View source for 2022-08-21: (Side A) The Terror of God ~INFECTION~

*'''Log: 2022-08-21 The Terror of God ~INFECTION~'''
*'''Cast:''' [[Character :: Takeshi Todo]], [[Character :: Kaworu Nagisa]], [[Character :: Misato Katsuragi]], [[Character :: Ruri Hoshino]], [[Character :: Rei Ayanami]], [[Character :: Asuka Shikinami Langley]], [[Character :: Lucine Azul]], [[Character :: Liam 7-020]], [[Character :: Shinji Ikari]], [[Character :: Guy Shishioh]], [[Character :: GaoGaiGo Team]], [[Character :: Alloy Kaas]] (Alouette "Alloy" Kaas), [[Character :: Yuta Hibiki]], [[Character :: Alouette Pommier]], [[Character :: Rikka Takarada]], [[Character :: Mari Makinami Illustrious]]
*'''Where:''' The Geofront, OCU Japan
*'''OOC - IC Date:''' August 21, 0096 (2022)
*'''Summary''': ''A mysterious assailant starts hacking into NERV's governing supercomputers, the MAGI. It's up to NERV and their allies to fend them off long enough to [https://srtmoo.net/mediawiki/index.php/2022-08-21:_(Side_B)_The_Ruination_of_the_MAGI_~VACCINE~ prepare a counterattack].''

----

 <Pose Tracker> Takeshi Todo has posed.
<poem>
--Somewhere in Cyberspace, Right Now--

What is a human being, anyway?

Someone he once knew would have described them as 'meat-things.' Miserable, pathetic mounds of flesh bumbling blindly through life. Once, he would have agreed. He never considered himself 'human' back then, but something greater. Something better. Foolish. He knows better, now. Each and every one of them is a miracle-engine, shining beacons of creativity and ingenuity capable of changing the world in ways nobody could predict. They're amazing, incredible beings.

And they all need to die.

What is a human being?

The man in the drive, a glimmering dawn-colored spark dancing on a mesh of silicon and circuitry, takes a deep breath of nonexistent air and breathes a long, heavy sigh. "Kousuke," he says, his human form disappearing into a blaze of light, "Begin the operation."

--Yesterday--

It's an ordinary day in Tokyo 3. We join some of NERV's most vital, yet most overlooked, personnel. Hard at work at the surface on the hottest day of the summer so far, the brave men and women of NERV's security division... really should be getting better benefits for what they do.

While self-sufficient in many respects, there is still a variety of goods and supplies that must be supplied on the regular to the Geofront. Specialty parts and equipment are manufactured throughout the world and brought here to be of service to humanity's first (and perhaps final) line of defense against the enigmatic Angels. Today, another such shipment arrives, and again the brave men and women staffing the security checkpoint do their duty to make sure everything is in order and that no container is hiding, for instance, a thermonuclear device, BioNet biohorror or other such threat.

Since the discovery of Newtypism, a small handful of those gifted with only minor abilities have found work in exactly these sorts of environs. Hideo Kuzuki starts the workday as he does every day: with a cup of black coffee and the dull headache that comes from working around a bunch of- rightfully, he would note- paranoid security personnel day in and day out. But his is an important job; he may not be sensitive enough to cast his soul out and communicate with those of like mind, but he &#42;is&#42; sensitive enough to know when something is fishy. And today's shipment...

...Is utterly normal, by his reckoning. Except for the heat, maybe. But then, it's summer in Japan-- hot and humid is just how things always are. Wiping sweat from his brow, he makes his way between containers, ticking marks on his clipboard with every box he passes. One contains fresh produce, another is full of specialty ammunition for the Evangelions, and yet another contains an unsettling quantity of specialty chemicals. Nothing is out of place, and nothing is tickling that sensation at the base of his brain that would normally indicate a problem, or that someone is talking about him behind his back.

But then, movement. He snaps his head attentively to one side, eyes fixing alertly on-- empty space. A heat haze flickers and twists in the light. Maybe the weather's getting to him. Again he reaches out with his senses, focusing as much as his abilities allow-- but again he finds nothing.

Another ordinary shipment. Hideo sighs and shakes his head, signing off on the shipment manifest. Step one of security clearance completed, the topside crew finishes up their business and sends the supplies down along one of the Geofront's main elevator shafts.

It's another ordinary day in Tokyo 3.

--Today--

By and large, when your name is Shigeru Aoba, every day at work is pretty routine. Sure, sometimes a giant monster shows up to try and kill you and everyone you know, but the job pays well and gives you plenty of time to pursue your &#42;real&#42; passions. As long as you keep the bosses happy, they give you a surprising amount of leeway. Though if you're being honest, not everybody could keep up with the exacting standards of the likes of doctors Kozo Fuyutsuki and Ritsuko Akagi. Yep, if your name is Shigeru Aoba, you're actually pretty good at your job, if you do say so yourself.

Which is exactly why, the moment the alarms go off and the main screen abruptly switches over to a &#42;very&#42; scary diagram of NERV's computer infrastructure, Shigeru Aoba is instantaneously off his coffee-and-air-guitar break and back to work. Dealing with this specific situation is what he had been trained to do; it's what he's paid a ton of money to do.

"Intrusion detected in the security mainframe," he hears himself say, fingers flying across the keyboard at blindingly, face-meltingly fast speeds. "They're brute-forcing the password what about the firewall!?"

"Already penetrated!" Makoto Hyuga answers. "Deploying decoy, Trace in eighteen seconds!" The two of them share the same brain cell at times like these, and it is one &#42;hell&#42; of a brain cell. Between these two and one Maya Ibuki, they represent one of the best systems engineering teams on the planet.

A wave of red washes over green, the intruder's progress through NERV's security server an inexorable tide moving at utterly inhuman speeds. Being surprisingly good at his job is why Aoba knows that no human should be able to brute force through the twelfth no, sixteenth digit of the hash in &#42;seconds.&#42;

Being surprisingly good at his job is also why Shigeru Aoba is absolutely fucking terrified right now.

Because none of this should be happening. None of this is supposed to be &#42;possible&#42;. And yet-

"Trace complete," Aoba reports, dread solidly gaining a foothold in his voice, "It's coming from inside this facility. Origin... Three intrusions! I can't pin down the exact location! This signal..." Is one that has only recently been added to NERV's lexicon and sensing capabilities. A new pattern for a new foe-- one very appropriately named, given who and what they are. "Pattern Gold, that's--"

"The security department's main banks have been compromised!" He hears Hyuga shout, "It's accessing the main database! I can't cancel it!"

"A Ruin Apostle? What's it after?" The voice belongs to Fuyutsuki, gravelly and steady and inquisitive even through the increasingly desperate panic gripping the room. He has a feeling. Of the former members of GGG, only a handful could do something like this. But to attack so directly...

Aoba's fingers fly, his eyes flit across his screen, processing data at speeds few could hope to match. "It's searching through the main path--" Realization. His heart drops into his gut. "Wait, that's the code for-- No! It's trying to crack the MAGI!"

"'Trying' is something of an understatement."

The voice comes from everywhere and nowhere at once. No. From the intercom. The control room goes silent, all eyes fix on the main monitor as the tide of red swallows up what's left of the file system...

And abruptly, inexplicably flashes to the color of the sky at dawn.

"Hello there. I'm afraid that this is where you're all going to meet your end. It's nothing personal, of course." The voice drawls, every other monitor flickering to an image of a solid, orange-backed screen-- and the face of a being that has not been seen on Earth for years.

The Electric Superman: Gridman... Sigma.

"Any other circumstances, I'd love to talk shop. But you meat-things have lived for too long already." Again, the screen shifts, even as alarms begin to scream throughout the Geofront. It's...

The image, three five-sided irregular polygons linked together, the representation of the trinity of the MAGI, is wrong. Two are a pale blue, but the third the third is a vibrant, angry orange. "The MAGI-- Melchior has been reprogrammed by the intruder," this time it's Maya, but her report is cut short. Words reverberate throughout the whole of the Geofront, through its hallways and corridors, words that chill to the very bone.

'Artificial intelligence Melchior has proposed autonomous self-destruct. Rejected. Rejected. Rejected--'

To self-destruct, all three computers need to agree. The artificial intelligences must come to consensus, as a failsafe to prevent this exact situation from unfolding. And yet...

"Oho, a tricameral system? Fascinating, but it won't stop us." This is only the beginning of the terror.

"Melchior is hacking Balthasar!" Thin tendrils of bright, orange light begin to spear through the sky-blue of the second polygon. At this rate, it'll only be a matter of time--

"And just in case you weren't sure that we were serious, I suggest you check your security cameras."

"We've got Pattern Gold all over the place," Hyuga squawks, the klaxon for 'intruder alert' screaming out into the already cacophonous sirens. "So many... How did they get in?!"

"Probably the same way that the hackers did," Fuyutsuki mutters. "Commander, your orders...?"

All eyes turn toward the man at the back of the room, the rock that anchors NERV through even the most turbulent of storms: Gendo Ikari.

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
<poem>
        -That Morning-
        
        What is a human being?
        
        Kaworu Nagisa has spent many lifetimes pondering that question. He's still pondering it. But there's one thing he does know for sure:
        
        A human being is wondrous.
        
        He comes in early in the morning on Sunday to perform his duties as administrator. He always looks calm, sure, and relaxed, but he's especially so today--perhaps because of a recent trip to the beach; perhaps because he's regained use of his right arm, if with a brace to stabilize his shoulder. But that's beside the matter. He takes one look at the systems and, after a moment of consideration, looks over at Ritsuko, who is discussing a technical matter with her junior, Maya.
        
        "Dr. Akagi," he calls. "I was wondering--would you be interested in becoming acquainted with the Nadesico's systems operator?"
        
        It does require a touch of convincing. But only a touch, once he's finished explaining Ruri's incredible technical capabilities to her.
        
        "It does sound like it would be a valuable meeting," Ritsuko soon agrees. "I'll have to double-check my schedule, but I should be able to fit in something the week after--"
        
        "Right now," Kaworu interrupts.
        
        Ritsuko stares at him. "Right now? While I'm working? While we both are?"
        
        "Yes."
        
        "...Are you suggesting she be brought ''here''? To Central Dogma?"
        
        "That's correct."
        
        As Ritsuko shakes her head in disbelief, Maya cuts in, "Excuse me for saying so, but that's absurd! The Commander would never agree to it! At the very least, you'd have to get so much paperwork submitted and signed off on before you could even ask him to make that decision..."
        
        "That's not a problem. I'll handle it retroactively, Miss Maya," Kaworu replies, unruffled. His gaze flicks over to Ritsuko. "But she needs to come here to see you right now, Dr. Akagi."
        
        Ritsuko peers at him as she folds her arms. "Why?"
        
        Kaworu continues to smile. He says nothing, however.
        
        She sighs, then looks up at Gendo Ikari, overlooking Central Dogma and its various workings from his commander's seat. Fuyutsuki, standing next to him, has his attention on something else, but Gendo's inscrutable gaze is on them. As such, she says, "Your thoughts, Commander?"
        
        Expression hidden behind his folded hands, Gendo focuses on Kaworu. Kaworu turns his smile to him, gaze level and unwavering. They stare each other down for a full twenty seconds, each resolute long after Fuyutsuki turns his attention to them, long after Ritsuko and Maya are left uncomfortable.
        
        "Contact the Nadesico. Bring Ruri Hoshino here," Gendo decrees.
        
        "Commander?!" Ritsuko utters.
        
        But Kaworu's smile only broadens. "A wise decision," he says. He looks over at Maya. "Then if you could handle that, please, Miss Maya?"
        
        As a flustered Maya gets on reaching out to the Nadesico for a sudden, immediate, and impromptu get-together, Fuyutsuki leans down to murmur in Gendo's ear, "Ikari, are you sure about this? Never mind letting an outsider in this far; that youth is..."
        
        "I know," Gendo rumbles in response. "But this is a good opportunity to see how SEELE's Boy plays his hand."
        
        Fuyutsuki frowns. Still, he doesn't argue the point, and simply stands up straight again. It isn't long before the Nadesico is patched through, and an immediate meeting between Dr. Akagi and Ruri Hoshino is arranged to take place in the heart of NERV Headquarters.
        
        -------
        
        -Now-
        
        "Commander, your orders?" Fuyutsuki asks. All eyes turn to Gendo Ikari.
        
        The gruff man has been watching everything unfold with a seemingly passive eye, taking in all information as it comes. Though it might seem as though he hasn't done anything, it's clear that his mind has been active when he immediately presses his gloved hands to his desk and rises.
        
        "Shut down all outside communication except to the Nadesico. Evacuate all non-essential personnel. Dr. Akagi, prepare a counter-offensive against the Ruin Apostle while directing a delay of the infection. Col. Katsuragi, take those skilled at CQC and escort our guest to the Nadesico to link up the MAGI with Omoikane. Once the systems are linked, we take the offensive. Move!"
        
        As the others scramble to make it so, Kaworu turns his gaze down from Commander Ikari to the young girl beside him. "So he says, Ruri-san. Are you all right with helping us out?" Once she confirms, he nods and gives her an encouraging smile, then steps over towards Ritsuko and the bridge crew with the help of his walking cane.
        
        "I'll stay here to help defend Dr. Akagi and the others," he announces. "Anyone who feels more comfortable defending a base, please stay as well."

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Misato Katsuragi has posed.
<poem>
Misato knows what humans are.

Humans are weak. Humans are violent. Humans are strong. Humans are myriad. Humans simultaneously want to belong and be unique. They are foolish and brilliant and a mess of contradictions. They want to live and yet they constantly push themselves on the edge of death. Humans are secretive and are desperate to let  their secrets be known. Humans live and die defending people they hate and, often, hate them in turn. Misato has been a human all her life. She's quite experienced at the job. She defends humanity because she knows precisely what they are. The world out there has no patience for contradictions. The universe out there loathes complexity. Existence desires a singular answer. Misato will fight to the death to oppose that ideology.

THAT MORNING

Misato was hoping for a light day today. She made plans to go swimming with Ritsuko because when your diet consists of ramen and infinite carbs and beer, you have to do these sorts of things. At first, it seems like she might get what she wishes.

"Ohho," She tells Ritsuko. "Sounds like Kaworu made a new friend. Must be a clever girl if he wants to send her your way."

Misato then promptly stops worrying about it until Kaworu mentions that she wants Ritsuko to meet her RIGHT NOW.

"Hey hold on a minute--" Misato begins. "Kaworu, you know no way the Commander's going to authorise a visit here without a security screening. I'm sorry, but as a matter of security--"

Gendo gives his orders.

Misato's expression goes flat. "What." She is perfectly willing to challenge Gendo's orders even if she ultimately can't do anything about them. "You know what, fine. Lets bring in a foreign data specialist. What can go wrong?"

NOW

Misato watches some kind of evil AI face talk about how they're all going to die. Misato listens, pulling back the safety on her pistol as she does so. Once the useful information has been disseminated, points with her sidearm and blows out the monitor with a single pistol round, sending sparks flying. "Damn data beings." She says. "They're getting cocky. Suspiciously prescient timing of Kaworu here." Misato looks to Ruri. "Alright, you heard 'em. We'll be counting on you. We'll handle the fighting but just in case..."

Misato casually underhand tosses the pistol  she just fired to Ruri. "Mind the trigger, it's sensitive." She's old enough to fire one of those, Misato thinks, maybe a little young but Kaworu invited her so it's fine. She didn't wait for Ruri to give permission. Time is of the essence.

It's fine. This is fine.

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
<poem>
        THAT MORNING:

        "A message coming through from NERV... they're requesting Ruri?" Megumi Reinard, the Nadesico's communication officer, frowns. "''Now,'' they're saying... what's going on?"

        Ruri Hoshino, the thirteen-year-old systems operator beside Megumi at her station, looks over with a stoic expression. (She's the only youth on the bridge, so it's quite notable.) "Can you identify the signature, Megumi-san?"

        "It's a Maya Ibuki, asking for... Kaworu-kun," and Megumi, at least, is more casual about him; the fey NERV boy has made a positive impression on Ruri's comrades, given how she speaks of him.

        Ruri's eyes close, for just a moment. "I see," she acknowledges her, with a nod, before her chin rises up. "Mr. Aoi," she calls up, to the Nadesico's Executive Officer currently manning the bridge, "I'd like to go." There's little inflection to her voice which could carry the request; it's notable that she makes it at all.

        Jun Aoi, official Second-in-Command and tragic victim of camera cut-aways, nods --

        ~&#42;~

        Entering Central Dogma as a guest is QUITE the procession. Ruri isn't unused to security, but the type she knows best is ''corporate'' security, concerned largely with the contents of thumbsticks and data pads. NERV's idea of security, on the other hand, is -- well, dryly, the civilian called Ruri Hoshino would describe it as a touch excessive.

        She doesn't, though. She's very polite, and even if the Newtype who greets her at one stage of the process might sense she's somewhat nervous entering the inner depths of Kaworu's home, she has no malicious intent. She minds her escort, and lets each gate conduct their checks and precautions.

