Blueblood IC

[Vector Nightmare]

Enemy.

This single word rang through Rygan's mind like an alarm the moment the Federation ships begun their descent. Seconds later, the actual warning signal resounded - but it was too late, the surprise attack that had arrived at Academy 9, somehow avoiding all sensors, was fully effective.

And then the mechs were unleashed.

Even Rygan's superior eyesight couldn't produce an accurate count on short notice - there were dozens upon dozens falling from the closest ships. Even this many likely wouldn't amount to much of a threat to an Imperial fleet under normal circumstances - however, they had caught them unprepared. The weapons on-hand were insufficient to deal with these enemies. They would be slaughtered. All this was brushed aside quickly, as Rygan began moving. It was sheer instinct that caused him to break off the crowd, practically diving towards the hangar. Their only chance was to raise their own mechs and ships to the sky.

The enemy opened fire, and hell begun. Alfar fell; they were soldiers, true, but they were unarmed soldiers attending a ceremony, and they dropped like flies. But... Something's off. Their aim... After a few seconds, he realized what their true goal was. It wasn't to decimate the ranks of the newly established fleet - although they certainly did not hesitate to do just that. No, what they intended was something that could potentially cause incomparably more damage to the Empire.

The princess.

The rest happened in slow motion. Princess Freya's ultimatum, the temporary ceasefire, the appearance of what looked to be an enemy commander. And the resolution. Rygan liked to think he was more detached than most, but to see the princess kidnapped like this, after such an underhanded ambush - rage blossomed in his heart. But he knew he couldn't intervene. It was an uneven standstill. The Federation could kill them all if they tried anything, and the only thing keeping them alive was likely the princess' intervention. That would not last. The limited time they had, they needed to put it to use.

He jumped through one of the bunker holes that led to the main hangar. He knew the layout of the Academy hangar by heart, so he wasted no time getting his things - he didn't own anything that couldn't be easily replaced later anyway. Speed was of the essence. He dashed across narrow corridors, rushing by startled and terrified personnel.

"We are under attack!" He barked at a few low-ranking officers, even though most had probably realized this by now. "Get everyone moving! We need every ship and mech armed and operational. Now!" Discipline overwhelming fear, they saluted and burst into motion. As for Rygan, the destination was one.

The central hangar was massive, yet it was used to house only one ship. Out of all the ships stationed in Academy 9, it was the largest, and the strongest. Admiral Lonn's flagship, Mjolnir, a 500-meter-long behemoth, coated in thick armor casing. In preparation for the ceremony, it had been brought to pristine condition, shining a brilliant gold-and-black under the dim lighting of the hangar - and the bright blue power generators, maintained in half-output state, looked as if they were burning with a flame of its own. But Rygan had no time to admire it. He clambered on the staircase.

"Rygan Ravandwyr, Ninth Fleet. Pilot." He shouted. The few seconds that passed until the ship's voice-and-retinal scanner acknowledged his identity and granted him entry seemed like eons, but at last he was in, straight into the main control room. The room was a massive round chamber, equipped with terminals handling the ship's various systems placed peripherically around it. Each had a holo-monitor hovering over it, displaying the status of the ship's interior, flanked by cameras and motion detection systems, complete, of course, with massive screens projecting the exterior of the ship, and navigation maps. The artificial intelligence systems could operate the entire ship by themselves, but they were not designed to handle complex combat situations - and if this wasn't a complex situation, then Rygan didn't know what was. So after once again passing through the ship's identity verification, he assumed control. Of course, the ship wouldn't actually move until the Admiral himself gave the order - but Rygan would make sure it was ready to take off once Lonn did so.

"Initiate full-frame diagnostics check." He muttered. The ambush had pretty much proven just how lax security actually was in the areas outside the warzone, even ones of crucial importance. However unlikely, Rygan wouldn't take the chance that the ship was sabotaged by a Federate infiltrator - but the diagnostics revealed no unauthorized systems in operation inside or outside the ship.

"Release docking." Rygan continued. Now that it was safe, he would put the ship to take-off position. "Rear shield generators, reduce output to 50%. Front shield generators, maximize output. Maximize side and front thruster output." As Rygan regulated the power distribution among the ship's engines to better match the position of the enemy, he noticed the Admiral making his way into the ship through one of the cameras installed in the control room, activating the remaining systems.

"All soldiers report to your ships and stations, we set off in ten minutes." Came the command that resounded throughout the entire Academy. Looking at the visual feed, Rygan could see several soldiers had already manned their posts, either standing by on the many turrets and cannons, or already in their mechs, waiting to be unleashed - but there were many more missing. His heart clenched, as he thought that many of the soldiers meant to man the ship might have fallen, but he stomped down on grief.

"Admiral!" He called out. "We'll be ready for takeoff in five minutes!" The system feed confirmed this - they had fully undocked, and all secondary thrusters were online. With the generators already on standby before Rygan had even entered the ship, it wouldn't take long to bring the engines to full power.

He hesitated for a second or two. He knew full well the answer to what he was about to ask, and likely so did everyone else in the Academy. But they still needed to hear it, hear the command that would send them straight into battle, to fight, perhaps to die, for the glory of the Empire and the safety of the crown princess. The very first battle command the Ninth Fleet would receive from their Admiral.

"Your orders, sir?"

[Super Chaos Sonic]

Apparently, Daiki wasn't just seeing things...for these lights weren't just lights...they were invading ships...

 

FMA OST ~ Invasion

 

The events that unfolded next were a surprise to him. In a quick fell-swoop, these ships dropped quite a few Mechas and not so much another word...they took the Crown Princess: Freya.

 

"Shit. Shit! SHIT! Come, men. We set off, now."

 

Daiki heard Admiral Lonn say this, as he quickly nodded and followed the others that were in the Ninth Fleet. Some action then...this should be good! he thought as a small smile crept on his face, following suit and walked with the others in the fleet.

 

[hr]

 

Unfortunately, that wasn't Daiki was met with. "Seriously? A tactical retreat?" he asked, sighing as he ran his hand through his hair. "We just graduated...don't ya think we should be fighting out there?"

 

"Not our orders. Admiral Lonn calls the shots..." another graduate said to Daiki as the two separated from the hallway inside the flagship.

 

Daiki Rikuto sighed and shook his head as he pulled out his phone (or holopad...whatever you'd call it) as he looked at the current idea modifications that he planned for D-Perado X Mk. 3. He sighed as he put it back in his pocket and shook his head. "Honestly, with the Spiral Power that Lonn has...stuff should be even easier for us. But then again...there's way too many things I don't know about that power." Daiki walked into the main control center of the flagship of the Ninth fleet: Mjolnir.

 

"Admiral Lonn..." he said simply, nodding at Lonn. To him, Lonn was his Alfar rival, basically being the best at everything...in his eyes...a prodigy.

[BANZAI!!!!]

(OOC: I'm putting some numbers to this Federation force for fun. Somebody correct me if i'm creating some continuity/random other problems by doing so. Also, this post covers a lot of material since a lot has happened since my last post. Sorry in advance for the long read.)

 

 

Draegan's reply seemed to confirm Eryn's fears. There were indeed warships in orbit, and plenty of them, from the looks of it. Eryn began to break out in a cold sweat as the full impact of this began to sink in. If they were Imperial, then that meant that they had a reason to warp in: most likely to defend the academy against some sort of attack. However, with the way the lights were moving and multiplying, a far more terrifying scenario was seeming much more likely. As this began to sink in, Draegan began to take action and began mustering the cadets around him. His voice snapped Eryn out of her train of thought, and as she began to follow his example one of the brighter lights in the sky grew dramatically larger. The ship, a medium-sized carrier by the looks of it, descended rapidly at an angle designed to optimize the deployment of mechs. Almost as soon as it descended to an appropriate altitude, the Federation carrier's doors opened, and the faint sounds of its mecha catapults firing could be heard above as roughly 60 Minerva units, accompanied by about 9 commanding Mars and a singular navy blue machine of an unusual make descended toward them. As well, ground troops followed closely behind the mechs. Eryn barely had time to comprehend the sight before one of the Minervas landed with a thud but a few feet from her, the impact of the mech's leg hitting the ground and the hot wind from its exhaust combined knocking her to the ground.

