>>38845580
Plan for today:
Unlock the Quantum Singularity Cannon and fire at the Diadem.

If we don't manage to do that, at least use the Railgun to shoot down its fucking beam weapon.

>>38845580
Don't forget the twitter post

>>38845580
Sup, JQOP.
One thing, though: some anon in Spooky pointed out (in his own charming way) I made the mistake of claiming that Chton's cannon was mounted on its frame instead of in the Diadem, with Chton only pointing it.

>>38845687
...That wasn't the only mistake in your version of the guide.

Then again, to be fair, you were the only guy who did an update of the guide.

>>38845712
I'm only a man, anon. Never claimed to be perfect.
Please do point out the mistakes, though, and I'll update it again. Or make your own version, I certainly don't mind.

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>>38845687

(Ah, I see. I appreciate the effort, however.)

With a piston hiss, the Red Comet begins to advance - Ploughing a path across the square with its plated legs. The 30mm chainguns built into the sides of the combat chassis's forward hull are already firing, large-caliber rounds wasping across the burning field; licks of burning gases flickering across the rotating barrels, the grinding metal noise heralding the storm of shots that follows. Rubble on either side explodes, as the hail of gunfire brackets the lurching Simulation Bodies, scything through the Correctors, ripping across the maddened and warped Players, fragments of metal vaporizing in puffs of abraded smoke - the relentless gunfire pummels the feral horde that surges up through the buildings around you, all horned carapaces, tusked snouts and howling skull faces-

They're firing at you. Hurled missiles, hard rounds and shots thump off the Red Comet's hull - Unspeakable creatures scurrying forward, claws scraping futilely at the GARM's plating - Even as the galvanic emitters flare to life, arcs of seething energy leaping and crackling. The brittle *snap* of the stun charge turns targets into convulsing silhouettes for the briefest span of a second...

Before you engage full stride, and crush the slithering forms underfoot. There are more - *more* - scuttling forward, even as the withering row of blasts chew through them; Torsos come apart in puffs of black mist, and Player armor splinters beneath the hailing shots-

Not fast enough. Not nearly fast enough.

From the cockpit, it's impossible to make out individual features - even through the frenetic chatter of your chainguns, drumming out hundreds of rounds every second in a pounding hail. The sporadic flash-flash-flash of gunfire...

(Continued)

>>38845763

And then you haul the Red Comet around, and swing one massive manipulator-limb in a levelling blow. Broken bodies go flying - forms spool away, the juddering impact utterly demolishing them; the air hums, with the solid *CHOOK* of inert stakes finding flesh, buzzing down like glittering hornets - where they hit, targets rupture and come apart. Others are maimed, shrieking, by shrapnel as the munitions hit stone, stone or metal and shattering in scattering flechettes of razor-sharp alloy...

It's relentless. It's butcher-work, firing at the flickering, indistinct images captured from the sensor-cluster - rolling through them with complete impunity, raking coiling chains of gunfire from side-to-side, ammunition hoppers racking as the rotary autocannons wither the packed crowds, spattering the splintered walls with Lachryma and chips of metal; the few structures still standing splinter and collapse alongside shattered forms, as you *mow* them down, weapons blazing-

The smaller ones go down like ducks in a shooting gallery, bursting apart under the sizzling shots, ground beneath the Red Comet's tracks. The large ones convulse and judder and come apart like overripe fruit, the sheer volume of gunfire battering them apart - Or smashed aside by the GARM's manipulator-arms, giant steel-shod fists with scything talons, or simply bludgeoned by the unyielding impact of your hull. Wet matter streaks across the sensors, again and again, with the rhythm of a metronome - a kaleidoscope of color, the palette like a rainbow of human tissue - oxblood red, pond-scum green, burnt-ochre yellow and pine-tar black as you plunge into the mass, blasting, killing-

-------------------------

The personnel compartment judders, under the constant fire; A distant, repetitive thumping sounding, masked by the engine throb, the steady chug of a machine rotating or cycling.

(Continued)

>>38845841
I forget. Do we get Meter while in the GARM?

>>38845851
Nope.
Neither do we get essence.

>>38845863
Damn. We need to go out on foot sometime, then, if we want to do as >>38845596 suggests.
Maybe once we're through the horde of Simulation Bodies/Correctors.

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>>38845851

(Unfortunately, no.)

>>38845841

"-Here." Daegal's hand extends. There is an Ion Blaster in it, pushed - firmly, but not ungently - into White Licorice's grasp.

"I - I don't know how to use-"

"It's like a camera. Point, and click."

"I've never..." Her voice catches - "...I've never shot anyone before."

He doesn't answer, not immediately - tilting his head, listening.

"Can you hear that?"

"What's-"

"That's the Red Comet's primary magazine," Daegal says - green light flickering within the gleaming golden figure's eyeslits. "We're *already* in the thick of it. Whatever Ano - Whatever *Joker's* doing, he's unloading everything we have, at the maximum rate. We are," he concludes, with a kind of distant authority, "-killing a lot of things."

The Adamant encases his left arm, the Condemner in his right fist. Ever since he glimpsed Chrome Cypher on the camera, he's gone quiet; a kind of disbelieving calm descending, the lines of his form unmoving, still.

"Kazu - Dae - Kazuya-kun, what are-" a deep breath, her confusion clear even through her faceless helmet - "...What are you going to *do*-?"

The Red Comet's bay doors grind open. Even filtered through layers of armor-plating, the sound is cancophic - He can't help but flinch, in the moment before he ignites the Condemner. For a long, long moment, he stares into the photonic blaze as if he can read his future there...Before he lets it drop to his side, but holding it alight.

"-All I can, that's all. Just...whatever I *can* do."

(Continued)

>>38845894
Honestly, I doubt it'll be that easy. We'll probably have to round up everyone together and use the teleportation device Utopia showed us to send a strike team inside the Diadem.

>>38845902
>The Red Comet's bay doors grind open.
Awesome team work.

So, player names can be seen even through cameras?

>>38845903
Probably, yeah. We're getting the band back together at the moment, anyway.
Wonder where Akira is at the moment.

>>38845903
Even if we just cripple its weapon, we'll do good.
The fuckhuge laser is obnoxious.

>>38845902
Still waiting for White Licorice to go axe-crazy and help with the killing, out of simple frustration at how she's treated and how the situation develops.

>>38845921
It's funny how White Licorice keeps expecting sympathy from Kaz and yet gets nothing.

>>38845935
Maybe she'll aim for acknowledgement via fire support.

I wonder how her frame will develop once it gains some essence.

>>38845944
Well she's kind of missing an arm right now, isn't she? I thought part of the plan (as far as there was one) was to get her to a Vitruvian Machine.

>>38845956
But she might get a few kills by randomly shooting at weakened enemies.

>>38845902

You hear it all, through the speakers - the crackle of overlapping noise, as the Red Comet ploughs forward across the churned-up ground, over the crater-graves. You can see the distant silver line of defenders, fighting to push the horde back, *back*, from the steps of the Manifold Tower; your assault has actually shifted the press of bodies in the direction, forcing the tide of foulness forward to evade the hammering fire from the combat chassis as it advances like a walking tank-

Through the cancophy, you can hear the scritch-scratch of claws, the clatter of blunt impacts; there are things landing on the GARM, braving the charge that crackles across the hull - scratching, scraping, maddened by rage and the tainted black rain, as your constant fire sears into the churning blight swarm that judders apart beneath the sustained barrage; the concussion of the Red Comet's charge has sent a ripple of shock through the disordered lines, the press of the mob forming a ghastly ridge, the layer of the dead and dying an obstacle for the others to scramble across...

Some of them are beginning to flee. The Simulation Bodies lurch forward like the mindless puppets they are, until Armaros's troopers lace them with opportunist weapons-fire, dropping them like sticks. But the feral Correctors, the maddened Players - Some stagger back, then back again, pinned and bracketed by the gunfire that hammers in and slays them, the wild bursts of Distortion Halo effects that *bend* and *twist* and warp reality, bodies slithering and tumbling, ruptured, into the death-pits that crater the ravaged square-

"NATSUMI-!" You hear Daegal's shout, crackling, tinny - Almost drowned out, his form nearly lost in the vast spreading shadow of the Red Comet as rapid gunfire strobes the square.

(Continued)

>>38845978

And the Adamant spews flame. The shield's lion-mouth grinds open, and the first spheres of roiling fire belch forth, tumbling across the slick cobbles - vomiting out a dark, black smoke that ignites the oily Lachryma that clings to every surface, sheeting up swirling cover that amplifies the firestorms-

He's hacking without finesse, without grace. He puts the Condemner into a many-eyed spider, and follows it up with a vicious backhand smash of his shield-

"NATSUMI-"

There are more of them. Coming off the roofs. Dropping down, claws-out. Running to the slaughter. The line between Player and Corrector, armor and abdomination, has blurred - You can barely tell *what* you're fighting, what you're shooting at, autocannon shots blitzing the press-

The passenger-side sensor vanishes, into a close-up of Licorice's cracked mask - Her voice, frantic:

"Joker - Joker, do *something*-" her remaining arm bangs against the wall, as it trying to draw your attention with each hollow slam - "Kazu-kun - Kazuya's *going to die*-!"

