GBG Session 15.5: Must Come Down

<Darkling> Lit has rushed you to the base, dropping you off at the change rooms where you are currently in, before heading up to the control room to get a statues report.
<Darkling> Ivy worms her way out of her clothes and into her plugsuit, trying not to draw any attention from the other girls.
Rasia pulls on her stuffy plugsuit, jaw guard pressing right up against her throat. She ignores Ivy for the most part, her trademark slouch reappearing in preparation to drop any pretenses of being human.
<Lahja_Ilvainen> Lahja is quick to change, almost reckless, if such a word could apply to changing clothes. Whatever her reason she's especially eager this time around and has had a smile plastered on her face ever since the sirens started.
Corrin strips and changes into the waiting plugsuit with his usual speed, following the procedure even as his mind races ahead.
Wilhelm_Faustus frowns, changing slowly into his plugsuit as he stares at the bottom of his locker.
Rasia clicks her teeth, pulling her hair down into her eyes, and jogging out to meet Null Ein.
<Corrin> "Come on, Pilot Wilhelm!" Corrin calls, pressing the button at the suit's wrist as he moves. "The enemy's not going to wait!"
<Darkling> Lit's voice comes over the loudspeaker. "Let me know when you're ready pilots, we have VTOLs on route to the Jotun to keep them away from the Dome. We can't afford them to get close with the current condition it's in."
<Darkling> "From what we're reading here we have two separate entities."
<Wilhelm_Faustus> He snorts, pulling his thoughts from inside to the battle about to begin outside. Off to see Null Drei.
<Rasia> Rasia opens her mouth, taking a big gulp of LCL and blowing bubbles to empty her lungs. Hrm...did they make the saddle steeper? She adjusts her weight.
Corrin seems to briefly lose some of his eagerness at Lit's second announcement, but heads off quickly enough.
<Darkling> Ivy jogs out and climbs into her plug, relaxing. "Am I sitting this one out?" She asks.
<Darkling> "Yes Ivy, we're keeping you on standby for the time being. Report in pilots." Lit's face appears on screen in the plugs.
<Lahja_Ilvainen> Lahja is off to Null Vier and the entry plug, half running and half skipping before rushing inside the Aesir. Two should be interesting. Very interesting.
<Rasia> "Ready.”
<Corrin> "Ready and willing, sir." Corrin responds quickly.
Corrin is gripping the controls as he leans forwards, attention on the front screen.
<Wilhelm_Faustus> Only silence from the Aryan.
<Lahja_Ilvainen> "I'm feeling trigger happy tonight, sir." Lahja says with a smile.
<Darkling> "Levels are nominal, ready for launch." A bridge bunny nods to him and the Aesir head for the surface.
<Corrin> "Should've gone to the range first, then." Corrin comments distractedly to Lahja as the Units ascend.
<Darkling> Reaching the surface some distance from the dome, you can spot the Jotun off in the distance. The seem to be working in concert, one leading the way and headed for the Aesir, the other trailing slightly behind.
<Wilhelm_Faustus> "...they work well together as a team, making them more dangerous than the others. Be cautious."
<Darkling> They seem hunched over in form, though slightly thinner than any previous Jotun. The leading one has long spikes for arms, and the follower has larger, rounded forearms like bats.
<Lahja_Ilvainen> "A stationary target won't always..." Lahja stops abruptly as she sees the pair. "Isn't that cute?"
Rasia growls, adjusting her seating as Ein lands on its forelegs.
<Darkling> A small cheer from Ivy as she appears on a screen in your plugs. "You can do it!"
<Darkling> "Pilots, targets are identified as Fenja and Manja. Have at them."
<Darkling> As the VTOLs close in, firing against the Jotun helplessly, the Jotun in the back brings up it's arms, energy rippling forth from them and incinerating the VTOLs.
<Darkling> The leading Jotun watches, maybe amused, before heading towards the pilots.
Wilhelm_Faustus sits back as Drei hovers, spear held aloft. He was still disturbed by earlier events, but he had to focus now...
