Dragon's Den (China - Open)

GEAR

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Jun 15, 2018
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#1
February 8th, OE 102
12:11 SDT
Forbidden City
Seal of the Yellow Emperor, "The Unrepeatable Verses"
6:18PM


"L-Lady Oleander!"
"Please reconsider!"
"Archbishop Lao gave explicit instructions not to-"

Protests echoed throughout the dark, ancient cavern beneath the Forbidden City. Esmee Oleander's pale features were lit by the pale flames burning in her palms, one hand turning in harmony with the stone lock on the door before her. The great, shuddering groan that filled the air as it began to open, disgorging a thousand years of dust and decay, was in her mind only accentuated by the gasps of shock and horror from the gathered priests, some of whom were already backing away.

Of course Lao had kept this all to himself, she thought. That man didn't have what it took to control one of the ancient Calamities. He didn't even bother to step into the cockpit of that feline he had cowed into obedience, making it skulk about the fringes while occasionally throwing it a morsel or two - how shameful!

But she was different.

She knew the old ways that he had sought to hide from her, studied laboriously and carefully. No, Lao would never return to their fold - the age of Necromancy, of the cult of death, had begun-

And on this, the eve of her triumph, she would be denied no prize.

Within the darkness, there was movement. The grinding of chains, and the snapping of metal as something massive took a shambling, experimental step forward towards the light. The cries behind her were quickly turning to screams, as a pair of eyes, little lights like hellish pinpricks of crimson, focused on their retreating backs.

Her face burst into a wide, mad grin.

"Hear me, ancient one! Serve me, and you shall feast like never before!" She yelled to it, spreading her arms wide.

The lights flicked down, as if noticing her for the first time. A moment of studious silence followed, as though it were... cogitating, thinking, as it surveyed the Necromancer below, her chest rising and falling with excitement.

A large, shackled hand began to reach from the shadows-



Central Beijing
The Forbidden Palace


A sharp whistle punctured the air as the artillery round, bright as a miniature sun, spiraled over its intended target and blasted apart an office building.

With a grinding of metal, the Randgrith's cannon was altered - just a little too late, as a vibrant, purple-hued claw tore through its front armor as easily as tissue paper, piercing its back. The half-egg shaped form of a cult Jiwen flexed its fingers before tearing them loose, letting the artillery weapon crumble to the earth below as it sparked. Things, the pilot thought, were now just starting to settle down.

Flanking it, and each of its fellows were a pair of familiars, their beady red eyes staring wetly into the gloom as their boulder-encrusted bodies swung blindly into whatever crossed their path. Flames had spread all across the city now, illuminating their unfeeling features in ways that sent shadows dancing across the disciples of Volkruss bodies, as they were invigorated with the dark power of their God, now resurrected in the stars above.

Reinforcements, they knew, would come soon. The thought made the Jiwen's hands twitch irritably, eager to spill even more blood in service to its vile savior.

More.

More blood.

Volkruss Cult Forces:
9x Jiwen
18x Demon Golem
 
Aug 4, 2018
334
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16
Somewhere in the UK
#2
Smoke. Fire. Explosions. But above all that.. fear. It was in the air, and she could practically smell it. An unusual sensation, but the specifics could be dealt with later.

Right now, those people needed help. Needed a saviour. This wasn't a higher calling.. just a lucky coincidence. An irony of sorts. She'd started her tenure with DEI after saving some people against orders. Putting the finall nail in that coffin by doing the exact same thing just felt right.

The Scorpion's engines screamed to life, and An Ares prepared herself for a hunt.



Green light split the sky, a metal comet streaking down from the sky only to crater in front of the Jiwen. Ashley spared a glance for the destroyed Rangrith behind her, not paying it any mind once she was sure the pilot was dead.

She'd used one, once. But that was long ago - a clouded memory of a time no longer relevant. Other things to do beyond sit around trying to remember a time that was. The scaffold edge began to glow, lengthening until it was cleaving through the ground even when sheathed. It was drawn with no flourish, being swiftly aimed at the 'head' of the nearest Jiwen as it continued to grow rapidly. Unless the machine moved, the blade was going to rip through it.


There were monsters. They neeed to die.

Nothing else mattered.
 
Aug 25, 2018
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#3
Above the skies of Beijing there was a lone Tausendfuessler. Inside its hold Viggen was admiring the mayhem going on in the city below them. It was such a marvelous, beautiful sight. Humanity's tendency to slaughter each other would always be something to admire. The only thing more admirable was their endless creative cruelty for cruelty's sake.

That was why they were her favorite, why she loved them so. They were the best source of food anyone could ask for. Worse than even the Melior Esse, yet thinking of themselves highly. Such a treat, for humans alone on this planet were capable of making such exquisite scenery like the one they were witnessing right now. Grinning her inhumane grin Viggen hoped she could meet whoever was behind this attack and to introduce them to their lord.

But first, there was work to be done. Like making sure that the magnificent feast that the constant stream of negative energy headed for the moon would become theirs. They really needed to find whoever was behind this gift. The Tausendfuessler's hold opened, and the newly repaired and finished Priscus Nox jumped out of it, holding to its side a container roughly its size, the cargo hold closing immediately after she jumped out of it. There was a warehouse that had once housed mass produced Mobile Weapons directly below her, but she did not crash through the roof. Instead her thrusters steadily slowed her down enough that she landed on the roof gracefully.

Priscus Nox took out a controller that had been attached to the container. She did not understand the need for theatrics such as this, but Huvud would know better. She pressed on the big red button of the controller, and the container immediately opened afterwards. What it was holding inside it wasn't much, it looked like a loudspeaker with an antenna. And yet as it began to hum the entire stream of negative energy that was flowing into the moon...shifted. The machine was diverting the flow of all the energy, changing its end point from the Moon to Fabula Forest at the core of DARC.

