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Futuristic Dormant Hearts

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Live fire pelted against the beast's exterior, rounds of plasma burying brightly into the monster as it charged. It kept its single-minded pace, not once slowing down, yet damage manifested upon its body all the same; flesh-like material bubbled and boiled as a result of the myriad impacts, wisps of smoke rising from the creature's body as some of it simply burned away as a result of the embedded heat. Its lack of care for its own injuries was, in some ways, astounding, contributing to the strange living-machine dichotomy that permeated the being's very existence.

It leapt, attempting to close the final gap between itself and the unloading Utsāha, yet another Husk, this one bearing some sort of bladed weapon, collided with the beast mid-air, driving its blades straight into the entity's body. It writhed and thrashed as it screamed, some of its surrounding skin changing in form and shape as it bunched together, weaving quickly into tendrils that shot forward, messily wrapping around the Husk's torso. They interlocked and tightened, moving from something akin to clay to structures better likened to cable, snapping, reforming, and strengthening as they began to pull the husk downward, either for the sake of leaving it prone against the beast's body, or in hopes that the Husk might end up scraping or impaling itself against the weapon it had just driven into the beast. Once more, the monster began soaking up the life around it, drawing from the forest as all beneath it was pulled within, leaving another gigantic patch of dust where there was once lush forest.

In that moment, struggling against blade and machine, flailing with rapidly reproducing tendrils and tentacles as it tried to get hold of everything it could, the being once more seemed little more than a frenzied animal, lashing out in any way to ensure its own survival. Despite their feelings of duty, despite the fact that they knew that this thing must die, the machines watching, activating, and rushing into battle nonetheless felt pity for their adversary.

It was not pity from on high. No, it was not even pity out of distaste. It was a pity of deep relation, a kind that came from knowing that there was no alternative choice to be made, a fact which failed to hide just how much regret the path ahead nonetheless held. The regret that came from never speaking to a once-treasured friend again. The regret that came from the disowning of one's family. A deep, sorrowful pity, born from true empathy.

Yet though such feelings washed outward from the minds of the Husks and into the minds of the pilots, as they saw the monster scratch and writhe against the ground, the willingness of the machines themselves to carry out what must be done remained unwavering; systems remained intact, bonds remained unbroken, and the feeling of intent radiated outward, keeping pace with the Husks' emotional reservations. A strange thing, to think that an enemy that held such deep resentment within the machines nonetheless mustered this sort of saddened response.

Their feelings, in particular, became more and more directed to a mind within the beast itself, a mind buried far beneath the artificial flesh, concealed somewhere within its body. Indeed, there was a core to be pierced, a mind whose body depended on its existence. For the being to know death, this concealed core would have to be destroyed. And yet, that thought alone brought forth further, stoic grief.
 
"Utsāha's feelings... Was that thing a Husk at one point as well?" The pale genius couldn't but be swept into the emotions that emanated from the titan he road upon. Perhaps, a little envy as well, for they had the strength to carry out such a grim duty. Naturally, he and anticipated the intervention of another, better suited Husk. He brought a hand to Utsāha's chin as he watched the creature's form shift to grapple its foe. With its attention diverted Morgan shifted their Husk backwards to create some more range before bringing both arms up.

"Ida Sommers, are you confident in your aim? It seems that Husk's gotten itself into a troublesome situation. I suppose it would be possible to blow away the creature's tendrils, but that'd risk hitting the Husk as well. Considering just how potent these rounds are, the results wouldn't be pretty. Those swords do eliminate where the core of that thing isn't, but it seems that Utsāha still hasn't determined where exactly it is. I suppose you could start firing to draw its attention again, but keep an eye on our current ammunition." He had considered charging in to cut the Husk free with Utsāha's scant melee options, but it'd render them dead in the water - the close-combat Husk could probably free itself given its armaments. Given her previous decision, however, he'd bet on simply observing and waiting for an opening once more.

He glanced back at the bestial Husk for a moment - perhaps that was only one step away from being twisted into another one of those creatures. He could only hope that he was wrong as he silently calculated the data for the girl - precise shots required precise set-up. The sort of finer motor control that she had control of. Regardless of what course of action she chose, he'd simply plan around the results and try again. It'd only be a matter of time before enough Husks awakened to identify just where that monster's core was anyways.

(Re: Coin Coin )
 
Kori "K.C." Chang
The Shēnqíng miraculously moved as the two intended, in close synchronization. Kori knew it wasn't perfect, but the way she and Otto connected was like a single mind, operating a single body that the Husk. It wasn't just Otto on the arms and Kori on the legs, but the two of them were almost like one. Something Kori could only describe as having a phantom limb. The Husk managed to drive the double edged sword into the monster.

Whatever victory they had felt was soon gone, as the writhing mass shot out tentacles and wrapped them around Shēnqíng. Kori did not expect this, but she could feel every tentacle wrap around the Husk's body and limbs, as if they were her own. She felt the machine she was piloting struggling against it's opponent. As the tendrils constricted the Husk and tried to impale Shēnqíng on its own sword, Kori convulsed in her seat. Her chest and sides felt a crushing force as Otto drove the sword further and further into the monster, looking for the core that kept the monster alive. Kori couldn't help but let out a surprised scream. "Switch to the arm blades! We need to *ugh* cut these tendrils!"

At the same time, she was hit with an immense sense of pity for this monster. Disgust and pity clashed in her mind. This writhing mass was their enemy; an enemy that was sucking the life force out of the area around it. If this thing got to the column, it could kill everyone! But...why does it feel like killing a family member. It was...like there was some kind of connection between the Husk and this monster. Maybe that was why this thing appear after the Husks awakened. Some kind of animalistic instinct to protect itself? Kori just can't help but wonder if it was really right to kill this thing. She whispered to Otto, "Why does it feel so wrong to kill this thing? I can't put my finger on it, but it feels familiar...Maybe from the Husk's memory, but...why does the Husk feel so sad?"

Interacting: Hextremus Hextremus
 
Ida breathed a sigh of relief when the sword-bearing Husk intercepted the rampant machine, impaling it with a thrust of their sword. In the back of her mind, she hoped that would be it, the sword Husk would penetrate whatever core the writhing machine had and end the threat before it could continue its path of destruction. Things could never be so simple, as a fresh wave of not Morgan's, but Utsāha's emotions rushed past her, followed by a more potent feeling of panic as the machine enveloped the other Husk in a deadly grapple of clawing tentacles.

"It doesn't matter if that thing used to be a Husk, or a squirrel, we have to kill it before it can do some real damage to anyone else," Ida grit her teeth, verbally scolding Morgan. She was finally able to get the arm cannons' sights on the machine as they pulled range on the melee. "We can't do nothing."

It would be a series of tricky shots, and her clammy hands would make it no easier. If Ida did not fire, the Husk might end up losing the grapple and getting killed by the machine's desperate thrashing. If Ida did fire, she risked friendly fire, and could possibly end up hurting or killing whoever was inside that Husk -- likely another pair from their class. Both options could end in catastrophe, but only one choice allowed Ida, to at last, make a difference that mattered.

Just thread the needle, Ida.

