>>1180616
The bolts fly by barely a foot or two in front of you as they careen up the stairwell, and you decide it’s better to not let them stick around. As soon as the magic volley is done, you quickly pop over the edge to fire off a return salvo of your own- you can quickly see there’s five of them that are blasting upwards- they quickly scatter and take cover as you fire back, hearing shouts of alarm as the splash from your own blasts’ impacts prove a bit more forceful than theirs as the corridor rocks.

“GET REINFORCEMENTS OUT HERE, WE’RE LOSING MEN! AND TELL THEM TO INCREASE DEFENSES AROUND THE CONTROL ROOM!” Well, nuts. Can’t keep this up forever. You charge up a bigger one, just to be sure. This should do the tric-

That’s when you hear thumping coming from...above? On the next floor up it seems... More footsteps. Lovely. You toss the blast quickly- the stairway shakes a bit and you can see some debris splash up to near where you are. No time to worry about that- you quickly open the door and dart out into the hallway- if they’re coming down the stairwell, that’s not a lot of time.

>Gotta move fast. Get in, get out before they can catch up!
>Maybe you can throw them off somehow… (how?)
>Other

>>1180617
>>Gotta move fast. Get in, get out before they can catch up!

>>1180617
>Maybe you can throw them off somehow… (how?)
Light trap?
If not just do
>Gotta move fast. Get in, get out before they can catch up!

>>1180617
>Other
Set up Moleworm proximity mines where we expect the guards to come through.

>>1180617
>Maybe you can throw them off somehow…
We can reasonably assume that they'll be sending manpower primarily to the control room, and the passage that separates us from it.

We should also be able to estimate the rough location of the control room, either by having been previously briefed on it, determining the largest concentration of enemy forces using Power Sense, or just assuming that the layout of this Cannon is similar to the previous one.

And we can assume that they'll be expecting us to assault the main entrance or a side entrance, rather than, for instance, spontaneously renovating a new one into existence.

So, if we seemingly retreat before blasting our way through an outer wall from an unexpected angle (which we can judge via Power Sense), before making our way towards the control room (either through further blasting or more conventional legwork, dependent on how much juice each layer of walls takes), they'll probably take a while to react.

10 minutes to go. First post of a run/thread gets 30 minutes instead of 20.

>>1180617
Oh, meant to say, writing for

>>1180657
>>1180694

Due to majority.

>>1180879
Shoot, didn't see this, ignore my post here >>1180892

>>1180657
>>1180694
>>1180617

You quickly take a sniff around. Four of them coming, and you can try to sense more...you breathe deeply, and you can smell...a lot of carnations or something. Slightly above you, a distance to your right. Roughly around where the other control room was, too, if you rotate your mental image around. Makes sense, you suppose. If all the layouts are the same, that’s just good for you, since you don’t have a lot of time to go through much rigamarole. You really don’t want to risk whatever Operation X4 is.

The slamming of the door is all they get, and you blitz past them, noticing the shouts of alarm and-

“Open fire!!!!” Yeah, that too.

You quickly careen down the next hallway- you need to find another stairwell. That first one only went up so far. Should likely be one on the opposite end of the building, if you remembered the layout any well- aha!

Unfortunately, you can see a trio of soldiers immediately round the corner; you quickly blast them before they can react, hopping over their still bodies. Honestly, that’s just reminding you of what’s waiting should you slow down…

You don’t even bother doing so once you hit the stairwell. You just leap and twist to plant your feet against the adjacent wall, kicking off of it to wall jump upwards, grab the railing, and flipping yourself up and over all in one smooth motion. Finally, this should be the floor. You can smell a dozen soldiers stand between you and that room, right around the corner.

>Well, you have a rocket launcher…
>Surprise wall entry!
>Other

>>1181154
>>Surprise wall entry!
Did we bring any melee weapons from our previous trips?

>>1181154
>Surprise wall entry!
Man, I really want to acquire local weapons and explosives.
Just so we can save our own, expensive and high-tech, weapons for targets that call for it.

>>1181195
We should've brought our Flamebringer.

>>1181195
The Gravity Flamebringer. (Maybe you should rename it...) You've admittedly taken something resembling a liking to it. Not enough to replace your own hands and feet, but it's in your bag should you ever feel like it's needed.

It's gotten to the point I honestly just mentally imagine Miranda just 'has it' by default now, even if she's not always using it, so I'm making it canon, screw it.

>>1181154
>Surprise wall entry!
[Kool-Aid Man intensifies]

>>1181208
We haven't really got time at the moment to loot anyone we take down. Would you settle for using the bodies themselves as thrown projectiles?

>>1181242
>Would you settle for using the bodies themselves as thrown projectiles?
Yeah, that's fine. Once we finish taking this city, I want to do some on-site equipment acquisition.

>>1181154
>Surprise wall entry!
I wanted to suggest going up through the ceiling for the last vote but I was too slow.

>There's...there's a lot of them. I didn't think he could summon this much...

>Yeah. More 'n I expected.

>! You...

>Heh...figures they'd think they need that much to take you girls down. Not exactly confident, huh?

>You...You really think so? Or are you just making a bad joke?

>What th- I'm not THAT mean! C'mon, yer the Galactica Girls! You GOT this! You don't want ME to take all the credit now, do ya?!

>*sigh* No...you're right. The odds are against us, but...we have each other... and that's enough. We HAVE to stop him!

>And THAT'S why you can't waste time on these small fry!

>...! Wait, what- Andromeda, what are you doing!?

>Clearin' out the trash. You girls just promise to give 'im a couple of slugs across whatever passes for a jaw for me, huh?

>Wait, wha...are you...NO! IF YOU-

>Ngghhhh...NO TIME FOR SAP, JUST GET GOIN'! I'LL BE FINE!

>ANDROMEDA!

>...

>...

>...alright, you lousy pieces of charcoal. Let's see you escape THIS! BY MY GALACTICA, I SUMMON! FINALIS...ANDROMEDA!

>>1181534
Is this how we an heroed?

>>1181195
>>1181208
>>1181242
>>1181295

Alright, then. If it ain’t broke, no reason to try and fix it! You quickly move back, checking to see- yup, there’s the room. They’re right around the corner, and that means…right, deep breath. Focus. Charge.

Aaaand...blast.

The debris goes flying, and you’re forced to cover yourself from the backlash a bit, but it did its job. A clear hole in the wall shows rows of instruments, as well as a number of people panickedly working at the stations. You can see some kind of instrument that looks like a diamond that’s emitting a clear, zoomed in, cannon’s eye view of the battle- there’s not nearly as much going on as around the other cannons, you can see, but there’s a number of explosions and combat as Epsilon fighters and Ferrosian fighters clash to the west, right outside of the cannon’s targeting range, apparently.

Almost immediately the room is in a panic, which is the second thing you notice, really. The Ferrosian technicians are to a one running to try and escape, while you hear the yells of the guards outside- although oddly enough no one’s trying to get in.

