1552/Attack on Boston

Attack on Boston
Date of Scene:	11 February 2015
Location:	Boston-666
Synopsis:	Kongou, reverted to Ko-Class by her earlier sinking, is turned against her former allies in a gamble by Samar. With the aid of his Union allies, Psyber is forced to fight against Confederate and Abyssal forces to get his friend back.
Cast of Characters:	2, 253, 342, 385, 494, Riva Banari, 546, Ayako Hasekawa, Wo, 637, 653, Nagato, Shigure, 710

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Samar (494) has posed:
    Thick clouds shield Boston-666 from the light of the dimming sun and cast down a thick blanket of snow over the city. A chill wind rolls through the city streets, blowing the snow into flurries that pile and pile on every rooftop and sidewalk and blotting out the distant ocean into little more than a grey wall. The ocean spray cast into the air by the waves lapping against the port of Boston is even more frigid than the biting wind, but the cold is less of a concern than the waves themselves. They're strong, more so than one would expect even with this wind. Each wave crashes against the docks like a punch from a giant; something out there is moving below the waves, and it's big.

    The coast guard would likely be alerted to something by the time it comes into view far out at sea. The water swells up in a dome that grows taller and taller before breaking, shattering into a cold spray that cascades down the form of the rising dark shape. And it keeps ascending, higher and higher: a massive head whose mouth glares with crimson light; broad shoulders mounted with triple turrets; muscular arms supporting the titanic shape of flesh and metal when it finally settles into standing on the ocean's surface as if it were solid ground. It's difficult to make out any details from the shore, but the creature is easily six hundred feet tall, maybe more. Its mouth opens, casting that crimson light out through the thick weather like a baleful lighthouse, and it lets out a foghorn-like trumpet that echoes across the city's rooftops in warning, challenge, and pride. If the coast guard weren't already on high alert from the massive form looming off the shore, that would be more than enough to get the attention of the entire city.

    Samar lies draped on the back of her gigantic symbiote, her own humanoid body only a couple hundred feet shorter than that of the mechanical /thing/ bristling with muscles and cannons. A tube connects them, moving from the back of the metal brace on her neck to the chest of the creature. She smiles with self-satisfied pride; the creature rumbles, ichor dripping from between its teeth and falling to turn the ocean below it to steam. Now just to see who answers her challenge.

    She already has her own allies, too; she casts a glance of her red eyes toward them and addresses them in a ghostly, reverberating tone. "They'll be responding soon, I think. Be prepared to face whatever Psyber has in store for us. We'll see if he's really as capable of holding up against the Abyssal Fleet as he thinks."

Sindragosa (653) has posed:
    A frost-rimed shadow passes across the harbor's waters. Cold, rushing wind gusts along with it, keening like a wailing ghost as it whistles past the horrible, tattered wings bearing yet another monstrosity toward the city.

    Fog and a pale blue fire gusts from her fanged maw at every breath. An aged patina stains her bared bones almost black where they stick through the frail remains of her flesh. Where she should have eyes and a snarling visage, she instead has the sunken pits of a gruesome, spiked skull lit from within by yet more icy flame, the whole weight of her immense head born down by a crown of heavy, twisting horns. She lashes the sky with a long, bony tail like a tool for flagellation.

    Where she flies, the winter air is stirred into a snow-laced tempest.

    Sindragosa.

    In response to Samar's clarion call, the great Queen of the Frostbrood releases her own terrible cry. Her roar is a defiant, hateful, discordant shriek. As she bellows, her ribs stretch wide, and the necrotic flames giving life to her colossal form all burn brighter, as if stoked to new intensity by her battlecry. Though the sky is dark, the light she radiates reveals her swift approach, and the course she takes toward the harbor's famous skyline. One snapping backwing later, and she draws up into a sudden hovering halt.

    A heavy thud, and the crunch of glass and stone, and she coils herself atop Harbor Tower I, claiming its roof like she would a throne. Her jagged claws carve deep gashes into the building's surface, and shatter many of the windows. She mantles her wings like a hawk protecting its prey, and roars again -- this time breathing a fountain of freezing ice shards into the air along with her condemnation.

    "COME! DEFY ME! PERISH BEFORE ME!" Her voice is distinctly feminine, but haughty and cruel, and there are bestial growls accompanying the echoing words.

Ri (710) has posed:
ENEMIES.

The flagship of the Ri-class heavy cruisers, simply called 'Ri', is here at the behest of her admiral. She has no knowledge of what Boston is or means, beyond it being the harbor of the enemies. Though she kind of feels like she should, at least a little. But all thought is put aside. All feelings are put aside. Orders from her admiral have wiped confusion from her mind.

And the a black mass, like a floating carpet of rotten moss, floats in a relatively short distance behind Samar. A mass that rises up out of the waves with a rumbling sound possibly missed thanks to the bellow of the Abyssal Admiral's symbiote. Briny water cascades down a giant head, from shortish black hair, slicked down against dead-white skin. Glowing golden light radiates from the yellow rings of her eyes, set upon a background of black as dark as the abyssal depths themselves. Her expression is emotionless. No confusion, no rage, none of her berserker tendencies showing. They might make an appearance once battle is joined, but for now, she is under control.

The rest of her body continues to rise, up, up, up. She as a huge black cable plugged into the back of her neck, and other harnesses linking her two a huge pair of bio-mechanical monsters like someone turned sharks into gauntlets, took away their eyes, but supplemented them with heavy artillery. These two constructs are bound to Ri's arms. For the rest of her, there is not much armor to speak of. She has boots on her feet, fully capable of standing upon the waves, but as the giant rises up to her full 610 foot height, it does not seem she feels inclined to guard herself with heavy plates and frivolities like 'pants'.

She can probably tank cannon fire with her face. Who needs armor?

She responds to the commands offered with a simple, silent, telepathic, <<Yes, Admiral.>>

Individual thought isn't necessary. All that is needed is that she obey, and struggle against the insanity that continues to claw at her mind. That... And to destroy the enemies.

Kongou (637) has posed:
    Some Abyssals lack the cataclysm-invoking intimidation of the Leviathan Form. One such Abyssal is nonetheless a valuable member of the arsenal. A white patch forms on the surface a few hundred meters from the explosive arrival of the Battleship Princess. This soon reveals itself to be hair, as the head rises from it, parted around mangled black radar masts. Also parted around a hollow face with sunken, glowing yellow eyes, this hair quickly dries as the woman it belongs to gradually rises out of the water until she stands upon its surface.

    To either side, from a mount affixed to her back, rises two armor-covered monstrous heads resembling dragons or, perhaps, moray eels. Mouths filled with mismatched teeth part in low growls, foam escaping between their teeth. One head remains low, jaws parted and extending the rusted muzzles of three cannons, while the other lifts up enough for the woman they're attached to to rest a hand formed from crimson bone on the flattened snout.

    "...This place," she murmurs hesitantly, "...Cold." Leaning back, empty yellow eyes lift to the clouded sky, "...Light. ...Surface." Why the Princess demanded her presence here escapes the Abyssal Fast Battleship Ko-Class. The location confuses her. As she grows confused, the maiden's eyes narrow and her jaw shakes. Recovering from it, she tears her gaze from the sky and settles a more furious expression on the shoreline.

    "Sink."

    Rather than skate like normal, Ko simply stalks forward with slow, unsteady steps.

Wo has posed:
    With far less flash than her leader's, a smaller shape also emerges from the depths, at first appearing to be a bulbous jellyfish with glowing portals atop it, giving the semblance of eyes. Similar to the radiant areas of Samar's symbiote, some manner of light beacons out of the opening, though the nature of the glow obscures what must be further inside, causing it. Moments later, the young-appearing woman it is attached to, being worn like a hat by, also comes into view, the black cape secured around her neck flapping like it was the Abssal battle ensign as she makes full steam forward, her boots skimming across the surface of the water in what some might consider terrible weather. The day of the operation had arrived, and the Wo-class carrier - or at least, the one most commonly encountered by the multiverse's denizens - appears focused.

    Not that there weren't some misgivings, odd words, misunderstandings, over the intervening days. Why must they place their newly returned sister into such a compromising position? In a worst case, they would be delivering her right into the arms of those that wrested her away the first time. But, there was also wisdom in this action. To test the willpower of the enemy, and of allowing the Ko-class fast abyssal battleship to realize for herself where she truly belongs - with the forces of the deep. More than anything else, though, there is the unwavering idea that Samar has all of their best interests at heart. She certainly isn't the kind to perform an operation like this as a personal vanity project.

    With that resolved in her mind, she casts her amber eyes through the haze, cutting through it as she lifts her staff in a black gloved hand. With this, the eyes of her hat blaze brighter, as its mouth gapes in a silent scream, more dark shapes issuing out from the cauldron inside it - ones that rapidly expand into meter-wide abyssal fighters. They fly ahead of her personal formation, making way for the very earliest of streets where they soar far above. Instead of dropping ordinance, though..a common enough sight in the old days. From the screams of the jets, flyers float down, dampened by the snow, and the general gist of the treatise in 1940s period font: If any civilians value their lives, they should evacuate to shelter now. Because it's about to get real.

    "..the one..kindness. ..I will, perform today," she echoes, coldly. "I won't..fail.. This time."

Nox (546) has posed:
    Now there's certainly an impressive sight. The Abyssal Fleet's entrance may be the flashiest Nox has ever seen, and Boston itself is likely the largest city he's laid eyes upon as well. From the first second into the operation, his attention is captivated by the sight unfolding, despite the patently awful weather. His own entry is decidedly understated compared to everyone else, making the spatial leap from home base to the shores of Boston with the use of pre-gathered coordinates, teleporting to a point roughly a hundred meters or so above the water, and a little further out from the shore. He is almost impossible to see in the snowstorm for anyone at that distance, save for perhaps a tiny blue glow from the ports in his armour. He's charged up his batteries to their maximum for today in order to prepare for heavy combat.

    "Oh I certainly look forward to it." he replies. "I think everyone else might be just as excited, if I am to judge." He folds his arms behind his back, waiting for the first signs of resistance.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber is a faster responder than people expect. This is partially because he was expecting this attack for a couple days now and had been preparing to counter it. A news chopper, flying high over the city, abruptly has the outer paneling fall off to reveal that it's actually a scout helicopter. The massive, bellowing sound from the symbiote shakes the rooftops and rattles windows through the city. The vehicle in the air shudders and wobbles.

    The Coast Guard peppers, or at least attempts to pepper, the emerging Abyssal Forces with cannon fire. It's stinging, but probably not enough to do more than draw ire or be annoying. Along the harbor, which is slightly deserted for a Wednesday afternoon, is being expertly evacuated of civilians. Braver members of law enforcement and the Paranormal Response Teams are rolling up and trying to guide people where they can, prepared to defend their city to the death if need be. They're not going to let Wo's courteous allowance of civilian evacuation go to waste.

    The ground forces are sent into a scatter as Sindragosa lands on one of the Harbor Towers. The massive construction of steel and glass creaks and her coiling around it sends glass and stone scattering to the street below. The people inside are all treated to an icy chill and forced to get towards the center of the building and away from windows to avoid her movements. Her mighty roar flows out over the harbor, causing smaller icebergs to appear in the waters around the coastline, as well as floating sheets of ice atop the water. A snowy city is made even colder by her presence.

    But let's go back to that helicopter in the air. Psyber is leaning out one side of it, coat fluttering and flapping in the high-altitude winds and the movements of the circling aircraft. Psyber is shouting to the pilot, "ALRIGHT. WHEN I JUMP OUT, AND I WILL EVENTUALYL TO HEAD FOR MY TARGET, YOU GO HOME. Don't stick around!" Psyber calls to the man, who gives him a thumbs up.

    The half-angel is dressed almost entirely normally, wearing his coat and shirt with slacks. Guns holstered at his side, the whole shebang. The only difference in his outfit is that in stark contrast to his normally dark-colored attire, a bright white admiral's hat rests atop his head, being held there by his free hand so it doesn't blow off in the winds. For now, the half-angel is sticking to the skies and observing, waiting for the moment. The pieces were still lining up. He's calling out orders into his radio, "I need ship response in the harbor and ground forces to cover. We also NEED that goddamn dragon engaged. It cannot run rampant in the city. We haven't had a dragon problem since fucking 1872 and I'm not allowing this shit to escalate too much. Nearly lost half the city to that Fire. If she gets into the city, she could do some serious damage. Any of them could. Call your targets, move to intercept. Don't be afraid to shout for backup if you need it."

    It's once the Ko-class emerges that Psyber finally waves his hand out. The helicopter banks in the air and then goes in low over the harbor like a swift sparrow. The pilot is good, able to navigate the even icier winds now that Sindragosa is here, though sheets and coats of ice now hang to the outside of the air vehicle.

    During that low swoop, Psyber hops out the side and lands on one of those huge, floating pieces of ice that Sindragosa's breath made earlier in this pose. The force of his landing sends it skimming across the water like a shot, skipping and bouncing as he crouches and holds on. It looks like it's heading towards Ko-Class.

Nozomi Houken (342) has posed:
    They've been expecting this attack for some time. A strike by the former Kongou, on whatever she held most dear. A way to cement her nature. Nozomi has planned the entire time to be present, to help. Pysber told them outright they're not going to be destroying the Ko-class, so she's there intending to send Taiga out for battle on his own, but...

    "...there's so many," Nozomi murmurs. Taiga is quiet, for the moment. "...w-we have to," she says, as if to convince herself. "If Psyber orders us..." The mechatiger finally responds, "I believe it will be sufficient." The schoolgirl nods her head quietly.

    "Disengaging Independent Mode. Rerouting Gensou Engine power to motive and combat systems. Rampart Mode engaged."

    An armored warrior in black and yellow erupts into the sky, hurtling as expected straight towards the harbor. The cold eyes of the TIGER's user are locked right on the Ko-class in the distance, intending to go for the 'heart', for the person she knows is the source of this attack. Destroy morale. Rout the enemy, end things quickly and effeciently.

    She stops dead in mid-air when orders come through, her brow furrowing in frustration. In front of her eyes, a holographic display appears. Targeting priorities are altered; one icon displays as bright red, one a duller purple. Nozomi looks between the Ko-class contact and the mark designating Sindragosa, and with a last silent frown, turns and hurtles into the sky.

    If nothing else, the undead dragon is a supernatural threat. That's what Rampart Mode is for.

    The first warning Sindragosa will have of the armored girl's approach is a small volley of yellow energy shots, a blend of particle blast and magical shot, unleashed from the skyline. Nozomi herself comes hurtling in right behind them, her gaze positively frigid.

Shigure has posed:
    Kuma was waiting in the lee of the harbour. She'd approached under cover to lay in wait. As the bellow of the Battleship Princess rings out, and Sindragossa's roar causes ice to form on the harbour, Kuma steels herself. "Shigure, make sure they can't escape, kuma... Fleet command goes to you." she transmits to her support ships out beyond visual range. She looks out over the edge of her cover, spotting those baleful, glowing eyes. "Ri-class... lets do this, kuma!"

    The little cruiser-girl pushes off the harbour wall, and hits the water skating. She rounds the barrier and tenses her entire body which begins to glow brilliantly. She's encapsulated within a sphere of white light, which bursts outwards as the form of the Kuma-class light cruiser soars forth at a slight angle, crashing down into the water with enough force to partly submerge the bow deck before bouyancy takes over. She sets course to intercept the towering monster of the Ri-class, turning to present her broadside, the turrets arrayed along her length traverse, elevate, then fire a stacatto of six shells. "Kuma engaging the Ri-class, kuma!"

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    It's cold! But Ayako loves the cold and loves it when there's water everywhere! The plentiful snow, cloudy sky, and flurries have made Ayako more cheerful than usual! The water spirit was cheerfully flying around in the skies above Boston, enjoying the weather when that terrifying bellow echoed throughout the city.

    "Eeep!" The water spirit dressed as a witch suddenly pulls back on her broomstick to stop it as she quickly looks in the direction of the sound. "I... well. I guess Psyber was right. Something wicked this way comes." She grins as she yanks the stick of the broom in the direction of the harber. "Then~. Let's go my broom!" A bright giggle, and a burst of mist from the broom's brush sends her off in the direction of the harbor.

    "Gray skies and flurries in the air~" Why yes, Ayako is singing cheerfully as she's flying. "Spread water and love everywhere~!" She continues to sing cheerfully as she makes her way over to the harbor.

    Once she's nearing the harbor, she blinks her eyes quickly as she tries to pick out the... unpleasent shapes in the water. Ayako nods her head once and then suddenly dives straight into the ocean! No splash. Not even a ripple. Immersed in herself, she can move incredibly quickly, and so she gets into position underwater, ready to help!

    "Radio if you need support! I'm ready to go!" Her amber gaze turns upwards as she raises an arm upwards. "Water Bubble!" And a bubble of water forms around her allies for just a moment, and then fades away.

    Like always, Water Bubble isn't much of a barrier. It only slows incoming attacks a negligible amount, but without casting it, Ayako's other barriers won't work! At the very least, it's difficult to destroy and uses very little magical energy.

