2016-02-07 - The Battle of Ohtori, Part Two

Title: The Battle of Ohtori, Part Two
Summary: The magical girls take the battle to space to end the threat of Alyssa Searrs' orbitally bombarding Child, Artemis, once and for all. There they confront her guardian, Miyu Greer, for perhaps the final time; while she's absent from Alyssa's side, Homura Akemi moves in to end the threat in a different manner. Mai Tokiha dies twice and comes back once. Alyssa does not come back at all.
Who: Natsuki Kuga, Ren Aizawa, Endo Naoki, Hikaru Shidou, Ami Mizuno, Sachiko Majime, Fuu Hououji, Lera Camry, Takeo Akamizu, Kozue Kaoru, Garnet, Mai Tokiha GMs: Honoka Yukishiro as Alyssa Searrs, Nagisa Misumi as Miyu Greer
Where: Southern Cross Island, and Outer Space
OOC - IC Date: 02-07-2016 - 09-28-2014

<Pose Tracker> Alyssa Searrs [Ohtori Academy (5)] has posed.

LAST TIME ON BATTLE FANTASIA:

The army tries with all its might to regroup, but it's hard to retreat in an organized fashion when Sir Lancelot is right there with you, laying about with steel and lightning with equal aplomb; when a Crystal Gem slams into the ground ahead of you, shockwaves sending you flying; when frozen blasts from Duran's ice cartridges stop you in your tracks, leaving you immobile from the legs down; when Sailor Mercury summons a wave from her heart, stronger than any in the sea, crushing everything before her; when Hikaru's fire arrow explodes against the final rush of that wave, coating everything in a painful gout of steam, punctured by Chitose's explosive birds of light, which send whorls of superheated water swirling in all directions, pushed even further onwards by la Sirene's powerful condemnation; when admidst all that, heedless of the burns that rise and fall and rise again on her skin, a white-cloaked Puella Magi wields a blunt instrument of a sword in a grim requiem.

By the time Mikoto has bisected the final tank with a single, massive, yet somehow effortless-looking slice, her landing may be amid soldiers, but none of them are moving to intercept her. Indeed, they're beginning to put down their weapons -- this battle is over. Out to sea, too, by the time Kozue resurfaces she can see that Kagutsuchi's claws, the flames summoned by Mai's magatama, and Lera's verbose bombardment have collectively put an end to the any threat posed by Justice, and with it, the last ship that could mount a serious offense against either magical girls or the evacuation efforts.

A hush quickly overtakes the island. It's a strange moment, almost painfully surreal juxtaposed against the impossibly harsh soundtrack of detonating ordinance that ended not thirty seconds ago. There's a feeling of vertigo, of standing at the center of the world while everything rotates around you.

But it's only the eye of the storm.

Who are those little girls in pain
Just trapped in the castle on the dark side of the moon?
Twelve of them shining bright in vain
Like flowers that blossom just once in years

The song carries in the lull of battle, more sweet and poignant than ever. Some have heard it performed at festivals, choir competitions; others might not forget its resonance shortly before the bridge exploded, beginning all of this, intertwined with the silvery strains of a second vocalist.

It requires no such accompaniment, though, no strings or bells and certainly no singers. Alyssa's voice is an impossibly fine instrument, possessed of a purity and passion that only those who really love music can attain, and it creates massive cognative dissonance to recall the same voice threatening to condemn thousands of innocents to death not two days ago.

They're dancing in the shadow like whispers of love
Just dreaming of a place where they're free as doves
They're never been allowed to love in this cursed cage
It's only the fairy tale they believe

Alyssa Searrs stands at the edge of the island, easy to see now that there's no forest in the way. She's accompanied only by one person, and no soldier, of course, but instead a slender, deadly woman -- or something like a woman. Those who faced Miyu Greer with the forest burning around them have reason to question her humanity.

The ships having been pacified behind them, she finishes her song just as Lera, Mai and Kozue return to the island, trailing off. Her tiny hands are clenched into fists, clutching pieces of her black skirts. She looks tired, but severe, like a schoolteacher in a body that has yet to hit double digits.

"Just because it's a satellite... doesn't mean it's always moving at the same speed."

---

Deep below, in the Obsidian Palace where the magical girls gathered for their counterstrike, alarms blare on the many reconnaisance screens. One of them carries a feed from space.

Headmistress Mashiro gasps, gripping the arm of her chair. "It's right above us!"

---

Alyssa continues gravely, "The students can run wherever they want, but they cannot escape Artemis' blast." She simply pre-empts the cacophany of objections, of questions. She's heard them all before, some very recently.

"We fight because we have conviction in regard to the correct use of our powers... while you other HiME, on the other hand, have no purpose. That's why you're always looking for reasons to fight -- you believe in nothing, and have no resolve. You don't know what you desire, or what you should be doing."

She closes her eyes, resigned. Miyu places a hand on her shoulder, a hand that crushes rebar into pulp, so gently that it wouldn't, couldn't crack an egg, or startle a baby bird into flight.

Alyssa's eyes reopen, her baby blues steely with resolve.

"We cannot allow people like you to take the power of the star. And since you won't surrender to the Searrs Foundation... you leave me no choice."

She reaches up and tugs the ribbon out of her long, spikey blond hair. It springs to life immediately, as though it is a creature of its own. As though caught in a tempest that only it can feel -- in fact, a thermal updraft from the sheer amount of power now emanating from Alyssa's little body -- it swirls upwards, turning that beautiful, terrible, and all too familiar hue of brilliant gold.

The sky responds immediately, painted yet again with the auroral herald of the destruction to come, as though the girl's hair has been magnified.

---

On the Headmistress' feed, the satellite -- which is normally roughly an inverted pyramid, with a green orb on the top -- is abruptly surrounded by a pair of interlocking rings, two begemmed moebius strips which have materialized from nothing, the hallmark of the HiME.

Eclipse 1 responds immediately, transmuting from cold steel to bright gold as a number of radial edges flare off of it in all directions, and the tip of the pyramid splits in half, becoming the sides of a cannon, one powered by the orb.

Power comes from many places and manifests in many forms, but few are more spectacular than the fury of Artemis. It takes several long seconds for the charge to build, crackling hungrily, gathering in on itself, compressing, refining...

...exploding.

---

At first it's just a speck, a smear of light, a falling star. The aurora intensifies to greet its source, which punches through the highest clouds without noticing they're there, surely the same fate of anything or anyone else who gets in its path.

The golden beam pours downwards, directly towards the far side of the school, where the evacuation has only just begun. Its path of destruction is surely wide enough to include much of the route to the hidden evacuation ship. It is quite possible that the only survivors will be the magical girls themselves, by dint of their separation from the innocent student body.

En route to the cruise ship or at the edge of the school grounds, the students and staff have been kept orderly, efficient, and quiet in their departure due to the efforts of the third team of magical girls -- and the Student Councils. They may wear different colored uniforms, but they're united in their purpose...

...and now in their death.

Ohtori, Infinity, Juuban... thousands of eyes gaze upwards in wonder and horror at the gorgeous sight of their

<Pose Tracker> Mai Tokiha [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

As the last of the Golden Fleet lies in ruins, Mai and Kagutsuchi wing their way back toward Southern Cross Island. She can't help but laugh at the disaster-scribed message left by Lera, and gives the girl a thumbs up in passing; Cassandra and Kozue earn a look of concern long enough that Kagutsuchi croons in sympathy.

They arrive in time to be met with Alyssa Searrs and Miyu - something that gives girl and dragon a moment's pause. And then - Mai's eyes widen in horror as the truth of Alyssa's words strike home. "You can't be serious...why? Why inflict all this...horror? What reason..."

And Alyssa gives her reasons. Conviction, and no more.

For the third time in a handful of days, the skies shine with a dreadful golden aurora. Light as bright as day, possessed of a baleful beauty, casts looming shadows over all of Southern Cross Island...

And then there is a single screamed word, answered by a tremendous noise.

"KAGUTSUCHI!"

It's the sound of an inferno's roar, the sound of a phoenix's wingbeat, the sound of a dragon surging into the skies with a speed borne of desperate determination. There's a fleeting cry as it rises - surpassed by that great roar of wind and flame as it climbs higher and higher. With every moment, it ascends into heavens that grow brighter and brighter.

In moments, the Child is visible across the island, prominent in the skies - and sharp eyes might pick out the fiery hair of the HiME standing proudly atop its head.

"Resolve? You want to talk about resolve and conviction?" There's no one with Mai but Kagutsuchi himself to hear her response to Alyssa. Gaze fixed on those shining skies overhead, she clenches one trembling hand. "You're wrong. All you're determined to do is hurt everyone for the sake of some twisted dream, but I..."

Memories come to mind. Countless fleeting moments, the faces of everyone she can even think of to care about.

Classmates - cheerfully offering the hand of friendship, no matter how many times she had to turn them down. Groaning over brutal assignments, gossiping about the latest Ohtori news, mildly teasing Mai about the rumours around her...

Coworkers - from Midori to Akane to Kazu to Madoka, and too many others to name, helping hold the line against the endless parade of diner customers. Broken dishes, messy walls, and a camaraderie born of something friendlier than a true war.

Comrades. She doesn't share Fuu's interests, but the girl is at least pleasant. Mami is someone Mai can never truly get along with, but she's a force for good all the same. Fate, a girl born to heartbreaking circumstance, saddled with more guilt than she's earned. La Sirene du Nord, an ominous girl who still stood to help her brother. Kozue, a fellow HiME with words that infuriated her beyond belief - but with whom she can still empathize. Gordon the rabbit, offering cooking advice to even those not his students. And others - too many to even begin to name.

Friends. Close friends have always hard to come by, but a handful come to mind in these moments. Lera went from an American stranger to a potential enemy to more and more of a friend, as time led to understanding. Usagi, cheerful and earnest, determined to care for everyone and eat to her heart's content. Natsuki, who warned her then helped her then wound up joining her as a fellow lover of coffee. Takeo, an absolute goof, and someone who...might not get that next dance after all.

And family.

Eri. A gardener, close as a sister, caught in a worse and worse situation Mai can't help her out of...and so all she can do is offer comfort and care.

Takumi. Her brother, precious beyond anything she could conceive of - cursed by fate, but never complaining. And one day...one day, he'll have a good life, she's sure of it.

Mikoto. They've saved each other more times than can be counted. Devoted, and honest, and...

Mai's eyes, fixed on that shining golden aurora, brim with tears. Her hands are trembling, her body shaking as Artemis's terrific power becomes more and more brilliant...but her conviction does not waver. Stern eyes stare down looming death, and she grits her teeth. "Because...for everyone I love..."

"I..."

The golden lightning of Artemis spears down from heaven - but long before it can reach the school, it finds its mark with Kagutsuchi. For a heartbeat, the destructive power and the dragon seem to be frozen in time, light scattering from where they meet...

And then the full power of Alyssa's Child, seen twice, erupts a third time. A cataclysmic explosion erupts in the skies above Southern Cross Island, shining brighter than the heavens - as if a second sun was shining there. The power destined to destroy all of Ohtori Academy and those who dwell into it is left to spent the full measure of its wrath on a single Child, and the resulting shockwave from the detonation scatters what clouds remained.

And the air burns. No sign of Mai, no hint of her Child - only a lingering blaze, and a scattering of drifting, burning golden feathers that begin to fall.

TO BE CONTINUED... NOW

<Pose Tracker> Miyu Greer [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

"Sector seven, requesting immediate fire support!"

"Armored twelve, please copy--"

"Absolutely CANNOT hold, repeat--"

"--taking water, Katorimaru en route for evacuation."

Miyu has two fingers against her earpiece to keep the ambient noise low enough to be filtered. The ripping roar of machineguns and the panicked shouts as the nests go silent one by one make it difficult to hear the static-ridden radio signals. Even as the Searrs line crumbles around her, she does not so much as look up. What purpose in reinforcing a tenth of a broken dam? The water will flow regardless. No. These troops have served their purpose already. The delay was enough.

Miyu briefly sidesteps as a beam of love-energy rips into the engine block of a truck she was passing. The girl who fired it is hovering nearby, shouting about the unforgiveable crime of making a place of learning into--well, Miyu never finds out. Her forearm peels away to release her chaingun, answering tungsten for love, and the trail of tracers follows the luckless champion of justice to the ground for good measure.

It is with that unhurried pace that Miyu reaches her mistress, to lay her hand with love across her tiny shoulder. She steps back to watch Alyssa transfigured. It's like watching a graduation. Alyssa was born to do this, created to do this. Just as Miyu exists to love Alyssa.

The android smiles softly as a golden glow suffuses the sky. She closes her eyes in satisfaction, wanting to listen to it rather than watch it, to hear the music of Alyssa's cleansing. But the song isn't right this time, and beneath it is the howl of a terrible beast.

Miyu's eyes snap open. The pillar has been brought to a halt, that hideous, ungainly Child of Mai Tokiha bearing it alone. Alyssa, already weakened by the exertion of igniting Artemis, sags on her feet, her jaw slack with shock.

"Ojou-sama," Miyu says, scooping her up swiftly. "Don't worry. Artemis will sing again, and again, until they are all gone." Taking a running start, Miyu leaps off the steepest edge of the hill, her heels dragging against the ground to skid her way down, bearing Alyssa to a safe distance away from the tiny heartful army arrayed against them. "I will be sure of it."

<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

The soldiers yield. Mikoto keeps her battle position until she's sure of it, eyes darting between the guns. In the end, it's the soft tones of her enemy's voice which turns her away from them. Alyssa -- and Miyu, the warrior stronger than all of them.

Mikoto approaches from the land, just as Mai approaches from the sea. She's just in time to hear her speak, and the shock shows plainly on her tired, worn face. Even after everything they've done...

The rest of her words register, but only distantly. Her Lord Brother is still in danger. Evacuated? Maybe. Not far enough away. And everyone else, too --

Alyssa's hair glows gold as she releases it from her ribbon, and the sky glows in that exact same hue. The colours reflect in Mikoto's eyes, gold on gold; what a terrible colour.

What a terrible colour, crashing down from on high.

And then, there is a word.

'KAGUTSUCHI!'

Mikoto stiffens, staring agape in horror as her roommate, the girl who feeds her, who cares for her, who does things with her, flies up into the sky. She knows, immediately, what Mai is going to do; she knows, and her heart is gripped in ice, tears springing to the corner of her eyes.

no no no no no no no no NO NO NO NO NO NO--

"Mai," Mikoto whispers, the sound tearing itself from her throat, raw and trembling.

It only takes a second. Kagutsuchi rushes up to meet the light.

she can't she can't she can't do this she's going to sacrifice herself, she's going to save everyone, she's going to DIE and Mikoto will be alone--

Fire meets energy and the two erupt, the sheer power hanging in the sky, glittering.

-- and it's all her fault because she should have found her Lord Brother, she should have she knows, but Mai was always there for her after she came in from long days of searching --

Both HiME and child are enveloped in the blast, a terrible explosion which wipes the sky clean, leaving only fire and feathers.

-- Mai listened to her, Mai believed in her, Mai fought alongside her, Mai was her harbour, her lighthouse, and Mai -- /Mai/ --

Mikoto stares, clutching Miroku in a white-knuckled grip as she witnesses Mai's death. The warm fire Mai offered in her heart dies down to embers with no one left to fuel it, and Mikoto feels gripped by the cold, even as the heat of the children washes over her. It's -- it's empty, and terrible, and she /hates/ it, hates this feeling that nothing will ever be right again, a feeling which clutches at her chest and makes her sick to her stomach.

