The Sounds of Silence (Taskforce Upsilon)

[KiraHYamato]

Onryo panicked as soon as he spotted the incoming Shimeisou. He quickly fired his thrusters and managed to avoid the Shimeisou's death hug but the giant claws managed to scratch the Mironga's thrusters which made it lose it's balance and fall into the ocean below...

Surprisingly the Mironga was still intact with only a little damage to it's thrusters. "I'm going to die out here.." Onryo muttered gritting his teeth. He looked up and spotted the Shimeisou floating above him.

Onryo took a deep breath...and exhaled.. "It's now or never I guess..." he said gripping his controls.

AMN SYSTEM
ACTIVATED

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kaizo smiled as he watched his screen. "About damn time" he said turning to his wife. "RELEASE THE BARTOLLS!!" he shouted raising his hand in the air.

Himari nodded with a smirk as she activated the "other" mobile weapons that they had brought along with the Mironga.

The Bartoll units lit up as they started launching from the hangar at highspeed without warning as Himari watched people almost get run over by the mobile weapons. "I'm pretty sure this counts as a safety hazard" she commented.

Kaizo turned to her with a disapproving look. "Nah.. This is nothing compared to what that goddamn puppet pulled off out there" he replied.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ignoring the Trikeras the Bartolls flew directly at the Shimeisou that attacked Onryo and fired a barrage of missiles directly at it enveloping it in a large cloud of smoke.

The Mironga then quickly surfaced and joined the newly arrived army of Bartolls all under the control of Onryo's AMN System.

"I can do this" Onryo said as he made the Mironga and the Bartolls fire another barrage of missiles at the smoke that enveloped the Shimeisou.


Bartolls x12 (AMN System)

​

 

[VeraC]

Somewhere deep inside Tian Di, the sound of a string snapping could be heard. Kaizo’s remark hit Tian Di is a spot that wasn’t exactly the thickest. Granzon turned to the Air Christmas where The scientist was located and looked directly at him. The Incoming Prana beams brushed up against the back of the Granzon, but doing no noticeable damage. Tian Di could feel the urge, she was close to wiping out Kaizo then and there, including the ship and everything else near it… but, while she hated it, she had been raised to be smarter than that. Her chance would come soon enough.

Granzon turned around back towards the ocean and held out its arms. A sphere of dark energy formed a shell around the Blue mech, and a holographic plane materialized in the cockpit. Various red blips began appearing, each signifying an enemy Trikera or Shimeisou. After several seconds, a [LOCK-ON] display informed every enemy had been targeted.

The Sphere then vanished, leaving several small portal-like discs all surrounding the Granzon. The torso panels opened once again, and several yellow beams shot out into the various portals. Moments later, more portals began appearing on vector with every enemy in the surrounding area, exiting forth from each, the beams of energy that had been shot out before. A relentless assault from the Granzon, as the battlefield became quickly saturated with its energy beams.

Tian Di opened the comms and replied to Kaizo. “If he died to that, perhaps you should reconsider your life’s work.”

 

[Raider867]

Pierce's eyes darted from one place to another on his screen, checking the different status screens that he pulled up and took down. He was pulled from his thoughts as he heard a contact alarm. He looked above, seeing a Shimeisou getting up close and personal.
"Drill Attack!" Pierce shouted. "Maximum Spin!"
The Grungust quickly grabbed its drills, the drills soon spinning up as they get attached to its arms. Pierce gripped his controls. He smirked as he saw the drills reach maximum drill speed on the motors.
"Hope you're ready to get shishkabobbed and blended, you damned crab!" Pierce shouted as he made the Grungust thrust its left drill toward the body of the Shimeisou, the other drill moved to a defensive position to catch the claw and drill through it. The Grungust's forehead started glowing slightly.
"Eye Solid Laser!" Pierce shouted, pressing the trigger on his left stick.
A teal beam of energy erupted from the Grungust's forehead. The beam pierced it's way through the air at the claw to further damage it.

 

[Tyran]

Mist spewed out from Fabularis' sword arm, ice emerging to form a layer around the blade as it cut through the air to meet the claw. For a brief moment, it seemed the blade had successfully nullified the attack, but then the ice shattered and the Mobile Weapon from D.A.R.C. was sent spinning through the air, barreling away from the Shimeisou and towards the sea. Johan laughed wildly in their mind as they kept spinning. 'Never knew you had something like this in you!'

Slask ignored him. He continued to do so even as Johan started to sing, busy bringing their spinning to a stop. As Fabularis' spins came to an end its rifle was already aimed at the offending crab. Specifically, its eye. The rifle lit up again as another large beam shot through the air right before Fabularis disappeared beneath the still water. Once in the water, Fabularis' sinking was quickly brought to a halt.

'That was fun! What are you going to do now, now that you are where you presumably wanted to go to?'

'Wait and witness. Though I would like your thoroughly human and illogical opinion on something.'

'Well now, you've got my curiosity. Isn't often you ask me for something. I'm listening.'