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    Few situations require Homura to be pre-emptively ready. The reason for this is pretty obvious, but the short of it is that when you have time on your side there's not really such a thing as a hurry. She wouldn't mind going a step further and having a certain troll's disposition towards completely discarding the temporal context of hapennings, but that's likely completely out of her reach. Her powers go a different route, sadly.

    But that is why she can shift gears so quickly, putting the homework away. Having been in the HoH tower at the time, working on research for a small paper (unfortunately those are becoming more common, and will probably become more and more so in the next years), it's pretty easy to look out the window, sigh, and then get to work.

    By which we mean that there's a fairly long period of unseen time-- well, unseen, except by one person-- which Homura uses to stuff books and papers in a corner, outfit up, and hop onto the roof of the tower.

    Battleships, dragons... they sure came in force.

    The Puella Magi stands on the edge of the roof, glancing towards the harbor. Guess she'll have to pitch in. She produces her bow out of thin air, the large black weapon's magical string pulled back to create arrows of light. From her perch she unleashes a barrage of pink-purple light arrows towards-- Sindragosa as well, apparently, since Psyber seems to mind her so much. The arrows aren't especially threatening though, but given the range Homura is firing from, she's surprisingly accurate if anything.

Nagato has posed:
    Kitted out, the land-fit Admiral Battleship gives a brief nod. "Atago, fleet command is yours. Meet up with Isuzu and Chitose. Barricade the escape." Nagato gives one more nod as she skates from the harbor, the ice that covers the harbor and the sea making it a bit difficult to move in, she charges through, breaking the ice with each skating motion. When that bubble encapsulates her, and the understanding from an ally she continues with eyes locked on the Battleship Princess. Samar.

    "Admiral, engaging the Battleship Princess, my only request is that you sink the Ko-Class and recover the body." the four turret mounts swivel into place, pointing forwards and at Samar, the admiral's eyes and resolve steeled, a lot is at stake here already. A city, her Admiral and Kongou. "Sink your target, Nagato. You'll do this." skating through the rest of the ice and back into cold ocean, she thrusts an arm forward, the blast of eight 41cm barrels flash in the low light, sending armor peircing shells at the Battleship Princess, even if she's a large being. "Almost enough room to use it..."

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva isn't going to take this situation lying down.

She also can't take it swimming, though. Not like this. And certainly not carrying the thing she's using for the operation.

But that doesn't mean she can't still support. With a clattering, atop another building Riva kneels, sighting down a long tube as she aims it into the air. "Bee-1, fox-2! FIRE!" Riva calls out.

A moment later, a screaming rocket whips through the air towards the massive ice dragon. Who knows? It might actually hit!

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
It's been a while since Yuna headed into a fight primarily of her own volition; the mission where she met Iji was an 'assignment' from Elner, and the recovery of the Dragon Ball from that canyon was less of a planned fight and more of a scramble to grab it and get out. But Yuna likes the Fleet Maidens she's met, and while she hasn't really met Kongou or her 'sisters' from that world yet, knowing that a girl who's been on the side of good has somehow gotten 'lost' to the other side just isn't something that she can turn away from.

That's why Yuna declared her readiness to help Psyber and his allies recover Kongou; 'trying' isn't even a factor - she's going to do everything she can to help save a friend of her allies.

Yuna is reminding herself of that as Marina of the Sea combines with Yuna's Light Suit, giving the blonde quasi-paladin magical girl armor which looks very much like a mermaid in design. As soon as the transformation to Marine Form is complete, a spring of the tail and a twist in the air carry Yuna from dry dockside ground into the water, and from there she swims out to meet the Abyssals. Her allies are already calling their targets; Elner identifies one for Yuna, and she calls her target as per Psyber's orders, swimming out to get in the way of the Wo-class Abyssal ...

Samar (494) has posed:
    Cannon fire crashes against the grey flesh and black metal hide of Samar's symbiote, bursting on impact in relatively small blasts. The creature's maw opens again to release another bellow, but it seems to be more one of anger than pain; the cannons of the coast guard leave marks against the lumbering abomination's body, but not much else. This must be why the Fleet Daughters are needed in their world, if the leader of the Abyssals is so incredibly resiliant.

    Samar's expression turns into a slight frown as she looks toward the humans on the shore. "Really," she sighs, gently caressing the metal cranium of the beast she's connected to. "Do they think they can intrude on our matters so easily? We should show them the depths of their mistake."

    The various cannons along the lower body of the creature swivel toward shore with the rumbling grind of turrets on tracks. Hardly a moment passes before it opens fire with those many smaller cannons, launching them toward the docks. It's more of a warning shot than a direct attack: the charges detonate powerfully in the water near the shore, blasting up towering columns of water and ice and rocking the docks with kinetic force, but only one actually explodes against the docks themselves. Samar laughs, musical yet brimming with cruel satisfaction.

    There's not much time for her to savor the moment, though, because more capable reinforcements are quick to arrive. Her various allies are already under attack, but the Battleship Princess narrows her eyes toward Psyber first. The giant triple turrets on her symbiote's shoulders swivel down to follow her gaze, tracing his skating path along the ocean's surface...

    But before she can fire, her symbiote is struck by an array of much more powerful explosions against its chest. Black armor twists and cracks. The creature bellows its foghorn-voice again and staggers back over the ocean's surface, its massive hands sending up gouts of spray as they crash down and return its balance. Samar's expression twists into a grimace that quickly turns to Nagato. "Of course..."

    The creature of metal and flesh steadies itself and turns toward the approaching Fleet Daughter. Every turret swivels on its tracks to aim for her, as well, before Samar's vicious grin bares her teeth again. "Nagato," she shouts, "I was /hoping/ I'd run into you here! Our first little traitor...how long has it been since you turned on your sisters?"

    The air fills with smoke and a rumbling report as three of those main turrets fire their heavy shells straight at Nagato.

Nox (546) has posed:
    There is one person who is aware of those few minutes that pass completely unseen by the others. A xelor is always sensitive to the innate ryhthm of time, and the best of them can sense fluctuations in the steady tick-tock of the universe. It doesn't quite take a genius level wielder of Xelor's magic in order to understand that something had happened when Homura had stopped time, but the senses granted to Nox by the Eliacube, boosted well beyond what is normally possible for any xelor, are sharp enough to make an educated guess on exactly /what/ had happened. Though visibility is exceptionally poor in the snow, he isn't relying on light to see, instead reading the flow and density of ambient energy, looking to where it collects to mark out targets. The one that suddenly appears on a roof in less than a blink of an eye all but confirms his suspicions. The shields over the lenses of his helmet close halfway together, as it to express that suspicion with the narrowing of his eyes.

    Nox winks out of existence with an electronic chirp that is lost in the howling of the ice and wind, the steady churning of the waves, the scream of engines, and the thunder of cannon fire, reappearing close enough to Homura that she alone can hear the sound in reverse. He seems to be content to wait just outside of her line of fire, hands still together behind his back. "Good evening madame." he says in an incredibly facetious tone, tinged with the metallic reverb of his mask. "When you have a moment, I'd like to have a chat about that most particular kind of magic you seem to be using." His voice suddenly turns serious. "I suggest you take the offer now. My time is precious."

Ri (710) has posed:
...Isn't that dragon the one from that pokemon islands place? Not to be racist or anything, but skeletal dragons blazing with icy magic all look the same to her! A helicopter is incoming, and some guy seems to be challenging their newly-rescued sister. Ko-class will take care of him, Ri is sure. There are so many enemies appearing. If not for Samar and Wo, Ri likely would have just started shooting wildly at all of them at once, missing all of them as well probably. It's amazing what having the Admiral here does for her. How it gives her something to focus on. But then Ri is under attack!

The pelting of fire from the shore may not be terrible damaging, but it is definitely an attack! Upon HER! And also her sisters, which is double-unacceptable! She raises her huge shark-gauntlets, freezing water sluicing down their smooth exteriors, and all the little channels formed along their jaws. Ri obtains permission to begin shore bombardment, and so those jaws drop open with an ominous mechanical shift. Cannons are exposed within, as gruesome double-rows of teeth lie open and waiting - either to bite down or to launch their barrage of terrible fire into the city.

But then Kuma appears, and while her glow is highly-noticeable, the threat she poses significant, if not for her orders to engage Elites before attacking the city, she would have single-mindedly focused on shelling the civilian targets. But she has different orders. And being blasts by shells from the Kuma-class light cruiser is more than enough incentive to change targets. She turns her head away slightly as explosions tear across her giant body painfully.

Even in Leviathan Mode, cannon fire still HURTS.

She is displeased with feeling pain. But though she wishes to sink Kuma, the words of her Admiral instill a new emotion in her as well. 'Sink her, Ri. It'll be good to have /her/ back, too.' Now she feels an obligation alongside her anger and fear. An obligation to rescue Kuma, and bring her back to their side. Yes, she still wants to destroy the ship girl. But she also wants to save her.

And those twin desires, destruction and salvation, seamlessly merge in her still-fragmented mind, so recently ascended from total madness. It makes sense to her somehow. To save you must destroy.

She lowers the trajectory of her shark gauntlets, and she opens fire with her cannons, even as she starts to skim forward slowly across the choppy grey waters, getting closer to her target. *BOOMBOOMBOOM* go the cannons. <<It's... Okay, Kuma.>> Ri sends, even knowing that Kuma won't hear it. Not yet. <<I'm here to... Rescue you. So... Drown!>>

And maybe, just maybe, the Admiral will rescue the traitorous Nagato as well, and they can all be together again.

Sindragosa (653) has posed:
    Projectiles fly at Sindragosa from two directions. The first salvo -- a scattering of yellow bolts reeking of magic and power -- skim along her massive flank and blister new holes into her fragile-seeming wings. The second salvo -- a streaking array of pink arrows -- stings at her opposite side, piercing through her tarnished, rotted scales to expose the roiling furnace inside her torso. Neither assault is more than an insult to something as /big/ as Sindragosa, but both certainly earn her attention. The great dragon's neck swings left and right in a serpentine motion, and her head cocks to consider both her likely prey.

    She tucks her wings in close against her sides, unfurls her tail from its tight coil around the skyscraper's uppermost levels, and pitches her entire mass down into a steep dive toward the streets below.

    Just as her bulk begins its descent, a plume of smoke erupts high atop Sindragosa's bristling crown. There is a loud snap and a furious snarl as one of her larger horns breaks off under the rocket's explosive impact. It's more insult than injury, to be sure, but it's still a depletion of Sindragosa's body and essence. If Riva's luck holds out, hits like that will add up quickly.

    Though she is a skeleton held together by rage as well as magic, though something her size has no right to be anything close to 'nimble', she is a surprisingly capable and agile flyer. Long before the streets are any danger, she snaps open her wings to turn her steep dive into a swift soaring. There is hardly enough space for her to maneuver between the buildings -- even down the broadest avenues -- but she twists however she must to navigate the tight terrain.

    Sindragosa doesn't fly very far away from her enemies, of course. She is not one to retreat from a challenge, and besides, she is far too new to the Multiverse to understand how great a threat Nozomi, Homura, and Riva together represent. Arrogance draws her into the fray as much as her anger.

    Pumping her wings once drives Sindragosa briefly above the rooftops to a level altitude with the oncoming Nozomi. She twists mid-air, folding her wings to permit a corkscrewing action, and releases a gusty, frosty breath all around, not only to make Nozomi's flying conditions difficult, but to potentially freeze the schoolgirl in her armor. Temperatures within Sindragosa's breath attack go way, way below zero.

    As she does this, the great dragon careens toward Riva's perch, too. Sindragosa doesn't quite sight Riva well enough to make a direct attack, but as with Nozomi, she's able to wreak a generalized havoc which may still catch Riva in its midst. The dragon rakes her claws across the roof she thinks contains Riva as she flies overhead it. Before she passes by, her tail delivers a final, crushing blow, shaking the building to its foundations.

    After this, she twists again to try and track down Homura, but she is unable to get a bead on this third and final target. It's just as well; it looks like Nox has Homura well in hand.

Kongou (637) has posed:
    The slow steps of the Abyssal Fast Battleship slow further until she comes to a stop, eyes drawn upward by the distinctive rumble of a helicopter overhead. Eyes locked on the aircraft, she lowers her head with a teeth-bared growl. In response, the eel-like heads of her mutilated fit-out raise, teeth parting in roars that sound like metal grinding against more metal. The various smaller guns attached around the head on either side swivel forward, opening fire.

    It's a testament to the pilot's skill that he avoids the incoming flak after dropping Psyber off, though the harrowing escape of shells bursting in air around his vehicle is a story he'll be telling for years to come. He might even have the scratches on the chopper to prove it.

    Surrounded by smoke, Ko-Class steps forward again, kicking an ice floe aside as she emerges into full view of the half-angel approaching her. The woman pauses, planting her stance and spreading her arms out in a threatening gesture. Behind her, the dragon-like heads of her fit-out rear back, unleashing their roars while disgorging the muzzles of the Abyssal battleship's main battery amidst a spray of spittle and foam.

    "...Surface-dweller," her voice is hollow, angry, "...Sink."

    A heartbeat later, that main battery opens fire with reports that rattle bones. Though armor-penetrating rounds aren't the best to use against soft targets like ice--she hasn't had an opportunity to change her shell type.

Wo has posed:
    While they might have appeared threatening during their lightning course over the streets nearest the bay, the abyssal fighters would serve no real purpose there, after dropping the leaflets. It would be pointless to strafe civilian targets after that, and their cannons wouldn't deal enough damage to structures to matter. Their business there finished, then, they make their way through the overcast back out to sea, where their floating base awaits. Small-ish targets to begin with, relative to full scale aircraft, and with the cover of the weather, they aren't bothered much by any anti-air the coast guard might have been mounting, slipping through... Unfortunately, that same advantage also means they couldn't really do much scouting, as they're operating mostly on instruments and innate, abyssal communication, here. In their case, it takes the form of a buzzing and an occassional burst of static, barely audible over the roar of their turbines.

    The coast guard's fire, for perhaps similar reason, isn't much more than a nuisance to the carrier. Wo at times raises an arm as if to brace against an incoming round, but the presence of the far more conspicuous and intimidating symbiote of Samar perhaps helps focus their efforts elsewhere, sparing her the indignity of having to do much dodging about. Instead, she looks almost stately and aloof as she continues her advance, both hands clasped atop the rusted chunk of metal, fashioned into something that for all the world looks like a wizard's staff. Right as she's about to recall her fighters completely and move to launch something more damaging, though, something catches her eye through the haze. Mostly because it practically appears right in front of her. A humanoid shape, though from this distance she could be forgiven for assuming she's seeing things, since the shape fits the old mariner tales of mermaids. Still working on that multiverse nonsense thought allowance thing.

    Regardless of what it is, though, it is apparently and purposefully moving on an intercept course, and with her jets already in the air, it provides a target of opportunity, if not the best one. A hand raises from its resting place, and the planes once again hiss and drone between each other, as though acknowledging an unspoken order, diving towards Yuna while the chainsaw-like rip of their cannons spinning up soon joins the cacophony that accompanies them. "Don't know..who you are.. ..but - if you, are with him.. ..I'm sinking you," she states with a dead-focused calm, and a light reverb. Her voice, obviously strained to articulate her words, but finding them where it counts. Samar and Ri-class, she has the utmost expectation will hold their own, but she can momentarily be seen to avert her eyes over to where the Ko-class is doing battle with her former 'Admiral'.

    While she doesn't want to surrender her sister to them again, she's nonetheless interested in what happens, regardless of the outcome. Hopefully that distraction won't affect her effectiveness.

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    Teleportation?

    Homura's senses are just keen enough to turn around-- unfortunately that ends her barrage on Sindragosa, but then again, the arrows weren't that threatening to start with. But you know how ranged DPS goes-- if you leave them alone too long it'll add up. Not the case here.

    Probably for the best, since the magical girl has no particular desire to tank a dragon's wrath tonight. She has a paper to finish and that would make it a pain.

    "That is not a matter I wish to discuss. If you are that interested in generic magical arrows and bows, then--"

    Time stops. The dull grey tone the world takes mutes most sounds, halting the flow of battle. Homura lets an arrow loose towards Nox, simple blunt force in magical arrow form.

    Then she would try to run around, and let another arrow loose in a perfect pincer-- that's when, normally, she would unpause things to finish her line and completely feign the nature of her powers, thinking Nox meant the arrows.

    But that's unlikely to be how it goes.

Shigure has posed:
    Towers of water plume up around the Light Cruiser, rocking her with the concussive waves, until one shell strikes just behind her smoke stacks, wrecking the catapult. "Tch... Evasive maneuvers, kuma!" her voice echoing hollowly through her 'body'. She can feel the pain of the ruined parts, as the lattice support falls from the deck into the water, sinking rapidly away. "I can't keep trading cannon fire, she's got bigger guns than I do..." she muses to herself, tilling port to take a wide swing around Ri's position. "Must get closer, to use torpedoes." she 'nods' to herself, tilling starboard and clicking up to Flank speed, rushing in closer to Ri, before hauling hard to port again. The torpedo 'turrets' on her port side traverse out, and spit four long tubes into the water, which bubble away rapidly towards their target.

