Simulacrum (Say)

MKR

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Aug 19, 2018
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#1
August 19th
Outskirts of Ruina Territory
Former Ukraine, ruins of Poltava
12:00 Local time


The Rein Weissritter hung above the empty city, its inhabitants long since having fled to the relatively safer Endymion territories nearby or been killed leaving only the ruins of civilization in their wake, she wondered- how long until time would forget this place? How long until trees and plants would cover everything made by humans. Ten years? Twenty? A hundred? A hundred sounded right. Long as no one came in in the meantime to reclaim it from nature.

All in all, an unlikely course of events. But it was something nice to fill the time as she waited, this place had played home for her for a little while during the past months. The facilities the Directory had left behind proving very useful for her purposes. But that was also why she had invited a friend over, well that and she could simply taste the negative energies in the air. The doing of the Ruina no doubt, or otherwise useful to her as the pure white knight gazed down upon something slumped in the street.


In a sense it reminded her of a doll, seeing it inert like that- Pinocchio in dire need of strings. Its Nautilus Carver laying besides it with inside a green object. It was the preordained time, her accomplice should be here soon. She had requested this time after all and he was not one to disappoint in such a sense. So within her cockpit Johanna clapped twice.
"Wake up." She ordered.

Pinocchio found his strings, the Virgola unit 2 rising to its feet and taking the Carver into its hands, gazing up at her as it waited for the tug to direct it.
"Take position, when he arrives. Initiate combat, utilize the Maiden to its full extent."

The Virgola stepped to the side, vanishing into a street. She watched it leave, it was a real pity such a waste of two units to have two mercenaries hold onto it in secret. Stored away, oh she found it it wasn't exactly difficult when they began using the units to fight for their lives once the Directory went kaput but nevertheless her mind was filled with excitement, who would stand tall. No that was a loaded question, there could only be one victor in this duel. The question was- who would feel.
 
Nov 12, 2018
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#2
Fortunately for her, the Weissritter's pilot didn't have to wait very long.

Virgola Unit 1 trudged towards the abandoned city's outskirts, sensors searching the empty streets and buildings for signs of movement. The mobile weapon had evidently seen better days - the logical result of six months spent away from any reputable hangar or repair facility. The navy blue and gold paint across its body was faded and dull, with splotches of ugly gray where mismatching armor plates had been crudely welded over old wounds.

The same went for the weapon clutched tightly in its grasp: the Gunnery Carver. Power cables snaked across its frame, hooked to a fusion reactor hastily jury-rigged in place of the Sorrowful Maiden. It was undoubtedly an inferior replacement, but there were no alternatives, and Kenneth personally didn't feel much of a difference. The controls were only a little sluggish compared to before - the Virgola was never been designed to properly accommodate the full potential of a Sphere to begin with.

Of course, he had more pressing concerns than his unit's performance. It was more than adequate. Why the proximity to Ruina territory? He half-expected a squadron of their strange, insectoid fliers to appear on the horizon with each passing moment, undoubtedly to be followed by the crushing might of their main forces.

An unpleasant thought.

There was also the issue of the task at hand - more specifically, the nature of his enemy.

The past.

Had she always been so frustratingly cryptic?

The machine crouched, thrusters roaring to life. For a moment, the jets of blue struggled - and then the Virgola leapt, surging into the air. With a crash, its feet plunged through the uppermost floors of a nearby skyscraper, sending a miniature cloud of debris into the air as the unit steadied atop its new perch, continuing to scan the surrounding streets.
 

MKR

Moderator
Staff member
Aug 19, 2018
626
3
18
#3
The Weissritter watched from a distance, observing the arrival of the by now familiar blue machine. Even if it was in a sad state, she then watched the cloud of debris arising from the skyscraper. Inside her cockpit she stood up, watching the visual feed and the Virgola within it. She clapped her hands twice once more.
She could already feel Pinocchio's attention upon her, such a useful thing. When she spoke, it listened.
"He's here, fire into the dust cloud."

