Stille Nacht, Teuflische Nacht (Say, Pim)

OE 102
January 29th, 03:24
Location: Bieszczady National Park, Former Polish, Slovakian, Ukrainian border

Silence reigned in the night sky, the moon cascading its gentle light upon the mountains below. Animals, plants, people. All shared in the night's light equally. Even as those upon the surface of the moon saw themselves superior as those below it and those beyond it the moon itself judged not. It simply cast its light on wherever the earth would take it.
And today, something else was partaking in that light too.

An almost devilish figure imposed upon the sky, casting itself in the moon's light. Shadows covering the majority of its body as it sat there, waiting.. Anticipating. Yet some features remained clear, most notably the bat like wings sitting idly at its sides as it hung still, the curved horns pointed upwards mounted on its head and lastly, yet most clearly, a massive rifle of some sort, almost as long as it was tall. An appendage dangling off the back of the weapon, blowing gently in the eastern European winds.
Though something else lit up the machine lying in wait aside from the moon. For a distinct, green, hue emanated from a spherical crystal object on its chest.

The person within was not intent on wasting time, that is why this location was selected in the first place. The two she anticipated were coming, one carried within the other. They had been observed in the area, standing out from the named, faced, masses of no import for one trait they shared.

They were her Research Subjects...

And they were about to arrive. The weapon was raised, pointed, what secrets did these subjects hold. She was oh so curious...

Silence...

One second, two seconds... The moonlight now reflected off of a gold and red battleship seen in the distance. How intriguing.
Immediately the trigger was pulled, a red energy beam headed straight for the bridge of the ship. With the armor that thing was carrying it would not do more aside from shake the command room and other bits of the ship. Another one came, and another. These not aimed at the bridge. The second Research Subject had to exit the first for this expedition to succeed as intended and adequate hostile intent needed to be showcased.

The mighty golden ship pierced the skies along with its fleet of five Aldebaros at their sides, still mantaining the same arrow formation they held before. JR was relieved they finally got to continue their traveling to Switzerland. JR proceeded to go meet his new comrade on the bridge of the ship, the pilot Kenneth, who he will aid from here on.

Since JR held the ship at autopilot for the moment, most of the usual user interfaces would not appear, it closely resembled the design of a plane cabin, but wider. The walls inside were gold-colored, in contrast to the plain colors the rest of the ship had. These were JR domains and he held complete control over them, but not enough to prevent the blast that unexpectedly hit the bridge, shaking it and alerting all the crew inside it along with the pilots of the surrounding ships. The lightning of the bridge would change to a reddish tone, alerting JR that the ship was hit.

"Seems somebody is gunning for us. I thought now'd be the time to talk with the boy about his "record", but it's as good as a time to probe his worth" - Said JR confident enough, but with a small dose of fear in his words, as this was his second time fighting with the Taura and the previous fight did not go as well as expected. He rushed to the communications in order to give orders to his rich crew of pilots. "All units, prepare to sortie, we have an enemy incoming and firing at us. Give 'em hell!"

The surrounding Aldebaros would scan the surroundings to localize the enemy. Their cannons would shine brightly with green energy, prepared to fire at will at the enemy. Green streaks of energy aimed directly at the winged unit would soar the skies, were it the same size as the Virgola, they'd be big enough to completely cover the unit with that energy.

The Virgola would find itself repaired well enough thanks to the residing mechanics' efforts and with a brand-new coat of paint.

It was like the machine had never been damaged at all.

Kenneth shuddered slightly as he swung himself into the cockpit. Under a moonlit sky. The pilot had grown increasingly subdued ever since the night at the laboratory, though it would have been impossible to tell without seeing the man he was before.

He chuckled weakly as the hatch sealed up, briefly leaving him in darkness.

The Virgola's screens hummed to life. A quick systems check revealed no glaring or minor issues. JR's crew had done their job admirably. But merely repairing the machine every time it was damaged would not be enough in the long run; its developmental origins as a potential mass-production unit meant the unit's performance would likely prove cripplingly average.

He would ask for upgrades later, though. JR had no reason to provide him with anything yet. Hopefully he could prove himself worth the trouble with this.

---

As the Virgola left the hangar, clambering to a better firing position on the ship's superstructure, Kenneth turned his attention to the still-distant adversary. Zooming in with the sensors, he beheld a strange, shadowed silhouette. It resembled several things at once, perhaps evoking the image of an armored knight or winged demon. There was something faintly recognizable in the way certain parts of the plating were arranged, covering...vines?

And the green glow coming from the machine's torso...

"What...?"

As Kenneth pulled the Gunnery Carver from its storage slot on the rear waist, he failed to notice that the verdant sphere mounted in the weapon's frame was already faintly glittering, specks of light flitting across the surface of the orb intermittently.

As the allied ships opened up with their curtain of beams, the Virgola steadied itself and took aim, ready to loose a series of shots along possible evasion trajectories, though given the quantity of fire there likely weren't many.

