving to drink her fill of Nouvelle Tokyo's power, and that for their own safety they should evacuate. Announcing the theft ahead of time was a bold move, but she is a bold woman. And so, when she arrives she finds herself greeted by a squadron of security mobile suits... exactly as she anticipated.
They lie scattered across the yard now in front of the several-story high steel structure that houses the substation and offices for monitoring and managing the facility. Their hatches are open from where their pilots fled. While some of the mobile suits are still in fighting condition, many of them find themselves overrun by a series of strange machines called Electrocrawlers - squat, four-legged robots with a drill-like proboscis on the front and a series of long cables sprouting from the back, both of which serve the purpose of siphoning power from a designated target. While many of them can be found latched onto the fallen mobile suits like parasites, still others break into the facility - crashing through windows and breaking through doors to get at the energy within at Julia's bidding.
As for Julia herself... a large machine climbs to the top of substation, planting itself atop it in full view of anyone who dares approach like a challenge. Like her minions, it stands atop four legs, but rather than squat to the ground it stands straight up. The ceiling groans beneath its weight, but the four legs distribute it well enough that the ceiling isn't at risk of collapse.
Attached to its oval-shaped body, wider than tall, are a pair of massive, crab-like claws perfect for clamping and crushing and a single large, electric-blue eye currently fixated on the horizon. The very air around it seems electrically charged from its very presence - truly it is a machine worthy of being called the Dynamo Queen.
Within the Dynamo Queen itself, Julia reclines back in her seat, arms folded in front of her and a confident grin on her face. She fully expects that her actions here won't go unnoticed. She's counting on it, in fact. She needs to buy some time while her minions finish draining the substation - she might as well have some fun in the process.
Though this substation is in a section of the city that is fairly remote by Nouvelle Tokyo's standards and not quite as packed as the rest of it, it is not empty - surrounded by buildings and skyscrapers belonging to the businesses that rely primarily on this substation for power. Fortunately, several channels - police, military, and civilian included - have already reported that the entire area has already been completely evacuated. If there's going to be a rumble, this is as good a place as any for it.
KTS: Julia Ampere has deployed in Dynamo Queen. KTS: BP-119 Duke has deployed in Duke Fire. KTS: Liam 7-020 has deployed in M6A3 Dark Bushnell. KTS: Yuliana Dispersal has deployed in Tiandong 3 Annihilation Custom. KTS: Liam 7-020 has changed loadout. KTS: Yuliana Dispersal has changed loadout. <Pose Tracker> BP-119 Duke has posed.
>>> Incident in Nouvelle Tokyo, electrical relay substation. Multiple grades of mobile weapon reported. Nearest available units, respond with haste. <<<
"That's us, Duke," Regina Aegine remarks coolly over the radio. "Diverting you off your patrol route and plotting the shortest intercept route for you. The Fire Roader is already en route."
"Acknowledged, my lady," the ambulance with BP-119 on its plates speaks, before pulling out of traffic and accelerating towards the scene of the crime, siren wailing.
Skidding around the corner, the siren abruptly cuts out as the vehicle splits cleanly in two, chassis unfolding into a white-armoured five-metre robot. A fire engine rolls up behind it, and the robot leaps into the air as the second vehicle too splits apart and transforms into armour and chassis reinforcements for the new arrival to the scene.
Crimson steel feet slam into the tarmac as the knightly robot, a sword slung over its back, points dramatically. "HOLD UP, VILLAIN! This is DUKE FIRE of the BRAVE POLICE! Dismount your mobile weapon and surrender to justice!"
KTS: Guy Shishioh has deployed in GaoFighGar. KTS: Shari Loom has deployed in eEXM-17 Alto (Loom Custom). KTS: Julia_Ampere has deployed as a Boss for 6 opponents.
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
Shinji Ikari just wanted to buy some cassettes.
There was this cool new musical movement he'd heard about online that he thought his buddy Kaworu might appreciate, remaking classical composers using traditional Japanese instruments. It's a little art noveau for Shinji's tastes but not everything can be Cyborg Bruce Springstein.
Shinji heads into his secret vice, Burger King, for a nice Brittanian hamburger and those fries with the beef tallow when the city shakes from a bunch of criminals in suits attacking the power station. Shinji tries to figure out the logic behind his while bravely hiding under a cardboard cutout of 'The King', who looks a little too much like Charles vi Brittania to be strictly politically safe, hands covering his head. And then someone grabs his shoulder.
"Quickly, Shinji!" The manager says, "You have to get in the secret NERV escape tunnel! That will take you to Unit-01! You must stop the science crime!"
"I must?!" Shinji asks, "Wait, who are-"
"No time!" The manager shoves Shinji into what looks like an employees only restroom, but ends up being a tunnel. Shinji slides as best he can, screaming, until he lands in LCL. This had better not ruin the cassette, Shinji thinks, it cost me like thirty five gella. He then thinks, who was that mysterious old man?
"Little shit always double dips at the soda fountain." The manager says, and gets back to cleaning.
Meanwhile, a support building hisses open, and Evangelion Unit-01 stumbles out of it, having arrived to help defend the power station by NERV's unique high speed bullet trams! Shinji is inside, and Unit-01 is slightly wobbily as he had a full stomach. "...isn't Photon Power basically free?" Shinji asks no one, as Unit-01 pulls out its largest gun for safe deployment in civilian areas.
KTS: Shinji Ikari has deployed in Evangelion Unit-01 Test Type. KTS: Shinji Ikari has changed loadout. <Pose Tracker> Lina Lombardi has posed.
The life of a mercenary has its ups and downs. One day you're rubbing elbows with the world's elite, the other you're embroiled in a battlefield against a terrorist force, and some days...you were stuck on guard duty. The power plant had requested a security detail following the declaration of intent, and Lina was one of the only people available. So here she was, stuck in her Alto, flipping through a magazine as the unit's onboard radar detected for any disturbances.
PI PI PI PI
Well, there were disturbances. The merc sighs, pops on her helmet, tucks away last month's issue of Popular Technolics, and lowers herself down closer to the scene. "Hold up now, can't let ya do that."
KTS: Lina Lombardi has deployed in eEXM-17FT Alto Flight Type.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
Sending a warning in advance is so courteous! It gives the Federation plenty of time to respond! All sorts of people in the Federation, as it happens. If it just so happens that the REA offers some help to their struggling neighbours, well --
They're just being neighbourly. :)
It also so happens that Yuliana sent a text from one of her burner phones to a certain intern, in the wake of this announcement, telling her about the opportunity for some prime work experience. Did she use precisely that language? Who knows. It's Yuliana. She's like that, sometimes.
She'll extend that invitation to Shari, because this isn't the first time Yuliana has fought Julia; having tangled with that electric supervillain before, she has a decent estimation for how much stomach she has for destruction.
Yuliana can't help but notice those abandoned cockpit bays are open, on her approach; the pilots are going to live for another day.
The Annihilation Custom is, in some ways, a typical REA Tiandong 3, but it's armed to the TEETH -- all coloured in teal greens, with a chaff launcher on one shoulder and shield mounted on the other, a cleave axe with a wire attached to the end mounted on one side and a flamethrower with a bayonet on the other.
The voice which comes from it is feminine, and getting dangerously close to middle-aged. "Minovsky's Woman, on site," she reports, through her radio. She calls out, to the Dynamo Queen: "Stop, in the name of the Federation, you dastardly fiend!"
Here, Yuliana cuts her radio off so she can laugh, to herself. "Ahahahahaha..."
Ahem. Radio hot again, she points out, to the crowd: "With the Brave Police on site, you stand no chance. Submit to justice!" Yuliana makes no mention, in this demand, of all the times she's taken bribes to look the other way. No, now is justice time.
Really, she's quite fond of Julia. Even more, now she's managed to meet her personally instead of just foiling her energy theft schemes. And this is probably the least annoying place she's ever tried it, given Koji's clever little rocks!
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
Shari Loom has homework to do. And club business! She has tennis practice to do! But she does also need to get some 'work experience' too. Seeing her machines in action would help her with her work... And so she does go with the invitation, because for once Yuliana is being nice and inviting her into something anyway, and isn't that great?