 

[GEAR]

Tian Di's Worm Smasher covered the battlefield in a chorus of total destruction, smashing into the forces of the Sirens. The Shimeisou that had been on a collision course with the Granzon appeared alarmed as blasts from the ether began to pulverize it from all sides, causing it to spin as a limb was severed - but it continued on doggedly, bringing its one remaining claw up in a smashing strike against the Vessel of Volkruss's chest armor as it lurched into a full-body tackle.

Onryo's Bartoll swarm took the Shimeisou by surprise, even as the Mironga darted out of its grasp. In response to the swarm, it wrapped its now engorged claws about its form, as missiles - and the Granzon's beams - smashed into its arms, throwing up a cloud of smoke. Before it could clear however, the monstrous machine emerged - its entire body now pockmarked with impacts from the micromissiles, but its eye alight with unfettered fury as it swung at the closest Bartolls, seeking to smash their frail forms into pieces with its outstretched claws, the Mironga temporarily forgotten.

Ordinarily, even the combined might of the Weissritter's weapons would have found little purchase on the enhanced hides of the Shimeisous - but as one of the mechanical beasts lurched forward through a storm of explosions determinedly, even as they tore small chunks out of its armor, it was interrupted by the sudden intervention of the Granzon. Blasts appeared from midair around the creature, punching clean through its shell as it spasmed - before the explosion of Johanna's improvised mine field finished it for good, causing it to violently explode in a shower of metal and bone, along with its companion.

However, in some cases, it was hardly necessary. The Shimeisou that fell upon Pierce's claw glowed bright with burning energy as it impacted the whirling drill, the two machines surrounded by electric blasts of destructive energy for a brief moment, as metal and muscle strained against one another... But, the crab had forgotten one thing. The Grungust's other arm smashed up into the beast's stomach, causing it to thrash wildly as blood and viscera sprayed all over the Super Robot - until the creature finally lay still, sliding off the whirling drill into the waters below, never to move again.

The Fabularis' icy beam slashed out - and impacted the charging Shimeisou right across its face, causing it to comically overshoot the downed Fabularis as it scuttled out of the way of the incoming Wormhole-guided blasts of death, now effectively blinded. It hovered over the DARC machine, smashing irritably at the ice that now impaired its vision as it swiveled this way and that, trying to get a bead on its target once more - and apparently completely unaware that it had dropped into the ocean.

In the rear of the Air Christmas, the Riots exchanged fire with the remaining Trikeras - Tian Di's blasts pulverized three of the remaining machines into wreckage, but three remained, able to scramble out of the way of the interdimensional onslaught. Their surfaces lit up as their Prana Flamethrowers activated, spewing flaming death at the green and white machines. Juliette's Selius II raised its machinegun, barrel blazing as it chewed through the connecting joints of one of the Carcosan artillery units, causing it to tumble to its knees, even as the fog rolled over it once more.

All around the group, the fog condensed once more - as if it was preparing to, once again, resurrect the dead, and render their efforts futile...

But this time, fate had something else in mind.

There was a sudden crack of lightning, as a bolt of blue erupted from the sky, tearing apart the silent stillness - and causing the remaining Trikera to immediately halt, as if frozen. Several more followed, the golden hued sky beginning to darken... Churn... and then, thicken, as more bolts of electricity smashed into the water below. Much to the apparent alarm of the

Several more lightning bolts condensed atop a rocky outcrop, not far from the Belfast docks, positioned directly across from both the Air Christmas and its assailants... And as they faded from view, several tall, scraggly, scarecrow-like forms stood.

They were... Unusual machines by any measure, even regarding the alien crab-like machines that had already emerged. Gold, green, and white coloring adorned their gleaming metallic surfaces, full of all manner of organic-looking curves that were more reminiscent of a regal nobleman's suit than any kind of conventional armor. Each had its features hidden by a golden mask, below a green, almost-hat-like helmet, and their golden, clawed fingers flexed as they stepped forward on long, white tube-like legs, the rock coiling and shifting beneath their toed, talon-like feet.

"Counter-Curse deployed. Prana Field Dispersing."

The lead Dean Bell offered this observation as it looked to the skies, the golden haze now flickering and waning. For Taskforce Upsilon, a familiar French-accented voice would have filled the airwaves, as their engineer offered a helpful observation, her Serius II scanning the skies with an array of holographic-aided sensors, gathering all the data that it could.

As the golden mist receded, the true nature of the Carcosan's trick became clear - in the water, the wreckage of the destroyed Trikeras revealed itself... exactly where it had been placed prior. In the distance, the form of several Trikeras - spread out, not in their characteristic formations of three - came into being... But their groupings were scattered, as if they had been just interrupted in the middle of repositioning.

"The Prana Field... It was being used to conceal the locations of the enemy's full force." Noted Juliette, as the Trikeras in the distance fell into disarray;

"...And when we destroyed them, new units moved in to replace them, making it appear as if they had never been harmed to begin with."