Her blow had been successful, her foe appropriately agitated. If a bit too well for if she had to say so herself. So now she had to deal with that and she really would have much preferred to not have to do so if these non-important people had just stayed out of this that would have made her glad.
But it was something to get out of the way now, but... She couldn't help but be a bit glad about that one, for it allowed her to test something. And well, now was a premier time to get used to things like that.

As the Aldebaros retaliated from her attack the assailant would spread its wings, beating them upwards and accelerating rapidly. Becoming what could effectively be called a 'line of movement' as it did so. Inside its pilot directed her gaze to the group behind the Pleiades Taura. Directing her focus onto them as she took one of the paths out of the hail of fire. Each green beam large enough to devour her machine but she had the speed to best their initial assault at least, but she would rather not deal with them too long. As such-

Pressure came down upon the five ships accompanying JR. Were one to study it they would find it similar in nature to a TK-Field, the pressure would press down upon the ships. Embracing them, suffocating them. The people within remained fine and the ships air bound, but they would become stuck... Held into the air by the invisible force surrounding them. Movement halted, no deployment hatch could be opened, weapons stopping dead in their tracks. Something to quell the ranks.

A smile wormed its way onto her face, it had worked! Fantastic! Now she had to keep it up, while fighting the remaining two of course. One of the Virgola's stray shots catching her on the shoulder as she had diverted her focus elsewhere the weapon's rounds entering one side and leaving the other, sending the demonic knight slightly off course due to the impact. The machine turning its gaze towards the unit atop the Ox's Reactor.

Within the unit its pilot gazed into the red interior of her unit, her own red eyes piercing through the crimson veil to look beyond and see the assailant. Ah, it had arrived, the second research subject. The white armor of the machine now having a new hole within it, and immediately a horrifying sight unveiled as green 'vines' bulged up into the hole and began restoring the damage dealt.

Now- It was time to do this.

The trail of light sped up, taking a sharp corner as it corrected its course and headed into the Taura's blind spot knowledge granted to it courtesy of the sphere it held within its chest. The tactical advantage provided by it lending her that edge. And with that, the gun was aimed forward, directed towards the Virgola atop the ship. One of the two was much easier to take advantage of than the other.
And it was not the massive ship.

A beam fired as the knightly demon advanced, aimed at the arm which did not hold its weapon. But in the follow up attack, a second beam, towards its main arm. Comms activated as she advanced.
"Hey guys. Sorry about the disturbance," Her voice remarked "Well, not really sorry but it felt like the polite thing to say. Regardless I would like to see the abilities of you who stand aside from the masses. So ready yourselves!"

The knight approached rapidly, readying for a full assault. She was practically giddy at this, oh it was great to let go after having to be stuck up for so long.
"Because if you do not I shall hold victory!"

It was an unseen scenario. The crew fighting in this place had never experienced a situation in which they could no longer use their equipment, all deployment hatchs and weapons could no longer be opened or used. However, Vile would not give up just from this small inconvenience. Being an experienced soldier himself, he started giving orders to the crews in order to continue the attacks as soon as possible.

"Come on, lazy asses! Get some equipment and force open those hatches! If you can't do it, then we'll find something to fire at this idiot who has dared to challenge us. If I find anyone doing nothing, I will personally throw them from the ship, so get working!" - He started shouting in the comms.

The crew would start getting their hydraulic jacks in order to force open those hatches, they had to get them open as soon as possible. Other teams of resident mechanics would start to inspect the systems in order to know what's stopping them from functioning properly.

"We count on you, JR. Show 'em what you got!" - Said Vile to his boss with full trust in his abilities.

Even though his allies had been stopped mid-air, he wanted to fight now more than ever, the sales figures would be horrible if they found out that, the great businessman JR, had lost against a single unit. The faith of his whole team rested on his shoulders, but there was someone else who could fight, someone else who somehow was not affected by this mysterious power that prevented a full-fleet attack: Kenneth.

This boy was the newest acquisition of his, JR wanted him now more than ever, he wanted him to prove his worth against this unknown enemy. He may have hit the mysterious figure, but a lucky shot would not be enough, the soldier would need to compenetrate with this ship's movements if they were to ever take them down. It was located in one of his ship's blind spots, just at its right.

"My boy, you'll need to compenetrate with me if you want to prove your worth. Get ready for some turbulences and don't stop firing! Don't give it a chance to take a breath!" - Ordered JR to his newest asset.

JR proceeded to rotate the ship at full speed to his right, hopefully aiming to crush this new foe with the bigger horns of the Taura. At the same time, the torpedo hatches would start to glow in a color of red, preparing to shoot a volley of Proton Torpedoes at it. As soon as the ship turned, he would immediately shoot them in order to create a distraction. A distraction that would give an opening for Kenneth to shoot or engage with the enemy.

As the allied ships were frozen midair and the wall of support fire abruptly, Kenneth briefly tore his attention away from the absurdly fast enemy, confused by the chaos in the comm channels.

"Uh, roger that." He responded to JR's command, and prepared to dodge.

