2023-11-17: What Must Be Done

• Log: What Must Be Done
• Cast: Loren Voss, Siegfried, Azoth, Riesenlied, Lan Lilac, Ida Everstead-Rey, Gwen Whitlock, Ethius Hesiod, Noeline, Elhaym van Houten, Juni Vandrer, Hannah Curie, Xantia, Billy Lee Black, Leah Sadalbari, Asgard
• Where: Westbreak Island
• Date: November 17, 2023
• Summary: Word gets out, bit by bit, of the apparent location of a Solaris site on Filgaia, nestled near enough to the frosty shores of Sielje. Such a leak appears unprecedented: before, the location of Solaris installation came purely as a result of Solaris operatives betraying their locations.

...It appears unprecedented because it is, in fact, a leak: Leah Sadalbari's intention is to again lure out Siegfried and this time, destroy him, even if it should mean sacrificing this site. And even, it seems, if he is not the only one she draws into her trap.

---

<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

    The rumors had spoken of a Solaris base in Aquvy, leveled at the hands of an unknown entity. The ruins had provided little answer about what had transpired: between the attacker and Solaris taking apparent care to clean up what was left, only rubble was left to tell the story.

    Was it any wonder that, when the tale had begun to spread through more secretive channels yet about another potential Solaris site, that it wasn't improbable that the attacker may have also learned this? Is it not possible that they might attempt such again?

    Northern Aquvy is cold. Only Sielje has a significant toehold here, and only because they in truth are situated a half-dimension away. Perhaps the reason for a Solarian base in such a location can be inferred: most likely they are keeping tabs on the mage nation for their own means.

    Just as the rumors had said, there is a base here. Sumer, as the Solarians had named the installation, is located on a single mountainous island southwardly of Sielje, and until recently had been well-concealed.

    The base looks as if it had been under attack. The gates are shattered, the walls pockmarked with the signs of an assault. Within the courtyard, bloodied soldiers lie scattered about and still. Something had happened here -- someone, something attacked. But there is no sign of who or what was behind this save the carnage left behind. Did they proceed into the base? Did they do this and then depart?

    It isn't as if any of the Solarian soldiers are able to give an answer, after all--

    Well, nearly any. A blond medic kneels by one of the fallen, apparently attempting to discern vitals or render what aid remains. A metallic box lies at his side.

    Loren, his head bowed, grimaces.

<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.

"Someone has come before me," Siegfried says.

His armored foot crushes some rubble underneath it. His death and new life have changed him; his armored form stands only a little over six feet, his armor sleeker and thinner than it was, and even his voice isn't the ultra-deep, rumbling basso that it was. A deep tenor, now. His eyes gleam with the same metallic red that they did in life. He lifts his chin.

And he looks towards Loren, bowed like that.

One hand reaches over his back. Glumzambor is there; he draws it forth, and its great eye twitches about to take in the scenery of the destroyed installation. Then it snaps to look at Loren, too. Three eyes on the bowed medic.

"Troubling," he says. "But not something to hold me at bay. I have looked through ruins before; I shall again, I suspect."

He begins to advance on Loren.

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

Azoth exists in what many may have now come to see as his 'true' form, and what only a precious few understand to be a mere mockery of it. The dark chassis with its wasp-thin waste, blade-like feet, and his face a blank visor. All of him is more beast than man in silhouette, though incomplete -- a practical skeleton of black metal, with pulsating light traveling through visible tangles of wires and cords that would be better off plated and guarded.

That light is dim, kept to its faintest color in the dark of the ruins. He lingers near Loren, quietly surveying the area in silence until Siegfried arrives. Azoth's visor lands on him, flashing red, and then Azoth is gone in a glitch of distorted light.

In the next moment, he nearer Loren's side, hunched with claws poised to strike despite being yet too far from Siegfried to hope to reach. His segmented tail twitches in agitation, like a magnet held back from its pull toward violence.

The smallest flick of Azoth's attention shifts to Loren and back again.

He waits.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

    Riesenlied has been dreading this day for the last month or so. Ever since she understood that Siegfried is back, that her Father is back, she understands that there's frictions that will inevitably come, as he is driven to destroy Solaris. The question, then is:

    Where does the Wayside Outreach stand?

    She's expressed this concern to Noeline. So many of the Outreach that joined in the last few years didn't expect them to engage in battle; battle was usually a side-effect of what it is they set out to do. The crewmembers are experienced with battle -- no one can say they survived Sin and come out the other end a rookie -- but still...

    If it came to it, would the Outreach take an active participation in battle? And if not, if that's unfair to those who've joined and the organisation in particular...

    What then?

    ~*~

    Riesenlied still has no answers to her concerns, and the dreaded day has arrived. She's cloaked in her Baskar garments, though she's also slipped on an enchanted capelet for additional protection... and the wheelchair's been tuned and Strife's been slotted underneath the chair in case she needs it.

    "Cetiri, please prepare Plan B-Five for me," Riesenlied murmurs into her empathite radio, as she pulls up in the cold; with how thick the snow is, the wheelchair has to be hovering, as she shivers underneath the severe weather even with her clothing.

    Father is here. Solaris is here. This pattern will continue.

    It was snowing on That Day too. She can still remember it. Loren was there too. Leah... the Watcher...

    Her emotions are at a knife's edge. She can't handle this. She can barely fight like this, even if she wanted to. This isn't a state she should be in a battlefield. What happened here? Did Father already attack? No, he doesn't appear to have engaged in battle yet... and that dark chassis near Loren...

    She's nearby too, no doubt...

    "Keep a watch over the perimeter," Riesenlied orders, before pausing. It's as if she's the commander of the Ebony Wings again. The gravity field of her Father's re-existence is drawing her into a black and muddy past. "Let us know if any new developments arise."

<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.

 
    It's so cold here. Even wrapped in a coat and long pants and boots and gloves and a hat and a scarf, Lan is still cold. Her long, pale hair has been woven into a fat braid and wrapped around her neck for extra insulation; it's not as big a help as she'd hoped. And then they reach what's left of Sumer, and the cold is the furthest thing from her mind.

    There are so many injured. So many dead. Her boots scuff as she stumbles through the wreckage. Were they here? Were they here?!

    She takes a step closer to her friend, a gloved hand reaching for Gwen's. "Gwen..." Lan's voice trails off. Over there! Her hand raises instead, to point at the medic-- and the almost-familiar shape approaching him with killing intent. "Loren!!"

    It's going to be like that day, it's going to happen again--

    She kicks off of the ground without a further thought, placing herself between Loren and Siegfried, knowing that Gwen will be right there with her. It feels good to fight back to back, it'll be different this time. Lan settles into a defensive stance, both arms up to block and her weight shifted to her back foot. She doesn't dare look away fr--

    Glitch. Black. Lan doesn't shriek or shrink from Azoth but her eyes flicker wildly before she can force iron back into her spine. It's fine it's fine it's fine it's fine her lung it's fine it's fine death on the snowfield it's fine it's fine it's fine--

    She is frozen, eyes wide and wild, but Lan is strong, and Lan will get stronger, and she and Gwen will change it all--

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    The loss of a Solaris blacksite is, for the surface, almost certainly a net positive. There's just one problem--no one is sure who did it, and the base was conclusively flattened. That's what the rumors say, at any rate, and when more rumors in that vein surface in the Guild's networks...

    It's time for Ida to take a calculated risk.

    Cleated hiking boots crunch through the snow behind Riesenlied, their owner's tread slow and steady. She isn't the only one looking back to the past--Ida is wearing the same Arctican mantle given to her by a long-separated cousin of House Raye. So is the sleek body armor beneath, black and grey and refurbished from the Metal Demon War era.

    Ida's whole face tightens as she gets a better look at the carnage splayed out on the snow. For a moment, she's heartened at the grief she feels--she isn't so numb as to not feel it for the enemy.

    "So it was him," Ida says, her voice soft. "Can't say I blame him. But--"

    Things escalate--first Azoth steps in, then Lan. Ida's eyes widen in horror as the young Shaman moves in to protect the lone Solarian survivor(?). "We're here, Riesenlied," Ida says, turning to face the former commander of the Ebony Wings. (Horror and hope that are not her own scrabble at the back of her mind.) "You're not facing him alone. We're with you, no matter what happens."

    The final call is Riesenlied's to make, in Ida's eyes.

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

    ".... What the hell is this..." Loren will hear yet another voice, who may or may not be the exact sort of person he wants to deal with right now: Super Courier herself, Gwen Whitlock.

    Gwen had heard the rumors, of course. What good is a super courier if they didn't pay attention to not only the lay of the land, but the secrets held within, baseless or no?

    When the obvious signs of battle got high enough into the atmosphere to spot from afar, Gwen naturally had to go look.

    Flying over in the Halcyone gives her enough information: someone or several someones came, and overwhelmed the base. Gwen knows very few people who could do something like that with as few numbers as there are, as well as have the gumption to so in the first place. It can't be anyone she'd necessarily like to run wild, either.
    
    Parking far enough away to offset the chances of drawing attention with her non-combat level Gear, Gwen had run in on foot, her satchel bulging full.

    "Azoth, or... whoever you are right now. Lan and I ain't here to harm you or Loren." Gwen's tone is level, as is her usual manner when things are this grim. "Ain't like I can defend against whoever did this, but if I'm here, it'll be a signal to any friends who came by t'pass over. I hope, anyway." She turns her gaze down to Loren. She takes this moment to draw bullets from her belt, twisting her right ARM around to expose a slot through the usually discreet flap of her white blouse's sleeve. The satchel falls down by her side, full of medical supplies, but far too late to do much good. "I don't think anything I got's gonna do a lick of good more than what you're doin' already. Lan n' I're gonna help cover for ya." She pauses, then looks at Azoth again, her lips in a wide, grimacing line. She's exposed her neck, so to speak; she can't completely say if Loren or Azoth will see it as genuine, or see it as a reason to shoot her where she stands.

    She can't see Loren doing it for the hell of it; that was never the sort of person he was, as annoyed as he is by her persistent actions to straddle the line between friend and enemy. Lan is also here, but that's why her attention is turned towards Azoth. ".... Consider it a truce. You don't got energy to spare wastin' it on us."

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Even after the matter of Demetrioi had been resolved, there have been no shortage of questions and things of interest. There seems to be a growing pattern of Solaris putting out forward bases in colder climates as of late, if one wants to establish 'a pattern' as 'they hung around Macalania Lake on Spira for a long while and now they're in one of Filgaia's more frigid climates in Sielje.'
 
     Ethius is dressed heavily for the weather, and has taken a scouting position somewhere nearby relative to Riesenlied. He's been a bit too preoccupied with actually verifying the presence of a Solaris installation and movements to take close stock of the tension running through the head of the Wayside Outreach. 'There is one in this region' has been long established.
 
     His eyes aren't needed to see what is already been seen - and he rejoins the gathering parties and crowds near Riesenlied and Ida.
 
     "Someone must have caught wind first," Ethius remarks the obvious, as those medically inclined move to those who can be saved, and... well, that 'someone' may already be answered, as he catches sight of Azoth's present shape, watching their movements intensely in spite of perhaps greater things of intrigue happening.
 
     Whatever they've just found and stepped into... the Symbologist stands alert.

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

    For the most part, Noeline has adjusted to her new life as one of the Fereshte's leaders. It's comforting, knowing that the two of them don't need to take the world on their shoulders anymore. While they cannot help but encroach upon world-shattering concerns from time to time, it's usually at arms length - to protect those displaced by major events, to offer them support and assistance rather than try to change the entire world themselves. They still need to figure out what to do about Odoryuk, but that's a long way from taking on Odessa.

    Still, there's a little point at the back of her mind that is always reminding her about Solaris' existence. She remembers every time the airship takes to the skies and every time it lands - the memory of the attack upon the Fereshte, Solaris' declaration that they and they alone were fit to take to the skies. Her fervent promise that day that, should she ever have the opportunity, she would love to tear Solaris from the sky and force it to experience life on the ground.

    * * *

    ... it was a grand promise at the time, but she's changed. She doesn't think she's quite that gung-ho anymore. In particular, the months since have been surprisingly quiet, with the Fereshte able to go about its business in relative peace even before it got stranded on Spira. Either Shevat's protection meant more than Noeline expected, or the warning was more empty than she thought, meant to dissuade more than anything else. She'd never have expected the next contact to be like this.

    The ring on her finger glints gently as she feels Riesenlied's uncertainty, and that translates to wariness on her part. But they can't-- not be here. Not with someone they thought they'd lost standing just ahead of them. Her sword is not manifested, because she doesn't know if that would be the touchpaper that lights the situation up, but she cannot hide the tenseness in her stance, nor can she stop herself from moving just ahead of the wheelchair to be ready to cover Riesenlied.

    "You are going to get so many anxious looks from your daughter later," Noeline mutters under her breath, her intonation deliberately flat and not a little cautious at the way this stalemate hangs in the air, the humour definitely not present in her voice. The comment is more for something to fill the air with; she's still not really sure what this new reality is where she gets to trade conversation with Siegfried, because the Hyadean part of her brain still sees him as some far off figure rather than someone with an open invitation to tea aboard their airship.

    She allows herself one tiny moment to rest her hand on Riesenlied's arm. "... I would like to think our job here is to ensure that everyone remains safe," she adds. It's not a direct answer to any of her partner's concerns or questions, just an attempt to frame their involvement in a way other than a direct attack. She glances sharply at Ida out of sheer surprise, wondering what it is she might have missed; her last thought of Loren is that of a tired but loyal cynic - hardly someone who might do something so drastic - but interrupting this pregnant pause any further feels dangerous.

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Elly has complex emotions about this case - a hidden Solaris facility, assailed by the seemingly-resurrected Siegfried. Complex feelings indeed. None of them are positive.

But she has one thread of positivity: Riesenlied, whom she even betrayed, and who forgave her. Whatever may be going on with Solaris (and the location makes Elly wonder darkly about the 'Watchful Eye' group, who had been involved with Xantia, and represent their own unsavory mystery... as well as a Black Wolves mission) --

Elly *can* do battle. If it comes to that.

Elly is walking with Riesenlied. Her white coat (mended after being SHOT AT by GOONS from THE WATCHFUL EYE) is itself pretty good protection: add thick woolen trousers, an unseen pair of socks, gloves, scarf, and a knit cap, and she isn't suffering that much. Her breath is forming soft plumes of mist.

Elly gazes out into the dark and the snow and --

                'LOREN!!'

-- hey, Loren's here! Thanks for calling him out, Lan! Elly takes a half step to the side to put herself immediately behind Riesenlied, mumbling quietly, "Ida, um-- I can't quite make him out, but... if Loren's here, you should probably act like I'm just a mercenary with you. I think he's going to be upset." She tugs the scarf up to cover her lower face. This does literally nothing about all that red hair, or the long staff, or her silhouette, or her Ether-signature, but it makes Elly feel less anxious.

Of course... there's a bigger problem out there.

But at least Elly isn't going to be a distraction if Loren has to desperately flee.

<Pose Tracker> Juni Vandrer has posed.

Another day, another mission. Juni's back to dull colors, greys and whites mottled to match the winter coat. Which at least means the chilly air doesn't really seem to bother her. Same with the poncho. Dull colors designed to blend in, in a general manner. She had picked up the rumors secondhand. Big ears and all and in her usual manner, decided she'd just go do the legwork to see what's going on.
 
 She's not carrying her long rifle. That stands out and if it's a base.. well agitating them would be funny, but taking one or two guys down wouldn't accomplish much. Besides, others would be around which means this is almost bound to be an indoor job. Smash and grab. She's got a short stubby revolver stashed away, modified for her hands, but more predominantly are a pair of satchels. One with a hazard label on it and one in dull browns with a red symbol stitched to the flap. Also ecclectic mixes of tools and gear.
 
 She's snuck ahead. Scouting around. Low to the ground, (Having rolled around in mud and local debris even.) She's scouting the place out. Slow, steady and silent.
 
 Instinctually a hand goes to a clip against her ear and she taps something twice. Then scowls inwardly. She'd gotten so into the action she'd fallen on old training.
 
 Nothing for it, she continues that creeping movement. Someone else already called out the warning. Maybe she can just.. get a nasty surprise in. Slow, smooth movements pull a dulled hatchet from her kit. Gripped near the head for now.

<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.

When Hannah caught wind that there was a secret Solaris installation near Sielje of all places... She couldn't let that stand. She just got reenrolled there, after all!

Okay, so the school itself isn't under threat, but it's still disconcerting to think of something encroaching on a place she holds so dear. Not to mention, of course, that it seems entirely unlikely that Solaris is up to positive things here. And then there's the matter of Riese's father--she's still not entirely sure what to expect there, but even so...

Hannah is standing next to Riese, all bundled up with a dark green overcoat, snow boots, and a wool cap to keep herself warm. Even so she's shivering a little still. She's still, her eyes closed as she seems to be concentrating on... something.

"I know you're cold," she mumbles. "Just give me one good look and you can head back, promise."

One lone red-tailed hawk had made a pass over the base, and then retreated. But it was enough for Hannah to warn her friends about what they'd find, at least. And the lack of a massively mobilized force to greet them that she could find.

Directions are also a handy thing she can provide, thanks to Zephyr's bird's eye view.

But she's alert as she approaches with the others, looking to Ida, Riese, and Noeline to take her cues. "We've got your back, Miss Riesenlied. Just tell us what you need, alright?"

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Xantia is not well. Only the Black Wolves would be aware of it, as it has only been a day since she suffered an episode in which she lost control of herself, and nearly made a very costly mistake. It was only thanks to the quick actions of the other Wolves present that this was prevented, but in the end, Xantia fled in response to something that seemed to be only in her mind, and hasn't been seen since.

Until now, when one of the walls surrounding the Solarian base violently explodes, revealing a dispassionate Xantia behind it. Withdrawing the fist she used to break through the already damaged and weakened part of the enclosed, she slowly steps into the courtyard, craning her head to take stock of the situation, and quickly coming across the standoff in progress. This doesn't appear to alarm her in any way. She doesn't really react to it at all, neither increasing nor decreasing the speed of her approach, the only sound coming from her the steady echo of her boots.

It should be obvious now, for anyone looking at her, that she is still not well. There's none of her usual energy, in fact it isn't even clear whether she recognizes anyone her gaze passes over, even though she knows most of those involved. Loren, menaced by Siegfried. Azoth, moving to the Solarian medic's defense. Lan and Gwen, doing much the same, by choice rather than orders. It's unclear whether she's noticed Riesenlied and her many companions, further away from the center of what is sure to be Trouble, in a matter of moments.

Even so, the usual greetings one would expect from Xantia, the kind that might still show some measure cheer even in a desperate situation, aren't happening this time. She doesn't even acknowledge the presence of those she numbers among her friends, or the return of a former Quarter Knight who once was her enemy. It's Loren her gaze settles on, when she finally speaks, in an emotionless monotone.

"Primary target... identified."

The bracer on her right arm activates, the ARM's red energy blade materializing. She's isn't approaching any faster than before, but her intent is obvious.

<Pose Tracker> Billy Lee Black has posed.

It is an Etone's role to preserve peace and destroy monsters. This role is not undone by the order's obliteration. Besides, Billy Lee Black has a bone to pick with Solaris.

Billy has been about his own business for a little bit and is somewhat at a remove from the grim business that has been percolating in the Black Wolves. This mysterious 'watchful eye', the nightmares that haunt Xantia...he knows only a little, relayed via Memory Cube.

In a way, that makes him fresh reserves. His hand is comfortably on one of his gunsmokes as they approach, ready to draw. The other already is, cocked and ready. But what he finds inside makes the pale-haired young man squint with those big, pale eyes. "Miss Ell--" he begins, and only then hears Elly's advice to keep quiet. ...miss ell it is, then, "It looks like someone beat us here after all."

An Etone, though, knows little of the Quarter Knights. "Hard to believe one man did all this," he murmurs.

<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

    Loren doesn't move even as Siegfried approaches, holding his posture by the downed soldier, as if he couldn't bear to abandon his patient. He does not even turn his head or speak to the chassis that remains ready nearby. It is not the first time he has re-encountered Siegfried, who has seemingly clawed his way back to live in abeyance of the order that seems to rule nearly all things.

    Yet, still, some things are not so easily forgotten. He has to trust that this will go as planned, that he won't--

    Siegfried is close enough, he's decided.

    And it's then that Lan calls his name. Loren whips his head up, staring at her in disbelief as she interposes herself between the advancing Metal Demon and himself. Neither is she alone: Gwen joins her. "No, get out of here!!" he roars at the two of them.

    And perhaps he hesitates a split-second longer than he might have-- but maybe, instead, he acts a split-second sooner than he would have. Yanking off his left-hand glove, he reaches sharply for the box at his side, flesh making contact with metal. Leah had told him he had compatibility with it and that using it wouldn't affect him. He's given to wonder, gazing at it as it unfolds, its former metal exterior rippling unnaturally, if it was just happenstance...

    ...Or if it was designed to be that way.

    From the impossible depths of the box, a large antennae has extended itself, and at this moment, the device goes into operation. A hideous wailing keen echoes across the courtyard and into the mountains. It vibrates at a frequency that nearly seems fit to make teeth rattle and bones hurt. This close to the origination point, Loren recoils.

    Remembering what is about to happen, he hauls the 'gravely wounded' man he was tending to his feet; the soldier for his part looks far more discombobulated than pained.

    "Go!" Loren roars and the Solarian soldier doesn't need telling twice. The other apparently dead or wounded soldiers similarly rise to their feet and scatter.

    Loren himself moves to put some distance between himself and the device, drawing his blade as if in anticipation of an attack from some quarter. Leah had said it wouldn't hurt him, yet that doesn't mean he wants to stay close to it.

<Pose Tracker> Leah Sadalbari has posed.

BGM: Heresy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7HyxzzPIHo

Clank. Clank.

On the catwalk above the railing, someone steps. The Watcher, in her armor, steps across, and into view, as the machine keens and wails its horrible noise.

Loren may recoil; he may get that soldier out of there before what is to come happens.

And what is to come is the rumbling of feet. The thunder of steps. One after another, from every direction, they come: the Wels. They surge forth from the containers that were meant to hold them, converging centrally upon that machine. They wail, and mutter, and cry, and they all suddenly start to crash against one another; some break. Some bend.

Only one container remains unchanged: an opaque, covered tube. It is still and silent.

And the Watcher stares out, her eyelass mask revealing nothing. "It is time," she says.

"The raw material of the divine..."

The Watcher throws out her hand. The Wels begin to glow, to fuse, to shape into something else. Three become a great trunk of a leg; six more rise on the other to become a torso. Hands and mouths flow together and become something twisted, something new.

The gigantic amalgam is some eighteen feet tall, and power radiates from it in waves. With a horrible moaning, with a shriek from dozens of mouths, it looks down upon the others.

BGM Change: Knight of Fire https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1424QBsltfo

"Death comes, Siegfried. One way... or another." A pause. "You others may leave."

DC: Leah Sadalbari switches forms to Wels Metafusion!

