Scene #6786: The Hunger

Owner	Pose
S6	Welcome to Old Indus. In the distance, monolithic walls signal the presence of the current, defended City of Rivers, Indus itself. Out here, beyond the wall, it used to be a city. Crumbling buildings overtaken by trees and shrubs by the encroaching forest. The streets are recognizable as such-- but barely, with grass-covered dirt piled up around the rusted shells of what used to be private vehicles. The target today is one of those buildings, more intact than those around it, a sprawling industrial complex linked by catwalks that still hold up after all this time. It is this structure that S6 has highlighted in her tactical data as a meeting point, and this facility that she approaches at a steady walk. The box-like POD floats serenely beside her. -SCANNING.- -ANTIMAGIC PRESENCE DETECTED. HYPOTHEOSIS: NULLBORN COMMANDER STATIONED WITHIN THIS FACILITY.- -PROPOSAL: ERADICATE COMMANDER. LOWER-RANKED SOLDIERS WILL DISPERSE.- -THE FACILITY MAY THEN BE SEARCHED UNHINDERED.- S6 slows to a stop, then turns to peer down the courtyard at those who arrive in her wake. Lifting one hand, she makes a motion as if she were adjusting glasses-- an opaque black visor flickers in over her eyes as she performs the gesture, "That's the plan. We lure it out and kill it in front of its subordinates."
Shigure	A pair of figures, one tall, wearing a modified Miko outfit, and one shorter in a black serafuku school uniform approach in the wake of S6's arrival. They're bristling with guncarriage rigging strapped to their bodies. Shigure's got her cannon-tonfa backpack, and thigh-mounted torpedo tubes, while Yamashiro sports her quartet of large cannons on gimbal mounts. Radio traffic comes from Shigure, <"Fifth Fleet Flagship and Secretary, in position. We will try to keep collateral damage to a minimum."> Shigure pulls her cannons into position from her back, while Yamashiro deploys smaller 'nests' from the turret caps of her quartet, the main guns locking in a non-combat position. Seems she's going for 'small and numerous' instead of the primary big punch. Blue and Red eyes lock onto the most obvious egress point, the two shipgirls taking front and center as a vanguard for the others to rally behind.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa had not visited S6's world until now. She was aware of how bad the situation was for the remnants of humanity and their creations like S6. When the call when out? She kept to her word and suite up to deploy. While she'd come with the kit for on-foot fighting? Kotone has got the idea more heavy firepower was a good idea, so she will arrive in the hulking ARMED suit she was issued by her government when she joined the Paladins. The machine powered up she grabbed a machine canon off the weapon wrack and went through the warp gate. <<Yamakawa here.>> The Warmachine flickers for a moment as it cloaks itself from view. It shimmers for a moment and is just visually gone, one might see traces of it should it crush anything underfoot, however. Kotone will start moving in, hearing Shirgure is here? Makes her glad to have her along for this. <<A headhunting operation? Got it.>> With that the cloaked unit will head in trying to seek out where the target is. While trying to keep in range of Shigure and Yamashiro, in the event they need some support.
Nanoha Takamachi	A streak of pink rockets through the air above the overgrown city, quickly curving down towards the courtyard marked as the meeting point. The streak slows, dimming as Nanoha is revealed within it. She floats the last few meters, softly touching down on the ground. Her combat dress settles as she takes a few steps up to join the gathering group. Nanoha gives S6 a brief nod in greeting, before glancing around. She spots the girls decked out in rigging and blinks. Huh. That's new. And kind of cool! Nanoha gives the two Fleet Daughters a smile before turning her attention to more pressing matters. Nanoha swings the staff in her left hand around to point towards the ground before her. It chimes, <Wide Area Search.> A dozen small orbs of magic appear in the air around the staff, before zipping off into the structure. As her spell begins to search through the structure before the group, Nanoha explains to the others, "Let's see if we can get a visual on what we'll be facing off against." Several holoscreens appear in the air around Nanoha, showing the footage from the various magic drones as they start to explore the interior.