SHIELDS: 84% (ENERGY)
HULL INTEGRITY: 79%
MUNITIONS: 88%
ENERGY: 71%

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>38846006
What, no multiple choice ?

>>38846023

(It's a combat situation.)

>>38846006
Time to go into biped mode.
Change shields to kinetic.
Rip them apart with energy weapons and punches. Cover Kazuya's blind spot when necessary, but keep to ranged weapons otherwise, to thin the swarm of incoming enemies. We do have some weapons that can fire in sweeping attacks.

"The way I see it, he's in a pretty good spot. He has a shield, he has a sword and he has enough targets."

I wish we would have gotten the ability to use codebursts from the Comet. The Swarm would be awesome right now.

Also, are we regenerating any health?
We do have the Multicore Converter.

>>38846006
Shit, I forget. Does the Red Comet have an AI, and if yes is it good enough to hold the line while we go out and help Kazuya

>>38846006
Hmm. I'm assuming we have kinetic impact shielding up?
I'd say we try and get them off our back and reduce Kazuya's workload, maybe by using the Manipulator arms if they can reach that far.
Can we also boost the Galvanic Emitter by giving it more of the reactor's energy to use?

>>38846062
Well, we could ask White Licorice if she wants to drive a tank..

But seriously, the tank is currently too important, even if I'd prefer to dismount and get some essence and meter.

>>38846006
"Kazuya has the toughest armor in the Red, Licorice. Most of them won't even be capable of scratching him."
Start shooting the Fragmentation Launcher at the buildings from which the majority of monsters are coming from. Locate Daegal, watch his back. Try to clear the road to Aoba.

>>38846068
>I'm assuming we have kinetic impact shielding up?

>SHIELDS: 84% (ENERGY)
>(ENERGY)
Dude.

>Can we also boost the Galvanic Emitter by giving it more of the reactor's energy to use?
We would have needed the Nitro Booster for that.

>>38846068

(My apologies, you have the energy shielding up - the issue is that the shield works both ways, preventing you from firing energy weapons through the energy shield and kinetic weapons through the kinetic shield.)

>>38846062

(Unfortunately not.)

>>38846077
Jesus my reading comprehension is shit today.
Let's change it to kinetic, yeah.

Oh, yeah, current GARM guide:
http://pastebin.com/hmcAYhRE

We have three energy weapons.
I say the Cobalt Lasers are best used here.

>>38846083
>(Unfortunately not.)
Well, there goes that plan. Thanks for answering anyway.

So, just to get this straight, Daegal is standing on the Red Comet and fighting whatever manages to climb up there, right? Which means he's not fighting the whole horde, but just a tiny fraction Of it.

If so, then the best thing to do is tell Licorice to calm her robot tits and either get a weapon to help him or shut up and let us finish slaughtering these things.

>>38846157
>Daegal is standing on the Red Comet
...If that's the case, we might want to disable our Galvanic Emitters.

>>38846076

> "Kazuya has the toughest armor in the Red, Licorice. Most of them won't even be capable of scratching him."

"But he's-"

>>38846090
>>38846068

Mode change - the shield's hum changes, with a sound like the fritiniency of chattering bugs. The air turns thick and soul as the field-projector flickers-

And then there is a flash, as the kinetic shield engages. As light becomes solid, as the air suddenly becomes hard. For a moment, the view through your sensors makes no sense - a boiling fog of gore and atomized metal, bodies falling apart, torsos and limbs sheared vertically like scientific cross-sections, edges curled and sizzling from the field as unspeakable fluids sprays up against your shield, sliding across it like a pane of glass...

They were so close - so *close* - that when the Red Comet's shield engaged, it sliced them in half.

White Licorice reels back, making a gagging, choking sound - her form trembles, convulsing. You only see it for a moment, out of the corner of your eye - before the Induction Blasters cycle to charge, before the first crackling blasts of electric fire rip like thunderbolts into the pack - but you know that she's trying to vomit.

Reality roils with barely-scene heat blurs, temperature readings on your HUD shooting up; There is a sound like the roar of the wind, a devastating horizontal fountain roaring forth from the Red Comet's Disintegrator Cannon, Cobalt Lasers slashing in die-straight lines, scything down targets as the fusion stream churns the stones to a tarry morass, a racing column that makes Corrector and Player alike slew apart like ash in a gale-

(Continued)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luoj7ANlifw
>>38846190
The Red Comet is really earning it name. Damn.

>>38846203
By jobbing every other episode?

>>38846230
Jobbing? It ripped through the city last episode and is ripping through enemies now.

>>38846230
No, by slaughtering an army of opponents. We just need to destroy five enemy battleships in one battle and THEN we job every other episode.

>>38846255
I just realized that was a Char joke.
I feel retarded now.
Disregard that I suck cocks etc.

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>>38846190

As the Galvanic Emitters wink out, the lurch of the Red Comet - the buffeting smack of the mode change, from treads to biped - nearly makes Daegal lose his grip; He stumbles, a scything blade of bone whistling overhead - the Condemner flickers out, like a serpent's tongue, and impales a skittering hound-beast through the central eye - the Adamant clanking against the combat chassis's hull as the slipstream drags at him, autoreactive talons extruding from his boots, digging in...

For a moment, you think he's been flung off - But he makes a desperate grab for the high-bracketed handle, latches onto it. Daegal's cloak billows in his wake as he clings on - the Condemner's shape *warping*, subtly, as the Corrector he just stabbed fights to claw its way up the blade...

There is a blinding discharge of photonic light, an eruption of superheated gore, as the pulse weapon fires. Point-blank.

Halfway across the square, now. Another blast from your Induction cannons, incinerating a dozen Simulation Bodies and three Players in a single annihilating blast. The EMP wash sends crackling chains of lightning scaling across the cobbles; secondary heat-sear ignites loping Correctors, inhuman howls, shrieks, boiling up at you as thrashing forms immolate-

The tide is turning, now. Armaros's juggernaughts land blows - huge power, huge force, bashing back foes and bashing in teeth. There is a spark of ozone and power mechanics, the crackle of spontaneous lightning. Chrome Cypher is in the thick of it, her spear turning in her grasp - her frame's gunpods fire over her shoulders, her electromagnetic sword slashing off an arm, carving a helmet in two in one proficient sweep-

And then Daegal's in front of her. For a moment, they stand face-to-face - Her sword rises, and you realize she doesn't know. You didn't have a chance to explain-

"It's-" you hear him say, raising a hand-

(Continued)

>>38846380
>Her sword rises, and you realize she doesn't know.
This is gonna end well.

>>38846380
>"It's-" you hear him say, raising a hand-
Fuuuuuuuuuu.
I wish we had the Dirge Caster. The ECM's sound effect could cause everyone to hesitate.

>>38846380

Then Cypher has passed him, has brought her sword down into another throat, has cut another limb from another torso.

Down on the floor of the Manifold Tower, steam is boiling off Armaros. A roiling distortion, a cascade of rupture, follows his gaze - Corrector after Corrector explodes, the air churning around them, arcs of distortion ripping them to pieces; His fists close around the enormous silver blade he carries, the heavy, dense metal shimmering in the hellish blue light cast from the great shield overhead, a wave of reflections racing away from him along the edge as actinic lines of force crackle across the blade...

-And in a double-handed sweep, as they come at him with peculiar, ululating cries, he carves two coiling monsters in half.

There are thirty of the creatures left. In a space of a few frantic seconds of slaughter, there are ten. COUNTERWEIGHT-3 punches one to the ground, over and over, slamming a warped head to ruin as the hissing clatter of electrostatic arc-fire from implanted projectors split the air-

Precision fire, now. Hard-edged white rays keen from your Cobalt Lasers. Wherever they strike, figures become charcoal sketches, twisting, then turning to smoke. Against the blighted horizon, your sensors glimpse the shadow of more shapes - as if something if suddenly coming into focus.

Five monsters left. Four. Counterweight Squadron stands arrayed behind Armaros. Three. Two. One-

And sound returns in a babble of voices, as the fighting dies away. Gore-streaked silver forms struggle to a standstill, ichor flushing from helmet valves, optic slits cleared of blood and shreds of meat. The ground is a quagmire, piled five or six deep with the dead - carbonized forms, mounds of carrion, the entire mob chewed apart from front-to-back, exterminated in one solid, brutal clash-

(Continued)

>>38846479
So, we left everyone to die to help the ones who didn't need help.