 

She looked up just as the gunfire began, and had to duck right back down and cover her head to protect herself from the shockwave of the nearby Minerva shooting a railgun round into a crowd of her fellow cadets. Unfortunately for Eryn, she happened look back toward what was left of them as she struggled to her feet. "No... No this can't be happening....." Her voice was almost a whisper; the visceral, real horror of what she saw before her almost too much to take in. Eryn knelt there on the green for a moment, in shock, as the violence continued all around her. She was completely unaware of the drama unfolding farther up in front of her until she heard the Voice of Freya Alfadir amplified over the commotion. "Soldiers of the Empire! Stop this instant! Stop this instant, or I will fire! Soldiers of the Intergalactic Federation! You call yourselves men and women of justice? Is the murder of the unarmed what you call justice? Stop this massacre this instant or I will pull the trigger on this gun." The familiar voice snapped Eryn out of her trance just as the Minerva turned to face her direction. Its footstep shook the ground nearby as Eryn raised her head.

 

She stared straight into its gunbarrel as it aimed the massive Driver Lance railgun at her, and whoever else happened to be in her general vicinity. In the split second before it fired, Eryn sprung up and dove  headfirst between the Minerva's legs, narrowly avoiding the railgun slug, its shockwave sending her flying much farther than her dive would normally have allowed. Her Alfar genetics, pedestrian thought they were due to her parentage, had actually saved her life.

 

She didn't have time to think about this now though, and as soon as she found her footing again, she was sprinting as fast as her legs would carry her toward the academy and the massive hangars that housed the fleet's ships.

 

---

 

A few minutes later, and she'd arrived at her destination. She was rather winded and sweaty from the sprint, and Eryn quickly removed the top portion of her blood and grass-stained uniform, revealing the loose-fitting black tank top she wore underneath. She wiped her brow with the uniform before discarding the forever stained piece of clothing. She shuddered a bit, trying her hardest to repress the image of the horribly bloody scene she'd just left and at the same time remain focused on her goal. This pause only lasted a few seconds though and she took off again, this time moving a bit slower and keeping her head down and out of sight.  Quickly moving along the exterior walls of the hangar complex, she slowly made her way toward the hangar that housed The Mjolnir: Flagship of the fleet and her assigned battle station where, she hoped, her crew mates and her mech were waiting.

 

In the ten or so minutes it had taken her to run all the way over to the academy proper, all hell had broken loose as multiple Federation ships had descended from orbit and deployed their own forces. While the Federation mecha units were largely concentrated near the green where the cadets had previously been, the foot soldiers had spread out in all directions, picking off any small pockets of resistance that they encountered and rapidly securing the academy. Eryn moved as quietly as she could, attempting to avoid detection by roving squads of soldiers. After some quick maneuvering between buildings, she managed to get herself to one of the many entrances to the large compound containing the Mjolnir's hangar, as well as some adjoining facilities. Unfortunately, Eryn's door was located on the outskirts of these attached facilities, far away from any of the small, manhole-like emergency entrances to the hangar located around the main building. She'd therefore have to make her way through the building itself and enter the hangar through the main interior entrance, which by now was surely crawling with federation personnel. Still, if she was going to make it through this, she needed to get moving before either the enemy took the ship or the Mjolnir left without her.

 

She gently and quietly opened the door, slipping inside once she was sure the coast was clear. The hallway was dark, the power to the lights having been cut some minutes before, and only the faint glimmer of the backup generator-powered LEDs lit the hall. Hugging the walls, Eryn eventually made her way to an emergency box. Similar to the cases that contained fire extinguishers on the ancient human homeworld of Earth, these boxes contained emergency provisions including, but not limited to, a radio, emergency provisions, and, most importantly in this case, a handgun and accompanying ammunition. Eryn quickly looted the box she discovered, loading the gun and taking the radio with her. She didn't dare activate it for fear of giving away her position, however.

 

As she advanced through the building toward the Mjolnir, she could hear footsteps and voices of the federation soldiers. Narrowly avoiding them on a few occasions, she went undetected as she continued onward. Soon, she found herself facing an intersection in the hallways, with one hall running perpendicular to the other. About 20 feet away from her, running down the perpendicular hall, were two soldiers. "Marcus! Respond Dammit!" one of them yelled into his communicator as they raced down the hall, not noticing the green haired girl moving toward them and kneeling, leaning her body around the corner of the hall and taking aim...

 

Two shots rang out, and both men fell to the floor, screaming in agony. Eryn's aim, as usual, was superb. She'd shot both of them in the back of the heel, severing their Achilles tendons and ensuring that they both survived and could not pose a threat to her as she continued sprinting onward toward her destination.

 

She continued running toward the hangar, encountering a third soldier along the way who was summarily dispatched with three well placed shots to his kneecap from far down the hall, out of his sight. As Eryn rounded another bend with her firearm ready, she saw a figure in the gloom, and took aim. She was about to fire when she noticed the silhouette had a familiar shape, and she sighed with relief as she lowered her weapon and spoke. "Lucius Yishma’el, is that you?!" She called out, elated to have discovered one of her allies alive as Lucius came toward her. No sooner was he in full view than he was in her arms with a quick, joyful hug. After she pulled away, she spoke again, a relieved smile on her face and her eyes ever so slightly misty. "Thank goodness... I didn't know if anyone else from the Mjolnir's squadron made it out..." A look of concern came to her face as the though that he may be injured came to her. "You're ok, right?" She looked past him briefly, then behind her, making sure neither of them was followed. "Either way, we need to get out of here as fast as we can. I'm sure they're going to need all the pilots they can get."

 

[Lunar Origins]

Adora had finally found herself out of energy.  Her limp body dropped near the entrance of the Academy;  a long trail of blue blood followed her left side, with what was left of her arm still bleeding, albeit the flow had stopped.  The world around her began to simply fade away, and she couldn't help but smile a little bit.  It had been awhile since the pain subsided, and she had only been focused on trekking forwards, over any other bodies, not taking heed of whether or not they were alive or not. She chuckled at this thought;  the great Adora, always stepping over those lower than her, even in death.  Perhaps her life needed rethinking after all.

 

She turned her body so that she could look up at the sky and, in a slightly overdramatic way, tried to reach up with one hand and gave a hearty, yet somber, laugh.

[Mugendramon]

Saviour of the Dreaming Dead

 

 

Lonn's plan for escape came swiftly and coldly through his hurried breath, and it matched Herrman's ideal scenario almost perfectly. As expected, thought the robot as it followed into the hangar of the Mjolnir.

 

His prime target was safe now. The course of action was well set, and Herrman had ten minutes to act. His thoughts turned quickly to those outside, losing their lives to the Federation assault. No longer having to prioritize the Admiral's life, the First Law demanded within him that he go to the rescue of sentient lives at stake.

 

Herrman wasted no time. Still running at full power, it took less than two minutes to reach the nearest available Valkyrie inside of the Mjolnir's combat unit storage. A quick scan was automatically performed; the model before him was a Support and Recovery AVES, perfect. The task to accomplish was a straightforward one: Get back out, save as many wounded as possible, avoid potential hazards and prevent as many casualties as quickly as time would allow.

 

The robot looked around inhumanely, turning his head 180 degrees in both directions; there was not a soul in sight. This was good, he would need not waste precious time in getting inside of the Valkyrie's cockpit. Herrman raised a hand and placed it softly on the cold metal plating of the unit. Data started flowing immediately. The humanoid vessel for the robot's consciousness frowned, closed its eyes with the strain of the transfer.

 

In a matter of seconds it was done, and the chassis fell bluntly onto the floor of the hangar. Herrman looked down through a different set of optics. Transfer - complete.

 

The unpiloted unit operated at full capacity. Herrman got lowered his weight into one knee and ignited the thrusters lodged on his back. Before twenty seconds of his entrance into the hangar, the Valkyrie was taking flight at full speed. Not five seconds later, he soared through the body ridden grounds of the academy's courtyard.

 

------

 

Many federation units turned toward the newly appeared Herrman. This was to be expected, and so was their immediate firing. A few basic evasive maneuvers, easy to accomplish with an Aves, were all it took to sweep through the entire courtyard without so much as a scratch. Despite Herrman's easiness of piloting, coursing through an open area filled with enemies was unsafe at best. Herrman spent a good few minutes dodging through the Federation.

