2023-07-28: Ferdiad

• Log: Ferdiad
• Cast: Desmond (NPC), Sayaka Yumi, Gridman, Naoko Suzuki, Asuka Shikinami Langley, Kaworu Nagisa
• Where: Vladivostok, Khanka Autonomous Region
• OOC - IC Date: 0097-07-28
• Summary: Crucible launches a last-ditch attempt to distract its enemies while it relocates its captives. Its newest handler joins the fray in a customized Wanzer, eager to prove himself--and to ensure that his old friend Liam makes it back "home", where he belongs.

---

<Pose Tracker> Desmond has posed.

        It's been almost twenty-four hours since Liam's abduction. Multiple teams have traced his trail across eastern Asia, a feat made posssible by diligence, persistence, hope, and a lucky shot by Gai Daido. The trail ends in Vladivostok, one of the REA's biggest and seediest trading hubs--a city that, as of two hours ago, is under a curfew and military lockdown. Colonel Mikhail Jeong warned of dissident elements within the city, and told residents to stay in their homes for their own safety. The garrison under his command set up roadblocks, checkpoints, and a cordon, all of it aimed not at an internal threat...

        But against people he knew would be coming for something hidden in the city.

        The Colonel's blockade has fallen. The relatively calm curfew notices have been replaced by the howl of air raid sirens. Vladivostok's docks are in shambles. Wrecked Wanzers--dispatched from the local garrison--lie among piles of toppled shipping containers. Battery fires burn beneath pitiless halogen lights. The epicenter of the battle is the end of Gai Daido's signal trail, a container ship moored in Vladivostok's harbor. The name AGL Aquitaine stands out on its side, in bright letters. Its registery reveals that it's owned by the Avance Logistique Mondiale corporation, out of Paris, a shipping company with a comparatively small fleet.

        GGG and Chasseur have long suspected the company's involvement in BioNet's trafficking operations, and now, they have all the confirmation they need. But the Crucible--the BioNet cell behind this, and behind Liam's initial kidnapping and augmentation--still has cards left to play.

        The Aquitaine's cargo bay doors open, and two machines disembark, one after another. The first has the rough lines of a Byarlant, but not precisely. It's a flash of deep Titans-blue, taking to the air and immediately engaging other members of the search party. The second...

        Well. It's bipedal, with long, bird-jointed legs, and dense armor. Its arms are both weapons: the left is an immense pile driver, and the right is a heavy ballistic rifle. It has the lines and signatures of a wanzer, but it's big. It's a Growning B2, an OCU-built model designed for heavy urban warfare--something many other machines struggle with, due to their size.

        The Growning starts stomping forward, idly scattering a pile of smaller containers with a swat of its pile driver. It pays only the slightest heed to the REA forces, until one of their pilots screams out from the smoking hulk of their Tiandong 3.

        "<H--help us!>" His voice trails off in violent coughing--smoke inhalation, unquestionably.

        "<Useless,>" says a voice from within the Growning. Middling-deep, masculine, with a generic Britannian accent. Not that much older than Liam. "<You had your chance. What did I even pay him for?"> The Growning's pilot rounds on Gridman, leveling that heavy cannon at the Giant of Data's chest. "<BACK OFF.>" The words are punctuated with a single round, aimed dead-center. A hitch of desperation breaks through the determination. "<Or--or I send you home in bags! All of you!>"

<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.

Team Mazinger has reached their goal, having made it to the heart of Vladivostok. They agreed to split off from here, as multiple threats make themselves known. While Koji challenges the soaring Byralant, Sayaka, Nova, and Gridman's immediate attention is brought towards the burning Wanzer and its assailant. Tetsuya, on the other hand... wait, where's Tetsuya?!

As the commander of sorts of their little group, Sayaka considers how to handle this. Their immediate trouble of course, is the trapped man. "Nova, if you'd please..." Sayaka requests, assuming it's easiest for a similarly sized machine, but it looks like they're on the same page already!

As for their opponent... they have little to go by except for his voice and his words. He's not very friendly. But... "If we're up against one of Crucible's soldiers, I find it likely that this man was subject to similar conditioning to Liam.

<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.

Team Mazinger has reached their goal, having made it to the heart of Vladivostok. They agreed to split off from here, as multiple threats make themselves known. While Koji challenges the soaring Byralant, Sayaka, Nova, and Gridman's immediate attention is brought towards the burning Wanzer - and the one unwilling to help him. Tetsuya, on the other hand... wait, where's Tetsuya?!

As the commander of sorts of their little group, Sayaka considers how to handle this. Their immediate trouble of course, is the trapped man. "Nova, if you'd please..." Sayaka requests, assuming it's easiest for a similarly sized machine, but it looks like they're on the same page already!

As for who seems to be their opponent... they have little to go by except for his voice and his words. He's not very friendly. But... "If we're up against one of Crucible's soldiers, I find it likely that this man was subject to similar conditioning to Liam." He was just never able to escape. "That said, I don't think we're going to get an easy surrender out of this one." She grits her teeth. "Still... leave him alive. Even if you wouldn't accept an appeal to emotion, I'm sure this man has at least a few answers in regards to Liam's whereabouts."

Aphrodite Areia's eyes glow a piercing, bright red, as if she was staring down the Growning. "I suggest you stand aside. We're on a sensitive timeframe, and we don't have time for games." Sayaka quips back, although she's not trying to get a laugh out of Desmond. She's serious, and desperate to save Liam. "SCARLET BEAM!" That gleam of the eyes transforms into two photonic beams which attempt to wreak havoc on the Growning's sensors.

Sayaka expects this won't be as simple as it seems, but NERV's promised backup is almost here - and they've brought their best.

KTS: Sayaka Yumi targets Desmond with Scarlet Beam!
KTS: Desmond has activated the Focus Spirit Command.
KTS: Sayaka Yumi rattles Desmond, making their next maneuvers more difficult.
KTS: Desmond blocks Sayaka Yumi's Scarlet Beam, taking 1800 damage!
KTS: Sayaka Yumi begins a Formation attack!

<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.

While Sky Vitter remains behind to help Koji with his fight, Gridman and the rest of his comrades press onward. Though he isn't sure what he was expecting, Gridman knows it wasn't an actual fight in the middle of a major city's harbor. As the Growning B2 approaches, the Giant of Light brandishes his sword.

"A human being is piloting that thing." Gridman sounds distressed -- thinking back to the last time he fought a human. "I don't know if I can do this--!"

Screams accompany the movement of the Growning -- thankfully, Nova is ready to perform a miraculous rescue. All the same, Gridman looks at the trapped pilot, feeling a grim sort of anxiety well up in his chest. If he doesn't fight, they might not reach Liam, but it's a human being in there! Someone who has been tortured and conditioned, just like Rikka and Leina were!

"Gridman!" Max's voice cuts through the Giant's internal panic, right as the Growning launches a round at the center of Gridman's chest. All four of the connected Hyper Agents react with pain as the shot lands easily, cracking Gridman's armor.

Staggering a single step back from the force of the round, it takes Gridman a moment to regain his fighting stance. "If he's been conditioned, then we have to save him! We can't fight him, what if something goes wrong, and--!"

A memory of electricity and death, jolting through the Giant's mind.

Gridman feels his vision grow hazy. If he doesn't fight, Liam will wind up like this poor pilot. If he does, he could kill them. Too much could go wrong, and there's no way forward without someone getting hurt.

"I can't -- I can't!" Gridman cries, Calibur trembling in his grip.

KTS: Gridman targets Desmond with Pass!

<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.

Though they did their best to avoid the blockade, in the end the group that included Nova, Sayaka and Gridman were still drawn into a fight on their final approach to the AGL Aquitane. But any issues that may arrive from having to force their way through the local military are for later worry, right now there's a rescue that needs to be undertaken. Breathing heavily, the pilot of the NS-1 Sukeban is already feeling fatigue from mental exertion catching up to her. Was this the final obstacle...?

No such luck. Two machines emerge from the vessel that appears to be the target. Not much of a choice there - Nova's Arm Slaves isn't flight capable, so she's going to have to deal with that giant Wanzer. Still, even though she could really use a nap, her lips form into a confident grin. There's no way she's backing down now. After getting to show off to the Mazinger Team and being complimented for her contributions? She's living the dream here. "Heh. Looks like the bosses came out."

>"Nova... are you sure about this?"<

Ariel's show of concern is summarily dismissed. "I'm fine, don't worry about it. Besides, I'm not about to duck out now, if whoever's piloting that thing would even let me."

However, there's another matter that demands her attention first. Someone incapable of escaping the burning wreck of their machine under their own power. She frowns at the Wanzer's pilots callous attitude. Looks like she needs to live up to that credo again. 'If there's anything you can do to help, you should do it.' The Sukeban's already making a beeline for the wrecked Tiandong when Sayaka calls out to its pilot, "I've got it!"

In no time flat, the speedy Arm Slave reaches the smoking heaps that it... kind of helped cause earlier. This is no time to worry about that, as she's sure the troubled pilot will agree. A mechanical hand is extended downward, palm up. "Get on, quick, I'll get you out!"

