2023-09-29: Twelfth Angel Part 2 ~ Farewell for Today

• Log: The Twelfth Angel Part 2 ~ Farewell For Today
• Cast: Asuka Shikinami Langley, Shinji Ikari, Gendo Ikari, Knight, Gai Kurenai, Rikka Takarada, Neon Genesis Junior High Students, Jana Cektru, Lucine Azul, Chloe, Alouette Pommier, Akane Shinjo, Liam 7-020, Guy Shishioh, Haruki Natsukawa
• Where: Toumi Region, Outside Tokyo-3
• OOC - IC Date: September 29, U.C. 0097
• Summary: Let's be friends. Forever, without end. (CW: Gore)

---

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

09/29 UC 0097 1843

This small rural township of Toumi was evacuated earlier in the day after the incident that consumed the Matsushiro Secondary Experimental Facility. The people all complied, only to be replaced by NERV and OCU forces. The rapid hum of military helicopters can be heard overhead, while an old school tank battalion rolls through the streets, creating a strange symphony with the Cicadas.

Noone has told them that summer is over. Nature marches to the beat of its own drum.

The Ichinana support from the OCU arrives, each one setting down on the outskirts as they form a perimeter around the power station that NERV had set up at. "Second Ichinana company is on site. Have them assist NERV in the power-cable-extension procedures." There was grumbling, as they each began to help the logistics team on site at the substation.

None of them knew, that Prime Minister Yumi was engaged with a furious back and forth with his own Defense Minister after he countermanded the order to drop an N2 mine on the Angel which had fallen into a state of estivation after the destruction of Unit-00. The demonstration upon the fourth Angel had been enough for him to entrust this matter to NERV.

The other, refused to let it go. It was a matter of pride that that two detonations had happened on Japanese soil, and that a NERV Evangelion was the source of their woes.

NERV's own command didn't even bother getting involved, other than the Commander declaring a single word to the OCU's plan to drop an N2 mine.

        "Foolish."

The mine never fell, and now support was here for NERV instead, grumbling aside from the eager soldiers who did not truly know the horror of an Angel.

They learn rapidly. It's heard first, before it's seen. Like footsteps in a Kaiju film, exaggerated, plodding, meant to accentuate and exaggerate the mass of the threat to come. Save it's no exaggeration.

Traditional homes wind through the mountainous valley, the power lines that supply them arcing over the side of the small mountains they're nestled between. Evangelion Unit-03 moves out from behind them, one footstep at a time. It's restraint armor, once sleek, is now twisted and ruined around the limbs, warped and distorted like the metal was made of putty. Traditional homes crumple beneath it's feet, reduced to so much debris, evacuated but still full of the belongings that people have placed so much investment into.

Power lines that barely come past the Evangelion's knee snap and are dragged from taut to sagging messes, as its trail wreaks a path of unhurried havoc through Toumi's residential areas.

It's facing forward now, cresting over the final mountain, and so is the sun, backlit in so many orange hues, its armor is black, glowing bright along the pauldrons, and arms and waist. Both optics are glowing red, for the growing eclipse of the Evangelion deempahsizes all but the penumbra of the Evangelion.

But it isn't an Evangelion is it?

The shift from Pattern Orange to Pattern Blue had been confirmed by all three Magi. It had fought with such ferocity that Rei Ayanami felt she had no choice save to...

The tank battalions fire. The Ichinanas begin to open fire from the line they set up outside the power station. Projectile after projectile strike it head on, the Evangelion shaped Angel's advance is not even staggered. High voltage lines, this time up to its chest snap, and part, as it crests that final mountain.

It is the target, everyone in the OCU knows that.

It touches down upon the streets. Down the main thoroughfare of the shopping district, walking with a slight hunch. It feels like the entire town, the entire world sways to its rhythm as it advances, straight towards the power station.

Evangelion Unit-01's optics can see it now as it grows closer, the red face plate, like a crimson mask, partially destroyed by Rei's shot. It's eyes set aglow, from red, to duller violet and organic out of the corner of the left. A hint of that greying skin, shining with a strange inner light.

Even as he watches, that peripheral hint of a pupil constricts, focusing in upon the Evangelion. It rumbles, bestial...

... then it stops, straightening slightly, standing a distance from Evangelion Unit-01. At this size, it feels like the exact gap that two Samurai might stand before initiating a duel. That two gunslingers might stand before 'drawing' upon their opponent.

There is a moment of silence. Even the battalions have stopped firing to reload.

Is it an Evangelion? Is it an Angel? What even is the difference at this point when an Evangelion is the Angel?

Hey, Baka Shinji.

Is. Asuka. Still. In. There?

Am I what you want?

And even if she is - can anything even be done?

KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has deployed in The Twelfth Angel - Bardiel, the Angel of Haze.
KTS: Will Barrier activated! (But will not apply until relevant Morale threshold.)
KTS: Asuka_Shikinami_Langley has deployed as a Boss for 10 opponents.

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

        Shinji has always known that fighting the Angels carries with it the risk of death. He's come close to death himself several times, waking up to unfamiliar ceilings in this or that hospital room. It's not like he's forgotten. But he'd gotten used to the battles, somehow. They felt... still frightening, but more or less in hand.
        
        He never imagined that he might race to the Geofront in time to see Rei brutally murdered.
        
        Technically speaking, it was Unit-00 and not Rei herself. However, any Evangelion pilot knows the line between unit and pilot only blurs harder and harder as a battle proceeds--and Rei had used an N2 mine at point-blank range on the Twelfth Angel. There was just a torso left, hurled into the horizon before the Angel curled up like a doodlebug.
        
        It's at once numbing and nauseating. Shinji hadn't even gotten a good look at the Angel. Rei had been all that had mattered. He'd dissociated his way to the cage, where he'd changed into his plug suit; he doesn't actually remember getting into the entry plug or deploying to the surface. His arms and shoulders ache from his grip on Unit-01's controls. It feels empty in the entry plug without Kaworu.
        
        Kaworu should be here. Kaworu should be here in a seat behind him, a second seat that's no longer there in this other entry plug--should be here to mourn Rei. As his mind focuses on that fact, Shinji looks up at the sunset.
        
        "Father--I mean, Commander," he breathes. (He's struggling with his father's seeming indifference to Rei's fate. But surely that's not what it actually is. Surely he's simply hiding his feelings for the sake of the mission. That's Shinji's new understanding of Gendo after Sahaquiel, after Guy, after Rei. He doesn't hate him, he didn't abandon him; he simply is an awkward man dedicated to saving the world, no matter what. Shinji's new understanding can't be wrong. They were going to reconnect. Rei was going to help--was going--) "Where's Kaworu-kun? He was getting released today, wasn't he? Shouldn't he get deployed in Unit-02?"
        
        It's too late to have him here with him in Unit-01, but at the very least, he should get the chance to avenge Rei. They both should.
        
        (to avenge his grief in not arriving soon enough to help her)
        
        In time, the cables on the phone polls begin to whip and sway. The OCU's forces open fire. It's absurd--they should know better by now--but Shinji doesn't care about that. The Angel is approaching. Soon he'll see the face of his enemy--the enemy that took someone he loves from him.
        
        He swallows hard, tension riding through his frame, his elevated heart rate easily tracked by the Geofront's bridge crew. Misato and Ritsuko aren't there--Shinji's worried about them too, especially Misato; he's been mentally present just enough to hear that the Matsushiro Base was destroyed by the Angel, and that they were rescued but gravely injured--but as the dark silhouette approaches, the setting sun to its back, even that all fades away. A new dread wells up in his soul.
        
        "Is that... Unit-03...?" he whispers, eyes widening. "Asuka--?"
        
        Am I what you want?
        
        Back then, he hadn't known what to say, so he'd put his lips to different use. But this...
        
        "Asuka's in there, isn't she?"
        
        What can he do about this? What can anyone?
        
        "Hey!!"

KTS: Shinji Ikari has deployed in Evangelion Unit-01.
KTS: EN Barrier activated!

<Pose Tracker> Gendo Ikari has posed.

Purple and green reflect in the orange-tinted lenses of Gendo Ikari's glasses as he stares down at Evangelion Unit-01 from above.

The Evangelion Pens are abuzz with activity, as is every sprawling inch of NERV Headquarters -- but here, all that activity is clustered around the sole remaining Evangelion active in Tokyo-3. Crew members swarm around Unit-01; it looks dimly to Gendo Ikari like ants on a carcass as they guide a strange, new-looking Entry Plug into the purple-plated Eva. The long cylinder is primarily black, unlike the standard gunmental of most Entry Plugs, with notes of striating neon green along the longer head.

A label in all but glowing green reading 'DUMMY SYSTEM' can be seen before it hisses into Evangelion Unit-01.

                -=shunk=-

"Waiting for signal..." a technician besides Gendo announces.

"... signal accepted! The Dummy System has been successfully integrated!"

Gendo Ikari stares down at Evangelion Unit-01; despite the severity of the moment, it is a long time before he says anything at all, prefaced by a single gloved hand lifting to push tinted glasses back up to their obfuscating zenith.

"... Get the Third Child. It's time to begin."

                        -+-

Orange and pinks of a setting sun emblazoned on a viewscreen reflects impassively in the orange-tinted lenses of Gendo Ikari's glasses.

"Retrieval and Recovery teams have confirmed arrival and successful completion of salvage and rescue at Matsushiro! We have secured the area before Federation or OCU forces could arrive, all sensitive information should be--"

"Additional OCU Forces have been rerouted to the Toumi region, the Defense Minister is demanding--"

"Colonel Katsuragi and Chief Akagi have been recovered! The colonel's injuries are extensive but--"

"Current projected casualties are estimated at--"

A great distance, but not great enough, from the reemerging Twelfth Angel, NERV's Command Center is abuzz with voices announcing a seemingly endless-stream of news from too many sources to count. Launch of NERV units has already begun; the announcement from Vice Commander Fuyutsuki rang simply but unavoidably:

The Twelfth was on the approach again. The mission would commence shortly.

Now... now, NERV HQ's staff watches as the thing that was once Evangelion Unit-03 approaches, at first as little more than a blip on several analytics. NERV's forces are deploying. Evangelion Unit-01 is at the ready. And its pilot...

Where's Kaworu-kun? He was getting released today, wasn't he? Shouldn't he get deployed in Unit-02?

Gendo Ikari leans forward, his features further overshadowed by the bridge of his gloved fingers. Fuyutsuki spares the man a sidelong look as that question is met with silence.

And for the longest time, it is nothing but that silence that Shinji has to console himself with. Nothing but an uncertainty, that could mean everything or nothing--

"Ah." It is not his father's voice, but Fuyutsuki, that cuts away at the uncertain quiet. "That won't be possible," he begins. "You see..."

"The Fifth Child is not here."

And it is Gendo's voice instead that supercedes Fuyutsuki once the Vice Commander has broken that sacrosanct silence. Impersonal. Detached.

Offering no comfort or sympathy, only the unavoidable reality...

"The Fifth Child was transferred to Tagbha Base this morning. He has been reassigned to aid in the Jupiter expedition; retrieval is impossible.

"As of now, you are the sole remaining Evangelion at Tokyo-3."

... that now, Shinji Ikari is truly alone. The lynchpin in a final offensive between NERV's forces and the Angel.

The Angel that destroyed Unit-00. The Angel that took Rei.

The Angel that...

Is that... Unit-03...?
        Asuka--?

Shinji's demands broadcast out across Central Dogma's Command Center. But all they are met with is Fuyutsuki's voice once more as he gives orders across all of NERV's communication lines:

<"This is Vice Commander Fuyutsuki. The target is on the approach. Whatever it may look like, do not be deceived: that is the Twelfth Angel. Be warned -- the Angel's composition is unique and corruptive; contact with the substance the creature excretes will compromise your mobile units. Protecting Evangelion Unit-01 is a priority: we will be relying on it to breach the Angel's AT Field. As it is the last deployable Evangelion in Tokyo-3, it is currently our only way of nullifying the Twelfth's defenses. I repeat...">

Fuyutsuki's orders continue over Shinji's panic. And as they do, a direct line opens up within the bubbly embrace of Evangelion Unit-01's LCL bath, a holographic screen reading simply:

        GENDO IKARI
        SOUND ONLY

Asuka's in there, isn't she? The Evangelion Unit trudges against the backdrop of a setting sun as Gendo offers his son a grim echo of the words he offered Rei Ayanami.

<"That is your target.">
        <"Eliminate it, Shinji.">

The feed terminates.

KTS: Neon Genesis Junior High Students has deployed in Powered Zenon.
KTS: Haruki Natsukawa has deployed in SAA-1 Sevenger <Haruki>.
KTS: Lucine Azul has deployed in Dianthus Mk. 3.
KTS: Knight has deployed in Gridknight.
KTS: Jana Cektru has deployed in MPMZ-17 Ichinana TG Tector Gear.
KTS: Gai Kurenai has deployed in Ultraman Orb Thunder Breastar.
KTS: Liam 7-020 is now subpiloting for Lucine Azul.
KTS: Alouette Pommier has deployed in Guardienne Aviaire.
KTS: Chloe has deployed in MKA-5C Pallas Makhia.
KTS: EN Barrier activated!

<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.

        The bandages are gone, now. The largest wounds healed quickly -- for a human. The young man called Knight is able to move, though his core still remembers the lack of it.

        "It's pretty soon," says the young woman beside him. Anosillus the Second is worried, but she'd never say it out loud. "Naito, can you do it?"

        Knight curls a hand, experimentally, to a fist. He looks not unlike Kaworu with that shock of messy white hair, all tumbling over one of his eyes. "Yes."

        "All right!" Nidaime -- for that's what the Second means, translated -- chirps, pumping a fist. Her excitement makes their speedboat rock, where it's docked on the shore. "Go get 'em!" It's not that she's ignorant of just what's coming. She's just always been a beacon; she is half of the music which stirs mens' hearts, and encouragement comes easily to her.

        "All right," he nods, and vaults out of the boat, onto the shore.

        Toumi isn't a coastal village -- but civilians like the two of them would never have been able to drive right up to those screaming hearts. Even with Nidaime's Earth connections, it would have been... difficult. No: when Knight runs towards the agony he hears with his heart, his feet lift from the paved road, and in a flash of monstrous red light does the man become a giant.

        Gridknight approaches Toumi, with a stride which takes him there swiftly. He does not introduce himself, as he charges in -- but this isn't the first time NERV has seen Gridknight. Or the Giant of Light he's copied, at that.

        And he hears, as he enters the field, Shinji's pain, because those words spoken through the radio are communicated to him just the same; though he has no radio, inside himself, the connection reaches him.

        "It was Asuka Shikinami Langley," he says, he realises, he processes. In a line he is done: "Now, it's a kaiju. You can't hesitate."

        A moment later, he insists, as he charges forward towards the Angel: "She'd tell you the same -- Shinji Ikari!"

KTS: Guy Shishioh has deployed in GaoGaiGar.
KTS: EN Barrier activated!

<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.

A recent memory...

        "... I can see them being better than both of us, if they live long enough."

        "A lord monster, a dying copy with a spark of light, and that unfortunate and rushing child. . . It'd be a slightly less miserable place if their stories didn't end poorly."

        "I'm asking Ultraman for help. So don't run off until it's done."

A hand rests on the prostrate leg of Evangelion Unit-00, severed from its body by the blast. Gai Kurenai holds his hat tilted downwards, eyes closed.

        "You were late, Gai." Juggler's recrimination then was for the crisis in Tsutsujidai - but the memory has a new sting to it now.

He had felt it, of course - the two hearts crying out for help - but by the time he was here... It was already too late. One of them had fallen, with the other driven to march on Tokyo-3, in the grip of the monster possessing Unit-03.

Silently, the wanderer places one foot in front of the other. Then the next. Step after step, each faster than the one that came before, each stride carrying him further, until the landscape is a blur.

In his hands: The Orb Ring, in his left; and a pair of cards in his right, one sparkling gold and the other emitting a malefic violet aura.

====== ======

There is no negotiation with the powers he's calling on, this time, as his consciousness narrows to the timeless moment of his Inner Space and he scans the cards; no "Let me borrow the powers of light and darkness!" is shouted to the cosmos. There is only the intonation of the Voice of Light (ZOFFY. ULTRAMAN BELIAL.) followed by an anguished and furious scream: A scream of grief for a life lost, the guilt over being unable to uphold a promise... and a resolute fury to prevent this tragedy from worsening.

(FUSION UP OST: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSdZsmNiZwc )


A jet-black figure, body marked with indelible crimson scars, crashes down to one knee on the outskirts of Toumi, crimson light rippling outwards from the ring-shaped crystal in his chest, its calm blue hue tainted with veins of scarlet. Those same veins crawl in his wicked amber eyes as he glares at the advancing Bardiel.

With an echoing snarl, Ultraman Orb Thunder Breastar rises to his feet, unclenching his hefty fists to reveal the clawed nails at their tips and hunching down, an image of bestial fury held barely in check by the will at his core. Within the Inner Space, Gai Kurenai stares ahead, pupils contracted and grip white-knuckled on the handle of the Orb Ring.

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Kakuseijin V2 has been repaired after the devastating fight with Evangelion Unit-03, and refueled with a fresh supply of Linker Gel. It's something of a patch job, but it's enough to get it back into full fighting shape.

Unfortunately, humans cannot be so quickly or easily fixed.

It's only been an hour. Rikka is still reeling from Rei's sacrifice, her words still burned into her mind. Her heart is hurting, and it's taking everything she has to keep herself together. But... Unit-03, the Twelfth Angel, is still moving.

...It can't have been for nothing. She can't just let this happen, after Rei gave so much. And if they can try to help Asuka, too... Then they have to try. Rikka focuses, trying to channel some of that willpower - to push herself to keep going.

And so, Kakuseijin V2 joins the others on the last defensive line. Rikka's hands, submerged in spheres of Linker Gel, grip the controls tightly. There's a slight tremor to them, still - Akane might be able to pick that up.

"We can... get through this." Rikka murmurs quietly. Shinji's question reaches her. Asuka's in there, isn't she. ...Rikka swallows. "...We'll... do what we can."

She looks up at Unit-03, again.

"Asuka..." Rikka murmurs - and takes a deep breath.

"Shinji... we're with you, alright? You're not alone." Rikka says. His might be the only Evangelion - but he has people standing behind him.

And, Knight is here too. It was Asuka - now it's a kaiju. ...Is that true...?

...Either way, they can't let Unit-03 keep marching forward.

KTS: Rikka Takarada has deployed in Kakuseijin V2.
KTS: Akane Shinjo is now subpiloting for Rikka Takarada.

<Pose Tracker> Neon Genesis Junior High Students has posed.

There's something heavy in the air. It's oppressive, draining. For the past few hours, Yuta hasn't been able to focus. Giving up on his schoolwork entirely, the young redhead left his apartment and walked down to Tsutsujidai's park, hands in his pockets.

"It's cold." He murmurs to himself, watching his breath puff out before him. "It never used to be cold."

Settling on a swing, Yuta aimlessly moves his legs back and forth.

