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>>30229288

SQUAD GUIDE:

http://pastebin.com/zLZZHWEx

UPDATES:

- Loadout updated.
- MULETA added under Assault Shroud entry.

Evening OP. You hear about the new Shining project? 1 v. 1 fighter, according to the angry noises I was hearing from my friend's direction.

>>30229328

Above the chittering black sea, the great domed vault of the chamber rises. It may have been a underground carpark, once, or a loading bay - But now, warped by years in the inky darkness, it has become something far, far worse. Overhead, a colossal lattice of girderwork criss-crosses the distant ceiling, like the canopy of a metal fortress: Jagged spikes of zinc-grey metal protruding from the thickets in needle-sharp spines, like twisted, jagged stalactites bristling with thorns.

The ground is a charred splotch of black gore, steam rising in the wake of napalm flame - The only clear spot in a sea of swirling insects, clicking and rustling as their monstrous palp mouthparts articulate in a chittering cacophony. They're everywhere, spilling in fat squirming masses from the walls, the worst parts of cockroach and leech: Their bloated forms scurrying across your visor-view, antennae waving...

And from above, hideous shapes come sweeping out of the black. Their long, glassy wings are flickering blurs, making a strident thrumming noises - Hooked limbs extended, each one the size of a horse, their head crests formed into long, malevolent hooks. Behind you, the sliver of light from the shaft above is a distant memory - The rest of Vector Geist's squad landing with the distinctive *thumps* of their terminal drop...

-To find they've descended into a nightmare.

"letmegoletmegoletmegoLETME*GO*-"

Meridian Hand's screams are high, wailing, utterly without restraint - He's twisting like a maniac, thrashing in the grasp of the winged shapes that's seized him; The thing's hooked head crest already gnawing and gouging at his armour, fighting to get at the meat - The *Essence* - within.

"Holy SHIT-"

"Oh my God-"

(Continued)

>>30229481

(That's the first I've heard about it, actually.)

"Holy SHIT-"

"Oh my God-"

Shell Bullet hurls himself flat, as a locust rushes past overhead - You hear the shriek of Echo Saber swinging his blade in frantic defensive velocities, cutting and carving at the *things* that bobbed backwards away from him, effortless and light-

"Regroup! Regroup!" Vector Geist's shout rises over the commotion; He's firing with both Pulse Carbines, spitting streamers of charged rounds into the air - Turning in every direction at once, his optic sensor buzzing and whirring as he chases the fast-moving nightmares with twin hails of fire-

His voice is momentarily drowned out by the *fssssshhhhh* of flamethrowers being unleashed: Thick, searing cones of emerald fire boiling skywards, as Nova Drake's wrist-mounted flame projectors unleash twin blasts of scorching emerald flame. Choking black smoke boils forth, as burning forms tumble from the air - They thrash, barbed legs curling as they're incinerated, the wash of glutinous flame casting a foul, flickering light.

That's all you can make out, in the strobing illumination of Arc Guns and Masers and chattering Ion Blasters - Before two flying clades surge towards you from above, their wings droning that awful, atonal sound, hooked limbs extended to seize you.

HP: 256.2%
COBALT BOOSTER: 150%
ASSAULT SHROUD: 146%
METER: 26%

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>30229800

Get the immolator out, and starting torching monsters. Look around to see if there's any way out.

> "FORM A CIRCLE! SUPPRESSING FIRE!"

>>30229765
>>30229800
Meridian's the one who's Fire and Ice personified? "Hand, burn them up!"

Tyrant Burst 1, aimed upwards. Use the Immolator and a Vulcan, cobalt boost the arm the Vulcan is on so that we're switching targets as soon as one is hurt enough to fall. We want to avoid hitting Hand, and make sure he doesn't fall too hard.

Slow night, did you do a Twitter announcement with the thread?

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Glad to have you back, OP.

I was bored in a comp science lecture earlier this week, so I started scribbling. Have some ten minute fanart from somebody who doesn't have an artistic bone in his body.

Please note that I don't have any clue as to what the Red Joker actually looks like, and was going purely on 'Hexagons are cool' and 'His helmet is mono-optic, right?'. Was I close?

>>30229998
I remember thinking one of the Persona 2 personas matched my image of Red Joker. And we're basically your choice of Char MS. That cape is badass though.

>>30229910

(Ah, yep: It's up.)

>>30229998

(That looks amazing! The Assault Shroud's slightly more of a long coat/duster, but that's great.)

>>30229910

Hand hears you - Your voice cuts through the panic, as he seized onto it - the coruscating flame that radiates from his gauntlet momentarily engulfing his entire body. His fist clamps down against the clade's thorax, steel fingers gouging into the exoskeleton; Wisps of smoke rise from the molten point of contact, the distinctive *hiss* of burning slicing through the droning noise as he begins to burn his way free-

>>30229893

> "FORM A CIRCLE! SUPPRESSING FIRE!"

Your Immolator belches flame: The locusts diving towards you bank hard, to avoid the searing blast - But you sweep the Relic from side-to-side, bathing them in liquid fire. Their wings catch first; Attenuating into twin balls of thrashing fire, they smash to the ground with a crisp, grinding *crunch*, skidding past you in tumbling disarray. Barbed legs thrash, trying to reorientate-

And then there's the dopplering hum of Palladium Rook's Tachyon sword sweeping down, carving through exoskeleton and carapace in a vicious executioner's swing. He's covering Distortion Haze, who's desperately trying to hit the fast-moving targets with his Maser Emitter - He can't keep them in his sights long enough to damage them, but they veer away from him at the very last moment, wisps of steam rising from their cooking forms.

"They're *everywhere*," Rook crackles - He sidesteps, and his Zauber carves a clade entirely in two; Corrector ichor fountains out, the gore boiling away on the charged blade. "Joker, there's too many-"

(Continued)

>>30230117

He has the good sense to glance away, as the Tyrant Burst system charges - You lance scorching spears of flame skyward, the hideously oversized locust-shapes catching light; One, then another, tumbles into the seething morass of carnivorous parasites - They vanish beneath the thick, churning carpet, as the larva swarm over them...

-And begin to devour them.

The brilliant flare of light rips forth with the force of a flashbang: The blast bleaches all colour to stark black-and-white, for a blinding instant - You actually see the mass *recoil*, a hissing insect shriek of surrusating distress rising over the droning of their wings, as stunned and blinded clades plummet downwards with devastating *crumps* of impact, to be hacked apart or bludgeoned to death by Mauler Sledge or Brass Manticore-

Some rough sense of order is returning, at last - The squad folding back on itself in a rough half-circle, every gun blasting skywards, slicing through the air; Swarming leeches ground into the charred stain with brittle *crunches*...

And then you open fire with your Vulcan, and *really* rip into them. The barrels spin up, unleashing a constant hail of boosted shots - The heat sinks glowing cherry-red, as your gunfire pummels into the packed mass; A locust shivers apart right in front of you, a well-timed Immolator blast clearing them out in a burning rain of disjointed limbs and insect parts-

(Continued)

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Well I certainly didn't expect to see this tonight!
Goddamn i need to sleeeeeep

Found you a good hellion picture this time!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cmam1rQBtxk

>>30230211

Meridian plummets with all the grace of a meteor - He hits so hard, the ground deforms; You hear the CLANG of his armour meeting the floor hard enough to crack it, as he lurches to his feet, swearing all the way. Fire and ice washes out from him, as he limps towards the dubious safety of the firing line-

And still they come on.

You don't know how many there are, up there - Dozens, at least. Hundreds. More. As your sensors adjust to the gloom, you can make out - Dimly - a sloping path leading down and to your right, at the far end of the infested chamber: And close-by, a deep, dank chasm that the churning shapes cluster around. Behind you, a slick, glistening passage cants upwards, the sulphurous mist mingling with the choking smog of the point-blank engagement - The vaguest suggestion of grey concrete protruding from the muck.

HP: 248.5%
COBALT BOOSTER: 124%
ASSAULT SHROUD: 137%
METER: 34%

[ ] "Haze! Frag them!"
[ ] "Hold your position! Keep firing!"
[ ] "Fall back to the tunnel!"
[ ] "We need to break through - Push through to the slope!"
[ ] "Get to the chasm!"
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>30230336

(My apologies, an addenum:

TIER TWO WEAPONRY UNLOCKED.)

>>30230281
I've been seeing them as looking sorta like these.

Oh, yeah, and that list of possible character themes was floating around, as well.

>>30230336
>[X] "We need to break through - Push through to the slope!"

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>>30230357
I forgot both my picture and my link!

I need to sleep.

List of themes (I didn't make it so don't ask me to update it): http://pastebin.com/v7q0QnTG

>>30230336

> [X] "Haze! Frag them!"

MELT THEIR FACES

>>30230336
>[ ] "We need to break through - Push through to the slope!"

Slow and steady. Don't use too much booster. Area weapons are the order of the day.

>>30230336
>[ ] "Haze! Frag them!"

Votin against this - we could unleash the Exec_swarm. this would be a fantasticaly appropriate place for it.

Its not like we can't afford to pay for it on health.

>>30230336
>[ ] "We need to break through - Push through to the slope!"
[ ] "Get to the chasm!"

We still need to break through to our target. Whichever lets us regroup with nearby squads

I'll second >>30230416,
as Distortion haze is meant for anti-Corrector combat. He has three bullets, right?

>>30230336
>[x] "We need to break through - Push through to the slope!"

>>30230281
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VWRPawkfNQ
When in doubt, SMT has a soundtrack for any occasion.

>>30230416
Nope, he's only got three of those.

Let's go into the downward tunnel. Block the aperture with the Assault Shroud.

>>30230336
>[ ] "We need to break through - Push through to the slope!"

