Benkyou to Renshu (Ryona, GEAR)

[GEAR]

"So it's You."
"Yes..." Murmured Oleander, the edge of her tongue escaping her mouth to lick a pair of black lips, slowly. She could feel the resonance of a strong soul, even from here... And it only spurred both her, and the monstrous Spirit Machine of her design, to new heights, as the prospect of a rapturous sacrifice drew near.
"...Me."

Okuni's sword strike lashed out at the groping claw - but to seemingly little effect, the eldritch energies wreathed about its surface forming a protective barrier, enough to deflect her glacing attack with nary but a spray of sparks and burning ectoplasm. With that, the full monstrosity that had been lurking beneath the waves made its presence known, erupting from the water like the Leviathan of legend.

Compared to the Jiwen that had assaulted Luca, it was considerably larger, looming well over the Akatsuki. It was colored a sickly green and gold, its shoulders marked with snarling, animalistic faces that were at odds with the rest of its strangely ornate construction - as if it were a mobile altar for making dark sacrifices to strange, distant gods. Two yellow eyes gleamed at the Amaterasu as the Bowen's shoulder "mouths" opened, and a pair of large prana blasts roared out, scything forward, aimed to vaporize her where she stood. It was joined in chorus by the Spirit Soldiers as their mistress tugged at their strings, sending another chorus of fire at her from all directions.

Meanwhile, as Luca turned and emptied her rounds into the approaching Jiwen, each would have found its mark - the machine's head unit, chest, and shoulders were pummeled, their ornate ceramic surfaces cracking and shattering, leaving the machine's mangled face dangling by a thread... Yet, it did not halt. The pilot was dead, the cockpit having been a casualty of Luca's assault... But that made no difference. The spirits in the water were more than happy to finish the job that they had started, flowing into the machine as it closed its glowing hands about her abdomen... And began to wrench.

 

[MitsukaiNoZenkai]

As the two machines battled the ghostly evils, in the distance a growing rooster tail of water would come into view from the direction of land. A few moments after they would perhaps see it both sets of their proximity sensors would start beeping at the quickly-approaching machine aimed at the two-pronged supernatural furball.

The Huckebein Mk. II was clearly coming in hot to the battle; plasma jet thrusters howling at the speed it's pilot was wringing out of them. As the scene was processed a clearly-girly voice broadcast on short-range communications. "Hey! Are you two trying to scoop me or something?! Ghost robots are a big story, and I expect copies of your flight data!" With that proclamation, the child of the Vanishing Trooper made it to the battlefield proper. It went screaming over the heads of the harassers of the erstwhile fishing boat giving them a momentary blast of thruster backwash then the deluge of the watery rooster tail that had been trailing behind as she approached.

The Amaterasu looked to be the more capable machine at the moment and the Gespent was easily the more fragile of these two charges. The decisions made in an instant; the Huckebein Mk. II flipped it's feet under it as it changed the direction it was moving to a slightly upwards one in order to steady it's aim on the Custom C's most immediate problem. As the calculations finished in her head and a nanosecond later on the targeting algorithms the somewhat childish voice rang out again in warning.

"Lunam Lumine, engaging target!" A heartbeat later, the Photon Rifle in the machine's right hand flashed with a blinding bolt of energy as it sent a shot downrange right towards the heart of the enemy. Lunam had of course figured out that her attack would allow Luca plenty of time to wrench free should it destroy her target; but that went without saying, right?

 

[VeraC]

Okuni was going through cycles of deep breathes, her exhale condensing into a visible vapor. If one were to touch her skin, they’d think she had a fever, Though this was merely a side effect of Fuurinkazan. In an act of aggression, her eyes widened, as if gaining a moment of clarity. As the torrent of prana encroached on Amaterasu, an explosion occurred. Seemingly as if the Amaterasu was struck directly by the prana beam.

….

No more than five seconds passed, but they almost felt like an eternity. From all angles, it seemed that the Amaterasu had been eliminated by the Bowen’s attack. Though upon second look, there was no wreckage of the mech. No signs of existence for that matter. Almost as if it… vanished.

In reality, all the Prana beam hit was the cloud of Orgone that was produced by Amaterasu, set to detonate. The result was the appearance that the mech was hit… but in reality, it had performed a space-time jump... But to where?

Mere feet before the Bowen, between the shoulder cannons of it, Amaterasu once appeared again, Its black silhouette coming into existence like a reaper of death zeroing in on its target. The shoulders of the Amaterasu barely made clearance between the shoulder cannons of the Bowen; the beams of prana disintegrating the ends of the shoulder armor of Amaterasu. Warning lights began flashing all over the screens of the cockpit, but Okuni ignored them all, her tunnel vision only allowed her to focus on the enemy before her. She was performing the same movement of the Raikiri, the first step of the Kusanagi sword school, although… not quite… halfway through the movement, the footwork and grip on the sword changed.

