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Familiar faces approach as you dismount with Mara’s assistance, and you watch as the Midnight Crew trails a few paces behind November, rusted cinnabar armor creaking as she strides forwards. The tank booms forth once more, sending a shell hurtling into the distance in the absence of its gunner. Your cocked eyebrow earns a voxel-distorted chuckle from the cyborg Daughter.

“Got a Knight-class working the turret.” November explains, having noticed your questioning glance before she turns to your red-headed brawler. Rath gives November a little wave and a wide grin, and November returns the gesture, her long, rusted talons turning the wave into something unintentionally sinister. The Midnight Crew aren’t nearly as jovial, the unruly quartet eyeing you and Mara with derision and caution, respectively.

Your eyes meet Jackie's jet black gaze, and you're certain she’s about to open her mouth to say something snide when dark orbs lock onto yours. An expression of surprise flits across her face as her eyes widen just a little, her sharp, angular frame shifting as her two allies eye you from just behind their leader. She studies your face like that a moment before giving you an accepting nod, something that sets you more on edge than anything she could have voiced aloud.

“The Crew and I can go in or stay out.” Jack says brusquely, turning to Mara and avoiding your gaze. Behind her, you notice a smaller girl, a wide-brimmed hat sheilding her face from view. “If we go in, we can help cut a track to this thing’s heart. If we’re out, then we can give its legs the ‘ol stabby-stab and cripple the bitch. So how’s this gonna go down, Dragoon?”

“That’s not up to me.” Mara intones, turning her muscled frame to face you full-on. She towers over everyone present, her powerful build casting the Crew in shadow even as she gives you a half-smile.

“So…” She defers, to the surprise of everyone present. “…what’s your plan, Defiant?”

You find the eyes of everyone present boring into yours, placing their hopes…and lives…in your hands.

PARTY LIMIT UNLOCKED – MORE THAN 4 ALLOWED PER TEAM

PLEASE CONSTRUCT AND EQUIP YOUR TEAMS FROM THE LISTS BELOW

ALSO NOTE YOU AND YOUR TEAM HAVE TIME TO GENERATE CONSTRUCTS AND LOAD THEIR WEAPONS IF ABLE

>>AVAILABLE DAUGHTERS (Current): Shu/Rath/Julia/Dorian/Amara

>>AVAILABLE DAUGHTERS (Temporary): Marrow Dragoon/Magpie/ November/Midnight Crew (4 Members)/Claire

>>TEMP CHARACTER CARDS: https://pastebin.com/XH5FL0ss

>>TEAMS: EXTERIOR DISTRACTION TEAM – INTERIOR ASSAULT TEAM

>>Relic Loadout: PENDING

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

>>3537266
Well, that depends, Slick. Are the Midnight Crew up for splitting their party, or are they going to insist on staying together?

>>3537274
(They would split into two teams of two, at most.)

(Gentlemen, for the planning phase voting shall remain open for the next three hours to allow enough time to address strategies and questions.)

>>3537276
Yeah, wasn't expecting them to let any of their group go alone. Okay, another question, can Keane and Ace's resource-pooling Dual Tech work on allies they're not intimately familiar with, or only the Crew? I think I'd want them on the inside team regardless, but if we could all pool Health and Bio they'd be an even better addition.

>>3537266
I say we make three teams;
>Outside Distraction Team
>>Party; November, Magpie, Clarie
Goal is to keep its focus heavily on the outside and help slow it down. Claries goal is just to hold it in place as best she can, and the ranged focused two wouldnt be useful inside so can just give it hell and see what they cant do to slow it down.

>Internal Debuff Team
>>Party; Julia, Amara, Ace, Jackie
Their goal is to slap on and keep on as many debuffs as possible, both making things easier for all Teams, but also drawing alot of attention away from the Assault team, as the internal workings of the Monastery go to deal with the massive threat of buffed debuffs holding it down. Julia and Ace both can Dubuff, Amara can do both, and Jackie can Buff them all to make them more effective, aswell as Jackie is a leader to run the team, and Ace can help shield the others while they do their work, her debuffs happening passively helps alot with that.

>Internal Assault Team
>>Party; Shu, Rath, Dorian, Mara, Keane, Quinn
Their goal is to cut a path as quickly and efficiently to the center core and get this over with with brutal quickness. Shu as leader, Mara with her own input and being the outright powerhouse she is, Rath is good at punching her way forward, Dorian is good at aiding frontline fighters really well, though he does have some debuff potential sorta, it's much less potent and his versatility would help more offensively i think than as a debuff distraction. Keanes healing will probably be necessary to fight the Core, and Quinn is basically custom made perfectly for making a trek to the core to then be ready to take it on.

>Relic Spread
>>Shu; Contender, Whistle(FOL CUNT)
>>Rath; Sui Tormentis, Cursus Alas
>>Julia; Gauntlets
>>Amara; Shawl
Im split on whether to give the Gauntlets to Julia or Dorian. Kinda want Julia so she can help back up Ace a bit more, and Dorian already can form Armor, but at the same time we're gonna need all the armor we can get once at the Core. But the Dubuff team also needs alot of defense too, and while Ace is good at that, we can't be sure she will truly be enough on her own, and with Mara, the Tormentis, Dorains own Armor, and Shus Armor Bugs potentially, i think the Assault team has options, while the Debuff team could use a little bit extra.

Otherwise the Tormentis is best suited for the assault Team, aswell as the Alas, as the Debuff team won't need to be as mobile. Dorian already has decent mobility, though honestly i can't see the Alas being very helpful inside the thing at all, it still felt like both would benefit Rath better. Whistle to Shu cause its useful on Amara but not necessary, so having a little extra to throw out on the Assault team is a good idea, though im open to changing the whistles contents. My main thing was, RHO it seems mostly inhibits an enemies mobility, which we dont exactly need here. Breaking its concentration however, could be life saving.

>>3537280
(It's their Dual Tech, so they can extend its effects to people they're not familiar with.)

>>3537283
Oh, good. Okay, here's my lineup, then.

>Outside Team.
>November, Magpie, Claire, Amara, Jackie, Quinn

>Inside Team
>Mara, Shu, Rath, Dorian, Julia, Keane, Ace

Outside Team continues November's and Magpie's bombardment and Claire's grappling. Amara assists with Skintalking as she can. Jackie boosts all of them to enhance their efforts, while Quinn starts spooling up a big white blood cell attack. Not the most complex plan, but after all they're meant for the part of the fight we won't have direct control over.

Inside Team cuts their way through. Keane and Ace are key to this, I admit, Keane using her ability to reject foreign matter to keep the Spiraling Fear from fleshwarping us too much while Ace's uses her ability to share her defenses. Between the two of them, the Spiraling Fear's internal defenses should be greatly diminished in effectiveness. Keane's anti-construct constructs will also serve us well if any spiral monsters spawn inside there, especially if she combos with Dorian's Masque of War, and Ace's short-range debuffs are made for tight spaces. And the ability to link the entire inside party up into one big shared resource pool means that Rath and Julia with their high-consumption abilities (and still no Bio regen on Rath, we NEED to fix this) become insanely more effective. Then it's just a matter of having our melee monsters cut their way through the spiral.

Equipment-wise, Shu gets the Contender with a few of Magpie's Anti-Spiral Bullets, as many as she can spare. She can carry the Whistle with an interation of Fol Cunt as well, just in case we need to break the Fear's concentration (though the fact that we have Neuromancy on Shu now gives another option for that). Rath gets Sui Tormentis because she needs the defense, and with Ace and Keane giving her access to more Health, who knows how hard she could hit. Julia gets the Ignition Guantlets because those have consistently been a good match for her. Dorian stays with Cursus Alas because I want him to have every possible critical modifier he can (we should give him a Bishop at some point, too). And Amara, as usual, stays under her shroud.

As for constructs, put a Chitinous Stalwart on Shu and Julia, then make a Scarlet Drone, two Knights, leave space for a pair of Bishops if we need them and then fill out the rest of the Swarm with Banelings.

>>3537281
>>3537266
probably MUCH more could be done here but thought this was at least a good start.

>Extras
>>Everyone with Armor, Get Armored up. Anyone with standard weapons to spawn, spawn at least one.
>>Amara, let loose a “GRA FOL RHO THA” on the whole group before we depart, and then point to the Spiraling Fear and let loose a “GRA RHO FOL CUNT” at it.
>>The Internal Debuff Team Enters first, to give them a moment to start their distraction and get Buffs going.
>>Shu spawns all of the Assault Team a Bishop, to activate as soon as they enter.
>>Shu spawns Chest Armor for Herself, Dorian,Keane, and Quinn.
>>all Construct Wielders going inside other than Shu spawn either one-third their Hive Max, or one-sixth their Bio Max in Constructs, if they have variants they may spawn what they think is best.

>>3537278
glad to finally get to this fight BHOP!

>>3537297
obviously i heavily disagree with you plan, but major points of contention are;

>Quinn
her ability to perfect her kit to any specific threat is waaay too powerful a tool not to bring inside to use against the core. i mean, there really isnt much to say on it. shes basically custom made to be brought along for the dungeon ride, then kick the bosses ass, in this case at least. biggest waste possible in my opinion not to bring her inside. keep in mind the Spiraling Fear is also going to be in a river of acid. while im sure they can work around that, a nearly purely melee character who relies on HITTING and GETTING hit to get her powers working isnt gonna do aswell in that environment, while funnily being inside will probably make her ability thrive.

i mean, like i said i really dont agree with your plan, but that is too big a deal not to point out at the very least.

>>3537304
The Crew fought a Leviathan, I think they can do just fine in the river of acid. They have a boat, remember? Quinn doesn't have to swim, just ride around on the boat using her extendo-arms to lash out at its legs from a distance. And honestly, no, I don't think she's that key for the internal assault. Not compared to Ace and Keane, at least, and we can only bring two of the Crew in with us because they've got separation anxiety. So I'd rather go with them.

>>3537281
>>3537266

Spiraling Fear battle plan:

Operation ANTI-SPIRAL:
Situation: Behemoth sized Amalgam codenamed “SPIRAL” is heading west towards the cord. Virtually unassailable as the Flesh Artisan Core gives it regeneration levels unmatched for both internally and externally, but there is a brief period of vulnerability: The River of Tears.

RIVER OF TEARS: Formerly known in the US as the “Mississippi River”, this is a wide and deep river that is entirely composed of high-grade acid. Leviathan Amalgams prowl the River. Due to the state of “SPIRAL”, the amalgams will not attack it. However, any daughter that falls into the acid will be given a swift death.

Spiraling Fear: Codenamed “SPIRAL”, it is a daughter that has succumbed to the hunger and has consumed the Monastery. SPIRAL is an Expressionist type Flesh Artisan. As such its core power revolves around applying debilitating debuffs on its victims by way of twisting their flesh into spiral patterns and negating all regeneration effects on the affected area.
Since succumbing to hunger, SPIRAL has gained increased size and mass to that of a small mountain, and has likely gained a bigger plethora of powers from consuming the daughters inside the chapel.

Objectives –

>Step 1: Board the Behemoth
>Step 2: Breach the skin
>Step 3: Reach the Core
>Step 4: Destroy the Core
>Step 5: Escape the Mountain

Battle Phases:
The battle will progress depending on how far SPRIAL has progressed as it crosses the river.

>>3537283
can we expect to have any time to re-supply our Bio at all before the actual fight, or is it still all or nothing?

>>3537307
no, we can only SPLIT THEM UP into at most two. we dont have to leave any of them outside. like with my plan, Ace could be put to MUCH better use elsewhere. we already have Mara as a good blunt Shield, plus Keane will aid in that tremendously, and if the Distraction Team does their job, which Ace not only attracts attention with her Debuffs but will tremendously help keep them alive and kicking, the Assault Team wont need as much armor.

also your highly underestimating the value of a kit that customizes itself to fight the specific foe at hand. its windup time makes it look alot worse than it is.

>>3537266
>>3537281

Outside support team: Claire, November, Magpie, Dorian (Point of Contention), and Mara’s dragon.
>Mara’s Dragon.
Role: Aerial support, and the Team “Support Chopper”. He will be pivotal in the party rescue.
>Claire
Role: Claire, your amorphous properties lets you grow and hinder SPIRAL’s movements.
>November
Role: Artillery and Small arms fire.
>Magpie
Role: Anti-Defense Measures. Her sniper shots will pick away at priority external defenses and keep the LZ clear of enemy constructs.
>Dorian
Role: Aerial support by providing free constructs to hinder and weaken SPIRAL’s Outer Defenses and Regeneration, forcing SPIRAL’s attention to Regenerating rather than Moving.

I know it’s strange for me to saddle Dorian as part of the outside team. But here is my logic. Of all the daughters in our entire group, he’s the one with the highest Bio-regen. His Blood-lings have no limit to how many he can spawn, and when employed in great numbers, he can put them to creative use by having them slip into the blood stream of SPIRAL from a safe distance and cause internal and external havoc such as blood rejection and hindered regeneration by way of having his blood-inklings open up bleeding wounds that are hard to close on the surface. Dorian will have a greater surface area to work with for his blood-ink constructs to work with under the cover of ranged fire by his co-party members rather than have his blood-constructs at constant risk of destruction in the tight corridors of SPIRAL’s internal defenses. And if worse comes to worse, he can engage in melee combat to help keep enemy constructs off of November or Magpie’s backs. Furthermore, we need a form of Aerial support who can give us regular updates via the Neurotic Halo Network on SPIRAL’s progress as it fords the river.

