2023-02-03: Lost... Broken Shards

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<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

The shuttle of the Queen of Shevat arrived at the Fahrenheit some four hours ago.

What has ensued since then is, to most Drifters, somewhat boring. The Queen, Cid, and several of their trusted advisers are hashing out an agreement to cooperate -- in Spira and Filgaia both -- and the minutiae that come with it. That has left the Drifters to keep watch, to occasionally weigh in when called on, and help entertain the guards from both.

The Fahrenheit has since docked at a mountain station established by the Al Bhed. There is an ancient metal platform and docking bridge, with a couple of old buildings from a thousand years ago. This high up, Sin hasn't reached them -- though he could. That makes for a platform, which several Gears are stationed on. Those Gears are about to prove necessary.

In the distance, the gleaming white hull of a Solaris airship can be seen.

Then, several airborne Gears fly in -- soaring through the skies, as they come rushing in towards the docked Fahrenheit. One launches a pair of missiles, though a burst of cannonfire from the Fahrenheit blasts both down before they impact.

<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

    The last time Loren had been in Spira -- the very last time -- it had been terrible.

    Not only had he been subjected to just about the largest summoning of an Aeon he -- or probably anyone -- had seen, but through the actions of a particular teammate, one of his dearest friends had almost been killed.
    And he had ended up starving, and it had been very, very cold.

    The only good thing about all of that, as far as he'd been able to determine, was that at least he would never need to go back to Spira.

    Loren thinks, distantly, as he prepares to launch, that he should have known better.

    Special orders, straight from the top (which is Major Leah Sadalbari of the Interior Ministry): he was due with the strike team in Spira to assist an operation there. Effective immediately.

    At least they brought in one of the airships -- R&D had sorted the limiting factor with the portal at last, if too late for anyone to properly utilize outside this moment. At least he's in a Gear. Though, perhaps, that's cold comfort.
    There's nothing but the sea below them this time.

    At least the parameters are simple this time: provide assistance to the strike team and ensure destruction of the target.

    But simple doesn't mean easy. He was briefed about the nature of the target after all: it's the Al Bhed airship. Aboard are several high-ranking members of the Shevite government, including their queen. What she's doing here, or why... it's none of his concern. But in one fell swoop, they could just about behead Shevat and possibly even eliminate them as a threat.

    He knows better than to think it's going to be easy.

    "All systems green... launching," he announces to his team, bracing himself for the forces involved as Schiehallion is send into the sky.

    "The target is straight ahead. I'll provide support. They're sure to have defenses ready." Speak of the devil, here's a flurry of return fire from the Fahrenheit, destroying Solaris' early salvo of missiles. "--Shielding!" A moment of focus from Loren, and his Gear does the rest.

    Shimmering shields of light crack into position before several of the other white Solarian Gears. They promise to be a problem for the team defending the Fahrenheit, particularly when further missiles are let fly.

    ELSEWHERE

    Aboard the Fahrenheit, the approach and initial assault has not gone unnoticed. "It seems we are needed after all," Citan says to Fei, Elly, and the other Wolves grimacing. "Let me see to the Queen and the other officials. It may be that we will need to evacuate them," he adds, before turning to depart in a hurry towards the conference room.
    Which is to say, in other words, that Citan Uzuki has left their party... again.
<Big Scene> Schwarz Puppy: Talia kick feet up

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

Azoth has been, as others are even aware, aboard the Fahrenheit itself. He has witnessed the drunken aftermath and watched, but not meaningfully helped, as Drifters scrambled to clean up for the coming negotiations. Oh, he's given the appearance of it, of course. A bottle here or there.

But for the most part, he watches. He waits. He smiles and he laughs at jokes. He makes a few of his own, sprinkling in the Al Bhed he's picking up along the way. He's a little surprised no one tossed him off the Fahrenheit as it was. But maybe his whole facade is working out a little too well.

Solaris attacks.

Its asset, already aboard the Fahrenheit, is undisturbed by the tremors caused by missile fire. He slumps as if to sigh, but has no breath to do it with.

From outside, on the deck, where everyone has no doubt rushed, something inside... explodes.

Black chassis and exposed sputtering wires and faceless visage and all, Azoth bursts onto the deck, energy blades flying with violent intent. Citan's right to want to evacuate the high profile guests as urgently and quickly as possible.

<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

The Beowulf is an astounding Gear.

The Zeboim-built Gear is a deep crimson, with gold lining in places -- and a large black visor, which has lines of sheer golden light that crackle across it in uneven patterns. Two arched wings propel it up into the air, thrusters burning bright -- and the large cylindrical cannon on its shoulder points upward.

Leon didn't know this would happen. But he wondered. He looks down at the screen, as the usual text displays across it:

    Sate yourself on the life-blood of fated men.
    And paint red the powers' homes with crimson blood.
    Black will become the suns' beams in summers to come,
    And weather all that is treacherous. Do you still seek to know?

"...Yes," he says.

The lights across the Beowulf glow bright, as the words vanish from his heads-up display, to be replaced by different ones:

    Regnal Gear Beowulf: ENGAGED

The Gear tears a large golden blade free from its back. Then, it shoots forward into the sky, hurtling towards Schiehallion. Then, the blade comes crashing down for it, with a hearty swing -- and a sudden flash of red light off it.

GS: Leon Albus has attacked Loren Voss with Sigma Blade - Riot Crash!
GS: Leon Albus has gained 3 Combo!
GS: Leon Albus has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.

Lulu, the Black Mage, Guardian to Summoner Yuna, is there on the platform when the attack comes. She holds a small doll in her arm, a Moogle, white and pink. And her eyes narrow to see the gigantic weapons approaching.

"...Uninvited guests," she comments, even as Lily Keil is back with the dignitaries. Lulu... has a different approach in mind.

Shimmering shields of light crack into being, and Lulu steps forward. "Rikku. Tidus. ...This isn't our job, exactly..."

"But I don't think either of you is inclined to back down."

"NOW!" Lulu raises her voice for once, setting down her moogle doll and stepping back, focusing her hands together and bringing them slowly apart as she channels and brings up the magic of the Chu Chus. There is something like a brilliant star of light in front of her above her Moogle--

And then Mog grows. Grows, and grows, and grows, until titantic in stature, stitches huge and great limbs extending. Mog has no 'hands' or 'feet', simply arms and legs that end in plush justice. Mog has a pom, a cute nose, and little wings on her back. And...

She stands, easily a size match for a Gear, before Lulu. Mog leans down to extend a hand to Rikku to climb her, and then rises to her full height.

Lulu, from behind, extends her hands like a puppetmaster holding strings... and perhaps this is not untrue.

Then, the Giant Mog stretches back a 'fist', and lunges forward, glowing with violet energy about the arms as it slugs towards Loren's Gear, right behind Beowulf's swing, barreling past the defensive line to assault their leader.

GS: Lulu has attacked Loren Voss with Magic Break!
GS: Lulu has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Lulu has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei had been doing so well but a Solarian strike team disrupting the peace talks wasn't just expected by Fei Fong Wong but--frankly--wholly expected. In fact, Fei was getting antsy because nobody HAD tried to kill everyone or otherwise sabotage the talks YET and in a way, the shoe finally dropping is a relief.

But only in a way--rest assured. Fei is still totally freaking the fuck out.

Fei clambers into Weltall, looking over to Citan as he says he intends to see to the Queen and the others.

"Doc," He says breathlessly. "Please be careful."

If he lost Doc, he's sure he'd be lost. Yue and Midori would be devastated. In some ways, Citan has been a facet of his life for longer than Elly (though not in every way.

The cockpit shield of Weltall slides down in on him. "Elly if I start to go, uh, berserk. Maybe...you can hack me to stop going berserk?" Fei suggests. "But I'm sure..uh...I'm sure it'll be fine."

Fei is starting to follow after his friends when a black chassis swith exposed sputtering wires and a faceless visage explodes out onto the deck.

"Holy shit!" Fei shouts. "You guys fend off the gears, I'll catch right up to you." He doesn't know many faceless entities that can take on a Gear and be alright after all.

He dives in quickly at Azoth, wholly ignorant as to his identity but his instinct that the dude is dangerous is probably spot on, dropping down and intending to sweep kick Azoth into the air before following through with a double palm thrust to his body.

Can't even pick on someone your own size huh?

"Oh shutup," Fei grumbles.

Maybe you just are enjoying the taste of crushing those smaller than you.

"HGghhn... Must we now?" Fei grumbles.

Oh I'm just fucking with you, Junior. Bet you can't even handle that broken thing.

"How does Xantia like you so much anyway?" Fei sighs.

Just likes me more than you I guess. Would you rather I start these chats while you're relaxing in a hot tub?

"I'd rather you don't do this at all!" Fei punches his console, glad that this argument is not being broadcasted.

  1. -1 FUNCTION (ANIS) NOT FOUND


Fei grits his teeth.

Maybe bisect Doc...

"No way Doc's too cool to be bisected!" Fei shouts at himself.

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei had been doing so well but a Solarian strike team disrupting the peace talks wasn't just expected by Fei Fong Wong but--frankly--wholly expected. In fact, Fei was getting antsy because nobody HAD tried to kill everyone or otherwise sabotage the talks YET and in a way, the shoe finally dropping is a relief.

But only in a way--rest assured. Fei is still totally freaking the fuck out.

Fei clambers into Weltall, looking over to Citan as he says he intends to see to the Queen and the others.

"Doc," He says breathlessly. "Please be careful."

If he lost Doc, he's sure he'd be lost. Yue and Midori would be devastated. In some ways, Citan has been a facet of his life for longer than Elly (though not in every way.

The cockpit shield of Weltall slides down in on him. "Elly if I start to go, uh, berserk. Maybe...you can hack me to stop going berserk?" Fei suggests. "But I'm sure..uh...I'm sure it'll be fine."

Fei is starting to follow after his friends when a black chassis swith exposed sputtering wires and a faceless visage explodes out onto the deck.

"Holy shit!" Fei shouts. "You guys fend off the gears, I'll catch right up to you." He doesn't know many faceless entities that can take on a Gear and be alright after all.

He dives in quickly at Azoth, wholly ignorant as to his identity but his instinct that the dude is dangerous is probably spot on, dropping down and intending to sweep kick Azoth into the air before following through with a double palm thrust to his body.

Can't even pick on someone your own size huh?

"Oh shutup," Fei grumbles.

Maybe you just are enjoying the taste of crushing those smaller than you.

"HGghhn... Must we now?" Fei grumbles.

Oh I'm just fucking with you, Junior. Bet you can't even handle that broken thing.

"How does Xantia like you so much anyway?" Fei sighs.

Just likes me more than you I guess. Would you rather I start these chats while you're relaxing in a hot tub?

"I'd rather you don't do this at all!" Fei punches his console, glad that this argument is not being broadcasted.

Bet that dude will bisect like six guests.

Fei grits his teeth.

Maybe bisect Doc...

"No way Doc's too cool to be bisected!" Fei shouts at himself.

GS: Fei Fong Wong has attacked Azoth with Hazan!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has completed his action.
GS: Loren Voss solidly guards Leon Albus's Sigma Blade - Riot Crash for 128 hit points!
GS: Hyper applied to Leon Albus!
<Pose Tracker> Rikku has posed.

From the horrors of cleaning up after a giant Al Bhed bender - unto... a boring conference. Rikku has trouble sitting still, she understands how important this is. She's wanted the Al Bhed to have a seat at the table for YEARS.
 
To not just be treated like second or third class citizens - or worse.
 
... It doesn't make her any less B O R E D.
 
That Solaris shows up to disrupt the conference and assassinate the people!? Awful in one respect! In another...
 
"Thanks Citan!" Rikku calls out, "Don't worry! We'll kick Solaris' booty and have this sorted out in no time flat!"
 
Pause, before she leans over to Lulu and Tidus murmuring, "It's okay to say booty in front of a Queen right? Spira doesn't have Queens! So I have no idea!"
 
Part of her is glad Spira doesn't have Queens? But it makes her wonder, Yevonites are super strict about her saying words like that. Are Queens strict?!
 
Did she just ruin everything for the Al Bhed without realizing it!? She hopes not! Either way- "Nope! Not at all!" Rikku responds to Lulu - as she causes Mog to... "GO MOG GO!" Rikku whoops, and jumps up, shaking a fist.
 
Which is when something just off near the deck on the Mountain platform, as sputtering wires and faceless visage bursts onto the deck.
 
"WHOA!" Rikku recoils, then stares, and then points- "YOU! Are just about the coolest Machina I have ever seen!"
 
Rikku suddenly runs up to him, as if to cut some wires with the claws glove she bears!

GS: Rikku has attacked Azoth with Claw Claw!!!!
GS: Rikku has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Rikku has completed her action.
GS: Loren Voss takes a solid hit from Lulu's Magic Break for 233 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Loren Voss gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Loren Voss's Mute Ward may block the effect!
GS: Mute blocked!
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

 
Elly had hoped this day wouldn't come. That perhaps two disparate outlanders, banished and despised and remorseful, would find common cause. That perhaps they would come together. On Spira, far from every monitor Solaris could easily mount - a place where Solaris has only the advantage of its technology and organization - perhaps...

But don't mourn it, Elly.

It isn't lost yet.

(Before the deployment, though, Elly blinks at Fei. She clasps his hand for a moment. "... I'll disable Weltall if it looks back," she tells him. "I promise you, alright?" Disable, for Regulus, has several meanings not typically avaiable. "But... take it a step at a time, alright?" Soft eyes, turned slightly upwards, with a smile.)

"I hope Dr. Uzuki's alright," Elly says as the gleaming form of El-Regulus, curiously closer to the Solaris machines than many others, flits out of the Farenheight's hangar. She's already looking up through the panoramic cockpit.

Thoughts flow through Regulus. In the faintly cream-grey space around the edges of the display, something shimmers with a crystalline pattern, before red rings highlight two of the Solaris Gears. Small pop-outs read out, both identical:

MODEL TYPE: WHITEKNIGHT
DEMESNE: H.E.O. SOLARIS
CALLSIGN: #ERR_NOT_FOUND

Elly raises a hand a little towards the closer one.

bidthee breachprotocol.fain
LOADING......_

"Ah! Leon, be careful," Elly says, before laughing at herself for a moment. More gravely, even as several strings of alphanumeric characters in an oddly crabbed and archaic script ripple through the targeting panes, she says, "Is that... The Schiehallion!? Did they reassign it, or--"

Elly sounds a strange mix of hopeful and sick, because, perhaps, of the possibility, but also for its quite honestly dreadful PROBABILITY behind it...

E9 55 E9 C1 C1 E9 4F 4F
55 55 E9 XF C1 2B 4F 4F
> breached

Elly turns her head away even as two STACKTHRASH.fain indicators flicker, in time to see --

The Mog.

"..."

MODEL TYPE UNKNOWN

"... How... who...?! Leon, be careful of the - the - the--!!"

GS: Elhaym van Houten has attacked Loren Voss with AHT-Attr Down -Stack Overflow-!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.

    All considered, Tidus thinks Cid should be a lot more grateful about all this than he is. But maybe that's the father issues talking. After the Queen of Shevat and her retinue arrived, Tidus agreed to chat it up with the guards--socializing is a strength of his, though he's never really thought of it that way.
    
    Of course, things couldn't just keep going smoothly now that everything's been swept under the rug in time for the meeting. Solaris just had to attack. And as their mechs swoop in with shields of light, an explosion rocks the deck...
    
    "What the ramm is going on?!" he demands, sprinting out to the deck. He gets his answer in the form of Alter Azoth in all his unholy glory. He gapes at him for a second--then: "YOU! What are you doing here?!"
    
    He shakes his head quickly. "Never mind, doesn't matter! Citan, we'll handle this! You get the Queen and everyone to safety!" he calls, reinforcing what's already been established. He pauses back at Rikku and half-grimaces, half-grins. "Hey, don't ask me! We don't have queens back in Zanarkand either!"
    
