[h1][center][color red]Arrish Duval[/color][/center][/h1]
[h3][color red][center]Neither will alone nor strength alone will be enough.[/center][/color][/h3]
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[color red]"Team Apple, listen up, this Arrish Duval taking direct command."[/color] Horst leaned up against the wall and handled the Heavy Assault RIfle in both of its hands, keeping the weapon close. The Horst had always been a heavy framewerk but without the Bastion anymore she was still exposed at all sides. [color red] "Aurora's last command was emotionally compromised before going KIA, so we're going to do something different, do you hear me? Follow me and we might just come out of this alive."[/color] He knew he was stepping on dangerous territory, but he trusted that Mema-ka would fall in line with him and they could still make it out of this with something that resembled team work.

Everyone here was trying their best. At least, that's what Arrish wanted to believe. Their had been sacrifices on both sides of this battlefield, with Serah sending her framewerk plummeting from the sky like a soaring eagle and making her death mark onto Rhylaen. Jake had died doing his duty, rushing down Mother Goose —a framewerk that he surely had no chance of defeating alone— with the salvaged remains of Atty in his hands. Aurora and Stella had made the greatest sacrifices yet, going down in a blaze of beautiful glory before taking out one another. Whereas Stella had taken revenge on Team Apple for harming the little ones, it was what had happened to Aurora that felt unfair.

He thought about what he knew of her. She was dedicated to her machine, Sleeping Thunder, and adored all the framewerks in their own way. She loathed the Cruxi menace for whatever it was they had taken from her and in her moments of virtual death what did he hear? A woman that spoke with words cold as ice, her kind heart broken and shattered in her belief that she had been betrayed by her team. Even if this was a virtual mission, a contest to showcase their skills, wasn't that reaction extreme? But then again, they had betrayed her. Not because Team Apple was manipulative or scheming, but because they had failed her vision. Instead of acting like a team, they were scattered across the winds with no semblance of the plan that Aurora had laid out for them. Arrish felt her pain. He understood that one person alone wasn't enough. That strength and will alone weren't enough. One needed to have both, but more than that, they needed each other. He hoped that would start with Mema-ka falling in line with his plan. Maybe if they could unify, even now, they could still pull victory.

Horst started to move along the wall of the building and its massive footfalls crumbled the virtual stonework with every step. Even so, Arrish moved his framewerk carefully, as though every step would be his last. [Color red]"Raptor, I want you with me. We're going to advance on Argent Wing and take her down. I want you to lay down suppressive fire while I advance into her. If we're lucky she'll take the bait."[/color] He didn't add what both of them already knew; That if Argent Wing didn't fire onto Horst then Raptor was going to be in serious trouble, especially with all the damage the frame had already taken. It was a gambit, but if they could take out Argent Wing, that only left Argo and Cockroach as the final threats.

Horst peaked its head around the corner and could see Argent Wing retreating in the distance. He had to take action now! Before the opportunity was lost and so were their chances at winning at all of this. The unknowns danced along his thoughts like a paranoid fly and he asked himself [color red][i]'What can Guinevere still do, and how much danger am I in?'[/i][/color] and another bubbling thought surfaced. [color red][i]'Bug is still alive; What am I doing? What if he has a clear shot on me? What if he goes berserk and kills us all?'[/i][/color] but he pushed away those thoughts, and those fears. Most of them were useless now anyways, and a soldier couldn't afford to weigh himself down with fear. There was just one other thought, one relevant thought, that surfaced into his mind.

Argo couldn't just be allowed to get away. If someone didn't put down that hound of war they were going to be in trouble, but lucky for them the best man for the job was already there. Still, Arrish couldn't help but think that Griff needed something more, maybe a little push or nudge in the right direction. Revenge... Anger. That was something everyone in the squad, both Mango and Apple could use to fuel their final moments. [color red]"Shiva, remember what I said. Argo's dangerous, and more so while wounded. Take her down, soldier. Take revenge. Take her down for every one of us that she's hurt."[/color]

[b][Knight to P24][/b]

Horst came bursting out of the corner in quick motion with the heavy assault rifle raised and aimed in the direction of Argent Wing. The bullets fired in rapid succession with a [i]pap pap pap[/i] that echoed across the battlefield. This was for everyone, he thought to himself, this was for everyone that sacrificed themselves up to this moment and when Horst went down, she would go down fighting.