Ida bellowed as loud as her lungs would allow, pulling the triggers to all of Utsāha's guns at once in a torrent of plasma-infused shells. The smaller, wrist-mounted cannons targeted the base of where the tentacles sprouted from the machine. With short bursts of lower-yield munitions, Ida hoped to sever the tentacles to achieve her primary objective: freeing the sword Husk. If that wasn't enough to shake them loose, Ida fired a volley of Utsāha's shoulder cannons at the largest mass of the machine, hoping the blasts in conjunction with precise autocannon fire would do the trick. In the best case scenario, the other Husk would spring free of the machine's grasp and counterattack with the opening at she would create.

((Re: GasMaskie GasMaskie

Husk Mentioned:
Hextremus Hextremus , QizPizza QizPizza -- Shēnqíng))
 
Hachi felt a sudden strong pain as emotions flooded through her mind, pain, guilt, remorse, longing, despair, reluctance- all of it was so overwhelming…. was- was this the Husk speaking to her? Was it speaking to Luka to? she couldn't move as she closed her eyes tightly trying to instead concentrate, hoping as hard as she could that her newfound from to was trying his best to power up the machine. It certainly sounded like it after all.

Hearing his mutter she let out a breath of relief and her lips curved into a small smile despite the pounding headache and thoughts still being slammed into her head like a brick wall -something of which she actually new the felling of due to running into one by accident many times-. Slowly a feeling came round and a loud screeching of metal, almost like old bones came as the Husk jolted and began to move, it was such a painful process filled of so much regret, as though trying to resist but at the same time not wanting to deny in help.

As the screens flickered and view screens appeared Hachi's eyes widened in surprise, having been reopened for a while she couldn't help but gasp at the many confusing views as she desperately looked around at them hoping one would explain how to work it. It wasn't a moment later she lurched forwards slightly as the Husk reached it's full height, destabilising herself quickly and gripping the controls so hard her knuckles seemed to turn white.

Her head pains worsened as thoughts and memories that weren't her own came blurred and vaguely into her mind, wincing at all the strange and terrifying thoughts she didn't know how she obtained, "It—…. hurts—…." she stuttered, trying to take in a deep breath and be strong, for her family, for Mochi. Her head lessened in strain slightly a few moments later as small voices could be heard almost like over a glitchy intercom though seemed to be beamed directly into the machine, quickly with widened eyes she sat up, "I-I'm Hachi Ren I know!- I know most of you won't know me but I'm Mochi's sister and we're gonna- we're gonna help fight this battle!-" she stuttered out in as much confident as she could possibly bring forth at such a time.

_Line 213 _Line 213 CerpinTaxt CerpinTaxt (Also anyone else who hears the communications!!)
 
Mitfuhlen was launched off of the enemy. Hitting the ground once, it twists around in the air and lands on it's feet, sliding to a halt. And even before it was completely stopped, it began clawing it's way back towards the impostor. It was one of them, but it wasn't, and though it confused Connor he had no say in the matter. He was only there so Mitfuhlen could move. So that it could destroy this thing that was yet wasn't one of them. And that was exactly what it was going to do, regardless of what the other active Husks planned. This would be it's kill, this was it's prey.

Mitfuhlen reached the enemy as it latched onto a sword wielding Husk. And once more Mitfuhlen jumped on it, using it's weight to try and drag it back into the dust. It would not regenerate on the dust, that was where it could be killed. That was where it will be killed. Mitfuhlen did not just pull, however, it ripped and tore. It's teeth sunk into the enemies neck, or what it had designated to be a neck, while it's clawed hands ripped at the sides.
 
Hexa relaxed slightly when Mochi said she was fine where she was. Still though Hexa felt a little awkward holding the girl this way. When Mochi tensed her stomach Hexa reddened again imagining that she was the reason the girl was so uncomfortable.

When the boy sat behind spoke up Hexa realised she hadn't asked the annoying guy his name. Unbelievably he was complaining about how the most sophisticated piece of human weaponry ever designed wasn't user friendly. Tsking Hexa thought to herself that of course the Husk wouldn't be user friendly, imagining the hours spent by long since dead polities must have put into these machines. However when the boy mentioned that the machine was controlled by thought Hexa was fascinated. Wondering how on Earth the Husk could tell what it's pilots wanted to do. It was equally interesting how both Mochi and the boy were controlling different parts of the Husk. Yet again he annoyed her when he told her to take care of Mochi as Hexa had already told them that she would.

When Mochi said she wanted some blades to attack the creature Hexa got a bit nervous and excited. So much so that Hexa didn't realise she was squeezing Mochi a bit quickly loosening her grip when she realised. As the Husk began to move Hexa loved how agile it was. Her heart beating faster getting excited thinking to herself this was just like a real life video game. A grin spread on her face from ear to ear. However when she felt Mochi's cheek feel warm she quickly took a glance seeing how red it was. Seeing this caused Hexa's heart to increase a bit once again feeling a bit awkward. Whispering to Mochi not wanting to hurt her ears Hexa spoke her voice a only slightly nervous, "move however you want just kick that things ass... if it has an ass. I don't mind even if you accidentally hit me I'm more worried about dying. Also what's that annoying boy's name?"

dwif dwif
Entity.Eclypse Entity.Eclypse
 
"Direct hit. Good teamwork."

Otto adjusted his controls as he spoke, Shēnqíng driving the blade deeper into their enemy. It went well at first, until Otto's satisfaction was broken by the tendrils snaking from the creature and tangling them together. His face didn't change as he felt his chest and sides constrict but his teeth were gritted so hard his jaw began to throb. He could feel Shēnqíng's suffering on his own body as the creature tried to drag them down and impale them on the remaining blade of their double bladed sword. He dimly registered Kori screaming at him, her voice laced with surprised pain. An order to switch out the double bladed swords for the armblades.

Otto tried to do so, fingers flying over his controls. However, Shēnqíng itself stopped him. His fingers stilled as the Husk distantly spoke to him, causing him to curse quietly as the vice-like grip on his torso seemed to intensify.

"I can't; Shēnqíng won't let me. Only one set of blades can be used at a time."

He delivered the news as calmly as possible, still coping with the pressure against his chest and controlling the Husk's attempt to eviscerate the beast at the same time. Through the haze of pain, he registered Shēnqíng's apparent pity for the monster they were putting down. Otto almost frowned; it was strange that the Husk remained unrelenting in its need to destroy it despite the pity it felt. Perhaps it had once been a Husk, something that could have been classified as family to Shēnqíng and the other newly reawakened Husks before something had converted it into the grotesque monster they faced now. These thoughts were in his mind when Kori expressed her doubts to him.

"It doesn't matter. Shēnqíng hasn't wavered, so neither will I. We'll accomplish the mission we've been given."

Otto hissed through gritted teeth, eyes narrowed in pain. His words were matter-of-fact and quiet, words that he wholeheartedly believed. The three of them were one, and they'd been given a task that Shēnqíng still aimed to complete. So would the rest of the triangle.

He grunted as plasma shells seemed to streak past them, impacting against the creature and jostling the pilots in their seats. Otto checked the monitors as the constriction around his torso seemed to lessen slightly; the green Husk had opened fire on the creature, its wrist cannons targeting the root of where the tendrils sprouted from. He silently thanked them as Shēnqíng was able to pull away slightly. Then several things seemed to happen at once. A girl's voice began to speak over the Husk's intercom. He barely registered the name 'Hachi Ren' before he stopped listening; the feral Husk had returned to the fray, leaping onto the beast once again and viciously continuing its frenzied siege. With the creature under assault from the other Husks, Otto reacted.

