2011-05-21 - Gundam Sailor Scouts

5/21/2011

05:25 PM Logfile from SRT.

Bright Noa's last pose:

Earlier today..

The Argama secretly rests in one of many spaceports within Von Braun's outer-rim facilities. Its crew already scattered among a series of technicians in Anaheim Electronics jumpsuits. Its presence within the Federation-controlled city a highly-classified revelation. Strings were pulled, manifests were faked, and even now, the ground crew work hard on obscuring the ship's profile with a series of digital camouflage draperies.

Bright Noa, Captain of this ship (and indeed, our very hearts), stands beside the haughty-looking Wong Lee as he addresses the portly Oliver Evlien. "The Argama will be docked here for a day while we restock our supplies and run some light maintenance. While we're here, I'd like you to take the children out into the city for the day. Otherwise, they might get in everyone's way."

"Does this mean we can get ice-cream!?" Shinta, the brim of his red cap shadowing his eyes, is within ear-shot. His voice brimming with hope.

"..." Bright makes a slight face. He reaches into his pocket, pulling a few rumpled quatloos out to stuff into Oliver's meaty hand. "..Get them some ice-cream," he sighs in futility.

"YAY!!" Qum throws her arms up into the air, her stubby little fingers wiggling with joy. "ICE-CREAM!! I WANT GREEN-TEA!!"

Their Haro-companion bounces up and down, its plate 'wings' fluttering in the air. "ICE-CREAM," it chirps back. "ICE-CREAM. HARO. HARO GENKI!" Poing, poing, wobble.

--BEGIN NARRATIVE INTERLUDE--

Von Braun City, a bustling metropolis at the heart of the Moon, might be one

of the most important cities of the New Colony Age. Anchored within the Cayley

crater of Earth's satellite, it lies just a hop and skip away from what was

once known as 'Tranquility Base,' the landing site for the incredible Apollo

11 landing in Earth's now-historic Anno Domini era.

It was here that the innovations for life in space would be spearheaded.

Artificial gravity and sustainable life-support are just a few of the things

that first gained prominence in Von Braun City. Most important of all, the

establishment of a network of fiber-optic viaducts capable of "piping-in" real

sunlight to create an illusory sky over a vast atrium that would serve as an

authentic outdoors environment for its inhabitants.

The city is the closest thing to a capital the Lunarians, the name for those

who live on the Moon, have. The Athens of the Lunarian city-states and a model

for what later become a new home for mankind, where people are born and

raised... and die. A popular maxim to evolve from the New Colony Age that

whosever controls Von Braun City also controls the Moon.

--END NARRATIVE INTERLUDE--

Now..

What started off as a beautiful day, full of perpetual Lunar summer and ice-cream dolloped onto waffle-cones, has suddenly taken a terrible wrong turn! In all of the five seconds that Oliver's attention is caught by something else, the orphans have seemed to escape him. Only their Haro, which bounces up and down in a robotic panic, is left behind.

"HARO," the early model companion bleats. "HARO. HARO."

Sometimes, robots are not very good at being helpful.

But what is helpful is a sudden, blood-curdling shriek of a little girl.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!" Qum's identifiable voice can be heard plain as day. It's coming from just a few feet away, down an alleyway in the midst of Von Braun City's main street. "OLIVER!! HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!!" Shinta's red cap lay on the ground ahead -- a sure sign of just where the children have gone!

Just a quick sprint down will uncover just what has happened--

"Uweeheehee!" Queen GEMERALD cackles as she rubs her spidery fingers together. A tall, frightening woman with frizzy hair who might've been considered beautiful if her heart weren't so terribly black and wears an elegant green dress. Her henchmen, a series of malicious-looking teenagers have both Shinta and Qum in their grasp. Hoisted off the ground, their tiny legs can only kick ineffectively in the air.

"Let us go!" Qum squeals. "We were eating ice-cream--!"

"Yeah, you big bully!" Shinta adds. "What do you want with us!?"

"Just your delicious youth!" Queen Gemerald snaps back. She angles her elbows over her chest, splaying her long and sharp-nailed fingers to either side of her face. "With you last two children, I'll be able to use the DARK MAGIC OF THE MOON and use your lifeforce to sustain my youth and power forever! And then, no one will be able to stop me when I take control of the Moon for once and for all!"

--BEGIN NARRATIVE INTERLUDE--

Queen Gemerald, leader of the Moon's secret occult society, has quietly been

stealing children from the beds of the Lunar city-states at night. With the

recent troubles of the Balmarian invasion having disrupted a great deal of

civil infrastructure, the police of the Moon have so far been unable to

address this recent strain of kidnappings.

Only one cop has so far been tracking these disappearances. Believing the

Queen's secret occult society might also have links supplying to the

intergalactic criminal shadow-brotherhood known simply as the BLACK HOLE GANG,

intrepid lieutenant of the Autonomous Peacekeeping Force A-LAWS, IBIS DOUGLAS,

may just have the evidence she needs to bust this case wide open..!

--END NARRATIVE INTERLUDE--

What will our heroes do to save the children!? And what additional tricks does Queen Gemerald have up the spaghetti-straps of her dress!?!

Boss, Mucha, and Nuke wander down the streets of the city, eating moon ice cream, and wearing horrible cardboard armor and renassiance fair outfits that would make any traditionalist vomit. One thug is wearing a black robe and a cardboard pointed hat, the other is wearing a vaguely masculine outfit. Boss himself is wearing red cardboard armor with a big tin foil sword.

"Boss, I feel weird in this outfit."

"LOOK!" Boss waves the sword. "When the entire /world/ decides they are all going to have fantasy week at the same time, we go ahead with it.

Boss turns, thrusting his chin out. "Wait. What was that? Did we fall into some sort of Sailor Moon Alternate Universe again?!"

CURRENTLY...

Well, Oliver Evlien, royal guardsman of the Dianna Counter, was really hoping his Important Mission would involve combat or perhaps espionage and information-collecting. Something dangerous. He might be timid in person, but he likes to think he's fearless on the battle! But this...

This is okay too! He's okay with this. Children are wonderful, right? He's never babysat before, which is evident in how...well, permissive he is, but children are innocents. Indeed, it's innocence powering their nearly infinite energy that caused them to get away from him and OH GOD SOMETHING TERRIBLE IS GOING TO HAPPEN AND HE IS THE WORST GUARDSMAN EVER.

He has long legs, to be sure, but for all the advantages his size brings him, speed is not one of them. He's stopping to catch his breath when he hears that scream, eyes widening, and dashes towards the sound. "Qum! Qum, don't worry, I-I'm coming...!"

He appears in the alley, looking pale as he asseses the situation. A lunatic must have escaped! In a costume. Obviously. "You see here! You leave them alone at once!" Threatening children has angered him enough for him to /raise his voice,/ and when he does, it's frankly pretty loud and deep. "Halt this behavior at once, in the name of the Moon...!"

That last bit is an old habit from the Dianna Counter that slipped out. THankfully he IS on the moon, so maybe it doesn't sound quite as weird...

Roux Louka was glad to help ride herd on orphans in order to get some syntho-sun, some ice cream, and a change of pace. She'd been kind of crabby the last couple of days (beyond the usual Roux baseline), and had been in her usual summery casual outfit with its 'ribbon sandals' and 'ribbon-tied super-micro-mini' in 'sea green.'

After a lengthy break in the ladies' room, Roux steps out from the privacy divider, reaching into the cryo-chamber to reclaim her ice cream cone from a rack next to several others (one of which has probably been here since the One Year War). As she raises the creamy waffle cone to her mouth, she pauses, turning her head to look towards a spot currently devoid of Oliver and Company. Her attention tracks down the road, acute Newtype senses detecting the sight of Oliver ducking into an alleyway. "Shit!" Roux says, feeling for her sidearm.

Which is also missing.

"Shit!!" Roux starts running after Oliver, wondering desperately how she's supposed to solve a problem without weapons.

ARGAMA COMMAND BRIDGE

INTELLIGENCE QUARTER

"What do you mean there are no operations today?" Heero exclaims, barely able to contain his shock when Torres comes up to him as he was setting up his equipment for a good long eight-hour period of monitoring Divine Crusader, A-LAWS and Alpha Numbers activities. He could already feel the thrill of tunneling through firewalled channels and picking up unencrypted signals and deciphering them and--

"Boss' orders, boy," Torres replies with a shrug, not feeling too broken up that he doesn't have to work. "While the Argama's resupplying, we aren't gonna broadcast ourselves bein' here."

"I understand that, but... what can I do?" Heero question in response, twitching a little as the actual reality that there may actually not be -any- productive work on the Argama that Heero Yuy can do, -at all-, dawns on him. It's horrible. A terror. A nightmare! "I'll do anything."

"Well... y'know Oliver, right?"

LATER

A goddamn silhouette of the full Moon suddenly appears high in the sky behind the city! WHICH MAKES NO GODDAMN SENSE BECAUSE THEY'RE ON THE MOON BUT JUST ROLL WITH IT!

A freaking rose gets thrown and lands a feet away from the Queen and the kids' feet!

The moon's bright light serves to contrast the tall mysterious and dark shadow standing ontop of a lamppost, not too far away from Oliver, the kids, and Queen Gemerald! His long and dramatic cape billows in the wind, which somehow is blowing very hard but just in his direction! His fashion sense is impeccable, with long iron-pressed black pants, leather shoes, and a three-piece tuxedo with a gentlemanly cravat... and associated silken top hat, and a ballroom masque!

Porno jazz music is also playing from a well-hidden subwoofer as Saegusa and Torres hurry up and back the mysterious stranger's entrance.

"Halt, Queen Gemerald! In the name of the Moon, I, the Tuxedo Royalguard, shall not allow you to corrupt today's youth and innocence!"

Inside, under the mask, Heero Yuy sighs in relief. It feels -good- to be working. Aah...

Macua Huitl has a very good reason to be out and about she needs to replace the clothing she had which had been destroyed. She needed clothing that fit and did actually belong to her really. Given the total destruction of all her personal clothing. She's helping keeping an eye on the kids. She's in something far simpler and borrowed. Still she already had one bag with ome clothing already.

Syntho-sun wasn't bad it was better than ship board light for sure.

She doesn't mind the kids at all and wonders what hellions, she Isaura and Shirou had been to Raul and their parents. She can only guess really. Though Raul might have some thing to say about that.

A ceiling fan spins slowly in a dimly-lit office, which is pretty well completely unkempt. There are papers strewn across the desk haphazardly, and the only thing keeping them from blowing away is a half-empty bottle of whiskey and a dirty glass, sitting in dangerous proximity to the grim and noir Spacebok sneakers of Ibis Douglas, Private Eye. She kicks back in her chair with both arms folded behind her head, breathing deep the scent of the city as it filters through her office window, intermingling with the stench of stale cigarettes.

Speaking of which, she reaches for the pack of smokes tucked inside of her drab olive coat with deliberate slowness, making a ritual out of extracting a candy cigarette from the cardboard package and lifting her well-worn fedora up from its position of 'covering the fuck out of her entire face' as she tucks it inbetween her lips.

That fan spins hella slow.

Ibis' reflection is interrupted by a hammering at the door, and a familiar voice booming. The outline of a swarthy figure can be seen through the mottled glass, and the doorknob rattles briefly before it swings open, throwing (relatively) fresh air into the office and filling it with the sound of the city at night. In the door stands Police Comissioner Bright Noa, his stubble nearly as powerful as his own Dick Tracy outfit.

"Damn it, Douglas! Are you going to sit around here all night while the Black Hole Gang wreaks havoc? We're down a man because of you!"

Ibis adjusts her candy cigarette, but remains motionless, even as the man himself grabs her by the lapels and starts shaking her. Sounds become foggy and far away as Bright continues to yell at her.

"He had a family, Douglas! Now Boss is gone f o r e v e r . . .--"

***

"Hey, get a grip! Are you alright, miss?"

Someone who is not at all Bright Noa shakes A-LAWS Lieutenant Ibis Douglas by the lapels of her cheap track jacket, trying to wake her up. The unconscious redhead, who was lying in a dumpster in the heart of Von Braun city until moments prior, comes about slowly and with a very long and unpleasant sounding groan. Her eyes creak open, and she regards her faceless and nameless NPC helper with a wary glance. Her head feels as though it has been cracked in half.

