The Sounds of Silence (Taskforce Upsilon)

[KiraHYamato]

Onryo held on tight to his controls. His eyes locked on to the newly emerged monstrosity. His hands shivering in fear. The crab fight was bad enough. But now he had to deal with this..thing.

The more Onryo looked at the monster the more his fear grew. "What..." he thought gritting his teeth. His eyes wide open and wet with tears. At this point he was just happy to be away from it.

"WHAT UNBALANCED BULLSHIT IS THIS?!?!" Onryo shouted but everything still remained silent...

A message then appeared on the Mironga's computer. It was from Pierce. Onryo took a look at the message and then looked at the monster. And went back to the message to make sure he read it right.

Somebody wanna confirm Pierce's question? Cuz I'm staying behind the Granzon

Onryo sent the message to all ally units before he positioned the Mironga and the Bartolls behind the Granzon. For 2 reasons. Reason 1 being it was the safest place to be in the battle field. Reason 2 it was the best way to avoid the Granzon's attacks. But Onryo also made sure to keep his distance from the monstrous machine just in case it decided to lash out on him.

 

[VeraC]

Tian Di and the Granzon turned around to face the massive ‘thing’ that came rising out the water. She was more annoyed than anything else by its appearance and looked down upon it with a fierce scowl.

“All these cosmic entities fucking around with us…” Tian Di was sick and tired of it all.

Another black orb of dark energy began forming at the torso of Granzon, a second black hole cluster being prepped, this time with a bit more haste. Granzon honestly felt easier to control and use without Volkruss searing into the back of Tian Di’s skull, and she could almost appreciate this moment of silence she had. Nonetheless, an obstacle stood before her, which she needed to eliminate.

Granzon took grasp of the orb at its chest and hurled it at the new enemy that had appeared.

 

[Tyran]

The Shimeisou's explosion took Slask by surprise, and while most were blocked by Fabularis' hardened blade and shield arm, some ice fragments went past, sticking to the main body of the Mobile Weapon. Fortunately it seemed to only have caused surface damage.

Finally disposed of the Shimeisou, Fabularis shot out of the water, with the Parvus Acies following it, still covered by jagged chunks of ice. Right in time to witness the scene shift on the surface of the water as he hurried to rejoin the rest of Upsilon.

Slask witnessed the black flames and the arrival of the thing before them in silence. Once again he found himself missing Johan. 'He would certainly be crying out of joy at the sight.'

...It was a good thing the unnatural silence still covered the area, Slask decided. He gave the being and Fabularis dubious looks. Could he even do anything to it? Perhaps they should have made Kvinna's Mobile Weapon first, no matter how hard to control she was.

Finally, he answered Pierce's query.

"Not ours."

The Parvus Acies surrounded him as a sparse cloud as he leveled Fabularis' rifle at their foe.

 

[GEAR]

"It's useless."

The Black Hole Cluster burst forth from the Granzon, a whirling sphere of obliteration that tore apart the very sea on its way to its target. The monstrosity, however... Reacted in kind. Once more, its three maws ground open, dark fumes writhing over its endless teeth, before another tidal wave of dark force burst forth - this time directed at the Granzon. It collided with the chunk of dark matter in midair - and the resulting detonation tore the very sky itself, as the singularity clawed its way into existence, a screaming, shrieking howl of hatred against the reality that bound it, called forth by the wills of dark Gods.

It couldn't have lasted more than thirty seconds... But when the Black Hole finally ran its course, it left only devastation in its wake, the Irish coast now nothing short of decimated, as chunks of rock and ruin rained all about the group, filling the sky with dust and debris. For a moment, only the muted patter of rain filled the vision of all present, even the bridge crew of the Air Christmas beginning to doubt the outcome of the attack.

"...So this is the power of the Granzon."

Grey clouds cut against the form of the monster as it reappeared, with nary a scratch on its hideous visage, carved as it were into a permanent, chilling grin. To Tian Di in particular - her own vision perhaps augmented by the lurking spirit of Volkruss itself, there would have been... Something else, as well - something that seemed to hover over the form of the creature, a pair of emerald eyes that peered out from a formless cloud... Looking through her, as if peering at her very soul itself.

"We had expected... So much more."

On the bridge of the Air Christmas - and monitors all across the battlefield, a transmission would have been picked up. The various screens changed from static, to display the form of... a woman. She was seated in what could best be described as a throne of ivory, within a cave of bone, its dark interior only matched by the ebony of her skin, which was further highlighted by waves of silvery hair that flowed down her shoulders.

