2023-06-23: III. Please Sing To Me
- Log: III. Please Sing To Me
- Cast: Leina Ashta as Puru-1, Lucine Azul, Liam 7-020, Ennil El
- Where: A Chaotic Battlefield
- OOC - IC Date: 0097-06-23
- Summary: Resolve shaken, Puru-1 tries to refocus in the middle of the battlefield. Her effort to remind herself of what matters to her interrupted by being beset upon by yet another force of mobile suits intent on rescuing her, whose number includes a Ruin Apostle?! Will their feelings be able to reach her?
<Pose Tracker> Puru-1 has posed.
BGM Start - E.F.S.F. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBFe1eRGig8
What matters to her? Truly matters to her in the end? The thought stayed with her, despite her struggle to truly focus on these thoughts. "I didn't kill her. I didn't kill her. God... thank God." She mumbled to herself in the cockpit, her mind abstracted as a Psycoframe reinforced arm shredded the arm of a ReZEL that tried to stab her from behind. Without much thought, she speared it horizontally through the remains of its shoulder. The cockpit rocketing out in short order.
She no longer had a good sense of where she was on the battlefield, spooked into flight, the bright particle beams criss crossing the void of Space. Idly she dodged, and reoriented on a distant Dogosse-Giar ship flanking the General Revil. She had to find Banagher, but right now she had to breathe. To catch her breath. She can't go into her fight with him thinking she's going to kill him. If she did, it was all for nothing. Roux had spooked her good though, on the idea that she might kill her. She can't back down from a mobile suit fight because she was worried that she couldn't do it without killing them.
She knew that Elpeo and her together were just this good. She's sure she could do this without killing her loved ones. But her breathing was still rapid from remembering she killed Callie, only to be told that wasn't the case. The highs and lows of emotions, she had to let herself breathe. She had to remind herself who her enemy was. It was a strange thing to feel everyone should submit to the status quo and live, but knowing too on some level that it will always be her enemy.
For whatever reason, the thought keeps coming to her that Ruri reminded her of that, but she can't seem to focus on why. Right now the Federation was here trying to murder the people she loves, so there's no harm to her goal by stopping that. There's no harm at all, in fact, she might do them a lot of good. Thin out the Federation forces enough so that the Three Ship's Alliance was at less risk ...
... and then destroy the Unicorn.
No sooner had the thought came to her that she began rocketing in the direction of that Dogosse-Giar battleships, a relic of Gryps. The sight of it filled her with revulsion as if it were representative of Spacenoid Oppression. She can't change the status quo, that was impossible for anyone, but she could make this unsightly thing incapable of harming the people she cares about.
Azure trails lit up the sky as she crashed into a defensive line of ReZELs. For those who can feel her, it's like her mind is both there and isn't, but the way the Banshee Norn fights, it's like a cat toying with its prey. They fall one by one, unable to muster an adequate defense against the full Psycoframe unit. One ReZEL, finding itself quickly sorely pressed pulls a trick, surrounding the Norn in dummy mobile suit versions of itself. The Norn simply floats in the middle of things, before turning and slashing once, twice, thrice at the real one, leaving it limbless, before she reaches out and crushes its head.
The pilot had the sense at least to eject without needing any further prompting. It is no failure of leadership, of wisdom or tactics, because while she fights like a predator, there is always a chance for prey to win. With enough numbers, with the right opportunity. The Norn, the product of ingenuity and unspeakable scientific crimes against humanity is more akin to weather on this battlefield.
And who can challenge a storm?
The NT-D is not active, unlike most times it's been witnessed in action. it is a function with a time limit, and so she must save it. Sleek obsidian armor pock marked by superficial wounds, a featureless face, and a golden horn. It is the dark twin of the Unicorn, the Black Lion of Vist. The pressure it emits is intense, but the psychic distortions are subdued without the NT-D active. Those with the senses to perceive it might witness an occasional ripple across reality. A titter of childish laughter.
The pilot inside isn't laughing. She's still trying to catch her breath.
OOC Notes: This scene occurs on 06/23 UC 97, just after the scene Insurrection which occurs on the same day ICly. For the purposes of this scene, this is a small slice of the battlefield you're engaging her with. Wide angle lens, everyone is on it, fighting simultaneously. Attending this scene does NOT lock you out from attending Aphelion on the 21st.
Your characters have four rounds to attempt to stop her, before the flow of battle will take her to another part of the battlefield and you're engaged by other Fed mobile suits. Due to the nature of this conflict, the majority of csys damage will be played out as 'emotional/fatigue' damage since the Banshee is in a marathon slog of battles going to the final duel.
If you need help determining how your character would be here and you're not launching from the 3SA, then this cutscene offers a means for you to be alerted to this happening: https://srtmoo.net/mediawiki/index.php/2023-06-23:_Breath_in_the_Cold_World
KTS: Puru-1 has deployed in RX-0 Unicorn Gundam 02 Banshee Norn <Unicorn Mode>. KTS: Puru-1 has deployed as a Boss for 3 opponents. KTS: Ennil El has deployed in AMX-000-14 Doven Wolf Skoll. KTS: Ennil El has changed loadout. KTS: Liam 7-020 has deployed in NRV-00 Neo Helios. KTS: Ennil El has changed loadout. KTS: Lucine Azul has deployed in Dianthus Mk. 3. KTS: Liam 7-020's NRV-00 Neo Helios has been disabled. KTS: Liam 7-020 has deployed in ZGMF-575-F CGUE II-L Liath Macha (Striker Pack). KTS: Lucine Azul has changed loadout.
<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
Those words shouldn't be coming from that person...
That was the harrowing thought that dogged Lucine as the Dianthus is carried out into the starfield of space, after Angelo's ungraceful exit.
It's already cluttered with weaponfire and noise, and Lucine breathes in, centering herself. Focusing her mind on the immediate field around her in all directions.
~~--!!
< "The Banshee's here already!" > Lucine's words may not be needed; the Banshee Norn is quick to make her presence known in yet another way.
And through it is woven the threads of a mind torn, but it's not showing in how the Banshee takes on its challengers with the easy grace of a playful cat.
Yellow eyes focus on the coloration of the Banshee Norn, and notes the horn; it's not split.
This is not a field and time for the cautious to play in.
< "I think the Banshee's systems are on standby. There's no telling if there'll be another chance to leave a mark. We need to go in now. " > The Minovsky interference already setting into the battlefield will limit Lucine's wide-range call; that, and it's only a matter of time before she can potentially shoot back.
So this is the Dianthus's only word of warning to others nearby that she's going in and doing something she had refused to do up until now: challenge the Banshee, once again.
