>>2838695
As soon as you manage to step into the old church, you feel like someone's doused some water all over you, and it takes you a few seconds to not break into an absolute panic. You still can't help diving clear behind the first pew that catches your eye though in emergency as you feel your strength sluice from you almost immediately.

And that's when the crossbow fire starts, and you suddenly find yourself behind a splintering wooden cover from multiple angles. In desperation you try to throw out a blast of energy- only for your heartbeat to kick into overdrive when all that comes out is fizzles. Okay, though, maybe you can make it across the aisle to-

A stinging, brilliant pain lashes your left arm, and you can't stop the pained scream that tears from you. "AAAGHH!" Long, ugly lines of red stream your arm as shrapnel suddenly embeds itself into the skin, one of the bolts tearing apart some wood, and not long after that another streaking through your hiding place- you need to bail...you need to get out o-

Another bolt suddenly embeds itself in your elbow, and the shock of it, of seeing your muscle, tendons cut, causes you to fall over as you try to get to better cover desperately...

The last thing you recall is a hooded cloak taking aim at you before there's a flash of silver, and you're...

“Back at the Intersection, with nothing but a failure and pain and embarrassment to my name,” you finish, noticing that all three of your students seem to share the same morbid fascination in your story. “All because I didn’t really think to actually run any kind of background check on these guys, or actually bother to do due diligence about casing the area. They had the most obvious anti-magic setup in the world, and I fell right into it because I didn’t think they could cover an area like that.”

“Whoa...was Mr. Sal mad?” Tami the sheep asks curiously.

“Only a bit. I was still green back then, so he just cut my next pay by a bit,” you answer. “He’s one of the nicer ones.”

"Yikes," Noran mutters, before he speaks up louder. "So, probably best not to have that happen to us, huh?"

"Exactly," you admit. "Now, I just got a call from Lorelei, one of my workmates- remember Prima mentioned her? So we're going to be going back."

"Aww...I kinda wanted to try again," Tami admits.

"We need to get you three proper training, first," you interject. "Now come on, hup hup hup." You usher them up, and lead them out the door and back to your place.

The journey is quick enough...but you get a followup text when you're close from Owlia, who, for some reason, wants to meet with you 'Really really really soon at HQ like maybe now if possible!? Work related and everything!'

Great. And you with the kids...

>Lorelei tends to make mountains out of molehills. Let her know you'll be a bit late due to business.
>Owlia can wait for a bit, Lorelei's been on the backburner for a while.
>Maybe just tell at them to meet at the same time. Heck, get the whole team here.

>>2838726
>Maybe just tell at them to meet at the same time. Heck, get the whole team here.
Need to introduce them to our new students and make plans for the new hires party anyway.

>>2838726
>meet Lorelei.
I like the original gang the best, so they take priority in my book

>>2838726
>>Owlia can wait for a bit, Lorelei's been on the backburner for a while.

>>2838726
>>Lorelei tends to make mountains out of molehills. Let her know you'll be a bit late due to business.
This is voting For meeting Owlia faster right? cuz it seems she needs us ASAP

>>2838726
>Maybe just tell at them to meet at the same time. Heck, get the whole team here.

>>2838726
>Owlia can wait for a bit, Lorelei's been on the backburner for a while.

Then we can go help bird girl together

>>2838829
Prima and Jango also made a scene from stuff that look super important to Lorelei. So i think Lori might need some support at the moment.

>>2838726
>>Owlia can wait for a bit, Lorelei's been on the backburner for a while.
Lori was first to ask, so she's got priority.

Wow that opening line confused me, thought I'd missed a threat or something.
Glad to have you back, at least for a little while.

Note for archive readers: Thread 52 is missing a couple of tags, but came be found here:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2729876
or here:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=MGFH

Lorelei it is. Writing!

>>2838726
>>2838786
>>2838829
>>2838849
>>2838867
Thinking about it, Lorelei asked first, so she's the one who gets priority. You send off a response text to Owlia saying that you'll be alone as soon as possible, but you have to speak to Lorelei first.

