>>1811598
>'So is this new communication's system running independent of the RAY?'
>'Any other upgrades you've put up for me, Yuubari?'
>'The MagiTek guys probably weren't too happy after what happened last time.'
>'Ready to initiate startup sequence.' INITIATE SEQUENCE
>Write-In

>>1811598
>>'So is this new communication's system running independent of the RAY?'

>>1811613
>'Any other upgrades you've put up for me, Yuubari?'

>>1811627
>>1811651
Flipping a coin. Coin flipped.

File: I Have A Question - If Yu(...).png (358 KB, 677x1142)

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‘So is this new comm system running independent of the RAY? I used to have to start up this baby before anything could work.’

‘You can say that in the sense that it runs on its own power supply, it is independent,’ Yuubari answers nonchalantly, ‘but it’s really just a long-distance comm hardware stick’em that the Army was nic3e enough to hand over as goodwill.’

You absently nod, running your hand over the bulkhead ... until the words—and the implications that accompanied them—well and truly register and you spin around, almost slamming into the brace and very nearly resulting in your person unceremoniously falling onto the floor. Steadying yourself, you make sure your channel was still open, hoping that your assumptions were just that: assumptions.

‘Wait, this is just an old-fashioned radio, then?’

Her answer isn’t immediate.

‘High-powered, but yes, it is.’

You frown, finding that your cheeks had practically imploded at the newfound information.

‘Isn’t that really, really dangerous?’

As far as you knew, there was a very specific reason as to why transmitted signals ran on piggybacks through any magicaql enhancement or whatever afforded barrier. Even early in the war, Abyssals could pin-point and hone in on signals, the more powerful ones even managing to scramble and seek out the transmitter. Science and magic had to fuse to even afford long-distance arrays. It was almost unthinkable that Yuubari would run this sort of risk, no matter how much you assumed she despised you.

‘There is a running risk,’ she hurriedly counters, ‘but considering how much trouble you’ve been digging yourself into since you got into a cockpit, I doubt one more channel’s going to be anymore life-threatening than the usual bout.’

Your cheeks turn a little pink. There was a truth to that, you supposed.

‘I don’t do it on purpose, ma’am.’

‘Think of it as a backup to your backup,’ she continues, ‘might be a little useless now since we’re more than a little short-handed, but a tertiary communications channel’ll be useful in case we need to send out someone to make sure you and your Squadron don’t end up in enemy hands.’

‘Didn’t know you cared.’

‘Don’t flatter yourself, sir,’ she replies dryly, although you did swear you could hear a hint of a chuckle. ‘Every screw-up you put on the checklist is a box on my to-do clipboard; contrary to your expectation, I do actually have a sense of responsibility when it comes to my assignments.’

>‘I didn’t meant for it to sound like that.’ (Apologize)
>‘We roll the dice either way, Officer.’ (Jest)
>‘So how did the MagiTek guys take having to deal with the scraps?’
>‘Any other surprises you’ve installed?’
>‘Ready to initiate startup sequence.’ INITIATE SEQUENCE
>Write-In

>>1811858
>>‘So how did the MagiTek guys take having to deal with the scraps?’

>>1811858
>>‘Any other surprises you’ve installed?’

>>1811870
>>‘So how did the MagiTek guys take having to deal with the scraps?’

>>1811858
>‘Any other surprises you’ve installed?’

>>1811870
>>1811893
>>1811897
>>1811915
Flipping a coin. Coin flipped,

>>1811933
Flipped a coin, coin flipping.

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‘So how did the MagiTek guys take to dealing with the scraps?’

‘Considering you had the Admiralty transport back a RAY with its cockpit torn open, its systems shot and the engines requiring five times the usual man-hours,’ she begins tightly, sounding very much like your Admiral at this point, ‘I think they’ll be able to forgive you on the grounds that your recklessness might give them a legitimate reason to request a budget increase.’

‘I’m not reckless.’

You could have sworn you had caught a hint of laughter on the other side at those words ... or it could’ve been static. This was a put-together instrument, after all

‘Commander,’ you hear the fatigue—and very slight amusement—in her voice, ‘just don’t.’

Your shoulders slump as you let out a defeated sigh. Perhaps you had exaggerated, somewhat.

‘All right, I’m not ... reckless by design, all right? You can’t plan for everything out there.’

‘I distinctly remember your first mission having you ram into a B-ranked Abyssal Unit with the remote-controlled RAY,’ Yuubari hums, ‘or would that be an exaggeration on my part, Commander?’

Out of the corner of your eye, you see a fairy absently rolling mid-air, her eyes vacant, before bumping into one of the panels head-first. She clutches her head pathetically, to which you stick out your prosthetic, where the fairy sets herself down, staring up at you with wonderment in her eyes.

‘Like I said,’ you grimace, ‘can’t plan for everything.’

Yuubari doesn’t answer.

‘Yuubari?’

‘Just making sure that everything’s running smoothly; it looks like you’re going to need to ease on the throttle at a few thresholds by the preliminary check-ups. Gunning it’s out of your vocabulary for the duration of the mission.’

‘Couldn’t have told me that before?’

‘Couldn’t have avoided having the engines torn apart on your last mission?’

‘Ouch.’

‘There should be a few more manual commands than usual, but the RAY itself shouldn’t be any more trouble to handle than before; or at least, that’s what the MagiTek Department told me. The Magic Engine, thanks to whatever miracle you managed to pull, is still in as stable a state as you can get, but again—’

‘Emergencies only; don’t abuse it; try not to screw it up anymore than you have,’ you finish for her, feeling like a child whose mother was ticking off their rucksack contents. ‘I remember.’

‘Excellent,’ she chirps, ‘I should put you up for re-evaluation.’

You frown, confused by her choice of words.

‘Re-evaluation?’

‘When you consider the abnormality at you gaining brain activity instead of losing them with every collision...’

You roll your eye, unwilling to rise to the bait.

>>1812082
>‘Any other surprises you’ve installed?’
>'Do you have an opinion on the ISSF issuing the recall?'
>'Any issues prepping my team?'
>‘Ready to initiate startup sequence.’ INITIATE SEQUENCE
>Write-In

>>1812082
>>‘Any other surprises you’ve installed?’

>>1812100
>>'Do you have an opinion on the ISSF issuing the recall?'

>>1812100
>'Any issues prepping my team?'

>>1812100
>‘Any other surprises you’ve installed?’
Last one before we launch.

File: Try Not To Fuck This Up, (...).png (481 KB, 550x776)

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‘Any other surprises you’ve installed?’

‘After you ruined my deck? No chance, Commander.

You grimace.

‘Sorry about that.’

Before you could move further with your apology, however, you hear a sharp intake of breath.

‘You know, while we’re talking about it, do you know hard it was to take strands and strands of tape, finding the musical, technical and sometimes inane ups and downs, lefts and rights and putting it in a contraption that is one-of-a-kind and will probably never be replicated for years to come?’

Stunned, you find yourself only able to reply with one sentence.

‘I can only imagine.’

‘Exactly.’

You decide to keep your silence. Maybe you had given her a little too much credit on the assumption of her being able to keep your transgressions from being at the forefront of her agenda ... but then again, now that you had thought about it, maybe you really shouldn’t have kept prodding her with reminders that you were probably one of the reasons that she had been on edge since the Assault. It’s not until a full minute passes that the channel is open again, and her voice—thankfully a little calmer than before—addresses the rest of your queries.

‘If you’re talking about practical enhancements, however, I’ve done as well as I could with what I’ve been given. Plating and barrier attunement has been reinforced around your area and the hold, but we haven’t had the opportunity to test how well we managed to redirect the flow. Chances are, it’ll probably take a hit better than the last one, but I wouldn’t suggest you putting it to the test unless absolutely necessary.’

‘Got it,’ you reply simply, clicking a few more switches, ‘anything else?’

‘The RAY Interface should be a lot more comfortable to use; you should feel a lot less unbalanced when the systems come online,’ ‘however, considering the patch job I’ve had to run, you might feel a little bit more nausea on extreme vectors; the dampeners weren’t completely repaired, so you might want to hang onto your lunch on some of your moves if you need to go hog-wild.’

You shake your head, your throat letting out a wry chuckle,

‘At this point, losing my lunch has become a little ritualistic.’

‘Good to know that you’re on board with that.’

You’re not, of course, but if puking up a banana burrito was the cost that it took to bring your Squadron home and fulfill your objectives, it was a price that you’d gladly ticket in every day of the week.

‘In any case, to minimize any potential clean-up, there are some containment units to your immediate right ... or left.’

You frown, looking left and right. There was the fairy that had rested on your finger from before, her aviator’s cap covering her face, some cables and new panels, nut no—

There they were: paper bags stuck onto an overhead hook.

‘Appreciated, Yuubari.’

>>1812423
>'Do you have an opinion on the ISSF issuing the recall?'
>'Any issues prepping my team?'
>‘Ready to initiate startup sequence.’ INITIATE SEQUENCE
>Write-In

>>1812430
>‘Ready to initiate startup sequence.’ INITIATE SEQUENCE

>>1812423
>>'Any issues prepping my team?'

>>1812430
>>'Any issues prepping my team?'

>>1812430
>‘Ready to initiate startup sequence.’ INITIATE SEQUENCE
>Write-In
I'll try to bring her back intact this time.

>>1812445
>>1812464
>>1812467
>>1812480
Flipping a coin. Coin flipped. Syukur Alhamdulillah

File: Found It. Liked It. Posti(...).jpg (295 KB, 900x900)

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STANDBY

It was about time, you supposed. Adjusting the visor, you let out a breath as you loosen your joints.

‘Ready to initiate startup sequence.’

