A Leaf Adrift in the Wind (Gear)

Aug 25, 2018
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#1
Sigrid’s escape from the battlefield had halted, with Sigrid frozen in terror. The horror she had felt when the destructive beam had dropped had only intensified when she had noticed the falling satellite.


And while her eyes were witnessing the thunderstorm that was tearing the dropped satellite apart after a comet had risen against it from the ground, her mind was struggling to come to terms with it. That her side, the cause she had fought for was behind it.

At last the blinders she had worn since childhood came off as she was witnessing the spectacle. Dad had been a good man, a good father, this she was still certain of. But had Terra Sentinel ever been what she had thought it to be?

Sigrid shook her head furiously, both to get rid of that thought as well as to distract her from the horror she was still witnessing.

It did not matter. Whether Terra Sentinel had ever been what she had thought did not matter. What mattered was that this iteration of Terra Sentinel was not.
And she needed to get out of there. Far away from the crime site.

Jaohm abruptly turned and continued its flight, Sigrid ignoring the smell and the uncomfortable mess marinating her lap. thankfully that was easy thanks to Terra Sentinel.

They also were the cause.






January 19th
23:13
Huangshan, Eastern China



It was several hours later now. After the first one instead of continuing to haphazardly fly around without an end point in mind Sigrid had set course for one particular place, hidden deep inside the breathtaking mountain range of Huangshan.

She was on foot now, exhausted as she was. She had landed Jaohm… less than gracefully a short distance away, signaling the small base she was headed for that someone from Terra Sentinel was coming. Her clothes weren’t covered in her vomit anymore, she had cleaned that mess with a small application of Prana, but the smell was still there, bothering her nose as she took one step after another.

The damage Jaohm had suffered in the landing did not bother her. She did not want to continue to use that machine. Her father had used it once, and she had been happy piloting it. But it reminded her too much of her adoration of Terra Sentinel, blinded to the ugly truth of what she was a part of.

But that was why she was here, trudging in the foliage ocean of the valleys of the Huangshan. She was leaving Terra Sentinel, but she would take something from them before doing so.

An Elemental was stored here, and from what she had heard it would be easy to obtain.

The small facility it was stored in had been built on the root of one of the mountains, or more specifically to one of them. It was carved to the mountain and the ground around it. Sigrid did not see any outward defenses as she approached where she knew the gate was, but she had not expected to see any either. Hiding was the best defense for a base like this, if it was found out it would be taken easily.

But that was much easier said than done. She knew that the gates were where she was looking at at the bare mountain side, but she could not see them. The only suspicious part about it was seeing it be bare instead of covered by foliage at this altitude.

A small hole, enough for a person to walk through, opened on the mountain. A middle-aged man with stubble stepping out of it with a lit cigar. He took one look at Sigrid as she came closer, exhaling smoke. “Girl, you look like absolute shit.”

“Smell like it too, what the hell did you do before coming here?” He continued as she walked close enough for him to smell, before shaking his head. “No, nevermind that, don’t want to know. Plausible deniability and all. Just get your ass inside and quick.”


Sigrid stopped and blinked blearily at the man. She was all but spent, already having trouble staying on her feet. After a second she complied, slowly moving past the man and inside the tunnel he had come from.

She heard the man wearily sigh behind her, and her ears registered the sound of him stomping something to the ground.

Then she let out a surprised yelp as she was picked off the ground. “You’re in no position to walk around or do much of anything girl, faster this way. We’ll go take a look at the machine first thing tomorrow alright? You just worry about rest. There’s a vacant room here where you can crash while we prepare the Elemental and wash your clothes.”

“Just this once we’ll only take half the price for the service. We’ll send the bill alongside the one for the Elemental itself.” Her carrier added, but she wasn’t sure whether he was serious or not.


“So, my name’s Harry, I’m technically in charge of this place. What of you girl?” The man asked, but one look to the girl in his arms told him that she was already falling fast asleep.
Harry shook her lightly, making sure she did not fall asleep just yet. “Now now girl, no sleeping just yet. If you fall asleep before we arrive at your lodging for the night I’m dumping you to a bath, clothes and all. You really could use some cleaning before sleeping.”

Sigrid half opened one eyelid to peer at him. “Sigrid.” she murmured in reply.

Harry gave her a smile. “Welcome to the Huangshan branch of the Alkahest Corporation Sigrid. It’s no five star hotel but it serves its purpose.”
 
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Aug 25, 2018
205
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#2
January 20th
9:16
Huangshan, Eastern China
Alkahest's 'branch'


"Wake up already girl! There's been some new global developments!" It took Sigrid a moment to place the soft bed she woke up in, as well as the name of the man waking her up.