    A sharp nod back at Lulu. "Yuna wouldn't want to run away, so I'm not gonna run away either! Besides, I got a score to settle with that guy!" He jerks his head towards Alter Azoth--and then grins quite fully as Lulu calls up a certain doll and LETS HER MOGSTER GROWWWWW. "Go get 'em, Lulu! You too, Elly!"
    
    He'd offer encouragement to Leon too, but... he doesn't like Leon. So. Sorry not sorry?
    
    He turns forward to face the enemy on deck. "Be careful, guys! I've fought that machina before--it's really strong!" he calls to Rikku and Fei. Drawing his sword, he opts not to charge straight into battle, but to start casting a spell. White light flows up around him, and he stretches out a hand at Azoth. "How about you slow your roll a little!!"

GS: Tidus has attacked Azoth with Slowga!
GS: Tidus enters a Counter stance!
GS: Tidus has gained 3 Combo!
GS: Tidus has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

"You have got to be shitting me," Leon says over the loudspeaker as he stares at the Giant Mog.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Ethius mostly stays out of the way of proceedings, as per habit. Nonetheless, when he's out looking to the skies...
 
     The earliest memory Ethius has of coming to Filgaia after crashing down upon it was seeing that he was seen, finding cover, and hurling himself from a high place to avoid discovery. After that, well...
 
     ...The last handful of years speak for themselves, really. He's among the first to reach his Gear from that platform.
 
     The Aiguille is a Metal Demon War-era piece of salvage that's at the lower end of that era but has the benefit of having had enough of a run of (surviving) units that replacement parts are not that prohibitive to source. It bears a scuffed-up paint job of pigmentation Ethius once sought to try and have it pass off as Al Bhed salvage during the climax of the Guard's Crusade against Yevon. Its primary armament is a segmented staff that doubles as a long-range laser sniper, which is where it gets its name: being shot by it is referred to as being 'needled.'
 
     "This is the pilot of the Aiguille." Ethius communicates across those who have deployed in defense of the Fahrenheit, its heat signature seemingly missing in the short, rapid spurts it moves about the sky... until it starts firing bursts of laser fire across the defensive line. "Moving to intercept from 3 o'clock."
 
     He has precious little commentary for the surprise and terror that is a Giant Mog doll, as some of the strafing fire will be headed right for Schiehallion.

GS: Ethius Hesiod has attacked Loren Voss with Strafe!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has completed his action.
GS: Loren Voss partially guards Elhaym van Houten's AHT-Attr Down -Stack Overflow- for 219 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Loren Voss gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Misery inflicts a random effect! Delay applied to Loren Voss!
GS: Charge!! You gain 40 FP!
GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Charge bonus activated!
GS: Azoth has adjusted their boss level for 5 opponents!
GS: Loren Voss has adjusted their boss level for 5 opponents!
GS: Loren Voss solidly guards Ethius Hesiod's Strafe for 108 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Loren Voss gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Riposte applied to Ethius Hesiod!
GS: Azoth takes a glancing hit from Fei Fong Wong's Hazan for 78 hit points!
GS: Sneak! The true nature of Rikku's attack becomes clear!
GS: Azoth takes a solid hit from Rikku's Steal for 0 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Azoth gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Azoth's Disrupt Ward may block the effect!
GS: Jam applied to Azoth!
GS: Disrupt blocked!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
<Pose Tracker> Rikku has posed.

...except it's like she just vanishes from her really straight forward approach, and Azoth might feel something digging around in his back.
 
"Heyyy do you have like, a diagram or something? This is a really neat set up back here but pretttyyy complicated!"
 
As she makes an attempt to YOINK! a part which looks particularly vital! Rikku then asides to Tidus, "Strong AND complicated!"

GS: CRITICAL! Azoth solidly guards Tidus's Slowga for 0 hit points!
GS: Slow applied to Azoth!
GS: FP up! Charge bonus and Sufferer activated!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.

Boudicca was making sure the guests were well-ventilated. She is an excellent air conditioner. She can do cool and warm!
Seraph Boudicca says, "Goodness," she exclaims, of Giant Mog, but she doesn't have much time to admire Lulu's ride. Because --

    Boudicca does recognise the horrific machine, in all its (his) violence. "No, you... you did not wish for this to come," she insists, the long, long braids to either side of her falling, beneath her horned helm.

    "I will not let you hurt them!" She insists (promises) to the horror unrecognisable as their friend Azoth, as a swirling breeze curls around Tidus, a whimsical, wending defence to match the green Seraphic glyph below. "Thousand Sky!"
"

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.

    Boudicca was making sure the guests were well-ventilated. She is an excellent air conditioner. She can do cool and warm!

    When the Guardians scramble to defend the facility, though, Boudicca goes with them -- she's attendant to another kind of Guardian entirely, but she's still quite fond of the Spirans.

    "Goodness," she exclaims, of Giant Mog, but she doesn't have much time to admire Lulu's ride. Because --

    Boudicca does recognise the horrific machine, in all its (his) violence. "No, you... you did not wish for this to come," she insists, the long, long braids to either side of her falling, beneath her horned helm.

    "I will not let you hurt them!" She insists (promises) to the horror unrecognisable as their friend Azoth, as a swirling breeze curls around Tidus, a whimsical, wending defence to match the green Seraphic glyph below. "Thousand Sky!"

GS: Seraph Boudicca has attacked Tidus with Thousand Sky!
GS: Seraph Boudicca has completed her action.
GS: Tidus accepts Seraph Boudicca's Thousand Sky for 0 hit points!
GS: Pray grants a random effect! Lock state and Surge applied to Tidus!
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Finally, after a terrifying bout of clean-up, the Fahrenheit is ready to accept the Queen. Jacqueline's part in this is largely done, but she stays behind to watch the proceedings. She's exactly the kind of nerd who'd enjoy something like this, and she's more than willing to answer whatever questions or weigh in when called upon.

...But, as the proceedings continue, it becomes clear that things aren't going to go quite as planned, as a gleaming white hull appears.

"...They wouldn't." Jacqueline says, exhaling sharply. ...She knows they would. "Keep everyone safe!"

She runs off, to where Issachar is stored, hopping into the Gear's cockpit. She sits back, folding her arms in front of herself with a furrowed brow as Issachar emerges into open sky.

"...This is going too far." Jacqueline mutters. Her spear is drawn and she accelerates toward Schiehallion with a series of precise thrusts, aiming to sever fuel lines and damage energy store. "Stand down...!"

GS: Jacqueline Barber has attacked Loren Voss with Fuel Thrust!
GS: Jacqueline Barber has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

In a way, having to clean up basically the entire airship wasn't so bad, if you asked Xantia. It was something to keep busy with, at least. Once the talks started, however... well, she tried her best not to show it, but she was just obviously dying of boredom with nothing to contribute there. She'd almost wish for an attack to happen. Almost. If not for one particular element.

She never showed it overtly, or said anything about it, but she knew. She knew that Azoth wasn't just there to help. There's no way Solaris wasn't going to try and interfere with this somehow, and if they did, then Azoth was going to be a part of it. Not because he wanted to, that's just... how it was going to be. She knows the circumstances. And as such, she knew to be ready for them.

She is not among the rest of the Wolves, when everything goes down. She was keeping an eye on Azoth, from afar. Which is quite unlike her, to be at all sneaky about something. But a) she had nothing better to do, and b) it was important to be ready for that eventuality. She knows well that stopping Azoth from doing something terrible is something he'd thank her for. And, as she's pointed out before... they can handle each other.

And yet, she's still caught by surprise, when it actually happens. Just, all of sudden explosions are happening, and she's taken off-balance by the violent Gear assault. She regains it just in time to see Azoth's changed form bursting up through the deck. "Ngh, couldn't stop him...!"

There's only one thing for it. She leaps up after, flying up through the new opening made in the deck, and immediately comes crashing down with one foot extended. "Hold it!" she demands afterwards, upon landing on her feet again one way or another, pointing in Azoth's direction, unknowingly echoing Boudicca. "I'm not letting you past! You're not going to hurt anybody!"

In her case, too, it's a promise more than anything. And this way, as long as she can keep her focus on Azoth... maybe she'll be able to stay in control of herself, too.

GS: Xantia has attacked Azoth with Cardinal Impulse!
GS: Xantia has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Xantia has completed her action.
GS: Azoth suffers a terrible blow from Xantia's Cardinal Impulse for 181 hit points!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
GS: Loren Voss suffers a terrible blow from Jacqueline Barber's Fuel Thrust for 222 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Loren Voss gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Corrode applied to Loren Voss!
GS: Disease blocked!
GS: Shield applied to Jacqueline Barber!
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

The Azoth should not be here upon the deck of an airship. The Azoth should be unbound, in the sky, not trapped in this broken, hissing mess of mechanics. This... poor excuse of a vessel for its ancient power that threatens to shred its body apart. ARM energy, gleaming in an erroneous, corrupted red pours out over the deck from every exposed innard and traveling through fragile chords. It pulses in its claws and in the blade at the end of its volatile, lashing tail.

But right now, this is the Azoth. Overridden under Solaris command and pursuing violence in their name. Against Shevat. Against the Al Bhed.

Against his friends and their allies.

Many such individuals descend upon him now, first Fei in his Weltall. A machine cannot balk, but this one would not in the face of its natural enemy. Weltall's giant hands come smashing in, Azoth swept upward, but twisting through the air, vanishing in it, barely avoiding being crushed by the giant machine.

"High threat target identified. Re-initializing."

He lands back on deck, every action in further pursuit of doing the damage he can despite the presence of an entire enemy Gear. Tidus' magic working to stop time mercifully short of a brutal claw dragging its way through a fleeing Al Bhed's flesh. Azoth's tail slows with it, its viper-like strikes turned to a dull metronome. It's enough time to make sure their battlefield upon the deck is clear of any possible casuality... besides themselves. Azoth flashes him a look, visor pulsing. Yuna's guardian.

"Recalling previous battle data."

Rikku dives in, Azoth at first too slow to strike, and finding nothing there when he does. She's at his back instead, fingers dangerously in his insides. He twitches.

"Error: personal space compromised."

Tingling power brushes up against her, letting her know one wrong move in this poorly put together 'machina' and she could suffer an electrical burn -- but she makes no wrong moves, yanking out a blacken gear. Azoth's chassis is a similar dark color, but this one looks burnt and eroded. It's an important piece based on the way his posture threatens to slump and his light sputters and flickers, but why is it already damaged?

Hunched over and twitching, Azoth prepares to launch his counter assault, but Xantia makes good on a promise, crashing down upon him in her battle entry, and Azoth violently smashes to the ground, tumbling away.

He lifts up in a crouch, looking to everyone. Xantia and Boudicca know the truth, and they know what they have to do.

"Cannot... abort process..." he confirms. His voice is deep with a mechanical reverb, as it usually is in this faceless -- but more accurate -- form. His visor flashes, overrides demanding he study all of the data before him... and act.

"Power output insufficient. De-prioritizing irrelevant processes. Diverting energy flow."

Red energy sputters off his body in horrible arcs. Azoth launches forward in a steak of black and crimson. With each passing second, a blade of light forms at his side. Another, and another. Rikku first, his claw thrusting for her body the same way her hands meant to dig around inside of him. He weaves in bursts of movement, vanishing briefly to reappear near Tidus in a spinning roll, the flat blade of his tail aiming to smash over him before Azoth spring off and away.

Several blades have gathered now, and he whirls around, firing them off like an array of missiles. They aim to puncture and blast into Weltall's protective frame... and for poor Boudicca in her suit of armor, who has apparently registered herself an equal threat to the Gear.

He launches himself for Xantia, all claws. Though Azoth glides across the ground, he seems to trip, his advance on her interrupted. Even without a face, the way his body jerks indicates a certain level of surprise. "Error. Algorithms -- 'super high priority' --"

Despite this, the behavior to seize her in claw and throw her into the deck with unkind force executes as (overrides) intended.

GS: Azoth has attacked Azoth with exec.azoc OVERCLOCK!
GS: Azoth accepts Azoth's exec.azoc OVERCLOCK for 0 hit points!
GS: Amplify, Burst, and Lock state applied to Azoth!
GS: Hyper applied to Azoth!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
GS: Azoth has attacked Rikku with exec.dior SHRED!
GS: Azoth has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Azoth's stances have changed to Avenger!
GS: Azoth spends 1 Combo on Interrupt!
GS: Azoth has attacked Tidus with exec.dior EXCEPTION!
GS: Azoth spends 1 Combo on Poison!
GS: Azoth has attacked Seraph Boudicca with exec.ohr UNINSTALL!
GS: Azoth has attacked Fei Fong Wong with exec.ohr UNINSTALL!
GS: Azoth has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Azoth has attacked Xantia with exec.dior CRUNCH!
GS: Azoth has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Azoth gains 10 FP from his Daredevil!
GS: Azoth has completed his action.
GS: Fei Fong Wong takes a glancing hit from Azoth's exec.ohr UNINSTALL for 208 hit points!
GS: Poison blocked!
GS: Xantia partially evades Azoth's exec.dior CRUNCH for 136 hit points!
GS: FP up! Power Burst activated!
GS: Rikku takes a glancing hit from Azoth's exec.dior SHRED for 79 hit points!
GS: Hyper and Mighty applied to Azoth!
GS: CRITICAL! Tidus takes a glancing hit from Azoth's exec.dior EXCEPTION for 57 hit points!
GS: Interrupt applied to Tidus!
GS: Hyper applied to Azoth!
GS: FP up! Power Burst and Evade bonus activated!
GS: Tidus has lost 2 Combo from Interrupt!
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

    Just like that, all hell breaks loose aboard the airship, right atop the deck. An evacuation back belowdecks begins, managed by the Al Bhed and others -- such as Doctor Uzuki -- brought aboard the ship to assist in just such an event as this. With others still working to contain the threat within, it will be up to those who have taken to their Gears to contain the threat without.

    Taken to their Gears, or brought other weapons to the table.
    ...As it were.

    Within his cockpit, Loren squints. "Is that... a giant mole... bat... thing? What are they--"

    He doesn't have a chance to do something like 'dodge'. The massive plush monstrosity rockets towards him, hands full of plush justices and glowing -- and this is the important part -- with black magic. The shimmering barrier that Mog's massive moogle fist mashes into appears only a fraction of a second before her fist strikes, and even it only manages to 'just' burn off some of the fell magic she brought with her. "What is going on?!"

    Loren doesn't have long to contemplate this. Cracking through the defensive line comes a Gear that he hasn't seen before.

    But the technique is familiar.

    Another Gear moves -- too early -- to attempt to parry that swing coming for Loren.
    Too early, not because they fail to get there in time.
    Too late, because as it brings its own blade to block, it takes the Beowulf's blade across its arm which severs it neatly in a storm of sparks. Blade and Gear arm plummet for the seas below. Slowed, perhaps to some extent dulled, Beowulf's blade too impacts Schiehallion's shielding array, forcing the Gear back before Leon's Gear is forced away.

    "...It's you, isn't it?" Loren says after a moment, audible to all and sundry. "Where's your witch?!"

    Someone just got damaged -- hurt? -- trying to defend him (him!) and he can't, won't forget or forgive that.

    What Solaris has fielded alone suggests their intent -- as Elly would know, for special operations requiring discretion, a teamsize of 3-4 is more typical, whereas this is standard for an assault. Yet, they did not send out enough Gears to burn the skies of Lunar: they want to finish this, but they want to finish this quickly. Even the data on the models she pulls tells this story: they can't carry large amounts of fuel, and they'll burn through it in short order if they push their machines to the limit. But more than that, they've assistance from a model of Gear that's built for defense, that possesses considerably endurance--

    She knows this one well, in fact.

    ERROR scrolls down one screen and then another within the cockpit of the Schiehallion, dragging Loren's attention their way. "What the-- wait, how can this-- it just had a--"

    REBOOTING INTERNAL LOGIC SYSTEM. PLEASE WAIT...

    It couldn't have happened at a worse time.