Actually...scratch that thought from earlier. As soon as this was over, he was asking for a flight pack. Being stuck on top of a turning ship in an earth-bound mobile weapon was far from a pleasant experience. However, the movements of the vessel under his feet aided Kenneth in avoiding the fired beams as he pushed the Virgola into moving, the machine's thrusters firing and sliding it out of the way of the attacks, though there wasn't as much room to maneuver atop the Taura's hull as he would've liked.

The Virgola turned, taking a moment to stabilize itself once more, and loosed another barrage of shots. Kenneth thought his opponent would try to remain within the Taura's blind spot rather than face the brunt of the ship's weapon systems, and so laced the air in its expected path with a torrent of projectile fire. Each bullet was placed not only to hit but to force the unit into the paths of others if it evaded, intended to gradually corner it. Still, it wasn't like the Gunnery Carver was a machine gun, so there were exploitable openings here and there for the knight to escape.

At the lack of reaction from any of her foes the woman inside of the demonic knight rolled her eyes, fine then. Well at least these ones didn't bicker with each other over public channels and kept that private, if it was happening that was. If JR had any psychics aboard any of his ships by now the feeling they felt aught to be clear- the approaching Personal Trooper was clad in an almost malevolent aura that they could just sense it had always been there in the air but its newfound proximity made it all the more clear. This machine was off.

Though by now that was not an examination exclusive to those of the psychic variety as the white demonic knight's shoulder looked as if it had never been grazed. Something not likely to remain the case if she found herself inside that frontal arc however. So, as the Taura turned to face her its foe took a sharp turn upwards, moving from the blindspot to its side to one much harder for it to adjust for, the one atop of it. Right behind the 'fin' down its middle. But that required her to be fast, lest she be hit by the two massive appendages of the battleship, luckily for her, she was and she had already seen this coming.
Or, more appropriately, deducted it based off of the info provided to her.

And even better, the Virgola was already in proximity to her destination that would make outside interference even harder. Only one with good aim could shoot at her without a good chance of catching one of their allies instead. And well, having examined the helping hands of the Taura there was only one man aboard with a decent chance of pulling that one off.

As for the Taura itself, an examination was made. A conclusion reached, she had known ahead of time but now that the battle had truly begun it was confirmed. Relative to her it was too slow to get a solid lock on her on its own, it required her paths to be eliminated and to be able to get a reliable hit on her, but if it struck her, that was going to be deep trouble for her. Essentially to guarantee her own success she could not let too many of the battleship's blows land.
But she lacked the destructive power on her own to take the ship down, she could theoretically exclusively target the cockpit to eliminate the Reactor, but that was a valuable Research Subject down the drain so that was a no-go for now.

So as she weaved behind the horn of the Taura, the line of light passing by the battleship to avoid its deadly gaze. The red streams of light the reactor of the Ox fired at her as she moved between safe spots missing their mark barely as she ducked between the pattern. Zig-zagging to avoid the volley of fire and obstacles. These obstacles of course not limited to the ones fired by the golden ship. But also included the shots by the Virgola, once more attempting to lock away her options but leaving just too many openings, if it hadn't needed a moment to recover she would have needed to take a very different, much slower path to get to this location. But now she could use the small windows of needing to slow down to retaliate, something she could use on the move. As such the three Beam Cannons on the machine's left arm retaliated against the Virgola's fire, intended to strike the blue machine's feet. More to keep it on the move than anything.

And after more than one close cut with a Jr. Inc. brand projectile, she was almost there, once more taking the gun as it approached and pointing it at the Virgola. Compared to the behemoth of the Pleiades Taura and even its companion ship, the small Virgola was like a sitting duck. But that could change, she wanted it to change even just that one extra step to add to her research.

And for that purpose, she'd have to take the thing apart bit by bit until it was just that.
As she was about to get into her destination she fired a bullet from her gun, a solid round projectile going for the Virgola's abdomen, non vital location but one that would be felt by the pilot.
"Come on, you can do it." She encouraged whoever was in there over the public comms, though for them the reasons might be unclear. She wanted them to prove themselves a valid target of her Research.

After seeing the devilish enemy evade his shots with such swiftness as well as Kenneth's inability to fight on top of his ship, JR knew he had to take the fight to the lower grounds in order for the Virgola to stand a chance against their new foe without the danger of falling down to the abyss. However, he could not lose this opportunity, even if he had to retreat, an attack had to be made in order to create a chance for success. The weapon hatches of the Taura brightly shined in a color of red once more in order to leave out another barrage of exploding proton torpedoes; as JR knew they were gonna be evaded, he turned the ship backwards in order to fire a barrage of deadly scarlet lasers from the hull when the enemy was on its sight. The resulting explosions would temporarily leave a bright light that could potentially blind the enemy unit for a second. An opening that his asset would surely find useful.

But even if it didn't result successful, a descent towards solid ground would be made in order to improve their chances to success. Mixed rounds of mixed attacks from both sides of the ship would be launched in order to keep the enemy busy.