Eggman	"Ahah!" The nefarious Doctor Eggman is not here as a helper. He's here, mostly, scavenging. Parts from alien worlds are as good as gold in more cases than not. Advanced machinery to be retrofitted and repaired, secret magics to incorporate into robots after an ill-advised minimum of study - there's no limit to the fun that wandering around with your robot chums picking up other civilizations' trash can achieve! Hm. The rotund Robotnik's exclamation is, however, pointed squarely at S6. He just sort of rounded the corner with his own robots in tow, one a little orb thing with more orbiting spiked balls around it, another a flying hornet, and a third some kind of weird ladybug pulling a makeshift sled full of parts. And now he's all up in S6's space, his big glasses glinting, his wide iconic grin filling a large chunk of her face. "Aren't you fascinating!" His fingers wiggle in the manner of a child excited to open a new toy. It's a little creepy. "What an extraordinary craftsman your maker must have been, my dear! That delightful weaponry! That marvelous little...mmm, sensor booster unit?" He turns his gaze on the POD for a moment before he turns his head back to S6. "You are magnificent, really! Oh, I would love to open you up and see just exactly how you tick." He taps on his wrist. "Although I have a good idea just from looking at you, really." That's the trouble with being a mad genius. "Besides, as one craftsman to another, I really should respect-" He pauses. The little orb robot beeps. "Ah, yes. Where are my manners?" The round man steps back and presses a hand over his chest, bowing with an exaggerated theater flourish. "I am Doctor Ivo Robotnik, the greatest supervillain the world has ever known. Please, call me Doctor Eggman. A pleasure." "Now then!" He claps his hands together excitedly. "As much as I would love to see exactly how you function, I think it would be more prudent to just follow along and watch you in action. I have no doubt you've been dispatched on some important mission and that almost assuredly means combat, so I'll just trundle along behind you and take a few notes." Kotone gets a glance. "Ah. Cybernetics." The portly professor sighs like a man remembering his teenage years as he looks over Nanoha and Shigure. "And...no, no, neither of you are particularly interesting at the moment. I'm sure you'd be more interesting in any other circumstances, but right now!"
Thomas Alva Edison	Thomas Alva Edison, the man who's head is a lion's head. His body is a shit brickhouse made out of smaller shit brickhouses, and in the colors of AMERICA. He stands tall and proud on the deck as S6 provides the update to the mission. The commander seems to be on their way here, and these aliens are openly hostile. Then again, perhaps they have not just been reasoned with properly. However, a comrade indicates that it was not the case, so he is inclined to believe them first. "Well, where are the points of entry for the small fries? It would be easier to set something up to disable or prevent their entry while we deal with their leader. Other than that..." Of course, Eggman gets his attention for several reasons. First, the supervillain thing, the second is his seemingly unhealthy obsession with S6 and her POD, pod. He considers the man for a moment, before speaking easily. "My dear contemporary. I would suggest to reign in your excitement a touch, you're well-meaning interest can be taken the wrong way." Now, with that PR out of the way...he looks at the entrances to the place. Restricting them to a single point would be beneficial for suppression.
S6	The weaponry deployed by Shigure and Yamashiro is appraised by S6, getting a slight nod. Her POD pings Kotone's location, adding the powersuit to her HUD as a friendly unit. Recognizing Nanoha, the young mage is greeted with a more defined nod as she lands. And then Eggman happens. She reaches for the sword across her back when he gets right up in her face...singing her praises? -PROXIMITY ALERT.- With a soft 'nnh' sort of noise, S6 relaxes her guard. Excitement aside, this man seems to be an eccentric scientist. Perhaps he only got excited. He's reining himself in now, after all. After a moment, she relaxes her stance, "...Striker unit Six, model 18A." -PROXIMITY ALERT.- She shoots a look at the POD, then further over her shoulder at the factory door-- Nanoha's screens depict the interior of the facility as rather dark, with shafts of light coming in through cracks in the ceiling or walls. Something moves inside, covered in luminscent spots, but the shape and size are indistinct. Something heavy slams into the freight doors blocking the courtyard from the factory interior. A moment later, it slams again and the doors bend outward. With a third impact, both doors break from their rails, slamming down and sliding to a stop. S6 goes for her weapon again. What emerges could easily be described as a dragon, its hide a blotchy, patchy mess of black and shades of gray. Jagged lines of luminescent purple line its neck and sides, and the same color shines from the puts of its eyes. Wyvern-like, it uses obvious wings as arms, creeping out into the light. -ENEMY IDENTIFIED. A-RANK. TYPE DRAKOS.- Grasses protruding from between concrete pads begin to blacken around it while the beast rears up its serpentine head, unleashing a window-rattling roar.
Shigure	Shigure and Yamashiro look at Eggman, but pay him little additional mind as the door starts to break, then come flying away from its frame. "Contact... Yamashiro, weapons free." says Shigure, gripping the handles on her cannon tonfa, and unloading a volley of shells. Yamashiro's turrets gimbal out, elevate, then disgorge a volley of their own shells, since the target is much bigger, and collateral isn't as much of an issue, according to the local. "Reload, Type 91 armour piercing. Ready, 20 seconds." announces Yamashiro as her turrets gimbal back in against her back, ratcheting and cranking as the mechanisms cycle inside.
