>>1005758
It didn’t take long for him to break- you caught up to him near instantly, and it took little more than dragging him into an alley before he spilled the beans. Unfortunately, it wasn’t exactly a lot he knew- most of it was gleaned simply from being in the right place at a time he really wasn’t supposed to be there.

Apparently, Jules was a new guy- unknown in Motley up until a few months ago. He’d been making waves with his size- a tall guy, thin, and yet strangely imposing, likely due to the poncho he wore, apparently. He’d shown up, and started strong-arming his way around the town, disparaging the local sheriffs and essentially making himself more ‘the law’ around town. When Cain showed up, he immediately started railing against him. As for where he is now? Apparently they made the Doctor’s Office- which was really more of a combination of Doctor, General Store, and Warehouse, apparently- into their ‘headquarters’. You didn’t see anyone with a poncho out that fits that description- presumably he’s still there.

There's a question there for if you REALLY want to bother with this- it seems like Cain might have a solid idea of what might be happening anyway. There may be information that Jules has that Cain doesn't, of course...presuming he talks at all.

>Well, if they’re just gonna sit in the barrel...might as well shoot it.
>Head towards it, and call Jules out directly. Might as well try to squeeze something out of him.
>Other

>>1005763
>>Well, if they’re just gonna sit in the barrel...might as well shoot it.
It's been a while.

>>1005763
>Head towards it, and call Jules out directly. Might as well try to squeeze something out of him.
Remember, we are a professional.
When we commit Balkan War Crimes, we are thorough, efficient, and leave no intel unacquired.

>>1005836
It has. Holidays + suddenly major job contract + side business finally happening = busy Handler.

>>1005858
If we're FINALLY able to get our Magical Murder Bag when we get back home, can we start getting a reputation as the "Magical Girl with The Bag"?

>>1005884
Sure, if you like! Never too late to try something new.

>>1005763
> head towards it and go through the wall, they won't expect that
> kill everyone except tall guy
Someone might have encouraged him.

>>1005884
What's a murder bag?

>>1005758
> greedy
>Lorelei
She just has an expensive lifestyle.

>>1005921
>What's a murder bag?
A bag of particular tools and weapons we have collected over a long career. Tools that let us be a nightmare even on low-magic worlds.

We discussed this since the first thread when we learned of Miranda's long list of high tech skills, and that we have access to tools and items of a high tech and magitech level.

But people wanted to buy clothes instead of weapons and tools.
It was fine when we were on high magic worlds, but it will start to be a problem on low- and no-magic worlds. Especially since not even the FarSight will tell us if a contract takes place on a high or low-magic world.

Oh, also, writing.

>>1005955
> utility belt

>>1005967
Night vision an IR goggles, various grenades, stun baton, sniper rifle, submachine gun, mana condenser and spare mana crystals, electronic lockpick, communicators, plasma assault rifle, maybe even a thermos of industrial-grade nano paste and some transponders.

>>1005763
Feh. You’ll handle this as needed. And right now, some expediency is in order, you think.

It’s a trivial task to throw him away and make your way towards the doctor's office. You can already see that the fighting is only just starting to wind down, and they don’t bother to get in your way once they see you tear through at least three gunslingers without breaking a sweat. At least, some of them don't. Several others make the foolish mistake of trying to get in your way armed with only melee weapons- that doesn’t last long.

Considering your overall goal, you decide to utilize the element of surprise a bit. You quickly take a run towards the side wall instead of the front door when you approach the surprisingly large building. It’s got plenty of room in it- the man could be anywhere inside. Hopefully it wouldn’t take too long to find him, at least.

The explosion of rock and stone brings forth with it a billowing cloud of dust that’s obscuring both your figure and theirs. Their reaction is like someone set off a dynamite charge next to the wall, Which wasn’t too far from the truth, you suppose. You can hear shouts and yells and surprised coughing- before anyone can regain themselves amidst the dust you swoop in like a reaper, cleaving two men in half as soon as you ascertain neither are who you’re looking for. Another one tries to sneak up on you- you can hear his footsteps clear as day, however. You quickly turn around, batting away the hammer he had in his hands, and grab him by the collar, dragging him closer. “Where’s Jules?” Is all you ask.

“Up yours!” Well then. He gets a headbutt- and then is minus a head- for his troubles, and you keep moving. You’re doing your best to sniff him out, or hear him over the rabble, but there’s a lot of annoying interference either way.

>There’s something that smells off near the back of the building- closer to the warehouse/storehouse area. It’s moving, too. Might be him.
>You can hear scuffling down a hall to your left- that might just be more defenders, but Jules might be among them.
>Some folks are already trying to run away, you can sense. He might’ve decided to book it already…
>Other

>>1006119
>>There’s something that smells off near the back of the building- closer to the warehouse/storehouse area. It’s moving, too. Might be him.

>>1006119
>There’s something that smells off near the back of the building- closer to the warehouse/storehouse area. It’s moving, too. Might be him.
Fuck it. Jules is only maybe important. Mystery box is always important.

>>1006000
Yeah I understand your shitty terminology now, doesn't change the fact that it is a terrible name.

>>1006119
Alrighty, gonna see what smells strange.

Writing!

File: 43f7fa19d7e7129fca6748c5b(...).jpg (51 KB, 736x442)

51 KB JPG

>>1006147
'Utility belt' is equally inaccurate and terrible when we're talking about a large case.
Assuming that we don't go full Desperado with it, of course.

>>1006408
I assumed we would be using a bag of holding.

>>1006119
Hm. Might as well give the strange smell a looking into. You quickly move towards the back- although you’re surprised to find several folks waiting back there, less in states of readiness, and more like they’re just waiting around for something. Doesn’t much matter, however- you cut them down quickly enough, and proceed further back. The two guards at the entrance are easily dispatched as well- oddly enough, they seem like they’re zoned out, or nearly asleep.

The storeroom is filled with grains and other such foodstuffs, and some other various goods besides. It’s fairly big, but you’re nonetheless able to clearly smell someone, now. Strangely enough, they smell...well, you’re not sure. It’s as though they SHOULD be dangerous, but they’re not. Wonder wh- oh.

Ohhhh.

Oh wow.

It seems to be a young girl, roughly your ‘age’. Her hair is red as fire, and her skin is lightly tanned as well. She’s leaned up in a corner, hogtied, like a damsel in distress.

She’s also beaten and bloodied, and lying on the floor. It’s dried blood, you can tell that much, but she doesn’t seem like she’s still doing too well. There’s a dried up cut over her right eye, and you can see various bloodstains on what looks to be a tight-fitting typical cowgirl outfit, with a vest. It’s torn and cut in various places, and on the whole is showing a lot more skin than it should. She’s got some sort of metal choker around her neck and matching bangles from the little you can see, the metal seems to be inlaid with some kind of faintly glowing silver. She’s also, naturally, gagged, and doesn’t exactly seem to be aware of her surroundings- there’s a definite haze in her eyes.

You aren’t sure what they’re doing with her, but she’s clearly someone they don’t want up and about.

>Try to get her to focus.
>You’ve got another job to do right now- focus on finding Jules.
>Alright, time to see if you can’t get her out of here for now.
>Other

>>1006426
Tech pretty much always works regardless of universe.
Magic, most of the time will. Miranda's magic will always work but may not recharge depending on local magical conditions.
Using a non-magical container is simply the safe option (and a fuckton cheaper).

With Miranda's heightened physical abilities, a heavy case is no problem.

>>1006431
>You’ve got another job to do right now- focus on finding Jules.
We can come back to this girl later. She's not in danger of dying just yet, but Jules may be escaping.

>>1006431
>>You’ve got another job to do right now- focus on finding Jules.

>>1006431
>>You’ve got another job to do right now- focus on finding Jules.

>>1006431
if she's not about to die
>You’ve got another job to do right now- focus on finding Jules.

if she is
>Try to get her to focus.

wonder what happened to her. well, we'll find out later.

She'll have to go on the backburner for now, it seems.

Writing!

>>1006426
If it's battery powered, sure. Might be worth it to see if we can get a bag of holding type item with its own power source so that it will work on worlds with no ambient magic.

The idea is to use scifi technosorcery gadgets to do everything our magic can and more besides so that our personal mana is reserved for emergencies or big shows.

A matter manipulator that lets us phase through solid walls is definitely on the shopping list.

>>1006691
what we definitely need is a 1911.
I've been asking for this since thread #2.

>>1006702
Original or modern remake?
Default or customized?

>>1006702
I know! Every time we get the chance to shop it's a battle to stop the big spenders from buying clothes that I forget about asking for these things.

>>1006713
the reason I asked for it is because I heard that it's very reliable in every situation.
I'd say default? wouldn't customization lower it's reliability or something? don't ask me, I don't know that much about guns.

>>1006431
You give her another once over. She’s hurting, delirious, and generally something’s off about her...but she’ll live, looking at her. That means that she can hold on for now, while you focus on your main objective- finding Jules. You’re going to have to try to make it quick, at least.