---

"We hold the line here!" Battle Tracto Max informs his companions. "We cannot let this being make it to the city. If it takes our very lives, we will not fail!"

The remaining three Neon Genesis Junior High Students answer with various degrees of enthusiasm. Vit gives their typical answer of "Right!", Calibur grunts, and Borr is entirely silent. Already transformed back into Powered Zenon, the Hyper Agents stand with the OCU forces. Once Shinji's Unit-01 arrives, Powered Zenon lines up at his shoulder.

Shinji talks to his father. They cannot hear Gendo Ikari's response, but each Hyper Agent assumes the worst. A sharp breath is hissed out, sounding much like a release of pressure from enormous guns.

"Hey, kid." Vit makes a great effort to try and sound friendly. It comes across as very, very strained. "I -- I know, yeah? We're not gonna..." He goes quiet. "We're with you. Until the very end, whatever that looks like."

"And after." Calibur adds. His voice, too, is strained -- those close to Powered Zenon may be able to see hairline cracks across the blade form of the Samurai.

Max keeps their gaze locked on the approaching Eva... Angel... hybrid. He can't fully think of it as an Angel, and yet it is no longer clearly 'Asuka' in his mind.

"You are a human being. A precious life to be protected and loved." Max plants Powered Zenon's feet into the ground, slight bursts electricity following in their movements. "As are they. As are you all."

Gridknight makes an appearance, and Calibur calls out. "Knight. Don't let it's blood touch you. It will take control of your body. Do your best."

Raising their axe before them, Powered Zenon charges after Gridknight, adjusting their path to flank the monstrous creature approaching the city.

<Pose Tracker> Jana Cektru has posed.

Jana Cektru has only just completed the upgrades to her ship and to her unit, empowering the armored Ichinana further. But she never expectedd to have to use either before Jupiter. ...She cannot risk the ship; there are too many people on it. Already the Hermes has been ordered to clear atmosphere, in preparation for Jupiter. Jana herself has come down separately.

Here, to this place, where she was working in STORAGE offices, and has now come to this mission.

The black-armored Ichinana that Jana Cektru pilots is, thus, there on the defensive line. It is controlled now by thought, not lever, and she keeps her mind still, in order to avoid undue maneuvers. ...It comes with some difficulty; the violent death that seems to have found Rei is not common on Planet Salome any longer. Such a young life, snuffed out...

She must focus. And focus she does. The Twelfth Angel....

Is she in there? Is that girl still alive? Is there yet a chance to save one life, at least?

Jana focuses with her mind, attempting to understand what she is sensing from the target. But it is so, so alien, even to an alien. Even so...

"We will project you, Shinji. If she is in there... then we will not save her by hesitating."

She does not speak it aloud, what she feels. It would only dismay them. But she will do what she can.

She sees Orb, and immediately, she thinks of what she might do. She telepathically communicates to Gai Kurenai--to Ultraman Orb--reaching out to him. ~I cannot make out enough of her presence within to know whether or not she can be saved. But that does not mean that we can give up.~

"Knight!" she calls over the radio as he charges, "Do not--!"

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

        It is when seeing that Evangelion(?), backlit against brilliant hues of the sky, that Lucine realizes that Evangelions, by themselves, could be just as frightening as Angels, and just as unpredictable. Shinji says Asuka's name, and everything all but confirms that the worst case scenerio has happened, and then, more.

        The hairs on the back of Lucine's neck stand on end in a primal expression of fear. ".... Liam, it's going to be bumpy. Are you strapped in tight?" The pilot of the Dianthus manages to keep the fear out of her voice at least; the heady rush she had felt in her first forays on Earth have long exhausted themselves with the knowledge of things that exist beyond simple concepts like evil robots deployed to destroy all life. This is a threat to *existence*.

        ".... All that weight is being placed on Shinji's shoulders..." Lucine doublechecks to make sure her lines aren't on; this is something she'll share with Liam and Liam alone. ".... If I go closer in, I might be able to see if some fragment of Asuka still exists..." Her lips feel parched against her helmet's air system. ".... I'm not sure if that would make anything better for Shinji, or anyone, for that matter, if I did sense something... It may make things worse if there's nothing anyone can do." Rikka might have more luck, but should either of them risk getting close?

        If Rei wasn't enough, what difference could the Dianthus make? Lucine takes a moment and turns behind to now, sparing a look at Liam in the cramped seat behind her. ".... If there is a situation where I have to go against Gendo's orders.... your story is that I took you prisoner." She turns back, her eyes back on the field. "I... don't intend to, but... I don't know if Commander Ikari is overestimating Shinji's willingness to strictly follow orders. I'm turning our radio back on."

        Little does Lucine know that Ikari is one step ahead, in many ways.

        < "..... Shinji. You may be the only Evangelion.... but you are not the only one on the field, right now. Even if most of us can't pierce the AT field, we can still help you get the better shot." > A pause. < ".... That is... one that may stop the Angel." > And maybe, one that could ensure some element of Asuka exists.

<Pose Tracker> Chloe has posed.

        A large transport plane flies into view of the defense line. The large white mobile weapon hanging beneath it has become a somewhat common sight around NERV lately. The Pallas Makhia from the group's allied organization, Prometheus. And of course, this one is piloted by the organization's rising star cadet, Chloe.

        Standing in the spacious cockpit of the Pallas Makhia, Chloe watches the large set of screens across the wall in front of her that show the sight of Evangelion Unit-03... Or rather, the twelfth Angel. There's not much expression on Chloe's face at the sight of the corrupted Eva, even with the knowledge that its pilot, Asuka Shikinami Langely, is reported to still be inside.

        However, there is a reaction from a nearby holodisplay in the Makhia's cockpit, which simply floats with the label of < Julie >

        There's a long whistle, before a voice says, <"Wooow. Little Gendo reallllly screwed the pooch this time! To think he'd let an Angel get into one of his toys. Although, I wouldn't put it past him if this was an intentional ploy too. I must admit, it is a Fascinating sight. Ohhhhhh my, it even speaks! Who would have expected such a development!? If only I could get a peek into that entry plug... Is the pilot's body still intact? Has it twisted it like the Eva!? Soooo many questions. I wonder if I could get a sample shipped here...">

        Chloe doesn't seem phased by the voice, simply letting her go on. Until finally she says, "Professor. I am reaching the mission area. Preparing to transfer operational control."

        <"Ah, right, right. So, go get 'em and all that. Oh! If you happen to find a piece lying around afterwards, try and get it into a sample container! I'd love to take a peek~">

        "A piece of the Evangelion, or a piece of its pilot"

        <"Eh, either works. Ta!"> The comm window vanishes.

        Chloe stares at the space the window had been for a moment, before shrugging and stepping forward, "Activate Mikani Link." Holographic representations of the Makhia's arms and legs appear and Chloe steps into them. Feeling the large machine's systems synching with her mental implant, she radios out now on local comms, <"Warrant officer, first class, Chloe. Pallas Makhia. Launching.">

        The large, white machine detaches from its transport plane, falling towards the ground, though at a pace slower than one might expect from normal Earth gravity. The Makhia impacts the ground with a loud thud, before rising to its full height. Both its hands reach up towards its back, one retrieving its railgun rifle, the other a large heavy missile launcher.

        Chloe starts moving her legs to walk forward, her Makhia following suit. She stares forward at large screens, the hulking form of Unit-03... The Angel, looming in the distance. As radio chatter picks up from others on site, Chloe simply adds her own, <"Chloe... Ready to engage.">

KTS: Lucine Azul has activated the Foresee Spirit Command targeting Shinji Ikari
KTS: Neon Genesis Junior High Students has activated the Rouse Spirit Command targeting Shinji Ikari
KTS: Gai Kurenai has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Shinji Ikari

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

Alouette hadn't paid much mind to the new Evangelion testing phase - it simply wasn't necessary in her scope, and she trusted Akane with the task of collecting intelligence.

Even when things went horribly wrong at Matsushiro, her operator's insight agreed with the decision to commit only to sending in Kakuseijin V2. The Invisible Burst mission is tomorrow, and it's simply too important to divert all their resources at the drop of a hat.

Does she regret that? Perhaps she does... two of her best friends were sent to their near-deaths, against overwhelming odds, the Neon Genesis Students and Liam almost crushed along with them. She holds out hope for Ayanami, too, but it doesn't sound good...

Alouette didn't know Rei very well, she doesn't know what possibly could have went her head when she detonated Eva-00. Courage, fear... both? Whatever the case, no matter what, Alouette doesn't want to ever forget what she did.

Nor can she ignore that Asuka's in the rogue Evangelion - or as the MAGI reported, the Twelfth Angel. There's no time to focus on the philosophical similarities between the two first posed by the Wolfpack's pilot. Two possibilities present themselves before her -- the newly christened Angel reaches Tokyo-3 and ends it all, or they destroy it, and avert that disaster. What does that mean for Asuka...?

As Guardienne Aviaire and GaoGaiGar deploy from Orbit Base, the Kakuseijin V2 continues to make a desperate last stand. "Rikka, Akane... and Powered Zenon, too. Thank goodness you're still okay. Can you still fight...? We're here to back you and NERV up, whatever it takes!" She opens, on the general line.

Knight, too, speaks, with less care for communication lines. She's no longer Asuka, but a kaiju... Alouette considers what Asuka, the girl who fought so fiercely against the Angels, might want. She'd probably be pretty angry if they held back... "So it is, Knight. It would be.. selfish to hesitate when so much is at stake. I'm by your side!"

Manifesting brilliant white light from the Mirror Coating, Guardienne Aviaire appears, rather hastily put together after its planned upgrades haven't been fully tested yet. But Alouette will fight, as she stares down the terrifying form of Bardiel. As Shinji stands as the sole Evangelion pilot. "Ikari-kun! You're not alone.. we're right behind you. I... I know this is a lot. What can we do to support you?"

KTS: Knight has activated the Daunt Spirit Command targeting Shinji Ikari
KTS: Alouette Pommier has activated the Attune Spirit Command targeting Shinji Ikari

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

Akane isn't holding up much better than her copilot; the despair of the situation -- and the regret of all situations yet to come -- weigh heavy on Akane. It's a cruel injection of doubt into her heart in a moment she needs to face with courage.

... But she is holding it together. She can feel Rikka's Dual Impulses(?) (... Repli-Impulses?), in a situation like this -- it's something that gnaws at her heart, just a bit. "... yeah," she says, softly, to Rikka's coment that they'll do what they can, as she starts monitoring Unit-03. "We're here... we've got to do what we can." That's all they really can do, right?"

When she sees the presence of Gridknight, Akane feels genuine relief for the first time since their initial deployment. "... Thanks for coming," she says, making sure she's transmitting as she says it -- that one word, 'thanks,' feels so important right now. She needs to feel that kind of connection to the world.

She settles in, noticing the freshness of the Linker Gel, before opening comms to Alouette and Powered Zenon, too. "... We're hanging in there!" she says. "I've got your backs. Rikka's the main pilot here -- I'm providing monitoring and support."

She turns her full attention back to Unit-03. ... There has to be something they can do...

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

        Liam met Lucine at the rally point, once the medics gave him clearance to redeploy. He didn't say much to her as he clambered into the Dianthus--still in his Trace Suit, but without the Neo Helios, a bad sign--and strapped in. Once he found the words, he gave her as succinct an explanation as he could, his tone and cadence dangerously close to an empty, traumatized monotone.

        "Angel took Asuka's Eva. She's gone. So's Rei."

        He doesn't know if they're gone or not, but part of him feels he has to think they are, if only so he can focus solely on the mission. (Another part of him desperately hopes they can save them, that Rei survived Eva-00's destruction and Asuka can be rescued.)

        Heavy footsteps herald the enemy's approach. Liam feels his throat tighten, and his stomach starts to clench. His hands tighten around the sides of Lucine's seat. Lucine speaks up, and Liam feels the blood drain from his face. "It's infectious," he says, new urgency in his voice. "Don't--don't get close. In any way. Please." His eyes widen as Lucine continues. "I--please. Lu. Don't talk like that." His mouth feels dry. What happened? It could've easily been Kaworu in that Eva, and--

        Liam's eyes lock on nothing as his overwhelmed mind finally puts the pieces together. That's right. It could've been Kaworu, but Gendo put his foot down. Did Kaworu know something would happen, that this would happen?

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

When Guy Shishioh met Asuka Shikinami Langley in Tsutsujidai - when Bujack pulled out her insecurities and crushed down her loyalties - she told him in no uncertain terms she expected NERV to end her life. And so, he made her a promise, and gave her a sign: The old GGG emergency beacon. Push it, and we'll come. Push it, and we'll fight anyone we have to to save you.

When it wen toff, GGG had been packing everything up to leave; they certainly weren't prepared for what that signal meant. The initial GGG response had been meant to hold the line long enough for GGG to get Guy himself on the field, but...

Even that had been too late.

The signal has been rattling through GGG's systems for hours now, ever since the explosion at Matsushiro. It continues still.

And Unit-00 is down - obliterated by its attempt to stop the beast. Rei...was another girl Guy had tried to do right by, in a difficult situation. He won't fail her courage.

In the white space within Galeon's mouth, the Superhuman Evoluder braces within Orbit Base's mirror catapult. "We're still integrating Goldy into the DoubleHammer," Akamatsu grunts from his desk. "No G-Tool this time."

Guy clenches his left fist, and GaoGaiGar's fist glows with a G-Stone's light. "It's fine. I can do Hell & Heaven myself, if I have to."

"Guy," Akamatsu rumbles. The man's been suffering ever since his daughter disappeared in Alexis Kerib's destruction of the Galeoria Pliers, but he manages to muster some bristly reproach. He caught the implication: If even GaoGaiGar fails, Guy knows how to use Two Powers Into One with his own hands.

Guy doesn't apologize. They'd already waited this long to get everything lined up. He closes his eyes while the Mirror Coating applies.

GaoGaiGar appears out of a spear of light just behind Guardienne Aviaire, the Mirror Coating cracking and fading away into motes of sparkling light. GaoGaiGar swoops low over the field and swings its feet down, chewing up dirt beneath the weight of its landing. Yet, the Evangelions are enormous, and gangly besides - GaoGaiGar doesn't even reach the knees.

Still, the sensor bar on GaoGaiGar's helmet chimes, filling Guy's senses with the face of the behemoth ahead of him...and the plug, at its neck.

"We're here!" Guy calls out, and GaoGaiGar squares up for a brawl. They're saying don't get close, but...Tsk. Are they going to have to play this like Zonuda? But it took them YEARS to recover from all the damage that cost them...!

<Pose Tracker> Haruki Natsukawa has posed.

         Evangelions were made to protect humanity, and now it's been taken over by an angel? Or maybe it was always one? He's not sure on the details of the mission briefing, as he's been more focused on the pilot who's been trapped inside. Asuka Langely. He still remembers their training session, and while it doesn't really make them friends, they share... Nothing really, he can't really call it a bond either. So are his stomach and heart supposed to sink over hearing that a colleague is in peril? It's not like this is the first time, nor will it be the last. In fact, in this line of work, it's pretty common for these sorts of things to happen.

         Haruki's face twists as he tries to come up with the answer. Yeah. Yeah, he should definitely feel like this. It's not even a question. He slaps his face to pump himself a bit and steel his resolve, cringing just a bit as he ends up leaving two bright red marks on his face, which are then promptly covered up by a helmet as he climbs on board the Sevenger.

         The massive fifty meter tall cylinder with limbs deploys onto the field by simply dropping from the sky, the impact of its landing causing a small shake throughout the nearby area. One of its knees buckles a bit from the sudden force, and it nearly falls over from it, but thankfully Haruki's able to reign the robot's balance in.

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

Who can say what it means when the Twelfth Angel - Evangelion Unit-03 stops moving to face off against Unit-01? It's easy to look at it as a standoff, between two Samurai. Who will draw their blade first? Or perhaps, to believe that something of Asuka is still in there, that she's making it stop.

One must draw their own conclusions.

A target to eliminate?
        Or someone to save?

The only way to advance is to make a decision. To eliminate the target, to save Asuka Shikinami Langley.

And then the moment of uncertainty fades in an instant, as the Angel raises its mouth and burbles out a howl. Bending down on all fours, it launches itself skyward from that lowered position, it's mass twisting in ways that seem impossible for its size, it orients its head downwards upon it's own target.

Evangelion Unit-01. Its legs both contact the chest of the Evangelion, both knees suddenly violently extending to kick the Evangelion and attempting to send it skidding away. The creature launches off of that point, coming down in a rice field, water sloshing about as it orients itself on all fours again.

Knight had declared that it's a Kaiju, and thus Knight might appreciate how ferally it moves, how inhuman it seems to, he's seen the Evangelions fight him again and again and again. An autointelligence Kaiju learns all of their tricks, which is why it might surprise him when it does a trick that he's never seen. From all fours, a single hand raises - and it's at his throat, having extended to bridge the gap between them, its armor warping and thinning in unsettling ways. It yanks him forward, into the waiting grip of the other hand.

Opening it's mouth, it howls right into Gridknight's face. Up close, there's the subtle cast of light to its skin. The strange sensation of familiarity, despite their numerous differences. Like calls to like, in a sense, in a way that Evangelions never did. And as such, violence becomes its language. As it tries to hoist Gridknight, and swing him sideways into Ultraman Orb Thunder.

It takes off into a dash, churning up the rice paddies as it goes, its arms swinging outwards in ways that arms don't bend, slamming into the Kakuseijin and trying to strike it down from the air. Does it recognize it from before? Does it recognize THEM from before? Is Asuka in there? The Angel has not hesitated to tear them apart, again and again and again.

Shinji is not alone in this fight. He is not alone Rikka reminds him, and as the Angel scythes through the people that mean something to him, it reminds him the horrible price of not being alone.

That one now has something to lose.

The Powered Zenon affirms that Asuka is a human being. Yet is there anything human left in there? The Angel's arm swings around to grasp it by the head, trying to pull it down into the ground, before it leaps, trying to drill right into its chest with both feet in a combination of savage abandon.

Once upon a time, she got so upset at Gridman- did he ever really understand the source of her upset?

From atop it's position, suddenly, from unarmored gaps upon its shoulders, some might see something which gives an impression of stumps, but abruptly two arms, fleshy and with a subtle tint of inner light erupt. One grasps the Dianthus, the other Jana's Ichinana, as it tries to smash both of them together in mid-air. It releases them to charge forward off the Zenon's chest.

It slides forward, slamming into the Makhia's legs, as four arms reach up trying to grasp it and pull it to try and grind the Makhia units head into the ground, it's AT Field trying to outright pierce it's Meteora Barrier. It's moves so quickly, at the same time it's utilizing two arms to try and do that to the Makhia, another arm extends to try and grasp the Guardienne Aviarre in one hand, as it suddenly pivots violently to try and bring it down against the Makhia repeatedly.

The Angel's eyes fall upon GaoGaiGar at that moment. Guy can see its violet eye disappear momentarily, as if the thing blinked at him, then it constricts, as the thing lets go of both things to charge right out of its position off of its foes like a runner at a block, bellowing.