        (Scanning Ruri's eyes during retinal imprint checks reveals they're a perfectly normal yellow. Sometimes golden eyes are a portent; hers don't seem to be. ... they are, of course, ''perfectly'' normal.)

        When she enters Central Dogma, she is calm and collected, despite the heavy weight of portent in the room. She's dressed in a Nergal operational uniform, with a yellow vest over a white shirt and black shorts; her shoes are metal-grey, a black tie about her neck. Her skin is pale to white, and her lilac hair, all held up in twin-tails by red beads, has barely more colour. "My name is Ruri Hoshino," she introduces herself, quite properly, "systems operator of the Nadesico." She makes no apology for her age. Perhaps she hardly needs to, here; Evangelion pilots are frequently fourteen, and she's only a year younger, now.

        "Well," she goes on, "I was the one who introduced the warning about Kaworu-san to your communication systems, back then. If you've asked me here to answer for my actions, I'll take responsibility," Ruri insists, and it would be easy to call her ''brave,'' except that her expression hasn't shifted from stoic and her tone hasn't left its mild neutrality. "Since I only asked them to do what they were comfortable doing anyway, and I didn't intrude on any systems who were feeling particularly unfriendly." The small girl bows, at the waist, in the Japanese style. "Even so, I'm sure it was disruptive, so I'll apologise for being pushy."

        It's a very direct way to make their acquaintance, but then, Ruri is a very direct sort of girl.

        By some wonder or miracle, she avoids calling Commander Gendo Ikari a fool.

        ~&#42;~

        It doesn't take long for everything to go wrong. Distantly, Ruri wonders whether she'll be suspected. It ''is'' rather suspicious.

        Those thoughts are far away, though, because there's something far more pressing -- and she ''feels'' the pressure, though she isn't trying to intrude, as the computers in Central Dogma work the commands given them and report the MAGI's decrees.

        Her gaze focuses on the screen; she remembers what Alexis told her, back then. "That colour, it's..." ... the sky at dawn, 1 to 0.

        Ruri's hand tightens, grasping by her chest. "The MAGI can't do this alone," she insists, and there's just a light frown on her face, but for ''her'' it's a deep expression of her concern. "Even if you argue with your companions, you can't just ignore them. If Melchior's infected, she'll figure out how to convince Balthasar eventually. And eventually isn't a very long time for a human being."

''What is a human being, anyway?''
''Well, it's true that I can keep up with computers, but biologically I'm not all that different.''
''But even though Melchior isn't human, she's still got this negative charge...''
''Will the MAGI turn to light and disappear, too?''

        She hesitates, thoughtful, but only for a moment. "Let Omoikane and I help," Ruri volunteers, looking straight to the silent wall of Gendo. "Actually, the computer running the Nadesico is curious, too... I mean," she shakes her head, she translates: "Omoikane's also what you call a Super AI. Since we're not from here, we'll be able to give them a different argument." Her fingers tighten, in her grip.

        "The MAGI can be saved."

        Regardless of where she heard it, it's the sort of thing she would say.

        Thankfully, her words -- and everyone else's -- don't fall on deaf ears; when Gendo ''does'' speak, Ruri listens, too. There's a moment afterwards when she can turn to Kaworu, and perhaps he can feel this unease, under the iceberg of her neutrality. "I'd prefer not to show ourselves, but it's a desperate situation," she confirms, flatly. "And Omoikane would never approve of self-destructing... he's always encouraging me not to. So it's all right." She pauses, and adds: "Please be careful, Kaworu-san."

        Written in those four words and an honourific are all the strain of someone so young getting into so ''many'' of these desperate situations, even though she, herself, has no skills in close-quarters combat at all.

        Which might explain why when she catches the pistol Misato throws, she actually looks ''alarmed.'' This is striking, because it's the first time something so plain has crossed her face, despite the warnings on those now-shot-out screens. It fades quickly, though she still looks vaguely unnerved as she gingerly holds the grip. "Fool," she frowns, eyes on the weapon. "Just because I handle the Nadesico's weapons systems doesn't mean I know how to fire a..." But the Colonel is already revealing quite a few ''other'' guns, which look even ''more'' frightening, so Ruri has no choice but to hurry after Misato, gun in hand.

        Her heart is pounding out of her chest, but it's fine. Her mind is pounding from the stress of the systems around her, but it's fine. She's holding a pistol, but it's fine.

        Now it's a mission. Time to get to work.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.
<poem>

EARLIER: Silence; the loud silence of the vessel, where LCL was pressurized to the point of a fluidic state. Silence and water and light.

''The emptiness.''
''I do not see it, yet it lives.''
''The other. ''
''The other is I.''
''I am the other. ''

''A mirror turned against a mirror.''
''Where light is sustained.''

''White. Green. Red. Gray.''
''Inception. Growth. Synthesis. Death.''

"Rei," said the Commander.

Rei's eyes opened, with a sleepy exhaustion. The profound cellular exertion left a mark. Through the faint yellow-orange, past the strips of seals upon the clear wall.

"Yes."

"Good work."

"Yes," Rei echoed.

BUT

NOW

The exhaustion has not entirely left Rei Ayanami when she is informed that there is a crisis. Rei experiences this by the simple fact that she was sitting in the changing room when the sirens began. Rei looks upwards, slowly, and yet the instructions from the command center reach the room immediately.

Rei says, "Understood."

Blinks twice.

Rei looks towards the intercomm panel, and sees that a small green speck of light she has always seen as green is now showing as amber. The touchscreen is showing cryptic statements about fail-secure. There is a button. Rei presses it.

Rei states, "Ayanami. Standing by." which likely updates twelve situation boards. And after saying that, Rei stands with a little arm-swinging effort, and opens, not the locker with her uniform in it, but the other one -- with the plugsuit.

Fortunately for Rei, she is exactly one door away from the command center of Central Dogma.

</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.
<poem>

Asuka doesn't know what humans are.

She thought she knew what they were, with all of their disgusting, messy day to day interactions that set them apart from her.  Their ability to navigate them effortlessly.  Now...  she's not so certain, as she gradually inserts herself more and more of pretending to emulate them.  All she knows is she was wrong, about so much, and her answer is one that is ever-changing, and expanding.

Take for instance, one Ruri Hoshino.  Child prodigy - Nadesico systems operator - and someone that Asuka suspects isn't actually human either.  She once upbraided her, bullied her over her failures - because she believed one failure when it comes to ones purpose was all it took to be disposed of.

Asuka's failed time and time again though since then, she's embraced weakness...  and she's still here. And it's now Ruri is someone she's escorting to her destination.

Asuka's in her plugsuit purely because she was in a test, like Rei when the alerts began.

Thanks to her AEU days, she definitely knows what team she's on. "Right behind you, Colonel." Grabbing an assault rifle - in particular a STORAGE LAR20 Beam Rifle from off the wall Misato opens, before slinging the strap over her shoulder.

"Tck." She looks at Ruri as she calls them all fools and notes she doesn't know how to use it.  Then moves over to her, putting her hand on the Pistol, and putting it down. "Point it down at all times.  Only raise it if you intend to shoot and not before."

She points at the safety, "Flick that off first right before you do.  Sight it here-" As she points to the Ironsights, "-then squeeze the trigger." Looking at the young girl and her arms, she says, "Mind the noise, and the recoil.  It'll be a lot for you."

She gives the other girl an intense stare, blue eyes trying to meet her gold, "Think you can really pull this off?  Guess I'll get to see if you're just hype or not..."

Maybe she feels bad about how she treated her before...  but if Ruri doesn't perform today, they're all dead.  She can feel regret for this one later.

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
<poem>

        What is a human being? It is not a plant.

        Just like Lucine is a gardener. She is not a bodyguard. But something about the situation poked at Lucine's Newtype mind in a bothersome way, like seeing a flower just before the first leaf was about to drop due to an illness. A state of illness and wellness, where either can be true depending on whether it was Lucine's own mind speaking, or if it was, instead, just a sense of paranoia.

        "Ah...  Ruri, how about I come with?"

~&#42;~

        Despite dressed in the Nadesico uniform, a red and black long-sleeved skirted number with silver shoulderpads, Lucine is still a gardener. There are no gardens in Central Dogma-- at least, the sorts Lucine could influence. There is a reluctance on Lucine's part to leave Ruri, but, with with security being what is it for a reason.... "... I see. Yes. That would be a problem, if I entered..."

        Itch itch, itch itch. Lucine's nervousness is kept behind the distantly pleasant expression, her eyes a similar gold to Ruri's, but a deeper tone compared to Ruri's fine hue. Similarly, it's perfectly normal, inherited from her father, a perfectly normal man.

        ".... Ah, Liam?" It may be strange how Lucine simply turns to where the soldier is immediately as soon as he comes to a certain distance of her. "If it would be alright... may you take my place? If you have the proper clearance. I imagine you would be a better fit than I would be, anyhow. I don't mind waiting here." A gentle smile, and already, Lucine feels better.

        It was likely all paranoia anyway.

        ~&#42;~
        
        It was not paranoia. "....?!" Lucine looks up from the bench where she was waiting patiently just as the sirens start to blare."... Oh no..."

        She bolts up from her seat, drawing out her phone. "Liam, is everything alright?! What is causing the sirens? Is Ruri okay?!"

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
<poem>

        Not That Long Ago

        A familiar figure waits for Ruri and Lucine not far from the entrance: a big, broad-shouldered young man, maybe eighteen years of age. His head is shaved, and he wears a beret and jumpsuit that mark him as a NERV pilot. Liam's face softens at the sight of them, and he flashes Lucine a smile that seems honest-to-God friendly. "Lucine," he says. "Ruri. Good to see you again." But they're here with a mission, and it would be unwise to keep them. "I do," Liam says, turning to Lucine. "I have the necessary clearances and radio codes. We won't be long." The smile flutters a little. Liam turns to Ruri next. "Please follow me, Ruri."

        Now...

        Liam stands near the lift shaft, doing his best to be a part of the scenery as people very much above him in NERV's heirarchy discuss matters with their guest. His posture is ramrod-straight, and his gaze flicks here and there, idly watching the beating information heart that is Central Dogma. This is the first time that Liam's been down here, and there's ''so much'' to see, but at the same time, he doesn't want to pry. Not when Gendo Ikari--Shinji's absentee father, he reminds himself--is right there, looming gargoyle-like over the proceedings. There was a breach. Ruri didn't intend for it to compromise NERV. The conversation continues.

        And then, the alarms go off, and Shigeru Aoba starts fretting at his station.

        'Intrusion detected in the security mainframe,' he says, and a frisson of fear races down Liam's spine. His laser-focus turns to the command-center techs, and then to the screen that lights up. A face. Liam recognizes that face--!

        'Hello there. I'm afraid that this is where you're all going to meet your end. It's nothing personal, of course.'

        "An Ultraman?!" Liam squawks, terror and rage lighting up his eyes. Realization settles in a moment later. Close, but he's not correct. "--No. A ''Gridman''?"

        But why? Why would one of them ''do this''!?

        Orders go out, and Liam goes silent again, listening. When he speaks next, his voice is tight with tension, but still deeply, almost painfully focused. "Pilot Seven-Dash-Zero-Two-Zero acknowledges orders. Opening channel."

        Liam keeps the body of a short-range radio beneath the collar of his jumpsuit. When Lucine's voice crackles into his earpiece, his head snaps up; he turns back to watch Misato and Asuka converging on Ruri.

        "Incursion," Liam says. "Enemy suspected unidentified Gridman. Central Dogma compromised. Wait there; Colonel Katsuragi and Asuka are en route with Ruri. They have further orders." As he speaks, Liam moves over to the weapon locker, and smoothly extracts another of those STORAGE rifles. He practiced with one of them not that long ago. It rests comfortably in his hands. "Stay safe," Liam says, allowing the tiniest hint of sentimentality into his voice. "Please come back a--"

        Of course, certain ''others'' might have their own thoughts on the matter.

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
<poem>
Sometimes testing in an Evangelion unit involves a great deal of inaction. Show up. Get inside. Feel and report. Let them collect and sort the data. Is it going well? Poorly? Shinji's not always sure. It feels different today. Hazier and strange. Trapped in a small space with his senses threatening to turn off... It's only the nostalgic smell that keeps Shinji calm.

Calm, but tired. For having done effectively nothing, his body is rattled and drained. Space to move and breathe will help. He can walk it off. Eat something.

His mind is always wandering in the inbetween moments, but certainly not to the question of what humns are. He has no idea what humans are beyond how to get full marks on a school test asking that question: what's he's expected to say they are. The truth is more complex. Messy, yeah. Full of spines. A lot of what he thought was just him is in other people.

And some of those people aren't human, not that he knows every instance of that truth.

Shinji is not yet out of his plugsuit when the sirens go off, and adrenaline rushes to take the pace of his fatigue. That's a test, right? A false alarm? The instructions through the intercom have his pulse hammering harder.

This isn't a test.

There's a heat knife in his belongings. The one Eisen gave him. A weapon. It feels heavy and wrong, but he keeps making himself take it because he if he hadn't had it that day, what more would have happened? He doesn't want it. He doesn't want to need it. Shinji could throw it into the sea, but situations where a heat knife is needed wouldn't stop.

It's a lot like an Eva that way.

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
<poem>
Guy Shishioh is not often down this far into the Geofront. He's not ''disallowed'' - his status as Acting Chief of GGG Green, however silly it might seem on the surface to be the chief of an organization with one member, grants him wide access. Mostly he's just busy, doing that very job, coordinating preparations against the Ruin Apostles, monitoring the various science crime projects GGG Blue has been tackling. Staring at the sea of twinkling stars, thinking about people he can't be with right now. The usual stuff.

Still, from time to time, the need is obvious.

Guy had been in the sprawling campus of Central Dogma, bringing with him a few drives of data for use in the Evangelions' simulation systems - old Zonders, a spec update for GaoFighGar and GaoGaiGo. A refined simulation of the sprawling space battle against Z-Master.

A new scenario built around an enemy called Palparepa PLUS. He doesn't like that one. Alouette did an excellent job constructing an enemy she could never have seen.

Guy has no particular business in the command room at present - he's a few doors down, killing time with his own team over coffee while the NERV core crew attend to a guest. But...he senses it, in the G-Stones that make up his every cell. This unpleasant, burning feeling...

"Something's happening," he says, urgently, to Mamoru, and Ikumi, and Alouette Pommier, and rises at once, taking off at an inhuman sprint.

He doesn't have to kick down the doors to the command center but he enters at a speed like he would have.

His jaw sets, upon seeing what's on the screen. "Gridman Sigma," he growls. How? Nidaime had said... "So you're striking right here, huh!?"

He sounds angry, not confused.

As the plan is laid out, he's already working on his own side: "PhantomGao's in the Geofront sky. I can't Equip without a line of sight to it. Still...Mamoru, Ikumi, we'll help protect the mobile team. I think we'll be the most help on the escort." He glances to Misato, just a brief confirmation, before adding, "Alouette, it's better if we don't bring these any closer to Sigma than necessary. Stay here. Do what you can. If anyone can shore up their security, I know it's you."

He hands her the drives, giving her a focused look. "Be careful."

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> GaoGaiGo Team has posed.
<poem>
Mamoru and Ikumi came with Guy Shishioh and Alouette Pommier. They haven't actually been to Central Dogma, Mamoru's eyes twinkling as he looks around, Ikumi hiding his curiosity behind a stoic mask.

And then Guy speaks up, and then the Sirens go off. Gridman Sigma...a Ruin Apostle. As Guy gives his orders inside the command room, the two nod. "Right! We don't have our battle armor...but that just means we'll be lighter on our feet, right? Let's make sure everyone's safe." Mamoru says, followed by Ikumi turning to Alouette. "Good luck, Pommier. We'll handle it outside."

The two will leave with Guy once he's ready to go, telekinetic energy boosting their movement and harnessing around their fists in preparation.

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Alouette Kaas has posed.
<poem>

        A sound reaches to consciousness in the black. Alouette Kaas begins to resolve the sounds, voices while her eyes struggle to open. Two voices...

                "''What is a human being? It's what WE are, and what THEY aren't!''"

                "''How myopic and paltry. Limited in feeble mind I say! They are human, because of the beautiful things that make us human, not these fleshy prisons. These are like, flowers in a vase, wilting and decaying the moment they are cut from the stem, dying. What is human, is the experience. They have that, as do we.''"

                "''What a bunch of... Dammit it's waking up! Get the n-...''"

                        A  L  A  R  M  S  B  L  A  R  E

        Alouette's eyelids open, fast and wide. Orange and blue irises adjust and the pupil dilates to the ambient light... of a south facing observation room in NERV HQ. On a bench, leaning against a wall, Alouette doesn't remember coming here, so much as having an idea about it. but the piercing of the alarm breaks through any want to pursue that further.

        Alouette checks her mobile device for any quick updates. She gets enough, and her destination is set. The Fourth Child dashes around the corner, and opens a small panel which gives access to the associated locker, equipped for such things. Alouette gets herself fitted with a vest, a belt and climbing rig, and loads up what magazines she can, before arming herself, and finally arranging ascent/descent gear. Finally a quick wrap with her hair and a helmet, and a heavy sigh to settle into the weight of it all. All rigged, she sets her comms.