As you get back to the front of the building, you can hear footsteps, and shouts towards each other. As you give the situation a quick check outside, it seems like it’s turning into a complete route, thanks to you. The remaining fighters, few though they are, are entirely focused on running away, many on horseback, and the defenders of the town are in hot pursuit. On a horse, you can barely see someone in the front of the pack- only due to how tall they are, and their flowing clothes.

That has to be Jules. You can hear the rest of the defenders yelling and baying for their blood, as well as they take off after the men on horseback, shooting and tying up any resistance with relish. No time to waste- you take off after them, leaping as quickly as possible. Within two and a half bounds, you’re already pulling even with Jules and his men- one or two look behind themselves and shout in surprise, yelling something ahead of themselves before they try to speed their horses up.

Before they can get the opportunity to try, however, you’re already even with them, and with a strong body-check, you send Jules’s horse sprawling as you tackle Jules himself from his mount, not too far out from the town’s limits. You roll along the ground for several meters- it’s not that damaging to you, but you can hear Jules’s grunts of pain every time he impacts the ground, a rock, or anything else that might be in your way.

Eventually, your tumbling stops, however, and you quickly pin Jules to the ground, his face now scratched and bloody from his skidding, alongside the thick layer of dust you both now sport. All that comes out of him is a groan of pain. He’s less than lucid, but you can seem him glare at you as much as he’s able. Still might be able to answer a couple questions before others get here.

>What to ask him?

>>1006788
"A penny for your thoughts. What did you think you were going to accomplish today?"

>>1006788

>how the town got fucked up, and how he was related to it
>in what ways is he involved wit cain's activities in this town
>the tied up girl

>>1006788
>Write-in
Break his legs and hands, then go after the rest of his men. We'll question him later.
Don't let a single one escape.

>>1006835
oh shit yeah this first, but maybe not too servere. this guy might pass out and we don't want that yet.
and then do things like >>1006819 >>1006833

>>1006788
Seems like keep him down first, then go after his men. THEN try to come back and question him?

Writing.

>>1006702
>>1006736
How about a handgun that actually gets use outside of being a range toy; something that can hold at least 15 rounds? The only thing the 1911 has going for it is being slim which is defeated by it being full sized.

>>1007032
But it is popular on /k/ :(

>>1007061
And? Most of /k/ isn't in the military and only shoot their guns for fun. The 1911 was outdated as soon as the BHP became a thing. Don't use smileys.

>>1006788
You quickly look up- you can see the other riders not even blink at their ‘leader’ being taken down, still streaking across the plains in a desperate panic. You quickly look back down at your captive, and make a split second decision- you give two quick stomps to his legs, feeling them give easily underfoot, and you just give him a glare as he howls in pain like an animal.

“Stay there.” Is all you say, and you bound off after his followers.

Fortunately, it doesn’t take too much to catch up to them- they’re wholly focused on running, but it seems like they’re not aware of the ancient art of the serpentine. The rearmost quickly loses his head for it as you slice it off mid-leap- a second bound gets you on his horse, and it’s quickly driven towards the middle of the pack.

This time, however, they seem to recognize your presence. You duck one man’s flailing with a chain, and as he gives it a second swing, you grab hold, tugging sharply. He doesn’t have the strength to resist, and he and his horse go sprawling. The remaining two break off from you sharply, apparently having learned their lesson- but you’re in no mood to see them off. You quickly turn to pursue, and simply leap the distance from your horse to one of there’s, winding up behind one of them- you crack his neck- and quickly use his loose body as a projectile to knock the other man off his own horse- you can see him reaching for a pistol as he goes.

Cleanup from THERE is...well, rather easy. Sword through the gut on both the men you knocked off, and you’re quickly back to see Jules.

Problem is, you can also see that the pursuing group found him, and in particular...they don’t seem to have been kind to him. At least not judging by the amount of bullets in the man and the blood on the ground. You’ll not get anything out of him now, and part of that irks you... but if nothing else, there’s no way report of this will get to their boss too quick. Just about everyone with anything important to say is dead.

You're vaguely annoyed at that, but then, such things happen sometimes.

With that stewing in your head., as you re-approach the town, you manage to catch a group of figures riding away on the outskirts, in the distance- the opposite direction as you, going towards the river, and likely Gaugetown. Considering the bright white dot you can see in the middle of them, it seems like Cain’s taken the opportunity to slip away once the fighting’s died down…you let out a light snort in exasperation. Could at least bothered to mention he’d be leaving. And after all this mess, too.

>Catch up to him. He’s got some things to explain.
>Go back and find the girl. You’ll catch up with Cain again soon enough.
>All this trouble...Wonder how Lorelei’s doing. (Switch to Lorelei).
>Other

>>1007234
>>Go back and find the girl. You’ll catch up with Cain again soon enough.

>>1007234
>Go back and find the girl. You’ll catch up with Cain again soon enough.
well dammit.
let's get her now, I don't want to miss another chance like this, since we just made a bad decision on this part.

>>1007234
>Go back and find the girl. You’ll catch up with Cain again soon enough.


This has suddenly become a top priority.

>>1007234
>Go back and find the girl. You’ll catch up with Cain again soon enough.
So the people who called Jules are with Cain? Well someone needs some chastising. Maybe we can educate some of his people next time we see them, with a fist to the gut.

>>1007081
I was being sarcastic you dumb fuck. That's what the smiley means.

>>1007234
What's with this girl?

Writing.

>>1007234
Damnit. Well, knowing your luck, you’ll see him again sooner than later. That does leave your attention to focusing on that girl that you saw earlier. You’re not sure what trangressions she committed against them, but you’re hoping that after her head clears up, she’s feeling charitable. It takes some time to reach her yet again, admist the whooping and hollering, but you eventually reach her.

She’s unconscious now, but as you check on her, she’s still breathing, at least. She doesn’t look like she’s getting better any time soon, however. Something’s still strange about her...it’s not just a smell, you realize, it’s her whole vibe...

And that’s when it clicks. You hadn’t registered it because of the rush at the time, but there’s a REASON she gives you a strange vibe. As though something here wasn’t natural at all.

She’s an Outgoer.

...Damnit, this whole job is getting really fucking strange. But, first thing’s first. She needs to heal up. Then, you’ve got a LOT of questions.

As you pick her up, she starts mumbling. “Go...goway...not givn nothin’...”

Ugh. What’s going on here?

>Ask Sal about this. This is starting to get too weird.
>Just wait it out and get the information straight from her.
>Other


Sorry about the delay. Will resume tomorrow.

>>1007720
>>Ask Sal about this. This is starting to get too weird.

>>1007720
>Ask Sal about this. This is starting to get too weird.
It would be best to get at least some basic context before proceeding.
Good to have you back Handler

>>1007720
>Just wait it out and get the information straight from her.
Just chuck her over your shoulder, steal someones horse (there is bound to be spares and we are still missing ours, right??) and follow Cain, at a sedate pace.

>>1007720
>Ask Sal about this. This is starting to get too weird.
okay, this is getting bigger every minute.
also I bet ten internet bucks that those bangles and stuff are restraining her powers.

Someone on this world has a world class reaming with their name on it.

>>1007860
do you mean that someone on this world is a huge target wanted by a lot of powerful people, or if someone is going to pay for messing up the girl?

>>1007720
>Ask Sal about this. This is starting to get too weird

>>1007776
We have guns and ammo to loot, though.
I don't want to leave before we get some.

waitwaitwait
I wonder if this girl is related to the futuresight that other girl had a few threads ago

>>1007720
>>Ask Sal about this. This is starting to get too weird.

Let's agree on not healing her at all until Sal can figure out what's up. If she's on the enemies' side I don't want her to be in tip top shape if it comes to blows.

Loot weapons and ammunition while Sal is doing his thing and keep that girl close.

Writing. We're taking this up the chain. Again.

You’re not certain where you can find a decent rest spot for her- you’re less than inclined to stay very long in Motley at the moment, but she needs a place to lie down while you try and fix her up- somewhere exceedingly PRIVATE, considering the topics you have to talk to her about. This is almost entirely too out there- and you get the feeling that it’s not even close to being fully explained.

Still, you at least have an idea of where you can start. “SAL!”

“Hmmmmm? Something else happe- oh.” There’s a silence on the other end you can only call disturbing. Sal suddenly being quiet like that wasn’t a common affair. “Well, then. Seems soooooomeone’s gotten into a bit of trouble, then, hm? My oh my.”

”Yeah, any idea who she is?” Just looking at her, she doesn’t quite seem like she’s outfitted for any merc work, but you’ll have to confirm or deny that once you’ve found a place to actually put her down.

”Nooooothing comes to mind quite immediately, but I’ll certainly look further into it- although I’m very curious as to whether it’s related at all to our little lost device earlier…” You kinda hoped not.

”Yeah, I’d thought similar. I’m going to ask her a few things once she wakes up, but if she’s part of that whole situation…” your thoughts trail off.

