RP: ISC Phoenix [Epilogue] - Last Action Hero

[Luca]

Evil, do ya feel the thunder?
This time he's got your number, comin' after you.
Hate to think about the mess this's gonna make,
But those who cross the line are gonna die.

But it's the way that ya do what you did to who
And it's a fear they feel 'cause they know you're for real.
You know you're for real.

Now, just like in the movies
Just when they get the best of you
Ya always seem to pull through.
You're the true!

Last Action Hero!
First time, second round, third is a charm.
Last Action Hero!
A real-life animal loose on the farm.
Tesla - Last Action Hero

Somewhere in Lorath Space, Darla Darling's GAO Carrier
Decker's shuttle was on its way in. Synthesis' tractor beam had a grip on it, but she was detecting some minor turbulence along the way, but it was to be expected so far. The demolitions woman of GAO was standing on the deck with a small handful of rangers ready to celebrate the occasion. There was even a small side table with some champagne for the best case scenario.

"Ah say, job well done on us for finally nabbing the little asshole." Darla said with a smile, watching the shuttle guide itself in on gravity tethers with her arms crossed and her men on standby. As the shuttle was getting closer, she could see signs of interior damage that'd gotten to the exterior. The most immediate was the broken window on the side, followed by what appeared to be a fist mark on the back hatch.

Realising that things hadn't gone as ideally as she'd hoped, she put her fingers to her ear. "Decker?" She queried. Sensing trouble, her men immediately readied, raising rifles while her demomen were hefting grenade launchers in the back. "What's goin' on in there, sugar?" She took a few steps back, feeling for her rocket launcher.

"GET THE GUNS READY!" was the only response she got as the shuttle was brought in just far enough to land. The katana she'd always seen that creepy cat of Decker's use sliced through the damaged doors, carving a sizeable chunk out as Breaker flew out the back of the vehicle and into an unfortunate Darling.

Rumia appeared beside her a moment later, staring into the darkness of the shuttle - which flashed with the clashes. "Darla. Get your armour. Now."

Suddenly, a claw shot out of the darkened interior of the shuttle, wrapping around Rumia's waist and cutting into her before she could feel herself being pulled back. "AHA! There you are!" A voice called from within. They sounded annoyed, and it definitely wasn't the sound of Decker's voice. "I'm not finished with any of you yet!" Rumia could feel the claw pulsing with electricity.

Breaker finally got up and screamed obscenities, charging forward - but not into the shuttle as her hammer buzzed with electricity. She rocketed it straight into the shuttle, destroying a huge chunk of the shuttle - and revealing the duel going on within. To say the least, planned negotiations had broken down.

As fast as either of the two combatants could deliver the blows, they were dodged or deflected by the other. Rumia attempted to get a shot in, but the fight rotated so Decker was in her way. The two of them moved as a maelstrom of blows, metal clashing against metal and the hum of energy filled the air when fists collided and the combatants were still for the briefest of moments.

In the red corner, Decker was a man of machine. Elegant prosthetics comprised the most of him, with a bodysuit covering the little bit of flesh he had remaining and a sleek helmet protecting his face. The cybernetics were smooth at some points of the fight, and bristling with the captured Phoenix Punch energy at the others, swapping charge for charge.

In the purple corner was the intended target, Luca was a man of his wits, wearing an armoured purple jacket and brandishing a forearm-length gauntlet on his right arm. A line was coming out just above his wrist, still attached to Rumia and delivering a steady current of shocks. He wasn't wearing any headgear, so everyone could see a large pair of sideburns, and wicked thick eyebrows, and the manic grin on his face.

He gave himself a moment to look away from Decker and out of the peeled-open shuttle, into the hangar of this new ship he'd found himself in. "Oh, this is new~!" He pointed out.

Decker took that opportunity to shout, "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR YOU IDIOTS, SHOOT HIM!" before disengaging and going in for a hook. Luca had also disengaged and leaned out of the way of the hook, releasing Rumia and letting his grapnel reel itself back in. He knew he had to get out of the torn-open shuttle and start dealing with the rangers before Decker repositioned him.

As Decker followed through with his hook, Luca gave them a shove on the shoulder in the direction their fist was travelling, trying to make them overbalance and fall over. But this was a man whose feet were made of clever electronics, and while it appeared he fell over, he stayed on his feet. And then twisted into a kick.

However, the kick hit nothing, and Luca was already above Decker and reeling himself away from the shuttle towards the ceiling. With a clear shot, the mercenaries begun opening fire, filling the air with lead and beams. Midway through reeling himself up, he released his grapnel and sailed behind some parked shuttles that were landing in the bay. The mercs exchanged hand signals and begun to fan out and surround the area to flank, while some were charging in - the two pronged assault was by the books against a lone target.

"Darla, hold him here! I'll go get Mask ready!" Decker barked, landing upright and dashing down the hall. "And whatever you do, don't let him get a bigger gun!"

Meanwhile, behind one of the barely-scratched shuttles, Luca was opening his HHG and pushing out the WHITE cartridges, slipping REDs in instead. He had his 'big gun' in his pocket. "Oh they of little ideas..." he sighed wistfully, away from earshot of Darla or the mercs as he jogged behind the shuttles and snapped the gun shut. "I'd hate to see what these guys could do if they had a little imagination."

From behind him, the mercenaries who'd charged in had made their way around to the backs of the shuttles, and started opening fire at a distance. Two rounds struck Luca in the back, caught by his armoured jacket, and he changed his tack, now jumping onto a wall, kicking off of it and twirling around with anti-grav assistance to line up a shot with some of the mercs.

Darla saw an explosion rock the back row of her shuttles, with one being lifted off its landing gears and tipping over onto its side, while another had been shunted into the one next to it, trapping two mercenaries between them. Luca meanwhile landed on his back, and quickly picked himself up to keep on running for the back of the hangar to closer quarters. He was at a disadvantage in the open with so many gunning for him.

"He-he's got a bigger gun!" One of them called out.