Which might have something to do with her vague memories of being blackjacked in the back of the head with a stapler while rooting through the offices of...

... Queen Gemerald!!!

"Guh! Fu--" Ibis pushes her good samaritan helper away and clambers to her feet, sprinting out of the alleyway and into the streets of Von Braun city for no reason other than it looks seriously dramatic to hit the pavement at a bolt so her jacket can flutter up and show her gun.

She is /running out of time/.

Stepping out from the crowd of faceless teenage goons, one of the Black Hole Gang's youngest lieutenants glances at the two children, and grins, hungrily.

"Just lying around, with only a toy to guard them? This was almost too easy, My Lady Gemerald..."

With a sweep of her glitterng, star-lined cloak, the SHADOW LADY, loyal servant of Queen Gemerald, reveals her... distinctly immodest attire. A black leotard, boots, and gloves, lacking ornimentation, save for a single glittering, clear jewel at her chest. While red hair cascades down her back in a mass of curls, all but her mouth is concealed behind a black mask, whose surface appears to reflect the starry sky above.

"Perhaps they've finally abandonned their efforts to..." she begins, then pauses. Looking up towards the tuxedo-clad soldier, she all but laughs, covering her mouth.

"Well, well. A hero emerges... And with so many others to aid him. Strange how they always seem to reveal themselves..."

Turning to Qum, she reaches out, and strokes her cheek with a single gloved finger, her malicious grin returning. "... Only /after/ our moment of triumph."

Boss activates his Boss Borot unit.

COMBAT: Boss has reset their systems to full.

The stereotypes would have it that shopping is a female thing.

Hereditary Trailers, on the other hand, see shopping as an *everyone* thing - commerce is the lifeblood of civilization, and the marketplace is the center of the community. Even with more formalized retail establishments replacing ye olde bazaar, you can still pick up a lot about the pulse of a city just by visiting assorted shops - and sometimes you can find good bargains, too, even if the more corporately-minded stores don't really let you haggle.

This evening finds Blessfield and Kazuma Ardygun prowling through various shops; Kazuma's been through a couple of growth spurts since his last tux, so Blessfield is paying for a new one. Finding the right price on a decent tuxedo is quite the challenge ... a challenge which Blessfield downright relishes, since he has the chance to teach his son a few new shopping tricks.

Assuming they find a good starting place, at least. The two Ardyguns are on their way out of Fonz's Formalwear Foundation when Blessfield stops, looking around and listening over the hustle and bustle of the city. "Hmm ... Kazuma, swing over to the park, I need to investigate a couple of things on my own."

"Uh. Okay," Kazuma answers, and heads for the crosswalk so he can go into the park proper without getting mowed down by traffic. Blessfield, for his part, heads ... to a pay phone, where he slides his card through and begins making calls.

Responsibility-- that's one way you can handle adulthood, sure. Raul Manora, however, has spent the majority of his afternoon work shift napping in the cozy confines of his mecha, attempting to rest up so that he might hit those Lunarian bars for another night of the good life. Of course, rest was nothing without fuel, so the tall trailer had decided to catch an early meal before heading out for the evening. This is how he came to enjoy another one of the many perks of adulthood: ICE CREAM FOR DINNER!

Standing out on the sidewalk and devouring a chocolate waffle cone, Raul's brow occasionally furrows at the screams of children. Darn kids! Why couldn't their parents keep them in line? When he had to watch his siblings, he certainly did not... well, okay, he let them get by with a lot worse. Speaking of siblings, Raul conveniently glances across the street just in time to spot none other than one of his sisters, the elder brother offering a lazy wave toward Macua as he quizzically tilts his head, "Hey there, Mac. Whatcha doin' down on-- huh?" His attention is suddenly stolen by the proclamation of the mysterious man... standing on a lampost? What the hell? He had not even started drinking yet! Shrugging a shoulder with a tired sigh, he just raises his ice cream while he watches.

Boss runs forward towards the sound of the shrieks, pulling something out from his cardboard armor. "Come on! We don't let little kids get in danger!"

Mucha is just queuing up a stereo as Boss is about to jump into the moon alleyway. "Sto-" He looks up at Heero, and starts trying to glare him to death. He throws the top hat and cape and mask into a nearby moon sewer.

I wonder why I have a tuxedo-clad guardian, Olly briefly wonders.

"A-a toy, madam?!" Oliver realizes after a moment she's referring to Haro, not himself. He starts moving towards her in the alley, likely notable to the others arriving because he is REALLY DAMN HUGE and just trying to shove through any mooks in his way. "You don't even consider touching her, you...inappropriately-dressed woman of ill repute! Qum, hurry, run!" He calls out to the little girl but isn't sure she can hear him. "You make one more move towards her and I will /PERSONALLY/ deliver you to the authorities...!"

This is the closest he can bring himself to make an 'I'm gonna kick your ass' threat. He LOOKS pissed as hell, though.

Roux Louka keeps running. The lunar gravity bothers her not, and her colonial-gravity muscles underneath that fashionable thin fat layer, provides a nice view for a number of people sitting on benches who had observed this childnapping.

Who could it be? she thinks. These children aren't some kind of hot street commodity. is it the A-LAWS, seeking forced recruits for Dewey Novak's Ageha program!? She pivots around a corner, skidding slightly on her not-meant-for-running sandals and banging against a dumpster with a half-strangled noise. Nonetheless, behold, Olly: Backup!

"...?!"

Queen Gemerald takes one step back, her stiletto-heel clacking against the concrete flooring. Her alabaster brow furrows in confusion over the rose thrown in front of her. "What--" she hisses in surprise. She snaps her head up, staring up at the well-dressed Tuxedo Royalguard standing on a lamppost. "Who throws a /rose/--!? You Armani-clad dandy!"

Her spidery fingers flutter in annoyance by the arrival of Oliver Evlien, Roux Louka, Boss, and her gang. Tendrils of a strange magic leap from her fingertips. "Who dares claim anything in the name of the Moon!? I, QUEEN GEMERALD, shall rule this Moon! And all others shall behold my EVER-LASTING YOUTH AND BEAUTY and DESPAIR! No one can stop me -- not even you FAT DUO and you, you strangely-dressed girl..!!"

She swings her arms outright and all of a sudden, the once-clear artificial skies of Von Braun City suddenly darken! A thunderous peal shoots out across the atmosphere. Her spindly hands are now wreathed in a dark power. "Mysteries of the void, heed my call! Give me the power of the Lunar dark to insult my enemies gall!! Now, from this terrestrial ball.."

"..THE MEANS TO ENSURE YOUR FALL--!! UWEEHEEHEEEHEE!!"

A circle of magic appears in the ground around Queen Gemerald. It distorts the concrete, turning into a disk of dark energies from which evil powers leap forward. Suffusing her green-clad physique with these magics, Gemerald begins increasing in size. Seven, ten.. twenty.. fifty feet tall! The Dark Queen of the Moon now stands atop the shoulders of a mighty and terrible creation! A robotic samurai with six limbs that end in six hands and six weapons to arm each one! And she, enveloped in a purplish-blue flame over its neck, to control it all. Behold, heroes-- MMR-02XJ Queen Gemerald's JAGRAFESS!

"Now WEEP!" Gemerald demands from up on high. "WAIL! YOUR ETERNAL DOOM IS NIGH in the form of my mighty JAGRAFESS! Powered by none other.."

Look down, imprisoned in the robot's chest are Shinta and Qum. Suspended in giant-sized crystals, along with several more children from the Moon.

"...than by CHILDREN! UWEEHEEHEE!"

The Jagrafess leans one of its six arms forward, pressing its fist against the giant crystal and then sweeps it forward. Beams of magical power shoot out, carving the ground up in front of Oliver, Roux, Boss, his gang, the incoming Ibis Douglas and Tuxedo Royalguard! It won't hit them directly, but by god, it'll create explosions and send you flying!!

Puru X has arrived.

Bright Noa activates his AMX-004G Qubeley Mass Production Type unit.

COMBAT: Bright Noa has reset their systems to full.

COMBAT: Bright Noa has set their HP to 6 person boss HP.

Puru X enters the Spaceport.

Puru X has left.

COMBAT: Roux Louka has reset their systems to full.

Kazuma Ardygun flips a Gundam Challenge Coin in the air and it comes down tails.

Kazuma Ardygun activates his Tengu Battle Armor unit.

"The battle is not yet lost until we draw our last breath, villain!! In the name of my inexorable elegance, I shall triumph over your evils!!" exclaims the Tuxedo Royalguard, as the music hits its climax.

Behind an alleyway, Torres has his headphones on and is tapping a beat as he has his turntable out, ready to just segue this towards battle music like a freakin' pro. Saegusa is running his big Mexican self around towards the other side to time Heero's next antic, while remarking, "Okay, we got more rose-bombs on the next payphone in the corner, just pick them up while no one's lookin'..."

Then the magic and the physique of the queen increases ten...twenty...fiftyfold! Oh no, this as not in the plan. Saegusa swears as he exclaims, "Heero, y'seein' what's happenin'! Patch me through to Astoniage! We're workin' with Plan C!"

THE ARGAMA HANGAR

"... what'd you mean, deploy it now?? We're still in the first Act! We haven't even gotten to my song yet!" Astoniage exclaims in dismay, shaking his head bitterly as he grumbles, tossing his scarecrow hat and acoustic guitar down. "Goddamn moonies don't appreciate my art."

He presses a button and sighs as the mobile suit slides out, feet attached to the catapult. He's quite glad that the new prototype plans Heero had in store had been implemented for a test run...

HERE, NOW

A glint appears high in the air, and Heero-- no, the Tuxedo Royalguard-- looks up. "It appears you have me bested right now, Queen Gemerald, however...!"

He extends a little riced up device that really is just a mobile suit remote control, for emergency docking manuevers. Still, this is an act, and he has to play the part. He takes a deep breath, and can feel the blood flowing over him. The lines are right, and ready, and ripe. He exclaims the immortal words, echoing with a magnificent reverb over the entire city:

"WING GUNDAM STAR POWER, SUIIIIIIT ... UP!!!"

The glint enlarges as a completely tarted up Wing Gundam blasts into sight, verniers burning and alive under its frilly feathery and lacey cape draped over its shoulder. Its V-fin is encrusted with jewels today, and it's got frills and translucent embroidery attached around its armor as Heero leaps up, his body aglow with both Torres and Saegusa's light show antics. "Ha!"

He does a moonsault that could make Trowa proud as he lands on the top of his mobile suit, and slides himself in without even missing a beat. The large and winged mobile suit's verniers twinkle with a rainbow glimmer as it twirls and makes a daring and heroic pose with its arms!

"In the name of the Moon... you shall be punished!!"

Heero Yuy activates his XXX-01W Wing Gundam Ver. Ka unit.

Kazuma comes to a full stop just inside the park gate as the Jagrafess materializes out of nowhere. He stops and leans past the gate, looking down the street at Blessfield in the phone booth.

Blessfield is busy looking at the Jagrafess as well, and weighing the situation. "All right. Mihiro, fly out with the Valhawk and bring Kazuma's Tengu. I don't think the city will appreciate extra giant robots tearing up the surroundings, even if we're trying to stop it."

/Okay!/ Mihiro responds, and hangs up. Blessfield promptly dials another number - this time for Von Braun City's law enforcement department, specifically the bounty office. Time to make sure Kazuma gets paid for this little jaunt.

By the time the Valhawk flies over, Kazuma's in a clear space within the park; seconds later, the Valhawk lets a powered-armor transport crate drop, crushing a fairly small patch of pavement about ten meters away from Kazuma, and the teenaged Trailer bolts for the crate as it opens to reveal his trusty Tengu. Seventy-eight seconds later, the Tengu's armor seals shut around Kazuma and its powerplant rumbles to life; seven more seconds and he's barreling through the streets and alleys of Von Braun City, ready to go take the Jagrafess apart from the feet up.

 Oliver Evlien transmits, "I didn't know you could do that, Heero."

 Heero Yuy 's exclamation of, "WING GUNDAM STAR POWER, SUIIIIIIIIT... UP!" can be heard all over the radio.

 Roux Louka transmits, "Oh my /God/."

