>>32389705
Lucifer
Bits

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>>32389670

(My sincerest apologies: The original post was incomplete.)

HOLLOW SUN: 31.1%

http://pastebin.com/Nttv1TRf

RESEARCH:

[X] GOSPEL RELAY
[X] SOLARIS GENERATOR
[X] COBALT LASER
[X] TERMINUS SCANNER
[X] FALSEHOOD ARRAY

RED COMET RESEARCH:

[X] MULTICORE CONVERTER

RESEARCH COMPLETE:

> [X] PHOTON SHIELD GENERATOR: Hellions now have integrated energy shields.
> [X] MIMETIC ALLOYS: The Red Comet's energy resistance increases, while the radar profile decreases. The combat chassis can now change hue at will.

VOID ANCHORS:

ORIGINAL HIVE
THE TRIBUNAL

HOLDING: 1

RED COMET GUIDE:

http://pastebin.com/7vzY4Zp2

>>32389722
Is progress on research per thread set or variable?

Evening OP. Day off?

>>32389722
>[X] MIMETIC ALLOYS
Seriously? That took no time at all. Continuing from where we left off with Comet researches, I'd like to suggest Myomer Hypertrophy and Galvanic Emitters.

Next thread we move back to Hellion development.

>>32389713
Vetoed.

>>32389713
Yeah, no.

>>32389722
Sweet, JQ. Couple of questions boss

1. Tell us more about the system. Is it possible to play Collectors/Black Joker aligned characters? Is the Red Joker what one can typically expect from a PC or an exception?

2. What are the void anchors actually doing? How can we get that essence they have stored?

>>32389758
Yeah I'll second that, though I'd like to pick up some of it's more interesting upgrades soon.

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>>32389756

(It's variable. To be specific, I roll dice for it - You had a high roll on Mimetic Alloys.)

There are fires burning everywhere. Thousands of threads of dirty smoke rise into the ochre sky, a shroud across the false city - The distant sounds of gunfire, of tracers criss-crossing the boiling sky, all lost in the aftermath of the first explosion.

Grit showers down from above, the exhaust plumes of rockets streaking through the fog on their first and final journey; Gunfire streams through the air like horizontal rain, hosing coils of shot that dip and slither like snakes, flurries of small-arms fire like blizzarding hail...

- And all of it directed at you.

You're still not sure where Legion Armiger got all the guns from. Or the tanks - The *tanks*, the first gunmetal-grey behemoth ploughing through the false barricade behind you, dozer blade pushing the charred hulks of burning cars out of the way; The street is wide enough to admit three abreast, each one like the platonic ideal of a tank - All grinding treads and blocky solidity, making the ground judder underfoot.

An autocannon hard-point built into the tank's forward hull begins to fire, large-calibre rounds wasping across the cracked road. They smash divots into the tarmac below; In their urban-tone armour, Armigers rappel down the buildings on either side, opportunistic shots ricocheting from your crimson plate - At this range, with the haze of smoke in the way, they're mostly inaccurate. Even the ones that hit glance off your armour...

-But still, quantity has a quality of it's own.

(Continued)

>>32389785
Super practical. Also the first makes it huge(r) and the second makes it bleed lightning.

>>32389781
I can answer the second: Every Void Anchor we place increases the energy gain we get at the start of every thread. Go back to when we didn't have any VAs in place, we gained about 10%/thread. Now we get somewhere in the realm of 30%/thread. We don't do anything to get the energy, it's fed straight to the Sun.

Oh yeah, fair warning: I've got a copy of Skin Game on my Kindle. I'd intended to spend this thread updating the guide, but it'll be a miracle if I post consistently.

>>32389856
Question; Can we just take relics straight from the relic vault? I want to see what Koleos and Skyshaper do.

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>>32389781

(Collectors, no; Black Joker, yes. The Red Joker is effectively a Player Plus, with a host of advantages like significantly better equipment, adaptability and potential for growth. It's certainly a lot better than your initial armour.

Void Anchors are feeding energy to the Hollow Sun.)

>>32389758
>>32389785

HOLLOW SUN: 1.1%

> [X] MYOMER HYPERTROPHY
> [X] GALVANIC EMITTERS

You can hear the buzz of their optic visors - The static crackle of their internal communications, chopping back and forth, a indecipharable snarl of transmissions. The pink light of their optics - going red, locking on - jag through the smoke in targeting beams, your Argus Sensor pinpointing the low, subsonic *thump* of the first two sections, ten a side, hitting the ground...

They have handguns. They have bullpup-pattern assault rifles. Hardly a match for your Plasma Vulcans, your Tau Gun, your Immolator - But there's a lot of them. More, by the moment. Spilling down from the buildings. Coming through the smoke.

And behind you - Always behind you - servoes grind as the main guns swivel to target you-

HP: 226.6%
COBALT BOOSTER: 138%
ASSAULT SHROUD: 126%
METER: 14%
RIFLE BITS: 1/5

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>32389946

(Gentlemen; You're currently on a wide street between two rows of buildings, with stretches forward and backward for a significant distance. There are alleys and side-streets, but your Argus Sensor has detected that not all the buildings are 'solid' - Several of them are actually blank openings with an image overlaid upon them.

At present, the immediate threats are as follows:

- Two sections of Armigers have rappelled down from the buildings on either side, and are moving to engage. They appear to be armed with conventional small-arms.

- The overpass before you has a squad of rocketeers, who are currently reloading. The last barrage has kicked up a massive cloud of smoke, which is impeding your visual sensors - But not your Argus System.

- There are tanks rolling up from the thoroughfare behind you. You're not certain of how many there are, but it seems to be a convoy.)

>>32389946
{So it is possible to play the setting as the Black Joker?

Are Smilers and Argent Silver's characters actual factions or just creations for this particular game?}

Deploy the bits and have them fire at the Legions with hand guns. Then, use the Scander to fly and use both vulcans on the heavy guns.

>>32389856

>Skin Game

Oh shit it's out? Time to check usenet.

>>32389946
As many triskelion missiles as possible, take cover in ruins from tanks.

>>32389907
My understanding is that there's no Vault per-se; rather the Hollow Sun has a set of unique schematics and the energy that we spend fuels the Relic's creation. There's a bit more to it than that, since we can't make a second Apex Blade, but that explains it well enough.

>>32389946
Deploy Fortress Mode in as large an area as we can without catching any enemies inside.

Summon the Red Comet. Paint it the same color as our armor with the Joker's mark over the cockpit in black.

"Not to put too fine a point on it Armiger, but mine's bigger."

>>32390000
>>32385266

>>32389946

Back off. Retreat. Dive inbetween the buildings on our Scrander. Head up a set of stairs to get a better vantage. Deploy the Tau Gun, pick one or two off, bug out. Repeat.

>>32389992
Shoot everything with Vulcans and look if we gain essence and/or meter.
That it of vital important for the further development of the battle.

>>32390027

SUMMON THE RED COMET!

>>32390007
Specifically, try to bring down the overpass onto the lead tank to stop the column.

>>32390027
>"Not to put too fine a point on it Armiger, but mine's bigger."
I love it!

Tank vs tank

Kinda unfortunate that we won't get essence from the kill, though. Why can't the Comet get a Samael Circuit?

>>32390027
Pretty fucking fortunate we finished the Multicore Converter this thread.

>>32390027
Hahaha oh god. For actions afterwards, let's use the tanks he's brought us to bring down the overpass. Pick em up and toss em.

>>32389992
Wait wait, this is suspicious. OP, what does the Argus say about the Armigers and tanks? Let's not get distracted by obvious distractions.

>>32390027

>link

I love you and that Anon.

Anyway, if we're going the tank route, gotta be sure to kill Army on foot so we can get his signature for the grinder. Still would prefer to slowly pick his mooks off from range though.

Ok, things to do with the tank:
- Activate anti-kinetic shield
- Fire energy weapons

Our enemies are using mundane weaponry.

>>32390107
>Anyway, if we're going the tank route, gotta be sure to kill Army on foot so we can get his signature for the grinder. Still would prefer to slowly pick his mooks off from range though.
Murder his mooks and weaken him significantly.
Then leave the tank and finish him with our fists.

>>32390097
Alloys actually. So if we really raise some hell with Red Comet he'll have a harder time picking out the supertank than he would otherwise, what with its active camo.

Plus the bonus energy resistance means we can keep the physical shield up and steamroll his dudes, particularly since he doesn't seem to have equipped his people with energy weapons.

>>32390142
The question is if we can utilize the illusion buildings if the Comet disables our Argus feed.
But some Gorilla tank warfare will be nice. How about driving around in camo and then turning red whenever we assault him?

>>32390142

You know, our Joker Cave has the potential to eclipse an X-Com research team at this rate. If we keep this up, we'll have Elerium powering Joker's mooks.

>>32389993

(My sincerest apologies; I can't answer that at present.)

>>32390049

Your Plasma Vulcans spin up - The first burning shots searing through the smoke, the Armigers lit up on your HUD in glowing silhouettes. Your fists clench down on the stirrup-grips, charging elements fuming with death-heat; The long, strafing burst cores through the first Armiger, punching through his layered armour, the superheated rounds detonating him from within - The brief explosion hurls fragments of spalling and armour shards out in all directions, as you turn your guns on the next one-

It's absolute overkill. He doesn't 'die' so much as shred apart, one arm spinning out of the collapsing fireball, assault rifle spitting wild bursts before it disintegrates.

Your Meter ticks higher. Your armour's Essence accumulators throb, denied.

They're not Players, not truly. They're mockups, like dolls, like decoys - Decoys given weapons and a will to kill.

>>32390007
>>32390055

Missiles - Four of them - boil outwards from you, on wings of jetair and exhaust; The first fragmentation round slams against the scarred facade of the overpass, the expanding orange fireball sending glass hailing down from above. Your second missile goes wide - The third blows out a chunk of wall, as an Armiger swings out of cover to fire back with his RPG-

-Just in time to take the last missile to the face. The blast cuts him in half - You actually see his torso tumble up and over from the blast, as his gauntlet spasms on the trigger spoon anyway-

(Continued)

Wait, can we collect meter while piloting the tank if we unleash our interceptors before getting into the tank?

>>32390203

Oh this is hilarous.

We're fighting TACTICOOL, the armor. Seriously, its master sargeant shooter man.

