Super Robot Wars SV: An End to Eternity

GilliamYaeger · Jul 18, 2016

Earth, 2053 AD. The year the old world could be said to have truly ended.

The exhaustion of natural resources. Environmental pollution and the melting of the ice caps. Overpopulation, and growing extremism among the marginalized populaces of the world. The world economy straining and buckling under the bloated weight of the world. It was only a matter of time before the established world order lost control, and the violence gripping the Earth Sphere exploded into World War Three.

Terrified of the destruction it had wrought, mankind sought to end the fighting through the unification of all nations, and all peoples. Thus, from the ashes of the greatest human-on-human war in known history, the world order that has stood until this very day arose. The United Earth Federation, with dominion over all governance, all economics, and all military matters, promised a new golden age for mankind as it stood truly united for the first time in its history.

The Federation sought to mend the scars of the old war through the colonization of a new frontier - space. The construction of the space colonies begun decades earlier was completed, and millions of people were moved into space, greatly relieving the issues of overpopulation still plaguing the planet. This was the new era they called the Universal Century, and drawing its strength from the quantum leaps in the fields of physics and energy achieved during the war, mankind catapulted itself farther out than it had ever been before. The Lagrange Points, the Moon, Mars, even as far out as Jupiter...

Space was not just the new frontier, but an ocean of hope. Numerous asteroid cities and space colonies were constructed in an astoundingly short span. The beginning of the Universal Century calendar, with the influence of mankind extending all the way to the orbit of Jupiter, could be called Earth's honeymoon with Space.

However...Like all honeymoons, this could not last.

It is the nature of mankind to form tribes, and hate the 'other'. While there were (supposedly) no more borders on Earth itself to fuel prejudice, there was one that separated the 'haves' from the 'have-nots'. Those who were moved into the space colonies gradually came to be seen as second-class citizens compared to those who remained on Earth, derisively named 'Spacenoids'. Fourteen years ago, in the year UC0079, these biases blossomed into outright hatred when the Spacenoid nation of Zeon declared independence and launched an invasion of Earth, starting what would go down in history as the One Year War.

This conflict was a new paradigm in human warfare. While giant fighting robots were no alien concept by this time, super robots such as Getter Robo, Tetsujin 28, Energer Z and Giant Robo having proved their worth in the decades prior, this was the first time that the mass produced mecha known as Mobile Suits were used in actual war. With their armies of Zaku IIs, Zeon steamrolled the inferior UEFA forces, and their threat was only compounded by the legendary Big Boss turning traitor to the UEF to form his sanctuary known as Outer Heaven in unity with Zeon.

Then, with the worst possible timing, the powerful, nigh-unstoppable and completely inhuman entities known as Angels suddenly attacked Japan's Tokyo-3. While this was not humanity's first encounter with aliens (the shapeshifting Invaders having attacked the moon several years prior), this was the first encounter with aliens they could not communicate with in any way. The only weapons capable of fighting these Angels were NERV's super robots, the 40 meter tall psychic titans known as Evangelions. NERV had apparently been preparing for this ever since Second Impact, the mysterious world-wide disaster that occurred 15 years beforehand. If the Angels weren't bad enough the Invaders also returned, despite having been seemingly eradicated in the Moon Wars years prior.

Contact with Mars was also lost shortly before the invasion of Zeon, but this matter was quickly dismissed by the UEF government in favor of the direct dangers facing the Earth Sphere.

Facing this unprecedented crisis, the Earth Sphere looked to be on the path to absolute destruction until one man intervened. The billionaire philanthropist Kouzou Hadou stepped forward, proposing the formation of a special unit made up of the most powerful robots available to mankind to combat the various threats they faced. Bringing together the prototype UEFA mobile suit codenamed Gundam along with its support ship the White Base, NERV's three operational Evangelion units, the legendary Getter Robo (despite its pilot Ryouma Nagare being in prison beforehand), Energer Z, the mysterious mechanized knight Talisman, and his own Deus Machina Demonbane in conjunction with a dozen other super robots, Kouzou Hadou's Hokuten Irregulars saw their first outing as a single unit.

Nobody could have possibly known that this would be the beginning of humanity's slow demise.

The Irregulars proved invincible in combat, crushing one foe after another. Zeon was pushed back into space, and eventually routed for good at the orbital fortress A Baoa Qu. Zeruel, the mightiest Angel since their first appearance, fell at the hands of Ryouma Nagare and the Getter Robo. The Bardoz Island incident, where Doctor Hell sought to awaken an army of ancient super robots to wage his own war on the world, was resolved quickly and without any major issue, the island itself being sunk beneath the waves. And no matter how fierce their attack, the Invaders failed to make a dent in humanity, being eradicated wherever they arose.

Things were going so well...until that fateful day, when Professor Saotome revealed himself to be alive. Thought to have been murdered years ago by Ryouma Nagare, the creator of Getter Robo was indeed very much alive - and completely insane. Having built a titanic monster he called Shin Dragon, and backed up by an army of superior G model Getter Robos, he declared his intent to destroy the world. With the UEFA depleted by the One Year War, the Hokuten Irregulars were the only thing standing between Saotome and humanity's extinction.

But...they were not up to the task. Even with the all-powerful Shin Getter Robo, salvaged from Japan's abandoned Saotome Laboratories, humanity's mightiest robot corps found themselves forced back by Saotome's army. Even as they cut down Getter G's in droves, Shin Dragon itself proved too powerful for them to face. It was only after Saotome's monster consumed Evangelion-00, Saotome seeking whatever arcane force powered the machine for his own use, that the tide turned.

Shinji Ikari, pilot of Evangelion-01, flew into a rage. Under his control his machine broke past its previously established limits and, for a brief time, became a God. With its newfound power it went head to head with Shin Dragon, and where the entire Hokuten Irregular unit as a whole had failed it alone succeeded. When Eva-01's arm was ripped off, it used its AT Field to instantly construct a new one made from pure energy. If Shin Dragon tried to vaporize its foe with its mighty Getter Beam, Eva-01 shredded the gigantic laser with a razor-thin beam of light from its eyes. And when Shin Dragon groaned in agony, Eva-01 roared in triumph.

But all power has its price, and this price was heavy indeed. Its not quite known what happened when Eva-01 struck the final blow, as none present could fully comprehend what they were seeing, but the effects were felt all across the planet. The oceans and skies were dyed blood red. Cities crumbled and fell as earthquakes devastated entire continents. People spontaneously turned into puddles of orange goo, and empty suits of clothing littered the streets.

Thus did Kashgar become ground-zero to the beginning of the end of all life on Earth. This was Near-Third Impact (N-TI), initiated by Eva-01 exceeding its mortal limitations. And, just as suddenly as it started, it stopped.

In the aftermath, the battered and broken Hokuten Irregulars were disbanded. Many of their number had been killed or just outright vanished during that final confrontation with Shin Dragon. Humanity thought that, with the One Year War over, it was safe...But it wouldn't be too long before everyone understood the real consequences of Near-Third Impact (N-TI).

A mere week after, innumerable monsters surged across Asia. The Invaders were an old foe, but there were more - entirely new threats, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. The BETA, a seemingly-endless endless horde of hideous monsters that consumed all they passed over like a plague of giant locusts and adapted to any tactics used against them exactly 17 days later, and the Festum, golden angelic beings that assimilated anything they came into contact with and read the minds of their foes. Together with the Invaders, somehow more numerous than ever before, these new threats proved too much for the forces of Earth to handle.

As the world was rocked by this unprecedented danger, people couldn't help but wonder where these monsters had come from. By all accounts, they had just appeared out of nowhere. Eventually, though, their origin became clear - Kashgar. The Near-Third Impact initiated by Shinji Ikari had somehow empowered the Invaders, and pulled the BETA and Festum into our reality. As a testament to this truth, a colossal structure now stood at the site of the Hokuten Irregular's battle with Shin Dragon. This was the first of many massive Hives that the BETA would construct across the world over the next decade and a half.

While there were some who thought something was wrong with this explanation, citing the loss of communication with Mars before the One Year War as evidence, they were quickly silenced. After all, it was much more convenient for certain powers that be to lay all the blame at one boy's feet than to investigate what had happened to some Spacenoids a years travel away from Earth. (As it eventually turned out, the planet was overrun by the BETA.)

A mere three years after N-TI, the entirety of Asia and a chunk of Europe was overrun by the alien menace. The once fertile plains of the lands occupied by the invaders were consumed by the hordes and reduced to barren, lifeless wasteland, the people that once lived there either eaten alive by Invaders and BETA or turned into green crystal and assimilated by the Festum.

While making a valiant effort to hold back the aliens, the mass produced machines of the UEFA were just not enough. In order to combat this triple threat, a new type of army was needed. One made up of the greatest weapons known to mankind - Super Robots. The Super Robot Army, as it was succinctly called, sought to emulate the success of the Hokuten Irregulars on a much larger scale, with individual abilities and powers so varied that the BETA would be unable to fully adapt, stationed in headquarters called Shatterdomes all across the world. A call was sent out for robots, pilots, scientists, anyone and anything the UEFA could get their hands on, and absolute authority over the organization was handed to the ex-Getter pilot Hayato Jin.

While the Super Robot Army made valiant efforts, even with backup by more conventional UEFA forces they were unable to stop the alien advance completely. The Festum were able to read the pilots minds and assimilate them through their machines, the Invaders were nearly unstoppable and would not stay dead, and the BETA's sheer numbers would eventually wear down even the most invincible of Super Robots.

Things got worse when the BETA finally developed a genuine adaptation to the Super Robot Army - Category 3 BETA, which possessed unique gimmicks similar to the Super Robots themselves, and the dreaded Category 4 BETA, by far the largest living creatures to ever walk the Earth. While the Category 3 and 4 type BETA were relatively rare, they were all completely unique beings that required their own tactics to take down, and it wasn't surprising to see dozens of brave pilots die every time one stepped onto a battlefield. The BETA had turned humanity's strategy against it.

Soon enough, however, mankind would regain their advantage. The development of Drift technology, which allowed two compatible pilots to synch their brainwaves, was one of the key factors behind the creation of two entirely new classes of Super Robot. The titanic Jaeger-class robots, which at eighty meters each were by far the largest fighting machines created by man, easily capable of matching a Category 4 BETA in single combat, and the significantly smaller God-class robots, capable of separating into two individual units while maintaining a Drift over long distances, and when combined were some of the most powerful Super Robots since the founding of the Super Robot Army. However, despite the advantages of the Drift system, only a handful of people on the planet were Drift-compatible, and only a fraction of those were made of stern enough stuff to pilot a Super Robot.

But despite this good news, not all was well in the Super Robot Army. Not only were they constantly taking losses from alien raids, but now there were deserters and traitors, taking their mechs with them into the Asian badlands to form gangs and their own little kingdoms, returning only to raid the outside world for supplies and slaves. Unlike the Super Robot Army loyalists, who had to protect the entirety of civilization from the invaders, these outlaws and warlords were able to survive by constantly moving around and fighting the occasional skirmish against the aliens to protect their little fiefdoms. Like this, they could survive fairly reliably - but it was a lifestyle that only the hardy (and slightly insane) men and women who piloted Super Robots in the first place could truly thrive in. Worse, there are rumors that some of the outlaws and traitors have made pacts with the aliens themselves, essentially selling their souls to humanity's enemies in exchange for power and safety.