<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.

A movement of Loren's hand. Azoth's segmented tail, twitching.

Siegfried knows the Wayside Outreach is here -- or, rather, Riesenlied, Noeline, and some of their people are. He finds himself conflicted; a new, unwelcome emotion. He didn't want to drag her into this. But would she stay away?

And, when Filgaia teeters on the razor's edge, is there any staying away? Does anyone have the luxury of not choosing a side?
He can feel that worried look that's muttered by Noeline. He can feel the eyes of Elly, Ethius, Billy, and more upon him.

Lan lands between him and Loren. Siegfried looks at her -- and his eyes narrow. Despite how different he looks, his eyes are the same. And the tone of his voice is the same.

Then he looks at Gwen. There is a faint recognition; a human he fought before. He looks at her, impassively.

"Move aside," he tells them.

He glances at Xantia. Another former enemy -- but she advances on Loren. He accepts this; it's easy enough to incorporate.

Then he looks up, as he hears sounds. Footsteps, on the catwalk above. Containers cracking and shattering; the debris of the base thrown and hurled aside, in a wave of Wels.

Siegfried looks up at the Watcher with widened eyes, his breath -- for now, he must breathe -- drawn in sharply. His helmet hides much of his expression, and yet... there is clear shock and surprise in his eyes. "You," he says. "You think to try a second time? And with trickery, this time? I see your skills uneven to the task!"

Glumzambor swings, pointing towards the monstrous fused Wel, towering over him. Even in his shorter form, Siegfried wields the greatsword with but one hand. Armored fingers tighten about its hilt, as the Dark Spear's eye twitches to look at it.

"So be it," he says. "But you think I was unprepared? You think I would put myself in your power again? Pfah!" Then, he yells:

"ASGARD! YOUR MASTER CALLS UPON YOU!"

Siegfried moves -- closer to that one, intact tube, which is still opaque and covered. His blade is drawn and ready.

<Pose Tracker> Asgard has posed.

It does not even taking a fraction of a second after his call for a response, flower petals spill out everywhere, as a flash of white light splits the air as a thundercrack.

An extremely large shadow falls down upon the catwalk, a distance from Leah. A horned shadow with deep crimson orbs bearing the mass of a missile.

The catwalk begins to collapse under his weight; ceiling supports torn out one after another as the shape is sent below, entirely by design.

Ponderously it straightens up, the Golem standing up to its full height, not far from Siegfried, entirely undamaged by its own descent.

"You have my gratitude, Master, for calling upon me." A step forward. Then another, its optics focused not on Loren and its fallen comrades, but on the woman and the swell of Wels.

Something about this has triggered something within its memory banks, but he speaks not a word of what he remembers. A million upon a million memories of Solarian aggression, but at this moment.

Just one, is ruminated upon in this moment.

"Yes. My gratitude." As his barrier hand is clenched into a fist, metal scraping against metal as joints flex, the Golem repeats. "It is the arrogance of the Sky-Dwellers that seek the Divine, to believe they know the nature of eternity better than the Demons who dwell in the bones of this world."

There is a certain intensity upon the Golem's features.

"Let us instruct their ignorance together."

The other drifters are noticed, many familiar. For now the Golem does not address any of them. He has worked hard to cultivate a certain strength within them, but his focus is elsewhere.
 
For indeed, like his master, he is moving towards that same intact tube.

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

Azoth's limbs twitch, red energy crawling through them. The quieted lights are a glaring, deep red, painful to look at directly. In the cold, the heat comes off of Azoth in a way Lan know so, so well. That same heat that was the first sign he was there with her that day, right before he drilled a hole through her chest.

There is a horrible flinch of movement (or is there?) and then -- Gwen. Azoth wavers, falling silent, and flickers of energy quieting as she speaks to him not unlike trying to soothe a wild animal that may or may not be capable of understanding her. She appeals to his logic as a machine. It would have been such an effective play, were any of this were what it seemed. He looks back at her, unflinching.

"...Run."

A broken, soft warning compared to Loren's desperation. He does not elaborate, because --

Primary target... identified...

Azoth's attention snap abruptly on Xantia's approach. He begins to vibrate, metal clattering to stone, and lights harshly aglow once more. Someone like Ethius could probably tell that Azoth's energy patterns are a few factors too big for his body, his outsides less advanced than his insides, threatening to rend him apart. But if only it were just that. The inelegance of the tampering within erupts with error. There are so precious few strands of code Azoth can grasp onto to keep himself operating.

It hurts.

Then everything becomes a din of wailing boxes, an almagamation of Wels, and an ancient Golem in service of a Metal Demon. The truth is below, not above. Azoth has heard this sentiment before.

But the only truth Azoth is permitted to hold is violence.

With a mechanical roar, he explodes with energy, his data blades manifested in a ring at his back, and no present indication where he plans to send them.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

    Riesenlied knows Loren to be a medic, and he doesn't look to be in a state to fight. She doesn't want to engage him, and she'd rather not her Father did either, but... but the being that Gwen identifies as Azoth -- is that truly Azoth? So Azoth was under Solaris' command this whole time? Opsec opsec opsec opsec!!! -- Riesenlied's brain reboots on Ida's call, her lips pursed.

    Having Noeline, Elly, Hannah, Ida and Ethius present does give her a sense of comfort, knowing that these are people she's fought with and faced so many impossible odds time and time again.

    Elly requests that she treat her not as Elhaym, in Loren's presence -- there's a quiet nod in turn to the brunette. "I understand. ... and thank you, for being here, Miss Scarlet." Well, it's not the most original nickname to assign on the spot, but it'll have to do.

    "Yes," Riesenlied answers Ethius. "I have not observed conclusive evidence of the kind of assailant we are dealing with, however."

    Riesenlied gives Hannah a quiet nod, saying, "I'd like to rely on Zephyr to ensure we aren't caught in a pincer situation. But don't take any unnecessary risks, okay?"

    Riesenlied wasn't present for the situation with the Watchful Eye, but Xantia's lack of reaction and a red energy blade certainly drives the sense of danger rising through the air. What happened to her...?

    It's Noeline that manages to really pull her out of her miserable, tactical funk for a second. Riesenlied breathes in deep and reasserts herself.

    "The Outreach is not a military. We are not here for a massacre," is the answer she responds with. She looks to her Father, though, as he says that; what is he looking for?

    But things come to an incredibly fast head as Loren suddenly shouts to Lan to not approach, and she grimaces as he has the unenviable job of trying to pull the wounded out; what is that metal box?

    The ground begins to shake, and Wels -- the Wels! -- arrive in droves, converging upon the machine, their wails and mutterings ringing throughout her ears. She can sense them -- their pain, their suffering--

    And they fuse, morphing into one big amalgam that towers before them.

    "An Amalgam of Wels... like in Krosse!" Riesenlied calls in disbelief. She stares towards the Watcher. "Watcher... did you obtain this knowledge from Timothy Lovelace?"

    Chaos visits the snowy landscape, as Siegfried -- to his credit, doesn't just rush on his enemies and tells them to move aside -- carves Glumzambor through the Wels monstrosity, and then--

    "Asgard...?!"

    Riesenlied's gaze is on the Golem she's fought more than once, and she in truth knows the relationship between them, but to see it in action is something else entirely.

    "We must stop that creature, but I am concerned about how many threats linger in this battlefield... keep your guard up, and do not lose sight of your surroundings! Hannah, Cetiri, keep us posted!"

    The Hyadean springs to action at that, the Ley rising around her and her wheelchair -- she feels the cold burn of Muse coursing through her veins, laced through the Artificial Medium of Life, which starts to shimmer a light blue reflected in her scales.

    "Grant us strength, Odoryuk..."

    Then, Riesenlied releases it as a massive curtain of Life resembling an aurora that washes throughout her allies, strengthening them in slightly erratic ways, as is the wont of the Ley.

GS: Riesenlied has attacked Noeline with Ley Channeling - Border of Life!
GS: Riesenlied has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Ley Channeling - Border of Life!
GS: Riesenlied has attacked Elhaym van Houten with Ley Channeling - Border of Life!
GS: Riesenlied has attacked Hannah Curie with Ley Channeling - Border of Life!
GS: Riesenlied has attacked Billy Lee Black with Ley Channeling - Border of Life!
GS: Riesenlied has attacked Siegfried with Ley Channeling - Border of Life!
GS: Riesenlied has attacked Riesenlied with Ley Channeling - Border of Life!
GS: Riesenlied has completed her action.
GS: Riesenlied heals Riesenlied! She gains 29 temporary hit points!
GS: Pray grants a random effect! Lock state and Regen applied to Riesenlied!
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!
GS: Siegfried accepts Riesenlied's Ley Channeling - Border of Life for 0 hit points!
GS: Pray grants a random effect! Amplify and Hyper applied to Siegfried!
GS: Elhaym van Houten accepts Riesenlied's Ley Channeling - Border of Life for 0 hit points!
GS: Pray grants a random effect! Amplify and Hyper applied to Elhaym van Houten!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey accepts Riesenlied's Ley Channeling - Border of Life for 0 hit points!
GS: Pray grants a random effect! Burst and Lock state applied to Ida Everstead-Rey!
GS: Riesenlied heals Noeline! She gains 27 temporary hit points!
GS: Pray grants a random effect! Blitz and Regen applied to Noeline!
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!

DC: Ethius Hesiod switches forms to Flametaker Ethius Hesiod!

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Xantia.

Elly looks at her with sudden worry after that explosion. The explosion made it easier to see her, after all; she can feel Xantia even at this distance, even if it may not be quite so literal a feeling as all that. "Oh, god," she says quietly, grasping her staff tighter -- NO, she tells herself.

I'm not going to stand by and watch horrors happen again!!

Despite her assertion to Riesenlied, Elly begins running to intercept Xantia. Xantia is faster, of course, but Elly has determination on her side, and maybe her course isn't as long - she just has to get in the way of Xantia before she can rip out Loren's, like, head or something -- no, don't imagine that --

Strength washes over her and Elly draws in a breath --

    "--hhaaaahhh--"

And forces it out in an enormous, resounding, *visible in the cold air* shout of

            "XANTIA!!!!!!"

As the energy of Odoryuk washes through her -- Elly thinks, maybe I can stop the horrible --

Her eyes saccade slightly to the side and she sees, in approximate order:

1. The arrival of that horrid macro-Wel cluster
2. The remonstrance of Siegfried against it
3. The manifestation of Asgard
4. The roar of that other machine

"Oh god," Elly says again -- but she's made her decision. She's going to stop Xantia, if she can.

... The rest of the list can come afterwards.

GS: Elhaym van Houten has attacked Xantia with Screamer!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has completed her action.

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

    Elly hides behind Ida. Elly hides behind Ida? Noeline's look is one of abject confusion. "Surely it is a little late for that?" she manages to straddle the line between whispering and yelling remarkably well, though the disbelief edges her a little louder than she might have liked. "And-- not to be rude, but surely they are going to have bigger priorities here than addressing you explicitly?!"

    It's taking her longer than she would like to sum up and evaluate the battlefield, because people keep extending animosity in directions she doesn't expect. She'd kind of expected Xantia to aim for Siegfried, but her attention is unnaturally unwavering and placed on Loren. The bestial figure alongside Loren looks to be ready to fight any and all comers, but the Solarian himself doesn't seem ready to do anything but look after his patients. It's the look of someone trying to hold on to their conviction in the middle of impeding chaos, and that's something she can respect.

    And suddenly Noeline is aware that the worst possible person to arrive on the scene has just arrived, her posture tensing all over again as she hears the clanking steps of the Watcher above them. She wasn't there to see Siegfried die at her hand once before, but she knows full well the extent to which it affected Riesenlied and still affects her to this day. She is damn certain that she cannot let it happen again. In a way, it helps - the rest of the questions around who did this to the Solaris facility fade away. There is a very clear job for her to do here.

    No matter the ways in which the Hyadeans have grown since the fall of the Photosphere, Siegfried will not suffer her presence here, she's sure of it. He will surely--

    All of her planning and consideration and careful thought fails apart as things start to happen too fast: a conglomeration of Wels bursts from cargo containers to mass together into one shifting lump and emits a tearing shriek as it amalgamates together in way that flesh should not, Asgard's form crashes on to the scene quite literally out of nowhere, and the mechanical figure has uttered a shattering roar.

    The one solace is that the Solarian wounded are fleeing. That means the Fereshte need not fight them, and need not offer them medical assistance either. One moral quandary down!

    "Make sure all of you stay safe!" she calls to those at her side, urgency rising in her veins as the situation rapidly gets more chaotic. "If you need to retreat, retreat! This is not--" It feels incredibly strange to say it out loud, but: "--this is not exactly a humanitarian mission! Do what you feel is right! And watch for the Wels most of all!"

    She takes a deep breath - and dives forwards as Riesenlied's call to the Ley washes over her with the force of a Guardian's power behind it. There is just enough time for a quiet prayer, though given the relationship between Noeline and Duras Drum it basically amounts to her inwardly muttering 'please don't explode Siegfried' before she dives into the melee.

    "We have your back as well!" if her yell towards Siegfried is a little exasperated, she can surely be forgiven. "As such, I think we really need to give you some lessons in graciously accepting assistance!" Her enormous blade is in her hands; she plants her feet wide, drawing it back. She's aware of the regenerative powers of Wels; she can only hope the black-purple sheen at the edge of her swing, the arc of shadow that is described and hangs unnaturally in its wake, might help to do something about that.

GS: Blitz! Noeline has attacked Leah Sadalbari with Material Adept - Starless Sea!
GS: Noeline has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Noeline gains 29 THP from Regen!
GS: Noeline has completed her action.
GS: Leah Sadalbari solidly guards Noeline's Material Adept - Starless Sea for 82 hit points!

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Things escalate. As they gather, Ethius does cast a brief look over to Xantia, but not much else as things just go... well, things go.
 
     "Incoming," Ethius calls as he has to take several broad steps to the side to avoid a much larger Wel that threatens to bowl them over, that one noticeably in overalls with one engorged arm. In the process of avoiding being charged over and meeting appropriate karma, he has to take a small tumble off to the side as the Amalgam builds, to the sight of Siegfried and Asgard alike.
 
     Ethius is out of Odoryuk's shared strength of the Life of Filgaia itself, and then further putting him in theoretical range of the uncertain angles of the ring of data blades at Azoth's back. A deafening mechanical roar overtakes Ethius' better senses and prevents him from opening a line of communication (read: shouting). Just when he thinks he might, a series of disconcerting sounds from the gut-wrenching abomination of the Amalgam of Wels puts that on ice.
 
     In its own way, this is supposed to be Ethius' element - off to the side, not under immediate regard. The team came together organized to investigate a Solaris installation with no further contingency for something like this. (Who would think that this would have happened, after all?)
 
     Keeping his profile low in the moment, he just breaks down the immediate moment of which he has greatest possible chance in seeing everyone thr--
 
     (Elly screams here. His thoughts get drowned out. Stand by...)
 
     ...
 
     He just breaks down the immediate moment of which he has greatest possible chance in seeing everyone through alive, honing concentration (after one last consideration for further screaming) before gesticulations and chants culminate in--
 
     "Fine Dust!" Ethius throws an outstretched hand to direct the granular matter somewhere along the way to the ancient war construct's more vulnerable engineering spots, a splash of beige and gray along the seas of blinding white, staining red, and shining neons of building power from sorcerous might or technological application.

GS: Ethius Hesiod has attacked Azoth with Fine Dust!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has completed his action.
GS: Azoth suffers a terrible blow from Ethius Hesiod's Fine Dust for 120 hit points!
GS: Jam applied to Azoth!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
GS: Billy Lee Black accepts Riesenlied's Ley Channeling - Border of Life for 0 hit points!
GS: Pray grants a random effect! Blitz and Lock state applied to Billy Lee Black!
GS: Xantia critically guards Elhaym van Houten's Screamer for 0 hit points!
GS: Disrupt, Interrupt, and Mute blocked!
GS: FP up! Power Burst activated!

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

    To see Azoth struggle draws Gwen out of her matter-of-fact tone; if Riese is looking in their direction, she'll see the way the courier's expression shifts to sympathy. ".... Hey, Azoth." ... Like Azoth was not there until now, but also, was always there. ".... Sorry, this day's gotten all sorts of messed up, hasn't it?"

    'Run.' 'Primary target identified.' 'No, get out of here!'

    "Xantia." Already, Gwen's plan is running as thin as the way her lips are drawn tight. "Xantia. Please, don't do this. _Loren's a medic_. Is this a Black Wolves deal?" That was likely the closest organization Gwen could think of that *could* theocratically, do this. But... they wouldn't do this to Xantia. But could it really be as simple as reasoning with Xantia.

    The other party could be--

    The shriek of the mysterious device draws an amalgam of Wels, as Siegfried enters, his eyes faintly gazing on her with recognition, but only briefly. ".... Siegfried." Gwen fights to draw back the contempt out of her voice; she has to at least acknowledge that Janus is now in a place where he can't hurt anyone.

    And she's in a place where she can be hurt by *everyone*.

    It would be easy to draw on the power of her ARM, but even with her growing confidence in keeping control, it's too risky to draw on it and keep mindful of Loren, Lan, and... whatever Azoth may choose to do. "... Lan. I can't draw on my ARM in a situation like this. This is some complicated Battle Royale Shit, and I'm gonna blame Loren for all of it. But it ain't like he _*wanted*_ us t'be here, and neither does Azoth." It's her signal to Lan that she's fresh out of options.

    "--Elly! Can you handle Xantia?" Nevermind Xantia, can Gwen and Lan handle _Siegfried_? ".... This is gonna really, *really* suck."

    The answer is 'fuck no'. But, Gwen can sprint, picking up and hauling her satchel to simply _*lob* it at the man's head_. "Hold up just a goddamn minute, Siegfried!! I told myself I was gonna clean on Janus's mess, n' right now, I need t'figure out if this qualifies! Maybe if you *explain* what's in that thing over there, I *might* be willin' to offer a fuckin' hand!"

    Pause. "And yeah, Asgard told me what fuckin' happened, and I ain't sure how I feel 'bout it, so _help me out a little_ because I can't tell who is the bigger asshole here!!"

<Pose Tracker> Juni Vandrer has posed.

The game's up, everything's going sideways and there's an errant thought that she should just pull out, return with her rifle. Or even better, the new Gear and problem solve the fun way. That would both take too long and probably cause a bit more collateral than people would be comfortable with, putting a halt to errant thoughts of the latter option. She stands up. Shaking herself to loosen up and hefts the axe in hand, letting her grip slide until the thing's held right.
 
 Out of the targets available? None of them look particularly promising, but tackling the tech problem is kind of up her wheelhouse. In that she knows pretty well how to dismantle tech. Nominally from afar, but you work with the hand dealt.
 
 Bobbing from foot to foot, she considers her targets. Maybe just.. engage all unknowns? Big gooery monster, golem. There's a pause. She's shot at this golem before. There's a dirty look given to Ethius at the memory, not that anyone's going to catch it, then she darts forward, psyching herself up. Ready to go.. ready to render aid if all else. Maybe that's the smart play?

GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Siegfried with Special Parcel!
GS: Gwen Whitlock has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action.
GS: Juni Vandrer has attacked Juni Vandrer with Assault Drill!
GS: Juni Vandrer has completed her action.
GS: Juni Vandrer accepts Juni Vandrer's Assault Drill for 0 hit points!
GS: Hyper and Lock state applied to Juni Vandrer!
GS: Siegfried solidly guards Gwen Whitlock's Special Parcel for 27 hit points!

<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.

 
    A wall explodes inwards, and the girl behind it is not the Xantia that Lan knows. Target...? Lan's mouth draws into a thin line, and she moves back to place herself closer to Xantia's path directly towards Loren. She's got to protect him long enough to let him finish working and hopefully evacuate the wounded man. (He's very still. Is he in shock? Is he thinking? Is he okay?)

    Riesenlied is here. Riesenlied and Elly and Ida and Ethius and that girl with the bird - Anna? She can't remember. It might be Anna. Good. Either way they're not alone, they're not alone, they're not alone.

    Run, Azoth tells them. "We can't," Lan shakes her head. They won't, not while Loren is-- is--

    Loren yells at them and Lan ignores it because it's not like she didn't expect it! She really didn't expect the, the box to be a thing. An important thing. The dead soldiers are getting up.

    It probably says something about Lan that the first thing she believed was 'the dead came back to life' and not 'those were soldiers playing a trick'. She doesn't have time to examine this. Because there are Wels, the poor Wels. Poor Azoth, who killed her. There's someone overhead but Lan doesn't pay them much mind. It's not Leah; the footsteps are wrong.

    Lan shakes her head sharply to clear it. Focus. It's okay to be afraid. It's okay to be sad. It's okay to not know what the HELL is going on! As long as she can count on Gwen and Gwen can count on Lan. "Y, yeah, I'm definitely gonna blame him too," she tries to laugh. "It'll get easier. It has to!" If she tries really hard to believe it...!

    Gwen throws the satchel at Siegfried - Lan throws her body into motion, hot on the heels of Gwen's special delivery to jab her knuckles into what few creases she can find in Siegfried's armor, driving her spiritual energy into the man's nervous system like nails in a dartboard.

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    Ida glances behind her, and makes a little 'OK' with her hand, behind her back. But Elly's not what she's focusing on. "Wait, that's--" Something's wrong. Ida steps forward, at first thinking Loren's reaching for a weapon, but the moment that antenna extends, and he gives the call to run... "Ambush!" Ida says, whipping Devil's Due from its holster beneath her cloak. Her face goes pale beneath her hood as the Wels emerge, converging on a single point. As if they were following orders.

    ...The Watcher's order?

    "YOU!" Ida roars, fear and rage erupting from her. "'Divine', is what you--" People. Those were people, and now their bodies are twisting and melting and fusing, and Ida feels her guts clench with soul-deep revulsion. Even Siegfried seems so tiny compared to it.

    ...sieg...?

    Ida blinks. Her right eye is blue-grey when it closes, and emerald-green when it opens.

    no. won't be helpless again.

    Ida breathes in, and feels the energy of the Ley pouring into her lungs. Ida lets that breath out as a plume of billowing mist and golden-white energy tinged flame-orange at the edges.

    not losing you again.

    The heiress advances on the Wel behemoth, levels Devil's Due, and fires three shots at center mass. Her right eye tics. She empties the rest of the mag into the colossal Reaper, aiming for eyes, hands, anything that looks like it can't immediately be replaced. Her hands blur as she reloads, and she starts firing the second mag at the behemoth as well. "Gwen!" Bang. "What the hell are--"

    A wash of anger that isn't hers bubbles up through her consciousness. "STOP!" Her voice turns into a strained cry at the end, as if she realized what she was saying... or if something psychosomatic made it feel like her voice was less hers.

