Moniqa

Moniqa
Personal Information
Age	22
Origin	Germany
Status	Alive
Affiliation	QUILL
Appearances
Debut	Azure Striker Gunvolt
Games	Azure Striker Gunvolt Mighty Gunvolt Burst (cameo)
IRL
Voice Actor	Moemi Otaka (Japanese) Hannah Grace (English OVA)
Created by	Inti Creates
Subpage

"Double check your gear, and be ready for anything."
—Moniqa ', Azure Striker Gunvolt

Moniqa, known as Monica in Japan, is a non-playable character in Azure Striker Gunvolt. She is an operator working for QUILL; she has no known septimal powers.

English Website Description

Moniqa is an operations manager at QUILL and one of the few members who doesn’t have Sepmital powers.

She is generally a serious and highly capable officer, and acts like an older sister to Gunvolt and Zeno.

Even though she usually with the program, she has a bit of a clumsy side that reveals itself on occasion. She has a deep admiration for Asimov.

Plot Role (Incomplete)

Moniqa, along with Zeno, acts as Gunvolt's operator in the field (her codename is Sheep's 3), feeding him intel on foes and stage gimmicks in various missions.

She and Zeno discover Asimov's corpse on Babel during the True End of ASG1, asking GV what happened.

Moniqa makes no canonical appearances after this.

English Game Dialogue

1st Sumeragi (Anthem), Beginning of Mission

• GUNVOLT: "GV to Base. Open the line."
• MONIQA: "We read you, Gunvolt. ...Nice to hear you're not dead."
• GUNVOLT: "Not this time. Update the mission params. Sumeragi has moved the target. They put the Muse on a freight train out of the facility. I'm in pursuit."
• MONIQA: "Negative. We should vet the Intel to make sure it's not a trap."
• ASIMOV: "Judgment overruled. Gunvolt, you are clear to pursue. He can handle himself, Moniqa. Just keep scanning for changes."
• MONIQA: "Yes, sir. Play nice out there, GV."
• ASIMOV: "Zeno, are you patched in?"
• ZENO: "Affirmative, boss man. I caught it all. Moving into support position. You know, in case Geeves actually decides to let me help. Right, Geeves?"
• GUNVOLT: "I'll take it under advisement."
• ZENO: "Advisement? Gee, thanks. I feel loved now."
• ASIMOV: "All right, enough. You've got a Muse to deprogram. Asimov out."

1st Sumeragi (Anthem), After Defeating the Boss

• GUNVOLT: "This is the last car. Sumeragi must've hid the Muse program here... ...What the gack!? Where's the server? Are you telling me that...? No. No way!"
• JOULE: "Wh-who are... you? Are you... new here? You don't look... like a scientist..."
• GUNVOLT: "She's talking to me telepathically... Is she an Adept like me?"
• LUMEN: "My name is Lumen. They call me the Muse. But I'm just a projection. A manifestation of this girl's septimal power. You're not with Sumeragi are you? Then free her. Free us both!"
• GUNVOLT: "......Moniqa, do you read? Update the mission params. I've engaged the target... But the Muse isn't a program at all. She's a human girl. An Adept."
• MONIQA: "What?!"
• GUNVOLT: "She's not hostile. Sumeragi has been holding her against her will."
• ZENO: "That sounds like their style for sure."
• GUNVOLT: "New objective: I'm gonna extract the girl and—"
• ASIMOV: "Negative. Your objective stands. Eliminate her."
• GUNVOLT: "Asimov! She's just a kid!"
• ASIMOV: "And so are you. Doesn't matter. She's still a threat. There's no way to help her, anyway. How will you get her past the reinforcements closing in on you? Where will she live? With us? Surrounded by guns?"
• GUNVOLT: "You don't—it's not that simple!"
• JOULE: "It's okay... I'd rather die than stay here. I'm tired of Sumeragi using my Anthem to hurt people. I deserve to be silenced. Do it... please."
• GUNVOLT: "(I won't. When Asimov pulled me out of that hellhole...I thought I deserved to die, too... But he gave me a purpose.) ...Look, don't give up! You're alive for a reason! And if you need someone to help you find it, I'll be your compass. Pretend you can have anything you want. What would you wish for?"
• JOULE: "Anything? Well... I want to be free. I want to stand at the top of the world and see it all!"
• GUNVOLT: "The top of the world... All right. Then that's where I'll take you. ......Hey, Asimov? I'm done. I've decided to leave QUILL. You pulled me out of a bad place and made something out of me. I won't forget that. But now I want to do the same for this girl. I want to give her a chance."
• ASIMOV: "What chance? You can't free her until we free the world."
• GUNVOLT: "That's your opinion."
• ASIMOV: "Fine. We don't run a democracy here. QUILL has no room for dissenters. You're off the roster. So long, Gunvolt."
• MONIQA: "What?! Oh, come on! Both of you!"
• ZENO: "Yeah! What's with all the drama?"
• GUNVOLT: "No drama. I've just gotta do this. Moniqa, Zeno—I'm gonna miss you."
• ASIMOV: "Take the girl and go. QUILL will hold off the reinforcements. ...Good luck, kid."
• ASIMOV: "You too, Asimov."
• ...