        "Alouette Kaas, Fourth child comms up. OpSec so don't give locations over open comms. I'm heading to rally point Theta."

        Alouette leaves her comms open, and the rig will activate hands free, and with that, rather than using the elevator, the Britannian Officer goes to the maintenance shaft access panel. Forcing the prybar hard between the seams, she is able to rip it off. She shakes her head at the less than desireable one meter by one meter portal, and squeezes in. Once attaching the descending gear, and testing it for surety, Alouette Kaas begins a rapid repel down into Central Dogma.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.
<poem>
It's been a busy day for Yuta! Preparing for the Deculture Festival with his classmates, though some of the fun had been taken out of it by the looming kaiju attack, was still an experience Yuta enjoyed. Painting, decorating, brainstorming... it was great to work together. Meeting a new friend at the Junk shop was every bit as exciting, but unfortunately, their meeting was cut short.

Yuta tries to sink into his seat as his wristband begins beeping. Passing it off as his cell phone, with an apologetic bow, he runs out of the shop. Skirting around the building, he makes his way into the Synchrotank, where Gridman is waiting on Junk's screen.

"Yuta!" Gridman calls, "Something's gone wrong at NERV HQ. I can't tell exactly what it is, but we need to get there right away!"

Immediately, Yuta has his cellphone out. "Right, Gridman!" After a quick call to Rikka, Yuta turns to leave the tank and wait for her, and nearly crashes into Calibur.

Taking one look at Yuta's distressed face, Calibur turns sideways and enters Synchrotank. "Get Rikka. W--we need to go."

During the train ride, Yuta's thoughts might go to wondering about humans. He'd believe he was one, and now, he was looking in from the outside. Humans were... friends and allies. Gods. Today, he'd learned they were capable of unbelievably cruelty. Leina's words stay with him, making his heart beat faster. Humans were... someone to protect. He wouldn't let another Bloody Valentine come to pass, not ever!

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
<poem>
As someone who once had her humanity compromised... humans are all the more important.

Over at Geofront, Alouette Pommier has been helping with some busywork for 3G - testing, simulations, and upgrades. She doesn't mind this: it's important work and it's done wonders for taking her mind off of everything else that has been going on. Although it does create some of its own worries, of course. She can tell that Guy is troubled as well. Doubtlessly because of the battles to come, maybe even against old friends that Pommier wasn't around to know.

Guy senses that something's happening, and seconds later, NERV's sirens begin to blare. "Gridman... Sigma?" Bizarre. Everything always seems to come back to Tsutsujidai... but that definitely &#42;isn't&#42; Yuta's Gridman.

Guy briefs her on the plan, and it's sensible to her, she is perfectly capable of handling security, although part of her worries about being separated from the rest of 3G. "Understood. Please, stay safe out there, Chief, Mamoru... Ikumi." Although... she knows they will be safe, they're heroes after all. She tightly clutches the drive that Guy has entrusted her with and quickly makes her way to Central Dogma. It's not a very.. accessible area but it should be okay if it's Guy's orders. Pommier doesn't really recognize anyone here too well, except for Liam, who she's honestly surprised has stayed behind for defense. Some she remembers from the last NERV meeting about Akane Shinjo. She quickly makes a formal introduction on radio, to ensure everyone knows she is not an enemy. "This is Alouette Pommier, 3G Blue Operator. 3G Green Chief Guy Shishioh has tasked me with patching up your security, if that's okay." She softly adds, "Don't worry, I should be able to handle the controls."

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
<poem>
Rikka really just wants to enjoy the Deculture Festival and the lead-up while she can. She ''knows'' it's going to get interrupted, so that's all the more reason for her to try and enjoy it while she can. The usual frantic preparations... it might be an ordinary school life, but that's what she wants right now. Preparing for the festival, and then using the rest of the day going out with her friends to complain about all the work they've been doing.

It's nice. ...But, unfortunately, today, it's short-lived, as Rikka receives a fateful phone call from Yuta.

"Ugh, seriously...?" Rikka complains with a sigh, massaging her forehead. "Why does it have to be ''today''...?"

She knows that danger isn't going to wait for the most convenient time, but it always seems to wait for when she'd rather be doing anything else. ...But, she has friends in NERV. As much as she might want to stay here, she can't in good conscience do that while they might be getting hurt, or worse.

She never could stand by when people might be in danger.

"Alright... I'll be right there." Rikka says with a sigh, before coming up with a quick excuse and hurrying back over to the shop.

She's quick about it - immediately sliding into her designated seat once she gets there.

"Alright... Tokyo-3, right? Let's get moving." She says.

She just hopes everyone will still be alright when they get there.

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Takeshi Todo has posed.
<poem>
A bullet smashes straight through the monitor, piercing it square in the middle of the dawn-hued Gridman's forehead. For a moment, everything is quiet, as if the room had been silenced by the thunder of the gunshot.

"Wow. Not particularly hospitable hosts, are we?" Another monitor flickers away to the Gridman's armored face. Somehow, despite its mouth being completely covered, it just ''radiates'' that 'smug smirk' energy. "Please, continue to waste ammunition," Another monitor turns. Then another, then another. It's only the handful of terminals that the security team have hardened that seem immune, but how long will that last...? "The harder you struggle, the worse this'll be. It'll make this go so much more smoothly if you all just give up now. After all..."

Security codes are subverted. Doors throughout the halls slam shut one after another. Escape hatches seal over. There's a clear way out, of course, but it's a tortuous path. Anyone who knows the layout of Central Dogma well enough will realize that it's designed to be... disadvantageous to anyone trying to get out in one piece. Simultaneously, one of the monitors bearing Sigma's face shifts to display, of all things, one such sealed bulkhead... as it comes undone. ''Things'' ooze out through the gaping doorway. Like rat's nests of liquid metal and writhing wires, the creatures soon resolve into individual forms. They're... made of congealed-together office supplies and what look to be parts of Evangelion weaponry, each roughly man-sized. One type has a vaguely canine shape, its head tipped in what looks to be the edge of a progressive knife. Another looks like a photocopier unfolded into the shape of a man. Yet another seems to be a forklift transformed into a grotesque bull. Their shapes are myriad, all of them looking like they were conjured from the mind of a madman... Or perhaps a former Kaiju User. "Humanity... Humanity has existed for long enough, haven't we? We've made so much suffering. We make the world itself suffer too. Struggle will only make you hurt more-- but I suppose I know you all too well to think that you won't."

"Guy Shishioh. I should have figured you would be here. And those... Oh my word, is that Mamoru? Kaidou? You've both grown so much since I saw you last. Alouette, too. A shame that the circumstances of our reunion are so... unfortunate. I'd appreciate it if you'd all let the end come in peace, but I suppose Braves wouldn't be Braves if they just gave up--" Communicators. Liam's transmission abruptly breaks into static. "None of that. If you had something important to say, you should have told her while you had the chance," the Gridman says, "Maybe if you somehow both survive, you'll have the chance to tell her in person, huh?"

"The chances of that, though... Even with these unforeseen interlopers," there's a sense he means 'Ruri and the Nadesico' here, "Are less than one percent."

As if on cue, a ''very'' familiar machine rolls through the open doorway on the monitor. It's a perfectly ordinary motorcycle, with a set of heavy machineguns mounted just over its front wheel.

GunDober.

A member of the Strongest Brave Robo Corps... Its presence here can mean only one thing.

"Struggle as much as you like, humans. The end comes regardless." Sigma's voice devolves into a rattling, malevolent chuckle. It sounds ''remarkably'' practiced. As if someone spent a good deal of time standing in front of a mirror to get their villainous laugh down exactly right. But he has a point, this situation is dire. Monsters are coming for the main control room, and the only way out is fraught with danger. But...

Is it... really the only way out...?

Misato would know. Central Dogma would never have been designed with such a vulnerability, would it?
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
<poem>
        Through the chaos that reigns through Central Dogma, including Misato outright shooting the monitor on which Sigma had appeared, Kaworu remains serene. It's only a threat of mass death from an abrupt intruder, after all. A trifle to one such as he. It ''is'' a bit troubling that it's a Gridman, but that feel to his presence... Kaworu is hardly unfamiliar with it. It's how he knew there was something amiss in the first place. (He's just a ''bit'' above Hideo's level.)
        
        Misato takes assertive action, banging open a hidden panel to dole out firearms and leading a group out with her to escort Ruri back to the Nadesico. Ruri bids him stay safe, and Kaworu returns her well-wishes with a warm smile. "You too. We'll meet again soon," he reassures her. "Col. Katsuragi and the others will keep you safe."
        
        He looks over at Guy, Alouette Pommier, Mamoru, and Ikumi as they rush in at the sign of trouble. Guy of course has orders for his own team, and when he bids Pommier stay, Kaworu gives her a nod. "It is. We welcome your help, Alouette Pommier," he says, and gestures her forward to see her to a spare keyboard so she can get immediately to support. To Guy, Mamoru, and Ikumi, he simply says, "Be well."
        
        Asuka's already here, and she moves instantly to Misato's side, taking the time to show Ruri how to use a gun. Kaworu gives her a level look before changing his focus to the hallway, where Shinji and Rei still linger after tests. "Shinji, First--come here," he bids them, his voice crackling over a hallway speaker despite the fact that he isn't close to a microphone and most of the electronics have been seized besides. He doesn't specify where ''here'' is, but given that he was one of the few not doing tests today, where else would he mean?
        
        Alouette Kaas meanwhile is heading straight there. Kaworu's smile broadens as he looks up and over at the maintenance shaft where she's rapidly descending, well before she makes any sounds that others might notice. Maybe his hearing is just that sharp... but he does walk over and open the panel on his side so Kaas can enter easily, then seals it up behind her--unless of course a stray Mari pops out behind her first. But if so, he'll simply seal it up after ''her'' instead.
        
        "Good timing. The objective is to keep Gridman Sigma's controlled creatures at bay while Dr. Akagi and her team slow the enemy's intrusion into the MAGI," he tells Kaas. "Form a team with Liam. Shinji and Rei Ayanami should be arriving... now," he says, looking over at the doorway just in time for them to enter.
        
        It's good timing indeed. Everyone on defense gets inside, and everyone on escort gets ''outside'', just in time for Sigma to light the screens back up again and gloat about how they're all going to die. The bulkhead slowly warps into hideous monsters, man-sized machines out to end the life that still struggles within. But even as the horrors form:
        
        "Dr. Akagi, Pommier, Ibuki, Aoba, Hyuuga, continue as you are," Kaworu states with unrelenting calm. "Shinji, First, bring together materials to form a makeshift barricade. Kaas, Liam, destroy the incoming enemies."
        
        As for Kaworu himself... it doesn't seem like he's doing anything but carrying out Commander Ikari's orders. But Sigma will notice a subtle increase in difficulty intruding, while Ritsuko, Pommier, and the bridge crew will have an easier time inputting commands.
</poem>
 
 <Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
<poem>

        Liam has all the pieces he needs to make a rough outline of the situation. Central Dogma's functions run through three computers, and the Gridman--Gridman Sigma--has hacked one of them. He can't ''yet'' initiate the self-destruct, but he can do plenty of other things, even with his limited control. Liam's hands tighten around his rifle as images flicker over the massive walls of monitors. It gives added urgency to his words, as does the Gridman's ''greeting''--he knows GGG.

        Static.

        A chill runs down Liam's spine, and for a moment, he sees another face on that monitor, and hears another voice. He blinks, and it's Gridman Sigma talking to him, not Hephaestus. A trick of memory.

        'The chance of that though... Even with these unforeseen interlopers... Are less than one percent.'

        "Hurt them," Liam says, his voice calm, and cold as the outer void, "and I kill you, Gridman."

        But then Kaworu takes charge, and gives Liam blessed, precious direction. "Can anything be airwalled?" he says, "Can anything be manually separated from the network?" It's how he broke out the Proto Helios, after all; as Alouette knows, that thing had multiple safeguards in it, and Liam managed to counter them.

        But first...

        "Acknowledged," Liam says. He takes a moment to study the cameras, identifying the canine prog-knife-thing's likely angle of attack. His boots pound out a rhythm on the floorplates as he rushes over to take up position--he takes a knee, draws the rifle up to his shoulder, and listens.

        He can get maybe three good shots off before it's on him, at its current speed.


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.
<poem>
What is a human being?

Mari Makinami Illustrious already knows her answer to that question. She's known it for a long, long time.

But she thinks it'd be boring to just tell you, even over the narration of this metatext. Don't you think so, too?

        ---

Everything is going to hell in Geofront. The MAGI are having an argument over the fate of life itself, the tripartite fractured by a schism as orange as the dawn of all things. Within the locker rooms of NERV, the twin-tailed Child of no designation slips on the baggy shell of a pink plugsuit. The pastel material sags into formless rolls over her as she carefully considers a small device in front of her.

"Hmmmm. This is bad. If they can't make it... He'd probably really like to know what was going on," she muses -- before tucking that little device away with a nonchalant shrug, and gripping the red button at her wrist with her opposite hand.

"Oh well~."

        &#42;click&#42;

        &#42;psssshhhh&#42;

"I'd really like it if he didn't, this time."

And, plugsuit snugly sealed, Mari Makinami Illustrious ambles lazily out of the lockers, turning leisurely in the direction of Geofront's weapons locker as the warm sound of her humming fills the air.

"Time to find a good look for the occasion~!"

        ---

There's music coming in distantly on the heels of Alouette Kaas' entrance. It echoes, across the narrow interior of the maintenance shaft.

        o/` "If wishes do come true 
             Then I hope happiness befalls anyone
             Who's lost their way
             And that the warmth comes to life,
             And kindness links them together,
             And that they'll get to meet again someday~" o/`

It's by 'someday~!' that Mari Makinami falls smoothly out of that maintenance shaft right as Kaworu is on the cusp of sealing it up; perfect timing, of course. She lands with a supernatural gymnast's grace and a bubbly "yohp!", soon hopping up to prim and proper stature; like she wanted to match, Mari -also- is wearing her plugsuit even though she -absolutely- wasn't undergoing any tests today. It's an open question whether or not she was supposed to be here, either.

But she comes accessorized, this time: with guns, and ammunition. Ready for the inevitability of violence and doom with a smile.

"What's the best way to settle an argument between family?" she wonders, Kaworu's way; it's an abrupt question, and for as curious as it is, it is presumably rhetorical; it isn't long after that Kaworu explains the situation; Mari's bright gaze turns towards the monitors, considering that sinister laugh that invades her ears with a soft "hum." Her head tilts. She looks sidelong towards Liam, making his freezing pronouncement. Brows briefly knit.

"Suffering, huh," she muses to herself. Kaworu lays out their orders. And Mari--

"I'll keep watch over Puppy Boy, Administrator!" she declares with a soldier's unyielding firmness; it really doesn't match the sparkle in her eye as she looks Shinji's way and offers him a glib little salute, her other hand falling for one of the sidearms at her hip.

"Let's all struggle as best we can, my darlings~."


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
<poem>
Shinji looks to Rei as they make their approach. He thinks he should say something. Maybe tell her it's going to be all right, or something like that. But he's the one shaken and unsure, and she shows no fear. He wonders if that means she's not afraid, or if it means she's not showing it.

She promised to protect him once before. Shinji had said it wasn't worth it. She still did it, and it had terrified him. So he tries something new.

"...We'll protect each other."

Kaworu predicts their arrival right on target, and Shinji offers two whole seconds of his full attention before his eyes dart to every stimulus. They eventually lock onto the screens as Sigma goes on about destroying humanity, and terrifyingly begins to make good on the promise to deal with the humanity in this building. There's no where to go. Not for any of them.

He can hear his own heart beating, his body stone still as he watches the liquid ooze. What are they supposed to do? Shinji looks to his father. Silence. It makes him hesitate. Why ask questions when there will be no answers? His trembling fingers clench into a fist at his side. He's not here alone with his father right now, or any of the forming monsters which should be the scarier of the things Shinji is going to need to face today.

"R... Right," he says to Kaworu, tremor in his voice before he hurries off. He psyches himself up before proceeding with property damage, grabbing every unoccupied chair he can to drag over as possible barricade material.

"Sorry, I'm borrowing this!" It's a quiet announcement, a formality he doesn't want anyone to hear because he doesn't want to interrupt, but he ''is'' about to start uprooting any additional furniture his scrawny arms can manage. Anything that has bullets in it already he assumes no one is going to miss.

Suddenly, there's Mari. "I'm struggling...!" he promises, grunting as he makes his next delivery.


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.
<poem>

As the plugsuit hisses tight around her, Rei moves quickly. She steps out just in time to see Shinji. Her eyes widen with surprise, and concern, and then back to her usual expression: "This way," Rei says, glancing into the corridor behind them as -

- her face colors slightly.

"... Yes," Rei answers Shinji a moment before:

Rei Ayanami emerges into Central Dogma's control center, and the first thing that she sees is a screen. The screen shows a passageway giving way. Something is in there. Shining liquid metal, writhing wires. Rei recognizes part of the firing action of the 440mm sniper rifle, dissected - when it sticks in a hallway Rei's eyes finish taking it in and she returns her attention to Kaworu.

