Scars of the Past: Breakout (Nadesico)

[Nemesis]

December 19th
Saotome Lab Area
8:00 AM (Mars time)



A curdling, verdant fog hung over where the Saotome Laboratory once stood. The ground, scourged for eons to come, cracked and gnarled, with glowing green veins riddled across its surface. The rock formations that had once littered the land, warped into unnatural spires that reached into the sky, as if clawing at the stars themselves. All sloping downward, towards a deep pit.

"The site of the greatest man-made environmental disaster in human history."

That was what Ms. Blanchefleur had called it in their briefing, but her words failed to do the devastation before them justice. It had taken over thirty years just for conditions to reach their current state, enough so that they could even approach the crater, with the best technology available to mankind, let alone inspect the wreckage. They were to gather whatever could be of potential use.

The fog bobbed momentarily... and the form the Jehuty emerged into the relatively clear center of the mass. A line behind it led back to those Aestivalis pilots that had chosen to accompany it on the survey mission, one they'd been instructed to hold on to as tight as possible. Even so, Isaac craned his head back anxiously, as the first of their number emerged from the screen,

"Isaac? Are you alright?"

The sight of the pink Aestivalis, equipped with the light-blue Air Frame, gave him some small amount of relief, as did the voice of Luce. He sighed, the Orbital Frame looking down at its more diminutive cousin.

"Yeah." He said, tersely.

He turned back to look at the pit... and gave an involuntary shudder.

"...I'd be lying if I said this place didn't give me the creeps, though."

Luce nodded, anxiously.

"Me too."

They turned back to the fog, and began to pull in the wire, calling out to those that had chosen to accompany them:

"Everyone else ok? Sound off!"

 

[GrimmShane]

The fog, ebbing and flowing before the deep sea blue Aestivalis' cockpit, the Aerial Frame's thrusters cutting it a way through the wasteland's crude, ill-feeling air, keeping the machine above ground; its head tilted slightly towards the green veins running through the ground, moving along their general direction before rising up the equally strange spires that broke their way through the clouds.

"I'd be lying if I said my stomach didn't churn a little"

Abigail's voice came in quickly before cutting back into silence, followed by a light act of self-stabilizing, head returning to face both the Orbital Frame and Miss Blanchefleur's machine, the pilot's focus returning to the task at hand proper.

Ok, so with these I move each hand...each weapon is there and there...ammo counts, frame integrity...and of course, the battery; close enough to the manual

Jehuty couldn't hear other people's thoughts right? that was only a rumor, of course, only a rumor; Qualle breathed slowly, a small, feeble attempt at keeping calm

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

“I-I’m ok… just a bit scared with flying like this for the first time and… all of that.” Amelia would be flying a red Aestivalis alongside the rest of the group. She seemed to have a handle on the controls already, flying a bit more stable than Abigail. She looked around in a slightly frantic manner as she looked around for any possible threats. While the place was a wasteland, it was always best to keep your head on a swivel. Who knows if someone beat them to the punch or if something had been birthed from the ruins below.

“W-What do you even think we’ll find down there, Isaac? I think it was where those Getter things were made.” They could, but she very much hoped they didn’t. The place was already dangerous enough as it is, this little venture into the place was already testing their luck. Ending up on some monster’s menu was definitely not on Amelia’s plans at all.

 

[Nemesis]

With Amelia and Abigail alright, Isaac breathed a sigh of relief. At least they hadn't lost anyone in the fog. He released the bindings on their Aestivalis, giving the smaller machines free movement once more as it nodded to each in turn. He didn't want to stay in this God-forsaken place any longer than necessary. Still, he stayed close enough to give them a hand if they needed it - they weren't exactly combat experts after all.

"Stick close to me, you three." He instructed, putting a hand on the backs of either machine to reassure them.

"We get in and out. Let's not keep the boss lady waiting."