She'd do anything to bring Mai back, anything, and yet she just can't stop shaking...

Miyu's actions don't even prompt a response from her. She just keeps staring at the sky.

<Pose Tracker> Kozue Kaoru [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
<SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5JvbD2Zc9I

Elsewhere~

Sailor Moon, who had been part of the evacuation efforts, has no idea that she's picked up a tail. Far away from the main student body, is a bright-eyed boy who creeps out of the brush and into her view.

"Sailor Moon!" She whirls around, then cringes in shock as if a bad hair day Youma had leapt into view, "What!? What are you doing here!?" "Well I'm your biggest fan of course! I just wanted you to sign-" He holds something up, "Your sneaker!?" "It's all I had left after they pushed us around!"

Suddenly she thrusts her hands to her side, leaning forward and shouting at him, "SHINGO TSUKINO YOU GET BACK TO YOUR EVACUATION GROUP RIGHT NOW!" Now it's Shingo's turn to be cringing backwards in shock as he's shouted at by his favorite heroine. "W-What, how do you know my... wait what's that?"

Sailor Moon turns her gaze to the sky, as auroral gold floods it. "No! It's not supposed to be here for hours!" A shining speck in the sky becomes a bright light of falling star. But in the corner of her vision she sees a firebird, brilliant even amongst the shining death that approaches. "Mai-cha-" A flash, the air burns.

The Senshi has to look away, shield her eyes, as the smaller boy's shout of, "What's happening!?" is lost amongst the roar. Sailor Moon looks back, and there's nothing left, save a dying blaze of feathers.

Left open mouthed to gaze at it... the tears come quickly, followed by a shriek of pain. The Senshi has sunk to her knees, putting her hands to her face and sobbing. Shingo has run up to her, a kind of hobbling movement as he puts his shoe back on, putting a hand on her shoulder and giving it an awkward little shake, "Sailor Moon!? W-What's wrong?"

The Senshi turns around, and immediately throws her arms around him, clinging to him like he's a lifeline in the midst of endless misery, sobbing and shaking. "I don't-" He protests for a moment, then lowers himself down...

...and hugs her back. "...I don't understand, but I'm here for you."

Elsewhere~

A Puella Magi sees the fading light of the feathers. It doesn't feel real. It feels like a dream. A nightmare.

There's no film reel, there's no husk where a girl once lived.

There's no sea of endless red in a the remnants of a shattered forest.

There's just... nothing. No trace that Mai Tokiha ever existed, except in memories.

No In all honesty, I'm not sure how well either of us are doing at making friends - so it's nice to meet you, Shimanouchi-san.

Well, it's not something Takumi and I talk about much either. With that said, as your sort of big sister...watch it, I don't need to annoy the security guard by falling out of my chair laughing! Don't forget about yourself - I said before, you deserve to find happiness.

...it's still better than who I was. The little girl who blew off all her responsibilities, not thinking about consequences. The new high school student, hesitating to act even when it wouldn't cost her a thing to save a life. I don't like who I've been - I'd rather /be/ a good person, rather than just go through the motions.

...and I'm sorry - to you - that I said I did. Because - because I see you as a little sister, and I'm the sort of meddling older sibling who needs to know just what's wrong.

And even if it's a dream, even if she opens her eyes, and finds herself laying on cold stone instead of staring at this.

It doesn't change the fact that Mai Tokiha is dead right now. That a girl as close to her as any sister is dead. That the only family she has that even thinks of her anymore is just... gone.

She's not really sure when the sobbing begins, but it's not nearly enough release, and not relief at all.

Here, Now~

Kozue Kaoru really wanted to wipe that look off Alyssa's face, but she didn't advance, because Greer was there, leaving them at an uneasy stalemate of not wanting to make a move on the pup lest they set off the mother wolverine. A mother wolverine that could move like hell itself was at her back.

There are many things she could say about her own resolve, her purpose, and her belief. Many curses or expressions of rage she could throw out.

It's all drowned out by one girl's resolve, eclipsed by one girl's selfless actions. And all she can do is watch as that one girl does what she's incapable of doing.

As she's burned out of the sky like a fly that wandered into the sunbeam of a child's magnifying glass.

She shouldn't care. She tries to tell herself she doesn't care about this girl at all.

Mai Tokiha was simply another commodity, or resource for her to use or exploit. So she made her feel guilty about her brother?

He's a good kid...and he deserves a hell of a lot better than a sister like me. But I guess that's a sentence you've said yourself, huh?

If it contributed at all to her doing this, then it was worth it. She shouldn't feel bad about it.

She shouldn't...

"You were wrong Tokiha. And so was I, guess it wouldn't be the first time for either of us." She finally whispers, trying to force her vision from going blurry, "I'll make sure he's taken care of."

By the time she's looking back at the spot where Alyssa and Greer stood... they were already gone. Nothing for her to vent her anger on, and yet she was kind of grateful for that too.

<Pose Tracker> Ren Aizawa [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.

The whole assault on Ohtori seemed so unreal. But Ren was here to witness it with her own eyes, and so did her best to contribute to the efforts to stop it. Evacuating the students trapped by the Searrs forces quickly became her top priority. Now she's rushing back to the battle itself, hoping the various magical girls and boys involved have fared well. She doesn't get far before she spots the sight of Mai and Kagatsuchi, rising up into the air to meet up with what looks like a cannon of energy barreling down towards the area proper.

The explosion of light that follows causes the mage to halt in midair and shield her eyes. "W-What?!" Did she just...?! No. No no no no no no! This can't be...! Her mouth completely agape, Ren stares in utter shock and disbelief afterward, feeling a cold icyness wash over her completely. "No..."

<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

Endo stands on the battlefield, a proud Belkan(ish) Knight, weapon wreathed in purple flame and vibrating with energy, ready to unleash his full power against the Golden Age. Which he would, if the opposing force hadn't immediately started their retreat as soon as he'd kicked Fallen Stern into overdrive.

"...Ah. Really? Did we win?" There's a moment of incredulity, and then relief.

<KNIGHT. SATELLITE FIRING, ABOVE.>

The boy's eyes flash skyward, widening with horror as Eclipse I makes its presence known again, and the light begins flash from on high. It's not supposed to do that. They'd won, they were so close, and now--

"Stern, we have to do something." Endo's voice is frayed and frantic, the well-maintained composure he'd shown in the minutes prior cracking like an egg.

Endo wants scream, to deny it, to make some impotent gesture. All those people, his friends, everyone, this couldn't he happening. He'd failed. They all failed.

Except Mai. His eyes widen when Kagutsuchi appears on the horizon. He doesn't know her, Mai Tokiha, not as anything more than the girl on dragon. But as the light flashes and the sky clears, he recognizes she's done something amazing, and paid a terrible price for it.

Not knowing what else to do, Endo slumps down to sit againstthe side of his sword, the weariness of all the energy he'd spent overwhelming him.

<Pose Tracker> Natsuki Kuga [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

They were dead, they were all going to die and there was no where to run. At least that's what Natsuki had thought as she watch the sky fill with light. There was barely time to think before she heard Tokiha cry out. Her eyes widen as she hears Mai's request.

No...she isn't thinking... "Tokiha!" Natsuki cried out, but it was too late. Kagutsuchi flew straight into the burning light.

"No, no, no! Damit Tokiha!" Natsuki curses with pure rage.

Then there is another bright light, engulfing both HIME and Child glow so bright it blinds her. Then there's an explosion and there's nothing. No Mai, no Kagutsuchi, nothing.

Natsuki stared stunned, feeling numb in her body until she hears Miyu's remarks.

"Like Hell you will!" Natsuki screams as she aimed her gun and fires, but Miyu proves too fast and she misses. "You'll pay," Natsuki vowed. "I won't Tokiha's sacrifice be in vain."

<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Helplessness is not a feeling that the Magic Knight of Wind finds terribly familiar, or remotely comfortable. As the light of Artemis illuminates the sky, she's already racking her brains, trying to come up with something, *anything* that she could possibly do ... and there's nothing. Even within the logical bounds of her wind magic, it's impossible for her to do more than watch.

She can't pick out Mai's form at this distance, but she recognizes Kagutsuchi taking wing nonetheless. What could have been the annihilation of the Sister Schools' student body is averted - but at the price, so far as she can tell, of Mai-san's life.

The Wind Knight continues staring in shock at the now-empty sky, her sword vanishing back into her glove-jewel as her hands relax and fall open. "Mai-san ..." she whispers, her brain struggling to overcome an impenetrable wall of overwhelming disbelief. What just happened -

Kagutsuchi rose into the sky, Mai presumably perched atop the dragon's form. They intercepted the light that heralded Artemis's attack. And ...

Nothing, beyond that fireball of Artemis's fury expending itself. No body, no trace, no wisp of existence to remember her.

Nothing but memories.

And few enough of those, in the Wind Knight's mind. For Mai to be cut down so abruptly, for the friendships that could have sprouted to be severed so brutally -

The Magic Knight of Wind continues standing there, staring into the now-empty sky, an emptiness that echoes in time with the thudding of her heartbeat.

It can't have ended like that ...

.... Can it?

<Pose Tracker> Lancelot [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

Sliding off the back of the Warhorse, Takeo looks on with wide eyes. His mangled shoulder still bleeding is forgotten as the sudden feeling of being gut punched fills him. His heart, simultaneously falls into his gut and is wrenched from his chest. Flashes of memory from the soul he holds, comes to him of other losses, but he pushes them aside. This is for Takeo Akamizu, not Lancelot Du Lac. So it is that a single word comes out of his lips. "No."

It is a word spoken softly. Filled with. He doesn't know. Mai is, or was, his friend and classmate, and until a few days that was it. Except. They had shared a dance, and after that dance, there had been promise of another once they had righted this situation and friends and family were seen to safety. "No."

That word is said again, and this time he feels a stinging wetness in his eyes. He doesn't cry. At least not where others can see him, not for being macho or anything like that. He just doesn't want others to see him do it. The act always made him feel like he wasn't being strong for others, but they come. Unbidden and freely. Drops of sorrow and pain that run down his cheeks. "No."

As the word is said, Arondight drops from the knight's hand to land in the ash and mud, and possibly blood of the battlefield. He joins the blade, but on his knees and he leans forward, nearly putting his head into the ground. Hands grasp at the muddied and desecrated ground, and eyes close in a vain attempt to hold back the - He doesn't know what he's holding back. So instead, he says a new word.

"Mai." A hand. His hand, grabs Arondight and he stabs the blade into the ground beside him. Using it as leverage, as support, to push himself to up, if not off his knees and onto his feet then to at least not be sobbing into the mud. Lighting suddenly pulses along the blade to burn and scorch the ground around where it thrust. His lips pull back into a near snarl and he looks to where that Android and Girl had been.

Gone. They had fled, but not Lancelot's pain and rage. "I'll kill you." He whispers softly. Then he lifts a knee and pushes, forcing himself to his feet. "I'll kill you both." He says staggering forward, Arondight feels a million times heavier to him and he almost drags the blade as he staggers forward, almost running. "I WILL END YOU!" The words are suddenly loud and he hefts the weight of that ancient blade and tries to surge forward before he simply falls to his knees again. One hand punches the ground hard, his bad arm, shoulder screaming.

He wants to do these things. To find them. To track them. To KILL THEM. But he knows, deep in his heart, that he can't. He's not a killer. He's just a boy, despite the title of Knight, and he hurts.

<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Shidou [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Like the Magic Knight of Wind, the Fire Knight can't believe what's happening either. It's almost too surreal to be true. She stares alongside her colleague, tears starting to well up in her eyes. This is definitely something noteworthy for the Fire Knight, since she's not the type to cry easily. She holsters her sword and bites her lower lip, trying to keep from crying out. It has to be a dream, that's what she keeps telling herself, that it's all just a bad dream and she'll wake up soon enough.

Unfortunately, she doesn't wake up. She's still standing here, and despite what she wanted to believe, it's not a nightmare. This is real. The tears she feels, the sensation she's got, what she's seeing, all of it. It's all too real. Now the tears start to slide down her cheeks a little, and the Fire Knight can only shake her head in disbelief.

"It can't be," She says to the Wind Knight, trying to keep her voice from cracking. "This can't be the end." She squeezes her eyes shut, trying to stop the tears from coming out. "Why?!"

<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

Lera Camry sets down on the ashen, burnt ground. She looks at Mai and flashes her a thumbs-up and a grin, too. The girl lets out a laugh, but the relief feels premature indeed when Alyssa Searrs speaks.

Her eyes widen.

The rest plays out before her, high in the sky, and with the certain knowledge that she can neither escape nor protect the others. The golden spear of light crashes down, but it doesn't strike the school. She realizes who it hits instead, her mouth opening but words not forming, as the white and red dragon-shaped Child gets in the way.

The flash is so brilliant that Lera can't make out what happened, until the afterimages fade. She stares, then, waiting for some sign. She waits for a battered but whole Mai and Kagutsuchi to rise over the horizon. She waits for another thumbs-up. She waits for something, /anything/ at all.

None of it ever comes.

"T-Tokiha...?" Lera asks quietly, her voice shaking. She feels the tears in the corners of her eyes. She waits another moment -- and, still, nothing comes. She shouts, then: "Tokiha! You--you better not have died! You--"

Her lips tremble.

<She's gone. I'm sorry, Camry,> Broken Ground states.

Lera's head hangs; she doesn't look at where Miyu and Alyssa stood, for the moment. Her lips tremble and her hand shakes on the hilt of the warhammer in her hand.

<Pose Tracker> Sailor Mercury [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

A whirl of emotions plays out in Sailor Mercury's mind -- but even as things look to be their most hopeless, as golden light threatens to rain down, the strongest among those emotions is hope. Through countless trials, Ami Mizuno -- Sailor Mercury -- has learned that even when things seem most hopeless, the worst thing you can do is give up.

... not like this, though. That's the first thing that crosses her mind as Kagutsuchi flies to meet the golden blast that strikes down from the heavens. It happens almost before she has the chance to digest that it's happening -- and at the moment of impact, she can't stop herself from wincing.

She flinches, as if she wants to look away... but something stops her. She stares up at the point of impact, letting the image burn itself into her memory.

<Pose Tracker> Garnet [None] has posed.

Garnet's face breaks its compsure as the rays of the oncoming golden cosmic event reflect themselves in her shades, and she breaks out in a mad dash towards the retreating ships and Steven!

Maybe she can get there in time, she tells herself.

Maybe she can at least save Steven and as many others as she can carry!

But seeing the speed and scope of the blast, she already knows the truth.

"NO! We need more time! We were so clos-..."

The rest of her speech is drowned the the sound of cataclysmic impact, then her vision is lost a blinding ocean of golden light.

Garnet doesn't know the limits of her durability.

The bond of love that sustains her has made her far more durable than any Gem in the known universe.

She has vague memories of losing her form, perhaps as Ruby, perhaps as a future vision memory of Sapphire's. It's been so long, she's forgotten what it felt like, and she doesn't know what it would feel like for her gems to be shattered.

But this isn't it.

Her vision begins to clear, and she focuses on the last thing she remembers seeing: The girl who rose to meet Alyssa's deathblast, wreathed in the fire of a dragon.