    'Stand down' comes the all-too-familiar voice of that altogether strange Gear. With predictive software offline, even a pilot like Loren would have trouble maneuvering a Gear as large and as difficult to manage as Schiehallion alone. Jacqueline takes full advantage of that, coming in swiftly while he's still trying to bank. Even before the systems give him the report -- oh look they're back on line now, how wonderful -- he has a good idea of where they hit. A fuel leak, just what he needs...

    "Absolutely not," he tells Jacqueline. If he fails again, he...

    "Shit--" Loren hisses, turning sharply to meet the oncoming spray of bullets with a shimmering barrier; it cracks and splinters under the assault, but thankfully largely spares his already tragically punctured machine. A pair of the Solarian vanguard turn their attentions on some of those attacking their support specialist (this would be Captain Voss, the younger) and open fire in bursts from their rifles.

    "I can't believe I'm fighting a stuffed animal," Loren mutters, feeding Ether into his Gear's systems, which erupt in shards of stone as if set to spear poor Mog! With his next pulse, a concentrated spiraling network of water Ether erupts from around his machine, funneling into a single piercing arc for Jacqueline's Issachar.

    As if spotting and noting Regulus for its unusual appearance, one of the flanking Gears -- armed with a large-scale rifle -- lines Regulus up in their sights and cracks off a singular shot.

    And light shimmers again about the Schiehallion and the other white Solarian Gears, bathing them again in empowering Ether.

GS: Loren Voss has attacked Leon Albus with Meridian Storm!
GS: Loren Voss has attacked Ethius Hesiod with Meridian Storm!
GS: Loren Voss has attacked Jacqueline Barber with Aqua Matrix!
GS: Delay expired!
GS: Loren Voss spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!
GS: Loren Voss has attacked Lulu with Terra Vector!
GS: Loren Voss has attacked Elhaym van Houten with False Eclipse!
GS: Loren Voss has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Loren Voss has attacked Loren Voss with Power Element!
GS: Loren Voss has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Loren Voss takes 47 damage from Corrode!
GS: Loren Voss has completed his action.
GS: Loren Voss accepts Loren Voss's Power Element for 0 hit points!
GS: Hyper applied to Loren Voss!
GS: Hyper applied to Loren Voss!
GS: COUNTER! Leon Albus counterattacks Loren Voss with Counter Attack!
GS: Leon Albus solidly guards Loren Voss's Meridian Storm for 168 hit points!
GS: FP up! Countermeasures and Gleam activated!
GS: Lulu takes a solid hit from Loren Voss's Terra Vector for 352 hit points!
GS: Hyper and Shield applied to Loren Voss!
GS: FP up! Arcane Font activated!
GS: Loren Voss takes a solid hit from Leon Albus's Counter Attack for 132 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Loren Voss gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Charge!! You gain 40 FP!
GS: Jacqueline Barber takes a glancing hit from Loren Voss's Aqua Matrix for 119 hit points!
GS: FP up! Arcane Font activated!
GS: Elhaym van Houten suffers a terrible blow from Loren Voss's False Eclipse for 197 hit points!
GS: Cover applied to Loren Voss!
GS: FP up! Countermeasures activated!
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

"Sure thing," Fei smiles, trying to reassure Elly--but he needs to have some reassurance that there's some countermeasures for Id in place.

"Weltall," Fei says of the new Omnigear. "Don't be jealous. I'm sure you're secretly an omnigear too." He pauses. "I mean, you blew up a town I haven't seen an Omnigear do that." Another pause. "I'm not asking you to obviously I'm just saying that you're plenty cool even if you aren't an Omnigear. They're probably overrated anyway and Elly's is the best anyway. Right, okay."

Fei's hand twitches when Boudicca indicates the horrific machine doesn't wish for this. He's really skeptical of this claim.

"I don't know, it sounds like it really wants to hurt us." The machine doesn't even really sound like a person, more like a machine that is designed to do murder. Now, Fei knows that machines can be really cool and friendly but this doesn't really feel like a friendly machine person. It sounds like a murder machine person!

"Ah fuck!!" Fei shouts as blades whirl around into his protective frame and tears shreds of sheet metal off of it.

Tag me in I'll make it nice and easy.

"No!" Fei says. "You'd probably just blow up the Farenheit!"

Aw do I seem like I'd just blow up a bunch of Shevatites?

"Yes that's exactly what I think you'd do." Fei says, now in a deadpan but then he flicks on his speakers and he says, "Xantia, I'll try and hold it down and you can finish it off. No matter how strong it is, it's not gonna be able to overpower a grapple from Weltall."

He snaps the radio off, sending Weltall leaping into the air and aiming to divekick Azoth into the ground and try to pin him there with the weight of an entire giant robot onto him.

Yes, Yes, just tear it apart. Look how small it is. Isn't it nice to look down upon them for a change?

Fei doesn't answer this time, oblivious to the smile creeping up on his lips.

FEI PSYCHO UP

But he's still in control for the moment. It'll take way more than this for Fei to lose it no matter how good it feels--because feeling good has never been as helpful to the Demon than feeling miserable.

GS: Fei Fong Wong has attacked Azoth with Juji!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has completed his action.
GS: CRITICAL! Ethius Hesiod suffers a terrible blow from Loren Voss's Meridian Storm for 240 hit points!
GS: FP up! Countermeasures activated!
GS: Azoth suffers a terrible blow from Fei Fong Wong's Juji for 177 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Azoth gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Dispel! Lock state removed!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
GS: CRITICAL! Seraph Boudicca suffers a terrible blow from Azoth's exec.ohr UNINSTALL for 287 hit points!
GS: Poison applied to Seraph Boudicca!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.

    Tidus, who never got the notice about the true nature of the horrific machine that is Azoth, blinks over at Boudicca. "Huh? Of course we didn't!" he declares, misunderstanding who she's talking to. Then as she continues and casts her arte upon him, he nods firmly. "Right! Let's stop this thing in its tracks!"
    
    Boudicca's winds rise up and swirl around him, strengthening him--specifically, strengthening his magic. Lulu might be up there commanding Giant Mog and taking care of the machina-riding goons, so they're a little lacking in magical might down here. Good thing that Tidus's specialty is water magic. Maybe that'll help against this machina they're dealing with down here?
    
    As Xantia dynamic-entries into the fray, Tidus gives her a thumbs up, welcoming her to the fight. "We're gonna need all the help we can get on this one!"
    
    He sucks in a breath as Azoth turns to slash some Al Bhed, but thankfully his temporal magic keeps that a close one. "Ku! Nih! Fa femm vekrd ed!!" he shouts at them in accented Al Bhed, sweeping his sword to one side to urge them to get out of dodge and leave the fighting to them.
    
    As he does, Rikku zoops around to Azoth's back and does her own kind of magic, which is really just stealing, and Tidus yells, "Hey, watch out, Rikku!!"
    
    Not just because of Azoth himself, though it seems she worked her magic just fine, but the fact that Fei is in Weltall and really ought to be given a lot of space. Even with his own warnings, though, he doesn't expect when the strange machina bursts into that bloodred speed--how much faster would it be if he *hadn't* used a Slowga on it?! It's all he can do to hurl himself out of the way of a direct hit from that tail, and even then he's sent flying and rolling until he smashes into the railing.
    
    With a groan, he picks himself up, using his sword as support to get to his feet. "Haven't lost your touch, have ya, big guy," he mutters. "And here I was hoping you'd washed out!"
    
    He raises a hand again, waves of light forming in magic now black instead of temporal. (The pun is absolutely necessary. Would anyone who learned from Lulu do any less?) His spell completes an instant later, and a massive orb of water materializes over Azoth's head--and then CRASHES down like a cement block, only liquid and therefore able to get all up into his nooks and crannies. That won't be pleasant for anyone, we're sure.

GS: Tidus spends 1 Combo on Poison!
GS: Tidus has attacked Azoth with Waterga!
GS: Interrupt expired!
GS: Tidus has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.

Giant Mog accepts her admirers.

Other weapons are brought to the table. Lulu smirks grimly as Mog engages with Loren's Gear. Black magic indeed radiates from the Mog, and more to come. As Lulu directs her giant doll, she looks up sharply to the others--and uses her magic (and an Empathite radio) to communicate with the others.

"This is the power of the Chu Chus," she explains for the benefit of her own team, like Leon. "...It's the least of what I'd do to protect Yuna, and the peace."

And the peace???

The shards of stone spear through Mog, but she doesn't lose any stuffing! She just takes the hit and keeps on coming! And indeed...

"How was it that Magilou put this one?" Lulu considers. "Ah, yes."

"You're about to get a lot closer."

Lulu lifts her hands, and so does Mog, lifting those giant paws up towards the sky and mirroring Lulu's casting motions. Up, and around, a broad circle, and then forward, as a huge spell is channeled through the doll.

Suddenly, there is a massive gravitational disturbance. It collapses the air among the Solarian Gears, and then explodes back outwards in black and white and gray and violet power.

GS: Lulu has attacked Loren Voss with Graviga!
GS: Lulu has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Lulu has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

Leon still stares at the Giant Mog for a moment longer. "I... believe it's on our side, if such a thing can be said to have a side, Elly," he says. "Bloody hell."

Blade meets Gear. The two Gears collide together, a titanic shower of sparks -- and an arm shorn free. The Beowulf's optics visor flashes, lines of gold dancing across it. "We're prepared," he says. "And one of us is enough to deal with you."

Rifle fire from some of the supporting Gears rains down for the Beowulf. Rounds leave pockmarks in the armor. Leon grits his teeth, before he sends the Beowulf flying upward. The blade is sheathed; the rifle is withdrawn. He swings the rifle downward, then draws a bead on one of the ones that fired on him.

"Send my regards to hell, Gebler pilot!" he shouts. "Warm it for me, for I expect to be awhile!"

The rifle crackles -- and then a lance of sharp white light, glowing black at the edges, lances down for the offending Gear.

GS: Leon Albus has attacked Loren Voss with Anti-Proton Rifle!
GS: Leon Albus has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Leon Albus's stances have changed to Sage!
GS: Leon Albus has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Rikku has posed.

Rikku flips the Gear up into a hand, and puts it away, her mind considering that personal space being compromised being an error, "Ummm if you don't want your personal space to be 'compromised' maybe don't attack-"
 
Cannot abort process?
 
"Oh-! Oh man!" Pause... "Dryd'c nuikr pitto."
 
She says just in time for his Claw to try and shred her, as Rikku sidesteps, getting a cut across her side!
 
"Hey!" She holds up a palm, "Personal Space Compromised! I like keeping my insides on the inside!"
 
As he slashes at other Al Bhed, Rikku too calls out at the others, "Yeah! It's okay we've got this! ... Also good Al Bhed, Tidus!"

Rikku then quick steps back, and takes a few items, "Lessee a little bit of this - touch of that and-!" Rikku then tosses the concoction in the air and an alchemical concoction sparkles over everyone. "Personal Space Barrier - Activate!"
 
As fractalized shields begin forming over Tidus, Boudicca, Xantia, Fei, and herself and they all begin moving that much faster!
 
She then waves at Giant Mog, "Are you winning Mog!? You look like you are!"

<Pose Tracker> Rikku has posed.

Rikku flips the Gear up into a hand, and puts it away, her mind considering that personal space being compromised being an error, "Ummm if you don't want your personal space to be 'compromised' maybe don't attack-"
 
Cannot abort process?
 
"Oh-! Oh man!" Pause... "Dryd'c nuikr pitto."
 
She says just in time for his Claw to try and shred her, as Rikku sidesteps, getting a cut across her side!
 
"Hey!" She holds up a palm, "Personal Space Compromised! I like keeping my insides on the inside!"
 
As he slashes at other Al Bhed, Rikku too calls out at the others, "Yeah! It's okay we've got this! ... Also good Al Bhed, Tidus!"

Rikku then quick steps back, and takes a few items, "Lessee a little bit of this - touch of that and-!" Rikku then tosses the concoction in the air and an alchemical concoction sparkles over everyone. "Personal Space Barrier - Activate!"
 
As fractalized shields begin forming over Tidus, Boudicca, Xantia, Fei, and herself and they all begin moving that much faster!
 
She then waves at Giant Mog, "Are you winning Mog!? You look like you are!"

GS: Rikku has attacked Rikku with Al-Bhed Tested Rikku-Approved: Mighty G!!
GS: Rikku has attacked Tidus with Al-Bhed Tested Rikku-Approved: Mighty G!!
GS: Rikku has attacked Xantia with Al-Bhed Tested Rikku-Approved: Mighty G!!
GS: Rikku has attacked Seraph Boudicca with Al-Bhed Tested Rikku-Approved: Mighty G!!
GS: Rikku has attacked Fei Fong Wong with Al-Bhed Tested Rikku-Approved: Mighty G!!
GS: Rikku has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Rikku has completed her action.
GS: Seraph Boudicca accepts Rikku's Al-Bhed Tested Rikku-Approved: Mighty G! for 0 hit points!
GS: Quick and Shield applied to Seraph Boudicca!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
GS: CRITICAL! Rikku accepts Rikku's Al-Bhed Tested Rikku-Approved: Mighty G! for 0 hit points!
GS: Quick and Shield applied to Rikku!
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!
GS: Tidus accepts Rikku's Al-Bhed Tested Rikku-Approved: Mighty G! for 0 hit points!
GS: Quick and Shield applied to Tidus!
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

 
Regarding the Mog: "I... I think you're right. It reminds me of that toy Lulu carried around... I thought it was just a fashion accessory!" Because while Elly had befriended and bonded with some of the Guardians of the summoner Yuna, she didn't ever see... You know... that.

Or if she did, she blocked it out.

Others burst forwards. Jay makes Elly smile, just a little, but just for a moment. Because --

"This is an assault team," Elly says, with some doubt. "Are they just that confident...?' Her eyes flick over what they're saying. She purses her lips. Schiehallion... he's made himself the load-bearing --

No, Elly thinks. He's taking responsibility.

Her face becomes slightly ashen. "... then it must be him, with this force composition..."

A rising chord of alarm drives Elly to the provoked reaction; neurologically she flinches, and Regulus flinches with her, the machine moving, well, not OUT of the way, but the rifle hits the midsection towards the hip rather than in the cockpit or the head or anything with such... dramatic effects.

Leon is screaming. Is he right?

The Regulus doesn't burst to the attack. This is probably not a shock to Leon, at least, who's seen it in action often enough. What does come out is a faintly green-limned emanation; while Ether guides it, it is itself a sort of standing auroral wave of radio-frequency energy. An electromagnetic boundary, for however long it might last.

Yes, even the Mog.

"I'm sorry?" Elly asks Lulu, after that.

GS: Elhaym van Houten has attacked Jacqueline Barber with EM-Buffer -Counterimpactor-!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has attacked Lulu with EM-Buffer -Counterimpactor-!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has attacked Leon Albus with EM-Buffer -Counterimpactor-!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has completed her action.
GS: Elhaym van Houten heals Jacqueline Barber! She gains 213 temporary hit points!
GS: Fei Fong Wong accepts Rikku's Al-Bhed Tested Rikku-Approved: Mighty G! for 0 hit points!
GS: Quick and Shield applied to Fei Fong Wong!
GS: Loren Voss solidly guards Lulu's Graviga for 149 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Loren Voss gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Loren Voss's Break Ward may block the effect!
GS: Break blocked!
GS: FP up! Arcane Font activated!
GS: Loren Voss partially evades Leon Albus's Anti-Proton Rifle for 193 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Loren Voss gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Cover applied to Leon Albus!
GS: Elhaym van Houten heals Lulu! She gains 294 temporary hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.

    The sky will break, in Boudicca's grey-green eyes, clouds across the sky. They carry rain. Call it rain, artfully, carefully.

    "I know," she offers to Azoth, gently. He cannot stop. He never could.

