[IC] L.A.D. --- Living Alchemic Drive RP

[harinezumikouken]

Breathing steadily, Esther's eyes periodically flitted from the colored light trails and to the people around her. She assumed the lights to lead to the emergency exits. At least, she hoped so. Glancing at the others running with her, their tired and worried expressions brought a slight smirk to her lips. Though they may intellectuals far more brilliant than her, she couldn't help but wonder. In times like these would it not be prudent to have a certain level of physical ability? Apparently not, as some of the labcoat-wearing scientists stopped after running a certain distance. Heaving and puffing even though their lives were in imminent danger. No matter, she could keep up and keep going. That's was all that was important. Movement equaled survival in her mind.

Hearing someone running behind her, she peered over her shoulder. Catching sight of another one of the pilot candidates running after her. At least someone else had some physical ability. The male pilot even carried his rifle with a level of professionalism. She was impressed. As he caught up to her side, the boy spoke to her.

"Finally, someone that makes sense," the boy said between quick, sharp breaths.
She felt a bit of pride swell in her chest, having been complimented.
"I like your plan, girlie."
Well, that was quick. Whatever good impression the other boy made on her quickly reversed and turned on its head. Girlie? Seriously? How rude. She scowled at him as he continued to speak.
"Just don't be surprised if you, and me at this rate, get in some deep shit for this." he puffed out.
Of course she wouldn't be surprised, she took action knowing full well of the possible repercussions.
Still frowning, she replied to him.
"Well, first of all, I'm not 'girlie'. I have a name. I consider it a bit rude that you automatically gave me a nickname without even getting to know my actual name first. Secondly, I won't be surprised at all if I do get heavily punished for what I've done. But, I'm willing to take responsibility for my actions and will own up to it when the time comes." The boy even used foul language when speaking with her. How rude indeed. To be honest she didn't have the cleanest tongue either and neither did she know the boy's name. Turning her head so that she could get a clearer look at his face, she nearly stumbled when she realized who was talking to her. It was the boy with tattoos and piercings. Her eyes grew slightly wide and her cheeks tinged a slight pink. Whoops.
Looking away, she cleared her throat and decided to properly introduce herself.
"I-I'm Esther. What's your name? I didn't quite catch it back there."

[BB]

It had become almost second nature at this point to try and keep track of all that was going on, including the repeated destruction of whatever that kid with "nano's" had. Further, others seemed to be trying to run off alone without the adults. This was getting a tad bit to normal for her liking. However, the most important thing to her right now was the conversation she was having. However, she had muttered "sorry" as a response, which was alright. As problematic as this situation was, she didn't expect people to be very formal with her. Even the act of trying to talk with her had calmed her down a great deal, and with a cool head, she could think far better. This was just a sample of what to come, after all. There was nothing to do but face their future head on, even if it was with a heavy heart.

Letting the situation go for now, she began to rummage around in the snacks, grabbing fistfuls of whatever she could find and putting them in her pockets. She was taking as much as literally possible, and was considering taking off her jacket to turn it into a pseudo bag. With a tap on her shoulder, she turned around to receive a weapon from a spartan. When she was done, Katyusha turned around finally, and in front of her was the girl she had tried to speak to- who proceeded to tell her name, continuing the conversation the two had initiated.

It increased her mood a lot, and while there was still an underlining sense of fear, it really did make her feel better. It was certainly endearing that Phoebe cared enough about her to give her name out in a situation like this, and in a conversation as awkward as this.

Nodding with a more genuine smile on her face this time, she stuffed a pocket with a soda can.

"That's a pretty name, Phoebe." It certainly was a fun name to say, in a manner of speaking.

However, a certain someone was walking towards them, and multiple children were attempting to run away. Thankfully, those kids were out in the hallway, and she didn't want to make Phoebe anymore nervous.

And then that certain someone arrived. "Hello, fastwheels. Sure, I can get you something!" Grabbing the first chocolate bar she could quickly spot, she handed it over to the girl.

"We should probably get moving. It seems we're taking a bit long, and some people are acting a bit...irrational." Setting the pace for all three of them at moderate, she walked toward the scientist now at the corridor. It was not quick enough to reach it in time to see the inevitable beat down the spartans would give the kids running away in the halls, however. It was best that Phoebe didn't see that- and part of her felt like she didn't want to see it either.

"Say, Phoebe. You know how to use a weapon, right?" Katyusha had her own pistol, but she had kept it at her side for the most part. While she knew of weapons and even handled them, there was a different context now. That was just for pleasure, or shooting at a range- right now, she was expected to fire at and kill something. It sort of gave her a bad stomach for liking weapons so much, even if her mood was a lot better now.

"There's a button that controls the safety. Never point your gun at something unless you intend to kill something. Don't ever put your finger on the trigger unless you intend to shoot. Make sure of where your gun is facing at all times. It's simple, but just try to be a bit careful and it isn't that hard, okay?" She gave a simple smile at 'okay'. She felt more comfortable now that she was in her element again. It was like talking about a hobby- however, that didn't make her anymore comfortable holding a gun for war.

Still, she would adapt and become stronger. Katyusha would use her willpower to be able to fight, if it came to it. She certainly didn't relish it like some of these children- but she was no coward. Even if she was nervous and scared, she wouldn't disappear without a fight.

[Thanatos]

"Sorry, but it's best for you to stay with the group. While I appreciate the courage... technically your life is more important than mine as of this moment," said the Spartan. "We know that most of you kids would rather help than be told what to do, but this isn't the time to argue. We need you alive, safe, and to follow us, alright kid?" spoke the Spartan before patting Zan on the shoulder.

"You will get no argument from me, sir," responded Zan. Then he stopped saluting and walked over to the rest of the potential pilots. Zan heard one of the Spartans say to the kid named Drake, "Sorry kid, but lemme be blunt with ya, that ain't going to do shit to the Cruxi besides tickle them. We already tried those things." "Hey! You're not to do anything to my children's toys! Bah! I, as his father, am to decide how to discipline them!" said Lorenzo.

'This man has some serious mental problems,' thought Zan.

"Sorry, boss, but even if they're under your care, they need discipline and learn that he isn't great if one of us can destroy it that easily. If he really wants to defend himself, I suggest he, and the other kids, use an actual gun," said the Spartan that was talking to Drake earlier. Then the Spartan opened up his pack and quickly handed out guns that looked like the gun that the doctor had. "Least now you kids wont be completely useless."

"Thanks for the weapon; sir, but do you have anything bigger that I could use sir?" asked Zan, as took one of the guns. Zan looked at the gun for a little bit. Then he ejected the magizine from the weapon and looked at how much the clip held. 'Ten rounds, got to make sure I use them wisely,' Zan slid the clip back into place, and stuck the gun in the front of his pants, since he didn't have a holster to put the gun in.

"Stop taunting my children... you are to protect them. Anyway we best hurry before-" said the doctor, but then he got interrupted by a massive shock wave. Then a female came over the intercom and said "They... are here,"

'The Cruxi,' thought Zan, 'Those bastards.' Zan was now even closer to losing it. The only reason he hadn't lost it yet was that he hadn't seen a Cruxi.

"Well... Fuck," said the doctor gritting his teeth. Zan could hear rockets, explosions, and massive cannon rounds in background. "Well... we need to get to the Izanagi right now. Matilda, awaken." The doctor snapped his fingers and an A.I. that looked like a beautiful female appeared around him. "What is it, Doctor? Ah, are these the new children I have heard you speak so much about? They all look rather... interesting." said the A.I. whose name was Matilda Zan guessed. "Yes, that is them. Matilda, meet the children. Children, meet my personal A.I. Matilda. Matilda, we need to get out of here now and to the Izanagi where Boris and Airick should be at." replied the doctor.

'Who the hell is Boris and Airick?' thought Zan, What the hell is the Izanagi?'

"Shouldn't be a problem sir. However... Cruxi forces have made things quite difficult. From what I can tell, the Yamaguchi is suffering heavy casualties and the Hades cannons are nearing critical levels. Not only that, sir, but there are reports of Cruxi attempting to penetrate the facility's wall from the Western Wing. The Hades Cannon on the East is reported to have a Cruxi destroyer inbound as well..." said Matilda

'Shit has really hit the fan.' thought Zan.

"Don't care, Matilda. We need to get the children to safety as soon as possible by meeting up with Airick and Boris. Find the safest route now," said the doctor sounding frustrated. "Will do sir." said the A.I. "Sir," said a blonde pilot that asked the doctor a good question earlier, "What is our next course of action? Is there a ship we should be making our way towards?" "While a destination is good to have in mind, I simply wish to get moving. Sitting here talking is going to make us sitting ducks for the Cruxi." said Ashyln. "You could have fooled me," Drake replied to Ashlyn, sounding like he might be in pain. [b]"And I agree we should get moving while we still have a chance. Longer we stay here, the greater the chance of the Cruxi infiltrating the base before we can even reach are destination."

"It is best to keep moving,' added Zan. "As fast as the group can."

"Excuse me, gentleman." said a brown haired girl to the Spartans blocking the entrance to the room everyone was in. The girl somehow muscled her way past the Spartans and slipped out of the door. She looked back at the rest of them, she continued. "By your leave." The girl looked over her shoulder, she projected her voice as loudly and clearly as she could so that they could hear her. "If any of you want to take matters into your own hands and are tired of sitting around waiting, then follow me. I'll lead the way. We can think and figure out a plan as we move. To remain stationary right now means certain death."

"And to go off alone means death also," advised Zan.

"It'd be rude to let her go all on her lonesome. Let's go too. I'll get your back.", said the kid that had asked some okay questions earlier to Drake. Then he too somehow slipped through the Spartans.

'Looks like there is going to be two less pilots.' thought Zan as he turned towards his fellow potential pilots. "Does anyone have any trouble walking?" announced Zan.

[Gnar The Missing Link]

A Lot of Important plot stuff that you will be like OH MY GOD GNAR WHY DO I HAVE TO READ SO MUCH! <br>Although in the end hopefully you like it and then you will be like damn that was kind of awesome. Maybe? No? I’m sorry then!

“Abandoning her? Try telling that to Lorenzo. He’s more stubborn than you!” declared Boris. “Honestly… if you would have waited for me to finish! I could have told you that while it doesn’t have a power source like other ships, it has a much better one!” shouted the man as he puffed out his chest… before quickly sighing.

“It, however, requires someone to synchronize with it,” he said as he looked towards the Izanagi’s entrance, seeing a white Framework exit as it began helping load up other Frameworks into the ship. “We need a child like the one that is inside Avacramdt to start up the Framework that is plugged into the ship so that the Izanagi can take off. However, even then, it was a miracle someone was able to synchronize perfectly on their first try like that one.”

“To be honest, this ship may very well be our only chances out of here in this chaos because it is the fastest here,” spoke Boris as he lighted another cigarette. “We gotta wait for Lorenzo and the kids… because one of them will be able to get this ship off of the ground…”

Boris paused a bit as he looked towards what was coming at them; Cruxi. There was quite a bit actually… Two Harbingers, a Grinder, and a Hunter, along with many Cruxi troops. The Avacramdt walked towards them, almost as if it was ready to take them down, but Boris raised his hand. “Don’t worry, the shields into the hangar will hold for now, kid. Just focus on getting the Frameworks into the ship while we wait for Lorenzo… that’s the highest priority.”

