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File: AQ&MGFH_Cover2.png (556 KB, 1000x500)
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The right-side path, with the miniscule signs of life long gone, is the one decided on. As fun as it’s been to journey through the service accesses of this place, you’ve had more than your fill. Walking forwards, you once again open your senses for any sign of the enemy mercs…



Nothing.

Not a whiff of anything and not a peep coming from the surrounding area. In fact, if anything, this floor is dead silent. Strange, and just a bit disturbing. Could they really be moving that fast? You’ll have to tread with caution.

Perhaps picking up on the change of atmosphere, neither of the gentlemen besides you speaks a word as you traverse the halls. A change of pace from the usual banter they participated in, but at the moment you can’t complain.

Speaking of a change of atmosphere, the area you walk into as the hallway opens up can only be described as civilian; a verifiable atrium that you can only make out what little your light sources allow still stands this far down in the depths of this Ruin, the open air stale and still from the lifetimes of disuse. What light you provide shows that all around you are the long rotten remains of shops and what looks to be a cafeteria, though you can just barely see the metal skeleton of such an area rising like an ancient beast. You’ve seen abandoned areas before... but it just never stops being eerie. And this one is a bit more than most.

[1/2]
>>
Character Sheet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lvqwQrtQ_YFvsVdcKJbSEAgpyZi9QrfJfnh_UDzvPKw/edit?usp=sharing

Previous Threads: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Artificer%20Quest

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Storyteller_QM
Discord: https://discord.gg/WA5wRv3

>>2504819

[2/2]

Pushing away the disturbing feeling of looking upon a man-made area that hasn’t seen a mortal soul in likely millennia, you note that there’s more than one staircase around leading to a second and third floor. If the mercenaries are here, they’d likely take the high ground to launch an ambush from. On the other hand, the coffin-like rooms around you could contain them, just waiting for you to pass before shooting you in the back. Lastly, you can barely see that this area continues on further than you can make out; they may have set up a field base well off the beaten path for a fall-back point. All in all, you know that you’re dealing with a well-trained team here, and just standing around radiating your position will only attract their attention.

You have to make a choice, and quickly.
> Investigate the upper floors, secure the high ground
> Investigate the ground floor, secure your flanks
> Investigate further down, don’t give them the chance to entrench
> Split the party (how?)
> Other
>>
>>2504824
>Investigate the upper floors, secure the high ground
>Other: Continue using Hearing Enhancement and Power Sense to look for the enemy
>>
>>2504824
> Investigate the upper floors, secure the high ground
>>
>>2504824
>> Investigate the upper floors, secure the high ground
>>
>>2505017
>>2504989
>>2504909

Secure the high ground it is.

> Roll me three 1d100+15's please
>>
Rolled 57 + 15 (1d100 + 15)

>>2505030
>>
>>2505030
>>
Rolled 77 + 15 (1d100 + 15)

>>2505030
>>
Rolled 97 + 15 (1d100 + 15)

>>2505030
>>
>>2505056

That's a 112, Success.

Writin'
>>
>>2504824

This entire area just screams of ‘killzone’; no way in hell you’re going anywhere here without first clearing the most obvious choice first, “Move quickly,” you whisper to the men behind you. “We take the high ground, secure as much vision as we can.”

Both nod in acknowledgement, readying their pistols as you lead them up the nearest stairwell. Thankfully, this one is solid metal rather than grate, so you’re able to traverse them without producing as much noise as the average jet engine, though there’s nothing you can do about needing a light source. Reaching the second floor, you expand your senses once more, and this time you hit paydirt.

The smell of spent gunpowder, this time enhanced by the scent of mana entwined with it, emanates from both this floor and the one above it. It’s a bit fuzzy to pick up on their exact signatures, likely their invisibility-spell interfering, but you definitely know that there’s two distinct groups, each with one mage. Odds are good that two of the gunmen are up on the third floor, taking advantage of the superior firing position, while the last is lurking off to the side, prepared to hit you from the side once you’ve engaged the others.

Of course, while they think that you have no idea of the incoming ambush, there’s no question that they know you’re coming; any doubt in your mind is removed when the sound of a safety being flicked off, clear as day only to you with your enhanced hearing.

With your enemies before you and your allies behind you, the only choice left is how to handle the situation.

> Wait until the mercs try to attack to counter attack
> Use Extreme Tension, kill the guys on the third floor before they can blink
> You’ve got grenades, time to use ‘em
> Create a weapon with Weapon Shape (what? (mana cost depends on complexity and size))
> Other
>>
>>2505103
>> Use Extreme Tension, kill the guys on the third floor before they can blink
ALPHA STRIKE!
>>
>>2505103
>> Use Extreme Tension, kill the guys on the third floor before they can blink
>>
>>2505103
> Use Extreme Tension, kill the guys on the third floor before they can blink
>>
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>>2505103
> Use Extreme Tension, kill the guys on the third floor before they can blink
>>
>>2505103
>Use Extreme Tension, kill the guys on the third floor before they can blink
>>
>>2505103
>> Use Extreme Tension, kill the guys on the third floor before they can blink
>>
>>2505112
>>2505121
>>2505122
>>2505123
>>2505131
>>2505132

Tension is in the air.

> Roll me four 1d100+30's please.
>>
Rolled 28 + 30 (1d100 + 30)

>>2505139
>>
File: 1505230491483.jpg (723 KB, 1944x2592)
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Rolled 14 + 30 (1d100 + 30)

>>2505139
>>
Rolled 4 + 30 (1d100 + 30)

>>2505139
>>
Well shit hopefully the next guy can roll well.
>>
Rolled 92 + 30 (1d100 + 30)

>>2505139
>>
Rolled 90 + 30 (1d100 + 30)

>>2505139
>>
>>2505157
Oh thank god
>>
>>2505157

That's some serious clutch right there.

That's a 122, Maximum Success. DC: 65 gets Izumi to the third floor but no kills; DC: 85 one kill; DC: 100 two kills; DC: 120 TPK

Writin'
>>
Rolled 53, 63, 20, 14, 32, 47, 41, 21, 98, 59, 34, 35, 83, 83, 52 = 735 (15d100)

>>2505171

Quick roll to see how John and Dutch do against the last two surviving men...

First three: John. Next six: Dutch. Next three: Gunman. Last three: Shield Mage. All +15
>>
>>2505177

Dam what's up with the cluntch saves today?
>>
>>2505103

No. They got the drop on you once already, and once is more than enough. They will not survive to kidnap anyone, nor use anything for their fell misdeeds- not now, not ever again. You take a silent breath, breathing in deeply, and feeling the mana rush through you, inflame your body your spirit. A time ago, you would have had to utilize all your emotion; your rage, your anger, your drive to protect and do what is right.

Now, all you need are a few moments to mourn. And as the breath of mana leaves your body, your eyes bright with determination, you engage.

The world cleanly sharpens into focus, the single second of your breath leaving your body extends far beyond what it should. Even back then, during that time where you fought against demons without number, your speed was unmatched. Here, in a world where mortals have been brought so low, where the greatest of civilizations have been forced to their knees?

Here you are beyond mortal men.

Dismissing the light from your hand, you surge forwards guided solely by the scents emanating from the darkness and, with an impossibly fast leap, you draw the blade forged right here in this deathworld, a bare drop of your mana igniting the length of the curved sword. In a manner that’s no less than poetic, the flames push back the inky black, revealing yourself right as your feet touch the ledge the gunmen were hiding behind.

There’s no way to know what they thought when you exploded into view scant a meter from them, but the first has no chance to react before you drag the sword from shoulder to hip, the forged metal cutting through his thin armor, meant for deflecting bullets, without resistance. He dies without being able to twitch, the rifle in his hands barely falling from his dead grasp when you’re past him. The second dies just as quickly, this one blinking in surprise before his head spins free from his neck from the force of your strike.

The last is the mage, who raises a hand, likely to shield himself, before he loses it. His final vision is of his severed arm flying out of vision before you, in all your burning anger, your smoldering hatred, plunge your sword through his chest and immolate him from within.

[1/2]
>>
>>2505231

[2/2]

And with that, the moment ends and time, pulling free from your reach, churns on. The sound of equipment clattering to the ground is the first to touch your ears, then it’s interrupted by the sound of gunfire lighting up the lower floor.

The rush of combat clouding your thoughts ends right there and then, you forgot about the men you were supposed to be protecting! Drawing your rifle once more, you sight in on the obvious draw of Dutch’s lamp and relax slightly. The final gunman lies on the ground, his chest blow into pulp while the final mage, desperately trying to hold his shield, succumbs to the withering fire of both men’s large-caliber pistols. You don’t see the result, as the pale blue shield suddenly shatters, John and Dutch immediately rushing the vulnerable merc before two last gunshots end the fight with a brutal finality.

Just as quickly as it started, it’s over; five men dead in less than as many seconds. Lowering your rifle and giving yourself a moment to breathe, you locate the nearest stairwell and descend, walking right up to where the two men are alternating between reloading and checking their surroundings.

When you come into sight, however, both of them snap to you, neither quite raising their weapons at you but there’s a tension in the air that wasn’t there before, even when the three of you knew you were walking into an ambush. John, his visage hidden behind his suit’s helmet, looks over Dutch for a moment, “Was this what it was like when… you know…”

“Yeah…” There’s an audible strain to the gunslinger’s voice here, as if his entire body is coiled like a spring, “At least her eyes aren’t fuckin’ black”.

And with that, they lower their pistols entirely. Huh, wonder what that was about…

> Ask John and Dutch what’s the deal with black eyes
> Ask John and Dutch if they’re hurt
> Contact Miranda, tell her the mercs are dead
> Search the mercs, see what you can find
> Other
>>
>>2505235
>> Ask John and Dutch what’s the deal with black eyes
> Contact Miranda, tell her the mercs are dead
may as well indulge our curiosity as well as report in.
>>
>>2505235
>> Contact Miranda, tell her the mercs are dead
>> Search the mercs, see what you can find
Loot
>>
>>2505235
> Ask John and Dutch what’s the deal with black eyes
> Contact Miranda, tell her the mercs are dead
> Search the mercs, see what you can find
>>
>>2505235
>Ask John and Dutch what’s the deal with black eyes
>Contact Miranda, tell her the mercs are dead
Not like they could hide it if they got shot.
>>
>>2505235
> Ask John and Dutch if they’re hurt
> Contact Miranda, tell her the mercs are dead
>>
>>2505256
>>2505254
>>2505252
>>2505243
>>2505263

Ask about the black eyes, contact Miranda, and then check the bodies.

Writin'
>>
>>2505256
>Not like they could hide it if they got shot

It's really dark in here. Also adrenaline
>>
Man should have keeped one of then alive to know were the other entrance is/was.

Oh well that just means more exploration!!
>>
>>2505268
We will be walking around with them. At some point they're going to react to having extra holes in their bodies if they're hurt.
>>
>>2505235

There’s several concerns that pass through your head, now that the risk of assault is gone, but the most pressing one seems to be tied with your companions considering to attack you. Truly, that is the first one to nip in the bud, “‘Black eyes’? My eyes are dark, yes, but I don’t believe I’ve met anyone with black eyes; have you?”

John and Dutch glance between one another again before the gunslinger speaks up, “It wasn’t natural, I can tell you that. The last time I saw someone do something unnatural, kind of like how you moved that fuckin’ fast, they had pitch black eyes while they did it, and it looked like they were going to kill everyone in the area while the did. So, you can imagine my… hesitation when I see what I just saw”.

“Understandable, but not to worry; I was hired specifically to protect my client’s interests, and I believe I can interpret that order to cover you two,” Giving them both what you can hope is a small, but comforting smile, you mull on his words briefly. You can understand why he’d be concerned about an ability like yours… but there’s someone in this world on par with yourself? “If you don’t mind me asking, who has those black eyes?”

Silence, utter silence meets your words, until just about the last response you were expecting is spoken.

“That would be me,” The Artificer, of all people, speaks up, holding up a hand to cut off whatever Dutch was about to say.

You look him over, the armor he’s wearing preventing you from getting a good read on him but from what body language you can note he’s not lying; or, at least, he’s a very good liar, “Aren’t you just full of surprises”.

“Speak for yourself, Yuna”

That gets a snort of amusement from you, shaking your head slightly, “Check over what the mercs were carrying; I’m going to update Essie on the situation”

Without any further issue, you walk over to the stairwell leading to the base floor and pull out your murmur stone. With a thought, you send out a contact and wait.

You certainly aren’t left waiting for long, “Yuna, what’s the matter?”

“The mercenary team is dead; coast is clear”

The sigh of relief is minute, but still noticeable to you, “Good, good… Any issues?”

“None, we’re all unharmed. These Ruins though… the area we’re in now looks like it wouldn’t be out of place in a mall, pretty certain it’s an atrium”

“It’s one thing after the other with this place… Whatever. Good job, Yuna. Things are quiet up here, but we’re reinforcing the defense anyways; dunno how that team got through the net, but it ain’t happening again. What are you thinking of doing now?”

Your response?
> “We’ll keep going down, might as well find the main power room while we’re here”
> “We’ll head back up, keeping ourselves this far removed from the group is just a risk at this point”
> “I’ll head back up and have John and Dutch continue on”
> Other
>>
>>2505320

And this is where I have to sign off for the night. See everyone tomorrow.
>>
>>2505320
>“We’ll keep going down, might as well find the main power room while we’re here”
>>
>>2505320
> “We’ll keep going down, might as well find the main power room while we’re here”
>>
>>2505320
> “We’ll keep going down, might as well find the main power room while we’re here”
Take care Storyteller.
>>
>>2505320
> “We’ll keep going down, might as well find the main power room while we’re here”
>>
>>2505320
>> “We’ll keep going down, might as well find the main power room while we’re here”
>>
>>2505320
>> “We’ll keep going down, might as well find the main power room while we’re here”
>>
>>2505320
>“We’ll keep going down, might as well find the main power room while we’re here”
>>
>>2505320
> “We’ll keep going down, might as well find the main power room while we’re here”
>>
>>2505320
>> “We’ll keep going down, might as well find the main power room while we’re here”
>>
>>2505320
>> Other
go back to that factory/workshop!
Maybe we find some tools that are helpful working on the airship.
>>
>>2505320
>> “We’ll head back up, keeping ourselves this far removed from the group is just a risk at this point”
>>
>>2505320
>> “We’ll keep going down, might as well find the main power room while we’re here”
>>
>>2505320
> “We’ll keep going down, might as well find the main power room while we’re here”
>>
Hopefully we'll find it quick enough so that we can get back on top and maybe actually set up a campground or a base.
>>
>>2506509
Start booby trapping the stairwell and collapse/obstruct corridors. We can clear them easily but the enemy won't be able to do it stealthily.
>>
>>2505921
>>2505819
>>2505514
>>2505486
>>2505485
>>2505334
>>2505331
>>2505330
>>2505326
>>2505325
>>2505324

Down and down it is.

Writin'
>>
>>2505320

With the current threat dead and gone, the option to explore is the one you go with, “We’ll continue investigating down here. I imagine we’ll find where the main power to this base is located if we keep going, plus there’s a the chance that we might have a hole in our defenses that the mercenaries used”.

“Roger, Yuna. Good hunting”.

And with that, Miranda cuts the connection.

Tucking the murmur stone away into your bag, you turn back to where John and Dutch have finished dragging what’s left of the bodies of the mercenaries together. There’s a feeling of practiced motions as they check over the corpses for any signs of life, methodically placing their weapons over to the side and stripping them of any remaining ammunition. Walking over, the Artificer glances up at your approach after finishing with the one at his feet, “Any word from the surface team?”

Once again, it’s hard to get a read on the man with his armor on, but from his tone alone you can tell he’s forcing himself to be neutral, “All quiet; they haven’t encountered any hostiles yet”.

The gunslinger wipes his hands after patting down what’s left of the shield mage they just killed, “Well, at least I didn’t get stuck with the boring team”.

“Because it’d just be a fuckin’ shame if we weren’t shot at on a job,” Sighing through his teeth at the smirk on the Dutch’s face, John shakes his head, “It’s pretty damn obvious, but they’re all dead. Nothing too special about their gear, the mages have their foci and the others were using Clockwork Carbines; no heavy weapons, no heavy armor. Not much left of their ammunition, but the guns still work fine if you want ‘em”.

“I’m always interested in new firearms, so sure”.

Tucking a single Carbine into his own bag, the man hands you the remaining two and splits the ammo between you.

> You have obtained: 2 Great Quality Clockwork Carbines!
> You have obtained: 5 Clockwork Carbine Magazines (5 Rounds per Mag)!

Throwing your newly acquired gear into your back, you can alway look more into it later, you let your proper automatic rifle follow suit and motion to them to follow you once more, “We should be getting close to the main power room, so let’s continue”. Admittedly, it's a bit of a wild guess, but you hope so at least.

Neither of your companions seem to doubt your judgement, as they just nod and fall into line behind you.

> Roll me four 1d100+30’s please
>>
Rolled 78 + 30 (1d100 + 30)

>>2506891
>>
Rolled 56 + 30 (1d100 + 30)

>>2506891
>>
Rolled 13 + 30 (1d100 + 30)

>>2506891
>>
Rolled 96 + 30 (1d100 + 30)

>>2506891
>>
>>2506917

That's a 126, Great Success.

Writin'
>>
>>2506891

A cursitory look around the atrium tell you that there’s practically nothing of note that has survived the ages. It’s should be a rather obvious observation, but always best to err on the side of caution.

With no other way open besides heading back up to the previous level, you stride across the atrium, which reveals itself to be longer than an underground structure this open normally is. As your lights push back the darkness, you just barely see where the room ends at another hallway.

“We’re gonna end up in Airgrid at this rate,” Dutch drily notes as the growingly familiar metal halls become your surroundings once more. You’re not certain if that’s entirely the case...but with how large this place is, seemingly, you can’t find it in you to argue against the notion.

“Are we even far enough down to go under the sea?” John interjects, sounding rather uncertain.

“It’s almost like this was an entire underground city…” you murmur. You’ve seen them before, but...not often. And nowhere near like this. Miranda probably would just be grousing, but this...you can’t help but feel a bit curious about. “I’m starting to wonder if we could even find a single source of power down here- I’m halfway starting to expect an entire facility…”

“Yeah, it’s gotta be at least large enough to support the military base without outside assistance. Gonna be one hell of a repair job, that’s for certain,” The Artificer just shakes his head, as if just trying to imagine the scale of the problem is hard enough.

He’s interrupted by the gunslinger slapping him on the back, “And this is why I shoot shit for a living, not think”.

You can almost imagine the thin smile on John’s face when he responds, “Fuck you, Dutch”.

The conversation drolls on like that between the two men for a while, their back and forth banter becoming just background noise as you continue forwards. It’s… strange how well they get along with one another despite how different the two of them are. You’ll have to ask about it later. Further talk ends when you the hall opens up and all three of you stop dead at the sight before you.

It’s an honest to gods train station; an open air one that’s almost in the style of a subway if it wasn’t for the fact that this one was clearly utilized for freight at one point in time.

“Motherfucker…” John’s words are… vulgar, but apt. What else could this place possibly contain?

>Call it done for now- this place is clearly far too large to explore in a timely fashion without a full group.
>You’re down here, you can at least scrounge for some interesting bits of history in the station, you suppose.
>It’s clear you need to scout this place out and fast. Time to pick up the pace a bit.
>Other
>>
>>2507055
>>You’re down here, you can at least scrounge for some interesting bits of history in the station, you suppose.
>>It’s clear you need to scout this place out and fast. Time to pick up the pace a bit.
>>
>>2507055
>>It’s clear you need to scout this place out and fast. Time to pick up the pace a bit.
we can't get caught up in every little thing we find. The ship is the main reason why we're here, this can be done later when the ship is secured, which isn't done until every intruder is gone.
>>
>>2507055
>Call it done for now- this place is clearly far too large to explore in a timely fashion without a full group.

