Fuck yes here we go. Here is hoping Hexer doesn't delay for much longer and my day would be complete.

>>39298246
Now we have Rook, Daegal, Haze and Totenaz assembled.

Also, Tyrian Edge, Volt Regios and Chrome Cypher as chicks. Yes, we don't know Tyrian's gender.

This is getting better and better.

>>39298146

The inside of the bomb shelter is a dim, cavernous space - All bare metal and criss-crossing walkways, nowhere near full capacity. The great table your forces cluster around; Tyrian Edge's jointed fingers clacking against the keys of his gauntlet, the low electric hum of Volt Regios, the shimmering projections from the silent-but-vigilant silver knights that stand arrayed around the rough square - the center of your focus, the background murmur of the other survivors stilled for the moment. The Thief's ghostly image - the ivory skull of his helm - seems even more distorted than before, his surroundings reduced to a blur.

His voice is a low rasp. Dimly, you can hear the noise of immense machinery, immense force behind him - Energy, and heat. Gigantic machines rattle and spin, circling streams of light and coherent energy around spindles and rushing gears. Processing flow, servers working in unison. The background roar almost drowns out his words; he's kneeling, duster pooling around him like liquid shadow, half-hidden by the arching spires on all sides.

"-They're calling them home, Joker," he says - a wan red glow in the eyeslits of his helm. "All the Smilers. All the Cryptids-"

A pause. A low sound, a sound that might be a hoarse laugh, fading out into indecipharability.

"...long this channel will be open," his flat, lifeless tone crackles on, tonally altered by the signal encrypt. "-storm's left them scrambling to regain data capacity, but - already processing the inload, forces gathering at halting sites-"

"Akira?" Daegal's voice is low, disbelieving. He takes a step forward, towards the hovering image-

(Continued)

>>39298348
>"Akira?" Daegal's voice is low, disbelieving. He takes a step forward, towards the hovering image-
He can definitely see the real names.

>>39298348

Cypher's hand clamps on his arm, holds him back. Natsumi shakes her head, no - And for the very first time, you have absolutely no idea what she might be thinking. There are lines of stress in the way she carries herself, in the slight tremble of her fingers against his gleaming plating...Or it might just be your imagination. Armaros is silent, his heavy gauntlets resting on the table - He turns to issue orders, and the channel clears fractionally.

"...about to lift off, you understand - already preparing for launch-"

"Launch?" White Licorice echoes - If she had a mouth, she'd be shaping each syllable wordlessly, uncomprehending. "What does he mea-"

A blurt of static ripples across the line, the roar of white noise loud enough to make her wince. "-epeat, the Diadem's main engines are engaging."

"No-!" Velvet Drossel. There's a shrill note to her voice - A sound of absolute horror, enough to make heads turn in her direction. Her graceful figure is frozen, a hand clamped to the mouth-grille of her faceless helmet as a shudder courses through her form-

"If it does - Everyone - *everyone's* going to-"

She falls silent, before she can pronounce the fatal words - but it's enough.

"'Going to *what*'?" Steppenwulf snarls - He's in his quadruped form, cannons angling over his shoulders. Fear brings an ugly edge to his words, and she flinches back at the accusatory rasp. "Joker, what's she talking abo-"

(Continued)

>>39298368
I wonder how. Does Daegal see the same way we do? Or does he see souls/Essence?

>>39298427

The onscreen image flickers. The Thief's grinning skull doesn't.

"Oh, Jesus." Tyrian Edge, now. His lens blink-click, drawing out the sound - His motions becoming even more frenetic. "When a structure *that size* detaches - Estimating required thrust, reaction-mass, velocities..." He stops, mid-sentence. "-It'll level Arcadia."

"How much of it?" Armaros says - tiny cracks skitter out across the table, the question tense, controlled.

And Tyrian says:

"...All of it." Onscreen, impact waves radiate outwards from the very center of the hololithic map - a white sweep of destruction. You see buildings shatter, crumbling beneath the rising tide; shivering apart into dust, then less than dust, as the center of Arcadia crumples in upon itself-

[ ] "Totenaz. How long do we have?"
[ ] "-Is there anything you can do?"
[ ] "Is the White Joker on board?"
[ ] "Where are you now?"
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>39298549
>"Totenaz. How long do we have?"
>"Is the White Joker on board?"

>>39298549
>[ ] "-Is there anything you can do?"
>[ ] "Is the White Joker on board?"

"I think we might need very big guns. Would you be in danger if that thing blew up?"

>>39298549
>[ ] "Totenaz. How long do we have?"
Well.
WJ will be on board one way or another, for the climatic confrontation.
>[] Free
"Where is it going?"

>>39298574
>>39298581

> "Totenaz. How long do we have?"

A pause.

A long, damned pause. Then-

"One hour. Two, at most." He says it without inflection, as if it means nothing at all - And even the static on the channel fades, for his words to be broadcast as clear as a bell. For a moment, the Thief's words hang in the air; they seem to echo, like a curse that can never be taken back.

> "Is the White Joker on board?"

"-ven't seen him. Might be."

Ominous, either way.

> "Where is it going?"

"-the Promised Land."

Silence.

"The...what?" Distortion Haze mutters - even in his armor, he looks lost. As if he's hoping that - any moment now - things are going to start making sense. "Rook, did you hea-" A glance from Rook, and he falls silent - it doesn't stop the almost beseeching look he gives you, as if he can't believe what he's hearing.

(Continued)

>>39298698
>"-the Promised Land."
Imagine being there.
A bunch of lunatics inverted the world, created a massive dome of death and started murdering people for shits and giggles. Then you get saved by super robots with weird guns.
And then you find out that the enemy is religious fanatics who are simply trying to go to their promised lands.

By now everyone should agree that the Smilers are crazy.

Anyway, I suggest we try to break the shield and leave Arcadia. It's safer than trying to destroy that thing without a supply line.

>>39298698
>"-the Promised Land."
Shit is getting Biblical.

>>39298718
It feels like a final dungeon, though.
And those always have some way of exploding.

>>39298756
>Shit is getting Biblical.
The phrase has been used for the past eighty or so threads.

>And those always have some way of exploding.
I'm saying that we should get supplies from the Hollow Sun before assaulting the Diadem and also evacuate the civilians at that opportunity.

>>39298146
Holy fuck this is my first time catching these in the act. Started reading maybe a month ago. It's been a hell of a ride.

>>39298770
>The phrase has been used for the past eighty or so threads.
Shit has been Biblical, then.
>I'm saying that we should get supplies from the Hollow Sun before assaulting the Diadem and also evacuate the civilians at that opportunity.
Obviously. Probably best to let Armaros' men (maybe himself, depending) evacuate the civvies.
There is the question of time, though.

>>39298698

There is a sound. A solid thump, a metal-on-metal clatter. Armaros's fist has collided with the table, hard enough to leave a dent - Distortion energies playing around him, seething, writhing, reflecting the fury that churns within him. "The Church of the Last Hour," he grates. "-the *bastards*-"

> "I think we might need very big guns. Would you be in danger if that thing blew up?"

"-Shield's still up," Cypher answers, for you - She turns her head, just enough for you to glimpse the sliding track of her visor. "Without the Mainfold Frame - Not enough firepower."

Tyrian Edge clears his throat, lamely - "...he's right," he says, unhappily - he's clearly been hoping for another Leukocyte blast. "Joker, by my calculations - You'd need a constant bombardment to undermine the Shield...And *even then*, we wouldn't do enough damage. If we had more time - If we had a day - then *maybe*..."

His voice trails off. "-Maybe," he says, again, lanky figure forlorn amid the shimmering hololithic light.

> [X] "-Is there anything you can do?"

Silence. A silence so complete, you think that you might have lost the connection.

Then:

"Stand by-"

There is a screech of sound. The crude network Counterweight Squadron has established - Cludged together with the Dirac System, with Tyrian Edge's personal modifications - fizzles, the play of digital sequences suddenly shifting. Code, massive amounts of it, burns through the numerics swirling above the simulated city. It is a profound sequnce change - All values altering, all authorities reset -

(Continued)

>>39298786
Nice to have some fresh blood.

Let's see how long it takes for you to start spouting bad ideas.

>>39298809
Won't be long, I'm dumb as shit, sir.

Probably won't suggest anything to begin with. Just lurk. But on the plus side I'd not have suggested that fracas with Cybele.

Also I think if we played along with Alura when she had us on the ropes we could have gotten some valuable intel on the Smilers. Get the feeling the two of them are using each other like drugs. Play your cards right, advertise yourself as genuinely defeated and the enemy starts to brag about it.

>>39298698
>"-the Promised Land."
>Jewish mythology ends up causing an apocalypse
/pol/ was right again

>>39298807

"He's-" New windows flicker open, as Tyrian's voice takes on a harried note - Sorting them using subtle haptics, sweeping the code-forms to the side to make room for more. "Upload link, established," one of the silver knights besides him intones - "Processing-"

Then red lights. Warning alarms.

"Signal quality's degenerating." the words are a quick blurt of sound, as the Thief's image begins to dissolve into snow - "Counterweight Leader, we have an intercept-"

"Close the channel," Armaros orders. "Deny them."

It is nearly impossible to make out anything within the auditory chaos - But your enhanced senses strain, and you isolate a tiny fraction of order within it. Not much, just brief words - barely audible, delivered in the Thief's monotone.

> "Good luck, Joker."

New markers flicker onto the map. The hallucinatory terrain *shimmers*, filling in - the grey areas of estimates and inaccurate guesses and flat-out conjunction giving way to solid images. The destruction is heartbreaking; Even crawling with the bright ripples of the projector's scanning-matrix lasers, you can see that Arcadia is a city wounded unto death. Ruin spreads out in glimmering scan patterns, like the tangled roots of trees - the light-cast images clear, unwavering, in haunting detail.

"That was-" Kazyua again, uncertain. "That was - Akira? Ano - Joker - he sounds...He sounded like-"

His words are cut off, by the first shout from below - Hoarse, bellicose, raw with panic. Among the few survivors - the newly-armored figures who've somehow managed to come through the hell that Arcadia has become-

"-They're going to kill us all!"

A babble of noise, right on the heels of it-

"-dead, we're dead-"

"-anyone *help* us-"

"-have to get out, need to see my fam-"

"-don't want to *die*-"

(Continued)

>>39298868
I'm betting that's a Smiler squad, led by Rust Kaiser.

File: joker firebrand (2).jpg (84 KB, 704x1045)

84 KB JPG

>>39298868

There is something almost surreal about the sight - all emotion strangely muted from their voices, the mismatched and lumbering figures strangely tranquil even as the roar arises from below. Perhaps it is one of the oddities of Player armor; No adrenaline to spike panic into frenzy, no way to feel the hammer of your own pulse, to remind you that you're still alive. The unmoving, carved grotesques of helmets and masks are a poor expression of what they truly mean...