>>32390189

The rocket whips sideways, at a crazed angle, and detonates against the façade of the building. The explosion shreds the fog around you, as your Rifle Bits deploy - They lance down in a storm of particle beams, coring through optic sensors in scalpel-precise rays, shearing through limbs and punching through layered armour. Impaled from three directions at once, an Armiger reels as the flashing Bits strafe him on vernier thrusters, firing panicked bursts as the light takes him to pieces.

And then, as your Tempest Scrander sends tongues of electric blue flame searing through the smog, the first tank fires.

The range is so short, there's no space to hear the whistle of the shell. Ten meters ahead of you, a large lump of street - And about three Armigers unlucky enough to be in the way - disintegrate in a cone of smoke and flame. The blast shakes the ground, as you wrench the Sinistral up and into the way - Altitude jets flaring, as you take to the skies, twisting hard as gunfire streaks up to meet you-

The second tank fires. A volcano of fire erupts from the side of the stricken building, and engulfs you.

It's like being hit by a brick wall. A brick wall with fists. Chunks of debris smash into you, into your pauldron, into your side - Hard enough to craze cracks across the armour, one smashing right into your helmet, your HUD dissolving in a blur of visual confusion. Static fizzles on your field of vision - The world turns upside down and you fall towards the sky, but not really; It only feels that way because you've inverted, sharply, and your twitching limbs aren't paying attention to *anything* you're trying to make them do-

You hit the ground, trailing smoke, hard enough to smash a new crater in it.

All right.

Enough.

(Continued)

>>32390181
>X-com
>hyphenated
You do us proud.
>Elerium powering Joker's mooks
But souls are a renewable energy source!

Jokes aside, we can do some crazy things with enough research. Next thread we'll want to start the Hellion defensive upgrades for if we ever decide to get the transformer units or modular frames. Also endosteel boosts Hellion health, meaning if we consume one we can get more HP.

What Hellion model do we want next? Snipers or Assault units? And what specialist upgrades? Quake Cannons and Choir Beacons look pretty important.

>>32390167
Just Hulk through them. Remember, it's a tank AND a giant robot.

>>32390167

>Gorilla tank warfare

I see what you did there.

>>32390268

Souls are only a renewable resource if you have access to the Fifth Magic. Even then you'll haft to deal with an angry jew.

>what hellion model

Snipers obviously. A couple well placed snipers will decimate a map.

>>32390268
>Snipers or Assault units?
Assaults should be more versatile, even if I like snipers more. Especially if we can use transform servos to equip a sniper as a sniper rifle.

However, I'd wager that we need much more essence income to fuel the necessary production.

Also, I think Sturm Booster and Overdrive Infuser are more important than Quake Cannon. Those upgrades enhance the role of melee specialists by allowing them to close in and fuck shit up.
Choir Beacon is essential, though.

Reactive Plating is also very essential.

Also, I imagine Dirge Caster to *really* fuck with enemies.

>>32390268
>Just Hulk through them. Remember, it's a tank AND a giant robot.
I was just thinking as a contingency for when we deal the finishing blow.
We leave the tank, call *all* interceptors and fist him with our left Crisis arm.

You know what is awesome about our calling of the tank? No one will learn about our capabilities. Everyone will just look at the tank and think that it's our trump card.

>>32390268
>>32390338
And don't forget the Shroud upgrades.
I want all of them.

>>32390306
Not a bad choice. Reasoning's pretty good too.

But if everything in the Hollow Sun is derived from its research why is there a cloaking device in the Vault?

>>32390350
>why is there a cloaking device in the Vault?
Are you SURE that it's a cloaking device? And which of the two is it?

>>32390359
Sotto Voca. Mirage had a sound based cloaking device.

>>32390338

>left crisis arm

Nah. Don't want to give away all of our trumps just yet. Keep the Gilgamesh arm under wraps for now. We have a senshado match to win.

>>32390359

Think he's referring to Sotto Voca.

i think we may want to upgrade the leukocyte sometime.

Its our 'oh shit we need the hammer of GOD weapon'. Shit is -real- when we need to busy out the secret space gun.
Its one of those prepare-for-emergency things.
... so we will want to upgrade it before we need it, just to make sure it hits fast and accurately when we need it

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>>32390245

Close by, you hear a raucous cheer - Armigers, all in the same voice.

> "That's what you *get*, Joker!"
> "Fire Team 1, close on primary targe-"

A metal-on-metal squeal sounds as turrets traverse, swinging towards you; Two tanks, side-by-side, the other crushing the curb to powder as it grinds over the road - You hear the *clunk* of the reloader cycling-

>>32390027
>>32390051

Your Assault Shroud shivers apart, nanomaterial fibres coalescing. They slam down around you, a barricade, a superdense wall; An Armiger yells an incoherent warning, as you reach for the glowing beacon of your Teleport Homer-

Gunfire *spangs* from the barrier. It's a fusillade; From the other end of the road, an engine revs - A stripped-down technical, the cut-down frame almost skeletal - rumbles out as something very much like a recoilless rifle is hastily brought to bear...

> "Not to put too fine a point on it Armiger, but mine's bigger."

> "FIRE EVERYTHING! BRING HIM DOWN!"

The shockwave of impact - When two tank shells hit the superdense wall of your Assault Shroud at once - nearly knocks you from your feet. Armigers, made of lesser stuff, are actually battered aside as the ground judders - The Cobalt Booster throbs in your chest, the furious blue glow dying down to nothing as the Teleport Homer glows with a rekindled light...

-The Hollow Sun hears.

The Red Comet answers.

The loud, double-bang of overstressed air pressure - The thunderclap of displaced particles - is louder than an explosion. The overpressure cracks windows, as a great mass-shadow sketches itself into existence before you - The Armiger platoon advancing on your location scrambles back, as the Red Comet descends-

It lands with an earth-shaking CRUMP, a sound deep and dire as a tectonic shift. It is fully twice as large as one of Armiger's tanks, and half again as tall.

(Continued)

>>32390380
>Nah. Don't want to give away all of our trumps just yet. Keep the Gilgamesh arm under wraps for now. We have a senshado match to win.
That's why I said left.
Right is the Midas Gauntlet.

>>32390395

Huh. You're right. I keep thinking the Helix is on our shield arm.

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>>32390388
>The loud, double-bang of overstressed air pressure - The thunderclap of displaced particles - is louder than an explosion. The overpressure cracks windows, as a great mass-shadow sketches itself into existence before you - The Armiger platoon advancing on your location scrambles back, as the Red Comet descends-
>It lands with an earth-shaking CRUMP, a sound deep and dire as a tectonic shift. It is fully twice as large as one of Armiger's tanks, and half again as tall.

yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss holy shit jqop

>>32390342
I'm not too fond of them. The Assault Shroud's BEST feature is its damage reduction/afterimages keeping Joker from dying. Splitting its functionality through weaponization interferes with this primary purpose.

>>32390380
We can freely emulate the Crisis Arm. That's how we're keeping the Gauntlet hidden.

Or, well, not in this case since I forgot Fortress Mode drains all the Assault Shroud including the part on our arm.

>>32390385
Positron Designator is the best choice there. It both reduces firing time and waives the need to sustain an Argus lock or Harrow (though Harrow improves accuracy and reduces firing time by even more time).

After that the Distortion Cannon, for not leaving a visible firing trail. Hey look, the Joker can randomly make things explode now!

>>32390412
>I keep thinking the Helix is on our shield arm.
That's where the Argus is.

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>>32390388

And then there's the *sound* that cuts through the sudden, appalled silence - A distinctive *buzz*, as violet light jags from the quad-eyed sensor cluster.

> "Oh, shit."
> "All units, fall *back*-"

They're firing again, even as the shield winks to life. The Red Comet articulates, the cockpit ratcheting open with a whirr of servoes - Rounds kiss off the carapace, as a shell explodes against the front shield. The hatch clangs down, sealing you in absolute, claustrophobic darkness for a heartbeat...

And then the controls filaments sink into your armour. A monofilament sliver of metal punctures the back of your helmet, and into the fibres beneath: Your vision flickering, as an odd, appalling nausea coils within you, your armoured limbs twitching in reflex as their connections are temporarily interrupted - Vertigo, momentary and dizzying, blurring the world before your eyes...

But then, you *are* the machine. The world lights up, as you look through new sensors - When your limbs flex, your arm - Your *real* arm - remains limp by your side, locked in place by restraints.

> INTERFACE SUCCESSFUL.

Anti-gravity suspensors hum to life, supporting the GARM's weight as it rises to all four limbs: Built like an upright tank, supported by tall, ankle-jointed lower limbs with caterpillar treads, broad-shoulder arms - And weapon mounts - twitching in time to your phantom commands.

SHIELDS: 84% (MODE: KINETIC)
HULL INTEGRITY: 97%
MUNITIONS: 100%
ENERGY: 96%

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>32390422
>Or, well, not in this case since I forgot Fortress Mode drains all the Assault Shroud including the part on our arm.
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuu-
Enter the tank before people see.

>After that the Distortion Cannon, for not leaving a visible firing trail. Hey look, the Joker can randomly make things explode now!
I love your thinking.

>>32390427

(Gentlemen; At present, the main threats are the tank squadron at your back - There's two currently in firing range - and the infantry platoons, which are falling back. They have at least one vehicle with them, that's attempting to bring a heavy weapon to bear.

The rocketeers on the overpass have mostly been neutralized.)

>>32390441
Sweep the Cobalt Lasers across everything.
Cut the infantry off after the tanks are dead. Then go for the heavy weapon.

>>32390427
>>32390454
Yeah, this. Cobalt Laser the infantry then use the cannon on the tanks.

And guys, don't forget:
The tank has a ramjet booster and a walker mode.

>>32390462
>use the cannon on the tanks
Dude. The tanks are made out of paper.
We can likely punch them to death in our normal armor.
No need to bring more expensive weapons to the fight.

>>32390427

>kinetic

Shit.

Engage the retreating mooks with the cobalt lasers. Scythe them down before they can regroup. Begin evasive maneuvers to throw off the tanks targeting. Shoot the approaching tanks with the induction blasters. Get a couple shots off then fistsplode through a building. Circle around to finish off the damaged tanks if we left any behind.

>>32390412
Crisis Arm was originally on the right arm. It's been fused into the Gauntlet of Midas, but we can emulate the Crisis Arm's original mount on the left.

>>32390427
Engage tank mode and go to RAMMING SPEED.