Slowly, Jehuty began its descent, until it hovered just a small distance from the blasted ground, making its way across the ruin to the lip of the crater. It peered over the edge - and immediately dropped behind the lip in a crouch, waving its hands feverishly at the others to join it.

A low, rumbling laugh could be heard coming from below, flecked with static.

An absolutely enormous shape dwelled at the bottom - all spines and quills of bloody crimson, its gigantic arms wrapped around its body. Every pulse of the green veins across its surface sent reverberations running through the world around them - as though it were the heart of disaster itself. The radiation that poured off its frame steamed up into the atmosphere, churning the sky, wreathing it in a permanent heat haze - but that did nothing to obscure the smaller forms crowded about it.



"Brothers and Sisters! Today will go down in history! Our Prophet's word was truth, and the blood of the skeptics, the heretics, flowed in vain!"

They were small - smaller than an Aestivalis, even, only slightly taller than the average human being. The two humanoids among them, clad in white and red insectoid armor respectively, looked on with a distinct air of unease as the quartet of black, beetle-like creatures busied themselves about the radioactive titan. The voice seemed to come from a hologram being projected by the one in white, who made no response to his fellow's rant, only listening in silence.

"..."

"..."

"Behold, Orgun! Our Savior! SAINT DRAGON!"

The cackling, maniacal laughter echoed all through the crater. Jehuty dipped its head back down, sweat now pouring down Isaac's forehead. This place was giving him a headache. Even the Metatron pulses that ran through the Orbital Frame seemed to be synchronizing with that... monster's heartbeat. His thoughts were interrupted by Luce.

"That's Shin Dragon?" She asked, anxiously.

"Can't be. It was destroyed, right Isaac?"

He chewed his lower lip, trying to think. What would Blanchefleur do? What should he do? His hands were already running across the internal keyboard, feeding as much data as he could to ADA. They needed to figure out what they were going to do - and fast.

 

[GrimmShane]

The Orbital Frame's tap on Abigail's machine did ever so slightly reassure the pilot's safety, even if just for a couple moments. As their descent in the eldritch wound on Mars begun, the sight of what remained there, and what awaited by it made the medic somewhat queasy; the briefing said this was the remains of a Saotome facility, and thinking back to his classes, the name rung a bell. "Wait" he thought

"Is that... a getter?"

A mere whisper of soft confusion and noticeable curiosity, the pulsing and beating making it feel like they were descending straight into something's heart as its dormant face stared back at them. The creatures by it hailing it and cackling like those kooky cults that plagued several parts of Earth.
The intern's hands tightened around the machine's controls, finding himself an extra bit of stability in the descent, breathing in as deep as possible, trying not to tremble.

"Uhm, something seems to be...cackling down there; boss, Isaac? I uh... don't think we're the only ones down here"

Between each small adjustment, Abby kept on checking each parameter of his machine, making sure everything was at the ready in case of an emergency situation; which was, well, quite possible at this moment; and if the pros were hurrying through, what could he do at this point.

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

Amelia soon arrived at the lip of the crater, only to be greeted by the horrifying eldritch visage of Shin Dragon, or whatever its form had malformed into. Staring at it alone gave Amelia the creeps, but every fiber of her body was screaming at her to get as far as she could from that thing. It wasn’t a machine, not anymore. But she stayed completely still as she began breaking out slightly in a cold sweat, she slowly made her Aestivalis retreat down the slope as not to be spotted.

“T-Those can’t be scavengers… right? I don’t think that armor’s s-something you can cobble together.” Her breathing began to become slightly erratic, and her voice started to sound a bit more distressed than nervous now, nerves replaced with an instinctual fear. A fear of that… THING… of this whole place.

”W-We should report this right now… I-I don’t think I want to be here.” Despite her earlier demeanor before the mission, she would look for any excuse to leave right this moment. Anything to leave that thing behind, those people could worship it all they want, she could not care less.