-And the thin line of your forces, of your depleted three squads, with *guns*...It prevents them from charging up the narrow walkways for succor, for aid, or simply because you won't let them in. There isn't even a direction in the panic, just scuffles breaking out - the knowledge that what awaits out there, infinitely worse than *here*, is enough to prevent a riot.

"Trapped." Geist rasps. "-Trapped like rats." Servoes whirr, as he turns; the glare he directs against the tiny knot of the Seisin High contigent is baleful, eerie light glowing in his single eye. He has the presence of mind to glance at you, visibly forcing himself to calm; but the vector thrusters that give him his name are constantly in motion, rotating, betraying his frustration.

Not many of those left, either - You can't help but notice. Some of the younger girls are crying; That monotone, emotionless weeping that requires an effort to produce, so different from a display of human emotion. Like dolls, forced into reluctant motion.

(Continued)

>>39298950

The first shot rings out. You see Flare Oriole flinch, as a flaming projectile detonates against her shoulder plating; It sheds sparks, fire kissing her armor - enough to stagger her, but not to penetrate, even as her burning wings rise to threat-position. She has her namesake weapon gripped in her fist, leveling it in silent threat; a figure lurches back, bringing his hands up in surrender, molten light flickering around them-

FIREBRAND

"Don't *shoot*-"

It was only a matter of time, really. Some of the new Players - in a desperate, fumbling way - are discovering that they have powers of their own. There's a click, as Oriole's vocalization comes over the Dirac channel:

"Joker - Crowd's getting uglier," she says - Curtly, never one to mince words. "-We're going to have a panic on our hands."

"Your orders?"

[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>39298957

(Gentlemen, to clarify:

Vector Geist: 12 Players.
Steppenwulf: 4 Players
Flare Oriole: 6 Players
Counterweight Squadron: 11 Players, Armaros and Chrome Cypher.
Auxiliaries: Daegal, Tyrian Edge, Volt Regios, Distortion Haze, Rook
Seisin Contingent: 21
Survivors/Independents: 47 (approximately))

>>39298957
So for clarification: the shelter's only entrance is by some kind of parking lot? I imagine it as underground, as well.
Not a great strategist myself, but the smart thing to do seems to be to set up some form of killbox, then.

>>39299019

(It's actually underground, beneath the parking lot.)

>>39298957
"Let me talk to everyone. It's time to get everyone up to speed."

So, guys, it's time to hold a speech.

>>39298983
We basically have two groups.
The veterans and the civilians.

Among the veterans, the Auxiliaries are on our side. Meanwhile, Counterweight and the raiders dislike each other.

Also, the Seisin girls know more than the other civilians.

So, should we start by giving them a short explanation of what the situation is?

Something like
"Right now, you are in a place we call the Red world, according to the color of its sky. As you can see, you turn into robots when you enter this world.
The rules here are simple. Kill other people and you increase in power. Remember that, because most veterans are hardened killers.

Once you have the time, you might want to familiarize yourself with your new shape. Even if you don't want to fight, you at least need the ability to protect yourself.

Our enemies are the Smilers. They are sitting in the Diadem, the ship in the middle of this battlefield.
Once the ship takes off, everything underneath the shield dome will be destroyed.
The shield dome itself is projected by the ship and prevents us from leaving the area, as well as the Red world - Yes, you can leave this world. Transitioning is a common task.

We are currently planning on how to survive this mess.

If you want to fight with us, you are welcome. We can use any additional firepower we can get and have a good supply of weapons."

I know that it's simply not emotional enough and very stilted. But it contains the information that the non-combatants need.

The last sentence is the most important. It will break the boundaries between veterans and newbies a bit.

>>39298957
>>39299033
I'm pretty shit with dialogue, but I'll throw in some support for this.

>>39299019
>>39299033
The problem is, we don't know how long this'll take, and we have a time limit.
Flaking out is far from the ideal solution, since we'd be leaving with the most capable people to raid the Diadem, but it's either that or making it by the skin of our teeth, assuming we also want supplies from the HS, though I'm not sure of the exact travel times.

>>39298957
"They want some way to release all their pent-up emotions. All we have to do is show them the right direction."

"Either way, we can't just sit here, waiting for death. If the Smilers want to take a ship to the Heavens, we'll just have to rip it apart from the inside."

I'd say now'd be a good time for a speech.

>>39299071
Have our people take a quick look through the crowd for anyone with some kind of useful ability, ie flight?

>>39299033
I think the problem is that most of the people you're talking are full on civilians. Less Flare Oriele or Armaros, more how Daegal was when he hesitated to kill that Smiler. You'll have to sympathize and calm them. And honestly, I'd defer to Kazuya for that. He's better at dealing with people than Anon is, by a long shot.

All I would tell them we're coming up with a plan to stop the Diadem from launching. The main problem is actually executing the plan.

Also, to anyone saying we shouldn't fire the Hollow Sun? In an hour or two game time it won't matter. That's just enough operational time to get the Dominion online.

The Manifold Frame is busted, isn't it? Or unable to get another shot off. If we want to have any chance of using the Dominion to board that damn thing, we have to activate the Hollow Sun and get enough Meter to unleash the Leukocyte to punch a hole through it big enough to get it inside.

...or I could be misreading how the shield works entirely. IT IS wrapped around the Diadem and Arcadia? Or just the former? I'm unfortunately not good at telling things like that.

>>39299055
Additional ideas:
- Expand the dirac network, so that everyone has the same IFF identifications and can talk to each other. This should create a modicum of trust and coordination.

>>39299071
This reminds me:
The Hollow Sun has dedicated armor breaching weapons. I wonder if they could harm the shield if we used a few dozen of them.


>k) INFERNO CANNON:
>PRIMING: 40% Cobalt Booster
>A blocky, cumbersome weapon - Covered with heat-sinks, secondary coils and dampeners - the Inferno Cannon occupies an unusual tactical role in the Hollow Sun's arsenal. While retaining the Fusion Gun's short range and enormous energy consumption, the Inferno Cannon is absolute short-ranged hellfire; Once cycled to charge, the resulting output is a ravening torrent of fusion energy that simply unmakes anything in the way. Equally effective on lightly-armored or heavily-armored Player alike (And utter overkill on Correctors) the sheer bulk of the Inferno Cannon makes it extremely difficult to use at optimum range. The highly volatile nature of the energy cells involved - And the poor manuverability of the weapon - mean that efficiently employing it remains a daunting prospect.

>By inference, however, the Inferno Cannon was never meant to be used on an infantry scale - But to demolish infrastructure and provide a devastating means of attack against vehicles and other reinforced objectives.

>(tl;dr - The Inferno Cannon takes a full turn to charge before it can fire continuously with an escalating risk of overheating. It has, however, extremely high armor penetration and damage - But must be employed at close-to-point-blank range.
>It is, effectively, an anti-vehicle weapon.)
We have about eighty or so people. We might be able to create man-sized holes.

>>39299089

(The issue with this is that you can't actually reach the Hollow Sun. It's outside the Shield: The area that was Seisin High has merged with, and spread out over, the zone of Arcadia. It's beyond the 'normal' city of Pandemonium and your usual areas.

The Diadem is the source of the shield, and is - effectively - dead center of Arcadia. The effect radiates out from the main structure.)

>>39299089
The shield is around Arcadia.
Otherwise we would be able to leave the area.

Think SupCom bubble shield.

OP has already stated that we need to enter the Hollow Sun to fire it. So no chance on that.

Yeah, Kazuya is likely better at holding the speech. But we need to pass him the information that he's supposed to include. He himself barely knows the Red.

>>39299033

(Gentlemen, just to confirm: This is what you want to tell them?)

>>39299131
Can let Kazuya tell them the things in that post, in his own style?

>>39299140
>>39299131
I'm in support of it, but I'd rather we gave the speech ourselves.

>>39299140

(If that's the consensus, sure.)

>>39299107
Thanks for the clarification. Then we're dealing with a funny scenario, honestly, in that our most effective tool for breaking the shield is outside of it, and effectively not on.

Man, we really could've done with giving Tyrian solid access and just making him swear not to abuse that shit. Probably would've worked out, he'd be too cowardly to risk having the Red Joker out for his not-blood.

Anyone know about the Diadem defenses? Did we manage to destroy that array it had or only damage it?

>>39299131
The only reason I'm technically against telling them there the here and all of the Red World is because it might encourage panicking. Finding out you're in Hell-Fucked-Mad-Max World and you're dead anyways is probably NOT good for the psyche of a regular person.

I'd second >>39299140 simply because once we pass that information to him, Kazuya might be able to break things down more "safely."

>>39299150
Ok, then let us add some flowery stuff.

Step out in front of everyone.
"Everyone, listen to me!
I am the Red Joker. Known for blowing shit up randomly and being a menace to the Smilers, who are currently trying to kill us all.

Let me tell you about our current situation..."
And then add that speech into it.

Afterwards, tell a few of the more social veterans to talk with the people about their talents. i.e. if there's a flier among them and if that flier would want to join our flier squad.

>>39299156
>The only reason I'm technically against telling them there the here and all of the Red World is because it might encourage panicking. Finding out you're in Hell-Fucked-Mad-Max World and you're dead anyways is probably NOT good for the psyche of a regular person.
That's why I didn't include the "anyone can force you into a duel" part in my speech.
Only the "you can leave, but first we have to buttfuck the smilers or at least break the shield" part.

>>39299152
Honestly, the only thing I want to add is this:
>"Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.'"

Let Kazuya and Hisao tell people about the specifics of player bodies, in regards to being new to the whole player thing.
They both know it pretty well, considering that they've only recently started fighting.

>>39299199
Yeah, let's traumatize everyone in one sentence. Nope, don't add this.

However, we might want to tell them about trigger discipline. Don't trigger your abilities inside of the bunker. You don't know what they might do.

>>39299169
End it by saying that we're going to leave a few veterans here to protect them so don't feel pressured to do anything they think they'll regret.

These people just want to survive. Everyone knows how that feels.

Make sure to hold to that. Honestly I'd suggest Chrome and some of Counterweight. They've been fighting to protect people from this exact scenario.

I mean, I'd try typing up a quick one, but what I'm honestly afraid of is not sounding Red Joker enough.

>>39299199
You just went full flowery.
Never go full flowery if you're trying to convince anyone.

>>39299222
>End it by saying that we're going to leave a few veterans here to protect them so don't feel pressured to do anything they think they'll regret.
Do we even split the team?
We have yet to formulate a plan.
I thought about getting everyone and trying to break through the shield.
Or we could assault the Diadem, meaning that not everyone would want to be with us.

>I mean, I'd try typing up a quick one, but what I'm honestly afraid of is not sounding Red Joker enough.
RJ is basically a hivemind. Just type it up.