"Finally up eh? Much as I'd like to let you continue sleep off the prana exhaustion we don't have that luxury. Your head honcho made a global announcement just now. You had something to do with it yeah?" Harry continued as she rubbed her eyes, giving her a sharp stare. "Doesn't matter. The entire crew around here - not that there are many of us here mind - has been uneasy for the last few hours. Something is afoot here in this land, and we don't like it. Your clothes have been cleaned, they're right there on the foot of the bed. Clean yourself up but be quick about it. I'll be waiting outside the room for you."

Sigrid sat in the bed until Harry had left the room, and only then left the cocoon she had made out of bedsheets. The shower woke her up nicely, and as Harry had requested it didn't take her long to be ready for the day. Sigrid left the room with one last longing look at the heavenly bed. Just how much money had been sunk to this place?

"Taken a liking to our beds have you? All of us were just as surprised as you were by how good they are when we got here." Harry chuckled. "I'm pretty sure that if bossman or any of his underlings tried to take them away from us they'd have a bloody mutiny on their hands."

"They are nice." Sigrid admitted, and with that the two went back towards where they had come from last night. One of the doors they had passed led to the base's break room. To Sigrid it was a waste to outfit a base as small as this with such a large break room. Not to mention that it was complete with a kitchen and nearly all the possible recreational activities, but that was what the break room here was, for some reason. Apparently it was the largest room in the entire base aside from the hangar, and that hardly counted.

There were two men to the side, chatting over cups of coffee. They raised their heads at the door opening but went back to their conversation. Sigrid watched the tape in silence, Harry studying her instead of watching it a second time. Looking at the recording of the transmission Hyperion had done Sigrid was sure if it had been two daysa go she would've eaten it all up completely.

Now it just made her bitter and angry. Several times she caught herself gritting her teeth or having curled her hands into fists with white knuckles and having to force herself to relax. There was an awkward silence after the video ended.

"Well? Can we go check Legerior now?" Sigrid asked awkwardly.
 

GEAR

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Jun 15, 2018
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#3
The Buddha's Light crested the horizon, casting all of Huangshan in its welcoming glow.

In spite of Hyperion's announcement the prior day, all was calm, all was still.

It was as if the world was holding its breath, waiting for the cosmic shoe to drop.

Every Directory base in the region was either on high alert, in the midst of an insurrection, or anxiously awaiting responses from its higher ups that would never come. Not in time to prevent what was coming, at least.

The tranquility of Taiping Lake rippled... and parted, as a figure made itself known, rising silently from the waters.

Home.
Water trickled off the long, ribbon like protrusions on its smooth, helmet like head, as the entity looked upon the world without eyes. It had traveled a long, long way from its prison, now. With every passing moment, the voices of its fellows grew louder, more insistent, demanding that they too be freed. It had seen many curious things along the way - the humans, so small and insignificant they had been, back in its time.

Now, they walked the Earth as if it were their own.

How strange to see your food acting in such a fashion, it thought in its own, bizarre way as its thick, armored form stepped onto the coast. Below it, there was distant shouting coming from the town - but it payed them little heed.

Fortunately, it was not a journey it had made alone.

The long, serrated halberd clasped tightly in its fingertips rattled, adding its own thoughts to the situation.

It sensed something.

Something that had to be dealt with, before they could continue their journey:

An old enemy.

No sort of affirmation was needed - the fisherman was not the "thinker" in their partnership, if it could be described as such. It turned towards the source of the distortion. and began to walk.
 
Aug 25, 2018
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#4
"You didn't seem too happy about your boss' announcement, even though I guess you were part of what transpired." Harry commented as the two were once again walking through the corridors.

Sigrid stayed silent for a moment. Logically, she had known that a question like this was likely to come at some point. Even so, it took her a moment to gather herself. "...It did not go well." She eventually got out, to which Harry merely hummed in response.

"Uh...Harry? We're seeing something, an unknown robot headed our way. About fifty meters high. Looks like straight outta fairy tale." A voice spoke out from one of the nearby speakers.

Sigrid latched on to the convenient change of topic. "'Straight out of a fairy tale'? do they have any idea how little that actually tells when we're talking about giant robots?"

Harry guffawed at her as he took out a communication device. "Our guest wants to know whether you have any idea how little that narrows it down. Keep an eye on it."

The two entered the hangar soon afterwards. Though it wasn't much of a one, as it only had one Elemental in it and nothing else - the ver reason she was here, Legerior CL. They had another hangar where the transportation and emergency ships were, or so they had told her.