    As those blades swirl for Boudicca, in their Gear-killing cleave, she moves with the air -- a tailwind, aided by her own gauntlet-clad hands, which by magic and might divert the blades' paths before they can carve through the Farenheit. It's taxing to her, of course, though her body is nothing but a metaphor to reach humanity through. We will decline to speak on the details; there is strikingly little blood, for such a violent crash.

    The important thing is that she's able to defend the airship they stand on. The Queen is still here; Cid and the Al Bhed, as well. "I cannot remember the words," she confesses, a little downcast, to Rikku and Tidus. "How ought I say I will protect them?" In Al Bhed, presumably.

    She won't reveal Azoth. She will not do him this harm. She gestures, to him, instead: "You are breaking. This will be quick. Wind Rose!" She declares, as a green Seraphic glyph alights beneath her feet, and the wind spirals towards Azoth --

GS: Seraph Boudicca has attacked Azoth with Wind Rose!
GS: Seraph Boudicca takes 34 damage from Poison!
GS: Seraph Boudicca has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Rikku has posed.

Rikku answers Boudicca promptly, "You say it like this - E femm bnudald oui!"

GS: Interrupt! Attack weakened!
GS: Azoth solidly guards Tidus's Waterga for 99 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Azoth gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Infect! Debuff durations extended!!
GS: Azoth's Poison Ward may block the effect!
GS: Poison blocked!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
GS: Sneak! The true nature of Seraph Boudicca's attack becomes clear!
GS: Azoth solidly guards Seraph Boudicca's Be Not Afraid for 0 hit points!
GS: Restore! Dispel! Amplify, Hyper, Mighty, and Slow removed!
GS: Quick applied to Seraph Boudicca!
GS: FP up! Charge bonus activated!
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Loren... A slight frown crosses Jacqueline's face. She'd been asked not to view him too harshly... But she still has to fight him. She doesn't have a whole lot of choice, even if she'd rather not - there's too much at stake here.

"...Alright. Then there's no other choice." Jacqueline replies. With Loren acting as support, the Gebler assault team will be difficult to take down. ...Then, they need to take him out of the equation.

Easier said than done, since he's a capable combatant in his own right in addition to the support Ether he brings to the field. Water bursts forth in a piercing arc toward Issachar, and Jacqueline guides it out of the way. But - she's not quite quick enough, it's about to connect...!

An electromagnetic barrier flares to life around her at the last moment, mitigating some of the spell.

"Thank you!" Jacquelline calls Elly's way, before turning her attention back to the fight. With a thought, the many bladed feathers detach from Isschar's Wing Unit. They launch toward Schiehallion and the Gebler attach in a swarm. Guided by Jacqueline's will, they endeavor to slice into weaponry and make general combat that much more difficult.

GS: Jacqueline Barber has attacked Loren Voss with Feather Swarm!
GS: Jacqueline Barber has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Jacqueline Barber has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.

    -- but it is not a hurricane of violence. The breeze which curls around Azoth is a purifying thing, balancing the scales, returning him to the perfect balance of zero. "Be not afraid," she insists, to him, as her own deception is made plain. "I am here."

    With a grateful glance to Rikku, she repeats her pronounciation. "E femm bnudald oui," Boudicca says. "E femm bnudald oui... ymm, oac?" (Her addition is much more unsteady, but she can remember that much, under pressure.)

<Pose Tracker> Rikku has posed.

Boudicca gets a big thumbs up. "Kuut dno!"

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei is getting concerned. "Why is everybody giving the dude trying to kill us therapy?"

Oh yeah they do this to me all the time.

Fei grimaces in despair.

GS: Xantia accepts Rikku's Al-Bhed Tested Rikku-Approved: Mighty G! for 0 hit points!
GS: Quick and Shield applied to Xantia!
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    There was a precarious time, a long, long time ago, where Ethius and others were willing to engage the Shiehallion in some daredevil-esque circumstances that continue to seem improbable to the day that anyone survived that set of stunts.
 
     Solaris' detachment for the Gear offensive is no slouch, as the vanguard turn fire towards the Beowulf and the Aiguille - the latter twists and engages in defensive maneuvers that do not pan out thanks to a skillful lead of one set of rifle shots, blowing out something on its back.
 
     "I'm hit," Ethius' tone of voice remains composed through the whiplash as he rights up the machine. His cross-hand grip of the cockpit controls continues to be an annoyance he endures, as these were all mapped for someone right-handed so many years ago (of which he is not).
 
     He veers out of the reach of the Regulus' greenish aurora-like waves of supportive Ether energies in overcompensating to give himself more breathing room.
 
     "I am still maintaining flight," should that be reassurance. Stiff, somewhat detached in manner - but not in intent. "I'll hold the vanguard." While he doesn't have much to say to the put-upon soldier who is being made to 'take responsibility' should it all come crashing down (figuratively in the bad way, not literally in what might be the best way), he fires off quicker, lower-charge shots back towards the pair that were on him and Leon's Gear.
 
     To try and peel away their firepower from contributing against the rest.

GS: Ethius Hesiod has attacked Loren Voss with Suppress!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Following her declaration of intent, Xantia activates her ARM, fully prepared to meet Azoth as she knows she must. ...She was not expecting that to go quite the way it does. Her eyes go wide when she sees Azoth just... appear to lose his balance, for no reason. She actually has to resist the impulse to catch him, even in this form. It's mostly because of pure bafflement that she doesn't. She doesn't know what happened, but... she's pretty sure that no calclations that Azoth would have made would lead to that result. And if there's nothing that forced him, that means...

Xantia soon discovers that she doesn't have infinite time to just stand there thinking it over. In the end, he still moves to grab her, and toss her straight down to possible make another hole in the deck. Thankfully, she has the presence of mind to fight back, once Azoth grabs hold of her, managing to wrench herself from his grasp in time. She still falls, and it's not the best of landings, but at least that didn't happen with the full force that it could have. Crater averted, as well as serious injury, as Xantia literally rolls with it and is soon back on her feet.

Fei is quick to step in, using the leverage of his Gear to hold Azoth down for her to-- finish it off...? Xantia looks dismayed, even distressed at this. "What are you talking about? We're not finishing him off! Just keep him busy until everyone is safe, or... or go fight some Solaris Gears or something! If they call of the attack, he'll stop too!"

Wow you'd think he was her friend or something

Strengthened by Rikku's powerful brew, she steps forward to do what she knows she must, brandishing her ARM to deal with the weapons she knows are soon to follow. ...but only once she's sure that Azoth is capable of moving. There will be no stabbing of immobile Azoths.

GS: Xantia has attacked Azoth with Crimson Flash!
GS: Xantia has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Xantia has completed her action.
GS: Loren Voss takes a solid hit from Jacqueline Barber's Feather Swarm for 291 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Loren Voss gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Delay blocked!
GS: Shield applied to Jacqueline Barber!
GS: Charge!! You gain 40 FP!
GS: Loren Voss solidly guards Ethius Hesiod's Suppress for 107 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Loren Voss gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Jam applied to Loren Voss!
GS: Azoth solidly guards Xantia's Crimson Flash for 66 hit points!
GS: Riposte applied to Xantia!
GS: FP up! Charge bonus activated!
GS: Azoth enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

    "I'm going to make you eat those words!" Loren snarls back at Leon.

    A few of the Solarian Gears attempt to advance on the Fahrenheit proper, no doubt to apply themselves to it with their rifles rather than missiles (which Cid's point defense is masterfully handling at the moment). Unfortunately for them, Mog sees through their plans. The air itself seems to shimmer and ripple around the Gears that break past the Fahrenheit's defenders.
    And then it explodes.

    So do the Gears, their chassis smoldering as they are forced to retreat to the Solarian airship lest they instead plummet into the sea below.

    "This is... embarrassing," Loren mutters, watching this transpire from within his cockpit as he runs his hands through his hair in frustration. "I can't believe we're getting-- no, we have to deal with the defenders first!"

    For he watches as another Gear that attempts to break through the line is instead shot at by the Aiguille for its trouble. This one falls back to engage the Aiguille directly -- it doesn't suffer the fate of the earlier Gears -- but it only serves to prove Loren's point. At least, as far as Loren is concerned. To the rest of his squadron, he transmits instead, "Breaking through is risky. Engage the defenders instead!"

    They more than enough to keep them busy on that front. In a maneuver that brings to mind AERODS (something Loren never quite had the aptitude for, in testing) 'feathers' peel off of Issachar and run wild through the Solarian forces.

    One simply pieces through Loren's aetheric shield. He's staring still even as the damage report scrolls across his screens. "--Careful!" he reports to his team on recovery. "Focus on that one!"

    One of the squadron complies, taking careful aim and cracking a shot off for Issachar.

    In a sense, the ones who merely got blown up a bit by an oversized plush toy had gotten off easy.

    Far worse is the fate of the one that had attempted to take out the Beowulf. Turnabout is fair play, after all -- rifle fire is traded for rifle fire and a sizzling arc of pure light takes the Solarian Gear right across the side. A glancing hit, to be sure--

    Save for where it had hit. The Gear struggles to stay aloft briefly before an explosion rips across it and it drops from the sky like a stone.

    "You--! I won't forgive that!" Loren shouts. From all angles around Beowulf, Loren, through Schiehallion, drags water itself out of the air in great, piercing spears.

    As if bolstered by this display, several other Solarian Gears pepper the defenders with detonating rounds, many erupting into thick clouds of smoke even before they near their targets.

    Taking a breath, Loren steadies himself within Schiehallion and urges the heavy Gear into a new position with regards to itself, the Fahrenheit, and the other Solarian Gears. As before, a shield is summoned about every Solarian Gear he can reach, shimmering into existence before fading. They're squaring up, preparing to endure what's to come... but to what end?

GS: Loren Voss enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Loren Voss has attacked Jacqueline Barber with Binary Fire!
GS: Loren Voss has attacked Leon Albus with Aqua Prime!
GS: Loren Voss has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Loren Voss has attacked Elhaym van Houten with Terminator Rounds!
GS: Loren Voss has attacked Lulu with Terminator Rounds!
GS: Loren Voss has attacked Ethius Hesiod with Terminator Rounds!
GS: Loren Voss has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Loren Voss has attacked Loren Voss with Barrier Element!
GS: Loren Voss has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Loren Voss takes 61 damage from Corrode!
GS: Corrode expired!
GS: Loren Voss has completed his action.
GS: Elhaym van Houten heals Leon Albus! He gains 158 temporary hit points!
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!
GS: CRITICAL! Loren Voss accepts Loren Voss's Barrier Element for 0 hit points!
GS: Shield applied to Loren Voss!
GS: Leon Albus suffers a terrible blow from Loren Voss's Aqua Prime for 462 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Leon Albus gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Delay applied to Leon Albus!
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!
GS: CRITICAL! Jacqueline Barber takes a solid hit from Loren Voss's Binary Fire for 261 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Jacqueline Barber gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Shield applied to Loren Voss!
GS: FP up! Guard bonus activated!
GS: Lulu solidly guards Loren Voss's Terminator Rounds for 61 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Lulu gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Disrupt applied to Lulu!
GS: FP up! Charge bonus activated!
GS: CRITICAL! Elhaym van Houten suffers a terrible blow from Loren Voss's Terminator Rounds for 148 hit points!
GS: Disrupt applied to Elhaym van Houten!
GS: Hyper applied to Loren Voss!
GS: FP up! Countermeasures and Sufferer activated!
GS: Ethius Hesiod takes a glancing hit from Loren Voss's Terminator Rounds for 56 hit points!
GS: Disrupt applied to Ethius Hesiod!
GS: Hyper applied to Loren Voss!
GS: FP up! Countermeasures activated!
<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.

"There's no need to apologize," Lulu answers Elly. "You're doing quite well in that machina of yours."

Is... is that what she meant???

"Mog's on your side," she reassures. ANd then, as she takes care of a mass of advancing Gears, Lulu narrows her eyes to focus. She reaches back with her hand and Mog dances to her tune, whirling back again.

Erupting rounds pepper into the great plush, but Mog does not stop. The powerful barrier granted by El Regulus sees that not a speck of fluff is lost to the ruff assault.

The Gears are squaring up, all right. What do they intend...? Perhaps better not to let them find it.

"Mog," she starts. "Go!" Rikku's support is noted with a nod, but Lulu is focused--and the giant Moogle suddenly whirls in place, blue energy gathering along its furry fists before she launches into the Gears and their shield, slamming one fist forward in a spearing attack meant to drain off that much more energy from them. It's time.

GS: Formation! Lulu has attacked Loren Voss with Mog Lance!
GS: Lulu has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Lulu has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

"They're serious about this, then, Elly," Leon says. He was yelling mostly from adrenaline. He takes a deep breath. "All the more reason to expel them. And quickly!"

Then, he looks back to Loren -- and his eyes narrow, sharply. "Will you? Then try if you like!"

Green light from the Regulus falls all about the Beowulf. The machine turns, after its shot on the now-falling Solarian Gear, and Leon looks towards Schiehallion. He grits his teeth, as lances of compressed water slam into the Beowulf. The mighty Gear is knocked to and fro, armor plates crumpling and denting inward--

Before he calls out: "Huscarls! TO ME!"

On the mountainside, inside one of those ancient buildings, six plumes of smoke erupt. Then, grey-and-gunmetal Gears rise up -- like stripped down versions of the Beowulf, carrying blade and rifle, but with more automated movements. Two of them fly in, soaring for the Schiehallion. As they do, they fire, and bolts of accelerated anti-protons hurtle down for it.

"Shall I even the odds, Voss?" Leon snaps back at him. "Because I'm happy to! Solaris's grip on Filgaia--on all of us!--is at an end!"

GS: Leon Albus spends 2 Combo on Headshot!
GS: Leon Albus has attacked Loren Voss with Huscarl Coordinated Strike!
GS: Leon Albus has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Leon Albus has completed his action.
GS: Loren Voss solidly guards Lulu's Mog Lance for 174 hit points!
GS: Mighty applied to Lulu!
GS: Loren Voss enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Lulu drains Loren Voss! Lulu gains 168 temporary hit points!
GS: Delay! Attack greatly weakened!
GS: Loren Voss solidly guards Leon Albus's Huscarl Coordinated Strike for 109 hit points!
GS: Hyper applied to Leon Albus!
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

No fraction of Azoth's demeanor, silhouette, or mannerism suggests an iota of friendliness. Only murder. Destruction. War. Claws instead of hands. Legs and feel that look more like blades. Fractured plates that would sharp to touch and hold. A faceless visage incapable of remorse. Blades of ARM energy are the primary form of communication.

Fei commands Weltall to smash its foot into Azoth, and this is an insult, really. Every calculation knows what this is supposed to look like, and knows what it is now. Azoth is so small and fragile. Combat algorithms have to adapt to the new scale. They also have to account for Tidus making a splash with sudden currents of water waving him off. Woe betides him.

There's little room to manuever. He's prone (and damp). There's a window of helplessness. Xantia does not take it, readying herself for what's to follow instead.

What follows first is an explosion. A bombardment of dangerous energy, bursting out from Azoth to help win him room from Weltall either in the damaging recoil of the Gear or the extra room made by increasing the depth of the deck. As predicted, he is a whirlwind of blades after that, flitting across the ground only to land to abuse friction, cleaving grooves across the ground and meeting Xantia with a whirlwind of his own blades that don't need his hands (or claws) to guide them. That's so he can use those claws in the flurried assault of their back and forth blows.

A machine with as much processing power as Azoth can do two things at once. Right now, he fights Xantia and newly formed blades set their sights for the one who dunked on him, really soaks in the data. Spiraling blades appear near Tidus, chasing him, seeking him, occasionally diving at him to chip at him with droplets of damage.

There are consequences to puns in these parts, Tidus!

Rikku, unfortunately, helps everyone. Azoth's visor turns a murderous shade of red, his entire attention set upon her. Personal space errors get an entire new level of hypocritical as he sails upward, barely a float one could call flight, and then dives for her at full, violent force.

Be not afraid.