Internal Assault Team: Shu, Rath, Julia, Amara, Mara, Ace, Keane, Quinn, Jackie
>Shu
Role: Group Commander and Internal Assault Defense Network Coordinator.
>Rath
Role: Demolition Man. And melee support. Her thermite bombs will be pivotal in breaching the skin, her tensile strands and phantom limbs can do grapple and slashing damage.
>Julia
Role: Melee assault and pivotal debuffer. Malleable stacks will provide pivotal moments of vulnerability to SPIRAL itself so the more we can stack them the better off we’ll be in debuffing and getting windows of opportunity
>Amara
Role: Loli. Party wide bard. MUST PROTECC.
>Mara
Role: All rounder front line fighter and heavy tank. Her Variable Armor will help be the first responder in defense.
>Ace
Role: Heavy tank, First responder in defense.
>Keane
Role: Medic and debuffer. Her constructs are intelligent
>Quinn
Role: Ramp Mage. Her Anti-bodies need time to ramp up. She’s also decent in adaptive defense. But her role in this raid is mainly tending to her white-blood cell swarm. We need them to ramp up in strength.
>Jackie
Role: Buffer/Debuffer and attack support. She's a bit like Shu.

>>3537297
Since we're making constructs in advance, do we bother making our swarmlings Recursive? It helps if they're downed, and I wonder if recursive knights give more buffs to swarmlings than a single normal knight when put together.

>>3537310
(Your bio will have three turns to restore before you breach the Spiraling Fear. Also as a general note regarding Quinn; she is both quite capable on the water and the time needed for her to become devastating is only 4-5 rounds, depending on the damage and hits she can inflict.)

>>3537276

BHOP. I have questions:

Does Dorian's Masque of War form have selective fire when it comes to disrupting thoughtform communication and accuracy? or is it indiscriminate?

For Neurotic Halos at level one, you said it has 2 functions: Increased perception and the auto-dodge+critical counter.
Are you able to use the auto-counter+critical counter more than once per combat?

>>3537310
>no, we can only SPLIT THEM UP into at most two. we dont have to leave any of them outside. like with my plan, Ace could be put to MUCH better use elsewhere. we already have Mara as a good blunt Shield, plus Keane will aid in that tremendously, and if the Distraction Team does their job, which Ace not only attracts attention with her Debuffs but will tremendously help keep them alive and kicking, the Assault Team wont need as much armor.
Yeah, I get that, I just don't like the idea of having two inside groups. It's just asking for one of them to get crushed as a sacrifice to ensure the other's survival. Having a debuff group distract the Fear is just going to get the majority of its attention focused on the party that's least effective in a fight. I'd rather keep everyone together, ensure maximum survivability.

And no, I'm not underestimating Quinn's effectiveness. I just don't think she needs to be on the inside. I think she works just fine snipping away at this thing's heels from the outside. So her swarm can eventually get to the point where it's rapidly eating away at the Fear? Great, keep it on the outside, have it stay distracted dealing with that. We've got plenty of damage dealing on the inside team already, we don't need her antibody swarm.

>>3537312
id rather have Dorian outside than Quinn but still feel he could do better on the inside. outside the Paintlings his kit is still short range focused, with the POTENTIAL for mobility if he chooses, but not guaranteed. his paintlings and their effects can work and even id argue activate quicker from the inside, while he otherwise still provides major support to the group in combat, which is think is worth a bit less paintlings.

i really dont see communication with the outside as a major factor here,theres just not much if anything that can be done to change the outside plan if something, well, changes. they already basically cant do much besides just slow it down as it is, so that wont change even if we have a communication network. we wouldn't be going inside it in the first place if there was an alternative.

>>3537314
well, my list already brings Shu down to 98%+40%, and even if we replaced those Bishops with say, Knightlings, that wouldn't give us much back.though we are getting 90% back it looks like, so my hesitation to load the contender at least wont be an issue as much.

>>3537315
thanks!

>>3537312
Maybe the Crew should stay outside? They'd be really good at stalling and keep it in the acid, especially if Mara joins Keane and Ace's Dual Tech, massively upgrading their combined resilience.

>>3537323
So you don't want Mara coming in with us? That feels like a very bad move. Bring the invulnerable melee monster to fight in close quarters.

>>3537319
>least effective
thats not true at all. only Amara has any lack of staying power in the Debuff group, and she would have that in any group. Julia, Ace, even Jackie all still have good if not outright amazing combat potential besides their buffs and debuffs.

and i simply disagree. the more we an do to get to the core faster and at greater strength, the better. im positive we can take out the Core without anyone there, especially as the Debuff Teams effects will still be hindering it, and the Assault team is more than a good powerhouse to send into the depths. the Debuff Team could even rejoin us if the Core pulls back enough resources to try and stop us once at the core.

>>3537323
yeah thats a massive 'no' on both the entire Midnight Crew staying out and especially Mara.

>>3537327
>>3537329
regardless on two Internal Teams or not, i still want Quinn inside. i think November, Magpie, and Clarie can handle the outside well enough alone. Amaras diverse Abilities are also way too potent not to use on anyone going inside.

>>3537298
>“GRA FOL RHO THA” on allies
>Greater Concentrated Hinder allies
anon. You're just asking Amara to cripple ourselves. WATCH YOUR DAMN SPELLCASTING
Replace RHO with SAN instead

>>3537316
(The Masque is selective fire, yes. Allies inside the field are unaffected)

(The Crit-counter is once per combat, and it works by stating that you 'Prime' the ability as a free action.)

>>3537331
re-read RHO, on allies its Armor

RHO (BIO-5%): A word from an ancient language denoting hardship in one's journey, RHO results in a warping of a body or terrain in some way, making armor for allies, difficult ground in the fleshscape, or a general hindrance in one's physical form that serves to impair a foe's mobility.

>making armor for allies

>>3537329
>thats not true at all. only Amara has any lack of staying power in the Debuff group, and she would have that in any group. Julia, Ace, even Jackie all still have good if not outright amazing combat potential besides their buffs and debuffs.
I'm not saying they're weak, I'm saying they're more vulnerable, and I don't want to use them as a distraction. Keep everyone together, we might not have a distraction that way but we will move faster because we'll be better able to punch through obstacles in our path.

>>3537330
Amara is by far our most fragile team member. And while she's got good buffs, if we brought along the Midnight Crew we'd be getting good buffs from them, as well. I think we can skip her, leave her in a less dangerous position to focus on debuffs. So if you want to bring the entire Crew on the assault team, I'm open for that, but leave Amara outside on the dragon shouting curses down at the Fear.

>>3537338
im willing to trade leaving Amara outside for the entire Midnight Crew inside. i still think shes more effective inside but i guess she can just focus on Debuffs instead.

i still think splitting up the Internal Teams will help tremendously. i dont think grouping everyone together will aid us. we have no idea how tight the corridors are gonna be, 6 people like on my team might already be cramped, but combining all of them into a single team? almost guarantee you someones gonna be bumping elbows, even a healer would start to have trouble even if they are supposed to be on the inside and protected. its also a hell of alot of people to coordinate and keep from interfering with eachother, on top of the fact with all its resources on us, the Debuffers arent going to be able to focus on that as much, Jackie will be split much further on who shes buffing, Ace and Mara alike wont be able to cover people as easily, as too many heads to look out for. while no ones so weak thye outright NEED said protection, said two are still the best for taking direct hits or surprise abilities, and more heads means much less effectiveness in them both being able to cover others, and same with other tactics and abilities. Keanes healing will stretch thinner for instance.

>>3537331
>>3537330
wait. mybad. sorry.

>>3537334
But does the auto-dodge without the critical counter still work multiple times if you spend a free action to prime it for full round auto-dodging? I know its splitting hairs, but it feels like the halos would give better utility.

Also, does Terraforming still work using the Spiral's Flesh?

>>3537336
We have 3 turns for pre-battle buffing and construct spawning.

Turn 1: GRA FOL RHO THA Greater Concentrated Armor Allies
Turn 2: GRA FOL SAN THA (Greater Concentrated Haste Allies)
Turn 3: THA TER GRA SUTH (Allies Terrain Greater Assist)
Beginning of the battle: GRA FOL RHO CUNT

>>3537342
Think about this:
It's still going to be the Internal Assault team as a whole, is just that they're going to have different priorities and roles.
>>3537321
You do bring up a good point. Okay, I'll take Dorian into the Internal team in exchange for having Amara on the outside team.

>>3537348
>We have 3 turns for pre-battle buffing and construct spawning.
keep in mind, BHOP said 3 turns of Bio restoration, which i think implies just our BIO Regen. thats only 15% back for Amara. granted, not gonna say thats not a good idea for her to do, just something to keep in mind.

>It's still going to be the Internal Assault team as a whole, is just that they're going to have different priorities and roles.
and i really feel this doesn't address my points at all, as all of them were based on one team making that more difficult while two would aid in that.

>>3537342
>on top of the fact with all its resources on us, the Debuffers arent going to be able to focus on that as much
Actually, that raises another issue I have with this idea: Why do we need the debuffers? What good do we actually expect them to do? This thing is big enough to be a location rather than a regular boss fight, I doubt any debuff we can put on it is going to matter much. It's really only good for a distraction. And I've already stated my problems with that idea.

As for the cramped quarters, that's an argument in favor of leaving some of them outside, Like, say, Amara, Jackie and Quinn. You know, the idea I proposed. Then the inside team would have a nice little order of battle. Ace and Mara in front to stonewall any gribblies approaching us, Julia to follow up behind and slash away at anything that gets past them, Dorian and Rath with their exotic movement abilities to appear where they're needed, and then Shu and Keane take up the rear and use their ranged support abilities.

>>3537348
(The Halos get stronger with time, but think of it this way; you prime the Halo, and due to terrible luck two Crits come at you. The negate the first one and counter with your own critical hit, but since that's been spent, you take the second critical hit.)

(Terraforming depends on the battle terrain within, which I'll be making note of as you progress inside the Sprial.)

>>3537355
easy. Debuffs are Debuffs. the enemy doing less damage also applies to any constructs or other things it spawns(after the Debuffs are applied i think BHOP has said?) and even if its just sending tentacles at us, any less damage we take, any less speed it has, any of that, regardless of its size, still tremendously aids us. if anything, its size means we need Debuffs more, not less.

and theres a difference between being worried about space, and wasting a characters usefulness by leaving them outside. id still rather be cramped than waste a characters utility by leaving them in the wrong spot.

>>3537348
Could we also use our Terraforming on the beach to hinder it further and helping our allies beforehand? Giant spikes and pitfalls, tunnels and pathways to help our allies move around or escape, ect. November's tank would certainly benefit from some roads.

And perhaps we could have Keanne help restore everyone's Bio beforehand as well? Just give Bio from everyone with Bio regen that doesn't have to make anything beforehand.

>>3537369
(You certainly may, and Keane can certainly reroute Bio regen if you wish.)

>>3537369
if it reaches the beach we have already failed. its gonna be in the river and making its way across for most of this, and if it makes it to the other side we are fucked. we are attacking it specifically while its IN the river so the acid weakens it.

>>3537363
No, its size means that trying to debuff the whole thing is an exercise in futility. It's as big as a town, our tiny human-scale debuffing isn't going to do shit to it. Not unless we target a vital organ. But that's where the assault team is heading, having a separate debuff team just means they'll arrive late.

And I don't think it's a waste to put the people who are at best a distraction outside where the rest of the distraction team is. They'll be less vulnerable and be able to coordinate with the others, it's a great move.

>>3537369
>>3537373
>>3537372
(To clarify, the traps can be done on your side of the beach. Attempting to make traps on the other side would be difficult and less effective.)

>>3537374
yeah no i just fully disagree wholly on both points. really? 'debuffs arent worth it?' that makes no sense at all. its size doesn't matter, the Debuffs dont work based on size, they work on stack count and percentages. literally the only worry is how much it can shrug off, but any we can make stick could literally be the difference between life or death.

Julia ALONE can give us 65% Debuffs at her max for THREE different one of its stats, can give it 39% less of a chance to hit us at all, and can FURTHER slow it down its movement range. thats without Jackies or Amaras Buffs, or taking into account what Ace can throw on top percentage wise.

and no, im not budging on taking in the majority of people. the Outside scenario simply does not lend itself well to more people in my opinion, especially when we need all hands on deck in SOME form to push towards and survive the center. everyone outside can maneuver much easier. everyone inside is going to need what aid and eyes backing them up they can get.

but i see im not gonna win any hearts with splitting up the Internal Team, so ill capitulate on that point.

>>3537387
>that makes no sense at all. its size doesn't matter, the Debuffs dont work based on size, they work on stack count and percentages. literally the only worry is how much it can shrug off, but any we can make stick could literally be the difference between life or death.
No, that's nonsense. That's the sort of RAW-focused logic that results in things like the Peasant Railgun. There's no way that Julia has infinite ability to warp flesh. There has to be a mass limit, it's just stupid otherwise. Should be the same with every other debuff. I mean, BHOP, if I'm wrong feel free to chime in, but I'm pretty sure you're not intending for Julia to be able to apply Malleable Flesh to the entirety of a town-sized monster with a single strike to a non-critical point. I mean, she's had the ability to inflict Malleable Flesh since level one, can a level one character meaningfully impede a giant super-conglomerate of Daughters?