 

At last, after a long stream of careful calculation, Herrman found an opening in the borderline erratic disposition of the units on the courtyard. The Valkyrie then dove towards the walls of the academy, following with a sharp turn. Herrman's thrusters were now carrying him in a straight line parallel to the walls, where a good number of survivors were lined. Herrman could not possibly stop to pick them up; they would have to hold on. They were likely to get hurt as a result... but they might survive.

 

So Herrman stretched his giant arms forward, lowered his hands palms up, and began sweeping. He looked straight forward, not being able to bear the sight of what he was doing.

 

-------

 

Half a minute later it was over. Herrman now looked down on his hands, strained at the sight of blood staining them heavily but relieved to see at least a dozen people looking forward in horror or straight into his optics. Except for one, her back turned to his face and her arm missing. She looked dead, which distressed Herrman very much... but her life signs read positive. She was in fact alive.

 

But the ordeal was not over, for now Herrman had to get back into the hangar; this time, complex evasive maneuvers were not an option. Hold on! was all the robot could communicate to those below at his hands as he triggered the engine overdrive. The world around him distorted by speed, the Valkyrie unit flashed through the entire courtyard and back into the Mjolnir's hangar.

 

Herrman landed, letting all those clinging to his hands lower down to the ground. All but the one whose arm was missing, completely immobilized and possibly entering a state of shock.

 

"Take the most gravely wounded into the ship's infirmary ASAP. Hurry, the Mjolnir is scheduled for takeoff in less than three minutes."

 

WIth that, Herrman started hovering once towards the inner hangar of the Mjolnir through which he had first exited. Locating his carcass, Herrman wasted no time in latching the female alfar onto the stabilizing pod on his right arm, which he then rested on the hangar floor by kneeling. His other arm reached for the carcass and effectuated the data transfer once again.

 

------

 

Herrman opened his eyes once more and could now feel the Mjolnir's engines readying takeoff. He walked up to the stabilizing pod's arm and took a look inside. The female in it had lost a lot of blood. She would survive thanks to the pod, but she had decidedly lost an arm for good. His eyes now reflected how futile his labour had been in the outcome of this battle. He had reacted much too late, he had allowed so many deaths to come to Lonn's graduates. His circuitry was filled with a distressed agony, and his body broke in tears as he rested an elbow on the transparent recovery pod.

 

If someone were watching, it would be really easy to misunderstand the origin of those tears.

[Cray-Crow]

 

Federation mecha hailed from the stars above. Landing within the vicinity of the graduation ceremony, holding no regard if they fell upon empire cadets, they crushed the graduates to the ground, ending a fair number of lives just upon their arrival. Then the real ruination began. The mechas, numbering well over two hundred, blatantly opened fire among the Empire's ranks. The considerable size and velocity of their rounds blasted so many to an awful, blood-letting demise. Too many.

 

Princess Freya's voice then rang out, amplified by the dias' sound systems. She was threatening the Federation with her own life and well being, which halted the massacre momentarily. A unique, blue mecha confronted her, seemingly the attack's leader. To display her devotion and willingness to end her life, she shot her hand, a slender stream of bright blue Alfar blood tracing through the air before splattering on the royal's dress and ground. Then came the princess' first order: to retreat. Run, live and fight another day.

 

Everything Lore was demanded her to deny her royal highness her command, but look at the situation they, the Empire, were in. They would all die, here and now, if they did not follow their princess' order. Lonn expressed his dismay with the princess enough, but Lore knew Lonn already realized the truth of his sister's words. He was just fighting her the way any loving sibling would. With that in mind, Lore sprinted for the campus of Academy 9. Previously, she was on top a decorated platform that was not under fire during the Federation's attack, but now on the ground, where cadets were decimated and grotesquely deceased, Lore could, at any moment, join the numerous dead.

 

Thanks to her considerable speed and agility, Lore whipped through the one-sided battlefield. She was a blur that that the enemies fire, thankfully, could not catch up to with their targeting systems, their rounds thudding into the ground inches behind her. She, now, regretted she hadn't brought her pole arm to the ceremony, as unorthodox it would have been. With her speed, she could have taken down at least a few of the mechs with Ehr'Visjh-Fhinn's edge. Luckily, Lore arrived at the Academy 9 facilities unscathed. First thing's first, she headed for the academy's weapon storage. Getting their went without any enemy encounters. She came to her designated locker, entered her personal 9-digit code, placed her hand upon the print scanner, and softly uttered her pass phrase as she caught her breath. She retrieved her favored weapon and matching armor and made her way to the hangar, having ten minutes to arrive and board the Mjolnir, Lonn's personal flagship, according to an announcement that beckoned all Empire cadets within the facilities' vicinity.

 

The halls seemed empty at first, but then sidearm fire was heard, resonating and echoing throughout the dim-lit building. That meant the enemy had infiltrated the academy. Running before the shots rang, she now slowly progressed through the halls, taking care not to make the slightest of sounds. Coming to a cross between two perpendicular hallways, she steadied herself against the right corner closest to her, her pole arm wielded behind her back, ready to be swung at any enemy presence.

 

Instead, she heard two familiar voices down the hall, their person's too far in the dim to see. Willfully altering the adjustment of her pupils, Lore discerned the shape of two. From their voices, she knew one was her adored Eryn. The other was Lucius. Risking a look down the crossing hall, she saw two figures in the dark, moving steadily and quietly. She held herself against the wall once again. With that small glance, she knew the unknown two were from the Federation, coming up to her, presumably, unknowing comrades. Lore breathed in deeply and held it within her lungs as she lowered herself to the ground, her weapon at her side. Gazing forward, she waited for any sight of her prey. A foot appeared before her line of sight and Lore pounced, her nails scraping against the pristine tiled floor. The enemy turned at the sound, but by then, it was too late. With her pole arm held backwards, she sliced one of the Federation soldier's abdomen, dispatching him within seconds. The other, in shock having seen his ally's grizzly demise, was tripped with a sweep of Lore's tail. Once on the ground, Lore wrapped her dragon-like leg around the soldier's neck and squeezed. The poor soul tried to claw at the scaled limb, but to no avail. Soon, only a soft gurgling was heard, followed by nothing as the man's chest stopped rising and falling.

 

Lore got up and walked to her comrades. "Oy, it is Lore. We have to get to the hangar. The academy has been infiltrated, [acronym='Lore says this instead of 'and' sometimes.']eh[/acronym] Lonn is leaving in few minutes. Are you both alright to go?" Lore whispered. She looked over the both of them and her stern face melted and softened. Lucius looked extremely troubled, and Eryn didn't appear too hot either. Lore felt a guilt build within her for not being with Eryn beforehand, but she was here now.

[Astolfo]

As the smoke bomb went off, Mithna desperately wanted to use that opportunity to help the princess escape. She took a few steps towards the Crown Princess but halted, her final wish still resounding in her head. Closing her eyes and bowing, she whispered, "Please forgive me, your Majesty. I will come back for you." As she turned around, she closed off her feelings, taking a deep breath in. It would be too risky to let her feelings take over in a dangerous situation such as this. Grimacing at the profoundly worsening situation, she turned and sped towards the Mjolnir. As she took her fourth stride, she got a sudden, overwhelming feeling of urgency that she needed to leap forward, hearing just the slightest hint of what was possibly a whistling sound. Launching herself forward instantly with a jump, she rolled to break her fall, when a massive rocket launcher completely destroyed the ground she had been standing on just moments ago. The shockwave sent her tumbling, getting scratches and dirt everywhere over her. Coughing out dirt, she shook her head, trying to clear the ringing in her ears. Her ribs were bruised, but she had been lucky. Taking long strides, she managed to get to the flagship in one piece, and without a pause, she continued running, to the hangar.

Scanning the entire room, she locked onto the familiar form of Jin, and sprinted over. Clambering over the body quickly, Jin's AI unlocked the cockpit, automatically recognizing it as her, and she jumped in, the large screen in front of her flashing different pieces of info, before fading to the side, unneeded at that moment. Gearing up, she looked straight ahead, the iron will showing in her eyes. "We will not disappoint you, Crown Princess! We, the Ninth League, will come back for you, even if it takes us across the entire galaxy!"