Deploy all our bits. Mass fire.

JokerOP, can EXE_SWARM be used to consume stuff like if used like a blocking line?

We use it like a final defence setup line.

>>30230544

No. Conserve our meter. Bits are a waste.

Use missiles instead. Light the area on fire.

In either case, if we're using exec_swarm to literally eat a path, don't use either of those - we don't want to waste meter on ineffective bits, or teamkill our own swarm with missiles.

>>30230605

We're getting swarmed and they're getting clawed and bitten.

Every bit of fire counts and they can easily target wings. Thats a good cost to effectiveness ratio.

Okay, so the bugs are clustered around the chasm. That's probably the entrance to the rest of the Hive.

We should destroy it. Or block it somehow. Any ideas?

>>30230626
If we're getting swarmed, they'll swarm the bits. It's not worth it if there are THOUSANDS of these things.

>>30230605
Does Exec_Swarm work that fast? It's never really been useful that I can remember, plus with all the energy weapons going off it won't last long.

>>30230430
>>30230478
>>30230494
>>30230544

> [X] "We need to break through - Push through to the slope!"

"Are you *serious*?" Vermilion Ray - In the middle of the formation - grits out; With his power siphoned by the bulky shape of the Solaris Array, he's reduced to crouching and taking potshots - Each time a clade buzzes past overhead, he flinches, ducks his head.

"We can't stay here," Geist growls - "All units, *forward*!"

It's like pushing forward against the tide; Blast Scarab's raised horn crackles with cising sparks, forks of jagged lightning searing upwards - Each sizzling bolt of electricity strobes and crackles against his target, crisping it to a mass of black char. He looms head-and-shoulders above the others, clumsy on his feet; Lumbering forward, step by grim step.

It's not tidy - The ragged squad bunches up, Vermilion Ray at their center, wading through the chittering marsh of crunching black shapes underfoot; They burst, when you thread on them, like overripe fruits, the footing slick and treacherous.

(Continued)

>>30230626
>Every bit of fire counts and they can easily target wings. Thats a good cost to effectiveness ratio.

>>30230430
>Slow and steady. Don't use too much booster. Area weapons are the order of the day.
This is the order of the day.

We want to hit the main area with LOTS of meter for end-game weaponry.

Bits are -never- worth it. we just straight up lose 10% meter a round and never gain it back.

Instead, use a triskelion missile - and get many times its cost back in multikills.

JQOP:
Order of battle:
Vulcans, sinistral+axe+Mulette if things get close.

Use 1-2 inferno missiles at things coming up the -rear- from us, and deploy an Exec_swarm to eat a path -ahead- of us. Its resistant to physical damage, and these bugs seem to do mainly that, so just consume a path for us.
Pay in hp(since we can regen), not assault shroud.

No Bits.

>>30230495
>When in doubt, SMT has a soundtrack for any occasion.
You know, i missed my original link
I meant to send out Waterflame. Copy-paste fail.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQL2UsceAKE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWV1hhdYf2Y&list=PLF78C41FE8F784232&index=2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zmCYLqdlQA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGHurR9nvMY

>>30230679
Why do we even have the bits anymore? We sort of stopped using them because all they did was get blown up.

>>30230749

Mainly because we're overtaxed on hollow sun resources and never got the upgrades that make them semiautonomous - and more importantly, able to dodge.
Which is a shame, because i like drones.

That being said, L1 rifle bits are being held up to L3 vulcans in the 'goodness' test.

I think we can use the bits if they're boosted - its cheap - but otherwise just save em, we'll want to drop em all at once later.

>>30230741
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGHurR9nvMY

Holy shit that's creepy as hell yet rocked my socks off

>>30230773

Notice we didnt get a hollow sun meter this thread...

Is JokerOP pausing Meter Gain?

That sucks all sorts of balls.

>>30230773
If we get a chance, we should recycle them. Clearly, we aren't going to get much use out of them.

>>30230798
Probably just didn't bother/forgot since there's no way we're getting access to it.

And likely because if we plant an anchor this session, it would affect the roll

>>30230806

Yea but its nice to see the number grow and plan what to nick next time.

>>30230812

Joker!

We said pay HP!

>>30230803

I don't think that's wise. We can't exactly un-levelup.

We could stand to update them though.

You know what? Fuck it, though.

Drop a -single- Bit and boost it, lets see if it keeps its worth this time. I can live with 2% meter and 2% booster cost just as a test - in this one specific instance where its shooting its preferred target of lightly armored opponents.

>>30230773
The Rifle Bits aren't a level 1 item though. They're the result of three levels.

Honestly we should be using the Booster liberally since we'll have enough downtime between combat encounters for it to regenerate.

>>30230806
Not if it's a per-session gain, the modifier added later wouldn't apply to the start of session gain.

>>30230826

We're going to use the AS to block off the exit anyway. Using the shroud is more efficient.

>>30230773
The primary issue is that we just don't have the meter/booster to kill. The drones are kinda not worth it.

Especially now that we multiclassed into wizard.

>>30230850

PRetty much. Wizard Emulator chip, here we come!

>>30230840

The shroud is also a finite resource through this dungeon.

35% gone is NOT efficient.

>>30230826

(My apologies, I'll correct it.)

>>30230812
>When you activate EXEC_SWARM, your Assault Shroud denudes


aaaa, joker. HP!

>>30230840
>>30230860
>The shroud is also a finite resource through this dungeon.

We can regen HP but not Shroud. Thus, pay HP.

I think the codeburst is partially based around the shrouds nanocolonies, tho - it'll be involved with the damn burst anyway.

>>30230865
Thanks.

>>30230865

love you joker.

>>30230865

More like BRO-ker quest OP.

U the man!

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>>30230454
>>30230590
>>30230657

Progress is agonizingly slow; You'd swear that the dimensions of the chamber are playing vicious tricks on you, the distance distorting as the exit recedes even further away - Winged clades, crippled but not killed in the initial barrage, drag themselves forward towards you in lurching motion: Your Friction Axe hacks into a nightmare maw of churning mouthparts, Vector Geist's machetes splitting skulls and crunching into compound eyes.

You nearly go over, when a locust gives a last desperate, spasming surge - The thing's hooked crest gouging against the Sinistral's hard-light field, until Mauler Sledge's hammer slams into it from behind. When his Accelerator Hammer's power field discharges, it erupts in a thunderclap of impact, bodily *hurling* the locust away - Kicking and flailing - until it crashes down into the swarming larva, lost to view a heartbeat later.

"Rrrrrghhh-" There's no grace to this battle: It's a slogging descent through a morass of nightmare. The burning sensor-ghosts of the others are your only point of reference - Rook hauling Haze up and forward, his Ion Blaster spitting searing bolts of ion-sheathed radiation into a downed clade-

When you activate EXEC_SWARM, your vision blurs. The emerald glow of Essence lights you up from within; For a moment, your defensive hail of gunfire falters, as the Codeburst draws energy from the very core of your being...But then the swarm boils outwards from you, in a cloud of glowing parasites - Flesh-eating fireflies, lit from within by their sickly radiance. Every one is shod in red steel, as they churn away from you in a thick, buzzing cloud of crimson damnation, swirling around the squad like a halo of flies. You hear muffled curses, shrieks of surprise as Players duck and flinch, wondering what new horror is about to be unleashed.

"Focus fire! All guns forward - The Joker's covering us!"

(Continued)

>>30230873
No, the parasites comes from us, not the shroud if we spend HP.

Also, I don't think we got an answer as to whether the shroud could regen.

>>30230859
I've been meaning to ask, what makes you so certain that it's codeburst related? My first association with "Emulator Module" is "Hey cool, we get to play Mega Man." There's no reason to think you're wrong, necessarily, but people have gotten upset thinking upgrades worked a certain way when they didn't at all.

>>30230914
Oh fuck, that version takes essence?

>>30230932

Likely because of the mention of 'code' in the description.

On a meta level, an upgrade that helps codebursts makes sense in rounding out the relics list.

>>30230932
>I've been meaning to ask, what makes you so certain that it's codeburst related?

Codebursts are named as if they were executable command lines in a program. The Emulator Module has thick lines of code swirling around it.

I'ld say its a safe bet that it will (positively) affect our codebursts.

>>30230932
>I've been meaning to ask, what makes you so certain that it's codeburst related

A pretty big hunch.

>This tiny electronic chip has an emblem of crossed swords on its onyx surface. Code clusters thickly around the module, but you're unable to read the coiling streamers of data.
>Codeburst
>electronic chip
>code clusters
>coiling streamers of data
>data
Alien code typically always means codeburst related stuff.

EMULATOR is an interesting name, though. Typically, that would be mean it runs phantom copies of things its not supposed to, or fakes others. Either way, its a processor chip and/or data repository.
I'm nearly certain it has to do with codebursts

Personally, I think its either a treasure map/data storage thing, a datavault, has to do with system access, OR is a processor/server that assists in the -creation- of new codebursts.

>>30230914

Geist is the first to grasp it: His parade-ground shout slicing through the chaos, as the swarm boils upwards to meet the descending clades. The result is a confused, swirling melee - The crafted parasites swarm over their larger cousins, burrowing into the soft tissue of eyes and clustering over the translucent membranes of wings.

They're gnawing into them. Eating them alive. You can actually *see* steel-mandibled parasites burrowing into fleshly abdomens, biting through spiracles and gnawing through antennae; The drone of the swarm matching the buzzing of insect wings. In a flicker of realization, you notice - A tiny detail in all the horror - that every parasite has your mark on the thorax, like the leering skull of a death's-head moth...

