Starfall Tears (Combine, Open)

Aug 25, 2018
205
0
16
#21
Like all battlegrounds, it was hectic. Idly Laura wondered just how many of the participants had ever experienced something like this, yet that thought never paused or even slowed the veteran of countless battles down. The moment the Owl showed herself Laura's attention shifted entirely to her. What's more, the sea of Spirits roused more than they had ever before, their instinctual anger demanding Owl's utter annihilation.

Yet... the twin lances of light descended on the battlefield, piercing the empty vacuum of space as they wreaked havoc on the Directory forces. Immediately they all knew who had come.

Duminass. Within reach at last.

Even before she had consciously come to the realization, the cast processes of a dozen Dogmas had started inside her, aimed at the one that had taken everything from her. Yet those Dogmas would never be finished.

Pain. All over her body, excruciating pain humanly impossible broke. Like she was being torn to shreds, forcibly reassembled only to be flayed and torn anew over and over in less than a second. Her mind was crushed to a pulp and carelessly tossed aside, no longer in control of her body. Of anything at all.

"a-" A single noise was all that escaped. A quivering, strangled mess, a whimper forced out through a choking, crushed rippling throat. Not the loud yell of pain it was supposed to be. Merely a tiny whimper cut off in an instant as soon as it began, as something infinitely greater than Laura took control of her body and mind.

Only silence remained.




Gone.

Their world was gone.

Their friends. Their homes. Their beloved memories.
The starlit sky, breathtaking in its beauty.
The sun, the mother of life and warmth, caring for her children.
The wind. The gentle, caressing breeze taking away your worries with it.
The streams that sang a lovely song for any with ears to listen to it.
The deep roots of the earth. The steadfast, reliable support and backbone of the planet.
The light, easing your fears and worries and showing the beauty of the world.
The dark, shadows that protected and offered refuge when the world became too much.

Gone. Everything was gone, never to return. Everything.

rainbow-text.png




There was a ripple in the space around Vermilion Protector, the properties of said area changing. Then another, and another. Until the space was rippling and waving like a lake's surface after a stone was thrown in to the lake. And the light began to bend, being absorbed and siphoned by the Vermilion Protector, the Autowarlock becoming nothing but a white outline shining as bright as a star.



▂▂▂▂▃▃▃▃▅▅


With a deafening, mind numbing roar, all the light that it had absorbed was sent out of it, the ripples in space stilling in an instant as the Autowarlock was completely hidden, suddenly hidden by a massive cocoon of light. The roar itself traveled through the entire battlefield in an instant. It was not a physical sound, instead assailing everyone inside their minds.

A choir of countless numbers, roaring as one. Wordlessly expressing their pain. Their anger, their sorrow, their hatred. Their lust for revenge. Yet alongside the voices was also the rumbling of the earth, the fierce gales of a tornado, the roaring of a tsunami and an inferno both as all the Spirits of a lost world bellowed out their pain.

▂▂▃▃▅▅▅▅

With another roar, the cocoon unfurled from the front like a pair of great wings, revealing Vermilion Protector.
vermillion2.png

Its visage was unchanged, but it was bleeding with energy, as the power of all the Spirits together that now inhabited it was far too great for the Autowarlock and its pilot to contain for long.

It was tiny in comparison to the great wings of energy that had unfurled, now forming a massive half of a circle that was pointed towards Duminass.

Every tiny portion of the surface of those great wings began to...move, forming innumerable 'points' of light brighter still. A closer look would finally reveal the true nature of what had been the cocoon.

Magic circles. Each one rotating around its own centerpoint, pointed towards Duminass as they were.

Hundreds - no, thousands of Tontatons cast simultaneously with nary a thought,

rainbow-text(2).png

The vengeful Spirits growled in unison.

This spelled their doom, their final action as who they were. Their reasons were their own, yet the Spirits whom had lost their sapience had all desired vengeance above all. Whether it was because of hate, sorrow, anger, pain or simple desire to get even every single one of them desire naught more than revenge, to avenge their world.

And that single, unifying desire had made the impossible happen, and the mass of innumerable Spirits that had mostly been fused together after several years inside Vermilion Protector had managed to force a Possession. Yet being contained in such a tiny body would complete their fusion, and their identities woudl disappear foreer.

But not before revenge. They would tear Duminass to shreds as their final act.

With a final howl, the burning Autowarlock crying to the space above, the Tontatons were launched at Duminass.

And the world exploded in light
as the colossal wave after wave of laser beams shined brighter than anything else
for but an ephemeral moment of vengeance.​
 

MKR

Moderator
Staff member
Aug 19, 2018
626
3
18
#22
The man had expected a reaction from the one besides him, this.. Was not the expected result, an unseen, unexpected phenomenon a feature of the Vermillion Protector they had never made, had never been intended yet here it was. In all its horrifying glory the Kurogane had served as a glorious callback to the final days of the revolt against the Great Circle, that... That called back to the other side, the part no one liked to remember, the lives lost on the way there.

But it was not something he could do anything about now as Possession was initiated, the most currently available was feel the Spirit within his own machine cry out in distant rage alongside the others. An acknowledgement that time was vital. The situation needed to be resolved before it resolved itself. Prometheus grit his teeth, the Taó̱s Tails moved back to the unit, circling around it. He wasn't going to let this happen, not again.

No one would need to die that way ever again.

Much as he'd liked to have fought Duminass on equal terms against a machine such as that, in a state as such he'd likely be shot at by both sides meaning he would need to set up a long range firing line, or open one up... Owl.
"I leave the Liege Geios to you, I'll dispose of the commander."

With that the Duraxyll returned to the Kurogane, bringing it face to face with another of Duminass' children and its personal body guard while the AA fire happened around it.


"Owl, in stead of your 'mother' you will have to suffice for now." The Tails began to dance around the soon to be battle as the Kurogane attempted its retreat from Pater the almost 'human' gaze of Duraxyll crashed down on both Teugetail and its companion, "And after Idol, no.. I believe she was referred to as 'Nona' you will be the next to fall to me." A base taunt, but given their effectiveness proven prior on the so called Idol one had to try them. The sooner the ship was released the sooner it could aid the possessed woman.

And with that Duraxyll landed on top of the Space Noah, ready to do battle with the others present. Introducing them to a hail of fire from the Tails as they danced around, shooting sideways and up, but not down to avoid further damage to the ship.
 
Aug 4, 2018
334
0
16
Somewhere in the UK
#23
"Is that thing.. killing itself? Talk to me, Alex."

The Valsione went still as it observed the Medius's transformation, seemingly transfixed as the machine in front of her awoke. Most people would have fled at this point, but Kath's motivation for staying and watching was fairly simple. She wanted to see what would happen next, and opened up a comm line to respond to the slightly bizzare threat.

"Been there, done that. Normally we stick Valsion plating on top, but-"

"Hostile incoming!"

Kathryn wouldn't have been able to dodge the first blow from the Medius, her brain still catching up to the sheer speed the unknown mobile weapon displayed. But she wasn't the only one at the controls. A deft - if predictable - movement from the AI got the Valsione out of range of the initial claw strike, but was just a second too slow to get out of the way of the followup. The machine was sent flying, building up a fair amount of distance before the pilot could properly right herself.

"...Could've been faster on the warning."

"There was no time. Recommend withdrawal and delaying strategies for now."

That monster was fast. But it didn't seem to care about Kathryn or the Valsione. Not exactly a bad assumption to make, considering how well the barrier had deflected her first attack. She needed something bigger. Not to draw its attention, but to end the fight before it truly began.