>Hold the techs hostage.
>Blast them all.
>Just smash the machinery and bug out.
>Other


>>1181775
Nope. But it was part of the sequence of events that led to it.

>>1181816
>>Blast most of them
Keep a tech alive for interrogation regarding Operation X4.

>>1181816
>Just smash the machinery and bug out.
Just in case, make sure to also collapse the ceiling on top of everything, and steal the most important-looking component, presumably diamond-looking thing.

The guards' reactions (or lack thereof) are entirely too suspicious to me. And besides, getting out of here means more time to hit another Cannon while they're still organizing their forces.

>>1181816
>Other
Kill the meat, save the metal.
We're supposed to be capturing these cannons intact.

>>1181816
>Blast them all.
Effective way of denying them the cannon. I assumed they were using captured workers that came with the facility though.

>You charge toward the wall with your shoulder down. The wall doesn't stand a chance as debri flies everywhere, steel beams melting all around you.
>Then everything goes white for a moment. Between the pain, the spasms and something holding you in place you realize you have managed to get tangled up in live electrical wiring
>good job Miranda

5 minute warning.

>>1181911
While that's a funny image, I should say that power systems super don't work here like they do on Earth.

I'm not entirely certain she wouldn't be able to tank an electric shock alright up to a certain point anyway. Haven't really thought about it.

>>1181816
with the other anons suggestions, I would just go in this order:
>Blast people
>Blast the machine(broken but still fixable)
>Steal the diamond(if it's portable)

Alright. We're blasting the people, seems like.

Okay, then. This one is special. Need you to roll 5d100.

BEST OF 3, LOWER IS BETTER, TOTAL COUNT WILL BE TAKEN OVER INDIVIDUAL NUMBERS. Any questions, ask.

Rolled 1, 49, 26, 20, 98 = 194 (5d100)

>>1182097

Rolled 54, 63, 87, 72, 26 = 302 (5d100)

>>1182097
Check out this nat 500

Rolled 64, 50, 64, 13, 90 = 281 (5d100)

>>1182097
What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?

Rolled 97, 91, 49, 88, 71 = 396 (5d100)

>>1182097

>>1182110
...Huh. Well damn.

Stay lucky, friends. (Except for that last one...)

Writing!

>>1181997
Forgot to ask question, are we ever going go treat the flamebringer? If it's always with miranda, there can't be too many missions left until it syncs up with her.

>>1182153
I remember MG mentioning that it takes a lot of time for items to sync, and that it effectively wouldn't during the lifetime of the quest.

That could have changed, though.

>>1182153
Gotta vote for it. And yeah, initially, I said it would take a long time for that to sync. However, I feel like maybe I should adjust that timeframe. I won't make it immediately happen, however. I will give a limit. Let's say...three more missions. After the third one after this, it'll sync and just be stats instead of a weapon.

>>1182183
Having a timeframe is good I guess.

Time to be an autistic shit about it next time we're between missions

>>1181881
>>1181911
>>1181908
>>1182030
>>1182110

Well, you won’t question it right this second. Instead, you take the time to fire off a multitude of magiblasts, to the shocked screams of the workers as one by one they’re thrown back and collapsed. There’s not much fight in them at all- one guy tries throwing some sort of book at you, but you blast it out of the air- and him right after.

Some of them still seem to be alive, judging by how their chests are moving. Others, not so much. Either way, you need to make certain they can’t do anything- and that crystal/diamond thing seems to be rather important. It’s fitted in some sort of lens, but some sharp tugs coerce it out without too much fuss.

Actually, speaking of... You look at the door again- and you realize there’s no one there. Not good. Time to get-

‘Miranda!?’ A voice suddenly erupts over your comm- Izumi. She sounds concerned- and hurt.

“What happened?” Is all you ask. She didn’t use your codename…

“I’ll be fine, just some...unexpected difficulties.” You can hear her stifle a groan of pain, but she continues before you can ask. “Are you outside?”

“No, just finished taking out the control room, but the security evaced and I don’t want to know why!” You personally punctuate this by dropping down the first stairwell, near the exit. You nearly land on one of the bodies down there- two are still wheezing. You give them both a quick kick for good measure.

And as you exit back out into the air, now you realize why she asked, as you see five ominous, glowing black lights getting into formation, looking like they’re floating up from the center of the city- and they’re all making a steady beeline for your general area, even as they start to spread out. Suddenly, a flash from all of them, and now there’s an eerie light that they suddenly emit- as if they were moving spotlights, shading anything under it in strange grey, washed out tones...

>Time to get the fuck out.
>Blast one of them, see what happens.
>Hide out and let’s try to avoid these things as best as possible.
>Other

>>1182471
>>Hide out and let’s try to avoid these things as best as possible.

>>1182471
>>Hide out and let’s try to avoid these things as best as possible.

>>1182471
>Time to get the fuck out.
In the unlikely event that's what I hope it isn't, we want to be in ally-controlled territory when it hits us.

Make sure to get a sitrep from Izumi no matter what we do.

>>1182471
>Time to get the fuck out.
We did what we came for, lets move on to the next one.

>>1182533
Also, we've just disabled the AA fire in this sector. Is there any reason we can't call in air support against these things, given that they're headed this way?

>>1182575
That is entirely an option.

>>1182471
>Other
Target one of them with our Highball and call in air support now that enemy AA is down.

Couple more minutes before close vote.

>>1182498
>>1182504
>>1182540
Guys, the Highball launcher has a targeting laser that can transmit to other systems. Normally it's for other Highball products, but Dynamic Methods might be able to pick it up and patch it into their own battle net.

>>1182654
Wouldn't that be a rather prominent design flaw?

>>1182683
Here's the entry:
>’Highball’ Anti-Vehicle Rocket Launcher (50 Small Motes)- this puppy is similar to the Hawkeye, being a guided rocket launcher, but manual guidance only. Its explosive yield is rather impressive, however, and if anyone else has a Highball brand device, such as the Highball seeker mines, or another launcher, it’s standardized laser targeting system allows ‘double duty’ of sorts, allowing someone else to grab control of a launched rocket or other Highball device should an adjustment need to be made on the fly. Comes with 10 Rockets.

>>1182654
Given that those things seem to be in search-and-destroy mode, I suspect they might notice if someone was pointing a laser at them. Best to play it safe when we've got no info on them and they may or may not be related to the reason Izumi of all people is now injured.

I also suspect that the targeting instruments on our allies' planes might be somewhat better than our handheld rocket launcher.

Rolled 3 (1d3)

Alright, seems like 3 way tie between legging it, hiding, and calling in air support. Rolling to break.

I just realized I read >>1182575 as separate to >>1182533
for some reason, when it was together. Sorry. Overall that means it's still a tie though. I'll try to combine some things.

>>1182706
Yeah I know about that but surely you have to sync up the launchers before hand or someone could have a really simple defense against these that just spammed a return to sender signal out in the general area.