And saved them all.

Garnet didn't know her personally, she didn't even know her name. But she will learn it, and she will remember her always for her sacrifice.

After the din of the battle, and the sonic assault of the explosion, there is a silence that pervades the area except for the sounds of the ocean.

Garnet stands in place, listens to the waves crash against the shore and watches in stunned, grateful silence as the boats begin their escape.

<Pose Tracker> Sachiko Majime [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

Sachiko Majime watched the battle from afar, legs haphazardly crossed over top of one another. Observer was a new occupation for her as she usually found herself in the thick of it. She normally craved battle and how it made her blood boil....how it made her feel truly alive. But not today, she was not one of the direct participants of this battle as for whatever reason she missed the thick of the fighting. From her perch ontop a burned out paramilitary humvee, she could not truly understand the magnitude of what has happened in front of her eyes. She saw the technicolor flashes of attacks spent, various explosions, and even Mai and her Child's apparent sacrifice. However, the greater context was completely lost to her. She would have to fill in the details of this narrative herself.

Uncrossing her legs and rising to her feet, Sachiko stands up leisurely and brings both of her hands up to the orange gem that dangles from her neck. A grim smile begins its journey across the young girl's face as she lets herself be engulfed by the orange transformative light of her soul gem. Blonde and bold Sachiko, dressed in her half-softball uniform/ half school uniform, takes a short running start before leaping off the top of the wrecked vehicle and onto the scorched ground below. The orange and black clad Puella Magi ventures forth to seek new prey amongst those whom survived.

Sachiko arrives to the main body of the magic boys and girls to find it full of the conflicting emotions of sorrow and vengeance. Her orange eyes seek out the various faces of those around, but there is only a lack of recognition and a complete disconnect with those whom she does make eye contact with. They all have fought and suffered a great deal while she had done neither. Sachiko can only frown at her own previous inaction and turn her head away. "Where's the brat and her robot? I have unfinished business with them." Violence. That was the way in which Sachiko chooses to deal with the feelings of others she couldn't possibly understand. She will swing her axe until things start making sense once more.

<Pose Tracker> Mai Tokiha [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
<SoundTracker> Kagutsuchi Kourin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SO_Z4Y-3xuk

It can't have ended like this.

And yet, the blaze in the sky says otherwise.

That great pyre above Ohtori marking the site of Mai's sacrifice continues to burn, flames dwindling as the golden feathers fall. Nothing more could be done - but the promised death for all the students of the Sister Schools was averted. For the price of a single life...

The crisis remains. Artemis still looms in the heavens, threatening to unleash that terrible destruction at any moment...but for now, in this instant, only these fires remain to cast light on the shock and horror and grief.

Mai's comrades mourn her with cries of disbelief and astonishment - that things can't end like this.

Her friends mourn her, with reactions ranging from guilt to rage and every stage of grief in between.

A boy she'd promised a dance mourns her, vengeful rage echoing in the air as he collapses in grief.

A Puella Magi as close as a sister mourns her, remembering a dozen moments building to this.

An aloof secret-agent HiME mourns her, with vehement curses to ward off the chill.

...and Mikoto mourns her, breaking in sorrow.

Tears of grief and rage fall from all the connections Mai had made, as those golden feathers fill the air. There's pain...and a persistent threat. That even for this effort, everyone Mai cared about in turn still remain in peril.

There's a feeling - like a single heartbeat, pulsing from the burning pyre. A glimmer of light, brighter than the flames themselves. And slowly, the blackened remains of Kagutsuchi begin to fall from the inferno - darker than ash, burnt by fires worse than even it wielded. A second pulse - and slowly, what seemed like remnants begin to gently turn.

The ashes scatter. And a new form is revealed.

Kagutsuchi, transformed. No more wings of flame, no claws emerging from the inferno, no fire at all. The dragon's head arches out, sword as prominent as ever in its maw - but its long neck is lined with crimson fur, leading to a strange body.

More machine than dragon, now - its arms are wings of gleaming ivory, tipped with claws, and backed with feathers that seem like great vents. The new form of the phoenix-dragon is like the fusion of a dragon and some high-tech jet - filled with no less menace as it slowly descends to the surface of the island.

Flames erupt abruptly - a great ring of them over the dragon's head - and spiral down before the sword. The flicker, they blaze, they take a vaguely humanoid form -

- and scatter, to reveal Mai Tokiha.

Her eyes are closed as she manifests...then slowly, they open in wonder. And widen, in utter bewilderment.

"Wh- What?! WHAT?!" Her yell could probably be heard across half the island - and then Kagutsuchi screeches, head arching toward the heavens. Somewhere, in those golden skies, Artemis stands vigilant - and the transformed dragon's very being sings with the drive to strike back.

"H-hang on! Kagutsuchi!" Mai looks around wildly, before spying those standing below - and whatever relief she might feel to see some of those faces, it's tempered buy complete and utter panic. "Everyone! There's no time to explain-"

Kagutsuchi screeches, and Mai puts a hand on the sword's hilt. "...but I think Kagutsuchi is going to try to attack Artemis! If - if you're ready to come-"

Another screech - neck stretched out for passengers only grudgingly. "- then hurry!"

There's little time for discussion - less than a minute after Mai's plea, the dragon-phoenix-spaceship turns its head to the heavens. Cylinders marked with magatama symbols emerge from its back, spinning wildly as power builds at its rear - and with a roar mighter than anything short of Artemis's destruction, sheer force launches the Child - and its passengers - up into the skies.

Up high enough to face off against a satellite.

OOC: If you want to participate in the final fight, then hurry up and get on the dragon! Enjoy the alarmingly short trip, because by next round we're going to have definitive proof that the Earth is round. Feel free to enjoy the brutal acceleration and wonders of space on your trip!

COMBAT: Mai Tokiha has fully healed herself.
COMBAT: Mai Tokiha transforms into Mai and Kagutsuchi!

<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

At first, the screech doesn't really register for Lera. She looks down at the ground. Her fist keeps shaking around the hilt of her hammer, tears rolling down her cheeks unbidden now. "I didn't... I didn't even say I'm sorry," she mutters softly to herself. "I--"

<Camry. Look up.>

She does after she hears Broken Ground, in time to see Kagutsuchi transformed and unfurling those wings, to reveal Mai Tokiha standing there. She blinks a few times, trying to clear her eyes, and then she shakes her head in disbelief.

Mai's explanation is timely, in that sense. Lera nods, quickly, and grits her teeth. She darts forward -- running across the battlefield and to the dragon. She grabs onto the dragon, tightly, and looks at Mai. "You--" She's smiling, despite the admonishment. "--you gotta work on this exploding thing, y'know? It's giving us a real scare."

She looks over her shoulder, back at Endo and Ren. She grins at them, then yells; in the rush of adrenaline, it sounds a little manic. "C'mon!" she cries out. "We gotta get up there!"

<Pose Tracker> Kozue Kaoru [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
<SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFiSb9SBOW0&list=PL04ADB121151A2C5E&index=15

Kozue needed a moment to collect herself. Others were already chomping at the bit to hunt down Greer and Alyssa, and she didn't blame them. In fact she wanted to join them, but... right now...

She feels a heartbeat, like a pulse within her head. Except it's not her own. She looks back up, alarmed, as shes reform into a dragon turned... she's not even sure what it is! And as flames scatter to reveal Mai Tokiha. She takes a step back, alarmed. "What!? You're-"

She only has a few moments to make a decision. After what she saw, does she really want to get on that thing's back, go up there, and attack that thing?

Hell yes.

Her sense of spite wins out over her apprehension. Even over her awe of the Dragon God of Fire. She's up on the Dragon's back, smirking, "For a HiME, you're a real drama queen Tokiha."

She claps her once briefly on the back, she's not willing to give a real apology, not to her face, just that small gesture. A moment later she looks at Sachiko, waving at her in particular, "Hey you wanted to hit something? Here's your chance girl! How often do you get the chance to knock a satellite out of the park?"

<Pose Tracker> Garnet [None] has posed.

Garnet doesn't need to be told twice. She's not sure how she regenerated, but she's no stranger to form regeneration or healing magics. She's so glad to see Mai, stronger than ever! Garnet finds herself emboldened by her resurrection, and whether its her imagination, or the positive emotions she's feeling bolstering her magical body, she's unsure, but she's ready! They're going to smash that satellite out of the sky!

She gets on the dragon, and prepares to see the anciently familiar sight of the Earth from orbit.

<Pose Tracker> Ren Aizawa [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.

Ren looks up at the empty skies, still trying to process what she's witnessed. And... then.

Heraut's shout comes right as the overwhelming sight of Kagatsuchi re-emerging from apparent death -- along with Mai. "What...?!" Ren rubs her eyes, doing a double take. And then she smiles, looking over at Lera as she fights the urge to start laughing. Amazing!

And then comes Mai's invitation to join her in taking out that satellite. "You don't have to ask me twice!" Ren follows after Lera, heart swelling with pride.

<Pose Tracker> Lancelot [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

Fist buried in the muddied ground where he had slammed it in frustration, Takeo squeezes his eyes shut once again only to hear a screech of defiance. The boy blinks, and he hears it again, causing him to look up. He stares and with a muddied fist, wipes a tear from his eye, "M- Mai?" He says quietly. He feels a nudge on his good shoulder. Sparkles urging him to the dragon, to go where she can't take him. He sniffles as discretely as he can and pets his friend's gently. "Thanks girl." Then he stands.

He moves forward, a muddied streak on his face where he had tried to wipe away a tear, only to have it tear streaked as he hops on the dragon.

There was no time, she had stated as such but he gives her a slight nod of his head with a thankful, and relieved smile that says silently, "I'm glad you are okay." He doesn't approach her, knowing that Mikoto would be mauling her with relief soon, and she has other friends.

Just seeing her alive is good. Really, that's all the young Knight could ask for after it had felt she had been ripped away.

<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

The Wind Knight blinks a couple of times, then just stares. How ... ?

-- never mind. 'How' doesn't matter at the moment, and she does NOT want to ask questions about a miracle. The lethargy of shock and despair is cast off as the green-clad Magic Knight breaks into a run, the exhaustion of the battle thus far following suit as her willpower is renewed by the miraculous sight of Mai, whole and healthy and hearty, along with the transformed Kagutsuchi ready to bear them aloft to do battle.

She does not glomp Mai when she gets there; however, the Magic Knight of Wind does attempt to clasp the flame-wielding HiME's hand, smiling in profound relief as green eyes meet violet.

Then she lets go, and the Wind Knight finds a good spot to brace herself against an ascent which is likely to be extremely strenuous. Even if they aren't flying into orbit, it's still going to be a very steep climb; if she sees anyone else on Kagutsuchi's back who seems to need actual healing, she'll do what she can with the Winds of Healing, but otherwise she's going to focus on preparing for the battle to bring down Artemis for good.

<Pose Tracker> Natsuki Kuga [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

Natsuki stares in almost an odd wonder. Mai was alive and her Child...transformed into some kind of plane space ship? "Leave it to Tokiha," Natsuki muttered. "And here I was vowing vengance for you." Then Mai speaks up, and the look in her eyes, the stubbornness Natsuki has come to known says it all.

It was no or never. All fatigue she had leaves her body and she is recharge with an almost primal new energy.

"Don't have to ask me twice!" she yelled as she hopped on. "But I want a proper explanation on how you did this later, Tokiha." She gave her a smirk. "You nearly gave me a heart attack there."

<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

Endo sits, leaning back against the hunk of metal his Device is, staring forelorning at the sky. Which gives him a good view of Mai and her dragon-now a spaceship-rising from the ashes.

<IT LIVES.> It certainly does. Endo's heart does a little jump of joy, both at having a comrade alive and a chance to get up there and do something about Eclipse I before it can threaten the school and its occupants any further.

"Stern, do you want to go break that thing?"

<IT IS PRESENTLY MY GREATEST PRIORITY.> Like he had to ask.

When the spaceship comes, Endo goes. The boy takes a running start, vaulting atop it, grinning wide as he spots his fellow Mages aboard. "Ren-chan! Lera-san!" The sight of everyone alive and well bolsters his spirit, and he holds on to Ren for dear life as they begin to make their ascent. To space!

<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

"Mai," Mikoto whispers, again. "Mai..." Her name carries all the regrets, all the shattered sorrow Mikoto feels.

The remains of Kagutsuchi fall, blackened and burning. The feeling in her gut twists, the ice stabs at her heart, as if the world were pressing against her, pushing her into the earth--

But there's another heartbeat, there, a single pulse from the fire. A second, ringing through the air in what is not quite a sound, not quite a sensation, but a known thing beneath her skin, like waking up next to Mai and feeling her heartbeat.

Kagutsuchi reforms from the fire, glittering, new, changed. Mikoto's expression shifts. She gasps. She watches, closely, intently, even as the flames grow warmer, hotter, as the great jet of a dragon descends.

It's not dead.

It's not dead it's not dead it's not dead and if it's not dead maybe she's not dead maybe maybe maybe please please please

A humanoid form reveals itself. Tears fall from Mikoto's face, but her expression is overjoyed. "Mai! MAI!" She screams, and once more, Mai's name is vector for Mikoto's feelings: relief, and elation, and...

Mai is okay. Mai isn't dead. That hearth doesn't have to die. She's okay. She's okay. She'll still be there tomorrow. She'll still see Mai smile. Still hear her voice.

"Mai, Mai, Mai!" Mikoto cries, leaping onto Kagutsuchi because Mai asked her to, staring and speaking with an adoration only made starker by the sorrow she'd just felt. Swiftly she makes it to Mai, to grasp her about the waist, narrowly avoiding hurting anyone with that blade.

And then her cries are drowned out as Kagutsuchi rises, and her grip tightens, holding on for dear life as they rise up, and up, and up...

<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Shidou [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

The Fire Knight's spirit is rekindled alongside her colleague's, and she takes off running alongside her, the tears vanishing like magic as she breaks into a run. She doesn't care how it happened or why or anything like that. All that matters is that things have changed for the better, and the Fire Knight is taking advantage of this. She doesn't stop running until she reaches Mai, at which point she comes to an abrupt stop, not stopping to catch her breath or anything like that. Instead, she smiles at Mai, a look of relief on her face. "I'm so glad you're OK," She says happily.

Once the ascent begins, the Fire Knight braces herself as well. She's not used to flying in a manner like this, but she'll have to accept it. She breathes a few times, feeling her fighting spirit returning even more. "This time, we're gonna win big time!" She says with a determined grin on her face.

<Pose Tracker> Sailor Mercury [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

As Mai is revealed to be just fine, Ami is given yet another reason to believe in miracles. She has a surfeit of them at this point; she doesn't know Mai well enough to respond with any particular /personal/ joy, but she's glad nevertheless.

She knows she has little time to react, and accordingly, moves hastily toward the dragon. She moves with a long, slow leaap followed by a quick hop onto the dragon, getting herself situated as quickly as possible.

She hangs on tight, because if they're going up... it's going to be a bumpy ride.

<Pose Tracker> Sachiko Majime [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

Sachiko looks up, way up and sees something that even surprises a Puella Magi like her. Her mouth wordlessly drops open as Kagutsuchi transforms and Mai is reborn. Perhaps she didn't miss the battle afterall. Holding a hand behind her back, Sachiko turns her frown around just as her battle-axe materializes into her grasp. She gives the mighty instrument a test swing before resting the weapon on her shoulder. Deep within, she felt a fire of her own stirring. And Mai herself offers to take her and everyone else to the heavens to do battle.