“FUURINKAZAN, DAISANMON, RELEASE!”

It had been awhile since Okuni opened the third gate, and it showed on her face; her body wasn’t fully used to the power exerted by it, but before the enemy in front of her, she deemed it necessary to go at least this far. She could feel the burden grow further on her body, but she couldn’t do anything but push forward. Orgone particles quickly began forming around the Amaterasu, creating an almost green, fog-like density. The cloud continued expanding, almost covering Amaterasu completely, as well as covering the torso and part of the arms of the Bowen. This fog concealed the movements of Amaterasu, as it began to perform its technique.

“From the moment you made your appearance, you were fated to perish…” Okuni spoke directly to the pilot of the Bowen. “Now, accept my blade.”

“INMETSU, DAIIPPO, HISSATSUー!”​

Okuni shouted from the bottom of her diaphragm. In that moment, the presence, the pressure exerted by Amaterasu was immense. Any normal person witnessing the mech at that moment would’ve gotten shivers down their spine and possibly even scared for their life. A loud ringing sound could be heard for miles, as Amaterasu began drawing its sword. The blade was much larger than normal, as the blade had continued to materialize within the cloud of orgone. The eyes of Amaterasu crackled to the point of almost wanting to erupt with energy. The place of drawing wasn’t the hip as per usual, but rather the right shoulder of Amaterasu, as it drew with both hands cutting downward and diagonal with every ounce of might it had. The motion of the draw was rather slow, but the cut itself ended in a blink. Amaterasu cut through the cloud of orgone, its main target the torso of the Bowen. Hissatsu, the first step of the Inmetsu branch, an attack with immense pressure meant to kill an opponent in a single strike. Were anything else in the general vicinity on the same vector of the cut, they would for surridly be bisected as well.

必　大　隠
殺　一　滅
歩​

“I pour every once of strength I have into each technique, for doing any less would be disrespectful. Now, 眠りなさい。”

The motion of the swing and the footwork of the technique ended with Amaterasu behind the Bowen. The mech spun its katana in a circle, before sheathing it at its hip. The shoulder armor of the mech was near vaporized, heavily burnt and still sizzling due to the energy output by the enemy mech’s prana beam. The cloud of orgone where Amaterasu was moments ago now detonated violently, a severe orgone explosion occurring right in the face of the Bowen.

 

[Luca Cross]

Luca's gaze narrowed in frustration, as the glowing claws began closing around the Custom C's waist. The energy began dropping immediately, shields draining visibly as the armor began flashing red where the attack was centered. Shifting targets to the claws themselves, the pilot attempted to fire a few rounds into the armor holding her in place. The bullets simply bounced off, evidence of the strength of the attack. Another blip appeared on the radar, causing the woman to shift attention for a few precious moments. Her own confusion was sated when the female voice broke over the comms, signaling both the humanity and cheer of the girl within.

I'm guessing she's on our side. Let's see what she does.​

When the Huckebein shifted towards the Custom C and the strange mech holding it immobile, Luca instantly read the intent of the pilot within. Knowing that simple bullets and lasers weren't enough to crush the enemy, the college student shifted her aim to the side. As Lunam's Photon Rifle fired its laser round, three shots rang out from the G-Revolver. Each was placed within the joint segments of the long arm of the enemy Personal Trooper. Pushing the Tesla Drive to its max, Luca would charge forward, angling her flight to ensure she didn't get in the line of Lunam's fire.

“JET!” Ignoring the proper stance and opening speeches most pilots made at this point, Luca brought the fist of the Custom C back. All three Plasma Stakes glowed with blue energy, as she attempted to slam into and through the opposite side of the enemy's chest from Lunam's bolt of destruction. The aim was simple; to tear the opponent in half and use the explosion to cover her next move. As all three stakes finished charging and the Custom C hit its max speed, the girl shouted. “MAGNUM!”

Her punch was powerful, using both the strength of the mech and her own forward momentum to gain strength. Ideally, it would help destroy this enemy and break free of the claws holding the Custom C; if it didn't...the girl was in a tight bind.

 

[GEAR]

Lunam and Luca's teamwork couldn't have gone better. The Photon Rifle's beam punched through the surface of the water, shearing off one of the arms of the Jiwen as it reeled back in surprise - as the Custom C's Plasma Stakes buried themselves in its rotten chest. One could almost hear the scream of disappointment and anguish from the malevolent spirits as the charged rods smashed into its chest - once! twice! THRICE! Causing it to cannonball back before exploding violently, to sink beneath the waves to the bottom of the sea.

For her interference, Lunam was rewarded with a barrage of fire from the specters below, targeting the Huckebein as it arrived as the Spirit Soldiers began to close ranks, attempting to cut the two machines off from one another, even as their numbers began to thin.

