RP: YSS Miharu Mission 5, Part 1: Amaya's Gate

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

After reading over what Tom said, Rin headed to start with the instructions. An ever-so-slight smile appeared on her lips over the first 4 words of the message, despite the current atmosphere. But, her smile quickly faded as she got back to work and went to the breakers and flipped them back on for the CFS unit and gravimetric engines. With power restored, she began the boot-up processes for both.

Now that the four systems she had access to from where she was were all fixed, or at least starting up or not going to blow up in their faces, there was little else Rin could do.

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

@Yukari:

"No visuals on it yet," Mara shook her head before turning to Hinoto. "If she was here, she could be using CFS stealth. Would that work here without any caveats we could exploit to see where she could be lurking, you think?"

Hinoto did not immediately reply, being still while giving her console a glassy look.

"Oi, Hinoto!" Mara said again.

The white-haired sprite suddenly blinked. "What?" Hinoto exhaled sharply, bringing both hands up to grab the sides of her head. "I- I don't know..."

@Tom:

The coolant leaks in the opened up section that had once been the starboard capacitor and shield generator compartment stemmed from two locations on each end of the chamber - the tubing through the compartment had been torn off, so both ends now bleed out the green liquid into the vaccuum of space at very high pressures.

There were valves on each ends as well, just before where the lines were ruptured. Tom's access to one was easy: one the hatch not ten meters to his right, steps through an atmospheric retention field to enter the opened up section, and then turn the valve to a close. If Tom could get one of the sprites in the starboard wingpod to step out and handle the valve on their end, they would be able to stop the leak sooner.

@Kotori:

Kotori felt rather than saw the heavy stare Vermillion's operator had settle on her, on Surtur.

"She's stalling," Mani telepathically shared, Kotori's abilities cracking the encryption with what had become practiced ease to the NH-29 Signaler. "She has no allies out. The longer she talks, the sooner she has reinforcements to even the odds."

"Does it even matter?" Meni retorted. "We came to take over the ship. She's a signaler - from the moment she dies, their minds are Eve's."

"I can play the waiting game as well," a third telepathic voice cut in. That one felt heavier, as if Kotori's suite of Signaler abilities took more effort to get through.

Kotori's brow furrowed. Eve could afford waiting? Why? Meni had a point - the battle would just get uglier if they waited for the Black Knights to get out.

"I decline, Ketsurui Kotori," The third person spoke. Kotori found the voice oddly familiar for a reason she couldn't place. "I am certain you will understand. Seeing you've enjoyed my hospitality once, I do not believe I would enjoy receiving the same from you."

"Wh-" Kotori reared her head, not understanding right away. But then, it dawned on her, and the realization made her speechless.

She recalled one information taken out from the Bowhordia datacore, one of the first entries Amaya had logged in on the inception of her own signaler abilities.

Eve has interrogated Hanako and Sydney's XO, Kotori. Both appear likely candidates to use the new NH-29 body seeing their recent involvement with Scorpio base. Seeing that the Sakura is a high-profile figurehead vessel with ties to Lor, it seems likely they might eventually stumble into Melisson.

If we could have either one of them - preferably Hanako - jump into the Signaler variant they've concocted in the SARA, we could possibly get rid of Melisson while keeping our hands clean.

Click to expand...

Wait? That was her?

Sakura said:

Replacing Pumpkin was a very pale Nekovalkyrja woman with cold, sharp, black eyes, salmon lips, and chocolate hair. She wore a flowing tunic of black silk and velvet, black fur boots, and sheer black tights. There was a slowly bubbling anger in her expressions.

Sensing the other's approach, Kotori gritted her teeth, made an effort to compose herself and turned around to look at the other, her golden eyes evenly meeting the other's. "Nice dress." She said, her eyes having a guarded look.

"You will answer my questions," the neko stated flatly, "or you and Hanako will suffer."

Click to expand...

That was really her? It had been Eve all along?!

Despite the now giant pieces of evidence laid down before her, she was still in denial. Her interrogator had not facially had the appearance of either Eve or Naraku. No horn, none of the signature colors, nothing.