"Legerior CL. Roughly 27 meters in height and 63.5 tons in weight, it's armor is made out of Orichalcium. It has a blessing from a relatively minor spirit of wind, giving it a boost to its speed. The most significant difference and improvement between this and normal Legerior is that unlike the original this one isn't a death trap. It is unlikely to get its pilot killed without being shot at. It has various different weapons for both ranged and melee combat, though the former is its main strength." Harry listed off easily. "Unlike Jaohm it can take a hit or two without buckling and breaking but it is still not built to take a lot of 'em so be careful with it."

"Well, go on. Get inside it. I've got a bad feeling about that Unknown headed our way, and I want you to be ready to fight against it if need be."

Sigrid looked at the Elemental that was about to become hers. It was heavier and built bulkier, so even if it wasn't slower it would handle differently than Jaohm. It certainly had more weapons than her former ELemental, with a pair of both blades and rifles as well as...heel swords? Did all Elementals have weird weapons or was she just cursed to get them? At least the wrist-mounted machine guns would be a comfort, familiar as they were.

At least the heel blades wouldn't be as ineffective as the scythe. She could see some use for them in mech combat. Unlike the scythe which was just a hindrance.

"Seriously, why a scythe?" She muttered to herself. Robots weren't wheat to be harvested.
 

GEAR

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Jun 15, 2018
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#5
The defenders of the Alkahest facility wouldn't have to wait long.

Eventually, the curious looking figure emerged over the horizon, striding purposefully in their direction. Each step, the hilt of its massive spear dragged behind it, tearing scores into the earth as its twin, tail-like appendages lashed out in seemingly random directions, as if tasting the air itself.

Yes, thought the Ijin. They were close. Already it could sense the presence of sealed Yokijin like themselves, crying out for release.

It halted a short distance away from the mountainside, craning its neck to look up at the base. It wasn't necessarily "thought" that compelled it to pause, so much as "instinct". Some long distant memory blossoming into being, though to describe it as such was hardly justice to the thought processes of such an bizarre entity.

Overhead, a white stream trailing out behind it in the distant sky, was the visible form of a carrier of some kind. The Ijin seemed to stop for a moment, tensing inexplicably as all its senses were directed upwards - perhaps giving Sigrid the opportunity to land a surprise blow.



Tausendfessler Class
Passenger Area


<When this melody for the flageolet was made by Lady Cai,
When long ago one by one she sang its eighteen stanzas,
Even the Tartars were shedding tears into the border grasses,

And the envoy of China was heart-broken, turning back home with his escort.>

"Stop that."

The robed figure raised his head, questionably.

Across from him sat their captive. Professor Fang's foot beating out a steady rhythm on the plane, as the eighth cup of coffee that day turned restless leg syndrome into overdrive. Her head kept glancing over her shoulder, back at the cargo hold, irritably. When you were knee-deep in an association such as the Volkruss Cult, you gut used to people mumbling to themselves - but the woman across from him was starting to grate on his nerves, somehow.

The past week had been a whirlwind of activity. The acting-Archbishop had asked that the parts they had excavated from the ruins, along with the scientist, be brought for some nefarious purpose to the Forbidden City all of a sudden. Try as he might to avoid it, Fang caught the cultist's stare.

"No, no. Not you." She said, irritably.

"Don't you hear that?"

His skeptical look was all she needed to confirm otherwise, and she sank deeper into her seat with a groan. It had been practically nonstop - an endless litany of poems, of ancient sayings and thoughts, radiating out from the thing since it had been extracted. At first, she had just thought she was going mad - but no, it was definitely coming from there. What was worse was: Nobody but she could seem to hear it.

Of course, that wasn't weighing on her mind quite as much as being abducted by mysterious, mumbling men in robes, but at the moment she was too tired to care.

<...Cold fires now of old battles are grey on ancient forts,
And the wilderness is shadowed with white new-flying snow.
...When the player first brushes the Shang string and the Jue and then the Yu,
Autumn-leaves in all four quarters are shaken with a murmur.
>

"Oh, shut up."
 
Aug 25, 2018
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#6
While Sigrid had been climbing inside Legerior Harry had kept on explaining the different functions of the Elemental. What she could expect it to do, its weaponry, patterns, everything she'd need to use it well.

So when the radio came to life again, with the speaker telling them about the continued approach of the unknown figure, as well as the civilian transport nearby, Sigrid had been ready to move immediately.