>>39299033

> "Let me talk to everyone. It's time to get everyone up to speed."

A pause, then:

> "Acknowledged."

"This should be good," Rook mutters, in that rasping voice of his - You're fairly certain he doesn't know you can hear him.

>>39299076

> "They want some way to release all their pent-up emotions. All we have to do is show them the right direction."
> "Either way, we can't just sit here, waiting for death. If the Smilers want to take a ship to the Heavens, we'll just have to rip it apart from the inside."

"You're going to tell them *that*?" Haze says - he sounds dubious at best, horrified at worst. Steppenwulf nods - his chrome muzzle bobbing, up then down - before he catches himself at the very last moment. Your autoreactive talons clank against the metal flooring below as you pace forward, your ash-cloak streaming in your wake; Tyrian Edge and Counterweight squadron engrossed in decoding the flood of data still spilling over the shimmering display-

You glimpse Cypher, looking at you. When you meet her gaze, she simply shrugs - A strangely-human gesture, one that communicates resignation and acknowledgment at once; As if she's saying that the situation is already as bad as it can get.

She's wrong. Things can always get worse.

The overhead gantry ends in a walkway, criss-crossing the bare ground of the shelter below. Heads turn, as you pace forward - the slow, deliberate pace of each step matching your stride, your shadow stretching before you. It is a measured progress, giving you time to think, to focus on what you're about to say-

The crowd falls silent. Not all at once - Here and there, helmets craning upwards, a hushed murmur making the rounds as the full sight of you is revealed.

"-that's him, that's the one-"

"-it's the Joker-"

Joker. Joker - Overlapping echoes. Like a voice from memory. Your gauntlet settles on the railing, and the metal begins to warp out of alignment beneath your grasp.

(Continued)

>>39299246
In hindsight making the speech while looking like an eldritch monstrosity with tentacles wasn't the best idea.

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32 KB JPG

>>39299246
>She's wrong. Things can always get worse.

Expect the pain.
Time to fuck up.

>>39299240
Be realistic. Not everyone is going to go along with this plan. Hell I wouldn't be surprised if a few of the Veterans pulled a Tyrian and preferred to stay here with their fingers crossed. We're lucky Hisao didn't back out when we told him the same back then. I'm certain some of us Anons would chicken out in this scenario.

Fortunately (or unfortunately, who knows?) OP seems to have gone along with what's been presented.

>>39299262
Oh shit. I had forgotten about that. Well, it's not like they can get much more afraid - it's best the monster gives the bad news so they will not hate the more normal guys

>>39299228
I didn't write that. It's a quote from the Old Joker.

>>39299262
Ideally, you'd want Kazuya to break the "bright side" news on them. The one that tells them we're building a plan right now and will execute ASAP, we will not fail them, etc. He could end it telling them the other speech/speaker is for those willing to fight.

Then we'd do our own speech to rally those people on. We're far better at telling people to fight than we are explaining the nature of this world. But then again we got a whole lot more practice on the former.

>>39299300
A nice tidbit that they should know:
Even if you get crippled in this world, it won't matter in the real world.
I imagine amputation would otherwise scare them a lot.

>>39299300
Something about Kazuya/Deagal being the "good cop" to Joker's "bad cop"?

I guess that's fine.

Kazuya seems to have better social scores than Anon, and being told that "everything's gonna be alright" by knight in shining golden armor looks better than being told the same thing by a red-and-black abomination on two feet.

>>39299312
> two feet.
Isn't it more like hooves?
For some reason I imagine us having two talons, a bit like a two-toed hoof.

> "Listen to me."

Your voice crackles across the space, a vocalization.

> "I am the Red Joker."

They know you. Not all of them, but enough - The butcher of the Red. The wild card. The rogue element.

> "The rules here are simple. Kill, and you grow stronger."
> "Remember that, because most veterans are hardened killers."

Consternation. Even Daegal looks up at that - He tenses, at what you're saying. Perhaps he's remembering what he's glimpsed mere hours ago - the cold, lethal calm that brought you through SYNAPSE GUILLOTINE and BLACK AZAZEL and GREY JAEGER.

> "Our enemies are the Smilers."

There is an almost-snarl to your words, the syllables stretched out into a hiss.

> "Once the ship takes off, everything underneath the shield dome will be destroyed."

There are screams. High, reedy - Oddly muted, an expression of belated panic. They already know, of course - But to hear it stated so bluntly, to hear it spoken of like this-

> The Shield dome itself is projected by the Ship and prevents us from leaving the area, as well as the Red world.
> Yes, you can leave this world. Transitioning is a common task.

"You're insane!"

It's a shout from below - A full-throated shriek from IMPEL RAIL, held back by two Simulation Bodies, struggling against their grasp. His helmet's aerial whips in his wake, his fingers clawing for purchase.

"-shut up, he'll *kill you*-"

"-nji, get back-"

He doesn't seem to notice them, as the circle of agitation spreads.

"Nothing - nothing - you say *makes sense*-"

(Continued)

>>39299324
That's probably correct.

Joker is in a permanent(?) Devil Bringer form.
(Devil May Cry 3 Dante flavored.)

>>39299324
>For some reason
I should think that's because of the term "autoreactive talons".

>>39299345
But that doesn't imply that we've got a set of two talons shaped like a hoof.

>>39299310
Honestly I'm worried as shit about that. I wonder what the hell will happen to Kazuya once he leaves the Red. Even if he gets restored physically, he's going to be scarred mentally.

>>39299330
...REALLY should've had Daegal present that in his own flavor...I guess I will do one if there ever is a case for one again. Garbage might be better than nothing or a general guideline rather than something personal.

If I could interject...
"I've been in this world longer than all of you combined have. I've been in this world longer than some of the people I work with have. Doubt me if you want."

>>39299336
Devil Trigger, anon. Devil Bringer is Nero's arm.

>>39299355
>Even if he gets restored physically
Yeah, I hope he doesn't end up blind.

But I was talking about player armor. We've already fought with half of our body missing and never had any ill effects, after all.
We don't hesitate to block with our arm, because we know it will be restored the next time we log in.

>>39299356
I dun goofed.

I'd commit sudoku if I wasn't too busy waiting for JokerOP to post the update.

>>39299330
Now I would like to give Impel Rail a softer version of Ogre's treatment.

>>39299379
You want to softly kill him?

>>39299379
What, we kill his waifu and him, then run off with his relic?
And then kill him again sometime later?

>>39299384
No.
Something like "hit me!".

>>39299387
I meant the whole headbutting tough love thing.

>>39299355
>I've been in this world longer than some of the people I work with have.
Did you "most"? Because "some" isn't really impressive, considering the only one who has spent more time in the Red than Joker and is still alive is Naoya.

>>39299395
Most works better, yeah, but I was thinking in terms of people present...which your argument still holds true for. Sorry about that.

But it's funny that that's the case, outside of outliers like probably Pazuzu (definitely comes across as a carry-over from the last run) and Imago.

>>39299330

A subvocalization, from Geist:

"Joker, there's trouble." There is a surge of motion, towards the stairs - Some of Geist's Players, an especially ragtag bunch, are covering the way up. The glow of their weapons is enough to balk the crowd, but the convection of sheer panic is gradually pushing them forward.

But there are other voices joining RAIL's, now - A babble of raw fear, of unselfconscious desperation.

Oriole, now - the tension stark in her words.

"Keep them back-"

> "I've been in this world longer than all of you combined have. I've been in this world longer than some of the people I work with have. Doubt me if you want."
> "We are currently planning on how to survive this mess."

There's a flat calm to your voice. No exaggeration, just facts. It's the simple word 'survive' that does the most good - the hope that they *might live*. It is that desperate hope that drowns out all else, that eclipses even the fear...For a moment.

> "If you want to fight with us, you are welcome. We can use any additional firepower we can get and have a good supply of weapons-"

"Fuck that!" You don't know who shouted that - You can't pick out the speaker, amid the press. "If you think we're going to fucking *die* for you-"

Just one speaker - but you can already see the agitation spreading, the murmurs breaking into a primal shock of horror-

The last thing the terrified, abused Players - new and old, prisoners in bodies they don't understand, in a place where mercy is far away and only bloody death is near - of Arcadia want to hear...

-is that the worst is yet to come.

(Continued)

>>39299395
Did Naoya get the thousand years in hell treatment as well?

>>39299411
Remember that it's only a request, and that most of them should just leave. Do we even have a plan to get them out?

>>39299413
Yeah. That's why he had that shitload of experience, for one.
He also talked about 'starting off with thirteen in the darkness, but by the end there were only 2 left'.

>>39299413
He is the one who got it in the first place. Anon only had a hundred.
>>39299429
>Do we even have a plan to get them out?
No, because that's impossible without taking down the Shield.

>>39299430
Ah, I see. Did we ever work out why the surviving finalists and some random ass people got dragged down or was it just chance?

>>39299437
>Anon only had a hundred.
Remember that this is very subjective.
We might have spent the same amount of time there, with Naoya being a drama queen.

>>39299411
Only Kazuya can save us now.

>>39299413
He was in the Black World once.

>>39299429
The problem is that the front loaded anvil of this Op is that we'd have to:
A. Board the Diadem.
B. Choose between:
B1. Locating the energy source of the Diadem's shields and either disabling or destroying it.
B2. All or nothing mode: brute force our way back to the Nexus to assume direct control over the whole damn thing.
C (If B1): Find engine source, fuck it up unless it's the same as the shield source.

Either one lets them log out. Though the problem is that, as far as I can tell the Shroud's torn here and there's no idea whatsoever if it's localized or completely torn across the city...or if the damn shield's the only thing keeping it from tearing open everywhere.

Problem to me is that I don't even know if we can get onboard the Diadem again, or where from.

>>39299481
I wonder if it's possible to log out in areas with a torn shroud.
We might have held the speech as a human.

>>39299411

The ground trembles, as the surge of bodies draws closer to the very foot of the steps.

"Ready warning shots," Vector Geist says, sharply - "On my command-"

"LISTEN TO HIM!"

Daegal's shout cuts across the press. There is raw, unfiltered emotion in it - His segmented armor articulating, as he bulls his way to the front. Vapor coils up from his heels, as if he's sprinted all the way here...And maybe he has. The feedback squeals across the channel; You glimpse Players doubling over at the sound, flinching as he stumbles to a stop, his gleaming figure at the far end of the balcony.

"-who's that-"

"-*another* one?"

For one frozen instant - the kind which could erupt into violence - everything hangs on a precipice. They're staring up - Not just at you, but at *him*, now. To be the focus of attention like that is utterly, utterly paralyzing-

And then he forges on anyway.

