[Log] Attack of the Zondar [1/3]
Who: Agrias Oaks, Ami Mizuno, Aya Kobayashi, Gades, Hrist Valkyrie, Meliadoul Tengille, Pizza, Ryusei Date, Simon Parker Zondar Robo Broken Angel, The Rani
Where: Sci-Fi Sector - Detroit, Halo Earth
When: 06 Mar 2008
What: The Vanguard Detachment and a handful of IPA operatives catch wind of their missing agent, and move in with the intent of subduing the Zondar that he's become. Unfortunately, things don't really go their way...
Watch For: Crits EVERYWHERE, Alkoun the Demon Chocobo.
Forerunner Installation
It's Halo!
Contents:
Pizza
Meliadoul Tengille
Ryusei Date
Ami Mizuno
Hrist Valkyrie
Aya Kobayashi
Simon Parker
The Rani
Gades
Buster Machine Number Seven Nono says, "HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII"
Nono not supergod anymore
Daisaku Kusama says, "-Hello!"
Daisaku Kusama says, "Nono, it's good to see you again!"
Nono says, "Ahh! Daisaku, hello!"
Aya Kobayashi says, "Hello again!"
Daisaku Kusama says, "Hi!"
Nono says, "How is Robo? Is he still all grumpy?"
It's a quiet night in the East Industrial District of the City of Detroit. The repair crews have long since stopped work, though it's obvious they still have a long way to go-repairing the damage done by the Covenant invasion of Earth is no easy task. Entire blocks have been sealed off as unsafe due to structural damage, debris litters the street, and a great deal of infrastructure just doesn't work. On top of that, there is an awful lot of war material lying around, in various states of ill-repair.
Nobody should be wandering this district at night, but someone is. A tall, gangly man shuffles, zombie-like, down the street. His eyes are dark and sunken, his chin is covered with a five o'clock shadow, and his clothes are wrinkled and dirty.
At the other end of the street lies the remains of an aerial battle gone wrong-several UNSC fighters lie in the dirt, next to a grounded Covenant Seraph. Simon Parker's vessel smiles, eerily.
"Zooondar..." he breathes.
Simon Parker | Jay synchs up, and clears his throat.
Simon Parker | Jay says, "...S-sirs? Ma'ams? I-I-I just got a m-message from b-b I mean Uncle Simon."
Meliadoul Tengille says, "Eh? Simon's shown back up again?"
Simon Parker | Jay quickly "Actuallyit'sseveraldaysoldbutIforgottocheckmyvoicemaildon'tkillme"
Captain Agrias Oaks, in a clear tone of command, "Calm down and speak."
Well, FINALLY.
For a while, Machine King Pizza thought that the Zondar metal he'd used on this specimen had been lost, absorbed and neutralized somehow. It was only when he detected a Zondar activating that he came to investigate, and recognized that old, stubborn target. What kind of creature had managed to resist this long? He'll have to remember-it's inefficient to attack those sorts in the future.
Nonetheless, he materalizes there in the debris, standing in his Machine King armor and cloak, with a proud, fanged grin on his face. "Yes, that's your target. Your first target. Awaken into your true form now, and being to absorb this entire city. All of these machines, abandoned to fear-the humans no longer deserve them. You, however..."
Aya Kobayashi says, "Oh?"
Kyosuke Nanbu says, "Go on..."
Simon Parker | Jay seems to respond to the Command Voice, at least. "Right." There is a pause, followed by the sounds of a transmission being synched through. It's Simon's voice, and he sounds exhausted. "'s got me. Whomever's listening, it's got me, can't fight it, it's got me. 'm not a traitor, 'm not a traitor, I fought it as long as I could." There is a pause, followed by a ragged, half-mechanical cough. "Halo Earth. I-the metal plague w..." There is a sharp squeal of static, and the message ends.
Daisaku Kusama says, "...Aw, man. Robo's still in repair..."
Simon Parker | Jay says, "That 'metal plague' thing... What the hell is he talking about?"
Meliadoul Tengille says, "... Metal plague? I dislike the sound of that. Dame Oaks, you coming?"
Aya Kobayashi says, "...well, there's a shot in the dark but...I'm unsure."
Aya Kobayashi says, "Where was that message sent from? Do you know?"
Ryusei Date says, "... Well, sounds like..."
Simon Parker | Jay says, "It got bounced a couple times, but t-the Captain and her people say it came from just where he said it came from."
Ryusei Date says, "He said Halo Earth, right? I guess we're kind of lucky in a way, since there isn't much of Halo Earth left."
Captain Agrias Oaks clatter of equipment. "We'll deal with it, whatever it is. We're on our way." Pause. "...Do try not to panic, Jay."
Aya Kobayashi says, "...oh. Oh. That Earth."
Aya Kobayashi says, "I have a bad feeling about this-let's go, Ryusei."
Ryusei Date says, "Roger!"
Nono says, "Don't worry! Nono is coming to AAAH TEETH"
Nono silence.
Sailor Mercury Ami Mizuno says, "I'll be coming myself!"
Gear jangling softly, the Holy Knight and Captain of the Vanguard Detachment picks her way down to the scene itself. Things are promising to become ugly, by the way that Jay was gabbling on the radio. True, his nerves are hardly made of iron, but for him to be this terrified, something's going on.
Agrias Oaks keeps herself alert, golden eyes searching the rubble for anything that may look familiar; anything not part of the metallic wreckage that surrounds them. She rides a chocobo into the scene; an anachronistic image, to be certain, but no less effective.
The Holy Knight rides in full gear, her half-black chocobo in full barding; herself in full armour, and a lance held vertically to balance its tall shaft. Worked in silver, it's a pretty thing, but its ornamentation hides its deadly efficiency.
It's not often that Agrias relies on arts apart from her own Holy Sword skills, but tonight may warrant it. Light armour is more of a vulnerability; and she has a bad feeling about this.
She's even wearing a helm.
She addresses the knight beside her, reaching up to adjust the helm. It has a protective slotted visor, which she has pulled down; no real ornamentation except for what's on her weapon, and her cloak. "I have a bad feeling about this," she admits, quietly. She took an oath not to harm Simon Parker, and while part of her is fatalistic, the part that still clings to her honour doesn't wish to break that oath.
Some suspicion had been floating around earlier, though Aya hadn't really acted on it since a reportedly large nose and a gut feeling was not an acceptable basis to predict something. Even if a psychodriver was involved.
As it was a hunch, requesting EFA resources on the scale of one of the Noah-class vessels was not possible, especially for deploying on this short notice. They were able to cover amazing ground in the times of an emergency, but right now the presumed "situation" had not escalated to emergency levels. There was simply no way they could justify sending a Noah-class to deal with a missing persons report. At the very least, however, the Captain had arranged for a Ladybird for transport. Far be it from Aya to deploy on foot-she's had enough of that sort of thing in the past weekend-during what she thinks the situation might develop into.
"I'm suspecting another Zondar." Aya says to her teammate (if he's here) as she stands in the cockpit of the R-3, "I hope I am wrong though. I've heard nothing from the GGG team lately at all..."
Do Sinistrals feel boredom? Do they take part in events for amusement?
No.
However, Gades being the Sinistral of Destruction, he could sense that this could not end well for mortals and the very land itself, based on his previous experiences of observing this Zondar phenomenon. And so it seemed like his presence could bolster the unfolding of these events and the spreading of glorious destruction.
And for that, as they say, he's 'so in'.
A flash of light, a column of shining magical energy, and the tall Sinistral appears not far from the Machine King's location. Flashy, but effective. His arms are crossed, and he is grinning.
"So, what shall it be named?" is his query, looking at the new 'being'.
Simon Parker | Jay... "J-just bring him back safe. Some of our people are en route, but they'll be a while." And then a long, nervous pause. "Andifthere'sagiantrobotfightcanyoupleasegetitontape?"
A chocobo trots slowly at Agrias's side, it's rider a knight in decked out in green and gold. Like her captain, Meliadoul Tengille appears to be prepared for war. She carries in her sword hand a lance to match the holy knight's. The material is of an unknown metal, the colors within it changing with the light as it flashes, dipping up and down with the movement of the large bird. At her side is a quiver full of bolts and a crossbow rests, strapped to her back.
Simon may not be a friend, but he is a fellow Vanguard and Meliadoul swore a long time ago that she wouldn't leave a comrade on the battlefield alone. Not if she could help it. So she rides out to find him and make sure Agrias doesn't do something foolish, like get herself killed.
When addressed, she glances over at the Holy Knight and grimaces, "Such a dismal place. Let us pray that Simon is still in one piece."
"Let it choose its form first," Machine King Pizza insists.
In the middle of an empty field, backdropped by the curiously bleak view of Lake Michigan and several demolished-for-safety buildings, something fades into view.
The Rani has disabled part of the Chameleon Circuit's normal operation, which means that the manifesting TARDIS resembles a pyramid-shaped block of concrete. This is at least some camouflage. A second or so later, the door opens and a blonde head peeks out, looking left, then right.
"Splendid!" the Rani says, stepping out and clasping her hands as she looks around. "We haven't missed it. Good old Earth; no matter what happens, your pestilent primate species will resist all efforts at extirpation, ably assisted by the capacity of your surplus females to seduce and entice and sing."
She looks over her shoulder towards her guest. "Nothing personal, of course. Welcome to the twenty-sixth century! Do you have your binoculars?" She is, for reference, approximately five blocks from the current location of Impending Zondar Simon.
Hrist, perhaps assuming that The Rani is talking to her, adds, "I'm not human. I merely employ them." The Einherjar, who are not 'out', do not complain one way or another. She doesn't seem to take offense at least.
A set of TARDIS brand binoculars are around her neck. She lifts them up.
"I've got my binoculars." She says.
Something someone can't fight? A mechanical being being taken over and he can't control himself? This can only be a bad thing.. and from Halo? At least they knew where. It sounds rather bad .. and Mercury might have heard of something like this before. Could it be .. some kind of alien? Gathering energy? By the use of a monster created out of someone/something else?