The dramatic irony of magic girls flying into battle like Valkyries of yore against the Searrs satellite is not lost to Sachiko. And neither lost is the offer from Kozue to join everyone. Sachiko glances only briefly over her shoulder where nothing really is left for her before looking forward. There was nothing back there for her, but there was a promise of a potentially lethal and glorious battle in front of her.

Sachiko makes her decision by running forward and joining the others ontop of Kagutsuchi. She holds on for her life and glances over at Kozue before stating, "I may not understand what's going on, but whatever. I know a once in a lifetime opportunity when I see one and I'm ready to step up to the plate."

<Pose Tracker> Alyssa Searrs [Ohtori Academy (5)] has posed.

Space isn't cold or airless when you're surrounded by the fiery aura of Kagutsuchi, and one gets the feeling that the shimmering gold field around the rapidly approaching Eclipse 1 satellite provides similar protection. The particles that compose it are slightly, subtly more solid than photons -- entering the space affected by, imbued with, the spirit of Artemis, Child of Alyssa Searrs, is a strangely warm feeling, like being caressed by a small, toasty beam, sunlight you can hold in your hand. It is a place that gently attracts itself; one cannot accidentally fall forever out of it into the dark beyond. That takes effort and intention.

Space is still big, though, and the target isn't close. It's still much too far to attack directly and almost too far to see with the naked eye -- there's the faintest glint of its green orb mounted on a spikey golden blur which is still crackling and steaming with the aftermath of its recent, massive discharge.

Which isn't to say it's just going to hang out and wait for would-be executioners to effortlessly close the distance.

Many, many more smaller blurs erupt from its surface. They're getting bigger with astonishing speed, and soon they're close enough to feel the burn from their propulsion systems. Each missile is backlit by blue flame, their bodies tiny and golden and marked with the bright red insignia that Alyssa seared onto the Orphan monsters she controlled, too.

Their detonations are neither red nor blue, of course. When they find something to impact from the front, they explode in clouds of scathingly painful golden flame. There are no shockwaves here, but there don't have to be. The missiles do not, however, seem to notice impacts from above, and they are roughly the size of suped-up go-karts, or perhaps mass-produced magic carpets might be the better analogue. They are coming thick and fast enough to jump between, and it is startlingly easy -- again because of the weird non-gravity here, perhaps -- to alter their trajectory with shifts of weight and balance. A sufficiently creative person could definitely turn one into an ignoble, rocket-propelled steed.

And there are dozens, all of them, in some way, homing...

COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs transforms into Artemis!
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs has fully healed itself. It is now ready to take on 12 opponents!
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs has used Itano Circus on Hikaru Shidou.
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs has used Itano Circus on Mikoto Minagi.
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs has used Itano Circus on Endo Naoki.
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs has used Itano Circus on Natsuki Kuga.
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs has used Itano Circus on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs has used Itano Circus on Lancelot.
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs has used Itano Circus on Ren Aizawa.
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs has used Itano Circus on Garnet.
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs has used Itano Circus on Kozue Kaoru.
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs has used Itano Circus on Lera Camry.
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs has used Itano Circus on Sachiko Majime.
COMBAT: Kozue Kaoru narrowly braces Alyssa Searrs's Itano Circus, taking 7 Fatigue damage! Kozue Kaoru's Block ability activates! Kozue Kaoru's Parry ability activates!
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs has used Itano Circus on Mai Tokiha.
COMBAT: Mai Tokiha narrowly braces Alyssa Searrs's Itano Circus, taking 11 Fatigue damage! Mai Tokiha's Block ability activates! Mai Tokiha's Parry ability activates!
COMBAT: Ren Aizawa narrowly braces Alyssa Searrs's Itano Circus, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Ren Aizawa's Block ability activates! Ren Aizawa's Parry ability activates!
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs has used Itano Circus on Sailor Mercury.
COMBAT: Mikoto Minagi narrowly braces Alyssa Searrs's Itano Circus, taking 7 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Sailor Mercury narrowly braces Alyssa Searrs's Itano Circus, taking 3 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji narrowly braces Alyssa Searrs's Itano Circus, taking 8 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Garnet fails to brace Alyssa Searrs's Itano Circus, taking 26 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou fails to brace Alyssa Searrs's Itano Circus, taking 23 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Lera Camry narrowly braces Alyssa Searrs's Itano Circus, taking 3 Fatigue damage! Lera Camry's Block ability activates! Lera Camry's Parry ability activates!
COMBAT: Sachiko Majime perfectly counters Alyssa Searrs's Itano Circus, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter! Sachiko Majime's Reverse ability activates!
COMBAT: Sachiko Majime's counterattack, Fastball Special, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Alyssa Searrs!
COMBAT: Natsuki Kuga fails to brace Alyssa Searrs's Itano Circus, taking 19 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Endo Naoki narrowly braces Alyssa Searrs's Itano Circus, taking 5 Fatigue damage! Endo Naoki's Parry ability activates!
COMBAT: Lancelot perfectly braces Alyssa Searrs's Itano Circus, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Brace! Lancelot's Block ability activates! Lancelot's Parry ability activates!

<Pose Tracker> Natsuki Kuga [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

Natsuki clings to Duran as they leap onto Mai and they are flown upward into space. Duran gives a howl like he is encouraging the attack himself. The wind whip her hair around and she's barely able to see as they enter into space.

"This defies all known science," Natsuki mutters as she stares back at the earth below in awe.

She glances to the earth, part of her wishing she had a camera, when the sound of missiles reminded her of the near danger.

Duran gets hit, causing Natsuki to lurch forward with a wince. "Of course it wouldn't be easy," Natsuki muttered as she climbed back to her feet.

"Let's go for the head, Duran!" She leapt onto her Child. "I'll charge ahead and try to start taking down Artemis." Not waiting for a reply, Duran leaps and thanks to lack of gravity is able to move easily between the missiles. "Attack full force, Duran!" Natsuki cried as her Child howled and started to commence with the attack.

COMBAT: Natsuki Kuga has used Lone Hunter on Alyssa Searrs.

<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

Lera isn't used to being in outer space, at least outside of a spacecraft. She blinks, as she slips through the golden shield. The girl gasps softly and looks straight up, peering all around her, before she looks at the incredibly distant satellite. It takes her eyes some effort to adjust to the strangeness of depth perception in space. It takes her body some mental effort to adjust to the fact she /isn't/ dying of decompression.

<Incoming.> Broken Ground makes Lera look up; she blinks, then she sees the missiles coming in, and she bites her lip -- and flies up, away from Kagutsuchi. "Be careful!"

<Protection!>

A shield appears in front of Lera -- and much like one of the ones fired last night by a ship, the sudden disc of green energy blocks the missile. The green particles assailt it, but it's close enough to Lera to make her wince softly.

Then, she starts to fly forward. There is a glance back at Mai -- and then another at Endo and Ren. She can fall into formation with them. She looks forward, raising Ground up. "All right, Ground, can you hit it from here?"

<I'll try.>

A bolt of light forms in front of the warhammer; as Lera soars towards Eclipse 1, she spins. A bolt of lava flies off, soaring towards the satellite, and Lera takes off after it.

COMBAT: Lera Camry has used Molten Bolt on Alyssa Searrs.

<Pose Tracker> Lancelot [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

Missiles. Lots and lots of missiles. "Somebody is a Macross fan." Lancelot mutters under his breath. Then he twirls Arondight and nods. Lancelot leaps from the flying Dragon/Pheonix jet and slaps missiles aside, or sending bolts of arcing lighting to detonate the missiles as they close in. The cerulean light of the bolts adding to the stark landscape of the nothingness of space and the lights of both Artemis and Kagutsuchi.

He leaps back, summersaulting to land back on their transport in a crouch, slashing his sword as he lands and calls out, "LIGHTING SLASH!" Which sends a wave of azure crackling bolts of lightning arcing through space toward Artemis. He narrows his eyes. "No more."

The words are spoken with a quiet determination. "I won't let you hurt anyone anymore." He stands tall and proud on dragon back, Arondight's edge crackling with lightning that promises swift vengeance.

COMBAT: Lancelot has used Lightning Slash on Alyssa Searrs.

<Pose Tracker> Miyu Greer [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

Miyu strides through the Searrs command tent, Alyssa balanced on one arm, clinging tiredly around her neck. She stops at one of the banks of computer screens, where a technician is desperately attempting to keep up with the flow of plain-text data and graphical displays that speak the tale of Searrs's woe.

"Your console," Miyu says.

The technician glances back at her, holding one side of a pair of earphones to his ear, eyes wide. "Five minutes. Eleven of our ships are--"

Miyu grabs the man's collar and drags him from the chair, twisting to toss him away in a tumble of rolling limbs. Seating herself in the chair, Miyu watches the screens as her free hand dances on the keyboard. A 3d image of a Searrs recon sattelite appears on one of the screens, with several curved lines intersecting it to represent its velocity and trajectory. Tapping the same key a few times, she alters the angle of its panels and activates its propulsion. She leaves the console just as quickly, and behind her the trajectory of the sattelite begins to update with a soft beep each time the curvature of the lines shifts.

As Miyu exits the command tent, she jerks her head, and the two men at the entrance fall in behind her, leaving it unguarded. They wear a different uniform than the others: white and grey urban camoflage, with collar-like throat headsets and patches that read SSO on their shoulder--Sears Special Operations.

"Have your unit secure Miss Searrs in the Student Council Tower. I do not need to remind you of her priority. As long as she is safe, even the command center is highly expendable."

"Understood," one of the soldiers barks.

Miyu stops at the entrance to the Tower, catching Alyssa up under her armpits and setting her gently to the ground. "I'll be back soon, ojousama," she says, kneeling to her mistress's eye level. She gently smooths the ribbon on Alyssa's chest out with her thumbs, then tugs its loops until it is even and neat. "I'll fix your hair then," she promises.

Touching Alyssa's cheek briefly, Miyu hardens her jaw. "Please count on me, ojousama," she enjoins. "I will protect your precious Child."

Rising, Miyu moves with long stride and fast pace down the hill, then turns to squint her eyes at the sky, her irises twisting with a dry mechanical whisper. The plate of her calf muscle separates from each leg, as a neutron-blue repulsor rocket begins to whine loudly in each, distorting the air around them with heat as the grass at her feet begins to wither and writhe.

<Pose Tracker> Sachiko Majime [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

Of all the reckless decisions that Sachiko has made in her life, this was easily the most careless one by far. It only takes one look way, way down to see the proof of this. And this is exactly what the orange-eyed Puella Magi does as they leave atmosphere on their way to do battle with Alyssa's Child. And yet, there was a growing feeling within Sachiko that could not be contained. She had all these heightened abilities and powers to use for what? Mere survival? It was much more temping to use said powers to destroy a satellite instead. With any luck, that robot will be onboard when it all comes crashing down.

A broad and manic grin appears on the young girl's face when the satellite goes to defend itself by launching missiles at them. "This is absolute insanity." Sachiko adjusts her stance so that she's standing up as much as she can while still holding on. "...I love it." One of the explosive instruments of doom seemingly locks on to her, but Sachiko has an axe with that missiles name on it. She hurls her axe and it perfectly splits the rocket in two. The axe, having achieved escape velocity, continues to travel through harmlessly through space until it boomerangs back around into Sachiko's grip. For what its worth, Sachiko seems to be enjoying herself.

The satellite is still far away, but Sachiko has an idea on how to get closer. She waits for another missile to get closer and leaps -at- it. If her jump is successful, she'll grab on to the wing of it, swing herself around, and put two high-heeled booted feet into the side of the rocket. Her objective, to steer this missile straight back at the satellite with one angry Puella Magi in tow.

COMBAT: Sachiko Majime has used Ground Control to Puella Sachiko on Alyssa Searrs.

<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

Endo keeps a tight grip on Fallen Stern as they reach escape velocity and soar in to the black. He has time to look over his shoulder in awe at the earth below, all blue and huge. He also holds his breath for about a minute, until he has to let it out and gasp in more. He's pleasently surprised that he can breathe.

<BARRIER.> Fallen Stern's shield flares bright as rockets erupt around the spaceship-dragon, the boy pressing his lips together tight as he braces the burn of each shot. It hurts. Just, not enough to stop him.

"Okay! Let's go!" He follows Lera, in a bit less of a linear path. After the first volley of projectiles he leaps forward, foot planting on one, and then another, using them as stepping stones as he leaps after Lera, coming behind. One of them he even kicks around to spin him back toward the satelite, raising Fallen Stern high and sending out a volley of energy blasts of his own right back at the weapon.

COMBAT: Endo Naoki has used Meteor Shower on Alyssa Searrs.

<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

"Winds of Protection!"

The Magic Knight of Wind hunkers down when she sees all of those missiles coming in, and focuses a barrier of wind in front of her to try and block the missiles (or their explosions) from doing too much damage to her. It's not a perfect defense; a couple of missiles get past, one detonating against Kagutsuchi's back next to her, another being exploded when she materializes her sword and stabs through the missile, idly wondering as she does so whether there's a hard limit on the satellite's supply of explosive-tipped rockets.

But several of the missiles actually hit the Winds of Protection and are *stopped* by it ... and a somewhat wicked smile crosses the Wind Knight's face.

A moment later, she's manipulated the wind barrier to point the missiles back at Artemis (or perhaps more accurately, at Eclipse-One; same difference, for most intents and purposes) and sends them on their way back to the platform that launched them. Each of the redirected missiles has a whirlwind wrapped around it for good measure, to make sure they stay on course. Even if they don't explode, the physical impacts should still do *some* useful damage.

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used I Believe This Is Yours on Alyssa Searrs.

<Pose Tracker> Sailor Mercury [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Even though she's been to space -- specifically the moon -- before, Sailor Mercury still feels like the experience of spaceflight is still a little bit of a miracle, even when riding on a dragon. Ami doesn't have long to appreciate it, though, before missiles come in.

As the missiles come up, Ami thrusts her hands out, meeting them with a thin blast of fresh water -- not enough to actually go anywhere, just enough to deflect the worst of it. Some of the blast still gets through, though, and she recoils from it.

Staying more or less where she is rather than striking out, Sailor Mercury starts things of simple, with a second blast of ice-cold fresh water, this one much more intense. She eventually starts to move forward, but her movements are slow, even -- perhaps even hesitant.

COMBAT: Sailor Mercury has used Mercury Aqua Mist on Alyssa Searrs.

<Pose Tracker> Mai Tokiha [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

The fur lining Kagutsuchi's long neck is warmer than one might expect, welcoming all who take up Mai's offer. The recently-reborn HiME is - frankly in too much shock to worry for the sake of her fellow magical girls, and it takes a moment for recognition to set in for anyone. She never really relaxes - given the situation, there's far too much to worry about. Still-

Lera, at least, gets a friendly smile in return. Kozue, by contrast, gets an eye-roll. "I didn't mean...I wasn't expecting to..."

She has a couple of moments, at most, to acknowledge the Magic Knights - and then Natsuki's there, demanding explanations. Mai spies Lancelot, and smiles again before answering. "Your guess is as good as mine, Kugaaaaa-"

That would be the sound of Mai being tackled by Mikoto, the HiME staggering from the impact. Her eyes, if anything, go wider....but before there can be any words...