She looks back to where the fighting's already started, gritting her teeth. It's vexing that she can't be in two places at once. With the Mazingers having taken off, it looks like it's only the Aphrodite Areia and Gridman against that beast, and she can tell Gridman is struggling. Are things really going to be alright...?

KTS: Naoko Suzuki targets Desmond with Pass!

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

There is a shadow overhead in high altitude, as a pair of bombers passes by. One might be wary of a bombardment, assuming their sensors can pick them up, and indeed they'd be right to.

They just don't deliver the payload one might expect, as a pair of enormous constructs fall into the center of the city, at first in free fall like Skydivers, but then the red one rights itself.

And lands on its feet, bent at the knee, a single hand touching down on the pavement. It then slowly straightens up to it's full eighty meter height.

"<Tck. Are you kidding me? This is what he got taken by?>"

Asuka speaks over the loudspeakers, having spied the Titans colors; right as she lifts a crossbow which hums to life as electromagnetic current joins its limbs together, "<LISTEN UP you has-been losers! You just made this an official NERV operation. You know what that means? It means that you've got fifteen seconds to surrender before I get authorization to go to town on your piddly little science criminal of the week organization with the full might of my Eva.>"

Asuka may in fact, be underestimating them some, but that's unsurprising, she does that with everyone.

"Hey Baka Shinji." She tells him over the comms, seeming terse. They both know they don't have much activation time, the Eva isn't hooked up after all. And yet rather than battle strategy she focuses on something else entirely, "We're having lunch after we're finished with this. I'm starving."

They mayyyy have called her up for deployment before she could sit down for her meal. She is thus annoyed, and fully intends to take her hangry mood out on the opponents in front of her.

It's a teenager thing.

It hasn't even been fifteen seconds before, "<Time's up!>" And raising the Crossbow, a stake bigger than the Growning itself is tall is fired it's way, casually.

However, she does notice Gridman having a crisis, more and more. At first she's trying to ignore it, because you know, she stabbed him not so long ago.

"<And so what? You'll let him kill you instead? Moron! They're COUNTING on you hesitating because of that, are you just gonna let them get away with that?>"

And with that, her Eva glances sidelong, "<Then I guess you'd have given up on Shinjo without a fight the moment Alexis turned her into a Kaiju.>"

It's a weird sorta contradiction given how bloodthirsty she seemed before to now be talking to him this way, and yet, talk to him this way she does.

KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Desmond with Super-Electromagnetic Crossbow Leading Shot!
KTS: [Spirit Defense] Gridman's Hyperlink Combine activates, and the spirit is adjusted.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has activated the Daunt Spirit Command targeting Gridman
KTS: Desmond fails to react to Gridman's Pass, taking 0 damage!
KTS: Desmond fails to react to Naoko Suzuki's Pass, taking 0 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        When Shinji heard that Liam had been kidnapped, he hadn't hesitated to volunteer to go to his aid. He would have gone on the search too, but Evangelions simply don't do long-distance travel well. Talking with Kaworu had calmed him down enough to be willing to wait--specifically, to wait inside Unit-01, together, so they could deploy the moment Liam's location was pinned down.
        
        Even that's necessitated time and travel, but in this circumstance, NERV has deployed a pair of bombers to transport not just Unit-01 but Unit-02, both of them hooked up to umbilical cables that detach the moment they each drop over Vladivostok.
        
        "Shinji-kun, look. That ship in the harbor, marked the Aquitaine," Kaworu comments from the back side of the recently constructed dual-seal entry plug. "Two mobile suits are deploying from it."
        
        "I see it," Shinji says, determination reining in his fear. He doesn't know the Titan colors by sight, but Asuka's recognition is enough--and besides, they already know the basics of what's going on here. One of them takes to the skies, and with far more grace and power than they could manage without specialized equipment for aerial combat. But the other...
        
        A massive wave erupts beneath the violet behemoth as Unit-01 lands in the shallows of the wrecked docks. The countdown is at 4:49. She rises a moment after Unit-02 does, taking in both her fellow Evangelion and the many others who've deployed against that ground unit. Not just that, either.
        
        "<Hey--there's someone still in that burning Wanzer!>" Shinji signals, urgency rising in his tone. Thankfully, those who arrived before them are already on it. He sighs a breath of relief... before double-taking at Asuka, stating they're getting lunch after this. "<What?! Right after a mission?!>" Still, he smiles a little. Asuka's just so... Asuka, it helps relax him too. "<...I'll fix you something good.>"
        
        Whether they can find ingredients or take-out with the city in this state is another question. Sayaka brings up a good point, that this Crucible soldier is probably the same as Liam. Shinji tenses up and nods once, swallowing back the sick feeling that rises in his throat. He remembers Twenty-Eight... He won't let it turn out like that poor person. With Kaworu here, he can actually believe that, too. "<...Right. Liam wouldn't want us to hurt one of his old friends... and besides, that's a person. We can't treat this like a normal kaiju fight,>" he transmits.
        
        Kaworu doesn't remark either way. He simply gives a silent boost to his partner, each of their hands on their respective controls. Unit-01 all but glides through the (to her) thigh-high water and pulls herself up onto the Aquitaine with a sharp, elegant forward flip. In the same motion, she cups debris from the harbor floor around one foot and hurls it in a shower of blinding flotsam at the Growning, doing relatively little damage but potentially making it much more difficult for the mobile suit to counterattack.
        
        Shinji marvels at the beautiful motion, even, something he knows he couldn't have managed on his own, and smiles over his shoulder at Kaworu. Kaworu smiles back at him, then nods him back to the fight.
        
        Bolstered by his friend's support, Shinji focuses on the battle. "<No way! Liam's our friend--there's no way we'll ever leave him to rot in a horrible place like this!>" The Growning opens fire--but at Gridman, paralyzed with fear that Shinji understands all too well. "<Gridman!>" he shouts, and Unit-01 dives forward to catch him by the shoulders, as much to soothe him as to steady him.
        
        "<Gridman,>" Kaworu transmits, his voice as gentle as always. "<It's all right. We won't let that happen. Let's fight together to disable them.">
        
        "<Asuka! Lay off him a little, all right?>" Shinji meanwhile transmits to his fellow pilot, an uncommon heat in his voice. It's easier to stick up for others than for oneself, it seems.

KTS: Kaworu Nagisa targets Desmond with Shock!
KTS: Desmond blocks Asuka Shikinami Langley's Super-Electromagnetic Crossbow Leading Shot, taking 2280 damage!
KTS: Kaworu Nagisa shocks Desmond, reducing their Morale significantly.
KTS: Kaworu Nagisa has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Gridman

<Pose Tracker> Desmond has posed.

        "<'Games',>" says the young man in the Growning, his voice cold. "<Is that all I-->" He stops in mid-sentence, and bites the inside of his cheek, Hephaestus' instructions ringing in his head. Don't let them see you bleed. Never let them see you bleed. But as determined as he is to do his mentor proud, he wasn't expecting the likes of the people who beat Doctor Hell. Does he--

        No. Focus. This is what he was built to do.

        Sayaka opens hostilities formally. The pilot's eyes widen; the Growning steps back, sweeps its pile bunker arm in front of its torso. The housing around the bunker splits, and thickly-armored plates slide out. The beam slams head-on into the Wanzer's shield, driving it back another pace. Its back grazes another stack of cargo containers.

        "<Fuck,>" the pilot grunts, perhaps not realizing he's still on an open channel. He sounds dazed.

        This is just the opening Naoko needs to work her miracle. The Tiandong's cockpit block is already half-exposed, and a little tugging from the small but mighty Sukeban finishes the job. The cockpit tumbles free and splits open, revealing a lot of smoke and a weakened but still-alive pilot. They reach up, tilt up their helmet's visor, and--not seeing any other immediate option--clamber into Sukeban's hand.

        The Growning's pilot, meanwhile, sees the shadow of the bombers, and ducks into the shadow of a larger warehouse. His eyes widen as he sees those aren't bombs. He mutes the mic; the shout of fear, surprise, and anger goes unheard. Seafloor muck and bits of rock and concrete splatter against the Wanzer's cameras, but somehow, that pilot is still able to orient, react to, and ultimately block Asuka's shot.

        CRUNCH

        That doesn't mean it's a clean block. The size of the bolt means it goes clean through the shield itself, scraping against the Growning's body. "What did he," the Growning's pilot says, rage building in the privacy of his own cockpit. "<I don't need your pity!>" he roars, and with the return to comms comes... a slightly more mixed accent, like Irish trying so hard to be normal Historic Kingdom. "<You in the red! Who are you?! I don't give a shite what NERV thinks! I DID THIS! I did this to get him back! You're not taking this from me!">

        The Wanzer is enormous for a MULS-P machine, but it is so, so tiny compared to Gridman and the Evas. But the Evas, the pilot realizes, don't have those cables they usually do. Maybe they're on battery power? If they are, all he has to do is outlast them. Survive them.

        The Growning's gun-arm roars to life, throwing an unconscionable amount of lead in the direction of Eva-02. The pilot's trying to drive Asuka back, keep her at a range for optimal engagement. At the same time, the dual chin-guns mounted beneath the Growning's cockpit spit a trail of rounds that starts with Sayaka's Aphrodite Areia, and ends up cross-crossing Eva-01 several times--like the world's worst sewing machine.