There’s no reply. There’s no need for one. The loudening of klaxons’ whines are almost ritualistic at this point; you don’t even need a reminder to have your hands raised up to one panel or the other in preparation for the RAY’s launch. The rumble of cranes and the boom of chains and hooks run through you, even though you aren’t so much as calibrated or attuned with the craft. In your immediate view, you see several containers being hauled up the stairs and the men in orange all dragging tubes and the like, yelling at their compatriots to either get out of the way or to start working. At the nose of the RAY, on one particular chain—or tube, you couldn’t tell that well—were three fairies, enthusiastically waving their tools in a measure of goodbye. On the panels of your RAY, the fairies that were accompanying you seemed ignorant of the chaos going on outside, playing some game that was obscured by their closed huddle.

‘Clear for calibration, Commander.’

You nod.

‘Request Calibration.’

Yuubari hadn’t been kidding.

It was a lot more uncomfortable compared to before, but thankfully, after that little adventure with Musashi, you found yourself a little more prepared for the onslaught of sensations. A burp escapes you as you feel a rumble rush up from your belly to your lungs, prompting you to shake your head to regain the sense of balanced that had briefly turned into a fleeting memory. Licking your lips, you steady yourself on the small pylons, blinking both your eyes and noticing the instruments coming to life, one by one. The hum is almost a soothing lullaby at this point, but you remind yourself to stay focused. There would be time to sleep when you got back—when everything was sorted and everyone back in their beds.

CALIBRATION INITIALIZING

ATTUNEMENT - 0 %

As the window blinks into existence, you reach for the inertia dampeners. Yuubari hadn’t been kidding about this one either, but you could hardly blame her considering how badly the RAY had been thrashed on your last outing. A part of you wondered if it was possible to go back to the remotely-controlled variety, but you decide to not aggravate your compatriot any further with any request, asinine or reasonable; you doubt that she’d be open to any suggestions that weren’t of an immediate nature.

CALIBRATION INITIALIZING

ATTUNEMENT - 13 %

‘Commander,’ Yuubari’s voice crackles over the channel, ‘we’re experiencing some imbalance on your thruster management.’

You frown. As far as you were concerned, you hadn’t—

‘Sorry, must have left the feed on.’

Your only response is a patient hum.

TBC

>>1812728
>>Bring RAY Online
Game time lads

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Rather than a shock, it feels like you’re being dropped into a tub of cold water. You let out a heavy breath as the familiar green and blue makes itself known to you.

WELCOME, COMMANDER

You have to admit, that despite everything ... it felt good to be back.

‘Request Readout.’

INITIALIZING

You flick the usual switches, bringing up your preferred readings. Licking your lips again, you bring up more familiar windows. The Emergency Retreat System was, at least, by the status check, as stable as could be. Yuubari and the men from the MagiTek Department, hadn’t been able to do any better or worse by it, and by her lack of elaboration, there was the safe assumption that it would run the risks and benefits that she had told you before’ no more, no less. The module was functioning normally; as were the other vital components of the RAY. You bring up the visuals of the holding bay, immediately seeing Musashi chatting with two crew members while Nachi was already leaning in her bay, looking very bored. You could only hope that that expression was a sign of things to come.

You could really, truly, only hope.

‘Really can’t afford me some music this time, huh?’

‘I will come down there and hit you with a wrench. I mean it.’

You chuckle into the channel.

Running your hands over your face, you let out a sigh as you run more diagnostics. The readouts showed almost everything in working condition, but—mostly to alleviate your boredom, as you couldn’t stand just standing around waiting for permission to launch—it never hurt to be a little more thorough. Thr thrusters had an abnormal reading, but upon further inspection, you found that it wasn’t outside of the scope Yuubari had mentioned to you before. A sensors were as polished as before and the secondary and tertiary systems, upon your third and fourth cycle, were running as they were normally, as was the Magic Engine. All in all, considering the circumstances, the crew had done well enough to patch things back up as well as they did, even if the comfort factor had lessened significantly in the form of the less-than-stellar performance of the activated inertial dampeners.

You’d just have to take it slow.

It’s not as if you had a death wish to throw up all over the flight deck, anyway.

More rumbling sounds are heard, and you feel the craft shake. More cranes move out of the way and the men in your immediate view rush to safe areas.

It was time.

‘Squadron is loaded and and the hatch is manually sealed,’ a voice—a woman, but most definitely not Yuubari’s—sounds on the main communications channel. ‘It’s all yours, Commander.’

STATUS: GREEN

STATUS: ACTIVE

>Bring RAY Online

>>1812744
>>Bring RAY Online
lets roll lads

>>1812744
>Bring RAY Online

>>1812744
>>Bring RAY Online
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vU7XqToZso

>>1812744
>>Bring RAY Online
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItCMX3A1qaE

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‘Personnel clear of launching area. Commander, you are cleared to bring the RAY Online.’

‘Acknowledged,’ you answer automatically, flicking the last few switches. ‘Attunement complete, synchronization locked. Division Commander on field.’

At this point, you’re more than used to it. Maybe it was because you’d become slightly numb from the onslaught of calibration and attunement that your body had gone through with Yuubari’s—and by extension the Magitek personnel’s—patch job of the flight deck’s controls, but discomfort is a secondary feeling to the sensation of your head, ears, and eyes being stretched into separate corners. A rumble leaving yout throat, you steady your hands—the span of the RAY—and ease yourself into the flotation module. It must have looked like you were swimming in mid-air to anyone else. Stretching your fingers, you pull up several windows to double-check on the craft’s vitals one last time before letting out a breath of relief. Everything was fine; you weren’t sure why you would be so uptight at this point in time.

SYSTEMS ONLINE

SENSORS SYNCHRONIZED

AUTHORIZATION CODE BLUE

Unable to withstand the fussbudget within you, you peek into the hold to see your two Squadron members, as calm as the surface of a pond at mid-day, before jumping back into your more immediate priorities.

‘Requesting mission designation.’

‘Designation granted: Salamander,’ comes a male voice. ‘Beginning detachment sequence in t-minus 10 seconds.’

You nod in affirmation.

‘Received.’

Another klaxon goesn off, as through the eyes of the RAY, you see what appeared to be a small wheeled vehicle slowly drawing back what appeared to be a collection of gigantic hoses away from the cranes—no, there were two of them, one to each side of the prep dock, pulling the hoses and the large metallic pillars apart.

PYLONS DETACHED: EN TRY POINTS SEALED

You don’t need words to remind you that it was all you and your Squadron from this point.

With an ease that could only come from experience and repetition, the RAY rumbles its way out of the Prep Dock and into the open sea, before leaning forward and bringing up more windows. Yuubari had warned you against pushing the envelope unless absolutely necessary, and you were keen on coming back to those lips being curved right side up. Leaning forward and setting the more vital modules—namely, the ones that directly gave feedback on thruster stress—you turn the RAY around and roar into the evening sea.

‘Good luck, Commander. See you when you get back.’

The comms die almost immediately, leaving you with your two Division members ... and the first mission of the Admiralty’s offensive campaign ahead.

It didn’t get anymore intense than this.

>Shoot the breeze (Specify)
>Discuss mission (Specify)
>Continue Quietly
>Write-In

>>1813102
>Discuss mission (Specify)
musashi

we need her head in the game and not going berzeker on us

>>1813102
>Discuss mission (Specify)
Musashi.

>>1813102
>>1813104
This.

Review mission parameters.

>>1813102
>>Discuss mission (Specify)
musashi, also 0:30s ↑ ← ↑

>>1813102
>Discuss mission (Specify)
Musashi.

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You open a channel to your Battleship, intent on hearing her thoughts on the assignment.

‘Musashi,’ you call out to her, catching her attention, ‘I take it that you’ve gone over parameters for the mission?’

Musashi looks up directly at the feed, before sighing and crossing her arms.

‘Simple scour and hold,’ she replies in a tone that indicated that she was closer to boredom than she was worry, ‘nothing to it.’

You nod. There wouldn’t be any surprise that she would feel at ease; as one of the heaviest hitters in the whole Admiralty, bar none, this was nothing more than a routine mission, at best.

‘How’re you holding up?’

‘I’m doing fine,’ you reply, frowning as you bring up the throttle check, ‘why do you ask?’

‘Thought you’d be a lot more nervous,’ she emphasizes her amusement with a direct wink towards the visual feed.

‘Why?’ you let out, confused. It was nice that she felt concerned for you, but you did feel a tinge of indignance that your subordinate had pointed it out now of all times.

‘This is your first time deploying me, ain’t it?’

You pause, if only briefly.

‘Yeah, I guess it is.’

She doesn’t follow up, but you do know what she was thinking about. The only thing that she could be thinking about.

This wasn’t just your first deployment with her; this would be the first time your Stream would calibrate itself to her in a live combat situation. The incident across the Haszadian border aside, you hadn’t exactly been proactive in establishing a stable connection with her. In fact, she—along with Nagato—had to practically put you in a situation to properly synchronize yourselves and youhad still backed out. Sure, it was probably the most prudent decision to have taken then, given the risks, maybe, but the fact remained that you had chosen her to be your vanguard, your ace-in-the-hole for this mission ... and you hadn’t so much as prepared yourself for the eventuality despite given ample opportunity to do so, or, failing that, why there was suddenly a need for you to wear her in despite your own reluctance at establishing that ever-important connnection.

In hindsight, it may have been safer to have taken that risk, after all, considering how much it weighed on you right now.

You could see Nagato standing right in front of you with her hands on her hips, shaking her head in disappointment.

‘So I take it you have a plan that doesn’t involve me just doing your job for you, sir?’

Your throat tightens as you consider your answer.

‘Well...’

>‘Actually, I was kind of banking in on your prowess for this one.’
> ‘Even with you around, Musashi, I have no intention of running this as anything but team op.’
>‘Before we get into any of that, do you mind giving me the abridged version of your manual?’
>‘You know what? Never mind.’
>Write-In

>>1813446
>> ‘Even with you around, Musashi, I have no intention of running this as anything but team op.’
then combo with >‘Before we get into any of that, do you mind giving me the abridged version of your manual?’

>>1813446
>‘Before we get into any of that, do you mind giving me the abridged version of your manual?’