Between these traitors, the constant advances by the alien menace whose control now spread from the shores of Normandy all the way to Japan, continuing tensions between Earth and the colonies, and several poorly-timed terrorist attacks (most notably Operation Stardust, in which the nuclear-armed mobile weapons GP-02 and Metal Gear Rex were stolen by anti-Federation rebels), the Federation slowly turned from a slightly corrupt and complacent bureaucracy into a totalitarian police state. This decline into dictatorship ended with the formation of the Titans special forces unit, who soon usurped nearly all authority over the world from the Federation.

Everything came to a head in UC0089, when three separate forces announced their intentions to take over the world. Revolver Ocelot declared that he was inheriting the will of Big Boss as much of the world's military systems effortlessly fell under his control thanks to years of trickery. The Katou Organization, a shadow long-rumored to be a force in international politics throughout history, publicly revealed both itself and its ambition, their words backed by the super advanced mecha known as Machina and Arma. And worst of all, the infamous Doctor Hell returned with the very same army of ancient robots from Bardoz Island he had tried to command a decade ago, fully intent on conquering the entire free world.

It seemed like Earth was doomed. Between the constant threat of alien attack, the tyranny of the Titans, traitorous and violent outlaws and three separate human forces vying for world conquest, things looked hopeless. The world needed a hero that could stand against these evils to fight for justice and the common man!

That man was, once again, the billionaire Kouzou Hadou. Under his command, the Hokuten Irregulars were formed for a second time, more powerful than ever before. Unlike last time, entire organizations flocked under the Hadou Corporation's banner of justice. The Anti Earth Union Group, made up of veteran pilots from the UEFA most notably including Bright Noa, Amuro Ray, and newcomers Kamille Bidan and Quattro Bajeena. The Evangelions of NERV, their veteran pilots eternal children thanks to the Curse of Eva. JUDA Corporation, which was seemingly a medical goods producer but had in fact been collecting Machina in secret to face off against the Katou Organization. The unsinkable fortress of steel Mazinger Z, the successor to Energer Z that was piloted by Tetsuya Tsurugi's nephew Kouji Kabuto, and backed up by the brave heroes of the Photonic Labs. Dozens of Super Robots from the Super Robot Army, including the Jaeger-class Gypsy Danger and the God-classes Godannar and Club Mariner. The advanced Anti-Festum Fafner units of ALVIS and Tatsumiya Island, which had previously been only a rumor and whose technology allowed all pilots to be shielded from Festum mind reading. And finally the legendary soldier Solid Snake himself, aged significantly before his time by a genetic virus he refused to elaborate on.

The Titans were broken up by force, their remnants scattering to the four winds and the Earth Sphere forever free of their evil. Countless aliens died by the Irregulars hands, and for the first time in history a BETA hive (in Yokoshima, Japan) was captured. The Festum's largest Mir (hive-mind crystal for the laymen) in the Arctic was destroyed. Revolver Ocelot's rebellion was ended personally by Solid Snake, and the Katou Organization surrendered and combined its forces with the JUDA Corporation to fight for a common purpose.

But even as old threats were ended, new ones arose. The long shadow of SEELE and the truth behind NERV was revealed by Revolver Ocelot in his final moments, Haman Karn's Neo Zeon returned to the Earth Sphere to continue the bloodshed of the One Year War, and the mysterious Human-Machina began their invasion of Earth from their base inside the moon. Neo Zeon was dealt with without much of note, but when the Hokuten Irregulars made an attempt at invading the hollow inside of the moon, the source of the Human-Machina raids that had been plaguing the world, JUDA's Koichi Hayase and his Linebarrel vanished. Without him, a proper counterattack against the Human-Machina was impossible.

With that first failure as the catalyst, disaster after disaster struck the Hokuten Irregulars.

A Festum assault on Tatsumiya Island resulted in the kidnapping and eventual assimilation of Alvis tactical coordinator Soushi Minashiro, who seemingly perished despite being recovered from the Arctic Mir. The legendary Kouzou Hadou, THE core financier of the paramilitary organization and widely seen as the heart of the group, was brutally murdered by the enigmatic Master Therion, leader of the Black Lodge. Kamille Bidan was rendered comatose in a final duel with Titans leader Paptimus Scirocco, though he made a full recovery two years later, and Lieutenant Quattro (much more famously known as Zeon ace pilot Char Aznable) suddenly vanished afterwards. The Super Robot Army detachment was devastated in a desperate battle to protect the Japanese coast from the BETA. And finally, the group was forced to retreat in the face of Doctor Hell's seemingly endless army of Mecha Beasts, his invasion of Japan only stopped when a desperate last ditch effort by the Photonic Labs crew erected an invincible Photonic Barrier around a huge chunk of the nation, a barrier which remains active to this day.

The result of the Battle of Japan was the final blow to a group already fractured by various internal disputes. The Photonic Labs team and the JUDA-Katou conglomerate remained unified as they stayed behind to protect Japan from the forces seeking its destruction, but the rest of the once-invincible unit scattered to the four winds. The Tatsumiya Island forces returned home for good. Most of NERV's staff defected to form WILLE after Revolver Ocelot's revelations and struck off on their own to hunt down SEELE. The AEUG was reintegrated into the Federation military as an autonomous unit named Londo Bell. The various independent forces that had gathered under the Hokuten flag went back to their lives from before.

The dream was over. While the second formation of the Hokuten Irregular unit didn't end in a Fourth Impact, this final falling out made it almost unthinkable that the group would ever reunite...

In the beginning, the United Earth Federation was a thing of glory. In the wake of the third World War, all peoples united under a single flag, a show of unity that was a stark contrast to the greatest war in history. Together they colonized the stars, making their way out as far as Jupiter, and the revolutions in energy and technology achieved during the war allowed everyone to live in relative comfort. Truly, it was a golden age for all mankind.

Of course, nothing good lasts forever, and the evil in mens hearts will always corrupt good intentions. As the years went by, the Federation changed from a symbol of benevolence into something darker, most strongly expressed in growing prejudice against those who lived in space, dubbed Spacenoids. But even as the principles behind its founding were compromised, the Federation itself stood strong.

...Until first real threat to its power came in UC0079. Fed up with discrimination by those on Earth against the people of the space colonies, the Republic of Zeon launched a large-scale invasion of the planet, aided in their efforts most prominently by the traitor, Big Boss. At the same time, the alien monstrosities known as the Angels began their attack on the world, while another alien race called the Invaders made a resurgence, aiming to supplant humanity as the dominant species on Earth.

Under the banner of the Hokuten Irregulars, the world's strongest fighting robots gathered to fight against those who would destroy peace. The Zabi family was destroyed, and the remnants of Zeon driven back to the Axis asteroid colony. Big Boss was killed after attempting a second insurrection in Zanzibar Land, his Metal Gear. Zeruel, strongest among the Angels, was torn to pieces by Getter Robo. And on Bardoz Island, the dark secret found by Doctor Hell was sunk beneath the waves.

But, when Professor Saotome revealed himself to be alive and armed with the incredibly powerful Shin Dragon, the ensuing battle set the stage for the coming end. Shinji Ikari, pushing his Evangelion beyond its limits, unwittingly ushered in the apocalypse. From the gates that should not have been opened, two new threats to the world surged through - the angelic Festum and the endless BETA. Together with the Invaders, who were empowered by the energies of Near-Third Impact, they swarmed across Asia and Europe like a plague, leaving it lifeless and barren.

In a few short years, the world was irrevocably changed and humanity was set on a surefire course for extinction.

Now, it is UC0093.

Fourteen years after the apocalypse began, it will end. Humanity is being pushed to the brink, and things continue to get worse.

Not even a century since it was founded, the once proud Federation has grown stagnant and rotten to the core, even though the tyranny of the Titans has been ended forever. The entirety of Europe and Asia is overrun with uncountable hordes of BETA, Invaders and Festum as well as lawless gangs of mech-piloting bandits, all of which threaten to expand their reach across the entire world. The Super Robot Army that stands against the alien menace finds its funding slowly cut down as the United Earth Federation pours their efforts into building a great wall to keep the monsters out rather than fight them directly, while independent paramilitary organizations steal the work out from under their noses thanks to the newly developed Unmanned Gear technology.

For three whole years Japan has been suffering under siege by the endless armies of the evil Doctor Hell, and once it falls he shall use the true power of Photon Energy to destroy what's left of civilization. And in America, one of the few nations relatively untouched by the chaos that wracks the world, lurks an evil more insidious than any mankind has ever known. The tattered remnants of NERV lurk in the shadows, as those fancying themselves puppeteers enter the final stages of their mad plan. Londo Bell find themselves falling into disfavor with the Federation government, who secretly plan to dispose of them. And whatever hope lies in space will soon be crushed as one man leads the cast away dregs of mankind on an apocalyptic crusade to avenge grievous wrongs.

As the terrible pieces fall into place, the only heroes that could stand against the coming end will perish alone, one by one.

The white devil who fights for a better tomorrow, undefeated until he dies. His sacrifice, while brave, is more pointless than he can comprehend.

AMURO RAY

The corpse hero that marches to war, bolstered by the cheers of the protected. His courage cannot hold against the darkness he unwittingly carries with him.

KOUJI KABUTO

The forgotten legend that stands on the moon, a clock that has just restarted. No matter how mighty his spirit, one man alone cannot fight fate.

RYOUMA NAGARE

The lost child who drifts alone, a frozen clock that hasn't moved in fourteen years. When he wakes, he shall finish what he started all those years ago.

SHINJI IKARI

The tormented and damned that walk with the last hero of the old world. They will never escape the cycle of rebirth and damnation that has them in its clutches.

DEATH CAPRICE

The ally of justice who is no longer in this world. Even if he should return, a mere figurehead can do nothing to change the coming end.

KOICHI HAYASE

The sorcerer in white that bears an innocent sword against absolute evil. It will shatter and fade against the eternal darkness, falling back to earth only so it can fail once more.

KUROU DAIJUJI

The godslayer who lives a simple life, secure in the knowledge that his terrible blade sealed away. In the end it will drag him back to consume him utterly, and with him so too dies hope for lasting peace.

KAZUKI MAKABE

The lovers that are doomed to return to the battlefield. Even though they have sworn a vow to be together forever, the trickery of their ancient enemy will see them torn apart.

GOH AND ANNA SARUWATARI

The lone swordslinger that stumbles into destiny, secure in his invincibility. His efforts change nothing, because he can have no purpose beyond revenge.

VAN OF THE DAWN

The child saviour who opens his eyes, and remembers everything and nothing. His reliance on the blind will forever doom his efforts to failure.

TAKERU SHIROGANE

The lightning blade that cuts down all in his path in a vain attempt at understanding. Wandering through the darkness, he will never know the true scope of the forces arrayed against him.

RAIDEN

And the time traveller who finally awakens to face another cycle of bloodshed. Infinite paths spread out before them, filled with infinite life and infinite death, but they must surely know that each can only end in oblivion?

One year is all they have.

One year is all you have to save the world.

SUPER ROBOT WARS SV: AN END TO ETERNITY

-----

...Unknown time, unknown location.

In the darkened heart of a slumbering beast, systems long-dead slowly crackle back to life. As various displays and control panels light up, two forms can be seen, slumped over in the cockpit's two seats...

Character customization:

Main character:
A mysterious warrior who has awoken to face another iteration of the time loop they're seemingly trapped in. Their memories are hazy and scrambled, and instead of remembering the past and knowing nothing of the future like normal people, they only remember disjointed tales of what's to come while their past is an absolute mystery. As the pilot of a Machina, their physical capabilities are far above the norm.

