Le Chevalier de la Charrette (Sess, ???)

GEAR

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#1
48 Hours after the events of "Where Heroes Are Made"...

An utter catastrophe.

That was how the media were describing it - messageboards and the like that hadn't yet been cracked down on by the Lunar intelligence officials, decrying the lack of safety standards, the officials involved... And the DAMON. That topic was, of course, being covered around the clock, given its rather... Pressing urgency.

Even after the hellish tears in the Lunar sky had closed, no small amount of the foul lizards had remained, and the many knights of the realm were reduced to pinballing between hotspots every time the hordes began to close in on a populated section. Sleep was short, tempers were high, fingers pointed in every direction and voices raised in fury. Noble and vassal alike fell before the beasts, and before the bodies were even cold, succession disputes erupted into public view, houses attempting to use the chaos of the moment to skip a knife into a competitor's ribs - or, in some cases, to dispatch black-robed assassins into the dark void, with sealed orders to return with certain heads.

And above it all sat the Palace, eerily silent. Anxious hands wrung and looked for guidance, but found nothing - only damning quiet.

The Queen had slipped away some time after the initial reports of Vynatea's arrival, ashen-faced and somber, to seek the guidance of the Alabaster Lady. Such rituals were commonplace - but communing with the Moon's guardian deity could sometimes take weeks, and the leadership vacuum had never been felt more.

The Kingdom, it seemed, was at the breaking point - besieged on all sides by monstrosities, rudderless and adrift on chaotic seas, living in daily terror that the figure from ZONE battle might yet return to finish what he had started...




James life, as it were, would have been no better or worse than that of his comrades. Around the clock sorties, spending every waking moment fighting an advancing wall of gemstone-encrusted gnashing teeth and claw. With Vynatea's repulsion, the horde had thinned, at the very least affording him some rest - but there were still more than enough of the beasts to go around, and what had begun to the Knights of the Kingdom as an opportunity for glory and trophies had quickly become a fight for their very survival, as unprepared aristocrats were shorn limb from limb by the biomechanical nightmares.

At this particular hour, however, he would have received an emergency communication, barely audible over the sound of roaring battle almost drowning out the speaker:

"This is the Royal Guard! We have an emergency situation! Please, anyone that can assist, Section Theta Four!"
Close inspection of the attached coordinates would reveal it to be not far from the epicenter of the episode - an energy pipeline and processing facility located inbetween the Lunar cities and the ZONE itself, a relatively remote location... Yet, it seemed, one that was important enough for the Royal Guard themselves to be dispatched to protect it. While no DAMON had been sighted in proximity to the area... It didn't seem to make the request any more or less urgent.
 

Hitura Rael

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#2
James rubbed his face in a vain attempt to wipe away the exhaustion. How long had it been since he last had more than a nap? He couldn't recall. Thankfully, caffeine was adequate to keep him awake. He sat back in Genion's cockpit, nursing a bottle of water as he read through more briefings of more skirmishes. And still no word from Selene.

He frowned as a technician poked their head in, disrupting his scant concentration. It didn't even phase the man at this point. Everyone was tired, everyone was overworked... and no one could be blamed for their tempers starting to flare. Still, forced a smile to the man and turned his attention back to the monitors.

He set the cap back on the water, then sighed as he picked up the cup of slush, similar to that of what Enfield had given him for breakfast his first excursion out in the Genion. He drank it slowly, ignoring the texture and taste. It was lazy, so very lazy, but unfortunately convenient and the best that any of them could get right now.

"The Genion is in full working order sir."

"Thanks," James glanced over, a forced smile on his face that did not quite touch his tired eyes, "Go get some rest, you'll need it."

The technician grumbled as he drifted off back to the catwalk. James did not let his smile slip until the man was safely touched down on the metal walkways and the cockpit closed. Perhaps there was time to grab a short cat nap himself before-

"This is the Royal Guard! We have an emergency situation! Please, anyone that can assist, Section Theta Four!"
James sighed and set the cup down. Think of the devil and it appears.