>>38846479
>Then Cypher has passed him,
Hilariously awkward.

He should have known. Natsumi is a professional.

>>38846510
Securing the Manifold Tower is pretty important.

>>38846510
They didn't really need help, but without us they would've been stuck in a standstill for a long-ass time. If they have a way to boots comms, we can contact and properly coordinate our allies.

>>38846510
If we can use the Manifold Tower like Argent intended, we can restore the Shroud, which would help enormously.

>>38846569
But first attempt to cripple the Diadem's weapon.
Otherwise it will attack our tower.

>>38846510

The update literally says we turned the tide in their favor.

>>38846581
Yeah. We can secure it, at least. And with that done, they can probably help Licorice.
Then I'd like to get Daegal to the Sun or help Haze and Regios.

File: jokerarmaros.png (1.29 MB, 800x1565)

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>>38846479

There are ten of Armaros's soldiers left. Six are the hulking juggernaughts you've glimpsed before, top-heavy and lumbering in their oversized armor; The other four are slender, lightweight, silver wiring showing beneath darkly-gleaming plate - helmets bristling with antennae and aerials, flickers of charge leaping from join-to-join as wary faceless gazes turn toward you-

You don't even know when the other two died; one was dragged down, literally mobbed to death. The other is burned-out hulk, blasted half-open, vapor wisping from the great gouting wound where torso plating has been ripped open-

A confusion of voices:

"Manifold charge at 63% and rising, cascading failure on Struts 1, 4, 7, 8, power lines stable-"

"Counterweight-6, Counterweight-8, KIA-"

"Check your sectors-"

"-it's him, it's the *Joker*-"

And with that, the conversation dies away, as the Red Comet grinds to a halt. The Multicore Converter has done its work, but the sheer fury of the past few frantic minutes has left a mark - The Red Comet's armour-plating is blackened in place, melted to sludge and hardened again in others, a scythe of yellowed claw curving from the carapace where it's been embedded. The mimetic surface is streaked in gore and caked in dust, great limbs scraping sparks with every step as it tracks forward the last few meters, to the very foot of the Tower-

(Continued)

>>38846609
Why does Licorice even need help? She's no longer infected.
Also Rook probably went to help Haze anyway.

>>38846620
She's still missing an arm, though, and she's freaking the fuck out.
If we can hand her over to someone else, all the better.
You're right about Rook. Still, they can probably use backup.

>>38846637
She's in Player form. It's not like she lost her real arm (probably) and no one gives enough of a shit right now to deal with an emotionally unstable schoolgirl.

I wonder if we can leave Kazuya and the tank with them as powerful reinforcements, while we take the bike and go help the others.

>>38846661
Eh. You're right, dumping her with Armaros is nowhere near an ideal solution. Still, we can't carry her around forever in the state she's in and she's pretty useless.

>>38846703
She might become Hisao's girlfriend if he saves her ass.

>>38846717
>implying Isao isn't busy charming Regios

>>38846703
She should have limited access and knowledge of the systems within the Diadem. Might come in useful later.

>>38846717
Or he could be buddying up to Regios. Another thing he learned from us, perhaps.

>>38846742
Would be /ss/, wouldn't it?

>>38846757
Or not. Somehow I thought Regios was older instead of a student at Seisin. I really need sleep.

>>38846772
>Or not. Somehow I thought Regios was older instead of a student at Seisin. I really need sleep.
She does have more Red time.

>>38846617

"-So you're alive, Joker." Armaros's eyes are hololithic slits in his silver visor. You notice that one of them is flickering, fitfully, as the drone of his distortion halo dies away - his huge shoulders and upper body exaggerating his shrug as he grounds the blade he carries, plated fists unclenching from the trigger mechanism in the hilt.

Armaros in one word: tired.

He hides it well enough, but you can see right through him; the tension in the bunched cables of his implanted muscles, the involuntary flex of his fingers. There is a solemnity to him, one that seems appropriate to the funeral atmosphere - Even as he makes himself the eye of the storm, the deep pool of calm in the middle of armageddon.

More than one conversation is taking place, in the shadow of the tower. Chrome Cypher has drawn away from the others, as Daegal speaks to her in low, urgent tones - her silver mask never changes, never registers emotion, but you can see what she's thinking in the way she carries her.

Disbelief. A kind of terror, not for herself, but a more elemental, primal emotion; a kind of relief, that it is all out in the open at last, and that it can never be put back.

("...didn't know, wouldn't have believed...")

("...anyone else?")

("-all of them. If not for-")

All of this, on an auxiliary screen. Up to the moment when it looks like Daegal is about to crumple - and then, her suspensors hissing as the wings of her flight pack fold away, Chrome Cypher hugs him. It is brief and clumsy, her limbs conveying no warmth - but Kazuya leans into the embrace anyway, as her jointed fingers stroke the back of his helm in an awkward but soothing gesture. Cypher's eye-lights flicker back and forth, with emotion she can't express - once, she glances up at the Red Comet's cockpit, unable to see you past the forbidding bulk of the hull.

She's always been the strong one.

(Continued)

>>38846819
>Chrome Cypher hugs him. It is brief and clumsy, her limbs conveying no warmth - but Kazuya leans into the embrace anyway, as her jointed fingers stroke the back of his helm in an awkward but soothing gesture
Aww. That's pretty cute for murderrobots.

I can't wait until they see us I all or Lachrymra-using-semi-Corrector glory.

NOW SAVE VOLT.

>>38846882
"Do you need anymore help?
No?

Okay, Daegal, please summon my bike. I got to reverse a prophecy."

Wait, what if she's destined to die via Hisao defending himself with his pestilence bomb?

>>38846819

"-she's not that bad, is she?" White Licorice murmurs, almost inaudible. Merely watching quietly, now - As if she's forgotten the pain, for a moment, though the Ion Blaster lies on her lap. "...Despite everything else, you're still-" Then her gaze flicks in the direction of the compartment's sensors, and she falls silent - almost embarassed, somehow, though the low sigh she makes is a sound of relief.

("-going to be all right.")

Armaros stares right into the Red Comet's sensor-cluster.

"Arcadia is a deathtrap," he crackles, bluntly. "All lines of communication have been severed. All attempts to revert have failed. The command facility - the Diadem - is in enemy hands."

"They're killing us, Joker. I think they want to kill everything that ever lived."

A pause, for effect.

"-How was *your* day, Joker?"

[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>38846962

(My apologies, that should be "So how was your day?")

>>38846989

Still makes sense.

>>38846962
>"-How was *your* day, Joker?"
"I've had worse, though it comes close. We need to talk."
I'd tell him about the Hollow Sun.
If there ever was a time to unleash the Hellions, I think it's now, by the way.

>>38846962
>Terrible secrets were uncovered, horrible abominations murdered, assholes tried to kill me and my friends, some mad scrambles to survive happened, mistakes were made, MORE mistakes were made, something something suffering and grief, my bro got himself the best damn armor in the Red, we cut off a girl's arm, got on my giamt robot and slaughtered my way here.

>all in all, a pretty normal day for me.

>>38846962
>"-How was *your* day, Joker?"
Exit the cockpit.
"White Joker wrecked my shit and got my girlfriend. My other girlfriend died because I didn't want to sacrifice all of the Seisin High girls for her. I'm pretty sure Alura survived despite orbital bombardement, after having the gall to touch my essence core. Also, this is Daegal, a good friend who just entered the Red after killing a Corrector with a prop sword.
Oh and I apparently have Lachryma powers now.

Right now there's five separate incidents of my allies dieing, so I'd like to make this quick.
Can I give you any useful support?
Do you think a bit of kinetic impact could damage the Diadem's laser?

Otherwise, I'd like to summon my bike and be on my way. Daegal should probably assist you and I can lend you my tank for the time being."

Maybe this is a bit too elaborate. It's kinda hard.

>>38846962
"They probably are. Now, it's our job to stop them. And looking at that Tower, I'm guessing that you have a plan."

>>38846962

"Easily in my top 3 of worst days ever"

>>38847006
That's a good point.
Maybe we should also point out that Daegal has the touch of Midas. Enhancing relics might be exactly what they need.

But don't summon the Hellions just yet. Just tell Kazuya that he can use this move as a last ditch effort and explain the costs to him.

>>38847073
>"White Joker wrecked my shit and got my girlfriend. My other girlfriend died because I didn't want to sacrifice all of the Seisin High girls for her. I'm pretty sure Alura survived despite orbital bombardement, after having the gall to touch my essence core. Also, this is Daegal, a good friend who just entered the Red after killing a Corrector with a prop sword.
>Oh and I apparently have Lachryma powers now.
Why the fuck are you saying this? Jesus Christ, veto.