[Raine]

 

Lucius flinched at the feeling of warmth from Eryn’s embrace, he was overcome with relief. Some of his companions were alive, he thought. He couldn’t help the smile was over his face, “I’m so glad you’re alive, Eryn.” He had said very few words since his time here began with the same level of compassion in his heart. His eyes were turning red again; he had nearly given up hope. Eryn bombarded him with questions about the ship and his health. Lucius snapped back into the moment, “I’m fine, I’m okay now.” Lucius put away his pistol into its holster; he could draw it when he needed it now.  “If we both made it this far to ship, I’m sure that others are already there or on their way,” Lucius answered confidently. In truth, he didn’t know but he was blessed enough today to find a friend. That was enough for him to keep moving and remain hopeful.

 

Just as he was about to compose a plan of getting to the ship, he heard a familiar voice. Lore? Fantastic, the reptile… … … Fantastic, the reptile! Lucius quickly accepted how glad he was Lore was alive. “Lore, you’re right, the Academy is no longer secure.” He took a quick look down the hall, the noise towards the hanger was intensifying. Their time was limited. “We need to move immediately. I apologize for asking this but, Lore, what’s your opinion on being shot at? The fastest way to get to the ship is through A-14 Hall there but it’s close to the enemy-occupied entrance so it’s mostly also home to enemy personnel.”

 

Lucius drew his knife, “Lore, out of the three of us you’re the fastest and strongest physically. I’d like to trailblazer in front, I trust your physical ability can be best utilized there.” He motioned to Eryn, “I’d like you follow her with firearm in hand, your accuracy will guard Lore from multiple soldiers and keep you out physical range of combatants if Lore’s famed ability holds true.” Lucius reached into his pocket with his free hand and pulled out one of his charges placing it on the wall of the hallway. “This should cut off enemy reinforcements from behind us but I’ll stay in rear-guard. Being human does make me delicate after all,” Lucius attempted to joke with little success. Lucius started walking towards the hanger as he signaled for his two allies to pass him and lead, “We must hurry, we cannot squander this blessing. We have revenge to partake in.”

[a bad post]

"Right." Ismina turned tail running after Tobias, though he seemed to hardly have any urgency, so she grabbed his wrist and charged forward, "just cause the princess surrendered doesn't mean they'll give us any reprieve once the smoke clears!" She turned to see the Admiral, and was surprised to see him running with the rest of them. Well it had a been a reckless plan anyway.

 

Once inside the Academy instead of turning to follow the Admiral Ismina turned to follow a different hallway, dragging Tobias with her.

 

"I have a plan, but I need your help, it will give our comrades some assistance, and time to escape," Ismina said, hoping Tobias wouldn't abandon her, while she had Venus, the two of them could only do so much, and she didn't have an time to try find support.

 

"Well its a good thing I found guns," came the disembodied voice of her subordinate. The small girl had 1 pistol already holstered, while holding 2 extra pistols handing 1 to Tobias, and the other to Ismina.

 

"Good, hopefully we won't encounter too much resistance up the control room, though I highly doubt the Federation will just let us waltz in," Ismina replied, before turning back to Tobias. Thankfully it was little more than a long hallway between them and the control room, as well as the fact that it was situated right in the middle of the hangars. 

 

"Before we go, Tobias are you okay with being shot at?" Ismina really only asked out of courtesy, but it was quite an ironic question consider their previous situation,"oh I should probably tell you my plan, shouldn't I? What I'd like to is activate the Academy's defense systems from the control room, the fact that they haven't turned on means we've been breached on that level as well. That way we can repel the Federation forces, and keep as many of our allies alive as possible." A simple plan, but one easier said than done.

[Lunar Origins]

A melancholic melody plays out, and a last fleeting light flickers...

 

 

Inside of her head...

 

Adora's world was black.  Not the black that you would get simply from shutting off the lights and closing the windows; no, this was a deep, onyz black, as far as the eye could, or couldn't, given the situation, see.  She couldn't feel anything, and time seemed to drag on an eternity, so long that she thought it must have been years before something occurred.  A small bump, and then another bump. Thump.  Thump.  A steady thumping.  Her dark world, the world she had felt damned to for eternity, began taking on a slightly lighter shade of black.  Thump.  Thump.  Thump.  A warm sensation enveloped her body.  Thump.    A small tinge of pain, but nothing more than that small instant, came from her arm.  She wiggled her fingers.  Thump, thump.  A little time passed, and she felt like she was flying, flying faster than she ever had before.  Was this death, she thought weakly.  Was this odd sensation the end of her days?

 

A stop.  The feeling of being let down, and then submerged into something.  Thump.  Thump.  The thumping grew faster, and she recognized the feeling.  It was her heart, beating softly, but surely.  Thump, thump, thump.

 

Some more time passed.  This thumping was slow and steady and it beat on til eternity - at least, to Adora.  Her consciousness finally fading back into her body, her eyes fluttered open.  The bright lights before her made her pupils dilate into the smallest little dots.  She winced, closing her eyes.  Her reactions were still there.  This was good.  She opened her eyes again, this time slowly, carefully allowing her eyes to adjust from that icy, deathly black to the bright lights of wherever-the-hell she was now.

 

It was fuzzy at first, but an image began to form.  A bright blue haired boy stood before her, her vision holding a green hue. Something was between them - was she suspended in a liquid?  She tried to struggle, but she was held in place by some restraints.  It took her a minute to realize that she had been suspended in a medbay attached to a Valkyrie.  She had been rescued.

 

She attempted to speak, but the green liquid filled her mouth, almost choking her.  She struggled a bit more, the dreadful feeling of drowning coming over her.  The green, viscous liquid slowly trickled down her throat and into her lungs, but she found herself able to breath just fine.  After a minute of struggling, she gave up, closing her eyes again.  Pointless, why was she struggling?  This green liquid was the only thing keeping her alive right now.

 

Her left hand clenched - or, that's what it felt like.  Never mind that.  This boy was standing before her, and he was crying.  Did she know him?  Why was he crying?  Thousands of thoughts seemed to run through her head at once.  He was no Alfar;  this boy was a human, a disgusting human.  A human that was crying for her.  She would have scoffed, if she could, but instead she began to speak.  Her words were slightly slurred, mostly due to the liquid filling her mouth.

 

"Disgusting human...  what have you done to me?  Where am I?  What has happened?  My arm?  Where the f*** is my arm?" The grip she had on the situation shattered in that instant and she coughed, bubbles escaping from her mouth, rising slowly to the top of the pod.  "Damnit, damnit, damnit...  Let me out!  Let me OUT!"

[Asriel Dreemurr]

All was dark for a few moments as Draegan stood in the "cockpit" of his Armor Symbiote, waiting patiently as the process of integration began.  It started with a tingling sensation slowly sweeping across his body as the tissues of the steadily awakening Gerridon pressed in upon him and his nervous system began to connect directly into its control systems.  As his head was enveloped, he briefly knew what it was like to be blind deaf and dumb, for the world around him had lost sensation.  Gradually, all of this changed.  The feeling of the temperature-controlled air came to him as he began to perceive the world through the Gerridon's own skin beneath a heavily armored carapace.  Hearing came next, and more than just the simple hearing with sensors made to detect sound in atmosphere.  His auditory senses now included the voice communications over the various radio channels, and as such he was able to hear anything broadcast on those channels which he was accessing.  The last sense to return to him was sight, and what a sight it was.  The Gerridon's eyes flickered to life, and began sweeping across the various wavelengths of light to make certain that nothing was wrong with its ability to visually perceive its environment.

 

As the integration sequence completed, the Gerridon rose from the kneeling position it had been in for storage in the hangar.  The various clamps holding it down decoupled from it as the proper override codes were sent via the wireless connection between the pilot and the systems associated with storing his unit.  As the Gerridon was freed to move about, its hands came down to rest upon the weapons rack where its armaments were stored beside it, and the Pilot quickly selected his preferred, and standard, weaponry.  In his right hand he wielded the impressively powerful High Energy Plasma Great Sword, a weapon hypothesized to be capable of damaging ship hulls, and in his left hand the Assault Rail Cannon, which sacrificed range and accuracy for volume of fire.  A few extra magazines for the cannon were also retrieved, and attached to a simple magnetic strip at the Gerridon's waist which acted in a way similar to a Bandoleer to hold them in place.  Thusly armed and carrying sufficient ammunition, the Knight moved out a ways from the storage position and a bit further into the Hangar.  That done, he connected into the ship's communication channels to await orders.