As he lands, Rikku sliced or not, wind sweeps through Azoth's wires. Glaring, eye straining red lows in its deadly hum, then the color shifts. Gentle blue, mingling with its bright fuchsia. Overclocking processes cease and diverted energy disributes itself evenly. A return to the perfect balance of zero.

"Re-prioritization in progress..." His voice feigns the Azoth's they're more familiar with. "Miss Boudicca... I..." His head drops forward into one of his claws as he shakes it helplessly. Like glitched pixels in space, blades are forming around his body in a haloed orbit. They struggle to maintain their form, half deleted even as they swing down over Boudicca.

"I'm... sorry..."

Azoth may have no face, but he has that visor. A visor that can display small images, and displays a pair of tiny dots for eyes -- an indication of fear.

"I'm so afraid."

GS: Azoth has activated Force Action: Lock On!
GS: Azoth spends 2 Combo on Headshot!
GS: Azoth has attacked Fei Fong Wong with exec.ohr TROUBLESHOOT!
GS: Azoth has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Azoth spends 2 Combo on Headshot!
GS: Azoth has attacked Xantia with exec.azoc TRANSMUTE!
GS: Azoth has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Azoth spends 1 Combo on Poison!
GS: Azoth has attacked Tidus with exec.ohr SEARCH!
GS: Azoth has attacked Rikku with exec.dior THROTTLE!
GS: Azoth has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Azoth has attacked Seraph Boudicca with ex??.??? ERR...OR...!
GS: Azoth has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Azoth gains 10 FP from his Daredevil!
GS: Azoth has completed his action.
GS: Rikku partially guards Azoth's exec.dior THROTTLE for 43 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Rikku gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Dispel! Quick and Shield removed!
GS: Break and Delay applied to Rikku!
GS: FP up! Guard bonus activated!
GS: CRITICAL! Fei Fong Wong takes a solid hit from Azoth's exec.ohr TROUBLESHOOT for 473 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Fei Fong Wong gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Corrode applied to Fei Fong Wong!
GS: Hyper and Hyper applied to Azoth!
GS: FP up! Guard bonus and Sufferer activated!
GS: Tidus solidly guards Azoth's exec.ohr SEARCH for 56 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Tidus gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Poison and Reaper applied to Tidus!
<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.

    Tidus grins as Rikku compliments his Al Bhed, and he shoots her a thumbs up. "Hey, I've had plenty of chances to practice!" he calls back. Enough so that when Boudicca asks how you tell someone you'll protect them, he's willing to tell her, "Oh, I know this one--what was it--it's, 'E femm kiynt oui'! Right, Rikku?"
    
    It's close enough, certainly. Maybe something a little closer to what a Guardian would say, all considered. All the same, he grimaces at Rikku's immediate statement. "'Bnudald'..." (He struggles on the pronunciation of that one.) "It wasn't 'kiynt'?"
    
    Probably not the best time to chat about this, though, even as Rikku hurls a potion into the air that comes down as a series of fractal shields around her and her allies. Fei moves Weltall to pin down the machina--but Xantia, to Tidus's surprise, isn't going along with it. "What? Why?" he utters, baffled. Her follow-up explanation, that if they drive off the Gears, this machina will follow suit, makes sense, but... "We can't just let it rampage around, either! Still... I get your point. We've got more at stake here than destroying one machina!"
    
    At least he's willing to go along with it? More importantly, standing around chit-chatting during a fight catches up with Tidus when Azoth EXPLODES Weltall off of him, then bursts forward with SO MANY SWORDS. "Woah!!" he utters, but his athletic reflexes and a couple years now of on-hands sword training save him: he manages to parry most of those slashes in rapid succession. 'Most' being the key word of course; he's still left with a lot of shallow slashes that might not be much individually but will be a big problem if he continues to bleed from them over the course of the fight. Tidus, recognizing this, staggers back a few steps to give himself some space as he pants.
    
    All said, though, Giant Mog does a lot for one's morale. Tidus wheezes over to Rikku, "Of course she's winning, she's Mog!"
    
    And the faster everyone else drives off the Solaris Gears, the sooner this creepy machina will join them. According to Xantia, anyway. Tidus is willing to bet on that, though, along with Ethius and Elly and the others. For now, he grimaces back at Azoth, eyes narrowing. Waterga's a powerful spell, but it's also really the only black magic spell in his repertoir. Something to work on in the near future, maybe. For now, if they're just trying to disable this thing until everyone else retreats, then...
    
    "Get a load of *this*!" he shouts, darting in, zigging and zagging, as temporal energies whorl around his sword. As he does, though, something about the machina... changes. Something about him sounds... familiar? And that apology, and... What's going on?
    
    Hesitation enters his charge. Still, he's already committed to the attack, so when he gets close enough to swing, he'll try to slice at that gnarly-looking chassis, rather than any important-looking wires. If he strikes true, then he might just slow the machina down even further.

GS: Tidus has attacked Azoth with Delay Buster!
GS: Tidus has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Tidus takes 35 damage from Poison!
GS: Tidus takes 42 damage from Reaper!
GS: Tidus has completed his action.
GS: Sneak! The true nature of Azoth's attack becomes clear!
GS: Seraph Boudicca solidly guards Azoth's exec.azoc VOID STEP for 118 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Seraph Boudicca gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
GS: Strain! Azoth takes 100 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

The swords dissolve into light on contact. But so does Azoth. He is there before Boudicca. Then he is not.

He is behind her with a massive energy blade to thrust straight into her back.

Everything is red again.

"ERROR: OVERRIDE."

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

 
Lulu, for reasons inexplicable to Elly, praises her.

She gibbers for a moment. She answers Lulu, then, "I just - I don't understand what you meant about the - it isn't important! Tell me later, perhaps--" Because there's another BIGGER problem.

Issachar sends something flying -- something not too alien from the AERODs, with their memories for Elly as well. Loren is guiding them, Elly can tell with a sinking feeling. He's the central 'Trunk.' Except -

"He's in the 'Hesod' tactical position," Elly says - perhaps more for the benefit of Jay and Lulu. "He's reinforcing the other Gears - if we can disable him this will get a lot easier..." This part, anyway. Is that fire coming from inside of the Fahrenheit? It seems to be. She bites her lip. But--

Loren's attacking because of course he is. The smash of water-Ether throws horrible shudders through the frame of Regulus. I don't want to fight him, Elly thinks as her eyes squinch tight shut, but--

"Loren," Elly transmits, finally. "-- Please--"

What's the use?

She raises a hand -- but it doesn't really send an impulse outwards. Ugh, ugh, Elly thinks, with a rising quiver of interior panic. They're all going to -- ah!!

The vulcan cannons fire near-silently from around the Gear's head, hurling a small but extremely swift storm of metallic projectiles towards the Schiehallion. He, Elly thinks, he's not going to get taken down by that, but --

"Please, just stop--! Why did they send you out here with this kind of a force--"

GS: Formation! Elhaym van Houten has attacked Loren Voss with EM-Accel Vulcan!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has completed her action.
GS: Loren Voss solidly guards Elhaym van Houten's EM-Accel Vulcan for 129 hit points!
GS: FP up! Guard bonus activated!
GS: Xantia takes a solid hit from Azoth's exec.azoc TRANSMUTE for 195 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Xantia gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Poison blocked!
GS: Hyper applied to Azoth!
GS: FP up! Power Burst and Guard bonus activated!
GS: Azoth suffers a terrible blow from Tidus's Delay Buster for 121 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Azoth gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Blind applied to Azoth!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei is confused. "Huh?" He asks of Xantia. "What do you mean?" He gets the feeling that Xantia knows something that he just doesn't know about. Boudicca too. They aren't telling him either. "Is it--he a friend of yours or something?" Something is blaring in the back of his mind but he doesn't quite make the connection yet.

Instincts are sound this time, Junior. They're gonna betray you--

"No way. Xantia? Come on..." Fei shakes his head. "You don't even believe that yourself.

You never believe someone's gonna betray you before they betray you that's what makes it a betrayal, genius.

"Yeah no but XANTIA?" Fei says. "You're just saying that to rile me up."

Well yeah, but it's working.

Fei grits his teeth in annoyance. "If she doesn't want us to kill him we're not gonna kill him. I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation."

The Psycho Meter steadily advances... It's been a long time since Fei got possessed by Id (against his will)...what will happen if Id takes control forcefully once more?

He is able to hold on for now. His strengthened relationships with Citan, with Leon, with Lily, Xantia, and Elly and Emeralda--they provide a natural insulation against Id taking over his body willy knilly. It used to happen so easily, particularly with Malevolence in play--Nature's Psycho Upper.

Azoth 'explodes' and sends Weltall spiraling back, crashing heavily against the ground in that moment of hesitation--that moment of confusion. Weltall, badly damaged from the explosion, sparks and smokes from the damage.

"Nggh...." Fei grunts, pulling Weltall up. "No... No Id..."

He pushes forward the control stick and Weltall slowly sits itself up and stands once more, terribly damaged from it all.

Then Azoth speaks.

Fei's eyes widen sharply.

Memories of taste testing a cake so he could make a suitable one for Xantia is what hits him first. A machine he was always wary of, just had this bad tingling at the back of his neck...

And he was going to kill him.

"Why..." Fei asks Xantia softly. "Why didn't you tell me? We let him stay on this ship. They probably knew where to look because he was here..."

But that's not really what bothers him. If Azoth can't help himself--well--Fei is much understanding of that. He has to be. He knows all too well to have your mind betray you to hurt your loved ones.

Fei grabs at his head, no longer touching his control.

FEI PSYCHO CHALLENGE FAILED 1/2

Fei doesn't touch the controls. Rather Weltall's hand lashes out for Azoth all on its own, UNCARING that he is in a position between taking control of his own body and losing control of it once more. Azoth fails that fight even as Fei struggles with his own as Weltall's hand comes slaming down for Azoth, black energy crackling at its fingertips.

Weltall's colors crackle between red and blue impossibly. The energies are beyond analysis but the transformation doesn't quite take place.

"Xantia..." Fei stammers. "I... I didn't know... Why didn't... Why didn't you tell me?"

A black hole starts to form from Weltall's finger tips as it comes crashing down for Azoth but Fei, in the last moment, grabs that arm with Weltall's other hand, diverting it somewhat and making it considerably easier for Azoth to deal with in the process.

"Fuck... NO... NOT YET...!" Fei shouts.

We'd be doing Xantia a favor. More ways than one.

"He's like us!!" Fei shouts. "Don't you d-dare!"

"Isn't that exactly why we gotta take him out now? Before he's completed? There's no escaping Solaris. Not even if you escape. Especially if you've escaped."

GS: Fei Fong Wong has activated Force Action: Lock On!
GS: Fei Fong Wong spends 4 Combo on Headshot and Gatling, loading 2 into Gatling!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has attacked Azoth with Hand of the Event Horizon!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Fei Fong Wong takes 61 damage from Corrode!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Rikku has posed.

Rikku sees Azoth's visor turn a particular shade of red, and well!!! Rikku has been around Machina long enough to know when their ocular doohickeys turn red that is generally a bad thing. "Wuh-Oh!"
 
Rikku yelps as he dives at her, raising a Targe, as he slashy arms slice her up, but mostly cut through her alchemical barriers, then sever her shield right in twain.
 
"Awhhh I liked that shield!"
 
She says as she shakes the shredded pieces away. "It's pretty similar!" Rikku tells Tidus, "You're really getting the hang of the language though if you only need clarification every now and then!"
 
It may not be the best time but Rikku absolutely does talk about this thing right now.
 
Xantia's explanation though, "Hmmmm, I get what you're saying but that's kinda my family in there right now!? You think I'm gonna let him near them!"
 
It does give her a light bulb idea though. Maybe he can't help some things BUT!, "Hey guy! I'm sorry for invading your personal space." And Rikku just, plops right down the Gear she took from him on the ground, "If I give this back to you, maybe you can go easy on us a little? What do you say? Just a teeny tiney bit less murder?"
 
Rikku raises her fingers and puts them together, "A smidge?"

GS: Rikku spends 1 Combo on Interrupt!
GS: Rikku has attacked Azoth with Bribe!
GS: Rikku has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Delay expired!
GS: Rikku has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Their mission complete, the Wing Unit's feathers return to Issachar, slotting themselves back into position. She seems to have done a number on them - but unfortunately, it seems to have drawn attention to her as well. She notices it a little too late. Issachar tries to retreat back as one of the Gebler squadron takes aim at her, but her speed isn't enough to outpace their aim. They got a shot off on her, the projectile slamming into the barrier before piercing through it to Issachar's side. The Gear recoils through the air before managing to right itself. It's still holding strong, at least...

Meanwhile, Elly relays tactical advice. 'Hesod' tactical position - that must be a Gebler term. Thankfully, Elly gives an idea of what that means. Jacqueline considers, frowing with a nod.

"Right - good plan. Let's see what we can do about that." She replies, before brandishing a Crest Graph in her pilot seat. Issachar rushes toward Schiehallion, a hand outstretched and aglow with sorcerous energy. Electricity bursts from its fingertips, striking at Loren's Gear and then jumps back to Issachar. Where the electricity strikes, energy is leeched and added to Issachar's own stores.

GS: Jacqueline Barber has attacked Loren Voss with Siphoning Current!
GS: Jacqueline Barber has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Jacqueline Barber has completed her action.
GS: Azoth solidly guards Fei Fong Wong's Hand of the Event Horizon for 91 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Azoth gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
GS: Azoth enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Azoth accepts Rikku's Bribe for 0 hit points!
GS: Interrupt and Weaken applied to Azoth!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
GS: Azoth has lost 2 Combo from Interrupt!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.

    Boudicca makes a note that it is 'bnudald', and not 'kiynt', though they're similar. She is learning!

    But the Beast of Lohgrin had claws instead of hands, just the same. Boudicca remembers a face which could not emote, that eternal rictus-roar.

    But she hears Azoth's confusion, as she returns him to even keel. "Yes, I am here," she assures him, and she does not speak with venom. She cannot bring herself to flee from him, brandishing her tonfa and lifting them to parry those blades as they swing down. "I will --"

    Boudicca expects weight, on her blunt weapons, designed to incapacite rather than kill. They're a more martial expression of the traditional healer's staff, perhaps. The wood evokes the earth, which she dominates by virtue of herself; it is a natural conquering.

    And it goes untested.

    He is there, and then he is not, and she sees at once the energy which pierces her from behind. "Oh," she exclaims, and sounds more surprised than mortally wounded.

    "It is all right," she assures the others, a shade of panic entering her voice. "Do not worry, it is all right --"

    Boudicca, too, dissolves to light. Just for a moment, just for an instant, as a ribbon flows away on the wind until it reforms through those overlong bangs, the Seraph manifesting anew.

    But not without weariness. The metaphor is tested.

    "Please take care," she insists, as another green glyph alighs beneath her feet. "This being has no choice but to fight. We must allay his violence, lest he destroy us all. He cannot offer you mercy, as he is."

    She pauses, hand to her heart. "... I hope you will not condemn him thus, but I can ask nothing of you. So I pray. Soothing Breeze!" The healing power flows out from her, to everyone facing Azoth with their flesh and bones. She worries.