Ami Mizuno bets so.. but she's not sure who or what's behind it.. and it might be Youma! Which explains why someone such as Sailor Mercury would be showing up to such a place. Having mostly walked towards the Gate, rather quickly, it was not until she got close that .. well..
"Mercury Power! Make up!"
A transformation sequence later, Sailor Mercury was running as fast as she can towards where the goggles had noted. Oddly enough, a few were riding large birds. She's not too fast, but she'll get there well enough. It just takes her a bit longer to get there. Normal transformation is sort of hard when your skirt is that small you know.
The rather blue pretty soldier jogs towards the large birds. "I hope I won't be late.." She really needs to find another way of getting around than running.
Alongside the R-3, flying in something at least resembling formation, is the R-1 in its jet form, the R-Wing. And in its pilot seat is... well, who else? Ryusei Date, despite being just as prone to possible Psychodriver hunches as Aya is, seems far less bothered than his team leader. In fact, there's something of a wild grin starting to form on his face. This, after all, is what Ryusei Date signed up for. Fighting in morally ambiguous war settings where good and evil is unclear is something that happens to bother the pilot. But this, on the other hand, is an entirely different story.
"Well, then I suppose we're just going to have to make up for their absense!" the enthusiastic pilot says, and seemingly at random he immediately kicks the jet of his machine, thrusting forward and making a sizeable distance between the two, and afterwords, the machine begins folding out into its humanoid robot form! And at this point, Ryusei's grin starts to gain that Super Robot insanity quality, and he simply can't resist the urge to shout.
"LET'S GO, R-1!!!"
Ryusei Date switches armor modes to R-1.
Simon Parker's vessel finally makes it to the edge of the crash site. He hears Pizza's voice, and a glimmer of recognition flickers in those dead-seeming eyes; his lips form a sinister, snake-like grin.
And then motion from behind the Machine King. Zondarized he may be, Simon recognizes those overgrown chickens, and their riders.
"Zondar!" he cries. To Pizza, this may well translate to 'Invaders behind you!', if it's even a language. Then that dark, grinning face turns to Agrias. It remembers her, oh yes. And it knows what it must do.
Simon reaches the Seraph, runs his hands along the smooth material of the hull.
Seraph-
Covenant-
One particular source of hatred boils up in the mechanized soup that is Simon Parker's mind, and stays there.
He explodes outwards into a mass of tendril-like cables, entwining the fighter craft and merging with it. The fighter glows an eerie purple, and the the holes and gashes in its hull close like wounds sealing. More wire-tentacles burst from the craft, grabbing hold of anything technological within reach and pulling it to the Seraph. Machinery merges seamlessly, organically-and when the flurry of assimilation is over, a monster stands in the center of the scrapyard. It is easily the size of a building.
...More invaders.
The Zonder quickly shapes itself into something more appropriate. First to burst from the mass are two humanoid arms, followed by a head and torso; the lower half forms two strong legs for now. A layer of metal foil unfolds from the creature's back, wrapping around its head and body like a long, cowled cloak. Long metallic projections erupt from its back, growing pinions of glass and steel-six wings in all, each with alternating patterns of black and white, like a game-board. A slim metallic half-halo floats into place at the crown of the Zondar's head.
The yawning void beneath its hood is suddenly filled with lights. With eyes.
"ZOOOONDER!"
This is accompanied by a sudden explosion of sound-the Hallelieujah chorus, in a horriffic minor key. There is, apparently, one killer sound system inside that thing. And by golly, it looks mad.
Aya Kobayashi says, "...I...suppose my small assumption was right..."
Aya Kobayashi switches armor modes to R-3 Powered.
Simon Parker switches armor modes to Zondar Robo.
Aya Kobayashi switches armor modes to R-3.
Pizza smiles, satisfied. "Yes, I suppose it was worth the wait, based on appearance at the very least. I'll call it Zondar Robo Broken Angel. What do you think?"
He glows quietly before seeming to vanish-in fact, running literally too fast to see, appearing next on the ruins of another building so he has a vantage point from which to watch his latest creation. Then he calls out to the humans, in full view, his deep voice audible even over the monster's roar.
"Zondar Robo, destroy all of them!"
TARDIS-brand binoculars: on sale now!
"Oh, there we go!" the Rani calls, clapping her hands together twice in what appears to be excitement. "Look at the development of the wing shapes! Useless, of course, based on purely gravitational and aerodynamic concerns." She raises her own binoculars, having flipped out the opera-glass style handles. "Still - see the patterns!"
Sailor Mercury Ami Mizuno says, ".. That's ... huge!"
Meliadoul Tengille says, "... Good luck Dame Oaks!"
Meliadoul Tengille is taking no responsibility for Giant Simon.
Meliadoul Tengille says, "You get the giant thing, I'll take out the commander unit!"
Captain Agrias Oaks rasps something that might be a curse; it almost sounds Gaelic. Totally incomprehensible. Then, after a bit of stuttering, and in a tone of complete awe (and maybe a little fear), "-Gods be good..."
Simon Parker | There is the sound of someone grabbing the radio away from Jay, and a woman's voice comes over the channel. "Oaks, you say you've found him?" Why hello there, Dinah.
Bringing a hand up, the Sinistral taps his chin. Impressive display, interesting use of sound to cause panic, intimidation and terror. "I like this one." admits the tall being. Not enough to recieve a direct blessing from the Sinistral of Destruction, but a little praise is a perk.
"Of course, it has yet to prove itself." is however the downside, even Gades was not so blind as to judge a monstrosity by looks alone. His gaze sweeps away from it, toward those who were coming to confront this new threat. They seemed mildly powerful, some by ways more familiar to him while others seemed like they relied on machine strength. "And a little test seems to have brought itself here too, delightful."
His arms uncross as the plate-mail clad giant takes a step away from the gathered allies of his, as his hand begins to glow white. From that glow extends a blade, a wicked crimson weapon. He knows by now that being ready is better than letting the mortals try their luck on him unarmed, it seemed.
Captain Agrias Oaks says, "A-aye, we have." Pause. Then, in greeting, "Lady Dinah."
"I see patterns." Hrist says while looking through her binoculars. And that's all she says for a while before adding, "Not tht many colors." Of course Miss Black Palette Swap gets to say that.
Daisaku Kusama says, "I hope you're able to help that person..."
Captain Agrias Oaks sounds muffled, as though wearing a helmet; and the jingling, jangling sound of harness and armour can be heard in the background. "He is not himself. He has become some kind of... some kind of machine."
Daisaku Kusama says, "Become a machine?!"
Meliadoul Tengille says, "One the size of a building"
Simon Parker | Dinah pauses. "What."
Aya Kobayashi says, "A Zondar. It happens when people are infected with Zondar metal...ah, there should be some files in the IPA database about it."
Captain Agrias Oaks says, "I-I have no other explanation, milady. He has become one with the machinery surrounding him, and grown to-to tremendous size. Gods be good, this..."
Sailor Mercury Ami Mizuno says, "I can't even get a good reading on it..."
Simon Parker | The voice of Dave, Simon's buddy, is audible in the background of Dinah's transmission. "Kobayashi, what do we have to do to put it down? D-damn, Chief, why'd you have to be such an idiot and-"
Captain Agrias Oaks sounds like she's swallowing on a dry throat. "Just-tell us how to reverse this, if you would, before he causes any serious harm. If... if we can reverse these effects."
Aya Kobayashi says, "It can be reversed, don't worry."
Aya Kobayashi says, "We need to damage it enough to get at the glowing red core inside of it, that's where Mr. Parker is."
Captain Agrias Oaks says, "Aye. Then what must needs be done?"
Aya Kobayashi says, "Careful with the core, I think harming that will hurt the person it's made from."
Ryusei Date says, "Don't worry. Aya's pretty good at this kind of thing."
Simon Parker | Dave says, "Right, right. And what do we need to do once we get the core out?"
Aya Kobayashi says, "...um..."
Captain Agrias Oaks says, "So what is to be done? Destroy the machinery surrounding the core?"
Sailor Mercury Ami Mizuno says, "There's others here .. I'll help keep one of them away from you so you get to that!"
Harness jangling, Agrias turns her chocobo around, just in time to catch sight of that familiar but seemingly lifeless figure. Well, they've finally found the lawyer. He's definitely looking out of sorts. She allows herself to look a bit relieved, but the emotion is fleeting.
She can only stare, wide-eyed, at what happens next. Her eyes widen even more as he reaches out and seizes the remains of a fighter jet, incoroporating them into his own body.
She manages enough to choke something out, foreign and terrified, before rasping a brief, "-Gods be good..."
She flicks a glance at her green-garbed cohort, before her visored, helmeted head shakes. Wordlessly, she spurs her steed forward, though poor Alkoun tosses his head displeasurably. What are you, nuts? Making him charge forward towards that... that... thing? The bird balks, predictably.
Agrias spends several moments trying to regain control of the ornery chocobo, and Alkoun finally stops trying to turn tail and flee. Fortunately, it's hard to do, encumbered as he is. She hedges a moment, conferring with her allies over her radio; though she keeps a wary eye towards the monstrosity that was, formerly, Simon Parker.
Aya Kobayashi says, "Destroy the machinery around the core and pull it out. It will be fairly large so Ryusei and I can handle the pulling...from there, um...well...it becomes neutralized..."
Aya Kobayashi says, "....somehow."
Aya Kobayashi says, "We might have to contain it so the GGG team can come and deal with it."
Captain Agrias Oaks says, "Aye, we will do what we can, then." Apprehensively, "Tengille, best we see if there is any jointing we can pry loose."
Simon Parker | Dinah sounds calm. "My agency may be able to assist, if my associate's reading of your records is correct. Hold off that abomination until we arrive, and we can see how to best proceed." And then something soft in Hebrew. It sounds like a prayer.
Captain Agrias Oaks sounds a little relieved. "Aye. Your aid is appreciated, Lady Dinah. We will do what we can..."
Meliadoul Tengille says, "Do you not see the commander over there?!"