>>38847098
Basically a "ranting about my day" thing.
Because fuck if it wasn't a horrible day.

It's also a small jab at White Licorice.

>>38847109
You don't need to tell them the details. And neither do they actually care to know.

>>38846962
Terrible, even worse than Nara Dreamland, that's for sure. Watch out for the White Joker, he's gone batshit insane.

Ask for what he knows of the Diadem's capabilities, and if an effective strike force could be organized to take it back.

Meanwhile, we've got to get the rest of the Joker Squad together, I hope we reach Steppenwulf & Vector Geist along with Crucible's squad in time, they'll give a better boost to our effectiveness. I trust Rook and Haze to take care of themselves, Haze is probably having a field day with this many organics around.

>>38847006
Not yet, we stand to gain nothing from pulling the trigger on the Hollow Sun now. Everything has gone to shit, yes, but we still haven't figured out the current situation, and we still need a few upgrades on the Hollow Sun.

>>38847132
I'm aware. I was thinking from the viewpoint of Anon.

But the Daegal comment is kinda necessary. It's a "this guy got talent, don't underestimate him" thing.

>>38847148
>I'm aware. I was thinking from the viewpoint of Anon.
No you're not, because blabbering stuff like that is not in Anon's character either. I don't mind the Daegal, no way is Joker going to talk about the girlfriend and lachryma stuff.

>>38847174
Lachryma was an afterthought, because I'm wagering that it might be directly useful for them.

But yeah, we can reduce it to White Joker and Daegal. Knowing that White Joker is active and hostile should be important.

>>38847145
>Everything has gone to shit, yes, but we still haven't figured out the current situation
Anon, if we're not firing it now, I don't think we ever will. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but this is the ideal situation for it.

>>38847216
I still want to get that goddamn flying battleship.

>>38847216
See >>38847095
Kazuya has that power now. Tell him what it entails and have him have the final say.

Hey, can we aim our satellite at the Diadem, with the "teleport payload into the target" option?

>>38847238

The entire area is shielded, it's why we can reach the Hollow Sun

>>38847272

Can't* sorry.

>>38847238
Then again, triple AEW attacks sound like it make more sense for breaking the shield.

But those are traceable, in contrast to the Distortion Cannon.

>>38847272
Then we might need a signal boost.

>>38847216
What do we gain from it? "Oh look, someone's enacting his Doomsday Plan, I should too!" is a stupid, terrible idea. Better to lay low, see how things turn out, and then launch our own once the situation's in our favor.

>>38847095
>>38847238
I'm in favor of telling him, but not now. He's too fresh, and I don't want to risk him getting emotionally compromised and just saying 'Well, if Anon says I have an Apocalypse Weapon, what's to stop me from just using it? Fuck everything!"

>>38847238
Kazuya can't command the Hollow Sun from under the shield. He only has access to the vehicles and weapons right now.

>>38847291
You know, upgraded transformation servoes and Hellion Teleport Homer would be useful now.
We could have gotten a flight pack for Daegal.

On that note, it's time to finally get our bits back.

I hope our suggestions are coherent enough for OP.

(My apologies, but you're required to be physically present in order to activate the Hollow Sun/launch the Hellions. In the event that you did, they would still be largely stymied by the shield.)

>>38847006

> "I've had worse, though it comes close. We need to talk."

"Manifold Charge at 72% - Power couplings linked. Energy joints at full capacity-"

One of Armaros's soldiers is working in communion with the Manifold Tower. Data chatters and whirrs, hands making haptic motions across invisible touchpads. There is the quiet bleep of a helmet link, holographic panels shimmering as the toxic light of the grand shield burns malignantly overhead.

"Sectors clear."

"ETA on the next bombardment?" Armaros says, head up.

"Twenty minutes."

"Activate the auxiliary reactor. Discharge once, then set capacitors to overload; We only have one shot at this."

> "They probably are. Now, it's our job to stop them. And looking at that Tower, I'm guessing that you have a plan."

"Disabling the Shield is our top priority. The enemy is controlling the Diadem directly, and the effect is emanating directly from the main structure - Unless we bring it down, there's no chance of reinforcement or evacuation. The Diadem's weapon systems eclipse anything we have - Every thirty minutes or less, they find a target and annihilate it. Each blast can level entire an entire block."

Carefully, now - "In the face of that threat, coordinated resistance is impossible." He manipulates his gauntlet, images winking to life from internal projectors. "Nearer to the Diadem itself, the magnitude of bombardment decreases - But there is a great density of hostiles in the area. They are insane, feral: Enough to swamp the city with sheer numbers. Then there are the variant creatures, the-"

Cryptids.

"-that will serve. These...'Cryptids'...defy any known pattern of Corrector."

There is a long, damned pause, as Armaros's optics cycle.

(Continued)

>>38847355
How big is the Shield, JQOP?
Does it cover those hordes near the Diadem as well, or just the Diadem itself?

>>38847374
I'm pretty sure that it's a dome with the Diadem at its center. And we are underneath it right now.

>>38847306
>On that note, it's time to finally get our bits back.
Fuck yeah it's time to get 'em back, we barely got to use the Relic bits before people switched to the extra manipulator arms.

Anyway, I suggest we Black Hole Buster Cannon the Diadem's weapon arrays as soon as possible.

>>38847389
>Anyway, I suggest we Black Hole Buster Cannon the Diadem's weapon arrays as soon as possible.
So, we aid the squad that is getting overrun right now? That should grant us the most essence.

Also, I'm in favor of utilizing two sets of bits.
Kazuya gets the Lucifers, purely because he has that slot and can enhance them, while we take back the rifle bits. This way, we have a higher number of bits than we would have if we take the Lucifers.

>>38847389
>Anyway, I suggest we Black Hole Buster Cannon the Diadem's weapon arrays as soon as possible.
If we get to that massive horde and fire everything we have at it, we'd probably get there pretty fast.

>>38847417
I wonder if our missile racks work while we are driving our bike.

>>38847409
>Also, I'm in favor of utilizing two sets of bits.
A sound plan, if only because Kazuya can enhace them. I wonder what kinds of upgrade we can get for our bits...

>>38847444
No reason not to, since they don't appear on our hands or anything.

>>38847374

(It is over all of Arcadia. The Diadem is projecting it.)

>>38847355

"There was a sizable Player population on the main grounds, sheltering from the storm." Armaros says, quietly. "-The Cryptids were deployed, en masse."

In the personnel compartment, as the words come over the channel, White Licorice makes a sound that might be a gasp, or a sob.

Another glance back at the Manifold Tower. "This Manifold Frame doesn't have the durability or range of a true Manifold Tower. But when activated, it should be sufficient to disrupt the Shield, long enough for our forces to withdraw; this is an unorthodox method, but the massive energy discharge should be enough to trigger a cascading failure - A short-circuit, if you will."

"-In theory."

>>38847087

"I can't remember a worse one."

>>38847192

"There's - A *White* Joker?" Cypher's listening in, now - you can hear the surprise, the dismay in her voice. It passes in a ripple through the group - there is some murmuring, heads turning-

"It doesn't matter," Armaros says, sharply - You get the feeling he means to cut off this line of conversation. "At this moment, everything is secondary to the tactical situation. Our overriding objective is to disable the Shield - Or, failing that, consolidate whatever survivors remain-"

> Meanwhile, we've got to get the rest of the Joker Squad together, I hope we reach Steppenwulf & Vector Geist along with Crucible's squad in time, they'll give a better boost to our effectiveness.

"I..." White Licorice begins, softly, uncertainly. "I - I think I might know..."

What did you say?

(Continued)

>>38847409
>>38847494
wat

There's no point in using the Bits; they're shit. Only the Lucifers are any good and if Kazuya uses them, they'll be god-tier.

The fuck are you lot not wanting a Distortion Halo for? Distortion Halos have proven to be, time and again, some of the best gear the Red has to offer.

>>38847552
BECAUSE DISTORTION HALO IS A MOOT POINT WHEN WE DON'T HAVE HOLLOW SUN ACCESS

Seriously, dude.
We have bits. We don't have Halos. So we install bits. End of topic.

Also, bits are VERY useful in the mass combat situations that we are in RIGHT FUCKING NOW.
They are only useless against singular strong opponents, not against unwashed masses.

>>38847552

He doesn't have the necessary upgrades to use bits properly.

>>38847546
>Another glance back at the Manifold Tower. "This Manifold Frame doesn't have the durability or range of a true Manifold Tower. But when activated, it should be sufficient to disrupt the Shield, long enough for our forces to withdraw; this is an unorthodox method, but the massive energy discharge should be enough to trigger a cascading failure - A short-circuit, if you will."
We can time this with out Tachyon Disruptor. If it's done correctly, it can bypass the shield and destroy the Diadem and the chucklefucks inside.