”Quite. To be frank, if it IS such a case, then I’m rather surprised that Flashpoint dropped the ball so hard...and more impoooooortantly, I’m rather curious as to how they managed to cover it up. One would think that this would have been noticed by now…’we’ generally aaaaaaren’t the sorts to let something like this go.” He wasn't wrong there. You're still wondering what the FutureSight was doing there.

But, maybe the girl had the answers. Or not. ”Didn’t you have a plan to deal with them? How’s that coming along?”

You can hear him chuckling on the other end. ”Oh, I have their curiosity, iiiiiiiif not their attention. It's a caaaareful dance. I suspect this news coooooould rather expedite things, however. One way oooooor another. I’ll leave it up to you, superstaaaaar.”

>Might as well. They’ll likely bend over backwards to keep this from getting too out of control.
>We’ll keep this to ourselves for now. In case of a rainy day.
>Just a second… (ask any other questions here)
>Other

>>1008999
>>Might as well. They’ll likely bend over backwards to keep this from getting too out of control.

>>1008999
>Might as well. They’ll likely bend over backwards to keep this from getting too out of control.
Strike while the iron is hot and all that.

>>1008999
>>Might as well. They’ll likely bend over backwards to keep this from getting too out of control.

>>1008999
Are we voting to tell futuresight about the girl?
> wait until we've had a chat with her first.
Don't wanna blow our load too early. We don't actually know what is going on here.

>>1008999
We will tell them, and they will listen...hopefully.

Writing.

>>1008999
You mentally shake your head. “No, might as well. Who knows, we might get something out of it. My guess, they’ll likely bend over backwards to keep this from getting too out of control.”

”Sounds about riiiiight. I’ll make sure to...word it caaaaarefully.” You can practically hear the grin on his effervescent face. ”You see to it that she’s cleaned up and...preseeeeeentable. I’m sure she’ll be grateful for a little...coooomforting. Toodles!” And with that the mental line goes dead. So now you’ve got a mostly unconscious Outgoer to deal with.

It’s a few minutes later- you’re holed up in someone’s house- you’re not sure who’s, but it seems to be empty and abandoned. You’d prefer not to stay here any longer than necessary, but it seems like that’s relatively out of your hands, considering her state. She’s still out cold, but she at least has a bed for now, and that’ll have to do.

Giving her a once-over, you quickly pat her down- she’s got nothing on her, no weapons, no identification, no nothing. Seems like she got stripped of all her gear before you found her. Rats. That could end badly, depending on where it got off to and what she brought. Especially considering her presence with Jules’ men.

Geez, looking at her, you can see more than a few dried cuts- she’s bruised up on her arms and legs, what you can see, anyway. You can also see at least one bullet hole in her inner thigh that you missed earlier, and her hair is torn and ripped, clearly. That’s not even considering any internal damage. Looks like the girl fought an army by herself, to be frank, and managed to not die doing it. She still looks like she’ll be a while before she wakes, though.

>Heal her yourself. Might wake her up.
>Let it happen naturally. You’ll have to keep watch, though.
>Just wake her up.
>Other

>>1009594
>Heal her yourself. Might wake her up.
well he told us to clean hr up to be presentable.
however. I'm not taking chances after what happened.
>set down a zone scanner to ward ourselves while focused on healing.

>>1009594
>Just wake her up.

Girl, you or someone in your company dun fucked up.

I've been thinking. IF she is the girl that dropped the futuresight some time before, then that would mean that she's probably very skilled at her job. and it lookes like she was, until apparently she bit off more thane she can chew? whatever happened, we need to know as well, we need to be prepared for whatever that might catch us by surprise.

>>1009652
That woman has been crazy for decades unless I remember it wrong? If this is the girl who lost the futuresight why has she spent a lifetime on this world, was she abandoned by the outfit? Or does she just happen to be here right now to retrieve it... Which would be a bit late don't you think?

More likely she's just doing a job for Cains competitor.

>>1009594
>Just wake her up.
Don't expand our mana and we are on the clock.

>heal her yourself

Shes not in any condition to give coherent info.

>>1009594
>Heal her yourself. Might wake her up.

>>1009594
>Heal her yourself. Might wake her up.
Can we heal her just enough that she's coherent? Don't want things getting out of hand if she decides we're a threat.

>>1009740
This, just enough that she can speak.

Healing...mostly.

Writing!

>>1009594
It’s near midnight when she does finally open her eyes. You’ve been watching, waiting, and listening for anyone that might get any bright ideas, but you’ve had the good fortune to not have any unexpected visitors for now. She blearily blinks her eyes, looking around, and the confusion on her face is as plain as day- for all of maybe a second, before she gets a focused look on her face.

She quickly notices, and looks square at you at the foot of the bed you’re in, and although she doesn’t change expression, you can see her tense slightly- likely because she just sensed you’re an Outgoer as well. It’s not a common thing to happen, really. At least, not to you.

For a few tense seconds, the two of you are locked in a staredown as you both attempt to appraise the other to see if they’re friend or foe.

It’s her who finally breaks the silence. “Sarah Beedily, Courier, Rank C, Flashpoint, Division 4A. You?” Oh god. You nearly completely forgot about that stuff. “Yours?” She sounds scratchy, and doesn’t help that she actually sounds a bit nervous about it; there was a shake or two in her voice.

It takes you a couple of seconds to recall...partially because you don’t want to it just sounds stupid. “Miranda Styles, Enforcer, Rank B, Silver Eye Solutions, Division…” you let out a vaguely annoyed huff. “I don’t think we have a division.” She looks let down at this.

“So...” She hangs her head, and from the look on her face, it’s as though she’s got a thousand things running through it all at once. “...I guess I have you to thank for my recovery?" You nod. "Thanks, then. I don't think I'd have been much for talking if you hadn't. Might've been in worse shape than you think."

She sighs, and looks away with a pensive expression on her face. "I guess Tily and her crew got some outside help somehow, so that's good at least.” Before you can correct her, she shakes her head. “Nevermind. I suppose you want a debriefing, huh? Where should I start?”

>What’s your mission here?
>Who’s Tily? Working partner?
>What happened to you back there?
>Other

>>1010116
>What’s your mission here?
>Who’s Tily? Working partner?

>>1010116
>What’s your mission here?

>>1010116

>What’s your mission here?
>Who’s Tily? Working partner?
>What happened to you back there?

I want all of it. This order is fine

>>1010116
>What happened to you back there?
Don't fucking let her know that we know nothing you muppets. If she realizes we are not on the same mission she will just clam up.

>>1010116
>What happened to you back there?

>>1010232
Being that non-cooperative goes against the protocols and working agreements of the Intersection and the companies that work out if it.

>>1010260
before we get into this I suggest that we learn what happened to beat her up so much first. If anything I think that should warn us of any dangers.

>>1010116
>What happened to you back there?

>>1010116
>>What’s your mission here?

>>1010218
This, can I has info dump?

>>1010116
>>What’s your mission here?
>>Who’s Tily? Working partner?
>>What happened to you back there?

All everything

Forgot my Twitter password. Will resume around 12 PM CST.

Weee!

>>1010116
“Let’s start with the basics,” you decide. “What’s your mission here?”

She takes a deep breath. “Right. Well...basically, I was here on a recovery job. Clandestine. Someone left an.... Intersection object here somehow, without permission.” Hm. Clearly the FutureSight, but she didn’t say. “I was tasked with retrieving it without suspicion. There was an assignment given here anyway- some lady wanted a few rare artifacts; something about amplifier stones or something. Apparently someone else had taken the job, but they were removed from it for reasons I never heard. The amplifier stones were a secondary target, but I was supposed to make it look like my primary while I looked around trying to find the lost object. Tily said I could take as long as necessary due to the nature of the contract.”

You nod, although a few things didn’t quite make sense still. “Alright, and who’s Tily? Your working partner?”

She immediately raises an eyebrow. “She didn’t send you?” She looks much more on guard now. “I thought you were a sub-contract.”

“Can you really afford to not tell me, at this stage?” you respond, huffing. You could understand company loyalty, but... “No offense, but it sounds like someone fucked up hard. You don’t exactly have the luxury of shutting up right now.”

She lets out something akin to a combination groan and sigh. “Yeah, no, you’re right. Fine. “Tily’s my sub-handler. She organizes Flashpoint divisions one through five. She said she’d get someone out here to help out once the big guys’ eyes weren’t watching her so hard. I’d been hoping that was sooner than later, but...”

Oh, yeah. “That also reminds me. What happened to you back there? You weren’t in a good way when I found you.” To say the least.

She frowns, and you can see something of a blush break out. “I...I’d been here for a couple weeks. Thought I had a routine figured out for when I could handle my own business in between searches. I didn’t screw up, though!” She looks up quickly. “I just got unlucky. I was penning a personal report to log my search areas and got barged in on by the ‘client’ wanting to ask something. She saw my writings, and thought I was a spy. Couldn’t convince her otherwise. I started to fight my way out, but...it was in an enclosed area, and there were a LOT of henchmen.” she shakes her head.