<Rasia> "Gun. Shield." Rasia names them in a mutter.
<Wilhelm_Faustus> "I suggest removing the gun first."
Corrin abruptly stops grinning, then looks to the others. "The one hanging back has to go. Pilot Lahja, get ready for firing data."
<Wilhelm_Faustus> "...no...wait...deal with Fenja first, the shield."
<Corrin> "Understood." Corrin replies, and then Unit 02 breaks into a run.
<Lahja_Ilvainen> Null Vier dashes forward with a speed not often seen of it that might be interpreted as reckless, the Aesir giving off a pale blue glow along the way. Lahja stares at the closest Jotun, her smile faltering for the first time since the siren started. "Fenja looks very sturdy. Be careful."
Wilhelm_Faustus exhales slowly, Null Drei spreading its arms out to the side as their AT Field unfolds and thins out to cover the killing floor. "...four layers spread...each..." It's arms fold back up and moved forward toward the Jotun.
<Rasia> Hot on Corrin's heels, Ein rockets out ahead fast enough to build up a pressure wave, the air roaring over the front most Angel as the Aesir's talons scrape against its AT Field.
<Darkling> The Jotun in the back, Menja, shifts slightly, it's body blurring and radiating softly. It hunches and looses a blast at Zwei.
<Darkling> The blast connects, even as Zwei tries to dodge, followed by a sinister bone arm spear tearing at it.
<Corrin> Corrin yells in pain as the Jotun's weapon tears free, then throws himself forwards, movements stiff. "I'll tear you apart!" he shouts, a hammer already clutched in Unit 02's hand as it comes down, crackling brightly.
<Lahja_Ilvainen> "The other one's not much less sturdy." Lahja mutters. Null Vier raises its rifle and lets loose an especially glowy bullet, which ends up going right by the Jotun. The pilot swears under her breath.
<Corrin> "They'll still break!" Corrin insists, a bit too loudly.
<Rasia> Ein jerks around, pouncing Fenja from behind and raking its talons down its back, opening eight long lines and splattering the ground with its own blood. "Raaagh!" Rasia's hands light up in the plug, sympathetic pain painting her vision red.
<Darkling> Fenja flails, spearing its arms backwars into Ein.
<Darkling> "Pilots, I need a status report. Talk to me."
<Rasia> "Spines." Rasia seethes, Ein's hands bleeding onto the ground.
<Corrin_> Corrin flips a switch on the Unit's controls, then, pressing down on the yokes, he sends Unit 02 in again, hammer swinging. The first swing goes wide, and the Jotun dodges the second. He's stopped shouting, instead grimly focused on the two figures looming ahead.
<Lahja_Ilvainen> "It's messy, sir. We've taken some damages." Lahja says, even as Null Vier takes aim and sends another bullet sailing toward the Jotun. "And inflicted little, unfortunately."
<Darkling> "If able, disengage melee and attack from afar. We don't want you impaling yourself."
<Darkling> Ivy perks up in her Unit. "Does this mean I can join?"
<Rasia> "Rr..."
<Corrin> "Yes, sir." Corrin responds automatically, shield still raised.
<Darkling> "Pilots, do you need the assistance? Ivy is ready to join the battle if you need it."
<Rasia> "Fine!" Rasia responds automatically.
<Wilhelm_Faustus> Null Drei's head jerks around, staring at Fenja. Its AT Field warps into a tunnel and his eyes flash, lasers from Drei's eyes slamming into the enemy.
<Wilhelm_Faustus> "We don't need her."
<Darkling> "We'll keep her on standby still then. Say the word if you do."
<Rasia> Null Ein's jaw strains against its muzzle, sleek blue eyelines glinting with snow-light as it leaps forward. One claw digs and claws at Fenja's skull, jerking the Jotunn's spine to stand upright. Swinging its free arm back, the savage Aesir drives all five claws deep into Fenja's side, pulling out a fistful of Jotunflesh. Spines riddle the Unit's body, pinpoints of light burning on Rasia's suit.