"K.C., help me roll Shēnqíng aside once I sever these tendrils. We'll back off for a moment before leaping towards the target again."

Once he finished speaking, his fingers began flying over the controls again. He knew what he wanted, and so did Shēnqíng. While the beast was under attack, the orange Husk twisted the hilt of the blade not buried in the creature to unlatch it. Disengaging the double bladed sword into its regular form of dual longswords, Shēnqíng spun the now free blade and brought it slicing upwards, slashing through the weakened tendrils and freeing them. As the crushing weight around his torso dissipated, Otto had Shēnqíng tear the blade buried in the creature out while the Husk's upper body began the motion of a sideways roll to allow them a small reprieve to recover before continuing the assault.

"Now, K.C.!"

Otto's voice was slightly raised, adrenaline spiking through his blood. Hopefully Kori had managed to keep up.

[Interaction w/ QizPizza QizPizza . GasMaskie GasMaskie , Coin Coin , Soviet Panda Soviet Panda , & Cosmos Cosmos mentioned]
 
Sebastian took another glance at the husk's blueprints. Mochi was right, this didn't seem like the type of husk that was built to take a beating. This didn't suit him at all. He was used to taking blows and making the fights an show of endurance. Sure, he may have tried it on his own, but with two others in the cockpit with him he wasn't just risking himself. Even with this in mind it's not like he had enough skill moving this thing to dodge. He had to come up with some sort of alternative and fast.

Climbing the hill, he was now able to get a clear idea of what the other husks were doing. He stopped to observe to see how others were using their husks to fight. There was a husk using guns, no good there is no way that he could transfer anything they were doing into something effective. Another seemed feral rushing whatever the creature was with little to no regard for its own safety, landing quick hits and getting out again. Another attacked from above, only to be latched onto by the creature making it difficult to use it's weaponry. They needed to get them free before anything worse happened to them, they were much better suited to attack from the creatures blindspot.

"Hold on, I'm not confident enough to dodge yet but I have an idea that might work. First thing you need to do is try and cut the other husk free so they can do their thing." He didn't have the time to wait for Mochi to respond, even a moment's hesitation could spell disaster. "Once we're on it and the other husk is free we need to try and roll it so that the others have clear target to hit it." With those final words he began to move the husk in a wide arc, until they reach the creature's back. Leaping at the creature he loosened his grip on the controls know that everything now came down to Mochi.

Trocaire - Entity.Eclypse Entity.Eclypse Inactive User 002 Inactive User 002
Mentioned - Hextremus Hextremus Soviet Panda Soviet Panda QizPizza QizPizza Coin Coin GasMaskie GasMaskie
 
Was this what it felt like to drown?

No, it was more like he was dissolving into the ocean itself, forced back from his physical state of individuality into some nameless primordial soup. Not only the Husk's, but Vic's feelings and emotions pressed down on top of him. A million questions raced through his mind, but he couldn't summon the willpower to so much as ask them internally. He wasn't even sure what internally was anymore. What part of them, no, which part of him was Jeremy, and which part was the Husk and Vic bleeding through.

Still, he only gripped his hand more tightly around the controls. If this was the burden that she was feeling, if it was the burden that this beast wanted to press down upon her, he'd have none of it. Especially not now. Flickers of Vic's feelings were coursing through his mind like molten lava, a searing pain that both threatened to pull him under and anchored him more and more firmly to this place and his self in equal part. He couldn't say he understood it. These foreign emotions that rushed through him, not those of the Husk's nor those of Vic's. If it weren't for that complete and utter foreignness, he might have already been overwhelmed. That was all he had to separate 'him' from 'them' was that crushing sense of...

Distance?

Isolation?

Relief?

It was hard to tell, but he would work with what he had. There was a chasm, between him and them. Between him and her. One that he'd probably always known about, but never wanted to peer into. But now that it was right in front of him, he had a choice to make. He could let himself fall to his demise, or he could build a bridge.

So it was a good thing that he'd so had much practice with his hands.

"And I... Am Jeremy Kerr! H-How about we get along?"
simj26 simj26
 
While Sebastian had continued running them Mochi moved the husks fingers, dirt and recently deceased vegetation either crumbled off or clung to the groves of it's hand. It would seem that whatever she wished for the hand to do would take place, otherwise meaning that these robots had quite fine-tuned motor skills. This whole attempt at gaining more controls of it, had been aimed at taking her mind off the embarrassment or maybe nervousness she had currently. Her stomach clenching however had been justified once Hexa clung tightly to her, rather predictably she seemed to be getting excited from this. Mochi figured that no matter who you were, climbing into a gigantic robot and going to fight some unknown foe would be an exciting thing.

Mochi couldn't help but grin at Hexa's comment, doing her damnedest to ignore how awkward she felt from having someone whisper in her ear. Last person to do that and not get injured had been Hachi, but that had been a little while. She turned her head now a little directing it more towards Hexa and hushed her own voice before speaking, "His name is Sebastian. He goes by Seb, though." she snickered slightly at the title of 'Annoying Boy' all the same. She turned her head to face the screen as best she could once more, "Oh I can't kick it's ass. I don't have control of the legs. I will however beat its ass" A slightly off smirk poised itself upon her lips. Maybe even holding a dash of sadism in not only her expression but her words as well. The creature she could see was something unexpected, and honestly beyond her clues in what it could have even been. The fact of Column being in the background made it that much deadlier, of course had it rampaged through the colony she wouldn't have care. She knew Hachi was out here... Hachi was out here. A sense of urgency swelled into her mind as her heart gained a few beats to its rhythm.

The beats were accompanied by Sebastian speaking up about cutting another of the husks free, which to her seemed like a pretty obvious idea. So she nodded to his statement. Their movement was easily known, and Mochi kept their vision focused on the odd creature, if you could call it that, while they moved. Of course when they leapt upwards, she had realized the sword-wielding husk had cut itself free, of course with the accompanying forces of the other husks. "Change of plans Seb, you guys hold on tight!" She spoke loud enough to express urgency but nothing louder. Given that the tentacles had been severed and the freed 'ally' was still close they might need to take this things focus of them. As such she put on of the arms downwards and pushed Trócaire's legs backwards, sending them into a flipping motion. As they made their first full rotation Mochi slashed both of the bladed arms into the creature in attempts to harm it.

Though as soon as she finished this swift attack they'd started towards the ground with their upper body heading downwards first. Once again she utilized her controls, despite their entire cockpit being upside down. The hangs connected with the ground, causing a ripple of dirt and whatever other kind of debris had been presented to fly upwards. With this she landed them back on their feet again and held the upper body in a state which had been ready to either attack or defend, "Lets get those legs moving!" She said urgently before hearing a few voices ring out from some form or husk communication device?