 Macua Huitl transmits, "COME OUT AMAZON CI GUNDAM!"

 Captain Bright Noa transmits, "What the hell is goi-- no. /No/. I don't want to know."

 The Tuxedo Royalguard transmits, "You must have me mistaken with another handsome Gundam Pilot, Sir Oliver."

"MADAM! I am NOT fat," Oliver is quick to point out, "I am-oh /dear,/ that's irregular." He is cut off in mid-sentence as the witch summons a robot from absolutely nowhere, with his two charges trapped inside.

"...Don't worry, children! I'm coming!" Of course, he can't summon his robot from nowhere; it takes a command on the radio and a tense moment before the SUMO is brought out from where it was hidden (just in case) on a truck bed and Olly is able to climb into the moon-made machine.

A moment later the SUMO rises, resembling something like a football quarterback and still inadvertently wearing the tarp covering it as a kind of cloak, as Olly uses it to strike a martial arts pose. "I shall NOT allow you to harm those children any longer, whatever...whatever you are!" He broadcasts a frankly rather reserved voice to the others gathering present as well. "Everyone! Don't hit those crystals on the chest!"

 Oliver Evlien transmits, "..Uh, clearly!"

 Roux Louka transmits, "Heero what the HELL!"

 Oliver Evlien transmits, "Sir, there is a minor complication in the plan but we will smooth it out...!"

 Colonel Theresa Testarossa transmits, "..."

 Colonel Theresa Testarossa flick, flick, flick

 Macua Huitl transmits, "We have this handled!"

 The Tuxedo Royalguard transmits, "I am not he that you call Heero! I am the Tuxedo Royalguard, one amongst the sworn defenders of the Dianna Counter!"

 Princess Cagalli Yula Athha transmits, "..."

 Captain Bright Noa transmits, "..."

 Ibis Douglas transmits, "..."

Roux's mouth hangs open.

"I thought this only happened to the federation!" she exclaims, before pulling out her phone. She ducks back out of the alleyway, dialing Astonaige desperately.

"I need the Mega Rider!!" she declares. Even as she sees the Wing Gundam streak in, and part of her weighs just kicking back and -- no, she thinks, that would be kind of dumb. Astonaige, distracted by setting up the light show for Wing Gundam: Rarity Edition, just pushes a couple of buttons.

FOOSH, the titanic form of the mech-scaled flying motorcycle that is the Mega Rider swoops into place, fast enough that Roux's ice cream cone is caught up in the slip stream and thrown into a building. Bitterly cursing her fate, Roux starts hustling up the autodeployed access ladder, the aftermarket vulcan cannons pointing at Gemeraude's evil machine to perhaps say 'no fair shooting while the pilot's boarding.'

<Radio: B - None> Harry Ord transmits, "...."

<Radio: B - None> Roux Louka transmits, "You're not even changing your voice, you're just talking funny!"

<Radio: B - None> Oliver Evlien transmits, "Impressive acting, however."

<Radio: B - None> The Tuxedo Royalguard transmits, "Lady, you wound my gentlemanly dignity...!"

<Radio: B - None> Roux Louka frustration noise!!

<Radio: B - None> The Tuxedo Royalguard transmits, "You sound upset, my Lady... this truly wounds my dandy's heart! Pray tell I can make this up to you in d--" Quiet radio, as if from another room, "What do you mean, 'ask her out to dinner, Torres'? I'm not asking her out to dinner! I'm drawing the line there!"

"Oh yea?!"

Boss shakes a fist.

"Well, you suck!"

Mucha and Nuke sneer and make faces.

Boss waves his tin foil sword at Mucha. "Alright! Do the big budget transformation sequence!"

Nuke pulls out a fire cracker and lights it. He throws it on the ground. Mucha pulls out a strobe light and flashes it on the fire cracker as it pops. Nuke makes wooshing sounds with his mouth.

In a crash of thunder, The Boss Borot pops into existence. Boss pumps a fist. "Hah! Indian magic works again!"

Boss is already up on the face of the Boss Borot, scrambling into it through the 'mouth'

Macua Huitl is just moving along unaware of KAzuma at the very least for now however wait a moment she's spotted Raul. She was about to say something to Roux and Oliver but her brother has derailed pretty much entirely.

"Raul?!? But you were at work for, dad What are you doing here..."

Then suddenly there's a guy whose the second comming of a man in a Tuxedo. Are they entering some sort of battle in Fantaisa? This was just getting strange. She stares at everything worse she's got a horrible feeling something serious is about to happen. Wait children? Crystals? Now there are explosions and Macua is knocked off her feet and sent flying by the blast, so there's no real waring as the dust settles she gets on to her feat now and just startes for a moment. The mystery guy however has the right idea. She also wonders about where Allenby is. Shouldn't he be here with her Gundam?

Her Gundam, yes the mysterious stranger had the right idea. So the Neo Brazilian calls out.

"COME OUT AMAZON CI!"

She strikes a pose for whatgever reason as she summons her Gundam. It just seems to rise up out of the street, the street gives way and rains broken bits of the street down as it arrives. The cockpit's hatch snaps open and Macua leaps inside. Raul might notice this before the machine's optics light up. Inside her clothes are gone and the ring is comming down pulling the tracesuit over her body. The 360 cockpit display boots up and the harncess to keep her from being thrown about activates holding her in place but giving her the ability to easily move her machine. The Gundam now turns to face the threat.

"Return those children unharmed this is your only warning. You not only face the fury of the moon but you face that of the jungles of earth!"

(The Amazon CI http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/136/8/3/gf14_14nb_amazon_c_by_killmatthew33-d3gh3z9.jpg)

<Radio: B - None> Heero Yuy transmits, "...right. Erm. I'm here now."

<Radio: B - None> Oliver Evlien, patiently, "Hello, Heero."

Camille Bidan has left.

Camille Bidan has arrived.

As he steps toward the alleyway to get a better look at the chaos unfolding, Raul certainly does not understand all this rambling he hears about children, magic, and eternal youth. But he does understand that a giant samurai robot shooting lasers out across the city is a pretty bad thing. He does take it in stride however, glancing down to his ice cream and attempting one last lick-- but the shuddering ground causes him to fumble and accidentally knock the scoop clear off the cone.

"Well, that's that. Guess I ended up having to work after all." Sighing, he gives a quick and concerned glance back to Macua as he calls out, "Don't do anything stupid! Just try and keep it busy, and I'll give you cover fire when I can!" He knew better than to try and convince her out of a fight. Pulling a radio out of his pocket, he hails back to the warehouse and his supervisors as he walks down the street, "Hey, prep the truck and bring me the GM! Straight downtown!"

A gruff voice on the other end answers back, "Dammit Raul, we ain't haulin' that piece of crap out again just so you can show it off to some cheap tra--"

"Just do it, dammit! I told you that was just a one-time thing!"

<Radio: B - None> Heero Yuy transmits, "H-hello. I just... arrived on scene, and have no knowledge of what is going on!"

<Radio: B - None> Roux Louka uuurgh

Ibis looks up at the towering figure of the MMR-02XJ JAGRAFESS!!! It is certainly freaking enormous, and the skinny girl on foot with a pistol falters in her unwavering resolve to keep running like some kind of female clone of Jack Bauer. "Holy shi--" she starts to whine like a truly sub-par and sub-badass space cop, and then the ground beneath her feet evaporates in a sudden flash of heat and light, and the flailing A-LAWS lieutenant is thrown about a city block with a comedic doppler effect to her panicked scream.

A rainbow shines briefly across a shipping container wedged in a secret moon hiding place. A contingency placed upon it activates, and there is a series of very low-tech sounding bleeps and boops before the giant cyan A-LAWS DO NOT TOUCH metal box suddenly rips open in a spray of metal, a giant-robot sized blur shooting out of it!

The residents of the parkiest park on the moon look horrified as the tranquility is shattered. A picnic blanket blows in the wind.

Ibis' continued scream comes to an abrupt halt as she rams headfirst into the open cockpit of her giant freaking robot, which closes around her and starts to play a recording that features a dude with huge mirrored sunnies and a brutal moustache talking about a mission.

The RMS-154 Barzam in A-LAWS colours sails through the air like a crash test dummy while the redhead inside stares at the screen going 'ngggggggggh'.

Ibis Douglas activates her RMS-154 Barzam unit.

COMBAT: Ibis Douglas has reset their systems to full.

<Radio: B - None> Oliver Evlien transmits, "...Well, a woman dressed as if she'd wandered from a party threatened the children. When we tried to stop her, she called me /fat/ and then summoned that giant robot with the children trapped inside."

<Radio: B - None> Heero Yuy transmits, "Roger that. Target acquired."

<Radio: B - None> Macua Huitl transmits, "We need to figure out hhow to get the kids out without harming them."

<Radio: B - None> Heero Yuy transmits, "Setting strategy priority t--" Torres' voice exclaims, "Heero don't you dare lame out on us with your combat talk! We tarted that thing up all night and I got a sweet dance mix so for the love of Bright Noa ACT IT UP!" Pause. Pause. Urghhh.

MEANWHILE, ABOARD THE ARGAMA

For the first time forever in the Argama, the children had been handed off to someone else. There were no chores to do, no assignments to undertake, absolutely nothing to be done but try to stem off the undulating waves of boredom that has forced nearly all of the active pilots out of the ship. All save a certain Camille Bidan and Fa Yuiry, who had yet to make an apperance in the psychotic hubbub currently afflicting the annal of Von Braun city. What could the two young, unattached teenagers /possibly/ be doing that would keep them away, and why weren't their radios on?!

"/Oh God/, Camiile! Yes, yes, yes, YES!" Fa panted, her heart aflutter with late spring heat of a young woman finally fulfilled, "Keep going, keep going! Don't ever stop!"

"Uh..." Camille looked up from a bunch of folded shirts, "I'm just...doing my laundry, Fa."

"I SAID DON'T STOP!!!" She stamped her foot, quickly putting Camille back on the path of domestic castration in task she had literally awaited /all their lives/ for him to take up.

As Queen Gemerald begins her incantations, the Shadow Lady backs away, and glances to the others. "Ara~... So quick to summon it, My Lady Gemerald? I suppose we should finish these 'defenders' as quickly as possible..."

With a wave of her hand, the Shadow Lady banishes her own minions away, as she touches the jewel at her chest.

"From the darkness between the endless stars,

From the shadows fleeing light..."

The air around the Shadow Lady flickers, darkening and twisting around her, as a complex series of patterns emerge under her feet.

"From endless ages buried,

I summon endless night!"

The air crackles, as the the villainess begins to wave her hand dramatically, summoning some form of power...

"Let the fools and mortals cower,

Let my enemies take flight,

Let all the the heavens tremble!

From the silence, GRANT ME MIGHT!"

With a final shout, the Shadow Lady seems to fall into the magical circle... But then a massive mechanical hand reaches out from where she stood. With a mighty cry, a beautiful monstrosity of blackened metal, silvery lines, and sparkling gems emerges, staring down at the others through two glittering white gems in an otherwise empty, shadow-clad face. With voice eminating from within the feminine machine, the Shadow Lady names it,

"Knight of the Void, Umbras Arma!"

"You'll all suffer!" Queen Gemerald shrieks.

Her Jagrafess takes one incredible step forward. The very ground of this lunar city trembles beneath it, sending shocked civilians running for safety. In its upper-left hand, an enormous mecha-fan spreads to its full extent. Though its Oriental decorations are rather ornate, the emitters that extend several beam-blades are much more deadly. It sweeps forward, slashing both the Amazon Gundam and Tengu Armor alike.

In its lowest right arm, a colossal staff with a corn-cob capping its top. "And /you/! Shall know the sting of magic!" The Jagrafess waves it in the air, spreading a glittering lunar dust in the air to encompass the Mega Rider and Wing Gundam.

"And as for -you-, my chubby enemies!" the Jagrafess's middle-left arm twirls around a length of chain with a sickle on top. A kusarigama, a wicked weapon for a wicked woman. "Your WIDENESS shall be your UNDOING!" The chain spins to its great length, before the mechanical giant plunges it into the ground. It swiftly travels underneath, springing up in front of Boss Borot and the SUMO. "Now.. /QUAKE WITH FEAR/!"