"A trick...!" Roared Rogers as he rose in his seat, pounding his fist into his chair in anger.

Meanwhile, the Dean Bells conducted their own conversations, speaking to one another in short, quick, monotone sentences as they gazed out on the result of their interference, no small degree of smug satisfaction evident in their tone.

"Arch-Magus, it's them."
"The Disciples of Destruction."
"And the Sirens of Silence."
"Assessment?"
"Probability indicates a 88.62% chance... that this scenario is a trap."
"Do we proceed?"
"Affirmitive."
"Acknowledged. Leave no survivors."

As one, the group raised its hands, and a collective chant went up, as the ground beneath the water began to shake and rumble about them.

"Awaken, Golems. Geios Gragios, and the forces of Creation, beckon you!"

...From beneath the sea came a terrible roaring and groaning - and then a metallic whining and screeching, as phantom constructs began to materialize, bursting from the sea, their rocky teal forms adorned with precious seals - each one manufactured to pure perfection in mere seconds. Without even waiting, they began to stride purposefully in the direction of the battlefield, their masters floating idly behind, evidently in no hurry to dirty their own hands.

---

 

[GEAR]

Part II:

In the depths of the Air Christmas's engine rooms, Lao Xi Feng pushed open a door gently, reciting under his breath the most powerful defensive incantations he could muster - and immediately raised a hand over his face, as the scent of decaying flesh wafted out. Squinting against the harsh light, he peered into what appeared to be some form of maintenance room, tucked away in the piping of the great beast... and beheld a gruesome sight.

A figure was there - but their form had been wrenched and mutilated almost beyond recognition - and its flesh melted together into an almost plastic-like cocoon of pungent, waxen yellow, forcing the body into a kneeling position, suffocating it, anchoring it to the floor. Around it, a particular kind of magic circle had been drawn - and the glowing goldenrod letters that were carved into its flesh were clear as day to he, who had studied their ancient runes as a matter of pragmatism:

Blessed be the voiceless,

ᛒᛚᛖᛋᛋᛖᛞ᛫ᛒᛖ᛫ᚦᛖ᛫ᚡᛟᛁᚲᛖᛚᛖᛋᛋ᛬

The Still, and the Dead.

ᚦᛖ᛫ᛋᛏᛁᛚᛚ᛬ᚨᚾᛞ᛫ᚦᛖ᛫ᛞᛠᛞ᛬

O'lord of the Pale Halls,

ᛟᛚᛟᚱᛞ᛫ᛟᚠ᛫ᚦᛖ᛫ᛈᚨᛚᛖ᛫ᚺᚨᛚᛚᛋ᛬

Bringer of True Peace,

ᛒᚱᛜᛖᚱ᛫ᛟᚠ᛫ᛏᚱᚢᛖ᛫ᛈᛠᚲᛖ᛬

Ruzamno Lasfitot,

ᚱᚢᛎᚨᛗᚾᛟ᛫ᛚᚨᛋᚠᛁᛏᛟᛏ᛬

Please Accept This Humble Sacrifice

ᛈᛚᛠᚲᛖ᛫ᚨᚲᛋᛖᛈᛏ᛫ᚦᛁᛋ᛫ᚺᚢᛗᛒᛚᛖ᛫ᛋᚨᚲᚱᛁᚠᛁᚲᛖ ​

From the shape of the body's face... He could already determine the victim: A C-Type. The gruesome display now appraised, he turned his attention to the other object occupying the room, placed equidistant from the offering.

This one, however... This was a device unlike anything he had seen before. It was made up of a hundred thousand tiny, rotating gears, rising up into a cylinder that was almost five feet high, and as he drew closer, he could hear its rhythmic clicking and grinding, sounding almost like... A chant. As he leaned in close to get a better look, however, he suddenly recoiled as he caught a glimpse of the structure's internals - a human hand, wrenched inbetween the components, being slowly crushed to produce the sounds of the device, like some kind of precision organ designed purely for torture.

Even he, in his role, was not fond of torture - and he could only imagine the horror of the sacrifice as they were imprisoned in such a thing, doomed to a slow, agonizing death of being slowly shorn to pieces by a thousand biting gears.

He did not, however, have long to contemplate the structure further, as his previously unseen assailant suddenly made their identity known - and a pair of thin, needle-like knives whipped through the air towards him. With a wave of his hand, the Archbishop diverted them about his person, their sharpened edges now terribly bent out of shape, as something dropped heavily from the ventilation duct above, its hooded form concealing... What he could only describe as a nightmare that had haunted him ever since the day he had first encountered it-

---

Forces of the Sirens of Carcosa:
Shimeisou x 2
Trikera x 12

Forces of Geios Gragios:
Rune Golem x 12
Dean Bell x 5

Allied Forces:
Serius II - Juliette
Riot C x 4

 

[MKR]

With nothing remaining on her tail Johanna was just in time to grab her rifle before it plummeted into the waters below. With the lightning strike right after it would seem this was for the better, as this third party introduced itself the white personal trooper took the moment to opt for a full reload. The used shells from both the use of B and W mode falling out of the weapon and replaced, she cocked the mixed projectile weapon as it once again was primed and ready for operation.