"We're going to get you *out of here*. We're going to get *everyone* out of here. I - God - I *know* what you're feeling. And I swear that *every one of you* is going *home*-"

It's not the best speech. It's too fast, he's almost tripping over the words - But it's how he says it. He's telling them what they want to hear.

(Continued)

>>39299411
"This isn't an order and not a request.This is a choice. I am not telling you to go and die for me, I'm telling you to fight for you own survival."

"None of are equipped for this situation. None of us expected something of this extent.But we came here to find hope.We gathered because we are not willing to lie down and die. Because we want to help ourselves and survive."

"We are not heroes, we are not soldiers and we are not the police. We are just like you - humans, stuck in this hellhole, desperate to survive. And we are willing to take our chances against fate. What I'masking you is not whether you're ready to fight by my side, but whether you're willing to make a difference, to help save yourself and everyone here, instead of just hoping that someone else will do it for you."

"After all, as you are now, you have the body and abilities to act upon your own wishes, be it avenging your friends, family or loved ones,or saving yourself and the few who surround you. And I have the plan that can save us."

>>39299507
If we make it out of this shit we're treating him to an all-he-can-down drinking buffet. Being a teenager can go fuck itself.

Man's had our back when, thanks to Lachryma, I'm not even sure WE have our backs anymore.

>>39299507
>"We're going to get you *out of here*. We're going to get *everyone* out of here. I - God - I *know* what you're feeling. And I swear that *every one of you* is going *home*-"
There goes best boy again.
The protagonist that everyone deserves.

>>39299538
Well shit, I wish I had that "trust nobody, even yourself" image macro ready.

>>39299538
Man, we'll party with everyone once we get out of this shit and drink on the dead.

>>39299549
Anon, we already drunk on the dead.

What do you think Lachryma is?

>>39299566
Everyone will drink our blood next.
Time to become Jesus.

>>39299507

He falters. There are no cheers, or applause - But the press, the knife-edge spiral into chaos, is momentarily arrested for *just long enough*. Daegal gives you a desperate look-

> "None of are equipped for this situation. None of us expected something of this extent. But we came here to find hope. We gathered because we are not willing to lie down and die. Because we want to help ourselves and survive."
> "We are not heroes, we are not soldiers and we are not the police. We are just like you - humans, stuck in this hellhole, desperate to survive. And we are willing to take our chances against fate. What I'm asking you is not whether you're ready to fight by my side, but whether you're willing to make a difference, to help save yourself and everyone here, instead of just hoping that someone else will do it for you."

Human, beneath the armor. Human, in spite of everything else.

It is the appeal to that humanity that, at last, takes root. They're terrified, one and all - they've seen the black rain from the final ruin of the Shroud. They've seen walking nightmares rip people apart, seen every certainty overturned, seen friends and family turn on their own.

And that is the truth that is at the very heart of who you are:

In the end, the only one who can save you is yourself.

An uneven hush descends. The press falters, pulls back. There is a sincerity to your words, despite the faltering of the initial momentum; When the crowd withdraws, reluctantly, some remain. Not all, of course - less than half. Slightly more than twenty, some intent on survival, some from principle, some from sheer peer pressure or hoping for the surety of a weapon - *any* weapon, any chance to live just a little longer.

(Continued)

>>39299572
Real talk: if we absolutely need a contingency plan, give Daegal the Misericode. If we either fall to the Black Joker or get so fucked up we're definitively going to die from this and he's there...? Better he become Gold Joker than a Smiler or someone like Alura get her hands on the armor.

Though that's another curiosity about it. When we think of the Red Joker's heart being the Black Joker's, do we mean the Red Joker itself, or worse, Anon? Because I fear we may be a conduit for the Black to leak through.

>>39299578
>In the end, the only one who can save you is yourself.
Somehow, I read that as "In the end, the only one you can save is yourself".

Not sure if that's a good thing.

>>39299578

"Stand down," Geist mutters, the order echoed by Oriole, by Steppenwulf. Stand down.

In private, conferring across the channel:

> "Still lucky, Joker."
> "-Too close, that one."

Beside you, Daegal slumps against the railing. Exhaustion is written in every line of his peerless form, as he exhales a crackling breath he doesn't need.

"God," he says. "-God."

[ ] "Thanks for the save."
[ ] "-Are you all right?"
[ ] "Where did that come from?"
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>39299578
Thank you, anon, for throwing this part in.

>>39299599
>"Thanks for the save."
>"-Are you all right?"

>>39299599
"You did good, man. You did damn good."

No joking about the play, just the truth. That was just as much him as it was the Anon that contributed.

>>39299599
>[ ] "Thanks for the save."
>[ ] "Where did that come from?"

>>39299599
>[ ] "Thanks for the save."
"I almost used the tactic that helped when Iron Ogre didn't want to join my team.
I don't think any of the civilians would have appreciated a headbutt.

Next time I'll let you handle the speech."

>>39299590
I'm more worried about the fact that it could be possible the next Joker from now on will be Athame'd.
Also, not sure if Gold Joker is possible.
Also, best Bro continues to be best.
>>39299599
>"-You alright?"
>"You did good, Kaz."

>>39299599
>"I don't think God's here, right now. That just means we'll have to pick up the slack ourselves if we really want to get through this intact."
Moment of awkward silence.
>[X] "Thanks for the save."

>>39299627
>Also, not sure if Gold Joker is possible.
I believe it so. Until Athame, Daegal tolerated and learned from the armor. If we WERE worthy, we might have had the Golden Dream. But we weren't. Red Joker doesn't ask for you to have a ridiculous amount of essence, only to either have the key to the armor or the power to take it for yourself.

I don't think Daegal'd mind if the armor was outright slaved to it either.

>>39299647
I wonder how sentient Daegal is. Or sapient, at least.
Does it have some form of AI? How does it choose 'the worthy'?

>>39299599
"Man, you are as reliable as Akira.

Thank god for these friends."

>>39299660
>Does it have some form of AI
Well it fought us.

>>39299617
>>39299613
>>39299610
>>39299621
>>39299627

> [X] "Thanks for the save."
> "You did good, man. You did damn good."

"Yeah," he says, heavily. "Yeah."

You follow his gaze = Kazuya's staring fixedly at the volunteers, arrayed in a loose, amphorous half-circle; Vector Geist glances up in your direction as he descends to meet them, without a word.

> "Man, you are as reliable as Akira.
> Thank god for these friends."

You hear him wince, audibly, at that - "...He's in this too," he murmurs, almost to himself. "He just - He didn't sound like himself. It's hard to believe..."

His voice trails off. Daegal's hand, where it grips the railing, is trembling.

> "I almost used the tactic that helped when Iron Ogre didn't want to join my team.
> I don't think any of the civilians would have appreciated a headbutt.
> Next time I'll let you handle the speech."

He laughs - It's a choked sound, artificial, more nervous then genuine. A release of a pressure-valve, a harsh bark of it.

> "-Are you all right?"

"I-" There's a distinct hesitation to Kazuya's words, now - There's something bothering him, but he shakes his head, brushing it off.

"Just...Don't make me a liar, yeah?" He means for it to be half-joking, but the situation is too dire for that. There's a visible strain to him, from the effort of keeping his voice light; Perhaps that's his limit, because he draws away, walking back the way he came.

His shoulders are bowed, as if an invisible burden on them has only grown heavier.

(Continued)

>>39299668
Y'know, I wonder what's happening with Akira's hand, that he got from that one sword-y finalist?
He seems to be doing pretty alright now.

>>39299732
Here is praying that one of the newbs is a healer.

>>39299736
What I'm concerned about isn't his hand.

It's the fact that Alura brought Phantom Edge back. One of the things I'd have asked during our little Meet n' Soulrape.

We'd want to make due haste to the Diadem to make sure he doesn't have any bad shit befalls him. I THINK you guys mentioned PE to him during the first raid (and man I have a fun theory about how Hellebore fucked us over hardcore there.) so at least he has the heads up.

>>39299763
I'm more worried about what the fuck the Silencers mean.
You know, the mass-produced things that look like him.

>>39299776
Pazuzu straight up copied him. Don't forget he said Pazuzu's the reason he exists as he does, so it's not a surprise that he found a way to replicate him without the mind. Also some Anon posted a solid theory when they existed. Essence without a mind given simple directives, placed in a shell not unlike his own.

I mean, I'd worry because that means there are probably Silencers aboard the Diadem, but compared to Phantom Edge getting the sword back, they're just a hell of a welcoming party for boarders...and probably will be part of the first and last waves when we board it.

I'm really anxious that this will end with all of the civilians and most raiders dieing.

>>39299732

"Joker - And, uh, Cypher - and Rook, and..."

"Get on with it," Regios crackles, not unkindly.

Ten minutes. Ten minutes is forever, with your head on the chopping block. That's how long it took for Tyrian Edge and the Counterweight systems to process the encrypted data the Thief transmitted: a high-density, high-yield code-blurt from the Diadem itself. The red numerals of the timer tick away at the corner of your vision, counting upwards with ponderous unstoppability...

You've gathered around the table again. As many of you as possible - the others focused on arming the new volunteers, of telling them exactly *how* to use the weapons they carry. On one side; Geist, Steppenwulf, Regios, Rook, Haze, Oriole...and you. On the other, everyone else. It occurs to you that - At some point - Geist's loyalties have shifted away from Sterling Industries; the lines of division are clearer than before, but less important than ever.

The need for survival eclipses all else.

Tyrian hits keys on his gauntlet, and the view of the city shifts. Lines radiate outwards from the Diadem, connecting to five points along the city's perimeter.

"These," he says, without further preamble, admirably clear of a stammer - "-are what's keeping the Shield up."

"Five field generator pylons, under a foot-plate." Another keypress, for an exploded view of what looks like a skyscraper - Adorned with arcing lines of circuitry, looping ever-upwards to the spire above. "-And this is what they look like. Between them, they serve as anchors for a planar field; An arc of perpetual energy, rising up to a preset distance before it finds coherence. As for the power feed...There could be a dozen reactors around here. More, to feed all the pylons."

(Continued)

>>39299921

He draws a breath, a breath he doesn't need. "Basically - the Diadem produces the field and they stabilize it, greatly increasing the range. Even if the interdiction Shield is disrupted, the pylons...they fill in the gaps, see? When the Shield overloads, some of the burden's shifted to *them* instead; they function as auxiliary projectors, conducting the Diadem's signal. And since we can't destroy the Diadem...It's almost foolproof, you see? Redundacies and safeguards.

"When the Diadem launches - The pylons will be the *last* thing to be destroyed. B, but - But it wouldn't matter *then*, because-"

"...Because we'll all be incinerated in the blast," Armaros cuts in. Then - "Continue."