​

"Followers of the Great Destroyer… I am Pontiff Cassilda. I speak for the silent - those who have chosen to walk the path of true peace and tranquility, the embraced of Razmuno Lasfitot. I am the keeper... of this deathless Shiseiten that you see before you."

But those eyes... Weren't human. Nothing whatsoever about the Pontiff was ordinary - it was as if she was an invader from another world, and even the serene expression on her face was as alien to the human form, so wrapped in its own personal storm of disorder, as to be completely foreign in nature.

"At the behest of my Lord... I have come to deliver a warning. To those who have manipulated us..." - Cassilda's voice hardened - "We will not forget this insult. Great Lasfitot sees all, and you too... shall experience the tranquility that true death brings."

Her lips parted in a strange smile - almost a smirk.

"...And to you, emissary of Volkruss... The end of our five-hundred year conflict draws near. Submit, and accept Lasfitot - accept peace - into your heart..."

A pair of long legs crossed themselves, as the Pontiff leaned back, propping her head up on a jeweled knuckle, as her other palm flexed - as though closing about something moist, and tender, sensing its weakness.

"Or we... will break you."

 

[MKR]

Johanna's method of calming herself proved ineffective as a the singularity collapsed, her machine being more lightweight in turn was also more easily drawn in by its gravity. Remaining outside of the event horizon was not hard with the distance she already had but, with the terror instilled in her, had she been closer there might've been a real chance of her not being on guard enough.

And that, thing, came out unharmed. She was shaking, a mix of terror and adrenaline coursing through her veins backed by her heartbeat picking up in speed every moment. One of her monitors gave off static for a moment, causing her head to quickly look to it.

That had to be a simulated model right? Something taken from a fantasy movie's data and turned into this monster's representative. Johanna couldn't even believe her own excuses anymore of course this was real, of course this was the pilot of some massive toothed demonic thing. How could it be anything but this thing that was bordering on humanity and monstrosity calling itself a holy emissary.

She felt defeated despite not even having taken a single shot at the behemoth.

 

[Raider867]

There has to be a weak point. Pierce thought. After the Granzon's attack not even affecting the monster, he was at a loss. He still couldn't find the weak point of that thing.
"Dammit!" He curses, punching the side of the cockpit with his fist. "Think..." Pierce mutters, staring at the view screen and trying to figure out what should be done. What he should do. And right now, he was at a loss. Should he attempt to fight it and risk death? Or should he just stay back and not do anything and live? Or is there another alternative? Countless possibilities plagued his mind as he stared at the situation before him.

 

[KiraHYamato]

Onryo's hands were shaking. His eyes filled with fear. And after seeing the Granzon's attack prove ineffective against the new enemy only made it worse.

At that moment his screen changed and showed a"woman" who looked like a really messed up version of a fantasy goddess with a very familiar smile which made Onryo snap out of his panicked state. After listening to her speech Onryo questioned what she meant by "Followers of the Great Destroyer" and "Volkruss". But Onryo knew one thing. This "woman" this "Cassilda" wasn't going to let them go. Her tone, her facial expressions... they were very similar to his mother's. And the "Or we will break you" part of her speech only confirmed it for him.

Onryo was honestly scared. But even he realized that this was not the time or place to start panicking. He had to think of something. Or else he...Will die...

"Damn..." he thought his hands still shaking. "Wait.." Onryo stopped. "She was talking... Then doesn't that mean.." Onryo realized that this "Cassilda" may also be the one who made everything mute. "If she can make sound go away..Doesn't that mean..." Onryo tightened his grip on his controls as his fear grew even more. "How're we supposed to defend ourselves against that!" Onryo shouted or at least it would've been a shout but no sound was made.

"Wait..Defend?" thinking back Onryo remembered that the Behemoth protected itself against the Granzon's attack. "Does that mean a direct hit from the Granzon'll be able to damage it?" Onryo thought turning towards the Granzon that was in front of him. But now Onryo had to think of a way for the Granzon to be able to land a direct attack.

"C'mon think!" Onryo struggled to find a way before he realized something. The monster's last attack... It came from it's mouth. "We need!...A... Distraction..." Onryo trailed off as he turned towards his Bartolls and gulped. "This is a really bad idea..." Onryo thought taking a deep breath.

Onryo quickly typed a message to Tian Di hoping that she would respond. Considering she might be holding a grudge against him because of his father and he wasn't sure if he could trust a potential team killer like her either but he had no choice.

Pilot of the Granzon I'm Onryo Ishimura. Pilot of the Mironga. I'll distract the enemy while you try to find an opening to attack it. I believe a direct attack from one of your black holes might work. It wouldn't have defended itself if it didn't. Please, I don't think these monsters plan on letting us go even if we did surrender.