>>3537266
Relic Loadout:

>Shu: Contender, Whistle (FOL CUNT)
>Amara: Cloak
>Rath: Sui Tormentis:
>Julia: Gauntlets .
Dorian: Cursus Alas

Changing the Team composition to have Amara be on the exterior distraction team and Dorian to be on the internal assault team.

Battle plan:

>Step 1: Board the Behemoth
We'll climb the Mountain and make a bridge via Terraforming. Shu and her family will use their halos to search for entrances and places that can be easily breached. Everyone else works on defensive escort. Any constructs or limbs spawned by SPIRAL will be hacked off for Claire to consume and grow. She needs BIO to Grow.

>Step 2: Breach the skin
Once we find a suitable position to breach.

>Step 3: Reach the Core
It's gonna be a fucking death trap in there. We're equipped with Neuromancy and Terraforming, so please help us keep our bio-regen up while we try to make the passage as safe as possible.
>Step 4: Destroy the Core
This is gonna be the real challenge.

>Step 5: Escape the Mountain

>>3537372
Oh wow. Now Lets have Keane Direct Bio-regen for Construct spawning.

Internal Assault Team’s defensive flowchart:
Our Party defense will consist of 3 layers:
1st layer: Shu’s Swarmlings and Dorian’s inklings 2nd layer: Jackie and Keane’s constructs
3rd layer: Mara, Ace, Rath, Dorian, Jackie (if he goes with Internal Team)
Anything that penetrates the 3rd layer will be up to everyone to warn each other and have them react accordingly. Big AoE attacks and wind ups need to be watched for and kept a wary eye.

Have Our construct classes (Dorian, Shu, Quinn, Jackie, Keane) Spend about 1/3 their bio into creating constructs with Keane redirecting any spare bio-regen that other party members have.
Shu and Jackie will focus on the quality of their Swarmlings
Dorian, Quinn, and Keane will focus on Quantity.

>>3537387
I'm fine with your idea of sub-dividing the internal teams into two different groups with 2 different roles, but they're still going inside the Mountain.

>>3537381
>>3537387
>>3537401
BHOP would Julias Debuffs becomes less effective due to its size? or just like how we can store 100x our own biodymass in biomass inside of us, is size not an issue here?

>>3537401
>>3537372
Redirecting the question to BHOP.

>>3537404
So can Shu make infinitely many Swarmlings, then? After all, she can theoretically possess enough biomass to make as much as she wants, it should be the same thing. Or is control and power not the same thing as energy supply?

>>3537409
dude, i asked BHOP the question, just wait for an answer.

>>3537412
Don't forget to have Keane Redirect any spare bio-regen towards the Daughters that are using Bio to spawn constructs and what not.

>>3537412
Actually, if Julia somehow can affect the entire Spiraling Fear without needing to target a vital organ, we should leave her outside. If that works, she'd be just as effective attacking the Spiraling Fear's skin (that's what she prefers to work with, anyway) as the inside of one of its arteries. The entire debuff team should be, in fact.

Also, fun thought that just occurred to me about Contender loads: Herculean Fullbore seeks out the target's organs and tears out huge chunks of flesh. We might be able to make a shortcut that way, skip having to fight through the entire spiral and make a quicker path.

>>3537372
Also, BHOP. This feels almost exactly like Blaster Master Zero 2's Mountain boss.

>>3537404
(While the debuffs are still potent, they are not as effective as they would be on a similarly-sized Daughter, or even the Conglomerate. The main reason for this is that the Spiraling Fear has yet to fully 'congeal' into a single, cohesive entity like the Conglomerate was, if that makes sense. However, debuffs will still make the difference in this fight and many others to come.)

>>3537421
(Good eye, Anon.)

>>3537416
good point.

>>3537412
deleted to add said Edit. sorry for any bamboozling but not much was changed.

>>3537266
>>3537281
>>3537297
Outside Distraction Team
>>Party; November, Magpie, Clarie, Amara

Internal Assault Team
>>Party; Shu, Rath, Dorian, Mara, Keane, Quinn, Julia, Ace, Jackie

Relic Spread
>>Shu; Contender, Whistle(FOL CUNT)
>>Rath; Sui Tormentis, Cursus Alas
>>Julia; Gauntlets
>>Amara; Shawl

Extras
>>Everyone with Armor, Get Armored up. Anyone with standard weapons to spawn, spawn at least one.
>>Have Keane use her Dual Tech with Ace to keep anyone from going too low on Bio via diverting others Bio-Regen to the Cause of Spawning Gear and Constructs.
>>Amara, let loose a “GRA FOL RHO THA” and “ GRA FOL SAN THA” on the whole group before we depart,
>>Amara then points to the Spiraling Fear and let loose a “GRA RHO FOL CUNT” at it.
>>Shu spawns Chest Armor for Herself, Dorian,Keane, Julia, Jackie, and Quinn.(78%)
>Shu loads up the Contender with two B.33s. (20%)
>>Shu Spawns a Bishop for Mara, Ace, and Rath. (90%)
>>Shu Spawns 4 RecKnights, and Fills out the rest with RecBanelings.
>>all Construct Wielders going inside other than Shu spawn either one-half their Hive Max, or one-third their Bio Max in Constructs, if they have variants they may spawn what they think is best.

>>3537423
So Julia can affect the entirety of any cohesive mass? What the fuck. Julia OP pls nerf. Okay, fuck the idea of entering the Cord, when we get there let's just have Julia embrittle it and have the whole thing collapse under its own weight.

>>3537426
>>3537419
Julia still can offer the Internal Team other benefits in Melee aswell as the Fact she still has to get into Melee Range, which is necessary inside, risky on the outside. theres a reason we are putting everyone on a dragon.

>>3537423
fair enough, though neat to know for sure now its not technically its size effecting this.

>>3537429
I was thinking she'd ride on the Crew's boat and attack its shins instead of climb around on it, but fair enough.

>>3537434
i mean, the boat sounds less safe honestly. less maneuverable, cant get away as fast, might get grabbed easier, etc.

gosh i hope no leviathans come to aid this thing, boat or not that would be annoying.

>>3537441
>i mean, the boat sounds less safe honestly. less maneuverable, cant get away as fast, might get grabbed easier, etc.
Compared to climbing around on it or being inside its body?

>>3537443
well, no, but like i said, those two thngs are necessary, we cant avoid them. being on the boat instead of the Dragon can be, aswell as the fact id actually say her odds arent much worse inside with the group backing her up, than alone on the slow boat. plus like i said she can still offer much to the internal team besides just her Debuffs.

>>3537402
>>3537266

>>3537425
Can we also have Have Magpie hand Shu Two or Three Anti-Flesh Artisan Bullets for the Internal Assault? We'll need them for assaulting the Core.

Reiterating my plan.

>Step 1: Board the Behemoth
We'll climb the Mountain and make a bridge via Terraforming. Shu and her family will use their halos to search for entrances and places that can be easily breached. Everyone else works on defensive escort. Any constructs or limbs spawned by SPIRAL will be hacked off for Claire to consume and grow. She needs BIO to Grow.

External Distraction team will provide Covering fire.

>Step 2: Breach the skin
Once we find a suitable position to breach.

External Distraction team will provide Aerial Support and Covering fire atop Mara's Dragon. If a suitable location is found, Have the External Distraction team them concentrate their fire to a specific point to soften up the entrance. Rath and any Daughters with cutting implements will burn and cut their way through. Julia should use RADIANT RIPPER to Sear the opening edges to keep the breach open.

>Step 3: Reach the Core
It's gonna be a fucking death trap in there. We're equipped with Neuromancy and Terraforming, so please help us keep our bio-regen up while we try to make the passage as safe as possible.
>Step 4: Destroy the Core
This is gonna be the real challenge. Do your best, stack debuffs on it if possible, KEEP EVERYONE ALIVE, and Hit it until it dies!

>Step 5: Escape the Mountain
Depending on where on the river SPRIAL dies, we're going to be on a timetable. Once Spiral dies, all Health regen and bio regen normally directed to keeping it healed will be cut-off. The Acid will soon dissolve SPIRAL and anyone that's still trapped inside the mountain will have to contend with the acid flooding in from the river.

>>3537441
>>3537434
That's exactly why we are not going to use the boat. The Leviathans will ignore SPIRAL and simply pick at stragglers that fall into the river.

>>3537449
Oh, so you don't want a separate debuff team, anymore? I convinced you that was a bad idea? Okay, then, I was working with that idea, arguing from the position she wouldn't be alone.

>>3537452
>Depending on where on the river SPRIAL dies, we're going to be on a timetable. Once Spiral dies, all Health regen and bio regen normally directed to keeping it healed will be cut-off. The Acid will soon dissolve SPIRAL and anyone that's still trapped inside the mountain will have to contend with the acid flooding in from the river.
Which means we probably won't get as much of a meal out of this as we could, otherwise. No, my levels...

Also, on the debuff train, since it turns out we can affect something that big: Exsanguinating Leash. That is such a big deal for this fight, it cuts the target's regen by a third. Even with debuffs being diminished in effectiveness, the fact that we're trying to outpace the Fear's regen so that it can't focus on squishing us instead makes reducing that regen invaluable. Plus, it gives all that regen lost to Shu. With Keane and Ace combining everyone's health pools, the fact that it can only fill her up to max instead of flow over isn't an issue. Shu keeps up Exsanguinating Leash and the Fear becomes much more sluggish while the team becomes much harder to kill.

>>3537452
oh, shit, i totally meant for MAgpie to hand Shu some of the bullets. no no you;re right on that, i just totally forgot to add that, sorry.

plan seems fine, but once we start who knows what will change.

>>3537425
>>3537266
add-in to Shus Relic list
>>Anti-FA Bullets(4)

two loads, straight into the Core. while im sure they can still be effective on the outside, guarantee you they will be more useful against the core.

>>3537455
eh, no one was going for it. felt like it was a place to compromise on to allow us to focus on other aspects. worse? best? case, if it looks like for some reason we should change that, once inside we always can further split up the party. i mean, not saying we should, only the option doesn't dissipate id imagine once we start.

>>3537423
how effective will Terraforming be inside the SPIRAL? id imagine greatly diminished but not impossible, as only parts of the terrain we have seen it consume have not been fully integrated?

>>3537452
>>3537266
Adding another layer to
Step 1:

Step 1: Shu will have her Swarmlings be a safety net for any daughter that loses their footing during the climb. Everyone else will need a Climbing buddy to help each other up. Heavy Characters like Mara and Ace will need more support in climbing and help due to the heavy armor they wear, either having Rath, Shu, Jackie or Dorian help Haul them up.


>>3537425
I think Rath will be fine with Sui Tormentis, Cursus Alas burns Bio to activate and Rath doesn't have a stable supply of Bio regen.

I think we're better off with giving Dorian Cursus Alas because of his insanely high Bio Regen. That and his mobility allows him to play a better active defense as well as utility during the mountain climb.

>>3537466
(Reduced efficacy, but it depends on the terrain. As I mentioned earlier, the terrain will be part of the info you'll get each round.)

>>3537469
fair point.

>>3537266
>>3537452
>>3537464
Fully Amended Relics List;

Relic Spread
>Shu; Contender, Whistle(FOL CUNT), Anti-FA Bullets(4)
>Rath; Sui Tormentis
>Julia; Gauntlets
>Dorian; Cursus Alas
>Amara; Shawl

>>3537471
Awesome.

>>3537466
>>3537471

A better question, should we make Terraformed Traps for SPIRAL before it enters the river? I think we should. It'll slow it down and give us more time to breach the skin. Ideally we should Breach the skin by the time SPIRAL steps foot into the river.

I'm willing to spend a good 120% BIO into making Terraform Traps with Keane's help in Bio regeneration in the last preparation Round.

Have the Terraformed traps be Serrated Hook spikes that flow in a counter-spiral direction as well as a Trench pit that forces the River acid and the Spiral into the pit.

That sound good?

>tfw Mara has minimum 10000% health
>tfw we didn't think she could take Bni

>>3537476
the issue is we no longer can keep Terraformed Terrain active without an active Tether, and only then i think Short Range Tethers too. only Amara can make permenant changes at the moment.

i mean, i get what you're going for, i just cant see the point if it's not giving us more time to board, as it means we cant eve be preparing as well to board it until it gets past the traps anyways. feels like pulling resources to give us more time we wont be using.

>>3537469
>Heavy Characters like Mara and Ace will need more support in climbing and help due to the heavy armor they wear, either having Rath, Shu, Jackie or Dorian help Haul them up.
Well, Mara's probably fine on the grounds of her Calcite weapons being good pitons. But yeah, Ace probably needs help. Good thing we have two Daughters who both have all the arms they could want.

>>3537476
Wait, shit. I just remembered something big. Something really big.

>>PHANTOM LIMB (Lvl 3): throwing caution to the wind in pursuit of justice, Rath can go beyond her body's natural limits to gain access to an utterly devastating blow that comes at the cost of her own health. She may choose to expend 20% of her current HEALTH and 1 ACT to combine any number of Phantom Limbs with one of her real ones, imbuing it with impossibly destructive power that scales with the number of limbs consumed in its creation. The resulting blow, if struck, deals five times critical damage and will automatically knock a target of any size prone. You may not see her naming her smashes after locales of note, but the effects have to be seen to be believed. (HEALTH+10%)
>automatically knock a target of any size prone
>any size

We need to open this up with Rath punching the Spiraling Fear over. Topple it into the acid, make it waste time getting back up. It can't be easy to right yourself when you're that big, even if your flesh is metamorphic.