(cont.)

>>1014328
Eesh. “I’d think that have qualified as a contract breach, yeah...”

“Yeah," she agrees. "The contract wasn’t the important part, but it was still a contract. And having TWO people fail on the same job? That’d get a lot more than me in hot water...so Tily wouldn’t pull me out.” Harsh. “And I’m not really specced for lengthy engagements. I get in, find things, get out. They beat me down long enough to clap me in THESE things.” and here she holds up her arms. “They drain my energy something bad. Pretty sure I’d faint if I did more than a couple of jumping jacks right now. But that’s when Tily told me she was sending backup. I figured I’d eventually find a way to escape and keep quiet until that happened, but then I got trussed up and sent here with that Jules guy. Said I was going to be ‘juice’ for something. My guess is some kinda weapon or robot, Iunno.”

You’re quiet for a bit as you internalize the information. But she speaks up again sooner than expected. “So, what are you here for? I’m guessing not the same contract if Tily didn’t send you…”

“Right.” you affirm. “Just here with a friend because it looked to pay well. But now there’s the question of your little issue…”

>Try to free her from her binds, point her in the direction of the FutureSight, and be done with it.
>Looks like you’re taking a detour back to Greenwater…
>See if she can’t be evacuated via Sal.
>Other

>>1014332
>>Looks like you’re taking a detour back to Greenwater…

>>1014332
>See if she can’t be evacuated via Sal.
We aren't here to help her on her contract, and this would give Sal something to hold over Flashpoint.

And we should confirm who her client was. A breach of contract deserves a response from the Intersection, a response with extreme prejudice.

Will lock down in about 20 more minutes.

>>1014332

>>1014394
I'm agreeing with this guy.

Righto, then. Failure or not, she needs to get gone. Writing.

Man, Flashpoint is gonna owe us something fierce for the stuff we're about to do for them, if Sal plays this right

>>1014332
It takes you a bit to think about it, with Sarah squirming under your gaze...which is weird. It’s not even a strong gaze. At least, not by your estimate. It convinces her to speak up before much longer, however. “I swear, I’m not incompetent or anything, it’s just been a stroke of bad luck; normally, I-”

You shake your head. “I get that, but sometimes you need to know when to fold ‘em. Who was your client” You’re not certain if that’s the best advice coming from you particularly, but considering your one of your earlier jobs didn’t exactly end well for you, you figure you might have some leeway in giving the suggestion. “Who was your client?”

“Uhh...an Audrey Adams. Rich daughter of some big business magnate expanding out here. Why?” She raises her eyebrow. “Are you gonna help me-”

“I’m going to call my handler and pull you off this one, like it or not.” You interrupt. The way her eyes widen makes clear her stance on the matter, but you’re beyond that, even as she begins to protest. ”Sal? Got the story from her. Flashpoint screwed up big time- do you think you can...”

”Allllready on it,” you can hear Sal say smugly. ”Pulling her out in three, twooooo…”

“And if they fire me I don’t exactly have m-” Sarah’s pleading is cut off by a flash of light as she vanishes. You just give a long sigh. Probably not what the girl wanted, but considering the situation, it was probably the best for her, despite her pleadings.

"Aaaaaand got her,” Sal says. “A biiiiiit livid, but she’ll be fine. As for her jooooob...”

“Yeah, it’s more than likely that FutureSight the crazy girl found that she was after. I’ll see about retrieving it.” you state. Seemed the most logical choice of action by a wide margin. ”How’s Flashpoint taking it?”

“Seems discreetness waaaaaas the best option. They’ve been making ooovertones as to ‘joint operations’ with us, as well as ‘promooootional efforts’ should we help to 'prove our capacity in solving unexpected problems'.”

"Fantastic. Say, is Lorelei getting caught up on this, too?” You wonder.

"She wiiiill, now that things are taking shape better,” Sal assures. ”Just worry about that peeeesky little FutureSight for now, and resume your job later.” And the mental line goes dead.

Welp. You’ve got to pay another visit to the loon, it seems. Meh, well. Shouldn’t be too big of a deal.

>Continue with Miranda
>Jump to Lorelei

>>1014704
>Continue with Miranda

>>1014704
>Continue with Miranda

Let's get this done quickly and catch up with our employer before he gets murdered by someone.

>>1014704
>Continue with Miranda

We should do what we can to cover for her. Contract breaches like that can happen to anyone. Worse comes to worse, we can see if Sal can bring her in.

>>1014747
Definitely. Plus since she's good at finding and transporting shit Lorelei's rating should improve if they team up sometimes.

Sticking with Miranda for now, then!

(Also last post for right now, will resume later tonight.)

>>1014704
It’s already too early in the morning for this crap. You’d gone into a trance and done your best to refresh yourself. It wasn’t much, but it would have to do. After that, you’d gone to see Besse as quickly as you could. You had hoped she’d be amenable to just giving it up.

>Current Mana: 8800/9999

She’s crouching behind the couch. A couch with some kind of point defense system.

It shot LASERS at you. Not Pepper Stones. Actual LASERS.

“YOU’RE NEVER TAKING MY SOURCE OF INFINITE KNOWLEDGE!” Besse Wilcox is raving, rabid, and not at all happy to see you again- she was, mind you, until you asked for the FutureSight back. Then she’d thrown a wooden statue at you and ran inside. “I’M SO CLOSE TO OPENING THE RIFT!”

You’re only vaguely surprised that the girl’s being such a handful about the situation. “Look, there’s some things folks like you weren’t meant to know. You’re already lucky you haven’t been attacked for this thing. Just hand it over and I’ll forget you even had it, alright?” The fact that her mind didn’t get scrubbed is a minor miracle. Or maybe a major one, you’re not sure.

“I GOT IT AS A GIFT! AFTER THE SAVIOR RETURNED ME, THIS WAS ALL THAT WAS LEFT! IT HAD TO BE A SIGN! AND I’M GOING TO USE IT!” Oy. Starting to sound like a dime store mad scientist or something. Then again, you suppose that’s kinda what she was, all things considered. The fact that she developed working automated turrets in her own home was already disturbing...who knows what else she had in that shack of hers. You’d not bothered stepping beyond the porch after the first salvo.

>Try more gentle coercion. (How?)
>Just storm in, beat her down, take the damn thing.
>Other

>>1015052
>>Just storm in, beat her down, take the damn thing.

>>1015052
>Just storm in, beat her down, take the damn thing.

>>1015052
>Just storm in, beat her down, take the damn thing.
We already asked nicely when we didn't have to. Time to get back to paying work.

>>1015052
>Just storm in, beat her down, take the damn thing.

>>1015052
>Just storm in, beat her down, take the damn thing.
>Other
"You stupid, backwards, primitive girl! Who do you think sent me to retrieve it? You think They want you creating messes in the multiverse that they have to clean up? That They enjoy having Their reputation besmirched by a lowly Pedestrian using Their equipment to take knowledge that They collected and creating interdimensional portals, to be the laughingstock of the Multiversal Exchange? Who do you think you are, to be messing around with space-time?"

>>1015103
haha, no.

>>1015052
>Just storm in, beat her down, take the damn thing.
>Break all her anachronistic future stuff for good measure

>>1015052
>>Just storm in, beat her down, take the damn thing.
And bust up the goddamn lasers. Fuck her for having those

>>1015052
>Just storm in, beat her down, take the damn thing.
goddamn, really. laser point defense turrets? we need to smash and burn that, after we're done.

>>1015052
>>Just storm in, beat her down, take the damn thing.
the times for formalities are over.

>>1015052
also we should probably mention that even if she does reach the place she is looking for she would be kicked out of that place if she can't make it worth it for people on the other side.
maybe that might slow her down a little.

Back. Summoning beatdown.

>>1018917
Alright, you’ve had just about enough of this girl. She’s got no clue what’s she’s talking about, and even if she did, it’s more than obvious that letting her continue on with her delusions wouldn’t be good for anyone- least of all her. It’s high time you went and did something about it. Preferably while she’s still talking about everything she’d supposedly do with her knowledge…

She doesn’t register you getting past the door- but her couch defenses do. It’s more an instinctual dodge than anything as you juke to the side, avoiding one bolt- if nothing else it seems like the lasers had a second of startup, allowing you to move in advance of them firing on your position. There’s only the two, at least, and one of them quickly goes down to a blade swing.

THAT’S about the time when Besse yells in panic and makes a break for it. You start to go after her, but are forced back when a searing laser scorches the floor ahead of you as you quickly dodge. You wind up having to hope over the couch itself in an attempt to try to make it track you, and you can hear several objects get burned and cut into pieces as you make a quick circle around the furniture and cleanly sever the thing’s connection- the bulbous top half falls onto the hardwood floor, and some part of the glass cracks on it, revealing a Pepper Stone within- no time for that now.