>>38847601
The Tachyon Disintegrator apparently makes really bad shit happen to the area after it fires, though.
On the level of glitches in the space-time continuum.

>>38847597
What the fuck does that even mean?
Anyone who gets the Lucifers instantly gains an interceptor interface, albeit a weaker one. We've asked OP about this ages ago.

>>38847646
Perfect. It might un-kill some of the people under the shield.

>>38847601
>>38847646

Really wish we had the Magma Cannon since it would be fucking perfect.

>>38847646
This whole area is proper fucked, anyways.

>>38847552
The bits aren't shit. They are a tool.
Like >>38847581 said, we are in a situation where the bits would be very useful, given our enemies die with a couple solid hits amd most are too mindless to shoot them down.

Besides, the bits are also somewhat useful against other opponents, because any attack tarfetting the bits is an attack not aimed at us.
Treating a useable tool like shit just because you don't like them, without considering their strengths and weaknesses properly means you aren't analyzing your options properly, and that's something we can't afford to do.

>>38847597

(My apologies, but he's right. Kazuya doesn't have the Interceptor System.)

>>38847546

"Beneath the school-" Her single hand flutters, as she gestures, speaking haltingly. "There are - there *used* to be - bomb shelters. All the way back, from - from the War, you see?" Her voice strengthens, warming to her subject. "They're defunct, but...across the school, there are entrances - There are ways *down*."

She swallows. "This place...It's like Arcadia *and* the school. Everything's distorted, but...They're *both* here. They're both sharing the same space - So..."

"-wouldn't the underground shelters be *here*, too?"

She might have a point.

"Joker - Once the Manifold Frame discharges, the Squadron will withdraw. We cannot fend off another assault like-"

"Contact," comes a speaker-blurt. "Manifold Charge at 90% and rising."

A fog has descended, but there are shapes in the distance. Giant things, obscured by the mist, horned and hunched. Beyond the crumpled walls, beyond the barricades hastily erected - barriers that seem so puny, now. The enemy is assembling, somewhere in the shot-streaked battlefield of Arcadia.

Cypher's spear is back in her hand. Daegal has switched out the Condemner for the Immolator - He's staring, too, craning his neck, sensing the unnatural stillness that has descended.

>>38846882
>>38846908

Kazuya starts, when you address him directly. He fumbles at himself - The Teleport Homer taking shape in the ball of his palm, glowing with lambent light. The *bang* of apport is shockingly loud in the stillness; Counterweight soldiers tense, reflexively, the sleek shape of the Assault Roader taking form - A true landbound torpedo, smartwheels oscillating, gripping the ground like claws: The engine running hot, growling as blue-threaded exhaust fumes forth from the pipes.

The Red Comet's cockpit opens, like articulating jaws. A narrow slit of light spreads, as the main screen goes dark.

(Continued)

>>38847730
I hope they're not too shocked at our new appearance.

>>38847730

"Lachryma is a hell of a drug, stay in school kids."

>>38847858
Well, we do have two very organic tentacles...

>>38847730

There is a momentary haze, as your altered sensors adjust-

And you hear a strangled oath, the humming growl of Distortion Halos amping up in reflexive threat - the warning chime of target lock prickling in your HUD...

Armaros recoils, from the sight of you. Actually *recoils*, as if from the sight of a leper or a plaguebearer - The motion is entirely reflexive, a growl issuing from his speakers - a growl and a startled hiss.

"NO." One word, from Chrome Cypher. A voxponder bellow, a shout that cuts across the whine of powercells and weapons going active. It stops them in tracks, as she takes a lurching stride forward - In the brittle pause that follows, you hear her sharp exhalation as she glances at you, at your new form-

And what she sees gives even Natsumi pause.

But only for a moment.

There's visible confusion in the ranks, now - Even as she snaps:

"Weapons down. *Now.*"

One of the Counterweight soldiers - A lighter one, his helmet bristling with charge, manages a "But *sir*-"

And one of Cypher's shields smashes him across the face hard enough to knock him to his knees.

"What's-" the sudden violence, the shout - Daegal's still standing there, frozen, next to the Hellion Cycle. "...What the *fu-"

"-Enough." Armaros's optics ratchet in his visor, locking on you. At some unseen gesture, weapons lower, cising charge dying away - but there's the bitter aftertaste of tension to the air. He doesn't reach for his sword, but you can sense the renewed caution to him, as he looks you over.

"Joker," he crackles. "Explain this."

[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>38847887

"A gift from my predecessor ."

>>38847887
>"Joker," he crackles. "Explain this."
My Hyades was dead, Armaros. Can you imagine losing someone like that, who'd intertwined herself into your soul?
It was agony. I tried to break the contract with my inheritance from Old Joker, but it altered my appearence as well.

>>38847887
>>38847907
This, but said with as much venom and spite as possible.
>"A 'gift' from my predecessor."

>>38847887
I can't say I wanted this to happen but the changes will be useful in this scenario.

>>38847887
I was never much of a "knight in shining armor" type anyway

>>38847887
"Used a Relic left from the previous Red Joker. It saved my life, but at a price."
"Calm down, Armaros, I'm not going to turn into a monster. No anymore than you've already considered me to be."
Keep going for the bike.
"Daegal, you stay here and support them. Use the Red Comet if necessary. It's modified for my use,but you should be capable of driving it well enough. Contact me once the shield comes down"
"I'm leaving to save my comrades, Armaros. I saved yours, so don't dare stop me. I'll try to strike the Diadem once the shield is down. If that's not enough, we'll meet up later."
Make sure this only Armaros hears: "I know the entrance. We can strike from within."

>>38847887
"A gift from the last Red Joker. It seems pretty stable.

On the plus side, I can now draw Lachryma out of people. Forcefully. I can now kill Rust Kaiser.

Oh and the White Joker has a similar upgrade. I have no idea if that's how it's supposed to be, but apparently all three Jokers are now a bit black."

I think Kazuya needs a talk about Lachryma. Should we tell Natsumi to do it or do we do it ourselves?

>>38847887
>"Joker," he crackles. "Explain this."
Eh, you should have seen Rook. If you meet a mutated jet crow, that's him.
Just keep in mind that he's mentally stable, even if slightly inhuman."

>>38847887
"I was forced to use a Relic of the last Red Joker's. It saved my life and... did far more. What, are you going to freak out on me? I'm no more a monster now than you've always considered me, and I'm still on your side.

Now, I have to go save my friends. Daegal! Red Comet is yours. It's tuned to me, but if anyone can master it, its you. Do good work, bro."

>>38847907
>>38847913
>>38847925
>>38848030

He says nothing. You're not sure if he understands, but you can feel the silent pressure of his gaze - weighing your reliability, your presence against the black oil that writhes through your form-

>>38847969
>>38848005
>>38848010

"'Changes'?" there's open disbelief in Armaros's voice, now - "You are *diseased*, Joker."

There is no malice to his voice - and in a way, that makes it worse. Concealment is impossible, in this blank moment - what he says is solely instinctive. As you draw closer, he takes a step back; a head and a half higher and twice your weight, and *still* he recoils the way a healthy man would from a leper.

> "Calm down, Armaros, I'm not going to turn into a monster. No anymore than you've already considered me to be."
> "I know the entrance. We can strike from within."

Your first half-dozen steps seem to stretch on forever - Your sensors continuing to wail warnings of target locks, enough time for any of them to hit you from behind at near to point-blank range. Even here, the divided loyalties at work seem clear; On one side stand Chrome Cypher and Daegal. On the other, the division never sharper, Counterweight Squadron.

And Cypher says, in a tense electronic growl-

"We need him."

One after another, the cautionary alarms fade away - but slowly.

> "I'm leaving to save my comrades, Armaros. I saved yours, so don't dare stop me. I'll try to strike the Diadem once the shield is down. If that's not enough, we'll meet up later."

Your words hang in the air, as you draw close to the Assault Roader; the Red Comet's cockpit swinging closed, the great metal beast at rest. Daegal stands at the idling Hellion Cycle's side - as you approach, he takes a step forward, with a half-blurted "Joker-"

> "Daegal, you stay here and support them.
> Use the Red Comet if necessary.

He stops, mid-stride.

(Continued)

File: joker diadem.jpg (61 KB, 1280x720)

61 KB JPG

>>38848238

"You want me to-" Kazuya begins, looking over his shoulder - "...You want me to drive *that*-?"

> "It's modified for my use, but you should be capable of driving it well enough. Contact me once the shield comes down."
> It's tuned to me, but if anyone can master it, its you. Do good work, bro."

"-I..." You hear his gulp, even through his helmet. "Right." You can tell that he's contemplating the task ahead of him - For a moment, it seems like he's about to say something more; but then, his gaze darts to the others, the tension of the moment obvious as you swing yourself into the seat.