>>1813446
>‘Before we get into any of that, do you mind giving me the abridged version of your manual?’

>>1813446
>>‘Before we get into any of that, do you mind giving me the abridged version of your manual?’

>>1813446
>‘Before we get into any of that, do you mind giving me the abridged version of your manual?’

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‘Before we get into any of that, do you mind giving me an abridged version of your manual?’

It was amazing how much she resembled Nagato at that very moment.

‘Now you want to try and get things up and running?’

‘It’s better than me trying and failing on the field,’ you reason, although, in much fairness to her tone, you didn’t fault her incredulity at the last-minute change. You would have probably done the same to your Attendants if they had pulled the same stunt back the Barracks.

‘Don’t mean to brag, but I think that I’d be able to do just as well, with or without you, sir,’ shr says so matter-of-factly, but the smirk betrays the nature of the jab. You roll with it, grimacing and shaking your head.

‘That hurts, Musashi.’

‘Good,’ she answers crisply, staring across the space at Nachi, ‘maybe next time you’ll understand the gravity of the situation before jumping in yourself.’

‘To be very fair, if I didn’t have this particular trait, you’d still be on a chopping board in Haszad.’

‘Oh, believe me,’ she chuckles darkly, ‘I’ve weighed the pros and cons.’

‘Is there any immediate danger once I establish the connection?’

You get right into it. There was no need for anymore semantics—there wasn’t anymore time for semantics. The priority right now was to get as much information as possible out on the table in regards to the establishment of your Stream and Musashi’s. You had been given gist of it—and received a small taste of what was to come—in the mini-session Nagato had organized, but it was hardly a frame to shape the full picture, especially considering the mechanics that Musashi had discussed; the inverse relationship of the connection; the snapback effect.

Again, you see Nagato’s disapproving glare.

‘There is,’ Musashi answers, not missing a beat, ‘but that’ll be up to me to keep under control.’

‘You?’

‘There’s not much of a differentiation between Streams, but considering that it’s going to be in a combat situation, emotional highs have a risk of establishing really bad feedback—more detrrimental than not. Because we haven’t ... you know. It’s going to be on me to keep the both of us—mostly you—stable, but in the event that I can’t, you’re going to have to do one of three things.’

‘Three things?’

‘The one I recommend the most is to severe my connection; you’re a Commander, and I don’t need to walk you through that. The second is to try and reel me in yourself, which, in your current state, is a huge risk but if you’re willing to try your luck with that, I won’t stop you. The third is...’

As she trails off, hesitant to say the word.

You do it for her.

‘An Override.’

Musashi slowly nods.

‘Yeah,’ she answers quietly.

>>1813699
>'Wouldn't there be preventive measures at all? You told me as much before.'
>'I'm a little curious as to why your combat parameters are so odd, actually.'
>'I think leaving it up to you would be the best way to approach this.'
>'Coordinated strikes are still out best bet. Better chance at keeping us both stable.'
>'Forget I asked.'
>Write-In

>>1813699
>'I'm a little curious as to why your combat parameters are so odd, actually.'

>>1813711
>'I'm a little curious as to why your combat parameters are so odd, actually.'

>>1813711
>>'Coordinated strikes are still out best bet. Better chance at keeping us both stable.'

>>1813711
>>'I'm a little curious as to why your combat parameters are so odd, actually.'

>>1813711
>>'I'm a little curious as to why your combat parameters are so odd, actually.'

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‘While I have the chance—and because of my previous ignorance, which I implore that you forgive—would you mind telling me why the parameters of your combat output are so odd in comparison to the others?’

Musashi laughs smugly behind her hand.

‘Oh, really not holding back, are you, sir?’

‘I didn’t think much of it before,’ you press on, adjusting several windows in view, ‘so now’s a good time as ever, isn’t it?’

‘I guess it is,’ she tilts her head upwards, sighing tiredly.

Silence reigns for a while.

‘Yamato and I aren’t that different to your average KanMusu,’ she begins, droning her words, as though she had said them thousands of times before. ‘These bodies that we have, these constructs aren’t built any differently to Nagato or Takao. Inherent attributes aside, the construction of these bodies—the blueprint—doesn’t deviate much at all across the varieties of KanMusu summoned. However, that being said, you’re aware of the Cores, aren’t you?’

‘I am.’

‘A KanMusu Core acts as a grounding point, a tether to keep our spirits to this reality, this coil. If you want to put an equivalent, it’s like a backup heart, brain and every other vital organ rolled up into one, not to mention the housing of any armaments your boys can think of. If the Core is fully intact even if the KanMusu is in a critical situation, there’s a significant enough chance to afford her a full recovery.’

‘Right, going into the basics is nice and all,’ you voice your annoyance; you didn’t need another classroom lesson, ‘but how does this apply to you?’

She absently stretches overhead before letting out a grunt.

‘The Core is the installation point for our armaments and everything else ... but as a grounding point, it’s also the—and I don’t know how else to say this—secondary grounding point for our spiritual resonance; a key component to the Stream. Most girls have theirs locked until they reach a state of Awakening; Yamato and I? Well, you’re smart ... where do you think that extra kick comes from?’

‘You have a backdoor into your triggers open at all times,’ you tilt your head left to right ... right before the facts correlate, forming a clear picture, ‘which runs the risk of giving me a backlash because I have to leave my own open.

‘As expected from my Commander.’

‘So as your emotions get high you ... get into a state of semi-Awakening; pseudo-Awakening?’

‘It ain’t that easy,’ she sighs tiredly, grimacing as she turns up and looks directly into the feed, ‘but thank whatever Heavens are up there it isn’t.’

You sum it up in the only way you can.

‘So rather than holding the reins, you’re telling me that I’m sticking a finger in a hole in the dam.’

‘You could be a lot more subtle about it. I’m still a lady, y'know?’

Now you really regretted not following through with Nagato’s advice.

>>1816065
>'In the case you do go buck wild and I screw up, what are our options?'
>'Wouldn't there be preventive measures at all? You told me as much before.'
>'Considering how much firepower you have, I think the risk is worth taking.'
>'This is still a team op; I'll delegate you so we don't come down to that.'
>'That's all.'
>Write-In

>>1816065
>>'In the case you do go buck wild and I screw up, what are our options?'

>>1816080
>'In the case you do go buck wild and I screw up, what are our options?'

Work from worst down.

>>1816080
>'This is still a team op; I'll delegate you so we don't come down to that.'

>>1816080
>>'In the case you do go buck wild and I screw up, what are our options?'

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‘In the case you go buck wild and I screw up, what are our options?’

‘An Override’s always on the cards.’

‘Yeah, I know it is,’ you answer with a frown as you begin easing the thrust vector, Yuubari’s warning at the forefront of your thoughts, still, ‘but considering that there’s the off-chance that it won’t work considering how your Core operates ... what do I do?’

Musashi doesn’t answer immediately, looking across the hold to Nachi’s prone form before sinking deep into thought. You briefly open your mouth to press her, before deciding that, considering how severe the potential condition could reach, that it would be best to let Musashi take her time. The last thing you wanted right now was any added stress ... and pushing her when she had already taken your query into consideration was hardly reading the situation to the abilities of your post.

‘Nachi will know what to do,’ she finally answers, nodding steadfastly in the direction of the otherwise stoic Heavy Cruiser. ‘Leave it to her; she’ll take care of it.’

You frown, not feeling the least bit satisfied with the answer.

‘You’ve dropped through an Op with her?’

‘Not alongside her, as far as I know,’ she reveals, although the wording that she had felt a little off to you, for some reason, ‘but considering her operational history, I doubt that she wouldn’t know what to do in a worst case scenario.’

‘And that would be?’

‘You’re gonna have to disable me.’

You almost swing your head into the Interface’s frame.

‘Excuse me?’

‘The only way all three options fail is in the case of my ... habits taking over a little too strongly,’ she answers levelly, as if it was some idle chatter down the hall, ‘Yamato and I are a little more stable working next to each other than most, and more often than not, we have an Admiral holding the link instead of a Commander or Vice-Admiral. You’re the lowest rung I’ve shared a Stream with, and no offense, Commander, but—’

‘I know, I know,’ you pinch the bridge of your nose, feeling all the more inadequate at being her superior. Maybe you had bitten off a lot more that you could have afforded to chew in the first place.

Really, considering the standard allocation, you’re amazed that you had thought yourself up to the task in the first place. It was nonsensical.

‘So why didn’t you request a transfer knowing it was going to end up like this?’

‘Because I love you, of course.’

This time you really do smack the back of your head against a panel.

‘Hopefully, well,’ she chuckles, leaning back and closing her eyes, a serene expression washing over her features, ‘that’ll be enough to hold it together.’

>‘You ... what? How? Why? Huh?’
>‘Care to share any preventative measures?’
>‘That aside, this is still a coordinated operation.’
>‘I still think the best measure to take is to not hold back, even with the risk.’
>Write-In

>>1816413
>>‘You ... what? How? Why? Huh?’
Brain.exe has stopped and will now restart

>>1816413
>>‘You ... what? How? Why? Huh?’
YES, YEEEEEES, TIME FOR SUSHI

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>>1816413
>>‘You ... what? How? Why? Huh?’

>>1816419
>>1816455
>>1816477
Musashi cannot subtlety and nuance.

>>1816506
my kind of gal, theres no second guessing her

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You take a deep breath, after which you notice the fairies that shared your immediate space were floating around chirping—probably cackling—at whatever expression you had on your face right now. If you had to take a guess, you probably looked like a constipated goose or a half-dead goldfish. You take another deep breath, focusing on the feed to the holding bay, where Musashi—the minx—looked as though she hadn’t a thing to do with the bombshell that she had dropped on you just moments before.

It takes a while to actually get your vocabulary up and running again.

‘Hang on,’ you say thickly, raising your hands in a gesture to cease as the RAY sped along your assigned vector, ‘hang on, hang on, hang on ... you can’t just blurt it out.’

