2010-11-26 - Children Of The Mind

White Star Some time ago.

Adom Nazir waits in one of the stations numerous hangers, they had located the Argama again, it was about time to strike. They were away from any major source of support at the moment. Practically right out in the open as far as space goes. She looked once to the rows upon rows of drones ready for deployment. There were not just bugs as the humans called them, or even the other life form based ones. There were a number of humanoid ones as well. She had to really get their attention.

L2 Right now.

Gravity distortions appeared, at first, its one, then its a dozen and it keeps growing and not just in one location either, Bugs, spiders, and birds appear. Followed by Fatmen and Soldiers, the numbers keep growing but theres a certain red and white knight that appears. It moves like its a living thing, the units arms are folded and Adom is grinning, she can sense those on the Argama and is making no attempt too hide her pressure from them either. A second later she points to wards the ship and the drones start to move in in waves, the bugs go in first to take the brunt of the humans first response to hopefully save the more valuable units to get towards the target.

"Samples of the Argama, the time to harvest you have come. You can surrender or resist it makes no difference to me but in the end you will serve so its a matter of how much pain you will be in for this!"

AEUG Flagship Argama 30 Days On The Run

Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun..

Daaaaa, daaa-daaaa, da-da-daaa-da-da-da-daaa, da-daa-daaa

(Someone wake up Camille.)

Daaa-daa-da-daaa..

The Argama cruises across the expanse of Lagrange 2, the moon briefly serving as an immense backdrop. Little does its crew know, a saboteur has been sneakily transmitting psi emissions in the battleship's wake. It's like a trail of breadcrumbs... and the Argama is a house of psychic gingerbread.

Meanwhile, in the hangar..

"Uh.. it's remotely close to what the rest of them pilot.. but.." Chief Astonaige shakes his head as he looks up from a clipboard. "..but I just don't know. You're going to need to find this 'Master O,' whoever the heck it is, Cap'n.."

Bright lets out a sigh, rubbing his forehead in frustration. "One more mysterious individual to track down," he groans.

And then all of a sudden...

Every deck on the Argama suddenly blitzes red. Warning klaxons go off, signalling crewmen left and right to scramble to their lockers for a change into normal suits.

"Aaaaaaaaah!" Beecha Oleg shouts across the intercom. "Balmar units warping into range! We're being surrounded! Launch mobirusuitsu!!!"

Both Bright and Astonaige turn to glance at each other, their wide-eyed look conveying the entirety of 'oh shit' without even saying a word. Then immediately, both men depart to their stations. For the Chief, mobile suits need to be on the catapults. For the Captain, he's needed on the bridge.

On the edge of the battlefield (RE: the edge of the map) another unit floats in.

It is the Crimson Shura god, arms crossed as it happened to be here just as the battle decided to form. Was he specifically coming after the ship? Was it the Balmar that attracted his attention. Whatever his goals, the Pilot of that Unit was no secret. Folka, deep in meditation opens an eye, looking at the view screen before him.

"So it is here I need to be." He comments to nobody. He gets no response, but slowly stands up. "Very well then, Ialdabaoth." He says, as the unit starts to power up, a red aura starting to form around it as it starts to advance...

Against the Aerogaters.

A few weeks ago, Captain Bright Noa happened to run into Kazuma Ardygun in the Gekiganger Bar and Grill, in Bit Colony (also known as 'the closest thing Trailers have to a home country/colony') while the Argama and the Valstork were both docked there, the latter as much for a serious doctor's skills as any other reason. Kazuma was, at the time, very severely ticked off at the Balmarians, and when Bright offered him a chance to join the Argama for the next attack on the Balmarians, Kazuma didn't quite jump at the chance, but he was quite ready to accept.

Of course, by this point, Mihiro's been certified as 'healthy enough to fly, even the crazy way her big brother does it,' and instead of the Phoenix Hawk, it's the Valhawk itself - recently repaired yet again, shiny white and blue, sleek and angular in its Air Force mode - which has been wedged into place in one of the Argama's launch bays.

Cue the Balmarians' appearance. Almost immediately thereafter, cue a paired yell over the radio: "KAZUMA AND MIHIRO ARDYGUN, VALHAWK!! READY TO LAUNCH!!"

Given the Valhawk's ... somewhat atypical dimensions, the catapult might (subject to Bright's judgment, and/or Astonage's as well) have been the best place to park it. Kazuma has no objections at all to launching early, and kicks the Valhawk's engines to full thrust as the catapult slings him, his sister, and the Valstork Family's prized mobile unit into space, ready for a fight and rarin' to go.

Asfanit Kolot is more commander than soldier, and has lately been letting her subordinates have quite a high degree of operational leeway. Right now, they need innovation, personal motivation, not stuffy adherence to the chain of command. Thus, Asfanit is currently poking her way through a project Aleph has given her; unfortunately not something her new assistant can help with a /lot/, but there is currently a cockpit block cobbled together in Asfanit's labs, which Asfanit has had her new friend(??) sit in while Asfanit collects data. The fact that there is no apparent means to gather this data inside has not actually been commented upon yet.

"Huh," Asfanit murmurs. "No, no....I thought someone with your dedication would be able to move the bar more, but maybe it simply won't work without an actual awakening..." Hm hmmmm.

Beep beep. Asfanit looks over. "Oh. Adom's requesting permission to strike." She grins a bit, looking into the cockpit monitor. "You seem restless, Er'ela. Let's go with her, shall we?"

NOW

The white Ezekiel She'aga sparks into being along with the rest of the Balmarian wave. It isn't the too-sleek Lekhishah, but with the way it darts around quickly on powerful thrusters, it does seem to have a certain similarity in combat style to that machine.

Especially when Asfanit comes on generla band to chime, "Hello, Samples~ Please surrender quietly? I don't really want to have to hurt any of you, but if you make me, nobody's going to hesitate."

"How you didn't get this thing broken is beyond me." "Yeah, yeah. I know--" "Or stolen. I mean, you're not all that bright, y'know that?" "H-hey, s'not like--" "In fact I bet some Zeek wearing a fake mustache and using an Italian accent could convince you he was giving out free mobile suit tune-ups and you would've just thrown the entire thing at them." "I-- I'm not /that/ stupid!" "Yeah? Remember that time Gemon convinced you that exhaust pipe was really--" "M-man, just -- just shut up!" "In any case, it's good you're as lucky as you are dumb." Judau Ashta looks up grouchily at Elle Vianno, currently beaming at him with all the brightness of the sun. Mumbling, Judau just rolls up his sleeves and gets back to work; both of them stand on top of the ZZ Gundam's Core Top, working on the machine's maintenance. Since arriving back from Axis, Judau's found himself shackled with more responsibilities than he could ever want. Learning that most of maintenance work is just routine tune-up has caused him to pass out from boredom on at least three occasions now. His eyes are slowly beginning to flutter closed for the fourth time today when the warning alarms go off in tandem with such volume and vigor that Judau lets out a startled yelp, snaps his eyes wide-open, flails, and then falls off the Core Top entirely, falling on his ass with a loud, meaty WHUD of impact. "Owwww... d-damn, I think I broke my coccyx..." It takes about thirty seconds and Elle shrieking at him to realize that some Shit is Going Down. Eyes widening once again, Judau reacts swiftly, leaping into the cockpit of his Core Top while he begins turning all the systems on, one by one. "Get outta here, Elle!" he shouts. "J-Judau, are you allowed to be piloting again yet--" "Huh?? Uhhh -- I guess not?? Don't worry!" Judau gives the most unencouraging thumbs up ever. "It'll be totally fine! Judau Ashta, Core Top -- I'm launchin'! Get outta my way!" And with that, the Core Top, whether it is approved to go or not, lines up to the launch deck, and is summarily shot out at high speeds, ripping into the endless expanse of space with a "WAHOOOOOOOOOO!!" He's so got this.

Garrod Ran was aboard the Argama today, here to speak with Kazuma about the matter of Adom... as much as he loathed to leave the Freedan and Tiffa when he knew the Aerogaters were still hunting it, he also refuses to give up on Adom. That means he needs help to wake Macua up from inside of her. As luck would have it, only an hour after arrival, fate decides to either throw him a bone or mock him, depending on how things turn out. Fate is suck a fickled thing after all... and since Adom is here, it's no surprise that Garrod is charging for his Gundam at first chance so he can give her a healthy dose of the Convince Command. "Garrod Ran, Gundam X-Divider, launching!" The Gundam launches off the catapult, it's masisve shield in one hand and it's beam machine gun in the other.

MEANWHILE

Camille Bidan is far, far away.

He is not on the Argama. He is not in space (Well, he could possibly be on a colony, but he's really not thinking about that at the moment). No, right now he is in a secluded, garden-seeming place overlooking a pool, its sole occupant emerging from the waters like a dampened nymph, shaking her fiery hair free of the pool's oppressive cling.

Kallen Kouzuki, clad in nothing more than skimpy bikini, looks at the expectant Newtype with smouldering eyes.

"Camille..." She spoke his name in a tone like honey poured over silk, "..you know how cute I always thought you were."

She sauntered towards him with svelte, swaying hips as a hip, rocking beat began to play from all directions, hands reaching for the bursting clasp of her bikini top.. (Ref: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqMIfeTc-CM)

IN REALITY

The warning klaxons and red alerts blared to absolutely no effect as Camille turned to one side in the pitch of his...er...dream, drooling slightly. "Sure..." He murmurs, "I'll help free the Japanese...as soon as /you/ free the-"

< CUT!!! >

Yeah, we don't need to go into further detail here. Someone wake him up.

The Balmarians aren't the only ones drawn in by the psi-emitter. From a different vector than the aliens, another contact pops up in sensor range almost at the same time, tagged with a hostile IFF. A DC unit, the AMX-004-3 Qubeley Mk. II, which immediately identifies it (to all nerds obsessed with serial numbers, anyway) as the Qubeley piloted by Puru Two.

The Argama with its Newtype crew was never particularly hard for the clone soldier to find, providing she was in the general area. But this time, it was making its presence so obvious, it's like it was /trying/ to be found. In which case 'it's a trap' would be a logical conclusion, yet not a conclusion that Puru Two has drawn at all. Her motivations began and ended with making whatever was making her head hurt so much go away.

She's not terribly surprised to find that that cursed ship ends up being the source, but she certainly wasn't expecting to find the aliens here, as well. Normally speaking this would create at least somewhat of a conflict of interest, but things being as they are, her decision is easily made this time.

"Argama, Katharon forces, this is Puru Two. Don't fire on me, and I won't fire on you. I'll see if I can't get some reinforcements out here to deal with these aliens." True to her word, the pilot of the Qubeley doesn't make any hostile moves towards Katharon, and instead sends a radio transmission for assistance.

 Puru Two transmits her current position. "Balmarian incursion detected at these coordinates. The target seems to be the Argama. As much I hate teaming up with these guys, this is a good opportunity to give these aliens a bloody nose."

 Ascian Luddite transmits, "Ascian Luddite - BAHRAM Scout. I am in your sector - and will assist. Please stand by."

After a nasty knock to the head and her new prototype XM10 trashed, Rachel has spent the last few days recovering from her injuries; when she hasn't, she's been working on rebuilding what was left-- which was admittedly not much-- of Isa Reichert's Skytalon before shipping back out into space.

When the alarms go off, the white-haired pilot is immediately flinging herself across zero gravity, rebounding off walls and points of contact until she reaches the locker room, climbing into her new, if not color-flattering pilot's suit. White, blue, and red, she's on her way to the cockpit of the crimson red Zeta Gundam standing rank and file next to Camille's Zeta and Judau's Double Zeta.

There's a bit of pressure as the cables and connection jacks click into place on the pilot suit's back, and startup procedures kick in. Among the first of the Argama's defense forces to launch, the red Zeta plants it's feet into the catapault stirrups and the knees bend.

"Rachel Miu Athha, MSZ-006-P2/3C Zeta Gundam-- launching!!"

Controls greenlight, systems switch over, and the crimson Mobile Suit blazes out into space, the eyes glowing green under the intimidating black V-crest on the forehead. The Newtype's mind comes into sharp focus, and her hands tap on the control sticks lightly. The sticks fold down, the seat straightens up, and her feet remain lightly planted on the pedals. The Bio Sensor shifts to remain hovering over her head, and a holographic control panel flits out from either side to create a semicircle at about waist height.

Staren has been busy, trying to find... _something_... to fight the Balmarians with. Some sort of secret weapon...

He hasn't found it, yet.

The weapons he has will have to do.

The long-absent form of the Star Hawk MkII in its Assault Armor parts rises once again on the launch elevator. "Staren Wiremu, Star Hawk MkII, launching!" The catapult flings him into space, and the main engines kick in on low, pushing the Star Hawk up alongside the Valhawk. It turns and waves. "Hiya, Kazuma! Great to see you again!"

"Actually--"

Baraq Sheraga hasn't eaten, hasn't slept, hasn't even left his cockpit for about a day now; his new cockpit is about as /big/ as his quarters on Neviim, so he at least does not want for space. From there, he managed to maintain a connection with the White Star's databases; in lieu of performing more research on the Argama, he spent his time delving into the system specifications of and precise mechanisms driving his brand new machine. His interest in it runs towards grateful obsession as much as - if not moreso - than the simple desire to understand it from within and without.

On the heels of the first batch of distortions, there's a gravity spike so great as to be suggestive of local space tearing itself asunder... and just as it settles, sunlight fills the void a ways above the Argama. Initially, the light comes in the form of shafts piercing the void from nowhere at all, perhaps a spatial inconsistency brought on in the wake of that initial spike.

And then, as more and more of those shafts illuminate the darkness, they coalesce into a second sun suspended upon the Argama.

And then, moments later, as the initial burst of sunlight bleeds away... a metallic face is revealed, staring balefully at the AEUG mothership through dead, mechanical eyes; it sits on shoulders shrouded - shrouded like all of its body save for its feet, really - behind a cloak still shimmering with sunlight. Its cloak flutters just a little despite the lack of gravity or atmosphere. Hanging parallel to the Argama the way it is, it's easy to see that it's maybe a third of the battleship's length.

"--don't surrender," Baraq radios, voice a bit rough and raspy and filled with monstrous joy and a dearth of apology for contradicting his fellow Fleetmembers.

"Let's not kid ourseelves: you're /entirely/ too stupid to know when to quit, and you know what? I don't even care anymore; come on. Fight. Scream, wail, gnash your teeth--give us everything you've got." The enormous mechanical form's right, blue eye glows brilliantly.

"This is your last day as members of the human race; make it /memorable/."

Er'ela had no idea what the machine was that Asfanit had her testing. "Hmn.." she muses as Asfanit comments on the bar's movement. When asked if she wanted to sortie, Er'ela smiled at her commander. "Of course. We have to make sure they come back alive." Who she is reffering to, is not made clear.

Next to the Ezekiel She'aga appears the dark purple Ezekiel Ne'eman. It's thrust ignite and moves along next to the She'aga and Asfanit. "I don't think they'll take the offer seriously, I'm afraid."

There are Gundam's about.

Ali Al-Saachez has been quietly trailing the Argama for the last several days. The ship has been making considerable movements, drawing attention to itself, and generating chatter on the intelligence networks. It was inevitable that it was going to do something fateful -- that ship had a reputation to uphold. But it was boring work. He couldn't take the Gundam Ship on alone; that would be his own suicide. Yet, he knew if he was patient...

The Aerogaters. Blessed, beloved Aerogaters.

"This is what they'll least expect," Ali says, grinning and leaning back in the cockpit of his repainted red Valsion Kai. The Aerogater's are attacking the Argama. That means they'll all scramble, like bees out of the nest. They'll all be out there, fighting for their very lives. And they'll never see him coming.

(( VIOLENT MID-BOSS INTERDICTION MUSIC. ))

It is a bad day to be Judau Ashta.

The Valsion Kai explodes from the opposite trajectory of the morphing Aerogater forces. A shockwave of power rips from its Tesla Drive powered, Super Machinery Humanoid, frame. Ali flips through the different weapon armaments, his grin broadening with each new option. "This Valsion ... What a wonderful weapon for war!"

The different Aerogater and Katharon robots light up on Ali's onboard HUD. He immediately cycles through them, locking onto one of the last machines to launch from the Argama. "That .... That is the one," he says, Judau's Core Top magnifying on Ali's screen. A wire overlay shows where it fits into a much more impressive Mobile Suit: the ZZ Gundam. Something Ali's admired for a long time.

The Valsion Kai emerges like some sort of demon on the horizon. A second burst of energy launches Ali after Judau's Core Fighter. He crosses the Core Top's trajectory at an angle from below, interdicting with a drive-by swing of the Divine Blade.

"Over here, boy!"

Joshua O'Brien has been spending a good deal of time in space lately. The Argama has been good to him, though he's been rather quiet aboard it, unlike a good portion of it's pilot compliment. Not having to fly all the way around the world to aid Katharon in the good fight has been a nice change of pace, that's for sure. And besides, he's... more comfortable up here. It reminds him of home.

Sometimes, for all the wrong reasons.

When the klaxons blare, Joshua is already headed for the hangar. The white-suited man expertly navigates the corridors of the Argama, propelling himself to his Armored Core and powering it up. The blue multi-lensed optics of the NEXT glow menacingly as the white shape takes to the catapult. It's time to pay them back for their hospitality

"This is White Glint. Launching!"

The Armored Core NEXT blazes into space on wings of white and blue light. It loops up and around the Balmarians as they swarm the ship, flying at high speeds around the Argama, ready to intercept from any direction. Joshua exhales quietly, letting the Allegorical Manipulation System completely link him to the NEXT.

"Balmarian forces," he transmits, voice relaxed--casual, even. "Sorry, but we have no intention of surrendering quietly. Turn around, and no one has to die here today."

They always get a chance.

The First Princess of Orb, likewise, has spent much of the last few days trying to sort through both physical injuries and emotional ones. The M9D that Tessa left her is badly, /badly/ damaged... which means that she's returned to the unit her /father/ left her, the Akatsuki.