But seriously get a long way away from the tanks, they're looking right at the Comet's soft places. Do we have a rear facing weapon? Can the Induction Blasters be brought to bear on the tanks?

>>32390481
Oh shit they are, aren't they? Let's not stick around to get shot in the ass.

>>32390427

GO INVISIBLE RIGHT THERE. WE HAVE ACTIVE CAMO. USE IT FOR EVEN MORE CONFUSION.

>>32390500
GORILLA WARFARE
Go invisible, ramjet behind the tanks.
Transform and turn red and smash them all.
Then transform back and just crush the infantry under our threads.

Stick with kinetic shielding for now.

>Mounted in the palm of each articulated 'hand' - the Induction Blasters

>Mounted on the GARM's articulated 'head' - Beneath the sensor cluster - the Disintegrator Cannon is a powerful anti-armour weapon, Disintegrator Cannon fires a constant stream of superheated air, capable of melting tanks into sludge

>cobalt laser: the GARM sports four torso-mounted emitters, each one capable of generating multi-directional cutting beams.

>>32390441
>(Gentlemen; At present, the main threats are the tank squadron at your back - There's two currently in firing range - and the infantry platoons, which are falling back. They have at least one vehicle with them, that's attempting to bring a heavy weapon to bear.

Okay. Cobalt laser the infantry. disentigrator cannon the infantry vehicles, and use our hands to shoot the tank squadron at our back: Two tanks, two hands, sounds good.

Open fire on EVERYthing at once. Someone else come up with maneuvers as we do this.

I vote cloak and evade, though.

>>32390535

haha yes! every weapon shooting targets it faces. I see what you did there

Well, gotta go.
Please do it stylish and awesome. And don't waste your energy - It also powers your shield.

I will be furious if you don't get the essence from the dude. The next upgrade is supposed to be Limiter Attunement.

>>32390547

The Red Comet has four Cobalt Laser emitters - Armoured shutters retract as each one deploys, hazy blue particles shimmer in the air for the space of a breath...Before they stab out in a fusillade of destruction, carving molten furrows through the uneven ranks. The azure lasers are oddly hypnoptic, in their searing patterns - Die-straight lines that wink in and out of existence in strobing pulses, slashing across the retreating Armigers as they fall back, their gunfire plinking off the GARM's carapace armour as harmlessly as falling rain.

It clears them out like a nuclear blast. The ones that are hit dead-on disintegrate; The ones that flee are cut apart. Explosions blossom through their ranks, as you hit ammunition, power sources or incinderaries; The recoilless rifle on the technical gets a shot off, a single shot that slams into one manipulator arm, momentarily mantling it in smoke-

Before twin Cobalt Lasers carve down the road in converging lines of destruction, and shear it in half.

A heavy gun booms, and the Red Comet *rocks* - The impact flashes red warnings across your HUD, as you engage the drive engine; Cursory damage, enough to buckle the armour plating - Minor damage to the Fragmentation launcher...

And then you wheel the GARM around, so the flickering field of the front shield - Hexagons woven into a strobing wall of light - takes the rattle of autocannon hardpoints, and suddenly it doesn't even matter.

(Continued)

>>32390547
>I will be furious if you don't get the essence from the dude. The next upgrade is supposed to be Limiter Attunement.

We don't get essence if we kill him in the garm.

FYI this is what the essence reaper project is supposed to fix, but people keep putting it off.

>>32390559
The reaper project was deemed basically unviable in OP's gentle manner a while back. Garm eats essence from kills already, to regenerate when it's not fighting. The Converter and Infuser let it spend that essence in combat.

>>32390581

was it? last I recall he was working with us to make mining drills and anchor launchers and automining AI possible. Can you point me to where he said that?

I thought we just didn't have the research options to heighten the connection to the pilot - the essence accumulators are there, same as argents people use. All it needs is a powerline to the pilot. Seems kind of unfair if NPCS get to do this kind of thing, and we can't.

But that's why I've been after the Cascade Resonator. It has increased synergy between and machine to allow a function, and that sounds a whole lot like the right path to supercharge the pilot.

Your Mimetic Plating engages. The Red Comet's surface shimmers - Not quite to invisibility, but to translucency, lending it the hazy, warping sheen of a thing from a nightmare. Something so large has no excuse for moving so far; Even as transformation servoes engage, with a grinding *clunk*, the quadruped combat chassis bracing as gravimetric suspensors charge to full power-

You don't charge. You leap. The Red Comet springs, the way a beast springs to bring down prey; The first tank-busting shell streaks beneath you, the second splintering against your variable shield - Before the ramjet engine roars to life, hurling the predator-beast forward on it's own thrust...

And at the apex of the leap, you unleash both Induction Blasters.

The GARM'S great manipulator-fists unfurl; Power hums, gathers with crackling electronic distortion, the doubled-blast unleashed in twin spheres of white-cored lightning. They streak down, and detonate in a crackling, fizzing blast. The first tank is hit dead-on, and crumples in upon itself; Fizzing even as it slags. The second *rocks* back, turret drooping - Plumes of smoke coiling upwards as systems misfire...

-Before the Red Comet lands on it.

CRUMP.

Metal-analogue folds inwards. One manipulator-arm smashes down, hardened analogue blades gouging deep - It shears through the layered armour, crushing the tank underfoot like tin-foil...

There are more, behind it. Three more, backing away - They fire, each titanic blast ill-aimed, the expanding distance doing them no favours. One tank-killing shell slams into your shield, which fizzles but mantains cohesion - The other two bracket the Red Comet, pelting the combat chassis with rubble.

They're falling back. They're *falling back*.

(Continued)

>>32390631

They're falling back. They're *falling back*.

The way from which they'd come - From which they'd rolled into existence - is a four-way juncture, with the same squat facsmiles of buildings (More blocks of solid concrete than actual spaces) lining either side of the battered roads. You can make out the vague shape of running figures atop the buildings, scrambling back from their firing positions; From somewhere close by, you hear a high, shrieking whistle...

As the Red Comet's talons wrench free - Leaving a deep gouge in the husk of the armoured vehicle - you catch a glimpse of the interior. It's like the shell of a tank, a child's conception of a vehicle; A single Armiger lolling half-crushed in his command chair, the controls before him fizzing with sparks, charred to black slag.

SHIELDS: 66% (MODE: KINETIC)
HULL INTEGRITY: 92%
MUNITIONS: 100%
ENERGY: 76%

YOU HAVE CONTROL

At this point they'll be wondering what else we have up our duster.

>>32390650

ARTILLERY INBOUND. ARTILLERY INBOUND. HEAD FOR COVER INTO A BUILDING RIGHT NOW.

Stay cloaked. We absolutely must find the real Army or this will never end. He's probably directing his forces from a Gods eye view... he either is on one of the taller buildings or has a UAV up above. So we either start bringing down buildings or we shoot down his UAVs.

>>32390615
It's the thread where the Red Comet options were first expanded. OP said Tyrian couldn't do much more than that.

And Argent's using a hack, the same way we're using a hack in the form of the Nihl Sphere. It's his thing.

>>32390650
Pick up the tank pieces and throw them at the buildings. Move out of the current area. Do we have any advanced scanners in the Comet, or are those a function of the Argus Bits?

>>32390699

>pick up the tank pieces

Fucking brilliant. Use them as makeshift tower shields.

>>32390699
>>32390733
Wait shit, I forgot. Kinetic shields are up. Don't throw anything just yet, let's quickly evacuate
the area.

>>32390653
I'd imagine everyone watching is getting a pretty good show right now.

The Red Joker gets bogged down in endless mooks, then disappears into his shield. And then brings out a gigantic fucking war machine.

>>32390752

Whistling typically means artillery. We do not want to be anywhere near the purification zone. Just wait until his meter is high enough for a gunship then we're really screwed.

>>32390761
Just wait until they think they've seen everything.
Then we bust out the army of angels.

Can we drop and deploy the void anchor somewhere?

Maybe away from us?

It can eat the surrounds to activate.

>>32390771
>Whistling typically means artillery.
Could also be planes. Artillery here though.

>>32390653
>>32390761
Everything. There's everything in that duster.

Actually, I wonder where they think he pulled it from. Bishamon is the only one of them who should know about the Sun, or the Comet for that matter.

It could be amusing to play a radically different strategy in each of these matches. Here is Jokerfall. Next time we're MAXIMUM JOKER PUNCHER OF WORLDS, and after that the usual Joker range game.

>>32390793
We want to plant the VA LAST of all, typically, as we found to my consternation.

>>32390811
I just realized. What are the two times you use a giant robot?

1. On an army.
2. When the other guy has a giant robot.

>>32390811

>going between buildings
>in a tank
>in an urban environment
>IN A TANK
>IN A TANK

That's why I said go THROUGH building Joker. Mooks can shoot from atop buildings. Not through twenty stories of concrete analogue in the read world.

>>32390836

Nah. Planes typically make a droning sound if they're pistons. Jet's make a whining noise.

>>32390836
>We want to plant the VA LAST of all, typically, as we found to my consternation.

Will we have time to do so?

Or essence left in the area for it?

I just dont want to deploy it and let it be lost because the stage is dissolved before it can finish its cycle.

>>32390836
>Different strategy in each match
But then what do we use for Kraken? Bust out all the stops?
Inferno everything?
Achieve 100% meter and suck him into a singularity?

>>32390843

(My apologies; Let me edit that.)

>>32390852

We shoot him with the colony laser.

>>32390853

That's fine. Just play it. Haft to think in 3 dimensions here or you'll get hosed with RPG fire.

>>32390852
Space lasers.
All the fucking space lasers.

>>32390843
Sorry, I was using jets and planes interchangeably. I know I shouldn't but I'm a layman.

>>32390848
Good question, no idea. We don't know how much essence there is in the current area either, but the real problem is that it's a warzone completely controlled by the enemy. Can't risk its destruction.

>>32390852
Leukocyte alpha strike.

The last words he hears are "You're waifu a shit."

>>32390854
>>32390870

So we let him have his villain speech. While he's doing so, we call the killsat.
We slowly start walking away while he's still talking, and then he's suddenly been turned to ash.

>>32390878

>Good question

That's another reason why i wanted the strategy meeting with Cybele.

>>32390699

(The Red Comet's sensors are notably more powerful than a Player's - Greater distance, ability to track a target and so on - but they're not as advanced as the Argus Sensor, unfortunately.)

> Pick up the tank pieces and throw them at the buildings.