"Nah. Dumping it all into the Hi-Mega. We'll see if she can block that~"

Kath started to laugh, a soft chuckle echoing out as the Hi-Mega cannon began draining power from the reactor. The glow in the Valsione's various beam rifles and cannons quickly faded, to be replaced with one single blue glow on the MW's back. It might not have needed the entire output, but this wasn't a situation where she wanted to take chances.

Her own beam fired a split second after the Medius, bathing the void of space in a cool blue light - a harsh contrast to the burning red of the Medius's own strike. There was nothing subtle about this, no attempt made at a sneak attack beyond a refrain from Kathryn's usual habit of calling her attacks. Just pure power. The roar of her weapon was swiftly drowned out by the screech inside her head, the psychic roar rolling over the battlefield hitting her at an appropriate time. It emboldened the girl, driving her to let out her own call to battle.

"You think one hit'd be enough? Fine."

"Have one of mine, then!"
 
Nov 12, 2018
52
0
6
#24
"They - they rammed the Tantra - "

Evidently, the Meyven's companion was yet to share his impassioned poise. The Org-Valu had simply remained frozen as the Kurogane violently tore into the Tantra, silencing the battleship's main weapon in an astounding display of pyrotechnics. What was wrong with the natives? Spacecraft were equipped with cannons and shields for a reason - but, no, nothing here was a manifestation of reason.

The world was going simply, thunderously, furiously, murderously, going rainbow.

Elhirut shot another hurried glance at his heads-up display in an ultimately fruitless attempt at grasping the situation now unfolding. First: more heat signatures, bursting from the Tantra's cavernous hangers. Just how many Bioroids or machines had been compromised? Second: a scattered cloud of debris, a myriad number of unburied and dead lost to the blackness of space. What had that energy signature been?

And third, the reply to the second: countless lives burning in the dark.

Countless lives burning in the dark.

Countless.

Countless echoes.



Just like a supernova, the alien Psychodriver thought. Momentary. A second-long break in the clouds, gazing up at the countless stars of the night sky.

The sky of the chained vessels that laid between, and the fire. The fire that had cracked worlds.

That had been different, that roar of the victim, that roar that demanded recompense, but why - why was this beginning to feel familiar?

"N-no. Not here. Not again. Just - just focus."

The Org-Valu's insistent reports yanked him back to the present. There was something else that needed addressing, and it came in a pair. Elhirut blinked away his visions, crushing his welling emotions under an imagined heel, and recomposed himself at the controls with shaky hands. Madin. Follow Madin. And, yes, thank everything above, Madin was here, and the Circle machine ignited its thrusters. Another barrage of missiles leaped for the incoming swarm of Liege Geios from its chest, roughly dispersed in an attempt to break up their approach. Then, the Org-Valu swung around, aiming its shoulder-mounted cannons towards the threat emerging at the Kurogane's bow. Already, he could see the Duraxyll beginning its own engagement, the blurs of drone-weapons dancing about.

Once more, malice.

"Meyven!" he hurriedly spoke. "Will you - I'll accompany our ally. Please, allow me. If you require assistance - "

Elhirut's machine accelerated up and forwards, a glow beginning to build within its abdomen. Towards Decima. Towards Duminass's puppets.

"I'll do whatever I can."
 
Jun 28, 2018
100
0
6
#25
Another day, another crisis. Another eldritch abomination bending the fabric of reality, and another slate of heroes awakening to their own nature in response. Over there a ship blew up. Over here a giant cycloptic waffle made its entrance. At one side something... seemed to sprout wings, and at another something turned itself inside out. It had often struck her as remarkable how mankind had spent millennia searching the heavens for sentient, organic life and finding little more than gas and minerals, only for this era to shower the poor little marble with all manner of corpulent space aliens and malleable night-or-outright-living mecha.

It might not be long before they finally found those elusive space whales at this rate, you know?

Well whatever. A job like any other, if she could shower them ordinance and live to tell the tale then she'd get another bankroll to both reload and acquire some shinies. VangRay touched down on her trusty shuttle and slid smoothly into its kneeling stance, the clamps locking around its legs to turn it back into its mobile armory mode. From this vantage point she could watch the contacts shoot around until an obvious vector to tackle presented itself. Little dots with text boxes attached roving through her monitor panels. Rising or lowering in output, chasing one another. Firing off attacks. Heck, maybe she should fire off some rounds at those turncoat units to justify her- wait hang on.

A glitch?

One of the nearer dots changed position too fast to be normal or natural. It wasn't really even a flight so much as it was in one place and then the other the next, like a hiccup in the sensor suite. Lag data perhaps. Or just an energetic neuron somewhere from a cosmic ray causing a number to flip. Which shouldn't happen because this rig was specifically built to not be susceptible - unless possibly her contraband had caused a- JUHEEEZUS WHAT IS THAT?!!!

She perceived it faster than the sensors could - that massive sodoff beam headed straight for them. On reflex her heel hit the floor and the Utsuromaru made a jack-rabbit lurch straight backward, twirling out of the way after a few tense moments to watch the light parade go rolling past. She watched it sail into the distance with an impressed whistle. Only to pout, turn her head back the other way, and shake her fist at the unseen, unheard pilot across the way. Barking merely to herself, much as one does to a crazy driver to vent one's frustrations.

"Jackass! Watch where you point that thing!"
 

GEAR

Administrator
Staff member
Jun 15, 2018
1,165
1
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#26
Kurogane Airspace

"Aww, that was you? So sweet!" Cooed Decima to Prometheus as he approached the ship, her eyes narrowing into slits as the Teugatail patted its mount affectionately on the shoulder.

"Kill them all."

The colossal beast roared silently into the void, rearing back and beating its chest as fire from the Taos Tails, Railgun and missile rounds from the Org-Valu and anti-aircraft guns alike raked its surface, scoring deep, pitted marks, tearing chunks from its form - but were wholly unable to slow it as it charged, a lumbering, gorilla-like advance as it lifted itself forward on its knuckles towards Prometheus. En route, it swung out an arm in the biggest clothesline the world had ever seen, smashing its outstretched arm into the bridge of the Kurogane, causing the metal tower to bend and buckle as explosions ripped across the vessel's surface before taking flight, rocketing up towards the target of its ire with a riproaring cloud of destruction at its back.

It wouldn't be long - at the pace it was accelerating, the Duraxyll would be within range of those huge, grasping claws that had ended the lives of so many of his comrades, the beast's eyes focused on the emerald defender before it. Adding to the fury, the Teugatail popped over its right shoulder, energy gathering in its waist before releasing a beam that came snapping at the Shadow Mirror leader's underside, aimed directly at the outstretched legs of the unit.

"D-Decima?!"

Madin, overhearing the transmission, stood stock still with disbelief at the appearance of the Teugatail. It couldn't be true. It just... Couldn't. The sweet, innocent young girl, whom he had promised to reunite with her parents, who had wormed her way into his heart-

"Aww, are you disappointed, my prince?"

Her words seemed to jolt Madin awake, and he exchanged a glance with Elhirut as the storm of Liege Geios temporarily abated, perhaps exhausted of its numbers for the moment. Was this some kind of nightmare? Surely, surely he had just imagined it-

"I'm really grateful, you know?" She continued brightly, "Thanks to you, this world will soon belong to us! Father will be so pleased with me!"

Somehow, through all the emotion, he managed to force out the words.