It has taken up increasingly frequent residence on the Argama, and Cagalli has finally gotten used to the launch procedures used by that particular ship. As such, she's gotten out of the hangar a lot more quickly today --

-- and of course, the voice she focuses on is Asfanit. "... Tessa," she says, quietly, not over the comm -- she doesn't want to talk to her just yet. This isn't optimal -- but at the very least, she's forewarned and forearmed about what Asfanit can do.

... Thanks, Leonard.

 Ali Al-Saachez transmits, "I'm capturing this Gundam. Stay outta my way."

 Suriel Misaki transmits, "I love it when we as a species can come together."

 Ascian Luddite transmits, "Will do - as long as you don't get us killed out there."

 Puru Two transmits, "Oh brother, way to have your priorities straight. Well, never mind. You're going to fail anyway, if that pilot's anything like he usually is."

 Ali Al-Saachez transmits, "You twerps can handle saving the planet."

 Ascian Luddite transmits, "I am afraid I have little experience with them - Puru Two."

 Suriel Misaki transmits, "You are a gentleman and a scholar."

 Puru Two transmits, "Good opportunity to watch them in action. Remember what you see, 'cause when those aliens are wiped out, they'll be next."

 Ascian Luddite transmits, "I am not refering to the aliens..."

Out in the darkness of space, there is a guardian of ancient past. The Night Fencer strides along its designated space, to which it was sworn to protect. That it is here now, thrown out of the loop and if you want to make a very solid case of it: failing to do its sworn duty, as a super robot of yonder period.

"I can sense this disturbance even from several suns away," Lilith uttered. The emitter was like an annoying nagging at the back of her head. But more than that, Lilith can sense an emerging battle from within as its source.

"... let's see what we can make out of this, shall we?" the Sorceress of the Night mused to herself. Gundams and mobile suits launching... a battleship. And the aliens. She makes it clear which side she wants to support today. There is more gain to be had from a long-term play with the humans.

The doors slide open with a hiss, enabling Bright to clamber onto the deck with a clatter of his normal suit boots. "Status report!" he barks without a second of delay.

The official 'Captain on the deck!' salute is exchanged in favor of more pertinent affairs. You know, like the ship getting Balmar-rushed (kekekeke?).

"Most of Zeta team has launched! We're still waiting on the Double Zeta's Core-Base and.. Camille still hasn't responded yet!" Caesar reports. He's followed immediately by the radio-operator, Saman, "We're receiving transmissions from the Balmar both requesting our surrender and our fight. And someone identifying herself as Puru Two is offering assistance.."

"Damn it!" Bright grunts as he approaches the Command Seat. A quick clasp of Beecha's shoulder to indicate that he needs to move and Bright re-assumes the conn. "Someone wake Camille up! And launch the Core-Base immediately, Judau's going to need every part of the Double Zeta's fighting capacity. Transmit battle data to Cagalli, Kazuma, Joshua, and Rachel in the meantime. Alert our gunners, once we've launched our mobile suits to begin a high-concentration barrage and deploy dummy-balloons! Transmit alerts across the broadband, maybe there's /someone/ else friendly around here who might be able to help out."

Meanwhile, in the hangar of the Argama..


 * CLONK CLONK CLONK CLONK*


 * CLONK CLONK CLONK CLONK*

"Hey, Camille!" Astonaige shouts from outside the Zeta, his gloved hand hitting the cockpit midsection. "Hey, kid! WAKE UP!!"

Just as the clip would've gone for the moneyshot, Camille is jolted awake by Astonaige's resonating knocks throughout the cockpit.

"Huh?! What?!" Blue eyes snap open in alarm, the sudden scenery change going from shock to dull resignation towards the fact that he was not, in fact, about to have Fast Times at Green Noa High, and that he'd dozed off while running tests on the Zeta.

"I'm up! I'M UP!" The pilot shots from inside, wincing at the unthinking admission, "I mean, not that I was asleep! I was just doing some...er..fine-tuning, that's all!" Thank God he was already in a pilot suit, "Er...but what the hell is going on?"

THIRTY HASTY SECONDS LATER

Last, but /certainly/ not least does the original Zeta Gundam launch from the Argama in wake of its permutations, fully armed and ready to join the fight. "One of you..." The boy seethed silently to himself, "One of you is going to pay for interrupting that, I swear!!"

Now, who wants some of Camille Bidan?!

Adom sees that Bright's people are at least awake enough to quickly start scrambling. The initial wave of drones open fire the moment the are in range of the ship. Ring Lasers, auto cannons, missiles and energy weapons open up as they get close. Adom doesn't move in she just watches for now as Baraq arrives and reveals his new unit, it's impressive and she'll open a channel.

"Good luck, as for me it's time to play!"

She picks up the Gundam X Divider, that machine she knows it, it's one of the samples who have been stalking her. She resolve herself to kill or capture it's pilot tonight. She will put an end to his insane prattle, and then it gets worse, another machine shows up. Well it could be better, she spots Kazuma's efforts. One of the fleet commanders have told her to bring him in. He personally wants to see how she would condition him and she's more than happy to oblige Ingram on this request.

There's also another presence she's aware of, that alien. The one who speaks more with his fists than anything else. There were many other samples to intercept after all but it was time to join the battle. She sends out a open signal.

"My comrade is correct. You really should make your last days as humans memorable, for this is where your lives of chaos end and you finally find a greater purposes within the cosmos! Come samples show me what you can do your new lives will start this day!"

The Core Top of the ZZ Gundam spirals chaotically through the vacuum of space, thruster jets ignited full tilt as sapphire contrails blossom out behind it. Within, Judau Ashta grins, bright green eyes narrowing on the approaching aliens. "So that's the Aero-Maters..." he says to himself, wonderingly. "Time for all of you to get your ass kicked, Judau-style!" The Core Top ascends straight above the Argama. As it does, the image of Astonaige appears in the ZZ's cockpit. "Judau," the engineer transmits. "We're launching the Core Base now. Be prepared to dock." "Yeah, yeah, I got it," says Judau, waving a hand through the air. "I've done this like a million times, what's gonna go wr--" And then the sensor warnings blare so loudly it makes Judau wince. "--ong?" And then a massive robot almost three times the size of the Core Top comes barreling in at top speeds, with a blade as large as it is presented for Judau's inspection. "... I really gotta stop askin' that-- AH CRAP!" Swing. The blade comes down. And as it does, Judau reacts on pure instinct. Letting out a brief shriek (a mannish shriek) of surprise, he presses /down/ on the Core Top's transformation lever. The Core Base is launched at the same time that the Core Top, transformed into half-a-Gundam, ignites its thrusters -- --sending the still-emerging head to CRACK into the six-eyed face of the Valsion Kai just seconds before its blade can cleave home. CLANG The Core Base connects a second later; mechanisms shift and rotate, expand and retract, forming up the bulky form of the Double Zeta with the snap of its V-fin. "Who the hell're you supposed t'be?! Are you one of the aliens, asshole!?" This question is helpfully punctuated with the upward swing of the ZZ's immense double-barreled beam rifle, aiming to shoot the Valsion square in the head with it.

"It's not for you to decide when our history ends, Fire Dancer of the Balmarians," Kazuma snaps at Adom, banking the Valhawk around to point its nose straight at Adom's Ezekiel. "You're in no position to write *anyone's* history - not even your own!"

The Valhawk continues accelerating, banking away from Folka to avoid getting in the Shura's way or accidentally firing on him ... but once the Valhawk's lined up, Kazuma pulls a trigger, peppering the Ezekiel Esh with a short barrage from the Laser Vulcan.

Garrod grits his teeth and grips his controls tightly as the Gundam X-Divider hurtles forward towards Adom, his sights laser focused on her, "That's where you're wrong 'Adom'... we've already got Duo back! We've proven that Aerogater brainwashing can be broken! And we're going to do the same thing to everyone else you've stolen away and converted!" the Gundam x-Divider snaps up it's rifle and unleashes a rapid fire barrage from the twin barrels, "And that includes you too, Macua! So just hold on a bit longer and we'll get you out of that prison the Balmarians call 'Adom Nazir'!"

A TWO DAYS AGO: ZAFTRA

"Sir, we're detecting the origin of the Metatron energy readings. I think we found 'em." A few of the construction units still present inside of Zaftra had been put to the task of finding potential survivors of the massive blast that had occured and torn down the walls... as well as needing a massive re-do of the map for that country. Many of them had been disintegrated. But a certain one had given off enough of that alien material's energy to clearly give away its location. Within a 'small' cavern that seemed to have been created by an energy blast of sorts - they found the Amenthes; holding an unconcious Ascian Luddite.

36 HOURS AGO:

"You should be okay now." The young man had recovered fairly rapidly. After all, he'd only gotten a concussion. His legs were still in top form. Getting off of his bed, the framerunner grabbed for the crutches and nodded at his doctor. "How is the Amenthes?" -- "I'm a Doctor not a Technician." was the obvious reply. "But I do have this for you." A piece of paper is thrown onto Ascian's lap. "You've been reassigned. You're moving up kid... that is - same job, different location." Space.

Ascian's Orbital Frame had been left mostly drained of energy, and had regenerated this over time. Armor plating was easy to replace for the Metatron-using machine, especially with the strange resources that the Divine Crusaders seemed to be able to pull out of nowhere. So, within hours - the man was in a normal suit and sent out into the silence of space.

NOW:

Flying through space is the red bioluminescent glow that clearly marks the Amenthes. Its reverse bladed wings spread out, metatron crystals portruding and the red particles bursting from it making its wings look almost like the wings of some kind of devil. Not particularly stealthy for a scout. But he doesn't need to be - it's speed that he is all about. The unit just happens to be rushing through the same sector the Argama is traversing through. The young BAHRAM pilot is eye-ing the radar systems just as a transmission comes through. It's Puru-Two, someone he'd only 'met' on the battlefield in two seperate occassions - but he recognized her voice. The young man replied in his normal manner, announcing his name and designation, before claiming, "I am in your sector - and will assist. Please stand by."

If he was not flying at full speed, he was now. His hands tighten around the controls whilst at the same time he bites his lip. His expression which was once relaxed - has gone to one of extreme tenseness. Twice now had be been brought to the brink of death by the aliens, and he was not particularly looking forth to combatting the Balmarians /again/. However, this hesitation did not have as severe of an effect as it had caused last time. This time, he was still ready.

So now, burning in at high velocity, the Amenthes is readying its weapon systems - forming both arms into that of rifles, one leg set slightly above the other - wings still burning away at the Metatron-produced energies. His radar quickly begins to mark the enemy forces present - giving little images of each... until his eye falls on one in particular. It's Er'ela's unit - a purple Ezekiel. He's starting to recognize those machines now that he's fought them a few times. And from his experience, he's done best against those. "You're mine." He whispers to himself... and from a long distance intiates his assault. The rifle-arm shift upwards as he attempts to approach from the belly of the Argama and fires at the purple unit - letting a single long-drawn plasma bolt escape from its 'chamber'.

Asfanit Kolot hums, listens to the voices of the enemy.

"Nope," Asfanit replies to Er'ela, with some sadness to her tone. "But we have to offer. Hum..." Blink. "Oh, they're fighting each other! Goodness, the Samples truly are unforgivable barbarians, aren't they?"

She flips her wrist, lazily, black crystals on the bracelet gleaming in the cockpit light. "Well, leave them to it. We'll pick off the survivor. Go pick a target, Er'ela! Don't worry about me too much, now... and I know I can trust you to beat them black and blue!" She giggles, adding, "Don't worry about it too much. Show them the resolve of Balmar!"

And then... eyes narrow at that gold machine, some familiar sense tickling at the back of her thoughts. Well! But... she's not in the right machine for this at all, is she? Hmmmmmmm.

Oh well! It's a challenge.

"Hello~" Asfanit repeats, as the Ezekiel's thrusters open up and high-output gouts of thruster fire suddenly flare outward, whipping out her laser blade and ready for the attack. "You look lonely~ Would you like to come home with me?" she asks, rears back to slash across the Akatsuki--

Except at the last second she whips around and just clubs the machine with her Optical Rifle's butt, instead.

Apparently, Bian Zoldark is--

Oh, wait, right, Bian Zoldark is dead; well, either way, the Valsion Kai entangled with one of the Argama's mobile suits, which at least earns it a little amnesty for the moment. Everything else, though... targetting reticles sweep across the battlefield, alighting on the Argama and each other weapon on the battlefield. The data feeds into the remote weapons hidden throughout the alien titan's body, and meanwhile the glimmering of its cloak intensifies.

"I'm glad they're happy to oblige," Baraq murmurs to Adom via comm-link as the Shura God charges her; as high priority units for capture go, pretty far up there on his list. Hopefully, Adom won't find herself outmatched. "Don't embarrass yourself or anything; try and take it in alive--oh, and--"

He switches channels to send a message to the rest of his fellow fleetmembers: "--cover your eyes."

Soon, the space around the Balmarian giant is once more too bright for the naked eye; fortunately, this will cease to become a problem no more than a few seconds after the light's intensity reaches the point of blinding.

/Un/fortunately, the intensity will only abate once shafts of hot, punishing light have exuded in every direction, slithering through the void to burn the Argama and its protectors like hungry serpents. Every second of wide-angled luminosity means a little less brightness lingering around the looming giant's body, 'till finally, /finally/, it's dialed back down to a dull, menacing glare.

"Ahhh ... --!?" Ali is surprised when the Core Top pirouettes right by the Divine Blade, smashes into the Valsion Kai's face, and transforms into something much more appreciable. "Maybe this punk isn't a complete waste of time after all."

But managing a large Super Robot is not something Ali Al-Saachez, even in his two decades of < > has a lot of practice with. Twisting to track the Core Top as it intercepts the rest of the Double Zeta, Ali levels the Valsion out. He looks at one of the read outs on the cockpit HUD; marginal damage. There are benefits to flying a space tank.

"Heh," Ali laughs when Judau's prepubescent voice comes chirping onto his comm. He replies, in turn, his red helmeted head popping up on the little Gundam Pilot's own monitor. Ali has never been one to hide his identity from an enemy -- not when it gets down to throwing 'bows. "Ask your friend Camille -- that little punk knows all about me. Now show me you know how to fight, you little SPACE BRAT!"

Judau does just that. The Beam Rifle fires, the superheated plasma slamming straight into the Valsion's frame. The Beam Resistant armor warps with color, the pinkish beam energy spilling outward from the impact point like a starburst. But the beam fades, and the Valsion remains -- minor burn marks evident on the repaited red hull, but with no visible structural damage.

"That's good," Ali transmits, with sarcastic approval. "You actually know how to use that weapon to fight!"

And since Judau has kindly kept himself close, Ali swipes the Divine Blade in the air -- clearing the embers of energy and motes of smoke the Beam Rifle created from the space. A second later, the Tesla Drive launches the huge Valsion Kai right back at the ZZ Gundam. The huge Divine Blade comes with it, a two-handed downward slash screaming for Judua -- a radial of power ripping from the blade as it cuts.

"Let's go, you New Type Freak ... --!"

 Ali Al-Saachez transmits, "They're always such little punks."

 Ascian Luddite transmits, "NewTypes?"

 Ali Al-Saachez transmits, "Gundam pilots."

 Ascian Luddite transmits, "They are... interesting. Well, one of them is - don't really care about the others so much."

Opening the comms with the incoming Ezekiel -- Tessa's Ezekiel -- Cagalli takes a deep breath, even as she brings up her shield to parry the incoming strike. She opens her mouth to speak... and even though everyone from Lilith to Rachel seems to have her back on this, for a moment, she doesn't know what to say.

Eventually, she decides to just say what's in her heart. "Tessa... I miss you," she whispers over the comm, saying it even though she knows full well that Asfanit will reject that sentiment. She needs to say it, no matter what.

Then and only then can Cagalli attack. Drawing her naginata, Cagalli decides to get aggressive while simultaneously keeping her slashes away from the machine's main body, striking out twice with her beam naginata, once with each blade. The first swings up for an arm; the second strike, meanwhile, goes down for a leg.

Mid-strike, that bright luminosity heads toward Cagalli; fortunately for /her/, she has her shield up in that direction... and what it can't block, the anti-beam coating of the Akatsuki does. Her strike, at the very least, is uninterrupted.

Lights go off, but the sensors of the Argama are more than adequately shielded for such sudden flares.

"Some kind of illumination weapon!" Ron Keith reports from ops. He's shaking his head, confused by the outputs. "I'm not sure what it was supposed to do, Captain! But either way, we're in the clear. It's disrupting some of our mobile suits, though!"

Bright pulls the command phone from the receiver. He pulls it up to the side of his helmet, a length of cord extends and writhes in the anti-gravity of space.

>Bright: "Rachel, this Balmar assault unit must be eliminated at all costs!" the Captain transmits, a little portrait appearing within the Zeta P2/3C's graphical display. A secondary data burst of the Uriyah's flashing attack is transmitted, implying her requested target.

Bright clicks over to the next channel, aimed for the Double Zeta.

>Bright: "Judau, we don't have time for this! You'll have to either destroy this enemy or use his collateral damage to diminish the Balmar sortie!"

The Star Hawk flies through the void, and Staren listens to the aliens going on about last days... Come on, if they _really_ wanted to end humanity, they'd have done it by now! His mind is on something else. Which of these enemy units are actually allies, brainwashed...?

Staren begins by aiding Kazuma and targeting Adom. "Oh, tonight will be memorable alright. As just another night where we defeated you!" The Star Hawk's engines flare up as it pulls ahead to engage Adom in melee...

And then something weird happens, if Adom is psychic: Annoying static, like someone scratching nails across the chalkboard of her brain.

"Wake up! They're controlling you! You belong with us!" Yeah, it's a stab in the dark, but either way, it should at least confuse her... And maybe make her slip up so he can land an attack, pounding a spike into the Ezekiel's armor and injecting the alien machine with plasma...

The Night Fencer quite easily weaves against the entrails of light shimmering around the area, all of a sudden. There's an unearthly glimmer from the black machine as its wings unfurl, in a bloodcurdling fashion; the Evil Eyes mounted upon its shoulders are seeking out the source of that light that offends it so.

