Hoshiko felt rather deflated. She'd been trying to do her best, but Norika still didn't want to open up to her. Wasn't it important for them to all know one another and be friends if they were going to work together? The more they knew about one another, the better that they could work together!

"But-"

Before she could complete that thought, Norika had already left. It was time for their meeting, after all. The brunette didn't hesitate, hurrying along with the others. They had a job to do, after all!

Sandra was really pretty, but this was a bad time to be thinking about that. Instead, Hoshiko focused on what she was saying. They would be working with her homeland, to take back Saitama and make way to protect the innocent people of Japan and reclaim their lands from the Warped! Naturally, the girl was ready for this. No matter who it was, she was always read to help out. And taking back more of her homeland felt plenty meaningful even without considering how many people she'd help in the process.

"You've got it, Morrison-san!" declared Hoshiko enthusiastically, flashing the thumbs up towards the owner of the Horizon as she did. So she'd be going with Pyra, huh? That was fine by her!

Even though she flashed a wide grin towards her teammate, the girl could feel her heartbeat quickening, pounding in her chest. She didn't want to let it show, but she was feeling pretty nervous. But she was going to help retake Saitama today, and that meant there was no way she was going to let nerves get in the way!

After stopping by the changing room, now changed into a simple red, white, and gray leotard and retrieved her device from the engineers. It was through this little necklace that she could equip her Chi-Mechframe, and fight back against the Warped. Well, that and the Echidna currently merged with her heart, in a state of permanent dormancy.

She was going to use this to fight for others.

Hoshiko made her way to the hanger.

As she reached the door, the brunette gripped her necklace in one hand.

"Alright, let's do this!" she declared, nodding to herself with a confident smile on her face, "Hinotori, ignite!"

The necklace glowed brightly, like a star on her chest, flashing once before light washed over her whole body. After a few moments, the light began to build, gathering over her as it began to form distinct shapes. With a flash, layer by layer, each piece of her Chi-Mechframe began to appear. First there was the base layer, manifesting over her body, including her small skirt. Then came the first layer of armor, starting a few centimeters from her body but sliding into place, locking over her and forming the most basic portion of Hinotori. The third flash heralded the arrival of the more complex parts of her armor, creating Hinotori's silhouette. The building light disappeared entirely with the formation of the boosts on Hoshiko's gauntlets, the final piece of her Chi-Mechframe.

When the lights faded away, the shining armor that was Hinotori gleamed on her body, a shine of its own seeming to emanate from the anti-Warped weapon.

It was time.

"Hinotori, launching!"

With that, Hoshiko sprang from the Horizon, and into the open air, the wind whipping past her as she began to hurtle downwards...

Naturally, her rocket boosters would be used to control her descent!

@Izurich@JDubs@PKMNB0Y

Following the conclusion of the briefing session and an apparent lack of any pressing issues, Elise returned the commander's dismissal with a brief salute before following the others out of the command room. Choosing to take a detour to change into something more suited for aerial combat, though, the young woman swapped her current outfit out for her usual garments for combat—a military-style dress with proper insulation—before heading off to pick up her Chi-Mechframe from maintenance.

Giving a smile and a wave towards the staff on hand, the white-haired girl promptly retrieved the object in question—a single glove into which was embedded the mechanisms for Selene—and gave her thanks to the team before moving towards the hangar. Compared to the rest of the Pilots she worked with, her Chi-Mechframe was not something to be equipped on a whim—not when it had the risk of accidentally hitting something or someone in the process, at least.

With enough spare cleared out for herself, Elise calmly slipped the glove onto her right hand and pulled it tightly into place to make sure that everything felt right before nodding and clenching her hand into a fist in front of her chest. Departure was soon to come for those without flight, but the ones who could were always made to do so before the others.

"Shine, Selene!"

The back of the glove soon began to glow as a glowing halo of light seemed to grow above the young woman's head and spin around. Though slow at first, the halo quickly ramped up in speed, and before long a faint whirring noise would be audible to the Frame Pilot. From here, the light that had made up the halo seemed to be forming on other parts of her body; the faint traces of wings at her back soon cascaded out and flashed, turning into an all-too-familiar mechanical form. Following that, the rest of her equipment—a set of mechanical shoes equipped with stabilizers, auxiliary tools to feed her information around the halo, and the rifle she had come to know inside and out—formed, piece by mechanical piece.

"All clear. No abnormalities detected," Elise said, watching as a set of messages appeared out of the corner of her eye as the hangar opened in front of her. Glancing off to the side towards her partner for the upcoming operation, the young woman gave Norika a nod before walking out the open hanger into the open skies over Japan.

"Selene, launching."

Folding the mechanical wings upon her person back, Elise began to dive towards the round, a holographic visual on her screen showing her their intended destination a few dozen kilometers northwest west of Tokyo's northern border. Japan had already begun operations earlier that day in securing the area immediately outside the city, of course, but this was where their jobs would begin.

---

Filled with residental suburbs as southern Saitama had been, the presence of Warped in the area was but a given. The sounds of gunfire closer to the south from where the Pilots would first touch down showed that the JSDF had already begun to move their offensive line out in the hours before their arrival, but an operation like this could still fall through depending on outlying circumstances.

But that was why they were here, after all.

As far as the Warped went, those closer to the city seemed to be less overtly dangerous in terms of combat capabilities. Likening them to goblins or similarly-built oni would not be far from the truth, and their appearance—grotesque and somewhat beastlike, with large fangs, claws, and horns—marked the norm for the region. Among their number, though, stood no few number of bulkier oni-esque Warped, each wielding massive makeshift weapons borne from the ruins around them.