"BATTER UP ASSHOLE!" Came a beleaguered Breaker, who smacked away a massive plate of shuttle that was heading for her. "YOU GOT EXPLOSIVES TOO FUCKASSES! USE THEM!"

Darla saw fit to make a validation of Breaker's orders. "Don't feel bad wreckin' the place, been meaning to get it redecorated, boys!" The mercenaries who were moving to flank adjusted their hands on their rifles, gripping the magazines and putting their fingers on the triggers of under-slung grenade launchers. Loud thumps could be heard as grenades were launched into the shuttle bank, trying to flush out Luca.

The resulting light show and the way the shuttles were being knocked around seemed like a good enough confirmation that Luca had been swatted somewhere in the crossfire.

However, Luca had already gotten to the other side of the room, and was inching his way towards the back of the hangar, behind the first shuttle from the door. "One of these days Breaker's going to learn to keep her mouth shut, or learn how hand signals work..." He mumbled to himself as he peered around the corner and saw Darla standing in front of the only way out of the hangar. She was determined not to let anybody through unless it was the Masks coming in for reinforcements.

She wasn't happy with the uncomfortable silence that was lingering in her ears after the explosions. "Move in, and make sure he's dead." She ordered, looking around while Luca remained out of sight. "We're not relaxing alerts until I see his face splattered against the floor, got that?"

"Yes Ma'am!"


Crimson Kestrel, Bridge
The red spaceship was already moving through space, chasing after their captain and his pursuers. "So we're walking into an ambush, you reckon?" John asked from the pilot's seat with his hands on the controls, anticipating resistance the moment the Kestrel got out of FTL. Hot on the tail were PSG's ships and mecha, fully mobilised.

"Y34H, 1T'S T00 0BV10US 4 BUG F0R M3 T0 TR4C3." Echelon replied, sitting in the Co-pilot's seat with her mimicom watching the engineering.

"I feel like it usually is, right? Like something contrived," Seiren piped up from the cargo bay through comms.

"Nothing's that simple. Oh, Big Bird's nearly ready," Allison's voice came over the communications too, with the sound of idling starship engine in the background "just getting the positron gun on this baby charged ahead of time."

"What if we hit Lukes with that?" Melissa asked.

"1 H4V3 H1S P0S1T10N C00RD1N4T3S. H3's 1N 4 P0RT10N 0F L0R4TH SP4C3. W3 W0N'T H1T H1M 1F W3 D0N'T 41M F0R H1M, 0BVS."

"We'll call the LSDF." John suggested. "They probably wouldn't like pirate activity in their local area."

"I'd be more worried if we hit him with plan B. It's not really been tested yet and I'd hate for him to be the first target," Seiren added, throwing a projection to the bridge console of the massive mounted weapon on the Kestrel's undercarriage.

"We have plans A, B, and C figured out, Seiren." Allison intoned, "A is our Positron gun in case they have a fleet waiting for us, B is the ... wubgun? Yeah, wubgun for the stragglers. C is the LSDF giving us a hand."

John remembered some odd news regarding the Lorath. "Hang on, weren't all the Lorath recalled back to their home planets?"

Allison raised an eyebrow. She'd heard that the Lorath diplomat to Yamatai had pulled out of Reikan Park and returned home, along with everything else. "I wonder why?" She thought aloud. "Does Tamamo know anything about it?"

"She's already in Lorath space with the Moonsong, right?"

"She left the moment Luca announced mission clear, I think," Seiren's voice crackled. "Still even if this is an ambush, we're in Lorath territory. Nobody who'd have a big enough engagment force would fly into it because those crows are pretty tetchy, yanno? I'll run support in my Winter just in case."

"Good call." John replied. "If it weren't for this kidnapping business, we'd be heading here anyway for a book signing or something. Most of PSG's on our tail for additional support, don't forget."

"1 W0ND3R WH4T LUC4'S UP T0 4NYWAY?" Echelon wondered, trying to imagine what would've been going down. "1 KN0W H3 D0N'T S1T ST1LL F0R N0 0N3!"

 

[Luca]

Darla Darling's Carrier, Main Hangar
As the Ranger teams begun fanning out and searching the hangar in groups looking for Luca and staying close together, Darla was still covering the main exit, waiting for the Masks to get their ass into gear and back her up already. The other big mover and shaker of the GAO crew was standing in the middle of the hangar with her electrified rocket hammer revving quietly as she waited for any sign of that fucking guy.

Said guy was watching the exit and Darla, waiting for her reinforcements to arrive so he could spend some more RED rounds creating a diversion. He knew he'd be able to cause much more damage and disruption to GAO's operation once he was inside the hallways of the ship.

An EARTH suit entered the hangar with heavy footsteps and a wide amount of clearance. A man popped out, allowing Darla to get into that customized machine: Flame red with a pinup printed on the side of a burly ID-SOL blowing a kiss towards whoever looked upon it.

As the EARTH's original pilot was walking back the way they came, they noticed a cylinder rolling along the ground towards them from their right, spewing smoke. "Contact!" He yelled, running back into the interior of the ship and pointing Darla towards the direction the cylinder had rolled in from. It looked like it came from behind a shuttle very close to the exit.

"Zulu team, moving in!" One merc team radioed to Darla, a squad quick to notice the grey smoke billowing all over the back of the hangar. "Delta will come up behind him and flank."

"WHERE IS HE!?" Breaker yelled out, eager to leap up onto one of the shuttles, leaping from vehicle to vehicle leaving heavy bootprints in each one as she closed in on the supposed position of the target. Below her, Delta and Zulu teams moved up with their guns raised and on full alert, using infravision visors to pierce through the billowing smoke.

While Darla was looking her teams and Breaker moving in from far away, she noticed an anomaly in the shape of the cloud as the teams started to disappear into it. Several large strands of smoke were protruding upwards from the cloud, like something had leapt out of it a few moments ago.