Lilith looks to Cagalli for a moment, but she has a fight that she has to attend to. None said she can't lend her assistance by keeping another enemy off her back, and that sun giant... is /really/ starting to annoy her.

"You, of such arrogant tone..." Lilith declares towards the Uriyah. "I will see myself whether you are worthy to wield a weapon of the light or not. Come, stranger, and face the Sorceress of the Night. I shall silence your light forever in everlasting twilight!"

That declaration is punctuated as the Blood Sword comes into play, in an arc of sinewy red lightning creeping around the Night Fencer's blood-red claw hand. With a swift swing, a wave of darkness ebbs across the blackness of spce, seeking to quell just a little bit of that encroaching sun.

His friend Camille--? "Hey! Hey hey /hey/!" shouts Judau, as if Ali just said something abhorrent. "I don't care whatever crap I'm not gonna listen to that you wanna say, but don't associate me with jerks like that guy! I gotta reputation to consider, y'know that?!"

Camille + Judau = BFF <3

But before Judau can continue on this tirade, a hailing frequency comes in over his communication lines. Opening up the connection, he hears the voice -- and then his green eyes widen. "P-Puru?! You're here?? What're you doin' here, you gotta be careful! There's aliens--" Her voice cuts him off. This guy in the weird machine is going to...? Judau's eyes narrow. He smiles, ever so slightly. "... Got it. Y'don't gotta worry about me, Puru, I'll take care of myself! "... Thanks. I promise, I'll help ya get your friend ba--" And then light sears the Double Zeta. The brilliant flash scorches the superficial armor of the ZZ, but it's the force of the blow that is truly detrimental. Destabilized, the Gundam is left wide open as that large blade comes cleaving downward. The shriek of metal is consumed into nothing more than muted fury as a blade's sharpened edge tears through armor like tissue paper, ripping through heavy metal plating to expose circuitry beneath. The ZZ's eyes flare; the installations at its shoulders pop open seconds later, revealing rows and rows of missile tubes. "You're not takin' my Double Zeta away from me, grandpa!" And then a full on barrage of small rockets are unleashed, filling the space between Ali's massive Valsion and the Double Zeta with a series of bright explosions as the Gundam rapidly backs up to gain space -- even as Judau winces inside his cockpit at Bright's voice. "I know what I'm doin', Bright!" he insists, not knowing what he's doing. "Trust me, I got a sweet plan!" He doesn't. But he's sure he will eventually.

 Ascian Luddite transmits, "I just hope the EFA will not attack me... I don't trust 'em."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Echidna Iisaki transmits, "Advisable."

The brightness is indeed blinding. As the light swells, her left hand clamps into a tight fist before her fingers fan out, her hand coming up in front of herself to shield her eyes. The crimson red Zeta Gundam follows suit, the shield lifting to protect itself from the light as it advances. Her left eye remains a little more open than the right; the prosthetic replacement dealing with the flare a bit better than her natural eye.

Blazing through the void, the Zeta Gundam P2/3C draws back an empty right hand, fingers flexing into a fist. Throwing a punch, the return strike is not nearly as powerful as she would have liked-- but hopefully it'll put the Uriyah off it's balance. Rachel grunts as she puts a bit of follow-through into the swing, the mixed Trace System-Bio Sensor system translating into a harder movement.

"Roger that, sir!" she exclaims in reply to Bright.

Briefly, Rachel's senses extend-- the Qubeley, that girl is here-- and so is that strange feeling she gets from Adom's direction. Rachel's head tilts back; the Zeta's vernier thrusters fire and push the Mobile Suit backwards and into a flip to gain a little bit of distance.

"Get out of here!! Leave us all alone!!"

Reaching down to her hip, the Gundam follows suit; the hand clamps around the handle of the beam gun mounted on it's hip. Shorter than your average beam rifle and featuring a streamlined, almost stylized design that includes spikes on the barrel, the Second Princess of the Orb Union fires off a pair of shots at the Balmarian unit's shoulders!

"Of course, My Lady, but don't hesitate to call me if you need me." Er'ela replies to her commander. The Ezekiel Ne'eman accelerates in the other direction, the glow of Metatron cathes her eye, especialy when it glows an angry red like a beam ri- Oh crap.

Er'ela jams the controls to the side, but the shot came too quickly. It pierces through the waist of the Ezekiel and out the other side. "Nhh!" Er'ela grunts as she's slammed against her restraining harness. "You. You'd fight against both sides in this? You're a fool. We could save all your planets from this endless cycle of destruction."

The Ezekiel ignites a laser blade and it's powerful thrusters ignite driving it across space for the Amenthes. The laser blade pulled back with point towards the orbital frame "We could save this world from self-destruction... if you just stopped resisting it!!" The laserblade thrusts forward at the Ezekiel's break neck speed, trying to pierce right through it.

No matter how many times Camille experiences the chaos of battle it never fails to overwhelm him a little. The frentic pace of wills, desires and emotions racing and impacting with one another all at once made such events nothing less than roiling, psychic collider to a Newtype of his sensitivity. Especially here in space, where such feelings resonated that much more for lack of gravity (or some crazy Tomino-style bullshit like that), the adjustment was taking more time than Camille expected.

It didn't help that one particular pilot was projecting a murderous, loathsome presence that Camille couldn't ignore.

"This feeling..." The boy glowered at the crawling sensation in the pit of his stomach, chest tensed like he was looking straight down the barrel of a loaded gun, "That blood lust..can only be long to one man..." Teeth gritted, he narrowed his eyes in grim rage as the HUD blew up the Valsione's image, and radio chatter confirmed his instincts, "Ali...Al-Saachez..!" And Judau was engaged with him! This was bad.

"Judau, that guy is dangerous!" the pilot warns more out of reaction than anything else, to back up Ali's threard, "You can't let your guard down against him even for a second, with the way you fight...!" Oh, but here he was actually trying to give his fellow Newtype a hand and got smacktalked for the trouble. The boy frowned, "He better not die so I can kick his ass later."

BFF indeed.

In the meantime, any abortive attempt Camille had been making to back Judau up was quickly shot down on the priority list when the Uriyah makes itself a clear and present threat to the Argama with a show of scintillating, deadly lights. "Tch...!" Camille shields his eyes by tinting his helmets visor as he brings the Zeta 'down' relative to the attacking Aerogater, weaving around the odd method of attack with a newtype's precision, right alongside the Crimson Zeta as it makes it's attack.

"Rachel! I'm backing you up!" Camille insists, and the original Zeta punctuates the sentiment with the silent report of it's more traditional heavy beam rifle.

A stray though reaches his mind amidsts all that, "..purupuru?" The lad quirks his brows, suddenly confused, "..what the hell was that?"

Puru Two doesn't even listen to the end of Judau's transmission, she's too busy shouting, "I'm NOT worried about you!" /Ugh/, why does he always have to say such ridiculous things?

And then, sudden burst of light. Puru Two quickly raises an arm to shield her eyes, muttering, "Thanks, just what I needed when I already have such an awful headache..." Yet despite that, and having her eyes covered, her Newtype brain manages to inform her that there's an attack keyed to that flash, which allows her to ensure that the Qubeley isn't in its path when it fires.

Lowering her arm, the young girl narrows her eyes at the giant machine in front of her. Some kind of new Balmarian Super Robot type machine, is it? Well, that's just fine. Taking that thing down should be a good way to make it clear that they can't just do whatever they want.

A mental signal coming in quite clear through the headache is Rachel's, another one that she'd know anywhere. This is just getting crazier and crazier. The Qubeley takes the large Balmarian mech under fire with its hand-mounted Beam Launchers, while the pilot remarks dryly to the Zeta Gundam beside it, "Now I'm even helping /you/ out... you'd better mark the date, because this is never, ever happening again, you got that?"

Asfanit is somewhat troubled. She /knows/ that she is in the exact wrong unit for handling this kind of enemy. Er'ela would be much better suited to her. She thinks about calling Er'ela over and swapping targets for that exact reason, but...

Tessa...I miss you.

Something in those words makes her pause. "Er'ela," Asfanit issues, quietly. "If you need support, please call."

And then Asf goes back to the sublimely stupid plan of attacking the beam-immune unit with an all-beams weapon. Or rather, getting attacked by; Asfanit quickly flares thrusters, moves to evade, but the Akatsuki is fast, strikes slamming home against the arms. It works, this time, because Asfanit did not expect such inefficient attacks, and paradoxically was foiled by them. "Damage to the arm and leg--?" she wonders. Disabling? But...why?

"Who's Tessa?" Asfanit finally asks on the line between her and Cagalli. The worst part is the voice - high pitched, yes, familiar in that way, but it is decidedly not the voice of Tessa Testarossa, the same way even two people of very similar body will usually have quite different voices. "Is that someone you've lost?" Her voice is intent, sympathetic - interested.

The Optic Rifle comes up, Asfanit blasting a few times while she calculates her options; not to /attack/ so much, because she already knows that's futile, but perhaps to get a few moments' consideration before she starts just whacking the thing with a Megillot.

Ali's green eyes flash, zeroing in on the Double Zeta as its shoulders open. He knows what is coming next, pulling the Divine Blade back and launching the Valsion Kai back in the air. The missiles explode from the ZZ a second later, swirling after the Valsion. Ali counters, the Valsion's chest armor spitting bullets into the air, vulcan-like Autocannons peppering the space ahead of the Super Robot. The missiles explode, flourishing balls of fire igniting and streaking into the large frame of the Valsion --

"Just die," Ali says, the Valsion emerging from the fiery smoke cloud. Maybe he didn't like being called a grandpa. "And give me that Gundam."

With Judau pulling away from the Valsion, Ali resorts to the robot's ranged weaponry. Twisting in space to line itself up, one of the extended, spiked protrusions that rises from the robot's shoulder starts to hum. Motes of prismatic power pool at the tip of the spike, glowing in the darkness of space. Ali lines up the Double Zeta --

"You're finished," he says.

The Cross Smasher ignites, firing twin spirals of energy. The beams' cyclone around themselves, cutting a path across the horizon to try and brutalize the Double Zeta.

Ali briefly flicks his attention at the surrounding situation... Well, at least he'll have a rad Double Zeta to fight the entire Balmarian Empire with, when this is all done.

Adom Nazir has a number of machines coming she spots the Starhawk. "Ah the would be evolutionist. Do you not think if we could reliably artificially make what we were after here? Wed not be doing it? What a silly little sample! Why would I want to be with some group like you! Your barely even a worth while sample."

Staren's attack isn't quick enough, the spike hits but before the injection can happen? She breaks away. Then comes Garrod, the Gundam X is starting to get close, as Adom fires off shots with her machine's short rifle at Garrod.

"So you say sample. You seem to not understand you dragged him back into being nearly mindless savaged. Macua? It means nothing, she doesn't exist anymore if we uplifted her."

Adom's own senses sense Rachel's own presence it bothers her, it's like she knows it from somewhere. It distracts her a second, a second long enough for Garrod to shoot the hell out of Adom and send her reeling right into Folka's incoming attack. She counters with her left hand but to little effect while he just knocks the snot out of here.

"What is it about this Macua that drives you to cold blooded murder?!" She evades Kazuma's attack and doesn't seem to be playing around, as she suddenly picks up speed and starts to attack Folka. "I Told you Garv trained me, our races is old enough a species like your self clearly mimicked a master of my art ages ago and you have forgotten where it came from!" She just opens up with rapid kicks and punches on Folka, before she seems to blur, and come up behind Staren, she'll try to grab the Starhawks head and rush it while blade punching into the things back. IF she gets in she'll try to rip out something important before she's on her way again.

She'll appear suddenly right in front of Garrod and just try to kick his machine in the midsection the pile drive him into some wreckage, before she's cone once more and Kazuma ends up getting the full force of her quickly pulls spear as she tries to just impale him over and over again.

FLASH! The light spreads around the Argama. White Glint disappears in it's baleful glare, skirting behind the battleship for an instant longer than the destructive force lasts. When eyes and sensors readjust, White Glint is nowhere to be seen, lost in the grand battle all around the vessel--until it reappears amidst the drone forces the Balmarians bring to bear.

White Glint is quick and efficient. The Armored Core NEXT streaks through space, raising it's 051ANNR rifle and not using more than two shots on any one of the drones. One is usually enough to slam a round through the core of a Megillot, leaving numerous wrecks and detonations in it's wake. Nothing is allowed to get close to the Argama while White Glint flies vanguard.

Except, that is, the elites. Joshua reorients, flying towards one of the Ezekiels in a graceful arc. Something feels a little... off, like there's a static at the edge of his extra-sensory perceptions. He shakes his head, focusing on the AMS and the machine that has become an extension of himself. He feels his grip adjust on the rifle--

Two rounds come pelting out of the sun at Adom's Ezekiel Esh. White Glint is a bright shape across the battlefield by the time they will arrive.

When Baraq's unit suddenly starts shining in that bright light, Duat - the A.I. implemented into the Amenthes to keep the unit under control and to assist its runner in combat - already has detected it; the increase in energy that is close enough to be an attack. The cockpit darkens in order to dull the light, and for a moment it turns entirely black - leaving Ascian being forced to look at the heatimages of the present units. The incoming 'snakes' of energy are not hard for him to respond to in such a state, veering his unit quickly to a left and watching the indicators confirm the fact that it had not hit. The cockpit's screen quickly turns light enough for him to see the battlefield once more.

"What the!" Ascian suddenly realizes something. His eyes are staring at the image of an incoming enemy... amidst a pear of large "WARNING! WARNING! SYSTEM ERROR!" messages that have popped up all along the cockpit. "Saaaaa! MOOOOVE! AMENTHES!" The machine is somewhat just... floating there. "REASSERTING CONTROL OVER THE 'AMENTHES'!" A little progressbar shows up. "DUAAAAAAT!"

Too late.

The Ezekiels' laser blade cuts straight through the Amenthes' left arm and a good chunk of its torso, causing the entire unit to be thrown back and start tumbling uncontrolably. "DUAAAT!" - "DONE!" The warning signs all disappear, leaving only the assesments of the damage to the unit. Tears were almost coming from the young man's eyes. "This is the second time now... why does this keep happening?" The young man mutters to himself, letting his gaze quickly dart through the cockpit... but seeing no obvious signs. "Is this because of the massive quantities of Metatron on this thing? Is it maturing...?" There was no time to create theories on why the Amenthes and Duat were fighting it out for control. There was no way to disable this though. He didn't have the skills to fly this beast without the A.I.

"We... can can still go on." The young man mutters and flares his eyes up towards the front of his unit - swinging the Orbital Frame around to face his enemy. "No chickening out now..." He mutters, as his mind begins to perceive that this alien had been talking to him. "I have no intention of fighting the EFA here! Each man chooses /his or her own destiny/. And my destiny simply doesn't lay with you. I can understand that you wish to bring peace to this world. I can even accept such a method of thought. However - your methods itself -- I cannot accept! You are no better than those you wish to change!" The verniers of his unit come back to full life and he sends his frame to grab the arm which was floating in space and pushes it into his Vector Trap. He knew he'd survive... and that would help assuredly with the repairs.

From that point, in one smooth flowing arc he begins a wide circle around the Ezekiel Ne'eman - his other arm still set in the form of a rifle. "If you wish to change us so badly, hate war so badly, why immediately commit to war against us yourself? If the only way of changing us is to brainwash us... is that your vision of peace? IS YOUR DESTINY CHOSEN BY OTHERS!?" The rifle moves up to aim for the cockpit of the purple Ezekiel. "Tell me your name ~ tell me that your destiny is your own!" He'd changed a bit... this war was changing him. The aim of his weapon suddenly deviates away from her cockpit and fires instead of the unit's arms. He's... going to try and disable Er'ela's unit!?

And there goes Camille. "Man, I got this covered! Just 'cause you've got senile old coot phobia doesn't mean--" Judau Ashta begins to transmit over the radio to Camille-- Only to notice the Valsion wiping out all his missiles with little more than the rough equivalent of vulcan fire. "--uhhh... I'll get back to you." Seeing the crimson Zeta shoot past brings Judau to pause; he knows the familiar feeling, but it seems amplified. Is that Rachel, riding a--? He doesn't have much time to really think on it before his attention moves right back on to the Valsion and its pilot offering up a friendly suggestion. "You first!" is Judau's witty response, until he notices the faint glow of those shoulder installations on the Valsion. "Uhhh... that doesn't really seem like a good thing--" The Double Zeta moves as if by instinct, bursting towards the side just as the Valsion's Cross Smashers fire upon him. Halfway through their tracking path, the ZZ suddenly /reverses/ that momentum, sending it JERKING backward and /just/ out of the way of those twin, helix-spiraling beams -- letting them instead slice into several Balmarian drones and footsoldier units battling beyond. "Heh heh!" Judau grins, wiping his index finger under his nose even as he turns back toward the Valsion. "... Still, that was sorta close. For an old fart, this guy is kinda dangerous..." Judau doesn't allow himself much time to think about it. Instead, he lifts the Double Zeta's double-barreled beam rifle again; this time he actually /aims/ before he fires off twin bolts of bright, burning red, the volatile particle beams aiming for one of those Cross Smasher installations on the Valsion Kai's shoulders. "I'll show you finished!" He's really good at this.

"That would be impossible." Folka says, calmly. "I am not from this universe." He says flatly. The fist comes, his arm comes to block, throwing the unit back from the force of the blow. His own attack, unable to connect due to the force of Adom's blow. He stops, forcing his movement to halt.

"The martial art is a fist derived by my older brother, for the specific use with conjuncture of a Shura god. While there are others that practice other paths, ours specifically is designed to work the best with our machine...the Shura god." He explains. His body turns, litterally aiming to cut through the large wave of light that aimed to envelop him, the force of the kick kept going, aiming to return to the sender of the light. "Stay out of my way, Balmarian, and you will continue to exist." he warns.

"Your unit does not require such a style...your machines are not the same...they are not gods." he observes. There was a flash, and Folka was suddenly right behind Adom. His right hand lifts, aiming to catch her in a torrent of chi and attempting to brake her defense, before he turned. His feet quickly aiming to take advantage of the chi shockwave and attempts to drill through her armor.