        Once the suppressive fire's done, the Wanzer rounds on Gridman, firing for center-mass with still more bullets. "<I don't care what you are! Don't you DARE PITY ME!"> Naoko earns a little, incidental fire, once she's done getting that pilot to safety. Almost like an afterthought. This may be a big mistake.

KTS: Desmond targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Growning Heavy Rifle Mk. VI-S - Suppressive Fire!
KTS: Desmond targets Gridman with Growning Heavy Rifle Mk. VI-S - Autofire!
KTS: Desmond targets Naoko Suzuki with Growning Heavy Rifle Mk. VI-S - Snapshot!
KTS: Desmond Changes attack to Kaworu Nagisa and Sayaka Yumi with Growning MG Mk. VI Wide-Area Fire.
KTS: Gridman blocks Desmond's Growning Heavy Rifle Mk. VI-S - Autofire, taking 2880 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley's EN Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley partially guards Desmond's Growning Heavy Rifle Mk. VI-S - Suppressive Fire, taking
3420 damage!
KTS: Desmond repulses Asuka Shikinami Langley, forcing her to disengage.
KTS: Sayaka Yumi has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
KTS: Sayaka Yumi's EN Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage.
KTS: Sayaka Yumi fails to evade Desmond's Growning MG Mk. VI Wide-Area Fire, taking 4000 damage!
KTS: Kaworu Nagisa's EN Barrier activates, negating 1000 base damage.
KTS: Kaworu Nagisa fails to react to Desmond's Growning MG Mk. VI Wide-Area Fire, taking 3600 damage!
KTS: Naoko Suzuki fails to evade Desmond's Growning Heavy Rifle Mk. VI-S - Snapshot, taking 5040 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.

The Evangelions arrive - thanks to their connections by way of Tetsuya's presence, they're already in contact with each other. They really are just teenagers, huh? That Asuka girl... she's reminded a lot of the Koji from a decade ago. Especially when she and Shinji start subtly bickering about something as normal as lunch...

Unfortunately, now's not the time to reminisce about being a teenager - the Scarlet Beam's created a perfect opening and now it's time to take it.

"That's correct, Ikari." Sayaka agrees that they can't treat this like fighting monsters, and Liam wouldn't want it either. "You three must not be used to fighting humans, are you?" She wasn't at first either, when she went from fighting Kikaiju - to the Titans in the Gryps War. Maybe those mobile suits still have her on edge... "If it helps, you can follow my lead!" She offers. She bets Asuka doesn't think she needs it, though.

Gridman... is having hang-ups about that very thing, it seems. "Gridman! Stay sharp!" Sayaka shouts, as bullet-fire rains his way. Asuka is harsh, but she's not entirely wrong. "Don't forget what we're here for!" She urges. "If we do nothing, then we'll never get back Liam-!" Aphrodite Areia's own plating is rocked by that wide-firing storm of bullets, even as she speaks. "You can only save people by acting."

"No, it must not be a game to you." Sayaka replies then, when the pilot of the Growning speaks. "You're fighting because you want to see Liam again? It doesn't have to be here!" To someone like him, this might seem like the only way, but... "Liam was willing to live beyond the Crucible. I bet it hurt him every day, but he still made friends, had a girlfriend even... they were all on a cruise before the Crucible waltzed back in."

"So if you're going to stand in the way of bringing him back where he wants to be... I won't accept that." She sheaths the Mazinger Blade. Even now, she's strategizing. This pilot relies so much on his heavy fire, that if she struck close...

"MAZINGER!" Despite the massive size of the greatsword, Aphrodite Areia's reactor thrusts forth at blinding speeds. "BLADE!" Culminating in a vertical slash across the massive Wanzer - very unlikely to be lethally harmful.

KTS: Sayaka Yumi targets Desmond with Mazinger Blade: Sweeping Attack!
KTS: Desmond has activated the Focus Spirit Command.
KTS: Desmond blocks Sayaka Yumi's Mazinger Blade: Sweeping Attack, taking 2160 damage!
KTS: Sayaka Yumi has engaged Desmond!
KTS: Sayaka Yumi continues a Formation attack!

<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.

Kaworu's voice breaks through Gridman's panic, and the Giant of Light looks toward Unit-01. Stars practically glimmer in his eyes as he watches the Eva perform a graceful flip and holds him by the shoulders.

"I'm sorry. I just--" Gridman shakes his head, bringing up one of his hands to rest on Unit-01's. "It reminds me of another fight. But you're right. We have to stay focused."

Asuka's shouting doesn't go unnoticed, especially as it breaks through the moment Gridman is sharing with Kaworu and Shinji. Furious, Borr begins to shout, but is quickly drowned out by...

"Asuka," Gridman turns his head to yell at her. "SHUT UP! Don't you dare say that to me!"

It's not particularly eloquent. But this is a battlefield, after all. Borr manages a snort-laugh moments before the Wanzer returns its attention to Gridman. This time, the Giant of Light steps in front of Unit-01, holding Calibur across his body to protect himself from some of the fire.

"Thank you, Dr. Sayaka." Max rumbles, feeling Gridman's spirits rise at her guidance. "Do not count us out yet."

Lowering his sword, Gridman begins to shimmer with light. Gathering in his core, the radiance breaks through the cracks from the damage he's taken -- sparking with electricity and glowing with strength.

"Breast..!" With a swell of power, incandescence races across the battlefield, aimed straight at the lower half of the Growning. "SPARK!"

"I do pity you!" Gridman calls to the enemy pilot, in the wake of his glowing attack. "And I want better things for you! You don't have to suffer and fight like this. Liam found another way, and so will you. All you need is to take the first step."

"Wanzer Pilot." Calibur's voice echoes across the battlefield from the gemstone in Gridman's sword. "Tell us your name. Tell us why you fight."

KTS: Gridman targets Desmond with Breast Spark!
KTS: Gridman has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Kaworu Nagisa

<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.

Though it's vexing to leave her fellows to fend for themselves for the moment, Naoko has to busy herself with securing the pilot's safety first and foremost. A sensor ping warning of incoming aircraft causes a distressing few moments while she's doing so. Is she going to have to cover them with her machine? She's pretty sure it's a bad idea to try and tank a bombardment with her Arm Slave, but if she's left with no other option, then...

Thankfully it doesn't come to that - these particular aircraft have a different kind of payload. She's never seen them with her own eyes before, but there's no way she wouldn't know what those are. "Evangelion...!" To think that the world's frontline defense against threats from Beyond would appear here, to deal with a situation like this. Well, she's not about to question it, the odds just started looking a whole lot better. ...Even if some of the moral support was, uh, questionable. Whatever just happened there seems to have been enough to get Gridman into the fight, so all's well that ends well? Sure, let's go with that.

The timely arrival of reinforcements gives her the opportunity to evacuate the pilot without incident, setting them gently down on the ground at a safe distance from the burning wreckage. Though a decent distance removed, she can't guarantee that there won't be any collateral damage from the combat zone heading that way, so she lets the pilot off with the advice, "Keep running and don't look back!"

Just as soon as she's able, she turns, heading back in the direction of the enemy Wanzer. Her only concern is getting there as quickly as possible, and going in a straight line like that... it's easy to spot, and easy to fire at. By the time she thinks 'evade', Nova's Sukeban is already shot, unbalancing it and sending it skidding back. A quick glance at the readouts shows that her armor's holding up, but it's... not looking great. She absolutely can't take a hit like that again. Gritting her teeth, she decides that means there's only one thing for it. And that something is...

Exactly what she'd been doing before. Charge directly at the machine with the big gun. Just going about it a bit smarter this time, taking advantage of distraction by the other combatants to close the distance without as much risk. And once she does... there's only one thing she could possibly choose to do, after today.

"MAZINGER-APPROVED ROKKETTO PUUUUUUNCH!!"

A wire-guided fist is sent flying towards the Growning from close range, quickly reeled back into position afterwards, while she informs the others, "I'm here! Sorry for the delay! Now then..." She also has something to say to the Wanzer pilot. "Kidnapping, flagrant disregard for human life, shooting me while I wasn't ready yet... you're a villain through and through! Forget pity - all I need you to do is talk!" She'd clarify what about, but Gridman's question is basically the same one she has. Why this? Why any of this?

KTS: Naoko Suzuki targets Desmond with Remote Fist!

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

"<You better!>"

Is Asuka's comment to Shinji, but in and of itself, it's a comment on how much she must enjoy his cooking. After all, it implies that she'd wait for him to cook it, despite being hungry.

It's also a comment that she EXPECTS him to cook her something.

Shinji signals that they can't treat this like a Kaiju fight, and Asuka doesn't actually reply on it beyond a- "Yeah yeah, whatever." -after all, she has complicated feelings about Kaiju lately.

As Sayaka mentions that though about not needing to, Asuka retorts quickly, "<Is that what you think? Served in the ZAFT war myself, was a Captain in the AEU's Air Force.>"

And thus probably has no intention of following her lead.