 

[Nemesis]

Isaac listened as the other two fearfully - and reasonably - reported their respective terror. To say he didn't agree wholly would have been a lie, but before he could open his mouth, ADA chose that moment to pipe up to the lot of them:

"Target identified as Shin Dragon. The cause of the disaster that rendered the surface of Mars uninhabitable during Alternative V, according to official League reports."

"ADA?"

"The target is venting extreme amounts of radiation into the atmosphere. I believe the armored units below are attempting to initialize it by removing control rods placed across its surface."

"They're trying to WHAT?"

The young man's eyes widened in shock as he hissed, lowering his voice so as to avoid attracting the attention of those below. ADA, helpfully, projected a small hologram of the Eid units moving across its surface, grasping small sections of the machine and pulling them free. Isaac lapsed into silence, and it fell to Luce to raise her trembling voice next:

"ADA, what would the effect be?"

"A full release of all the stored energy would utterly annihilate Mars' atmosphere.

All remaining life on the planet, carbon or otherwise, would be seared away and jettisoned into the void. The planet's crust would crack, eventually leading to total implosion."

"So... everyone's gonna die?"

"I estimate a mortality rate of 99.99%."

The two lapsed into a stunned silence. Isaac pinched his brow, looking at the other two. They weren't fighters. They were a cook, and a medic. Even with the IFS, he didn't like their odds. They were right. They needed to get help. As if reading his thoughts, ADA continued:

"I estimate that, given the rate of energy increase, Shin Dragon will reach critical mass within fifteen minutes."

"That's-!" Gasped Luce, covering her mouth in shock. Once more, they fell into silence. Isaac could feel her stare on him, asking him to find a way. To make the numbers spell something else than disaster. He shook his head, and sighed.

"Any way we can delay it?"

"Preventing further removal of the control rods may slow the rate of increase. Combat, however, is not advised. Enemy capability is completely unknown, and there remains the risk of damage accelerating Shin Dragon's awakening."

"You heard her." He said to the others, levelly.

"Any ideas?"

 

[GrimmShane]

"Is negotiating an option? Like, dunno, telling them that awakening the thing would cause its sanctuary to get blown to hell or something like that?"

His voice carried along that tremble he had tried to contain, Aestivalis moving back before coming to a soft stop, paying a bit of extra attention just to see if he'd made a fool of himself with that suggestion.
ADA's information was quite uh informative, though the suggestion to avoid combat was perfect, after all half of them weren't exactly made for combat - even if their machines were infact decked out

"On the other hand, do we even have the resources to retreat within that 15 minute period, unscathed or otherwise?" Abigail's voice shifted tones abruptly as he spoke again, a lot more like what you'd hear be followed by "open to suggestions" should he be in a position to even direct a plan

Why did there have to be beetle-looking cultists of unknown power here today? What sort of god did they piss off for a time limit to be added like this?

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

This was… a detriment to the mission to say the least. She wasn’t expecting they would already face a trial this harsh on Jehuty’s first deployment. Well, it didn’t matter. If Isaac and she could feel it, there was always a gamble ‘she’ would be nearby. While she was ordered never to come face to face with her, that seemed like an inevitability at this point. That then factored into her thinking of a plan of her own.

Amelia perked her head up to speak, a little more resolve in her voice now this time but still clearly frightful of the current situation. “W-What if me and Isaac drew them away from the crater and the rods? Then Luce and Abigail can make sure the rods stay in place. After that, we surround whatever these people are and defeat them. Is that a good idea?”

She sounded a bit unsure of herself, but she still managed to stay confident enough to propose the plan to the rest of them. They were clearly not in the mood for negotiations, so they would have to take the violent option regardless of their skill and positions. And not to mention, it was an opportunity to get a bit closer to him.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Meanwhile…
Vascillia County Border

“HRAAAAAH!”