This is too much for our small group. Head back to the spaceship and defend it while calling in more people. We're going to need a lot to thoroughly search this place.
>>
>>2507055
John: punch a train car if you find one
>>
>>2507055
>You’re down here, you can at least scrounge for some interesting bits of history in the station, you suppose.
A train station may have a map of other stations on the route.
>>
>>2507055
>>You’re down here, you can at least scrounge for some interesting bits of history in the station, you suppose.
If we don't find a map around here though, we may need to call it quits. This place is massive, apparently.
>>
>>2507055
>It’s clear you need to scout this place out and fast. Time to pick up the pace a bit.
It would be nice to at least figure out how to turn on the hangar lights
>>
Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>2507073
>>2507081
>>2507117
>>2507137
>>2507138

Rolling to tie-break:
1. Check out the station
2. Rush forwards
>>
>>2507199
Check the station
>>
>>2507257
...That was a tiebreaker roll. See the d2 he rolled? That corresponds to the options laid out at the bottom of the post.
>>
>>2507270
Shhh bby I was watching the playoffs. Holy fuck Vegas, Calm Down.
>>
>>2507055

There’s the fact that there might be more items of interest located within these ancient tunnels, but while the situation at large is currently under control, there’s still two more enemy teams coming sometime in the future; you just don’t have the luxury of properly exploring while the rest of your team faces the enemy without you.

“Let us find this power station, post haste…” No more fooling around. You and your charges will have to step quickly.

Despite the strangeness of seeing what amounts to a subway here, the good news is that you have an idea as to where the power substation would be. While you’re not Miranda, you have seen enough of the various worlds to know that certain things, like engineering and power system, tend to follow similar trends.

So, within a scant minute of arriving at the station, you’ve located another service access and, after opening the door, you’re met with another hallway but this one has various heavy wiring running along the sides.

“Good catch, Yuna,” John nods to you as he walks into the maintenance corridor, “This should take us right to the local power station”. Thank goodness. Hopefully now you can just flick a switch and be done with it...sure.

You and Dutch follow behind the Artificer as he leads the way now, who occasionally looks over the various electric lines as they intersect and crisscross from time to time. From the way he’s running his fingers over the heavy wiring, you imagine he’s puzzling out how the electrical system is setup; it’s definitely something more up Owlia or Cyclia’s alley. Thankfully, it’s not long until you arrive at a set of double doors, clearly engraved with the sign of a thunderbolt; you’ve found the power room.

Without preamble, John attempts to push one open, resorting to just cutting it open when that fails first. The clang of heavy metal slamming to the floor preludes your entrance, the sound reverberating throughout.

[1/2]
>>
>>2507374

[2/2]

The lights coming off yourself and Dutch piece the darkness of the room, revealing a massive metal structure that reminds you vaguely of the shielding surrounding John’s mana reactor. Thick, heavy cables run from it, coming together into solid masses of insulated wiring that run through the walls in almost every direction.

“Fuckin’ hell…” John whistles as he looks the machinery over, “The superstructure looks untouched, and there’s no sign of damage to the cables…”

“So you can fix this easy?” Dutch sounds slightly hopeful, which is a feeling you share, though the small shake of an armored helmet ruins that.

“This place has been sitting dead for millennia, even if things look alright I gotta check things over as best I can. I believe I’ve gotten enough electrical burns for one lifetime without dealing with a source this large,” Walking over, the Artificer starts moving things about, “No idea how long this’ll take, but it’ll definitely take me some time”.

Well, fantastic. That means a guard duty aside from guard duty. Well. You’ll have to just make sure he has peace and quiet. Of course, with the area being secure now…

> Just wait here for John to restore power
> Leave Dutch with John down here, return to the rest of the team
> Leave John alone down here, bring Dutch with you and return to the rest of the team
> Other
>>
>>2507378

Gotta end things here for tonight. See you all tomorrow.
>>
>>2507374
>John attempts to push one open, resorting to just cutting it open when that fails first
>not punching or kicking it down with his size 12 armored boots.
>>
>>2507378
>> Other
> Leave Dutch with John down here; check nearby areas, particularly watching for maps.
>>
>>2507378
>> Leave Dutch with John down here; check nearby areas, particularly watching for maps.
>>
>>2507388
Going with this.
>>
>>2507378
> Leave Dutch with John down here, return to the rest of the team
>>
>>2507378
>revealing a massive metal structure that reminds you vaguely of the shielding surrounding John’s mana reactor.
Ooohhh, shiny. I wish we could claim it as loot, considering how useful the aircraft carrier's reactor was, but even if we could remove it, I doubt it'd go over well with our employer.
>>
>>2507410
Even if we could remove it, what would we do with it? it's massive
>>
>>2507378
> Just wait here for John to restore power
>>
>>2507447
convert it into motes and be rich(ish)
>>
>>2507378
> Just wait here for John to restore power
>>
>>2507378 #
>> Other
> Leave Dutch with John down here; check nearby areas, particularly watching for maps.
>>
>>2507565
>>2507378
This pls
>>
>>2507378
>> Leave Dutch with John down here; check nearby areas, particularly watching for maps.
>>
>>2507378

> Just wait here for John to restore power
> Other
She needs to update Miranda about the things they're seeing down there.
>>
>>2507378
> Other
Give Miranda an update. Look around here for an office or desk that would have an electrical system layout or tunnel map.
>>
>>2507378
>Leave Dutch with John down here; check nearby areas, particularly watching for maps.
>Contact Miranda
>>
>>2507378
> Leave Dutch with John down here; check nearby areas, particularly watching for maps.
>>
Come on, there's GOT to be some goodies here that we can at least evaluate and see if they're worth a lot. Maybe some Legendary Weapons or something like that that don't take an entire battalion to move.
>>
>>2508020
I bet we're going to find a magical toothbrush which repairs the teeth to perfect condition and cleans them perfectly but the Don won't understand how useful it is so we won't actually get any extra motes for it.
>>
>>2508108
I mean, we can always just keep any loot we don't want to sell, or sell stuff in the Intersection instead. Honestly, we'd probably get a better deal that way.
>>
>>2508020
Sal can beam up anything, we can tell him to convert it to motes like we have done before.
>>
When we were still following Miranda while she was patrolling it was mentioned that it is dead quiet out there. I wonder if that meant there are not even birds around. Maybe the research facility of this place was researching blight and still has some samples left from that time. Maybe we could bring some of those samples back home with us.
>>
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>>2508238
>>
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>>2507055
......FUCKING TRAINS


>>2507378
>Stay here with john

Never leave a support by himself. and with DPS and the tank, we have a good force multiplier when we take into account that they can only come from one way
>>
>>2507378
> Just wait here for John to restore power
>>
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>>2507382

Kicking down doors works when the frame is wooden, not when the entire thing is composed of reinforced metal.

>>2508108

An artifact like that would actually be worth a small fortune, and even if the Don wouldn't recognize that Archmage certainly would.

>>2508238

It's amazing as to just how bad that idea would be.

To be fair, it's not the worst idea in the world if you limited the amount of biomass the Blight has. Just keep in mind that if it got access to a certain amount of biomass... yeah, shit would go down real quick.

>>2507388
>>2507392
>>2507394
>>2507479
>>2507502
>>2507565
>>2507608
>>2507625
>>2507643
>>2507646
>>2507649
>>2507973
>>2508429
>>2508445

Check the area for anything of note, but stick in the general area.

Writin'
>>
>>2508238
go kill yourself.
>>
>>2509334
*hugs*
>>
>>2507378

With Dutch around, John’s got enough protection to allow you to take a look around the area. There might be some surviving areas around that are more geared towards bureaucracy, which if you’re lucky may contain some hints as to what exactly lead to this civilization disappearing without a trace. Besides, you need to talk to Miranda about what’s down here.

Letting the two men know what you’re up to, you take a quick walk around of the power room which reveals no other areas besides the massive reactor and its shielding before ducking out of the room. Walking back towards the station, you pull out your murmur stone and ping your leader.

“Essie here, what’s the issue Yuna?” Miranda sounds… bored? Guess that answers whether or not the other mercenaries have arrived.

“We’ve located the main power station and John’s currently working on restoring it to function,” Glancing about, you’re reminded as to just how eerie this place is as the only sounds breaking the silence are your voice and footfalls. Frowning as you don’t see any sign of an office, you let yourself drop down onto the tracks after noting the absence of a third rail. There should be some kind of indoors room in a place like this- bathrooms at the very least- but nothing really seems to lead to anything of the sort. Odd. “Currently, I’m investigating a subway station”.

“A what?” That certainly gets her attention, “There’s a station down there?”

“What’s left of one, at least,” you remark. “Seems like there’s an entire compound down here, complete with its own rail system. I’d guess it was mostly for personnel movement, but they probably used it to move in raw material for the factory we were looking into when the mercenaries jumped us originally as well”.

There’s a few seconds of silence as Miranda clearly thinks things over, “Alright, then...that might complicate things a bit. An underground area that large is gonna need to either be looked over with a fine-toothed comb or sealed off. I don’t like the idea that there’s another entrance down there- but even if there isn’t, if anyone tries to assault us and they escape down there, it’d be far too easy to lose track of them. Have you come across any way to confirm your location and travel path? Maps or landmarks or the sort?”

Without much to go off of here, you decide to follow the tracks out of the station for now, “The path down here has been mostly linear; nothing but halls and staircases with the atrium on this level being the first truly open room. I’m looking into any other ways around, but we’re deep, deep underground here Essie. Unless there’s an entire other base in the area that this is connected to, I don’t believe there’s another entrance”.

[1/3]
>>
>>2509426

“Well, let’s hope,” is the response. “Incidentally, putting a timer on your little spelunking expedition. I’ll be checking in in about 30 and I’ll want to talk to John then.” There’s a muttering on the other side, and you hear something in the distance go *clunk* and some yelps in the background. “Make that 50…” Another voice in the background. “...an hour. Out.”

“10-4” With a small amount of amusement in your voice, you cut the connection there and put away your murmur stone. It’s rather good timing, as you come to a complete cave-in of the tunnel you’re in. From what you can see, structural failure was total and resulted in a floor to ceiling obstacle. Even if you managed to remove it, who knows how much further the cave-in goes and how stable the tunnel is from here on out…

Turning back around, you return to the station area. There’s still no sign of an office, so you might as well rejoin the gentlemen.

Stepping over where the half of the reinforced door is still laying on the floor after being cut off its hinges, you note where Dutch is putting away a revolver at your arrive, looking over at where John’s got his helmet off and a toolkit out doing something to one of the major cables leading from the reactor.

“Any progress?” With Miranda looking for progress within the… near future, you might as well make sure that the Artificer is keeping himself on task.

He frowns a bit as he looks over whatever he’s doing, clearly not happy with the results, “The good news is that the lines don’t seem to be compromised, and the reactor is intact. Unfortunately, the entire system is drained and the conduit array that would normally give the reactor the mana to function is missing”.

[2/3]
>>
>>2509429

[3/3]

“Say it again for us mortals?” The gunslinger looks confused at his friend’s explanation and you can’t exactly fault him; you know a bit of how electrical systems work, but with how much magitech is involved there’s no certainty that all the rules will apply.

“Despite this being a closed system that’s not actually using any power, the resistance in the cables means that over time, the grid slowly lost all the energy it had. The real curious bit is that the conduit array, which feeds raw mana into the converters, seems to have been cleanly removed from the system; whoever did it knew what they were doing and they did it on purpose. Now, the grid is entirely ‘cold’ and is without any way of jump starting it,” Standing up, John rolls his head a bit and puts away a few of his tools.

Hmm...wonder if there’s any way to fix that.

> “What about that generator of yours? Would that give enough?”
> “Would I be able to serve as a jump start?” (Current Mana: 6500/8500)
> “Just as well, I suppose. Essie was going to call us later, we can just report in early.”
> Other
>>
>>2509437
> “Would I be able to serve as a jump start?” (Current Mana: 6500/8500)
>>
>>2509437
>> “Would I be able to serve as a jump start?” (Current Mana: 6500/8500)
>>
>>2509437
>> “Would I be able to serve as a jump start?” (Current Mana: 6500/8500)
>>
>>2509437
> “What about that generator of yours? Would that give enough?”
If not then:
> “Would I be able to serve as a jump start?” (Current Mana: 6500/8500)
>>
>>2509437
>what about your generator?
>>
>>2509437
> “Would I be able to serve as a jump start?” (Current Mana: 6500/8500)
>>
>>2509444
>>2509446
>>2509465
>>2509492
>>2509524

Living mana conduit it is.

Writin'
>>
RIP
>>
>>2509437

If it’s just raw mana that this machine needs… “Would I be able to jump start this? I have most of my mana reserves still”.

John visibly pauses at your words, thinking them over for a few seconds before slowly nodding, “Maybe. It’s possible, but it’ll be risky. Need to set up resistors to make sure you don’t blow the circuit, and that you don’t have your mana entirely drained in the process”.

With the plan in place, the Artificer gets to work in setting up whatever makeshift contraption will be used to hook yourself up to a several millennia-old system…

Perhaps you were a bit hasty here. Still, you’ve made your bed now- it’d be dishonorable to just back out now...

It’s not until the blonde man starts wrapping stripped cables around your arms that you really start questioning the sanity of your decision. He’d better been on point with being able to keep your mana from getting too drained- it sounds automatic after a bit...

“Alright, so this should work. Just channel your mana into the wiring and the system should take care of the rest”.

“How much?” you ask.

The shrug he gives you in response inspires exactly zero confidence in you, “A hell of a lot more than I’ve got myself. I’ll be monitoring the system for when it hits the point of self-sufficiency”.

Well, you’ll want to keep some for yourself, so…here goes.

> Roll me three 1d100+15’s please
>>
Rolled 59 + 15 (1d100 + 15)

>>2509583
>>
Rolled 9, 52, 39 + 37 = 137 (3d100 + 37)

>>2509583

Rolling for John's work.
>>
Rolled 57 + 15 (1d100 + 15)

>>2509583
>>
Rolled 71 + 15 (1d100 + 15)

>>2509583
time for the glorious task of being a battery.
>>
>>2509591
Few, I guess she gets to remain magical for a bit more.
>>
>>2509591

That's an 86, with an 89 assist from John, Success.

Writin'
>>
>>2509583

Taking a steadying breath, you relax as best you can, your mind doing its best to even itself out- focus. There’s a little trickle of worry in the back of the becalmed sea that is your thoughts, but that’s little concern as you direct yourself, channeling your mana, carefully, into the cables.

The energy contained within suddenly jumps into the connection, nearly causing your heart to skip at the surprise of your mana being directly drained. Forcing yourself to stay focused and calm, you manage to get a handle on the flow.

The sensation of it is almost disturbing, as if someone is drawing you lifeblood out of your body from within. Normally, you can ‘feel’ your mana even after you’ve utilized it, but with this the system allows no such connection.

Time passes, your quasi-meditative state making you lose track of it until John’s voice cuts through to your consciousness.

“Alright, it’s working! Yuna, you’re good to stop”.

With that, you focus on forcing that ‘opening’ to close. You manage to reduce the flow, but the last bit fights you as the circuit keeps pulling energy from your body. Force of will alone allows you to finally end your channel, arms dropping to your side allowing the stripped cable to fall to the floor. “Thank goodness…” you breathe out.

Taking a step back, you’re immediately hit with a wave of nausea as the effect of losing that much mana so quickly takes effect. You’re going to need to be careful in any future fights for a bit...

> You have lost: 3000 Mana!
> Current Mana: 3500/8500!

“Hey, hey, stay with us,” Focusing on the motion in front of you, the view of John waving a hand in front of your eyes appears, “There you are. Your idea worked, but you look like utter shit right now”.

Ew. Nonetheless, you know full well that all things considered, you don’t want to get into too much trouble- at least not until you can restore some mana. Breesily waving him off, you stand upright, blinking some of the stars in your eyes away as best you can. “I-I’ll be fine, just...wasn’t expecting it to be so clingy.” There’s a metallic taste in your mouth, too… “That said, I...would feel better if we got back to the hangar with the others sooner than later, now. Would that be possible?”

Looking over his shoulder, you follow John’s gaze to the reactor, which is now making a faint, low-pitched hum as power begins the thrum through it, “Yeah, we can. It’s going to take some time for this reactor to fully power-up, but I haven’t found any faults in it so I won’t need to supervise it”.

You can’t say you’re not grateful to hear that. This place is getting old already, “Good, good… Let’s go, shall we?”

> And that's where I gotta head off for tonight. We'll be back tomorrow, so see you then.
>>
>>2509671
This is okay.

Izumi is perfectly competitive with just her body boosting skills and her blade.
>>
>>2509671
Thanks for running!
>>
Mana flow restored, blight infestation in 3... 2... 1...
>>
>>2510274
Well that would explain why the reactor was out of mana.
>>
>>2510274
I hope you're right. I'm interested in seeing what it can do aside from taking over people and boosting the infested people's physical abilities.
>>
>>2510335
I'm sure you'll be horrified to find out
>>
>>2509671

You are John Hoelscher, and you just finished restoring a massive mana reactor that’s older than the city you live in by hooking a chick up to it as a living mana conduit.

Yeah, not exactly your proudest moment. At least Yuna has the reserves to accomplish such a feat without passing out. It’s also good to note that you’re still able to cludge things together and have them work as intended; it’s a skill you haven’t utilized in some time.

Currently, you’re focusing on pacing yourself up the absurd number of stairs on your return to the where the rest of your team is keeping watch over the base. Between the descent and the rush of combat, you didn’t really feel them on the way down, but fucking hell are you feeling them now. The only reason you’re not huffing up a storm like Dutch is thanks to the leg servos you spent so long getting right. Yuna’s in better shape than your old friend, but she’s still a few shades paler than what should be healthy. She’s not hyperventilating, thankfully, or you’d be worried about her passing out, but the three of you are making sure not to push yourselves.

“Fuckin’... ugh,” Dutch, tugging at his collar as beads of sweat begin to drip from his forehead, “How many stairs did we go down again?”

Taking this as a sign of a quick break, you lean against one of the metallic walls, “No idea… but this is the set that leads up to that industry area… There’s another one after that”.

Wiping the moisture from his brow, your old friend just looks slightly defeated, “This isn’t what I signed up for…”

“Yeah, well, welcome to the party ya bastard,” Pushing off after taking one last breath, you lightly shove the gunslinger, “Let’s go”.

“Le- Hold on,” Yuna reaches into her bag and pulls out that strange, arcane stone you’ve noted her using from time to time, “Yes, Essie?”

Silence takes the dark area you’re in, only broken by the sounds of labored breathing. You’ve no idea what’s being said to the mercenary, but the way she blinks before simply stating, “Roger, we’re on our way,” means it’s likely nothing good.

“What’s the news?” Turning around to face her fully, you wait as she tucks the artifact back into her bag.

“Essie’s picked up on contact topside; likely the next merc team. She wants us back and at the ship, as soon as possible,” Adjusting her gear, Yuna looks like she’s steeling herself, “So we need to get up there, now”.

Glancing over at Dutch, you nod to him, “Yeah, we do. Just gotta get up the next…. Several… dozen floors”.

Yeah, this is going to be a long one.

> Roll me three 1d100’s please
>>
Rolled 38 (1d100)

>>2513247
>>
Rolled 31 (1d100)

>>2513247
>>
Rolled 51 (1d100)

>>2513247
>>
Rolled 52 (1d100)

>>2513247
>>
>>2513323

That's a 51, just barely above average.

Writin'
>>
>>2513348
So basically, we have to walk up 70 flights of stairs, but there's a vending machine with some refreshing beverages on one of them.
>>
>>2513369
Yep, though the drinks are alarmingly still "edible".
>>
>>2513247

Stair after stair flies by as the three of you run up them, trying your damnedest to pick up the pace in response to the coming threat. Sadly, running up several hundred sets of stairs takes a lot out of the three of you, even yourself with your EXO suit. More than one break is needed to make sure that no one passes out from asphyxiation and by the time that you’ve made it up to the industrial area at least forty-five minutes have past.

“This isn’t...hm...good,” Yuna says, pausing to breathe. Seems like even she needs to catch her breath a bit. “Whomever they are, they’re probably in the hangar by now- we’re going to need to be careful coming out, and we’re going to have to move fast once we DO, at the same time. Especially if they have people on watch. The one upside to all of this is the fact that we MIGHT have the element of surprise on our side. If there are people inside, then we might be able to flank them quickly...”