>>3537478
(Yeah, that gave me a good chuckle when it came up. Granted, there was no way for anyone to know just how strong Mara was, so it's understandable that there was fear regarding the outcome of their confrontation if it had come to that.)

>>3537479
>the issue is we no longer can keep Terraformed Terrain active without an active Tether, and only then i think Short Range Tethers too. only Amara can make permenant changes at the moment.
Yes we can, that's not a function of high-level Neuromancy but the Earthen Mind augmentation. We still have that ability, Shu grabbed it along with Hydroformer.

>>3537480
Good eye. Lets have Rath do that as one of her opening moves. Spend at least 3 Phantom Limbs for the Merger punch. Knock SPIRAL PRONE

>>3537266

>>3537479
Shu has Level 3 Neuromancy, so her tethers are Medium Range Tethers. And Earthen Mind makes it so that we don't have to keep it tether in order for the Terraforming to stay active.

>>3537484
oh, fair enough. i still cant see how it will help much, as it being in the Acid was said to be our best shot here.

>>3537480
>>3537487
right, lets do that.

BUT FIRST, how much Health should she dump into Sui Tormentis? she has at least 3 turns of Bio Regen to throw into it at least, unless you want to deduct the 20% cost for that from it.

>>3537490
she has 3 turns of HEALTH Regen. geezus.

>>3537490
>>3537266
We can have Keane Reallocate Health Regen into Rath for the insane Strength boost. Spend 100% HP each Round, have Keane reallocate Health regen to Rath if it's possible for Keane to Reallocate Health regen.

Have Rath end with at least 200% HP after the Strength Boost and Spending the Bio for the US SMASH punch.

Is it possible for Keane to reallocate health Regen?

>>3537490
I'm thinking 30% per turn for those three turns. Sui Tormentis auto-heals 10% of that damage, her own regen heals another 20%, leaves her at max health by the time it comes to spend another 20% for the SMASH, but with a 270% increase to damage.

>>3537498
(That's well within Keane's powers, yes.)

>>3537499
Wait, sorry, not 10%. That's an error my editing from when I was initially proposing 40%. It's actually 7.5%. Takes her down to slightly less than full Health.

>>3537501
But if Keene can reallocate regen, then I say we give her all we have. The rest of us are still at max Health, after all, she can take all the regen she wants. So take the 130% total Health regen from the sum of Shu's party (I think the Crew might be hesitant to contribute) and then sacrifice that much Health each round.
Give Rath a boost of 1170% for the rest of the fight. Fuck, this Dual Tech is awesome. We need to get a version of our own. Shu can probably figure one out based on getting Exsanguinating Leash going both ways, right?

so does this seem good to everyone?

>>3537266
>>3537425
Outside Distraction Team
>Party; November, Magpie, Clarie, Amara

Internal Assault Team
>Party; Shu, Rath, Dorian, Mara, Keane, Quinn, Julia, Ace, Jackie

Relic Spread
>Shu; Contender, Whistle(FOL CUNT), Anti-FA Bullets(4)
>Rath; Sui Tormentis
>Julia; Gauntlets
>Dorian; Cursus Alas
>Amara; Shawl

Extras
>Everyone with Armor, Get Armored up. Anyone with standard weapons to spawn, spawn at least one.
>Have Keane use her Dual Tech with Ace to keep anyone from going too low on Bio and Health via diverting others Bio-Regen to the Cause of Spawning Gear and Constructs.
>Amara, let loose a “GRA FOL RHO THA” and “ GRA FOL SAN THA” on the whole group before we depart,
>Amara then points to the Spiraling Fear and let loose a “GRA RHO FOL CUNT” at it.
>Shu spawns Chest Armor for Herself, Dorian,Keane, Julia, Jackie, and Quinn.(78%)
>Shu loads up the Contender with two B.33s. (20%)
>Shu Spawns a Bishop for Mara, Ace, and Rath. (120%)
>Shu Spawns 4 Rec(10)Knights (160%).
>all Construct Wielders going inside other than Shu spawn either one-half their Hive Max, or one-third their Bio Max in Constructs, if they have variants they may spawn what they think is best.
>Have Rath Dump 300% Health into Sui Tormentis. Allow her a minimum of 200% Health left, at the end of the 3 turns, however.
>Have Rath Spawn 20 PHantom Limbs.
>Have Rath Combine 10 Limbs into a Super Punch, and With help from Allies punch the Spiral into Prone as soon as it enters the Acid.
>Once prone, we rush to enter.


>>3537452
with this as our basic plan outline?

>>3537501
>*rubs hands with glee*
>>3537512
No no no... We can abuse it even MORE.

ALRIGHT BOYOS. Shu's Family alone can Provide 130% Health Regen for Rath. November herself can provide an additional 130% HP Regen when she's tethered to the tank.The Midnight Crew?, even more. So We're going to have Rath spend at least 267% HP each round into Strengthening herself WITHOUT KILLING HERSELF. That's a total strength boost of 2403%! Not counting Herculean Force!

And yes. >>3537452 is as good a baseline plan as it can be.

>>3537512
Provided we also allocate some Bio regen to Rath to make up for what she's spending making those Phantom Limbs, sounds great.

Speaking of regen, I just noticed that the Midnight Crew don't have any. At all. It's probably not because of the summary abbreviating details, because Magpie and November have their regen noted. They must have some skill like B'Ni's that gives better stats in exchange for no combat-duration regen. Maybe part of their Fool's Choice, since it's a common element among them, Mother going "if you're so determined to stay by your friends you'll have to rely on them or else". So they actually need to pool their Health and Bio, because otherwise they have no endurance. Keane can regenerate their Health, but she still has limited Bio supply. So we're actually doing them a favor by joining the resource pool. We just gave them regen, for the first time in who knows how long.

>>3537514
>>3537512
We have Keane redirect Bio regen, but we have a shit-ton of Heath regen left unused. We can use that health regen into getting Rath Roided up on Sui Tormentis strength by having her spend a large majority of her HP Pool. Each. Round.

>>3537514
>>3537521
alright.

>>3537512
>>3537266
you heard em, pump Rath up for the limit of her having 200% Health left at the end of the 3 Turns. should be i think 801% total if other Anons calculations are correct, though people like Julia spawning a ripper might lower that a little, and we dont know the Midnights needs of Regen Stats.

>>3537524
I also forgot about Magpie's heath regen. She's got 90% Health regen. That's gonna aid Rath with her health regen when it comes to Roiding up and due to the unfortunate fact that Mara and the Midnight crew don't have any sort of Regen source.

>>3537528
Mara might have regen, her stats are ????.

Also, I wouldn't be surprised if Keane and Ace can only link together people who are so close together, so putting the outside team in the loop might not work. Whether they can be brought in temporarily or if the link has to stay with the same people once it's up and so they need to be excluded from the start is less clear, though.

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>>3537528
>>3537531
so thats like what? about ~1,071% total spent? for a total Strength boost of ~3,213%? what the fuck have we done?!

(Writing now, Gentlemen.)

>>3537536
And then her BIO will refill to full after making the Phantom Limbs, so she'll get the total Herculean Strength bonus as well. Whatever the Spiraling Fear throws in our way, physical barriers are not going to be a problem. One punch, and they'll fall right down.

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>>3537524
>>3537531
>>3537541
I just had a thought, Because Rath's in Sui Tormentis, has a Neuotic Halo, and is opening up with a Burning Punch of Rage, she's practically pic related except the halo's on her belt and she's got about several pairs of arms leftover.
I can already hear https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0n-9X1MuMQ playing.

The thing is that Rath's HP Pool is 270%

She can only spend up to her HP limit without keeling over herself which is 269%
Spending 269% each round over 3 turns is 807% total HP spent. Sui Tormentis's Temporal trait in hp recovery alongside Keane's HP regen allocation is more than enough to recover all 269% HP within a single round.

So. 807% total hp spent x 1:3 Hp/Strength Ratio = 2421% Strength buff.
Add in Herculean force which a strength buff for every 10% over 100% (Rath's Bio is 220%) = 120% additional strength.

Add in a Call to Arms alongside Rath's Burning punch will ya?

>>3537541
>>3537544
actually, where did the Halos end up BHOP? there was some split consensus on that. its not super important mind you just a curiosity question.

>>3537547
(That'll be in the next section, no worres.)

>>3537536
We have optimized our plan. anon. Besides, that was just the tip of the iceberg. And Sui Tormentis has a 1:3 health/Strength Ratio at level ONE Sui Tormentis.

>>3537544
>Add in Herculean force which a strength buff for every 10% over 100% (Rath's Bio is 220%) = 120% additional strength.
I'm not sure it works that way, the buff increases for every 10% above 100% Bio Rath has but we don't know by what increment. Just that it's "boosted considerably". Regardless, it's enough of a boost that Rath is utterly terrifying right now, yes. I can't wait to see the reaction from the rest of the people here.

>>3537547
I kind of want it to be on her chest, now that we're making the Evangelion comparison. Have it be her core.

>>3537555
yeah i know. i had hoped to get to upgrade it at least once perhaps, but, well.....this happened instead.

>>3537559
i still want it to be a rocker choker myself. but we will just see what all won out in the end.

>>3537559
I myself have warmed up having it float behind her head like a Buddhist halo. It reminds me of Asura's Wrath.

>>3537512
>>3537541
BHOP. One more thing. Spawn a FuzzBuzz for Amara. FuzzBuzz is always worth it.

>>3537564
It looks nice, but the issue is that it's easily targetable in that sense. We can fiddle around with it later on.

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>>3537565
this is true.

>>3537563
>yeah i know. i had hoped to get to upgrade it at least once perhaps, but, well.....this happened instead.
Well, level two doesn't improve the ratio, that comes at level three and above. Level two would just let it spend Health on defensive boosts as well. Which are nice, too, but right now we want to be Deku, not Kirishima.

>>3537565
FuzzBuzz also takes up Swarmling slots, no he's not worth it right now.

>>3537568
well, yes i know. but the root ability could still be useful, and we need said upgrade to make it to level 3, so it still is a right step in that direction.

>>3537570
True. Can you imagine end game Rath, with level five Sui Tormentis and enough native Health regen to do this trick on her own? But she can also spend it on speed and armor boosts, so she's just as durable and fast, too? And she's maxed out a hybrid Tensile Strand/Radiant Boil/Phantom Limb skill as well, so she's got dozens of flaming extendo-limbs, too? She's going to be a thing of nightmares. I look forward to it eagerly.

>>3537583
She's basically a Juggernaut at that point if given time to prepare. Imagine if we threw the cloak on her as well as Sui Tormentis to give her time to prepare. She'd be pulling Kool-aid man entrances and neck-snapping unfortunate squishies as her surprise move.

>>3537583
>>3537588
man, with strength like this im just imagining her twirling her limbs around, turning the garrote strands into basically meat mincers. her options are disturbingly varied and all deadly.

>>3537594
There's also the fact that She's got Immutable form, Neurotic halo, and Neuromancy. Neuromancy for paralysis and terraforming set-up. Neurotic Halo for Matrix dodges and Neuromancy Immunity, and Immutable form for status purges and immunities.

Also, why are we using regular phantom Limbs when we have REPLICANT LIMBS available?

>PHANTOM LIMB (Lvl 2): like a Hydra, where one extremity is severed, two more come in its place. By using 15% BIO when generating a limb, Rath may now create a REPLICANT LIMB, which automatically regenerates into a pair basic limbs when severed. Additionally, REPLICANT LIMBS boast a 20% increase in attack power, which is further enhanced by any strength-boosting mutations she has active. (HEALTH+20%)

>>3537600
because i forgot that is a thing because we are only human and counting unique level based abilities within abilities, we probably have like 30-50 things to keep tack of. something is always going to be forgotten. its why im honestly a fan of a more focused build now by alot than a more varied ability build. maybe if we weren't a team that could work, but we already have so much stuff to keep track of as it is.

>>3537600
Because we're not really looking for more attack power right now. We're just looking for the raw force to knock this thing over, and Phantom Limb level three does that anyway. Spawning extra arms was really just to show off. When we summon limbs for fighting inside the Fear, we'll use the Replicant Limbs.

>>3537541
Hey BHOP. Due to the sheer number of moving parts and characters and the complex plans that we try to formulate in a situation like this, are we gonna keep to the same protocol as we did versus Isabelle? Like a long voting period for us anons to make tactically sound decisions? the 3 hour voting period seemed like it gave us enough time for us to optimize our strategy with last minute additions. And besides, it'll help you focus on your daily work life and give some of us anons some time to formulate alternate solutions.

>>3537619
(I believe so, yes. If that works for everyone then I'll have three-hour voting segments in effect during this combat unless otherwise stated. It gives me time to write and try to minimize the errors that come with a lot of processing. After all, this is the second-largest fight you will likely have in this Quest, and I want to make sure you don't get the short end of the stick when it comes to planning and execution.)

(Does this work for everyone present?)

>>3537641
it Does

>>3537641
sure, works for me.
>only second largest
hrm, not unexpected but always interesting when you give us little snippets like that.

>>3537641
Sounds great.

And oh my, second-largest? There are so many ways a bigger fight could happen, I look forward to it. Battle royale, leading an army, fighting an army, lots of fun things that could happen.