COMBAT: Bright Noa has set their HP to 7 person boss HP.

COMBAT: Bright Noa has attacked Boss and Oliver Evlien. Main Guns added to their queue.

<Radio: B - None> Heero Yuy transmits, "Oliver, you mustn't let her hate speech get to you! You are not fat! You are ... of an appropriate weight for your size!"

COMBAT: Bright Noa's Homing Missile Salvo has been added to your queue.

COMBAT: Bright Noa has attacked Macua Huitl, Kazuma Ardygun, Roux Louka, and Heero Yuy. Homing Missile Salvo added to their queue.

COMBAT: Bright Noa has struck a solid hit on Heero Yuy's Wing Gundam using Homing Missile Salvo.

COMBAT: Heero Yuy has counter attacked for a minor hit on Bright Noa's Argama using Machine Cannon.

<Radio: B - None> Oliver Evlien transmits, "Thank you, Heero. It's heartening to hear that..."

COMBAT: Heero Yuy has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Bright Noa has missed Kazuma Ardygun with his Homing Missile Salvo attack.

COMBAT: Kazuma Ardygun has counter attacked for a minor hit on Bright Noa's Argama using Mech-Scale Machine Gun.

COMBAT: Bright Noa has struck a major hit on Oliver Evlien's MRC-F20 SUMO using Main Guns.

COMBAT: Bright Noa has struck a solid hit on Roux Louka's FXA-08R Mega Rider using Homing Missile Salvo.

COMBAT: Roux Louka has counter attacked for a minor hit on Bright Noa's Argama using Aftermarket Forward Vulcan Cannons.

COMBAT: Bright Noa has struck you with a solid hit using Homing Missile Salvo!

COMBAT: 1461 points of damage taken! 8539 health points left!

COMBAT: You counter attack Bright Noa with a minor hit using Spear Thrust.

COMBAT: Macua Huitl has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: You have turned on your [Spirit] spirit command.

COMBAT: Boss has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Bright Noa has missed Boss with his Main Guns attack.

COMBAT: Boss has missed Bright Noa with his Stop Hitting Yourself counter attack.

Oliver tries to time the SUMO's leap when the weapon springs up, but he's a fraction too late, and the kusarigama slashes right into the legs of the maneuverable machine. Thankfully it can still stand intact, but the attack and the insults are both throwing off his nerve.

"I am not...going to argue whether or not I fit your body standards, Madam! You're mean to children, and therefore I frankly do not care what you think of me!" No sir, that did not hurt his feelings at all. :( "As a loyal babysitter, and a...a Friend to All Children, I cannot allow you to continue!"

With this declaration, he pulls out the beam pistols equipped on all SUMO units and fires both at once in a pulse pattern, trying to aim so as to avoid any nearby buildings.

COMBAT: Oliver Evlien has attacked Bright Noa. Twin Beam Pistols added to their queue.

COMBAT: Oliver Evlien has missed Bright Noa with his Twin Beam Pistols attack.

COMBAT: Oliver Evlien has attacked Bright Noa. Twin Beam Pistols added to their queue.

COMBAT: Oliver Evlien has struck a minor hit on Bright Noa's Argama using Twin Beam Pistols.

COMBAT: Eight Murasame has set their HP to 4 person boss HP.

"...!"

The lunar dust flies down all throughout the Wing Gundam and irritates it for a moment, electricity and damage running all throughout its armor... but it holds, as its cannons unlock along its shoulders and fire little crescent moon-shaped discs of energy.

"Hold strong, Wing Gundam! We must do this, for the sake of the children!" Heero exclaims, striking a pose. How is Heero suddenly so agreeable to the plan of acting, now that his cover as Tuxedo Royalguard has been busted? Perhaps no one in Katharon will ever know, but the empty Neo-Asahi beer can clattering about on the Wing Gundam's dashboard tells a different story.

The white mobile suit's skirt jiggles in midair as it strikes its pose, rising up into the air in a trail of fairy dust and sparkles, its glimmering heart-adorned cutesy frilly Buster Rifle held aloft. "Queen Gemerald! You've been left to run amok for far too long! Now take this! Katharon's holy love! LOVE BUSTER ESCALATION!"

To be fair, Astoniage is a pretty crack mechanic if he can reshape the Buster Rifle's beam to be heart shaped and not lose any power, because oh my god here it comes, gold along the rims with heart-throb red in the middle!

COMBAT: Heero Yuy has attacked Bright Noa. Buster Rifle Snapshot added to their queue.

COMBAT: Heero Yuy has struck a solid critical hit on Bright Noa's Argama using Buster Rifle Snapshot.

"I. AM. NOT. FAT. I. AM. BIG. BONED!"

Fat rage consumes Boss. He grabs at the chain lashing out in front of him, pulling it away from the ground and swirling it in the air away from his face. Chain is a street thug weapon and Boss is training to be a Street Thug.

"MUCHA! HIT THE EMERGENCY BOX!"

Mucha takes a hammer over to the wall of emergency boxes and looks around. Red Spy In the Base. All The Pudding Is Gone. TP Finale. Anime Stereotypes! Mucha SWINGS, crashing the glass of the box open and pulling out what is inside. A girl's magna. He thumbs through it. "Uh... let's see... Power of love."

"We tried that before."

"Power of friendship."

"Before."

"Uh, a gay romance fo-"

"NEXT OPTION!"

"Female empowerment."

Boss pfts. "Yea right." Boss taps his huge chin with a piece of bacon he has next to the console. "Okay, this is a GIRL'S thing, right? Then we have to be MANLY!" The Borot flexes its arms, getting a >:E face.

Letting go of the chain, the Boss Borot leans forward. "BEHOLD! THE MANLY WEAPON OF! ARRRMMMPIIIIIT!" The Boss Borot lifts its arm to cram its body against the Jagrafess face...area.

COMBAT: Boss has attacked Bright Noa. Supreme Armpit Attack added to their queue.

Dust slams into the Mega Rider even as it fires high velocity anti-armor slugs at the Jagrafess, impaired slightly by the need to avoid the midsection. The explosions rock the Mega Rider, nearly throwing Roux to her crippling death, but --

She'd fastened her safety belt!

"Remember, kids," Roux says towards the camera as the cockpit door seals to her left, "restraining belts may seem silly. And most of the time you don't need them. But the time yoU DO need them... well..." She wobbles her hand. "Don't be like Four Murasume!"

She looks back ahead to the cockpit's display monitors. "And now that THAT'S done..."

"You sizeist bitch! Give back --" Roux pauses for a moment, realizing unhappily that she can't remember the orphans' name, possibly due to just having nearly died. "Give them back, this moment!" The Mega Rider thrusts forwards, hiking up to administer a brutal wheelie-burn on the shoulder and arm of the Jagrafess!!

COMBAT: Boss has struck a minor hit on Bright Noa's Argama using Supreme Armpit Attack.

COMBAT: Bright Noa has counter attacked for a minor hit on Boss's Boss Borot using Homing Missile.

COMBAT: Roux Louka has attacked Bright Noa. Running You Over A Little added to their queue.

COMBAT: Roux Louka has struck a minor critical hit on Bright Noa's Argama using Running You Over A Little.

COMBAT: Bright Noa has missed Roux Louka with his Homing Missile counter attack.

Staren Wiremu activates his MBF-X1AP Astray Prometheus-Type unit.

STAREN WIREMU was visiting... The museum!

Staren isn't usually one for focusing on the past -- He is a boy with eyes focused firmly on the future.

Still... he tries to imagine what it must have been like back then. Only a handful of people had _been_ to the moon, and others only went in their dreams. But people didn't give up. They kept working towards that dream, and now Humanity is beginning to explore the stars...

There's a lesson there, of some sort.

But there is no point in lingering. He sets out to return to the Argama...

When QUEEN GEMERALD reveals herself, his hand goes for the gun marked IN CASE OF HEERO YUY under his coat... No. He can't risk hitting the children. Plus, revealing himself and his weapon might prevent him from striking at a more opportune time.

AND NOW SHE HAS A GIANT ROBOT. Staren hmms. There is power in words, Dr. Hell explained that much about magic. Maybe... If he just... He looks around. Noone's here. "COME OUT, MY MACHINE BEAST!"

Nothing happens.

Staren blushes furiously. Yes, good that noone saw that. "Plan B... Argama, are you there? Come in, Argama! Prepare for the Star Hawk II to launch!" Wait, doesn't he mean prepare the Star Hawk II for launch?

THE ARGAMA

The Star Hawk's head suddenly jerks upright as its visor glows green, and then it steps out of its gantry and walks to the launch elevator. Then it runs and jumps off the launch ramp, and begins making its way to the site of the battle...

Staren Wiremu activates his SRH-2X Star Hawk Mk. II Prototype unit.

COMBAT: Staren Wiremu has reset their systems to full.

<Radio: B - None> Roux Louka NEWTYPE FLASH

<Radio: B - None> Roux Louka transmits, "Did someone just cut in the launch queue?"

<Radio: B - None> Staren Wiremu transmits, "Come in, Argama! Prepare for the Star Hawk II to launch!"

<Radio: B - None> Oliver Evlien transmits, "Also, do any of you know our ally?"

<Radio: B - None> Oliver Evlien transmits, "I thought I overheard the name 'Boss.'"

<Radio: B - None> Heero Yuy transmits, "Never heard of him. Must not be an important character."

Little tactical note about the Tengu: it's *small*, powered armor rather than a giant robot. And its diminutive size plays in Kazuma's favor as he weaves the Tengu between and under the beam-blades, shooting back with the anti-mecha machine gun and heading for the Jagrafess itself. "Man, I don't know what you think --"

Then the Tengu very nearly facefaults as the Feather Gundam fires a heart-styled beam from its rifle.

".... y'know, never mind what I was gonna say," Kazuma resumes quietly. "Just ... let the kids go, now, and we *might* let you get out of here with that machine mostly intact." He punctuates this with another volley from the machine gun, staying on the evasive, albeit zigging closer to Macua's fairly familiar machine.

<Radio: B - None> Roux Louka transmits, "Probably some local hero."

COMBAT: Kazuma Ardygun has attacked Bright Noa. Mech-Scale Machine Gun added to their queue.

<Radio: B - None> Oliver Evlien transmits, "Well, I will be sure to thank him later!"

<Radio: B - None> Roux Louka transmits, "Astonaige, if the line cutter didn't break it, get the Core Fighter ready! I... only have two guns on the Mega Rider and one of them would probably puncture the atmospheric containment."

COMBAT: Kazuma Ardygun has missed Bright Noa with his Mech-Scale Machine Gun attack.

COMBAT: Bright Noa has missed Kazuma Ardygun with his Homing Missile counter attack.

<Radio: B - None> Astoniage, still grumbling about his song and stardom, mumbles, "Yeah, whatever. It's on its way."

Turning to the hurtling Barzam, the now... Transformed? Shadow Lady looks up to the seemingly unweildy A-LAWS machine and raises her hand.

"Shadow Lance!" she calls out, and a shimmering stream of energy flows from the gemstone on the robot's chest, down to its hand. A swirl of darkness, and a ripple in space heralds the arrival of a black, lance-shaped weapon in the mecha's right hand, pulsing with a malicious energy.

Almost contemptably, Queen Gemerald's lieutenant aims the lance at Ibis's Barzam and a stream of black energy fires out of the lance, aiming to spear Ibis before she has a chance to react!

COMBAT: Eight Murasame has attacked Ibis Douglas. GN Lance Rifle added to their queue.

COMBAT: Eight Murasame has struck a major hit on Ibis Douglas's RMS-154 Barzam using GN Lance Rifle.

<Radio: B - None> Staren Wiremu transmits, "Hey, I didn't break anything! I can control even by remote far more precisely than most can control normally."

Macua Huitl seems oddly at home with the various insanities going on she quickly reacts to the attack her trace suit lighting up as she takes the hit from the mecha fan strikes Macua's machine causing a long gash. The chest of her trace suit lights up and she counter attacks. The spear is grabbed it unpacks and she attacks rapidly but to no avail, however she replies to Raul.

"Good idea, cover who you can Raul!"

Then Kazuma gets in on the action she notices the certain Tengu armor. She doen't launch her funnels that would be a bad idea. So What does she do? leaps at the machine and starts to kick it rapidly so much the Amazon CI's leg blurrs with each strike!