The signal is still going. Somehow it's still going, despite it all. If he looks hard, if he squints, he'll see a subtle hint of the entry plug encased in what looks like sticky strands of blue mold. The armoring is off of it, like a command was given to eject earlier that just did not take.

It reaches him abruptly, two hands trying to push against its Protect Shade, as something like a blue glow starts to spread. Corruption? Corrosion? It's hard to say, but whatever it is, it's trying to get through, just like Fuyutsuki warned them. The substance is cast with the same glow that's overtaken the entry plug.

It tries to drag 3G's shining star over to Sevenger, which it unceremoniously treats as no best boy Sevenger deserves, by unceremoniously smacking it with a hand to try and upend it off its footing.

With two hands still trying to maintain a grapple with GaoGaiGar, it's red eyes once again fixate on Evangelion Unit-01 again.

It's coming back around.

Can you make a decision Shinji?

KTS: [Spirit Defense] Shinji Ikari's I Mustn't Run Away activates, and the spirit endures.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has activated the Daunt Spirit Command targeting Shinji Ikari
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley: Will Barrier Activates.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Shinji Ikari with Merciless Pounce!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Knight with ...This Hand is My Hand!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Neon Genesis Junior High Students with Angelic Savagery!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Alouette Pommier with Hand to Hand to Hand to Hand Combat!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Lucine Azul with Hand to Hand to Hand to Hand Combat!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Chloe with Hand to Hand to Hand to Hand Combat!
KTS: Neon Genesis Junior High Students parries Asuka Shikinami Langley's Angelic Savagery, taking 1620 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Neon Genesis Junior High Students!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Jana Cektru with Hand to Hand to Hand to Hand Combat!
KTS: Jana Cektru fails to parry Asuka Shikinami Langley's Hand to Hand to Hand to Hand Combat, taking 4200 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Jana Cektru!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Guy Shishioh with The Twelfth Angel!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Haruki Natsukawa with Talk to the Hand!
KTS: Lucine Azul has activated the Alert Spirit Command.
KTS: Lucine Azul fails to evade Asuka Shikinami Langley's Hand to Hand to Hand to Hand Combat, taking 5400 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Lucine Azul!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Rikka Takarada with Arms-Dealing!
KTS: Alouette Pommier fails to parry Asuka Shikinami Langley's Hand to Hand to Hand to Hand Combat, taking 5400 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Alouette Pommier!
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Trust Spirit Command.
KTS: Rikka Takarada blocks Asuka Shikinami Langley's Arms-Dealing, taking 3500 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Rikka Takarada!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley: Will Barrier Activates.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley anchors Knight, forcing him into close range.
KTS: Knight fails to evade Asuka Shikinami Langley's ...This Hand is My Hand, taking 5500 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Knight!
KTS: Shinji Ikari's EN Barrier activates, negating 1000 base damage.
KTS: Shinji Ikari fails to react to Asuka Shikinami Langley's Merciless Pounce, taking 4620 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asuka Shikinami Langley's Asuka Strikes! activates, causing Insight L1!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Shinji Ikari!
KTS: Chloe has activated the Wall Spirit Command.
KTS: Chloe partially guards Asuka Shikinami Langley's Hand to Hand to Hand to Hand Combat, taking 6300 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asuka Shikinami Langley's Asuka Strikes! activates, causing Insight L1!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Chloe!
KTS: Haruki Natsukawa blocks Asuka Shikinami Langley's Talk to the Hand, taking 1350 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Haruki Natsukawa!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley begins a Formation attack!
KTS: Guy Shishioh's EN Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage.
KTS: Guy Shishioh partially guards Asuka Shikinami Langley's The Twelfth Angel, taking 5225 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley begins a Formation attack!

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

        It's hard enough for Shinji to be optimistic in general. He's gotten better at it recently, but right here, right now, everything feels like it's tumbling down, tumbling down, tumbling down. The silence in the wake of his question about Kaworu only magnifies his dread. At least that means he isn't disappointed to hear the answer.
        
        Not disappointed. Just horrified.
        
        "Wha--? How? Why?" he utters, strangled. He'd accepted that Kaworu had to be punished for speaking out of turn, but this--Tagbha Base. He recognizes that name. Kaworu told him about it before; it's that base that's on the Moon. "I didn't hear about this! I thought he was coming back!"
        
        And anyway, Mari was already assigned to the Jupiter expedition--why send Kaworu, too? Is one instance of insubordination really worth sending him all the way past the asteroid belt?
        
        You're making a mistake.
        
        Kaworu's words to his father haunt Shinji just then. Looking back on that moment now, they seem almost prophetic, even though it surely has to be a coincidence.
        
        But on the heels of that revelation come the sight of Unit-03, or rather the Twelfth Angel. It stops on the opposite end of the field from Unit-01, and the two simply stand off in the dimming light of sunset, staring each other down. Vice Commander Fuyutsuki essays some words that might have been reassuring if not for the very important fact that Asuka's in there. At the very least, it's a point-blank reminder that Shinji is their only hope now--not just NERV's, not just Tokyo-3's, but the entire world.
        
        To say the pressure is crushing is to say the Marianas Trench is deep.
        
        
        A Sound Only missive opens up in Unit-01's viewscreen. Shinji stares at it with wide, trembling eyes. It's so much like the aftermath of the mission against the Eleventh Angel. It's so much like it, except--
        
        I've heard the news. Good work, Shinji.
                That is your target. Eliminate it, Shinji.
        
        Tears well up in his shell-shocked eyes as his breathing grows rapid, irregular. The bridge crew in the Geofront will be able to tell, before Shinji even expresses it, that he's starting to melt down. Gridnight appears and charges the Eva/Angel, and his blunt statement, that Asuka would tell him not to hesitate either, only makes it worse.
        
        Because he's right. It's exactly what Asuka would say. Likewise, Lucine might mean well in being gentle but firm with reality, but her talk about getting Shinji the necessary shot--and Liam's blunt statement that it is in fact Asuka--only undermine his mental stability further.
        
        "No," he moans. "No, no, no no no no--this can't be real!" He clutches his face, fingers digging into his flesh, peeling it away from his eyes. "TELL ME ASUKA'S NOT IN THERE!!" he screams.
        
        Fortunately (?), they're not the only one offering their support. Rikka and Lucine's gentle reassurances, Vit's friendly understanding with Calibur's support and Max's affirmation--and most importantly, Jana's talk of saving Asuka. Others deploy too--Ultraman Orb, Haruki in Sevenger, Chloe in the Makhia--but Shinji can't think about them right now.
        
        "...Y-you're right," he says to Jana, voice trembling, body trembling--but his hands slowly return to the controls and grip tight. Alouette asks him what they can do, and that too helps anchor him: "We have to save Asuka."
        
        ...That's not at all what their orders are. But that assertion is what keeps Shinji present and in the fight. For now, it will have to do. Guy's arrival helps, too; after all, isn't he a hero? Isn't saving people in need what he's for? Shinji might be the only one who can nullify the Angel's A.T. Field, but it's true he doesn't have to try to do everything else alone too.
        
        As that self-assurance sinks in, Shinji clenches his jaw, heart hammering in his chest. "Asuka... I swear, I'm going to save you!!"
        
        This will end well, surely. At least Shinji doesn't try to charge in as Knight does; he heard the part about the Angel's corrosive, infection nature (and does not connect what that must mean for Asuka inside the Evangelion), and so he keeps his distance, instead focusing on deploying Unit-01's A.T. Field to nullify the Angel's.
        
        They can't get in there to save Asuka if they can't reach her--right?
        
        That's the idea as Shinji has Unit-01 raise an arm and focus on their own A.T. Field. In that instant, Unit-03 HOWLS, crouches, and LEAPS with inhuman strength and speed. Shinji makes a strangled sort of gasp as it impacts with him. He gets the briefest glimpse of that grayed skin, that violet eye, before he and his Eva are knocked down. He screams as he feels the shake and grind of the ground underneath him as the Eva carves a line through the earth. Shinji's head slams backwards, and he grits his teeth as he forces himself to look up. To see the Angel devastate his friends--the way it already devastated Rei.
        
        For a moment, he can't move. He simply stares into the feral stare of the Eva/Angel.
        
        Then Shinji screams in that ragged, desperate way he sometimes does. Unit-01 digs a hand into the earth and stone and HURLS a massive clump of it directly towards the Twelfth Angel's face in a desperate attempt to do something.
        
        But can he really advance with such a limp offense? Is this even enough to nullify the Angel's A.T. Field?

KTS: Knight targets Gai Kurenai with Gridknight Grapple!
KTS: Shinji Ikari targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Pass!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley fails to react to Shinji Ikari's Pass, taking 0 damage!
KTS: Knight anchors Gai Kurenai, forcing him into close range.
KTS: Gai Kurenai fails to react to Knight's Gridknight Grapple, taking 3600 damage!
KTS: Knight has engaged Gai Kurenai!

<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.

Orb Thunder Breastar lowers into a crouch, coiling like a spring - - and is interrupted by Gridknight being flung towards him!

Rather than spring forward, heedless of his comrade's plight, the bestial Ultraman pivots, arms wide, and catches the other giant of Light, a furrow ploughed in the ground as they slide backwards.

From prone on the ground, Thunder Breastar pushes himself to his feet. Every instinct in his being, a marriage of light and darkness, spurs him to launch himself at Bardiel in a vengeful strike - but Gai focuses his will, and instead a great clawed hand is extended to Gridknight on the ground, to haul his fellow Giant of Light upright.

That done, Orb draws back his hand, red lightning crackling in his palm, and hurls a spinning crescent of that light towards Bardiel, providing himself and Gridknight with covering fire to reposition for their counterattack.

KTS: Gai Kurenai targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Energy Slicer!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has activated the Alert Spirit Command.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley successfully Evades Gai Kurenai's Energy Slicer

<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.

        Ultraman Orb Thunder Brestar... "Are you with us?" Is what Gridknight slings out, to Ultraman Orb. It's a simple question; it is deceptively complicated.

        Are you with us, or against us?
        Are you with us, or are you lost to your transformation?
        Are you with us, or...

        In the same breath he confirms -- implicitly -- that he is positioning himself with us; it's always been harder to tell what side Gridknight is on, given the way he fights first and answers questions later, but he's quite plainly focused on the Angel right now.

        Not so focused, though, that he can't notice his other allies on the field -- Powered Zenon, Rikka Takarada and Akane Shinjo, Alouette Pommier. Liam, further back with his woman. Dr. Jana Cektru. Guy Shishioh. A few more he doesn't immediately recognise, nonetheless here to -- support Shinji?

        Pitiful, he thinks. There's no time to stop and make him fine with it. (Is he fine with it?)

        "Understood," he says, when Calibur's voice reaches him. He's just as simple, responding to Akane -- "I heard you." He wouldn't just leave them to deal with this alone. And, to Alouette, he says: "Good."

        His denial to Jana is fiercer: "I'm doing it--!!"

        He makes his decision immediately.

        She's the one who supported his conclusions.

        Gridknight knows the works of kaiju well -- well to his bones; he remembers the works of Evangelion, just the same. He sees the feral movements of what was once that Evangelion, but he still dives in --

        -- only to be caught before he can parry, dodge, or twirl.

        "Gh," he chokes out, as that hand tightens around his throat. (It is, effectively, his throat; Gridknight is, and has always been, himself. He was meant to exist at a greater size.) In the face of that howl, he growls out, "Rrrrghhhh..!"

        Before he can make any effort to free himself -- Calibur's warning still at the back of his mind -- he finds himself freed. That is to say, slung; thrown at speed towards Ultraman Orb, he collides quite firmly. Coming in at an almost horizontal angle, his body archs in the impact. (Orb is able to help catch him, but is there any helping Gridknight, really?)

        "Ugh," Gridknight grits out, as he rights himself with Ultraman Orb's aid. "It's strong. You can't hold back!" He turns, and yells, to the frozen Evangelion. "Shinji Ikari! Will you doom everyone here to avoid fighting her?! Everyone on Earth--!!"

        He takes a step forward -- towards Evangelion Unit-01.

        And his fist comes back, and he punches him in the shoulder.

        It's not the sort of punch which hurts. Even at this size -- and Gridknight isn't that much smaller than Unit-01 -- there's a gesture of force which is more symbolic than factual. (Shinji surely knows this well, given his... attempt... to attack the Angel.) "If you want to save her, you have to fight! Don't give me this limp-wristed shit! We NEED you!"

KTS: Knight targets Shinji Ikari with Goad!
KTS: Liam 7-020 has activated the Spirit Spirit Command targeting Lucine Azul

<Pose Tracker> Jana Cektru has posed.

They must save Asuka. Jana hears Shinji speak, and she is encouraged... at first. ...But only at first. He seems to show resolve. Then there's a scream...

"No!"

The Ichinana is slammed into the Dianthus, and Jana grits her teeth as she directs her machine to try to parry the strike--and ends up managing to disengage from the Dianthus instead, using maneuvering jets to get back on the ground as quickly as possible. Then, she directs at the Angel what she can. The Ichinana's staff whirls as she builds momentum, and swings, the pole aimed straight for what was Unit-03's face to try to knock it back and off-balance.

"Shinji!" she calls. "Remember your reason for fighting! Do not let yourself surrender to despair!"

Then, she, as she directs the unit, ~Chief Shishioh.~ Dr. Cektru's voice speaks directly to his mind. ~I cannot distinguish her presence within. I believe that only by weakening the presence of the Angel do we have any hope. Is there anything you can do?~

The Ichinana whirls and spins, trying to stay out of the way, deft as anything.

But it will not be enough, if...

"Liam, Lucine, that was a hard hit. Are you all right?" Jana inquires over the radio. "We can do this if we work together."

KTS: Jana Cektru targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Ichinana Staff Disorienting Blow!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley's Will Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage.
KTS: Jana Cektru rattles Asuka Shikinami Langley, making her next maneuvers more difficult.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley parries Jana Cektru's Ichinana Staff Disorienting Blow, taking 660 damage!
KTS: Jana Cektru has engaged Asuka Shikinami Langley!

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Akane's response... helps, a little. She can tell that they're both suffering - but knowing that they're both together helps, a little. It's always worse when you have to face things alone.

...And, reinforcements have arrived - what's more, they're friend. Despite the situation being what it is, she's bolstered just a bit by the sight of them.

"What she said..." Rikka replies to Alouette with a nod at Akane's comment. "But we'll be right behind you."

Powered Zenon... Rikka's relieved to see it back on the field, too. She knew they would be fine, simply knocked out of the transformation, but...

"I'm glad to see you're all alright." Rikka says.

There's so much more she could say - but Unit-03 is here, and its upon them almost immediately.

"Watch out!" Rikka shouts. Rikka takes control for a brief moment, bracing Kakuseijin V2 as the Angel slams down on them. The strike is heavy and Rikka winces from the strain - but they're still standing after the fact. She exhales.

"Let's try to get some distance... You have control!" Rikka suggests to Akane. She'll let her use her judgment on how far. "Do we have any records we can pull up from our last fight?"

There hasn't been much time to go back over the footage - but maybe there's something in the combat data that'll help give their friends a hand. But for now...

"Be careful - it's capable of attacking in unexpected ways! It tried to... pull us into it last time, too." Rikka warns. "...Don't be reckless. It'll take advantage of that."

Now that she's back in the thick of the fight, she finds she's better able to focus... she doesn't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but right now, it's what she needs.

KTS: Rikka Takarada targets Alouette Pommier, Guy Shishioh, and Chloe with Caution.
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Neon Genesis Junior High Students
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Knight
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Lucine Azul
KTS: Jana Cektru has activated the Enable Spirit Command targeting Guy Shishioh
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Shinji Ikari
KTS: Rikka Takarada suggests caution, raising Chloe's Intuition!

<Pose Tracker> Neon Genesis Junior High Students has posed.

"Gridknight!" Vit calls. "Shit -- hang on, we're almost there!"

As the creature screams into Knight's face, Powered Zenon raises their sword, trying to slash through some of those horrible arms to free their comrade. Instead, they're grabbed and pulled down, back slamming into the earth.

Thankfully, Calibur was already in position to deflect the monstrous enemy's attack. Its drill-leap glances away, merely chipping some of Powered Zenon's armor. The Hyper Agents are treated to a front row view of the creature attacking their allies, something that sends fury sparking through their connection.

"STOP THAT!" Borr shouts, at last. Their voice is rough with emotion. "ASUKA--!"

"Gridknight, Ultraman Orb, are you both still capable of battle?" Max asks, raising his voice above Borr's scream.

With a noise of effort, Powered Zenon plants both their feet against the ruined Evangelion pinning them and kicks forward, hoping to dislodge the monster and buy time for their allies.

Gridknight turns back toward Shinji, and... punches Unit-01? Calibur speaks up. "That's just Knight's way. Don't worry."

"We need Gridman." Borr mutters, frantically. "Gridman could heal this mental corruption. He could pull Asuka out of there. Without him -- without him --"

Powered Zenon trembles in place as they get to their knees. Their harmony threatened by Borr's desperation, the Combined War Deity has to find a way to stay in one piece.

"Borr!" Vit grits out. "We're not here for us! Get it together! We're here for the kids. Just listen to Shinji!"

The pilot of Unit-01 is panicking, losing himself. In an instant, Buster Borr's thinking clears, and Powered Zenon is safe.

"Right." Borr responds. "This isn't about us." They raise their voice, shouting loud enough to reach their allies across the battlefield. "You hear that, everyone? We're here to protect these kids! Whatever it takes, we're keeping Shinji safe!"

No matter how fiercely they fight, without Shinji, they can't even pierce the creature's barrier. Everything depends on him.

"Shinji, hey -- if all you can do is break the barrier, that's enough, okay?" Vit calls to the young man. "You don't have to fight her if you don't want to. We can do this, as long as you get the barrier down."

Is that really possible..?

"Akane, Rikka." Max rumbles. "Thank you for your faith. We believe in you as well. Remember what Gridman said. This is something we must all do together. Not one of us could weather this battle alone."

KTS: Neon Genesis Junior High Students targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Powered Kick!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley's Will Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley fails to Parry Neon Genesis Junior High Students's Powered Kick, taking 2080 damage!
KTS: Neon Genesis Junior High Students has engaged Asuka Shikinami Langley!
KTS: Neon Genesis Junior High Students begins a Formation attack!

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

"And I'm right ahead of you!" Alouette affirms to Akane, and Rikka both, noting their courage for continuing to stand even after what they felt, what they saw. "Thank you for the data... I'll use it well!" She adds, receiving wha Rikka puts together for her. Limited as it may be, it's more helpful than it looks for Alouette - her 'processing speed', so to speak, allowing her to quickly internalize it all. She keeps the AT-Field contamination in mind foremost... that could have the chance of ruining the mission altogether.

Shinji's request - no, his heartfelt plea reaches Alouette. She knows the logical truth... there are far more important things at stake than saving Asuka. Knight made this much clear. But GGG has always been about turning the tables until their percentages are nothing short than 100% - can they do both? "We'll... we'll do what we can. I promise. But we won't let the world meet its end, either."