"Please don't say no please don't say no please don't say no" Onryo prayed as he charged in with the Mironga and the Bartolls and opened fire at the Behemoth with their machine guns and missiles . Trying to get it's attention. This was a long shot. Onryo had no idea what other attacks this monster had in store but he had to take that chance if it meant surviving another day.

While charging in Onryo noticed the Weissritter just hovering in the air. "Isn't that Ms.Johanna's? Why isn't she moving?". She was too close to the enemy. If she didn't move she might... Onryo quickly sent the Bartoll that was slightly damaged in the direction of the Weissritter. Onryo had no time to type in a message. All he could do was make sure the Bartoll moved the Weissritter away from danger and thanks to the time Onryo spent in the simulators doing something like this wasn't a problem.

Onryo's hands were still shaking... The size of the Behemoth still sent chills down his spine... But he knew that if he didn't do anything he would regret it!

Leaning his other mobile weapons to the right he continued his barrage of fire at the monster which should distract it enough for the Granzon to find some kind of opening.

---

Meanwhile in the hangar Himari watched the Mironga dash towards the enemy. But Kaizo wasn't there

"Looks like he figured something out..." Himari thought crossing her arms. "But the question is will he use that..." she thought as her eyes turned dark completed with a disturbing grin that scared the already terrified workers even more.

 

[VeraC]

Bullshit. Tian Di looked in dismay as her black hole cluster was effectively negated by whatever the Shitseiten-or-whatever thing was before her.

Well, so-rry to disappoint... Tian Di clicked her tongue at the woman’s comments towards her.

…

Tian Di took a deep sigh and slouched back in her chair. In this brief respite of meaningless monologue, she attempted to try and relax her body, even if her mind was still on edge. What laid before her was merely another obstacle between her and some semblance of freedom, or so she thought. Looking around the battlefield and seeing how all the allied mechs were doing, most seemed frozen still, either scared hopeless or waiting for some kind of salvation to come to them… except one.

While Tian Di was still pissed off at Kaizo for earlier, from what she understood of their relationship, she could sympathize in some way with Onryo. And at the moment, Onryo shared Tian Di’s thoughts of not wanting this conflict to be their last.

Well it’s worth a shot.

Tian sat back up in her chair and messaged back.

“Don’t get hit.”

Yellow energy swelled in Granzon’s torso, before shooting outward in a scatter array of beams, all entering a black disk before the Granzon. It then shifted positions, moving up and in the opposite direction Onryo was heading, in an attempt to get a look around the whole thing. There had to have been something that Tian Di could detect. Her eyes shimmered with a gold glint and her prana began to enhance her senses, seeing if she couldn’t detect something, a weak point, anything really.

As the Mironga began its assault, from various vectors around the Shiseiten, the previously fired Worm smasher now made its appearance, firing in at the behemoth in an omnidirectional concerto of destruction.

 

[Tyran]

Slask was lost. He was unsure what to do.

He had no reason to aid the two Upsilon members, yet he had no reason to believe Cassilda would leave them alone. He was supposed to infiltrate the humans yet some of them were fighting while others had frozen in fear. What was the correct thing to do?

'What would Johan do?' He asked himself.

...He would no doubt have charged in even before the others, and would be already dead. Though Slask had a feeling Johan wasn't an ordinary specimen of his species, or entirely sane, it was still better than nothing.

Looking at what the duo was doing he divided the Parvus Acies into two tight clouds and sent them after the Mironga. Perhaps they would be able to intercept or at least delay whatever would be thrown its way. At the same time Fabularis dashed forward, shooting a beam at the middle mouth.

 

[GEAR]

Onryo and Tian Di's combined attack struck home, the mountain of death before them not even bothering to attempt any kind of evasive action. Bullets and beams from the Mironga clattered against its skulls, leaving tiny craters across its surface, and the Worm Smasher of the Granzon warped blasts all across its frame - internal and external, tearing apart chunks of bone and flesh, leaving it red, and raw, and exposed.

Within the central chamers, Cassilda looked on. If she felt threatened in any fashion... It was muted. Instead... She closed her eyes, and reached out, placing a reassuring hand on the ivory throne that served as her link to the creature.

"Sing, Shiseiten." She whispered.

Once more... Tian Di would have felt the existence of another, a presence hanging in the air over Shiseiten. One that was not dissimilar to the way Volkruss itself loomed over the Granzon. Golden energies began to peel off the Shiseiten - something that was more than simple Dimensional Energy. No, this was something visible only to Tian Di herself:

Prana.

"Reimui."