The sound of a battle cry ringed across the barren plains, as a torrent of blood followed in the wake of a blade’s slash. Bone and sinew laid strewn about the scorched Martian surface. But it was something clearly not of human origin, malformed and monstrous. A monster that had long terrorized the Martian surface, was present here. The BETA. A scouting party, no doubt looking for fresh prey. But the hunters would soon find themselves the hunted as a white angel danced between each of them, dispatching each foul xeno in a wild flurry.

“Die! Die! Die you worthless meat sacks!”

A blade would find itself in the neck of a Grappler-class BETA before a stomp down would split its head from the rest of its body. The angel would bring the severed head up to its visor, admiring its handiwork before summarily discarding the head onto the ground.

“And she does this… every two weeks?” Tenjin said while snacking on an MRE, some good fried rice in a bag. He was sitting at the cockpit controls for a scavenger ship owned by BAHRAM to deliver the BETA their white avenging angel. No one minded scavengers here, they were a common sight, so it was only logical a ship like this would be used as camouflage.

“Yes, and it’s… painful to watch. Every time, that’s our hero. Just going into a rage the moment she sees any BETA or Invader.” Rinza sighed as he stood watch from the captain’s seat. He would always be put on this assignment ever since Kleine woke up from cryo preserve. Watching a childhood hero go into a berserker state was just unsettling to say the least. To take his mind off things, he decides to turn to Kord who had just entered the room. “Well? Any news on James?”

“Nothing man, he’s completely bailed. Should we go after him?” Rinza would shake his head as he went back to watching the carnage. “I think it’s best we leave him be. If he thinks he’s not cut out for this, I don’t blame him. Even I’m having a hard time seeing why I’m in a position like this.”

Tenjin would turn around with a smirk on his face. “In a position leading the four idiots?”

Kord would chuckle as he leaned against the wall. “Make that three my man. But either way, he better take care of himself. He’s still one of us.”

“Well… same could be said about her.” His eyes would be drawn back to Hathor as it slew itself a bloodbath. “She’s one of us… but she feels… different. Even compared to old man Hellas.” He would stare on in silence along with his 2 teammates. It would hang in the air before he would break it with his voice. “Is she even human anymore?”

 

[Nemesis]

Isaac pondered the responses from the other two, thoughtfully. Jehuty tilted its head up at the rumbling skies overhead. Were those shapes twisting in their dark recesses? Or just his imagination playing tricks on him? It wasn't that their ideas were terrible - but, he didn't want to put any more people in danger than necessary.

"I somehow get the feeling they're not the talking type." He sighed in response to Abigail, gesturing back in the direction of the two armored figures. He could be wrong, of course, he added silently, but the stakes were a bit too high for him to fathom anything of the sort.

At Amelia's words, Isaac gave a short, sharp laugh.

"Yeah, like I'm gonna drag along a cook." He scoffed, lightly.

"You two can barely keep from shaking in your boots."

He spun the model projected by ADA about, half-heartedly, all the while his brain boiling away. Focus, Isaac. Don't go to pieces now, he told himself, trying to sound more confident than he actually was. Did he have the tools to deal with this situation? No. All he could do at the moment was hope, and delay. They needed... expertise. Resources. Time.

"None of us are nuclear technicians. We're gonna need Mr. Creed, the mechanic, and Ms. Blanchefleur." He said eventually, Jehuty gesturing at the three Aestivalis before him.

"You three go back to the Nadesico, and get help. Worst case scenario, I can delay them long enough for you take off-"

"I'm staying."

He sucked in a breath, and clenched his eyes shut. Of course. Luce peered back at him, the only one of their group not shaking. He could sense those golden, determined eyes staring holes into his own. Even if was futile, he still had to try.

"Luce-" He tried to say - but her sharp voice cut him off, insistently.

"No. You always try to do everything yourself, and it never works! I always have to clean up your code! Not this time!"

At each word, the young man seemed to sink lower in his seat, before she relented, seeming to puff herself up a bit.