"This is Genion, we are en route now. Looking at approximately an hour. Hang on." He heaved a soft sigh after closing off the comm line. "Let's get going then..."

The Genion flared to life, heading for the rails. James set a timer and closed his eyes. A very quick nap wouldn't hurt.
 

GEAR

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#3
James' nap would have been relatively undisturbed, save for the occasional rumbling tremor as the rail-car passed under or adjacent to an active combat zone. Knight Machines and Dias alike fought side by side, visible overhead as they joined battle against the otherworldly DAMON, the lunar skies full of shrieking Dart-beasts, and the horizon more than once peppered with the haunched, lumbering forms of their yellow-jacketed, slavering cousins.

Yet, once it came to a stop, he would find that the area was relatively quiet, located near a receiving and processing station at the edge of the Lunar settlements. Fluctuations from the ZONE had managed to damage the pipeline, as well as its accompanying car - so it was the equivalent of walking, from here on out.

The pipeline inlaid into the Moon's surface was, like most things wrought by the Kingdom's artisan-scientists, a work of both beauty and technological marvel. Shimmering conduits of DEC inlaid fiber traveled for miles from the point of origin, separated by the occasional breaker mechanism to ensure that an accidental overcharge didn't endanger the distant populace. The DAMON, for their part, had stayed away from the structure, perhaps sensing that there was nothing worthwhile for them to hunt in its vicinity, leaving James to his own devices, gliding silently through space towards his destination.

His course would have taken him through steep ravines, full of treacherous outcroppings on either side - yet still, no foe appeared to face him. Even now, in the Over Era, one was frequently reminded that the planetoid was hostile to them - that they were strangers, colonists, intruding upon a foreign land they were never designed to set foot on...

Or... So it was believed, by most. The strange tales told by Selene, which she had occasionally spoken of in their younger years, ones that that told of the Moon as a sacred, Holy place that had guided their ancestors to its shores... Seemed ever more murky and unlikely with every passing misfortune of the week.

At last, he reached his destination - the power plant. Seated within a large crater, its covered dome gleamed and reflected the sun's rays, surrounded by all manner of carefully arrayed depots used for managing the flow of the Kingdom's resources. The dark-colored rock hewed out all about them had been scorched black by the occasional discharge, but not enough that it concealed truths from the naked eye - yet there were no signs of footprints, and the amount of interference from the surrounding generators was sufficient to put white noise across even the Genion's advanced sensors.

What, exactly, was happening here?
 

Hitura Rael

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#4
James frowned down at the silvered dome established among the rock. He slipped his helmet on and checked the sensors twice over. Nothing but static and snow across the monitors. Not a trace of anything.

He opened the comm links to the broadcast frequency from the earlier call for help. "This is Genion, is anyone out there?" This did not bode well at all. He'd seen many horror movies start like this... A call for help, luring the rescuers to emptiness and silence... only for some horror to befall the group and kill them all off. Except he had stupidly come alone.

He shook his head to clear out those thoughts. He was going to give himself waking nightmares if he let his mind drift. Or start seeing things and get himself hurt or killed out here. He could NOT die out here. Selene needed him.

He licked his lips and started toward the zone at a slow pace, keeping an eye and ear out for anything strange.
 

GEAR

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#5
At first, nothing greeted James' call into the void. But then...

A silent explosion.

A part of the crystal dome exploded outward, sending cracks running across the rest of its surface, chunks of hyper-reinforced nanomachine-treated glass whirling out in a shredding storm into the void, never to return. The cause was immediately apparent - a form, dark purple and pointed, hurtling through the void, slammed into a cliff-face a fair ways away from James. Even from this distance, the coloring was unmistakable:

The Royal Guard.

The Raftklans tried unsuccessfully to stagger back to its feet, its form sparking and tattered, one arm having been violently torn free from its frame - eventually falling to its knees. Its Orgone Rifle, however, pointed back at the point of entry, defiantly.

"Y... You..." Spat a voice weakly over the intercom - the very same, it seemed, that had sent the distress signal; "How dare..."