[] Name
[] Gender
[] Portrait?
[] Pilot style (pick one)
-[] Martial Artist

You are the bestest at fight. On foot or in mech, with a blade in hand (or even just bare hands) you are capable of taking on any foe imaginable - a useful skill in a world where the proliferation cyborg technology means melee weapons are coming back into style, and powerful enemies lurk around every corner. However, you are impossibly ungifted with projectile weaponry, meaning that you'll need someone else to shoot for you. Luckily, you have a competent copilot.

-[] Sorcerer

As you wake, the answers to age-old arcane mysteries float from your subconscious. You are skilled in the esoteric arts of magic, capable of using a Grimoire to make reality your bitch (though the ways in which you can make it your bitch depends greatly on your Grimoire). While you are not as skilled as you could be in a mech, you're good enough, and your superior understanding of your signature machines inner workings means that you can make it perform to its utmost potential.

-[] Ace Pilot

You are skilled at all aspects of mech combat - from fighting and moving to repairs and modification. You are capable of making any machine you hop into perform at their full potential, and are equally skilled at gunplay and close quarters combat. However, despite being one of the most talented pilots on the planet, outside of a machine you are only a mere mortal (well, as mortal as any Machina pilot can be). You may or may not have a penchant for masks and/or goggles.

Partner character:
The loyal servant and companion of the protagonist, a lost soul possessing the body of a mindless Artificial Grimoire. Their true identity is the animating intelligence (or soul) of the powerful war machine the duo pilot together, which is incapable of functioning properly without their presence.

[] Partner Name
[] Partner Gender
[] Partner Portrait?

Mecha:
The impossible Super Robot that is both Machina and Deus Machina, this thirty meter tall mech represents technology and magic coming together as a seamless whole. Physically imposing with its bulky-yet-sleek black armor, the design of its head, the talons on its feet and the nine prehensile cable 'tails' emerging from the base of its spine clearly evoke the image of a bipedal predator. Wielding a magic sword of moonlight and bearing an electrifying touch, this machine is clearly geared for melee combat, though it can carry ranged weaponry in its calf-mounted storage compartments. If its soul was returned to its body, then its true powers would be unveiled, though it is unlikely that body and soul could ever be separated again.

[] Mech Name (Default: Pantheon)

[] Initial calf storage contents:
-[] Long-range beam rifle (stored in two halves and quickly assembled when used)
-[] Twin beam carbines (mid range, accurate)
-[] Twin solid round revolvers (mid-short range, powerful, carry up to three reloads per gun)
-[] One beam carbine, one revolver

A/N: Whew, finally got this out there. Well this has certainly been a while in the making, as you can probably tell by the 4000 word wall of text hidden behind that spoiler up top. Anyway, welcome at another attempt at running a Super Robot Wars Quest on Sufficient Velocity! Hopefully we'll manage to make it through a few battles and whatnot before I get bored and wander off .

So the central concept of this Quest, other than a supreme clusterfuck of a giant robot crossover, is time travel, which basically effects the quest in two major ways. First, meta-knowledge is free game. Just like a certain bratty savior, this is supposedly not your first time doing this, but unfortunately your memories of the future are nowhere near as clear as his. Basically, any information you can gleam from the source material is perfectly usable in-character, though I'll warn you here and now that series interaction may render some information...inaccurate, to say the least. Second, whenever and however you die, you'll be given a choice: To restart from a little bit back, or to go all the way back to the very first choice. Why would you ever want to do this, you ask?

Well, you'll probably work it out next update, but I'll give you a hint right now: We're using something similar to UX's secret system - by which I mean 'secrets' gained in one playthrough are kept in others. So if you save the life of someone who was supposed to die in one location they'll stay saved, even if you're on the other side of the world when they're meant to die. How does this work? That'd be telling. Oh, and don't think that 'secrets' will be limited to just saving lives - if you do things that impress me enough, some rather crazy stuff can happen. For instance, people supposedly long-dead turning up in the strangest places, or the chance to recruit characters that aren't even from the Quests series list! Also, VOL-TEKKU!

Speaking of which, I wonder if anyone can guess everything that's being used in this Quest?

To make things more pleasant for everyone involved when this aspect of the Quest comes into play, I'll probably end up skipping over things you've done before when you decide to restart, if you don't want to try and change things. So don't worry about slogging through a dozen repeating updates of shit you've already seen just to get to a certain segment, I'll do my best to avoid that. Though things might get complicated if you decide to shake things up enough.

GilliamYaeger · Jul 18, 2016

Stats:
Melee: 2+1
Ranged: 3+1
Defence: 4+1
Skill: 1+1
Maneuvering: 2+1
Accuracy: 3+1

Ablities:
??? L1 - Upon dying, can travel back in time.
Memory error L4 - Reduces stats and abilities according to level.
Commander - Capable of effectively leading a squad.
Independent Action - Capable of acting alone without significant penalty.
Sorcerer L7 - Increases power of magic according to level. Can read Grimoires. Can forge a bond with unowned Grimoires. Can use Grimoires to cast spells. Can get a general sense of a Grimoire's abilities through physical contact. Can instinctively detect magic. Can increase or decrease the power of spells.
Ultra High Speed Divine Words - Significantly lowers casting time for magic.
Factor - Physical abilities increased significantly. Rapidly regenerate wounds.

Stats:
N/A

Abilities:
Artificial Grimoire L9 - Increase magical capacity of piloted Deus Machina according to level. Can cast spells on their spell list. Bonded Sorcerer can cast spells on their spell list.
Memory error L4 - Reduces stats and abilities according to level.
Factor - Physical abilities increased significantly. Rapidly regenerate wounds.
Unison - As a subpilot, grants a one star boost to the stats of Makise.
Wild Shape - Can change form to a small fox.

Spells:
Moonlight Sword: Summons the magic artifact, Moonlight Sword.
Pantheon: Summons the Deus Machina, Pantheon.
Mage Hand: Weak telekinesis.
Dancing Lights: Creates torches or other lights.
Detect Magic: Detects spells and magic items within range.
Power Device: Powers one inoperative electrical or mechanical device.
Find Object: Ritual to detect the presence of a specified object within range. A piece of the specified object allows one to detect its location instead.
Dispel Magic: Cancels magical spells and effects.
Gust of Wind: Creates a powerful gust of wind.
Whispering Wind: Sends a short message to someone in the area.
Shocking Grasp: Touch delivers electricity damage roughly equivalent to a taser.
Electromagnetic Pulse: Disrupt operation of unshielded electronics within range.
Lightning Bolt: Deals electricity damage at range.
Chain Lightning: Deals electricity damage at range, can jump to nearby targets.
Lightning Cannon: Enhanced strength Lightning Bolt.
Storm Dragon: A powerful lightning attack that can seek its target.
Electromagnetic Barrier: Mitigates damage.
Storm Wall: Deflects and damages things that try to pass through it.
Shocking Rune: Explodes into lightning after a set amount of time, or when rune is disturbed.

A seemingly impossible machine that is both Machina and Deus Machina. The end result of some mad genius's attempt at combining technologies that should naturally oppose each other, the Pantheon is both a strange patchwork of pre-existing Machina technologies and something else entirely. Its Machina side bears elements from the Machinas Talisman, Decieve, Hind-Kind and more, while its Deus Machina side increases its versatility through the roof using its pilots sorcery.

Despite its thick black armor, its surprisingly agile, and it can reliably outmuscle most mechs its size. While its seemingly a machine focused on close combat, don't be fooled. In the hands of a capable Sorcerer, the Pantheon is capable of striking distant foes with bolts of lightning. However, while they are powerful, its lightning strikes can be draining on the machines twin power supplies (which without the use of sorcery or certain systems can keep the machine running for days), hence why it carries more conventional weaponry as backup in leg-mounted storage slots.

Like all Machinae and Deus Machinae, Pantheon is summoned to the user when it is needed, which simplifies logistical issues.

Systems:
(Deus) Machina: While it appears to be a single machine, it would be more accurate to call Pantheon a combiner, albeit one whose individual parts are barely functional when separated. When it is summoned by the user, there are really two separate machines being called. First the outer Machina frame teleports to the combat area, however the outer frame is far from the entire unit. Much like a Deus Machina, a significant amount of it is summoned on the spot using its accompanying Grimoire, directly inside the external frame through a separate arcane process upon arrival. The two halves seamlessly fit together, forming a cohesive whole that is greater than its individual parts.

One could say that Pantheon, the Machina, is merely an independent life support system for Pantheon, the stillborn Deus Machina. When the internal Deus Machina structure is not in place, the Machina half is capable of sluggishly moving around, regenerating and teleportation, but little else. As a benefit to this unique construction, Pantheon has energy reserves exponentially larger than those of other Machina as it draws from two seperate power supplies that interact...strangely - a D-Soil engine and a sorcery engine, to be exact - granting it superior operation time in the field, but usage of certain weapon systems or magic will drain that power very fast. Perhaps that is the price one must pay for something this convenient.

Self-repair system (D-Soil): Like a true Machina, the Pantheon can regenerate thanks to the D-Soil nanomachines that both power it and run its systems, and due to the mechs relatively simplified outer shell the regeneration is exceedingly fast for a Machina. Unlike a true Machina, however, a significant part of Pantheon's internal structure is made from material that is impossible for D-Soil to properly interact with. In laymens terms, damage to the exterior will heal quite fast, while damage to the interior will be very slow to heal - slow enough that it would probably be more efficient to just dismiss and resummon the machine, something that is sadly highly impractical during combat conditions due to the strain it puts on the Grimoire and exterior frame.

Plasma Caster: A weapon system that channels an incredible amount of electricity into a target, with the primary discharge points being the surprisingly resilient glove-like material covering the hands or the short bone-like blade on each knee (which is somewhat more effective when stabbed through the outer armor). The purpose of this system is to either fry an opposing machines systems into unusability or kill the pilot in as short amount a time as possible. Mere contact with the Pantheon's hands or knees can be fatal to an unwary pilot. However, as it obviously drains a lot of power when in use, it should be considered as one of the Pantheon's secret weapons.

The glove-like discharge point is made from a unique material designed to be repaired as quickly as possible, and if torn or stripped away will be replaced in moments by the self-repair systems. Likewise, the strange bone-like material of the knee blades can also be rapidly restored, though not nearly as fast as the gloves. This 'system' actually seems to be an innate trait of the internal Deus Machina itself, and its unlike any magic you've seen before. You're not quite sure if you can even CALL it magic, really. How strange...

Plasma Leader: Covering each forearm is a system designed to enhance the hand-mounted Plasma Casters via high-quality magitech capacitors. The system can be used in one of two ways: First, while active it acts as a powerful aid to any lightning-based sorceries cast using the machines hands - typically this is used to attack distant foes with bolts of lightning. Second, it can discharge the capacitors all at once for a powerful energy-backed unarmed blow, an attack very similar to the Shining Finger. Using it in the second way will melt the capacitors, however, and replacing them will take the self-repair systems at least a full minute, likely more depending on the damage. When activated, the wrist armor will open up and extend outwards slightly.

Moonlight Sword: Stored in a sheath on its waist is the Pantheon's primary weapon, a long single-edged sword made out of some strange and near-indestructible glass-like material. It is so tough that it will almost certainly outlast the Pantheon itself. While its monomolecular blade, reforged whenever returned to its sheath, makes it a formidable weapon as-is, if energy is poured into it via the palm Lightning Emitters it begins glowing with an ethereal energy. In this 'charged' state, the weapons offensive power is significantly increased, and if swung in the right way it will launch arcing blades of energy. The weapons sheath is designed to amplify this mysterious power while the blade is stored in it, making iai strikes actually practical for once. Much like the Plasma Caster system, it is thought that this weapon is only made possible by magic, as the glass-like blade vanishes when the machine is shut down, and reappears once it is activated.