<Darkling> Menja lifts up off the ground for a mere moment, sending a heavy arcing blast from both it's arms towards Lahja, narrowly missing and leaving a smoldering crater in the snow.
<Wilhelm_Faustus> "...impressive."
<Darkling> Fenja staggers, making a desperate swipe at Zwei, clear off the mark.
Corrin retaliates with a contemptuous swing of the Unit's hammer that slams into the Jotun, then follows up with a series of swings and thrusts that corrals the wounded Jotun towards the others.
<Rasia> Taking advantage of the opening, Ein drags its claws down one of Fenja's massive arms, covering its arm with such a collection of spines it looks like feathering.
<Lahja_Ilvainen> "I hope you're watching this, Ivy! Maybe you'll see me make a flower!" Lahja smiles widely, Null Vier firing off a single bullet toward Fenja. It goes cleanly through the Jotun's chest from one side to the other, the wound a relatively small one, but utterly lethal.
<Darkling> Fenja drops like a rag doll, shuddering in the snow once before becoming still.
<Darkling> Ivy is obviously pleased, her image on screen has her clapping and bouncing in her plug, a wide grin across her face as she squeals. "Way to go girl!"
<Wilhelm_Faustus> Drei's feet touch the ground in a burst of snow, spear slowly lifting until the tip is aimed at Menja.
<Rasia> Ein turns on the remaining Jotunn, ripping quills from its arm and bounding across the snow to slam into its AT Field, howling bloody murder. Crimson life-blood splatters on the Field, running off in long streams even as the light fades. The wounds on its arm close, only slightly.
<Darkling> As Ein bounces off its field, Menja fires off a poorly aimed blast.
<Darkling> A moment later, seeming to calculate the current odds, it takes a kneel, its image stops shifting and becomes solid, as does it's field.
Corrin jerks Null Zwei around and charges across the wastes towards the last Jotun. "Pilot Lahja, get ready!"
<Lahja_Ilvainen> "I'll be ready!" Lahja is all smiles again, the fall of one of the pair restoring her confidence. Null Vier runs along through the snow, almost seeming to prance. The Aesir casts a glance at the fallen Fenja's chest wound in passing.
<Darkling> "Nice job pilots, we're going to send out some VTOLs and try to help you out." Sure enough, they're already flying above, sending data to each of the units.
<Rasia> "Wilhelm! Gun!" Rasia barks.
<Wilhelm_Faustus> Reluctantly the spear-tip lowers, wavering once Rasia got close. He can't risk hurting her.
<Rasia> Rasia snarls at the Aryan's inexplicable inaction, bringing her arms up and slamming them into the solidified shield, pounding away with an incessant stubbornness only Rasia could embody.
<Wilhelm_Faustus> As Menja comes back up the tip of the spear rises. Blue hexagons collect at the end of the weapon before sent screaming as burning red death toward the Jotun.
<Darkling> Taking the brunt force of the blast, Menja pushes forward through it, blasting Zwei's left leg with energy, melting it off the Unit like soft clay.
Corrin screams in pain as the Unit topples over into the wastes. The plug shudders with the impact, LCL sloshing. Inside, Corrin grips his leg with both hands tightly enough to cut off blood flow, hunched over. "My leg..." Corrin gasps. "My leg...I'll tear you apart!" Somehow, Null Zwei manages to clamber back up, shield clattering to the ground, and lunge at the foe, blindly swinging. The first, uncontrolled attack goes wide, but the Unit's armoured fingers and hammer sink into the Jotun with the second. "DIE! DIE! DIE!"
<Lahja_Ilvainen> "Sir..." Lahja blinks a few times, not entirely believing what she just saw. "This Jotun just removed one of Null Zwei's legs. It looked... surgical. It's kind of neat, not that I'm happy about it." She says all of this absently, paying far more attention to the Jotun she just shot at.