The Red Comet's servoes groan - Acutators whirring - as great mechanical manipulators wrench and tear at the burning wreckage underfoot. It strains to lift the tank - Until the ruin breaks apart on it's own weight, and the GARM flings the charred hull at the nearest building. It hits with the force of a meteor impact - Chunks of tread and axel whirring in a lethal spray - A plume of spalling and dust rising from the side of the building...

>>32390680

...As the bombardment comes down.

Flashing concussions tear the sky overhead, as the ground shakes. The first mortar shell curves downwards with a distinctive *foom*, the sooty detonation erupting in a burst of fire and death - Even a glance impact rocks the Red Comet back on it's drive motivators, warning lights flashing across your HUD...

And you wheel the Red Comet around, and plunge headlong between two towering buildings. The passage isn't quite large enough, but that's not a problem - You shoulder through it, sparks scraping and grinding from either side as chunks of brick-analogue (Dissolving when the hit the ground) are knocked free; Behind you, the open road dissolves beneath the barrage, impact after cratering impact smashing down in great hammerblows.

The Red Comet slews sideways, and you wrench the GARM into position - Swinging the Induction Blasters to bear, unleashed in fuming, crackling blasts...Before you drive the full power of the combat chassis against it.

Against it. And *into* it.

(Continued)

>>32390879
This is trap battle. Its made to getus to reveal the leukocyte to the spectators prematurely.
Do NOT use it. We want the smilers to be completely surprised when the black jokes blood ship explodes. They are watching this right, dont let em see it

>>32390932

They won't see it actually. They'll see Joker casually standing there exchanging a warm-up verbal sparring match with Squidman, then suddenly he's flash-fried. People will be wondering how the fuck we pulled it off, but nobody will jump to the conclusion of "Joker has a killsat". No, they'll probably think we unlocked a new codeburst.

>Wanting to killsat Kraken
BUT THEN HOW DO WE TURN HIS SOUL INTO THE HAT OF COLLECTOR CONTROL?

>>32390932
That's why we use the option that involves teleportation. All anyone sees is Red Joker wave and suddenly the ground is in the air.

>>32390919
Not quite what I was getting at. The area is currently not conductive towards placing a VA. The enemies aren't yielding essence and large areas of it are blowing up at intervals. You plant a VA in the quiet before they know you're there or the quiet that comes when the last of them is bleeding out or risk the thing exploding viciously.

Also OP mentioned that we'd know when an area was producing enough energy for a VA to go in without needing a kill. Since we didn't hear this time I think we can assume that we didn't have enough ambient essence.

>>32390961
It does leave a trail though. Someone will be able to follow it.

>>32390974
We serve him a healthy stake moving at a fraction of lightspeed.

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>>32390923

A huge mouth, teeth of concrete dangling from reinforcing bars, suddenly gapes in the wall, and you drive the Red Comet through the gap. The space beyond is poorly-lit; Like with the tanks, it's the *shell* of a building - A facade, never meant for human habitation. The GARM sinks down onto it's grinding treads, and you trigger the ramjet engine...

Vague shapes flash by in the gloom - Containers, on either sides. Armigers, lit red by the blaze of fire from your afterburners, and then another cannon-blasted mouth opens in the opposite wall and you break out into the next street over-

Which is also full of Armigers. At least a company of them, with a couple of mobile artillery pieces and possibly more out there that you don't have time to idenity...Because you just keep the Red Comet roaring straight through the middle of them, the kinetic field like a battering ram, bodies flung aside and disintegrating before they can so much as charge their weapons-

It's a trap.

This entire false city is a giant deathtrap.

More: It seems to be endless. As you punch through your third building, shouts coming in your wake, you make out immense night-blackened blocks of warehouses crowding the right-of-way for a kilometer or more, north - The buildings densely cluttered, pushed together in unbroken rows, with a heavy sheen that tells of superdense construction.

There isn't even the pretense of habitation, any longer. They're just blocks, featureless and faceless; Solid chunks of barrier, as unyielding and unfriendly as the face of a mountain...

And from a side-street, a gigantic slope-armoured hulk of a ground assault vehicle clanks out. It's crudely-made, barely ambulatory, more like a train than a tank - It clearly wasn't made to turn, just to drive forward relentlessly, a massive dozer-blade buckled to the front as it opens up with the heavy guns on either side. Slug impacts pound against your diminishing field, as the hulk grinds it's way forward.

(Continued)

>>32390976
It won't if we get the Distortion Cannon.

>>32390976

Ah, well, the "Good question" quote was in a general sense.

>It does leave a trail

We don't know that as we've never fired the thing.

>>32390996
I really should make a habit of reading the entire post I'm replying to.

>>32390961
One word:
SMITE

So it wouldn't be wrong of them.

>>32390993

> "YOU CAN'T KILL US ALL, JOKER!"

Armiger's voice booms over external speakers, brassy and relentlessly cheerful. Players scamper all over the machine like ants.

> "IT DON'T MATTER WHAT YOU DO - I WIN ANYWAY!"

Behind it, in the distance - As buildings grind and shift - the end of the line. A great fortress towers in the distance beyond; Huge, monolithic, sprawling, like a castle of black iron. It is massive, the walls topped with razorwire and fortified emplacements - And guns, artillery platforms and cannonmounts of truly grotesque size.

Even your Fusion Annhilator couldn't hope to put a dent in it. Not in a decade of firing.

SHIELDS: 28% (MODE: KINETIC)
HULL INTEGRITY: 86%
MUNITIONS: 100%
ENERGY: 47%

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>32390996
>>32391008
Heh.

>>32391007
We can safely assume. The non-Distortion options involve Leukocyte firing something from its orbit. Anyone who sees the result on the ground could conceivably follow the arc of the weapon back to the origin.

Now the number of people who could do that is probably pretty small, and anyone on-site is going to have bigger worries. But it's still possible.

>>32391037

This is insane. How do we beat this guy? Are we even hurting him at all?

>>32391057
We need to find the real one, presumably, or resort to using the Leukocyte.

>>32391061

So how do we find the real one? Do we have any super-detection/interrogation powers?

>>32391037

Holy fuck we're fighting Motherwill. We're fighting god damn Motherwill.

Keep the ramjets moving. Close the distance and get in close so it's artillery and missiles can't reach us. Disable the shield to let it regen. Get in close and hug that bastards.. whatever it uses for locomation. Tracks? Legs?

>>32391037
Run a trace on the code making up the enemy entities using the Red Comet's processors. See where the command circuits lead to, whether that's a controller, repeaters, a dude outside this virtual space, or something else entirely.

>>32391037
Let's jump on their train. I bet it can't aim up. Just sit there tearing at it until they bombard it.

Can we arc the frag launchers over the shield? I'd like to clear the proposed landing zone first.

We want to build up some energy charge and then rush the fortress. We'll level the gates with the Cobalt Smasher.

>>32391068

Can we use EXEC_REAP on one of the targets?

>>32391068

>how do we find the real one

We don't. We kill all of them.

>>32391085

Double dictum on the Arms Fort. KILL.ARMIGER.

>>32391037
Can the Comet burrow?

>>32391070
>Disable the shield to let it regen.
Oh god no. Seriously no. Do you remember the last time we did that? Whatever else we do this is vetoed.

>>32391095

(No.)

>>32391089

(Yes, if you get out of the Red Comet. There's no shortage of Armigers.)

>>32391073

(The Red Comet, unfortunately, doesn't have that power. You have noticed that the city itself seems to be shifting around you, and that the vehicles and Armigers are seemingly coming out of nowhere.)

>>32391068
>So how do we find the real one? Do we have any super-detection/interrogation powers?

we can pop the canopy open and argus scan.

it would expose us, sure, but we still have shields up

>>32391068
He's in the fortress or nearby. The sensors on the Comet are better than anything short of the Argus.

>>32391085
>>32391096
>Don't turn off the shields
>Use the Cobalt Smasher!
Wataaaaaaaaa...

>>32391107

Since we're actively in our mech suit, can we give back a bit of Cybele's power so she can more readily assist us?

>>32391089

Seconding this. We need to retreat.

>>32391120
>>32391113
>>32391096

Just double Dictum Armiger's Arms Fort. KILL ARMIGER. Problem solved.

>>32391113
>>Don't turn off the shields
>>Use the Cobalt Smasher!
>Wataaaaaaaaa...

yeaah :(

Okay so.

Pop Canopy open
Keep shields up
NIHL scan with argus.
maybe codeburst something? Landing a deathmark on the real armiger would be a+, and we should have done it from the start.

Go from there?

>>32391112
All of our functions are suspended while we're piloting. Getting out means turning off the Comet.

>>32391113
Okay fine, don't turn off the shields until it's time to kill something dead climactically.

>>32391117
She's in the computer still.

>>32391123
Dictum only accepts one order. You can't use it twice to string together two words.

And the fortress isn't a player.

>>32391132
What makes you think that was the real one?

>>32391140
Shit he's right. Leaving the Comet means no shield.

>>32391140
>All of our functions are suspended while we're piloting. Getting out means turning off the Comet.

No, it was mentioned a while ago that we could open the canopy up, exposing the pilot.
It was prompty vetoed by everyone going 'why the hell would we want to do that?! We're safer inside it!'
Thing is, there's got to be an upside to it. Like using our own eyes.

>>32391154
The upside is if the head is blinded you can only see by raising the canopy. Like what we did to Bardiel.

That's why I keep voting for the Argus Bits. You never need to raise the canopy again.

>>32391140

The mini Armiger's is his abilities. They're an extension of him. The Arms Fort is an extension of him.

>only one word
>cannot string words

Alright then. One word on the AF.

DETONATE.

>>32391107
>(The Red Comet, unfortunately, doesn't have that power. You have noticed that the city itself seems to be shifting around you, and that the vehicles and Armigers are seemingly coming out of nowhere.)

OH.

THIS is what it means to be on the recieving end of the Hyades part of the landscape-shifting battle.

But our hyades is asleep/recuperating. Which means she can't fight that battle for us...
.... but we're still the wielder of her power, which means that -we- can. Hell, we were WARNED about it when witnessing bishamon's battle.

JQop, you know what this means. We've just realized we're fighting a war on two fronts. Its not the strength that matters, its the *realization*
Flex those mental muscles, and use the nihl sphere to engage the battle on that level as well.
Start cutting off armiger's bullshit cheats, and like, turn one of his spawn points into a repair station

>>32391173
I'm pretty sure reality warping is the Hyade at work. The legions of soldiers may or may not be Armiger, no matter how appropriate the name is that's pretty far beyond a single Player's ability.