Meliadoul Tengille says, "I'm going to cut the snake off at the head!"
Aya knows that tone of voice of Ryusei's, oh yes. Unable to help herself, she grins a little at his enthusiasm. "Have you read the reports about Zondars, Ryusei?" she pauses-no probably not, but he could use a reminder anyway, "Remember, when you see the glowing red core, try to remove that from the Zondar. That's where the person is being held. If that is destroyed, then we lose Simon Parker."
She pauses, however, at the sound of Pizza's voice. "...so that big nosed man..." she shakes her head and focuses back on piloting the R-3, falling in behind the R-1 as he moves in. She does note, briefly, that all the Zondars she's fought have been airborne. Odd.
Nimble fingers slide over the console as Aya queues up her armor breaker round, but does not yet fire it, keeping it at the ready. "I'll support you where I can, Ryusei." She smiles a little, mischeviously this time, "Go for it."
"God above..." Meliadoul whispers in hushed awe at the sheer size of Zondor Robo Broken Angel. Memories of Ultima come to mind. But was that particular Lucavi ever that big? She wheels her chocobo around, pausing to stare up in awe. She glances over at Agrias meeting her eyes and then back up just as Pizza makes his taunting. "Good luck saving Parker Dame Oaks! I'll take out the commander." She shouts before sliding her lance into a leather sling attached to the saddle for this express purpose.
She reaches behind her for her crossbow, loading it up with a bolt. "Don't die you hear me!" The call trailing after Agrias as she rides to... her death? Certainly someone's destruction. Spurs dig into the golden feathers and the chocobo takes off like a shot towards Pizza. It warks as it leaps over stones, climbing closer.
When she gets within range, the templar pulls sharply on the reins of the chocobo and takes careful aim before letting the arrow fly.
Meliadoul Tengille misses Pizza with her Opening shot! jab.
"It's very colorless," the Rani remarks to Hrist, "but I see a great deal of intricate patterning. Do you - oh, ha ha, look at that!" She raises a hand to point, taking half a step back to put herself within the TARDIS's defense screen range. Hrist may be able to sense it, faintly.
"You may want to support him," she tells Hrist. "And could you get me a sample of that carnivorous bird? It reminds me of a diatrema and I've lost all my embryos of the species."
Captain Agrias Oaks sounds really muffled. "Don't you get yourself killed, Tengille. You still owe me wine! I'll handle Parker!"
And then, the Zondar Robot is noticeable. Especially because Simon sort of .. just watching, Ami looks up, staring, the goggles pointing out various things that exist and then vanish as it cycles. As it grows and changes. The figures, information and all.. just so strange. She's almost certain if she tried to scan it it wouldn't matter.. the computer might even have a bit of trouble keeping up with it.
Of course. The building sized mechanical mass changes itself to .. an .. angel? A six winged angel? Mercury taps the goggles once, and shakes her head. Nothing is changing.. and the explosion of sound doesn't help either. It almost causes her to shake. Something so large and so .. odd looking, it's not something she's used to seeing .. especially the cry. It unnerves her .. and such a thing is so intimidating. She's almost tempted to flee. Can she really do this?
If only the others were here. What catches her eyes next, beyond Pizza, is the sinistral. Gades. He certainly looks intimidating... but she said she'd take care of him, by which means .. stalling. As the Sinistral, plate mail covering the giant if his size wasn't a factor enough, forges a crimson blade from his hands.. he's challenged.. by a girl in a skirt. Summoning all the courage she has, she tries enough to have him focus upon her.
"... Turning someone into an evil beast to fight for you ... and endangering them! Such a horrible thing! In the name of the moon!" She cries out, posing, pointing to Gades. "I'll punish you!"
Gades might notice her stance isn't all that steady. Not with all the intimidation going on.
Ami Mizuno misses Gades with her *POSE* action.
Meliadoul Tengille hahs, "Don't worry about me. You deal with that thing."
Meliadoul Tengille pause, "though I wonder why he took on the form of a black and white angel..."
Sailor Mercury Ami Mizuno says, "There must be a reason but .. Ah.. good luck! I'll make sure the Sinistral doesn't bother you."
*Blink*
Posing, and...threatening him? "You? A child? Punish _me_?" ask Gades, clearly amused. He even seems on the verge of laughter, a faint chuckle escaping his throat as he shakes his head in disbelief.
The blade is lowered, the tip tapping the ground as the plate mail clad Sinistral takes a heavy step forward, purposely causing a small tremor with his body. "You challenge the Sinistral of Destruction, you oppose the might of gods and yet you do so alone. I commend your bravery...but it borders on madness." His non-sword carrying hand, for he holds the cruel red-hued blade with his right hand alone, is lifted and the palm pointed at the young woman. "Flee swiftly, or stand on the ground of your demise!"
A wave of energy is then launched from that very palm. The lower part of the cone rips concrete and turns it into dust that would blow toward the Sailor Scout as the wave expands and approaches, a small tree is torn to splinters in less than a second, but the wave's range is short and focused. Perhaps he's toying with this girl, or just getting warmed up. Who knows when this big guy is involved.
Gades gets a glancing blow on Ami Mizuno with his Destruction Wave: Also useful for clearing land and getting rid of unwanted trash jab.
Aya Kobayashi says, "Maybe it's symbolic...."
Despite the horrible transformation, the general eerieness of the entire scene, and the massive crazy lights lights and sound... Ryusei doesn't seem too bothered by all of this! This might in fact bring to question the young man's sanity, but one must remember that Ryusei is getting used to nearly dying at just about every opportunity.
"Alright!! That's more like it, Robo-Kaiju!!" Ryusei Date yells, his voice echoing out from the R-1's close range speakers. The Psychodriver Machine flies straight into the Zondar Robo... but unlike Aya he doesn't pull out any apparent weaponry. Instead, it pulls out its shield, which while in the R-Wing mode formed the tip of the Jet. And with the particularly sharp end of the shield, Ryusei aims to punch his way into the center of the Zondar Robo. Though he knows the danger of actually puncturing the core, Ryusei Date also knows that reaching that far on the first attack, well, is probably unlikely! Still, he aims slightly off-center anyway, just to be sure.
Captain Agrias Oaks, over the frantic jangling of harness, "We can think about that after he's been subdued." Is that a hint of nervousness?
Meliadoul Tengille says, "Must be hell of a symbol. I never took Simon to be a god fearing man."
Pizza was standing there a minute ago when the arrow launched, but when it digs itself into stone, the Machine King is nowhere to be found. He moves fast-too fast to be seen as more than a shining blur, the faint streetlights glinting off of his armor.
In moments, he stands near Meliadoul. The other Machine Kings may avoid combat, but he..."I see, you decide to go after the more specific target. I commend your bravery, human! I will make sure your death is worthy of such bravado." A hand is raised, and then the long, metallic violet talons appear out of his wrist, their claws razor-sharp. The birdlike Zondarian dashes at Meliadoul, and attempts to scratch the lady knight right in the face.
Pizza hits Meliadoul Tengille with his in the FACE jab.
Ryusei Date gets a glancing blow on Simon Parker with his He... really doesn't know how to use a shield, does he? jab.
Captain Agrias Oaks grunts something noncommittal. Jangle.
Aya will find that this Zondar is no exception. A high-pitched humming noise emanates from within the machine, barely audible over the music, as Pelican engines and Covenant anti-grav devices whir to life. Highly Heretical Robo-Seraph Judge Zonder rises from the ground, accompanied by a swell in the music. It's something by Handel now, badly distorted.
The palms of the Zonder's hands split open. A blade emerges from the left palm, a sword with a blood-red groove down the middle. From the right palm comes a pommel made of Covenant machinery, with a half-dozen plasma projectors where the blade should go. Blue-white fire erupts from the hilt as Broken Angel Zondar readies its flaming sword.
All the cool angels have flaming swords, you see.
And then Ryusei charges it. The many-eyed head turns to face him, and the machine's Zondar Barrier flares into being. The R-1 strikes it head-on, and the shield flickers-but it is very much intact.
"ZONDAR," the machine bellows, in response to Ryusei's threat. Its voice now has an oddly musical quality to it, and somewhere within its body, several sound systems (ganked from civilian cars) hum to life. From beneath the hood comes a torrent of coherent sound, aimed right at Ryusei's vehicle; it's loud and disruptive enough to crack glass, to scramble systems, and to give the guy one hell of a headache.
The hated Oaks is not ignored for long, either. The Zondar hefts the metal blade, and swings it right at Agrias and her chocobo. It is, perhaps, overkill, but this particular Core has a great many issues with this particular person.
Simon Parker misses Ryusei Date with his Corporeal Song of Pwn attack.
Simon Parker critically strikes Agrias Oaks with his Melee Cleave attack.
You take 38 damage.
The arrow flies true, Meliadoul knows this with every fiber of her being but it still manages to miss. She reaches into her quiver, pulling another bolt but before she can actually load the crossbow Pizza is right there.
She pulls hard on the reins, wheeling the chocobo about in a half circle just in time to meet face to face with Pizza. The talon rakes across her face, her head turning quickly to avoid having her eyes gauged out. That will scar unless she gets it taken care of after this battle. A girl's face is her most important feature you know!
She doesn't have time to grab her lance, instead she takes the arrow that is still in her hand and instinctively thrusts outward towards the space that she remembers the Machine King being, eyes closed to avoid having blood spilled in them. "My death will not come cheap fiend! I've felled more frightening creatures than you!"
Meliadoul Tengille gets a glancing blow on Pizza with her Arrowed. At close range. jab.
Hrist says, "Of the bird? Hm." She closes her eyes and-that woman, she seems familiar as well come to think of it. She opens her eyes again a moment later and says, triumphantly, "Hrm."
And then she's gone. But it's not for very long.
She reappears in the aftermath of Simon Zondar's attack (get it?! It's like Zondar instead of Parker!) and looks down for Agrias-apparently figuring that she's a hero wrth 'collecting'.