Eggman	Eggman is standing well out of the way of the monster by the time he's backed up away from S6. Edison gets a curious glance and then a broad Eggman grin. We all know the grin. The big grin that is his logo. The logo on the side of every single robot he's brought with him, from the stupid-looking one-wheeled motorized ladybug to the flying hornet to the Saturn-ringed ball of spiked death. He is giving that big broad Eggman grin to the whole world because gosh he is just, he is in such a good mood right now. He's got a sled full of new parts to play with, he's got a fascinating new robot to watch in action, there's Thomas Edison there, there's a neat cyborg - it's just such a neat day! Such a neat day. The wyvern-like beast roars. Eggman's moustache bends in the blast. He adjusts his glasses. His grin has not faded. Yamashiro and Shigure go forward and start shooting. "Hm, hm, hm. Drawn to magic - oh, so you're magic, then! I should've guessed as much, but I really don't like giving credit to such things where perfectly ordinary robotics will do." Eggman adjusts his glasses again as he steps a little further back. "And a dangerous breath weapon to boot. Well, since you're so kindly allowing me to observe you, I suppose the least I can do is help out a bit." He presses two fingers to his mouth and whistles. From basically out of nowhere, a storm of robots just comes surging forward. They're all weird flying construction drones carrying heavy pieces of scenery - some of them have spiked balls, some of them have tracks, some of them have those annoying little pop-up spike pits, some of them have walls. They fly quite rapidly past Eggman and the party, and start dropping those bits in remarkably coordinated ways. Eggman's big grin becomes quite a bit more malicious as his eyebrows furrow. "Ha ha ha ha ha ha! If it's restricting actions you want, it's obviously an action stage!" "Step forward, get hit by spikes!" A spike pops up in front of the monster. "Step backwards, run into the spiked ball!" A spiked ball goes up and down like a fishing bobble. "Sideways, loop the loops!" Huge loop-the-loop tracks have just been dropped onto the field. "And last but not least, the endless falling death pits! Ha ha ha ha ha ha! I'm so brilliant I amaze even myself sometimes!" Indeed, at the end of the loop-the-loops are a pair of pits. They're bottomless. You just know they are.
Kotone Yamakawa	An expected arrival arrives from the Concords more science-focused operatives. Dr. Eggman, and in a situation like this? Someone with his skill set is very much welcome here. For today Kotone is very laser-focused on the alien invaders. She does keep in mind that Mr. Edison wishes a sample ane like Eggman will as well, either way, she'll try to get some. However, her main goal is to hunt down the officer and take them out. She'll check her suit's HUD marking the new arrivals as friendlies. She catches sight of Nanoha and is glad to be working with her again today. Also, more support for finding where the enemy is very much welcome. She gets the feed from Nanoha and will adjust her plans as she moves to go in, given collateral damage isn't an issue? This might make it easier, then again something has come out to face them she looks at a dragon-like thing for a moment. <<Well this isn't what I was expecting>> She'll level her machine cannon, with S6's informing the team that the Officer would likely target those who had a large source of magic. She will make use of the efforts to kite it as the machine canon opens fire, sending a rapid stream of slugs at the Officer, and she'll keep on the move knowing with all the fire her cloak won't be working at peak levels but it might help and is worth keeping on for now. For the moment she'll join Shigure and Yamashiro in laying down high levels of firepower. Large bass shell casing gives a telltale sign of where she is, as she's on the move. She will also keep in mind the actions of Eggman, so she does not get caught up in it. She's pretty sure, she can make use of his actions too.
Nanoha Takamachi	Nanoha turns her head to look at the strange round man as he proceeds to get up in S6's face. An odd man, to be sure. She continues to watch as he examines the others here. As he gets to her, declaring her not particularly interesting right now, Nanoha blinks. The staff in her hand is actually the first to respond, chiming in, <Are you going to take that> Nanoha rubs the back of her head, letting off a bit of a laugh, "Ehehehe. Well, he's not really wrong, I guess." Wait. Did he say supervillain!? As Edison comments on Eggman's interest, Nanoha looks at the lion-man. Impressive. Also another animal person, interesting. Nanoha briefly wonders how common they are in the Multiverse. But that's something to consider in more detail later. For now, Nanoha agrees with Edison, going on to say, "We do have some concerning matters that require more immediate attention. We can admire each other later." Returning to looking at the holoscreens she had brought up, Nanoha examines the results of her little scouting intrusion into the building. It's hard to make out much, due to the dark nature. Though the indistinct shape draws a bit of a concerning look. If she can she some light on the situation, she might be able to- BANG. Nanoha quickly turns to look in the direction of the large freight doors. It seems that they're going to get a closer look fairly soon! Nanoha shifts her staff into both hands as she shifts her stance, ready for combat. As the biomechanical dragon proceeds to break through the large doors and enter the courtyard, Nanoha's eyes widen a little at the sight. She's seen dragons before, but this one has a lot more of a menacing feel to it. A plan is quickly hatched, at which point Nanoha lifts up into the air once more. She gains a little height, to bring her up to a more noticeable position before she says to her partner, "This thing likes magic. So let's give it some!" Raising Heart chimes, <Understood> The covering on the staff's neck slides back twice. CA-THUNK. CA-THUNK. The cartridges release their payloads of compressed mana, causing power to flare up around Nanoha, whipping up her hair and clothes. A spell ring appears at the tip of the staff as Nanoha swings it around to point at the dragon. An orb of pink forms, growing in size as the spell charges. Within moments, Nanoha calls out, "Photon Smasher!" The orb bursts, a mid-sized beam of energy rushing forward towards the biomechanical creature. That should prove to grab its attention.