In the opening, something loomed. A large hand reached out, grasping the point where it had exited as it partially moved through the gap, lowering its hulking frame to move without incurring any further damage. Its silhouette was broad shouldered, a pair of piercing green eyes staring out from a smooth-featured head, its entire body alternating between gentle curvature and jagged points, towering over even the Raftclanz - indeed, it must have been at least 60 meters tall. The new arrival turned its gaze upon the Raftklans slowly, causing the Knight Machine to shake terribly.

"...La..." The pilot began. A light started to build in the core of the Raftclans, one that would have filled anyone who understood what meant to be filled with immediate dread, as the Knight Machine attempted to trigger its most feared and renown feature of all.

"Don't." Warned a familiar voice, calmly. The larger machine raised its hand, a gleaming crystal dome inset into its palm facing the Raftclans.

"LARSEI-!"

Crack!

It was fast.

So quick that the eye must have felt as if it was being played - a pulse of light flashed from the palm of the titan, and in that instant... the Raftclanz's chest was punctured. The light faded... and then died, the machine slumping into a pile of blood-soaked parts as the Larseilam failed to engage, with the other lowering its smoking palm, solemnly... And then, finally, turned to regard the Genion...

geminia.jpg
 

Hitura Rael

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#6
If James had been awake, he would have moved to put himself between the mystery mech and the royal guard. If he had been awake, he might have told the pullout to stand down. If he were awake he would have deployed the drones before arriving. But he was not.

He stood by and watched as the Raftclans had a hole blown through it. His body shook in a swelling ride of emotion. His voice cracked, unsteady, balanced on the precipice of confusion and anger. He bit back the rise of temper as if it were bile. The single word- no- command, came out stern, the closest he had ever come to outright hostile defiance.

"Explain. "
 

GEAR

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#7
"Genion." Said Gerart Enfield, slowly.

The two machines, similar in some ways, yet distinct in all others, stared one another down. The larger machine stepped down from the lip of the power station, sending up a cloud of Lunar dust as it did so. Its form was even more imposing in the light of the sun, two broad wings stretching out on either side that gave it the impression of a linebacker. It carried no kind of weapon... but the emitters in its hands, if the demonstration with the Raftclans was an indicaiton, were more than ample armament.

"...James..."

A voice weakly crackled to life over the Genion's communication arrays. It was... close. Surprisingly close. And yet, entirely unmistakable:

Selene.

"Gerart... he... stole our treasure... I tried to stop him..."

There was a gentle pause in the Queen's gasping, airy voice, as though she were on the brink of tears. as the titan came to a halt, its gaze turning to look down at the comparatively diminutive Genion, eyes flashing menacingly as it did so.

"The ZONE... It was him..."

"Fancy meeting you here." Interrupted the Knight of Knights, flatly.

"Good. Saves me the trouble."

The tone was entirely different from Enfield's normal, jovial chuckle. It was... distant, unfeeling, and guarded. Even the expression on the man's face was... contained. For that matter, he looked terrible. His face and hair was dirtied, and his glasses broken, his uniform lost at some point since the two had last met, replaced with a jacket that looked as if it had been taken from another, different soldier.

"Get out of the Genion, James. That's an order." Enfield's voice hardened further, and there was a clear undercurrent of barely-restrained fury as he continued;

"...That machine.... Has to be destroyed!"
 

Hitura Rael

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#8
James's teeth clenched as Selene's voice drifted across the communication link. A heaviness grew in his chest with her revelations. Not even denying it was he? He was fully awake now. And having seen the events of the last few days...

"No, " he refused Enfield's order bluntly, "Not until you prove to me you are who you say you are and explain why. "

He would have shut down the comm links to the outside, leaving just him and Enfield. Perhaps if he were more awake. Perhaps if he were not growing more reckless by the second. "Tell me, who am I really? What is the one thing I only told you and no one else? What did we promise each other? "

It would buy time at least. He'd listen to what Enfield had to say, hoping against hope it was not him. Angry beyond what he had been since he was a small boy that he could ever possibly betray him, after all they had been through. Stuck in denial, on the verge of tears as well that his mentor, his brother, whom he loved more than anyone else in the galaxy, could turn his back to he and his sister.