GS: Lan Lilac has attacked Siegfried with Counting Stars!
GS: Lan Lilac has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Lan Lilac has completed her action.
GS: Siegfried takes a glancing hit from Lan Lilac's Counting Stars for 41 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Siegfried gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Break applied to Siegfried!
GS: Hyper applied to Lan Lilac!
GS: FP up! Reaction bonus activated!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Leah Sadalbari with Rapid Fire!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action.
GS: Leah Sadalbari suffers a terrible blow from Ida Everstead-Rey's Rapid Fire for 167 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Leah Sadalbari gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Hannah Curie accepts Riesenlied's Ley Channeling - Border of Life for 0 hit points!
GS: Pray grants a random effect! Amplify and Blitz applied to Hannah Curie!

<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.

There is so much more going on here than initially appeared. Hannah does a double take as Gwen identifies-- She watches Azoth warily. That doesn't look like him, but an artificial life form might not be limited to one body, right...? (There will be awkward questions later.)

Hannah nods to Riese. "You can count on him, too." She pauses as she turns her head slightly, as if listening to something only she can hear. In a whispered voice she says, "You might wanna bribe him with some fancy meat after."

There's only a moment to scrutinize the antenna and try and figure out its purpose--and she's instantly on high alert as those Wels start to gather and reform, a shudder running down her spine. The soldiers get up and flee, and someone appears on a catwalk--

"Get back here! It's an ambush!" she mutters to herself and a hawk that is rapidly circling back to the scene of the impending fight.

And then Asgard, of all people, arrives--Hannah's still not forgiven him for what he did to Lily (even if she doesn't seem to mind the result), not to mention how he endangered all of Guild Galad. "What's that jerk doin' here?"

There are more combatants here, too--Xantia appears, the medic seems to be ready to fight (or at the least, isn't retreating), and Hannah isn't entirely sure where all the divisions of loyalty lie in this fight, but she's already pulling her gloves off to get access to her crest graphs.

"We'll watch our flank!" Hannah shouts to Riese as she pulls out a crest graph. She feels Riese's channeled Ley wash through her, and feels somewhat guilty a brief moment later. To feel it so direct from the source, and then to ahve to do what she does next...

She reaches for magic, and her aura turns odd as she channels it through the crest graph growing a bright, icy blue in her hand. She slams it down on the ground, shouting, "Winter's Grasp!" A surge of raw, jagged ice bursts forth on the ground, full of sharp edges and jagged crystals as it rushes towards the abomination. Hoping to ensnare and encase a leg or anything else to keep it pinned down.

GS: Blitz! Hannah Curie has attacked Leah Sadalbari with Winter's Grasp!
GS: Hannah Curie has completed her action.

<Pose Tracker> Billy Lee Black has posed.

One thing after another. The dead Solarians were a feint...for Siegfried? Was he that powerful, to need that kind of--

And then, he sees what Loren has done. He doesn't know the specific sound that thing is making, but what the horrible chill it sends up his spine... "NO!" he yells. "You fool!"

He snaps up his weapon, already in motion of an executing shot, but the Wels arrive - hordes, throngs piling out of boxes. They were here already!? Billy surges as best he can; save yourself, first, to save others best. Only once he's got his stance planted on a now-empty container does he look down on the horror that has taken place, disgust in his face. "That Watcher," he mutters, weapon slowly tracking up...but the Wels horror before him is a more urgent problem.

The screaming, shambling mass...his breathing slowly accelerates, remembering the lesson burnt into his bones. Every one of them, a person. Every one of them, in agony.

"So this is all they are to you," he seethes, and thrusts out his unoccupied hand so the arm-holstered ether gun falls into it. He levels it at the monstrosity, shortly before releasing a pulsing ball of fire into the center of the Wels mass.

Xantia, the drama surrounding Siegfried's return and Azoth's tragedy, for Billy it's all background noise. His enemy is here.

GS: Blitz! Billy Lee Black has attacked Leah Sadalbari with Hell Blast!
GS: Billy Lee Black has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Billy Lee Black has completed his action.

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

If it seems a bit too much of a coincidence for Xantia to find herself here at this point in time... it may well be her that her presence here has to do with Solaris advertising their base a little too hard. Going by that assumption, one could infer that even if she may appear to be running on autopilot at the moment, at least until recently she had enough of her mental faculties to follow the trail of breadcrumbs that was meant for Siegfried. Whether or not that makes any different for the current time is the question.

Whichever the case, the red-haired pugilist could not have predicted that she would inadvertantly be walking directly into a Situation. Though it seemed her approach wouldn't be stopping for anything or anyone, when Leah appears up on the catwalk, Xantia's head turns in that direction... and she freezes. Her eyes widen. Recognition, finally. Despite how things may have appeared, her mental faculties are perfectly intact. Only one word leaves her lips in response to this.

"Again..."

The only hint of that which she's recognized. That this has happened before. The Watcher is trying to once again kill Siegfried. Complex feelings are rising to the surface... stopped when a sudden convulsion hits her, and she turns her attention back to where it was previously. In the end, that distraction was only for one short moment, continuing her approach right after.

She doesn't acknowledge Azoth, suffering from seeing her condition. There is no indication that she heard Gwen, giving her no response. Lan moving in for the defense gives her no pause. She continues to entirely ignore Siegfried as the threat she should recognize him to be.

And then, when it appears, she doesn't even react to the fusion of Wels Her focus remains, as it was before, on Loren. This obviously draws everyone else's attention, allowing for even her overt manner of approach to continue unchallenged, to where she gets the chance to act upon it. Only Elly is able to intervene in time, shouting with a voice capable of penetrating every fiber of one's being. ...And yet, there is absolutely no reaction. Whether by force or choice, Xantia is completely closed off, even this not prompting as much as a turn of her head.

For Loren, however, Elly's shout being directed towards where he's currently standing may well be what finally gets to him to notice that he is about to be stabbed. In the next instant, Xantia abruptly charges him, aiming to deliver a swift killing blow, going right for the chest with that energy blade. If there was ever a time to move...

GS: Xantia has attacked Loren Voss with Crimson Flash!
GS: Xantia has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Xantia has completed her action.
GS: Azoth used Defend! He takes Xantia's Crimson Flash attack on Loren Voss on himself!
GS: Azoth solidly guards Xantia's Crimson Flash for 57 hit points!
GS: Riposte applied to Xantia!
GS: FP up! Reaction bonus and Sufferer activated!
GS: Leah Sadalbari partially guards Hannah Curie's Winter's Grasp for 183 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Leah Sadalbari gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Entangle and Slow applied to Leah Sadalbari!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
GS: CRITICAL! Leah Sadalbari solidly guards Billy Lee Black's Hell Blast for 135 hit points!
GS: Cover and Quick applied to Billy Lee Black!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!

<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

    Loren's only focus, in that moment of moments, is to see the man who had played the part of wounded to safety. Even the shrieking keen of the device fades to the periphery as his attention narrows to a fine band. He's aware of the Watcher's arrival, of the accumulation of Wels into that larger monstrous form. Of Siegfriend and now, his ally in the form of that Golem. In a strict sense of the word, everything is going as the Watcher had planned.

    What he does not see is Xantia's advance. The other soldiers have to get out of here, is what he's thinking, covering their retreat, or the Wels will get them. He doesn't know what he's going to do about Lan or Gwen, but he's going to have to figure that one out fast and--

    Elly's scream rips through the air. The familiarity of that voice rips his attention over in Elly's direction, and it is through this that he realizes, all too late, the danger that is upon him.

    But Azoth intercedes.

    Once, not all that long ago, he had watched Azoth nearly kill Lan. He had wanted to -- tried to -- kill Azoth. He takes a step back, blue eyes wide.

    'So did you!'
    Lan had yelled at him, when he'd argued about it later.

    His reaction here is swifter, green light threading the distance between himself and Azoth, empowering the construct for what is to come.

    Gwen and Lan, more mercifully than Loren might realize, turn their attentions upon Siegfried first, which is a... not great start as far as he's thinking in the moment. "Didn't I say, get out of here?!" he yells across the distance at the two of them, a dark rising wall of dust roaring across the distance for Siegfried and Asgard.

GS: Loren Voss spends 1 Combo on Reload!
GS: Loren Voss has attacked Azoth with Spirit Dynamic!
GS: Loren Voss has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Azoth accepts Loren Voss's Spirit Dynamic for 0 hit points!
GS: Hyper applied to Azoth!
GS: Cover applied to Loren Voss!
GS: FP up! Loren Voss's Reload! and Sufferer activated!
GS: Loren Voss has attacked Siegfried with Terra Set!
GS: Loren Voss has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Loren Voss has attacked Asgard with Terra Set!
GS: Loren Voss has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Loren Voss has completed his action.
GS: Asgard solidly guards Loren Voss's Terra Set for 39 hit points!
GS: Cover applied to Loren Voss!
GS: Siegfried takes a solid hit from Loren Voss's Terra Set for 84 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Siegfried gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Cover applied to Loren Voss!

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

Azoth has seen it before -- a sorcery that stirs the earth in the finest particles. He does not see it coming now, his attention split and broken, objectives and overrides fighting for space in his calculations.

It would not matter if he had. Dust crawls into him, and Azoth's vicious roar of a sound turns more into a shriek as he thrashes. Red light gleams and shoots out in rays. His swords bolt from his orbit as if to escape the attack that sends Azoth's body convulsing and lights sputtering. Energy blades tear through the battlefield with the same violent intent as the machine that forged them. Some fly in response to Ethius, several others diving for Asgard, but so many hit those that were too close to him and his other targets: Lan and Gwen, who started nearby, and Elly, who is too close to another target of Azoth's fracturing focus.

The ancient ARM energy is erratic and volatile. On flesh and armor it may burn and sizzle. Near other ARMs, it can distort, an old song humming briefly that cannot be understood as any coherent command.

Azoth, with the same grace as if he were part of this formation of blades, leaps toward Siegfied in a heedless attempt at collision. He descends with a brutal mauling of claws, ripping at armor, tearing at any crease or crack.

But at the end of it, he swipes out, aiming a brutal strike straight for Siegfried's head.

Xantia makes her charge. Her blade is for Loren. It meets Azoth's claws instead. Red tangles with red, but for a heartbeat of time, Azoth's energy turns neon. Limbs rattle against Xantia's force before Azoth gathers energy at his clawtips and detonates it with contact force to get some small distance between the two of them.

Loren's Ether sends a brief pulse of green through him.

"Xan...tia..."

He's trying, even past his own glitch reverberations.

GS: Azoth has activated a Boss Action!
GS: Azoth has attacked Ethius Hesiod with exec.mec DISPOSE!
GS: Azoth has attacked Asgard with exec.mec DISPOSE!
GS: Azoth has attacked Lan Lilac with exec.mec DISPOSE!
GS: Azoth has attacked Gwen Whitlock with exec.mec DISPOSE!
GS: Azoth has attacked Elhaym van Houten with exec.mec DISPOSE!
GS: Azoth has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Azoth has attacked Siegfried with exec.dior RIP!
GS: Azoth has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Azoth has attacked Xantia with exec.mec HANDLE!
GS: Azoth has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Azoth has completed his action.
GS: Asgard takes a glancing hit from Azoth's exec.mec DISPOSE for 80 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Asgard gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Jam and Poison blocked!
GS: FP up! Countermeasures activated!
GS: CRITICAL! Elhaym van Houten suffers a terrible blow from Azoth's exec.mec DISPOSE for 284 hit points!
GS: Jam and Poison applied to Elhaym van Houten!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
GS: Siegfried suffers a terrible blow from Azoth's exec.dior RIP for 157 hit points!
GS: Dispel! Amplify and Hyper removed!
GS: Jam and Poison applied to Siegfried!
GS: CRITICAL! Lan Lilac takes a glancing hit from Azoth's exec.mec DISPOSE for 173 hit points!
GS: Jam and Poison applied to Lan Lilac!
GS: FP up! Reaction bonus and Gleam activated!

<Pose Tracker> Leah Sadalbari has posed.

"Talk of 'skills' and 'honor'..."

"These things are irrelevant. The ends are all that matter." The Watcher does not pull a weapon; she does not move to join the melee. Her modulated voice simply rings out over the battlefield.

"No, Riesenlied. I did not learn this technique from the archmage Lovelace. He never did work for us. Perhaps he would have been of great use. But he had his own agenda."

"I work flesh by will." She looks over the mass of Wels, considering for a few more moments. "...'She' was right. The materials are sufficient. We shall see if my control is enough."

Noeline's blade swings for the Wels, and the Watcher observes. The Wels amalgamation roars in pain at Noeline. Blood spews from the wound, hot and sticky, and it is not wise to let it touch her. It already begins to regenerate from the slash that opens up along its side.

"You would stay to die?" the Watcher asks. "So be it."

"Yes, 'divine'," the Watcher says to Ida, her gaze impossible to track as she regards Lan for a long moment. Instead she continues, "Do you know of a substance that better channels magic than flesh?"

The Reaper is bombarded by shot after shot after shot, and from Ida's powerful weapon it's enough to pause its forward momentum. But it manages to lurch forward between reloads and STOMP for Ida.

Ice indeed manages to pierce through one of the Reaper's feet (an entire Wels's torso), and holds the creature in place for a few moments, as Hannah's spell takes effect.

"You would risk yourselves to save Siegfried?" the Watcher says, as if dubious.

"No... You are here for the Wels," she says, turning towards Billy. "Yes. They are raw materials--no more, no less. Your training was useful to us, for a time. But that fool Stone had to act."

A blast of fire slams into the already-supercooled Wels's flesh, and a bright explosion from the mix of Winter's Grasp and Hell Blast sends the Wels stumbling backward.

The Reaper roars in agony and fury both, and that roar carries with it danger. The howl radiates away, and those who are farther from it may hear something instead--a terrible susurrus, a whispering, voices from the Wels' combined persons creeping into the minds of some of the most empathic here.

"Destroy them," the Watcher instructs the Metafusion, and it turns towards Siegfried and Asgard. With a rearing hock, it spits up acid at Asgard, a stream of horrible bile meant to melt through the Golem entirely. But for Siegfried it is something else; its 'head' radiates malice and power in purple waves, as every mouth screams at once, launching at Siegfried a terrible magical attack.

She does not speak to Azoth, in the moment. Azoth has his orders. Loren, though...

"Keep Azoth in the fight," she directs him. "Don't let yourself be distracted by other presences."

GS: Leah Sadalbari has attacked Noeline with Blood Spurt!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Stomp!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has attacked Hannah Curie with Mournful Howl!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has attacked Billy Lee Black with Mournful Howl!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Leah Sadalbari spends 1 Combo on Poison!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has attacked Asgard with Acid Spit!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Leah Sadalbari spends 2 Combo on Headshot!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has attacked Riesenlied with Murmur!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has attacked Elhaym van Houten with Murmur!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has attacked Siegfried with Psychic Crush!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has completed her action.
GS: Gamble: Moderate! Riesenlied solidly guards Leah Sadalbari's Murmur for 56 hit points!
GS: Cripple and Poison applied to Riesenlied!
GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Gleam activated!
GS: Xantia partially evades Azoth's exec.mec HANDLE for 103 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Xantia gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Jam and Poison applied to Xantia!
GS: FP up! Reaction bonus activated!
GS: CRITICAL! Gamble: Lowest! Elhaym van Houten solidly guards Leah Sadalbari's Murmur for 92 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Elhaym van Houten gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Cripple and Poison applied to Elhaym van Houten!
GS: FP up! Arcane Font, Reaction bonus, and Sufferer activated!
GS: Ethius Hesiod partially evades Azoth's exec.mec DISPOSE for 147 hit points!
GS: Ethius Hesiod's Jam Ward may block the effect!
GS: Jam and Poison blocked!
GS: FP up! Countermeasures activated!
GS: CRITICAL! Asgard takes a solid hit from Leah Sadalbari's Acid Spit for 175 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Asgard gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Cripple and Poison applied to Asgard!
GS: FP up! Reaction bonus activated!
GS: Siegfried has activated Force Action: Guard!
GS: Siegfried solidly guards Leah Sadalbari's Psychic Crush for 104 hit points!
GS: Misery inflicts a random effect! Mute applied to Siegfried!
GS: Cripple and Poison blocked!
GS: Strain! Leah Sadalbari takes 100 damage!
GS: CRITICAL! Noeline solidly guards Leah Sadalbari's Blood Spurt for 82 hit points!
GS: Disrupt and Hex applied to Noeline!
GS: FP up! Power Burst, Reaction bonus, and Gleam activated!
GS: Gamble: High! Ida Everstead-Rey takes a glancing hit from Leah Sadalbari's Stomp for 103 hit points!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey's Cripple Ward may block the effect!
GS: Disrupt and Poison applied to Ida Everstead-Rey!
GS: Cripple and Slow blocked!
GS: FP up! Power Burst activated!

<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.

"Ever faithful, Asgard," Siegfried says. Under his helmet, he smiles; the outline of the smile is more visible than the expression itself.

The power of Life rushes across Siegfried. He grips Glumzambor in his hand looks towards Riesenlied, as he feels that power settle into him -- bringing him strength for a moment. He nods, once. "You have my thanks, Riesnlied," he says. "Be cautious! This monstrosity... it will give no quarter!"

As they would expect from Solaris, he thinks.

"You have my gratitude, Noeline," Siegfried says. "Let us fight well!"

Siegfried's eyes turn towards Gwen. His expression hardens again, though it's more the image of it, behind his helmet. "That? A life claimed by Solaris -- one imprisoned. One I will free," he says. "If you would end Solaris, then join me."

Then, he quiets. About what happened. Siegfried's free hand comes up -- and Gwen's bag slams into and bounces off his forearm armor.

"I am returned," he concludes, simply. "To pay my debt to Filgaia -- by destroying that which would cast it into ruin!"

Lan leaps at him, then, and he steps back. It's with more speed, more finesse than he had years ago; he isn't the huge, hulking brute he was then. Her fist hits his armor, but doesn't quite find purchase through a joint in the shoulder armor.

"So," he says, "you would fight me as well. So be it! I was blind to how humanity saved you--perhaps you shall be as well!"

He swings out Glumzambor, and the Dark Spear spins in his hand despite its side. It does a quick, fast slash up across Lan's side. Then, he raises his arm, and the forearm plate lifts. A bolt of charged ions explodes from the cannon underneath, hurtling for Gwen.

His eyes glance at Xantia -- and at Elly -- before he looks back towards Gwen and Lan.

And then Loren sends a powerful wave of dust for him. He raises his arm -- and a shield of interlocking green hexagons erupts, the dome catching it and holding the worst of the spell at bay.

"Asgard!" Siegfried calls out, looking towards him for a moment. His eyes widen, slightly. "The one who survived! We shall free him -- if he lived, it must be for a reason, and we shall need more allies in the battles ahead."

He turns, then, and swings up Glumzambor -- and the screams of the Wel-amalgamation slam into the Dark Spear. It blasts him backward, but does not bring him to his knees.

Azoth leaps for Siegfried. The former Quarter Knight whirls, his cape fluttering after, and turns -- as Azoth's claw swings down, slamming into his helmet. It is mauled, half-shorn through, and then it CRACKS.

It falls in two pieces. And it is, to some, a familiar face that looks at Azoth with widened eyes -- eyes turned red and reflective, with living metal. But it's the lean face of Janus Cascade that looks at Azoth. His hair is cut short, now; he looks worse for the wear, leaner than Janus's did.

And his expression is strictly Siegfried's, sharp and harsh. "Well struck. I shall return that favor!"

He throws a hand, and then two blades of pale green and pale blue light explode off his hand. They snap, twist, and shoot out, undulating like misshappen lightning, which converge upon Azoth -- and explode with brilliant, ugly sparks of strange and twisting light.

Then, Siegfried leaps away from Azoth. Glumzambor swings up -- and then stabs down into the ground. When Siegfried hits the damaged ruins of the base's floor, a shockwave explodes off him -- in two jagged V-shaped blasts. One rockets for Loren; the other, for the huge amalgamation of Wels.

GS: Siegfried has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Ion Cannon!
GS: Siegfried has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Siegfried has attacked Lan Lilac with Feather-Light Sweep!
GS: Siegfried has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Siegfried has attacked Azoth with Negative Lance!
GS: Siegfried has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Siegfried has attacked Loren Voss with Quarter Dynamite!
GS: Siegfried has attacked Leah Sadalbari with Quarter Dynamite!
GS: Siegfried has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Siegfried takes 29 damage from Poison!
GS: Siegfried has completed his action.
GS: Azoth suffers a terrible blow from Siegfried's Negative Lance for 203 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Azoth gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
GS: Leah Sadalbari takes a solid hit from Siegfried's Quarter Dynamite for 351 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Leah Sadalbari gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
GS: Gwen Whitlock solidly guards Azoth's exec.mec DISPOSE for 103 hit points!
GS: Gwen Whitlock's Jam Ward may block the effect!
GS: Jam and Poison blocked!
GS: FP up! Countermeasures activated!
GS: CRITICAL! Gwen Whitlock solidly guards Siegfried's Ion Cannon for 137 hit points!
GS: Mighty applied to Siegfried!
GS: FP up! Countermeasures activated!
GS: Lan Lilac takes a solid hit from Siegfried's Feather-Light Sweep for 139 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Lan Lilac gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Cover and Riposte applied to Siegfried!
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!
GS: CRITICAL! Loren Voss solidly guards Siegfried's Quarter Dynamite for 140 hit points!

<Pose Tracker> Asgard has posed.

The Golem glances sideways at Riesenlied. He did always speak of a True Master. Perhaps there was ambiguity in the sense of him serving the Prophets who it was. Following along Janus, bearing Glumzambor.

Now perhaps they realize, understand, the truth.

He was Siegfried's Creature from the start.

"Keep your eyes upon the Sky Dwellers, Riesenlied - and this will all be over soon."

Gwen shouts, and Asgard replies, "If you desire an explanation, Gwen Whitlock, then win one by your strength. Until you have, my Master owes you nothing."

Loren demands their exit, with a dark rising wall of dust. The Golem's fist suddenly shifts sideways, shattering it as it rises, the dust drifting down around him.

"Desperation wreaths your words. Do not presume to order me around with strength such as that." There is a motion, and the Golem is upon him, a palm slams against Loren's chest with a pulse of energy, the Golem shouting, "Fall! REAPER'S TOLL!" And attempting to blast him across the room.

Azoth's ARM energy slices towards him in the form of energy blades, and the Golem suddenly lifts his arm, wreathed in barrier energy. The blades sweep across it, the final with one harsh sweep of his ARM.

"To see you in such a state again, my old friend."

The Golem barrels at Azoth, and something infuses in his hand, an energy which seems different from his Arm. It shines like something else, splitting out of it - before slamming into his form. As sparking, glittering...

... Chi?

"I will make this quick."

The Wels Metafusion hocks acid at him in that moment, and the Golem makes a decision, as the horrible bile suddenly meats a multilayer barrier, melting through one layer after another, with horrifying rapidity.

"Yes, I expect you think it can, Watcher. ... MATERIAL - CHRONOS FLUX."