The response? "Nnoooooooooooo okay I'll see you later but noooooooooo!!!!"

...That girl.

At any rate, by the time you reach Lorelei's, you realize that the kids don't know much about her. "Okay, so...I have some things to talk with another one of the employees with. Lorelei is an... interesting girl. She'll probably like you all, though."

"Issss ssshe loud?" Harp asks.

You purse your lips, and that seems to be all the answer she really needs, as she slowly moves behind Tami in preparation.

Sighing inwardly, you decide to just knock on the door and see what she wants. You barely get two knocks in before she immediately flies out and hugs you, brilliant smile on her face. "Thaaaaanks so much for making it! C'mon in- ooooh, you bought the kiddies! Hey there, I'm Lorelei, I work with Ms. Grump over here in case she didn't tell you, and not to worry, I'm the fun one." Quickly turning back into her apartment, she waves you all in. You're only partially surprised to see Prima and Jago sitting on the couch, but what you are surprised that Prima seems, judging from her expression, remorseful and Jago seems smug. "So, Prima spilled that she and Jago got into it, told me everything. Apparently I've got you three to thank for getting things back for me?" She has an easy smile that seems to disarm the kids, even Harp somewhat.

"Yes ma'am," Tami says quickly as she puffs out her fluffy chest. "Ms. Miranda let us try to get it all back, and turns out we did an all right job!"

"Oooh, well aren't you up and comers!" She doesn't need to say it so patronizingly... although it doesn't seem like kids notice. "Well, I talked to the both of them, aaand...might've forgotten to mention a couple of untouchables in my closet."

You blink. Huh. "So Jago was in the right?"

"Weellll, he shouldn't have just stolen them and then made off with them, but his heart was in the right place, and I can appreciate that. Prima didn't know since I forgot, so I don't blame her either. Sooooo..."

"Wait, then why was your text so urgent sounding?" you ask, a slight note of annoyance in your voice. "If you decided to let bygones be bygones, then-"

"BeCAAAUSE," she interrupts, "I was talking to one of the other people in my group, and he's got connections to Interdiction. And we've got some, uh...good-ish news."

"Good-ish?" You raise an eyebrow.

"Yeah, turns out that one of their bigger earners QUIT." She raises an eyebrow. "No one's sure why, but scuttlebutt says that he and a few other of his workmates started chafing, y'know? They weren't seeing eye-to-eye, and the way Interdiction runs things means they couldn't just avoid each other. Word is he's trying to start up his own crew now."

cont.

>>2839026
You have to admit, it's not an everyday thing someone from Interdiction walks out- and most Outgoer outfits are pretty locked in- a newcomer on the block in that aspect is rare. "Interesting, but what does that have to do with us? You think he might be competition?"

She nods. "Nailed it in one. He's got a lot of clout in the right places, apparently, so he's already got people asking about him. Has a building already and everything."

Wow. Quick mover. "You keeping this guy's name vague on purpose?" you ask. She hasn't specified yet, and although you don't know everyone...

She shakes her head. "Nope, just don't know much about him personally. Did get his name, though. Went by Experyia. I think he's ex-royalty from wherever he used to be. I kinda want to look into this, though."

>Always worth scoping out the competition...we could see if we could take any ideas from them.
>We'll keep our ears to the ground, but we've got plenty to focus on as is.
>No sense in wasting time worrying about it, especially when you don't know if he even has a Deal Maker patron. Let's just keep as we are for now.
>Other

>>2839042
>>We'll keep our ears to the ground, but we've got plenty to focus on as is.

>>2839042
>>2839051
We seem pretty stable, i wouldnt worry too much about it. Although it is kinda interesting, both what started it and what kinda outfit he's looking into making

>>2839042
>We'll keep our ears to the ground, but we've got plenty to focus on as is.
Find out his specializations when he was working at Interdiction, who he’s hired, and what his marketing plan to possible clients is, and see if he’s interested in merging with someone, or if he’d prefer to stick it on his own.