...and yet, they knew that Eve had hopped bodies since Naraku's NH-17T. They knew Eve was using a NH-23. Not to mention that the interrogator had been very familiar when speaking of Hanako, and of Yui, with insights over PANTHEON and ST backups that Kotori doubted - now that she reflected on it - Nagase Nagako's crew on board the Black Spiral gunship Black Swan could have had known.

Eve's name and face were well hated. Naraku's face was known. If Eve intended to eventually settle as the Empress of the True Nekovalkyrja Empire, it was a credible to assume she could take on a new identity. After all, even the mentally deranged could balk at knowingly letting a woman crazy enough to devour live children over a live broadcast rule over them.

It... made a twisted sort of sense.

Vermillion held Eve, the person whom interrogated Kotori and Hanako. The person that had Hanako tortured when Kotori resisted. The person that robbed Kotori of her innocence.

The Taisa grit her teeth, glaring daggers at Vermillion. She had wanted revenge on her interrogator, on Black Spiral so badly. It lead her to ask SAINT to allow her to participate on anti-Black Spiral operations. Her desire to hurt them all for what she felt they had done to her had driven her.

In exchange, Kotori had earned Miharu, her quest to beat the Daughters of Eve, and also gained all the things that gave Tom his reasons to be so vehement with her, about her and how she did things now. With the rose-tinted lenses of her innocence shattered - as Tom once put it - she had grown into the person she was presently... and she knew well that she wasn't the kind of captain her crew could feel the kind of family-like fellowship others could experience.

Kotori couldn't keep herself together. Had she a heart, it would be pounding in her ears and filter her eyesight through a mist of crimson rage. The 4-years old nekovalkyrja's shock had her breathing go to pants, rasps of breath, and just shy of dry heaving. In her breast nested a feeling like molten metal, the long nursed words 'I hate you so much!' that could not be spoken simply because words alone could not properly express her resentment.

She was still on a live channel. They could hear her every ragged breath.

"Good job. I think you struck a nerve," Meni wryly noted. "She's young, so, I guess she'll vocalize her hate for you at length before actually doing something about it."

"How far have you gone, Eve?" Mani asked.

"Farther ahead than expected," came Eve's cold, focused reply. "What they have on hand has far less processing power than I expected, and most of it was actually busy speedhacking something else. It never saw me coming. Give or take a minute, the ship is ours."

A chill ran across Kotori's back. That's what the waiting game was about! Eve was a NH-23, just like her original... so, if her original managed to take control of Dominion, so could Eve do with Miharu! Eve was simply going the long way around, though through the open comm with Surtur, then through the link she had with Hoshi's CIES. With the opening now made to the CIES, there was no stopping her from eventually winning over the it, and shortly afterwards all the networked AIES.

Eve would win. They couldn't even afford to shut down the CIES: without computer control, life support systems over the main hull - in particular the atmospheric retention fields - would collapse. The hull breaches were large enough to threaten explosive decompression. That could bring about the ship's destruction!

The realization was a sobering one. Attack! I have to attack now! There was little reason to resist the urgency of that impulse - after all, she did want Eve dead very badly.

Surtur leapt into action at her mental command, pouncing down toward them as aetheric claws sending long gouts of aether fire at her three opponents whom scattered out of the way. As her Akuma's clawed feet crunched through the square containers that had formerly been holding Miharu's miniature garden, the three counterattacked.

Meni, to Kotori's right, pointed her two saber-rifles at Surtur's flank and fired with a withering volley of aether darts - an assault Surtur's powerful energy barrier stopped cold. However, the real threat as Mani, whom took advantage of Meni drawing most of the attention with her offensive by making a quick fly-by, releasing a subspace collapsing mini-missile point blank.

Kotori had no time to counter or dodge it. The SDM warhead smacked into her powerful shield protection and entirely eliminated it. She tried backing away in alarm, but her unfamiliarity with large mecha her her maneuver more sluggishly than Eve, whom bore in to attack with a smash from an aether-limned claw.