His right hand comes back, aiming to slam it into her unit again, aiming to send her flying.

"No, your name is not what you claim it is. You are my student. There is no doubt about this. The fire in your fists, the skill in which you have taken to my style. I am sorry I failed you as a master, but I will break the hold on you."

"I swear it!" his voice booms with power, releasing the built up emotion.

The kick lashes out-- only to be intercepted by the massive shield which easily takes the brunt of Adom's attack, "You keep saying that you uplifted people, that you have evolved past racism and prejiduce! but that's a damn lie! You didn't evolve into your current state, you /cheated/ your way their! You didn't evolve past racism, you simply redirected it outwards after you /forced/ everyone to think your way with mind control!" Garrod quickly switches out for his beam sword and ignites it as he hurtles in towards her, "That isn't enlightenment. It's slavery, and that is the exact thing I have fought against for the past three years! It's what I fought to save Macua from! And with God as my witness, /I WILL/!" The blade comes swinging down at Adom's machine, aiming to carve through it. This is swiftly followed up with a wild swing with his shield to knock her off balance before followed up with a quick thrust and twist.

The Princess of Orb gives her machine a forceful pull back and to the side, weaving out of the way of that merciful yet forceful aim. Hearing that question, though, from that similar yet so different voice, that voice she knows is Tessa and yet not, after her last encounter... it shakes her resolve just a bit.

"You don't even know," she whispers, a little sadly. "I felt her, before -- felt you." She takes a deep breath, closing her eyes for just a moment and focusing. She's not a Newtype, not really -- controlling funnels is still strange to her... but off they go, like a shot.

The funnels weave around the body of the enemy machine, attempting to surround the Ezekiel. "And... I want you back," she whispers, quietly. "I want Tessa back," she says, a little louder, as a handful of shots rain down on the Ezekiel.

"'Sorceress of the Night'? Hehn--my Lord, /really/?" Baraq sneers, even as the Night Fencer engulfs him in choking blackness so deep, so complete that the Uriyah's artificial sun goes dim. A narrow green beam pierces the darkness and lances through space to find the Night Fencer; targetting data is targetting data, after all, darkness or no. "Well. I guess we could /use/ a /sorceress/; what's your best trick?"

Just as the Crimson Zeta's beam fire disappears into the blackness so deep as to stand out even in space, the shadows are forcibly shoved aside by the redoubling of its golden corona; it'll flicker unstably for a few seconds while the Uriyah's systems recalibrate themselves, but at least Baraq can /see/ again. This means that Rachel will have a clear view when her rifle shots inexplicably twist and weave just so as they approach the Uriyah's cloaked shoulders; the end result is that the beams cut deep furrows into its armor before passing beyond it, rather than sinking in deeply.

"--hopefully, not /that/."

Within, several pairs of green light wink to life; without, more Minovsky-driven weaponry encroaches upon its form. Each beam, mere moments upon making contact twists off-course the way Rachel's did, leaving burns in the Uriyah's cloak that reveal metal the colour of blood obscured, slightly, by yet more golden light leaking from within.

"We've told you, and told you, and /told you/," he exhales upon opening a link with Rachel--and, Camille, and Puru Two, and Lilith, "surrender. Give yourselves over to evolution. Capitulate--but that's too /hard/ for you, isn't it? Well. /This/ is what rebellion gets you: hunted, dogged, and bloodied until you've no /choice/ but to comply. There's no rest for you--we love you like our own moronic, spastic children; we /can't/ 'leave you alone'."

With that, the Uriyah's cloak flutters forward, admitting eight Megillots from within its massive frame; each one - driven by the targetting data collated at the beginning of the encounter - races through the inky void, horns and ring lasers primed to shred the four mobile suits' armour. They aren't great threats on their own; they thus will operate in pairs, surrounding and harrassing the Night Fencer, the Zetas and the Quebeley until their last 'breaths'. More green beams - each fired from the Uriyah's left eye - follow, aimed for the Zetas and the Quebeley.

Aww, the jammer did nothing. Oh well. Staren shuts it off before it accidentally harms an ally... When Adom appears behind him, Staren starts to turn to face her, causing the blades to miss anything important-looking. Still, it leaves a noticeable gash in the armor. The Star Hawk reaches out for the Ezekiel, but too late -- it's already elsewhere. "Oh no you don't!!" The Star Hawk gives chase, trying to stab the Ezekiel in the back in turn and hopefully melt something important.

And then Staren realizes Garrod called her 'Macua'... Wait, really? But then why didn't the jammer do anything...?

"I need a firing solution on the enemy Valsion!" Bright demands from his command chair.

A second passes before Caesar shakes his head, "It's moving too fast, Captain. Our guncrews can't even begin to get a bead on it without hitting Judau!"

"Damn it!" Bright grunts, slamming his gloved hands onto the arm-rests of his chair. "What kind of man would force conflict even in the middle of an invasion!? Nngh.."

Over the din of battle-reports, several pieces of news break. The Crusader's Amenthes unit is taking heavy damage as it battles a Balmar Ezekiel Ne'eman. Half the damn defense is locked up in battling against an Ezekiel Esh and the Princess is in the midst of settling a score.

Bright studies the battle with the aid of his tactical overlays, his expression grim. "We'll have to focus on the bigger problem at hand before we can help out Judau. Target the new enemy unit, it seems like it's the most powerful one on the field. Fire cannons!"

The gun-crew on the Argama's forward gun battery coordinate for the Uriyah. The lengthy dual-barreled weapon turns slightly to point clear for the enemy mobile weapon, attempting to fix itself on the Balmar unit's center mass. Energy collects at the muzzle, followed by a capacitor depletion that sends yellow beams screeching into the vaccuum.

"I don't," Asfanit agrees, gently - kindly, even as they fight. Cagalli's whispers mean that Asfanit does not quite hear the critical words and phrases. "Did she die? I'm sorry. I know this planet's terrible wars are...but, that's why we're here, you see?"

She moves to jerk away, but Cagalli's /there/, too, funnels raining in. "Remote units--" she stammers out. This is becoming a nuisance, she decides.

"Wait..." she murmurs. "You said you felt her, though. Oh, I see...is she with us?" Asfanit laughs, quietly - even as she suddenly BLITZES the Akatsuki, laser sword flaring with murderous intent, ready, able to abruptly be sheathed in the blink, Optical Rifle snapping up and planting against the /one spot/ on Akatsuki that /isn't/ beam-resistant, a blast of light sheering out into the machine's undearm, angled to tear into the substructure and shred a whole lot of important things.

"I can take you to her, you know," Asfanit says. "She probably works for me."

"Hnnhhh ... This kid's pretty fast," Ali ruminates, watching the Double Zeta zip through space to avoid the Cross Smasher. He traces the ZZ's movements, keeping the Valsion even with its path like some hovering space demon. He's content to continue to incinerate Judau one appendage at a time -- until he's forced to eject from the Double Zeta. Then its all his.

"But still, that Gundam belongs to me."

Confidence is a drawback, in this case. Judau snaps off a shot of the ZZ's Double Barreled Beam Rifle and Ali tries to counter with a second Cross Smasher -- this one firing from the other shoulder spike. The Cross Smasher whistles past the Double Zeta, but the twin red beams slam exactly where Judau intended them. The red energy sizzles against the Valsion, crackles of the remaining Cross Smasher energy curling down the spiking protrusion for a brief second. Then everything hits critical mass --

A red explosion of energy shoots from the Valsion, the large repainted red robot knocked back in space. The cockpit rattles Ali, his body banging against the seat, his grips tightening on the controls of the Humanoid. Straightening the Valsion out, one of its Cross Smasher columns is indeed missing -- electric sparks spitting from the severed shoulder armor.

"What an impressive weapon," Ali says, approving of the Double Barreled Beam Rifle's damage capacity. "You there, boy. Your Gundam was built for war, wasn't it? Just like this Valsion...!?"

Play time is over. The Valsion's Tesla Drive reactivates, the huge Super Robot launching forward -- contrails of indigo energy warping off its back as it applies some forward thrust. For being such a large model, it can move quick enough. From the chest, a spray of Autocannon fire shoots after the ZZ Gundam -- but it is a feint, meant to force Judau to make a decisive evasive manuever --

And then Ali punches the full thrust of the Valsion, shooting to intercept the ZZ after it has commited. The tremendous Divine Blade recreation comes with Ali, the humongous sword spinning up through the air to try and slice the ZZ Gundam directly in half.

"Come on, Gundam!" he says. "Don't throw your LIFE away!"

"A 'trick'. If you /must/ call them that, then so be it. But be forewarned, when I reach behind your ear, cretin, it shall not be a /nickel/ that I pull out, but your very /soul/," Lilith declares angrily.

The Night Fencer receives a tear along its edge as the laser rips through it. What passes to be blood curdles on out of the unit's relatively fragile nature, the black metal that reflects the stars of space shattering lightly.

In retaliation, those agitated, pregnant eyes are seeking its target. The Night Fencer itself moves in a little close as it's surrounded by a blood red aura. Lilith's voice gains a powerful quality as the magic coursing within her ancient spirit flows forth.

A psychic attack, to be certain; Lilith sends a metaphorical 'bomb' the Uriyah's way, flooding him with images of civilizations most ancient and esoteric in nature for a moment to wear away at his spirit. "Look upon those that have come before you, alien, and tell me with certainty that you still believe yourself to be the face of evolution and not a mistaken blotch in the river of history."

"You really don't get it, do you, Fire Dancer," growls Kazuma as he steadies the Valhawk again, glancing at the damage inflicted by the spears and - promptly pulling a corkscrew roll to avoid getting hammered by the radiant assault from the other Balmarian machine, snapping off a counter-shot then returning his attention to the red Ezekiel. "Right now? Macua is locked away inside you - her real self, the life that you starscum took from her. Don't you remember me telling this story before? Then I'll tell it again!"

The Valhawk continues weaving around the attacks launched by Kazuma's allies. "There was a girl once, born in Brazil - the real, original Brazil, down on the surface. She was everything her parents hoped for in a daughter, and a little more besides: she was a Newtype. But the government found out about it, and because the Newtype talent is so rare, they took her away from her family, her friends, they even took her away from *herself*. I know that girl's name; not many people do, except her family and her closest friends. But *you* know it, deep down inside you. She fought to get that name back, too - fought long and hard, digging through painful memories, pieces of her past that she found out over time. And at the same time, the girl she'd been turned into - the girl she still was after the Freeden's crew rescued her, Macua Huitl - was making her new life, her new identity, even as she found the old pieces."

"She was scared, you know that?" Kazuma continues, abruptly accelerating towards the Ezekiel, plasma sheath flaring to life along the Valhawk's port side as he tries to wing-slash the Balmarian machine. "She was terrified of finding out what her old self, her original self, was like. She thought it might be someone totally different, someone that Macua would hate. But to this day? I don't think she's found out anything bad about her original identity... I don't think even changed as much becoming Macua as Macua changed becoming *you*."

The almost purposeful ignorance of what's going on is... not /surprising/ to Cagalli, but it makes her a little mad nonetheless -- is she so far gone that she doesn't even notice that it's /her/ who she's talking about. "... Yes and no," Cagalli finally says, a moment before that sudden blitz. Equally abruptly, the Princess whips the machine to the side, taking the shot -- but right on the reflectors, rather than in that unarmored little spot.

"It's... you," she says, firmly. "The last time you attacked the Iron Gear, down on Earth -- I felt her, and she was you." Cagalli says nothing further for the moment, waiting to see how Asfanit reacts.

Meanwhile, the Princess sends her numerous remotes into a sudden whirl, rotating around the Ezekiel before all at once pulling beneath it, wreathing it in light from below. Terrifying, deadly light.

The shots strike home, but the damage is not what she had initially planned for. Rachel shifts her weight as the crimson red Zeta follows the movements, giving the Mobile Suit a much more active and 'lifelike' air to it, the shield side presented while her hand shifts, returning the beam gun to the skirting armor around the hips. There's gotta be a way to cut through those fields, or slice through that cloak...

The Megillots flit and fly out toward the attacking machines; Rachel gets that flash of insight that Newtypes are famous for and leans back against the now-vertical chair in the Zeta Gundam's cockpit, swaying the machine backward and trying to put a bit of distance between herself and the remote weapons.

The Psyco Neutralizer... could she deal with those? The system is still unstable, something she hasn't had the chance to use in the field just yet. From a glance, however, it's hard to say if those are linked via a psychic weapons system or just a sophisticated AI...

The ring lasers and eye beams blaze toward her in turn; Rachel merely ducks and weaves beyond the Megillots. Bringing her left arm around again, the shield presents itself-- and the beam from the eyes glances across it's surface as she turns the whole of the machine at an angle to minimize the damage.

"It's not evolution when you're forcing your will on others. It's not evolution when all you do is conquer others and claim it's for some higher purpose! This is despotism, pure and simple-- and there has to be a way for our people and yours to come together without having to kidnap or destroy each other!!"

As she says this, the Gundam reaches to the hips, drawing a pair of beam sabers from the recharge racks. The blades ignite a bright green color, and Rachel strikes-- trying to score a pair of deep cuts on the Uriyah's armor as she flies by!

"What's that?" There was something about the Uriyah, where it tooks hits, the armor coating underneath...Camille couldn't quite put it together, but the sensation he felt told him to be wary, "Careful, Rachel.." He'll caution over their radio link, "I think there's something different about this one." For all the good it does; different or no, they still had to take it down.

But the Aerogater mech has plans of its own that soon find Camille contending with unpleasant, buzzing drones and lancing beams of energy all at once. His reactions are quicker than both, though, further amplified but the Zeta's power as the gundam bats one Megilot aside by bringing it's shield to bare, absorbing the blast in the same motion. The remaining drone does little to hinder Camille with it's partner on balance, the White Zeta raising one arm as it jettisons to the side.

"Hunted like animals? Hounded every step of the way?" The youth grinned mirthlessly, "You aren't promising us anything we haven't already received from our own kind. What makes you think our answer will be any different for you?" He'll nod at Rachel's sentiment, flying opposite the Crimson Zeta to flank the Uriyah's other side, "As long as you try to force your way on people, humans like us..."

The Zeta's wrist flaps pulled down, ejecting two primed incendiary grenades with trailing wisps of smoke through the vacuum of space, "/..don't know how to do anything other than rebel!/"

Er'ela's Ezekiel turns with flares of it's thrusters to keep the Orbital Frame in view. "It's having trouble?" Er'ela knits her brows together. She keeps her eyes on the machine as she brings up the laser blade in a defensive stance. "What good is a destiny of your own race's genocide? What good is destroying yourself and leaving your planet a barren husk!?"

The second attempt to pierce through the Ezekiel is met with deft hands on the controls. The Ezekiel swoops out of the way, the beam slashing through the lower half of the right leg, leaving a sizzling cut through heated metal.

The Ezekiel Ne'eman accelerates again, rolling up and over the Amenthes with it's laser blade held up high. "I am Er'ela Sufa..."

The laser blade is grasped in both hand and driven downwards, aiming to cut through the entire Orbital frame.

"THE SAVIOR OF YOUR RACE!"

"Heh heh! Alright!" exclaims Judau, pumping his fist into his side. "Take that, ya perverted old man!" Except the Valsion is still up, and despite the ruinous pile of scrap that has become that one emitter, it is still very much able to fight. Judau's brows furrow, even as the ZZ launches upward into space; weaving through incoming mobile suit debris and space rock, he keeps a bead on the Valsion Kai while trying to maintain a distance. But it isn't just the Valsion that he has to be careful of. Judau frowns a little, squinting behind him at his panoramic viewscreen as the Valsion's pilot speaks. Built for war...? "... I dunno about that," he finally manages. "But I do know... "... it was built for kickin' the asses of old freaks like you!!" And that is when in a single second the Valsion demonstrates that distance is not something Judau can rely on. "Whoa holy crap!" Autocannon rounds fire off; the Double Zeta spins through three-dimensional space. At the same time, its hands grip the large cannon barrels at the ZZ's shoulders... and /rips/ them free. The tubes spark once-- --before they reveal themselves as not cannon barrels, but sword hilts, with the sudden expulsion of two /large/, volatile beam sabers of warbling, crackling red. Crackling red that intercepts the edge of the Divine Blade in a pincer slice, catching the sword and holding it. Despite the strain, Judau manages to hold that blade off. His teeth grit. "You're seriously pissin' me off," he manages to grunt. "Don't throw my life away?! What, you think I'm gonna do somethin' stupid like that!? I dunno who you are but--" And then, pincer still held -- the ZZ will try to do little more than just /ignite/ its thrusters and SLAM its foot -- right between the Valsion's legs. "-- I'm not throwin' my life away for a scum like you!!"

In a phrase: Yes, she is. Asfanit grits her teeth. SHe's got the /movements/ right, but this other pilot...is more skilled than Asfanit anticipated. A normal pilot would be dead by now, beam resistance or not. But this one...

She shakes out her head. Whisper, whisper, whisper go the voices, "I know, I know," she mutters back, distractedly.

Cagalli's words passes briefly through Asfanit's head, but she just laughs. "That's silly," Asfanit notes. She barely sounds even briefly startled by the possibility. "I came here with honors to assist in bringing peace to you poor barbarians. I'm much too high ranked for that. Besides," she says, and then the Ezekiel suddenly blitzes away, darting away from Cagalli at high speed, the deadly light sheering through empty space even as Asfanit speaks, while she disappears into the battle: "Why would they give a former Sample a list of former Samples like I have? At least try to pull that trick on someone with a little doubt..." She's gone for a few seconds, quiet...

And then a Megillot comes screaming out of nowhere to try and bite Akatsuki's head off, the Ezekiel hovering in that direction, ceasing to transmit the override code at the same time as Asfanit chimes, "I never did catch your name."

Wham, more pressure added to Puru Two's immediate environment. Another Zeta Gundam. Another familiar presence. "Oh great, now Camille Bidan's here, too. This is turning out to be the best day ever." Sarcasm is the only way to deal with frustrations on the rare occasions when you can't shoot them away.