"You... planned this?" He said, feeling his stomach turn like never before, barely forcing the bile down as it rose in his throat.

"Decima... Do you have any idea how many-"

"I know! Isn't it great? Squish, squish, squish! That's the sound your eyeballs will make as I stomp them flat!"

The Teugatail tilted back to look directly at the distant form of Madin's Zeidram, soulless eyes twinkling merrily in their sockets. Within the cockpit, Decima gave a wolfish grin that was anything but childlike. Finally being able to be herself was really the best part about today!

"When we're done, none of you will be left! Not a single one! You'll be exterminated like the cockroaches you are, and there's not a damn thing you can do to stop us!"

He didn't even realize he'd pulled the trigger until after the fact. Couldn't hear himself over his own scream of hatred as everything else was forgotten. The Zeidram thundered down towards the approaching "Owl" spitting death from every one of its onboard weapons, power already gathering in its hand as it prepared to crush its mortal foe, once and for all.
 

GEAR

Administrator
Staff member
Jun 15, 2018
1,165
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#27
"Oh-"​

Brilliant light. The Vermillion Protector blooming into a miniature supernova seemed to give Duminass pause as it lifted a wing, shielding its "eyes" from the radiance before it. There was something... Nostalgic about that sensation, it thought. As though a hundred voices were, all at once, crying out-

Liege Geios and Huckebein stragglers alike were swept up in the blast, their frames bursting like overripe fruit or vanishing wholesale, disintegrated under the torrent of pure fury. Duminass too, seemed caught flat footed as it reared back - not far enough, as the blast washed over it and its companions, terminating in a cascade of detonations that rippled across the battlefield, and an array of shouted confusion by the surviving Directory troops. Clouds of debris, dust and smoke flowed in all directions, hiding the result from view.

...

Had it been that easy? Had all that was needed to vanquish this terrible evil, been the righteous fury of those it had wronged?​


"Worthless refuse."

If only the world were so kind.​

From the smoke, a thick, slab-like arm extended itself out into the void, blowing away the storm about its person as it was joined in short order by three additional limbs, unfolding like an origami puzzle of colossal scale. A titanic winged "head" sat atop a diamond-shaped body swaddled in plates of heavy, golden armor, under which peered out two additional sets of eyes, blinking as they focused on the sight of their mortal enemy.

The Energy Barrier about Duminass form still crackled and snapped from the strain of the attack, particles pinging off its surface. It dwarfed the Protector now, towering over it as the wings about its form beat gently, like a parody of the guardians it had once slain. For the first time, anger dripped into Duminass "voice", its tone rattling like a hornet trapped under a cup as its new hands closed collectively into fists.

"If you miss your world so dearly-" Boomed Duminass Triton's voice as it called to its foe;

"It is my duty to reunite you."

At that flourish, the four arms attached to it suddenly rocketed away, flares bursting from their rears as they soared towards the Protector, each aiming to sequentially smash into its body with horrific force, arcing through space on trails of white. In addition, the sphere at the bottom of the abomination came to life, rolling in its socket as the area about the Protector seemed to darken - to the machine and its composite wills, it would seem as though strange, luminous characters were floating towards it in space like a vacuum, surrounding it, like the whispers of madmen as it lashed the will of the spirits, attempting to crush it wholesale-

And that of the pilot.



Within the Tantra

...

How much further?

The thought must have occurred to Remedy as she walked through what felt like endless, winding halls. There was something awful happening to this place. The low hum of machinery had thickened into a constant whine that hurt the ears, and there was the deep, distant thrum of what felt like a heartbeat that now added to the din, sending faint reverberations through the walls, the floor... Everything.

At long last she had reached the bridge. The doors creaked open after hammering away at an emergency release - and she was immediately rewarded with the fresh scent of blood as she wormed her way between the opening made. The beating was now almost deafening in volume, and the entire, massive room seemed to be cast in red emergency lights, its electronics sputtering and fizzling. She had emerged on the second floor of the bridge, overlooking the ship's vast command center, below which every possible aspect of the vessel was managed.

Yet, if she were to peer over the guard rails, something was immediately visible that was out of place. The floors, everything below was being pulled ever-so-slowly into a kind of sinkhole, as if it were being slurped down some massive hole. And at the center of that mass, pulsating vilely, impossibly huge nestled in a bed of wires and cords that illuminated its horrific, fleshy surface with every beat, was-

1611460401872.png
 

GEAR

Administrator
Staff member
Jun 15, 2018
1,165
1
18
#28
Hiryu Airspace

The Valsione's blast lit up the battlefield, pouring over the Medius form at near point-blank as it punched through the glowing Terminus Energy shell that served as its shield. The superheated, overcharged plasma scythed into the beast's metallic flesh even as it rushed in to challenge the damage, sending flecks of burning Lasmunamium in all directions. Rasping holes burst and popped across it's body as it brought an arm up to shield the glowing red core upon its chest from the fiery retribution. As the barrel cooled, and the light wore off, however-

A looming, hulking shoulder filled the Valsione's view, bulging, insectoid features scarred and distended as it seemed to almost envelop the smaller machine with its size. They were so close now, she could have extended a hand and touched its face. For a moment, it was as if all was still - the roiling flesh of the muscular titan, poised over the slender, feminine frame of its foe. Its one, non-melted eye narrowed into a thin, leering slit as Nona spoke:

"Goodbye, little doll."​

A single second in time that had felt like an infinity came to a rushing halt as the Medius' right arm came forward in a flaming uppercut, Terminus flames wreathing its extended claws - and drove them violently into the exposed belly of the Valsione.

The Getviewm, for its part, experienced success - Remedy's blade caught the machine's swing, causing its thrusters to flutter uncertainly. Had it miscalculated somehow? Or was there some greater malfunction at work? Regardless, it didn't have another moment to process the cause of its error before the laser sword sliced down, cleaving it handily apart, leaving the two halves to careen away before blossoming into an explosion.

Something seemed to be happening, at least with the Leige Geios units. The ones that were present had started... rattling, almost. The lights on their bodies flickered on and off as they began to shake terribly, electricity crackling across their frames. The effect was spreading as well, causing at least a temporary halt to the seemingly endless waves of artillery fire as one by one, the Circle machines began to fall silent. Even those that had been closing on Sayuri drew to a halt, bonking almost comically off the surface of her ship as they drifted listlessly through space.

"What's happening...?"

On the bridge of the Hiryu, Captain Harris bit her thumb as she surveyed the battlefield. I couldn't stop it, she thought bitterly. I couldn't do anything. Over and over, the scene of the Abraham being destroyed played out in her mind, trying to override her thoughts, her feelings - but she couldn't do it. Couldn't afford to lose focus. Not here, not now.

"C-Captain..."

"What is it?"

A report was shakily placed in her hand by a white-faced aide, and she lifted the tablet... only for the color to drain from her features as well.

"The main fleet... They're launching the MAPW."​




Countdown Until MAPW Impact: 6 Turns.
 

MKR

Moderator
Staff member
Aug 19, 2018
626
3
18
#29
As the woman arrived within the sanctum, at what seemed and felt like the literal heart of this operation and immediately it hit her as she stepped in, even in the void of space she could still taste the blood hanging in the air. Now the command center lay in front of her as she stepped in, the pressure of darkness mounting as she clutched her forehead with her hands. Nails biting into her scalp as her eyes danced around her skull, moving independently of one another as they danced around the room, surveying every screen and watching every side. So much going on, so much happening at once. She couldn't keep up with the information presented to her.