"Understood," Rei says, advancing nearer to him, her face stoically blank. She is given clear, very clear instructions.

Rei is faced with a problem, looking around. What material is there?

There are the control stations but they are in use with the support tasks. Chairs are possible but are swiftly rejected. Rei looks in the opposite direction.

Then Rei looks towards the heavens. No.

She gestures with her left arm. It's curiously detached from the rest of her (the motion, naturally); she is indicating a space where no one is standing. Several seconds later a table of mahogany wood comes smashing down, holding intact; an ergonomic chair of metal and fabric shortly thereafter.

Rei turns the chair upright - so she can push it towards the access point on its wheels. The table is tested, but the luxury wood makes it heavy. Rei does not do more than test its weight and is in the process of saying, "Ikari, help me," when

                        ~ M A R I ~

Rei blinks twice, slowly, at the sudden arrival. "Mari," she states. "Help with this."

Seriously, it weighs like 120 kilograms. This is the kind of thing you can rate when you're the commander -- and that mass is perhaps going to help them, now. Rei crouches to take up one corner.


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
<poem>
Alouette Pommier gets the clear from Kaworu, who directs her to a seat, keyboard, and monitor. Even if she has taken to piloting recently, a command center is truly where she feels most at home. "Okay... I'll do my best." She nods, reassuredly at Kaworu. Pommier notices that even through all this chaos, Kaworu is one of the few who has remained truly calm, which she can respect. Taking a couple seconds at most to adjust to the OS of the computer in front of her, Pommier notices her options are.. quite limited. NERV is a top level facility; it's run by her boss' bosses, is their security really so fragile? Or perhaps they rely much on their Evas, like 3G relies much on their Brave Corps. Liam raises some good questions. "There aren't many security mechanisms to make use of against an army of this size. If there's anything we can use to weak their defenses, that would help."

Once again, the Gridman addresses the screen once again, with what just sounds like typical villain gloating. He recognizes Guy, Mamoru, and Ikumi and... he recognizes her too. "You've grown so much." In this field, she is used to hearing things like this from people she unfortunately no longer recognizes at all. She doesn't recognize him, either, wondering if maybe this Gridman is what links her to Tsutsujidai.

Next, the screen displays a motorcycle - Pommier recognizes this one from 3G's records. That is GunDober, which means everyone might be in a lot more danger than predicted, and 3G's battle may have began sooner than they thought, too. She reports this to the rest of the crew on defense of Central Dogma. "Report, that motorcycle on screen is GunDober, part of the Brave Corps who became compromised in Jupiter. If GunDober is around, Volfogg likely is as well. Combined, they are very dangerous. If spotted, proceed with caution!" She doesn't doubt the capabilities of those defending Central Dogma, quirks and all, but Volfogg was a formidable ally, and undoubtedly a formidable enemy too.

There's also the drive Guy had her keep.. data on past enemies and enemies 3G might have to face soon. Perhaps this could be a key to victory, so she can't let it fall into the enemy's hand.

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Alouette Kaas has posed.
<poem>

        A repelling assault is within the bag of skills the Fourth Child was given through experience in the Middle East campaigns, so the rapid descent in the dark wasn't a worry for the slender young woman. Even in this claustrophobic channel, the process of adjusting her speed just enough that she doesn't impact; counting the seconds and rate of descent since there are no indicators here in the black; maintaining even tension on the ropes so she doesn't create a shock in the line and loose her anchors.

        The air starts to change as she approaches the bottom. No longer being pulled down so fast due to negative pressure, there is a blast of air coming back as the current hits the barrier at the end. Lithe fingers in gloves clamp on the descender and Alouette comes to a silent stop. She is surprised the panel is already open, but wastes no time detaching herself from the lines. In seconds, Alouette Kaas rolls out from the shaft and brings up her weapon, a bullpup center-fire, FN P90. It only takes a moment for her to sweep the room, and see the situation, before she stands and settles the weapon close to her on it's sling.

        "Administrator."

        It's a habit, old one that has yet to be broken by influence of other Eva kids yet, but she does abbreviate he salute at least. Best thing really, as Mari makes it seem silly when she arrives. Alouette can't help but smile, and blush a bit. Mari is infectious. Alouette gives her a nod, and a gesture with her own weapon, seeing Mari came similarly equipped.

        Alouette looks to the others, Pommier, Ibuki, Aoba, Hyuuga, thinking at first they were being led by Dr. Akagi, but a second look says, something else. She turns to Kaworu, nodding to the instructions. When it comes to hers, a solid ascenting nod.

        "Aye Sir!"

        Alouette checks her gear quickly, first her side arm, M17, one in the chamber, full mag, back in the holster. Another side arm, this one from a holster on her chest rig, this one an Israeli Jericho 941, same routine. Then the P90. Fifty rounds per mag, 5.7x28mm armor piercing rounds. Lightweight so she is prepped with a twice as many magazines for the P90 as both pistols combined. The check only took a moment but it was all she could spare.

        How combat goes, it goes like this. There are no time-outs, no starter pistol announcing when to go, it's this, and all of them here, Alouette Pommier, Ibuki, Aoba, and Hyuug... Dr Akagi, Kaworu, Liam, Rei, Shinji, Mari... herself, they're well acquainted with it. Rei calls to Shinji and Mari to help, and they grab furniture to start building up cover. Wise. Alouette doesn't need to be told what to do. Her weapon comes up, familiar feeling and muscle memory it lines up right in sight line, and Alouette covers her 'family' with fire from the best anti-wtf small arms that NERV has.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Takeshi Todo has posed.
<poem>
Villainous gloating is like riding a bike. You never really unlearn how to do it. Moreso when you feel the need to break the old thing out of the shed and polish off the rust. It helps. It helps him cope with what he's doing. It helps distance what he knows in his heart to be what needs to be done, and the fact that he has to do it. That's the thing about this... whole situation--

In the end, those claimed by Triple Zero are still who they once were. Just... twisted. Their morals, the axioms they live by, have all been shifted. But that doesn't make them any less of what they used to be.

"I guarantee that if I have my way, none of them will hurt," Sigma answers Liam. He says nothing about leaving them alive-- but minimizing their suffering is something he can arrange.

For them, too. Not just the ones now so far away.

Liam sees them first, but the others soon follow. That one there looks like it was made from the dissassembled remains of a pallet rifle. It ambles forward, before beign vaporized by laser fire... Only for the ammunition stored within it to burst from the heat, bathing the corridor leading to the control room in shrapnel and smoke. More creatures sluice in through the haze and thundering explosions, loping more like a pack of wild dogs than anything mechanical. A heavy slug stops one in its tracks. Beam fire dismembers a second. But the third...

The third is diving directly at the gap in the makeshift barricade, over Ayanami's chair-and-table combo, and straight for Shinji's throat...!

Meanwhile, the MAGI status screen flickers somewhat. The probing tendrils of dawn-colored light seem to slow in their advance. Somehow, the face on the screens looks... surprised. "I expected this kind of performance from all of you, but... You--" His attention seems focused on Kaworu. "What are you doing...? Tch, no matter. You've bought yourselves a few minutes, but little more...!" But for GGG, and for NERV as well, transforming an absolute chance of failure into an opportunity for victory is often an incremental thing...

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
<poem>
        When Liam asks about airwalling and Pommier weighs in, Ritsuko looks up from her counteroffensive. Her typing slows only fractionally. "There is, but it requires key access from either the Commander or the Vice-Commander."
        
        "I'll handle it," Fuyutsuki states, pausing only briefly in handing out weaponry to Commander Ikari. Gendou, for his part, hurls a table down towards Rei (followed shortly thereafter by a chair), then accepts what Fuyutsuki gives him The two of them exchange a glance--not even a nod--and the Vice-Commander heads towards the station in question while Gendo slings a rifle band over his shoulder.
        
        They may be the ones in charge, but Gendo's not one to sit around and do nothing in the middle of an emergency. They all have their parts to play.
        
        "NERV is ill-equipped to handle a direct invasion," Kaworu remarks as he stands aside for Mari's entrance. The entrance she left is closed up shortly thereafter. It's ''very'' helpful that he has use of his right arm again. It's even more helpful than she and Kaas both came loaded to bear with their own weaponry.
        
        'What's the best way to settle an argument between family?' Mari then wonders Kaworu's way.
        
        Kaworu considers this for a couple of seconds; then he smiles and replies, "Death."
        
        This is a joke.
        
        And like Kaworu's jokes tend to be, the humor comes from the truth behind it, and memories of things that never happened.
        
        His gaze lingers on Shinji's for the two seconds that he has his attention. Not unlike Liam, he does well when given clear instructions to follow; Rei, too. He smiles to both of them, and when Mari volunteers to watch out for Shinji, he nods to her. "And Rei Ayanami too. Please," he replies, which is remarkable character growth for Kaworu even if there are few around who might appreciate it.
        
        Pommier reports about GunDober and how it's a part of Volfogg--extra dangerous when combined. "Noted," Kaworu says, resting a hand on the back of her chair. "Thank you."
        
        More mechanized beasts lumber and leap forward, heading inwards from the hallways towards the control room. Rei and Shinji are making headway with the barricade, but neither of them have much upper body strength, and a mecha-beast takes advantage to leap through before they have it consolidated, snarling and leaping directly for the Third Child--
        
        BLAM. A percussive gunshot rings out, impacting directly against the creature's torso to send it veering off-course and land to one side of Shinji. It flails and snarls as it starts to get up--but Mari's right there, and she has her own arsenal and her own promise.
        
        Behind a smoking barrel, Gendo Ikari glares at his son, whose life he just saved. "What are you spacing out for?! Pay attention!!" he barks, and wheels around to open fire on the other incoming creatures.
        
        Kaworu watches this with pursed lips and narrowed eyes. He breathes out a soundless sigh when Shinji isn't harmed--''physically'', at least. He glances at Shinji himself in concern, but... he'll trust the others to keep him safe. Likewise entrusting Liam and Kaas with his back, Kaworu re-focuses on the computer systems--on Ritsuko's work, as well as the bridge crew's.
        
        Their speed is accelerating, but there's only so much a Lilim can manage. If he pushes too much, they won't be able to keep up. His gaze flicks over to the display of Sigma instead, as Sigma asks him what he's doing. He could respond verbally.
        
        Kaworu finds it much more efficient to focus on easing more pressure into opposing Sigma's barrage. While the human crew maintains their opposition at the same speed as before, more and more obstructions appear in the cyberspace around Sigma, arriving along with Ritsuko and the others' code as strange additional data packets that came from seemingly nowhere.
        
        It isn't necessary to win. They simply need to hold out long enough for Ruri's reinforcements.

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.
<poem>

Alouette Kaas gives Mari a nod.

Mari gives Alouette a wink.

In all things, balance.

'Death.' Mari's only answer is a private little smile of her own. She promises to look out for Shinji. And as Kaworu adds an additional number to her list to guard, the unnumbered Child blinks.

"Oho? Alrighty~. How could I possibly say no to a growing boy?"

Hand on the gun at her hip like she was a quick draw artist, Mari seems quite intent to look after not just Shinji, but Rei as well, just as she promised. One might assume this is the twintailed girl making an excuse to shirk any truly hard work in the face of a true, cataclysmic crisis -- but as flippant as her expression might be as she rocks on her heels, the young(?) woman's gaze is a subtly sharp one. Like the pinprick look a cat gets as they ready the pounce.

A pounce, however, never comes; at least not yet. Instead, Rei calls over to her for help. Mari's keen stare tilts the blue-haired Child's way with a, "hoh?" of curiosity. She looks at the wooden table. Then back at Rei.

And gives the First Child an affirmative in the form of the sacred double fingerguns.

"Righty-o, Vanilla Bean~."

Mari takes the opposite end of that mass of wood in her hands. And just like that, the thing lifts all the more easily, as if it were light as a feather in Rei's grasp.

Is this the power of teamwork...?!

Maybe. There's not much time to really examine the idea: because, just as Mari lifts that table...

A third of those strange, piecemeal hounds is bounding past the table with a predatory hop, straight for--

                BLAM.

The beast scrabbles. The sound of a desk thumping hard on the ground rings out.

And before the monstrous hodgepodge can fully recover, a heel plants into what accounts for its back, a firm stomp -PLANTING- it into the ground before Mari Makinami Illustrious unloads several deafening rounds into the creature's neck in a staccato burst of metal shrieks until the binding of its lynchpin existence is undone and its component parts fall apart.

Unlike Kaworu, Mari's attention never turns Gendo's way. She doesn't need to look, doesn't need to listen, to know who's responsible. Her hair a mess, as she leans forward across the body of the beast with an intent gaze. There's a smile, in that moment, that is hard to read.

Mostly, because in the next, she's moving in to--

                &#42;sniff&#42;

-- Shinji, in this moment. For posterity.

"Keep on struggling, Puppy Boy."

It's all she offers the young man before she straightens, and makes her way back to that table to help shove it into place.

"Take two~!"


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
<poem>

        Again, Gridman Sigma unintentionally reaches back and drags trauma out of Liam's head. The way Sigma ''twists his words'', lets him ''know'' that people he cares about will die if he makes the slightest misstep...

        The security door, under Sigma's control, slides open. Something immense and metallic lurches forwards. Liam sees the outlines of the gun it used to be, aims for center mass, and prays it isn't loaded. (It's probably loaded.) When he pulls the trigger, a loud ZZT splits the air, and a beam of light rips into the monster. It was loaded. The ammunition cooks off, and Liam ducks out of the way as shrapnel erupts from the door. He tucks and rolls, coming up behind one of the chairs Shinji placed, and in the next hearbeat, he's drawing a bead on the next monster. Another goes down, but the third--

        "Ikari, MOVE!" Liam shouts, sudden fear spiking into his voice.

        BLAM.

        Liam glances to the side, sees Mari taking up position. (For once, he is glad she is here, with no reservations.) His gaze darts back to the door, and sends more beam fire down the corridor. For a moment, he wonders what would happen if things were to escalate, and Gendo Ikari found himself in the crossfire. Liam kills that thought before it can go any further.

        Then--

        Liam's been counting the charge left in the rifle's battery; STORAGE makes some terrifying weapons, but they burn through ammunition like no one's business. Liam calculated he'd have maybe twenty shots before the cell went dry, and sure enough, the indicator flashes bright red after the twentieth.

        Liam sets the rifle down. He reaches around to the small of his back, where a knife holster is camouflaged against the fabric of his jumpsuit. Liam's hand finds the grip, tightens, pulls. The knife comes free. It's so familiar to him by now that it might as well be a part of him.

        "Acknowledged, Pommier," Liam says. Trouble, but not ''now'' trouble. "Out of ammunition--"

        But they don't stop coming. Liam's lips peel back from his teeth. The blade gleams red in the emergency light.

        Liam gets to work again.

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
<poem>
Rei asks for help as she receives high quality barricade material, and Shinji rushes over to do his best to assist. He tries to ignore the clamor of strife and gunfire, looking to Rei with a nod of attempted reassurance that's mainly for himself and shoving with all the strength he can muster.

But not all the beasts are felled. Shinji jerks his gaze up in time to see it coming for him over the newest piece of the barricade, his eyes wide and his body paralyzed by fear. He does not even have the luxury to cry out, every muscle seized taut.

For a second, the world is entirely silent and still. A hundred thoughts could fit into that moment, but Shinji's left with none at all, every single one of them abandoning him.

A gunshot starts time again. The creature lands not upon him, but to his side. It thrashes, still alive, but not for much longer thanks to Mari's heel. She's not the one who shot it. Shinji whirls around to look at his father, the gun still smoking. The light of hope flickers in Shinji's eyes desptie the nightmare all around them.

"Fa--!"

Gendo shouts, and that light dies. Shinji glances to Mari, despondent, then grits his teeth and throws himself back into his assigned task.


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
<poem>
As Kaworu places his hand on her chair, Alouette feels the same calmness that he does in his presence, although she is usually already focused in the most difficult of situations, anyways. Although the beasts are beginning to breach the control room, she simply holds out hope of the heroes who are out on the rescue mission making their return and saving the day, Mamoru giving a cheerful smile, Guy grinning and thumbs-upping, and Ikumi gallantly- no, now is not the time. For now, she places her faith in those immediately around her, defending with all they have, and continues her work.

From behind, Pommier hears Gendo Ikari scold his own son. That is the kind of man he is, isn't he? She knew that most of 3G's high command didn't have an impressive opinion of him to begin with. She keeps her thoughts to herself.

Unfortunately, the dark noise across NERV's command systems begins to worsen. It doesn't slow Pommier down - she's used to handling interference in her work against BioNet. But this is different. She turns to Kaworu, and removes Guy's disc from her jacket. "Mr. Nagisa. Between everything we've seen, this is obviously a Ruin Apostle attack, don't you think? Guy and I and the rest of 3G have been preparing for these circumstances." She places the disc back in her jacket once Kaworu gets a good look at it. "This disc contains simulations of past and possible battles for 3G, and upgrades for GaoFighGar and GaoGaiGo. We need to keep it safe until they come back."

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.
<poem>

'Death.'