As Shinji focuses on supporting Gridman, telling her to lay off of him, she clucks her tongue, "<Tck. Lay off of him? All he's doing is getting in our way again like this!>"

Still, yell at Shinji beyond that for pushing back... progress?

Indeed, she might have laid off, but then Gridman's own words, prompt a response out of her, a snort of derision that carries over the loudspeakers, "<Did I UPSET you? You want me to eat my words? Then don't just stand there WRINGING YOUR HANDS OF RESPONSIBILITY!>"

The Growning however, blocks her shot, and as he yells out, "<And what, you think you can just STEAL NERV personnel and pretend like I care about your reasons?>"

Interesting that she uses the word steal, rather than kidnap.

The Growning fires, and Eva Unit-02 lifts its hand as a Hexagonal shield unfolds, chain guns pattering upon it.

After a time however, she drops the field, and the Eva goes into a dive, crunching a crumbling building behind the weight of it even as its chain guns pepper its restraint armor.

"<But you really wanna know who I am?>"

The moment it shifts firing on Eva-01, the Evangelion takes a knee, and suddenly aims the bolt to try and sheer the top of the Browning clean off, if it strikes true.

"<The name's Langley. Asuka Shikinami Langley. And I'll take whatever I want from you!>"

KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Desmond with Super-Electromagnetic Crossbow Snipe!
KTS: Desmond fails to Evade Gridman's Breast Spark, taking 5952 damage!
KTS: Gridman repulses Desmond, forcing them to disengage.
KTS: Desmond fails to Evade Naoko Suzuki's Remote Fist, taking 4929 damage!
KTS: Naoko Suzuki has engaged Desmond!

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        Driving Asuka back for optimal engagement?? The Growning's pilot will learn that Asuka's terrifying at any range soon enough. ...or so Shinji would think if he knew that'd been the intent. As it stands, he's got his own hands full as the Growning unloads on Sayaka's Aphrodite Areia, then criss-crosses over to Unit-01, taking him off guard while he and Kaworu are reassuring/defending Gridman. An A.T. Field forms abruptly, taking on the rest of those shells with orange-iridescent light, but that initial burst did plenty of damage on its own.
        
        Shinji hesitates when Sayaka assumes the 'three' of them must not be used to fighting humans. He's not sure about Kaworu, and Asuka... "N-no, ma'am, I'm not," he says quietly. He knows the only person he can speak for is himself--and sure enough, Asuka's quick to correct Sayaka's assumptions.
        
        "Let's do as she suggests, Shinji-kun," Kaworu says, breaking him from those thoughts.
        
        Shinji nods once. Honestly, that does help. "Right!"
        
        Kaworu smiles warmly, first at him, then at Gridman. "<We can talk about it later,>" he reassures him.
        
        It's more than a little awkward for Shinji to be in the same Eva when Kaworu and Gridman are having a moment. He tries not to let it distract him--that, or the reminder of his own previous bad experience with fighting people. It's not something he wants to do, but he won't let Crucible wrest Liam away from the better life he earned for himself. This time it's Asuka to wrests him from those thoughts, and he insists, "<No, not whatever! He's a human being, and we're not going to kill him!>"
        
        It doesn't matter if Asuka's killed people before. She's not going to kill one now. Shinji will risk himself to make sure of that. ...but hopefully he won't have to, with Gridman and Asuka's argument reminding both of them of what happened just recently between them.
        
        It's true that opponents of this size do make for some heartening allies, as Naoko observes. Neither Shinji nor Kaworu know her, but they both saw that she saved that pilot who would have otherwise asphyxiated to death. For the moment, Unit-01 crouches-- "<Watch your feet, everyone,>" Kaworu warns their allies mildly-- then swings a long, long, LONG leg around to attempt to knock the Wanzer off its footing and leave it vulnerable to being disabled by the others.
        
        "<...Do you care about Liam, too?>" Shinji asks the pilot of the Growning--soft at first, but with growing intensity as he continues. "<It's just like Sayaka-san said. Liam was living his own life--living as a person, not a tool for fighting! Do you really want to take that away from him just because you missed him?!>" Calibur asks the pilot his name and his reason for fighting, and this returns calm to Shinji's voice. "<I want to know too. Liam's a friend of mine. If he's important to you, then... we have something in common.>"
        
        Kaworu's smile once again grows fond as he watches over his co-pilot. As usual, Shinji and Asuka's approaches couldn't be more different, and he knows which he prefers.

KTS: Kaworu Nagisa targets Desmond with Eva-01 Unarmed Strike!
KTS: Kaworu Nagisa has activated the Enable Spirit Command.
KTS: Desmond blocks Asuka Shikinami Langley's Super-Electromagnetic Crossbow Snipe, taking 4840 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asuka Shikinami Langley's Asuka Strikes! activates, causing Insight L1!
KTS: Desmond blocks Kaworu Nagisa's Eva-01 Unarmed Strike, taking 2590 damage!
KTS: Kaworu Nagisa has engaged Desmond!

<Pose Tracker> Desmond has posed.

        The Growning backpedals, neatly stepping over half of a bisected Laiying 1. (The cockpit block lies open. The pilot narrowly ejected before a Thunder Break cooked off the missiles and ripped it apart.) Wiper blades scrape across the big Wanzer's sensors, clearing them--but what its pilot sees isn't any better than what he hears. "<I know what he's gotten up to,>" he says, his voice ice-cold. "<About the insurrectionist he's fooling around with. Who do you think sent that machine? Could've gotten her, too-->"

        Aphrodite Areia charges. The Growning reacts with uncanny speed. In an eyeblink, the Mazinger Blade meets with the machine's bunker-shield, and there's a hideous scraping noise as Sayaka drags the weapon against armor plating. But the pile bunker, despite its added defensive utility, is still a formidable weapon. There's a hiss of pneumatics, and the spike fires, aimed past Aphrodite Areia's guard, and right at its side.

        There is strife within the enemy ranks. Hephaestus would know how to take advantage of this, but the Growning's pilot is less practiced, and less horrible. "<I can almost respect you,>" he says, to Asuka. "<But you.>"

        'I do pity you!'

        i do pity you

                i do pity you

                        I DO PITY YOU

        The pilot's cold fury comes to a head. The Growning charges, its pilot more interested in hurting Gridman than staying at an advantageous range. The pile bunker cocks with a hiss of steam, even as Gridman's own Breast Spark washes over its right leg, boiling off the armor. The pilot's voice is a low, pained growl when he speaks again. "<Desmond. Formerly Subject 7-018.> I fight because the Zekes killed my family, and the Feds did NOTHING!" The raw force of Gridman's attack has driven Desmond back, but that just means he shoots wildly upwards at the Giant, rather than firing for effect. "<PITY THIS, YOU GIANT PRICK!>" A lot of lead goes past Gridman, but there's still a lot being aimed at him...

        But Naoko interrupts the relentless-barrage with the (newly-Mazin-approved) mighty fist of Sukeban. There's a horrible CRUNCH as part of the Growning's side staves in, and it lists a little, but then its rifle arm snaps up and starts firing in short, sharp bursts at the Arm Slave. "<And that's w-what Seven-Zero-Twenty suffered, too, even if he's too SOFT to admit it!>"

        The two Evas attack in tandem. Asuka's crossbow bolt deflects off the Growning's raised shield, and embeds itself in the torso, just above its hips. Shinji's takedown capitalizes on this, knocking the Wanzer through a pile of shipping crates, and into a crane with a tremendous, cacophonic crash.

        "<I--I do,>" Desmond stammers. "<We n--need him.>" In the cockpit, he looks down at his own hands, twitching from the faint tremor that's been going on for nearly five minutes, now. "<He d-doesn't know what I've sacrificed for him! So LEAVE US! He's MY responsibility now!>"

        The Growning jolts forward, its jets igniting as it tries to jam that pile-bunker right into Eva-02's shin. Desmond knows exactly how much that would hurt on someone human-sized, maybe it'll be enough to disable the giant for a few moments. The Wanzer's chin guns, meanwhile, open fire at Eva-01, trying to push it back rather than kill it. Buy time, Desmond reminds himself. Buy time.

KTS: Desmond has activated the Strike Spirit Command.
KTS: Desmond targets Gridman with Growning Heavy Rifle Mk. VI-S - Wild Fire!
KTS: Desmond targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Growning Pile Bunker Mk. VI-S - Immobilizer!
KTS: Desmond targets Naoko Suzuki with Growning Heavy Rifle Mk. VI-S - Burst Fire!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
KTS: Desmond targets Sayaka Yumi with Growning Pile Bunker Mk. VI-S - Strike!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley's EN Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage.
KTS: Desmond rattles Asuka Shikinami Langley, making her next maneuvers more difficult.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley parries Desmond's Growning Pile Bunker Mk. VI-S - Immobilizer, taking 1110 damage!
KTS: Desmond has engaged Asuka Shikinami Langley!
KTS: Naoko Suzuki has activated the Foresee Spirit Command.
KTS: Naoko Suzuki fails to evade Desmond's Growning Heavy Rifle Mk. VI-S - Burst Fire, taking 5280 damage!
KTS: Gridman has activated the Focus Spirit Command.
KTS: Gridman blocks Desmond's Growning Heavy Rifle Mk. VI-S - Wild Fire, taking 8280 damage!
KTS: Sayaka Yumi's EN Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage.
KTS: Sayaka Yumi parries Desmond's Growning Pile Bunker Mk. VI-S - Strike, taking 1350 damage!
KTS: Desmond has engaged Sayaka Yumi!