 

"KAS Gerridon fully active and awaiting orders," the message rang out, a voice significantly deeper than Draegan's normal one range out over the communicators, specifically meant to be heard by the Admiral whom the data he was receiving told him was already on board the Mjolnir  and had assumed command.  Patience was what was needed now, and so the Knight calmly waited until he was given orders to act in some way, shape, or form.  All the same, he began making his way towards the launch catapults to make certain that he was ready if they needed to launch to engage.  Seeing the Silver Bullet still inactive brought a fair amount of worry to the Kal'dar, and he prayed to the ancestors that Eryn would reach the ship before it launched.

[(GigaDrillBreaker)]

Tobias let out a small sigh of relief as he saw Ismina begin to follow after him. Good. It is going to be a lot easier to survive this way. Before he could do much to react, she was at his side, and then ahead of him, her speed clearly not proportional to her stature. Suddenly, he felt himself being pulled forward, and a quick check confirmed that she guiding, nay, dragging him by the wrist. Well, Ismina, aren't you forward. Picking up his feet, he ran along with her, squinting to see through the smoke and narrowly avoiding the occasional stray bullet.

 

Reaching the interior of the academy, Tobias smiled to his companion, "It is good to see that you gave up on your counteroffensive and decided to retreat with the Admira-" Tobias did not gain the chance to finish his sentence, as Ismina's goal clearly did not lie in the same direction as the rest. He was pulled along with her through the turn, away from Lonn, the ship, and salvation in general. This can't possibly end any way but well... "I think you missed a turn back there. Where again are we going?"

 

"I have a plan, but I need your help,"

 

Tobias smiled, laughing hysterically on the inside. A plan? Like firing trying to take on a force of mecha with cover from nothing but smoke? This ought to be entertaining. He nodded politely as a gun was handed to him, briefly inspecting it. "So are we going to go out and fight those mecha with these? Maybe if we shoot some tubing or something we could take them out!" It truly pained Tobias to act like such an idiot. A necessary suffering...

 

"oh I should probably tell you my plan, shouldn't I? What I'd like to is activate the Academy's defense systems from the control room, the fact that they haven't turned on means we've been breached on that level as well. That way we can repel the Federation forces, and keep as many of our allies alive as possible."

 

He rose an eyebrow, not completely sure what to make of this plan. I suppose that if we get the academy's security up and running, it would make it easier to fight off this attack. Then again, this pretty directly opposes Lonn's plan to escape, and chances are the control room has been wrecked to prevent exactly this sort of plan from working. The worst part must be that I can't just speak out against it, as doing so would break my persona in half. That leaves only one option: Tobias grinned, popping the joints in his neck. "Sounds like fun!"

 

Luckily, Tobias was saved by a voice on the intercom: “All soldiers report to your ships and stations, we set off in ten minutes.” Scratching the back of his head, he shrugged. "Well, it was a good enough plan, but it seems that we are needed elsewhere. C'mon, let's go!" Deciding that this would go more smoothly the sooner they got the the ship, he grabbed onto Ismina's hand and began running back to where they had separated from the others, toward Mjolnir.

 

Thanks, Lonn. You are a lifesaver...

[Mugendramon]

 

Herrman's sobbing was halted almost automatically as an echoing voice came from the Medpod's external microphone. The alfar was safe, bringing a somewhat refreshing wave of accomplishment to the robot's circuits. Nevertheless, the woman had asked for answers. Straightening himself to talk to a fellow graduate, he spoke as though he were answering a superior officer.

 

"I assure you no damage has befallen you on my account. You now lay in a rescue unit's stabilizing pod to prevent irreparable internal damage. You were lying in close proximity to the academy's entrance mere moments ago.

 

We are currently aboard Admiral Lonn's Mjolnir, and awaiting imminent departure. As I am sure you are aware of, Academy Nine has fallen prey to an ambush and we must flee to regroup.

 

As for your arm, miss..." Herrman did not have a name to address the woman by, so he twisted his expression into a soft puzzled look, and just left it at that. "...I regret to say, it was not with you as I retrieved you. You must have lost it during the initial assault. The pod cannot restore it, but it will seal the wound efficiently."

 

The thought of him accidentally ripping it off as he swept down to try and salvage as many as possible with no regard whatsoever made his circuits cringe, and a single additional tear rolled down the robot's emulated skin.

[BANZAI!!!!]

 

“I’m fine, I’m okay now.” Lucius's words reassured Eryn as she breathed a sigh of relief. However, she heard the sounds of a struggle nearby, and drew her weapon once again as she turned back around to see yet another familiar face.

 

"Oy, it is Lore. We have to get to the hangar. The academy has been infiltrated, eh Lonn is leaving in few minutes. Are you both alright to go?" As Lore rounded the bend in the hall, a wide, relieved smile came over Eryn's face once again. Another one of her comrades had survived, and now that there were three of them, they could effectively fight their way to the Mjolnir without needing to worry about remaining hidden. Lucius must've had the same thought, since he immediately began to formulate a plan. Eryn removed the clip from her handgun as he spoke, and began to load bullets from the spare clip into it, so as to have a full magazine. “We need to move immediately. I apologize for asking this but, Lore, what’s your opinion on being shot at? The fastest way to get to the ship is through A-14 Hall there but it’s close to the enemy-occupied entrance so it’s mostly also home to enemy personnel.” More enemies. Expected, but not in any way good news. Eryn froze for a second as the image of what was left of the cadets who'd been standing near her came back into her mind again. She shuddered as she forcefully repressed the memory, looking up at Lucius and finishing reloading her gun in order to completely banish it from her conscious thoughts. Lucius drew his knife and a sticky charge. Placing the charge on the wall next to him, he continued.

 

“Lore, out of the three of us you’re the fastest and strongest physically. I’d like to trailblazer in front, I trust your physical ability can be best utilized there.”  He then turned to Eryn. “I’d like you follow her with firearm in hand, your accuracy will guard Lore from multiple soldiers and keep you out physical range of combatants if Lore’s famed ability holds true.”  Eryn nodded in confirmation as the handgun's clip clicked into place, and the three of them began to move as Lucius tried his best to tell a joke. “This should cut off enemy reinforcements from behind us but I’ll stay in rear-guard. Being human does make me delicate after all,”Eryn grinned a bit. At least he was trying to lighten the mood.  “We must hurry, we cannot squander this blessing. We have revenge to partake in.”

 

Revenge. The word had a very sour taste to it, like something one would want to avoid swallowing. Eryn mentally winced a bit at the thought of doing such a thing. Before she had time to mention it though, Lucius's charge detonated, leaving a very nice barrier of rubble behind them as the they set off for their target destination.

 

The fight on the way was over quickly. Of course, Eryn did her best to make sure none of her shots were lethal, mostly aiming away from vitals and targeting joints and extremities. She moved quickly, stopping behind each piece of cover she could find and picking off one or two soldiers. When she got close to the entrance to the Mjolir's hangar, however, there were two men waiting who'd set up a small blockade of sandbags at the entrance. They opened up with automatic weapon fire and Eryn barely had time to duck into a side room before a bullet grazed the upper part of her left bicep. She stifled the urge to cry out as she knelt behind the doorway, blood oozing from the new wound in her arm. After a few moments, she jumped back up and popped her body out of  the doorway, firing off two shots. One hit a soldier in the collarbone, but she didn't see what had become of the other as she raced past them through the entrance, hoping that Lucius and Lore made it through as well.

 

There were, of course, more men inside the hangar, but they were largely preoccupied by fire coming down at them from the men on the Mjolnir. Thankfully, Eryn was able to slip by any nearby soldiers unnoticed as she made her way into the Mjolnir via a boarding staircase.  Once she was inside, she ran as fast as she could to the hangar. Neglecting to don her pilot suit, she headed straight for the bay which housed her mech, and activated the cherry picker-like device that took her up the roughly 30 meters height to her SiBull's cockpit hatch.