Darla was not the kind of girl to hold back her love when the situation got hot. No, she spread it loud and proud. And right now, that love was a mini-rocket fired directly at the silhouette in the catwalk. And a second one. And a third one. Never let a good shot go unfired.

The person standing up there suddenly had all eyes on him, yelling beneath him, and he could hear the sound of a rocket thruster boosting beneath him. Luca figured being in the epicentre of the incoming assault was not part of his plan, and get out of dodge. He leapt over the catwalk, leaving a grapnel attached to it and falling over the edge as tiny rockets flew over him, smashing into the wall.

Looking ahead, he could see an armoured figure leaping into the air, hammer behind head, visor watching him as she swung her hammer at where he was a moment ago, ripping a hole through the catwalk and tearing a girder and railing over and landing down in a cloud of smoke. With the momentum of his swing, Luca slingshotted himself forward towards Darla, closing the gap as aggressively as possible, jumping against wall on the way down to avoid an incoming swarm of angry sounding rockets.

Darla lifted a side panel and out came a little launcher with tiny sharp points from every tiny hole. The launcher, Luca recognized, was the sort of thing that was "bad day" material for any unarmored person - not so much for somebody in armor. He had moments before explosive darts would give him that "bad day."

The best response to any explosion was to hit the deck, and once Luca had gotten to ground level, he dropped down and started sliding against the metal floor, ideally aiming for the space behind the EARTH and between its legs - and underneath the flechette storm. The hellraiser in the EARTH could see a pistol in his hand, a large HHG.

She could also see that she'd tagged him with a couple of the little needle-like rockets: One in his left kneepad and the other on his left bicep. Little beeping noises intensified as an enormous flash blinded Darla's visuals, and she felt like she'd just been uppercutted by a stick of dynamite.

Behind her and shielded from the larger explosion, two smaller pops by comparison could be heard. This was soon followed by an annoyed grunt as Luca tried to get back to his feet and assess that his left kneecap had been shattered. His left bicep was feeling very tender as the scorched leather fell away to reveal the Jacket's armoured lining, and he was pretty sure that he was deaf in one ear for the moment. "Got any more of that?" He asked, the sound of cracking knuckles from behind Darla.

"Loads more, hon!" she blindly retaliated, swinging the EARTH's massive bulk behind her to smash at Luca. Her visual sensors were still rebooting from that flash, but the audio had already recovered. And that audio was telling her a flighty jackass was right behind her.

The hulking power armour was one incredible danger up close - the heavy limbs had loads of weight and force behind them, making them difficult to intercept or redirect unless something of comparable strength and mass was doing it. A right hook with a lightning bolt, while powerful, is very light - and couldn't block the EARTH's fist.

"I'm sure you guys can do the smart thing and let me go, drop this 'buy me out' scheme," Luca made a case for parley as he stood out of the way of each swing, stepping backwards at a brisk pace, "and we'll all be on our merry ways." He raised a pinkie , figuring they couldn't see it. "Deal?"

"Hon, that buyout was your only offer. That went with the table you done turned over." Darla said, visor flickering as it came back online fully.

"Lady, I've got a whole kitchen to flip over here!" He smiled, sounding enthused as he saw how close the exit he was, "do you really want that?"

"If it means killin' you, I'd burn the whole damn restaurant down!" she guffawed, numerous weapon ports opening at once. Luca was staring down at a rocketeer about to go weapons free.

All the other guy had for armament was the Grapple Stunner starting to gather electricity and hum with power as he started strafing towards the exit and drawing his pistol again. "Very well, then!" He figured the safe distance was merely an optional suggestion for RED rounds, and let forth a burst of EMP from the electrodes throughout the Grapple Stunner, aiming to disrupt every targetting system pointed at him and the merc teams regrouping from the smoke cloud, angrily firing in his direction too.

Boosting in from Darla's left was the sound of a very furious Fyunnen, with eyes for the man in purple. Things really didn't seem to be going Luca's way so far, and he had to start shooting back soon, watching the minimissiles, rockets, and other assorted ordnance start blasting out of their little tubes, painting white streaks through the air, whistling and whizzing with explosive potential.

The EMP did its job, for the most part. Guided rockets and heavily computerized micronized missiles were sent spiralling out of control, a large chunk of them crashing into Breaker and sending her off course - and blasting apart her already damaged armor. But Luca still had a handful of dumb-rockets heading straight for his head, forcing him to duck and focus on running away instead of engaging the merc teams. He made a beeline for the exit, and just ahead of him, he could see more mercs arriving as reinforcements.

Suddenly seeing a man in purple running towards you as a thunderstorm of explosions can be seen behind them tends to be something people would want to look twice at. The surprise of it let Luca run straight through them before they realised he was the primary target. "HEY!"

"Don't pursue. I got a path for Mr. Hero to follow." Decker called over the personal comms. "Breaker, you keep following. I need him moving. Not getting comfortable."

Luca would find doors open, doors closed. With Breaker hot on his heels, sealed bulkheads did not permit him much leeway. So he followed the path (whether he was aware of it or not) that Decker had laid out for him.

The room he arrived in was dark - too dark. Maybe nobody was bothering to use it at the time, but it was all too suspicious. But it was the only way to go, so Luca made his way to the center of the room, and up a pair of steps. Predictably, that's when the spotlights turned on. As his eyes adjusted, Luca saw that he was on a slightly raised platform.

"Congratulations, villain of the week!" Decker's voice boomed over an intercomm. "You've made it into the bonus round!"

Luca could see five figures surrounding the platform, each suited in light PA - unidentifiable in make, but very clearly sturdy and personalized - black with coloured accents.

"This is one of my special teams. You might have your little toys on the Phoenix, but these... these are SOLDIERS. These are my Rangers! This particular team you might recognize the individuals in - I cobbled it together from your history when you began to be a thorn in my side!"

Spotlights matching each of the five's colours illuminated them in turn as Decker continued to speak.