The winged Correctors - If they even have minds - respond...Poorly. Some crash into others, hurling them aside; Others fall on each other, in riling motion, thrashing to dislodge the hell-spawned crimson parasites. One rips right through another with it's hooked crest, before it's taken to pieces by barbed, thrashing legs; The swarm taking flight from the crippled, the blinded, the half-consumed as the larva greedily devour them, the air churning with collisions and tumbling forms-

"...Holy *shit*," Rook mutters, with something approaching awe. "-If you can do that..."

Haze's head jerks around, as if only just realizing something - The slitted triangles of his eyes flaring with yellow light. He's painted in dripping bug guts, but his voice issues in an urgent blurt from his voice grille-

"Where's Manticore?"

(Continued)

>>30231013
>OR is a processor/server that assists in the -creation- of new codebursts.

That's actually interesting, actaully. We know the hollow sun has an AI, a learning machine. We also know it tests and rejects a shitton of ideas before making things available - so the finished product of a digital entities musings and experimentations on software may be fascinating indeed.

I'd also put forth the idea that its supposed to Emulate hellion programming - a compatability module to running hollow-sun specific things.

All sorts of things may be possible, like optimizing the jokers systems to suit the situations, or running hellion AI directly on the suit to run the bits(instead of paying for upgrades), or it acting like a fusion cell to pre-pay for code related things.

>>30231063
>"Where's Manticore?"

Arrguuussss :(

>>30231063

Geist turns to look - Then swears aloud. You're nearly at the passage, now; But Manticore's Essence signature flares at the corner of your vision, blinking weakly - He's pinned beneath the half-dead body of a clade, unable to right himself. Three more are ripping at him, their barbed legs drawing sparks from his armour - In the wrong position to defend. One of them has his arm in it's grasp, applying pressure; The wicked hook of it's beak denting his brass armour, trying to gouge through-

"Oh god," Meridian Hand manages, thickly - He's transfixed by the awful sight, unable to look away. From the shudder that races through him, from the way his gauntleted hands clench into fists, you can tell that he's reliving an old nightmare...Or watching it unfold right in front of him, to someone else.

"-Didn't even *see* him-" Geist crackles, and from the edge to his voice, you can tell that he takes it as a personal failing. He's about to surge forward, verniers glowing with building charge - But then he hesitates, clearly torn. The exit is *so close*, and they're all over Manticore - You can almost hear the gears of his mind turning, as he makes the awful, last-minute calculus between one Player and the rest of the squad-


HP: 219.8%
COBALT BOOSTER: 81%
ASSAULT SHROUD: 125%
METER: 38%

[ ] "He's finished - We have to keep going!"
[ ] "-I'm going back for him."
[ ] "We'll cover you. Go."
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>30231087

>[ ] "Keep going"
>[ ] "-I'm going back for him."

Generate another swarm for ourselves.

Keep the first one on the team moving forward, use the second one as a shield and move to get Manticore.

>>30231087
>You can almost hear the gears of his mind turning, as he makes the awful, last-minute calculus between one Player and the rest of the squad-

Jump pack, boost in. Sinistral to L2/3, carve right through the people eating him. Kick one on landing, punch/friction axe another off of him - then GRAB HIM with the muletta and jumpjet back out.

Quick, easy, leap-grab-stab-extract.
The bugs aren't even focused on us. Should be easy.

No tempest crash, no booster use - let it recharge this turn

>>30231087
>>30231115
>Jump pack, boost in. Sinistral to L2/3, carve right through the people eating him. Kick one on landing, punch/friction axe another off of him - then GRAB HIM with the muletta and jumpjet back out.
Yeah this.

>>30231106
>Generate another swarm for ourselves.

No, one's enough. Let this one keep eating and giving us essence and meter.

Booster's at half, we can't afford it. Need the BIG GUNS for later.

>>30231087

Wait...

actually...

We're the ones with the MASSIVE FIREPOWER.

We lay down curtains of fire and missiles. Kill everything between us and him. Geist can be the hero.

>>30231087

>[ ] "We'll cover you. Go."

SPIN UP EVERYTHING

>>30231115

This, but make sure to Helix gauntlet Sphere-Consume-punch something. No codeburst, just feeding the nihl

>>30231135
We're also the only ones with a jetpack

>>30231148
>>30231135


Vetoing.

Conserve meter and booster!

Send a missile downrange just to cover more from mobbing us while we rescue him tho.

>>30231087
I'm going back for him.

>>30231115

Sinistral is a booster use anyways.

>>30231157

Geist is a jet pack flyer.

>>30231087

>He's about to surge forward, verniers glowing with building charge

>>30231115

Smash into them. Cobalt Booster our jetpack, and hack him free.

>>30230959
You mean the Hollow Sun list? The Gnosis Engine is what lets Joker cast codebursts from the booster in the first place, and the Zenith Upgrade came with codebursts.

Again, there's no reason to say you or anyone else is wrong about that, but the certainty bugs me. We've seen over and over (in game and meta-wise) that things don't quite work as we expect.

>>30231013
You're a bit off on the definition of emulator. An emulator is a program or firmware that runs a program or device within a system. This could easily be a megaman module, or a codeburst defense system (redirects offensive codebursts to itself rather than us).

>>30231087
Cover Geist as the squad goes through the opening, then seal the exit with an Assault Shroud barrier. Then turn back with Geist, cut Manticore out, dismiss the barrier into another Swarm and get Geist and Manticore into the tunnels.

>>30231106
Nope, not until we confirm: OP, did creating the swarm take Essence? We're never doing that again if it costs experience.

>>30231115
Manticore's the really big guy. The shroud won't be able to carry him. Also the sinistral 3 takes booster.

>>30231087
>[ ] "We'll cover you. Go."

>>30231167
>Sinistral is a booster use anyways.

No, l2 isn't, just a charging element

>>30231173
>Cobalt Booster our jetpack,

NO BOOSTER GUYS

80% means we need to rebuild it in case of clutch heals or high-end codebursts.

Let it recharge ffs! we don't need to use it constantly!

>>30231176

(Just HP; But your HP is tied to your Essence, so it's arguably the same thing. It didn't, however, reduce your XP.)

>>30231087
>[ ] "-I'm going back for him."

>>30231176
>Cover Geist as the squad goes through the opening, then seal the exit with an Assault Shroud barrier. Then turn back with Geist, cut Manticore out, dismiss the barrier into another Swarm and get Geist and Manticore into the tunnels.

Waste of resources.

Just get geist/manticore in the tunnel with us the first time, and command the swarm we already have to defend the tunnel

>>30231193

Then a second Swarm is arguably the best use. It eats all around us as a shield and saves us the additional meter and HP damage if Manticore is too big for us to grab and run.

>>30231208

(It does cost more Cobalt Booster than boosting the Tempest Scrander, however.)

>>30231223

But it'll save us the hassle of having to fight off the bugs as we drag manticore's ass to safety.

>>30231190
We shouldn't "Let it recharge" in combat situations where using it could be the difference between someone dying and not. It's there to be used, so use it.

>>30231193
Got it, thanks. The difference is mostly academic from our side.

>>30231206
I don't think we command the swarm, it goes after nearby targets. If we want to defend the tunnel, we have to drop a swarm there.

>>30231208

Guys, we do NOT want to spend ANOTHER 50% cobalt booster.

We already used a shitton!

Get back above 100% before using it again!

Exec swarm isn't just hitpoints! its a shitton of energy!

>>30231236
>But it'll save us the hassle of having to fight off the bugs as we drag manticore's ass to safety.
We have a squad of covering fire, and missiles that don't take booster or hp.

We just need to clear the bugs about to kill him and fall back.

Stop overthinking this! Save his ass and get more meter! 40% is right around the corner

>>30231190

>>30231251
>We shouldn't "Let it recharge" in combat situations where using it could be the difference between someone dying and not. It's there to be used, so use it.

It recharges 10% a round if we don't use it.

There's literally no reason to use it now.

We have vulcans and argus if needed to shoot thing soff of him.
We have a no-booster jetpack that's plenty fast.
we have a no-booster stabby shroud
we have a no-booster sinistral, and no-booster axe.

We have PLENTY of speed and boom to do this without it.

I want us to hit the smilers able to break out our high-tier codebursts, reap the information from their corpses, and do other neat stuff.
Saving a little now is easy.

>>30231252

It also means that the squad doesnt suffer further damage.

We can heal, they can't. If we can keep them from suffering any further damage at this point of the raid it is in our best interest to do so.

Especially since we can recover the resources we'll be spending at this point.

>>30231276
>We can heal, they can'

This takes booster BTW.

Which people insist on using constantly..

Better solution: Use a Line launcher - someone' got to have one - and set up a photon barrier on the doorway.

>>30231273
>There's literally no reason to use it now.

There is a guy dying.

The squad already had trouble dealing with the swarm, huddled up with concentrated fire with Joker in the group.

What more when he leaves the group to save manticore?

>>30231276
>Especially since we can recover the resources we'll be spending at this point.

Yeah that's an educated guess at best. I don't think we're going to get ANY breathing room on the way in.
There's no way we're just gonna get 'hey 5 minute have passed for a quick rest, have a full recharge'.

>>30231292
>There is a guy dying.
...and we can save him without using turbomode?

I don't see the problem.
EXTREEEEEEEEEEEEMMMMEEEEEE isn't needed all the time.

>>30231289

Wrong it also uses meter.

Also it recharges when we're out of combat. That means we can rest a little (a couple of rounds or so and then heal). There is much more exploration underground, there will be time to recover that booster.

>>30231289
>Better solution: Use a Line launcher - someone' got to have one - and set up a photon barrier on the doorway.

Actually, this is a pretty genius idea. Either someone in the squad has one, or we can get one from the arsenal beacon - at 10% booster - and fire it without priming due to Helios Array.