Kagutsuchi screeches. Engines flare to life, And the HiME and Child soar beyond the skies. One might, back on Earth, hear Mai's panicked yell as they rise...but the roar of Kagutsuchi's flames soon drown it out.

And then - space. Here, where the curvature of the Earth can be seen - high above the clouds, with glittering stars filling the canopy of heaven. For a moment, Mai clings to Kagutsuchi's sword with one hand, staring in awe at the wonders laid out before her as she gently strokes the cat-like girl attached to her. It's glorious, wonderful, beautiful-

And there's terrible danger here. Missiles make themselves known, detonating in a cavalcade of searing golden flame - and with a terrific screech, Kagutsuchi drives itself forward. Explosion after explosion fill space, licking at the dragonship's wings as it weaves its way closer to Artemis.

It's utterly terrifying - but she has courageous friends with her, and Mai is mostly sure she's already died once today. As her dragon soars on forward, Mai's rings begin to spin and burn with determination.

"...hang on, everyone." It's murmured, more than yelled. "We can....we have to do this. Stop Artemis, and go home. So...!" Tendrils of flame spiral out, attempting to clear a path in the missile storm for the dragon to pass - if they can make it to the satellite, then surely...

Surely, they can do something.

COMBAT: Mai Tokiha transforms into Mai-HiME!
COMBAT: Mai Tokiha has used Infernal Embrace on Alyssa Searrs.

<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Shidou [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Unlike the Wind Knight, the Fire Knight is not so fortunate with her defense. She is forced to endure being hit by all those missiles, and she finds herself really getting heated in more ways than one. Despite this, she endures her injuries and refuses to give up. She looks towards Eclipse-One and shakes her head. "Can't control what it's doing." She mutters, noting that this isn't like the youmas she's faced before.

"Still, something has to be done!" The Fire Knight's eyes burn with determination as she incants the magic of fire and shoots forth a blast of flame in the shape of an arrow at Eclipse-One. "If we don't stop it now, nobody will!"

COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou has used Fire Arrow on Alyssa Searrs.

<Pose Tracker> Garnet [None] has posed.

It's been a while since Garnet has been in space, but the magical auras of Kagutsuchi and Alyssa's child make it a much more pleasant experience than she remembers. With the appearance of the missiles, Garnet sighs a little to herself. Not that pleasant I suppose. She braces herself for their impact, but hopes the Dragon might be able to evade them. She's never ridden anything close to a dragon. Maybe they're flexible?

She was wrong.

Three times. Three missiles hit their mark. Garnet screams through the pain and hangs on to the dragon for dear life, though it is more reflex than anything else, there is no air to facilitate a shockwave. Just burning.

So much burning. But at least she isn't thrown into space. She strains to do so immediately, but she looks towards the Satellite, and fires a giant orb of electromagnetism towards the satellite and the missiles. They're solid, they felt like machinery breaking against her... Maybe it will short some of them out...

<Pose Tracker> Kozue Kaoru [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
<SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCk4RiKH9H0

Kozue takes her place a little to the left on Kagutsuchi's back, kneeling down and putting a hand against it. The other holds her Element, and she finds herself surprisingly as eager as a small child when it comes to the idea of breaking into the reaches of the upper atmosphere and beyond. Space isn't as cold as she thought it would be, she wonders if that's Kagutsuchi or that warm golden light, but she'd almost laugh with giddiness if not for what was at stake.

There's someone waiting for her back on Earth.

She didn't intend to keep them waiting for long.

Something hardens in her eyes, as she notes the bright specks, imbued with crimson runes. "Here they come...!" She doesn't realize yet that the 'they' are missiles. Shegets up into her stance, and begins her dance on dragonback, it's a whirling movement of weighted and bladed cord that she imagines she's reading from sheet music again.

Two twirling slices in duple meter that rend through the cold nothingness of space and the strange gravity less explosions, cutting them apart. The energy doesn't totally dissipate, she's not unscathed as she passes it, burning gold lighting up her unruly blue hair and uniform. "You think we don't know that Tokiha!?" A sharp comment, but she doesn't spare her a look.

She stamps her foot down, then begins to turn retrograde. "I knew you would." Kozue replies idly to Sachiko, not even wondering why her voice carries in space. Everything she learned about the universe was proven wrong in the face of magic. Shows just what adults know.

Her line spins out, the weight at the end twirling around an undetonated missile. She pulls it taut, then whips her whole body suddenly, spinning it in a full circle, up and around Kagutsuchi's whole form until it's pointed back vaguely in the direction of the Golden Satellite harnessing Child. A snap of the line and it zips free, with the missile propelling itself back the direction it came.

COMBAT: Garnet has used Adamantine Spark on Alyssa Searrs.
COMBAT: Kozue Kaoru has used Cancrizans Measure on Alyssa Searrs.

<Pose Tracker> Ren Aizawa [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.

Into space they go! It's a strange feeling for sure, though Ren clutches onto Kagatsuchi as the dragon-machine-beast ascends rapidly. He looks over to Lera and Endo, trying to seem as though there's nothing unnatural about rocketing into space like this. She's mostly keeping her composure -- although it begins to slip when the sight of incoming homing missiles is unveiled. "That's not good!" She points a gloved hand at them, and Heraut chimes in response.

"I see! Heraut, you know what to do!"

<Indeed! PROTECTION!>

Midchildan runes spring into being, providing a buffer between her and the fiery assault of the missiles. The heat proves to be overwhelming, however, and with a yelp she jumps back and into the air as her shields crumble, singing her a bit in the process. But she's not detered by this, already summoning up the strength for a retaliation.

With a flourish of her device a beam of superheated energy sparks forth, zipping through space directly for the satellite.

COMBAT: Ren Aizawa has used Regal Crasher on Alyssa Searrs.

<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

And just like that, they're in space.

There have been many nights in Mikoto's life spent looking up at the moon and the stars. She's sure she remembers her Lord Brother, telling her about the constellations, teaching her how to identify them, to walk by their light and never be lost; but they are distant memories, foggy, and she can't even bring to mind his face. More often she's alone, staring at the moon, at the bright lights which are really planets even if they look like stars... sometimes, there are cats with her. Once, there was Mai.

Mai is here with her again, now, but the situation is vastly changed. Here, hanging in space, with the great blue earth below and the star-filled expanse above, she could reach out for the stars and fall...

But she doesn't reach for the stars. She holds onto Mai, even after they're free of the planet's atmosphere. Being with her, feeling her hand stroking her back, Mikoto's heart is full and joyous. She steels herself against the impact of the missiles, but she does not leap away as she usually does. She doesn't leave Mai's side. Mikoto rests in a loose grip, barely any attention given to it. The enemy is not here, yet, not in any way she can use, but Mai is here, right here with her.

"Mai," Mikoto looks up at her, tears still shining in her eyes. "We can do it, Mai. Protect everyone. Everyone, and Takumi, and my Lord Brother..."

She squeezes her again, before she finally steps back to grasp Miroku in her hands, carefully held so it doesn't carve into Kagutsuchi's flesh.

"And I'll protect Mai!"

COMBAT: Mikoto Minagi has used For Our Brothers on Mai Tokiha.
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs narrowly braces Lera Camry's Molten Bolt, taking 2 Fatigue damage!  Lera Camry is Psyched!
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs narrowly counters Lancelot's Lightning Slash, taking 2 Fatigue damage!  Lancelot is Psyched!  Stagger applied to Alyssa Searrs!
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs's counterattack, Point-to-Point Fire Interception, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Lancelot!
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs narrowly braces Sachiko Majime's Ground Control to Puella Sachiko, taking 3 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs fails to counter Endo Naoki's Meteor Shower, taking 24 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs's counterattack, Point-to-Point Fire Interception, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Endo Naoki!
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs fails to dodge Fuu Hououji's I Believe This Is Yours, taking 19 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs narrowly braces Sailor Mercury's Mercury Aqua Mist, taking 10 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs narrowly dodges Mai Tokiha's Infernal Embrace, taking 11 Fatigue damage!  Diversion applied to Alyssa Searrs!
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs narrowly braces Hikaru Shidou's Fire Arrow, taking 13 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs fails to counter Garnet's Adamantine Spark, taking 23 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs's counterattack, Point-to-Point Fire Interception, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Garnet!
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs narrowly braces Kozue Kaoru's Cancrizans Measure, taking 5 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs fails to dodge Natsuki Kuga's Lone Hunter, taking 10 Fatigue damage!  Natsuki Kuga is Psyched!  Stun and Trap applied to Alyssa Searrs!
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs narrowly braces Ren Aizawa's Regal Crasher, taking 5 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Mai Tokiha accepts Mikoto Minagi's For Our Brothers, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Mai Tokiha is Cheered!

<Pose Tracker> Alyssa Searrs [Ohtori Academy (5)] has posed.

The magical girls assault in force, and then things get complex. Natsuki leaps forward from missile to missile, Duran blowing them up in her wake so that they can't harm anyone else (though, conversely, no one else can take her precise path), while Lera soars through the field under her own power -- it's quite impossible for her lava to find the satellite from this far back, though, that would take precision aim given the distance and the sheer number of continuously-firing missiles in the way, so it detonates on one instead, just before it would have perhaps hit Lancelot.

The Knight, in turn, sees his lightning strike twice, in the sense that first it takes out a missile, and that missile's explosion catches two more. The chain reaction does not continue, but that's a good thing, because Sachiko goes soaring through the gap he's made, getting steadily closer to the satellite -- though still very far away. It's going to take some fancy piloting to avoid the laser fire bearing down on her, though; if her ride gets hit, she's in no real danger of falling out of the golden field suffusing the space around here, but she might be in for a world of hurt.

The lasers in question are bright gold (inevitably) and fired directly from the many spikes radiating, crownlike, off of the top of Eclipse 1. Despite their precision, the sheer quantity of Endo's volley cannot be stopped -- instead he winds up laying waste to a swath of missiles, and Fuu's flipped strike penetrates even further. Up this path comes Ami, whose water blasts take out a few more, but now she's got missiles homing in on all sides. Hikaru's Fire Arrow blasts a few away, but not enough -- Garnet's electromagnetic orb detonates spectacularly in the general vicinity, though, intercepting all but two.

Kozue's flipped missile, finally, soars towards the satellite, and it might have hit another missile if Ren hadn't blown up the immediately close ones with her superheated energy sparks. Instead it gets quite a bit further. Mai's immense firestorm widens their gap further still...

Which means, to summarize, that the magical girls have created two paths towards the satellite, and can rush quite a bit closer if they dare. Missiles are rushing straight down the gap, though, eager to fill it not just with their bodies but the blood of Alyssa's enemies, and bolts of laser fire are also starting to fall thick and fast!

And there's one other thing -- with a low hum carried faintly on the not-quite-really-air of this place, the glow of the green orb at its apex is beginning to luminesce and intensify. That can't be good... is it charging up for yet another bombardment of the island? Or can it turn its firing angle to shoot the girls charging it?

Better hope you never find out...

COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs has used Blossom of Death on Sailor Mercury.
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs has used PEW PEW Space Lasers!! on Sachiko Majime.
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs has used PEW PEW Space Lasers!! on Hikaru Shidou.
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs has used Blossom of Death on Endo Naoki.
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs has used PEW PEW Space Lasers!! on Natsuki Kuga.
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs has used PEW PEW Space Lasers!! on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs has used Blossom of Death on Lancelot.
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs has used Blossom of Death on Ren Aizawa.
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs has used PEW PEW Space Lasers!! on Garnet.
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs has used Blossom of Death on Lera Camry.
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs has used Golden Lightning Charge on Alyssa Searrs.
COMBAT: Alyssa Searrs accepts Alyssa Searrs's Golden Lightning Charge, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Withstand applied to Alyssa Searrs!  Cleanse! All of Alyssa Searrs's debuffs are cleared!
COMBAT: Natsuki Kuga narrowly dodges Alyssa Searrs's PEW PEW Space Lasers!!, taking 18 Fatigue damage!  Natsuki Kuga's Fade ability activates!  Natsuki Kuga's Flash ability activates!
COMBAT: Lera Camry fails to brace Alyssa Searrs's Blossom of Death, taking 45 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji perfectly dodges Alyssa Searrs's PEW PEW Space Lasers!!, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Dodge!  Fuu Hououji's Fade ability activates!  Fuu Hououji's Flash ability activates!

<Pose Tracker> Miyu Greer [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
<SoundTracker> The World is Tumbling Down - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbgqVuNFKTM

Miyu has little need for shielding. She is shielding. As the friction of the air builds against her face, a second silver eyelid closes over her eyes, leaving only a red dot visible at the center. Her hair gathers heat without burning, until the ends are livid orange and glowing. Her cheeks heat as well, the cheekbones darkening slightly with gathered soot. Then she is free of the atmosphere, and she cuts her rockets, letting her remaining momentum be slowly dispersed by the weak tug of Earth's gravity.

Wiping soot from her face, Miyu glances to her left, where the battle against Artemis has begun to light the darkness of space, then to her right, where the Searrs sattelite she redirected is floating towards her. Igniting her boosters in controlled spurts, Miyu directs herself to the recon sattelite, putting her hands out as she collides with it gently. Weightlessly, she swings herself around to the other side, and rips off a panel, sending it spinning into the void as she examines the wiring.

* *

It looks like a star at first. Then a plane, twinkling in the dark, the two white lights at the edge of its wide-spread panels blinking softly. Then it is nothing but what it is--a sattelite, with massive blue-gleaming solar panels and a vast, brittle grey torso. Its antennae stick like spears from its prow, and its maneuvering rockets are firing at full capacity--no, even more fiercely, their fuel burning up at a suicidal pace that is scorching the sattelite and has already cracked its frame. As it passes through the artificial atmosphere around Artemis, one of the solar cells shatters, not built to endure air pressure, and then the behemoth of metal and polymer is upon you. And crouched atop its shuddering back, dressed in purple jumpsuit with her arm-blade driven into the panelling beneath her, is Miyu Greer, her eyes cold murder, her stance eerily stable.

The impact would have been near-silent away from Artemis, but here it is a thunderous crunch, followed by an ear-wrenching creaking and splitting as the frame of the sattelite crumples and rips away its own facade. The momentum is enough to hurl anyone on Kagutsuchi off of the great flame-god, short of heroic measures on their part. It is certainly enough to hurl Miyu off of her doomed mount, and she flips in the air to stabilize her careening flight, then snaps her arm down, charging her pulse cannon to a simmering whine.

She sees Mikoto. Release.

She sees Kozue. Release.

Two great careening blasts of neon energy sizzle through the air. The HiME die first, preferably.

But any of you will do.