>>32391187
>>32391190

Nice timing you two.

I think this is our key to winning right here.

We need to start fighting on the hyades-level of it.
So.... backfeed our power to cybele through the nihl(we have a link in which she gets essence through us, anyway), or failing that, exercise the power ourselves.

FYI the last time we managed to unlock level based bullshit that got us the garm was with an argus+nihl combo.
Which is.... i guess a sign to go two for 2, pop the canopy, and give it a shot.

>>32391187
You're mistaken. The Hyade reshapes the battlefield to give her player an advantage.

We probably could wreck the stage with the sphere, but that'll drain charge.

We do, of course, have another option that I can't believe I forgot. "Hellebore. Help me."

>>32391202
>We do, of course, have another option that I can't believe I forgot. "Hellebore. Help me."

ahahahaha YES

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>>32391070

The backwash of your ramjet engine slags the street behind it, the Red Comet slewing violently from side-to-side as you close the distance - The quad turrets on both sides of the dreadnaught burst to life, and fill the streets with streaking patterns of energy-

Energy fire, now. Armiger is learning.

The first shots sear into the Red Comet's surface; Missile pods unleash a hail of devastation, dumbfire rockets leaping across the distance. They slam into your shield, as the Red Comet's limbs deploy - You're too close for it to use the *truly* big guns, as it grinds it's way forward inexorably: You can actually see Armigers manning the hastily-mounted turrets, trying to track your machine...

You unleash your Cobalt Lasers. The scorching blasts slice into the jury-rigged hulk from the side, slashing molten furrows across the surface; It lurches forward without slowing, the great caterpillar-tracked length churning the road beneath it to gravel-

And then your sensors pick up a massive energy discharge, sirens duelling as alarms wail on the control surface of the Red Comet, and - At the last second - you switch the shield from KINETIC to ENERGY.

You don't even see the weapon that fires on you. You don't have the chance.

(Continued)

>>32391202
>"Hellebore. Help me."
...Yep that's a thing.

>>32391190

I'm guessing his Hyades' is literally fourth wall breaking and quintupling his powers and then some. We're in her reality marble so to speak. She can do whatever the hell she wants as you said. So, sure, he may be capable of summoning one or two mooks at a time. One artillery piece at a time in the RED WORLD. But this is HIS/HER world. They're all his. And ripe for the breaking.

>>32391202

Yuuuuuuuuuuuup. Time to change our seal to MODE TWO and engage battle mode

>>32391249

Do you think MAXIMUM BURNING JOKER transfers to GARMA?

We could finally pull off SHINING FINGER

>>32391205

Hell of a time for us to roll a 1 :(

>>32391280
It doesn't.

...But there's an upgrade for that! Two actually. Hypertrophy gives the Comet massive muscles. Nitro Booster lets us act like the Comet has a Cobalt Booster.

Which (holy fucking god) means that it can make all the weapons stronger. That just jumped a few tiers in my internal rankings.

>>32391205
>You don't even see the weapon that fires on you. You don't have the chance.

Now is the time for exec_rend

>>32391305

Assuming we don't lose the red comet here.

Pretty good chance of that

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>>32391312
>EXEC_REND
>In the middle of a school

>>32391205

You *think* it may be a one-shot cannon; Some kind of particle beam, scaled up to ridiculous levels. Just firing it must have exhausted the machine's entire energy reserves - But then, this is a Hyades demense, a bad continuum, and the ways that it should be impossible no longer seem to apply.

It's like being hit by a geyser of magma - Something that has immense heat, and immense mass. The force it so great, it actually hurls the Red Comet back - The entire multi-tonne weight of it, the variable shield flickering, struggling to recohere, your reactor overheating as it fights against the blast...

-And then your shield crumples. Swathed in collapsing mantle of energies, the Red Comet is swatted aside - Into a building, *through* a building - your view through the optics turning to utter confusion as the sensor clusters slag, one manipulator-arm cored right through; If you weren't in quadruped mode, this would be an unrecoverable fall. But as it is, the Red Comet *skids* - The uppermost track section broken, the loose tread segments trailing down like a lizard's shed scales.

The hull armour on the raised flank is deeply dented, by some colossal force - You're rattled like a die in a cup, sparks and scraping squeals coming out from under your machine as it slides across the floor of one of those vast warehouse spaces; Grinding to a stop at last.

There's a moment of absolute silence. All your sensors are dead; A low *hiss* echoing, as superheated steam gusts out at you.

The hatch pops open; A failsafe, when the GARM is blinded. The Red Comet is on it's side, a great gash in the building before you - A hole that smokes at the edges, where the combat chassis's mass was punched through. There's a massive cloud of smoke boiling out from the street ahead, metal giving with a complaining groan - The dreadnaught's blown something.

Figures, in the fog - Armigers, dismounting, moving in for the kill.

(Continued)

>>32391320

Hey, its one way to get Mio to take this stuff seriously

>>32391322

Oh hey.

Did we lose the red comet?

>>32391320

>in a school

Oh hell. The implications just hit me. These battles have been ongoing for a solid day now. And yet there hasn't been a single death reported.

>>32391330

Badly damaged. Still recoverable.

>>32391339
This is the second fight. Like as not we will be responsible for the first death.

>>32391339
Hasn't there only been one so far? His Hyades died in that fight, not him.

>>32391187
>>32391190
>>32391202
>>32391212
>>32391227

> "Hellebore. Help me."

The name breaks the momentary hush - The Hyades Emblem on your pauldron throbs weakly. There's a strange sensation; A warping of myomer fibre, perhaps, as the chained light of Cybele's mark-

...shifts.

Just for a moment.

You're not sure what it's meant to do, as a wave of disorientation sweeps over you; Beneath you, the floor yawns open in a chasm-

Wait.

Beneath you.

You're looking - *through* the ground. As if a fog has cleared, to reveal what lies beneath the false city; An intricate network of arrow-straight shafts, like a train line - Platforms rising and falling with mechanical precision, delivering squads of Armigers, of ordinance from...

-From below.

That's where they're coming from. From the maze below.

SHIELDS: 0% (MODE: ENERGY)
HULL INTEGRITY: 27%
MUNITIONS: 74%
ENERGY: 12%

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>32391346
That's assuming the same thing doesn't happen again.

>>32391351
Leave the tonk, send it back if possible.
Fly as fast as possible to that maze.

>>32391351

Eject from the Red Comet. Can't see it being too useful in cramp conditions in its state.

Drop down.

>>32391351
So the Hyades make illusions while Hellebore can break them?

Whelp. Time to open up. Use the frag launchers to keep the Armigers from rushing in. Fire the Disintegrator straight down, get the Comet down there if possible.

>>32391359
>send it back if possible.

Don't think we do.

We have summon but we don't appear to have unsummon

>>32391359
>>32391362
The floor is still there isn't it? We can just see through it.

>>32391351

Damn. We actually lost senshado. Start fragging Armiger's Armigers. Drop down into the hole with the Comet.

"Close the hole, Hellebore."

Keep fragging mooks

>>32391362
>Eject from the Red Comet. Can't see it being too useful in cramp conditions in its state.

Don't let em have it, though.

>>32391351
>> "Hellebore. Help me."

"I wasn't sure if you were listening. I wasn't sure if you *could*. Thank you. Not for this, but for making me realize hyades can work together. Can cooperate. Can maybe, just maybe, win together. It may just save the life of a good friend. "
"for that, I think I owe you your freedom, if nothing else. I ...don't know where to start looking, though. When this is over, when you can, please give me a sign."

>>32391390
>>Eject from the Red Comet. Can't see it being too useful in cramp conditions in its state.
>Don't let em have it, though.

We should take it with us, anyway.

Also.... I think wata was right when it comes to the panopticon array.

>>32391381

Ah. Good catch, I totally missed that.

We'll still need to eject though.

Easier to cut a man sized hole than a Red Comet sized hole.

>>32391390
>Don't let em have it, though.

Not very sure how to achieve that.

It's dying, squads are moving in and it has no AI to drive itself while we attack. Bringing it with us down will slow our descend as we cut our way down and most likely kill it in the assault.

>>32391390
Bit too saccharine there. Just "Thank you" and "When this is done, guide me".

>>32391401
I wasn't planning on saying anything.

>>32391414
>Easier to cut a man sized hole than a Red Comet sized hole.
Disintegrator Cannon says otherwise.

>>32391423
>>Easier to cut a man sized hole than a Red Comet sized hole.
>Disintegrator Cannon says otherwise.

We get one shot.

I'm assuming it won't be all that big and probably won't fit the red comet all the way down.

>>32391423

Actually, the implication there is that if we and bishamon get to face off against each other...

we just call a truce, get all 3 hyades to have a pow-wow in the demense, and claim a cooperative victory.
Its never been done before, because the entire game is setup to be adversarial and love is the most jealous of emotions - its totally fucking biased AGAINST anyone even realizing its possible.
Which is, of course, why we need to shoot for this. We can't kill bishamon, or have him kill us. We need a way out of it.

>>32391381
>>32391382

> The floor is still there isn't it? We can just see through it.

(Yes.)

>>32391359

The control filaments retract; The vision fades as quickly as it comes. You wrench yourself out of the cockpit - Slowly, with effort - clawing the Teleport Homer free. Your armoured fingers cinch down tight around the signum control, depressing it - The Red Comet's battered form beginning to ghost out, a flare of shimmering motes as the teleport focus narrows-

> "He's in there! Send-"

The Armiger never finishes his sentence - Your Plasma Vulcans unleash a long, shredding burst as he steps into the ragged doorway, and he flies apart before he can bring his shotgun to bear. But there are others, rolling in - You wonder, dimly, why there aren't more as you wrench yourself to your feet...

Your armour's scarred and battered from the crash. There are appalling rents in it, that you didn't even notice - The cockpit module must've taken some of the blast. But then that's the last of your worries; A double-volley of gunfire batters you, as you wrench the Sinistral up - Forced to check a step, as Armigers blind-fire around the corner.

You hear the audible *plunk* of a grenade being launched; It streaks overhead, and begins to tumble on it's downward path before detonating. The blast sends a scratchy, concussive clap of smoke and hard air reeling out at you - There are chips of stone in it, and the flechettes rattle down like hail. One of them punches into your left-arm Vulcan, with an ugly crackle; The barrels chugging as they cease their rotation, buckled by the impact.