Meanwhile, the Amaterasu's blade cut through the air like an emerald scythe of death itself, slicing with such force that all the surrounding Spirit Soldiers were split in twain, their howls filling the air, and the very fog itself cleared away in a circle about the machine. The weapon passed through the Bowen with ease... Perhaps, a little too much ease. Silence filled the air as the Amaterasu ground to a halt, orgone particulate in the air condensing into tiny crystals, which fell off the machine like hail.

"Hm... Hm hm..." - A dark chuckle filled the air, quickly rising into a high pitched laugh as the green smoke from the attack began to clear:

"Ha ha ha ha...!"

The Bowen turned back towards Okuni, seemingly... Unharmed. At first, it would appear unbelievable... Except, for the almost translucent quality the machine now had, hovering slightly above the water... Not unlike the Spirit Soldiers around it. Around its bifurcated midsection, ectoplasm began to congeal... And in mere seconds, had replaced the section lost. The Bowen slipped back into reality, becoming more "real" once again as it gently settled back onto the surface of the sea.

"Kusanagi Style...!" Noted Oleander with excitement as she addressed Okuni, playing with a length of dark hair between her fingers. "And here I thought you'd all died out. Well..."

From behind Okuni, the water exploded - and the second Jiwen, having been waiting for this signal, burst into being, claws glowing as it lunged for the Amaterasu, attempting to shear the arms from its shoulders, splitting the swordswoman from her precious blade. Meanwhile the Bowen raised a glowing hand, the space around it beginning to warp and tremble as purple flames began to plume into existence about it, dark prana beginning to gather.

"...Let's fix that, shall we?"

 

[MitsukaiNoZenkai]

A trill of victory ran through Lunam as her attack worked out to free the trapped Luca enough to combine and destroy the enemy. Her blue eyes danced over the displays as she formulated her plan of action from this point. Over a direct line, Lunam's voice called out to Luca; the girl within the machine clearly intending to take charge of the situation.

"These things seem to like being near the water, so let's climb! Less chance of more ambu-!" Just then the hail of fire from below jiggled a vital nerve in her brain as the Huckebein Mk. II warned her of the incoming danger. A moment's flicker towards the Trooper's embedded T-LINK System brought the hum of it's fusion reactor to a fever pitch as she rerouted power to the G-Wall defensive gravity barrier. Just in time, several close shots splattered and dissipated on the intense gravimetric field sparing the machine from harm. "How rude! I was talking here so wait your turn, ghosts!"

The Huckebein's head tilted downwards as best it could while the machine twisted in the air fighting and winning in it's climb for higher ground. The fire ffrom below was met with a roaring hail of her own as the 60mm vulcans lashed down on her attackers. If they really were ghost machines then this was doing nothing but making Lunam happy that she was sending some displeasure towards the rudeness. It was as she was processing and retaliating that she saw the Amaterasu seeming to have trouble with it's opponent... regenerating?! Lunam's cheeks puffed out a bit at the unfairness of that even as she swung the Photon Rifle's barrel over towards the apparition-like opponent. Her thoughts of that line were cut short as she saw the rushing of water behind the sword-wielding unit.

No time to warn gotta blast it away, she thought as her unnatural reflexes and mental processing speed caught up to the situation even as the rifle's barrel shifted slightly before she even realized what she was doing with her conscious mind. Even as the Jiwen surged from it's ambush spot there a second flash of energy erupted from the barrel of the Photon Rifle as it sped on it's way to at the very least make the potentially unseen opponent hesitate or run face-first into a plasma-hot coil of firepower. Either outcome was acceptable.

 

[VeraC]

Okuni turned around to see the Bowie relatively… unharmed? She was surprised at the strange mech, never having seen one like it before.

“Monster.” She spoke under her breath. Amaterasu turned to face the Bowen, eyes locked to the opposing threat. Green particles still manifested around the black mech, though not quite in the same quantity as before. Okuni mulled over her options in this situation. Hissatsu had seemingly no effect on the enemy, one of the strongest techniques of the Kusanagi sword school.

As she was in thought, the Jiwen burst from the ocean, intending on seizing Amaterasu. A surprise attack by another mech. At the same moment, Okuni finally acknowledged the presence of the Huckebein, an ally it seemed. She saw the incoming beam of energy, and acted accordingly. Using the orgone cloud, she jumped space from her position to one higher up, evading both the Jiwen and Photon Rifle. She suspected that the pilot of the Huckebein could calculate her skills, and gave a nod of approval and thanks. She turned her attention back to the Bowie, and couldn’t help but give a look of pity.

“...Using such underhanded methods to attempt to defeat me, you powerless coward.” Her face shifted to a look of disgust and disapproval, looking down on the Bowen. “I retract my previous statement, you aren’t worthy of dying by my blade.” Okuni had lost all respect she had before of this woman… no this trash.