The propulsion engines blared to life as for the first time Sigrid activated her new Elemental. The panels in them shifted their angle as a blue light filled the hangar. A hole opened to the mountainside as the hangar was opened, and wasting no time Sigrid flew out, leaving Harry behind her. Harry just silently watched her hasty exit, shaking his head slightly. One thought dominated his head at that moment, as their guest hurried to save an unknown transport: Why had someone like her ever been in Terra Sentinel?

As she flew out Sigrid silently marveled Legerior CL. Already, she had almost adjusted to the feeling of piloting it. So similar it was to Jaohm, despite the different design and the age difference between the two. She reached out with her senses as she flew to a better position. And almost immediately regretted it, as her sensing was battered by a presence of cruelty and hunger that was between her and the transport. - No, not a presence, but two of them.

At least this made her course of action clear. Even after the last day and her world being turned upside down for this at least she could be certain. Certain that she was doing the right thing, with how terrible the monster ahead of her felt. Although while that was nice...why was everything she came across some unholy abomination straight out of Lovecraft!? Why couldn't she come across something that felt like rainbows and unicorns for a change?

She took out the Hi-Flu launchers from the tail holder, and combined the two, bringing the combined gun to rest on Legerior's right shoulder. A steel plate slid away on the right 'wing' and a tube connected it to the rifle. The outer shell of the combined launchers opened slightly as they too slid backwards. The whole barrel began to glow orange as prana was diverted into it before finally...

The shot was launched, releasing a large orange-red beam at Ijin's dead center.
 

GEAR

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Jun 15, 2018
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#7
Tausendfessler Class
Passenger Area


Bored, Professor Fang craned her neck, looking down at the ground below.

Huh.

There were some things moving down there. Maybe even some kind of a fight - everything had been going to Hell lately anyway. Part of her wondered if this really was the safest route-

A sudden, horrible shriek ground through the metal at her feet, sending reverberations through the craft. She turned to look back out... and saw, to her everlasting horror, the wing and a not inconsequential chunk of their aircraft falling away. Already, she could feel her stomach starting to fly up into her chest, barely having a moment to curse before the room tilted, gravity slamming her up against the roof as the plane began to fall.

"Oh shi-!"






The Ijin lowered its spear, the "mouth" at the end still frothing bubbles from where the jet of power had extended, firing into the sky. If it were possible for such a thing to radiate a sense of smugness, it would have been doing so. Now it turned its attention back to the more immediate matter at hand the moun-

Pain.

The unfamiliar sensation registered to its somewhat slow mind as the Legerior's beam slammed straight into its chest, causing it to stumble backwards in shock. This sensation, it thought - reminded it of something. Of the bad old days, when the meat had learned how to fight back. It skidded to a stop, feet leaving trails in the earth below as it ran a hand across its shattered chest armor, which now dripped rancorous, vile green ichor.

Its hand closed about the spear shaft as it sighted the shiny, sparkly little bird that had struck it with such fury. The meat made such interesting things, it thought. Sometimes you had to pry them open, to get to the juicy flesh within, in a fashion not unlike shelling a lobster. The ones that screamed loudest, hard argued some of their kind, tasted better.

Well, now it was time to find out.

Silently, the Ijin lunged towards Sigrid, whole body turning like a massive propeller to bring the spear out expertly in a wide, horizontal slash that would have left scores across the side of the mountain, aimed to cleanly bifurcate the woman's new Masouki at the waist. This was followed almost immediately as it whipped the weapon expertly over its head, the force from the swings alone generating gale-force winds as it brought the blade crashing down in a vertical slice, a coup-de-grace that would have split her from head to toe.
 
Aug 25, 2018
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#8

Anger burned within her. Sigrid was angry at the being in front of her, for so callously attacking civilians that were just passing by. Angry at it for it stopped her from going to try to aid the falling plane. Already the two rifles had been separated from each other by the time Ijin finally lunged at her, the left rifle securely attached to the tail container. A single orange energy shot met the Ijin's charge head on, aiming straight at where her first shot had destroyed the armor. Legerior's left arm came to the right engine, clutching something.

Only when Ijin's horizontal swing started did the still Elemental begin moving, ducking under the swing while a blade was taken out of its holding location on the wing engine. Another shot was launched at the shattered armor. Legerior once again changed course, pivoting sharply to the right to avoid the vertical followup to the first trike. Another sharp pivot, this time forward as the engines blared to life. However, she overcorrected, almost crashing to the shaft of the polearm before she could right the course again.

Up until that point Sigrid had always thought of people describing a tool as extension of themselves as overly poetic and pretentious, but she understood now. Getting Jaohm to do sharp turns like the ones she was doing was a struggle, but it was just... smooth with Legerior. The Elemental was with her every step of the way.