Thoughts floated unbidden across his mind. Had he always had the intention of stealing the treasure? Had he ever really cared about them? Was selene trying to play him against Enfield to cover something else up? The last one writhed far heavier than the rest. He knew selene the least of the two... and he had been looking into her activities before this.

"If you're truly my brother, tell me everything you found. I will listen, and I will do as I must. "
 
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GEAR

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#9
"Brother...?"

The other machine loomed as Enfield spoke, drawing itself up to its full height at last. The silence lingered for a moment... and then the man laughed. It was not a nice laugh. It was like steam escaping a pressure cooker - short, and sharp, indicative only of the insane buildup within. The man reached up and dabbed at an imaginary tear as he shook his head in disbelief.

"After all these years..." He chuckled. "You finally tell a good joke."

One colossal hand was raised, tapping the side of the machine's head. Its movements, it seemed, were far too precise to be simple Motion Patterns - no, indeed it seemed similar to the Diosk Enfield had favored prior, both in stature, and system. A Lunarian design, then?

"Are you so desperate to believe otherwise that you don't trust your own eyes?"

Enfield scowled, as if put off by the boy's incessant questions in response to his threat... But hardly seemed surprised. After all... Who, if anyone, knew James better? He would know, almost certainly, that James wouldn't have just thrown down his weapon, yet he had given the order nonetheless.

Barely visible behind the frame of Enfield's behemoth was... a scene of absolute carnage. Parts from various machines lay scattered about, the interior of the energy transfer station completely destroyed. The battle, it seemed, had been going on for quite some time before the Genion's arrival, and the parts were immediately recognizable as others from the Royal Guard - Enfield's own unit.

"The one who should be demanding explanations here... Is me."
 

Hitura Rael

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#10
"It's not a joke! " he snapped, clenching his fists. "You practically raised me! You took care of me! You taught me everything! How could you not be my family after all this?!"

He ignored the carnage and destruction, tunneling in on Enfield and the machine he had taken refuge in. "I can only fathom two reasons why you'd do this... you're either not Enfield and pretending to be or the things you went to look into proved Selene was doing something neither of us would approve of!"

He let the statement linger in the air for several long moments before he relaxed his grip enough to ease the pain that began to well in his palms. His voice lost all warmth, as if speaking a plain truth only an idiot would not know, "If she is doing something terrible, you know I would not stand by and side with her. No one is above the law, not even the queen."

He was no puppet to be manipulated by quarreling nobles and aristocrats, vying for honor or trophies as if it were some game. He had lost friends in these last two days, taken by the incursion of monstrous beasts and the petty maneuvers of rats trying to inch ever closer to what they felt entitled to.

"Please, tell me what you found..." a hint of desperation had crept into his voice, waring with the burning anger which threatened to consume him. "If you are in the right, I will step out."
 

GEAR

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#11
"It's not her fault."

The words were immediate, and severe. Strangely, he sounded the closest in that moment to the Enfield that James knew, as he moved to defend the third member of their unusual triangle from reprisal. As James pleaded with him desperately, Enfield lapsed into silence. His expression was unreadable behind his visor... But his brow furrowed, and one could almost sense the stress, the pain radiating from the psychic.

"...This place. Luna." He said at last, quietly.

"It's a pyre, James. An altar."

Enfield's voice shook for the first time since James had known him. Whatever he had been witness to in the intervening period... Had rattled him badly, right down to his very soul.

"You. Me. Selene." He continued, looking out in the direction of the Lunar city;

"All of us. We're just... burning. Burning... So slowly. And... None of us even realize it."

...But then, his voice hardened again, filling it with a kind of grim, fatalistic resolve. The larger machine reached up, touching a hand to its chest. A green light pulsated out from a slit on the unit's armor, traveling across its frame, so that it peeled off in waves, like an aura of sorts. The Genion's sensors would have chirped a warning to James, detecting a buildup of Dimensional Energy before it, concentrated in the unit's body.