Nox (546) has posed:
    Nox has something to say in response to Homura as she does him the courtesy of giving him her attention. In the midst of proverbially taking a break however, time stops once again, leaving him in the same muted grey tones as the rest of the world around the puella magic. Her own, private, inviolable little world, into which nobody can see or hear. The world she has spent a huge portion of her life in, all alone with all the time in the world to think, act, and prepare.

    That isn't the case today. Shortly after the second arrow is fired, both hovering mere inches away from the xelor's chest and back, Nox slowly regains colour, fading into prominence against the bleached backdrop, where he lets out a echoing sigh, as if just retrieving the breath he expended trying to talk. He slowly turns in place to face Homura, hovering down gently from between where the two arrows are set to converge, formulating another set of words to replace those that had gone unspoken.

    "No, if I wanted to see magical arrows then I would speak to a Cra. This, however, is far more interesting. To the best of my knowledge, I am, or rather was, the only one who can completely stop the flow of time." It certainly is something to think about. The first time he had been caught unprepared, but the second time, he had taken advantage of the temporal disturbance to let himself drift along in its wake, shifting sideways in the timeline along with Homura.

    "I think you will find this was a very bad day to come out to fight, madamoiselle." Snapping one arm up from behind his back, he levels one palm towards Homura, opening a glowing blue circle that seems to actually go into his hand. An elongated bolt of cyan energy bursts from his palm, streaking through the air towards Homura, fast enough and at a close enough range that it should hit her before it comes to a halt like her arrows had.

Nozomi Houken (342) has posed:
    Frigid air blasts and buffets the black-armored girl that is Nozomi, and though she utters a silent hiss of pain and frost forms on her forward-facing armor plates, the sheer magical protection the TIGER provides means that she also doesn't even slow down one bit. As Sindragosa twists and banks up, the armored girl follows without skipping a beat.

    More of those yellow energy blasts follow, the techno-magical girl raising her left gauntlet to do so without dropping her grip on her blade with the right. They are just the precursor, it's true, but the shots are dangerous in their own right, coming from an armor designed to hunt magical threats. But she only uses those to catch her enemy offguard, to try and hobble Sindragosa's maneuvering, while she closes in for the true hit.

    And the instant she comes in reach, Nozomi whips her blade around herself and pours on the thrust to lunge forward. That tremendous blade, nearly as long as Nozomi is tall, swings around the armored warrior one last time before she takes a proper slash at the skeletal dragon. And the EM Zanbatou is no simple piece of technology; magic runs through its blade, energizing its strike, enabling it to cut through supernatural defenses so keenly that it can even strike hostile spirits. And on top of that, the swing is augmented in sheer force by a set of thrusters, pushing it beyond what even Rampart Mode's already-impressive strength can manage.

    It is, in short, a blade that is very well-designed for slaying dragons.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    The pilot wobbles and adjusts in the air, taking a couple flak shells that cause him to pull away. He's done for the day, due to the smoke pouring from his aircraft. He's going to be grounded for a while.

    Psyber is a sitting duck in the water for those dragon cannons. And he leaps off of it and onto a second chunk of ice as her shots tear up his former platform. Where he was standing just a moment ago is turned into ice cubes and water, exploding. Shards of ice are caught by the water bubble Ayako put around him, giving him some protecting.

    "Shit that was close," Psyber remarks as he keeps a hand on the hat he's wearing. He squints his eyes shut and exhales, "If I go into the water around here, I'm in trouble."

    He made a tactical error coming into the water, but that's all he can be doing at this point. As his NEW piece of ice skips across the water, Psyber shouts, "SO IS THIS WHAT YOU'VE BECOME?" He screams.

    He's not opening fire on her yet, instead trying to get right into eyeline with that hat SHE gave him, "When we first met, you told me you remembered. Is this what you WANT to be, Kongou?"

Nagato has posed:
    Nagato winces at the word 'traitor', "I'm not a traitor, I just found myself admist the dark." she states plainly, "Don't ever... say I was a traitor you poisonous woman." as shells rain down on the Admiralship. One hits its mark, the resulting explosion creating a massive plume of smoke around Nagato's location, the other two splashing in the water with equally powerful explosions. Nagato's gaze is fixated on Samar, her turrets still trained on the leviathan-mode woman. "I'm going to sink you... and your entire fleet for taking my fleet away from me and attacking here."

    Nagato skates off, the turrets spinning and leveling off before another loud bang, eight more shells firing right off towards Samar from blackened turrets, the Admiral heading off towards the west, looking for some room. "Not yet..." she mutters, "Not enough room and distance." she bites her lip, shaking her head. "I'm going to rescue Kongou... and we're going to put an end to this war."

Ri (710) has posed:
Oh! Oh, good! Kuma is coming closer! Just as Ri is heading to meet her! That will make things easier! ...For both of them. And actually also probably harder for both of them as well. See, just those torpedos detonate beneath Ri causing her to stagger and suffer damage throughout her structure, she was also reaching out with those great big gauntlets of hers, bending forward when she is rocked and thrown off-balance. This causes her to close the distance much more quickly than intended, but she still intended to do so regardless.

...Though preferably without the smoke now trailing from her boots and the pain radiating through her legs, or the water churning and bubbling around her. Why was she trying to get in close?

One of those shark gauntlets attempts to BITE DOWN on Kuma's Ocean fitout form with incredible, crushing force. And then fire its cannons directly INTO her if that attack succeeds. But hey, good news!

Ri is off-balance and becoming somewhat confused and frightened by the damage she has suffered! That means she won't be thinking quite as clearly in the near future or have the same capacity to try tactics like she just did! ...Which also probably means she'll be going berserk, but at least she'll be easier to take down in such a state?

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    A lack of paying attention, or maybe it's just a lack of expecting a difference, leaves Homura fairly baffled when Nox moves, and speaks. Is he shaking it off? No, this is much worse. He confirms her firms by explaining it himself. Unlike her it seems that he makes no secret of his trade. The two bright purple arrows remain pointed at one another behind Nox, faded out like everything else already.

    "I see. How unexpected."

    She knew she wasn't the only one out there; there's the troll, and the masked assassin man. To some degree, Samael counts. Guess there's a fifth now, but Nox is closer to her specialty if he's being honest he's the only other one she's met too.

    The energy blast slams into Homura, sending her tumbling back several feet on the roof and dropping her bow, which disappears in a flicker of magic. The scorch mark on her clothes indicates they're at least protecting her, but that still hurt. A bad day to come out and fight, indeed.

    "I still have no desire to discuss this. Least of all with a man whose name and goal I don't even know," she finally answers, before time resumes its pace. The two arrows collide behind Nox, exploding outright in an extremely bright flash of pink link. Though not directly harmful to him, the flash might give her the second she needs.

    A pitch black sword appears in her hand from thin air, and she tries swinging the Regisword for one of Nox's shoulders. Wicked and pointed, the chess-motif sword is surprisingly sharp, although it's dulled by the fact she doesn't seem like a trained swordsman.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Somewhere overhead - far enough up as to escape notice, unless somebody is actively searching for it and KNOWS what they're looking for - a tiny little robo-faerie observes the developing battle. Elner of Wisdom is here, as so often is the case, to watch over Yuna, and to help ensure her safety if she loses her fight. /Remember, Yuna,/ Elner transmits over the sort-of-telepathic link that connects the robo-faerie with the Savior of Light, /the Abyssals are harbingers of death. Don't expect the Wo-class to show any mercy./

Yuna grimaces a bit at Elner's transmission. /I know,/ she responds - and then bullets begin striking the water, and with a squeak of startlement, she dives and twists through the water, trying to avoid being strafed by the spectral fighters. Despite her attempts to dodge, some of those bullets still find their mark, brief little flares visible where they impact her armor and its protective field. Yuna was uneasy enough already; between Elner's reminder and the ghostly-looking Wo-class's response to her approach, there's only one thing that keeps her from simply freaking out and bolting.

They have a friend to save.

Sucking in a breath from her armor's air supply, Yuna answers the 'dead' carrier girl, "I'm Yuna Kagurazaka, a friend of Psyber's - and I should hope that makes me Kongou's friend as well! And if I can't persuade you to back off -" The long, straight 'pigtails' hanging off of her armor's helmet suddenly pivot forward, pointing towards Wo. "- then I can at least stop you from hurting any of my allies!" finishes Yuna, a salvo of miniature torpedoes launching from the 'pigtails ends and racing through the water towards the carrier.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako blinks her eyes as she hears the Ko-Class' growl and words. Sound travels better underwater, after all. She frowns to herself for a moment as she thinks. "I don't like this Kongou. There's no <love>! There's just anger!"

    In a brief moment, she swiftly moves through the water and pokes her witch hat and head out from the water's surface by Psyber. "If you go into the water around here, you'll be fine!" Ayako giggles softly and then gestures at Psyber. "Sea's Depth Floor Barrier!" And the sea's water suddenly swirls about Psyber to help shield him!

    Sea's Depth Floor Barrier is a bit different from the normal Sea's Depth Barrier! It still slows incoming attacks significantly and increases the raw strength of outgoing attacks. However, it also provides solid footing on ocean water, letting the bottoms of Psyber's feet push off the water as if it were solid! Unfortunately, because of this effect, the shield is stronger from the bottom and weaker on top, but those are the breaks!

Nox (546) has posed:
    "Oh? How unusual. Normally none of your kind are concerned with either my name or my goal. By now it's usually heroic speeches and utterances of defiance. How /very/ interesting." If Homura weren't already something well out of the ordinary, she certainly is now. The xelor barely seems to notice as time unsticks itself, though he winces slightly from the explosive flash that takes place right above him, holding one hand over his eyes as if squinting into the sun. That certainly gives Homura that time she needs to draw her sword and launch her counterattack, but just centimeters short of hitting Nox, time stops again.

    This time it isn't her doing.

    Nox chuckles at the sight of his handiwork, gently brushing Homura's sword off course with his shoulder. "Ahaha! Just in time I see. You're quick, I'll give you that." Unlike Homura's magic, the world remains in full colour. Nox's version of timestopping is a little different from hers. She can see and hear what little there is to perceive in a motionless world, but in exchange, Nox's attacks won't stop for her while she's paralyzed.

    Secure in the knowledge that she can't stop time while it's /already/ stopped, Nox takes the time to summon his own sword, letting the interlocking gear teeth scramble into assembly and the clock hand point flash into existence at the end of the straight blade. "For what little it matters, I am called Nox, and my goal is . . . well, I will give you a hint. A few years from now, you won't remember any of this ever happening. Nothing today will have mattered. With that in mind, you shouldn't have any regrets." Speech concluded, Nox swings his own sword down on Homura's opposite shoulder, however . . .

Kongou (637) has posed:
    Bathed in smoke from her battery's report, Ko-class whirls in place. Dragon-like kit fittings sweep aside, one dipping low while the other remains arced high. She steps forward, feet splashing across the water's cold surface and emerging from the gunsmoke again partly due to wind and due to her approach.

    "...Become..." that hollow voice echoes. The woman's colorless face is filled with the same contempt that consumes the Ri-class heavy cruiser just a few hundred meters away. Deep-seated hatred with no clear outlet.

    With a rattling sound, one red-stained skeletal hand reaches forward, fingers spreading. Taking the cue, her gun-equipped snake heads lean forward with grinding snarls, their interiors clicking as the guns are reloaded one by one.

    Golden eyes widen, her outspread fingers twitch, and she hesitates. Very slowly, the ghastly woman murmurs, "...Mem..o..ry..."

    Her eyes are fixed on the hat. It's plain to see something is conflicting deep down, something struggling, clawing towards the surface. Her outstretched hand quivers, a rattling going through the hideous fit-out attached to the base of her spine.

    After a very notable hesitation, Ko seems to come back to herself. Those eyes narrow at the distance, then shift to focus on Psyber more directly. Perhaps furious and confused by what just happened, she lets out a wordless shout and opens fire a second time. However, the shots are poorly aimed, going wide in a spread of high explosives that hurl up plumes of water everywhere except where she was aiming at. Hands shaking, she starts skating forward, a slow but increasing speed while the small arms on her fitting swivel into position.

Riva Banari has posed:
The explosion is satisfying to Riva. She fistpumps in the air as she sees the rocket hit, even if the damage was minimal. SHE'S HELPING!

The problem is now the dragon wants to rip her apart. "OH CRAP!" She yells, seeing the dragon breathe ice all over the place. She ducks out of the way to make sure an errant blast doesn't freeze her into a Rivasicle, but that doesh't help when the massive dragon smashes down upon the top of the building. The AC unit she was hiding behind goes flying, sending Riva with it in a single blow. She screams in surprise and pain. How can anything be that strong? She doesn't get long to reflect upon it before she impacts the roof, sent tumbling quickly to hit the wall around the edge. She groans there for a moment, her vision clearing a bit in the frosty air to see...

"DOUBLE CRAP!" The tail hammers home, and the building shakes from the impact. When Sindragosa passes, Riva is gone.

Gone from the building, that is. The Tamplar clings to the massive tail, attempting to pull herself up and along the bony back. With a sweep of her hand, she produces the massive Glabadosian cross that Faruja had gifted her, and that she had modified into something akin to a sledgehammer.

More importantly, it has one more thing. The Hammer surges with Anima as Riva slams it towards Sindragosa's back, trying to use the curved edges to hook into the bony back. "HELLO LADY!" Riva yells into the frozen wind. "DON'T MIND ME!"

Samar (494) has posed:
    "/Poisonous/?" Samar scoffs at that, a sound echoed by the mechanical growl of her symbiote that sounds more like a ship's engine rumbling to life. "Is that what you call someone who welcomed you and cared for you? Who found a direction for all your /hatred/ and /anger/? Don't forget what you were, Nagato."

    Large waves roll through the water as the massive symbiote steps forward on hands like small houses, lumbering toward Nagato and keeping its attention fixated on the skating Fleet Daughter. Black ichor and crimson steam pour from between its teeth like a drooling predator. It's prepared somewhat for that next volley, though only enough to lurch to one side to let a few of them sail past its massive bulk. Five still find their mark, crashing against black armor with tremendous explosions, and the symbiote seems about to lose its balance. The creature lurches, but leans back quickly to shove its momentum forward as it gives chase to Nagato. "Maybe you just forgot what the humans /did/ to you," Samar shouts, her red eyes burning from her perch. "Maybe I need to remind you of all that, if you're going to call /me/ the enemy!"

    Suddenly, the symbiote hurls one arm out. Longer than a city block, its bulky limb stretches over Nagato as its hand spreads wide. Without its balance, the creature lurches forward, but that's intended: that gigantic hand is in the perfect position to come smashing down on top of Nagato to slam her against the surface of the water.

    Psyber's shouting doesn't go unnoticed during the cacophony of battle, however. As her symbiote attacks, Samar jerks her head to glare at the half-angel, red eyes narrowing into threatening slits. So that's how he's going to do it, then...

Sindragosa (653) has posed:
    Charging into short range introduces Nozomi to another peril quite natural to Sindragosa. The dracolich radiates a breath-stealing cold; in order to deliver her blow, Nozomi shall have to power through and resist that aura, not just Sindragosa's breath. It's not a powerful enough force to truly repel a determined warrior, but the effect can still be detrimental, if Nozomi chooses to stay at close range for the totality of the brawl. Hypothermia and frostbite are not magical effects, even if the cold itself is a byproduct of a magical creation.

    How good can her armor hold up against long-term exposure?

    Sindragosa banks in an instinctive reaction to Nozomi's energy blasts. Herded into perfect precision, Sindragosa is left open to the wicked slash imparted by EM Zanbatou's magical edge. A long gash limned by blue embers appears between her shoulders. Thorny, ivory verterbrae are exposed as Sindragosa's rotted flesh and aged scales peel away from the wound. Another gout of blue flame spurts out in place of blood -- forced out by Sindragosa's pained roar -- and as if propelled by the fire's expulsion, Sindragosa plunges down into another steep dive.

    What Nozomi may notice shooting up her arm is a strangely enhanced reverberation stemming from her sword's vibration. The magic strengthening the weapon is pushed back by Sindragosa's natural defenses. It's not a very painful effect, but the backlash is still noteworthy enough. The stronger the hit, the stronger the reverberation. This is a minor warning that magic may be a folly weapon to wield against the likes of this dragon...

    Sindragosa comes to an abrupt skidding stop in the middle of the well-trafficked streets. Her tail, claws, and buffeting wings sweep the vehicles out of her path with ease. Grounded, she whips around like a cobra to face Nozomi -- and to draw in a deep, powerful breath. Her wings flare. Her ribs strain. Her chest swells.

    An incredible gust of ice-lanced wind shall force Nozomi into Sindragosa's melee range, if Nozomi pursues. The effect of Sindragosa's ICY GRIP is all but irresisible; moreso, as Nozomi is flighted. But, if she is a particularly strong flyer...