Amaterasu folded its arms and looked down on the Bowen, the sun directly behind its back, causing the front of the unit to shaded to the point where only the contour of the mech could be seen. Amaterasu hovered in position, waiting for the next attack

 

[Luca Cross]

Luca hovered in the air amid the explosion of water and steam, staring at the display in front of her. The Spirit Soldiers had turned their weapons against the Huckebein, seemingly forgetting the Custom C and boat they had been holding hostage. Her gaze dropped, as she bit her own lip in frustration. The college student had completely failed, to the point where she would've died without intervention. Her fists trembled as they squeezed the controls. A cursory glance revealed she had over 80% of her ammo still available. Luca could only watch in shock as the mysterious savior aided the samurai, thwarting an ambush before it had a chance to strike. Ensuring her communication lines were still active, the woman spoke firmly.

“You two focus your fire and efforts on the two larger enemies. I'll take care of the small fry.” With that, the Custom C shot forward. Missiles streamed through the air, aimed at the Spirit Soldiers attempting to form into ranks. Over a dozen missiles filled the air, as Luca emptied both pods into the amassed soldiers and the sea beneath them. Putting the miasma and fog together, the woman had come to a simple conclusion: There was something beneath the waves that was causing the evil energy to well up from below.

The missiles split into their small explosives, before dozens of plumes of water and explosions rocked the area around the Spirit Soldiers and obscured the view of the boat, her allies, and the enemies. Only one woman had a full grasp of the battlefield, due to her own preparation moments prior.

Wielding her G-Revolver in one hand and a Plasma Cutter in the other, the Custom C shot into the group of Spirit Soldiers. She spun, using the Tesla Generator to increase her speed and the plumes of water as pillars to create drag. As she wove through their ranks, she dumped all of the rounds her weapon held into the Spirit Soldiers that filled her sight. Her Plasma Cutter cut through their ranks, attempting to deal the same level of damage as her powerful handgun. Hitting the bottom of her ammo bangle that held the spare clips, the woman ejected the spent magazine. Slamming the G-Revolver sideways into the falling clip, the pilot loaded the weapon as it slammed into the body of a nearby Spirit Soldier. Activating her Tesla Drive, the girl shot into the air above the Spirit Soldiers before dumping her remaining rounds downward into their ranks. As her final casing spiraled through the air, the last plume of water splashed back into the ocean.

It had taken only seconds, but the Custom C had shot through the Spirit Soldiers' ranks like a purple haze. Whether her own suicidal attack had actually affected as many enemy as she hoped was still in the air, as the woman let out the breath she'd been holding. Gasping audibly, Luca checked the display to ensure nothing had changed drastically on the battlefield. Her energy was still above half, but her ammo was at less than 20% now. No Missiles left, only another clip for the G-Revolver. Clenching the Custom C's hand into a fist, she slipped the Plasma Cutter back into place.

 

[GEAR]

Luca's assault tore through the remaining Spirit Soldiers, scattering them far and wide. Each bullet and slash found its mark in a screaming face, yet more and more of the apparitions continued to appear from the mist. A pair of ectoplasmic scythes slashed out at her from in front and behind as they continued to swarm her - yet every moment, she bought time for Okuni, preventing them from swarming the spacefaring samurai instead.

"Powerless...?" Said Oleander with a smile as Okuni vanished into thin air; "You hold in your hands nothing but a sword... A mere tool for crude slaughter. In mine... I carry the secrets of death itself. Allow me to demonstrate the difference in our ability...!"

The Jiwen seemed hardly surprised as Okuni disappeared from it's grasp... After all, the maneuver had been planned. What it did not seem to expect, however, was interference from Lunam, whose rifle blast sheared clean through one of its claws, causing it to reel with surprise. In reaction, the two barrels located on the underside of its chassis suddenly jutted out, and a pair of blasts wrought in the shape of screaming skulls rocketed out, homing in persistently on the Huckebein Mk-II, drawn by their thirst for Lunam's prana.

As Okuni reappeared, the Bowen raised its glowing arms to the skies, a pair of magic circles pulsing into being before it's writhing fingertips. Within the cockpit, Oleander began to chant, her fingertips running down a small, leather-bound volume of malefic spells, its pages fluttering as though blown in the wind under her outstretched hand as prana surged through it's arcane form.

"Hear me, wretched shrouds...
Unleash your avarice upon the living!
KYOTEN NO SOBAE!"

兇 癲 の 戯​

With her incantation, there was a horrific screaming, as two massive waves of ectoplasm-infused howling spirits burst forth from the circles, as though they were hoses connected directly to the bowels of Hell. They wrapped around Okuni in a sphere, whirling about her, forming a prison of shrieking energy. The Bowen turned its claw upwards as it did, forming a loose grip around a phantom projection of the sphere, Oleander giving a triumphant sneer:

"Now... Perish!"