Switching her comms with a tap, a worried expression forms on her face. "Guy, can we really..." She starts, as Bardiel howls. "Can we really save her? Is there anything left of her to save?" She asks, as Guardienne Aviaire thrusts forward. "Shinji Ikari wants to. But, even if I committed my own power to it... would she really be happy if we tried?"

As if to answer her question in a sense, the Twelfth Angel's feral savagery is unveiled before them all, as it howls, roars, attempts to tear machines apart and slam them against each other - no one escapes it, and Guardienne Aviaire and Chloe's Makhia meet a particularly nasty collision, as Bardiel prepares for a beatdown. "Stay behind me, please!" Alouette warns, as she digitally unsheathes her blade to protect them both - but it doesn't pan out, flinching from the impact.

Her eyes widen as she studies GaoGaiGar's own condition - "Guy, no! Lower your Protect Wall- and get out of its way! I don't think your Fusion will hold if it gets to Galeon!" She tries to signal, before the AT-Field's very own contamination spreads across the shield, potentially compromising its defenses. This is bad...

Alouette aims Guardienne Aviaire's left arm forward, revealing a tube of missile launchers. "I'll provide a diversion," she offers - to Guy, to Chloe, to the rest of the pilots. "Javelins, go!" She commands, as they fire an erratic pattern, inevitably scattering across Bardiel's AT-Field, but forcing its attention just long enough... for Shinji, for anyone to hopefully do what they must. But his scream, and his weak counteroffense alike... "Ikari-kun! You said you wanted to save her, but if you truly want to, you have to face those feelings!" She urges him. "It's like Vit said... there's some things only you can do. And saving Asuka.. it might be something that only your heart can make true."
Haruki Natsukawa transforms to Ultraman Z Beta Smash

KTS: Rikka Takarada suggests caution, raising Alouette Pommier's Intuition!
KTS: Alouette Pommier targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Flare Javelin Trick!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley's Will Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley blocks Alouette Pommier's Flare Javelin Trick, taking 2100 damage!
KTS: Alouette Pommier continues a Formation attack!

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

        Liam's flash of anxiety says enough to Lucine; he's been through enough.

        ".... It's a good point to make.... and I can easily snipe from afar."

        Unfortunately, this Angel isn't about to let itself become overwhelmed.

        < "--shit! she's coming!" > Immediately Lucine regrets her choice of pronoun; whatever's driving this *isn't* someone she knows.

        She makes a valiant effort to fall back, but training and experience fail to take into consideration of the *brand new* 'arms' that grasp ahold of the Dianthus and Jana's Ichinana. Lucine gets an extremely close view as the Ichinana crashes into her unit like two dolls being smashed together.

        The petals on the back of the Dianthus extend out on rails behind it, projecting a blast of energy to try to violently force the Angel back.

        It's probably not to Liam's benefit that they're being thrown around like this.

        < ".... The Dianthus won't last long enough to be taken over." > Lucine's confidence is double-edged, acknowledging her craft's limitations while emphasizing the possible advantage. < ".... But I'm not planning on letting that be my strategy." > Certain instincts kick in; where exhaustion has rightfully taken its claim on Liam, Lucine has used this, as well as Shinji's screams, as her reasons to keep moving forward.

        < " We're doing okay for now. How about you?" > Jana's voice is helpful as ever on the radio. Lucine, on a whim, tightens her band to just Jana's. < ".... Dr. Cektu... I question giving Shinji any hope at all of there being any chance of Asuka being there, but... at this point, maybe it'd be better to, just to get him to feel some reason to exert control over the situation. .... everyone's had so much taken from them and NERV has its thumbs--" > She grits her teeth, biting back her insults. < ".... We have to get Shinji to feel like he has control of the situation..." >

        She widens her frequency, listening to people encourage Shinji, in one way or another.

        If Kaworu were here....

        Lucine's breath is heard on the radio, full of responses she wants to say to Shinji, but going through each and every one and finding fault with all.

        < "You are neither Rei, or Asuka. Find the path forward that is you, Shinji." >

        It may have been the cruelest thing of all to say to a person younger than her.

         < "... Even if Kaworu is not here... what would he say to you, right here? Even if we can't see the people we care about... we're still connected, Shinji." >

        Even crueler, maybe, but she can't think of a better way.

KTS: Lucine Azul targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Aure-019 System v.1 Scream!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley successfully Evades Lucine Azul's Aure-019 System v.1 Scream

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

Does it sense him? Has the Angel detected the King of Braves as a threat, or is it activating on Asuka's sense of his failure? (Is he projecting? No time for that one.)

No time for anything, actually; the Angel huirls at him, howling. Two of the arms grasp him. Guy thrusts up the Protect Shade, but physical melee assaults don't traverse the bent space as disruptively as ranged ones and the fist soon closes around GaoGaiGar's left, then its right. "Ghh!" Guy yells out, and then, "GHAAAAAGH!!" as GaoGaiGar's arms are WRENCHED. He's used as a BLUDGEON to smash into poor Sevenger. "HARUKI!" Guy roars. "Watch out!!"

The corrosion is already covering GaoGaiGar. He can see that...lichen? Moss? Corrosion?? covering the entry plug, and also GaoGaiGar's own fists. But, the G-Stone has resisted corruption before, and Guy grits his teeth and PUSHES, his Superhuman Evoluder nature resisting that incursion into his nature and into GaoGaiGar's mechanics, both, as best as he can.

He senses Jana's communication. He answers her out loud, albeit with a dose of screaming from the pain crawling through every nerve of him. "f we can get its defenses down far enough, I can recover the Entry Plug with Hell & Heaven! Then we can do anything we need to to the Angel!"

He screams again, though, feeling that angelic curse crawling through him. Light traces through the Genesic Server lines that run down his body, signals coming to and from his eyes.

Held fast by the Angel, he doesn't disengage, despite the danger. That's his answer to Alouette: Resolve. "I promised her, Alouette! Even when she was being attacked, she still reached out to us! WE HAVE TO ANSWER THAT COURAGE!! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Guy screams, and StealthGao's thrusters ignite, sending GaoGaiGar hurtling upward with its knee stretched up to drive a drill into the beast's belly. "DRILL! KNEE!!!" Guy screams,

KTS: Guy Shishioh targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Drill Knee!
KTS: Rikka Takarada suggests caution, raising Guy Shishioh's Intuition!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley partially guards Guy Shishioh's Drill Knee, taking 4935 damage!
KTS: Guy Shishioh has engaged Asuka Shikinami Langley!
KTS: Guy Shishioh completes the Formation attack!

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

        "Shinji!" Liam cries, as the younger man starts to panic. "I-- I'm sorry, I tried, I couldn't--" Guilt eats at his heart like acid. If they'd only been able to get the Entry Plug free, then maybe--

        Thankfully, Jana has wiser words than he does. And Knight...

        Liam flinches as if it were him being chided. Is that really what Shinji needs when he's already under unthinkable pressure?

        "LU, WATCH OUT!" The Angel grabs them, and all Liam can do is brace. The impact shakes him, and whips his head to the side, but his augmentations mean his brain moves gently and stably within a layer of doped CSF instead of slamming into his skull.

        "Unhurt," Liam says to Jana, which is a far more true response than 'yes', in this moment. He's not all right. None of this is all right. But he leans forward in the cramped cockpit, and rests his gloved hands on Lucine's shoulders, gripping them. The tension in his hands shows through the thin nanofiber of the Trace Suit; his tendons stick out a little, as taut as bowstrings.

        "We're here, Shinji," Liam says, his voice in the background of Lucine's transmission.

KTS: Liam 7-020 targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Pass!
KTS: Liam 7-020's Biorhythm activates Focus!

<Pose Tracker> Chloe has posed.

        The Angel is quick. So quick that Chloe doesn't even get a chance to aim and fire at it as it rapidly closes the distance. The Angel's legs impact the Makhia's own. It's not enough to topple the machine, the Makhia's greater bulk over that of the corrupted Eva, combined with gravity control systems that stabilize it, mean it's a bitch to move forcefully. But the impact does bring the Makhia down onto one knee, Chloe forced down in her cockpit much the same way.

        That is not the end of the Angel's assault though as it reaches for the Makhia. The Angel's hexagonal barrier radiates outwards, immediately clashing with the multiple hexagonal cells of the Makhia's own defense field.

        Unfortunately, the Angel's proves stronger.

        The Makhia's barrier shatters into light as the Angel grabs hold of it. And soon enough, Alouette's machine is forced to collide with Chloe's own. Numerous damage alerts show up on one of the holodisplays. But Chloe ignores them as she tries to rise to her feet once more. Alouette calls for her to get behind, Chloe doesn't disagree. She's a ranged fighter primarily, <"Right.">

        As Alouette tries to distract the Angel with her Javelins, Chloe starts to back away again, moving to raise the large launcher in her right hand. She pulls the trigger on the holographic version, the Makhia following suit with the real one as it fires a spread of large missiles towards the Angel.

        <"It's fast... We need to pin it down.">

        To have a chance to rescue its pilot? Or to destroy it?

KTS: Chloe targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with MKW-223 LR Artillery Launcher Narrow Volley!

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

The Angel bears down on the Kakuseijin again, and Akane reels; she's still not used to that. It's so different from simply 'being hit,' even with the Linker Gel to absorb shocks; it's a completely different experience from when she resurrected GaoFighGar.

"I have control!" Akane confirms, taking Kakuseijin V2 out to a monitoring position. They can't risk it as much as they did in the previous fight -- not on this kind of repair. They'll need to move much more conservatively.

"Just basics," Akane replies to Rikka, "but I'll figure something out." She brings V2 a fair distance back out, staying purely defensive for now; she doesn't want to rush in and get the two of them hurt... or worse, at that.

She takes a moment to breathe, assessing the battlefield; in the end, though, she doesn't have a lot of specifics to go on on this one. Every Angel is unique, and every step in a fight with an Angel is unique -- they're a particularly tricky type of kaiju, which means all she can do is trust in people.

... Anxiety-inducing, but it's like that sometimes.

Opening comms with Guy, Akane says, simply, "... Thanks for showing up to help." Another deep breath, and -- "I'm sending everything I've got to you! Guy, Ultraman, Zenon... I hope you can save her."

KTS: Akane Shinjo has activated the Prospect Spirit Command targeting Rikka Takarada
KTS: Akane Shinjo targets Guy Shishioh, Gai Kurenai, and Neon Genesis Junior High Students with Awe.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley fails to react to Liam 7-020's Pass, taking 0 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley's Will Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley blocks Chloe's MKW-223 LR Artillery Launcher Narrow Volley, taking 1260 damage!
KTS: Akane Shinjo inspires awe, increasing Guy Shishioh's Morale!

<Pose Tracker> Haruki Natsukawa has posed.

         "Wait...Ultraman!? What ar-ACK!"

         Sevenger's instantly knocked down from the attack and rolls across the ground, partially from the sudden lack of awareness from Haruki, but mostly because this type of fight really is above Sevenger's pay grade. He sometimes swears there's some sort of scheme to always make sure he's piloting the 'worst' STORAGE has to offer, but in reality, he knows it's probably because they just don't want him to wreck the Windom...

         The damage is also really not that bad, all things considered, but he kind of has to abandon his robot already to deal with Orb. Sure, there's a chance they're like Riku and are actually aware of the events here. But it's just as likely they're like Zett and don't know a lick of human speech.

         Pulling out his Z Riser, Haruki's immediately sucked away into an alternate dimension, the Sevenger's eyes growing dull as if to indicate it is now pilotless.

         "That's..."
         "If you know who it is, then you've gotta explain!"

         Zett's face is stoic, but he doesn't seem any more distressed than he was already about the current situation. If he was going to explain anything, however, he's cut off as Haruki begins loading his Z Riser with medals.

"Burn in Scarlet flames! The Power of courage! Brother Ultaman! Brother Ace! Brother Taro! Osu!"

         As the reader on the Z Riser is pulled back, the device repeats the names of the medals, Ultraman Z now appearing behind Haruki with his arms outstreched.

"I ask that you chant my name! Ultraman Zett!"
         "Ultraman Zett!"

         There's a flash of light from above as the red, muscular form of Ultraman Z comes flying out of seemingly nowhere, an arm swung back as it lands in front of Unit 3 and delivers a full weighted punch directly at its head.

         "Master Orb, what are you doing here!?"

         Zett questions Orb as seriously as he can, but there's an underlining tone of giddiness in his voice. He seems to catch himself, however, and clears his throat before following up with the thing he was supposed to say.

         "If you didn't know already, there's a person trapped inside this thing. I really don't know what we can do, but we can't destroy it..."

KTS: Haruki Natsukawa: Will Barrier Activates.
KTS: Haruki Natsukawa targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Beta Punch!

<Pose Tracker> Gendo Ikari has posed.

"Our allies have engaged the Angel! It's -- oh, oh no...!"

Maya Ibuki's uncomfortable grimace is largely lost in the buzz of activity as she watches the tremendous form of Gridknight, tossed into Ultraman Orb like a battering ram. Angels are unsettling in some raw, primal way. Seeing one riding an Evangelion, riding its pilot?

The second that second pair of arms erupts from the shoulders of what was once Evangelion Unit-03, it's all -any- of them do to simply focus on the status of their fighters to try to keep an eye on corruption levels... and most especially, Evangelion Unit-01. Even GaoGaiGar's arrival is a momentary balm, before the feral Eva-turned-Angel bowls over landscape and manmade structure alike on its path towards Eva-01.

Warning sounds blare as analytics spring to life around the great viewscreen of Central Dogma's Command Center, displaying resonating imagery feeds of Evangelion Unit-01 in an array of different colors and waveforms. They show every ounce of data, from Evangelion Unit-01's heat signature to its blood pattern, but all of them tell a single story:

"Eva-01 and the Third Child's synchronization are plummeting rapidly!" Shigeru announces frantically. "It's fluctuating at forty percent -- no, thirty three percent and falling now! Mental toxicity levels are climbing! Any more could see a cascade rejection!"

Kozo Fuyutsuki's hands clench behind his back, fingers spasming; unlike Gendo, he has never mastered making a monolith of his features. His teeth grit as he looks towards NERV's commander.

"Ikari," he hisses, suppressing a tone of disapproval. "If this continues, your -- the Third Child--" he searches for the right words to appeal to Gendo for a precious few handful of seconds. "--Eva-01 will be completely compromised. We can't..."

But Gendo says nothing. He responds to no one, not the ongoing communications between combatants, nor the staff at Command, nor even Fuyutsuki.

"Unit-01's A.T. Field is holding, but weak! We won't be able to breach the Twelfth's defenses if--"

He just stares at that screen as his lips thin beneath the shadow of his hands.

As his eyes narrow beneath the veil of his glasses.

KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley's Will Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley parries Haruki Natsukawa's Beta Punch, taking 810 damage!
KTS: Haruki Natsukawa has engaged Asuka Shikinami Langley!

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

Shinji vows. He swears he will save her, as such that would imply making a decision, wouldn't it? And yet, when the chips come down, that mess of Earth that he hurls as its face.

The AT Field shimmers at the point of impact. The Twelfth Angel, Evangelion Unit-03, Bardiel. Suddenly reaches for his throat with it's free arms. As it swings, the arm moves bonelessly, bending and snapping restraint armor as it warps and distorts further, until a blackened spray erupts from various points on each arm, like blood from crush injuries. The Angel, mutilating itself to be free of the restraints of man.

It slams him down upon the mountainside. As another hand moves to join it, with the side effect of letting go of GaoGaiGar. Both hands reaching around to cinch off Evangelion Unit-01's throat in a pin that's only concerned with one thing.

Killing the threat to it. Shinji, synchronized to Evangelion Unit-01 will feel it, the pressure around his own throat. As fingertips sink in crushing restraint armor around his throat. Knight who was nearby may at that moment notice that one of his arms was struck by the blackened ichor that is its blood, it has a subtle corrosive burn. Yet who cares? The pain is minimal to a Vessel of Light.

The red lightning crescent comes right for its head, and at this moment Bardiel sinks down, pressing into the leverage upon Shinji, as it slices over where it's head was moments ago.

Ultraman Orb might have the eerie feeling of a single violet eye looking at him. Did it see him coming? And suddenly Knight's arm disobeys him, as shimmering fields suddenly appear around it, moving it against his will. The ichor has taken on a subtle blue shine, like the Entry Plug now, as the Angel attempts to bend his arm to slam into him again and again and again.

And that's when the Angel outright swings its arm at Ultraman Orb, in a wide arc. A martial arts expert like him will likely be able to avoid it, but what's deceptive is the spray of that same substance off of it. Upon contact, that shimmering shine forms again, as the Ultraman Orb suddenly finds himself being YANKED downward, and DRAGGED through the city streets, as he's pulled through building after building straight into the mountainside.

As they watch, the strange substance is slowly dissipating but as Fuyutsuki noted, it is quite dangerous.

The Ichinana comes in to swing a pole at its back, and an arm suddenly sweeps to the side, blunting the impact with the side of its arm, before its hand bends backwards to try and grasp her Ichinana, and slam it against the mountainside right beside Shinji, as if the Angel trying to swat it like a fly.

To break the barrier is enough, the Neon Genesis Junior High School Students declare in Powered Zenon form. The AT Field must come down, it's the only Evangelion in the area. And indeed, they aim a powerful kick at the Angel's back. The Angel briefly buckles, it's grip nearly sliding fully off Shinji, before it redoubles its efforts with a single palm.

Its hand then swings around and grasps it by the head. Without even ceasing its assault on Shinji, that single hand pulls it forward into the waiting grip of another palm that slams into its chest. More and more of that black substance, tinted by blue begins to spread, as they realize the danger immediately.

Calibur suffered so acutely from it last fight. Yet it does not hold on, it uses the leverage to try and fling the Powered Zenon straight across town, towards its shopping center, still dripping with the Angel's ichor. Borr's shout for her to stop goes unheeded. Can Asuka even hear her? Is she even in there? The Angel is responding to their attacks only with the worst kind of savagery.

And indeed Alouette asks the question, would she even be happy in the attempt? Asuka activated that pager, but did she even know what was happening to her? Would she even want to be saved, or would she want them to obey orders and eliminate the target?

You don't know. You can't know. Asuka has no voice to answer, or perhaps - she does, and no ability to shape words.

The Flare Javelin missiles streak, striking the AT Field in several spots, burning bright as the Angel looks distracted away from strangling Shinji. Alouette may see the subtle sign of its pupil in that exposed left violet eye constricting more.

A hand suddenly erupts out, extending towards Guardienne Aviaire its palm contacting it, the weight suddenly bonelessly swinging down to smash her into what was a mini mart for this little town. But the true threat is not that, but the subtle blue corrosive glow it leaves behind, that begins to cause her systems to alarm.

The petals of the Dianthus try to blast the Angel as energy shots, and the Angel suddenly twists sideways, pulling Evangelion Unit-01 up and over and slamming it back down beside the mountain to avoid the shot. It just isn't letting go of him. While it's aerial though, an arm sweeps out, smashing into the Dianthus like a whip, albeit a whip that's nearly half as wide as her unit outright even as it smashes through building over building.