<Wilhelm_Faustus> "I told you..." He grits his teeth. "...they can bend reality to their liking." Drei's posture shifts as its eyes flash again, releasing a high amount of energy in its next attack.
<Rasia> Rasia, on the other hand, seems more than content to bend the Jotunn's flesh to her will. Perhaps 'shred' or 'rend' would be more appropriate verbs. Needless to say, her heartbeat's up.
<Darkling> Through the brutal pounding it receives, Menja manages to melt off Zwei's other leg, rendering the Unit legless and prone.
<Darkling> "Come on Pilots! You can finish this off! Don't let Corrin take any more hits!"
<Corrin> Unit 02 collapses again, its Pilot screaming in pain and rage all the while. "No! No! I won't fail! I can't fail! Die!"
<Corrin> Screaming incoherently, Corrin pushes Unit 02 to claw its way forwards, hammer dropped somewhere behind it, tearing at whatever parts of Menja it can reach. In a spurt of ichor and crackling energy, one of the Jotun's arms is torn off completely.
<Lahja_Ilvainen> "Here's another flower!" Lahja says happily as Null Vier lets out another shot, then takes aim again out of habit. The shot slams into the Jotun's chest, and in comparison to the fatal shot from before this one is a lot more messy. Her smile widens.
<Darkling> Menja falls back with the impact of the shot, crunching into the snow and detonating upon impact.
<Rasia> Null Ein is consumed in the blast, armor stripped away and its flesh sizzling and popping. Rasia screams as the plug's fluid boils and foams, but the walls of the plug hold against the explosion. Barely.
<Wilhelm_Faustus> A rumble emits from Loki's chest as its once raised spear slams into the frozen ground.
<Darkling> The ground shakes, cracks rippling out from the spearhead as the tremor spreads.
<Darkling> "Get a med team out there stat! Rasia?! Can you hear me?" Lit's ignoring the victory and the tremor at the moment.
Corrin is slumped against his plug's seat, gripping his legs by the knees. He ignores the flashing warnings around him and the suddenly dim interior of the plug.
<Rasia> "Ngh..." Ein lies inert on the snow, bleeding out on its side. "Ache."
<Lahja_Ilvainen> Lahja, on the hand, is very interested in observing Null Drei and the tremor, opting to move away from the source of it.
<Wilhelm_Faustus> Loki reaches up, emitting a roar as it rips its mouth piece free. It chucks it aside, its blue AT Field coming into sharp display with layer upon layer flaring to life.
<Darkling> "Good to... Wilehlm?"
<Lahja_Ilvainen> "Make sure the med team is careful, sir. The ground is shaking out here."
<Rasia> "Rr?"
Corrin drops his head again the seat as he hears Rasia's reply. Unit 02's battery is still clicking down, and from its sideways position, he can only see the wastes. Like that's all there is in the world.
<Darkling> "What the hell are you doing Wilhelm?"
<Wilhelm_Faustus> What must pass for lips part to reveal small serrated teeth, mouth pulling into what looks like a grin. Is it amused?
<Rasia> "Wilhelm!" Her face lights up with fear, thrashing to her hands and knees.
<Darkling> You can hear a bridge bunny very quietly over the comm speaking to Lit. "Sir, we have no readings on Wilhelm."
<Wilhelm_Faustus> It turns away from the other Aesir and the fallen foes, gaze locking onto the distant dome now. Another rumble from its chest and it starts off.
<Darkling> "Launch Pilot Hollander, now."
<Rasia> Thump. Thump. Rasia slams her weight into Ein's plug, trying to provoke it to move.
<Darkling> "Lahja, I hate to ask this," Lit's voice sounds heavy, "but I need you to cripple that Unit."
Corrin just stares and listens in mute incomprehension. Null Zwei twitches as he belatedly tries to move.
<Darkling> "Plug ejection isn't responding, Sir." "Get away from the mic!" Lit slams his fist down.