 

"MAIN SYSTEM: ACTIVATING COMBAT MODE" The Bullet's computer's calm and reassuring (but a bit loud and with a slight vaguely British accent) voice spoke the familiar words that indicated the mech was now fully operational and ready for combat. On the outside, the Bullet's optics glowed with their beautiful white-blue hue as its head looked up, awake. "Eryn Strayde, callsign Raven 9, reporting in." Eryn tried her best to make herself sound calm and ready, but anyone listening could plainly tell that she was quite agitated. "I'm on standby and awaiting launch orders, commander." She then turned off he microphone, so that the SiBull could only receive transmissions, and breathed heavily. Before she realized it, tears were streaming out of her eyes, the day's events having finally overcome her. She gripped her arm as the sobs came, violet blood still oozing from her gunshot wound.

[Cray-Crow]

 

"I'll only have problem if they hit me," Lore smirked slightly. This plan seemed tactical enough, and if carried out right, they'd very efficiently and quickly make their way to Lonn's Mjolnir. Lucius pulled out an explosive charge and, with its detonation, partially sealed the hallway behind them. With that, the three-man group bolted. No doubt enemy soldiers would investigate the loud eruption and many did come, but Lucius' plan worked seamlessly. Eryn provided accurate cover fire that effectively suppressed their forces, while Lore darted up to any Eryn didn't fully incapacitate and finished the job, whether it be by blade or claw.

 

Making it to the hangar's entrance, however, was a small blockade. Lore saw the two Federation soldiers behind it start to draw fire, and she attempted to grab Eryn while she, herself, jumped to dodge the incoming barrage, but it was too late. She'd been hit on her arm, a bullet grazing her bicep. Lore could smell the tinge of burnt flesh, but before she could try to comfort her, Eryn got up again and fired two shots and racing down the entryway. Lore seized Eryn's unexpected initiative and caught up and passed Eryn, raising her pole arm to strike down the other soldier. The Federation lackey picked up his automatic weapon and pulled its trigger, getting a last, wildly aimed burst out if it before being silenced. The blasts rang hard in Lore's ears, threatening to burst her eardrums as she was momentarily deafened. As the ringing faded away, a piercing feeling replaced it, growing in severity as Lore's hearing returned. She looked down to her abdomen, and saw her dark blood slowly and thickly ebbing from below her left ribcage. Lore felt to her knees and clutched her wound, looking up to the Mjolnir, now being fifty meters or so away. Unsure if any aid would come, she bit her lip and got to her feet and started to run as fast as she could.

 

Thankfully, the Federation soldiers were having their fill of the Mjolnir's defenses and many hadn't noticed Lore as she made for the ship. Coming aboard, she fell against the hull of Lonn's flagship, her vision fading black. "Help!" She screamed, her voice becoming a sort of alien screech as it echoed against the ship's metal walls. Thankfully, she heard footfall that couldn't be too far away before she slipped into unconsciousness.

[a bad post]

"Gaah! Wai-" Ismina barely got out her shocked words before Tobias dragged her along back the way they were supposed to be going. After that there was little protest from the small Alfar, who only looked back once to see if her lieutenant was following them, but the blue-haired Alfar was nowhere to be seen. The run to the Mjolnir was uneventful, it seemed whoever had come before them had cleaned up quite nicely.

 

As they ran towards the ship several shots echoed across the hangar, and Ismina ducked pulling herself free from Tobias and bringing the pistol Venus had brought her to bear. Scanning the immediate area Ismina saw nothing, then saw a form stagger towards the ship, before disappearing inside teeter-totering inside.

 

"Your not hurt are you?" Ismina gave Tobias a once over, though it seemed now that the bullets had come from the other side of the ship, and her quick check proved just that. "I thought so, but someone is hurt, and they just stumbled inside of the ship, I think we should try to help them." Before waiting for Tobias' answer she grabbed his wrist (not trusting him to follow with any urgency) and dragged him towards the ship.

 

What they discovered inside was a collapsed Lore and gunshot wound in her abdomen.

 

"Oh dear..." Ismina said biting her lip, "we need to go get medical assistance. I'll stay here with her to keep pressure on the wound, could you go find some medical staff?"

[Lunar Origins]

 

Adora simply stared at the boy, who was now crying again.  Her eyes flitted to her arm.  It was all but lost, forever to be useless.  A majority of it was being removed by the medibay;  It seemed as if there would be absolutely nothing below the area right above her elbow.  Seeing the robot tear away her arm would have made her sick to her stomach, but the sedatives within the green liquid quelled this feeling, if only a small bit.

 

She looked back towards the boy.  "Thank you...  Herrman?  You're that human boy."  She was attempting to make some odd conversation to take her mind off the painless pushing and pulling going on around her arm.  It was disgusting.  "I'll have you know that what you've done isn't going to make me think anything more of you and your disgusting kind."  She smirked.  Her trademark racism made her feel high and mighty, even in this weak situation, and her voice was as strong as ever... albeit, a small tinge of self-doubt filled her words, though it was barely noticeable.  "That's assuming you're even the one who rescued me, but seeing as you're the only one around and the rest of everyone around here has scattered..."  She motioned to the rest of the hangar.  No one was around the two of them.  "...and that my arm is still rather mutilated, you must've been the pilot.  But I have a question.  If you were the pilot, then how the hell did you get out of this thing without assistance?"

 

She really was trying to find something to occupy her mind with something other than her arm.  She knew how mecha worked, how the ejection and exit systems worked, and there was no way this boy could have prepared this Valkyrie, flown it, and exited it in what seemed to be a very short amount of time.

 

She cringed as the medibay pulled off another bit of dead tissue from her arm.

[(GigaDrillBreaker)]

Tobias was glad that it didn't require any further persuasion to get Ismina to the flagship. I should try the direct approach more often. At least we managed to get here without any further complications. Unfortunately, his thoughts were near instantly proven wrong as he saw before him the injured body of Lore. So. Fish girl got herself shot. Wonderful... 

 

 "we need to go get medical assistance. I'll stay here with her to keep pressure on the wound, could you go find some medical staff?"

 

He blinked for a moment, unsure of what to do, before nodding his head and running to the interior of the ship. Where should I look... perhaps... ​It was then that the stark realization hit him. He knew of nobody with medical experience. Turning back to Ismina, he briefly bit his lip, trying to think of a solution. I remember... once, when I was a kid... Lonn was visiting... and we found an injured bird. All he did was hold his hand over it for a moment, and it flew away completely fine... 

 

"Ismina. I have an idea, but it is a bit of a longshot. Lo- I mean, the Admiral can heal wounds with spiral power. I have seen it before. Perhaps, if we both try, we could help Lore out." Stepping back toward the collapsed being, he placed both of his hands over the bullet hole in her abdomen. "I have no guarantee of this working, and even if it does, she will need actual treatment at a later time, but this might save her life. Are you ready?"

[Aix]

Doing a cursory look through the Academy's security sensors as his timer hit zero, he clapped his hands together. His troops had done marvellously, there were no stragglers left behind. Well then, they could be off now. On the last holoscreen, though, he noted the Brynhildr X-Class 3 aircraft yet missing from the hangars, but he shrugged. Oh, what a terrible loss.
 
"All troops ready for take off!" Lonn announced through the fleet communications, warning them to find a spot to secure themselves. Then, he turned off the array of holograms before him to give a casual wave towards his pilot. "Let us be off," he said. Rygan responded enthusiastically and turned all systems active. A shudder went through the entire vessel as the locking systems of the hangar released and the engines turned on. Slowly at first, the Mjolnir drifted forth, like a behemoth awakening from its slumber, but its speed increased exponentially and Lonn felt himself being pressed back into his chair.
 
With small gesture, he turned the holoscreens on again and connected to the fleet communication. "Head north 45 degrees up," he said, eyeing the lights in the southern sky as the whole fleet changed course. "I'd like to avoid all contact at all costs. Faster." The pressure increased to 3 G’s and Lonn hoped that his fleet had secured themselves well. They were in for a thrill ride.
 