COMBAT: Your attack has been added to Bright Noa's queue.

COMBAT: Macua Huitl has attacked Bright Noa. Machine Kick added to their queue.

COMBAT: You have missed Bright Noa with your Machine Kick attack.

COMBAT: Bright Noa has counter attacked for a minor hit using Homing Missile!

COMBAT: 717 points of damage taken! 7822 health points left!

<Radio: B - None> Roux Louka transmits, "Whatever, Trixie!"

<Radio: B - None> Staren Wiremu transmits, "...Who the heck is Trixie?!"

Ibis struggles to actually crawl into her cockpit's seat in a manner that befits piloting her Barzam, which is awfully hard when you're concussed out the wazoo and just spent a few hours dozing in a dumpster. A banana peel falls out of her jacket, tumbling across a manila folder that spills open and dumps very important paper everywhere. "God, shut up, shut /up/--" hisses Ibis at the guy on the screen who looks like Axe Cop, the recording being totally unskippable.

Her screen is absolutely chockers full of handlebar moustache and aviators instead of showing her important things, like the lance-shaped pulse of destructive energy headed her way at the speed of plot!

Ibis is busy leaning over the controls and jabbing a big blue button in an exaggerated fashion when her Barzam suddenly shakes really rather violently, throwing her from the seat. Her head bangs against the roof, and she then lands back on the controls with her /face/.

The Barzam, trailing smoke, falls from the sky rather suddenly as it is impaled on a beam of mysterious dark magic that probably runs on the military-industrial complex or hate speeches or something, and careens straight for the Shadow Lady in her truly wicked and villainous splendour, clad in the freaking Umbras Arma, Knight of The God Damned Void. That's a lot cooler than hero of the federation, to be certain.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Pulling her face out of the throttle controls, Ibis balefully glares at up at the viewscreen as the message ends and warning alarms just start ringing everywhere, warning her that she is about to headbutt the ground and/or the enemy, please do your seatbelt up.

She is the worst investigator.

COMBAT: Ibis Douglas has attacked Eight Murasame. FALLING SKY HEAVEN AND EARTH EMERGENCY RETARD HEADBUTT PRANA 2m 1wp  added to their queue.

By the time Raul catches the truck a few blocks away, he's already having an argument with the driver. "We ain't paid to fight this crap! Leave them freaks to the Feddies, Raul," the trailer worker grunts.

"Well, the warehouse is in the city, and it looks like that giant jackass isn't bein' too discriminate. 'Sides, family's out there. Let pops know," And with that Raul Manora slams a fist on the truck door before scrambling onto the massive flatbed, scaling up into the cockpit of his GM while the prepping tech dismounts. Its camera-eyes flickering to life beneath its faceplate, the aged mobile suit-- painted up in a slightly excessive urban camo scheme of blues and greys --slowly rises to a sitting position, before stepping off the truck platform and into the street.

Lumbering a few steps forward and giving time for the transport crew and any lingering pedestrians to steer clear, the GM Sniper lowers and locks its targetting visor into place as it hefts its bulky beam rifle up to the skyline toward the Jagrafess... before quickly swinging that arc over toward the Umbras Arma instead once the pilot sees the second machine appear and attack. Quickly lining up a shot on the Shadow Lady's machine and pulling the trigger, Raul's GM fires off a quick beam of energy toward that target of opportunity. "At least all that costume jewelry is easy on the tracking system."

COMBAT: Raul Manora has attacked Eight Murasame. BR-M79L-3 Sniper Rifle - Gauging Shot added to their queue.

"Holy cow!" Shinta exclaims from his crystaline prison. Fifty feet in the synthesized air of Von Braun City, he can easily see the very top of the city around him. "We're so high right now!"

Qum whimpers, "We're definitely not low!"

Oliver's SUMO takes the first hit. The matched pair of Beam Pistols hit the Jagrafess with a tremendous *zzkrack!* A chunk of its ornate samurai skirt is damaged, crinkling under the pressure of the repeated pulse discharges. "Nngh!" Queen Gemerald's flame-wreathed image flickers from atop the Jagrafess's shoulders. It might seem whatever damage it takes, hurts her as well!

A heart-shaped beam from the Wing Gundam catches Gemerald next. She writhes under the power as her Jagrafess takes one giant stumble backward. "AUGH!" she groans in pain. "THE POWER OF LOVE!?! IMPOSSIBLE--!"

The distraction is an excellent window for Boss Borot. The wicked Queen's eyes widen as the shadow of the leaping junk-bot falls upon her. "No--!" she raises her arms up. "No, no no no no--!" Metal arm-pit overwhelms her and she lets out a horrible cry. "AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE---! THE STENCH! THE AWFUL STENCH!"

.. so overwhelmed, the Jagrafess is caught dead-on by Roux Louka's Megarider. It slams into the bulk of the titanic tyrany, sending it stumbling back into a nearby building. Duracrete shatters on impact, letting out a cloud of dust and the sound of broken glass as the menace sags against it.

Queen Gemerald writhes, her image flickering above the Jagrafess. So angered, the Monstrous Monarch of the Moon's eyes are lit with a blazing power. She recovers, just in time for her Jagrafess to use its fan to intercept the shots from the Tengu Armor and its corn-staff to parry the Amazon CI's kick.

"My power is infinite!" Queen Gemerald cries. "You'll never win!"

Its lower right arm, sporting a colossal katana, sweeps out in a deadly arc at the Amazon CI and Mega-Rider alike. It pushes itself off the building and the Queen thrusts her arms outward. A terrible spell leaps from her fingertips, hurtling dark crescents of energy for the Wing Gundam, Tengu Armor, and Boss Borot.

And as for the SUMO, another swing of its kusarigama!!

Somewhere on the MUSH, Meiya Mitsurugi has disconnected.

COMBAT: Bright Noa's Mega Particle Cannons has been added to your queue.

COMBAT: Bright Noa has attacked Macua Huitl and Roux Louka. Mega Particle Cannons added to their queue.

<Radio: B - None> Oliver Evlien transmits, "...Is it weak to the power of love?"

COMBAT: Bright Noa has attacked Boss, Heero Yuy, and Kazuma Ardygun. Main Guns Barrage added to their queue.

COMBAT: Bright Noa has attacked Oliver Evlien. Homing Missile added to their queue.

COMBAT: Bright Noa has struck a major hit on Heero Yuy's Wing Gundam using Main Guns Barrage.

COMBAT: Bright Noa has struck a devastating hit on Roux Louka's FXA-08R Mega Rider using Mega Particle Cannons.

Meanwhile, Shinta and Qum's Haro has somehow found its way into Ibis Douglas's Barzam.

"HARO," the spheroid companion flaps at Ibis. "HARO GENKI."

COMBAT: Bright Noa has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Bright Noa has struck a major hit on Oliver Evlien's MRC-F20 SUMO using Homing Missile.

COMBAT: Oliver Evlien has missed Bright Noa with his Beam Pistol counter attack.

<Radio: B - None> Heero Yuy transmits, "It... it appears so. Okay..."

<Radio: B - None> Heero Yuy transmits, "Everyone! Love! And! Peace! Fighting!" Somewhere, a seal of the apocalypse breaks.

COMBAT: Boss has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Macua Huitl has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: You have turned on your [Alert] spirit command.

COMBAT: Bright Noa has missed you with his Mega Particle Cannons attack.

COMBAT: Ibis Douglas has struck a glancing hit on Eight Murasame's GNX-609T GN-XIII using FALLING SKY HEAVEN AND EARTH EMERGENCY RETARD HEADBUTT PRANA 2m 1wp.

COMBAT: Eight Murasame has missed Ibis Douglas with her GN Beam Saber counter attack.

<Radio: B - None> Oliver Evlien transmits, "I-I can certainly do love! I know a few nice love songs...!"

COMBAT: Raul Manora has missed Eight Murasame with his BR-M79L-3 Sniper Rifle - Gauging Shot attack.

<Radio: B - None> Heero Yuy transmits, "Right...! Let's sing!"

Roux Louka activates her FXA-07GB Neo Core Fighter unit.

COMBAT: Bright Noa has missed Boss with his Main Guns Barrage attack.

COMBAT: Boss has missed Bright Noa with his I Cast Magic Missile counter attack.

COMBAT: Kazuma Ardygun has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Bright Noa has missed Kazuma Ardygun with his Main Guns Barrage attack.

COMBAT: Kazuma Ardygun has missed Bright Noa with his The Claw counter attack.

<Radio: B - None> Staren Wiremu transmits, "I... what... it's weak to _love_?"

<Radio: B - None> Staren Wiremu transmits, "How do... Ugh..."

<Radio: B - None> Oliver Evlien transmits, "Visual evidence suggests so."

<Radio: B - None> Oliver Evlien hums a few bars to warm his voice up. He's actually quite good.

The usually very maneuverable SUMO leaps and attempts to dash right past the Jagrafess's swinging weapon, but once again the timing is off and the machine takes a hard slash to the left side. Oliver tests to make sure the arms are still working properly, and then observes the effects of Heero's and Boss's attacks. "My erstwhile comrades, I believe our enemy is weak to the power of love...! And, um, possibly body odor," he adds awkwardly. He's not trying /that,/ sorry, Boss. "Please bear this in mind, and we'll be able to save the children...!"

Love, love, what does he have that can channel the power of love? Well, not all that much, he's in a war machine. But he remembers love...songs! Love songs, yes. Wasn't there a recorded enemy who was weak to music, anyway? He can't recall who that is, but it's worth a shot.

"Aa-a-aaah. o/" Is he...singing a few bars to test his voice?

As it turns out, he has a /spectacularly good/ baritone singing voice. "Smile, though your heart is aching, smile though you know it's breaking, when there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by....o/~"

And then he attempts to slug the Queen's robot right in the face.

COMBAT: Oliver Evlien has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Oliver Evlien has attacked Bright Noa. SUMO Martial Arts added to their queue.

COMBAT: Oliver Evlien has struck a minor hit on Bright Noa's Argama using SUMO Martial Arts.

<Radio: B - None> Staren Wiremu transmits, "How do I... fight with love?"

<Radio: B - None> Oliver Evlien transmits, "I'm not sure! I'm attempting a song."

<Radio: B - None> Oliver Evlien transmits, "Well, a little of it, anyway. Maybe you can..."

<Radio: B - None> Oliver Evlien transmits, "...Think happy thoughts or something?"

<Radio: B - None> Staren Wiremu transmits, "Happy thoughts, huh..."

<Radio: B - None> Staren Wiremu muttering softly, 'One day... one day...';

The Wing Gundam flies on gossamer wings, but isn't fast enough to evade the dark crescents of the Queen Gemerald! No! The power of love is torn asunder, wing and metal alike crumpling and shredding under the Queen's dark majestic might! Is this the end for our hero!?

Heero pulls his head up, shaking his head and having been discussing important strategic matters on the radio. "Oliver! Yes... a song! A love song most beautiful... that should do the trick!"

He thinks for a moment, suddenly at a bit of a loss, because he isn't a singer. Yet, there were those times he's been to Karaoke with Duo and the others, and Torres just knows the trick as he patches through to the Wing Gundam's speakers and ridiculous and sappy 80s power ballad music starts playing. Heero pulls his head up and exclaims, "Queen Gemerald! Take this, my declaration of anguished love!"

I remember all my life

Rainin' down as cold as ice...

A shadow of a man

A face through a window

The Wing Gundam starts up again, wings spreading out majestically as it begins to glow with STAR POWER. It rises up, up, up into the air, as Heero continues singing with the soulful effort of someone who's about slightly worse than a vocaloid. Yeah, that bad.

I never realized

That you made me so happy, oh ZERO

Well you came and you gave without taking

But I sent you away, oh ZERO

It twirls high above the Jagrafess, pointing its rifle down, which is appropriately aglow with a bright hot pink shimmer as Heero pulls the charge... of love! And his exalted declaration to the world! The show stopper! A second empty can of beer clatters to the floor in slow-motion.

Yesterday's a dream, I face the moooorning

Cryin' in the breeze

And the pain is calling, oh ZEEEEEROOOOOOOOOO...