With the revelation brought to her that her weapons were also effective on the tripods the Weissritter once again steadied its weapon from this safe distance, darting through the space between allied units as they went forwards. Three energy bolts, once again followed by a continuous stream of the yellow energy would try to go past the Grungust and Bartoll swarm and head straight for the Trikera.

The banter and yelling on the main channel was far from what she was used to. What Juliette and Rogers were doing was more familiar to her, factual information and reactions to that information while Pierce's yelling and attack announcements made the woman wonder if this latest Grungust model was powered by vocal cords although she couldn't say she really minded, as it did allow her to know what the big hunk of metal with two drills was planning.

What she did mind however was the continued banter between the Granzon's pilot and the guy who called her a puppet. She was hoping that this would not be the norm going forwards, preferring to keep the airwaves clean.

 

[KiraHYamato]

"Again?!" Onryo exclaimed as he maneuvered the Mironga and the Bartolls away from the incoming attacks from the Granzon.

After managing to keep himself alive yet again, Onryo sighed in relief. "That one felt deliberate" Onryo said looking at the Granzon from afar.

Onryo then turned his attention to where the Shimeisou was and sent his Bartolls to surround the area just in case it might still be alive.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Back on the Air Christmas, Kaizo was wearing a wide grin across his face. "You're right! He would've been a waste of my time if he died to an attack as primitive and predictable as that" he said to Tian Di with a chuckle.

"By the way I noticed you target the Air Christmas. What's the matter? Is the wittle baby angwy? Does she need a pacifier? Or maybe a cute dolly?" Kaizo started to mock Tian Di knowing full well that nothing good would come out of it.

Before Kaizo could go any further Himari delivered a very painful chop to the back of his head. "That's enough out of you Kaizo" Himari said to Kaizo who was rubbing his head in pain.

"And as for you Ms.Tian Di. I suggest you refrain from firing at ally units. And before you start targeting the Air Chirstmas, keep in mind that Director Lao is still aboard this ship." Himari warned Tian Di in a calm yet intimidating manner.

"Also allow me to apologize for my husband's behavior. I will personally make sure that he receives proper punishment for his actions" Himari said wearing a wide sadistic smile on her face.

"The hell did I do?!" Kaizo protested. But before he could say more he fell silent when he saw the smile on his wife's face. "Oh shit..." he muttered as Himari walked up to him and placed her finger on his chin and leaned in to his ear.

"You know exactly what you did dear..." Himari whispered into Kaizo's ear. She then placed her other hand on his shoulder. "Every action has an equal and opposite reaction right? Darling" she said before planting a kiss on his cheek.

"I think I would've been better off with the Granzon blowing me up" Kaizo thought as Himari finally released him.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Back on the field...

The Shimeisou darted out of the smoke and charged at the Bartoll that was closest to it. Onryo quickly tried to get the Bartoll to dodge the incoming attack but it ended up scratching the Bartoll's shoulder which made it twirl in the air before crashing down into the ocean.

Onryo quickly checked his screen and found that the Bartoll was still functioning with only minor damage. He then turned his attention to the Shimeisou. Onryo then took a deep breath and exhaled.

"Alright!" Onryo said as he brought his Mironga and the Bartolls into formation and targeted the Shimeisou's eye.

"Fire!" Onryo declared as he made the Mironga open fire with it's straight machine gun, followed by the Bartolls with their Machine cannons.

While firing at the Shimeisou Onryo made the Bartoll that was underwater unsheathe it's beam swords and positioned it under the Shimeisou.

If the Shimeisou somehow managed to survive the initial assault. He would make the Bartoll attack it with it's beam swords.

 

[VeraC]

Vayne was currently walking down a hallway of the Air Christmas at a fairly brisk pace, listening to the comms between the allied forces. Under his mask he gave off a very irritated scowl, but was also very concerned at the moment. He had taken a glimpse into Tian Di’s mind before the fight, and could roughly equate her current mental status to a ticking time-bomb. The meaningless provocations from the idiot scientist were only adding fuel to the metaphorical fire in her soul, and he needed to calm her down before she does something unexpected. His plans would be ruined, should she decide to rebel right now.

“Damn Gragios, butting into this fight. It’s the last thing we need right now.” Vayne was much more irritated than his usual stoic composure led on, but the situation at hand weighed heavily on his stress.

____________________________________________________

Chaos rained across the battlefield, the Granzon’s Worm Smasher putting in work on all the surrounding enemies. Tian Di turned to the new arrivals on the battlefield, and as she took notice of them, chills began running down her spine.

“Gragios is intruding.” The voice rang in Tian Di’s head.