The Dianthus's Argen-21 Beam Arbalest is drawn; powering up for a shot. A breath comes from Lucine's lips. "..... there."
The magenta and black suit fires its first shot.
KTS: Lucine Azul targets Puru-1 with Argen-21 Beam Arbalest Aim! KTS: Lucine Azul has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Alert Spirit Command. KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Alert Spirit Command. KTS: Puru-1 successfully Evades Lucine Azul's Argen-21 Beam Arbalest Aim <Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
A little boy sits at the kitchen table of a little Dublin townhouse. His pajama outfit is printed with cartoon construction Labors, and a glass of warm milk sits on the table in front of him. His mother--a redhead like him, still wearing her server's uniform--sits down next to him, and picks up her tablet for their bedtime ritual. (His father is working late yet again, and cannot join them.)
"Now, where did we leave off?" says the boy's mother, and she holds out the tablet for him. He scrolls down the list of fairies, myths, and monsters, neatly-alphabetized, before he finds:
"Here," says the boy. He points. "Banshee. Bean si. Ben sidhe." Briannian English, Irish, Old Irish. His mother always helps him practice, even if the teachers punish him for speaking anything other than English.
"Ahh. A right scary one." The boy's mother gives him a reassuring smile, and offers him her hand to hold, if he needs it. "<Some people say they're fairies,>" she says, switching effortlessly into Irish. "<Some say they're ghosts. But everyone agrees: if you hear a Banshee's wail-->" And here she pulls the punch for her son's sake, not wanting to trouble a seven-year-old with a dreadful thought. "<Something very bad will happen to you.>"
It has been months since Liam first heard the Banshee's wail. It has been over ten minutes since he last heard the Banshee's wail. He has been doing everything in his power to ensure that dread prophecy does not come true. Liath Macha meets the Federation line with its beam glaive in one hand, and its shield in the other; by thinning out the Mobile Suit screen, he can even the odds somewhat, try to buy the stricken Ra Mari time to recover.
The beam glaive sears through a ReZEL's right arm, before spinning around and hacking off its head. The cockpit block explodes from the stricken Mobile Suit, blasting free. Liam lets out a huff of breath, and checks priority targets. Unicorn: somewhere in there, present. Have faith in Banagher. Dianthus: nearby, Lucine's been helping with the screen. Trust in her.
'The Banshee's here already!'
<"...Already?"> Liam breathes, sending a tightbeam back. It... feels like 'already'. It feels like an eternity. His heart hammers against his ribs as he hears the rest of what Lucine has to say. <"Moving in to support. We're bringing her home.">
Liath Macha is, in a sense, the same CGUE that faced down the Banshee in the Shoal Zone all those months ago. Thoroughly modernized, upgraded with GuAIZ parts, and custom-tuned to match its pilot's prowess. It takes up position next to the Dianthus, draws its beam rifle, and sights. Is this a trap? It feels like a trap. Liam feels like he should say something, at least, but the words stick in his throat. The fear is crushing. Knowing that he doesn't know the full extent of what those monsters did to Leina makes it so much worse.
Twenty-Eight's last words swim in his mind. But fortunately, Liam had a contingency for this. He does not speak. Instead, what greets Puru-1, transmitted from the modified CGUE, is Leina Ashta's voice.
'The common people? They did not receive a single warning. Not until the city was fully encircled, its evacuation routes bombed, and the sky darkened... indeed, this outcome was desired by many within the Federation, within Britannia. I suppose if I were to ascribe their motive to having 'Fewer mouths to feed' I would be saying the quiet part out loud.'
"<Leina,>" Liam says, a moment later. "<I don't know if you can sense me. But I'm here. I'm here, and I haven't forgotten everything you did for us. Nothing those monsters did to you will ever change that.>"
Normally, Liam is the pragmatist, the one who would attempt to disable the monstrous prodigy of Psychoframe technology first, and talk to Leina second. But... in this moment where things have spun down, this feels like the right call to him.
"<Lucine!>" Liam shouts, a moment later, as Lucine opens fire.
KTS: Liam 7-020 targets Puru-1 with Pass! KTS: Liam 7-020 has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Puru-1 fails to react to Liam 7-020's Pass, taking 0 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 29450
<Pose Tracker> Ennil El has posed.
A voice tears through space. One she knows very well.
Ennil El answers it in kind - the battlefield is already a mess. No doubt a sudden intrusion by the Aura of Dawn will draw the eye of GGG, eventually - but doing anything about it would mean pushing their way through this havoc, and the Federation would be unlikely to appreciate the interference. Though they'll doubtlessly take offense to an enemy of mankind blasting across the battlefield for long.
So she's free to simply do what she wants.
A Doven Wolf bursts into the scene in a cascade of burning orange - one that Lucine and Liam have previously encountered.
It hangs there for a moment, orange motes wicking off it as the ES-Window seals itself behind. It turns for a moment to regard the Dianthus, its rival at Palau, and silently slips into formation alongside these two. For the moment, at least, it aligns its IFF with this former foe.
"I heard you. I'm here. You see the Unicorn for what it is too, now, Leina? But you don't have to be the one to do it all yourself."
Ennil El extends a hand... and the Skoll does likewise, a claw outstretched towards the Banshee, its aura lashing out to batter at the machine.
We don't need possibility. Give up that machine and I'll take care of the rest.
KTS: Ennil El has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Ennil El: Will Barrier Activates. KTS: Ennil El targets Puru-1 with Radiance Burst! KTS: Ennil El has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Puru-1 fails to Evade Ennil El's Radiance Burst, taking 3200 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 26250
<Pose Tracker> Puru-1 has posed.
Does she sense Liam's trip through memory lane? It's hard to say in this state. A Banshee does indeed keen to warn of the imminent death of a loved one. Is this what she's been keening all along, wailing at the prospect of them all dying in futile opposition to a status quo that will never change.
What an odd Banshee, that prophesizes the inevitable, then fights to prevent it.
The Banshee Norn does appear momentarily at rest as per Lucine's perception of it. A sitting duck, as the Dianthus catches a bead on it, and fires with the Beam Arbalest. However at the moment she does, she feels a prickle on the edges of her mind. A paresthesia, as if for the brain. The sensation of laughter. Blue thrusters suddenly flare, as the Banshee dips at a diagonal to sidestep it.
It was not even facing in her direction. It's head suddenly turns and its eyes, enclosed within that inhuman visage, framed by the jagged horn looks at the Dianthus. "Lucine." Puru-1's voice crackles absently on the comms. "Get off the battlefield." It pivots suddenly as AMBAC rebalances, and fires a shot which, doesn't appear to be anything of tangible from the Beam Magnum.