Rikka tries to advise them all on the strange ways the Angel can attack, which is a good move given how every Angel is so very unique. Yet sometimes one falls prey to something so easy to miss. The splatter of blood, mixed with the debris of it smashing through the buildings. Not even collateral damage, but the indirect result of collateral damage. The Neuronoid suddenly alarms as its pulled TOWARDS the Angel and they may find themselves fighting against the single leg which refuses to obey their commands.

Should it get within range of its grip? Well... they've already seen what it can do.

And indeed Chloe moves to pin it down with the Makhia, as large missiles fire towards it. The Angel suddenly looks up from Evangelion Unit-01 like a feral animal from the carcass of its prey, as missile after missile impacts with its AT Field. While consumed by the shimmering light, it can see it getting pinned down.

Yet perhaps now the Makhia sees it, the subtle shine of blue, from when the Angel was manhandling it, drenched across it's torso and now sticking to its hip. Her alarms may go off as it finally penetrates through it's barrier enough, as its hip joint abruptly finds itself being pulled to the ground. As its lifted up and slammed to the ground again and again as if by an unseen limb.

What is the Angel doing!? Is this some kind of savage use of its AT Field?

The slamming motions stops though, as Guy answers to Asuka's desire to save her with his courage. The Drill Knee grinds against the AT Field, faster and faster to the small of the Angel's back, and it suddenly bellows as the Drill bit sparks against it, faster and faster. Until the Angel puts a palm back behind it.

It does something so very inhuman, in that it tries to GRASP the drill bit, only to find itself being punished by it, as the bit sparks against its hand again and again, driving deeper into the AT Field.

Did he do it!? Did his courage somehow manage to do what it is said only an Eva can do?

Yet suddenly a gout of blood sprays across the GaoGaiGar from that palm, and that subtle hint of blue contacts its right hand messily even as it tries to push him away. Should it do so Angel's force field attempts to wrench it off, to redirect it at him, as if it were trying to force him to Broken Magnum his own face.

Wrenching and twisting, and pivoting it unnaturally without any actual sense of strategy, simply instinct to utilize its field to corrode and do the most damage possible. It builds upon the earlier contact of the corrosion to try and deal with the threat of GaoGaiGar as if it were another target.

Sevenger is slammed off its feet, and perhaps it is best that the best boy is no longer in the line of fire, but instead replaced by Ultraman Z. While the Angel continues to strangle Evangelion Unit-01, and Shinji, a punch is aimed to the back of its head, as the Angel's limb suddenly sweeps across to knock it away. It turns off of him to look at the arrival of another Vessel of Light.

One arm reaches towards his neck, attempting to catch him by the face, before it slams Ultraman Z on the mountainside right beside Shinji. It spares a single hand to begin unceremoniously trying to crush his shining visage against a copse of trees with all the strength it can muster.

All Shinji has to do is penetrate the barrier. To eliminate the target, or perhaps to save her. Yet it is difficult, isn't it, knowing that Asuka is in there? It is difficult not knowing the state she's in.

It is difficult when your own throat feels like it's being crushed, as the burn settles in as your own body has trouble extracting oxygen from the LCL. And the longer he's being strangled, the more a blue glow creeps up over Evangelion Unit-01's neck, burning, corroding, corrupting, contaminating. It's already creeping up it's bottom jaw, and the upper part of his chest.

If he doesn't fight back seriously soon, then the decision will be taken away from him entirely.

KTS: [Spirit Defense] Shinji Ikari's I Mustn't Run Away activates, and the spirit endures.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has activated the Daunt Spirit Command targeting Shinji Ikari
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Shinji Ikari with You Can (Not) Advance!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Gai Kurenai with This Hand is Your Hand...!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Jana Cektru with Talk to the Hand!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Lucine Azul with Arms-Dealing!
KTS: Akane Shinjo inspires awe, increasing Gai Kurenai's Morale!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Alouette Pommier with Mycosis!
KTS: Akane Shinjo inspires awe, increasing Neon Genesis Junior High Students's Morale!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Rikka Takarada with Mycosis!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley rattles Gai Kurenai, making his next maneuvers more difficult.
KTS: Gai Kurenai blocks Asuka Shikinami Langley's This Hand is Your Hand..., taking 3300 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Guy Shishioh with This Hand is Your Hand...!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Chloe with Mycosis!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Knight with This Hand is Your Hand...!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley anchors Alouette Pommier, forcing her into close range.
KTS: Alouette Pommier partially guards Asuka Shikinami Langley's Mycosis, taking 5250 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asuka Shikinami Langley's Asuka Strikes! activates, causing Insight L1!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Alouette Pommier!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Haruki Natsukawa with Hand to Hand to Hand to Hand Combat!
KTS: Jana Cektru blocks Asuka Shikinami Langley's Talk to the Hand, taking 5170 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asuka Shikinami Langley's Asuka Strikes! activates, causing Insight L1!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Jana Cektru!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley begins a Formation attack!
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Enable Spirit Command.
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Trust Spirit Command.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley anchors Chloe, forcing her into close range.
KTS: Chloe partially guards Asuka Shikinami Langley's Mycosis, taking 6000 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asuka Shikinami Langley's Asuka Strikes! activates, causing Insight L1!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Chloe!
KTS: Haruki Natsukawa has activated the Spirit Spirit Command.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley anchors Rikka Takarada, forcing her into close range.
KTS: Rikka Takarada partially guards Asuka Shikinami Langley's Mycosis, taking 3500 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Rikka Takarada!
KTS: Knight has activated the Trust Spirit Command.
KTS: Guy Shishioh's EN Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley rattles Guy Shishioh, making his next maneuvers more difficult.
KTS: Guy Shishioh blocks Asuka Shikinami Langley's This Hand is Your Hand..., taking 3750 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Neon Genesis Junior High Students with The Twelfth Angel!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley rattles Knight, making his next maneuvers more difficult.
KTS: Knight partially guards Asuka Shikinami Langley's This Hand is Your Hand..., taking 6600 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asuka Shikinami Langley's Asuka Strikes! activates, causing Insight L1!
KTS: Haruki Natsukawa partially guards Asuka Shikinami Langley's Hand to Hand to Hand to Hand Combat, taking 5658
damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Haruki Natsukawa!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley completes the Formation attack!
KTS: Neon Genesis Junior High Students has activated the Wall Spirit Command.
KTS: Neon Genesis Junior High Students fails to rush.
KTS: Neon Genesis Junior High Students partially guards Asuka Shikinami Langley's The Twelfth Angel, taking 3595 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley begins a Formation attack!
KTS: Chloe has activated the Trick Spirit Command.
KTS: Chloe has activated the Trick Spirit Command.
KTS: Haruki Natsukawa has activated the Trick Spirit Command.
KTS: Haruki Natsukawa has activated the Trick Spirit Command.
KTS: Lucine Azul has activated the Alert Spirit Command.
KTS: Lucine Azul has activated the Alert Spirit Command.
KTS: [Mirage] Lucine Azul's Glimmer Engine activates, and she slips into a mirage.
KTS: Lucine Azul blocks Asuka Shikinami Langley's Arms-Dealing, taking 0 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Lucine Azul!
KTS: Knight goads Shinji Ikari, reducing his Intuition drastically.
KTS: Shinji Ikari fails to react to Asuka Shikinami Langley's You Can (Not) Advance, taking 6975 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asuka Shikinami Langley's Asuka Strikes! activates, causing Insight L1!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Shinji Ikari!

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

        My reason for fighting?
        
        I'm fighting because I wanted Father's approval. I'm fighting because I couldn't leave Ayanami alone.
        
        But now Ayanami's gone, and Father's telling me the target is Asuka.
        
        Today was supposed to be a day of hope, but now I'm deeper in despair than ever...
        
        A fist rams into his shoulder. That punch might not be that strong, comparatively speaking, but he feels its sting--and the sting of Knight's scolding--just the same. "Shut up!!" Shinji yells back at him. "What's the point in saving the world if I can't save her?!"
        
        Vit chimes in, gentler, assuring Shinji that he doesn't need to fight, that it's enough to take down the barrier. "No, that's wrong! I'm not going to abandon her! What's the difference if someone else kills her instead?!" Shinji yells back at Vit.
        
        Although that wasn't what Vit was saying, somehow, Alouette bridges the gap between him and Knight, urging Shinji to be true to his heart--to let his heart make the impossible possible. Just as GGG does all the same. Doubt flickers through him; he knows what he wants, but how can someone with his weak heart make it happen?
        
        Then Guy offers a decisive solution: break down the Angel's defenses enough, and he can use Heaven & Hell to recover the entry plug. Shinji latches onto that like a drowning man onto a would-be rescuer. Shinji manages to get back on his feet, both mentally and Evangelionly. That plummeting sync ratio stabilizes ("stabilitizes") around 30 to 40%. Bad, but enough to avoid the worst--maybe even enough to win. Rikka tells him--tells everyone--not to be reckless, but right now, Shinji simply isn't listening. He hears, like he hear's Liam's guilt-ridden apologies that echo the ones in his own heart to Rei, but he doesn't listen.
        
        They HAVE to save Asuka. He CANNOT let her die.
        
        Because--
        
        Unit-01's feet curl beneath her as she crouches, and Shinji screams desperation and defiance as he hurls himself at Unit-03--not to attack, but to ram more decisively into the Angel's A.T. Field. As coruscating light expands in iridescent-orange hexagons, Unit-01's fingers dig in to attempt to erode the shield and tear it apart.
        
        Because--
        
        Even if Kaworu is not here... what would he say to you, right here?
        
        He doesn't know. He can't know, right here, right now, those perfect words that Kaworu would say to soothe his heart and give him strength. All he knows is that Kaworu never stopped encouraging him, never stopped telling him to chase after Asuka, never had anything less than total faith that he was worthy of her in the first place. Shinji's entirety aches with the wish that he were here. Kaworu might never have liked Asuka, but he would never order Shinji to kill anyone. That understanding, that promise, was part of how Shinji grew to trust him so much.
        
        But he isn't here. And even if he were, his orders wouldn't take precedence. Because--
        
        "Asuka... Asuka! ASUKAAAA!!"
        
        --another pair of hands latches around his (Unit-01's) throat and shoves him (them) back down into the ground.
        
        Whether Evangelion and Angel are the same or not, the Angel has fused so thoroughly with it that it makes no difference. It slams Unit-01 into the mountainside, fingers coiled around her throat. Shinji's screams for Asuka turn weak as dark lines dig into his own throat. His sync ratio should have dropped, so why does he feel this pain so intensely now? Unit-01 grips Unit-03's wrists, as if she might be able to force the Angel off, and maybe that buys some seconds. But that corrosion is seeping into the Eva's throat and chest, and surely now her hands too.
        
        Shinji had genuinely tried his best to tear that A.T. Field down. Even now, he focuses on that and that alone. But he can't be certain he's pulling it off. Right now, he hovers on the precipice between wakefulness and death. He can hear the chaos of battle all around him, even feel the thrum of the earth as his allies are slammed every which way around him, but it's all he can do just to stay conscious. Stay conscious, and extend what remains of Unit-01's A.T. Field to neutralize Unit-03's. If he can do that, then it doesn't matter what happens to him.
        
        As long as he can save Asuka, he doesn't care about anything else. Not even his own life.
        
        "Guy-san," he rasps. "Please... the entry plug...!!"

KTS: Shinji Ikari targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Pass!

<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.

The blue goop sears the air as it flies towards Ultraman Orb, and he raises his arms - a coruscating field of power surrounds him as he's soaked in the goop and dragged bodily through the buildings and into the side of the mountain.

Heaving himself upright once more, the energy suffusing him burning away the blood of Bardiel, Orb takes in the scene. He is addressed by another fellow, and the presence of Ultraman Z on the field takes some of the do-or-die berserker pressure off him.

        "I know - but we can't afford to hold back." That fierce amber stare is fixed on Z for a moment, before transferring back to the corrupted Unit-03. The crackling energy that served to shield Thunder Breastar from the worst of the facedrag coalesces into a bladed disc spinning in his hand - a tool by which he once severed Maga-Orochi's tail, lifetimes ago.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Thunder Breastar closes in, cutting saw held high - and slashes at the hands clutched around Unit-01's throat, trying to cut them free of the warped Evangelion entirely.

KTS: Gai Kurenai targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Zettcium Light Ring!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley fails to react to Shinji Ikari's Pass, taking 0 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley successfully avoids Gai Kurenai's Zettcium Light Ring

<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.

        "I'm fine," Gridknight says -- a little tense, a little underlined -- when Max expresses that concern. And he is, for now.

        For how long?

        This isn't the kind of monster Gridknight shaped himself to fight; he is as lost as Akane, here.

        But, in the end... Shinji makes an attempt, at least. An attempt which sees him strangled.

        "Look out!" Knight snarls warning, and it's not just a matter of blood splattering which gets that ichor on his right hand. No -- he slams his fist into the Angel's grasping arms, grabbing and PULLING. Even if he can't pierce the A.T. field, he can grapple it off --

        But Bardiel has more hands than Knight does, and Calibur didn't warn him for nothing, back then. That blue, shimmering field appears around his arm, and Knight bites out a curse, as it forcibly releases the Angel to strike at himself. "ChEH--!!" There's a rising point of panic to the aggravated sound which he doesn't bother to explain; some people here may remember, though, the way that D.G. Cells almost consumed him, once upon a time.

        Perhaps that explains the way he takes a firm hold of his right arm, at the shoulder, above the place where that ichor's taken hold

        and WRENCHES.

        Mercifully, the thing inside Gridknight isn't blood; it's closer to the circuit boards of a computer. With a wretched howl, he tears off his own arm, slinging it away. "Shit!" Gridknight snarls, as he leaps back, away from the Angel. "I got sloppy..."

        For a moment he breathes, reclaiming himself; he does not have teeth to grit, but one gets the sense, anyway.

        (He's glad for Alouette's javelins; he doesn't have the wherewithall to launch another attack, so soon after that.)

        But even if he doesn't have the strength to strike again, he still has a voice. "Rikka Takarada," Gridknight calls, to Kakuseijin V2. "He's forgotten. The lessons we learned in Tsutsujidai... when someone comes at you with force, you have to defend yourself, too!" It was Anti, back then, raging fierce; it was Anti who had to be stopped to save the city. And now, with Shinji pinned down like he is... "If it goes on like this," Gridknight assesses the situation, and certainly he sounds cold, "Shinji Ikari will die."

        Gridknight can't make Shinji see. He can't make Shinji see, though he remembers Shinji's own desperation in his fighting, then.

        In his way -- a unique way, just as Calibur helpfully spells out for Shinji -- he is asking Rikka for her help.

KTS: Knight targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Gridknight Grapple!

<Pose Tracker> Neon Genesis Junior High Students has posed.

"We'll do everything we can, Akane." Vit answers, despite the sinking feeling in his disembodied heart. Even if the others still believe in Asuka's rescue, Sky Vitter knows too well the narrow odds of bringing someone back from the brink.

Despite the way the monstrous once-Evangelion buckles at Powered Zenon's kick, it immediately returns violence with violence. Grabbing the War Deity by the head, it drags the Hyper Agents into its black-blue ichor.

"Get away. Now." Calibur orders, unusually forceful.

With a great effort, they try to break their enemy's hold -- to no avail. Powered Zenon cries out with one voice as they're thrown into the shopping center, drenched in corruption.

Having taken the worst of it, Borr snarls out little noises of pain and struggle. "I -- fuck -- I can't hang on -- nnh!"

The wheel-guns at Powered Zenon's shoulders spin frantically. Bullets fire, directly into the War Deity's own body, tearing into Vit's armor.

"Borr, come on!" Vit grunts.

As the blood drips down the rest of Powered Zenon, the Hyper Agents lurch to the side, dropping Calibur and crashing into another building. It burns terribly, eating away at Powered Zenon's armor, but... It seems to slowly ebb away. Without any organic components to bond with, the corruption scorches itself out, much to the relief of the Neon Genesis Junior High Students.

"Is everyone alright?" Max asks, recovering Calibur.

"That sucked." Borr offers.

"Still good." Vit replies.

"I'm alright." Calibur murmurs. "We return to the fight."

"RIGHT!" Again in harmony, Powered Zenon straightens and charges the monstrous creature. If they can get it away from Shinji, maybe--!

"COMING IN!" Borr shouts, as Powered Zenon raises their axe. "WATCH OUT!"

Max roars, and the Combined War Deity brings their axe down on the monster's arm -- the one holding Unit-01. They hope to sever it -- something that may be impossible, but it must be tried.

"Shinji! Don't give up!" Vit calls out. "We need you!"

KTS: Neon Genesis Junior High Students targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Powered Axe Smash!

<Pose Tracker> Jana Cektru has posed.

To just Lucine and Liam's band, Dr. Cektru answers, < "There may yet be a way to save her." > She considers Guy's shouted words. What he can do... yes. Perhaps that could do it, if only they can disable the Angel--which they must do regardless. < "But never rely on false hope. Not even if it seems like the only way, you cannot lead someone's heart in that way." >

Her radio goes back to the general frequency. "I am fine. But Chief Shishioh is right!" Rikka mentions that it tried to pull them in, and Jana is glad at least that it hasn't managed that with her machine yet--she does not want to test whether it would be posssible given the Tector Gear.



Jana's Ichinana has powerful armoring; being slammed into a mountain is not enough to destroy it immediately. Nevertheless, it's still being slammed into a mountain that faces it, as the staff blow fails to do more than bash its arm. In turn, the Ichinana moves to block, and cannot. Its shield cracks under the strain, and while the Tector Gear itself and its core internals are impervious, it is not. The Ichinana creaks with the significant damage.

"Shinji!" Jana calls, as he hesitates. And then, when his desperation sees him charge--When he manages to try to neutralize Unit-03's Field...

"Chief Shishioh!" Jana calls, and then, she focuses--focuses, on Guy Shishioh's power, on the G-Stone itself. She focuses her will, and the Ichinana briefly comes to a complete stop as her mind must focuss there.

~I have given you what I can,~ her mind tells him. ~Save her.~

Then, she tries to do her own part, as well, while the Angel is held down. "Ultraseven Array!" Jana calls next, as the Ichinana roars to life again under her mind's focus. Planting its staff into the ground, the machine extends its arms, making the shape of an 'L' with those forearms, hand-up, edge-out. "Ultimate attack!"

The arm glows, suddenly, with the force of Light, and a great beam coruscates out towards Bardiel, from the mountain where Jana's Ichinana stands.

It may be the last stand her machine can make.

"Wide Shot!"

KTS: Jana Cektru has activated the Resupply Spirit Command targeting Guy Shishioh
KTS: Jana Cektru has activated the Resupply Spirit Command targeting Guy Shishioh
KTS: Jana Cektru targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Wide Shot!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley's Will Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage.
KTS: Knight anchors Asuka Shikinami Langley, forcing her into close range.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley blocks Knight's Gridknight Grapple, taking 750 damage!
KTS: Knight has engaged Asuka Shikinami Langley!
KTS: Jana Cektru has activated the Resupply Spirit Command targeting Guy Shishioh
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley's Will Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley fails to Parry Neon Genesis Junior High Students's Powered Axe Smash, taking 3230 damage!
KTS: Neon Genesis Junior High Students has engaged Asuka Shikinami Langley!