    "THE ICY WINDS OF NORTHREND SHALL SMASH YOU INTO QUIVERING RUIN! I WILL BREAK YOU. I WILL SHATTER YOU UNTIL NOTHING REMAINS OF YOU! COME, HERO -- COME AND MEET YOUR DOOOOOOOOOOM!"

    Sindragosa cleaves at Nozomi with her bared claws.

    That is whenever the pesky passenger, Riva Banari, makes herself known...and felt. What Nozomi may have seen -- and what Sindragosa did not notice -- is the girl clambering into a dangerous strike position.

    The frostwyrm releases another loud rasping hiss of pain, and swings her head around to snap at Riva like she might a flea. As with the wounds already incurred, Sindragosa does not bleed. Bones crunch, and blue fire lances outward, and pain shudders through her form, but it is difficult to define how much trouble Sindragosa may be in if she can't knock Riva off her back.

    "CURSE YOU! You insolent little insect --- ggggrrrrrah!"

    At least she's distracted.

Shigure has posed:
    The problem with getting close. Those gauntlets are likely more dangerous than any Long Lance. The unstable nature of that lunge probably saves Kuma from being bitten in half, but she still loses a smoke stack and part of her forward bridge, metal rending with that banshee's scream as it's torn from her. "Ouch ouch... bad idea, kuma!" she chides herself, but from that range, her turrets traverse again, angling up and unleashing another stacatto of six shells, right up into Ri's midsection. "Don't you dare underestimate me, kuma!"

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber is able to step off the ice patch and into the water thanks to Ayako, "Right. Thanks. Even with my physiology, freezing water can be a bad time," He says seriously, rolling his neck and shoulders as he brings a hand up to shield from the splashes of water left by her shots into the water.

    "I will not become a memory. I'm going to get you your memory back," Psyber says, finally taking a shaking step off the ice patch and towards Kongou. WHen Samar glares at him, he turns to glare back at her. Red eyes lock with hers and he meets her gaze. If the Abyssals want to talk to him about not understanding, then he will understand them.

    "I'm not walking away from this one," Psyber says, marching in counter to Kongou's skating. The icy harbor winds kick up his hair and coat, and he has to keep a hand firmly on that hat as he stares at the Ko-class while heading straight in towards her.

    This pacifistic stance he's taken does leave him wide open to any attacks from external Abyssal intervention, since he's openly unarmed and on a one-track mission, "You sank. So I'm here. If you need to drag me to the depths to feel better, then do it," He holds out his hand to Kongou.

    "A Captain goes down with his ship."

    This entire plan is brazen, somewhat stupid, and could easily horribly backfire.

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    Time stops. It isn't Homura's fault, and it's actually strong enough it holds her still. But it's also different-- she can see and hear, she just can't move. Nox pushes the sword aside like it's nothing, and she struggles to work the magic out in her brain. There's no reason she shouldn't be able to do the same thing he did-- how often she does it with others, joining them in their stops, when working together. But the masked man's wasn't strong enough to hold her in place, so this is still new.

    "You are overconfident, then!"

    Said the pot to the kettle. Homura's body is wrapped in purple light, if only for an instant, and she wrestles herself free of the effect just in time to change her heading-- still headed past Nox, but the Regisword crashes into his sword instead of him, knocking it away. Homura tumbles, rolls and stands back up an instant later behind the man, frowning.

    "Looks like it works both ways. Yours is different. I would call it cruel, compared to mine. Akemi Homura. I'd say nice to meet you, but it isn't really." In one hand the Regisword, in another an uzi. The SMG is aimed at Nox, and she starts unloading immediatly. "I can only think of one context in which time magic results in a lack of memories-- the road you walk isn't one that can succeed!"

    It would be a lie to say she knows his plans already. Her deduction, at the moment, is that he's looking to do some form of looping, but on a fairly ridiculous scale if he figures it'll affect offworlders.

    If an opening presents itself, she'll go for another slash-- presumably while Nox is busy avoiding machine gun fire. But that's a big if.

Wo has posed:
    Somewhat ironically, this Wo-class might be more inclined to show mercy than some of her sisters. Of course, such things cannot be read easily, especially when she uses words such as those -- this isn't some social call, after all. With the distance effectively closed to visible range, now, it's somewhat comforting to her sensibilities that her eyes weren't seeing a mirage: It's not a mermaid, but it is a girl in aquatic armor that vaguely resembles it. This might be out of her normal range of expertise, but as she reaches up to pull her hat lower over her piercing, golden eyes -- you know what they say, everything is weak against bullet elemental.

    The rounds coming from the drones might be of a caliber suited to targets of Yuna's size, but the impact is intense. Thankfully for her sake, they're more designed to combat other fighters to achieve air superiority, than attacking armored surface targets. Finishing their attack, they pull back up into the air, and begin making their way back to their carrier. A carrier that is suddenly a moving target again, as she's sadly forced to take evasive maneuvers. The torpedoes are of a make she's never seen before, unsurprisingly, and she slides somewhat tentatively in a semicircle owing to that unfamiliarity with their velocity. Perhaps, a bit too conservatively, as one strays a little bit too close and detonates at her feet. Right at the waterline, if she were still in her old, more familiar body.

    She had been maintaining eye contact throughout the maneuver, but this renders her momentarily off-balance, not unlike the pitching of a struck ship. In the resulting chaos, one of the four jets returning misses the mark of where it was intending to 'land', ricocheting off the side of her hat and crashing into the water with the combination of a wet, fleshy sound and of a metallic clunk somewhere beneath. As if the concept of a ship zombie needed any more physical proof to Yuna. The others fly into its open, toothed maw and seem to become..digested, in whatever that pulsating, glowing mass of what-the-hell is that can briefly be seen. The throaty roar of their turbines is quelled, but soon replaced by that of a second wing that will likely soon be replacing them. While still regaining her sea footing and awaiting the launch, she also proves she's got more than planes.

    The turrets on either side of her hat aren't just for show, it turns out. She suddenly raises her head at Yuna with a subtly angered expression, but still under control of herself for the time being. The ends of the barrels glow red, level, and then fire off two scarlet beams each. A concentrated form of her and her sister's anguish. The dreaded sadness laser. After the shot, she climbs back to her feet, "You - know nothing..of us.. She..belongs.. ..with us!"

Nagato has posed:
    "That hatred and anger was misplaced and unwarranted. I was WRONG to have those emotions at the people who built me!" Nagato scowls and launches a hastily aimed set of shells towards Samar, with the aim level of someone slightly better than Fubuki. "I know what they did to me, Battleship Princess. I know how they held me..." unfocused, that arm does hit its mark, sending Nagato into the water and under with a heavy splash, the waves from the impact spill forth from her location.

    Under the water Nagato's eyes close, reflecting on that past of hers. That Ra-Class she was, everything she's done towards the humans who made her. she shakes her head, pushing off under water to resurface a bit a ways from that arm. "I am not going to sink before you, I will not turn on my allies, the Union... the Union is my home now and you will not change it!"

    She fires off another burst of shells towards Samar and with a radio message, she prepares for something else. "I'll show you the might of the Big Seven. And what it means to be a Flagship!"

Kongou (637) has posed:
    "...Cap...tain..." Ko-class' skating slows to a stop again. Golden eyes wander to the hat again, those skeletal hands shaking with a noisy, metallic clattering sound. A murky image surfaces in her mind of a man in a white uniform, surrounded by the unrelenting sea. She shakes her head violently, hurling that image back into the black depths of her memory that it had bubbled up from. Furious eyes lock on the half-angel again, close enough that she could reach out and take his hand.

    "...Ko," she states dimly. Those eyes widen again. As if moving without her knowledge, her hand lifts, reaching. Another memory surfaces, fiery and hot. The pain in her side, the hole ripped through her by an American torpedo. The men swarming from below decks, into the lifeboats.

    Leaving her behind.

         Abandoning her.

    Catching herself reaching for Psyber's hand, Ko's eyes snap from wide to narrow slits, "...Left.. Behind..!" She wrenches her hand back. From her hip, one of the snakeheads snaps forward with its maw wide open. The other follows through, though keeps its mouth shut in more of a ramming headbutt with its pitted cranial plate. Furious, Ko's hollow voice echoes, "..I .. will not be left..! ..Not to sink.. again..!"

Nox (546) has posed:
    If Nox could look atonished with that mask over his face, he certainly would right now. He had figured Homura's power for an innate gift, rather than something that involved any innate understandings of the workings of temporal mechanics. It doesn't seem as if she's simply overpowered the effect, but slipped her timeline into his as well. He withholds the urge to declare something like that impossible. /Anything/ seems possible in the multiverse now. "Perhaps a little." he admits. "It is relatively difficult to overestimate someone when they can't move. Normally I would be /very/ interested in seeing how our . . . versions, compare and contrast. I'd think it would be very educational. As it stands however, I have no particular care for the cruelty of my methods. Whatever I do will cease to matter in the end. You may not believe me, but I am very certain of my eventual success."

    Seeing as Homura can move as well, Nox drops the timestopped effect rather than wasting energy, allowing the sparks from the clash of swords to spray into the air. Holding out his free hand as Homura produces the SMG, he lets off a faint pulse of blueish discolouration into the air, into which the bullets fly, and immediately halt, caught in localized stasis. His palm flashes with another charge of magic, but Homura is a little too quick, forcing him to catch the regisword on the edge of his arm with a metallic clang and a spout of embers as the armour covering it cracks and falls to pieces.

    "How very annoying." he states simply, teleporting from the spot and fizzling back into Homura's way as her slash carries past him. Another temporal distortion goes out the moment he reappears, catching her in place long enough for him to wind up. He fully expects her to break out, but the momentary freeze while she breaks the effect is enough to launch a quick succession of blows; one to repulse her guard, another aimed at her side, and then one carrying across her midsection to her opposite shoulder. Unlike her, he appears to be fairly skilled with his blade.

Nozomi Houken (342) has posed:
    Though it possesses no true 'environmental sealing', the TIGER was designed with the climate of Japan fully in mind; the cold is deeply uncomfortable, seeping in even through the suit, but it's much less a problem than it would be in simple metal armor. And more importantly, Nozomi in this form refuses to let up even in times when her body is screaming at her. The explosive burst of blue flame is the first thing to batter the armored girl out of range, and while she follows right along after the skeletal dragon, that proves to her detriment as well, as the girl struggles and strains against the potent Icy Grip, only to be hauled in no matter how hard her thrusters strain. Even now, however, she utters no sound, not one reply, not even as she hurtles right into the claws of the dragon.

    And that is where Sindragosa's claws, pardon the pun, stop cold.

    Make no mistake, they've made contact. The tips of her claws have reached the armor, jabbing into bare skin and piercing through black hull to draw blood from beneath. But the girl in black armor has planted her feet on the ground, brought up the EM Zanbatou, and on the sheer strength of the TIGER unit, stopped Sindragosa's forelimb even though it be as large as she herself.

    For a moment, the yellow eyes of the girl wearing the armor look straight into Sindragosa's, giving the dragon a chance to realize one mistake she's made. Those aren't the eyes of a 'hero'. There is no outrage in them. No fear, no fury. Merely a calm, ruthless killing intent. Though her body may radiate heat, Nozomi's eyes in that moment are as cold as Sindragosa herself. They're the eyes of a killing machine in human shape.

    And in the next heartbeat, Nozomi turns the EM Zanbatou, and as if in answer to the unspoken challenge of the undead dragon's magic repulsion, she floods her blade with energy, kicks on the thrusters and swings /harder/, trying nothing less than to cleave Sindragosa's bony claws right off her forelimb.

Ri (710) has posed:
There's no way to avoid those shots at that range. She takes a direct hit - a critical one, in fact - right to her bare belly. ...Maybe some armor would have been good after all. Pain tears through her, leaving her clothing somewhat ragged, and smoke streaming from the blackened flesh on her torso. She manages to get back up into a stable position, but just straightening up sends agony through her. Her mind flashes back to when she first sank. The hole in her belly when she was still in her original ship form. The hole that seemed like it was trying to suck in the whole ocean, making her go down, down into the depths. Panic starts to set in, as she begins to go into a frenzy.

But the Admiral's words on the radio bring her back. She's still hurt, still afraid of drowning again. But for now, her attention is back on the battle, and on her target. Her eyes lose their golden hue, becoming concentrated blue with almost cat-like irises. Her gaze is as focused as a laser beam. And speaking of lasers, as snow flurries around them all, chaos raging across the sea and the land and in mid-air and on building tops, the damaged Ri-class flagship points both gauntlets at Kuma, with golden light already emanating from within. At this range, missing is unlikely. The cannon in each bio-mechanical maw glows with a brilliant and yet menacing radiance.

And then Ri finally utters her first spoken words in this battle so far - at least outside of the radio.

She speaks, and her voices carries thanks to her giant size as she says, "Don't worry... Kuma. You'll be... Coming home... Soon. I won't leave... One of my sisters... To suffer." Then the cannons fire out concentrated beams of golden energy. They burn like the regrets of watching those who dependend on you suffer and die while you could do nothing but watch, suffer the same fate, in fear, pain, and despair.

They burn with all the Abyssal sisters lost because simply THINKING well enough to protect them had been stripped away, and emptiness when you realized you were alone again.

They also burn like lasers.

Samar (494) has posed:
    Samar's gaze doesn't falter from Psyber's when he meets her. Let him return her glare; it'll just embed all her own resentment and spite even deeper, especially with Nagato helping fuel it. That ship just won't give in, will she?

    Fortunately for Psyber, for the moment, Samar is distracted by the volleys of cannon fire being launched at her. The first wave strikes with more hull-breaching explosions, creating holes in the symbiote's metal armor that billow with smoke. In the moment Samar has after Nagato is struck, she curls the beast's fingers and rakes its hand back through the water, digging furrows into the water that crash back together in its wake. Samar's teeth are bared; her voice drips with spite. "Misplaced? /Misplaced/? How is wrath against the ones who treated you like a /target/ misplaced? After you survived all that, to put you up so they could just send you back down to join all your sisters again?"

    This time, the creature is ready. Samar's symbiote lifts its arm as Nagato opens fire again, the volleys exploding along muscles like iron and skin like steel. They leave marks, of course, burning and ripping flesh without a trace of blood, but at least it's not a direct hit. That arm comes crashing down again as Samar lifts herself up on her own arms on the symbiote's back, looming high above Nagato. "And I'll tear you apart piece by piece, you /petulent/ little girl!"

    The symbiote's mouth opens, but not to roar. Its throat glows a brighter crimson as if Hell itself burned in its stomach, glaring brighter and bright. Ichor practically pours from between its teeth and drools down its chin, billowing up steam when it impacts with the cold ocean. The symbiote rears back...

    ...and fires all six main cannons on its shoulders right at Nagato as it lurches its head to the side, aimed right for Psyber.

    A blazing column of crimson light bursts forth from the symbiote's gaping mouth. Hatred, pain, sorrow, vengeance; they all fuel its incredible power in a single gigantic beam. The greatest Abyssal's suffering is aimed right for Psyber in an attack that sends the ocean around him roiling if it hits, burning right through the water in its path of ceaseless destruction.

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    Homura watches carefully as the bullets stop; so he can do it more localized too. At least her sword hits something solid, even if it's only armor. So this man has no body under those bandages and armor? If Cirra's to be believed, anyway. He seems to act and move like a human enough, for a goo monster. Better not make assumptions with that knowledge.

    She recoils from the sword strike against the armor, rather than push her luck in melee combat. It turns out not to matter-- that teleportation, she can't do anything about. It doesn't seem to be time magic, or if it is it's different enough it's completely out of her field. Nox reappears and stops time again. Now that she's actually used to it, it'll only take a couple of seconds to break free, but that's a couple of seconds he can use to batter her if he likes.

    The first two strikes are met with her own blade as she breaks free and regains the ability to move, but the last cuts from waist to shoulder, drawing a streak of red through her clothes. It might not have cut her in half, but it stands out. The injury is, very, very slowly regenerating, too. Faster than a human would-- slower than a regenerator, though. Just enough she won't bleed to death.

    "I'm sure you would find that interesting. But I don't lend even indirect aid to those who might misuse it. You are about to find me much more annoying than you already do!"

    Her turn.

    If it takes a couple of seconds to break free, then stopping time a couple of seconds at a time should still kind of work. She suspects overexposure will lead to further hardening, but it's too good an advantage to pass up.

    Time stops.
    Homura empties the uzi's clip, throws it aside.
    Time resumes. She strafes to the right.

    Time stops.
    Homura's Regisword is replaced by Tyrfing in a bolt of lightning, which then arcs off the sword towards Nox, halting a few feet from him.
    Time resumes.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Fortunately for Yuna's composure, she doesn't get a really good look at how Wo's fighters 'land' only to be devoured by Wo's hat-symbiote, or whatever it is. That would definitely have put her off her feed.

Unfortunately, the beams Wo fires off from her turrets bracket Yuna *perfectly*, so even if she HAD seen the fighters getting nommed for recycling, she wouldn't have had much time to dwell on it before her world turned into a whole hell of a lot of PAIN. Externally, Yuna's scream is pretty well drowned out by the lasers' own noise and the sounds of impact, plus cavitation as their force drives her violently backwards through the water - and even when the beams cease, she's still curled up and shuddering too hard to right herself in the water.