If she doesn't evade quickly enough though, there is suddenly blue blinking ordnance attached to the Dianthus, which suddenly flares blindingly bright like a Flashbang as it detonates with sound and fury. "This life isn't for you, no matter how much you playact at this role." She says with a hint of cold, yet abstracted certainty. "A bad actress in an ill-fitting costume."
It's only now that she addresses Liam, and despite his forbearance in not attacking and reaching out to her, the cylinder revolves and fires a salvo of BOP missiles, which twist and wind towards the custom CGUE. "Spare me your pity. What they did to me? I'm their co-conspirator. This is the kind of person I've always been Liam! I've known it since I was a child." She tells him. "Be there for someone more DESERVING! Both of you GET OUT OF HERE!"
There is greater heat in that moment than before, from that cold abstraction. Before she whirls around in surprise, "Ennil!? Is this some kind of sick jo-" The orange of the aura of the dawn moves towards the Banshee, and there's a sudden screeching psychically as if a child were in pain, the Norn's thrusters of blue firing off of its Armed Armor, as it spirals out of the cloud of that dawn energy.
"You spoiled brat." She whispers back, a soft susurrus before growing in volume, "You think I'm killing a Beast of Possibility to help YOUR CAUSE? I'm not here to HELP YOU end the universe because you're too cowardly to consider actually giving LIVING a real try!" And then it become shouting, "You'll take her away from me again over my COLD DEAD BODY!"
'Her'? Ennil at least might get a flash of Elpeo, in that moment, that insight of that orange haired girl. Yet now she lacks a face, a void pit bereft of any life or light. This impression, this thought, this feeling of the girl they both once knew. It does not reach out to her, as if it is incompatible with the Aura of the Dawn that surrounds her, as if had learned its lesson from Char Aznable. Either way, she suddenly spins around mid-flight, pointing the already charging barrel of the Beam Magnum at the Doven Wolf.
"No need to hold back." She says, as if reassuring herself, or perhaps someone else. The trigger is pulled, a long column of crimson surrounded by a penumbra of Auroral Blue streaking towards the Doven Wolf. "You can take it, can't you?"
KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Dash Spirit Command and has gained proficiency bonus. KTS: Puru-1 targets Lucine Azul with Revolving Launcher MGaP Flash Barrage! KTS: Puru-1 targets Liam 7-020 with Revolving Launcher BOP Missile Salvo! KTS: Puru-1 targets Ennil El with Beam Magnum Shot! KTS: Puru-1 has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Lucine Azul has activated the Alert Spirit Command. KTS: Lucine Azul has activated the Alert Spirit Command. KTS: Lucine Azul successfully evades Puru-1's Revolving Launcher MGaP Flash Barrage KTS: Liam 7-020 has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Liam 7-020 has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Liam 7-020's Physical Wall L1 activates, negating 1000 base damage. KTS: Liam 7-020 blocks Puru-1's Revolving Launcher BOP Missile Salvo, taking 900 damage! KTS: Ennil El fails to evade Puru-1's Beam Magnum Shot, taking 4000 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
Lucine's lips grimace at Liam calling her name, but she remains firm.
< ".... Your plan is solid.... but I couldn't risk it. Her mind's not clear enough to listen to anyone just yyyet..." > The last word catches on the sharp prickles of awareness; they've all been noticed, for better or worse, and Lucine's first shot didn't even hit its target.
Puru-1's first, however, hits Lucine square in the chest, and the Banshee hasn't even fired yet. Lucine's verbal response is delayed; Puru-1's actual shot takes precedence over words.
Twisting out of the way, the Dianthus stills. < ".... I appreciate you giving me the chance. But... I refuse." > Lucine's words carry a melancholic gentleness; if Puru-1 had simply reacted to her like she was a faceless enemy, it would have been so much better. What Puru-1 says more, dipping deep into the personal realm.
< ".... You've had to act many parts... having to be the fair lady trained by a Zeon official, for one. And now... you've been brainwashed to be someone else. My powers are not the best, but your mind was so much clearer when we first properly chatted. Perhaps... if I hadn't been so caught up in myself, I would have seen what was really happening when we talked last... you were under their control then, weren't you--" >
Ennil intervenes, and Lucine quickly debates their next action.
She grimaces again.,
< ".... Ennil. Just know that I'll fight you both if I have to. Both of you... are currently ruled by things I do not condone!" > Exchanging the arbalest for the glaive, the Dianthus swoops in to try to take advantage of the confusion, swiping against the Banshee with two clean intersecting strikes.
KTS: Lucine Azul targets Puru-1 with CL0-V3 Glaive Crescent Cross! KTS: Lucine Azul has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Lucine Azul has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Puru-1 parries Lucine Azul's CL0-V3 Glaive Crescent Cross, taking 1410 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 24840 KTS: Lucine Azul has engaged Puru-1!
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
Liath Macha's sensors chirp in alarm. Z0-Similar Particles Detected. Liam's guts twist as the ES Window opens, and an unsettlingly familiar Mobile Suit flies through. It's the woman from Palau, but she's... engaging the Banshee?
"<Lucine,>" Liam tightbeams, to the Dianthus. "<Keep that one in sight. Keep a firing solution in case it tries anything.>" Leina is already in perilous condition; losing her to Triple Zero is absolutely possible, and absolutely a way things can get so much worse. Right?
Puru-1's opening salvo digs beneath Liam's skin. Indignant rage boils up for Lucine's sake, but Liam breathes out, and lets Lucine answer. The melancholy in her voice bites deep.
"No," Liam says, to the Banshee's pilot. "You think I'm going to buy that, Leina? When Doctor Murasame was on that ship? The man who made a name for himself by twisting people's minds?" His voice is as tight as a drawn bowstring. "He worked you over so hard you think it's your idea, your fault--"
Missiles incoming. Liath Macha jets back, up and away from the Banshee. Something glimmers around its frame, around its shield--and streaks of brilliant emerald-green wash across it. The Phase Shift armor eats most of the impact head-on, and the sturdy shield deals with what it can't handle. The explosions rattle the CGUE II's astroframe, but when they fade, it's still standing.
But Liam knows how lucky he was that she went for the missiles first; he knows exactly how much beam weaponry that thing's packing, and the Phase Shift can't do anything against that. The Magnum alone could reduce him to a cloud of ionized particles.
