#karusa

“Something changed after Mamachi escaped. Losing Karusa did something to Jaya. They were never quite the same again..."

Oh, hello?

Did Jaya have a soft spot for Karusa? How close were they exactly? And in what way!?

Or is this just meant as part of describing how Karusa's death was the inciting event for a major rift occuring between Cikara and Jaya and Saka?

Mamachi turned towards Jakari, who stood there, staring at the black mark burned into the ground with a look of abject horror in her face. They turned towards Jakari’s Talus, which had one arm raised with a plasma cannon aimed at the exact spot where Karusa had been standing, and they understood what had happened.

Fuuuuuuck.

The problem with having such highly honed survival instincts is that sometimes they'll have your mech reacting before you do.

Wow.

I knew going in it wouldn't be a heroic ending and even Mamachi's Level 7 schematic stunt didn't make me think otherwise but I figured there would be another round of fighting as they tried to leave the atmosphere or something that'd give us that final tragic turn.

Instead we get Karusa acting up and Jakari (painfully correctly) reacting like the soldier she has become instead of an aunt.

Here ends chapter 12 folks, be good to yourselves until Chapter 13 tomorrow.

“Karusa, get out of the Talus,” Mamachi said. “Or what?” Karusa said. “You won’t kill me.” Mamachi fired four of the cannons, and blew off all four of Karusa’s limbs, vaporizing them completely. The head and torso fell to the ground and lay there, unmoving.

I take back 50% of my doubts about Mamachi's ability to kill their friend if it came down to it. There is still a chance they couldn't but it is significantly closer to 0 than I had first thought.

Honestly the fact that they are still trying to get Karusa home is what has me thinking they may yet choke.

“I tried to get you to see that. All those talks we had about the Seichu and the rebellion. All those nights we sat talking about the Char and their goals. But you never listened. You just talked about how misguided it was to live in fear.” “It is,” Mamachi said. “Not if the fear is legitimate!” Karusa yelled.

Not when the Seichu have already been hunted to near extinction already its not. And not when YOUR Boss there and her lacky are the only ones who have been locking gadan citizens in torture chambers in the past few centuries. (Ok probably Arthan too but that's not the point atm).

The only people inflicting and building fear right now are the Char.

Mamachi is right. Just say you're weak willed and leave.

Admittedly I don't know what the Suil have been doing in the way of post-Seichu education and honestly there probably is a lot of horror their cutting out in the name of trying to move on, but lets be fucking real there are people alive within their society who lived those horrors, it's highly unlikely that they've taught nothing of the war with the Seichu because then there would be a massive gap in the narrative as to why the Suil are somehow morally superior to the Char.

“Aunt Jakari, what are you doing here?” Karusa asked. “Well, I came to take you and your friend home,” Jakari said. “You wasted a trip,” Karusa said. “I am home.”

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand there it is.

It. Was. Karusa.

Well played. War is hell. Nothing is sacred.

A quick query told them that Karusa wasn’t being held in the building, but they couldn’t find any information on where Karusa was being held.

There are two possible reasons this could be and each offer their own very strong but distinct flavours of angst and I truly have no clue which way it's gonna go, even if Jakari and Mamachi seem to be leaning towards dead or, more optimistically, heavily locked down.

“Where’s the meet?” “You’re going?” Dubari asked. “It’s Karusa,” Jakari said. “Yeah,” Dubari said with a heavy sigh.

"Yeah," Wren said with a building sense of dread over that phrase.

Karusa had given up their dead drops and their encryption codes, which meant, more than likely, they were either dead or being tortured to try to break Mamachi.

There is a third even angstier option being neglected here. Just saying.