“Right… right…” Sucking in wind as quickly as you can, try your best to get your heartrate under control, to no real success, “We’ll just… have to get up there then…”

Dutch doesn’t say anything in response, seemingly just focusing on recovering what he can in the moment as the three of you walk across this floor to the other service access.

The way Yuna looks at you after you say that, though, is an analyzing one in nature. “Do you have any way to...no, nevermind. If you get up there in the state you’re in, you might be a liability...hm.” Before anything else can be said, out comes the stone again. “Essie, status update. We’re roughly thirty minutes away. What’s your status and position?”

As if in response to the question, you hear the distance echoes of something vaguely like a series of explosions coming from the next stairwell. Your back, as if taunting you, slowly begins to burn.

“Heavy forces! They blew open the door! Lots of mana- sensing at least six!” comes Essie’s response. “We’re about to engage- gonna try to hold them best we can, but we’re gonna want you up here sooner than later!”

Another ripple sounds off from the surface as you approach the next set of stairs. Sighing, you consider your options here.

> Just run up the stairs, don’t risk anything
> Use Adrenaline Surge; it’ll let you run at your best, but you’ll be exhausted when it ends
> Draw upon your Aspect; it’s a risk, but if it works you could get yourself and the others up to the fight without further fatigue
> Other
>>
>>2513590
> Just run up the stairs, don’t risk anything
Probably not worth it to show up to the fight completely gassed. And the aspect is a hard No.
>>
>>2513590
>> Draw upon your Aspect; it’s a risk, but if it works you could get yourself and the others up to the fight without further fatigue
>>
>>2513590
>> Just run up the stairs, don’t risk anything
Better to be tired then to be exhausted or risking turning into a demon.
>>
>>2513590
>> Use Adrenaline Surge; it’ll let you run at your best, but you’ll be exhausted when it ends
>>
>>2513590
> Just run up the stairs, don’t risk anything
>>
>>2513850
>>2513743
>>2513672

Another set under our own power.

> Roll me another three 1d100's please
>>
Rolled 30, 18, 5, 66, 64, 73, 42, 91 = 389 (8d100)

>>2513912

Don't worry about this roll here.

First four: Miranda; Second four: ???
>>
Rolled 71 (1d100)

>>2513912
Time for cardio!
>>
Rolled 81 (1d100)

>>2513912
>>
>>2513912
>>
Rolled 74 (1d100)

>>2513912
>>
>>2513933
Eventually, I’m gonna learn how to roll without fucking up.
>>
>>2513932

Alright, that's an 81, pretty damn good.

We'll be continuing things tomorrow, see you then.
>>
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>>2513947

Here you go:
>>
>>2513956
I know, but my phone keeps auto capitalizing the word dice, then it doesn’t work.
>>
Rolled 10 (1d10)

>>2513985
Press the shift key twice
>>
>>2513590

As tempted as you are to do a bit of cheating to make things easier for yourself, you eventually come to the conclusion that you’re going to have to do this under your own, unaugmented power.

Whether it’s the news of incoming enemies or the rumbles that shake the stairwell around you, the three of you hit a second wind and sprint up the stairs as best you can. All the while, your back continues to burn and twist away.

At least you all make incredible time on the journey up, getting to the top at around the twenty minute mark before an explosion blasts out and nearly knocks you off your feet. Drawing your pistol with a slightly shaky hand, you lead the way back into the main room to the sound of metal smashing together.

From the corner of the room that you original entered the Ruin from the steel catwalk and stairwell has been ripped from its place along the walls, ending together into a twisted, blackened heap. With a kick, Essie pushes her way out of a portion of the pile, her armor scuffed and smoking from the attack, and stands to her feet. Off to the side, Archmage drops a Mass-Invisibility, panting from the exertion, while Gladiator, Hidia, Froste, and Emma brace themselves.

“Why are you running?” Dropping down from the wreckage, a man about you age speaks up as he begins to walk over to the mercenary leader. His hair, eyes, and even sheer presence are painted in a fiery red hue. Behind him come several more individuals, all likely mages, and they begin to fan out, “Even if you run, it’s still useless”.

To her credit, Essie doesn’t seem too impressed as she rolls a shoulder and stares him down.

There’s silence for several second, before the man starts grinning, an array of bright red Gylphs forming in the air around him as he begins laughing, “Show me! Show me what you can do!”

RABID DOG OF THE COLOMBOS RYKER
> Assist Essie by suppressing that mage
> Go after the mages on the left
> Go after the mages on the right
> Fall back to the airship, you’re in no condition to fight
> Other
>>
>>2517020
>>Go after the mages on the left.
Miranda ought to be able to at least hold off Mr. Smug, and we have another team to deal with the group on the right.
>>
>>2517020
Are we back?
>> Assist Essie by suppressing that mage
>>
>>2517020
>Other
The turret is placed on the top of the ship right
>attempt to manually blast the mages using the turret
Unless it's blown up already, in which case start shooting the mages with the pistol
>>
>>2517020
> Assist Essie by suppressing that mage
>>
>>2517020
> Assist Essie by suppressing that mage
>>
>>2517020
>> Assist Essie by suppressing that mage
>>
>>2517020
>> Go after the mages on the left
reduce numbers first before focusing down bosses is a basic tactic
>>
>>2517020
>bright red Gylphs forming in the air around him as he begins laughing, “Show me! Show me what you can do!”
Big words. Let's see if you can back it up.

> Fall back to the airship, you’re in no condition to fight
Get ourselves into useful shape, then we can shoot from the ship itself.

>>2517029
>Turret
Nope. we talked about it, but didn't come to a conclusion. It'll still be packed away, unless Randa deployed it while we were downstairs.
>>
>>2517029

Turret wasn't deployed

>>2517028

Pictures aren't working, but other than that things work.

>>2517028
>>2517044
>>2517047
>>2517049

Big one first.

> Roll me three 1d100+15's please
>>
Rolled 30, 30, 95, 83 + 30 = 268 (4d100 + 30)

>>2517107

[MIRANDA ACTIVITY]
>>
Rolled 78 + 15 (1d100 + 15)

>>2517107
Damn it, now I can't post smug reaction pictures when we one shot this prick.
>>
Rolled 5, 56, 100, 8 + 30 = 199 (4d100 + 30)

>>2517107

[RYKER ACTIVITY]
>>
Rolled 72 + 15 (1d100 + 15)

>>2517107
>>
Rolled 63 + 15 (1d100 + 15)

>>2517107
>>
Rolled 35 + 15 (1d100 + 15)

>>2517107
>>
>>2517119
You could always use emoticons. There is absolutely nothing wrong whatsoever with using them here. Nope. Wouldn't be an issue.
>>
>>2517120
Fuuuuck
>>
>>2517119
You jinxed it.
>>
>>2517135
I had such a good image for this, but it couldn't get uploaded, so I'm just going to tell you that it was a good one.

>>2517140
Same thing here.
>>
Rolled 40 (1d100)

>>2517119

That's a 93 and a 125 versus nat 100 (130), Failure.

Rollin' then Writin'

DC:80; Success = ???
>>
>>2517020

There’s a moment where the mana density in the air heightens to the point that you can literally taste it, before the Glyphs erupt with searing red light. Pressure and heat lance out at Essie, the merc jinking and dodging around them by the skin of her teeth, lines across her armor appearing from the close hits alone. As impressive as the display of agility is, you can tell she’s slowly being boxed in by the attacks that don’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.

Ignoring the pain searing into your back, you begin sprinting forwards, “Break! Dutch, get the left side; Yuna, get the right!” You don’t both looking behind yourself to see if either are following your orders, there’s just not enough time. With a quick thought, an Adrenaline Surge pumps into your veins, pushing away the exhaustion you’re feeling for just another few precious minutes.

Up ahead, Essie takes a shot to the side and spins from the force behind it, a segment of her armor breaking off along with it. Still laughing like a mad man, the enemy mage summons another, larger Glyph clearly with the intent of finishing her off.

The stupidity of your action is something your very well aware of, but even if you’re out in the open with nothing but a hand cannon, the gal needs a split second that she just doesn’t have. So, going against practically every instinct in your body, you raise your pistol and fire.

The rounds, accurate even with the range and dead sprint you’re firing at, spark off another glittering shield that bursts into existence at the last possible second. Looking at you with those piercing, baleful red eyes, the mage contemptuously twists the glyph around to face you before unleashing it.

For a moment, your entire world goes bright and burning red, the heat and pressure causing your personal shield to whine and scream under the impact before popping with a deafening spark.

Then, black.

[1/2]
>>
Testing...
>>
>>2517225
Here's to hoping that smugmage just knocked us out, and we aren't about to berserk all over the place.
>>
>>2517225

[2/2]

You are Miranda Styles, and after attempting a holding action for almost an hour against an entire team of mages before getting blasted down the stairwell you’d attempted to use as a chokepoint by their leader, you’ve just watched John get blasted. Biting back a snarl, you let loose a string of magi-blasts in his moment of distraction, only to watch them spark off that same, damnable shield that’s still being a massive pain in the ass.

The mage turns back to you, more glyphs forming around him as he does, “Now, where were we?”

Noting the flare of mana, you fling yourself to the side as another lance burns through the air. For the supposed leader of this merc team, the guy doesn’t appear to even look at his subordinates, staring you right down instead.

Focusing on drawing out your mana, you ready yourself again. He’s gonna be a tough nut to crack.

Well, bully for you.

>You know what he wants- you. See if you can steer him away from your still-active partners and your objective, and maybe give someone an opening- or even cause some friendly fire.
>You can’t let this guy build up a head of steam again- if you can at least get him to budge somehow, then you’ll have a much better shot at controlling the fight.
>He can talk all he wants- maybe you can goad him into wasting his mana somehow. That kind of output can’t be easy to maintain...
>Other
>>
>>2517265

That's actually what the '???' of that previous roll was

>>2517271

Alright, sorry about the short updates, but that's where I've gotta leave things for tonight. See you all tomorrow, hopefully with pictures working again.
>>
>>2517271
>>You know what he wants- you. See if you can steer him away from your still-active partners and your objective, and maybe give someone an opening- or even cause some friendly fire.
>>
>>2517271
>>He can talk all he wants- maybe you can goad him into wasting his mana somehow. That kind of output can’t be easy to maintain...
Out-slugging Miranda is no easy feat; there's no way he can maintain this kind of power, and we've still go our mobility. We appear to have been running a delaying action for a while now, he should be nice and irritated. It shouldn't be too hard to goad him into wasting what tricks he's got left.
>>
>>2517271
>>He can talk all he wants- maybe you can goad him into wasting his mana somehow. That kind of output can’t be easy to maintain...

If we can piss him off to the point where he's throwing everything at us, all the better.
>>
>>2517271
>He can talk all he wants- maybe you can goad him into wasting his mana somehow. That kind of output can’t be easy to maintain...
>Try to separate him from the others at the same time.
>>
>>2517271

>You can’t let this guy build up a head of steam again- if you can at least get him to budge somehow, then you’ll have a much better shot at controlling the fight.

blind him with a light blast.
>>
>>2517296
By the way, can we get a Mana update?
>>
>>2517271
>use a sticky bomb like a sweet yoyo and sling it behind his shield.
>>
>>2517572
You mean Mana Blast? The ones we can control in mid-air?

Pretty sure his shield doesn't block light though.
>>
>>2517271
>>You can’t let this guy build up a head of steam again- if you can at least get him to budge somehow, then you’ll have a much better shot at controlling the fight.
>>
>>2517271
>Punch him the fuck out
>>
>>2517271
where is mono in the fight?
Could she sing us a fog? that way miranda can pick them off with her smell-O-Scope.

>>2517587
He might have a point tough. The sticky bombs are low velocity projectiles that have a higher chance of not activating the shields or at the very least obstructing the mage's vision, while the mana blasts are the complete opposite.
>>
>>2517799
why not just cover the shield with sticky mana and blow it up in his magic?
>>
>>2517835
supposing the sticky mana manages to stick to the shield instead of bypassing it, its a good idea, But i have the feeling that the shield won't recognize the sticky mana and it will land directly on the mage.
>>
>>2517848
That's not worse though.
>>
>>2517271
>>You can’t let this guy build up a head of steam again- if you can at least get him to budge somehow, then you’ll have a much better shot at controlling the fight.
>>
>>2517271
>Other
Pop up a double-layer Light Shield between us and the enemy mage leader while we pull out our Baron’s Rapier. Channel a magi-beam through the Rapier at Mr. Smug; let’s see how well he can keep up his shield against a continuous amplified attack.
>>
>>2517849
i'm not saying its worse, just that is one of the possible outcomes.
>>
>>2517271

>>2517968
>Pop up a double-layer Light Shield between us and the enemy mage leader while we pull out our Baron’s Rapier. Channel a magi-beam through the Rapier at Mr. Smug; let’s see how well he can keep up his shield against a continuous amplified attack.
>>
>>2517968
wouldn't it be better to get into melee range? That way we can grab him, bypass the shield and choke him out, or gouge his eyes out or similar. Amping up the magic beam will only make us waste mana(i know we regenerate 4000 per day, but right now we are more or less at half) and we don't have the certainty that it will break it.
>>
>>2518157
Do you know that the shield will be penetrated by melee strikes? Are the shield glyphs he is using something you can point to as having come up before?
What will we do if the shields don’t care about the speed of the attacks, and stop melee attacks, bullets, and magi-blasts equally?
Do you have anything to back up your assertion that melee attacks can get through this particular shield type?
>>
>>2518160
ok, i'm doing this from an outsiders perspective(a.k.a haven't read AQ) but there are some constants here and there.
>Do you know that the shield will be penetrated by melee strikes?
Probably not melee strikes, but low velocity projectiles or objects could pass trough. As you can see, he is not using a respirator to breathe. That means that air and other small or slow moving objects can bypass the shield and our hands have a bigger chance to get him than our attacks.

>What will we do if the shields don’t care about the speed of the attacks, and stop melee attacks, bullets, and magi-blasts equally?
Here comes a fun thing. If we can't pass the shield because it reacted to our hands, it means we can grab him and do pic related. Internal damage is still a thing, and your suit and magics won't save your insides turning to mush because they were going from 0 to 20km/h and then from 20 to 0 in matters of seconds.

>Do you have anything to back up your assertion that melee attacks can get through this particular shield type?
I could ask you the same. Do you have anything to back up your assertion that a amped up magibeam can get through this particular shield type? Specially since she has been fighting them with magibeams to no avail.
Going in melee not only gives us an advantage because its our forte, but it also gets the mage out of his confort zone because it seems that all his shtick is to keep people away from him. Also remember that miranda has super speed; tagging her can be REALLY hard and could frustrate and make the mage sloppy.
>>
>>2518176
>If we can't pass the shield because it reacted to our hands

Wait, do you mean that if it can? Or did I read that wrong? I thought it was like a spherical barrier. If it's a form fitting one, then I agree. If not...then maybe what we could do is ring him? He'll obviously try to break out, and that's when the explosion happens.
>>
>>2518190
Make no mistake. up to this point i'm speculating what is the most probable outcome, because the two paragraphs we have don't give us enough information.

>maybe what we could do is ring him?
Although i agree with the idea, the orbital ring would leave us with ~1500 mana. When lorelei reached those reserve leves she was out of the fight for some days. It would be really bad if something like that happened to miranda, because she is our heavy hitter.
>>
>>2518176
Miranda doesn’t have super speed. She’s as fast as a trained fighter, but that’s it.

Can you counteract kinetic energy nullification or redirection, whatever method the shield uses? Even if the shield reacts to our hands and we could exert force against it, we don’t know if it will even budge, let alone we’ll be a sitting target at point blank range.


Just because he’s breathing doesn’t mean that the shield will let anything slower than sound get through, since light is still getting through but bullets and magi-blasts don’t. The shield could simply be tuned to allow air, and only air, to pass through.
>>
>>2518206
She has physical reinforcement enabled so she's able to go really fast at least in straight lines by jumping forward
>>
>>2518197
I thought she was out of it because she was approaching single digits. IIRC, we were approaching the 300ish area in the same mission and were still animate.

Also, yeah. By most counts, Miranda has crazy stamina, but for the most part she's fast like a grasshopper is fast: she can leap very far very quickly.
>>
>>2518197
>would leave us with ~1500 mana. When lorelei reached those reserve leves she was out of the fight for some days
While I agree that that's alarmingly low, Lori went all the way down to 1 Mana in that fight, which was what knocked her out for a while. Low Mana levels will start to wear on us, and running out is at very least rather bad, though I dunno if we take any mechanical debuffs from running low.
>>
>>2518206
>>2518218
Nah, i'm completely disagreeing with that. Our fight with Zander was way faster than what any trained fighter could do.Even if we can only hop into one direction, our reflexes should be way better than the mage's reaction time.
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/1880552/
>>
>>2518219
If we're dangerously low, we break into a cold sweat, that's all I know. I don't think that low mana is the same as physical exhaustion though. Chances are we can still operate like a normal human being even if we get dangerously low. We just won't have literally any of our abilities, physical boosts included.
>>
>>2518206
Sorry bud but she's fast as hell if she wants to. If you can leap over the trees in a forest you can put that spring in your step to forward movement. It's not a game where speed scales with dexterity, legs use muscles.

>>2518190
I wouldn't want to ring someone with an actual chance to break out, not while we are stuck underground with them. We were warned that the explosion is extremely powerful and uncontrollable.

>>2518197
We have gotten Miranda down to the hundreds more than once and we were fine aside from some perspiration and brief shortness of breath. Double and single digits is where we need to worry. Also, we can use a crystal to boost immediately.
>>
>>2517271
Get in there and hit him
>>
>>2518489
Strength does not equate to speed. While strength is absolutely necessary for speed, flexibility, springiness, and explosiveness are more important.

Longjumping, like what Miranda does, has more to with strength than speed, compared to sprinting and boxing.

If just because Miranda’s long jumps are fast and powerful meant that she should be just as fast in other actions that don’t have the same motions, longjumpers should be keeping pace with sprinters and vice versa.
>>
>>2518866
...arent long jumpers trained to get as big a burst of speed as possible? I might be wrong, but I thought they were. And that still doesn't mean that she can't make like a super bouncy rubber ball and ricochet everywhere.
>>
>>2518866
That's great and all but just look at >>2518222, Miranda was dodging lightning bolts on reflex plus it's explicitly said that the fist fight was with "high-speed impacts" and Miranda can keep up with him when he's going so fast all you see is a "flash of yellow"
>>
>>2519123
So I noticed, but then how does that explain just now? Was it us managing to barely dodge the magical equivalent of Unlimited Blade Works or what?
>>
>>2519141
>>2519123

This guy is effectively going full bullet-hell with lasers, for reference.

Also, please keep in mind that Handler normally doesn't use dice rolling for combat. It's something that he and I have talked about from time to time, but I am well aware of his characters' abilities and resistances, so they are being taken into account in these scenes. Finally, the guy got a nat 100; if he didn't Miranda would have royally fucked him.

>>2518190
>>2518176
>>2518160

This guy's shield is effectively the Halo Bubble Shield; not up all the time, spherical, and blocks all incoming damage when activated but is not 'wrapped' around his body.
>>
>>2519283
So how fast is Miranda?
>>
>>2519344

Handler would have more specifics, but she did just dodge several laser-like blasts; only got hit because of how many were being thrown her way.
>>
>>2519283
Oh, makes sense I guess. Wonder if we can soccer kick him, then.
>>
>>2519283
Where is mono right now? is she helping with the fight?
>>
>>2519283
>Halo Bubble Shield
so....could we get into melee range and put the mage into a headlock?
>>
>>2519283
>the guy got a nat 100; if he didn't Miranda would have royally fucked him.

Is that to imply that we can still royally fuck him? Because I'd really would like to punch this punk so hard he pukes his organs up.
>>
>>2519565
>>2519564
>>2519538

Yes to all.
>>
>>2518176
When Anons make their own headcanon

>>2519283
What the heck is a Halo Bubble Shield?