And it may not even be entirely Yuna's own shuddering that wracks her; if Wo's gaze can pierce the harbor's surface like her beams did, she'd be rewarded by the sight of Yuna's Marine Form armor crackling all over with arcs of green-gold energy, its very circuitry convulsing from the nearly catastrophic overload of the Light Suit's defensive aura.

Far above the harbor, Elner is as close to panic as it's come in countless years. /Yuna!! Yuna, respond! Are you all right?! YUNA!!!/

But Yuna can't answer. At first, it's simply because of the raw, overwhelming pain that those beams brought with their impact; fear comes close behind the pain, choking her voice even as she starts to regain it. But the fear doesn't last either - Yuna forces herself to breathe in, then out, and reminds herself what's at stake: not just protecting Psyber's home city of Boston, but rescuing Kongou.

The sparking subsides, and Yuna straightens herself out, willing the Matrix Divider to appear in her hands as she begins swimming towards the Wo-class Abyssal carrier again. "You're right," she calls out, "or at least you were ... but I know that Kongou's friends are fighting to bring her back! Even if I don't know Kongou personally, I can't turn my back on my friends - and I *WANT* to get to know Kongou! I want to be her friend too, and I don't want to let Psyber and the others down!!"

This time, Yuna is zigging back and forth as she approaches Wo, watching out for more of those lasers and trying to be as difficult a target as she possibly can. And this time, when Yuna attacks, it's not torpedoes but a focused beam of radiant power, laced through with holy energy - the power of the Queen of Light, channeled through Yuna's primary weapon.

Shigure has posed:
    Kuma's eyes would go wide as those lasers power up. She guns her engines, trying to get clear... but one golden beam smashes into her side, searing metal and punching a glowing hole clear through her superstructure. A cry of agony tears out from the ship, before it dissolves into motes of light, leaving Kuma the girl kneeling, half sunk in the water.

    The second laser, fired a moment late, strikes water, filling the are with the burnt smell of ozone and seared salt. "Kuma... isn't going... anywhere... WITH YOU!" she roars defiantly. Two Torpedoes form in her outstretched hands, the cruiser-girl miniscule by comparison to her opponent now. "Kuma will make you sorry you UNDERESTIMATED HER, KUMA!"

    With a defiant, wordless shout, she hurls the torpedoes into the water at Ri, followed by another series of shots from the single turret on her land-fitout. She's 'bleeding' smoke, and the superstructure backpack sports a glowing hole from the laser, fires licking at parts of her uniform.

Nox (546) has posed:
    "Oh I don't expect you would. Don't worry though. I'll be sure to find out one way or another! Ahahaha-" the thoroughly amused, perhaps slightly unhinged laughter is cut short by another timestop, still seeming to have at least enough effect on him to last until Homura ceases maintaining her spell. The laugher doesn't resume as time does, as Nox is instead caught up in a hailstorm of clattering and clanging as thirty odd bullets impact him simultaneously, throwing sparks and metal chips off his belt, chestplate, mask and arms, punching dents and cracks all over the metal in rows of little craters. Snarling in irritation, he rounds on Homura and takes a ready stance just as she timestops for the second time, frozen before the lightning of Tyrfing.

    As according to her estimate, the xelor is getting better at tuning into her frequency. A mere split second before the ligtning impacts him, so close that arcs of electricity crawl over his armour, Nox vanishes from the spot, teleporting with unbelievable speed and precision as though it were the simplest spell in the world. He arrives directly in Homura's path, firing off another timestop and extending his palm to fire off a rapid spray of energy bolts in a staggered cone around her, aimed to make it near impossible to dodge. Using the same tactic as her, he lets the effect end before he estimates she'll be able to move, and then teleports again to leave her line of sight, using a second timestop to catch her from the side, and then fire a sweeping beam of roiling blue-white fire from the tip of his sword, cutting through the cloud of projectiles as they descend upon her all at once in a curtain barrage.

Riva Banari has posed:
YOU IS NOT PREPARED.

SHUT UP, ILLIDAN.

Regardless, Riva is in fact not prepared to deal with the frozen aurao f Sindragosa. The chilling effect seeps into her body, the cold threatening to overwhelm her even as her natural Anima attempts to battle against it.

The result is fairly unpleasant as she struggles to keep a grip as Sindragosa flies here and there. Her cries are losti nthe wind and Sindragosa's own voice as she hits the ground and goes into melee with Nozomi, and the impact causes her to lose her grip, scrabbling as the hammer rotates, swinging outward from its lodged position. Good news: Riva catches it with a desperate grab.

The bad news: This beings her face to face with Sindragosa, and BOY IS SHE ANGRY. Riva pales, and not just from the lack of blood going to her extremities, as the mighty dragoness bellows her anger and snaps at Riva. Riva yells, swinging one way as the teeth scythe past her, ripping her clothes. A second time, she swings the other way, This one doesn't go so well, as the teeth bite into her, causing a painful gash in her flesh. Riva is knocked away with a yell, and she falls towards the ground at high speed, trailing freezing blood in the air.

Frigid hands grip ofr something, anything that can save her....

And her hands grasp the rocket launcher. "... Well, it works in the games." She muttere, before she points the launches straight down and fires.

The detonation sends hr flying back upwards, trailing flames. "THIS WAS THE WORST IDEA EVERRRRRR!" Riva yells in pain as she flies right back towards the dragoness, attempting to catch her midflight once more!

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako glances in the direction of Samar and then gulps nervously when she notes... That Look that is being given to Psyber as he talks to Kongou. She sinks back below the ocean's surface. In a moment, she moves underwater to circle Psyber; ready to shield him from there.

    And it's a good thing she did. That massive blazing column of crimson light that suddenly bursts forth wouldn't give her much time to react! She can't let Psyber be interupted! Kongou came back, even if it was just for a moment. He just needs more time! She suddenly thrusts both of her arms upwards. A magic circle lights up into existance underneath, drawn from her circling Psyber. "I won't let you interfere! Eleven Dimensional Crossed Boundary Barrier!"

    Eleven Dimensional Crossed Boundary Barrier, a rarely used barrier when Ayako is not looking spirit-like. As it's name suggests, eleven barriers layered and crossed, each made to slow down and weaken anything that tries to go through! Her primary defensive barrier she uses when things are looking really bad!

    The glistening, multi-faceted water barrier is oriented to defend Psyber from the crimson column of light!

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    Bullets work. That's good, at least. Opens up a lot of options. Sadly, seconds-long delay is still too short combined with Nox's ability to teleport. This is a thing she can't do, putting her at a pretty clear disadvantage overall. Frozen in place again, Homura can't react quickly enough to stop the first barrage. The small shots might not be that big a deal on their own, but added up like this, the scorch marks that go through her outfit and burn her skin underneath are multiplying rapidly. Not to mention that she's knocked back by the impacts, and then frozen again.

    This time she manages to free herself a second earlier, just enough to swing her own blade. What she lacks of swordsmanship she can make up for in raw power, at least as far as Tyrfing is concerned. The blade launches several lightning bolts, impacting with Nox's beam. Though she can't stop it, it gives her just enough room to dash to the side, much to the chagrin of the rooftop.

    This leaves the two to face one another, with no effects on the field for a short moment. Homura circles around-- if Nox will allow it, she's looking to make a full 90 degrees around him, from the position she fought the swordbeam from.

    "Like you said earlier, heroes tend to be more inclined to make speeches than trying to understand who they are fighting. I prefer to understand. And I understand you to have a dangerous disregard for lives and consequences, knowing you can fix it later. I was like that. I don't recommend sticking to it."

    On the other hand it's worked for Nox for the last, what, two centuries? It's not like a teenager is going to convince him to go good overnight.

    The words are ultimately a distraction though. Time loops, and the lightning bolts that were fired earlier to push the swordbeam back repeat themselves-- but this time there's not a swordbeam between them and Nox. All the while Homura points the tip of the blade at Nox, and lets loose a wider, arcing cone of electricity, to incite Nox to block it rather than dodge. It does look far too spread out to be that dangerous.

Nagato has posed:
    "Because I realized, after all the times I was sunk being under YOUR command, that my anger was not in its right! That's how it's misplaced! I'm sure they came to try to save me when I was sinking!" ... Nagato holds still a bit, did they really try? It's a bit hazy, she doesn't remember it well and that momentary stutter in thought... the shells land right on top of Nagato, blasting chunks from her recently repaired superstructure. The smoke from the impact billowing out from the woman.

    She isn't sure they were coming to save her, but she can't falter here right now, especially with important matters being attended to. She shakes her head and concentrates, back in the fight Nagato... She skates forward, out of the billowing smoke, two of her four turrets look to be twisted and broken and bits and peices of superstructure are missing while cuts cause smoke and 'oil' to leak from the Admiral's body. "I'm not going to let you win. Face me you coward!"

    The two remaining turrets she has focus and fire, the muzzle flash bright once more as she reloads to let a second volley at the Battleship Princess. "I am your target, 'Princess'. Your TRAITOR is defying you!"

Psyber (253) has posed:
    WHA-POW!

    Psyber gets hit in the face with a Snakehead made of armor. Psyber wasn't expecting it, and so it connects cleanly with his face, slamming into his nose and causing a huge spray of blood and a telltale cracking noise. Psyber staggers backwards about half a dozen steps from the impact, somehow scrambling for purchase on the surface of the water as his head snaps backwards.

    When he looks towards her again, he squints a bit. His voice also comes out slightly more stuffed up, "Owth." He notes, blood pouring down the front of his face from his broken nose, "Thath wath painfuh." He notes, rubbing at his face a bit. Both hands come up to pop the nose back into place, but it's still bleeding pretty copiously.

    "I didn't leave you behind. You went out alone and got attacked," Psyber says pretty seriously. He wants to adjust the askew hat on his head, but he can't. He'd risk dirtying it with the blood on his hands. So he flicks his head a bit to try to fix it, "Against all better judgment, you were isolated and attacked."

    It's some pretty harsh words for her, "Where was your escort? Where was my chance to help you?" He glares a bit flicking his hands a bit so blood falls in the icy water around him, "If anyone was left behind, it was me. YOU abandoned M-"

    Psyber is cut off as a massive ray of lasers is sent right towards him. Fortunately, he's spared the Lion's Share of damage. Whatever does manage to get through Ayako's incredibly sturdy barrier hits Psyber square on. What at one point would have been a devastating attack is weatherable, if unpleasant. Psyber staggers back several steps in the water, immediately turning his back to the laser blast and enduring it. When it dies off, Psyber slowly stands up again. His jacket is scorched and falling off of him in flaming pieces of fabric.

    "Fine," Psyber says in a hard tone. The reason he turned his back to the blast was to protect, of all things, the hat from Kongou. He slowly places it back on his head, only now it's got bloody, smeared fingerprints on it, as well as a couple scorch marks. Nothing as bad as Psyber himself, though. His entire upper body is covered in scorch marks. Centered on his back are two vertical scars, from shoulderblade to hip. And in the center is a different scar, glowing faintly blue. He's burned and bleeding in a few places, though the blood almost instantly freezes against his body in the cold winter air.

    "I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry that it has to be this way, Kongou," Psyber notes in a distant tone, slowly flexing his muscles. He adjusts his stance on the water. Almost everything about his posture and his holding have changed, in an instant. This is like a whole different person. His hands slowly come up and then close into fists, every muscle in his body tenses up.

    The Hunter looks around the water, "But if I need to sink you to save you, then I'll do it. But you won't go to the bottom of this Harbor alone." Psyber says with finality. In an instant, he flashes forward. Ayako's ability to let him walk on the water allows him to fight at peak efficiency. He darts across the surface like a flash, coming in towards Kongou.

    His opening move is a haymaker to the center of her chest, hitting like a freight train if it connects. He readjusts his stance and then curls his hands into fists again, taking a boxer's footing on the water. He just begins throwing punch after punch, trying to overwhelm the ship with a raw showing of pure offensive power.

Ri (710) has posed:
There's this neat little quirk with Leviathan Mode. It's really effective against enemies of similar scale, or for causing destruction over a wide area, but it's a lot harder to fight smaller enemies while using it. Ri's aim isn't so great in the first place. In the middle of a snow storm, at night, Ri is at a significant disadvantage when it comes to landing a direct hit on a human-sized target. But given how injured BOTH of them are, evasion might also not be so easy. It's all up to chance now. Chance and Kuma's skill and determination. Ri tries to coast to the side to avoid the torpedos, but she is gigantic right now and can barely see the trails they leave. One is a glancing hit, but the other lands directly. Her right foot drops under the water abruptly as though it had just remembered it isn't supposed to be able to stand on liquid.

This throws Ri off-balance something terrible. But she bellows out regardless, in spite of her fear, of her pain, as she raises one of her gauntlets to shield her face, and takes damage from cannonfire in the process, "YOU WON'T DROWN ME!" Then she raises the other gauntlet and fires artillery shells into the water, aiming just in Kuma's general vicinity. Ri is not a diplomat. The enemy is the enemy. Even if she wishes for Kuma to join their side once more, right now the other girl needs to be sunk, to be destroyed. There is no negotiating with Ri. There is no mercy, no second-thoughts, no elaborate plan. So recently returned from madness, it's still so easy to slip back into that mindless frenzy of destruction. And since falling into such a state will aid in her mission anyway, she simply lets herself go, spiralling back into that black place of desperation that birthed her Abyssal form.

And she starts shooting everything she has, non-stop. Triple cannon, two rapid-fire cannons, a torpedo, all while trying to drag herself forward on one foot, since the other has forgotten how to stand on water. The churns and seethes around her, as even the leg that remains on the surface begins to sink as well. There is no more thought for aim, just unleashing everything in the vague vicinity of the enemy.

Kuma will thank her when she has rejoined them, she's sure.

But dimly, on the peripheral of her awareness, she thinks maybe she should be concerned about something. Is there something going on with her sisters?

<<Ko-class. Are you still there?>> Ri sends telepathically, the only fragment of thought she can spare in her maddened state.

Wo has posed:
    If only she'd just allow herself to sink..or whatever was happening there. Or, just swam off. Having returned to her feet, the lasers on her hat subside along with the anger in her expression, and the Wo-class carrier stares down Yuna, or more appropriately the girl's last known location. That's because between all the ice, snow and now steam from all the weapons flying around, it's getting even harder to keep visual contact. She allows herself to be momentarily distracted, in the momentary lull while her adversary is gathering her senses, directing her attention to the struggles of her sisters. It turns out to be an opening that is short-lived, however, as the girl seems to manage to pick herself back up.

    "..so you won't, turn away," she says, the expression of her deathly pale face remaining as cold as the harbor waters, but somehow through the stilted words there comes a tinge of..regret. She can certainly understand the notion of not wanting to abandon friends, but that is precisely why she won't be backing down, either. Directing a hand forward, the mouth on her hat once again opens, the emissive aura around the empty eyes blasting out at renewed strength, as a new set of planes fly out. These ones lack the twin guns of the one before, instead seeming to have a single cannon pod right behind the - oh god, even the planes have teeth and a tongue, now that Yuna can likely get a good look at them. Regardless, the reason for the draw-down in firepower is apparent by the single, black-hulled torpedo mounted on their bellies, as they begin their climb. She wasn't fibbing about that 'sinking' business, it appears. "No more..words then."

    With the planes away and beginning to make their turn, and having exhausted her ability to fire her lasers for the time being, she's left somewhat vulnerable for the moment. Yet, she stands confidently, even daring to maneuver a bit closer to Yuna, and to keep her full attention despite the buzzing in the air above - chatter between the torpedo bombers as they coordinate the details of their likely attack. The carrier leans forward a bit as she reaches full speed, which is actually deceptively quick for what should be a ship of her class. The glowing amber eyes continue their stare down, even as Yuna makes her approach. There are no attacks, insomuch, but at the last moment she does raise her staff as a more direct implement, to at least partially defend against what she anticipated to be an incoming, physical assault. Instead, she gets a bonus in the form of the scarcely deflected, radiant beam, practically point blank. A taste of her own medicine?

    She's consumed, briefly, by the light. There's no scream, more of a low hiss, as it burns at her tortured soul more than it does her body. But..the feelings of decades spent among the voices isn't so easily dispelled. Whenever Yuna's light subsides, Wo remains there, visibly shaken and with physical tears on her suit, but still - if quivering-kneed - standing. From this close, they can actually meet face to face. Her previously dead eyes begin to quiver, first in sadness and then anger and confusion, as she aggressively swings with what strength remains in her, with her staff. More to clear away from Yuna than actually trying to harm her with it, at this point. "Get..away!" Breaking her own vow of no more words, she hastily directs a hand again, the planes coming in and dropping their torpedoes in the water at Yuna. White streaks in the water, seldom good. If she were defeated here, she couldn't be there to properly greet Ko-class' return..right?