“And why should I care?” Tian Di replied in a haughty tone. “They’re just as fucked up as you.” Tian Di shifted to a more downfallen expression. “This whole world is fucked up. It should all just-”

“-Disappear?” The voice in her head completed her sentence with a chuckle, and in that moment, a connection -of some form- could be felt. “You and I wish for the same thing, child. There should be no need for us to be in conflict with each other. I have watched over you since your birth. I’ve seen the injustices done unto you by society. You were born with a cruel fate-”

“And that fate is what pisses me off so much!” Tian Di shouted. “I’m tired of being nothing but a pawn! I won’t be controlled by anyone anymore! Not you, not Lao, not the cult, not fate…” Tian Di’s spirit rose higher and higher.

Granzon’s eyes flashed with purple light as it held its arms out, dark energies beginning to swirl around its hands, swelling in intensity, before affecting the literal space around it. The torso panels opened once more, now a black orb slowly coming into existence. Air and light began being ‘sucked’ into the orb, quickly growing in size. Purple-white arcs of static lashed out around the Granzon, Dark energies and Prana swelling and quickly ramping up in intensity, a signal of its penultimate attack. Granzon lifted its arms above its head and the now fully formed black hole was lifted above as well. Everything around it was being pulled into its grasp, the water, air, rocks, and should any mechs be near, they would feel death’s tug pulling at them as well. The space around Granzon grew dark, not even light being able to escape the sphere of annihilation. The yellow lights on the Granzon’s torso, arms, and hands glowed to life.

As if, for the first time in her life, a moment of clarity had reached Tian Di’s mind; amidst all the injustices wrought upon her, and the things she was forced to do, this one moment made sense; this one sane act among everything else. For the first time, Tian Di had an answer.

“I don’t care who they are… If they get in my way, I’ll annihilate them.”

“I’LL ANNIHILATE THEM ALL!” In that moment, the last string snapped. Should the voice in her head have had a face, a fiendish grin would’ve run across its face. The Tian Di of before was of little use to Volkruss. Sure she was the vessel for his resurrection, but she was nothing more than Lao’s puppet. While Lao was a cherished member of the cult, he was too careful, which inhibited Tian Di’s growth. While she was a bit of a loose cannon at the moment, the newfound freedom gave her potential to grow, and her goals became more or less aligned with Volkruss’ to which he could play to easier than working through Lao.

Granzon dropped its arm forward, launching forth the black hole from its grasp, into the air. Static surrounded the sphere, and anything along its path or near it would be pulled into it, and erased. There was no escape from the gravitational pull of a black hole. It was aimed at the group of the Gragios mechs that had just made their appearance. Should one be hit directly, it would be chunked out instantly, but even if one weren’t hit, everything in the surrounding area would be sucked into the black hole, erased from existence entirely.

 

[Raider867]

"Pretty nice shots, Granzon." Pierce complimented with energy in his voice. He flipped the Grungust to the side, positioning himself beside the Granzon as he primed the Omega Beam. Black energy leaked from the Grungust's chest as he shouted:
"Omega Beam!" Pierce shouts.
The energy leaking from the Grungust's chest shot out from the chest, the beam piercing its way to the unsuspecting Graigos forces. As the beam hit, energy flowed out from the blast radius, hitting any other Graigos machines near the main target.
"Burn in the black fires of the end." Pierce says as he watches the Omega Beam's hit.

 

[Tyran]

Slask stared at the Shimeisou that had fallen to the ocean after them. 'Change of plans.' Fabularis set out, approaching the Shimeisou's behind as the Parvus Acies from its back launched again. As their movements were only slightly hampered by the water the giant crab-like entity was soon surrounded by the Parvus Acies and Fabularis, stuck in the middle of a spherical formation.


Slask pointed at the Shimeisou with Fabularis' sword and rifle both. The visor lit up in orange glow as Fabularis' freezing mist poured forth in massive quantities from the exit points on its shoulders, aimed straight at the Shimeisou and its surroundings. The water surrounding the Parvus Acies began to freeze as well, rapidly creating expanding layers of ice on the small objects. Finally, the blade's tip met the rifle's barrel and with a flash the final freezing wave attacked Slask's target, hellbent on imprisoning the entire thing in a large glacier.

 

[GEAR]

The remaining Trikeras were easy prey for Johanna's sniping in their disarray, and her bullets found their mark - two of the tripods were blown apart by her hail of bullets, their collapsed forms then completely vaporized by the ensuing beam. As the Weissritter passed over the group, however, their head units lit up, as Prana-Flamethrowers sent jets of fire skyward, attempting to snap the white devil out of the air by setting it aflame.

Slask's attack worked better than he could have imagined. The spikes of ice smashed forward into the Shimeisou - and the creature finally came to a complete halt, entirely encased in ice. Its eye rolled about in its skull in confusion as it struggled against its prison, cracks already beginning to form about the edges. Whatever the unlikely pair had in mind... It would need to be executed swiftly, lest the beast resume its assault once more.