So without a word, she swings her sword for Oaks' face. And then she speaks, "Hello. I am Valkyrie. Your soul and steed shall be of use!"
Hrist Valkyrie critically strikes Agrias Oaks with her You're very loved attack.
You take 28 damage.
You bet! Although usually it works better against Youma that sort of .. get ganged on. Here, Sailor Mercury is facing down, one on one, against a Sinistral. Such a thing .. oh well this might not go well.. and Mercury knows this from the amused look Gades has. Almost laughter.. but the goggles that focus upon him still.. don't find a real weakness either.
Losing her pose stance, mainly due to the tremor, Sailor Mercury goes sprawling, staying up barely, pulling herself to her feet. And then the non-sword hand is lifted... and a wave of energy rushes towards Sailor Mercury. It's a sudden spike.. a sudden LARGE spike, and Mercury leaps to the side.. the lower part of the wave catching her and beating up against her legs easily.. but it could have been worse. She could have been straight on hit. "Aiiie!"
Thud. Hitting the ground, Sailor Mercury picks herself up, brushing her somewhat dusty fuku and skirt off. "The others are busy.. so you're only going to have to deal with me. But I won't let you bother them either!" She says, smiling a bit, defiant now .. the pain passes to a point.
"Shabon Spray ... FREEEZING!" Spinning around once, a bubble focused about her tiara, she begins to fire out loads of the frozen bubbles.. and while they might not be the very best in offensive powers, Gades might feel some of the armor freezing, as well as his own body .. if that's even possible. Frostbite?
The ground about him is covering in a light chill as well.. but the cement, or torn up ground, only serves to get a light coating of frost.
Ami Mizuno critically strikes Gades with her Clearly the way to defeating a god .. is through bubbles attack.
The light gleams off the lenses of the opera glasses. Just as planned, the Rani thinks, stepping to the side to peer more clearly at the Valkyrie's motion. Just as planned.
There must be a definite reason, Aya figures, to this whole 'flying' theme, probably relating to the fact that Pizza does look sort of like a bird. Mentally, she files these thoughts away to investigate more later.
She does offer a small smile though, angelic background music aside, perhaps this one was more suited to close combat, meaning Ryusei could engage it easily and Aya could snipe it with no trouble! As other threats begin to make themselves known, the Psychodriver resolves to pull no punches and focus on expaditing the process of defeating the Zondar. Breaking from "behind" the R-1, the R-3 circles around, firing at the Zondar's flank with the previously armed armor breaker missile.
Aya Kobayashi buffs Simon Parker's STA to -2.
"Only with you? And how long will that take..." taunts the tall man, not firing a second wave as he takes another step forward, the sword brought a little motre forward. "How long do you think you can stand against the the embodiment of Destruction itself?"
And...she makes bubbles. This ACTUALLY makes Gades go in a semi-defensive stance. Mages in his world had such magical powers, and he's never been good at gauging what spells were low power and which ones could actually cause harm. He's also not so good at gauging how to deflect it as he swings at the wave of bubbles, and just kind of splits the barrage into two smaller waves that joyfully go on at colliding against his armor. Freezing parts of his armor, clearly causing discomfort judging by his facial expression.
"Y-y-y-you..." One thing is established: Sinistrals can feel cold. "GNAT!" he howls, shattering the ice over his entire body with a wave of force, frostbitten indeed. Unfortunatly it angered him, and that sword is going for a low groundsweeping strike. Better put those gym classes to use quick!
Gades misses Ami Mizuno with his Sword not words! attack.
THIS arrow does meet its target, digging right into the armor of the Machine King. Pizza grimaces, a bit of red blood and odd-looking fluid leaking out of the wound. "How dare you. I have no intention of losing to a weak, flesh-built human! We'll defeat you, and then I'll make you one of us." Does he mean the Horsemen? The Zondar? He doesn't seem to be explaining much more than that.
Instead, he leaps upwards, his cape floating behind him as if the "birdman" is flying. It's only for a second-even from that great height, he dives downwards, aiming for Meliadoul and trying to knock her down with a fierce, rapid dive-bomb attack.
Pizza gets a glancing blow on Meliadoul Tengille with his BIIIIIIIIRDMAAAAAAAAAN attack.
Agrias finally succeeds in drawing up her steed, digging into the bird's sides with plate-augmented boots. She's really dressed for the occasion, today, with heavy armour and a war lance. It isn't often that the Holy Knight feels the need for such armour, but these are certainly extenuating circumstances...
"Foul creature!" She lifts her voice in a commanding roar, levelling her lance at the nearest mechanical point that looks jointed. "I will not allow you to harm a man entrusted to my care! If you do not relinquish your hold on him, know that I will destroy you!"
Brave words. But words are wind. The blade sweeps forward, and Agrias jerks her reins to the side. It saves her chocobo from a fatal blow, but the blade clashes against one heavily-armoured shoulder, sweeping her off the bird into a heap of armour. Jarred loose, her helmet rolls off in another direction, like an overturned bucket.
Stunned, the Holy Knight groans, trying to pull herself to her feet. That's a task easier said than done, when wearing sixty-odd pounds of armour.
Golden eyes turn upward, only to behold the figure of Hrist Valkyrie, looming dark and terrible. She widens her eyes, raising her arm to try and block with her shield.
She's too slow. The Valkyrie's blade neatly clips across her face, the force of the blow snapping her head to one side.
Agrias chokes ineffectually for a moment, too taken with trying to gain herself some space to check the severity of the wound. But her left eye is closed, blood seeping freely from the gash.
Oh, it's on.
"You will not hinder me," she grates, between gritted teeth. She manages to pull herself to her feet, slinging her shield over her shoulder and taking the spear up with both hands. It's a little cumbersome, but she has some skill with the weapon. Her mother had been a dragoon, and she had learned a little of that trade.
"Stand down!" Her voice is a bark, equally commanding, but something tells her this Valkyrie will not heed such authority.
She sweeps her lance, more in an effort to gain herself some space than to attack Hrist. She backs up, still bleeding profusely, limited to her right eye to watch the looming gatherer of souls. Still wary, she reaches up to swipe some of the blood away, hissing fiercely. The pain is incredible. That dark swordswoman must have struck the eye.
She lunges forward, leading with her lance. "Out of my way! I do not wish to fight you, but you leave me no choice!"
You hit Hrist Valkyrie with your It's Not 'Jump,' But It's Close Enough attack.
Captain Agrias Oaks barks, suddenly; it sounds more pained than angry. "Stand down! Out of my way! I do not wish to fight you, but you leave me no choice!"
Odd-looking fluid? Eww. The templar jerks her hand back, leaving the arrow within the Machine King. "We humans might be weak of flesh but our spirit will never fall!" The crossbow is tossed to the side and she grabs the lance in it's sling.
Before she can do anything, she catches a glint of light out of the corner of her eye. He falls like a diving rock and instinct kicks in. Meliadoul rips her feet out of the stirrups and she falls backwards, avoiding the brunt of the blow. It hits against her armor. Ow, that'll leave a bruise in the morning.
Prone on her back, she doesn't even bother to get up before using the extended reach of the lance and her powerful sword arm to thrust the weapon forward. "I WILL NEVER JOIN YOU!"
Meliadoul Tengille hits Pizza with her Jabs! attack.
Taunts are something that Sailor Mercury is not quite fond of .. but she's learned how to deal with them. Mainly as Ami .. so she's able to stay calm even as the tall man moves forwards. "We'll have to see..." She mentions to Gades, picking up two bad things. She doesn't know what he is, and has no prior data on him .. and the data that he DOES give is that is is stocked full of spiritual energy like some kind of over-bursting balloon. Not a good sign.
The one good thing that Mercury learns, as well, is that her powers still have some sort of effect upon the Sinistral.. which leads her to having a chance, even if it's a small one. And as he howls, just shattering the layer of ice, Ami decides to try something .. more lasting. Especially as the sword aims to trip her up like a REALLY sharp jumprope. Sailor Mercury has never liked Gym.. but she attending. And this is one of the reasons! She can feel the force the blade is swung with. Even if it doesn't touch her. "Ah!" But this isn't of pain, Mercury leaping backwards from the swing, a hand rising to her tiara again.. "I'm Sailor Mercury... and I'm not a helpless gnat.." But it's more for her sake than to respond to Gades.
"SHABON SPRAY!" She calls out, almost an identical repeat to the last attack, except when she thrusts her hands forwards with the glowing ball.. part of the Halo landscape becomes .. immediately filled with fog. Lots of bubbles, actually.
Ami Mizuno buffs Gades's ACC to -2.
It's an unorthodox attack, to be sure, but somehow, through Ryusei's keen instincts (doubtful) and his Psychodriver talents (There we go), Ryusei manages to ascend into the air and let the distorted soundwaves fly harmlessly below him. He quickly aims to pull out one of his Giant Revolvers, but as he does so, he catches the Armor Breaker Round on his cameras. Ryusei may be no strategist, but whenever he sees an opportunity like this, he knows that it would be foolish not to follow through on it! So instead of going back, he throws his shield off to the ground somewhere, before he pulls out both of the two giant steel knives stowed away on his legs, and charges forward, aiming for the exact spot the armor piercing round hit with what he hopes is surgical precision! "YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY!!!" Ryusei yells, his voice drowning out the haunting sounds of the Zondar within his machine. "GOLDEN STEEL KNIFE!!!!!"
Ryusei Date critically strikes Simon Parker with his Minus The Golden, of course! attack.
"Spirit. The Cyborg speaks of that. It's a useless concept! FORCE is what matters!" The lance strikes against Pizza, chipping off his armor and leaving a bit of pale, faintly metallic flesh visible where it stabs. It's painful, but the Machine King is conditioned to ignore pain to the point of collapse. The Zondarian pulls himself off of the end, staggering for a moment and then forming a fist.
Just above his wrist, a beam sword forms, a relatively short length-almost more of a beam knife. What the cyborg lacks in range, however, he easily makes up in speed. He seems to dance around the knight, slashing at her this way and that, a blur of light as he tries to carve into her. "If you don't join us, then you can die. You'll be of no use to us."