The sword in Legerior's left hand began burning bright with the telltale sign of prana being fed to the edge as she accelerated towards the Ijin. Never stopping the acceleration Sigrid thrust the blade straight at the shattered armor, leaving the weapon behind as she soared past the abomination. Only then did she start to slow down.

Still flying away, Legerior turned away as the now once again vacant hand went to take the rifle from the tail container. Curving towards the sky, Legerior let out a barrage of shots aimed at the Ijin's head, both rifles singing a song of death as they shot a projectile after another.




"The civilian transport was shot down and is currently falling from the sky." Harry was still walking towards the control room when the announcement was heard in the empty corridor. His step paused for a moment before resuming with hastened pace. Damn it, they - or more accurately the Terra Sentinel runaway - had been too late. Well, Now there really were no options left other than the only one he had entertained anyway.

"Make an open broadcast to any within range. Call for help." Harry ordered as he entered the room, causing everyone to turn their heads towards him.

"The boss won't like that."

Harry spat to the side. He'd clean it up later. "I don't give a fuck about what Xander will like. Middle-East was glassed two weeks ago by something. Belfast was blown up and Terra Sentinel announced themselves to the world after destroying Directory's control over the news, not to mention we have two different extradimensional invaders and now there are unknown super robots just roaming around and blowing up transports. The world is already stark raving mad and if it ain't ending it sure as hell fucking feels like it! Now start that damn broadcast already, I'll say every word to shoulder the blame so y'all can keep these cushy jobs."

Damn it he needed a drink. And a smoke. It was far too early for this shit.

"Look, I just said that he won't like this - which he won't. Not that I wouldn't do it."

"Yeah, we won't let you be the only one to get sacked for this. We're all in this together ain't we?"

"Of course we are. Shame about the luxury quarters though."

"And the pay!"

With this almost fairy tale-like conclusion Alkahest's workers began the broadcast, openly contacting anyone within their range on every possible frequency.

"This is Harry Westfield of Alkahest Corporation. An unknown Super robot has appeared within the Huangshan has just shot down a civilian transport. An Elemental has engaged it but the pilot is new to their machine. Calling to anyone within range to send aid now. Either to help the Tausendfuessler and any survivors or to help fight the damn thing. Preferably both."

"It's not a Super robot. It's alive. It bleeds - and is hungry." Sigrid interjected.

"Right, apparently the fucker is alive. It just looks like a Super robot and moves and fights like one."
 
Nov 14, 2018
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#9
Across the mountains the sound of approaching mobile weapons bellowed, but loudest of all was the thunderous roar of space faring engines. Over the open channel, a smooth voice promptly replied. "Copy, Alkahest. This is Solomon of Stardust; reinforcements are en route, so just sit back and enjoy the show."


Screaming across the sky with incredible intensity was the unmistakable shape of a Lanze space fighter; adorning one of its spindly wings was the pilot's personal marking: twin lines of gold bent at the top at an angle.

From the Lanze launched a relatively slow moving projectile. The rocketing metal canister opened up and released a shimmering gout of multicolored fire before exploding like a firework and dispersing a thick, billowing cloud of DEC particles over the area. Almost instantly music began to fill the air, growing in volume louder even than the sound of the Lanze and the music's approaching source. Five bright streaks of color flew into the battlefield trailing the fighter's path and leaving behind their own respective streams of DEC as Stardust's squad of Fairlions twirled and danced their way into formation, the brightly colored mobile weapons moving with human grace despite the intense speed of their approach.

The units all grouped up in a singular mass as the music built up to the beginning. Across the dimensional sound waves came the voice of Via.

"For the love of Earth and peace across the galaxy!"

The "battle cry" sounded, the Fairlion's Vostok lasers all opened up and rained a twirling array of beams at the Ijin.

- - -

His primary job done, Solomon looped the Lanze back around to a more safe position and banked around the battlefield. From here, it was time for his other primary job of filming this "concert".

Evidently it was quite serendipitous for DEI to send Stardust off to China for an "emergency tour" as Bertram put it. If anything were to increase global morale, helping to fight a monster not unlike one that was shown to the world earlier today would do it for sure. But frankly, anything would have worked better than the slapdash venue that was supposed to be the site of Stardust's concert.
 

GEAR

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Jun 15, 2018
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#10
The flaming wreck fell from the skies, plunging towards certain destruction. The ancient soul within felt wistful at the sight of the Yokijin below - thousands of years had done little to calm their wicked spirits after all. All of it had been for nothing, and that was all they were: nothing, sealed away and cast aside when there were no more monsters left to slay.