‘Does it surprise you?’ she opens one eye, staring up at the feed with the hint of a smile.

‘Of-Of course,’ you stutter, a nervous bout of laughter rising from your throat, ‘you can’t just say that.’

‘I have an appreciation of my Commander that transcends normal subordinate-superior dynamics,’ Musashi replies robotically, the teasing in her voice more than apparent. ‘Does that suit your needs better, sir?’

‘You know that’s not what I mean.’

‘What’s wrong with loving you? You’re a little rough around the edges—maybe a lot—but it’s nothing that anyone can’t get used to.’

‘Musashi, just ... stop,’ you groan, feeling the heat in your cheeks, ‘I really can’t handle this right now.’

You see her visibly roll her eyes through the feed; you’re not sure if you would bestow her any right to be exasperated after what she had just done. Maybe this was the reason so many people grew to dislike KanMusu; their lack of elegance at considering the human condition may have pushed one particular sensitive soul too deep into the spiral for any hope of recovery and hope for containment.

‘You’re an oddity, sir, I’ll say that much,’ she lets out with a snort; to which you really just want to shove her for even implying that you were the odd one in this exchange. ‘You’re eager to throw it around but you really can’t seem to take it. I mean, for someone who practically considers us family, you have a—’

‘Wait, what?’ you interrupt.

She throws up a triumphant grin.

‘Come on, admit it, it’s not a Division to you, is it?’ her voice takes a teasing quality, her shoulders quaking as she barely stifles her amusement. ‘It’s a family, right? A home.’

You don’t answer her.

‘So, uh,’ she clears her throat, cheeks red, ‘I’m just saying that, well, I love you, sir, and, well ... I got your back. That’s what a family is right?’

‘Right,’ you reply, a ghost of a smile playing on your lips. It came as a sort of relief, really, but at the same time, a small tinge of disappointment tugged at you.

‘So?’

‘So ... what?’

‘Come on, say it ...’

>Write-In

>>1816625
>Write-In i guess having cheeky girl as you as a younger sis aint bad i guess

>>1816634
this
and
>I-I love you too

>>1816625
>I guess having a cheeky girl like you as a younger sister isn't so bad I guess.
>And I...I love you too.

>>1816625
>>Write-In
Poi~

>>1816700
This

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‘Well, having a cheeky girl like you as a younger sister wouldn’t be so bad, I guess.’

The both of you share a smile as you weigh her words ... before coming to your own conclusion.

‘And I,’ you clear your throat, feeling the color rise in your cheeks again, ‘I love you too.’

Musashi’s grin only grows wider at your statement.

‘Feels good to say it, huh?’

‘You really couldn’t have picked a better time to drag it out of me?’

‘Never know what’s going to happen the next second,’ she returns, shrugging and laughing; enough that you see Nachi curiously gazing at the feed and to her companion, more likely than not wondering just what she was missing out on.

‘I’m not sure if you’re a pessimist or optimist, Musashi,’ you sigh, unable to keep the rest of your amusement at bay, ‘but you’re definitely something.’

Musashi crosses her arms, nodding agreeably, before adopting a more serious expression. Through the feed, you see a fairy doing cartwheels mid-air, before landing on Musashi’s outstretched finger. Musashi offered the smaller being a tight smile as it waved the tool it was holding—which looked like a rod of sorts—before gently launching it back into flight, where it floated towards its other compatriots, gathered in the middle of the room. While not quite solemn, the mood takes a slightly darker tinge as your eyes meet hers, and you open the channel again.

‘Well, going back on point ... as long as we’re not pushed, I don’t think that there’s any additional risk of the Stream deciding that it’s too stubborn to tug,’ she tries to offer it positively, but the doubt in her voice is too apparent to ignore, ‘but if it does happen, well, whatever your decision, I hope you do it with the well-being of the assignment in mind.’

‘I think the Admiralty would worry more about your status than they do one mission.’

After all the trouble—and liquified bones—you’d put yourself through, anything less would be unacceptable.

‘As much as I’d like to think that,’ she laughs wryly, staring wistfully at the bulkhead, ‘I think we both know just how far they’re willing to stretch themselves over an MIA KanMusu.’

‘Don’t put yourself down,’ you encourage her, bringing up another window—the stabilizers were working just fine, but a part of you itched to test Yuubari’s hypothesis. ‘It took a lot for them to back away.’

‘You didn’t, though.’

She throws you a teasing smirk through the feed.

‘Of course not,’ you answer casually, ‘I love you.’

Her eyes widen and her cheeks turn pink, until she finally turns away, thoroughly flustered.

‘I-Idiot ...’

>>1816801
>'In any case, I'd rather run this as a coordinated strike and clear over brute-forcing it. It'll be harder, but we run less risk.'
>'I'm putting my chips on you, Musashi. We can do this. I didn't bring you along to be passive.'
>Write-In

>>1816700
Supporting

does that mean tha nagato is the mother/wife of the division?
Sami and shigu best daughterus

>>1816807
>'In any case, I'd rather run this as a coordinated strike and clear over brute-forcing it. It'll be harder, but we run less risk.'

If we're also aiming for that secondary objective then this is the only correct option

>>1816801
>>'In any case, I'd rather run this as a coordinated strike and clear over brute-forcing it. It'll be harder, but we run less risk.'

>>1816813
This

>>1816807
>>'In any case, I'd rather run this as a coordinated strike and clear over brute-forcing it. It'll be harder, but we run less risk.'

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‘Well, in any case, I’d rather run this as a coordinated strike over brute-forcing it,’ you declare, prompting a tight nod from your subordinate. To your surprise—despite hints to the contrary—she looked anything but on board with your decision.

‘Such a waste of my talents, don’t you think?’

‘I’m not prepared to risk letting the mission objectives slip,’ you reply, albeit reluctantly; you knew you had screwed up by not preparing for the aforementioned eventuality. ‘It’s my mistake for bringing you along without considering the implications, but like always, we’ll have to make do. You prepared for that.’

‘I won’t lie and say that I’m used to having things going my way,’ she replies crisply, sparing you a ghost of a glare, ‘but I admit that this is the first time that I’ve ever heard of being deployed at a more restrained capacity.’

‘First time for everything,’ you try to put some humor into your tone, not sure how she would take it. ‘That’s not to say, of course, that I’m going to hold you back from performing the operation to the best of your ability, but considering that lack of preparation on my part, I’d rather leave the full brunt of your abilities as the Admiralty’s premier battering ram as a last resort. You on board with me on this?’

‘Well, I was the one that brought it up in the first place,’ she sighs, staring at the floor, ‘but you do know that you’re going to be shouldering a huge chunk of the responsibilities Nachi’s way, right?’

You stare through the feed at your silent Heavy Cruiser, leaning cross-armed in her spot; she hadn’t said a word since your departure, but you had an inkling that she had been able to catch the gist of what you were discussing with Musashi. Letting out a sigh, you motion to rub your temples, only to find the helmet keeping you from doing so. As experienced as Nachi was, there was no doubt in your mind that she had more than an earful in store for you with the new gameplan. Absently turning a knob and bringing up a window, you grimace at the thought of undoing the rapport from one oversight.

An oversight that just happened to be critical to the execution to the objectives and one you really, really should have considered before deciding to bring the big guns out for a trial run. Still, what was done was done, and right now the only thing you could do, at least right now, was keep things in order, lest your make things worst by devolving into a panic that was unbecoming of your given post.

‘We’re all in this together,’ you answer steadfastly, ‘right now, I need everyone to just be on the same page. I promise you I’ll handle it.’

It rings a little hollow.

Musashi, however—bless her heart—gives you a reluctant smile and a thumbs up.

It’s more than you deserve

>Shoot the breeze (Specify)
>Discuss mission (Specify)
>Continue quietly
>Write-In

>>1817131
>>Shoot the breeze (Specify)
nachi, do you also love me as i love you?

>>1817131
>Shoot the breeze (Specify)
Nachi

>>1817131
>Shoot the breeze (Nachi)

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Seeing as there was still some time before you reached the hot zone, you decide to pull up Nachi’s private channel. As you open your mouth, however, you pause as you try to get a clearer view. Her eyes were shut and her arms were crossed, not paying heed at all to her surroundings, even allowing a particularly mischievous fairy to use her pony tail as a sort of springboard and slide. You hesitate to disturb her; Nachi, for the first time in a while, actually looked ... at peace. It was a sight that you found yourself unwilling to—

‘Something on your mind, Commander?’

You laugh. You’re not sure if it was down to experience or if she just knew your more than you were aware of yourself.

‘Nothing, just...’

You pause, considering your next words.

‘I just thought I’d chat with you for a bit,’ you bring up a few readings on the display—so far, so good. ‘It’ll be some time before we break the designated patrol routes, and you know me, I can’t shut up for for than five minutes.’

‘That I do know,’ she quips, making you raise one amused eyebrow. ‘Not sure if there’s much to talk about ... this’ll be our first time sortieing with a big stick on deck, right?’

‘Big stick?’

‘It’s what the Ops teams call Yamato and Musashi,’ she reveals, nodding towards the woman across the bay. ‘Big, loud ball-busters that only know to knock the stuffing out of other big ball busters.’

‘Is that high praise or a jibe?’

‘You should know me enough to make a guess at that, sir.’

‘I’ll take it on a positive lean if you don’t mind,’ you return, cricking your neck and rolling your shoulder. ‘I take it that things are going smoothly on your duties back at Yokosuka?’

‘There’re a few kinks here and there,’ she reveals, wearing an odd smile, ‘but yeah, they’re coming through.’

‘I suspected you were in a good mood,’ you chuckle, to which she raises an eyebrow in response. ‘Not that I expect you to be a twenty-four hour sourpuss, but you seem to be ... more at peace than usual. At least that’s how I see it.’

‘I guess you can put it that way,’ she answers enigmatically. ‘Still a long way to go before we return into anything resembling normalcy, though.’