We can also use it to protect the dying guy after we clear the three bugs offa him.

>>30231273
But do we have enough speed and boom to do everything we need to before Manticore becomes a liability instead of an asset? I don't think so.

Besides, meter conservation is MUCH more important than booster conservation. We're not rolling straight from fight to fight, it's fight to movement to small fight to big fight. We can let the booster recharge during the smaller encounters and the movement, it's not like there won't be plenty of that before the main show, we're not even in the second layer yet.

>>30231316
Isn't it indiscriminate?

>>30231289
>>30231316
yeah, I throw my vote for this plan.

>>30231307
>Wrong it also uses meter.

Yeah, but we want tier 3/4 weapons more than we want a touchup.

We have a jump pack, i don't see the reason to use the afterburners for a short hop.

Its dumb.

Thats like going 60 and slamming the gas to go a single block.

>>30231324
>Isn't it indiscriminate?
You can aim it and it has a homing rocket. It doesn't do damage by itself, but it contains things, so..... we can use it to set up a wall where we want it. I trust the joker's aim.

>>30231151
>>30231162
>>30231173
>>30231115
>>30231122

> [X] "-I'm going back for him."

"JOKER, DON'T BE AN IDIOT-"

You'll never find out who yelled that, as your Tempest Scrander flares - Your Cobalt Booster shedding cold blue light - the dizzying surge of acceleration hurling you forward. Twin columns of charged air gout from the jump pack, as you're delivered into the air on speeding blow-torch tails. Crimson particles fume in your wake, as you cross the narrow distance with the velocity of a speeding bullet...

You have your Friction Axe in one hand, the wedge of the Sinistral cutting sharp lines of light before you, the air shrieking off the hard-light field. But it's your impact that does the most damage, as you slam right into them; The sound is a thunderclap, blue fire boiling from your Scrander, your limbs, discharging with the explosive force of a hand grenade.

The Correctors disintegrate. You don't slam *into* them, you detonate against them - Your ceramite-reinforced form far denser than their exoskeletons, their fragile organs within shells of carapace and insect flesh. The first winged clade, the one pinning Brass Manticore's arm, literally comes to pieces on contact: For a moment, you wonder where it's gone - Before fractured insect parts patter serenely against your ichor-washed armour, a wingcase bouncing off your cuirass.

(Continued)

>>30231343

It's a restrainer/ensnarer.

I dont see how restraining manticore is going to help our situation in any way.

>>30231343

JQOP: New Consolidated Plan:

Grab a line launcher from the squad (or summon one)
Advance on our wounded man with the jumpjet to save him.
Vulcan the bugs off of him on the approach.
Melee them off on handing.
Retreat, and use the helios array+line launcher to block off more bugs from dogpiling us on the extraction, and unleash a missile or two to clear the immediate area behind us.

>>30231364
Its area denial. Things behind the shield can't get killed by things on the other side. Restrainer is just another word for Team Shield.

>>30231364
>I dont see how restraining manticore is going to help our situation in any way.

Its a sinistral hard-light shield that covers an entire person and/or section of room instead of a shield.

that's fucking useful when we want to block off a passageway, or cut down on the paths melee enemies can take to get to us.
We have Instant Wall powers.
We can turn this fight into a tower defense.

File: 1392369969877.png-(783 KB, 1600x1200, Y_Gun_Final_by_Darkmeteorix.png)

783 KB PNG

>>30231377
e) LINE LAUNCHER:

PRIMING: 20% Cobalt Booster

This specialized, rifle-sized firearm has three barrels, arranged in a triangle - When fired, it launches three rocket anchors, which immediately create a photon web between the field emitters integrated into each hardpoint. Unlike other photon weapons, the Line Launcher creates a cohered field - As a result, the photon snare encircles the target on impact, momentarily restraining them.

>Snare encircles the target on impact, momentarily restraining them.

I dunno about that.

This Gantz weapon is the impression im getting from this weapon. Non-lethal capture.

>>30231358
>Your ceramite-reinforced form far denser than their exoskeletons

oh lordy that armor upgrade paying off

>>30231377
>>30231394
It stops things momentarily. By the description, it's single target as well. So it might catch one thing, and the rest will continue on.

>>30231403
Not surprising. Joker's tendency to shatter like glass was one of his limiting factors for a long time. Pity we need meter so badly, another armor upgrade could do great things.

>>30231400

That depends entirely on how sustained the projection is.

I doubt a bola-shield-gun disperses instantly upon capture. Its there to restrain things for a -while-. its all a question of how long the photon shield keeps up.

And we won't know the specs till we use it. Gotta branch out from that graviton cannon eventually.

>>30231421
>Pity we need meter so badly, another armor upgrade could do great things.

Actually, we're pretty on track to meter gain this time. We're nearly at tier 3. its like the old joker's driving.
We do well enough when we don't spend it constantly. Cutting the bit, shotgun, and argus-on-meter fat out has made our meter gain...considerable

I wonder how long the swarm remains.

Will we get a whole cloud of swarming biting things following us on this trip down?

Also since our emblem is on them, I wonder if we can use it as remote surveillance.

>>30231462
>I wonder how long the swarm remains.

What i want to know is if they can eat and self-replicate

>>30231358

Before the shattering thunderclap of the blast can die down, you're already moving - The heavy blade of the Friction Axe cleaves down, and glances off the Corrector's headcrest, chipping off flecks of bone; But your Sinistral's better-aimed, and it hacks deep into the clade's neck, at the joint where the head connects to the upper thorax. Gore crackles against the shield, flash-burned to nothing - As with a violet effort, you *heave*, ripping the thing open, vile organs oozing up from the deep rent. A kick sends it sprawling over, legs stumbling and scrabbling...

-And then you lurch forward, when you're hit from behind. The last clade is on you, the jagged spike of it's horned crest driving into your back - It punches into the Tempest Scrander's mechanisms, the turbines chugging, spitting sparks as pieces of metal are forced into new alignments, locking in place...But it only manages a shallow gouge, as it scrapes and grinds against your dense plate, barbed limbs pawing furiously at the ground.

In front of you, Manticore manages to shove the dying Corrector's form away: He's responding slowly, with the laborious, aching care of disorientation - He's fighting to haul himself to his feet, shaking his head to clear it. A deep crack spiders down the side of his faceplate - That must be interfering with his vision, his hands shaking as he paws at the ground, stinger tail twitching with misfiring synapses-

Above, there's a moist explosion as a Bazooka shell screams past. The fragmentation warhead explodes in a hail of shrapnel, shredding one of the clades peeling away from the swirling confusion above - And you still *can't reach* the Corrector behind you, the spike gouging deeper as it drives forward, half-crumpling you against the wall; Your Friction Axe buzzing fractiously as the flaming edge bites into the flesh-streaked concrete...

""THEY'RE BREAKING AWAY!"

(Continued)

Palladium Rook's shout is a full-throated one, over the WHOOSH of Valkyrie's missiles launching - At least some of the squad must have their heavy weapons active, because you can hear the splitting CRUMP of a Graviton Cannon join the gunfire. Your swarm is still sowing havoc, but some of the locusts are reorientating on new targets: Your window of opportunity is shrinking by the moment.

HP: 209.9%
COBALT BOOSTER: 60%
ASSAULT SHROUD: 107%
METER: 45%

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>30231472
>It punches into the Tempest Scrander's mechanisms, the turbines chugging, spitting sparks as pieces of metal are forced into new alignments, locking in place...But it only manages a shallow gouge, as it scrapes and grinds against your dense plate, barbed limbs pawing furiously at the ground.

Thats not good.

Gonna need to see if Cybele's emblem can repair it... or we command some swarm units to clear the garbage from the intakes.

DRONES HO

>>30231472
>And you still *can't reach* the Corrector behind you

We're not thinking with the muletta yet. Become spawn, cloakstabbing badass!
(now might be an appropriate time for a shrike blade)

>>30231495

Firstly, how badly damaged is the scrander?

This is important.

>>30231495
>METER: 45%

Its time. Fusion annihilator. Single charge, sweep the beam. Immolator in the other hand. Extract manticore.

COBALT BOOSTER: 60%
DON"T USE IT.

Its seriously taxing to fix shit!

Dont fucking use the booster!

>>30231506

(You can't be sure yet. You think one of the turbines - that provide lift - has been damaged, though.)

>>30231495

Have the assault shroud turn our back into spikes.

Piece the bastard through and through and let him fall off.

Then get manticore on his feet and run for it. Guide him since his vision is fucked up.

Immolator in the other hand, burn things between us and the group.

Cobalt boost our body so we're that bit faster.

>>30231516

>using meter

fuck no

>>30231503

Go with this.

> "WANT TO SEE HOW I GOT THESE SCARS?"

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/30056796/
COBALT BOOSTER: 150%
COBALT BOOSTER: 150%
COBALT BOOSTER: 137%
COBALT BOOSTER: 140%
COBALT BOOSTER: 150%


>>30229800
>COBALT BOOSTER: 150%
COBALT BOOSTER: 124%
COBALT BOOSTER: 81%
COBALT BOOSTER: 60%

You were doing so well guys!

Get your shit back into it!

We could have 90% now, but no! Spend spend spend like you're american!

>>30231531
>>using meter
>fuck no
use neither. Just extract normally with manticor on foot. Fix the jetpack ~later~ if we need it.

>>30231441
We hardly ever use the caster though. The main drains are the bits, and more recently, the Argus. Tier 3 is 60, so we're actually a ways off.

>>30231472
Why are we use the axe and not a vulcan to try and kill something we can't reach?

Actually, it's on our back. Muleta kills it from all directions.

Grab Manticore and shove him in the right direction. Plasma Vulcans out, shoot the ones that target Joker or Manticore and try to close. If they come en masse, Boosted Immolator, primary fire.