"...That's why I have to stop it, James. Even if means crushing hope, along with despair. Even if it means the end of the Kingdom I gave everything for."

The larger machine lowered its hand... and closed its fist.

"Even if it means... Cutting you down."
 

Hitura Rael

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#12
James gritted his teeth, voice growing more heated with each sentence. "Instead of explaining it, you give crytpic bullshit, though you know full well I would probably side with you. Instead of letting Selene have a target on her back, you tell me it's not her fault. Not that she didn't know, that it's not her fault. Instead of coming to the people who care about you, you cause chaos. And instead of trying to get me to understand you'd rather kill me."

Something snapped inside, and the world seemed duller for it. His world had been utterly shattered by the two people closest to him. Neither had trusted him with any of the truth. Both insisted on cryptic lies and manipulation. Both expected his utter obedience and loyalty. Enfield had severed the bonds and trust, cast him aside like refuse. Who was to say his own sister would not do the same? If Enfield could do it... how could he trust anyone? His body remained tensed, but all emotion drained from his voice.


"Gerart Einfield, I hereby charge you with theft, destruction of property, murder, resisting arrest, treason, and attempted regicide. You are ordered to stand down and submit to being taken into custody.

The Genion shifted it's stance, assembling the halberd, ready to fight. Enfield had chosen his path, to throw away everything and everyone, for what? Petty vengance? An edgelord's temper tantrum thrown by a teenage pissant who thought that he was invulnerable and right?

There wasn't anything just behind Enfields actions, nothing right. He had taken all he held dear and thrown it in the fire, for nothing, burning everything in his wake and ruining the lives of those who had trusted and loved him. There was hope and love still in James' heart, masked by the numbness of overwhemled emotions, the oddest, clearest his head had ever felt. The soul crushing weight would have it's turn later. There was no place for it now. Now, he needed to rise and uphold the only solid foundations left in his life. Justice. Justice for those Enfield had killed directly. Justice for those felled by petty squabbles from so called noblemen. Justice for the men and women who had died when that monstrosity had been birthed from the ZONE.

No one is above the law.
 
Jun 14, 2018
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#13
"Spoken well, young Steelheart."

A shape had suddenly appeared in the gap through which Enfield had emerged only moments before. It was even smaller yet than the unfortunate Raftclans, but wide and hulking in profile, and heavy footfalls crushed shards of the tattered dome to dust beneath their tread. It crested the great fracture in the structure, and the Lunar light glinted from the distinctive crimson-with-white scheme that had been ever so hastily slathered on the Diam Sir's bulky frame. James perhaps may not have recognized the voice and vivid colors at first glance, but Gerart would know better.

"By the authority invested in me as Grand Arbiter, I order that you lay down your arms and submit." The machine swung low the heavy halberd it toted, long blade on the weapon's tip directed at the Geminia's back. There was a distinct bite to Charles' next words, a threat only thinly veiled. That he, of all men, would allow such emotion to penetrate his carefully-practiced neutrality only highlighted the severity of the situation.

"There has been quite enough blood shed here. Do not force us to add to it."
 

GEAR

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#14
Enfield remained mostly silent as James laid out his charges, his cool exterior a stark contrast to the building fury of the young man before him. How much of what he had shown beforehand had been false? How long had he planned his betrayal? ...No explanation seemed to be forthcoming as he lowered his head. Was it in shame? Did the guilt weigh more heavily on his shoulders than he had otherwise indicated?

Before he could respond, however, the sudden arrival of the Diam Sir caused Enfield to jerk up, as if snapped out of a daydream, the emotion draining from his face once more.

"Oh?"

The hulking mobile weapon turned its head back to address the newcomer, sizing it up. That paint scheme... and that voice, together, were unmistakable, and it caused Enfields eyebrows to raise slightly in surprise.

"The Grand Arbiter, too... It really just is not my day." Said Enfield, calling out to Beaumont;

"My condolences for the Giganscudo, Charles! Squandering such a venerated artifact..."