The Bowen closed its clawed fist about the projection - and the entire array exploded, detonating in a violent explosion of dark prana and ectoplasmic energy, sending phantasms reeling in all direction, attempting to crush the Amaterasu as it recovered from its spatial jump - finishing it with a single, decisive blow that lit up the murky skies with ethereal energies.

 

[MitsukaiNoZenkai]

A happy little squeak escaped Lunam's lips as the shot connected to the Jiwen's claw seemed to explode into a shower of molten bits thanks to her split-second shot. Even as the Jiwen retaliated with a dual blast, the Huckebein Mk. II was already peeling to it's left as it continued it's ascent. Power was clearly rerouted to the thrusters as they blossomed into a curtain of electric-blue flames that backlit the machine so that it's emerald eye cameras seemed to glare at the offending blasts that were clearly tracking it's path.

"Of course they can track me they're freaking energy skulls from a ghost robot! Gah!" She took aim as the maneuvering continued and unleashed a triple burst of Photon Rifle bolts at one of the offending projectiles in an attempt to get it to dissipate from a clash of energies. If it flew through and took out the Jiwen at this angle somehow then all the better, but she doubted the darn thing would cooperate with her so easily.

Lunam couldn't immediately afford to pay attention to the others but the blade-wielding machine seemed to have a competent pilot and the Gespent's was keeping the small fry off of them both so that was wonderful. Maybe it'd all work out.

 

[VeraC]

Okuni’s pause in action had a reason beyond taunting the trash across from her. It gave her time to think, but also she was buying some time for Orgone to begin accumulating around Amaterasu again. Though her pause in action was met with a magical attack, a prison of sorts. While Amaterasu was confined to the space, the Orgone continued to accumulate. By the time the Bowen closed its fist, the quantity was sufficient. The Orgone quickly condensed to create sphere-like shield around Amaterasu. As the prison detonated, several large spears of orgone jutted out of the sphere, almost like a vibrant green sea urchin, the spears refracting light off their green crystal-like essence. They slowly removed themselves from the sphere, now hanging around the sphere, orbiting slowly. Their shape became gradually refined, taking shape into straight longswords.

“Is that all you can do? Let’s see how long you can keep this farce up…” A gap in the sphere of orgone opened up, revealing only one eye of Amaterasu. It glistened and flashed, piercing through the wall of orgone. The sphere slowly lost its shape, now taking form of a shawl almost, completely of orgone energy. The Black mech was relatively unharmed, the orgone cloud having shielded it from most of the damage. Amaterasu held its arms out, now controlling the 20-odd orgone swords.

“Tamenten...Ichiryu…”
​

This wasn’t a technique associated with the Kusanagi sword school, but rather a technique developed by Okuni herself. Based off the Nitenichiryu school of Miyamoto Musashi, The Tamenten Ichiryu translates to “School of Many Heavens as One.” Rather than using the using only two weapons, The user utilized any and all weapons she could find and use within her reach. In this case, she utilizes the several blades produced by Orgone.

There were no fancy techniques to this school, no steps, no grace, It was just a pure onslaught of blades targeted at one or many foes. It would be a disgrace to her family should they see it, as It lacked the refined qualities and history that the Kusanagi School amounts to.

“This much... should be adequate for you.” Okuni spoke softly. She tried not to show weakness, but in reality, she was breathing heavily, the prolonged fight slowing beginning to take a toll on her endurance.

The Blades dispersed and began orbiting around the Bowen in a wide circle, floating autonomously in the air.

“Annihilate.” Okuni commanded the blades to attack, as they all pointed toward the Bowen, and propelled themselves forward, striking at the Bowen from every angle. These swords didn’t explode, but would rather pierce through the mech, should they hit, before redirecting and attacking it from a different angle. Should a sword be destroyed, Amaterasu would form another one and add it to the concerto of destruction. The process continued for several seconds, each blade making several passes at the Bowen, each strike with purpose. Amaterasu thrust its arms outward once again, calling all blades to return to their orbit.

“Smolder…” The blades began glowing and sparking with green energy.

“Then explode!” Amaterasu clapped its hands together, signaling to the blades to all strike once more at the bowen, sequentially. One-by-one, the blades made their strike at the Bowen, on each strike, exploding with orgone energy. This series of attacks continued until all 24 blades had made their explosive finish.