<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.

As an aside, Naoko's 'Rocket Punch: Mazinger Approved' gets a smile and a fond chuckle from Sayaka. It is endlessly endearing seeing so many inspired by their fight against Dr. Hell.

"Is that so?" Sayaka replies to Asuka's correction - she's actually a Captain in the AEU airforce, fought against ZAFT. Isn't this girl no older than 15? "Well, you fought like you've done this before, at least. I'll leave it to your discretion." Although her words about leaving the pilot alive stand - even Asuka can surely appreciate the need for questioning.

Shinji on the other hand, confirms his experience is limited. "All right." She nods. "You're doing well, so far. Disabling a machine usually starts by focusing fire on a single part of the body - preventing it from moving easily." Kaworu does exactly that, trying to knock the massive Wanzer down with a sweeping kick. "Just like that!"

"Insurrectionist?" Sayaka questions. She kind of can't imagine Lucine being up to anything like that, at all. "His girlfriend? I thought she was just a gardener. Sweet girl, too." But his wish he could've gotten her, too - "Absolutely not." She replies, firmly. "You've taken enough." The way he parries the Mazinger Blade with a pilebunker is pretty impressive, giving him the space for a counterattack. It pierces through the Photon Barrier just a little bit, but ultimately, the Mazinger Blade cuts through his counterassault.

The pilot's name is Desmond, too, assigned a number very similar to Liam's own. Sayaka remembers this. If they're going to rescue him too... they might need it. "What happened to your family is unforgiveable, Desmond. But the world is changing. And if it's going to change, it means an end to operations like the Crucible. It needs people like you safe and sound, away from lives like that. Just like Liam had! He doesn't have to be your responsibility - no one in the world deserves that!"

"Mazinger Blade: Aphrodite Finale!" She calls, unleashing forth a technique for ending a battle up close: grappling the Wanzer with the one fist, wielding the blade in the other, attempting to snap down the arm and force the pilot out.

KTS: Sayaka Yumi targets Desmond with Mazinger Blade: Areia Combo!

<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.

Breast Spark's lightning crackles as it fades, leaving a scorched line across the ground. With a twist of his hand, Gridman raises Calibur again, bringing the blade up and forward.

"I wasn't even mad when you stabbed me, but don't you dare say--!" Gridman growls. "Don't you dare say I wouldn't be there for her! I always will be!"

Desmond, the pilot names himself, and Gridman doesn't even bother to remember the test-subject numbers. Desmond's name is all that matters. Wild-fired shots strike the giant again and again, and he cries out as if injured. Calibur's defense is no help against a scattered attack like this.

His armor shattering into pieces, Gridman's blue gemstone begins to flash. He looks at the light it gives off grimly. This has gone... badly. But it's too soon to give up. Liam needs him.

"I'll be there for Akane... And Rikka..." Gridman starts, slowly. "Alouette. Rei. Kaworu, Shinji. Even you, Asuka."

Calibur is tossed into the air, and in the same moment, Gridman rushes forward. It's too dangerous to attack with a sword, but hand-to-hand should be alright! Reaching Desmond's machine, Gridman brings his knee up into the Wanzer's arm, then winds up and punches it square in the chest. With a cry, the Giant of Light raises his enemy into the air and brings it crashing down.

"And I'll be there for you, too, Desmond. Nothing you do can stop me! I'm here to save you!"

Gleaming in the light, Calibur comes back down to Earth. Gridman catches him before he can impale the Wanzer before him, again holding the sword out.

"You and Liam both!"

KTS: Gridman targets Desmond with Full Powered Combination!
KTS: Desmond successfully avoids Sayaka Yumi's Mazinger Blade: Areia Combo
KTS: Sayaka Yumi completes the Formation attack!
KTS: Desmond partially guards Gridman's Full Powered Combination, taking 4620 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Gridman's Telepathic Link activates, causing Insight L1!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Gridman's Mediumship activates, causing Nullify!
KTS: Gridman has engaged Desmond!
KTS: Gridman begins a Formation attack!

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

Asuka snorts hard at the idea of Liam fooling around with an insurrectionist, "<What you mean his girlfriend?>" Then- as she thinks about it...

"You know what, that's fair." Given that the Three Ship's Alliance is not in the Fed's good books right now, and NERV is a Fed agency.

Whereas Sayaka, she catches her implication, but certainly Asuka intended to take him alive anyway. Well- if she could, she probably won't hand wring too much if he died.

"And?" Is what she replies to Shinji, "Sometimes you don't have a choice. It's kill or be killed in a warzone."

Honestly, while it's perhaps what one might expect from Asuka, she isn't biting off his head for it, merely engaging with the topic.

As Gridman says he pities the guy, even Asuka's Eva switches it's 'optics' to look at him in disbelief. "The idiot! Oh here we go." As even Asuka can predict what's going to happen next.

She knows what she'd do to someone who pities her after all. What Gridman says though, "<Then ACT like it! Standing still! Doing nothing!? How is that being there for someone!>"

The moment he says his number however as if it were something he volunteered for in the wake of tragedy, her brows contract, and she goes cold.

"<I don't much care what you think you need. You wanna kill feds? You wanna kill the big bad feds who did NOTHING?>"

And the Growning comes at her, and suddenly her Crossbow arcs down, as she strikes the side of the Wanzer, throwing its aim off, as its Pile Bunker glances off her AT Field.

Up close, even she understands the damage that could have done to her Eva. The threat it represents, but in anxiety does she grow cold.

"<COME AT ME THEN! TELL ME ABOUT ALL THE NOTHING I DO WHENEVER AN ANGEL ATTACKS!>"

The Eva then reaches down, as if to try and grab it and pull some of its armor off like flies on a butterfly.

"<YOU WANT SOMEONE TO BLAME HUH!? YOU WANT A REASON TO FIGHT? FIGHT ME!>"

KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Desmond with EVA-02 Martial Arts Strike!

<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.

It's been a weird day. Joining up with the Mazinger Team and a Giant of Light, and now there's Evangelion units, too. They sure look bizarre up close. What little Naoko can actually see of them from way down there. Piloting a robot sure didn't change her fate of usually being the one who has to look up to people, did it. Le sigh.

Be that as it may, that small violet Arm Slave literally packs a punch, as is soon discovered. As for the Growning pilot, Desmond... his story is a familiar one. So it's revenge again, is it? Not a great reason for making unrelated parties suffer, in her estimation. But rather than turn this into a lecture, she decides to focus on another aspect, the matter at the center of the current conflict. "Well, aren't you noble, abducting Liam against his will because you know what he wants better than he does. I'm sure he'll be very thankful! Do you want your supposed friend to hate you?"

Her hope in rushing into close range has been that in doing so, she would be able to prevent getting shot at. Unfortunately, this only made it more difficult to dodge the shot when it comes. A direct hit to the Sukeban's frame causes a shower of blown-apart armor plating - Naoko's choice to reinforce her machine with reactive armor paying dividends. The lion's share of its torso plating is gone after that, but without that extra layer, that could have been a lot worse than shattered armor and a ruined paint job. The realization of what might have happened gives her a bigger shock than she bargained for, especially given that it's not something that'll work more than once. The Arm Slave stumbles back, and... ducks behind Aphrodite Areia. Is that really the most appropriate robot there to act as a shield...?

"Don't panic, don't panic," Naoko reminds herself, while panicking. She can try to tell herself whatever she wants at this point, she's lost faith that she can actually do this, fear for her life taking over. Fortunately, there are others who know exactly what to say at times like this.

>"Giving up already? How embarrassing. Koji's going to laugh at you."<

Snap, goes Naoko's brain. "The hell you say!? Who do you think I am? Nova Stellar never gives up!"

After its brief lapse, the Sukeban steps back into full view, now brandishing the giant metal club it carried on its back in both hands. Electricity dances across its spiked tip as Nova no longer minces words before swinging it towards the Growning. Well, no more words except, "Take this! WRATH OF ENMA!!"

KTS: Naoko Suzuki has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Naoko Suzuki targets Desmond with Wrath of Enma!

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        It's more than a little nerve-wracking for Shinji to fight a human pilot, especially in a machine so much smaller than his own. But between Kaworu's support and Sayaka's advice, it's not as bad as it could be. He breathes out a little sigh of relief--such as one can while in LCL--when Sayaka confirms the leg sweep maneuver was the right call. "<Thank you, Sayaka-san. Kaworu-kun, let's keep this up.>"
        
        "<Right behind you, Shinji-kun,>" Kaworu replies with a little smile.
        