Though initially the entire horde seemed to be moving towards the defensive line, the arrival of new enemies meant reason to shift their focus towards them instead. The lack of presence of the more threatening varieties of Warped frequent in the region was a boon in and of itself, where they were instead remained to be seen...

@VitaVitaAR@Izurich@JDubs

There they were! As the air whipped past her body, Hoshiko could see the targets ahead. They were more humanoid then some of the more powerful Warped, their bodies hutched and bulky with muscle, the larger ones sporting horns and large tusk-like fangs. Oni and goblins... at least, that's what they looked like to her. She didn't really know about individual classifications beyond threat level, but these definitely weren't the stronger types.

Even if they were, Hoshiko's response wouldn't change!

"Alright, let's go!"

Drawing back her right arm, she could feel the heat flowing through her gauntlet. There was a steady thrumming sound from within, which built into roar as a gout of flames suddenly spat from the vent at the rear of her gauntlet, shooting into the air. The flames built, growing more intense, until-

Hoshiko hurtled towards the ground, becoming a red and white blur with a streak of fire behind her, careening directly towards one of the largest Oni Warped. The booster on her gauntlet roared as she came into range, closing directly on her target before it could even respond.

Her fist slammed down, and the monster's face crumpled inwards like a tin can, fangs snapping and hurtling off in opposite directions as it head snapped backwards, body carried by her momentum. Hoshiko's fist went entirely through the Warped's skull, shattering its head to pieces and leaving nothing behind.

The sheer velocity of Hoshiko's drop caused her to slam into the concrete, cratering it beneath her, but Hinotori absorbed the shock easily. It was just like jumping off some playground equipment!

The flames from her gauntlet's booster faded, and as the oni Warped's body fell behind her, the brunette straightened. Fists raised in a boxer-like stance, legs squared, she inhaled...

She was ready.

@PKMNB0Y@Izurich

---

Elise and Norika were greeted with a somewhat different sort of opposition.

The bulky, red-skinned, horned Warped took notice of their descent somewhat more quickly, many of them standing atop ruins. While the smaller, more goblin-like creatures weren't in the position to attempt to counter their descent, the oni were. Seizing great chunks of debris, they began to lean back and hurl them skywards in an attempt to strike the descending Frame pilots out of the air. Their aim wasn't particularly good, but the bellowing beasts were doing their best to hurl as much debris skywards as they could.

But the pilots would be able to sport something else.

Just visible in one of the larger ruins was a long shape, something moving, crawling on innumerable humanlike arms. It was at least a few meters in length, but had yet to fulling reveal itself. Whatever it was, it was seemingly waiting for them to draw closer before emerging in full.

@PKMNB0Y@JDubs

@PKMNB0Y @VitaVitaAR

As soon as she left the vicinity of the Horizon, Pyra wasted no time in heading toward the exact coordinates of the objective assigned to her. To that end, a holographic HUD display spawned in front of her face, projected by the suit itself in lieu of the lack of holo-glasses. She gave a quick glance at the map of the Saitama prefecture, complete with real-time information such as the locations of other Frame Pilots and allied armies. Furthermore, scans had shown the presence of hordes of small-scaled Warped just beyond the perimeter of the Japanese forces’ offensive line.

Right, it was time to get to work and she knew just what had to be done. The fiery pair of wings at her boots grew slightly larger as she picked up her speed, soaring through air as she positioned herself high above the offensive line. She scanned the area ahead, crawling with goblins and oni-esque monsters, then spoke into the comms, in which would be received by Horizon's Central Command, Hinotori, and most importantly, the Japanese soldiers; friendly fire was nothing to scoff at after all.

"Infernus reporting, to all allied forces in the area, hold your position and stand by for air support, over."

With that declaration, her boot-wings flapped as Pyra flew forward... slowly, deliberately, in a select route she had charted for herself. Along the way, the brunette pilot aimed Infernus' lance diagonally downwards as the weapon's head swirled with infernal power. After a short moment of gathering up energy, Pyra gradually released them as melon-sized fireballs began raining down at various angles toward the ground. Visually, they were like meteor showers, except if each and every meteorite actually hit the ground instead of burning up in the air; beautiful and deadly in equal measure, each sphere of flames erupted upon impact, sending lethal explosive force to any Warped caught in the saturated area.

Methodical, controlled destruction like a professional demolitions team, explosions of dragonfire followed one after another like an infernal symphony. After finishing her fly-by, Pyra returned to her previous position, "Infernus here. Area bombardment completed, allied forces may proceed, maintain caution for any surviving Warped as you go, over."

According to her calculations, most of the horde would already be wiped out, except for those sturdy and/or lucky enough to withstand the onslaught, such as the larger oni specimens, but that was why she didn't work alone. Hoshiko should be more than capable of handling what stubborn monsters remained, and if Pyra could make her do that without having to worry about being swarmed by the smaller hostiles, then she'd consider it a job well done.

Norika wasn't exactly thrilled about the jump, but it had to be done. She followed after Kim, launching herself from the hangar into freefall without a word. She closed her eyes, straightening her body out as the wind whipped her hair. She opened them and scanned the heads-up display. It looked much the same, save for several words pulsing softly in the corner of her vision:

> GLIDER MODULE READY; activate?

She took a breath. "Titania, activate glider module." Norika felt static tingling across her skin. The sensation originated from her back and spread across her body. Though she couldn't see them, six hexagonal wings formed around her shoulders. Immediately she could feel her body slowing from freefall, and she fell in behind Kim, assisted by her visor tagging her signature; unlike the Warped, other Chi-Mechframe pilots showed up as yellow, as opposed to the Warped showing up outlined bright, red-orange.