He took a final look back at the Academy, feeling a slight sadness well within him. Faster and faster, they were leaving the place where they had spent much of their youth - together, working hard and diligently, striving to achieve a new golden standard. Lonn zoomed in, using the viewfinder to absorb as much as this scenery as he could before he left, and he found Freya still there, waving at him. Some of his melancholy dissipated as he looked upon her bright expression and his solemn face broke into a smile.

BGM - Even in Death

 
Lonn returned his focus on what was ahead of him. Narrowing his eyes, he noted that the ships in orbit began to move, intending to meet them. The enemy was quicker to respond than he expected and contact may be inevitable. On the holoscreens, he brought up a diagram of the fleets and their trajectories. Doing the calculations, no matter how they ran, they would be hard-pressed to remain out of the enemy’s firing range. He had only 500 or so ships, many of them he would assume were greatly understaffed, and they were without any sort of tactical advantage. There was simply no way they could defeat a fleet three times their size or even escape unscathed after a skirmish. “Continue at present velocity.” He noted that any further acceleration was getting them nowhere, the air resistance was too great. The enemy, however, continued to accelerate in order to meet them, but Lonn was ready.
 
The timing of this plan had to be perfect and rapid calculations continued to flicker across his screen. His heart thudded rampantly and his body was stiff with anticipation. A countdown timer appeared before him, noting only a few seconds now. “Prepare space mine drop! Ship artillery ready on standby!” he spoke into the fleet communications and voice command, then, eyeing the timer reach zero, he gave the next order. “All ships change course upwards 20 degrees south! Immediately!”
 
The Federation Fleet could only watch in awe as every ship in the Ninth Fleet immediately shot upwards in perfect unison, their powerful side thrusters allowing for a swift directional change, and at the same time, they watched in horror as they realized what Lonn’s scheme. At this rate, they would overshoot Lonn’s fleet, their fleet could not decelerate fast enough and remain in any plausible formation. “All ships! Open fire!” cried Lonn excitedly, his pale face flushed lightly with blood. Their shells blew a massive hole in the middle of the enemy ranks for them to pass through while the Federation could only hold their fire for fear of hitting their own ships that had shot ahead.
 
“Eh, but they’re not too bad, I suppose,” remarked Lonn to himself quietly as the enemy quickly turned to give chase. “But, I already prepared for that. Fleet spread out! Space mines drop, then, all ships full acceleration!” The fleet released behind them small but extremely powerful bombs with sensors that detonated them when ships approached. The more eager of the Federations ships met their doom as they charged right in, creating a wide smokescreen of debris and explosions.
 
At this time, Lonn allowed himself a smug smile, this was a real battle, no mere simulation, and his designs were coming to fruition, but his smile was soon wiped off his face as just then, two massive beams of light appeared, in separate locations, swallowing up members of his fleet and incinerating them within a heartbeat.
 
The Eternal Flame. Glancing back, Lonn saw that the beams dispersed the debris and the fleet was giving chase again. They opened fire with artillery shells and a lucky few hit their target, further diminishing Lonn’s forces. The Eternal Flame was charging up again, preparing to blast another hole in the Ninth Fleet. “Shit, all forces, scatter!”
 
It was not a common maneuver, and a very undesirable one, but the fleet managed to react quickly enough to Lonn’s voice. “Head in all directions to divide the enemy!” He pulled up a map of the Universe and quickly scanned the habitable planets. Rushing to decide, he picked on one in the general direction which the Mjolnir was headed in, located at the border of the Mercantile Union’s approximate territories and outside of the Federation’s scope. Root, it was ironically called, it was a mountainous planet hosting flying settlements. “Warp out separate routes and rendezvous at destination planet Root, space coordinates [102479, 128741, -92138].”
 
The sudden scattering of ships in every outward direction disoriented the Federation, and that hesitation allowed the Ninth Fleet to put some extra distance. “Rygan, I leave the evasive maneuvers to you,” said Lonn, gazing back at the ten ships that decided to give chase. He knew where his area of expertise ended and his subordinates’ began. Sitting back, he strapped on his seatbelt and held on tight to the arms of his chair as the ship dived and turned.
 
In a final victorious spurt, leaving five destroyed ships behind them, the monstrous Mjolnir went into warp, heaving its ridiculous mass into faster than light travel. Lonn sighed in relief and stood up. He would go see to the rest of his crew now.
 

~ End of Episode I ~

Ending: The Everlasting Guilty Crown

[Raine]

BGM - Kyoukai no Kanata OST [10. Norinori no Bungei Bu]

 

 

“Gah… ugh… ,” Lucius grunted as he stood on a step ladder reaching for the highest shelf. His fingers rifled through vials of oddly colored substances which his eyes struggled to read over the lip of the shelf. “Eureka!” he cried as his wrapped his fingers around one in particular containing some light green fluid. However, the ladder gave out from under him and in a fraction of second, Lucius hit the floor. Sore, he rolled his eyes grasping the intact vial, “Why…”

 

Lucius being one of the remaining uninjured was asked to help in the medical ward. At first, he thought it would be prudent to help his comrades especially Eryn and Lore whom he felt guilty towards. Lucius had already replayed the scenario a hundred times in his head but still didn’t see a safer alternative. At least they were alive, the thought made Lucius crack a smile. Here he could help people, while his medicinal knowledge was rusty, his chemical knowledge allowed him to prescribe dosages and maintain patients while the doctors catered to the intensive care patients. This medical wing was particularly large, he was stocked that such things exist on space ships.

 

Lore was injured severely and was under painkillers and anesthesia on one of the beds.  Eryn had a minor wound that he helped treat earlier but hadn’t seen her since.  Adora was another case entirely, her condition was extremely precarious so she under pod. Lucius took a round just to check her condition. Her arm was unrecoverable. Lucius felt remorse that such a thing could happen to her, not that they were particularly close but he felt pain regardless.

 

In Adora’s healing chamber room, Lucius’s hand hovered over the computer maintaining her’s healing and checked on the components. Her life support was turned off by the doctors, her condition must have improved. He spun his head to check his surroundings and ensure no one was watching and placed his hand on the glass of the pod containing unconscious Adora. “Thank you, God. The lives of my companions and I that you saved this day are grateful.” He chuckled thinking about how some of his comrades especially her would react to him praying for them. “We’re alive…” it finally sunk in for Lucius as he left the room and lowered himself to the ground, back to the wall. In the dim lit hallway, he smiled and calmed over the fact that so many of them had lived. “We will continue to live,” Lucius looked up, “I know we will...”

[Mugendramon]

 

An Original RP by Aix  and Fandom Workshops Inc.

Opening: Savior of Song

 

~ Episode II: Welcome to the Root ~

 

Moments before Lucius accessed the medical bay.

23 - Unicorn

 
Herrman had to think fast, he was asked a direct question and could not actively lie. As such, the only possible way to not give himself away would be to circumvent the issue. His circuits tensed up as he saw himself formulating words in his mouth before saying them.
 
"You see, miss, as a matter of fact I-"
 
A tremor shook the hangar and everything in it: the ship was finally taking off. The engines of the Mjolnir were revved in a matter of moments, and Herrman found himself being slammed onto a wall of the cubicle the rescue Valkyrie was docked in. Herrman quickly realized he had not secured the unit onto its latches, to it was rather prone to falling on its side... thus hurting Adora inside. Herrman could not have that.
 
Making sure to stand behind the alfar woman, Herrman touched the Aves once again, and synced with its systems and processor. The poor girl must have been so confused, feeling and witnessing the mech moving after being so certain that it was not being operated. But this could wait, her safety came first.
 
The cubicle led out into one of the main hangar's launch catapults -at one end, the exterior. At the other, a conduct leading straight into the medical bay at this side of the hull. Herrman wasted no time, and flew as fast as he could within the enclosed area.
 
A moment later, the Med Bay was in sight. The Valkyrie landed and stepped in to drop Adora at a more specialized facility. The transaction took little more than a few seconds, thus not allowing the woman to feel any pain before being once more stabilized in a pod, filled with much the same liquid as the Valkyrie's medical pod unit.
 
Herrman looked around. No human personnel had been present, and this suited Herrman just fine. Having relieved himself of the responsibility of the wounded woman, the Aves-synched Herrman went back into the tunnel, then the catapult area, finally landing at the cubicle. This time, Herrman took the time to latch the Valkyrie to its holdings before transferring his mind back to his usual vessel.
 