You quickly take off down the hall where you can hear some kind of clanging going on, and turn into a room that looks nothing so much as a heavy metal workshop, with a wide variety of small little devices here and there- you can see a few things floating in the manner of antigravity, some anachronistic looking weaponry, and a few more mundane items- it seems like her general source of power was indeed stones, as opposed to batteries or other such fuel. But none of that compares to what’s in the center of the room- a giant door of some sort that reminded you of an elevator ripped out of the wall. She’s desperately trying to cram some kind of square device inside it. “Don’t have the metal, don’t have it, just need to make due…!”

She squawks as you grab her by the neck and pull her away from the device, hands scrabbling at your own. “You...ghkklll...Isoclose! So CLOOS- ack!” Roughly, you toss her away, slamming her into a workbench. It’s only a brief look around before you find the FutureSight in question and pocket it. Finally.

cont.

>>1019230
“Can’t...let this…” Hm. Seems like that impact roughed her up good. But as she gets up, she brings- well, tries to bring- some sort bladed weapon to bear. Well. Sucks for her.

The yell of pain as your fist explodes on her nose was higher pitched than anything you’d heard from her before. You’re pretty sure it’s busted now.

And as you look around at the rest of her stuff...yeah, probably wouldn’t be a good idea to let all this lie either.

The next couple of minutes are punctuated by metal denting and devices being crushed and splintered and melted- and you make sure that giant chamber is utterly, completely, and irrevocably slagged. You can see Besse out the corner of your eye simply looking on in shock and stunned horror; but she wisely keeps her mouth shut for once.

When you’re just about done, you make certain to haul her up and grab her by the collar again. “Alright, now listen. I’ve done this, seen this happen before, so I’m gonna leave you with two pieces of information. One: you wouldn’t want to see what’s in the beyond anyway. You wouldn’t be welcome. TRUST ME.” She opens her mouth once, twice, but doesn’t seem sure what to say, so you continue, bringing her a bit closer. “And two? I’d best not hear about you trying this stuff again. If you do? I’m going to have to consider you an ACTUAL problem. And if I have to consider you an actual problem? I’ll have to kill you.” No growling, no overtures, no subtley. Just plain and simple truth. “So leave it alone, maybe catch up with your sister. She seems like she misses you.”

You plop her down, and she crumples on the floor, hair wild and messy, nose broken and bloody, and body limp and splayed.

You’ve got the FutureSight back, at least. Time to head out. You've got a long ride to catch up to Cain at Gaugetown. And you need to move fast- you saw some folks whispering to each other when you came through here- even saw a few start running away when they made eye contact.

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

It’s been some time- you’re already making camp for the night, and mentally going over your gameplan when you get to Gaugetown-

”Helloooooo!” Oh. ”Glaaaaad that you’ve picked up that lost little thing! I’ve eeeeexcellent news. Flashpoint has agreeeeeed to do us a little pro-bono work on this job as a show of good faith. Iiiiiif you’re interested, of course. I said I’d leave the decision to youuuuuu.”

>We’ll be fine. You gonna take this thing off my hands now or wait?
>A little helping hand never hurt anyone…
>Other

>>1019285
>A little helping hand never hurt anyone…
Hey, it's help that we don't have to pay for and that isn't coming out of the contract payment.

I still wish we could have told Besse that the Dealmakers are the ones who wanted the FarSight back, the great beings that she so wanted to meet are the ones who look down on her as scum and wanted their property back.
Just to crush her spirit even more.

>>1019285
>>A little helping hand never hurt anyone…

>>1019285
>We’ll be fine. You gonna take this thing off my hands now or wait?

>>1019285
Calling in backup! Writing.

>>1019285
>We’ll be fine. You gonna take this thing off my hands now or wait?

Looks like some unlucky dweebs are gonna have to owe us a favor.

>>1019285
>>A little helping hand never hurt anyone…

>>1019285
You do the equivalent of a mental shrug. “Not gonna say no to a helping hand we don’t have to pay for.”

“Quiiiite true. It’s not their most common type of assiiiiiignment, but they do have squads for...heavy resistance. I suspect it’ll be thooooose boys and gals coming out here. I’ll be sure to let them know the details of the situation.” And that’s the end of that conversation. Retrieval experts doing assault and clearance might be a bit out of sorts for them, but you’ll take it so long as they’re discreet. It’d be great if they could help speed things up a bit.

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

Gaugetown is...wow, this place is actually fairly big. Reminds you of Saint Augustine. Despite the name, it’s as much a city as a frontier settlement out here will get, looks like. No wonder Cain saved this city for last. Chances are it’d have a lot of setup already and would need a lot of coercing to get people to cotton to his ideas. Now you just need to find the-

And a tap distracts you on the shoulder. You turn around to notice a man about a head and a half taller than you, backed by at least ten other men. He’s wearing old leathers, seems around middle-age, and is well tanned from the sun.

The silver badge on his chest leaves no guesses as to his profession.

He looks down at you with a cool stare, which you meet equally, and his voice is calm, if direct when he speaks. “Howdy, m’am. Name’s Sheriff Abernathy. Got a question for ya, if you don’t mind.”

You just raise an eyebrow in curiosity.

“There’s been some talk makin’ the rounds the last day or two. Somethin’ goin’ on in Saint Augustine. An outlaw runnin’ around after killin’ two deputies in cold blood in the middle of the street.” Well, damnit. “Description matches yours. So, my question to ya- You comin’ with us quiet-like, or are things going to have to get rough?”

Well. This might be annoying. On the one hand, if Cain hears about your ‘arrest’, he might or might not get you out. On the other, he might just abandon you to your own devices. Then again, you could just break out...or not go at all, but that might cause things to get a bit more...dicey than even now. You could forget setting foot into any town peacefully if word got out that you assaulted a lawman in Gaugetown; at least Motley was a warzone before you got there.

>Go peacefully and you’ll sort it out later.
>Refuse.
>Other

>>1019851
>>Go peacefully and you’ll sort it out later.

Be sure to make a huge stink verbal defense-wise, because the two:
-didn't identify themselves as deputies
-attempted to kidnap us
-drew first

If nobody agrees just destroy them all. Fuck these cop motherfuckers.

>>1019851
>>Go peacefully and you’ll sort it out later.

I swear there was another option I had in mind but I flat forgot it.

>>1019851
Seconding >>1019899.

>>1019851
>Go peacefully and you’ll sort it out later.
>>1019899
And stole our horse.

>>1019851
How did they manage to sneak up on Miranda?

>>1019918

She's not perfect. I actually keep wanting her to make a couple more mistakes than she does before I realize it'd not make sense for her to do so.

>>1019899
Have you noticed in a lot of stories heroic sorts rarely bother anything beyond a personal name unless it's like Sentai stuff? (Also I say deputies, but that may have been a bad word for it. I meant it more like honorarily deputized, if that helps or not).

>>1019961
Yeah I guess that makes senseDidnt work out great for them though did it. They stil didn't make any claim that they had authority to detain us, and damn if we're gonna let some flamboyant dweebs just have their way with us.

>>1019851
Invoke the Miranda warning.

>AM I BEING DETAINED?

>>1019991
Still probably a bad idea to kill them outright, especially in town. Incapacitation or some minor maiming would have been a more practical option. But since the deed has long since been done, we really should point out that there was no indication at the time that they were working for any higher authority.

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>>1019851
>Go peacefully
>for now
Give the Sheriff the full Balkan War Crimes face.
For the next job, we need to bring along trilithium resin or something similar that can depopulate an entire city in a few hours.

>>1020054
I didn't mean right there. If at the station they refuse to let us go without fuss, we make our leave by force if need be.

Also holy shit don't let them take our sword. we need that.

We'll go along...for now.

Writing!

My concern with not killing everyone that gets in our way now is that Cain bought the Collateral Damage Rider, and he wants us to make sure that there are customers and retailers still alive for his business venture.

As much as I just want to kill this sheriff and his deputies, if we bring down a Federal Marshall, that could cause problems with the government back on the coast, thereby causing problems for our client.

>>1019899
>we acted in self defense
>we deny anything they say we did

>>1019851

You heave a long-suffering sigh as you put your hands up in a surrendering position; you doubt these people had the full version of events, but you’d certainly be sure to straighten that out sooner than later if that was the case. “You know, I didn’t even know they were deputies. Among a lot of other facts.”

He frowns as if he hoped that response wasn’t coming. “Deputized recently, really. But if’n you’re bein’ respectable about this, we’ll do the same.” He starts walking behind you as he takes out a pair of handcuffs. “My recommendations is that ya save any other complaints for the courthouse- there’ll be more ears thereabouts.” The *clack* of the handcuffs sounds, and he begins leading you through the town, his posse at his back.

Lovely welcome, really. But you’re not the sort to just lie back. “I’ll repeat myself if I have to- they’d done nothing but accost me, try to forcibly take me with them, and stole my horse, to top it off.” your voice is perfectly level and calm- no reason to make them think you’re about to get out of control. “I’d no reason to believe them anything but hoodlums, particularly after they drew their weapons first.”