COMBAT: Lancelot narrowly dodges Alyssa Searrs's Blossom of Death, taking 34 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!
COMBAT: Ren Aizawa narrowly braces Alyssa Searrs's Blossom of Death, taking 10 Fatigue damage! Ren Aizawa's Block ability activates! Ren Aizawa's Parry ability activates!
COMBAT: Miyu Greer has fully healed herself. She is now ready to take on 7 opponents!
COMBAT: Miyu Greer has used I'm Back on Mai Tokiha.
COMBAT: Endo Naoki narrowly counters Alyssa Searrs's Blossom of Death, taking 21 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Endo Naoki's Reverse ability activates!
COMBAT: Endo Naoki's counterattack, Asteroid Rush, partially gets through, doing 12 Fatigue damage to Alyssa Searrs! Critical Counterhit!
COMBAT: Miyu Greer has used Ionic Pulse on Kozue Kaoru.
COMBAT: Miyu Greer has used Ionic Pulse on Mikoto Minagi.
COMBAT: Sailor Mercury narrowly dodges Alyssa Searrs's Blossom of Death, taking 18 Fatigue damage! Sailor Mercury's Fade ability activates! Sailor Mercury's Flash ability activates!
COMBAT: Kozue Kaoru narrowly counters Miyu Greer's Ionic Pulse, taking 7 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Cripple, Stagger, and Trap applied to Kozue Kaoru!
COMBAT: Kozue Kaoru's counterattack, Shearing Spiral, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Miyu Greer!
COMBAT: Garnet narrowly dodges Alyssa Searrs's PEW PEW Space Lasers!!, taking 18 Fatigue damage! Garnet's Fade ability activates! Garnet's Flash ability activates!
COMBAT: Mikoto Minagi fails to dodge Miyu Greer's Ionic Pulse, taking 20 Fatigue damage! Cripple, Stagger, Stun, and Trap applied to Mikoto Minagi!
COMBAT: Mai Tokiha perfectly braces Miyu Greer's I'm Back, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Brace! Mai Tokiha's Block ability activates!
COMBAT: Sachiko Majime fails to dodge Alyssa Searrs's PEW PEW Space Lasers!!, taking 30 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!

<Pose Tracker> Lancelot [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

Moving quickly, Lancelot barely manages to avoid the incoming fire that likely would have evaporated whatever fleshybits it hit. He comes up and wincing. He's still in considerable pain from previously and it's clear he is very likely still bleeding. However he spies the incoming Android and once again the lips peel back in a near feral snarl. "You." He states very, very, coldly. Space might be warmer than that one single word that he says.

His eyes track the incoming blue beam from the girl in his class that is really not a girl and is instead a robot. Arondight's lighting flickers brighter in response to Lancelot's emotions. He steps up next to Mai, lighting fairly crackling off both blade AND armor. "Hey, Tokiha?" He asks gently, though that voice sounds slightly warmer than the word he uttered earlier. "Just so we're clear. Would I loose future dance options if I took out the Crazy Robot Girl form class because you wanna take her down," he looks over at Mai and then says, "Or can I fry her like a bacon strip?" The lightning continues to glow around him, and might possibly be getting brighter.

COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou fails to dodge Alyssa Searrs's PEW PEW Space Lasers!!, taking 21 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Lancelot has used I'mma Charge'n My Lightning Bolt on Lancelot.
COMBAT: Lancelot accepts Lancelot's I'mma Charge'n My Lightning Bolt, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Lancelot is Reinforced by Lancelot!

<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

Lera realizes that the missiles are splitting -- giving a way forward. She grits her teeth, glancing over her shoulder. "Ren-chan! Endo-san! Let's get in closer to that thing! If it fires at us--"

She isn't quite paying attention, though, and two missiles slam into her. The wash of golden fire strikes her, burning into her. She hisses softly; the Barrier Jacket is burnt and torn all over, blackened edges along great gaping holes in her coat. Some are even torn into her pantslegs and shirt, with one torn through her gauntlet.

<Too many of these things...> Broken Ground almost grumbles. Then he chimes. <Incoming satellite--it's that one again!>

"What!?" Lera cries out, eyes widening. That's when she spots Miyu Greer and remembers, exactly, who she is. She gasps, sharply; she remembers seeing Miyu's minigun in the burning forest. She remembers her driving off the HiME easily. She swallows, hard, and then she glances at the Artemis. She has to consider for a moment.

"We--we better get the Eclipse, y'know?" she says. She glances at Mai. "We'll handle it! Don't worry! Ground, keep those missiles back!"

<Roger. Lantern Mode.>

The hammer shifts; the clockwork frame splits apart into a circular frame, attached to her bracer. It doesn't stay that way long; Lera spins as she flies, then does a sharp twist. The shield has a field of green-yellow light fill it, and it flies away like a discus, towards the missiles.

COMBAT: Lera Camry has used Sentinel Arc on Alyssa Searrs.

<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

No, the Wind Knight decides. No, there probably *isn't* an effective limit to Eclipse-One's supply of missiles. That's probably got something to do with the Child bound inside of the satellite ... and speaking of Artemis, she does take note of the slowly brightening glow of the orb which sits at the 'top' of the satellite's shape. If the hum itself weren't enough of a clue, the glow is as reliable an indicator as any that the gathered magical girls are fighting on a time limit. It doesn't really matter whether Artemis tries to destroy them or takes another shot at the students far below; either way, it would mean they fail to protect their many, many classmates.

And then a new variable is appended to the equation, in the form of a very large chunk of debris and a pair of energy blasts. The Wind Knight spares a glance backwards, and doesn't need any real help to recognize Miyu's lithe form - she got a too-close look at Miyu the night of the Artemis-induced forest fire, and if she'd had time for nightmares since, Miyu would have held a starring role in them. The Magic Knight of Wind glances at the HiME who were Miyu's targets, then calls out, "Winds of Healing!" as she casts her restorative spell on Mikoto and Kozue - even before she's seen how badly they're hurt.

"Hikaru-san," she adds while she's focusing some attention on her healing spell, "I'm not sure whether you'd prefer to focus on the target ahead of us, or the enemy in pursuit of us, but we'd be in enough of a predicament with only one of them to worry about. Which do you suppose you'd be better at fighting against right now?" She keeps an ear perked for the reply, even as she tries to remedy the debilitating effects of whatever Miyu's beam shots did to the two HiME.

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Winds of Healing on Kozue Kaoru.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Winds of Healing on Mikoto Minagi.
COMBAT: Kozue Kaoru accepts Fuu Hououji's Winds of Healing, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Cleanse! All of Kozue Kaoru's debuffs are cleared!
COMBAT: Mikoto Minagi accepts Fuu Hououji's Winds of Healing, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Cleanse! All of Mikoto Minagi's debuffs are cleared!

<Pose Tracker> Sachiko Majime [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

Sachiko Majime cannot really control where she's going with any sort of accuracy. Attempting to steer a wayward missile using brute force while in space simply is not an easy thing to do. This task is complicated greatly by the fact that the satellite is shooting defensive lasers towards her. The spaceborne softball player ends up steering her missile directly into an oncoming laser blast which causes the rocket to explode and propel the Puella Magi helplessly through space. Thankfully, in space, no one can hear you scream.

But Sachiko still does her best to shout what expletives she can as she eventually slams -into- the side of a different missile. But thankfully, the side of a missile is not the part that causes it to explode when something hits it. Her impact against the missile almost causes her to bounce off again, but she grabs onto the fin at the last minute. Gritting her teeth together, Sachiko uses her upper body strength to pull herself back up and onto the rocket. The orange clad Puella Magi can breath easy for a brief moment before she witnesses the arrival of Miyu and her death cannons. There's really not a good chance that Sachiko will survive any of this. But maybe...just maybe...she can take someone else down with her.

Summoning her strength, Sachiko uses her might to redirect her missile directly towards Miyu. It's a suicidal run, but she'll be able to jump away at the last minute. Or she'll just blow up. It really could go either way.

<Pose Tracker> Natsuki Kuga [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

"Take that!" Natsuki cries out as Duran takes out a missile with each it. She was determine to not let anything stop their objective. Of course, victories are never easy, which was why Natsuki wasn't surprise to see the satellite retaliate. The lasers shot and proved faster than Natsuki and one managed to directly hit Duran. Natsuki held on tight and glared as she recollected herself.

She glanced back to the others and to her horror saw Miyu had joined the fight Natsuki is tempted to go back and help them, but the satellite had to be taken down or this would all have been for naught.

"Hang in there!" Natsuki encouraged and returned her attention to Artemis. "We got to take this thing down fast. Duran, FROST CARTRIDGE!"

Duran growls as he loads and lets it loose onto Artemis.

COMBAT: Natsuki Kuga has used Frost Cartridge on Alyssa Searrs.
COMBAT: Sachiko Majime has used Floating in the Most Peculiar Way on Miyu Greer.

<Pose Tracker> Sailor Mercury [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

The tremendous corona of lasers and missiles around the satellite forces Ami to cede a little ground; the Sailor Senshi leaps back, scored by missile burst and laser fire. She winces and hunkers down for a moment, then bursts forward again, doing her best to make use of the path.

Fighting into a satellite -- even a magically enhanced one -- is markedly different from fighting youma in many ways, and though she can't let herself think too hard about it, Sailor Mercury is starting to get intimidated.

She needs to start counter-shooting the missiles before they get close, she thinks -- so she does just that, attempting to freeze them out and push them back with a wave of ice-cold mist.

COMBAT: Miyu Greer narrowly braces Sachiko Majime's Floating in the Most Peculiar Way, taking 0 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Sailor Mercury has used Sabao Spray Freezing on Alyssa Searrs.

<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Shidou [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

The Fire Knight continues to struggle in the battle against the satellite. She does her best to avoid being hit again, but it's no use, as this time lasers rain down on her. She tries to curl up or block, but it's no use at all. She's hit by the lasers and she cries out, though it's more out of frustration than pain. Once she's recovered, she's looking a little embarrassed and frustrated all the same. "What am I doing wrong?"

A moment passes, then the Fire Knight looks to the Wind Knight. "We've got to stop that satellite, no matter what!" She narrows her eyes in a fierce scowl. "I'm gonna help destroy it at any cost!" She charges her sword with magical light and raises it in the direction of the satellite. "We can do this!" She slashes the sword, sending forth a blast of magic.

COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou has used Sword Slash on Alyssa Searrs.

<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

Endo remains on the rocket he's commandeered, wobbling back and forth, steering it as best he can as he surfs it in the direction of the satellite. It waves through lasers, but not nearly enough, the haphazard course of the thing sending him too close to cutting beams of energy that tear into his barrier jacket and draw out a scream of pain from the knight.

But he holds on. He careens, weaving right and left, doing unintentional barrel-rolls, yelling after Lera: "Let's get it!" Which is all kinds of distorted, spinning as he is. He does glimpse Miyu, and he knows that's trouble, but the satellite is his objective, donig his best to keep pace with Ren and Lera.

Still, he manages to smash at the other missiles as he goes, sweeping cuts attempting to slash them into bits before they can make him and the other mages explode.

COMBAT: Endo Naoki has used Rocket League on Alyssa Searrs.

<Pose Tracker> Ren Aizawa [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.

Indeed there are a lot of missiles. Ren is ducking and dodging through the screeching rockets, starting to feel the sweat upon her brow so to speak. She's certainly getting a workout. The missiles she fails to dodge are mostly taken care of by Heraut erecting barriers at opportune moments, though she does still find herself battered to and fro from time to time.

By the time she catches a break she's panting heavily, "Heraut. This is tough."

"Let's show 'em what we got." And with that she holds the device high above her head, and in a series of clicks and mechanical shifting the scepter undergoes a metamorphosis into a stunning, jewel-encrusted rapier. <Ready!> Heraut chimes, and Ren's form takes on a blurred look as she zooms forward, heading for one of the masses of missiles which she stikes out at haphazardly.

COMBAT: Ren Aizawa has used Blurred Edge on Alyssa Searrs.

<Pose Tracker> Garnet [None] has posed.

Chaos. Pure Chaos. Missiles, now lasers, an impact. A new Foe. Even with three eyes, Garnet finds her senses being overwhelmed.

The lasers descend upon them, and she dodges! Just barely, a laser ricochets off of the side of one of her gauntlets. With so much going on, the dodge itself was exhausting. She continues to try to shock the missiles out of the air, if they're going to engage this new arrival, they need to eliminate her fire support.

COMBAT: Garnet has used Adamantine Spark on Alyssa Searrs.

<Pose Tracker> Mai Tokiha [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

Mikoto's embrace is warm affection, and Mai returns it with vigor. "...you said it, Mikoto. We'll protect everyone." Explosions fill the air as countless missiles are diverted, or destroyed, or more - and Kagutsuchi flies on. She hesitates, is about to say more to her roommate before rushing in to end this-

-and then there's a satellite, careening out of control right for Kagutsuchi's head where the HiME of fire stands.

Mai flinches. Kagutsuchi does not. For a significant moment, the dragon's reckless flight comes to a halt - and suddenly, the dragon is much less secure as a mount as multiple tons of metal slam home. A devastating blow, surely -

But Mai stands, wide-eyed, holding the sword impaled in a head well away from the impact -

And those claw-tipped wings have come forward to catch the heap of metal, riding with the impact for a moment.

It's a moment accompanied by the rending of metal as Kagutsuchi tears Miyu's mount in twain, screeching challenge - and a moment in which everyone not holding onto the dragon's head is likely flung free. Even Mai herself is left staring in horror at the appearance of...

"Miyu Greer...no! Mikoto! Kozue-chan!" Mai yells in panic as terrible blasts launch forth from Miyu's arm cannon, muted only slightly by the appearance of Fuu's healing winds. She stares at Alyssa's most terrifying guardian with wide eyes...and beyond her, at the Child still recharging for another shot at Ohtori.

Miyu puts Mikoto in mortal peril. Artemis puts Takumi in danger. And Mai is more torn than she expected.

But - she's not alone. Reassuring shouts from Lera, from Natsuki, reminding her that she's not facing off against the double danger alone. Lancelot, uttering challenge as Sachiko prepares to engage the robot. Mikoto and Kozue, recovering admirably. Mai stares at Miyu...and utters a few simple words.

"Your mistress talked about your resolve. Well, here's mine - I'm not letting Searrs threaten anyone I care about. Kagutsuchi!" In response, the dragon - half a dozen eyes also staring down Miyu - lets out a screech, engines flaring to life for a run at the satellite. Mai's rings burn brilliantly, and unleash a torrent of flame to help clear HiME and dragon a path through what missiles remain.

"...don't hold back, Kagutsuchi. There's nothing but empty space past that thing..."

COMBAT: Mai Tokiha has used Burning Through The Sky on Alyssa Searrs.

<Pose Tracker> Kozue Kaoru [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
<SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR_-v6BXFLk

A star catches her vision. Not as bright as Artemis but... she turns her head and squints. It looks like a plane turned meteor, like its burning up in the atmosphere...

It comes closer, and closer. And then she sees it. She sees her. Kozue's eyes grow wide. "MAI! BANK-" There's not enough time for her to call out the warning. Not even enough time to brace for impact. The thunderous roar of Miyu's doomed mount hurls her off of Kagutsuchi so easily, sending her spinning end over end in space.

She doesn't even have time to right herself, to find a platform, before Greer's firing her. Snarling in the frustration of her bad position, she hurls out the Kusarigama -like Element desperately, the blades spiralling through the blasts, cutting through them, but the energy clips her in the shoulder. The HiME lets out a shriek as her whole body spasms, and for a moment she falls limp in space other than the lazy spin end over end until she strikes a twisted piece of metal which was once part of the satellite.

After a moment, her head jolts up, and she grabs desperately onto the misshapen hunk as a cool breeze in space arrests her spin just enough for her to assess her surroundings. She spots a glint of Obsidian in darkness, follows it to the girl holding it. "Mikoto! We need to stop Greer! We need to stop her right now! Grab on and hold on!"