Before here very eyes, the wounds of the monster began to heal, new spikes of bone spurting from the wounded sections like trees, beginning to mend whatever pain had been inflicted upon it - accelerated, it appeared, by the presence of whatever entity was watching over it - even as it launched its counterattack.

The sky above the Mironga and the Weissritter darkened... And then, without any further warning, what must have been hundreds of bolts of dark flame erupted from the clouds, raining down on them in such a number that they almost blocked out the sun. It must have been the single most spectacular anti-air attack perhaps ever seen by mankind, aimed to brutally catch the agile fliers in a endless, hellish storm from which there seemed no escape - and to shred their delicate wings, driving them down to the earth with the rest of their ilk.

For Pierce, he, Slask, and Tian Di found themselves in even greater peril than their skyward allies. This time, it was not one, but all of Shiseiten's mouths that creaked open treacherously, like the very gates of Hell, dark energies fountaining about its maw. For a brief instant, everything was still, as it gathered its might - and then, five massive pillars of black, howling dimensional energy roared out into the world - with the Grungust, the Granzon, and the Fabularis each finding themselves at the epicenter of one, each more than enough strength to cripple even the mighty Super Robots, as black flame swept over their forms.

The blasts tore into the city, into the Air Christmas, rending earth and sky alike so that nothing remained. On the bridge, screams and cries rang out as the entire vessel was rocked in its bay, energy fields only barely keeping the blast from consuming the vessel. On the bridge, chaos reigned as people were thrown from their seats, and sparks erupted from damaged equipment, the entire ship creaking.

Only Lao Xi Feng remained silent, and calm, even as Shiseiten rained devastation on him. Who could say what the Archbishop was thinking, but his calm wasn't matched by Rogers, who as the movement began to subside, could only point at the monitors, mouthing soundlessly in horror:

"B... Belfast! It's...!"

...Behind the Air Christmas, the City-port of Belfast... Now lay in utter ruin, one of the nightmarish blasts having torn clean through its center. Not even the sounds of sirens pierced the enforced tranquility of the corpse-beast... Nor the ailing cries of the wounded, though fires could now be seen blazing throughout. In the distance, he could see Juliette and the Riots beginning to move in, attempting to locate survivors, fading into the golden haze as they hurried away - perhaps realizing they would be of little help in the fight.

"...My God... What can we do...?" He mouthed, as he slumped back into his seat. It had been years, he thought, since he had seen devastation on this scale. Not since...

The bad old days.

 

[MKR]

Johanna came to her senses as a Bartoll pushed the Weissritter, just in time to watch the smoke settle and the beast regenerate directly after. The sight was repulsive and sickening, only making the machine that did it more of a terror than before. Yet there was no time to return to her state of shock as the skies blackened and a dark fire began to rain down. The eldrich horror had seemingly decided that as per her allies' attack all members of taskforce Upsilon now deserved death.

Her survival instincts took over, she was just as terrified if not more so than before but that spark of life still drove her and now that it was clear that her frozen horror was not going to allow her to live all she could do was fight. Defying any sense of logic she had left in her Johanna moved closer to the Shiseiten barely dodging the fire as the oxtongue rifle was raised at the behemoth.

The rifle was set to W mode, perhaps the only type of attack she could do with any chance of damaging the unholy monster to any degree it might notice. And it itself had provided her with a point to aim it at, first three solid projectiles, then three beams all aimed at the only way to access the fleshy inside of the beast, its open, gaping, portal to hell it may call its mouths.

Yet however fast the Weissritter may be it was not fast enough to escape the raining firestorm, one of the dark fireballs stuck the white mech in its left shoulder shortly before it arrived at the massive enemy, causing smoke as black as the projectile to erupt from the Weissritter, as more fire rained down on the smoke that contained the white personal trooper the blanket of darkness only increased in size. But from amidst the smoke a last defiant yellow beam shot out and towards the mouth of the Shiseiten.

With that done however, from the underside of the smoke the Weissritter began its plummet to the water below. The angel's descent was far from gracious as the wings on its back had been directly hit and it was clear to anyone that the stabilizers were not off any better. As it exited the smoke it became clear that on various locations all over its body the white metal had been scorched black and where the first fireball had hit the left arm had been completely separated from the main machine, the appendage coming to the ground shortly before the main body.

Johanna herself, was wide eyed and gasping for air but remained both conscious and alive, but with ever increasing downwards velocity neither of those were guaranteed upon contact with the water below.

 

[KiraHYamato]

"It worked" Onryo muttered as he witnessed the Granzon's attack tear through the flesh of the colossal beast that was the Shiseiten. But his victory was short lived unfortunately for the Shiseiten started to heal it's wounds.