>>2839042
>>We'll keep our ears to the ground, but we've got plenty to focus on as is.

What are we even going to do about it? This stuff is Sal's job, up to him if it's worth spending time and energy on

Fair enough. We'll keep tabs on it, but that's all.

Writing.

>>2839042
>>2839051
>>2839064
>>2839073
>>2839076
Well, you can't deny that you're interested, but all things considered...you might just not have the spare time right now. "We'll keep our ears to the ground, but we've got plenty to focus on as is. Heck, Owlia just sent me a text earlier about something that she wanted to see me for. Sal probably knows about it to an extent already, but if we feel we need to, we can bring it up to him later."

Lorelei makes a noise of discontent, but she doesn't argue the point. "M'kay... So! In other news, how are you all getting along? I got snacks!"

"Yaaaaay!" Ha. Kids will be kids. Besides, they probably we pretty hungry after all...

It's as you're eating her little sandwiches that you realize...how long are you supposed to keep these kids per 'session' again? Picking up your phone and finding your way to the letter again, you notice that it says an 'extended' stay, but no specifics. Gah, you should've asked that. You do have things you need to do. Speaking of...

>Start brainstorming what weapons to begin training the kids with.
>Go see what Owlia wanted with you.
>Ask how Lorelei is helping her bots settle in and if they need anything.
>Other

>>2839461
>brainstorm

>>2839461
GAH! ALL OF THESE CHOICES ARE GOOD!

WHY DO YOU GIVE ME SUCH GOOD CHOICES, HANDLER? I CAN'T CHOOSE THEM ALL!

Or can I...

Okay... Let's start with
>Ask how Lorelei is helping her bots settle in and if they need anything.

Then leave to do
>Go see what Owlia wanted with you.

And finally, while we're at our base
>Start brainstorming what weapons to begin training the kids with.

>>2839461
>>Ask how Lorelei is helping her bots settle in and if they need anything.
Start with Lori as we're already here with her. Consider looking into connecting the bots with the local bots groups (they must exist, if only so they can get parts and such they'd need and would be otherwise unable to acquire)

then
>Go see what Owlia wanted with you.
and on the way
>Start brainstorming what weapons to begin training the kids with.

>>2839461
>>Go see what Owlia wanted with you.

...Gaah. Fine. Clever anonses.

Writing!

>>2839461
>>2839479
>>2839484
>>2839495
>>2839515
You've got a lot on your plate, but no reason to not start on that now. And first things first is helping the newcomers get settled. In this case... "So, Prima and Jago settling in okay? Anything they need?"

She adopts a thoughtful look for a moment before shrugging. "Haven't really needed anything for the moment. Pretty sure they're powered by batteries of some sort, I wouldn't know about that for certain. I'm probably going to have to figure that out sooner than later."

"There's android, cyborg, and robot support groups in the city, I'm pretty certain," you point out. "I remember seeing flyers here and there. You'll probably want to look something up and check them out. I'll probably do the same- but I have some stuff I need to take care of first. You're going to have to at least help them figure out how and where they can get repairs or replacement parts."

She nods in agreement. "You're not wrong. Least I can do, I guess...might as well get started on that after I finish eating. What about you?"

"Owlia texted me when I was on my way over here," you explain. "I'm going to headquarters to see just what she wants. She sounded excited. I mean, she always sounds excited, but you know what I mean."

Lorelei leans fowards, a little smirk on her face. "Ooooh, sounds interesting. You guys let me know, huh?"

You nod, looking to your charges. "Sure thing. Kids, you done?"

Affirmatives answer you, and you're off again without much issue. Along the way, you can't help but mull over recent events. Thinking over the holomissions...

Tami actually wouldn't be bad with wands, you think. She seems to fancy herself something of an actor or a director, judging by that puppet she carts everywhere. That might mesh well with her behavior and style well enough. Especially if she gets one of those prepacked wands...ah, or better yet, a slew of wands with various purposes. The fire and forget kind- just a little willpower, and bam.