Any grim whimsy in this anomalous situation was already lost on Rei Ayanami, and what slivers remain disappear with the arrival of the Things. Rei looks at them directly as they emerge, expression impassive. Her fingers curl slightly.

They come - gunfire bursts out, making Rei flinch slightly at the first shot - two are felled or at least disabled, despite the billowing emanation of smoke from the partially detonated anti-Angel shell that had been in the pallet rifle still...

A third creature, though.

Rei sees it leap. The world telescopes in silent horror. Rei turns herself --

Too late Rei thinks but she is already moving. She is halfway through a turn that is a clear precursor to a leap to throw herself onto Shinji's side when a gunshot bursts. The creature's leap is thrown off by sheer ballistic impact and Rei ends up colliding with Shinji from the front by inertia alone, rebounding off of him and avoiding his gaze for a moment afterwards, even as Mari leans in to take a deep sniff.

Rei crouches down afterwards, putting most of her body in the lee of the big slab of wood, reaching over to grasp and pull upwards an increasingly unrecognizable piece of furniture. She huffs out breath as her eyes wash over the others. The vigorous armament of Mari and Alouette Kaas. Liam drawing his knife.

"An enemy Gridman?" Rei says, perhaps rhetorically.

"The Evas," Rei says then, less rhetorically. She looks at the others. Particularly, as it turns out, the tallest Child. "Null-Sigma is the best suited," she continues aloud. Her head turns a little further, to look towards Kaworu - communication? ascertaining he is safe? - then back to Shinji.

"Your face," Rei says, reaching out to touch Shinji's face somewhere along the left side and at the jaw line.

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Alouette Kaas has posed.
<poem>

        While Alouette Kaas lays down cover fire, keeping a few creatures from rushing in. The corridor isn't small, needing to be wide enough for some of the bulky equipment that comes in and out, something that leans towards the invaders advantage.

        One such beast charges, leaping over the incomplete attempt at barricades, and goes for the Third Child, stopped by the elder Ikari, and finished by the feline Muse.

        Time and digital molestor don't wait, and don't give respite. The amalgam monstrosities continue their assault. Alouette isn't stalled. She moves forward, strafes, and fires. Conservative when she can be, Alouette knows she has heavy round count, but there's no need for it to go to waste. So with confidence she closes her finger and pulls that trigger back. high velocity, hyper dense rounds shreddin through any material they could be made of.

        Between shots, Ayanami's voice carries perfectly, regardless of volume, to reach her. Null-Sigma. Alouette blinks, and fires twice more dropping the closest approaching beast, as the corner of her lip curls up.

        "Ayanami. I understand."

        Without another word Alouette disengages her sling. Keeping the weapon safe, she hurries to Rei, and pushes it into her hands. She quickly snaps the two clips holding the ammo belt with the P90 mags and lets it drop to the floor next to Rei. She stops next to Shinji and pushes her first sidearm into his hand and pushes two mags for it into his waist band.

        "Ikari. Protect."

        Alouette draws her second sidearm, peeks the slide and checks the chamber. Ready, she gives a nod, and sets up for center-axis relock, minimize exposure.

        "Anyone got a better route?"

        Alouette checks with the group and then, with a wink back to Mari, makes her way to Null-Sigma.

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Takeshi Todo has posed.
<poem>
The hacking attempt slows by a fraction of a percent, before anyone even really ''does'' anything to try and stop it. It's strange. Bizarre even. Could he be planning something?

"I'm sorry, did that girl just ''sniff'' one of you?"

Nope. It's just that Mari is Mari, even to people who are ostensibly mainlining the very power of universal creation and destruction.

The speed picks right back up afterwards, but soon slows down even more. As much as Sigma would rather this be ''done'' already, and it would absolutely have been ''done'' already, but... "Tch. You... ''meat-things.'' Do you think you can slow me down for long? Perhaps if I were alone, but...!" Someone ''else'' joins the hack. Every bit as skilled as any of the people in this room. His code is as brilliant as it is elegant, and it is so very, very familiar to Alouette.

Because this... looks a ''lot'' like the work of Kosuke Entouji, GGG's very own electronics warfare expert.

The junk data meets a small army of bootstrapped rapid processors and tarpit programs. Again the speed of the hack ticks up appreciably. Time is becoming a factor, a delicate tipping point is close to being reached. But maybe if the airgap is successful... Maybe then they can at least limit the bandwidth...?

At the barricade, the commander of NERV takes to the field. Two of three children are exposed to what might be the first true firefight of their lives. But the barricade is building up, assembling piece by piece to protect the only people between Gridman Sigma and the absolute destruction of NERV.

Guns blaze. Pulses of light and bolts of heavy lead slam into the swarm of Zero Robos. The one under Mari's heel soon dissolves into its component parts. For a moment, it feels as though they're making progress. That they're... going to ''make it.''

And then it becomes clear, they're not stopping. They're just getting out of the way.

A pair of headlights blaze with orange light at the far end of the corridor. Wheels scream as they dig into the floor, sending the motorcycle hurtling directly for the barricade.

That's no ordinary Zero Robo. That's GunDober.

And if it breaks through...

Well. Best not think about what happens if it breaks through.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
<poem>
        A growing boy, hm?
        
        "You're too kind, Mary," Kaworu replies, humor in his lips.
        
        He'd add Alouette too, but... well, the Fourth Child made it clear she's more than prepared for a fight. Strange, yet appropriate, how she can have so much trouble with connecting to others, yet is more than prepared to defend herself.
        
        Shinji meanwhile... there's no lack of others who'll rush to his defense. Mari to finish off that creature, Rei to attempt to knock him out of harm's way, Liam to shout a warning--even Gendo Ikari, notoriously bad father. And, man that he is, he hurts Shinji even as he protects him.
        
        It isn't that Kaworu needed to look Gendo's way to know. He would have leaped for Shinji himself if he thought there wasn't anyone else to protect him. But... the heart is a fragile thing, and far more difficult to keep from harm.
        
        Pommier turns to him then and holds out the disc Guy gave her. Kaworu meets her eyes and listens to what she has to say. There's no need to confirm it; they all already know. "I understand," he murmurs back to her. "We ''will'' keep it safe."
        
        He looks back at his fellow Children again, and meets Rei's eyes momentarily. His smile softens slightly to see Rei reaching out to Shinji quite literally. Alouette Kaas meanwhile hands off her armaments to the two of them, taking Rei's suggestion to head towards Evangelion Null-Sigma. Kaworu doesn't stop her. He doesn't know if an Evangelion will be useful in close quarters like this, but if any of them would be, it would be Null-Sigma and its octopus-like armaments.
        
        "Every route is dangerous right now," Kaworu tells her. "Take care of yourself."
        
        On the lower levels, wires come undone as Fuyutsuki pulls them from their sockets, as much a hatchet to Sigma's connection as--well--an actual hatchet. It's a counter to the incoming hacking, but only a momentary one. Still, he twists the key and moves on to the next.
        
        Kaworu does smile as if genuinely amused at being called a 'meat-thing.' In all fairness, he supposed he ''is'' more of one than Sigma is.
        
        But... then the motorcycle approaches. That which Pommier warned them about. Kaworu liftens his gaze in sharp concern--Kaas has already gone out there. Even with Liam and Gendo backing her up, and even with the barricade that Rei, Shinji, and Mari have built up, will Kaas's armaments be enough to stop GunDober's approach?

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Alouette Kaas has posed.
<poem>

        Orange and blue eyes sight down the corridor, past the obstacle that lies between her and her Eva. For a moment she considers trying to repel out and down towards the MAGI to get around this. But there is no guarantee there isn't another one of these in her way there, and then she would be alone in trying to deal with it. Her gun comes up and close to chest, elbows out with a cant. Center-axis relock, Close quarters gun fighting.

        Alouette takes a breath and charges, firing with each fall of her feet in her long strides.

        CRACK

        CRACK

        CRACK

        CRACK

        Twenty meters. Eighteen. Sixteen... Ten... It's bigger than it seemed before, but she hasn't lost sight of her target. Firing again and again at the joint holding the arm to the wheel. Counting the rounds too, almost in step with the distance, only adding to any anxiety of the approach.

        "Back to the scrapyard!"

        As she nears the bizzare motorcycle, attacker, Alouette Kass feints left, but then takes advantage of the deck material, and drops, sliding like she was stealing a base, until she is past the machination. Mag empty she hits the release, catching the empty mag and pocketing it, before grabbing a spare and slamming it home. Racking the slide to chamber the next round, Alouette starts firing yet again.

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
<poem>
Evil entity that is trying to kill them all, please don't point out Mari is sniffing Shinji. Has he not been mortified enough?!

Rei collides and bounces off, and Shinji's drawn out of his father-induced gloom. "Ayanami...!" He half reaches himself, a bit too little, too late. With a frown, he tries to help her with lifting the furniture, glancing to her for signs of injury.

In the end, it's her who finds something wrong with ''him''. Shinji tenses at first, but her touch draws his attention carefully back. Hesitating, he brings his fingers under hers and winces softly at a shallow scratch. There's barely any blood.

"I...I'm all right. What about you?"

Alouette Kaas then arms Shinji. He's used a variety of weapons in his Eva before, and the way the Evas operate, he can feel some of it. Is that enough to go on in this scenario? It looks like it's going to have to be.

''Protect,'' Kaas said. Shinji looks at Rei, then at everyone else.

''Okay,'' he says to himself, swallowing down a rising nausea. ''Okay.'' No running away.

It already feels different and awful, Shinji's grip so shaken that his aim is forfeit. But all he has to do is fire down an enemy filled corridor with no chance of friendly fire. He pulls the trigger. BANG. Again. BANG. Recoil rattles through him, and each shot only makes the shaking worse.

The swarm begins to recede. Are they doing it? Is he helping?

Shinji's eyes go wide when he realizes the real reason why their foes are dissipating. The gun is forgotten, too foreign and unfamiliar for his instincts to do anything with. "''Ayanami!''" He grabs hold of Rei, pushing her to the side which is not far enough for either of them to be clear of danger because no such place exists, and holding on like his scrawny frame would even be a speed bump to GunDober.


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
<poem>

        'Perhaps if I were alone, but...!'

        "Pommier, what's going on?" Liam says, glancing back at over his shoulder. Then he hears the distant rumble of an engine, and realizes time has almost run out. "It's closing! Kaas, over here!" But she's already seen the threat--or, rather, the threat is between her and Null-Sigma.

        Headlights, blazing the same brilliant sunset-orange as Gridman Sigma, shine down the corridor. "Brace!" Liam shouts to the Children behind him. Time seems to slow to a crawl as his wired reflexes take over. In front of him, Kaas engages the machine directly, seemingly fearless; his own adrenaline won't let him forget how afraid he is. But flight has never really been an option for Pilot 7-020. It sure isn't now.

        At first, it looks like Liam is simply letting Alouette engage GunDober for him; all he has is his knife, and while it's an impressive piece of multilayered, high-spec alloy, it's still just a blade. Liam tucks it back in its sheath. What is he ''doing''? "Right behind you, Kaas," Liam says, as the roar of the engine draws nearer. Twenty meters. Eighteen. Sixteen. Ten. Eight. Five...

        Alouette Kaas swerves left. Liam reacts in the space of heartbeats, stepping left and flattening himself, for a moment, against the wall. He reaches out with both hands to grab the speeding bike's handlebars; if not for the reinforcement in his bones and muscles, his arms would be dislocated, at minimum. But he tries his best to grab on, and from there, swing himself into the seat.

        Liam is not small, and he knows what ''not'' to do when riding one of these things. Should he end up in the saddle, he tips his weight to the side, and pulls hard in that same direction. He grits his teeth, and shoves with all of his considerable strength--and as the motorcycle roars on, he finds himself meeting Sigma's eyes in silent, furious challenge.


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.
<poem>

"Yes," Rei answers Shinji, quietly, despite the battle. Her hand comes away, with only the faintest tinge of red on the white. "It doesn't hurt."

Bang! Slam - it's chaos, screaming. Too fast. Rei feels a strong tugging urge. Something to simply throw herself up, or out, or to - to -

But if she does that, she knows what will happen, at least right now.

Rei looks to Kaworu - who seems to affirm the idea, his voice clear if rather sober in this situation - then to Alouette Kaas -- who is coming close and -- pushes a gun into her hands. Rei feels the weight of the thing, and her hands curl around it, grasping in something resembling correct form.

Rei looks at the weapon in its ominous weight. The belt is given to her, with its burden of munitions. Rei's thoughts turn momentarily to the massive weapons of Eva-00's equipage; how similar they are, with adjustments modest and largely for the purpose of accomodating the subtle differences in scale.

Rei grips the pistol. Her finger slides into the trigger grip. Her muscles tighten...

GunDober, Rei thinks. She looks towards the onslaught that comes -- in time for her thin shoulders to be pushed and for her to sway and to topple to the side enough to land on her elbow, and when this happens Rei makes a decision. Her hand comes down -

To twirl the gun on its trigger guard and grasp the barrel.

The hand with the gun raises upwards, to offer it to someone else. Rei says, looking up, her other arm having come round Shinji's side without even thinking about it: "Silence the target,"

"Mari."


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
<poem>
The Ruin Apostles' attack continues to rage on - Alouette's anti-inference methods are easily shut down by a new force at play - it's definitely Entouji's work. Even as a Natural compared to her Coordinator, he was a genius and she inherited much of his work. She can't play around this - Entouji worked against BioNet himself, the methods she uses against them won't work against him. Instead she simply picks up one of the available guns to defend herself and the drive, if need be. Even among geniuses, Alouette is still an optimist. 3G should be on their way any moment, right?

Alouette expected Kaworu to know what was going on, and she is glad he agrees; she finds him trustworthy, and she is sure Guy does as well. "Thank you,"

As expected, GunDober makes its appearance, but without Volfogg by its side. This should be a relief but GunDober is still powered by Triple Zero...

Still, Kaas and Liam do the impossible and fight a Triple Zero-powered GunDober &#42;on-foot&#42;. With Kaas' dance of bullets followed by Liam's riding manouver, Pommier's eyes can't help but sparkle in a glint, after remaining blank and focused during the entire rest of the attack. "Kaas, Liam, that was.. really cool! Very reckless.. but still impressive."

She then turns to Shinji and Rei, who are also doing their best, and she smiles at them too. Although she doesn't know him very well, she always thought Shinji to be delicate, so perhaps pulling the trigger is a step in another direction.

Another reason why she can't lose hope, even if they can't win against these odds, all they have to do is hold out for reinforcements.

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.
<poem>

'I'm sorry, did that girl just ''sniff'' one of you?'

Perhaps it doesn't help that Mari is Mari, and thus her response to this perplexed ponderance is an airy,

"Nope! I was smelling the moment, too."

... whether this is illuminating or further distracting in its utter lack of context is a wholly open question.

"There's just a hint of ominous orange to under it all. I don't mind it! Terrifying smells are interesting, too."

There's nothing else forthcoming from the cryptic and strange girl in glasses, though. After all, she has work to do: hauling that table the rest of the way, Mari goes back, grabbing whatever other strewn furniture lying about (or thrown down; thanks, Gendo!) to secure it to the barricade. Wiping her hands, she looks back towards Rei and Shinji -- just in time to glimpse their Moment in Disaster to be interrupted by the introduction of a couple tools of violence. Her brows lift.

"Hmm~mm." o/`

With remarkable rapidity for someone who ostensibly was trained only to pilot an Evangelion, Mari ejects her clip, ratcheting in a new one as she watches the swarm of amalgamated monstrosities part like the Red Sea. Her eyes narrow. She knows pack behavior.

Her body tenses. And ominous orange headlights blare.

For a long moment, Mari stares at the sight of GunDober, preparing to accelerate into their barricade. Into them. Through them.

Tires squeal. Legs tense.

"That color is a travesty on you, GunDober," she murmurs with a fond sort of sadness, under her breath.

'Silence the target.'
        A gun slides into her free hand.

'Mari.'

And Makinami grins the ferocious grin of a tiger baring fangs.

"You got it, my gal!"

And she -springs-.

Kaas fires at GunDober. Liam tries to mount him. And Mari, upside-down and flipping high through the air like gravity might as well not even exist --

--fires off round after round into the packs of orange-tainted scrap-beasts that surround them without relent, each round precisely and absurdly aimed in her mid-air upside-down pirouette to try to disable and distract them in minimal amounts of bullets and time.

She does, indeed, know the behavior of beasts.

And so she makes sure none of them get the chance to interfere as best she can as she lands in a roll just behind the scream of GunDober's wheels, still firing and firing until she has no more bullets left to spare.

That she's also repeatedly shouting, "Nyaaaaanyanyanyanyanyaaaaaaanyanyanyaaaaa--!!" as she does just goes to show how much she's committing to all this.

Mari, after all, is Mari.

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Takeshi Todo has posed.
<poem>
"I'm not even going to ask how you smell a ''color,''" Sigma answers, utterly baffled. As much as Gridman Sigma is an evil entity trying to destroy them all, he's still Takeshi Todo on the inside. And that means that he's still fundamentally kind of a dork. The exact kind of dork who has absolutely no idea what to do about people sniffing each other in the middle of a desperately dangerous situation. Can you really blame him for being taken aback!? It's perfectly normal!!