Onryo tightened the grip he had on his controls gritting his teeth as he watched the Shiseiten completely heal it's wounds. And soon after that the sky around the Mironga darkened. "What in the..." Onryo thought looking towards the sky. And within seconds, bolts of fire started to rain down upon the Mironga.

At that moment Onryo quickly used the Bartolls that were with him as shields in order to protect himself from the incoming attacks. Trying his absolute best to avoid the Shiseiten's attacks, Onryo tried to escape the fire storm that surrounded him. One by one the Bartolls started to fall and it seemed that there was no escaping this situation... "I don't wanna die..." Onryo muttered. His hair covering his eyes... Sweat flowing down his forehead. "I don't wanna die...I don't wanna die... I don't wanna die" Onryo started repeating the same words in his head over and over again as another Bartoll was shot down. The boy was scared. Afraid of dying. His fear started to take over. And as if on instinct Onryo's hand moved towards the Mironga's thruster controls. His shaking hand slowly placed over the gear that controlled the thrusters output.

He knew that if he were to increase the Thruster output to the max he could escape the incoming attacks from the Shiseiten...But... Onryo hesitated. And at that moment he remembered what the director said to him on the day he arrived with his parents "You are afraid." "Take that fear, and use it as motivation for the trials ahead. You will find it... a sharper spur than you are perhaps used to."

"I..." Onryo muttered. "I..." he said again. "WONT DIE HERE!" Onryo shouted deactivating the AMN system which resulted in the all the remaining Bartolls to power down and fall in to the Ocean below.

Onryo then with his new found determination pushed the Mironga's thruster gear all the way up. Increasing it's output to the max. Within moments the Mironga started to fly through the storm at incredible speed. But at the same time Onryo screamed in pain as he endured the Gs the Mironga was causing. It felt as if his body was being crushed.

The Mironga flew across the sky like a shooting star and within moments the Mironga successfully escaped the storm. After realizing that he managed the escape the attack Onryo pulled back the thruster gear and brought the Mironga to a halt.

The moment the Mironga stopped Onryo's body bent forwards. Trying desperately to catch his breath. He felt light headed. His body felt weak and limp. But somehow..He managed to survive.

Falling back on his seat Onryo breathed a sigh of relief. He could barely move his body. Even his nerves were slightly visible on the surface of his skin. But he managed to survive, one way or another. But Onryo had no strength left. He was slowly losing consciousness. He couldn't keep a grip on his controls which led the Mironga to fall into the ocean.

Onryo couldn't even lift a finger in his current state. Making the Mironga move at max speed might've been too much for Onryo's body to handle but somehow... He was still breathing and alive. But he wasn't out of the woods yet... Onryo was drifting in and out of consciousness. He could barely keep his eyes open and his vision was getting blurry. But the boy refused to pass out.

Onryo slowly reached out to grab his mobile weapon's controls sharp pain running through his whole body as he tried. "Not yet...Not yet!". The director's words echoed in his mind again. "I won't die here...I REFUSE TO DIE HERE!!!"

 

[Raider867]

Pierce saw the gigantic pillar of energy nearing him.
The Grungust's armor can't handle that much hitting it at once. Pierce thought, gritting his teeth.
"Like hell I'm gonna just take it!" Pierce shouts in defiance, though he didn't care that no noise came out. Pulling a lever and pressing a code, he disabled the limiter on the Grungust.
If I just can just redirect that energy around me, I don't care if I have to overclock every system on here!
And overclock he did. He charged the Omega Beam to full power and more with the disabled limiter, firing it directly at the pillar of energy. A beam of energy nearly as big around as the Grungust itself fired from the chest of the Grungust.

As the Omega Beam met the beam of energy, he saw it didn't keep the beam at bay and only created a little area of space that was enough for the Grungust to stay in without getting majorly damaged. But the problem was that he had to keep this up in order to be safe until that monster was done spilling it's energy at him
The rushing energy around him was shaking the cockpit, a warning still up from the limiter being disabled. No matter, he kept going, holding the Omega Beam. He wasn't going to let up.
C'mon, Grungust. Just hold on a little longer! Pierce thought, his body trembling from the rumbling of the cockpit.

 

[Tyran]

The Parvus Acies were helpless before the rain of destruction unleashed by the Shiseiten, the ice surrounding the small extensions of Fabularis and Slask's will did little to protect them, shattering under the onslaught much like the devices themselves.

Not that Slask had time to worry about the loss of his favored tools. As the deadly wave of energy barreled towards him he was rapidly going through different plans of action. He could attempt to evade the beam altogether, but that was too risky. No, the best course of action was to take cover.