So, a black Alto with green accents in places rolls in behind the Tiandong 3. She doesn't actually introduce herself, she just pulls the hilt of a beam saber and lets it hang, unactivated, at her robot's side.
Over a private comm to Yuliana, "You're really getting into that, huh...?"
Radio hot, "Right. Justice and the Federation. Important."
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
Forewarning lets people get in position, of course. Bionet occasionally thinks it makes them look cool, but Guy's always grateful for it, because it means fewer moving parts to his deployment. To whit:
The skies part for Division X: Mobile Execution Fortress Wadatsumi, Branch Order Room locked in and PhantomGao already on the catapult. "Uh, Captain Guy," comes the timid voice of Operator Hana Hatsuno, "It looks like the attack has begun. Launch as soon as you're ready."
"Understood, Hana," He says, kicking his feet off the dash board and rolling his neck to loosen up. "Launch when ready!"
It's fast, what happens next. Quick and practiced. PhantomGao fires out of the belly catapult of the Wadatsumi, followed soon after by the GaoMachines. "Fusion!" Guy calls, and his body merges with PhantomGao's, the machine bending over itself, arms and legs emerging from its chassis.
The Final Fusion signal goes out, accompanied by its own approval. Hana sucks in a deep breath, steadying herself. But she's been doing this work for years now. "Final Fusion!" she calls. "P-program Drive, ENGAGE!" She folds her hands together and SLAMS them both togther into the safety plastic, triggering the DRIVE button beneath. The bars on the screen turn, each report turning to FINAL FUSION status.
An electromagnetic tornado roars overhead for several long seconds, before it arrives: A hero to the world, but it all started here, in Nouvelle Tokyo and G-Island. The King of Braves, GaoFighGar, gleams in the light, adopting a brawler's stance!
The scanner on its head pulsates, and Hana gasps sadly at the results that come through to her console. "It took down so many defenses already...Captain Guy, be careful! Just like the warning said, the enemy machine is siphoning power from the substation!"
"I will be," Guy says, tense.
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
Nouvelle Tokyo is technically not part of NERV's jurisdiction. Nevertheless, someone in the lower echelons of the command structure thought it prudent to send over an armed observer with orders to intervene if the local mobile garrison ran into trouble. Liam all but jumped at the chance. It's been too long since he could be useful to NERV.
The observer unit is a single Dark Bushnell in an intersection a few blocks down. It kneels behind an abandoned container truck, watching grimly as the last pilot bails and runs to safety. It lacks ace colors, or any markings beyond the usual NERV livery. "On-site garrison has been neutralized," says Liam, over a secure line to command. "Reporting Federation units deploying to assist. Permission to engage?"
Liam catalogues the responders as he waits for his reply. Unit-01 he knows well, but the Altos are ciphers, and the contrast between the Tiandong's build and loadout and its pilot's words is... unnerving in a way that raises Liam's hackles. Drawing his gaze away from Yuliana, he looks at Duke--or rather, Duke's projection on his screen. He's heard of the Brave Police, but this is the first time he's seen one in action. Then: GaoFighGar. Liam's eyes widen. His mouth falls open at the raw display of the G-Stone's power.
"Permission granted, Pilot," says command. It snaps Liam out of his momentary reverie. He kicks himself for getting distracted.
The Dark Bushnell rises, and starts sprinting down the road at full tilt. The pavement shakes beneath its thunderous footfalls--while it might be small compared to GaoFighGar, it still has a presence here. As he gets to the final stretch, the Bushnell skids to a halt. The machine stands in the open intersection, daring the Dynamo Queen to come at it. Its right hand edges towards the monomolecular cutter at its thigh. "Power down your drones and step out of the robot," Liam says, over the open channel. His voice is calm but intense.
<Pose Tracker> Julia Ampere has posed.
It isn't long before the expected interference arrives. Julia rolls her neck and sits up as two vehicles pull up onto the scene... before combining into one big robot! A slight grin crosses Julia's face. She hadn't been sure whether or not any of the Brave Police would show up. She had heard they were formidable forces of justice - now she has an opportunity to take their measure for herself. She could hardly pass that up.
"Ah, the Brave Police! So glad you could make it. It just wouldn't quite be the same without you!" Julia remarks to Duke, her voice echoing out from the machine. It's definitely a Statement that she chooses to broadcast over external speakers, instead of using normal communication channels. "Remarkable entrance, by the way - very impressive! But I'm afraid I must decline."
Other machines begin to appear. The Dynamo Queen's electric-blue eye tracks to each of them in turn. A large, purple and green humanoid... One of NERV's monsters? Interesting. Data on them has been so difficult to obtain - perhaps she'll be able to learn something. And there's an Alto, too, the pilot of which has words for her.
"You can't, hm? Then I'm afraid we're at quite the impasse - I've never been one to do as others please! You'll have to provide a more convincing argument." Julia replies to Lina. It's not long after, however, that she's treated to an unexpected surprise at the arrival of the Annihilation Custom.
"Why, if it isn't the esteemed Captain! What an unexpected surprise." Julia greets Yuliana, and smirks as she makes her demands. "'Dastardly fiend'...! You can't sweet-talk me out of this one, I'm afraid!"
Her attention turns, briefly, to the fashionably-painted Alto that rolls up behind it. Julia lets out a 'hmm' of consideration at her words.
"Now, now, you can show a little more enthusiasm than that, can't you?" She comments in regards to Shari.
If there's anyone that would take notice of the electromagnetic tornado overhead, it's Julia - the blue eye of the Dynamo Queen turns upward as it heralds the arrival of the King of Braves. A wide grin crosses Julia's face. Now this will be exciting.
"Well now! Yet another surprise. And you're already raring to go! I'll have to try not to disappoint." She comments.
And then, last but certainly not least, an Arm Slave sprints onto the scene - a Dark Bushnell. It, of course, requests her to stand down as well.
"I'm afraid I simply can't do that. I'm in the middle of something at the moment, you see. You'll have to wait patiently until I'm done - or drag me out yourself!" Julia replies, then takes another look around the area.
There's a fine spread here today. She definitely made the right call.
"At any rate... I believe we all know where this goes already? Do try to keep it entertaining, now!" Julia says. And with that, the Dynamo Queen lowers itself briefly... before taking a mighty leap, slamming down onto the pavement in front of the substation.
"And, ah, one more thing - I have numbers on my side, as well!" She comments. As if in response to this statement, the Electrocrawlers attached to the fallen security mobile suits detached themselves, crawling away from their prey and forming up around the Dynamo Queen.
That's all the warning they receive before she jumps immediately into the fray. The Braves will meet her first, massive claws lashing out in a corkscrew punch toward Duke and Guy, the Dynamo Queen's body rotating with the movement. It ends pointing directly at Lina's Alto... where one of its claws opens up! Electricity builds within the claw before being fired off like a projectile at her.
Yuliana and Shari, meanwhile, will soon find themselves at the mercy of the Dynamo Queen's beam turrets. Panels open up across the machine, sending a spray of beam fire in their direction.
For Shinji and Liam, meanwhile, Julia's friends have something to say. The drill-like proboscises channel electricity briefly before unleashing a volley of electrical shots in their direction!
KTS: Julia Ampere targets Guy Shishioh with Corkscrew Punch! KTS: Julia Ampere targets BP-119 Duke with Corkscrew Punch! KTS: Julia Ampere targets Lina Lombardi with Electric Blaster! KTS: Julia Ampere targets Yuliana Dispersal with Beam Turret Spray! KTS: Julia Ampere targets Shari Loom with Beam Turret Spray! KTS: Julia Ampere targets Shinji Ikari with Electrocrawler Volley! KTS: Julia Ampere targets Liam 7-020 with Electrocrawler Volley! KTS: BP-119 Duke parries Julia Ampere's Corkscrew Punch, taking 690 damage! KTS: Julia Ampere has engaged BP-119 Duke KTS: Shari Loom blocks Julia Ampere's Beam Turret Spray, taking 1440 damage! KTS: Julia Ampere rattles Lina Lombardi, making her next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Lina Lombardi fails to evade Julia Ampere's Electric Blaster, taking 4680 damage! KTS: Guy Shishioh fails to evade Julia Ampere's Corkscrew Punch, taking 3450 damage! KTS: Julia Ampere has engaged Guy Shishioh KTS: Shinji Ikari fails to evade Julia Ampere's Electrocrawler Volley, taking 5500 damage! KTS: Liam 7-020 fails to Evade Julia Ampere's Electrocrawler Volley, taking 6050 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Julia Ampere's Immaculate Scheme activates, causing Designate L1! KTS: Yuliana Dispersal charges into the attack! KTS: Yuliana Dispersal fails to react to Julia Ampere's Beam Turret Spray, taking 3360 damage!
