[b]The Cloud[/b]

It arrived. 

Nanites entered the KC-00032 and assembled themselves into a roughly humanoid form, which its processors said was the form most suitable for interaction with other members of the Machina. It made them more comfortable, though such things could be forsaken in an emergency. They were not at that point yet. 

As it moved the command from Eos was received, designating the primary objective as the protection of the factory. "Complying," it replied in the unified mass of its myriad whole, which would sound to anyone else as if there was a bunch of people talking at once. Distracting and perhaps disturbing, but it saw nothing wrong. It had conveyed its message, and that was all there was to it.

"Initiating growth processes," it intoned, dispatching nanites to leave the main collective for other parts of the factory. they would consume and multiply, devouring refuse and raw materials, those things that were not deemed vital for the functioning of the factory in the Machina mainframe. It could not bring its full mass to bear immediately, so it would have to grow before it could become a serious threat. Of course they would start with the robots that Eos was currently destroying, figuring they would be less missed. 

Situational analysis indicated that there were two main threats. There was an angelic host approaching outside the factory, and inside the demons had hijacked workers to sabotage everything. Undoubtedly there were demonic reinforcements on the way as well, if only because they would not have tipped their hand and revealed their infiltrators otherwise. 

With Eos actively inside the factory to counter the demonic threat, that made the angelic threat more pressing. Those dispatched elements would be left to work while his humanoid form seemed to fade out of existence into a, well, cloud, as it surged forward and moved out of the factory. [i]'Moving to engage Angelic forces,'[/i] it informed all Machina commanders as it took to the field. Its form was reconstituted once it was outside, facing down the running angel and those with it. It was time for the battle to begin. 

"Cease and desist," it ordered, raising an arm. Nanites would swarm and reorganize into a weapon, and seconds after its demand it would open fire at Torag, spitting bits of itself at him in the form of self guiding bullets. It held no fear, merely a certainty that it would fulfill its purpose. With the rest of the Machina working together, it would succeed.

[@Mega Birb][@KoL]
[hr]
[b]Tartys[/b]

Tartys could only nod in agreement with Miyu's assessment as to why Angel-Demons were not all that common in comparison to the myriad of Machina hybrids that existed in the war. "There is a tendency for one to try and overtake the other," she added. It was just her own assessment of course, since Holy power would not function once corrupted, and a Demon could hardly use a power that hurt it rather than, well, making it stronger. She imagined that they tended to not survive. 

The self deprecation that Miyu presented her with was a bit more disturbing, but Tartys didn't comment on it just yet as she allowed Miyu to retrieve a chair so they could both sit down rather than standing awkwardly while ruminating on the strange machine. A cooler was soon presented as well, and she took a drink to sample while spending her time with the girl. "That sounds like quite the endeavor," she noted aloud as she surveyed the factory. To reach the stars, it would not be an easy task for a single person. Nonetheless it seemed to be quite admirable in its motivation. 

"Well, I suppose if anyone could do it then this is a good place to start," she decided at last, flashing her host a warm smile. With all the resources one could find in the Nexus, she was sure that Miyu would succeed eventually. It wasn't like she had to worry about dying of old age after all.

The question brought her back to her purpose though, and she straightened up with the reminder. "Ah yes. Well you see I received this gift recently, which said something about a birthday on it. I felt it wouldn't be right to get something from the person celebrating, so I went out and acquired a small thing that I figured you would find useful." With a flick of her wrist magic blossomed, and in moments a small package would settle into her hand before passing it to Miyu. "Here you go. Happy birthday." 

Inside she would find a set of crystal lenses, of varying sizes and focus. They were made from rare gems across the Nexus (though 'rare' in this case was something of a misnomer given the near infinite resources that were present). "I figured you would appreciate something more practical," she explained as she waited to see what Miyu thought. They would be good for industrial work, or if she wanted to make something that just looked pretty too.

[@The 42nd Gecko]