<Pose Tracker> Chloe has posed.

        Chloe throws the spent launcher to the ground after its missiles explode around the Angel. She didn't expect it was enough to do much damage, but that wasn't really the plan anyway. She's mostly just trying to buy time for the others to shake Unit-01's pilot out of his stupor and do his job.

        And it seems to be working.

        But Chloe's eyes go wide as she feels herself-her Makhia-being lifted up off the ground, then slammed back into it. She winces as she feels the impacts, her own body lifted in her cockpit and slammed down too. She doesn't know what's doing it, though her systems are reporting some kind of corruption. Is it the Angel's influence!?

        With another slam into the ground, the Makhia's left leg crumples, the armor too damaged to sustain that final impact. The Makhia tumbles to the right, coming crashing down to kick up a storm of dust and debris.

        Lying on her side in her cockpit, Chloe groans a little. Thankfully the control safety systems prevented her from suffering any serious injuries. But she still felt that. Opening her eyes, she glances in the direction of the damage display... Critical leg damage... Intrusion continuing to progress... She's not likely to be in this fight for long...

        "Fine."

        Chloe reaches up to her back, the Makhia following suit. It grabs at the large cannon anchored there, pulling it free and bringing down to rest on the ground as it handles it with both hands. Lying there, it settles in to aim towards the Angel now being in close combat with Unit-01.

        "Redirecting gravity energy..."

        The Makhia suddenly sinks several meters into the ground as the gravity systems focused on keeping it light enough to move instead have their power siphoned somewhere else. Specifically into the heavy cannon, which is beginning to whine as the energy flows into it.

        In the cockpit, Chloe looks towards the large wall screens showing the large cannon settled in her Makhia's hands, the two Evangelions clashing in the distance as others attack as well. A targeting reticle appears over the corrupted Eva as Chloe alters her aim to settle it on the monstrous machine. Then pulls the trigger.

        The heavy cannon fires, its frame fracturing as the power flowing into it goes beyond normal limits. The round that accelerates out of the barrel is heavy and fast as it flies towards its target.

KTS: Chloe targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with MKW-195 400mm Heavy Cannon Core Shot!

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

Bardiel's next advance pushes Guardienne Aviaire smash into a building. She sees the blue of contamination - how could she not? - but forced back as she is, she can't hope to escape it. The best she can do is prepare her anti-viral defenses for the worst.

"The effects, on a Program Ring-based machine are quite predictable, those shimmering rings that guide weaponry and keep the machine's form stable alike, faltering, as Bardiel takes control with its A.T. Field. The contamination spreads most clearly and powerfully to Guardienne Aviaire's arm of destruction, Aile Rapier in hand. As if to turn such power against the very machine itself. "Asuka..." Alouette breathes out, whether Asuka has truly lost her voice, or if violence is all she has left. Perhaps it isn't an answer - a question? A call for help.

Which Alouette only has one response to. "There's no choice." She says, quietly as screens dance across her eyes, complete with the frantic flashing red warning screens. "Program Rings, initiating Kill Command to the Aile Rapier." She taps, and taps... and Guardienne Aviaire's right arm dies down, limp and motionless. A huge sacrifice no doubt - she can no longer harness the power of destruction, or combine it for a desperate Hell and Heaven of her own.

But it doesn't mean she can't support Guy and Shinji, in their own desperate attempt to save Asuka. As Guy makes his resolve clear, there's a complete and full understanding, as if her pager was still beeping in her hands, conveying Asuka's final plead with each tone. "You.. you're right. As long as there's still a chance, as long as we can do something, I don't want to abandon her!" She agrees, levelling her half-corroded left arm towards Bardiel, and with it -- channeling the Power of Protection, as she hears Shinji urge them to pull out the entry plug. "Asuka... I heard your call, and this is my answer. Plasma Hold!" She calls, as she rushes forward with everything Guardienne Aviaire has left, her hand channeling crackling electromagnetic plasma, as she attempts to grapple with the much larger Eva-Angel.

"Guy, Ikari-kun - this is your chance. Please... save her!" She grits her teeth, keeping that plasma in place as long as she can with one hand - while the other holds off the creeping-in corrosive Field as long as she can.

KTS: Alouette Pommier targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Plasma Hold - Graceful Grappling!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley partially guards Jana Cektru's Wide Shot, taking 2610 damage!
KTS: Jana Cektru roots her unit, coming to a standstill and leaving her vulnerable.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley fails to Evade Chloe's MKW-195 400mm Heavy Cannon Core Shot, taking 7230 damage!
KTS: Chloe roots her unit, coming to a standstill and leaving her vulnerable.
KTS: Alouette Pommier rattles Asuka Shikinami Langley, making her next maneuvers more difficult.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley fails to react to Alouette Pommier's Plasma Hold - Graceful Grappling, taking 4650 damage!
KTS: Alouette Pommier has engaged Asuka Shikinami Langley!
KTS: Guy Shishioh has activated the Trick Spirit Command.
KTS: Guy Shishioh has activated the Trick Spirit Command.
KTS: Guy Shishioh has activated the Trick Spirit Command.
KTS: Guy Shishioh has activated the Trick Spirit Command.

KTS: Lucine Azul targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Argen-21 Beam Arbalest Snipe!

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

        < ".... You're right. False hope just leads to more despair." > Lucine's words, still limited to Jana in the Ichinana. < "His spirit is low enough as it is...." >

        Shinji is not alone in this battle, and neither is Lucine. Rikka and Jana give her their bits of help, she hears the flow of collaboration, the emotions of comraderie. She feels the strained pressure of Liam's hands, and how she wants to turn around and hold them in her own. But, if her heart felt as heavy as Shinji's right now, would she even feel it?

        One of them is especially caustic in their remarks, but she understands the care behind them. "That one," she says, to Liam behind her. "That's Anti, right...?"

        Maybe it's just that Shinji is facing the terror of this decision more directly, while she and everyone else play the discordant choir to this play.

        ~~----!
        
        < "Liam, hold on!" > It happens with a flash on insight and a rush of adrenaline; enough to where Lucine's actions would matter, just enough for the Glimmer Engine to do its thing.

        The lash, instead of stripping the Dianthus of metal and flesh with one lash, instead meets a glowing magenta afterimage.

        And beside it, the real Dianthus is already taking action.

        < "Shinji!" > The Dianthus draws the albarest and prepares its shot, attempting to snipe at one of the arms Bardiel is choking Shinji with.

<Pose Tracker> Haruki Natsukawa has posed.

         Ultraman Z lets out a loud cry as it's sent flying back from the Angel's attack, sparks flying off its metallic body as it lands next to Evangelion 01. That's right. If he's already feeling awful about this, he can't even begin to imagine how Shinji must feel.

         Pulling itself up from the rubble, the giant of light raises an opened hand high into the air, palpable energy building up around it that only seems to get more vibrant as he forms his fingers into a fist. It doesn't take a genius to see what the now active 01 is trying to do. She's trying to break the AT field. For what purpose, he doesn't know, but it's just as Orb said. They can't really afford to hold back, they're on a timer, after all... Asuka especially.

         Lunging forward, Ultraman Z ducks low as it reapproaches the Angel, before throwing his entire body weight into an upward motion as he delivers a powerful uppercut into the infected Evangelion's barrier in a desperate attempt to help weaken it.

KTS: Haruki Natsukawa targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Zestium Upper!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley's Will Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley blocks Lucine Azul's Argen-21 Beam Arbalest Snipe, taking 810 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley parries Haruki Natsukawa's Zestium Upper, taking 1890 damage!
KTS: Haruki Natsukawa has engaged Asuka Shikinami Langley!

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

        <"I know, Doctor,"> Liam says to Jana, his voice weak. <"We have to--do something! If--if he goes down--"> They're all dead. Everyone is dead.

        Lucine asks a question that almost seems... incongruous. "That's him," he says. "That's--KNIGHT!" Liam's teeth jump on edge as the horrible shearing sound of Knight ripping his own arm off reverberates in the cockpit. He did something similar, but it wasn't literally his arm. <"FALL BACK IF YOU HAVE TO!">

        Liam closes his eyes, breathes, and tries to calm his own roiling emotions. It doesn't really work like that. But he does provide a second presence within the Dianthus. That might remind Lucine of what's at stake.

KTS: Liam 7-020 has activated the Spirit Spirit Command targeting Lucine Azul
KTS: Liam 7-020 targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Pass!
KTS: Liam 7-020's Biorhythm activates Trick!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley fails to react to Liam 7-020's Pass, taking 0 damage!

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

Guy can feel that corruption on his body. The Genesic connection between him and Galeon, even the un-Genesicized Galeon here, makes the corruption happening to GaoGaiGar feel like it's his own flesh being poisoned. He screams, "HUAAAAGH!!" as the Angel's blood stains him, as it tries to RIP OFF his arm and DRIVE IT into his own face. "HNnnnngYAAA! PROTECT SHADE!!!" Guy shrieks, and the barrier of bent space pulses out of his left hand just in time. He undocks the right arm, letting it be sent aside by the Protect Shade, and then rips himself away. He has to clear out before the infection gets to be too much even for him and Galeon. StealthGao's thrusters blast, sending GaoGaiGar soaring upward, and then a twist of his weight sends him curving away, to go retrieve the lost right arm. "That AT Field is something else," he huffs. The Broken Right Arm reconnects with a meaty CHUNK of interlocks, and GaoGaiGar squares its stance, staring up at the beast nearly triple his height. Jana's voice reaches him, and he feels her courage and focus run through him, prod the G-Stone's output. "Doctor...Thank you. I won't waste it."

And then, Eva-01 gets slammed down, struggling furiously to deplete that A.T. Field with his own. "SHINJI!" Guy roars. "HANG ON!"

And then he throws his hands wide, "HELL! AND! HEAVEN!!"

The Left Arm of Protection emits a pulsing wave of shielding light as it fully releases its power. The Right Arm of Destruction growls with a spiraling red aura of its own.

The G-Stone Shines Brighter...

Guy growls with exertion, forcing the two hands together, the two repulsive forces violently trying to shake the whole machine apart as they draw nearer and nearer. Guy mumbles low, incanting the words from far away that unites those two powers into one: "Gemu giru gan go gufo..."

When the hands unite, it's with an eruption of light and sound as Guy screams, "HUAAAAH!!" and the world around them turns into a whirling, funneling electromagnetic tornado. It might not be enough to do much more than slow down the Angel's reactions. But perhaps...just hopefully...it'll be enough.

So Guy entrusts it all to the final spell, the word that brings stability to two opposed powers. StealthGao's thrusters burst to light again, sending GaoGaiGar flying straight forward at the creature the Evangelion has become, aiming to thrust into the spine of the beast and wrest free the entry plug.

"VIIIIIIIIIIIIIITAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

KTS: Guy Shishioh targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Hell and Heaven!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley fails to react to Guy Shishioh's Hell and Heaven, taking 9750 damage!
KTS: Guy Shishioh has engaged Asuka Shikinami Langley!
KTS: Guy Shishioh roots his unit, coming to a standstill and leaving him vulnerable.

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

"That's good enough." Rikka replies with a nod as Akane assures her she'll figure something out. She trusts her judgment, there.

At Akane's command, Kakuseijin V2 retreats to a support position - which is when they both make a horrifying discovery as the Neuronoid lurches forward suddenly against either of their commands.

"It was still active...?" Rikka gasps in surprise. She grits her teeth, pushing back against it through the Linker Gel - her thoughts, her plea for their machine to fight back.

And she's not the only one having trouble with it. She hears Knight's call - and watches as he tears his own arm right off. She can't even form words - the noise that comes out is more akin to a strangled gasp of surprise and concern.

...But then he addresses her.

The lessons they learned in Tsutsujidai...

He's right. Rikka exhales - and then she nods.

"...Right." She says. She can tell that Shinji is trying, but... is his heart fully in it?

"...Shinji. It's difficult, isn't it? ...I know. It's hard, when you have to fight someone you care about. ...But it's okay - it's okay to fight back. It's okay to defend yourself, and others too. Sometimes, it's for their sake, too." Rikka starts. "Because sometimes, you're what they need - even if they can't say it themselves, even if they can't do anything but fight... That's why it has to be you. Because you understand."

Rikka exhales - it's time for her to focus, too.

"It's so fast... I think we really do need to restrict its movements. I think it's time to try the glue synthesis... Akane, can you get it ready?" Rikka says. "...I have control!"

The Kakuseijin V2 transforms - the transformation is still a little sluggish with the encroaching blood, but it completes all the same.

"...Okay!" Rikka says, raising a claw toward the Angel. Kakuseijin V2 draws in particles from the surroundings, breaking them down and processing them. And then... "Synapse Attack!"

This time, though - rather than launching the claw out as a projectile, it unleashes a concentrated spray of a glue-like substance from a distance with the goal of restricting Unit-03's movement.

KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Attune Spirit Command.
KTS: Rikka Takarada targets Asuka Shikinami Langley with Synapse Attack - Glue Blaster!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley's Will Barrier activates, negating 1500 base damage.
KTS: Rikka Takarada rattles Asuka Shikinami Langley, making her next maneuvers more difficult.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley fails to react to Rikka Takarada's Synapse Attack - Glue Blaster, taking 1800 damage!
KTS: Rikka Takarada begins a Formation attack!

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

The Kakuseijin starts to fight them again -- and Akane scowls. The kind of enemy that would do this sort of thing... sure, she's been that kind of enemy herself, but it's still contemptible!! It was contemptible when she did it too! Rikka's aptitude for seizing control in this kind of situation is better than hers; Akane transfers control back to her, with a, "You have control!"

While Akane is well aware that Knight's form is a suggestion at best and that things can break off without it mattering in the long term... seeing him pull his own arm off meets with a horrified, "Gridknight!" before she can even think about it.

Rikka's words to Shinji move her, too -- though she doesn't have time to luxuriate in the feeling, as Rikka suggests a course of action. "Glue synthesis -- right!" Akane says, focusing up.; it's starting to feel a lot smoother each successive time she does it. There's nothing quite like real battle to make you learn this kind of thing faster!

Once she finishes, she returns to her monitoring role. It would be nice if this thing had a better EWAC suite, she reflects, as she looks down at her readouts. She doesn't really have a lot of options here, save to trust in her copilot -- no, in her partner, as she initiates the Synapse Attack.

KTS: Akane Shinjo targets Rikka Takarada with Dream!
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Enable Spirit Command.
KTS: Akane Shinjo shares a dream with Rikka Takarada, increasing her SP!

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

Kaworu isn't here right now. What would he say if he were? Another time, another world, he might have been here...

... inside the Angel.

Shinji calls out to Asuka, even as the Angel twists and wrenches its grip with its Evangelion hands, warped by the strange nature and anatomy of the Angel. Still, he tries, extending the ATField into the Angel's. Into the point of contact.

Even as the Angel's corrosion spreads more and more, further and further. The Angel isn't letting go, no matter how many assault it, it has marked the biggest threat against it. Somehow instinctually it knows.

Yet Shinji tries, to create that opening. And indeed, his efforts may not be in vain. As the Zectium light disk from Ultraman Orb comes down, trying to slash across the hands. It looks like he's going to contact them head on, and then those arms simply, arc sideways, moving like a human's arms shouldn't be able to, thinning, swaying bonelessly.

All while keeping its grip upon Shinji. And then another hand descends, grabbing him by the wrist bearing the deadly light blade, from the arms upon its back, it swings abruptly sideways to pull him off his footing, before snapping him in the opposite direction, brutally against the mountain.

Indeed, you can't afford to hold back. The Angel isn't. And until Shinji penetrates its AT Field...

Knight tries to grapple the Angel away, finding it difficult to gain purchase against its AT Field. All Momentum just stops, and as his fingers try to sink in, it repels him further. The light of the Angel's heart trying it's hardest to keep out the Kaiju turned Vessel of Light's will. Eventually he has to let go, as the Angel's corrosion forces him to sever his own hand.

It is a reasonable assertion to make, but he might notice at the last second how it's burning away without something organic to find purchase within.

Even as he speaks to Rikka Takarada, his own severed arm suddenly launches back to slam into his head, buoyed by the AT Fields from the rapidly burning away corrosion.

The Powered Zenon returns, blindsiding the Angel with a sudden axe strike on the arm holding Shinji. And indeed it falls, slamming on it. It makes contact with its shining AT Field, but all the same, some impact gets through, just enough, that the grip falls slack on Shinji, just briefly. The arm recoils away from the blow-

-even as its head comes up, bellowing agony as it tries its best to clamp its jaws on the Powered Zenon to try and RIP a part of it away, like an animal snapping at something on instinct even as a palm pushes it away to try and maximize the damage.

Jana's Ichinana suddenly glows with the force of light, and in that moment, Bardiel's head whips around from its sudden action to indeed, snap at her. It's too late to stop the shot, which burns across its AT Field and restraint armor, causing some of it from bubbling, but it's great maw tries to enclose around a part of it and tear it apart.

Which is the same moment the Makhia fires it's heavy cannon from its shot going beyond its limits. The shot impacts the AT Field and the Angel is rocked, despite its AT Field, nearly being knocked off of its prey outright. It's head suddenly moves from side to side as if to suddenly try and shake off a head injury, before it looks up.

The Pallas Makhia is suddenly pelted by debris, as anything its blood hasn't been burned away from suddenly launches itself towards it, the side of Starbooks suddenly slams into it right alongside parts of what was formerly an Anaheim distribution center warehouse. Does it seem like that shouldn't cause much damage? Think again, when an AT Field is the source of the impact.

In that moment the Guardienne Aviaire grapples suddenly the Angel, as Electromagnetic Plasma flows through it, the Angel set alight by sparks of electricit, as it howls, spasming despite how its AT Field absorbs most of it. They see it, those moments where they can make out the outline of the Evangelion's bones against the bright light of the electricity.

It's bellow is cut off, as it flails, trying to buck it off, even as an arm gropes for a palm to descend and try to crush her against Bardiel's own AT Field. The Beam Arbalest cuts the act short, as its shot slams into an arm grappling Shinji, which reflexively causes it to recoil away from Aviaire.

A hand reaches out, grasping it, as it tries to bring the Dianthus down to grind it against Evangelion Unit-01 Ultraman Z - Haruki might worry, Asuka did all that sparring against him, can the Angel respond to his moves, yet it's not actually responding as a human might. It's entire body weight is suddenly thrown against it, as the Angel lets go out of the Dianthus to meet its upper cut with a body check as it shifts its weight against him mid-act.

It then, promptly, tries to drive another hand right through Ultraman Z's chest, in an attempt to impale him - as if by a vicious claw.

And yet in that moment, Guy surges forth with the Left Arm of Protection and Right Arm of Destruction, empowered by the G-Stone, but more importantly his courage. And the AT Field parts, as the hands of GaoGaiGar suddenly clamp down upon...