Pizza gets a glancing blow on Meliadoul Tengille with his ATATATATATTA attack.
Where: Sci-Fi Sector - Detroit, Halo Earth
When: 06 Mar 2008
What: The Vanguard Detachment and a handful of IPA operatives catch wind of their missing agent, and move in with the intent of subduing the Zondar that he's become. Unfortunately, things don't really go their way...
Watch For: Crits EVERYWHERE, Alkoun the Demon Chocobo.
Forerunner Installation
It's Halo!
Contents:
Pizza
Meliadoul Tengille
Ryusei Date
Ami Mizuno
Hrist Valkyrie
Aya Kobayashi
Simon Parker
The Rani
Gades
Buster Machine Number Seven Nono says, "HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII"
Nono not supergod anymore
Daisaku Kusama says, "-Hello!"
Daisaku Kusama says, "Nono, it's good to see you again!"
Nono says, "Ahh! Daisaku, hello!"
Aya Kobayashi says, "Hello again!"
Daisaku Kusama says, "Hi!"
Nono says, "How is Robo? Is he still all grumpy?"
It's a quiet night in the East Industrial District of the City of Detroit. The repair crews have long since stopped work, though it's obvious they still have a long way to go-repairing the damage done by the Covenant invasion of Earth is no easy task. Entire blocks have been sealed off as unsafe due to structural damage, debris litters the street, and a great deal of infrastructure just doesn't work. On top of that, there is an awful lot of war material lying around, in various states of ill-repair.
Nobody should be wandering this district at night, but someone is. A tall, gangly man shuffles, zombie-like, down the street. His eyes are dark and sunken, his chin is covered with a five o'clock shadow, and his clothes are wrinkled and dirty.
At the other end of the street lies the remains of an aerial battle gone wrong-several UNSC fighters lie in the dirt, next to a grounded Covenant Seraph. Simon Parker's vessel smiles, eerily.
"Zooondar..." he breathes.
Simon Parker | Jay synchs up, and clears his throat.
Simon Parker | Jay says, "...S-sirs? Ma'ams? I-I-I just got a m-message from b-b I mean Uncle Simon."
Meliadoul Tengille says, "Eh? Simon's shown back up again?"
Simon Parker | Jay quickly "Actuallyit'sseveraldaysoldbutIforgottocheckmyvoicemaildon'tkillme"
Captain Agrias Oaks, in a clear tone of command, "Calm down and speak."
Well, FINALLY.
For a while, Machine King Pizza thought that the Zondar metal he'd used on this specimen had been lost, absorbed and neutralized somehow. It was only when he detected a Zondar activating that he came to investigate, and recognized that old, stubborn target. What kind of creature had managed to resist this long? He'll have to remember-it's inefficient to attack those sorts in the future.
Nonetheless, he materalizes there in the debris, standing in his Machine King armor and cloak, with a proud, fanged grin on his face. "Yes, that's your target. Your first target. Awaken into your true form now, and being to absorb this entire city. All of these machines, abandoned to fear-the humans no longer deserve them. You, however..."
Aya Kobayashi says, "Oh?"
Kyosuke Nanbu says, "Go on..."
Simon Parker | Jay seems to respond to the Command Voice, at least. "Right." There is a pause, followed by the sounds of a transmission being synched through. It's Simon's voice, and he sounds exhausted. "'s got me. Whomever's listening, it's got me, can't fight it, it's got me. 'm not a traitor, 'm not a traitor, I fought it as long as I could." There is a pause, followed by a ragged, half-mechanical cough. "Halo Earth. I-the metal plague w..." There is a sharp squeal of static, and the message ends.
Daisaku Kusama says, "...Aw, man. Robo's still in repair..."
Simon Parker | Jay says, "That 'metal plague' thing... What the hell is he talking about?"
Meliadoul Tengille says, "... Metal plague? I dislike the sound of that. Dame Oaks, you coming?"
Aya Kobayashi says, "...well, there's a shot in the dark but...I'm unsure."
Aya Kobayashi says, "Where was that message sent from? Do you know?"
Ryusei Date says, "... Well, sounds like..."
Simon Parker | Jay says, "It got bounced a couple times, but t-the Captain and her people say it came from just where he said it came from."
Ryusei Date says, "He said Halo Earth, right? I guess we're kind of lucky in a way, since there isn't much of Halo Earth left."
Captain Agrias Oaks clatter of equipment. "We'll deal with it, whatever it is. We're on our way." Pause. "...Do try not to panic, Jay."
Aya Kobayashi says, "...oh. Oh. That Earth."
Aya Kobayashi says, "I have a bad feeling about this-let's go, Ryusei."
Ryusei Date says, "Roger!"
Nono says, "Don't worry! Nono is coming to AAAH TEETH"
Nono silence.
Sailor Mercury Ami Mizuno says, "I'll be coming myself!"
Gear jangling softly, the Holy Knight and Captain of the Vanguard Detachment picks her way down to the scene itself. Things are promising to become ugly, by the way that Jay was gabbling on the radio. True, his nerves are hardly made of iron, but for him to be this terrified, something's going on.
Agrias Oaks keeps herself alert, golden eyes searching the rubble for anything that may look familiar; anything not part of the metallic wreckage that surrounds them. She rides a chocobo into the scene; an anachronistic image, to be certain, but no less effective.
The Holy Knight rides in full gear, her half-black chocobo in full barding; herself in full armour, and a lance held vertically to balance its tall shaft. Worked in silver, it's a pretty thing, but its ornamentation hides its deadly efficiency.
It's not often that Agrias relies on arts apart from her own Holy Sword skills, but tonight may warrant it. Light armour is more of a vulnerability; and she has a bad feeling about this.
She's even wearing a helm.
She addresses the knight beside her, reaching up to adjust the helm. It has a protective slotted visor, which she has pulled down; no real ornamentation except for what's on her weapon, and her cloak. "I have a bad feeling about this," she admits, quietly. She took an oath not to harm Simon Parker, and while part of her is fatalistic, the part that still clings to her honour doesn't wish to break that oath.
Some suspicion had been floating around earlier, though Aya hadn't really acted on it since a reportedly large nose and a gut feeling was not an acceptable basis to predict something. Even if a psychodriver was involved.
As it was a hunch, requesting EFA resources on the scale of one of the Noah-class vessels was not possible, especially for deploying on this short notice. They were able to cover amazing ground in the times of an emergency, but right now the presumed "situation" had not escalated to emergency levels. There was simply no way they could justify sending a Noah-class to deal with a missing persons report. At the very least, however, the Captain had arranged for a Ladybird for transport. Far be it from Aya to deploy on foot-she's had enough of that sort of thing in the past weekend-during what she thinks the situation might develop into.
"I'm suspecting another Zondar." Aya says to her teammate (if he's here) as she stands in the cockpit of the R-3, "I hope I am wrong though. I've heard nothing from the GGG team lately at all..."
Do Sinistrals feel boredom? Do they take part in events for amusement?
No.
However, Gades being the Sinistral of Destruction, he could sense that this could not end well for mortals and the very land itself, based on his previous experiences of observing this Zondar phenomenon. And so it seemed like his presence could bolster the unfolding of these events and the spreading of glorious destruction.
And for that, as they say, he's 'so in'.
A flash of light, a column of shining magical energy, and the tall Sinistral appears not far from the Machine King's location. Flashy, but effective. His arms are crossed, and he is grinning.
"So, what shall it be named?" is his query, looking at the new 'being'.
Simon Parker | Jay... "J-just bring him back safe. Some of our people are en route, but they'll be a while." And then a long, nervous pause. "Andifthere'sagiantrobotfightcanyoupleasegetitontape?"
A chocobo trots slowly at Agrias's side, it's rider a knight in decked out in green and gold. Like her captain, Meliadoul Tengille appears to be prepared for war. She carries in her sword hand a lance to match the holy knight's. The material is of an unknown metal, the colors within it changing with the light as it flashes, dipping up and down with the movement of the large bird. At her side is a quiver full of bolts and a crossbow rests, strapped to her back.
Simon may not be a friend, but he is a fellow Vanguard and Meliadoul swore a long time ago that she wouldn't leave a comrade on the battlefield alone. Not if she could help it. So she rides out to find him and make sure Agrias doesn't do something foolish, like get herself killed.
When addressed, she glances over at the Holy Knight and grimaces, "Such a dismal place. Let us pray that Simon is still in one piece."
"Let it choose its form first," Machine King Pizza insists.
In the middle of an empty field, backdropped by the curiously bleak view of Lake Michigan and several demolished-for-safety buildings, something fades into view.
The Rani has disabled part of the Chameleon Circuit's normal operation, which means that the manifesting TARDIS resembles a pyramid-shaped block of concrete. This is at least some camouflage. A second or so later, the door opens and a blonde head peeks out, looking left, then right.
"Splendid!" the Rani says, stepping out and clasping her hands as she looks around. "We haven't missed it. Good old Earth; no matter what happens, your pestilent primate species will resist all efforts at extirpation, ably assisted by the capacity of your surplus females to seduce and entice and sing."
She looks over her shoulder towards her guest. "Nothing personal, of course. Welcome to the twenty-sixth century! Do you have your binoculars?" She is, for reference, approximately five blocks from the current location of Impending Zondar Simon.
Hrist, perhaps assuming that The Rani is talking to her, adds, "I'm not human. I merely employ them." The Einherjar, who are not 'out', do not complain one way or another. She doesn't seem to take offense at least.
A set of TARDIS brand binoculars are around her neck. She lifts them up.
"I've got my binoculars." She says.
Something someone can't fight? A mechanical being being taken over and he can't control himself? This can only be a bad thing.. and from Halo? At least they knew where. It sounds rather bad .. and Mercury might have heard of something like this before. Could it be .. some kind of alien? Gathering energy? By the use of a monster created out of someone/something else?
Ami Mizuno bets so.. but she's not sure who or what's behind it.. and it might be Youma! Which explains why someone such as Sailor Mercury would be showing up to such a place. Having mostly walked towards the Gate, rather quickly, it was not until she got close that .. well..