Eyes forward eyes forward, her mouth opened but no sound came out, in spite of an attempt to. She wanted to scream, she screamed, but with nothing to carry the sound. No air in her lungs or around her it was moot. A scream for her and her alone this was, as she forced herself forward she stepped to the guard rail, holding on as she looked over to where the wires connected to the machines went to.
[Cause of Anomalies located, broadcasting location]
She saw it below, the wires coiling and weaving like a nest of serpents around it. It it was the new center of the Tantra, the one pulling the strings of the Leige Geios, she looked upon it with a sickened look upon her face, she wanted to crush it, maim it, turn it into a pulp.
Cause, symptom, cure, remedy, continue.
Erase it, destroy it, make it vanish.

Kill it kill it kill it kill it.
ERADICATE IT!




The momentary success was offset by the sudden weirdness as the Leige Geios began shaking, the Getviewm using this moment to back off from them as Remedy tried to figure out what was going on. That however was cut short by a sudden overwhelming feeling of nausea, the eyes in her skull rattling as one began to move independently from the other towards the Tantra, iris zooming like the lens of a camera as she covered the other with her hand.
[Data received: Location of anomaly cause. Parsing information.]
She saw it. It it it. Disgusting vile wrong wrong wrong. Cause, symptom, cure, remedy, continue.
[Unable to contact administrator 00 for directions, recommended course of action is extermination]

Even cowering in the hull of the ship could not save it from her sight, cowering, running, sinking, guarding. Her eye followed the movement of the beast within, following, seeing, tracking, hunting. She would find it and crush it, maim it, turn it into a pulp.

Erase it, destroy it, make it vanish.
[IT WOULD STOP MAKING HER FEEL THIS WAY, THIS SICK, THIS DISGUSTED, THIS IN PAIN]
Kill it kill it kill it kill it.


Her hand moved to the controls again as the Getviewm panned to the Tantra in an unnatural motion, more like a doll having strings tugged then any real movement, the beam sabers retracted as the demonic machine lined up its gaze with the thing it could not see. But she could see it, feel it, see it, follow it, predict it, know where it was and would be.

She would eradicate it, eradicate...

The Enigma Machine's arms went to its sides, the two tails that danced on its back shifted to the front, pointing themselves at their goal. The course was set the location was known all she had to do was pull the trigger.

"ARBIT BLASTER!" She screamed to herself, immediately with it the machine's chest exuded a bright white light, its chest opening up with a loud click devoured by the void of space before the wide light spread, mounting and in an instant, released. Fired in the distance towards the Tantra, towards the worm crawling deeper into the dark but still in sight, towards the one she had seen.

It was a white streak across the stars, painting in the color of nothing. The darkness of space, the mix of everything, penetrated by this one beam of nothing aiming to punch through the Tantra's shell and devour the parasite that dwelled within, the worm crawling deeper and deeper underground. It was her target, it was to be eradicated. As the snaked wings of the Getviewm coiled back towards its back Remedy placed both her hands over her eyes, sobbing to herself. It hurt it hurt pain anguish shared but not halved. She wanted to be rid of it, to suffer it no more.
 

MKR

Moderator
Staff member
Aug 19, 2018
626
3
18
#30
The sound of metal breaking, heard only within the Kurogane mixed with the cacophony of warning sirens evacuations, the second things began going up top they had to be in the lower bridge for exactly the reason that had just been showcased.
"Headcount! And give me status on Typhon as well as Duminass and the Protector!" the captain called out, he needed to know how many men he had left to man this ship even while he was on the move through said ship to reach the secondary control room, people with devices bustled around maintaining eyes upon the situation at hand.

"Battle still ongoing, Duminass seems to have changed into another form. A different one as what we've seen."

"Typhon is still operational sir!"
That was good, that meant the prison for Duminass persisted, they simply had to hope that the Vermillion Protector could finish it off.

"Sir, situation update!" A portable device shoved into his hands, the latest.

"Dear god. LOWER BRIDGE NOW. HEADCOUNT LATER." He yelled as he ran off to the 'new' captains chair. People looking in confusion at what had caused this.

"MAPW INBOUND!" That first word already got them moving, those weapons. Those damned weapons aimed purely for slaughter.
Each and every one of them loathed them they ran opposite to their ideals and purpose. A weapon simply to kill.




As Decima was enjoying herself the Taó̱s Tails danced their dance, moving to circle above the Duraxyll like a halo as it steadied itself, gazing upon the foe of all that lived. "How amusing." Prometheus interrupted Decima, "To think your 'mother' scolded me for having emotions, calling them imperfect and unfit for her new world. And yet here you are, her hellspawn. Equally if not more imperfect in those same ways."

So many lives lost with that one maneuver but he had to continue, had to walk the path. There was no backing off now and the dead could be mourned when the ashes had settled, the Owl had to die today as did her mother. Which left but one of the three and their 'father' it seemed. The issue however remained of the Owl barreling down at him perched upon its shoulder its charge. The real target, wounds did not seem to slow it down but perhaps.

Prometheus quickly moved backwards to avoid the attack from the Teugetail as well as retain a somewhat secure footing for how much that counted in the current environment. But the main focus here was what came next. A red glint from its eyes indicated it had started something, perhaps Decima had seen her mother deal with this attack. Perhaps not, it mattered little now.

Four bundles formed, the Taó̱s Tails combining in two sets of four and two of five and immediately moved to look at the battle from above them all, energy built up within the four groups as the Duraxyll raised one arm.
"Hope. Fear. Determination. Emotion." The man within spoke up, Hand hovering over its shoulder, gaze affixed on the devil upon a shoulder. "I shall give you a taste of these 'sins'."

"BUSTER CANNON!"

The hand moved forward, like a general ordering a bombardment.
"FIRE!"

Green light danced across space, intent only for one target and disregarding its larger partner. No this was an attempt to eradicate Owl's smaller peer before it could reach the Duraxyll. The four beams shooting downward and connecting at the Teugetail's location in an X pattern, with one from each direction. Its peer had fallen to a blow from the claws, how would it stand up to the leader of Shadow Mirror.
 
Aug 25, 2018
205
0
16
#31
There was no reaction from the Vermilion Protector as the four arms approached it. Had Duminass' mental attack done its work and left the pilot too disoriented to continue fighting? The answer seemed to be yes as the arms arrived ever closer, and there still was no reaction.

Until the first arm got so close the distance between them and the Autowarlock was less than the arm's length. Only then did the Vermilion Protector move, for their hatred had cut through the mental attack effortlessly.


But when the Vermilion Protector moved, it exploded into movement, an enormous storm of thunder and lightning burst from the Autowarlock, expanding into a massive sphere of electric judgement that engulfed the arm completely within it in an instant.

The Autowarlock's own form was completely covered in lightning that ran across the surface as well, yet instead of damaging it the electricity gave it incredible mobility. The instant the electricity came it had flown upwards, slipping past the arm with laughable ease at speeds that would outpace the other three. Where it flew by it left behind a bright line, like someone had painted on the space. Initially it moved upwards with a slight curve to the left, away from Duminass, before returning to where it would have ended up if it flew in a straight line. There it came to a stop as abruptly as it had begun to move, at the same time as the sphere of electricity dissipated at the original location, revealing what it had hidden: a magic circle as blue as the depths of the ocean, pointed straight at Duminass Triton.