The Carver was levelled, its top barrel levelled with the cloud of dust. Within the Weissritter she could hardly contain her excitement what a wonderful time. Now to watch it all unfold.
Two bullets flew through the air, firing into the dust. To Kenneth these would be familiar as they were the exact type his carver used. Fired in the exact way a Carver would, two solitary rounds in quick succession piercing the dust. Hoping to suss out the location of the dirty Virgola be it by chance or by forcing it to move.

In the meanwhile Johanna flipped her comms so Kenneth could hear.
"Kenneth! I am so glad you could come here, I hope you'll gain as much- if not more, than I will learn from this." She replied, glancing down at the now advancing Unit 2, shifting its position behind another skyscraper. The smile on her face faded slightly, why didn't it fire the beam? Using the sphere it should fire the beam. Maybe she was being to generic with her instructions, yes that had to be it she had decided.
Next time she just had to be more specific. Even if she had already instructed it to use the Maiden that had latched onto it.
 
Nov 12, 2018
68
0
6
#4
Unit 2's shots cut through the veil of powder, punching a pair of holes through the gradually dispersing shroud. One round completely missed, continuing uninterrupted into the sky. The other did not - at least not entirely, as it scraped past the Virgola's right arm with a loud screech. As the slug passed, it wrenched free chunks of blue plating, sending a fountain of metal fragments into the air.

A glancing strike. Not the kind of devastating hit that would cripple a machine - but of course, it didn't need to be, and that hadn't been the goal to begin with. Unit 1's position was compromised.

"Gh!"

Kenneth flinched, moving to pull the Virgola back and over the edge of the building, out of the line of fire - but he paused, fingers freezing around the control sticks as his eyes settled upon the familiar visage of the enemy lurking in the streets below. Of course he remembered. How could he not? Six months wasn't enough time to forget - to allow memories of that night to disappear.

The explosion's flames approaching. A wall of crimson crystals. The remnants of the burnt-out facility. Yet it was plainly evident that something had managed to slip his mind. Something that he had somehow failed to consider, both immediately after the incident and in the past six months. Whatever became of the other two Virgola machines? Surely, he couldn't be faulted for assuming that they were destroyed in his rampage.

The barrel of the Nautilus Carver was still pointed in his direction. It was familiar, yet alien - unmistakably the same kind of armament as the one still in his machine's arms, and the green jewel in its side was unmistakable. Yet there was something about its shape that subtly disturbed him. Perhaps it was the way it seemed to resemble an aquatic creature of some sort, with a gaping maw and streamlined silhouette. Like it was coming to eat him.

The Virgola disappeared over the edge of the building as it toppled backwards, thrusters firing as it neared the ground to arrest its downwards momentum.

"Johanna, you-" He paused, taking a moment to restrain his emotions. Anger and panic wouldn't help him here. Assuming the worst, his opponent's performance would undoubtedly outstrip his own.

"...Do you expect me to destroy it?"

He peeked out from behind the structure, rapidly firing twice at his adversary's location - even if it was no longer there.
 

MKR

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Staff member
Aug 19, 2018
626
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#5
"Destroy it? Not per se, you just need to beat it." Johanna replied, "If you manage to destroy it I'll be very pleasantly surprised by your growth." That was no lie, not at all. If someone robbed of their sphere could be undoubtedly better than an equivalent holding a sphere it would disrupt her research in the best of ways. However she doubted that. As she replied the Unit 2 was on the move, taking another vantage point and levelling its weapon. The two shots fired in retaliation passing through empty air for an enemy no longer there.
"But to beat it, all you need to do is hold out against this ghost. Just remember what I told you. Think happy thoughts, distance yourself from the sphere. If you do that you've already won. But most importantly, I'm on your side- I won't allow you to come to any serious harm. Especially from it."

She was being entirely honest, even if her motives were beyond that. Her control group was too valuable to let die so she made sure he'd live. Him dying here was entirely against that while it would make the secondary goal a lot easier she would only need to stoop to such measures should the unthinkable happen.
"I'll uphold my promise to protect you from the malice of that sphere." She spoke in the same caring tones she had many times during their extended time together. "You simply need to uphold your part as well."