Thomas Alva Edison	The roar of the dragon-like entity now has Edison's attention. More so, his gaze watches as the grass around the creature starts to die. It appears that it is not just aggressive, but by its very nature seems to be rejecting the world around it. Nanoha stares at him, and he speaks firmly, "I am Thomas Alva Edison, do not mind the appearance, it is actually me!" As things settle down from the arrival and everything else, Edison decides that if it was going to focus him anyway, and he is a chunky boy, then it was only right that he drew its attention. Stepping forward, he approaches the thing that obviously has MENACING sigils around it. Because he can not punch it without getting closer. Edison walks right up to it, and punches it right across the face, before slamming his own right into the middle of the thing's eyes. "If you will not talk like a rational person, then we will have discourse in this method until you feel in a talkative mood! I, as Presiking of the United States of America, will not suffer your incursion onto an allies territory."
S6	Yamashiro and Shigure are the first to open fire. Artillery shells pepper the face of the facility as well as the Drakos, which crouches down lower to the ground. A stray shot does dig into its back, exploding out a plume of luminexcent purple slime that might pass for blood. More of this erupts from its hide in places where Kotone's machine cannon manages to pierce whatever passes for scales on the thing. A spell goes off in its face, prompting the beast to step back-- into Eggman's spikey boys. Which prompt the Nullborn officer to step forward with a rumble. It was already agitated, but now it's pretty clearly switching to Murder First, Ask Questions Probably Never. And then Thomas Alva Edison punches the Drakos Nullborn right on the snout. The beast pauses, staring at the lion-headed PresiKing, its roars giving way to a dull rumble. S6 likewise pauses in her weapon draw, staring at the sudden change in tone that the President of the United States was able to produce by such a simple action. After a pause, the Nullborn lurches forward, engulfing Edison's head and shoulders in its mouth and picking him up. In lieu of attacking literally anyone else around it, including those who have caused it far more pain, the Drakos seems far more interested in swinging the PresiKing around like a dog with a rope toy. Punch it in the nose to establish <s>Dialogue</s> Distraction. S6 lets out a tense noise. A magic circle appears around the hilt of her two swords, which swing up out of their scabbards of their own volition, "The underside of its neck is vulnerable. Now, while Edison has it reared up."
Shigure	Shigure doesn't get much purchase with her low caliber shells. Yamashiro manages to get at least one good hit, but like fighting Abyssal Princesses and Demons, one shot isn't enough. Edison gets himself up in its face, and gets chomped on for his trouble; but that opens a weakspot. Yamashiro won't reload in time, so Shigure dashes forward, returning her tonfa to her back as she draws a short blade from the hidden sheat at the small of her back. She radios her intentions, and actually waits for the ranged people to hit, before jumping in with a quick slash and fade strike, pulling back out of range once she's performed her attack run.
Thomas Alva Edison	Edison, now engulfed by the creature like a piece of meat stuck in its throat, flails a bit as he's flung to and fro. Now annoyed at this, Edison maneuvers his hands to try and grab at the thing's neck. He tries to hold it for as long as he can, trying to control the thrashing, while also trying to hold it's neck UP so that people can get some good shots in. However, after a few moments, he can't take anymore, and he slams his feet down on the ground while attempting to literally LIFT the thing over his head. Electricity surges through Edison as he attempts to suplex the dragon behind him. Yes, while it's still firmly trying to swallow him. However, should this be enough, Edison moves to pull his head out. "Woah, Nelly, that's a spicy greeting! Well, if you're going to be that way, then we're going to do this the OTHER American way." a beat, "And by that, I mean someone else who brought guns is going to do that, while I punch and shoot electricity at you." This too, is how America does things. Hire the Japanese to do it.