The Knight of Knights trailed off tantalizingly, slowly shaking his head, before continuing, dryly:

"Sir Franklin would be disappointed... Yet not surprised."

He gave a low, humorless chuckle before turning his attention back to James.

A distinct quiet had settled across the soon-to-be-battlefield. It was the quiet before the storm, the world collectively holding its breath as several lines of fate converged. What occurred before this day, and what came after - nothing would be the same, for any of them. At length... Enfield gave a long, slow sigh, and reached up, taking hold of his visor between thumb and forefinger.

"...Well." He remarked quietly,

"I won't be needing these any more."

A hand was pressed against the Geminia's chest, and the eerie, verdant glow from before once again pulsed out - only this time with even more intensity as Gerart spoke aloud, his words clear and ringing, causing the light to flicker and waver eagerly with every word. Both the Genion and the Diam Sir both were sensitive to the waves now pouring from the machines chassis - yet they were far from unfamiliar. Indeed, they seemed to match, almost exactly... Those previously produced by the ZONE.

"Sphere of the Quarreling Twins,
Gerart Enfield, Knight of Knights, beseeches you:
To stagger hearts, to sway minds,
This turmoil, I offer you, this fury, I swear to you,
Let my agony of my anima be your cruor,
And in exchange,
Bestow unto me might unyielding.
"

1556487630248.png

The light burst into a miniature nova, as the aura about the Geminia blossomed, enshrouding it with Dimensional Energy as the Quarreling Twins resonated with its Reactor, unfolding like a chrysanthemum in bloom, casting the Lunarian Super Robot in a dancing array of shadows. Enfield tore his hand away, whipping from his features the visor that had been omnipresent since his youth -from the ages of 18 and onward, he had worn it. Yet, even James would have recalled... That his eyes never quite looked like this.

"Don't you remember, James? What I taught you, over and over?"​

Two pools of azure silver, like drops of mercury that reflected all the colors of the rainbow, regarded James Steelheart and the Grand Arbiter with a supernatural kind of coldness.

1556488031501.png

"Imposing your will... Is a matter of strength!"​
 

Hitura Rael

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#15
James' glare shifted to the Arbiter's mech, baleful and just shy of hostile. He was no fool though. He would not look this gift horse in the mouth or squander the appearance of this new threat. It was a threat to Enfield as well, and a well timed distraction. He took advantage of this momentary pause, the Genion's hands working swiftly to disassemble the halberd it held and assemble the drones, releasing them into space to race off into the distance. Their size and speed were an advantage with a distracted foe, though Enfield was not likely to fall for it as the other monstrosity had.

His attention flickered back to the Geminia as the emerald light radiated from the mech. James' lips pulled into a tight line, muting Enfield momentarily as he began his recital. His eyes did not stray from the Geminia, watching intently for any tells the machine might give. There was a hint of dangerous emotion, resentment, and bitterness to his words as he addressed his sister, "Selene. If it's not TOO BIG a secret. I need to know what Barney the purple eyesore can do."

He unmuted the link from Enfield as the blossoming energy swelled. James' gaze drifted down to the display, to look his once comrade in the eyes one last time. His face was a mask of disinterest and neutrality. Almost lazily, his eyes drifted back up to the displays of the outside world. His voice rang as cold as Enfield's gaze, "You lack strength. Strength is to face the storm and bare it, not turn tail and hide like a kicked puppy. You're nothing but a weak coward hiding behind relics, afraid to face the dawn. Arbiter, I want him alive to face trial and serve his time in jail."
 
Jun 14, 2018
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#16
Though unseen to Enfield, Charles' eyes narrowed at the jab. To go so far as to spit on the sacrifices they had made! And to furthermore insinuate that his appointment as Grand Arbiter had been folly...that Gerart would question the venerable Sir Franklin's judgement rose his ire a great deal more than if the man had simply besmirched Charles' own name and been done with it. Yet still, he would not stoop to the level of trading petty insults with this...criminal, replying only with silence and action.