"I...I've kind of lost my thread," Tyrian admits - flicking through the screens, keying them aside. "Each one's extremely resilient to damage - Even if you wanted to destroy one, you'd need heavy explosives, heavy firepower-"

"Assume we have that." Cypher, now. Her halberd grounded against the floor.

"I mean to say - If you destroyed one, it wouldn't be enough. It'd weaken the Shield, but...If you wanted to be *sure* - You'd have to destroy two of them. Maybe three. And even with fast flyers, you're talking about areas spaced equidistance around an entire *city*..."

"...And it still doesn't harm the Diadem in any way. They can lose them *all*, and they'll still win."

(Continued)

>>39299921
I wish we had the tank with tunelling drills and AI.
It could be sent to dig through the earth and destroy every singly generator from underground.

>>39299959
So we have a way to leave and evacuate everyone, but it will allow the Smilers to get the Diadem running.

Then again, this would allow us to regroup and engage our heavier weapons. We do have a dedicated R&D facility, after all. Imagine the Sun getting hold of the artificial Manifold Tower.

Naturally, our best bet would be to damage the Diadem before it lifts off, to get an advantage later on.

>>39299959
So we're pulling an X-Com and diverting small parts of the overall group to the sub goals. We've got a good number of people and as mentioned before, enemy presence should be lower than usual, though I think the Diadem's defenses/offenses are still functional and there are Correctors and insane Players.

Think those...Revolver Bazookas would be up to the trick? If not, definitely Inferno Cannons.

Also we should start putting together Team Smile For the Camera, Fuckface AKA the boarding team right now.

>>39299996
I get the feeling the Smilers would come back if we let them leave...and they'll have a plan to wipe life on Real-Earth out completely. Besides, Akira's onboard, we gotta bail him out at the very least somehow.

>>39299959

At your side, Rook stirs. "Splitting our forces," he says. You note how the others give him a wide berth, except for Haze. "-I don't like this."

And there's the time limit to consider. From here, reaching any of the Pylons would be - you estimate - a half-hour's journey on foot. Less, for those with speed, for those with flight...But how much force could you bring to bear? The calculation of the situation is obvious; A gamble on how many you can destroy, how many Players you can spare.

"As for the rest-"

Pearl Caprice - With White Licorice and Velvet Drossel - comes close to flinching, as Tyrian Edge glances at her. She seems reluctant to speak, until Licorice gives her a gentle push, with her one remaining hand; Enough to make her take the first, faltering step forward.

She clears her throat, her hand passing through the other marks on the map - the ones clustered closer to the Diadem.

"...Arcadia-" she begins, and her voice breaks a little. Composing herself, she goes on. "Arcadia *was* l-linked by a network of teleporters...Before - well, *before* - we could use them to go anywhere we wanted. Even - Sometimes - even outside the city..."

Her words trail off. It's an uncomfortable admission, as she looks to White Licorice for support. "I can't-"

Licorice nods. She limps forward - the damage that's been done to her is uncomfortably clear; she looks at Daegal, for a moment, before she begins to speak.

"They shut them down," Licorice says, simply. "When the *Smilers* came - they closed all the teleporters, you see? Those in the Diadem couldn't get out, and we - we-"

(Continued)

>>39300072

She has to stop, to find the strength to go on. "...I think - I think they knew what we could do. They were everywhere at once - We didn't even know what they were, and they still..." She shivers, though her form cannot feel the cold. When she speaks again, there is a tight control to the words, pushing through the memory. "-These four sites, here - they're halting sites."

"There were...a lot of them were in the *city*, you see? Now they're going back to the Diadem, they can't just gather anywhere - Or we'd be using the portals, too. So...so, they must have activated these ones, to let them teleport *back*..."

"That's our way in." Rook's voice is unmodulated, harsh. He hunches forward like a bird of prey, his claws scraping lightly against the metal of the table - they draw sparks. Armaros gives him a look that holds only wary contempt...But then he nods, in grudging agreement.

"-We go in," he rumbles. "We sever the head, and the body dies."

"It's suicide-!" Steppenwulf's cultured voice is distinctly alarmed, now. "-What you're saying is...*All* the Smilers are in the Diadem. If this works - *If* it works - you'll be *right in the middle of them*-"

You notice he didn't say 'we'.

"It's more than that," Oriole vocalizes. "...What if they shut the teleporter off?" Her high-crested helm angles upwards. "If they disable it before we can *use* it-"

She doesn't go on, but you know what she's thinking. Moving to a halting site means abadoning any hope of escaping the city on time - barring exceptional circumstances. It is, in every sense of the word, a one-way trip.

(Continued)

>>39300131
Welp.

Welcome to the Temple Ship Assault.

Who's our Psionic Volunteer? The one who HAS to survive to finish the mission? Because I'm highly doubting it's us.

>>39300131
That's a trip that we wouldn't take any newbies on.
And all of the ones coming with us would need enhanced movement abilities.

And it would definitely require some demolitions experts and crowd control.

>>39300150
The Hellion summons would be so fucking useful right now.

>>39300154
WE HAVE to go, Daegal would be good backup. They're the only two with system access good enough that if they DID make it to the Nexus they could shut this shit down.

Otherwise we need as much firepower as we can bring to bear.

>>39300167
If they pull this off properly and with minimal delay, comms should lift, since I believe the shield plays a role in this. We'd have 30 minutes in which we can call in Hellions en masse...but that's also a damning point, if we want to use the Hollow Sun, either us or Kazuya has to stay to access it...it probably should be him.

Kinda wishing we did more production, yeah?

>>39300189
>Kinda wishing we did more production, yeah?
Nigga, we are STILL incapable of unloading the Hollow Sun without physical access.
Get it into your thick skull.

I was talking about the teleport homer upgrade.

>WE HAVE to go
Duh.

I bet the entire core team will come with us, some mission control might stay back.
The raiders might break the pylons and counterweight and some of the other raiders will likely support the civilians.

>>39300131

"-A small team." Cypher says, quietly. All emotion has been filtered from Natsumi's voice. "A small, elite team could do it."

"We could-" Licorice begins, then stops. Every eye turns to her. In a very, very small voice - "...We - All of us - we know how the teleporters *work*. If you could get us to one...As long as it's active - We could *make sure* you got there..." She forges on, heedless - She's aware what she's saying. "But - The portals...They aren't *meant* for more than a few people. Four, maybe five at-"

"Five," Armaros says. "One too many is better than too few."

He looks at you, and you know what he's thinking. In the absolute worst case - It means that only one Player faces death at ground zero.

"Mayuri-" You can hear the tension in Daegal's voice. "You don't *have* to do-"

The futility of his statement dawns on him, and he says nothing more.

Five. Five of yours, against-

Pazuzu, for sure. Rust Kaiser, for another. Bell Zephyr. Who else? Who goes, and who stays?

[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>39300216
Red Joker, Daegal, Armaros, Rook, Distortion Haze

>>39300216
>>39300280
Yeah that's what I was going to post, just with more rambling.

>>39300216
Joker, Armaros and Rook for sure.
Not sure if we should take Daegal and Chrome, since it might be best to have them on standby to that they can launch the Hollow Sun.

There's also the possibility that we won't need to launch it at all or we'll need it for what happens once we stop the Diadem.

>>39300216
Joker for sure.
Haze.
Natsumi would probably be good too.
I think Volt Regios would do quite well too.
Armaros would round out the team well

Daegal should be left behind. He can try his best to access the hollow sun.
Rook should help with the towers.
I think we should go in with the 5, have the rest work together and try to escape, have everyone head to the Hollow Sun to await further instructions.

>>39300210
I meant AFTER the shield drops, dude.

This shit goes down in an hour? If we dispatch enough people to take down the 2-3 shield generators, that'd be enough to get Hollow Sun active, since active shield is the only thing keeping us from going to it. Yes, we'd need to get someone out there fast (Hello Ophanim), and Daegal's the only other one with access, but point is, it's a option. A LATE option but an option and one we'll want to take to even the odds. If the ground teams do their job, that is. Which is why we want good people with them.

Chrome, Armaros, most of Counterweight. Probably want Volt, and Haze on a shieldbusting team. Other than that, maybe some of the combat-capable Seisen girls and willing Survivors? The rest that aren't waiting this out are going up there with us. No way we're talking Rook out of joining, not if there's a remote chance Alura's there.

>>39300216
Wouldcha look at that, five we can take. Almost like X-COM.

OP, can you confirm we'd have enough time to potentially launch the Hollow Sun if we got Daegal out to it in time after the shield fell? Assuming the teams are successful in weakening it enough to do so? Would we have to destroy all five to do it? Also, taking the three down; clarify, does this simply weaken or outright remove the shield?

>>39300216
Sheeeeeeeeet.

>>39300280
Daegal makes sense.
Armaros has a nifty Distortion Halo, but is wary of both us and Rook.
Rook is good at melee, but I wonder if the Diadem might be too cramped for him. He can, however, escape even if he doesn't fit into the teleporter.
Distortion Haze... I guess his nuke can save our ass. And he's loyal to Rook.

I was thinking about Chrome Cypher, but an all male team might make more sense here.

>>39300280
I don't think Daegal is the best choice. He doesn't have the mentality to do so and a moment's hesitation in the hornet's nest will be fatal.

>>39300280
>Distortion Haze
We can't. He's out of ammo and severely damaged. We'll have to take Chrome instead.
>I think Volt Regios would do quite well too.
No she won't. She's still half-dead.

>>39300309
>Distortion Haze... I guess his nuke can save our ass.
Don't forget about his upgrade.

>>39300301
>>39300301
Haze and Regios have that issue of being beaten up.
But I guess electricity and pestilence is good in close quarters.

>>39300309
Is Cypher even up to the standards of the rest of our party? She seems more of a mid-tier player.

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Hey guys I found out where this path for the Joker armor ends

It sucks

>>39300216
Okay, so, if I'm not wrong, we send a five man team into the heart of darkness to kill the Smilers, and the rest need to stay outside to deal with the pylons? Since the correctors and the Smilers are all being recalled, the field should be fairly open, so I don't expect them to fail at these tasks.

So... That's that, I guess. Endgame is here.

Maybe we should take a trip to the Hollow Sun and unleash the Hellion Army OH WAIT IT DOESN'T RECOGNISE US ANY MORE. And you chucklefucks shot me down every time I suggested that it might be a good idea to get the remote access thing.

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>>39300339
This guy's mechanical designs are great. He needs to do more.

>>39300339
Looks pretty fukken cool to me anon

>>39300321
This is another valid concern. Very few teams are unhurt and none have regeneration except for maybe Rook. Can we also get a status check on our teams, OP?

>>39300326
He has one missile left, doesn't he? Save it for White if possible. No one's going to miss that fucker's Essence, not even us.

So, what is Anons goal at this point ?What is the end of our story? Is there even a possible Good End anymore?