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>>3537641
Yes. This will work wonderfully for us. And I've got a longer shift at work today so I won't be able to participate much after 1:30 because of work policy.

>Second largest

>>3537662
I always heard FUBAR as "beyond all reason", not reality.

(I'll be posting this update all in one go. It's a big one, so thank you for bearing with me.)

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>>3537266

Your empathic field flares outwards, to envelop everyone present as November approaches you, opening her hand towards you and revealing a quartet of bullets, a sampling of the rounds Magpie forged when you last spoke with her.

“Courtesy of the sniper.” November intones, and you give her an appreciative nod as you pocket the lengthy rounds.

“November, take Amara and work with Magpie and Claire to slow this thing down.” You say, turning to your smallest ally with a smile as her princess-crown Halo shimmers with white light. Amara whispers to her whistle before handing it to you, staring up at you with wide, two-tone eyes before climbing into November’s arms. Your hive twitches as a small, fluffy FuzzBuzz darts from your back and into the girl’s arms, much to her delight.

Two powerful statements are shouted by the little girl before November speeds her away and you watch as everyone present is effected by her Lexicon of Flesh, their skin and minds becoming more resilient as a result of the alien language. Her third and final shout echoes across the shore, the roaring epithet directed towards your impossibly large foe and earning a chuckle from Rath and a groan from Julia.

“Keane, can you link all of us?” You ask aloud, and the wide-brimmed witch’s hat tilts up, the pale-eyed girl surprised at your acknowledgement of her. “I notice you and the Crew don’t have any regen, and I have a plan for how to make it easier for us to breach this thing. Are you up for it?”

Keane opens her mouth to enthusiastically reply before she catches her leader’s dark eyes. Jackie gives you an appraising glance before nodding towards the younger girl, and you feel a tug at the skin on your back as a thick tendril of biomass extends from you to her, and the same ability slowly begins to link everyone present, the closed circuit of regeneration allowing you to put your plan into action.

Your hive is a painful flurry of creation, your contender loading itself with a pair of B.33s as a quartet of Recursive Knightlings and a trio of Bishops tear themselves free of your spine, with a series of six Platelings rounding out your preparations as they fly out to armor your friends and tentative allies, alike. Sui Tormentis’s glistening armor locks into place along Rath’s limbs, tightening across her chest as she casts her yellow eyes your way moments before the helm slides into place and obscures her gaze. Her Halo glitters with orange light at her waist, and when you glance over to your pair of artists their halos each glow a gentle crimson in the form of rings that dangle from their necks on glimmering strands of neurons. You place a hand over your heart, feeling your own integrated Halo thrum with power as you look around at the group that surrounds you.

Something tells you that there hasn’t been anything like this in this Crucible…

…and you wonder if there’s been anything like this in *any* Crucible.

(Continued)

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>>3537815

“Jack, you wanna open with the Quad or…” Quinn begins, and she’s met with Jackie shaking her head.

“No, save it for the core of this fat fuck.” Jackie retorts, jerking a thumb at the mountain lumbering in the distance.

“Ready when you all are.” Mara shouts, the wing beats of her dragon kicking up a gust of wind and debris. In moments you’re off, tearing through the skies as thin wisps of smoke begin to snake out from the gaps in the Sui Tormentis before being torn away by the winds that rake across the dragon’s back. Rath’s just ahead of Mara, and you have to rise and lean over the warrior’s shoulder to address the armored red-head.

“Rath, talk to me, are you…?”

“I…I’m good!” She shouts back through gritted teeth, barely-restrained pain laced in her voice. You glance past her as you begin to dive, hurtling towards the Spiraling Fear as it lets loose another scream of fury and terror.

“Let’s knock and see if it’ll let us in, yeah?!” Rath shouts back with an audible grin, and with that…

…she leaps.

You and everyone else aboard slam into the dragon’s back as it brakes mid-air with a powerful flap of its wings, sending your companion soaring through the skies and directly towards the sheer face of the behemoth. There’s a distant glimmer, her arm’s radiance shining through the Sui Tormentis before it disappears in the distance, then...

Then there’s a crack, a boom, and you watch as a massive crater instantly buckles into the mountainside. Mara shoves down on the dragon’s neck, forcing it forwards as the Fear loses all ability to stand while you hurtle to catch your ally.

The sound of Keane screaming with delight pierces through the crashing roar of the Spiraling Fear’s catastrophic collapse as Ace reaches up and seizes Rath in a bear hug, the impact nearly forcing both into a headlong tumble towards the shore below. Rath gives a victorious roar as everyone present watches in awe as the beast topples into the river, a full two-thirds of its body now submerged in the acidic torrent. The hiss and pop of corroded flesh is deafening as Mara pushes you into another steep dive before standing, somehow keeping her balance against the impossibly sharp descent.

“Going to make an opening for you, wait for my signal.” Mara says, rising from her seat and giving you a sharp salute.

“Mara, what do you oh SHIT WHAT THE FU-” Rath’s exclamation is torn away by the howling winds as Marrow Dragoon leaps backwards, soaring over your collective heads and seizing her mount’s tail in one armored hand. The tail snaps free in its entirety and suddenly she’s hurtling down towards the prone colossus. You watch as the tail warps, its meat and bone shifting mid-flight and twisting into a colossal blade twice as long as Mara is tall. Still the dragon descends, chasing after its master as she goes to do what must be done.

She’s going to cut you a path.

(Continued)

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>>3537826

Mara flings the greatsword down towards her prey, a long spine tethering the weapon to her alabaster frame. Its shining length spears home a half-second before its wielder slams into the Spiraling Fear’s twisted flesh, and with a mighty yank on the tether the towering blade tears a gushing wound open in the behemoth’s side. The gash grows ever larger as you and your allies approach at incredible speed before the dragon cuts its dive just before it harshly lands, thrusting its wings into the gap and forcing it open wide. Mara draws a long- and short-sword pairing from the armor at her hips, gesturing for you all to follow before she disappears into the bleeding depths.

Rath, Julia, and Dorian give you a collective nod of affirmation before Jackie dashes past you, followed by her team as they join her in leaping into the unknown. You and yours follow suit, and the darkness claims you. The heat within the Spiraling Fear is tremendous, your collective discomfort in the thick, moist air only intensified by the arrhythmic thump of innumerable heartbeats around you. It takes a few moments for your eyes adjust to the gloom, the shine of your halos joining the bioluminescence that lines the pulsing walls and illuminating…

…good god.

You, The Midnight Crew, and Mara brace themselves against the roiling tide of bodies that surge towards you, an undulating throng of nude and spiral-scarred bodies hauled towards you through the terrain at terrible speed. They scream as one, their bodies and wrapped into one another, coiled tight in a miserable tangle of limbs, hair, and faces.

It is a mad, writhing horde.

The first of many.

So it begins.

>>COMBAT: START

Shu the Defiant, The Midnight Crew, and Marrow Dragoon

VS.

THE TWISTED SISTERHOOD

HP: 310% (+15% REGEN)
BIO: 330% (+30% REGEN, 4 Rec-Knights, 3 Bishops, 5 Platelings, 12/18 Active)
CONTENDER: 2x B.33 Rounds Loaded, Base Form. 4x Anti-Spiral Rounds available.
RAVENOUS MAW: Primed.
HUNDRED-HANDED: None.
Whistle: FOL CUNT Loaded
ACT: 3/3

RATH HP: 270% (+20% REGEN, Sui Tormentis, Bishop Active-3 Rounds)
JULIA HP: 290% (+20% REGEN, Ignition Gauntlets)
DORIAN HP: 210% (+45% REGEN, Canvass Form, Cursus Alas)

JACKIE HP: 660%
QUINN HP: 760%
KEANE HP: 410%
ACE HP: 1120% (Bishop Active-3 Rounds)

MARA HP: ?????% (Bishop Active-3 Rounds)

Threat: 70+ Individuals, more on the way. Medium distance, straight corridor. Twelve meters wide, six meters in height.
Terrain: Spiral, Terraforming very difficult.
Debuffs: MALLEABLE FLESH x1

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

(Voting shall remain open for the next three hours, Gentlemen. Good luck.)

>>3537847
>70+ individuals
Whew boy. Right. Lets get to it.

can we assume everyone made Constructs but our lack of a connection to the Midnight Crew means we wont get the numbers?

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>>3537837
my god, the daughters it absorbed are still aware?
this is worse than The Foetid Conglomerate

>>3537860
(Correct. Quinn has her White Cells, Jackie has a swarm of Bladebats.)

>>3537866
awesome.
plan is being written now. whew, this is gonna be a toughie though.

>>3537864
(Yes, they are.)

>>3537826
Oh my, yes. Rath, you are absolutely beautiful. Mara...yeah, you were cool too, but the knowledge that you're not really pushing yourself yet makes you less impressive to me.

>>3537837
Quick clarification: Does Masque of War obstruct sight for allies? It says it disrupts sight-enhancing abilities, but is that on top of generally being hard to see through? Because I want Dorian to start eroding these things, but I don't want Mara and Crew to have their vision obstructed. Our team is fine because we all have the Neurotic Halos for enhanced situational awareness, but they'd be in trouble.

>>3537866
not to nag, but could you add our recent upgrades to the contender to the relics page? i feel those will help alot to keep on hand.

>>3537876
(Ah, good catch! I'll have to add it when I get home, unfortunately.)

>>3537874
(It would obstruct their vision, yes.)

>>3537880
ah, shame. anyone else remember them?
we had made our rounds one less round to detonate, and...i cant remember the new round type however.

>>3537884
new round is the cicada bullet.

can’t participate much, i’m at work.

>>3537884
The new round explodes with a sonic blast that disrupts Neuromancer, Humoral Paladin, and Phantasmal Conduit abilities in a medium-range area.

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So I stopped reading In the middle of thread 19 and never got back around to reading until just now. Probably because of the headline YOUR BEST FRIEND IS DEEEEEEEEEAD

Oh god.

You guys cut the cord to Isabelle. Knowing what I know now, I'm not sure It would have helped us but I like to think there was a chance, some kind of chance It could have prevented the fight entirely. We have never not fucked up when It comes to Isabelle, huh? Well In any case, I think any sort of redemption for Isabelle has been shot dead, which Is personally extremely disappointing.

Now Gina's.... I don't know. The sacrificial lamb to give the party the strength they needed. Fuck. I'd be so happy about the upgrades If It wasn't paid for with the blood of the character. At least she's still playing parasite In Isabelle's mind.

Just, I'm rambling at this point, I don't even know what to say. Fuck BHOP.

Just, fuck.

Thanks again for the ride.

>>3537880
>(It would obstruct their vision, yes.)
Ah, damn. Is that something we could ameliorate with Neuromancy or our empathic link? Feed them information on target placement that way?

>>3537890
it’s also indiscriminate so friendly fire is on. when it comes to that bullet type
we need to cut a path and head for the core. asap. spawn constructs and fill your hive slots to max with basic swarmlings.

>>3537893
>You guys cut the cord to Isabelle. Knowing what I know now, I'm not sure It would have helped us but I like to think there was a chance, some kind of chance It could have prevented the fight entirely.
Nope, no chance at all. It was just a bad roll.

>Well In any case, I think any sort of redemption for Isabelle has been shot dead, which Is personally extremely disappointing.
There was never any hope for redeeming her. The only question was how merciful a death she would receive. The answer has now been resolved to be "not at all".

>>3537837
right, i think this is a good plan. its simple, but despite the chaos, the situation actually IS simple. its a hallway with a horde coming at us. we are the romans facing the barbarian hordes, out Constructs our auxiliaries. we can build off of this plan easily though i think, if nothing else.

DORIAN
>switch into Maque Form, get infront of the party to help give everyone a minor second to react.
>Just as the horde hits the Shield Wall, flare VER to cause them to panic and throw off their rush.

DORIAN and KEANE
>have your paintlngs and mucuslings and clog up the hallway, forcing the horde into a more narrow, manageable path, and keeping them in Raths fire longer.

SHU
>Activate your LEASH.

RATH, MARA, and ACE
>Rath, quickly spam out 5 Boils to burn out what you can as they approach.
>Rush forwards, shoulder to shoulder, and act as our frontline shield wall. Main focus is to hold back the horde, but any and all kills are welcome.
>Once the Horde hits and such it is hopefully slowed or broken up, slowly start pushing forward to keep us moving.

JULIA and JACKIE
>Quickly use your Health Regen to make 5 Attacks(4 Extra) against the walls, to stack on more debuffs.
>Have Jackie aid in enhancing Julias abilities to see if she can't get more Stacks out.

SHU, QUINN, and JACKIE
>Aid the Shield Wall via aiming for the gaps or being extra help to protect their backs from surprises or ones that slip past the group.

EVERYONE'S CONSTRUCTS
>Wait until Dorian flares his VER, then rush past the SHield wall in a swarm of our own to take the first barrage, slowly retreating back to the Shield Wall to slow the enemies charge further and give the Shield Wall the best chance to properly hold.

>>3537884

>>SHORT FUSE: Shot effects now take 1 less turn to detonate.