Cypher spares a glance from the stand-off; Her form subtly angled, you notice, to interpose herself between you and the rest of the squadron. You can sense that she wants to say something - but not without eroding her authority further. Her helm dips in a nod, as she voxes, instead-

"All units, mount up. Daegal-"

And the rest of her words are lost in the rising shriek of the Ophanim's engine, as you twist the throttle. Anti-gravity engines engage - A great plume of dust shooting in the Hellion Cycle's wake, as the thruster nozzles flare to blue-white. Armor segments slide and articulate as your foot comes down on the accelerator, the boost pushing you back into the seat-

-Leaving them behind. Leaving them all behind.

South-east.

(Continued)

>>38848328
>-Leaving them behind. Leaving them all behind.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcyfPXF770U

>>38848328
So the golden boy is now with the silver squad.
I call them team purity, because Daegal is literally uncorruptable and all of them hate us for our Lachryma infusion.

But their reaction might be a good reason to rethink levelling our Athame synthesis.

Next up is team ragtag.

>>38848384
The level of synthesis doesnt matter.
The hate was set the moment we staked ourselves with it.

>>38848472
Well, yeah, but every upgrade makes us more infected.
And we did get a glimpse of turning black during our latest upgrade.

File: joker cycle.jpg (785 KB, 2222x1600)

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>>38848328

You affect just below maximum horizontal velocity, gunning down the battered streets; the nav-track's radius narrowing to the immediate vicnity, the twitching blue light blitzing the horizon. Red hazard hatching appears on the etched line ahead of the blinking cursor-

You don't have time for this. The drive-plant's roar rises an octave, the malevolent blue light casting weird shadows - a migraine glow that catches the Ophanim's upper surfaces and ports. You ride up beneath flapping banners, through the cool darkness under a great arch - racing under a darkened underpass, skirting the perimeter of a burning field that might have once been a garden.

Even in passing, you can glimpse the bodies. Heaps of shattered armor, lining the roadways and arterials - Everywhere, black-brambled spires grow, weeping and shuddering, venting motes of Essence into the air like strange and secret growths.

But there are fragile, *familiar* forms everywhere. Nailed to posts, withering in the pitiless glare of the toxic Shield, charring slowly in pools of liquid flame-

Some have been cut open, and emptied. Some bear the deep and grotesque wounds of Player weaponry.

Some have been partially eaten.

(Continued)

>>38848495
>Some have been cut open, and emptied. Some bear the deep and grotesque wounds of Player weaponry.
>Some have been partially eaten.
Well, damn. I'm hoping those aren't Flare Oriole or Vector Geist's squads.
Or worse, people we care about.

>>38848627
>I'm hoping those aren't Flare Oriole or Vector Geist's squads.
They can't be, because their squads wear armor.
The implication here seem to be that those are human bodies.

>>38848666
Quite the appropiate trips there, mate.
And that's probably even more gruesome than what I thought.

>>38848627

(My apologies, but those are unarmored humans.)

>>38848495

You're retracing your path, through the ruin left in the Red Comet's wake. Smoke wreaths the scattered rubble - Sporadic, almost tired fire barking up into the lowering sky, spraying tracers and backflash. After the initial eruption of violence, it seems that the fighting is beginning to die down.

Or there are simply very few Players left.

You drive from memory, towards where you *remember* Volt Regios's track should be. The Ophanim turns, again and again - swinging left, into the alley between two huge structures that might have once been factories, as it widens into a freight lane. You're closing in, at full speed - your visibility diminishing to almost zero, once again, as smoke boils over the horizon. The individual fires have become soft orange smudges, part of the haze that washes across the tortured city.

This district - on the far side of the thoroughfare - is a region of dark towers and strange, crested structures the colour of tungsten. Most of it has been pummelled into extinction, razed, by the bombardment from the Diadem. Heat radiates from the stones and the rubble, where firestorms have scorched through the streets and the squares and left only crisped shells behind.

For them, at least, it was fast.

(Continued)

>>38848720

You're circling the district in a narrowing spiral, now. The radiation is playing havoc with your sensors, communication reduced to-

-crackle-

The tiny flicker of a channel.

-crackle-

Focus. Isolate. You heel the Ophanim over, using its thrusters to negotiate a tight corner; weaving through the immense night-blackened blocks of alien structures, zooming along open streets when you can, zigzagging and backtracking to home in on the distant track-

-crackle-

"-ker-"

Close, now. You pull up past an overwalk, a girder bridge framed with handrail spars and a metal balustrade-

And stop. Hard return sounds, as the Ophanim's drive reactor idles - oozing streamers of vapor from its vents, as you coast to a halt.

You've found him.

The streets ahead are shrouded in smoke. Thick banks of it, so much that it rolls upon itself like breakers, like waves. There is something hypnotic in the ebb and flow of it, as a single blinking icon advances - unsteadily, through the foul, seething mist that breathes in from the noisome dark. In the shadow of a grotesque city tower, a monstrous thing of spiked architecture and insectile buttresses, now a bombed-out shell.

You hear...A scraping. A slow drag.

The symbol revolves into a familiar Essence signature at last. A hunched figure, chequered armor smudged into a smear of grey, the fog that bleeds from him mingling with the smog from all around. One limb - badged with biohazard symbols, the armored sleeve retracted - has empty, gaping sockets where tiny, impossibly lethal spheres should be set. There is a ragged hole in the side of his helmet, his joints clanking with each slow, leaden step.

With his other hand - as if it is so heavy, he cannot bear to lift it - he drags the spike of Volt Regios's sword, the point scritch-scratching against the cracked ground.

"-Joker-"

(Continued)

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>>38849005

Distortion Haze looks up, as he limps into view; Wan yellow light flickering in his eyeslits, the mist wisping away from him.

"-I'm so sorry. So, so, so *sorry*-"

He hits the ground with the brittle clamour of absolute collapse, and lays there as if he will never move again.

And above the city, the fires continue to burn.

JOKER QUEST

EPISODE 127

TO BE CONTINUED

>>38848720
>>38849005
>>38849021
OH GOD WHAT

>>38849005
>>38849021
Goddamnit Haze.

You'd better still be alive.

>>38849021
Well, this wasn't unexpected.

>>38849021

(Gentlemen, my sincerest apologies: It is extremely late on my end - while I would love to continue, I am completely exhausted.

My apologies, but the 'broad' nature of this segment means that describing events - as they happen - is extremely complex, making it extremely difficult to write.

Good night and God bless - You've been a wonderful audience, and I hope to see you again soon.

I'll add the Rifle Bits to your Equipment for the next Episode.)

>>38849021
So Regios is probably dead. Hmm.
Haze best not be dead, though.
Our apprentice still has a lot to learn.

>>38849021
Yeah, not unexpected.
We'll have to tell Tyrant Edge. And somehow communicate it to Bishamon. SMS?

Still, I would have loved to save her.

First of all, we'll have to get Hisao to stop blaming himself. And tell him about Rook.

But how the fuck did he waste all of his nukes?

>>38849075
>I'll add the Rifle Bits to your Equipment for the next Episode.)
Thanks.

>>38849005
RIP Regios, you weren't a bad dude. Should have stayed in the Hollow Sun.

>>38849117
The one who's hiding in the Hollow Sun is Tyrant Edge. Volt Regios is the Seisin girl.

>>38849117
I wonder how she died. And if she had any last words.

Also, our bike needs an upgrade for passenger slots.

And I wonder if Kazuya will equip the Lucifer Bits.

>>38849005
>>38849021
So I assume Volt Regios is dead. What of Tyrian Edge?

Bishamon is going to be broken after this. Damn. I think she might have been one of our only chances to get him to see reason.

We need an archive.
And I don't trust myself to not fuck it up.

>>38849163
Actually, he might take revenge in her name.

>>38849171
>Actually, he might take revenge in her name.
Just have to make sure he doesn't find out

>>38849184
He needs the right amount of information.

Man, Volt Regios was cool as fuck. Best onee-san. we never had much of a chance to interact with. RIP, hope we can recover at least her remains or something.

I wonder if how many of the Joker Squad will be left, and even then, how many are still loyal or willing to under Joker's Emblem.

>>38849243
They are glad to take any chance at protection.
Like Joker's presence.

>>38849243
>remains
I actually wonder how the hell did Haze get her sword. It wouldn't have survived if she got hit by his bomb, so I'm guessing that she somehow sacrificed herself to save him after he ran out of ammo.

He's going to HATE us.
Not just hate, HATE. We're practically his White Joker now. To wit:
We killed someone he loves, who loved him back.
We did it for a reason that backfired on us spectacularly, in other words, a pointless one.
And now one of his friends is possibly dead because of our fuckup.
All of this could have been avoided(minus us Athame'ing ourselves) if he won.
So yes, he'll hate us and himself even more.