Now, the ones who they had protected had found new monsters to worship.

...

Soon, all of it would be over.

...

A gentle strum caressed its mind, causing the waning flame to twitch.

Ah.

A song, a song.

A beautiful, wondrous song.

It had been so long.

Heat filled its being, the fire of the spirits below warming it back to life, as every part of it cried out in longing, wanting nothing more but to sing back. But, how?

Oh, yes. There was that one-




Fang's hands clung to the hallway floor, practically frozen stiff from where her mad, last minute dash had left her. It was all she could do not to black out as the gravity forces ripped at her body, the only sound the howling and rushing of air. The cultists were gone, having either magic'd themselves to safety, or being killed in the strike that had sent them into a tailspin - though at this point, that was cold comfort.

"I'm not going to die... here..." She rasped into the oxygen mask wrapped about her face, to no-one in particular.

Her mother had always said being stubborn would be the end of her, but right now it was the only thing keeping her going as the blood in her body was pancaked into her head.

"Not... like this... Not now..."

Do you want to live?
That stupid voice again. Even as there were likely only seconds left in her miserable life, the professor still somehow found the energy to roll her eyes. This is it, she thought, I'm going to die being subject to a Chinese poetry enthusiast ghost's idea of 20 questions.

Will you sing with me?

"Yes?" She managed to explode in frustration as the ground swelled in her vision.

"What kind of stupid question is th-"​




The carrier slammed into the water at the base of the mountain, sending up a wave of boiling water, tons and tons of steel shredded into debris in an instant of sound, fury, and force.

Ijin paid it no heed, even as flames blossomed into the sky.

Its spear shaft whirled with uncharacteristic in its webbed hands, almost as if it were alive - and the Legerior's initial shots were handily intercepted, beams splintering on the weapon's surface. Its grip shifted down the weapon, drawing it close, preparing to finish the arrogant fly-

But a sudden sound gave it pause. No, rather, it was a sensation, something that reverberated all through its body. It was neither pleasant, nor unpleasant - merely an unsettling aura that felt vaguely familiar, enough so to cause the slightest bit of hesitation in its defense.

Sigrid's blade plowed into the demon's chest in that moment of weakness, as the Fairlions fired in unison at its back, laser arrays raking its armor and flesh in a lightshow as spectacular as the projections above. It only barely managed to block Sigrid's subsequent follow-up strike, the beams still leaving scorched lines across its helmet.

The Yokijin was forced to its knees, leaning on the spear for support as it thrashed violently in its grip, still eerily silent.

More.

There were more of them. Always somehow more, with their lights that burned and their blades that stung. So many of their number had been dragged down by the sheer, uncountable swarms of the pests...

But they were not going to be among them, the two resolved in silence.

The Ijin, motionless for a moment, as though it were already beaten... Shifted its grip once more on the Spear, raising it slightly from the ground - and smashed it home into the earth. For Sigrid in particular, connected as she was the the Legerior, and familiar with the usage of such, she would have felt a distinctly familiar feeling from its body, the crawling of the skin and tongue that was evidence of only one thing:

Prana.

The spear's tip drove deeper. And deeper. And deeper with every passing second, sending deep, violent cracks shattering across the surface of the Earth in all directions, tearing at the moutain as there was... a sound. A noise, like the distant rushing of water, as a magic circle of eastern origin spread out from the Ijin's body.

1594986300682.png


No more playing around.
 
Aug 25, 2018
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#11
"For the love of Earth and peace?" Sigrid echoed, confusion evident in her voice. She didn't know whether she should laugh, cry or do neither at that. At hearing a battle cry - if one was generous enough to call it that - like that after yesterday. Not that she had time to ponder on it now as her shots did nothing but darken the thing's helmet slightly. She was not surprised that she needed more firepower than that, even if it still frustrated her.

Still, she brought the rifles to one another, once again combining the two together. However, as she went to once more bring them to Legerior's shoulder to connect it to the engines again her eyes widened and the action stopped before the rifle was anywhere close to the shoulder. At the signs of a large usage of Prana came to her she went to fly as far away as she could, before she paused that too as the circle that appeared tore into ground and mountain alike.

"NO!" She screamed desperately. And on instinct the rifle - that both arms were still holding to - was aimed at the Ijin, both hands pulling both triggers at the same time.

And for a moment, it seemed that the only thing that came of it was a circle around the end of the rifle, colored in pretty red. In truth it only lasted for a brief, fleeting moment, but to Sigrid it felt much longer than that. Then with a roar a large red beam was launched from the rifle straight at the Ijin. It was like the beam contained her emotions in it, its edges fraying as scarlet lightning ran the entire length of the beam.
 