        The Growning opens fire again on Unit-01, but it's not the same as before--this time it's more at Unit-01's peripheries rather than at her center mass, more like warning shots than anything else. Unit-01 responds accordingly, Shinji and Kaworu letting her get herded to one side to duck behind a building. Both of them widen their eyes as the Growning's pilot unleashes his fury on Gridman.
        
        "<Gridman, watch out!>" Shinji shouts, to no avail. A light touch on his shoulder makes him turn around to see Kaworu reaching out.
        
        "Our time is short. Gridman isn't letting it hold him back, either," Kaworu murmurs.
        
        "...All right," Shinji murmurs.
        
        There's a lot of rubble and wreckage in this area, and the battery continues to count down. Unit-01 dodges and sweeps to one side, trying to maneuver to a better position as her pilots listen. An insurrectionist? For a moment, Shinji doesn't understand what Desmond means, even though he knows he must mean Lucine. But it seems like Asuka does, if she's willing to give him that one. When she coldly dismisses his words, for a moment, Shinji is shaken. He doesn't want to hold what her old bosses made her do. He doesn't, but...
        
        "<Second,>" Kaworu says then, "<are you implying that you couldn't defeat an opponent this much smaller than you, with as many allies as you have to support you, without killing him? I find it difficult to believe for a pilot of your calibur.>"
        
        Shinji shakes his head sharply, rallying. "<He's right! Let's just focus on disabling his machine, quick!>"
        
        As Unit-01 circles from behind building to building, she at last reaches a point behind the Growning. Reaching a hand back to one of her shoulder pylons, she draws her prog knife. Shinji shoots Gridman a nervous look, hoping the sight of it doesn't trigger him--but he doesn't dare bring out the full Magoroku Extermination Sword, not against a target this tiny. If he can get close enough...
        
        "<Desmond... I'm Shinji. Shinji Ikari. And--I have a co-pilot,>" he adds with sudden, unexpected relish. "<His name's Kaworu Nagisa.>"
        
        "<Hello, Desmond,>" Kaworu says, calm and mild as ever. "<If Liam doesn't know what you've sacrificed for him, this is not the way to make it known.>"
        
        "<I'm sorry about your family. That sounds horrible. If I were you, I'd be upset too. But we're not going to leave! YOU'RE the one who should leave--leave Crucible and come back with Liam and the rest of us!>" Shinji insists.
        
        "<If there's anyone else in Crucible you're worried about, we'll bring them with us too,>" Kaworu adds. "<You'll all be brought somewhere safe, just as we did for Liam.>"
        
        Asuka starts to rage, set off by something Shinji doesn't understand and Kaworu does. Gridman swears that he'll be there for all of them--Kaworu, Shinji, and more--and that he'll save Desmond too. Sayaka aims to grapple the Wanzer and force its pilot out. Nova swings a club up and around at the machine, her smaller size meaning she needs to make bigger hits. And Shinji and Kaworu lean down on the controls in unison and have Unit-01 leap forward, blade-first and arm down as low as it can go, in an attempt to shear the Growning's legs clean off. If successful, that should hopefully make it impossible for the Growning to escape the others' disabling attacks. ...hopefully before Unit-02 picks it clean (or bloody) apart.

KTS: Kaworu Nagisa has activated the Enable Spirit Command.
KTS: Kaworu Nagisa targets Desmond with Progressive Knife Thrust!
KTS: Desmond blocks Asuka Shikinami Langley's EVA-02 Martial Arts Strike, taking 5760 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asuka Shikinami Langley's Asuka Strikes! activates, causing Insight L1!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Desmond!
KTS: Desmond partially guards Naoko Suzuki's Wrath of Enma, taking 5084 damage!
KTS: Naoko Suzuki has engaged Desmond!
KTS: Naoko Suzuki completes the Formation attack!
KTS: Desmond successfully avoids Kaworu Nagisa's Progressive Knife Thrust

<Pose Tracker> Desmond has posed.

        "Nadesico's renegade," Desmond growls. "Don't think they're on your side just because Nergal's paying them! I bet you think Nergal's on your side, too!" Whatever composure he had has scattered to the four winds. This is his first live-fire fight, and while he isn't doing badly, he's lost his temper. He can feel it starting to snowball, like Hephaestus warned him it would, if he let it. He can't die here.

BGM: The Hot Wind Blowing (Jamie Christopherson) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vp_4vc-btI&ab_channel=Crimson

        Aphrodite Areia goes for the grapple. Desmond sees what's coming; the Growning shifts to the side, deftly twisting out of its reach despite its weakened leg. It's a near thing, but the Wanzer escapes what could've easily been the disabling hit Sayaka wanted.

        "BullSHIT! Don't tell me that when you're fighting with those two!" And here, Desmond displays that uncanny control again; the Growning's pile bunker jabs at Eva-01 like an accusing finger, though obviously it can't fire at this range. "How many more does NERV have? How many kids do they have piloting those Evas?! How many more do they need to MASS-PRODUCE those things to STOP THE ZEKES?!"

        Desmond trails off into sharp, tense breaths. "I don't need you," he hisses to Gridman. "Don't tell me you PITY ME and then say you'll--" Sweat drips down Desmond's forehead, and he cries out in surprise; it's a safe bet to assume he wasn't expecting Gridman to react with such personal violence. The Growning rocks back as Gridman's knee slams into it head-on, and the punch from above makes the leg servos groan ominously. Desmond grimaces, clings to his cockpit restraints with hands that don't want to stay still.

        CRUNCH. CRUNCH. CRUNCH.

        'Do you want your supposed friend to hate you?'

        Panic flashes through Desmond's eyes as he remembers the conversation he and Liam had less than half an hour ago. The shock and betrayal in Liam's own eyes, the desperation, the pleading. How it all faded to horror, and then emptiness, as Desmond played the activation sequence, and sent his little brother into a state of cybernetically-mediated neurochemical obedience. The Growning lies defenseless for a few crucial moments, as Naoko's club SMASHES into it, rending off torso armor and buckling one of the chin guns. Eva-02 reaches down and rips off another fistful.

        No. No no no no no, he has to--he has to buy time. Can't be useless. Can't listen. He can't disappoint Hephaestus. Liam--

        "What makes you think," Desmond breathes, "that--that anywhere in the world IS SAFE?!" The Growning's gait correction forces it upright, and it LEAPS at Eva-02, driving that pile bunker forward. The hydraulics fire with a thunderous BOOM as he tries to smash the larger machine's knee into pieces. The moment it lands, it raises its gun-arm and opens fire again, trying to hose down Sayaka, then Gridman, then Naoko with a stream of hot lead. Again, Desmond seems more focused on clearing space, but when he focuses on Eva-01, he aims for center mass and fires and fires and fires and fires and

        AMMUNITION DEPLETED

        A bead of sweat runs down Desmond's cheek.

KTS: Desmond targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Desperate Brutality!
KTS: Desmond Changes attack to Sayaka Yumi, Naoko Suzuki, and Gridman with Growning Heavy Rifle Mk. VI-S -
Autofire.
KTS: Desmond targets Kaworu Nagisa with Growning Heavy Rifle Mk. VI-S - Empty the Mag!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley's EN Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley fails to Parry Desmond's Desperate Brutality, taking 7080 damage!
KTS: Desmond has engaged Asuka Shikinami Langley!
KTS: Gridman has activated the Focus Spirit Command.
KTS: Gridman has activated the Focus Spirit Command.
KTS: Gridman has activated the Focus Spirit Command.
KTS: Sayaka Yumi's EN Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage.
KTS: Sayaka Yumi fails to react to Desmond's Growning Heavy Rifle Mk. VI-S - Autofire, taking 4300 damage!
KTS: Gridman fails to Evade Desmond's Growning Heavy Rifle Mk. VI-S - Autofire, taking 3840 damage!
KTS: Naoko Suzuki has activated the Focus Spirit Command.
KTS: Naoko Suzuki has activated the Focus Spirit Command.
KTS: Naoko Suzuki has activated the Focus Spirit Command.
KTS: Naoko Suzuki fails to evade Desmond's Growning Heavy Rifle Mk. VI-S - Autofire, taking 5280 damage!
KTS: Naoko Suzuki has been defeated!
KTS: Kaworu Nagisa fails to retreat.
KTS: Kaworu Nagisa's EN Barrier activates, negating 1000 base damage.
KTS: Kaworu Nagisa fails to evade Desmond's Growning Heavy Rifle Mk. VI-S - Empty the Mag, taking 7800 damage!
KTS: Kaworu Nagisa has activated the Resupply Spirit Command targeting Gridman
KTS: Kaworu Nagisa has activated the Resupply Spirit Command targeting Gridman

<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.

Nothing quite as satisfying as the crunch of metal denting metal accompanied by the crackle of electricity. Sukeban plants its club onto the ground in front of it afterwards, while Nova lets out a triumphant laugh. She directs her gloating not towards her opponent however, but towards another occupant of her cockpit. "How's that, huh? What do you think now, Uriel?"

>"Heh. I think you should-- LOOK OUT, NOVA!"<

That earlier encouragement backfired a little bit. Naoko found herself so fired up that she got cocky, judging the fight over before it actually is. Had the gambit to sever the Wanzer's legs worked, it could have been. As it is, the Arm Slave is forced into a awkward dodging maneuver, leaping aside from where the first volley is fired, but struck in mid-air as the Growning turns its barrage into the same direction.