        ...the...
                ...entry...
                        ...plug...

It is sticky with that blue substance, like some horrid mold. Bound between the Evangelion's spine and the armor plating that seals it in. The hands of GaoGaiGar burn through the mold in that moment with the power of the G-Stones light, but the moment with which it should rip the Entry Plug out.

It doesn't. What's going on!? Shinji got him through the AT Field didn't he?

There's a subtle glow of the AT Field, on the inside of its hands, pushing back against it right at the point of contact. There is no momentum, the AT Plug doesn't move. And yet the Angel spasms, and screams to the heavens as something tries to take away...

                                                ... it's core...

Veteran Angel fighters will realize, the core of the Angel is it's most defended point, the point where its AT Field is strongest. Destroy the core, and you defeat the Angel. Yet it's also where ASUKA must be. Is anything left of her at this point, if her location is also the core of the Angel?

The power of Hell and Heaven tries, it certainly tries - and Guy's courage is at its height to save this girl with so much pride to ever ask for help - calling out to him in the only way she could.

Yet with Shinji not giving it his all, his Hell and Heaven can't cross that final gap.

Strands of blue sticky mold begin to reform, regenerating back around, not moving towards the hands containing so much power, but instead sliding around towards its wrists, trying again with a stand off. What will give first?

GaoGaiGar's arms from the corrosion of this constant contact? Or the Angel's AT Field?

The Angel is recovering rapidly from the combined assault. Rikka tries to pin it down to help the attempt with the Neuronoid's transformation, the synapse attack launching that glue like substance, and because it's AT Field is partially down, she succeeds. Even as it tries to pick itself up, it's bound down. The Angel bellows against Guy's constant assault.

And starts, to rip, and tear against the strands, the sudden tensile strength of it giving out against one hand, as that arm sweeps up to snap right into the Neuronoid for an awful blow.

Their efforts almost did it, outright. Yet already it is proving to fall just short. Just short.

And who is the weak link here, if not Shinji Ikari? The pilot of Evangelion Unit-01?

KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Shinji Ikari with You Can (Not) Advance!
KTS: [Spirit Defense] Shinji Ikari's I Mustn't Run Away activates, and the spirit endures.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has activated the Daunt Spirit Command targeting Shinji Ikari
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Gai Kurenai with Arms-Dealing!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Knight with This Hand is Your Hand...!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Neon Genesis Junior High Students with Angelic Savagery!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Chloe with The Twelfth Angel!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Jana Cektru with Angelic Savagery!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Alouette Pommier with Give You A Hand!
KTS: Neon Genesis Junior High Students has activated the Wall Spirit Command.
KTS: Neon Genesis Junior High Students has activated the Wall Spirit Command.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Guy Shishioh with The Twelfth Angel!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Lucine Azul with ...This Hand is My Hand!
KTS: Neon Genesis Junior High Students fails to Parry Asuka Shikinami Langley's Angelic Savagery, taking 6000 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Neon Genesis Junior High Students!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Rikka Takarada with Hand to Hand to Hand to Hand Combat!
KTS: Alouette Pommier has activated the Trust Spirit Command targeting Guy Shishioh
KTS: Alouette Pommier has activated the Valor Spirit Command.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley anchors Lucine Azul, forcing her into close range.
KTS: Lucine Azul fails to parry Asuka Shikinami Langley's ...This Hand is My Hand, taking 6840 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asuka Shikinami Langley's Asuka Strikes! activates, causing Insight L1!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Lucine Azul!
KTS: Alouette Pommier blocks Asuka Shikinami Langley's Give You A Hand, taking 4200 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Alouette Pommier!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley begins a Formation attack!
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Rouse Spirit Command.
KTS: Rikka Takarada has activated the Trust Spirit Command.
KTS: Rikka Takarada partially guards Asuka Shikinami Langley's Hand to Hand to Hand to Hand Combat, taking 7440 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asuka Shikinami Langley's Asuka Strikes! activates, causing Insight L1!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Rikka Takarada!
KTS: Chloe partially guards Asuka Shikinami Langley's The Twelfth Angel, taking 6510 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asuka Shikinami Langley's Asuka Strikes! activates, causing Insight L1!
KTS: Chloe has been defeated!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley begins a Formation attack!
KTS: Jana Cektru partially guards Asuka Shikinami Langley's Angelic Savagery, taking 7200 damage!
KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Asuka Shikinami Langley's Asuka Strikes! activates, causing Insight L1!
KTS: Jana Cektru has been defeated!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Jana Cektru!
KTS: Knight has activated the Trust Spirit Command.
KTS: Knight has activated the Trust Spirit Command.
KTS: Knight fails to retreat.
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley rattles Knight, making his next maneuvers more difficult.
KTS: Knight fails to evade Asuka Shikinami Langley's This Hand is Your Hand..., taking 4950 damage!
KTS: Knight has been defeated!
KTS: Guy Shishioh's EN Barrier activates, negating 500 base damage.
KTS: Guy Shishioh partially guards Asuka Shikinami Langley's The Twelfth Angel, taking 5415 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley continues a Formation attack!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley targets Haruki Natsukawa with Give You A Hand!
KTS: Shinji Ikari fails to react to Asuka Shikinami Langley's You Can (Not) Advance, taking 6975 damage!
KTS: Shinji Ikari has been defeated!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Shinji Ikari!
KTS: Gai Kurenai blocks Asuka Shikinami Langley's Arms-Dealing, taking 3900 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Gai Kurenai!

<Pose Tracker> Gendo Ikari has posed.

Knight tears his arm off to prevent a repeat of the Devil Cells and reaches out to Rikka for help with Shinji. Rikka in turn urges Shinji to defend himself and everyone around him in turn, because it has to be him.

But it isn't that Shinji has forgotten those lessons. His understanding is fundamentally different. He's banking everything on the idea that they can get the entry plug out of the Angel and save Asuka--to prevent the death of someone else he cares about.

To not have to kill anyone himself. Because it's not just about saving Asuka; murdering anyone is morally repugnant to Shinji. It's simply something he won't do.

So many of the others (Shinji is in no position to distinguish anyone's attacks just now) struggle to pull Unit-03 off of Unit-01. They're successful enough to ease up the strangling just enough to give Shinji crucial seconds of air and abate some of the pressure on his neck. But it's not enough. His own efforts to break through the Angel's A.T. Field aren't enough; Hell and Heaven, consequently, doesn't make it through Bardiel's core defenses.

Eva-03's hands are on 01's throat. It grips, it squeezes, it suffocates -- it corrupts. And in perfect sync, the spread of that corruption can be seen by every member of NERV's staff in the Command Center, blooming across visual data arrays like corrosive, core-like vines of blue swimming in a sea of heat signatures.

Makoto Hyuga looks on in dawning horror as even GaoGaiGar's Hell and Heaven fails to retrieve the entry plug -- as the Angel lashes out against Guy's courageous attempts. His eyes widen as he puts together the pieces of the puzzle and feels the nausea of witnessing its full picture.

"Th-the core..." he mumbles. "The core is... is... the entry..."

But even as he pales, other messages are announced, rapid-fire. Life must go on. Life -must- go on. Shigeru and Maya push past, despite their own growing dismay.

"Corruption near cervical vertebrae!"
"Contamination through layer 6200!"
"Unit-01's A.T. Field is fluctuating!"

"The Twelfth Angel's corruption is spreading rapidly across multiple units!"

"Tt... this is a problem," Fuyutsuki grimaces, his frustration mounting as he watches everything unravel so rapidly. "Even Hell and Heaven couldn't break through completely. Without Eva-01's field at full strength..."

Gendo Ikari does not so much as budge, even as the information reads out clear as day before his eyes. No; not until...

"Life support failing! The pilot's life will be in danger soon!"

Fuyutsuki slams a hand into the rail of the command tower, jaw clenched as he leans forward.

"Stop this!" orders the grey-haired Vice Commander of NERV. "Lower neural connection to twenty eight percent!"

Makoto Hyuga begins to comply, when a sudden, curt voice cuts him off at the pass.

"Belay that."

Fuyutsuki blinks. He looks Gendo's way, his expression one of pure bemusement.

"Ikari! Your s-- The pilot will die if we don't do something!"

But Gendo ignores him. His stare, and the irritated narrow of his gaze, fixes straight ahead. Towards the visual of Eva-01. Towards--

"Shinji. Why aren't you fighting?"

"Father," Shinji croaks, arching in agony. The fingers around his throat aren't real, but he feels them squeeze all but the barest wisp of breath from him anyway. "Asuka's--ghhkh--still in there."

Gendo Ikari's threaded fingers tense around themselves in the smallest involuntary spasm, pressing closer over his lips as if greater proximity could deepen the shadows cast over them.

"Irrelevant. That thing is an Angel. Our enemy. You will eliminate it!"

"I can't. I love her!" Despite the strangled whistle in it, his voice rises, at once defiant and pleading: "I love Asuka!!"

(After all, he cares about her. He's dating her. Therefore he must love her... right? But even if that weren't the case, he would still be making this backwards stand. Because--)

"Foolish," Gendo's voice cuts, sudden and sharp, on the other end of that line. The force behind that tone is greater than his typical, cold stoicism. Is he simply trying to force Shinji to heed his orders? Or--

"She can be replaced. Every piece of an Evangelion can be replaced." There is a second's delay here, before his voice cuts in all the sharper. "The world cannot. Eliminate the Angel. Now."

The world cannot. It's just like his father to say that. Shinji's understanding of his father allows that protecting the world is his top priority. But he thought he'd at least understand his feelings. (Even though it's not about Asuka. He'd do this whether it was Asuka or not. But Shinji doesn't know that.) With everyone here, it's not hopeless. It can't be. And so: "Not--before--"

"Shishioh failed. You'll die!"

"I don't care!! I'd rather die than kill Asuka!!"

For a long time, there is silence on the other end of the line. A long, interminable, damning time, that seems to stretch further towards infinity thanks wholly towards the taut stakes of the situation. And then:

"Enough of this."

The feed cuts off abruptly with that sudden, terse - angry? - message.

Within the Command Center of Central Dogma, Gendo Ikari sits, fully hunched over his seat. His right index finger taps out four arrhythmic beats against the back of his opposite hand, and then stops.

Unseen behind that immaculately cold presentation is the way his jaw briefly clenches before he finally begins to speak.

"... Shut down the synchronization between Unit-01 and the pilot."

Fuyutsuki's eyes widen. "Ikari--!" he begins to object, as Shigeru, Makoto and Maya all look between each other.

"A synch shutdown...?!" Shigeru murmurs to the other two.

"Yes," Gendo's voice cuts through with a tone of absolute authority. "Switch control to the Dummy System."

"But--" Maya begins her own protestation, uncertainty in her features. "Without Doctor Akagi, the Dummy System is too unreliable. On my own -- I can't--"

"It's still better than the current pilot," Gendo insists. "Eva-01 must be protected. Do it."

Fuyutsuki frowns and looks aside as the tech team begin to initiate protocols. Across the screen, DMYSYS - ACTIVATING. . . begins to scroll.

<"Main control-system switchover in progress,"> an automated voice intones over the speakers. <"All neural circuits are being linked to the Dummy System. Dummy System can only run for 208 seconds.">

Gendo Ikari lowers his head. Orange lenses gleam, hiding his stare behind their glare as he fixates on Unit-01.

"No matter.
        "Unbind all systems.
                "Commence attack."

KTS: Haruki Natsukawa's Will Barrier activates, negating 1000 base damage.
KTS: Haruki Natsukawa blocks Asuka Shikinami Langley's Give You A Hand, taking 3000 damage!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley has engaged Haruki Natsukawa!
KTS: Asuka Shikinami Langley begins a Formation attack!

<Pose Tracker> Chloe has posed.

        Chloe's final shot seems to only piss of the Angel even more... And suddenly her machine is being pelted by large pieces of debris. The damage is quickly adding up as the machine shakes around her. Combined with the fact that corruption continues to spread...

        There's only one choice at this point!

        "Disengage all gravity systems. Emergency shutdown mode."

        As the command registers, the holographic controls around Chloe's body disengage, allowing her to rise from her lying position. She quickly runs for the rear of the cockpit as an elevator slides out of the floor. Everything suddenly goes dark as the Makhia shuts down. Lying on its chest, the planet's gravity reasserts itself in the cockpit, now pulling Chloe down towards the front. But she leaps, just managing to grab hold of the edge of the elevator. She hangs there for a moment, before pulling herself up into it.

        A short climb through the Makhia's interior later and a hatch opens on its back. Chloe climbs out to stand atop what is now just a giant hunk of metal too massive to move.

        From her position, Chloe watches as the last moments of the battle play out in the distance. Over the radio she can hear the situation playing out... It sounds like the Angel is winning. And there's nothing she can do except stand there and watch...

<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.

        "I'm fine," Gridknight grits out, again, to Liam and Akane's worries. "Now, Guy Shishioh..."

        His remaining hand clenches to a fist. "... no, it's not enough. Aren't you listening?!" To Rikka, he means, because Shinji can't bring himself to give this his all, even with what she's saying.

        And then, from nowhere --

        "Gahh!" Gridknight yells, as he's brained in the back of the head by his own arm. With a flash at the centre of his head, the Vessel of Light disappears, and Knight falls to the ground.

        He reaches over, and grasps his right -- and still extant -- arm. "Huh," he grunts, as if to say, 'how about that'.

        (He knew, but part of him had to wonder.)

        Knight -- now of a much more modest height -- pushes himself sitting, as he watches GaoGaiGar unable to close the distance Shinji won't cross. (His eye is keen enough to see, even over this distance. Don't ask why.) "It's just as it was back then," he murmurs, to himself. "When Hell and Heaven couldn't destroy Death Knight... because I couldn't believe in it."

        He looks up at that plug, and wonders, "Do you not believe, either...?"

        He's not thinking about Shinji when he says it.

        Distantly, he is aware that if the Angel defeats Unit-01, all of them are forfeit; even so, he feels no need to run. There's nowhere he could flee to, in time, which could save him. And... he can't run away from what's happening, either. Even if he can no longer fight...

        "Asuka Shikinami Langley," Knight says, to himself.

        "Believing in that... were we fooled?"

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

BGM Change - Farewell for Today - Megumi Hayashibara - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-APv2glAkU


Within his Evangelion, Shinji's synchronization with Unit-01 abruptly cuts out, and with it, the light. He pitches forward, coughing and gasping for air as the sensation of being strangled suddenly vanishes.

A new light, cold and alien, lights in its place. As Shinji looks up in confusion, Unit-01 moves without his input.

The tables turn in nearly an instant, as Evangelion Unit-01 fights back, the Angel's arms buckle and strain against its assault, each one slowly being beaten back, until the Evangelion's hands grip its throat.

Let's be friends
Forever, without end
Tomorrow, we'll dream
About the path of hope.

"What's going on? Why is Unit-01--Father! What did you do?!" Shinji yells. He yanks at the controls to no avail; they may as well be toys in his hands, as the Dummy System's machinations whir cool and clean.

The Angel's still trying, with its other two arms, but its grip is growing slack even as the Evangelion hoists it off the ground in this moment of strangulation. The two pathetically turning this way and that to try and find desperate purchase, leverage. The beast's rumbling growing softer as its windpipe is cinched off.

Like the birds winging through the sky
We will live freely
So long, farewell for today
Until the day we meet again.

"Stop it! Stop it! Why won't you do what I say?! Stop it! I said STOP IT!"

As vertebrae twist, and snap. It sounds so human, save that it's on a larger scale. A person would either be dead instantly of the shock, or paralyzed. With its neck broken, its arms cease to move, and go limp at each side. For an Evangelion pilot, one might wonder, is Asuka still synched? Is she feeling this right now?

Without fanfare, Evangelion Unit-01 slams it to the ground. It can't even fight back at this point, it couldn't even attempt to try. To the Eva's hands, the restraint armor parts, as a gout of blood issues forth from the fingers digging into its belly. That armor, cast aside, crushes a nearby office building. In the shopping district. More land on the nearby mountainsides, crushing trees like toothpicks, clouds of dust erupting.

So long, farewell for today
Until the day we meet again.

A severed arm rolls over a home. Like a rabid animal, its teeth sever another hand and cast it aside, the streets splattering with its blood. It's red, and black at this point, not even the slightest hint of blue. A length of intestine is pulled out as its disemboweled, as the streets are filled with the gore as the material is strewn about like raw sausage.

A hand abruptly smashes into the skull, as the streets fill with a rush of blood, knocking over an abandoned truck as it's struck again, and again, and again, reducing it's brain to so much pulp, the humours of its crushed eyes intermingling with its cerebrospinal fluid.

All the while, Shinji Ikari is helpless to do anything. No matter how much he cries and screams.

Let's treasure
The joy of trusting each other
So long, farewell for today
Until the day we meet again.

Until the moment comes. When Evangelion Unit-01 raises its head, with the Entry Plug, still alit with that strange blue mold, caked upon its middle portion, bulging out - is within its jaws. There is an ominous sound of creaking metal when the entry plug starts to spasm under the pressure...

"Wait--what's that sound?" Shinji asks, haunted, hunted. "No--no, don't do it! Don't! Please!! DON'T!!"

Until the day we meet again.

CRUNCH.

Shinji's agonized screams echo for an eternity as the entry plug discharges its liquid. Overhead, a rainbow arches in the last of the sun's dying light.

<Pose Tracker> Jana Cektru has posed.

Dr. Cektru believes in Guy with her own hope and courage, infusing that will into him. And he will not waste it. No... He does it. He has the power to unleash Hell and Heaven itself.

She almost doesn't get to watch. She attempts to block the attack, but the Ichinana's entire side is taken by the Angel, Scrander and all. The machine cracks, dangerously, worse than damaged. If not for the Tector Gear, even the cockpit would be exposed by such a powerful attack.

...But the Tector Gear, and thus the cockpit, are all that holds on that side of the machine; it starts to crumple, its mental interface no longer responding.

"It doesn't matter!" Dr. Cektru calls, "I'm fine! All that matters is that girl and the Angel!"

But...

But it doesn't work. Jana watches, as even Heaven and Hell cannot extract the Core--the Core, that is the same as the entry plug in which Asuka was.

"No!" Jana calls, the almost supernatually composed woman dismayed enough to say it aloud. "I won't believe that..."

That humanity's will and courage were simply not enough today.

Dr. Cektru looks down, and shakes her head. No... That's not it. She looks up to the sky, past the walls of her cockpit. But then... But then--

'Every piece of an Evangelion can be replaced'. It is cold, cold logic. But Shinji would rather die...

Jana sighs, and shakes her head. To Guy she says, ~He should never have been put in this position.~, through her mind.

"I..." She begins to speak, over the radio, to try to find some wisdom or encouragement for the people--when suddenly, Unit-01 moves. Its movements, its actions, are horror itself. Jana stares, appalled--disgusted by this display of barbarity.

There is so much destruction. So, so much.

"...Unforgivable," Jana murmurs to herself, as she watches the entry plug crunch.

"To put children in such a position..." The Salome sheds a tear, for a girl who didn't even like or trust her. For a boy who wouldn't compromise his conviction. And for a world that was saved nevertheless.