Shigure has posed:
    Kuma brings up her arms, for what good they'll do in protecting her from those shells. She's disabled, unable to move and already slowly sinking. Plumes of water surge up around her, rocking her already precarious position. Luckily for Kuma, Ri's accuracy level is currently Fubuki, so she doesn't take a direct strike, unluckily, that torpedo detonates nearby, and sends her flying sideways. Instead of skipping along the water, as she hits, she just sinks underneath, the shattered backpack falling clear as she drifts under the waves.

    Chitose, meanwhile, locks a pair of 'model' floatplanes onto the launch rails holstered from her superstructure. She takes aim towards the flashing lights through the haze in the distance. "Zuiun, GO!" She pulls the 'triggers' launching the planes with a hiss and rush of steam power. She doesn't wait before replacing another pair, and launching them, repeating the process until a dozen are banking around in a formation. "Flight lead, target: Battleship Princess. Mission, sink!" she transmits to her air wing, which bank around, and fly off towards the battle, gaining altitude so they can bring their dive-bomb payload down atop the Abyssal Flagship.

Kongou (637) has posed:
    Far out to sea, in international waters, a collection of old warships has gathered. This is no naval review, however. It's the 4th Mobile Unit, circling on a patrol route to block off Abyssal retreat attempts. Isuzu leads, monitoring with radar, while Akizuki maintains an inland echelon, placing herself between the shore and the bulk of the light carrier Zuihou.

    On an unspoken order, Zuihou's elevator lowers, and then slowly raises. Lifted in pairs, old propeller-driven airplanes spin up their engines and accellerate down the flight deck, ascending into the air. When an air squadron has formed, they all bank one after the other towards Boston, joining flights from Ryuujou and Chitose.

MINUTES LATER
    The snowy sky rumbles with the sound of piston engines. From the clouds, a squadron of Suisei dive bombers emerges at a sharp angle, descending in pairs a few dozen meters apart. Their target is unmistakable against the dark waters of the harbor: The lounging Battleship Princess atop her monolithic Symbiote. Mid-dive, the Suisei planes disengage their bombs and then rapidly climb, banking away from anti-air fire, only for the next pair to follow the same path. This release pattern carries on through four pairs of aircraft, before they form up and make their way back out to sea. Damaged by anti-air fire, a few of them trail smoke. One of them catches fire, descends, then breaks apart and spirals down into the water.

MEANWHILE, AT SEA LEVEL
    "...Abandoned..!" Ko-Class screams, her voice still disjointed in her rage. Attempts to reach her through words are failing. Her hunched posture freezes again, though, when she spies the hat cradled and still damaged, placed back. It gives her pause and gives Psyber the time he needs to turn on the Badass Switch. By the time he's turned back towards her, she's shaking her head, muttering, "...Ko...nn-gou.. ..Ko."

    Snapping back to her senses, she greets the angel's charge with a spray of small arms fire from her secondary batteries, the heads of her kit roaring their screechy roars. One snaps at him, misses, and the result is the Abyssal Battleship receiving a solid fist to the chin. It's like striking metal--as one would expect from a battleship--but Psyber has pulled out all the stops. The force is enough to bowl Ko-Class right off her feet. With a heavy sound, she strikes the water a solid meter back, slamming into it as if it were solid ground, bouncing, and winding up face-down. With a hollow sound, she starts hauling herself back to her feet.

Nox (546) has posed:
    Nox lowers his sword as time unsticks, anything he could say momentarily drowned out by the simultaneous explosion of lightning bolts, energy projectiles and sword beams all reaching their impact points at once, blasting out windows, shattering rooftops, caving in ceilings, and kicking up flying clouds of gravel and concrete powder. He turns to face Homura with a distinctly mechanical snap of his head, fixing her with the luminescent blue circles set into his helmet, giving off the impression of a penetrating gaze.

    "Most impressive, but why should I listen to your recommendation? You're a century too early to be lecturing me. At this point, I've done far too many things and invested far too much to simply give up now. I don't intend on trying to 'cut my losses' when I will have them all returned once I succeed. And believe me, I have every reason to be assured that I will." The repeat lightning causes his head to swivel back in the other direction with a metallic creak, and prompts him to throw up his hand in defense, summoning a brilliant barrier of interlocking clockwork holography that interposes itself between him and the bolts. The crash of lightning streaks over its rotating edges like water over a stone, carving up the rooftop around him and issuing great gouts of steam from between the cracks.

    Unfortunately, he can't teleport and maintain the barrier at the same time, and so Homura's electrical suppression finds him caught in the middle, only able to use his sword as a lightning rod to focus the incoming energy into that one arm. The remaining armour simply explodes, sending cherry red fragments falling down to earth as long, ugly scorch marks rake over the bandages up to his elbow, drawing forth a barely suppressed sound of pain.

    The moment he the attack abates however, Nox jumps the gun to stop Homura before she can stop him, rushing forward with a near-instant teleport, and then driving his fist into her. Whether or not she reacts in time to avoid the punch itself, the exploding bubble of compressed timespace will likely catch her in it regardless, forceful enough to put her through a building should she be caught head on. Not leaving anything to chance, he follows up with a flurry of corscating energy blades that arc and swivel through the air, stopping just short of where her tracjectory should take her to thoroughly carve up and collapse anything she might land in. When he lets go of the timestop, everything occurs simultaneously with well calculated precision, staggered to happen in perfect order.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako shudders once the beam of light passes through her barrier. Making That Barrier while being a witch was tiring! Luckily, being immersed in ocean water helps her recover quickly. She blinks her amber eyes quickly and nods when Psyber tells her over the radio to help out Kuma. "Alright! Hold on, I'm on my way!"

    The water spirit jets through the water at a terrifying pace and stops below the ship girl. "Kuma! Don't worry, it's me! I'll help you out! Although it might look alarming!" Ayako smiles brightly and then points upwards. "Bullet Maelstrom!"

    Normally, this would result in a whirlling water barrier with the whirlpool pointed outwards. But out in the ocean? The ocean water itself suddenly begins to whirl around Kuma-and even highly upwards! Bullet Maelstrom increases the power and speed of projectiles thrown out of it and tries to throw off the aim of projectiles that try to enter! But moreso, in the ocean, it increases the movement speed of what it protects!

    "I won't let you sink! Now get back up!"

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "You abandoned ME." Psyber says in a rare show of actual anger from the half-angel. He darts across the waves in towards her again. He's willing to grit his teeth and push forward through the onslaught of cannon fire. Several small arms shots hit him across the chest, going through and out the back in heavy sprays of blood and blowing easily see-through-able holes in him. But he's not going to give up there.

    With blood pouring down his chest and stomach, Psyber pushes in towards Kongou with his hands curled up. It may be like punching a steel bulkhead, but Psyber is more than willing to break his hands to get this point across to her, "After all the talk of how I saved you. After you forced me to accept a position of responsibility for you. Forced me to CARE," He ducks under a volley of shots, skidding along the water.

    "You went and sank. You left me. And then you had the gall to claim you were the one left behind," He's rising from that crouching slide, grunting as he aims a colossal uppercut towards Kongou's chin as she tries to rise to her feet again, "I'm tired of caring about people and they just betray me." He snaps, trying to follow up the uppercut with another haymaker to the center of the chest.

    "Now you WAKE UP. And you remember who you are."

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    That confidence is certainly reflected in his power. Homura'd have a hard time arguing that. Nox stands his ground, though-- whether he's overconfident or not doesn't matter to the Puella Magi, as long as he freaking stands still. With all that lightning directed straight at him, surely it should short out those robotic parts that keep making noise. Unfortunately, that does not happen. Sure, Nox has one arm less in armor, but that's not the stopping power she was hoping for.

    And he pays her back in kind.

    With his fist and a bit of spatial manipulation, the Xelor sends the magical girl flying backwards, likely with a few broken ribs-- the timestop is practically secondary to the damage there. She slams into the next building over, which is then cut to pieces by the compressed blades and sent crumbling down. Thankfully, the area around the tower has probably already been evacuated-- if Psyber hadn't thought of it, she certainly would have.

    A pile of scrap that used to be a building, dust and silence is all that's left, before bright pink light shines through cracks and holes in the debris. Homura bursts out-- angelic pink-purple wings on her back, making a beeline for Nox.

    "Ask me how that worked out for me!" Time stops. Two rockets are fired towards Nox. Time resumes. Time stops. An assault rifle is emptied in two seconds flat, the gun under some sort of haste spell itself. Time resumes. Time stops. Now close enough, half a dozen grenades a lobbed in a single toss, suspended without their pins for quick deployment from her hammerspace. Time resumes. All the while she's altered her course from a beeline to a wide circle, to make sure to cover multiple angles.

    She'd attempt coming in from behind with one last stop, navigating the explosions and bullets to try and run Nox through with her sword, before time resumes a moment before that can happen.

    With how much she's doing it, figuring out where she's drawing that power from might just be getting easier and easier, if he can multitask it with dodging.

Sindragosa (653) has posed:
    "HAVE YOU NO FEAR?!"

    The first bellowing response to Nozomi, whose EM Zanbatou holds the line against the massive dracolich, is an incredulous snarl. "What mortal creature DARES believe herself capable of defying the QUEEN of the FROSTBROOD?!" Sindragosa's limb quivers as she begins to exert all her strength against the blade's edge. Behind her, the dragon's bony tail lashes across the ground. There is a rustling cacophony above as she draws in her tattered wings. The fires in her eyes seem to expand with excitement.

    Yes. This is it. The end of Nozomi Houken. Sindragosa's shock disappears inside a blood-curdling sound of deep pleasure at the imminent kill.

    Leave it to Riva to ruin a good thing.

    Sindragosa's snapping teeth force Riva into an uncontrolled retreat; it looks, to Sindragosa's relief, like the woman is tossed aside like a ragdoll. Blood gushes warm against her fangs, and she is convinced of Riva's death -- but any smugness she may feel is short-lived.

    In the same distracted instant she turns on Riva, Nozomi lashes out with her weapon.

    Sindragosa lets out an awful SHRRRRRRRRRIEK as the blade cleaves through her aged wrist bones and drops her entire forelimb onto the city streets.

    As she reels, Riva's rocket-propelled jump strikes her from behind, staggering the great frostwyrm into an off-balance half-sprawl. Riva -- if she's good -- might find a space among Sindragosa's many spikes and horns to make a safe landing.

    Quick to recover, the frostwyrm rallies, pulls herself up onto her haunches, and spreads her wings wide. Once more, she swings her horned head around to fixate her fiery stare on Nozomi. Her black tongue slithers out between her fangs to lick away the traces of Riva's blood as she glares at the impudent swordswoman.

    "If you think me finished," she says, her voice almost purring, "you are a fool indeed! LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO THE COLD FINALITY OF DEATH!"

    There is no further warning. Sindragosa's maw looses a gout of freezing air and shards of ice blowing hard and fast enough to strip paint in seconds. The torrent goes on and on and on, crafting immense blocks of ice and snow all around, creating a blizzard-like hazard in the air, on the streets, and on the buildings framing either side of the avenue. The ambient temperature plunges dramatically, and as Sindragosa releases her attack, she beats her wings, creating a secondary mass of churning air to flatten her foes. This also has the benefit of getting her off the ground by several dozen feet.

    If Riva's numbed body can hold on through a tight barrel roll...well, it might be almost miraculous.

    Sindragosa looks as if she's trying to make an escape.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Perhaps surprisingly to the Abyssal carrier girl, there's no malice in Yuna's eyes at all. There's determination aplenty, certainly, and still some of the fear that she wrestled back from her thoughts scant moments ago ... even a degree of desperation. But there's no hatred and no anger in the singer's gaze; it seems she actually doesn't WANT to sink the Wo-class if she can help it.

But that's a luxury that the carrier doesn't seem likely to allow Yuna, as her planes drop their torpedoes. Yuna glances around herself briefly, realizing that the torpedoes are coming in from all sides except one, and that one is ...

For a split second, Yuna disappears beneath the surface - only to erupt upwards, Matrix Divider gone from her grasp as she FLINGS herself out of the water, flipping through the air like a dolphin doing a stunt. Her armored tail actually slaps against Wo's hat, once, before Yuna gathers herself for another leap, trying to dive back into the water BEHIND the Wo-class.

Yuna is torn between resuming her attack - not that she WANTS to keep hurting the Abyssal - and trying to take advantage of any confusion her maneuver might engender. Her third thought is the one that wins out, though: heedless of the danger to herself, she tries to hug the scary, creepy, ghoulish-seeming Abyssal girl. From behind, maybe, and with armor covering her pretty much from the head down ... but still, trying to hug rather than hurt.

Even if it means they BOTH eat torpedoes exploding as a result.

Nagato has posed:
    With the order from the Admiral and following the lead from the rest of the carrier squadron placed back, Ryuujou smiles and flattens her landing strip scroll. "Right, saaa, here we go! Ra, ni, sa, Suisei!" with a few hand symbols, the paper doll crafts start shooting off the the scroll and into the air, transforming into the Suisei dive bombers to join up with the rest of the aircraft party! "Aaaah~! Here we go, helping out the Admiral! I'm sure we'll e ven get praised for helping won't we sisters!"

    Following along the rest of the aircraft, the Suisei's from Ryuujou make their own diving motion, unhooking the bombs on their underbelly before pulling up. A few get hit and take a nosedive towards the water, the pilot fairies that were shot down come out of the planes with little tiny parachutes, landing safely in the water.

Samar (494) has posed:
    The beam didn't work. Well, not as much as Samar was hoping, at least, with Ayako's interference. Eventually, the symbiote has to stop pouring out all that negative energy to give itself a break, and it lurches forward slightly, drooling and steaming and rumbling in momentary exhaustion. Samar's hands curl into tight fists, and she seems about ready to order it to attack again-

    Cannons strike the side of the symbiote again, two explosions striking at just the right spot to make the left turret blast apart in turn with another explosion from the internal battery. Shrapnel and chunks of metal go flying, forcing Samar to duck down and shield herself as the symbiote in turn lurches back and bellows in pain with its foghorn-howl. A faint buzzing starts to fill the air, then, and Samar has just enough time to look up and see the tiny planes swooping in toward her.

    Her lips curl back in a snarl of deep-seated loathing. As the symbiote aims smaller guns up to launch anti-air rounds against the approaching planes, Samar reaches back, grabs the plug at the base of her neck, and /yanks/. Her eyes squeeze against the strange jolt that abrupt disconnect sends through her body moments before she and her symbiote are consumed in a series of violent explosions.

    The Battleship-Symbiotic Princess vanishes from view, but as the smoke starts to clear, the outside of her symbiote's massive frame is nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, a dark shape about the size of a person shoots out of the smoke, flying straight for Nagato.

    It's Samar. Clothes burned, pale skin ruptured, shrunken out of her Leviathan Mode to instead be /hurled/ by her symbiote toward the object of all her current loathing. No guns are aimed for Nagato, for the Princess instead aims to bring her surprisingly strong hands around the battleship's throat and yank her in close. Her eyes burn, trailing an aura of bloody red from her irises. Her lips are pulled back in a snarl like that of a demon. Her hands /squeeze/, tighter and tighter, as she hisses all her burning hatred through her teeth at Nagato. "You want me to face you? You call /me/ a coward? I will cower from NOTHING, Nagato. Not the humans. Not the Fleet Daughters. Least of all /you/."

    As the smoke finally fades from the whipping winter winds, Samar's symbiote can be seen at a more normal scale, twisted and injured, leaking oil and spouting flames as it struggles to stand. She doesn't seem to care; all her focus is on the woman she continues to hold in her vicelike grip and hateful stare. "Go on. Make my sisters turn on me. Show them your precious 'better' path. Demolish everything I have struggled to build, all the healing I have /toiled/ to provide. I won't falter. I won't /fail/. And soon enough, you and everyone beneath you will be back in /my/ hands."

Ri (710) has posed:
After receiving affirmation that the other Abyssal sisters are still with them... Except for Ko-class, but she might not be ABLE to respond... Ri throws herself entirely into just expending as much ammo as possible. Until... She loses track of where her target even is. For a moment she is confused. There's lots of smoke and waves, and in the dark, and in this weather, identifying ANYTHING is difficult. But as near as she can tell... Kuma has sunk! She announces this excitedly on the radio. She has finally rescued one of her sisters! This is an event! The first time she has ever been able to do this! With Wo and the Admiral still up and fighting, they will win! Ko-class must be okay too, or there'd be noise about it on the radio!

But really, Ri has always focused solely on the fight before. And that cost her countless sisters. This time... She was able to save one. And now she would get to protect her from ever being lost again! But... Her joy is quickly muted by her realization that she is still sinking. Gradually, but it's happening, she is now up to her knees, which is, like, 100 feet deep. Fear starts to sweep over her again, but she fights it down. Maybe suppressing fear isn't part of the training she has received, but she does it anyway, because right now, one of her sisters is down there, waiting to join them. She's sure she can carry her back to base, just as soon as Kuma changes! And she has already received the okay to withdraw too! She'll just change back to her smaller size, wait for Kuma to drown, and then they'll all go home together.

Any minute now.

She just waits right where she is, sinking more and more, and stares into the waters.

Unaware of what's going on just below the surface.

Of the 'rescue' occurring right now that is completely different from the 'rescue' Ri has in mind.