Noran is...well, he seems like he'd be suited to more classic weapons. Sword and board, maybe something a bit bashy. You'd have to feel that one out. Alternately, something like a crossbow would do well for him. Guns don't seem like something he'd take well too- although you never know.

Harpsicorie...short blades. Daggers. Piano wire. Definitely assassination tools and misdirectional stuff. She's gonna need a goodie bag once you get around to that thing.

Although that does remind you that above everything else...you're going to have to drill them to be able to kill things, first. You're POSITIVE Harpsicorie's never done it, and Tami has a brave face, but you don't know about her, either. Noran seems like he's seen combat before, but still, certainly not like what's needed to prevail in this job.

cont.

>>2839776
Once you reach HQ, you realize that...well... This is the kids' first time being here. You should probably turn around and make a stateme-

"Wait, is this it?" Oh...okay. "It looks empty." Thanks, Tami.

But when the others look at you, you manage to keep a straight face. "We've...only recently acquired these facilities, but we are using them to the best of our ability. We even have our own laboratory facilities. I believe I mentioned that, and that's where we're going right now." The oohs that crop up from that tell you that you've at least got their interest there.

Now, where's that crazy girl...

Suddenly, a light smoke comes from the doorway as Owlia shoves the door open, stumbling a bit, in full coveralls and with what looks like a pair of calipers in her hand, with...some thin sheet of a strangely patterned metal clenched in between them that seems to be the source of the sizzling...which doesn't seem to be abating, either. There's a brief stunned silence where she kind of wobbles a bit, not realizing anyone else is in the room, but...

"NYAHAHAHAH! CONGRATULATIONS TO ME! STEP ONE IS A SUCCESS! ONE DOWN, AND..." she blinks, looking at you and your charges. "Oh, wait, there's people here. Also Miranda! So you came! Brilliant! No, seriously, decided to just go ahead and start what I wanted your input on, but eh, you still have time to suggest some things! But, uh...who are these children? Did you know I'd need testers?"

Where to even start.

>Response?

>>2839778
>"First off, they're students from The Care House who're interested in becoming Outgoers, so no testing on them. Period. However, please allow me to introduce you, tell them a bit about what you do here, and show us all what you've done, preferably me first in case it has a chance to explode or melt through the floor."

After she shows us what she did, congratulate her on her success, then ask her if she would like to show some of the other cool things she made to the kids that are relatively child safe.

>>2839778
>Response?
Ask her what she's working on, what she wanted our input on, them introduce the kids. Maybe see if she'll explain what she does on broad strokes, possibly a demonstration. Don't know if she'll have a good understanding of what would be considered kid-friendly though. Introductions come after, so our scatterbrained scientist doesn't lose her train of thought.

Taking a break, dinner and whatnot. Will post again in a couple hours.

>>2839778

Suporting: >>2839792

>>2839778
>>2839792
>>2839805
>>2839943
You heave a sigh as you consider the task in front of you. Best to just start from the beginning, then. "First off, they're students from The Care House who're interested in becoming Outgoers, so no testing involving them. Period."

She has the nerve to POUT. "Aw. It'd be perfectly-"

"No." Not budging on this one. "However, please allow me to introduce you, tell them a bit about what you do here, and THEN, MAYBE, you can show us all what you've done." She opens her mouth to speak before something sparks in you and you quickly interrupt. "Preferably? Me first in case it has a chance to explode or melt through the floor."

"It wouldn't melt through the floor!" she quickly complains, even as you see her eyes behind the visor flit to the object in hand.

"What about exploding?" Tami asks quickly. Nice catch.

And as expected, Owlia's lips go into a straight line, delaying for a second too long. "I do not think any would explode at this stage," she says evenly. However, she quickly loosens up, making a motion with her off-hand. "Anyway, go, go, do your little introduction of me! I wanna hear what you say."