(Continued)

>>32391467

Joker OP, does sending back things like the Red Comet cost energy?

>>32391444
I don't think it works that way. There can only be one Chalice Queen, and she's the one in control of the Black Moon Eva flashbacks rising.... At the end we have to choose the queen. The others die.

There MAY be a way around it if we spring Hellebore. Or she could kill the other Hyades out of hand. Either way Bishamon survives.

>>32391467
Wait, we can send it back? That's a relief. Didn't know we could do that.

What does the Teleport Homer look like? I don't know that it's ever been described. I imagine something like a Digiflex, fits over your fingers with buttons corresponding to the summoning options.

Is the Leech module working on the Armigers?

>>32391488
>There MAY be a way around it if we spring Hellebore. Or she could kill the other Hyades out of hand. Either way Bishamon survives.

I was thinking more like, hijacking the hyades servers and making them bodies in the sun. Its more of a life than they get now.

Anyway, we know directly how much of a fucking energy cost it has to get Hyades to the -real-. Its so giant even a nihl spere can't do it unless there's two fully charged ones.
Which means two things
1) the reason this whole game is set up the way it is, is to pay for the cost of freeing a single hyade. It takes TIME to build that charge to make the body that is the reward, and to some extent all the deaths involved with the game fuel it
2) it doesn't account for other, secret, high-octane sources of power. The refinery alone contained enough juice to ~fully charge a nihl sphere from scratch, and open portals to other realms~, and the void anchor feeding its power to the sun? It only sends a -fraction- of a full charge each cycle. Its measurable and significant, but the sun is even MORE powerful than that.


So..... yeah. We should have the power and the potential to just straight up free another hyades to the real, if we can get people working towards it.
Bonus objective: getting the girls to the real before argent repairs the veil and they get stuck on the other side.

The hyades game also has some fairly massive energies involved with it - prime candidate for void anchoring, too.

So question, do we want to VA this guy or suck his essence for LEVEL UP energies?

>>32391487

(No, but it only sends back the vehicle, with no additions.)

>>32391488

(Unfortunately, no. It's like they don't have any Essence at all.)

>>32391390
>>32391423

The only sound is the renewed rattle of gunfire; Their aim is getting better, as a round spangs off your helmet as hard as a slap. A grinding, mechanical sound from outside is both familiar and chilling at once-

...They've got the dreadnaught moving again.

BRAK-

The sound is a thunderclap, a cannon-blast centered on you; A blunt impact that *clangs* against your armour, makes you reel back. From *behind* - From somewhere within a featureless array of crates, assembled in a vague square-

And there's suddenly a squad there, where there wasn't one before. Four of them, without warning, as if they've been edited into the frame; As ubiqutuous, as faceless, as the endless swarms you've been fighting.

A nasty crackle, from your Tempest Scrander - They're armed with close-combat weapons, stabbing knives and shotgun pistols; Enough to breach your armour, at this range.

> "-Move in. Take him."

It's a vocal command. They advance as one - Fanning out, with a precision quite at odds with their graceless motions from before; As if their focus has narrowed this to particular combat, this battered stretch of flooring.

HP: 183.1%
COBALT BOOSTER: 99%
METER: 26%

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>32391562

did we actually get below the maze?

>>32391562

EXE_SWARM

Eat their faces.

It's something they just cant defend against.

>>32391572
It's under the ground. We need to find a way there.

>>32391572

(No, you're still on the surface. You did see, however, that there was a maze beneath the city.)

>>32391562

Use our Plasma Caster and blast the nearest one. MAKE SURE TO USE EXEC_REAP ON AT LEAST ONE OF THEM.

>>32391554
I'm honestly torn. It's probably going to have to be kill since we're somewhat disadvantaged in this fight.

>>32391562
So this squad's being controlled directly?

Activate the Carnifex, level 1. Yank out the debris in the left Vulcan, emulate the working one and cut through the chaff.

Activate the Argus, find the path they used to get here. Force it open.

>>32391579
No, we're too low on booster.

>>32391597

This. We need to figure out what the fuck is going on, and how they're teleporting every goddamn where.

>>32391582

Alright, so we need an explosive weapon to breach.

That means nova cannon or a crisis punch.

We got a good look, which means we should be able to find a weak spot to drop through.

Anyway, evade, deploy weapons, get indoors - if they're spawning from buildings and being manufactured below, there's a good chance there's an elevator or other connecting system we can ride down.

Right now we need to evade, head for the target, and conserve/recover resources as much as possible. that means getting down there and limiting the amount of guys that can shoot us.

>>32391597
>MAKE SURE TO USE EXEC_REAP ON AT LEAST ONE OF THEM.

Hmmmmn. Pricey, but information...

>>32391579
>>32391597
Veto both codebursts and the caster. It's overkill. Look what the Vulcans did to them.

Wata's right. Argus it. Maybe Nihl Scan if nothing comes up.

>>32391597
>Use our Plasma Caster and blast the nearest one
>>32391599
>Activate the Carnifex, level 1. Yank out the debris in the left Vulcan, emulate the working one and cut through the chaff.

I think its time for the chaingun with the arm.

We need to start pulling out all the stops, and that combo is free.

>>32391621

If we hit them with REAP, we'll be able to figure out how they got here. I'm fairly certain that's the key to solving this fight.

>>32391597
Ehhhh. I don't think that's a good idea. What if we're attacked while watching the feed?

>>32391633

It's better than being taken apart a piece at a time. Just fighting endlessly is not the answer to this battle. He's outpunching us with his brain.

Huh. No Assault Shroud bar.

Oh yea, wata used all of it for the fortress mode.

Does that mean everyone at home viewing can see our midas gauntlet?

>>32391625
>that combo is free.
Not quite, it takes time to spin up. Vulcans are much faster on the draw.

>>32391639
With his infinite resource cheat you mean. If the Argus Scan doesn't work we can reap. Let's try that first.

>>32391648
Oh shit

>>32391639
>It's better than being taken apart a piece at a time. Just fighting endlessly is not the answer to this battle. He's outpunching us with his brain.
>>32391627
>If we hit them with REAP, we'll be able to figure out how they got here. I'm fairly certain that's the key to solving this fight.

Yeah.

In order to win we need to kill HIM, OR find a way to cut his reinforcements down, possibly hijack them for ourselves.

I think that going for his manufacturing assets is the hint/key that hellebore gave us - she wants us to head into the maze to hijack his squads.

>>32391649
>Not quite, it takes time to spin up. Vulcans are much faster on the draw.
Not really. There's no downsides to the arm, and we have the chaingun already. Slap it on and go, vulcan with the other.

In any case, we can't just stay here - we need to MOVE to a safer area.

>>32391649
>With his infinite resource cheat you mean. If the Argus Scan doesn't work we can reap. Let's try that first.

Whynotboth?

we need to spend our booster at the same time, because spreading it out over multiple turns means no recharge.

And we need to really start recharging and pacing ourselves for the final showdown with the -actual- player behind this.

>>32391663
His Hyade's doing that.

>>32391683
We can run the Argus with meter.

And we don't do both because one has a very high cost.

>>32391695
>)
>We can run the Argus with meter.
>And we don't do both because one has a very high cost.

Wataaaaaaaaaa you're having another one of these moents >>32391113
>>Don't turn off the shields
>>Use the Cobalt Smasher!
>Wataaaaaaaaa...

Argus on Meter
Sihl Scan on Nihl
Reap on Booster. 60% cost is < 99% booster.

>>32391688

Right. And our hyades gave us a hint/opening to do something about it from inside the scenario.

we should TAKE IT, because otherwise we're currently losing a battle of attrition.

>>32391716
Sixty booster is a VERY high cost for information potentially available from the Argus. Again, if the Argus doesn't work we can still check with Reap.

>>32391718
I think you're misunderstanding his point, which is that we don't have any means to interface if the Hyades is controlling it all.

>>32391731
>I think you're misunderstanding his point, which is that we don't have any means to interface if the Hyades is controlling it all.

We have the nihl, and a link to our hyades.

> "Take hi-"

>>32391599

The Carnifex's crusher snaps down. The world slows.

The first Armiger lunges at you - The motion is smooth and practised, his broad-bladed knife crackling with an electric charge; It's a feint, as you sidestep, his pistol swivelling to track you-

But your Plasma Caster is raised, first. At point-blank range, the superheated shot engulfed him in a blinding cone; It punches into him, *through* him, and the thunderclap of the detonation flings his battered body across the distance for the space of a second - Before it smashes into the wall and rebounds with a clatter of impact.

You're not fast enough to dodge the next two. The shock blade cleaves through the air, as an Armiger hurls himself into a slide - He's firing as he goes, as fast as his weapon can cycle. It's a slug-round; But you wrench the Sinistral into the way, and it splinters off the fizzing ghost-steel field. The same motion brings your Crisis Arm to bear - You piston your fist into the third, and his armour compacts inwards like tin foil.

A flicker of premonition - Danger from behind. Your Tempest Scrander's turbines vibrate in disharmony; But your legs coil under you, and you spring anyway. The fallen Armiger *detonates*, as his suicide vest triggers - Your leap carrying you just far enough towards the fringe of the blast radius, so that instead of shattering your armour it merely gives you a very strong, very hot *push*...

-Your right-arm Vulcan hammering shots into the third Armiger from above-

...As you land directly in front of the last one.

(Continued)

>>32391731
>Sixty booster is a VERY high cost for information potentially available from the Argus. Again, if the Argus doesn't work we can still check with Reap.

Well, we get 1-2 questions from Reap.

we ask 'where is the real playerr' if we get what we want from the argus

There goes all the booster anyways

>>32391746
Cybele is entirely out of commission. Hellebore is very limited in what she can do as she is.

Who knows what the Nihl Sphere could/would do, but it would certainly NOT let us take over another Hyade's powers. We wouldn't expect to control Alura's plants after all.

>>32391755
They might not know. They seem like dolls more than anything.

We also don't get to control what questions are asked, I've noticed.

I'm not exactly against using Reap, I just think it's a poor move until other options are used.

>>32391789
We're not burning moron.

>>32391688

Wait. Was this a hint we should BLOW THE MAZE UP?

We can see the stuff, that means we can smite it.

>>32391796

>eg: Standing mostly still = Not much fire. Flying, while firing weapons and launching missiles = A lot of fire.)