Liath Macha is fast. Liam doesn't have as much room to maneuver as he could--the Federation battleships and their suit screen are still ALARMINGLY close--but he does circle around back. "<Lucine's right. You've had to do so many things just to survive."> Liam sucks in a breath. "<Just like me.>" He flicks over the pages of Akane's briefing in his head, trying to dredge up bits of the psych profile, but nothing's coming together. Until--
'CK-12'
Light flickers in Liam's eyes. Realization. "<Of course.>" Liath Macha darts forward, whipping its beam glaive free and striking in the same motion. The megaparticle field grows long and sharp, and he tries to drag it through the armor on the back of the Banshee's shoulder--to dig through that, to the actuators beneath. "<Leina, if you feel scared, you... don't have to say anything.>"
A meeting in a park in Fall, beneath cherry trees that long since lost their blossoms.
"<Just nod.>"
Like she asked of him, all those months ago, when she was defending him before two very angry Gundam Fighters.
KTS: Liam 7-020 targets Puru-1 with JS-F03A 'Gae Buidhe' Beam Glaive - Slash! KTS: Liam 7-020 has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Puru-1 parries Liam 7-020's JS-F03A 'Gae Buidhe' Beam Glaive - Slash, taking 1200 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 23640 KTS: Liam 7-020 has engaged Puru-1! <Pose Tracker> Ennil El has posed.
Ennil starts to laugh, bitterly, hunched over her controls as the Doven Wolf weaves into position.
"That's right. I'm a miserable, spoiled brat. I cling like a fool to every little thing I find, then get scared when it looks like I might lose something and do something stupid for everyone else to clean up. So we're finally equals, right, Leina? That's what you want to think-"
And then it's her. The Skoll grinds to a stop, claws curling around its midsection as Ennil recoils from the spike of psychic pressure.
It's not... it's not right. How much of Elpeo is there, really, clinging to this machine, or is it just a bitter residue clinging to Leina? But she still can't help being chilled by this ghost... and seething when it turns away.
The Skoll lunges, and does its best to validate Leina's confidence - the Magnum scorches into the Skoll, tearing away chunks that arrest its momentum, forcing it to swing away as titanium re-stitches itself in that eerily monstrous way.
Then it does something strange for a mobile suit - it seems to roar, twisting its head and laying down a long curtain of vulcan fire for its second approach, desperate to get to grips with the Banshee.
"She's already gone, Leina! Whatever's clinging to that machine, it's not Elpeo any more than there are actually two Chars running around! That miserable aura... does that really feel like Elpeo to you?"
KTS: Ennil El targets Puru-1 with Wolf's Nail Drilling Strike! KTS: Ennil El has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Puru-1 fails to Parry Ennil El's Wolf's Nail Drilling Strike, taking 3900 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 19740 KTS: Ennil El has engaged Puru-1!
<Pose Tracker> Puru-1 has posed.
"Equals? Oh no. You made a stupid call, but in the end you don't have a choice about whether to keep going or not." She tells Ennil with this sense of self-loathing, ignorant of the pot calling the kettle black in this moment. "Me? I'm worse than he ever was."
Lucine refuses her offer to leave, and Puru-1 doesn't reply for many long moments, breathing raggedly at her refusal. "Fine." Despite her best efforts, this marathon of fights is taking its toll upon her. It's a fortunate thing that she hasn't yet used the NT-D. "I'm not brainwashed! All of you keep saying that! It was a BLUFF me and Vist-Carbine came up with so you'd all hold back! We were MANIPULATING YOU!" She says, with a certain bite that belies a horrible desperation, an awful denial. "Why can none of you accept that!?"
Lucine comes at her, Glaive at the Fore, and a Mounted Saber ignites, as she flies back, then suddenly rushes forward, meeting her charge head on as they clash, and clash again, the Norn moving in circles away and back each time to meet her attack at a different defensive angle, eventually ending up inverted.
"It's not like I'm some character in Pygmalion! I was like this BEFORE him! He just taught me the tools to be more EFFECTIVE! To be a high society SNAKE like all of the Neo-Zeon aristocrats!" With a sudden whirl, she tries to reverse it on Lucine, and the next time they clash, she lowers the Beam Magnum just below the Dianthus' legs.
And fires. At this close range the sheer heat from it can't fail to do damage. "I gave you a chance. Now I'm taking the Dianthus away from you for good."
Liam raised the point that Doctor Murasame was on the ship, "What of the fact he was there? I hate the man, but I can set that aside and be PROFESSIONAL to meet my objectives." She tells him, "Everything we did there, was TRAINING! That I VOLUNTEERED for!" The Beam Glaive comes in at that moment, and at that angle, it looks like Liam is going to cleave right through the Banshee's shoulder, but the Beam Magnum suddenly flies up, and a Beam Jutte erupts from its cylinder, suddenly catching the Glaive on that holdout weapon.
Trying to wrench it down would only cause Liam to discover how sturdy a full Psycoframe unit truly is, as if it outpaces the strength of their CGUE by an order of magnitude. "Scared?" She murmurs, like the thought didn't occur to her, like she was surprised, holding both him and Lucine off at this position. Instead of just nodding however, "Of course I'm SCARED!" She decides after a moment, "Why do you think I made this deal in the first place!? None of you know how futile the battle you're fighting is!"
While holding his Glaive at bay with the Jutte, a Mounted Saber suddenly erupts, Jutte sparking off the Glaive as the Saber rises up for a cleaving strike. "NONE of you have realized that you're going to DIE FOR NOTHING!" And while she's shouting at him, the last moment, the Skoll comes at her, laying down a curtain of Vulcan Fire that pock marks down the length of the suit. The Thrusters suddenly cause the Banshee to turn horizontal as it holsters the Beam Magnum, before the Armed Armor fires causing her to meet the gap between them in an instant.
"That just shows, you never really knew her like I DID! You weren't THERE!" A suddenly flurry of whirling strikes, she tries to outpace the Dawn empowered Doven Wolf and bite deep with the twin Sabers, "When she tried to choke the life RIGHT OUT OF ME!"
KTS: Puru-1 targets Lucine Azul with Beam Magnum Point Blank Punishment! KTS: Puru-1 Changes attack to Liam 7-020 and Ennil El with Beam Tonfas and Sabers Whirling Blitz. KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 121. KTS: SP Regen activates. Your new SP value is 40. KTS: Puru-1 has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Lucine Azul fails to retreat. KTS: [Mirage] Lucine Azul's Glimmer Engine activates, and she slips into a mirage. KTS: Puru-1 rattles Lucine Azul, making her next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Puru-1 has engaged Lucine Azul! KTS: Ennil El has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Ennil El has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Ennil El's Will Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage. KTS: Puru-1 enervates Ennil El, reducing her Morale significantly. KTS: Ennil El fails to parry Puru-1's Beam Tonfas and Sabers Whirling Blitz, taking 4400 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Puru-1's Hands Meant For Holding activates, causing Deject! KTS: Puru-1 has engaged Ennil El! KTS: Liam 7-020 has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Liam 7-020 blocks Puru-1's Beam Tonfas and Sabers Whirling Blitz, taking 3375 damage! KTS: Puru-1 has engaged Liam 7-020!