>>2519626
So would bright enough light blind him?
>>
>>2519668
>When Anons make their own headcanon
Its speculation. Its better than doing nothing and trying the same thing expecting a different outcome.
>>
File: SpellShield.png (390 KB, 542x542)
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>>2519668

> pic related
>>
>>2519668
>Halo Bubble Shield
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKDkKKt9Y7I
Large, spherical, invulnerable, but short-lived.
>>
>>2519731
also you can walk and drive through it, but not shoot through it
>>
>>2517296
>>2517312
>>2517319

Goad him into focusing on you it is.

Writin'
>>
>>2517271

Alright, then. If he wants to knock you down so badly, well…

You’re gonna make him work for it.

Rushing forwards with a long stride, you jink the next two lances, easily reading the bright flashes of mana as the Glyphs belt red-hot death. However this mage is attacking, he has to be spending his energy in spades to maintain these spells. It’s something to certainly exploit here, because you’re going to need every advantage against this smug prick.

Damningly, you can’t help but feel your blood pumping at the prospect of the challenge ahead of you. Sometimes, having to actually *try* was more exciting that you were willing to admit...ah, but you can’t focus on that for too long- three more shots pepper the ground in front of you, forcing you to shift angles- he’s leading his shots now that he realizes you can dodge them readily enough. Not bad!

One screaming a bit close to your helmet clears your head, though- you’re hoping your allies are dealing with their own issues well enough, but you’re going to have to keep all your attention on this guy, same as he’s only eying you; a thin smile cuts across your face at the observation.

Lunging to the side again, you toss another magi-blast to keep him honest; his fire stopping for a brief second as he’s forced to lean to the side to avoid losing his head. It comes back up just as quickly, but slowly you’re gaining ground here. The fact that he had to dodge instead of just relying on his shield is a good sign, too…

If you can get in close, that won’t matter either.

> Roll me four 1d100+40’s please
>>
Rolled 20 + 40 (1d100 + 40)

>>2519844
>>
Rolled 28 + 40 (1d100 + 40)

>>2519844
>>
Rolled 77 + 40 (1d100 + 40)

>>2519844
>>
Rolled 86, 10, 21, 67 + 30 = 214 (4d100 + 30)

>>2519844

[RYKER ACTIVITY]
>>
>>2519873
>>2519860
117 to 116 yowch.
>>
>>2519882
Technically, we need one more roll
>>
Rolled 36 + 40 (1d100 + 40)

>>2519844
>>
Rolled 33 + 34 (1d100 + 34)

>>2519844
>>
>>2519860

That's a 117 versus 116, Bare Success.

Chunni powers activate!

Writin'
>>
>>2519899
Woo!
>>
>>2519844

Yeah, if you could get into melee range… ho ho ho, are you going to be happy to wipe that smirk off his face…

And then, you see it as you juke to the left. It’s barely a half second gap, just enough to have to cause him to reorient his aim that was overshot as the blasts fire in front of you by maybe a foot. The onslaught is broken, for just that thin moment, and that’s all you need.

Your muscles pump, your legs piston, and you’re off like a rocket, screaming towards him if only at an angle, the sounds of mana fire screaming around your ears. Another close call glances off your armor, but you’re just low enough to the ground to have it not throw off your trajectory; in the space of moments, you’re near to within punching distances of the suddenly not-so-smirking man.

At the last second, that damn shield shimmers into existence in front of your fist, brightly flaring as you punch it as hard as possible. Flexing your muscles, there’s a deep sense of satisfaction that pumps into your body when it shatters from your assault. Sadly, it stopped you long enough that you punch to the gut only knocks him off his feet, rather than reducing his guts to pulp, but still, you’ve got the advantage now.

“Not so smug now, are ya?” Caught up in the moment, you can’t help but let slip a quick verbal jab and pop your knuckles as you walk over.

Pushing himself to his feet, the enemy mage looks up at you with eyes glowing, his smile, oddly enough, growing. The swipe of a hand is the only warning you get before a much smaller glyph, hidden behind the edge of his coat, spits out a lance right for your face.

You can feel the heat through your helmet as it carves the slightest scratch into the metal, though you avoid the majority of it. You’ve been into one too many scrapes to just waltz up without expecting that- but part of you is worried about if he was aiming at you at all or not, now. THAT was a common trick, too.

But, that just reaffirms how DANGEROUS this guy is. If he can make those glyphs smaller…

“You…” Looking back over to the mage, you see him also start to walk close, “You’re pretty damn good… Where are you from?”

...Whoop. Nope. Fun as this is, you don’t do monologues unless you’re paid for it. They NEVER lead to anything good.

> Roll me four 1d100+50’s please
>>
Rolled 85 + 50 (1d100 + 50)

>>2519975
>>
Rolled 96 + 50 (1d100 + 50)

>>2519975
>>
Rolled 89, 15, 91, 31 + 30 = 256 (4d100 + 30)

>>2519975

[RYKER ACTIVITY]
>>
Rolled 49 + 50 (1d100 + 50)

>>2519975
>>
Rolled 87 + 50 (1d100 + 50)

>>2519975
>>
Rolled 22 + 50 (1d100 + 50)

>>2519975
>>
Rolled 78 + 50 (1d100 + 50)

>>2519975
Oh, god, I'm so tempted to monologue.

I... can't... resist...

"How about you try figuring it out? Get it right in five, you get a prize!"
>>
>>2519992

That's a 146 versus 121, Success.

Writin'
>>
Rolled 22 + 50 (1d100 + 50)

>>2519975
>>
Rolled 100, 88, 42, 87, 76, 31, 80, 25, 86, 78, 40, 77 = 810 (12d100)

>>2519975

Rolling to see how the rest of the fights go...

First three: Dutch, Gladiator, Owlia; second three: Mono, Izumi, Cyclia; third three: 2 DM's; fourth three: 2 CM's, 1 SM
>>
>>2520075
Git fukt
>>
>>2520075
Goddammit, guys, we're supposed to be ace mercs here, and you're making our clients reconsider hiring us.
>>
>>2520098
To be fair, Izumi and Miranda are the only real aces of the SES team, and one of them just burned half their mana supply on the reactor.
>>
>>2520098
To be fair, Izumi spooked them with how killy she could be earlier AND THEN powered up a mana generator.

Really the biggest problem is the whole underground thing locks out a lot of destructive options.
>>
>>2520167
>>2520175
Come to think of it, Izumi should have used her Mana Crystals. She can recharge them pretty quickly between John's mana reactor and Miranda's mana condenser.
>>
>>2519975

Yeah, if he’s just going to make your job easier for you, you’re not going to complain. Raising a hand up to run a finger over the new marr in your helmet, you wait for him to take his next step before exploding into action.

The finger that you raised is sparked with mana, and you send off a quick shot- not at him, but rather at his feet, mid-walk. It’s not enough to actually injure him, or even throw him off balance- but then, that’s not the point. The plume of dust that it throws up, on the other hand, is.

Lunging forwards, you pump mana into your fist, intent on ending this here and now. The enemy mage flinches back as you close the distance in an instant, only able to get his arms up in defense before you strike.

Despite his best efforts at absorbing the blow with nothing but sheer mana, you feel his bones crack and give way, the force of it running up his arms before launching him off his feet. His body flies through the air for several seconds before ragdolling into a heap, both forearms bent at unnatural angles.

Vaguely, you note the battle in the rest of the room raging around you, but you push it away to the back of your mind as you approach.

Hearing you coming above the racket, the mage looks at you with a slightly pained glare, “Well? C’mon, do it...”

You oblige him by crushing his skull under your foot. Dunno what he was going for with that one.

At the least, that’s one pain in the ass out of the way. Fun fight, though. Sadly, back to business- you take a look out at everyone else currently.

The sight you see isn’t a pretty one, at least for the enemy mercs. You note two mostly-intact corpses off to one side, a third near where another mage with a shield is trying to protect his last teammate, he himself flinging fire and ice attempting to hit Gladiator to no avail, some serious suppressing fire from Dutch and Izumi. There’s not even a need for you to do anything, as the shield fails within moments and the last two enemies are reduced to red smears on the metal floor.

The sounds of combat echo across the hangar bay for several more seconds before residing enough to the point where you can speak without the aid of magic, “Everyone, report!”

[1/4]
>>
>>2520210

“We’re all fine, Essie,” Izumi is the first to respond, exchanging the magazine in her rifle for a fresh one.

“Doing well enough,” Cylica says, although you can tell she’s been a bit more scuffed up than she’d likely care to admit. There’s a few scratches on her face and she’s leaning to one side on her staff heavily. “A decent night’s sleep perhaps and I’ll be right as rain.”

“Might need to do some field repairs,” Owlia mutters as she looks over her suit. It’s taken some damage of its own. “I’m just glad we’re all in one piece.” Mono nods quietly as she shakes off some blood from her own sword with one hand, massaging her throat with the other.

It’s at this point that your attention is drawn to where Dutch is jogging back towards the door leading further into the Ruin, where several meters to the side a portion of the wall has been slightly slagged and Archmage kneels over a charred body.

Shit! Both you and Izumi are quick to run over, looking over what’s left of John as Dutch gets there. “He breathing?”

The older man glances up at your question, “Somehow; it’s a good thing he’s wearing this armor otherwise he wouldn’t be”.

You can’t help but internal wince at the damage that you note now that you’re close enough. The helmet’s been busted entirely, the armored visor broken, while the arm and leg servos have been blown clean off the chassis. The armor itself fared slightly better, though even the chest piece has been damaged to the point that you wouldn’t trust it in combat. “Think he can risk being moved?”

“I’m not a medic, but…” Archmage reaches behind John’s head, careful not to move him too much, before getting his hand in between the gap, “No neck or spinal injuries, from what I can feel”.

You turn to your weapons girl. “Yuna, what’s your mana look like?”

She frowns, still looking at the man, and likely coming to the same conclusion you have. “Not horrid...but not excellent. That said, I could utilize some crystals afterwards to keep me in the black. Not to mention our condensers…”

“Yeah, that’ll have to work, then,” you decide as you turn to the Archmage. “Get him into the ship- it’ll be better if we’re all in an enclosed area, but I think we can at least patch up the worst of the damage.” Yuna nods in agreement.

Dutch reaches down, aiding the older man in getting John upright, before throwing an arm over his shoulder. The comparison of a puppet with its strings cut is accurate to the point of being unnerving.

[2/4]
>>
>>2520212

[3/3]

It takes time, the Artificer not being a small guy before adding a set of broken power armor on top, but with some effort you manage to get the unconscious man into the ship and, after some thought, he’s brought to the crew quarters. Owlia and Cyclia, oddly enough being the most familiar of those present to his work, end up carefully cutting him out of the armor, the blackened metal clattering to the floor though the back piece, with what’s clearly some kind of shielded component encased within, is set aside from a pile that’s not going to be scrapped.

Izumi settles into a lotus position, and you take a seat next to him. “Alright, this might take a minute, but don’t disturb us.” You warn, as you calm your mind and focus…and your hands glow, mana running through them smoothly. You just need to match his frequency...

Calling to mind the strangely pleasant mix of incense, ozone, and oil that defines John, you reach out and place a hand gently against his chest. His body drinks in the effects of your spell, the reason becoming extremely evident when you feel the numerous cracks and fractures, from total to hairline, that run through most of his ribs. Making sure they’re set properly, you move on in your search when you note something that you have no idea how anyone missed.

There’s a massive, jagged cut across his back, running almost from hip to neck. The question of how he received such a wound flashes through your mind (Did his armor cut into his back somehow? Or something worse?) before you immediately apply aid. You can feel your mana run through his body, touching the wound before… nothing. Waiting several seconds, the jagged cut refuses to close; as if the black stain across his body is preventing your spell from taking effect.

“Mmm…” a sound of discontent is all you allow yourself to make. You’re not entirely sure what this could mean, but you have some suspicions...none of them good. Mentally moving on for now, you proceed to continue to heal what you can- although that might be worth asking about later.

After another few minutes, you’re fairly comfortable that John won’t die in his sleep and you pull yourself out of the trance. Slowly rising to your feet along with Izumi, you walk over to the frigate’s CIC where the rest are awaiting you.

Dutch is halfway to his feet before you put a hand out to stop him, “He’ll live, just needs to rest now. If anything regresses, we’ll do more, but as things are now, we need to wait and recuperate ourselves. For now, we’re going to plan.”
>>
>>2520215

And with that update, we'll be ending things for tonight. We'll be back tomorrow, so see you all then.
>>
>>2520227
Thanks for the run QM.
>that blight wound
Spooky.
>>
>>2520227
Thanks for the session! Hopefully John can wake up soon enough to finish the mission. I wouldn't want him to miss all the tech.
>>
>>2520227
So was the smug mage's shield breaking simply because it was kinetic energy and not magic that was hitting it? Or was it just simple energy overload, and a pumped up magi-beam or the punch would have done it so long as the roll was good enough?
>>
>>2520227
Thanks for the run
>>
>>2520235

Considering how much mana Miranda uses to augment herself, if the shield really was a magic only blocker then it wouldn't have worked.

Don't think about it too hard; that shield was there to explain why Miranda wouldn't be able to just roflstomp Ryker.
>>
>>2520227
Thanks for running!
>>
>>2520241
I mean.

Miranda COULD just overpower him.

But cosmic powers in teeny-tiny living spaces don't really go over that well.
>>
>>2520215
>Miranda can't heal Blight wounds

Well that's worrying to say the least.
>>
>>2520742
We were outright told that there are was no cure, including magic.
>>
>>2520773
We could see if any of the magical elixirs Miranda bought will do anything.
>>
>>2520773
Hey one could only hope.
>>
>>2520875
What elixirs did we bring?
>>
>>2520875
>>2521225
i would rather not try using the elixir in something that can't be cured.
>>
>>2521225
A generic brand of magical Elixir available at the Intersection. There were better ones, but players decided they were too expensive for limited and unknown effectiveness.

>>2521260
The elixirs that we’re part of the Magical Potion Packs we bought were purchased specifically for counteracting the Blight. You’re denying the sole reason we bought them for.
>>
>>2521302
While i am interested in reducing the scar......I don't think we should. It is a danger sense first and fore most, as well as a by product of aspect.

so really removing it at this stage may be more disadvantageous than keeping it
>>
Hey, maybe we could use the Farsight to get some more information on it, as well as possible treatments. We might not be able to do it ourselves, but maybe John can figure out something later on.
>>
>>2521392
I think it's worth trying
>>
>>2521392
This i can get behind, information is power
>>
>>2521398
I think it should wait until John wakes up and can consent.
>>
>>2521413
It's not like Miranda would intentionally spread photos of John's naked ass on the Intersection internet.
But yeah, ask for John's permission when he wakes up or at the very least ask Dutch if we for some reason don't want to wait. Unfortunately I probably won't be around to vote for it.
>>
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>>2520215

You are John Hoelscher and you’ve managed to notch another tally onto the ‘getting your ass knocked out’ count. It’s not like you were particularly looking for trouble, a few alcohol-encouraged times in Airgrid notwithstanding, but the fact that it’s almost time to use your other hand to count the number isn’t a very good sign.

There was the fall of Westmire, the less said of that the better, the fall of Bo Shan where you ran and fought until you dropped, the raid against the vampire stronghold within a brothel in Shirahoro, and now…

Yeah, you don’t remember this one too well. You know you made it back to the rest of your team before you did something incredibly stupid, but after that there’s only the impression of bright red burning into your eyes.

Pushing yourself up to a sitting position and rubbing your brow, you’re a bit puzzled at your surroundings. It’s some kind of cramped quarters, not unlike the ones you stayed at from time to time in your serious mafia days, though these ones are more dusty than decrepit.

“Back among the livin’, huh?” a rough voice says lightly. You nearly crack your neck turning to the source as you can’t help but flinch a bit- only to relax (slightly) upon seeing Emma sitting on the bed across from you, messing with something between her fingers- a thin throwing dagger. She just smirks at you in response. “Glad to see it. Ya went down pretty hard back there. How ya feelin’?”

There’s the urge to bite back with something, though now that you think about it… you’re not feeling all that bad, oddly enough. Your chest is sore and your head’s a bit hazy, but other than that… “Not that hot, but it could be worse. How long have I been out?”

She shrugs. “Not too long- I wanna say about...four, five hours? Maybe a bit more, I haven’t been keeping track. Boss and Yuna managed to patch you up pretty well, I think. You were lookin’ pretty crispy when we first saw ya. Had to tear apart your suit an’ everything to get at the skin without causin’ more damage. Although, now that you’re up...” She hops off the bed, extending a hand. “Can ya stand? Boss said to keep an eye on you and bring you to the bridge once you were up and at ‘em.”

Looking over at the floor, you see a pile of blackened metal that’s all that remains of your EXO suit. Naturally, the only part of it that seems to be missing is the reactor and it’s shielding....

Other than that, rising to your feet is rather easy; aside from a bit of stiffness in your bones and some burning across your back moving has no issue for you. Looking back to Emma, you see her awaiting your response.

> “Lead the way”
> “Any sign of more enemies?”
> “Is there a reason that reactor of mine is missing?”
> Other
>>
>>2521749
>> “Is there a reason that reactor of mine is missing?”
Wut.
>>
>>2521749
> “Is there a reason that reactor of mine is missing?”

either they're considering it payment for services rendered, or they don't trust us with it.
>>
>>2521749
> “Lead the way”
> “Is there a reason that reactor of mine is missing?”
>>
>>2521749
>> “Is there a reason that reactor of mine is missing?”
"Please, please, PLEASE don't tell me that Hidia decided to wire it directly into herself..."
>>
>>2521749
>“Is there a reason that reactor of mine is missing?”
>>
>>2521759
Pretty sure they are just taking the opportunity to give it a close examination.
>>
>>2521759
>>2521762
>>2521775
>>2521781
>>2521790

John's got a question.

Writin'
>>
>>2521790
>>2521781
>>2521775
>>2521762
>>2521759
>Inb4 they hooked the reactor to help one of the girls get recharged.
>>
>>2521843
Would that even work?
>>
>>2521882
I assume it's like the mana crystals or whatever they are that the MGs brought.
>>
>>2521749

Well, if her ‘Boss’ wants to talk, then you know where you’ll be going, “I’m good to walk; lead the way”.

With a wave in your direction, Emma walks out of the room and you follow suit. Given the rundown appearance, you guess that this is the interior of the airship you were sent into to scope out; one that you’ve done exactly zero looking over. What a bang up job you’ve been doing thus far…

Regardless of your own mental berating, you can’t help but curiously look about at the tech openly on display here. Several places have panels similar to Sarah’s work, though these are many degrees more sophisticated as to be expected.

Any further observations are cut off when a fuzzy thought of yours catches up to you, “...Say, you wouldn’t happen to know where my armor’s reactor is?”

The wide, wolf-like grin she gives you is a bit irritating, “Well, with you being knocked out and all the Boss made the executive decision to appropriate any and all mana generating gear to expedite her’s and Yuna’s recovery. Don’t give me that look, it’s in the CIC”.

Biting back a full-out growl, you force yourself to face forwards again. These fuckin’ girls…

“Dude, relax, we’re not takin’ it forever,” she fires off a bit more soberly. “But Yuna and Essie were kinda wiped after, y’know, fighting off a paramilitary incursion and saving your life. And with the state your suit was in, we figured it wasn’t gonna get much use any time soon anyway. So, yeah, why not? I mean, not like they needed to mess with it any- those girls just kinda...soak it in.” She then straightens up for a second, blinking in remembrance. “Oh yeah, before I forget.” Fishing under her coat for a moment, she pulls out a letter. “Hidia wanted me to give you this.”

Taking it, you tear a corner off before running your finger straight down the opening, easily revealing a piece of paper with a messy scrawl along it.

‘Hey, when you wake up I hope you’re feeling better! Uh, I DID NOT take your reactor. Note the signatures. Also, sorry about your suit getting messed up. I’d be happy to help you design a new one maybe if ya want later? Actually I might’ve already gotten started so hey yeah! Uh, and thanks for helping with the gauntlet and all that. Turret came in handy, too. You’re pretty cool. Not Froste cool but still cool haha didja see what I did there okay bye get well soon!’