The Spirits did not tarry long, only staying long enough to leave a second magic circle pointed at Duminass, this one as green as the leaves on a tree in the middle of summer. The two magic circles were connected by the bright curving line of light, the connecting light pulsated, like the blue circle was feeding the green one. An instant after placing the green magic circle the Vermillion Protector was gone, once again arcing away from Duminass for a bit before returning as it flew upwards and to the right until it was directly above her.

The magic circle placed there was red, as fiery as a blazing inferno, and once again the connecting light pulsated as the previous circle fed the new one. Now, with half of it finished it was clear what the vengeful Spirits of the lost world were after: A circle with Duminass at the center.

Directly opposite to the second circle but on the other side of Duminass a brown circle the color of earth was placed, and finally as a mirror to the first circle, the fifth and last circle with the color of steel was placed and the Autowarlock came to a stop. Yet the light that had connected all the circles to one another kept going, connecting the fifth and the first, completing the circle.

There had been no words, no singular yells that announced the depths of their anguish and hatred. There had only been a constant, everpresent growl growled at once by countless spirits.

The circle of five elements complete, only now did the attack begin. All at once:

A pressurized tsunami of water launched itself at Duminass.

Great roots grew from the circle of wood, reaching for her to constrict and crush her body wholesale, great branches and trunks growing out of the roots to impale her form.

Roaring inferno of fire launched from the circle of fire to burn Duminass into ash, the river of fire magnificent in its fury.

An avalanche of gigantic rocks blundered through space as they were launched with force equal to a great volcano's eruption, bludgeoning the target.

A hail of long lances of steel shot straight at Duminass, to skewer her body.

They had launched at the same time, and all five touched Duminass at the same time, the elements feeding one another as they collided, enhancing their destructive force even further. Eventually all five elements had combined and melted into a singular sphere of destruction around Duminass, in order to destroy the blight once and for all.

Each time one of Duminass' arms were about to hit the Autowarlock, they were met by a wall of several identical Dogmas, great balls of energy that if the arms were hit by would restrict their movement and lock them in place for as long as the Dogmas persisted. Attempting to at least force the arms to stop their attack if not stop them altogether.

Yet despite being untouched by Duminass, the Vermilion Protector itself was far from undamaged, its wings had outright crumbled to dust when it had finally come to a stop and the lightning ceased to bolster its movement. Furthermore, all around it the surface was...melted and cracked. While sturdy, the frame of the Autowarlock had simply not been built with Possession in mind, and the awe-inspiring power was wreaking havoc on its container that was incapable of containing it.

Nor was the body of its pilot faring any better. The body looked like it was covered in wiggling and writhing bugs, as despite the body as a whole styaing still each individual muscle was contracting and expanding on their own as the body was controlled by the spirits. And they were doing it with such force that all around the body the skin began to split, as uncountable tiny cuts opened themselves, blood dripping out of them drop by drop.
 
Last edited:
Aug 4, 2018
334
0
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Somewhere in the UK
#32
"Yeah! Suck it, you ugly-"

Kathryn's celebration was more than a little premature, starting when she saw barrier break with little regard to what happened next. But her eyes weren't the only ones observing the Medius.

"Incoming!"

A shrill siren accompanied the warning, but it was more of a formality - things had moved too fast for Katherine to be able to respond. The Valsione's arms moved up to block, barely in time to lessen the impact as the uppercut shattered its arms. Every layer of the armour was tested - and proved wanting, crumpling one by one under the sheer force of the impact. They did little more than buy time, but against a strike like this every fraction of a second counted.

Sadly it wasn't enough to allow the Valsione's cockpit to eject safely. The Medius's fist made it in before the internals could make it out, but the blast wave from the attack violently threw her into the back wall with enough force to shatter bones. But even without that, the sheer heat would have been enough to kill a normal person through their pilot suit. While the Valsione's plating may not have held, the armour she wore while piloting was enough to keep the young woman alive as she was launched out into the void of space.


Crushed bones, internal bleeding.. these next few hours were going to be hell. But it was better than the alternative. Kathryn's unconscious body drifted through the void, a small flashing distress signal alerting the nearby Starseeker units about her current status.

<"Valsione status: Nonfunctional. Pilot alive but unconscious... immediate medical aid requested.">
 
Nov 12, 2018
52
0
6
#33
The Org-Valu rocketed forwards and "up" as Prometheus evaded the Pater's grasp, a furious glow still growing below the machine's chest. Uncomfortably ensconced within its cockpit, Elhirut grimaced as the Zeydram blindly charged, spewing fire from every one of its weapons. So this had been Decima's endgame - the appearance of that horror in the distance, murderer of an entire world.

Not good, not good, not good -

"Meyven! Restrain yourself! I saved you once - don't make me do it again! Now isn't the time to - "

With a flick of its thrusters, the artillery machine arrested its forwards movement, coming to a halt. With another touch at the controls, the light in the machine's abdomen roared out into open space, trajectory pulled from behind the "Owl" in an attempt to avoid hitting the charging Madin. Combined with the Duraxyll's Buster Cannon, the paired barrage formed a massed crossfire that even threatened the Teugetail, even considering that the small machine was not the Org-Valu's target. The Kurogane's outer hull, unfortunately, would likely prove to be a innocent bystander without the capability to move out of the way.

But the Meyven was still there, and the chance that something unfortunate happened wasn't zero amongst the hail of fire.

Hurriedly flipping through nearby frequencies, Elhirut's eyes settled on a name, and the Getviewm's communications flared to life as the Org-Valu connected.

Why did he choose her?
Because those wings had sung a song, and an infinite number of threads had vibrated in response.
He shut out the world for only a moment, reaching for the Enigma Machine with hands and eyes more sensitive than any biological organ. He found her anguish, circled in, tried to ignore his own panic, the feeling of impending misfortune. He became a bridge, a lifeline, straining across the open space.

This is what you were born to do.
A thousand threads, a thousand strings, a symphony. Please. Take hold. You know what to do.
"De Bougher," he declared, speaking with a moment of faultless clarity. "The Meyven's at risk. Assist if possible. Please."

The battle came crashing back in as he finished his words, and he jinked suddenly to the left in an attempt to throw off any possible counterattack. As it moved, the Circle machine reached behind a hip, withdrawing a hilt, and allowed the accompanying energy blade to flare to life.

As long as it takes.
 
Last edited:
Jun 28, 2018
100
0
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#34
A little box popped up on the VangRay's hud about then, illustrating with cheery graphics the newly acquired weather advisory - cloudy. 20% chance of floating mecha, 100% chance of naval precipitation. Rain Of Fire watch in effect for the next 5-10 minutes. Conditions may be hazardous, so please take caution when planning your travel route for the day, and expect delays. All of which produced from her an audible groan, as she reached for a lever on the ceiling of the cockpit.

"I swear, t's one thing after another today isn't it? Just kill me already..."

The lever clicked. Clicked. BOOM. A brilliant explosion rocked the little runabout - that of the VangRay blowing itself apart.













About the time any eye would be drawn to the flash of the explosion, they might just as easily have noticed three comets halfway across the distance to the Medius and Valsione. Inside her cockpit, Sayuri clutched tightly to the lever, holding a pull-up that had her flush against the ceiling. The floor below rotated, flipping itself over, swapping out the interface. By the time it clicked into place, so did the resounding thud of one comet latching itself to the top of her core block.

Her legs curled down to catch the pedals of the riding console, using it to flop herself onto her belly atop it and hold on tight will all four limbs. A further thud had the Gokuen module latched to the rear skirt, which set off the cartoonish sound of a gunshot through the cockpit. On the HUD, a speeding bullet set the word RAY spinning, switching the display over with a flash. The little wind imp in the corner giving her an animated thumbs up.