Her heads-up display soon began painting targets. Norika felt the corners of her lips tug up into a smile. "Quite the warm welcome," Norika commented over the comms. "Kim, are you going to soften them up for me, or am I going in hard and gutting them myself?"

@PKMNB0Y@VitaVitaAR

_______________________________________________________________

Louisa followed the group of Pilots into the hanger, stepping through the airlock doors into a familiar but no-less noxious space of cold air, bright lights and the noise of industry and battle preparations. She sometimes wished the whole thing could be conducted with a little more peace and ceremony. She remembered watching some lame American samurai movie back when she was a kid, where prior to battle they would be quietly dressed by an attendant and drink tea and read poetry or something. She figured the historical accuracy of that was dubious at best, but with a budget as large as the one afforded to the Chi-Mechframe programme... couldn't someone pull a few strings? How about at least burning some essential oil or installing some mood lighting? Wouldn't that be a better idea? As she pulled on her sleek sea-gray combat leotard (her third outfit change of the day), she made a mental note to put that in the hypothetical Horizon suggestion box.

Heading over to the armoury area, she hefted up her mechframe core. It was a sort of choker that clamped around her neck, but it hang as a plate over her breast. Compared to the armour plating in the mechframe itself, it was far lighter, but the thing still weighted a few kilos. She felt the heavy presence of it pressing down on her body, and walked over to her deployment area. She ran the briefing through her mind one last time, squared her shoulders, exhaled deeply... and hammered the central activation unit on the core with her fist.

"Grendel, breach!"

A layer of opaque shimmering film appeared over her body, ethereal and bright, taking the form of a tight mesh covering her limbs, head, neck and torso. It extended to thin blade-like projections skirting her lower body, and in her right hand a long and graceful blade materialized. The light grew brighter, until suddenly it reached some critical point, and piece by piece each part of the ethereal mesh began to darken and condense into itself with brutal force. Across her body it tightened into carapace armour, the blade-like projections snapped into a palisade-skirt hybrid that hung menacingly at her waist, and the graceful blade twisted and lashed into a strange and jagged glaive. Finally, the ethereal light crowning her head clamped shut into a long beak-like visor akin to an old European knight.

Feeling her psuedo-Warped body react and adjust to the inhuman weight of the condensed mechframe, she tentatively raised a foot and stomped it down, sending a screaming shudder of protest through the reinforced hanger floor.

Satisfied, she signalled to a member of the hangar crew to bring over her 'R2D2' (Rapid Retroburn Deployment Device) - a dumb name, she thought, and made another mental note to put that in the suggestion box too - and connected it to her 'frame. Owing to its high mass, conventional flight and gliding capabilities were not practical for Grendel, and the R&D team were still experimenting with solving the deployment issue. The 'R2D2' device was essentially experimental aeronautics tech developed by some abandoned pre-Warped space programme designed for use on self-landing drone shuttles, able to deliver a large amount of reverse thrust with high control and all in a very small package. In other words, it was basically a jetpack that would turn a regular human operator into jelly given the massive deceleration, but worked surprisingly well when operated by Grendel.

She glanced to her side, and caught the lithe form of Teodora soar out of the launch bay. That was her cue.

"Grendel, launching!" she yelled over comms, and with two earth-shuddering bounds she leaped out of the hangar.

As she barreled down through the sky, Elise brought one hand up towards her ear instinctively as she heard Norika's quip through her headphones. Both Hoshiko and Pyralis had already begun to clear out the area, judging by the streak of flames painted across the ground visible from where she was now. The young woman took a moment to consider the situation before finally redeploying the wings on her back, leaving her hovering in the air as she brought the rifle in her hands up towards her face.

"I'll-whoa!" she began to say before noticing the doublers being lobbed at their current position. With a grimace, the Frame Pilot leaned to the side to dodge one that had almost clipped one of her wings before bringing her gun back up to aim.

"Rude. As I was saying..." Elise began, slowly taking aim and firing at one of the oni-like Warped on the ground. A piercing flash of light seemed to fire out from her weapon, piercing straight through a rock in its way and into the head of one of the Warped about to throw another boulder at the duo.

"I'll handle air support as you make your way down. Once you're down there, both of our jobs should become a lot simpler."

@JDubs

---

As Pyralis' flames burned violently as they scorched the earth and Warped alike, it seemed that the initial blitzkrieg offensive by the Pilots had succeeded in what it had intended to do. The weaker enemies were left scorched and burned by the fire, no more than charred corpses convulsing on the ground after the first wave of flames had swept over the area; the stronger, though able to shake off what had stuck, were left standing but wounded.

The element of surprise now removed from the equation, though, the monsters that remained soon began to regroup in an attempt to mount a (somewhat sloppy) counteroffensive. Those around Hoshiko began to close in around her, seemingly unfazed by how she had been able to destroy one among them with a single hit, while others seemed to be taking the same measures that their peers were towards the other pair in the area—namely, by lobbing broken pieces of the land around them towards Pyralis in an attempt to at least interfere with her ability to complete another sweep across the ruined suburbs that they claimed as their territory.

@VitaVitaAR@Izurich

---

While the advance team began their assault, the arrival of the others onto the frontlines (either by dropping down from The Horizon directly or by an airlift out of the hangar) did not elicit so much as a cheer from the Japanese forces to which they were aiding.