-Hidia

[1/2]
>>
>>2521922

[2/2]

And yep, there’s a small ‘Hidia did not take your reactor.’ line at the bottom, with the signatures of everyone- your own group included. Under Essie’s signature is a smaller ‘I did. Just ask for it back.’

Sighing to yourself, you stuff the paper back into the envelope. Alright, well…

“Has the base’s power come back online?” Might as well move things along to something a bit more important, “Yuna probably told you, but we had no problems jump-starting the generator; should be fully warmed up by now”.

Emma nods. “Yeah, she did. That explained the floodlights popping on in the past two hours. Nice work. Oh, over here, s’right around the corner.”

Stepping through another doorway, you come into a room filled from floor to ceiling with banks, consoles, and screens, each one of them likely worth a fortune. Seriously, what the fuck is this ship?

Essie’s in the middle of everything, looking over various things before glancing over with a slight grin, “Hey. Glad to see you’re up. Everything’s looking a whole lot better than it was a few hours ago, and Yuna tells me we’ve got you to thank for that.”

“I’ve got no idea how long the base’s power will last, the conduit array was removed at some point, but it should sustain us for our stay,” Walking up to the merc leader, you quickly examine her set up of roughly drawn maps before continuing, “It’s a damn miracle that the cables are still intact, but at this point I don’t give a shit; I’ll take what I can get”.

Essie nods in agreement. “Well, we’re hoping to take advantage of it sooner than later- with the lights turned on we can actually explore this place a bit better. As big as this place is, we’re planning an expedition in a couple hours down to the industrial area again. You don’t need to go since you’re still recovering, and besides, Yuna tells me she’s memorized most of what was down there. It’ll be me, her, the Archmage, and your friend Dutch. The rest of them are staying up here to get a look around the hangar and- well, Hidia tells me she’s got a thing she wanted your help on, too. Up to you what you wanna do, though.”

Your choice?
> Join the team going to the Industrial Area
> Join the team exploring the hangar area
> See what Hidia’s up to
> Other
>>
>>2521926
>> Join the team exploring the hangar area
>>
>>2521926
>See what Hidia’s up to
>>
>>2521926
>> Join the team exploring the hangar area
Give Hidia the remains of our EXO, ask her to surprise us.

Also, did any of those mages or mercs have any armor on them?
>>
>>2521926
> See what Hidia’s up to
Better make sure she doesn’t blow herself up or something.
>>
>>2521941
Actually, switch mine to
>See what Hidia’s up to
Bring our EXO remains with us.
>>
>>2521926
>> Join the team exploring the hangar area
If we're making the ship our home base for now, we need to get to know that nearby areas.
>>
>>2521926
>> See what Hidia’s up to
>You don’t need to go since you’re still recovering
Listen to good advice. John should stay and tinker with Hidia since he's more squishy out of his armor, but still fully capable of doing science and engineering.
>>
>>2521938
>>2521943
>>2521945
>>2521956

See what Hidia is up to it is.

Writin'
>>
>>2521926

Of all the options, heading back down into the Ruins is right out as you’re not entirely confident with your ability to traverse that many stairs again. Investigating the hangar is one you’d be able to do, but the idea of the crystal-in-skull gal being up to something just makes you uneasy, so it’s what you’ll go with, “I’ll go talk to Hidia then”.

“She’ll be glad to hear that,” Essie says. “She’s down in the Engineering Bay- Emma?” She turns to the wolf-girl, who nods. “Show him down there and bring Froste up here. Meeting in five. Everyone who’s leaving needs to know when to get back.”

She gives off a lazy salute, “Sure thing.” Turning to you, she motions over her shoulder. Follow me thisaway. There’s a couplea stairs.”

“Joy,” Dry doesn’t begin to describe your tone, but you follow anyways.

The wolf-girl smirks again before leaving, taking you through more of the small labyrinth of halls that make up the interior of this ship before you arrive at a reinforced metal door. Easily pulling it open, she pokes her head in, “I’ve got John with me, though the Boss wants ya back at the ‘See-Aye-See’ Froste”.

“Ah,” comes the familiar voice. “Already? Hmph. Alright, I’ll be along. Do take care, sweetie, hm?” you can guess that last bit wasn’t aimed at you.

She steps out easily enough, giving you a respectful nod when she notices. “Mr. John. I have to say, I’m curious what the results of her sudden little project might be with your help. But, I’ll let you learn the details yourself.” she turns to Emma. “Shall we go?” And they leave you alone with the headcase without further fanfare. Steeling yourself for what could be ahead, you enter into the room.

The room’s rather dark but you can easily make out the set of large fuel tanks on either side of the room, a set of consoles off to one side with even more panels across the wall, a workshop with a certain gal in- not actually in armor, for once; she’s just in a normal worker’s overalls and smock- and another massive reactor, almost as large as the one that powered the base. Given the lack of noise in the air it’s offline, though given the state of the rest of the ship the primary power source not working seems pretty obvious.

Without anything else to do, you walk over to the hyperactive gal, “Alright, Hidia, what idea do you have this time?”

[1/3]
>>
>>2522094

“Weellllll…” she stretches it out like she’s not sure. “First thing’s first, you got the note, right? I SUPER didn’t take your core reactor! And if you didn’t get it now I’m telling you, I didn’t take it. Anyway! Question with a question. Do you think this thing could fly if we got it started back up? Because I want to try and reactivate the reactor- well, okay I guess I could’ve just said that but this- bleeegh.” She sticks her tongue at herself, clearly frustrated. “Nevermind, starting over, being serious. I want to see if I can rig this thing up to start. Maybe not get off the ground, but I want to figure this thing out enough to get some non-emergency dimmers on. And I want you to help.”

She points to the reactor and the tanks in turn. “We probably don’t have a lot of time, but I can at the very least try to start some hypotheses. And the first step is figuring out what does what, and what connects to what. So far, I can puzzle out that these tanks and the reactor are linked, probably by a converter. Can’t see anything LIKE a converter, though...but, I did find some old etchings. Etchings that look like sigils, y’get me?”

“Sigils, huh?” Walking over to one of the tanks, you try your best to find some kind of viewing port, but to no avail as the entire thing is composed of solid sheet metal. Rapping a fist against it, you’re rewarded by a dull sound that you wouldn’t associate with a hollow tank of this size, “There’s certainly fuel still in here, sounds like it’s got most of its capacity, but…” Getting yourself stuck into the reactor now, you dig about for a bit before confirm that it is a very similar layout to the one down below, including the missing conduit array, “It’s the same as the one I worked on to get the base’s power back up and running, and I know for a fact that that reactor didn’t use a liquid or gaseous fuel. Whatever the reason for the fuel, it’s specifically for the ship”.

“Mysteries on mysteries,” Hidia quips. “And I checked this whole bay- it’s REALLY REALLY cool, but I couldn’t find anything like a map or blueprints, because of course.”

[2/3]
>>
>>2522097

[3/3]

“Why would it ever be easy, right?” There’s a thin smile that comes to your lips, “I’d say to ask the guy who used to work here, but I’d guess his bones are beyond dust at this point”.

“Likely. I’ve been trying to map out the blueprints myself-” here she points towards an old, old piece of parchment that’s got scribbles on it and drawings. “-but it’s gonna take a while, and while I can read some basic sigils, actual sigilcraft isn’t quite my bag. You, on the other hand, mister ‘smoke and suddenly you know what’s what…’” She shrugs, a smile growing on her own face. “I’m thinking maaaaybe we could at least figure out a few things? Even if we can’t get this thing airborne, we gotta end up learning SOMETHING cool, right?”

Pulling yourself out of the guts of the reactor, you just nod, “The guy who made this was probably insane, but it did work at one point in time; just gotta rediscover the insanity then”.

“Good thing I’m partway there! At least according to SOME people…” she mutters.

“Yeah, just do me a favor and stay lucid,” Quipping back, you consider what to work on now.

> Focus on getting the main reactor back online
> Focus on investigating the sigils and the fuel system
> Focus on mapping out the systems here onto blueprints
> Other
>>
>>2522101

Once again, this is where I have to jump off for today. Thank you all for playing and see you all tomorrow.
>>
>>2522101
>> Focus on investigating the sigils and the fuel system
Can't start the reactor without getting the fuel system figured out and working, so this seems to be the logical first step. Also, it would be so much eaiser to take the thing back if we could fly it
>>
>>2522101
> Focus on getting the main reactor back online
Take care ST!
>>
>>2522101
>Focus on mapping out the systems here onto blueprints
>>
>>2522101
>Focus on mapping out the systems here onto blueprints
And after figuring out what does what
>Focus on investigating the sigils and the fuel system
Better make sure the entire thing is safe before trying to power up any of the systems
>>
>>2522101
>> Focus on mapping out the systems here onto blueprints
>>
>>2522101
>Focus on mapping out the systems here onto blueprints
And then
>Focus on investigating the sigils and the fuel system

>>2522104
Thanks for runnin'
>>
>>2522101
>> Focus on getting the main reactor back online
>>
>>2522101
>> Focus on getting the main reactor back online
>>
If we get the main reactor online, how do we keep the internal ship security systems from tagging us as hostile boarders, or locking us out of the ship computer systems?
>>
>>2522247
By sweeping the ship for anything that could be a security measure first
>>
>>2522250
That doesn't seem to have come up at all before we try to get the reactor online.
>>
>>2522101
> Focus on mapping out the systems here onto blueprints

Make sure that there aren't safeties or un-safe reasons for why the reactor is off.

Capacitors are Wu-tang levels of caution when fucking with.
>>
>>2522101
>Focus on mapping out the systems here onto blueprints

Also i'm 75% sure that the fuel is liguid/condensed mana.
>>
>>2522331
Or for flamethrowers.
>>
>>2522331
>liquid mana
I wonder if we could heat that up and make a spa pool.
>>
>>2522400
Nothing could possibly go wrong with this
>>
>>2522400
We should try drinking it
>>
>>2522424
We should try lighting it on fire and spraying it everywhere.

Also it could be a hydraulic control system for flying the ship.
>>
>>2522489
Why would you light mana on fire and spray it anywhere?
>>
>>2522560
Because normal fire only does 1d4 and apparently they skipped the chemical explosives research tree.

Regardless I'm sure it would be a bad day for anyone hit by it.

Although hey - high mana concentrate is toxic right? So why don't we just crack it open and make a moat around the airship of deadly magic radiation?
>>
>>2522591
Because the people we have with us are not immune to that shit
>>
Peekaboo. I'll actually be around for today.
>>
>>2522698
How fast is Miranda?
And how fast relative to the other members of SES?
>>
>>2522797
Like at a flat run? She's far faster than your normal human, but she's no Flash or even Quicksilver. Izumi can outrun her even outside of Tension. Miranda's thing is that she has more 'explosive' power, so to speak.

In terms of just sheer physical reflexes, they're both pretty flexible and, as the fight a few jobs ago showed, are roughly on each other's level, with Miranda a bit ahead.

Lorelei is behind both of them. In terms of general footspeed for everyone, the ranking is basically:

Izumi>Miranda>Lorelei>Prima=Owlia(w/Armor)>Mono>Owlia(w/out Armor)>Jago>Cylica

That answer it decent enough?
>>
>>2522814
How much of this comes from Power Boost and how much is from her nature as a MG?
>>
>>2522814
This is all 'baseline', discounting Owlia, who I'm including having her crystal power-up, since that can't exactly be turned off.
>>
>>2522814
Is she at Kenshiro’s (from Fist of the North Star) speed? What about compared to an Agent inside the Matrix?
Can she run at 60MPH?
>>
>>2522845
I dunno quite enough about FotNS to say. She could handle an Agent hand to hand, though.

I hadn't really thought of exact speeds except for Izumi's Extreme Tension speed.
>>
>>2522897
Good to see you, Handler. Things going well in your life?

Two setting questions:
Regarding the previous Robo-Battle universe, there were other robots that had their operating systems altered, either legally or not. Besides Lorelei messing with them using her possession power, how would one have been able to mess with a Robattler's source code?

And second, what're Lorelei, Prima and Jago up to?
>>
>>2523034
Well enough. Bit of a hiccup the past week, but that's about cleared.

Question 1: Legal/Illegal attachments and modification tools. Generally, most Battlers are strongly encouraged to keep their OSes as manufactured. This is ostensibly so that all processes and programs, as well as future upgrades, are to be sure to be compatible. There's also another reason that most don't really realize these days.

Question 2:

>"Okay, so I move like...this?"

>"No, no, you wanna get *down*! Shake what you...uh, got built with!"

>"Uh. Okay! Like...?"

>"THAT'S it, more of that! Drop it, girl!"

>"Oy, lass, what's this 'ere? These square things in yer closet?"

>"OH MY GOD, WHY ARE YOU IN MY CLOSET AGAIN? GET OUT!"

>"Oy, YOU'RE the one what let me start askin' questions! Don't blame me fer usin' tha privilege!"
>>
>>2522331
>>2522400

I have no idea how I would handle liquid mana in this setting, so take that as a sure sign that it is not that.

>>2522119
>>2522120
>>2522109
>>2522130
>>2522140
>>2522323
>>2522331

Map out the systems onto blueprints then investigate the sigils and fuel source.

> Roll me three 1d100+17's please
>>
Rolled 39 + 17 (1d100 + 17)

>>2523060
>>
Rolled 74 + 17 (1d100 + 17)

>>2523060
>>
Rolled 2 + 17 (1d100 + 17)

>>2523060
letsa go
>>
>>2523069

That's a 91, pretty damn good.

Writin'
>>
>>2523050
>How Jago learned about Sex Ed
>Immediately followed by Bot about Town: Jago visits The Greased Piston
>>
>>2523080
Oh come now, he wouldn't do that.
There are much high-quality establishments to patron.
>>
>>2522101

It’s tempting to get stuck into the guts of the machinery around here, but you force yourself to stick to taking it slow, “Let’s start with mapping out the systems; wanna know where everything started before we start fucking with stuff”.

“Boring...but critical,” Hidia agrees. “Have a look at what I’ve already gotten marked down- it’s not a lot, but better to make sure nothing’s misinterpreted from the get go.”

“Gotcha,” Walking over, you swipe the piece of parchment from the table and look it over. It’s rather rudimentary, but at least she’s using a consistent scale. The drawings outline the layout of the bay, specifically noting the locations of the reactor and fuel tanks with small notes such as ‘liquid mana containers?’, ‘fuel for rear thrusters?’, and ‘wonder what the Relay would do to this ship…’, whatever the hell that last one means. Either way, the elf’s right in that this is a good place to start, “Hold onto this; I’m going to see if I can take a closer look”.

Handing the paper back to Hidia, you wander about the room for a bit until you discover what you were looking for: a small, metal grate that, upon opening, reveals access to underneath the floor. Borrowing a screwdriver, apparently screws haven’t changed much over the year, you easily remove the grate and, after setting it to the side, drop yourself into the darkness.

Your bracing wasn’t entirely necessary, as you don’t fall far enough to get your head fully underneath the floor. Looking over at the elf, who’s observing you with a kind of idle amusement, you blankly stare at her, “...Flashlight”.

After a small giggle, and a torch thrown at your face, you’re ready to get to work.

Lighting up the crawl space with a click, you’re met with the sight of numerous lines of pipes, some containing wiring while others are solid metal marked only with a fading red arrow pointing towards the rear of the ship. Turning around to make sure your not wasting your breath, you call back out, “Hidia, I’ve got electric and fuel lines leading to the rear of the ship down here”.

“What size and arrangement?” she calls back. “Any breaks you can see, or gaps, anything like that?”

[1/2]
>>
>>2523151

“The electric’s about the same as the cables running out of the reactor down below; probably the highest rated wiring they had access to. The fuel lines are…” Getting closer and doing your best to hold the flashlight steady in your teeth, you do your best to get an approximation with just your hands, “Half a meter in diameter, approximately. No signs of damage from what I can see; hell, aside from the dust, this shit looks new”.

“Sketching! If nothing else, we HAVE to figure out how they managed to keep this stuff so preserved, seriously!” There’s the sound of steps above you and going to the other side, from what you can hear. “Whatever these are, definitely probably stuff for the engines. Heck, good start, I think!”

“‘Definitely probably’ she says...” Muttering under your breath briefly, you think it over for a bit before deciding on what to do. Reaching up to the edge of the grate, you utilize the nearby walls to push yourself out of the maintenance access and back into the bay, “Just gonna check the other side to make sure it’s the same, then I’m gonna look over the reactor”.

Not even bothering to drop down this time, just poking your head down and looking around for a few seconds after removing the grate on the other side of the room confirms your suspicion, so onto the reactor you go.

Since you’ve already looked at it from below, you pull yourself up and, after making sure you won’t slip off your perch, start digging around from the topside of the reactor, “It’s a bit smaller, they probably tried to lighten their weight wherever they could, than the other one, but the layout is the same: series of mana crystals set up so that the mana arcs between them, a conduit array to start it all up - missing like I said - , and a set of converters to turn the mana into electric to power the ship”.

“Hmmm. Wonder what would it take to replace that array…” she mumbles to herself as she sketches out the layout. “Maybe...hm, no, but I doubt I’d find the plates here...anyway!” She jerks her head up. “Let’s move on, shall we?”

“Yeah, let me see about those sigils,” Carefully dropping down, you walk over to where the unknown inscription is. A quick look over doesn’t tell you much, but you weren’t banking on that anyways.

Focusing inwards on drawing out your meger mana, you pull it out, manifesting in the usual display of gray smoking from your eyes and wrists, and light up the sigil.

> Roll me three 1d100+5’s please
>>
Rolled 17 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>2523155
>>
Rolled 27 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>2523155
>>
Rolled 26 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>2523155
here goes
>>
Beh.

And on that note, StoryT will be back shortly.
>>
Rolled 16 (1d100)

it begins
>>
>>2523161
>>2523162
>>2523164
I don’t think that sigil identification is John’s strong suit.
>>
>>2523237
i mean......we did it well enough earlier. Ahh well, you win some you lose some. Just have arch mage look at it later if it bothers us
>>
>>2523151
>Flashlight
Huh
>>
>>2523261
T-they exist...
>>
>>2523162

That's a 32, Failure.

Writin'
>>
>>2523155

The sigil in front of you fizzles for a second before the design appears before you. At first, you’re remind of the Conjure Fire Rune you’re very familiar with. The basic outline is similar, both in the setup of the etchings and in the equations contained within.

Unfortunately, that’s where your knowledge ends and the rest of the just turns into a mixed mess of letters in a long-dead language. Wincing from the onset of a minor headache, you release your spell and allow the smoke around you to dissipate.

Hidia tilts her head just over your shoulder. “Soooo? What’s the case?”

“No dice,” Taking a step back and thinking it over, you can’t help the frown that creases your face, “I can tell you that this Rune is similar to the one I used to make Yuna’s sword, but this one is far more advanced and the important parts are locked within a dead language”.

She makes a noise that’s kind of a gurgling moan as she steps back and lolls her head. “Awwwesome.” and then her head snaps up straight. “Okay! No big deal. I think. I hope. The fact that it’s got something to do with fire at least means we know it’s likely something to do with combustion...or heating...or melting. Maybe some sort of fusio-okay no I don’t know.” The more she talks, the less confident she sounds. Breathing a deep sigh, she closes her eyes, thinking hard. “Okay, so...hmm. Chances are we can come back to it, can’t we? You don’t think this is gonna end up being ultra-vital, do you? Maybe if we can get the surrounding systems online...”

Thinking about it, you just shrug, “We could also check out where the fuel lines lead. The Rune I use utilizes oxygen in the air to create flame. If this ship uses something similar, it’d probably use something a bit more powerful than just the surrounding air; I’d bet it uses our mystery fuel”.

The way her eyes light up is worrisome. “...YES. We CAN do that! Onwards!”