Carnifex activated = booster

>>32391798
We can't see it anymore. And while we could we were plugged into Red Comet, and couldn't use codebursts.

>>32391810
That's when the Booster's empowering it.

>>32391792
>Who knows what the Nihl Sphere could/would do, but it would certainly NOT let us take over another Hyade's powers. We wouldn't expect to control Alura's plants after all.

See the discussion here n here abouts.

>>32391187
>>32391198

Stop saying no, that won't work, and try. We won't know unless we actually DO something.

Here's the thing: Cybele may be sleeping, but her powers still work. That means -we- control, them, and she trusted -us- with them.
That's her secret weapon.

She wants us to figure out how to use them, to carry us through the tournament, so she wakes up for the final fight at FULL strength.
That's cybele's gambit: trusting her partner.

But it also means we have the ability to pull a Matrix, and mess with the scenario from within the scenario.
The reason armiger's is kicking our ass on the hyades-tier of the battlefield is because WE aren't giving him any resistance.
Its time to change that NOW, and exert the joker's unstoppable will to survive as a literal gamechanger.

>>32391810
Carnifex On and Burning Joker are seperate but related. Its kind of like how the shield has different levels we can toggle between.

>>32391842
I guess pure willpower is worth a shot.

>>32391842
>Carnifex On and Burning Joker are seperate but related.

huh. That i didnt know.

> "Shit-"

He gets one shot. It peppers the wall with flechettes, as crackling talons extrude from the Hand of Midas-

...And punch into his optic sensors, hard enough to sever his cervical cables. All in the space of a few seconds; Even before the discarded fragments of your armour have completed their tumbling descent.

Your Sinistral hacks across, as you maintain your deathgrip - A crackling horizontal arc, an arc that shears him cleanly in half; Armiger's legs crumpling, your talons holding his severed torso upright-

As you trigger EXEC_REAP.

Static fuzzes across your field of vision, the sound blurred, distorted. You see-

*********************

There isn't much to this Armiger. His memories are fleeting, without context, brief enough to be unravelled in the space of a few seconds, each moment accelerated to a blur.

An alcove. Dark, lightless - Rudimentary, a long corridor stretching out before you. Behind, a chamber filled with enclosing machinery-

An odd *doubling* of your vision. A pause, a skip - Your view descending, as you step from a raised podium. Servoes whirr as you turn; Your form - Legion Armiger's insensate form - at the heart of a complex web of machinery, cables extruding from his visor...

> "Zone A3."
> "Zone A3."
> "Zone A3."
> "Go active."

A four-part symphony. Then sprinting, through the narrow corridors - The black tunnels, empty and barren, an ant-farm in false vision...To reach the flat lozenge of the hidden elevator, as it ascends.

Stepping out, into the false city. The hatch behind you swings becomes flush with the floor, indistinguishable. Through the gunsmoke, an odd sense of deja vu sweeping over you; You've seen this before. A crimson figure, looming out from the smoke - Your gauntlet rising, levelling your weapon-

The memory ends.

(Continued)

I haven't read joker quest since we got in a fight with those bug collectors when we attacked that smiley base, what have I missed?

>>32391860

The nihl exists to break the rules. Thats what its their for, and its at FULL POWER. It has a weight on reality we can throw around just by BEING there.


>>32391871
yeah JQOp clarified this manually and it never made its way into the charsheet.

>>32391891
A lot.
Why aren't you reading the archives?

>>32391891

Waifu wars

>>32391842
You're... completely and utterly wrong, I'm afraid. We don't have access to Cybele's powers (she copies things) beyond her Emblem and Verbatim. We do not have the power to warp the field by pure force of will. Hellebore can help us in small ways, but we do not have a Hyade helping us in the Hyade tournament as such. That's the price we paid for asking Cybele for help against Daegal.

>>32391891
We now control the Hollow Sun, the Helix Gauntlet leveled up, and Mio's doing the freaky hate field thing again.

That's about it.

>>32391895
Yes, kind of, but not in the way you mean.

>>32391901
I had a bunch of tests to study for.
>>32391902
I meant what have I missed that was new.

>>32391891
>>32391929
Forgot to add, a bunch of research, finally.

>>32391875
Pretty much exactly what I thought. We could have found the elevator with the Argus. In fact, we're going to.

The world returns in a magma flare. A beam of the deepest arterial red lashes through the ragged hole of the entrance; It *splinters*, slagging the far wall where it hits - The backwash of power searing into your left arm as you wrench away, wisps of vapour rising from your limb-

Your left arm is *melting*. Runnels of molten metal drool down your armour, as the arm dearticulates like soft wax - The Sinistral winks out, your charging elements shutting down with a low hiss as the vents clog -

Armiger's helm is still clutched in your right hand. You fling it aside, as a ripple of gunfire stitches from the entrance; A heartbeat later, two grenades come flying in, rolling and clattering aross the surface...

-They're done waiting. They're moving in to finish this. Fragmentation shards clatter from your scoured and battered armour, your left arm hanging limp at your side - You can't remember how *long* you've been fighting your way across the false city, the grinding sound of the massive hulk moving in, to seal off your avenue of escape, drowning out all thought.

Behind you, somewhere behind you, is the hidden elevator from the maze beneath...

HP: 127.4%
COBALT BOOSTER: 9%
METER: 22%

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>32391929
>You're... completely and utterly wrong, I'm afraid. We don't have access to Cybele's powers (she copies things) beyond her Emblem and Verbatim. We do not have the power to warp the field by pure force of will.

Like I said, stop saying we can't, and try. Just because you're a namefag, doesn't mean you get insider information and are more right than the rest of us.

the Joker -always- interacts with red world core mechanics differently than usual, from random encounters to manifold towers. And this is part of the endgame, which the joker gets extra special consideration for.

We've been behind the eight ball for joker powers for a while, things we are mad don't work the usual way, and are surprised when it turns out wierdly.
Its time to get in front of it, and harness that joker-fu directly, instead of reactively for once.

>>32391967

(Gentlemen, be aware that your left arm is no longer functioning.)

>>32391938
very bad waifu wars. its been terrible.

Cliff notes anyways:
-We fought our way down further, found mass-pro'd thieves called silencers. And thieves. As in our good friend, the Thief.
-Got most folks down to the smiler base, used VA to depower their defences.
-MAXIMUM JOKER CARNAGE (We fucked the lot of them, getting them to retreat)
-Us and a squad went to fight kraken (The instigator of the raid backstabbed us, was being controlled by plant bitch). Whole squad died, we bitch slapped kraken, kraken lolnope teleported away.

>>32391967
Argus scan for the elevator, and fly like the wind.

>>32391967
>>32391977
Jesus fucking christ we got nothing out of that. Well DONE morons.

>>32391967

Kick Grenades back, dive back to the elevator

Keep moving.

>>32392001

(My apologies; To clarify, you know the way through the maze, now. And you know that the hidden elevator is somewhere in the street behind you.)

>>32391991
Shit son. I liked some of those guys. Fucking plant ho and fucking blassriter.

>>32391975
>the Joker -always- interacts with red world core mechanics differently than usual, from random encounters to manifold towers. And this is part of the endgame, which the joker gets extra special consideration for.

>Touches manifold tower
>No menu like other NPCs get, just CUTSCENE

>touches factory controls to shut place down
>Sorry, joker time

>Gets snarked at by white joker 'did you forget how to make weapons/artifacts'
> unconsciously pulls ANDVARANUT out of his ass later, mysteriously ending up with a new artifact

>expects hyades game to not get wierd when the joker is involved.

>>32392008
>Your left arm's hardpoints mount the SINISTRAL shield generator, and the ARGUS SYSTEM sensor suite. Conversely, your right arm sports the MIDAS GAUNTLET - The setting for the NIHL SPHERE - which combines the functionality of the HELIX GAUNTLET and the CRISIS ARM.

Okay. Uh. Dodge/evade/run/jetpack for our lives. Fix that arm on Meter, we NEED that arm working again because we can't scan without it.

Limit contact with enemies, right-arm the Immolator (no meter cost!) in the meantime, its AP and flamethrower properties should make it excellent for this close quarters urban combat.

Get downstairs asap.

Man. I can't help but think we massively wasted resources and time on this fight. Bringing out the Red Comet, just because anons couldn't wait to get into a dick waving contest the first chance they see an enemy tank, costing us our Assault Shroud, Cobalt Booster because of the recovery from the downed tank and 100 of our HP, with Carnifex popped out already and Midas' Gauntlet revealed.
The Red Comet isn't that useful til we get lots more upgrades finalized on it, and it's more of a team efficiency special member than a singular unit. And don't forget: We have an audience, including countless Smilers and the other Hyades champions. We're pretty much laying bare all our toys and tricks.

>>32391967
Argus Scan, blast an entrance with the Tau Gun. We don't have time to charge up Fusion Annihilator. If the Armigers get too pesky, build up meter and deploy Phalanx Chain Mines

>>32392014

Flying crusader squad died almost to a man. One guy might have lived since he had to fall back when his jet pack was damaged.

Iron Ogre is still alive, that female squad lead died under kraken's boot. Most of the instigator's squad is dead (including the artillery girl. Such a shame) except for a couple like the instant death missile kid.

We lost alot of folks.

>>32391967
>COBALT BOOSTER: 9%

This shit needs to recharge. Vetoing booster use for the immediate future, cuz damn, gonna need it.

Its almost like we're the old joker again! Frankly, we've gotten soft relying on it.

We need to use our meter income to self-heal, which means using 0 cost weapons to build meter.

>>32392032
Argus system is non-functional due to left arm damage.

>>32392008
That's not on you, it's on your players. The maze was not going to be an issue one way or another, and you'll note the anon was correct in saying that we were going to need the argus anyway.

>>32392035
Which one did we accidentally TK again?
Not our proudest level-up.

>>32391967
Head back. We're going to need to get downstairs somehow, though without the arm it's going to be difficult.

>>32391975
I'm having too much trouble parsing what you're trying to say to properly formulate a response. I apologize.

>>32392050

Leader of the flying crusaders i think.

>>32392023
>Gets snarked at by white joker 'did you forget how to make weapons/artifacts'
When did that happen?

We got Andvari's Ring when we touched the Manifold Tower at the Smiler base. Still my least favorite chapter of this quest due to OP dropping the ball.

>>32392050
Ivory Zoauve.