 

[Luca Cross]

Luca's eyes widened in shock, as the Spirit Soldiers continued surging upwards in a growing horde. For each one she had cut down, two more had taken its place. The leading machines slashed at her with glowing scythes, as the woman jerked the control handles to either side. The Custom C spun to one side, both hands shooting out. Handle slammed into pistol and halted the scythe to the front meters from the cockpit, while the woman grabbed the scythe behind her with the Gespenst' open hand. Jerking the pistol and twisting the wrist to one side, the woman dumped half of her remaining rounds into the cockpit and body of the soldier across from her. Spinning the Custom C to face the other side, she fired the remaining rounds into the one behind her. She saw the Spirit Soldiers surging upwards, the dozens of miasma-charged weapons held ready, and felt her heartbeat steady. It was easy to succumb to stress, to let one's own nerve run wild and embrace insanity.

“If this is my lot...let's dance, you bastards.” Killing the Tesla Drive, the Custom C dropped straight down into the incoming hoard. She holstered the revolver, before activating a Plasma Cutter in both hands of the Custom C. As she fell through the group, she used their bodies and close proximity to aid her attacks, cutting and dicing any mech that came within cutting distance. Her target was a small platform dozens of feet below her; a ship, bobbing in the water, with an old man standing next to the helm. He was holding a flashlight, blinking the light on and off in a series of code.

I'm coming old man; hold your horses.
​

Ignoring the clear danger of the suicidal maneuver, Luca continued her berserk fall downwards, aiming to continue diverting the Spirit Soldiers from the epic battle only a hundred or so meters from her current position. If the Huckebein and Mysterious Trooper could beat the elite enemies, the monstrous chaff she was facing might disperse as well. Luca's eyes narrowed behind her glasses, as she focused on the simple task of falling towards the sea below and killing every enemy she could touch.

 

[GEAR]

"Is this all your vaunted school can muster?"

The Bowen, seemingly undaunted by Okuni's survival - and which had, until that point, remained relatively stationary, suddenly surged forward across the waves, Prana energy pulsing from below its hulking form. As it did, more of the Spirit Soldiers swarmed around it, summoned from beneath the waves like their ilk - the glowing swords rained down on the Cult monstrosity as it danced forward, showering the area around it devastation. Spirit Soldiers lurched screaming into their path, forced to serve as phantom shields by Oleander's necromancy, their detonating forms filling the air with a murky mix of ectoplasm and orgone particulate. Still, some of the blades found their mark, and explosions rippled across the Bowen's armored frame as it closed in, tearing gashes and chunks out of its armor, making its bestial appearance somehow seem even more fearsome.

"I'm going to enjoy rending you limb from limb!"

With that, the monstrosity's shoulders once again glowed, their mouth-like barrels opening wide, sending a pair of prana beams surging towards the Amaterasu, looking to capitalize on Okuni's concentration to vaporize the machine's legs out from under it.

The remaining Jiwen took off after Lunam, hounding the young woman with almost comical persistence as it flowed across the waves, shoving aside whatever Spirit Soldiers managed to get in its way. Foul smoke poured from its form, and it banked hard to avoid the plasma shots - but managed to clip a rocky outcrop obscured by the mist, causing it to spin crazily in the air - and for Lunam's remaining shot to find its mark, causing it to explode in a plume of torrid energy, the captured spirits within emerging with a chorus of shrieks. The explosion also had the effect of clearing away the marauding Spirit Soldiers that were threatening Lunam, giving the intrepid reporter a moment's peace.

Luca's descent went more or less as she predicted - more of the spirit soldiers emerged from the watery depths to impede her progress, but were cut down by bullet or by plasma, their reaping scythes ever present. It seemed almost as if there was no end to them-

Yet, a reaction flickered on her machine's control screen. One that had not been present earlier, or at least, had been obscured... Below, something... Large was waiting. Systems indicated that it was familiar - likely a Killer Whale class Submarine. Perhaps it was the source of the arcane soldiers that currently surrounded them? There was, of course, only one way to find out...

 

[MitsukaiNoZenkai]

Freed from her pursuer, Lunam's eyes immediately flicked over her sensors and viewscreens. All the ghosts and spooky stuff had been forced back in the wake of that explosion so she was able to assess the battlefield and sweep through her options.

A small window popped up in her left side monitor to show the Gespent holding it's own in a supposedly suicidal run. It looked pretty controlled to her and there was no immediate need to intervene as she had when she'd first arrived. Machine's moving a lot faster than before; must be getting low on ammo, Lunam thought to herself as she was making fast mental calculations about the known velocities of a Gespent at those vectors.

She was distracted from her musings as the explosion of Orgone energies drew her focus even as proximity sensors shrieked at the shockwave she could feel from here. The Bowen looked pretty bad from what it'd been a few minutes ago but clearly it and it's pilot had a lot of pep left in their step. Her cute face scrunched up as her lips pursed. Of everything here that had to be the leader's mecha. A flicker of blue eyes to the Amaterasu before she triggered a short-range direct comm line to the samurai-machine.