The attack came too quick - Kotori barely even saw it coming. Surtur, with long lines of molten armor over its beaklike torso, was tossed away as a mere rag doll, bowling out of control through the wardroom to finally crash back first through the buffet, one of the wingcovers scything through a kitchen counter and another cleaving through an oven.

"Ugh!" Kotori was seeing stars. How did she move so fast?! she tried to gather Surtur's legs from over the ruined buffet case so she could try and stand up, but Meni quickly came in to take advantage of her vulnerability, both aether swords lit.

Can't let her close! Without shields she could just carve right through me! Surtur's tusked maw snapped open to belch a preventive sheet of plasma. Meni veered off, a bubble of protective energy briefly flickering.

Shield modules too?! she realized in dismay, seething as she got Surtur back into a crouch... just in time to get her torso armor further chewed at by a spray of attack from Mani's aether submachinegun.

Fortunately, the Mani's attack was cut short by the arrival of Nimura, Nyton and Masako, whom crested out of armor bay's opening to land atop Hoshi's dorsal hull, a few meters away from the ruins of the observation deck where they flanked Mani and Eve.

"Nyton, Eve's using her NH-23 abilities to take over Hoshi's AI. She has to die yesterday~!"

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

"I copy that, Taisa!" Nyton replied, still on the 'open' channel. Hoping to take advantage of this to create a ruse he continued broadcasting. "We're all that's left so let's go! We need to take them down before-shit!" he said, switching to a 'secure' channel and hoping he had been convincing enough. "Nimura, Kurohoshi, subspace missiles at Eve but be conservative! We're going to swing about and take defensive positions around the Taisa! You two fire a barrage at Mani while I fire at Meni! Full speed! Don't give them easy targets! GO!"

Nyton flew as fast as the PHALANX allowed him while firing with his plasma rifle towards Meni. With Meni driven back by Kotori's plasma he hoped his fire would push her back more. If she was able to dodge that though then he could engage her with plasma streams at close range even though it was not his desire to do so after the previous Meni had managed to use Aether sabers to redirect them. Learning from that though he would need to use minimal stream to keep her busy and give less to be redirected while indirectly striking her with other streams. A small tactical plan window appeared to the others showing their intended locations marked out in front of Kotori. His spot was in front to make use of his Armor's barrier. Masako and Nimura were each to be on Kotori's flanks. He knew the subspace missiles would likely get shot down which is why he ordered them to be used sparingly. They would need to be saved for an opening made later. If they closed in on Kotori they could defend each other easily for a few seconds before the next wave attacked. On top of that Kotori might get an open shot while his team kept the enemy occupied. He needed to time the arrival of the second wave just right!

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

As Kai listened to what was going on outside, he realized something. if the Hoshi's AI, which, his suit informed him was the only one of the ship's two AI's currently active, was hacked, then Eve would have easy control of their Power Armors. The Yamataian suggested the only thing he could, to Asher and Kyou.

"Be ready to disconnect your suit from the Hoshi at any moment. If it works it will diminish your sensor returns and processing power a little without the boost from the ship, but it's better than being taken over."

Quietly now, Kai waited for the other two to finish their charge cycles, so they would be able to go out and help in the newly started battle.

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Asher popped off the armor rack, landing on the balls of his feet, mostly in response to Kai's recommendation. Another part of the Malifarian was just ready to get back out and end something.

"Pssh! I cn'work wit' two charges." clarified Asher, waving the Heisho off. He popped his neck to one side and then the other. "Sides, we gotta' be ready when Clayboss calls tha' shot to finish this shit up." The Power Armor pilot patted his stomach, "As much as I'm lovin' all this, I'm startin' t'get hungry."

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Kyou nodded, disconnecting her suit as well. "We weren't given any specific directives on when to show up, so I think we should go now." She locked her helmet back down, and shouldered her plasma rifle. "Save the charges for actual combat, and just fly over, so Nakamura-san can get there at the same time." She looked at the others, awaiting orders, since they were both (though in Asher's case, only by a technicality) more experienced.

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Yukari felt it before she saw it.

The link to Miharu faded, and Hoshi's thinner link replaced it. Hoshi was warmer and not as powerful, but still capable and ready to serve the crew.