>>CICADA'S CRY: A squat, fat round, this grenade-like projectile lacks the damage-dealing capabilities of its kin in favor of emitting an ear-piercing wail over a vast distance. This cry acts to disrupt any and all concentration-based effects in a medium range around the target area aside from those employed by its user, severely limiting the vast arsenals of Neuromancers, Humoral Paladins, and Phantasmal Conduits alike. They don't call out often in this desolate land, but when the cicadas cry...the world listens.(Cost: 10% BIO)

>>3537893
(Good to have you back, Anon! I agree that it's been a wild ride, and now that we're moving into the second act, I'm looking forward to revealing more about the world and characters, as well as seeing how you tackle what's to come.)

>>3537907
I like the Idea of letting the rising tide break on our Bulwark

I would add instead of activating the Leash to throw a couple of Banelings their way to soften the impact a bit so they will be a bit more dissordered before being hit bei VERURTEILUNG

>>3537907
Sound good, but I think Shu might be good as part of the shield wall as well. Ravenous Maw means that anything that gets close to her gets a bite taken out of it, and Gluttonous abilities are stated to be especially good against minions. A bunch of low-health monsters like this, constantly being hit by triple-strength criticals (after already being weakened by Masque of War), should be easy prey. And it would give Shu a ton of bonus BIO, actually, since she'll get back a fifth of the damage she deals as BIO. We can feed that back to the rest of the group through Keane's connection, keep everyone topped off.

>>3537916
We can do that, too. Exsanguinating Leash costs nothing to use, and we have three actions per round instead of just two, now.

>>3537895
(You can, though they'd be striking blind, for the most part. The info as to where things are aren't terribly clear.)

>>3537920

>>We can do that, too. Exsanguinating Leash costs nothing to use, and we have three actions per round instead of just two, now.


right...... forgot that....

>>3537921
Darn. Best to put Dorian in front of the rest of the team instead of around us, then.

>>3537899
Wait that's It? I'll fully admit to speedreading to find out what happened and get caught up. It really was just a bad roll that made her find us/ made that whole encounter happen?

Fuck. Well In any case, I still think It might have been a bad call. Did you see how many chances BHOP gave us to back out of that surgery? Do you remember that BHOP mentioned that our connection could have leveled up? There was potential there, there was serious potential there even In spite of what's happened and I think we threw It away.

>>3537915
ah, thank you. totally forgot about the Cicada round, but until we get-
-wait we have fucking BEES, why CANT we just have one make us some beeswax earplugs?

>>3537916
she can do both, as Constructs have their one mini-Act as it was once spawned.
>i say then look back and see we did not spawn them.
oh, damn, that sucks. still, taking away 1/3 the SPIRALS Health Regen to give to the party is REALLY useful.

>>3537920
totally forgot Leash is free, so yeah ill add in the Baneling thing too.

as for Shu, i dunno. i mean, she can stick her Ma through the gaps and the like to help, sure. but she doesn't have the Raw defense or Strength of the other three to actually TAKE the wave as it hits our shores, as the saying does.


>>3537922
hey man, dont feel too bad, we have alot of abilities and alot of character, no one is gonna remember every detail.

>>3537907
Just to make the image of a shieldwall and prepared positions being used to defeat a horde more of a thing
Another Idea
>>could we try and terraform the Battlefield to make the Enemy rush into a set of spikes to impale themselves upon it should slow them down considerably if we could pull it of or leave us terribly exposed

>>3537925
we could have him be a cloud out infront of the horde, give the Shield Wall a few feet to see the enemy coming while still laying on his anti-Construct damage?

>>3537943
BHOP in the threat area said
>Terraforming very difficult
i dont think its worth the BIO at such a difficult level honestly. that either means the cost and concentration necessary goes up, or there suddenly a chance for failure and wasted ACTS.

>>3537926
Nope. B'Ni is too crazy to deal with. The connection levels up to just an inferior version of the Crimson Cord we have with Gina, that's it. So we'd be able to make telepathic contact with her, and share BIO in close proximity, but no real potential. We don't want to be in telepathic contact with her, and sharing BIO is I suppose useful if we want to drain her in a fight but not useful for your desired reconciliation. B'Ni is, and always was, a lost cause and waste of time. We threw away nothing.

>>3537931
>as for Shu, i dunno. i mean, she can stick her Ma through the gaps and the like to help, sure. but she doesn't have the Raw defense or Strength of the other three to actually TAKE the wave as it hits our shores, as the saying does.
Don't have to endure the crashing wave if you destroy it before it gets to you. Triple-strength auto-criticals on anything that gets close, I'm not sure they'd even get a chance to deal damage. They stick their arm out to strike and it's already eaten. But I suppose she could still get overwhelmed, so I'll compromise to staying close behind the heavies and eating anyone that gets past them.

>>3537944
Yeah, that seems reasonable.

>>3537837
>>3537907
right, a few changes. my only real worry right now is any surprises it'll throw at us, but those are nearly impossible to fully predict enough to counter outright, so hopefully having Shus group being told to look out for such things will at least give us a chance to lessen such blows.

DORIAN
>switch into Maque Form, get infront of the Shield Wall, leaving a good few Feet for them to see the Horde incoming, to help give everyone a minor second to react.
>Just as the horde hits the Shield Wall, flare VER to cause them to panic and throw off their rush.

DORIAN and KEANE
>have your paintlngs and mucuslings and clog up the hallway, forcing the horde into a more narrow, manageable path, and keeping them in Raths fire longer.

SHU
>Activate your LEASH.
>Spawn 4 Banelings to go and Detonate upon the horde as it rushes past Raths fire and the shortened gap .

RATH, MARA, and ACE
>Rath, quickly spam out 5 Boils to burn out what you can as they approach.
>Rush forwards, shoulder to shoulder, and act as our frontline shield wall. Main focus is to hold back the horde, but any and all kills are welcome.
>Once the Horde hits and such it is hopefully slowed or broken up, slowly start pushing forward to keep us moving.

JULIA and JACKIE
>Quickly use your Health Regen to make 5 Attacks(4 Extra) against the walls, to stack on more debuffs.
>Have Jackie aid in enhancing Julias abilities to see if she can't get more Stacks out.

SHU, QUINN, and JACKIE
>Aid the Shield Wall via aiming for the gaps or being extra help to protect their backs from surprises or ones that slip past the group.
>Shu Focuses on Maw grabs and Contender Sword jabs, using Arms to hold down and that start to push past the Shield Wall.
>Quinn simply Focuses on hits, getting what she can in to help her abilities start to form.
>Jackie can aid the Shield wall with her Ability Boost/Activation if she sees a good opportunity, otherwise simply focus on helping take care of any slippery bastards or surprises.

EVERYONE'S CONSTRUCTS
>Wait until Dorian flares his VER, then rush past the SHield wall in a swarm of our own to take the first barrage, slowly retreating back to the Shield Wall to slow the enemies charge further and give the Shield Wall the best chance to properly hold.
>Construct Spawners who can should replace their numbers without being too draining on their reserves. The Construct horde is helpful but running ourselves dry too quickly will do no one any good.

>>3537947
You are right maybe i am getting a bit reckless do to my excitement

Though maybe something to keep in mind when we have a similar situation in front of us with better terrain

>>3537926
Isabelle was pretty crazy and had an extreme determination.. not to kill us but to make Shu and everyone Shu cares about hurt
Trying to save her is probably an effort in futility imo

Though I have made up my mind anyone who threatens the family gets one chance to redeem themsleves afterwards they are toast

>>3537951
>B'Ni is, and always was, a lost cause and waste of time.

I see where you're coming from but that's not exactly true. BHOP stated had we played our cards differently and gotten to know her we could have made her situation better, delayed her leaving, prevented It entirely.

Is she a lost cause *now*? Probably. The players have never liked her, hell, I didn't like her until the reveal and maybe It speaks to my own Issues but I sympathize with a person like her. I'd rather see her get over her problems than drown In them, unlikely as that Is. Oh well, I'm not going to argue about It, what's done Is done.

>>3537893
>>3537899
>>3537926
nah man, we decided to cut the connection because she was already clearly too far gone. we outright thought, and were right, she was now after us for reasons we could not allow, aka killing someone. we just didn't know EXACTLY who perhaps. we cut the connection for very very good reasons.

our mistake was exactly as Isabelle said; we went exactly to the first place she would look for us, then just followed us til she saw an opening to move it. bad roll perhaps she was able to find us there, but we did ourselves no favors making it an easier roll for sure. but we also kinda didn't have a choice almost, we didn't have time to really think of how to better find and talk to Mara somewhere safer, and were a little distracted to think of such a thing anyways.

>>3537973
at least shes not West, ill give her that at least.

>>3537961
Looks good to me. Though small point of correction, Julia should be making six attacks, she gets two by default. And actually, if she used both her actions on stacking debuffs, it would be eight, but I can understand wanting to keep one open in case she has to fight a construct that gets past. Was that the intent?

>>3537973
Right, here's the thing, though: B'Ni is not worth the effort that would have been needed to make her an ally. That's why she was always a waste of time. Not because it was impossible to redeem her, but because it would have been a huge sink of time and effort and I just don't care about her enough. Like you said, nobody liked her. She was not worth the time and effort needed to make her someone likable. And her backstory changes nothing, it just makes her more unlikable. We're not Sam, we owe no responsibility for the actions of a dead woman. Her trying to guilt us over something another person did just seals the deal that she'll never be someone we'll want on our side.

>>3537979
I'm just surprised she made it back so quickly. She suddenly only takes fifteen minutes to move a distance she took days to cross the other way around? Did she get really lucky finding a waystation in the middle of Carrol's Wood?

>>3537847
oh, BHOP, what did Raths Strength boost end up as at the end?

>>3537986
ah yeah my bad on the miscount,though yes i wanted her to have one extra to react with if necessary. sorry that was not clear.

>I'm just surprised she made it back so quickly. She suddenly only takes fifteen minutes to move a distance she took days to cross the other way around? Did she get really lucky finding a waystation in the middle of Carrol's Wood?

she may of dropped some levels into the Greaves and Sprinter, as we never saw her new loadout for that battle.

>>3537986
It could have been mother throwing her a bone just for her own amusement

>>3537986
(B'ni used a Waystation she found, yes.)

>>3538003
Rasm frasm teleportation. Okay, new policy: destroy all waystations. Our Threat Level is about to reach the point where we won't be able to use them safely, anyway, might as well just get rid of all of them so no one can use them against us, either.

>>3538019
yeah but not all daughters out there who can use them are bad or our enemies. all doing that might do is make us enemies we wouldn't otherwise have. plus technically we dont need Charon to use them, so long term they are still an incredibly useful tool. we just need to be be more careful with them is all.

>>3538026
Fine, we'll just destroy all of them within a wide radius of wherever we make our base. You can use Waystations outside our territory, but if you want in you'll have to walk. And I don't think we can use them, once Charon starts gunning for us. I don't want to be heading down to the fast-travel hub and then have an alien skeleton monster pop up out of nowhere. Which, yes, also means it won't be practical to destroy them, but maybe we can get some long-range artillery strikes on them. November, can we borrow your tank?

>>3537961
>>3537837
add in that Rath should:
>Rath should spawn herself 2 REPLICANT Limbs and 4 PHANTOM limbs.
seeing as how it appears she did not spawn any extra to use after the God Smash?

>>3538057
i meat once Charon is dead they will be safe to use again.

>>3538062
>i meat once Charon is dead they will be safe to use again.
Yeah, but that's a long way away. She's endgame content, I think.

>>3537926
never ever speed read. bhop always gives us important context clues to the situation.

>>3537837
>Shu: spend 1 action using your halo to scan the surroundings and locate the Core.
Guys we can’t waste time with the mob when we have a core to kill.

>>3538083
its literally a straight hallway forward with a horde in the way. its literally not a choice until we get deep enough in for there to be a second path. we can save the scan for when we have more than a single direction we can go.

>>3538083
Burying through this thing is gonna be impossible if can not use terraforming so scanning right now seems pretty pointless unless we can open another passage though then we still have the problem of an enemy in our backs

>>3538083
We kind of do when they're in the way between us and the core. We're in a shallow cut, we need to go deeper. Also, it's a spiral monster. If the core is not at the center of the spiral, I will eat my hat. Well, I don't actually own a hat, but I will figuratively eat one. Point is, we know where it is, the only difficulty will be if the path to it branches. Let's save that until we're anywhere even close to a branch.

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>>3537837

The light streaming in from the outside dies as the wound closes above you, leaving the screaming horde that pours towards you lit only by the luminous bulbs along the corridor that echoes with their terrified howls. A mixture of scarlet paintlings and white cells surge ahead of Dorian as he darts past you, and you watch as his entire body bursts into a vibrating screen of scarlet haze that forms a barrier in front of the funnel that his and Quinn’s constructs have made for the onrushing horde.

To your left you see Julia striking the walls, causing their spirals to droop and sag, and when Jackie sees her efforts she breaks into a wide grin, reaching out with one hand and flaring her fingers outwards. When Julia’s fifth and final strike of her flurry hits home, the walls around you practically turn to vibrating jelly, gooey crystals erupting from the flesh in the corridor and in the sockets of the ill-formed faces that surge towards you.

>>[MALLEABLE FLESH STACKS x13 / MAXIMUM REACHED]

Jackie cackles with satisfaction when Julia rounds on her in confusion, but you have no time to think as Rath’s first pay load whizzes by your head. You send a quartet of newborn Banelings join Rath’s shining grenades in arcing over the barrier and into the crowd, the torrent of acid and luminous flares disappearing into the roiling wall of screaming faces that are mere meters from Dorian’s vaporous form. The multi-armed Rath rushes forwards with Ace’s armored form and Marrow Dragoon’s imposing frame at her sides, ready to block the onslaught at any cost as Quinn joins Julia in striking at any available surface, laughing alongside the artist as she does.