"Besides: you need me."

"I... do?" Said Isaac, mystified.

Luce pouted, her Aestivalis tapping the barrel of its rifle coquettishly as it looked away from the glowing crater.

"Isaac... Couldn't you be romantic, just this once?"

"Eh? Eh?"

 

[GrimmShane]

Returning to the ship to get reinforcements didn't sound like a bad idea, specially if they came back with the mechanic and the boss. To that extent, Abigail was definitely on board, to the part about leaving the other two behind to possibly enter battle... that rubbed him a little bit on the wrong way.

Luce's shenanigans being a bit more unexpected however, catching his attention as the medic's Aestivalis faced hers before going over to Jehuty, returning to look at Amelia and just shrugging

"Seems like gramps was right, love can bloom on the battlefield"

There was a slight cackle following his short comment; his machine then begun tilting back, beginning the careful fly up the side of the crater. For a first deployment, this was already quite an eventful thing; the Aestivalis' head looked over towards the two insectoids beings and the eldritch thing they seemed to be trying to free, its hands clutching the brought-on rifle in a show of caution if nothing else

"By the time we're back, don't make me embalm your corpse, so just, don't die." The tone on the newbie pilot's voice was just a tad more poignant than before, closer to the medic he was hired to be speaking than anything else.

"Amelia, ready when you are"

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

“Y-Yeah so what if I am a cook? I’ll skewer them and grill them all the same.” Amelia didn’t take well to Isaac’s joke, but she couldn’t complain much. It was part of her role after all to be new and inexperienced in piloting. She’d need to clock in a bit more in the simulator then. And as much as she wanted to shout out of character at Luce, she decided not to for the moment and simply made a comment regarding the plan instead.

”B-But the rest of the crew is busy with their mission, aren’t they? Wouldn’t it take t-too long if we were to go all the way to the Nadesico now and c-come back?”

That was what little they had, time. It’s not something they could waste, but here she was doing just that. But she had to if she was to ensure the entire crew’s safety, and that this thing didn’t blow up in their face. She would take a deep breath in as she tried to calm herself down before speaking again. “We need to deal with this problem with the people we have right now. Going to the ship now is just going to cost us too much time.“

 

[Nemesis]

(What's with this girl? Weren't you just shaking with fear a minute ago?)

The four quarreled amongst themselves, and every moment, doomsday ticked closer. Were it not for ADA suddenly interjecting with the whine of a klaxon, they almost might have missed the glint of light coming from over the crater's lip.

"Incoming. Evasive maneuvers."

"...!!"

Jehuty's leg thrusters flared - and narrowly avoided being cleaved straight in half, a scything beam of light slashing across the sediment it had been huddling. A bright white gash was ripped across the Orbital Frame's shoulder as it skidded back in alarm, raising its eyes.

"..."​

The white armor stood at the lip of the crater, slowly stepping into view, a trail of steam wafting from from its wrist. The Evoluder looked fown upon them with its insectoid glare, emotions as unscrutable and unreadable as mud. Behind its visor, a targeting recticle slide from the Orbital Frame to the smaller units scanning each in turn, one after another, as behind Orgun, Leave also came into view - the ever present partner unit.

"Shit!" Hissed Isaac as he jerked the controls, sending Jehuty airborne.

It seemed the choice had been made for them.

Orgun regarded the interlopers wearily, minutely shaking his head. Leave had heard their squawking to one another as soon as it was on their primitive communication channels. Their indecision would cost them their lives... but he would take no pleasure in it.

"You should not have come." He said, somberly-

And in that instant, the Detonator broke into a thruster-assisted sprint. Twin blades materialized at his wrists as he began to blitz a path towards the closest of the four:

Amelia.

Behind Orgun, Leave rose into view, wrist flaring as a hail of beams rained down upon the cook's Aestivalis, aiming to pin it in place for her partner unit to advance. The others, for the moment, seemed to be spared...