<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
Losing Leina to Triple Zero would make things even more complicated
On this, Liam and Lucine are of one mind. < "... We can't take on Ennil and the Banshee at the same time, but if Ennil gets the upper hand, I'm all for giving up our chance to weaken the Banshee for protecting Leina..." >
But Liam's understanding of the situation runs deeper Lucine's. That's right, Lucine realizes-- Liam can understand the weight of what Leina carries, being someone who had been pounded to fit the mold of something so well that it's as if they were poured into it. Ennil too, even under that orange veil, throwing her own self-loathing anbd knowledge of Elpeo back at Leina.
For a brief moment, the misguided snake that is Lucine's own self-doubt rears its little head. She breaths, willing it down. She wouldn't be alone in feeling. In fact--
Leina is the one plagued by self doubt the most, out of all of them. < ".... A snake...." >
No wonder that name of Murasame was practically a curse.
Wordless anger fills Lucine's chest, to the point that Leina's threat is noise.
< ".... You're not the one *who decides that, LEINA!*" >
The legs of the Dianthus would have been damaged from the heat of that blast, if it was there. Instead, it glimmers out of existence; the real Dianthus is safely out of immediate reach--
--and is now swinging its blade down on the Banshee's horned head.
KTS: Lucine Azul targets Puru-1 with CL0-V3 Glaive Shine! KTS: Lucine Azul has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Puru-1 parries Lucine Azul's CL0-V3 Glaive Shine, taking 1680 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 18060 KTS: Lucine Azul has engaged Puru-1! BBSYS: Post 996, 'DecuFes 97' has been published to Public by Emilia Eschonbach.
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
A cold shudder makes its way down Liam's spine as Leina screams her denial. It calls back to some of his own worst moments--when he wonders if he got away through his own luck, skill, and planning, or if they let him out.
"<That doesn't make any goddamn sense!>" Liam shoots back, as much to himself as to Puru-1. Part of him is deeply alarmed at how quickly he goes from soothing empathy to screaming frustration. He takes a breath. He's enraged at the people who did this to Leina. He wants so desperately for her to stop fighting, go home, and receive treatment in a place where she will be loved. The thought gets a little less scary.
"<Leina Ashta,>" Liam says, and before he can get anything else out, the Beam Jutte comes out, and forces him into a clash. He can't make any headway. He can't even scratch it. Liath Macha pulls out of the parry, raises its shield, and pulls its center of mass behind it. The beam saber trails a line of molten goo down the center of the shield's face--it doesn't quite penetrate, but it's significant structural damage all the same.
She's scared. She's so scared. It's so much like how he felt under CK-12's influence.
'NONE of you have realized that you're going to DIE FOR NOTHING!'
Puru-1's words lodge in Liam's heart. Emotional spalling tears free parts of him he's tried his best not to think about.
Why does he fight?
He fights because he was built to. Because this is all he's good for.
Why here? Why now? Why with these people?
Because he clings to them, and they ignore his monstrousness.
The CGUE II reels back, going into a tumble as the AMBAC compensates. Gobbets of molten metal fly from its damaged shield.
Your bonds will guide the way.
Kaworu's words come back to him, and with them, a surge of memory, warm sensation composed of a thousand different moments. Meeting Kaworu, Lucine, and the others. Having his first real meal. Moving into his apartment. Fighting because he chose to. Making real friends, and real enemies. His first kiss. Tears bead up in Liam's eyes as he pulls the CGUE II upright, and steadies his grip on the beam glaive.
"<Leina Ashta,>" Liam says, again. Liath Macha jukes left, strikes high with its glaive in a feint. "<You've never let yourself be angry about that, have you? She died, she died saving people. Your sister. And you never got to reckon with the Elpeo who almost killed you."> He's building off what Ennil gave him, and the irony does not escape him. <"She was a killer. She was a child. She was being tortured. And none of that-->" A strike high, for the Banshee's neck, as Liam darts around its flank. A strike to its arm, to try and tear through the actuators elsewhere--emphasis on 'try'. A stabbing thrust to the belly. "<MAKES WHAT SHE DID TO YOU OKAY!>"
It's as if Liam is daring that hideous, oppressive presence to come out and face him, account for its actions.
KTS: Liam 7-020 targets Puru-1 with JS-F03A 'Gae Buidhe' Beam Glaive - Whirlwind Strike! KTS: Liam 7-020 has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Puru-1 parries Liam 7-020's JS-F03A 'Gae Buidhe' Beam Glaive - Whirlwind Strike, taking 1440 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 16620 KTS: Liam 7-020 has engaged Puru-1! <Pose Tracker> Ennil El has posed.
"When are you going to start taking your own advice, Leina? I always thought you were SMARTER than me!"
The sabers whirl in, and for a moment the Skoll pauses in midair, as if startled - but then it leans forward, crossing its arms ahead of it. The blades sink in, metal sizzling - only for them to break apart, the sabers slicing through INCOM cabling. The Doven Wolf keeps barreling forward, its own terrible aura swelling - though it curls at the edges and casts off more burning motes, clearly divided in its attempts to keep this monster on the attack.
"You had... everything I wanted! Even back then! And for everything you lost, you kept moving forward! Is this really the best you can come up with? Keeping the people you love in a cage because you don't think they have the right to decide for themselves what they're willing to sacrifice? He really taught you well, huh?"
The INCOMs hang, useless, as the machine barrels in - and then thrusts its severed arms up, wires bursting out in long tendrils that lash out to those hanging claws and rip them back inward, trying to crush the Banshee in a heedless hug. It's a ridiculous attack - it's charging directly into a mobile suit with a tremendous claw with its chest out and its arms extended from its body - but if it can pin the Norn down, it'll simply be a struggle between two wills. The Cosmic Will cannot abide even this twisted beast of Possibility.
"Yeah, I don't know her like you do. She died before we got the chance! She was a stupid kid asked to do something completely unreasonable! We were all stupid kids! At least try not to be a stupid adult like I turned out to be!"