The crews of the Aldebals would finally open the weapon hatches and would now move on to trying to fire their attacks once again. By amplifying the output from their engines, they hoped to finally activate their weapon systems once again. If that wouldn't work, Vile had an emergency plan in mind: restarting the engines, but it was a dangerous option, as it would mean that their ships would fall from the sky.

She was mocking him. She probably had the right! The hostile machine's ridiculous speed had enabled it to dodge everything they had fired so far, and the Virgola's targeting computer was only barely able to keep track of it as the winged demon twisted and turned abnormally in the air. The first shot he landed was a fluke after all, but even then it had been worthless since the damage had apparently been regenerated. Unless he could land consecutive rounds, any loss of function would only be temporary, and that would only be on a direct hit. He was glad to have the battleship at his back: a full round of torpedoes might do it - no, just one would probably be enough to cripple the hostile machine.

But how...?

As the enemy closed in and began to counterattack, the Virgola leapt from the Taura's deck, avoiding the beam shots entirely. But the railgun's projectile was aimed better, and even as he jerked the unit to the right in the air the shot blasted away a portion of the hip joint's armor. As the unit came back down onto the descending battleship's deck, it took a little longer to stabilize compared to before...

JR's "flashbang" trick did give him an idea, at the very least. Kenneth hastily fired a final few shots before the Gunnery Carver split open, the sphere installed in the weapon glowing green as light built within the previously-hidden barrel.

"K-keep firing the torpedoes!"

It was a very transparent plan. But even if it didn't work, it would buy them time.

For the crew of the Aldebals a peculiarity would be noted, all the mechanisms functioned normally but they were just stuck by the psychic force keeping them from functioning. Meaning if one went through the motions of firing manually, everything still worked. At the same time they would be able to definitely link the white knight as the source of this issue, a TK-Field being generated from within to oppress their functions one generated by the will of the pilot seemed to be the case.
However, the area did have a defined dome like shape. One that went low to the ground but yet, one that could be escaped by a forced descent. Provided one also pulled up in time and for ships of this size, expertise was needed for such a maneuver, not just something any intern could pull off.

Meanwhile, as the Taura engaged its weapons once more the Pure Demonic Knight drew closer still, three bullets yet ready to fire as it homed in on the Virgola. Her sphere informed her of the possibilities, and she began a sideways dodge, only to be caught by surprise by the flash of light. That- had not been the most likely strategy to be used. New information was taken in, approximations adjusted. Curiosity piqued at this divergence.

Nevertheless though blinded for a moment she kept on the move, she needed to. The second round was fired, clearly passing over the Virgola as it moved down. The man behind the wheel of the Ox was just full of surprises today. She loved that!
But she had four more rounds for this shot- and vision began to be restored, allowing her to see the inbound routes of torpedoes and projectiles. She needed to go down, and the two combined nicely into one as the demon dove down, the projectiles above striking one another as the targeted airspace was left vacant by the swift machine. The back of the white machine scorched by the blasts in the air but remaining operable.

Meanwhile the Virgola's pilot seemed to be getting sloppy, that was a shame. But, at the same time. Progress!
The gun was leveled towards Kenneth, the third and fourth solid round being fired as she descended, aimed to go straight down the chest of the Virgola and scrape off a good chunk of metal before striking the Taura itself.

And honestly, now she was just too fired up, the hiding spot could come later.
She dashed to the front, moving further towards the Taura's rear, and with it the Virgola's backside. Her descent picking up in speed as the mech rotated around its waist, wings collapsing inwards during the fall.

It held its gun to its eye and as it was about to fall flat- the wings opened to counteract the fall. The last two shots fired that very same moment as the Rein Weissritter hung in the air upside down, taking its shots straight at the lower back of the Virgola.
"You clearly don't know how to handle a gun like that," She taunted him, intentionally this time "Show me if you can actually take a shot that isn't obvious for once, otherwise I can give you some pointers."

The plan was too obvious, it was exactly what she was being told would likely happen and so she had every counter measure in the world. But still, she wanted to see it, for she wanted to witness this maiden of sorrow to wail.
The knight with curved horns righted its position from upside down, empty shells hitting the rear end of the Pleiades. Up next, she figured, would be the big guns.

The flashing tactic had actually worked, the enemy was temporarily blinded even though they kept dodging the incoming attacks. But it was progress from their part, they now knew this devil relied on their existing senses to fight.

With it being right besides his ship and with the newly achieved information, JR reached a logical outcome: They can't hit what they can't see. The Pleiades engine went full power as he began to turn it around in order to hit the enemy. However, due to being so close to the ground, what instead happened was the ship's engines lifting a cloud of dust. This storm of dust completely swiped the battlefield, leaving the ones in there to rely on their unit's radars and sensors.

He proudly announced Kenneth of this new strategy since, after all, they needed to maintain the communication between them in order to successfully cooperate against this enemy. "Kenneth, my boy, fear not about this cloud of dust. With this, we can certainly take down our foe! Fire along these sounds!".