Not because of their lack of thanks, of course, but the hordes of Warped bearing down upon them. Behind barricades of steel and barbed wire, the constant sounds of gunfire and explosions were the only things that the soldiers could hear, and with their eyes trained upon the enemy clawing at their necks, discipline was the only thing that could keep them from staying.

Luckily enough, the efforts of the advance team had already begun to allow the soldiers to begin thinning the wave on one front, leaving them some small amount of breathing room on this deafening battlefield. To what extent their support would be able to relieve the pressure placed upon them, however, remained to be seen...

@Mole@Laduguer@Medili

"Got it, Pyra-san!" Hoshiko declared, her body tensing. Now that almost all of the smaller Warped had been taken out, she could focus on the bigger ones. They were already moving to surround her, but that wasn't going to change a thing. She was fighting to keep the Japanese forces safe and ensure that they took back Saitama. She wasn't going to hesitate for even a moment.

Planting one foot forward firmly, she met the first oni Warped was it raised its fists, letting out a shout as she unleashed a flurry of rapid blows into its chest. As it stumbled back from the impacts, a burst of flames erupted from the back of Hoshiko's right gauntlet as the final punch blew a hole through the monster's torso, sending it hurtling backwards and skidding along the ground.

The next Warped came charging form her right, and was greeted with a spinning kick to its side. With a resounding crack its entire ribcage caved in sideways, its spine snapping from the impact and sending it slamming into the side of a nearby building, concrete cratering from the impact.

The next charging oni swung its fists down, forcing Hoshiko to jump back to avoid a direct impact, armored feet scraping along the asphalt. But no sooner then her had evaded the strike then she stepped forward again, crouching low and launching her fist upwards for a devastating uppercut that tore the Warped's head clear from its shoulders and sent it hurtling into the air!

This was fine. She could do this! What was the point of it all of she wasn't, anyway? With each impact that struck her arms and legs, each Warped that perished under her fists and feet, she was clearing more space. She was opening a path for humanity. She was making people's lives better.

That was the point of it all. That was why she was still alive.

A Warped wielding a chunk of concrete swung it down towards her. This time, she triggered the booster on her back, the wind whipping past her as it carried her into the air just above the creature.

Just as swiftly, she switched to the boosters on her hands and feet, hearing them roar to life in a blast of flame as it sent her hurtling back down at top speed, feet-first.

There was a crunching, cracking sound alongside the sensation of impact as she slammed into the oni's back and head, grinding it face-first into the ground.

For the sake of everyone else, Hoshiko take out as many Warped as she had to! Unfortunately, she could only work through them so quickly, and the warped who were now hurling debris at her teammate were a little too far away...

But that just meant she had to fight even harder to get there!

@Izurich@PKMNB0Y

---

Undeterred by the dead of one of their number, the oni-like Warped proceeded to wrench more debris from the earth. If anything, it seemed as if the death had spurred them to press their assault even more aggressively.

Thankfully, they were not the most suited to a long-range attacks, and their aim wasn't the most on point. Still, a direct hit from one of those hurtling boulders would easily knock a pilot out of the sky.

But that was no-where close to the biggest threat.

Suddenly, from one of the upper windows of the ruins, a long, pale shape exploded towards the nearest pilot. Its length was sufficient to give it considerable reach, meaning it was able to nearly touch its target.

Its body was composed of segments, each vaguely shaped like a human torso. Between each segment was a set of human-like arms, grasping and clutching at the ear, like the numerous legs of a centipede.

Its face was that of a human male's, smooth and entirely hairless with an expression of tranquil peace, though both of its empty eyes seemed to follow the motions of the pilot.

This human-like face proceeded to split open down the middle, pried apart from the inside by another set of pale arms, splitting the head open vertically as grasping hands erupted from within the creature, stretching out on spindly limbs.

@JDubs@PKMNB0Y

Her soup ended up being miso soup, with a side of rice, seaweed salad, and some salmon. She had meant to eat lighter, but the Japanese cuisine available seemed so delectable in a healthy speaking manner. She had studied Japan before agreeing to become a Frame Pilot. There were several cultural styles she enjoyed that crossed over from the monastic life. Healthy eating was one of them. Of course, she did not take into account that they would be going into a mission so early in the morning.

The alarm sounded after the teasing and child-play had started to simmer down. Seraphima had only been a part of this routine on several occasions. She preferred to stay out of the perpetual motion of verbal jousting. However, avoiding it would mean not being a Fame Pilot and living on the ground, fearing attacks of the Warped. Not only would be feel useless, but the teasing gave some rights of entertainment and team building. Coincidentally, it made the battle field a tiny bit more exciting.


After she activated her mechaframe, she went into action. There was something about putting on the suit that changed her. Seraphima felt different as a person or whole. Maybe it was the activation of the Warped creature. Caspian Koi or...? She preferred the Japanese references about koi fish turning into dragons. She felt her soul shifting into something powerful, beyond her control, yet she was still able to control it. It was a miraculous feeling, and she would not let it go to waste. This brought in her serious demeanor.

Infernus had scorched the area. Many of the Warped had been torched, but there were some who had escaped, just like the her -- she had escaped being turned into a Warped. A smirk grinned on her face. She was ready for action. No matter how minuscule the task, pick-up sticks this time around, she enjoyed her time in K-01. She was no longer Seraphima, the docile monastic study. She was a serious fighter, saving not just lives but the world.

@PKMNB0Y @VitaVitaAR

Though her immediate objective was completed without issues, the battle was far from over; Pyralis kept her biomechanically-enhanced senses sharp as she constantly observed the battlefield. As planned, Hoshiko began her explosive CQC assault against the larger Warped specimens; her rocket-boosted punches, kicks, and strikes night-effortlessly shattered bones and drilled holes through armored hide that'd otherwise require concentrated assault from conventional firearms to achieve the same. Just like the simulations, such results were within expected parameters; the Chi-Mechframes were deliberately engineered to be supremely effective against the Warped after all, it was the one thing they were designed for, slay Warped and slay them good.