Thankfully there is /something/ that she can shoot around here. And the young clone soldier has her own way of phrasing a similar response to the ones her fellow Newtypes gave: "Evolution? That's an interesting word for slavery. You want to see what evolution's really like, just stick around, I'll show you!"

However, thanks to the powerful psychic pressure present, amplified beyond its normal levels, Puru Two's headache just keeps mounting the longer she stays here. This isn't contributing positively to her piloting performance, although she's still able to stay ahead of the alien bugs sent after her. For a time. Having to dodge eye beams at the same time was just a bit more than she was able to prepare for, and the Qubeley ends up getting pelted with ring lasers and subsequently rammed into by the Megillots, her return fire amounting to little in the end. "Ugh! You've got to be kidding... I can't be beaten like this, who do you think you're dealing with?!"

Right, that's enough for a warm-up... time to start making use of what Qubeleys are most feared for. The mobile suit's complement of Funnels is deployed, the remote weapons fanning out to deal with all the enemies gunning for the red mobile suit in equal measure. Four Funnels for each target probably amounts to overkill on the grunt units and underkill on the Uriyah, but it seems like the best possible option given the current situation.

Suddenly there's a pressure, a powerful one and it's comming right at her. Adom pauses.

"Damn Lynx!"

Josh's aim wasn't off but she sensed him comming, she evades the first shot, the second hsot is intercepted by the alien warrior woman spinning her spear and defecects it.

Garrods own efforts get a strange reaction. "Cheated.... for?" She sounds a bit odd for a moment. her machine caught with the shield but not enough to knock her off balance from the force of the hit.

Staren own attack is too fast for a moment. His atttacks are too slow she's alreayd gone again moving to intercept Folka's attacks.

"... What are you saying... my martial arts lie."

She seems confused now quite confused for a moment the determination, there's no hint of lying in Folka's fists, what's going on, the confident tone in Adom's voice is gone. There's anger though as she lets out a wordless yell and counter attacks. She evades a good deal of the incomming attacks but what happens is a bit disturbing. Folka blocks and parries every seing attack Adom throws at him.

Then comes Kazuma wioth all his range right at her. He tells her about this Macua. there's something about it she's distubed why does it bother her, why does it bother her so much her voice cracks there's a hint of an accept. "Scared...."

She sounds a lot less like Adom and more like Macua. "I.... no.. no no! NO! YOU WANT TO KILL ME! Your can't qccept all of me! YOU WANT TO KILL A PART OF ME!"

Adom or is it more Macua now starts pulling back, any newtypes would swear they felt macua for a moment as the Esh backs away from the others and stops fighting. It's almost looking for a way to run.

Garrod had expected more smug, superior alien talk, but his heart instantly leaps when he gets a reaction out of her. She's starting to break! This is the chance they're looking for! The blade deactivates as Garrod sheathes it and charges forward, arms reaching out... not to attack Adom but to grab her, "No! No! we're not trying to kill a part of you! We're trying to bring a part of you back! A very important part of you! Try to remember your time amongst us! Your life before the Aerogaters tried to erase you from existance! Remember me, remember Tiffa! You were a part of our lives!" They're so close! They just need to break that programming, "What the Balmarians told you... what you remember about being amongst them... it's all a lie! You're not an Aerogater, you're human! They're just trying to use you as a soldier, a pawn! Just like Blue Cosmos did! You are Macua Huitl, and you are one of us!"

(( SWORD LOCK ))

Ali's eyes gleam as the Divine Blade meets the twin red Beam Sabers of the Double Zeta.

"You Newtypes Brats are all the same!" he says.

But then Judau acts first, doing a move that would make Ali himself proud. Maybe the mystery of Judau's long lost Space Dad lies in the way he executes it. It is a patented Al-Saaches Sword Breaker; a ZZ Kick right to the lower half of the energy mech while you're bantering over interlocked swords. If Judau had red hair, it would be a foregone fact. But instead --

"What!?"

The Valsion is bashed back in space, red armor snapping off from the brutal impact of the Double Zeta's leg. Some warning lights start to flash on the cockpit of the Valsion Kai, their red toggles mixing with the red of Ali's own flight suit. Annoyed, he slams a fist into the console of the Valsion.

"That's enough, punk," Ali spits, his beautifully stubbled jaw clenching. There is fun to fighting -- usually in the sense of a lion playing with its pray -- and then there is getting down to business. Ali is down playing; he is ready to end this. He wants his prey, he wants his prize, and he is going to take it. The Divine Blade is lifted again, as the Valsion levels back out.

Two decades of combat experience sit in the bones of Ali Al-Saachez, the Most Dangerous Man in the World. He squints at the Double Zeta, floating there all slick in space. There has to be a weakness. Something he can use to his advantage, like a nice GN Fang to a blind dude's right side...

"Heh," Ali finally admits, locking the targeting reticle of the Valsion on the ZZ. "I guess I'm the sort of man who doesn't really care. Looks like I'd rather kill you than take your toy."

With a sudden shift of the Valsion's stance, both of its arms extend. Familiar powers coalesces at the tips of the robot's palms, while the remaining spinal spike mirrors its earlier Cross Smashing charge. Ali lets the motes of prismatic energy build for a few seconds, knowing that it doesn't matter if this type of attack is telegraphed a mile away. The output levels of the Valsion Kai are outrageous -- Judau Ashta is going to have to Newtype his NewPants off to live through this.

Three Cross Smashers fire then, six different colored beams of energy colliding in the space ahead of the Valsion. They create a gigantic vortex of colored energy, a rush of power surging from the Valsion -- briefly lighting up even the darkness of of space with their furious fire.

"Go to hell, Gundam," Ali spits.

"You speak of a future that is yet to come! The human race is not that stupid!" The Amenthes' bioluminescent lines stall for a moment, as Duat suddenly shows a warning sign again. "WARNING! ERR~" - "DUAT! DEACTIVATE!" A giant amount of meters and gauges suddenly pop up. "Tsssk... I can't do that..." He mutters, but tries to rely on the link between himself and the Amenthes as he pushes his thoughts into his unit's controls! "MOVE!" He was taking a huge risk by deactivating Duat, and he knew he'd have to reactivate it soon. Luckily... she reacts. The feathers that it carries by its 'face' for a moment seem to let out what can only be understood as the sound of a 'chime' - before its verniers come to full life. the BAHRAM runner's machine flows underneath of the Ezekiel Ne'eman and manages to get behind the unit and away from the oncoming laser blade.

"NOT THIS TIME! - DUAT! REACTIVATE!" The A.I. lets out a beep and begins to start up quickly, the many windows disappear as the program begins to handle everything and stabalizes the unit again. "One day I will be able to handle you without an A.I. Amenthes... one day. I promise that day will come. Just us... we'll be together." The young man mutters to himself, a somewhat creepy smile appearing on his face... which quickly is wiped away as he realizes what he is saying. "Am I... really going crazy?" He shakes his head madly. "Can't lose it now!"

The unit's glow dulls again, with Duat having taken over partial control and helps Ascian get targetting going on the enemy unit. "YOU AREN'T SAVING ANYONE! YOU ARE JUST FOOLING YOURSELF! MY NAME IS ASCIAN LUDDITE - AND I AM GOING TO RIP YOU OUT OF THAT UNIT AND SHOW YOU OUR WORLD!" The wings of the Amenthes suddenly burst into several khopesh shaped pieces that flow with the light of red particles. They stay incredibly close to the Orbital Frame however; unlike funnels or bits - these are restricted to its proximity. However, that does not take away from its deadliness. The Orbital Frame darts as close to the enemy unit as possible and unleashes a storm of laser-beams that dart away from them - then in turn come right back in - trying to create a circle of holes around the cockpit.

The force of Adom's fist and Folka's blows cause ripples to throw away lesser objects...asteroids, debries, and of course bugs away from the totally awesome force of their conflicting power. However, as Adom goes for the kill, Folka's hand moves.

Fist matching her every blow, easily blocking or redirecting everything she had. The heart was taken out of the fight, he could feel it. Folka was focused right he was sure of right now who was right before him.

"You know better than I that when we fight, the risk of death comes. Macua did not cower in fear of death like you are now, she accepted it and walked beside it... like you did until now. What is it you fear now? That our words might be true? You know better than I do, that the person you really are would not throw you away...nor can you throw her away either."

"Courage is what you need now."

The incoming Megillot is no problem for Cagalli; with a quick whirl of her naginata, she carves it clean in two, letting the halves split to either side of her before exploding. "... It's not a trick. I felt you," Cagalli says, resolve remaining firm even in the face of this horrifying change in Asfanit. She's gone from 'easily riled' to 'practically unflappable' nearly overnight...

But Cagalli knows what she felt, and that's all that matters to her. "... My name is Cagalli Yula Athha, daughter of Uzumi Nara Athha," she says, taking a deep breath. "And whether you know me or not, I know you."

Boosting in at full speed again, the Princess decides to take the battle to close quarters once more. "You said that you were here because you wanted us to live in peace, last time," she adds, as she goes right for the main camera with a single, mighty thrust. "Is that still true?"

As he watches those yellow beams scream towards him, Baraq's initial reaction is to reach for a sword, a folding fan, /something/ to intercept the incoming energies; a split-second later, he reminds himself that the Uriyah doesn't /carry/ anything lot that. It's all cape and stolen Pulse Ion Engines and energy weaponry, and--

Oh.

Well.

With a derisive snort, the Uriyah clutches its cloak tightly, sweeps it outwards and reflects the beams - already beginning to go crooked as they near the Uriyah's body, thanks to its Gravity Territory - on hard ninety degree angles away from itself. A great crest of blue crystal emblazoned with a golden 'X' set at the center of a crimson chest, as well as red and blue and yellow crystal formations at its pelvis, elbow and knee are all briefly visible before it closes its cloak around itself again.

"My /soul/, huh? What do /you/ know about my /soul/, you awkward, confused--"

Dead yellow cybernetic eyes seated beneath an exposed cybernetic brain stare down at Baraq; the rest of its body is hidden behind a purple cloak. Its mouth is fixed in an open white rectangle that kind of lights up as it flatly intones, "I AM YOUR FATHER."

"--what--" Baraq quietly transmits as his smug grin falls away; his eyes twitch between the figure above him, to his monitors, then back to the hovering machine-monster-ghost.

"I AM YOUR FATHER, B--

When he looks up again, the phantom - and its hollow, hateful voice - are gone; in its place is a blue and red god in the form of a machine. It doesn't speak, it just sings, and with each new note he feels a piece of himself fall away. He heard a story about it once, of the lost continent it was constructed - or maybe just summoned - to protect from ravening demons; at the time, he assumed it a fairy tale. Now, he finds himself wishing he weren't too secure in his seat to kneel in worship.

If it weren't for the beam sabers shredding a section of its cape on one side and grenades bouncing through the Gravity Territory on the other to explode benath the cloak on the other, Baraq would probably be sitting there, rapt in attention at nothing and everything for a very long time; instead, the loud alarms snap him back into the real world.

A real world where funnels bombard the Uriyah from every angle.

It has some things going for it, even /with/ Baraq having to contend with waking from his momentary nightmares: for one, the Gravity Territory plays some degree of havoc with any and everything entering it, doing its very best to throw mobile suits and remote weapons off-kilter while dissipating and misdirecting projectile offense. For another, the Qubeley in particular sacrificed some of its firepower just to cut the Megillots down, and finally--

--at least one Zeta entered its personal space.

Its cloak is again flipped away when one massive arm reaches to snatch Rachel's Crimson Zeta from the 'air'; as it seeks to crush the mobile suit's /entire body/ in its oppressive grasp, Baraq snarls, "/More/ tricks--more barbaric /nonsense/! If you were /worthy/ of integration--"

What Megillots /remain/ are zipping around to the Uriyah's other flank to concentrate their fire on Camille's OG Zeta, joined by a couple more ejected through the glowing cross embedded in the Uriyah's chest; they lack the deadly grace of the Qubeley's funnels, but Baraq's hope is that using them en masse against one opponent - with their horns and ring lasers stinging from all directions to swarm the Zeta like killer bees bringing down a buffalo - they'll at least do the job of diverting enemy fire a while longer. Meanwhile, the Uriyah itself actually leaves its position above the Argama to streak through space towards the Night Fencer, with or without Rachel's Zeta in tow.

"--if you had the /capacity/ to be reasoned with like /people/ instead of /apes/, then maybe, /maybe/ diplomacy would have been an option. /Instead/--"

The other half of the Uriyah's cloak parts as it approaches Lilith's dark and menacing mobile suit; the Uriyah's Gravity Te

The other half of the Uriyah's cloak parts as it approaches Lilith's dark and menacing mobile suit; the Uriyah's Gravity Territory immediately begins to try acting on the Night Fencer, drawing it closer, and closer, and closer, and if it is unable to escape the attraction--

"--you'll be subjugated, and you'll /thank us/ when we're done. Call it slavery if you want; you'll know it as enlightenment soon enough."

--the cloak will be drawn shut.

Baraq will then switch channels, and to Lilith alone, he will quietly transmit: "And /you/--stay /out/ of my /dreams/, you trumped up gutter witch."

And then the dim space between the Uriyah's body and cloak will fill with intense, punishing radiance that will leak through the holes the mobile suits have torn in its cloak.

Kazuma is not a newtype, even though he's a spacer born and bred. But when Adom/Macua starts freaking out like that, it doesn't *take* a newtype to pick up on it. "Mihiro, safety-lock our weapons but don't drain the capacitors," he orders quickly, then converts the Valhawk into Close Combat mode, flying towards the skittish Ezekiel. "Adom ... it's all right. Just as Macua's still part of you? You'll still be part of Macua when she comes back to us. It'll be all right."

And the Valhawk reaches out ... trying to pull the Ezekiel into a hug? A tight one, but a hug nonetheless ... and it may keep Adom from even being able to attack again.

"We're here for our friend," Kazuma says quietly, soothingly. "And our friend is inside you. Come back to us ... come home."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "Damn A.I. - Damn Aliens. Graaah."

Asfanit emits an annoyed. "Tch." She's /good/.

Of course she is, Asfanit recognizes. Those motions...she's a real pro, huh?

"Is that so?" Asfanit asks, actually engaging the topic of similarity directly. "What was it about me that draws you to me, Cagalli, hmmm?" It's a strange, interested kind of tone; not damaged, not frightened or alarmed, just...curious.

The close quarters battle resumes; Asfanit snaps her blade up, countering the incoming attempt to murder the hell out of her Ezekiel; she parries the blow to one side, and then hauls off and punches the Akatsuki right in the damn face. Unexpected! Will it work!?

The Night Fencer is within the darkness of the Uriyah's cloak.

Lilith shuts her eyes for a moment. It isn't her sight that will do her justice here; it is the full breadth of her arcane senses that will. A small cantrip, a flick of her fingers, and those Evil Eyes are now on full alert, scanning for an attack pattern... yes, they're incoming.

The Night Fencer clenches its fists together, holding its primary weapon close at hand. Instead of dodge and weave, it flies straight into the heart of the sun giant's light; the blood red aura of the Fencer pierces through, and momentarily, it is encroached. Black soulsteel stats to wither and crumple apart as the Uriyah's light looks to overwhelm the darkness...

...and then, with a red flash, the Fencer is gone.

One red flash later, it is outside again, having apparently made what it is it needed to within the cloak -- a small, carnelian sphere now embedded in docile fashion against the surface of the giant. From afar, Lilith stares inwards towards it.

"Burst, oh plague upon the Earth," Lilith decrees, ripping the sword forward. An arc of red lightning, seemingly linked towards the remote 'bomb' within, causes an internal explosion within the giant that... may or may not do much damage.

"Let the plight of your precious 'evolution' turn itself towards a dark, dead-end corner. Let the falseness of your God crack and crumble through its own weight."

The Orbital Frame manages to get behind Er'ela's Ezekiel "You shouldn't be so arrogant..." The Ezekiel twists in space, utilizing whatever the Balmarians have inplace of a Mobile Suits AMBAC controls to shift it's center of gravity and kick it's legs as flips over.

Homing laser blasts cleave throuwgh space but the range is too short for them to curve enough to keep up with Er'ela's wild manuevering, slicing through space by mere inches as the Ezekiel twists and rolls and flips out of the path of each shot.

"I'm afraid you won't be taking me anywhere." The Ezekiel rushes in again, this time one of it's legs lefting up to kick the Orbital Frame in the chest. "It is in fact, I who will be retrieving you. That machine, and you are poisonous." The other leg swings around in a round house kick to smash into the Amenthes' chest and the Ezekiel is fast behind it with it's laser blade.

"Your race IS foolish enough to destroy itself, and has come perilously close to it several times already!" The laser blade carves through space and the Ezekiel follows through with the motion, quickly bringing the blade up and down to slash again and again fromt he posoit direction of the first, all the time maintaining that smooth flowing motion without any hasty halts in the pattern to be taken advatadge of.

Bright suddenly re-appears on the Zeta P2/C3,

>Bright: "Rachel, this is no time to give up! Get your head back in the game and keep up your assault on the enemy!"

"It's turning on that Crusader regular," Bright observes from the Argama's viewscreens. He motions with flick-forward of his wrist, marshaling his tactical operator's attention on the Uriyah. "Full-yield burst on the enemy. Radio to Puru Two and tell her the enemy is intending on making off with one of her teammates!"

"This is Argama to 'Puru Two,'" radio operator Saman transmits to the Qubeley. "We're intercepting enemy communications indicating they want to steal the pilot in the orbital frame. Tell him to watch out!"

The Argama's guns turn back on the Uriyah, this time supported by its additional cannons. Particle streams pierce the darkness, lighting everything in the distance between the Argama and the Uriyah up.