She sunk into the connection, just as she had with Miharu, keeping tabs on the smaller ship's systems, using her sensors to monitor Takumi's final breaths, and to watch the stars for any signs of Melisson coming upon them. Her visor was gone, but her eyes closed, and she could see herself surrounded by volumetric panels, watching.

Then, Eve. A hardened presence but fluid, slipping through Yukari's attempts to sense her, scan her. Two lesser presences with her above the ship, but one she knew. One that killed Kotori.

Before she could decide whether to engage them through the ship's computer, they vanished, leaving her "staring" at blank space. Then Kotori disappeared. Then the other armors. It was like Eve was molten, rolling over Hoshi's presence to imprint her own control over everything she could touch. Yukari could see it happening, through SPINE, in her mind's eye.

Panels would flash red, then disappear. Hoshi resisted and failed again and again, as systems were either taken by Eve or simply shut down. The life support on Miharu, as well as its atmospheric barriers, remained for now, but for how long?

Yukari opened her eyes and looked at Hinoto, who was clutching her head and wincing as she felt Eve's intrusion. Who was feeling herself be snapped up and made to obey the strings the demonic criminal was tying around her.

No. She saw Hinoto's eyes. Saw them in her mind, saw them turn empty, just like Hinoto's head had become, before the kind-hearted Neko's expression frosted over. The draw of the NSP from her orange-paneled uniform's gunbelt, raising it and taking aim at Yukari. Yes, she saw those things.

Hinoto's face was replaced with Ushiba Matsu's. Draw, her own mind said. To hesitate is to die.

Matsu, the enemy, the one who threatens you, cannot be trusted. She must die first.

"No."

Yukari reached behind her back and drew her Type 29 NSP. She set it to stun, pointed it and put two shots into Hinoto, who did not have her weapon drawn. One into her upper arm, the other into her shoulder.

She severed her connection to Hoshi. "I will not be a marionette," she said.

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

"Hai!" Masako replied as she quickly launched a pair of subspace missiles at Eve and a couple more at Meni. The rest was moving into a defensive position by Kotori while her Plasma Rifle unleashed a barrage of fire at her target.

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

@ Vs. Eve:

Space held one important advantage for Nyton. Telemachus could make one brief use of the Phalanx's onboard gravimetric drive to boost him over where he wanted to go while leaving his plasma emitters sufficient time to warm up for use. The wardroom's still active grav-plating eventually tugged him down to land but by then he was only a squant few meters away from Meni.

The nepleslian's arrival was timely for Kotori. With Surtur still in the close-confines of the kitchen, it was easy to imagine how an ace like Meni could've darted in and dealt it serious damage - the Akumas were built with yamataium plating rather than zesuaium, so even Meni's unlit zesuaium blades alone were extremely dangerous to it, aether-lit doubly so.

The Phalanx armored feet stomped with alacrity over the deteriorating carpet as he lashed would with his plasma projectors. As he expected, Meni whirled around - snake-swift - to intercept his attacks with the defensive fields of her signature weapons. He kept her engaged with a flurry of attacks that kept her on the defensive, but the power output he was investing was hardly enough for her to fling it back to him with any strength.

Meni and Eve had little to fear from the SDM warheads the Black Knights fired on them: as Nyton surmised, Mani kept to her defensive center role, using her submachinegun to mow Masako and Nimura's (whom fired two at Vermillion) homing mini-missiles in mid-flight. About half the plasma bolts Nimura and Masako fired fizzled against Meni's armor as she used clever footwork to keep herself mobile.

The Kuroneko twins both used barrier modules which - from what Nyton recalled of their specs - were rough equivalents to his Phalanx's shielding, with the same power management constraints. Meni fought with her aether saber-rifles cabled to her power supply, so she was about as limited as the Nepleslian Taii. Mani seemed to rely on battery-power to operate her submachine gun, so, she'd likely have more endurance and greater shield recovery rates.

As Nimura and Masako formed up on Nyton, Meni backed away, apparently not liking her odds. "Disturbing thought:" Meni telepathically shared to her allies. "if they stole Amaya's Akuma, that means our doubles were killed. are we fighting the exact same people whom defeated them?"