Yet, even with all of this advantage, none of the Frame Pilots should underestimate their enemy for they were many and pilots were few. The mutants seemingly had no sense of fear either as they would commit suicidal charges without a second thought. Even now, Infernus' sensors detected projectiles being lobbed at her from the surviving Warped. However, again, this was to be expected; none of them were engaging her in melee, good.

"Infernus, flares!" The brunette activated her active defense system as fireballs - similar to the ones she did her carpet bombardment with - spawned all around here in a spherical pattern, floating in place. These fireballs then began launching themselves toward the pieces of ruins thrown at her, crashing then exploding against them to shatter them into non-threatening smaller chunks. With her ADS at work, Pyra herself held her lance with both hands then aimed at the ground as swirls of dragonfire began coalescing once more...

"Infernus, vaporize!"

Thus, as Hoshiko bulldozed her way through the Oni legion, she would be accompanied by the occasional infernal beam that seared and scorched the Warped around her, the two ignition-based Frame Pilots working in tandem to purify Saitama from the mutant filth.

"Merde!" Norika dodged the debris, though she was pelted by some smaller chunks of concrete. She growled and cursed under her breath, "Ta mère était un hamster!" However the rocks and concrete were the least of her worries. The Warped that burst out of a nearby building wouldn't look out of place in a horror movie, even by Warped standards. She reached for the revolver holstered at her hip--

And realized she'd forgotten it. Norika dodged to the right, muttering a string of curses under her breath. If she slowed down she was going to take a hit, and that wouldn't be the best way to start the mission. She moved to one side, attempting to dodge the massive, centipede-like monster's attack. God, it was ugly. Would have been nice to put a few rounds in its face.

There was much to be said about the sheer extravagant indulgence that was having an entire flying castle, while those below still toiled beneath the depths of ever-rising cities, skyscraper apartments designed to cope with population densities that would make Hong Kong look spacious. There was much to be said, as well, about how all his colleagues were girls younger than himself, a collection of pretty faces and high-pitched voices. Maybe six years ago, that’d be something to celebrate, but now, it just made things grossly awkward, especially when the youngest amongst them were undeniably still children.

Some sorta burning pile of garbage this was. Literal infinite amounts of money, and they’re still using kids as soldiers. Sure, the kiddos were motivated, and their Chi-Mechframes could wipe out a number of Warped that would make soldiers wonder why they’ve ever sacrificed so much, but still. More evidence that the world was shit and those in power were asshats.

Though that just added another small thing to the pile of many shitty things that smeared this war.

Xuan-Yu sighed. While those eager kids were diving into the fray, skydiving with nothing but the flight systems of their experimental warmachines to keep them alive, the airlift had landed, and the cargo-bay had opened up. Hot winds scoured his skin, the acrid smell of gunpowder and artillery blast mingling with the undercurrent of blood. Blood that seeped into ruins and fed coarse weeds. Weeds that would grow over unclaimed corpses, lost limbs and fetid organs. Had it only been three months?

Ah, he did not miss this fucking cesspool.

“Please.”

The click-clack of interlacing plates sounded as his body melted into the background.


By nature, Xuan-Yu’s Chi-Mechframe was a headhunter. Instantaneous, explosive power combined with stealthing capabilities made him more than capable of ripping any individual Warped apart with his metallic hands. In the best case scenario, he would be allowed to stay off the battlefield, observing from a high angle in order to pick out high-value targets or react to assist any squadmates stuck in the quagmire. It was almost a mistake then, to put an assassin at the helm of a defensive measure, especially when their enemy lacked any sense of tactics or strategy beyond rushing forward as a biomass wave. Grendel was a defensive bulwark. K-01 was built around skirmishing. Supplice was a natural all-rounder. On paper, at least, they were well-fit to respond flexibly to the chaos that a large number of Warped brought.

But even at 60% operational capacity, Deathstalker could kill low-threat Warped.

A wraith strode through the lines of barbed wire and trenches, palisades and turrets, the only sign of his presence the crimson that traced his blade in the brief instance it entered and exited the bodies of the goblins that scrambled past the wreckage left by Infernus’s bombardment. What was that saying again?

Ah yes, artillery sowed, infantry reaped.

“Morning comrades,” Xuan-Yu’s voice sounded through intercoms, slipping into the Japanese that served as the common language between the Horizon’s occupants. “Constanza’s on overwatch today, right? I’ll be busy not doing my real job, so if you spot something with a fat head, toss me a ping and I’ll carve it up. And Faye, stick to the rear and pick up what trash I drop, could you? The distance between me and you should give plenty of time to get into position.”

And as for Drakos…

Naw, there was nothing he could really say that shouldn’t be obvious.

---

Place(s): Battlefield - Saitama Prefecture
Time: Afternoon
Interaction(s): Other members of the Defense Team

---

Three streaks of light blue energy beams followed by three identical, powerful sounds rained down from the sky toward the horde of Warped charging at the Japanese forces, extinguishing the lives of three oni-esque Warped in quick succession; two having their head vaporized while a smaller one was sliced in half by the beam that killed it. "First three! Hehe~" Fully braking from her descent. Teodora remained hovering about 10 meters above the frontmost of the Japanese forces' defensive line, an excited smile on her face. "My my, it seems like the vanguard teams did their job quite admirably indeed!" she said as she surveyed the battlefield. A sizable force of Warped were still heading toward the Japanese forces, however, and she quickly prepared to proceed with her next action to oppose their advance.