There are /tears/ streaking from the youthful Gundam pilot's eyes as he blubbers into the microphone, Torres and Saegusa sniggering as they record all this for later viewing on Neo Youtube. The rifle hits its brightest pulse, and a torrent of power gusts on forth to flood through in the Jagrafess' direction, colored rainbow matters and with astral ponies and stars and pringles accompanying the sunshine and WONDERMENT.

And I need you today, oh ZERO...

COMBAT: Heero Yuy has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Heero Yuy has attacked Bright Noa. Buster Rifle Full Charge added to their queue.

COMBAT: Heero Yuy has struck a major hit on Bright Noa's Argama using Buster Rifle Full Charge.

<Radio: B - None> Oliver Evlien transmits, "...That was certainly...soulful, Heero!"

<Radio: B - None> Heero Yuy is incoherently sobbing into his mike now.

<Radio: B - None> Roux Louka transmits, "dammit, singing - what can..."

Mucha sticks his head and cardboard pointed hat out of the mouth of the Boss Borot, pulling out a bag of rocks from his robe. He starts throwing them at the crescents of darkness.

"LIGHTNING TWO! LIGHTNING TWO! LIGHTNING TWO!"

THe darkness parts around the Boss Borot. Boss is busy looking at his video radio at Oliver. "Love?! I can't do this love crap! You have to give me some other weakness. Why can't they ever be weak to rage. Or donuts. Or ham! I have a HUGE stockpile of ham!" The Boss Borot fumes.

Then, very slowly, Mucha and Boss turn towards Nuke. Nuke suddenly backs up against the wall. "B-Boss. I don't got nothing." Boss points a finger and Mucha moves over to a huge lever and pulls it. An ammo chute opens up. Boss reaches out to grab Nuke by the ankles, hauling him up over the chute. Nuke wails as Boss shakes vigorously.

The Boss Borot leaps up, and a flap on its butt opens up, revealing a gatling gun. Tiny tiny plastic objects start to fly at the Jaggerafree.

Nuke cries out. "NOooo, not Fluttershy!"

COMBAT: Boss has attacked Bright Noa. Friendship Is A Butt Gatling Gun added to their queue.

COMBAT: Boss has struck a minor hit on Bright Noa's Argama using Friendship Is A Butt Gatling Gun.

The Tengu stays on the move, weaving back and forth between the bullets, generally staying about a meter ahead of the Jagrafess's aim - and heading towards the thing's feet, before Kazuma lashes out and tries to sink the Tengu's claws into the Jagra's left instep.

And misses, due to going too fast to get good purchase. "Blah," mutters Kazuma - but he's out of the thing's field of fire now. For the moment anyway.

"Oh yeah, one other thing - I heard people talking about the Moon and Earth ... but you're not gonna ignore the people who live among the stars comin' to take you down!" And with that, Kazuma opens up with the variable-speed laser, a syncopated series of coherent light pulses burning up at the Jagrafess's back.

The Mega Rider's sick wheelie is interrupted when the beam blast hits it in its tender underbelly. The expensive piece of experimental equipment flips backwards, tumbling through an empty lot and landing, stuck up into the air.

Roux is looking annoyed already when she debarks, jumping out into the remote-flying Core Fighter. She lands, slightly heavily, in the cushy seat - just in time for it to bang against the Mega Rider's side! "Son of a --"

The hatch closes firmly even as Roux hears that the power to fight this thing is... the power of love. She grimaces. How is she supposed to...

Her face burns as Heero Yuy begins breaking out into song. Her eyes squeeze tightly, and then she tries to think... what can she sing? What can truly fill this void, if love is really the answer? The Core Fighter hovers...

Roux goes with what pops into her head. Eyes closed and face flushing, her voice lifts up. It is surprisingly deep when she starts singing:

"Touch me

"How can it be...

"Believe me...

"The sun always shines on T.V

"Hold me

"Close to your heart

"Touch me

"And give all your love to me - To me--~!!"

Sweat runs down Roux's neck. She knows for a fact that Torres and Saegusa are recording /this entire thing/.

COMBAT: Roux Louka has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Kazuma Ardygun has attacked Bright Noa. Variable Speed Laser - Steady Beat added to their queue.

COMBAT: Roux Louka has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Roux Louka has attacked Bright Noa. It Does You Know added to their queue.

COMBAT: Kazuma Ardygun has struck a minor hit on Bright Noa's Argama using Variable Speed Laser - Steady Beat.

COMBAT: Bright Noa has missed Kazuma Ardygun with his Hyper Mega Particle Cannon counter attack.

COMBAT: Roux Louka has struck a solid critical hit on Bright Noa's Argama using It Does You Know.

Macua Huitl keeps an eye on those who have joined the fight, the Amazon CI's computer flagging most as friendly or neutral. The Amazon isn't fast enough again a she keeps after the strange thing for a moment longer. She grunts for a moment.

"Out will and courage are infinite we will not fall to the likes of you!"

Macua's proves her speed as she's far too fast for the dark energy that's tracking her, the Amazon CI blurrs. The machine's funnels still do not deatch she tracking the movemenst of the enemy. She's trying to find an opening and happy thoguhts she can think of some, such as the last time she successfully managed to get all her family together for the weekend that was fun. She also swear he hears singting for a moment, but there goes the Boss Borot in action, and she keeps an eye on the others as well. She now dives at the dark vile thing that has attacked she just doesn't let up she'll starts punching like some spawn of Kenshiro her strikes blurr and she punches again and again. She's just not letting up, she'll even slip some kicks in there. Prehaps even a chance hit might knock the other machine off balance.

COMBAT: Your attack has been added to Bright Noa's queue.

COMBAT: Macua Huitl has attacked Bright Noa. Machine Fist Assault added to their queue.

COMBAT: You have struck Bright Noa with a minor hit using Machine Fist Assault.

"What-- what is going ON!" Queen Gemerald looks on in abject horror. Her eyes wide, her frizzy hair -- even frizzier!! "What is this! What is happening!? What is this.. this power!!"

"What is this ... FEELING?!"

Her image shudders as it flickers in and out of reality, momentarily disrupted by the plunging fist of Oliver Evlien's SUMO. Though she was but an illusion as she pilots this mechanical menace within, the force still sears her soul. She scowls with wide, evil eyes straight through the SUMO's mono-camera into Oliver's cockpit.

The others re-double their efforts on the Jagrafess. The technicolor-effulgence of Wing Zero's Buster Rifle combines with Boss Borot's plastic-fantastic assault to blast away several of the menace's limbs. The weapon-wielding arms fall to the ground, flattening several cars and causing a terrible pot-hole.

"NOoooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoOooOOOO..!" the Queen wails, her image clutching her ears as they're shrouded by that totally frizzy-hair (does she ever condition!?!) as Roux wounds her very spirit. She cringes and doubles-over, leaving her ripe to being battered by the Amazon CI and punctured by the Tengu's Variable Speed Laser.

"..This rhythm! This emotion! You can't--! I won't let you!"

Gemerald lifts her arms, marshalling her dark strength. The children locked within the Jagrafess's crystal-core shudder, their lifeforce being drained to power its assault.

"Help us, Oliver..!" Qum whimpers from her prison.

The colossal katana still carried by the Jagrafess swings in a wide, complete circle. Over and over, creating concentric rings of shadow-magic to overwhelm her enemies!

COMBAT: Bright Noa has attacked Oliver Evlien, Heero Yuy, and Roux Louka. Homing Missile Salvo added to their queue.

COMBAT: Bright Noa has struck a solid hit on Heero Yuy's Wing Gundam using Homing Missile Salvo.

COMBAT: Heero Yuy has counter attacked for a minor critical hit on Bright Noa's Argama using Machine Cannon.

COMBAT: Bright Noa's Main Guns has been added to your queue.

COMBAT: Bright Noa has attacked Macua Huitl. Main Guns added to their queue.

COMBAT: Bright Noa has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Bright Noa has attacked Boss. Main Guns added to their queue.

<Radio: B - None> Oliver Evlien transmits, "I heard Qum in there...!"

COMBAT: Bright Noa has missed Roux Louka with his Homing Missile Salvo attack.

COMBAT: Roux Louka has counter attacked for a minor hit on Bright Noa's Argama using A Bunch of Missiles.

COMBAT: Bright Noa has missed you with his Main Guns attack.

COMBAT: Boss has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Oliver Evlien has activated a spirit command.

With a subtle move, almost mocking in its subtlty, the shadowy knight slides to one side, deftly avoiding the oncoming beam fire...

Which places her directly in the path of Ibis's Barzam, as it hurtles directly towards her.

With a wild flailing of arms and weaponry, the Shadow Lady windmills backwards to avoid the oncoming robot, swiping at it with a beam of dark energy, before toppling to the ground, in a most undignified manner.

Naturally, she is angry.

"HOW DARE YOU INSULT ME WITH SUCH AN AMATEUR ATTACK! If you're truly a defender of this world, then fight with dignity! Or else I will take your soul to be one of the Gemerald's minions!"

With a contemptable glance, she lashes out with her lance at the sniping GM, and then stabs it down at the Barzam.

"Come forward and *fight*!"

COMBAT: Bright Noa has missed Boss with his Main Guns attack.

COMBAT: Boss has missed Bright Noa with his Hey Mucha - Pull My Finger counter attack.

COMBAT: Eight Murasame has attacked Raul Manora. GN Lance Rifle added to their queue.

COMBAT: Bright Noa has missed Oliver Evlien with his Homing Missile Salvo attack.

COMBAT: Oliver Evlien has counter attacked for a minor critical hit on Bright Noa's Argama using SUMO Melee.

COMBAT: Eight Murasame has attacked Ibis Douglas. GN Lance added to their queue.

COMBAT: Bright Noa has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Eight Murasame has struck a major critical hit on Ibis Douglas's RMS-154 Barzam using GN Lance.

COMBAT: Bright Noa has attacked Kazuma Ardygun. Heavy Bombardment added to their queue.

COMBAT: Eight Murasame has struck a solid hit on Raul Manora's RGM-79SCR GM Sniper Raul Custom using GN Lance Rifle.

COMBAT: Heero Yuy has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Kazuma Ardygun has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Bright Noa has struck a apocalyptic critical hit on Kazuma Ardygun's Tengu Battle Armor using Heavy Bombardment.

Raul curses mildly as his shot goes wide from that giant, glittering enemy. "I need a drink," he laments over his aim, though his opponent's is much more true. Surprised by the reach of that dark lance, the pilot grits his teeth as he is violently rocked about in his machine, a good chunk of the GM's armor shearing off cleanly from its entire right flank as it fails to step aside of the spearing energy.

Curiously enough, he does hear everyone else singing over the open communication channels and can certainly see the effects it was having on their primary enemy.

"Maybe I'll get to party after all."

While Raul cannot sing, he does have a mobile suit tricked out to -party-. Slamming a fist against an emergcy /red button/ nestled in the back of his command console, the slacker smiles softly as his GM's apparently pimped-out external speakers start blaring the cheesiest of guitar riffs. As a sniper, there is no need to question what song is being played.

o/~ SHOT THROUGH THE HEART! o/~

The initial blast of hard rock causes the nearby buildings to shake and several windows to shatter as the GM pilot lines up his next shot, taking more careful aim on the Umbras Arma this time as he calmly fires out a single blast of high-powered beam energy amidst the blaring din.

o/~ AND YOU'RE TO BLAME! DARLING, YOU GIVE LOOOOOVE A BAD NAME! o/~

Where the hell was Mic Sounders when you needed him?!

COMBAT: Raul Manora has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Raul Manora has attacked Eight Murasame. BR-M79L-3 Sniper Rifle - Snipe added to their queue.

Perhaps that terrible gaze would ordinarily pierce the depths of Olly's rather pure and innocent soul, except...! Except that the pained voice of an innocent child reaches it instead, and energies the youth! His heart burns with the courage of a BABYSITTER...!

Eluding the rings of darkness, the SUMO rushes in to slam a palm against the face of the evil robot. "You...! You can call me fat all you want, there may even be a grain of truth to it! You can dress completely inappropriately if you wish, you can even be /rude/ if you must, but I shall never! Ever forgive someone who harms children and small things! It is the responsibility of larger people to show kindness to smaller ones, and if you do not understand that, I will show you NO MERCY!"