The Framework simply looked back at Boris, before looking at the Cruxi. Without a word it got back to its task by pulling more Frameworks into the Izanagi, and as Omegas began to set up defenses and take cover and aim at the Cruxi outside the force field.

“…Doesn’t talk that much, that one,” murmured Boris as he looked at Airick. “Still, he’s a good kid.”

---

Lorenzo looked towards Demeter and Ashlyn as they spoke, smiling as he usually did before answering. “Of course. We’re heading to my ship. We got some ace monkey of an admiral to pilot it, but it is still my ship. Once Matilda has set the best course of action for us, we will begin heading there immediately… Oh, and Drake, once we’re off of this planet, come see me so I can see that hand of yours,” he mumble as he noticed the limp noodle of an arm… it was then that he noticed Esther moving past the Spartans, saying her little speech, and running down the hall with Leonce, which slightly infuriated the Doctor. "Felix! Quickly!" shouted the Doctor as he pointed at them.

At that exact moment, one of the other Spartans leapt forward with lightning fast speed... faster than the two kids could run. He reached both Leonce and Esther before they could even reach the corner, before kicking them both in the stomachs right back towards Lorenzo. Two Spartans grabbed them and practically threw them to the ground without hesitation before drawing their weapons and aiming at the hallway as the younger Spartan who kicked them attempted to draw his sword... but instead something threw itself towards the Spartan by breaking down the corner of the hallway and smashing him into the window; dust filling the area as the Spartans began firing into the smoke. A few moments later the Spartan was thrown out of the smoke but was able to land decently on his feet... however, his entire right arm was completely missing and bleeding heavily. It was then that a large Cruxi with its fangs and claws bared revealed itself before it leapt and tried to grab a hold of the smaller Spartan, but instead was faced with the blade of his sword as he cleaved the beast’s smaller arms and left leg before kicking it back.

“Stay behind me,” muttered the Spartan to Esther and Leonce before charging at the hurt Cruxi before it promptly jumped onto the ceiling and grabbed a hold of him by his clawed leg before slamming him into the wall. Even though shots were being constantly fired by the other Spartans and as the one who crushed Drake’s arm attempted to charge forward, it was hard for any of them to actually get close to the swinging Cruxi as it kept disappearing as if it were a ghost. Before the winded Spartan could actually get back up and actually do anything, the Cruxi reappeared from thin air and simply bit him hard on the shoulder, attempting to rip a large chunk out of him. Before the Cruxi could do so, the Spartan took his sword and promptly thrust it into the underside of the Cruxi’s head, causing it to let out a mechanical yelp of screeching horror before it finally fell dead. “Cruxi Hunter… eliminated sir…” spoke the young Spartan as he pulled the Cruxi off of him and fell to the ground covered in blood and serious wounds, all the while looking at the creature that he killed.



“Which is something that wouldn’t have been necessary if Esther and Leonce here would have been fucking patient, and waited for Father and his men to finish finding a safe route… That Hunter was scanning the area and was almost done patrolling until your foolish running caused it to jump into action…” spoke Lorenzo as he gritted his teeth as he looked at both Esther and Leonce, before looking at the wounded Spartan. “We were waiting because this specific location is rather safe for the time being… but now I’m not too sure.”

“Correct,” chimed Matilda as she interrupted, “The only reason we have not yet left this premise is because Doctor Lorenzo’s Office and his hallway are specially modified and reinforced to withstand Cruxi drop pods due to his importance. Once a few minutes were to have passed and we can see the initial damage and where most of the Cruxi forces are, we were to begin making our way to the Izanagi… instead of blindly making our way there with Cruxi landing on top of us,” spoke Matilda as she scanned information in front of her as loud explosions could be heard... and as a massive THUD soon smashed on top of the area above them.

“Grinder above us and is now moving towards the window on our right. Orders, Captain?” spoke the young Spartan that broke Drake’s nanobots as he scanned the area above them.

“It can’t break through the energy shields covering the windows; we discussed this before,” stated the Captain as he whipped out his special graded shotgun and his… unusual sword before a large machine jumped onto the floor, and punched its ‘fist’ at the window before howling loudly with a mechanical roar.



The pistons on the Cruxi Grinder began to pump faster and faster as the drills on its arms attempted to pierce through the shields over the window at unbelievable speed. Most of the Spartans had their weapons ready except for the Captain, while Lorenzo paid it no attention besides tapping his finger on the glass to taunt it. “This kids, is a Cruxi Grinder. That Nano-type gun you had, Drake would have done nothing to this except heal it… before it ripped you to shreds and ate you alive and pounded you to pieces… and this is only one type of Cruxi. I don’t intend to let my children fight these things,” he spoke coldly with little emotion as the howling Cruxi continue to rapidly slam its ‘fists’ into the protected barrier.

“The Grinder will not be able to destroy the shield for a good five minutes, we have time… That, and we can carry Lt. Felix as-“

“Nah, leave me here, sir. The Hunter banged me up pretty good. That, and you don’t need an arm-less Spartan slowing you down… Besides, once that Grinder breaks through the glass, you’ll need someone to hold it back,” spoke the younger wounded Spartan from earlier as he took off his helmet... revealing that he was just a few years older than the very kids he was protecting. “I’ll do my best so it does not reach you guys. I’ll catch up with you guys as soon as possible… Godspeed, sir,” saluted the Spartan.

There was a short moment of silence as Lorenzo and the other Spartans nodded their heads and saluted as well.

It was then that Matilda spoke once again. “Lorenzo, most of the Cruxi Destroyers’ pods have been fired and have either landed or have been destroyed. Spartans, Omegas, and Banshees are currently engaged in combat with Cruxi as of this moment to buy staff members time to evacuate. The safest and fastest route to the Izanagi has been found with minimal Cruxi resistance, but two Harbingers, a Grinder, and a Hunter, along with Cruxi troops are there and are making their way to the Izanagi. Shall I look for another route?” asked Matilda after turning to her creator.

“No, we don’t have time. That’ll do just fine… I have faith in my Spartans… besides, it is the safest route, and we already have more Cruxi converging on our position now. If there are any Omega Units or Banshees to spare have them converge there as soon as possible to help us. Are the others meeting at the Izanagi as well like we planned?”

“That is correct. All others will be meeting at the Izanagi with their pilots as well, along with all collected data.”

“Good… Then let’s go,” spoke Lorenzo as he, the Spartans, and the kids moved out with haste... though not before he looked back at Felix, nodding at him one last time. "Godspeed... Felix.. godspeed."

---

While the group moved and followed Matilda’s route to the very letter and were making their way to the Izanagi… the battle outside with the Yamaguchi and the two Cruxi Destroyers were taking a massive turn for the worst as more and more Cruxi boarded the Dreadnaught.

“Admiral Koboro! What is your status?! The Cruxi Destroyer that was on a nosedive with the Hades Cannon has made full contact and has fully destroyed it, along with part of its own ship… Cruxi troops are pouring out of it as we speak! Admiral Koboro!”

“I’m here! We have Cruxi on our ship as well… They’ve boarded with Sovereigns and are decimating my men! We’re still holding out, but for how long is another question… The Spartans and the Banshees are holding them at bay at critical sections of the ship, while my Omegas are spread out and providing cover as best as they can. How are you holding out down there?!”

“Not good Admiral… Cruxi have landed on the planet and have invaded the facility. Doctor Lorenzo and his pilots has yet to safely reach the Izanagi with his escort. While the other scientists have escorts, other Spartans, Banshees, and Omegas have been given orders to reach Doctor Lorenzo and escort him to the Izanagi pronto before the Third Cruxi Fleet arrives.”

“What is the status on the Third Cruxi Fleet’s arrival?” shouted Koboro as shots could be heard over the channel.

“…It’s coming in a few minutes. We don’t have much time… Also, Koboro, you have to finish off that Destroyer and hold back the Third Fleet. I know we’re asking you a lot, but from what we’re reading, the Third Fleet is something much bigger than the Destroyers. Your Yamaguchi is the only thing that can possibly stand a chance against it,” stated the female commanding officer as she looked at the signatures of her screen.

“Alright, I’ll take this son of a bitch out now… Everyone! Highest protocol now! We’re disengaging the right side of the Yamaguchi and activating the Right Hand of Lu Bu!” shouted Koboro as loud as he could. “Ma’am, prepare your Hades cannon to fire when you see that the Destroyer is vulnerable… Don’t waste this opportunity!” he said this without hesitation before signing off.

“S-Sir… but our right side will be exposed drastically, and shields will be down for the Destroyer to take advantage of… If this doesn’t work, then we’ll lose the Yamaguchi, and the Facility will fall without a doubt,” spoke an officer as he hesitantly looked at Koboro.

“We either die trying it… or die not trying it as cowards. I’d rather test all options knowing we gave it our all and showing the Cruxi how crazy we are and how far we are willing to go to save humanity than cower under our shields and hide… Don’t you all agree?”

A unanimous agreement came, before all the officers began typing in orders into their consoles… before Koboro took off his cape and whipped out a key from his pocket. Thrusting it into a slot in front of him, the Yamaguchi immediately began to rupture as the left part of the ship flew apart and surrounded the Cruxi Destroyer and cover it into a massive coil… before revealing that underneath the Yamaguchi’s armor was what appeared to be thousands upon thousands of hammers. Almost immediately they began to smash into the Destroyer and crush the shields and even the armor… right as the Hades cannons began to fire into the soft underside and cleave through it.

Even though the Cruxi Destroyer was attempting to fire its main cannons, they were pummeled thanks to the Right Hand of Lu Bu before being obliterated by the many rounds of Hades Cannon. A few minutes passed, before a loud humming sound echoed through the air… and as the Destroyer exploded and ignited the space it filled; with debris crashing down into the facility and into the Yamaguchi as well.

“You did it, Admiral! Both Destroyers are destroyed!” stated the commanding officer as she got in touch with Koboro, congratulating him.

“Yes… however, the debris of the ship struck us and we suffered some severe casualties… not to mention that there are still Cruxi on board… That… and…” Koboro took notice of the Hades cannon that shot down the last Destroyer, before it got completely overrun with Cruxi and as debris began crashing into it, “we lost the final Hades cannon.”

“Still, we were able to buy some time… and we got one less thing to worry about. If we can get rid of the last Destroyer, we may have a chance of saving this facility and calling in reinforcements,” she spoke as she continued to type out commands into the console.

“Hey, what’s that ETA on that last Destroyer?” she asked to the male officer to her side.

No answer.

“Hello? What’s the ETA on the Destroyer?” she asked again.

Again, no answer.

Frustrated, she looked at him to ask again, but was puzzled by his expression as he stared at her. “What’s the matter?”

“Ma’am… It isn’t a Destroyer… I… I don’t know what it is… a-and…” he stuttered as he looked at the monitor above, “…it’s here…”

---

Lorenzo and the others reached finally reached the Hangar bay, where Airick and Boris were at… along with the White Framework Avacrampt who was calmly still loading up the other Frameworks and supplies into the awe-inspiring Izanagi. Lorenzo paused a bit wondering where all the Cruxi were, but as he looked at the force field at the hangar… his answer was quickly given.