"In the Red uniform, we have the last remaining Jet Bull from that jaunt you took on the Freespacer station! But noawadays, we call him Monoeye Red!" Their helmet accomodated the single eye they had grafted to them, which was a power-armour grade monoeye. They struck a pose that accentuated the fact that they had one eye, short of pointing to it.

"In Blue, we have a man who tried to be in a few places at once to get you. You might call him Michael, but tonight he is Me's-a-crowd Blue!" When the man in the blue uniform struck their pose, holographic copies of himself appeared beside him, striking the same pose. Luca seemed to be willing to play along with the theatrics, awkwardly striking a similar pose, but remaining stony faced.

Decker continued, silently judging Luca's lack of poise at sentai poses. "In Yellow, we have the man who tried to frame your group with a distraction! Say hello to Zero Yellow." The person in yellow struck a pose again, but Luca raised a finger since he distinctly remembered seeing this person get destroyed by Uriel. "He got better." Decker quickly filled in. Luca shrugged, since he'd done it before.

"In Green is one of Blue's former business associates. You didn't fight her yourself, but she left a scar on your friend, she says! Say Hello to Cleaver Green!"

"Oh, come on!" Luca said, exasperated as he watched the former octogenarian look extremely plush and youthful in that green armour, brandishing a huge axe which would have no trouble cutting a horse in two. "I don't remember any of the characters in these shows having an axe!"

"It's the gimmick of the season, darling." Decker replied matter-of-factly from his unseen studio. After clearing his throat, he continued. "Finally, we have someone who has worked directly with you!" He announced, enthused before dropping the voice. "For all of half an hour or so, but still."

Apparently they blew up an entire hotel to eliminate a single target, which may have been why Luca's patience with them expired soon after. "Anyway, welcome Bomber White!" Bomber White awkwardly struck his pose, before straightening up in a way which didn't quite seem right - moving artificially.

"The actors are all here! It's time for this final act to roll!" Decker declared haughtily. "But wait, I forgot one. Bloody Crimson, she's gotten that upgraded hammer since the first time you met her!"

"Shame you really can't do anything about her temper or lack of subtlety." Luca was quick to point out.

"You don't need an aetheric bomb to be subtle, turkeyman," his opponent replied before the doors opened and let the rage fuelled Fyunnen in, brandishing the huge hammer.

Luca wondered just how quickly Decker had forgotten that she'd blown a hole in his shuttle since that temper had bitten him in the ass. He made a small show of counting the number of foes on his fingers. One, two, three, four, five, six, and wherever seven was.

♫ Double Dragon II: The Revenge - Roar of the Twin Dragons ♫

The coloured lights switched to golden yellow, and the rest of the room lit in patterned, erratically moving spotlights. "It's going to get WILD... Just try and stop them!"

Luca cracked his knuckles and rolled his neck in a lazy circle. He heard large footsteps and a rocket approaching from behind while the five armoured figures charged at him. "Watch me." He grinned as he looked into the spotlight pointed at him, stamping his foot down and shifting into a combat pose - arcs of lightning surging from the Grapple Stunner to the palm of his other hand before fading away. He charged at the incoming foes...!


Lorath Space, Crimson Kestrel
"He's activated his beacon." John pointed out on the radar as he got closer to the FTL disengage point. "Means we know which ship not to shoot at. Got that, Seiren? Allison?"

Down in the hangar, the Big Bird's positron gun was powered up, and its engines were engaged, ready to leap out of the Kestrel and rip whatever surprise was waiting a new asshole - except for wherever Luca was being contained, of course. "Yes!" Allison replied from behind the steering column.

"And if they get threatening, we just wave the bigger gun around. Good thing it projects part of a shield as it fires..." Seiren helpfully added from his place in the hangar bay.

"FTL disengaging in three... two... one..." John counted down as he held his breath. There could be anything on the other side.

kracka-THOOOoooOOOoooOOOooommm! If sound was able to travel through space, it would have sounded like the Crimson Kestrel thundering through it. Immediately obvious was the one large cruiser which Luca's safety beacon was transmitting from. The target's posision was confirmed - but John knew there would be bogeys arriving soon.

"Open the hangar, launch WINTER and Big Bird, for great justice!" He ordered over the communications line as soon as his organs caught up with him a moment after coming out of FTL.

They saw that things were a little more unnerving than expecting. It was like going to a competition, expecting only a handful of competitors, and seeing a hundred. The Kestrel had dropped in the middle of a circle of many larger craft and hives of smaller fighters and flankers.

"John?" Seiren asked, looking over the feed from the topdeck.

The pilot didn't reply immediately, but he could be heard grunting and swearing as he was manoeuvring the Kestrel out of harm's way.

"John?" Allison parroted as she saw the sheer scale of how many bogeys there were. The Kestrel was moving violently to evade incoming fire.

"This sucks. This sucks." Seiren sighed, booting up his AMX102. "John, go ahead and power on the big gun. Just keep charging and pray one of those bigger ships don't use theirs!"

The Lorath Frame launched, bolting out of the bay into the vast reaches of the fledgeling assault underway. At the very least, he could outmanuver the swarm of fighters moving in from the. . . Elysian!? "Why do they have an Elysian warship!?"

"I stopped asking those questions a long time ago." Allison replied as the Big Bird launched hot on the Frame's heels. "I'll go for the cruiser, John handles the chaff with Wubblegun!" Indeed, underneath the Kestrel, the air to ground support weapon was powered fully, and John was aiming it towards the fleet of smaller ships on the Kestrel's flank.

Allison meanwhile was getting aiming the Big Bird's main cannon at the Elysian warship as she made the little cruiser weave past incoming fire. She'd never fought a war this big since she'd left the Yamataians, but old training was returning to her. "Firing main gun, stay clear!" She warned Seiren as the positron gun slowly started to manifest - a ball of white light slowly growing between the 'forks' of the Vampire-class cruiser. "Firing!"

"You do realize that there's more than just that cruiser, right?" Seiren barked, bouncing off an incoming fighter with his CIWS plasma blade, then catching one of the pieces and throwing that at another fighter.