KTS: Ennil El targets Puru-1 with Wolf's Nail Vicegrip! KTS: Ennil El has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Ennil El anchors Puru-1, forcing her into close range. KTS: Puru-1 parries Ennil El's Wolf's Nail Vicegrip, taking 1500 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 15120 KTS: Ennil El has engaged Puru-1!
<Pose Tracker> Puru-1 has posed.
There is certainly surprise when the Dianthus avoids that Magnum shot, the thought perhaps between Puru-1 and the entity within the Norn that they've underestimated her. As such when Lucine whirls around with that blade coming down upon its head, it breaks off from its assault of Ennil to cross the Beam Sabers overhead, meeting the Beam Glaive with that impenetrable X defense.
"Of course you'd say that." She replies, calmly, "You fight and fight and fight and think the Dianthus is emblematic of that connection with your father, the 'Cowboy' life you romanticize." There's this bitterness in those words, that goes down deep, "If you won't make the right decision, then I'll make it for you. That's how I've ALWAYS been! You think my brother wanted to be a pilot?"
Suddenly she turns off one of the Sabers, the weight of the Dianthus strike suddenly forced to shift against the other, scraping across it as the Norn sidesteps the momentum. As the Saber turns back on, it grows, wreathed by Blue Psycoflame. "I MADE that choice FOR HIM! To fight, and fight-" As she suddenly brings it down in devastating, sweeping strikes across the Dianthus frame, before trying to drive it right into the shoulder with the intention of slicing off the limb holding the glaive if she can manage, "-AND KILL!"
Liam told her it makes no sense, but she hasn't answered to that, she's said so much about how she isn't brainwashed. The denial is stubborn, and that element of how she's been programmed is strong. It doesn't seem to waver, rationalizing away whatever they say back to a singular idea.
That she's a horrible, ruthless person.
Even as she finishes her strike towards the Dianthus, the Norn starts trying to backpeddle away, in a juking, halting series of thrusts that try to keep Liam guessing even as his brings the Glaive down. However, his words shock even her, "You think... you think I've never been angry about that? You think-" And Lucine and Ennil might feel her anger grow in that moment. However, what comes out might be startling for its incongruence, "-you think I've never been ANGRY at what was done to her? That she DIED FOR NOTHING because the Federation refused to lend the AEUG ANY HELP AT ALL? You think I've never been angry at Glemy and his MACHINES whenever I heard her SCREAMING?"
This is dangerous, Liam appears to have touched a nerve, a raw demyelinated livewire of tissue, and it's not even clear why. Apparently trying to engage with the idea of being angry at Elpeo instead redirected her anger down a different erratic pathway within her brain. "God-DAMN YOU!" She says as she levels the Beam Magnum back up, firing a shot she has the sense to keep indirect, but scarily accurate in the sudden charge and burst of its fire. "I was SO ANGRY FOR YEARS! I wanted to change the world for her sake! To make it the kind of world she would have liked to live in! To make all those hollow grasping aristocrats who make people like you weapons obsolete losers of a crueler age!" And then in that moment, the anger just seems to partially go out of her.
"... but it was useless. A wasted effort. There's no changing the way things are."
In this place of hollow despair the sabers simply are turned off and replaced where they are, the efforts of the Incoms are met not by the Sabers, but by the Psycoframe armored arms simply reaching out and GRASPING the claw as if she were grabbing a charging bull and HOLDING the claw apart as its arms strain, the thrusters of the AMBAC pushing back against it with equal momentum. The face of the Norn coming up against Ennil.
"Is this the best I can come up with?" She echoes the question back to her, "When the people I care about are TARGETS of the powers that be?" The Banshee seems to be looking at the Doven Wolf pointedly, "When I know they will NEVER have a moment's peace!? When I know that even if they WIN this fight that Victory looks the same as DEFEAT? That Banagher will be CRUSHED at the end of this road! Just like Judau was! Knowing the most Mineva can ever aspire to be is the DOLL of someone powerful?"
There's this momentary snarl, like even now, knowing this, it just fills her full of revulsion but still she cries out at her, "YES! IT'S THE BEST I CAN COME UP WITH!" And at that moment the Armed Armor mounted on the arm charges up a shot at the Mega Cannon, and begins firing them at Ennil, trying to force her to back off with each spherical blue burst. "Go ahead! Laugh it up! Rub it in! I'M JUST A MISERABLE HOLLOW ADULT LIKE ALL THE REST OF THEM!"
It's hard to say how she feels about Ennil saying she had everything she wanted, save perhaps comparing her to Elpeo in this moment but she focuses on it, "Kept moving forward." She echoes that too, "Don't you realize? Before the end when I was in his care? I gave up. I kept my head down and my mouth shut. He was probably only days from engaging me to some Neo-Zeon officer twice my age." There's more hollow laughter, "It really shouldn't be any surprise that I sold out in the end!"
KTS: Puru-1 targets Lucine Azul with Beam Tonfas and Sabers High-Output Combination! KTS: Puru-1 targets Liam 7-020 with Beam Magnum Focused Burst! KTS: Puru-1 targets Ennil El with Armed Armor DE Mega Cannon Suppressing Barrage! KTS: Puru-1 has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Lucine Azul has activated the Alert Spirit Command. KTS: Lucine Azul has activated the Alert Spirit Command. KTS: Lucine Azul has activated the Alert Spirit Command. KTS: Lucine Azul retreats from the attack! KTS: Puru-1 enervates Lucine Azul, reducing her Morale significantly. KTS: Lucine Azul fails to react to Puru-1's Beam Tonfas and Sabers High-Output Combination, taking 6160 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Puru-1's Hands Meant For Holding activates, causing Deject! KTS: Ennil El rushes into the attack! KTS: Ennil El's Will Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage. KTS: Ennil El partially guards Puru-1's Armed Armor DE Mega Cannon Suppressing Barrage, taking 2100 damage! KTS: Puru-1 repulses Ennil El, forcing her to disengage. KTS: Liam 7-020 has activated the Focus Spirit Command. KTS: Puru-1 enervates Liam 7-020, reducing his Morale significantly. KTS: Liam 7-020 fails to Evade Puru-1's Beam Magnum Focused Burst, taking 6600 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Puru-1's Hands Meant For Holding activates, causing Deject!
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
Again, Leina rips into Lucine with her words. Again, Liam breathes deeply, reminds himself that this is a CK-12 situation. Leina is not okay. It's when she turns on him, screaming with rage he's never heard from her, that he realizes he might've made a mistake. (He deserves this.) Liath Macha darts back in space before Leina's even touched the Beam Magnum, twisting and juking as if trying to throw Leina off when its pilot knows damned well how she can read him.