Matilda’s calculations weren’t wrong, they had just moved.

“Hundreds… huh?” whistled Lorenzo as he placed his hands in his pocket as looked at the many Hunters, Harbingers, Grinders, the normal troopers and the heavy troopers. “I’m surprised to see so many…”

“It would appear the Hunter we engaged earlier sent out a distress signal prior to its defeat,” spoke Matilda as she folded her arms and ran calculations.

“So… you are saying this is something that could have been avoided?” asked Lorenzo as he looked at Leonce and Esther, his eyes cold.

“Correct, sir,” spoke Matilda as she continued looking at her information. “They gathered here upon the Hunter’s signal since they couldn’t breach the walls of the route leading here.”

“Sir, we suggest you and the pilots get on the ship immediately. We’ll stand our ground here as best as we can while you prep the ship for lift off,” spoke the Spartan Captain as he loaded his shotgun and nodded at the Cruxi.

“My children will get on the ship, yes, but I still need to wait for my fellow scientists… if any of them actually show. It is my duty as Head Scientist to wait and collect their data and follow through with the final protocol after all. We've all sworn an oath, and everyone on this facility knows this.”

The Captain nodded before taking position with others, before the Spartan who broke Drake’s hand walked up to him and looked up to him. He didn’t say much, besides sighing and taking the boy’s hand and looking at it. Almost immediately, Nanobots from his own arm began to repair Drake’s hand as he looked at the damage, assessing it and fixing it with ease. “Hmph… You’re still nothing more than an amateur, hence why I destroyed your nanos. I’m the better one, you hear me? I only fixed your arm, not your Queens which you need to improve upon, so stop moping around like a baby about it… it’s depressing. Also, I only did it to prove you a lesson… that you need to get better, and to show some respect to your superiors,” he said as he took his rifle and nodded at the kid before moving to position. In his own way, that was perhaps that Spartan’s way of saying goodbye.

“…Well then… Children, board the Izanagi and prepare yourselves for departure. There are Spartans and Omegas on the ship who will protect you, find them and stay with them. Ignore the White Framework as it does its work, and your Father will be coming shortly,” spoke Lorenzo as he indicated the massive ship before turning towards Airick and Boris. “How’s the status of the ship?”

Boris was silent as he looked at Airick, almost as if wanting him to speak in his stead.

[GreenGoat]

She was almost hyperventilating by now. Strange facilities, crazed scientists, and now.... They were all going to die from this Cruxi attack. It was a hopeless situation, the whole human army was fighting them out there with barely any progress, and these people here, regardless of how well armed they were, wouldn't be able to stand long against them. The idiot boy before started to hand out weapons, before one of those scary men destroyed his.... thingy. Then just like that, they were handed weapons.

She stared long and hard at hers, some sort of futuristic looking pistol in dull grey and shiny black polymer. It was heavier than she expected. It would be the only thing keeping her from dying if they ever encounter Cruxi.

Some of them were already trying to speak to each other, giving out their names and such. It wasn't such an outlandish thing to do, she thinks it had something to do with coping with the current situation, just something to allay the fear for a while. Panicking wouldn't do anyone any good after all. To top it all off, two people went running off, saying something about fighting them. Are they stupid? Dear god, how would any of them survive this if they were as dumb as rock with the survival instinct of a jellybean?

Before they could get any farther though, a spartan warrior whizzed by her at breackneck speed, and kicked the two back towards them, as the other spartans raised their weapons. For an instant, she thought they were going to be shot at, before a cruxi crashed into the spartan that had kicked those two to safety. The cruxi almost tore through the lone spartan, before the spartan managed to get the upper hand and gut it. She couldn't move, her legs that had felt like limp noodles just a few minutes ago now felt like mush.

Manami realized suddenly her pistol was still smoking, her arms aching from the recoil of the gun. Was she shooting at it unconsciously? The shots must have gone astray though, or the cruxi didn't even notice a few bullets hitting it. It was like something from out of an old scifi movie, where the robots are immune to everything except for one obscure thing the heroes will discover later.

“Good… Then let’s go,” the scientist said.

She twitched at that, hastily forcing her legs to work, sidling closer to the greenhaired girl who smiled at her earlier.

They arrived at the hangar bay, where a white robot thing was moving things into the ship. Manami had almost started shooting before she realized moving boxes and crates doesn't exactly spell doom for mankind. So this ship was where they were going to be in for the rest of their lives or until the Cruxi was defeated? That would take.... forever. What she just saw in that corridor proved the rest of mankind, without access to these spartan's equipments, would be doomed to lose the war.

“…Well then… Children, board the Izanagi and prepare yourselves for departure. There are Spartans and Omegas on the ship who will protect you, find them and stay with them. Ignore the White Framework as it does its work, and your Father will be coming shortly,”

It was basically imprisonment, and the only other choice was to sit here and die as Cruxii things tore her apart. She glanced at the greenhaired girl for a moment, trying to think of something to say. Nothing comes to mind at the moment, so Manami decided it could wait until they were safely aboard, and in no danger of being killed horribly. That being said, she wasn't moving until the rest did, or at least the greenhaired girl did.

[Rune_Alchemist]

"Those...goddamn idiots." Ashlyn thought, mouth somewhat agape as she watched two of the other kids run off past the Spartans. What in the name of hell were they thinking!? Certainly she didn't like waiting around as much as the other girl apparently did, but her own likes and dislikes were irrelevant for now - at least until she got good enough to take on the Cruxi herself. Going off on their own was just asking to have a Cruxi kill you, and it even endangered the rest of them! That was just reckless and foolish given the circumstances.

And she was proven right, not moments after the two of them set off on their own. A Spartan was in front of them faster than the two of them could even react, before promptly drawing his own gun. For a second she thought it was over for the both of them before something came bursting through the wall in a mess of debris. Instinctively, she raised the pistol she had been given, aiming for the cloud of dust that had risen. She knew she wasn't likely to do much to injure the Cruxi, but she had to do something instead of just sit there waiting to get slaughtered. Thankfully, though, the Spartan was able to take care of it, though not without a heavy loss to himself. The two kids that ran off seemed to be mostly safe as well, thanks to the Spartans.

It seemed they had their route, at last. And that the antics of the two who rushed off, were to blame for the Cruxi attacking them. That, was not something she was too happy about. She gave the other two children a cold glare, as Lorenzo conferred with Matilda. Her eyes then fell on the wounded Spartan - He wasn't much older than they were. This gave her a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. A mixture of sorrow, anger, and hate. She frowned, teeth grinding in frustration. She knew there wasn't anything she could have done to help here, but that was exactly what was making her so upset. She felt so...helpless. Another person had gotten injured right in front of her and she couldn't have done anything, and he was most likely not getting out of here alive...damn it all. Goddamn it. But no matter how much she didn't like it, there was nothing she could do. She turned away as the group began to move towards their destination.

The group moved towards their destination next, Ashlyn had fallen quiet, hand gripping the gun she had been given tightly. It was clear she had been put in a foul mood thanks to what had just happened. She had half a mind to put a bullet in both of the idiots brains for endangering the rest of them like that. But no, that wouldn't help. Being angry with them would only make things worse, for now. They were all still new to this, they were all bound to make mistakes, even her. She just had to hope they learned before someone else got hurt. If not, then she'd deal with them herself, no matter what Lorenzo said.

Thankfully, they ran into no problems as they made their way to the ship. The one named the Izanagi. A framework was loading crates and other things onto the ship. Probably whatever they were needing to get out of here before the Cruxi swooped down upon them and killed them. It was an impressive ship, to be sure. Not that she had seen that many, or were familiar with most of them. It seemed like it would give even a Cruxi ship even a run for its money. Which was good, given the circumstances.

“…Well then… Children, board the Izanagi and prepare yourselves for departure. There are Spartans and Omegas on the ship who will protect you, find them and stay with them. Ignore the White Framework as it does its work, and your Father will be coming shortly,” Right, so they were to get on this ship. Might as well be the first one on then. No sense in staying here.

"Alright, lets get going then. Everyone on board." She spoke aloud to the other kids. "Before any more of you decide to do something incredibly stupid." The comment was obviously aimed at the two who had run off earlier, whose carelessness had almost gotten all of them killed, and did get one killed whose death could have been avoided. Damn it, she was trying to remain calm here, and not let her emotions get in the way of trying to get along with everyone. Well, no taking it back now at least. She'll just have to go with it.

And with that, she boarded the ship, with her usual cold, seemingly arrogant confidence before giving the two a chance to even reply to her.

[Marx]

"Well, first of all, I'm not 'girlie'. I have a name. I consider it a bit rude that you automatically gave me a nickname without even getting to know my actual name first. Secondly, I won't be surprised at all if I do get heavily punished for what I've done. But, I'm willing to take responsibility for my actions and will own up to it when the time comes." she practically snarled at him. Wonderful start to a new friendship, though given the circumstances, he'd take it. "Sorry, got a chronic case of foot in mouth syndrome. Didn't mean it like that." He managed out as he kept behind her, catching a good look at her face when she glanced back, eyes going a bit wide before she snapped her gaze away from him. "I-I'm Esther. What's your name? I didn't quite catch it back there." She said to him, the bite in her tone gone.

"L-" Leonce began to say before the sound of slamming boots was practically at his heels, his body being launched from his feet before a boot met him square in the stomach, the blurry object sailing next to him Esther, he assumed as he slammed first into the floor, then the wall, before being crashed into by the girl. He gagged in both fright and pain, the pain very reminiscent to what it felt like when he had been stabbed in the chest no more than a few weeks prior. Air rushed sharply into his lungs, his chest feeling like it had burst into flame, his heart pounding against his ribs like a jackhammer. Chaos erupted before the two pilots as a Cruxi burst forth from dust and took hold of the spartan that launched them back. "Christ" He whispered, biting his lip as he muttered out the name of one of Humanities oldest religions, something that was more of a taboo now than ever. His secret catholic upraising by his birth parents and his own research on the topic had made him a faint believer of the antiquated beliefs and now as a whirling dervish of horror did its best to slaughter the spartan that saved their lives, he realised that if there were no hell it made no difference. They were already living in one.

The emergence from the chaos by the spartan nearly brought Leonce's breakfast up from the pits of his stomach, the gaping wound that was sputtering out blood reminding him of the man that Leonce had killed back on Earth after he had been attacked. He gagged again as another wave of pain spread through his body from his stomach, his mouth tasting life bile as he did his best to swallow back down the mess. He then looked toward the girl that he was only a moment ago running with and frowned, regretting his decision to run with her. Perhaps he should have stopped her. His eyes noticed the blood splotch on the floor by them; he definitely should have stopped her. "Leonce," he forced out and did his best to stand, offering her a hand, "Sorry, hope you're okay." He turned once Esther was on her feet to face the rest of them, the military girl's disapproving gaze on him. He'd have to get used to that. It probably wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

The sound of another cruxi making an appearance was heard from the room he and Esther had just abandoned and in moments the crowd of pilots, soldiers, and the caricature for a mad scientist poured out into the hall. The soldier who was soon to bleed out volunteered to stay behind and slow down the soon to arrive cruxi, Leonce's stomach sinking low at the sound of that. "In another life, let us switch places." He said softly, turning away from the scene to follow along with the other pilots near the back. He hung back this time, not bothering to make eye contact with the others while doing his best to stay in the back away from the others. By the time they were gathered at the ramp to their escape ship, the military girl had clearly decided that she was the leader, or at least wanted to act like it. And her statement was clearly directed at himself and Esther.