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Puru Two transmits, "Hmm. Hey, what's-your-name, Ascian? If this is to be believed, it seems like they're planning to take you. That's kind of insulting when I'm right here, guess these aliens have poor taste."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "Thanks... but I figured that part out myself - since she kinda just told me. The name's Ascian Luddite. Also... no need to be so rude."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "Thanks for the vote of confidence there. I'll simply have to prove you wrong - won't I?"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Puru Seven transmits, "Hah. If they take you, I get the Psyco."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Puru Two transmits, "Heh. Seeing what that'll do to you would almost be worth getting abducted for."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Puru Seven transmits, "Handle it better than you, of course."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Puru Two transmits, "Whatever, Seven. I'm doing you a favor by making sure you'll never get to find out how you'd handle it. Not that I expect you to believe me."

Adom Nazir voice is bouncing back between both Macua's and Adom's. She pauses at Fola's words she'snot fighting now the Esh hangs there in space for a moment. She's not fighting now. "I.... no we..are. No I am. It's so hard Master Folka. It has me..." What is she talking about having her. Then comes Kazuma ing into hug her machine, she feels it via her machine's feed back system. "Not errase twist, it's hard to fight it for long, I'm still me. It's ... not as bad as that. I'm...freer in some senses... almost happy."

It's clear she's struggling at this point.

"I can't...I have done too much."

She's not fully in her right mind, but there's something aware of what'shappening that Macua's slipped her leash. It will not likely last forever.

Her machine isn't moving though but her mental distress is clear as day to anyonr with the power to sense it.

"I have done too much, done too much..."

'Damn Lynx!' is right. White Glint soars past the Ezekiel, the pressure of his own presence gradually fading as he gains more distance on her. An Armored Core NEXT with a Newtype at the controls is a dangerous opponent indeed, especially when the pilot has been in the field for so many years. This sort of thing is normal to him.

The other pilot having a mental breakdown is not. Joshua looks puzzled for a moment; she seems familiar, and yet he can't quite place it. Like someone he's encountered before, but never really taken the time to get to know. Kazuma says it; several of them do, really, and he picks up the name pretty easily.

White Glint closes in on the Valhawk and the Ezekiel. It keeps it's rifles levelled on the Balmarian machine, even while the Trailer holds it. "It needs to be disabled before they recall her, Kazuma," Joshua transmits to friendly forces. "Can you do it?"

Joshua asks the hard questions. And even still, it feels like...

The Princess is at least conversant with unarmed combat; as such, when the punch comes, Cagalli is there with a quick block with her non-swording hand, even as she puts the naginata away.

What can she say? If she doesn't acknowledge that she's Tessa, then that's not really an answer that's worthwhile for either of them. "... The fact that you've always been willing to see things through to the end. The fact that you make the hard decisions when I can't."

Saying things she misses about Tessa -- it's the best chance she's got, she thinks, even as those remotes swivel around again, maneuvering to imprison the Ezekiel in front of her this time before opening up yet /again/.

"We forgive you Macua... you didn't mean for all this to happen," Garrod explains, "You were forced into it, none of it is your fault. The only people to blame are the ones who played with your mind." Garrod takes a moment to secure his helmet... then opens the hatch of the Gundam X and stels out. He grabs a single comline launcher and takes aim, firing it at the Ezekiel to open up a skin contact link. ((C'mon Macua... let's just go home. I'll lead the way.))


 * NEWTYPE FLASH ***

There's a sound, carried over every open radio channel. A cry, a *scream* of raw anger, issued forth from what sounds like an enraged, monsterous creature... But after a while, it's a little more clear: It's a female. As reading of a Balmarian teleport system resgisters across those who can detect it, a figure emerges from below the plane of battle. Only a bright spot at first, it rises towards the fight in the blink of an eye. Those who can sense such things can feel a sick, nausiating pressure, might with the harsh, painful energy of an enraged soul, howling for blood.

In the split-second that it travels, it can just be made out as one of the Balmarian machines: The AGX-05 'Blue Angel'. But something is... Wrong. Wings fully outstretched, and alight with a brilliant blue flame, the feminine features of the core robot are frozen in place, reaching upwards as it climbs, and its blue eyes blazing with fury.

With incredible speed, the Angel lunges up, through the battlefield, bearing straight for Ialdabaoth, reaching for the Machine God. Balling its outstreached hand into a fist, buring with an unearthy energy, it slams it into Ialdabaoth's chest.

"YOU SAVAGES! YOU MONSTERS! YOU WORTHLESS, PATHETIC *SAMPLES*!" Ketol cries out, screaming her rage any one that can hear or feel it, "HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU TRY TO TAKE HER FROM ME!"

Ripping her hand free of the Shura God's chest, she starts striking Ialdabaoth again and again, landing blow after blow of painfull intensity on its torso, as she mercilessly, savagely, tries to rip the God apart with her own energy-enhanced fists.

"I WILL TEAR YOUR HEARTS FROM RIBCAGES, CRUSH YOUR MINDS UNDER MY HEEL, AND BURN YOUR SOULS! I WON'T LET YOU TAKE HER FROM ME!" contines Ketol's raging cry as she tears into the Shura.

Finally, the Angel pauses its Ialdabaoth, and reaches back with its fist. Glowing ever-brighter, the Angel's hand becomes almost blinding with power. Suddently, it slams forwards into the Mechanical God, driving through the armor to grasp at Ialdabaoth's heart.

"ADOM IS *MINE*!"

HEART BREAKER!

No matter what he might say, Judau knows this is a dangerous fight. There's something about this man... he can't see it, he can't hear it, but he can /feel/ it. It's like the feeling of a hungry tiger leveling its gaze on you. The feeling of knowing something considers it your prey. Which does not stop Judau from pumping the thrusters of the ZZ to their maximum in order to kick the hell out of Ali's mobile weapon. As soon as the impact is completed, the ZZ's front verniers activate, short bursts of thrust sending it yanking backward through space. The Hyper Beam Sabers snap to either side of Judau as he watches the Valsion Kai intently -- and just a little bit warily. "Yeah well," Judau mutters unpleasantly. He's never felt quite so on edge except, for different reasons, around Ha-- "You're not worth killin'! Ya got that?!" The Valsion moves. Power gathers. Judau can sense that ill intent before the attack even comes. His eyes widen, even as he hears Bright's warning-- --and then they come. A vortex of spiraling pastel columns, converging and seperating like a maelstrom of fury. There are too many, in too wide a burst for him to completely outmaneuver it. Bright tells him he has to. His eyes narrow. "I'LL SHOW YOU THIS DOUBLE ZETA GUNDAM AIN'T JUST A TOY!!" The ZZ does not bother to try and move. Those sabers /thrust/ forward. Judau's determination flows outward, and the biosensor reacts. That intense determination flows outward from the Double Zeta like a palpable wave even for those vaguely sensitive to the feeling; and for those not... it becomes all too visible in actualized matter. A hazy red field might be seen by the Most Dangerous Man in the World seconds before the full fury of the Cross Smasher is brought to bear and ENGULFS the Double Zeta. Energy collides and annihilates each other. The explosion is immense, devouring everything, eating up mobile suit debris and asteroids in its wake. ... and as the soft haze of pastel lights and saturated energy diffuses across the vaccuum of space, the ZZ is still standing there, surrounded by a warped corona of red. Its left leg's armor is melted away all the way down to the circuitry. Its chest sparks dangerously. But it is still entirely, all too intact. "I'm gonna..." The Double Zeta suddenly FLIES, rocketing forward at its maximum propulsion. Those Hyper Beam Sabers spread wide. "TAKE APART YOUR STUPID CRAB-BOT AN' SELL IT FOR SCRAP, YA PRICK!!" And then Judau has every intention of RAMMING into the Valsion at maximum velocity and STABBING those sabers into its torso, intent to carve straight through the machine's massive frame as deep as possible before /kicking/ off, reholstering the sabers -- and then just unloading bright red energy bursts from those hilts in their cannon mode, to completely douse the Valsion Kai in raw power and fury.

Hey, was the a familiar, negative little girl he heard? "Puru...Two?!" Camille frowned at the presence of the Qubeley distinctly unwwelcome despite the effectiveness of those funnels, "What are you doing here?! Didn't I tell mobile suits aren't the same thing as dolls?!" The battlefield was no place for girls that young: Not Puru, Puru Two or Katz Kobayashi!

The Zeta quickly finds itself surrounded on all sides by Megilots and worse, too many to dodge quickly and little enough time to discern to unit's 'trick' whatever it was. So, Camille does what he always does in such situations.

He completely makes something up.

"Don't underestimate the Zeta!" The Newtype declares as he does indeed get all /OG/ up in this mother, snapping a quick beamshot off at one of trailing megillots, using the resulting explosion as cover to slip out of that veritable hornet's nest of alien weaponry unscathed.

He's welcomed by a chilling sight: a terrible claw reaching out for his unit's red cousin. It was going after Rachel!

The Newtype's battle aura flared along with his rage, the Zeta ceasing the Hyper Mega Launcher (Yes, it was there all along!) and pressing forth at full speed, "YOU GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HERE!"

The Beam Bayonet sizzles to pink-hot life from the Launcher's barrel, flashing down at the outstretched appendage with the enhance force of Camille's transmuted will.

The princess keeps talking. "Ha ha, dear, I wasn't talking about this girl you think I am. Me, please, just humor me for a bit - that moment, that day, what made you think that way?" She's curious. What triggers these delusions in the Samples? "I'll answer your own question in exchange." She smiles, serenely, though on this linkup video is disabled. The Shiranui's remotes come in; and the Ezekiel is just /gone/, it's so /fast/, how the hell can it move like that!? But it sure does move that way, darting away too fast to track and skating along, away from Cagalli. Asfanit's fingers are shaking, a little. She can't...she knows she's getting these movements right, so why can't she hit the enemy...?

She continues on, voice not betraying the confusion she feels. "I wasn't lying. The chance to rise up from this war-torn world to the stars; that, I do want to give to all of you," she says, even as she surges forward, suddenly - blurring out from nowhere, moving absurdly fast as her units are wont to do, aiming to take advantage of a split-second opening in Cagalli's timing to jab her optical rifle barrel right into the join of Akatsuki's head to its shoulders, burrowing into the unarmored joint and firing off a shot that might just /ricochet around inside/.

Not aiming for the cockpit seems to weigh hard on Ascian. It makes targetting a lot harder - as it is often the center point of the units - where it is easiest to hit. But more-so... it goes against all the training he's ever had. "Why am I even doing this?" He whispers to the empty cockpit - as if Duat or Amenthes held the answer to this question. But of course, neither of them reply. And why would they? His grip on the controls tighten, and he eyes the little window that indicates Duat's status with fear. If it would stall again, that could mean the end of him. Sure, he was wearing a normal suit, but that did not mean that he was laser-blade protected. Besides, he wasn't particularly looking forwards to taking a trip in space, or lose Amenthes.

However, all of these thoughts cause a distraction, right along with the alien's words. The cockpit gets justled by the first kick - causing it to fly back slightly - and the second one to miss. But it's enough to tilt Duat again. And this time, Ascian just throws up his hands towards his face as he watches the laserblade come for his unit. He just can't help but try to protect his face, feeling like he is powerless. In turn - the Amenthes suddenly bends forwards to protect the cockpit - moving one arm over the thing. Sometimes, it's quite obvious to the runner just how 'alive' the metatron fueled machine is.

Another arm flies off - but this time gets sucked immediately into the Vector Trap... although this doesn't seem to be entirely by chance. A spacial anomaly comes into existance behind the unit the moment its arm and chest get cleaved - leaving the unit just barely in one 'piece'. In fact, the only reason it was not just chopped into two pieces was due to just how dense the Metatron substructure was in the central torso area - where its spine clearly showns.

"I'm... still alive?" Duat is back up again - and is showing just how terrible of a state he is currently in. "Should we run?" He asks himself. Of course he should run! He knew he was being targetted for abduction now. Or at least, so it seemed. "Don't be stupid..." He casts his eyes up. "This is rediculous! I can't be felled by some random alien - while I'm trying to protect the damnn EFA! This is a joke... right? This is a joke!" He growls under his breath and tips his head down - casting a shadow over his eyes. "SHUT UP! YOU ARE COMING MUCH CLOSER TO ANNIHILATING OUR ENTIRE SPECIES THAN WE EVER HAVE IN ALL THE YEARS COMBINED!" The Amenthes' eyes come to life once more - along with its body.

"Hold in there Duat. Just a little longer." The spacial anomaly that was causing the Vector Trap to absorb anything it could get its spacial hands on ends - leaving the unit stripped bare of much of its armor plating. It was almost as if the entire Amenthes was /naked/. Naked Amenthes. That's just silly. "What do we do now?" He sends the Orbital Frame closer to the Argama, keeping his eyes on the Ezekiel Ne'eman. "JUST STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Is that fear in his voice? The young man keeps the wings in the shape they had been before and begins to launch another series of beams at his opponent - still using his previous plan. Not the cockpit. It was amazing in a way, how he could freak out - yet keep that up. At least... for a regular soldier nobody really knows about. At least he is not wearing a red shirt.

Staren stands by uneasily as the battle rages on... He doesn't want to interfere with macua's recovery... But now, it seems one of the aliens has other ideas. "We're not taking her. We're taking her _back_..." He opens his mouth to add more, then shakes his head. Talk is likely pointless. "Now, stay away from her!" The shoulder armor parts unfold into flower-like beam emitters, and then, briefly, the purple-pink glow of mega-particles lances across the void!

Folka only had seconds to react. He moved, using his right hand to push Kazuma and Adom away from him, as he turned to face Ketol's mech...

There really was no time, she was increadibly faster than he was, and had gotten the drop on him. His hands moved, fists colliding, but he was at the disadvantage...

His arms were thrown wide, the anger from her attack driving him back as her fist shot up... right into the wound inflicted by Adom earlier and through the Shura god.

"Hruk!" Folka managed to get out as it wrapped around the cockpit of the Shura god... or attempted to...

Something surged for a moment...for a moment, the Shura god's appearance changed...long red hair and a white body...the flicker was momentary, but the force behind the energy was very real, aiming to toss the hand that nearly would kill Folka away from him.

But...

The damage was done, the Ialdabaoth floats back, very mortally injured, while it's pilot is no doubt likewise hurt.

The massive arm and equally large hand come her way. In one fell swoop, Rachel feels the pressure of the grip trying to crumple the Zeta Gundam like a tin can, but she tries to bring her arms up, to press against the grip with all she's worth. She grunts, strains-- but even as the shield crumples on the left forearm, as the beam sabers disengage and are held tighter in the hands, she doesn't give up.

"Y-You didn't even try to reason with us-- y-you just came at us with an invasion. You haven't even tried to understand anyone. You--"

Rachel's eyes close, her mind pressing against those oppressive walls-- the limits of the Bio Sensor and the experimental systems, against the hand that holds her. The pressure within her mind builds, her emotions becoming even stronger. If there are some people that wear their heart on their sleeve, Rachel Miu Athha is like a broadcast tower in the middle of the darkness of space.

'Rachel, this is no time to give up!' Confidence. "... Right!!"

And then, the Zeta Gundam P2/3C Type starts to glow. Shining orange, the defensive barriers activate, the strength of her own mind and heart pressing outward and spreading the crushing hand's fingers. Energy wicks outward around her to form a perfect sphere-- an energy barrier. Breaking free, blasting through space, the Zeta Gundam traces an orange line through space, jetting one direction and then another, darting between the Qubeley's Funnels and hooking an arcing line back toward the Argama.

The beam sabers ignite again, and Rachel strikes out at the Uriyah from one side, darting to the other, repeating the attack again and again-- trying to use the Mobile Suit's speed to her advantage. It's quite graceful, dipping in one direction, cutting in another-- and when she finishes, it's with a strike at the Balmarian machine's head, intent on disabling it with a single blow!

"Come, little punk."

Ali Al-Saachez rockets the Valsion Custom right into the Double Zeta at full Tesla Drive powered speeds. Why? Well, when the world looks back on this fight... When the Bright Noas of the world analyze every move in this combat ballet, tearing down the game film into a series of simple combat decisions, they will come up with one simple and undeniable conclusion: Ali Al-Saachez has the bigger sword.

The Divine Blade swings upward to intercept both of the Zeta Zeta's Hyper Beam Sabers; blade held horizontal as Ali brings the red energy weapons to 'eye' level with the Valsion Kai. Energy crackles across the Divine Blade, spheres of power pooling where the two Beam Sabers connect with the thick, maybe EOTI-fueled, Divine Blade's custom alloy.

(( SWORD LOCK ))

"... I don't know how you're still alive, you New-whatever," Ali seethes, the intensity of his dislike oozing from his voice. He's had enough of this Judau Ashta kid; he's resisting, he's fighting, and he's surviving. That's three mortal sins in Ali's book. "But it is time for you to die."

Ali pushes the Divine Blade against the Hyper Sabers, breaking their brief freeze in time and space. Judau fires the Double Beam Rifle, but Ali pivots the long-edge of the Divine Blade around, intercepting each of the red energy blasts. The Blade is able to handle the power, brief bursts of red lining the sword.

"So ... TRY A LITTLE OF THIS, GUNDAM!" Ali yells, shooting the Valsion back at Judau -- not letting the kid get any distance. "Close Quarters is the best way to fight!"

The huge spiked foot of the Valsion Kai leads Ali's charge, swinging to try and bash against the defenses of the Double Zeta. And if the opening is made, Ali pivots the Valsion and the Divine Blade, stabbing the tremendous sword straight forward to try and end the poor little Newtype.

For now, Kazuma transmits a tightbeamed acknowledgement to Garrod as the comm-tether is extended. /Take care of her, okay? I've got something else to take care of here./ The Valhawk's hand reaches up, lightly stroking the back of the Ezekiel's head. "I'll be back to see you, Macua, I promise."

Then the Valhawk lets go, maneuvering clear of the Ezekiel and heading for Ketol's machine. "What kind of idiot are you?" transmits Kazuma, signalling for Mihiro to go weapons-free again. "I don't know what kind of claim you can really make on Adom ... but Adom Nazir, Fire Dancer of the Balmarians, is about to become a piece of the girl she should have been allowed to be! If you're like Adom - if they crushed an Earth Sphere mind and built your brain on that foundation - then we're going to get you back too ... but if you're genuinely a Balmarian, and not somebody they brainwashed ..."