"Sorry about this, but we gotta bring down the boss or we'll get drowned in spooky robots.. Let's bust this ghost!" The Huckebein's flight path took a nearly-painfully-sharp jag in it's flight path as Lunam was clearly setting up for something. The Huckebein's left arm raised and the Chakram Caster began spinning it's wired projectile up to attack speed. "Chakram Caster, full speed.. Fire!" With that, the child of the Vanishing Trooper performed a high-speed pirouette as it got within range from the Bowen's right side; Lunam gritting her teeth at the g-forces she was exerting on herself as she depressed a trigger on the left control stick.

The Huckebein Mk. II responded to the trigger buy flinging it's arm out and around even as the metallic revving disk flung out on it's wire towards it's target at the maximum speed inertia and the firing mechanisms could muster. She was aiming to entangle the presumed head machine and restrict it's movements even as the Caster itself ground and tore into it's metallic flesh. Okuni could chide her later for wounding her warrior's pride or whatever but these two were clearly getting towards their personal limits with the equipment they'd had on-hand.

 

[VeraC]

“You pitiful thing…” Amaterasu looked down on the Bowen, making its charging approach. Spirits surrounded the Bowen, in what looked like a last ditch attempt at destroying Okuni. Like a reaper charging on its horse, an eerie presence of death surrounded the Bowen, though, Okuni was unfazed by this appearance. The Blades finished their rondo, the last one exploding while the Bowen was on assault. The girl in the Huckebein came on comms, talking directly to Okuni.


She regrettably agreed with the girl, as her endurance was beginning to reach its limit. “...Right, We’ll finish this in one fell swoop.” Okuni continued her heavy breathing, she could feel her own body burning up, hotter than what was natural. Her skin was constantly precipitating sweat, her flight suit probably soaked in the stuff.


One last push…


Okuni took a deep breath and held her breath for several moments, regaining her focus. Amaterasu evaded the Prana blasts, shifting to the side, and held its arms out. Orgone began condensing around Masamune, and Amaterasu took a familiar position. It was the stance for Tengoku Setsuri, Which she had performed earlier. Orgone weapons began conjuring at the side of Amaterasu, and launched themselves at the Bowen, exploding on contact. Amaterasu spun and lifted its arms up, performing the movement to call down the arrowhead… though, the movements were different. Rather than the arrowhead crashing down, it stayed floating, pointed at the Bowen. Should Lunam’s chakram have her tied up, it was the perfect opportunity to use this technique. Masamune began changing its form, the hilt extending downward, making it almost like a rod. Amaterasu teleported from where it was to the back end of the arrowhead, and connected Masamune to the 20m arrowhead.

“Sayonara.” Okuni spoke to the Bowen as orgone began circling around Amaterasu, as it used its orgone cloud one more time to jump to above the Bowen. The Orgone thrusters lit up and Amaterasu accelerated downwards, aiming for the Bowen

“HISSATSU! TENGOKU SETSURI!”​

The Amaterasu now wielded a spear, more than twice its size, even bigger than the Bowen, and began a plunge to the enemy mech. Applying the concept of Hissatsu to another technique of the Kusanagi sword school, Okuni linked together the techniques. Should the attack hit, the spear collides with the Bowen, and it is crushed under the weight and size, caught on the tip of the point as the spear crashes down into the Ocean. A massive plume of mist splashed upward, as if a bomb had been detonated under the water surface.

“DISAPPEAR!” Okuni shouted at the top of her lungs, as Amaterasu gave one more push into the ocean, the massive speartip crackling and erupting with energy, creating a green fireball of fractured orgone crystals, cause waves to form at the edge of the explosion, and a second, larger plume of mist being sprayed upward.

天　必

国　殺

摂　　

理　　​

Amaterasu remained hovering above ground zero, its red eyes glowing through the mist and haze, looking down at the epicenter, looking for any possible movement, more cautious after the first time the attack failed.

 

[Luca Cross]

Weaving and using the Spirit Soldiers as a means of travel, the Custom C fell with little grace and full fatality. The young woman's gaze traveled between the display to the monsters in her path, as she cut and blocked the assault of enemies swarming her. When the large blip appeared in the water, the girl instantly checked her arsenal for weapons capable of taking on the submarine. The Custom C came up miserably short, armed only with one magazine and her plasma swords. The moment she breached the water, the energy fueling the plasma sword would falter, but that same barrier of liquid would keep the spirit soldiers from cutting the Custom C down in the ocean. Which left only the Submarine as an opponent.

A movement on the ship caught her eye, as the old man opened the bay for dumping the catches of the day. What was generally a large trough for water and the bounty of fish was a silver case. The woman changed her stance, reactivating the Tesla Drive to change her course to pass over the ship. Engines within the case activated, launching the metal box into the air. Catching it as it sailed into the air, the woman activated the latches. The box exploded, sending both sides of the case sailing into the throng of enemies. Clutched in one fist was a large, metal knife. Glancing at the captain, who flashed Luca a grim salute, the woman directed her path into the ocean. Slamming into the waves, the woman ignored the feeling of shifting into a coffin, as water closed around the Custom C.