Leonce hung back and let the others enter before him, taking as long as he could to look over his surroundings and let the enormity of what was to come sink in.

[harinezumikouken]

"Sorry, got a chronic case of foot in mouth syndrome. Didn't mean it like that,"He managed out.
She smiled a little.
She could definitely understand the F.I.M. syndrome, as she had it herself on occasion.
The boy seemed polite and nice enough.
As the boy's mouth opened to speak, her eyes snapped behind her as she saw a Spartan catch up with them.
Eyes wide in astonishment, she was unable to finish forming her thoughts before...
"L-"SLAM.
The Spartan's roundhouse kick caught both of them in the stomach and sent them literally flying back towards the others.
All of the air in her lungs was forced out with a cough as the two of them were caught and subsequently forced to the ground. Esther having a brief flashback of the hand-to-hand combat training she had with her father. Unsure of whenever she had closed her eyes, she opened them to see the Spartan who had kicked them be thrown back also. Only this time, he was missing his arm. Expression frozen in horror, she withdrew into herself as memories from her younger years replayed in her mind. The sound of deafening gunfire being drowned out by her thoughts.

---

"Papa?..." Asked a younger Esther, sitting at the kitchen table with her father.
It was night time, all of the lights in the house were off.
The only light present was that of the glow of the moon outside.
Her father sat in relative silence.
A smoldering cigarette in one hand, a glass of liquor in the other.
He looked...Dead.
"..."
"Papa, may I ask you something?"
Her father's eyes were glassy, as if he wasn't all there.
"..."
"Wh-...When you saw combat...D-...Did you ever lose anyone?"
Her father stirred.
"...Yes." He croaked out, weakly.
"Was it someone close?" Even Esther herself didn't quite know why she sat there, questioning her father on such sensitive matters.
She just wanted to know more.
Her father blinked slowly, but remained still.
"...Yes."
"Who were they? Were they your friends?"
Her father's eyes lifted to look at Esther.
"...Brothers."
"How did they die?"
Her father slowly sighed, his chest rising and falling wearily.
"...From my mistakes."
Esther's voice caught in her throat, she was unsure of how to digest that answer.
She was still desperate to know more for some ungodly reason.
"Did...Did you ever move on?"
Her father's eyes lowered to his look at his bionic hands. No response.
"..."
"Papa?" She pressed on.
Her father raised his glass to his lips and took a sip.
He chased the bitter liquid with a drag from his cigarette and closed his eyes.
"Esse, you should go to bed. It's late."

---

Returning to reality, she blinked as a Spartan muttered at her and the other boy to stay behind him. As she watched the following fight, she felt her stomach sink. She said she was ready to accept the consequences of her actions, but...she wasn't quite ready for this. She didn't realize that she would be the one to make the first, grave mistake. Not like this. Eyes trying to keep track of the Cruxi Hunter, her heart grew icy and cold. She had always only seen images of the Cruxi. Descriptions of them being recounted by her father and shared with her whenever he was functional. She felt like throwing up, her body still aching from being battered and jostled.

As the Spartan executed the Cruxi and the struggle ended, she looked up as the other boy stood and offered his hand to help.
"Leonce," He forced out, finishing what he meant to say earlier.
"Sorry, hope you're okay."
Why was he sorry? It was her fault that a Spartan got injured.
It was her fault for endangering them all.
Taking Leonce's hand, she got to her feet.
Keeping her eyes on the ground, she bowed her head in shame upon seeing the others' disapproving looks.
She had acted foolishly in front of them all and embarrassed herself.
A Spartan was now missing his arm.
She had put them all at risk.
She shrunk from the shame and internalized, her cheeks reddening hotly.

"...Which is something that wouldn't have been necessary if Esther and Leonce here would have been fucking patient, and waited for Father and his men to finish finding a safe route… That Hunter was scanning the area and was almost done patrolling until your foolish running caused it to jump into action…” spoke Lorenzo as he gritted his teeth as he looked at both Esther and Leonce, before looking at the wounded Spartan. “We were waiting because this specific location is rather safe for the time being… but now I'm not too sure.”
Esther's color drained from her face.
Any ounce of her spirit and bravado had quickly left her.
She drowned most everything out, only temporarily breaking from her spell to jump at the sight of a terrifying Cruxi Grinder batter at the walls of the room's shields.
She hid in the back of the group, not wanting to show her defeated expression. She relegated herself to just staying with the group, quiet and obedient.

---

As they had arrived where they were supposed to evacuate to, Esther looked up to see a Framework work on loading their ship. Blinking in in awe, she found herself drifting towards it, reaching out. Enraptured and fascinated with the large machine, she wanted to get a closer look. She stopped when she heard the doctor speak again.

“Hundreds… huh?” whistled Lorenzo as he placed his hands in his pocket as looked at the many Hunters, Harbingers, Grinders, the normal troopers and the heavy troopers.
“I'm surprised to see so many…”
“It would appear the Hunter we engaged earlier sent out a distress signal prior to its defeat,” spoke Matilda as she folded her arms and ran calculations.
“So… you are saying this is something that could have been avoided?” asked Lorenzo as he looked at Leonce and Esther, his eyes cold.
“Correct, sir,” spoke Matilda as she continued looking at her information.
“They gathered here upon the Hunter’s signal since they couldn't breach the walls of the route leading here.”
Esther lowered her hand and head, returning to the back of the group as she withdrew once again into her shell.
A Spartan Captain then spoke to the good doctor, urging them to board the ship.
“My children will get on the ship, yes, but I still need to wait for my fellow scientists… if any of them actually show. It is my duty as Head Scientist to wait and collect their data and follow through with the final protocol after all. We've all sworn an oath, and everyone on this facility knows this.” he replied.
“…Well then… Children, board the Izanagi and prepare yourselves for departure. There are Spartans and Omegas on the ship who will protect you, find them and stay with them. Ignore the White Framework as it does its work, and your Father will be coming shortly,” spoke Lorenzo as he indicated the massive ship before turning towards two other gentleman.
"Alright, lets get going then. Everyone on board." She spoke aloud to the other kids. 
"Before any more of you decide to do something incredibly stupid." 
Returning to reality, Esther scowled at the other female pilot candidate's remarks.
Okay, so she fucked up big time. So what? They were human. They were all evitably going to make mistakes. At least she didn't sit around waiting to be told what to do like a little lost lamb. Eyes burning with anger, Esther snarked up a loogie and hawked it out. Spitting on the ground in response to the other pilot candidate. As if to dare, "What, you got a problem with me, bitch?" It seemed that she already made a few enemies. Oh, well. With her rage bolstering her, she found her spirit returning. She would probably have to confront the others later and clear the air if anyone had any problems with her. She was only a bit saddened that she inadvertently dragged Leonce into all of this with her.

[Raijinslayer]

Drake was walking towards the Izanagi, terrified by what had just happened, what he just saw. He barely registered the Spartan who fixed his left hand, for all he saw in his mind was Felix. He had died to save them, buy them time. Once again, he couldn't do anything in the face of the Cruxi. He had been terrified by those. . . those monsters, hadn't been able to fire his gun.

"Pathetic," he whispered to himself, filled with self loathing at his weakness. He looked at his left hand for a second, before taking his finger and carving the young Spartan's name on the back of it. He would never forget that Spartan, and he'd be damned if he let someone else die needlessly ever again.

After taking a few deep breaths to calm himself, he looked around to see how he could make himself useful. Seeing as how few of the pilots seemed to be boarding the Izanagi, he decided he should try hurrying the process, so as to get it done faster. He turned to look over at those who had yet to board, seeing a girl with long, dark hair who seemed to be clinging to a green haired. . . girl? boy? It was rather hard to tell. Considering how nervous the girl seemed, she was unlikely to start moving unless everyone else did, or at the very least the one she was clinging to. Drake walked over, keeping his gun lowered, finger off the trigger, but never taking his eye completely off the Cruxi trying to penetrate the forcefield. He stopped in front of them, mainly addressing the green haired person.

"Hello, my name is Drake." he said with a warm smile on his face, " We should probably get on the Izanagi now, as it isn't that safe out here. I was wondering if you could help me get anyone else who has yet enter the ship to hurry along, it would be mud appreciated. May I please learn your names and, for the green haired person, may please ask what gender you are, or prefer to be associated with, as I truly cannot tell."

[Art of Fun]

Usr PilEGO: Unfortunate events.

Usr SocEGO: Agreed. Assuming primary directive.

---

It was out of Demeter's control. Without the appropriate social status, they had no command over the actions of the two who ran, nor what happened after. Unavoidable.

The appearance of the Cruxi proved to be interesting, none the less. It yielded important visual information which a simple video or page could not provide. Although Demeter had great control over their 'instincts', they still registered the fear that the cybernetic aliens brought out in others, and even them self to a much lesser extent. Most notably was the one beside her. Shot after shot rung out from the black haired girl's gun, fired in base fear. A futile effort against the Cruxi. When Manami finally stopped firing, Demeter placed a pale hand on Manami's gun, pushing it down in a slow and rather unforced manner. An act of safety easily disguised as kindness.

"Come on. Let's go." Simple words of encouragement spoken in what could only be described as the voice of a saint, soft yet carrying an emotive goodness to it. Of course, as with everything else, this was not Demeter's voice. One made to get people to listen when needed, to sway when required. Now was the time to sway people - especially the weak - into action.

With one last smile to Manami, Demeter turned and followed Lorenzo and the others, eyes locking onto the Framework shifting cargo onto the Izanagi. Impressive, the both of them, but now was not the time to admire craftsman ship. There would be time for questions and admiration when they were inside the ship and some distance away from a potential threat. They made their way towards the Izanagi, the girl following interestingly enough, but came to be stopped by one of the other pilots - Drake.

And that's when he said it.

---

Usr PilEGO: Entering opinion.

Usr SocEGO: Entering opinion.

Usr CautEGO: Entering opinion.

Debating...

Outcome: Gender result: ...-.

---

"My gender is unimportant. Just call me Demeter." With a well placed smile, it was like Demeter was not bothered by the question in the slightest. Instead, they just nodded at Drake and made their way past rather curtly, a certain stride to their step that was not there before.

Onto the Izanagi.

[LaXnyd]

Kaila had been terrified as they ran, terrified as they encountered the cruxi, terrified even as the Spartan volunteered to stay behind. Had she faced the Cruxi before? Of course. Had she seen people face certain death? Make heroic actions? Die so others may live? Of course she has. It was most likely that she was the only living witness to the heroic sacrifices of dozens, hundreds of men and women who held the line in her home colony.

Did it ever get easier for her? No. It never should - and Lord help those form which it did.

Staying near Katyusha and Phoebe as they made their way through the halls, when they made it into the hangar bay Kaila saw the most heartening thing she saw all day. There, right in the hanger, standing beside the Izanagi was Airick Skye.