Cutscene After Clearing 1st Sumeragi

• GUNVOLT: "GV to QUILL. Open the line. (I was fresh back from the city's trenches. I needed to check in with my handler, Moniqa. This was after about half a year of freelancing. I missed QUILL's paycheck, but I was finally managing. And the apartment was growing on me, as humble hideaways go.)"
• MONIQA: "...I read you. Nice work out there, GV. ......Hey, listen. How many of your contracts are with QUILL? Almost all of them, right? You should just come back. Join up again."
• GUNVOLT: "(Fair point. I was pitching myself as freelance, but Joule and I were wanted terrorists. Try landing jobs with -that- on your resume. At least I did less overtime.) I take your jobs because you pay well. Don't get warm and fuzzy on me. Look, Asimov was right. What Joule needs right now is a family. I know how much you and Asimov mean to me. I want her to have the same thing—not the last bunk in some fringe militia. I think we're all in the best place we can be."
• MONIQA: "Who's getting warm and fuzzy now? Fine, have it your way. I'll tell the other fringe lunatics you said no."
• GUNVOLT: "Moniqa, wait! That's not what I meant... (...Oh yeah, I handled that conversation well. But Moniqa really was like family. She'd get over it. Well, home sweet home. I should check in on Joule.)"
• ...

Anthem Briefing

• ASIMOV: "Your target is the Muse, aka Lumen. Your orders are to destroy her code."
• ZENO: "Wait, were assassinating a computer program? ...A -singing- computer program?"
• ASIMOV: "QUILL has discovered the Muse's Anthem causes septimal resonation. They can use it to pinpoint any adept who hears it. The Anthem also causes illness in a small, but serious, number of cases."
• MONIQA: "So the Muse is like sonar for adepts?"
• ASIMOV: "Essentially. We'll never be free until her code is destroyed. The server housing it can be found in the First Sumeragi building. Zeno and I will run interference while Gunvolt breaks in and does the hit."
• GUNVOLT: "Yes, sir."

Abyss Briefing

• MONIQA: "According to our operatives, Sumeragi has been pushing a large amount of material through its tertiary subaquatic military base. The nature of the supplies and recent construction of a new docking platform suggest intent to build some kind of large, armed submarine."
• GUNVOLT: "But you need visual confirmation."
• MONIQA: "Affirmative, and if there is an armed submarine down there—"
• GUNVOLT: "Disarm it, right? I got it."
• MONIQA: "Thanks. You sure put the 'brief' into 'briefing'..."

Cutscene Before Sinner's Row (Kaleidoscape) Becomes Available

• GUNVOLT: "(Late one evening, after Joule had gone to sleep, I was getting ready for bed myself when an SOS call came in. It was Moniqa.)"
• MONIQA: "Gunvolt, do you read? Come on, pick up!"
• GUNVOLT: "Moniqa, I'm here. What's the matter? Do you know what time it is?"
• MONIQA: "Yes. I'm sorry. Something urgent came up. An adept we're after just fled into your neighborhood. Zeno was in pursuit but took a nasty hit."
• ZENO: "Sorry, Geeves. Urgh... I got sloppy."
• GUNVOLT: "Hey, are you all right? Hang in there! (Zeno liked to kid around on the wire, but his skill in the field was no joke. The adept who dinged him up was clearly a cut above.) All right. I'm heading out now."
• ZENO: "Thanks... Hey... promise you'll be careful."
• GUNVOLT: "I will. Get that wound tended to."

Kaleidscape Briefing

• MONIQA: "Sorry to call you in on short notice. We need you to hunt down that powerful adept who wounded Zeno. The target has taken refuge in Sinner's Row. Be careful..."

Sinner's Row (Kaleidoscape), Beginning of Mission

• MONIQA: "The target is a bigender adept that goes by the name "Zonda". Xe leads a team of Hunters. We tried engaging xem, but xe fled to the rooftops of Sinner's Row. Be ready for the Hunters, too. Zonda's men are loyal."
• GUNVOLT: "Roger all that. Beginning the search now."

Sinner's Row (Kaleidoscape), Prior to the Boss Battle

• GUNVOLT: "...Did I break the illusion?"
• MONIQA: "Gunv......perat......are......ling......da......ed......nto......rea......"
• GUNVOLT: "(It was all coming in static.) Someone's jamming the frequency!"
• ...

Garden Briefing

• MONIQA: "Your target is a flower specimen in Sumeragi's pharmaceutical lab."
• GUNVOLT: "You want me to kill a flower? That's a new one."
• MONIQA: "The problem is the drug they produce from it. Ever heard of S.E.E.D.? It's a psychotropic medication used to control things like anxiety. In strong doses, it induces temporary septimal highs and leads to dependence."
• GUNVOLT: "So whoever controls the drug..."
• MONIQA: "Gains leverage over a small army of overpowered, wastoid adepts."
• GUNVOLT: "Wow...bad flower. Okay, I'll make sure it's destroyed."