Their companionship, an allegiance. Though one of them held more sway in it than the other.
"You do want to learn more do you not? And this is providing me a lot of information I am more than eager to share with afterwards." She concluded.

With that she directed her microphone towards the other Virgola, leaving Kenneth in the dark about her directions towards Pinocchio.
"Now, use the sphere's power to fire an energy beam towards him." She ordered. The Carver being pushed out of a wall, breaking through the bottom floor of a building as purple light built at its muzzle, green light emanating from the sphere itself.
It charged for a moment as then... It fizzled at the last second, a pathethic beam firing forward a small purple stream firing forward. Shameful in its energy output compared to before.

"What?" Johanna exclaimed.
 
Nov 12, 2018
68
0
6
#6
"Think happy thoughts. Right. How helpful."

The Virgola hurriedly returned to the relative safety of the building’s shadow as Kenneth quietly processed Johanna's advice. The things she was saying - though he didn't doubt her sincerity, it was decidedly difficult to see how a positive attitude would aid him in his current situation. Was she worried about the Maiden? He had already long since decided that he wanted nothing to do with the Sphere, and it was only because of Johanna that he was facing it now with its associated memories to begin with.

Even so, at least it was reassuring to hear that she had his back - even if he already knew she would never abandon him in a time of need.

Another alarm.

"Kh-"

The stream of violet light hurtled towards the Virgola's position - but with its diminished firepower, the attack stalled as the beam impacted the structure serving as its target's cover. Kenneth moved to dodge, sending his machine high into the air with another thruster-boosted leap, and the beam only succeeded in heating Unit 1’s right leg as it hurtled past. A direct hit would still undoubtedly inflict some amount of damage, but the raw power was evidently lost. Unless he was struck right in the cockpit-

He could certainly beat it. Trashing the whole machine wasn't necessary. Maybe taking out its Carver alone would be enough?

With that, he counterattacked while still midair, firing a series of shots in Unit 2's direction. The bullets most likely didn't possess the power to reach it - instead, they were aimed to collapse the structure on top of it and keep it in place.
 

MKR

Moderator
Staff member
Aug 19, 2018
626
3
18
#7
Johanna for her part had a frustrated attempt at figuring out what had just happened. The Carver should not be that diminished to make the energy have to be forced out in fact it should not be diminished at all, the contrary even. Just what was going on with that thing? Her thoughts were interrupted by a structure collapsing, stone and rubble falling downwards. Burying the unit.

A failure this had all been a failure. Johanna clicked her tongue as the Rein flew over to the rubble.
"That's enough." She stated towards Kenneth. "It looks like my estimates were off." The white machine hovered over the collapsed rubble, Unit 2 reaching up as if to beg for help. The Fallen Angel over it like a savior, perhaps to its eyes it was that however in reality it was all but that as the barrel of the machine's weapon lowered towards the Virgola.

A puppet wouldn't do, she'd need a real boy and while she had one right here she wasn't quite keen on letting go of Kenneth yet, still too useful and she had no other measure besides him to boot. An inhale and an exhale as the weapon shot through the cockpit. Nothing.
The Weissritter pulled the Carver out of the rubble, it still rejected her. But at this distance it couldn't flee to him instead the man got to bear witness to the red glow overtaking the sphere once more. It was easier this time, both due to the state of the temporary host as well as her expertise with her abilities now.

"It still yearns for you." She said calmly towards Kenneth, her tone taking a mix of disappointment and displeasure. Aimed at him or the thing below her? That was uncertain. "Of course that feeling isn't mutual, is it?"
Now was as good a time as any to test a bit, as well as 'strengthening their relationship'.

The Weissritter inspected its gun, the sphere once more in place.
"Because if you were still drawn to its allure of self destruction, I'd need to reconsider our agreement." Leaving it at that she immediately shifted topic. "For now, however since you did well we should patch you up. There's some new spare parts right here."
The Weissritter kicked away some rubble to unveil the lifeless Unit 2, mostly intact but dented and lacking its cockpit region.

"If today had ended in success then there would be a proper reward, but that can now wait until you get a proper bout against your past."