Gunfire rips into the hallway. Beam weaponry is one thing, but it lacks the stopping power needed to... stop a charging motorcycle fueled by liquid big bang energy. Rounds slam into GunDober's chassis, hammering one after another after another. It should fall apart. It ''should.'' But even as those rounds tear into armor, that terrible dawn-hued power seeps into the gaps, mends the wounds. Still, momentum is robbed. The kind of high-powered weaponry Alouette Kaas is carrying doesn't discharge so many times without being ''felt.'' GunDober's front wheel wobbles an almost imperceptible amount, its momentum is shifted just enough...

For Liam to nearly dislocate his arms, climbing aboard. He can feel it, though. The ''warmth'' of that power pulsing at his hands, at his legs pressed against the motorcycle's chassis. It promises so much, to sweep away his pain. To give him purpose. Triple Zero is not a power with a will, necessarily, but it does... have its peculiarities. Things that living beings in contact with it can ''sense.''

Liam locks eyes with Sigma, and cranks the motorcycle's handlebars to the side, simultaneously leaning in the same direction. Even empowered by Triple Zero, GunDober is still suceptible to the rules that work on its own inertia and center of balance. The motorcycle screeches as it tips over and careens off target, slamming into a wall and then the floor, potentially taking Liam with it...! Potentially, in more ways than one.

...And he's still surrounded by Zero Robos. Or. Was. Bullets rain down from on high, courtesy of Mari Makinami, some kind of actual Battle Cat.

Still, GunDober's advance has been halted. They just need to pull Liam free...!

But the hack continues. It advances, inexorably, though slowed by lack of raw bandwidth if nothing else. Will there be enough time...? Will the other team make it in time...?
</poem>

----

 <Pose Tracker> Misato Katsuragi has posed.
<poem>
Misato Katsuragi says to Ruri, "Don't worry. If you have to fire that thing it means a worst case scenario." She is content to let Asuka handle the rest of the exposition on how to best make use of your gun. "Alright, listen up!" She says as she starts jogging along, spraying gunfire at any office appliance that looks at the party funny. "If the invading force can hack our main database it can take over the elevators, escalators--any non-manual transport through the facility so we'll use the maintenance shaft. It'll consister of exterior ladders and crawlspaces so get ready for that."

"Asuka, Guy, you take the lead." She chooses this configuration to give out a solid vanguard. "Miss Hoshino, stay close to 'em."

She then nods once to Mamoru and adds, "We'll cover the rear. Got it? Lets move."

Misato runs ahead and then crouches down, balancing her STORAGE rifle carefully. "Come on...!"

As the Colonel here, it is her responsibility in her mind to be the last one out.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
<poem>
        "All right," Ruri agreed to Lucine, back then, easily enough. She's used to having an escort when she leaves the Nadesico. It would be stranger, in her mind, if ''no one'' came with her.

        She doesn't mind being handed off from Lucine to Liam, either, when security stops her emotional support gardener from coming any further. While Ruri only knows him from one awkward meeting, Lucine seems comfortable with him, and that means Ruri can extend some trust to Liam too. "All right, Mr. Seven," she agrees, politely, because ''oh no she's still misunderstood his name.''

        (Besides. She'd be escorted either way. At least this way she knows one of her escort's ''names.'')

        ~&#42;~

        Ruri... certainly remembers Asuka's advice, back then. It took the effort of many people to convince her it might not be entirely correct. It's not like Ruri's been avoiding Asuka, since then, but -- well, it's certainly true she hasn't gone out of her way to engage her, either.

        It's not entirely surprising to her, though, that Asuka would approach her. She startles, a little, as that hand comes down on the gun, and rips her attention off of it to glance at the Second Child. And back to the gun -- what Asuka calls the safety, which feels entirely out of place, because nothing ''about'' this implement feels particularly safe -- the sights, the trigger.

        She frowns. Not entirely unlike the Gravity Blast, perhaps. There's an aiming process involved in the cannons, too -- much less ''manual'' and ''personal'' than this, aiming on the Nadesico is mostly a matter of ''calculations'' -- firing permissions, managing heat generation and engine load...

        Ruri thinks all this as she looks down at the gun and looks, to be honest, a shade lost. (A pale shade; she's still not terribly emotional, even in a situation like this. But it's emotive for ''her.'') "I'm unfamiliar, and I haven't been trained for this," Ruri gives her honest assessment, "but I have engaged personally with danger before. I won't cause you trouble, Miss Langley, but... I'll be relying on you."

        Ruri doesn't enjoy the visions of those mechanical creatures. The body horror she feels as she sees the copiers and the forklifts changed to mimic organic forms has very little to do with the forms they've taken, and very much to do with the forms they're surely comfortable with.

        "I'm sorry," she says, to one of those wire-dogs, after Misato fills it with bullets. She keeps her gun pointed down. She's not entirely sure she can shoot at... these.

        She nods, when Misato directs them to the maintenance shaft, and moves to take position behind Asuka and Guy -- all too aware that she's being placed very much in the ''middle'' of the pack. She wonders how she's to climb a ladder with a weapon, and decides she'll worry about that when it happens.

        ... crawlspaces are fine with her, at least. There's a surprising amount of those involved in systems operation.

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.
<poem>

Asuka just stares at Ruri for a while, "You'd better adapt then, and fast." When she says that she's unfamiliar, and hasn't been trained.  Though there's no excessive harshness to her tone, just cold reality. 'I'll be relying no you.' "Smartest thing you've done since I've met you.  I'll get the job done - you do the same once I get you there."

You know the thing about Gridman Sigma is that she was annoyed with someone with his face for such a long time...  and while she's not upset with Gridman anymore, all that unchanneled aggression still remains.

"Yeah?   What are the odds of you shutting the hell up?"

As Asuka promptly perforates another monitor with a beam like pulse from the LAR20.  She knows it won't do any good, not really, but she feels a bit better.

As Misato gives orders though...  "Affirmative."

Asuka looks at the King of Braves with a grudging look of respect, "You take point, you're better armored.  I'll cover you from just behind."

Ordinarily she'd be too proud to even admit that.  Something has definitely changed with her.

She does her best to match his pace down the maintenance tunnels, even if she knows in the end she couldn't if he was going all out.

</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
<poem>
This is...a new one. Guy watches the &#42;creatures&#42; forming on the screens. Is this Sigma's power? Takeshi's? Or something from the Dawn? He grits his teeth, but in the end all he can do is continue the plan they're already on.

"You know perfectly well that we all fought to hard to give up to something like this," he says back to Gridman Sigma. Though...he swallows, hard, seeing Gundober arrive. "Gundober..." He sets his jaw. "...that'll mean Volfogg is here, too," he says, and his eyes cut to Mamoru specifically. ...there's nothing he can say. Volfogg and Mamoru were incredibly close. Now...now they may have to fight. And he knows Volfogg won't be able to stop himself from that. Or rather...will have no choice but to push himself toward it.

With Misato's orders issued, Guy steps forth. Without his Ultimate Armor, he won't be able to even attempt to hold down Volfogg - maybe not even Gunglue. But he can at least make a good showing.

He doesn't sprint; if he took off at speed he'd leave them all in the dust except maybe his own team, and that's not an option. Still, he sets a quick pace.

"We'll get you there," Guy promises, with a grin to Ruri. "Just stay behind us."

He doesn't have telekinesis like Mamoru's, but as an Evoluder, he does have...some. His body bursts into green light, Purification Mode granting him strength, and he thrusts his palm at a wirey rat, forces invisible holding it down long enough for Guy to just rush up and punt it like a football back down the hallway.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> GaoGaiGo Team has posed.
<poem>
Mamoru and Ikumi take the rear as Misato commands, moving forward. As they spot Gundober...both nod soberly with Guy. "Volfogg...we need to bring him back." Mamoru says, will mixing with fear and sadness, but overwhelming both. They won't fight Gundober seriously, being a friend, but they can make sure the group doesn't get overly hurt.

Ikumi moves to support Guy's telekinesis, while Mamoru forms a telekinetic barrier with both hands, maneuvering it to block any attacks that may come from the dark and otherwise support their rear.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
<poem>

        The problem with sensing that something might go wrong is that, frankly, you may not be the one who is best equipped to deal with the matter.

        But maybe, you might be the one who will be the one who will be there to try to tip the scales in your favor.
        
        "Liam?!" Lucine yells at her phone as the connection breaks up.

        Cold fear and a certain element of helplessness tightens her stomach. Please come back a...nd? After? Around? Alive?

        The sirens overwhelm her ability to hear, but they don't shut out the sound of doors slamming and locking shut further out, or the running of staff. She stays, and closes her eyes, taking deep breaths.

        Liam will be alright. Ruri will be alright. She will be alright. After all, she is an Azul and....

        Her hands twitch as the tickle of something clamoring down on metal legss and rubber wheels. The gardener is no longer assigning such feelings as mere paranoia.

        She grabs an unassuming pot, and hefts it over her head.

        ~&#42;~

        When Misato and Ruri's group are about to arrive through the doors to where Lucine was at, there's a mighty cry of a warrior. ".... You... picked on the wrong person!!"

        The fact that Lucine's voice cracked probably shows how much she's raised her voice. The doors open, and Lucine is there, standing over the body of a twitching creature under the remains of a ceramic pot.

        "Ruri, are you okay?  And... you must be Colonel Katsuragi, correct?" Lucine kneels, gingerly picking through the shards and picking up... a dented three-hole punch. ".... Ah, sorry for the damage of property.... The plant was fake, but." Lucine's hands shake, and she grits her teeth, taking a slow breath as she looks towards Asuka and the King of Braves, and the GaoGaiGo team to the read. "... I shall follow all of you, then... I can stay by Ruri. I will shield her if necessary."
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.
<poem>
"Rikka, I think we better go on foot from here. Calibur can watch over Synchrotank." Yuta steps off the train, looking nervous. Calibur nods, slouching as he walks behind them.

The pair arrive at NERV HQ right in time to see Lucine dispatch some kind of... monster with a little pot. What? Thankfully, a few familiar faces emerge from the building a few moments later.

"What's going on?" Yuta asks, looking to Asuka in particular. "We -- Gridman sensed something was wrong, and we came as fast as we could. We're here to help!"

It feels a little silly to say that to a fully-armed group. What could Yuta, looking entirely unassuming in his school uniform, have to offer?
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
<poem>
The moment they arrive, Rikka can tell that things are wrong. She can feel it in the air, almost. A sense of dread and unease... of danger. Rikka pauses, hands still on Synchrotank's controls. She takes a deep breath and exhales to get her nerves under control.

"Hey... are we maybe... a little in over our heads...?" Rikka asks, looking back at Yuta, Calibur, and anyone else who might have tagged along. Should they even have been able to get this close to the building in a mobile suit? The fact that no one's tried to stop them yet feels very, very... wrong. But it's all the more reason for them to help, if there's anything they can do.

"...Yeah. You're probably right." Rikka agrees with a nod. A part of her would feel better if Calibur was with them... but if anything happened to Synchrotank - and more importantly, to Junk, well.

Tsutsujidai would be in serious trouble, wouldn't it?

It's with a sense of unease that she climbs out of Synchrotank, making sure to grab the first aid kit on her way out just in case, and follows Yuta. It isn't wrong before they encounter some familiar faces. Seeing everyone gathered here, armed and serious...

Now she ''definitely'' feels like she's out of her depth. But it's all the more reason for her to steel her nerves.

"Is everyone alright?" Rikka asks
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Takeshi Todo has posed.
<poem>
"Considering that there's little you all can do to properly shut me up right now, pretty much zero," Sigma answers from yet another monitor. "Unless you feel like destroying your own central computers, that is. Please, spare me the trouble of decapitating one of humanity's greatest defenses." Talking, infuriating the enemy, it's a valuable means of distraction. A weapon, just like the things roaming the hallways, that Sigma uses against his foes.

They're really not that much different from the Zonder Robos that Guy has encountered in the past, these things. They're just... small. Very small. And each and every one is charged with just enough of that terrible, glorious dawnlight glow to be dangerously ambulatory. The trio of braves engage their enemies in close quarters, wielding telekinesis and raw physical strength-- though less than they may be used to without their ID suits. Still, their might is greater than that of ordinary men, and it isn't hard to punch through-- or punch away-- the Zero Microrobos.

The trouble is that there are just... so ''many'' of them. How did they all get in...? Hyuga's question is just as pertinent now as it was then. But if Volfogg is involved...

Blasts of heavy duty laser weaponry sizzle through the liquid metal monsters. In one case, a pot smashes one to bits, leaving behind a curiously warm three hole punch... That still ''writhes'' when Lucine holds it for too long, squirming out tendrils of liquid metal to try to snake ''into'' the skin of her arms...!

"You're an interesting one," Sigma is talking... to Ruri, now. "You... have an affinity for them, don't you? For machines. You're much like us. I'm sorry it has to be this way." Even as he does, a series of those awful machines sluice out of a nearby corridor, blocking the way to Rikka and Yuta's escape shaft. If they want to use it, they'll need to break through...!
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Misato Katsuragi has posed.
<poem>
Misato yells, "OKAY WE GET IT, YOU LIKE THE SOUND OF YOUR OWN VOICE. Oh my god! Is this what happens when you ascend and become a being composed of data, you just need to hear yourself yapping all the time? Which wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't just so critically smarmy. If you think annoying us is gonna make us less able to escape, you clearly haven't done your research on NERV, buddy!"

Misato Katsuragi might not be a coordinator with superhuman reflexes, but she has fought in wars for nearly half her life and has lived a life full of danger, bloodshed, climate disaster, and horror. Shooting a gun for her is as natural as taking a nap.

Of course, even Misato can only do so much against these numbers. But the plan isn't to destroy them anyway, it's to buy time for the people ahead to push on through. Misato Katsuragi knows she's the most expendable person in this team right now. Asuka is an Eav Pilot, Ruri might very well save their asses, Yuta and RIkka are part of Team Gridman who ALSO might be one of the few people who can handle this kind of situation and the GaoGaiGar Team speak for themselves. The only one she's not entirely sure about is Lucine but it's probably a safe assumption at this point. Misato doesn't worry abuot her death. She's already twice as old as she ever expected to live. At this point, all she's going for is a higher top score and she'll keep on at it until something finally gets her and she put her initials in the top high scores of life.

She keeps backpedaling. She takes aim for the monster trying to--infect Lucine and fires a quick spread for the side mass to try and force it off or at least buy Lucine time to pull free hrself.

"Shit--there's some up ahead with the Gridkids! Guy!!"

Sigma further taunts Ruri.

"That interesting one is gonna chew you up and spit you. Unless you're too scared to give her the chance!"

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
<poem>
        "You're right," Ruri confirms, to Asuka -- the both of them are comfortable with cold reality, it seems. She might have thanked her, if she wasn't so focused.

        Guy takes point, and Ruri affirms, to him: "I will." Stay behind him, that is. It's the sort of thing she might sass, on a normal day, but it's that same focus which keeps her from remarking on how foolish it would be for Ruri ''not'' to stay behind Guy.

        She is... surprised, to see Guy and Mamoru and Ikumi using the tactics they are, but... this isn't the time to ask about that.

        Ruri pauses, looking to one of the maintenance monitors; a frown flashes over her face. "You're hurting them," she says, a shade of melancholy over her stoicism. "This isn't what they want to do. Most of them never had the will to fight before this, did they..? Now... they're confused and twisted up. ... it's unkind." Give her some credit, at least -- she doesn't stop moving.

        She's surprised to see Lucine wielding the weapon she is, too, but not quite for the same reason. "Ms. Azul, please be careful!" Ruri calls, to her, as the team approaches, and the pressure of the situation lends emphasis to the end of her statement. "The machines are infected. You can be, too."

        She pauses, and adds, to Rikka and Yuta, once they've managed to get to them: "I'm fine." She sounds -- remarkably unshaken, for a thirteen-year-old who is still holding that pistol like it's a snake which has coiled around her hands. "A man from Oath Over Omega, I think, has subverted NERV's central computers. We have to escape to the Nadesico in order to help purge the infection and save them."

        The computers, that is.

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.
<poem>

Asuka's response to Sigma is much more succinct.  "Much rather decapitate you instead.  Someone with your face has been annoying me for a while now."

Another little rat creature goes up in flames as a pulse of semi-automatic beam fire consumes it.

Asuka briefly raises her rifle as they open the door, only to see a cracked ceramic pot.  The Second Child arches a single eyebrow as she lowers the Beam Rifle back down.  "Yeah you do that.  Be sure to grab another pot just in case." Is she making a joke!?  Her tone is so dry that it's hard to tell.

And then the Gridman Alliance shows up!?  Yuta asks her what's going on and Asuka calls out just after Ruri...  "Tck.  You don't know?  Aren't you the Gridman Alliance?"

She sounds irritated, but...  she clarifies actually pretty quickly, which may indicate exactly WHY she's upset that the Gridman Alliance doesn't know, "A Gridman is assaulting Central Dogma - that's NERV's control center.  If he overtakes the Magi, our supercomputers, then that's it for everyone here."