Through the ship's speakers, he started to reproduce the firing sounds of the Virgola's Gunnery Carver and his Proton Torpedoes. Due to their being on a shared channel with everyone on the team, Vile quickly listened to his tactic and ordered the team to act accordingly. The fact that the other Aldebaros started lighting their weapons helped to the confusion.

Shots of torpedoes would be heard all around the battlefield, with the real torpedoes being specifically directed towards the wings of the unit they were confronting.

JR was proud of this strategy, he wanted to win this fight and show off the potential of his golden bull. The desire continued to build up as the fight progressed, he only thought of themselves right now. He wanted Kenneth to succeed and he also desired to discover what this annoying enemy was made of. Even with all the gathered information about it, something still felt suspicious about the devil-esque unit they piloted. He felt a sensation like no other, as if he was fighting someone similar to him.

Kenneth pulled the Virgola back away from the solid bullets as they fell. The machine responded slightly slower than he expected - that hit to the hip earlier might've done something to the joint. The shots scraped by in bursts of sparks, sending vibrations through the machine's frame and up the control sticks.

He had a "sneaking suspicion" they weren't really aimed to hit. If so, his meagre evasion right then wouldn't have been enough. Had every shot been aimed so poorly up till now? No, not poorly. Her taunts, irritating and pointless as they were, would hold no meaning if that was the case, so every attack would have to be deliberate. Why go through so much trouble merely to annoy someone? If that was her goal, she was succeeding brilliantly.

It should have been evident to the pilot of the horned knight that her pokes and prods thus far had failed to add to the despair and sorrow needed to fuel the Sphere. Instead, a quietly burning itch to extinguish her life or at least trash her machine was present - arguably the very opposite of the emotion needed.

The light building within the Gunnery Carver began to spill from the threshold of the barrel as a high-pitched whine simultaneously reached its apex. As Kenneth brought the bulky weapon to bear, turning the machine to face where the demonic knight's downwards trajectory was taking it...

The third and fourth rounds tore holes through the fresh curtain of rising dust, too close to evade. The first did the most damage, glancing the right shoulder and leaving it mostly exposed - like the hip before it, the harm extended to the motor itself. The second grazed the left arm, taking more metal with it.

But the impacts were not enough to divert the Virgola's aim, and as the beam of chaotic energy left the barrel Kenneth swept it over the knight's location. Even if he did not know exactly where it was, the torpedoes JR had fired were enough of a targeting reference. Mere proximity to the lethal stream would be enough to melt armor...and it was certainly capable of detonating the launched torpedoes as well.

Dust arose as the Pleiades Taura made its turn, flashing lights of weapons illuminating the inside of the dust cloud. But- in spite all of that her ploy had worked as she saw the beam coming for her. Now- the next step.

Everything halted, time hadn't frozen nor was everything perfectly still. But nothing could move faster than 'this', than 'thought'. The world unfolded before her eyes, the woman manifesting a fictional marker in her mind, with a stroke a line was drawn from the lasers through the dust cloud, another circle indicated the approximate area affected. She drew various dots in the sky, where the torpedoes were expected be, and the path they would take.

She took a moment to survey her examination of the situation and concluded it wit ha nod to herself as she accepted that setting this up had meant she would be taking some damage on the way out, but that was fine. After all, her gaze followed the red line of the Virgola's Gunnery Carver- Straight towards the ships behind her. The ones yet immobile, stuck in the air by the 'TK-Field' she projected.

How many would die she wondered? But the how many was not of import, the fact that they would be dying- was.

The insurmountable loss of human life by one's own hand aught to serve fine as a catalyst for despair. A very preventable thing that, yet the blame was solely on one man. Her eyes shifted to the Virgola for a moment before returning to the ships behind her, barely visible through the dust cloud and to herself she whispered "Congratulations, with this act your lives have accumulated more value than they ever would have. Compared to these two shining stars the lot of you are specks of dust. But- you make adequate fuel for these stars of potential."

The Ox's reactor was already shifting his dynamic she could sense it- which left the Maiden and if this would not be enough she would simply need another subject to force it onto. But that was for later- for now. She needed to move quickly. The fictitious world collapsed in on itself and back into her mind, the lasers and weapons having drawn closer in these moments. The Rein Weissritter crouching slightly, its wings going upwards and in one mighty beat of the wings, it barreled upwards, forcing the dust around it down as the energy beam of the Virgola passed by her location. White 'metal' dripping down as the soles of the knightly demon had been melted by this small instance of exposure.

Explosions happened as she went up, and while she avoided the brunt of the damage, and her wings remained intact, both the front and sides of the machine were blackened by the detonations. But- ascend to above the cloud she did. Where the wings unfurled, and the Howling Launcher was pointed down.
White dripped from the soles of the machine as charred plating fell back down into the dust, revealing more and more green tendrils underneath. Structural damage had been avoided, even if only narrowly.