Pharma Lab (Garden), Mid-Stage

• GUNVOLT: "A dead end?"
• MONIQA: "Hang on. It looks like you might be able to open that hatch in the floor. Try electrifying the switchboard directly in front of you."

Cutscene Before Streak (Eridu) Becomes Available

• ZENO: "That jerk thinks he can gack with us and get away with it? Grr..."
• ASIMOV: "That it easy, Zeno. I've got new intel from our operatives. Joule has been taken to Sumeragi's orbital station, aka 'Firmament'. From there, Lumen's song will be broadcast across the globe. That -has- to be their endgame. And we need to stop it before it happens."
• GUNVOLT: "I'll take the mission, Asimov. This one's personal."
• MONIQA: "To reach Firmament, we'll have to use 'Babel'—Sumeragi's space elevator. We need a way to seize control of it."
• ZENO: "Me and Asimov will take care of that. Right, boss?"
• ASIMOV: "Right. Gunvolt, you hit the control facility head-on to draw Sumeragi's fire. If anyone can take the heat, it's you."
• GUNVOLT: "Thanks... I know you're not doing it for me, but... thank you."
• ASIMOV: "All right, 'black sheep'. Let's go to pasture."

Babel Briefing

• MONIQA: "Nice work, Gunvolt. I see you've reached the space elevator."
• ZENO: "We control Babel now. Now hop aboard and go save Joule!"
• MONIQA: "Remember: We control where the elevator goes, but not the building. Double-check your gear and be ready for anything."
• GUNVOLT: "I'll take it under advisement."

Stratosphere (Babel), Beginning of Mission

• MONIQA: "Gunvolt, you'll be out of transmission range soon."
• ZENO: "Good luck, Geeves. You get Joule out of there, ya hear? I mean, I'd do it myself, but I like you too much to steal the spotlight."
• GUNVOLT: "Uh huh. Thanks, Zeno. You're all man."
• MONIQA: "Asimov, do you read? ...... Still nothing. Where the heck did he go?"
• ZENO: "The boss probably snuck onto the elevator to one-up my boy here. Or maybe he's waiting for the right moment to jump in and save Geeves' bacon. That's what I would do."
• MONIQA: "Yeah, and you and Asimov are about as alike as a poodle and a potato."
• ZENO: "Ooh......really do......crush......m......"
• MONIQA: "......grow up...not like......all......Zeno......"
• ZENO: "...better watch......boss is......player......"
• GUNVOLT: "(The wire went silent. I had reached critical altitude. Of course I was worried about Asimov, but I had to press on. Joule needed me.) All right. Down to business."
• ...

Idolatry Briefing

• MONIQA: "Gunvolt's completely off the grid now... Do you think he's up there somewhere? I hope he made it to Firmament..."
• ZENO: "Aw, you know him. He'll be back with Joule and that bad haircut before you can say 'Azure Striker'."
• MONIQA: "Yeah. You're right... (Asimov, if you're up there, too... keep them safe.)"

True Ending

• NARRATOR: "Meanwhile, at the bottom of Babel...Zeno and Moniqa were waiting for their comrades to return. They could hear the hum of the elevator approaching. Then the doors opened."
• ZENO: "Hey, Geeves, you're— ...What..."
• MONIQA: "Oh my God! No!"
• ZENO: "Asimov? Boss man!! ...Is he dead?"
• GUNVOLT: "......"
• NARRATOR: "Moniqa looked to Gunvolt for a denial—some sign things would be

okay. But Gunvolt said nothing. His eyes were as cold as Asimov's."

• MONIQA: "No—no, he can't—Asimov..."
• Narrator: "(Tears streamed down her cheeks as she crumpled to the floor. Without another look, Gunvolt started to move toward the door.)"
• ZENO: "Hey! Geeves! What gives? Where's Joule? You think you can walk out of here without telling us what the gack is going on?"
• MUSE: "Don't touch him!"
• ZENO: "Whuh?!"
• NARRATOR: "An invisible force knocked Zeno's hand away. The battle had left Gunvolt wounded, heartbroken, alone. His aegis, Joule, was the only strong part of him left. As the night drew to a close...the last Azure Striker was as quiet and unreadable as a desert. Zeno watched him go. Again, Gunvolt's Muse spoke to him."
• MUSE: "We can go anywhere, you know. It's just us now."
• GUNVOLT: "All I want........."
• NARRATOR: "Zeno strained to hear what he said, but Gunvolt was out of earshot. Helplessly, he stood there as his friend vanished into the distance...and was swallowed by the uncertain light of the rising Sun."

Japanese Version

"GV, don't do anything too reckless."

—Monica, Japanese Official Site

Trivia

• Moniqa's concept art reveals that she is from Germany and that she has a small gun.
• Moniqa happens to navigate missions in which the stage hazards are made by the Sumeragi adept boss' septimal abilities; e.g., Abyss features Merak's wormholes, The Garden features Stratos' swarms, and Kaleidoscape features Zonda's mirrors.

References

• Japanese Website

• Official Japanese Tweet Regarding Moniqa