"Fortunately... Still many more targets available for me to frag. Fufu, now then... I suppose I'll get up close and personal and let them dance with my trusty Uragan (Hurricane)!" She then got into a neutral combat stance with her rapier, the weapon she affectionately gave the name to, held perfectly straight vertically in front of her face. Power started building up within the engines of her wings, with blue glowing light visible from within the exhaust, telltale of an imminent burst of jetfire about to propel her forward right into the mass of advancing Warped.

“Morning comrades,” the voice suddenly sounded through the intercoms channel, just in time to make her pause and stop her charge. It was quite fortunate that the oldest and only male member of the team spoke up then, as in reality Teodora had quickly forgotten what her task was supposed to be in her eagerness to 'score some points' in her 'game' of killing the Warped. As part of the Defense Team, she most definitely was not supposed to advance far in front of the Japanese forces. She replied through the intercoms "Oh, good morning indeed Mr. Lang!" She then briefly contemplated Xuan-Yu's words; My, was I supposed to be on overwatch duty? Riiight. I must have forgotten! Silly me!; before then speaking up again "Indeed, indeed. I shall be performing as overwatch. You can count on me to be your eyes in the sky, my dear comrades! Moving into position!"

Thus, Teodora performed a small burst using her wings that propelled her upward until she were hovering about 30 meters above the ground. The altitude provided a good line of sight for her without compromising her ability to effectively spot and react to the enemy targets, a good balance for her task. "Supplice, holding position~" She then quickly surveyed the area, finding out that the current wave of Warped advancing on their position were composed of the typical variety and of manageable number; nothing worth alarming any of her other team member about. Next time, Uragan. You will yet get your chance to shine. She smirked as she mused, once more aiming her beam rifle at the advancing enemies.

Two more streaks of light blue energy beams fell from the sky followed by the awe-inspiring sounds, and two more low-level Warped received their sweet release of death from their agonizing existence.

_______________________________________________________________

At three hundred feet above the ground, the R2D2 unit roared into life, kicking back against the rapidly encroaching earth with a monumental shove of remote thrust sufficient to slow several tonnes of metal falling from orbit. Suffice to say, it performed its intended function of softening Grendel's fall.

When Louisa's head stopped spinning, and the ringing in her ears faded, she found herself standing in a billowing cloud of ash and cinders kicked up by her impact, that was rapidly dispersing in the downdraft of the airlift vessel. Tearing off the spent R2D2 unit and hurling it indiscriminately away from herself, she resolved to elect for a different method of transport next time.

The full visual spectrum of the battle revealed itself as visibility was restored, and looking down at her feet she beheld a small impact crater in a mass of scorched and hideously deformed bones and viscera. Well, there was certainly no mistaking Pyra's handiwork. She began to stride over to where the blue flashes of Teodora's rifle fire indicated the position of her squad, before their voices crackled into life over the intercomm.

She grimaced as she listened to Xuan-Yu's directions, continuing to push forward through the rear lines of Japanese infantry and towards the front. Physically activating her comms with a little more force than she intended, she sharply replied:

"Copy that, Lang, I wouldn't expect anything else from you -- she grunted as her boot caught on a tangled Warped ribcage -- other than trash!"

The twitching, surging expanse of steadily advancing Warped opened up before her as she reached the frontline. Feeling her heart beat faster, she thrust her blade forward to extend it into a glaive, and with one heavy leap forward she planted herself firmly in the vanguard.

Grimacing as she stared down the sights of her rifle, Elise continued to fire at the Warped on the ground as they continued to lob chunks of concrete and stone into the air. Dodging them was irritating enough, sure, but having to quickly take aim and fire before moving out of the way meant that not every one of her shots met their mark—or anything at all, really.

"Maybe I should try shooting from under cover one of these days..." she grumbled as a particularly grotesque centipede-like Warped seemed to burst out from underneath the ruins and barreled straight towards Norika. There was a momentary expression of disgust and horror that crossed her face, but the shock factor of seeing such a thing was quickly reined in by a cluster of concrete and rebar narrowly whizzing by her head.

Right. Combat.

"What sort of abomination even leads to that?!" she finally shouted, firing a few shots at the Warped in question before realizing that Norika was already diving in to clean up the less threatening enemies (at least, in comparison to whatever this was). "I can handle the small fry from here; try and engage that human centipede if possible. As long as I'm up here taking them out, they can't afford to focus on you alone!"

@JDubs

---

Despite Warped after oni-like Warped falling to the continued onslaught of a single girl, the monsters seemed unrelenting in their attacks upon the human in front of them. They seemed to not care how many of their number were felled, as more soon seemed to arrive to reinforce them from further out from their current position. A storm of punches in kicks met with enemy after enemy, leaving the battlefield broken and bloodied all the same. Supported by the vicious flames that left its targets annihilated, it seemed as if the advance team of Pilots would find little issue...

Were it not for the ear-piercing shriek that rang out from the distance. A strong gust of wind soon shot through the area, blades of wind soaring through the area indiscriminately as they left gaping holes in whatever they touched.

The source? A massive bird-like Warped, soaring through the air and straight towards Pyralis. The monster seemeed to be seamlessly weaving through the rubble and debris still being thrown into the air, and with speed uncanny for a creature of its size, seemed to be rapidly closing the distance as it opened its mouth, a torrent of wind forming from within its maw...