Lightning Crack x 9: Extending from the units lower back, these prehensile cables are obvious copies of the Decieve's signature Nerve Crack. They lack any of the electronic warfare functions possessed by the original, and only extend to about 35 meters each (slightly longer than the Pantheon is tall). However, they are high-quality discharge points for the Plasma Caster system, and also serve as counterbalances to aid in advanced acrobatic maneuvers. Their true use, though, are as sorcery aids - whether by acting as extra limbs to focus energy through or etching and maintaining magic circles, they will prove quite useful.

Weapon storage: The armor on the machines calves can open up, revealing a pair of storage slots large enough to hold a compact one-handed weapon. By default, the stored weapons are a pair of mid-range beam carbines. There is no need to refit the machine to accommodate new weaponry - the self-repair systems will automatically adjust the storage space to properly hold whatever is inserted.

Sorcery: As a Deus Machina, the Pantheon is purpose-built for the large-scale use of magic. While it is theoretically capable of working with any Grimoire you can get your hands on, at the moment it will only work with the Nameless Grimoire that serves as Tamamo's body. The Nameless Grimoire is strongly lightning-elemental, incredibly so in fact - you strongly suspect that it was explicitly designed to work with the Pantheon's specs, rather than the other way around. To keep this simple, though, the most basic functions the Nameless Grimoire grants you include firing highly controlled blasts of lightning, and a defensive barrier. A full power lightning strike is almost certainly the most powerful attack available to the Pantheon at this time, though it takes a bit to charge and is quite costly in terms of energy.

True Form: You are aware that the black armor that the Pantheon is clad in is merely a shell, hiding its real shape and power. However, the price to unleash this power is a high one - its soul must be permanently returned to its body. Studies of the machine's internal structure reveals that its inner frame is almost entirely made from the same bone-like material as the knee blades, so it is likely that Pantheons 'true form' makes extensive use of the Plasma Caster system. However, when the machine is inactive, significant parts of its internal structure cease to exist entirely, and inspecting the internals while it is active is extremely hazardous since it appears to 'bleed' lightning, so its full functions are not yet understood.

Fucking phenomenal artwork by @Zerovirus

When something impressive happens, I'll let you pick something on this list and get a mystery prize!

Little lost lady on la Luna.
A third Salvator Model Fafner on Tatsumiya...? Its totally legit, I swear!
Save the girl who can't be saved. (Guest starring Doctor Black Jack, the only man capable of reviving someone who exploded!)
Oh god, here comes the arm!
Our heart of love will cut through this evil dimension! We call it...
Everybody do the dinosaur!
Could this be the rumored sister unit...?!
More Nu 2 u!
You know things are bad when you need a secret in order to get this asshole even CONSIDERING joining up with you.
I wouldn't really call him DANGEROUS... (Requirement for the next secret) Gohda Jouji unlocked!
Lets trade her in for a better one. We need to complete the set! (Requires the previous secret) Extra Mikoto unlocked!
Crash landing of lost spaceship. Batteries not included.
While they might not be useful in a real fight, having law enforcement on your side might help...somehow?
Junkyard Dog.
Did you know that they designed a transforming TSF?
Obligatory mystery box!

Warning: Effects of secrets may not kick in without a restart, especially if they're introduced by an event that's already happened.

GilliamYaeger · Jul 19, 2016

You're not quite sure what it is that wakes you from your slumber. It could have been how you suddenly slipped sideways, banging your arm on some sort of console - the throbbing pain that results fades away in moments. It could have been the lights that are forcing you to blink blearily as you try vainly to focus on your surroundings. Or it could have been the pulsing headache that causes you to wince and hold a hand to your forehead. Christ, does it hurt.

Eventually your eyes adjust to the light, and you look around. You're in some kind of small room, in a surprisingly comfortable chair. There's something tugging at your senses, something like another pair of eyes waiting to be opened, but you ignore it for now as you try to think, to remember how you got here, and...

koujiscreamsasZERO
thelankymanstaresblanklyat
goesthroughthecockpitkillinghirotoinstantly
whydidyoukillthempeoplewerestillaliveinthere
looksattheruinedjeganitjustcouldnthandlehis
jinguujisenseiwasseeneatingwithanotherman

...you groan in agony as your headache only grows worse by an order of magnitude. In fact, worse is an understatement - you can feel the pain course through your skull like a tidal wave, scouring away what little memories remain in your mind. Trying to hold onto anything before it gets swept away is like trying to grab water in your hands, but you do manage to focus on something before everything fades away into oblivion. Magic. Pantheon. Lightning.

Grimoire.

You twist around, to look at the person in the seat behind yours. Slumped over there is a Japanese woman with sharp facial features - you'd imagine her golden eyes to be quite stunning if they were open (you don't even question why you know what her eyes look like). A pair of fluffy animal ears poke out from their mop of short, messy blonde hair. As your eyes trace their way down her body, taking in the archaic fur-lined robe she wears, you eventually notice that there's a group of golden tails limply sprawling out from her backside, each one even fluffier than her ears. It seems that this person isn't quite human - no, scratch that, they're not human at all. Something bubbling up from the back of your mind informs you that the body they wear is something artificial and not really theirs, and...

You shake your head, clearing out errant thoughts. Not the time for this. You need to focus, find out where you are-your thought process is cut off as your mind is flooded with a veritable deluge of information about the mech - no, the Machina - you're currently in the cockpit of. Useful, but it doesn't really help. While you know where you are, you have no idea where the Machina is...Until, once more, you feel a tugging at your senses. This time you let it pull you along, now understanding what it is. Your smaller body feels like it fades away, as your senses are linked to those of a significantly larger body...

Pantheon awakens, and opens its eyes.

Where does it find itself?

[] In the lifeless, half-flooded ruins of a city. (Japan Route)
For the last three years, Japan has suffered under the siege of the villainous Doctor Hell. Two years ago, the would-be dictator discovered a method by which he could penetrate the Photonic Barrier surrounding central Japan and send a raiding force inside it's borders, albeit only once a week. The teleportation-based invasions of the Human-Machina that still plague the world bypass the barrier entirely. And, worst of all, the Sadogashima BETA Hive lies inside the Photonic Barrier itself, resulting in a constant threat that Japan lacks the forces to eradicate on their own.

Living in constant danger like this, is it any wonder that the people of Japan are barely holding it together? While the heroes of the Super Robot Army, most notably Kabuto Kouji and Mazinger Z, that fight near-constantly to protect the populace are met with cheers, the Katou Organization are looked upon with very different eyes. After all, it hasn't even been four years since the former terrorist organization blew up the Tokyo Tower. How can anyone trust them, or the traitors who have flocked under their banner, with protecting anyone?

To make matters worse, there has been absolutely no indication that the UEFA will intervene to save Japan from the army of Doctor Hell. What's the point of being part of the United Earth Federation if they won't even lift a finger to save people that are supposedly under its protection? As a result, Japanese nationalism is on the rise, and people have started talking about abandoning the Federation entirely and resurrecting the Japanese nation by restoring the hereditary Shogun to power - despite her being an inexperienced young girl with a purely symbolic title, her words have done a lot to keep the spirits of the battered populace from breaking. As things stand, though, it'll only take a single spark to ignite a blaze of bloodshed...

SERIES:
-Shin Mazinger ZERO
-Muv Luv Alternative
-Linebarrels of Iron (post-timeskip)
-Shikon Gattai Godannar

[] Inside some kind of underground warehouse. (America Route)
With an ocean standing between it and the aliens ravaging Eurasia, America is the last intact superpower of the old world. As such, its only natural that it is utterly swamped with refugees from the lands consumed by the inhuman threat. Squalid, sprawling refugee camps dot the landscape, and the Federation government finds itself unable to support them all. There's a huge gap in living conditions between the poor refugees, who are often forced to enlist in the Federation military so their families can get access to proper living conditions, and the relatively well-off North American locals.

It was these conditions that led to President Armstrong gaining power, with his slogan of making the Federation great again. His central policy is the Wall of Life Initiative, which supposedly seeks to build a huge wall around the American continent to keep the monsters terrorizing the rest of the planet out, but what the wall is really meant to do is keep any refugees out.

President Armstrong's policies also include the largescale support of paramilitary companies, who frequently use AI-driven Unmanned Gears to fight rather than manned machines, to the detriment of the venerable Super Robot Army. The SRA has had its chance, Armstrong preaches, but they've failed to live up to humanity's needs. The worst part is that he's probably right - in combat trials, the UG system has proven to be more effective than the average pilot in combat, and the modified Metal Gear RAYs being used as practical demonstrations for the technology outclass equal-cost TSFs and Mobile Suits by a not-insignificant margin. It seems as though the Super Robot Army's days are numbered.

Despite his rhetoric, under Armstrong's reign giant robot-related crime has reached an all-time high. While the major population centers are often untouched, it is the often lawless refugee camps that are taking the brunt of the damage. The police won't lift a hand to protect them, and indeed that's probably the correct decision considering how stretched their forces are...but the innocent are not unprotected. Rumors have started to spread, telling the tale of a lone man, a new-age Zorro known only as Van, who has fought valiantly to protect the common people from those who would harm them. While the truth is not quite as pretty as the rumors make it out to be, Van is very real, and he's on a one man (and girl, and woman, and boy...) crusade for revenge.

That's not to say that the major cities are free of mech-based crime, however. New England's Arkham City, the home of the world-famous Hadou Corporation, has been under threat by the vile machinations of the Black Lodge for years now. While the police have been completely helpless to stop the Black Lodge's Destroyer Robots, the Hadou Corporation has recently reactivated the venerable Deus Machina Demonbane in an effort to fight them. Together with the mysterious vigilante Metatron, Demonbane has successfully driven the Black Lodge's forces away whenever they rear their ugly head.

So far, things in Arkham City have been going well, relatively speaking. But when a certain tuxedo-wearing swordslinger blows in on a fateful wind, a series of meetings has the potential to change the fate of the world forever...

SERIES:
-Gun X Sword
-Demonbane
-Rebuild of Evangelion 3.33
-Metal Gear Rising

[] On a small island in the middle of the ocean. In the distance, you can see a storm brewing. (Asia Route)
The legendary Tatsumiya Island, its true identity the submarine fortress Alvis 1, created in secret by a coalition of Japanese geniuses to protect their secrets from their enemies. Desperately sought after by the Federation for its advanced mech technology and the Mir it has carried since its launch fourteen years ago, it was eventually hunted down three years ago and forced into the open by Federation forces.

Despite only being shown greed and treachery by the Federation, the young yet skilled Fafner pilots of Alvis left home to protect the world from the threats that faced it as part of the Hokuten Irregulars. They fought valiantly until Doctor Hell's invasion of Japan, shortly after which Tatsumiya Island - and its heroes - once more vanished from the eyes of the world.

Now, three years after that day, a semi-rogue Federation task force seeks the island once more, guided only by the words of a strange young girl. But where before the men and women of Tatsumiya were chased for greed and glory, those who seek them out now have only the safety of others in their hearts. For the elite Londo Bell, led by legendary heroes Bright Noa and Amuro Ray, finding Tatsumiya Island may just be the last hope for peace and understanding between humanity and the alien races that threaten its existence.

And from afar an old mystery watches all, waiting for its chance...