Nov 14, 2018
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#12
Inside the blue Fairlion, Sena used a short break in the music to communicate. "That thing's messing with our readings. Something's up," she said.

"As if the readings were accurate in the first place, anything could be up with whatever this thing is," Amelie chimed in.

"Sena's right," said Solomon, "this fish has got some tricks up its sleeve." The cyborg hardly moved as he maintained his flight path, the sensors in his mechanical head getting more than enough visual of the battlefield. "Form up on the ally mobile weapon. Whatever's going on, they probably know at least a little more than we do."

The battlefield steadily filled with colorful projections of Via and the rest of Stardust along with copies of their respective machines. Some danced and cheered for the Regelior and its pilot while other projections formed up with Stardust and served as back up dancers as much as they did camouflage for the idols' bright mobile weapons. The physical Fairlions set up at Sigrid's position and fired off another burst from their Vostok lasers at the giant creature to double up on the Regelior's attack.
 

GEAR

Administrator
Staff member
Jun 15, 2018
1,165
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#13
Sigrid and the Stardust Fairlions attacks rained down on the Ijin, but whether or not they had hit home would be obscured, as it seemed to vanish in a spray of surf. From below the battlefield erupted... Water, absolute unspeakable gallons of it, as though a sea had been beneath them all along. It rained down from the sky in great bursts as jets fired up, drowning the mountain, the trees, all around them - stopping just at the edges of the magic circle.

For a moment, there was just the, gentle lapping and churning of the waves.

Beneath the surface, the Yokijin's legs twisted, and it allowed itself a moment to relax. Never before had it needed to exert such effort against the meat, but it was going to enjoy the opportunity while it lasted. Across its back and shoulder were new puncture wounds from their assault - but it fought through the pain - this... would all be over soon. A tremor up its arm indicated its partner agreed - and was equally thirsty for blood. It cut through the prana-ocean then, tail whipping behind it as it surged about, only a fin emerging on the surface as it closed in a dizzying pattern about Sigrid's machine.

Now the meals were in their domain.

Suddenly it burst from the surface - directly to Sigrid's left, in an acrobatic arc that sent gleaming ocean spray in all directions. Overhead, it pulled back its arm with all the skill and certainty of a trained harpoon-fisherman, sensing the arc that would send the Elemental Machine crashing to a watery grave. So focused was it, in fact, that it didn't sense the blooming psychic pressure until it was too late.

...

What was that? - It thought, very briefly, before the sensation finally registered with an associated concept.

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Fire!


Below Sigrid and the Fairlions , the waters seemed to instantly part as a jet of flame lanced out from the crash site, instantly turning the liquid to nothing more than steam, white trails surging up into the air around them, casting the entire battlefield in a white mist, the Taoist circle flickering and fading as it was scorched from existence.

As its trump card failed, the shock caused the Ijin to flail madly in the air, its flapping tail not unlike a fish out of water. In its fury, it hurled its spear down at the Regelior - but the throw was sloppy and desperate, and even if she were to remain perfectly still, would have barely grazed the Regelior's flank. Now free hands trying to "swim" ineffectually through the air, it was completely helpless to stop what only naturally awaited it.

There was a deafening SLAM as the Yokijin hit the mountainside head-first, slamming up to its shoulders in the rock, the vibrations sending a cascade of dirt sliding down its backside as its trail twitched... and drooped.

Standing at the lip of the crash site was perhaps one of the most curious machines that either of the two would ever have laid eyes on. It resembled a large bird of some fashion, its chest clasped in tight-fitting armor, with four bright red wings that flanked a long neck, with a slender beak and two thin, green eyes.

It was staring directly at the Fairlions above, as if transfixed by the beauty of their song, beak opening and closing silently - as though it were "mouthing" along with the lyrics, spellbound.

"What the fuck."

Within the cockpit, Professor Fang just sat there, staring in wild disbelief at what had just unfolded before her. One moment she was crashing through the sky, ready to embrace her death, and the next, this thing had grabbed her, when...

"What the fuck." She repeated to herself, louder this time.

...

And... where had her clothes gone?
 
Aug 25, 2018
205
0
16
#14
Sigrid casually evaded the thrown spear, the two Hi-Flu launchers being separated from one another once again. Her gaze was kept on the Ijin as it flopped into the mountain, eyes cold. First a massive dinosaur DAMON, then some unholy manifestation of anger and hatred while she was helping to use a weapon of mass destruction followed by a satellite drop and now a fucking fish demon.