<Pose Tracker> BP-119 Duke has posed.
One moment, the great Dynamo Queen is barreling down on Duke Fire, claws closed and ready to blow chunks off the newly-deployed Brave Police unit, then the next -
"FIRE SWOOOOOOORD!" The great blade is drawn from his back and the flat of the blade intercepts the punch with a shower of sparks, Duke sliding back a couple metres before he twists the blade and pushes the fist away!
"If you refuse to surrender, then you shall face the consequences!" Raising the blade parallel to the ground, green lenses flash as the robot barks "En garde!" and lunges forward to lock Julia into the melee she's begun!
KTS: BP-119 Duke has activated the Alert Spirit Command. KTS: BP-119 Duke has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: BP-119 Duke targets Julia Ampere with En Garde!! <Pose Tracker> Lina Lombardi has posed.
"Ggh! Damn! Thing's still a bit off from that Zaku..." Lina's Alto wavers a bit in the air as the electric current hits it. "You think you're so hot with all those toys, huh? Some kinda bad guy?" She pulls out her assault rifle and takes aim at the drone. "Well, let me show you how ba-a-a-ad *I* can be!" She pulls the trigger and brings forth a rain of bullets from above!
KTS: Lina Lombardi targets Julia Ampere with ExAMACS Assault Rifle Barrage! KTS: BP-119 Duke anchors Julia Ampere, forcing her into close range. KTS: Julia Ampere blocks BP-119 Duke's En Garde!, taking 2100 damage! KTS: BP-119 Duke has engaged Julia Ampere KTS: BP-119 Duke roots his unit, coming to a standstill and leaving him vulnerable. KTS: BP-119 Duke begins a Formation attack! KTS: Julia Ampere successfully evades Lina Lombardi's ExAMACS Assault Rifle Barrage <Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
"She's ready for us," Guy mutters. A brief scan of the area. That Bushnell's IFF says it's Liam. And then there's Shinji, out from Tokyo-3. Good to have that support. And the inspector from the UK Brave Police, too. Good to see them out here. A few other units he doesn't immediately recognize. Someone from the REA, some mercenaries...well, an enemy who advertised themselves would draw out all kinds. The important point is they've come here today. Then, out loud - GaoFighGar has never shied away from shouting out to the sky and all around - the King of Braves raises its fist. "So you'll just keep doing it no matter what we say? I know how to handle that!"
Guy rushes in and proceeds to take a slash right across the torso from those massive claws, sparks and blasts firing off from the impacts. Guy screams out, but soon enough he has his stance assembled.
"Captain Guy!" Hana yelps.
"I know. But I can still fight!"
GaoFighGar charges in, then, and while she's busy with Duke Fire's sword, GaoFighGar lunges up with a rising knee attack...accompanied by the WHIRRING DRILL at the top of its knees!!
KTS: Guy Shishioh targets Julia Ampere with Drill Knee! <Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
Shinji looks over the battlefield.
The criminal's a talker. That's good, because now Shinji knows those other mobile suits are dones. His shoulders sag with relief; he won't have to hurt any humans in this thing. As long as he doesn't step on any, he thinks, positioning Unit-01 behind a building.
Shinji feels a strange emptiness in his chest, just for a second, and his synch ratio plummets. He can barely move Unit-01, it feels like he's wearing a suit made of rotten steaks just as the electrostatic blast hits Unit-01 directly in the chest.
"Aaarrhg!" Shinji shouts, feeling the pain all of a sudden and looking with shock as his internal battery read drops thirty seconds. Even plugged in! "-damn it!"
Unit-01 brings the big mean gun to bear, and fires a stream of superheated pellets at Julia's pair of drones. Shinji isn't a good enough shot to aim at just one, lets be real here.
KTS: Shinji Ikari targets Julia Ampere with Progressive Gatling Cannon Area Denial! KTS: Julia Ampere blocks Guy Shishioh's Drill Knee, taking 2580 damage! KTS: Guy Shishioh has engaged Julia Ampere KTS: Guy Shishioh completes the Formation attack! KTS: Julia Ampere fails to react to Shinji Ikari's Progressive Gatling Cannon Area Denial, taking 3705 damage! KTS: Shinji Ikari begins a Formation attack! Soldato J-002 has arrived. Soldato J-002 leaves for Japan [OCU]. <Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
The enemy pilot refuses to stand down. Liam's lips tighten into a thin little line. "Commander Shishioh," he transmits, on a tightbeam to GaoFighGar. "Pilot Seven-Dash-Zero-Two-Zero, engaging the enemy." Julia is absolutely right about one thing--she has the advantege in numbers, and her Electrocrawlers have been gorging themselves on Nouvelle Tokyo's limitless power. Liam has fought hordes of drones before, but those were simple gun units. He hesitates--
And the Electrocrawlers fall on him. Three--no, four--no, five--open up on him in concert, unleashing their stored electricity as violent bolts of lightning. The first strikes the Dark Bushnell in the thigh, and its leg spasms; two more hit it high in the chest, and the last clips its shoulders. The machine shudders violently. Its armor is blackened from the strikes, and as it hits the deck, it's anyone's guess as to whether or not it will get back up again.
But Liam has a card up his sleeve. The response team sent him out in an Arm Slave equipped with additional insulation, because someone in GGG's intelligence wing ran back security footage and saw the Electrocrawlers at work. And moreover, Liam had to deal with Mecha Trembulor, which tried similar shenanigans against the Proto Helios. As his machine lies prone, he sucks in breath through his teeth, using the hand controls to reset parts of the Bushnell's electrics. The shorts clear--mostly--and the machine plants a hand on the tarmac, and shoves itself upright. Its gait is shaky as it starts to move again, but it manages to pull the cutter free, and slashes it violently at the nearest Electrocrawler. Liam follows through with a vicious kick at the drone to his right, and then another slash at a third drone.
"Clearing hostile drones," Liam transmits, over the comm. His voice is a tight monotone. The fight-or-flight instinct amps up, encouraged by the implants.
KTS: Liam 7-020 has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Liam 7-020 has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Liam 7-020 targets Julia Ampere with Monomolecular Cutter Slash! KTS: Julia Ampere rushes into the attack! KTS: Julia Ampere fails to react to Liam 7-020's Monomolecular Cutter Slash, taking 5200 damage! KTS: Liam 7-020 has engaged Julia Ampere KTS: Liam 7-020 completes the Formation attack! <Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
The fact that the Tiandong 3's registration is 'Annihilation Custom' is probably a clue that something isn't entirely right, between the pilot's stated words and her armaments. Whether Yuliana cares about giving this impression to Liam is another thing entirely!
Yuliana flicks on her private comms to send a message to the black Alto carrying Shari: "If you can't have fun with your job, you really need to get a better job, sweetie. Don't they teach you that in school these days?" Yuliana dropped out, so she wouldn't know.
She flicks her radio back on to general channels soon enough, so that she can reply, to Julia: "Oh? I can't? What a shame! Violence it is, then!" Strangely, she sounds pretty cheerful about it.
The beams course around the Tiandong 3 -- and that machine charges forward, into and through them, even as they sizzle into its armor. It leaps, the smaller wanzer coming to rest its weight on one of the Dynamo Queen's crablike legs. Yuliana drives her clutch forward, depressing a series of buttons on the stick, flicks a limiter switch --
And the Tiandong 3 DRIVES its flamethrower forward, bayonet driving towards the Dynamo Queen, to pour out flame into armor she wounds.
"Your erstwhile sons hardly concern me, when I could dance with you! Do tell me you can take the heat!" There's one small mercy to Minovsky's Woman's approach, at least: she isn't toasting the cockpit.