GS: Seraph Boudicca has activated Force Action: Extend!
GS: Seraph Boudicca spends 1 Combo on Reload!
GS: Seraph Boudicca has attacked Xantia with Soothing Breeze!
GS: Seraph Boudicca has attacked Rikku with Soothing Breeze!
GS: Seraph Boudicca has attacked Tidus with Soothing Breeze!
GS: Seraph Boudicca has attacked Seraph Boudicca with Soothing Breeze!
GS: Seraph Boudicca has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Seraph Boudicca takes 28 damage from Poison!
GS: Seraph Boudicca has completed her action.
GS: Seraph Boudicca heals Seraph Boudicca! She gains 198 temporary hit points!
GS: Restore! Poison removed!
GS: Seraph Boudicca heals Rikku! She gains 36 temporary hit points!
GS: Restore! Break removed!
GS: Quick applied to Seraph Boudicca!
GS: FP up! Seraph Boudicca's Reload! activated!
GS: Loren Voss takes a glancing hit from Jacqueline Barber's Siphoning Current for 175 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Loren Voss gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: FP up! Arcane Font activated!
GS: Jacqueline Barber drains Loren Voss! Jacqueline Barber gains 168 temporary hit points!
GS: Seraph Boudicca heals Tidus! He gains 36 temporary hit points!
GS: Restore! Poison and Reaper removed!
GS: FP up! Seraph Boudicca's Reload! activated!
GS: Healthy! For entering Condition Green, Tidus receives 100 temporary hit points.
GS: Tidus enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Smoke detonates in the air around the maneuvering Aiguille, and the detonating rounds graze along the left side - including up against the rifle-staff itself, dealing significant damage to one of the segments that necessitates a moment for its systems to re-route and figure if it can remain a viable segment of the weapon itself.
 
     The Huscarls pass by him - reinforcements for the Black Wolves standing against Solaris - and he's out of immediate useful formation being set up. Ethius has always, in some form, felt 'out of step' with the surrounding - even if he had his reasons to do so which were broadly illustrated but not finely itemized.
 
     As the Giant Mog rams a big plush fist into the shield, and the Issachar tries to siphon the gathered power in their defensive formation, Ethius gives it a moment of consideration before turning on the communications for Loren to hear.
 
     "Loren." Ethius says. Does he have something to say? He taps on the intercom a bit, a few times, a reminder that the communication is live.
 
     ...
 
     Aiguille weaves into place from a tricky angle from Regulus' right, leaning in as the staff is held forward like a spear as it is rammed towards the accumulating power. It is less to do with effectual offense and... just transmitting that noisy feedback.
 
     Ethius still has the capacity to be a cagey jerk.

GS: Ethius Hesiod has activated Force Action: Lock On!
GS: Ethius Hesiod spends 1 Combo on Interrupt!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has attacked Loren Voss with Ram!
GS: Riposte expired!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has completed his action.
GS: Loren Voss solidly guards Ethius Hesiod's Ram for 138 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Loren Voss gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Interrupt applied to Loren Voss!
GS: FP up! Guard bonus activated!
GS: Loren Voss has lost 2 Combo from Interrupt!
GS: Seraph Boudicca heals Xantia! She gains 204 temporary hit points!
GS: FP up! Seraph Boudicca's Reload! activated!
GS: Healthy! For entering Condition Green, Xantia receives 100 temporary hit points.
GS: Xantia enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

    "You'll live to regret that, Albus!" is Loren's rejoinder.

    Mog surges for the arrayed Solarian Gears which, in position, hold their 'ground' well for the most part; Mog deals a terrible blow against one of the vanguard, damaging it enough with a well-placed blow to cause its left arm to erupt in a spray of sparks. This one falls back, though the rest hold their positions.

    Leon, for one, makes good on his promise to even the odds -- the Huscarls surge in for the Solarian Gears and Loren's Schiehallion alike, peppering the lot of them with blades and shells alike. It serves to peel away a few more from the arrayed squardron, too damaged to hope to fight effectively and putting the formation -- a potent one, as Elly may know, aimed to preserve fuel efficiency and bolster defenses, particularly with a Gear like Loren's providing them with support -- onto somewhat shakier territory.

    "Hmph, you haven't won yet! I'll make you run with your tail between your legs!" Loren retorts, glancing over the readout. They're still fine. They can still win this.

    ...Assuming he doesn't run out of fuel reserves, he thinks to himself, scowling as ether energy is simply peeled away from his Gear, forcing Schiehallion to redouble its own expenditures to break even. "We need to make our move shortly," he transmits to his squadron. Try as he might, eventually even his resources will run low if they just turtle up. "Use everything you have."

    'Loren', says Ethius, calling his name. "Shut up," Loren says, as the feedback comes in over the shared connection.

    'Loren, please--'

    He doesn't answer that plea from Elly. His etheric shield shimmers as it absorbs several of the projectiles (a scant few breaking through to crack against his Gear's armor plating).

    Aiguille rams its staff towards him in the aftermath of the eruption, evoking a grimace to cross his face as the sound continues to echo within his cockpit. His gaze slowly turns towards his own screens and towards the diagnostics briefs from some of the other Solarian Gears.

    They've taken damage, as a Major might say. There are still enough of them to finish the job, but more than a few of them have been forced to retreat or have even been knocked out of the sky.

    Loren is no master tactician. He's read some strategy, and he has some sense for it, but it's not what he'd been trained in beyond the basics. He's a support specialist at the end of the day, and it's his job to keep everyone else fighting. To push them through the defensive line. To let them finish the job.

    Green light erupts like snakes, each line seeking and finding another of the Solarian Gears in the formation they've assumed.

    It's been a long time since they last crossed paths or even spoken, but he doesn't immediately answer Elly. "...Because they're our enemy," he replies at last. "Or did you forget that when you betrayed us, Van Houten?"

    Push through. They must push through. He doesn't want to fail again, can't fail again. Not like this. No, not because he would suffer terribly for another failure, but rather, what it means for him. Shevat is their enemy -- he must believe that at least. If he can defeat their enemy...

    And then there comes the terrible third thought, the one that serves to nearly undo him. What if... hadn't Lan said something about Shevat? What if.

    His hands are shaking as his squadron fires on Shevat's defenders. This... this can't be allowed. Thoughts like this in battle can't be allowed. ...There's only one thing that can be done about it.

    Shells fly without mercy from the bolstered Solarian Gears. Within the cockpit of Schiehallion, Loren angles his head to one side and slowly injects the drug into his neck.

    It takes him a few moments. A few breaths. And then, he doesn't need to breathe deeply at all.

    It barely takes anything at all to bring it forth, after. It simply wells up from some deeper place within him, and he's able to loose it easily into the world. It's a nucleus first, a glinting seed, then heart of a sharp shattering star: great shards of blue glimmering crystal erupt from the zero point to tear apart everything -- all -- that they can reach.

    "Know your place!" Loren spits, from within Schiehallion.

GS: Loren Voss spends 2 Combo on Inspire and Reload!
GS: Loren Voss has attacked Loren Voss with Energy Principle!
GS: Loren Voss has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Loren Voss accepts Loren Voss's Energy Principle for 0 hit points!
GS: Restore! Interrupt and Jam removed!
GS: Pray grants a random effect! Quick and Regen applied to Loren Voss!
GS: Loren Voss gains 2 Combo from Inspire!
GS: Loren Voss has activated Force Action: Full Clip!
GS: You have activated the Force Action Full Clip!
GS: Loren Voss spends 2 Combo on Headshot!
GS: Loren Voss has attacked Ethius Hesiod with Iron Halo!
GS: Loren Voss has attacked Jacqueline Barber with Iron Halo!
GS: Loren Voss has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Loren Voss has activated Force Action: Lock On!
GS: You have activated the Force Action Lock On!
GS: Loren Voss has attacked Leon Albus with Terra Limit!
GS: Loren Voss has attacked Lulu with Terra Limit!
GS: Loren Voss has attacked Elhaym van Houten with Terra Limit!
GS: Loren Voss gains 124 THP from Regen!
GS: Loren Voss has completed his action.
GS: CRITICAL! Jacqueline Barber takes a solid hit from Loren Voss's Iron Halo for 406 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Jacqueline Barber gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Hyper and Shield applied to Loren Voss!
GS: FP up! Evade bonus activated!
GS: Jacqueline Barber enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: CRITICAL! Lulu partially evades Loren Voss's Terra Limit for 401 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Lulu gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Evade bonus activated!
GS: Lulu enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Leon Albus suffers a terrible blow from Loren Voss's Terra Limit for 462 hit points!
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!
GS: Leon Albus enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Delay expired!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has activated Force Action: Accelerate!
GS: CRITICAL! Ethius Hesiod takes a glancing hit from Loren Voss's Iron Halo for 200 hit points!
GS: Hyper and Shield applied to Loren Voss!
GS: FP up! Countermeasures activated!
GS: Elhaym van Houten takes a solid hit from Loren Voss's Terra Limit for 462 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Elhaym van Houten gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
GS: Elhaym van Houten enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Well, the blades are at least exactly the sort of thing that Xantia predicted. She can't really predict their trajectory, but she does her best, blocking and striking where she can. But, as is clear, she's not out to hurt Azoth, any more than she has to stop him. She has a good feel of what he can deal with, and by now has developed a pretty good sense of how far she needs to go. And that's how far she goes, exactly there and no further.

She gets Tidus and Rikku's arguments. It would be easier if she went all out. It would certainly be putting everyone else at less risk. But... she can't. Because Azoth is important too. If she protects everyone else but not him, it would all be meaningless. Surely everyone will understand.

...Wait, why are they questioning her? Why is Fei questioning her? He sounds confused, agonized even. Why doesn't he understand that Azoth--

Why didn't you tell me?

She answers that with completely honest surprise. "You... didn't know? I thought you knew!"

She was just... fine, with letting Azoth be on the ship, and deal with everything when the time came. She thought everyone else was too. That was a painful, painful error in judgment, and it's costing Fei way more than she ever would have imagined. She can tell what's happening, it's plain as day - he's struggling against himself. Against--

"ID!! Stop it, right now! This isn't what he needs! This isn't what anybody needs! And Fei! It's me! I'm the same as always, all I want is the best for all my friends! ALL of them! I'd never do anything to hurt you!"

This is rapidly getting out of hand. Even Boudicca's magic doesn't have the calming influence it usually has. Unfortunately, Azoth isn't going to stop, she knows this. She gathers energy in her right fist, and sends an explosive wave of force out to try and forcibly knock him back. "And you! Azoth! Fight it! I saw you do it just now, I know I did! You're not helpless against this! So keep fighting! You can do it, believe in yourself, and in me!"

GS: Xantia spends 2 Combo on Headshot!
GS: Xantia enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Xantia has attacked Azoth with Exploding Fist!
GS: Xantia has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Xantia enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Xantia has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.

Lulu does not hear Ethius's private communications with Loren--but she sees the Aiguille weaving into place. She sees the sorcerous energy Issachar brings to bear. And...

"I'll tell you later," Lulu agrees to Elly, because apparently there is something to tell her. "...But do try to hold on until then." She's amused, anyway. Despite the terrible danger... But that's the life of a Guardian, isn't it?

"We have shaken off the grip of Yevon," Lulu declares at Leon's statement. "We will not trade one master for another, Solaris. Be gone."

The Mog stops in place again, now that she's in the midst of all the Gebler Gears. Lulu los her hands, as she begins to gather magical pwoer, and Mog mirrors her movements. Her arms rise, to the sides, up above her head, as she channels more and more power--as the very air about Giant Mog distorts and weaves. Lulu brings to bear the power of many elements, channeling all through the intensifying focus that is the Giant Mog... And soon, a faint golden glow begins to shimmer above Mog.

"Know pain," Lulu incants. "...But not for long."

 Then, that glow implodes.

Brilliant white light ERUPTS outward in all directions, a sudden wave of golden power radiating outward. The terrific explosion that ensues blots out all sight for long moments.

GS: Lulu has activated Force Action: Full Clip!
GS: Lulu has activated Force Action: Snipe!
GS: Lulu spends 2 Combo on Headshot!
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Lulu has attacked Loren Voss with Memento Moogle!
GS: Disrupt expired!
GS: Lulu has completed her action.
GS: CRITICAL! Gamble: Low! Loren Voss takes a solid hit from Lulu's Memento Moogle for 662 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Loren Voss gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Infect! Debuff durations extended!!
GS: Hyper and Shield applied to Lulu!
GS: Charge!! You gain 65 FP!
GS: FP up! Arcane Font activated!
GS: Loren Voss enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: CRITICAL! Azoth takes a solid hit from Xantia's Exploding Fist for 245 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Azoth gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Hyper applied to Xantia!
GS: FP up! Charge bonus and Sufferer activated!
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

"I've had my regrets. But they're rarely about the shots I've taken, just the ones I've not," Leon answers Loren, with a calm and an edge.

Shells rain down from the Solarian Gears. Several of them explode around the Beowulf; the Gear is rattled, nearly hurled from the skies, until its thrusters fire -- lifting it -- and he looks up as he sees the blue crystal. It explodes, and several of those shards smash into the Beowulf.

It's smashed back down, feet slamming into the ground. Two of the Huscarls are shredded apart; one has an arm torn off. The four that can still fly lift up, and then sweep in for more of the Solarian Gears. The team up -- two on each -- and one fires with the anti-proton rifle, shots lancing out. The other comes in from the side, and its blade lashes out.

Leon takes aim with the Beowulf's rifle, for good measure. A lance of white light fires up for the Schiehallion. Leon's teeth grit, for a moment. Is Elly okay...?

GS: Leon Albus has activated Force Action: Lock On!
GS: Leon Albus has activated Force Action: Snipe!
GS: Leon Albus has activated Force Action: Full Clip!
GS: Leon Albus spends 2 Combo on Headshot!
GS: Leon Albus has attacked Loren Voss with Huscarl Striker Formation!
GS: Leon Albus has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Leon Albus has completed his action.
GS: Loren Voss suffers a terrible blow from Leon Albus's Huscarl Striker Formation for 431 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Loren Voss gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Hyper applied to Leon Albus!
GS: FP up! SOS Overdrive activated!
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

No. They're beginning to hesitate. Tidus chops down with his blade, and instead of frayed wires he strikes Azoth's chassis, hitting the helmet. A groove cleaves over Azoth's 'face' like a scar, and the visor cracks and breaks.

There's nothing behind it.

Weltall crackles dangerously, aiming to slam Azoth again. For a fragile, broken then, Azoth endures the blow: claws thrust up, forming the veil of a sheild that shatters on contact. But that's all the time Azoth needs to be out from under Weltall's palm before he's well and truly crushed as Id intended.

Rikku bribes the murder robot with his own part she stole from him. An already damaged part. And yet... and yet... Azoth pauses. He makes a strange, curious beep. He plucks the gear up delicately inbetween his claws, then not so delicately shoves his claw into his body, manually fitting the gear back into place. Something inside whirrs loader. The ARM energy pulsing through his body throbs and brightens.

Azoth withdraws his claw. And then he offers Rikku a... perfectly round bit of metal attached to a cord. If attached to a pivot, it might swing back and forth in a satisfying manner.

This buys everyone a few precious moments of peace until Boudicca heals everyone, and Azoth reels with a jolt of red over his form. He claws into his own chest, making more scars against his chassis before launching into action.

Blades. Spinning around him like a blender. More and more and more as he zigzags through everyone present, not sriking out so much as making himself a cyclone of slashes. But now and again he hurls one out, marking each of them as a target to let their personal sword of light explode into them.

Fei, in Weltall, is left out of the attempted carnage... But not forgotten. Azoth's sights set upon him. The damage the Weltall had taken, corroding its frame, begins to crackle. Azoth's remaining blades spin off of him to orbit back around Weltall.

He holds out a claw, and though it seems an awkward gesture with such an inhuman limb, Azoth snaps.

In a grand flare of bright, crimson light, all the ARM energy surrounding Weltall detonates spectacularly.

He is torn from his place floating above the deck by Xantia's explosive fist, smashing back against the deck and leaving dents along the surface. He claws into the ground as he's sent flying, using the friction to stop himself, sliding into a crouch. Believe... If... only it were so easy to simply believe --

She was the one who told him that those algorithms were super high priority -- who contested the data in the first place.

"Error." He twitches. "Insufficient data -- Please --" His claw rattles in its trembling as he holds it back out by its side. Is he that badly damaged, strained by the energy this body wasn't designed to handle, or is he fighting the action?

Something's flickering in space above him... something massive. A great, mechanical ring, coming together in strange pixelated light. The Ouroboros Ring -- the Azoth's Gear scale weapon -- begins to spin, volatile, crackling energy gathering at its center. And if Azoth's able to fire it, it won't be a threat contained merely to their fight, and Weltall won't be the only Gear he targets.