She could've sworn she recognized one of the voices... was that? "Hachi! Are you seeing this too?" She was more shocked than anything, and her attention had been drawn in one hundred directions at once. Her eyes remained focused on the screen and she remained in control as best she could manage with no training, one eye turned and checked to see if Hexa was alright, she knew that Sebastian would have to be alright or this whole operation was over. So she held faith he'd be fine.
~~~
Interactions:
dwif dwif (Sebastian) Inactive User 002 Inactive User 002 (Hexa) _Line 213 _Line 213 (Monster)
Mentions:
Cosmos Cosmos (Hachi) Hextremus Hextremus (Otto) Soviet Panda Soviet Panda (Connor) QizPizza QizPizza (Kori) GasMaskie GasMaskie (Morgan) Coin Coin (Ida)
 
Kori "K.C." Chang
"K.C., help me roll Shēnqíng aside once I sever these tendrils. We'll back off for a moment before leaping towards the target again...Now, K.C.!"


Kori was focused on the incoming message over the Husk's speaker by someone named Hachi before her focus snapped back to Otto's voice. She felt the Shēnqíng began to turn into a roll. In another moment of synchronization, Kori moved the legs perfectly in conjunction with the upper body to allow the Husk to roll away from the monster as soon as the green Husk's plasma bolts tore through the tentacles.

As soon as they did, Kori did here best to stand Shēnqíng up again. She was breathing heavily and her ribs felt like they were broken. Pain coursed through her body, and yet, she was no less motivated to destroy this creature. Between her pain, the pity that the Husk was feeling, and her exhaustion, Kori still had the destruction of the creature in mind. That was a bit uncharacteristic of her, but she only relegated it to the effects of the adrenaline. Shakily, the Shēnqíng stood back up, with Kori still complaining in her mind about the heels.

The teenage girl tried to take a step, but it was just as stumbling as the first step she took with the Husk. The damage they sustained had weakened their connection to the point where it was just above the operational limit. They were right back where they started, but...this time, the connection level rose considerably faster than it initially did. That was progress, right? While waiting for the connection to restore itself, Kori found the communications button. They would have to formulate a plan if all of them were going to make it out alive, especially if it's a bunch of kids that just climbed into a Husk and started stumbling around. It would be absolute chaos without coordination. The black haired girl pressed the button and spoke, "Hey, any of you guys hear me? This is Kori Chang, in the Shēnqíng. We're going to need a plan if we want to beat this thing. From what I've seen, we've got a ranged 'Utsāha', a close quarters 'Trócaire', a berserk 'Mitfühlen' and several more just starting up. Got any ideas "

Someone had to take leadership among the Husks, and Kori supposed she would take the first step to guiding the group. Personally, she did not want to be leader--it was too much pressure, but adrenaline did wonders for one's anxiety. She sure as heck hoped all of them heard her and would be will to cooperate. If not, they would all be screwed. "Otto, if the Husk only want's us to use only one set of swords at once...switch the big one that's on our back. It looks like it looks like it had some sort of gimmick."

Interactions: Utsāha ( Coin Coin GasMaskie GasMaskie ), Trócaire ( Entity.Eclypse Entity.Eclypse dwif dwif Inactive User 002 Inactive User 002 ), Mitfühlen ( Soviet Panda Soviet Panda ), Ibanuje ( Cosmos Cosmos CerpinTaxt CerpinTaxt ), Hextremus Hextremus and anyone else who can can here this.
 
The One Eyed Bandit The One Eyed Bandit simj26 simj26

Slowly, the machine began to struggle against its pained slumber, lights flicking to life accompanied by a low mechanical rumble. Jeremy's attempt to open his mind had proven fruitful, as the Husk attempted to open its own in response, slowly peeling back the entrapping layers of what was and was not the minds and memories of each member of the trio. Cain's force of mind separated her out from the others with great force, the three now on equal footing; the interlinking and acceptance of each other was now a concern, yet the machine continued to struggle upwards all the same, creaking coming from its outer frame as wood and plant life threatened to split and break.

All the while, the pain remained, perhaps a little more manageable than it had been before, yet still present, newly offset between the pilots and their machine. Now that they had felt, all that remained was to empathize, to understand.

---​

Precise gunfire burnt away at the tensed tendrils, ripping through several of the wiry appendages grasping at Shēnqíng with pure heat, the separated edges of each severed, writhing limb glowing with the intensity of smelted metal. The bio-like mass let out a shrill cry, though before it could reaffirm its grip, the Husk it had attempted to entrap fulfilled its counterattack, blade ripping through the being's body. The Husk, blades and all, finally came free from the being, though seemingly not without consequence; from the slightly hunched nature of the machine, as well as the tremors in Kori's voice, it was more than possible for the others to tell that the event had taken quite a bit of strain on their part.

Yet, considering the circumstances, who wasn't under pressure?

The other combatants assembled, cutting the being off from the remainder of the valley; if it wanted to absorb anything else, it would have to retreat. Though the option was open to it for the time being, it was questionable as to whether or not the creature was intelligent enough to take such an option. Its severed tendrils remained unhealed, the creature having run out of biomatter in its immediate surroundings as it righted itself in the midst of its own dust. It let out another shriek, though before it could pick one of its looming enemies, the feral Husk latched onto it again, ripping and tearing with as much strength as it could muster, cutting at the monster's flesh; this time, the Husk's dog-like tactics had left behind very visible--and very vicious--injuries.

And yet, even despite all it did, the feral Husk exuded pain as well, almost as if it and its pilot were consuming each other in the midst of their battle of wills. Considering the Husk's power and desire to kill, it was clear which side was winning.

The beast and its feral foe spiraled towards Trócaire, forcing the newly awakened Husk and its pilots to think quickly if they didn't want to become collateral damage in the line of reckless fighting.

---​

"Mister Mayor! We've sent out as many cars as we can--some of the students have come back, but some are still out there, and--"

The aging, brown-jacketed man held up a hand, wrinkled face illuminated by the security screens in front of him. "Ensure that all incoming children are grouped with their parents as soon as possible and sent to the library bunker. Have the librarians stored everything of importance?"

"They have," came the hushed aide's reply, the young man watching the screen with harried breaths.

The old mayor watched with a far calmer visage, the lines upon his face, created by decades of stress and worry, remained without contortion as he watched. "How close is it to the Colony?"

"R-Roughly ten miles, Mister Mayor," he replied, shakily adjusting his glasses. He pulled his eyes away from the screen, unable to watch the blurry perimeter camera stream for more than a few moments at a time.

"And the facility?"

"Gone, sir. With no personnel accounted for at present."

The mayor let out a long, shaky sigh. "...The others will not be happy."

A long stretch of silence, and the aide once more moved to speak. "Shall--I can get them on the line for you, sir, perhaps it would be best to tell them early, they might even be able to send reinforcements--"

"Human reinforcements will do nothing," the mayor interrupted, his voice even and level despite his interjection. "Those machines are the only ones that can deal with this creature at present." He pulled himself away from the screen, cane rapping against the ground as he started for the darkened room's exit. "Give me a proper briefing. If we survive, I'll need as many facts as you are able to gather when I speak with the council. They shall see what their recklessness has wrought."
 
"You really are an interesting one Ida Sommers." He shifted Utsāha's stance once more as the creature and the Husk tearing at it hurtled through the air at another awakened Husk. He didn't recognize the Shēnqíng pilot's name and whatever information that she had relayed was already information he had known. He had more pressing matters - as much as he wished to simply charge in and impale the creature on Utsāha's blades to allow for a point-blank salvo of every armament for the highest chance of hitting the core, that berserk Husk clinging onto the wounded beast took that option off the table. He also doubted that she'd be able to nail a shot on the ABE - freeing Shēnqíng was one thing, but that was a stationary target.

