operation xernxaar: ultimate chaos
Seren, to their debatable credit, had spent only a minimal amount of time staring off into the distance above the Anvil Sandplain, pondering the nature and necessity of a Skell aircraft carrier when the Ganglion had such spacious hangars nearby; that is to say, why weren't there any Xerns in any of the other, closer continents?
And why was ~Grandmaster~ Luxaar's Xern parked out here?
It sort of spoke to a horrifyingly entitled sense of space real estate, that that thing owned by that guy (thing) could hang in the sky, all nonchalant, dangling its disgusting tendrils, while Seren had to sit on the surface and implode.
The first time up, it sniped their Skell. Poor Sirius fell faster than it would have in freefall, just trying to get to a clifftop to perch and disembark.
But that was just the first time, so it basically didn't even count.
"I refuse to use hacks," Seren said stiffly. "Just because I learned Overdrive on the Commando tree doesn't mean I have to go back to it now."
Was this not demonstrably true...sort of? If Elma's class was the only one worth a tinker's darn, then wouldn't everyone use it? And sure, a lot of BLADEs did use dual weapons of some kind or other, but Ghost interference, of the humanoid kind, was a lot rarer than that.
Or maybe there was just no one brave enough to try to measure up to Elma. That was also fairly possible.
Still, max-level gear on all parts and a double dose of max TP? Why weren't they gaining?
They were sure their evasion was up. Sure of it. Forget about decoys, what happened to a simple show of skill?
And yet, the massive Xern tilted its head, appendageless, and fired off its megacannon as the tactic and the tool both were not at all advanced but in fact very, very simple.
Seren didn't like fighting wars of attrition. Especially considering their recent rout of Buchwald, fashioned via a stellar display of final impatience, they were much happier to get addicted to the big damage and coast. Or, if it was a mob, they'd beat through the mooks in style - more enemies meant more fuel, meant more busting and more winning.
Interceptors intercepted, when requested and otherwise when deemed strategically necessary or otherwise (other than wisely) beneficial. They didn't play ego games with Tyrants, teetering at the edge of incapacitation for the thrill of it all. As L would say, who gives a shit and giggles? Not Seren.
(Actually, definitely Seren. Ci couldn't have described them better if ci'd tried, which ci never did, because ci never had to.)
Four times, they tried. Four times, they picked off the silly little zig just frolicing at the top of the spire, unawares. Four times, the arm-flung flames licked at Seren's angelic face and threatened to melt the flesh layer right off. Four times, their allies passed out, leaving them alone, quivering, in a bargain jacket and pale pink pants.
So Seren, defeated, took a hint from their nether regions and went to Slavebird Isle to go off and hunt some pink ceto.
It was absolutely uncanny how great a difference there - apparently - was between a beam resistance value of 80, and one of 100 (actually 105, given the augment's total effect, but mild-mannered masterminds weren't counting). Seren, reviewing the scenario, was pretty sure they could have taken the gigantic mech down even more rapidly and flashily if they hadn't been furiously spamming Smooth Recovery and even Recuperate between Full Specs'd Ether Blasts to ensure their survival - they were out of all their tensifiers to go another round, for one thing! But really, how could they be, let alone have been, expected to believe it?
From a total wipe, without so much as a blooming cloud of thermal energy thundering agog to signal its advent, to...a dink. Less than a dink. A wink. A tick. A flick. A zit.
(Did Ganglion get zits, or was that a blessing reserved for the organic, naturally-occurring side of the Samaarian evolutionary line? Did Luxaar get zits? Did Luxaar like pizza?)
If Seren could rip Luxaar's face off like they'd ripped the deleterious device off of that gargantuan skyline parking garage, they surely would. How could an inautonomous mech shielding a baby Seidr that did nothing to cover its ass be vulnerable to taunts from stinking little humans in not-meat suits?
Seren was still mulling this over as they trundled back to the Noctilucent Sphere, to find their way in now that Feru had proven it possible. They'd known it to be so, for sure, as soon as Sirius had acquired its flight module, but they'd just given up far too quickly.
Now, it was on. Keeping a careful eye on their minimap, they scanned the westerly side of the sphere up and down, north and south, just waiting for their view and the capture from faithful Feru's comm to line up. It had to be around here somewhere, right? Especially considering that Feru, of course, had done it without a flight pack. Seer had truly taught em well, despite all eyr persistent passivity.
Seren was just about to give up when they heard a rushing noise from overhead, slightly muffled by the roof of the Skell being the most opaque to external sources of sound.
Finally! The waterfall. Seren cruised in, gave Pharsis the once-over, observed the groundless pool dotted with germivores (or were those visigels? if unafulges could burrow, then those glassy buggers definitely could), and flew right back out.
...into a crimson aurora, crystal clear and pure in its blanket of the white-sand sky. Said sky, not to mention, was now free of ugly slugs' vanity fairs.
Ah, well. On to Ignit. Of course, they were immune to thermal attacks now, too. Coronids might suck, but they definitely sucked less than Luxaar. Just about everything on Mira did.