Onryo's swarm of Bartolls enveloped the furious Shimeisou - it raised its claws over its face as it rushed the Mironga. It was highly unlikely it could, of course, catch the annoying fly, but insofar as it had observed thus far, its armor was more than capable of enduring whatever bug-bites they could muster... Until, of course, the gangly form of the Bartoll burst from the water beneath it, driving its twin blades into the creature's stomach. Then, at last, it halted, its internal organs pierced clean through by the offending machine. Before it could even muster a return strike, the hail of gunfire from the remaining machines washed over its frozen form - and it finally exploded in a shower of shrapnel, chunks of yellow and gold metal slamming into the ocean below.

"Golems, defend us!"

The Black Hole Cluster collided with the wall of magically-enhanced soldiers as they advanced across the battlefield, sending out a prana shockwave that caused the clouds themselves to part. With a horrible unearthly roar of rending reality, the singularity expanded outward, a gaping dark maw that swallowed everything within reach. Pierce's own Omega Beam as well, was swallowed into the anomaly, dragged across the event horizon until it was a mere speck of light... However, from the scale of the damage being wrought, it would be unlikely that the man would be too upset. On the other side of the anomaly, the Dean Bells had put up a defensive barrier between them, even as the Granzon's most devastating attack ripped at the world around them. The lead machine called out to the rest over the din, saying:

"Hold fast, Brothers!"
"I am... Slipping!"

One of the Autowarlocks was lifted up by the gravity well, arms flailing - but its compatriots reached out, seizing its outstretched limbs, as they linked themselves together. Closer inspection would reveal bonds of melted metal fused about their machine's hands, further anchoring them as they were stretched further and further out... But just as it seemed all hope was lost, the Black Hole finally faded from existence, causing the machines to clatter as one into the sea below.

When the anomaly finally cleared... The devastation was immense. An entire half-circle had been carved out of the ocean. Every single Rune Golem had been destroyed in a single, catastrophic strike... But their masters, the Dean Bells, remained, unfastening themselves from one another - saved by virtue of their own protective spells, but presently unable to return fire.

Yet... that was not quite all for Tian Di.

The awakening of Volkruss too, had been predicted... And in turn, it had lured out the other.

All of a sudden... The voice of Volkruss vanished. It was replaced with... quiet, as though someone had simply pressed the mute button on the otherworldly entity's dictates. She could still feel its presence, barely... But it had been suppressed, smothered in a blanket of eerie warmth and peace. Or, perhaps it was that a veil had been placed between them of sorts?

All across the battlefield, a similar sensation began to spread... A terrible, dark silence.

It was more than simple "lack of noise". It was... Lack of thought, of emotion, of anything.

The kind of oppressive quiet that was akin to the cold embrace of death itself.

Something... was coming.

 

[MKR]

Johanna was getting more and more frustrated with the unfriendly banter, but before she could speak up the Granzon would unleash its anger through a black hole causing the Weissritter's pilot to shut up and focus on not getting sucked into the gravity well that would oh so eagerly devour her lighter unit. She could feel her heart beating in her chest as the darkness faded. Out of instinct more than anything she would turn her rifle to the falling interconnected Dean Bells, aiming to pierce their armor with the solid rounds from her rifle as they fell downwards.

Somewhere deep inside her she realized that Kvinna might have been speaking the truth and Upsilon was not supreme squad of competence she had made it out to be, while this was suppressed it still gnawed at the back of her mind. As the final bullets exited the Oxtounge rifle's barrel the magazine dropped down into the water and Johanna finally got the courage to speak up again, but instead there was silence. All consuming silence. She could only feel a chill down her spine as she spun the rifle around but there was no sound from it whirring in the air.

She looked around the combat zone, using her mask to try to find whatever was causing this. There had to be a cause and if she could find it perhaps she would be able to counteract it and return communications and sound to Upsilon!

 

[KiraHYamato]

Breathing a sigh of relief Onryo watched as the remains of the Shimeisou fall into the ocean below. "I actually did it..." he said trying to catch his breath.

But at that moment Onryo felt like something was pulling the Mironga. "What the? he muttered and noticed that the Bartolls were being pulled in as well. "Don't tell me" Onryo said as he turned towards the Granzon.

He saw the attack the enraged Granzon unleashed upon the Gragios units. Onryo watched the giant golems get sucked into the black hole from a distance. And it was that same black hole that was pulling in the Mironga and the Bartolls. "Real glad she didn't decide to fire that thing in this direction" Onryo commented.

As the black hole died down Onryo started to question why he was even out here. The Granzon could easily take out these enemies if it wanted to... So why did they decide to deploy everybody. "I wanna go home" Onryo sighed.

Before he could continue his train of thought everything went silent. Confused Onryo looked around trying to figure out what's going on. It was so quiet. It was as if Onryo had lost the ability to hear.

Onryo tried firing the Mironga's straight machine gun. But there was no sound. He tried speaking... Nothing... Was he the only one experiencing this? He had to make sure.

With no other choice left to him Onryo sent a written message to all ally units on the field which read

This is Onryo Ishimura. Pilot of the Mironga
Can anybody hear anything? Like sound in general?