KTS: Yuliana Dispersal targets Julia Ampere with Berserker Flame! KTS: Yuliana Dispersal rattles Julia Ampere, making her next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Julia Ampere blocks Yuliana Dispersal's Berserker Flame, taking 1950 damage! KTS: Yuliana Dispersal has engaged Julia Ampere <Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
Enthusiasm, is it? Shari supposes she's not exactly showing the hot blood of the Brave Police and her other counterparts here. "W-well," she says over the radio, called out, "Sure! I mean, stop, thief! You're bad!"
She is not sure that sounds much better. But she works the controls as she hears them talk about where it's going... and notices the numbers the Dynamo Queen's pilot is talking about. "Yikes," she says, off-radio, and brings her mecha's shield up before the beam turret can get to her. The shield ably deflects and absorbs most of the beamfire, taking great burns to its surface but preventing impact with more sensitive systems. "Ha!" Shari announces, pleased with herself--and starting to feel the adrenaline of the dangerous situation for real, now that she's been fired at.
"...You didn't make these yourself, did you?" Shari then says over the radio to Julia, on a wide band others can probably hear. She sounds a little impressed.
"I guess that's true," she tightbeams back to only Yuliana. Have fun with it... Well, she can try to have fun with it then.
"Providing fire support!" Shari calls out, because it sounds cool, as she starts to run to the side with her mecha and lift up its beam pistol instead of the beam saber after all. She fires off glowing green shots, trying to line up a good position, and in the cockpit her eyes suddenly focus sharply.
"I hear you," she murmurs to herself, and fires in perfect time.
KTS: Shari Loom has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Shari Loom targets Julia Ampere with Loom A17 Beam Pistol Positioning Shot! KTS: Julia Ampere's EN Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage. KTS: Julia Ampere fails to react to Shari Loom's Loom A17 Beam Pistol Positioning Shot, taking 2100 damage! KTS: Shari Loom begins a Formation attack! <Pose Tracker> Julia Ampere has posed.
Duke draws his weapon with a mighty shout, and deftly deflects the claw! Within the Dynamo Queen, Julia lets out a whistle. She wasn't sure what to expect from a Super AI, but he's certain as skilled as she hoped. She grins, then, as he lunges forward.
"Then show me, won't you? What your 'justice' has in store for people like me!" She remarks with a grin, a claw moving into place to intercept the attack. There's a clash of metal against metal as Duke's great blade bites into the claw. The second claw pulls back. It looks like she's going to go in for another punch, except for one detail!
Julia is, after all, a criminal and not known for fighting fair. With his attention on her, several of the Electrocrawlers round on him to flank, unleashing a barrage of electrical shots into his back!
To Lina, Julia chuckles.
"Am I not? Should I try harder, then?" She replies. Lina's Alto unloads a rain of bullets, and in response the Electrocrawlers begin to scatter out of harm's way. They're fairly small and agile - hitting them is no easy feat, even for a skilled sharpshooter. Still, it's close - any narrower, and there might have been quite a few fewer left.
"'Bad' is something you have to work for, dear. It's not just about power. It's about style - about presence." Julia remarks. The Dynamo Queen directs its attention upward, the beam turrets aimed for Lina's Alto before opening fire.
And then, the King of Braves raises a fist into the air as Guy makes a declaration!
"Naturally! It takes more than words to move me. Show me action, show me conviction!" Julia retorts. If there's anyone who can provide that, it's Guy. He charges in, capitalizing on Duke Fire's efforts. Julia is forced to raise the other claw this time to defend. The machine shifts from the force of the impact, and sparks fly as the whirring drill finds purchase and puts a new hole into it.
This battle zone is starting to get a little crowded, and Julia decides its time to make some space. Both of the Dynamo Queen's arms spread out wide and the upper torso spins violently to knock away anything in its vicinity - primarily aiming at Guy, in this situation.
Shinji's Unit-01 takes aim - not at Julia, but at her drones. Like with Lina they move to scatter, but this time they can't quite dodge out of the way in time. He manages to clip both of the drones he's aiming at with a single shot, but that's more than enough. Electricity sparks from the point of impact before soon overtaking the entire unit. Soon enough, they both explode in a harmless 'pop', leaving behind nothing but bits of ruined metal. A defense against reverse-engineering, presumably.
This, however, causes several of the remaining Electrocrawlers to whirl upon Unit-01. The EVA far outscales the Electrocrawlers, but they have a strength beyond size. They move to try and grapple with the larger machine in a small swarm, trying to steal its power directly with their cables!
Liam, in his machine hardened against power draining, takes the fight to the Electrocrawlers directly as well. The three drones he targets are taken down in quick succession, exploding in that now-familiar 'pop' as they're bisected and/or kicked apart. Still more move in against him, cables unfurling from their backs. They don't try to grapple the Dark Bushnell like they did Unit-01, however - instead, they lash out at the machine with their cables like a series of whips.
"Violence it is." Julia confirms to Yuliana, meanwhile, with a chuckle. The Tiandong 3 charges, bayonet jabbing into the Dynamo Queen. It manages to find and puncture one of the many panels lining the machine, spewing flames into its interior. The Dynamo Queen is well-insulted, but even from this distance it begins to glow a little red-hot. Julia is forced to retreat the machine back a few steps before the flames can breach something more vital. As it is, several of the beam turrets will need to be replaced at this rate.
"I'd be honored! You needn't fear, I remember the steps well." Julia replies with a grin. "I think the next went something like this?"
She charges the Tiandong 3 to regain lost ground, then, the Dynamo Queen's claws opening wide. They extend outward, both pointing at Yuliana's machine though oriented toward each other. Electricity begins to build in both claws before being unleashed at a single point, crackling currents colliding in a powerful burst that threatens to overload anything caught in its wake!
Shari offers her best attempt.
"Hmm... well, that's a start." Julia decides. While Justice might not be too exciting, she doesn't miss that there is something that catches her attention.
"Why, I did! My Electrocrawlers and this, my dear Dynamo Queen, are the products of years of study and iteration. I'm quite fond of them." Julia remarks casually, even as Shari's Alto runs to the side and offers fire support. Several of those glowing green shots manage to impact the Dynamo Queen before Julia can react.
Julia whistles appreciatively... but then moves to charge down the Alto, claw swinging aggressively. But unlike the corkscrew punches before, it's still charged up with electricity - and the moment it makes contact, this electricity is unleashed to magnify the attack!
KTS: Julia Ampere targets BP-119 Duke with Electrocrawler Flanking Attack! KTS: Julia Ampere targets Lina Lombardi with Beam Turrets! KTS: Julia Ampere targets Guy Shishioh with Spinning Claws! KTS: Julia Ampere targets Shinji Ikari with Electrocrawler Draining Grapple! KTS: Julia Ampere targets Liam 7-020 with Electrocrawler Charge! KTS: Julia Ampere targets Yuliana Dispersal with Hyper Shock! KTS: Julia Ampere targets Shari Loom with Electrified Claw! KTS: [Lucky] Shari Loom's Another Level activates, and luck goes her way! KTS: Shari Loom successfully evades Julia Ampere's Electrified Claw KTS: Liam 7-020 fails to Parry Julia Ampere's Electrocrawler Charge, taking 6480 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Julia Ampere's Immaculate Scheme activates, causing Designate L1! KTS: Julia Ampere has engaged Liam 7-020 KTS: BP-119 Duke blocks Julia Ampere's Electrocrawler Flanking Attack, taking 3600 damage! KTS: Julia Ampere begins a Formation attack! KTS: Lina Lombardi fails to charge. KTS: Lina Lombardi fails to react to Julia Ampere's Beam Turrets, taking 5520 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Julia Ampere's Immaculate Scheme activates, causing Designate L1! KTS: Shinji Ikari's Will Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage. KTS: Julia Ampere rattles Shinji Ikari, making his next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Shinji Ikari blocks Julia Ampere's Electrocrawler Draining Grapple, taking 4092 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Julia Ampere's Immaculate Scheme activates, causing Designate L1! KTS: Julia Ampere has engaged Shinji Ikari KTS: Julia Ampere begins a Formation attack!
<Pose Tracker> BP-119 Duke has posed.
Electricity crackles all over Duke Fire's form and the Brave Robot staggers, almost slouching to a knee.