You activate the Leash, tethering yourself to the walls when through your empathic field you’re suddenly aware of the intense and shared pain that’s creeping up your legs and those of your allies. You look down to see the floor at your feet warping into tight spirals, the skin of your feet and legs twisting in turn as the ground yearns to become one with your flesh. Keane and Rath are the first to shout in pain as the skin at their ankles are subsumed into the ravenous earth, their bones cracking as they’re twisted into shapes they were never meant to be. The swarm is about to break on Dorian’s barrier, and you see a girl at the back of the horde crackle with Neuromantic power before she’s subsumed in the mass of bodies, and a moment later the floor begins to rumble with far-off movement.

Then Dorian’s Verurteilung field flares, and everything promptly goes to hell.

(Continued)

File: The Screaming Mass.jpg (561 KB, 750x1000)

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>>3538281

Suddenly, there is nothing in your mind but a thousand screaming voices filling your consciousness. The walls erupt into a frenzied, twitching chaos, countless mouths voicing the concentrated terror shared by the entire colossus. The corridor shifts and warps, tearing itself apart around you and revealing rooms and corridors beyond, the ground still rumbling as you catch a glimpse of what’s coming for you; a trio of thick pillars, once used to support the ceiling of the Monastery’s grand hall and now hurtling to grind you and your allies to paste against the Spiraling Fear’s thick hide.

Some sort of specialized construct emerges from the wall behind you, the throng in the corridor ahead still writhing in fearful confusion. The being that floats towards you and Jackie resembles the teeming mass behind you, distilled into a screeching sphere whose myriad of faces gnash their teeth as one, crying out in abject terror as it advances upon you. Beneath it, tangles of limbs erupt from the ground; long, angular things, their lengths twisted into gangly, emaciated forms as constructs tear themselves free of the spirals at your feet.

Jackie makes a hissing noise through her teeth, sparing you a glance before casting it back at the horde, whose efforts to tear you limb from limb have resumed with renewed vigor as the sphere thrums steadily. Dorian’s barrier is getting increasingly difficult to maintain due to the flurry of movement, and you see Rath’s arms begin to dim and crack the longer she swings at the encroaching mob. Even Mara seems curiously sluggish, the powerful swings that cleave through the constructs left and right coming out slower by the second, though still packing their incredible power.

You admit your team and the others present are not exactly worse for wear, but between the screaming throng, the sphere of horrified faces, and the rumbling that’s getting more pronounced by the second, one thing is becoming increasingly clear.

If you’re going to live through this, you need to move.

HP: 310% (+15% REGEN)
BIO: 330% (+30% REGEN, 4 Rec-Knights, 3 Bishops, 5 Platelings, 12/18 Active)
CONTENDER: 2x B.33 Rounds Loaded, Base Form. 4x Anti-Spiral Rounds available.
RAVENOUS MAW: Primed.
HUNDRED-HANDED: None.
Whistle: FOL CUNT
ACT: 3/3

RATH HP: 251% (+20% REGEN, Sui Tormentis, 2 Replicant, 4 Phantom Limbs, Bishop Active-2 Rounds)
JULIA HP: 262% (+20% REGEN, Ignition Gauntlets)
DORIAN HP: 201% (+45% REGEN, Masque Form, Cursus Alas)

JACKIE HP: 631%
QUINN HP: 713%
KEANE HP: 398%
ACE HP: 1016% (Bishop Active-2 Rounds)

MARA HP: ????% (Bishop Active-2 Rounds)

Threat: Over one hundred Individuals to the north, Medium. Unknown threat to the South, Close and summoning constructs. Three pillars rapidly approaching.
Terrain: Spiral, Terraforming very difficult for non-Spiral Neuromancers.
Debuffs: MALLEABLE FLESH x13 (MAX)

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

(Voting shall remain open for the next three hours as I wrap up the work day. Thank you for your patience, and I hope your day is going well.)

>>3538306
which direction are the pillar coming from?

>>3538288
Just to be clear, which directions are open for us to move? North is a corridor full of constructs, south is a wall, what about east and west?

>>3538309
(One is coming from the lower east, the other two are parallel with your current position and coming from the east.)

>>3538312
(East and west are thin walls. West is another corridor, east is a drop before you hit another corridor.)

>>3538318
right.
would Raths Immutable Form and Sui shrug off Phantasmal/Auras, or only things directly inflicted on her?

>>3538332
If we make some space, we can fire a Cicada round (after firing a B.33 Special, too, to make room in the chamber) at the Screaming Mass. We're close enough to get caught in the blast right now, but if we can get to a safe distance then the Cicada will disable the Phantasmal Conduit abilities it's using to slow our reactions and summon constructs.

>>3538358
Oh, or we could just fire it at the wall behind the Mass, so it gets caught but we don't. BHOP, is there enough room in here to catch it but not us, if we don't fire directly?

>>3538358
we also have the whistle, its one time use and i kinda wanted to save it, but it might be better than knocking out all our ear drums.

>>3538288
right, plan is VERY subject to change, the first part being mostly a hold over, but i think we might be able to turn this situation to our advantage slightly.

RATH
>something seems off. See if you are not, and thus cannot remove, an ailment upon your person with Immutable Form.

SHU, RATH, JULIA, and MARA
>Combine 4 Boils, a Bow shot from Julia, the 4 Knightlings,and a throwing spear or something else from Mara into a burst of damage at the strange orb to the South, hopefully making it kick the bucket.
>If it does not, then Have Rath, Julia, and Mara rush forward to aid the Knightlings in ending it quickly, or at least forcing it back.

CONSTRUCTS
>Have everyone's Constructs rush forward towards the Sphere to keep what it is spawning busy.

DORIAN and KEANE
>have your constructs, being alot more malleable, wrap around and help protect everyone's feet as best as possible.

EVERYONE
>timing will be tough, but help Dorian hold back the horde til the pillars are a bit closer, then everyone, once time is up or the sphere has been pushed back at least, rush to the south, Dorian shifting to Canvass Form to let the Horde through, only to draw them into the path of the Pillars to get crushed.
>once the Horde has been pushed aside, or at least the pillars are past, have everyone push together down a path deeper into the thing. Those with Halos should see if their enhanced senses cannot help find the right path.

>>3538332
(It shrugs off status effects such as auras, yes.)

>>3538367
(Firing a Cicada in the corridor will catch everyone in the echo, I'm afraid.)

>>3538410
>(Firing a Cicada in the corridor will catch everyone in the echo, I'm afraid.)
Aww, I thought i had a good idea. Stupid oddly-resonant monster flesh. Though that's actually probably our fault, we are the ones who made it crystallize.

>>3538374
I think heading to the west is probably better. There's an open corridor there. And this is a spiral monster, the path to the core should be running perpendicular to the entrance. Did we catch sight of which direction the Fear was Spiraling, actually?

>>3538445
(You did not.)

>>3538445
the pillars are coming from the east. you never dodge something by staying in its path. we go West, then instead of dodging the pillars, they are following us.

Maybe after we step South out of its path and they pass we can go West sure, but not before.

>>3538449
Even though we saw it from the air? Man, we should have been paying better attention.

>>3538452
(Uzu's spirals have always run clockwise, and that's the pattern you saw on the outside of the Fear, for what it's worth.)

>>3538288
I thought the Leash also allowed us the third of regen that the Spiral's not getting, but there doesn't seem to be any change in Health regen.

>>3538451
There's no reason they couldn't keep following us, unless we reach a position they can't fit into. They're not on tracks, if we move out of the way then the Fear will just adjust their direction. We need to move out of the area entirely, heading south puts us up against a wall and makes it easier for the pillars to crush us.

>>3538462
(Ah, good catch. Thank you! It should read as follows;)

>>HP: 310% (+255% REGEN)

>>3538463
doesn't matter if they can somewhat home in on us, it is always easier to dodge something sideways then running directly away from it. its also why i said ti wait til the last moments possible, to give them less time to correct their movement.

>>3538467
So I guess the Spiraling Terror has a total of 720% regen, now reduced to less than 480% due to what it's also using up to counter the acid bath it's getting. That's some B'ni levels of regen.

>>3538468
No, it's easier to dodge it by running away, because these things are moving fairly slowly. They're aiming to grind us against the wall, not smash us with a quick blow. If we try to dodge to the side, then we actually have to move a large distance to make a meaningful dodge, in order to maximize the angle they have to adjust. If we just run away, faster than they are, then we won't have any problems getting to a space they can't fit into in time.

However, I will say this: The fact that they're approaching from the east does make me rethink going west. Not because they're more likely to catch us if we go west, but because it suggests they want to herd us that way. Uzu typically spiraled clockwise, but maybe evil anti-Spiral Uzu goes the other direction for her internals.

>>3538483
Not necessarily. BHOP said that debuffs are effective, but reduced. Depending on how much they're reduced, its regen could be anywhere from two to five times that. That's as much as I'd consider scaling it before I no longer considered a debuff "effective".

>>3538495
Well, if she spirals outward clockwise, then we go counter-clockwise to go inwards and get to the core. Assuming we don't bust through some walls when possible to shorten the travel.

>>3538504
Maybe. Directions for a spiral are usually dictated by the direction they spiral inwards, though, so that's what I assumed by Uzu spiraling clockwise, that heading west would get us to the core. BHOP, which did you mean? Was clockwise her outward or inward direction?

>>3538495
>Three pillars rapidly approaching.
they are not moving slowly. running directly away from something and thus staying in its path makes it less likely to dodge it. this is literally basically fact. we're inside the thing, they are described and shown in the threat section to be approaching fast, im highly, very highly, doubtful we can outrun them, especially with the very ground trying to twist our legs off.

we are not going East. i dont like getting confrontational in this way, but going east is an extremely dumb idea. staying in the pillars path to try and dodge them is only going to end extremely poorly. if they can somehow adjust their angle fast enough to where dodging sideways in either direction at the last moments would still have them hit us, then they are so against physics and in control of their movement they are going to hit us no matter the direction we go.

now if you wanna argue about trying to push past 100 Constructs instead to go north, im open. we could also try and tank the hit and smash through them, but personally i do not think that would be worth the resources. maybe Rath could throw out another hard hit, but with three of them i doubt we can clear the path and even if we could, she would be drained and a dead weight on the party. at least South there is less to push back and we are dodging in a logical direction for actually dodging, aka, sideways.

i suppose we could try dodging somewhat diagonally towards it, kinda wrap around them, but that also feels even more risky. and it appears all the flesh and terrain from that direction is going wild, and we shouldn't throw ourselves into that.

Those pillars explicitly used to be part of the monastery, right? So they aren't made of Spiral flesh and can be terraformed like normal perhaps.

>>3538535
if we could connect to them sure. thats like, a few seconds long of a window though. and also we would have to hope its enough to overpower its own control over them, if it has any besides just brute forcing them at us.

risky to say the least.

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>>3538513
(To prevent any plans backfiring due to poor wording on my part, this picture is how her spirals are shaped. You are on the outer western side of her body's main spiral.)

>>3538374
Oh, here's an idea. Fire a Herculean Fullbore at the wall and leave it to dig it's own path to the core while the attention is on us. It will be going straight for the internal organs, after all, and when it does it's big damage it might give us an opening to act freely.

>>3538565
Okay, so north is retracing the spiral back to the center, east is breaking through a wall to go deeper in, west is dropping down to another level.

>>3538565
then if us being on the west lines up that means we need to either go East or North. except the pillars are coming from the East and there 100 Constructs to get past to go North.

>>3538568
our Contender is loaded up so we wouldn't be able to do that til next turn, however that is not entirely a bad idea.

>>3538573
(Correct, I hope this helps. I'd initially intended to leave it ambiguous, but that wouldn't have been fun.)

>>3538525
Fairly slowly, I said. They're not glacial, but they're slower than us, because otherwise they'd be here already. We could move that distance in one turn. We can outpace them.

And no, we shouldn't go east when the pillars are still there. Much easier to squish us, then. I'm not proposing that. But getting them to loop around the area so they're on the west side, then we head east...that could work.

We're definitely not going to try to dodge at the last minute, though, that's stupid. That increase risk unnecessarily and means that we're still being chased, without any actual resolution to the problem. We need to move, immediately, and your plan still has us being trapped in a small space with a bunch of monsters and the pillars still trying to grind us up. We escape for one turn, but without actually working towards getting away from this.

So yeah, maybe going north is our best option, since the west is probably a trap, the east isn't a trap but has a trap blocking it, and the south is a super trap. I'm not sure how to get past the horde, though. If we kill the Mass we might be able to fight effectively to get through them, but I don't like the odds, especially when there's that Neuromancer construct blending into the horde.

>>3538565
Okay, so it is clockwise inward. Great. And based on our position, that means north is where we want to go after all. Now how to get through...Is there enough room that direction for a Cicada round to not catch us, if Dorian switches back to Canvas form and teleports back to safety? We make the Neuormancer construct go haywire, maybe mess up control over the constructs somewhat, and then we book it through cutting down everything in our path?