Kotone Yamakawa	With her comrades and allies like Nanoha moving to get the Officer's attention? She should be able to make uyse of it to score some more hits in, and then Edison punched the dragon in the nose. That is something she's not going to soon forget. She's also making ready for a counter-attack of some sort, it's not just going to ignore her, right? Even though she has no magic. She scores a hit it's clear her weapons can work and she's not sure what that purple stuff is and will try to avoid getting splattered in it. At this point she turns off her cloak, there's no reason keep it on at the moment. Thomas Alva Edison get the Drakos Nullborn's attention very hard, and it's as S6 says over the comm. Her machine dances back a bit as she realigns her machine cannon changing her focus. So she can target the weaker armour under the neck of the beast. She'll line up the shot and times her fire to account for Shigure's melee attack as she'll attempt to follow up the damage that her ship spirit comrade is doing. She's also quite thankful for the aid in hemming in the Officer by Eggman, he's kept this from being a lot more work due to it. Even with that though this is no walk in the park.
Nanoha Takamachi	Nanoha blinks as Edison finds himself the target of the machine-dragon's ire. She thought it was drawn to magic, not bravado! Nanoha sighs a little, hoping the dragon doesn't decide to slam its jaws shut and end Edison's term/reign early. According to S6, the PresiKing's shenanigans have opened up a weakness they can exploit. It's only right that they do so, lest Edison's sacrifice be in vain. Nanoha swings her staff out to the side, four orbs of magic appearing in the air around her. She calls out, "Axel Shooter. Focused Barrage!" The orbs burst into beams that streak forward. The streaks of pink dance through the air, arcing down as Nanoha controls them to go in for a more accurate shot. They sweep around the loop-the-loop, one finding itself running up, over and down the track before rushing to catch up with the others. Finally they turn fast, moving into formation with Kotone's machine cannon fire, spiraling around it as the combined shot streaks in towards the dragon's neck moments before Shigure's strike.
Septette Arcubielle	TWENTY MINUTES AGO: "Do you know why we call it the Century Beast of Damavand, sir?" Septette is walking through an Etrian cavern at a brisk clip, flanked by a red-robed mage and a sweating nobleman. "Because, ah..." "Because the seal must be renewed once per century." There's an unearthly shrieking in the background, shaking the cavern's walls. "Ah, yes, that's-" "And yet here I am. For the fifth time this century. Are we going to have to rename it the 'Decade Beast' now?" NOW: Septette, covered head to toe in blood and standing over the corpse of a hydra-like beast, pulls a Warp Wire from her pouch and snaps it between her fingers. "Ah, wait!" "No, if you'll excuse me, I really can't stay. I promised-" She vanishes with a quiet 'pop', air rushing in to fill the gap her teleportation left behind. She reappears in the stratosphere above Old Indus and starts to fall. She starts off as an imperceptible speck in the sky, but the blood coating her body burns off as she turns red-hot from air friction, plummeting like a meteor- a shooting star in the daylight sky. The plates and blades of her skeletal-mechanical body adjust themselves to steer her precisely, adjusting her trajectory by inches and feet. Seconds after she first became visible as a streak in the sky, Septette reaches ground-level, aiming to bring down her blade-taloned foot on the Nullborn officer's back in a multi-mile drop kick with all the momentum of her super-dense frame behind it! If it manages to evade her, she might still injure it by cratering the ground in a ball of fire and a deafening crunch. Hopping back over one of Eggman's bottomless pits to get some distance, she quenches her red-hot frame with a hiss of ice magic, now looking less like some manner of horrible demon and more like... well, still a horrible skeletal knifebot demon, but at least one with a friendly face! "My deepest apologies for being late," she says, her voice sounding like a noblewoman talking through a Furby. "I had some unpleasant business to attend to first."
Eggman	Eggman's helped enough, thank you. He's content to sit back and watch for the moment. His robots aren't, though. The bee-looking thing sweeps in to run support for Nanoha and Edison. The orb-bot is throwing spikes at the monster to help Kotone get a better shot. The little ladybug thing is...it's there? It's...it's not really helping, since it's loaded down with spare parts, but it's helping in spirit! Yeah! Go team! Septette arrives, and Eggman's moustache bristles as his grin somehow widens. How? A mystery lost to time. It takes up most of his face though. "Ah, Miss Arcubielle. A pleasure to meet you in person, I believe, for the very first time. You look as exquisitely-crafted as one would imagine from hearing you." It'd be almost salacious if it wasn't played completely straight - he literally is just admiring the craftsmanship. "Oh, I have a feeling this won't be as simple as killing the boss and scattering all the minions," he adds idly, "Call it a hunch, as a professional in the business."