You really can’t help it.

‘You’re a personified spirit summoned from the netherworld of another time and place put into the magically and technologically-constructed form of an admittedly attractive young woman to fight for humanity’s existence against eldritch humanoids from the deep sea, Nachi. We may never sniff normalcy again.’

Nachi guffaws, barely holding her amusement in check.

‘I thought I was the pessimist here.’

>‘We haven’t talked in a while ... maybe fill me in on how things have been going for you, I guess?’
>‘Well, since now’s as good a time as anything, mind filling out a verbal suggestion form?’
>‘Now’s a good a time as any: care to talk about your sisters?’
>Write-In

>>1817192
>‘We haven’t talked in a while ... maybe fill me in on how things have been going for you, I guess?’
I don't really think bringing up serious shit like her sister is a good idea, what with being on an important mission right now.

>>1817192
>>‘We haven’t talked in a while ... maybe fill me in on how things have been going for you, I guess?’

>>1817192
>>‘We haven’t talked in a while ... maybe fill me in on how things have been going for you, I guess?’

Since there doesn't seem to be many people on, the next prompt will be the last one for the next few hours. I'll see you then if you folks are around.

>>1817192
>‘We haven’t talked in a while ... maybe fill me in on how things have been going for you, I guess?’

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‘So, considering something on base has put you in a chirpier mood than I would have expected,’ you begin in an exaggerated voice, prompting an amused snort from the other end of the channel, ‘you mind telling me what’s brought this sunnier persona or do I have to scour the ruins looking for the real Nachi?’

‘Very funny, Commander.’

‘Well,’ you push, perhaps a little too enthusiastically. ‘don’t leave me in the dark ... things must be looking pretty good for you, right?’

‘We managed to clear seven stacks of cross-departmental red tape in the last forty-eight hours,’ she declares smugly, ‘ you damn right things are looking pretty good.’

You almost balk.

‘Bull.’

You’re in disbelief. You couldn’t even get through one and a half with your attendants zooming between heads and offices; and that was on a good day. Nachi—despite being as skilled a fighter and operative as they came—was hardly someone you could peg as an expert in the world of bureaucratic maneuvering ... not that you could boast, of course, but, at the end of the day, it was Nachi. The same KanMusu who had attempted to turn your Vice-Admiral into a candy dispenser because she couldn’t hold her own temper in check. She had to be lying. There was no way she could have done it without so much as tripping over a folder on the way to a desk.

‘You can ask Nagato if you don’t believe me,’ she nods smugly and crosses her arms—across the room, Musashi fixes her a scrutinizing gaze before staring up at the feed in confusion. ‘Five stacks, all trimmed down with stamps of approval and urgent.’

‘I’d sooner believe you’d ended the war with your own two hands than make that bunch of blowhards pass two by you,’ you reply, unamused ... and a little envious. ‘How in the world did you sort it out, anyway?’

‘I asked really, really nicely.’

She may have shown her teeth, but the smile hardly reached her eyes.

‘I’m sure you did.’

‘I’m an ex-Operative,’ she snorts, ‘you really expect me to take the cleanest and and longest route to getting my day-to-day tasks done?’

You sigh. You suppose that was a little too much.

‘So do I have to go digging for bodies or what?’

‘I persuaded them to act in their own interest,’ she corrects you with a snort. ‘You don’t need to bury bodies when the other party is more than willing to cooperate.’

One of these days, you’d brief Nachi on ettiquette. Just because people didn’t want to do things your way didn’t mean that they needed their limbs rearranged and their nose turned into pretzels. Even if they were annoying bureaucratic middle-men who—

You give yourself pause.

‘Nachi, I take it back. Good work.’

Her expression of disbelief only compounded the satisfaction.

>Continue with a casual topic (Write-In)
>Discuss mission (Specify)
>End conversation
>Write-In

>>1817279
>End conversation

>>1817279
>End conversation
Time to get to the mission

>>1817279
>End conversation
Time to rock

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With a shake of your head, you shut the channel to Nachi, leaning—no, floating—in place as you brought up the readings again. The ETA was still some distance away, even at this speed ... and it wasn’t as if there were any interruptions en route. The sensors had shown nothing significantly hostile on the dull yellow window interface that had popped up. Some schools of fish were present here and there, along with some larger marine animals, probably hunting the fish in question, but nothing that looked like it was going to home in and have you turn the the craft around.

A fairy, as if sensing your boredom, makes an odd pose as you scan the windows and bars, placing her hands up and the soles of her feet against each other with an exaggerated puckering of her lips ... and slowly rotating in place. Another fairy swan dives from one of the panels above, making a spinning motion as she flew downward, barely missing her friend, who raises a hand in righteous fury, chasing after her right out of your direct line of sight.

One of the windows flashes red. It was a caution from the Magic Engine’s systems.

Letting out a sigh, you bring up the calibration window and lower the output ceiling for the systems. It was a reminder that the craft had been hastily patched back into working order—in direct, though probably unintentional, defiance of the Grand Lieutenant’s own comments on the limits of its restoration—as well as Yuubari’s own words of caution of the consequences that awaited your person should you fail to heed them.

Absently, you turn on the feed to see both Musashi and Nachi with their eyes closed, basking in the little tranquility that time could afford them before the operation would truly begin.

One of the fairies the lands on your nose, light as a feather—possibly lighter or with no wait at all—and with her aviator hat off. She makes a whirling motion with her hand, before shoving it deeper than what her hat could possibly hold ... and pulling out a miniature stuffed rabbit, no longer than a third of your pinky.

At her insistent glare, you remember your manners, hastily bringing your hands together in a light clap. Satisfied by this, she spins at the tip of your nose, before diving out of view, in one of the oddest—and random—experiences you had had on board the RAY in your tenure.

They may have been humanity’s guardian angels, but sometimes you wondered just what went through those tiny heads of theirs.

Turning back to the feed, you consider your next move. It’s not as if either of them would mind you striking up another conversation, but then again you didn’t want to sound like a neurotic mess or a distracting chatterbox, either.

>Shoot the breeze (Specify)
>Discuss mission (Specify)
>Continue Quietly
>Write-In

>>1819302
>>Discuss mission (Specify)
ask if either of them have fought Re-classes before and if so how they fight

>>1819302
>>1819309
this

>>1819309
>>1819310
You guys already talked about it in the (short) briefing. Basically the consensus was:

>The tail has a mind of its own, so taking care of it isn't the problem
>Hard part is not getting a big hit because Re-Class uses its Weapon-Tail as both an offensive and defensive measure, so you risk taking it out altogether.
>Get a clean shot at the main body and tear the tail off its corpse is the only way to do it.

>>1819309
>>1819310
You guys can ask for something else if you want. Or if you insist on bringing up a discussion on it, still, I will do so.

Well, I guess we're doing this.

>>1819302
Shoot the breeze (Specify)
so, what like being so tiny and cute? and magical, of course

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Opening the public channel, you decide to get down to business. Although it was hardly the primary function of the operation, the retrieval of the Re-Class—the apparent Command Unit, according to intelligence reports—was high on your list of concerns. While you’d hardly call the Abyssal elites themselves small fry, the fact that you hadn’t come up with a proper solution to this issue—and that Musashi and Nachi themselves were hardly concerned with it themselves, even in the discussion the day before—troubled you more than the task of scouring and holding the point.

‘You two come up with a game plan about the Command Unit?’

Instantly, the both of them seemed to withdraw. Musashi looked like she was holding back a groan; Nachi’s lips, in response to your question, thinned into a line.

‘That’s going by the assumption that it’s going to be around,’ Musashi grumbles, clearly remembering the details that the MagiTek Department so neatly classified.

‘Considering the concentration of enemies, it’d be stupid for them to not have a Command Unit at least lurking on the edges. Abyssals don’t strike me as the type to leave any part that they like open to takebacks.’

‘It’d be hard if there’re a few more B-Classes around than usual, in fact,’ Musashi offers, her shoulders drooping. ‘but if I could pick my poison, I’d say double-teaming a Re-Class would be preferential than having to take on wave after wave.’

‘Says the one with a proper AP module installed in her,’ Nachi jibes, making a trigger motion with her finger at her teammate, who shrugs dismissively.

‘If we’re going by the numbers, then, and intel isn’t screwed up,’ you try to get back on track, ‘how are we going to go about bringing an A-Rank Re-Class’s tail intact?’

‘Well, a few well-placed shots might do it,’ Nachi answers nonchalantly, ‘but since we’re talking about it in the context of a secondary objective, I think we’d do well to consider if we’re going to prioritize retrieval over the success of the main objective. I’d leave it up to lady luck when it comes to side orders like this, especially after what happened in Aquarius.’

‘You’re never gonna let that go, are you?’

‘I just don’t want you to forget what happens when priorities get skewered.’

‘Don’t worry,’ you grimace, swiping a window away. ‘I’m aware that it’s only a request.’

‘That being said, what do we know about their support forces?’

‘They’re going to be coming in larger numbers than the initial spotters,’ you practically recite from the notes, ‘but I don’t think there’ll be any big surprises outside of the Re-Class ... that is, if, according to your guess, she bothers to show up anyway.’

Musashi sticks her tongue out, emphasizing her distaste.

'Whatever it is, I have total faith in you, sir.'

You didn't miss Nachi's sarcasm, playful as it was.

'Thank you, Nachi.'

>Write-In

>>1819401
>as much as id like to take that tail home, i prefer that we kill the command unit and get you both home alive

so the idea is punch some heads, have the Re-class show up, and kill her, if we can recover the tail, good, if not, thats ok too

>>1819401
"We'll focus on the primary objective. Sweep and destroy and try to leave the RE-class for last. We won't go out of our way to hunt it down till we complete our sweep but if we do, we'll fall back and lure it into previously cleansed areas so that we can engage it on its lonesome.