Something odd happens in that moment, as from the Golem, shamanistic magic erupts without any sign of a Medium, something akin to Gears appear around the Wels and turn... then keep turning faster, forward, inexorably so. And the Wels Metafusion, looks like it is losing something as it does so, its skin looking more ghastly and ashen.

Time. Whereas the Acid upon the Golem's armor starts to vanish, as if the damage is reversing upon him.

Siegfried however issues a command. "An ally such as that one." The Golem, in the midst of battle, suddenly is not there. Amidst a shower of flower petals he reappears beside the tube. They blow by the tube in a flurry.

"Certainly his strength would be a boon to your dream for Filgaia."

BGM OST - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMpSLT0w6ko

The Golem's hand brushes across the tube, cryogenic moisture sliding away to reveal a glimpse of the figure within. Young too young, blonde hair, a suit of grey, accented with red. He looks as if he could be sleeping.

And to some perhaps, there is a hint of familiarity.

"Confirmed, Master. We have him."

The Golem's arm suddenly moves around the side of the tube, hoisting it up, mechanical tubing severing and spraying, electrical cords sparking, as he pulls it out of its moorings.

It is brought up onto a singular shoulder, his left, as the Golem moves through the spray of coolant and Liquid Nitrogen, clearing the mist, for some to now see the name plate sported etched in grey gunmetal.

SAMPLE 0Z80 MILLIONS KNIVES

It is a handicap, perhaps to fight like this, but, for the Golem... not as much as one might think.

"We take one step closer."

GS: Asgard spends 2 Combo on Headshot!
GS: Asgard has attacked Azoth with Reaper's Toll!
GS: Asgard has canceled their attack on Azoth.
GS: Asgard spends 2 Combo on Headshot!
GS: Asgard has attacked Loren Voss with Reaper's Toll!
GS: Asgard has attacked Azoth with Million Memories: Ancient Strike!
GS: Recover! Cripple and Poison removed from Asgard!
GS: Asgard has attacked Leah Sadalbari with Material: Chronos Flux!
GS: Asgard has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Asgard has completed his action.
GS: Azoth critically guards Asgard's Million Memories: Ancient Strike for 40 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Azoth gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

    Riesenlied's eyes widen as Elly breaks off to intercept Xantia -- it's not a movement she doesn't expect, but lacking the full context, she can't blame her. "Please take care of her, Miss--" Ah, screw it. "Miss Elly." Because she is worried about Xantia, too, but her hands are very, fvery full right now. "We will suppport you as well!"

    As Noeline surmises, Riesenlied's heart is wrenching at the sight of the Watcher. The Watcher. Siegfried. A snowy backdrop. It's all there. She's being pulled into the weight of That Day. She can't let it happen again--

    "... yes. And... I will put my trust in you, Father," are the words that Riesenlied spares for Siegfried. "So please..." She nods towards Asgard in turn. She trusts him to defend him with his life...

    Hannah mentions how Zephyr might want some fancy meat later. "I am certain my Cucco Blend may appeal to him too," she remarks with a faint smile.

    Ethius splits and ends up in a different engagement -- there's a quiet wince, but then Riesenlied calls, "I will try to support you as best I can, Mister Ethius."

    To her surprise, Lan and Gwen have moved against Siegfried, and there's a look of conflict as she finds recent friends on the same side; "Lan, Gwen, please! We are not here for Loren! Listen to him! This -- this is not the time--"

    Oh no, she's emotionally fraying again. Keep it together, keep it together--

    Tactics.

    "Our focus right now is the Wels Amalgam, Ida..." Riesenlied reasserts for both Ida and herself, understanding that Ida -- and Fafnir both -- are struggling with perhaps much the same ambiguity and conflict that she is.

    Hannah's raw, powerful spell erupts and tangles with Devil's Due; Billy's powerful armament follows suit a moment later. Riesenlied pulls backwards with Strife's help, the little ARM pod chirping as she prepares to channel the Ley once more.

    Asgard's power runs strangely through the battlefield, however -- a sensation of Time erupts. What? What is it...? What was Father looking for here with Asgard? She doesn't undferstand. There's too many factors at play here!

    The Watcher confirms that they didn't learn this from Timothy Lovelace. So the technique was developed independently of each other? How twisted this world can be...!

    The Wels' chattering influences her greatly -- the downside of an empath, and she grasps at the side of her head for a moment. She can hear it! Their pain, their suffering! It's unbearable, with every waking moment...!!

    "If you were not here..." Riesenlied hisses, what little gains she's obtained on emotional stability wandering away again. She's reliving that day again. But that's not all...

    Riesenlied doesn't want to admit that Siegfried's return from the dead has put bad habits of hers back onto the table. The bad habit of not checking him firmer, not standing her ground and stepping away sooner. The bad habit of aversion that let Arctica happen, that let Adlehyde happen, that led to the destruction of many Guardian Statues...

    The last time Riesenlied spoke with Leah, she told her that she forgave him and would pursue her only because Solaris must be stopped. The Riesenlied that spoke with her then was a Riesenlied at peace, who is clearly not the same person now.

    "If only you were not here... Watcher!!"

    Noeline can detect the raw surge of negative emotion, but others can pick it out a moment later because Riesenlied is tactically making the worst thing she can do in this fight--

    The wheelchair rises as Strife chirps concernedly, and Riesenlied propels herself straight towards the Watcher, her crystal sword manifested in her hand. This is dumb! And ill-advised!

    "This distortion in my heart... demands that you be ERASED!"

    Done shouting deeply uncharacteristic things, the Hyadean's hand is drawn backwards, sword in hand, as she manifests Ley energy and channels it clean through her blade; in a moment, the spectral image of Glumzambor has overlaid itself over the orange-tinged crystal blade-- and in one fell swoop, she thrusts forward to spear Leah directly in mid-air.

GS: Riesenlied has attacked Leah Sadalbari with Ley Artes - Sieg Impulse!
GS: Riesenlied has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Riesenlied takes 28 damage from Poison!
GS: Riesenlied has completed her action.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    The otherworldly Symbologist is not standing to watch his handiwork when he fires off that spell. He's moving the very moment he is certain those energy blades are going to break formation and strike, and this prudence is warranted - he'll keep his life for at least the next minute.
 
     He hauls across shallow snow to find something resembling cover behind debris, but it is merely resemblance. The blades pierce through, stymied maybe only by the thickness of the material between blades and target, and even then they pierce with enough velocity that the Symbological shield he invokes behind cover moments later isn't enough to stop them from drawing blood by a few punctures.
 
     Nowhere fatal. As described, Ethius buys himself a minute of life with current tactical credit, moments spent taking centering breaths from the stings as overwhelming sound and light threaten to have him lose what exactly is going on around him.
 
     'You would risk yourselves to save Siegfried?' The Watcher's penchant for having their voice carry clearly helps reinforce that yes - there is a figure here named Siegfried. The Siegfried that fell at the Photosphere? ('I am returned, to pay my debt to Filgaia -- by destroying that which would cast it into ruin!' As if by dramatic timing.)
 
     He stops himself from asking the questions because despite everything else, Azoth's presence alone makes it unlikely one might get to even have the privilege to ask and scrape at plausible theory as to why.
 
     Ethius looks up, and has to go to cover again as an exploding shockwave from Siegfried threatens to strike him at the periphery. The cover Ethius was using flies free, tossed into the distance, and revealing his position anew.
 
     The human from beyond the stars moves again, quarterstaff drawn for balance in case of an ice patch underfoot, sizing up the returned warrior who looks an awful lot like a familiar Drifter of some years past.
 
     It's as far rumination Ethius allows as he takes in the level of strain that Azoth is showing while trying to hold strong against multiple tremendous forces at once, skulking around the periphery as a seemingly insignificant presence until he completes the next Symbological cast.
 
     "Overheat." Ethius mouths the terminating name of the string, threatening to add to Azoth's burden by dramatically increasing the temperature of the space he occupies.

GS: Ethius Hesiod has attacked Azoth with Overheat!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has completed his action.
GS: Azoth suffers a terrible blow from Ethius Hesiod's Overheat for 93 hit points!
GS: Weaken applied to Azoth!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
GS: Billy Lee Black takes a solid hit from Leah Sadalbari's Mournful Howl for 121 hit points!
GS: Delay applied to Billy Lee Black!
GS: Leah Sadalbari drains Billy Lee Black! Leah Sadalbari gains 60 temporary hit points!
GS: Hannah Curie takes a solid hit from Leah Sadalbari's Mournful Howl for 156 hit points!
GS: Delay applied to Hannah Curie!
GS: Leah Sadalbari drains Hannah Curie! Leah Sadalbari gains 78 temporary hit points!

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

"I hope so!" Elly answers Gwen as she continues to run. Wide eyes! Clear heart! Can't lose!

At least one of those things is true.

Elly's words don't reach Xantia. Elly can tell with heart sinking certainty even as that horrible machine moves to intercept Xantia's attack... well, that means Loren isn't going to die, but...

A terrible burst of energy in compressed and bladelike form smashes into Elly's side. It is a testament, maybe, to her refined control of her Ether that she is simply cut and thrown to the ground with a spray of blood from the side and a wail of pain rather than being bisected, mortally injured, or given some horrid deeper wound. Rolling, bleeding in the snow, Elly gasps for breath.

And then something howls. The Wels...

They're hurting, Elly thinks, somehow. And despite everything, she can feel her cheeks wet with tears.

And yet.

She's not powerless, is she? Even if it hurts. Heaving herself up in the snow, Elly whines under her breath at the pain and rests a hand over the cut, though the blood isn't... *gushing* out; which should be a good sign. Shuddering for a moment, Elly sucks in the cold air and calls out, again, if less emphatically:

"Xantia! Please... you don't have to do this, you don't - have to do any of this. I don't know what's happened, but - but I can't -"

There's another of those ululations. Elly's hands come up to her head. She hasn't seen her blood-covered hand yet, nor the handprint she's just put against her face. "Ngh - why -"

Siegfried! Riesenlied's close to him...
That great machine! It's trying to talk to Xantia, too...
Loren, despite everything...

When you stack it up like that, it's not a hard call.

Elly throws out a hand. Not the bloody one as it turns out. It is approximately towards the Wels. There is a flicker of fire, a tongue of plasma, long and thin that reaches out as if to tap against the Wels. It would be a fairly pitiful showing, but Billy, in particular (who has definitely seen what's about to happen) would recognize it's actually something of a 'range-finder.'

The tongue of flame freezes for a moment.

It shrinks down to a trail of sparkles.

THEN it erupts into superheated blue flame: a column of incineratingly bright death aiming out towards the Wels with carbonizing force! The resulting radiant heat may just flash-melt stray snow on top of other people, although it hasn't gotten to the point of melting the snow on the ground or the frosty grip of the winter on the soil.

Not yet, at least!

GS: Elhaym van Houten has activated Force Action: Full Clip!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has attacked Leah Sadalbari with Thermo Incinerate!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Elhaym van Houten takes 31 damage from Poison!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has completed her action.
GS: Sneak! The true nature of Asgard's attack becomes clear!
GS: Leah Sadalbari suffers a terrible blow from Asgard's Million Memories: Ancient Material for 269 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Leah Sadalbari gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
GS: Asgard drains Leah Sadalbari! Asgard gains 100 temporary hit points!

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

    Noeline would like to take Gwen to task for throwing an explosive satchel at her father-in-law's head, but she does have some pertinent points to make about the nature of their presence here of all places, and what exactly was being produced or stored or recovered by this base. Her comments do helpfully remind Noeline that Janus was the one who paid the price to get them to this point, and that's a nice thought but also still rather... confusing when it comes to Siegfried in general.

    All she can do is hope that his clarifications make a difference to Gwen and Lan, and grit her teeth with a nod at the way he personally calls her to battle. ... another thing that the old her could never have imagined, even prior to her defection - let alone now after all this time and one death already. "You as well!" she cannot help but yell towards Asgard, a little too stunned to really realise she's doing it. "This is hardly the time to demand a duel for the sake of information! The other sides are the ones that are supposed to do that!"

    Despite that encouragement, if she's honest with herself, Noeline would love nothing more than to be somewhere quite distant, sitting down at a table with Hannah and explaining the complex history that has lead Siegfried and Solaris to this point, or working out exactly how many times Asgard has gone around the annals of history. She could even introduce Ethius and Siegfried to the children in their orphanages and watch the time-honoured and very funny ritual of stoic people getting hounded by a pile of fearless children.

    There are bigger things to worry about, quite literally, to the point where if she doesn't focus she risks being actively stepped on by the heaving, shifting mass of Wels whose scream is still echoing in her head. She slips to one side to clear the way for Ida's barrage without any indication that she saw it coming, snapping to one side more as a shadow shifting perspective than an actual physical dodge. One moment she's there, the next she's slid across.

    Though her shift allows her to avoid most of the arc of ichor that tears from the Wels at her attack, there's still a burst of pain that suddenly sears through her. It feels all wrong, its point of origin confused and disparate, until she realizes what happened. The blood might not have hit her - but she can't help but have it be layered along her blade, and her blade is after all made from the same living metal that she is. Cauterize! her mind yells urgently at the hissing sound of acid on metal, before a purplish flame flares across its length.

    "You are Solarian through and through," she notes up towards the Watcher, her expression set in a thin line. "Does it seem so odd for alignments to shift? For the world to be in shades of grey? For us to hope that people might change and grow and learn? ... how about you come down here and do your own dirty work?" she adds with a dangerous glint in her eye.

    Riese does the exact opposite, and Noeline recoils at the sight, warning bells flaring in her mind. Quick as a flash, her ring lights up with a flare of power as she tries to be the grounding for her partner, to at least establish a link to try to help bring her figuratively and literally back to earth. There's a cold fear that this might be just what Leah wants, or that an instant might still be too slow. "Riese! Be careful! This is not that day! We are all here--"

    Love sometimes needs to be a sword. She knows that. She just hopes this is one of those times.

    At least a sword can be a sword. Rather than risk searing herself with another gout of blood, she grits her teeth as she concentrates, pulling at the sensation of the Medium within her. Her opponent is not a sentient creature - maybe? She hopes not - so she can at least find it in herself to yell 'Incoming!' before she slams the bulk of her blade into the ground. The air sparks of a Material summoning around her, but it doesn't come. Instead, a wave of shadow erupts around her, seemingly solid - until it passes straight through the Wels, tearing at the flesh.

GS: Leah Sadalbari suffers a terrible blow from Riesenlied's Ley Artes - Sieg Impulse for 220 hit points!
GS: Delay applied to Leah Sadalbari!
GS: Cover applied to Riesenlied!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
GS: Blitz! Noeline has attacked Leah Sadalbari with Material Adept - Shadows Dance!
GS: Noeline has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Noeline gains 31 THP from Regen!
GS: Noeline has completed her action.
GS: Leah Sadalbari takes a solid hit from Elhaym van Houten's Thermo Incinerate for 244 hit points!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
GS: Leah Sadalbari solidly guards Noeline's Material Adept - Shadows Dance for 113 hit points!
GS: Cover, Mighty, and Riposte applied to Noeline!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
GS: CRITICAL! Loren Voss solidly guards Asgard's Reaper's Toll for 107 hit points!
GS: FP up! Power Burst activated!

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

    "You expect me to believe that?! I don't believe in the 'enemy of my enemy bullshit'!!" The satchel, at least, is inert, filled with bandages and first aid supplies. Hardly something that could hurt Siegfried, no matter how hard Gwen tried to throw it. Noeline has nothing to fear.

    Asgard, at least, is polite; Gwen can understand somewhat the need to prove her mettle for the answers she needs.

    If this wasn't such a messy battlefield, it'd be something she'd take up. Xantia could join in, and Lan could hang back, and--

    "GRK!" Gwen barely manages to guard against a stray energy blade from Azoth; the sound of ancient energy hitting ancient ARM a discordant melody. "Lan, pull back, this is ba-- ACK!" Now, from the other side, is Siegfried, who attacks the two of them more intently.

    Yeah, that's going to be a bad day all around.

    But perhaps she can turn it around; two attacks and Gwen is still standing, so--

    Blue-grey eyes stare at Siegfried's revealed face, and widen.

    She can hear Riese's plea. ".... I was willing to move on... I thought you put Janus in a place where he couldn't hurt anyone. I wanted it to be with him bein' alive, but... things don't work that way."

    "But..." Tears begin to stream down her freckled cheeks.

    ".... You're... *wearing his corpse*," Gwen growls.

    The Mockingbird responds to Gwen's anger, furiously buzzing to life with a quickness that feels painful, inserting newly absorbed energy straight into the courier's very human nervous system.

    "YOU TOOK THE LITTLE BIT OF DIGNITY HE COULD HAVE HAD AT THE END!"

    Gwen's eyes glow the same color as the exposed nerves of her skin, like the lightning pattern left on exposed skin after someone is struck.

     She shrieks, and abandons everything: Lan, Loren, Solaris, the Wel monstrosity, Riese's pleas, Azoth, Elly, Xantia--

    She charges ahead, right at the man wearing her childhood friend's face.

DC: Gwen Whitlock switches forms to Chrysopoeia!

GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Siegfried with Bolide Barrage!
GS: Gwen Whitlock has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action.
GS: Access! Gwen Whitlock takes 30 damage!
GS: Asgard used Defend! He takes Gwen Whitlock's Bolide Barrage attack on Siegfried on himself!
GS: COUNTER! Asgard counterattacks Gwen Whitlock with Counter Attack!
GS: Asgard suffers a terrible blow from Gwen Whitlock's Bolide Barrage for 174 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Asgard gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Asgard has gained 1 Combo!

<Pose Tracker> Billy Lee Black has posed.

The blast of flame howls into its belly and bursts it like a boil, but the horror endures.

Unfortunately, its offense and danger are enough that he can't break off for the Watcher, which he's pretty sure would go badly for him *anyway*. Still, his gaze locks to the Watcher as they speak. "You Solaris dogs are all the same," he says, ice befitting his cold appearance in his voice. He rises up, firing into the Wels Metafusion with his gunsmokes without breaking his look on the Watcher. "Those were people, demon. People suffering under your peoples' curse. But I suppose you'd say the same regardless of that, wouldn't you?"

He breaks off, then - runs off to the edge and LEAPS into the air. For all the Metafusion is enormous, Billy shows no fear in leaping straight at it and spinning a roundhouse kick heel-first at the thing's midsection, then driving a heel into it to backflip away. He fires his gunsmokes into it on the retreat, fanning the triggers until they both click.

GS: Blitz! Billy Lee Black has attacked Leah Sadalbari with Sky Walker!
GS: Billy Lee Black has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Delay expired!
GS: Billy Lee Black has completed his action.
GS: Delay! Attack greatly weakened!
GS: CRITICAL! Leah Sadalbari takes a solid hit from Billy Lee Black's Sky Walker for 205 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Leah Sadalbari gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

She should have seen this coming. If Xantia had been entirely thinking straight, she probably would have. Of course she wouldn't be able to lay a finger on a Solarian operative when Azoth is in range to intercept. The emotionlessness of her expression melts away into a frown. Anger, frustration. Clear indicators that this isn't what it may have initially looked like. This isn't like those times in the past when Xantia entirely lost control of herself. Something else is going on here.

However, she's not backing down from this. She continues pushing against those claws, not so much trying to damage Azoth is she is trying to use brute force to get by. Should she slip past his guard, she would undoubtedly be going straight after Loren again.

It doesn't get to that point. Xantia fails to immediately reason out that those colors mean that Azoth is preparing a contact energy blast, and her attempt to break away comes too late as a result. Knocked back, Xantia digs in her heels to stop herself. She recovers quickly, about to immediately try again... but electricity cascades around her bracer, the herald of an energy surge. There's a loud crackle as her ARM blade fizzles out, Xantia gritting her teeth as this causes a second wave of pain through her right arm.

Breathing heavily, she just stares at Azoth for a moment, starting, "T-target..." Before shaking her head "N-no. You're not..." Even under the current circumstances, she can't rationalize Azoth as any more than a victim. Why did he have to be here right now? If it was only Solarians, she could have...

Elly makes it even more difficult, reaching out to her, despite a very visible serious injury. Xantia covers her face with her left hand, shaking her head with even greater resolution. "E-Elly, I... N-no, I can't! I don't want to see it! Get it away from me!" She waves wildly in front of her with both arms, whatever plaguing her evidently feeling worse than it must to move an arm covered in electrical burns.

There's a clear desperation to her stubborn persistence in her course of action, once again singling out Loren. Azoth is otherwise occupied at that moment, but she knows that he won't be able to help but get in the way again. Preparing for that, she gathers Ether in her left hand, glowing white with pure Light. She's sure Azoth is able of handling it. Just as sure as she is that even he shouldn't be able to keep all of the massive outward explosion of energy that she has in mind from slipping past his guard.

As she launches her strike, counting on a clash with Azoth triggering that large blast, the desperation is once more clearly felt in her trembling voice. "Out of my way! Please! Just... just let me do what I'm meant for! Let me be good for something!!"

GS: Xantia has activated Force Action: Extend!
GS: Xantia spends 2 Combo on Headshot!
GS: Xantia has attacked Azoth with Exploding Fist!
GS: Xantia has attacked Loren Voss with Exploding Fist!
GS: Xantia has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Xantia takes 28 damage from Poison!
GS: Xantia has completed her action.

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    Ida's eyes go distant for a few heartbeats as the Watcher speaks. Visions of relentless hunger spill through her mind--her memories of the Reapers, and the scars they left on her body and mind. If they're raw material, some primordial clay to be shaped into a conduit for the Divine...

    Ida's stomach twists again. "MONSTER!" she howls. Everything she suffered through--and not just her, but her mother, and her aunt, and Billy, and that's not even mentioning everyone else the Wels have left their mark on. That's not even mentioning the people who became Wels.

    Riesenlied's voice draws her out of her anger; even when the Hyadean is unsettled, she's just easy for Ida to orient on. "We're trying!" Ida shouts, glancing back over her shoulder at Riesenlied. The fact that it's a 'we' in that statement, and not an 'I', is revealing. Ida's hands blur as she reloads yet again, jamming the fresh mag into the ARM and the empty mag into a pocket.

    THOOM

    The Reaper's massive foot lands, plowing up a cloud of grit and soot and powdery snow. Ida skids out from beneath, tumbling across the ground. She comes up to a knee, wheezes, and clutches her side with her free hand. A light twinge alerts her to bruised ribs. A moment slower, and it could've cracked them, or crushed her underfoot entirely.

    Ida's arms snap outward. Metallic flesh erupts from her pores, forming knife-sharp webworks of exoskeleton around both her hands. Ida drives towards the Reaper's ankle, and drives her right arm forward in a bladed, knife-hand strike. She sweeps it to the side if it hits, trying to cleave through whatever tendons and muscles are keeping its massive bulk upright, to cut through arteries.

    But despite Riesenlied's words, she can't fully tear herself away from--

    "Gwen--?!" Skidding away from the Reaper for a moment, Ida gets her first good look at Janus Cascade's body. Her eyes--mismatched, thanks to Fafnir seeing through the green one--go wide.

GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Leah Sadalbari with Muscle Memory!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has gained 3 Combo!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey takes 27 damage from Poison!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action.
GS: CRITICAL! Loren Voss solidly guards Xantia's Exploding Fist for 126 hit points!
GS: Hyper applied to Xantia!
GS: FP up! Power Burst activated!
GS: Azoth takes a solid hit from Xantia's Exploding Fist for 147 hit points!
GS: Hyper and Hyper applied to Xantia!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!

<Pose Tracker> Juni Vandrer has posed.

So, the last time the golem broke things. This time he's trying to cart off a kid. "See, I don't know what your plans are-" she starts. Rolling forward into a run, hands and arms still hidden beneath that poncho. Something she seems to enjoy at the very least. Keeps things tidy. Her first instinct, tossing.. well explosives is probably not the best option since there's the unknown. Even if they called the figure in the tube an 'ally'. The grenade would probably cause some grievous harm that.. actually more likely, in her head would be waking him up and if he is an ally, that's just more problems.
 
 Then again.. denied to the enemy is a time honored tradition. One of her homebrew toys is flipped out into her left hand. A quick shake to confirm something. Then she flings it into the air towards Asgard, "Hey, put the canned food down. Got to make up for the concussion last time." She draws the revolver smoothly in hand as the can flies through the air, spinning. Left arm extended out and pulls the trigger with a bang. She hits the can with a louder bang and a mixture of... best not ask how she builds her toys really, but was her timing good? She's closing ground either way. Revolver spun and holstered. Climbing her way up, hopefully with something approaching a distraction to make this less of a terrible idea.
 
 Not the first time she's fallen from a high place she notes grimly though, laughing at those personal thoughts. Claws digging in to get the height she needs to fully embrace the bad idea. Only barely catching the surrounding chaos and the fact that at least two other people have got it coming too, by the sounds of it. "See. This is why I bring the rifle for you fine folk." She mutters. Still climbing.. Still trying to figure out if she should change targets. She's committed though. For better or worse. Though there's an errant thought to check on allies.. some looking more haggard than not. Leaving her hanging there. Then another hand goes up and she continues the climb. Bad isn't critical yet.

GS: Juni Vandrer has attacked Asgard with Powder Burn!
GS: Juni Vandrer has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Juni Vandrer has completed her action.
GS: Asgard critically guards Juni Vandrer's Powder Burn for 25 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Asgard gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Disrupt blocked!
GS: FP up! Countermeasures activated!

<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.

 
    Lan dances back, away from Siegfried. She may not know what's going on; does she ever? Does it matter? There has to be something Lan can do, so she'll do it. She'll protect Loren, even after what he did to the Wels, she'll support Gwen, she'll try to avoid

    Red from behind slices through the meat of her upper arm. Lan sucks in a breath and covers the wound with her opposite hand, blood dribbling between her fingers. She'll try to avoid Azoth. She's not going to panic, even if she's confused and her heart won't stop pounding and she wants to throw up a little. It's the noise from horrible machine. It's the sight of the Wels. It's all this everything crammed into a body that feels too small for it somehow, at five-foot-ten.

    Siegfried's helmet cracks into two pieces and falls. A blade comes almost casually for Lan's side - the exposed one, and it's only how she twists on her feet that lets Lan move with the blade, lets it glance off of her ribs instead of hacking out a piece of her side.

    It still hurts.

    Noeline and Riesenlied call out to them. "But...!" No, she doesn't tell them, because Lan can't draw a full breath yet. The Outreach isn't here for Loren. She and Gwen are. But, but, if Siegfried is more interested in a tube - if Riesenlied believes in her father -

    Lan takes another few steps backwards, glancing over her shoulder. "Gwen--"

    Gwen doesn't look so good.

    You're wearing his corpse.

    Lan's horrified gaze swivels back to Siegfried. She thought it was just her bad memory that made Siegfried seem like a behemoth in her memory of the Photosphere. A younger Lan's vivid imagination. "He's... Gwen, you...?"

    Her pale eyes widen as the Mockingbird's hum spins out past them. "Gwen, wait!!" Gwen rushes Siegfried and Lan reaches out with her good arm as the courier passes her, dragged along even as she tries to get at least one limb around her friend. "Stop! Gwen, please stop!"

    Please stop, please calm down! She clings as tight as she can, dragging her feet, and tries to calm Gwen any way she can.

GS: Lan Lilac has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Starlight Shimmer!
GS: Lan Lilac has gained 3 Combo!
GS: Lan Lilac takes 29 damage from Poison!
GS: Lan Lilac has completed her action.

<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.

"Zephyr's gonna hold you to that, Miss Riesenlied."

But Leah has something to say about the Wels. "You can't just... manipulate other beings for your own ends and call them 'raw materials'! That's just... that's just sick!" It's disturbing to know that there is, apparently, more than one person who's developed a technique for doing this.

Hannah does wince some as her ice pierces one of the unfortunat Wels through the chest, even if that chest is serving as a foot. She mouths a quiet 'Sorry' under her breath, but is already switching out her crest graphs as the beast wails. She grits her teeth and brings her arms up to cover her face. "Nnnggg...."

The crest graph in her hand, which was already spewing small electric sparks, stays lit through the entire attack.

She gasps with relief once it passes, staggering half a step forward. "I'm alright," she mutters under her breath.

There is so much going on right now, and Hannah barely has context for any of it. She will gladly take Noeline's explanations later, but she's determined not to let herself be a drag on her friends. Riese has picked a priority, and so the Wels Amalgam will be her target.

But she's still keeping an eye on the battlefield, and she frows as Asgard just yanks out the cryogenic tube. "H-hey! Be careful! If you don't deactivate that right--" No, there's more important things to focus on.

She's determined to be strong for Miss Riesenlied and Miss Noeline's sakes, and when Riesenlied draws back, she attempts to step in front of her, to act as a bulwark, but then the Hyadean takes off flying at the Watcher in her wheelchair.

There's clear panic in her voice. "Miss Riesenlied! Wait--!"

Well that's not good. Hannah holds out her crest graph, and a ball of lighting starts to form, tendrils of electricity swirling within it--and without, as the arms of electricitly start to lash out wildly at anything metallic near them. But she's got someone helping her keep it away from anybody that she arrived with, at last. When it's sufficiently large she shouts, "Ball Lightning!" and snaps her fingers: The entire mess goes flying right for the amalgamation. Her aura warps further as she draws upon the magic for the spell, and that wrongness extends into the ball itself.

GS: Blitz! Hannah Curie has attacked Leah Sadalbari with Ball Lightning!
GS: Hannah Curie has gained 3 Combo!
GS: Delay expired!
GS: Hannah Curie has completed her action.

<Pose Tracker> Leah Sadalbari has posed.

"Siegfried is correct," the Watcher says of the monster. "It knows no mercy. It knows pain, and hunger. And it will share both with you." 'The one who survived', though... the Watcher turns.

"Do not allow him to have the tube," the Watcher instructs Loren. Then, "Azoth, your orders are to destroy Siegfried and Asgard while protecting Voss."

Then she considers Asgard, far more powerful than she has seen him before.

"...A machine capable of wielding the Guardians' power," the Watcher reflects. "To manipulate Time itself.... Yes. It is unfortunate that you have such loyalty to the Hyadeans. You could be of great use indeed."

"But if you think I intend to allow you to gain more allies..."

She is interrupted, then. By Riesenlied. Riesenlied, who hisses at her. Who is not at peace. If only she were not here. the Watcher turns, towards the wheelchair, and Riesenlied approaches with the wheelchair.

That crystal sword does not touch the Wels. Instead, is runs the Watcher through, as she turns towards Riesenlied. Blood splatters the wall behind the catwalk. The Watcher's head tilts downward.

"Your heart is irrelevant," the Watcher says, and catches Riesenlied, wheelchair and all. "You will not receive another warning." She throws Riesenlied and her chair aside with one hand, leaving her to crash towards the ground and the wall, to smash there, as the wound in her stomach visibly begins to seal up despite all the blood. Her hand glows, where she had used more than simple arm strength to throw Riesenlied.

Ethius does not ask questions. This is just as well. But Elly has something to say as well. And she says it with flames. The entire Wels goes up in fire, screaming in dismay and anger.

The Watcher however says, "I am what I was made to be. As are you," she says to Noeline. "I know much of gray. Perhaps you think too much of it. I have not killed nearly as many humans as Siegfried."

The Wels amaglamation cannot bleed on Noeline so easily this time; it is sliced and cut by shadows that seemingly cauterize the wounds immediately, or something similar.

Then, she watches Gwen's anger. She watches Gwen's fury, her shriek, her need for retribution. And she stares, longer. Until, sharply--

"Voss. Heal Whitlock as well."

Billy speaks up. He is still watching her. But as his gaze locks, "They were. In many respects, they still are. They suffer, for what they are. They are in terrible pain."

"And how many have you released from such pain, in your mercy? Will you release these, as well?" A pause. "Yes, I would say as much regardless. If you have the strength to oppose that 'will', then show it to me."

He does. Billy shows no fear, kicking hard despite the effects of previous howls. He fires his gunsmokes, and all that ammunition tears into the Wels' center. They roar, in fury, in pain, and try to reach out for his flesh, too. They pour out towards him, jaws snapping, before they are pulled back. Even as lightning crackles across its form, even as bruises spread from Hannah and Ida.

"And yes," she says to Ida, "I am. I am what I must be. Grigori. The fallen angel. I will rend, and destroy, and ruin all that must be rent, and destroyed, and ruined."

She regards Lan, then. Lan, trying to stop Gwen... She doesn't order her destruction. Perhaps she just thinks Lan is irrelevant. Perhaps not. Instead she regards Juni for a moment, and considers.

"I can," the Watcher says in her modulated voice to Hannah, "And I have. I will again. And you lack the 'power' to stop me. ...Or do you? We shall see."

Ida is on the receiving end of another set of strikes, as the Reaper monstrosity tries to lash out at her with a dozen mouths on one hand. But it's worse than that. Many start to glow, as the Watcher lifts her other hand, beginning to direct force. They glow, and glow, and glow...

Blood sprays to Elly, next, caustic and horrible. The Wels' mouths scream again, as its psychic cries begin slamming down for others, too. For Hannah. For Noeline.

And then the Watcher says a few burning words in a language that bleeds the ear to hear. The Wels monstrosity reacts--and golden light slams out towards Siegfried and Asgard.

"You will not escape."

Still, the Wels are glowing, now. Glowing brilliantly, red and orange.

"This is your final chance, Drifters."

GS: Leah Sadalbari solidly guards Ida Everstead-Rey's Muscle Memory for 114 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Leah Sadalbari gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Mighty applied to Ida Everstead-Rey!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
GS: Delay! Attack greatly weakened!
GS: Leah Sadalbari takes a solid hit from Hannah Curie's Ball Lightning for 140 hit points!
GS: Mighty applied to Hannah Curie!
GS: FP up! Reaction bonus and Sufferer activated!
GS: Leah Sadalbari spends 2 Combo on Headshot!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has attacked Billy Lee Black with Hunger!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Delay expired!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has attacked Riesenlied with Atma Disruption!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with IT HURTS!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has attacked Elhaym van Houten with Blood Spurt!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has attacked Noeline with Psychic Crush!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has attacked Hannah Curie with Psychic Crush!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has gained 2 Combo!
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Leah Sadalbari has attacked Asgard with The Name Of God!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has attacked Siegfried with Atma Disruption!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has completed her action.
GS: Access! Leah Sadalbari takes 30 damage!
GS: Riesenlied suffers a terrible blow from Leah Sadalbari's Atma Disruption for 203 hit points!
GS: Ruin! Lock state removed!
GS: Starve blocked!
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!
GS: RUIN! All positive status effects and temporary hit points purged from Riesenlied!
GS: Siegfried takes a glancing hit from Leah Sadalbari's Atma Disruption for 84 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Siegfried gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Starve applied to Siegfried!
GS: RUIN! All positive status effects and temporary hit points purged from Siegfried!
GS: Noeline partially guards Leah Sadalbari's Psychic Crush for 154 hit points!
GS: Misery inflicts a random effect! Cripple and Starve applied to Noeline!
GS: Mute blocked!
GS: FP up! Reaction bonus and Gleam activated!
GS: Strain! Leah Sadalbari takes 100 damage!
GS: Asgard has activated Force Action: Accelerate!
GS: Asgard takes a solid hit from Leah Sadalbari's The Name Of God for 186 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Asgard gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Break and Weaken applied to Asgard!
GS: Cripple, Jam, Mute, and Slow blocked!
GS: Elhaym van Houten solidly guards Leah Sadalbari's Blood Spurt for 59 hit points!
GS: Elhaym van Houten's Disrupt Ward may block the effect!
GS: Cripple, Disrupt, Hex, and Poison applied to Elhaym van Houten!
GS: FP up! Reaction bonus and Sufferer activated!

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

For a moment, Xantia and Azoth are locked. She frowns. This isn't her loss of control, no. He's seen that before. But then... what is it?

"You would always... fight with... a smile... Xantia. What... fractured you?"

Each word is distorted, glitched, layered, like it's a battle to form any of them in that fragile voice box of his. This conversation has nothing to do with what he's here for, and so few processes can be scrapped together for it. What is he sacrificing to have them?

But with Siegfried's return assault, pale green and blue meet on Azoth, twisting through his chassis. The swell of Siegfried's sheer power bursting cords open to splatter miscolored coolants and hydralics. His own 'helmet' in turn cracks, a piece of Azoth's visor shattering. But unlike Siegfried, there's no face behind it to reveal. Merely empty space.

Azoth moves, then stops, red flashing. He looks to his claws as they grow brighter, then up, abruptly. A dot of red light scans the room urgently, searching, hunting. It passes over Ethius' cover as the machine begins to stagger. Azoth's default state could be said to be overheating, and Ragnell isn't here to protect him. Now the heat roils off his body, melting the snow in the direct area around him.

He thrashes, head and tail, and unable to properly locate his target, Azoth attacks the threat that is Ethius with a barrage of energy blasts in his general direction.

Regrettably, there are others who may be caught in the crossfire.

Azoth's left slumped and leaking. Electric arcs, all too common, flutter across him. He's all but wide open to Asgard's incoming attack of... chi? At the last possible moment, Azoth raises a claw. A shield extends, shattered instantly under Asgard's power as he's knocked back, unbalanced.

Azoth drags his lulled head up to look at Asgard, voice distorted. "Friend -- ...Objective -- located -- Asgard -- I --" But Azoth cannot achieve it right now. Not without failing higher priorities. Wait. No. He's not supposed to have higher priorities. If that's true, then that means --

Warning: 732 corruptions identified in objective data. Objectives unstable. Continued operation at risk for critical failure.

Azoth's visor is faceless, but he looks then to Xantia with a posture small and wilted, tail inactive and collapsed with his antenna folded back. For another brief moment, that light in him normalizes to his usual, signture gradiant. Xantia comes at him with pure Light, and as she counts on, he meets her in kind before everything goes red again.

"...Not like this... Xantia... Not if... you're not... happy..."

They clash together again, bright colors bursting from every point of dangerous contact, dragging sparks as they go.

"And... we don't... have the time right now... for me to explain all the ways you're good...!"

Azoth, your orders are to destroy Siegfried and Asgard while protecting Voss.

Like strings pulled taut, Azoth's posture immediately changes. Red lights flicker and stabilize. He pivots and shoots across the battlefield back toward Asgard and Siegfried. Blades appear, all energy, crackling and deadly, as Azoth sends them sailing down after the pair, each making contact with whatever they hit -- their target or otherwise -- massive explosions that care not for the collateral damage.

GS: Azoth spends 2 Combo on Headshot!
GS: Azoth has attacked Ethius Hesiod with exec.ohr UNINSTALL!
GS: Azoth has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with exec.ohr UNINSTALL!
GS: Azoth has attacked Hannah Curie with exec.ohr UNINSTALL!
GS: Azoth has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Azoth spends 1 Combo on Poison!
GS: Azoth has attacked Siegfried with exec.mec TERMINATE!
GS: Azoth has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Azoth has attacked Xantia with exec.dior RIP!
GS: Azoth has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Azoth has completed his action.
GS: Azoth spends 1 Combo on Poison!
GS: Azoth has attacked Asgard with exec.mec TERMINATE!
GS: Azoth has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Xantia solidly guards Azoth's exec.dior RIP for 101 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Xantia gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Dispel! Hyper and Riposte removed!
GS: FP up! Power Burst activated!

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

    The crystal sword plunges into the Watcher.

    Blood runs clean through the orange-tinged crystal; through the sword who, last it drew blood, took the life of a dear friend of Riesenlied's and sent her on a spiral through her own mind.

    There's a brief flash through Riesenlied's mind--

    The girl dressed in the Feresthe's clothing frowns quietly at her, but it's a gentle frown. She looks down towards the floor, which is dripping with blood. The room is beginning to frost over once more.

    "Listen to their voices. Don't get lost here again..."

    --the Watcher grasps her, wheelchair and all. Riesenlied's irises shrink.

    Your heart is irrelevant.

    She's flying through the air for her impudence, and unbuckled to her wheelchair, starts flying independent of it. Noeline is the first to hear the chirps as the ARM pod disengages and makes a desperate swerve to save her--

    Time seems to slow, perhaps a trick of Asgard's own machinations of Time, as she arcs through the air--

    Noeline's chiding of Asgard ring in her ear. Since when did they become so disarrayed? She thought it would be so easy, to introduce Siegfried to the family, and that would be it, nothing would have to change, they wouldn't have to fix anything--

    Noeline reasserts that she isn't there, on That Day, but it's a bit late. Her heart's already entwined itself into the memory of That Day.

    Gwen's rage cuts through her heart. Riesenlied had already long struggled with what it meant for Janus to wield Glumzambor, and now that Father is back, wearing his skin... what right does she have to disavow any anger Gwen has? What right?

    Billy's anger, Xantia's dithering emotionless tone... Ida's reassertion helps bring her a little back to reality, as she at least hears Lan try to reason with Gwen.

    How did they get so disarrayed?

    Hannah's panicked cry rings for a moment in her ear--

    THUD

    Strife is a little bit late, and both Riesenlied and wheelchair crumple to the ground at separate locations; the wheelchair instantly caves in under the might of the Watcher's throw and is unsalvageable. There's a sad little chirp from Strife as it looks to Noeline for guidance...!

GS: Riesenlied has Fallen (emotionally)! And, also, physically, I /guess/.
GS: Siegfried partially guards Azoth's exec.mec TERMINATE for 241 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Siegfried gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Jam and Poison blocked!
GS: Hannah Curie takes a glancing hit from Leah Sadalbari's Psychic Crush for 127 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Hannah Curie gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Hannah Curie's Mute Ward may block the effect!
GS: Misery inflicts a random effect! Break and Cripple applied to Hannah Curie!
GS: Mute blocked!
GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Reaction bonus activated!
GS: Strain! Leah Sadalbari takes 100 damage!
GS: CRITICAL! Hannah Curie takes a solid hit from Azoth's exec.ohr UNINSTALL for 370 hit points!
GS: Jam and Poison applied to Hannah Curie!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey solidly guards Leah Sadalbari's IT HURTS for 122 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ida Everstead-Rey gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Dispel! Lock state removed!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey's Cripple Ward may block the effect!
GS: Poison applied to Ida Everstead-Rey!
GS: Cripple blocked!
GS: FP up! Power Burst activated!
GS: Strain! Leah Sadalbari takes 100 damage!
GS: Asgard solidly guards Azoth's exec.mec TERMINATE for 101 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Asgard gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Poison applied to Asgard!
GS: Jam blocked!
GS: FP up! Reaction bonus activated!
GS: Gwen Whitlock takes a glancing hit from Asgard's Counter Attack for 79 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Gwen Whitlock gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Lan Lilac heals Gwen Whitlock! She gains 84 temporary hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Gwen Whitlock gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Mighty and Quick applied to Lan Lilac!
GS: Gwen Whitlock enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: CRITICAL! Ida Everstead-Rey takes a glancing hit from Azoth's exec.ohr UNINSTALL for 220 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ida Everstead-Rey gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Jam and Poison applied to Ida Everstead-Rey!

<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

    He does not call back to the Watcher as she lays down his orders. Loren but glances away from her, inclining his head in a sharp nod.

    The Wels fusion, under her control, would lead the charge. Azoth would work alongside it, and Loren, with his attunement to the device the Watcher had given to him lending him immunity from the monstrosity, would run support. It had sounded almost tidy when the plan had been presented to him and he had agreed to do his part.

    The reality is messier. He had not expected so many to arrive along with him, let alone the likes of Gwen and Lan, or, for that matter, Elhaym van Houten the traitor (traitor against what, precisely, sparks the thought only to die on the vine: there is no space for such things here).

    Loren does his part: he bolsters Azoth even as Azoth takes a blow for him--
    Even as Azoth strikes against others here. Someday, he'd once thought, Lan's continuing opposition to Solaris will get her killed. And Azoth has only the code that directs him. Unlike Loren, he can't make decisions for himself. And Lan, even now is--

    Gwen is fighting Siegfried alongside Lan, yes, but it's Lan that his attention zeroes in on as that great sword cuts through the air towards her. "LAN!" In the moment he forgets himself and in the moment, he's transported back several years to a similarly pitched battle atop the Photosphere. But he does not forget himself fully.

    The shockwave comes for him and a shield of white light manifests to meet it: still Loren is forced back, splintering cracks racing across his barrier of Ether. It dissipates even as his cloud of dust descends upon Asgard only to be shattered, falling as so many pieces of inert sand. "What...?" Loren vocalizes, but all too swiftly, Asgard is upon him: Loren might here summon again a shield to absorb the Golem's palm, but it lasts but moments before it too shatters into so many shards of light and dissipates.
    The remainder of that burst of energy is for Loren and Loren alone: he's sent flying backwards a short distance across the courtyard with even what is left of Asgard's strike, colliding with a container that had once contained a Wels.

    They came here for... that tube? The one that didn't open? Wasn't that a Wels--
    Lifting his head, Loren gets his first good look at its occupant. A young man--? He rises to his feet in a hurry, racing back across the distance he'd been hurled. The Watcher hadn't mentioned anything about this. What sort of thing is--
    His attention shifts to Siegfried, his helm broken.
    He remembers the lifeless face that had stared back at him moments before he'd succumbed to blood loss and lost consciousness. That's not the same face. He'd thought something was amiss about Siegfried, he thinks with sudden, almost triumphant intensity as Gwen screams her rage.

    But alas for Loren, Xantia will not be denied. She's fast: light implodes about him even before he can realize that he's been targetted. Only his own particular set of Ether talents see him standing upright in the aftermath, the green shimmer of his healing force undoing to an extent what had been done. "Get out of here, too!" he snarls at Xantia, breaking into a rush to charge at her, swinging his sword in a somewhat amateurish overhead arc. She's getting in the way while Lan and Gwen are--

    'Voss. Heal Whitlock as well.'