"Mercury Power! Make up!"
A transformation sequence later, Sailor Mercury was running as fast as she can towards where the goggles had noted. Oddly enough, a few were riding large birds. She's not too fast, but she'll get there well enough. It just takes her a bit longer to get there. Normal transformation is sort of hard when your skirt is that small you know.
The rather blue pretty soldier jogs towards the large birds. "I hope I won't be late.." She really needs to find another way of getting around than running.
Alongside the R-3, flying in something at least resembling formation, is the R-1 in its jet form, the R-Wing. And in its pilot seat is... well, who else? Ryusei Date, despite being just as prone to possible Psychodriver hunches as Aya is, seems far less bothered than his team leader. In fact, there's something of a wild grin starting to form on his face. This, after all, is what Ryusei Date signed up for. Fighting in morally ambiguous war settings where good and evil is unclear is something that happens to bother the pilot. But this, on the other hand, is an entirely different story.
"Well, then I suppose we're just going to have to make up for their absense!" the enthusiastic pilot says, and seemingly at random he immediately kicks the jet of his machine, thrusting forward and making a sizeable distance between the two, and afterwords, the machine begins folding out into its humanoid robot form! And at this point, Ryusei's grin starts to gain that Super Robot insanity quality, and he simply can't resist the urge to shout.
"LET'S GO, R-1!!!"
Ryusei Date switches armor modes to R-1.
Simon Parker's vessel finally makes it to the edge of the crash site. He hears Pizza's voice, and a glimmer of recognition flickers in those dead-seeming eyes; his lips form a sinister, snake-like grin.
And then motion from behind the Machine King. Zondarized he may be, Simon recognizes those overgrown chickens, and their riders.
"Zondar!" he cries. To Pizza, this may well translate to 'Invaders behind you!', if it's even a language. Then that dark, grinning face turns to Agrias. It remembers her, oh yes. And it knows what it must do.
Simon reaches the Seraph, runs his hands along the smooth material of the hull.
Seraph-
Covenant-
One particular source of hatred boils up in the mechanized soup that is Simon Parker's mind, and stays there.
He explodes outwards into a mass of tendril-like cables, entwining the fighter craft and merging with it. The fighter glows an eerie purple, and the the holes and gashes in its hull close like wounds sealing. More wire-tentacles burst from the craft, grabbing hold of anything technological within reach and pulling it to the Seraph. Machinery merges seamlessly, organically-and when the flurry of assimilation is over, a monster stands in the center of the scrapyard. It is easily the size of a building.
...More invaders.
The Zonder quickly shapes itself into something more appropriate. First to burst from the mass are two humanoid arms, followed by a head and torso; the lower half forms two strong legs for now. A layer of metal foil unfolds from the creature's back, wrapping around its head and body like a long, cowled cloak. Long metallic projections erupt from its back, growing pinions of glass and steel-six wings in all, each with alternating patterns of black and white, like a game-board. A slim metallic half-halo floats into place at the crown of the Zondar's head.
The yawning void beneath its hood is suddenly filled with lights. With eyes.
"ZOOOONDER!"
This is accompanied by a sudden explosion of sound-the Hallelieujah chorus, in a horriffic minor key. There is, apparently, one killer sound system inside that thing. And by golly, it looks mad.
Aya Kobayashi says, "...I...suppose my small assumption was right..."
Aya Kobayashi switches armor modes to R-3 Powered.
Simon Parker switches armor modes to Zondar Robo.
Aya Kobayashi switches armor modes to R-3.
Pizza smiles, satisfied. "Yes, I suppose it was worth the wait, based on appearance at the very least. I'll call it Zondar Robo Broken Angel. What do you think?"
He glows quietly before seeming to vanish-in fact, running literally too fast to see, appearing next on the ruins of another building so he has a vantage point from which to watch his latest creation. Then he calls out to the humans, in full view, his deep voice audible even over the monster's roar.
"Zondar Robo, destroy all of them!"
TARDIS-brand binoculars: on sale now!
"Oh, there we go!" the Rani calls, clapping her hands together twice in what appears to be excitement. "Look at the development of the wing shapes! Useless, of course, based on purely gravitational and aerodynamic concerns." She raises her own binoculars, having flipped out the opera-glass style handles. "Still - see the patterns!"
Sailor Mercury Ami Mizuno says, ".. That's ... huge!"
Meliadoul Tengille says, "... Good luck Dame Oaks!"
Meliadoul Tengille is taking no responsibility for Giant Simon.
Meliadoul Tengille says, "You get the giant thing, I'll take out the commander unit!"
Captain Agrias Oaks rasps something that might be a curse; it almost sounds Gaelic. Totally incomprehensible. Then, after a bit of stuttering, and in a tone of complete awe (and maybe a little fear), "-Gods be good..."
Simon Parker | There is the sound of someone grabbing the radio away from Jay, and a woman's voice comes over the channel. "Oaks, you say you've found him?" Why hello there, Dinah.
Bringing a hand up, the Sinistral taps his chin. Impressive display, interesting use of sound to cause panic, intimidation and terror. "I like this one." admits the tall being. Not enough to recieve a direct blessing from the Sinistral of Destruction, but a little praise is a perk.
"Of course, it has yet to prove itself." is however the downside, even Gades was not so blind as to judge a monstrosity by looks alone. His gaze sweeps away from it, toward those who were coming to confront this new threat. They seemed mildly powerful, some by ways more familiar to him while others seemed like they relied on machine strength. "And a little test seems to have brought itself here too, delightful."
His arms uncross as the plate-mail clad giant takes a step away from the gathered allies of his, as his hand begins to glow white. From that glow extends a blade, a wicked crimson weapon. He knows by now that being ready is better than letting the mortals try their luck on him unarmed, it seemed.
Captain Agrias Oaks says, "A-aye, we have." Pause. Then, in greeting, "Lady Dinah."
"I see patterns." Hrist says while looking through her binoculars. And that's all she says for a while before adding, "Not tht many colors." Of course Miss Black Palette Swap gets to say that.
Daisaku Kusama says, "I hope you're able to help that person..."
Captain Agrias Oaks sounds muffled, as though wearing a helmet; and the jingling, jangling sound of harness and armour can be heard in the background. "He is not himself. He has become some kind of... some kind of machine."
Daisaku Kusama says, "Become a machine?!"
Meliadoul Tengille says, "One the size of a building"
Simon Parker | Dinah pauses. "What."
Aya Kobayashi says, "A Zondar. It happens when people are infected with Zondar metal...ah, there should be some files in the IPA database about it."
Captain Agrias Oaks says, "I-I have no other explanation, milady. He has become one with the machinery surrounding him, and grown to-to tremendous size. Gods be good, this..."
Sailor Mercury Ami Mizuno says, "I can't even get a good reading on it..."
Simon Parker | The voice of Dave, Simon's buddy, is audible in the background of Dinah's transmission. "Kobayashi, what do we have to do to put it down? D-damn, Chief, why'd you have to be such an idiot and-"
Captain Agrias Oaks sounds like she's swallowing on a dry throat. "Just-tell us how to reverse this, if you would, before he causes any serious harm. If... if we can reverse these effects."
Aya Kobayashi says, "It can be reversed, don't worry."
Aya Kobayashi says, "We need to damage it enough to get at the glowing red core inside of it, that's where Mr. Parker is."
Captain Agrias Oaks says, "Aye. Then what must needs be done?"
Aya Kobayashi says, "Careful with the core, I think harming that will hurt the person it's made from."
Ryusei Date says, "Don't worry. Aya's pretty good at this kind of thing."
Simon Parker | Dave says, "Right, right. And what do we need to do once we get the core out?"
Aya Kobayashi says, "...um..."
Captain Agrias Oaks says, "So what is to be done? Destroy the machinery surrounding the core?"
Sailor Mercury Ami Mizuno says, "There's others here .. I'll help keep one of them away from you so you get to that!"
Harness jangling, Agrias turns her chocobo around, just in time to catch sight of that familiar but seemingly lifeless figure. Well, they've finally found the lawyer. He's definitely looking out of sorts. She allows herself to look a bit relieved, but the emotion is fleeting.
She can only stare, wide-eyed, at what happens next. Her eyes widen even more as he reaches out and seizes the remains of a fighter jet, incoroporating them into his own body.
She manages enough to choke something out, foreign and terrified, before rasping a brief, "-Gods be good..."
She flicks a glance at her green-garbed cohort, before her visored, helmeted head shakes. Wordlessly, she spurs her steed forward, though poor Alkoun tosses his head displeasurably. What are you, nuts? Making him charge forward towards that... that... thing? The bird balks, predictably.
Agrias spends several moments trying to regain control of the ornery chocobo, and Alkoun finally stops trying to turn tail and flee. Fortunately, it's hard to do, encumbered as he is. She hedges a moment, conferring with her allies over her radio; though she keeps a wary eye towards the monstrosity that was, formerly, Simon Parker.
Aya Kobayashi says, "Destroy the machinery around the core and pull it out. It will be fairly large so Ryusei and I can handle the pulling...from there, um...well...it becomes neutralized..."
Aya Kobayashi says, "....somehow."
Aya Kobayashi says, "We might have to contain it so the GGG team can come and deal with it."
Captain Agrias Oaks says, "Aye, we will do what we can, then." Apprehensively, "Tengille, best we see if there is any jointing we can pry loose."
Simon Parker | Dinah sounds calm. "My agency may be able to assist, if my associate's reading of your records is correct. Hold off that abomination until we arrive, and we can see how to best proceed." And then something soft in Hebrew. It sounds like a prayer.
Captain Agrias Oaks sounds a little relieved. "Aye. Your aid is appreciated, Lady Dinah. We will do what we can..."
Meliadoul Tengille says, "Do you not see the commander over there?!"
Meliadoul Tengille says, "I'm going to cut the snake off at the head!"