He calls back to his allies over the radio. "Hit her with what you believe in! Power, love, I think even ham would work if you believe in it...! We'll take her down now together!"

@emit Perhaps that terrible gaze would ordinarily pierce the depths of Olly's rather pure and innocent soul, except...! Except that the pained voice of an innocent child reaches it instead, and energies the youth! His heart burns with the courage of a BABYSITTER...!

Eluding the rings of darkness, the SUMO rushes in to slam a palm against the face of the evil robot. "You...! You can call me fat all you want, there may even be a grain of truth to it! You can dress completely inappropriately if you wish, you can even be /rude/ if you must, but I shall never! Ever forgive someone who harms children and small things! It is the responsibility of larger people to show kindness to smaller ones, and if you do not understand that, I will show you NO MERCY!"

He calls back to his allies over the radio. "Hit her with what you believe in! Power, love, I think even ham would work if you believe in it...! We'll take her down now together!"

The SUMO pulls out both of its heat fans, sharp weapons which illuminate with power, and begins dashing towards the evil queen's terrible robot! What else will follow its charge?!

COMBAT: Oliver Evlien has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Oliver Evlien has started a combo.

COMBAT: Raul Manora has struck a devastating critical hit on Eight Murasame's GNX-609T GN-XIII using BR-M79L-3 Sniper Rifle - Snipe.

COMBAT: Eight Murasame has missed Raul Manora with her GN Vulcans counter attack.

"Hey Mucha. Pull my finger!"

Poo Gas comes from the gatling gun at the last moment before the Boss Borot lands on the street with a rumbling crash. It hits the darkness waves, making them shutter and falter.

Boss Borot flexes, "Yes! What I believe in, I can do that!"

Boss sits up tall in his chair, then stands up, putting his foot up on the console, finger pointing out up into the sky.

"I believe in giving nerds swirlies! I believe that pizza can be deep fried! I believe that bikinis are never small enough!"

The Boss Borot flexes with each sentence.

"I BELIEVE THAT BECAUSE YOU ARE A WOMAN AND I AM A MAN I AM MUCH BETTER AT PILOTING A GIANT ROBOT THAT IS ALSO VERY VERY MANLY AND I'M NOT COMPENSATING AT ALL!"

The Boss Borot pulls up his arm and PUNCHES at the Jaegerfree.

COMBAT: Boss has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Boss has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Boss has activated a spirit command.

Every night in my dreams

I see you, I feel you

That's how I know I will go on

Heero has taken to sobbing incoherently and uncontrollably against his seat as he drunkenly maneuvers the Wing Gundam along, which is why coincidentally it looks like it's tithering and doing a little ditty as it catches some of the shadow hoops and does a hula hoop dance! Unfortunately, Heero forgets that it is, in fact, deadly hoops, and therefore takes some damage along the sides, which mysteriously winds up looking like tasteful but fanservicey battle damage.

However that works.

Far across the distance

And spaces between us

You have come to show you go on

He pulls his head up as he hears Qum screaming. That's right, Oliver and the others... he can't just give up here! Noot while so much is in the line! He jabs his fist against the controller and shakes his head, staring upwards. He needs more Star Power! No... Prism Power! He clenches his controls and for a moment completely forgets the Wing Gundam is, in fact, a real robot. There's a noise of passion and confidence as the Wing Gundam starts moving again, its riced up sparkly Buster Rifle whirring with energy despite the battle damage it's taken!

NEAAAAAAAAAR

FAAAAAAAAAR

WHEREEEEEEEEEEVER YOU AAAAAAAARE

I believe that the heart does go on

"Queen Gemerald!" Heero exclaims in a drunken haze. "If only you'd open your heart to the possibility... of love! Love for the world, love for the light, love for the children... love for... yourself!! But that is why we will never see eye to eye! Now take this, a proclamation of my whole-hearted, undeniable love to you!!"

YOOOOOOU'RE

HEEEEEEEEEEERE

There's noooooothing I fear

And I know that my heart will go on.......

The entirety of the magical mobile suit is engulfed as it fires another beam from its fearsome Buster Rifle, a spiral of colors and hearts and elegance and magic and wonder and fuzzies and marshmallows and HEY ASIAN LOOK OUT FOR THAT SWORD (i was an asian fool) blasting at full force towards the Queen Gemerald.

COMBAT: Heero Yuy has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Heero Yuy has attacked Bright Noa. Buster Rifle added to their queue.

COMBAT: Boss has activated a spirit command.

<Radio: B - None> Oliver Evlien transmits, "...Are you feeling well, Heero?"

<Radio: B - None> Heero Yuy urps.

Somewhere, Camille Bidan looked up.

"I feel really, really embarassed for Heero right now. And Nia?"

He hated being a newtype.

Roux Louka, acutely embarrassed by her rather deep singing voice and by Heero Yuy comprehensively upstaging her like the upstager he is in the bargain, doesn't sing further. But she does perhaps agree with the assessment of Oliver regarding the situation.

She worries about the stain on her reputation from getting the Mega Rider shot up. But, she thinks, she can take it on.

As she hits the missile selector, sending precision munitions at the thing's orphan-less limbs, she reasons, it'll be gone... in a day or two.

COMBAT: Roux Louka has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Roux Louka has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Macua Huitl has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: You have turned on your [Spirit] spirit command.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Alarm systems own, you guys.

Ibis Douglas' RMS-154 Barzam is in absolutely no position to be dodging anything, especially not while the pilot in question is trying to pick the safety cap of her unit's missile control button out from her teeth and turn that incessant beeping off. Warning displays and red lights shine all over the cockpit, and a small anthropomorphic paper clip dances across her screen and informs her that it looks like, in fact, she has been hit! Would she like some guidance.

Ugh, this is why A-LAWS machinery straight from the factory is majorly lame.

The Shadow Lady's lance travels clean through the dark blue mobile suit's chassis and blows clean through the fully sick subwoofer system it had set up, leaving Ibis without the benefit of the power of love as she will no longer be able to queue up any romantic tunes. Oh, and it also nearly punches through the cockpit bloc and kills her, but that's not really important.

"God damn it, this job is the worst. Who the hell is she calling a defender, anyway?" Ibis wipes a dramatically suitable amount of blood from her face and squints, because that is how you know the hero is in a rough spot. The Barzam rockets back up to its feet in an improbable blur of vernier-assisted motion, and goes for the heat hawk, to make this a little more interesting.

The Barzam produces an empty handle.

Ibis' expression becomes a half-lidded :| of disbelief.

The Barzam chucks away the handle, shrugs at the camera as if to say 'hey, don't blame me' and then charges the motherfreaking Knight of The Void with nothing more than plucky maneuvers and giant robot kung-fu to see it through this battle!

Ibis hurriedly starts gathering all her papers scattered to the cockpit while steering the mobile suit with her knees, even as this expensive-ass peice of A-LAWS property goes in for the heroic haymaker, and then puts both hands on the ejection button with a resigned sigh. Aaaaany second now.

<Radio: B - None> Heero Yuy transmits, "Do it, Oliver...! For... LOVE!"

COMBAT: Ibis Douglas has attacked Eight Murasame. Rainbow Soul Eternal Heart Strike added to their queue.

<Radio: B - None> Heero Yuy is pretty evidently off his keister by now.

<Radio: B - None> Oliver Evlien, over the sounds of an EPIC ATTACK. "You may want to rest after this, Heero!"

COMBAT: Ibis Douglas has struck a major hit on Eight Murasame's GNX-609T GN-XIII using Rainbow Soul Eternal Heart Strike.

COMBAT: Eight Murasame has missed Ibis Douglas with her GN Shield Bash counter attack.

Macua Huitl has been keeping an eye on Raul she' never really seen him flat out in a full out fight before. Now she can say she has and he's suprised at jut what the heck her oldest brother is doing one he's playing some very old song, as he opens fire. She actually smirks, so he's good and a bit crazy. Good she likes that.

Their efforts seem to be having an effect on the queen from the looks of it. Her assault this time is successful but the shadow magic is sitll comming. The rings are barely avoided by the Amazon CI, this thing was quick. Worse she could feel the darkness almost. She feels inspired as Oliver calls for back up she's got the idea about teamwork. He was right she would join the assult. She takes a deep breath and lets her self go a little bit as she speaks.

"You really think we will let you do as you will to innocents? Allow me to show you what someone once as lost as you taught me!"

The Amazon picks up speed deploys the spear it expand and she launches into an attack. She blurrs as she moves and there seems tobe several of them attacking once. But only one can be real? But which one it doesnt' stop she throws the spear up into the air and it collapses into it's rest mode once more and then he breaks back to the robot Kung-fu. The strikes are fare more focused this time attempting to seek out weak points, trying to strike them and otherwie cripple the machine. But given it's ailen nature it may not work. The spear falls back to the ground, she grabs it and does one last attack with the spear before leaping away.

COMBAT: You have joined Oliver Evlien's combo.


 * BLAM!!!*

The Tengu is blasted by one of the shadow-waves and sent FLYING - straight into a building, clear through it and out the other side, and into the NEXT building, finally emerging through the other side of *that* one ... and making a nice big damn crater in the face of a third building.

"Ow," hisses Kazuma. "That ... freakin' ... *HURT*!!" He quickly takes stock of the Tengu's status - which is, in a nutshell, 'bad'. The armor is at critical pretty much all over, the servomotors are waffling between 'offline' or 'out of warranty' readings, and while the weapons systems generally look functional, everything related to targeting them, other than actually *aiming by hand*, is offline. The sane thing to do would be to call for help, wait for someone to come and rescue the Tengu, and pray that it doesn't fall out of the embedded windows and plummet to the street before that.

Sanity is overrated, though - Kazuma has been known to do the crazy thing now and then, and honestly, crazy is more likely to live through this than anything else.

The SRM-3 locked into the Tengu's backpack - somehow still intact despite the Tengu taking three consecutive back-first impacts into three separate buildings - fires up its engines, pushing the powered battlesuit free of the architecture, and begins flying in a high arc over those other two buildings, back towards the Jagrafess and its opponents. Kazuma takes a couple of deep breaths, braces his left hand on an emergency release, and yells one word at the top of his lungs:

"IIIIIIIIIINCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!!!!!"

Then yanks the release; the SRM-3's holding bracket is blown apart by explosive bolts, and the Tengu plummets away from the missile.

COMBAT: Kazuma Ardygun has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Kazuma Ardygun has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Combo! Boss, Kazuma Ardygun, Macua Huitl, Roux Louka, and Oliver Evlien have struck a ludicrously painful critical hit on Bright Noa's Argama using POWER OF WHATEVER.

<Radio: C - None> Kazuma Ardygun transmits through a ton of static, "Oi, Mac--" Drowned out by static. "- catch - !"

The Mighty Jagrafess is enveloped in multiple attacks that culminate in a giant pink-heart descending on it.

CRITICAL

The Queen wails,

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO..!"

A series of explosions ring out across its enormous body. One after another, they break apart what remains of the gigantic samurai's robot-armor. Gemerald's appearance withers in the purplish-blue flames pouring out from the Jagrafess's neck. It dies down as on-screen, her hitpoints begin rapidly dwindling..

31530/44800

21340/44800

14630/44800

01535/44800

00378/44800

00019/44800

00000/44800

-31531

Her picture on your respective read-outs (except maybe for Boss Borot) begins to flicker and fizzle before staticking out completely.

The Jagrafess explodes, ejecting its crystal core into the air. It hovers, letting off a glint of blue light before gently floating to the ground where it disappears, releasing the children.

Queen Gemerald lay on the floor, defeated. Her hair even frizzier than before.

"We're free!" Shinta cheers.

Qum leaps into the air, flailing her tiny arms. "Hooray!"

The other children cheer.

And thus Oliver charges against the Jagrafess, channeling the Power of Innocence!

And followed by the Power of Drunken Love?

...And Chauvinism?

...And Embarassment?

...And Hot Blood?!

Well, whatever it might be, it WORKS! Oliver briefly looks around in panic from his cockpit to make sure the robot's explosion didn't hurt the captives, and then sighs with relief when they're right there, safe and sound! (This isn't GUNDAM or anything, after all.) He opens the cockpit door of the SUMO (which, in Moonrace tradition, is set a bit...lower than most) and climbs out to approach the children, leaning over when he addresses them. "A-are you alright, then? Not hurt?"