Deep in the machine's core, the hardened Super AI block of BP-119 Duke rides out the electromagnetic surge.
"Deploying fire shield!" The robot's left arm snaps out into a kite-shaped, well, shield, which Duke Fire leaps up at the Dynamo Queen to smash into joints and camera arrays, all to make it that much harder for Julia to tell exactly what's going on in the fight.
KTS: BP-119 Duke targets Julia Ampere with Stunning Strike! KTS: Guy Shishioh's EN Barrier activates, negating 1000 base damage. KTS: Guy Shishioh blocks Julia Ampere's Spinning Claws, taking 3360 damage! KTS: Julia Ampere has engaged Guy Shishioh <Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
Shinji Ikari-
Can't move. "What?"
He looks at the battery clock, as his Unit is sucked dry. "Oh man." Unit-01 leans over on its ejection building, causing the elevator to warp with an unpleasant, expensive noise. "Oh MAN!"
"My dad's going to kill me for this." Shinji declares to the steering wheel.
<Pose Tracker> Lina Lombardi has posed.
As the Alto gets hit once again, Lina curses to herself in a way that wouldn't be appropriate for most audiences. "These damn kids keep giving me the business lately...Don't think I can take much more of this..."
She pulls back a bit, giving herself a bit more distance, and fires off a shot with her wing mounted cannon. "And I'm probably not gonna get paid if this keeps up!"
KTS: Lina Lombardi targets Julia Ampere with Flight Module Cannon Shot! KTS: Julia Ampere's EN Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage. KTS: BP-119 Duke rattles Julia Ampere, making her next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Julia Ampere blocks BP-119 Duke's Stunning Strike, taking 2700 damage! KTS: BP-119 Duke has engaged Julia Ampere KTS: BP-119 Duke continues a Formation attack! KTS: Julia Ampere's EN Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage. KTS: Julia Ampere blocks Lina Lombardi's Flight Module Cannon Shot, taking 2220 damage! KTS: Yuliana Dispersal fails to rush. KTS: Julia Ampere rattles Yuliana Dispersal, making her next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Yuliana Dispersal fails to react to Julia Ampere's Hyper Shock, taking 4929 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Julia Ampere's Immaculate Scheme activates, causing Designate L1! KTS: Julia Ampere has engaged Yuliana Dispersal
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
"I do hope you don't mean --"
The Dynamo Queen's claws open wide, and the Tiandong 3 isn't QUITE fast enough to dive in close enough to avoid the crackling waves of electricity. The elaborate console inside Yuliana's cockpit screams complaints as the mobility system gets fried, all the electronic parts of the manual system misfiring at once.
Wanzers, of course, are built on mechanical principles, so this sort of overloading isn't enough to disable her unit, but it is a right royal pain. "Gah! Again?! Really??!! How do you ALWAYS DO THAT!"
It probably helps that she can always do that because Yuliana always pushes straight in towards Dynamo Queen instead of trying to do anything as gauche as 'dodging away'.
"Uuuuugh... at least they're getting along," Yuliana mutters, to herself, as it stills while she hits the series of switches and levers she needs to cycle her power generator over again. The radio might pick it up anyway.
She brings her Heavy Flamer up to bear -- and the trick with it is that it doesn't have to be a melee weapon. (It wasn't even designed to be a melee weapon! She just modded that functionality in!) "Ahem!" Yuliana transmits, through her radio, as she fires on the Dynamo Queen to try and drive it off of the black Alto. "I believe we were dancing?"
It's not a long firing of flame, but it should be more than sufficient to remind Julia that it's not that easy to put her down.
KTS: Yuliana Dispersal targets Julia Ampere with MULS-P Heavy Flamer Spurt! <Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
She's trying!! Shari is just a normal* high schooler, she's not a champion of justice! And also she's trying to stay relatively obscure here, since she isn't technically with the Federation herself... However. Julia thinks it's a start, so Shari smiles within the cockpit of her Alto. And then that casual remark--
"Oh really?" she asks. "So how'd you overcome the inherent resistance of the materials? I don't see any dampeners on them..." Her shots hit home!! "They're... kinda cool, I guess."
She doesn't notice Yuliana's mutter. That's for the best. But she does sound like she's having fun.
But as the Dynamo Queen rushes down the Alto, Shari starts in alarm, and starts to try to work the controls--until in an instant she knows what she has to do. At the last second, Shari's Alto weaves out of the way of the electrical punch despite all sense, leaping backward out of the way. She keeps going with her momentum, backing up further and out of the way before she hefts the beam pistol again and starts to charge it, light suffusing the barrel as it draws in power--before sending it bursting out in a great blaze of green energy!
"Then let's see what these machines of yours can do!!"
KTS: Shari Loom has activated the Attune Spirit Command. KTS: Shari Loom has activated the Valor Spirit Command. <Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
Julia's a talkative one. Hephaestus' voice echoes in the back of Liam's mind: Every breath spent in idle chatter is a breath wasted. But the enemy pilot is not only good at multitasking, she's got a small army as backup. "Ikari!" Liam shouts, as Eva-01 gets swarmed, and collapses. He doesn't have time to intervene, because in the next breath, the drones are on him.
The Bushnell brandishes its cutter, and slices through the first cable-whip in a single strike. As it does this, two Electrocrawlers move in concert, lashing out with their cables and entangling the Arm Slave's legs. Liam fights it, digging in his heels and stabbing backwards at the drones, but they skitter out of his reach--and several more Electrocrawlers take advantage of the opportunity. Whips entangle the Bushnell's shoulders and wrists and elbows, tugging and pulling. The groan of stressed muscle packages echoes through Liam's cockpit. Its left shoulder twists out of joint. Lights flicker red on his HUD.
Liam sucks in a breath, his eyes wide behind his helmet's visor. Hephaestus' voice plays on a loop in his head. His hands tighten around the controls as a fresh, violent surge of adrenaline washes through his brain. He forgot to turn the mic off; angry, ragged breathing echoes over the comm. He clenches his teeth.
The catecholamine tide rushes in, and Liam lets it take him.
The Bushnell thrashes. Sparks shoot from its damaged joints as it whips forwards, violently dislodging some of the electrocrawlers. Severed whips still cling to its frame as it kicks and strains, its movements sharp and feral instead of cool and calculated. Its cutter fell to the ground when it got swamed; instead, it seizes an anti-tank dagger from its gear rack, and hurls it at the Dynamo Queen. It's weighted to punch through armor, and packs an explosive payload.
The Bushnell sinks into a tight, hunched pose, hands clenched. It reaches down, fingers searching for its blade. There's only so much the machine's systems can do to convey body language, but its pilot is clearly in a bad state.
KTS: Shari Loom targets Julia Ampere with Loom A17 Beam Pistol Full Charge! KTS: Liam 7-020 targets Julia Ampere with Anti-Tank Dagger Single Dagger! KTS: Julia Ampere's EN Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage. KTS: Julia Ampere blocks Yuliana Dispersal's MULS-P Heavy Flamer Spurt, taking 1020 damage! KTS: Julia Ampere fails to react to Liam 7-020's Anti-Tank Dagger Single Dagger, taking 3330 damage! KTS: [Lucky] Shari Loom's Another Level activates, and luck goes her way! KTS: Julia Ampere fails to charge. KTS: Julia Ampere fails to react to Shari Loom's Loom A17 Beam Pistol Full Charge, taking 4125 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
"Understood, Liam!" Guy calls back.
Hana chimes in that Liam's suit has been insulated, so Guy adds, "Watch yourself! No amount of insulation will keep those claws out of your armor!"
Case in point, uh oh. He thrusts his arm out, a Program Ring bursting out of GaoFighGar's chest just in time for the barrier to go up while Guy screams, "PROTECT WALLLLL!!"
The slashing, ripping claws find themselves bent and shoved aside, ripped from one side to the other by wild spatial geometries, but eventually a few slices force their way through and claw across GaoFighGar's chest. Guy screams, as he does, "GAAAAAUGH!!" %$But he doesn't give in, even as the pain ripples across his armored body. "Conviction, huh...you're definitely dedicated to this. Why! You could've done this anywhere! Is it just to feed your own ego!?"