More of those awful machines come out.  This time Asuka just switches the beam rifle for full auto mode with a flip of the switch, kneels down, and starts sweeping it across the machines in a scything arc initially before turning it into a more controlled one, giving the others a corridor to advance without worrying about friendly fire.

"Stuff your apologies.  You think any of us buy that 'You're much like us.' crap?  You'd kill her as soon as you would the rest of us, and not think twice about it."

The advantage of a beam rifle is that it has almost no recoil to worry about, giving her a stable field of suppressing fire.  Not that these machines are going to be particularly suppressed.  They know no fear, they have no care for their own existence.  Thus it's either destroy them before they reach them...

...  or, well, it'll be over quick.  If any break through, she slowly rises from her kneeling position, and backs up in a controlled tactical retreat, but she doesn't stop firing save a brief pause to switch out the battery pack.  She's way too calm about this for someone her age.

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
<poem>
"They're like Zonders, just...accumulations of parts," Guy mutters. "But there's no core, either." Damn. They got him. "This is new," he admits. Renais never brought things like this about. He's never seen this before. "Be careful. Enemies like this can repurpose machinery to deadly ends very easily!"

He'll never forget the refrigerator freeze ray. Never ever.

"Keep an eye out for anything they do!" Guy adds. "We'll need to know as much as possible later!" Assuming, of course, that there will be one.

Misato calls his attention. He's barely even paying attention to Sigma; he's fought Baron Asura, he knows at a point you just tune out the evil general. "Mamoru, Ikumi, give me a hand!" Guy calls. Their telekinesis is leagues stronger than his. Case in point: He doesn't really use it. Trusting their force will come, what GUY does is just charge full force at the bulkhead to shoulder-check it and try to ram completely through it using Superhuman Evolual Momentum!
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> GaoGaiGo Team has posed.
<poem>
As they move forward, Guy Shishioh calls out. Mamoru and Ikumi switch from their current tactics, instead stretching out their hands towards Guy's target to pin it down with sheer telekinetic force. "Guy! How many of these things  are there?!"

Ikumi has his head on straight, but, easily missable in the chaos, Mamoru's struggling a little. It's barely noticeable in his telekinesis, but he's not putting out full force like Ikumi is. The fact Volfogg is probably here, working with this mission against NERV...it hurts his heart.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
<poem>
        It's her hands that are causing the shaking, Lucine tells herself, as the frighteningly warm three hole punch is clutched in one hand.

        "A-ah, yes!" Lucine answers Rikka, looking up from three-hole punch that suddenly begins to writhe. "Ah, uh, hold on..." Her instinct was to bash it into the ground a few times, but, when the tendrils of liquid metal spring out, she screams.

        A shot rings out, and the three hole punch clangs to the ground, with Lucine thankfully quite safe. Taking a second to slow her breathing, trying to fall back on what her dad-- no, her dad was more about using adrenaline to steamroll his enemies, like a descending hawk. She reflects on a few bits of advice from Zero, instead, and regains her composure.

        ".... Thank you, Colonel." While she has calmed down significantly, Lucine barely manages to keep the tremor out of her voice. "... I wasn't... thinking correctly, there."

        Lucine looks down towards the gun-holding Ruri, and gives her a small smile. ".... ... Sorry you had to see that, Ruri," she says, under her breath. "But I suppose... it would have been worse if it waited until we were on the Nadesico. But still. I'm sorry you have to see all this..." It didn't hit her, until Sigma pointed it out, that Ruri would see these creations as beings similar to Omoikane. ""

         Asuka's advice gets a small, wry grin. "... I... would, but the other one I saw... is a live plant." ..... lucine is joking, surely

        As Asuka helpfully explains nothing to Yuta and Rikka, Lucine purses her lips, about to offer what Liam has took her, but Ruri, the ship operator, is ready to provide her role, even minus the ship. "The people down there... are they..." Her lips thin. "I'll assume they're alright, as long as we do our part..."

        She doesn't have a weapon. But she does have...

        ".... I think there's an ambush further down beyond this. From the left hallway." She squints. "... Or was it the right...." Is there a hallway? Of course there's going to be ambushes, they're in the middle of an ambush!

         Her eyes widen. "Behind us!"
        
</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.
<poem>
"That's not helpful!" Yuta shouts to Asuka. "An evil Gridman?!"

The conversation doesn't progress much farther before the sound of a gunshot makes Yuta jump and cover his ears. This situation is worse than what he was expecting. Something about being in human form for a fight was so much more terrifying...

Stuck inside, summoning Gridman would only bring the building down on top of them. He exchanges a grim look with Rikka. This was way out of their playing field!

When Lucine shouts, Yuta whirls around, facing the oncoming monsters. "Rikka, stay back!" He throws one arm out in front of her protectively. Maybe Gridman's moves would work in human form, too. He's never tried it, but -- it's the best he's got!

"Hyper --!" Charging toward the monsters, Yuta shouts, "Pun--!"

Thankfully, before Yuta reaches them, there's a flash of silver. A scruffy-looking man with four swords on his back stands between Yuta and the monsters -- now dispatched. "Gridman thought you were in danger." Calibur says, looking back at Yuta as he skids to a stop.

"Calibur! Thank you so much! These people need our help -- I don't know what's going on, but there's some kind of evil Gridman, and these.. monsters."
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
<poem>
Everyone assures here they're fine and Rikka nods, shifting the first-aid kit she brought with her to underneath one of her arms.

"I brought first aid with me, so let me know if anyone gets hurt." She advises. It's ''meant'' for patching up people who get hurt during kaiju attacks - she never thought she might have to do it in the middle of a live combat situation. She keeps an eye on Lucine... but, it looks like she has things under control. She does offer her a sympathetic glance, though - she's not sure she would've handled that any better.

Suddenly, a voice emerges from one of the monitors. That in and of itself isn't too strange... but it's the ''face'' that gives her pause, causes her to stare. She looks toward Yuta, then back to the monitor.

"That can't be... Gridman." Rikka says, shaking her head. Similar, but... different. Also of concern, is the machines that surge through the area! Rikka very quickly moves to... stay out of the way. She isn't unarmed - she probably wouldn't even be able to fire a gun properly if she had one. Best to let those with actual training handle it.

She's a little startled to see Ruri here, too. She doesn't know her - which is why it's so surprising to her to see her act so calm about this, with that grip on her pistol.  She sums up the situation, and Asuka has her own piece to add.

"We only know what Gridman told us - that danger was approaching NERV." Rikka replies with a frown, her stance shifting a little. She's annoyed at Asuka's tone... but, it's not like she can say anything harsher, when she's helping deal with those monsters. "That's why we got here so fast."

Unfortunately, the way they came from is soon blocked by more foes - but thankfully, Guy, Mamoru, and Ikumi are here. She's always seen the former in his robot, or in a casual situation - it's a little surprising to see him like this. No wonder people look up to him as a hero...

But, there's still more danger! Yuta throws an arm protectively in front of her and starts, charging in...!? She appreciates the gesture, but aren't those a little much for him...?

"Hibiki...!" Rikka calls out, shocked... but, in a flash of silver, the foes are defeated and she breathes a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Calibur..."

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Takeshi Todo has posed.
<poem>
"It is," the Gridman answers, still focused for the time being on Ruri's presence. "But it's necessary. I wish it weren't, but this is for the best. The universe is sick. Very, very sick," is he trying to reach an understanding now? Maybe to try and find some ounce of justification from the one he thinks is 'like himself?' "A healthy universe... wouldn't have the kinds of holes that would allow someone to travel to other worlds. Even through ''time.'' It wouldn't have powers within it that could violate the very laws of reality." The Galeoria Comet. The portal that sent Choryujin into the past. The Axis Shock and the power of the psychoframe. He means these and more.

"We all like to hear ourselves speak, Misato Katsuragi," Gridman says, then. "What you two seem to have failed to understand is that you're not going to be ''alone'' in oblivion. Once we're done wiping you all out, we're going to go, too. This whole universe needs to be set right, and the only way to do that is to make sure that nobody- not you, not ''us''- can interfere with it until it's time for all to begin again."

"This is the Cosmic Law," he says with some finality. "It's the will of the universe for us all to make way for what is to come.."

Just then, something seems to catch Sigma's attention. Near Yuta's head, a nearby monitor flickers to life, displaying an image of the hostile Gridman's face in profile. "You... I should have figured you would have made your way here. But... no, you're not the same, are you? I wonder, how will you measure up against the previous Gridman...?"

Asuka evaporates dozens of the smaller machines, the not-Zonders. Guy is right, these have no cores. They're all driven by a singular, overriding will. To put it in Ruri's words, their 'will' has been transformed and unified, gathered into a single deadly purpose by the grip of Cosmic Law, enforced by the power animating their forms. But they are just scrap, after all. Just chaff. Guy and Kaidou and Mamoru slam into the bulkhead, and tear it to shreds. It wasn't made to hold up to the kind of telekinesis these three can bring to bear together.

The dust is heavy. The corridor up ahead is dark and wide. Pipes carrying one fluid or another, or shielding electrical conduits. But the smoke... does not clear as one would expect. Lucine mentioned an ambush. What is waiting for them...

"Captain Guy." That voice, cool and calm and so very familiar. "Special Agent Mamoru..."

A pair of lights blaze in the darkness as if they could be eyes. "Please... I beg of you, stop this resistance. If you proceed, my hand will be forced."

"I do not want to kill you."

But as Lucine predicted, there are things ''behind'' them too. They surge out of a nearby corridor. One of them looks like some kind of demented fusion of six different industrial staplers. It spits them like high-caliber ammunition. Another seems to be a rolling assembly of glass beakers filled with sloshing liquid. Some kind of... chemical weaponry??

And then Samurai Calibur appears, cleaving through the chemical creation. Its insides mix as it falls, bubbling and boiling, releasing a tremendous amount of heat-- but it doesn't explode. This is, probably, a good thing. Still, there are more of those creatures where the one came from. Perhaps a Hyper Punch will still be necessary...?
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> GaoGaiGo Team has posed.
<poem>
Volfogg is here. Mamoru pauses, hearing that voice. "Volfogg...please, come home. We don't have to fight...we're friends!"

While Mamoru is accidentally distracting Volfogg, Ikumi sidles up, and tilts his head slightly towards Guy, whispering. "We'll distract Volfogg. You and the others create our exit. Okay?"
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Misato Katsuragi has posed.
<poem>
"If you wanna die, go ahead! But I've got beer to drink, ramen to slurp down! If the universe can't handle it, it can eat my ass!" Misato shouts back. At least she's getting her cardio today, she thinks.

She doesn't have time to slow down. She gives  a small nod. "Don't thank me yet, we still got a bit of ground to cover and if we don't get to the Nadesico before the systems are compromised, this is all just wasting time."

Lucine calls out an ambush behind them and Misato sprays out another quick burst of fire to buy some time before moving on ahead to the dark cooridor.

A different flavor of voice appears. "No way Guy's dumb enough to fall for that, bud." Misato mutters.

She glances back. CHEMISTRY? "Fuck--- no clue what will happen if we shoot those..."

Misato reaches for her hip for one of her grenades but thinks, at the last moment, that a bomb will probably be worse than bullets, actually.

"Dammit...! Keep moving!"

Gridman is responsible for this backup? Misato supposes it's possible it sensed the danger somehow. Rather than try to defeat the chemistry set robots with gunfire, Misato manually pulls down a blast shield once everyone's through to buy some time.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
<poem>
        Ruri doesn't realise just how relevant what Sigma says ''is,'' to her own existence, and the Nadesico's. It's horrible enough without that.

        Well, it's horrible, but what Asuka says about his words for her -- "Miss Langley is correct," Ruri says. "None of us have any reason to believe in your sincerity right now. You are sick." It isn't an invective; she isn't insulting him. She is plainly describing his current experience.

        She shakes her head, and looks to Lucine. "Don't worry about me. If we can't fix this, we're all going to die, so it doesn't really matter what I see or don't see right now." Which -- might not be entirely COMFORTING, with regards to the people below.

        Ruri looks at the sword-wielding man, in blank surprise, for a moment, before she just keeps moving. That's normal. It's fine.

        She hurries through to let Misato close that blast door -- and still hasn't managed to actually ''fire'' that pistol, for all everyone has been trying so hard to protect her.

        Don't make her say she's afraid.

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
<poem>
Once they've burst through to the Gridman Team, Guy gives Rikka and Yuta a brief, worried look. "Good to see you," he says. "I'm sorry, but..."

Sigma speaks through the monitors, the speakers. "...the enemy is Gridman's brother," he says, grimly. "...I'm sorry. I should've told you sooner. He and his partner were both with us in the Trinary Solar System. ...they've become Oath Over Omega's Ruin Apostles, now."

As is evident enough, perhaps.

Unfortunately, there's another problem. Guy's left hand keens at him, the loud sound of the G-Stone fused with his body's cells connecting, however briefly, with another. Then, the eyes. "...You know we won't do that, Volfogg," Guy says, straightening up. Equipped, he MIGHT be able to keep Volfogg occupied for a while. Like this? No. Not without risking exposing himself to Triple Zero again, at least.

"...yeah," he says to Ikumi, not breaking eye contact with Volfogg. That's the best bet. With none of them Equipped, Ikumi and Mamoru should have the advantage if combat erupts, thanks to their Telekinesis.

Mamoru makes an impassioned plea...he must be in agony, seeing his friend, the Brave who fought so hard to save him so many times, like this. Guy's not doing much better, but he's...had more time to get used to it, maybe.

Misato boxes them in with Volfogg. At least now they don't have to worry about scurrying explosion robots. Just...how exactly they're getting past Volfogg. He doesn't see GunDober; that's almost a mercy. Volfogg can perform San-Mi-Itai, Three Become One, in much, much smaller spaces than one might think, but he needs his support units here to ''do'' it. Without them... ...well it's still bad, honestly, but he'll take what mercies he can get. He scans around. Doors, exits...if he can get an open eye to the outside, he can summon PhantomGao and Equip himself, at least!
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.
<poem>

Lucine gets ''such'' a stare.  Before Asuka tosses her - not her sidearm, but a combat knife in a sheathe.  "You at least know what to do with this right?" Before she grunts at Yuta, even after Ruri and Guy's explanation elaborate more on the topic, "Yeah, he introduced himself as Gridman Sigma."  Even as she listens to Gridman Sigma addresses them all, eyeing the monitor as he addresses Yuta.

'You are sick.'

"Not the word I'd use."

Rikka's annoyance is palpable, even if she doesn't say anything harsh.  Asuka looks at her out of the corner of her eye.  Then slowly...  "Won't say no to more hands." She says eventually.  It's about all she can allow right now, when it comes to Rikka.

Their advance is expeditious down the corridor, or at least it was until Volfogg appears.  And as he's talking, Asuka keeps the barrel of the beam rifle pointed down...

... "Damnit." She curses as he reveals what the others thought was going to happen anyway, knowing he's going to waste so much time even if they do get through here.  Instead she turns around, and starts spitting beam fire in a three shot burst at those strange fusions of staplers.  She's pacing her shots, making sure she has a bead because...

...  well she's firing past the others.

Thankfully Samurai Calibur takes care of the chemical weapons.  And Asuka actually... leverages her Chemistry degree here as she calls out to Misato while they run - thankfully Mamoru and Ikumi are distracting Volfogg because well...  she knows she's not gonna be able to do much there.

Thankfully Misato's instincts are good, as she backs her up, "No projectile weapons or explosives.  Last thing we need is the kinetics splattering them everywhere!  Beams decontaminate most chemical weapons by ionizing them into useless compounds."

She gives that impromptu chemistry lesson while running and gunning beyond the blast door.

A brief respite once it closes?  Not likely.

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> GaoGaiGo Team has posed.
<poem>
As Guy gives the word, Ikumi rushes forward, sliding to charge Volfogg. "Mamoru, barriers!"

Mamoru shakes from his plea, but the emotion and desire lingers a second, before energy barriers surround Mamoru and Ikumi. If someone tried to corrupt them, this magical fairy barrier would protect them, green light shimmering around the two defensively.

"Volfogg, sorry!" Mamoru shouts out, before moving to force his telekinesis into his former bodyguard, trying to push him back hard. Ikumi forces the telekinesis out below them, blasting at Volfogg's legs to try and knock him off balance just long enough for everyone to get past! He's a ninja, though, so they're not expecting too much...just enough time to make this a chase instead of a wall!

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Misato Katsuragi has posed.
<poem>
"It's completely unfair," Misato says. "To throw enemies at us we can't shoot or explode."

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.
<poem>

"You're just mad that your one true love - your sidearm - has been benched for this op."

This is how you know things are dire.  Asuka just wanted to tell one singular joke before she dies.  One of those things that was on her bucket list apparently.

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Misato Katsuragi has posed.
<poem>
"You got me there," Misato admits.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
<poem>
        "... I didn't realize there was another person among us..." Lucine's eyes widen as Calibur comes to Yuta's call. So these two know who Gridman is? Rather, no, they're behind Gridman. A committee. And, as Guy reveals, this is Gridman's brother?