>>1182471
Ugh. You don’t know what’s going on here. Best not to risk anything whatsoever. Time to leg it, carefully. Hopefully you can link up with Izumi quicker than otherwise, and also “Izumi, you got any clue what ARE these things?” You’re moving carefully, not wanting to risk jumping with these things on the prowl. “And do you need any kind of help?”

‘I’m...I’ll be alright. They seemed to try and make the Cannon a bit of a deathtrap. A lot of automated systems and setups with strange crystals with a variety of effects. I’m kind of...surprised we never saw anything like that earlier. But it’s okay. I handled it, and the traps are largely disabled. Still, I don’t think you want to get in range of those things at all- if they’re anything like the one I encountered, they eat magic. And most other stuff, too. Even normal bullets or explosives don’t seem to faze them.” Izumi lets out a breath. “We’re going to need to find out a way to take them out.”

You vault over another street, looking back to find one of the black orbs sweeping its grey searchlight gaze over the area surprisingly quickly. You’re not sure what’s happening there, but- wait, what’s that?

The search orb nearest to you...it’s stopped, it’s light focused on one specific area now, and it’s starting to glow massively. You can hear a shout, and some poor shmuck seems to be sobbing, from what you can hear. Suddenly there’s a flash- like it’s taking a picture, and the sobbing stops. You’re not sure what was hit, but...no scream, no nothing.

cont.

>>1183354
Wonder what happened, but you’re not going to find out firsthand. “Izumi, gimme a minute.” You fiddle with some controls, and-

“Hello?!” Lorelei!

“Hey, Lorelei?” Shit, she sounds panicked, too.

“Okay, okay, okay, so, telling you right now, nope, can’t disable the Cannon, waaaaay too many people!” Crap. “I got in fine, I’m talking to them fine, but there are WAY too many people here for me to handle right now- especially now that people are yelling that Cannon Four’s gone, too- nice work by the way. I’m in a closet right now, can’t stay long! But there’s some things you guys should know that I learned- super short version? The big boss’s second-in-command is some sorta super-mage, she’s running things groundside here, she’s got some weird hunter-seeker drone orb things that flash-freeze anything they seek, and they’re coming after you like RIGHT NOW.”

“Bit late on the basics, but I didn’t know that’s what they did…” The orbs are all moving again, and you can see they’re still trying to sniff you out, with how they maneuver all individually, but with a clear goal in mind, going towards hidey hole places across the blocks...like the one that’s headed towards you now. Time to move.

“Miranda, gonna level with you- this is like, WAY too many peeps for me to feel comfortable with, there’s like half the damn army here, and apparently the other half is on Cannon Three. I’ve got some ‘distractions’ planted, but they’re not letting me anywhere NEAR the control center.” Well, rats. “I’m thinking to call uh...our guys in, but I’m starting to hear they’re trying to drag the fighting over the city so those things can take potshots! And I don’t want to be the one to make those guys popsicles! I’m startin’ to run dry on ideas!”

>Just see if you can get out of there and back to Cannon One.
>Call them in. Hopefully we can loop around the southern side we have and drive them up and out.
>Just stay low. Might be your best option for now.
>Other

Wrapping it up for now. Any questions, feel free to ask, like before.

I'll be running tomorrow as well.

we should also radio the captain about the disabled(?) Cannon and the operation X4, also ask if they can see what the fuck is that glowing black light.
also ask your two team mates about their status.

>>1183379
ignore this, my internet sucks

>>1183356
This >>1183379
Plus lets tell Lorelei to extract from there and we can just nebula buster the tower with all the people in it.

>>1183397
Yeah, go nebula that shit, but first we should find izumi and give her a mana infusion so she is more steady on her legs

>>1183450
>mana infusion

Uhhh. Lewd.

>>1183356
>team up to help Lorelei

>>1183356
>Just stay low. Might be your best option for now.

Info is more important than blowing shit up right now. Get her to keep feeding us info.

>>1184129
Whoops I thought these were instructions for Lorelei.

>>1183356
Let's meet up with Izumi first and feed her mana, then go gangbusters on Loreleis cannon unless HQ can clue us in on how to fight those 4x things. We should be able to outpace them.

>>1183369
>>1183356
1)radio the captain about our status and operation X4
3)ask if we can get air support or something.
2)tell lorelei to wait a bit to get more info. If she can't tell her to get out fast
3)get to Izumi quick and help her. There we talk about how we have to destroy this Lord Cylica(?) bitch because she's definately the one who knows and possibly prompted the enemies to use the target gem.

optional:
is it possible to ask Sal if there's any other MGs besides the three of us?

>>1184148
Damn it the numbers are fucked
fuck this phone's shitty keyboard

>>1184148
Sal will probably need to grease palms or call in favours for that. I'm not sure that's worth it at this stage.

Checking in before going live in 30ish.

Also, damn, I'm just going to label this as 23b or something. Otherwise I'll never get it right in the archives.

>>1184625
present

here

>>1183450
>>1184129
>>1184131
>>1184148
It’s a hard thing, thinking, talking, and trying to stay stealthy all at once. A lot harder than action movies and the sort might be willing to admit, really. “Alright, don’t worry. Get back out there, don’t act suspicious. Just do what you do best and stay low. I need to get to Izumi, she’s injured. After that, we’re headed your way.”

You can hear a light gasp. “Crap, how’s she doing?”

“Sounds hurt, but hopefully nothing too severe. I’ll tell you more later- you hear anything else important, let me know.” Crap, here it is again? You hope it’s not moving faster. How’s it even tracking you?

You have to dive behind a building to prevent its searchlight sweep from crossing you, but at the very least that proves that it’s not capable of any sort of x-ray sensory. That helps things out a little, at least. That and the fact that it’s not all five of them. That’d be ridiculous. You quickly run ahead, trying to angle yourself for the fifth cannon. “Izumi, I’m en route to Cannon Five. Sounds like you need a pick-me-up. Where’s your location?”

“Northwest, just...just beyond the grounds of the cannon. Between what looks like some flower store and some orange-colored building. Street facing.” You can hear her huff in pain a bit. “...Needed to get away from the area...can’t trance here, though. Too risky.” Made sense- from what it sounded like, she might activate something else with how her healing worked, for all you or her knew. That, or she might be found by something she’d rather not. Better to not risk it without an ally nearby.

“I’ll be there in a couple moments. Hang on.” Just a reason to speed up that little bit more.

cont.

>>1184879
It’s not actually too hard to find Izumi from her directions- there weren’t that many orange-colored buildings, and even having to move carefully to avoid now-panicked patrols didn’t diminish that fact. You end up coming up on her from behind- she’s quick to turn and smile upon hearing, as she walks further back into the alleyway. “Glad to see you.”

“Likewise.” You can finally get a solid look at her, and honestly...you’re kind of not at all surprised she undersold her injuries. She’s bleeding from her forehead a bit, and she’s carefully cradling her right arm.