A drifting tender | Come ride, heroes, ride
Her galleon severed | Away with the tide
Freed of the armor they'd worn in the hangar, the legs of her machine were now lined with red stripes. The stripes were continued along the two replacement modules she'd launched alongside her... rather rapid ejection from her shuttle. Now that they were all joined, the machine moved three times faster than it had any business going, all finely tuned and coaxed by the precise squeeze on her throttle. The roll of her foot against the pedal. The leaning of her body against that of the chassis she was straddling. A further full-contact instruction, and the engines flared further, rocketing her with blinding speed toward the Medius Locus.

In the span of a second, the offending machine went from dot on the horizon to rapidly enlarging behemoth on her viewscreen. There was only a moment for the distress signal to pop up on the side of her screen, or for her to whistle at the violent silhouette nearly twice her size. It was scarcely enough for her eyes to dart, her fingers to twitch, and the four remotes on her rear rack to burst off guns blazing at the Medius. Their shots would arrive before they did, and they before she did. A pelting of variable-speed particle cannons as an opening salvo, the figure in red and black closing.
The stormhead gathers | Come ride, heroes, ride
Illusions scattered |Away with the tide
The remotes swerved out of the way once their parcels had been delivered. The VangNex's hands darted out to the sides, a handle vaulting from her pack to her palm, elongating into a weighty broadsword just as she arrived. A whirl in place, and the blade came crashing down on the Medius Locus, her chipper tune echoing off the walls of her cockpit.

"Mind if I... cut in?!"

As it happened though, in the same moment the blade came about, the as-yet unladen arm was not idle. The remotes having swerved, one had quietly directed itself toward the source of the rescue beacon. As it passed behind the woman, the VangNex's trailing hand just as quietly and swiftly lobbed a round of adhesive in that direction - just enough that it might plaster the floating figure to the make-shift stretcher, and let it make its merry way to the Hiryu.
 

GEAR

Administrator
Staff member
Jun 15, 2018
1,165
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#35
Kurogane Airspace

Four lights, like lanterns in the black void, as the Duraxyll made its resolve known across the battlefield. The emerald-trimmed general's FCS locked cleanly onto the demure form of the Teugatail, perched on the back of the lumbering Pater - and fired, four rip-roaring blasts spearing out into the void - accompanied almost simultaneously by Elhurit's own beam from the glowing belly of the alien weapon, as both alien and terran joined forces in a struggle that would have been all but unthinkable to Prometheus and his companions in their home world.

"...Hehe."

All according to plan.

"VANISH! GAZER!
"

Energy, so bright it was almost blinding, burst into being in the palm of the Zeidram as Madin came crashing down on the Teugatail. He could hear the warning in his ears ringing from Elhirut, trying to stop him, trying to make him see reason beyond the red haze. He was right, he realized - It was enough to just briefly, momentarily attract his attention away from his target-

There was a sharp, metallic crunch, and the Zeidram's momentum suddenly stopped cold, as though it had run face first into an immovable rod.

A childish titter echoed in the cockpit, as Madin felt his mouth filling with his own blood.

"Hey, do aliens have souls?"

The Teugatail, gripping the Zeidram's outstretched arm at the wrist with almost comical ease, flexed the other hand it had buried into the chest of its would-be killer, blood and oil flowing about it an a violent cocktail that streaked its form with crimson.

"Let's find out. ♥"

Her legs kicked out, swiping the chest of the Zeidram as hard as it possibly could - and sent it careening back into the four rays of light. Everything, for a moment, was nothing but sound and fury. Prometheus' beams streaked across space, visible even from across the battlefield on the deck of the Hiryu. Elhirut's own beam sliced into the fracas like a knife, punching through the other side - and into the flank of the already critically wounded Kurogane, sending up a fresh wave of explosions as the once great vessel began to reach its limit.

Yet, for the seeming genius nature of the play-

A hulking chunk of metal barreled through the explosion - the Pater, mangled almost beyond recognition, swinging its sparking, muscular arms wide inward like a steel trap, enclosing the waist of the Duraxyll in a death grip. Its once ornate, sculpture-like exterior had been completely eradicated, leaving only bare metal, writhing wires, and clusters of eye-like MadNet pods that squirmed within a sunken, charred frame as it began to squeeze, crushing the body of the Cho-Masouki in a bear hug from which there would be no return.

"You...!"

A trembling, timorous voice - the exact opposite of what it had been before, filtered over the airwaves to the two of them. Something else darted from the smoke, its lower body having been completely cut away, sparks fluttering across its now crumpled wings as it beat a hasty retreat in the direction of the Vermillion Protector. Decima fought back tears within the cockpit, her whole body shaking like a leaf.

Bullies were really the worst.

"H-How could you do this to me?" She cried;

"You'll pay...! You'll pay for this, both of you! MAMAAAAAAA!"

All that remained was the silent, charred body of the Zeidram, floating through the vacuum, now irreparably damaged, the soul within it fading fast.
 

GEAR

Administrator
Staff member
Jun 15, 2018
1,165
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#36
Duminass' grasping arms, gargantuan in size, pressed greedily against the protective Dogmas of the Vermillion Protector. Slowly, but surely, their pressing digits snapped and cracked their way across the thin, yet powerful surfaces... Yet, as the Protector unleashed its attack, they simultaneously withdrew, falling into what appeared to almost be a series of holes in space, where they flowed back out around Duminass, their surfaces scorched and torn from the Od.

"What... are you?"

It was the closest Duminass had ever uttered to a fearful statement as the kaleidoscopic wave of color came crashing towards it, the magic circles surrounding the spirits mortal foe. In response, it raised its hands - and a colossal blade blinked into existence, grasped resolutely between its palms as it stood its ground. Why, thought the construct, was its whole body rattling like this? What was this... sensation? Never, not in all of its years had it faced anything like this.

"This imperfection...! It cannot stand...!"

The elemental blasts roared inward - and Duminass simultaneously cut outward, dozens of identical blades winking about it, matching the elemental storm with a hail of metal that would have buried an entire fleet. Even so - many shattered as the cataclysmic forces combined, swords impacting and shearing apart the magic circles as flames, earth, and all manner of torture licked Duminass body, leaving its heavily armored surface scarred and pitted, wings aflame or shorn into tatters, crystalline swiveling malevolently up in the direction of its nemesis as the swords that remained arched towards the Protector, six in number that were aimed to pierce its chest - though their sheer size alone would see to it that even a glancing blow would shred life and limb as the destroyer of worlds fought desperately to keep the avenger of the fallen at bay.



Tantra Bridge

Wrath from the heavens.

That was the only way to describe it.

It must have felt like such a shock for Remedy, for the brief moment of her life that remained as the spear of power punctured the surface of the vessel. The entire room around her, bathed in plasma, rending apart metal, bone, and flesh... until naught but atoms remained. The detonation was visible, a plume of flame that spewed up from the vessel, spitting shards of debris left and right.

And what remained, was-

Pulsating at the bottom of the crater, atop a mountain of debris, the "brain". There was an unspeakable vileness to it, as for Remedy to merely look upon its countenance would be like someone hammering burning hot nails into her skull, sending bolts of pain cascading through her mind. It had a presence. Something that seemed to swell up as it came into view, like an opening iris, and she was now affixed firmly in the gaze of something truly evil.

Movement.