"Right." And so you turn to the kids and motion towards her. "This is Owlia, our resident mad scientist."

"Hey!" Moving on.

"She's one of the two individuals who are involved in our research and development for supplementary tools and goods for our jobs. Primarily her expertise involves crystals in all their forms, but she's quite capable in a number of engineering fields. She provides a vital role in that she's one of the ones who helps keep our costs down and our survivability up due to her technological innovations that can help enhance our speed, stamina, or other aspects of our person. The fact that it's all in house means that we don't have to be beholden to the outside market, at least in this area. We can craft what we need right here." There. That sounds like a good description of what she does. Didn't even have to mention the whole thing about Owlia being...Owlia.

cont.

>>2840073
"Awww, that's sweet of you!" Owlia coos. "Welp, like she said, I do a buncha science stuff around here! There's my partner, Cylica, and she's really really and really great, too, but she's off doing development things somewhere else right now. Got a deal, but she's kinda not liking their attitudes, so who knows how long that's gonna last!" She snorts like it's a joke, but you're not sure how to take that. "Anyways, I can show you a few things, but the big one I've been working on lately is something that I got inspired by from our latest job! I'm trying to use a combination of sigilcraft, crystaltech, and good old mechanical engineering, along with a few healthy doses of science to try and craft the ULTIMATE in powered armors!"

"Oh?" My, she sounds confident. "And what's so ultimate about it?"

"Simple! The idea is a reactive armor that not only hardens in response to physical trauma, it infuses the wearer AND itself with mana it continually siphons from the natural environment! A self-perpetuating system that actually makes itself more powerful and harder to break over time!" Huh. That WOULD be impressive. "Buuuuut, I'm having some issues getting the whole 'self-perpetuating' bit down. Or I WAS. But, not gonna tell you that yet, trade secret! Just need to test out my experimental basic plating..." She looks so cheeky about it. "And it's not really anything to buzz about yet. But! I CAN show you some crystals that I've been working on! Better versions of those Murmur Stones we have, Miranda! Because seriously, those things are just better secured walkie talkies with only one channel. I KNOW I can fix that issue. Oh, but speaking of fix, there's those aircraft we have just sitting in the back, y'know, BEGGING me to take a look at them. We could do that together! Ooooor I could just surprise you- I got a few things lying around from before that this place has SERIOUSLY let me finally make headway on, or even finish! Not a ton of immediate use nowadays, but I'm glad to just have them done."

>"Let's see about your crystal work." Might be a bit dull, but the simple stuff is important.
>"Fine, might as well look into those flyers." Interesting potential, but how much will she be able to do right now?
>"If this armor could be as good as you claim, might be work sticking to that." Not like you'll be able to show them a ton, but...
> "Just surprise us with some of your old works." Concerning, but they'll most likely work, right?

>>2840074
>"Fine, might as well look into those flyers." Interesting potential, but how much will she be able to do right now?
>"Let's see about your crystal work." Might be a bit dull, but the simple stuff is important.
Finishing two project will likely take longer but the communication crystals should make it easier to coordinate with whoever is flying the planes. And if we start with the aircraft the kids won't be bored out of their minds while we discuss the crystals with Owlia.

>>2840074
>"Fine, might as well look into those flyers." Interesting potential, but how much will she be able to do right now?

kids love planes...right?

>>2840074
>"Let's see about your crystal work." Might be a bit dull, but the simple stuff is important.
>"Fine, might as well look into those flyers." Interesting potential, but how much will she be able to do right now?

>>2840074
>>"Let's see about your crystal work." Might be a bit dull, but the simple stuff is important.
I don't feel like testing planes with kids around, because it's a delicate process and how the kids interfere with their curiosity. Basics however will be useful no matter where.

>>2840086
Yeah but basics are boring.

File: 1524853296195.jpg (35 KB, 594x383)

35 KB JPG

Testing the planes should go well as long as we don't let the kids push the buttons, right?