The line of energy, and where it had been, depicted to her the path of where the Virgola was, which was what she needed. The lower barrel of the Rein Weisritter's rifle lit up with red energy as energy beams began raining down on the Virgola's approximate location, not aimed directly for it but rather with a rather simple, perhaps blatant, purpose. To herd it like cattle into a location. But of course it had the added benefit of striking the Taura head on regardless of where she aimed. While its Reactor had been more than cooperative for her research, a little bit of extra 'oomph' aught to help him further his potential too.

Above and around the dust cloud the Weissritter was on the move, far from idly firing down, no it was in fact picking up speed, as it moved around lines of dust would be swept away and cleared off, at first only a few beams came but as it accelerated the devilish knight was moving around fast enough that the beams left by its after images were still in the air by the time the next one was already striking down on the Taura and Virgola both. The red hot energy beams turning the dirt in the air into small specs of glass that cascade down, reflecting the next beams as they rained down. A veritable laser show, and presumable quite the entertaining watch were it not so lethal.

And then, suddenly the unit hung in the air, directly above where it had been trying to get the Virgola to, the center of the Taura's backside.
The Howling Launcher suddenly burst outwards, expanding. No, growing a third barrel and making its chassis bigger as it menacingly loomed over the Taura like the Sword of Damocles.

But, the destruction of the Virgola and Taura would remove two valuable test subjects. No, no. This was for a simple reason. To make them, both of them, watch what was to come. The Howling Launcher was redirected to the side, towards the fleet stuck in the air. She would not aim to sink the ship, no that would be pointless. But instead, this shot was directed to take as many lives as possible.

"I want you both to realize, I am doing this for you- Sorrowful Maiden and Covetous Ox. Now, Howling Launcher X- FIRE!" She spoke, the gaze of the Weissritter not even acknowledging the ones whose lives it was about to snuff out. It was a high caliber, high speed, energy shot, aimed with a diagonal line that would pass through three of the Aldebaros'. This is why she had guided the Virgola to its location, her beams having cleared a path to watch the spectacle unfold.

The initial firing of the rifle supposed no problem to the mighty golden ox that his battleship was, however, something inside him responded when he saw his fellow ships being destroyed by a mighty shot from the enemy machine. Thousands of credits spent on the battleships, hiring the proper crew for them and even more, it was possible that their lives and that of his fellow commander Vile would be lost.

The communications with the Aldebaros were closed, the crew trying as fast as they could to evacuate it. Docking bays exploding, the engines failing to keep the mighty ships afloat, it was futile, the ships would fall today and all they could do was try and save as many lives as possible.

All that drove this man into a blind rage, one which was fueled by a desperate attempt to not let his desire go away. The ship went full speed at the enemy unit, firing energy beams from its main cannons. Were one to hit, the damage would be comparable to the Virgola's Carver. There was no prompt from J.R's part over the communication channel, all that Kenneth could hear would be a scream of rage, it was all left to the boy to unfold in this situation when his partner went out of control.

Even though the ship would already be affected by the sudden changes in direction and maneuvers performed by its pilot, it suddenly started to recover from that, almost as if the destroyed ships gave it their energy in their deathbed. The enemy could feel how the range of the attacks was suddenly increasing as well as the thruster speed of the ship. The falling of the ships could not be stopped, but by the lost lives of his comrades, this devil will lose its wings today.

As his shot - his shot - lanced out to strike the Aldebaros fleet, Kenneth simply watched, seemingly stunned by the looming possibility. Even as the knight's rained blazing energy on his position, he barely responded, nudging the Virgola away as molten gashes of atomized material were carved into the machine's structure. It was not until he saw the explosions in the distance; witnessed the burning, smoldering wrecks falling to earth, coffins of steel stuffed to the brim with doomed, innocent people...

if some part of his brain knew at least some would get away, what little comforts remained were blasted away by the final coup de grace. She - she played him-

Used him as a weapon, just like-

As JR roared in fury from the bridge of the battleship beneath his feet, Kenneth was not there. The Virgola stood idle-

And the Virgola stood in the midst of a burning laboratory, bringing the Gunnery Carver's weight down on a RhinoDAMON's head as the screams of countless damned souls echoed into the night.

"¡DAMN YOU... DAMN YOU TO HELL, I'LL NEVER EVER FORGET THIS, I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN FOREVEEEER...!"

"You killer! And to think we cared for you!"

Kenneth could remember when the haunting images and voices finally disappeared. When he rammed the Carver into the fuel tank; when he had completed his purpose and the deception could be safely abandoned, when he could be discarded like the other lives lost that day.

Yet he lived. As the explosion obliterated everything around him, a wall of pink crystals rose to absorb the shockwave, and the realization that he had been the centerpiece of some nefarious machination dawned upon him for the first time. That was when the feeling of powerlessness first swept him, enough to keep him weeping in the cockpit for a full day - the knowledge that whatever actions he took, no matter what his intentions, would only further malevolent interests.

Later, as he was rescued, the possibility that he could escape from the clutches of his unseen enemy came into existence. And as he joined JR's company in their work, he had every reason to believe he had succeeded. Here was a place where he could prove his worth once more, where he could make amends for his sins.