>>30231516
It's 1 to 1 now, actually.

>>30231556
>60, so we're actually a ways off
15%, so one round of combat at this rate

>>30231553
>use neither. Just extract normally with manticor on foot. Fix the jetpack ~later~ if we need it.

Joker himself said our escape window is closing.

We need that extra speed and strength in helping manticore get out since our scrander is out

>>30231556
i think manticore cant see well need to guide him

>>30231556
>Boosted Immolator, primary fire.

Vetoing booster use.

We're gonna want max booster for barrier, codeburst purging, and healing when we run into pazuzu, kraken, and rust kaiser.

Just use regular fire.

1:1 is still bad. It'll run us compeletely dry to full heal.

>>30231570
>Joker himself said our escape window is closing.
>We need that extra speed and strength in helping manticore get out since our scrander is out
Or we can make the window bigger.

Break out the missiles since they don't take hands, make the escape window bigger, and fighting retreat on foot.

Our speed doesn't matter, since we're limited by the slow guy we're escorting anyway

>>30231503
>>30231535
THis, use the Muletta.

>>30231516
NO ANNIHILATOR, USE ROCKETS IF WE HAVE TO

>>30231531
do this

>>30231531

Do this, but vetoing the cobalt booster use.

>>30231531

This please.

Including the boost. Every bit of speed counts at this stage.

>>30231553
It doesn't do anyone any good to sit on it. This way we've killed a metric fuckton of Correctors and prevented a party member from dying.

>>30231587
Our chances of running into any of those people is miniscule. I don't know what we're going to find down here, but we're not fighting the bigger names until it's time for shit to really go down.

And again, draining the booster is fine, it comes back. Other people's HP doesn't.

...Can't we just ram the corrector into the ground?
Little hop with the scrander and then dive back first into the ground.

>>30231587
>Our speed doesn't matter, since we're limited by the slow guy we're escorting anyway

If we're supporting him as I see it, we'll need the extra strength or we'll be slowed even further.

Even a basic boost of our stats means we'll move faster.

>>30231611

Thats likely to damage our scrander further. I'd not risk that.

>>30231599

Yeah, we can't cobalt boost out slow fat and blind friend.

It doesn't matter as much as you think it does

Yell at vector geist to give us a hand extracting though - he can fly.

>>30231609
>It doesn't do anyone any good to sit on it

Yeah, it does us a lot of good if we need to use a high-powered effect and we don't have it.

This is a bloody meatgrinder, we have more levels to go, a boss corrector, and whatever smilers are defending their secret project here.

Its not sitting on it. Its measuring our resources out for the boss stage.

There's still a boss BTW. That why i've been saying we need to play very conservatively, gain meter, not use booster, and be prepared for the worst.

>>30231628
>There's still a boss BTW. That why i've been saying we need to play very conservatively, gain meter, not use booster, and be prepared for the worst.

Ah hell, big momma hive corrector

these bugs had to come from somewhere, this is gonna suuucckkkk.

Start saving for apocalypse day!

>>30231625
We can repair it and it's currently already damaged, anyway.

>>30231609
>This way we've killed a metric fuckton of Correctors and prevented a party member from dying.

Wants to kill correctors
Wants to use vulcans, not missiles.

Yeah. Do both. its not like the triskelion takes hands, and its a target rich environment so we'll make the meter back.

Vulcans + missiles, no booster

>>30231635
>big momma hive corrector
So will we get the Varia suit? Phazon suit? Another plasma beam?

>>30231535
>>30231531
>>30231503

You can't free yourself - Not with the clade scrabbling and clawing at you, a buzzing insectile drone of distress revebrating through you. But at your thought-command, the interlocking hexagons of the Assault Shroud shift shape - Forming long, hiltless blades, tongues of metal like a cape of steel feathers...

-Stabbing outwards in a thicket of razor-sharp spines.

The shriek that comes from behind you is the loudest one you've heard, today. Your Assault Shroud *recoils*, as the Shrike Blades are launched - Each one driving home with the solid *choooookkkkk* of steel into flesh. They impale the Corrector a dozen times at once, lancing through compound eyes, through the thorax, through the weak seams in carapace and exoskeleton-

The thing wrenches itself back, explosively; Metal crunches as fragments of your Tempest Scrander go with it. It slides off the impaling blades, riddled through with a spray of knives - The barbed limbs scraping against the back of your armour as it crumples, your Essence accumulators sucking it's life away with an emerald inhalation.

"Joker-" Manticore's voice is hoarse, both hands against the ground as he turns his head, trying to see out of his half-crushed helm - "Joker, where are you? Where are you? I can't *see*-"

You don't have time for this. The clades are beginning to enclose you - Vector Geist snapping off shots at the locusts, to distract them, to clear a path as they orientate on the target in their midst.

(Continued)

>>30231639

Damaged with stuff inside the turbines.

Since we have the swarm, we might be able to extract the little bits by using individual swarm members.

Or we have someone help us open it up to clean it.

We do this, something is going to brick permanently.

>>30231649

We can use the muletta as a manipulator though, to clear the jam

>>30231655

...yea, we can do that.

Not sure about sticking a blade into a turbine though.

>>30231661

Turn off scrander. Wind down turbine. Clear jam. Test functionality, if fans aren't locked.
Easy-peasy, once we get a breather

>>30231628
Dude, we're not even in the Hive. We're on B1 of the approach. Of course we want to have a reservoir when we need a lot of it, but in this particular encounter we have no reason not to spend it. We will have time, if not enough time to regenerate all of it.

>>30231661
>>30231664
The missing pieces are a bigger problem now.

Hey, maybe we should launch the lightning bolt. We're not doing any flying with the Scrander anyway.

>>30231672
>Dude, we're not even in the Hive. We're on B1 of the approach. Of course we want to have a reservoir when we need a lot of it, but in this particular encounter we have no reason not to spend it. We will have time, if not enough time to regenerate all of it.

You're assuming we're getting a breather before L2.

I'm not. The correctors are going to hound us all the way to the heart of the hive, aliens-style.

We're not going to get a break until we *make one*.

>>30231276
This anon is my tactical nigger. He knows how it's done.

>>30231672
>Hey, maybe we should launch the lightning bolt. We're not doing any flying with the Scrander anyway.
Well, it *does* regenerate.

The question is:
Will it do any useful damage?

Other than that, it's a good idea. The Scrander will need a downtime, anyway, due to needing to be repaired.

>>30231276
>Especially since we can recover the resources we'll be spending at this point.
>>30231691
>>30231672

What makes you guys so sure we're going to get that breather you keep talking about, n the middle of enemy territory?

Start playing like we're not getting it and the attrition is gonna kill us.


>>30231672
That being said, I've brainstormed a new move for us, and I wanted to test it out when we get a chance - it takes sinistral l3 tho.
I call it the "Tempest Cannon"

We use a tempest crash and the energy-reflecting properties of the sinistral to redirect as much of the energy blast into a single-target as we can, like the blast of a pissed off(and red) jetpack zeus.

>>30231647

You shove him, hard - He staggers to his feet, and seems to get the message, lumbering forward with uncertain steps; He's blind on one side, it seems, from the way he wrenches his head back and forth - With a violent gesture, you launch a hail of Shrike Blades, the gleaming daggers lashing outwards in a gleaming arc of steel. A clade, pulling into an opportunistic dive, veers away as it's bulbous head suddenly bristles with a fistful of knives-

You nearly trip, when a clade barges into you - You swing the Friction Axe into it's side, before it pulls away; The nanoedge blade still boiling with flame, as it lofts back towards the ceiling, burning steadily. Your Tempest Scrander crackles fitfully, as you half-sprint, half-stumble the last few meters to the safety of the firing line - The squad bunching up around you in a protective phalanx.

"BACK, BACK! INTO THE TUNNEL - ALL UNITS, PULLS BACK!"

Vector turns his head, bellowing his orders - He graces you with a brief nod of approval, before he turns both carbines onto a swooping locust, shredding it in staccato bursts of fire. His commands aren't really needed in this instance; Firing all the way, Shell Bullet, Nova Drake and Rook keep blasting as they retreat, covering the scrabble to safety.

HP: 202.4%
COBALT BOOSTER: 60%
ASSAULT SHROUD: 79%
METER: 51%

[ ] "We need to blow the tunnel!"
[ ] "Keep moving - Don't let them catch up!"
[ ] "Haze, fire!"
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

Rolled 11 + 4

>>30231718

Because I dont think we'll find The equivalentequivalent of slimlikand goblins living happily next door to each other like another episode of the Dungeon Bunch.

We have wurms killing the 4 legged correctors.

They'll prey on each other and give each other space.

>>30231741
>[X] "We need to blow the tunnel!"

>>30231741
>[ ] "Haze, fire!"

Fucks sake, triskelion down the hallway already.

Blow up clades and bugs and the tunnel

>>30231685
Right, so we should do what we can to make sure these bastard Correctors don't follow us.

>>30231697
It's a lightning bolt in an enclosed space. We'll be lucky if it doesn't blow our non-existent eardrums out.

>>30231718
>What makes you guys so sure we're going to get that breather you keep talking about, in the middle of enemy territory?
Environment, mostly. Everything has to eat. This is their territory, they won't go too far into the territory of something meaner.

>>30231741
Put up an assault shroud barrier. End of problem.

>>30231741
>"We need to blow the tunnel!"
> our only exit
Guys no.

>>30231767
>Put up an assault shroud barrier. End of problem.

That's gonna cost ALL of it.

>>30231767
>Put up an assault shroud barrier. End of problem.

You want to piss away ALL our assault shroud, but won't consider not pissing away all our cobalt booster?
What is wrong with you!