Conveniently, the hum of the machine drowned under it a low rumble in the earth around the warehouse.

Ruina forces:
1x Tausendfuessler
Priscus Nox
 

GEAR

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Jun 15, 2018
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#4
"So..."

A voice crackled over the radio to the Fairlions, trying to sound conversational, yet full of a distinct awkwardness that came from someone trying to make a previously concealed fixation public.

"You're the Stardust, right?"

Huh. Guess I wasn't hallucinating after all.

The JakuOhKi descended from the clouds towards the city, Fang now more comfortably clothed in some leftovers that had been lying around the Terra Sentinel base... and generously donated. A little tight around the chest, she had to admit, but beggars couldn't be choosers.

After some hurried introductions, news had come of the bloodshed spreading from Beijing - and, given their proximity, they were some of the few able to respond. With three aerial, highly mobile units, the trip had been quick and relatively painless - even if lunch had needed to be skipped as a consequence. Jakuohki had remained silent - and she somehow had a sense that it would remain as such, now that it had acquired a pilot.

That, she reminded herself, was her, by the way.

What would her colleagues think?

As the group burst through the clouds, the Vermillion Bird pulled up, spreading its wings wide... and surveyed the carnage below.

Everything was aflame. The entire city laid out before her, ravaged indiscriminately. Her home. In the distance, she could even see the proud tower of the University, now with great chunks missing from its sides, as though it had been carved apart in preparation for some monstrous feast. There were no words. Her jaw simply hung open, in stunned silence, at the sheer scale of the devastation.




As the An-Ares appeared, it immediately attracted the attention of the Jiwen and its entourage. Within the cockpit, the Volkruss cultist narrowed his eyes... and licked his lips beneath his hood. Another sacrifice for Volkruss had arrived... But, still.

What was that thing? Some kind of mercenary machine? A one-off model? ...He'd never seen anything quite like it. Well, not that it matt-

Quick.

A mental image came to mind unbidden - a scorpion's stinger whipping through the air, unspeakably fast. Too fast. The Jiwen jinked right - but not fast enough, as the glowing green blade scythed effortlessly through its shoulder armor, neatly severing one of its claws - and pulled taught as it wound about his machine's throat, causing the Spirit Machine to seize up as it fought to stay afloat, black smoke gushing from its arms.

In response, the two Demon Golems flanking it lurched forward as one, bringing heavy fists of rock down with animalistic howls, aiming to smash the An Ares' head and chest with crude - yet no less forceful - strikes.




As the Priscus Nox established its own machine, it wouldn't have to wait long for company of its own. A pair of Jiwens swerved into view, half-egg shaped bodies swinging around burning buildings with a distinct mechanical whine - to the trained senses of the Volkruss Cultists within, the vacuum-like effect was clear as day. Nobody would be permitted to halt Lord Volkruss' ascension!

Twin barrels unfolded from each of their lower bodies - and dispensed a quartet of shrieking, ephermal plasma blasts in the shape of skulls that began to home in on the Ruina weapon. Negative energy infused as they were, the cult's magic was no less dangerous to her than any other - and, to further complicate matters, the forms of four Demon Golems clambering over the rooftops toward her would be an invitation that time was not on Viggen's side.
 
Nov 14, 2018
108
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#5
"That's right," Via quickly responded. "Neo Harajuku's guiding light!"
Amelie followed up and said, "The rainbow bridge to the age of peace!"
"Oh! Ah, um-" stammered Momoka. "... I forgot my line..."

Solomon chuckled. "Now girls, leave the introductions for later," he said. "It looks like we've got an encore to do."

- - -

A missile was launched over the city; the slow moving projectile split into several different warheads and exploded into a great cloud of vibrant color as music filled the air of China once more.

Once again, the locale for Stardust's tour had been forcefully changed.


The Fairlions started their performance trailing the Chokijin, wreathing the great machine beast with their crystals and lights. Solomon's Lanze streaked across the sky far above the battlefield. "The transmission's still good and it looks like we've got quite the audience, but we're picking up some kind of feedback," the cyborg producer called over the comms. "Just keep up the good work and I'll see what I can do about that." The idols called out an affirmation in unison.

After enough DEC medium had been dispersed and light and sound sufficiently filled the air, the Fairlions formed up around the Chokijin. "Excuse me, Miss," Momoka shyly transmitted to the woman in the vermillion bird. "I don't mean to impose but... We'd be delighted if you would join us in this performance," she said, "your machine seemed to enjoy the last one... So please, if not for the fans, then for the city."

Sena, likewise, transmitted a message to the Regelior. "That goes for you too. You're a heck of a pilot to have tried to take on that fish on your own; you've got a heart for protecting, I can tell," the cat woman said. "So how about it? Mind helping us clean up here?"
 
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Aug 4, 2018
334
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Somewhere in the UK
#6
Ashley's blade stopped once it was fully piereced through, and while a single swipe would probably have ended its life.. she didn't even twitch. There was a small tilt of her machine's head. Nothing else. She'd killed manned machines and DAMONs before without any hesitation, but the newcomer was something she didn't entirely understand. It was enough to give her pause - at least until she figured out how to kill it properly.

"What the hell are you?"

An Ares's shoulder exploded into a fine red mist as the first strike hit home, the impact finally giving Ashley the nudge she needed to leap back from her attackers. This ripped the scaffold edge out of the Jiwen. Not that it mattered. What seemed to be mist began to settle on the trio of machines as she took flight, moving out of range before beginning to hover in midair.

She didn't truly understand what they were, but their function was simple enough. All her hatred and all of her anger... echoing out through the cloud of nanomachines. Every bit of resentment she tried to keep bottled up - before you added in the Sphere's own feelings on the matter. Unleashing them at will was something Ashley hadn't quite figured out yet, but as a byproduct they seemed... helpful?