Aya knows that tone of voice of Ryusei's, oh yes. Unable to help herself, she grins a little at his enthusiasm. "Have you read the reports about Zondars, Ryusei?" she pauses-no probably not, but he could use a reminder anyway, "Remember, when you see the glowing red core, try to remove that from the Zondar. That's where the person is being held. If that is destroyed, then we lose Simon Parker."
She pauses, however, at the sound of Pizza's voice. "...so that big nosed man..." she shakes her head and focuses back on piloting the R-3, falling in behind the R-1 as he moves in. She does note, briefly, that all the Zondars she's fought have been airborne. Odd.
Nimble fingers slide over the console as Aya queues up her armor breaker round, but does not yet fire it, keeping it at the ready. "I'll support you where I can, Ryusei." She smiles a little, mischeviously this time, "Go for it."
"God above..." Meliadoul whispers in hushed awe at the sheer size of Zondor Robo Broken Angel. Memories of Ultima come to mind. But was that particular Lucavi ever that big? She wheels her chocobo around, pausing to stare up in awe. She glances over at Agrias meeting her eyes and then back up just as Pizza makes his taunting. "Good luck saving Parker Dame Oaks! I'll take out the commander." She shouts before sliding her lance into a leather sling attached to the saddle for this express purpose.
She reaches behind her for her crossbow, loading it up with a bolt. "Don't die you hear me!" The call trailing after Agrias as she rides to... her death? Certainly someone's destruction. Spurs dig into the golden feathers and the chocobo takes off like a shot towards Pizza. It warks as it leaps over stones, climbing closer.
When she gets within range, the templar pulls sharply on the reins of the chocobo and takes careful aim before letting the arrow fly.
Meliadoul Tengille misses Pizza with her Opening shot! jab.
"It's very colorless," the Rani remarks to Hrist, "but I see a great deal of intricate patterning. Do you - oh, ha ha, look at that!" She raises a hand to point, taking half a step back to put herself within the TARDIS's defense screen range. Hrist may be able to sense it, faintly.
"You may want to support him," she tells Hrist. "And could you get me a sample of that carnivorous bird? It reminds me of a diatrema and I've lost all my embryos of the species."
Captain Agrias Oaks sounds really muffled. "Don't you get yourself killed, Tengille. You still owe me wine! I'll handle Parker!"
And then, the Zondar Robot is noticeable. Especially because Simon sort of .. just watching, Ami looks up, staring, the goggles pointing out various things that exist and then vanish as it cycles. As it grows and changes. The figures, information and all.. just so strange. She's almost certain if she tried to scan it it wouldn't matter.. the computer might even have a bit of trouble keeping up with it.
Of course. The building sized mechanical mass changes itself to .. an .. angel? A six winged angel? Mercury taps the goggles once, and shakes her head. Nothing is changing.. and the explosion of sound doesn't help either. It almost causes her to shake. Something so large and so .. odd looking, it's not something she's used to seeing .. especially the cry. It unnerves her .. and such a thing is so intimidating. She's almost tempted to flee. Can she really do this?
If only the others were here. What catches her eyes next, beyond Pizza, is the sinistral. Gades. He certainly looks intimidating... but she said she'd take care of him, by which means .. stalling. As the Sinistral, plate mail covering the giant if his size wasn't a factor enough, forges a crimson blade from his hands.. he's challenged.. by a girl in a skirt. Summoning all the courage she has, she tries enough to have him focus upon her.
"... Turning someone into an evil beast to fight for you ... and endangering them! Such a horrible thing! In the name of the moon!" She cries out, posing, pointing to Gades. "I'll punish you!"
Gades might notice her stance isn't all that steady. Not with all the intimidation going on.
Ami Mizuno misses Gades with her *POSE* action.
Meliadoul Tengille hahs, "Don't worry about me. You deal with that thing."
Meliadoul Tengille pause, "though I wonder why he took on the form of a black and white angel..."
Sailor Mercury Ami Mizuno says, "There must be a reason but .. Ah.. good luck! I'll make sure the Sinistral doesn't bother you."
*Blink*
Posing, and...threatening him? "You? A child? Punish _me_?" ask Gades, clearly amused. He even seems on the verge of laughter, a faint chuckle escaping his throat as he shakes his head in disbelief.
The blade is lowered, the tip tapping the ground as the plate mail clad Sinistral takes a heavy step forward, purposely causing a small tremor with his body. "You challenge the Sinistral of Destruction, you oppose the might of gods and yet you do so alone. I commend your bravery...but it borders on madness." His non-sword carrying hand, for he holds the cruel red-hued blade with his right hand alone, is lifted and the palm pointed at the young woman. "Flee swiftly, or stand on the ground of your demise!"
A wave of energy is then launched from that very palm. The lower part of the cone rips concrete and turns it into dust that would blow toward the Sailor Scout as the wave expands and approaches, a small tree is torn to splinters in less than a second, but the wave's range is short and focused. Perhaps he's toying with this girl, or just getting warmed up. Who knows when this big guy is involved.
Gades gets a glancing blow on Ami Mizuno with his Destruction Wave: Also useful for clearing land and getting rid of unwanted trash jab.
Aya Kobayashi says, "Maybe it's symbolic...."
Despite the horrible transformation, the general eerieness of the entire scene, and the massive crazy lights lights and sound... Ryusei doesn't seem too bothered by all of this! This might in fact bring to question the young man's sanity, but one must remember that Ryusei is getting used to nearly dying at just about every opportunity.
"Alright!! That's more like it, Robo-Kaiju!!" Ryusei Date yells, his voice echoing out from the R-1's close range speakers. The Psychodriver Machine flies straight into the Zondar Robo... but unlike Aya he doesn't pull out any apparent weaponry. Instead, it pulls out its shield, which while in the R-Wing mode formed the tip of the Jet. And with the particularly sharp end of the shield, Ryusei aims to punch his way into the center of the Zondar Robo. Though he knows the danger of actually puncturing the core, Ryusei Date also knows that reaching that far on the first attack, well, is probably unlikely! Still, he aims slightly off-center anyway, just to be sure.
Captain Agrias Oaks, over the frantic jangling of harness, "We can think about that after he's been subdued." Is that a hint of nervousness?
Meliadoul Tengille says, "Must be hell of a symbol. I never took Simon to be a god fearing man."
Pizza was standing there a minute ago when the arrow launched, but when it digs itself into stone, the Machine King is nowhere to be found. He moves fast-too fast to be seen as more than a shining blur, the faint streetlights glinting off of his armor.
In moments, he stands near Meliadoul. The other Machine Kings may avoid combat, but he..."I see, you decide to go after the more specific target. I commend your bravery, human! I will make sure your death is worthy of such bravado." A hand is raised, and then the long, metallic violet talons appear out of his wrist, their claws razor-sharp. The birdlike Zondarian dashes at Meliadoul, and attempts to scratch the lady knight right in the face.
Pizza hits Meliadoul Tengille with his in the FACE jab.
Ryusei Date gets a glancing blow on Simon Parker with his He... really doesn't know how to use a shield, does he? jab.
Captain Agrias Oaks grunts something noncommittal. Jangle.
Aya will find that this Zondar is no exception. A high-pitched humming noise emanates from within the machine, barely audible over the music, as Pelican engines and Covenant anti-grav devices whir to life. Highly Heretical Robo-Seraph Judge Zonder rises from the ground, accompanied by a swell in the music. It's something by Handel now, badly distorted.
The palms of the Zonder's hands split open. A blade emerges from the left palm, a sword with a blood-red groove down the middle. From the right palm comes a pommel made of Covenant machinery, with a half-dozen plasma projectors where the blade should go. Blue-white fire erupts from the hilt as Broken Angel Zondar readies its flaming sword.
All the cool angels have flaming swords, you see.
And then Ryusei charges it. The many-eyed head turns to face him, and the machine's Zondar Barrier flares into being. The R-1 strikes it head-on, and the shield flickers-but it is very much intact.
"ZONDAR," the machine bellows, in response to Ryusei's threat. Its voice now has an oddly musical quality to it, and somewhere within its body, several sound systems (ganked from civilian cars) hum to life. From beneath the hood comes a torrent of coherent sound, aimed right at Ryusei's vehicle; it's loud and disruptive enough to crack glass, to scramble systems, and to give the guy one hell of a headache.
The hated Oaks is not ignored for long, either. The Zondar hefts the metal blade, and swings it right at Agrias and her chocobo. It is, perhaps, overkill, but this particular Core has a great many issues with this particular person.
Simon Parker misses Ryusei Date with his Corporeal Song of Pwn attack.
Simon Parker critically strikes Agrias Oaks with his Melee Cleave attack.
You take 38 damage.
The arrow flies true, Meliadoul knows this with every fiber of her being but it still manages to miss. She reaches into her quiver, pulling another bolt but before she can actually load the crossbow Pizza is right there.
She pulls hard on the reins, wheeling the chocobo about in a half circle just in time to meet face to face with Pizza. The talon rakes across her face, her head turning quickly to avoid having her eyes gauged out. That will scar unless she gets it taken care of after this battle. A girl's face is her most important feature you know!
She doesn't have time to grab her lance, instead she takes the arrow that is still in her hand and instinctively thrusts outward towards the space that she remembers the Machine King being, eyes closed to avoid having blood spilled in them. "My death will not come cheap fiend! I've felled more frightening creatures than you!"
Meliadoul Tengille gets a glancing blow on Pizza with her Arrowed. At close range. jab.
Hrist says, "Of the bird? Hm." She closes her eyes and-that woman, she seems familiar as well come to think of it. She opens her eyes again a moment later and says, triumphantly, "Hrm."
And then she's gone. But it's not for very long.
She reappears in the aftermath of Simon Zondar's attack (get it?! It's like Zondar instead of Parker!) and looks down for Agrias-apparently figuring that she's a hero wrth 'collecting'.
So without a word, she swings her sword for Oaks' face. And then she speaks, "Hello. I am Valkyrie. Your soul and steed shall be of use!"
Hrist Valkyrie critically strikes Agrias Oaks with her You're very loved attack.