"I--I didn't mean--" Liam's confidence wavers. Did he misspeak? (What business did he have bringing that up? Was he trying to hurt her?) "I know she suffered! You--you told me! I'm sorry--" Again, Liam's damage rears its head in a way Lucine would recognize. Deflect. Apologize. Make himself less of a threat.
The Beam Magnum fires. It misses Liath Macha's right side, but even a miss at that range is enough to boil off the armor, fry part of the Phase Shift. Lights go off in Liam's cockpit, and the CGUE II reels from the impact. Liam breathes.
"...She deserved better. So did you." The Mobile Suit rights itself, vapor trailing from its deeply-wounded right torso. At just the right angle, you can barely make out part of the machinery housing and protecting the cockpit block. "I'm sorry. But I won't stop fighting." Kaworu's words come back, again, and he thinks of the others. People who helped him. People who protected him, and comforted him, and loved him, and gave him a chance, knowing who and what he was. One of them is Leina.
"I'm not going back," he says. There's a bit of an accent, now, as he focuses, as part of him he's kept buried is given the chance to breathe. Liath Macha's shield rises from its forearm, letting it grip the glaive with both hands. The beam lengthens, broadens, until it's almost three times its size. "This is a world worth saving, Leina--a world we can save."
Liath Macha circles the Banshee, waiting for an opening. Liam seizes it--
"This is a world where flowers bloom!"
He drives the glaive towards the Banshee's head, jets firing all the way. Even now, after that near-miss, he's doing everything he can to keep from hurting Leina even more.
KTS: Liam 7-020 has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Liam 7-020 has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Liam 7-020 has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Liam 7-020 targets Puru-1 with JS-F03A 'Gae Buidhe' Beam Glaive - True Strike! KTS: Liam 7-020 has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Puru-1 has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Puru-1 parries Liam 7-020's JS-F03A 'Gae Buidhe' Beam Glaive - True Strike, taking 1950 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 13170 KTS: Liam 7-020 has engaged Puru-1! <Pose Tracker> Ennil El has posed.
"So that's it, then?"
Beams splash across the Skoll, and it floats back, though it continues circling the Banshee.
"You always knew it wasn't something you could do yourself, Leina. You're the one who kept telling me we had to keep trying to change things. That everyone had to decide things were unacceptable and start pushing."
The INCOMs hover, circling around the Banshee, probing it. But they don't fire. Bits of dawnlight wick out, exploring.
"You think Judau's too stupid to want to fight for himself? You think Banagher doesn't worry about coming back to you, you think Audrey can't do better than becoming a puppet,"
And then she does laugh, low and bitter.
"You think your enemies are so powerful, and the people you love are so pitiful..."
But she still doesn't fire. Her teeth are bared in an ugly smile, but her eyes are wet.
"I was kinda counting on you, you know. To be someone who wouldn't put up with me acting like this. I thought, 'Leina'd never let someone screw up this bad without just about chewing their ear off. She'll come up with some stupid scheme to bring me back and what am I gonna do then? I can't fight her. She's my best friend.'"
More beam fire rakes the Skoll. It knits itself together, still impossibly fast, but slow by Triple Zero standards. Scorch marks stand out, marring pale green with ugly black.
"But you're not someone who can beat me. As long as you're sitting in that machine, lying to yourself, I have nothing to fear. Keep running, Leina Ashta. You won't get any farther than I did like this."
The INCOMs light up all at once, sweeping beams around the Banshee, trying to squeeze it into a net.
KTS: Ennil El has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Ennil El targets Puru-1 with Wolf's Lash Pincer Formation! KTS: Ennil El has completed their actions for the round. KTS: Puru-1 partially guards Ennil El's Wolf's Lash Pincer Formation, taking 5250 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 7920
<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
If anger didn't dog every moment of clarity, Leina's declaration of their deaths would have made Lucine pause and reaffirm herself.
She hadn't even thought much about what in this battle could be futile; either she'd be a part of it and engage, or she'd withdraw and heal. Inaction felt like the worst thing to do; the Dianthus is there. And she is here.
Lucine's hands shake on the controls; if it weren't for the Glimmer System deploying, that would have hit her squarely.
Blue Psychoflame reflects off the armor of the Dianthus as the Banshee's saber slices into the Dianthus's arm. It would have been a clean cut if the Dianthus hadn't jerked it away, but the damage is done. The Glimmer engine didn't fire this time.
Ennil's self-loathing is interwoven through Leina's anger, dwarfing Lucine's own moments ago.
Who is Elpeo, and why are there so many clones of her? Why was so much done to her? What was she like? A killer, a child, a stupid kid, Leina's sister, someone who died, saving people. Someone who did something bad to Leina, something that Leina may have never had the chance to resolve.
Lucine clutches one hand against her helmet as the anger flows out partially like a burning embers in a fire, exhausting all the oxygen in the air.
It's almost too much. Nothing will get to Leina. Is it really best to keep fighting back against her? What could they do, if their approaches only show the damage underneath?
'This is a world where flowers bloom.' Lucine watches the Liath Macha from the Dianthus. "...."
She hadn't said that in a while, had she? Did she forget it recently, after all the recent battles?
< ".... You're right.... When I was in Nemi, I didn't think much about cowboys beyond the fact that my father was one... but when so much was destroyed..." > Lucine remembers the warmth she felt when Spike told her there were still cowboys on Mars. < "I cling to those myths, even if I know there's a lot more to it...." >
< "..... Just like you cling to yours." > Her voice is soft as the Dianthus retreats away, the remaining arm holding the other to keep it, and the attached weapon, from drifting away.
Optional BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvXRX5RJiIo >
< "They took everything from you... and gave you a myth to cling to like a life raft, one that would explain away everything." >
She presses her hands against the display, trying to reach out with her mind.
< "... That you, Leina Ashta, are a terrible person." >
The memory of that Sheryl Nome concert, two people on dates. Excitement, love, anticipation. A friendly face. A handshake, and a vision of a sea of stars.
< ".... And that you deserve all that hate you're placing on yourself." >
There's more than one wall between Lucine and Leina right now, in terms of ability and the damage that was placed on Leina.
< ".... The world has a place for people like you and me, Leina. It's right to fight for it, even when you're up against a wall. You were one of the people who showed me that. You never lied." >
It'll take more than this.
< "So, I'll repeat the truth that Liam told you..." >
But Lucine can plant her seed.
< "... This is a world where flowers bloom, whether or not we're there to see them." >
KTS: Lucine Azul targets Puru-1 with Pass! KTS: Lucine Azul has completed their actions for the round.