"Is this truly the path that humanity has chosen...?"

<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.

Deflected and thwarted again and again, Thunder Breastar's fury is building, and building -

- and then everything happens at once, again. Unit-01 loses its human pilot, and fights back against Bardiel in a manner even more savage than the ferocious black-clad Ultraman even now pushing itself back to its feet.

All Gai can do is watch, horrified, until the Entry Plug is grasped within Unit-01's maw. He reaches out with a hand -

... again, he's too late.

The battle is done.

Thunder Breastar stands there, staring, chest heaving.

The warning ping of the Colour Timer begins to sound, the crystalline ring flashing red.

Within the Inner Space, Gai closes his eyes, and lowers the Orb Ring. Light suffuses Thunder Breastar's form as he diminishes, dwindling down to the helpless form of Gai Kurenai, standing silently next to Knight.

He cannot stay long... but like the Irregular Kaiju, he stays to bear witness.

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

Guy is given his room to move - two powers combine into one to meet a decisive end to this battle, all while saving the poor host inside the rampaging monster. That's how it always goes, doesn't it?

Or does it? By all means, it looks like GaoGaiGar broke through to tear out the Entry Plug. Was it his courage that failed, or was it --

"Ikari-kun! Please... get up!" She calls, as the Evangelion Unit-01 continues to struggle above all else. Although Alouette suggested his heart would be necessary... his heart simply isn't in it, and that much is clear.

On the other hand, as his operator, Alouette's machine has access to Guy's vitals whenever they fight together. She can see how bad they look after an attempted and failed Hell and Heaven. "Guy! It didn't... work! And it's going to take you down with it..." She musters, even as she uses the last of her strength to block those unnatural - yet all too natural hands extended towards her. "You have to pull back! You can't take any more of that contamination!" She pleads, transmitting him what he needs to get out.

It had been radio silence from Gendo up until now, the man always seeming to put up the image of a perfectly composed commander. Even when it was his own son out there fighting on the front lines. He finally gives his orders, commanding the use of a Dummy System. A system she'd never been briefed on, but the implications of which are clear. To overwrite the insufficient will of his own son.

It happens at a moment's notice, just as Knight's transformation to a modest scale, the Evangelion transforms into a creature that no longer has necessity for Shinji's heart, nor his courage.

It charges with a rabid vigor, and Alouette doesn't dare look away as blood sputters across the streets, nor does she ignore it when Shinji shrieks in terror, or pain, begging Gendo to stop. And worst of all, when the Evangelion levels its jaws with a horrid CRUNCH. Alouette covers her mouth with shock and disgust.

The rainbow signals their victory, but... victory did not go to those with courage. Not today, it didn't. And what a great cost it all came at.

"Asuka... I'm sorry my answer wasn't enough. Ayanami-san... I'm sorry I wasn't there when you needed it most." She says, quietly, as if a prayer, to mourn what it seems they lost in this battle. She doesn't ever want to forget.

And what of the Ikari family? Destroying the Angels is a meaningful enough cause, but the methods Gendo just used don't sit well with her. Certainly, they're leaving Earth with a bitter taste in their mouths.

For now, she focuses on the practicals. She uses her operations skills to make sure everyone is safely accounted for, and especially that nothing... irreversibly bad happened to Galeon.

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

"VIIIIIIIIIIIIIITAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

Guy continues to scream. Not the Core, but the entry plug, that's all he needs! Asuka! He's got to find the Entry Plug! She's still in there! The beacon is still ringing! SHE'S COUNTING ON ME!!

The corrosion burns him like fire, but Guy grits his teeth and strains, strains, strains. The two-fisted grasp pushes through, questing for the small pod containing the Evangelion's pilot. "HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!"

Alouette calls to him. He has to stop. The corruption's spreading. He feels something, a sharp pain in his eyes from the corrosion breaching into the Genesic Server veins themselves. It burns away quickly, but even that, even that is not something that'll stop him. He can't fail another one. He must not fail another one. If he can't save ONE GIRL then--

It's not until the violence resumes that GaoGaiGar is thrown free. When Unit-01 goes wild and rips the Angel loose, GaoGaiGar goes flying, crashing into a building some three blocks off and crushing it completely under his weight. With the blazing light of Protection, the corrosion soon fades from GaoGaiGar's systems, but Guy's own body is screaming in pain and burning as it tries to reject the alien infestation. All he can do is lie there and watch.

Lie there...and watch.

"Shinji..." he croaks, hand rising up. "Don't...."

        'Is this truly the path humanity has chosen...?'

"DON'T DO IT!!!!"

Lie there and watch.

<Pose Tracker> Chloe has posed.

        Chloe is probably in a rare position amongst those here as she's not watching the events play out on a screen... She's actually outside, watching it with her own eyes. Eyes which remain staring at the sight of the Evangelion starting to go wild. Thankfully she's far enough away to be out of the splash zone of what comes next.

        Chloe continues to watch on as Unit-01 tears into its Angel counterpart with a ferocity not seen in most mobile weapons. It really brings to light just how different the Evangelions are. From the comms and the animal-like behaviour, Chloe is able to piece together what's going on. A automated/remote control system is hardly a novel concept, though having the ability to put one into an Eva is news to her.

        As Unit-01 takes the entry plug into its jaws, Chloe clenches her fists... She can see what's coming. Part of her wants to turn away, but she watches on regardless. It's only right, respectful, as a soldier's life is sacrificed to save others. The world even. Asuka Shikinami Langley may not even still be alive in there. And if she is, there's no way to know what kind of condition she was in after the Angel's corruption.

        It's better this way.

        The entry plug is crushed.

        Chloe relaxes her hands... She takes in a deep breath. Then says, "Mission. Accomplished."

        Chloe turns away, calmly walking towards the Makhia's edge to meet the recovery teams that will be showing up soon.

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

        It would be comical in any other context, how Knight's arm is pulled off right as Liam affirms to Lucine that this is, indeed, Knight.

        But knowing what's at stake, who's to say what anyone is capable of?

        Bardieloment, it almost seems to Lucine like she'll be able to escape a second time from the Angel's grip, but, just a little--

        The Dianthus resists, in that subtle way only Lucine would feel, as familiar as it is to her. ut even if it didn't move with that nanosecond of sluggishness, the Angel would still catch the Dianthus in the end.

        The Dianthus's chasis grinds against Unit-01, sending sparks in the air, and violently shaking the contents inside.

        Lucine's hands grip the controls, yellow eyes staring out display. She's thankful Liam can't see her expression, and how it betrays every bit of the tension. Her voice is quiet, meant for Liam's ears alone, as she watches. "..... .... Shinji.. his spirit isn't going to be able to take this strain... And worse still, if the Gaogaigar is infected, no worse, if they're both infected..."

        Lucine's eyes, still wide, run through the screens. She listens to the conversation between father and son. It feels alien to her, to hear a man be so... cold to his son, beyond what would considerate of ensuring that Shinji is treated equally. To disregard his son's words, to not acknowledge the necessary evil of something, to display some element of humanity. Forget about Angels and EVAs, what is there to distinguish Angels and humans, if this is how one man treats his own son?

        But that pales in comparison to what follows.

        It starts with the discordant waves of Shinji's realization of his loss of control, that sting of betrayal, the horror of seeing his unit tear at the remains of the girl he loves, all flesh and blood instead of the courtesy of wires and circuitry. The pain of knowing every handful his EVA pulls free from this carcass is another handful he'll never get back. How his screams are so, so loud, but so insignificant in changing anything that's happening.

        Do they think... this is Shinji's actions...? No, no, no. < ".... He's not the one doing it. He's not the one doing it. He's not the one doing. Not the one doing. Not the one doing...." >

        It's not her emotions. Her empathy doesn't work that way, and that's that one saving grace that keeps Lucine from disassociating.

        Still, even if you aren't the one on fire, it'll still hurt if you touch them. Worse, you might catch on fire yourself.

        She gasps, and grits her teeth, understanding her limits in that burst of clarity.

        < "..... Dianthus.... autopilot system. Return to... port...." > Liam can see how how Lucine is straining to say those words without launching into screams herself.

        By the time the Dianthus retreats back, Lucine is limp in her seat, allowing her body to take over.

<Pose Tracker> Neon Genesis Junior High Students has posed.

With a terrible noise, Gridknight rips his own arm off. All the Neon Genesis Junior High Students cry out, Calibur loudest of all. Quickly after, the Giant of Light is defeated. Powered Zenon hesitates. Shinji needs them -- clearly unable to fight Asuka and suffering under the corrupted Evangelion's grasp.

Before they can decide, Guy screams out the purification incantation, unleashing his strongest attack. For a moment, the Hyper Agents' hearts lift with hope...

Then crash down into despair.

Heaven and Hell failed. Asuka is not saved. Shinji is incapable of fighting her.

Before they can do anything but recoil, the Angel locks its jaw around Powered Zenon, squarely clamping down on their shoulder. Vit, already damaged from Borr's friendly fire screams in pain.

"Sorry, that's -- " Vit manages, a heartbeat before the Angel rips him from his comrades. In a shower of pixelated sparks, Sky Vitter vanishes, and Powered Zenon's shattered form groans.

Calibur crashes into the ground. Without arms, Borr and Max struggle to stay upright. Words pass between Shinji and his father, the Hyper Agents just making them out as they struggle. Seconds later, Unit-01... fights back at last.

"What madness is this.." Max breathes out.

The others watch in horrified silence, stunned, until Unit-01 grasps Asuka's entry plug in its jaws. Hearing Shinji's haunted scream, Powered Zenon lurches forward, trying to intervene -- but far too late.

Crunch.

Blood-like liquid rains down, soaking the Combined War Deity and Calibur alike. Psychic harmony shatters in the wake of Shinji's grief, and Powered Zenon vanishes in an explosion of blue pixels. They appear together behind the OCU's line.

Vit is frozen, staring at Shinji's machine.

Borr crumples, bringing their hands up to cover their face.

Calibur looks to Max. "Knight." With that singular word, he vanishes in a blur of motion, racing across the battlefield to find his student.

"We must." Max's words fail, dying in his throat. He tries again. "We must..."

Borr straightens up. "There are human beings in need." They don't make eye contact with their comrades. He wouldn't stop now. We can't either."

Max shakes himself. "Right. Vit, attend to Doctor Cektru. Calibur is off to protect Knight. Borr, find Akane and Rikka. I will determine Miss Pommier and Chief Shishioh's condition."

Vit doesn't move. Borr elbows him in the side, and the handsome Hyper Agent startles -- then looks at Max and nods his head. Vit vanishes in a blur of motion.

"Shinji?" Borr croaks.

Max looks to the ruined Evangelions. "...We cannot retrieve him. All we can do is attempt to stay with him once he is safely freed."

Borr nods sharply, then blurs away.

With the rest of his comrades vanished, Max allows himself a rare moment of emotion. He runs his hands through his long teal hair, breathing shakily beneath his mask.

There is no time for such indulgences. Chastising himself, Max, too vanishes into a blur of motion.

<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.

        And all at once Shinji's passivity shifts to absolute violence, and Knight, for one...

        ... doesn't immediately think he's lost control.

        It was Shinji, long and long ago, which first taught Anti some of his more brutal lessons in violence with his wicked prog knife.

        "Angry again...?" He wonders, and wonders to Gai, now beside him. He accepts that Gai is beside him; he would not admit, out loud, it is a comfort.

        But it quickly becomes clear that Shinji's violence isn't at play here, and Knight wonders: what did the Ikari patriarch do?

        This spell which commands the Evangelion to kill with Shinji's hands...

        "I see," Knight says, distant, as he looks up to all that violence. A piece of the Angel's armor lands, with a thunderous crash, dangerously close to them; Knight doesn't scream or scramble back, busy looking up at all his violence.

        "All this time... you were in danger, too."

        That boy's erratic behaviour... no, surely Asuka's logic and familiarity, too. And Rei, who...

        ... isn't here to help, now.

        "The Angel's core," he reflects, as the Entry Plug is finally wrenched free. "If that's what you said, then..."

        Then, Asuka is now...

        "..."

        His expression is grim, and when Unit-01's teeth meet each other, Knight's own are set like a steel trap.

        He is aware that his head is swimming.

        He is aware that the world is saved.

        There Calibur finds him, with a wordless grunt of, "Mm."

        He reaches up a hand; takes Calibur's help, to stand. He will not protest further evacuation, even if his mentor has to pick him up to do it. He is...

        "A long time ago,"

        Knight says, far away,

        "Asuka Shikinami Langley did the impossible, though it didn't make sense to her."

        Does it bother him?

        "I thought she was exceptional, too."

        Guess it does.

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

It goes smoothly. Rikka has to be proud of Akane's quick work - she can tell she's getting better at this the more they try it out.

"Keep on it!" Rikka calls out. Guy goes for a Hell and Heaven...

...But it's a struggle.

A struggle he's beginning to lose.

Rikka grits her teeth and keeps in up - but with her focus on attacking, by the time she sees the arm whipping out at them, it's too late. It slams into them violently, knocking Kakuseijin V2 to the ground. Rikka grimaces, wincing from the impact - there's enough Linker Gel left that she's sufficiently-cushioned this time that she isn't knocked unconscious, at least... but it's left their machine in pretty bad shape.

"Akane, are you alright?" Rikka asks.

...And in the end, even Hell and Heaven isn't enough.

So much happens at once. Unit-03 is upon 01, to strangle and corrupt. Rikka struggles to get Kakuseijin V2 to stand - but it was already patched together once. It's been through too much in one day to get up and fight again after so much.

"Shinji...!" Rikka calls out. "Hold on! You have to-"

Her expression turns to one of shock and disgust at Gendo's words to him, though.

"...A piece?" She repeats, with a shake of her head. "She's a person."

Is this the man in charge of NERV...?

But a decision is made - the activation of the 'Dummy System'. Rikka doesn't know anything about it.

She puts two-and-two together immediately as Unit-01 begins to fight back - and Shinji starts to shout for it to stop.

From here, she can do nothing. Unlike others... she can't make herself look.

"What... what is this?" Rikka shakes her head in disbelief - and as Shinji's agonized screams split the sky, Rikka's hands fall away from the controls. She doubles over in her seat, clapping a hand over her mouth. That it's still covered in Linker Gel is the least of her concerns right now.

The sheer intensity of the emotions, combined with the horror of what she just witnessed... it's all too much.

<Pose Tracker> Haruki Natsukawa has posed.

         Ultraman Z lets out another grunt as it's attack is immediately met with a counter, knocking the giant off its feet as it's immediately met with a counterattack aimed at it chest. There's a brief moment when it seems like the attack might fully connect, but he quickly raises his arms to erect a barrier to help soften the blow, as while it doesn't stand a chance and is shattered after a few brief moments of being contended with, the natural armor and bulk help blunt the rest of the attack.

         For all the good that does, as there's still a flurry of sparks followed by the shrill noise of his color timer as it begins flashing red. This would be the time to go all out, but after putting everything he had into his previous attack, he's pretty winded. He's so winded, in fact, he doesn't think there's time to catch his breath before he reaches his limit.

         But he's gotta try. Guy's failed, Shinji's failed, everyone is pushed to their limit, be it physically or by the corruption that has probably even already grabbed hold of Z, so that means if he pushes just a little harder, a miracle might happen. Right? Ultraman's form changes to a more sleek, lightly armored blue form as he traces a giant Z pattern in the air with his arms, crossing them together as he tries to fire another finisher. Just one more attack, surely just one more attack.

         Nothing fires, and Z's arms just slump dejectedly at his sides for a moment before he tries again. And again. And again...

         But it's too late. Maybe Shinji realized it too, and that's why he finally went for the kill? No, that can't be... Even if it was, having to kill your own friend... It's all too sad. Despite the Ultraman's unchanging face, it almost looks as if it wants to cry.

         He can't... He just... Giant's form changes once more, the sleek, dynamic plating it had before disappearing as all that's left is an extremely barebone's Ultra. He doesn't seem phased by this change, in fact, not long after, he fades away in his entirety as the timer on his chest lets out one final alarm.

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

        Liam braces as the Dianthus rocks and buckles under the Angel's onslaught. "Come on," he says, taking to the machine more than its pilot. "Hold on. Please. Shinj's--"

        The Angel's strangling him. Worse. Liam sees the mold crawling across Eva-01's frame. <"SHINJI!"> he screams, into Lucine's mic. <"We're here! Please! You have to fight!"> But he won't, he says. Because--

        An image flashes through Liam's mind, horrid in its clarity: High Tension going slack in his arms as its pilot breathes their last.

        "Shinji," Liam whispers, and he remembers how Shinji comforted him, after; how he told him, repeatedly, that it wasn't fair.

        'She can be replaced. Every piece of an Evangelion can be replaced. The world cannot.'

        Liam's stomach lurches. There it is. There is the voice of a man who knowingly sends children into battle, no matter how scared they are. In Shinji's voice, he hears his own reluctance to kill, even when his life was at stake. His hands start to shake. He lets go of Lucine, and grips hold of the Dianthus' seat again.

        <"That's your son,"> Liam says, and his voice is tiny. "<He's-->"

        'Switch control to the Dummy System.'

        ...It doesn't even need a pilot? "<Sir. Sir, please, Shinji's--!>"

        Shinji's screaming, pleading.

        "It's--Shinji's not. In control," Liam whispers to Lucine, his voice ragged. As its erstwhile pilot screams, Eva-01 starts taking Bardiel apart. It's the same hideous violence Bardiel wrought upon them, except there's meat and blood and bone beneath Eva-03's armor. There's so much blood. Liam watches, his breathing strained, his face pale as starched linen. The plug--

        "No," Liam whispers. Another image flashes through his mind: a pile bunker gleaming with human blood in the arena lights. Hephaestus' voice, congratulating him. He lets out a strangled sob, and sinks forward against Lucine's seat. The Angel is dead. This is technically a victory. The world is safe. The world is safe, at the cost of two childrens' lives, and one child's innocence. Liam now knows what price Gendo Ikari is willing to pay.

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

Kakuseijin V2 reels from the blow of that massive arm, and Akane hangs on tight. She looks down at the Linker Gel, noticing the impurities building up; they're on borrowed operation time, and she knows it. "... I'm -- fine, but, we might have to --" she starts, but before she can consider cutting their losses and retreating, the back-and-forth between Gendo and Shinji begins.

Bile rises in her throat as Gendo speaks. Rikka says the same thing she's thinking -- but things don't stop there. Shinji begins to protest for the Evangelion to stop, even as it redoubles its assault. Akane, too, puts the pieces together in short order.

As Rikka lets go of the controls, Akane seizes the machine -- she needs to. Even if Eva-01 has managed to 'win the day,' it's... nothing about this feels like a victory. Akane reports, tone flat and just a little sharper than she intends, "Kakuseijin V2's leaving the battlefield. We have to get ready for the Invisible Burst operation." It'll make it easier for Knight and Borr to track them, if nothing else.

She tries to find something kind to say to Rikka, but... there's just not enough strength left in her. The only kindness she can offer at this point is a swift retreat in Accept Mode.