>>30231769
cept its not. We had a map with multiple paths in.

Unleash the explosives down the hallwayway.

>>30231769
You mean Entrance. We can take a path another team took when we are leaving this place.

>>30231767
I'm in favor if we can regen the shroud. Can we, OP?

>>30231795

(Unfortunately, you can't regenerate the shroud yet.)

>>30231750
>>30231767

You hope.
you HOPE kraken isn't here, directing the defenses and using his disposable hive minions like cheap shock troops to wear us down and lure us into even deadlier ambushes.

You saw last thread how people were entering early, being driven away from each other, harassed deeper into the hive towards greater threats - at least, thats what the squad data would seem to say.

Assuming we're gonna get a break when the defenses are being intelligently coordinated is beyond stupid.

we won't get a break unless we make one.

>>30231800

Defenses? We haven't even run into the defenses yet. Right now, we're still fighting the local flora and fauna! When we run into the defenses, we're going to start losing people.

>>30231799

That settles it!

NO barrier use.

[ ] "We need to blow the tunnel!"

Triskelions away. HIt the swarms outside the tunnel entrance for kills, and the last missile to collapse it.
Vulcans out as we bring up the reargard.
I'm thinking 1-2 triskelions.
Dont boost anything, please

>>30231806
>Defenses? We haven't even run into the defenses yet. Right now, we're still fighting the local flora and fauna! When we run into the defenses, we're going to start losing people.

Again, kraken can control correctors. If he's present on the stage at all, its not flora and fauna.
Its scout and shock troops that are both wearing us down, and reconning our abilities and positions.

We MUST assume the worst about this place.

>>30231799
Interesting phrasing.

Aight. Haze, fire!

>>30231741

> [ ] "Haze, fire!"

Let's get some bug spray on these fucks. Fire away!

>>30231812
It'll take more than one or two missiles to collapse the tunnel. If we're not blocking the tunnel, I think we should let Haze clear the area, or launch the lightning bolt and start running while they're dazed. I mean, how many really bright lights do they see down here?

>>30231817
They're not showing any higher level strategies. It's possible that they've been placed in such a way as to induce people to descend along certain paths, but their behavior is predatory and reactive.

>>30231741
>[ ] "Haze, fire!"

This is.... pretty much a prompt to continue at this point.

So, fuggit.

Vulcans down the path, get the meter we can as haze fires, and then continue ahead, licking our wounds.

Pull debris out of the scrander, recharge, see what's ahead, and check our joker icon beacons for survivors

Rolled 5 + 4

>>30231800

Hes not.


The local fauna has been left on its own.

We see this in that the first psck was shown as scavengers. Poorly fed and weakened.

This means he does not view them as full combat assets. Or else he would not let them deteroiate to this extend.

Secondly, they broke. This shows thay the pack was working on instinct, fleeing against a stronger foe. A full pack controlled by Kraken would have never let up.

Thridly, we see the wurm, likely another corrector breed crushing other correctors and likely feeding or fighting them. Why would he lets his troops gorge on each other?

This brings up a point thougj.

Perhaps kraken cannot control feral correctors?

Or he cannot view throigh their eyes.

Because if he could we would have been majorly fucked from the get go. Likely he can only issue orders.

>>30231868
>It'll take more than one or two missiles to collapse the tunnel.

Iunno dude, its a fucking rocket.

thats like saying 'it will take more than one brick of c4 to blow something up'

>>30231812
>>30231765

As you find your footing, you turn - Twin missiles launch from your Triskelion packs, twisting towards their distant targets on contrails of smoke; The explosion is a distant boom, fragments of debris tumbling down from above - The concussive blast hurles clades out of the air, swatting aside the ones emerging from the boiling, churning cloud.

>>30231846
>>30231818
>>30231765

"Wha...Me?"

Haze goggles at you, in raw surprise - He's done a pretty good job keeping his head down, for a beginner...Or perhaps Rook, his armour rent and sparking, has thrown everything he has left into defending him. But thrust into the spotlight like this, he hesitates, as if uncertain what to do-

"Hurry," Geist rasps, with a low growl of impatience. That seems to decide him - Distortion Haze levels his arm, the forearm sheaths retracting as he loads the first of his precious chemical warheads; Such a small thing.

Such a deadly thing.

When he fires, there's a puff of smoke - It's smaller than one of your rockets, except for the biohazard symbols emblazoned on the side: Hardly impressive, unless you know exactly what it means.

"Start running," Rook urges - Heads turn in his direction, as the missile spirals skyward; Lazily, as if it has all the time in the world. "NOW!"

As wisps of sulfurous yellow vapour coil outwards, something of his frantic urgency gets through - Meridian Hand is the first to break into a limping, stumbling run, clawing his way forward; The others are hot on his heels, following the twisting path onwards as it slides and slopes down, down into the dark-

You don't see what happens, when Haze's warhead explodes.

You *feel* it, in your bones.

(Continued)

>>30231934

Oyeah, JQOP, something i've been meaning to ask - since essence is xp, and accumulators manage the intake of meter....
Regarding the Essence Efficiency levelup upgrade? Do those increase our meter gain? Not by adding more accumulators like Meter Upgrades do, but by processing the metergaining energies more efficiently?

>>30231913
See the phrasing? It's not "I'll blow the tunnel", it's "We need to blow the tunnel." Implies something Joker can't do himself (easily) or that requires a group effort. The missiles are frags, meaning they shoot little pieces to perforate a target or surroundings. It's not what you use to bring down buildings, walls or tunnels.

>>30231967

(Unfortunately, no - The Essence Efficiency upgrade is relegated to reducing the XP cap. My apologies, but it's a game balance issue - Synergy between the two would lead to roughly twice the advantage.)

A phantom ache hums through you, as you stagger, momentarily; It's not weakness, but realization. You can...*hear* the Correctors, somehow. All of them, screaming at once. The virulent chemical reaction of the rot - Taking place in the chamber behind - is not a subtle one: The carnage contained within, the bodies bursting with liquefied organs and spontaneous decay, rupturing like overripe fruit.

The stench gets measurably worse. And above it all is the dark, virulent *hiss* of the virus venting, meat-vapour swirling in a churning line of opaque haze as immense amounts of heat are released - You're nowhere close, but the myomer fibre of your armour, the control surfaces, prickle with blood-warm heat in sympathy.

When you look back, all you can see is the choking, swirling smog. It seems alive, somehow: Moving with a malicious purpose, almost-but-not-quite blotting out the writhing shapes within, as they're eaten away to nothing.

"Jesus," Haze mutters. He's staring back the way you came with a kind of sick fascination. "-I thought..." he begins, with a shudder - "...I thought it'd be different, with those *things*. But - It's the same every time. Every time..."

He starts, when Rook places a hand on his shoulder, in silent support - Until Haze, with a shuddering exhalation, steels himself once more.

"Where are we?" Geist's voice is curt, cutting through the uneasy atmosphere - The passage seems to be an old one, perhaps a service tunnel. It leads forward and down, flattening out before...Train tracks? An alternative path - Rougher-hewn, the walls overgrown with a slick fibrous mass, like ivy or fungus - intersects the tunnel from the left and right, a parallel passage that curves slightly to the right.

(Continued)

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>>30232051

Rook's silent, for a moment - Consulting his internal sensors, turning his head as if sniffing the air.

"Close."

He points forward; "If we head down and follow the tracks, it's about a kilometer to the first beacon...Give or take a few hundred meters. As for the others..."

You tune out his words, and focus - Now you have a breathing space - on the distant Essence signatures of the other squads. Rook, apparently, knows what he's talking about; Ivory Zoauve's is already in the rough direction of the rendezvous point - Joined by Vertigo Trisagion's, no less. Iron Ogre and Titanium Gigant seem to be *beneath* it, the same way Agite Striker's above; Agite is closing in on the location, with Ogre's squad is continuing to descend.

Silver Cross is-

Silver Cross is right *here*.

"That can't be right," Geist growls, as if sensing your thoughts - His gaze shifts uneasily around the underground crossroads, as the distant drip-drip-drip of liquid comes from close by. "If he's here, then..."

"-Found something." Nova Drake's voice is loud enough to make you wince, as he turns back from the left-hand passage; Something glints in his hand, the finish unmarred by the ooze that drools off it.

It's one of your Joker Emblems.

"It was buried in the wall," he offers, by way of explanation - "-Had to dig it out."

Geist shoots you an uneasy glance - "Joker..." he begins, sounding dubious. "...What does that mean?"

[ ] "Silver Cross's squad is gone."
[ ] "-It's a message, probably. Telling us to stay away from the left-hand tunnel."
[ ] "It's a message. He wants us to go this way."
[ ] "We need to join up with the other squads, first."
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>30232130

(My apologies, a quick addenum.)

HP: 198.5%
COBALT BOOSTER: 70%
ASSAULT SHROUD: 75%
METER: 48%

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>30232130

"Someone pretty clearly put it there. Either iron cross fell there...., or they're marking their way."
"Where are the other squads now?"
>>30232141
>COBALT BOOSTER: 70%
METER: 48%
hell yeah, its almost tier 3 and we're on the up and up!

>>30232130
>[ ] "We need to join up with the other squads, first."

>>30232130
Now that's interesting.

[X] "It's a message. He wants us to go this way."

Someone buried it there, to draw attention to that tunnel. The question is, was it Cross or a third party?

Ask Rook: How strong is Cross? How much of a sneaky bastard is he?

>>30232156
OP says where everyone else is in the post.

Rolled 4 + 4

>>30232130

Hmm...

If he wanted us to follow, he could keep the emblem on him.

He needs a reason to remove it.

Either to mark a locarion for ill or good.