S6	Edison's actions and S6's recommendation draws fire to the Drakos' throat. Kotone's machine cannon finds a lot more purchase here, hammered home further by Nanoha's focused spell. Shigure successfully carves open a good section of hide under the neck. From this spills that ichorous glowing purple slime, though it coats the blade it does no damage to it. Does tingle the skin when touched. Given S6's warnings about Nullborn, probably best not to handle their blood too much. Edison's throttling eventually gets the alien to let him go, depositing the PresiKing on the cracked pavement but apparently not dampening the spirit of AMERICA. The Nullborn commander arcs its head down to shield its wounded neck, drooling that glowing bloody slime as as it inhales. Admist the gunfire and thunder, the beast suddenly rears back, spreading its arm-wings and hurling itself skyward and backward-- Just in time for Septette to crater down where the Nullborn had been crouched. Her impact sends it further back, and it struggles for a moment to regain control of itself before its feet touch down on the reinforced top frame of the facility it had previously emerged from. Balancing itself with its wing-hands, the Officer rears back, loudly inhaling. "Pod!" -SALVO FIRE.- From her position, S6 shields her face from Septette's arrival, then thrusts her hand forward. Her POD responds by loosing a barrage of missiles, peppering the Nullborn but more importantly, the structure it's perched on. Weakened, the doorframe collapses, taking the roof with it. The alien commander lets out a shriek of surprise as its perch falls out from under it. As it goes down, it discharges a stream of violet flames, the breath weapon's aim disrupted and the attack going wide. Once the dust clears, the officer is still alive-- but pinned under rubble and steel supports. As it struggles, wreckage shifts. It won't be pinned for very long. And the android S6 is already approaching it, the shorter of her two swords floating forward so she can collect it in one hand.
Nanoha Takamachi	<An object is streaking down from above.> Nanoha looks up, "What!?" Nanoha instinctively raises an arm to shield her face as Septette's orbital drop-kick kicks up a light cloud of dust and debris. As she looks again, Nanoha notices the battered, but still functional, alien officer preparing to unleashing its breath weapon. Nanoha quickly raises a hand to attempt to stop it. But before she can, S6 unleashes her barrage. As the dust once again settles, Nanoha floats over to a point above the now trapped officer. Seeing it struggling to get out from under the rubble, Nanoha raises her hand once more towards the creature, calming saying, "Ring bind." Several rings of light appear around the dragon and the debris atop it. They quickly contract to try and pin it, along with the debris, to restrict its ability to move and escape. As she floats there, Nanoha considers how the situation has progressed. She then glances around, before asking, "If that was the officer. Where are its soldiers?" They were supposed to kill it in front of them, after all. Or so Nanoha understood.
Shigure	Shigure lands a few feet back... only to get knocked further by Septette's DYNAMIC ENTRY. She tumbles, and skids, before managing to regain her footing, bringing an arm up to shield her face from the debris flung clear of the crater. The surface of her blade arm tingles, and she quickly tries to wipe off the ichorous blood, grimacing a bit. "Yamashiro, maintain combat stance. I have a bad feeling about this." she says, unhooking her cannons again as S6 moves in for the kill. Yamashiro makes an affirmative sound, as her turrets finally clank with a resonant sound, indicating they're ready to fire again. The turrets hinge back out on their gimbals, shifting into easy arcs to cover other egress points, should the lesser enemies make an appearance. <"Should we coordinate to finish the officer off?"> she radios.
Thomas Alva Edison	Edison takes a handkerchief out from his pocket and starts giving his head a nice wipe down. This is until DRAGONS BREATH covers the area, burning the handkerchief to a crisp, and leaving him now dry, but also with caked-on dragon's saliva, and also being on fire. Beating the flames out, and looking a bit worse for wear, Edison watches as the building is dropped on it. This time, however, Edison leaps across the map, aiming to land ON the debris that is pinning the creature, aiming to try and help keep it pinned for the approaching S6. His hands come up, as electrical energy surges through him... And goes down through the various cracks, metal bits, and other unpleasant things that might be poking the buried dragon. Edison aims to give it a nice electrifying bath in DC POWER. "See this is what happens when you rely on AC. Dragons. If the world had stuck with DC, this wouldn't be happening right now."