But, for how long?

 

[GrimmShane]

When presented with danger, the human brain has two plausible reponses to it, to fight or flight; this, known as the "fight or flight" response, it was developed over the millions of years of human evolution to ensure our survival. There are tales regailed of people defying their fight or flight response and doing things they otherwise wouldn't be able to do, usually in an attempt to ensure someone else's survival.

It is a doctor's work to ensure the safety of their patients, and right now those goddamn overgrown bugs were threatening his own; and god be put as witness that Abigail's initial response was not to fight, but to lean back in fear that he'd be next, but "Move" he thought "why don't you move!?" hands on the controls, the small town boy shifted his wrists, jolting between going back and forth. "fight, fly, sink, swim, live, die, stay afloat or drown."

"Hands off..."

The Aestivalis' aerial frame's thrusters would flare up barely a moment after the white one begun to move in an attempt to catch up; as the machine shot forwards like a deep blue streak lit up in buzzing neon; the rifle having been traded by the field lancer - held slightly to the side with both hands, closer to holding a bayonet than what it was, a pole-mounted blade.

"My patient!"

His machine's flight trajectory would be best defined as unstable, noticeably zipping left and right before readjusting with a slight corkscrew. Abby was no pilot, far from it, he was an emotional young adult who had gotten his first full night of sleep just before the briefing. Should someone consider this as anything other than suicide they'd be nothing but delusional.
Perhaps there was some comfort to be found in that thought, dying in place of someone visibly more competent than him.

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

As Orgun approached with deadly swiftness, Amelia jerked the controls as she backed away as much as possible. But with the surprise attack, it was impossible to back away in time. She might have the distortion field, but what exactly this thing could do was beyond her. It might even be enough to knock her shields offline, so she braced herself for the inevitable hit. That was until the doctor came calling.

”Hands off… My patient!”

The shout called her back to her senses slightly as she grit her teeth. Her body motioned to the controls, bringing up her rifle and began to fire in the general direction of Orgun’s approach in order to stave off the invader’s stride. The fully automatic rattle of the Aestivalis’ rifle filled the air as she pumped out volleys of lead deterrent. If she wasn’t in combat mode earlier, she certainly was now. She wasn’t going to die today, she still has her mission. As mission that took the utmost importance with her. Right now, it was her purpose.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

As the last of the unsavory BETA were cleared from the sector, Kleine now surveyed the area for more threat. Almost seemingly hungry in a way, hungry for more blood, to satiate her thirst for vengeance. But as the flow of battle stalled, a pair of voices in the back of her mind called to her once again.

“Jehuty”

“Jehuty”

“Jehuty… and something else.”

She would turn to look west with a sense of unease. That child was here, was it fate or its will at work? It did not matter, but it was clear that if he was on Mars, he was certainly in danger. Not to mention, she could feel something pulling her in that direction. It was familiar… but she could not put her finger on what exactly it was. This called for an investigation and a rescue most likely.

“Rinza?” She asked with a gentle and motherly tone, very different from her hoarse and demonic voice earlier. “If the ship were to fly at top speeds, how fast do you think we could reach the old Saotome Labs?”

With a look of confusion on their faces, the 3 would simply stare at each other before simply nodding silently to each other as they got to their workstations. “5 minutes at least. What is it that you plan on doing Mrs. Daystar?”

“My duty as a mother of course…” As the blue glow of Metatron flowed through her body, she would reach out towards the horizon, holding her hand out as if cradling something delicate underneath it.

“To protect the young and the weak.”​

 

[Nemesis]

Orgun lunged, the Evoluder blitzing across the sands like a bolt of thunder - and the resulting BANG as he made contact with Abigail's Distortion Field seemed to catch him off guard. For a moment, the two were locked together, the roar of the field almost deafening, illuminating the alien's sharp features as the twin cutters inched perilously closer, moment by moment.