To her, anyway. Anything in the cloud would be faced with a cloud of machines burning away at their armour - and a relentless sound that bored into the pilot's brain. Sounds of death, of screeching cries of last words. Enough to drive them into a frenzy, ignoring all concept of ally or enemy.

Some little part of her insisted on a controlled test. To sit back and watch how the monsters reacted to this new stimulus. But every moment wasted was another potential life lost. So instead she set her eyes on a second trio, leaving a glittering trail of red mist behind her as she picked out a new target.
 
Aug 25, 2018
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#7
With a final rumble the land fell silent. Viggen ignored the Demon Golems headed her way, they were not an issue. Still on top of the warehouse Priscus Nox spun out of the Jiwens' projectiles' way, pulling the ever-important machine with her to ensure its safety. Easy to miss, the two spikes connected to Priscus Nox's shoulders shot to the sky during the evasive maneuver, disappearing behind the cloud cover. There they advanced towards one of the Jiwens until they were above it. There, they began to crackle with electricity, stray bolts shooting in random directions, until despite the twenty or so meters separating them currents of lightning connected the two. And then, like the divine judgement of a cruel god, massive dark lightning bolts struck the area between the two spikes, crashing down on the Jiwen below.

Up in the skies, half a dozen missile pods opened on the Tausendfuessler's left wing, launching themselves at the direction of the other Jiwen. As they got closer, a light in front of the Tausendfuessler lit, revealing the jiwen with a violet spotlight. Immediately, the rockets fixed their trajectories to accurately trail after the target.

Yet there was plenty more remaining on the Tausendfuessler, waiting for targets.

Then there was pain. Viggen's body seemed to explode with pain as the infernal noise referred to as 'music' began to blare, loudly proclaiming the idols' arrival to the stage of despair and death. With a growl she shook her head to concentrate once more, shaking away the unpleasant disturbance. After the initial surprise, while uncomfortable the pain and nausea was bearable.

For a brief moment, her eyes wandered towards the Tausendfuessler supporting her. The Miles captain was certain to be neutralized for longer by the damned thing.




Sigrid's breath quickened, getting heavier and heavier. Soon she was panting, feeling like her throat was closing in on her as her body was drenching itself in cold sweat as she witnessed the hell that waited below. Desperately clamping down on her senses Sigrid went to move forward, stubbornly ignoring the heavily trembling hands. Yet it only got worse and worse the more she pushed herself. But blessedly, right as the overwhelming dread was driving her completely catatonic something cut through the overwhelming force weighing down on her. A song, Like star shining its light down on the dark night it cut through, reaching down to her, easing it just a bit.

Enough that she could breathe, taking a deep breath. Had to breathe. Breathing was important, essential. Focus on the music as well, only the music and breathing. Nothing else mattered. Music was good, she could handle it. In. And out.

Slowly, as she breathed and immersed herself in the music it eased. Not gone, never gone, but enough.

"R-right." Her voice quivered. "Must help."

Breathe. Immerse in the music.
 

GEAR

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Jun 15, 2018
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#8
"P-p-p-perform? M-me? W-with Stardust!?"

Fang's previous grief seemed to dissolve into a collection of slurred syllables, feeling the heat rise in her features. Vague childhood memories of having to play the piano and sing to relatives, as per Shanghai standard, attempted to gain a renewed foothold in her conscious mind, as well as the accompanying embarrassment. Somehow she managed to stammer out a reply that wobbled up and down, from baritone to falsetto.

"B-but I can't dance, I can't s-sing - well, n-not like you-"

The Professor's awkward stuttering was, perhaps thankfully, interrupted by the affirmative screech of Jakuohki, a bolt of flame bursting energetically over its head like a firework. The response was clear:

Light the way.




The tethered blade ripped back through the shoulder of the Jiwen with a spray of sparks and a mechanical whine, causing the machine to jerk unevenly as oil mixed in the streets. The cultist struggled with the controls, bringing it back under control, adjusting his ritual under his breath, a command for the Golems to defend him. Just as the HUD stopped whining incessantly, and he gave a sigh of relief, he happened to glance back at the main monitor-

Just in time to see the craggly fist of a Demon Golem filling his vision.

There was a horrible CRASH of shattering metal as the Jiwen's bodyguard dealt a haymaker blow that could have crushed a lesser machine in an instant, caving the bladed Spirit Machine's head in. It weakly raised its arms in protest - only for the now crimson-hued Golems to start rhythmically, mercilessly, furiously slamming their arms into the machine.

The Nanomachines from the Scorpion, having filled the simple constructs minds, was already working its magic, imparting only a tiny fraction of Ashley's own inner self to their crude, servile personas.

Hate, they had not known before, dullards that they were - yet as they breached the core of the Jiwen, blood mixing with oil and coolant on their hands as they ripped into the soft underbelly, they felt... something, perhaps.

Joy, in the destruction of another.

The Neutrino generator of the Jiwen lit up with seemingly infinite brightness before the An Ares before detonating like a miniature sun, enveloping the two Demon Golems with it. When the brightness had cleared... a crater was all that remained, and the occasional clink as a small chunk of superheated metal bounced off her machine.

As the An Ares skirted across the battlefield, swerving through the seemingly identical city streets of Shangai, as it came closer to the Forbidden City the acridness in the air would have worsened, thick, black smoke pouring from something up ahead. Were she to slow, she would have beheld a curious sight.