If we have the chance, we'll try for the secondary BUT only if its not going to put you two in undue risk. Worst case, we blast her to bits and pick up some larger pieces for the techheads."

Mech's trying to get passed a DNS ban. break time

>>1819406
going for this

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You decide to finalize your running strategies.

‘I’ve screwed up by not having priorities in line before,’ you declare, bringing up the sensors. ‘Just to make it clear the retrieval of the appendage—or weapon, whatever it is—is a secondary objective. If we’re not going to be able to bring one back for the boys, there’s no point in pushing it at the cost of giving up what we’re here for in the first place.’

To that, the both of them give accepting nods.

‘At the same time ... Nachi, I’m going to have you take the main front on this mission?’

‘Huh?’

‘I kind of screwed up even before we got on the RAY,’ you announce, internally wincing. ‘As things are going there’s no way I’m going to be able to handle the stress of commandeering Musashi from the get-go.’

‘Are you serious?’

Nachi, more than anything, looks livid.

‘I was bound to fall back into my old habits at some point,’ you grimace; the humor is a little on the darker side, even with the current context, but you felt that it was as appropriate a comment as ever, ‘nonetheless, are you able to shoulder a little more on this one?’

‘Negative,’ she answers bluntly. ‘Success of the operation relies on a significant force pushing back and holding a point. I can do my best, but I can’t make up for the loss of manpower by myself. Considering the make-up, I thought you’d be running me in a more supporting capacity.’

‘Noted, Nachi,’ you answer simply, hearing her grumble as she crossed her arms and leaned back, mumbling obscenities as you regretfully tear apart the good mood that she had stepping onto the RAY. ‘Musashi, we’re going to have to run this normally—with everything that’s going on, Nachi’s not going to be able to operate at this capacity, semi-independent or otherwise. We’re not going to be going straight into rip and tear mode, but is there any way at all that I’ll be able to hold the reins a little better?’

‘It’s going to fall on the both of us,’ she answers, her voice barely holding back its worry, ‘but I’m not going to pretend that it’s going to be a walk in the park.’

‘Any tips?’

She bites her lip, tapping the tips of her fingers against each other.

‘My Admiral told me once that Yamato and I were like ... fish,’ she explains, to which Nachi raises her head, scrunching her nose and mumbling even more incoherently, ‘something about knowing when to pull and when to let it slack, but do either and you—’

‘Lose the fish,’ you finish for her.

Through the feed, you see the only other KanMusu on board claw at the air in frustration, a low whine coming from her throat before baring her teeth and glaring at the feed.

‘What is it Nachi?’

‘Why in the world ... would you sortie Musashi knowing full-well you hadn’t so much as a smidgen of the implications burnt into your head?’

You close your eyes as you let out a sigh.

>>1819509
>'I'd like you to drop it, if it's all the same to you.' (Dismissive)
>'I overestimated my scope.' (Blunt)
>'Not like you have a clean operation record, anyway.' (Redirect)
>'If you want to yell at me, I'll allow it. But I'd appreciate your input even more.' (Apologetic, Prioritize Outlook)
>'I can only say sorry.' (Apologetic)
>Don't answer her
>Write-In

>>1819516
>'If you want to yell at me, I'll allow it. But I'd appreciate your input even more.' (Apologetic, Prioritize Outlook)

>>1819509
>'If you want to yell at me, I'll allow it. But I'd appreciate your input even more.' (Apologetic, Prioritize Outlook)
its an mission to smash a re-class
sure as hell im gonna trhow my best at it
and musashi and you are the best
if i burn out there can be an other commander, but not an other nachi or musashi
i can take that

>>1819516
>>'If you want to yell at me, I'll allow it. But I'd appreciate your input even more.' (Apologetic, Prioritize Outlook)

>>1819520
2nding this

"I have something for you when we get back" (bookmark)

Y/N?

>>1819520
Christ this is terrible. We've been told we're not replaceable either. Sushi at the least is gonna go ape on that self-sacrificial attitude.

>>1819516
>>>'If you want to yell at me, I'll allow it. But I'd appreciate your input even more.' (Apologetic, Prioritize Outlook)
"Variety of circumstances really. This mission required maximum firepower to ensure the best chance of success and all of the kanmusu deloyed returning safely. Furthermore, this was just after we received word that the ISSF was recalling all carriers and before we Houshou disobeyed those orders.

Between sortieing a taskforce without proper air cover and a superdread in enemy held territory, I chose the later. "

>>1819574
This

>>1819574
Supporting this one

>>1819574
>>1819839
>>1819846
Is that second part a comment or an issue of warning in addition to the first one?

File: This Is Why Comprehension(...).jpg (13 KB, 500x314)

13 KB JPG

>>1821888
Never mind. Disregard that question. Just saw the quotation marks. I suck cocks on a daily basis.

File: Let's Hope.jpg (6 KB, 106x150)

6 KB JPG

‘I think I deserve a yell from you, given the circumstances,’ you admit, letting out a sigh, ‘but it’d help even more if you have an approach in mind.’

‘Not much that you can do in a scoure and hold other than having the biggest possible guns out there,’ ‘This isn’t the same as a tactical strike; no backup, no real proper available strategies other than on-the-fly knocks and baiting and corralling. Plus, with Musashi here, you must’ve thought of utilizing pure firepower, so we can’t use swarm maneuvers either.’

‘How deep a ditch have I dug up this time?’

She has an answer at the tip of the tongue. You know it. In a surprise maneuver, however, Nachi proceeds to put her hand to her chin, mumbling incoherently and turning her face upwards, away from the feed. As a tinge of worry crawls upon you, you open your mouth only to find her looking up to the feed with an expression that you hadn’t expected her to wear now of all times.

‘Weirdly enough,’ she nods, a small bounce in her voice, ‘not one you can’t climb out of.’

‘Appreciate the faith,’ you chuckle, amused despite the situation.

‘Doesn’t stop this op from being one you can hardly expand resources on, though,’ she continues, letting out a sugh of frustration, ‘and by resources I mean—’

‘I get it Nachi,’ you breathe out, thinning your lips into the line, ‘it’s not as if I did this with the consideration of you getting your brains splattered as an outcome I’d be pleased with.’

‘I never said that,’ she counters, a softer tone—and a tinge of hurt—more than present as she stares up at you, her brows furrowing in concern.

‘At the end of the day, it was a game of picking the poison,’ you bite out, cursing the circumstances, before adding, ‘not that I’m relinquishing myself of the irresponsibility at not taking this through.’

‘So you thought of bringing in Musashi without wondering if your inexperience would be a detriment,’ she resumes her criticial stance, holding three fingers up clearly for you to see, ‘Need I remind you that there’s a reason KanMusu Superior tiers are arranged Commander, Vice-Admiral and then Admiral?’

‘It’s not as i we’ve played by the rules since,’ you comment.

Considering that you had somehow procured two Battleships under your banner, you thought it justified.

‘I chose it with consideration to the most positive outcome,’ you mention more evenly—no need to make her anymore than she already was, after all, ‘and between sending you guys out out without proper air support and risking a Super Dreadnought sending me into the loony bin, I choose the latter.’

Her shoulders slump, not quite defeated but most definitely compromised.

‘Let’s hope you get things right anyway, then.’

You do.

>SAVE TO MEMORY CARD (SLOT 1)
>Shoot the Breeze (Specify)
>Discuss Mission Details (Specify)
>END DISCUSSION
>Write-In

>>1822230
>>SAVE TO MEMORY CARD (SLOT 1)

Kek

>>1822230
>>SAVE TO MEMORY CARD (SLOT 1)
hmm, where are the the AR codes for this game

File: WHIRR-WHIRR.jpg (75 KB, 774x768)

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>>1822265
>>1822282
SAVING ... PLEASE DON'T REMOVE MEMORY CARD FROM SLOT 1...

DID YOU KNOW? Just because a KanMusu is of a higher tier or class doesn't necessarily mean she will be the best performer on an assignment. Each of them have developed as versatile a skill set as possible to adapt to situations thrown their way, but there are things they won't be able to perform as well as other classes.

-Kashima

>Shoot the Breeze (Specify)
>Discuss Mission Details (Specify)
>END DISCUSSION/PROCEED WITH MISSION
>Write-In

>>1822357
>END DISCUSSION/PROCEED WITH MISSION

>>1822357
>>END DISCUSSION/PROCEED WITH MISSION
Lets go boys!

>>1822357
>>END DISCUSSION/PROCEED WITH MISSION

>>1822357
>>END DISCUSSION/PROCEED WITH MISSION
Ere we go, 'ere we go, 'ere we go,

File: Battle Time.jpg (379 KB, 850x1202)

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The red pulse catches your immediate attention as the RAY speeds along. The warning is practically a formality at this point; you’d grown so used to the alert that it had become almost second nature for you to ease the throttle and begin turning a few knobs and prompts to change the approach. You didn’t need to breach the Hot Zone now—not for another few miles, at least—but decreasing the odds of early detection was paramount considering that this was a—

RECOGNIZED HOSTILES APPROACHING

Stifling point.

Of course there’d be an early detection unit in place. The whole point for the Abyssals holding this was to keep the Admiralty from expanding or establishing an early warning defense of their own. Intelligence hadn’t mentioned, however, that it had grown in radius by more than just a few miles. You bring up the sensors, sounding the launch warning. Through the feed of the bay, you see Musashi and Nachi already detaching themselves from their spots, the fairies scrambling to make last minute preparations to the two.

You open the channel.

‘We have hostiles incoming!’

Nachi and Musashi grit their teeth as they hoist their rigging, stepping towards the upright ramp.

‘It just keeps getting better and better, doesn’t it?’ Nachi growls audibly, staring straight at Musashi.

‘You think that they’d need us if that wasn’t the case?’ Musashi flexes her fingers before lifting her head. ‘Do we have readings on the significance of the oncoming force, Commander?’