If good, staying there would have been the same. If ill, then this would be a good warning.

...the worst case scenario is that someone could track the signals so he had to divest himself of it.

In any case, check for tracks in the ground but im inclined towards:

[ ] "-It's a message, probably. Telling us to stay away from the left-hand tunnel."

Also, heal up. And run some cycles on our scrander, clear the jam.

JokerOP, is our swarm buzzing with us?

Rolled 11 + 4

>>30232130

Also, ask how long it tskes before the chemical becomes inert and the passageway back is safe to traverse?

>>30232205

(No: Your swarm was in the previous chamber, and it was consumed along with the rest of the Correctors there.)

>>30232277

can we take a moment to unjam the scrander turbine sand run diagnostics?

>>30232294

(Sure, if you're willing to expend Meter/Cobalt Booster to repair it.)

Rolled 6 + 4

>>30232277

Another question, do both tunnels roughly lead to the same point? Because if it does so thrn its likely he wanted us to follow that path.

>>30232309

How much would that cost?
or, like, a rough-estimation of the HP equivalent of repairs?

>>30232309

Nah, we can fix it later, if/when we need it.

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>>30232315

(No.)

>>30232252

> Also, ask how long it tskes before the chemical becomes inert and the passageway back is safe to traverse?

"I...I don't know." Haze sounds genuinely apologetic. "It should, ah, take a while before it's..." He looks down at his feet. "-safe." There's a sickly note to his voice as he goes on: "Until it burns itself out...We should stay away from it. Far, *far* away."

>>30232294

You reach behind yourself - There's a thick chunk of zinc-grey bone impaling the Tempest Scrander. Your fingers curl around the shaft, and *pull*; It yanks frees, clearing the turbine, still chugging weakly from the damage inflicted.

Your Hyades mark pulses, with green light. The lambent glow lights up the tunnel, as schematics overlay the damaged frame of your jump pack - The Scrander merging with an undamaged copy of itself, restored to full functionality. You test-fire the engines, and are rewarded with a hum of static charge.

> Ask Rook: How strong is Cross? How much of a sneaky bastard is he?

Rook seems to consider this, for a moment - His hand going to his chin, thoughtfully. "Good question. He's a pathfinder, a scout...And a damn good one, otherwise he'd never have made it this far. Doesn't take orders well, though...Never thought *that* would be a problem."

He chuckles, a morbid sound of grim amusement.

"-I don't know why this was left behind, but I'd say it means something important. Would've been a lot clearer if he just left a damn note, though."

His faceplate cants down - Staring at the badge, as if he has a grudge against it.

(Continued)

>>30232130
[X[ It's a message, but I'm not sure what it means. Rook, do you know how Cross operates ?
How do Argents forces leave markings ?

>>30232345

(About 15% - 20% Cobalt Booster, or around 10% Meter.)

>>30232375

"Usually? He's supposed to report right back. I don't think he's coming back here, though. If he's run into something..."

Rook glances aside. "...He might not have had the time to do more."

Vector Geist makes a low sound of frustration - Loud enough to draw your attention. He has two gloved fingers pressed to the side of his head:

"Iron Ogre's missed the beacon. Gigant, too."

It's a growl, more annoyed than worried - A glance confirms his words. Their motion is erratic, the Essence signatures of their squads strung out; Some of them flickering in and out of view, as one, then another, winks out entirely.

"We can't *stay* here, either."

[ ] "He's engaged something."
[ ] "The sensors are playing up."
[ ] "Geist, what do you think?"
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>30232417
>[ ] "Geist, what do you think?"

>>30232417
>[X] "He's engaged something."

>>30232417
>[X] "He's engaged something."

"Rook, what are the odds someone who isn't you could read your markers?"

Rolled 15 + 4

>>30232417
>[ ] Free

Looks like we need to meet up with the rest.

Who is embattled? If they're losing people, their formation is collapsing.

Start making our way to them.

Repair the tempest scrander. We need it.

>>30232417

(Gentlemen, a quick addenum: Please indicate which direction you intend to travel in.)

>>30232417
[Free] We need to get to Ogre and Gigant asap.
Geist, what do you think ?

Don't say they are taking losses

>>30232462
Take the route the emblem was in.

>>30232462
...Does he tunnel lead downward? Ogre and Gigant were assigned to B2. It's probably a shortcut straight to he Hive, given that Alura and Kraken waltzed right out.

Let's take the tunnel Cross' Emblem indicated. With luck, he's highlighted our next destination.

Rolled 4 + 4

>>30232462

Rather, which onr leads in the direction of the embattled squad?

>>30232543

(You can't be sure, in this instance: You're aware that they're ahead of you, and below. At present, they're continuing to descend at irregular intervals.)

Rolled 1 + 4

>>30232554

Right. Left then. Lets ccontinue the show

>>30232471

> Geist, what do you think ?

"-I've never been this far in before." Geist's confession is an uneasy one - He seems especially ill-at-ease here, his ocular sensor rotating: Trying to cover all the corners, all the angles, his squad arrayed in a rough overwatch position around him. Manticore seems to have adjusted - Slightly - to his reduced vision, swinging his head back and forth to take in his surroundings.

> [X] "He's engaged something."

Geist stiffens. He doesn't answer right away - Considering this - before he nods.

"-They're strung out, moving in the wrong direction...You may be right." A pause, before he adds - "I don't think they're in a connected passage, either. This place...It's a maze."

>>30232566
>>30232532

(There seems to be a slight majority in favour of the marked passage.)

"-Are you sure?" Geist has that dubious note to his voice again. He glances in the direction of the track below, clearly wondering if it's worth missing the rendezvous with the others. At length, he exhales...Then nods, in confirmation.

This passsage is different from the ones before: It lacks the sharp angles of the original construction, continuing onwards with the slight bend...Before it descends, sharply, at a steep angle. The walls are overgrown with the same fibrous plant-mass, thick vines - Vaguely reminiscient of veins - throbbing and pulsing as warm mist exhales from the walls. There's a sickly look to them, more yellow than green; They have the texture, the consistency, of wax -

"Hold up."

Rook's voice is a hushed whisper, as he draws to a stop. Beneath you hums a large, wet chamber - Reedlike protrusions emerge from it's floor, to wave in unpredictable unison. Multicolored liquids drip from its ceiling, to be sucked in by the twisting root structures bunch at the follice bases, rising up from the roiling fluids below - Too viscous to be merely water.

(Continued)

>>30232635

Platforms of flat slate - Like stepping-stones - bisect the strange chamber below, laid in the first straight line you've seen since entering this place. They lead to twinned open archways - Ahead, and right - positioned at the chamber's farthest points, a spiralling skeletal walkway leading down...

You consult your sensors, again - Silver Cross's icon throbs at the archway, but you can't pinpoint which path, at this range. Iron Ogre's squad is still beneath you - But you're closing in on him, the passage beginning to level out at last.

[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

Rolled 13 + 4

>>30232644

Do both head downwards?

>>30232644

Did he leave another mark for us? Let's go in that direction, then.

>>30232688

(At this distance, you can see that the passage - At the far end of the chamber below - to the right leads downwards. The one ahead appears to continue in a straight line.)

>>30232689
Seem like we'll need to follow the markers.

I wish we had a medic.

>>30232689
Keep the fluid covered, there might be aquatic Correctors. Help Vermillion Ray and Hand, they might have trouble crossing.

Argus scan the fluid if were not already doing it

>>30232644
head towards the walkway leading down. Take care to not touch the tentacles on the way there.

Rolled 2 + 4

>>30232700

Right then, head down.

Keep burning.

>>30232724

There are...shapes...within the fluid. Slow, languid, coiling with glacial slowness within the murk. The fact that you can detect them doesn't reassure you in the slightest.

>>30232725

> Take care to not touch the tentacles on the way there.

The standing order circles the squad. The fronds wave, in an unseen breeze, the patterns regular, almost hypnoptic - It reminds you, uneasily, of respiration; Made more so by the gusts of air that waft through the chamber, stirring the thick mist.

"Stay away from the tentacles," Geist echoes - He's on edge, now, and it shows. This place unsettles him on a primal level; The pulsing walls, the trembling floor, the catwalk of bone and carapace. It's like being inside the belly of the beast; Where plant fibres give way to flesh in a seamless transition, cancerous growths sprouting tumourously from above...

> Help Vermillion Ray and Hand, they might have trouble crossing.

You let yourself drift to the middle of the pack: Vermilion Ray's encumbered by his heavy burden, but you right him when he nearly loses his footing - Hand's left arm (The icy one) - hangs at his side, sparks shooting from the elbow joint, but he seems easy enough. Your pace is slowed by the need to wait for the wavy fronds to fall limp, before passing - But somehow, somehow, you manage.

The submerged leviathans in the black murk continue to slumber.

(Continued)

Rolled 4 + 4

>>30232782

Huh. Coming back by here will be ttroublesome.

>>30232843
We'll be at 100% meter by then.

>>30232782

Crossing the black lake is an adventure in itself. The stepping stones are wide, but treacherously slick with slime - Worst, the...fluid...below seems to ripple at your presence, tiny curls of it rippling up to raised points, before falling back. There's something viscous about it, something lethal - It almost seems to be...

-*reaching* out.

But then you're on the other side, and without a Player missing. Scarab - His form bulky, clumsy - is the last one to cross: He hesitates, for a long moment, at the last step...Looking down, uneasily, before he steps across to the other side.

"I thought I heard-" he begins, his voice rumbling - Before he seems to think better of it, and just shakes his armour-encrusted head. "-It's nothing."

"There's another one."