Once more into the breach…

> Roll me four 1d100+30’s please
>>
Rolled 88 + 30 (1d100 + 30)

>>2523357
>>
Rolled 98 + 30 (1d100 + 30)

>>2523357
>>
Rolled 13 + 30 (1d100 + 30)

>>2523357
bring back johns luck
>>
>>2523395
Well be flying in no time. Let's see them steal the ship when it is flying around blowing things up.
>>
Rolled 74 + 30 (1d100 + 30)

>>2523357

Gonna roll one more time in case of a nat 1.
>>
>>2523395

That's a 128, Great Success.

Writin'
>>
>>2523357

Leading the way once more, you make sure to duck your head enough to not give yourself a concussion before traveling down the maintenance tunnel, the flashlight in your hand illuminating enough to let you walk without fear of tripping. The silent tunnels continue for a ways, probably giving room between the engines and the engineering bay to prevent the spread of damage, only broken up by your quiet footfalls. Hidia doesn’t say anything, not making a sounds aside from the occasion ‘ooh’ as more and more of the guts of the ship are revealed. Relatively quickly, you come to a reinforced door that, despite the darkness enveloping you, you easily find the way to open it and step through.

The room you enter into isn’t as large as the engineering bay, though that’s likely due to the fact that this is the only part that has human access, but the sight of this portion of the ship’s engines gives you pause. They appear to alternate, the heavy electrical cables running to all while the fuel lines connect to half of them, and you note that the ones running off of power alone are massive turbines from what little of the insides you can see.

Hidia’s jaw drops slightly as she takes it all in. “...Did we just find the ship’s central thrust? Like, the actual, factual primary engine area? Because it looks like it. What with the turbines and all.” She’s speaking oddly calmly, but a glance over shows that her face is...twitchy. Like she’s trying to not laugh.

“Well, I’m not exactly an expert in avionics, but this looks like it yeah,” Looking around the area, you spot something that probably won’t help with the elf’s current condition, “You wanna take a look inside? There’s the access point they probably used for repairs”.

She’s off almost before you finish the sentence. Giggling like she’s being tickled, the hatch is unlatched quickly enough and she practically dives in. Sighing to yourself slightly, you follow.

The first thing you note is the odd way that sound is warped while in here, though the simple fact that you’re currently standing inside a massive metal cylinder probably is the cause. The second thing you note is the set of turbines that take up the majority of the space in front of you. Naturally, Hidia’s already looking them over like a child with a new toy.

“Try not to lose a finger now,” Calmly approaching lest you startle her while she’s touching the sharpened metal, you examine the machine alongside the hyperactive elf. From what you can see, the components are practically flawless despite how old they are.

[1/2]
>>
>>2523545

[2/2]

“It’s fiiiiine,” she waves off. “I know what I’m doing. Mostly. But anyway are you seeing this? These four box things on the sides...they kinda look like what I recognize as regulators, but in miniature! Normally they’re like, half a person’s size, but these could fit in my palm! How they managed to miniaturize the gear I have like ZERO idea and really want to find out.” She nearly does a dance on the spot as you can guess she’s having a lot of thoughts about it. “We HAVE to figure out how to get this tub running now. Anything sticking out at you?”

Running your hand across the framework running from the walls of the cylinder to where the turbines are secured in the center, you do note something interesting, “Look at the support struts; whoever designed this specifically ran the electrical cables through them to keep the lines away from the blades. The blades themselves are also damn near perfect, so whatever treatment the did to the metal preserved them. Unless there’s hairline fractures that I’m missing, it should function without an issue”.

Again she seems to cool off as she starts to think. “Hmm...uuugh, I wanna just feed it some power and see what happens now, but without that array…”

“Yeah, that’s gonna be a pain to work around…” Looking further down, you note that the end opens up, “There’s something I want to check out first though”.

Without waiting for a response, you duck past the turbine blades, making sure not to cut yourself, and walk up to the edge. There’s not much to see straight ahead, as there’s a bulkhead a few dozen meters away, but that’s not exactly why you’re here in the first place. Getting down flat on your stomach, ignoring the fact that you’re likely well and truly covered in dust at this point, you get your upper body as far out into the open air as you dare before looking into the opening of the engine directly below you. Like you guessed, it’s one of the fuel-based ones; the fact that your hand comes away covered in black upon touching the interior is overkill.

Squinting to see what you can, you can just about make out a group of nozzles located in the furthest part of the setup and strung out around them are several of the Runes you were unable to puzzle out, “Well, would ya look at that…”

“Lookit what? What are we doin down there?”

“I figured out what those fuel lines are for: whatever it is gets sprayed into the engine before getting ignited; still don’t know what it is or how they got it to work, but that’s that,” To prove the point, you pull yourself back up and show the black residue that stains your hand to the elf. She just stares at it, as if trying to make heads or tails of things.

You don’t blame her.

Now what?
> Go work on restoring the mana reactor
> Go check in with Miranda, give her an update
> Go check in with the hangar team, see what they’re up to
> Other
>>
>>2523549
>> Go work on restoring the mana reactor
>>
>>2523549
>> Go work on restoring the mana reactor
>>
>>2523549
>> Go work on restoring the mana reactor
>>
It's time John earned that degree in rocket surgery
>>
>>2523549
> Go work on restoring the mana reactor
>>
>>2523133
>>2523080
Now that i think about it, Jago would be the perfect robot/midget/pirate/pimp.
>>
>>2523549
>> Go work on restoring the mana reactor
>>
>>2523599
>>2523575
>>2523571
>>2523559

Let's get to work folks.

> Roll me three 1d100+37's please
>>
Rolled 9 + 37 (1d100 + 37)

>>2523636
>>
Rolled 40 + 37 (1d100 + 37)

>>2523636
>>
>>2523639
aight I'm just rolling like ass today, and there's enough anon's to take over.
>>
Rolled 96 + 37 (1d100 + 37)

>>2523636
>>
>>2523650
eeeeeeh guys. almost a crit.
>>
Rolled 4 + 37 (1d100 + 37)

>>2523636
>>
>>2523650

That's a 133, Success.

Writin'
>>
>>2522605
We have an airship. We'll fly out.

Mana leak could be a good way to clear out all those annoying back entries.
>>
>>2523782
maybe we shouldn't tamper too much with the advanced tech that could lead to our death.
>>
>>2523782
>We have an airship. We'll fly out.
eeh, i think not. I doubt we even have the minimum crew required for that.
>>
>>2523798
>>2523782
that and our job is to secure the place until the rest of our mobs group gets here. and we'd need to figure out from the underground.
>>
>>2523813
Nebula buster solves all problems
>>
>>2523797
> Owlia intensifies
>>
>>2523876
>whipping out the rolled up newspaper intensifies
>>
>>2523901
> You've activated my Cyclica trap card for threatening Owlia!
>>
>>2523549

The mere idea of hearing this machine run hot sends shivers down your spine, a wide grin grows across your face as you speak up, “Hidia, I say it’s about time we make this baby purr”.

“Yeeeeessssss…” she grins. “It’s gotta happen. It’s SO gotta happen.”

“Back to the engineering bay it is,” Wiping the black residue off your hand as best you can, the two of you carefully make your way out of the engine, then the engine cluster.

Navigating the maintenance corridor is easy enough, though you need to help the elf through the grate since she’s practically buzzing with excitement at this point. Pulling yourself up afterwards, you make your way over to where the missing conduit array is supposed to be.

From what you can see, the subsystem was clearly cut out of the structure which, while confusing as all hell, makes your job a lot easier as the cables leading out of it are still intact. Now, all that remains is to figure out how you’re going to get enough mana to warm the reactor up…

Using one of the girls as a jump-starter again is probably a trick that won’t work twice, nevermind the fact that putting one of the mercs out of commission is likely something Essie won’t appreciate. And that’s when inspiration hits you, “Hidia, do me a favor and grab my reactor from wherever your boss has it”.

“On it!” And with that she scampers out of the room. It’s only a couple of minutes before she’s back, cradling the thing like a child as best she can.

“Good, bring it over here,” Crouching down beside the mess you’ve made of the wiring, you motion towards a relatively free area, “Now, normally I wouldn’t consider this to be possible but since you and your girlfriend showed me how to make cabling capable of conducting mana directly, I figured that we could put that to use”. Taking the surviving and smaller reactor from the elf, you start working on connecting the custom-made ‘crystal-infused’ cables to the ship’s.

It seems here Hidia cottons on to your plan. “Oooh, you’re going to use it as a temporary battery? I mean, depending on the capacity that won’t last forever, but it should be enough to get things circulating!”

“Once we get this warmed up, we won’t need to generate more additional mana than what’ll be lost in the system. Of course, this is going to take a while, especially if we start bringing all of the systems online. But, hey, whatever it takes yeah?” The first glaring issue is that the cables on your end aren’t anywhere near as large as the one leading to the ship’s reactor, though that problem is solved by splitting the larger’s cables into its component strands. A quick test to confirm that the wires, and your reactor as you switch it off, are indeed cold before you begin splicing your reactor’s cable’s for them to entwine.

[1/3]
>>
>>2523956

In the meantime Hidia’s just kind of bouncing from one foot to another, although she occasionally takes the time to dart off here and there, usually sketching something else about the ship layout, and a couple of times she leaves the room entirely, telling you she’s going upstairs. Part of you wants to stop her, but she insists she’s just going to ‘look at a few things’, and she tends to return rather quickly, often immediately returning to her sketches- which part of the parchment for by now seems largely just for random notes.

Getting to the final part, actually getting the wires hot. You don’t have full access to your supplies, if you did you’d be more liberal in the use of insulation here, but just like you did back in Airgrid you’re going to have to make due. One last check over, you hold your breath and flip the switch. The dull hum of your reactor comes back on, though it’s extremely muted due to just how high of a draw is being pull through the cables.

Not wanting to get ahead of yourself, you make sure to check up on the rest of the system before letting out your breath, “Well, shit, I think it’s working”.

“NYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!” And finally she lets it out; a squeaking, high pitched laugh that makes you want to sigh, run, and maybe find a newspaper all at once. “YES! ANCIENT OR NOT, SCIENCE REIGNS SUPREME!”

“Lucid, elf; stay lucid…” Maybe if you ignore her she’s go back to normal… ish. You somewhat miss Sarah’s mostly grounded nature, “And this was engineering and electrical, but whatever…”

[2/3]
>>
>>2523960

[3/3]

“But now comes the FUN part!” She grins a bit too widely. “Well, fun-ER! Because now we get to mess with the SYSTEMS! Now we can see what it all does IN ACTION!”

Looking over the ship’s reactor, you frown at the bare hint of a glow coming from only one of the crystal set, “Maybe we’ll get one online in an hour or so. If we press the reactor too early, it’ll just drain the circuit and we’ll be back at square one”.

And just like that, she freezes in place, then all the energy seems to drain like water out a sink. “Aww. Boo. I mean it makes sense, but...boo. So what do we do for now?”

“Well, I’m sure your boss would want to know that we haven’t completely fucked the ship’s electrical systems in the process of restoring power,” Standing up from where you’ve been stuck for close to two hours of work, you do a quick stretch to get all the kinks out of your back, “Other than that, I dunno? Put our feet up? Have a pint? See what the group exploring the hangar is up to?”

“Mmmm...I DO wanna see what else is around the hangar,” she mutters. “So I gueeeessss…”

> Go check in with Essie, she’ll want to know what you’ve done and learned
> Go see what the team in the hangar have found
> Go hang out on the top of the ship, might as well take a break while you can
> Other
>>
>>2523963
>> Go see what the team in the hangar have found
>>
>>2523963
>"You want to see what we can get up to with what's left of my EXO and whatever we scrounged off the mercs and mages?"
>>
>>2523963
>> Go see what the team in the hangar have found
>>
>>2523981
>>2523963
This.
>>
>>2523963
> Other
Sketch our a plan with Hidia to make an improved version of the EXO suit. This time it'll have two- no, FOUR power crystals.
>>
>>2523963
> Go see what the team in the hangar have found
>>
>>2523963
>> Go see what the team in the hangar have found
>>
>>2523964
>>2523981
>>2523988
>>2523992
>>2523993
>>2523998
>>2524011

See what Hidia's ideas on EXO improvements are, then check in with the hangar team.

Writin'
>>
>>2523963

“We should go see what the team looking around the hangar have gotten up to. With the power back on, that bulkhead Froste and I found should be able to be opened by now,” Dusting your hands off as best you can, then trying and giving up on your shirt, you walk over to the small workshop to make sure you won’t leave anything behind, “Actually, now that I think about it, your letter had some mention of thoughts on rebuilding my EXO; what was that all about?”

“Oooooh yeah, that thing, the thing I wanted to do because- yeah! So yeah it kinda depressed me to see it all messed up like that and I started thinking ‘Wow, I wonder if it would’ve held up better if it had a micro-filament inner coat to help diffuse the energy of the blasts’ and, well, you know me! Sorta. Not really, you don’t. Point is, I know you’re probably pretty bummed too, so I started thinking about how maybe I could improve it!” She’s got a small smile on now, something a bit more humble...in a way. “I mean, if you wanna, it was your baby! But I’d already kinda started on some sketches an’ ideas and all that soooo yeah. Like, I probably wouldn’t be able to stick around to help you with it directly, but I figured I could maybe finish the basic ideas an’ blueprints and if you were wondering how to do something like maybe mine or yours or both, I could leave some notes and that might help?” The way she rapid-fires it out her mouth is a bit more shrill and nervous than usual.

Fuckin’ hell, how long were you unconscious for, a couple of hours or a week? Whatever, “Well, it was ‘my baby’, but it’s also currently a pile of scrap in a corner with it’s reactor hooked up to an airship so old it predates most civilizations, so I’m back to the drawing board at this point. There’s a few glaring faults in the design that I need to address, mainly the fact that the arm and leg servos can be blown off, but when we get back to Shirahoro we can work on making a new one. And for the mirco-filament coating, that’ll need a bit more industry than I’ve got so far; can’t make something that small with a forging hammer”.

“Pah.” She looks around. “All things considered, we might find something for it right in here…” But she shrugs. “Alright, alright. C’mon, I wanna go see what honey’s found. She’s always been good at findin’ stuff.”

“‘Honey’?” Snorting lightly, you motion for her to follow you as you leave room.

“Hey, she’s hard to nickname!” Hidia grouses.

> Roll me three 1d100’s please
>>
Rolled 4 (1d100)

>>2524099
>>
Rolled 10 (1d100)

>>2524099
>>
Rolled 14 (1d100)

>>2524099
>>
>>2524133

Well, that's not very good.

And, sadly, this is where Handler and I gotta run for the night. See you all later.
>>
>>2524099
> Honey

Because Cylica is so sweet?
>>
>>2524099
>can’t make something that small with a forging hammer
>not adding runes to the hammer so it could
>>
Rolled 28 (1d100)

>>2524099
>>
File: tn_1235245586270.jpg (28 KB, 600x491)
28 KB
28 KB JPG
>>2524133
>>2524105
>>2524102
>>
I remember there was supposed to be at least three groups of others trying to lay claim to this place. anyone remember who we're waiting on now?
>>
>>2524200
So far we had the ordinary guys and mage guys, so I guess that leaves the big guys in heavy gear coming for us
>>
Rolled 16 (1d100)

>>2524099
>>2524193
I bet I would have found something.
>>
Rolled 54 (1d100)

>>2524102
>>2524105
>>2524133
>>2524483
>>
Rolled 16 (1d100)

>>
Rolled 33, 75, 89, 45, 3, 19, 43, 3, 18, 90, 35, 31, 70, 5, 41, 87, 81, 68, 80, 28 = 944 (20d100)

Time to try purging the dice.
>>
>>2525061
How absolutely mediocre.
>>
Looks like a whole lot of nothing.
>>
>>2524102
>>2524105
>>2524133
I'm guessing the big ass door opens up to another big ass door powered by a separate reactor. All the better to contain the blight.
>>
Rolled 26, 17, 39, 42, 50, 8, 24, 99, 11, 14, 93, 78, 15, 68, 49, 34, 44, 44, 23, 78 = 856 (20d100)

also purging the dice, this: >>2525061 looks suspicious
>>
Rolled 83, 91, 14, 37, 58, 1, 96, 43, 44, 96, 44, 64, 36, 6, 64, 53, 89, 17, 62, 66 = 1064 (20d100)

>>2525061
>>2527398
>944 and 856
Let me show you how it's done
>>
Rolled 4, 66, 50, 87, 72, 60, 93, 44, 85, 11, 66, 51, 94, 56, 15, 91, 32, 72, 41, 76 = 1166 (20d100)

>>2527398
>>2527405
>>
And we're back.

>>2525596

Wouldn't that be hilarious?

>>2527713
>>2527405
>>2527398
>>2525061
>>2525027
>>2525002
>>2524483

... Let's hope your luck fairs better today eh?
>>
>>2524099

Walking through the twisting labyrinth that makes up the corridors of the airship you’re on, you’re navigating towards the nearest exit for a few minutes, Hidia still a bit stuffed at you, before she responds back to your thin smirk, “Alright, smartass, what’s a better nickname than ‘honey’? Hmm?”

Glancing over at the elf, who’s lightly glaring at you, you just shrug, “Dunno; she’s your girlfriend”.

“And say she was yo- actually, scratch that, or say if you had one?”

“I mean, I just call her by her name”.

The sound of footfalls is all that fills the space between you, until the elf besides you processes your words, “Ooooh… Is she pretty? Have you kissed her? Do you looove her?”

Walking over to what was dubbed an ‘airlock’ by the mercs, you pull it open, “Yes, yes, and yes”.

“Aww,” Stepping through the doorway with you, you patiently wait for the door to close behind you, “C’mon, you can’t stop there! How did you meet? What’s she like? Any plans on making things… serious?”

You blankly stare back as Hidia wiggles her eyebrows suggestively at you, opening the door to outside the ship before motioning for her to go through, “I believe you’re supposed to answer those questions as well, elf”.

Her mouth closes with an audible ‘pap’ as she momentarily stills. When she opens it again, the image of a rusty door reluctantly creaking open flashes through your mind. “Uhhhhhh…yeeaaahhhh...I mean, she’s...dedicated. And REALLY smart. And strong and nice and...actually, y’know it’s just amazing how she’s been through what she has and she still keeps going forward…” oh, wait, that’s more usual. “...and I can’t tell you everything ‘cause that’s kinda her story as much as mine but let’s just say back home people didn’t like her but I understood her and she understood me. And after everything we’ve been through absolutely but if you tell her that I will ACTUALLY try to maybe kill you even though you’re cool.”

Processing the flat out pile of information Hidia just dumped on top of you, you just nod in response, “Fair enough. Anyways, I met Sierra back when I used to wander the Badlands. That’s a fairly long and boring story, so I’ll just hurry up to the meat of it. She used to run a bar out of this shithole of a town, mixing drinks for travelers like myself and the absolute drunks of guards that ran the place. We hit things off well enough, and she helped me get a job to get some extra coin in my pocket. Things went fine for about a day and a half, then…” You trail off there, just looking out into nothing as you remember the absolute shitshow that was that day. “A job went poorly, a few things led to another, and a Blight incursion reared its ugly head within the span of an hour or two”.

[1/3]
>>
>>2529811

“...Hmm.” is all she can get out, wearing an oddly pensive look. “Nature again, huh…”

“Anyways, we escaped dying horrifically, headed for Shirahoro, and things went from there,” Snapping back into focus, you start walking down what’s left of the catwalks to get to the hangar floor, “As for kissing? Yeah. And for going serious? Eh… Gonna try”.

“That’s good…” she says, and her voice sounds a bit far away. “...y’know, I wanna kinda do what you’re doing. Eventually. I wanna open a shop. A crystal shop. With her.” A soft smile is on her face now. “Something with two floors. We’ll have our personal quarters on the second floor, and a personal lab in the back. And it’ll be great because we’re both really good at it and we’ll have lots of customers and everything.”

“It’s a smart move to make, opening your own shop that is. Little different from wandering the land living by the skin of your teeth and the weight of your coin purse, but definitely worth it. If I can give you any advice, it’s to make sure you’ve got enough coin to cover the overhead of starting out and don’t skimp out on security,” Frowning to yourself, you just sigh at the memory of that entire fiasco.

“Ahaha, thanks! I’ll remember that. But...” you can start to hear voices across the hangar already? “I...did say eventually. Essie made me a promise. Something me and her intend to collect on first.”