You take 28 damage.
You bet! Although usually it works better against Youma that sort of .. get ganged on. Here, Sailor Mercury is facing down, one on one, against a Sinistral. Such a thing .. oh well this might not go well.. and Mercury knows this from the amused look Gades has. Almost laughter.. but the goggles that focus upon him still.. don't find a real weakness either.
Losing her pose stance, mainly due to the tremor, Sailor Mercury goes sprawling, staying up barely, pulling herself to her feet. And then the non-sword hand is lifted... and a wave of energy rushes towards Sailor Mercury. It's a sudden spike.. a sudden LARGE spike, and Mercury leaps to the side.. the lower part of the wave catching her and beating up against her legs easily.. but it could have been worse. She could have been straight on hit. "Aiiie!"
Thud. Hitting the ground, Sailor Mercury picks herself up, brushing her somewhat dusty fuku and skirt off. "The others are busy.. so you're only going to have to deal with me. But I won't let you bother them either!" She says, smiling a bit, defiant now .. the pain passes to a point.
"Shabon Spray ... FREEEZING!" Spinning around once, a bubble focused about her tiara, she begins to fire out loads of the frozen bubbles.. and while they might not be the very best in offensive powers, Gades might feel some of the armor freezing, as well as his own body .. if that's even possible. Frostbite?
The ground about him is covering in a light chill as well.. but the cement, or torn up ground, only serves to get a light coating of frost.
Ami Mizuno critically strikes Gades with her Clearly the way to defeating a god .. is through bubbles attack.
The light gleams off the lenses of the opera glasses. Just as planned, the Rani thinks, stepping to the side to peer more clearly at the Valkyrie's motion. Just as planned.
There must be a definite reason, Aya figures, to this whole 'flying' theme, probably relating to the fact that Pizza does look sort of like a bird. Mentally, she files these thoughts away to investigate more later.
She does offer a small smile though, angelic background music aside, perhaps this one was more suited to close combat, meaning Ryusei could engage it easily and Aya could snipe it with no trouble! As other threats begin to make themselves known, the Psychodriver resolves to pull no punches and focus on expaditing the process of defeating the Zondar. Breaking from "behind" the R-1, the R-3 circles around, firing at the Zondar's flank with the previously armed armor breaker missile.
Aya Kobayashi buffs Simon Parker's STA to -2.
"Only with you? And how long will that take..." taunts the tall man, not firing a second wave as he takes another step forward, the sword brought a little motre forward. "How long do you think you can stand against the the embodiment of Destruction itself?"
And...she makes bubbles. This ACTUALLY makes Gades go in a semi-defensive stance. Mages in his world had such magical powers, and he's never been good at gauging what spells were low power and which ones could actually cause harm. He's also not so good at gauging how to deflect it as he swings at the wave of bubbles, and just kind of splits the barrage into two smaller waves that joyfully go on at colliding against his armor. Freezing parts of his armor, clearly causing discomfort judging by his facial expression.
"Y-y-y-you..." One thing is established: Sinistrals can feel cold. "GNAT!" he howls, shattering the ice over his entire body with a wave of force, frostbitten indeed. Unfortunatly it angered him, and that sword is going for a low groundsweeping strike. Better put those gym classes to use quick!
Gades misses Ami Mizuno with his Sword not words! attack.
THIS arrow does meet its target, digging right into the armor of the Machine King. Pizza grimaces, a bit of red blood and odd-looking fluid leaking out of the wound. "How dare you. I have no intention of losing to a weak, flesh-built human! We'll defeat you, and then I'll make you one of us." Does he mean the Horsemen? The Zondar? He doesn't seem to be explaining much more than that.
Instead, he leaps upwards, his cape floating behind him as if the "birdman" is flying. It's only for a second-even from that great height, he dives downwards, aiming for Meliadoul and trying to knock her down with a fierce, rapid dive-bomb attack.
Pizza gets a glancing blow on Meliadoul Tengille with his BIIIIIIIIRDMAAAAAAAAAN attack.
Agrias finally succeeds in drawing up her steed, digging into the bird's sides with plate-augmented boots. She's really dressed for the occasion, today, with heavy armour and a war lance. It isn't often that the Holy Knight feels the need for such armour, but these are certainly extenuating circumstances...
"Foul creature!" She lifts her voice in a commanding roar, levelling her lance at the nearest mechanical point that looks jointed. "I will not allow you to harm a man entrusted to my care! If you do not relinquish your hold on him, know that I will destroy you!"
Brave words. But words are wind. The blade sweeps forward, and Agrias jerks her reins to the side. It saves her chocobo from a fatal blow, but the blade clashes against one heavily-armoured shoulder, sweeping her off the bird into a heap of armour. Jarred loose, her helmet rolls off in another direction, like an overturned bucket.
Stunned, the Holy Knight groans, trying to pull herself to her feet. That's a task easier said than done, when wearing sixty-odd pounds of armour.
Golden eyes turn upward, only to behold the figure of Hrist Valkyrie, looming dark and terrible. She widens her eyes, raising her arm to try and block with her shield.
She's too slow. The Valkyrie's blade neatly clips across her face, the force of the blow snapping her head to one side.
Agrias chokes ineffectually for a moment, too taken with trying to gain herself some space to check the severity of the wound. But her left eye is closed, blood seeping freely from the gash.
Oh, it's on.
"You will not hinder me," she grates, between gritted teeth. She manages to pull herself to her feet, slinging her shield over her shoulder and taking the spear up with both hands. It's a little cumbersome, but she has some skill with the weapon. Her mother had been a dragoon, and she had learned a little of that trade.
"Stand down!" Her voice is a bark, equally commanding, but something tells her this Valkyrie will not heed such authority.
She sweeps her lance, more in an effort to gain herself some space than to attack Hrist. She backs up, still bleeding profusely, limited to her right eye to watch the looming gatherer of souls. Still wary, she reaches up to swipe some of the blood away, hissing fiercely. The pain is incredible. That dark swordswoman must have struck the eye.
She lunges forward, leading with her lance. "Out of my way! I do not wish to fight you, but you leave me no choice!"
You hit Hrist Valkyrie with your It's Not 'Jump,' But It's Close Enough attack.
Captain Agrias Oaks barks, suddenly; it sounds more pained than angry. "Stand down! Out of my way! I do not wish to fight you, but you leave me no choice!"
Odd-looking fluid? Eww. The templar jerks her hand back, leaving the arrow within the Machine King. "We humans might be weak of flesh but our spirit will never fall!" The crossbow is tossed to the side and she grabs the lance in it's sling.
Before she can do anything, she catches a glint of light out of the corner of her eye. He falls like a diving rock and instinct kicks in. Meliadoul rips her feet out of the stirrups and she falls backwards, avoiding the brunt of the blow. It hits against her armor. Ow, that'll leave a bruise in the morning.
Prone on her back, she doesn't even bother to get up before using the extended reach of the lance and her powerful sword arm to thrust the weapon forward. "I WILL NEVER JOIN YOU!"
Meliadoul Tengille hits Pizza with her Jabs! attack.
Taunts are something that Sailor Mercury is not quite fond of .. but she's learned how to deal with them. Mainly as Ami .. so she's able to stay calm even as the tall man moves forwards. "We'll have to see..." She mentions to Gades, picking up two bad things. She doesn't know what he is, and has no prior data on him .. and the data that he DOES give is that is is stocked full of spiritual energy like some kind of over-bursting balloon. Not a good sign.
The one good thing that Mercury learns, as well, is that her powers still have some sort of effect upon the Sinistral.. which leads her to having a chance, even if it's a small one. And as he howls, just shattering the layer of ice, Ami decides to try something .. more lasting. Especially as the sword aims to trip her up like a REALLY sharp jumprope. Sailor Mercury has never liked Gym.. but she attending. And this is one of the reasons! She can feel the force the blade is swung with. Even if it doesn't touch her. "Ah!" But this isn't of pain, Mercury leaping backwards from the swing, a hand rising to her tiara again.. "I'm Sailor Mercury... and I'm not a helpless gnat.." But it's more for her sake than to respond to Gades.
"SHABON SPRAY!" She calls out, almost an identical repeat to the last attack, except when she thrusts her hands forwards with the glowing ball.. part of the Halo landscape becomes .. immediately filled with fog. Lots of bubbles, actually.
Ami Mizuno buffs Gades's ACC to -2.
It's an unorthodox attack, to be sure, but somehow, through Ryusei's keen instincts (doubtful) and his Psychodriver talents (There we go), Ryusei manages to ascend into the air and let the distorted soundwaves fly harmlessly below him. He quickly aims to pull out one of his Giant Revolvers, but as he does so, he catches the Armor Breaker Round on his cameras. Ryusei may be no strategist, but whenever he sees an opportunity like this, he knows that it would be foolish not to follow through on it! So instead of going back, he throws his shield off to the ground somewhere, before he pulls out both of the two giant steel knives stowed away on his legs, and charges forward, aiming for the exact spot the armor piercing round hit with what he hopes is surgical precision! "YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY!!!" Ryusei yells, his voice drowning out the haunting sounds of the Zondar within his machine. "GOLDEN STEEL KNIFE!!!!!"
Ryusei Date critically strikes Simon Parker with his Minus The Golden, of course! attack.
"Spirit. The Cyborg speaks of that. It's a useless concept! FORCE is what matters!" The lance strikes against Pizza, chipping off his armor and leaving a bit of pale, faintly metallic flesh visible where it stabs. It's painful, but the Machine King is conditioned to ignore pain to the point of collapse. The Zondarian pulls himself off of the end, staggering for a moment and then forming a fist.
Just above his wrist, a beam sword forms, a relatively short length-almost more of a beam knife. What the cyborg lacks in range, however, he easily makes up in speed. He seems to dance around the knight, slashing at her this way and that, a blur of light as he tries to carve into her. "If you don't join us, then you can die. You'll be of no use to us."
Pizza gets a glancing blow on Meliadoul Tengille with his ATATATATATTA attack.