Animal Crossing (MK)

[Kujo]

December 5th
Africa, Beastman settlemant "Golgi Town"
5:20 PM

The trek to the previously threatened Beastman settlement was uneventful save for the initial celebrations from the onlooking Gunmen before they moved past to help break up the wreckage of the Foundation's rogue monstrosity into more manageable piles of salvage. Many of the colorful, animalistic units would eye the Mortar Headd as they meandered by, their strange and savage eyes meeting those behind Junchoon's visor.

As the two kindred swordsmen crossed over the last mesa top and the village began to appear on the haze filled horizon, the pair of white machines would become bathed in red light as the sun began to set. "We're fortunate that battle didn't drag out this long."

The closer they got, the more signs of habitation appeared at the feet of the Gunman and Mortar Headd; scorched firepits, wind battered old tents, and various pathmarkers, all bearing, as if it were any surprise to the Jokerians, stylized faces and skull-like imagery. As if to hammer it in once more, the settlement itself stared at the approaching warriors; a great wall was built around the village, segmented into gigantic, fang bearing visages with one opening its monolithic maw to allow entry.

Purin would direct the Liner to an empty lot among the mechanical looking homes and buildings that looked like they might stand up at any moment. Around corners and through the light filled eyeholes of their homes, the native Beastmen mostly kept their distance, however a throng of strange figures followed the two machines as they entered and crowded around them in preparation for the pilots' dismount.

With horns, ears, fur, tails, wings, fangs, talons, and everything in between, the children of the Beastman nation had come to ogle the visitors.

 

[MKR]

Of course tales of the settlements that dot the Beastmen's lands move far and wide, it is easy enough to discredit claims of cities with faces, buildings that smile at their visitors. In that respect the unknown contents of the nation were a source for many tall tales and stories of dubious credibility. Yet walking towards them the two inside Junchoon could see how they began to form and perhaps held more truth to them than previously expected. Yet it had to be acknowledged that in this land, the Junchoon was the odd one out. Even more so amidst these machines and people, whose very designs stood in sharp contrast to the Mortarheadd.

Calmly the machine followed Purin's directions to the empty lot, kneeling amidst the buildings and placing its shield in the dirt. The pair that made its motion possible began to exit the machine, now that both were well and truly free of the thrall of the unearthly music that had rung through their machine not even an hour ago. But those experiences were pushed aside with the new surroundings being so very different from any encountered before.

The Headdliner departed the machine first, draping the white cloak over herself to protect against the sand and dust. Knowing damn well that the knightly machine behind her would need a thorough rinsing of exactly those two things once it was back home. She looked back at the spectators, feeling even more out of place than usually as at least in other places the people still looked like her. Now however the only one who bore no immediate tell was the Fatima coming out of the machine behind her.

Dressed in far more stark a white than the Headdliner, which made her stand out beyond even the one she was subordinate to. And that was before even accounting for the gem on her forehead on clear display. Even if the culture here differed greatly from the place for which all the rules in her head were made she intended to stand by them. Thus did she stand close to the Headdliner.

Both were now inclined to wait for Purin to give some further instruction in these unknown surroundings.

 

[Kujo]

The children mostly just stared at the Jokerian duo and their machine, save for some pointing and mumbling amongst themselves.

"Why is its face so tiny?"
"Is the shield its only weapon?"
"So this is a human Gunman."
"No, when a human makes one it's called a Gundman, stupid."
"I thought those had horns."
"Is that lady a Gundman?"

While this not entirely quiet exchange went on, Enki followed suit with Junchoon and knelt; the white Gunman slowly bending into seiza as it clutched the loop on its hip that held its sword. The light in the eyes of Enki's torso dimmed as the face shifted up and away to reveal the small, toothy cockpit hatch behind it, this miniature maw likewise opened to allow passage.

Purin stepped between the points of the hatch and hung just outside it as she waved to the children, raising her personal, oversized sword into the air before nimbly dropping onto Enki's legs and sliding off to the ground with a dynamic pose. Several of the children broke off from the group to excitedly crowd the local hero before she shooed them off and approached the Headdliner and Fatima.

"Welcome to Golgi Town, Ningen!" Purin set her sheathed sword on the ground like a staff, highlighting its size relative to her comparatively small stature even for the children flocking around her. She beamed at the Jokerians, revealing pointed, carnivorous teeth and thick fangs that seemed to actively protrude like a snake about to strike. "Once again, I, Hachimoji Purin, head of the Hachimoji clan, thank you for your help."

 

[MKR]

The not so quiet exchanges of children reminded Sylvia for better or worse of how things were when she first arrived here, when Junchoon was spotted by others who didn't know what to make of it. She heard so many machine lines of during that it already presented to her the differences between where she came from and where she ended up.

Here there was no one central design which towered over all like the Mortarheadds, it was like a massive tree with untold branches spreading every which way. If one went back to the roots one would find one of six machines as the origin point sure but even then a 'Tactical Surface Fighter' and a 'Gundam' were almost inconsolably different. And that was before even invoking the almost mystical names like Getter.
Back in Joker every humanoid machine for combat descended from the Machine Messiah and thus were Mortarheadds, they may look very differently from one another this is true but the design philosophy was singular.

Which made the Beastmen's designs stand out even more, it was less a design space and more an eco system with how it all looked. These thoughts however were interrupted with the arrival of Purin and her massive sword.
"Thank you." Sylvius spoke, "For both the warm welcome and the hospitality. But after the conclusion of the battle I feel I should thank you more than you should thank us. Had you not intervened I shudder to think what would have happened."

Eynde looked down in shame once again, remaining quiet so far. They had come to help but ended up being a hindrance at the end, in need of saving by the one they had come to aid. It was not the proud return of Junchoon the Fatima had imagined it to be while admittedly a good test for the machine's performance and a confirmation that the degraded performance upon their arrival was not because of the damage but instead because of the environment the shame outweighed that joy.