Fortunately for Abigail, the hail of bullets from Amelia caused the smaller unit to glance up - and, thrusters flaring, fire himself skyward instead, smoke pouring off his body from where he'd come into contact with the barrier. Sparks crackled across the two cutters, as Orgun examined their surface, as if checking for any signs of damage as Leave called out, already maneuvering into position.

"Orgun!"

"I'm fine, Leave. Focus."

As the Evoluders readied another charge, suddenly it was Isaac who spoke up, Jehuty slamming a massive foot down before Orgun, causing him to dart back in alarm as he craned his eyes up, as if measuring the immense difference in size between himself and the glowing Orbital Frame.

"You jackasses!" He yelled;

"You're gonna kill everyone!"

Orgun swiped out - and dug into Jehuty's ankle, darting up to slash a groove into the Orbital Frame's leg, causing it to ascend hurriedly to the skies as Isaac sucked his teeth. Their small size made them difficult to hit - Jehuty, he knew, was hardly designed with anti-personnel duty in mind. Could he really leave it to the others?

"The infestation must be purged by any means. That is our cause. Our reason to exist."

"You'll kill thousands-"

"To save billions."

Leave flanked from Amelia's right, charging the Aestivalis at a furious speed, one arm lashing out to deliver a crushing punch, attempting to smash the weapon out of her hands. As she did, Orgun came down from above, twin cutters gleaming, aiming a two-handed slash down Amelia's back, like a pair of crescent moons that ripped the air as they tore through it - and would tear through her as well, if she weren't careful.

 

[GrimmShane]

By this point, cowering was out of the question as regardless of what either of them did, fighting back was the only real chance they had at actually making it back. If that white-clad bug had inched just a bit closer, just a mere inch further, he'd been able to deal any sort of meaningful damage with his lancer, but now? Now there was not one but two to deal with.

With Orgun having blasted upwards and being shortly held up by Jehuty, Abby's momentum was made into a quick turn to circle around Amelia, presenting himself as a wrench in the enemy's joint attack once again.

"Up back!"

Voice blaring, the medic opened up the Aerial frame's missile pods and launching a barrage towards Leave, using the built up momentum and remaining speed after the turn to charge alongside the missiles.
Lancer in hand and field in place, the Aestivalis begun thrusting with the aforementioned poleblade, an attempt to catch that nice and cool punch threatening to disarm Abigail's comrade; if he'd survived a head on charge into what was supposed to be a 2v1, why not go for another round!

And then, he heard the white one's comments, the Theory Of The Greater Good, it'd been called; something which assumes the value of all people as equal and exchangeable based on simple numeral rates - what did it matter if killing a few thousands would save billions?

What were those people worth?

Were there children there? hopes for the future yet to mature into anything of value

What about their parents? functional members of the world put into an unfortunate situation, even as they were required to keep on working

"How does this make you feel?" his thoughts practically spoke to him "Should it anger you? annoy you? we tread that path as children, we know the result" Reason made its way to the forefront as the pilot's entire body leaned forwards on the cockpit's seat, hands tightening around the controls as he breathed in and out, maintaining the repeated thrusting while tracking the missiles' own paths - trying not to interject "There's ways to save them all; at least all of them here, that's why we've come, wasn't it?"

"If you want to squabble amongst bugs, you're free to do so. But assuming the value of potential patients; you either have no ethics, or think yourself a judge mighty enough to determine them."

A sharp breath, last one heard outwardly after this point, followed by a blunted, lowered tone; no longer cheery like in the ship itself, or wary like before; not angry or determined like the previous charge.
Just a blunt, collected "Hand's off." as the Lancer's thrusts shifted towards Leave's arm itself, instead of the Evoluder's main body.

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

Amelia began to fly backwards a bit in order to gain some distance from the attacking Evoluders, firing her gun all the while as she followed Orgun. As he leapt up to slash at her, Abigail’s call out would reach her as she tilted the mech to face up.