>>2840088
I simply prefer to help give them practical knowledge they can make use of vs trying to impress them with something they probably won't understand or encounter any time soon.

>>2840074
>>"Fine, might as well look into those flyers." Interesting potential, but how much will she be able to do right now?

>>2840074
>>"Let's see about your crystal work." Might be a bit dull, but the simple stuff is important.

>>2840074
>armor

>>2840074
>>"Fine, might as well look into those flyers." Interesting potential, but how much will she be able to do right now?

>>2840074
>"Let's see about your crystal work." Might be a bit dull, but the simple stuff is important.
>"Fine, might as well look into those flyers." Interesting potential, but how much will she be able to do right now?

Kids, don't touch any buttons inside. you don't know what they can do. And neither do we

>>2840074
>"Fine, might as well look into those flyers." Interesting potential, but how much will she be able to do right now?
>"Let's see about your crystal work." Might be a bit dull, but the simple stuff is important.

Let’s check on the flyers first, then if we have enough time, we’ll take a look at the crystals. Heck, if they’re safe enough, maybe we can give the kids a set as a souvenir!

>>2840074
>"Let's see about your crystal work." Might be a bit dull, but the simple stuff is important.
>"Fine, might as well look into those flyers." Interesting potential, but how much will she be able to do right now?
ask the kids about their ideas on how the two could mesh.

>>2841008
The crystal stuff is just better Murmur Stones, Owlia said so.
So it would just take the place of whatever comm suite the fighters have, which is likely to be a considerable downgrade.
And that’s what you want to ask them?

>>2843598
I'm not saying ask so they can give us ideas. I'm saying ask so we can encourage creativity. Creativity is important in our job too, though maybe not as directly as combat ability, or a silver tongue.

>>2843598
Maybe we could integrate the crystals into their existing systems without replacing what they already have. That way our ground crew would be able to communicate with them with the same crystals they use to talk to each other.

>>2844453
i think you are better buying a proper long range radio, jam it into the plane's cup holder(or equivalent) and be done with it.

>>2840074
>>"Let's see about your crystal work." Might be a bit dull, but the simple stuff is important.
The plane can wait.

So, I was thinking... maybe we sell some of our blueprints of the planes to Flashpoint, the non Owlia improved versions at least. It’ll help improve our relations with them, and they might just request us again for more work.

Also, I’m thinking we start teaching Owlia how to use heavy weapons. She seemed to have a knack for them on the Airship Mission against the blight.

>>2864819
We'd have to tear the planes apart to reverse-engineer them enough to make blueprints, and they've already got plenty of planes. Though I wouldn't mind working with them again.

If Owlia is physically strong enough to manhandle heavy weapons, I don't see why we couldn't teach her to use them.

>>2864819
eehhh, I don't know. There is a point that its cheaper to keep using the true and tested technologies that have -or should have- warranties than use the new blueprints from what is basically the science division of a small company. We really aren't creating the wheel or filling a niche, like say Barret and his .50 semi auto did, we are just creating stuff that already should exist in the intersection. Sure, we can try to sell them, but i doubt that the other companies will buy the products unless they have a significant advantage over the items they have in their current inventory.

>>2864819
I think Flashpoint are big enough to source their own aircraft if they ever need them, might make more sense to see if that new start up wants them. That said, there doesn't seem to be anything special about them yet, and if there is we should keep it for ourselves until we can find a way to mass produce / replicate them.

>>2866839
Well, from what I remember about the Flashpoint job, their aircraft had different ranks pertaining to the rank or skill of their pilot. I'd think it would be worth having someone who's more familiar with those systems to take a look, seeing as we're more special operation types.

As for that start up, I'd prefer to do more research on them before trying to sell them stuff. From what it sounds like, they seem to be going for a "Unique assets for unique situations" sort of sales tactic, which puts us at odds with them.

>>2866855
Thats true, but we wouldn't be really competing against them. Them being in a higher rank makes it harder for us to take a job that they would like. We are basically the low-mid level solution while they are the mid-high end one.