    He has a good moment to get a look at the two of them up there, fighting against Siegfried. No, at Lan fighting against Gwen, struggling to restrain Gwen. At their wounds.

    Loren exhales sharply and in a single torrent of green fractaling light does precisely that. If it happens that some of that power should touch Lan, as well, who's to know?

    But that doesn't mean he has forgotten his primary directive. Light, green tinged with white and moving at angles with itself rushes for Azoth with as if possessed by a singular focus. Cleanse. Refine. Empower.

    But let it not be said that he's forgotten Siegfried and his friends struggling against him, or indeed Solaris' primary objective here. Or whatever it is that Asgard is attempting to do by claiming that tube with the man in it. "This ends here!" Loren declares going so far as to point a finger generally in their direction. The earth trembles.

    And from below both of them, a great tearing spike of stone and earth rises for each.

GS: Loren Voss has attacked Xantia with Meteor Break!
GS: Loren Voss has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Loren Voss spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!
GS: Loren Voss has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Healing Order!
GS: Loren Voss has attacked Lan Lilac with Healing Order!
GS: Loren Voss has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Loren Voss's stances have changed to Sage!
GS: Loren Voss has attacked Azoth with Renewal Order!
GS: Loren Voss has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Loren Voss spends 1 Combo on Interrupt!
GS: Loren Voss has attacked Siegfried with Terra Axiom!
GS: Loren Voss has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Loren Voss spends 1 Combo on Interrupt!
GS: Loren Voss has attacked Asgard with Terra Axiom!
GS: Loren Voss has completed his action.
GS: CRITICAL! Azoth accepts Loren Voss's Renewal Order for 0 hit points!
GS: Restore! Jam and Weaken removed!
GS: Pray grants a random effect! Burst, Lock state, and Quick applied to Azoth!
GS: Asgard takes a glancing hit from Loren Voss's Terra Axiom for 60 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Asgard gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Disrupt and Interrupt applied to Asgard!
GS: FP up! Reaction bonus activated!
GS: Asgard has lost 2 Combo from Interrupt!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has activated Force Action: Guard!
GS: CRITICAL! Ethius Hesiod partially guards Azoth's exec.ohr UNINSTALL for 227 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ethius Hesiod gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Ethius Hesiod's Jam Ward may block the effect!
GS: Poison applied to Ethius Hesiod!
GS: Jam blocked!
GS: FP up! Countermeasures activated!
GS: Siegfried solidly guards Loren Voss's Terra Axiom for 117 hit points!
GS: Disrupt applied to Siegfried!
GS: Interrupt blocked!
GS: Siegfried has lost 2 Combo from Interrupt!
GS: Loren Voss heals Lan Lilac! She gains 96 temporary hit points!
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!
GS: Xantia takes a glancing hit from Loren Voss's Meteor Break for 74 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Xantia gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: FP up! Power Burst activated!

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Elly's voice creaks as she speaks to Xantia. "You don't - have to be useful - you're my FRIEND..." The giant flame fades as Elly pants for breath, shaking her head loose as others move around. Paradoxically she may be one of the less threatening people on the field.

Elly briefly thinks of calling Regulus. It makes her giggle weakly to herself. Regulus is in the Karlsefni - it wouldn't get here in time. It may be magical, but not that magical. And then blood splatters over Elly, even as she is halfway facing towards Riesenlied as she's thrown from her chair.

Elly drips, and burns, as she stares towards the watcher.

'You lack the 'power' to stop me. Or do you?'

Elly stares.

'We shall see.'

        Elly stares.

She sucks in a deep breath. Her head tilts back. The world seems dimmer somehow (Elly doesn't know it's because her pupils have contracted).

"Leave... leave her alone," Elly says, unsteadily. She takes in another breath, tasting the snow and the blood and the figure on her tongue.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" She then screams, and a burst of flame erupts outwards from an oblique angle towards the huge cluster of Wels. (Frankly, it was probably unplanned and following the inertia or residual lines of force from that LAST big fire spell.)

Elly looks back towards Xantia then, and towards Azoth, and towards the others, and Elly calls out to her as she feels reality shift nearer to her feet instead of that odd blue floating feeling, "Come on--!"

Yeah, this has definitely gotten disorganized, but the good news is that a lot of things are on fire.

GS: Elhaym van Houten has attacked Leah Sadalbari with Thermo Crystalmelt!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Elhaym van Houten takes 32 damage from Poison!
GS: Hyper expired!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has completed her action.

<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.

"We will not fall here!" Siegfried calls back to Riesenlied, a brief glance towards her. "Have faith, daughter."

He doesn't specify what she should have faith in, though.

Some things have changed, it would seem. He never called her that openly, before. He glances to Ethius -- and nods once to him. "My apologies!" he calls to him. "The field is chaotic--I shall be cautious!"

Then, Siegfried glances at Noeline -- and gives her a confused look.

Perhaps Hyadean tendencies run a little deep in him, still.

He turns his head, looking back at Gwen. His eyes narrow, detachedly, in a way that Janus's never did. "Dignity?" Siegfried asks. "He sought power. He found it -- and lost it. To blame the victor for his victory is to lay blame for drawing breath!"

Gwen's eyes burn, and she flies at him. "Asgard!"

And her fury meets the shield to Siegfried's sword. He blinks in surprise, though as Lan hurtles for Gwen instead of him. "What is--"

He catches Riesenlied being thrown. His eyes flash -- metaphorically and literally, glinting metallic red -- and then he shouts. "RIESENLIED!"

Golden light slams into him. It pitches him backward, armor burnt and smoking -- but only on one side, as he rolls with it, and then away from it. He pulls away, and then swings out Glumzambor. Azoth's blades come for him. He slashes through some, the Dark Spear dancing.

More cut through him. Quicksilver blood splashes on the ground after him, but some crimson mingles with it -- human and Hyadean blood alike. Armor is broken and cracked, as Siegfried pushes himself forward.

Riesenlied and her chair hit the ground, separately. Loren tells him that this ends here.

"Yes," Siegfried agrees. "It does."

Rock explodes around him -- a spike of stone that shoots up into him. Half of it shatters, leaving his armor jagged and broken. He vanishes in the dust.

And then a moment later, the remains of the spike flash-melts intoP lava, which spills onto the ground and burns. A massive beam of blue-white light explodes out from his chest, screaming across the battlefield, and flies for Loren. Siegfried leaps and turns, then.

The beam drags across the ground, burning through it. It doesn't catch his allies -- or Riesenlied's -- but it burns through foundation, molten rebar leaking out into the ruined concrete, before it slashes for Azoth.

Then Siegfried turns the cannon in his armor's chest, and the beam intensifies -- and sends a massive, explosive pulse of blue-white energy hurtling for the amalgamation.

"DO YOU THINK I KNOW MERCY!?" he shouts at the Watcher. "I will BURN you from this world! Your god will quiver, sputter, and DIE at my hand!"

GS: Siegfried has attacked Siegfried with To Conquer the New World!
GS: Siegfried has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Siegfried accepts Siegfried's To Conquer the New World for 0 hit points!
GS: Restore! Break, Jam, and Poison removed!
GS: Hyper and Shield applied to Siegfried!
GS: Siegfried has activated a Boss Action!
GS: Siegfried has activated Force Action: Lock On!
GS: Siegfried has activated Force Action: Full Clip!
GS: Siegfried spends 5 Combo on Headshot and Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Siegfried has attacked Leah Sadalbari with Proton Beam!
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Siegfried has attacked Azoth with Proton Beam!
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Siegfried has attacked Loren Voss with Proton Beam!
GS: Siegfried has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Siegfried has completed his action.
GS: CRITICAL! Azoth takes a solid hit from Siegfried's Proton Beam for 439 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Azoth gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Leah Sadalbari solidly guards Elhaym van Houten's Thermo Crystalmelt for 99 hit points!
GS: Mute applied to Leah Sadalbari!
GS: FP up! Reaction bonus and Sufferer activated!
GS: CRITICAL! Leah Sadalbari takes a solid hit from Siegfried's Proton Beam for 584 hit points!
GS: FP up! Reaction bonus and Sufferer activated!

<Pose Tracker> Asgard has posed.

"Of course." Is the Golem's soft response, to Riesenlied, almost a sotto voce. Even as Noeline upbraids him, and the Golem replies, "Life is struggle, child of Hyades. Why would you ask for our wisdom, then expect that not to hold true?"

Gwen, tears streaming down her eyes, offers her accusations to Siegfried. And as the Mockingbird buzzes with anger, charging Siegfried, it is met with the brick wall that is Asgard. The Mockingbird buzzing with his open palm, as he catches her arm.

It crackles, sizzling through his palm, disintegrating metal along the edges as it eats through his barrier, even as he snaps her down roughly upon the floor.

"You think I did not give him, every dignity, child?"

The Mockingbird is held onto as he painfully wrenches her wrist around. "To my friend? Janus Cascade died as he lived. Shouting to the heavens that he existed, howling against the cruelty of insignificance." Suddenly, his barrier crackles within that hand as he smashes into her again upon the floor.

"Your lack of acceptance, is the true insult to his memory."

And indeed, as Juni's revolver suddenly smashes into his barrier with a bang, the Golem suddenly backfists from a distance, but the force still slams into Juni with all the weight of a punch, in the crackling force of his barrier.

"Count yourself fortunate that you suffered only a concussion."

Azoth surges forth, with energy blades, and the Golem twists the tube away to meet him, a hand striking a blade aside, a carved line across his arm from the blade.

"I understand. As I said... I will be quick."

Loren's Earth ether erupts then as a spike which the Golem twists, even as it stabs a hole into the fluid metallic jacket the Golem wears, stabbing a hole within it. The Golem grasps the stone, tearing himself off of it.

"Denial."

As the Watcher speaks to Asgard of his 'use' he simply offers back, "You belie your insignificance to your Masters, Sky-dweller. Seek you the Divine?" The Golem asks of the Watcher, "Know your Master paves their path to the heavens with the loyalty of ones such as you. You shall be as the creatures you control." The Golem's red orbs fixate upon her, "Mortar."

Indeed the burning Golden Light, is sent outwards, and the Golem is caught within the swell. It rips into him, for indeed in that moment, the Golem protects not himself, but the tube he had picked up.

And then abruptly, his barrier bursts outwards, dispersing the remainder of that Golden Light, as the Golem's barrier flares with greater brilliance, erupting in a surge of strength.

"Arrogance. Know this, Watcher. After millenia of witnessing their indolence, your masters shall finally learn the one cogent truth of this world."

The Golem steps forward, and suddenly the Wels, Loren, and Azoth find themselves seized by that barrier and lifted even as Siegfried fires that blue-white energy. "Filgaia? Was never theirs. Not even from the beginning." The Golem's form suddenly splits, and surges outwards, rising up to meet it.

"RELEASE! Oh divinity that dwells within my fists! SURGE FORTH!"

They shine as they smash into each of them numerous times, each image of Asgard instead becoming surging light like shooting stars as they strike each of them again and again in ever increasing rapidity.

"INFINITIA SOUL!"

GS: Asgard has attacked Juni Vandrer with Barrier Knuckle!
GS: Asgard has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Barrier Knuckle!
GS: Interrupt expired!
GS: Asgard has activated Force Action: Full Clip!
GS: Asgard spends 2 Combo on Headshot!
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Asgard has attacked Leah Sadalbari with Infinitia Soul!
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Asgard has attacked Loren Voss with Infinitia Soul!
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Asgard has attacked Azoth with Infinitia Soul!
GS: Asgard has attacked Asgard with High Powered Barrier!
GS: Asgard has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Asgard takes 36 damage from Poison!
GS: Asgard has completed his action.
GS: Asgard accepts Asgard's High Powered Barrier for 0 hit points!
GS: Restore! Break, Disrupt, and Poison removed!
GS: Hyper, Quick, and Shield applied to Asgard!

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

    Noeline is someone who places an immense amount of stock in her own identity. She has always liked to be very firm about who she is, even if that meant being rather fluid and evasive about what she is. In time, the two halves have resolved themselves; she is a Crimson Noble as recognized by Crimson Nobles, proud of her Hyadean heritage at the same time, and through it all extremely Noeline in nature.

    What this means is that she doesn't really have the same issue that Riesenlied or Ida are grappling with in this fight. While she does her best to hold onto the understanding she has, that understanding is an external one and gathered from her link to Riesenlied rather than experienced for herself. Maybe it also helps that she never really knew Siegfried before that, that the only time they fought together in any capacity was to save Riesenlied from Alhazred's machinations. That was certainly... a more clear-cut situation than this. Maybe it helps that she only ever saw Janus with disdain.

    Either way, she doesn't have it in her to blame Gwen for her reaction. Even she's still having a bit of trouble grappling with that side of things. All she can do is grit her teeth and let it happen, though she tries a token: "It was hardly his choice!" That may be a lie; maybe it was. She doesn't really know for sure.

    "That is a uniquely terrible metric to use," Noeline snorts up towards the Watcher. "I would be willing to bet you have killed no humans, not by your own definition. You have simply instructed others to do it for you, or used their 'raw materials' to perform the job, or you have simply considered -Lambs- less than human. I am not about to argue with convenient sophistry."

    There is no time to think about anything else, because when the Watcher simply catches Riesenlied's charge, something in Noeline's chest almost breaks. It is almost a mercy that 'all' that happens is that Leah throws the other Hyadean away from her - in the instant between Riesenlied's attack and her being thrown against the wall Noeline has already imagined a half-dozen other possibilities, all much worse than the last - but the sight of Riesenlied arcing through the sky is still too terrible to bear.

    She's too slow, the moment over as soon as it began, the situation too chaotic to be able to reach her in time. "Riese!" she roars, ducking away from the battle and under a violently-swung arm. The roar of the Wels is like a physical force, buffeting her towards the ground with a weight she could scarcely imagine. It is only sheer fervour that keeps her somewhat on her feet, pushing forwards with a grimace as she lunges in front of where Riesenlied lies. There is an awkward twist, blade up in front of her, as she checks to see whether the Wels will press the attack further - then she's whirled on her partner.

    A flick of her hand pulls Strife back to her and at her back with a bleep of acknowledgement. She doesn't like using direct commands, preferring to simply talk to the little ARMs, but urgency wins out. If they're in disarray, then she has to work around that. "Riese," she repeats again, her ring flickering to life as she assesses the other Hyadean's injuries, and then takes a deep breath. "Riesenlied is down! I have her! Concentrate on that damn Wels!" she calls out. It's not exactly an order, because the Outreach doesn't do orders, but it's pretty close. "--break that device for good measure, if you can!"

    The Wels are starting to glow, and while Noeline doesn't know what that might mean, she can draw some obvious conclusions based on the colour. The Watcher seems like the sort to remove all evidence when she can. "--and be ready to run like hell. Cetiri! Get the engines running just in case!" ... that's more of a bluff. She couldn't in good conscience leave Siegfried here. It might simply break Riesenlied for good.

    She draws in a deep breath as she starts to maneuver Riesenlied ready to carry her towards a safer distance, her head ducked down as Siegfried and Asgard explode into power behind her. Having to tell Riese about Siegfried's declaration of war might also break her, but one crisis at a time.

GS: Blitz! Noeline has attacked Noeline with Memory of a Promise!
GS: Noeline has gained 4 Combo!
GS: Noeline gains 31 THP from Regen!
GS: Blitz and Regen expired!
GS: Noeline has completed her action.
GS: Noeline accepts Noeline's Memory of a Promise for 0 hit points!
GS: Restore! Hex removed!
GS: Burst and Hyper applied to Noeline!
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!
GS: Loren Voss solidly guards Siegfried's Proton Beam for 132 hit points!
GS: FP up! Reaction bonus activated!
GS: CRITICAL! Loren Voss takes a solid hit from Asgard's Infinitia Soul for 309 hit points!
GS: FP up! Reaction bonus activated!
GS: Azoth solidly guards Asgard's Infinitia Soul for 226 hit points!
GS: Loren Voss heals Gwen Whitlock! She gains 96 temporary hit points!
GS: Shield applied to Loren Voss!
GS: CRITICAL! Leah Sadalbari partially guards Asgard's Infinitia Soul for 475 hit points!
GS: Entangle and Slow removed!
GS: FP up! Reaction bonus and Sufferer activated!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has Fallen! She is no longer able to fight!
GS: Interrupt! Attack weakened!
GS: Gwen Whitlock solidly guards Asgard's Barrier Knuckle for 60 hit points!
GS: FP up! Countermeasures and Reaction bonus activated!
GS: Billy Lee Black fully evades Leah Sadalbari's Hunger for 0 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Billy Lee Black gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Cripple and Poison blocked!
GS: FP up! Reaction bonus activated!
GS: Leah Sadalbari drains Billy Lee Black! Leah Sadalbari gains 4 temporary hit points!
GS: COUNTER! Juni Vandrer counterattacks Asgard with Counter Attack!
GS: Interrupt! Attack weakened!
GS: Juni Vandrer takes a solid hit from Asgard's Barrier Knuckle for 175 hit points!
GS: Asgard solidly guards Juni Vandrer's Counter Attack for 52 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Asgard gains 1 additional Combo!

<Pose Tracker> Juni Vandrer has posed.

The look from Leah is.. odd. Pausing in her climb, Juni watches her in return. The odd things you notice while scanning the situation. As big a mess as it is. She doesn't know what's up, she doesn't actually know too much about the watcher and in hindsight, she should. She's shot at goons of.. well, just about everyone. She's more of a wildcard than she'd want to admit even if she is trying to definitively pick a side at this point.
 
 You can't linger too long though, not in the middle of a grade-A clusterf-.
 
 The counter-attack interrupts any errant thoughts bouncing through her head and gets her to refocus. Ignoring the pain with an intake of breathe. While the golem is gloating, clinging by one hand and swinging to the other side, she pulls herself up and towards the blow, trying to get under it, inside that swing so she can bring that revolver back around and snaps a shot off in one smooth motion before re-holstering "Talking too much." Something she's admittedly guilty of. She heaves herself up again. Using that momentum, she darts towards the golem, then past it. The hatchet a blur as she twists at the last second, swinging her weight into it with both hands, using her tail to boost herself up and forward at the same time for a sharp overhead blow right for the occupied arm. At least it's a good look at a space age survival hatchet. It's.. a hatchet. They're the same all over. It came free with her bootcamp.
 
 It's going sideways though. A glance down and away and she continues with that momentum. Clearly planning to hit and run at this point. Making her way towards the group clearly getting maimed. For once.. she can actually do something about it. If she gets there in time. Maybe she bought some time for the others though, regarding the golem at least. She's definitely about to take a leap down, one arm stretched out to catch herself though..

GS: Juni Vandrer has attacked Asgard with Hatchet Job!
GS: Juni Vandrer has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Juni Vandrer has completed her action.
GS: Asgard suffers a terrible blow from Juni Vandrer's Hatchet Job for 88 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Asgard gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Blind and Shieldbreak applied to Asgard!

<Pose Tracker> Billy Lee Black has posed.

Billy does notice Elly's flames, and knows it means things are pretty bad at an end of the fight he can't spare himself for. Siegfried...so his power is the real deal. Aided so well by Asgard's return, as well. People throw themselves at them to such little effect, but...

Billy has his own war to win.

"I will!" Billy declares, quiet but firm. "An Etone brings peace to those who suffer. Even if the order was a mockery from day one, that doesn't make the words false. Father allowed me to see that...only by passing through the veil of Stone's lies could I learn what was true."

He stops, hastily dropping a pair of speedloaders into his gunsmokes. He barely has the second gun's bullets back in before he snaps them shut and then has to leap backwards. He's a nimble fighter, when he must be, leaping up and tapping off the gnashing jaws of the monstrous barely-humanoid, pushing himself higher. He finds himself moonsaulting over the thing's head entirely, and empties both guns again into its spine, hoping to break enough bones that it can't replace them.

GS: Blitz! Billy Lee Black has attacked Leah Sadalbari with Nut Crack!
GS: Billy Lee Black has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Billy Lee Black's stances have changed from Sage to Avenger!
GS: Lock state expired!
GS: Billy Lee Black has completed his action.
GS: ROU|LET|TE: Moderate! Gamble: Low! Leah Sadalbari suffers a terrible blow from Billy Lee Black's Nut Crack for 225
hit points!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has Fallen! She is no longer able to fight!

<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.

The Watcher speaks of power. Hannah scowls. "What is it with people n' power?!" Asgard, Lily, now this mysterious Solarian.

Hannah has power of her own, but... she doesn't want it. She'd be more than happy to be rid of it. What use is it if it's just going to endanger the people around you?

Then again, what use is anything if she can't protect those she cares about, either?
Something tightens in her chest as she sees Riesenlied flung aside so easily and roughly. The wheelchair crumped, Strive struggling, and Riesenlied herself... "No...!"

The psychic wave unleashed by the beast sends her stumbling a few steps back but barely seems to register compared to seeing someone she cares for in such a state. She starts to move, but even with Zephyr watching the battlefield for her, everything's chaotic, and she doesn't consciously take notice of Azoth's blade until a moment too late--she turns, tries to get out of the way, but it slices through her coat, sends her tumbling head over heels, until she comes to a stop with a long groan.

She pushes herself up, lifting up her gaze to stare at the Watcher, who seems to have issued an ultimatum. One last chance... "If that's the way it is..." she says through clenched teeth.

She's on her last legs. They're in disarray. There's too many things going on, too many factors to account for. Too much friendly and not so friendly fire flying around a very chaotic battlefield. She dimly notes that Noeline's got Riesenlied, which is good. She can't heal Riesenlied, but there is one thing she can do--try to end at least one major threat on the battlefield.

And the terrible thing about power is... it's so easy to justify tapping into it. It's an emergency, she needs to protect her friends. Protect herself. Stop that monster.

"Miss Noeline," she says grimly but resolutely. "Get Miss Riesenlied to safety. I'll cover you."

Something is already twisting in the air around her as she draws deep, pulling two crest graphs from her pouch. With one she makes a cutting motion through the air, twisted magic stirring the winds to life in with an odd reverberation that almost sounds like a wail. A whirling, gnashing cyclone formed of cutting winds springs to life, and even as it starts to move towards the Wels Amalgamation, the second crest is being lifted up. Hannah inhales shaprly...

And exhales a torrent of red, angry, and raw flame. If it did not get sucked into the cyclone to create a whirling mass of magical wind and fire surely it would spread out far too much for anyone's comfort. But it does, and so the angry roaring, wailing mess surges right on ahead.

Hannah watches with grim determination. She'll hate herself for it later, but for now... this is all she can do to protect everyone.

GS: Hannah Curie has activated Force Action: Full Clip!
GS: Hannah Curie spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Blitz! Hannah Curie has attacked Leah Sadalbari with Elemental Conjunction!
GS: Hannah Curie has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Hannah Curie takes 25 damage from Poison!
GS: Blitz expired!
GS: Hannah Curie has completed her action.

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

    The Mockingbird is very capable, but so is Asgard, if even moreso, able to slam the entire courier into the ground, and then lift that same body into the air with ease by her right ARM rendering her temporarily helpless.