Not until a giant whirlpool forms, surrounding Kuma and raising her up to the surface. Ri doesn't understand what she's seeing. She doesn't get it. But the dread that sweeps over her is the same as when she fears that she's alone again. Someone is stealing one of her sisters from her. Ri's eyes blaze gold once again as she surges forward to the best of her ability, reaching out ahead of herself as she tries to stop this... This... THEFT.

"NO! NO NO NO NO NO! YOU WON'T TAKE HER! SHE IS OUR SISTER!" She has almost sunk up to her waist now, and her forward movement is a struggle. Despite her size, keeping up with the smaller, more mobile targets she is reaching for is not working out.

She doesn't even think to shoot, just mindlessly, desperately charges forward, sending up huge waves and a tumultous wake behind her. "I WON'T LEAVE YOU ALONE WITH THEM!"

She was going to rescue Kuma! This can't be happening!

How could the surface-dwelling scum do this!? Just how evil are they!?!

She will kill them all for this!

Kongou (637) has posed:
    Normally, fistfighting a battleship would be a laughable prospect. Most people aren't an ancient angel in peak physical supernatural condition. While the Fleet Daughter known as Kongou had demonstrated monstrous and even hilarious ability in close range, it doesn't seem to be an ability shared by Ko-Class. Her movements around Psyber are jerky and hesitant, as if she were fighting not only the half-angel but also herself.

    Ko hauls herself to her feet only to be struck again, twisting away from the blow with a sound like steel striking steel. Something cracks. One of the dragon heads mounted to her hips snaps out with its maw of jagged teeth, only to meet Psyber's fist head-on. The pitted cranial plate shatters, revealing cancerous-looking flesh underneath. Thick oil spills out where the beastly fitting is carved open by its own shattering armor and it recoils in a spray of black sludge.

    "...Wake..." the pale girl mutters. Her hands ball into fists. Shuddering, her movements hesitant, she steps forward and returns the melee pummelling, a punch that goes wide. This puts her in an awkward position such that the final blow Psyber delivers outright snaps her arm right off, driving metallic crimson 'bone' into her chest with enough force to knock her onto her back again.

    This time, she remains there, oil staining the water around her. Ko's remaining hand reaches up, wrenching the shattered ulna from her chest.

    "...Re..mem..ber.." she mutters, the fire gone, "...Me-mo-ry..."

    After a long pause, Ko slowly starts hauling herself up. One of her eel-head fittings has gone limp, drooling black oily ichor from its mouth. The other seems hesitant to attack, though after a moment opens its mouth to extend its main battery's barrels again. There's a long pause, as if Ko is debating whether to shoot or not.

Nozomi Houken (342) has posed:
    Through all the taunting, through every howl of rage, the frostwyrm's black-armored opponent remains completely silent. She doesn't react to taunts. She doesn't make anything more than quiet, voiceless exhalations of pain. She doesn't grunt with effort. Even a Death Knight wouldn't be this silently, mercilessly driven. Even when actively avoiding an attack - for the potent breath of frost is enough to get her to do just that - her concern seems purely academic. 'Taking this directly would remove my ability to fight, and so I will avoid it.'

    And she doesn't even manage that entirely; the thrusters on the TIGER kick in full power, launching her straight into the air, but the breath covers a wide enough cone to catch her as she launches, engulfing armored girl in a bone-deep, frigid chill powerful enough to overwhelm even her defenses. She actually goes rigid in mid-air, teeth gritted, thrusters sputtering... only to suddenly flex, shattering the cold enveloping her, and turn to pursue the skeletal dragon that has taken flight again at last.

    Breaking free on its own cost her a lot. It's becoming more and more clear that, on her own, Nozomi and her armor would not be enough to best Sindragosa, though they would come close enough to press the undead wyrm. And it's becoming just as clear that the girl simply /doesn't care/. She is the most dangerous opponent, in her own way; the kind willing to forego all safety for the sake of destroying or even simply deeply wounding her target. Even though frostbite and blood stripe Nozomi's body, she's still coming. Still lifting one gauntlet to unleash blasts of yellow energy, covering her own approach.

    With Riva there as well? She presents a very real danger indeed.

Nox (546) has posed:
    "Go on then! Tell me!" Nox all but shouts in response to Homura, though whether he is actually angry or simply really getting into the fight is difficult to tell. Just like Homura is aware of when he does it, he's aware of her manipulation of time, even if he can't see anything during the few seconds she limits it too, though her window to act is slowly but steadily narrowing with each one. Able to feel the moment that time stops, Nox does his best at anticipating and intercepting the incoming fire.

    Leveling both his sword and free hand at the incoming maelstrom, he fires bolts and beams in steady succession, moving from target to target in an attempt to catch multiple of them at a time. Those that slip through he attempts to teleport around, zipping in and out of the cloud of rockets, bullets and grenades wherever a safe place presents itself, all in the effort to try and keep up with the edge Homura gains in speed from pulsing her timestops so rapidly.

    He is mostly successful. As time resumes one final time, the air lights up in a rapid fire blanket of fiery detonations, billowing smoke, molten metal, cyan tinged ripples, distortions of space, and searing beams of light. Unable to keep up with Homura completely, a pair of grenades explode right next to him before he can redirect them, sending high velocity shrapnel hurtling into him from all sides, slashing bandages and metal alike where they puncture his exterior in a dozen different places. A final rocket catches him directly in the chest, shattering his breastplate completely and sending him hurtling head over heels backwards, spinning through the air trailing smoke like a comet, before suddenly throwing his arms out to his sides, instantly halting his momentum and leaving him hovering again.

    With his back turned to Homura, he notices her just a little too late, halfway turned towards her as she lunges at him with her sword, and caught from behind once she allows time to resume its flow. The sword punctures through his midsection with a screech of metal and a spray of luminous teal fluid, falling to the streets below. "Haha . . . /most/ impressive indeed." he says in a slightly distorted, but even tone. "I'd guess that you've spent a great deal of time mastering those powers. More than your age would suggest." Homura's blade is momentarily obfuscated by a flurry of blue static as nox teleports off of it, moving back a few feet, but still facing her. "Why not show me a little more? I think I might know a little secret or two."

    With that, he resumes the offensive at double the pace of before, returning Homura's blistering succession of timestops with a meteoric chain of his own. For anyone other onlooker, the procession of attacks is simply too quick to see, only resulting in rippling, spontaneous sprays of sparks and violent cyan detonations as he assaults Homura with a steady stream of sword blows and blasts of raw energy, steadily pressing her backwards over towards another rooftop, where the simple proximity of blade meeting blade will crush and crater the cement. The gaps between his are a little longer than Homura's, giving her just enough time to alternate her own in return, which will likely be her best bet to avoid being killed, giving her a precious instant before each incoming blow to defend herself.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber slowly tries to catch his breath as he watches her struggle against both memory and her own injuries. To say it hurts him to have to do this to a friend is an understatement, but when painful necessity arises, Psyber has always been there to step to the plate and this time will be no different.

    When she stands up and looks at him, Psyber slowly walks towards her. Careful steps across the water as he tries to make his way over to her. His own injuries are pretty hefty, all told, with blood smearing his bare upper body as bullet holes attempt to shut themselves. He inhales and then coughs up some blood and wipes it away from his mouth.

    He doesn't attack her this time. Instead, he just puts his hands on the Abyssal's shoulders and says seriously, "It's okay to sink and come back. I'll come with you, just like when we first met. And then you'll be back."

    And then, using his hands on her shoulders, he pulls Ko-Class into a tight hug against him, actually fully intent to go under the water with her if she wants to sink.

Wo has posed:
    So many distractions on the battlefield, suddenly. The thrum of pistons momentarily catches Wo's attention, but she can scarcely spare a glance at them now. So they had a support fleet.. She was careless again. This compounds the look she gives Yuna, which turns from another glance with a tinge of regret - to a confounded one, as she leaps right for her. What is this foolish girl trying to accomplish now!? "Wo," she yelps! And if it weren't for the tenseness of the atmosphere around them and the situation at large, it might be almost comical, the way Wo tries to haphazardly slap the advance of Yuna away with her hands and metal shank. This as the hat's dangling tendrils tense and coil slightly at being struck with the tail - such indignity! Then comes the belatedly realization of where her own planes' torpedoes were heading, and the - oddly concerned-sounding - buzzing from the planes themselves as they pull up trumpets as much.

    Thoughts of conventional evasive maneuvers are cut short, as her strange adversary trots out yet another oddity of her arsenal. She'd have been more than willing to let her swim off, but instead she rises up again in proximity, and..a hug? The sudden tenseness of her frame is easily felt, adding even more urgency. In the split second available, she makes a costly decision, to avoid Yuna from getting both of them sunk. Summoning the last of this surface dweller-like body's surprising physical strength, she lifts her hands up to her hat, hefts it off of her head, and casts it into the water in front of them. Somehow, the ghastly visage on the front of the hat almost casts a look of betrayal, as it spins around to face the two of them, right before it falls into the water, and just in the nick of time, too. The torpedoes strike it, causing it to crater at the moment of impact, and then explode into fragments. Which could still be dangerous, if Wo and Yuna weren't tough Elites. Two more torpedoes remain, but were astray.

    Wo stares long at the oil slick and fragments, and she herself is now splattered by some of it. She can recover a flight deck, but this main body of hers is a more significant investment. After that moment is over, and if she has the strength, she will slowly wheel around in the water..and move to try and physically shake Yuna by the shoulders. At this point, she's exhausted all of her realistic combat capabilities, so it's more venting of frustration at this point. This is echoed in her apparent inability to string any words together, except her own class designation, "Wo wo wo!!!" Her angry expression now more closely resembles someone scolding someone for doing something stupid, than that of an enemy combatant.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako whimpers softly. Kuma isn't getting back up on her own. She swiftly surfaces from the water and then scoots forward on her broom. Gently, she places Kuma onto her broomstick by the brush. "I said I won't let you sink, so there!"

    Her amber gaze moves towards the Bullet Maestrom that is still swirlling around her. "Oh, how conveinient!" She grips her broomstick and then moves the brush towards the violently swirlling water. "Off we go!" The brush catches the water and swiftly sends them both spinning for a moment-and then slings them off flying towards the coastline.

    Along the way as the watery boost begins to slow down, Ayako descends slowly and gestures towards the water. A small wave forms, and refreshes her frantic watery skip towards the coastline. "Oh oh, I wonder how many water skips it will take to reach land? Let's make it as few as possible!" And so Ayako and Kuma try to make a broom-based skipping stone retreat!

Shigure has posed:
    Kuma is limp, seemingly lifeless in Ayako's grasp. Her skin is becoming pale... but then that touch. Warmth, life... Brown eyes flutter open, and with the greatest effort, Kuma's head lifts to look at Ayako. She can feel it too, she's not sinking anymore, being brought back to the surface.

    A smile crosses the girls lips, and she closes her eyes again, entrusting herself to Ayako's care, even as Ri tries to chase them down.

    The Zuiun break off after their attack run, two... three catching flak fire and breaking apart in mid air, their fragile frames shattering. Their fairy pilots bail out, floating through the buffeting snow to land in little life rafts. They all sigh and break out the fishing rods, casting them out to await rescue.

Kongou (637) has posed:
    Struggling to stand, Ko-class is deeper in the water than when she had arrived. She constantly shifts her feet, trying to bring them back to the surface, but they always go down to about mid-shin before she finds purchase. The entire time, her body shakes with the clear desire to shoot and yet, something holding her from doing so.

    "...Stay away," she mutters, her voice strained. Armor plates rattling on her remaining snakehead, she threatens Psyber with it as he approaches, "...Don't... come closer."

    Arms wrap around her and the Abyssal girl goes bolt upright, eyes wide in surprise and shock. Not just a memory from a distant past. Something far more recent. Far more precious. Floating to the top of the murky sea of her mind.

    Eyes locked on the sky, wide with shock, tears start streaming down Ko-class' face. The remaining snakehead, its cannons already extruded, curls around on itself. There's a cataclysmic report as the guns fire at point blank range. They intentionally miss the man hugging her. Instead, Ko-Class has assassinated herself, blasting a hole through the side of her torso that now spews smoke and oily ichor.

    "...Sink..." the girl mutters softly. Her body goes limp and she falls backwards into the water. The remaining gun fitting goes limp, its cannons ruined and smoldering, while the woman they're attached to slips beneath the icy waters of Boston Harbor.

Nagato has posed:
    The smoke from the explosions made by the Carrier Air Squadron cause the battleship to squint her eyes. She's already battered and bruised with missing turrets, damaged superstructure and ripped clothing, but not down for the count yet. The yet is the part she's worried about. As it clears, the thing she sees hurdling towards her is someone her size... the Battleship Princess. No time to train the guns on her, the hands wrap around her neck like a vice, squeezing hard as her head rears back, turning red as she gasps for air under that grip.

    "You saw... what the... response was to get Kongou back..." she coughs out, turrets slowly swiveling, "I call you... a coward because you are." that smile returns to her face, "Look.." another cough.. "before you, Princess. Wo class... Ri Class. Your allies." and a spit to the face. "They all suffer under your hands. You lead them into ... unwinnable situation." she brings her right arm back, hand balled up into a fist.

    "Princess. No, Samar. I refuse to call you princess any longer." she makes another gasp for air from the tightening hands. "I will show them all the better path... the path that your anger.. your hatred... cannot show. And one day... you'll see that you are wrong. Wo Class... and Darwin... they ASSISTED us... in the sea. I know they can see the light that we bring. You, however... need more convincing!"

    Nagato's fist comes right around into a right hook aimed directly at Samar's face, while the turned cannons, point blank and with one loud explosion, she allows them to fire, taking shrapnel blasts herself from proximity. "You will sink... you will see our way... and you will know peace Samar."

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    Homura is quite happy with the edge-- every bullet or explosion that impacts Nox is a tiny dent forward into him. He's fast and powerful enough to keep up, to shoot back, to intercept. Opponents like him, you can't kill in one strike. You'll never land direct enough of one. You wear them down, because they won't stand still. You chip their armor, study their powers. Spin circles around them. She's lucky to have enough experience to pull it off.

    But when her blade goes through him, and there's just that odd liquid to show for it, her confidence deflates. Hollow, huh... whatever he is under those bandages, probably can't just be hacked away with a sword. Not if you're looking to cripple, anyway.

    As he teleports away, the magical girl's eyes narrow. "There is nothing else to show you. I've honed this for longer than I can put a precise number on. Perhaps I'm still a century too young to lecture you, but I have kept you from helping your allies, have I not? From the sounds of it... mine are succeeding right now." A slight smile, more akin to a cocky grin.

    And then they are right back into the thick of it. Nox and Homura's forms blink around constantly, timestops firing every other second of realtime and attacks crashing in and out of that state. She doesn't realize that she's being pushed back, until her feet touch a rooftop. She can't actually compete with Nox's strength that directly-- the first sword to sword impact, which shatters the roof under her feet, seems to cause significant strain to her body too. Mostly her arms and legs. She's not built for that.

    That's why further stops become centered on dodging instead, gaining half a second of traction in whatever direction seems safer. Energy bolts get clumsily stopped by a purple-ish energy shield around her other arm, but every strike cracks it like glass and it doesn't last very long.

    All in all she's starting to slow down and weaken.

    "And you would not like my story."

    Putting some distance between herself and Nox, Homura swipes her sword three times in the air-- nothing happens. The attacks are suspended in time though, and resume at three random moments afterwards, resulting in arbitrary sword strikes attempting to cut Nox across the shoulders out of thin air.

Riva Banari has posed:
Yeah, that's Riva. RUINER OF EVERYTHING AND QUEEN OF BAD PLANS.

Like rocket jumps. Rocket jumps are a terrible plan, and Riva takes another nasty gash as she collides with Sindragosa's back.

OH LOOK NOW SHE'S FREEZING AGAIN. BEST PLAN WINTER 2015. Riva chatters as she slings the rocket launcher back onto her back. She starts grabbing for her guns, but before she can do anything about that Sindragosa launches again. "OH GOD, NOT AGAIN!" Riva yells as she grabs for the frigid bone spine and holds on for dear life.

The barrel roll occurs, and Riva does her damnedest to hold ont, thrusting her fingers into the bones to try to find a place they won't freeze off or get crushed by the motion of the dragoness.

Her numb hands slip, and she goes flying, skidding along the length of Sindragosa. Her hands flail...

And then Sindragosa might feel something wrench in the back as Riva grabs that handle of the Ajoran cross-hammer that had been stuck in her for th last couple minutes. Holy crap is that thing getting mileage tonight.

... And then it dislodges with a snap, Riva being sent into freefall. "OH GOOOOOOOOD!" Riva yells, whipping the hammer onto her back and quick-drawing her guns. Sindragosa might be retreating but she's got one shot at giving her something to remember her by.

Blue-green Anima pours into the guns, pulsing as she forces the energy of the World through the weapons, shaping the power into a growing sphere. She brings the MP7s back behind her head, as if preparing to throw them... And then she snaps them forward, the sphere exploding towards Sindragosa at high speed! God knows if it will hit or not.