Only for the same thing to repeat itself.

Oh, god.

A tide of rapidly accumulating despair rushed up within him, spilling from his eyes as a rising cry burst from his throat. The Sorrowful Maiden drank its fill, swelling with power, until its vessel could no longer hold the surge of emotion.

The Gunnery Carver fell from the Virgola's hands, sliding across the deck before coming to a halt. The Sphere, exposed to the sky, glowed once - just once, before particles of darkness began to spread across the weapon's surface, as if shadows were leaking from the artifact itself.

In an instant... The Aldebaros were released from the psychic hold on them, every system activating properly once more, flight paths resumed weapons went online. The TK field dropped as quickly as it came down. Maybe some inside the ships, those that still lived, wondered how this suddenly was so. Maybe they could have asked where all that psychic energy had gone, surely it didn't just vanish like that.

As both Sphere Reactors below her advanced onto the next stage the Goat above prowled like a predator, and in an instant it saw its moment. Diving down with all four wings collapsed straight into the bed of chaos the Pleiades Taura was constructing, the hand not wielding the gun stretched out as it dove down.
One person, and one person only would get the answer to where all that psychic power had gone.

Kenneth.

As he was swallowed by a sea of despair on the corner of his vision he could see... red.

It was like a faint memory of the real world, behind him a city in front of him a beach with a red sea. And standing upon the shore, a woman with blonde hair.
A black and white pilot's helmet to her side as she looked towards the sea, she was a fair bit shorter than him this he could tell. But frankly that was far from the weirdest thing.

It was like she moved in and out of existence, the woman's pilot suit looking just like the devilish knight seen outside. When she faded out it almost seemed like the Weissritter itself stood there for the smallest inklings of time.
"You've been quite helpful, thank you." A voice called from her direction, the same that had repeatedly tried to spur conversation over the comms during this encounter. It was ethereal, but at the same time sounded like she was drowning.

The woman slowly turned to face Kenneth, the man catching a glimpse of a crimson red eye looking his way in an inhuman way yet still from within her socket.
"But I'll be taking that thing now."

The moment had come, psychic force struck Kenneth with the subtlety and potency of a thousand, thousand sledgehammers. Not with the intent to kill, but to close all paths. For this split second, this brief moment in the smallest fraction of time. The sphere was trying to connect to its owner.

From within the darkness of the weapon there was a red glow, the same crimson red as the orbs upon the Rein Weissritter. The one diving through the fire of the Pleiades Taura that the Beam Coat of the Weissritter absorbed the brunt of but still bursts in the armor were clear as its regeneration fought to hold on tight.
And exactly as the psychic sledgehammers struck Kenneth- the Demonic Knight plunged its hand into the Carver.

Inside the Rein its pilot felt as if she was drowning, this trick only worked in this instant, and not upon the sphere of greed for its grasp was firmer to one's belongings. But- on the Maiden of Sorrow.
It almost crashed into the Taura, as its claw like hand grasped something.

"Sorrowful Maiden! You. Are. MINE!" She yelled. In lieu of its intended master this instant the Sphere sought for the next best target, in this case the only one possible as all others had been put behind the psychic barrier around the sphere. It could, and would, only acknowledge her.
Green tendrils burrowed into the blackness, wrapping themselves around the red orb within and pulling it up. Once it had vanished within the hand the Rein Weissritter pushed itself up, the green musculature of the knight pulsing with energy as the second sphere was added to the Goat's vessel.

The red sphere above the triple barreled laser cannon sunk into the flesh of the Rein Weissritter, in its place a green sphere suddenly appeared. The same that had been in the now reformed Gunnery Carver laying besides the Virgola. Below the machines' red eyes two cracks formed or rather, mutated, emulating streams of tears. Alongside this the Demonic Knight still had its curved horns, the resemblance of the Goat.

She took deep breaths as she watched the Virgola, the first of the test batch had been made. Reactors without spheres who would progress alongside those with. To compare humanity to their peers with these powers. Quite well done if she had to say so herself.
And now, with the Maiden serving the Goat, the energy output of her machine had greatly increased. Regeneration picking up in this moment of rest alongside the Virgola.

Her eyes suddenly went to the horizon, she could feel something coming. Another- which could only mean. Oh she was getting giddy again.
"Yes!" She smiled, kicking the now empty Carver to the form of the Virgola as the machine began ascent once more, with the Ox active being right on top of the Taura was bad, but she needed both the new research subject and the test group to participate in this, especially now she could get data on having two spheres.

Of course, Sanity dictated she retreat. But- there was information to be had.

Sanity had no place here tonight it would seem. With the explosive hiss that typically came with rocket fire, a volley from a fair distance away was visible- The source being a single Tausenfuesler, flying dangerously low to the ground. It looked dangerous, aiming for the Demonic Knight- But it was absolutely too far away to have any lasting impact, or to even hit.