SERIES:
-Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack - Beltorchika's Children
-Fafner Exodus
-Getter Robo Armageddon
-Mazinkaiser SKL

GilliamYaeger · Jul 21, 2016

[X] In the lifeless, half-flooded ruins of a city. (Japan Route)

The sight that greets Pantheon's eyes is at once beautiful, and terrifying in its implications. As far as your eyes can see, the area around you is flooded with water, up to the Pantheon's ankles. You'd think you were somehow standing in an ocean if it wasn't for the forest of dilapidated buildings poking up from beneath the waterlogged landscape, and a quick glance downwards reveals that you are, in fact, standing on what was once a road, littered with the drowned husks of cars.

Its clear that something horrible must have happened here sometime in the past.

As you turn around to try and find any signs of life, you freeze. Several kilometers behind you is a wall of light - a hexagonal net of shining energy that stretches up almost to the very limits of Pantheon's visual capabilities, before curving around to form what you somehow know is a colossal dome. Not only does it extend upwards, but to the left and right all you can see is the energy net.

Its an incredible sight - one that you somehow recognize. This thing is...

itsmyvictorydoctorhell

...the Photonic Barrier set up to protect the Photonic Labs from Doctor Hell's invasion force! That must mean that this place is Japan! And...you're right outside of it, meaning you're in territory occupied by the vast army of Doctor Hell.

Not good. Not good at all. You have to get out of here, to safety, but...What's left of Japan outside of the Photonic Barrier is all occupied by Doctor Hell, and the mainland is covered in monsters. The only safe place around is inside that Barrier, which means that you need to get in. With no other real options immediately available, you opt to walk towards the Barrier and see if you can find a way in.

Despite its size and bulk, Pantheon's every move is graceful and organic. Your stubby feet barely make a splash as they lift out of the water, and when they touch back down they don't make a sound. Extending your nine tails to act as a counterbalance, you keep Pantheon's body hunched over as you stalk the empty city, trying to keep below the walls of broken buildings that line the streets you pass through.

At some point, you become aware that Tamamo has woken up. Neither of you share a word as she begins to interface with Pantheon herself, smoothing out slight errors in your movement and increasing your awareness of the world. And...her mere presence comforts you. Somehow, that feels more important than how she's helping your operation of Pantheon.

Despite this, its the added awareness from her assistance that saves you when you suddenly notice a pair of Mechabeasts some distance ahead. Instantly reacting, you dart into the shadows of a building. Fortunately, they fail to notice you, and continue to move towards the...Photonic Barrier? Your eyes narrow. Could it be...?

Since you all seem to be going the same way, you decide to tail the pair. You move more like a predatory animal than a man as you follow your prey, keeping out of sight behind whatever cover was available. They turned around only once during your hunt, but fortunately there was a collapsed section of street deep enough for Pantheon to hide underwater. They didn't suspect a thing as they turned back around, while you emerged from your hiding spot to continue the hunt.

Then they finally reached their destination.

As you peek over the top of a towering skyscraper, the sight below shocks you. There must be dozens of Doctor Hell's Mechanical Beasts gathering here! While most of the gathered army are the stone Talos statues, by far the weakest and most numerous of Doctor Hell's Mechabeasts, you can see that mixed in with them is a handful of the strange and colorful 'true' Mechabeasts. A force like this wouldn't gather for no reason, and when you look towards the section of the Barrier they've gathered near it all becomes clear.

There, embedded into the Barrier while somehow remaining intact, is the Gate of Hell itself, Guzgo X20! Doctor Hell's specially designed Mechanical Beast, made to briefly break through the Photonic Barrier by slowly stretching it over the course of an entire week! It looks a little different than you expected - its significantly larger for one, meaning its probably capable of sending a small army through each time it opens rather than a mere three Mechabeasts, and though your strange recollection of it is fuzzy you don't think its backside was a wide open passage to its mouth. Concerning.

From your vantage point, you can see the Mechanical Beasts shifting around, organizing themselves into a neat platoon. They seem to be getting ready to walk through the Gate - it must be time for Doctor Hell's weekly invasion of Japan. What luck! You might be able to get through the barrier after all!

But...actually getting through the Gate will prove a problem, thanks to that army of Mechabeasts standing between you and civilization. A few options come to mind as you evaluate your options...

[] You can see some broken Mechanical Beasts around here, the mass-production types to be exact. Maybe if you can somehow disguise Pantheon, you could sneak in with the invasion force?
[] Yeah, you can take them. With the element of surprise on your side, you should be able to break through the army to the other side of the barrier once they open it.
[] You'd much rather not reveal yourself to Doctor Hell yet. Its risky, but with Pantheon you just might be able to do penetrate the barrier on your own.
[] Ignore your need to get inside, and walk away. This is too dangerous to attempt. Surely there must be another option?
[] Write-in.

GilliamYaeger · Jul 22, 2016

A/N: Doctor Hell is so hammy that even his very presence in a scene forces me to write purple prose. He might be a bit more bombastic than in canon, but eh. It was fun writing him, once I worked out what I wanted to do.

[X] You can see some broken Mechanical Beasts around here, the mass-production types to be exact. Maybe if you can somehow disguise Pantheon, you could sneak in with the invasion force?

You think for a moment. You need to get through that gate, no matter the cost. While the obvious solution is to just to force your way through their ranks and into the Barrier, maybe there's a better way to go about it. Maybe if you had some sort of disguise, and they thought you were a Mechabeast, you could just stroll right in alongside them? You don't know exactly what their AI uses to identify allies, but you hope its something visual. You start looking around, trying to see if there's something nearby that could be useful.

And then you spot it. A short distance behind you, only a few seconds travel really, the ground is littered with a handful of what appear to be broken Mechabeasts. Could they be remnants from the battle three years ago? They seem oddly familiar, and you use Pantheon's zoom function to get a better look. It takes you a moment, but you do recognize them.

theresnopointwaitingforusinhell

Well, now that you've seen them properly, you're not sure if they're really Mechabeasts anymore. They're actually those mass-produced fake Garada K7 and Doublas M2 mechs that Kiba uses in his army. You wonder what they're doing here. Knowing Kiba, he probably thought Doctor Hell would make for a good fight and came over to fight, leaving this as the result. Whatever the case, the history of these things isn't important. What's important is that you now have a way to make yourself resemble one of the most iconic Mechabeasts in history. You drop off the back of the skyscraper and move over to one of the Garada K7 copies, making sure the small army of Mechabeasts nearby don't notice you (fortunately not too hard a task), and with a twist you pull its head-scythes off.

You can feel Tamamo's doubt and disapproval as you push the blunt ends of the scythes into the sides of Pantheon's head. Altering the D-Soil's program in the contact points allows you to crudely integrate them into your mech's structure, though its very much a rush job. They sag a little bit, but they should do for a test run to see how they'll react. Even if its not the best of disguises, you can always try again - after the Mechabeasts tear you to pieces. Maybe next time you could try salvaging something off the Mechabeasts you stalked on the way here.

But you need to stop delaying this - those Mechabeasts could go into the Barrier at any moment. Gathering your resolve, you step into the ruined square the Mechabeasts are using as a staging area, and as one every single Mechabeast standing there turns to face you.

Maybe this wasn't the best idea...

---

It was a dense, cloying darkness. An unnatural, evil darkness. The kind of suffocating darkness that could kill an ordinary man, should they be so unfortunate to find themselves in it. It almost seems as though nothing could break through this darkness, this all-consuming silence, until...

"This...is the beginning of the end."

A proud, powerful voice cuts through the darkness! What kind of man would dare stand tall in this impenetrable shadow, that threatens to consume all it touches? In fact, there are not one, but three who defy the darkness, standing tall atop innumerable stone pillars that, despite the complete lack of light, are perfectly visible to the naked eye. Just like the three figures atop them!

The first is a headless man dressed like a high-ranking military officer, holding a grinning, disembodied head that has one eye replaced by a round, monocle-like prosthetic. This is Count Brocken, leader of the vast Southern Cross Army that even now leaves the world in fear. Once he was a powerful and proud Federation official, but that mattered not after he was killed in a terrible accident. However, when a certain medical genius revived him, Brocken swore eternal loyalty to them, which is why he is here today!

The next figure that defies the darkness is only half a man. The infamous Baron Ashura, master of the Ashura Mechabeast Corps, is a completely unique existence in the world. Their left half belongs to a fierce-featured man with tan skin, and their right an elegant lady with milk-white skin. Once, they were two separate people, a man and a woman whose love was so powerful that even now, thousands of years later, echoes of it reside within human culture. Despite their love, tragedy struck while they slept in deep hibernation, leaving half of their bodies shriveled and dessicated. But, just like Count Brocken, they were saved by that very same genius, and they too swore their eternal loyalty!

And finally, we come to the third man who was in the darkness, standing significantly taller than the others. The unmatched genius that the other two had sworn absolute loyalty to, one had to admit that he cut quite the impressive figure. With a titanic, muscular body that would make even the Greek Gods burn with envy, immaculately groomed hair and beard that somehow perfectly framed his face at all times regardless of how he moved, a predatory grace and sense of style only possible through ultimate mastery of the martial arts and a terrifying charisma that gave him an inhuman presence, most people confronted with him would call him a god. Or at least, Baron Ashura would.

However, this man was indeed close, so very close, to becoming a genuine, omnipotent god. The only thing that stood in his way were the remnants of those accursed Hokuten Irregulars!

This giant of a man is the single most dangerous person on the planet and soon-to-be Conquerer of Japan. And his name, is Doctor Hell! And today was the first time he had shown his face to his two trusted executives in weeks. They have no doubt been wondering what he has been doing during his absence, and he is about to tell them!

"Truly, this is the beginning of the end!" he roared, raising a powerful hand into the air. "My beloved executives, we have long awaited this day! For this day, is the day that I have succeeded in refining that hated Super Alloy Z!"

"Super Alloy Z?! You mean we can finally use it for ourselves!?" Baron Ashura howled, unable to hide their glee at the thought of turning their enemy's own secret weapon against them.

"Yes! While I am still unable to produce any more that metal, we can use the scavanged fragments we've stockpiled to build weapons like never before! Weapons that can finally break through the armor of that accursed MAZINGER Z! Today will be the very last day our Mechabeasts walk into that Barrier without Super Alloy Z enhancements. But that is not the most important news I have to share with you! For you see, the secrets I have stolen from Juzo Kabuto's secret fortified laboratory have granted us the power of...Photonic Energy!"

Count Brocken's organic eye grew as round as his artificial one. "My lord, but that's...!"

Doctor Hell chuckled. "Impossible? Not quite. While I admit that the super-miniaturized Photonic Reactor I developed from Juzo's notes is nothing compared to the true Photonic Power I seek, it will nonetheless prove an invaluable asset in the days to come. In fact, I have already used it to build Juzo Kabuto's own design, to build a new executive that will no doubt grant us our final victory - Minerva X! For the first time since the death of Viscount Pygman, you shall once again number four-"

"...My Lord, forgive me for my impertinence," Baron Ashura interrupted, bowing as low as they could. Doctor Hell frowned at this, but let them continue. "We have an intruder in the midst of our invasion force!" The hermaphrodite pointed their Staff of Bardoz at the darkness, which suddenly lit up with a vision of an unfamiliar Super Robot that had for some reason equipped itself with the head-scythes of a GRK-7.

"I thought you would like to personally destroy them, my lord," Ashura said, bowing their head as they held their Staff of Bardoz out to Doctor Hell.

The gigantic warlord grinned. "You have thought well, Baron Ashura," he said, taking Ashura's Staff and pointing it at the screen, his colossal muscles rippling with every movement (meanwhile, the half-man half-woman began crying with joy at the slight praise they received). "Now, let us show this fool why the cowards of the Federation have fled from my might for the last three years! My Mechabeasts, heed my command! Destroy this-"

"Wait!"