Activating the on-board engines, the Custom C shot towards the submarine, using its small size and the surrounding Spirit Soldiers as a barrier to prevent bombardment with chaff missiles and torpedoes. Cutting down troops that got close, the woman prepared the on-board weapons for a two way combo.

“Custom C Special!” Shouting to calm her nerves, the woman slammed the controls forward. The Gespenst threw the knife, aiming for the side of the submarine. Shooting forward after the knife, the robot grabbed it the same instant it would hit the ship, burying it deep into the side to give the Personal Trooper leverage. Bracing with the knife, the Gespenst brought the other fist back and slammed it into the side of the submarine. Unsure of whether the fist would pierce or be stopped, the girl prepared to discharge all but 5% of her remaining energy into the huge submarine. Shouting with the same level of passion as before, Luca drove the Custom C's fist forward.

“MAGNUM BARRAGE!”​

 

[GEAR]

As Okuni descended towards the Bowen... Three things happened simultaneously.

First, and most importantly - the Killer Whale class that had been drifting under the waves, its halls bedecked with arcane sacrifices that had been fueling the scene around the group, didn't even have time to react as Luca suddenly shot down out of the sky, diving down towards it at breakneck speeds... Not, in this case, that there was anyone left alive to do so. It loomed up out of the depths at the young woman, impossibly huge, tendrils of ectoplasm extending out of its sides and into the waters around them... Was there any hope she could harm such a leviathan?

Her knife dug deep into its flank, and the gleaming plasma stakes flashed forward, punching deep into the Killer Whale's stomach. As Luca depressed the triger, bolts of destructive energy slashed through the ship's interior, tearing its already weakened structure apart violently from the inside. The Killer whale seemed to bulge and swell in some parts as it caught flame... And yet crumple in others as it gave a horrendous groan that could be heard for miles... Before it exploded, its reactor breached by the plasma stakes power.

The explosion sent a column of water rising into the air, briefly catching Olenader's attention, her eyes widening with shock.

"How...?!"

All around them, the waters began to clear. The Spirit Soldiers began to shriek, fading away, dissolving back into the scraps that they were as the spirits that had animated them were dragged violently back across the threshold. The fog that had been rolling in as well began to immediately dissipate - but this was still not quite the end of the bad news for Oleander as the Bowen raised its arms against the tidal wave, water breaching its sides as it cast about, seeking to find Okuni once again,

Lunam's chakram burst from the spray, the disk wrapping around the Bowen's outstretched left arm before it pulled taught, holding the machine in place as its prana thrusters ignited. Oleander scowled, wrenching against the controls as she spied the Huckebein. Such a small machine wouldn't be able to hold the Bowen for long, but...

It was long enough.

From above, bursting from the clearing clouds like an avenging angel, the emerald green spear of Orgone wielded by Okuni erupted into view - giving Oleander just barely enough time to widen her eyes before it slammed deep into the chest of the Borwin, smashing it down into the waves with such force that orgone crystals scattered in all directions. Verdant winds of energy lashed its form, tearing it apart under the force of the blow - a perfect coordinated assault.

Beneath the surface of the sea, the mortally wounded Spirit Machine began to sink, its form now utterly rent beyond repair by a single, violent strike. And yet... A gurgling laugh echoed in Okuni's ear. The machine extended its one remaining arm... Pointing a finger at the swordsman as it sank into the blackness, being crushed by the water pressure as it did so.

"...Our Lord..." Whispered Oleander over the comm, as if through a mouthful of her own blood:

"Will punish you...!"

...And with that, the Borwin's frame collapsed, exploding in a plume bubbles, shrieking souls, and prana that quickly dissipated into the waters around them.

The fight... For the moment, it seemed, was won. The Directory's pursuit had been driven off, and Terra Sentinel's disparate components, with a little help from the Lunarians, had managed to unite...

 

[VeraC]

“Our Lord… Will punish you…”

These words were heard by Okuni as the Bowen sunk into deeper into the water, slowly vanishing into obscurity. Okuni furrowed her brows at the statement, but tossed the thought aside.

“I don’t know what lord you serve… be it God or Buddha, or whatever, if they oppose me, then they too are my enemies.”

As far as Okuni knew, the lady was talking gibberish; a pointless last words. Amaterasu turned away and rejoined with the Huckebein, hovering in place.

“Good work, seems this problem is done and over with.” Okuni was catching her breath over the radio, complementing the TS pilot on her assist.

Amaterasu turned to where the Gespenst had gone underwater, waiting for the Personal Trooper to arise from the water.