‘Still running a sensor check—they’re not in range enough for me to have a proper readout on composition,’ you grumble, bringing up more windows: the blips seemed to mesh and separate. ‘Only thing I got from this is that they’re running a tight formation; they’re almost on top of each other ... but if we’re playing a guessing game, the signatures aren’t big enough to be felt this far, so chances are we have nothing above C-rank Units among them.’

‘It’s probably just an early scouting team,’ Musashi hypothesizes. ‘Probably here to gauge whether we’re prodding or pulling.’

‘Doesn’t mean we can just leave ‘em alone, though,’ Nachi offers, ‘I-Classes or whatever, if we go back and meet the main force, if there’re more of them, it means we’re going to end up blindsided.’

‘Lower-tiered Abyssals aren’t an immediate threat to the mission,’ Musashi counters, ‘but considering our output, we don’t have the numbers to go quantity for quantity; don’t think we have enough bursts to spare, since it’s just us two.’

Nachi nods grimly.

‘Your commands, sir!’

>‘Run intercept on the party.’ (Go Hunker Mode, begin Operation)
>‘Musashi, would this qualify as a trial run?’ (Suggest Stream establishment anyway)
>‘Could we make it back to safe waters and deploy without risk?’ (Pull back a greater distance)
>‘On you two, then.’ (Leave it to them, independently)
>Write-In

>>1822564
I encourage write-ins here, by the way, as I can't cover every tactical option.

>>1822564
>>Write-In
>have Nachi run intercept for any runners while we sync with Sushi for a test run
not a bad time for a test run since this is just a scout crew

>>1822568
What would the trial run cover. As in a simple combat situation with sushi or just booting up with her.

>>1822755
this is a good idea

lets see if my brain can shit up some decent tactics

-good old hammer and anvil works, musashi being the anvil
-nachi can use torps to make no go zones
-standard wingman pair, Musahi goes nuts, nachi takes out those going for sushi's back
-recomend to have nachi use torpedos
if they hit something it dies/gets very decent damage
if not its a no go zone, so it makes a good safe spot/run way
if you got more ideas post'm

>>1822564
Nachi has got one salvo, maybe two of long lances.

We should try to save those for fighting the re-class as they can be used as area denial, keeping the re in one place long enough for a good one-two.

Either way, save for versus re or as emergency. Nachi has full launch authorisation and discretion on when to use it.

Running a session and experimenting with a lowered dice system to see if the rolls and conclusions come in faster.

RULE (Temporary) CHANGE:

Combat - 3d8

That being said, do I have a confirmation on tactics?

>>1828047
sounds fine to me

>>1828047
>have Nachi act an interceptor for runners and and initiate test run with Sushi

>>1828057
We really want to let nachi handle things alone? Even if its just little shitties, we should still be careful, dont you think?

>>1828057
Impossible. Tactically, you'd be throwing Nachi into a suicide run - she's still ONE KanMusu with a limited ammo roll - but that's not what I'm going to talk about. Hunker Mode takes a few minutes to configure and activate. In the context of sending Nachi out as an advance intercept, you're still going to need some time on TOP of configuring into Hunker Mode to "test run" Nachi. So either way, you have to burn 5 minutes at LEAST between the two event gaps. You can't do both at the same time. You have to establish the connection before anything else.

>>1828071
>>1828066
alright then scratch that

How about we just hook up with sushi clear these nerds and go

>>1822564
>>‘Could we make it back to safe waters and deploy without risk?’ (Pull back a greater distance)

This option has more appeal to me, the safer the better

>>1822564
>>‘Musashi, would this qualify as a trial run?’ (Suggest Stream establishment anyway)

>>1822564
>‘Musashi, would this qualify as a trial run?’ (Suggest Stream establishment anyway)

File: BASAKA.jpg (253 KB, 850x747)

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It’s a sudden thought.

No, to call it a thought would be to actually give it some credence.

‘There’s no time like the present.’

‘Sir?’

You bring up the sensors again. It’d be cutting it more than a little close, but with all the other risks involved—and the utter disadvantage that you had callously placed your Squadron in, it was a leap worth taking. If there had been an opportunity to yell at how brazenly stupid your past self had been in deciding that this composition was one worth undertaking, there would be no hesitation from dishing out a pre-emptive reprimand worthy of the Court of Admirals itself ... but you had made this bed. Now you had to make the best of it.

Even if it meant making the most idiotic call possible.

‘This’ll be a Hell of a trial run.’

‘Commander?’

‘Musashi, I’m going to establish a Stream with you as soon as I engaged in hunker mode,’ you declare—to which, predictably, you are greeted a slew of protests. ‘Nachi, you know your role is this. We’re going to be cutting it close, so as soon as it’s establish, run a defensive parameter and take the wave out.’

‘This is ridiculous!’

You let out a sigh. You deserved that.

‘We’re going to be outgunned whatever we do,’ you elaborate, bringing the detection modules to the fore. ‘Besides, this was the game plan in the first place—don’t see no downside putting my head on the chopping block beside you two.’

‘Contact time?’ Nachi questions, motioning towards the bay doors.

‘Very close.’

The both of them thin their lips and fix a one another with a desperate stare.

‘Your call, sir. We’ll execute.’

You nod.

‘Engaging Hunker Mode.’

The cockpit chamber turns pitch black, save for the glowing lines on the bulkhead. You burp—loudly as the Interface pulses and you feel yourself being pulled out through your chest. It never gets any easier; and with that last tug from the back of your head and the slamming sensation to your throat, you’re reminded just why Admirals and Commanders go insane going through this. The machine, the concept, it treats you like taffy to be pulled or putty to be molded ... and it takes the rocking of the craft to bring you back to reality, your body no longer your own, your consciousness pulled in a million directions. You see Musashi, Nachi ... their hands raised to each other as another rumble hits the craft.

HUNKER MODE: ENGAGED

UPLINK SYNCHRONIZATION INITIALIZING

Another rumble hits the craft.

UPLINK: GREEN

You open your mouth to bark out a Command ... only to find yourself not in the RAY anymore. No, you definitely weren’t in the RAY. You were somewhere ... you see Nachi, calling out to you incoherently, her hands reaching out in worry.

Musashi’s hands shoot up, grabbing her throat and slamming her against the bulk-head.

You were killing her.

>STABILIZE (Roll a 1d8 each)

>>1828524

Rolled 3 (1d8)

>>1828524
and here we go

Rolled 5 (1d8)

>>1828538
My bad

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Rolled 1 (1d8)

>>1828524

Rolled 7 (1d8)

>>1828524
f-rank luck here we go

>>1828539
>>1828544
>>1828545
>>1828549
Sorry guys, I fucked up. It should be a 1d6 for the initial psych roll.

>STABILIZE (Roll a 1d6 each)

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>1828562

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>1828562

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>1828562

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>1828562
do i have luck left? it is a mystery

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>1828562

File: Stream Establishment - SUCCESS.png (330 KB, 600x510)

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‘MUSASHI!’

Time seems to stop. Her grip loosens from Nachi’s throat, but her victim doesn’t quite hit the floor. In fact ... nothing around you moves. No, there is movement, although it’s either too quick for you to see or were just shadows that made no apparent sense whatsoever. Your arms; your legs; your joints feel like they’re welded in place. You try to cry out, but you can’t make a sound. You’re caught in a darkness, the pulsing lights overhead pulsing, growing brighter and brighter as time—or the lack of it—ticks by.

You try to move your fingers. They comply.

Your joints obey your commands.

The sensation of Nachi’s strangulation catches up to your own throat as you, in a belated maneuver, gasp for air. The craft seems to shake all around you. You’re under attack, you’re sure of it. Yuubari was going to kill you for bringing the craft into another firefight like this ... maybe you should have been a little more attentive; you knew that this was a stifling point, after ...

The floor warps all around you, solid into liquid as it gives way and you fall down a pit—not dark, but a bevy of colors. Warm—no, hot—so much so that you think that if you outstretched your arms a little more, you’d burn your fingers off. A familiar blue light greets you right at the end, only, this time you see something akin to a river, or even the roots of a tree, gently turning and reclining all around you as you float closer towards it.

It all happens so fast.

You fall face-first in a dark pool of water, gasping for air as you struggle—but succeed—at getting to your feet. You’re in the same cavern; the ceiling is a little higher and the water tastes a little different, but this was most definitely the doorway to your Stream. Finding your balance is a little hard this time, for some reason—the waters seem to move in time with a beat you are unfamiliar with, rising and falling in a manner that has you confused.

‘You know, they’re called reins,’ an annoyed—and familiar—voice reaches your ears, ‘you don’t don’t need a rod and lash for the job, you know.’

You turn around to see ... Musashi, scowling and looking at you with a manner that communicated her displeasure.

‘I know it’s your first time, but you seriously need to bite into my head like that?’

‘I didn’t bite into your head,’ you say defensively. ‘You were choking Nachi.’

She guiltily digs her toe into the pool of your Stream.

‘I was,’ she admits. ‘See? This is why it’s important to keep things in check and to know stuff before you dive into things—can you imagine if you hadn’t held me back in time?’

You frown. That sounded contradictory to her chastising tone.

‘Well, at least you got us up and running enough to work,’ she looks up, ‘so if you got any questions, keep ‘em short. I don’t know how much longer we've got.'

>>1828780
>'Prioritize the mission. Let's make this count.' (Battle)
>'So this is it, then? No surprises?'
>'I feel like I'm being pulled and crushed at the same time. That normal?'
>'Give me a run-down on how to curb your battle-lust; or whatever it is.'
>Write-In

>>1828786
>>'Give me a run-down on how to curb your battle-lust; or whatever it is.'

>>1828780
>>'Prioritize the mission. Let's make this count.' (Battle)
Lets rock and roll

>>1828786
>'Give me a run-down on how to curb your battle-lust; or whatever it is.'

>>1828786
>>'Give me a run-down on how to curb your battle-lust; or whatever it is.'
does it involve hand holding and headpats coz i am totally for handholding and headpats

>>1828786
>'Give me a run-down on how to curb your battle-lust; or whatever it is.'