The Ray Blade is ejected from its knee-mounted storage housing, shooting up to be caught in the Valhawk's right hand as the 'blade' of energy ignites.

"THEN I'll SMASH YOU INTO SCRAP BEFORE I LET YOU LAY HANDS ON MACUA EVER AGAIN!!" Kazuma screams, trying to slice the arms off of Ketol's machine, then drive it away from the Valhawk with a powerful kick.

Camille Bidan is being helpful. He is irritating Puru Two, which in some twisted way tends to work as a motivator to the little girl. It doesn't help to know that of all the DC present, from what she's heard the aliens were the most interested in grabbing that Ascian guy, when clearly she'd be a far greater asset. Couple that with Puru Seven opening her mouth and her persistant throbbing headache, and you've got a pretty pissed off little girl.

"FINE! Are you all watching? You better all be watching! I'll show you what I can do!"

The broken-off verbal reaction from the enemy seems to indicate that something weird's going on over there, but Puru Two doesn't care to analyze what may be wrong with the Balmarian Super Robot's pilot. They're aliens, all they have to do is get shot and die. Especially right now. "You're gonna regret giving me time to recover!"

With that as the only warning, one glance at where the Qubeley used to be is enough to see that it's no longer there. Instead, in an instant, it rocketed up to a much higher vantage point, now hovering over the Uriyah with its arms spread wide. Upon mental command, all of its Funnels quickly converge, then shoot away in different directions. Swarming around the Super Robot, each individual shot may be like a mere pinprick, but there's a looooot of shooting, from constantly changing angles. There's got to be a weak spot in that shield somewhere... even if not, a constant barrage should help weaken it.

And naturally, she has to add, "I'd like to see anyone do THIS with dolls!"

"... I can't describe it. I -- maybe if I were really a Newtype, it'd be different, but I guess the only thing I can say is..." Cagalli frowns, as she twists far enough again to cause the shot to ricochet /off/ rather than ricochet /in/. "I felt your heart and it was hers. The way you begged me to stop fighting -- it wasn't the first time. I'd know it anywhere."

Shaking her head, she says, "I wish I could tell you more than that. I wish I could just... show you her heart and show you yours." The words get away from Cagalli. She can't express this, not to Asfanit, not the way she is. Today is not the day that Tessa Testarossa comes home.

The only heart that Cagalli can show Asfanit right now is her own. Taking a deep breath, she brings the funnels of the Shiranui pack in for a moment, recharging them before sending them out again... and then, all at once, they begin firing from countless angles, the Princess's focus reaching a laser-like point as she tries to strip away armor and rip through weapons -- and do almost nothing else. Right now, she just wants to incentivize Asfanit to leave.

The funnels eventually pull in alarmingly close, short bursts threatening to rip the Ezekiel's arms off, just to give a final coup de grace to its combative ability. It's not the /most/ elegant way to get someone to leave -- but it's not the least, either.

At the very last minute, Baraq notices the proximity warning informing him of some strange, red thing attached to the Uriyah's body; while the Balmarian titan opens its cloak to expel the jewel towards the Night Fencer on waves of tortured gravity, it explodes before it ever leaves the G-Territory, scarring the Uriyah's body and sending cracks through one of its crystal formations. Its cloak closes /just/ in time to let the better part of the Argama's fire cascade of it, though even that is insufficient proof against the attack; several deep pits are worn into its armour despite the Gravity Territory's best efforts to divert the onslaught. More cracks appear in that damaged crystal formation; shafts of wild, unchecked sunlight stream from between them, eliciting a frown from Baraq who now has to contend with his stolen Pulse Ion Engine's output going all awry.

And then there's the white Zeta.

There's a faint glimmer of appreciation in the Balmarian's heart; high output ranged weapons turned into melee implements are totally his style. If he didn't hate the Argama and everyone on it, he might do something with this appreciation /other/ than throw a fist larger than the Zeta's entire frame forward to meet the beam bayonet head on, but that just isn't the world we live in. When its fist meets the beam bayonet, the most the Gravity Territory can do to protect the Uriyah is scatter the Minovsky Particles somewhat so that they shower its entire fist, leaving thousands of scorched divots across its fingers instead of severing just one.

And even then, segments of its fingers break off into space seconds later, the structural damage too great for the entire extremity to remain whole.

Meanwhile, within its other fist--the Crimson Zeta is breaking free. Not only does this damage its servos minorly - its hand is gonna be stuck open while everything works itself back into joint - it forces Baraq to contend with the intensely fast unit moving around its body like an angry orange comet. There's little to be done but to trust in the Gravity Territory; in his Ezekiel, he at least had the /option/ of evading attacks like this even if he frequently just refused to bother, but tracking and accurately responding to a high-mobility mobile suit here is a different game entirely.

Thankfully, the Gravity Territory is more effective in protecting him from Rachel than it was Camille; with every attempted sword stroke, waves of distorted gravity nudge the Crimson Zeta just so to knock its attacks away until finally, it's level with its head. Its right eye, the blue one, it glows brightly for a moment.

The massive beam that follows skates harmlessly past the Zeta, leaving a trail that will linger for a short time before winking away.

"You were pretty clearly not worth the trouble of reasoning with," he flatly says to Rachel. He then transmits a sensor feed - the Valsion Kai and Double Zeta fighting not so far away - to the Crimson Zeta's cockpit.

"You can barely reason amongst /yourselves/," he sneers. "You can't /honestly/ tell me you'd have figured it out for the sake of /strangers/."

Despite the Uriyah's inability to close its right hand, Baraq engages the gold crystal attached to the back of it as the Qubeley settles above; his /intention/ is to surge upwards with a golden katar extending from the topside of the Uriyah's hand to impale the Zeonic mobile suit while slipping away from the incoming Funnel offensive.

What /actually/ happens is that Puru Two's mind is entirely too fast for him to contend with, so before the Uriyah can even move, it is inundated with energy from every angle. All the Gravity Territory can do is divert the particle beams /already/ aimed 'everywhere' to less vital points along the Uriyah's body, and this still has the end result of leaving its cloak filled with holes and the body beneath smoldering and freely leaking Pulse Ion energies. All in all, despite the diminished function of its hands and the increasingly erratic energy draw, the Uriyah is doing well /enough/, but at this rate--that may not last.

And surrounded by so many Newtype minds and the Night Fencer - one of which bombarded him with those disturbing images - retreating now lest this mildly tenable situation turn the corner into a full on problem is looking like a pretty good idea.

"Next time," he snarls to Bright Noa and his ragtag assemblage of mobile suit pilots, "you are /all/ mine. You haven't seen the /half/ of what my Lord has blessed me with."

And with that, the Uriyah's entire body compresses until it's no longer there, accompanied by the same hellacious distortions that heralded its arrival.

Adom Nazir mind is a mess at this point, it's a total mess, two identities trying to exist, and something else clawing at back of her mind. Adom is not sure what to say. "Kazuma...don't go. Can't fight it for long. I'm chained still, it's got all of us still. No matter how hard we fight. It has us."

Somewhere in the mess she realises this might be the last time she might see Kazuma. She's given to Garrod but she says "She's...been kind to me."

Then there's a moment of horror, and awe, she sees something happening with Folka. Ketol is on him like a daemon before he can do anything he was about to. There's nothing more she can do for him at this point as Ketol has arrived.

She's taken by the Gundam X, and she doesn't fight it. But then she hears something in the haze that gets her notice. Recall?! As the line opens and even Garrods earlier forgiveness of her registers.

(Garrod. I have to repay you.)

Shes only got a short time before the recall engages. Garrods too close, he may be pulled back with her. She cant do anything that thing is pulling her back down.

(Take care of Tiffa.)

She then without warning activate her spear cuts the comm. Line and then grabs Garrod. She throws his machine away her s an instnat before hed pick up gravity distortions and the Esh vanishing with the recall system fully kicking in. In an instant shes gone again.

Blades are caught, the ZZ's charge broken. When it backs off and fires off the shots from its shoulder cannons, the Valsion's sword slices through every single one of those bursts. "I'M NOT LISTENIN' TO SOME GIANT CRAB ROBOT!! WHY DON'T YOU GO WADDLE OFF TO HELL?! OR LIKE, THE OCEAN OR SOMETHIN'!?" He's going to feel so proud of that comeback later. But this, of course, does not change the fact that the Valsion Kai is continuing to press close-quarters combat. It suits Judau fine enough; as that foot comes down, the ZZ's verniers push it up slightly so it can literally /land/ on that swinging leg, going with the momentum of the motion in order to launch /backwards/ in a chaotic flip. At the same time, its sabers swing, intercepting and parrying that stabbing thrust. "All your talk about fightin' an' all that crap... are you that simple-minded?!" There's probably something inherently insulting about Judau Ashta calling someone simple-minded. "I don't care about what you thinks the best way to fight! I just wanna protect my friends from scum like yooWHOOOAAAH!!" The full force fo the Divine Blade's thrust sends the ZZ SPIRALING backwards through the air. And as it does -- its beam cannons, its beam rifle, and all its missiles unload, all of them firing off in chaotic bolts of bright red and swerving, circulating bursts of missile volleys that seem to go in almost every direction... and yet strangely, as if by freak coincidence... ... all focus in on the Valsion Kai. "AAAAAAAAHHHHH OH MY GOD I'M GONNA PUUUUUUUKE--"

"That pressure..." Joshua grunts as he feels /something/ approach. That kind of rage turns his stomach--and makes it easy to spot what's coming. White Glint breaks off, shooting off into the darkness and clearing Ialdabaoth's general vicinity. The NEXT's pilot watches from a rear camera as the thing gets it's heart practically torn out, wincing in sympathy. He doesn't know the guy, but...

White Glint stops, turns, and immediately goes back at the Blue Angel. White Glint is a familiar sight to the Balmarian and her machine, and the Blue Angel familiar to him. He flashes past it, circling like a bird of prey, heedless of any sort of danger that the alien machine might pose.

Where that missile came from, and when it split into six smaller warheads, is something else to puzzle about. When did he /fire/?!

"At least that one isn't flailing nonsensically at me and calling me a monster despite being the person invading my homeworld," Bright makes a face as he chooses one evil for another. "Torres, take us around. We've got one more to go."

The Argama's manuevering thrusters fire in rapid succession. The battleship curves around, bringing it about in the direction of the Mal'akh.

With a button press, Bright switches over to address his units. Only, just as he places the phone up to his head..

"...AAAAAAAAHHHHH OH MY GOD I'M GONNA PUUUUUUUKE--"

Bright winces as he turns his head away. "Judau! Get ahold of yourself in the middle of combat!" he scolds. "Where was I..? Oh." He clicks the right button this time, "All units, coordinate firepower on the newly-arrived enemy. Lock-on and annihilate."

((What...?)) Garrod asks, confused by her response before realizing what she means, ((--No! WAIT!)) It's too late as Macua severs the line connecting them and throws the Gundam X away before it is sweeped up in the gravitational anomoly. Garrod grabs out at the rim of the GX, just barely avoiding being thrown off his machine. his one hand reaches out to where Macua vanished, "Come back!" A moment passes. Garrod let's his hand drop, then slowly clenches his hand up into a fist. With a pull, he yanks himself back into the Gundam X and closes the cockpit. "You..." The inside of the Gundam lights up as Garrod takes the controls again, feeling rage swelling up inside of him. "YOU..." The shield folds in half as Garrod attaches it to his back, then pulls out both beam swords and ignites them. "YOU /BITCH/! Give her back! GIVE MACUA BACK!" The GX surges forward in a wild rush, it's blades rising up over it's head as Garrod charges at Ketol, only to bring them hurtling down on her head. Bright Noa rubs the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "Why do I keep getting teenagers for pilots."

There's a twist from Lilith's face as the Uriyah escapes. Her magic is, once again, running dangerously low... and yet, she finds herself caring little. For too long she has danced about her opponents. In this time and stage of the war, she needs to be more decisive with her spells.

"... until next time, then," Lilith comments to no one in particular. In the midst of this battlefield, her words aren't going to be of much use. The Night Fencer shimmers with its bloodsoaked color as it plots a trajectory towards another chart of space.

And then, it is gone.

This time the homing lasers strike true, the Ezekiel Ne'eman's chest is pierced through by the metatron energy weapons, melting holes straight through several inches wide, burning out systems and weakening the internal structure.

Inside of the machine, Er'ela strains against the controls, trying to keep the Ezekiel orientated properly to defend itself. She manages to accelerate again and take a swipe at the Amenthes with the laser blade. "Damnit." as it comes just short.

The smoldering form of the Ezekiel Ne'eman pulls back slightly and holds the Laser Balde up in both hands tightly. "You can come with me..." The blue/white thrusters on the back ignite again driving the Ezekiel upto speeds past it's normal tolerances, driectly for the Amenthes.

And straight past it.

"...or you can get out of the way." the laser blade snaps off. Somewhere in there, Er'ela slashed at the Orbital Frame so quickly the human eye didn't even see it.

There is a metric gigaton of firepower being thrown at the Valsion Kai. But there are two decades worth of daily combat experience behind the controls of the Super Humanoid Machine. The Crab Robot air waddles, Tesla Drive pumping a fresh batch of energy to its back-thrusters. The robot cuts on the horizontal, narrowly avoiding the beam barrage of the Double Zeta.

The missiles are more difficult; they for Ali to launch the Valsion forward, tracing a path through the Aerogater frey. Some fancy zig-zagging through debris gets the majority of the missiles to detonate behind the Valsion, before Ali cuts up into space above the battlefield -- Autocannon Trick handling whatever is left.

"Pathetic," Ali says, his good-humor fading as he becomes growingly disgusted with the Double Zeta's pilot.

Ali takes a look at the Valsion's read out. Energy is actually low -- a drawback to this jury-rigged Super Robot. The real Valsion would never have a problem with energy consumption. "What a shame," Ali says to himself, leaning forward in his seat to get a good look at the Double Zeta's signature on his HUD. What a fine robot, indeed. "I'll only have one more chance at killing this stupid punk."

In two decades of combat, Ali has learned one thing about Real Robots versus Super Robots. Super Robots reward stupidity. They are flown by idiots and they succeed on those idiots willingness to be moronic. Just look at his old 'pal' Sanger Zonvolt. So, burdened with a nearly depleted Super Robot, Ali Al-Saachez does the only thing available to him: something stupid.

The one remaining shoulder weapon comes back online with a surge of color. A fresh Cross Smasher brews along the spiked, gold and red column. Within seconds, Ali lets it rip, sending another helix of power pummeling across the battlefield at the Double Zeta. But he doesn't expect, from this range, it will do him much good. No, instead, the ex-Aggressor pilot chases the Cross Smasher down --

"Watch the birdie, you STUPID FREAK!"

With the Cross Smasher as his shield, Ali Al-Saachez grips the Divine Blade with both hands of the Valsion Kai. And with one exaggerated, Kar Wai Lau motion, Ali Al-Saachez swings the Divine Blade like he was Babe Ruth. And at the speak of its speed, he /lets it go/ --

The biggest T-Link Ripper in Human History goes spinning for the Double Zeta, the contrail behind a beautiful Cross Smasher.

Asfanit listens. "Huh," she murmurs.

"It sounds like you miss your friend a great deal," she says, but then bites it off in annoyance. She had that! She knows she had that! It was a wildly improbable shot, of course it was, but...that should've...!

"...you're quite skilled," Asfanit mutters. She's not threatened, this has been quite peaceful...so she can't say she knows why her hands aren't steady. The whispers nag at her, their usual promise of secrets, hissing wisdom with the important parts blurred to uselessness. But Asfanit knows that they are blessings to be sought only at great peril. Indulging in the deepest heart of her faith is not something to be done lightly. She knows that. He taught her that.

Finally, Asfanit says, "It seems your friends have broken mine, Cagalli," with a sad voice. "I have to go help her. Once she's better, I hope we can talk again. Maybe you'll understand..." Hum.

The blasts come in; Asfanit BOLTS away, surging away quickly on flaming gouts of energy, the unbelievable /wave/ of energy managing to peg the Ezekiel in a shoulder and an elbow; the systems aren't destroyed, but they are damaged, and Asfanit emits a little annoyed sound as she starts rocketing away to the field, signalling the recall order, as she transmits back: "My name is Asfanit Kolot. Please remember it, Cagalli."

"I hope you'll walk beside me very soon."

Another pause, as the unit starts to fade, and then: "Er'ela! Ketol! We're done here!"

Steel fist meets heated plasma in a desparate clash of wills, shock of impact throwing Camille about like a ragdoll even in his cockpit restraints. "Guh...!" This bastard didn't know when to quit, but he wasn't about let him just do as he pleased with Rachel..!

Except oh hey, Rachel got out. And he was disappearing now.

>:/ accurately describes Camille's expression right now as he investigates the space the Balmarian had occupied mere seconds ago, Zeta's scanners turning up nothing useful, "How the hell do they do that?!"

Okay, analysis later, priorities now. Rachel was going assist Judau against Ali, and much as Camille wouldn't mind getting a lick of his own in on that war-hungry monster...orders are orders. At least, when Camille decided they are.

"Direct all fire at the new unit...?" The Zeta turns in the direction of said unit and quite perfunctorily raises the hyper mega launcher. "Hnh....I remember that suit." It tore him up pretty good back on Earth, when they'd learned about Tessa (Who was fighting Cagalli right now, yes. Camille is sending precious thoughts of coming back your way, Tessa). "Well...sucks to be you." At this distance he doesn't even need to move in. Targeting reticule locked dead on, the Zeta lights out a straight beeline from the barrel of that high-powered rifle to the Malak's or whatever's chassis, demarcated by an all-consuming streak of condensed mega particles.

"LOW ENERGY!" - "How!?" Ascian stares at the energymeters. The damage that was had been done to the Orbital Frame - as well as for long long the Vector Trap had been open - had caused a major energy loss in the unit. "Is this really it? Are we really going to just get killed out here? We have yet to even find my sister." Something within the Amenthes stirs as he mentions this. "We have yet to get promoted out of being a damn scout. Is this all I can become in this life? Is this all I can truly attain? This... this is NOTHING!" Again he growls under his breath as he looks at the figure that is the Ezekiel, making yet another approach. "WHAT KIND OF JOKE IS THIS!?"