More importantly, standing right there on her hanger was her father.

Resisting the urge to simply leap up and embrace him with every ounce of discipline she had, knowing that her father had many things to take care of in order to get them off of the station alive, she simply remained calm. However, that did not change the fact she had been heartened by her father's presence. Her father was here; they were safe now.

XXXXX

As reports came in and Airick helplessly listened to the sounds of the increasingly desperate battle offworld, he had been tapping his feet with all the impatience and worry of an officer, a soldier and a father. He kept his glances switched between various reports and the field from which the pilots were supposed to come. As the Framework loaded supplies and materials onto the Izanagi and the crewmen got onboard, Airick's foot kept tapping even in the middle of a conversation.

Then, he heard voices from the halls. Looking towards the hall, he saw the pilots coming. They were safe. She was safe. The fact that Kaila had made it relieved him to no end, and even as Lorenzo approached him his foot stopped tapping. Although he did not say anything to Kaila, he gave her a reassuring nod that everything was going to be all right.

Now he just hoped he could keep that promise.

"Well," Airick reported to Lorenzo, "The supplies are loaded, the Frameworks are loaded, the pilots are clambering in, the weapons and systems have passed all the pre launch checks we could do under the circumstances, the ship is complete with no engineering errors reported and we have enough ammunition to supply an entire battlegroup of cruisers. All of the crew are at general quarters and awaiting instructions.

All we need now," he concluded, lowering the datapad to look at Lorenzo, "is the power source."

[Thanatos]

“Of course. We’re heading to my ship. We got some ace monkey of an admiral to pilot it, but it is still my ship. Once Matilda has set the best course of action for us, we will begin heading there immediately… Oh, and Drake, once we’re off of this planet, come see me so I can see that hand of yours,” said the doctor. "Felix! Quickly!" shouted the doctor as he pointed at Leonce and Esther. One of the other Spartans leapt forward with speed that humans shouldn't be capable of... way faster than Esther and Leonce could run. The Spartan reached both of the them, before they could even reach the corner. Then the Spartan kicked them both in their stomachs right back towards Lorenzo. Two Spartans grabbed them and practically threw them to the ground without hesitation before drawing their weapons and aiming at the hallway as the Spartan who kicked them attempted to draw his sword. Then something came "flying" towards the Spartan, breaking down the corner of the hallway and smashing the Spartan into the window. Dust filled the area as the Spartans began firing into the smoke.

'What the hell was that?' Zan questioned. Zan continued watching.

A few moments later the Spartan was thrown out of the smoke but was somehow able to land decently on his feet; however, his entire right arm was gone completely and he was bleeding heavily.

'I knew Spartans were "special", but damn' thought Zan.

Then a large Cruxi with its fangs and claws bared revealed itself before it leapt and tried to grab a hold of the smaller Spartan, but instead was faced with the blade of his sword as he cleaved the beast’s smaller arms and left leg before kicking it back. “Stay behind me,” muttered the Spartan to Esther and Leonce before charging at the hurt Cruxi before it promptly jumped onto the ceiling and grabbed a hold of him by his clawed leg before slamming him into the wall. Even though shots were being constantly fired by the other Spartans and as the one who crushed Drake’s arm attempted to charge forward, it was hard for any of them to actually get close to the swinging Cruxi as it kept disappearing as if it were a ghost. Before the winded Spartan could actually get back up and actually do anything, the Cruxi reappeared from thin air and simply bit him hard on the shoulder, attempting to rip a large chunk out of him. Before the Cruxi could do so, the Spartan took his sword and promptly thrust it into the underside of the Cruxi’s head, causing it to let out a mechanical yelp of screeching horror before it finally fell dead. “Cruxi Hunter… eliminated sir…” spoke the young Spartan as he pulled the Cruxi off of him and fell to the ground covered in blood and serious wounds, all the while looking at the creature that he killed.

'Cruxi Hunter.' thought Zan. After seeing the Cruxi Hunter, the left side of Zan's face was now twitching uncontrollable. Zan was now so close to snapping, that just one thing might set him off.

“Which is something that wouldn’t have been necessary if Esther and Leonce here would have been fucking patient, and waited for Father and his men to finish finding a safe route… That Hunter was scanning the area and was almost done patrolling until your foolish running caused it to jump into action…” spoke the doctoas he gritted his teeth as he looked at both Esther and Leonce, before looking at the wounded Spartan. “We were waiting because this specific location is rather safe for the time being… but now I’m not too sure.”

“Correct,” chimed Matilda as she interrupted, “The only reason we have not yet left this premise is because Doctor Lorenzo’s Office and his hallway are specially modified and reinforced to withstand Cruxi drop pods due to his importance. Once a few minutes were to have passed and we can see the initial damage and where most of the Cruxi forces are, we were to begin making our way to the Izanagi… instead of blindly making our way there with Cruxi landing on top of us,” spoke Matilda as she scanned information in front of her as loud explosions could be heard... and as a massive thud soon smashed on top of the area above them.

'So the crazy doctor's name is Lorenzo, huh.' thought Zan. 'What the fuck was that?'

“Grinder above us and is now moving towards the window on our right. Orders, Captain?” spoke the Spartan that broke Drake’s nanobots.

“It can’t break through the energy shields covering the windows; we discussed this before,”[b] stated the Captain as he whipped out his special graded shotgun and his… unusual sword before a large machine jumped onto the floor, and punched its ‘fist’ at the window before howling loudly with a mechanical roar.

The pistons on the Cruxi Grinder began to pump faster and faster as the drills on its arms attempted to pierce through the shields over the window at unbelievable speed. Most of the Spartans had their weapons ready except for the Captain, while Lorenzo paid it no attention besides tapping his finger on the glass to taunt it. [b]“This kids, is a Cruxi Grinder. That Nano-type gun you had, Drake would have done nothing to this except heal it… before it ripped you to shreds and ate you alive and pounded you to pieces… and this is only one type of Cruxi. I don’t intend to let my children fight these things,” he spoke coldly with little emotion as the howling Cruxi continue to rapidly slam its ‘fists’ into the protected barrier.

'Yet,' thought Zan about what Lorenzo just said.

“The Grinder will not be able to destroy the shield for a good five minutes, we have time… That, and we can carry Lt. Felix as-“ said Lorenzo as he was interrupted by the Spartan named Felix.

“Nah, leave me here, sir. The Hunter banged me up pretty good. That, and you don’t need an arm-less Spartan slowing you down… Besides, once that Grinder breaks through the glass, you’ll need someone to hold it back,” spoke the younger wounded Spartan from earlier as he took off his helmet... revealing that he was just a few years older than the very kids he was protecting. “I’ll do my best so it does not reach you guys. I’ll catch up with you guys as soon as possible… Godspeed, sir,” saluted Felix.

There was a moment of silence as Lorenzo and the Spartans nodded their heads and saluted. Zan stood at attention and saluted as well.

Then Matilda spoke once again. “Lorenzo, most of the Cruxi Destroyers’ pods have been fired and have either landed or have been destroyed. Spartans, Omegas, and Banshees are currently engaged in combat with Cruxi as of this moment to buy staff members time to evacuate. The safest and fastest route to the Izanagi has been found with minimal Cruxi resistance, but two Harbingers, a Grinder, and a Hunter, along with Cruxi troops are there and are making their way to the Izanagi. Shall I look for another route?” asked Matilda after turning to her creator.

“No, we don’t have time. That’ll do just fine… I have faith in my Spartans… besides, it is the safest route, and we already have more Cruxi converging on our position now. If there are any Omega Units or Banshees to spare have them converge there as soon as possible to help us. Are the others meeting at the Izanagi as well like we planned?” said Lorenzo.

“That is correct. All others will be meeting at the Izanagi with their pilots as well, along with all collected data.” said Matilda.

“Good… Then let’s go,” spoke Lorenzo as he, the Spartans, and the potential pilots moved out with haste... though not before he looked back at Felix, nodding at him one last time. "Godspeed... Felix.. godspeed."

'So he does has a heart.' thought Zan. 'Very surprising.'

Everyone finally reached the Hangar bay, … along with a White ... Framework? 'I think that's what they are called.'[/b] Which was loading up Frameworks and supplies into a ship of some kind. Lorenzo paused for a bit, but as then he looked at the force field at the hangar.

“Hundreds… huh?” whistled Lorenzo as he placed his hands in his pocket. “I’m surprised to see so many…”

“It would appear the Hunter we engaged earlier sent out a distress signal prior to its defeat,” spoke Matilda as she folded her arms.

“So… you are saying this is something that could have been avoided?” asked Lorenzo as he looked at Leonce and Esther, his eyes cold.

“Correct, sir,” spoke Matilda. “They gathered here upon the Hunter’s signal since they couldn’t breach the walls of the route leading here.”

“Sir, we suggest you and the pilots get on the ship immediately. We’ll stand our ground here as best as we can while you prep the ship for lift off,” spoke the Spartan Captain as he loaded his shotgun and nodded towards the Cruxi.

“My children will get on the ship, yes, but I still need to wait for my fellow scientists… if any of them actually show. It is my duty as Head Scientist to wait and collect their data and follow through with the final protocol after all. We've all sworn an oath, and everyone on this facility knows this.” said Lorenzo.

[i]'I'm starting to see why he is in-charge of the project.' thought Zan. 'You'd have to be crazy to be in-charge of a project that uses children.' Zan watched as the Spartan Captain took up position with others, and the Spartan who did something to Drake came up to him and started talking to Drake, but Zan ignored the conversation.

“…Well then… Children, board the Izanagi and prepare yourselves for departure. There are Spartans and Omegas on the ship who will protect you, find them and stay with them. Ignore the White Framework as it does its work, and your Father will be coming shortly,” spoke Lorenzo as he indicated the massive ship before turning towards to adult males. “How’s the status of the ship?”

'So the ship's name is Izanagi.' thought Zan.

"Alright, lets get going then. Everyone on board." said Ashyln. "Before any more of you decide to do something incredibly stupid."

Zan walked up to Lorenzo, the left side of his face still twitching. He stood at attention, saluting and commented, "Sir, I would prefer to stay out here and fight, but today is not the time or place, yet. So you will be getting no argument from me, but I figure you are going to need this more then me." Zan pulled the gun out of the front of his pants and grabbed onto the barrel, handing the gun to Lorenzo with grip away from him.

[XLegs]

Katyusha didn't ignore her -- in fact, she smiled brightly and complimented Phoebe's name. Despite turning even more red from her kind words, a small smile spread across Phoebe's face as she looked away, giving a quiet 'thank you.'

Someone placed their hand on the girl's shoulder, causing her to flinch slightly. She looked timidly at the new girl, as she told her everything would be fine. Of course, Phoebe knew that the girl had no way of knowing that for sure, and was likely just saying that to put her at ease, but she appreciated the gesture immensely. Phoebe smiled at the girl and gave a quick nod, before lowering her head again as the girl addressed Katyusha as though they were old friends.

Her smile, hidden under her hood, persisted as she listened to the two of them interact. They were really kind, she felt, as both had gone out of their way to help calm her down. And they both seemed strong and confident, too, being able to think straight in this situation.