>>1828833
It involves wuv.

>>1829069
noice, cmdr has lots of that to give

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‘A summary,’ you practically demand, taking a step towards her. ‘I want a run-down to curb your battle-lust ... however it’s done.’

Musashi frowns, before letting out a sigh.

RECEIVED: [Recovery Bonus/TEMP] – 1 to GM Competing Rolls

‘Right to the point, are we?’

‘I can’t explain all of it in one go,’ she holds an outstretched arm towards you—one with dancing green flames, not unlike the color of the river-tree that was Musashi’s own signature, ‘but to sum it up, we have to be in-sync. While it’s not an emotional tug-of-war or anything like it, think of your own presence in the Stream as more intervention-based; more passive than active. I said last time that Nachi acts as the counterbalance, the connector, but it’s going to be up to you to make sure the snap back doesn’t ... well, you get the idea.’

The cave trembles all around you. There wasn’t much time left ... if any.

‘Wait,’ you clutch your head, trying to remember the finer details from your last encounter, ‘didn’t you tell me that I had to hold the reins and know when to—’

‘I’m aware of that,’ she counters, wearing a somewhat guilty look, ‘but you might not have enough in you to pull all of me back, so letting yourself dive in just to get a stronger tug or whatever ... it’s not going to work. It’s better to bring at least a part of me and use the ship on the other side as a counterbalance to help you. Nachi’s not a bad choice as far as these kind of things, go, so you can afford a little more slack.’

‘Slack doesn’t sound like a good idea at all.’

‘There’s no choice Commander,’ Musashi hisses, ‘because as far as my Stream recognizes, the both of us are going to be strapped in for one Hell of a ride. It’s a little bit contradictory, yeah, but ... believe me, the last thing I wanna do is risk anyone’s safety just for a day out on the sea with my guns.’

You don’t know when she’d closed her distance, a finger squarelyb in your chest and her eyes looking more desperate than disciplined. Realizing the overstepping of the boundary, she steps back as another rumble rocks the cavern, the pulse below turning a bright green as Musashi closes her eyes, more than likely drawing on every ounce of patience possible.

‘I’m prepared to fight by your side, sir,’ she takes a more even tone, ‘but I’m not going to pretend that this is going to be eas—’

You curse as the glow grows brighter underneath you.

‘All right, so I either rein you in, give some slack or move in sync,’ you repeat hurriedly, ‘how do I—’

‘You’ll know when you get there, Commander.’

You open your mouth to ask for more; underndeath you the colors shift from green to blue and back again...

>‘I’m in your care.’ (Battle)
>‘No surprises?’
>‘These sensations; these changes, are they normal?’
>Write-In

>>1829094
>>‘I’m in your care.’ (Battle)
gonna need to bite the bullet 'ere lads, aint no time for more explanations

>>1829094
>‘I’m in your care.’ (Battle)

>>1829094
>>‘I’m in your care.’ (Battle)

>>1829094
>‘I’m in your care.’ (Battle)

File: LET'S ROCK.jpg (57 KB, 460x398)

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‘I’m in your care,’ you hold out your hand, smiling nervously as the words echo through the rumbling chamber.

Musashi takes it.

‘I’ll try to be gentle.’

It was as though you’d been thrown from a tall building and landed on your feet. You don’t quite blow chunks, but brown and yellow drip onto the floor of the flight deck, prompting looks of disgust—and, surprisingly, worry—from your accompanying fairies. The windows of the Interface work up a storm, popping and practically yelling at you to get things sorted out. A rumble courses through the RAY as as the craft tilts, another warning window obscuring your view. One of the compensation matrices had been shifted from the attack—you were under attack. They were here.

RECOGNIZED HOSTILES DETECTED WITHIN CONTACT VICINITY

DESIGNATION: LIGHT CRUISER TSU-CLASS
DESIGNATION: DESTROYER I-CLASS ELITE
DESIGNATION: DESTROYER I-CLASS
DESIGNATION: DESTROYER I-CLASS

‘What’re you doing spacing out for?!’ Nachi calls out, her view staring at the bulk head as she kicked the bay doors—hard. ‘Enemies are within striking distance, you need to get us out—wait, what the Hell are you—Musashi?’

Musashi gets to her feet, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

‘Commander?’

‘Yeah, I’m in here,’ you bring up the sensors for a clearer look, letting out a sigh of relief as you realize that this was, indeed, an early warning interception unit. Troublesome, but ultimately there as a wave.

‘Things under contr—’

The RAY practically jumps as the hit, prompting another window to light up.

HULL INTEGRITY STATUS: YELLOW
EVASIVE MANEUVERS ADVISED

‘Nachi, Musashi, time to launch our counterattack.’

‘Counterattack?’ Nachi shrills as you swipe a few more windows. Through Musashi’s feed, you can see her itching to strike something—preferably you—with her gloved fingers, her teeth baring right at the tanned Battleship.

The craft shakes again.

‘You—’

‘We have a light force in contact distance,’ you interrupt, scanning the immediate area; you didn’t need to—the I-Classes were practically at your door, ramming and blasting at whatever part of the craft they could reach. It was a lucky break on your part, that you’d decided that any idle chatter with Musashi would only be more time wasted—whatever you had right now, it had to be enough.

It had to be.

‘You’re going to have two on each wing ... I don’t know where the third is, but the bugger’s close enough to appear on the sensors, but sneaky enough to stay out of the RAY’s feed,’ you declare. ‘Sink ‘em fast but don’t expand more than you absolutely have to.’

‘Don’t need to tell us twice.’

You don’t.

‘LOWERING BAY DOORS!’

They don’t need telling twice, their forms practically diving under onto the night sea.

‘ENGAGING!’

>Take Out The Scouts! (Roll a 1d8 each)

Rolled 6 (1d8)

>>1829155
HERE WE FUCKING GO
EDF!

Rolled 6 (1d8)

>>1829155
ALLAHU AKBAR

Rolled 3 (1d8)

>>1829155
Oh damn. We're gonna get it from yuubari

Rolled 5 (1d8)

>>1829155

Rolled 4 (1d8)

>>1829155

Rolled 7, 8, 5, 7, 4 = 31 (5d8)

>>1829157
>>1829158
>>1829162
>>1829167
>>1829169

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Okay, I seem to have forgotten my own ruleset for when you sortie MUSASHI/YAMATO, so the rolls on the Battle are negated. The sequence for a Musashi sortie in battle is such and I will require the rolls/decisions for them

BATTLE-LUST
>ENCOURAGE
>CALM DOWN
>STABILIZE
*These provide a boost to battles where Musashi/Yamato gets a primary roll. However, due to the rotating nature of battles, at best, unless they are the only one left, they will only be able to effect THREE instances (rolls) in the encounter. ENCOURAGE grants a +1 or +2 on a coin flip from my end (raising the DC for the recovery roll), REIN IN grants a -1 (decreasing the DC for the recovery roll) while STABILIZE keeps her at the current level (I will roll dice in this instance at the recovery roll. You get a DECREASE to reflect your failure at a 1 or INCREASE to reflect your success with an 8)

MODIFIER
>APPLICATION of modifiers from BATTLE-LUST roll
*The Modifiers apply to battles that have Yamato/Musashi's participation (Usually between 3 and 4 rolls, which are randomly distributed as per the described encounter, at minimum, 2)

BATTLE
>Typical battle rolls to describe the encounter. 5d8, one from each Quester/Player against the sequence that I, the GM, will initiate.

PRE-RECOVERY
>REIN IN
>GIVE SOME SLACK
>MOVE IN SYNC
*Application or recovery modifiers. I will roll a d3 to decide which of the 3 attributes Yamato/Musashi is in right now. If you get it correct, you gain a sizable bonus at keeping her combat bonuses, but at the same time, lowering your recovery requirement for Yamato/Musashi.

RECOVERY
>Roll a 5d10
*Depending on the BATTLE-LUST choice, you have a modifier to apply and help you here. In the event of a success, you receive no SANITY damage and are allowed to continue. If you lose, you are given 1 Sanity Strike. However, if you fail in Pre-Recovery AND recovery, the GM Dice raises by 2 points (eg you still have a d10 but I will roll a d12) permanently for the rest of the mission. This is able to be countered by using your BATTLE-LUST and PRE-RECOVERY well to bring the DC back down to normal. The rules are the same as the BATTLE, in which you are required to beat my rolls.

YOU CAN SKIP MUSASHI'S PARTICIPATION IN BATTLE, AND THUS, RISK TO YOUR SANITY, BY OMITTING HER FROM THE CURRENT ENCOUNTER, ALTHOUGH, GIVEN THE CALIBER OF YOUR OTHER SQUADRON MEMBER ACTING ALONE, THIS IS NOT RECOMMENDED

>>1831331
>>STABILIZE

>>1831331
>STABILIZE

>>1831349
>>1831396

Is this a confirmation of the choice?

>>1831398
Yes

>>1831398
Yes

Rolled 3, 1, 6, 6, 6 = 22 (5d8)

>>1831417
>>1831424
All right, now that the roll is CONFIRMED, I will proceed with the NEXT PHASE.

MODIFIER: [STABILIZE] 0 (Pending Recovery)
Previous Bonuses: NIL

All right, we are now in BATTLE, so this is where your d8s come into effect. The rules are normal, and there are no modifiers. REPLY TO THIS POST for this phase. If there are not enough people, I don't mind and will take the number of players as is for the outcome. I'm sorry for the big-time fuck-up.

Rolled 3 (1d8)

>>1831436

Rolled 1 (1d8)

>>1831436

Rolled 2 (1d8)

>>1831436

Rolled 2 (1d8)

>>1831436

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>These rolls

>>1831436

Rolled 6 (1d8)

>>1831478
My bad

Rolled 6 (1d8)

I don't know if we can still roll but just in case

Rolled 2 (1d8)

>>1831436