Doctor Hell froze, closing his mouth and turning his head slowly towards the source of this new voice. One incredibly bushy eyebrow slowly rose as he regarded the beautiful woman who emerged from the darkness, stepping gently onto an empty stone pillar.

Count Brocken merely spared the newcomer a glance, while Baron Ashura surged to their feet, their eyes flashing with anger at this...impertinent interloper who dared to interrupt the unfathomably great Doctor Hell! But, at a single gesture from their master, they closed their mouth and merely scowled.

"...That machine belongs to a mercenary I took the liberty of hiring," the woman slowly said, staring soullessly at the Doctor.

Doctor Hell went silent, one hand rising elegantly to stroke his magnificent beard as he scrutinized the woman.

And then...laughter rang throughout the darkness.

"Hahahaha, HAHAHAHAHAHA, yes, yes! To show this much initiative, so soon after coming online...! It seems that Juzo had truly, absolutely outdone himself with you, Minerva X! With you on my side, I shall no doubt be able to crush those insects who dare resist me!" And indeed, although this woman appeared to merely be a beautiful youth with a strange haircut, in reality the she was the Super Robot Minerva X, the very creation that Doctor Hell had been gloating about before!

"Aaah...it's almost a shame that my 'brother' is no longer with us. But, while you have certainly impressed me..." Doctor Hell's smile vanished. "...it seems you still have much to learn about the world, child."

Minerva remained cold and impassive. Which was only natural to Doctor Hell, considering that she was an AI - one that was completely dominated by the Staff of Bardoz that was the source of his military power.

"While it was an admirable idea, to use a Super Robot to fight a Super Robot," the Doctor continued, his tone that of a concerned teacher, "there is a reason why our forces only include what I have complete control over. Just this once, though, I shall let this pass, if only to educate you on why we do not trust outsiders." With a spin of Ashura's Staff, the dark Doctor struck a pose and thrust the Staff of Bardoz at the screen.

"My Mechanical Beasts!" his voice rang out, strong and clear as a crack of thunder. "Allow this...mercenary to join your ranks, at least...for now."

That done, the Doctor handed the Staff of Bardoz back to Baron Ashura.

"Baron Ashura," he says after Ashura steps back, bowing, "do remember that this is your last chance to make up for your countless failures. Do not disappoint me."

"Yes, my lord..."

And then Minerva X, like everyone else in the room, watched as the Mechabeasts on the screen turned away from the unknown Super Robot and marched into enemy territory. Unnoticed by anyone...she frowned.

...I don't know who you are, or how you got past Doctor Hell's defensive lines, but if you're trying to get into Japan...I hope I made the right decision in helping you.

---

After a few tense moments, the Mechabeasts all seem to just lose interest in you, going back to what they were doing before you walked up to the group just as suddenly as they turned to look at you.

Phew. It seems that they bought it, somehow. A part of you can't believe you actually pulled that off on the first try. You don't think Tamamo believes it, either, judging by the look on her face (which she quickly hides once she notices you looking).

Deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth, you remove the head-scythes and leave them on the flooded streets as you line up among the Mechabeast ranks. Before long, you see the mouth of Guzgo open wide. You and the Mechabeasts move through the body of Guzgo, and after being safely shielded from the Photonic Barrier you find yourself in what one might call Free Japan. Behind you, Guzgo shuts its mouth the instant the last Mechabeast passes through, and backs out from the barrier. Guess you're trapped in here.

Looking around, you're clearly in the same city you were in on the other side of the Barrier, and its condition is almost as bad - the only difference is that there's no flooding. You idly wonder what this was, before Doctor Hell destroyed it. Its funny, while you remember events and names, you don't actually remember the places. Not really. The Photon Power Lab shows up in many of your memories, but you haven't got the slightest clue where it is, and if you went inside you'd be completely lost. That...may prove to be a bit of an issue.

...

It takes a few minutes of walking through a dead city alongside an evil army before it suddenly occurs to you that you're marching to war against people who you should be working with, alongside forces that should damn well be your enemy. It might prove to be a bit of a problem if you're seen with these guys...

How do you want to handle this?

[] Slowly work your way to the edge of the pack, then make a run for it. They don't seem that bright, so you could probably put some distance between you before they notice what you're doing. If you're lucky, they might not even notice you're gone.
-[] Is there specific place you'd like to head towards? How do you know where to go from here? ('Just guess' is a valid answer)
[] Discreetly draw Lightning Runes on nearby Mechabeasts before unleashing the biggest attack you have, then bolt. While you'll probably do a fair bit of damage, they'll be hot on your tail.
-[] Is there specific place you'd like to head towards? How do you know where to go from here? ('Just guess' is a valid answer)
[] Stay with Hell's forces. After all, you want to meet with the mech-piloting heroes of Japan (or at least you think you do?) and these guys will almost certainly take you straight to them! And, of course, you'll turn on these mooks as soon as the fighting starts.
[] Write-in.

GilliamYaeger · Jul 27, 2016

[X] Stay with Hell's forces. After all, you want to meet with the mech-piloting heroes of Japan (or at least you think you do?) and these guys will almost certainly take you straight to them! And, of course, you'll turn on these mooks as soon as the fighting starts.
-[X] Stick to the rear, and be ready to sow chaos with a huge lightning-rune attack (under the guise of powering up the units). Create a second flank to disorient and confuse the army.

You decide to stick with Doctor Hell's invasion force for now. While it might cause issues at first, you're sure that inevitably Mazinger Z will come to stop these assholes, which'd save you the effort of running around Japan to find him. You make sure to stick to the rear of the pack next to the unique Mechabeasts while the ranks of the mass-produced Talos statues, each armed with a simple sword and shield, lead the way.

As you walk through the ruined city, you make sure to pass by each of the unique Mechabeasts, taking note of their abilities as you do so. There's Chigul E7, a slender preying mantis robot that's, well, exactly what you'd expect a preying mantis robot to be. Those sickles on its arms look quite dangerous, as do its...nipple drills. Goronko S2, resembling a sword-wielding Roman soldier with a giant, ridiculous-looking soccer ball replacing its torso. You're aware that inside its body are a variety of weapons which can emerge from any of the holes on that ball, but it still looks silly.

Demos F3, the most impressive looking of the bunch, looks a lot like a green Devilman. Able to fly and break itself apart, its primary weapons are its razor sharp head wings and three skull-mounted missile launchers. Dayan N4, a walking brick wall armed with copies of Mazinger Z's rocket punch. Jenoba M9, a lean martial artist with a sniper rifle. And finally Brighton J2, which can fire powerful energy beams from the pair of giant lenses on its chest.

As you get close to each robot, you use one of your tails to inscribe a Lightning Rune spell onto one of their legs, as close to the knee as you can safely manage. While you don't think you could make a more powerful rune without being really obvious about it, placing these near the leg joints should be able to at least cripple most of them once they go off. Since you don't quite know how long its going to be before they start fighting the good guys, you leave the runes incomplete - but a single stroke of your tail at the right time should be enough to arm them.

While you predict that you'll need to redraw the runes every four hours, you don't get the chance. Only a half an hour after they're in place, you spot Apparition far in the distance, clear as day. You're briefly surprised at this, since not only is it kilometers away from you but it almost certainly has its cloaking system activated. You only spend a few moments marvelling at how good Pantheon's sensory arrays must be before you realize what Apparition's presence must mean.

Ambush incoming.

Looking ahead of the group, you spot a wide river with a large bridge crossing over it. That must be where they're planning on launching their attack. You slow down, letting the marching Mechabeasts move ahead of you. As you pass them by, you use your tails to add the last touches of the Runes to the legs you tagged earlier, magically setting the timers to roughly how long you expect it'll take for the group to reach the bridge.

Once the group gets there, its obviously the Talos that lead the way. Moving across the bridge in groups of four, almost the entire legion ends up on the bridge, with a final group of four waiting their turn at the bridge entrance. But as soon as the first Talos steps foot onto the opposite shore, a flurry of strange missiles, closer to flying syringes than warheads, streak out from around the corner straight towards the Talos!

You immediately recognize what the 'missiles' are - the Deceive IV series wireless Nerve Cracks, weapons designed to take remote control over unmanned mechs, which means Pretender is close by. They penetrate the stone armor of the Talos on the bridge with ease, and while their electronic warfare capabilities don't seem to be able to override the control of the Staff of Bardoz, they certainly seem to interfere with it. The afflicted statues freeze up, blocking the progress of the statues behind them, and out of the ruined buildings to either side of the bridge exit emerge...American TSFs?

You blink. You expected Super Robots and front-line Machina, not three foreign TSFs and Pretender - three completely different TSFs at that. There's an F-22 with Gun Sweeper configuration, an unfamiliar variant of the F-18E/F Super Hornet equipped with two missile launcher racks and a spare rifle on its waist, and...isn't that a Black Widow II? What the heck is it doing here? You thought that both of the test units had their electronics and systems stripped before getting dumped on a museum...

Regardless of why its there, it joins the other two TSFs in opening fire on the stunned Talos statues with all four of its assault rifles. The sheer amount of concentrated gunfire basically tears the first four statues to pieces in moments, and a volley of missiles from the customized Super Hornet send pieces of another two statues flying into the river below. Finally, another Talos further back basically explodes - no doubt because of a high-calibur sniper round from Apparition.

The Mechabeasts instantly move to support their lesser brethren, but its then that your Lightning Runes activate. Going off with a blinding flash, the force of the detonations are enough to severely damage most of the Mechabeasts. Chigul's leg, designed for speed and agility rather than endurance, is blown straight off even, leaving the mech hopping backwards and desperately scrambling for a building to lean on to stop itself from falling over. By the way its glaring and swiping at you, you think its AI has made the connection between the Lightning Rune and you, but you've already backed up far out of its reach.

Jenoba and Brighton sadly still have their legs attached, but their knee servos must be at least partially fried by the way they've started limping. Even more unfortunately, Dayan's thick armor is merely scorched black judging by the way its running towards the bridge. What a pity.

In better news, the detonation must have hit something vital on Demos F3, because it's leg just drops off at the knee - you'd be surprised at how cleanly it happened if you weren't aware of its ability to split itself into pieces. It doesn't seem particularly bothered by this though as it just leaps up into the air, that massive head crest spinning like a helicopter blade. In fact, it is some kind of helicopter blade, as its now flying over the river! Its probably trying to flank the TSFs on the other shore.

Much like Demos F3, Goronko S2 doesn't even hesitate from the loss of leg functionality. It retracts all of its limbs - even the sword it was holding - into the ridiculous looking ball on its torso as if it was a turtle, and angled flares of jetfire from its many holes send it rolling towards you at high speed. What is this thing, Gamera?! You have just enough time to draw the Moonlight Sword and smash it into Goronko like a baseball (Goronkoball?) bat just before it slams into you, knocking it back a dozen meters and leaving a large gash in its shell.

Evidently deciding to take a different approach after its charge didn't work, Goronko remains in ball form and advances much more carefully this time. Its using its thrusters to spin faster and faster, like a round, jet-powered top. Or Gamera. As it grows closer, you can't help but step back and raise the Moonlight Sword defensively...a move that proves to be wise when its arm suddenly emerges with sword in hand, swinging at you with all its gathered rotational force.

You instinctively block the swing with the Moonlight Sword, the sheer force of impact pushing Pantheon back slightly, and to your immense satisfaction the green crystalline edge is so sharp that Goronko's blade simply splits itself up to its center on it. The fact that the Mechabeasts sword doesn't outright shatter at this is a testament to Doctor Hell's genius, you think to yourself as you grip the Moonlight Sword with both hands, and you grin viciously at Goronko's honestly comical efforts to pull its blade off yours.