>>39300306

> OP, can you confirm we'd have enough time to potentially launch the Hollow Sun if we got Daegal out to it in time after the shield fell?

(It is very unlikely that you would be able to launch the Hollow Sun's Hellions in time, before the Diadem took off. It's not impossible, but the time involved would mean that you have an extremely narrow margin - assuming that the Diadem took the maximum possible time to launch.

> Would we have to destroy all five to do it? Also, taking the three down; clarify, does this simply weaken or outright remove the shield?

(Regarding the Shield: there are two possible methods of destroying the Shield. If you find a way to terminate the Diadem's signal, the Shield will fall regardless of the number of Pylons remaining.

Alternatively, you can choose to destroy Pylons instead. It may take anywhere between the destruction of two to three Pylons to disable the Shield, possibly four in the very worst-case scenario. Be aware that if you're planning a simultaneous attack, you'll most likely have to split your forces.

If you fail to bring down the Shield before the Diadem launches, it is very likely that everyone in Arcadia will die.)

>>39300366
Status check would be nice.

Pretty sure Red Joker, Rook and Armaros are on the team, so that leaves two spots. I'd like to take Daegal, but make a detour to the Hollow Sun and see if he can release the Hellions first. Dunno who the last spot should go to.

>>39300341
Stop whining.

Anyway, Daegal would be very good because he has infinite Hollow Sun weapons.
He has guns for every situation.

Cypher and the rest of her team seem to all be on the same level. They all have distortion halos.

Rook will definitely want to be there, to get a shot at murdering Alura.

Haze will probably want to be with Rook at all costs.

>>39300372
Anon's goal?

It's the same goal he goes for every night... or every entry into the Red World, that is.

Survive.

>>39300385
> but make a detour to the Hollow Sun and see if he can release the Hellions first
STOP MAKING IMPOSSIBLE SUGGESTIONS

>>39300385
Nope, can't release the Hellions.

Haze should be the fifth person

>>39300383
>(It is very unlikely that you would be able to launch the Hollow Sun's Hellions in time, before the Diadem took off. It's not impossible, but the time involved would mean that you have an extremely narrow margin - assuming that the Diadem took the maximum possible time to launch.
Guess that's that. The risk is too large, so we'll take Daegal and Chrome with us. Once the Shield's down, we'll have to use a concentrated Tachyon Disintegration blast from the Leukocyte to incapacitate the Diadem.

>>39300385
Yeah, can we get a status check?

>>39300383
>If you fail to bring down the Shield before the Diadem launches, it is very likely that everyone in Arcadia will die.
I definitely suggest having one team attack the pylons, as a fallback option if our squad fails.

>>39300418

Armaros is more powerful than Chrome, right? Or am I reading this wrong, JQOP?

>>39300383
OP, can we get a status update on how Haze and Volt are? If they're beaten up to the point they can't fight, that'll influence our decisions.

>>39300410
>>39300391
>Haze will probably want to be with Rook at all costs.
>Haze should be the fifth person
You guys are asking for something impossible. Haze is dead on his feet and hardly has any ammo left. He won't be useful.

>>39300406
It was posted like 20 seconds after JQOP confirmed it, give me a fucking break.

>>39300430
>Armaros is more powerful than Chrome, right?
We're taking the both. The teamwork the two demonstrated during the earlier fight have will give them a strong edge and bump them up a few tiers.

>>39300395
That's what I figured - but it's gone beyond that. Diving into the heart of the smilers is hardly conductive to surviving

Also, does Mio hate us and/or is she being controlled?

People, please consider the capabilities of everyone for your suggestions.

We definitely should have a Distortion Halo.

Daegal can give us Hollow Sun weapons and might equip Lucifer bits. Two sets of interceptors can do lots of work in that environment.

Rook is a melee specialist. As is Amaro's entire squad.

>>39300445
>hardly any ammo left
Yes, he has only one out of three WMDs. What a poor guy.

I understand your point, but his amount of pestilence missiles is entirely unrelated.
Or are you saying that we are drained because our Axel Grips have been used up?

>>39300452
It's an obvious matter of distance. You need to physically move to the Sun, which is in a remote location and hidden.

>>39300469
>Diving into the heart of the smilers is hardly conductive to surviving
If we don't stop them we'll die. We're just being very pro-active about surviving, as usual.

>>39300383
No risking then. I defer to you, >>39300210 and admit it was my first shit idea. Daegal goes with us. On the plus side we keep the Teleport Homer which means the moment it's time and room permits it, we call in the Red Comet.

Other candidates pending based on skill, experience, equipment, and health status.

Everyone else not willing to hide there and hope for the best goes for those shield generators. Smilers don't give a fuck about the outside anymore so their chances of survival are up, Cryptids aren't even around any more probably,

>>39300435
Volt doesn't go with us period, we get her out and break Black Joker's prediction. We already cheated fate, no need to mock it. I could be wrong but I was under the impression that Cryptid she was grimacing at (as much as she can as Volt) was the same one she sacrificed herself on. The timefuckery that brought her back brought it back too.

>>39300445
Haze defers to Rook in almost all cases. If you tell Rook he can't go unless he gets Haze to stay, Haze will stay.

>>39300430

(In stats, Armaros has more raw firepower and capacity for punishment. He is approximately four to five times stronger than one of his Juggernauts.)

So... Red Joker, Rook, Armaros, Daegal and Chrome Cypher?

>>39300490
Amaros is a big guy

>>39300490

(My sincerest apologies, my trip fell off. I'll need a moment to write up the status of the characters and the other relevant factors.)

>>39300490
Think your tripcode fell off, OP. Still, that definitely means we want Armaros.

>>39300496
I think we need to have that talk about killing with Daegal in earnest. If he goes he CANNOT hesitate. They will kill him.

Also, one of our goals should be linking up with Totenaz if we're not too late. We need that sixth ranger and more importantly, someone with a modicum of stealth and familiarity with the layout of the ship.

>>39300496
Three childhood friends and two guys on opposite ends of corruption?
I like it.

>>39300510
>If he goes he CANNOT hesitate. They will kill him.

Yeah, definitely need to ask him about that.

>>39300510
>They will kill him.
Well, they can certainly try. Daegal probably has the highest armor rating in the world right now and it also doesn't degrade no matter what.

>>39300501
Yeah, a break down would be nice.

Likewise for the forces we have as well, so we can see if hitting the towers is viable.

>>39300510
Also, tell Armaros about Daegal's relic enhancement ability.
They might have a relic for him to use.

>>39300496
Yep. These five have the highest chance of survival, I'd say.

>>39300496
So in terms of Lachryma corrosion, that would be:
Joker = Rook > Armaros = Chrome >>>>>>>>>>>> Daegal.

>>39300538
OP confirmed during the auditorium fight that even if Daegal's armor is fucking god-tier he still takes damage and can be chipped to death like every other player. Speaking of, we should get a note on his HP too.

I just realized: this'll bring all the finalists in one place.

>>39300585
No, lets find out capabilites before anything else. I'm also really dubious about bring Armaros anywhere or Chrome Cypher if she can't keep up.

>>39300676
I'd say Rook's corruption is above Joker's. Joker is just semi-organic, while Rook is a full-on Corrector hybrid.

>>39300676
Two corrupt ones.
Two purityfags.
One shining star.

Three childhood friends.
Two guys who dislike each other.

Two coordinated teams.
And one dude with a hard-on for vengeance.

This is a nice interconnection.

>>39300701
Shit shit shit.
Cypher and Armaros are definitely not finalist tier. And Rook is merely high level and angry.

>>39300690
I wonder if everyone's HUD works the same. Do others get HP values?

>>39300704
We will give Natsumi a lvl 1 Terminus upgrade once this is over.

She needs a way to keep up with her two guyfriends.

>>39300704
>dubious about bring Armaros anywhere
Why?
>Chrome Cypher if she can't keep up
There aren't any better candidates. Geist and Steppenwulf are both rather weak and both Haze and Volt are in no condition to fight.

>>39300704
Armaros can fucking deal even if he acts like he can't, he knows we're still Anon, he just had a minor hateboner for us even before our extreme Lovecraft-over. The reason I don't want to take Chrome is that I feel like we really haven't gotten a sense for her power. Also, she was always hesitant about this sort of fighting. I mean, if you want, you can try to have a pep talk between Daegal and her to convince them both this is a necessary evil, but I get the feeling both aren't keen on killing other people, even after all this.

>>39300736
If this ends I get the feeling it'll be semi-smooth sailing from here. Or the Black Joker will make its move.

>>39300720
>Cypher and Armaros are definitely not finalist tier. And Rook is merely high level and angry.
IIRC, it was either Cypher or Daegal who were likely candidates for Argent's successor.
Cypher's in the running because she's been with him a lot.
Daegal is in it for the sheer virtue of being the purest thing in the Red World, as well as the master of the Hollow Sun, a workshop that Argent could have only wished for.

Armaros is... I guess he wouldn't be Executive-tier within Sterling if he didn't have the brains and the brawn to back it up. He may not be Finalist-tier, but he's still up there.

I wonder what our next upgrade will be.

I feel we will need more firepower in the near future.

>>39300776
Argent explicitly wished to become the man of gold.

>>39300774
Yeah, Amaros will do the necessary kills.
But Cypher might hesitate. Daegal is thankfully rather pragmatic.

>>39300774
>Also, she was always hesitant about this sort of fighting.
Anon, where the fuck have you been for the past 60 threads? She's not "okay" with it, but she's competent enough to understand that she must not hesitate. She's nicknamed the Silver Fascist, for Christ's sake.

>>39300774
>Or the Black Joker will make its move.
It kind of has?
I mean, there was the whole clusterfuck with Mio.
Unless that was only Kotone/Naoya, but still BJ was involved.
I don't think it's finished, but on the other hand I don't think it's really sentient like you're suggesting. Sapient, maybe. Definitely lovecraftian.

>>39300839
You can't be sapient without being sentient.

>>39300736
This is the end. They'll be nothing after this.

>>39300774
He hates Rook and us now and doesn't trust either of us anymore. I don't like the idea of bringing him into the pit as he's going to probably fly off the handle. Plus, he was woefully inept against Rust Kaiser.

>>39300761
Geist is a possibility or one of the Moramortiums.

>>39300846
Hold on. I thought sapient was animal intelligence, sentient was human? Or did I get that backwards?

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>>39300839
>Mio

A-Anon did nothing wrong...

>>39300846
Have you ever read the novel Blind Sight?

>>39300865
Sapient means self-aware.
Sentient means aware.

>>39300859
>This is the end. They'll be nothing after this.
I guess it makes sense for Cypher to be with us in that situation.
But I just love to have childhood friends re-assembled in the climax and power through with their friendship.

> Moramortiums
This is wrong on so many levels.

>>39300859
Armaros will be fine. If you actually understood his character and motivation, you'd see why.