"You're suggesting they know us already," Mani answered.

"They do not know me," was Eve's flat no-nonsense reply as she snapped up one of Vermillion's clawed hands open toward the still-struggling-to-stand Surtur. Aether light flared and was to streak in Kotori's direction, only Nyton had been prepared for that, interposing himself and having his barrier absorb the punishment of the attack.

In the radiance of the attack, he didn't see the SDM mini-missile Mani had fired his way, hugging the floor as it winged to connect and eliminate his barrier. Luckily for him, he had bought enough time for Kotori to extricate Surtur out of the kitchen, and she brandished clawed fingers toward the incoming threat, blasting it before it could impact with a jet of aether.

Eve's attack waned, leaving Telemachus with its barrier half-depleted. "Mani, cover us and keep an eye out for enemy reinforcements; I don't believe this light cruiser only has 3 power armored defenders left. Meni, take out the small fry; I'll eliminate the squad leader."

With that said, Meni executed a jumping somersault to the side, her pounce finishing with her falling toward Masako, both aether-lit swords slashing with deadly intent. Eve, for her part, closed in on Nyton - each of Vermillion's step boasting a fluid, lethal grace that belied its larger girth - aether-limned claws tearing at the air for him.

* * *

@Bridge:

Mara's looked at Hinoto go limp in her chair, eyes wide. "Ah, ooo-kay. I guess... maybe I would've done that too if she went nuts and turned on us."

The sandy-haired sprite then purposely walked to Hinoto's console and tried to access controls of Hoshi's dorsal turreted particle cannon, only to be met with error messages. "Damn! I was hoping we could use it to give the Black Knights fire support."

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Yukari holstered the weapon and went to Mara's side. "Can you lock Eve out of fire control? Preventing her from accessing systems is still support."

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Mara turned around to have her blue eyes meet Yukari's green ones. "Hoshi hasn't lost yet, but we can't win on the cyberwarfare front. A NH-23 is out of our league."

The sprite nibbled on her lower lip before bounding up to the higher level of the bridge, turning around to blurt out: "The power distribution board! If we trip the right circuit breakers, we can stop power from being fed to the dorsal turret and the weapon pod launchers!"

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Nyton grinned while listening in on Eve's telepathic discussions. Oh, but I know you Eve. he thought while his barrier absorbed the brunt of her attack. When Kotori caught the missile that would have collapsed his barrier he replied a quick "Good one!" while pushing Telemachus to restore barriers before he sprang back into action.

A quick text was sent to Asher, Kyou, and Kai.


AIES sent a live link showing what was happening in the battle. Highlights detailing precise enemy locations and friendly force positions were made to give them a better picture of the battle.

Another text went to Masako and Nimura.


It was tricky sending simultaneous texts with orders while fighting for his life. However in the heat of this conflict Nyton was even more thrilled now that Eve was paying attention specifically to him. Just like David and Goliath. flashed a quick memory inspiring him to move faster. Telemachus stopped regenerating barriers to prevent the previously recorded shut down and sent power to the plasma streams. This time they were at full power and with gravity a factor he was operating on familiar physics.

Nyton tried to remain between Eve and Kotori but favored the side from which Eve had emitted her aether wave. Using his surroundings to his advantage along with time tested and experienced reflexes Nyton committed to evasive maneuvers, tumbling, and acrobatics. While the Nepleslian focused on dodging Vermilion's attacks, Telemachus fired off quick bursts of plasma from both hand and feet emitters whenever they were exposed during evasions. The plasma bursts would likely not punch through the barrier but if they could at least keep Eve occupied long enough maybe Kotori would have an opening to strike more decisively. To hopefully give her that much more of a chance Nyton switched to the previous 'open' channel and began to call out to Eve. "Come to papa, Big Mama Cat. Does Eve miss her little girls? Don't worry I'll be sure keep your skull nice and polished in my trophy case after we're done. Right next to the ones I got from your daughters. It'll be a big family reunion." Nyton taunted, trying to work on her psychosis and make her unbalanced.