"E...nd... this..."

GS: Azoth has activated a Boss Action!
GS: Azoth has activated Force Action: Full Clip!
GS: Azoth has attacked Azoth with exec.azoc REINSTALL!
GS: Azoth has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Azoth's stances have changed from Avenger to Hero!
GS: Interrupt expired!
GS: CRITICAL! Azoth accepts Azoth's exec.azoc REINSTALL for 0 hit points!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
GS: Azoth has attacked Tidus with exec.mec DELETE!
GS: Azoth has attacked Rikku with exec.mec DELETE!
GS: Azoth has attacked Seraph Boudicca with exec.mec DELETE!
GS: Azoth has attacked Xantia with exec.mec DELETE!
GS: Azoth has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Azoth spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!
GS: Azoth enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Azoth has attacked Fei Fong Wong with exec.mec DETONATION!
GS: Azoth has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Azoth has completed his action.
GS: Rikku suffers a terrible blow from Azoth's exec.mec DELETE for 325 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Rikku gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: FP up! Countermeasures activated!
GS: Strain! Azoth takes 100 damage!
GS: CRITICAL! Fei Fong Wong solidly guards Azoth's exec.mec DETONATION for 243 hit points!
GS: Purge! Corrode removed!
GS: Purge explodes for 30 damage!!
GS: FP up! Guard bonus activated!
GS: Tidus fully evades Azoth's exec.mec DELETE for 0 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Tidus gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Strain! Azoth takes 100 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    'Shut up.'
 
     Ethius quietly complies beyond that whole sequence of annoying feedback noise, disengaging back because let's face it, there's a building erupting light from the Giant Mog and Ethius doesn't have a full grasp of what that's going to be in a moment (it's an explosion and it was a good idea to break away).
 
     Further evasive maneuvers follow to pull away from the squadron's halo of return fire as it turns out he had only just avoided getting pulled into the expanding crystalline shards, which informs the precariousness of his maneuvering path.
 
     The Aiguille is less sturdy than the contemporary models around him, and even grazing blows of return fire manage to punch through armor and earn another turbulent explosion for Ethius to grip on for dear life and not hit his head against something.
 
     (he stubs a toe in his seat instead)
 
     This is also because Loren has kind of returned the favor for the audio feedback shenanigans - the sheer spite in that phrase is a bit too intense for the audio in the Aiguille and that's... well.
 
     After one last scare with a grazing round past the right side of his head, Ethius flips back on the communications - it's been a strange, awkward, uncertain transitional period after the time of dealing with a problematic tree and all the snarls that happened from his silence.
 
     "I cannot say the direction is uncertain," the Aiguille rights up as he checks the systems again - all right, the damaged segment has the reroute back-up but he should check with Thames stock later for a replacement - and hoists its primary weapon anew.
 
     "But I am clear about where I stand." Ironically he's not standing that close to the others, but.
 
     Energy visibly builds at the tip of the rifle-staff before it fires off a large, piercing blast towards one of the squadron - and trying to angle it so that it just might clip the Shiehallion in the process.

GS: Ethius Hesiod has activated Force Action: Full Clip!
GS: Ethius Hesiod spends 2 Combo on Gatling, loading 2 into Gatling!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has attacked Loren Voss with Neutralize!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

 
Elly sees Ethius! Small, flitting. Regulus feeds her information on him - though it seems to be garbled, in an unknown format. Regulus's automatic systems begin decrypting something but it barely begins before Elly's focus shifts.

At least Jay and Leon don't have this problem, Elly thinks with a certain misery. In this moment, perhaps, she is closer to Xantia than she expects to be. Her eyes half-lid, but Lulu speaks a sort of wry wit.

"-- I'll do what I can," she answers Lulu.

Which continues to be apparently a Big Fat Nothing, because other than a sort of swerve, Regulus continues to do LITERALLY nothing to help! The ripping shards of crystal smash against the Gear's frame, exposing some of the inner structuring in crackles of sparking force.

Well, there is one thing wrong there.

The Regulus isn't raising a hand against Loren, but bidthee breachprotocol.fain
LOADING......_

that's not the same as 'nothing.'

Her eyes turn towards the Schiehallion even as Loren speaks to her.

"No," Elly answers Loren. She feels her eyes well up. "I didn't forget that. But it's just like you say, I suppose, though I don't think it's how you mean it."

She can feel her head throb, but it's easier now. To be familiar with this Omnigear, this machine that filled her with fear and resentment. Elly takes in a breath...

4c 06 f7 26 56 e2 04 96 d2 05 36 f7 27 27 90 a5 06 c6 56 17 36 52 04 a7 57 37 42 05 37 46 f7 00 a4 66 96 e6 42 05 36 f6 d6 56 f6 e6 52 05 96 f7 52 04 c6 76 65 0a 49 6c 6c 20 50 72 6f 74 65 63 74 20 59 6f 75 0a 45 76 65 6e 20 69 66 20 79 6f 75 20 63 75 72 73 65 20 6d 65 0a 42 65 63 61 75 73 65 0a 0a 62 65 63 61 75 73 65 2e 2e 2e

There's another of those auroral glimmers radiating out towards the Schiehallion. It's not much of an attack, but it stays on target even as Leon and Lulu storm inwards. Maybe they'll kill him, Elly thinks, with a sick queasiness in her stomach. Maybe...

... am I hoping?
Because he's inconvenient?
Because...

Elly's voice sounds thick: "You do have to know your place... when you find it."

What does that ray do?

Well, externally, not much.

Inside of the Schiehallion, something is now transmitting a series of rapidly iterating shutdown codes. It would probably start with the cameras, but the goal is to tell the ENGINE to shut off, or the flight computer - the Ether Amplifier, the motor controller - *important things*.

"Don't - don't forget the ship," Elly says, perhaps for Jay, Leon, perhaps even Ethius. For Lulu, though, who may not be familiar with sky-assault tactics, she amplifies miserably: "They probably have a second plan..."

GS: Seraph Boudicca takes a solid hit from Azoth's exec.mec DELETE for 481 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Seraph Boudicca gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Dispel! Quick and Shield removed!
GS: Strain! Azoth takes 100 damage!
GS: Seraph Boudicca has Fallen! She is no longer able to fight!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has activated Force Action: Lock On!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has activated Force Action: Snipe!
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Elhaym van Houten has attacked Loren Voss with AHT - Signal Lullaby ~Dream of the Blue Girl~!
GS: Disrupt expired!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has completed her action.
GS: Loren Voss takes a glancing hit from Ethius Hesiod's Neutralize for 229 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Loren Voss gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: FP up! Evade bonus activated!
GS: Loren Voss partially guards Elhaym van Houten's AHT - Signal Lullaby ~Dream of the Blue Girl~ for 0 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Loren Voss gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Misery inflicts a random effect! Entangle, Shieldbreak, and Weaken applied to Loren Voss!
GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Guard bonus activated!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.

    Boudicca is not faster than Azoth's blades, though she flees them as long as she can. They catch the wind, and she turns into a mote of light and disappears.

    A long green ribbon floats through the air, and tangles about Tidus, like a particularly supportive scarf.

    "You must," Boudicca's voice emits, from the vessel she took from Guadosalam.

    "The Ouroboros Ring must not fire...!"

    But Boudicca is too exhausted to stop him, after a chase like that.

GS: Xantia has activated Force Action: Accelerate!
GS: CRITICAL! Xantia fully evades Azoth's exec.mec DELETE for 0 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Xantia gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: FP up! Evade bonus activated!
GS: Xantia enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Strain! Azoth takes 95 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.

    It's ironic that, although they've worked alongside each other a few times now, Tidus doesn't really know Azoth in his human guise; he knows him better as the devastatingly strong machina. So his voice, while familiar, is only familiar. However, he *has* experienced a devastating truth bomb before, so when Fei staggers back in his Gear and has to redirect his own attack, Tidus's voice rises in alarm: "Fei? Hey, what's wrong?!" And then Xantia says she thought he knew. Tidus grimaces. "Oh no. Knew what?"
    
    He shoots a look back at Boudicca, warning Rikku--and everyone in general, really--that this machina can't help himself or stop himself and all they can do is put it down gently. Put 'him' down gently? It sure sounds like a person right now. And it actually did take Rikku up on that peaceful trade, which just makes Tidus's bad feeling get that much worse.
    
    Worried as he increasingly is, Tidus calls back to Rikku, "Yeah, hang around a bunch of native speakers for a while and you pick up on a language real quick!" Assuming you're studying the language too, but Tidus has been doing that for a while now.
    
    Boudicca's healing wind rises up and around him and the others, knitting together those many little gashes all over him. It doesn't replace the blood he lost, but it does keep him from losing any more, and more importantly, it's super refreshing, enough to give him a... *second wind*. "Thanks, Boudicca!" he calls to her. "In that case, let's just throw him off the ship! That work for you, Xantia?!"
    
    If only they had Kimahri or Auron here. They'd both be *great* for throwing a machina off the Fahrenheit's deck. Or so Tidus thinks when Xantia calls their enemy 'Azoth.' That's a name he knows and recognizes, and suddenly he realizes why that voice sounds so familiar.
    
    And then the blades happen, again.
    
    This time, Tidus doesn't try to parry them. He instead something way more batshit insane: he jumps *onto* and *runs up* them, snapping himself from one edge to another until one has just the right momentum to send him flying upwards in a spinning leap, picture-perfect as any he's performed in the sphere pool. As he arches over Azoth, Boudicca comes to him in her ribbon, latching on as a makeshift scarf with a wind and a warning.
    
    "Take out that ring thing? Yeah, okay! That looks like bad news, no matter how you slice it!" he calls back, raising his voice to make sure everyone hears. As he spins, his sword slices around with him, drawing in its wake droplets of magical water and beams of bright sunlight. He flips it upside down and then kicks off it, spinning himself rightside-up and giving himself a little more boost. The glittering light and rain form a halo around him and emit a rainbow--and when he slashes his sword *down*, they all bombard down at the Ouroboros Ring. It might not be enough to outright destroy it, but it might help stop that charge.

GS: Tidus spends 2 Combo on Headshot!
GS: Formation! Tidus has attacked Azoth with Sunshower Strike!
GS: Tidus has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Tidus has completed his action.
GS: CRITICAL! Azoth suffers a terrible blow from Tidus's Sunshower Strike for 210 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Azoth gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: FP up! SOS Overdrive and Sufferer activated!
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei receives an answer from Xantia that is very much her. He is, fortunately enough, able to deter his own strike enough that Azoth is readily able to defend against the rest of it. Azoth's blades swarm around Weltall.

Fei stares at Azoth in the moment.

"Sis..." Fei says. "Saying that it isn't what anybody needs... Is the same as saying nobody needs me. You don't mean that, do ya?"

Fei doesn't want to hurt Azoth either--now that he knows it's Azoth--but that doesn't mean he isn't going to. He doesn't know what he's going to do yet. Weltall fades back to blue for the time being. It was a close thing, but a very honest Xantia answer that is very Xantia pushes away the paranoia Id tries to instill in Fei every day because to Id--it isn't paranoia.

It's perfectly valid caution.

Fei manages, "Did he... ever get you your cake, Xantia?"

To be clear, what would have happened if Id took over? Well, first he first he would've tried to murder Azoth and Loren. THEN he would've busted in on the Queen of Shevat and tried to kill her and her cabinet. And then he'd probably try to kill everyone else! So it is probably for the best that Fei is able to take back control in the moment. The only thing that stopped him was Xantia saying that this wasn't what Fei needed.

Because Fei was starting to doubt that that was true. Azoth being a sweet boy, alas, is exactly the sort of thing that feeds Id power in this scenario.

An out of control machine. Just like how Weltall was.

Well, actually, even more accurately than that--a machine that is wholly under something's control...irrespective of the wishes of the sweet boy trapped inside.

Weltall takes heavy damage. Crimson energy explodes all around it and shreds armoring, and gives Fei a concussion, and alarms blare all throughout the cockpit as Weltall meets a robot that can really take it down and take it down hard. When it's black box isn't active, the omnigears present certainly outclass it.

But Fei doesn't hear the sirens.

He doesn't see the flashing lights.

All he sees is Azoth preparing a weapon that will certainly do massive damage to the Farenheit.

And a plea to 'End this'.

Fei turns on his speakers again to speak to Azoth.

"...Azoth... I'm sorry... I didn't know."

Then he laughs a bit and he admits, "You know, I bet you don't want to hear words like that right now. You just want to be stopped, one way or another, before you hurt someone. Before you have to carry the weight of that on your back."

Weltall stomps forward towards Azoth. Slowly. Weltall's hands pull back, cupping one another.

"I've killed friends. I've killed family. Sometimes I felt like all I ever did was hurt the people I loved. I wanted to die, Azoth. To appease the people I hurt because no matter what I did, I could always go berserk again."

Energy starts to collect in between Weltall's hands. A vibrant blue energy.

"I killed so many people, Azoth. That's what Solaris made me into. And I still haven't entirely escaped it. Maybe I never will."

But I get you Xantia. I won't come back today, even if you beg me...

Fei ignores the voice for now. "But... I found people who decided I was still worthy of friendship, of love... And it seems like you're there too. One day it'll feel real, Azoth. I promise you, as one killing machine to another."

The energy grows in intensity, ever brighter, ever more powerful.

"Even if you're never entirely free, those people you found... They will become a larger and larger part of your life until all this. All this stupid violence... All the people you kill... You'll be able to walk with it. And maybe one day... We'll be able to shatter the cycle of violence and death we've been bound by."

"I promise you." He says. "Solaris isn't as strong as it pretends to be. And we'll stop them. This time, we'll stop them. And you'll begin to heal like I had to. And the least I can do for you now..."

Fei exhales. "Is stop you from killing us all so you have a little less to carry."

And with that he thrusts his hands forward. An explosion of blue light explodes out of his hands towards Azoth, a hefty blast that is aiming to PUSH Azoth more than it is to destroy him, intending to send him flying off the Farenheit rather than immolate him into mechanical junk. It's Fei's own chi. His own ether.

He can decide what it does. No matter how off the charts it is.

"We haven't known each other as long but... I hope to get to know you, Azoth. Both sides. The weapon and the man. ... No wonder Xantia likes you so much..."

He smiles. "She always could see past that."

GS: Fei Fong Wong has attacked Azoth with Guided Shot!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Issachar attempts to weave its way through the barrage of fire being sent its way. It's fast - but 'fast' isn't always enough to outpace a barrage from an entire squadron. It's struck, time after time - but Issachar still flies.

"Just... stop this. You're making a mistake!" Jacqueline says. ...But, he probably won't stop. So, she has no choice. Issachar accelerates quickly toward Schiehallion, jabbing its spear forward to stab the other Gear. As it flies, energy begins to build around it at several points, forming into a series of earthen spears. The moment her spear makes contact, the earthen spears rush to join it, each striking at once.

"The ship... Right." Jacqueline says with a nod. ...But, until they stop Loren, there's not much she can do.

GS: Jacqueline Barber has activated Force Action: Full Clip!
GS: Jacqueline Barber spends 1 Combo on Link!
GS: Jacqueline Barber has attacked Loren Voss with Advancing Spear!
GS: Jacqueline Barber has gained 4 Combo!
GS: Jacqueline Barber has launched an attack Link!
GS: Jacqueline Barber's stances have changed to Hero!
GS: Jacqueline Barber spends 5 Combo on Headshot and Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!
GS: Jacqueline Barber has attacked Loren Voss with Dynamic Sorcery!
GS: Jacqueline Barber has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Jacqueline Barber has completed her action.
GS: Azoth suffers a terrible blow from Fei Fong Wong's Guided Shot for 144 hit points!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
<Pose Tracker> Rikku has posed.

Rikku straightens up a touch at Boudicca's breeze, waving at her in thanks because it means more slashy slashies got healed.
 
Rikku then watches Azoth take up the part as if she was watching a Machina in the wild with a strange set of behavior, it does seem to confirm something to her at least, the more and more she learns.
 