---

Back in the Air Christmas. Kaizo was intrigued by this turn of events. He took out the pen from his pocket and dropped it on the floor. There was no sound... "That's interesting" he thought. He then tried talking to Himari but unfortunately even his voice seemed to have been affected by this phenomena.

"If you can't talk to em... You write em" Kaizo thought as he typed a message on his tablet and showed it to Himari.

Can we blame that Granzon brat for this?

Himari gave Kaizo a disapproved look and typed down a message on her tablet

If there's anyone to blame. It's you.

Kaizo raised an eyebrow before writing down a reply

This could've all been avoided if they just assigned the Granzon to a more stable pilot instead of a crying puppet throwing a tantrum

Himari started to think after reading Kaizo's message. "Why did they allow someone like that pilot a machine as powerful as the Granzon. It doesn't make sense... The Director must have known about this... So why would he..." she thought. Trying to find the reason why someone as unstable as Tian Di was assigned the Granzon to begin with...

"And now there's no sound...What's worse is we don't even know what caused it. Looking at those new units I doubt they caused it... It can't be those golden crab machines either... I'm sure it's not the Granzon...Unless of course we all got sucked into one of it's black holes" Himari thought with a bitter look on her face. "Unless... Something else is..." she realized something. If none of the units on the field were causing this then that could only mean one thing...

She quickly grabbed the mic and tried to speak into it. But there was nothing but silence.

Kaizo tapped Himari on the shoulder with a sarcastic grin on his face and showed her a message written on his tablet

Forget that we're on mute?

Himari wanted to grab Kaizo and throw him in one of the black holes the Granzon made but she didn't have the time. She quickly wrote down a message and sent it to Onryo

---

A message appeared on the Mironga's computer and Onryo wasted no time reading it.

Be on guard! Something's coming

He quickly formed the Bartolls into a circle with the Mironga in the middle and prepared himself for battle.

His hands shook as a drop of sweat flowed down his cheek. Onryo was still recovering from the battle against the Shimeisou and now he had to worry about an unseen enemy. And the lack of sound wasn't any help either.

 

[Raider867]

Pierce watched the black hole and his Omega Beam together. "Woah..." He mouthed. It was meant to be audible sound, but he wasn't able to speak. He looked around, pressing a few buttons but not hearing any reports that came with the presses.
What the hell is going on? Pierce thought, looking around. He saw the messages running across his screen.
"This is Pierce in the Grungust Type 3. Anyone else experiencing eerie silence? I can't even hear myself talk."
Pierce sent the message and looked around. He had a feeling something was approaching. He made the Grungust grab its drills in both arms, the drills spinning up in complete silence, the only way Pierce knew they were at full speed was a notification window on his screen which he quickly closed.
This is bad. I don't know what's going on, but I know this is bad. I gotta find a way to solve this problem.
Pierce glanced at his radar before back at the viewscreen, the posture of the Grungust changing to that of a defensive one.
"I have a gut feeling something's coming. Everyone be on your guard."
Pierce sent the message, hoping his allies would follow his advice if they weren't already on their guard.

 

[Tyran]

'The crab is trying to break free! Take a risk, live for once befo-' Johan's stream of thoughts was cut off mid sentence.
'Johan?' Slask questioned. There was no reply.
It unnerved him. This wasn't like Johan. Whatever was happening could cut the contact between the two. He knew from experience that it wasn't something just anyone - or anything - could do.
Something was coming.

Slask shook his head. He could wonder about it later, for now he had a Shimeisou to deal with. With a small burst of mist ice formed around Fabularis' sword as it dropped down further to the water - repositioning below the Shimeisou. Issuing a command to some of the Parvus Acies some of the cracks on the Shimeisou's icy prison began to widen as Slask began his charge, ignoring the messages he had received for now. Few of the Parvus Acies shot out away from the block of ice, tearing out chunks of ice with them as they did and revealing Slask's target: the belly.

The ice the blade was covered with shattered on impact as Slask slashed at the belly. The ice fragments floating in the water started to expand as Fabularis backed off, digging into any openings made by Slask's attack, attempting to widen any gaps and burrow further inside.

Slask glanced over the messages. Evidently he wasn't the only one to think something was coming. For a brief moment he contemplated sending out a message of his own, but quickly discarded that thought. There was no need to.

 

[VeraC]

Tian Di, too, noticed this silence, and for once… There was silent in her head. She could no longer hear the voices of the Dark God, as if their connection was severed… Though to Tian Di’s dismay, the connection wasn’t fully severed. Granzon was still fully functioning which meant that Volkruss himself was alive and well. Tian Di opened her mouth to speak, but words wouldn’t come out.

All was Silent…

Whatever interference had come, Tian Di didn’t like it.

 

[GEAR]

Johan's strike was true - the icy blade buried itself in the stomach of the last remaining Shimeisou, tearing through its now brittle armor. The creature thrashed one, last time - and then exploded, spears of ice blasting out of each of the miniscule openings on its armor, to rain down about the Fabularis.