Kotone Yamakawa	Suddenly? Septette enters and quite the entrance as she not only arrives? She makes her entry into a heck of a brutal attack aiming to make thing even worse for the Nullborn Officer. Her attacks find far more purchase here as she hammer into the thing's neck. Which helps to open the way for Nanoha, Shirgure follows it up with some serious damage. Edison is just not taking any flak from this Nullborn commander at all. ht thing rears back as Septette brutally pushes it closer and closer to the edge. The call to finish it off is given nad she's going to deliver on that as she shifts her machine to get in closer. She'll attempt to line up her weapon checking on the ammo levels. The levels are low yet it should be enough to finish this job. The breath attack comes and starts to do some noticeable damage more by cooking internal systems. It's pinned for the moment and she will fire aiming for the head and neck trying to unload the last of the machine cannon, current ammo load. Heat warnings are still a thing as it's going to take a bit for her machine to cool off, so the risk of an ammo detonation is now something that is a non zero chance now. Nanoha makes life a bit easier as she moves to make it even harder for the officer to move and avoid the oncoming chain of attacks from those who have been hunting it. %
Septette Arcubielle	There's a fairly large crowd of Elites here- good returns on observation, and high priority to protect them. At the same time, that means that any trick Septette uses will be seen by that many more pairs of eyes, and who knows how Eggman's machines or S6's 'pod' might be recording. Septette doesn't deploy any tricks she doesn't feel aren't already implicit in her design. The cone of violet flames is knocked wide by the aftereffects of the POD's attack, but even so, it can hardly fail to hit someone who's just slow-walking directly into the monster's face. If it allows her- or, more than likely, if it tries not to- she lays one heavy, monstrously-strong clawed hand on its head, feeling its skull like a phrenologist for any clear weak points. A wickedly-curved blade folds out of her opposite forearm, longer than it ought to be and cast in tan ceramet. She tries to jam it into the monster's head, still hot enough to boil cerebrospinal fluid, and roots around inside for anything vital to slice open.
S6	The Nullborn commander strains against the rubble pinning it down. Nanoha's spell goes off, lashing the beast down more firmly. Its objecting roars become a low, menacing rumble. That oily luminescent purple sludge seeps out from its rubble jail, telling the grievous injuries it's sustained both from weapons and from the collapse. S6 approaches it, sword in hand. But Septette is closer, and gives no fucks about Nullborn flames. Thus it's the Yggdroid who drives a blade into the Officer's skull. The swirling around probably wasn't necessary, but the alien goes limp regardless. Rooting around inside its head has the body twitching at times, but it's as dead as anything else stabbed in the head would be expected to be. S6's steps slow, then stop. Lifting her sword, she releases it. The weapon spins around and slides back into its scabbard, a motion repeated by its larger partner. "Usually it's much more difficult. Usually I fight these on my own. So that would be why." Beside her, the POD chimes, then projects a screen above itself. Depicted is a silver-haired android with a bob cut, "S6, this is I17! We detected that Commander's death, and D-rank signatures are starting to disperse. Assuming the structure is still stable, you should find the active console on Sublevel 4, sector 8!" Voice lowering to a hush, the girl whispers, "Bring me a souvenier~!" The transmission ends. S6 turns, eyes turning skyward. In the distance, dog-sized creatures with wings have already begun vacating one of the taller structures. She reaches up, adjusting her visor so that it disappears.
Shigure	Shigure finally relaxes as the all-clear is given by the local operator. "Yamashiro, stand down. Alert 5. Secure primary battery. Secondaries only." commands the destroyer, as she hooks her backpack into place again, linking up with her fleetmate. Both then approach S6. "I think it would be prudent to split up here. One group heads inside to investigate, while another group remains here to secure the perimeter, in case those others find another officer to bring back." she says, her tone quiet and demure, but somehow still travelling to those who need to hear it. "Our equipment is far less suited to confined spaces, so I elect that Yamashiro and I should remain here to guard the perimeter."
Nanoha Takamachi	Nanoha visibly winces as Septette drives one of her blades into the dragon's head. Nanoha looks away, a little distressed at the alien dragon's death. She understands the necessity of killing the officer. It doesn't mean she has to like it. Nanoha floats down to join the others once more, feet gently touch upon the partially ruined structure. She walks over, just in time to catch the communication from I17. As Shigure suggests they split up to both secure the exterior and search for the target, Nanoha nods in agreement, "I should be able to help reduce the search time. So I'll help with that." The search orbs Nanoha had summoned when they first arrive return to her side. Finished with keeping watch for any surprises during the battle, Nanoha sends them off again with a flick of her hand. They quickly dart off into the facility to search for the target terminal. As Nanoha begins to follow her little magic drones, at a more sedate pace, she asks over the radio, "S6, what sort of information are you expecting to get from the terminal?"