Somewhere on the MUSH, Garrod Ran has disconnected.

Shinta pats his bare head for a moment before answering. "I lost my hat," he frowns.

"Can we get more ice-cream, Oliver!?" Qum pleads.

As the Shadow Lady pulls the lance from Ibis's cockpit, ignoring the plight of her Mistress for the time being, she stares across at the GM hiding in the distance, and the clashing echos of Sting's voice across the open space.

Flatly, the robot looks on with disbelief. "Oh, you have got to be--..."

The power of rock wins out, and the Knight of Void is blasted through the chest, scraping the massive glimmering gem at its core, sending it staggering from the hit. With a wave of her hand, swarms of black motes fly from the armor, seeking out the source of the rock...

It's almost in time to catch the Barzam, as it rises up and slams an armored fist into the empty mask of the Knight's faceplate, sending the Shadow Lady cartwheeling backward!

For a moment, it looks like it's been knocked down, but with a simple flip, it lands on its feet.

And she's *pissed*.

"YOU--! YOU PATHETIC....!" she screams, barely able to form a coherent sentance, before she raises her free hand and loudly incants, "Shadow... BUSTER!"

A pair of black, swirling orbs appear in the Knight's hand, bending and twsting the space around them. Moments later, they fly out towards Ibis and Raul, threatening to tear their robots apart!

It is only then that the Queen's lieutenant realises her queen just exploded a few meters away.

COMBAT: Eight Murasame has attacked Ibis Douglas and Raul Manora. GN Bazooka added to their queue.

COMBAT: Eight Murasame has struck a devastating critical hit on Ibis Douglas's RMS-154 Barzam using GN Bazooka.

Knock Out! Ibis Douglas's RMS-154 Barzam unit has become disabled!

COMBAT: Eight Murasame has missed Raul Manora with her GN Bazooka attack.

The Core Fighter motors down the airspace of the Von Braun streetscape, already scanning for Shinta's hat.

"Ayouuuuuug!!" shouts a grumpy old man from his third floor apartment.

Boss steps out of the Boss Borot's mouth, triumphant. He didn't get completely and utterly exploded! Today is a good day! He puts his fists on his hips, lifting his head to the sky! Moon sky. Earth.

atever.

"Come on! It is time we all had pizza!" Boss points at Oliver. "He's paying!

Somewhere on the MUSH, Meiya Mitsurugi has connected.

"Hah, had enough yet?! I'll show you I can do it!"

Holy shit that is a retarded thing to say, and it is only right that for saying something so sub-badass, Ibis is rewarded appropriately. There's an uneasy kind of a silence as the Barzam, one fist still extended and maybe glowing with rainbow light but really probably not that would just be silly, stands there looking dumb as hell.

Which means that when a shadowy orb of otherworldly force comes a-knockin', a certain retarded redhead practically opens the door and invites it inside for tea.

Moon-steel or whatever the hell the RMS-154 Barzam is made out of is absolutely no match for /evil magic/ and the blue-painted panels just kinda flex uselessly inwards as the ball of force scythes through the insides of the oppressive space cop mobile suit, and there's a brief moment before Ibis squeezes the ejection lever where she grabs the stray Haro bouncing around the cockpit and tucks it under one arm like a pro football player.

The ejection seat blows free of the doomed mech in the few moments it has before it goes nova, probably hidden by the explosion or something so it looks hella dramatic if anyone actually gave a shit.

***

Queen Gemerald is clearly having a totally lame day, if the way things have gone thus far are any indication. But that's okay, she's clear now, right? One destroyed mech is hardly an end to her nefarious plans, right?

WRONG, BITCH.

A somewhat singed Haro bangs into the ground next to the criminal Queen's head. It chirps away like only one of those god-awful robotic monsters can, its voice an opening number for what is to follow. And perhaps if Queen Gemerald were to turn her frizzes and look up, she'd see the looming figure of Ibis Douglas right before she claps handcuffs on that bitch. For no reason, Ibis is now dressed like John Mcclane, and is hauling up the defeated magical girl villain by her collar.

"You made one mistake, Queen Gemerald." she taunts her with a filthy grin.

There's an awkward pause as Ibis doesn't know what to actually say next.

"You... uh... fucked up. That was your key mistake. Your key mistake was that you fucked up."

She just shoves her in a suddenly-awaiting squad car and pretends this never happened.

A-LAWS : SAVING THE GALAXY

ONE POLICE BRUTALITY AT A TIME

Raul don't need no instructions to know how to ROCK. Of course you can't rock without the roll, and in this case the 'roll' simply means running the hell away. His position clearly given away by his ridiculous radio antics and his repeated firing, Raul quickly takes to the streets in search of a better sniping position. Luckily for him, this means that he is able to slip away from the majority of the return fire, that dark flare blasting the now-empty street that hosted his mock concert.

Considering that his direct hit had earned the enemy's attention, he keeps ducking through the buildings for quite some time, a quick backstep into an adjoining street allowing him to narrowly avoid the trajectory of that shadow orb. It does slam into a nearby building, but that's okay-- that block was messed up, anyways. As the Jagrafess explodes along with several of his allies (after a rather insane display), Raul decides to opt for a more supportive counter.

"It's not a real party without a lightshow!" And with that, he chucks a blinder grenade clear into the sky.

Okay, just a more annoying counter.

COMBAT: Raul Manora has attacked Eight Murasame. Blinder Cracker added to their queue.

The evil has been slain or atr the very least it has been defeated. The power of Courage, Hot blood, Friendship which just happens to be magic as well. Along with many other things has driven away the darkness. But the Minioinion remains however first things first she's got catch something she carefully catches Kazuma like one might catch a thrown American football. She comes in for a landing however with a thud.

"You all right Kazuma?"

"Of course we can have ice cream!" Oliver smiles and gently ruffles Qum's hair, and then stands back up. "In fact-"

He stops and blinks up at Boss, halting briefly. "I...am?" Well, Boss-that was his name, right?-did help them quite unselfishly, if in a somewhat unorthodox manner! And fighting did work up an appetite. It usually does. And they say Lunar Pizza is something you ought to eat if you can...

"...S-sure I am...! That sounds fine..."

"YAY!" the children cheer in unison. "PIZZA!"

Oliver Evlien will soon be a very broke man.

The Core Fighter's thruster exhaust keeps blowing the hat away.

Roux Louka, possibly still high on love and embarrassment, muses on how this is a perfect metaphor for fighting for peace.

However, she has no better ideas. Eventually the hat will reach a wall and then she can deploy the previously-unsuspect Canadarm to fetch it.

For a long moment, there is no response from the Tengu. Then the helmet gets blasted free by another set of explosive bolts, and seams open up along the rest of the armor.

"I hope Von Braun City is willin' to pay a *lot* of repairs," says a very battered-looking Kazuma, "or I swear I'm never shopping on the Moon again ... no tuxedo is worth this!"

He looks much the worse for wear, blood in his hair and a couple of cuts on his cheeks - but he's alive, and healthy enough to be irritable. Once again, the Tengu protected his life, and he's grateful for that even as he grouses about other things.

Somewhere on the MUSH, Asuka Langley Sohryu has connected.

Boss leaps off his Boss Borot, leaving it right in the middle of the street, half way crashed in a building.

"Good! We'll get one with ham and eggs and pineapple and squid and chocolate."

COMBAT: Raul Manora has struck a minor hit on Eight Murasame's GNX-609T GN-XIII using Blinder Cracker.

<Radio: A - None> Oliver Evlien transmits, "...It seems I'm buying pizza..."

"S-squid? Chocolate...?"

Oliver really isn't sure what to think of that. Or the fact that Boss looks like he might be able to eat almost as much pizza as Olly himself!

Almost.

The Wing Gundam vanishes as a twinkle into the night, careening off to terrorize another neighborhood with its pilot's drunkenness.

"And they're goin' round the mountain when she comes..."

Attacks... with love... defeated... Did Wing Zero shoot a HEART BEAM? Did all this really just happen? Or did Dr. Hell teleport him to another universe for kicks? The Star Hawk makes its way back to the argama while the chaos hopefully keeps anyone from noticing.

Staren sees some trustworthy-looking people, and dismounts to talk to them while the Star Hawk parks itself on remote control. "Um, excuse me." Staren walks up to Macua and Kazuma. "Did all of that really just happen," he waves his hands at the destruction, "Or am I hallucinating?"

At Queen Gemerald's defeat and capture, the Shadow Lady glances down at her fallen Mistress, and behind the mighty armor, she frowns.

. o O (A suitable exit for myself, I think... Perhaps there's another villain in need of a 'loyal' servant...)

With a hidden smirk, the shadowy armor glances at Raul's hurled grenade, and immediatly holds its hands up to defend itself... But it's not enough. With a sudden flash, and a shower of light, the Ubras Arma fades away, frozen in terror, and dissolving in the dazzling display of light, until all that's left of it is a tall cloud of ash and smoke, blown away by the colony's air recyclers... And a startled groud of costumed teenagers now sizing up their chances against a group of giant robots...

"If it *didn't* just happen," Kazuma comments acerbically, "then this is going to be one of the weirdest repair bills ever to explain ..."

He trails off, realizing that in all the damage the Tengu took, its data recorders are probably fried too.

This realization is shortly followed by a string of extremely earthy and colorful epithets, speculating upon such things as Gemerald's parentage, hygiene, and habits of recreational procreation, accompanied by similar but even more outlandish conjecture as to the origins of the Jagrafess. All uttered in a very quiet, *ALMOST* calm voice.

Good thing Mihiro's not here to hear it.

Kazuma's remark causes Staren to laugh out loud. The string of curses puzzles him, though. "What's wrong?"

Macua Huitl says, "Yes, it did just happen, Staren. I'm suprised Allenby didn't show up to help, to be honest." After all Who is Sailor Moon Gundam to Heero's Tuxedo Mask!

KAzuma also gets looked down at. "You okay Kazuma? Also Raul! What were you doing lounging about here before the attack!"

Popping out from another building after the blinder flare starts to fade, Raul braces his GM to take another shot... only to see a cloud of smoke wisping away near where the Umbras Arma once was. "Well then," Raul simply states, lowering his rifle in his astonishment, "Always new those dumb fireworks would come in handy."

Slowly turning, the GM faces toward the only machine it recognizes in the crowd of combatants-- the Amazon Gundam. Stepping toward it, the GM eventually comes to a slow halt as that transport truck eventually comes rumbling down the street. "Me? I was just gettin' some ice cream. Needed a good dinner before goin' out tonight." As the GM settles back into its flatbed, Raul's radio is suddenly interrupted by the truck driver once more, "We're gonna drag yer tin can back now, Raul. You got its side pretty banged up."

"You kiddin'?" Raul laughs as he begins to dismount from the machine, intent on walking over toward the others, "This'll likely be on the news tonight! I'll need you guys to swing it by a few choice spots."

COMBAT: Eight Murasame has retreated from the area.

COMBAT: Eight Murasame has reset their systems to full.

"Me? Just freakin' peachy," Kazuma answers acerbicaly, interrupting his string of curses. "The Tengu? This thing is practically *scrap* - I'm gonna have to go to Wolf's Dragoons to get it fixed!"

And he expects that to be, well, pricey. Very much so.

Macua Huitl says, "HEy it worked, and I got you not in a pine, box so what's the problem?"

Staren suddenly grins. "You know, you could let _me_ fix it." Then he looks serious again. "Really though, good luck with that... It can't cost as much as getting the valhawk fixed though, right?"

Eight Murasame has reconnected.

Somewhere on the MUSH, Eight Murasame has reconnected.

<Radio: A - None> Oliver Evlien transmits, "...Pizza with squid and chocolate is...interesting."

Kazuma gives Staren a withering look at the offer to do the repairs himself. "Pass," he says flatly, "but the offer is appreciated. Nah, I ought to stop and say hi to the Dragoons anyway, just for old time's sake. And yeah ..." He chuckles, looking up at Macua's mobile suit, or at Macua herself if she's leaning out of the cockpit or anything. "Pulled through with my life, that's never to be scoffed at. Thanks, Macua - I owe you another one."