“It looks worse than it is, I assure you,” she says as she leans back. “They littered the place with high-powered immobilization devices, and they had crystal-powered technology that basically gave them automated turrets.” She gives a wry grin. “But, speed turned out to be the key aspect there, as opposed to stealth. And speed is one thing I am quite capable of.” She lets out a sigh. “But, this means that Cannons One, Four, and Five are all disabled or captured. The southern half of Gable should be open to aerial forces- even with those strange orbs.”

“Hmm...”

>I dunno about that. Lorelei told me about them, and I think we need to take them out first.
>Let’s hope they can figure out something about those orbs. But getting forces in is important.
>Other

And

>Guard her while she trances.
>Use Healing Hands.
>Give her a couple of mana crystals for a pick me up.
>Other

>>1184883
>>I dunno about that. Lorelei told me about them, and I think we need to take them out first.
>>Guard her while she trances.

>>1184883
>>I dunno about that. Lorelei told me about them, and I think we need to take them out first.

>Give her a mana crystal
>Healing hands
We'll get them recharged quickly. Probably a good idea to give a better range of options with replenished mana

>>1184883
15 minute warning.

>>1184883
>I dunno about that. Lorelei told me about them, and I think we need to take them out first.
>Give her a couple of mana crystals for a pick me up.
>Guard her while she trances.
Her healing is better than Miranda's.

>>1184972
I'm just worried that the wide aura may attract the searchlights. Wont put it past them to be able to home in on magic.

>>1184891
>>1184911
>>1184972

Seems like a combination of methods. Writing!

>>1185012
Yeah both yo. Also a chaste yuri kiss.

>>1185012
Shit, I wanted to call the locals since they should at least have an idea of the tech behind these hk zappy drones. Maybe we gotta go to where they came from and shit the control mechanism down.

>>1184891
>>1184911
>>1184972

You quickly dig into your pack and toss her a couple of mana crystals, which she catches deftly. “Here. Take those as a quick boost so you can heal yourself. I’ll keep watch.” She nods, and focuses on absorbing the latent mana in the crystals while she gets in a seated position. You’d yet to crack the trick to her area-of-effect healing, but you couldn’t deny the results.

It takes mere seconds for her to start glowing subtly, and in less than a minute, you start feeling revitalized yourself. While you weren’t exactly short of breath, you were starting to get something approaching winded, and that was rapidly going away. Izumi’s trick didn’t do anything for mana depletion, merely physical issues, so you were still short there, but you felt back in top condition, at least. You could see her own cuts and bruises healing rapidly, as well- it’d be maybe a minute or two at this rate before she was good to go again.

Just out of concern, you look back up at the sky- you can’t see anything in particular, but...you were still worried, of course.

>Roll 5d20, best of three, lower is better, individual numbers taken this time.

Back later, workstuff.

Rolled 1, 17, 20, 14, 19 = 71 (5d20)

>>1185216

Rolled 7, 10, 14, 4, 17 = 52 (5d20)

>>1185216

Rolled 14, 1, 7, 16, 15 = 53 (5d20)

>>1185216

>>1185220
So, three of them are on the other side of the city, one of them has somehow crashed of its own accord, and the last one has just flown up behind us without our noticing?

Rolled 13, 5, 14, 1, 15 = 48 (5d20)

>>1185216

Lucky we can hide from them by going inside.

So we were relatively lucky?

>>1185216
I wonder what the Flux wave would do to it? I mean it has to have some form of power to fly, an AOE disruption might mess it up.

>>1185249
Maybe we should just go into the sewers, if all it does is flash freeze it won't penetrate solid ground. Might be able to sniff us out for the ground troops but those we can deal with.

How much mana do we have left?

>>1185216
Is it "later" yet?

I wish we worked on putting the center of the "flux-wave" somewhere OTHER than us.

3000MP. Pricey if it doesn't work.

Second possibility:

"Everything is affected by Gravity".

We got the flight belt or whatever. Could we get Izumi to bait the Flying Fridge down low so we could get closer and hit it with our sword?

>>1185220
>>1185231
>>1185234
Fortunately, as your eyes scanned the skies, there’s was nothing on the immediate horizon...at least, nothing that you could see. No random killer orbs popping up out of nowhere, at least. That wouldn’t go over well. Now, hopefully Izumi can finish up before too much longer- ah, there we go. Looks about done, to you.

Seems Izumi herself agrees, as her aura fades away and she slowly blinks her eyes, as if waking up. “Ah...all well, then?” You nod. “Great. We should get a move on from here, then. How’s Lorelei?”

“She’s making it, but she won’t be able to take down Cannon Two as planned.” Squinting into the distance, you mentally review options. “She’s behind enemy lines and is forwarding intel, but she’s not being permitted near the actual control room. Thought about bringing in the Alusians, but decided not to just yet.”

Izumi hms in thought. “They’re probably inbound now, even if you didn’t tell them to come on. They wouldn’t ignore the cannons ceasing. They might be taking their time with it, however, if you haven’t informed them yet…” You supposed that made enough sense. That meant you had to make some decisions fast, though.

“I haven’t informed them because of- crap.” You look up, only to see one of the spheres headed your way, its searchlight rotating back and forth.. “Because of those. Let’s get out of here.” You’re met with a nod of agreement, and you both try to be as quiet as you can- the thing came at a bad angle, though; it’s in the general direction you need to go to get back to Cannon One, so you’ll need to take a roundabout path.

>”So...you said they eat magic?”
>”Lorelei said their second in command was here; some Lord Cyclia…”
>Report to the Captain.
>Other

Sorry, I got home, fell asleep. I'll resume again tomorrow.

>>1187639
>”So...you said they eat magic?”
>Report to the Captain.
Seems safer to call in the fly boys for this one, assuming the orbs have a finite range and need time to freeze stuff

>>1187639
>Report to the Captain.
Ask if they know anything about thes scare things or even anything about the tech behind them so we have some idea of how to get rid of them.

>>1187639
>”So...you said they eat magic?”
>Report to the Captain.
I have a feeling that only real big guns might work on this thing. Or not. Either way we should avoid it, way beyond our scale.

>>1187639
>”So...you said they eat magic?”
>”Lorelei said their second in command was here; some Lord Cyclia…”

>Report all of this to the Captain.

> How did you deal with the other one?

Also, they seem indiscriminate. Could we lure it over to their other forces?

>>1187639
>”Lorelei said their second in command was here; some Lord Cyclia…”
>Report to the Captain.

Howdy, folks. Will be resuming shortly.

>>1187676
>>1187687
>>1187715
“Right, so…” You quickly duck around a corner as you and Izumi pick up speed. “You said those things eat magic?”

“Either that, or nullify it, I’m uncertain.” Izumi states worriedly. You don’t have to look back at her to tell the tension in her voice. “All I’m positive of is the fact that I tried to blast it with both magic and bullets, and the bullets just bounced off, while upon getting within a certain range, the mana just...vanishes. I’m not sure where to, and I’d rather not find out. Obviously getting close wasn't an option. Fortunately, there’s a second and a half delay from notice to freeze. I can move faster than that.” Alright. That made sense enough- most normal folk wouldn’t be able to react like that. Still that was concerning enough.