        Lucine nods to Rikka with a nod and a thankful smile. "Thank you both for coming... We may need that kit when we're done here."

        Misato's realistic glance into their chances, for once, seems to bring a level of odd clarity to Lucine's face, as she stares ahead. "... We'll make it, then," she says, softly. "... We'll make it unless we die. It's as simple as that."

        She has no weapon but herself, and little in the way of protection beyond that. Zero's lessons have given her some confidence, but not the amount of training needed to take on anything beyond, perhaps, an unwary purse thief.

        That is, until Asuka throws her a sheathed knife. Lucine manages to barely catch it, betraying the latent nervousness under her calm expression. She gives Asuka a solid nod, glad she fought the urge to guve Asuka an annoying smile in return for that stare. "Not completely. But I have been told I'm a quick learner. Thank you."

        Sigma speaks to Ruri, coaxing her with words that prickle at Lucine. Is this what Ruri dealt with, when the Devil of Tsutsujidai visited her?

        "You wish for a world with predictablity, without chaos. A 'fixed' world." Lucine raises her voice, sharp as the knife she draws out. "I'm sorry, but... that is a world without flowers. .... I didn't survive the Jovian invasion for nothing. Your reasons are empty."

        Mamoru's emotions are like a gut punch as Ruri reveals her simple logic. "We'll get through this, Ruri. I know it."

        Lucine is just glad Ruri is not a Newtype that could see the uncertainty hidng behind her words.

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.
<poem>
Yuta looks straight into the monitor, startling. For the first time, he really looks at their foe, his brow furrowing in distress. "Gridman... Who are you?" After a moment, anger flares. "What the hell are you saying? Gridman -- we're supposed to save people! Not bring oblivion, or whatever this is! What's wrong with you?!" Yuta grits his teeth, balling his hands into fists. This horrible, twisted Gridman... "You don't know me. Stop sending all these... things, and fight me honestly!"

Slowly making his way closer to Rikka, Yuta keeps his eyes on the monitor. His gaze flicks to hers for just a moment -- she's safe. She's okay. The other girl with them confirms she's alright, as well. Thank goodness. One less thing to worry about.

"We." Calibur begins, bradishing his sword as he nimbly dodges the staplers and unknown liquid. "Should have brought everyone." Calibur looks to the other group, raising his voice. "Please stay close to me." He lowers his sword, pointing it at the un-exploded creature. Calibur is wary of slicing it to pieces -- the heat it's giving off is intense, and the kids were nearby. Best to watch, for now. If worst comes to worst, he can pick up the three nearest children and get them outside -- hopefully.

The continual gunfire makes Yuta wince. This was so much louder as a human..! He wants to cover his ears, but he refuses to look weak in front of this evil Gridman.

"Good to see you too, Guy." Yuta manages a smile, but that quickly drops into a expresion of shock. "His brother?! He's never mentioned this --" Of course. Gridman would've forgotten his family, just like Yuta. "That's all the more reason you should stop this! Gridman Sigma, I can reunite you with your brother! You don't have to do this!"

"Don't worry." Calibur says to Misato, as she grumbles about enemies they can't explode. "I can handle this." The lanky man leads the way as the move forward, cutting down the chemistry beasts just enough to stop them from moving.

"I hope we'll be some help." Yuta says, giving Lucine a somewhat grim smile.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
<poem>
"I hope not, but..." Rikka replies with a nod to Lucine. ...But, at least it's here if they ''do'' need it.

The enemy Gridman speaks again, speaking of how the universe is sick, and how it must end. Triple Zero, and Cosmic Law... Rikka frowns.

"...Maybe some laws ''should'' be broken. I don't want to die - or let the people I care about die, either." She says. A lot of bravado, to cover up the fact that she's kind of terrified right now, betrayed by the way she clutches tightly onto that first-aid kit. Misato's defiance, though, is refreshing, honestly. Rikka's never met the Colonel, but she's glad she's here.

The enemy Gridman takes notice of Yuta, then, and Rikka shoots him a glare before looking back toward Yuta.

"Don't let him get to you, okay, Hibiki?" Rikka urges. "That's what he wants..."

Her gaze tracks briefly to Ruri for a moment, then, as she tells Lucine not to worry about her. ...That's just more reason to worry, really. She looks toward Asuka next, then who says something... not ''nice'', exactly, but neutral. Rikka pauses for a moment... and then, in reply, nods.

Guy and his team reach them soon, then.

"Wish it were under better circumstances..." She comments, then listens as he explains. Gridman's... brother. Not ''just'' an evil Gridman, then, but one so closely connected to the one she knows. "That's a lot to take in... but, I guess it's good to know that now."

There's not much time left to chatter, because as they move, there's a voice. Rikka pauses, surprised.

"Is that... a person?" Rikka asks. It is a person - and one Guy knows, which is a problem for all of them. Especially when he is soon joined by an assortment of fused lab equipment, complete with liquid-filled beakers.

"Seriously...?" Rikka breathes out, shocked. She shifts the first-aid kit, holding it tight to her body now as she moves and dodges past foes - following quickly after Misato as she rushes through a blast door, and making sure to keep close to Yuta and Calibur.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Takeshi Todo has posed.
<poem>
Did you know that robots can sigh? Something much like it issues out of the shadow as Guy gives his response. It's... resigned. Full of sorrow. He knew that this was coming. "Special Agent Mamoru... I am afraid I cannot do that. Just as you cannot stray from your path." After all, they are all Braves. All comrades, who once fought under the same flag. "...Yes, I know. Captain. Even as we are now, we have not forgotten the code. Under no circumstances must a a member of GGG ever give up. Very well..."

Something silvery glints in the fog. "Come...!"

Mamoru and Ikumi lead the charge. Telekinetic force pushing into the darkness and the murk...

...Only to hit ''nothing.''

The image of what was Volfogg shimmers and dissolves-- as the silvery blade of a helicopter rotor scythes in from the left. Just as Lucine promised, an ambush from leftward by the third of Big Volfogg's components.

"Kit Number 08. A remote projection beam for decoy use," Volfogg's voice resounds. "Apologies, Captain, Mamoru. We cannot risk you interrupting our work." That explains it then. It was him all along.

It was ''Volfogg'' who got the wayward members of GGG, corrupted by Dawn Aura, into NERV's computer systems...! Of course he can't risk exposing himself, if he's the main connection. But he's nearby, he has to be. Unless he can spoof even the G-Stone link...?

"Sick. In the sense that I coexist with the Oath Over Omega? I suppose it might look that way from the outside. But it is not sickness to see the truth." Still, Sigma tries to speak to Ruri, but it's clear he's getting nowhere. "We ''can't'' die yet. Not until all of you do. Only once we've guaranteed you're all gone can we finally rest. We wish for a world that is ''healthy''. One that isn't ''bleeding out'' into the void. But until then... Tch. The door's stuck on manual, is it...?" But even that may not be a permanent solution. The sound of sizzling metal hisses from behind the blast doors. Those chemical robos are... trying to melt through the bulkhead...!?

Yuta. "There's nothing wrong with me," Sigma answers, plainly. "But I ''do'' know you. And if you still knew me, you'd know that I'm the kind who prefers to get what he wants without a fight. But you don't. More's the pity, Current Gridman.."

But in all this chaos, there is an opportunity. Beyond GunGlue, there's a glint of light. A way out. An exit-- and possibly even...

The Nadesico. And a means for Guy to call down greater power. If they can get through, if Volfogg doesn't suddenly appear from the shadows to intercept them one last time, maybe there's a chance...!!

They're so close. One more push...!
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
<poem>
Guy grimaces as Volfogg flickers and fades, Gunglue slicing through as a counterattack at the same time. "Volfogg..." Guy says, low. "Yes. I'm sure that's true."

Ikumi and Mamoru still mean to distract him, even if that plan isn't the best as things are now.

So Guy takes a deep breath, and green light slowly envelops his body again, fairy-like wings of light fluttering behind him. "I see the exit," he says.  "We're going ahead! Keep Gunglue busy for just a minute!"

who is 'we', exactly

He ducks low, scoops Ruri up in a princess carry ("Pardon me") and then surges forward - two, three, four superhumanly powerful strides before he stops walking entirely and ''flies'' the rest of the way down the tunnel, his eyes set on the light ahead.

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Misato Katsuragi has posed.
<poem>
"Guess you're in for a real rough time, Sigma, 'cause we're not goin' anywhere. Sorry. It's gonna be real rough on you, I guess."

"Don't worry about the bulkhead!" Misato shouts. "Just keep moving!" She gives a nod to Lucine and--

--was that samurai always there? No.

"eh..nhnnnhnhnhnhnhnhnhnhnh...." Misato says to Calibur. "Okay, I guess!"

She givese Yuta a suspicious look but she's ill inclined to press the matter. No matter how sketchy a samurai is if the guy is stabbing your enemies, you don't look that gift katana in the mouth.

Misato darts ahead to kick out a grate, revealing light! And the Nadesico!

...It's a bit of a drop to get down there though.

"Drop and roll!" Misato says. "--Oh wait there's a ladder." She pauses.

"...Use the ladder." Though the more action hero inclined might just dramatically leap out and land awesomely, NERV isn't designed for those sorts of people so you can just climb on down if you prefer.

As usual, Misato intends to be the last one out. Once everyone's on the Nadesico--

--well, it might become apparent that Misato isn't intending to board the Nadesico because she fully intends to just fight her way back to the command center.

That IS her job after all.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
<poem>
        Everyone is trying very, very hard to get them out. (To get her out.) Even so, Ruri can't manage to lift that pistol. Even so, it's benched.

        "Mr. Kerib told me all about your 'Cosmic Law', Mr. Sigma," Ruri responds, and still she is ''outwardly'' calm, though Lucine amongst others may sense there is fear below the surface. "You'll die. But even though we're similar... you won't listen to me, I suppose."

        She mentions Alexis Kerib entirely fearlessly, despite the stormclouds others have placed over his name; she is relating facts.

        But Guy makes a decision, and Ruri gasps, Misato's precious pistol scattering to the ground as she's ''scooped'' up like (like?) a princess, startled to silence. The most sensible thing, she decides, is to hang on to this other fairy -- so she grasps at his shoulder, and keeps still.

        It's a remarkable thing, but -- she's been saved by remarkable things before. She can't afford to be shocked, right now, when time is running out.

        She has to reach Omoikane, and she couldn't do it alone.

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Misato Katsuragi has posed.
<poem>
Don't worry.

Misato will return the gun to Ruri.

(No Misato will keep it now that she's seemingly out of danger.)
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.
<poem>
Yuta stays close to the others. The grief of his companions isn't lost on him -- he doesn't know what's going on, but... it's clear this is something bad. Rikka gets a nod -- he can't get emotional, not now.

"I have a lot of questions for you." Yuta shouts back to Sigma, over the sound of the helicopter. "If you don't have to fight, we don't have to. Just -- let's talk, somewhere, then? Gridman's in trouble, he's lost his memory. Maybe you could help him!"

Calibur looks back at the bulkhead. That wasn't going to hold long. He had to secure the escape route for everyone. Charging ahead with incredible speed, the samurai clears the way as best as he's able. As long as Volfogg doesn't interrupt him, Calibur will cut through just about anything, walls included, to get the group to safety. "Hurry." He says, looking back at the melting blast door.

"There's the way out! Just a little farther!" Yuta cries, hope lightening his steps.Once they made it out, he can transform if he has to, and Rikka will be safe in the Synchrotank! When Ruri mentions Mr. Kerib, Yuta stops short, staring at her as Guy whisks her away. "Wait, did you say--"

Perhaps inspired by Guy, once the group is decently close to the exit, Calibur races back, picking up Yuta and Rikka under his arms and leaping out the exit. He lands safely, then puts the children down -- with a little less care.

"Oof." Yuta gets back to his feet, rubbing his shoulder. He'll never get used to that. "Thanks, Calibur." He doesn't board the Nadesico with the others -- they have Synchrotank to worry about, after all. "I'll back you all up however I can!"
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.
<poem>

"Yeah, you say you 'see' the truth but all I hear are the rantings of a blind loser who's too pathetic to even acknowledge that he's being used."

Asuka has many faults, but she's been aware of the fact that she's being used from the moment she was born.

Though when Ruri mentions Mister Kerib, Asuka's eyes suddenly widen in alarm, "What did you just say-"

As Guy scoops up Ruri, she perhaps breathes easier even if she still has questions.  If anyone can escort her for the final stretch, its him.

"Who the heck is that guy anyway!?" She says of Calibur, just, slicing apart chemical robots, shouldn't his sword have dissolved?  It doesn't even look like anything special at a glance!

As Ruri drops the pistol, Asuka scoops it up, and underhand tosses it back to Misato, before running for the- 'Drop and roll!' -ladder and climbing up at a violent pace.

The Nadesico awaits but...  it becomes clear that Misato isn't coming aboard, despite the odds so much worse against just her than all of them combined...  "''Misato''!"

She knows that there's no argument she can make though.  Even when she was facing down Ouka, she was committed.  Even when it was smarter not to...

"...  see you after, back at the apartment."

It's all she can say, before she runs aboard that ramp.

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
<poem>
"Don't the people of this world get a say in this?" Rikka asks, and then frowns. But, she doesn't say anything further. She nods, as Yuta speaks. Letting Sigma know that Gridman's lost his memory... she doesn't know if that was the right call, but it's a very Yuta thing to do. She can hardly get after him for that.

Unfortunately, there isn't much time to wait and chat - the chemical robots are melting through the doors, and this isn't the best place for them to be.

"That's Samurai Calibur - he's with us." Rikka explains. "He's a Neon Genesis Junior High Student, apparently."

...That has to be some kind of cosmic joke, right?

They begin to run... but, Ruri soon says something that causes Rikka to hesitate - a name, that has very quickly become synonomous with the devil. She shudders a little. Has he been... talking with her? Wasn't he satisfied already with ruining Akane's life...?

"Wait, did you just say Ke-" Rikka starts... but before she can finish, Ruri is picked up by Guy - and soon enough, Calibur does the same to her and Yuta, leaping down the grate Misato kicked open. Rikka grimaces at not getting to ask, but... they ''do'' need to hurry.

She's set down soon enough and stumbles a little before managing to restabilize herself.

"Th-thanks." She says with a nod toward Calibur, and then looks toward Yuta. It looks like they're both in agreement on that point - they have somewhere else they're needed.

"We'll offer support from Synchrotank... we'll see if we can't get a call out to Gridman, too!" Rikka says, before hurrying off back to her mobile suit.

Her heart's still pounding in her chest. She might be able to relax a bit more with Synchrotank in sight, her fear at the situation she found herself in subsiding... But unfortunately, she doesn't think this day is about to get any easier.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.
<poem>
    The mention of a 'Mr. Kerib' flies right over Lucine's head-- or, it would have, if she wasn't already focusing in on that note of fear under Ruri's cool demeanor. Not towards the name, Lucine suspects, but towards Sigma, but the reactions towards the name, especially Asuka's and the two members of the Gridman Alliance, provide more context. Of course. The Devil of Tsutsujidai would know of this 'Cosmic Law', and have an opinion on it. In a sense, it's all related, in an unnerving way.

    Drop and roll, Misato says. "Alright." Lucine already leaping down as Misato makes her more sensible clarification of there being a ladder. Nothing fancy about it; it's about the same distance from the Dianthus's cockpit to the ground, after all. There is a rip in her uniform's skirt from her landing, but she's not really paying close attention as she gets up from her roll. Instead, Lucine's eyes are set on the goal, pointed out by Guy. This is the home stretch. She knows what to do here. She doesn't have the Dianthus, but she is the most important part of it, being its pilot. She can run.

    By the time Ruri is picked up by Guy and Calibur picks up Yuta and Rikka, Lucine has taken off her heels, breaking into a single-minded sprint, with shoes in one hand and the loaned knife in the other. Towards Volfogg, towards danger, towards the exit to the Nadesico.

    "Umph!!" The heels are lobed at Volfogg's face, offering a harmless distraction (at least, to a robot) as Lucine throws herself into a roll just past, and through the exit.
    
    Outside.

    Panting, with her hands on her knees, Lucine tries to make an accessment of who is here. Ruri is safe with Guy. Calibur is setting down Yuta and Rikka. "... Thank you both...  for coming to help us," she manages to say to them, between breaths. Asuka is with--

    Misato is not coming. ".... Coloniel Misato..." 'see you after, back at the apartment.' Lucine amends her thoughts. ".... is amazing." If she's going back, it must be to ensure everyone else is safe. And the others, that may be missing still...

    Lucine shakily puts the loaned knife back into its sheath. Thankfully, she didn't have to use it-- not because she's afraid of violence, but because she seriously wasn't sure of her chances of getting anywhere with it without accidentally injuring someone else or herself. Without a mechanical suit between her and her squishy body, it makes her feel so much more helpless.    

    But, Ruri made it to the Nadesico, thanks in large part to Misato's lead.

    Lucine looks down to Ruri. "... So... I take it... the hard part starts now?"
</poem>

[[Category:Logs]]
[[Category:Phase 1]]
[[Category:Phase 1, Turn 2]]