The brain, against all reason, seemed to rattle in its tower. There was a motion like the rolling of shoulders - and chunks of metal fell away, clattering into a useless heap about two hulking, dull-grey metal feet as the thing's... body, for lack of better word, sloughed off its shell. Thick cables ran from its back into the Tantra, as it stood almost sixty meters in height, rising with a grinding, mechanical slowness to its feet. Bright red emergency lights still cast its dull, grey body in a crimson glow - no work of beauty, but almost industrial in shape, made of coils and pipes and bars that gave it a dated, unrefined quality, as though it were some long-forgotten device from another time.

Instead of arms, a pair of colossal, off-grey containers hung off to either side of its shoulders. Despite lacking eyes, there was no doubt now that it was looking at her, somehow, from its place among the ruin. As if a pair of colossal fingers were reaching down, and gripping her squarely between thumb and forefinger. Light glinted off the brain's surface somehow, and then-

brainstatic.gif
 

GEAR

Administrator
Staff member
Jun 15, 2018
1,165
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#37
SIGNAL LOST
ATTEMPTING MEMORY CORRECTION.


CONNECTING TO QUANTUM DATABASE...
ESTABLISHING HIGGS NETWORK UPLINK... DONE


PROCESSING REQUEST, PLEASE WAIT
RETRIEVING RECORDS FOR INSTANCE Q3204045824020... DONE


109/117 FILES CORRUPTED
ATTEMPTING RESTORATION, PLEASE WAIT
HACCEITIC THOUGHTSEED DISRUPTION DETECTED


ACTIVATING EMERGENCY PAIN SUPPRESSION PROTOCOLS
COMMENCING HIGGS GRAPH OVERLAY







"A true event horizon. It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Memories flooded Remedy's mind... or, something of the sort. Whether they were hers, or another "hers", it was uncertain. Voices, images, some distorted, some torn, yet all flowing together like a river, or a symphony - a cacophony of being. Another voice like hers, another face like hers, squeezing her hand tight as they looked on in wonder at the sight of the cosmos being born.




1612266920140.png

Falling, falling. No, sinking. She'd been careless. They all had been.

But, what were they supposed to do?

Too fast, too far. The dark had come so quickly, so surely, they couldn't fight it. Jet black tendrils like vines, running up the length of her body, ensnaring the Getviewm as she was dragged over rows of identical bodies shattered beyond belief, hearing the childish laughter of the monsters from the dark, small hands now seizing her arms and legs, as they started to pull-




static 2.gif

SYSTEM MESSAGE:
This service is being discontinued. Please report for decommissioning.
This service is being discontinued. Please report for decommissioning.
This service is being discontinued. Please report for decommissioning.
This service is being discontinued. Please report for decommissioning.
This service is being discontinued. Please report for decommissioning.
This service is being discontinued. Please report for decommissioning.
This service is being discontinued. Please report for decommissioning.
This service is being discontinued. Please report for decommissioning.
This service is being discontinued. Please report for decommissioning.
This service is being discontinued. Please report for decommissioning.




1612267110223.png

Soft voices in a sunlit room.

"It was you, wasn't it Iris?"

п я─п╟п╨п╬п╥я▐п╠я─я▀

"Appealing to emotion won't save you here. We're all part of the same system."

اÙ"إعÙ"ان ا​




1612267769898.png

Heat crossed her - their bodies. Against all odds they were here, they had made it, and yet...

"We're already too late-"

No. She knew that in her heart, as the Getviewm turned and looked at its fellows over the blasted hellscape that had once been the most beautiful and sacred of places. They hadn't failed. Not yet. The solemn vow was sworn. Those responsible for this... all of this... would be held accountable.

"It's never too late."

She believed her words.

She still did.




1612268194599.png

Her eyes fluttered open. Neither here, nor there, staring up from the heart, the very pit of her own soul. Countless bodies drifted upward from her in a line, spiraling gently towards the light, and an uncertain future. So many Getviewm, yet many whose eyes were now dark and dim, the lives in them sacrificed for the greater good. Such was their purpose.

It was dwindling, that she knew. No longer did they reach across the cosmos in an unbroken chain, a net of held hands that kept others safe. How many remained, still? Not even she knew.

"How much longer do you think you can keep this up?"

She wasn't sure if it was her own voice, or perhaps someone else who spoke, finally breaking the silence-




Report: Rebooting Successful
Hacceitic Interference Dampener: Active
Files Recovered:
Objective: Protect the masyaf.

Returning to battle.

Not a moment too soon, the Getviewm moved under her fingertips, Remedy being snapped awake, eyes as wide as saucers.

She knew what needed to be done. What this thing was. What it had come to do, as it had done to so many other worlds.

As if in response, one of the pods of the monstrosity below unfolded, a lumbering, multi-barrelled gatling cannon spinning to life as it drew a bead on her location. It roared to life, spitting death into the heavens, tracking the Getviewm mercilessly, aiming to chew it apart as it had countless times before - and in addition, was joined now by the distant thundering of the Tantra's anti-aircraft batteries, beam cannons firing below up at her location.
 
Last edited:

GEAR

Administrator
Staff member
Jun 15, 2018
1,165
1
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#38
"S... so cool..."

Captain Harris had watched the spectacle of the VangRay's transformation on screen with the awe of a girl who had never seen such a sight. One could almost see the little sparkles about her eyes, before snapping back to reality. This, after all, was hardly the time to be fantasizing - there was a coordinating to be done.

The VangNex's blasts peppered the Medius' bloated exterior, each shot punching through the fluttering TE Sphere's protection as it continued to swell, cutting deep into its body as it began to "bleed" molten metal that quickly bubbled up like foam, already replacing and mutating even further the flesh that had been burned away. Already it was starting to look more and more like a misshapen clay doll, every successive wound drawing it further and further from its humanoid form as two long, malevolent looking appendages burst from its back, each like a cross between a spine, or a tail, tipped with glowing, cruelly hooked claws.

It lifted the Valsione, impaled on its claws, close to its heart-

A series of oozing, gel-like tentacles oozed out, glowing like lava-lamps as they groped out about its body - and in moments the Valsione had vanished beneath the surface, head first, the core swallowing the beautiful Mobile Weapon whole. The last of the legs vanished, slurped up in a fashion not unlike a plate of Spaghetti as the abomination redoubled its growth, Terminus Energy radiating from its body as its thrusters sent it hurtling to meet the nimble VangNex.

"Urrgh..."

Blood ran in a small river through Nona's hands in the cockpit as she heaved, bloodshot eyes looking up fixedly in the direction of the VangNex. She didn't bother to touch the controls.

It didn't matter.

Not any more.

It wasn't listening to her.​

And soon, soon... It was going to take her too. The pounding headache, the pain in her throat, her stomach...

All of it would be over soon.

With a flick of one of its legs, the Riot Boomerangs were launched, four sets of bladed metal shrieking off into space towards the VangNex, the Terminus Energy wreathing their forms more than enough to sear its armor, or cleave it in twain. Adding to this, as soon as it was in range, the monster lunged forward, claws outstretched, raking them once - twice- thrice in quick succession, aiming to violently disembowel the 'Nex much in the same way it had the Valsione before, even as its thrusters sputtered and howled with the effort of its constantly increasing weight.