“Keep an eye out. I’m reporting in.” She nods as you quickly connect your comm. “Captain, it’s me.”

G’nearth’s boisterous voice comes through clear.“Hey! We noticed Cannons Five and Four have stopped. That your doing?”

“Yes sir. However, we’re being targeted by some automatic drone-type orbs called Operation X4. Apparently they’re designed to target and freeze individuals. They’re also highly resistant to physical projectiles, and apparently can nullify magic. You got any clue what those are or how to stop them?”

“Huh. Can’t say so, no. I’ll put in a word to the Alusians, see if they know anything.” Well, lovely.

“It’s also why I’ve yet to call in- I wasn’t sure if the risk was worth it.” you admit. “Aside from that, Lorelei is behind enemy lines in the northern half of the city in Cannon Two.”

“Get ‘er outta there!” G’nearth responds. “You managed to down half the cannons, we can take it from here! They’re tryin’ to bring things inland, and we’re doin’ our level best to stop ‘em before it happens!” As you look up, you DO realize that there’s more craft flying overhead, little by little... “We’ll keep an eye out for any of those orbs- I doubt they can stop a missile to the face!” He barks out a short laugh before continuing. “I’ll get back with ya in a minute, but for now stay low, and get clear of the remaining cannons! We’re gonna thin ‘em out before they get too antsy!”

Before you can say anything else, he clicks off the comms. You just sigh and reconnect with Lorelei. “This is Rin. Don’t respond, just know you’re good to evacuate.”

You can hear a little squeak, and then footsteps. Before you can shut off the comm, however, you can hear her voice in a whisper: ‘Wait, wait wait. Found out some more stuff about Lady Cylica. I got it messed up, her second-in-command is here, but SHE’S not the second in command. The actual lady running things here is called Owlia, and she’s some kinda Alusian turncoat. Probably explains how they got this place at all.”

Interesting…

“The rest was right, though, some kinda super-mage slash inventor type. Made Operation X4 herself. I- dangit, gotta go!” And that was that. Great…

>Roll 1d20, best of 3.

Rolled 12 (1d20)

>>1189917

Rolled 18 (1d20)

>>1189917

10 minutes to go, due to first post of the run.

Rolled 6 (1d20)

>>1189917

>>1189999
So. Could we draw the 4X over to their troops?

Also - Possibility of the other team having an Outsider working with them?

>>1190018
Like I said, I'm not one to say whether it's a good idea or a bad idea. But it's plausible.

Second question, also possible. Unlikely, but possible.

At any rate, writing!

>>1189980
Nice

>>1189964
>>1189980
>>1190013

A minute or two later, you’re fairly close to Cannon One’s area, you think. But that seeker orb hadn’t ever exactly stopped, slow as it was, and you constantly have to keep moving. As you pass a few other stores, you take a look back. “Alright, we’ve kept ahead of that THING for now, but in the meantime-” and then you’re stopped when you see something ELSE rising from the center of the city. Slowly floating upwards. You...you’re not entirely certain from this distance, but it might be a ship? Some kind of aircraft. Before you can put much further thought into the matter, suddenly, the thing starts moving...no, not quite in your direction, but towards Cannon Two.

“Hmmm…” Izumi seems to have noticed it, too. That it was big enough to see, even vaguely, from this distance? You can’t help but wonder what that was. You’re not a fan of it, but…whatever it was...probably wasn’t good. And that’s when you hear that humming again- damnit, that orb just does NOT quit, does it!?

You and Izumi are both on the move again when something comes through your comms. ‘Hey, kids!’ Ah, G’nearth again. “Just got back word from the Alusians. Sounds like it’s some major black ops stuff- all they’d tell me was that it was meant to be something to suppress rogue mages. But that regardless, we’re inbound and preparing to drop ground troops! And don’t worry, we see any of those orb things, we’ll trash ‘em!”

You hope that confidence isn’t misplaced…

“We’re near Cannon One. Think we’ve done enough for the day?” Izumi asks. True, the battle’s still far from done here, but you’ve done what you needed to do, according to G’nearth…

Hmmm... you quickly comm Lorelei. “Hey, status?”

‘Just slipped away! Made a quick-change and everything. Nice timing!’

>Keep an eye on things for a second. There’s something coming your way.
>Get back to Cannon One. We’re done here.
>Other

You guys keep rolling really high...

>>1190382
>Keep an eye on things for a second. There’s something coming your way.
Can we blow the giant ship thing up, pleeeaase!

Also, all in favour of punching the Alusian guy in the face next time we see him for screwing up his own chances of victory by not giving us complete information?

>>1190382
>Keep an eye on things for a second. There’s something coming your way.

>>1190382
>Keep an eye on things for a second. There’s something coming your way.
Remember to stay hidden, though. Anti-magic weaponry has the potential to counter us pretty hard. I was kind of hoping it wasn't that.

>>1190382
“Hey, sorry to make you turn around like this a bit, but we need you to keep an eye on things for a second. There’s something coming your way, not sure what.” You’re still looking around to make sure nothing sneaks up on you. “Looked like a ship. If you can get some info on what it’s about to do…”

‘Uugggghhh...yeah, I think I can do that. Gonna have to be real quiet, though…’ she mumbles. ‘Might need something to cover my face again…’

“I trust you can handle it. It looked like it was moving at a quick clip, so you should get back there-”
‘Yeeeahh, I’m on my way. Stand by!’ You can hear her huff a bit right before the comm goes dead.

“I’m worried…” Izumi frets as she looks towards the horizon. “I’m thinking that might be the second in command.”

“Might be,” you agree. “If it is, though, then seeing what they’re up to could be valuable.” Hopefully.

A minute or two later, you can hear Lorelei’s voice again. ‘Hey, back. Trying to hide, ended up in an empty building. Gotta nice bed and everything, must’ve been evac’d. Anyway, I’ve got eyes on what you saw- it was a transport, alright. Someone just ran out of it, too, they look important. Full-body armor, really stylish helmet. Gotta say, I like their style. Not too bulky or anything either, very sleek.’

“Focus, please.” You drone.

‘I am! They’re talking to someone, can just barely make it out. They’re pretty mad. Or just freaked. Not sure whi- okay no, they’re freaked. Something about “didn’t defect just to lose here”, “How could those fairy-tales be real,” standard ‘I’m ruing this really hard right now’ stuff. Man, for a bad guy they’re really lookin’ like they don’t do well under pressure...oh, hold the phone. She’s announcing something to the ground forces. Something about how she’s gonna keep them safe...’ And Lorelei trails off

“Yeah?” And suddenly, you can see a small spark of light (from your distance, anyway) launch up, as though it were a firework.

‘...Aw crap. I think I need to run.’

>Roll 1d20

>Write-Ins Available.

Rolled 4 (1d20)

>>1190741

Rolled 13 (1d20)

>>1190741
??? Do a chicken dance?
Should have read that vote better. I assumed we were the ones who were going to stay in place and investigate and Lorelei was going to keep heading toward us.