A Jiwen floated backwards haphazardly, pouring smog from the section where its arm had been. The pilot was trying to say something, but over the din of the city, it wasn't even remotely audible-

All she would have seen next, was the large, bulky hand that reached out, ensconed in what looked like ornate bronze gauntlets, the oversized digits closed about the Jiwen's head and torso as easily as if it were plucking a plumb- And with contemptuous ease, tore it free of its skirt armor, pulling the pilot and machine out of view. For a moment or two, there was a distant noise - like the grinding of metal and meat, meshing together in some great, industrial cat-food maker. It was the sort of noise one did not easily forget, the kind that emerged in the late hours of the night to torment one's sense of security, hearkening back to a sort of primal fear that had never been truly shed.

After this brief interlude, the hand rematerialized, clasping the corner of a building as something truly ghastly pulled itself into view, body slinking low to the ground with all the deadly grace of an apex predator.

Its body was encased in white, shell-like armor plates, curled around bulging, muscular limbs that were a strange purple hue, its entire gait seemingly permanently balanced on the end of its toes in anticipation. All of these were secondary, however, to the face.

A vaguely humanoid face with crimson-hued slit eyes was set in dull bronze, nestled between a pair of large tusks, their tips already sullied and blackened with the day's work. The monster regarded An Ares with a kind of inhuman intellect - there was intelligence lurking beneath those eyes, over its thin-set mouth. Those who had looked upon it would have struggled to recollect exactly what it resembled - some said an ape, others a lizard of some kind, even more an oxe - but none could ever forget that expression.

Within the Chokijin's cockpit, Esmee Oleaner, acting Archbishop of the Cult fanned herself as the An Ares came up on screen. Honestly, it felt almost as if she barely had to do any work at all with this beast - truly, she could see why Lao had kept it sealed away, hidden to all but himself! This power...! The power of the ancients!

Now, it was all hers!

"Oh? What have we here...?" She cooed,

"Isn't that the Institute reject?"

Her mocking laugh echoed from TouTetsuOh as its mouth slowly widened into a murderous grin, exposing twin rows of molars stained crimson with blood, and riddled with the viscera of its many victims that day. It had been a good feast, it thought to itself...

And there was still so much more to come.




Viggen's dark lightning bolts came crashing down, pulverizing the space around the closest Jiwen. Evidently surprised, it floundered in the air for a moment, rocking back and forth as the tempest buffeted it - and then detonated, as the bolt of dark lightning impacted its chest, thundering clean through the unit. In response, its two Demon Golems drew to an immediate halt, still as stone statues - until the missiles from the DARC vessel plowed into their unresisting forms, turning them back into little more than the rubble from which they had been spawned.

The other Jiwen faired better than its compatriot - as it advanced, it slowed slightly, allowing the Demon Golems to take the lead, uttering chanted invocations to strengthen their construction as they closed the gap. Missiles slammed into the constructs surface, smashing apart the bottom legs of one, dropping it into a crawling, bellowing torso that pulled itself along the ground - but the damage had been done.

Now as it closed in on the Priscus Nox, the claws on the Jiwen lit up brightly, flexing in anticipation - before it leapt forward in a final burst of speed, bringing one arm around in a whip-like fashion, slashing across the Nox's face, intending to blind it. The still-intact Demon Golem, for its part, drew to a halt not far from the two combatants. Its chest swelling, it slammed its fists into the ground, emitting a roar of prana-infused force straight up at the vessel's wings. While not enough to penetrate the armor of the DARC transport, it would be more than enough to rock it in the air, crude waves of force slamming into the underside would - at the very least - force the vessel to re-adjust, or at worst, be sent crashing into the city below.
 
Last edited:
Nov 14, 2018
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#9
"Right! Formation E major," came Sena's authoritative voice, "and don't let up!"

The Fairlions, lead by the Faecried, spiraled out in front of Jakuohki as they flew forward; the vermillion chokijin followed closely behind. As the Fairlions danced through the air, the various armor plates that formed the units' "uniform" shifted and swiveled out to reveal several helical patterned cylinders. The Idols now formed up in a V, the myriad tubes all gyrated slightly as they aimed down at the monstrous enemies below.

Soaring gracefully behind, Jakuohki unfurled its magnificent wings and a great red light enveloped them like fire. The intense power radiated across the sparkling atmosphere and bathed the Fairlions and the surrounding air in a shimmering crimson aurora. As the chokijin formed up with the small squadron, it appeared to wait on their mark.

"Like stars in the darkness!" Called Via.

"Shine on and sing!" The group responded.

"Galaxy wave!"

The myriad Roll Cannons across the formation of Fairlions loosed their payloads in a rain of screaming, shining spirals streaming down at the various golems that prowled the streets. Meanwhile, the stoic, radiant chokijin flapped its great wings forwards, causing dervishes of vermillion light that coalesced into giant wisps of pointed, feather-like flames. With a flourish of its hand, Jakuohki sent the flaming plumage hurtling down upon the cult's Jiwen's, the fiery lights joining the Fairlions' rainbow colored shower of light and metal.
 
Aug 4, 2018
334
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Somewhere in the UK
#10
They felt it. They understood it. Ashley allowed herself a second to smile - the venom freed them long enough to destroy their master. Just as it had for her. An Ares began to fix itself, the destroyed shoulder beginning to reform with a light green glow. Seemingly growing from nothing, but of a visibly different material to the rest of the Ares.

She was ready to strike out at the next Jiwen to cross her path, but something else got to it first. Darkness.. a hand.. a thing. Monstrous like she'd never seen before. DAMONs were one thing, but this? This? Ashley stopped in her tracks, staring up at TouTestuOh's form in abject horror. Her dreams of power vanished in a puff of smoke - how was she going to protect people from something this powerful?

"You're.."

Mocking me.

The thought hit her like a slap, jolting Ashley back into reality as laughter echoed around her. It wasn't just her any more. The Scorpion was listening, Oleander's taunt hitting it in much the same way. But with a far more violent reaction. An Ares's visible eye flashed red and it leapt back, whirling the scaffold edge around until it was visible only as a glowing disk.