A few seconds later, Riva thuds unceremoniously into a thick snowbank, sending up a massive gout of snow from the impact and leaving a nice, well-defined Riva imprint from above.

"I'm so cold..." She can be heard whimpering from within the snowbank.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber exhales massively, taking a deep breath and then watching the girl go beneath the waves, "Thank god." Psyber says in a tired tone, panting a bit as he looks around and then tries to figure out his next course of action. The city is somewhat a mess right now and Psyber has a lot to manage to keep a scraped-by success from turning into a pyrrhic victory.

    The half-angel claps his hands together and a longsword appears in them. He wobbles in his footing and looks around the harbor, taking a deep breath. He spots Ayako retreating with Kuma, a giant in tow behind her. That longsword in his hand crackles with lightning and he points it up towards the sky, shooting a single bolt straight up. It seeds into the clouds, crackling and growing.

    "Job... 36... verse 30. "Behold, He spreads His lightning about Him, And He covers the depths of the sea. "For by these He judges peoples; He gives food in abundance. He covers His hands with the lightning, And commands it to strike the mark."

    A MASSIVE bolt of lightning cracks the sky, falling right down into Psyber's sword and wreathing his entire body in holy, smiting electricity. Psyber whirls in his footing and points the sword straight towards the massive Ri-Class, directing it out of his body, out of the tip of his weapon, and trying to slam into the side of the massive woman and draw her attention with the big attack.

    He's not sure he can WIN a second fight, he just wants to draw her attention.

Sindragosa (653) has posed:
    Sindragosa's wings labor. The great frostwyrm's cold-fogged breath is drawn and labored. Exhaustion burns throughout her ancient bones, reminding Sindragosa she's meant to be long dead. To exist beyond death's clutches is not only a drain; it is a torment. A torture. Clarity briefly awakens her mind to the reality of her daily unnatural existence --

    Thrall to the Lich King.

    Prisoner.

    Monster.

    Yet more energy shots blister Sindragosa's hide and blacken her bones, but as she struggles to escape their range, she does not seem to feel the pain. Some part of her may be aware of it; but, she is calling out not in agony, but for help. Desperation edges her voice. "I will /not/ fall here! Not in this place! My master -- call to me! Guide me! Give me the strength to return to you!"

     Riva's last shot fires through the gaps in Sindragosa's ribs. It does not come out the other side. Nozomi's persistent attacks shred the dragon's wings to frail ribbons. "NO! NO! BEGONE FROM ME! RELEASE ME! RELEASE ME!"

    Blinded by rage and by fear, maddened by pain, Sindragosa summons the last of her strength to repel her attackers with a massive burst of arcane energy. It ripples out from her body in all directions like a purple-hued bubble. Fast-shrinking lightning plays alongs its unstable surface. As the magical force swells, its color shifts, becoming indigo, then a deep blue, then to green and even yellow at its fading edges.

    Then, Sindragosa roars once more in a last, animalistic expression of /something/ between grief and loathing, and she races into the clouds, where she'll soon be lost from sight.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Maybe it's because of a helmet covering Yuna's head and face, and armor covering the rest of her body, but somehow ... Wo doesn't seem all that scary while Yuna is hugging her. Cooler than a living body should be - Yuna can tell THAT much - but her armor keeps her from feeling anything worse than that. And Wo just sacrificed her hat to stop the torpedoes which would have blown both of them out of the water, so - well, certainly self-preservation was a major factor in that, but she still protected Yuna as well, when she could have sacrificed herself to take Yuna out.

But the battle seems to be wrapping up around them now. Yuna slowly lets go of Wo, smiling gently and warmly at the carrier-girl. "I'm sorry I hurt you ... but we were both fighting for the sake of people we care about, weren't we?" She sinks down in the water again, floating about waist-deep, after releasing the Abyssal.

Nozomi Houken (342) has posed:
    There is nothing Nozomi can do to defend against the sudden omnidirectional blast. It hits her like a truck, smashing her out of the air entirely and stunning her breifly. The armored girl goes sailing back, slamming into a taller building before dropping down onto the roof of the shorter next to it.

    It is several seconds before she even moves, but when she does so, she soon comes to her feet. She is bleeding from numerous wounds, bruised, frostbitten... and yet still, she levels that ruthless, withering stare at the retreating dragon. But she doesn't pursue. Even she won't waste effort on a fruitless chase.

Ri (710) has posed:
They're getting away. That... Whatever the heck that is is flying Kuma away. Stealing their sisters. Making them suffer in isolation at the hands of the ones who betrayed them. Before now, Ri's main feelings were fear, regret, and despair. There was a faint hint of joy, of affection, for her sisters, and the idea of protecting them instead of losing them. But now... With this... As a sister she fought to save is snatched away from her, she finally... Finally gets why her sisters feel the way they do.

And she hates the surface-dwellers. She hates the humans and what they've done. And she hate, hate, HATES whoever and WHATEVER that watery tart is! Overcome with rage, she finally goes full berserker. No more thought, no more communication spared. She raises her arms and starts shooting at everything, in every direction she can. The vast majority of her shots are not going to hit anything or anyone, but the explosions that go off everywhere are probably going to still be quite a sight and something to at least not go anywhere near.

The lights of Boston catch her fragmented mind's eye, and the giant Ri-class, now nearly up to her chest, aims both arms at the city as her shark gauntlets stream smoke - half from the barrage that was just unleashed, and half from the damage they've suffered in general.

They think they can escape to land?

They can't escape to something that doesn't exist.

Golden light blazes in the cannons within those horrible, tooth-bearing weapons as hatred flows into them.

"-ALL MUST DIE!-" the giantess screams out as the energy just keeps building and building until the gauntlets themselves seem to start showing signs of cracking.

Then divine lightning strikes her in the side and she screeches deafeningly as she lurches to the side, and releases both shots at a high angle, missing her targets. They air-detonate somewhere up above, resulting in quite the dazzling light show and painfully-loud series of explosions.

Ri falls over onto her side, and struggles to stay above the water. But that additional damage is making her sink even faster now. She regains a slight amount of clarity, but only because she's no longer in berserker mode. Her attempt to fight to the end, raising her left arm and aiming it unsteadily in Psyber's direction, wind up being abandoned as one side of her head sinks below the waves. Her arm drops, and then she seems to just vanish suddenly. Shrinking down to her normal size, but still heavily damaged.

Retreating is going to be no fun at all.

Blackness threatens to swamp her vision.

But she won't drown here. Not again. And... This time... She isn't going back home alone. She still has Wo and the Admiral... And... What happened to Ko-class?

She wants to send a message, but can't think clearly enough. So she just starts skimming away over the surface of the waves, listing to one side from the damage inflicted.

They failed here.

But some day. Some day they'll rescue their sisters.

Even the traitor.

Samar (494) has posed:
    Samar, normally capable of holding herself together and being at least /somewhat/ reasonable, finds herself consumed in a burning anger whose fires are only fed more and more by Nagato's response. Her teeth grind. Her entire body tenses, then shakes. She seems about ready to do something even /more/ violent to Nagato, but before she can manage anything, she suddenly finds a fist striking her jaw.

    Shock seems to immediately dampen all her roiling fury, turning her snarl to a wide-eyed, open-mouthed gasp as she releases her grip on Nagato and staggers back several steps on the waves. Her hand lifts to her jaw as if most of her shock comes not from the force of the blow, but the fact that she was struck at all. It lasts for only a second before she's consumed in another powerful explosion that sends up a towering column of icy water around her.

    The Princess flies back, skittering over the water's surface until her back slams into the arm of her symbiote and she slumps against it. Jarred, burned, and barely kept from falling to the ocean's embrace, Samar takes a moment to grasp the situation. Ko-Class is lost. Ri and Wo are gravely injured. Sindragosa has been forced to flee.

    "...get out. We're done," she hisses to her allies before leveling her scarlet gaze at Nagato. She winces as she drags herself to her feet, hoisting herself into an uncertain stand that leans against her symbiote's bulky frame. While it also struggles to stay up, it nonetheless wraps a protective arm around her. "...peace," she scoffs, glaring at Nagato in her weakness. "We're engines of war, Nagato. We...will never know /peace/."

    With that, Samar sinks, slipping below the cold waves to drift back out of Boston's port. There's recovery to be had...and plans to build for the future. A Princess is not one to take lightly to insults.

Nox (546) has posed:
    Parts of the conversation are lost entirely to the void as Nox's and Homura's battle continues. They're already been fighting for twice the length of everyone else, with the flow of combat too fast to properly read, attacks and interceptions going off like waves of deadly fireworks in the sky. Flashing to and fro from instant to instant, visible only for the moments that sword meets sword and bullet meets shield, it's simply completely impossible to follow, or even to tell who's winning. In fact, even to both combatants, it isn't clear who has the overall edge.

    "As I thought." Nox all but whispers between the sounds of keening metal and roiling detonations. "You've done it, haven't you? How long? And how many times?" His interest is unnervingly intense; far from the almost jovial attitude of before. The exchange of words seems to enrapture him more than the exchange of blows, even as he drives Homura into a corner. So focused is he that he fails to break eye contact as the first of Homura's slashes makes contact, and the second, and the third, remaining fixed on his target as fresh wounds open on with with deafening peals of breaking clockwork.

    He drives forward faster and faster, moving with a singleminded fury that causes his joints to tick and clatter with the strain being placed on them. His augmented body is simply far too strong, and continues onward without flagging, never tiring or faltering. Only once Homura has been driven back to the edge of the roof, leaving a trail of blasted craters ahead of her, does he suddenly not swing during a timestop, leaving it on for more than the space of a strike in an unexpected maneuver, wherein he teleports out from in front of Homura. Surrounded her on all sides are now twelve identical visions of Nox, each flickering with static as they simultaneously position to attack her. It isn't clear whether they're illusions or he's simply teleporting that fast, but all at once, they rush her, swords extendeded to skewer her through the heart. At the very last second however, the image loops back in on itself; a rollback effect wherein a second dozen appears and fires on her at all angles, collapsing the upper floor of the building completely under the combined explosion, and then the floor under it, blowing the wall out of the skyscraper across the street.

    As the last motes of cyan light die, the 'real' Nox is directly behind her, sword plunged straight up to the hilt through her chest. "Now . . ." his tinny voice reaches her ear as he suddenly grasps her left wrist, squeezing her soulgem bearing hand in a vicelike grip. The surface of his hand that makes contact with hers suddenly lights up with a deep, resonant hum, and then both their arms are consumed in writhing tendrils of blue-white electricity; the bleedoff effect of him consuming her life. Siphoned straight from her soulgem, he absorbs the puella magi's energy, adding it directly to his own to more than recover that which he had expended fighting her, even if the damage still remains.

    Just short of the point where the process would snuff her out completely however, he lets go. Unsure of exactly why, he lets her fall to the broken floor beneath them, turning to look at his hand, and then back to hers in silent contemplation. Something about it doesn't feel right. Homura has sewed a tiny seed of doubt. Though he can't confirm it, Nox is absolutely certain that Homura has likewise done the impossible. The forbidden art of turning back time. Clearly not very far at such an age, and yet the fact she had clearly lived so long despite never maturing out of her teens only makes it crueler. How many times had she done it? For what reason? What had she tried to accomplish? How had she failed? On some level, he feels some kind of bond with the puella magi. As if she of all people, could come to understand him. To understand his sorrow for what he will do to the world.

Nox (546) has posed:
    His head snaps up again as he hears Samar's voice over the radio, signalling the retreat. Relieved at finding an excuse, he casts one more look to Homura Akemi, and then vanishes from the spot, crossing the vast leauges of space back to Horologium.

Kongou (637) has posed:
    After some time, deep beneath the harbor, there's a pale blue glow from underwater. This ascends, reaching the surface in a dome of water that explodes outward and then showers down across the sea's surface. There's a figure amidst the mist, metal glistening, white sleeves rapidly drying until they billow in the chilly ocean breeze.

    Like a doll at first, the brunette lifts her gaze from staring nearly straight down until she can behold the city of Boston before her with dull blue eyes. Depth gradually returns, the emptiness filling in as the haze clears her mind and retreats from her memories.

    Back to herself, Fast Battleship Kongou closes her eyes with a big smile, "Ahh, I've returned <Home~!>"

Wo has posed:
    After she's had a chance to calm down, she releases her own clutch on Yuna, and gives a glance around at what the battlefield has become. A slight frown comes to the Wo-class carrier, as she realizes just how quickly things turned. But even more than that, she catches the tail end of Samar's proclamation to Nagato. Something that, in the post-struggle haze, she doesn't fully process yet, but might become deeply troubling. 'We will never know peace.' Her eyebrows knit together somewhat, but there are far more important things to be doing right now. With all of her allies leaving, it might not be long before, while Yuna has dropped her assault, her allies might not have gotten the telegram yet.

    She glances down at the girl smiling at her, itself another novel and strange thing. It reminds her of those weird Fleet Maidens that tried with partial success to befriend her, even if they are also natural enemies. She reaches out with a gloved hand, and if not stopped, bends down slightly and moves to give Yuna a pat on the head, like she might one of her Destroyer escorts. "..you..fought well. ..weird..but well.." Raising back up to her full height, she casts another glance toward where she'd last seen her sister, Ko-class. But she somehow knows that won't be the name she's using when they meet again. "..good-bye." With that, she slides back several meters, before herself dropping beneath the surface.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Having to wait for Kongou graduates from anxious to dread as Ri-Class levels a cannon at him. He's only spared a shot by divine luck, and so exhales heavily. The half-angel looks massively anxious, though, as a retreat begins. His footing on the water is uneasy and he's unsure what to be doing.

    This only compounds for him when Homura, of all people, sends out a distress request. He looks down at the water, anxiously moving from right foot to left foot, "Come on, come on, come on."

    Finally, when Kongou emerges from the water, Psyber slaps both hands down on her shoulder, "KongouwelcomebackIhavetogo!"

    Ever one to refuse to stop juggling crisis after crisis, as soon as Kongou re-emerges and Psyber has greeted her, the half-angel's wings unfold from out of nowhere and he's off and flying, moving as fast as he can through the city skies to try to make his way to Homura's last location.

    There's an almost frantic gait to his wing flapping.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako glances back to check on Kuma and smiles gently. "Just one more hop and you won't be able to sink at all!" She gestures down at the water one last time and propells herself swiftly over Boston. Her eyes blink quickly at the radio chatter and winces when suddenly Homura cries out! "Sorry Kuma! I can't take you to the dock just yet."

    She grips her broom handle and, "I got lots of water from the ocean, so... Sorry people below!" Ayako and Kuma go flying off in Homura's direction-a torrent of water pouring from the brush to send them blasting through the sky. "Homura! I'll be there in a few moments!"

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    Too many swords. She doesn't know how to react-- or maybe, just can't react that quickly without abusing time magic. Unlike Nox, who is superhumanly strong, fast, and can teleport like a damn cheater, she's pretty constrained to doing crazy stuff outside time, and that's about it. Double-edged dagger in situations like this.

    Though she tries to bat as many of the weapons away as she can, it ultimately results in Nox plunging the sword through her chest. Silver lining, she's a lich, it's technically nothing but a flesh wound. Not so silver lining, he's locked onto her Soul Gem and he's draining it.

    If he cared to observe, he would see the bright purple gemstone darkening with every bit of magic and life he snuffs out, until there's only a muddy dark purple jewel with large black spots bubbling about. It remains purple, if only because he pulled back early. Homura's screams, eventually, are replaced with something far worse, some sort of rumbling that absolutely isn't human.

    Before Nox can leave, the Puella Magi answers his questions. In a way. Homura's body from the neck down is basically skeletal, with no skin, muscles or organs. But it still moves, as if that were completely normal. The pink wings are pitch black, like cracks in reality.

    "YOU ASKED WHAT HAPPENED. AND HOW LONG. LONG ENOUGH TO REACH THIS CONCLUSION: DESPAIR!" A screech, completely psychic. Like a feedback loop, trying to echo in Nox's head as a parting gift.

    But then Nox is gone, and Homura collapses. She vaguely reverts back to standard form, due to that alone. Ayako and Psyber will find her in the rubble of what used to be two buildings close to the tower. Tons of lacerations, energy burns, couple of broken bones. Nothing Ayako can't handle, and Psyber can't help fix faster through her Soul Gem later.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna raises a hand to wave to the Wo-class before the Abyssal girl retreats ... and then Wo's gone.

(Yuna is also blushing a bit after being patted on the head like that. But nobody is around to notice THAT at this point, and given the rest of the situation, it'll have faded well before anyone gets to notice.)

So. The fighting largely seems to be over, with one or two exceptions; Yuna's too far away to do much by way of helping Homura.. Also, Yuna's armor - while intact enough that she was able to finish her confrontation with Wo - is rather the worse for wear from the anguishbeams; one of her 'pigtails' was blown away about a third of the way down from its mount, and there are cracks and scorch marks across most of her mermaid-esque armor.

Yuna takes a moment to regain her bearings, then - after hearing Kongou confirm she's okay - Yuna heads towards Nagato, to render what assistance she can.