The wave of quiet spread across the battlefield like a blanket. So too, did the golden fog from before - now having unshackled itself of the Gragios' cultists counter-curse - thicken, forming a cloud-like wall that encircled the battlefield, blocking all view of the outside world. The Dean Bells waved at one another and shouted muffled warnings ineffectually, the Dogma circles about their wrists flickering and dying under Johanna's distant sniper-fire, as even those particles were suffocated and suppressed.

Below the combatants... The waves shimmered... and changed.

Now, instead of pale clouds, they reflected... a city of some kind - great spires reaching up towards a dusky sky, in which both a curious sun and a crescent moon hung in perfect unison.

And then, when the silence had settled, and it seemed that never again would a word be spoken aloud...

Came a feminine whisper in the ear of all present, low, gentle, and solemn.

"Release... Shigokumon."​

A torrent - A wave of bleak, foul, scathing black flame burst into being, roaring across the battlefield towards its target... The Dean Bells. The worshippers of Gragios stood together against the blast... But this time, no barrier manifested to save them, their own magic useless in the face of death incarnate. The dark mass swallowed them whole, their figures contorting in absolute agony as they were disintegrated. When the turgid blast cleared... Not even ashes remained of where they had once stood, the entire outcrop they had arrived on... leveled to blackened cinders.

Through the dense fog - now carrying in itself reflections of that same strange city - something loomed. Something truly monstrous.

It passed through the towers of the phantom city, their mirage-like roofs and banners alike passing effortlessly through its carrion form - through the blazing wake it had left in the clouds, revealing its form for all to see as it crossed the threshold between worlds.

It was all teeth and bone... a mountain of death that drifted over the battlefield. It was... Massive in scale, approximately half of the size of the Air Christmas... but it was less a mobile weapon, and more some kind of monster. Yet... It showed almost no trace of life. Large, grinning skulls of no Earthly creature, each with mouths of dirtied, pointed teeth adorned its front - numbering five in total, staring out in all directions at those below. From beneath it was visible eight craven legs tucked under its abdomen, and a set of curling bones that wrapped about its underside, concealing interlocked plates of yet more chiton - and these same thick plates covered its entire body, giving it an almost crustacean feel. Adding to this was a gigantic pair of thorn-encrusted pincers that jutted out of where its "neck" should have been, up into the skies, like a kind of morbid headdress, buttressed by what must have been thousands of spears of rock-hard bone, which formed a kind of "mane" about a lumpen mound on its back.

On the bridge of the Air Christmas, Brigadier-General Rogers was at a loss for words - even had it not been for the wave of silence, he couldn't have spoken in the face of such a menacing apparition. He barely noticed as a hand touched his shoulder, signaling the return of Lao - with a distinctive limp in his step, his suit now ripped and torn, blood dripping from his fingers as he sized up the situation - and even his eyes went wide with alarm, as the whisper continued.

"...Can you hear us? ...Disruptors of Balance."

 

[MKR]

The Weissritter hung in the air as Johanna watched the monstrous... thing approach her efforts against the second set of enemies had been rendered useless by a single attack from this new grotesque enemy. She was terrified, stunned but also unable to look away as it approached.

Its arrival made this bad night even worse, first she was awoken at an ungodly hour and had to fight in this eerie fog against an already unnerving group of enemies, then the second group arrived with their golems and made things even worse and now there was this. She had fought DAMONs and this thing seemed like a collection of the inter dimensional monster's worst nightmares.

Its ever present silence didn't help, as the only indicator Johanna had or her own heartbeat was the feeling of it furiously pounding in her chest. She forcibly removed the mask from her face to make herself look away, her eyes were wide and she felt sick, it felt as if reality had been substituted by one of her games... That was it! She figured it all out!

This had to be a dream, just a nightmare from all this new pressure from joining Upsilon mixed with mental images from seeing the Lamalice up close. That's why all this weird stuff kept happening, total silence, the fog, the omnipresent whispers, her allies yelling at one another like children competing over a toy in the playground. It all made so much sense. So, all she had to do was pinch herself and wake up.

With a worried smile she did as such, her right hand pinching her left shoulder and let out an "ow" left unheard. Johanna swallowed the brick that formed in her throat as the Weissritter adjusted the cockpit's screens now that the mask had been removed giving her sight of the approaching monster as reality set in once more.

With the mask now on the cockpit floor it was back to the usual method of piloting, her hands shakily resting on the controls as Johanna began taking long and deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself as she prepared for the approaching beast.

 

[Raider867]

Pierce was staring in shock and disbelief as the giant monster.
What the hell is that... He thought to himself. He engaged his HUD's zoom, focusing on different parts. He had to find a weak spot. He had to find a way to defeat it. He kept focusing on different parts, relentlessly finding even the smallest crack or part in its armor.
"What the hell is that thing? And who's side is it on?"
Pierce sent the message, tapping rapidly on his console. He kept his drills spun up on the Grungust as he waited for whatever that thing is up to to happen.