She is lucky, in that the machine is struck from the side and not the front. She is unlucky, in that the damage to that side is severe enough to cut all power to the machine's limbs, and the Arm Slave crashes face-first to the pavement, remaining motionless.

There is still motion in the cockpit, however. Naoko is dazed, dangling in her seat, but still manages to fumble to send a transmission to Sayaka. "I... can't move... sorry..." Her finger slips, and she falls unconscious.

<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.

"Ah, that's right." Sayaka seems to remember about the Nadesico. She's... mostly neutral about Nergal. They haven't interfered much in running the Photon Power Labs - even their rescindence into the Three Ships Alliance was mostly an afterthought in her very divided headspace. "Still... what makes you think she's better off in your hands?" She questions. And after she questions, her veteran skills come into direct contact with Desmond's uncanny skills of his own, just barely missing her mark.

And when he accuses her of working with NERV, well, she can't exactly argue. It's true that the pilots of the Evangelions are teenagers. "Yes. NERV too, will likely need to change one day." Although she doesn't elaborate on this point, Kaworu, Shinji, and Asuka can certainly hear her.

Desmond fires. He fires, and fires, and fires until he's out of ammunition. The damage is brutal, with Nova's little arm slave knocked down by the pressure. "Ms. Stellar!" Sayaka calls. "You can't take much more than that... retreat if you have to!" She grits her teeth. She doesn't know the Miracle Worker, but she's guided her this far; she's an ally in her books. "Dammit," she curses. "Backup Ichinana squad, retrieve the pilot of the Sukeban!"

Aphrodite Areia's sensors are also going wild - screens recommending disengagement. But Sayaka knows Desmond is cornered - they're this close to saving Liam, and many more. "Areia can still move. I'll cover you!" She assures Nova, and drives the reactor to maximum, overclocking the machine far beyond what a standard Ichinana would be capable of. "MAZIN POWER!" The Mazin of light glows brilliantly from the byproduct of overdriving Photon Power. The arrow-like wings detach from her back - scopes aiming for a precise point on the Wanzer, aiming to disable all remaining sensors in one blow. "It's over! ARTEMIS! FINAL ARROW!" And the golden goddess fires in a simple yet exceedingly elegant motion. It's just up to Gridman and the Evangelions to finish the job.

KTS: Sayaka Yumi has activated the Trick Spirit Command.
KTS: Sayaka Yumi has activated the Trick Spirit Command.
KTS: Sayaka Yumi has activated the Attune Spirit Command.
KTS: Sayaka Yumi targets Desmond with Artemis Final Arrow!
KTS: Gridman has activated the Detonate Spirit Command, reducing the Full Powered Gridman to 1 HP!

<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.

"How is this standing still?!" Gridman shouts in response, straightening up, Calibur in one hand. "Stop talking about killing! Nobody's going to die or kill anyone! We're going to save Liam, and Desmond, and go home together!"

Watching the Wanzer charge Unit-02, Gridman is ready for the attack to follow. Crouching, he leaps into the air at the sound of gunfire -- but moments too late. Peppered with fire, the Giant comes crashing down, hard.

"Gridman. We are at our limit." Max grits out, his voice strained.

Forcing himself up to his knees, Gridman nods. "Right. One more attack. Can you guys manage it?"

"I could do two." Borr lies.

"Yes." Calibur answers, simply.

Max rumbles an affirmative, and Gridman makes his way up to his feet. Calibur is raised to the sky. The clouds part, and light, again, gathers around the Giant.

"I'm okay, Shinji." Gridman promises his friend, even as his headlamp flashes all the more urgently. "But I'll be counting on you and Kaworu to help Desmond. We'll be back as soon as we can."

The sight of the prog knife gets a slight shudder, but he focuses past it. Impossible sunlight cascades downward, illuminating Gridman, haloing him in strength, even as it leaves him vulnerable.

"My name is Gridman, Desmond. Whatever you've done, it can be forgiven. I promise." His voice is warm and soft, despite the clear pain Gridman is in. "There's a city far away from here, the most wonderful place, with parks and gardens and blue skies."

As if called from Tsutsujidai's summer sun itself, the sun shines down, and Gridman slowly lowers Calibur.

"It's a city I protect. There's a place for you there, if you want it, Desmond." The Giant holds out his sword in an almost inviting motion -- if it weren't for the blazing light surrounding him. "It's never too late."

A pause, as if waiting to see if Desmond will take him up on his words. If not...

"I'm sorry." Gridman says, softly. "Grid Full Power Finish."

All the strength Gridman built up swirls through his body once more before blazing through the air between Gridman and the Wanzer. Sunlit magic explodes on the battlefield, creating a column of light surrounding his enemy.

KTS: Gridman targets Desmond with Grid Full Power Finish!

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

"<Not what I'm saying at all FIFTH STRING!>"

Neither is it that Asuka is blind to how she feels he's manipulating her, but neither can she back down.

And indeed, some part of her feels bad about upsetting Shinji, but she doesn't feel she can back down in this kind of battle.

Not just for her sake, but his. How many organizations out there would love to get a crack at opening up an Eva?

So as Shinji tries to reach out to her, she grapples with trying to pull it apart. Desmond however, tries to leap at Eva Unit-02, and at this range, Asuka has trouble swatting him aside.

It slams into the Eva's knee, as armoring buckles, and there's a sudden spray of black at his Wanzer. Does it look like oil?

It smells like blood. And Asuka suddenly shrieks, bellowing in pain as her own knee burns in synchronized sympathy pains.

So many are offering Desmond so many things, validation, apologies, pity. She can't. She can't even begin to consider offering it to him.

And then, frothing bubbles, the crossbow still in hand, she points it right at the Wanzer, point blank range.

"You're right- you're right." She pants, pained, at him, "You looking for safety? There's nowhere in the world that's safe."

A push of a trigger, and the Crossbow Bolt is aimed to skewer the side of the Wanzer at point blank range. It's a tricky shot, avoiding the cockpit, or the reactor, especially with its size...

... but as the Fifth Child pointed out, she's that good. Then without a word, she brings up her Eva's hand like a hammer.

"FROM!" And brings it down,"ME!"

The fist comes down against the back of the bolt, driving it in, like a hammer and a nail, she tries to crack the Wanzer apart, ripping it's entire side off in just one motion.

And if she gives Desmond a few more nightmares which disincentivize him from staying with an organization like Crucible when, or if he ever gets out of NERV custody.

... In her opinion, it can only be a positive.

KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Desmond with Super-Electromagnetic Crossbow Drive!

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        There is a manipulative quality to what Kaworu said to Asuka, and at the same time, it's quite sincere. After all, Kaworu's goal is to have Asuka act as Shinji desires, despite the fact that Shinji never asked him to do any such thing.
        
        Unit-01 hesitates, pulling that knife hand back, when Growning points that pile bunker at her, its pilot shouting about all the children who'll be needed to pilot the mass-produced Evas. Shinji's been so caught up in his other problems that he never stopped to consider what they would even do for the pilots of all those other units. There's only a handful of Evangelion pilots in the world, and they already have designated units; where are they going to find more?
        
        Kaworu, of course, knows exactly what will be done for more. NERV's R&D department has kept it under their hats, but the Dummy Plug program has continued apace, just as it always has.
        
        But then the Wanzer smashes into Unit-02's knee, and Asuka's scream rip his focus forward. "<ASUKA! Are you okay?!>" Shinji shouts--for as much as they were just having a disagreement on how to handle this fight, Shinji still cares about her.
        
        As for safety... "<Hmm... Perhaps you're right,>" Kaworu concedes, unperturbed.
        
        "Kaworu-kun?!" Shinji utters, very perturbed.
        
        Kaworu continues, "<The Earth is big, and yet also so very small. There are countless things that can threaten it and the Lilim that live upon it. Let me change the phrasing, in that case. You can see that you and your compatriots are fighting a large number of enemies, yes? You realize that we're all here for Liam, yes?>" A slight beat. "<How many in Crucible would come for you, Desmond 7-018?>"
        
        Shinji gawks at him for a second. It's a second too long. He'd thought for a moment that they were starting to get through to Desmond, but in that instant when he's distracted, the young man opens fire on Unit-01's central mass. Granted, it isn't where she keeps her pilot, but synchronization means it doesn't have to. Shinji screams as that barrage of bullets hammers into Unit-01's chest plating, digging and breaking and puncturing and leaking red fluid. Shinji heaves panting breaths when the barrage comes to an abrupt end--once again, Kaworu has eased some of the pain, and not just with raising an A.T. Field towards the end... but he clutches his chest all the same.
        