>>1190777
Ah, sorry. No. opposite way 'round.

Rolled 6 (1d20)

>>1190741
Izumi, report this back to command, tell them to put you on speaker so you can ask them what they make of it while they start running damage control. Make it clear that if they keep secrets from us, limited information will severely limit our effectiveness.

Lorelei. Keep us updated, and give us a yell the very second you think you might need backup or extraction. Don't be a hero, got it? Izumi and I'll stay on the edge of allied territory until you're out of there.

Rolled 12 (1d20)

>>1190741
Run towards Lorelei's position to provide help, Flamebringer drawn and ready to go.

13. Hm.

Writing!

>>1190788
Do you mean put them on speak so you (Miranda) can talk/respond to them as well?

>>1190852
Both ways. So both of us can hear what they're saying, so that we can both receive whatever information they have to share quicker than if Izumi has to act as an intermediary; and so they can have people hear and act on the updates we have to give even as others continue the conversation with us.

>>1190768
>>1190777
>>1190788
“Oh, damnit!” You immediately take off, leaping as fast and far as you can. “Izumi, report back to the Captain! Put us on all call!” You’re keeping an eye on the spark of light, still rising into the sky. Whatever it is, it’s at least taking a second.

“Captain, this is Izumi. Patch us through to the Alusians, all call! Are you seeing-” She’s quickly interrupted.

“Sure am, on both counts! Just a second!” Crap. You don’t really HAVE a second; whatever that light is, it’s reached its apex now, and with a blink, it splits up into four similar pieces- they then shoot off into the distance in different directions.

“Alright, we’re here!” The Captain yells. “Now what’s going on there, Commodore?!”

“That’s an effect of a Mass Shielding Crystal! They’re trying to close off a part of the city!” An older voice replies frantically. “We need to get rid of it before it completes!”

“Lorelei, you hearing this?” You ask.

“Hearing it...and not wanting...any of it!” Lorelei’s panting- you’re worried she may be mana depleted. “I’ve already been made, I got like...hoo...ten guys...on...my ass! So screw subtly, I need an evac! I’m...I’m not getting stuck here!” Lorelei yells. You can hear her getting out of breath, however.

“How do we wreck the things?!” You ask. “Don’t spare any details!”

“They’re EXTREMELY hard when activated like this!” The Commodore says. “It’s going to take either massive concussive force to the prime crystal, or some way to cancel the signal relay between the prime crystal and the nodes it generates!”

“Captain, can you send in a shuttle on Lorelei’s position!?” Izumi quickly asks.

“Already on it!” he confirms. “Rin, are you en route to secure her?”

“Roger that.” If there was anything else you needed to yell at them for, probably best to do it now.

>Any further questions?

>>1191097
Firstly, how can we locate the crystal and its nodes?

Afterwards, press for any details they have on Operation X4. The situation has changed, and there's a very real possibility they'll come directly for us now that we're relying on brute force. Any piece of additional information, no matter how insignificant it might seem, may be leverage we'll end up needing.

Of course, if there's anything which is obviously going to be significant to begin with, like how it selects targets or the specifics of its offensive capabilities, those would help too.

>>1191097
Ask about the freeze ray hk drone things.

>>1191097
Ask where the control crystal might be located.
Any intel on Operation X4.

I kinda assumed the control crystal would be in the epicentre of where all the other ones are spreading out from.

>>1191097
What others said. X4, and more specifics about the crystals.
Speaking of, did we burn all of our mana crystals back in the alley way? How much mana do we have right now?

>>1191248
Iiiiif I'm accurate, your mana count is currently

>3,990 (1,450 Currently in Condenser) (3 Large Mana Crystals = 750)

And alrighty, asking about X4. Writing!

>>1191269
>1,450 Currently in Condenser
Uh.
Did we leave the condenser behind? Or is it with us?

>>1191297
It's in your bag. Everything is in your bag. It's literally a Bag of Holding.

>>1191306
Ok. Thanks for the reminder.

>>1191306
To be clear, there is no limit on what the bag can hold, as long as it fits through the 1.5 foot diameter opening, right?

And if I recall correctly, our Mana Condensers don't work when placed inside, presumably because the inside of the bag itself is some sort of closed space that nothing can enter or exit while the drawstring is shut?

>>1191345
Correct. You fueled it on the way over, mostly.

>>1191097
“What about this whole X4 thing? I need details on that!” You’re rapidly looking around, now. “Lorelei!”

‘I’m...hiding!’ she pants. ‘Big building, next to a fruit store!’ Right, then.

Meanwhile, the Commodore grunts. “It was meant to be a deterrent for abnormally powerful crystal mages! Operation X4 is a combination of crystal tech and common engineering; it was intended to be a series of artificial gems that seek out high concentrations of magical energies, and is capable of immobilizing any moving being, to allow for swift capture. For self-defense purposes, it’s also capable of breaking down most of said energies to their base forms, and dispersing it, or dispersing kinetic force!”

“So they home in on major sources of magic? No wonder one’s been dogging me…” You look back- it hasn’t gotten this far yet, at least. Another check, and there’s a bright, increasing glow of light coming from the gem and its split off friends.

“Yes. They can be rather indiscriminate when they don't detect any; which is why we have been reluctant to use them. They don’t injure, but they use a magic to freeze your personal ‘time’. Their inventor wasn’t very happy with us mothballing the project, but we had to put safety above all else.” You easily notice his tone gets darker at that line. “The fact that they’re released and roaming is troubling.”

“How do we-”

He beats you to it again. “Destroy them? Not sure. They were designed to be able to handle any sort of magical output most normal crystal mages can put out.” Suddenly, beams shoot across the sky as the nodes and crystal start to connect with each other. “Damn, it’s almost done! Where are your transports, Captain!? You’ve got an agent back there, no?”

Snooty Green-haired’s voice comes through as you leap. “We’re already on the way! Ms. Lorelei, can you get to the rooftops?”

‘Think so!’ you hear her say. ‘Rin, might need your help here to get out!’

You turn a street, and an you can hear an explosion suddenly erupt from a couple floors up on a particular building in the distance as the glass shatters. At the same time, however, waves of energy start to flow horizontally, emanating from the crystal towards the nodes and energy lines making up the outer barrier- which you’re now inside the range of.

>Focus on trying to break the barrier. Green-hair can get Lorelei.
>Focus on rescuing Lorelei. Epsilon can focus on the barrier.
>Other

Done for tonight. I think I'm gonna take tomorrow off, though.

>>1191468
>Other
>Split up. You focus on trying to break the barrier, while Izumi supports Lorelei.

Getting Lorelei on the transport will be pointless if the barrier goes up before they can get out. We ought to hit the crystal, because we have more mana to blow on big attacks at the moment.

Backup plans if conventional brute force fails to destroy the crystal:
>If it's small enough, just shove it into our bag.
>Expend mana until we're at around 2,000. Chuck our 3 mana crystals at the prime crystal and hope the X4 that's been following us dissolves the higher concentration of mana with an anti-magic beam.