As it spiraled through the air, Morgan sighed and switched the speakers on. Silent co-operation was preferred, but it couldn't be helped. Noblesse oblige, so to speak. As the green Husk maintained its firing stance, the pale genius began to speak.

"Keep the enemy contained in the immediate area! Even if we can't find the core right now, it won't be able to regenerate if we keep it busy here. Sword swinger, drag it back over here - slice off its limbs if you have to. I doubt that blue Husk can even understand my words at the moment, but it's fixated enough on the beast that it'll keep engaging it within the target zone." Really, it was just a basic strategy. It was all he could suggest just based on conjecture and observations on the nature of their organic foe. Taking it out would probably require more effort than that - nothing was ever as simple as it seemed at first. He couldn't rely on the yellow Husk right now - even if it was awakened, it seemed that the pair within hadn't quite gotten their bearings. Not everyone was a genius, after all. It'd still be able to contribute to the core-finding processes, however.


He could only wonder now how many more Husks it would take to pinpoint the monster's weak point. Perhaps two more, maybe three. Morgan was sure that there were outliers who had failed to enter a Husk or ended up within Husks that had already gathered the requisite pair. Dead weight, in other words. Even with the possibility that a pilot was rendered incapacitated or outright killed, he had his doubts on the Husk simply accepting a new pilot just like that. It had taken a while to actually get Utsāha up and running and the process required a mental connection between the three entities that was beyond the scope of his current readings. They were sentient, so perhaps they were also picky about the sorts of people who could ride them.

His eyes narrowed - he exchanged no words with Ida this time, but reached out through her mentally. An experiment to see just how much communication and information could be shared between pilots. The decision on whether to take the shot or not is on you. If you can receive this message, respond verbally. Telepathy was the sort of thing you'd find in fiction but with just how advanced the technology used to pilot Husks was, perhaps it was actually possible.

(Re: Coin Coin )

(Mentioned: QizPizza QizPizza Hextremus Hextremus dwif dwif Entity.Eclypse Entity.Eclypse Soviet Panda Soviet Panda )
 
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The flood of emotions was easy to describe, saddness, grief, desperation, and any other sort of word that described those negative emotions.

The pain with it? Not so easy. It..It was like a brain freeze times a hundred. As if Luka had a migraine, and dozens of lights were assaulting his eyes. Such unbearable pain. And yet, the Husk was..actually moving. Standing up to its full height! They'd done it! The sight of the others fighting..something became Luka's main focus. Hachi had already taken it upon herself to try and speak to the others. In fact..it seemed someone had recognized her. It sounded like the girl from earlier as well..was that Mochi?

"Ah..this is Luka Hinderson. I'm in the same husk as Hachi. We'll try to help you guys as fast as we can..when we figure out how to get this thing running." Luka grabbed the controls, giving his head a light shake to force all the strange emotions from dissuading his focus. A small button was on one of of the controls, which his right hand had taken over. Maybe this thing had like..a parking brake? He decided to push the small button, hearing a sudden shing as something lurched forward from the arm of the husk. A small notification appeared on one of the small screens on the panel that laid infront of him.

Arm blade engaged.

Arm..blade? Luka moved what seemed to be the control for the arm, having it come into view. The hand had been dislocated somewhat, a large blade resting above it. Double-bladed, and seeming quite heavy. Though..as Luka experimented with the arm, it didn't come off that way. In fact..it was quite easy to handle. He had to suppose that it was rather fitting. A lot of people thought swords were heavy, only for them to be quite light. How foolish of him.

"Um..Hachi, I think you're the one controlling this things legs. I have control over its weird sword." He sort of hoped the husk didn't mind calling its sword weird. "We gotta hurry though! Hurry and help the others!" The husk's vision seemed to zoom in on the distant fight. The communications between the others made it clear they were using teamwork, but it wasn't exactly going well.

Was a sword all this had?

_Line 213 _Line 213 Cosmos Cosmos GasMaskie GasMaskie QizPizza QizPizza Entity.Eclypse Entity.Eclypse The One Eyed Bandit The One Eyed Bandit (Anyone else who I haven't tagged who probably would have noticed us standing up)
 
Upon Shēnqíng's perfect execution of a sideways roll, Otto's eye twitched. His body was still alight with pain, a remnant of those tendrils that had attempted to drag them down. Letting Kori address the other Husks over the comlink, he had Shēnqíng place the longswords back at its hips before reaching over its shoulder to grasp the greatsword affixed to its back. Drawing it out with one hand, the other hand raised to grab the large hilt. However, instead of hefting it in a fighting stance, Otto had the Husk drive the point of the blade into the ground and lean on it, using the weapon like a cane. As he did this, he leaned forward and whispered in Kori's ear.

"K.C., I understand how you feel. However, we are in no position to attack so soon after what just happened. I know you're in just as much pain as I am; we cannot effectively take on that thing in this state. Let the other Husks handle it until we've recuperated."

His voice was soft but firm. Pushing themselves would only get them hurt even more than they had been already, so he leaned back and flicked his own comlink on to relay the information to the other Husks.

"This is Otto Render. Your request has been received, Utsāha, but we're in no position to commit to an offensive right now. We shall return to combat once we and our piloting capabilities return to optimal efficiency. In the meantime, I recommend you target the legs of our opponent to contain it within the combat zone. Leave it to the berserk Husk for long enough, and I'm sure a critical targeting point will be revealed. When we return to combat, we'll attempt to pin the target. Until then, Otto out."

With that, he cut his comlink and leaned back in his chair to observe and listen to what was happening. Though his face remained expressionless, his hands released the controls to gingerly press against his sides. He winced slightly.

"Kori, are you okay?"

He asked quietly, trying to lean forward again but wincing and slumping back against his seat. Now that the effects of adrenaline were leaving him, the pain was beginning to get worse. Hopefully it would pass soon.

[Interaction w/ QizPizza QizPizza + anyone else on the comms]
 
Continuing to think about what would be the best plan of attack Mochi's annoying copilot made a good point. Hexa hated how he was right that they needed to help the follow Husk that was trapped. Though as the got closer Hex mind was still running through plans many of these plans were based on games she had played. Though it was a struggle trying to think of one that would work in this situation as there were differences that meant it was unlikely they would work. Which caused the girl to smile thinking to herself that this was going to be a tuff real life boss battle.

Suddenly taken out of her stream of thoughts by Mochi's hushed voice. The low volume and hushed tone caused Hexa to blush once again. Listening closely she learned the boy's name was Sebastian but he liked to be called Seb. She wondered to herself if he had given himself that nickname, though she had to admit it was easier to say Seb than his full name. Hexa loved how Mochi snickered imagining that it was that she found what she called Seb earlier funny. Hexa chuckled when Mochi told her she couldn't kick its ass loving the girls literal interpretation of her words funny.