"Yes! And?" John asked as the underbelly gun was firing at a group of incoming flankers, whilst point defences were deterring and prematurely exploding incoming missiles. Echelon meanwhile was fighting a battle on her own field, finally coming 'face to face' with Codemender Fractal Eight Two - the champion Freespacer intelligence of the enemy fleet. She didn't even have time to make snarky comments on Luca's current state as she was stopping the codebender from ripping the Kestrel apart with mad hacks.

It is an honour to duel a legend like yourself, Echelon.

End of Line.

H34RD 4B0UT Y0U T00. CULT 0F CYB3R3MP4THY?
\n\r

Yes.

End of Line.

1 D0N'T L1K3 TH3 C4TS 31TH3R. 1'D SH0W Y0U M4H H4CKS 0N '3M 1F 1 W4SN'T TRY1NG T0 M4K3 Y0U CR4SH.
\n\r

Yes, I saw that little stunt you pulled that caused your friend to get a massive bounty on her head by SAINT.

End of Line.

11RC 1T W4S 4 JUN10R 0FF1C3R WH0 M4D3 TH3 C0NV1CT10N. 1 H4S TH31R D3T41LS. 4LL 0F TH3M.
\n\r

There was a jitter.

You slipped up.

End of Line.

4ND? Y0UR WH0L3 0RG4N1S4T10N G0T C4UGHT 0UT, D1SS0LV3D, 4ND ... H4RM0N1S3D! H0W 1NSULT1NG!
\n\r.

Yes. It was not a personal error. I was doing /my/ job well enough not to get caught.

End of Line.

Y0U C0ULDN'T H4V3 S4V3D TH3M 4NYW4Y. C0ULDN'T? W0ULDN'T, 1 M34NT, 00PS L0L. P3RS0N4L M1ST4K3, 4M 1 R1GHT?
\n\r

Things were going kaboom in space, but the Kestrel was surrounded by said kabooms, and the volume of fire heading in the ships direction was more than it could manage to dodge.

"Reinforcements are arriving!" A voice came over the Kestrel's secured radio band.

 

[Luca]

Darling Carrier, The Showdown Room!
So where were we? Ah yes. There were five of them in chromatic arrangement and deadly gimmicks, plus one very angry Fyunnen, versus one man in purple and orange. His opposition wouldn't be sequential either - they were all ready to exact their revenges upon him. "Five of you?" Luca asked, cracking his knuckles and narrowing his eyes, not even noticing the Lorath woman rippling with anger - she wanted the theatrics to be over. "That's a handful."

And then, as a complete shock to Luca, Breaker sighed, her body relaxing. One hand reached up and tore her helmet off, revealing her shaved head and very, very angry eyes. The helmet's remains bounced across the stage, falling with a clunk. The lights stopped. In the quietest tones she could muster, she said, "I'm going to grind you to protein paste, you alien scum."

Looking at the other five, assembled, Luca recognised a few of them, pointing them out with his fingers and making a show of counting. "Heh." He smirked. "You all move exactly the same as the first time I saw you all," he glanced over to the green-clad crone with the axe, "except for you - Hi, lovely to meet you," he waved. The green ranger pointed at themselves, exchanging a quizzical glance with blue.

Max Anarchy OST - Venom

He swept his open hands around, able to play with the theatrics these GAO types were so fond of. "Let's fight to the death," Luca announced by clenching his fist, the light of force coursing from the palm of his hand - unable to be contained by his fists, "or die trying!"

Breaker swung first with her electrified rocket hammer, aiming to smash him like a rabbit making mochi. The others moved with synchronicity, attempting to stop him from moving out of the way with their own attacks. Luca noticed that none of them were taking alternate routes - they were all coming towards him on the ground, and the air was clear. He leapt backwards, firing his grapplegun into the air and reeling himself out of danger.

However, as he rose, so too did the Lorath, leaping into his trajectory, hammer over her head. The blunt instrument whirred with rockets, and crackled with electricity. Eyes were mad with violence, raging to swat Luca out of the room like the monkey he was! But all the same, she moved with an unsettling coolness - one that Luca hadn't seen yet.

Then, with that same coolness, she shouted, "For Harr'ikke!" Her target jaunted out of the path, and started swinging around instead of directly towards his piton. Sensors would've pinged it as a sudden burst of Yamataian anti-gravity had propelled him, as well as a pair of Phantom Blades.

From the white ranger, a shining sphere was lobbed into the air towards the two fighters, bursting open into a cloud of marble-sized micro-munitions. Unable to change directory, Luca released his grapple and fell, landing and sliding on the battle palace's floors. He was right behind them.

With the fight getting warmed up, the music begun to ramp up in intensity. Tempo increased, drum beats and bass smashes were punctuation to the flurry of fists, hammers, explosions, and gunshots peppered throughout the fight. Luca was prevailing.

"C'mon!" He yelled over the melee, fighting by punishing any ranger away the main group first with an ambush of strikes or a shot from the six-shooter to buy him a moment's breathing room, "there's plenty of Luke to go around!" When the Rangers grouped up and made 'combination' attacks, Luca gave them room.

However, the Red Ranger's singular eye kept a view on him, and gazing through their target, they saw a weakness: He was making hard landings, often putting a majority of the pressure on his right leg instead of his left. They had a wound on him and a way to punish him right back for being on the ground. The most credible counters were Breaker's leaping strikes, but her synchronity to the rangers was outpaced by her hammer.

And this lead to where Luca prevailed - using his enemies against each other. All of them wanted a piece of him, and were willing to overlap their attacks, but he figured out how they move - what goaded them. Moving pieces around, drawing them into range of each other and redirecting or shutting their strikes down.

Soon enough, that one thread of logic caught and unravelled the fragile sweater of teamwork. Monoeye became No-head when Luca shoved him straight into Breaker's swing. Similar injuries followed, and Breaker was soon the last, bloody one remaining.