The Diam Sir's stance shifted abruptly as it swapped readied weapons, halberd snapping up into to lie at the defensive as the machine's left arm was instead thrust forth. The crossbow-like device mounted there snapped open to reveal twinned limbs and a central barrel from which dimensional energy began to shine - but Charles hesitated, observing, as the Geminia brought a hand to its chest. It seemed to summon forth a great swell of power with the gesture, and the signal that his mech's computer chirped out at him was unmistakable. It was the same signature the Arbiter had been chasing exhaustively over the past 48 hours since the incident: the same as that which had originated from the ZONE.

Proof irrefutable of Enfield's treason, then. Unknowingly mimicking James, he too cut communications to the azure machine, leaving lines open only to the Genion; there was nothing more to be said. Leaping from the precipice upon which it stood on a burst of thrusterfire, the Diam rapidly unleashed a handful of projectiles toward the Geminia's rear, blinding bolts of energy tipped with raw dimensional crystal streaking forth.

"Fate will decide his survival. Do not hesitate."

Death is too gentle an end for this man.
 

GEAR

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#17
"This is hardly the time for jokes, James."

Selene's voice crackled to life over the Genion's speakers, as its remote weaponry lanced out. If the Queen was somewhat miffed at his silencing her, she didn't show it - at least, not for the moment. There were more pressing concerns.

Before James, the Geminia raised a hand - James couldn't hear him, but that was hardly an issue for Enfield. No, if anyone would know how to get under his skin with merely a gesture... It was him. Two fingers were brought to the Super Robot's forehead in a mocking salute, leaning back on its heels as it did-

Before the machine exploded backwards, Sphere-augmented Dimensional Energy thrusters carrying it up and away in a backflip. It must have seemed just... impossible. Nothing that large could possibly move that quick, leaving only the thinnest trail of dust in its wake. The Diam Sir's arrows and the Genion's blasts both passed harmlessly underneath, peppering the Lunar soil, but failing to meet their mark.

"I seem to recall your marks in dueling, at least, were impressive."

Enfield spoke aloud, though given both had muted the man, it was uncertain as to whom. He was far from a standard combatant, and the instructor inhim seemed to rise briefly to the fore, musing aloud as he took in the Diam Sir's stance. For a moment, the Geminia hung suspended, upside down in the air as its whole body turned, reorienting itself.

"It's called Geminia, Genion's predecessor based on the Guard's Diosk... It's large, but it's also exceptionally fast, and light weight."

"Let's see if that still holds true."

Thrusters flared once more, and the heliotrope titan cannonballed away from the Genion, heading directly for the Diam Sir like a glowing meteor. As it did so, it flexed its right palm, thrusting it in the direction of the Arbiter, the dome-like lense on its surface glowing as particles gathered within. With the blink of an eye, the same blinding white rays as before lashed out - a pillar of energy comparable to a battleship cannon, punching out in a straight, sustained line in the direction of Charles' knight-machine.

"Those emitters in its palms can bend lightwaves, focusing them into different forms. In the hands of someone like Gerart, they're deadly. Please... Be careful."
 

Hitura Rael

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Sep 29, 2018
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#18
"This is hardly the time for jokes, James."
"I wasn't joking." He responded in a dry tone. He growled under his breath as the Geminia mocked a salute, then launched itself backwards at an incredible speed. He stared at it mouth agape for a moment. He had to be seeing things! That purple bastard was huge yet it moved like a goddamned hummingbird and cheetah had been spliced together. He recovered from the shock, bringing the Nitro Pikes to bare, firing off several shots at the retreating Geminia. The shots fell short, kicking up moon dust as they hit the barren soil.

"It's called Geminia, Genion's predecessor based on the Guard's Diosk... It's large, but it's also exceptionally fast, and light weight."
"I noticed." He growled at Selene, watching the Geminia as it launched it's assaults at Charles. He focused on being ready to move, should the Geminia turn toward him, and listening to the elder woman. He was upset at her, rightfully so, but he would not spurn the aid he asked for.