When they got closer Hexa noticed that the Husk they were trying to save had broken free. Just after Hexa had noticed this Mochi said something about a change of plans and before Hexa knew what was happening they were upside down. Hexa barely had time to clamp her legs together tight to the seat. Once they were back down Hexa had gone as white as a sheet from her worrying that they would land head first. Thankfully that wasn't the case and Hexa let out loudly, "that was awesome! Also you heard the lady Seby get this thing moving solider." Hexa was clearly getting into this way to much as she was unaware that her arms had slipped up while they were upside down. Nor did she have time to notice as voices came over the intercom. Hearing Hachi's voice Hexa let slip "whats a goody goody like her doing in a Husk?" Hearing Kori's voice had made Hexa freeze with panic worrying for the safety of her best friend.

Heart racing Hexa quickly put a plan together in her mind that should help them survive until she could come up with something better, "Mochi I have a plan can you relay it to the other Husks? We should keep striking it from multiple sides and alternate which Husks attack so it can't predict our moves. Also the long range Husk should blow apart any bit of the forest it gets close to!" Practically shouting by the end Hexa was a whole mess of emotions both scared and excited. She had not pressed the com button herself as she didn't want to lean over Mochi. Squeezing her arms tighter around Mochi Hexa became a bit confused why the girls stomach wasn't hard any more, "Soft?" Looking down Hexa became as red as anything you could imagine as her arms were wrapped around the girls bust. Quickly they were back around her waist with her eyes looking down filled with embarrassment.

dwif dwif
Entity.Eclypse Entity.Eclypse
 
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Cain She could hear the Husk’s thoughts. They were formless, wordless murmurs, that meant nothing in any language she knew, but its intentions were somehow still clearly transmitted to her. Cain’s visage morphed into one of excitement, one that she wore whenever she found a new challenge. She had pushed the robot’s feelings and memories out and away from her, but to invade her mind wasn’t its intentions. She could still feel the Husk’s presence around her, waiting for her to accept it, as a third partner to the bond between her and Jeremy. What a strange robot, trying to come between her and her puppy love. But that was what it needed to stop being struggling to break free of nature’s holds on it, then accepting the Husk was exactly what she was going to do. The speakers in the cockpit crackled, and voices transmitted through them. They were all unclear, the transmission obviously unable to make it through Sehnsucht’s attempts to start up properly, but she could make out that there was something wrong.

Sehnsucht.

That was the name of this Husk.

Very well. She would accept Sehnsucht’s terms and conditions as it were, so long as it didn't try to split her head open again with so many memories. One at a time would be fine. The Husk wanted to them to understand what it felt, what it remembered, what it wanted. Cain retorted, mentally, that neither she nor Jeremy could handle that much understanding in one flow. All partnerships took time, and so did this one. There was no reply. She took it as a yes.

Jeremy.” Cain did not turn her eyes to her partner, but instead ahead of her. “The Husk wants us to understand it. I already made an arrangement with it.” She inhaled, then exhaled. “Just let it in, Jeremy.” She turned to face him, and smiled a wan smile. “Sorry for getting you involved in another harebrained idea of mine. Just trust me on this one.” She returned her gaze to Sehnsucht’s vision, and allowed the Husk to speak to her. A trickle at first, flowed into her mind, then a steady flow of how to handle the controls of the Husk. It was supposed to be piloted by a duo, and there were specific controls as to how to go about the whole piloting sequence, and there was something akin to an emergency start up sequence in between. That was all she needed. She clenched her hands, gripping the controls, then wrenched at them.

Sehnsucht, with one violent movement, tore itself free from the vines that had nearly enveloped it. The machinery within it revved up to life, given new strength by its new pilots, the sheer heat of its newborne activation turning the greenery into ash, revealing its crimson sheen. The communications came through now, and Cain could hear what sounded like Otto on the comms, talking about an opponent. What happened while they were busy with Sehnsucht? Were they near the colony?

And they didn't even invite us.” Cain pushed forwards on the controls, shifting Sehnsucht forwards, taking its first steps in a long time. She felt its elation flood through her, happy that it was alive once more, happy that it could find battle again. It was ecstatic. She didn't feel like disappointing the Husk. “Get ready, Jeremy! I’m going straight to the others!

Sehnsucht lurched forwards, then broke into a sprint, its slender form tearing through the valley of fallen Husks. The speed of which it was travelling turned almost everything around them into a blur of green, white, and blue, and yet, Sehnsucht’s feeding of information to her still allowed her to know just where she was headed, and when the ‘opponent’ that Otto had mentioned came into sight. She didn't stop. No, that was for second-guessers. With the momentum behind it, Cain made the Sehnsucht kick off, launching itself into the air. It clenched its fists, its giant gauntlets poised and ready to put a hole in the monster that was in front of them. All Sehnsucht needed now was its second partner. Cain turned to Jeremy, a light in her eyes unlike any that she had had before.

Jeremy! Give it your all! Punch with all your might! Release the fires of destruction!"
 
Kori "K.C." Chang
"K.C., I understand how you feel. However, we are in no position to attack so soon after what just happened. I know you're in just as much pain as I am; we cannot effectively take on that thing in this state. Let the other Husks handle it until we've recuperated."


"Good idea." Kori breathed a sigh of relief as she let go of the controls and take some time to process everything that has happened as Otto told everyone about their situation. This was just insane. A bunch of kids just stumble into centuries old war machines and suddenly turn it on at the exact moment this crazy monster attack occurred. No...maybe it was the Husks that woke the monster. If manga has taught her anything, it was that there was some kind of conspiracy. The way the Husk had feelings toward that thing was very strange, and it might mean that there was some kind of connection between them. The only reasons Kori could think of were that the Husk was made from monster parts or that the monster used to be a Husk. Both could be possible, but there was no way to tell if they were truth or not.

"Kori, are you okay?"

It took her a moment to realize how close Otto was--as in, he was even closer than his seat already was. Kori didn't exactly feel too comfortable with him so close, but she appreciated his concern. She sat up and swung her legs over the controls so that she was now facing Otto. He was wincing in pain just like herself, though he seemed to be a bit more affected. The pain was an interesting topic. How is it that piloting a machine like this would result in the injury of it's pilots. Isn't the whole point of a giant mechanical suit to protect one? Maybe it has something to do with being able to fluidly piloting the Husk--something necessary like the neural link between the two pilots. She was a bit lost in her thoughts and almost forgot to answer Otto. "I'm a bit hurt, but you seem to be affected by it a bit more than me."

Speaking of pain, Kori wondered if the pain translated to actual damage to their bodies, because it sure as heck felt like they were actually hurt. She lifted her shirt up to touch her ribs. Kori flinched at first, but then realized that she was flinching only because she expected it to hurt. She poked herself a few more times to discover that her body was physically unharmed in no way, but her nerves were still crying out in agony. To take her mind off of the pain, she tried to speak to Otto, "So...this is insane, isn't it? We're just teens fighting off this crazy monster that we don't even know about. This is all just insane. Are we really going to risk our lives to kill these things? Not to doubt their ability to destroy everything, of course. Not really that anxious either, just really confused."

Interacting: Hextremus Hextremus
 
"I can't dodge properly yet but I can keep us moving. We'll just have to use hit and run tactics to make us less predictable, that sound good to both of you?" He didn't have time to overthink the situation that they were in, being up close made him realise there was so much more than just their lives on the line. If they didn't work effectively it would cost the lives of the other kids that had found their way into husks as well as those back home. He opened the comms to help coordinate the actions between the husks "How's it going guys? I'm Seb, I'm in Trocaire. I'm being told to relay some instructions to you by one of my glamorous assistants. The one with the guns, blow up the surrounding forest to limit what it can feed on. The rest of us with close range husks are gonna have to take it in turns to attack to make it unpredictable and put whatever this thing is on the defensive. But most importantly lets have fun, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. How about this? Whoever kills this thing gets a prize, their choice of course." He knew now wasn't the best time for this sort of carefree attitude, but he needed to make sure that everyone was relaxed enough not to make stupid mistakes.