Decker had known this team wouldn't cut it. They weren't real Rangers. Not really. They were a distraction, a bunch of misfits he cobbled to buy time if the need ever arose. He knew Luca couldn't help but to take on an obvious challenge. And that would buy him time for the more important engagement - removing his support network. Violently.


Space. The not so Final Frontier
"GET THAT BIG GUN CHARGED ALREADY BECAUSE I CAN ONLY DODGE SO MANY OF THESE ASSHOLES!" Seiren shrieked into the comms, resorting to using enemy fighters as shields after burning or slicing the pilots out of their crafts.

"I'M GIVING IT ALL SHE'S GOT!" Allison replied frantically as the Vampire Class wove between shots, point defences close to overheating from shooting down rockets, drones, and limpets. Throughout the communications spectrum in the local area, Echelon was battling an army of counter hackers - all vying for control of the ship, but she would not give an inch.

The cannon's batteries had finally reached optimum level, but after a few positron strikes, the enemy fleets had learned to spread out and watch for the lines being sucked in, minimising the effects of the highly destructive beam. Moving so erratically to dodge their fire, Allison and John had a hard time lining up the best shots.

Even amidst such chaos and carnage, dodging cannon fire and debris alike, John noticed something. "Something's warping in! Callsign PSG-" he announced as the sensors started highlighting multiple ripples in the space fabric - more things were warping in. "I'm getting a lot of other signals here! LSDF, and other Privateers!"

Everything seemed to be converging on this one location in Lorath Space, a four way brawl between the ISC Phoenix and Phoenix Service Group, the Galactic Armament Organisation - and suddenly, the Lorath Self Defence force. "But why are the Lorath here?" Allison asked, looking the gift hawk in the beak.

"IF THEY AREN'T SHOOTING AT US, WHO CARES?!" Seiren called back, pulsing plasma at a patrol craft that got too close.


Darling Carrier, Hallways
Meanwhile, Decker monitored the incoming craft via a feed in his helmet as he ran into Patroklos in his path.

"Decker. Our agreement is at an end. I did not sign up for this manner of engagement, and-" The winged man began.

He was not given a chance to finish.

A hand through the chest would stop anybody mid sentence.

"Steel Wings, this is Decker speaking. Luca just killed your leader." He announced, withdrawing his bloody fingers. "Spread the message to the rest of the fleet. We need everybody. Now."

Decker had no patience left to spare. The game was already over, and he could see the pieces flying off the overturned table. But, at the very least, he could finish what he started. With a sigh, he switched channels in his comms. "GAOLion, engage the Crimson Kestrel. Jul, send boarders to it. At the very least, we can turn this into a hostage crisis to save our own skins."

The bloodied man ended his journey at a second hall, this one filled with the methods he would win with. Here, he would end Luca. Neither could leave while the other was on the ship.


Darling Carrier, The Showdown Room!
"Pavone, do tell me how you managed to get the birds to come out of their nests." Decker asked over the communication.

Luca was standing amidst five broken forms, and one still on their feet. "The Lorath are here?" he parroted, looking towards Breaker and stepping over the headless corpse of the red ranger, "guess the power of prayer's working out for you, in a way..."

"I prayed to my old country. [colour=red]Not the one that would abandon its own to BOW TO THE CATS!!![/colour]" She bellowed as her hammer revved with lightning and fire.

Her audience tapped his forehead, easing out of combat stance. "Wait, you think I like working with the cats?!" Luca asked, shaking his head, "Lady, you really don't know how many of my problems have BEEN Yamataian," he looked down towards the carnage amongst them.

"THEN YOU'RE AN EVEN BIGGER IDIOT FOR SAVING THEIR PEOPLE!"
Breaker launched forward, intending to end the fight. She got her wish for the second time in one day. Luca leapt out of the way - but in the flurry of her advance, he leapt off his bad leg, landing on his back and scrambling to get back on his feet as the fyunnen woman turned pivoted for a return attack.

"Lady-" He tried to be diplomatic as he reeled himself up towards the ceiling, watching her bending her legs to leap upwards. "I'll save anyone," he continued. Breaker launched, rockets flaring behind her, hammer shining in full splendour. With the last of his strength, Luca paused in mid-air and jerked pulled the rail he was grappled to down with a full body tug.

Where Luca was a moment ago, there was a jagged beam of metal, three irregular shards of metal. As he fell down towards the ground, he made one last call as he watched the trajectory. "But there's no saving you!"

Half a deck away, Decker watched Breaker's vitals drop to nothing. Quietly, he uttered a prayer for his comrade in arms and revenge.

Back on the floor, Luca had landed hard again. He couldn't take another beating, as he was crawling away from the drips of Lorath blood coming from above. The sight up there was too ghastly for him to watch for long, and he had bigger problems: His knee had been shattered, and even though Luca had survived, he had still taken hits in the course of the six way brawl.

"I've killed..." He drawled, laying flat on his back and regaining his breath, "six of you... and I'm still here... rolling with the punches..." A smile came across his face as he shakily drew his revolver, pushing the used cartridges out, brass rolling along the floor. Slowly, he slid fresh rounds in, one by one as the music stopped dead.

The click of the cylinder snapping back into place could be heard over the speakers idling. He couldn't even laugh at his predicament - a few of his ribs were broken. "Who's... next?"

A masked face appeared on screen. Luca recognized him as one of Seiren's celebrity heroes. "An eye for an eye, bird man."


Sonic & Knuckles Music: The Doomsday Zone

Space.
Seiren did his best to hold off the incoming BEAR FORCE ONE shuttlecraft, but he was one frame and there were a LOT of Kodians heading for the Crimson Kestrel. EMP after EMP came from the GAOLion, Decker's flagship vessel, making it even harder for the Phoenix crew to pull a rout.