It’s a relatively quiet walk from then on… Not particularly a long one, given how you spot the team that was exploring the hangar, namely Froste herself as you can hear her from here, walking towards you.

“And these precursors or WHATEVER they might’ve called themselves MUST be completely single-minded, if that’s all they have, the entirely dull louts! There’s certainly something to be said for too much focus- and REALLY, did we HAVE to make THREE laps around the area? I can understand being thorough, to be sure, but we DO all have well functioning eyes and can see when there’s nothing TO see!” Her voice sure carries over the distance clearly enough. “I mean I’d even be far less frustrated if there were at LEAST some sort of ruined objects, but ohhhhh absolutely NOT, can’t have anything to distract from our massive ship that we probably built and then IMMEDIATELY DIED AFTER MAKING, clearly!”

[2/3]
>>
>>2529818

[3/3]

Looking over at Hidia, who you note is blankly staring at the scene in front of you, you can’t help the light amusement that tints your voice, “Maybe you should go talk to your… ‘Honey’”.

“Yes that WOULD be a good idea,” she quickly admits, scampering ahead.

Following behind, you snort lightly at the looks of relief on the rest of the group’s faces when the gal catches the posh elf’s attention, neatly shifting her focus off of them. They must have found nothing but dust to get her that riled up…

“Heeeeey, sooo, did you have a nice walk?” she asks as she comes up, even leaning on her a bit with an overly large smile.

“No. There was nothing. NOTHING. A VOID. BEREFT OF INTEREST. HOURS WALKING AND NOTHING.” Without warning, she grabs Hidia’s wrist, and immediately begins to drag her off.

“Oh okay so then you’re in one a those moods okay yeah I can help!” her voice fades as she head off to...well, you’re not sure, but not quite the direction of the ship.

After watching the two of them walk off, you turn to the rest of the group, who appear to be awkwardly standing there.

> “So, no luck?”
> “Damn precursors, eh?”
> “The ship’s power is back up”
> Other
>>
>>2529822
>The ship's power is back up
So that's how you calm down a raging elf.
>>
>>2529822
>> “The ship’s power is back up”
Is there going to be a chance to check on the industrial area?
>>
>>2529822
>> “The ship’s power is back up”

>Essie made me a promise. Something me and her intend to collect on first.”
That... doesn't ring a bell.
>>
>>2529822
>> “The ship’s power is back up”
Eh, we got some goo news at least
>>
>>2529873
>>2529867
>>2529846
>>2529840

Guess what we did?

Writin'
>>
>>2529867
They were big fish in a small pond. We promised to show them the ocean.
>>
>>2529997
What quest are these girls from? After this much interaction I'm interesting in knowing more about them.
>>
>>2530032
Magical Girl for Hire
>>
>>2530032
Magical Girl for Hire
>>
>>2529997
Ah, right. Part of our recruitment effort.

Magical Girl For Hire Quest, by Handler/MGHandler
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Magical%20Girl%20For%20Hire%20Quest
>>
>>2530086
>>2530120
Thanks
>>
File: Spoiler Image (561 KB, 875x573)
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>>2529822

There’s an awkward pause as no one is quite certain on where to go from here, so you decide to break the silence, “We managed to get the ship’s reactor working again. Gonna take a while to full warm up, especially if we start turning the systems back on”.

“You did a hell of a lot better than us,” Gladiator responds with a bit of a sigh, idly brushing dust from his hands, “Nothing was left in the offices that we could find, not even cobwebs”.

Even Emma looks a bit put out, “How was that anyway? Anything cool?”

“The ship’s got some pretty serious engines on it, and from what I saw there’s minimal damage from the years of disuse so that’ll simplify things,” Shrugging slightly, you glance over to where the elves in question have walked off, “Your friend Hidia went a bit nuts when I jury rigged it back to working condition, but other than that it was kinda cool”.

“Yeeeeaah, that sounds about right.” Emma admits. So we’re gonna have the thing under our command?”

“With any luck, all the systems will still be in order and we’ll be able to co-”

At that moment, your line of thought ceases at the sound of something splattering behind you. Something so familiar, so burned into the essence of your being that you can’t mistake it for anything else.

Turning around slowly, you see black, thick ichor dripping down the remains of the stairwell that you took to enter this Ruin, beginning to cover the twisted remains of the catwalk in that area.

Something slams into that pile of metal, and your world narrows down to the nightmarish amalgamation of rotting flesh, filling the air with its pungent smell, visible bone, and vaguely human skull that’s been elongated past the point of breaking.

“What the FUCK?” from someone- maybe Emma- cuts through the sounds of your shuddering breaths for a moment, before vanishing once again.

A ringing fills your ears, a throbbing pain thunders in your head, and your back burns away at your being until all that’s left of the world is yourself and the abomination in front of you.

The Blight… is here.

> Roll me three 1d100+5’s please
>>
Rolled 58 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>2530151
Burn it!
>>
Rolled 56 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>2530151
Here we go!
>>
Rolled 64 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>2530151
THAT'S BLIGHT, USE FIRE, FUCK FUCK FUCK
>>
Yeah, we're gonna regret not having plasma flamethrowers.
>>
Rolled 83, 8 + 5 = 96 (2d100 + 5)

>>2530151

[BLIGHT ACTIVITY]
>>
>>2530179
Or even just the conventional one we passed over for some reason. Mono's got the plasma carbine, which should hopefully should for something.
>>
>>2530172

That's a 69 vs 88, Failure.

Writin'
>>
>>2530188
>even just the conventional one we passed over for some reason
Something about not needing it, we'll be fine, we don't need that much preparation.
>>
>>2530179
>>2530188
>>2530193
Fuck I hope there is some character death so you salty assholes really have something to whine about.
Just be happy that we remembered our bleach filled water pistol.
>>
>>2530209
But why? That's just getting lost, and blaming the people who told you to get a map and compass for telling you to get a map and compass now that it turns out you should have gotten them.
>>
>>2530151
Oh no... i guess they came after the mana.
>>
File: BlightDirewolf2.png (720 KB, 875x646)
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>>2530151

The Abomination in front of you leaps off of the pile of rubble, it’s vaguely human shaped claws clicking against the metal floor before it stops, opens its mouth, and unleashes a roar that’s more in line with the screaming of mortal men than a plague-born nightmare.

The wave of sound hits you, nearly forcing you to your knees as the pain rushing through your skull multiplies over and over again. Ringing ears, darkening vision, and numbing limbs cripple you until the roar fades. Blinking rapidly to try to clear your mind, you look up just in time for the Blight Direwolf to crash into you.

Biting back a scream as sharpened claws tear into your sides, opening fresh wounds as they go through your shirt like its not there and sending pain lancing through your chest as it tightens its grip, you get your hands up in time to push its maw away from your head. Even as it starts to break your ribs, even as the Blight covering it’s disgusting body burns the palms of your hands where you shove against it, you desperately avoid its snarling, snapping jaws from ending your broken, pitiful life.

Then, it’s struggles against you end with a blur impaling it through the side of its skull followed up by three bright flashes of light impact, heat suddenly flaring over your body. The grips crushing you are quickly removed, leaving only the dull, numb burning that’s beginning to become more and more apparent to you in their place, and you feel yourself being dragged backwards over the cold floor by someone holding your shoulders. Vaguely, as if it’s kilometers away, you can hear two somewhat familiar voices yelling.

“...ss, no…”

“Rig… LL… OW…”

Even in your condition, you can hear the additional chilling roars of more abominations coming. That feeling of motion ends, the back of your head coming to a rest against a sheet of metal before the distant voices vanish.

The growing burning against your sides continues, a throbbing that increases in tempo until it surpasses the thundering of your heart. Then, another pain erupts from somewhere deep within, the feeling of power filling your veins and already beginning to push away the burning.

But, even as it does, you can feel this new feeling pushing itself out to every corner of your being. Against your own will, your numb palms begin to force yourself to your feet.

> Roll me three 1d100’s please; good luck
>>
Rolled 35 (1d100)

>>2530303
>>
Rolled 24 (1d100)

>>2530303
GOD WILLS IT!
>>
Someone..save us!
>>
Rolled 11 (1d100)

>>2530303
>>
>>2530315
>>2530321
>>2530328
>>
>>2530315

That's a 35, Failure.

Yikes

Writin'
>>
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>>2530315
>>2530321
>>2530328
So....John's undergoing Blight infection?
Because didn't Archmage say that Blight infection by the higher forms is contact-based?
>>
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>>2530336
>>2530350
Think of it as a learning opportunity instead of a failure
>>
>>2530354
I don’t think you can learn to beat the RNG gods. They giveth, and they taketh away.
>>
>>2530377
I meant in terms of interacting with the blight
>>
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>>2530338
>>
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>>2530303

Power thrums through your veins, forcing your legs to move outside of your will as well. One by one, you lose control over yourself, slowly pushing yourself onto your knees.

That same feeling of warmth swells along your chest, coming to a head until sharp, agonizing pain lances out from them. Control returns to you for a barest second, making you aware of the holes now present in your sides, leaking blood and black, inky smoke in equal measure. Your eyes widen, pupils shrinking into pricks, as the blackness pours out of your eyes and wrists, completely obscuring your view and plunging you into visions of oblivion. And then, you’re no longer deep within the depths of an ancient civilization’s ruin, an empty morgue containing no bodies.

You’re in the middle of cobblestone streets, under a sky black as sin, as the world around you crumbles. Screams cut off by the sounds of flesh being torn and bones being broken fill the air, accompanied by inhumane cries of victory and the scuttling of thousands of legs and claws and sludge against sundered stone.

The ability to breathe vanishes from you, as your clouded mind comes to the realization that you’re Not John. There’s no scars from years of work adorning your hands and arms, none of the muscle in your legs from the mindless wandering of your time in the Badlands, and none of the strength that comes with the experience and expertise you have as John.

You’re Not John, and you’re in Westmire where there are no nightmares; only reality.

And that’s where you see the Abomination towering over you, a thing with too many eyes and too many limbs and too many sharp bits that stares at you, you pitiful wretched black-blood, that can do nary a thing against the Crawling Chaos, the Endless Ocean of Black. It approaches and raises a single claw, tearing the limb through the back of Not John and forcing a broken, shuttering scream from his lips.

> You have obtained: 1 CORRUPTION POINT!
>>
Oh no
>>
>>2530420
>1 CORRUPTION POINT
That doesn't sound good.

What does this mean for the SES girls?
>>
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>>2530420
is this good or bad ?
Maybe we can smith stuffs using Cthulhu powers in the near future
>>
>>2530434
>>2530447
It just means that the blight wound on Johns back just got bigger. And with it, the stronger likelihood that John will become a higher form blight monster. I’m sure it’s not a problem.
>>
>>2530420

You are Miranda Styles, and the first sign that you got that something horribly, horribly wrong was happening was the cold spike of dread that punched into your gut a bit ago.

The second was getting a panicked call from Mono about twenty seconds after that. It lasted no more than five seconds, and consisted entirely of the wolf-girl screaming at you to get to the surface access as soon as possible before cutting the connection. You’d immediately turned to Izumi, who was already taking off, and you made sure to leap after her after a singular shout to follow to the others who wouldn’t be able to keep up.

Keeping Izumi barely in your sights, it takes the two of you a few more leaps than you’d prefer- you have to be careful to not hit your head in some off the narrower tunnels- but you’re back in the hangar in just under a minute. What you see, though, makes you grit your teeth in frustration and more than a bit of worry.

Gladiator and Mono are bare meters away from what’s left of the catwalks leading to the surface, battling against a group of wolf-like creatures, their bodies dripping with a thick, black ichor that’s collecting on the floor in a growing pool. Thanks to some mildly-impressive swordsmanship and a plasma carbine, the two of them are holding the horde back, but you can see them slowly losing ground to it.

The decision to help them is an easy one, and you’re about to throw yourself into the fray when a broken, shuddering scream rocks the hangar, several of the floodlights in the ceiling flickering ominously. Despite the pain prevalent throughout it, you recognize it as John’s voice immediately and lock eyes with a churning mass of inky black smoke, with the hunched over form of the Aritificer only barely visible within it. After a few seconds, you can almost make out something forming within the shifting mass, but you’re too far away to know for sure.

“What on…” Izumi starts, but she quickly changes the topic. “Who gets who?!” she asks quickly.

You don’t exactly have time to think on it.

>Relieve the Gladiator and Mono from the horde; Izumi’s got the agility to avoid whatever this corrupted presence can dish out.
>Handle John; you’re going to need to make certain he doesn’t wreck the building. Izumi can help cut down the legion.
>>
>>2530486
>>Relieve the Gladiator and Mono from the horde; Izumi’s got the agility to avoid whatever this corrupted presence can dish out.
>>
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Handler and I have to end things here, sadly. We'll be around to run tomorrow, so see you all then.

>>2530447

Who can say?

>>2530428

Oh yes.

>>2530434

Another nail in the 'escort mission' coffin?

>>2530468

> pic related
>>
>>2530486
>>Relieve the Gladiator and Mono from the horde; Izumi’s got the agility to avoid whatever this corrupted presence can dish out.
We're a frontline bruiser, we're make for getting stuck in. So let's get stuck in.
>>
>>2530486
>Relieve the Gladiator and Mono from the horde; Izumi’s got the agility to avoid whatever this corrupted presence can dish out.

TIME TO cast MAGIC missile into the darkness!
>>
>>2530486
>Relieve the Gladiator and Mono from the horde; Izumi’s got the agility to avoid whatever this corrupted presence can dish out.
Well, shit.
>>
>>2530486
>Relieve the Gladiator and Mono from the horde; Izumi’s got the agility to avoid whatever this corrupted presence can dish out.
Miranda should set up Light Barriers to provide Mono and Gladiator cover, as well as using magi-beams and magi-waves to cut down the encroaching Blight.
>>
>>2530490
>>Another nail in the 'escort mission' coffin?
“Yeah, last thing we need is to go ahead and catch that nerd’s cooties.”
>>
So. looking over the pastebin
https://pastebin.com/u/MGFHQHandler

our options are a little thin for AoE. We've got charged Magi-blasts, and Nebula Blaster, but that's about it. We should look into picking up some various grenades on the next reasonable world. Much cheaper than Intersection prices, especially for consumables.

Hey, we've still got the elemental gun with firestones, right? Might be useful here.
Side note, I think the pastebin inventory is out of date
>>
>>2530486
>>Relieve the Gladiator and Mono from the horde; Izumi’s got the agility to avoid whatever this corrupted presence can dish out.

"Mono! Sing them away!!"
Literally have mono sing away the ground so they fall deep beneath the ship/earth

>>2530563
Miranda has the gravity Flamebringer and izumi has hers too
>>
>>2530563
We have about 50 shots of Fire, and then there's the Red stones that MIGHT be compatible with the pistols. We didn't take them out to a firing range to test them before we shipped out.

Multiple magi-waves may work here, as they're designed for fast moving targets.
>>
>>2530581
>"Mono! Sing them away!!"
That's a little out of her ability range, unfortunately. She's more about misdirection than major modifications like that. If we can buy her some breathing room though, she might be able to do what she's good at: support and tweaking the environment to our advantage.

>>2530587
Cool. I'm worried about containment though. Will these things reform if we just cut them down, considering their makeup?
>>
>>2530632
>That's a little out of her ability range, unfortunately.
Not really. We made passways out of thin air when we were in that challenge dungeon. The idea is the same, just that instead of going sideways, the paths go directly bellow.
>>
>>2530490
>other
Attempt to hold him inside a barrier?
I mean, it's costly in terms of mana, but if it works we probably wont have to worry abut the mechanic for some moment.
>>
>>2530563
Magi-wave is aoe too, and very effective at that. If the target can't dodge and has no magic defense it will cut them in half no problem. Making a wide swipe while channeling a magi-beam ought to work too.

>>2530486
+1 >>2530499

I suggest that Izumi prepares to encase John in her rajomon barrier
>>
>>2530486
>>Relieve the Gladiator and Mono from the horde; Izumi’s got the agility to avoid whatever this corrupted presence can dish out.
>>
>>2530486
>Relieve the Gladiator and Mono from the horde; Izumi’s got the agility to avoid whatever this corrupted presence can dish out.
>>
>>2530486
>Handle John; you’re going to need to make certain he doesn’t wreck the building. Izumi can help cut down the legion.
Orbital ring.
>>
>>2531142
>>2531108
>>2531020
>>2530581
>>2530499
>>2530498
>>2530497
>>2530494

Head first into the fight it is.

Writin'
>>
>>2530486

With only a split-second to make a decision, you point at the swirl of black smoke emanating from the downed Artificer, “Make sure he doesn’t destroy the hangar, and I’ll handle the rest”.

Izumi barely gets off a nod before she leaps off the catwalk, heading straight for John with a characteristic sense of purpose. You don’t pay her any more attention, as you focus entirely on what you’re certain is this ‘Blight’ you were warned of. Sprinting for where the destroyed section of the catwalk is, you’re beginning to understand what John meant when he said ‘you’ll know what it is when you see it’. The nightmare-ish mockery of wolves continue coming from the ruined stairway to the surface, bounding towards Gladiator and Mono, occasionally letting out howls that are more human than bestial.

Well, if they’re going to come in through a nice chokepoint for you…

Bounding across the grated metal, leaving dents in the already weakened structure, you channel twin magi-waves in your palms and you launch yourself into the fray. You punctuate your arrival by unleashing the first wave, sending blighted abominations scattering from the impact, neatly clearing away the ones after your partners, “Fall back! I can handle things from here!”

Mono and Gladiator take your advice damn near immediately, the mafia swordsman’s armor has been heavily splattered with ichor while the wolf-girl is several shades paler than what she should be, and they start falling back. Leaving you all alone to the wolves.

The clicking of claws against metal draws you back to where you they’re beginning to circle you, looking at your appearance with an uncanny intelligence that you can see even through their black as sin eyes. Of course, you sweep them away with a contemptuous ease utilizing your second wave. The wolves break against the force of your spell, bone and blackened flesh splattering against the floor, wreckage, and the walls.

You note, curiously enough, that their remains begin slowly dissolving into more of that black ichor that’s covering the floor. Clever, clever…

Still, the dripping darkness continues to encroach, punctuated by more lights in the hangar flickering. Looking behind you, you see more of your team arriving, attracted by the sounds of chaos, though only Izumi is anywhere near John’s obscured form, clearly trying to figure out something that she can do.

> Set up the turret and go see if you can help out with whatever is wrong with the Artificer
> You were told to burn this plague, time to clean up
> See if you can find the source of this incursion
> Other
>>
>>2534032
>You were told to burn this plague, time to clean up
And ask Emma is she can communicate with them ;^)
>>
>>2534032
>Set up the turret and go see if you can help out with whatever is wrong with the Artificer
>other: Form a Light Barrier at the door to the stairway to buy us some time.
>>
>>2534032
> You were told to burn this plague, time to clean up

Secure, Contain, Protect.
>>
>>2534032
>> Set up the turret and go see if you can help out with whatever is wrong with the Artificer
The turret was made for times like these. Besides, the blight here is just one part of many, and while burning it is nice it's not significant in the long term. John's condition however can leave permanent consequences unless something is done about it.
>>
>>2534155
Maybe I just don't want to leave the turret unattended.
>>
>>2534032
>> Other
> Set up the turret here
> You were told to burn this plague, time to clean up
>>
Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>2534182
>>2534155
>>2534069
>>2534063
>>2534045

Setting up the turret for one, where to go afterwards is up for debate.

Rolling to tie break:
1. Purge and Burn
2. Check up on John
>>
>>2534271

Burn the Unholy it is.

> Roll me four 1d100+30's please for how effective you are.
>>
Rolled 86 + 30 (1d100 + 30)

>>2534277
>>
Rolled 22 + 30 (1d100 + 30)

>>2534277
>>
Rolled 4 + 30 (1d100 + 30)

>>2534277
>>
Rolled 60 + 30 (1d100 + 30)

>>2534277
>>
>>2534296

That's a 126, Great Success.