Most of the missile went wide, streaking past and going off in the distance- But one missile seemed right on target, with just a bit extra packed away on it. A lone metallic figure that was almost invisible until it was too late. And in the milliseconds as the missile got closer, the figure grew larger- until it's Super Robot sized fist was aimed right for the Mobile weapon's cockpit.

Chojin Zest had arrived on the scene.

Clap, clap, clap

A sharp, rhythmic noise interrupted the proceedings. It was somehow audible, even of the scream of the missiles, over the howl of the Pleiades Taura's batteries, and the exhilaration coursing through the systems of the Rein Weissritter and its spasmodic pilot. A voice crackled to life over their collective speakers, seemingly accessing their private channels with contemptible ease.

"The so-called investigators. You've done well, Kenneth."

Not far from the Virgola, just slightly above the doubtlessly traumatized young man's vision, a knife of light appeared, suspended in the air. In a fashion not unlike it was carefully trimming through silk, it slipped through the sky, as though a pane of glass have been overlaid on its surface. A familiar, clawed hand closed about the "lip" that had been created in space-time, pushing it out with a herculean amount of force, as a shadowy form made its presence known.

"In fact, you exceeded my expectations. Thanks to you, the Sorrowful Maiden has awakened. However..."

An oblong, bizarrely proportioned arm pushed, and the distinct, tusked form of the Arietis emerged into reality, suspended in the air by the fluttering of its thrusters as it beheld the Virgola below. It had been some time since they had been face to face - yet not even the obscuring power of the Sphere would be able to hide to Kenneth that there was something... different about his mortal foe this time.

As if... It were a different person.

Within the cockpit, a veiled form narrowed their eyes in anticipation, sizing up the three remaining Reactors as the Special flexed its claws, eager to begin its bloody work.

"The truth..." Said the Lying Black Sheep,

"Is something you'll never grasp with your own hands."

The situation had grown out of J.R's control, there was little he could do right now, as desperation conflicing with his desires to keep his company afloat and his employees safe from the danger of death. He had now failed as a bussiness-man, he was ready to perform his swan-song, until Kenneth's loss.

He was shocked when he realized his recently-hired commrade had now fallen at the hands of the devil. On top of it, he saw how it shape-shifted into a more hellish form. What was left for him to do? Even if it happened during a brief moment, he was in shock over what happened this last minute... But a sliver of hope emerged, not only in the form of Zest's miraculous reinforcement, but from one of the remaining ships...

Vile saw the complete situation, doing everything in his hands to try and recover from it. Now that the TK Field no longer was inhibiting their systems, the torpedoes were fired, lighting the snowy scenario with red light. He was second to J.R and fully knew that nonetheless, he needed to act. He quickly left the bridge in order to grab a pilot suit suited for space, one of the only available in the ship for the moment, a knife and jumped from the ship in order to retrieve Kenneth.

The new enemy had appeared, shaping menacingly over them. Now JR had a reason to regain hope, he aimed his ship's weapons at the new enemy and contacted with the Taussen. "I genuenly thank you for the assistance! We will later have time to talk the situation. However, now it's time to smash".

In response to the Sheep's speech, he responded with the following: "The only truth here is that you'll repent showing your ugly face here!"
After ending such a statement, the cannons were quickly fired to their new enemy.

Kenneth looked up, messily wiping the wetness from his face and eyes, shakily inhaling life back into his lungs.

The hazy landscape before him proved unfamiliar. But the voice and the occasional visions of the demonic knight beyond the veil were telltale indicators of her identity, and he currently had a few choice words for her.

In an instant, anger asserted itself, moving to crowd out despair. The pilot's fingers tightened around the controls, and he surged to his feet as the woman turned, as her eye-

But a heartbeat later, he was no longer standing, crumpling onto the central console as his legs simply gave out beneath him. Something had impacted him somewhere, and for another instant he considered an actual attack on his persons.

Then the remainder of the psychic barrage struck, and that thought was immediately banished. It far transcended mere physical pain, serving simultaneously as a thousand brutalizing hammers, an iron vise tightening around his skull, and searing red-hot daggers being driven into every inch of his nervous system.

Disbelief. Such agony should not be possible - either to inflict or to suffer. It was simply impossible for mankind to be born with that capacity. Perhaps, when Kenneth recovered, he would recognize the significance of that desperate thought. But not now. Unable to muster even a rudimentary defense against a form of attack he had never encountered, his mind seemed to crumble away under the inexorable pressure.

The scream that emerged from him now could only be described as bestial in nature, as rational thought was either bludgeoned or squeezed from his head.

Fortunately, the pain subsided quickly - at least to those not targeted by it - leaving "merely" a splitting headache, an abundance of fresh tears, and yet more pitiable wailing. The ordeal would end in time for Kenneth to hear the Black Sheep's words, maybe even allowing him to recognize the arrival of assistance. But it was safe to say the Virgola would not be joining in on the battle. Momentarily deprived of pilot and permanently of power source, the machine sank to its knees, systems slowly spinning down to a halt.