"They didn't reject me."


"I REJECTED THEM!"

Machine and Pilot lashed out as one, the Scaffold edge lengthening and shrinking almost at random as she sliced wildly in TouTetsuOh's direction. It wasn't precisely directed at the Chokijin, more aimed in its general direction. The blade cared not for what it struck - cleaving through buildings and reducing ruins to rubble with a flurry of erratic strikes.
 
Aug 25, 2018
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#11
Sigrid continued to regulate her heavy breathing, continued to fail to get it under control as she continued to listen to the idols' performance, hanging to every word, every beat of the rhythm like her life, her sanity, was dependent on it.

And in a way it was. From one atrocity to the other, the sight before and below her was the worst of them all. But at least with Stardust to anchor her - for the time being - to reality she could see the scene. Seemingly the entire city was ablaze, buildings being turned to rubble and left and right, streets running red with blood as the people were being slaughtered in a show of madness.

It was - it was so much worse than the communication tower. This was not the result of an inhumane weapon of mass destruction. A result of a single button. No, the scene before her was human in all that it was straight out of a hell, done by human hands single gruesome death at a time.

And then the aura...

Wrong. It was wrong, and horrid. Wrong wrong wrongwrongwrongwrong. Like a massive storm and maelstrom of madness and bloodlust, of pain and death. Misery and despair. Completely and utterly unbearable, she was so insignificant.


Yet, with Stardust's help she managed to push some of the terror, despair and anguish away.

With wide eyes, dry throat and panting all the same, Sigrid finally made Legerior to move forward. One of the rifles was taken out of the tail container, Sigrid trying to steady her aim to shoot at a nearby Jiwen. Yet despite her efforts, her hands still shook. The aim was still off.

She shot once, wildly missing.

She shot again, but though it was closer the streak of energy still missed.

For a third time she fired, and that one finally shot towards the cultist machine.




Priscus Nox's electrical spikes up in the air flew closer together before starting their return trip to where they had come from, though they were far slower with their return than what they had been to initiate the attack.

Back on the ground level, the earth began to shake violently as the area between the Jiwen, its golems and Priscus Nox was overcome by tremors.

The electrical spikes in the air returning, their link to Priscus Nox hampered by the singing had left Viggen without what likely was the most devastating attack she had access to, but far from fangless. Fangs which were about to be bared at the cultist fodder daring to approach them, as the giant chakrams began to rotate in place. Yet their rotating was...erratic, slowing momentarily before quickening again, causing Viggen to simply take hold on one of the chakrams with a growl even as the other one's rotations came to a close, intending to manually throw it at the encroaching Jiwen.


The Jiwen and its dangerously colored claws were quite close to her by this point, yet right as she was about to throw her weapons she paused as at five points, three surrounding the Jiwen and two the damaged golem holes were ripped into the ground, several long, thin appendages bursting forth, throwing rubble and ground everywhere around them.

Four of them were, as one might expect, tentacles, though far greater in size than normal, but one of those appendages differed. It was larger, and at its end rested a head with a giant maw and two pairs of sinister green eyes. That 'arm' or perhaps a serpent of its own kept going towards the sky, stretching and elongating to an impossible degree as it chased after the Demon Golem aiming for the Tausendfuessler. Its jaw opened wide, and from the barrel peeking from its gullet a stream of energy was launched at the Golem. Yet despite the attack the serpentine head kept chasing after the Golem, trying to tear into it and send it back towards the earth like a humanoid meteor.

The two tentacles around the Jiwen launched themselves at it, attempting to constrict it from both sides, bringing it to a halt in front of the Priscus Nox. At the same time the two around the Golem descended forcefully on it, intending to crush it to a pulp.

Whether the Jiwen was successfully taken hold of or not, Viggen nevertheless threw the chakram in her hand at its center with contempt, the chakram crackling with visible lightning as it approached with deadly force.

Below Viggen, inside the warehouse Violaceum rested, all its appendages burrowed deep into the ground. Inside it, Huvud sat, gazing at the screen displaying what was going in the city with glee.
 

GEAR

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Staff member
Jun 15, 2018
1,165
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#12
The Scaffold edge whipped out like a viper, the sheer hate emnating from it practically melting the buildings before it even touched their surface. It swung out in scintillating arcs, and the Chokijin seemed to regard it momentarily, eyes watching its movements as Ashley lashed out at it. The blade scored cuts across the surface of its body and that horrid grin, but at a key moment the creature jabbed its hand out into the air, seemingly at random.

And suddenly, Ashley would have felt her machine's arm go taut. The glowing wire that held the blade, now wrapped neatly around the monster's arm. It looked back at her, slowly, face still frozen in that rigor-mortis like grin.

"My, my." Cooed Oleander, fanning herself within the cockpit.

"Talkative for trash, aren't we?"

A smug smirk crossed her face as she waved the fan in Ashley's direction, wearily.

"Eat up, TouTetsuOh!"

The abomination needed no further prompting.

Immediately, the other hand swung out at body-level, palm seemingly growing in mid swing to humongous size as it delivered a stinging swat, one aimed to send the An Ares sprawling into the buildings. Almost immediately afterward, it jerked the now-captive arm back, yanking her back into range as it would swing her over its head, letting the stinger unravel as it plowed her overhead into the earth behind it. If she were unfortunate to remain in such a spot, it would deliver yet another vicious hammer blow directly to the chest of her unit with an enlarged fist... But there was no mistake in its actions.

They were not those of Oleander. In fact, it seemed to be ignoring her almost entirely.

It was toying with her.




All across the city, as Stardust sang, people began to emerge from their hiding places. In ones and twos they came, looking up at the sky in wonderment - and, to the surprise of even the cultists, the streets began to be filled with a different sound altogether:

Cheers.