"Those emitters in its palms can bend lightwaves, focusing them into different forms. In the hands of someone like Gerart, they're deadly. Please... Be careful."
The Genion kicked off from the soil, barreling after the Geminia. Sir Charles would need to hold Enfield off on his own until James closed the gap. "Got it... Disarm her. Can We keep up with her if I push Genion?" He refered to the Genion when he said we, of course. Charles had no hope of keeping up with the her, and he was fairly sure Genion couldn't keep up with her elder sister for long if he pushed her.[/quote]
 

XekuZwei

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Jun 14, 2018
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#19
Tch. It wasn't as though Charles had truly expected his initial barrage to land, but the ease with which the Geminia pirouetted away from his fire was...troublesome. A machine of such size moving with that degree of agility would immediately prove difficult to keep up with. As loathe as he would have been to acknowledge Gerart's words, the Arbiter suspected that the Giganscudo's absence would be even more keenly felt by the time this battle concluded even if victory was theirs.

But every machine - no matter how advanced - had a weakness, for try as they might not even the Lunar Kingdom had succeeded in creating the perfect design. They simply needed to identify the azure giant's flaws and exploit them. Easier said than done, of course. But as they had triumphed against Vynatea, they would triumph again. And in this battle, taking discretion as the better part of valor was no longer a world-ending prospect should things go truly awry.

Almost as if on cue with his thoughts, the Geminia extended a shining palm toward Charles. He was afforded only a moment's notice before the beam lashed out, with evading made a difficult task without knowing the extent of the opponent's capability beyond witnessing the single shot that obliterated the Raftclans. He rammed the controls forward, the combination of the moon's gravity on the Diam Sir's colossal mass and a burst of thrusterfire sending the machine diving below the intense blast. He was lucky, it seemed, that Enfield was lacking in the imagination department at the moment.

The Diam's left arm snapped up, rattling off another triplet of crystalline bolts at the far larger unit. With luck, at least one of the projectiles would be hidden from sight by the brilliance of Gerart's own beam and strike true. And then, all that was left was to meet the beast head-on as it took up the halberd in both hands to meet his enemy's charge.
 

GEAR

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Jun 15, 2018
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#20
As the lightwave blast surged overhead, illuminating the Lunar ravine, the thought that occurred to the Grand Arbiter appeared, initially, to be correct. No immediate harm came to him, and Enfield continued along his course, seemingly unhurried, even as the DEC-tipped projectiles slammed into the Geminia's barrier, two of their number embedding themselves in the machine's shoulder armor.

Except, of course, that the Diam Sir had apparently not been Enfield's target. The beam smashed into the area immediately behind and below where Charles had been standing-

And the cliff-face of the power plant exploded, tearing at the underside of the facility - and with it, the carefully stored and maintained reserves of power that had been curtailed from the runaway ZONE. Detonations cascaded across the pipelines extending on either side of the dome, as more power than was ever meant to travel through their composite parts forced its way through, destroying everything in its path.

The sensors of both the Genion and the Diam Sir lit up like a spectacular fireworks display, as raw Dimensional Energy pulsed into the surroundings, sending threatening ripples across the fabric of space, ones all-too reminiscent of those that had caused the DAMON to appear en masse. It was hard not to imagine the silhouettes of fiendish, grasping claws and slavering teeth pressing against that thin barrier between worlds in anticipation...

Yet... None emerged to menace the trio. Noise roared across all channels, effectively blinding all three - but at the very least, it appeared there would be no reptilian intruders on their little scuffle.

Rocks and chunks of structure cascaded down from overhead, sending a cloud of Moon dust up about the Arbiter. For a moment, all was still, the tension in the air so thick that it seemed to have an almost tangible weight on one's shoulders, a cloying heat building up just under the neckline, a sense of static electricity prickling the neck.

And then-

Overhead, for a split second - a neon violet glow in the cloud, as the Geminia burst forth, directly on top of the Arbiter. From its palms, in a fashion not unlike the Diosk, a pair of longsword-shaped lightwave blades burst into being, the giant bringing them crashing down with terrible force as it descended, bringing the two down in a chop aimed to sever the arms of Charles' defender.