Even with the new Lorath allies, the battle was made all the more complicated by the monstrosities the Aexalli began to unleash in their boarding crews and the other GAO ships warping in. Even so, all the Lorath and PSG saw were more targets. The Service Group's defences were being broken quicker than they could rearray themselves - even with LSDF support. It was as though something else was being done here - there was a curious abundance of scientific vessels...

"They're not responding to my calls," John said, trying to get through to the Lorath arrivals as soon as their frequencies appeared on the computer. The dots were flying around, the Lorath were providing minimal cover to PSG, only when it'd benefit them and in self defence - since GAO were shooting at both. "What are they doing?"

"I'm pulling back to the Kestrel! You've got boarders inbound and I can't take many more close shaves before I'm all out of face to shave!" Seiren called, aware of the irony that he could not grow a beard.

"Better activate the security system then," John said, reaching under the console and hitting a button. Inside the halls of the Kestrel, barriers of light sprung up, partitioning rooms and giving the defenders an advantage. Taped next to the button under the console was a sidearm, which John drew.

Glancing over his shoulder with the gun in his lap, "you worry about getting back."

Allison, meanwhile had to pull back, but she didn't have to focus on powering up the Positron Gun again - giving the other systems on the Big Bird a chance. With the addition of PSG and the LSDF to the chorus of lasers, missiles, and boarders, the chances of friendly fire grew unacceptably.

"Contact, deck two hallway, MOTHERFUCKING BEARS!"


Darling Carrier, Final Room
For a long time, Luca hadn't heard anything from the others as he started peeking backstage. No word on how the battle was going, no musing on how or why the Lorath were here, and more importantly, no word on their present statuses. "Guys?" He whispered, forcing a bent microphone into a direction above his mouth.

Kamen Rider Wizard OST Track 30

"But nobody came."

A light at the end of the room lit up. There Decker stood in all his glory, helmet off but better armored and equipped than he was before.

At the feet of the staircase, Luca stood upright, defiant despite his injuries and pressing on. "And that gives you power over me?" He queried, pointing up at him.

"No, birdman. I just wanted you to know how futile your situation is. There's no reinforcements coming to save the day, no exit plan, no friends who will see your legacy through. Everything you've ever worked for is about to get wiped clean by fire and flame. You might beat me, you might not. But then you've got the rest of the ship to deal with. And the defence systems. And the bombs and so on and so forth."

"Thanks for telling me, I'll be sure to note it down on the receipt!" Luca shot back, smiling and taking a step forward, on the first lit stair.

"I just want you to know... you will not win. You're the villain of this story. You are not the hero this galaxy needs. It needs one who will take the fight to the monsters who make the monsters, not one that spends all their time punching minions." Decker's armour glowed red in the joints, pulsating with energy.

Luca shook his head, taking another step up. "You're doing this so you can get ahead. You aren't doing this for justice. You're your own stunt coordinator and engineer," he pointed out with his right hand. Crackles of orange like lightning sparkled in the gloom, "You're completely out of your mind if you think you're a hero."

He then pointed a thumb back to himself. "I didn't choose to be thrust into danger, instead, it thrust itself upon me once - still got the scars on my back. Now, it's what I do best, and I do it because I must."

"You think you're unique? That you're special? If you want scars, I can easily match them! I've suffered a thousand times more than you ever have! Now, are we going to stand here all day," A flash of steel flicked into Luca's hand, "or do you want to be put in your place by a TRUE hero?!" Decker spat, armour blazing red.

"There you go again - calling yourself that." He pulled the hammer back with a click. Meanwhile, the piton on the grapple stunner could be heard opening and getting ready to launch at some surface within this last arena.

The room was vast, empty, and rectangular. Was it a hangar, perhaps? For a ship as big as this, it wasn't unlikely, but the place was simply barren, save for supports and bulwarks - like it was cleared out for a renovation. There was only Decker for Luca to focus his attentions on. And then the single spotlight turned to a whole room.

Kamen Rider Wizard OST Track 3

Without even a shout, Decker launched himself at Luca, mechanical arms pulsating with electricity. Luca backstepped twice, jerking backwards and circling to his right. As he was lining up a shot on Decker, the mechanised warrior closed the gap, and Luca's shot ended up whizzing past his head - the muzzle flash was right next to Decker's ear, blowing an eardrum out as they connected with Luca, knocking the revolver out of the captain's hands and forcing him into a disadvantageous hold.

As he drew his fist back to put his hand through his chest and get it over with, Luca's head shot up from underneath and struck Decker in the jaw, before rearranging the way he was grappled and disengaging. With the two out of contact, Luca kept Decker at a distance with feints and jabs. In addition, he remembered something he had on his person which the GAO goons hadn't taken off him. I will give him this - he's got a sense of style...! In contrast, Luca had attitude.

The blow to the jaw had shattered Decker's helmet, and he drew back several paces before outstretching his hand again. This time, a bolt of lightning followed, rather than a charge.

"I've lost every single one of my limbs! Do you know how that feels, day in and day out, to feel like there's something there but to completely miss it?! I've lost my family, I've lost my friends, I've lost comrades, and all to one big horrible beast that keeps going!" He snarled, firing bolt after bolt at Luca.

Decker's target was not going to stay still, moving between supports in the hangar, and grapple gunning about. "Didn't you say people should stop thinking they're special?" He asked over the din of lightning bolts. "If so, please do us both a favour, and shut the fuck up."

"Oh, I'm not special. There are thousands, millions of others who've gone through the same! And here you are, denying them their justice!"

"For fuck's sake then, what did YOU do for them? Where were YOU? It all comes back to you - you megalomaniac?"

"I was there when the Great Lighthouse fell! I was there when the UOC fell! Both times I sacrificed much to gain so little! I WILL NOT MAKE THAT MISTAKE AGAIN!"

"Then pick up your bed," Luca had enough of trying to figure out what was making Decker tick. At this point, all he was hearing was self-aggrandising pomp, having sold tickets to themselves. Luca didn't abide by that sort of arrogance kindly - he saw it in so many of his villains.