Glancing over the giant ball, you can see the rest of the battle playing out behind it.

Dayan N4, the big brute of a Mechabeast, is charging across the bridge. You can easily imagine it roaring in fury (though, since its just a robot, it only makes stompy noises) as it knocks entire groups of Talos aside with wide swings of its powerful arms in its rush to get at its enemies - a bunch of the unlucky Talos beasts in its way get knocked off the bridge end up landing in the river. Its progress towards the attackers is slowed by the horde of Talos still on the bridge, however.

Meanwhile, Jenoba M9 and Brighton J2 are limping to the right of the bridge. You can see Jenoba start to raise its rifle while Brighton's chest lamps begin to glow brightly enough that you can tell from behind. Its obvious that they plan on shooting the ambushers from across the river with their long-range weaponry once they get a clear shot past all the Talos crowded onto the bridge.

Through the forest of mechs on the bridge, you spy a flash of blue - it seems Vardant is running towards the battle straight down the center of the main road, no doubt with a group of allies in tow. To the right of the bridge, you can easily see the massive form of Glen-Neidr rising out of a cluster of ruined office buildings, and while you can't see Mazinger Z and crew from here, they must be around somewhere. They absolutely must be.

So what's the next step of your master plan?

[] You need to get this stupid thing out of your way before you do anything else. Focus on destroying Goronko as soon as possible so you're safe to take out the weakened Mechabeasts ahead of you.
[] Jenoba and Brighton look to be troublesome for the guys on the other side of the river. Throw Goronko out of the way, dodge past Chigul's sickle arms and stop them from firing.
[] You really don't like the way Demos is trying to flank the TSFs. Get past Goronko and Chigul and start hurling Moonlight energy blades at it. Don't let it get a tactical advantage.
[] That bridge looks like a mighty fine target, and (considering the state of the city you're in) you strongly suspect that noone will care if it gets blown up. Create the proper magic circles with your tails and, once you're done, use the leverage your locked blades give you to hurl Goronko out of the way so you can cast the mighty Storm Dragon spell, aimed directly at the mooks on the bridge. You'll probably take a hit from Goronko by doing this, but you can take it.
[] Hey, you've got a giant ball here, and those mechs on the bridge are starting to make it look an awful lot like a bowling alley...You'll almost certainly burn out the capacitors on your arms in the process, though, but it'll be worth it if it works. Probably.
[] Write-in.

END OF TURN STATUS

Pantheon is engaged with Goronko S2 in a swordfight. It seems have a lot of weird tricks up its sleeve thanks to its turtle-esque ball shell, but despite this its blade is currently stuck on the Moonlight Sword.

Seven Talos have been destroyed.

Chigul E7 is supporting itself against a building, since you blew off its right leg. Judging by the way its looking at you, it wants to attack but actually getting over to you is proving to be a challenge.

Jenoba M9 and Brighton J2 are limping to the side of the bridge, trying to get clear shots past the Talos squads with their long-range weaponry.

Dayan N4 was unharmed by the lightning rune, and is currently charging across the bridge to engage Scarface Squadron.

Demos F3 had its right leg destroyed by the lightning rune attack, but as it is currently flying that doesn't seem to be slowing it down much. Its in the middle of flying across the river in an attempt to flank Scarface.

Scarface Squadron is holding the Talos legion back at the bridge, but being mostly skirmishers its unlikely that their firepower will be able to stop Dayan.

JUDA, Katou and Super squadrons have emerged from hiding and are moving to engage.

Apparition is providing long-distance fire support from past the right side of the map. It appears to be alone, but something about the makeup of the Irregular units makes you think otherwise.

GilliamYaeger · Aug 4, 2016

Sorry about this being late, I made the mistake of installing VA-11 Hall A last night.

[X] Hey, you've got a giant ball here, and those mechs on the bridge are starting to make it look an awful lot like a bowling alley...You'll almost certainly burn out the capacitors on your arms in the process, though, but it'll be worth it if it works. Probably.

You grab the handle of the Moonlight Sword with both hands and twist it around. Your enemies blade, and its arm, shifts with it. Its definitely a struggle - the slender, flexible limb is stronger than it first appears to be - but eventually you work it into the right angle and, with a surge of energy through your palms, push. The now-glowing, crystalline blade cuts through the Mechabeasts sword with ease, through the hand and arm that was holding the blade, and finally into the road below.

You leave it there, sticking out of the ground, as Goronko quickly pulls whats left of its arm back into its ball and tries to retreat by rolling away. You refuse to let it go and with both hands grab hold of it, the rims of its many ports serving as excellent handholds. You then begin to thrust your knee into one of the lower ports, aiming to pierce the knee blade through the shutter so you can fry whatever's inside.

Unfortunately, the bone-blade snaps off on the third thrust. It seems that either its nowhere near as strong or sharp as the Moonlight Sword, or Goronko's shell is far tougher than its sword and arm. You then wince when multiple ports, all facing you, open up and blast streams of jetfire into Pantheon's face and body. You can feel the heat through the armor that covers the cockpit. You roar as you pull your left arm back and thrust it into one of the open ports, straight through the jetfire surging through it, while overloading the Plasma Leader mounted on it.

Snaking arcs of lightning surge out from around the port as the capacitors burn themselves out, harmlessly raking across Pantheon's armor and leaving trails of red-hot asphalt on the roads below. Then you pull your arm out, leaving Goronko to mindlessly rock back and forth, presumably either stunned or completely fried. You can smell the smoke trails rising off the scorched armor on both your arm and torso, but a quick diagnostic reveals that the damage is surprisingly light.

Well, time to see how badly you can fuck up your other arm. You take a large step back and raise your blackened left arm, not quite touching . In front of your outstretched hand an electric blue magic circle appears, its intricate patterns stretching across several meters.

You clear your throat and open a wide-band comms channel. "Guys near the bridge, heads up!" you announce as you pull back your undamaged hand, curling it into a fist. All nine of your tails snake towards the arm, coiling around it as they crackle with pseudo-magical power. As you begin to overload the capacitors, the entire limb begins to glow as lightning rakes across its surface. This was going to be something really impressive, you think to yourself with a grin.

A scream of "DISCHARGE!!" is all the warning you give before you punch the magic circle with all your might. The magic circle goes from blue to eye-searing white as you pour all the power you can muster into a single Lightning Cannon spell...

The resulting blast is indeed impressive, about as wide across as Pantheon is tall and easily having enough force to launch the Goronkoball, carrying it at high speed towards the bridge. What remains of the glass windows in the buildings on either side of the road shatter in the wake of the blast, and a strip of the road underneath actually melts from the heat.

The group of Talos that had been knocked aside by Dayan get back onto the bridge just in time to get smashed to pieces. The Mechabeast itself turns around just in time to get a face full of giant robot ball, which doesn't slow down at all. Dayan is lifted off the ground and smashed through the remaining Talos on the bridge, which collapses into the river from the damage inflicted by the ordeal.

Fortunately, the TSFs in front of the bridge manage to clear out before they're hit, moving to intercept the airborne Demos alongside the two Machina squads.

A half-second after it clears the bridge, the lightning blast runs out of energy and peters out. Now without its laser-based propulsion and moving on sheer momentum, Goronko tilts forward slightly, and Dayan's foot catches onto something. The ball banks off the anchored Mechabeast and careens off into the sky, landing a few hundred meters ahead of Dayan.

You can tell from here that its been pretty damn messed up from the whole ordeal - you'd be incredibly surprised if it got up again, especially with half its chassis just melted like that. Dayan meanwhile plows itself face first into the road, carving out a shallow ditch in the process. It quickly manages to pull itself to its hands and feet, shaking off bits of dirt and asphalt...only to look up into the golden eyes of Mazinger Z, who raises its arms.

"BURESTO FIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

...yeah, its not getting up from that.

As you watch Talos bits rain down into the river ahead, you can't help but think that this was definitely worth it. Even if it drained a large chunk of Pantheon's power supply and left your right arm hanging limply at your side, the internals scorched and the armour practically reduced to slag. You suppose that's the good thing about Pantheon being what it is - things that would otherwise make parts a complete writeoff in lesser mechs will be completely repaired when you next call on it.

Even Tamamo doesn't really mind what you're doing to (what is essentially) her real body, though that might be because she's just as aware as you are of how tough it is, probably moreso actually.

Ahead of you, the surviving Mechabeasts take action. Demos valiantly charges the while the two ranged Mechabeasts take aim. While a high-calibur sniper round from Apparition blasts a giant hole through Brighton's right torso lamp, that doesn't stop its other lamp from launching an energy beam at the heroes engaging Demos alongside Jenoba's sniper rifle.

Thankfully most of them manage to dodge the incoming fire, but the F-22A takes a hit to its right hip thruster, which explodes. The crippled TSF crashes into a building, and Demos, sensing weakness, closes in for the kill, shooting a barrage of missiles at it which are, in turn, blocked by the Verdant's wing-like shield binders.

You take a step forward, intent on helping out by destroying the two snipers, but you find your way blocked. Chigul E7 of all things suddenly hops out into the middle of the street, somehow managing to perfectly keep its balance on its single remaining leg as it sweeps its razor-sharp scythes around menacingly. Its beady yellow eyes glare at you, and you're suddenly struck with the suspicion that its AI isn't the only thing controlling its movements.

How do you handle this new foe?

[] If it thinks you're helpless with a temporarily disabled arm, its got another thing coming. Hold your sword with your tails and use your superior reach to your advantage.
[] Pantheon can take anything this thing can dish out. Go for close combat.
[] No time to properly deal with this damn thing. Push it over and run past, just tank its strikes. You need to take out those two snipers.
[] Your power supplies may be dropping, but that's why you carry these things. Draw your laser carbines and just go full auto on Chigul.
[] Write-in.

END OF TURN STATUS
No map since a fuckup on my end lost it. This fight's ending next post anyway, so its not really needed anymore.
Chigul E7 is menacingly balancing on one leg, the only thing standing between Pantheon and the rest of the fight. You suspect that Baron Ashura has taken personal control of it.

The final four Talos statues have finished pulling themselves out of the river.

Jenoba M9 and Brighton J2 are shooting at Scarface, JUDA and Katou units, who are in turn engaged with Demos F3. Brighton J2 has had its right chest lamp replaced with a giant hole.

Demos F3 is making a valiant stand, but you suspect that given the way the numbers stacked, it's not going to last very long.

Apparition is still shooting things from off-map.

GilliamYaeger · Aug 16, 2016

[x] If it thinks you're helpless with a temporarily disabled arm, its got another thing coming. Hold your sword with your tails and use your superior reach to your advantage.
Your right arm is completely fried, and you don't think you're good enough to fight this thing one-handed...so you'll take a third option, then.

You hunch over, one hand stretched out to the ground ahead of you, as behind you your tails wind around each other to form a single, thick cable. The large tail-arm snakes around to your side, where the Moonlight Sword lies embedded into the road. The tips of your nine tails reach out and coil around the weapon's handle, then with a single tug its pulled free, held above your head like a scorpion's stinger.

The fingers of your left hand dig into asphalt as it pulls you forward at the same time your legs kick off the ground, sending you hurtling towards the Mechabeast at an impressive speed. Your tails sweep the Moonlight Sword around in a very wide arc, its supernatural edge cutting through abandoned buildings like butter as it swings towards its target.

You grin as it seems like Chigul will get bisected in a single move...but then it suddenly moves back.