Then, he hops back, clearing space, roaring, "HANA! NOW!"
The rest of the request comes across in text signals: DIVIDING DRIVER.
Sueo Ushiyama, at the Engineering Operators controls, rapidly slams keys. "Dividing Driver fueling process is complete! It's ready to go! Hatsuno!"
"R, right! Dividing Driver! Kit Number 01!" She puts her whole body out to one side, so that she can get all the force in her body into PUNCHING a console on her right, a big red button sliding agreeably inward. "EMISSION!!"
A streak of mirror-coated light blasts down from Wadatsumi toward the melee, and GaoFighGar surges upward, Ul-Tech engines roaring as it leaps into the air and matches trajectories with the oncoming flat-headed space screwdriver. It locks in with a HISS.
"Connection complete! It's all yours!" Usshi yells.
"Right!" Guy yells. "HERE WE GO! DIVIDING DRIIIIIIIIIIIIVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!!"
He SHOOTS down from the sky, the Dividing Driver SLAMMING into the pavement and blasting out a line of spatial distortion, a pinpoint of space suddenly expanding outward into a several-hundred meter hole that used to contain the surrounding structures - which have been spatially warped outward along the ring. The units fighting, of course, just...land in the hole.
That won't completely disrupt the operation...but it will force the Dynamo Queen to rapidly adjust her plans!!
Which maybe will be hard because Guy is also coming to punch her machine straight in the face!!!
KTS: Guy Shishioh targets Julia Ampere with Dividing Driver! KTS: Julia Ampere's EN Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage. KTS: Guy Shishioh anchors Julia Ampere, forcing her into close range. KTS: Julia Ampere blocks Guy Shishioh's Dividing Driver, taking 450 damage! KTS: Guy Shishioh has engaged Julia Ampere
<Pose Tracker> Julia Ampere has posed.
Fortunately, Julia is satisfied enough with simply disabling her opponents. When Unit-01 slumps over, drained over battery, the Electrocrawlers disengage to leave it and Shinji be. ...This may not be as merciful as she intends it to be, considering what might await him.
Duke charges in with a shield! There's only so much she can do rebuff a rather determined robot bearing a shield, and the shield strikes still manage to find purchase.
"You are quite skilled. I'm curious, did you develop those techniques yourself?" Julia remarks. She might not be able to see well from her own machine... but, she has eyes on the outside. She rests her arms on the arms of her chair and reaches out to her Electrocrawlers through her cybernetics. In unison they turn to face Duke Fire as she takes direct control over them.
"Now then! Time for a little teamwork." Julia comments with a grin. In unison, the Electrocrawlers begin to fire on Duke... and at the point they strike, the Dynamo Queen unleashes a quick and powerful pair of punches with its claws to punch through defenses!
Lina pulls back and opens fire. The Dynamo Queen is a much larger target than her Electrocrawlers and her shots find purchase, scoring the Dynamo Queen's armor.
"Now, that simply won't do." Julia remarks, as Lina complains at the possibility of not getting paid. "I'd say you've gone above and beyond today. I don't suppose my recommendation would cause your superiors to reconsider? ...No, perhaps not."
As for Yuliana, the only answer Julia gives her is a smug smile... which, of course, can't be seen, but it probably doesn't need to be.
"Ah, but it is so exciting, is it not? It should not come as a shock at this stage!" Julia replies. ...She's making electricity puns now, and not even particularly complex ones, at that. Frankly, it's a surprise it took her this long.
Yuliana comes at her with the Heavy Flamer, next, scorching the surface of the Dynamo Queen as a reminder. It certainly does the job well enough - and she doesn't miss how she almost seems to come to the Alto's defense.
"Ah, yes, my apologies. How terribly rude of me. Then, come... let us get closer, you and I!" Julia replies, lunging toward the Tiandong 3 quickly. One of her claws lashes out, but not to strike. It opens up to clamp down on the machine before applying crushing force. Just enough to put the squeeze on the machine, rather than the pilot, before releasing.
Shari, meanwhile, has technical questions! Julia chuckles knowingly.
"I'm afraid that will have to be my little secret~. ...But, you seem like a clever girl - I'm certain you'd be able to tell if you looked close enough... though I'm uncertain you have that luxury, at the moment!" Julia replies. The Alto weaves out of her way, and then levels the beam pistol at the Dynamo Queen. Julia... gets the distinct impression that defending against this may be difficult, and the machine's electrostatic barrier may not prove effective at dispersing it, either. She tries to dodge out of the way, but not quickly enough. The great blaze of energy carves into the armor just below the eye.
"Yours is impressive, too..." Julia notes.
As this goes on, Liam fights against her Electrocrawlers. Even with numbers, he eventually manages to get free - just long enough to hurl a dagger her way. Julia, of course, isn't paying that close attention - so by the time she realises what he's done, it's too late to avoid it. The dagger impacts the section of armor carved into by Shari's blast, the resulting explosion sending the Dynamo Queen reeling back. Julia grits her teeth.
"And as for you...!" She says, whirling on the Dark Bushnell... and frowning, as she studies it.
"...My dear boy, do you realise your machine betrays your condition? You hardly seem in any condition to continue this." Julia notes. "My advice? Don't move."
She points one of those claws at him and fires down-range, sending a burst of electricity hurtling straight toward him!
"Ego, hm? Perhaps!" Julia replies with a knowing chuckle. "It could have been anywhere, but I chose here. For Nouvelle Tokyo is rife with those who would rise to defend it, and I...! I do so enjoy testing myself on greater and greater stages."
She pauses, for a moment.
"Ah - but do not take that as if I am blaming you for merely being present, of course!" She clarifies. "I own my decisions."
And that's when Guy does something she doesn't quite expect. A weapon is launched into the area, which he claims and drives into the ground... resulting in a spatial distortion that causes all of the nearby structures to be spatially-resituated. Julia stares... and then, she can only laugh.
"Oh, but you are a clever one! What fascinating technology..." She remarks, shaking her head. Indeed, this will force an adjustment of plans... because the substation was among the structures relocated, and with it the Electrocrawlers that were busy draining it dry. But her signal to them can only reach so far, meaning that she is, at present, completely cut off from them.
Re-establishing the connection will be difficult in the middle of a fight like this - particularly when he's trying to punch her machine right in its big, vulnerable eye! Both claws raise to defend, intercepting the attack with a 'clang!'.
"Hahah... well then. Since you have so kindly cleared the skies, I would be remiss not to take advantage of the situation!" Julia remarks, piloting the Dynamo Queen back a few steps. A cannon emerges from a panel on its back, pointed into the air. A spherical device is fired upwards and both of the Dynamo Queen's claws aim for it, unleashing a powerful pulse of electricity at the device. It stalls in mid-air, briefly illuminating... before sending bolts of artificial lightning raining down on the defenders!
KTS: Julia Ampere targets BP-119 Duke with Electrocrawler Focused Attack! KTS: Julia Ampere targets Yuliana Dispersal with Single Clamp! KTS: Julia Ampere targets Liam 7-020 with Electric Blaster! KTS: Julia_Ampere Changes attack to Guy Shishioh, Lina Lombardi, and Shari Loom with Lightning Storm. KTS: Lina Lombardi successfully evades Julia Ampere's Lightning Storm KTS: BP-119 Duke fails to retreat. KTS: BP-119 Duke fails to react to Julia Ampere's Electrocrawler Focused Attack, taking 7110 damage! KTS: Julia Ampere has engaged BP-119 Duke KTS: Julia Ampere completes the Formation attack! KTS: Julia Ampere rattles Liam 7-020, making his next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Liam 7-020 fails to Evade Julia Ampere's Electric Blaster, taking 4680 damage! KTS: Liam 7-020's M6A3 Dark Bushnell has been disabled. KTS: Yuliana Dispersal blocks Julia Ampere's Single Clamp, taking 4050 damage! KTS: Julia Ampere has engaged Yuliana Dispersal KTS: [Lucky] Shari Loom's Another Level activates, and luck goes her way! KTS: Shari Loom successfully evades Julia Ampere's Lightning Storm KTS: Guy Shishioh has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Guy Shishioh has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Guy Shishioh's EN Barrier activates, negating 1000 base damage. KTS: Guy Shishioh blocks Julia Ampere's Lightning Storm, taking 3220 damage! KTS: Lina Lombardi has activated the Alert Spirit Command. KTS: Lina Lombardi has activated the Attune Spirit Command targeting Guy Shishioh
<Pose Tracker> Lina Lombardi has posed.