Miracles do happen once in a while. The red energy that flows through the cockpit suddenly seems to 'pull' through Ascian's hands into his body, poisoning him with their radiation... but linking him deeper into the Amenthes. Of course, this isn't exactly a painless thing. But the framerunner is so out of it - so angry - he doesn't even notice that his body is somewhat aglow. His mere need to get the heck out of the way of the incoming attack is enough to get the bit-like wingpieces to quickly collect around the unit's waste and use their combined thrust to burn back - away from the purple Ezekiel - letting the unit get away from the incomming laserblade counterstrike.

Ascian's grip on the controls keep getting tighter and tighter - and one would almost expect blood to start flowing from his fingers. He's that entranced by the battle at hand. His eyes are trembling in their sockets and are led into by some of the red glow. "I can see you... Amenthes. I can see. We'll go far." A smile appears - his eyes widening a little. The smile grows bigger. "I CHOOSE OPTION 3! NONE OF THE ABOVE! LET ME CARVE MY ANSWER INTO YOUR UNIT!" The unit's damage suddenly begins showing again, and the energy-meters flare up brightly. The Vector Trap spacial anomaly shows for a moment - flicking and compressing space. And this effect only gets more severe whilst Er'ela rushes forwards and tries to slice through the Amenthes!

SLASH!

She slices nothing. There where she had once aimed, for a small moment, was nothing.

Then from nowhere, the special anomaly disappears, and the Amenthes reappears all of the sudden. Ascian doesn't even register what just happens, he just knows that he is alive! And all he cares about whilst he is alive, is to do just what he promised! He turns the Amenthes around and collects the bit-like units at where once his Orbital Frame's arms were. And from there - they form what looks like a set of edged blades -- attaching to eachother and the shoulders. From there, the Amenthes blasts all of their beams at the enemy. "LET US WRITE OUR OWN DESTINY!" Ascian calls out as the beams flare around - hoping that they will disable the machine.

Even Judau isn't entirely clear how he's alive. "You're not gonna beat me in a thousand years, an' you don't even have five left, you geezer!" But that doesn't mean he's not going to totally gloat about it. Still, for as well as the Double Zeta's pilot may be doing, it doesn't matter much if he can't get a clean hit in on his target. The painted red mass-produced monstrosity comes barreling in again, and once more, that feeling pulses over the battlefield. Concentrate, raw passion that rolls forth from Judau and is enhanced by the ZZ's Bio Sensor without his knowledge. That feeling translates into raw energy; when the Cross Smasher flies, the ZZ rips to the side-- --the Divine Blade is released with a patented motion Judau is far too young to know-- --and strikes, not the ZZ, but a shimmering field of red with a sparking CRACK of impact. Hazy red energy surrounds the ZZ like a chrysalis, meeting and holding that blade at bay for the briefest of moments. It dilutes the momentum, the force behind the blow... ... but even that doesn't mean that it can abate it entirely. The massive blade pierces through; as it does, the ZZ's thrusters ignite. The blade meets the Gundam's shoulder, slices through it, and tears the left arm off completely. The Double Zeta powers through it. "T-tch!" spits out Judau as sensors overload and explode. He is rocked in his seat, debris exploding out into the cockpit and lacerating his side and face. And yet he powers through, to deliver Ali one very important message in a video communication uplink: "WATCH THESE BIRDIES!!" And Judau Ashta proudly gives Ali Al-Saachez two birdies in the flipping motions of his hand as the ZZ's remaining arm comes crashing down, to impale its Hyper Beam Saber straight through the Super Robot's chest as powerfully as possible.

Of course Puru Two isn't going to pay any attention to what the alien pilot claimed, or whoever else contributed to lead to this result. Her reaction to the Uriyah making itself scarce after her Funnel bombardment is predictable. "Ha! Did you see that?! That's what happens when you underestimate me!" No matter if anyone actually reacts to that statement or not, that should prove her point to absolutely everyone ever. Until the next time she feels the need to prove herself again, which will probably happen tomorrow, if not later today.

Well, that should be enough to repay the favor, shouldn't it? The Argama crew can handle the rest. Even if the aliens weren't calling for a general retreat, she sees little reason to stick around any longer. With no regard for Ascian's dire situation, she simply announces, "Hey Ascian, stop playing around, we're done here." At least the Qubeley's approach, surrounded by its readied Funnels, should add some pressure. Who knows, she might even shoot if Er'ela tried to carry out the abduction threat.

Then suddenly, for no apparent reason, Puru Two opens communications with the Argama, her angry face filling up the whole viewscreen. "AND WILL YOU /FINALLY/ STOP SENDING OUT THAT SIGNAL ALREADY, WHAT MORE ARE YOU TRYING TO DO, ALL YOU'RE ACCOMPLISHING NOW IS SPLITTING MY HEAD IN TWO!!" The transmission ends just as abruptly, without further explanation of what she was talking about.

He disappears. Rachel can't refute his claims; the violence between humans on their own planet is terrible, but... to subjugate them, to make them slaves to /their/ will? To erase any history of who they were, and take all that away...?

But then she realizes the situation; the Double Zeta with a missing arm, the two machines locked in a rather nasty battle. Still glowing that bright orange color, twinkling like a small star unto herself, the Zeta Gundam shifts and /moves/, the thrusters carrying it through space on an awkward angle. It shifts left, bends right, moving straight lines and leaving a long orange trail of light in space.

Beam sabers drawn, ignited, Rachel makes her entrance on the Valsion Kai by--

-- kicking it.

Blazing in from nowhere, she shifts her leg up, pivots at the hip. The Zeta follows the movement to the fullest, extending a leg intent on kicking Ali's machine in a manner that is undoubtedly eye-catching, twisting around to strike with beam sabers, swinging both blades at the head, darting aside to swipe at the chest.

"Leave-- him--"

Thrusting the beam saber in the right hand out, aiming to dig the blade into the Valsion Kai's body, Rachel fires her thrusters and pivots the Zeta Gundam around in a circle, fingers curling the Mobile Suit's hand into a fist. The punch is direct, accurate, and-- aimed to punch the pommel-end of that beam saber, aiming to drive it through the machine!

"ALONE!!"

The Argama's bridge-crew leans back in shock as an incensed Puru Two commands their attention.

Angry Puru is angry.

"My god.." Bright whispers in awe. "..The clones have begun their menstruation cycle."

Every single person aboard the bridge gulps audibly.

As the Mechanical God drifts away, the Mal'akh appears frozen for a moment.

It only lasts a moment.

In the blink of an eye, the Balmarian machine *jumps* away, leaving Staren's beams to streak across empty space. In another heartbeat, the Blue Angel flashes by the Valhawk, and its powerful Ray Blade is only able spark across the wing's shielding as Blue Angel passes it by. Likewise, as it streaks towards Adom's former location, the Gundam X's beamswords slice at the vapour trail in its wake. The blasts fired from the Zeta fly wildly off-target thanks to the blinding speed, and even the main guns of the Argama barely register on the Messenger's protective forcefield.

However, as Adom is pulled away, the Blue Angel momentarily stops... And for that heatbeat, the cluster of missiles fired by the White Glint catch up, and slam against the armored, shielded back of the Mal'akh, scorching the outstretched wings.

Adom is gone. The others are leaving...

The Blue Angel stays, and turns towards the Argama.

"You will burn..."

Once again, energy builds around the strange Balmarian mobile suit.

"You corrupted her. You twisted her. You tried to capture and *change* her into another one of your pet psychics... AND YOU CALL *ME* A MONSTER?"

She lunges forwards, not towards Kazuma, nor Garrod... but towards the Argama itself.

"NONE OF YOU ARE WORTH SAVING! Your weak, feeble souls will suffocate in the emptiness of space!"

Diving straight for the bridge, the central armor of the Blue Angel opens up, folding away to reveal a central chamber...

Its energy cannon.

Looming in front of it, the 'heart' of the Mal'akh flares brightly, blinding in intensity, as it aims its central projector at point blank range... and unleashes a maelstrom of energy, burning everything before it with horrific power!


 * ZKKKKTTTTZZT *

The Hyper Beam Saber stabs right through the Valsion Kai's huge, spikey, non-aerodynamic shoulder. The red blade stabs /right/ through. Straight shot. Sparks shower from the wound, as the saber is briefly paralyzed in its position between the armor of the Super Humanoid Machine. And while it is stuck in the Valsion Kai, the Valsion Kai is similar paralyzed in space --

Just as reinforcements arrive.

The Rachel Miu Athha Manuever does a bunch of unmentionable stuff to the Valsion Kai, tearing into it, before finally pommel-bashing Ali and the repainted red robot right in chest. The gold gem lining the core sparks and explodes, knocking the Valsion back in the sky, its systems dying by the millisecond.

"Hnh," Ali grunts, knowing when he's been beaten. The ZZ Gundam is formidible alone -- but with a Zeta Gundam also on hand, and the Valsion Kai's poor energy reservoirs... It is time to disappear.

"See you in hell, kid," Ali transmits, the Valsion spinning and rocketing towards Neptune.

Er'ela sufa is well aware that she missed her attack. You just don't use a sword as much as she does without getting a feel for the way a landed strike feels. Inside the cockpit, the woman sits, with a small smile on her face.

"You may have tricks..."

The Ezekiel spins around just as the Amenthes comes diving in with those blade arms, it lifts up it's leg as it spins, knocking te blades away. It completes it's piroutte by activating it's laser blade again and slashing down into the back of the Orbital Frame.

"...but you are still too slow." Er'ela looks away and turns from the Orbital Frame. "You still have this day, Sample. I suggest using it to think about who the insane one here really is."

The Ezekiel Ne'eman turns and activates it's thrusters, withdrawing from the area.

"You aren't saving her!" shouts back garrod as he twists around, trying to track Ketol's movements, "You're enslaving her! That's all you balmarians know how to do! All this garbage about saving and uplifting, it's nothing but an excuse to oppress people!" The beam swords deactivate as he finally spots her, all the way over there. Instead he stows away his blades in exchange for unhooking the Divider Shield from his back. "WAKE UP! You Balmarians are the ones who brainwash people! That is a /fact/! That's exactly what you mean whenever you spout about saving people! How the HELL can you accuse us of brainwashing her--" The Divider Shield whines with deadly intent as the 18 beams guns stored within charge up in unison. "/WHEN THAT'S EXACT WHAT YOU CAME TO EARTH TO DO TO US?!/"

And then the shield opens fire, clawing the sky with talons of energy.

Meanwhile, on the Argama..

Ketol Iyar's rant falls upon deaf ears.

The realization that Zeon's highly-effective clone girl army has reached reproductive maturity has terrified the crew.

Beecha Oleg sits underneath a console with his arms holding his knees tight to his chest, gently rocking himself back and forth as he tries to figure out what this will mean for Judau Ashta. "They- they can't force us to pay child support if we don't let him be part of our junk-gathering operation, r-right??" he asks quietly, as if appealing to the Gods of Space and Rock Music for an answer.

"Saman, get my wife on the line!" Bright commands. "..She'll know how to deal with this."

Of course, a slightly more pressing (but somehow less horrifying) thing demands their attention. Like a laser being shot at them. "Captain, we have incoming!" Ron Keith shouts.

"Torres, hard to port!" Bright barks out. "Everyone, hold onto something!"

The Argama tries to veer away, eliciting a powerful blast from its manuevering thrusters. It tilts to the side, yet isn't fast enough to build the momentum for a hard turn -- and a blast of light scorches the Argama's thickly-plated hull.

Those aboard are rocked in their positions.

Except for Beecha, who is thrown into the tiny bit of space between him and the console above him and clonks his orange-maned hair on the device. "Yeeoww!"

Bright shakes his head. "Unbelievable. If it wasn't bad enough.. arm mega-particle cannon and return fire!"

The oval 'shields' on either side of the Argama slide back, revealing weapon mounts that extend forward. Barrels extend with circular motion, locking into position and enabling energy-condensers to fan outward. They sparkle with power.. and then suddenly discharge!

"..Our only hope is to lock up Camille and Judau... and Captain Quattro for the time being," Bright considers aloud.

Staren can't help but laugh darkly at Ketol's speech. "We could say the same to you... You've got it all backwards! And she's not our 'pet psychic', she's our friend! And you... are not going to get in the way of that!" Too late, Staren sees what Ketol is going for.

"Nooooo!" The Star Hawk speeds towards the Malakh. Why oh why do they build ship bridges like that, instead of making them one of the innermost rooms of the ship? It's not like you _need_ a giant window when you can just have, you know, _screens_... Fortunately, the Argama manages to avoid a bridge hit. "You're not getting a second chance to do that!" The Star Hawk lands atop the Argama, hefting its giga launcher and firing it again and again at the Malakh. "Macua is our friend! If you want to be angry at someone... Be angry at whoever brainwashed her and decieved you!"

Staren pauses as he has a thought. "And if you really, really care for her... Then get to know the _real_ her."

Miracles rarely last. Especially not when someone like Ascian - normally collected and calculating - loses his temper and goes berserk on his enemies. When Ascian watches the beams from the Amenthes miss his target entirely - he just loses all of his spirit in the battle. The metatron lines and poisoning retreats... leaving behind a confused and miserable framerunner who is trying to justle the controls to get out of the way of what he knew would come; that laser blade again. "Move move move move!" But it's almost as if the energy was entirely drained from the thing. And an indicator claimed as much - hidden behind static and the failing of his A.I. He turns his eye up towards Er'ela's unit as it swings around and suddenly feels the push against his unit.

The lights suddenly all go out in the cockpit. "A... Amenthes?" He almost cries out its name. "Hey... don't die on me now..." She'd struck part of its spinal column, and the energy flow was being disrupted. The unit's bioluminescent lines blink a few times... hardly showing any life in the thing. "DAMNIT!" Ascian smashes his both hands down on the controls of the unit and bends his upped body over... hanging his head. "Damnit... Duat... this is your fault." He whispers. "And mine... sister... where are you? I need you." In the end - soldier or not - when things get desperate... even his chest can weigh heavy sometimes. "I guess I am growing insane."

He turns his head up - noticing that the alien had left the battlefield. "Guess I at least did enough damage to get her to back off." Only now does Ascian realize that his body is shaking. He wraps his arms around himself and looks around in the dark cockpit. "I feel... alone." He mutters. Never had he felt alone within the Amenthes. Usually there'd been some kind of 'presence' here, but now it was empty... floating in space. Until slowly - a tiny bit of this red glow started to come back. "Huh?" Ascian blinks. His smile reappears. The controls were still not working. But a tiny few of the bits at the unit's arms had activated slightly for a moment, and the Amenthes was now floating gently towards one of the Argama's launching 'strips'. There goes that smile. "This has to be some kind of cruel joke from the Metatron gods or something."

The pilot of the Blue Angel rants and raves. Her voice echoes inside the confines of White Glint's cockpit. Joshua flicks his eyes just so, and the volume turns down ever so slightly.

"You have no idea what you're talking about, kid," Joshua says into his radio with a sigh in his voice. "I'm sorry that you got caught up in this. I'm sorry that you think what you're doing is right, and what we're doing is something awful. Your friend will get better, because she's ours too, even if they don't want you to believe it. That's fine."

White Glint keeps moving. It's never still, always zig-zagging around the Argama. What few Balmarian drone forces are still left in the vicinity get shot out of the sky as it passes, a paltry amount of it's real firepower brought to bear on them. They're a footnote on White Glint's kill record at best, and a waste of his expensive ammunition at worst.

The NEXT comes back around. "But I don't think you understand the situation you're in," he continues. Joshua talks while he flies, apparently completely unconcerned with the battle that has been raging all this time, and with the Blue Angel. Is he mocking her, or is he really just that dense that he doesn't notice the threat? Or is it... something else?

The mental pressure Joshua gives off is a gentle one, a soft and soothing presence surrounding the intensity that he chooses not to project. His mind is a weapon, and he can see the rage around the pilot of the Blue Angel as plain as day. It's an uncontrolled, ferocious thing; he hasn't seen much like it until just recently, as the Divine Wars reach a head. It's a sad state of affairs.

One of White Glint's rifles begins to fire. The assault rifle held in it's left hand fires staccato bursts of solid slugs as it circles, pouring on the gunfire. Arcs of bullets tear for crucial points in the Blue Angel's frame as White Glint practically orbits the Balmarian mech, moving with astounding speed and an almost lazy sort of grace.

"You're in the middle of a battle, and your friends are all running off. Do you think now's the time," Joshua says, staring down the projected sight of the rifle as he flies directly in front of the Blue Angel, "to lose your head?"

He pulls the trigger again--and another burst dives right for the vulnerable center of the Blue Angel, focused on the energy cannon and whatever vital components might be mounted behind it.

The Blue Angel darts away from the attacks, blindingly fast and agile as it leaps away from the Argama. The beams of Staren's Giga Launcher, and the megaparticle cannons on the Argama scorch empty space as it flies away, and swoops around to evade the attacks. The White Glint's carefully aimed shots fall well short, as it streaks away from the projectile's predictable path.

However, one pilot cathes her unaware. As she slows down at the hight of her path, a wide arc of beam fire cuts acros her path, and slams lengthwise across the Angel. It *screams* in pain across the radio channels, as a line is burned across her torso, arms, and wings. Tumbling away, Ketol remains undaunted, staring down the remaining pilots with boundless rage, only tempered by the pain of her phantom injuries.

"I won't... let you... take her. If I have to destroy you all... One by one... Then I'll... I'll..."

Suddently, the Blue Angel clutches its head and *SCREAMS* as those sensative to its emotions feel the pressure radiating from the mobile suit just... stop. Like flicking a switch, the power and menace surrounding the Angel vanishes, and for a fewtense moments, it hangs limply in space, drifting like an unconscious spacer....

It doesn't last long, as the familiar light of the Aerogator's teleporter springs to life, and the Blue Angel is pulled away, leaving dothing but a glowing of quickly-dimming fog in its wake.