>>1191468
>Focus on rescuing Lorelei. Epsilon can focus on the barrier.
Get Lorelei out and then we can deal with the barrier.
I'm confused though, are we inside the barrier? is Lorelei? Because it will be easier to kill it from inside, especially if the freeze ray drones are stuck outside.

>>1191468
>Focus on trying to break the barrier. Green-hair can get Lorelei.
Does Izumi have any laser, fusion, or plasma guns with her?
Operation X4 is designed to handle kinetic and magical attacks, but what about energy and plasma ones?
Or a gravity grenade, Maxwell entropy gun, muon blaster, or a vortex grenade?

>>1191468
>Focus on rescuing Lorelei. Epsilon can focus on the barrier.
Our team takes priority.

>>1191468
Can we not snipe the crystal? Just get somwhere high and go nuclear on the town?

>>1191532
2nd

>>1191740
What does going nuclear on the town have to do with sniping the crystal?

>>1191849
Well, the crystal is IN the town innit?

>>1191468
> or some way to cancel the signal relay between the prime crystal and the nodes it generates!”

Flux. Wave. Break the signal and drop our mana.

>>1193415
That might not work but will surely attract all the freeze dried drones.

>>1193519
Good. Bait 'em and Break 'em while Izumi takes out the crystal with her crazy speed demon thingy.

We play bait.

Bit late, but starting in 30-45. Who's here?

>>1199335
1 guy, though my IP'll change frequently.

>>1199335
Hey boss

>>1199335
Ay.

Looking at the votes, I'm not quite certain which has won...

>>1199171
Break them? How!

I'm writing, by the way. Trying to reconcile these options.

>>1199552
Reconcile by having us be all indecisive while everything goes to shit around us?

Also, Sal can magic us back home at any time right? So we can just abandon ship if we fuck up to much. Or is that just a mission end mechanic. Obviously in this case the flyboys wouldn't be happy but I'm just asking in general.

>>1199586
Yeah, if Sal blinks you back, that's Mission End.

“I’ll do what I can to break the barrier- if it closes in, anything else is useless!” You quickly relay. “You and Izumi focus on getting her out of there!” You’re already forming plans on how to reach as high as you can.

‘Confirmed. Step on it, Tabby!’ Is all you hear before the line goes dead on their end again. Izumi merely barks out a quick, ‘coming’ before you can already hear something on her end, and the line goes dead.

Up to you, then. You know full well you’re trying to break the barrier, but how is a question you need to answer, and quick. If that giant gem and the nodes are your targets, then you’ll have to hit it with some serious firepower…

>Maybe if you overcharged a magiblast…that just might do the trick.
>That’s what you have rockets for, at least. LOTS of rockets.
>A Nebula Buster might be overkill, but better over than under.
>Or maybe you can go about it differently-a Flux Wave might be enough to disrupt its energy pattern.

When in doubt, ask for elaboration.

>>1199619
>Or maybe you can go about it differently-a Flux Wave might be enough to disrupt its energy pattern.

>>1199619
>Or maybe you can go about it differently-a Flux Wave might be enough to disrupt its energy pattern.

>>1199619
>OP magiblast
If we do do a flux wave can we obscure the epicenter? Since we are making an artificial pattern anyway.

>>1199707
You haven't practiced quite that much. It'll take a bit before you can pull a stunt like a remove wave or the sort.

Also, writing! Wave it is, incidentally.

>>1199658
>>1199661

You’re starting to think about just how strong a magiblast might need to be in order to shatter it- but then you blink as you realize there’s another option- one potentially less destructive, but just as effective. If you could Flux Wave the area...that just might disrupt the mana pattern that crystal is emitting- could very really render it useless! It’d take a lot of your remaining mana, but...

Well, worth a shot, at least. You DO have to get closer, however…

You quickly leap upwards, beginning to stick to the rooftops, and already you can start hearing people yelling at your presence- seems like you can’t avoid being found here. There’s far too many soldiers in the streets and more and more aircraft buzzing closer to the city- easy to spot something jumping like a flea above everything else. Still, it’ll be worth it-

-and that’s when they start shooting at you. Not the aircraft, surprisingly, the ground forces. Fortunately, they’re a good distance away, and compared to some other weaponry you’ve had to dodge, their beams are slow enough that you can largely either bat them away or just jump fast enough to avoid them entirely- they don’t seem to realize you’re going for the crystal, nearly finished with its barrier creation as you can start to see glowing walls shimmer into existance far, far around the city...

...At least not before you get near it. It’s still a good ways above the largest building in the area, having to cover such distance, but looking at it? Yeah, you think you can reach that. You tense your legs, take a deep breath, and JUMP.

You can hear some bolts of magic fly below you as you spring up, up, up, all the while in your own head, mentally shifting, twisting, letting your mana go erratic…

And then it does, your body nigh exploding in a green-blue aurora as you emit a single, powerful Flux Wave. It engulfs the crystal entirely, and almost immediately you can see an effect as the emissions from the crystal wobble and twist, as does the crystal itself… and with an audible *snap*, the crystal itself breaks into pieces as you fall back, droplets of cold sweat erupting on your face.

>Current Mana: 990 (1,450 Currently in Condenser) (3 Large Mana Crystals = 750)

cont.

>>1199803
You land slightly shakily as yells and panic erupt from ground side. That...you wouldn’t be able to do that again- not under your own power for a bit.

That doesn’t seem to be a problem, however, to the figure that suddenly leaps up- or flies, practically. Her armor fullbody, sleek, and definitely feminine. Her helmet is reminiscent of a stylized owl, with two yellow eyeholes peering out of it. Likely the person who cast the spell in th-

“WHAT DID YOU JUST DOOO?!” Oh, that’s a surprisingly shrill voice. Not in an old crone way, either- she sounds rather young. The way she’s standing and her general body language oddly seems less angry, more panicked and incredulous. “THAT WAS- THAT WAS LIKE, FIVE MONTHS OF PURE SYNTHESIS! I TOOK *SO MUCH TIME* OUT OF MY DAY TO MAKE THAT PERFECT! AND YOU JUST...COME ON! WHAT WAS THAT- WHAT EVEN *WAS* THAT?” And then suddenly she stands up straight from her hunched position, normal as you please as she tilts her head. “Actually, no, seriously, what WAS that? It wasn’t any mage emission I’ve ever seen before, the wavelines were way too variable…”

...Loud girl, definitely. Not how you expected this to go, actually.

>Response?

>>1199811
>Force-fed it enough chaotic power to make it shit itself. What does it look l did?

>>1199811
"Variable wave lines was the point! The control and energy conduction waves were unshielded and didn't have active compensation MVI's in place to monitor for interference. So what I did was set up a pseudo-random number generated waveform on the same wavelength as your crystals."
Go into technical magical theory we picked in the Intersection to distract her while we connect our condenser's cable to us and we catch our breath.