The Sheriff looks back at you. “So self-defense, you claim?” You nod. “Fair enough. You’ll have to tell that to the mayor when he shows, and if’n he gives the go-ahead, then we’ll have to see what Saint Augustine has to say about the whole situation, but in the meantime…”

They wind up taking you to the jailhouse, about as expected. You’re sat in front of the sheriff, he reads off your charges (murder, escape from the law, horse thievery) and you’re told the mayor will be along shortly as well. The jailhouse itself...isn’t too bad. There’s at least a window in your cell.

The mayor himself is a thinner man, with a heavy mustache and bowler hat. Dressed to the nines, though. He introduces himself as Mayor James Tannely, and you quickly recount your own story of the events at Saint Augustine to him, to which he pulls a funny face. “Hm. Well, were we to believe you, that WOULD be considered self-defense...but at the moment it seems to be your word and theirs. I’m unaware of any alternate interpretation of events from Saint Augustine besides yours, nor anyone that’d speak for you.”

>Mention Isabelle, the bounty hunter
>Mention Cain, your patron.
>Mention Both.
>Other

>>1020470
>Mention Isabelle, the bounty hunter

>>1020470
>Mention Isabelle, the bounty hunter

>>1020470
>>Mention Isabelle, the bounty hunter

>>1020470
>Mention Isabelle, the bounty hunter

>>1020470
>Mention Isabelle, the bounty hunter

Should we mention that all they did was go on about some kind of prophecy instead of identifying themselves as deputies of the law, or is that already covered in the story we gave?

>>1020470
>Mention Isabelle, the bounty hunter

oh and >>1020638 too, adding that they showed it as if they were just doing it out of some weird 'prophecy' or something instead of proper law. hell we didn't even do anything illegal before they tried to take us.

>>1020470
> Isabelle, if they can find her
> crazed religious rambling, who vetted these "deputies"
Is innocent until proven guilty a thing here, because all they have is hearsay.

When did we steal a horse? It was our house that was stolen. This trial is a fucking disgrace.

>>1020737
It's not a trial, he's just reading off things you're accused of for your own knowledge.

>>1020776
You know, looking back on it, Miranda was the one to draw her weapon and strike first.
Technically, we did strike before either one of the two would-be heroes drew their weapons.

Howdy! Writing resumes in 30.

>>1026815
“Well, there is one girl,” you recall. “Name’s Isabelle. She’s a bounty hunter; redhead, wide-brimmed hat, wears a lot of dark blue? She uses a long rifle from distance. We worked together, and she saw most of what happened.” At least, you’d hope she’d be willing to step up to the plate for you. You’re unsure of how they’d react of Cain were to speak for you, considering his...variable response in most places thus far.

The Mayor just raises an eyebrow. “I think I may be aware of who you speak of. Well, if we can find her within a few days’ time, we’ll see if she’s indeed willing to speak on your behalf. Considering she’s a bounty hunter...it may be difficult. As it stands, however, you’ve no one in your defense if that’s it.”

“Might be honest about it, Mayor.” One of the remaining deputies speaks up, surprisingly. He’s a short-haired guy, and rather young-looking; maybe only a couple years older than you, physically. “I know ‘bout the two what was killed; I personally think they were kinda kooks.” Taking another look at him, you don’t think he was with Abernathy during your arrest.

“Nathan, you ain’t never liked ‘em!” The Sheriff fires back. “You’d been trying to get those two ran out the frontier for a time and a half now!”

“Doesn’t mean I wanted ‘em dead!” He yells. “I wasn’t THAT mad at ‘em! But I’m just sayin’, they liked to talk about some weird stuff, and they kept gettin’ ahead of themselves what with tryin’ to ‘save the world’ or somethin’. I told ‘em more than once before that if’n they kept goin’ on about that prophetic junk then sooner or later someone would stop entertainin’ it for ‘em- thas all!” Well, you could see the wisdom in that advice.

The Mayor just sighs. “Well, be that as it may, we’re still going to need to hold you here for a bit.”

>Mention that you have business in town, promise to behave, but you’re not staying behind bars. Remove said bars, walk out.
>Head to the one cot and chill out. You’ll be out of here soon enough, one way or another. Might as well rest while you wait.
>Other

>>1026962
>Head to the one cot and chill out. You’ll be out of here soon enough, one way or another. Might as well rest while you wait.
Lorelei is still technically working on the contract, and our client did purchase the Collateral Damage Rider.
It's a few days, and we can make up for it later. If we're lucky, Abigail's goons will try to come for us in the jail and we can kill them.
Why waste energy hunting them down when we can have them come to us?

>>1026962
>>Head to the one cot and chill out. You’ll be out of here soon enough, one way or another. Might as well rest while you wait.

>>1026962
>Head to the one cot and chill out. You’ll be out of here soon enough, one way or another. Might as well rest while you wait.

They took your weapons and your money, but didn’t seem to want to risk searching you. Either they’re gentlemen, or scared of the response if they tried. Meh. You’ll be out of here in due time regardless. Might as well relax.

“You gotta admit, Sheriff, I don’t think anyone’d be quite so calm about doin’ somethin’ like that if they didn’t at least believe whole-hearted they was in the right.” you hear the kid state as you close your eyes after hopping on the cot.

“Might be. We’ll see,” is all he responds as you hear footsteps leave. The door closes, and shortly after you hear the Sheriff stand up as well. “Don’t get any ideas, now- I’m right outside.” Is all he warns as he steps out.

Welp. You’ve got plenty of time to yourself now.

>Timeskip- Miranda
>Timeskip- Lorelei
>Timeskip- ?????
>Timeskip- ???

>>1027012
>Timeskip- ?????

>>1027012
>Timeskip- Lorelei

>>1027012
>>Timeskip- ?????

>>1027012
The number of question marks correspond to the letters in their names. That's the difference between the two mystery folk.

>>1027012
>>Timeskip- ?????
More letters means more good

>>1027012
>>Timeskip- ???
Might be Sal, so that could be interesting.

>>1027012
And ????? it is! Writing!

>>1027012
Well. This is a fine mess you’ve gotten yourself into. You’re not really at fault for it, either. Frankly, you blame Sarah. Girl had to go and screw up a mission that SOMEONE ELSE screwed up, and now it’s up to some D-level operation to go and handle your business while you handle theirs under false pretenses because...damnit, you can barely remember; all you know is that it’s a clusterfuck and there were two Outgoers already on site trying to un-cluster it.

At least it’s one where you feel more at home. You breath the dusty air in deep- it’s not too often you get to purely frontier worlds like this, and it’s a nice reminder of home.

Don’t think you’d give up the choice you made, though. You for your posse was, is, and always will be a no-brainer. Not to mention your new posse has more than proven to be capable, even in rough situations like this- taking down a giant beast that’d been terrorizing the countryside. Classic, but always fun. This one reminded you of a giant buzzard, in particular- locals called him Bloodhawk. You and your squad had started off with tracking the beast to it’s lair- a laborious process in and of itself; the thing was perched on a cliffside, so just getting close to it was right out.

Then someone had had the bright idea of luring down to the ground via a LOT of meat. That took some time in itself- this thing was easily the size of a few buses, and you figured it’d need more than a cow to consider coming out for a snack. Jin, your second, had managed to find a herd of big,furry, buffalo-like animals, and you’d nearly caused a stampede by accident, but all in all you’d made a decent haul.

It’s five of you, currently hiding behind various rocks and cover- Jin, swordsman extraordinaire and master of illusion. He’s ready to, quite literally, drop bombs. Mark, big slab of beef that’s unnaturally acrobatic, has a massive rifle ready to go. Gilda’s on standby with her cycle (disguised as a horse, thank you Jin) ready to drag anyone out of the line of fire and heal them up. Baxter, the man with all the plans, who’s sitting this one out. And you.

Carly. A girl with luck, pluck, and a cat that turns into a gun. You hear a mewing on your shoulder, and turn to smile a Judgement- your familiar and favorite weaponbeast. “You set, Judge?”

He responds by leaping into the air, and transforming into a beautifully crafted, ivory-white six-shooter that you catch with ease. Yeah, he was ready.

“Shh!” You hear Jin over your head-com. “I think we’ve caught its attention.”

>Roll 1d100 for how well it takes the bait. Yup. We’re doing this.

Rolled 45 (1d100)

>>1027165

Rolled 58 (1d100)

>>1027165

Rolled 15 (1d100)

>>1027165
Getting called a D-list operation stings.

Rolled 70 (1d100)

>>1027165

Sorry, it was intended to be Best of 3. Forgot to mention such.

Anywho, a 'meh' result. Writing.

>>1027190
You misunderstood. The d listers are doing her shit while she helps with our shit because Sal did his backroom deal.

>>1027199
No, I'm pretty sure that Carly is referring to SES as the D-listers who are handling Flashpoint's fuckup of losing the FutureSight, an now she has to help said D-listers with their job (our contract with Cain).