“I got it!”

The missile pods on the wing binders would open, revealing the red tips of a large salvo of missiles. Amelia took a bit of time to let the missiles lock on, right before sending a wave of them right towards the descending Orgun. ”And killing is still killing. So don’t try to justify it!”

Right before the missiles reached Orgun, Amelia pulled out the Aestivalis’ knife with the left hand and cranked up the output of her distortion field, focusing it on the tip of her knife as she flew right at Orgun. She hoped that the missiles would provide an appropriate distraction as she moved in for a killing blow.

”If you do all that, I still won’t have accomplished anything with my life!”

4 minutes until arrival of Hathor

 

[Nemesis]

"..."

Orgun darted back under Abigail's fierce counterattack with the Field Lancer, the weapon managing to score a direct hit on the creature's abdomen with a satisfying KRAK that sent fracture lines snaking up the Evoluder's torso. Leave, alarmed, redirected her fire to interception duty, blasting the missiles out of the air in a cloud of shrapnel and detonations that rocked the entire battlefield.

The Detonator skidded back across the dirt, one hand grasping his now damaged armor... and paused as Amelia closed in. He waited until the very last second and then-

WHUNCH!

The knife was thrust forward - and stopped cold, as the Evoluder gripped it with both hands, sliding inward like a steel trap. Machine and artificial muscle strained against one another, as Orgun narrowed his eyes. There was an air of resignation in his voice. A somber tone that implied he too, was unhappy with his lot. Even his strikes, it seemed, were half-hearted in the service of his greater cause.

"It can't be helped. There is no other way-"

...but before he could finish-

A shrill, piercing cry erupted from the direction of Shin Dragon, giving Orgun pause. A familiar voice, that caused Jehuty's head to immediately turn in its direction.

"ISAAAAAAAAAC!"​

The Coordinator's jaw dropped. He'd been careless. He hadn't even noticed her slip off, doubtlessly to do the work she believed to be done. The Orbital Frame bounded over the lip of the crater, hurtling down towards the behemoth below as he called out:

"Luce? LUCE!"

With a roar, Orgun shifted the incoming knife aside, thrusters flaring as he repositioned... but rather than continue the assault, something seemed to catch his attention, Leave giving a silent nod of affirmation. Wordlessly, they both turned and jetted after Jehuty in hot pursuit, evidently with worries of their own.

What could possibly be transpiring in the hellish, glowing wasteland below that would warrant their immediate attention?

 

[GrimmShane]

He… landed a hit.

His instinctual gambles without a safety net had succeeded in keeping both himself and Amelia alive; and not only that as it turned out, that crack in the Detonator's armor, that singular dent had been his own as well. With that singular pause they'd gained, the adrenaline begun to run its course having done something otherwise unimaginable.

"I need a moment-"

Of course there wasn't no consequence for such a set of relatively high speed maneuvers, as right in the moment Jehuty headed down into the crater proper the contents of the medic's stomach had begun to shoot up his esophagus, innards churning in somewhat painful unease as the Aestivalis came to a halt.

Holding the vomit for as long as he was physically able to do so, Abigail ended up resigning himself to swallowing it instead. A shiver went down the young man's spine when returning his attention to the Detonators... "They're retreating, or merely following? No... that cry before-" for the first time in the last few moments, Abby's thoughts were his own to use and rationalize; no nerves to break down piece by piece and rationalize, nor any bouts of pointers for himself, thinly veiled as insults.

While the world was bleeding and crying out in horror barely a couple hundred meters away, Abigail Qualle's mind was the clearest it'd been since getting into the machine itself no more than an hour ago.

That clarity of mind didn't last too long however, as Isaac's callout for Luce brought the seemingly least experienced of the three Aestivalis pilots back to reality; taking a hold of the controls anew, Abby checked the machine of the Nadesico's cook for damages before simply leaping in after the Orbital Frame.

"I'm heading in as well!"