>>1199811
>>Response?
They're supposed to be random, it still takes it out of me to this.

TRY AND BE SOCIABLE? She seems proficient enough with magic that recruiting her may be actually worth it.

>>1199864
She's also on the other team and is probably here to gank us for breaking the crystal, so we shouldn't get too friendly with her.

>>1199877
We're not in a great spot to fight right now, and we know she's only in it for herself, since she seems to have defected just to be on the winning side, not out of principle. If we can convince her that our faction is the most powerful, she'll join us in no time flat.

>>1199811
>>1199864
>>1199877
Her hostility seems curbed at the moment by her intellectual curiosity. If we know enough magical theory to hold her interest, talking would likely be the best way to delay for reinforcements.

I'd rather keep our cards close to our chest, and not let on about how much that move just took out of us. If possible, talk only briefly about our own technique, before deflecting and making guesses at the functionality of the crystal we just destroyed.

If we show the right interest, we could potentially get her talking, and cause her to spill information useful to us.

>>1199811
> response
Realize that will she is distracting you the drones are closing in.
Pull out flamebringer and chop her head off.

>>1199896
If the X4s are closing in, we just could toss two of our mana crystals over to her.

>>1199894
>If we know enough magical theory
That strikes me as a pretty big if, we know enough to throw some MacGyver-ed shit together but Miranda seems more like a thug than a scholar when it comes to magical power. That being said, you have a point and deflecting is probably a good idea if we can manage it without making her suspicious.

>>1199864
We really shouldn't be telling her we're weak. She's the Alusian turncoat, and remember what Lorelei said she was saying before?

Careful talking wins the day. Last update before I need to go worky-works. Sorry it's been so short, hopefully I won't be so tired I can't update later tonight.

>>1199912
True enough, Miranda may be more of a thug than a scholar, but she's undoubtedly a magical thug. And I should imagine a 90-odd-year-old magical thug might know at least a little about magic as well as thuggery.

Not to forget that, to all appearances, she's a 17-year-old girl. So showing any significant degree of magical knowledge may well be capable of piquing her interest.

>>1199942
Yeah, that sounds reasonable. Still ought to exercise due caution though, I don't trust this bitch at all.

>>1199843
>>1199864
>>1199894

“Yeah, actually,” you say, making sure to stand up straight. If she suddenly wanted to talk magic theory...well, you weren’t exactly the brightest of minds (Izumi soundly beat the bricks off you in that respect), but you knew a bit more than your fair share. “That was kinda the point. The control and energy conduction waves were unshielded and didn't have active compensation MVIs in place to monitor for interference.”

“MVIs…” She breathes out a bit, and then suddenly laughs, her mask making it sound vaguely metallic.. “Oh! OH wow, haven’t heard them called that in a while. Geez, your teacher must’ve been OLD. But no, I thought the tensile strength of the crystal would be enough to deter most damage attempts, and I had set up a high density variable wave converter like in my other stuff- it SHOULD’VE caught what you did, but…”

“But, what I did was set up a high frequency, pseudo-random number generated waveform on the SAME wavelength as your crystals." You quickly point out.

She stills a bit- then buries her head in her hands. “Oh my GOOOOOOD you brute forced the wavelength alteration by flooding the crystal matrix with variable frequencies! I didn’t put in any MVIs because I didn’t think that kind of power output was feasible!” She almost sinks to her knees- you take that time to quickly fish your converter out of your bag- it kinda looks like a backpack here, with an arm strap. “Uuuuuuuugggh I feel so BUSH league right now! How did you figure THAT out so quickly?”

“How did YOU make a defensive matrix in five months that was wide enough to net half this city without a massive enegy drop near the edges?” you counter.

cont.

>>1200017
“Oh!” And she perks up, all smiles (at least you imagine she’s smiling). “Well, it wasn’t easy, because first I had to figure out that problem- I eventually kinda had to hackjob it because, y’know, timetable, but I found out that if you planted a recursive frame onto the crystal lattice so that the edges overlapped- they tell you not to do that, because of a potential feedback loop, but it turns out…”

‘We’re out!’ you suddenly hear Green-hair on your comm. ‘Lorelei’s drained, but we made it out of there!’ The girl doesn’t seem to have noticed, still talking about her theories and systems. You can see some people in the back on the ground while the commander rambles- soldiers, with staves out...oddly enough not trained on you, but looking confused, if you can guess by the body language.

“...but really, it was just a lot of trial and error from that point on; I must’ve gone through at LEAST twenty crystals before one could keep the sustained power output I wanted WITHOUT blowing up after like, two hours. UGH, Cy’s gonna have my head for this, I KNOW, but now I just wanna head back and see what else I can cook up, y’know? Now that I know that’s possible, I can’t IMAGINE what I might be able to do with that in mind! I mean, heck, even the Anais Relay’s not like that- it’s just a giant sequencer crystal, y’know! All it does is intake latent energy and output it on a specific wavelength to other crystals on that wavelength, but NOW I wonder if I could do something similar to what you did only more controlled- I wonder if I could force a transfer of energy between two dissimilar crystals so we wouldn’t have to chip away at the thing anymore…Anais Relay Crystal...Relays could be a staple for everyone instead of a thing only given to an elite few! It’d revolutionize energy usage!”

She seems to have entirely forgotten the reason she’s up here…

>Try to keep her talking about crystals.
>You’ve had enough of this. Attack!
>So, why are you on their side if you want it for everyone?
>Other

>>1200022
>So, why are you on their side if you want it for everyone?
Goddammit now I'm curious.

>>1200022
>So, why are you on their side if you want it for everyone?
Goddamn she is such a NERD. It's adorable.

>>1200022
>Try to keep her talking about crystals.

>>1200022
>>So, why are you on their side if you want it for everyone?

>>1200022
>>So, why are you on their side if you want it for everyone?
>>Other
You want to wrestle?

Suggest that she's thinking too small in terms of the crystal, that there's an infinite amount of magic to discover.

Then evac so she stays curious.

>>1200203
Are we about to inspire this plane's equivalent of the Industrial Revolution? Because I for one would be totally okay with that.

>>1200217
If we can convince creative thinkers that the crystal isn't the end-all in magic, I'm sure we can bring about a magical renaissance.

>>1200234
On the one hand, sounds like a hell of a lot of fun. On the other hand, it's not our job and we might not have the free time, resources or influence to pull it off. Still could be a fun idea to consider I guess.

>>1199942
>>1200017
>>1200022
I have no idea on what just happened but I have a feeling that we should educate ourselves later when we have the chance. You know, maybe read some books about magical theories and learn some basic stuff about how magic works like it is.

>>1200203
I can agree with this minus the spoiler part.

>>1200217
They already are in the middle of the Industrial Revolution.
What you're suggesting is them getting into closer to Atomic Age stuff.

New thread!

>>1208816
>>1208816
>>1208816

>>1180616
dice1d10

>>1215743
roll dice 2d10

>>1215747
roll 2d10