    From Gwen's perspective, stuck as it is inside an artificial state where everything feels slowed down and at the same time too fast, Asgard's words as as impenetrable as his skin. ".... Was...*gh*... not... meant... *ghk*... you..."

    And again, Gwen is painfully slammed into the ground, driving a further crater where she lays as rubble clinks away from the impact.

    Loren's healing couldn't have come at a better time; really, it could have all been easily avoided if Gwen and Lan had left like Azoth and Loren had urged them to, in the end. Whatever was in that tube was none of their business. Solaris shouldn't have it.

    The driving force of Gwen's anger would have fizzled out by this point, but in the clutches of Chrysopoeia mode, such emotional friction is lessened. It'll take more to stop Gwen.

    Which is where Lan deals the biggest blow of all, clinging to her and begging her to stop.

    "L-lan...." Gwen says, doing just that, as she looks down. Each word takes effort to speak, like her mouth is full of molasses. "Please... Lan..." The power of the Mockingbird begins to wan as Gwen's drive is driven down even further.

    "I ....to.... I..."

    'Your lack of acceptance, is the true insult to his memory.'

    "...." She doesn't attack further, focusing instead on shielding Lan, from both sides.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

    Have faith.

    Faith...

    What is it that she had faith in? She had faith in Mother. She was one of the most devoted, even; she truly believed that Mother would bring about the 'New World' that she seeks -- a world with equity, where no one would have to suffer unjustly, like her... where did that faith take her?

    Did she have faith in Siegfried? Where did that faith take her? It took her to Arctica, and Adlehyde, and pit them against each other when she wavered.

    Faith... ...what a strange word...

    Elly's powerful surge, as flame bathes around her, is something she can barely see, but she can sense so keenly. Elly...

    In similar fashion, Hannah's roar of flame and wind in concert with one another tears through the battlefield; a part of her hates her for bringing Hannah here, to a battlefield, but... she understands keenly that desire to protect home.

    As she lies there, she vaguely hears Siegfried's roar, the aggressive heat of his cannon barely registering. His words, however, drum into her ear, one after another. Quiver. Sputter. Die.

    She reflects on the genuine anger that she vocalised into words just a few moments ago.

    'Erase'.

    Like it or not, Riesenlied is a Hyadean, and the Hyadean upbringing is an incredibly fickle and difficult thing to erase -- she's spent so much of it fighting against it, and yet it is insidiously easy to come back to the fore.

    ...

    ...

    She's spent so many years advocating firmly for pacifism and coexistence, and one bad slip and look what's underneath? Asgard is a much more truthful soul than her, in this pit of an emotion that she's stewing in right now. What happened to her promise to Leah? Disgusting...

    She vaguely hears Noeline rushing up to her, but it's through their rings that she more feels her. "Noeline... I--I am fine..." she blurts out, but she sounds like she might have hit her head somewhat hard. She's dazed and not entirely with it, that's for certain.

    The Wels is starting to glow, and in response...

    "Noeline," Cetiri's voice rumbles through the radio. "Incoming from above."

    Indeed, far above, there's the flashing gleams of the Fereshte's beacon lights; there's a yellow gleam that cuts through the bleakness of Sielje's snowstorm and darkness. A pure, gumdrop-shaped being that once flew the Kaiser of Kislev to safety! Yes, it's that most heartful of creatures--

    "Muniiiiiiiii!!"

    The gumdrop goes 'BOING' against the ground, and then recombobulates into what looks like a giant Teardrop-shaped being with a cute face. "Muni, muni muni!" it exclaims to Noeline, and then looks towards Riesenlied and Noeline--

    "Mumuniiii... muni!!" (tn: I'm here, Riese, Noeline!)

    Muni-Muni transforms as is the power of a Metal Dragon, its shape reconfiguring into that of a bipedal armored machine (but still cute) with an open cockpit seat on the top.

    Yes, this isn't just any mechanical armour.
    It's not even just a magical armor.
    It's also not a technical armor.
    Or a magitechnical armor.
    It's--

    Inappropriate Combat BGM - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtwsWbiDvHc

    The Munitekal Armor!!

    Muni-Muni inhales, and Riesenlied's eyes widen as she (and quite possibly Noeline) is peeled right off the floor and spins for a moment, before safely landing on the seat.

    "A-ah... Muni...." Riesenlied sounds utterly disarmed at this turn of events, then takes one second and recollects herself. She takes her own advice into heart, the one she gave both herself, Ida and Fafnir. Okay. Get through this. Questions about violence and morals can come later, when they're survived this.

    "... prime your Core Generator, Muni. We are executing Routine: Assault Combat. Prepare 15mm Machine Cannons."

    The Golden Metal Dragon starts skating on her feet, verniers firing in one direction as she inhales from what passes for a 'face' with an exaggerated 'HYUUUU--' sound and faces the Wels Amalgam--

    "gatagatagatagagatagatagatagata--" (tn: pew pew pew pew pew pew)

    --starts spitting out little metal bullets like she was rapid-firing watermelon seeds out into her back yard, because apparently that counts for 15mm machine cannons (and indeed, if you paused and measured it, it's close enough to 1.5 centimetres for government work). Then her arm comes up and transforms into a rifle--

    "Linear Rifle, three-shot burst."

    --BANG, BANG, BANG-- the Muni Trigger is pulled.

    "Munitek Missile, Maximum Discharge, Muni."
    "Muniii!" (tn: Munitek Missile, amending for... MUNImum Discharge!)

    The Metal Dragon's maw opens up as what appears to be a sphere of intense, indefatigable light rises from within.

    "Target acquired."

    The Golden Dragon recoils a good five feet and slags snow into liquid with the intense discharge, the Munitekal Missile -- a spike-shaped projectile of both energy and Hyadean Quicksilver -- threatening to sink into the Amalgam and explode with enormous power!

DC: Riesenlied switches forms to A Certain Magical -- no! -- Munitekal Armour!!

GS: Riesenlied spends 2 Combo on Headshot!
GS: Formation! Riesenlied has attacked Leah Sadalbari with Muni... MUNIII! tn. Time for Muni to show her true power!!
GS: Riesenlied has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Riesenlied takes 30 damage from Poison!
GS: Riesenlied has completed her action.
GS: Leah Sadalbari suffers a terrible blow from Hannah Curie's Elemental Conjunction for 319 hit points!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has Fallen! She is no longer able to fight!
GS: Leah Sadalbari suffers a terrible blow from Riesenlied's Muni... MUNIII! tn. Time for Muni to show her true power!
for 266 hit points!
GS: Jam applied to Leah Sadalbari!
GS: Hyper applied to Riesenlied!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has Fallen! She is no longer able to fight!
GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action.

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

What fractured Xantia, indeed. That question of Azoth's is the one she really doesn't want to answer. Because that would mean explaining the very things she's seen, that she's trying so very hard to deny to herself. The things she doesn't want to acknowledge as anything but lies, despite knowing better.

...But Azoth is asking her that question. Now, in this situation, where his overrides would be directing him to not waste resources on anything that doesn't have to do with crushing the opposition. He's hurting himself, just for the sake of understanding her. She can't just not give him anything in exchange. And so she settles a single word, that to the both of them will explain far more than those not going through the same thing could possibly comprehend in the same way.

"...Memories."

And then there's Elly, making it plain that all she needs to be is a friend. Once upon a time, that felt like something so simple. Now... "...I don't know if I deserve to be anybody's friend."

In the end, she persists in trying to achieve her original objective. At this point, she simply has to do something to feel like she's capable of doing good. And ever since she regained her memories about Solaris, ridding Filgaia of them has always felt like the best way to do that. It would hurt too much to not accomplish anything now, she has no choice but to keep trying.

And thus, force Azoth to intervene once again. Even with him in the way, she was sure that she could manage to accomplish something that she could still consider meaningful. But then he starts to speak again, following their clash. The strength behind her blow abruptly subsides, inverts as she attempts to pull back - the force of her own attack merging with Azoth's own to forcefully blast her backwards. Though she manages to land neatly in a crouch, she regards Azoth in complete dismay. Why? Why is he forcing himself to talk so much? Stop hurting yourself like that, she wants to say, but the words themselves have her struck silent. It's all... for her sake? Her happiness means that much to him...?

Azoth receives new orders, forcing him to disengage from her. "Ah--" is all she manages, stretching out a hand, but stopping short of pursuit.

Which is exactly the moment Loren picks to come at her with a sword. In a reflex, she tries to activate her ARM to parry, forgetting that it was disabled earlier. Forced into an awkward dodge, the blade scrapes her upper arm, adding a sizable cut to the burn wounds that were also present there. With a yelp, she backs off, gripping that wound with the opposite hand.

...Xantia doesn't move to attack him back, after that. Loren... won, apparently?? Although he might still think that she's preparing to, given the surge of Ether that she begins to wordlessly gather between her hands. A giant hammer formed out of pure electricity is created in short order, but Loren is not its target. The actual target may come as a surprise, since she's basically ignored they were this whole time. The one who suddenly gets a massive lightning hammer swung at them... is Asgard, Xantia leaping out in front of him right out nowhere.

"Sorry," is oddly enough the first word out of her mouth, before she drops into a combat stance. "We don't know each other, but I can tell fighting you is hurting Azoth. Fighting me is hurting him too. So, this is my solution."

She's probably not... okay, right now, but that's certainly a lot more like the Xantia that everybody knows.

GS: Xantia spends 4 Combo on Headshot and Gatling, loading 2 into Gatling!
GS: Xantia has attacked Asgard with Ethereal Weapon Construct!
GS: Xantia has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Xantia takes 27 damage from Poison!
GS: Xantia has completed her action.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Somewhere in the confusing calculus of incredible weapons fire, screaming, and a horrible Wels amalgamation - some elements of this Ethius should soul search on about how comfortable he is in moving in these situations - the most disarming thing that has happened to him today on the periphery of all of this is Siegfried turning to apologize to him.
 
     "Your consideration and discretion is... a... appreciated." Ethius is able to get out, keeping his eyes on the twitching, dangerous mass that is Azoth's fighting body. He clears his throat, raises a hand, and steps off to the side outside of Siegfried's immediate point of view almost sheepishly. It's like telling an unaffiliated shady assassin that everything's cool! (That's not explicitly untrue.)
 
     This moment of levity is short-lived, because Azoth is now firing immense volumes of energy blasts. A hurried, harsh-sounding set of syllables and a dramatic sweep of an arm later is the difference between 'being disintegrated' and 'fighting to not pass out from excess heat' as he gets struck with the backwash of an otherwise Symbologically-halted array of energy blasts.
 
     It's not all that different from a direct hit against an armored mechanical warrior, and Ethius is not that, some of his protective winter climate coating getting charred, eyes shut as he tries to hold himself from being blinded by the feedback of that energy blast light against the shield.
 
     When both the energy and shield disperse, the Symbologist loses further ground as he's pushed right back onto his seat, and he's sure that might've aggravated the earlier blade punctures. His staff helps him back up--
 
     Nope, staying down, behind the tremendous power being put on blast against everything around them. As someone who is trained to understand and identify certain high-yield energy weapons by any number of obscure and frankly incredulous and silly 'tells,' Siegfried's blue-white pulse hits the part of his brain that has him going 'Azoth might have done me a solid by accident.'
 
     He sees Riesenlied take her tumble, and among other problems going haywire (hi, Gwen), Ethius stays low. How much trouble happened because he couldn't talk about the threat Demetrioi represented at exacting, all-encompassing detail? When he couldn't explain succinctly why he had to do everything he did?
 
     ...
 
     "Azoth! I am aware you still have audio reception." Ethius calls as he coughs up twice. He needs water, as soon as possible.
 
     "I am aware you are operating on specific parameters in a situation that is... multi-faceted and out of control." And that you are currently being bore down upon by what he assumes is a proton-tech weapon but he doesn't say that. "I cannot give assurance or comfort to everyone who is taking... these circumstances as they are," he can't even begin to imagine how Riese is feeling. "You may be struggling to do the same." It's difficult to reconcile Azoth's programming with his behavior, when he gave him that gift in the wake of that incident at Guadosalam. That's... not something you fake.
 
     "You are aware Solaris will not let anyone escape unscathed. You're their insurance. You are also currently standing before threats of far greater magnitude than any of us. So... if there is some part of you that governs your empathy now,"
 
     Ethius rises up, keeping himself at an angle to stay away from cross-fire in the moment, standing at Azoth's 7 o'clock position some ways away.
 
     "Please keep your systems facing forward. I cannot guarantee the safe withdrawal of everyone otherwise." He starts chambering the gestures to his next spell, in consideration if he has anything left to say before he can start casting.
 
     "That will allow both our directives to be achievable." And from there, spellcasting with speed and accuracy on par with the greatest sorcerers of the Symbology discipline as Xantia turns targets and gives him the space to...
 
     "Grave Dust!"
 
     An attempt to gum up Azoth's works in fashion with directly conjured particulate matter about Azoth's person. Cruel, but an attempt to help ease him into logic to allow himself to stop and accept critical damage so everyone has a chance to get the hell out before there's any other nasty surprises along the lines of that Wel amalgam.

GS: Asgard has activated Force Action: Accelerate!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has attacked Azoth with Grave Dust!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Ethius Hesiod takes 22 damage from Poison!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has completed his action.
GS: Asgard takes a glancing hit from Xantia's Ethereal Weapon Construct for 108 hit points!
GS: Hyper applied to Xantia!
GS: Azoth accepts Ethius Hesiod's Grave Dust for 195 hit points!
GS: Cripple and Disease applied to Azoth!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    This is not the first time Ida's dealt with something biting chunks out of her. This is not the first time it's been Wels doing it, too. The Reaper amalgamation's massive hand grabs for her right arm, and Ida immediately knows what's going to follow that. The horrible mouths meet with exoskeleton instead of flesh; it can't properly solidify, but it does leave them with mouthfuls of gummy, unpalatable(?) Hyadean bio-armor, and only scraps of human skin.

    It still hurts. Ida still lets out a choked, pained gasp as crimson and quicksilver spill from her wounds. Her gaze goes flinty-hard as she looks up at the Watcher, but that stony anger gives way to terror the moment she sees Riesenlied batted aside. She ran the Watcher clean through, and she--

    She never did that before, Ida thinks. She bled, and the metal parts of her broke, but nothing healed that impossibly quick. What the hell happened to her?!

    Azoth, intentionally or otherwise, breaks Ida out of it. The bolt of energy slams into the dirt less than three feet away; the explosion knocks Ida off her feet and sends her sprawling. She lands hard on her injured side, curls up, and grits her teeth. Her vision wobbles a little as she looks up at the Watcher.

    She tries to speak, but all that comes out is a cough. Survive, she reminds herself. Shakily, Ida rises to her feet...

GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Leah Sadalbari with Raw Spite!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey takes 27 damage from Poison!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action.
GS: Sneak! The true nature of Ida Everstead-Rey's attack becomes clear!
GS: Leah Sadalbari suffers a terrible blow from Ida Everstead-Rey's Devil's Draw for 235 hit points!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
GS: Leah Sadalbari has Fallen! She is no longer able to fight!

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

Memories, Xantia says. And then what she says to Elly is all the more heartbreaking.

"...I don't... care what you deserve... I just want--"

But Azoth has his orders. Bound to them. Overridden.

As Azoth and Asgard clash, there is a moment of stillness, brief and something perhaps only constructs can appreciate as a true delay of anything as Azoth regards Asgard. "...I... cannot allow that."

But it's power that speaks, and Asgard is fluent. A barrier slams him, holds him, keeps him suspended in place as Siegfried's beam scatters rubble and earth on its way to engulf Azoth in its power. His screeching is lost as he's engulfed in their combined forces of beam of light and Golem fist. By the end of it, Azoth is left broken against the ground, pieces of him broken of and scattered.

Though shattered, an order still stands. The light in Azoth does not die.

He pulls his body from the rubble, ignoring how fragments of him fall and hit the ground. Bright light within his center is visible now thanks to the damage he's sustained: a core so bright its lines are almost impossible to make out, orbited by rings of code and pincushioned by plugs and wire. This thing, this shattered beast, is not the Azoth. It is merely an inadequate house for the power of something else.

A power that has been called on to destroy.

The air is hot. Every fragment of power Azoth has scattered across the battlefield begins to heat up. Cracks of his energy left scarred upon the ruin, or upon their own bodies. Some of that energy rises around Loren, unique in that is forms a protective veil of a shield in red. The rest of it splits further, cracking like ice threatening to give way. Memories of where his blades have been paint themselves out and flicker back into existence.

Every last shred of where he's been prepares to detonate, heedless of how it would catch everyone else in the crossfire...

... Then there's someone in his audio reception. (It's called speaking.)

Azoth stops. He pauses just long enough. His core is exposed just dangerously enough. And Ethius has proved, time and again, capable of something that genuinely triggers Azoth's self preservation protocol.

All at once, heat evaporates, and Azoth's lingering energy disspears into motes rising skyward as his light quietly dims as dust cakes his core.

GS: Azoth has activated a Boss Action!
GS: Azoth has activated Force Action: Full Clip!
GS: Azoth has activated Force Action: Lock On!
GS: Azoth has activated Force Action: Snipe!
GS: Azoth has attacked Loren Voss with exec.aix SECURE!
GS: Azoth has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Azoth has attacked Siegfried with ex?c.? ?ERRoR??!
GS: Azoth has attacked Asgard with ex?c.? ?ERRoR??!
GS: Azoth has attacked Ethius Hesiod with ex?c.? ?ERRoR??!
GS: Azoth has attacked Xantia with ex?c.? ?ERRoR??!
GS: Azoth has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with ex?c.? ?ERRoR??!
GS: Azoth has attacked Elhaym van Houten with ex?c.? ?ERRoR??!
GS: Azoth has attacked Billy Lee Black with ex?c.? ?ERRoR??!
GS: Azoth has attacked Juni Vandrer with ex?c.? ?ERRoR??!
GS: Azoth has attacked Riesenlied with ex?c.? ?ERRoR??!
GS: Azoth has attacked Noeline with ex?c.? ?ERRoR??!
GS: Azoth has attacked Gwen Whitlock with ex?c.? ?ERRoR??!
GS: Azoth has attacked Lan Lilac with ex?c.? ?ERRoR??!
GS: Azoth has attacked Hannah Curie with ex?c.? ?ERRoR??!
GS: Azoth has gained 4 Combo!
GS: Siegfried takes a solid hit from Azoth's ex?c.? ?ERRoR?? for 0 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Siegfried gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: CRITICAL! Elhaym van Houten takes a solid hit from Azoth's ex?c.? ?ERRoR?? for 0 hit points!
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
GS: Elhaym van Houten enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Noeline accepts Azoth's ex?c.? ?ERRoR?? for 0 hit points!
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!
GS: Noeline enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: CRITICAL! Azoth heals Loren Voss! He gains 130 temporary hit points!
GS: CRITICAL! Asgard suffers a terrible blow from Azoth's ex?c.? ?ERRoR?? for 0 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Asgard gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: FP up! Countermeasures activated!

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    Ida's hand blurs beneath her cloak. In an instant, Devil's Due is pointed at the Watcher's center mass. Ida fires three shots--all the ammo she has left on her person--at the Solarian commander.

    Sure, Riesenlied just demonstrated she can regenerate, but that doesn't mean she can't hurt.

GS: CRITICAL! Juni Vandrer takes a glancing hit from Azoth's ex?c.? ?ERRoR?? for 0 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Juni Vandrer gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: CRITICAL! Ida Everstead-Rey takes a solid hit from Azoth's ex?c.? ?ERRoR?? for 0 hit points!
GS: FP up! Reaction bonus activated!
GS: CRITICAL! Hannah Curie suffers a terrible blow from Azoth's ex?c.? ?ERRoR?? for 0 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Hannah Curie gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: CRITICAL! Ethius Hesiod solidly guards Azoth's ex?c.? ?ERRoR?? for 0 hit points!
GS: FP up! Countermeasures activated!
GS: Billy Lee Black solidly guards Azoth's ex?c.? ?ERRoR?? for 0 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Billy Lee Black gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: FP up! Reaction bonus activated!
GS: CRITICAL! Xantia partially guards Azoth's ex?c.? ?ERRoR?? for 0 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Xantia gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Gwen Whitlock suffers a terrible blow from Azoth's ex?c.? ?ERRoR?? for 0 hit points!
GS: FP up! Countermeasures activated!

<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.

 
    Loren shouts her name, but Lan can't answer him. It's taking every ounce of strength she has to hold on to Gwen for dear life. She had told Lan, told her only a handful of minutes ago, that the Mockingbird couldn't be used in a crowd like this. Fractals of light, cool and clean, climb over Gwen and Lan as well.

    With her face buried a little awkwardly in Gwen's curly hair, Lan holds on tight. "It's okay. I'm sorry, I know he was your friend. I know." Quiet words, murmured to soothe. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

    Maybe she senses Siegfried's quiet reassessment of her commitment to battling him, or maybe yet another person just decides that Lan isn't worth the effort. She doesn't care why. She'll take it.

    "Shhh." Lan wraps both arms more fully around Gwen and leans her cheek against her with a quiet huff of breath. "It's okay."

    She can't help but remember the last time she rested her cheek against someone else. It was so comforting. She hopes it's the same for Gwen.

GS: CRITICAL! Lan Lilac solidly guards Azoth's ex?c.? ?ERRoR?? for 0 hit points!
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!
GS: Lan Lilac enters CONDITION GREEN!!

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

    Hannah's resolution isn't lost on Noeline, even as she prepares to evacuate Riesenlied - but Noeline frowns to herself and twists around for long enough to catch sight of the mage. "... I appreciate it, but please remember that pyrrhic victories are forbidden. Certainly do what you can - but please do not put yourself in danger in the process."

    "You do not look fine. And that is alright," she adds before Riesenlied can muster up a counterargument. "I think you of all people are allowed to not be fine at the moment." Her expression is a complex one too. While her own uncertainty on what to do in regards to Siegfried's declaration is clear across their link, she is projecting it outwards rather than inwards, and she's clearly conflicted on where exactly the two of them should be standing. She parted from the Photosphere as easily as oil and water, but parting from family is something she's never done before.

    Cetiri's call of assistance is deeply appreciated, and Noeline holds her breath as she waits for evidence of it to arrive. Her own faith is something she feels she has to keep strong - faith in Riesenlied to be able to work through this situation, faith in Siegfried that the three of them might now have all grown enough to seek a proper reconciliation once this is over, faith in Asgard to perhaps be the strangest peacekeeper at that table. Faith in herself that maybe she can step forwards and out of the shadows and help drag them all together.

    Faith in... Muni?

    "Wh-- I was expecting a rope ladder?" she blurts in bemusement over the radio, before the two of them are picked up and deposited within the fanciful dragon's cockpit. Her brain already slightly fried, it takes her a long moment to really realign herself, but as the truth of their situation crystallizes around her she thinks that perhaps Cetiri is much, much smarter than she ever gave her credit for. Because what Muni represents more than anything in this instant is a purity of thought.