This time, it's Geist who gouges the icon from the meat of the fleshly wall, that borders the straight-ahead path: It quivers under his grasp, when he saws into it with the heat edge of his machete, ropes of sickly ooze flashing to steam on the edge. He turns his hand, to reveal another badge, pulsing with the same signal - Silver Cross must've infused them with a significant amount of Meter or energy, for them to continue to resonate after their removal.

"Wait-" Rook holds up a hand for silence - "...Can you hear something?"

A fitful silence descends. You strain to listen, until all you hear is the buzzing of white noise: From below, you make out - A faint crackle, a buzz, again and again. Then a brassy sound, a whirr, a low hum...

"That's gunfire," Bombard Valkyrie cuts in, her voice hushed with tension. "-Someone's shooting at *something*..." You can't be certain, yourself, but a sensor check tells you that the Essence signatures of Iron Ogre's conjoned squad is almost directly below, now - A confused tangle of overlapping icons with Titanium Gigant's, a moiling cluster of false echoes and ghost-readings.

(Continued)

>>30232873

"Is that-"

"...They're *beneath* us?"

You're not listening, not really: Keeping a wary eye on the sweeping radar of your Argus system, to ensure that the shapes in the murk below remain right where they are. But as your sensor sweep takes in the passage directly ahead - The one marked with Silver Cross's discarded icon - you're the first one to pick up motion, at the far end.

The passage ahead leads to a t-junction; A junction that's in use, enough to detect movement from the left - It's slow, steady, at a walking pace...Before it turns in your direction. Something's coming down the marked passage, towards you - The sensor profile...*reduced*, somehow. A handful, you'd say; Anywhere between five to eight, moving in the open, with a regular gait that tells of confidence...Or complacency.

[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>30232921

Is it Silver Cross? Did we finally catch up with him?

Rolled 19 + 4

>>30232921

Prepare for combat but hide behind cover first to surprise them.

How high is the cieling? Could we hide up there silently in time?

Otherwise go to ground with thd squad.

>>30233068

> How high is the cieling? Could we hide up there silently in time?

(You could get up there using the Tempest Scrander, but it's unlikely that the rest of the squad could. Not silently, in either case.)

>>30233097

(My apologies, my trip fell off.)

>>30232921
It's either Trisagion or Smilers. If Smilers, and they are not heading toward Ogre, hide and them pass. If they are heading towards Ogre, rear ambush. Warn Rook not to try stupid things

>>30233111

(To clarify: They're headed in your direction, down the passage towards you.)

Rolled 11 + 4

>>30233097
>>30233116

Then we prepare an ambush then.

Can we get a status check?

Who in the squad is heavily injured. They should try not to engage in this battle.

>>30233168

Status Check:

Palladium Rook: Moderately damaged.

Distortion Haze: Undamaged.

Bombard Valkyrie: Undamaged.

Vector Geist: Light damage.

Vermilion Ray: Light damage

Meridian Hand: Moderate damage

Brass Manticore: Moderate damage, partially blind.

Echo Saber: Undamaged.

Blast Scarab: Light damage.

Shell Bullet: Light damage.

Nova Drake: Moderate damage.

Mauler Sledge: Light damage.

Rolled 12 + 4

>>30233194

We're doing pretty good.

Manticore's blindness is due to his helm right? If some plates are bent away or chipped away, will he be able to see fine?

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>>30233068
>>30233111
>>30233168

There's precious little cover - No place to conceal yourselves - but it's easy enough to form a firing line at the mouth of the passage: The sounds of distant gunfire closer now, mingling with the thudding of heavy footfalls and the clang of metal-on-metal...

"Fan out. Get ready," Geist growls; He's aware that you have better instincts...And, more importantly, better sensors. But you're not sure what's coming down the passageway, until the first figure ghosts forward, ahead of the loose wedge of the formation - The others still mere silhouettes in the smoky mist.

The helm is the first thing that catches your idea - Immediately familiar, formed in the shape of a leering skull. A tattered black coat fluttering in unseen winds, as tactical data streams across your field of vision; The Player name obscured with a wash of audible static, as your Argus system struggles to lock on - It's hard to get a target lock, somehow, as the silent shape strides forward...

-It's the Thief.

[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>30233267
Oh fuck me.

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Rolled 17 + 4

>>30233267

Goddammit akira, what are you doing.

Wave down the squad first. Have them hold fire.

Are they talking among themselves? See if we can catch any snatches of conversation. Find out their intents.

How about the rest of the enemy squad? Any names? Any that we might have previously seen as smilers?

In the worst case I see Red Joker stepping out from cover to greet Akira.

>>30233267

> "Akira? What the hell are you doing here?"

>>30233267
"Dude, why didn't you tell me that you want to join us?"

>>30233314
>>30233347
>>30233363

> Wave down the squad first. Have them hold fire.

"Isn't that...Totenaz?" Rook sounds confused, uncertain, his weapon levelled - An uneasy murmur circling the squad, as the mist rolls down the tunnel in a wall of smog. "What's *he* doing here?"

> Are they talking among themselves? See if we can catch any snatches of conversation. Find out their intents.

They're silent. Utterly silent.

That's not just a turn of phrase: The silence is unnatural, almost a palpable force that thickens the air around them - You can't hear their footfalls, or the scrape of the Thief's tattered coat, or even the faint hum of the battle beneath...

-Wait.

>>30233347
>>30233363

That skull-helmet rotates - With insect precision, with the patient tic of a precise mechanism - to orientate on you...

And then before you, the lights come on.

They activate individually and in clusters, red humming spikes of light - Three, four, five, *six* - shooting upwards, tilling the air with a low, oscillating hum that is somehow far worse than the silence before it, as the mist boils away from the fuming energy fields...

The Thief, or something that *looks* like him - is in front of you.

Only, he's not the only one.

The things with him - With their leader, as the red-black column of wailing energy coalesces in his grasp - are mirror-images; The same filthy, tattered coats. The same skull-helmets, cracked and turning from ivory to yellow...

-The same bleak and rapacious eyes.

Closer now, the colour that stains their fabric isn't a natural black, but the clotted, arterial shade of dried gore and ichor, something both abstract and terribly visceral at once.

The piercing buzz comes over your audio sensors - You see the other Players in the squad flinch, clutching at the sides of their helmets - glancing over at you or Vector Geist for orders, for instructions...

-In absolute silence.

(Continued)

>>30233456
Wonderful.
A zombie army of thieves.
We've got a reverse amalgam.

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>>30233456

Your crosshairs skate over their forms, unable to find a target lock - Until the targeting data streaming across your HUD clears at last, finally finding a name to the impossible sight before you-

SILENCER.

They surge out of the mist in a ragged run, breaking into a dead sprint: They move like black lightning, like quicksilver, as if the world itself has slowed down. There is something entirely unnatural about their speed - You've seen the Thief move with effortless agility, but that was still *human*, somehow - accelerated beyond belief, but still mortal.

This is the immense and merciless speed of a ravening beast.

You can't hear the others. Rook's Ion Blaster spits a hasty shot - the seething blast streaking across the distance, as the first Silencer wrenches aside, dodging without slowing - but there's nothing, *nothing* to hear. The narrow distance shrinks as the first panicked blasts ring out - Flashes of light bearding the corners of your vision...

-And still you hear nothing.

HP: 202.4%
COBALT BOOSTER: 130%
ASSAULT SHROUD: 79%
METER: 55%

YOU HAVE CONTROL

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Rolled 19 + 4

>>30233593

JokerOP, how many targets?

They seem to be very agile, avoiding fire like that. Conventional weapons may be less effective.

Exe_swarm? Otherwise aoe attacks like the immolator and maybe a tyrant lvl 2 if they get too close.

>>30233690

(Counting the leader, seven.)

>>30233593
Bulletstorm them.

>>30233690
>>30233718

(Gentlemen: My sincerest apologies, but I'm rather more exhausted than I initially thought. While this is an abrupt breakpoint, I have an early start tomorrow, and I doubt that I'll be able to sustain the quality of writing if we continue.

However, I'll most likely be able to run a follow-up session within a few days. I'm still adjusting to my new timezone, to arrange the appropriate time for a session.

As always, you've been a wonderful audience - Good night and god bless, and I hope to see you again next time.)

>>30233767
>However, I'll most likely be able to run a follow-up session within a few days. I'm still adjusting to my new timezone, to arrange the appropriate time for a session.

Didn't knew that you moved into a new timezone

Rolled 13 + 4

>>30233767

Thanks for running jokerop.

>>30233767

This session has been so weird. I keep thinking it's like an old-school dungeon crawl, except with robots.

>>30233767
>However, I'll most likely be able to run a follow-up session within a few days. I'm still adjusting to my new timezone, to arrange the appropriate time for a session.
Could it be that you are constantly changing time zones?

Anyway, always eager for the next session.


As for tactics... Guys, this might be the time for Carnifex. We can run one round super, two rounds cooldown for a rhythm to recharge our booster.

>>30233945

I dont think thats a good idea.

If it was one on one, maaaaybe.

However we're dealing with seven very fast thief clones.

We might be able to hold off one or two till our booster runs dry but the rest will slaughter the squad.

Maybe the swarm might actually work.

>>30233456
>>30233593

Awww fuck. This has gone south pretty damn quickly. If we can't give instructions, these morons are going to get slaughtered.

>>30234066

The swarm was actually pretty effective against the Correctors earlier.

>>30234458

Yea it would might work against the silencers assuming we punch holes in their armour or they have weak spots to chew on.

>>30233267
>>30233456
>>30233593

Aw fuck, it's Phantom Edge.

>>30236032
No, they're Correctors wearing the Thief's shape.

They're probably what's been chasing him, too.

>>30236126
Or this is what's left when phantom edge rips out a players essence

>>30236133
No? Essence drained Players look like Essence drained Players, like when we consumed Asura.