He started to make the husk move again putting distance between them and the creature, making sure to block off a possible point of escape. Looking down he gently kicked Hexa in the ribs to get her attention "Listen, I know you don't really like me but we can sort that out after this is done. I'm counting on you to update us if anything in your plan needs to be changed, alright?" It was at this point the effect of the adrenaline driving him to this point was starting to wear off and the severity of the situation they were in sunk in. There were several husks beating on this monster and it still wasn't down, he wasn't even sure if their attack had left much of a scratch on the thing. He closed his eyes taking deep breaths to try and calm himself, someone needed to show that this situation wasn't as dire as it seemed. Even if he didn't believe it everything was going to work out fine himself, he was the only one who could take the role to keep everyone calm. He clapped his hands against the sides of his face to bring himself back to reality. They were going to do this. They were the only ones who could do it. They had to do it.

He opened comms so that the other pilots could listen into a "private" conversation"So what do you two want for the prize when we're the ones to take it down? Better decide quick 'cause I don't think this things got much left in it. Whoops, comms were open still. Forget about what you just heard guys." With the stage set he began to close in on the husk, quicker this time. Had he got better in the short time they had been piloting or had his realisation helped with the link between him and the husk itself?

Interactions:
Entity.Eclypse Entity.Eclypse
Inactive User 002 Inactive User 002
Anybody else on comms
 
Mochi had taken a moment to realize that the creature before them had begun to turn, obviously attempting to batter then out of the way with the other husk. Sebastian was showing an incompetence in that moment so Mochi threw the husks arms up, blades facing outwards in attempts to block whatever form of assault came their way. This however was when her husk-mate decided to take a swift movement backwards, of course it would be at the last possible moment they could wait until. A swirling storm of emotions wrestled it's way within her, the fact that the other human being in this metal case stalled along with the possibility of it costing them their lives. She sighed in frustration, which in turn alerted her to the odd feeling upon her chest. Looking down she made note of Hexa's hands, she had seemed to realize it before the other girl had.

Through the comms had come another voice, this one joining Hachi's in the Ibanuje husk. She would note his name for the future, Luka Hinderson, if Hachi had gotten hurt in her husk then Mochi would know the name of the person she'd be cutting up. The next thing she heard however had been that of Hexa, noting her sister as a 'goody goody' and that raised a quick burst of irritation. Given the circumstances however she didn't go off on the girl for saying such a thing. However it did lessen her opinion on the one who clung so desperately to her chest. "Make sure you keep the run part in that, I can easily hit it. I'm not the keenest on dying today, but i'm not going to prevent three deaths by myself" She said and the blades along the arms slid downwards, extending a little bit past the hands and giving a better style for Mochi to fight with. A lucky break considering that their husk moved forward again, she directed the arms backwards for better aerodynamic movements, lurching towards the creature. She brought forward the right arm, sending the blade deep into the monsters form. She had barely missed the other, supposedly husk, known as Mitfuhlen.

The time it had taken for her to insert the blade could only be rivaled by the time it took her to tear it out, but rather than drawing it straight out as she had prior. She moved it to the side swiftly, in attempts to dig a groove into the creature. It became shallower until the blade itself had been removed once more, if Sebastian didn't fufil his part then it would rely on her hacking and slashing at this thing to free them. She crossed her fingers that it wouldn't come to that, since their agility based mech likely wouldn't hold up. It felt like some sort of assassin-class. Now she turned her head to face Hexa once more, who was red in the face. Mochi of course had been as well.

Afterall, it wasn't everyday someone tried to grope you on accounts of 'slipping in an upside down robot'. She held a smug expression, despite having a deep red blush baked into her pale cheeks. "Hey Hexa... Reach first base before trying to steal second, or at least take me out to dinner first." She gave a wink, though whether she was being sarcastic or offering actual advice had been up to interpretation. With that she focussed back on the thing infront of them, "God if Hachi fought this thing..." she muttered quietly. If her sister had been injured by this thing... then she might go ballistic, showing little more control than whatever berserker had forced itself to the damaged monster.

In Trocaire: Inactive User 002 Inactive User 002 (Hexa) dwif dwif (Seb)
Mentioned: Cosmos Cosmos (Hachi) CerpinTaxt CerpinTaxt (Luka) Soviet Panda Soviet Panda (Connor/Mitfuhlen)
 
Ida didn't like that cannons many times larger than her had such minimal effect on the rampaging machine. Ida especially didn't like that their fight with the machine had turned into an all out Husk brawl -- with all the stomping and melee, it was impossible to line up another clear shot. What Ida absolutely did not like was that Morgan was prodding her thoughts telepathically. Though they shared some sort of advanced neural link while piloting the Husk, Ida did her best to just maintain the link and not get inside Morgan's head. She didn't want to know what was going inside his filthy mind.

"Yeah, I can hear you. I can't fire, not now. There's way too many Husks in the way now," Ida growled back. "Just stay out of my thoughts. I'm trying not to get all of our classmates killed."

Her eyes danced back and forth, trying to find an opening in the melee, but no such opportunity arose again especially with the berserk Husk back in action. On top of that, all the other Husks that had joined the fray were also close-quarters based like the sword-Husk. Ida knew full well that her blood was boiling and her thoughts were cloudy, but she maintained her restraint, no matter how badly she wanted to put the threat down and save her classmates.

A new voice sounded out through Utsāha's communications, this time not Morgan. Ida had found the button to broadcast her voice to the comms, "This is Ida Sommers in Utsāha -- Morgan is my co-pilot. I've got control of the guns and there's no way I can land a solid shot with that berserk Husk hugging that thing, and I don't want to risk hitting one of you. And to you in the Trocaire -- this isn't a stupid game! I'm not going to waste Utsāha's shots on some trees!"

((Re: GasMaskie GasMaskie , dwif dwif

And others on the comm line))
 
This was like trying to keep up with a racehorse. Go go go. Push push push. There were definitely words that Jeremy was going to have with Vic when this was all over and done with. But even he could recognize the severity of the situation they were in. He didn't exactly need it pointed out to him to know that a giant monster posed a big, bad problem, and it didn't exactly look like it'd be as co-operative as this Husk. Or was it Sehnsucht? How did that name even find its way into his mind?

Was it somewhere in that mental torrent that'd come when he seized the controls? That raised even more questions. He wouldn't say he knew how to pilot this thing, if someone asked him how to do it he definitely couldn't tell them, but...

It was almost like there was a guiding hand instructing his body what to do. Like it was writing the memories of pilots past directly into his muscles rather than his mind.

"Man, this really is something else..." Trust her. His instincts were telling her that was asking too much. But, other instincts, either Vic's or Sehnsucht's were saying the opposite. If he were to find a word for this, it'd definitely be annoying. Annoying and irresponsible. Asking way too much.