The flow of energy, black and pitiless, that hovered just above the city like a miasma being whisked away to the heavens above... Began to thin.

It was on this note that the Jiwens below gave a treacherous shudder, their own power sources struggling under the power of the DEC-amplified sounds. The one charging at the Priscus Nox in particular slowed and rattled, the Cultist at its controls scowling and jerking its handles angrily, trying to will the metal beast to move.

And then...

To its final, unbelieving horror, the very earth itself seemed to rear up. Snakes, twin, sleek and pitiless, burst from the ground and immediately wrapped and bound the slender Spirit Machine. Another snapped up and grasped the leaping Golem around the waist, the construct only barely able to process what was going on before it was smashed back to the earth behind it, scattering into a thousand pieces.

Held and bound tightly, the Spirit Machine's eyes flickered only briefly, head jerking in unnatural movements before the Priscus Nox's Chakram bit deep, silencing it once and for all with a spray of blood and oil that fountained across the DARC machine's chest before it went limp.

Stardust's machines descended from the heavens like avenging angels, JakuOhKi behind them, beating down waves of flames that scorched their demonic frames, causing them to tilt and whirl randomly, trying to jink out of the way of the oncoming fire - but the damage had already been done. The hail of gunfire from the idols cut down the remaining Spirit Machines with surprisingly little resistance as their power sources faltered, and the cheers of the crowd grew ever louder and louder.

It was one hell of a way to kick off a tour.
 
Dec 11, 2020
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#13
The sky above China was a terrible sight to behold, dark and filled with the miasma of an evil entity. It is but an ugly mirror to the hell that was the city below and as the monsters of a dark cult rose, so too have the forces of humanity meet them in battle.

It was a scene right out of an epic, a legend in the making. For a moment, Asem wondered if this battle will become a folktale in the distant future. A story embedded in the mind of the ordinary people who witnessed it. It was a thought that made him smile wanly, for such thoughts should only be entertained once the battle is won and humanity comes out triumphant.

In the skies above an unusually humanoid figure raised its clawed hands of gold, the jewels on its gangly mechanical body glowed intensely as its red eyes stared balefully at the Demons below. Nary a moment later, six rings of glowing lavender manifested one by one around it, orbiting the strange mobile weapon as it raised both arms higher.

"This is my contribution ... my Dogma." Asem intoned, glaring coldly at the Demon Golems arrayed below.

"Taste the lightning!" He hissed, eyes narrowed.

The rings orbiting the Warth Deenbell stilled.

And as it clenched both of its splayed hands close, a massive lightning bolt roared out of each ring, lighting the skies as each one struck an unaware Demon Golem below.
 
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Nov 14, 2018
108
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#14
Solomon was making another pass around the battlefield when a new unit entered the fray, descending from the sky and calling forth forks of lightning. Fortunately, the mobile weapon appeared to be aiming for the monsters, so Solomon figured the more the merrier. 'Lightning,' he thought to himself, 'I should remember that for a live.' The mystical pyrotechnics over, the producer went back to surveying the battle through his robotic head's camera feeds and found the grisly form of the evil Chokijin slinking about in its battle with the Scorpion unit. "Guh, when did that get here? Better keep the cameras off that for now, something that ugly's no good for ratings."

As the tide seemed to be turning and the people of China came out to enjoy the show, the five stars obliged and did several passes across the city. They swooped around both to impress the crowd and search for any straggling enemies. While they did this, the Fairlion units opened up their own supply of DEC medium and spread it around as they went, holograms of the idols beginning to run and fly through the streets to hype up the citizens and scores of mini Fairlions marching along and dancing behind them.
The program handling the figures of light noted the electrical attack and summoned a few copies of the idols to pretend as if they were attacking the golems themselves; a copy of Via turned around after the attack and held out her fingers in a V sign to whoever was watching.

Meanwhile the vermillion Chokijin had ceased its attacks and coordination with Stardust as it stared off elsewhere into the city, its avian face taking on an odd scowl and its wings glowing with intense flame. It broke formation and soared off across the skyline before its eyes lay upon its ancient enemy. The great bird looped up into the sky, its form becoming engulfed in its own flames before it dove back down to deliver a flaming kick with its talons to the Calamitous beast like a great crane stamping down its prey.
 
Aug 4, 2018
334
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Somewhere in the UK
#15
"What..?"

The mobile weapon seemed to freeze along with its weapon, trying to withdraw it when the first hit slammed her sideways and sent woman and machine sprawling. A unique screech of pain followed, coming from the shell itself rather than the machine. But still they didn't break away, taking the 'ride' while Ashley's mind struggled to find a solution.

I don't have enough.. I need to make her pay.

An Ares's shell split seconds before it hit the ground, bathing the concrete in sickly green light as it seemingly cushioned the impact for the machine itself. It lay still for a moment, making no effort to avoid TouTetsuOh's fist - but the strike itself would be interrupted before it could flatten the mobile weapon. Twin pincers formed out of the green light to close around the fist, the full force of the sphere behind them. A single red dot lit up on the shell as it stood up on legs of dimensional energy, Ashley's laughter starting to echo along with it.

"Trash? TRASH?"

The mobile weapon was hefted into the air on the scorpion's tail, hanging there for a second before being brutally slammed into the Chokojin's fist. Bloody red splotches seemed to grow around the impact point, droplets of condensed venom beginning to drip off the scorpion itself as red mist formed around it in a cloud. Ashley's anger was once again being transmitted, her bitterness to one specific target being broadcast through the nanites attacking TouTetsuOh and anyone unfortunate enough to be nearby. That voice mocking her. Oleander.

She needed to die.

Slowly.

And painfully.
 
Aug 25, 2018
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#16
All around the city the people cheered with renewed hope, and the cultists were beaten back. Yet there were some who did not share in the celebratory mood.