<Lahja_Ilvainen> "This isn't..." Lahja stops at those words from the bunny. Despite managing to maintain a grip of her faculties she feels distinctly uneasy and stares in silence. Lit's words take a few moments to register on her, and she salutes. Her voice is a tad weak, and doesn't shed much light on whether she intends to comply or not. "Sir."
<Corrin> "Sir?" Corrin finally asks, voice reduced to a near-whisper by shouting. "What's going on?"
<Wilhelm_Faustus> Null Drei starts to pick up speed.
<Darkling> Ivy's Unit bounds up out into the snow, her spear stabbing down into the ground as Drei approaches, severing the umbilical.
<Rasia> A scream that peaks out the microphone in her plug. The controls get slammed against the limits of their movement, before she's out and out clawing at the walls of her plug, nails cracking.
<Darkling> "You need to stop that Unit, now. Wilhelm is not in control."
<Wilhelm_Faustus> You DARE get in the way of Loki?! It only moves faster now, ready to make Ivy and her Aesir a crimson smear in the snow. Null Drei lets loose a call of premature triumph.
<Darkling> Ivy's unit kneels down, her AT Field manifesting in front of it, become a translucent wall.
<Lahja_Ilvainen> After a moment or two of hesitation Null Vier goes after Drei, taking abnormally careful aim at the Aesir's head along the way. All the while Lahja reflects on the possible consequences. What if this kills Wilhelm? Isn't he like family now?
Corrin finally pulls Null Zwei's upper torso up off the ground, battery counting down all the while.
<Wilhelm_Faustus> For a moment observers can see its AT Field manifest, all seven layers collecting energy. It's released in one large explosion centered on Ivy, a cross-shaped blast reaching into the sky, blasting away a wide radius of snow.
<Corrin> "No." Corrin whispers as he stares at the scene, voice reduced to a rasp. "No, no, no..."
<Darkling> Her unit is still there, smoldering armor and flesh sizzling in the winter air. Her Unit rises, and begins a run towards Drei, crossing the ground with amazing speed.
<Wilhelm_Faustus> Let her come! She can't penetrate our field!
<Darkling> Their fields meet, energy crackling through the air as she breaks through them one at a time, her Unit's armor splintering apart, then flesh bursting, the helmet melting away revealing a wicked grin staring back.
<Lahja_Ilvainen> Gathering all her resolve, which is furthered by that giant blast, Lahja directs Null Vier to fire off a shot right at the back of the Aesir's head, the bullet glowing. It's a remarkable shot, but... plink. After a moment of sheer panic Lahja starts screaming. "Sir! I can't get through this field!"
<Corrin> Desperate, Corrin squeezes the trigger, shoulder-mounted pallet gun spraying rounds downwind towards the figure of Null Vier. They pop out of existence far from the target.
<Wilhelm_Faustus> Loki continues to grin, forcing toward her and ready to plow through her!
<Corrin> "No, no, no, no..." Corrin whispers, his voice quiet. "Ivy..." He fires again and again, and the pallet rifle clacks empty.
<Darkling> Even Ivy can't stop his force, getting bowled over into the snow, Unit as much a mess as the others, though her spear is left behind, glinting through Drei's chest.
<Corrin> "Ivy!"
<Wilhelm_Faustus> The mad Aesir slows, looking down almost questioningly at the spear sticking out of its chest.
<Darkling> "We have readings on Wilhelm again sir. He's stable."
<Wilhelm_Faustus> It stops entirely, upper torso limp as it shuts down.
<Rasia> Ein's torso shudders, neck snapping forward, broken with a muscle spasm. Rasia's synch cuts out as the plug ejects a few times before finally getting free. Dented and scorched, the latch finally opens, and Rasia falls out. Stumbling to her feet, she streaks across the snow at a blistering pace, despite bleeding from multiple self-inflicted wounds and peachy-red from burns.
<Corrin> Null Zwei is still scrabbling in the wasteland, its battery counting down the last few numbers, as its Pilot tries to pull himself forwards.
<Rasia> Her voice already hoarse and raw, she forces out one last tortured "WILHELM!"
<Darkling> ================END================