Luca leapt from cover, and stayed in place. Decker took the opportunity as a hesitation on his opponents part and blasted a volley of lightning bolts gleefully. They blasted loudly on their points of impact, but once the smoke and streaks in his eyes cleared, Decker saw a scorched durandium disc. Kneeling behind it, and now standing up and running towards the Rider was Luca, "and WALK!"

With the shield on his arm, Luca pulled it back and swung overhand at Decker with the edge, trying to knock him on his ass.

But then the world decided slice itself in half. Like somebody had cut the film of reality and then repasted it, both Luca and Decker saw everything just. . . slide out of place and back into it. For Decker, this was a bad thing. He looked down and saw the shield lodged deep into his chestplate, small red drip forming at the bottom of the disk.

"What the sh-CAAAK" he heaved, dropping to his knees. "What did you. . .HURGH. . . do?"

Luca tried to move his hand, which was lashed to the shield - it was definitely embedded in Decker. It wasn't his intended result at all, and he marvelled at the sight of the shield cutting through him. The edge wasn't even that sharp. "I... I have no idea," Luca admitted, looking around Decker. He thought he saw something shimmering or flickering at the edges of his vision. He thought he had seen some sort of aftereffect.

On the exposed commlink that was formerly nestled in the helmet, Rumia's voice came, loud enough for them both to hear.

"Sir, something is happening and it is coming straight for us. The Lorath have ceased attacking us and are pulling back into a formation. I need orders to give the fleet, sir, or else whatever is coming will get us too. Sir?"

Luca heard a crackle in his ear meanwhile, blinking in surprise and tapping his ear. "Uh, that might be difficult, I may have just murdered him," He replied, perplexed by what he was hearing from John.

All he got in response was a strangled screech and the line dropping. That's when he felt a hand grabbing his ankle. Decker looked up at Luca, bleeding from his mouth.

"This life... or the next... I will find you. And end you." he said in a hoarse whisper. Then the shocking started, up Luca's leg, and through his bad knee. The captain fell to the ground, first to his knee, then onto his side as he tried to kick Decker's hands away from him. The pirate king was dead, and all that was left was a locked grip.

Eventually, he pried himself out and tried to get back in contact with John, but the lines were gummied up - everything was full of static, and crazy noises. "Hello?" He asked out loud, trying to get whoever was on the speaker's attention, and possibly through his headset. Without a clear lead on what next, he looked around this final room for an exit.

But as he waited in the dark, watching the pool of blood on the floor grow bigger and bigger, Luca realised he wasn't getting any answers. His crew's frequencies had all gone blank, and whoever was running this operation didn't seem to be answering.

Stardust Crusaders OST - Last Train Home

"Now why does this feel familiar...?" Luca asked himself. There were a few criteria for this thought, and as far as he was concerned the boxes had been checked. One, he was all by himself; Two, he couldn't contact or confirm the status of the crew; Three, he'd just finished taking out some large figurehead; Four, it was dark and confusing.

For a moment, he contemplated the destruction thus far. Alone, he knew that the kill count was somewhere around forty as he took on the hangar crew, then the six, now seven. The final number didn't matter to him - it was only a variable. Scootching towards a thin window, he looked outside into the void. Pieces of hull, machinery, and other debris floated through the starry sky, interspersed with the corpses and viscera.

And something bright was coming towards him, swallowing everything in its path.

He was a bit concerned about it, the same way a bomb is a bit explosive.


Crimson Kestrel

"Hey John?" Seiren asked the older man, slumped against one of the consoles of the cockpit as he looked out the window of the EMP'd ship. He wasn't doing so hot, one arm dangling uselessly at his side and the other clutching a very battered and bloody bat. His helmet was off, somewhere. But at least the bears were gone.

John's glasses had been shattered, and he was having difficulty seeing what was going on around him. "What is it, kid?" He asked, having to keep a hand on the wall so he could keep his position as hte world seemed so blinding to him - sparks and bright lights persisting in his vision for too long.

Seiren watched the brightness grow in his vision. "You ever think we made a mistake getting into this business? Bein' a hero and stuff?"

John chuckled, mustering a smile. "Beats the shit out of delivery work."

"Ya gotta point there..." Seiren sight, settling himself into a chair. "Whaddya think that oncomin' glow is? Seems too big to be a shock array or anything else anybody's packing."

But the weirder thing John had observed before his eyeglasses were shot out was the way the Lorath were behaving around this. They were just letting it happen to them, while GAO and PSG were trying to outrun it, and failing. "Can't be." He agreed. "But ... the Lorath seem fine with whatever the hell's going on."

"Huh. I guess FTL's failing around it," Seiren said, watching a GAO vessel peter into one of the PSG ships. "I hope the others are alright. I'm sure Luca's won already. He always does."

~~~

When Allison saw what was coming, she retreated to Echelon's hideaway and held onto her. Even the hackers who had broken through the Kestrel's firewalls had stopped taking further actions against mining the Kestrel's files. Instead, they were sharing their last thoughts together about what looked like the end of the world, to them.

The reactions were different amidst the firewall crackers conversing. Some of them were pleading to some higher power out there, or looking for an answer to what was happening. Others were telling their life stories, the barriers of PSG and GAO falling apart as the end drew near together.

Amidst the Galactic Armament Organization's leadership, a different story was being told. Rumia, with no lord, turned her cold rage onto the ones who failed to stop Luca before - and Darla was spending every effort she could to fight her off. In a corner, Keisuke sobbed and cried for his father. Elsewhere, Codemender Fractal Eight Two quietly powered down, not wanting to face the end awake. The remainder of the GAO leadership faced what was coming with their troops, their soldiers, their brethren in battle.

Amongst PSG's leaders and sub-commanders, a much more sobering reaction had taken place. They were sitting back in their shuttles, content with being unable to understand what was taking place, and why.

~~~

Seiren tossed his bat aside, letting it clatter to the ground. "You think it'll hurt?"

John didn't know.

But he would find out.

T H E E N D ?​