And the Grungust, according to Johan, was excellent cover with its large size and defensive build. Fabularis seemed to almost disappear entirely as Slask hurried to the Grungust as quickly as he could. Intent on providing them extra protection Slask brought the tips of Fabularis' rifle and blade together as negative energy gathered in the barrel, a glow emanating from it... Before dissipating as the Grungust he was using as cover shot out a large beam that met the incoming beam head on.

For now, the beam seemed to do its job, but if it started to waver Slask was ready to shoot a large tower of ice to protect the Grungust and himself.

 

[VeraC]

Bullshit. She looked on at the damage the Shitseiten was simply recovering from and became conflicted. Was this fight even worth fighting? What did she stand to gain by fighting this impossible task? She owed neither Lao nor the Taskforce any favors, and she didn’t see herself aligned with them at the moment anyways. But if she left, who’d to say that it wouldn’t chase her. Would it?

Tian Di honestly wished she could just disappear, and the oncoming beams could certainly make it happen. But would she give up after having made her mind to live?

"Call it an arrogant streak, but, me? I'd fight it - Every step of the way." Tian Di was reminded of one man’s words. And in a sense, they gave her a revitalized confidence.

Disappear? Tian DI had calmed down from her hot streak before, and began thinking of ideas. She wasn’t sure if it’d work, but it was worth a shot. Anything was at this point.

Granzon began to shift backwards, gaining what distance it could and increased power to strengthening the gravitational field around it. At this point this was the last ditch effort, and should it fail, she may be out of options.

The beams collided with the gravitational field, and while some damage was mitigated, Granzon remained for the most part, safe. It lasted for what seemed like an eternity, though the sturdy frame of As the Beam of energy had subsided, Granzon remained standing, although heavily damaged. Anymore fighting would probably result in its complete destruction. Regardless, Tian Di didn’t give up.

The Torso swung open, almost forcefully so. The dark energy once more circulated at the center, crackling almost uncontrollably, the air itself becoming distorted around Granzon. As it lifted the sphere above its head and was about to toss it, but as it was raised high above, in a brilliant blast of blueish green light, prana encompassed the mech and caused it to vanish at the moment the black hole rapidly expanded and consumed the surrounding space where the mech had once stood. The unstable and uncontrollable orb of destruction sucked in and annihilated the area around it before imploding in on itself, air in all directions quickly being pulled in to fill the vacuum of space left by the orb.

 

[GEAR]

Across the battlefield, the soldiers of Taskforce Upsilon fought bravely to survive the onslaught. Pierce's beam clashed with the Shiseiten's own wave of devastation, even as it forced its way through Slask's frozen shield, the two pushing and pulling against one another as it spilled across the frame of the Grungust, searing it, threatening to engulf it. Yet, even in that moment of desperation, the two would find there were not alone either, as a sudden jet of lavender signaled the arrival of Juliette's Selvius II. Spreading its hands wide, holographic 3D printers came to life, rushing to repair the damage caused by the monster's devastating strike, small beams of light working their way into the scratches and scathing marks left by the black flames.

Its fingers brushed against the surface of the two machines, transmitting a simple text message across their screens via contact.

Hang in there, guys.

Meanwhile, on the bridge of the Shiseiten, the Pontiff leaned back, closing her eyes as she sensed the life forces across the battlefield beginning to wane. Even the Granzon, mighty as it had been made out to be, was crumbling before their might.

"...Hm hm. Struggle all you like. The result will be the same."

Almost lazily, she raised an index finger. Above Taskforce Upsilon, the skies darkened, as the mountain of corpses' maws began to grind open for what seemed to be the very last time as it prepared to unleash an even more devastating rain of absolute annhilation. Cassilda paused momentarily, savoring her victory, offering a short, silent prayer that would dedicate their souls to the great Lasfitot.

"Sleep in the stillness of eternity..."

…

And then...

All of a sudden, in that oppressive silence...

There came a shout.

Clear and clarion, so much that it caused even the Pontiff to pause in disbelief as she raised her eyes to the source, as her dismayed ears heard:

"Liberator, DISCHARGE!"

A lance of emerald green light punched down out of the heavens, slicing aside her own corrupted clouds like divine thunder. It slammed into the center mouth of the creature, a concentrated beam of dimensional energy - and, to Cassilda's everlasting horror, the jawbones about the creature's throat began to bend and compact, slamming its mouth shut. For the briefest of seconds, time seemed to stop as her eyes widened into saucers, the only word passing her lips being a faint:

"Oh-"

And with that, the volatile energy the Shiseiten had been storing...

Now had only one place to go.