I'm back. Yay

>>32391967

Duplicate our arm. It'll be hilariously difficult to use two right arms, but better than nothing. Use the Nihl to locate the entrance or MAKE an entrance. We know the mazes are right below us.

>>32392081

>when did that happen

When we traded secrets for codebursts.

>>32392086

>duplicate arm

Do we even need an arm to use the Crisis? I know it encases our actual arm, but can it be used as a crutch until we run maintenance?

>>32392032
>Man. I can't help but think we massively wasted resources and time on this fight. Bringing out the Red Comet, just because anons couldn't wait to get into a dick waving contest the first chance they see an enemy tank, costing us our Assault Shroud, Cobalt Booster because of the recovery from the downed tank and 100 of our HP, with Carnifex popped out already and Midas' Gauntlet revealed.

And anon has learned the value of Opportunity Cost.

Yes, in hindsight, scanning and dropping into the maze first thing would have been the best idea.

Sadly, you elected for 'get rid of all our defenses AND all our booster' mode.

Frankly, we needed a crash course in brutality and efficiency again - all these options have been slowing the joker fans down lately, going for whats cool instead of what's best.

We need to treat the fight like its speedrun time. Max speed, max brutality, minimum cost.

>>32392081
>>Gets snarked at by white joker 'did you forget how to make weapons/artifacts'
>When did that happen?
It was one of the Secrets exchanged. He was like 'wait, you're just using the stock guns, you don't know how to make your own?' and we're like 'yup', admitted it, and.... never actually put any effort into making up for that shortcoming.

>>32392097
That wasn't the White Joker. /dead horse

And wasn't his exact question to the effect of why Joker only used his predecessor's weapons?

>>32391998
>>32392006
>>32392023
>>32392032
>>32392040

Not enough Cobalt Booster. The ice-blue glow has faded to a few sullen embers, as you stagger out into the street behind it; And pause, just for a heartbeat, at the sight above.

The lights of the city are going out. One after another, as abruptly as a spotlight being extinguished; You can actually *see* Armigers in the distance going slack and lifeless - The intricately-crafted facades fading to faceless, blocky sets of raised material.

That's all it ever was, really. A set. Like a stage, with lethal props - Every facet of the false city tuned towards your destruction-

The ring of black hematite glows. Your Meter shrinks, as light fuzzes the air - Schematics overlaying themselves over the ruin of your left arm, the radiance of Cybele's Emblem a counterpoint to the hazy motes that sketch themselves into burning lines...

The dreadnaught is still out there. You can hear shots searing into the building, blast after blast that makes the ground quake; They're pounding it, again and again, with heavy cannon and missiles-

...Unaware that you're no longer inside.

They can only see what the Armigers see, it seems. All of the demense's power, the lines of this stark and alien city, are being drawn home for the final fight; All those lethal and disposable actors, coming home to roost for the curtain call. The narrow passage beyond has faded to smooth granite, as if carved from a single slab - But your Argus System scans the area, searching for the flaws, the errors, the cracks...

-There. Flush with the ground, hidden from view - A panelled segment, no different from the others. The blunt, blocky ingot of your Tau Gun shimmers into existence, as you take aim - And wrench both triggers, the hatch erupting outwards, scraps of material clattering down from the burst.

(Continued)

I see we can apparently summon hellions now. Did we use that yet?

>>32392110
>Frankly, we needed a crash course in brutality and efficiency again

Well theres something i'd like to raise regarding the hellions.

We currently have something in the region of 13k standard hellion, 800-900+ Virtues and piddlying small number of the siege chassis.

The 800-900 virtues have been churned out at low for almost forever, so its not likely we'll produce significant numbers of any other chassis type.

I believe hellion upgrades should be focused on those that upgrade the base hellions instead of researching newer chassis that will take alot of time to produce in somewhat decent numbers and will require even more upgrades to be viable.

>>32392147

Looks as if that is 40% Joker Juice to unlock

>>32392147

Nope.

Frankly seems to high a cost to use.

>>32392110
Remember over a year ago I was theorycrafting and said "maybe the Red Joker is broken somehow"? Seems that I was right. The Joker is supposed to have access to a giant armory of weapons. Trisagion said something to the effect of "as many weapons as stars in the sky". It's not making our own weapons, it's using weapons other than the ones Old Joker had. Foreshadowing.

>>32392147
We have to research it.

>>32392154
They're actually all viable. The base upgrades affect all Hellion types. It's actually a better idea to grab as many types as possible to field as many specialists as possible.

>>32392172
>>32392179
>>32392189
Nuts. Still being able to throw a swarm of hellions at things sounds handy.

>>32392189
>Remember over a year ago I was theorycrafting and said "maybe the Red Joker is broken somehow"? Seems that I was right. The Joker is supposed to have access to a giant armory of weapons. Trisagion said something to the effect of "as many weapons as stars in the sky". It's not making our own weapons, it's using weapons other than the ones Old Joker had. Foreshadowing.

Did anything come from the red joker memory?
That thing should be a big fucking hint

>>32392215
Ahahahahahahahaha
In short
No.

>>32392189

It will be better to focus on finish upgrading our current chassis line instead of branching out. A fully teched out and upgraded generic soldier model will be better in the long run as it will be capable of fulfilling ALL of the tasks, but at a slightly reduced capacity. Well, except maybe being a tank. Better to have a jack of all trades.

>>32392147

(You can purchase that upgrade at the Hollow Sun, at the Foundry.)

You step forward, and let yourself drop.

There's a maze, lightless and dark and twisting, with A3 emblazoned on the wall behind you - But your optic sensors make a joke of the darkness, and a maze is a lot easier when you've already run through it once.

*********************

The final chamber - Legion Armiger's final line of defense - is built like a bunker; Squat, mundane, a solid concrete block that must have been the very heart of his Hyades's demense - Where the city above is an elaborate, lethal phantasm, the one below is a very different story. All strictly functional, without ornamentation or flourishes...

Overhead, an intricate network of cables descend, plugged into the feeds of his armour. There's not one of him, but *five* - Four command pits, the Armigers in them seemingly part of a great, intricate machine; But only one, the one seated in the throne above, bears the burning mark of a Hyades symbol.

It sheds a ferocious illumination, small orange sparks dancing under the high roof like fireflies.

The air is full of whispers.

> "Move to A3."
> "All units to A3."
> "Converge and destroy."
> "Reload. Rearm. Cycle the power feed."
> "Fire. Fire. Fire."

(Continued)

>>32392189

I'm not saying they're not viable.

I'm saying its inefficient.

We waste excess time and power producing a limited number of frames per each new chassis.

We'd be better served concentrating on complete all base research first before we being spreading out to the other units.

For a limited number of specialist versus across the board upgrades for 13k units and additional hellion guns types which will immediately be available to all those units, the upgrade path that provides the fastest returns are those of the base upgrades.

>>32392230

JQOP I hate to interrupt a thread for this question, but I just have to ask it:

Arcadia blocks weapons.

Would it block a Void Anchor being deployed?

>>32392225

In long?

I was there when we opened it, and decided to do it later

>>32392215
>Did anything come from the red joker memory?
>That thing should be a big fucking hint
Hahahahaha oh god. That was either a trap or the thing we have to protect for the rest of the game. It opens the door to the place Red Joker escaped from in his backstory. Which may or may not be a THIRD world.

>>32392259

Oh!

i've often though we should go get our heart back from hell.

>>32392259

Actually, it's probably another dimension. The Real is 3 dimensions. The Red is the 4th. And That world is the 5th. We've found Cthulhu by the way. The mythos creatures exist on the fifth dimensional plane.

>>32392241

(At present? Yes.)

>>32392230

The ceiling trembles. Above, like the echo of someone else's war, distant thunder rumbles; The bombardment continues. Tiny specks of dust rain down from above, dislodged in a powdery rain - Legion Armiger is locked in place like a crippled god, all-powerful yet oblivious, serene and silent as the murmurs of his slaved copies continue.

All for nothing-

Because the enemy is already within.

HP: 148.2%
COBALT BOOSTER: 19%
METER: 11%

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>32392230
>(Continued)

God I really hope this ends with us deciding to mimic akira/phantom edge, and take a page from his playbook with a one-punch-through-the-heart to zandatsu the power core ending.

>>32392287

VA the bastard.

>>32392287
>YOU HAVE CONTROL

Execution time. Sneak up on him and rip his heart out.

>>32392287

If he's completely and utterly oblivious. Casually stroll up to him and feed him to the Nihl. We could use a muffler to go with our duster.

>>32392287

I think it's chaingun time. Maybe lob a few rockets or mines their way.

>>32392231
See, I don't disagree with your base premise, which is that the basic Hellion upgrades provide the broadest possible return. At the same time, I think the specialists are worth looking into, since if nothing else they lead to more basic upgrades. But they also provide radically different functionality, like the Virtues with their organizational ability, and the Cherubs. I think the Quake Cannons let them breach fortifications

>>32392275
Not really something we have the ability to pursue.

>>32392287
We need to make the offer.: "Surrender." Put the Plasma Caster against his throat. One false move and he dies.

>>32392306

or

>>32392303

I'm happy with any quiet, understated ending to this fight.

And something that makes up for the possible loss of the Red Comet.

YOU DUMBASSES. NO LOSING OUR ESSENCE, FFS.

KILL HIM. WE NEED TO LEVEL MIDAS.

>>32392328
The Comet's fine, it wasn't totally trashed and we sent it back to the Hollow Sun.
>>32392287
Execute him, we need the Essence.

>>32392287
Eat him and turn his soul into clothes.

>>32392319
Wata's right. We need to make the offer.

Don't care if he accepts or not, but we have to be seen trying to take a different path.

>>32392319

And thats something that can be accomplished with different weapons, I believe.

Disintegrator cannons, Machine Cannons, Mass Drivers should do wonderfully at breaking fortifications.

And we'll have alot more them to throw shells with.

I'm not saying don't get specialist, I'm saying get base upgrades first.

>>32392319

We've been set up for the perfect Dirty Harry line.

"Do you feel lucky, punky?"

>>32392342
We're absorbing Essence for two now, Anon. We can't just waste this opportunity.

>>32392319
>We need to make the offer.: "Surrender." Put the Plasma Caster against his throat. One false move and he dies.

Fuck no.

Kill the bastard or feed him to the void anchor.

>>32392356

Don't quip before you kill.

KILL THEN QUIP.

Lets not repeat the kraken fiasco.