"Gaaah, smug little pricks like you really piss me off!" Her evasive maneuvers allow her to easily roll out of the way of the arc of electricity heading towards her. She got away from that, but she's really feeling the heat. "Especially when you got the skills to back it up..." Meanwhile, what the hell was up with these other guys?! Did that one....tear open a portal in time with a screwdriver? She knew there were people capable of some wild things, but seeing it up close was a lot different!
"Hey you! The one with the screwdriver! You gotta let me know how the hell you did that!"
With the flight cannons still out, Lina rushes in, giving a last ditch attack with as many shots as she can. She'd definitely have to retreat after this no matter what happened!
KTS: Lina Lombardi targets Julia Ampere with Flight Module Cannon Rapid Fire! <Pose Tracker> BP-119 Duke has posed.
Duke lets out a cry of electrical agony, already synthetic voicebox crackling and peaking in unpleasant-sounding ways.
Safe at her console in the Brave Police HQ, Regina clenches the arms of her chair and leans forward, crying the robot's name, keying anything she has to help the Fire Roader divert some of the excess electricity into more battery power, trying to give her creation what he needs to power through. With the electrical interference, the radio is ruined and she can't hear if he answers her...
But somewhere deep in Duke's AI core, he hears her voice.
Suddenly those eye lenses blaze bright green and the Brave Police Officer levels his sword again, parts of the ambulance frame over his back snapping out. Wait, those aren't bits of car kibble... they're thrusters.
"I must... see this through... For Regina! Such is my vow, for a knight... is sworn to valour!"
The thrusters fire. His sword bursts into flame. Duke Fire becomes a roaring rushing attack before he leaps up into the sky. "FIRE SWORD... BLAZING CLEAAAAAAAAAAAVE!"
KTS: BP-119 Duke has activated the Trick Spirit Command. KTS: BP-119 Duke has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: BP-119 Duke has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: BP-119 Duke targets Julia Ampere with Blazing Cleave! KTS: Shinji Ikari's Evangelion Unit-01 Test Type has left KTS: Julia Ampere's EN Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage. KTS: Julia Ampere blocks Lina Lombardi's Flight Module Cannon Rapid Fire, taking 1590 damage! KTS: Julia Ampere's EN Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage. KTS: Julia Ampere blocks BP-119 Duke's Blazing Cleave, taking 4800 damage! KTS: BP-119 Duke has engaged Julia Ampere
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
The Tiandong's radio cuts into the flight-type Alto's cockpit: "A battle like this is a matter of principles. Don't burn yourself out here, merc." Her advice to Lina is straightforward, but it isn't particularly mocking.
Why is it a matter of principle..? Maybe Yuliana just thinks it would be hard to steal enough power from Japan for it to ever really matter to them.
"Booooo," she transmits, over her radio, on the heels of Julia's pun. "Come on, how long have you been doing this, by now?" She actually gives her enough time to answer that question, but her response is inevitably: "... so you should have better material by now!"
But wait, if Julia has been threatening people before now, why hasn't the Federation brought her in yet?
Yuliana's working very hard on it, probably. But have you seen how fierce these electric mechs are? Even if she were singularly devoted to dragging Julia before the courts, she'd really have trouble..!
The claw clamps -- and Yuliana deliberately turns her shoulder shield into the strike, one of the most reinforced parts of her machine. While the Dynamo Queen is occupied trying to crush that down, Yuliana raises the other arm of her wanzer, Cleave Axe in hand.
"I'd like to see you try those electrical tricks with one claw!" Yuliana declares, as she brings her axe down, on the other claw.
To Shari, she transmits: "If you're so curious, why not try bringing one down and taking it back with you?" Oh no! Is this some sort of... intern homework?!
"Really, as far as menaces go, you're remarkably well-behaved," Yuliana transmits, which might be a compliment to the Dynamo Queen. "But I'm afraid taking a stand in a civilian area like this can't just be ignored -- even if not for all your darling children, surely it hasn't missed you that GaoFighGar has deployed." The wanzer wags its Cleave Axe at a large hole in the ground which Julia definitely didn't make.
"So you're going to come quietly, I hope!" The other option -- that Julia make her grand escape -- is something Yuliana doesn't speak aloud, because that's hardly something a Federation captain would say. Let's leave it to implication.
KTS: Yuliana Dispersal targets Julia Ampere with MULS-P Cleave Axe Revenge Strike! KTS: Julia Ampere rushes into the attack! KTS: [Spirit Defense] Julia Ampere's Unassailable Ego activates, and her spirit endures. KTS: Yuliana Dispersal enervates Julia Ampere, reducing her Morale significantly. KTS: Julia Ampere fails to react to Yuliana Dispersal's MULS-P Cleave Axe Revenge Strike, taking 7860 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Yuliana Dispersal's Black Hole activates, causing Jam L1! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Yuliana Dispersal's Minovsky's Woman activates, causing Deject! KTS: Yuliana Dispersal has engaged Julia Ampere KTS: Yuliana Dispersal roots her unit, coming to a standstill and leaving her vulnerable. <Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
Space warps and twists as Guy deploys one of GGG's most innovative--and terrifying--devices. The Bushnell's sensors chirp in warning, but aren't programmed to really process what he's seeing. Oh good, Liam thinks. Am I dissociating? No--no, it's just GaoFighGar. But that worry sticks with him.
Liam bares teeth in a mirthless, anger-edged smile. Most of him is here, in the present, but part of him is reliving something else--a memory scarred into him.
- - -
"Progressing to Stage Three," says a voice from the control box, and the AI-piloted wanzer surges towards him, debris flying from beneath its wheels. The underground hangar is already too small, and now he can sense a change in his foe's reaction time. His RK-92 is limping, its torso and right leg all but stripped of armor by his foe's heavy autocannon. The wanzer--Liam doesn't know the class--ate two anti-tank daggers, and its left arm is hanging on by cabling. The machine gun is out of commission.
The pile bunker is still functional. It gleams under halogen lamps as he reaches out, trying to catch the larger machine's arm and shove it past him. The RK-92's arm slips, and something tears in its shoulder with a whining hiss. He loses his grip. The wanzer keeps coming. The pile bunker races at him, glinting in the forward cam--
- - -
Liam hears Julia's voice. His heartbeat thunders in his ears--does she think he's worthless? Does she think he's going to die here?!--and he screams, his voice raw and defiant. The implants are holding him together, keeping his neurochemistry from going in 'unproductive' directions, but while that memory's playing out, it's hard to think tactically. Electricity crackles through the air, glancing off a lamppost and frying the lights within in a spray of sparks. Liam throws the Arm Slave to the side--
Not fast enough. Electriticy courses over the machine's frame, and it stops in its tracks, convulses, and collapses. Sparks fly off the pavement as it skids.
The radio flicks off, automatically, leaving Liam twitching in the cockpit, straining against unresponsive controls.
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
"Ugggggggh," Shari complains about the secrecy. "I mean, I get it, but ugh!" It's true that she doesn't have the luxury of looking close though--dodging and counterattacking takes up her concentration.
But the compliment makes her brighten. "I obviously didn't build the chassis, an Alto's an Alto, but I did give it some improvements!"
Then--"W-what the?" The buildings are gone! Space is distorted! For an instant, Shari's mecha shimmers as its own dimensional-folding technology intersecting with the new hole in the world. The operation is changed!!
"Whoa! That was cool!" This over the radio to everyone, but especially to Guy.
But Shari finds herself kind of... flummoxed by Julia's replies to the others, about how she wants to test herself in these combat situations. She looks at her screens for a moment with a '???' kind of expression only truly possible for a slightly* delinquent teenager.
"You're cool but kinda weird," Shari decides. "And uh, right. Justice! I can't let you... do this."
Pause. To Yuliana, "Oh, cool idea."