Writin'
>>
>>2534032

Reaching into your Hyperspace Bag, you pull out the amalgamation of magitech and crystaltech that is the turret Owlia, Cylcia, and John created and, following the Artificer’s simple demo, set up the piece. The crystal mounted above the linked Clockwork Rifles pulses for a moment, before the entire system snaps onto target of another Blight Wolf that falls down into the hangar, before it’s blasted to pieces by two distinct bursts of automatic rifles.

With the simple but effective defensive emplacement set up, you pull out Flamebringer and, with the additional power of your Aura Channeling more fire into the blade, begin to eradicate the black ichor that’s been slowly intruding into the Ruin. Even with your helmet on, you can still smell the disgusting smoke that the plague gives off as it burns, nearly making your vomit when you first get a whiff of it, but you force the urge down as you walk forwards. The metal floor almost glows from the heat of your attack, though thankfully your armor protects you from it, and you begin charging up Flamebringer once more when you walk directly underneath the stairwell that brought you here in the first place.

Looking up, you’re greeted with the sight of even more Blight than before, covering everything from the stairs to all four of the metal walls that make up the vertical corridor. Seven of those horrific wolves stare down at you from their perches on the corrupted surfaces, all of them opening their mouths in preparation to pounce. Bringing up your blade, barely containing the raging inferno that your own mana has strummed up, you raise it straight up and unleash.

Bright orange and red flames, so hot you can hear the distinct cracks of ancient metal warping and failing over the too human screams, roar upwards and bathe everything in purifying flame.
Just to make sure, you hold the effect for ten seconds before you cut off the supply of mana you’ve been feeding it.

When the flames disperse, there’s nothing left of the Blight than smoke; not even the wolves have corpses left. All the way up to the surface, the metal staircase has been warped and broken in places, further ruining it as an accessway to the hangar for anything mortal. Taking a deep breath, you put your blade away and turn back, satisfied that you’ve done a thorough job.

[1/2]
>>
>>2534699

[2/2]

Returning to the other mess at hand, you approach Izumi who, still, is the only one near John, Gladiator and Mono looking on the scene nervously. “Any others?” you call out as you keep an eye on Izumi and John. He’s...more still than you were expecting, dropped to his knees, although the winding smoke emitting from him still gives you concerns. Izumi’s looking hard at him as well, her personal katana held at the ready.

“Nothing else got by,” Gladiator sounds almost exhausted, though you know that’s just from the adrenaline pumping into his veins, “Fucking Blight… Thanks for the help, by the way”.

“Scared the shit outta me, but at least this carbine thing works well enough,” Mono looks twitchy, her second set of ears flicking back and forth every few seconds, “Now there’s just…”

“He’s conflicted,” Izumi says loudly. “Fighting...something’s wrong.” Well, that was obvious, but Izumi’s brand of ‘wrong’ is worse than most…

Okay, okay, so the Artificer is making your Demon Slayer tick…

> Screw this; walk right up to him and see if you can snap him out of this… whatever the hell this is
> Go get Archmage; of anyone he’ll probably have the best idea of what’s happening
> Use Orbital Ring; you can’t be too careful in this case
> Just wait to see what happens- Izumi will handle it if things start getting bad.
> Other
>>
>>2534709
>Go get Archmage; of anyone he’ll probably have the best idea of what’s happening
>other: ask dutch and gladiator aw well on what's the situation with him and the corruption. Did it happen before?
>>
>>2534709
>Go get Archmage; of anyone he’ll probably have the best idea of what’s happening
Orbital Ring would be dangerous; we have no idea if he's strong enough in this state to break the Ring, and the resulting explosion would be disastrous.
>>
>>2534709
>> Go get Archmage; of anyone he’ll probably have the best idea of what’s happening
Definitely not Orbital Ring; it's expensive, and the failsafe is rather... dramatic for this case.
>>
>>2534709
>> Screw this; walk right up to him and see if you can snap him out of this… whatever the hell this is
While Archmage undoubtedly knows more, I don't remember him being able to do anything for John's condition
>>
>>2534709
>> Go get Archmage; of anyone he’ll probably have the best idea of what’s happening
Izumi should be able to hold him off if he get's rowdy. Hopefully Archmage has a means of snapping him out of it, or the discretion to determine whether or not we need to mercy kill him.
>>
>>2534709
>Go get Archmage; of anyone he’ll probably have the best idea of what’s happening
>>
Rolled 13, 58, 40 = 111 (3d100)

>>2534801
>>2534818
>>2534837
>>2534856
>>2534959

Go find the Archmage it is.

Writin'

Also:
>>2534709

[??E?? ACTIVITY]
>>
>>2534709

The options weigh heavily in your mind, but one, involving the man who summoned you here in the first place, sticks in your mind, “Archmage? Where is Archmage? Out of anyone, he should know what’s going on here, right?” You end your question by looking over directly at Gladiator, the tone of your voice demanding some kind of answer to what’s going on here.

He looks between you and John, taking one last deep breath before answering, “There was… there was once before that this happened. We were fighting a vampire patriarch for the first time, things were going poorly, then he did…. this and managed to save my life in the process. He was lucid then, and came out of it on his own, so perhaps he’ll do the same now?”

As if in response, there’s another brief flare of force as the shadows lash out, the sudden and overwhelming smell of ozone lighting up your Danger Scent without you even consciously using it. Something flickers in the twisting darkness, and now that you’re close enough, you catch the sight of broken and bloody stone before it vanishes.

“Or maybe not,” Gladiator sounds extremely concerned now, readying his own blade alongside Izumi, “You’re right, go get Archmage. The smug bastard’s a bit of a know-it-all”.

“If it gets worse, contact me immediately,” With one last command, you sprint back into the hangar, hunting for the scent of stagnant blood.

You run into Owlia and Cylcia first, who are both running towards you with looks of concern, but with the clock ticking you only point them towards the others and keep going.

Thankfully, you don’t have to search for long, as the man in crimson robes almost kicks open the door leading further into the Ruin, “Essie, what has happened?!”

His tone brokers no disagreement, not that you really planned to in the first place, “It’s John, something went wrong and now his smoke-aura shit is going out of control”.

The perpetual frown across his face deepens into something beyond grim, “Where is he?”

There’s no need to actually respond to him, as you just run back towards the area. Thankfully, everything hasn’t gone to hell in your absence, though Owlia clearly looks conflicted over what’s occurring.

“Everyone get back!” Archmage yells out suddenly as he approaches, reaching into a pouch in his side before pulling out a piece of chalk. Reaching down, the middle-aged man begins drawing out a circle on the metal floor.

“Whatever’s happening, I hope he handles it quickly...” you can hear Cylica mutter. “I’d hope we wouldn’t have to fight HIM, as well…”

[1/3]
>>
>>2535514

Finishing the circle, Archmage begins scrawling out some kind of sigil by memory, “Don’t get your hopes up”. Continuing to scratch out the design, he looks up for a brief moment, “It’s not as bad as it could be, but it is not a good condition to be in”.

“...He gotta be quarantined?” Mono asks. She’s got a sore look on her face- likely for more than one reason. “Whatever’s up with him, it doesn’t look like it’s going away…”

“A guard to watch him, at minimum,” Izumi quickly interjects. “IF he can regain control of his faculties…”

Scrawling out one final mark, Archmage puts away the chalk and pulls out a thin, pointed dagger. Pricking one of his fingers, he allows several drops of blood to splatter across the inscription before halting it. As he puts away his pocket knife, the glyph and circle begin glowing with a dull, gray light, the smoke swirling in the air receding away from the lines until it rejoins John, though it wraps around his body rather than vanishing entirely. “...That’ll hold it for now”.

Silence fills the air at his words, no one present really certain of how to respond.

Eventually, Izumi is the one to speak up, “...Sir, what is this? A seal of sorts?”

“In function, yes,” Staring down at the swirling mass now enveloping John, Archmage adjusts his glasses as he looks it all over coldy, “It’s antimagic, and unfortunately it is only a stopgap measure”. True to his word, you can see the magical smoke sparking as it comes into existence against the field, though slowly it is reforming.

“What the fuck is going on, Archmage?” Dutch, apparently only now arriving, glaces down at the scene with a look of barely restrained horror, “And what do you mean by ‘stopgap’? You’re always going on about how you’re so damn smart, so fix this shit already!”

“If it wasn’t for the simple fact that I have spent years trying to stamp out all knowledge of this… affliction, I’d tell you to watch your mouth, child,” With eyes narrowed, it almost looks like the magus is about ready to blast the vulgar gunslinger.

[2/3]
>>
>>2535524

[3/3]

“But there is a way, isn’t there?” You interject here, before a full on fight breaks. With how delicate the situation already is, have these two open up on each other will only make things worse.

With his attention now redirected to you, Archmage’s glare lightens slightly, “Yes, there is. It involves much more preparation, and much more risk, but there is something I can do”.

Even if he can’t see it, you raise an eyebrow anyways, “And what are these risks?”

“Aside from the risk of permanent damage, corruption, or destruction of John’s and my own soul? None,” It’s strange, hearing dry humor come from the older man, who, up to this point, has had a rod…

Nevermind. The look he’s giving you tells you that he’s looking for an answer from you, for some reason. Honestly? This one...it doesn’t feel good, making this decision. Risking destruction of his soul…the thought of it churns your gut.

You can’t let yourself get mired down in that right now, though- and you shut those thoughts down as best you can as you take your next course of action.

> “Do it, we need John back and sane.” You won’t be able to sleep for a while if it fails...
> “Don’t do it, he might be able to snap out of this with the field in place.” You’re not taking that risk, not with someone’s soul...
> ...You know what you have to do. For him, if not anyone else.
> Other
>>
>>2535531
>> “Don’t do it, he might be able to snap out of this with the field in place.” You’re not taking that risk, not with someone’s soul...
>>
>>2535531
> “Don’t do it, he might be able to snap out of this with the field in place.” You’re not taking that risk, not with someone’s soul...
Yeah, no sense in letting the guy more connected to the client getting his soul destroyed over a subcontractor.
>>
And this is where Handler and I have to run for the night. We'll back back to continue this very interesting turn of events tomorrow; see ya then.
>>
>>2535531
>> “Do it, we need John back and sane.” You won’t be able to sleep for a while if it fails...
If he gets corrupted he'll die too soon anyways.
>>
>>2535531
>“Don’t do it, he might be able to snap out of this with the field in place.” You’re not taking that risk, not with someone’s soul...
>>
>>2535531
>> “Do it, we need John back and sane.” You won’t be able to sleep for a while if it fails...
>>
>>2535531
>> “Don’t do it, he might be able to snap out of this with the field in place.” You’re not taking that risk, not with someone’s soul...
Don't wanna break character
>>
>>2535531
>You know what you have to do

let the knowledgeable magic man decide what to do
>>
>>2535531
We still have a mafia team to contend with, right? It would be pretty bad if they jumped us with both John and Archmage out of commission and, worse yet, messed up whatever the wizard has in mind.
>>
>>2535531

> “Do it, we need John back and sane.” You won’t be able to sleep for a while if it fails...
>>
>>2535531
> “Don’t do it, he might be able to snap out of this with the field in place.” You’re not taking that risk, not with someone’s soul...
>>
>>2535531
>“Don’t do it, he might be able to snap out of this with the field in place.” You’re not taking that risk, not with someone’s soul...
Yeah we probably shouldnt risk it. Although sal could pull us out if shit gets really fucked I dont like the idea ot taking risks against corrupting elements.
>>
>>2535531
>> “Do it, we need John back and sane.” You won’t be able to sleep for a while if it fails...

Things that need to be done need to be done. Hesitating does not make things better.
>>
>>2537586
No, but considering Miranda hates fiddling with people's souls, it's understandable.
>>
>>2537586
fucking with souls is her one big no-no
>>
>>2535531
>> “Don’t do it, he might be able to snap out of this with the field in place.” You’re not taking that risk, not with someone’s soul...
>>
Can the bard girl sing the John a lullaby or something to tranquilize him?
>>
>>2537826
aspect of chaos......i think a soothing lullaby might make him hyper active.

or it may work
>>
Rolled 70, 53, 3 = 126 (3d100)

>>2535537
>>2535558
>>2536067
>>2536367
>>2536420
>>2536478
>>2537757

Don't do it wins.

It all comes down to this here...

Regardless of result, writin'

>>2535531

[??E?? ACTIVITY]
>>
File: Dutch_SomeTrueGrit.png (50 KB, 242x174)
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50 KB PNG
>>2535531

“Don’t do it,” The nervous air covering your group clears for a moment at your words, everyone now looking at you very intently, “Don’t do it; it’s not worth risking his, and your, soul. With that field set up, John should be able to make it through this on his own”.

No one says a word, looking between the Archmage, yourself, and the downed Artificer. Glancing over at Dutch, you note that he’s just staring down at his friend, not moving an inch. After several seconds, he moves, but does not speak. Pulling out one of his revolvers, there’s a moment where you, and the rest of your team, tense as you figure he’s going to turn it on you, but then he flicks the chamber open.

The sound of rounds clattering to the floor echoes across the hangar as the gunslinger pulls them out, the pieces of ammunition forgotten, as he draws a full speed reloaded, these bullets slightly different - custom made, in all likelihood - and smoothly pushes them into place. With a smooth click, the gun is once again loaded, the sound of its hammer being pulled back as he walks towards you setting alarms off in your head again.

But he doesn’t stop by you, not even looking at you as he walks over to his afflicted friend, stopping just outside the antimagic field, and loosely aims the revolver at the barely visible mop of blonde hair.

His finger isn’t on the trigger, thankfully, but there’s an additional level of tension that wasn’t there before. He’d be so ready to mercy kill his friend, then… considering what you’ve seen this stuff do, you suppose you can’t blame him. Part of you wants to say something...but in the end you remain silent. John’s not exactly a representative of the client, so it’s not entirely your call.

Looking about, the others seem to want to say something as well, but for now no one speaks up. Instead, you all turn to watch the mass of black smoke, slowly pushing itself out against the antimagic field, and wait.

And wait.

After ten minutes of standing there, watching intently as nothing changes, the smoke ripples and, with a flux of motion, it begins withdrawing back into the body. As it does, additional wounds that weren’t visible before come into view, a set of three holes in his sides that are slowly leaking precious lifeblood. With one last flicker, the accursed blackness vanishes and John, no longer supported by whatever was at work here, crumples to the ground facedown.

[1/3]
>>
>>2538763

Dutch lowers his revolver and releases the hammer, striding into the field without hesitation. Kneeling down, he rolls over the Artificer, revealing two open, unblinking eyes painted black. Running a finger over his neck, you see the gunslinger visibly deflate, “... He’s alive”. Looking over his shoulder, there’s a harsh glare coming from his dark eyes, “No thanks to any of you…” Pulling out a roll of bandages and a set of gauze, he begins attempting to patch up his friend.

“There’s little that can be helped in cases like this…” Izumi starts. “Not unless you can assist in battles of the mind. And even then, the risks...” Her eyes flick over to Archmage, then yourself.


“...I beg pardon?” Cylica says.

“There’s something inward that’s oppressing him,” Izumi says. “Something malevolent, obviously.”

“No, no, I mean, you stated mental issues and didn’t bother to say outloud beforehand?” Cylica looks offended beyond belief. “Were you not paying attention when we were brought on board? I daresay I could help in that aspect somewhat ably.”

It’s then that you realize what she’s talking about. “Wait, your mind trick?”

“Similar, yes,” she explains. “A manipulation of his own mental faculties. However, if...whatever this is, is permanent, or at least long lasting, we’ll need to stay in proximity for some time, but as for risks...bah. Whatever this thing is, I WILL best it, should it interfere. Even regardless, I’m no fool. I wouldn’t go IN if I didn’t know a number of ways how to get OUT.”

“...I might be able to help, too, if you’re talkin’ about all that,” Mono supplies. “I thought it was just somethin’ growin’ in him or like...some kinda corrupting poison or some shit. Dunno what exactly, though.”

[2/3]
>>
>>2538771

[3/3]

“Really, you should keep us in mind a little more, Essie,” Cylica gripes. “I understand you wanted my dear over myself, but I have to admit I’m a bit cross at being put to the side!”

“Aww, she didn’t do it on purpose…” Owlia tries to smooth out...but she’s not wrong. You COULD give them a shot at it...risky though it might still be.

Dutch just growls under his breath.

“I have an idea of this, two actually,” The usually haughty woman sounds… hesitant, “One, we… draw out whatever this… malevolent source is, and pray we can destroy it”.

“And the other?” Dutch’s voice sounds far darker than you normally expect from him- even if there’s an undercurrent of hope there.

Cylcia looks over at the gunslinger for a moment, “...We try to seal it away. It’ll be like… repressing memories. Putting them away until they can be processed, so to speak. But this could just occur again later on, if he or this thing has the strength of will. Of course, if not, then...” She lets it trail off.

Another tough decision…

>No. Keep him under guard, make sure he recovers as well as possible. No need messing things up more.
>Draw this thing out, and destroy it; end this here and now.
>Seal this, whatever it is, away; the risk of direct confrontation is too great.
>Other
>>
>>2538776
>>No. Keep him under guard, make sure he recovers as well as possible. No need messing things up more.
>>
>>2538776
>Other
Probably a good idea to get John’s input on this decision before we make it for him.
>>
>>2538776
>“No thanks to any of you…”
Great....
>but as for risks...bah. Whatever this thing is, I WILL best it, should it interfere.
Finally, Someone can fucking help, unlike everyone else.
>Draw this thing out, and destroy it; end this here and now.
A Real Solution, about time! No matter what this is worth it if John can finally be rid of this forever.
>>
>>2538810

I can tell you right now that John will not be waking up anytime soon.
>>
>>2538776
>>2538814

>Draw this thing out, and destroy it; end this here and now.

In that case I'll switch to this.
>>
Ok look, as it is while the other options might be playing it safer, these girls are only here temporarily, and that means the only choice with any real longterm help is to actually get rid of the corruption on John. All other solution either results in A. doing nothing again, or B, just keeping it repressed until it returns again.

>>2538827
What part of John not going to be waking up any time soon >>2538814 did you not get? The decision needs to be made now, there is NOT that much time to wait, since the mission is still on.
>>
>>2538835
Oh good, thank you.
>>
>>2538776
>>Draw this thing out, and destroy it; end this here and now.
We can't spare the people to keep a guard on him, and can't risk him or it cracking a seal at a critical moment.
>>
>>2538811
>Finally, Someone can fucking help, unlike everyone else.
i don't think anybody knew that cylica's mind trick worked like that. Or remembered that that was a thing that cylica had, for that matter.

>>2538776
>Draw this thing out, and destroy it; end this here and now.
Lets have some trust in our employees.
>>
>>2538859
also potential consequences later int he quest if the blight shows up again and john is alone.
>>
>>2538776
>Draw this thing out, and destroy it; end this here and now.

Let me scan his wound first with the Farsight, there might be information on ways to treat this crap. Just... try your best to keep his soul intact, alright? Messing with souls is a line I don't like crossing. Ever.
>>
>>2538870
>>2538860
>>2538859
>>2538835
>>2538811

Do or die.

> Roll me four 1d100+30's please for how well Mono and Cylcia do
>>
Rolled 31 + 30 (1d100 + 30)

>>2538902
Also, are we getting a new thread? we are on page 9 or 10
>>
Rolled 99 + 30 (1d100 + 30)

>>2538902
>>
>>2538914

After this roll yep.
>>
Rolled 89 + 30 (1d100 + 30)

>>2538902
>>2538917
Holy shit! YES!
>>
>>2538914
Oh thank fuck
>>
File: thumbs up blue hair.jpg (108 KB, 850x868)
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108 KB JPG
>>2538917
>>
>>2538917

If anyone wants to try for the nat 100, they're welcome to try. Otherwise I'll definitely be taking that.
>>
Rolled 73 + 30 (1d100 + 30)

>>2538902
>>2538939
going for broke
>>
>>2538939

Alright, that's a 129, definite success.

Writin', and we'll have a link to a new thread when it's ready.
>>
>>2538953

Next thread is live: >>2539082
>>
>>2539085

Oh yeah, and this thread has been archived on suptg.




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