The desperation in her voice carries right away.

In zero gravity and no foothold it'd be difficult for her Element to get enough to make any headway, but fortunately in Artemis' artificial atmosphere it seems to obey a different set of rules, she twists the end so that it'll pass right beside her quickly. And once she feels the tug of Mikoto's weight against the line, then turns her arm to arc the HiME around into a spin.

Once, twice, thrice, enough to pick up enough momentum, before on the final pass, she sends her towards Greer, the line snaps taut as she's sent careening that way, and rather than let her go... she kicks off the piece of debris, letting Mikoto pull her along through space, holding onto the handle of her Element's blade.

If they're lucky, then they'll both get a shot at her. If they're not? ... It vaguely occurred to her that this could be the worst decision she'd made in a week full of horrible decisions. "Greer! Have you counted all your precious days with your ojousama? I hope so, because we're about to make certain you've run out!" Bluster was at least one way to channel fear.

COMBAT: Kozue Kaoru has started a combo targeting Miyu Greer!

<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

"We can do it!" Endo shouts this over the sound of battle, the roar of each beam coming together, the rush of energy from Kagutsuchi, Garnet and Ami's attacks. He barely has time to register all of it. Mostly, he just has time to focus on the task at hand.

<STRONG.> Fallen Stern reverberates. <BUT I AM STRONGER.> And perhaps most importantly: <WE ARE STRONGER.>

Another arc of energy tears through the air, and another, heaped together atop Ren and Lera's own.

<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Insitute (10)] has posed.

"Ren-chan!" Lera cries out, "Endo-san! W-We've gotta hold this thing!"

It is all she can do, though. She can see Ami and Garnet move in closer -- not to mention Mai's furious display -- and she knows that they have to keep pushing the energy blast back. She squeezes her eyes shut, then she inhales. It's shuddering; the energies slamming against the blast that she pushes back send shockwaves through, and rattle her.

It hurts.

<Camry. Let's keep it up.>

"R-Right...!"

<Pose Tracker> Garnet [None] has posed.

"AGGGHHH!!!!" Garnet is wracked in pain by the energy. She just can't take the punishment anymore. It's just... too much!

Her form flickers and her body instantly snaps back to normal, her hands releasing the Artemis She falls to her knees and does her best to hang on to Kagatsuchi, burned out and exhausted.

COMBAT: Sailor Mercury narrowly braces Alyssa Searrs's PEW PEW Space Lasers!!, taking 6 Fatigue damage!

<Pose Tracker> Alyssa Searrs [Ohtori Academy (5)] has posed.

Now the golden energy wall isn't just slowing -- it's stopped, it's being forced back, an inch at a time in a space that spans miles at an eyeblink. The entirety of the golden field is beginning to thrum -- the field which, mind, is what's preventing everyone from facing the rigors of the void. This creates terrible oscillations, though each is only microseconds long -- chills rack the spine, muscles seize, and in that moment the terrible will of Artemis chooses its chance to strike, to press back, to narrow its beam into a final lance of golden energy, piercing against this torrent laid against it, trying to break through.

It doesn't have to nuke an island, after all. Just a double handful of combative adolescents.

<Pose Tracker> Miyu Greer [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

Mikoto's attack reminds Miyu of Sachiko's. One great swing, everything behind it. Whipping around into position to face her, Miyu hard-parries. Miroku, meet Maria. You two have a lot in common.

The sound is like a tolling bell as Maria's vibrating mono-edge pounds the mystically forged greatsword. Miyu's arm is forced back by the raw power of the blow; an uncommon event, but that is an uncommon weapon. Miyu's teeth clench as she and Mikoto float backwards under the impact together, then she shoves, pushing them apart...

Only to meet Mikoto's recent chain-partner Cassandra, now in a furious rage for reasons even a non-android might well find... unclear. These parries need not be nearly so herculean as the one that stopped Mikoto, but they must come much faster, over and over. At first she meets the attack with easy confidence, sidestepping enraged blows, dipping under stabs, rippling like a tail of smoke to avoid each and every swipe. But though her composure remains, her control begins to crumble as they just keep coming, beyond reasonable endurance. Sooner or later there ought to be a gap, a weakness, but every time Cassandra overstretches, she compensates with raw ferocity and further strikes. Soon they are meeting flesh, ripping the synthetic skin, first superficially and then down to the ceramic. It's like being savaged by a bear, the blows ripping her back and forth, until finally, through sheer traumatic frenzy, Cassandra's kusarigama blade lodges deep in Miyu's stomach.

With a brief glance at the wound, Miyu rears back and hacks the chain loose, firing her thrusters to gain distance. She leaves the sickle lodged just where it is, retracting Maria and extending her ion cannon again. She snaps it into position to fire at a sudden surge of energy she detects, but as the reading builds and builds, she lowers the weapon unsteadily. As she looks directly into Kagutsuchi's hellish maw, the heat readout rockets past the allowable parameters and breaks into negative numbers before the sensor shuts down.

"No," she says quietly.

The howling mini-sun that killed a creator goddess fills everything, its scale like a building more than it is a projectile, roaring into Miyu with the hatred of the Child and the hope of its mother. She fires her rockets of course, she throws herself to the side with everything she has, but it still consumes her fully. Her optical sensors overheat and shut down as she rattles nearly apart in the torrent.

She spends some time in the dark.

As her sensors reboot, Miyu jerks, air whipping past her dizzyingly. She can see Kagutsuchi in the distance, and a pale glow on the horizon. She's falling. The heat is scorching her back. She tries to pull her legs under her--

Oh. /Leg/. Not legs. The left one is scorched off below the knee. Can she still get back with just one? For Artemis, she must try.

But on instinct, Miyu first appraises the rest of the situation. "SSO, come in!" she screams, so that she might be heard. There is no answer. She diagnoses the connection. It's fine. "SSO, do you read?!" It's a live channel, she can hear it hiss. They're dead.

Panic surges through every circuit. Miyu ceases to slow her descent with her remaining leg, twisting around to instead blast herself down faster. The heat rapidly exceeds her tolerances, kindling a coal in her torn facial skin, spreading a deep burn through that half of her face, singing the edges of her synthetic hair. She kicks up the thruster anyway, and only swings it back beneath her to slow her down when she can already see the devastated island of Ohtori beneath her. Little correction was needed--geosynchronous orbit has its advantages.

Miyu hits the ground like an asteroid, the soft earth erupting many meters into the air as she churns through it. She is already wading from the shallow hole as she comes to a halt, using her hands to steady her single leg. She hops until she falls.

With a frustrated grimace, Miyu extends the ion cannon and ejects it, grasping the bulbous assemblage and cramming it against the stump of her leg. She jerks at wires, twists them, ties them, engages autorepair mechanisms, until the gun is grafted tight to the stump, an alien prosthetic. It will do.

"Alyssa-ojousama," she calls through their direct uplink. "I'm coming! Make yourself safe, ojousama!"

Sprinting, Miyu sees the Student Council Tower bobbing on the horizon. Normally she could climb up it, but she can't do it with this leg. When she reaches the door, she throws herself into even greater speed to climb the stairs, leaving the bloody bodies of Alyssa's bodyguards behind her. A reckless approach is dangerous in this situation; someone could be waiting. That means nothing to Miyu.

Alyssa, Alyssa, Alyssa, AlyssaALYSSAALYSSA!

The door to the balcony launches from its hinges, and Miyu bursts out onto the grand, almost obscene promenade, this arrogant nose of a corrupt face, all flowers and no honesty. She expects to see a tiny crumpled body. Instead she sees Alyssa.

"Ojousama!" Miyu cries, and if she could cry she would have done so. She rushes to her side, scooping her up in one arm to nuzzle her cheek into the tiny angel's gratefully.

Time stands still then, a photograph of a moment. Miyu's body is poised and cautious, her chaingun pointed at the door, ready to shred anyone who might enter through it. Her cheeks are warm with the one joy she's ever known, that joy so bright and complete that she has never yearned for any other. Is this her daughter, her little sister, her mistress, her saint? Miyu has no preconceptions like that, no boxes to put her feelings. What she and Alyssa are is nameless and total.

The tall silver guardian, the tiny golden angel. A blue sky clear behind, austere marble framing, petals scattered. Beatific. Placid. Innocent. Together again finally, safe in a tiny forever.

<Pose Tracker> Ren Aizawa [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.

Every inch of her body is screaming by now. A rational person would tell her she's insane for what she's doing -- unable to understand why she doesn't just turn tail and run. If they were to ask her, she would respond by pointing out the sacrifices of everyone here today. Those who fought and fought until they could give no more. Those who willingly jumped on Kagatsuchi's back and followed the great dragon-child and his master Mai into space to put an end to Searrs' nefarious plot.

Her grip is shaking even moreso than before now. It almost feels as though her arms themselves are going to rattle off into nothingneess, followed by the rest of her body. She can tell Heraut is quickly approaching his operational limits -- yet he does not shout in warning, because he too knows this final stand is too important to back away from.

He, like her, believes they can win.

<Pose Tracker> Homura Akemi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

ELSEWHERE

It is a moment that could last forever.

It does, for everyone but Homura Akemi. The door to the room opens with a nudge of her foot -- and she walks in with a pronounced limp. Blood runs down her cheek and to her chin; it falls, and then it freezes in midair. Behind her, a pool of blood is faintly visible on the floor of the room beyond this inner sanctum. The hand of a soldier lay in it.

Both are cold and distorted into a grey color -- a product of the Puella Magi's time magic, which extends out beyond her, and towards Alyssa Searrs and Miyu Greer. To her eyes, they also have that cold and grey look. Homura looks at them, and the world is silent, except for the sharp ringing in her left ear. There are no softly spoken words and reassurances here. She closes her eyes and takes a breath.

EARLIER

Homura learned that her appearance could make people underestimate her. She accepted that. After she saw the shot from Eclipse 1 destroy Mai Tokiha and Kagutsuchi, she decided that matters had to be taken into her own hands, which led her to this. She thought of Madoka's face -- of Madoka, in Hitomi's arms, hurt because of how far this proceeded.

She decided it was time to stop waiting. She was, once again, being frivolous. She walked through the front doors of the tower -- and relied on the couple of seconds her unassuming appearance could give her. A soldier in the front of the Student Council Tower's foyer stared at her back, as she walked past him.

"How did you get separated from the rest?" he snapped. "You're in serious trouble--and what's that shield? Some toy? You little--"

He walked to her, grabbing her roughly by the shoulder, while the two soldiers ahead of Homura blinked at her in disbelief. He only realized that she was more than she seemed when she /clicked/ her shield into place and time stopped.

"What the fu--"

His surprise at the suspension of physics, unfortunately, distracted him. He didn't see the quite mundane gun in Homura's other hand; she shoved the barrel of the pistol underneath the meat of his jaw, then pulled the trigger. The shot sent a splash of blood across her face -- and he crumpled back, even as she found she didn't hear a word from her left ear.

As time resumed, the two soldiers found two more bullets flying for their chests.

NOW

Homura's eyes open -- the left making a small island of white and violet in a sea of red. She swings her pistol up, her hand not even shaking, as she draws her bead. The site of her pistol lined up with Alyssa Searrs' chest. She pulls the trigger six times; the rounds fire from the barrel, rifling making each spin, and then all six jerk to a stop when it slams into frozen time.

So Homura slips the shield back into place. Time suddenly resumes. The droplet of blood from her chin hits the floor -- and the bullets, from seemingly nowhere, fly fatefully at the girl's chest.

Homura looks straight at Miyu Greer, a cold face half-painted in the blood of the dead, before she turns on a heel. She takes a step--

--and then, she is gone, save for the violence left in her wake.

BEAMWAR! Ren Aizawa has placed her bid! Endo Naoki and Lera Camry still need to bid!

<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

Lera keeps the shield pointed at the breaking satellite cannon, watching the oscillations that rip through Artemis -- and the way it focuses the beam to a smaller, more piercing lance. Her eyes widen with the realization -- and she shakes her head sharply, before she slams one fist into her palm with a meaty punch. She stood with Ren and Endo through a lot more than this.

She can manage this, too, she tells herself. Her breath shudders, as she draws it in. More pieces of her coat waft off, as she burns through the very last of her mana. It starts to burn inside her body, too; cracks shoot up the frame of Broken Ground.

"I'm not..." she manages, through gritted teeth, "...gonna let you kill all my friends, all my classmates, all my teachers--I'M NOT GONNA LET YOU KILL ANYONE ELSE!"

<Let's end it. Heraut! Stern! Show them what we can do!>

She focuses, in tandem with her friends, amber eyes blazing. Then, the half-dome of energy flips around, pushing back on that focused lance. It tightens around it -- buoyed by the reinforcements of her friends -- and then reverses, the dome's sides twisting to try to snap around the Eclipse 1 and smash into it with every last ounce of power she has.

BEAMWAR! Lera Camry has placed her bid! Endo Naoki still needs to bid!

<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

"Stern!"

<KNIGHT.>

Endo pours everything he has into this last push, letting his mana bleed out into Stern. Hope, love, fear, desperation, everything is fed into the violet arcs that pour forth from the Belkan weapon.

They say it in unison, their oath: <I WILL DESTROY MY ENEMIES.>

BEAMWAR! Endo Naoki has placed his bid!
BEAMWAR! Ren Aizawa, Endo Naoki, and Lera Camry press their advantage, their Blade Storm, Debris Disk, and Strata Excelsior exploding through Alyssa Searrs's Final Ignition for a total of 280 Fatigue damage! Ren Aizawa, Endo Naoki, and Lera Camry are victorious!
BEAMWAR! Ren Aizawa, Lera Camry, and Alyssa Searrs are unable to keep fighting!

<Pose Tracker> Alyssa Searrs [Ohtori Academy (5)] has posed.

It sure doesn't end with a whimper.

Artemis is -- technically -- the pair of curious, interlocking rings that had wrapped around Eclipse 1, turning it from mortal lead to immortal gold. And as the fires of Children and mages, HiME and senshi, the wishes of everyone -- all of that -- pours through it, it's actually the satellite that goes first, imploding under the strain of its own discharge.

The rings begin to shatter next, but they don't just disintegrate -- it's as though their structural failure is leaking light, brilliant and beautiful green light, light that infects the conflagration that was once a satellite.

Light that animates it, infects it... with a soul.

Stare too long into the fireplace and sometimes you see visions in the flames. This is both like and unlike that affect, with a similar itchy sensation on overstimulated, hot eyes. Alyssa Searrs may be a million miles away, but she feels very close right now, almost close enough to touch, to return the strangely warm feeling that was her energy, out here.

It's possible to see her there, her hair still a golden glow, a beacon of light at the top of the Student Council Tower, as she looks through the bars of the Student Council's balcony railing (she's too short to lean on the top). Her tiny hands grip two of them, knuckles whitening, as she stares into the sky. She can't see what's going on up there, but she can feel it, just as surely as she hears the shouts of alarmed soldiers much more nearby. "Miyu..." she whispers longingly to herself, inadvertantly picked up by their direct comm.