@VitaVitaAR@Izurich

---

Compared to how the soldiers had been faring prior, barely holding off wave after unrelenting wave of Warped, the arrival of the four Frame Pilots seemed to immediately shift the tides of battle to something less slanted in favor of the monsters. Monster after monster was felled in short order, and without having the beasts bearing down upon them relentlessly, the Japanese forces had at least some time to take some breaths to recover. Their job was nowhere near finished, but without death within arm's reach, they could at least regroup and reorganize in preparation for the next wave.

Such respite was not long-lived, though, as the sounds of something crashing through the nearby woods grew closer and closer still—and a massive Warped, almost the size of a truck, broke through the weaker among them and slammed one leg down to announce its presence. The monster seemed somewhere between a lion and a dog—ironic, given the origins of such creatures in mythology—and its gaze seemed trained upon the woman in armor standing between it and the solders firing away. With a howl, the Warped bound forward, leaping into the air as it attempted to slam down upon Louisa and break through the frontlines.

While the larger Warped had taken the attention of the soldiers and those it was bearing down upon, however, those with sharper senses would notice a momentary shimmer—a movement of something through the battlefield with singular purpose. Though it would soon disappear from sight soon enough, the faint traces of the creature as it moved around the concentrated firepower directed at the large creature barreling towards them and towards the occupied soldiers would be more than worthy of concern...

@Mole@Laduguer@Medili@ERode

An oni reaching out and grasping for her was met with a punch that shattered the bones in its arm, before about blew a hole through its chest. Another kicked in the head hard enough to crush its face into the concrete. Yet another was subject to an hammer-like blow that nearly snapped its entire body in half.

Around Hoshiko, the circle of dead Warped was widening. Their numbers were steadily thinning. That was what she was here for! To take the heat off the Japanese military, permanently. As long as she was doing her job, that meant they were facing drastically less risk of being killed, or worse.

So she was going to throw herself at it harder and harder.

As her fist obliterated the chest cavity of another oni, impact rocking up through her arm, a piercing shriek seared through her ears. Wincing, the brunette had to step back, out of the range of immediate attack. While it didn't leave her ears ringing, it was a painful sound that had come entirely out of no-where.

Casting her gaze skywards, she was able to locate the source. An enormous, black-feathered bird, resembling a huge crow, bearing down on Pyra. Its body released a wave of razor-like gusts of wind, tearing through many of the remaining oni Warped and the scenery around them. Feeling air rushing towards her, Hoshiko sprang to the side, feeling a razor gust rip through the spot she had just been standing in.

With the combined assault of the oni hurling stones from below, and the tengu rushing towards her...

Hoshiko had to do something! She couldn't let Pyra try and take that on by herself!

Taking a deep breath, powering on the thrusters on her armored feet, Hoshiko crouched. With a roar of both rockets, a flash of flames and light venting behind her, the frame pilot was propelled into the air. It whipped past her, errant strand of hair wavering in the rushing wind as she hurtled upwards. Feet meeting a flying piece of debris, she sprang off it to another. Then another. Then another. Using the debris in the air as stepping stones, Hoshiko made her way up towards the avian monster, raising her right fist back and preparing to bring it down as soon as she reached the Warped.

She was going to hit it as hard as she could!

@PKMNB0Y@Izurich

---

The centipede-like creature seemed unperturbed by Norika's evasion. It let out a strange sound, something like a chuckle that ended in a rattling gag, as the many arms streaming from its mouth stretched longer. They twisted in a manner impossible for arms with normal bone structure, widening their reach in an attempt to cut off the petite pilot's escape routes. In full, the creature was at least thirty meters, with the arms extending from its split head offering it considerably more reach as they stretched unnaturally.

@PKMNB0Y@JDubs

A chill ran up Norika's spine, and she scowled. The big bastard wouldn't be laughing for long. "Copy that, Kim. Good hunting." With a single thought, the blades on Titania's arms switched to offensive mode. The Chi-Mechframe's heads-up display was keeping up with the freak's movements despite all that was going on.

She lunged forward blades-first, lines of blue light beginning to glow along Titania's frame as she prepared an attack. Priority one: neutralize the enemy's reach. Easier said than done when an enemy had reach like this Warped. But Norika was more than happy to separate those arms from the freak's body. She crossed the blades in an X shape, and the glow emanating from her suit grew brighter. "Titania! Fairy Dance!" Her body began moving faster. Each movement had a deadly grace, and every swing of her blades either deflected an attack or severed a limb.

@PKMNB0Y@VitaVitaAR

@PKMNB0Y @VitaVitaAR

Through their Chi-Mechframes' in-built comms, Infernus heard the chatter of her fellow pilots going about their business, including the one from the supposedly stealthy Chi-Mechframe, Deathstalker, but she guessed that the traits purported by its namesake was exclusively reserved for the Warped. Xuan-Yu was assigned to the backmost squad, which came as a bit of surprise for Pyra as it wouldn't take a genius to deduce that he was best suited at the middle where he could be most maneuverable, picking off priority targets at the front or those that managed to slip by unnoticed. However, Horizon's combat strategists weren't idiots, there must be a good reason for Deathstalker's peculiar placement in this mission.

Regardless, she should let the defense team deal with their own task and focus on her own objectives, and what a wise move that was as another Apex Warped made its appearance; unlike the gigantic human centipede thing, this one was significantly smaller yet much faster, and most importantly, it was beelining straight at her! Even at first glance, it could be surmised that the thing was noticeably faster and more agile than Infernus, and whether through some sort of bestial intelligence or simply a coincidence of its design, it decided to engage her in melee.