With a riproaring scream of flame, the blast backfired into its host body in an explosion of bone and sinew. Black fire and smoke billowed from every eye socket, every ribcrack, every mottled pore on the creature's body, as it belched flame and teetered haphazardly in the air, blackened chunks of flesh and marrow now cascading from its surface as it shuddered. Within the creature's "throne" room, Cassilda screamed in unison with the monstrosity, as her skin seemed to boil and ripple with the Shiseiten's own, a clear, not-quite-blood like substance running from her nose, her eyes, her eyes, as she clasped her features in agony.

"Who...?" - She rasped; "Who DARES...?"

Through one scrunched eye... She saw them. It. Descending from the clouds - and as it did, the darkness faded, and the golden mist that had encroached upon the ocean began to recede, as rays of sunshine began to shine through.

It was all white, save for a red mask that concealed its features, adorned an emerald green slit that served as a visor of sorts. Its body was made of segmented plates, terminating in a pair of thick, winglike binders and a long, dangling tail that flicked out behind it as it hovered, almost serpentine in its motions. It was like... a holy knight, a paladin, riding forth from the kingdom of Heaven to strike down the unrighteous and malign, and it looked so at home clad in radiant sunlight that it was almost as if it commanded the sun to follow it.

The Asclepius released its hold on the long, smoking cannon it carried, the G-Dimension Liberator fading back into its pocket dimension as its pilot spoke:

"No-one of consequence."

...And in that exact moment, the world became filled with sound as the Sphere's power waned. Radios crackled to life, the whine of engines, alerts, speech... A cascade of sound. Cassilda turned her head from one side to another, clasping her hands over her ears as sound, horrid, offensive discord, assaulted her senses.

"The Sphere...! How...?"

 

[MKR]

As Johanna made her free fall she was given a full display of spectacle above, first the shout to break the silence surprised her, then the green lance from the sky and subsequently the Shiseiten's power collapsing in on itself from underneath were all hers to behold from a front row seat, with this display of fireworks sound returned just like it had disappeared, her own gasping for air once again audible.

From this came hope and one last defiant shot she could do before she hit the water and had to swim back to shore. The Weissritter raised its remaining arm, oxtongue rifle in hand and pushed it against its side, rotating the barrel of the rifle to face the beast by rotating her unit. Now she had a stable shot, but just a bullet wasn't going to do it. She was going to empty the guns magazines at this beast. It wasn't like she could continue fighting all that well while submerged. As she prepared the shot, all the remaining eight split missiles stored on the Weiss released and began moving up it was no minefield this time, instead it would be a blanket of these small annoying explosives headed straight for the bottom of the monster.

Johanna took a deep breath and then pulled the trigger, the five remaining rounds of B mode went up and followed the blanket of missiles.
Another deep breath, E mode was engaged and in the form of one continuous beam it reached out to the heavens yet this third act of fire would be halted as the silver fallen angel collided with the water, the energy weapon no longer functional as the adrenaline faded and reality set in her last moment of calm she turned off her cockpit camera, muted her microphone and set course to return to the Air Christmas.

Inside the cockpit the Belgian looked up for a moment, she wondered how things had turned out this way. The sight of the Shiseiten and its later, bleeding, bellowing form would be etched into her mind. Maybe she would never be able to close her eyes without seeing that bony mouth ever again, maybe not. Deep down she felt things would only get worse from here.

 

[Raider867]

"Don't let up! It's vulnerable! Attack!" Pierce says through the radio.
"Zankantou!" He shouts, the sword seeming to appear from nowhere from his call.

The sword enlarges once, turning into a large broadsword. The sword enlarges again, it's form getting longer to the point where the Grungust could barely hold it. Pierce uses his boosters to ascend higher into the sky, raising Zankantou high above the Grungust's head. Once Pierce reached the apex of his ascent, he redirected his thrust downwards towards the Shiseiten. His speed increases rapidly as he bears down on the Shiseiten.
Just before he struck with his sword, he shouted, "CHEEEEESSSSSSTTTTOOOOOOO!"
The sword gets swung downwards. If the strike were to have an effect, it would cleave the Shiseiten in two because of the Zankantou's extremely long blade.

 

[KiraHYamato]

It was dark. And Onryo could hardly breath but he didn't release the tight grip he had on his controls "I don't want to die... I don't want to die.. Someone help me.." The same words kept repeating inside his mind over and over again as tears started to pour down his face while he tried to endure the pain running through his whole body "It's their fault...It's their fault this is happening to me. It's all their fault!" he thought gritting his teeth. The fear that had come over him slowly turning into anger

At that moment a loud roar echoed around the area but the boy ignored it. Onryo was angry and the pain that was coursing through his body only made it worse. His life up until this point was a lie. Everything from the day he was born was a lie. Am I even a human The boy questioned if he was even human to begin with. And all the suffering...The hell he was going through is all because of them. The very people who brought him into this world. And now some extra dimensional dragon wannabe was going to kill him for reasons he doesn't even know.