But, fine. Jeremy's hands tightened around the controls as he threw his weight up and into the pilot's seat. Like Vic, he paid Sehnsucht's vision his heed rather than his co-pilot. A racing blur of color. Faster than anything that stood on two legs had any right to go. If he were religious, he might have even called it blasphemous. That thing surged closer and closer towards them, or rather, they towards it, as Jeremy's worries and frustrations built and mixed into something pure and new.

Anger.

Anger at Vic for dragging him into this. Anger at himself for being so filled with doubt. Anger at the beast for choosing today of all days to awaken. Anger that, even in the hands of an inexperienced pilot such as he, would drive that monster right back into its grave.

"Fine! You want me to punch!? I'll punch! You want me to destroy!? I'll do that too!" As Sehnsucht sped into range, its arms snapped into position and moved to attack. He might have been a novice pilot, but if there was one thing he was proud of, it was his skill with his hands. On the left, a hand shot forward and latched on the obviously berserk and definitely in their way Husk, aiming to tear it from the beast like a weed from garden soil; And on the right, a great iron fist lofted itself overhead and began to swing itself down with the speed and violence of a plow driven into freshly fertilized soil. He couldn't care less about the other, saner Husks right now. He just wanted to pummel this thing into the dirt, and go home.

"But don't you dare think that this is the end of this, Vic! We've got a long conversation to have after this!"

simj26 simj26
And also anyone else in combat.
 
Lucem Lucem

The maelstrom of combat in the valley felt oddly separate from the deep underbrush in its own way. The Husks and their enemy towered high above the trees, and even though their every move and blow shook the ground, tossed trees, and kicked dust into the air, in the in-betweens when all managed to settle, looking up through the forest canopy almost felt like peering into an entirely different world. The separation between the battle raging above, and the fleeing wildlife and swaying plants hidden beneath the boughs gave the entire situation an entirely new level of unreality.

It was only when the sound of motors--a sound which Alex knew better than most--reached his ears that reality began creeping its way back into the ravaged forest.

Many seemed to pass by, either spreading out into the forest or continuing out along the road. One, however, grew closer, headlights eventually piercing through the trees as one of the vehicles slid to a stop, its once-pristine white exterior stained with greens and browns. The track behind it betrayed reckless driving, tires having dug deeply into mud and grass, and sacrificed many branches and bushes in its relentless rush. A lone figure, also clad in white, pulled itself from the vehicle, rushing toward Alex in a flurry. The colonist's form was recognizable, and when her face became apparent, recognition clicked into Alex's mind.

Modestine Kent. She was perhaps no one particularly important within the wider scheme of things, merely a co-worker of Alex's father's; visits, gatherings, a few hosted dinners--that was the extent of their interaction. Perhaps at one point, she could have been considered something of an aunt. With the passing of Alex's mother, however, that could no longer be said.

How long had it been since they had seen each other? Had it truly been since then?

It quickly became clear why she was there. She grabbed Alex's shoulders, speaking with loud, hurried worry. "Alex! Thank god, thank god! Alex, where's your father? Do you know where your father is?" She didn't even wait for a response, immediately grabbing his arm and dragging him towards the car. Her grip was tight, and she glanced back to Alex nearly every step of the way, as if ensuring that her hand wasn't deceiving her, and that he really was there.

Did she feel responsible for him?

She briefly paused as she glanced up through the trees, eyes widened. "You have to come with me. Please."

The ground shook.

---​

A blur of red impacted with the bio-mechanical monster, narrowly missing its bladed partner, the surface of their mutual target rippling with radial impact. Yet the rageful, red Husk did not stop there, sending the rabid machine attached to its target flying through the air and tumbling to a stop in the dirt. As the Husk's huge fist connected, the large column in the back of its forearm pulled back with a loud hiss, then pushed itself forward in tandem with a roar from the Husk itself, a second, seemingly even greater impact reverberating through the monster's form as a second radial impact ripped through it. Synthetic skin and flesh flew away from the main body, separating like liquid from the force of the impact. Even the glowing power lines along the beast's form appeared affected, severed and disrupted as the energy flows spilled outward into the air like glowing drops of blood.

The sheer displacement of the creature's body briefly revealed a glinting prize; the very edge of a seemingly crystalline structure, the same color as the entity's bleeding energy, poked outward through the soup of spreading, madly reforming material, in that brief moment appearing to be a densely-packed, interlinked series of individual, glass-like strands. The creature began moving to cover up the exposed core as quickly as it could, yet its surfacing still sent a ripple of recognition through all of the present Husks.

That was it. That was what would end the conflict. Weapon systems flared to life within the activated Husks, emotions spiking alongside drive as the minds of each machine prepared itself for the coming end.

Or was it a new beginning?

---​

Modestine let out a scream as one several trees toppled, narrowly missing the car. Had their only means of escape been destroyed, there was no telling what would happen to them. She looked up, eyes wide at the behemoth responsible; a field of blue and white metal arched upward into the sky, the fallen Mitfühlen having skidded to a stop just before crushing them both. The scientist placed a hand to her heart, tears streaming down her face for reasons unexpressed.

"God, help us. What have we done?" She swallowed, lip quivering briefly as she figured out what else to do, what else to say. Frozen in fear, she almost seemed to forget about the car. "A-Are--who's piloting that? Where are all the children?"

Snapping back to her senses, she attempted to continue pulling Alex toward the vehicle. Yet, her grip had grown weak from fear.
 
Hexa was pleased hearing Seb agree with hit and run tactics smiling when Mochi told him to make sure to keep running. Hexa just kept nodding along satisfied with how they were fighting. Well that and she was still embarrassed from earlier. It was surprising to her how Seb was the one to relay her plan even though Hexa herself disliked him. However with him listening to her and accepting her input she supposed he wasn't all that bad. Hexa also wondered if anyone would accept his bet.

Feeling something gently poke her in the ribs she turned her head slightly to see it was Seb. When he said about sorting out how she felt about him Hexa just rolled her eyes which is also how she responded to him telling her to update him if the plan changed, "no duh" she mumbled. After turning back around Seb also asked what she wanted if they won. In all honesty Hexa couldn't answer until she knew who was game for this bet. She stomped her foot in annoyance at the girl in the long range Husk who was unwilling to follow her plan muttering, "stupid stuck up idiot!"

Hexa enjoyed was enjoying watching the fight until she noticed the smug look on Mochi's red face. Oh god Hexa thought to herself just knowing that the girl was going to say something about what she did. After all Mochi did tell her not to get handsy and even if it was an accident would Mochi care. Hexa was sweating so nervous then Mochi began speaking really embarrassed by the girl saying she should try to get first base before stealing second. At that point in the conversation Hexa wanted to protest her innocence, but then she said something about dinner and that cute little wink. With Hexa's brain a jumbled mess trying to process what happened she didn't realise something she was internally thinking quietly slipped out, "that would be nice." When Mochi talked about Hachi again Hexa remembered that Mochi was her sister, which caused Hexa to curse herself for lack of verbal filter earlier. Wanting to comfort Mochi Hexa spoke as calmly as she could, "I'm sure she will be fine. We're going absolutely devastate this monster and all be Heroes. Plus I'm sure with a sister like you she has picked up a few things and will have the same fighting instincts."

dwif dwif
Entity.Eclypse Entity.Eclypse
 
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