>Plus, he was woefully inept against Rust Kaiser.
Everyone is woefully inept against Rust Kaiser. He's a hard counter to more or less everyone.

>>39300835
>Anon, where the fuck have you been for the past 60 threads?
Not there. I'm the one who spent the whole time catching up. And again, my impressions can and have been wrong. I just don't think she's gone all out on Smilers or any human players that were "right" in the mind. She might still need a push.

>>39300859
Again, he can fucking stow it and deal. This problem is beyond hate for one another. It's a matter of life or death for everyone trapped in the Shield right now, and that includes him and everyone else. And besides, despising us for being corrupt aside, we're not the one threatening to kill everyone there.

>>39300872
Anon did everything...
... Okay no, not everything, just a few things wrong.
It's just that those were very important things. So... they kinda ruined everything,

>>39300896
Bullshit. When it came to Armaros against Rust Kaiser with five of his best guys, they got fucking butchered and sent a running.

>>39300891
Didn't OP imply bringing one of the girls with us would make the journey safer?

>>39300902
That doesn't stop him from ganking us if he thinks the time is right or we're being a "threat to the mission".

By the way, let's fill our heavy weapon slots with an autocannon and a machine cannon.
One is good against infantry, the other against heavy armor.

>>39300859
Armaros is not a raging retard, anon. He's strict when it comes to his beliefs, but he won't just turn on Rook and Joker, since he knows that he can't succeed without their help. And despite his grudge against Rook, he still sees him as a family member.
>Geist is a possibility
He has hardly any combat capability. He's the stealth expert.

>>39300917
>Didn't OP imply bringing one of the girls with us would make the journey safer?
I actually thought it was assumed that a Seisin High girl would escort us to activate the teleporter.

This reminds me that the girl will need an escort back.

>>39300896
Going up against Rust Kaiser for most people is being given a knife and being told to kill an M1A2 Abrams.

>>39300917
Yes it fucking does. He worked with Argent. He worked CLOSELY with Argent, for years. The man has the world's best interest at heart, or at least one that doesn't desire a Red World over a Real one. If he feels that way he'll do it AFTER we're done with all this shit. Probably in a proper challenge, even.

>>39300917
Anon Amaros is a fucking professional with a hatred of smilers stemming from them killing his familyI could be wrong but that's what I remember
The world is literally at stake right now. I highly doubt there will be anything to make him do tht at all

>>39300950
I think I'm starting to see a pattern here.
We all are united in our hatred of the Smilers.

I want to rape Alura with Scylla.

>>39300915
We didn't listen to Kazuya. He told us exactly how to keep her from losing herself.

Stop telling the truth. Start telling her what she wants to hear.

We told her the truth and not what she needed to hear. And we lost her. More directly than Hecate.

>>39300942
The fuck is wrong with you? Armaros shtick is being practical and sneaky, as can be seen with how he tried to covertly kill whip bitch and sent us off to kill Bardiel.

And look, what I'm saying is that yeah, I can see him trying to save the world but if he's able to kill us in the bargain or feels that we're threatening the mission, he'll turn on us.

For the greater good and all that.

>>39300974
And then Daegal and Chrome Cypher will wreck his cunt.

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>>39300958
Rook step away from the computer

>>39300974
He wanted to prove we weren't fucking right about shit back when we challenged him on his stances. Stuff like that tends to evoke a different feeling from just business. But I admit it was a bad thing to suggest. Point is, you're overly paranoid. Probably the same Anon that was overly paranoid about Argent.

But point is, greater good is shutting down the Diadem. And again, we either find its main reactor and destroy it, or access the Nexus and outright hijack it the way we should have before the Hyades shit finished. At least before Hellebore sent that Fury-Corrector to ensure we couldn't. He damn well needs us for the latter, he tries something before that and loses Daegal's (and probably Chrome's) support, drops the best armed man there as well.

A bad idea to get rid of all your powerups on the last level of a shmup, man.

>>39300980

(Gentlemen: I would love to continue, but it is extremely late for me, and I have a lot to consider before the next session.

http://pastebin.com/hGTjVWWV

The above is the list for your potential selections. I've excluded Vector Geist and the other two squad leaders, but I can include them on request.

Unfortunately, tomorrow is the start of a working week - which is why I have to end the session here.

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

>>39300974
The plan is to unfuck everything

In what possible way do you see us getting in the way of the unfuckening part 3?

>>39301040
Thanks for running. It was fun making a fool of myself as a newb.

Hope you have a good week.

>>39301046
>>39301046
>unfuck everything
Anon, hate to break it to you but all we can do is fuck things

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>>39301091
Not with that attitude

That's the attitude of a fucker

You wouldn't happen to be a fucker?

>>39301040
This will be a fun setup for next session.

Okay, Volt is out.
Counterweight needs a leader. Either Cypher or Armaros need to stay with them.

Haze and Rook could pull good tandem attacks.
However, Haze's support abilities might be better for the people that are working without us.

Rook and Daegal are definitely in our team.

So yeah, out of Haze, Regios, Armaros and Cypher, which two do we take?

>>39301112
Can't take both Armaros and Cypher and Volt is out, so we have to take Haze.
The main choice is between Armaros and Natsumi.

>>39301112
Haze and Armaros. Some want to pull an "old cast assembly" but I'd prefer to be practical about this. I still don't prefer Haze; I'd rather the other three squad leaders be detailed first.

He's better off than imagined and might get morale bonuses with Rook, but I just worry him being worn down, along with his close-combat specialization, will get him killed.

>>39301040
>http://pastebin.com/hGTjVWWV

Hah, Rook is literally Bardiel 2.0. He can even do the gunship thing. We're taking him for sure.

Also, it seems like a good idea to leave Chrome Cypher to lead Counterweight Squadron.

Since we are taking Rook, it'd be a good idea to take Haze as well. We want that last warhead to use as a 'Fuck You' button against White Joker.

Pass backup field command to Volt Regios. She is most suited for it in the event that Cypher cannot continue, and since she is already pretty wrecked, she won't be taking to the front lines anyway.

There's also Totenaz. Once we meet up with him inside the Diadem, we'll have a six man squad, and we'll have covered most of the combatant archetypes.

So it looks like my suggested final lineup will be:
Red Joker
Totenaz
Daegal
Armaros
Palladium Rook
Distortion Haze

>>39301112
For me Regios is out 40%? That's bad mmkay

If we take Haze we literally have the biggest glad cannon in the red

Man I don't know I pleasing towards Haze the same way I'm leaning towards Cypher/Batman

>>39301142
Natsumi has utility, Armaros has power.

Pazuzu. Rust Kaiser. Bell Zephyr.
Which others will we need to fight?
How do the team configurations measure up against those enemies?
Kaiser will have more issues with Armaros.
Zephyr would likely have more trouble with Cypher.
Pazuzu... What the fuck was even his combat style?

>>39301166
>pleasing

Because that's what I wanted to say you stupid ass Iphone should be Leaning

>>39301110
Man, I'm just extrapolating based on past data.

Red Joker just fucks everything. That's what he does. I think it's what he's designed to do. Any plan involving the Red Joker is automatically fucked by default.

>>39301186
>Pazuzu... What the fuck was even his combat style?
Summon allies to fight for him, failing that, magic hax bullshit. Best way to deal with him would be to get the drop on him and nuke him before he can act.

Also remember that we've faced some high-tier enemies before this. The ones that returned are probably there. We have ways of restoring ourselves, our forces don't.

This is why I wish we could dump the Hollow Sun on their asses, but we can't.

>>39301186
>Pazuzu... What the fuck was even his combat style?
Gravity control and summoning Players somehow.

>>39301186
>Pazuzu... What the fuck was even his combat style?

Bullshit wizardry and hiding behind his legion of mooks

>>39301160
But we don't really have any better choice.

We can't take Volt because she is under 50% combat capacity, and Counterweight Squadron needs a leader. I'd rather take Armaros than Chrome Cypher because he can bring more firepower to bear and has a higher durability.

So that leaves us with Haze. He's a glass cannon, but we'll just have to work around that. He still has a hell of a lot of firepower.

>>39301272
>>39301040
>I've excluded Vector Geist and the other two squad leaders, but I can include them on request.

Consider that request filed.

>>39301282
Aah, that might be an idea. However, I feel like they weren't included initially because while they are a step above mook status, they still haven't reached heroic tier yet, like all the others on the list.

Honestly I kind of want to see if Regios and Tyrian can find Bishamon somehow.

>>39301301
Armaros paranoia guy would be right about not trusting Bishamon. I get the feeling he wouldn't respond well to being bothered by anyone right now.

I think he'll get over his Hyades' demise. But it'll take a long ass time. The fact that she took the blow in his stead meant shit was genuine on both sides.

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>>39301186
Bullshit I suggest we re read or fight with him in case we can lean something more

He'll obviously have changed from when we last saw him but still

>>39301301
He would be an ideal fifth player for our team, but we kind of fucked that one up in the biggest of ways.

Man, we actually never talked about that. Like >>39301338 said, she gave his life for him. They actually did love each other. And Joker killed her.

>>39301483
I still believe Hellebore is the biggest bitch in the series.

She stopped us from accessing the Control Room. And she had no reason to post one of her Correctors there unless there genuinely WAS a way to end the Hyades tournament there.

This entire thing is her fault. Smiler plans could've been ruined since they were based on the Chalice Queen armor being acquired and the Diadem completing its arrival (hell, delaying Convergence alone might've been the answer), Mio would be fine, we wouldn't have killed Kouichi's girlfriend (but he'd be bummed he couldn't get her out) and even Cybele would be fine.

But she stopped us, just to have a second chance at life, really.

If Bisha's Hyades is a reminder they do deserve a chance, ones like Armiger's, Hellebore or especially Alura are proof that maybe they shouldn't get it.

>>39301565
I am both angry and smug that nobody listened to me when I kept on saying that Hellebore was clearly not on the level.

I was proven right in spectacular fashion.

>>39301619
Well she'll learn as well as anyone else what happens when you fuck a stranger in the ass

>>39301619
The damning part is that she intentionally jammed us out of the Red both times to keep us from doing much.

Both times we called her emblem when we were doing something she didn't approve of or didn't want fucked up, we got that blinding light, kicked out of the Red, with an immense headache that got worse when we tried to log back in. I MIGHT be remembering the Control Room one wrong, though.

You technically didn't even CHOOSE Hellebore. You tried to contact her when you got to the armor...and you got booted. So she could make absolutely sure you didn't fuck it up.

>>39301652
She already did. She essentially had her Xanatos Gambit get cross-fucked by the Smilers/Alura's. Presumably nothing is left of her essence, both cancelling each other out in their attempt to control Mio. That or they're both permanently trying to overwhelm the other and staying boarded off.