<Pose Tracker> Puru-1 has posed.
BGM Change - Fleeting Words - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5ucijrQkMk
It's difficult for her mind to even engage with the idea that she should be angry with her, with the Cyber Newtype acting badly as a hurt and suffering child. Survivor's Guilt is a powerful thing, twisting even words, the idea of her anger around to something else entirely. In the end however, her misdirected anger caused her to hurt someone who was in a similar position, didn't it?
The irony is not lost on her, the wretched horror of it. For a long moment she just breathes hard, before she tells him, "I deserve nothing." And still he's stubborn, she doesn't blame him. Any of them, while they've been through horrors, they haven't felt the hearts of the people in power, who callously celebrated disasters because it would save them money. 'Fewer mouths to feed' they would say.
"Save the world you say." The Liath Macha circles around, jets firing, there's a certain lack of feeling in Puru-1's response, as she suddenly, viciously arcs a Saber up towards the Beam Glaive, meeting it and smashing it away from the Banshee's head, molten sparks flying at the moment of impact. "You don't get it. We can always count on the world to be saved. It's saved all the time."
Suddenly the Norn rises, as if to get right in the face of Liam's CGUE, as if she were imparting a truth about the world in this fine distinction, "But you can never count on the world to CHANGE!" And with that she simply shoves the Saber against it, forcing the Liath Macha away from it.
"So yes I was DELUDING MYSELF, Ennil!" She shouts at her, in that tone of 'keep rubbing it in' when it comes to what she would always tell her. "So what if you can't count on me to save you? If not me, someone else will. Whether its Koji Kabuto, or Gridman, or Guy Shishioh or Domon Goddamn Kasshu! If I had time right now, I'd carve you out of that cockpit and drag you to them myself, but guess what? Everyone kept resisting until Martha Vist-Carbine signed their death warrants, so I have to PRIORITIZE right now!"
The Banshee sweeps an arm as if to indicate the Dogosse-Giar's on the battlefield, and suddenly it's on the move, trying to stay one step ahead of the incoms, beams lashing the Psycoframe unit and scoring it with molten wounds. She feels the tug of the NT-D against her skull, the whisper, the laughter, the sensation of ephemeral fingers within her skull.
do it do it do it do it do it
show her who we are
It's a struggle, a true struggle, but in the end, "But you have plenty to fear Ennil, because every time you look at the Banshee, it's an act of self harm isn't it?" What is she acknowledging, the similarity between Elpeo and Ennil, the pain and trauma that it brings back to the surface, "But you'll look anyway, and keep looking. You really can't fight that impulse, can you? It doesn't matter if I deny Possibility and reject Miracles! You'll keep coming back! Just like Aznable did!"
There's this just sense of absolute certainty, "And then we'll see where you are when I bring your stupid tantrum to an end by force."
At first, it's a struggle for Lucine to tell whether Puru-1 is seeing what she's sending, but then there's a prickling sensation back from her. All that excitement, love, and anticipation is met by the feeling of being alone in a room. White gloved hands applauding without feeling. Laughter without feeling. Everything without feeling.
This knowledge that you are alone in the room, and that you are the same as all of them, that you will grow up to be one of them. Another image, of her gunshot as a child, blood stained, being held by someone who can only be her brother, and her telling him.
I'm such a bad girl, telling all those lies. At this rate, heaven won't want me.
Flower bloom, and that horrid white noise of applause fills Lucine's skull.
"It is a world where flowers bloom, but those with power will never see the beauty. The potential. The possibility. When they die they'll be replaced by worse. Human misery will remain profit forever, and the potential you idealize will remain eternally beyond our reach."
There's this hollow tone to her voice. "They've sold you the lie that is hope. It's understandable, I fell for it too." She sounds just, so tired, so defeated, so beaten down by this idea that things will never truly change.
For a time the Norn doesn't attack, as if the weight of that were too much for a while, the flashes of the battlefield lighting it up in silhouette each time distant beamfire reflects off its armor. The battlefield has left them alone long enough as the Federation has orders right now, to try and avoid the Banshee, to let it engage the Three Ship's Alliance, but eventually something gives.
Several Jegans and ReZELs suddenly move out from behind space debris, firing at the Dianthus and the CGUE hoping to score easy kills. Another suit tries to sneak up behind the Doven Wolf in the initial distraction to attempt to run it through with a saber.
"Just go plant your flowers, both of you. Carve out a life together away from all of this." There's a sound of frustration from Puru-1, as the Banshee Norn replaces its armed armor on its back, and takes off straight towards the line of Jegans and ReZELs, causing them all to hastily part and interrupting their attack as she blows through their formation. Flying on a spiral towards one of the Dogosse-Giar battleships.
"It's a far sight better than learning how to exist with the knowledge that someone you loved died for nothing."
<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
It could be a a good sign if this is the response Lucine got back from Leina and the weight that plagues her is a springtime of red and white.
But this, Lucine is prepared for.
This is a part of Leina too, after all.
There is a void of silence from Lucine's end after that contact, as the Banshee disperses a wave of Federation forces.
It'd be easy for Liam to think this a repeat of what happened after the battle with Yuliana and Elisa.
< "... L.... liam...." > Lucine's voice croaks over the tightband. Ennil, even if she's stuck her neck and may have been the reason they got this far, would be a bad person to let in. < ".... Help me get back. I need to get back... Nadesico." >
Her voice exposes the turmoil of emotions, but Lucine, noticably, is holding herself together just enough.
< "... I need to withdraw. Sort through this." > A breath, and the communication range is widened, to include Ennil. < "....... Thank you, Ennil. .... I never thought I'd be fighting by you, but... I hope there's a day I can do so without that orange light coming from your machine. Please survive this." >
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
'But you can never count on the world to CHANGE!'
The words cut deeply. The names she drops add urgency to everything, even if part of him resents Gridman and Koji and Guy and even Domon being invoked in this context. Like all that matters is their 'heroism', their ability--maybe--to purify. But most importantly--
Martha Vist-Carbine did this. She was able to send out the Federation flagship and its escort as her own personal hit squad. Sensor pings appear on Liam's screen: Federation IFFs. Vultures, he thinks, before he corrects himself. That's insulting to vultures.
The Banshee's charge scatters them. Liam can't count on them staying scattered, though, especially with the Dianthus badly damaged. With Lucine--
"I'll protect you," he says. It's a promise. For a moment, Liath Macha turns to face the Skoll. "Please take care of yourself," he says, to Ennil. Then he takes up position on Lucine's wing, to make good on what he said.