The Jiwen, still held by two of Violaceum's tentacles shuddered and was ripped apart, the torn halves thrown to nearby buildings with contempt.

Pathetic.

The bloodletting had already come to a halt, and the terror of the people was subsiding thanks to the idols. The slaughter initiated by the cult was contemptible in its failure and shortness. Violaceum's multiple pairs of eyes stared at the singing and dancing idols with eyes full of malice. He could clear the dust of the DE Crystals from the air and take away the people's relief, allowing them to gather more energy.

But no, now was not a good time to reveal themselves, not when the slaughter had already ended in failure far too quickly. Yet the power shown by Stardust was fascinating to the leader of the Melior Esse, for all that it was irritating. If bringing about positive energy with the power of music was possible, then it should be possible to do the same with negative energy as well, and to enhance and amplify whatever was present.

Something to look into later.

The other half of Violaceum's tentacles finally returned from their respective tunnels on the other side of the warehouse, the preparation ending up unnecessary.

"Make preparations to return to the base the long way." Huvud ordered his underlings before beginning to move towards the last source of conflict in the city where they could still sense the taste of anger in the air. He allowed himself to lash at the first buildings he went past by with Violaceum's tentacles.




As the miasma that had fallen over the city weakened Sigrid's mental state improved somewhat. Yet all too soon after her breath got stuck once more, and her body shuddered intensely as she felt the same unnatural anger in the city as she had felt on that day wash over her. It was even worse now than what it had been, even more unpleasant. Yet there was no queasiness for once. Only sorrow and pity at the pilot she had briefly fought against. Could she not see what it was doing to her, how she should leave the monstrous machine behind before it was too late, if it wasn't already?

A self deprecating laughed escaped her. Like she was the one to talk, having been part of and helped Terra Sentinel only to doom another group of innocents after.

Whether thanks to the idols' performance, or due to fighting still going in the city Sigrid was able to tear herself from those thoughts temporarily. Instead of dwelling on those she turned her attention to the two abominations fighting in the city and flew closer to the pair. Once in range she came to a halt. Combining Legerior's rifles together in front of the Masouki and holding them sideways, she aimed the barrel at TouTetsuOh, and fired a large stream of energy at the monster.
 

GEAR

Administrator
Staff member
Jun 15, 2018
1,165
1
18
#17
The arrival of the Autowarlock caught the Demon Golems below unprepared, sets of beady red eyes peering up quizzically at the descent of the dandy decimator. Before they could so much as blink, thunder came slashing down from the heavens, slicing and shearing apart their bodies as it danced through the streets, a dizzying visual accompaniment to the already spectacular show being put on. Stardusts's attacks soon joined it, the resulting dizzying spectacle driving the cheers below to new volumes.

"STAR-DUST! STAR-DUST! STAR-DUST!"​

"A Deenbell...? Don't tell me, Gragios is...?"

Within the cockpit, the Necromancer glared at the Dean Bell's arrival, practically willing it to explode in midair. There wasn't a moment to contemplate any further however, as the scorpion transformed before her eyes, and the Legerior flew into view. Things were starting to get a little dicey, admittedly - but, TouTetsuOh's features showed not the smallest amount of fear.

Greater odds had been conquered in its thousands of years, after all.

The An Ares' tail slammed home into TouTetsuOh's outstretched fist, Dimensional Power and the woman's own hatred surging against the ancient, all-consuming evil, the very force of the impact pulverizing the glass windows between the two into glass. Almost instantly, the monster danced back - perhaps for the fist time caught unawares, shaking its hand as though it had been burned, a bright red scar now visible across its surface.

"Fools!"

There was an errant slap as Oleander brandished her fan against her open palm, pointing it in the direction of the Regelior and its accompanying allies. The nerve of them to stand before her like this! To stand before an indestructible Chokijin, and the might of Lord Volkruss!

"Do you think you can stop me? Don't you understand? I am immortal! Invincible! And your souls will soon be ...

be ...
"

Her vision swayed and her voice felt... harsh. Thin, as suddenly, an uncertain dizziness gripped her body. She reached out, grasping one arm of the chair for support, feeling as though all the wind, the breath had been robbed from her lungs. A glance up-

The hand, the hand that was there... She didn't even recognize it.

The flesh was sagging, drooping, peppered with liver-spots, the nails long, yellow and crooked, fingers gnarled with age like twisted tree branches. A hand came up to her face - and found the skin sinking into her palm, and her hair falling into her fingers, bleach white.

"What... What's... happening...?" She croaked, feeling the teeth in her mouth pop-popping free as she tried to speak, clattering free as she slouched over, life-essence peeling from her body in waves like steam.

Was it just her imagination? Or... did the floor beneath seem to be moving? Rolling about sluggishly, as though it were some sort of massive tongue. And the strange way the roof seemed to drip, drip, splattering her back with a foul, viscous liquid that reeked of the sickly-sweet stench of rotting corpses. How the whole thing seemed to be moving, breathing, panting, feeling its hot, rancid breath on her neck. It was almost... almost as if-

"...No! NOOOO-!"

The realization struck Esmee Oleander just long enough for the smallest of screams to escape her now almost skeletal form, as the floor and ceiling contorted, and she was swallowed down, down to somewhere best not fathomed, but beyond the reach of any salvation.

Externally, if one were so inclined as to be paying attention to such things, the Chokijin's throat bobbed momentarily. Some things, it thought in its own unique way, were worth dragging out a little. Now, where-?

The guns of the Masouki pulsed out, joined almost immediately by the JakuOhKi's assault - but this time, it was ready. One hand snapped up, slamming an enlarged elbow into the outstretched throat of the Phoenix as it closed before rolling away across the ground, bouncing in a fashion not unlike an armadillo as Sigrid's shot slammed into the buildings behind it, briefly obscuring it from view.