You're not quite sure how it did it, but somehow it managed to shuffle backwards with out lifting its foot while swinging both sickle arms. You're barely able to move your tails out of the way of its first slash, resulting in only four tails in the bundle being severed rather than all of them, and you get your feet back under you just in time to block its second strike with your deadened arm. The sickle cuts all the way through the armor and internal frame, but its stopped when it hits the core of the arm.

A torrent of sparks fly out of the wound as Pantheon literally bleeds lightning, but you ignore it as you twist the arm, trapping the blade within, and use the leverage to pull Chigul off-balance. The tottering Chigul is left open to a slug to the face from your right arm, backed by your momentum. The impact caves half its skull in and sends it flying back, the sheer force of the blow ripping its sickle from your arm, which erupts into a torrent of crackling light as the wound is opened further. Heedless of your injury and eager to finish the kill you rush after it, pulling your arm and sword back for a finishing strike.

But before you can end the fight, Chigul surprises you once more as it twists its body around mid-fall...and remains half-upright rather than landing prone, keeping itself propped up on the ruined stump of its other leg. You barely have time to register this happening before it leaps back at you with as much force as it can muster. You're caught off-guard, and can't bring your arm or tail forward in time to block the incoming strike. Chigul's arm sickle slams home into your side, carving through the outer armor to firmly embed itself in your torso, with a flash of light that quickly fades.

Then the rest of Chigul runs into you, and its your turn to be knocked off balance as you topple over backwards. You make a desperate flail at the Mechabeast with your sword, but it's knocked out of your grip with a sharp slap from Chigul's free 'hand', which is then driven into your other flank. You land heavily on your back, and Chigul pins you to itself. The drills on its chest begin spinning rapidly, and with a scream of metal they start to extend into Pantheon's chest while the Mechabeasts tight grip, surprisingly strong for such slender arms, ensures that you cannot escape.

If it was anyone else, this would sure look like a pretty bad situation. Through the sensory link you have with Pantheon, you can feel its pain as your own - not hot and burning like the real thing, but cold and numb, as if filtered through the haze of an anaesthetic. Those sickle-arms are keeping you pinned tightly to the Mechabeast and those nipple-drills (it suddenly strikes you how uncomfortable you are with this situation) are about to go through where your cockpit should be.

Yeah, it looks pretty bad but, really...

You grip the side of Chigul's dented head with your left hand, hard enough to leave imprints. You drive your knee into its crotch, impaling it with the blade mounted there. The spikes on the end of your five intact tails are thrust through the Mechabeast's spine, as the remaining four lash you and it together. Instinctively you also lunge your head forward, going for Chigul's throat, but all you accomplish is an awkward headbutt.

...this was the worst possible move the Mechabeast could have made. Its almost the most boring way to end the fight, honestly.

Suppressing the magitech D-Soil nanomachines that course through Pantheon's body like blood was a little bit like holding your breath. It rapidly became quite uncomfortable, and if you'd kept it up any longer Pantheon's functionality might have become impaired. You breathe out, and the nanomachines begin to course through Pantheon once more. And as they were programmed to do, when they come into contact with foreign matter, whether its air or the Alloy X used in Mechabeasts, they 'ignite', sterilizing the area and completely frying any lesser materials that happen to have entered the wound, breaking it down and recycling it to form new nanomachines. The end result is that Pantheon appears to literally bleed lightning, and it functions as quite an effective defence to boot.

Of course, for something like Doctor Hell's Alloy X, this is nothing...but then you breathe in with all the force you can muster, sending Pantheon's twinned energy reactors into overdrive. An immense amount of energy courses through your artificial veins, causing a reaction millions of times greater than that of your nanomachines alone. Your open wounds shine with power, and Pantheon roars alongside you. The sickles embedded in your sides, the drills in your chest, your hand gripping its face, the blade going through its lower torso, the jury-rigged Nerve Cracks embedded in its spine - the power that surges through the entirety of Pantheon's body passes through every single one of these things, and straight into Chigul.

Both of you light up like a second sun. You can almost hear the Mechabeast screaming in agony as its right eye bursts from the sheer amount of electricity flowing through its entire body. Though thinking about it, that might just be the sound of its frame warping. As you continue to fry it inside and out, you can feel your hand squeezing through its melting skull...

...and then, with a sharp tug, you rip the melted mess off what used to be a neck.

You push the melted carcass off you, and pull the smoking remains of its arms out of your body and throw them to the floor. While in life they were attached quite tightly, in death Chigul's slagged joints were incapable of any resistance. You reach out and pluck the Moonlight Sword out from the building it embedded itself into, and return it to its sheath. As you do so, the sparks that leap out from Pantheon's many wounds fade away as they rapidly close up, and the ends of your damaged tails have already started to regrow. It only takes a few more seconds for the bits of drill that remained in your chest to be pushed out, clattering to the road below.

In the end, the only lasting injury you received was to your right arm, where the internal structure was cut quite badly, but that should be fixed when you next call upon Pantheon's might. Your power reserves are relatively low, as well, but you doubt you'll be doing any more fighting today.

What greets your eyes when you look up makes that almost a certainty.

Standing elegantly before you is the Vardant, shield-wings spread wide and two swords in each hand. Behind it you can see the bulky yellow form of the Hind-Tank, the slender Kagutsuchi, and the barrel-like Decieve. Looking further behind them, Mazinger Z and Boss Borot are standing amongst the wreckage of the two last Mechabeasts, with the massive metal ball that is the Machina Glen-Neidr floating nearby. You wouldn't be surprised if Apparition's gigantic sniper rifle was trained on you, too.

Suddenly an image of a very good looking man with glasses springs into your mind as Vardant opens a communication channel with you. You're pretty sure you're not transmitting an image back. "That was an...interesting method of fighting," Reiji starts. You suppose you should be flattered that he's commenting on that rather than getting straight to business. "My name is Reiji Moritsugu. Who are you, and what are your intentions? Why were you with Doctor Hell's forces?"

How do you respond?
[] Write-in

Also, how much info do you want to give out about yourself?
[] Tell them everything. You know the future and you're here to save them all.
[] Tell them only what's happened since you woke up. You still don't know if you can trust your 'memories,' and something tells you that you should keep your knowledge of the future close to your chest.
[] Tell them nothing. Try to be mysterious.
[] Write-in?

Sorry this took so long.

GilliamYaeger · Sep 7, 2016

Because this Quest is very definitely not dead, have the first half of the next update. I'll post the rest of it when I'm done with it.

[X] My name is Yoshikage Minase, pilot of Pantheon. I was with Doctor Hell's army because I wanted past the barrier and the only way through is with Doctor Hell. I mangaed to scrounge up a disguise from broken Mechabeasts and slipped in with the rest of the army. I followed them until we got to the bridge and here we are.
[X] Tell them only what's happened since you woke up. You still don't know if you can trust your 'memories,' and something tells you that you should keep your knowledge of the future close to your chest.

Well, at least his first questions are simple enough.

"Hello, Reiji. My name is-" you begin, before hesitating. You've just realized that you can't actually remember your name. That...might prove to be a problem, especially if you want to find out who you really are. Well for now, you decide to just pick something at random, and end up with..."...Minase. Minase Yoshikage." Yeah, that'll do. You like the sound of it, at least.

"And this Machina I pilot is named Pantheon. I was with Doctor Hell's army because I wanted to get inside the Photon Barrier, and they had the only way in. I wasn't confident of my chances taking them on alone, so I managed to scrounge up a disguise from broken Mechabeasts and slipped in with the group. I followed them until you guys showed up, and...well, here we are."

You see Reiji's eyes move up and down as he looks Pantheon over. "What happened to this disguise of yours?"

"...I ditched it when it seemed like they bought it."

Behind you, Tamamo sighs.

Reiji just narrows his eyes. "I see..." is all he says. Thinking back, you're not sure why you removed your disguise. It was almost like you were certain that it was no longer important...

"Why did you want to enter the barrier?" Reiji asks, snapping you out of your thoughts.

"Because it wasn't safe outside the barrier."

"...and why were you outside the barrier?"

"I...don't remember."

Reiji was silent at that.

"Excuse me one moment," he finally says, before the feed winks out.

---

"So, what do you think?"

"While her story is suspicious, something in my gut tells me we can trust her, though I can't really explain why," Reiji says, before frowning. "But...its strange. Her fighting style reminds me of Hayase a little."

Katou Hisataka leaned forward. "Go on."

"Her swordsmanship was crude, amateurish," Reiji elaborates, "relying on brute force rather than skill. What little I saw was merely flailing at her enemies rather than really striking at them, yet despite that she's intimately familiar with her Machina's more advanced systems. There's an imbalance there."

"...I think I see what you're getting at. Normally a Machina's AI would teach the pilot how to fight, so even an ignorant child would be a threat. The sole exception to this was..."

"Linebarrel."

Katou stared at this 'Pantheon' through the image Shangri-La was feeding into his brain. Something about it was very, very wrong, even ignoring how only a few months ago he had been absolutely certain there were only twelve Machina left on Earth. Maybe it was the way it moved, far too organically for a machine, with those nerve cracks gently swaying side to side behind it like tails...between this newcomer, that rogue Machina that had started showing up wherever the Human-Machina did, and that superpowered Ryouma Nagare cosplayer, it seemed like the mysteries were just coming one after another.

Katou hated mysteries. They had a habit of biting him in the ass the instant he turned his back on them.

"...Bring her in. Regardless of whether she's a spy or not, I want her in our custody. I'll bring Shangri-La over to pick you up, we'll have a dock prepared for her by the time we rendezvous."

"Understood."

With that, Katou muted the line, but didn't cut it - he needed to continue monitoring the communications between Reiji and Minase. Reiji, meanwhile, reopened the channel to Pantheon.

"Miss Yoshikage, if you would be so kind as to accompany me..."

---

It was, of course, only natural that the hanger bay Pantheon wound up docking into was crowded. Pretty much all the pilots had wound up listening to Reiji's conversation with the newcomer one way or another, and being the rag tag squad of misfits that they were, most of them had found a reason to be there when the pilot stepped out of the cockpit.

The possibility of a new teammate meant that the more responsible members of the squad like Alfred Walken and Jack Smith would be present, while the newcomers voice, which almost certainly belonged to a young, pretty female, had inevitably drawn the significantly less responsible hormonal teen crowd, and Roy. This in turn led to the presence of Shizuka and Sayaka, who were mostly there to mind their respective Koujis, though being the personable type Sayaka would have been here anyway simply for the chance to make a new friend.

And of course Reiji was present as well, alongside a handful of his fellow factors.

"I don't like this," Jack Smith said, frowning at the unfamiliar Machina being raised into the empty bay the group had gathered around. "This is just too convenient."

"We were in a similar position before, so we could at least give them the benefit of the doubt," Walken said. "If the Hokuten Irregulars weren't open-minded enough to welcome anyone willing into their ranks, neither of us would be here today."

"That's different, Alfred. Hadou and Ishigami were still alive back then."

The American raised an eyebrow at that. "You don't trust Katou's judgement?"

"Its whether Katou will get the chance to even talk to them that I'm worried about. We've let almost all of our pilots gather here, away from their machines. If that Machina goes on the rampage..."

"Its not like we've left ourselves completely helpless, Mister Samurai," Roy spoke up. "Between those two," he gestured at the gigantic, barrel-like form of Decieve, sitting in the bay next to Pantheon, still active despite being docked, "yourself, and your student, I'm sure we'll be fine if things go bad."

Jack scoffed at that. "Kouji isn't my student. I just showed him a few things, that's all."

"Whatever you say," Roy said with a smirk.

"But...you do make a good point," Jack admitted. "I just hope this isn't a mistake."

Super Robot Wars SV: An End to Eternity

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