On the plus side it means Mio is in complete control of herself. On the minus side it means Mio is in complete control of herself and we just gave her the mother of all "I never asked for this" scenario.

>>39301682
>On the plus side it means Mio is in complete control of herself. On the minus side it means Mio is in complete control of herself

Why did that make me laugh so much?

... I miss Mio

>>39301749
I miss Hecate.

She really deserved a fair shake man.

I get the feeling she would've been proto-Megumi if it weren't for Watashiwa, but fuck did it lead to something great, if not short-lived.

Speaking of, no fucking arguments on this. Megumi's made her bed, she's laying in it now. No mercy, you hear? I don't care that she has tits, she's as responsible for this mess as everyone else onboard the Diadem is. And I highly doubt we won't run into her.

Don't hold back.

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>>39301806
Woo wee did that ship fucking sail. I'm not gonna lie I was sympathetic towards her and Kaiser still am due to learning more about them.

But fuck that noise I'm fucking pissed off right now

>>39301652
We already had a five plan trainwreck occur, which fucked her plan.

>>39301806
Nah, bitch dies. She actively contributed to the deaths of thousands of people. She WANTED this to happen.

It's not like we have any room to hesitate anyway.

>>39301952
That's what he's arguing for, mate.
One thing, though: are we gonna be cruel, or are we gonna make it quick and impersonal?

>>39301986
We don't really have time,so might as well just get it over with as quickly as possible.

>>39301986
I'm a fan of efficient killing. And she wanted better, she just didn't think it possible.

Quick and painless. Not that she isn't honed to ignore pain in the Red anyways.

Honestly, 10/10, JQOP, I get the feeling Megumi was an intended role from the start, to elicit these feelings where you either feel sorry for someone you tried to save but couldn't or hate them for rejecting your offer of a better path and doing something horrible. Once upon a time, in a different universe, this is how I feel about Hecate.

This is what I've got so far:
Akira informs us the Smilers are pulling their forces back, concentrating them around the Diadem. He also tells us the Diadem is launching, which would level Arcadia, and it'll take off in one or two hours.
He then sends a coded message to us, containing solid images of the City.
While this is going on, though, panic in the shelter is steadily rising.
Again, we give a speech, but it's not as effective as we'd hoped. Kazuya steps in, and he's more effective at calming everyone down. After that, we have a little talk.
When Tyrian has decoded the message, he informs us there are five pylons scattered around the city. If we manage to bring them all down, we can shut down the Shield. Even with that, though, the Diadem can still launch and carry out the utter destruction of the city.
White Licorice informs us of another option: the teleporters we used once already to get into the Diadem should still work. It's a one-way trip, though.
We're warned we can only take five men. While the discussion rages, JQOP ends the thread by posting summaries of each possible choice's abilities in this pastebin:http://pastebin.com/hGTjVWWV

Anything that needs to be fixed?

>>39301282
Steppenwulf and Orelion will not want to come with us.
The former doesn't like the odds, the latter is too attached to her squad.

>>39302749
Sounds okay.

Will someone do the archival? Otherwise you'll get my brand of humor.

>>39301986
Why would we make her suffer?
Yes, she fucked up, but we can understand her motives. We want to undo her fuckups by killing her, not punish her needlessly.

>>39302803
>undo her fuckups by killing her
This definitely isn't how killing people works, any potential tachyon fuckery aside.

I'd prefer to focus our energy on other people who are less likely to be wallowing in self-pity and more likely to be going out of their way to kill us 24/7, but if we run into her and she won't listen to a simple "Get out of our way so we can unfuck this.", then I guess that's that.

Running into Rust Kaiser at all makes things even more straightforward, since I can't see him ever wanting to do anything but try his best to punch us into our component subatomic bits and there's no real way to ignore that.

>>39302987
We use the codeburst on Rust Kaiser, then punch his face in with CONSUME tethering and Crisis Arm.

The fun thing about Megumi is that we can counter her swarm with our swarm.

http://pastebin.com/VfxuyAzp
Alright, newest version of the Episode Guide.
It's getting kind of idiotically long, though.
Anyone have any idea which arcs to split it into?

>>39303080
>Anyone have any idea which arcs to split it into?
After Hecate's death, there's the revenge arc until Bardiel dies.
Afterwards is the dating sim arc, iirc.
The raid was a mini-arc.
Hyades tournament is an arc.

>>39301682
I wonder what Old Joker thought/would think of the whole shebang.

>>39303054
>We use the codeburst on Rust Kaiser, then punch his face in with CONSUME tethering and Crisis Arm.
>implying RK won't be taken over by Imago

>>39303452
>implying we wouldn't murder Imago

No, seriously, once he bodyjacks Kaiser, he'll want the Nihl sphere.

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This is something someone requested in Decu's Drawthread.

>>39303721
Is that Cybele or Hecate?
Because the latter isn't dead, just in a coma we have no way to do anything about.

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82 KB JPG

>>39303769
>Is that Cybele or Hecate?
Anon, pls. The horns alone should make it obvious that's Hecate.

>>39303796
I dunno, man. Horns because she's in Hell or something.
Also, I really don't have a clear picture of any of the waifus or anything, except Mio.

>>39303721
Holy shit.
That's evil.

>>39303860
I always picture Mio as Azuki Azusa.

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262 KB JPG

>>39303721
Don't play with my heart like that. it hurts ;_;

Seriously though, if we get Hecate back to the waking world.....should we stick to Mio and let Thief have her, or do we go back to Hecate after unfucking Mio's Chalice Queen crisis?

>>39303860
>forgetting the waifus
you heartless person

>>39303953
>should we stick to Mio and let Thief have her, or do we go back to Hecate after unfucking Mio's Chalice Queen crisis?

Waifus are not relics.

>>39303953
Look, nigga, I don't think Mio wants us anymore.
And if Hecate ever awakens (which is looking increasingly unlikely, now that the hospital she was in, IIRC, is probably devastated), she'll be totally mindfucked by everything that's happened.
She might not want us anymore, either.

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>>39303860
Hecate's Player form is based on Elea from Blassreiter. The horns are one of her defining features.

>>39304030
Fucked if I knew. Never watched it.

>>39303953
>Seriously though, if we get Hecate back to the waking world.....should we stick to Mio and let Thief have her, or do we go back to Hecate after unfucking Mio's Chalice Queen crisis?
I don't think that the relationship with Mio is likely to work at this point. I also get the impression that most players have become so focused on dealing with the crisis that they won't even hesitate to vote for killing Mio, should she get in the way or become a hostage.

>>39303985
>she'll be totally mindfucked by everything that's happened.
Doubt it. She probably knew this would happen.

>>39304043
I doubt most people had, but JQOP mentioned Hecate's horns at every opportunity.

>>39304181
It's been a long while, man. Last time she was important was in thread 91, according to the guide, and that was on 25/04/14.

>>39304232
Hecatefags had a hard life.

>>39304246
Really have to wonder who had it worse: Hecatefags or Kotonefags.

>>39304088
>Doubt it. She probably knew this would happen.

"So, you avenged my death, found out that I'm still alive, then started dating another girl, collected a few friends, got over me, fucked a moon princess, got a girlfriend who then got invaded by both the Black Joker and her mother and now that I'm back again, you are in love with me again?"

>>39304301
"Sounds about right."

>>39304301
To be fair, he never did get over her. The conversation with Akira made that clear.

>>39304335
Was that conversation after we made Mio officially our girlfriend?

Was it the one before we met White Joker?

>>39304301
"I, uh, also exploded the moon a little. And killed half an orphanage. I did kill the guy that killed you, though!"

>>39304371
>Was that conversation after we made Mio officially our girlfriend?
Yep.
>Was it the one before we met White Joker?
Yep.

>>39304408
Man, I really need to reread the entire quest.

I wonder what JQOP thinks of the divide in the playerbase when it comes to waifus. I imagine he just shakes his head sadly whenever Hecate or Kotone are brought up, and facepalmed after the clusterfuck we did with Mio.

>>39304646
I think he's facepalming all the time at our antics.

Just look at the "are you really telling them this?" line about our speech.

I bet that he meant to say "do you seriously want to tell them this?"

>>39304646
I think he faintly giggles at his computer every time we do something colossally retarded.
I also think that his notes are filled with "But why didn't they do that?" and " I was so sure they'd spot that!"

>>39304695
More like "this is an obscure possibility... But how the fuck could events ever go that badly? No need to think more about it" and then we selected the Athame as our endgame powerup.

>>39304695
>I also think that his notes are filled with "But why didn't they do that?" and " I was so sure they'd spot that!"
Speaking of notes, I wonder if JQOP had any plans for Rena.

>>39305003
The girl who worked with Mio at the cosplay cafe?
I'm betting she'd turn out to be our long lost sister or a yakuza plant or something else.
Probably also have some special ability in the Red. Maybe even worthy of Daegal.

>>39305003
I think she's just part of the scenery.

Now, Chiffon Doll and White Licorice, on the other hand...

Oh, yeah, should we stab the student council president IRL if she survives this event?

>>39305039
>I'm betting she'd turn out to be our long lost sister or a yakuza plant or something else.
Still wondering what happened to Joker's family.

>>39305288
Same thing as Shirou's. Probably dead.
I'd laugh my ass off if one of the waifus was our sister, though. That would be hilarious.
Or maybe Naoya is our brother. Who knows.

>>39305378
>Red Joker is our father
>Mio is our half-sister
>Kotone is our half-sister
>Iron Ogre was our half-brother
>Kazuya and Naoya are also our half-brothers
>All inherently skilled people in the setting are Red Joker's children

>>39305378
Joker has the money to live by himself, so he should at least have a guardian, because otherwise he'd have grown up in the orphanage together with the rest of the Smilers.

>>39303721
WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY

>>39305451
Which really wouldn't surprise me.

I wouldn't be surprised if Kazuya, Natsumi and Anon were all orphans and got their money from Sterling Industries.

>>39303080
Prologue, then the events leading up to Hecate's death. Then the revenge arc. Then slice of life, kind of. The raid arc. Hyades tournament arc.

Now the 'everything is fucked' arc.

>>39305429
For that to work, RJ would have to be our mother and Mikogami everyone's father.

>>39305500
>I wouldn't be surprised if Kazuya, Natsumi and Anon were all orphans and got their money from Sterling Industries.
Kazuya has his grandfather, though.
Also,reading through the archives about family matters revealed this:

>"There was a, an...accident at school," she confides, reluctantly. "-One of the girls, she..." From the way Mio's eyes flick away, inhaling a shallow breath, you can infer the rest. "...Her sister's really upset. But, at least - For once, no-one's paying attention to me."

>>39305729
Yeah, that was probably Inox Fang.

>>39304646
I think he just sort of rubs his hands together as he reloads his suffering engines