"To hell with this! To hell with everything!" Onryo said pulling himself up with a newly lit fire in his eyes. And with that Onryo fueled by his rage made the Mironga stand up straight and this time with no hesitation pushed it's gear all the way up. Once again Onryo was taking in excessive amounts of Gs. Which made it more painful for Onryo's body but it only added fuel to the already burning fire that was Onryo's wrath. And within seconds the Mironga blew it's way to the surface and stared directly at the Shiseiten. It seemed injured and there was a new arrival at the scene. But Onryo was more focused on the three mouthed monster.

Onryo made the Mironga pull out it's Straight machine gun and beam sword his eyes locked on the Shiseiten.

---

Back in the Air Christmas Himari wore the wore a wide and terrifying grin before she started laughing maniacally. "The boy finally snapped" she said the as she composed herself. "That's it... Just like that." Himari muttered with a wide sadistic grin as she pulled up her tablet. "Phase 2, cleared"

---

"I'm returning the favor..YOU BLOATED THREE HEADED FREAK!!!" Onryo said his eyes burning with anger.

The boy had finally snapped. After being lied to, made into a science project being experimented on day in and day out ever since he came here and finally being forced to fight some monster for reasons god know what finally made him snap. All Onryo could think about right now was to survive and... Vengeance

"RAAAAAAAAHHH!!!" Onryo screamed his voice a mix of pain and anger as he made the Mironga accelerate towards the Shiseiten as ludicrous speeds and started firing it's machine gun until it emptied the rest of it's clip. The moment the weapon stopped firing Onryo quickly switched to a different magazine and continued his attack while also firing the remaining missiles that was in the Mironga including the TGB missiles. Onryo's assault didn't end there however. The moment the Mironga got close enough to the Shiseiten Onryo made it circle around the large beast at attack it from every direction. The current speed of the Mironga would make it almost impossible to hit. The mobile weapon was like a shooting star traveling over, under and around the large beast while also firing all of it's weapons at it while also trying to make a few cuts with it's beam sword.

This assault was leaving a toll on Onryo's body. He might may suffer many internal injuries because of this but at this point he just didn't care. The pain coursing through his body only fueled his rage.

After a long grueling attack the Mironga finally ran out of ammunition and the mobile weapon stopped above the Shiseiten. However Onryo's attack didn't end there. At that moment 4 highly damaged Bartolls dashed out of the ocean below and started firing with whatever ammo they had left.

AMN SYSTEM ACTIVATED

The Mironga hovered above the Shiseiten and at that moment the Grungust began it's attack and came crashing down from the sky with a large sword in hand. Onryo made the Mironga side step at the last second, successfully avoiding the attack and continued to watch from above.

 

[Tyran]

'-nfair! I should be - hey! I can hear you again! I can't believe you were cowardly enough to almost die without doing anything to it!' The moment the sound came back to the area Slask's head started ringing from Johan's yelling. Evidently the human had been ranting the entire time.

'Did you really waste energy to yell all this time?' Johan continued to confuse him.

'You know me so well. So, what are you waiting for? The weird undead-looking thing isn't in any condition to do anything, no need to worry about your precious hide. There is no risk. Get in there and crush it with our trademark ice!'

'It is not trademarked.'

'Irrelevant! Go fight!'

'Why? The rest of Taskforce Upsilon will be able to finish it off.'

'You can't know that. Besides, finishing a big thing like that together? It'll build solidarity. I'm sure that eventually betraying them or whatever your plan was will generate more negative energy if they think of you as a comrade.'

'It is a waste of negative energy... but very well. You are the human here, I will do as you say.' Moving away from the Grungust, Slask once more placed the tips of Fabularis' weapons next to each other. Fabularis shot towards the Shitseisen as it activated its freezing systems, briefly leaving behind an afterimage of snowflakes.
The very air around Fabularis seemed to freeze from the cold emanating from the machine, though it soon came to a stop when a blinding flash burst from the tips of the two weapons.The flash resulted in a massive cluster of crystalline edges rapidly forming around the Fabularis, every point aimed squarely at the Shiseiten as it charged. The massive ice structure, several times the size of Fabularis, had barely finished forming when it collided with the Shiseiten. In the collision the massive ice blade buried itself deep into the carcass before shattering in countless little shards, each shard burying itself into the Shiseiten.

After his strike Slask hurried away, not wanting to become collateral damage from the Grungust's attack.