>>1027198
Flashpoint just has no luck on this planet, do they?

>>1027165
>>1027179
>>1027186
>>1027190


You can see the thing peeking its head over the edge of its nest- ugh, it’s an ugly thing. Reminds you more of a turkey that got smashed with a giant hammer a few times. You’re not even sure Judgement’s shots could pierce it without getting a vital spot- and on a moving target that can be harder than it sounds even if you can control a bullet’s direction and velocity.

It seems to cock its head at the bounty...then simply head back inside. You can hear murmurs of discontent from the others, before Mark speaks up. “Soooo...if it doesn’t want it, what do we-”

“Shh!” Jin suddenly quiets them again. “Have patience.” There’s a bit more grumbling, but they do eventually quiet.

After about three more minutes of tense waiting, you suddenly see a GIGANTIC plume of black and red shoot out from the cavern entrance as the massive hawk dives out and goes straight for the mass of meat. It immediately starts eating- but it continuously looks up between bites, as though questioning its own good bounty, forcing you to duck back behind your rock. Smart for a stupid bird. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem to have noticed you.

Judgement can probably hit it from here, but the way it’s looking around, it’ll be a risky ploy for anyone to move…

“Baxter!” you whisper over comms. “Any ideas?”

“One of you is gonna have to draw its attention!” He whispers back. “It’s probably gonna either get really mad or run depending!”

>Enter Tactics. I’m aware that your squadmates aren’t that detailed, so I’ll let whatever go within reasonable estimates and as long as it follows this general outline:

>Jin is capable of illusions, like making false images and words and the sort.
>Mark is a 7-foot man that moves like he’s in a Wuxia film- and can make everyone he hits act similarly, including the devastating slowdown special effects.
>Gilda rides a super motorcycle and has a semi-sentient 10-foot chain she can imbue with status effects like ice-cold, fire, poison, sleeping power, paralysis, and healing energies. Her bike is big enough for two people to ride on.
>Baxter is just a brainy guy, but what a brain.
>You have Judgement, your weaponbeast, that allows you to mentally direct your bullets, the ability to hover in midair, and an unnaturally high pain tolerance and physical ability, much like most magical girls.

>>1027266
Gilda and Jin.
Do some drive-bys and hit the bird to get its attention. Carly shoots for the bird, with Jin using illusions to make the shoot look like they're coming from Gilda.
Carly coordinates the shots with Jin via their comm gear.

>>1027212
Ah, I see. Makes sense I guess. SES only has three operatives.

>>1027295
Let feathers fly my friend! Seconding this.>>1027266

>>1027295
Supportin'

So, where does everyone want to go after this?

>>1027845
Forgot my trip. Asking just out of curiosity. Also will be writing again in an hour or so.

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336 KB JPG

>>1027854
There's the idea of being hired by a bunch of clown villains to actually win against the superheroes, and seeing their abject horror when Miranda not only brutally kills the heroes but also wipes out an entire city because they forgot/were too cheap to buy the Collateral Damage and Binding Narrative riders.

>>1027266
dunno what to do since these guys are new.
supporting >>1027295

>>1027873
it's not like they would've have known that we would actually destroy the entire city if that was easier and faster for us.

>>1027845
A rogue trader vessel.

Alrighty. Back. Writing.

>>1027266
Fine, then. You’ll have to make this good...and an idea comes to you. “Gilda, you up for distraction duty?”

“Just say when,” is her response. She’s careful to not rev the bike just yet. “Overgrown chicken won’t know it’s coming.”

“It’s really more of a turkey…” You all quickly shush Mark.

“Alright, Jin, get ready. I’m going to take a shot at it, but it needs to look like it came from Gilda. Got it?” He grunts in affirmation. “Alright, then. Once we’ve got it looking in a different direction, Mark? You get in there and do what you do best.”

“Roger.” Alright...deep breath. Ready…

“Go!” You hear Gilda’s bit rev up and scream out behind the outcropping, as Jin quickly finishes his handsigns to cast an illusion. Before you know it, she’s a gun in her hand instead of her familiar chain.

Almost immediately the buzzard turns to look at her- in your direction as well. You aim your gun a little to the left. “Alright, firing in two, one, SHOOT!” And you press the trigger as your things slow down, viewing things from a bullet viewpoint, practically.

It’s second nature to curve around, smoothly traveling near to the ground- then up, along the bike, and then flying up Gilda’s outstretched arm. It all happens in maybe a second or two in real time, but you let yourself go right before impact with the creature’s eye. As everything warps back to it’s original speed and perception, you hear a loud squawking that tells you your aim, as always, was impeccable. Still, when you glance out at the beast, it’s readily blinking both eyes, simply shaking it’s head in frustration!

For a moment, you’re surprised. A shot to the eye usually hurts like hell, if not an outright kill, but THIS thing seems to act like it simply got a grain of sand in. Well…

“Ready for another pass!” Gilda remarks. You quickly confirm it and ready yourself again. Three more passes, three more shots, three more frustrated squawks. It’s well and truly distracted now, attempting mightily to peck Gilda to death. Fortunately, her bike is a bit too fast for it to connect with any pecks or nips, and she begins swerving towards and away from it.

“Alright, think I got its attention!” Gilda yells. “Can’t get any breathin- damnit!” She quickly swerves away from a peck too close for comfort- the thing’s starting to use its wings to flutter around, blowing up a mighty wind and causing a bit of imbalance on Gilda’s part as she does her best to keep upright. “Someone HIT IT!”

>Enter Tactics, regardless of what gets picked, 1d100, Bo3.

Rolled 7 (1d100)

>>1028244
Well, you heard the girl. Hit it. Have Gilda keep leading it, but let her use her whips for defense. Start shooting it from where you are, and let Mark flank.

Rolled 58 (1d100)

>>1028244
Mark sneaks up behind it, we hit it with everything we have, Gilda restrains it (?), Mark then jumps on it and karate chops it's neck (idk what he does), Jin hypnotises with circular patterns (it is a chicken right, they love this shit), Baxter fucks off because we are doing all the thinking for him.

Rolled 51 (1d100)

>>1028244
still thinking what to do, but have a roll preemptively.

>>1028244
Have Baxter try to get a feel of the bird's anatomy and weak points.
Have Jin create illusionary blinders on the bird's eyes to blind it.
Mark gets on top of it and tries to break its neck with concentrated strikes.
Carly fires bullets into its open beak.
Gilda tries to strike its feet with her chain.

Writing in about a half-hour.

Probably will move to a new thread shortly.

Also one of these days I need to remember to specify to pick tactics, THEN roll. At any rate, writing.

>>1028244
“Baxter!” You yell out. “If anything comes to you, you let us know!”

“I’m doing my best to analyze it now!” is the response. You can hear -something- happening on his end. “Just keep safe!” Easier said than done, but not like you’d disagree.

You quickly prime Judgement again. “Get ready to wrap it Gilda, I’m gonna hit it again!” You quickly shout out. “Jin, keep it blinded to us! Mark, get ready to move in!” They all nod their confirmations, Gilda’s punctuated by a shout as she swerves out of the way of another attempt. Figure now would be the time. “On my count, Jin! Three...two...one...now!”

You quickly hear Jin say something you can’t quite make out, and almost immediately the overgrown thing looks up in confusion, stepping back once, twice, then looking around, shaking its head. You immediately fire- and this time you don’t have to line up with Gilda. Unfortunately, as soon as your attack hits, the thing squawks and immediately starts flapping its wings. Gilda’s too close by as the windstorm begins, and she’s forced to swerve off her attack path, nearly toppling her bike as she does so. Mark as well is pushed back from the wind’s force, not allowing him to get in. “Damnit, it’s trying to fly off!”

“Hit its wings!” You hear Baxter yell. “There’s a pair of tendons on the underside of its wings! They’re inflamed, and aren’t as protected! They look violet! Hit those hard enough and you’ll ground it!” No real time to argue the point, or worry about the size of it. You just take aim.

>Roll 2d100, one for each wing.

Rolled 7, 77 = 84 (2d100)

>>1029785
>starting at midnight
Sorry Handler, I can't participate right now. Good night.

>>1029805
Ah, it's okay. It's early evening for me. Pleasant dreams.

Rolled 69, 88 = 157 (2d100)

>>1029785

>>1029812
Also, you might want to announce on your twitter that you're running.

I'll get back into the groove eventually...

Rolled 88, 92 = 180 (2d100)

>>1029785

Rolled 38, 21 = 59 (2d100)

>>1029785

>>1029785

Not too shabby. Writing!

>>1029785
You quickly fire off the first shot, and it whips through the air, slicing through the powerful gusts easily as it races towards the target. As you guide the bullet, you can already see what Baxter is talking about- a discolored part of muscle right near the armpit. A flap of its wings doesn’t cause any troubles, and you curve around the outer edge of the wing and the bullet hits home.