Katyusha asked Phoebe if she knew how to use the weapon she was holding, pulling out of her thoughts. "Oh, um, not really..." she answered. In response, the older girl quickly went through the basics. Phoebe really didn't want to use the gun, but she listened anyways, nodding when Katyusha was finished. "O-okay."

It was then that the two pilots who had run out of the room were thrown back in by a Spartan, bringing with them a Cruxi. Her smile faded, being replaced with muted fear as she gasped and backed away, unable to tear her eyes from the fight that had broken out between the monster and Spartans. She no longer had control of her body, her gun hanging uselessly at her side. Even if she had wanted to, she was no longer 'with it' enough to use it. A beast like that, in person and so close to her -- if it got to her, she was dead. There was nothing to be done but hope the other people in the room, those far more qualified than her, would be able to take care of it.

At some point during the scrap, she had removed her right hand from her pocket and grabbed on tightly to Katyusha's sleeve. Even after the Cruxi had been killed, she held on and simply stared at the brutally injured Spartan who had saved them. She was aware of the other Cruxi trying to get into the room too, but she didn't want to think about it, she didn't want to deal with more.

Something like a whimper escaped her throat when she realized the injured Spartan was going to die, once again to buy the pilots time. Why? From the sound of it, it seemed like more people would give their lives to see the pilots out of the facility. Why? She was useless -- she couldn't shoot a gun, she was already breaking down, she was just a weak child. Why were trained super-soldiers giving their lives for her?

Phoebe completely shut down, and was now entirely on a terrified and mournful auto-pilot, simply holding onto Katyusha and following her. Her hood fell off as they ran, though she let it be -- she hardly cared about hiding her face in the state she was in.

She barely even registered the Frameworks and the Izanagi. All she focused on was pathetically clinging to Katyusha and tuning out the rest of the world.

[BB]

The events that transpired after walking toward the corridor were quick, brutal, and eye opening. However, they had quickly began to make a dash for their escape avenue- the ship, almost as soon as possible. Her hips burned, her bones cracked, her vision blurred, her breath turned into gasps.

However, that was all irrelevant.

-Why?

Because in the end, it was all irrelevant. She had managed to hear what their "Father" had spoken of to the fellow children and the group in general. If there had been one thing she had done one thing this entire situation, it was listen. On their flight from that room, she had analyzed what that man had said and the events going on, and just like before she reached an "answer". Yes, there was no longer any time for fear- the adrenaline now flowing in her blood pushed her forward in excitement. Certainly this was not bloodlust, as she was not concerned with fighting. But she was, however, concerned with their 'situation'. She had found an answer to that.

And in doing so, she could dispel Phoebe's anxiety when they finally escaped from here. Still, taking a moment to breath at the entrance to the ship they were leaving on, something felt off. For one, a single Framework was busily loading other Frameworks and the like into their ship. Other, smaller events transpired, such as one of the girls trying to command them all, and a sporadic conversation here and there. During her run here Katyusha had taken care to at least help Phoebe along during the entire run, as she had stayed close to her the entire time. However, she hadn't taken a chance to check up on her until they had finally stopped in the docking bay, and it seemed that she was out of it. The good mood Katyusha had finally gained went away, worry replacing most of the excitement. How didn't she notice this sooner? She shouldn't have lost herself in thought so long, it was inexcusable- especially with a girl who had latched onto her for support when monsters had came.

"Phoe-" No, this wasn't a good time for something like that. Trying to snap Phoebe out of her current state while in the middle of a combat zone when a safer area was right in front of them wasn't acceptable. After resting for a few more moments she decided on what to do to ensure Phoebe and herself would make it up the ramp. Katyusha took care to gently slip Phoebe's weapon out of her hand to ensure that it may not be dropped while they made it up the ramp.

But before she did that, since they did have a few moments, she bent down and untied her boot. She used the shoe string to lift it up, grabbed it by the shaft with her free hand, and threw it with all her might at the white Framework.

....She wasn't very good at throwing things. In fact, had she been aiming at a person, it would've wildly missed. But this was a Framework, and it would at least graze it. While her accuracy was bad, her range was good because Katyusha was relatively strong for a girl of her size. It would certainly at least reach it, which was probably a feat of some praise.

"Can you get on the ship with us? Like, right now. We need to get out of this station!" Generally, bothering someone while they were doing something was a bad idea, especially an adult who knew what they were doing, but this situation was dire. Besides, everyone else seemed to be screaming constantly for no reason.

Turning back to the girl attached to her, Katyusha tried to lift her up off her feet so she could carry her up the ramp. The idol felt guilty that she hadn't noticed Phoebe's condition earlier on, and further, the girl had to surely be tired out from their run. Katyusha had pushed her far to fast and far to hard. While Phoebe seemed like a slim girl, Katyusha had pushed herself to the limit while running, and she exercised specifically to keep in top shape for her job. There was no way to say sorry to the girl right now- so this was the best she could do. Taking a moment to stop after holding her properly in a bridal style, she put Phoebe's hood over her head. This of course put a lot more weight on Katyusha's other arm, and she could feel it burning from being stretched. She was going to hurt tonight- and the morning was going to be even worse. Katyusha would be surprised if she could move when she woke up.

With Phoebe hopefully firmly held by her, she set up the ramp to join with the others and hopefully get off this soon to be debris field. She gave a nice long look at Kaila that said "please god help me if I trip or start to drop her or the pistols" without a need for words. In hindisght, perhaps losing her boot right before trying to carry someone was a bad idea after all.

[Gnar The Missing Link]

“Power source? Not a problem. Tell my Kaila to head towards...” Lorenzo had Matilda pull up a 3D map of the Izanagi before highlighting a spot that was presumably the engine room and the power room, “…here, and that she should know what to do next. If not… then, well, I’ll be there shortly, because I don’t have time to explain things right now.”

It was then that Lorenzo looked at Zan, who handed him his gun. With a slight smile, he took it before nodding towards the ship. “Thank you, Zan… I appreciate it. You should hurry though, before things get rather messy, however,” he said as he heard footsteps coming towards them.

It was at this point that a few injured Spartans and Omegas came rushing towards them with fellow scientists… although, compared to Lorenzo’s group, there was... a lesser amount of children. Lorenzo gazed over the remaining children, taking notice that they were all hurt badly; it was likely they wouldn’t last even with medical attention. He looked over the Spartans and Omegas, and noticed that they too were just as worse. Some of them were missing limbs, while others were bleeding profusely despite being bandaged. Looking at his fellow scientists, they were banged up as well… except for a few who only had a couple of shots in them.

“The children… they are hurt…” spoke Lorenzo with almost saddened eyes as he looked them over.

“We saved as many as we could and gave medication to them to alieve the pain for them… but there was a lot of Cruxi for us to handle,” murmured a Spartan as he stepped forward, removing his helmet as he began breathing heavily and wiped blood from his eye. It was obvious that he had fought hard just moments ago.

“I see… The kids are all exhausted and unconscious for the most part, correct?” asked Lorenzo, this time in a far colder tone.

“T-That’s correct sir. Why?”

“Cover their ears while they rest… all of them for me, will you?” he muttered as he took the very same weapon that Zan handed him and loaded it. Without saying a word, he watched as the Spartans and Omegas did as he asked them before walking towards them.

All the scientists watched, no one bothering to stop him as they knew what was to come.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten.

All of the shots were fired until utter silence…

Complete and dreaded silence besides for the Cruxi who were still at the force field as Lorenzo finished his task before handing the gun that Zan gave him to a nearby soldier. “I no longer have any need for this… it’s too easy to use,” he said before emotionlessly turning towards his scientists. “So… is this what is left of our order?”

“Unfortunately… it is,” muttered a female scientist who was covered in blood.
Sighing, Lorenzo looked at what was left of them, before a Spartan came forward and handed him some drives. “I was able to collect these without a problem sir… as per protocol requests.”

“Very good,” he said as he flashed the drives onto a strange amulet upon his necklace, which immediately lit them up before the drives blew to bits. “Data transferred, and drives terminated.”

“Now… for ours,” said the female scientist as she took out a gun, and as the others did. Lorenzo stepped forward as the others did as they all began to form a sort of circle. The drives around each of the scientist’s necks began to glow as they each ripped them off and flashed them towards Lorenzo’s, before a bright light signaled that data transferred was completed. Soon afterword the drives all burst, ensuring that no one else could collect the data… and leaving all the data in Lorenzo’s hand.

“The purge is almost complete,” spoke Lorenzo as he sighed, and as he pulled out his signature gun.

“That’s correct,” said a wounded scientist.

There was a long pause as the scientists braced themselves, before speaking in unison. “We stand here, facing the decision we have solemnly sworn… the demons of Humanity to make the choices no one would make. To prove ourselves in our last moments once everything has fallen and to ensure that our secrets fall into no one’s hands, we stand here, before our Father, to show him, how far we are willing to go to ensure the secrecy of this project stays…” spoke the scientists, as they slowly raised their guns and pointed it to their temples, “…we of High Charity, will fulfill our last sacred duty in the name of both Humanity and of our two Fathers to prove ourselves.”

As soon as their voices came to a close, bullets were fired.

Lorenzo closed his eyes and shook his head as he saw all of them lay limp on the floor. “Fools… all of you… None of you were the traitor…” he muttered as he placed his unfired gun to its holster. There was a clear large amount of stress building up within the Doctor, but for the most part he was holding it in. “Airick, hurry and get my little girl to the spot I showed you before I get the urge to kick something,” muttered Lorenzo with eyes filled with the urge with more than to kick. Right now, he looked as if he was about to kill the next person who was about to argue with him. “Boris… I want every available Spartan, Banshee, and Omega covering that force field until my daughter and Avacramdt finish their duties, you hear me?”

“U-Uh… Y-Yeah… Will do Lorenzo,” he said as he did as he was told, getting right on the comm-link and issuing orders to anyone in the vicinity to help.

---

“So this,” Koboro stood up strong, staring at the massive Cruxi Ship before him, “is the Cruxi’s finest, eh?”

“That ship appears to be a Dreadnaught of sorts, sir… but we can’t specifically read what power it holds. The best what we can determine is that it is meant to destroy planets…”

“So… they’ve finally brought out the big guns to start destroying strategic locations of Humanity. Alright then… prepare to fire the Red Hare! We must fire before they can make a move of their own! Divert all energy to shields and to the Red Hare!”

“What about our engines, sir?” asked a hesitant officer

“Heh, you act as if we’re going to be running away from this behemoth! Like hell we are! Use all the power we have and focus it on the shields towards the front of the ship and the Red Hare like I said damn it! This is no time to start pissing yourselves!” roared the Admiral as he pointed at the massive Cruxi’ ship that was slowly making its way towards the Yamaguchi.

All officers nodded their heads as they began to go to work. Within a matter of seconds, the large opening on the front of the Yamaguchi began to light up from the inside with red static energy. The more it filled, the brighter it became and looked like a crimson burning sun about to explode. Then, suddenly, as if in response to this, the Cruxi Dreadnaught immediately shot forward in an attempt to stop the ship’s main cannon from firing.

“Too late you… you Cruxi Bastards…! Fire!”