At the same time a side thought unwillingly slipped by loudly enough that Telemachus considered it important enough to send it through to Hoshi.

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

"Looks like I'm movin' wit' you, Naka-boss." said Asher, slamming his fist on his chest, "Less' show'm how Yamatai takes out tha' trash!" The Malifarian started off, assisting his speed with his thrusters. He kept a slow pace at first, to make sure that he'd be getting to the fight with Kai at the same time. Upon arrival, he braced his shield, readying himself for any attack as he waited on his superior's first shot. With that he lined up a shot on Mani opened fire with a spray of shots from his mounted Plasma Gun.

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Kai stealthed his suit as quickly as he could, the thermoptic camouflage turning his green armored visage into nothing more than the hint of a mvement in the air of the Med bay, and followed the ever-eager Asher out of the bay.

As the Tami native and Malifaran arrived within useful firing range, Kai opened fire with his plasma rifle Tucked behind the trusty, pockmarked Zesuaium shield, setting down covering fire to do whatever he could to add to his enemies' confusion during this battle. after a few seconds of firing, he stopped, moved positions, and repeated the process, moving under stealth whenever he felt his position was easily spotted.

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

"Hai," she transmitted to Nyton moments before she strafed out of Meni's attack line while firing her plasma rifle. She continued to move away from the Taisa and continued to pump plasma at her assailant, though making sure her line of fire wasn't directed near Kotori and Nyton.

She had to be wary of getting in close proximity with the dual sword-wielding Kuroneko, especially since she didn't want to die again when her comrades needed her. Because of that, maneuverability was more important for her defense than durability.

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Kyou quickly stealthed her armor, doing her best to conceal her aether sabre as she followed at a reasonable distance behind the others. Instead of opening fire along with the others though, she started to loop around to the side, doing her best to keep track of where the three opponents were and keep her sabre hidden, trying to come up behind Mani without giving herself away.

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

@ vs. Meni:

In a maddened flurry of aether-limned, razor sharp strikes, Meni bore after Masako. Every second, Masako lost ground as she struggled to remain mobile, or interposed her zesuaium shield inbetween her and Meni's deadly weapons - the shield gaining several fresh scars into its smooth surface in the process - with each hit so jarring that even Masako's bracing power suited body ached to the very bone.

Her plasma fire seldom discharged - she was much too on the defensive to even afford to effectively attack!

Finally, Meni got too close. Though Masako managed to yet again block another powerful swordstrike with her deteriorating shield, through Meni's highly acrobatic attack one kneeblade got past Masako's defenses, slicing her plasma rifle in half.

Before Meni could follow through the opening in Masako's flank, a telepathic warning sounded out from Eve: "Meni, incoming attack on your six at point blank!" Almost immediately Meni spun across right blade leading toward the helmet of the stealthed Nimura.

In the very nick of time, Nimura blocked the attack just shy of severing her head by swinging her shield arm up to clash against the saber-rifle to knock it upward just as she shoved her plasma rifle under it and loosed a mini-missile launched from her leg launcher to hit against Meni point-blank, bursting nearly instantly in a subspace detonator effect that affected both power armors.

The barriers of both Black Mindy and Daisy fell, but in the following split second Nimura was prepared to capitalize on it as she discharged her plasma rifle into Meni's right armpit. The roiling blast of plasma pushed Nimura back with her Daisy's stealth failing, but it did far worse to Meni by consuming over the whole shoulderpad and flinging her suddenly severed arm away, the saber-rifle it held spinning through the air until it landed point first only a couple of meters past Masako, right in front of the entrance to the changing room leading to the public baths.

@ vs. Mani:

Mani immediately turned on Asher and started trading shots with him before Eve interceded: "Steathed opponent are surrounding you. Rise above to dodge!" The kuroneko immediately followed up on that, boosting upward to dodge Kai's attacks.

Mani's Black Mindy spewed mini-missile out that filled the space between her and her opponents into burst of bright flares and scattering chaff. The flares hindered infrared light targeting as well as greatly hindering the adaptability of Kai and Kyou's thermoptic camouflage, along with making their power armors cast pronounced shadows despite their stealth; while the chaff made it much harder to launch any homing weapon successfully at the flying Black Mindy.