She was tired, so tired of it all. She was angry, confused, sad, self-loathing. And she was disgusted of all the creatures and monsters she had been facing one. after. another. Nauseated by them, sickened by them. But most of all?

She was fucking done with it all. Couldn't she catch a break even for one fucking moment?

Small tubes connected both rifles to the propellers in the form of wings on Legerior's back, their outer shells with drawing both backwards and outwards as the amount of prana that the weapons could draw on was increased manifold by the physical connection. The cores of the rifles burned hot orange, that same glow coming from the end of the barrel, and a moment after twin beams of orange death vented out some of her pent up feelings, shooting at the fucking fish demon.
 

Kujo

Member
Nov 14, 2018
108
1
8
#15
Projections of the idols and their machines drifted up to meet the new arrival, the girls excitedly posing and waving to the great beast machine to direct its singing.

The little lights fluttered around as if it were the most normal thing in the world, meanwhile Solomon simply looked on in wonder as he modified his turning radius.

"I knew some of our fans were pretty out there but this is something else," he muttered.
Shizue, in her usual oddly calm voice, replied, "It just goes to show that our work is paying off."
"Exactly!" Via chirped. "A song of love uniting the universe and a shining star to rally under! That was my, no, our promise, right Mr. Solomon?"

Beneath the cold metal plating, the old mercenary had no hope of not smiling. "That's right. That's exactly right, Via. Now, go on and show everyone watching what that promise means!"

- - -

The Fairlions formed back up as the Regelior fired off its beam; their assault blades flipped out as their personal DEC diffusers upped their output. The five mobile weapons began to swarm the Yokijin at great speeds, the idols twirling and slicing as they orbited the target. Before too long, the assault ceased as the squadron formed back up and activated their sonic drivers; the four smaller machines revolving around the Faecried to produce a swirling, drill-like barrier. "Take this!" Shouted Via before the group subsequently called out in unison, "Dream Colored Comet!"

The shining barrier of sound and air took on a vibrant glow as the units' DEC reacted. The attack, as the name implied, created something akin to a shooting star as it streaked on a collision course for the Yokijin's body; its color shifted in a rainbow pattern as it left a trail of sparkling "stardust" that glowed in a similar pattern to its source.
 

GEAR

Administrator
Staff member
Jun 15, 2018
1,165
1
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#16
Right, thought the Ijin as it managed to tear itself free from its self imposed prison. Now it was mad. Just when they day seemed like it couldn't get any worse, one of them had shown up to ruin things. Even so, it was outnumbered. It had to get away. It had to-

At it rounded clumsily, the spear in its grip writhed - and bounded free, leaping in an attempt to save itself from the incoming fury. There wasn't a word in their "language" for "betrayal", but it seemed in that moment that the Yokijin finally gave up the ghost. The beams from Sigrid's Hi-Fluid Launchers slammed into the side of its head - and kept going leaving only half a melted cranium like a crescent moon, exposing superheated flesh, metal, and paper to the air as it took a single step backward-

Before the whirling, vibrant chorus of Fairlions impacted it directly in the chest, exactly where Sigrid had struck it earlier. What thoughts filled its mind as it perished were uncertain, all but drowned out by the chorus - but its body split clean in half under the shimmering wave, before disintegrating utterly into the morning dew in a shower of water. As it rained down on the victors, it caught the light from the Fairlions' emitters-

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Meanwhile, the other Yokijin, the Goryu spear, wriggled its way across the earth, serpent-like. Within its mind, it cursed them - cursed the meat, cursed the Ijin for its own stupidity, and cursed its luck. Still... This was not unexpected. It would find a new host! It would return, bigger and better than ever before, and take time slowly tearing the flesh from their bodies, as-

Whunch.

A four-pronged claw slammed down on its throat, the "neck" of the sphere, causing it to cease its grinding of its teeth and turn its head quizzically. JakuOhKi looked down upon it, radiating a certain kind of smugness befitting the "Vermillion Bird" of legend. Before it could even react, the beak came down - and with one well aimed peck, shattered the head, sending ropes of parasitic white entrails across the earth along with chunks of gold, before those too dissolved into nothing more than vapor.

"Okay." Said Fang, finally.

"That-" She breathed... "Was a demon. A Yokijin to be precise. Pretty sure they were all supposed to be dead. Oh, man..."

She couldn't believe it. The images alone, from the ancient texts... They were true. All of them, true. Everything she had been hoping - dreaming of confirming her entire career... it was all real! And...

She was right here, stuck in the middle of it. The professor shook her head in slow amazement as she looked over at the other two.

"What have I gotten myself into this time...?"