Everyone promptly slammed their fists against their keyboard’s enter button, giving the okay to fire the Red Hare. At that moment, a red flare-like plasma beam cloaked over the space above the facility as the Red Hare rode towards the Cruxi Dreadnaught with unbelievable speed; striking at it at the very center of it and causing a massive explosion upon contact.

Relief was on everyone’s faces… all except for Koboro who waited… and waited.

And then, it reappeared from the ashes as it slowly emerged untouched; the Cruxi Dreadnaught. Everything was thrown into that attack, but nothing was done to it. “Focus on the shields and have any anti-air defenses we have ready to shoot down whatever it is ready to throw at us. I need to talk to someone, so buy me some time,” said Koboro as he quickly patched himself through to someone.

---

Lorenzo started tapping his foot impatiently due to the situation of how things were becoming. The loud pulse he heard not too long ago confirmed that the Yamaguchi had used the Red Hare, but if it had to use that… that must have meant there was something out there that was strong enough for it to use it against. Although, chances are he would be receiving some sort of call telling him bad news.

He then heard Koboro from over the Comm-Link want to speak to him.

Nailed it.

“What is it, Koboro?” he asked, already in a foul mood. He paused as he heard what Koboro had to report in, before sighing greatly. “Fuck… I see… Hold it off then, I’ll come up with something in the meantime… but we don’t have much time. Everyone hold them-“

It was then that a loud thud echoed through the hangar. Lorenzo looked at the Avacramdt, only to see Katyusha throw her shoe at it. It was then that Lorenzo got even angrier as she asked it to board the ship with them.

The White Framework paused, before looking at her and the girl in her arms… until kneel down and grabbing both of them and taking them into the Izanagi safely. “I’m sorry, but I cannot join you yet… also… you might want your boot,” said the pilot of the White Framework; whose voice sounded like a young male as he dropped the boot on the floor. Exiting the Izanagi, and looking at the force field and then at the supplies, the Avacramdt noticed it was already done with its task. “Forgive me, Father Lorenzo, but I must disobey orders. Spartans, Omegas, Banshees, ignore Father’s orders for he’s not himself. Take our Father along with Airick and Boris and proceed to board the ship so that they may safely come up with a way to leave this facility. I will join you once a plan has been established,” spoke the pilot of Avacramdt as the blades on its arms began to light up brightly.

Breaking into a light job before running, the Avacramdt got onto all fours before immediately jumping over all of the remaining pilots, Lorenzo, Boris, Airick, and everyone else in one large leap before heading towards the damaged force field that some Cruxi were now breaking through. Two Hunters lunged themselves at the Avacramdt, but speed greater than them, it leapt up and promptly crushed their skulls with its twin blades, before moving onto the Grinder that attempted to ram into it by lifting it into the air by swiping it at its legs with its own. Decapitating the Grinder with the elbow blades, before charging at the Heavy Troopers, the Avacramdt was effectively holding off the Cruxi who was slowly breaking through the barrier on its own without any assistance.

The Spartans and the Omegas promptly took this opportunity to take the remaining children into a safe area, while they took Lorenzo, Boris, and Airick into the ship’s holo deck with Koboro and the Female Commanding Officer of the Facilty on standby to begin coming up with a plan to leave safely.

[Raijinslayer]

Drake made a slight groaning sound at Demeter's comment. They could've at least given him a pronoun to use. Fuck it, he'll just go with his first assumption of them being a girl. It was easier for him, and it wasn't like she had forbade him from doing so.

Drake was suddenly thrown from his thoughts at the sound of gunshots, turning around to see the bodies of other potential pilots on the floor, dead. He was so shocked, he couldn't even turn away as the scientists shot themselves. He allowed himself to herded into the Izanagi, barely paying attention to the white Framework ripping the Cruxi to pieces. He had wanted to scream at Lorenzo for what he had done, call him a monster, a murder, a psychopath. But he could see the weight of what the man had done, and ordered his fellow scientists to do, pressing down on him, even from a distance. Drake thought back to his actions towards the man earlier, and couldn't help but feel shame for how he had acted. It was childish, churlish, and very disrespectful to the man. He didn't know anything about Lorenzo, what he had sacrificed to be here, what he's given to give humanity a chance for survival.

As he boarded the Izanagi, he took a last look at the bodies that now lay on the floor, then at the white framework. It was taking down the Cruxi like they were nothing, but it was only a matter of time until he was overcome. Hopefully they left soon, and hopefully whoever was in the white framework would be able to come with them. He didn't want to carve the name of another fallen comrade so soon after the first. Then he realized he didn't even know the pilots name. He looked to one of the nearby Spartans who were herding them towards the Izanagi.

"What is the name of the pilot of that white framework, or am I not allowed to know that yet." The second part said in grumbling acceptance to the possibility of that being a fact, since almost everything he wanted to know he was, 9/10, classified information.

[GreenGoat]

"Hello, my name is Drake." one of the boys approached Manami, or rather, her and the greenhaired girl as well." We should probably get on the Izanagi now, as it isn't that safe out here. I was wondering if you could help me get anyone else who has yet enter the ship to hurry along, it would be mud appreciated. May I please learn your names and, for the green haired person, may please ask what gender you are, or prefer to be associated with, as I truly cannot tell."

"My gender is unimportant. Just call me Demeter."

"Ah, I'm.. I'm Tsukihime Manami." Manami spoke. "Nice to meet you, Demeter. Drake."

She followed Demeter hurriedly into the Izanagi, without a single glance backwards, even with the sound of gunfire behind her. Probably more of those Cruxi things eating people. The scary people can go die for all she cared. It was not as if she WANTED to be here and be some fetish material for some creepy guy. At least... at least there was some other person she can look to that was not suicidally intent on fighting, stupidly unaware of their own situation, or just plain stupid.

[harinezumikouken]

Whatever bravado she had regained from her anger quickly drained from her, along with the color in her face. It left when she saw the defeated expressions on the group of lab-coats gathered around the good doctor. She had seen that look before. She knew it all too well.

---

It was another moon-lit night, the lights in the house were all out as per usual. A younger Esther silently watched from the shadows, her eyes peering around the doorway into the kitchen. Her father sat at the table, not having noticed her. One of her father's handguns sat on the kitchen table in front of him, a loaded magazine next to it. From where he sat, she couldn't quite see his entire face. But, she could see enough to see the pained look in his eyes. A mixture of desperation, of loss and defeat. A man who had lost too much and couldn't handle it. A man who barely clung to life. A man backed into a corner. She could tell he was hurting. She could tell he was cold and alone.

Slowly, his bionic arm lifted and reached for the magazine to grab it. He looked it over, turning it in his artificial hands and felt its weight. The servos in his hand whirring quietly as he moved. His other hand grabbed the handgun and brought it into the light. Esther nearly gasped when she saw it. She recognized it as his favorite handgun out of all the ones they owned. It was an ancient model, back when guns relied on expanding gases from powder filled ammunition to operate. Something called a Colt Model 1911. It was a .45 caliber, if she remembered correctly. It was his favorite because it was presented to him for his valiant service in the military as a gift. More for show than anything, but still a functioning weapon. He never fired it and always kept it in its display case. It was a beautiful work of art, too. With engravings covering it and a latin phrase on its slide.

He loaded the magazine and grabbed the slide, racking it back to chamber a round. For a moment, he stared at it. He had sat there for quite some time in complete silence. Esther stood watching, curiously wondering what he was doing. With a click, he swept the manual safety off. Gently placing his finger on the trigger he then brought it up to his head. He then pressed the cold, metal end of its barrel against his temple and shutting his eyes. Eyes widening, Esther absently reached out toward him, taking a step into the kitchen. Into the moonlight through the windows.

"D-...!" was all she could squeak out.
Gasping in shock, she brought her hand back in to clasp over her mouth.
Her father opened his eyes and turned in his chair to see her standing in the doorway in her pajamas.
Tears welling in her eyes, she couldn't understand what her father was doing.
She just wanted to help him.
To understand his pain.
To maybe alleviate some of the unseen burden that he carried with him each and every day.
Her father lowered the gun and stood.
Fear gripping her from having been discovered in her spying, she spun and broke off into a sprint back to her room.

Leaping into bed, she pulled the covers over her head and curled into a ball. Her hands still glued over her mouth to prevent her from making any noise. Fat tears freely streaming from her eyes as she trembled underneath the sheets. Who was she kidding? Her father definitely saw her. She could hear his heavy footsteps and the noise of his artificial limbs moving as he stood in the doorway of her bedroom. As she shook in terror and confusion her father slowly pulled the door shut, closing it. Saying nothing to her.

Walking back to his room, he remembered he still held his gun loosely in hand. Bringing it back up to look at it, he ejected the magazine and placed it back in its display case after sweeping the manual thumb safety back on. Though, he left the single round he chambered. As Esther heard him climb into his bed, she couldn't help but ask herself, how close was she to losing her father this night?

---

But, this was different. The lab-coats squeezed the triggers to their weapons and took their own lives, one after another. Had she not intervened the many times she did with her father, would he have been able to do what these strangers did so easily? Or, so it seemed easy to her. Would she even still have a father to this day? She felt herself growing sick again. Startled from her thoughts as Avacramdt leapt over them, she watched as the Framework fended off the Cruxi that had broken through the forcefield. Whoever the pilot was, he/she fought the Cruxi well, she thought. But, with their protection crumbling around them, now wasn't the time to admire a fellow pilot's combat skills. When the soldiers came to usher them to safety, she quietly obeyed. Looking back at the forlorn Dr. Lorenzo and the dead lab-coats around him, she couldn't help but wonder if she contributed to their deaths as she did to the Spartan named Felix. She would never forget them. Any of them.

"How did they die?"
"...From my mistakes."

Just what sick Hell had she gotten herself into?

[Gnar The Missing Link]

Lorenzo, instead of following the others into the holo deck as they were escorted, simply tapped a button, locking them in the room for a short while before speaking into a mic to Boris and Airick. “Pardon me, but I’m going to need you two to stay there for a moment in order for me to get us out of this situation… and if we are to get out of here alive, you are to listen to my orders, okay?” spoke the scientist as he could hear Avacramdt fighting outside and keeping the Cruxi horde at bay. “In approximately ten minutes, this door will open, and you are to make a break for the ship’s main deck and pilot us out of here. Simple as that. In these ten minutes, I’m going to recover the Avacramdt and restore the ship’s power.”

Hitting the back of his fist against the door, Airick let out a long sigh before finally hitting the door once more, this time far harder and letting out a loud yell. How was he supposed to trust this deranged man… this damned lunatic? For now, all he could do was just wait and see what was to happen.

---

“Command unit of the L.A.D. Project, do you hear me? This is Chief Scientist Lorenzo aboard the Izanagi. I am attempting to repower the ship, but I require ten minutes to finish things up, what is the status of the facility’s defenses,” he spoke calmly… almost dully as Matilda appeared and began to help scan things.

“Lorenzo?! You’re alive?! Thank the lord you are alive,” spoke the female commanding officer from the main command unit. “There are hardly any defenses left on the facility and we have many Cruxi forces landing all over the planet causing destruction everywhere. As expected though, their main bulk of the forces are here and they are continuously closing in on your position.”

“They’re after us then.”