His duty with the alfar now done, Herrman headed for the elevator in the upper decks... hopefully unnoticed. A status report from the Admiral was vital in the current situation.

[Lunar Origins]

 

Adora had witnessed some things in her life, things both inexplicable and perfectly understandable.

 

Absolutely none had come close to what had just happened before her eyes.  She tried to replay the memory in her head, but it just got weirder and weirder with every passing resolution.  Herrman, the boy that had been before her, or at least, the boy she think was before her, had moved out of the way, behind her.  He was quick... almost inhumanly so, in what he did.  It was as if his state of panic propelled him in the quickest of manners.  After disappearing from her view, the Valkyrie started up - but how?  It had been inert just mere moments before, and there was no way Herrman could have activated it.  She just couldn't wrap her mind around it.

 

She looked around, the green goop of her medical pod still numbing things as a surgeon casually worked on her arm.  She traded some chit-chat with him, mostly about the going-ons of the nano-biological eco-terrorism on planet Cerise.  The surgeon did his best to keep up with her; keeping the patient distracted helped keep the shock at bay, and boy, could this girl ramble on about science.  He just went along with it. Eventually, the diligent surgeon had enough of Adora's ramblings and pumped a small bit of anesthetic into the pod.  He finished his work and left, leaving Adora to sit there, her body still recovering from the shock of, well, you know.

 

A few hours passed, and the pod covering had lifted, waking Adora up.  The surgeon, whom had returned, stepped back and drained the green muck from Adora's pod.  Adora tried to lift herself out, but failed on the first try.  The pod walls were still slick with medical goop, and she only had one arm to grasp the side and raise herself out.  It was disheartening;  the surgeon offered to help her out of her pod, but Adora flat out refused the help.  "Absolutely not," she said, gasping with shock.  "Do you think I'm going to improve on my condition by accepting 'help'?"  She sneered.  "I value my pride more than anything else.  If you see me here again, remember that."  

 

It took her a good five or six minutes to edge herself out of the pod, but she did it.  As utterly useless as her left arm - or what was left of it - was, she figured out that she could use it to raise herself up if she grabbed onto the edge and slowly pushed with her feet;  assuredly awkward, but it did the trick.  She gasped for air after emerging, the sweet, sweet purified oxygen of the ship starkly contrasting with the claustrophobic stench of the pod.  She coughed a bit when she stood upright, green pod-gunk coming from her mouth.  'twas not a pretty sight, but it was something to behold;  Adora, in her ruined dress, armless, but somehow... renewed.  Refreshed.  She stood, her head held high, and began to walk.  She tested her arms; thankfully, the undamaged one had retained all of its uses.  The same could not be said of her stump.  She moved it around, frowning at it.  It still felt there.  It was like nothing had changed.  She could feel the stagnant air moving across her forearm as she 'moved' it through the air;  she could feel her muscles tensing and flexing as she opened, or thought she was opening, her hand.  She did the same with her right hand.  Her frown was joined by a frustrated grunt and a furrowed brow.

 

As with all medical happenings on the ship, Adora was required to sign her name at the end of the operation.  She took the pen into her right hand and tried to scratch the runic symbols onto the paper, but they came out messy and illegible.  She sighed.  This was going to take a little while to get used to.

 

--

 

With that finished, Adora readied herself with a standard issue uniform from her room, throwing out her dress that had been ruined by both blood and the pod gunk.  She tied the uniform's long sleeve in a knot where her arm ended as to prevent the sleeve from flopping around if she would even dare move what was left of it.  

 

The first order of business:  find that son of a b**** who saved her, and find out what the hell had happened.  She could not stop thinking about that boy...  Herrman, was it?  She stormed off to the bridge.  Maybe Lonn, her commander, would know.  The problem here would be getting to see him;  sure, she was the head scientist, but scientists usually had their own little corner of the ship.  Something out of the way like this definitely would require some explaining.

[Cray-Crow]

 
The hull of the ship was cold against Lore's skin. It didn't help that she was losing blood at a steady pace from the wound in her abdomen. Lore panted as she grasped a railing beside her. Pulling herself forward, she growled as the pain began to intensify, and when she could no longer stand it, she yelped as she let go, falling to the deck.
 
I am numb, now. This is not good... Someone... Footsteps came up behind her. Lore tried to turn around, but even attempted to look behind her was punished with piercing agony.
 
"Oh dear... we need to go get medical assistance. I'll stay here with her to keep pressure on the wound, could you go find some medical staff?"
 
Who is... The voice was that of a female. It was hazed, and it echoed inside her head, completely unrecognizable now as Lore's consciousness ebbed away as her blood did.
 
"Ismina. I have an idea, but it is..." Lore didn't get to hear the rest of what another voice suggested.
 

~ In the Medical Bay ~

Coming to, Lore awoke on a medical bed, complete IV injecting fluids into her body and her abdomen wrapped up in gauze and medical tape. She'd undergone surgery, she concluded, to remove the rounds that embedded themselves into her flesh. As if cued, one of the medical staff came by and addressed Lore, describing what had happened. Lore had been retrieved from the aft of the ship and taken in by the medical team and taken into immediate surgery. Three rounds were removed, one rupturing a major artery and another piercing a kidney. However, the damage to both was minimized and were not indicative the caliber of the rounds that had injured Lore. She should have been in a far worse condition than when she arrived.
 
Perhaps, the two that found me... Yes, they had done something.
 
To her dismay, Lore was not given permission to leave just yet, despite her seemingly astonishing recovery. Given her race's regenerative capabilities, Lore only had to remain in the medical bay for a few more hours and a final comprehensive examination for release.

[Super Chaos Sonic]

Daiki had left the main control hub of Mjolnir, only to try and see if he could help some of the other crew members out. To his surprise most of the crew members, save the VERY important members, were seeming afraid at this. Oh how Daiki wished he could've had one awesome speech ready for the half of the crew members...however...he also feared it would almost me like that one time him and some others played Monopoly...getting the same reactions as the others.

 

“Kamina what?”

 

Oh the curse of being one over the top mecha otaku...no one understands your badass comebacks. Daiki thought with a sigh, as he shook his head. The main reason I try not to let that side of me out.

 

Daiki finished helping a few of the crew, before the tremors were felt and the engines revved up more than before. He pulled out his holo-cell (the new term for it now) and quickly looked at what Lonn was planning. The maneuvers he had the fleet pull...its no wonder that Lonn passed most of their group and became an Admiral.

 

He started walking, as he decided to contact one of the best people to ask about the wellness of the Mechas the fleet had: Herrman. He never could quite put his finger on it...but it was almost like as if he had a deep connection with the Mechas and Valkyries. But then again, it sounded way too much like something from an anime...

 

"Hey Herrman!" he said, contacting him on the holo-cell. "This is Daiki Rikuto. I need a status check on the Mechas this fleet is in possession of."

[Mugendramon]

 

The automaton had not made it halfway to the elevator by the time the device in his front pocket vibrated, waiting for confirmation. Herrman was quick to pick it up and trigger the holographic display, revealing the head of Daiki Rikuto. The man spoke to him briefly, while also seemingly lost in though, about the hangar's contents.

 

"I cannot say at the moment, Daiki" began Herrman; "but I could realistically check this from the bridge. I am in fact headed that way, feel free to join me there... so as long as the Admiral allows either of our presences up there."

 

The elevator stood before Herrman, a neat black cylinder with a couple sliding doors. There were no buttons on it -it was voice operated.

 

"One moment, Daiki" Herrman said, immediately turning to the voice input device on the side of the half-cylinder. "Elevator up, living quarters."

 

There was a mechanical whirring, before the softened noise of the hydraulics announced the arrival of the elevator. The doors opened in two sets and Herrman walked into it, the holographic device still in hand. "I will be arriving at the living quarters through elevator Sigma. If a rendezvous would be to your liking, I can wait for you there."

 

Herrman held the elevator door open for just a few moments, in case any crew member from the nearby medical bay decided to stop by. With no one showing up, the robot let out a controlled equivalent of a sigh and let the door close for the elevator to begin ascending.