"Tch!" A fast and agile aerial Warped was her worst nightmare, one of the big reasons why she couldn't just merrily bombard away at every engagement and why working in a team was crucial. Her Flares ADS technique could handle lobbed projectiles just fine, but one that could swiftly change its trajectory to evade said defense system was another issue entirely. At the velocity that the Avian Warped possessed, Pyra had no choice but to hold out her right hand, "Protection!" she yelled as a fiery circular barrier spawned in front of her, its diameter wide enough to cover her entire height.

Right now, she could only hope that her barrier could hold whatever assault the bird had prepared and buy enough time for Hoshika to come assist her as the younger girl was much better suited at engaging this thing!

---

Place(s): Battlefield - Saitama Prefecture
Time: Afternoon
Interaction(s): Other members of the Defense Team

---

Looking good. Looking good indeed. Fufu, these Warped doesn't stand a chance! Teodora smiled as she continued surveying the battlefield while taking out of some of the Warped that were getting too close to the Japanese forces' defensive line. Things were far from over, but it really did seemed like the situation was starting to turn for the better. And add to that the decent number of Warped that she had personally fragged! She was getting quite giddy of her rising kill count. One thing however, was starting to bother her. Still... This is getting a bit boring, isn't it? It's just more of these oni-like Warped... Are there not supposed to be more variations? I'd love for some bigger target to show up right now...

It was then that the creature showed up, fulfilling Teodora's wish for a tougher foe. The truck-sized creature was anything but subtle, boldly announcing its presence to the entire Defense Team. It looked rather like a komainu, though unlike the komainu of the legends, this one was a rather naughty and destructive one. It definitely looked much tougher than the small fry Warped that had been charging at the Defense team; very much like a boss-class enemy. Of course, with its entrance being as bombastic as it was, Teodora immediately spotted it. An excited smile grew wider and wider on her face as she saw the creature charging at Louisa. "Oh my, finally a big one! Heads up, everyone! We got a big, big naughty dog attempting to breach through, heading straight for Grendel!" Teodora then pointed her rifle at the creature, ready to provide fire support. "Supplice, engag- Nggggg? Waaaait a minute, what-...?"

Her words were cut off as she caught a very out of place shimmer out of the corner of her eyes. It was enough to cause her to fully turn to face toward the direction where she saw it. It was brief, and she couldn't seem to immediately spot anything that might be the source of the shimmer, causing her to wonder if her eyes had simply played some tricks on her... That felt veeery very wrong though. Like something reaaally fishy is going on. Her guts were telling her otherwise. And thus she decided to give it a better look, focusing her sight on the area as she looked through the holosight of her rifle. For a few moments, she scanned the area without any result, causing her to start doubting her gut feeling. Then, just as her mind were telling her that she's wasting her time when there's a big and juicy target to frag... "Oh!" She gasped as she spotted it. Whatever it was, it wasn't perfectly invisible; it left faint traces, an almost transparent outline betraying its position along with its movements. And judging from the trajectory of its movement... While the komainu was being completely blatant and explosive with its advance, this one was the exact opposite. It was very obviously trying to go for a sneak attack against the soldiers now attacking the komainu.

Teodora wasted no time. She was already looking down the holosight of her rifle anyway, with it pointed right at the sneaky near-invisible creature. Without hesitation, she fired three streaks of beams from her rifle in quick succession at it while at the same time notifying her teammates of the threat. "Watch out, everyone! We have another quirky Warped trying to flank our Japanese forces allies here! Kind of invisible, not sure what it is! I'm engaging!"

The light pick up was heavier than she had anticipated. The Warped were covering the area. Her fingers were spread, blasting away at the the Warped as she zeroed in on her target, already suspended by her shooting. A fist in the face came next, straight to the nose, and next, a clean cerebral cut. She hated making a mess, even if the enemies were repulsive. Two wrongs did not make a right, and the best she could do was be as tidy as possible. Blasting away at her adversaries was dirty enough.

Some of the Frame Pilots, like Teodora, enjoyed the thrill and excitement. It was not as is Seraphima did not enjoy herself, but she preferred to get everything over-and-done-with, as quickly, quietly as possible. It was not about having fun and wanting more of them to appear. It was about saving the lives of the innocent. It was not supposed to be some game. However, she was not going to argue methodology over fighting styles and philosophy. Seraphima had her own quirks, but now was not a time to rummage over them. She had rummaged over her own defaults enough during her years on the monastery.

As Theodora's blue light reigned over the horde. A larger Warped came gripping into the zone. Its monstrous body was towering over the other Warped. Seraphima glided in the perimeter after dismantling herself from the last Warped she had successfully murdered. (Yes, murdered, it was Seraphima who saw the life in the Warped. After-all, some used to be humans.) This beast was likely going to take more of her attention. Although, she swiftly calculated how the smaller Warped would make their presence known the Frame Pilots all turned their focal points to the beastly lion-dog.

"Grendel, Supplice, Deathstalker, I'll get the small ones, while you concentrate on the lion-dog." Seraphima affirmed into her communication device. A thumb wiped over her mouth, revealing a distilled smile. Her eyes quickly scanned the footing of the larger Warped creature. Those could be on my side if I do this right. Her glider wings shifted, and the jet bellowed from behind her. However, as she began narrowing in and around the legwork of the creature, Teodora sent a warning.

"Watch out, everyone! We have another quirky Warped trying to flank our Japanese forces allies here! Kind of invisible, not sure what it is! I'm engaging!"

Seraphima looked around immediately. She scanned the area with sharp eyes, but she missed the target, "Give me the coordinates, Supplice! I'm still taking the smaller targets."