A very brief warning was all she would get, as it re-emerged to her left, bounding into view across the rooftops, eyes glimmering like devilish stars.

FRAKK!


Two beams of condensed nen blasted out from its gaze, swept left to right across the Scorpion's outstretched tail, to the reeling JakuOhKi's chest, and finally into Sigrid's own torso, the power of the blast cleaving distant buildings in two, sending up a cascade of dust in the distant horizon.
 
Dec 11, 2020
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#18
It was nigh impossible for him to miss the unsettling and powerful aura of the Chokijin below him. Despite the stench of demons and death in the city it was that nightmarish machine that garnered his attention and his worries once his senses has locked on to it. Even as the hopeful and bright lights of the idol mecha pilots--and what a delightful group they were!--rose the spirits of the besieged and terrified populace of the city, the sorcerer and the autowarlock he pilots are locked onto one thing.

Asem and the Warth Deenbell approached, cautiously and carefully as he built a picture of what was going on in that fight.

Put it simply, the green-haired man did not like how it was going. Despite the frankly powerful and sometimes equally terrifying foes that the nightmarish Chokijin was facing, he did not see it look pushed around as much as it pushes around its foes or even getting damaged in a way that actually counts.

The venomous attack of the machine that holds the fearsome power of a Sphere did do damage, but only to the pilot guiding the machine's malicious will. He expects that what the Scorpion did was an excruciating death but then--

His eyes narrowed, there was motion in the demonic machine's throat--?!

If anyone was looking at the Deenbell very closely, one might see the strange sight of its four jewel eyes widening ever so slightly as it saw the Chokijin continue moving, far faster and dangerous than it was with its recently-eaten pilot.

But Asem saw it. He has more senses than a normal human. It's sickly aura can never hide from him, no matter how fast it may act. Reacting was a different matter altogether, though. The Warth Deenbell's large, clawed fingers rose up once more, a defensive Dogma instead of an offensive one being casted as fast as the rattled Asem is able to.

As the beam blasted out of the malignant Chokijin's eyes, multiple layers of shields in the form of massive magic circles patterned with flowers larger than its own caster bloomed in front of the Masouki, the last target of the beam.
 
Nov 14, 2018
108
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#19
The vermillion bird crashed with an avian cry that was cut short by a screech as the Calamity's beam blasted its form. Jakuohki slumped down for a moment before stirring. A sensation began to rise within the Chokijin, adding to its burning desire to defeat its enemy; intense hatred. Flames rising about its wings, the bird stood up and blasted its own gout of energy at Toutetsuoh, hardly letting up until its flames subsided for the moment.

The Fairlions had stopped their performance for the moment for a brief intermission as the battle wound down; meanwhile the projections continued to meander around the city and do impromptu meetups and posed for photos. Likewise, the 5 mobile weapons had formed up together in a group pose. Amelie was surveying around on her Fairlion's cameras, asking, "Say, where did that lady and the bird go?" Solomon, replying over his relay, said, "Well I was hoping it would have been taken care of by now, but our feathered friend is caught up with that over there." A notification appeared on the girl's screens, drawing their attention to the bestial battle occurring. "Ew, gross," said via simply as she laid eyes on the grinning, slobbering Chokijin. Sena inquired, "Is that thing related to that fish-man-thing we just beat?" Solomon looked over the beast and replied, "Probably? Whatever it is, it's not going down easy."

Pressing a number of buttons and flipping switches, the producer continued, "We're getting a lot of weird readings, especially around there, so let's wrap up this show, girls."

"Right!"

The Fairlions ceased their posing and circled together before flying off to aid in the fight once more. "This one's the curtain call," Sena said to the squad, "so don't get too caught up on looks; Fortissimo!"

Amelie and Shizue twirled together and fired off their vostok cannons at the beast, meanwhile Sena and Momoka swiftly orbited from a distance and let lose their roll cannons as they went. Meanwhile Via and the Faecried rose up above the battlefield before beginning to dive down, releasing a burst of DEC as its sonic drivers flipped forward. As Sena and Momoka finished firing, they too sped up their flight and engaged their sonic drivers to deliver a three pronged attack on Toutetsuoh.
 
Aug 4, 2018
334
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Somewhere in the UK
#20
Ashley let out a triumphant laugh as the beast recoiled, the scorpion's stinger withdrawing from its victim as well.

Justice. Poetic, in a sense. Maybe she shouldn't be enjoying the sounds of someone's death, but pride always came before a fall - and better her being eaten than anyone else. The Scorpion slunk down, preparing to pounce.. but the Chokojin got there first. It was enough to stay her hand for now, if only to get an idea of just who she had somehow ended up fighitng alongside.

A giant bird.. an idol troupe she could have sworn she'd seen before.. but that memory stubbornly refused to come now matter how hard she thought. Some sort of elemental, but this one seemed almost familiar. Something to figure out later.

"You want a show? Watch-"

"AUGH!"

Ashley's taunt was cut short when the beam of dark energy swept over the Scorpion, severing the tail and making both machine and pilot let out an unearthly shriek of pain. AN Ares hit the ground in front of it, the 'stinger' still embedded in its forehead as the glowing energyt that made up the body of the Scorpion seemed to break apart like glass. within seconds nothing of the beast remained except the shell, already folding up and re-attaching itself to the other half of the tail.

"Why.. won't.. you.. die!"

But it wasn't yet done. Twin balls of energy formed at the edges of the shell, launching forward on their own like missiles at TouTetsuOh and shattering once they were close enough - blanketing the living machine in a literal red fog. This time the rage being poured through the venom was secondary, and much weaker. What mattered was that she wanted it dead. They'd quckly begin to eat away at the surrounding ruins, doing the same to the Chokojin's outer shell - and that of anything else unfortunate enough to be next to it.
 
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