The beast lets out a large screech, and flops to the ground as it continues to escape- this time on foot. You quickly prime Judgement and fire again- now that you’re sure what to look for, and Bloodhawk is reeling, it’s easier to guide the second bullet under and into the beasts’ armpit. It doesn’t screech nearly as much this time, but it does redouble its efforts to get away. It takes a few hops forward, before stopping suddenly, looking around and squawking in frustration.

“I made it view an illusory wall,” you hear Jin say. “I’m not sure how long it’ll last, though!”

“Keep at it!” Baxter encourages. “This thing isn’t built to withstand a sustained assault like this- keep it struggling!”

“On it!” Gilda’s bike roars as she screams foward on her bike, chain whipping through the air. Bloodhawk, however, takes notice of the sound this time, and charges forwards to meet her.

This time, however, Gilda’s ready, and her chain snakes around one of it’s legs as she binds it, and you can see sparks of electricity run up the length. The thing instinctively raises its leg to shake off whatever’s caught it, and suddenly shudders with electricity and topples over. It quickly starts to rise again- before Mark leaps in, quite literally, spinning like a top launched in midair, and landing gracefully on the beast’s back. He runs up the thing’s spine, before leaping up, and coming down on its head with a ferocious axe kick- and before the thing’s stopped reeling, it seems to slow down immensely- as though time for it and it alone slowed to a crawl.

With a mighty yell, Mike begins aiming strikes directly down to it's spine. Mike's a hard hitter, fortunately, and you can already see its face beginning to fade. After three seconds, time resumes- and the beast outright collapses.

There's silence for a few moments as the group of you look over your work. "I think we got it," Mark says. "I'm not hearing any breathing."

Thank goodness. That was starting to get a bit dicey.

Baxter comes out of his hiding spot all too quickly. "Nice, guys! If you don't mind, just gimme a second here..." He quickly moves over to the dead bird and pulls out a scanner of his. Goodness knows what he's doing.

Jin and Gilda both walk up to you as Mike keeps an eye on Baxter. "Nice work," Jin says. Ever the direct operator. "So, what's our next action?"

>Intel says the next target is past the river. Some giant lizard. Let's head there and get this over with.
>Probably should try and check in on the girls we're pinch hitting for. Haven't seen them yet.
>Other

>>1030206
>Intel says the next target is past the river. Some giant lizard. Let's head there and get this over with.

Quick question, the money they collect, will those be converted to motes for us, or do they get to keep it for themselves?

>>1030206
>>Probably should try and check in on the girls we're pinch hitting for. Haven't seen them yet.

>>1030206
>Intel says the next target is past the river. Some giant lizard. Let's head there and get this over with.
Job's to bag and tag these critters, not baby-sit a pair of D-Listers.

>>1030206
> Next target
Lizards are weak against birds, right? Jin should make an illusion of a giant bird swooping down, it'll lose its shit

>>1030206
>Intel says the next target is past the river. Some giant lizard. Let's head there and get this over with.

>>1030206
Moving on, moving fast. Writing!

>>1030206
You think on it for a bit. “From what information we’ve gotten, the next target is past the river. Some giant lizard.”

“Ha!” Gilda laughs. “Maybe we shoulda got him first. THAT could’ve been the bait.”

You just shake your head. “Let's head there and get this over with.” You’ve all got actual horses, save for Gilda- never WAS one to be parted from her cycle unless absolutely necessary. She ended riding alongside you all in cruise mode usually. As you mount up, you give a slight sigh. “Sooner we wrap this up, sooner we clear out that debt.” That was the one thing rubbing you the wrong way about being here. Hopefully you could spend a couple of days just enjoying the scenery when you were done.

With that you all begin heading out. It’ll be a long ride, however. The river was at least a day away, by your estimate- you’d have to get past a couple towns first. From what you recall, the thing was often seen to the north of a city called Walleye. You’d been in a town called Redrock first- that’s where you’d gotten your information from. Apparently one of the D-listers had been around there, but had left a day or two ago. Where, they hadn’t been able to tell you, but she was headed southeast, apparently. Whatever.

-------

It’s near nighttime, and you all have started to set up camp. Baxter already has his perimeter monitor out and working- useful little thing. Gilda’s cooking up something decent- some kind of grilled meats, and Mike and yourself are working on tents and making sure everything’s tied down for now.

Mike gives you a curious look as one of said tents inflates. “Hey, soo…”

“Yeah?” You’re trying to keep your mind off that delicious smell…

“Was just wondering, ya think there’s a reason we got two fouls here?” You stop briefly to look at him. “I’m just sayin’, Jeanette got fired after comin’ here cause she screwed up- I mean, sure, she was always kinda flashy, but she did alright work.” He starts laying out his bedroll as he talks, a pensive expression on his face. “And then Sarah screws up- and Sarah’s good! She’s got Division 4’s fastest completion record for a reason!” Great, he looks troubled by this, legitimately. “I’m wonderin’ if this place doesn’t have some funky juju going on here that’s messin’ with us beyond maybe some anti-magic rings, is all. Whaddya you think?”

>Meh. If it is, we can work through it.
>I think it’s just coincidence, so relax.
>Pft. Yeah, right. They both just screwed up.

>>1030677
>Meh. If it is, we can work through it.
Multiverse is a big place.
And both of them were flying solo; we're running as a group.

>>1030677
>Meh. If it is, we can work through it.

>>1030677
>Meh. If it is, we can work through it.
Keep an eye out.

Maybe if these guys finish up fast they can bust Miranda out of the slammer.

>>1030845
Why would they help the scrubs that they resent owing a debt to?
And the debt is paid once the monsters are taken care of.

>>1030865
Hmm, I suppose. I just thought a jaibleak would be fun. Well Cain can always bribe us out of there.

>>1030895
You need to get in character.

While Sarah screwed up, SES didn't have to be such assholes as to hang it over Flashpoint and make us cover part of their contract.
This is something that people can get fired over, and did get fired over; and being out of a job at the Intersection is a death sentence.

And I'm not being hyperbolic here; just like a death sentence allows for appeals and quite a few years before the actual execution, the Dealmakers will give you time to try to find another job before they eject you into nonexistence.
But seriously, would a merc company take a chance on someone who screwed up so badly as to break one of the few rules that the merc companies have? It's the equivalent of being a high-flying banker or stock broker, and then getting slapped with a felony, and now unable to get a job any better than a janitor.

Writing! This'll be it for the night.

>>1030939
We don't know how sal struck the deal, more likely that their boss offered this as part of the deal to sweep it under the rug. The kind of fuckup we found here is worth a lot more than killing a few big critters.

>>1030677

You just give a dismissive snort. “Juju or not, whatever it is, we can work through it. We’re professionals for a reason.”

Mark just makes this strange noise like he wants to disagree, but isn’t quite sure how to phrase it. Eventually he just settles for shrugging. “Iiiif you say so. Think it might be worthwhile to keep careful just in case, though.”

“Can’t disagree there; but that’s just because it’s good common sense.” You acknowledge. “Like you said, Sarah’s good. Her fouling up is a bit abnormal, but everyone has off days. Might’ve just been hers.” You quickly turn to Gilda. “Hey, how’s the grub coming along?”

She’s carefully watching her portable grill, flipping the meat carefully. “Just a bit more time, gotta make sure it’s eve-” And then you’re all interrupted by a small beeping. The lot of you look up, and as one you quickly arm yourselves. Jin, who’d been meditating, is the first to say something.

“Coming from the southeast. Over a dozen, I can sense.” He’s quickly squinting out at the darkness as he gets a hand on his sword. “Approaching slowly.”

Great. The lot of you remain silent, as the tension in the air rises, and soon, you can start to hear footsteps. Pitter-patters, light footed. Alright then, time to-

“Peace, strangers!” Hm?! “We seek speech!”

One of them steps closer, and you finally get a halfway decent look at them- ugh. Short, squat, ugly spots. Looks like it fell out the ugly tree from the top, hit every branch on the way down, then the tree fell ON it. “I am Kur-du, Chief of southern Wulu tribe! Have seen your power- and we seek vengance!”

You’ve got to be joking.

And that's it for tonight! Tomorrow, should be running around 2 PM CST. Will actually put something on Twitter, and will likely be a new thread.

It's nice to be back.

>>1031163
Good having ya.

>>1031157
Lawl. Not this shit again.

Thanks for running. You have been doing amazingly well with having each of the missions with a different tone and keeping them interesting with surprising plot elements and whatnot. Pity you don't get more players.

>>1031234
I really kinda wish the holidays didn't happen like they did- sorta. Ruined my run schedule, and I feel like this mission is getting dragged out a bit.

Then again, Mission #3 was intended to be longer anyway because PLOT.

Looks like they just met the bad juju. Seriously, these little fucks are one reason bad shit happens. We need to kill em off for spreading that prophecy.

>>1031157
Oh geez are they going to ask them to deal with Miranda because she fouled that guy's test lol

New thread!

>>1035505