With her countermeasures deployed, Mani kept moving until she was above Asher, spraying him with aetheric darts as she did so. The cloned Malifarian failed to keep his zesuaium shield frequently enough in the path of the attacks and his barrier was overwhelmed, a few hits passing through and granting Shikaku its first scars.

@ vs. Eve:

Telemachus pinwheeled around to lash out with plasma on Vermillion's flank, though Eve's answer to that was straightforward and yet bluntly effective: she opened the tusked maw of her Akuma Nyton's way and belched out a roiling cloud of plasma that swallowed the attacks the Nepleslian tried to send her way. "Your childish words mark you as human scum, and my empire needs neither you, nor your human subservient pawns," was Eve's cold answer to Nyton's taunts.

As Nyton hoped, Kotori seized that opportunity to attack while Eve's attention was elsewhere... but their opponent's ability to multitask proved nothing short of amazing. As Kotori charged in with one aether-limned claw leading to cleave through Vermillion's barrier and strike the armor beneath, Eve's Akuma raised one claw preemptively, her white-hot metal talons gouging deeply through the underside of Kotori's attacking forearm.

The counter-attack looked surreally strange. Nyton could suspect Kotori's unfamiliarity with the Akuma could've made her performance suffer... but as things looked it was like Kotori had willingly scrapped her forearm to a ruin on the clawed hand Eve had conveniently stretched out.

Vermillion's next move was to heave a clawed foot up high to smash it down over Surtur's the double knee actuator as Kotori shied away (or tried to). The massive weight of the multi-ton mecha violently pressing down over the segmented part between both knee actuators hard caused the leg to splinter to pieces before Nyton's eyes, sending Surtur sprawling to the floor.

As Surtur striking the floor spread a loud clamor through the ruins of the wardroom, the nepleslian lieutenant was again struck by the sense of wrongness in Eve's attack. The timing it required was like hitting a fly with a cannonball - there was just no way Kotori was either that bad a pilot to just place her leg to be conveniently crushed (especially considering he knew her as a competent and very defensively minded combatant); and the skill and somatic coordination that the clumsy vertical foot smash boasted greatly eclipsed even Meni and Mani. Heck, it'd be a lucky fluke even for Yui!

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Yukari nodded to Mara. "Trip them."

Knowing that Hoshi was at least partially compromised, Yukari used direct psionic communication. "Freeman-Juni, we are going to trip certain circuit breakers on the ship in order to stop power from being fed to Miharu's remaining weapons. Inform your personnel to not reset the breakers."

"Saito-Juni, leave MEGAMI off-line. If you safely can do so, return to the bridge. We could use your expertise."

An internal picture of the fight on the main viewscreen showed Kotori doing very poorly — uncharacteristically so. She narrowed her eyes at the situation. Eve could have access to Amaya's armor control software, access Amaya did not know about. Would that not be just like the demon ...

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Kyou immediately moved to make herself scarce, trying to get out of the line of sight of her enemies, to try and wait out the flare so she could try again. "Nakamura-san, Asher, try to keep her busy without pushing her. I need her to keep her back turned to me for a few seconds, so I can sneak up on her." That said, she prepared herself to go for Mani anyway, on the principle that the 3 on 1 might be able to overwhelm her quickly if they were careful.

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

It was a good feeling, the scrapes of fire against the armor of the body. The sort of damage he felt, and Shikaku took, was a reminder of the skill of his enemy. This kind of asymmetrical warfare was what excited Asher. Team Miharu had numbers, so Team Suckit(as Asher felt they should be named) had to compensate by being creative.

The Malifarian finally raised his shield to relieve his body armor of Mani's assault, and from behind it's cover, he switched Plasma Gun, to Plasma Cutter. From it exuded the five meter length of ship-grade damage potential. With that he swiped up at her. His bright and shiny weapon, along with it's range, was meant to keep her attention and her distance.

"I got her! Start sprayin', or start prayin'!" declared Asher to the second team, in what seemed like a response to Kyou as well.