So with that, Shari tries to move in more directly--stowing the pistol, she draws out that beam saber again, igniting its viridian blade with a flash and rushing into a combo to try to knock out and separate one of the drones from the pack. It may or may not work, but she sure is sharp about it, the blade itself seeming to warp a little as it moves, as if it's not quite there in space.
KTS: Shari Loom has activated the Attune Spirit Command. KTS: Shari Loom has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Shari Loom has activated the Dash Spirit Command and has gained proficiency bonus. KTS: Shari Loom targets Julia Ampere with Green Fold Saber Combo! KTS: Julia Ampere's EN Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage. KTS: Julia Ampere blocks Shari Loom's Green Fold Saber Combo, taking 1320 damage! KTS: Shari Loom has engaged Julia Ampere <Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
The Dividing Driver hits the ground. "With everything going on on Earth right now, using any of the bigger Kits would be dangerous. But Kit Number One still gives us five minutes to beat you!" Guy calls.
Liam goes down, in the middle of it all. "Hana!"
"I see him. I'll get ShouRyu down there ASAP. But if you don't clear the area, he'll get shot down in an instant!"
"Right. Looks like it's my turn, then." He turns his face to the sparking powers the Dynamo Queen is gathering. He thrusts his arm up, another Program Ring leaping out of GaoFighGar's chest: "PROTECT WAAAAAAAAAAAAAALL!" he screams, and the space in front of GaoFighGar bends. The lightning blast cracks and sparks as it's directed through a fivefold refraction, folded through space again and again to reduce its power before FIRING back outward, a pentagram of light blasting off into the beyond.
And while that's happening, Guy gathers his powers to himself. "If you want see reason...I'll force you to face justice a different way!"
The G-Stone Shines Brighter...
Guy throws his arms wide, screaming, "HELL! AND! HEAVEN!!!" as the Left Arm of Protection shining a brilliant yellow, as the Right Arm of Destruction spirals a destructive red. He draws his hands together, grunting as the two gathered powers attempt to repel each other. He breathes the incantation, the secret to overcoming their mutual repulsion: "Gemu giru gan go gufo..."
They interlock, and a BLAST of energy roars out in every direction, an EM tornado kicking up around himself and Dynamo Queen both, an EM wave locking the enemy robot in place.
And then GaoFighGar rockets forward, the jets on its back igniting to send it skating toward the Dynamo Queen, interlocked hands SHOVING through its armor and seeking for the cockpit in a bid to find it and rip it out. As he does, he screams the final key, the unifying chant they learned from a world now gone:
"VIIIIIIIIIIIIIITAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
After a few seconds he RIPS out whatever he's found - and a pulse of Destructive energy blasts through the frame of the Dynamo Queen as one final gift, an explosion roaring out from within!!
KTS: Guy Shishioh has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Guy Shishioh has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Julia Ampere has activated the Resupply Spirit Command targeting Guy Shishioh KTS: Guy Shishioh targets Julia Ampere with Hell and Heaven! KTS: Julia Ampere fails to react to Guy Shishioh's Hell and Heaven, taking 7920 damage! KTS: Guy Shishioh has engaged Julia Ampere KTS: Guy Shishioh roots his unit, coming to a standstill and leaving him vulnerable. <Pose Tracker> Julia Ampere has posed.
"Is it a little much, do you think?" Julia considers in response to Lina... and then chuckles. "...Well, I see no issue wearing my confidence on my sleeve, personally."
Lina rushes her down and Julia directs the Dynamo Queen to track her movements, claws raised to intercept the oncoming hail of bullets. Individually they're not a lot, but with so many to deal with at once, they start putting some real damage onto the machine.
And that is when Duke draws upon his vow, upon the person he's sworn to protect. He leaps into the sky and descends, bringing his sword down upon the Dynamo Queen. Claws are raised to defend, but his blazing blade carves a deep score through both of them.
"Ah... a ten-out-of-ten speech if I have ever heard one! I do appreciate the classics..." Julia notes in response to Duke. Despite her bravado, she realises she's in a bit of a pinch at the moment.
Her attention focuses for a moment on Liam's disabled unit. She wonders, briefly, if she may have accidentally overdone it, but there's really no time to check. She'll trust the others to see to him.
"It has been quite some time now." Julia notes, as Yuliana asks... and then, she smirks. "Now where would the fun in that be, when it provokes such fun reactions? But, very well. Next time, I shall find something far more... enlightning."
...Does it count if she deliberately pronounces it incorrectly for the sake of the joke?
There's still a fight going on, though, and Yuliana deftly manages to minimize the damage and take advantage of the situation. She capitalizes on the damage inflicted by Duke Fire, Cleave Axe descending on the other claw. It doesn't... quite sever completely, but it's hanging a little limp, after that.
"Hmm... that would be the intelligent option, wouldn't?" Julia muses in response to Yuliana's suggestion that she come quietly in the exact way someone does when they have no intentions of going with the intelligent option.
She grins a little as Shari complains, but she does nod to herself when she says she made some improvements. Cool, but kinda weird...
"I can accept that, I think." She decides with a nod. Shari moves in - for one of the drones, this time. They try to avoid her... but it's strange - her blade doesn't seem quite there, and as a result their instruments don't quite pick it up. If she's quick, she may indeed be able to separate one!
"I applaud your concern. But... five minutes, hm? Are you really so determined to draw things to a close that quickly?" Julia ponders in response to Guy.
He says he'll force her to see justice... and draws upon powers Julia is unfamiliar with. Energy roars, and Julia finds the Dynamo Queen immobilized. This should be alarming, but instead...
"Ah... fascinating! Such remarkable power... your reputation is well and truly earned!" Julia remarks with a laugh. GaoFighGar charge, burying its hands deep into her machine. It doesn't quite reach the cockpit - but it does manage to tear out one of multiple energy reactors, causing an explosion from deep beneath the machine that sends it flying backward!
The Dynamo Queen crashes to the ground, and for a moment it seems like it might be still... but somehow, even through all this, it manages to haul itself back onto its four feet.
"Ah... truly bracing!" Julia remarks with a gasping laugh. "I do so wish this could continue for an eternity... but if our remaining time is truly so short, then perhaps I should put an end to this here and now!"
The remaining Electrocrawlers scurry over to the Dynamo Queen's side, facing outward toward Julia's foes. Energy begins to build in their proboscises, electricity burning bright. The air is charged.
"Farewell for now! I do recommend you look after those boys, hm?" She says. And, just as it seems like she might be about to unleash one final, devastating attack, the Electrocrawlers all fire upon a single point. The bolts of electricity collide, and where they meet there is a bright flash followed by defeaning thunder and immense electrical interference. When it clears up, Julia and her minions are gone, leaving behind only some scrapped pieces of armor from the extent of the damage inflicted.
If the substation is investigated, the Electrocrawlers will have vanished from there, as well. Thanks to timely intervention, neither the damage nor the drain was as severe as it could have been. Julia's plans have been put to a halt...
...at least for today!
KTS: Julia Ampere's Dynamo Queen has left.
<Pose Tracker> Lina Lombardi has posed.
"Well, that coulda gone better. Coulda also gone far worse, but I suppose mission accomplished."
<Pose Tracker> BP-119 Duke has posed.
Static fills Duke's senses as Julia makes her getaway, but this eventually fades. After some effort, the Brave Officer separates his combination, leaving the Fire Roader singed and pilotless while he hurries over to the disabled Dark Bushnell, effortlessly prying the cockpit open so that other rescue teams can see to Liam. Then it his turn to retreat for repair and convalescence - there are several surge protectors within him that have burnt out and they ache something dreadful.
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
The external cameras are fried. The radio isn't doing much better--Liam can hear voices, but they're garbled, and punctuated by the sounds of gunfire, lightning, and raw cosmic power. The cockpit hatch release is right there, and he could punch out at any time, but that means entering a battlefield on foot, with no idea what's going on.
One final, thunderous sound rocks the cockpit, and everything goes still. Liam breathes, and tries to focus on something that's not his own fight-or-flight instincts--
*creak*
The cockpit hatch pops open from the outside. Liam goes perfectly still, staring up at his rescuer. There's still something wild in his eyes--like part of him expects Duke to finish him--but he makes no attempt to harm him. (Not that he could, with his bare hands.) It takes effort, but he manages to get out a weak "Thanks."