    That thought might be extremely optimistic, but she latches onto it anyway and turns to regard the Hyadean half in her arms with a solemn expression. "It is alright to be angry. It is alright to lose your temper once in a while. A single moment does not destroy everything you have built and will continue to build." She's trying not to be too stern, but is aware that sometimes the best medicine is being a little blunt. But even if pigs are flying - even if Ethius of all people is delivering a surprisingly impassioned speech about hope - she is not about to ever really yell at Riese.

    What she does instead is pull Riesenlied low in Muni's cockpit, to shield them both from the wake of Muni's assault and the flare of power from Azoth and she's lost count of how many other threats.

<Pose Tracker> Leah Sadalbari has posed.

Riesenlied falls, and the Watcher gives her no further attack. No further words. Seemingly no further attention. Instead she looks to Noeline, finally answering her, "Your 'bet' would fail. As she has."

When--not if--when she sees that Loren's magic goes farther than it had to... she makes no comment. When Elly says something unsteadily, the Watcher seems to pay no more attention to that, either. Not until Elly screams, and that bust of flame eruptes. The Watcher then turns to face Elly properly. She looks down, towards the 'traitor'.

"No," she tells her simply, but it is less simple for the Wels amalgamation. Elly's magic surges around the Reaper, and while it is able to block much of it... it is rendered vulnerable, as a result. Vulnerable to the strikes that come next.

Vulnerable, to Siegfried's power, to the ending he would bring upon the creature. Perhaps it never could have stood up against him. Perhaps it is that he was not alone. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps... What is real is this: the beam burns through Welsflesh as easily as through foundation. The pulse of blue-white energy for the amalgamation slams into it, hard. So does does the surging light of Asgard, striking aggain and again and again.

The Watcher, of course, watches this. She listens. She watches the attacks; she listens to the words.

And she replies, as the Wels is battered by horrifically strong wind and fire from Hannah's magic--a 'power' she did not count on, indeed--the Watcher replies to Siegfried, "No. I have never expected mercy from you."

She pauses, to look to Billy, as he fires shot after shot after shot at the amalgamation. "So this is your 'truth'," she to Billy. "...Then I wish you luck, bringer of 'peace'. You will need it." Not for this, it would seem; his shots line up, hit after hit, somersaulting over the creature even as it quails and glows from its own power and the power of others. Then for what?

She speaks to Asgard, next. "I am aware," she says simply. "Did you think I believed myself to be above it all? That I did this for personal gain?"

"You know me better than you realize, and far less well than you believe, Golem. Perhaps in time we shall educate one another."

Then, she watches Ethius. She watches as Ethius manages to countermand her orders while staying completely within them. She watches, as Ethius neutralizes Azoth...

Even as the Reaper is completely destabilized by the combined attacks against it, The Watcher stands unmoving--until Ida rises from her feet. She fires three shots. ...And as she expected, her opponent doesn't fall. Instead, the Watcher replies, "Spite is a powerful motivator. But is it enough?"

"...It would seem not," she decides, facing towards Siegfried again.

The Wels does not explode on its own. It does not glow, any longer. The Munieketal Missile fires at what is left of the amalgamation, after all that has been done to it. It shimmers--And melts into so much worthless flesh, what is left of it after the explosion that ensues.

"You are powerful, Siegfried. Between that power, and the loyalty of others, you have won today."

"Today," she reiterates, as a roar of engines sounds, and a transport rushes down from the sky. "Voss, gather the Azoth. The rest of you," she says to what soldiers survive, "Withdraw."

"...But there is tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that."

"We shall see what comes of those." Leah extends her hand--and a 'click' sounds.

"The base will self-destruct in one minute. Would you like to spend that minute fighting me?"

<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

    He comes at Xantia with a sword.

    Unlike certain others, he did not study the blade in Jugend: what he has as skill was courtesy of a crash course in the subject, followed by a few independent grants. No one would mistake him for a master, and yet, he's not without some skill, even if some of his choices are perhaps... questionable at times. But it serves him well, as Xantia finds out.

    She apologizes, and he here has a brief moment to think that perhaps she is about to attack him again (see as he adjusts his stance accordingly) but instead explains that if she keeps going after him, she's only going to hurt Azoth, which is when she picks a fresher target, instead.

    Loren, bemused, can only utter, "...Why does everyone like him so much?" to air alone.
    (it's because he has actual charm, loren)

    He manages to partially shatter Siegfried's armor. That isn't nothing, Loren tells himself, taking a series of breaths in the wake of that exertion of force. No, it's not nothing.
    But it's not enough. Siegfried still stands. Loren, gritting his teeth hard, can but reflect upon that failure.

    For Siegfried repays him in kind. Once, he had demonstrated his ire towards Loren's kind with a sword through his midsection. Now, he move to make the same gesture with the cannon-force blast from his chest. There's no time to evade. Putting his whole body into it, Loren conjures forth a barrier to absorb what comes for him, pouring as much of his Ether as he can grasp into his defense.

    It works out, in that Loren doesn't die. In fact, he's even still standing, if left to sway dizzily on his feet in the moment directly after. Taking a breath, he makes to right himself, grasping for his kit. This isn't good. They still have the tube, and Siegfried isn't--

    'Know your Master paves their path to the heavens with the loyalty of ones such as you.'

    They aren't words spoken to him. Neither do they shatter what faith Loren has in the vision the Watcher had served up to him. But Loren hears them all the same, and all the same he pauses in that moment.

    Asgard stands before the tube, guarding the tube. From him there radiates a brilliant light. And Loren feels himself rising, pulled inexorably into the air. Struggle as he might, he cannot but be caught by the Golem's barrier, and there caught in that web, he is there struck, again and again.
    It may not be infinity -- cannot be infinity -- but it still may come close. When the light at last fades, Loren is not still standing. Collapsing to the packed dirt of the courtyard, he lies there battered and bleeding but still alive. Gingerly, he lifts his head to sight the field and is treated to a vision of red. Azoth has encased him in a shield, but he can still feel the rising heat in the air around them and he knows what it is that he's planning. "Wait-- no," Loren starts, lifting his left hand as if he could reach Azoth from here. The Watcher had said, it was necessary to do whatever it took to ensure that better world. But is this--

    The world that--?

    All at once the heat and light fades, Azoth's core winking out. An unexpected shutdown? Loren can only speculate, downing a rosesol as he rises to his knees, as the glittering green hallmark of his Ether shines around him. All he can do is watch as the Wels is destroyed, as every compromise he'd made for this victory is dashed against the rocks.

    'Retreat', orders the Watcher, and Loren stands.

    The base will self-destruct soon.

    Loren does as he's bid, gathering up what he can of Azoth. They have only a minute to spare.

<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.

Siegfried glances towards Asgard, as that brilliant light emanates from the golem. His servant remains an enigma, at times; a power and a knowledge that outstrips Siegfried's, to say the least.

And yet, he is loyal to the end.

And his certainty about Solaris is to be lauded.

Siegfried glances towards Riesenlied and Noeline -- and there is genuine relief to see Muni-Muni arrive. With the Metal Dragon (even in altered form) there, his worries for Riesenlied lessen. Which is all the better, for they will need to withdraw soon.

Very soon, if the rising heat off Azoth is any indication. Siegfried turns his head -- Janus's face locked into a hardened expression -- and his eyes narrow. Interlocking hexagons of green light shimmer before him.

But it proves unnecessary.

"That..."

He trails off, his voice quiet for a moment. He looks up at the Watcher. His eyes narrow -- and his anger is restrained, enough, now.

"It is a beginning," he promises her.

Then, his eyes widen -- and old instincts take over. "Withdraw!" he commands, as he starts to forge ahead. "Asgard, ensure we have what we came here for! Noeline, see to it that Riesenlied is with you! All of you, we must away, now!"

He rushes forward -- towards one of the holes cut through the wall. There is a glance, though, to be sure the Drifters are fleeing.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Azoth shuts down. Because of the nature of the power output that their fighting body can put out, and how he could just get socked by the tail at any moment, he's got his forearm up in preparation for a defensive spell when there's that pause... and heat evaporates. (He is glad he's standing as far back as he is when that energy dissipates.)
 
     He pulls his facemask up a bit higher over his nose, because Ethius doesn't want people to catch him breathing an actual sigh of relief under the roughly eighty-five-percent success rate of operational stoicism these days. At this juncture, he has to take stock of where everyone else is and what they're doing (and hello there's Muni), and once again the Watcher speaks.
 
     'The base will self-destruct in one minute.'
 
     "She's incorrect," Ethius rejoins, hand on forehead habitually, "based on previous experiences, if there is expectation of the on-site Solarians to be clear of a purported blast - especially one of high rank to be indisposable - the self-destruct timer would be closer to--"
 
     Beat. He blinks, levels his gaze, and catches himself.
 
     "I would still run as if you had thirty seconds." Siegfried has the spiritual right of it without his input on the technical right of it, Ethius is forced to concede as he coughs again, holds out a hand to the nearest person nearing evac, and gets on with it while taking a mental timer of how close the actual countdown is, because he's just like that.

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

    Soon enough, Lan brings Gwen to her normal, terrible, panting, red-faced self,
    
    Being exposed like this is terrible. Lan's heart is in the right place, and a part of Gwen wants to just give into that sympathy and cry, but--

    Crying feels like giving Siegfried and Asgard some kind of victory, as well as blot out the entire field. Azoth's near explosion is proof enough that the chaos is still happening.

    ".... I'll consider your words," she says, her throat raspy, strictly to Asgard, while notably avoiding looking at Siegfried-- not out of rudeness, but because she knows seeing it will make her angry all over again. ".... .... Janus is dead. He can't hurt anyone, anymore. Especially himself." Her voice wavers as she stands up. "Whatever's in that tube... if it comes back to bite us in the ass... I'm gonna still come after the two of you, though. You got a super courier promise on that."

     Ethius's warning is heeded, Gwen is already gathering Lan under one arm- her left arm specifically, which, is actually rather strong in itself, just very very human. ".... Thank you, Lan. I'm gonna get you out of here."

    Where agility and speed aren't her forte, stamina and maintaining a decent speed is another thing entirely, and something Gwen succeeds at. Passing by Ida, Gwen unceremoniously snags her with her right ARM, and begins to pick up speed with her cargo.

    She's got two parcels she can't fail to deliver.

<Pose Tracker> Asgard has posed.

"Does it matter who it was meant for, if I was there to receive it?"
 
Is the Golem's succinct answer for Gwen, for in his eyes, his ability to intercept it is yet another demonstration of his overwhelming strength.

The hatchet comes down on Asgard, sparking across his form, even as it strikes across his arm-
 
-and skitters off, to sever a single horn off his horned visage. The Golem is on the defensive now, having sacrificed an arm to defend the Tube, it comes then from Xantia in a massive lightning hammer.
 
"Respect."
 
The Golem utters, of her own solution to the problem of Azoth hurting, even as it makes contact with... a Gleaming Sword that appears out of nowhere? It appears in in mid-air, in the invocation of magic from Equites. It gives the Golem time enough to move, even as the lightning hammer smashes through the blade, coming down upon his side.
 
But avoiding the tank he carries. Azoth tells him he can't allow that. There is something like fondness in his tone, understanding. "I know. ... One day, my old friend."
 
And as his power evaporates into heat, energy dissipating, as Ethius triggers his self-preservation protocol.
 
"One day."
 
He says it again, softer. Even as the Watcher commands his attention for a long moment he is silent as if assessing her words, and what is behind them, "In time." He finally agrees, "You have grown enough that you would be a worthy challenge, as you are now, and I for you."
 
The Golem looks to him for guidance, and even as his old instincts take over, even as he commands him, he speaks then, "It will be done."
 
Outward pulses a sudden barrier, dividing off the pair from any parting shots, rippling across the room.
 
It is present long enough for him to follow Siegfried out the hole, with the tank still held within his arms.
 
"... She speaks of tomorrow, and the day after that."
 
He speaks to his master, only after the barrier is dispelled and their exit secured, "Yet now, with the Survivor in our possession..." The Golem's arm tightens just subtly, "... do any of them truly realize how close you are to grasping eternity?"

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

"...Whoa," is Xantia's succinct reaction to the way her weapon construct is parried by one of Asgard's own. This is the down side of picking a fight with somebody you don't really know the first thing about, they just might be capable of a lot more than you bargained for. Still, even if they only exchanged one blow and few words, she gets the sense that this slight bit of common ground that they seem to have regarding Azoth is a solid foundation for some measure of understanding.

But it will have to be for the future, as Asgard makes to withdraw, and Azoth... was stopped. Thankfully, before he could do something he'd have regretted. This feels more important to Xantia than anything else detonating all those energy fragments might have caused. The overrides forced him to take things too far again... and she knows who's to blame for that. Even if she didn't get to deal with Solaris in the way she originally wanted, this is most assuredly only a delay. They can't keep getting away with this.

However, it seems that they will today. With the self-destruct activated following the Wels's defeat, there's little more that can be done. Xantia is quick to start making herself scarce in response. Notably, not in the direction of a proper exit, avoiding the other Drifters by slipping off in the commotion and exiting the base the way she came in: through the hole she made in it. She may have snapped out of her self-imposed duty focus, but she still has a lot to process, before she can talk to anybody about what happened.

Once at a safe distance, she briefly looks back the way she came. "Sorry... I can't go back with you. Not now. But..." She finally manages a smile. "...I'll figure things out. And I'll see you again when I do. Until then... friends."

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    The amalgamation dies a terrible, fiery death. Ida takes solace in the fact that its end, at least, was far more merciful than what led up to it. "Maybe," she says, to the Watcher. One hand clutches at her injured side, while the other holds her ARM. Smoke trails from the barrel. "But I've got more than that in me." Even if it's so hard to find it right now, in this scenario where everything went wrong.

    Oh. And there's the other part of the trap. Ida takes a few limping steps before forcing herself to break into a run--everyone's fleeing, which means she...

    Gwen grabs her from behind. Ida freezes for a moment before she recognizes the heft and texture of the limb holding her, the shirt and short red hair. "Gwen," Ida grates. "Sorry." She braces against her friend. "I'm sorry." She doesn't know what to say.

    A dead man coming back in someone else's body hits... far too close to home for her, right now.

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

That terrible feeling of purpose and destruction which had been sneaking into the perimeter of Elly's mind retracts - significantly if not entirely - when they are, at least, greeted with a proper miracle, a miracle of something other than cruelty and horror.

When they are met with MUNI.

Elly's right hand loosely forms a fist and then relaxes. The manifestation of the armor is engulfing Riesenlied. She's armed; she's armored -- she's not --

She's not vulnerable. She's not going to get 'purged' in front of Elly. She's not --

Elly looks at her hand finally and she thinks for a moment. Weren't these gloves cream colored? They look... red.

But Xantia -- "You don't have to deserve things like that!" Elly hears herself say. 'Her self'? She said that, right? Where...

Where is 'she' at? For a moment there's a ringing in her head, and she thinks it might be like a bell feels when struck.

Elly turns her head again for a moment. Siegfried is warning them to withdraw - directing them - it makes sense. Elly turns towards that self-same exit until--

"Xantia!" Elly calls, piteously. She starts to shuffle more quickly in that direction. She moves fast, but not exceptionally fast - it's probably just a matter of seconds after Xantia speaks her words of farewell and leaves that Elly emerges through that hole. She is, at least, clear from the self-destruct when it executes.

She doesn't even make it to the treeline before flopping into the snow, on her back, staring up at the sky.

<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.

Hannah nods to Noeline. She's on her last legs, but... she's still standing. She has magic, and she can do at least this much to protect those she cares about. And she also has an inclination to accept Noeline's advice. She nods in agreement. "Okay, Miss Noeline."

It kind of reminds her of being lectured by Susanna or Miss Rochelle.

But they get reinforcements--in the form of a Metal Dragon, no less! (Hannah will find the time and energy later to appropriately acknowledge how cute it is, but right now it is time for serious buesiness.)

The Amalgamation is... put out of its misery, hopefully, and then there is one more surprise announcement as Solaris starts to withdraw.

One minute to self-destruct.

Panic and adrenaline rush through her, giving her legs new strength. "Zephyr!" she calls out as she starts running. "Guide everyone out of here!"

Zephyr swoops down from where he'd been circling overhead, giving Hannah a chirp as he surges forward to the head of the escaping Drifter party, letting out a loud call to get peoples' attention.

"Mister Hesiod! Can you tell me when it's about to go up?" She calls as she takes off running. She's got a plan, but it'd be best to get as much distance as possible, just in case. But even though she's running, and the battle's ended, her magical aura isn't settling-if anything.

If anything, it's getting stonger.

She runs as fast as she can, but right when the base is about to go up she stops and turns back to face the base. "Everybody stay behind me!" she shouts, as she pulls out a crest graph that immediately starts to blaze with crackling white energy. She swipes wide with it, and a giant barrier wall of ethereal force springs to life to provide some extra protection. She strains as she pushes more and more energy into it, reinforcing it, enlarging it, giving everything she can to make sure that the base's self-destruct mechanism doesn't catch them, or that they don't get caught by any raining debris or shrapnel. She extends it past any stragglers that followed along with the Drifters...

And once it's no longer needed the barrier winks out of existence and Hannah falls to her knees and then onto her side, utterly exhausted.

<Pose Tracker> Billy Lee Black has posed.

Billy lands. The Reaper amalgamation suffers blow after blow, and finally...doesn't collapse so much as it loses some horrid energizing force and collapses, as a body might if every bone were simply removed. Billy looks at the hideous slurry of the thing, and quietly signs an Etone prayer. "God go by your side to fairer shores," he whispers, even amid the explosions, the chaos, the screaming. A priest must tend to the souls he can.

Then he whips around, feeling Azoth's screaming end, and tracks, tracks - there! He jerks his arm so the ether guns come out, taking aim at the Watcher with glaring focus.

But she has her answer, today. "Yours and every other boon I can have," Billy spits. But then, she announces the end. A MINUTE? "Miss Elly! We have to go!" he calls, and that's all he has time for before he BELTS out. He keeps his eye out, splits his attention between running and making sure nobody falls behind...but soon enough, he's at the trees, ducking down, and in prayer.

The soft light of his ether shines to protect these Drifters from harm. This too is an Etone's role.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

    Noeline and Riesenlied have done this dance many, many times, and each time, Noeline is the voice of reason that has to reign her in and remind her: Hey, you didn't destroy your entire creed and efforts by having a lapse in faith or because you were upset for, well, a relatively reasonable reason, and because extremely unusual events came back and your grieving process was upended and you haven't dealt with it.

    As Noeline keeps her hunkered down, she mumbles, "I--I know. I know," she kinda sounds like she's about to throw up, but manages to keep it down even as they go through the attack sequence. During the moment, she gazes up at the Watcher--

    The Watcher, who appears completely unharmed by the attack. "Leah... just what happened, since we last met?"

    The Watcher calls it Siegfried's victory, but today's battle has shown that there are still many seams that are easy for the picking between them -- and they'll need to reforge those bonds if they want to have a chance of victory.

    A one-minute countdown. "Muni--"

    She turns to the Drifter crowd. "If you are not confident you can make it in time, climb on!" The Metal Dragon is already moving as she says that. In the corner of her view, she glances with some worry to Loren, to Lan and Gwen... as Ethius and Ida come to their aid as well.

    She can't get Gwen's angry words out of her mind. Is she just chasing ghosts? Is she right?

    Siegfried calls for the withdraw as well. "Be safe, Father, Asgard." 'We have what we came here for'... just what forces are you playing with this time, Father?

    A glance in turn, back towards Azoth; she still can't believe that is the same kind Azoth she knew, the one who helped protect Lombardia. Was that all... no--

    And then Azoth's lingering energy bursts, as Riesenlied ducks down with Noeline even as Muni keeps going (and mildly thinks her butt is hot!! Owwie!!). She doesn't miss Asgard's words:

    To grasp eternity.

    How loaded a term that is... what is the Golem's definition of eternity? It seems like folly, on the surface, and perhaps deeper down as well. But her attention is diverted as Xantia parts with words of apology, and she calls, "Xantia!" and in turn, Elly gives chase--

    Riesenlied swiftly swerves, nodding to Hannah and Billy as they shore up those who need to evacuate underneath a barrier of Ether and... well, the jury's still out on what Hannah's magic is, but it is Useful at the moment.

    No, who she needs to catch up to right now is Elly, as Muni swoops through the sky and manages to catch her before she has a nasty landing with the snow--

    "Muniii!" (tn. Miss Ellyyyy!)

    --the hop transitions to a somewhat graceful skid along the snow that leaves them in the clear, a sigh of relief coming to the still-concussed Hyadean's lips. "... thank you, Elly."

<Pose Tracker> Juni Vandrer has posed.

Hooking her hand, sliding to a stop she hops away from the position she'd been all over just a moment ago. Shielding herself from the burst of energy from Azoth. Muttering as she blinks the light away and pulls the poncho close, running towards the others. There are people down and.. well. That's what she's got to do.
 
 Not that there's enough time to really do anything. She does check over anyone critical, trying to make sure they're safe to move before offering to help drag them out. She's not about to turn down anyone trying to get them out of here..

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

    Leah's final taunt to her is not something that Noeline has time to think about. Between Riesenlied's injury and Muni's gleeful underscoring of the Amalgamation's destruction, she is too busy ensuring that the two of them are covered from any ensuing blasts. And when the Watcher proves that she is the sort of person to meet Noeline's expectations - that she would be entirely happy to self-destruct the remnants of this base on top of them - the only thought in her head is to do with getting away as soon as possible.

    "Muni! Get us out of here!" she calls as she risks a glance up over the edge of the cockpit's armour, doing a pass for others in - or out - of the Outreach that might need assistance. Ida has been swept up by the Super Courier, Hannah is still on her feet and moving, Ethius is-- using humour, even if it's unintentional, and that's still something she needs to wrap her head around. She cannot imagine Siegfried in any danger, not with Asgard at his beck and call.

    Whatever Siegfried and Asgard are planning is a question for later; she shares a look with Riesenlied at that concern, slowly dragging a breath in and out of herself at the prospect of having to follow that up later. It's not something she relishes trying to do, but... she couldn't forgive herself if she didn't at least try.

    It is Xantia and Elly that get her attention in the last moments, because even if the two of them have been busy with Outreach work lately they are still honorary members of the Black Wolves. The way that Xantia was acting... it's not unknown to Noeline. The thought of Lydia still sits in the back of her mind; she can draw more parallels than she'd like to Azoth's plight, and now to Xantia's as well. She can understand wanting to disappear to find yourself; she would be a hypocrite if she said she didn't.

    But she knows how much of a bitter pill it can be.

    Muni and Riesenlied appear to be in agreement with her, at least, and the three of them rear up in varying degrees to help catch her and see her to safety, as Noeline helps her hand on for grim, Muniful life as the base goes up behind them. "... let us get you all to safety and medical assistance," she sighs with relief as she turns to look back at it.