Countdown Until MAPW Impact: 5
 

MKR

Moderator
Staff member
Aug 19, 2018
626
3
18
#39
She took cautious steps back as the brain crawled its way out of the pit, with her hand she pointed the gun towards the foe as if that threatened it. As if it would be scared of her alone, her free hand clutching the front of her head, nails biting into the place where they had drawn blood before droplets floating in the former room with no atmosphere. It wasn't killed, it wasn't dead. How dared it live. And then, the flashing light. Her mouth opened wide as her body went limp. A scream to the void eaten before it could even attempt to be uttered. The light faded from her eyes, in fact the eyes themselves whited out as she floated there.




Inside the Getviewm Remedy suddenly clutched her head pain she could feel an eyeless gaze upon her. It hurt hurt so bad, how dare it live, how dare it inflict this pain upon her. How da- Pause, the body went limp, dropping face first onto the console as the tears stopped as if they were switched off by a remote.

Introspection, memories? Her's or her's? Scenes she hadn't seen, vistas she hadn't viewed. How long were they lost? How long was she lost? Where had she wandered? Where hadn't she wandered? Why was she asking such things? Who could answer? Was there an answer? No. The dark, the heat, she felt them draw upon the edge of her consciousness as if they longed for her to remember them but she couldn't, couldn't acknowledge them or wouldn't. Awareness of them was painful, it hurt her but forgetting again hurt more. How long has it been since she woke up? Has she ever slept?

She discontinued to exist, how often had she died? 'She' died? Yet she lived?

Belief. Belief, Faith, Creed, Law... Law Law Law.

After all this time, she still believed. In what? Justice? It was never too late to find out what she believed.

A question hit her, hard as rock and cold as ice. Contemplation, conclusion. An answer. She had no idea how she came upon it yet she knew it the moment it was asked. "As long as is necessary." She answered to herself, no use answering memories. Memories? Her's or her's?

A voice calling out in the dark, his voice. Eyes returned to function opening wide as they could before resetting to 'normal'. Awareness, awakening. She was back, in more pieces then before yet at the same time more whole. Her body lurched backwards into its seat in an unnatural motion, as if a puppet had its strings pulled again. An order, dedication, motivation, reason. She was called and would answer, all the sadness faded from her lips as she was called to duty.
"Yes Masyaf!" She answered. Why did she answer that? What did it mean, she knew the voice was that. But why? A question for later, for now.




Her eyes returned to function, her own reflection on the glass around the brain, her gigantic eyes returned to normal and the pain faded. As she floated in what used to be the bridge she grasped her weapon. The pain while faded was present still and as she pointed the gun forward her mouth moved, words to be read upon her lips.


"I remember you, I know you... But I am not alone," No sound but she was sure it could read her message, it was smart enough for that.

Two voices, one devoured by space one to only be heard by herself. Neither had felt this alive before and while their brains yet boiled at the notion of the brain, they were functional. Continued to exist and fight against it and its children.

"WE ARE NOT ALONE!"
Space, crashed around them, the words seemed to echo through and reverberate across the void of stars. Perhaps some could hear the call, but they knew who could hear it for sure. How did they know? They couldn't tell but they knew, they knew. They had heard.
Windows scattered across the vast sea of stars, two behind the Getviewm one behind the lone woman floating in space. And out of them peered a set of green eyes each.


She had come to her aid, and she had come with. And of course, wherever she went she came along. Such was only natural, it was expected. It did not surprise the two women who were already here, as it was like an instinct. Though they soon forgot how they had even managed such a feat.
But that mattered little, as now two Getviewms flanked the one that was already present, and the third floated out of its hole, holding its arm over the floating woman, catching her in its grasp as it moved to the side.

The cockpit was quickly opened for her, and within the Remedy that had floated in space before would find. Herself, of course. Expected, she was simply glad to have air in her lungs again.

And to the two by her side the Remedy who sat in Getviewm motioned, "We know what needs to be done!" She called out to her peers. "Alright the three of you help me, while I go help the Masyaf." Though the words were confusing the last one even to her, they all understood each other perfectly, as the hail of bullets came down upon her she dashed out of the way, towards Elhirut while the two new arrivals looked forward, within Remedy nodded to herself to her side. The twin Getviewms dashed forward, shooting their reactive beams in response to the hail of fire that met them, the two of them intent on meeting up with the two that were inside the fourth unit.

Meanwhile the first Remedy moved as ordered to the side of the Meyven, the Getviewm caught the floating machine and began pushing it towards Elhirut.
"I have him sir," She replied "But I don't know how much there can be done, with the Tantra compromised. Would you like for me to bring him to the Hiryu for potential recovery?" she asked, ready to act at a moment's notice as per his command.
 

MKR

Moderator
Staff member
Aug 19, 2018
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#40
Grit teeth, why did he have to so carelessly dive in as the assault continued, a shame truly a shame. One more soul lost to the void that devoured all, but still no time to mourn. The owl came down on him with its death grip, shaking the cockpit of the Duraxyll. A truly disgusting sight that thing, beneath the visage of the owl lay only a monster, disgusting in nature and appearance. A puppet to be used by a child to brutally kill. Said child running off towards her mother. Something he'd love to stop currently but was too preoccupied to do so.

Duraxyll by itself could not stop this assault, it did not have the raw strength to match the Pater. Such was the obvious danger but like this- like this he had his out. For while his waist was grabbed the right arm of the machine was yet free and even more importantly... The remote weapons above. All eighteen danced around and down, the free hand suddenly emitted a dim red light the same weapon that had killed the first of Duminass' children, the Hyper Oscillation Claws. He brought it down right upon the center in between where the two originally visible eyes were punching in with the claw lit. The beast cared little about such damage but there was a control center in there, the many eyes likely contributed to that and if he created enough of a gap.

With that the magicks he possessed pushed back, using the little 'wind' to delay the crushing demise that was inbound, it was taxing for sure to once again use it on such a scale but it was that or death. And he'd rather be tired then dead.
As this happened the Taos Tails in two sets of nine found themselves at the 'shoulders' of the machine, placing themselves nearly upon the surface of it they began to fire their lasers down, at it. Like two sets of nine laser cutters that circled the parts where the arms were connected to the body slowly but surely. A methodical dismemberment. Literally.




At the lower bridge of the Kurogane the captain scratched his hair. There was no easy out, either the MAPW were going to come down on them or something else entirely. If they wanted to live they needed to evacuate now.
He sighed "All non critical personnel, emergency escape protocol Delta. I'm not going to sugar coat it, you either get out here or die."

Silence overtook the secondary bridge.
"Typhon maintenance personnel, you will stay here until Duminass' defeat is assured. I will remain too, the rest of you go to the escape pods and try to obtain safe harbor with the Hiryu." They always knew that dying was likely in situations such as this last time they had rammed a tantra so they had made it out but there weren't any MAPWs or world ending threats involved that time. How nice it had been back then compared to now, and how it disgusted him to think that.

The crew looked at one another, silent nods between one another. They cleared the room one by one, until it was only him and a handful of people that remained in the bridge. He took one of the microphones and send a broadcast.
"Calling to Hiryu, this is the acting captain of the Space Noah class Kurogane. Our vessel is unable to break out in time to escape the incoming heat signatures and as such our personnel will shortly disembark in escape pods and request aid. We hope you will provide them this shelter."

The man took his glasses, cleaned a fleck of dirt on them as he spoke.
"We also hope that you will provide a safe shelter for the machine which heralded our arrival here, I will remain on board with a select few of my crew if the incoming MAPW can be stopped we will do our best to dislodge the Kurogane if not, we ask you do your best to preserve the shine of the stars above." At least that was one thing, they got to die beholding the sea of stars surrounding them. A victory over Duminass as their continued existence would spite her ability to flee.