She wants with her whole heart to recall her best and only friend so that they can run, both of them flee the violence impending separately upon them, but... her mind isn't ruled by her heart. Now her lip is white too, the blood pooling to one side as she bites it. She isn't just Alyssa, she's Alyssa /Searrs/. She has a responsibility to the ones who raised her... who created her. Who gave them her name -- /and/ her companion.

And so she does not call.

The surprise in her eyes when Miyu arrives anyway is something of true beauty. There's hope, there, the kind of childlike hope someone has when they see an unexpected snowfall and wonder if the schools will close, and will there be enough to build a snowman. It will be squat and strange and perfect. It will melt someday, but that's okay. There will always be another chance to make another one someday. There's all the time in the world.

There's no time at all.

Curled up against Miyu, nestled in her arms, Alyssa's in her safest, happiest place. She knows that nothing bad can happen to her here, no matter what happens.

The gold in her hair finally shimmers out with a painful release, and at first she mistakes the destruction of Artemis for the source of the agony below the neck. Her newly, merely blond hair flops limply around her face.

"Ah-- I guess we lost..."

She reaches up weakly, with the last of her strength, to caress Miyu's cheek.

"It's okay, Miyu. We'll..."

Her eyes are clouding, her voice weakening. It cracks; the loveliest, most golden voice imaginable, failing utterly.

"...go together..."

There is just not enough breath to support it, and now she's not feeling much of anything at all. She glances down just in time to see the crimson painting her gown's lacy white collar, staining the tips of her hair.

Her eyebrows strain to lift, burdened with the whole sky falling upon them. She doesn't have enough strength left to express her surprise.

"...Miyu..."

Gone.

<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

The intensity of the energy that Lera pours into the spell undoes the last of her Barrier Jacket. In the end, she wears the same thing she did this morning: her dirtied, threadbare gym uniform. Her eyelids half-fall, as she watches the rest of it. The final explosion of the satellite, signifying that they are safe -- and then the way the rings shatter, with bright light.

She sees Alyssa through it. She watches the rest play out -- and in the end, she looks down with heavy eyes. She bites her lip, then she slumps her shoulders.

Exhaustion catches up with her. Grief and relief mix together, with the knowledge that the school is safe. She glances, moving like she is suspended in molasses, at Endo and Ren. Broken Ground hangs in her hand, as a cracked bracelet, and then she dips her head down. She lets out something halfway between a sob and a laugh.

<Pose Tracker> Mai Tokiha [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

When Artemis is finally overwhelmed - when the combined forces arrayed in space finally overcome the odds to turn the golden lightning back on the Child that had put all of Ohtori Academy in fiery peril - there's green light. The satellite, burning up, is disintegrating into sparkles of gorgeous emerald light.

Mai Tokiha can scarcely appreciate it. Exhaustion and relief flood her body - the exertion of channelling Kagutsuchi's full power, the realization that Alyssa's plans have finally been put to an end...and then the sight through Artemis's funeral pyre, tragically confirming that she won't threaten anyone ever again.

All things considered, Mai suddenly feels very, very tired.

But the golden aurora is fading. Already, gravity's pull is exerting itself once more, pulling everything and everyone inexorably towards the Earth. At Mai's side, Kagutsuchi seems just as exhausted, and about to fade at any moment...

...and as Mai looks around her, she can see just how worn out - or worse - all her friends and comrades are. Natsuki and Duran, recovering from dealing with point defenses; the Magic Knights, having spent their effort in attack and defense both; Sachiko and poor Takeo, injured from the brutal fight against Miyu; Lera and her companions, exhausted from pushing back the golden lightning; Mikoto and Kozue, having just pulled free of disaster...

Even for those still able to move...solid ground is a long, long way down.

"I brought everyone up here..." She muses aloud, more to herself than to anyone in particular. She breathes out, taking in the beauty of the Earth seen from above one last time. Turns to face Mikoto, the worry in her eyes plain to see - then closes her eyes, almost cringing. "...I'll take responsibility. We're bringing them all home...Kagutsuchi!"

Even exhausted, Mai's Child is loyal - and so the fearsome dragon-phoenix is at her side in a moment. For a moment, she hesitates to even ask - but looks down to the glittering expanse of blue below. "...when we first met. In the water, after the cruise ship...you saved me and Mikoto. Carried us to safety, before I even..." She takes a breath. "...let's do it again. Get everyone back safely."

Kagutsuchi croons softly - some nonverbal message conveyed. There's silence, for a second - and then with a glance back to Mikoto, Mai nods.

All the power she has. The rings at her wrists, the rings at her ankles, the magatama-inscribed cylinders on Kagutsuchi's back - all begin to spin, to blaze, to shine. Beneath the pair - beneath everyone who fought against Miyu and Artemis - a crimson light glows. A shield, fiery substance inscribed with the same triple-teardrop symbol, spreading out to envelop everyone as they descend.

It's burning. As the barrier descends, falls back to earth, it burns - fire against fire, as atmospheric re-entry ignites a ferocious blaze. Gravity, too, is a nemesis to be fought - and Kagutsuchi lets out a cry as HiME and Child try desperately to slow the group's descent. It's overwhelming, and Mai looks around in concern. Everyone present, whether strangers or friends or would-be suitors or family, deserves to make it.

She catches the eyes of her fellow HiME - Natsuki, Kozue, and Mikoto - and gives them a brief, if strained, smile - before turning her full attention on sustaining the barrier. Her rings are glowing brighter than ever, nearly eclipsing her from sight - and somehow, it might not be enough. It seems like too much for them to manage, as hues of orange and red shift to brighter shades until everything seems to be a blinding white...

And then, abruptly, peace.

The blinding light, the oppressive heat - it all fades away. The atmosphere - real atmosphere, again - is cool, a breeze carrying the scent of the sea. As eyes adjust to darkness, the location becomes clear - the lawn in front of Ohtori's main entry, perfect greenery marred only by the tire tracks of military vehicles...

And a great, spiraling scorch mark that demarks the landing area for those who ventured into space.

After everything that happened, it's finally peaceful. Finally quiet, and devoid of that sense of peril that had loomed over everything. Thirteen brave souls ascended to the heavens to save everyone, and twelve rest safe and sound on the Ohtori lawn.

...but as the last vestiges of heat from that barrier fade on the wind, there is no trace of the dragon - or of Mai Tokiha.

<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

Mikoto meets Miyu's sword again, teeth bared, growling as she forces everything into her blow. It's not enough. She's shoved away -- and then Kozue dives in to struggle anew, never stopping, never giving in.

She knows in that moment that Kozue, too, would be a terrible enemy. She's glad to have her as an ally, instead.

But --

There are other allies Mikoto has on this battlefield.

She hears Kagutsuchi, and knows, in that moment, exactly what it must do. She looks to Miyu - and to Kozue, her strength depleted, apart from her enemy but not far enough away.

In an instant Mikoto moves, springing off of a piece of the satellite to grab Kozue in a grip which betrays her strength even in such a tired and wounded state. She angles Miroku again and springs off, to gain the trajectory she needs to get to another piece of debris, summoning her sword back to her hand a moment later. Springing from satellite piece to satellite piece, her feet crunch the remains of a solar panel as she leaps away.

The fireball, when it passes, is hot against her skin - but neither of the HiMEs who were still engaging her are engulfed. Miyu is, and when the blaze passes...

She's nowhere to be found.

Mikoto feels an incredible sense of relief, relief which shames her even as she breathes out in a heavy sigh.

But Kagutsuchi's wrath wasn't simply meant for Miyu. Artemis, too, strains under the force of its fire, and of the combined efforts of the other magical girls who fight. The satellite crumples, and then the rings shatter, with golden light which calls to mind that small child so far below. Her enemy gone, Mikoto watches the final blaze of Alyssa's Child, frowning.

And Mai, beautiful, shining Mai, is not willing to let them all shatter in the same way. She gathers them up with the largest shield she's ever made, guides them back to the earth.

The words 'atmospheric re-entry' aren't in Mikoto's vocabulary.

All she knows is that the world is so very hot, and Mai's barriers are the only thing keeping the rest of the heat on the outside.

"Mai can do it!" She calls, whether or not Mai is close enough to hear, urging her on as Mai's light burns brighter and brighter and it becomes too bright to see --

When she comes to, on heated ground in a burning circle, she's safe and alive and on solid ground again. In a moment, she's pushing herself to her feet, searching for the one face amongst them she most needs to find.

Mikoto begins to shake again, looking at the girls and the burnt ground. She's not here. Miroku loosens in her hands, before her grip tightens and she plants it into the still-warm earth. "Mai," she says, her voice shaking. "Mai! Mai's not here!" She rushes to grip Kozue where she'd fallen beside her, tears in her eyes. "/Where's Mai?!/"

Seeing no answers in her eyes, she runs to Natsuki, grabbing her arm desperately. Memories of conversations with a friend emerge, and the pieces slip into place, terribly, the words spilling out before she can even catalogue and process them. "Mai-- Mai has to live! Has to!"

She runs to Takeo now, almost sobbing, shaking him where he lies. "Because-- this feeling is-- is love!" Her voice breaks, and she /does/ sob, now. "I love Mai!"

And here, too, there is no absolution, because the thing Mikoto is searching for is something none of the assembled warriors can give. She turns to look up at the sky, and screams as the tears fall:

"MAAAIII!!!"

<Pose Tracker> Kozue Kaoru [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.

By the time her sickle's blade finds its way into Miyu's stomach, she's already worn herself out beyond reasonable endurance. Her chest is heaving so rapidly and shallowly that one would swear she wasn't breathing save for the strangled sounds out of her mouth. She's not informing Greer of this fact though, she's denying it even to herself.

The other blade that was never intended to be used this way is raised again in a manner that the android would have found sluggish. It hardly matters, because the chain has been severed, Kozue vaguely comprehends that she's already leaving. Already out of reach. She takes the swipe anyhow, not even coming close as Kozue floats away and the androids thrusters take her far out of reach.

Her other hand gropes for a blade that isn't there. 'Oh.' Her mind thinks, an indequate word for this feeling, as her consciousness starts to slip. She feels a hand gripping her, and mumbles something unintelligible, gratitude maybe. Golden light takes its place in her eyes, so bright and warm that it could overwhelm even the most shining of memories.

And bring new ones.

She's beyond hatred, anger, even fear right now. She's just floating, a passive witness to the final moments of Alyssa SEARRS. She can't even feel the pang of guilt that she'd surely feel later. But she will feel it. She'll feel it and put it away, in a different place than where she stores them in a different place than after she infuriates Mai Tokiha, or makes Sayaka Miki feel like she's a terrible person, or even hurts her brother. She won't feel it as much, after what Alyssa and Miyu did... but she will feel it.

When she does feel again its the heat, intense and wondrous, the passion and resolve of Mai Tokiha made manifest like a bonfire offering unto a dragon god. She keeps her eyes open long enough, formulates some inane plan in her head as to what to do, something with her Child, when she doesn't even have the strength to do anything, except catch Mai Tokiha's eyes. They soften, just for a moment, and then again her vision is consumed with light, of a different kind, that brings peace.

The first thing she hears when she's no longer insensate is 'Mai' from Mikoto's forlorn lips. Kozue struggles to keep her eyes open, as she's gripped and demanded where answers are. Normally, she'd answer with sarcasm, anger, something for the unwanted shake, but she feels compelled to tell Mikoto something. Her mouth opens, then closes, she has nothing... no answers... nothing at all to match her grief, Mikoto's declaration of love. The kind of love Mikoto she thinks is talking about is such a foreign concept to her. As she lays back down upon warm earth and charred grass she whispers, "Thanks Mai." She blinks back the wet, and just lets herself lay still.

<Pose Tracker> Lancelot [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

Takeo's eyes snap open as he is shook my Mikoto. He sits up his left arm, just refusing to work, but steadies himself with his good arm as he speak. "Mikoto-chan." He says softly, to try and calm her. "We'll find her. I swear it." He gets into a more kneeling position and opens his arm to her to offer a hug.

He looks up to the sky as he does, his face pale from blood loss and total exhaustion. He doens't show the pain in the mostly limp dead shoulder staining his shirt red. He just smiles instead to Mikoto. "She came back once Mikoto-chan." He says as calmly as he can. "I'm sure she'll find her way back again."

<Pose Tracker> Miyu Greer [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
<SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tr3j69mQatA

If anyone could have been fast enough, it would have been Miyu. She's already engaged the firing mechanism on her chaingun by the time the light reflecting from Homura's body passes through her eyes and hits her sensors. It's shifted slightly in her direction before anything else happens.

Then the bullets. A light pattering sensation against the inside of Miyu's arm. Thump thump, thump thump.

The chaingun rips a shrieking trail of exploding stone and crackling marble across the grand entry to the tower, one that rends its way through Homura as fast as a lashing whip. Not even Miyu herself could have dodged it. She had been primed for this and she could shift her firing angle much faster than she could shift her body. But by the time this blistering storm of tungsten rounds is pounding the floor behind Homura, Homura is gone without a trace.

The balcony is quiet. The four chaingun barrels are swivelling smoothly to a gradual halt. Smoke rises lazily from shattered marble. The air is faintly warm. With a tinkle, a stone vase slumps into itself.

Miyu remains still. The four barrels are so slow now that they seem to twine together, an optical illusion that resolves itself as they finally spin to a silent halt. A soft breeze shifts feathery blonde hair against the false skin of Miyu's cheek, and the machine-girl inhales, briefly and tightly, as though there is a bomb in her chest that will go off if shaken. She keeps her eyes straight ahead of her, her expression frozen. As long as she doesn't look down, there's still a chance. A .001% chance, less maybe, it doesn't matter. There's a chance it didn't happen. A chance Miyu didn't feel what she thought she felt.

"Ah--"

Miyu feels something in her seize up, and she looks. She's forced to look. She sees the wet stain, and that face. She's sleepy.

Miyu sheathes her weapon with her arm, her real arm, and hurriedly cups Alyssa's hand to her cheek. She is cursed with clarity. The valve which would release her excess pain and dampen it with numbness doesn't function with her, it just builds and builds. But she is blessed with emptiness. She can just fill and fill.

It's not okay, Alyssa. It's not.

So much of that cheek Alyssa is touching is torn or burnt, but there's no time to move the angel's hand. There's no time to tell her everything, to spill out the hours and days of words Miyu has painted like a mural over her every inner surface. There's no time to go to the warm fields and hear a sad song. There's no time to look at paintings or catch a firefly or lace ribbons into Alyssa's hair. There's just a few seconds left of joy in the entire world and they all taste like a black ocean of hurt.

There's only one thing left Miyu can do for Alyssa, and it's the hardest thing she's ever done.

"Yes," Miyu whispers, grinding her will and her heart against the words so they come out smooth, regardless of the damage. "/Together/."

There just isn't enough of Miyu left to smooth the last word, but she has to say it, she has to say it one more time.

"Alyssa!" she chokes, and it feels like reaching out, it feels like seeing.

Miyu holds a tiny hand to her cheek until even she cannot pretend it is warm.

Then, placing that sleeping palm gently on Alyssa's chest, Miyu hefts Alyssa slowly, cradling her delicately closer. Even now, her cheeks are dry, when all she wants is for her eyes to shatter with the weight of sobs.

"Together, ojousama," Miyu agrees, taking a single step forward.

Their four mittens part, and a tiny snowball remains behind. The smallest thing in the whole wide world.

"We'll wait for the snow together."

2016-02-07 - The Battle of Ohtori, Part Two

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