“It would seem so, sir! However, we have a bigger problem! The Yamaguchi is facing a might behemoth… A Cruxi Dreadnaught of sorts unlike any we have seen before.”

“Ahhh… So that is what the Red Hare was used against earlier… and why I keep hearing static from another call… Matilda, be a dear and fix it would you?” Smiling, Lorenzo waited a bit before his A.I. cleared the call, allowing Koboro to patch himself through easily.

“Finally… Lorenzo, I take it you’ve already heard from the nice lady?”

“Yes… I heard plenty, and I know what it is. That thing is here to destroy not this planet, but this entire sector... to ensure that nothing survives or escapes. They are so rare that there are only a total of three of them in the Cruxi army… but facing one now is simply stellar…” spoke Lorenzo in a sarcastic voice.

“Well then, how do we stop this thing before it can decimate this section?” asked Koboro as he looked straight at the behemoth from the screen of his ship.

Pausing in his steps, Lorenzo thought carefully, before coming up with an idea… one that he will certainly regret. “Officer,” Lorenzo’s voice was cold, “what is the status of The Vavel?”

The officer didn’t speak at first.

“Sir… you don’t mean…?”

“What is the status of The Vavel?” he asked again.

“Fully operational, sir,” spoke the male officer. “However, it alone will not be able to fully stop the Behemoth by my calculations, sir.”

Lorenzo grinned, “As I thought. Smart kid you got there, girl. Koboro, how’s your ship?”

“It’s a piece of shit, if you ask me. The Cruxi on board are still putting up one hell of a fight… but we can fire off one last Red Hare, sir, for whatever good that’ll do.”

“Prepare the Red Hare and The Vavel immediately… By using The Vavel’s accelerated energy from the core of the planet and by using up all the matter we have collected and storing it into the caliber chamber of Vavel, we are going to fire it straight into the energy chambers of the Yamaguchi as it fires the Red Hare. This will cause a chain reaction of immense energy to be fired at the Behemoth and destroy it,” spoke Lorenzo as he proceeded to the core of the ship.

“S-Sir… but… something like that would-”

“Kill every single thing on this planet and destroy the Yamaguchi,” interrupted Koboro as he stared at the Behemoth slowly closing in. “…Heh… This planet is already lost, kid. The Cruxi have taken the cities and are trying to take the facility as we speak. We need to get Lorenzo and whatever remaining pilots he has left off world… Prepare The Vavel, I’ll prepare the Red Hare immediately!”

Silence was all that could be heard as the calls went off and as Lorenzo went back to the power source room.

---

It was there that Lorenzo met up with Kaila and found her staring at a mech that had its chest wide open with a weird… spherical like crimson liquid of mighty size within it. While the Framework itself looked intimidating, and rather spooky to some who would come… especially those who would wonder down here alone… to Kaila, she would find that the machine was almost warm. It was as if it was calling to her; crying for her to come to it as if it was in deep, deep pain.

“I would let you spend more time with little Totsuka, but we have an emergency at the moment…” murmured Lorenzo as he promptly pushed Kaila forward into the Framework. “Don’t worry, I only need you inside of it for a bit until he can power himself. Totsuka is a special guy in that regard,” spoke the scientist as he watched as Kaila let out a yelp before she was flung straight into the Framework’s core. Immediately, as she entered, wires and tubes coiled around her and pressed her down into a chair as she was submerged in a liquid of sorts without drowning and as the chest piece of the Framework sealed shut.

The Totsuka lit up and Kaila could see through the eyes of the Framework… but she couldn’t move, for the Framework itself was trapped powering the ship. Then, suddenly, all the lights on the ship began to awaken before the wires on Kaila began to tighten a bit.

“Relax girl, try to get accustomed to your Framework for a bit and once it’s done… doing whatever to you and you tame it, do get out of it and get something to eat,” muttered Lorenzo as he headed back towards his second secretive goal.

---

As he headed towards the hangars, he ran into Demeter who just came out of their room. “Ah, hello Demeter… Not quite the kind of pilot I was looking for, but I suppose you will have to do.”

They gave the doctor a strange look, before a sharp sound echoed through the hall. Demeter’s face widen a bit before looking down at their stomach, only to see a strange spike impaled into their side. Forcing themselves to stand with their trail of thoughts going utterly blank, the doctor promptly grabbed them by the arm and forced Demeter to follow despite bleeding.

“Sorry for the spike, but it beats having a gaping hole in you. Oh, I know it does hurt, but I right now, I need you to be hurting for us to survive, Demeter… I don’t like doing this to my children, but I need you in this state now more than ever, you hear me?” Demeter didn’t answer, instead just being dragged by the doctor. “Right… you probably can’t, the drugs in this are probably making you a bit loopy… Anyway, you aren’t going to… well, bleed out… I hope, but you will be in a bit of a bad state.”

Still dragging the drugged and shot Demeter, Lorenzo finally arrived at Anu. “Now… Allow me to explain a bit dear Demeter, these Frameworks… they are different. They are living beings,” he said as he gently lifted up Demeter and placed them next to the mech, “they are… sentient. These Frameworks, upon knowing that their pilots are in danger, is believed to enter a state that many call Berserk, but truth be told, the Berserk state is one that no one but I have seen. The truth is, the state that the Frameworks enter when their pilots are in physical or mental danger is called Defiant… and now that I think about it, you are the perfect candidate. Allow me… to tell you the truth, behind the Frameworks, Demeter.”

Pulling back their hair, Lorenzo whispered the dark truth behind the creation of the Frameworks… and the truth behind the Anu. After a while, Lorenzo just took a step back and watched as Demeter took it all in.

Tears were what streamed down their face first… before a scream. A loud agonizing scream as they turned towards Lorenzo and tried to punch him, but the drugs simply caused them to fall to the floor. Yelling… crying… and more screaming was all that could be heard from Demeter.
“Why?!”

“For humanity,” he said in response to their question before grabbing them as the mech opened their chest… revealing a crimson liquid sphere.

“NO!” shouted Demeter as they bit down hard upon Lorenzo’s hand before he threw them into the mech that promptly grabbed them with wires and tubes.

“I’m sorry…” spoke Lorenzo as he took steps back before pointing outside. “Anu, retrieve the Avacramdt, they’re getting surrounded. We’re leaving now”

The Anu let out a horrendous noise before it began to move against Demeter’s will, all the while as they screamed inside before the Framework quickly ran out to get the Avacramdt.

“Lorenzo here, status on The Vavel and the Red Hare?”

“Both are ready to go, sir… we are ready to fire on your mark.”

It was then at that moment that the engines began to fire up, and Lorenzo knew that his time was up. Gritting his teeth, he knew he had to go with his plan now or else everything will fail.

“Fire!”

---

The Vavel slowly emerged itself from behind the Facility. A massive rod-like cannon that looked as if it could have taken out the enemy fleet itself. Though, the reason it wasn’t used was because it would have eliminated the facility as well as a prototype weapon.

The already charged superweapon was waiting for the Yamaguchi to get in position, for Lorenzo’s plan, as stupid as it sounded, had some leeway. The Yamaguchi’s energy cells that are located near the rear end are far more powerful than any other ship, and by firing the Red Hare, a thin and precise beam at the right time, the Yamaguchi’s Red Hare will be unstoppable with The Vavel behind it!

“Lorenzo! Hurry, the Behemoth is getting closer… and we’re about to fire with your crazy plan! If you’re not in the air you might be caught in the blast!” roared Koboro as he shouted at the doctor.

“I said ‘fire’ didn’t I? So fire! We don’t have time to dilly-dad!”

“Damn it… Alright! Everyone… FIRE!”

“FIRE!”

“FIRE!”

“Firing The Vavel… NOW!” shouted the male officer with a bright smile as he slammed the palm of his hand onto the keyboard… right as a Cruxi Grinder broke through the door into the command center.

At that moment, the Defiant Anu destroyed two Cruxi Grinders and a Hunter, before grabbing onto Avacramdt by the arm and throwing them towards the Izanagi. Running towards them, the Anu followed behind before Avacramdt and its pilot took that as a sign to get back to the ship.

The Mighty Vavel cannon began to twirl as the rods heated up… as the dark matter around them began to gather and as energy from the planet’s core fueled its riveting power…. Before suddenly, a violet kind of matter started to form between the two rods.

Anu and Avacramdt continued running as the Izanagi began to take flight, with the Avacramdt hopping on the ship and looking back towards the rampaging Anu, who had a few Cruxi on it. Kill them swiftly with beams, it proceeded to run to the ship and hop on it, but was quickly pulled down by a pair of Hunters.

Outside, Vavel’s twin barrels were spinning faster… the rods turning pure scarlet as crimson energy began to flow into the violet matter… almost as if a star was being born on that very planet to be used as a weapon. In response to this, the massive Cruxi Behemoth let out a large screeching sound that was deafening, before it began to spin as a dark crimson light start to form from its center.

“Ah shit… “murmured Koboro with gritted teeth.

The Avacramdt promptly jumped down and decimated the twin Hunters before placing the Anu on its shoulders and hoping onto the Izanagi one final time before the hangars closed. Immediately, Lorenzo took a now unconscious Demeter out from Anu before nodding to Avacramdt and then before taking her to the medic bay.

And in that moment, the ship took off as fast as it could.

Things moved around a bit, but nothing was heavily damaged. Nonetheless, those who wanted to, could probably see outside what happened next…

The large weapon Vavel fired it’s crimson-violet energy star straight into the rear of the Yamaguchi… but in doing so, the moment it did, the recoil of it destroyed not only the superweapon, but also the facility, and that face of the planet.

However, thanks to the timing, it only lasted for a mere instant, for the Red Hare’s firing caused the Star to be absorbed into the Yamaguchi’s energy supply, causing a mass overload soon after the Red Hare’s firing; however it was able to empower to the Red Hare as it fired to give it a massive boost as it pierced straight through the Cruxi Behemoth’s attempt to stop Vavel’s firing.

However... none of this was Lorenzo’s true goal.
His true, true goal, was to cause a chain reaction with the planet’s core along with the destruction of everything else and to replicate the explosion of a miniature big bang… and with the destruction and chain reaction of all that has happened in the time frame of less than a few seconds, and the hundreds upon thousands of millions of highly volatile resources on the planet can make that happen.

As Airick led the ship as fast as he could… a massive catastrophic wave of destruction soon boomed the back of the ship, causing it to spur and whirl out of control; flying out of course as the planet… the Yamaguchi… and the Behemoth were all destroyed behind them.

---

For a while… the ship just drifted, and everyone just assumed they were dead, wondering how they survived, or if something decided to spare them for some odd reason. Though, for some, they believed it was because of the explosions giving their ship an extra boost for them to escape. Anyway, many of the crew were in disbelief.

“Everyone… we’re free from danger. Demeter is hurt so please let them recover… otherwise, feel free to go about and do things however you want for now. There’s a Mess Hall, Training Room, yadda yadda… yadda… you get the jist… Just don’t anywhere that you’re not supposed to,” spoke Lorenzo on the intercom as he patted Demeter on the head from the Med-Bay before leaving them to the Doctor there.

“Airick, I take it you’ll want to talk to me, eh?” spoke Lorenzo to Airick via his ear-piece.