>>38849301
But he's a dutyful guy.
If the choice is between murdering us or saving innocent people, he'll likely choose the latter. Especially if that was the sentiment of his Hyades.

>>38849323
You don't get it. Hate will warp his perception. To save more innocent people from getting murdered/used by the heartless Red Joker, he's got to stop us the only way he knows how: with violence.

>>38849352
He'll try, anyway.
I mean, from a combat perspective, we kicked his ass last time and that was with the support of his Hyades. I'm not too worried about us.
Rather more worried about hostages, though.

>>38849301
His Hyades was doomed from the start, anon. Even the one way for her to survive (killing Joker or his Hyades) would have been stolen by Alura.

>>38849386
... Oh right.
Alura did her bullshit Ganon act AFTER we won.
... Well damn, we are the plan fucker. Including our own.

>>38849386
Honestly, it's bizarre, but it seems like everything would have turned out better between us if we had lost and Cybele had died in that battle.

>>38849414
Around Joker, everyone bumbles around.

>Collective Game, Joker Quest, Joker, Waifu Purge

wat

>>38849481
Apparently, Volt was the hidden waifu.
and now shes kinda maybe dead.
thus, no more waifus.

>>38849457
Between us, yes. But not for the world, since,that would just mean that the Smilers get both the Chalice Queen and Mio as a vessel for Kotone.
Our choice may have backfired because our betrayal was discovered, however Mio is now an uncertain factor that the Smilers probably can't properly utilize.

>>38849501
Eh. There's still Megumi and Asuna.
And Mio, if we ever get her back. I'm not very optimistic about that, though.

>>38849597
Magumi has more death flags than Regios had, which is saying something. Asuna left the waifu race a long time ago.
And waifus just aren't worth it at this point. Joker should just assemble a group of bros, become a biker and go travel the world after all of this bullshit ends.

>>38849597
>Megumi
>Convincing a broken slut to NTR

>Asuna
>Probably dead, will be unable to give Anon true happiness and comfort.

Anon will just live out the rest of his days alone, wondering where it went so wrong, on a journey to avenge himself.

>>38849532
As it stands, Mio is rampant, Naoya is fuck knows where. And we still have to feed him his innards.
>>38849597
I think... we may have to kill her. Maybe.
Possibly. Seems like we're going to that end.

As for Megumi and Asuna...
... We're gonna kill Kaiser, so there goes Megumi.
And I personally wouldn't want to drag Asuna into this shithole called 'Red Joker's life.'
>>38849642
This man speaks truth.

>>38849642
Well, we broke Asuna's mind, so yeah, not a waifu anymore.
I was listing those with waifu potential, though.

>>38849664
There's always Gay End with Kazuya.
We could also go for Natsumi, but that would not end well at all for any of the parties involved.
Ending alone is looking increasingly likely, yeah.

>>38849597
>Megumi

Next time we see her, she is a corpse. She wanted this to happen. All those dead bodies are, at least partially, her fault, because she supported Pazazu and White Joker.

>Asuna
Hahahahahahaha

>>38849664
>on a journey to avenge himself.
>Joker becomes a doctor just to spite Naoya's ghost

>>38849642
Red Joker and the last Riders of the Red, on a mission to assault any positions where the Black is trying to reform. They keep the world clean.

>>38849697
>Ending alone is looking increasingly likely, yeah.
Maybe we can save a few Seisin High girls.

I wonder, though, if we should kill any of the transformed girls to prevent the enemy from harvesting all of the essence, or if we should hope that we can cure them before they die.

>>38849891
Nah. We'll change our name to the Red Rider and start up a band called the Four Horsemen.

>>38849925
And we sing songs that will survive into the future and teach our ancestors how to defeat the Black if the Red ever comes back.
We do have enough luck stored for that.

>>38849956
>ancestors
You mean decendants?
And yeah, sure. Could be a cool idea for a sequel.
One of Joker's decendants, coincidentally called Anon as well, picks up our old armour and uses it to fight the revived Black Joker or something.
It'd be rad.

>>38849975
Wouldn't he have to kill Anon to do that?

>>38849975
And there should be an s in descendants. Damnit.

>>38849984
Eh, it could be bullshitted around if JQOP so chose. Just say we modified it to only accept people of our bloodline who we deem worthy or something.

>>38850012
That's more bullshit than my suspension of disbelief can take, anon. I don't like it.

>>38849975
To be more precise, I was referring specifically to people that come after us, not just the people that come out of our bloodline.

>>38850024
Yet you can accept murderrobots battling for good karma in an alternate dimension?
Seems strange, but eh.

>>38850037
Was only an idea, anyway.
Lord knows I'm not half the writer JQOP is.

>>38850024
It's not more bullshit that Mio's mother, the Athame and our black sphere.

>>38850046
>>38850050
The reason that specific bullshit breaks my suspension of disbelief is because it breaks the rules of the setting for no good reason and with no good possible explanation.
My suspension of disbelief holds as long as the setting is internally consistent.

>>38850101
Again, Athame.
There's nothing preventing us from learning some bullshit Joker skill, like making a sacrificial dagger that makes you the next Joker and having it as a family heirloom, just in case.

"In case of Red incursion, stab yourself."

I wish someone could list the entire cast, and how much of it is left.

>>38850590
A Joker Quest Dramatic Persons?

>>38851368
More like a killboard.

But yeah, something like that. I would prefer to use the Latin term, though, because the English one doesn't mesh with the contemporary English meaning of dramatic.

God mode would be assembling exact descriptions of what we know of the people, their personalities and what they look like, as well as everything that we know about player avatars, including weaponry and armor changes that have been described.
And then an interactive timeline where all characters are shown. You can move a slider to the right, to advance the timeline, which causes dead people to disappear from the list and upgrades to be added to characters.

>>38851419
Anon, I'm the one who updated the episode guide and that's way too much autism even for me.
Still waiting on those other errors, btw.

File: image.jpg (11 KB, 269x187)

11 KB JPG

Fuck man fffffffuuuuck goddamit

>>38851513
Eh, I think that if we'd gone for Haze, we'd be seeing Natsumi on the floor now.

>>38851601
While she's dragging Armaros' distortion cloak and saying "I'm so sorry, Joker", in the midst of the Manifold ruins?

>>38851510
Let's see.
117:
>we find CHIFFON DOLL trapped on some sort of growth that drains her of her essence
Her body itself has been changed. She isn't just inside of the growth.
> revealing his own version of the Carnifex
I'm pretty sure that he doesn't.

118:
>Speaking of, they apparently did erased some of her senses.
That's not wrong, but the sentence is very clumsy and unclear for a reader.

>The world around us breaks, fragments into little pieces.
>When we wake up, Naoya talks to us again. We hit him, but nothing can die in this dimension.
Same here. You forgot to mention that we were trapped in a special space. (The Black? I would need to reread the scene)
In addition, you have to mention that we transform back into Red Joker once we reach Cybele's Demense.

121:
>It turns out she can temporarily split herself into copies, but killing her other half last time we duelled left her in a wheelchair.
Pure conjecture. Her reaction to our taunt makes it clear that we did, in fact, kill her sister.
Also, I don't remember but didn't EXEC_HARROW keep active even after we log out? If that's the case, it would be relevant to know that she's been tagged in the match.

> We break her heart with our response.
"The truth breaks her heart" would be better phrasing.

>The Leukocyte fires. Every reader came. No other description can suffice.
Actually, it's kinda ironic that we fire it on such a depressing note.

>Cybele's Emblem then teleported us to a rooftop, from where we can see the devastation: Correctors swarm the city. Everything goes to shit. To make it worse, Cybele then dies in our arms.
The NIHL Sphere is used for that, IIRC. And the whole "I want to go home" thing is also relevant. Something along the lines of "We try to fullfill her last wish with the NIHL Sphere - To bring her home into the real world. But the Real is already infected by the Red and Cybele dies in despair".

>>38851768
>I'm pretty sure that he doesn't.
Correct. Naoya implied that the Carnifex was originally his Relic.
>Same here. You forgot to mention that we were trapped in a special space. (The Black? I would need to reread the scene)
Same Church where we met Kotone so many times.Only difference is that now it's drowned in Lachryma.
>Also, I don't remember but didn't EXEC_HARROW keep active even after we log out?
Yes. We didn't actually log out, though.

>>38851768

122:
Not relevant, but I would like mention of the Corrector killed with Kazuya's prop sword, for flavor. The pimp hand line falls flat, on the other hand.

123:
>it has found its true host, and cocoons Kaz while it restores him.
Wrong. It has found _a_ host. That's an important distinction.
In fact, you should add in the prior episodes, that Daegal has started producing pain and rejecting our Lachryma-infused body.

>so we toss him our Immolator, which he immediately attune
Should clarify that he actually improved it.