Septette Arcubielle	It probably says something about the kinds of creatures Septette is used to that she spends a few more moments continuing to rummage around in the Nullborn's skull with her blade, effectively whisking whatever brain-equivalent it's got inside. Finally, she pulls the four-foot-long armblade out and flicks it dry against the ground before retracting it, and surveying the group's work with her claws on her hips and a look of approval on her face. "Many hands make light work, you know!" She's a very different sort of fighting machine from S6, made all the more obvious when she walks up alongside, motors whining and metal groaning. Her taloned feet sink deep into the dirt or crack asphalt underneath; despite her size, there's a distinct deliberate ponderousness to her movements that comes with density. Elegance in mannerisms, stripped-down brutality in physiology. She's quite deliberately avoiding any delicate-looking catwalks. "Tell me about the history of 'Magical Doll' development," she says as a casual aside. "How did it begin, and how's it improved since?"
Thomas Alva Edison	Edison takes the time to examine the creature, if it's biomechanical, this might be up his wheelhouse...and if not well, he knows a few people who could help him dig into this for more answers. Other people move on towards the terminal, while Edison does this. If he can not get answers here, he moves to have the creature moved to his labs. Making sure to carefully have the creature sealed and contained, in case of biohazardous material. "That is indeed correct, many hands do make light work," Edison says, distractedly to the group.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa lowers he machine's weapon and will still move to reload the weapon, she doesn't trust his new enemy to not attempt something after the commander has fallen. Still, between the allies and herself, the Nullborn Officer's life is over, the dragon is dead. She'll lower her reloaded weapon and pauses at the comm come to life with word that the D class Nullborn are fleeing now. Kotone wonders if they can make of such behaviour later. It's something to think on, to be sure. She looks to Shigure her machine head turning as she listens to her suggestion. "Sounds like a plan, call us if you need anything, Shigure." With that Kotone will pop the hatch, and drop out of it. She'll turn to look at the armour and sends a signal for it to lock itself up and she'll look like she' ready to go. "Well then time to go in let us see what we can find, Mr. Edison." He's quite right about many hands will make light work, hopefully, it will also allow for them to maybe find something of worth with more eyes looking?
Eggman	Ah, good! It's dead. Grand. Eggman wins the bet for no money and no stakes. "Active console, is it? Oh, my, another high-quality machine. How intriguing." He rubs his moustache in the manner of a Proper Supervillain as he glances at I17. "Are there so many of you that you need such high digits? Are they serial numbers, line numbers...hmmmmm!" He's not really talking to them. More to himself. He's also bouncing between that and Septette, equally occasionally pausing to inquire about things that are actually relevant, like 'active console' and 'data recovery'. One of his robots, when no one is looking, scoops a bit of the Nullborn up into its mouth. Just a smidgeon. When no one is looking. "Yes, yes!" Eggman opens his arms. "Tell us about magical dolls."
S6	-PLAN UNDER ADVISEMENT- "Do it," S6 states to Shigure and Yamashiro, "...Also. Thank you." She looks down at the deceased Nullborn, its flesh starting to smolder, "...Mm. Be careful, Edison. They decompose quickly, and their flesh is hazardous." Everything about these creatures seems designed to absorb magic from their surroundings, even when they're dead. At least it's stopped killing the surrounding plant life, though directly touching it is still uncomfortable. Inside the facility is dark. A light is provided by S6's POD, shining on rusted machinery and defunct assembly lines, ruined computer banks, and metal catwalks. The main elevator even works, though it's god-awful noisy and in dire need of a good greasing. Creatures shuffle around in the distance, luminescent purple and teal skittering about in the dark, but always avoiding the party. The so-called D-Rank Nullborn avoiding the heroes who killed their leader. "This was a production facility," S6 answers Nanoha, "I have been tasked with seizing data related to the devices produced here. Early model Magical Dolls and first-gen anti-nullborn weaponry." Looking out over the derelict machinery, she adds, "The primary point of interest is prototyping. Weapons which were not put into production due to technical limitations, which may be bypassed now." "Mmm..." S6's response to Septette is a thoughtful noise, "...Humans developed combat robots when casualties fighting the Nullborn became unsustainable. They began with a known ritual, which produced a form of golem termed a Magical Doll." Raising one hand, she flexes her fingers, "Further advancements to produce better Dolls eventually resulted in Androids such as myself." She pauses, glancing towards Robotnik, "Series. Unit. Model. It is our identifier." Gesturing to herself, she provides the full designator, "Series Striker, unit 6, Model 18. It is not quite a serial number." She turns back to the elevator itself, entering in the sublevel I17 mentioned earlier. The lift groans to life, squeaking and rattling as it moves, "As for how many of us there are... It's somewhat irrelevant. This war has gone on for several hundred years. My database indicates there are around two dozen androids in FANTOM. I presume similar numbers man their respective organizations in the other cities."