        "<...you care about Liam. So why don't you want him to be happy?>" Shinji whispers harshly. He grimaces, tears flying from his wild eyes as he glares up at the Crucible soldier. "<A real friend would want to make you happy no matter what! What're you doing here that isn't all about YOU?!>"
        
        "Shinji-kun..." Kaworu murmurs, genuinely touched. Sayaka may insinuate that NERV is in for a reckoning one day, but that matters little to him. He already knows that's true. Likewise, neither he nor Shinji need to worry about Nova--Sayaka already has her covered with the backup Ichinana squad. Gridman, too, offers his own encouragement to Shinji, and even through his anguished grunts, he manages to nod. "<D-Desmond... I don't know if anywhere is safe. It's hard for me to feel safe or happy, either. That doesn't even have anything to do with me being an Eva pilot.>" (Mostly.) "<But don't drag Liam back down just because you're miserable! That isn't fair for him OR you!>"
        
        Unit-01 swings out again with her prog knife, its vibrations set so high that they don't even need to come in direct contact to massively disrupt the Growning's systems--and indeed that's what Shinji and Kaworu are aiming (or not aiming) to do. That is, to swipe close at the Growning and use the vibrations to help break down the systems and render the Wanzer inoperable.
        
        "<ENOUGH IS ENOUGH ALREADY!>" Shinji screams--not just because of Desmond's attitude, but because he doesn't know how much longer the rest of them can last, either.

KTS: Kaworu Nagisa targets Desmond with Progressive Knife Drive!
KTS: Desmond fails to react to Sayaka Yumi's Artemis Final Arrow, taking 8060 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Sayaka Yumi's Light of the Future activates, causing Sparkle!
KTS: Desmond fails to react to Gridman's Grid Full Power Finish, taking 8840 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Gridman's Telepathic Link activates, causing Insight L1!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Gridman's Mediumship activates, causing Nullify!
KTS: Gridman has engaged Desmond!
KTS: Desmond fails to react to Asuka Shikinami Langley's Super-Electromagnetic Crossbow Drive, taking 8710
damage!
KTS: Desmond has been defeated!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Desmond!
KTS: Desmond fails to react to Kaworu Nagisa's Progressive Knife Drive, taking 6500 damage!
KTS: Desmond has been defeated!

<Pose Tracker> Desmond has posed.

        Desmond's Growning pauses, for a half-second, as the violet Arm Slave goes still. That pilot didn't sound very old, either--and the unease churns in his gut. You are doing what is necessary to--

        To what?

        In this moment, a tightbeam transmission pipes through over a hardened, direct lasercomm.

        Suffered unsustainable losses. Mission failure imminent. Command?

        Command?

        Command?

        Command?

        Command?Mission failure imminent. Command?

        

        It keeps going. Horror twists Desmond's heart. Seeker-7--the AI asset he'd trained to recover Liam--had been trying to contact him for at least the last five minutes, its queries growing increasingly... urgent. Desperate? Could it feel that? Eventually: Uplink with Subject 7-020 severed. Subject lost. Mission status: failure. Retreating. Retreating.

        A chill spreads through his body, down the arms and hands that won't stop twitching, the legs that feel numb and sluggish. Does he smell blood? He's not bleeding, is he? But--the Evas--

        'ARTEMIS! FINAL ARROW!'

        "NO!"

        The arrow strikes true. The top of the Wanzer peels off. Desmond is thrown against his restraints. Most of the screens dissolve into static. "GO TO HELL!" he screams at Gridman, but the only defense he can muster against the Giant's power is to huddle behind his shield. The wave of light melts the Growning's forearm, shield, pile bunker, and all.

        "S--stop pretending you'll help a FAILURE!" Desmond's voice is raw, agonized. The Growning can only stumble as Asuka and Shinji fall on it, ripping it open. Shinji cleaves off most of a leg. Asuka stabs her improvised knife in, and HAMMERS on it, and Desmond's next words are terrified. "GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU MONST--!"

        The transmission ends with a horrible crunch. Asuka has successfully peeled open the wanzer, to the point where the cockpit block itself has been opened; a tall, gaunt figure is slumped inside. Instead of the usual array of Wanzer controls, there's just... a shielded, armored tube running from the back of his neck to the wall, visible because his head is dangling. A few of the basic 'move the robot around' joysticks and pedals, but none of it... active.

        In fact, Desmond's piloting suit isn't standard-issue, either. It looks like it's built into some sort of... exoskeleton, like the kind used by some people as a mobility assistance device.

        Desmond feels sunlight on his face through the visor. "DON'T LOOK AT ME!" he screams, his voice raw. And then--

        A sudden, bright flash of Minovsky radiation. The air shimmers. And then something picks up what's left of Desmond's Growning, unspooling long, clawed cables from a body that seems... invisible. Mirage Colloid? There's no time to check; it's gone in a matter of seconds.

        Once the static clears, there will be good news.

        But boy, is that a long wait.

<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.

Sayaka had fired the arrow from a distance - it was up to the rest, then, to 'free' Desmond from the cockpit. Sayaka waits with bated breath - it took everything Aphrodite Areia had left in her to fire that final shot, and she fades into cooldown mode.

Opening a line to the Evangelion team and Gridman (she's still not sure how. Calibur's explanation didn't help.), she speaks. "This is Sayaka Yumi - confi- stat- pilo-" The Minvosky particles kick in, nothing's getting through.

She can only hope that Desmond survived their final encounter - that he can be given the same chance as Liam. Whether he takes it? Well... that's up to him.

<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.

Hearing Shinji react with pain, Gridman runs to the side of Unit-01, wrapping an arm around the Eva's shoulders. Desmond screams and rages, and Gridman watches quietly, focusing on supporting Kaworu and Shinji. If the Eva pilots feel the pain of their machine... What can he do to help?

"Kaworu, Shinji, can I do anything?" Gridman asks, voice soft.

It isn't until the Wanzer's transmission is cut off, Asuka peeling it apart, that Gridman can bring himself to look back at Desmond. And when he does -- sorrow and fear flow through the Giant's bond with his comrades. He can't quite tell what's happened to Desmond, but he knows it's something really, really bad.

"Desmond, I --" Gridman's voice is full of pity. He begins to pull his arm away from Unit-01, only for the air to shimmer. Immediately on-guard again, he raises Calibur in front of himself and Unit-01.

Desmond, and his destroyed robot, are lifted away. Gridman would blink, if he could. Once, then twice. What just happened?

"What was that?" Gridman calls out, his voice somehow clear through the Minovsky particles. "Sayaka, something just took Desmond! I don't know what just happened, but he's gone!"

"And we're out of time." Borr adds in, well-aware of the blinking blue gemstone on Gridman's forehead..

"I'm sorry. I'll come back as soon as I can!" Gridman promises. With that, he bows his head, and vanishes in a burst of white light.

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

What Desmond says-

Asuka growls through her teeth, as she utters a guttural CRY of rage, thoughts of every same faced girl as her being taken away, going through her head.

Incoherent with rage, it's a fortunate thing she already cracked it open, that the silhouette steals her breath away. Even as he screams, and she closes her eyes, as if part of her rage was just- reset.

"<Why?>" Asuka says over the comms, "<You scared? Good->"

Only for the burst of Minovsky radiation to cut her off. Even as something picks up his Growning. And her Eva swipes in mid-air to try and stop it, hand open.

It doesn't work. It escapes, and inside of her Eva both of her fists slam down on the console of the Evangelion.

Eyes closed, she takes a moment, before flipping on her Eva's loudspeakers instead, finally answering Shinji's question, "<Fine. I'm fine. Don't worry about me.>"

Gridman vanishes, running out of time, and Asuka looks at her activation timer, understanding implicitly that she's about to do the same. Not long left, "<... We should get closer to the rendezvous point. Just in case.>"

Whether to plug them in, or pick them up, either way...

"<You better make good on that lunch.>" She asides, before her Eva begins to move, hobbling with its hurt knee, such that it limps with every step of the way.

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        There's something horrible about what's inside that cockpit. Shinji can't even think uniquely horrible, because the way Desmond is hooked up to his machine brings to mind all the scars on the back of Liam's head. For a moment, he can't respond to Gridman's offer.
        
        Kaworu does, though: "<Thank you. Simply being here is enough.>"
        
        But then something Happens. Sayaka's communication crackles incomprehensibly through the storm of Minovsky particles. Shinji instinctively shades his eyes with one arm, Unit-01 mirroring his motions; when the light fades and Gridman is at hishertheir back, Desmond and the Growning are both gone from Unit-02's hands.
        
        "Wh-what happened?" Shinji stammers. "Is he...?"
        
        "He lived," Kaworu says simply.
        
        Shinji relaxes, trusting that he would know. "Thank goodness... but... the way he was hooked up in that machine..."
        
        "It wasn't very different from what's been done to Liam," Kaworu observes. "He spoke of 'sacrifices'--he may have meant that he underwent more severe alterations in Liam's place."
        
        Shinji falls silent, not knowing what to say to that or to Asuka claiming she's fine in a very un-fine way. Still, one thing remains true: they've all only got a little activation time left.
        
        "<No need to apologize. We would need to part ways here anyway,>" Kaworu reassures Gridman. "<Take care.>"
        
        Shinji, meanwhile, has Unit-01 offer Unit-02 a shoulder to help her and her pilot back. Quietly, as they shuffle to a better position, he reassures Asuka, "<I will. All your favorites, and as much as you want.>"
        
        Kaworu says nothing, but his smile turns faintly bittersweet.