He's not some simple Machina. He's more like Kamui or Gami. This part had value to him, even damaged.
 
And then he offers something back, which is not unfamiliar to Rikku! Fiends when given something of grate value tend to spark something within them that might spur a trade. Why not a Sentient Machina?
 
"Why thank you!" Rikku even smiles, as she dangles it back and forth, "Eeeheeeheeh!" She says with a certain childish delight, "I had one of these things when I was a kid!"
 
She's acting like a kid right now???
 
Blades spin into being though, as he zig zags through and Rikku gets slashed real good, "AAAAAAAaaaa- HEY! We were finishing up a transaction!" She pouts.
 
Though he did keep to the deal, teeny tiny less murder. Tidus has given her that look, and she understands quite well... but she still has the time to point to herself, "That's me! Native speaker! Helping!" She says cheerfully.

And then she tosses something at the Ouroboros ring that Tidus points out. Some strange concoction, when did she mix it up- let's rewind...
 
Half a second of a frame while she was playing around with her bribe reward but before getting slashed.
 
"Hmm, maybe cooling it off a bit will make it brittle?"
 
A bit, she says. As suddenly there are nine pulses of ice spells, that make a Macalania Blizzard seem like a pleasant winter vacation.
 
"Ah whatever! I'm sure it'll work out!"

GS: Rikku spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!
GS: Rikku has attacked Azoth with Souped Up Ouch-Ouch Surprise!!
GS: Rikku has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Rikku has completed her action.
GS: Gamble: Low! Azoth suffers a terrible blow from Rikku's Souped Up Ouch-Ouch Surprise! for 211 hit points!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
GS: Loren Voss takes a solid hit from Jacqueline Barber's Advancing Spear for 217 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Loren Voss gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: FP up! Evade bonus activated!
GS: CRITICAL! Loren Voss solidly guards Jacqueline Barber's Dynamic Sorcery for 299 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Loren Voss gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Loren Voss's Mute Ward may block the effect!
GS: Mute blocked!
GS: Shield applied to Jacqueline Barber!
GS: FP up! Arcane Font activated!
<Pose Tracker> Krelian has posed.

In the distance, there is a rumble.

And then there is a shockwave. It rolls through the mountains; it rolls through the Gears and the airships; it rolls through everything, for it is gravity. Then, there is a terrible cry -- and the seas lift, rolling unnaturally -- as it appears. The enormous, white, and finned form of Sin.

A battle between Gears summoned it before; a battle between Gears summons it again.

The gravitational shockwave makes the Solarian battlecruiser tilt hard to one side. On the bridge, the Solarian captain in charge grips the controls. "Sir, this is--"

There stands Krelian. In his yellow and black uniform, his eyes narrow -- and he unfolds his arms, before he turns on a heel. "...Maybe I will need to--"

Sin screams.

They may not catch why, at first. There is, far to the west -- in the direction of the Calm Lands -- a terrible rumbling, and several plumes of dust. Then, there is a tremendous flash of light. Krelian turns, s he looks towards it. "What is--"

On the bridge of the Fahrenheit, Cid looks away from the Queen, and stares out at the horizon. Not, for once, at Sin. "What the hell is that!?"

"I don't know," Queen Zephyr says. "Lord Cid, do you--no... no, it's a launch!"

She speaks the truth. A massive circular body, with two huge steel sections -- a battleship far dwarfing either airship here -- and it climbs higher and higher into the air. There is no broadcast; there is no warning. There is simply a flash of light, and then a titanic white beam of light explodes out from the Heimdall Gazzo as it takes to the skies.

The beam slices across the Calm Lands. A searing, burning scar is torn through the tranquil green plains and meadows. It digs deep enough to send firestorms raging out. It slashes across the seas -- and boils them -- before it turns up. One Gebler Gear, too close by half, is vaporized in a moment. Then, it strikes Sin.

It burns halfway through the creature's body. Its many eyes all widen sharply -- and it emits a pained, horrified SHRIEK -- as pyreflies explode from it in huge gouts. Then, it slams down into the water.

The resulting tidal wave smashes into the mountain that the Fahrenheit was moored to.

On the bridge of the Solarian ship, Krelian stares down at it. Then, he looks to the captain. "Withdraw, immediately."

"Sir? Are you--"

"I have things I must attend to."

He vanishes in a flash of light.

<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

    "Then we'll just see who's left standing this time, Albus," Loren snaps in reply.

    "We're not interested in Spira," Loren snipes back, in spite of not being even remotely of such rank to make determinations like that. "You can have it. The Shevites, on the other hand--"

    They're not here for Spira, or to grind them under heal. They're here to kill the Shevites and all who would ally with them.
    At least, such is their apparent stance for now. Would it last, even if such a monstrous demand could be obeyed?

    It always feels good, like this. It's not simply 'being calm', the way some of his classmates reported. No, while it is as if he's adrift in a warm sea, it's not as if he's removed from what's going on around him. It's more like he can 'be'. Like he can say what he wants. Do what he wants, just about. Worries don't exist, when you've taken Drive.

    Neither does 'the future'.

    "I'm surprised they don't want you dead after what you did. After who you're allying with!" he tells Elly, already deep in the grip of the drug. Such things are not far from how he feels -- or even how he'd respond -- in any other circumstance or situation. But isn't there something he's forgetting when he talks like that?

    Or, rather, someone. It's very easy not to think about that someone at all right now, or how what he's trying to do might just...

    "A mistake? And you think to tell me that? What does a Lamb like you know?" Loren says to Jacqueline. The words come so freely. It's as simple as breathing.

    Know your place, he'd said.

    Jay's response may as well come in the flurry of spells that follow. For all that light shimmers about him -- the power he was born with and amplified by technology and pharmaceuticals alike -- he struggles to keep her own spells at bay. His summoned barriers visibly splinter and crack as her own summoned stone tears into his Gear.

    Such is the power of an Omnigear.

    "How-- can you..."

    Such is the power of two Omnigears, though Loren knows it not. "How dare you--" he spits at Elly.

    Leon's shot comes in even as some of Beowulf's automatons falter and fall. Is it because such a display of etheric force is draining, even in such a state? Is it whatever Elly has done to his machine, causing it lock up at a critical moment? Whatever the precise reason, in this moment when Leon takes the shot, no barrier rises to meet it. It bites deep into Schiehallion's right 'eye' with a shower of sparks. "You--" Loren utters, but he'll get no reprieve even as he tries to direct commands into systems that won't obey him. Ethius turns his attacks on the squadron and in so doing -- yes! -- clips the damaged Schiehallion from a wicked angle. It wavers in the air, as if its pilot were struggling with the controls. Or as if it 'ill', in a way.

    A light shines above Mog, and even in his altered state, Loren knows it for the power it holds within. "Hold stance--" he calls out over their internal channels. Indeed, even now, there is a shimmering bubble encircling all of the remaining mustered Solarian Gears.

    But--

    There is light. It is terrible, and glorious. Even like this, his barrier melts at the edges. Even like this, a pair of machines plummet to the sea wreathed in black smoke.
    Even like this. It's not enough, once again.

    "I'll... I'll kill you," Loren promises, from within Schiehallion. Already, a multitude of blue crystal shards are materializing in the space surrounding the Fahrenheit's defenders.

    And this is when Schiehallion's entire Ether amplification and processing system goes offline entirely. All connections to the assembled Solarian Gears winks out and the massive conjured spears of crystal fade away into so much glittering dust.

    "You-- what did you do to me!? Van Houten-- I know it was you!!"

    There is no future, no past for someone on Drive.
    And even so, the hair on the back of Loren's neck stands on end when he hears that cry.

    It comes mere moments after a shockwave nearly casts him out of the sky. Sin is here, and he has a malfunctioning Gear in which to attempt to fight it. Still, what can he do but...

    "..."

    All he can do is stare. It's too much to take in, too much to process. Another threat, another problem. Another thing for another Loren to worry and fret over. For him and the remains of his squadron there is, in fact, only one thing that remains:

    "Withdraw," Loren repeats, passing along the order. Even in such a state, there is no disobeying such a command.

<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

Leon's eyes narrow at Loren. "Perhaps," he says. "But not tod--"

The retort is cut short as a gravity wave rolls through the Beowulf. He grunts, turning his head -- and spots the rise of Sin. And, only a few moments later, the enormous beam of light that cuts Sin open and drives him back into the sea. He draws a sharp breath in, as spray splashes down across the Beowulf.

"That's..." He trails off. "...The battle station that Odessa found. They've launched the damn thing. This is bad. This is very bad. And Sin--"


He doesn't doubt Sin won't rise again.

<Pose Tracker> Krelian has posed.

There is a flash of light on the bridge of the Fahrenheit.

"What in the heavens--!" Queen Zephyr cries out. Two of her guards turn; Shevat rifles are aimed in that direction, as a figure takes form: a man with long, pale blonde hair and a yellow-and-tan uniform. Krelian looks over the assorted individuals on the bridge, eyes lingering for a moment.

"Your majesty," Krelian says. "I had hoped you would witness this. And you--" He turns towards the bald leader of the Al Bhed; Cid has him affixed with a glare. "--must be--"

Cid draws his machina pistol in one single, smooth motion, then draws his bead, and fires. Half of Krelian's head decorates the wall nearby not a moment later. Queen Zephyr, as one could certainly forgive her, screams.

"Tea clnaysehk, sudranvilgan," Cid says, as Krelian's body starts to topple over.

Starts.

But then he stands upright, and turns his head -- fully formed, again, though splatters of blood form a negative space where that grisly wound was. Krelian rolls his neck. "Ah," he says. "Then we turn to base violence. Ever is the nature of man the same, no matter what world he calls home. So be it."

He holds a hand out to the side. Cid takes a step back, pistol still aimed at him. Krelian looks at him, then smiles. "I prefer a more elegant weapon. For a more... civilized age."

He begins to walk forward.

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

As least knocking Azoth back gives Xantia a moment to breathe, and try to regain her faculties. Not that Id is going to make that easy for her. His remark, through Fei's words, is more than a little painful. But... that's why he's saying it like that. He always does that, find just the right words that will hurt the most. She shouldn't respond to that kind of taunting. She shouldn't... but she has to say something.

"You know it's not like that! This isn't the time, you'll tear these people's home apart!"

Then, just like that, Fei is back. Asking... about cake. Even Xantia feels the urge to say that cake doesn't matter right now. But, in the moment, what comes out is different. "...He promised me a cake he made without doing any calculations. He still has to keep that promise." And cake promises, as everyone knows, are sacred. You cannot break them, no matter what.

Azoth isn't about to make it easy, with what he does next. Xantia gasps in dismay. "No...!" She knows full well how right Boudicca is. That weapon absolutely cannot be allowed to fire, at any cost. And even though she knows Azoth's circumstances... she still can't keep from glaring and shouting at him for this. "Why would you do that?! Now... now you're giving me no choice!"

Which is likely exactly why Azoth is doing that, she well knows. If you want to be stopped at all costs, make sure that it's vital you're stopped at all costs. No need to fight any overrides for a choice like this. To Xantia, firm believer that Azoth has more power to change his situation than scientific fact suggests, this feels like taking the easy way out.

She needs to act. There's no way around it. Silently, she gathers a massive amount of Ether in both her hands, bringing them together to form a giant hammer of electrical energy. "Remember!" she shouts to Azoth. "You promised! When you make a promise like that, you absolutely can't die until you fulfill it! You got that?!"

With that, the hammer comes down. Not directly for Azoth, but for his weapon. The explosion of electricity though, is certainly likely to affect both. This... is all she can do right now. She only wishes there was another way. But she'll keep hoping. Maybe next time, the miracle will happen.

GS: Xantia spends 5 Combo on Headshot and Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!
GS: Xantia has attacked Azoth with Ethereal Weapon Construct!
GS: Xantia has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Xantia has completed her action.
GS: Azoth suffers a terrible blow from Xantia's Ethereal Weapon Construct for 232 hit points!
GS: Hyper applied to Xantia!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
GS: Azoth has Fallen! He is no longer able to fight!
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

While Rikku enjoys the pendulum, Azoth's visor adopts a visual of ^ ^. Oh, a robot smile?

If only it could have lasted. Instead: bladed destruction.

Boudicca is forced to flee into a ribbon at Azoth's executed attack. Azoth makes a distressed, glitched beep of a sound.

Tidus is able to avoid it with fancy footwork, and then finally brings his own bkade down upon the Ouroborus Ring at Boudicca's warning. Water rains down, sparkles jolting across the weapon. This would be an immensely difficult object to destroy -- but not necessarily to disrupt. The energy within sputters.

Then the ring slows. Ice spreading across the surface from Rikku's bombardment of ice spells weakens it further and clusters into its components, helping gum up the machine. Azoth himself falters, nearly slipping into a kneel. His body shakes in violent pain, claws struggling to flex open. Or struggling to flex shut...?

Xantia's hammer of electrical ether delivers the final blow, shooting its energy through the ring and disrupting any last remnants of operation. Ice and water helps it travel, the three elements working together in a surge of power. With a convulsion, Azoth staggers forward, and the ring vanishes, or perhaps teleports? back to its anchor point.

The cake. Azoth never finished the one he'd give Xantia -- the one she requested. He tried. So many times. He was so close to understanding the nature of her request, the 'experiment', and how he could possibly fulfill it. He was so sure he was learning what she meant...

But Fei Fong Wong, it seems, has much in common with Azoth, if not an even greater burden on his soul for the things he's done. He's willing to spare Azoth that weight, but not through Azoth's own destruction. Azoth holds his ground, however meaningless that is. However much it isn't his own objectives that demand it, but the pulsing red of his overrides.

Ether glows brightly, and Azoth understands its intent. He glances to Xantia in the brief moment before that blue light hits him.

"...I won't forget."

The guided shot of ether sends him over the edge of the Fahrenheit.

As Azoth's body plummets down, he watches the horrific power of Heimdall Gazzo destroy everything it touches... everything except for Sin, instead chased back to the depths.

He crashes into the tidal wave left in the wake of it all, disappearing into the sea.

<Pose Tracker> Rikku has posed.

Is that a robot smile!? She smiles back. But bladed death happens and cuts it off...
 
The ring is breaking apart.

The shockwave takes Rikku off guard, as she pivots around, and sees... "SIN! Oh gosh oh gosh-!"
 
Hands at her head, she looks like she's panicked, and then the terrible flash of light. "Wha!?" She low key freaks as the white beam sears across the Calm Lands, striking Sin
 
"No no no-!"
 
Azoth won't forget. He falls. "NO!" The Tidal Wave that results smashes into them. They know now that won't finish Sin. They know. She just wishes they'd known for Mi'hen!
 
Rikku quickly ducks behind cover.
 
Just in time to see a flash of light. And to hear a Machina weapon go off with that foul-mouthed curse that she definitely knows whose mouth it came from.
 
Turning around in alarm - catching sight of the man advancing on her father-! "DAD!" Krelian walks...
 
...Rikku starts to run.

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Id stubbornly doesn't answer Xantia, like a boy pouting at being told off by his sister. Take that, Xantia!! Bet you wished you let him murder everybody now!

Fei exhales softly, and slowly, as Azoth goes off the side. "...See you around, kiddo." He says of Azoth.

Then he blinks. Kiddo? What?

"...See you around, uh, Azoth. I mean. Sorry." He blushes fiercely. He hates it when he makes pastlife freudian slips.

Weltall is in NO CONDITION to fight and Fei sets it down and hops out of it, grateful for Odessa for once in his life, as he hops out of it, dropping down to the ground.

He blinks as he receives a message and--

"...SHIT." Fei turns and starts running.

He trips.

"What...?"

Don't... Don't fight him.

Is that... fear?

No, Fei thinks, stubbornly standing himself up.

"Not letting you mess with me right now. Like she said. Not the time."

He gets back to running in that direction. No time to rest. He's going to have to hope his body can somehow be enough.