>Limiter Attunement 3
It's 2, actually.

>He doesn't kill him, though, and eventually we finish him off.
"Kazuya hesitates in finishing off, so we do it for him to give an introduction into the Red" might be better.
Also, you forgot to mention that Grand Magus could run away.

>looking much more like Bardiel.
This is iffy. But some mention of his mutated form is necessary.

>He lets us take the shot, though, and we make it rain chunks.
Say that we used a fully charged Fusion Annihilator.

Generally, you are writing way too indirectly for a summary.

125:
>our solution is to cut off her arm, the biggest part of the infection.
Actually, it's her *entire* infection. That's an important difference. The arm was where it started and tried taking over.

126:
>Bros before hos.
Redundant. You already made adherence to bro-dom clear.

>to FLARE ORIOLE
's squad.

>announce our presence to the rest, but that effort is interrupted by some sort of EMP.
ECM. Also, maybe mention that we are using the Joker icon communication channel and that the message still gets through.

>carving a bloody path through what's left of the city.
Sounds too much like combat and not enough like "we ran through all buildings".

>Smilers
Smilers, Simulation Bodies, Correctors and insane players.

>>38851847
>Same Church where we met Kotone so many times
I meant the place where Mio banished us to. It was some kind of wasteland where no one dies.

>We didn't actually log out, though.
Even better.

>>38851768
Thanks, anon.
117:
Changed from
>trapped on some sort of growth that drains her of her essence
>grotesquely twisted by some sort of growth that drains her of her essence.
>revealing his own version of the Carnifex, a Beam Magnum
>revealing the Carnifex was originally his, that he posesses a Beam Magnum

118:
Removed that line, you're right about it sounding clumsy.Changed
>When we wake up,
>When we wake up in Kotone's Church and in human form,
>It rescues us and leaves us in Cybele's domain,
>It rescues us and leaves us in Cybele's domain,clad in our armour,

121:
>It turns out she can temporarily split herself into copies
Removed that line.
Changed
>We break her heart with our response.
>The truth breaks her heart.
>Cybele's Emblem then teleported us to a rooftop,
>After that, a combination of the NIHL Sphere and Cybele's final wish

>>38852061
Yeah, that's sounds better.

>>38851991
>I meant the place where Mio banished us to. It was some kind of wasteland where no one dies.
That was the Church. Mio didn't banish us anywhere, her power simply crumbled most of the Church and locked us in it. Naoya told Joker that it isn't possible to die in the Church the moment he woke up there.

>>38851968
122:
Removed the pimp hand line. Not the first time my attempts at humour have fallen flat.
>Daegal, meanwhile, is throbbing like mad
>Daegal, meanwhile, is throbbing like mad, rejecting our new Lachryma infused body.

123:
>it has found its true host
>it has finally found a worthy host
>which he immediately attunes to
>which he immediately attunes to, improving it massively
Changed the line about executing Black Azazel as suggested.
>looking much more like Bardiel
>though his form has changed a lot since we last saw him.
>He lets us take the shot, though, and we make it rain chunks.
>and we fire the fully charged Fusion Annihilator for the first time since we upgraded it.

>Generally, you are writing way too indirectly for a summary.
Yeah, probably. Wouldn't surprise me if I fucked up the tenses at some point, either.

125
> the biggest part of the infection.
> the origin of the infection, and cut away what we can of the rest.

126
>Bros b4 hoes
Removed.
>announce our presence to the rest, but that effort is interrupted by some sort of EMP.
>announce our presence to the rest, but while we succeed in sending a message, we're interrupted by some sort of ECM.
>carving a bloody path through the city
>bulldozing through several buildings along the way.
Added the rest of the horde.

>>38852335
I just realized...
If the enemy reacts via ECM, it either means that they've got a Joker icon (Can't be Bishamon, as his icon was destroyed) or an advanced sensor suite.

>>38852459
I'm pretty one of our guys is actually a traitor or Smiler spy. Most likely the one who shouted "IT'S A TRAP" when we tried contacting everyone.

>>38852537
>Most likely the one who shouted "IT'S A TRAP" when we tried contacting everyone.
Might have been pure paranoia, though.

It might be a raid survivor, though. Or a newcomer.
...Didn't Trisagion have a squad, where he got replaced during the actual raid by someone else? He could have gotten an icon from them.

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/38845580/, https://archive.moe/tg/thread/38845580
We start off the episode surrounded by all manner of monstrosities: Players, Correctors, Simulation Bodies.
While we're doing all we can, it's not enough to stop the horde dead in its tracks.
After some talking with White Licorice about the situation, Daegal makes up his mind and heads outside of the Comet to assist us, but is almost immediately nearly overwhelmed by enemies. While they can't deal much damage and Armaros's Counterweight Squadron joins in, he's not in a good position.
To help him, we change the shields on the Comet to kinetic, shearing some combatants in half just by activating it, though the sight is far from pleasant.
The energy weapons quickly prove themselves to be more effective, and the tide turns.
We see Chrome Cypher slaughters some enemies, meeting Daegal for the first time along the way, but Armaros and his squad rack up the kills.
After the melee is finally over, we speak to Armaros. He's clearly tired, but outlines a plan: he'll take down the Shield covering Arcadia and then withdraw. Meanwhile, Kazuya and Natsumi have a short tender moment, still in armour.
We fill him and Cypher in on what we know about the situation and prepare to move towards Haze, but as we get out of the Red Comet, we're met with shock and disgust at our new appearance.
In the end, we leave them behind, together with Daegal, and travel to Haze, seeing dead bodies scattered along the way.
It seems we're too late, though as we see Haze, carrying Regios' sword, collapse.

You know, I feel like the only one who can sympathize with RJ is Akira. And even then, despite the bromance and sort of rivalry going on, we've agreed to break ties when the Finals happen. What's missing on our list of objectives? Ordered by overall importance:

-Get Mio back from the Smilers
-Organize a hit to retrieve or disable the Diadem
-Reassemble the Joker Squad

>>38853146
>withdraw
Should be "withdraw through it".

>we're met with shock and disgust at our new appearance.
Maybe a comment to the effect of "Natsumi saved our ass because all those guys wanted to shoot us the moment they noticed the Lachryma infestation".

>together with Daegal
Ambiguous. Could either mean we left Daegal with them or we took Daegal with us.
Change it to "lending them Daegal and the GARM".

>>38853282
Short term or long term?

Short term:

- Remove the ECM effect
- Destroy the shield
- Restore the Shroud to "Seisin isn't a fucked hellhole anymore" levels
- Find the bomb shelters and make sure they are secure
- Gain Meter/Essence for various utility purposes

Long term:

- Skullfuck White Joker, Alura, Pazuzu and their ilk with a passion
- Maybe resolve Rust Kaiser/Megumi situation
- Resolve Bishamon situation
- Resolve Inox Fang

>>38853282
Ah, I forgot

-Retrieve access to the Hollow Sun

after getting Mio.

>>38853282
Daegal is heading for the finals too, don't forget.
I think we're gonna end up killing Pazuzu and somehow making someone else the Black Cardinal, thereby being able to do what we want at the finals.

>>38853289
Added
>Natsumi orders everyone to stand down by threatening violence.
Also did the other things.

>>38853386
>-Retrieve access to the Hollow Sun
Anon, there is no access. The Hollow Sun now belongs to Daegal. The Lachryma infection will also make sure that the HS will do its best to kill us if we try to get close.

>>38853289
>"Natsumi saved our ass because all those guys wanted to shoot us the moment they noticed the Lachryma infestation".
But that's fucking wrong. They were aiming at Joker, but they weren't going to shoot unless Armaros gave the order. And at that point he wasn't going to do it anyway.

>>38853825
There could be some sort of override Daegal could do, or "convince" the HS to let us in to study the infection and design something to "contain" it better. I'm all for the assimilation, but I feel like it's too...leaky, too obvious, and not well purposed at the current level.

Newest version of the Episode Guide:
http://pastebin.com/aRCtEd1Z

>>38849021
I have a slight suspicion she's not dead, only dragged away or being kept for experimentation/as a hostage.

OP would have said it otherwise. Also, GOD DAMNIT, WHY DID WE GOT TO CHROME CYPHER AND NOT THE GIRLBRO WHO WE KNEW COULD OR WOULD DIE.

>>38855785
I don't know why we didn't let Deagal drive the tank while we did super sanic gorilla tactics

WHY DID NO ONE FUCKING SUGGEST ACTIVATING THE MANIFOLD TOWER DAMNIT. I hate not being able to catch these threads anymore.

>>38857620
No idea I have a guess that because either a manifold frame doesn't have the strength or the capabilities of a true tower and or the shield is disrupting it

>>38853282

That seems to have rather diminished in importance. Akira is more-or-less squarely on our side.