>>3538581
BHOP already said we cant avoid the Cicada round at the moment, aswell as the Contender is already loaded.

and while i still highly disagree with alot of that, going North probably is our best bet. we cna and should still try and wait as long as we can, remember, Dorian can basically TELEPORT. him waiting last second to let the horde pass his Mist so they jump into the path of the Pillars is not at all very dangerous for him. ill admit it is a risk for the others but him specifically i disagree with. combine that with having his paintlings and Keanes mucuslings trying to slow them down and i think we can very much turn the Pillars to an advantage if we time it right. but we cant do that any way but south.

if we go North, its going to literally have to be brute forcing our way through, there is no other option really. all i can think of it having Dorian and Keane team up with maybe Shus Hydromancy to basically make a wave of liquid Constructs to wash the horde to the side like some sorta moses and the red sea move, but im not sure is thats gonna work.

>>3538601
>BHOP already said we cant avoid the Cicada round at the moment, aswell as the Contender is already loaded.
Right, yes, got confused and thought there was another chamber ahead already. There isn't, yet. The Contender being loaded doesn't matter, though, we can fire and reload in time..

Anyways, I'm still very against the idea of going south. That makes it too easy to crush us. But thinking about it, why do we need to avoid them? Hear me out: You want to crush the horde with the pillars, but that requires some risky dodging to get the horde in position but us not. Why don't we just go past the horde, so that the pillars have to go through them to catch us? Shu and Rath are both capable of sling-shotting themselves over the horde with their powers, and each should be able to carry another person. The Knights can carry more. Dorian doesn't need someone to carry him since he can slip past them in mist form. So then we're on the other side of the corridor, past the horde, and the pillars are doing our work for us in trying to get to us.

>>3538638
do we really have room to try to go over the horde like that? and also not get near enough to the ceiling for something to reach out and grab someone.

also that entirely depends on the Pillars being able to change course faster than the horde can rush forward, aswell as relies on it not caring about the hordes life, rather then us using its momentum to make it not have that choice.

>>3538655
>do we really have room to try to go over the horde like that? and also not get near enough to the ceiling for something to reach out and grab someone.
Yeah, we have the room. The corridor is six meters tall. These constructs are human-sized, unless they have some really good vertical jumps (which, okay, is a possibility) we can fly four meters up and be fine.

And you're right, maybe the pillars won't crush the horde. Doesn't really matter. The point is to not be trapped between the pillars and the horde. We can take on either so long as we're not in danger of getting pincered. Same with the Screaming Mass, that thing will be on the other side from us if we don't manage to kill it first.

>>3538676
so something akin to this? honestly this is all ive got.

>>3538288
>>3538374
changing to:
RATH
>something seems off. See if you are not, and thus cannot remove, an ailment upon your person with Immutable Form.

SHU, DORIAN, and KEANE
>Have Dorian shift into Canvass Mode to slip back to the group.
>Unload a BB.33 and load up and fire a Cicada down the hallway.
>Have Dorian and Keanes Constructs rush in after the Cicada goes off and attempt to further subdue the constructs.

SHU, RATH, and DORIAN
>use your unique abilities of Maw, Tensile, and Canvass Form to get over the horde.
>if possible, have someone hitch a ride with you.

EVERYONE ELSE
>If you do not have your own method to do so, either hitch a ride with Shu, Rath, or Dorian, or Shu will have or make a Knightling to help you cross the Construct horde.

KEANE and DORIAN
>once on the other side, slap mucus/paint shoes onto everyone, see if that helps hold off the ground twisting our ankles at least.

ACE, MARA, and RATH
>Once on the other side of the Horde, quickly cover our flanks, as we cannot be sure the horde will stay subdued for long.

>>3538638
If we're going west, then perhaps we can fire it right as we drop down at our pursuers? It's used and we can load a Herculean Fullbore to later fire as an assassin burrowing towards Uzu.

>>3538719
Nah, the Cicada doesn't work, remember? That was just me getting confused about the layout of the room.

But yeah, I think slipping past to the other side of the horde is probably our best move. It's risky, but I think it's maybe our least risky move. Maybe. I'm second-guessing everything, because this fight is just that bullshit. But I think this is the most viable. I mean, going west doesn't work, because we have to break through a wall and try to dodge the pillars at the same time, and it doesn't get us closer to the core. Going east doesn't work, because it gets us in the perfect place for the pillars to squish us, and also doesn't get us closer to the core. Going south doesn't work because it puts us in close range of the Screaming Mass if we don't manage to kill it, and pins us against a wall. The only viable direction is north, and while it's risky to try to bypass the horde it's riskier to try to fight through it while the pillars are approaching.

I don't like this, it would be really bad if it goes wrong, but honestly that is something to say of literally every moment of the encounter when you're fighting a living dungeon.

>>3538728
North, not west.

>>3538742
Actually, I suppose before we commit to this crazy plan we should actually ask? How many zones does the horde extend across? Is it actually possible to do the leapfrog, or am I getting overly ambitious?

>>3538742
actually i have no idea because BHOP here said...
>He deleted the message
oh wqjfrkfjweogherjwq3lt4qeiotjg4lergre.
ok now im just confused. ok so BHOP has responded to
>>3538581
saying it COULD be done, and i assumed what he meant was it wouldn't affect us if it went down the HALLWAY, while
>>3538367
>>3538410
here he meant towards the screaming orb. and i totally forgot to mention i saw BHOP say differently, but now the message is gone so i guess he changed his mind? i have literally no idea anymore grrrraahhh.

without the Cicada though i dont think its going to work though, as we NEED that time if nothing else to make sure we can land safely and setup defenses, instead of having us all land mis matched and/or instantly getting swarmed as the horde follows under us to the landing zone.

>>3538757
(It can be cleared by committing two move actions to the effort. The Knightlings can clear it easily with one passenger each, as well. If you're no caught by any of the Horde's abilities, then you'd make it across quickly.)

>>3538760
(Also, I deleted my message because I misunderstood, my apologies for the confusion. The Cicada will, in no uncertain terms, utterly disrupt any concentration in the area for anyone present. There is no avoiding it in the corridor.)

>>3538776
well alright then. fuck.

>>3538288
>>3538719
well seeing as that would kill us all, changing to;

RATH
>something seems off. See if you are not, and thus cannot remove, an ailment upon your person with Immutable Form.

CONSTRUCTS
>Have our Constructs rush into the horde and attempt to keep them preoccupied as our group leaps over the Horde to avoid the Pillars and getting trapped.

SHU, RATH, and DORIAN
>use your unique abilities of Maw, Tensile, and Canvass Form to get over the horde.
>if possible, have someone hitch a ride with you.

EVERYONE ELSE
>If you do not have your own method to do so, either hitch a ride with Shu, Rath, or Dorian, or Shu will have or make a Knightling to help you cross the Construct horde.

KEANE and DORIAN
>once on the other side, slap mucus/paint shoes onto everyone, see if that helps hold off the ground twisting our ankles at least.

SHU, DORIAN, and KEANE
>Fire both BBs into the back of the horde and give em a slash to try and slow them down.
>Have Keane and Dorian spawn new constructs to slowly start patching up the hole so the horde has trouble following us as heavily.
>Dorian can shift back in Masque form then to keep them off our tail.

ACE, MARA, and RATH
>Once on the other side of the Horde, quickly cover our flanks, as we cannot be sure the horde will stay subdued for long.
>the group should still attempt to make their way deeper in however not at the risk of breaking formation and getting overrun.

best ive got honestly.

>>3538776
>(It can be cleared by committing two move actions to the effort. The Knightlings can clear it easily with one passenger each, as well. If you're no caught by any of the Horde's abilities, then you'd make it across quickly.)
Okay, we can do this, then. Rath doesn't have enough actions to leapfrog and do something else, but Shu does. And everyone else is going to ride, and so can spend their actions on other things.

Alright, so how does this sound?

>>3538288

>Shu
>Fire B.33 at Screaming Mass.
>Scoop up Keane, leapfrog over the horde.
>Direct Knightlings to carry party members not moving under their own power

>Rath
>Scoop up Quinn, leapfrog to other side of horde

>Julia
>Fire a bone dart from ranged-mode Bloody Ripper at Screaming Mass
>Ride on Knightling to other side

>Dorian
>Shift to Canvas form as free action, get to other side of horde
>Shift back to Critic form, start clearing landing zone with four clawed arms. Burn BIO with Cursus Alas if needed.

>Jackie
>Direct bladebats to attack Screaming Mass
>Hop on Knightling, ride across
>Assist Dorian in clearing landing zone

>Quinn
>Be carried along by Rath
>Assist Dorian in clearing landing zone

>Keane
>Be carried along by Shu
>Provide healing and status effect removal as needed to those clearing landing zone

>Ace
>Ride Knightling across
>Assist in clearing landing zone

>Mara
>Ride Knightling across
>Assist in clearing landing zone

>>3538808
>>>3538288
the screaming mass wont really be a problem if we get past the horde. itll be pretty far away cutoff from the horde, and id doubt we can do enough to remove it as a problem while running away. we're also going to need to save ACTS and resources to react to the Horde once we land.

>>3538812
I suppose. I just wanted to distract it a little, I guess, make it less focused on debuffing us so that we'd have better ability to move fast.

Also, sorry for the delayed reply time, there's a pretty bad storm here and it's messing up my connection. I may or may not check out for the night at any time, here's hoping I'll stay online.

>>3538857
i can see the logic, but if it is what is debuffing us, we probably will end up out of its range anyways.

oof, thats rough, but i understand. hope it clears up for ya, but if not have a good night.

Test

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>>3538862
success, but at what cost?

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>>3538288

"Dorian, your field is fucked!" Rath shouts from the front, her arms flaking even more as she crushes two skulls with a single devastating swipe. "It's tearing up my arms man, cut it out!"

"Miss Shu, there's something making field effects indiscriminate in here, I'm so sorr..." Dorian begins across the channel, but you cut him off as your Ravenous Maw roils in space where you intestines once resided.

"It's fine, we're going over the crowd! Get who you can, shift into Canvass form and make a break for it!" You command, flaring your empathic field to everyone present. "You hear me!? Move!"

Dorian's physical form coalesces as your allies and the Midnight crew surge forwards as one, with Dorian instantly snatching Julia up in his arms and yanking the two of them down the tunnel. Jackie and Ace are carried forwards by a pair of Knightlings as Rath wraps one arm around Quinn's slender waist before taking off down the corridor's teeming length.You glance behind you as your tongue lashes out, seeing Mara cutting her way through the Horde as the Screaming Mass draws ever closer.

"Mara, let's move!"

"GO!" She roars across the circuit, throwing her short-sword out and spearing the Mass in the center, reeling it in and cutting it in half. "I'll catch up, just get to the Core as fast as you can! This thing's on the move, and we don't have much time."

You're about to object when the eastern wall explodes as first pillar cuts the Horde in half, leaving Mara locked behind a wall of marbled calcite as you're yanked forwards on a bungee cord of muscled tongue.

"Keep moving!" Jackie screams from just ahead of you. "She can take care of herself, we're al...!"

The second pillar tears through the eastern wall and instantly obscures your allies from sight, and without the rear or forward corridors the floor collapses from underneath you, sending the other half of the Horde into free-fall in the hollow space you're now in. You catch yourself mid-swing, but not soon enough to avoid getting thrown into the western wall by the sheer speed of the column's path as you take the impact on one shoulder. Your arm shoots through with pain before going numb, and that's all it takes for Keane to tumble from your grasp, her pale eyes going wide while she plummets down through the spiraling mass. Movement erupts from your right as Ace leaps off your Swarmling, instantly casting herself into the depths in pursuit of her ally and narrowly avoiding when the third pillar smashes into the Knightling she was riding a moment earlier.

(Continued)

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>>3538879

Perhaps its the Halo, or maybe its your own spike of adrenaline and the realization that you're terribly, horribly in over your head, but your world slows as you process where you are and what's at stake. The hollowed space you find yourself in is cavernous, and a frantic glance around reveals pulsing, spiraled tubes like the one you were in before, run through with calcite stone and man-made debris. Below, a cloud of ill-defined shapes emerge from a massive round orb of flesh as Keane plummets, and from where Mara duels the Horde you can sense some sort of distortion rapidly approaching through the pulsing walls. Ahead of you, your allies's pulses collectively spike at the arrival of something only they can see, and here you are, dangling above a twisted abyss...

...with a choice to make.

HP: 310% (+255% REGEN)
BIO: 330% (+30% REGEN, 3 Rec-Knights (1 Rec-Knight Swarm), 3 Bishops, 5 Platelings, 11/18 Active) [1 Knightling with Mara, 1 Knightling with Jackie, 1 with you]
CONTENDER: 2x B.33 Rounds Loaded, Base Form. 4x Anti-Spiral Rounds available.
RAVENOUS MAW: Primed.
HUNDRED-HANDED: Tethered to the ceiling.
Whistle: FOL CUNT
ACT: 3/3

RATH HP: 270% (+20% REGEN, Sui Tormentis, 2 Replicant, 4 Phantom Limbs, Bishop Active-1 Rounds)
JULIA HP: 282% (+20% REGEN, Ignition Gauntlets)
DORIAN HP: 210% (+45% REGEN, Masque Form, Cursus Alas)

JACKIE HP: 631%
QUINN HP: 713%
KEANE HP: 398%
ACE HP: 1016% (Bishop Active-1 Rounds)

MARA HP: ????% (Bishop Active-1 Rounds)

Threat: Medium. Mara locked with Horde and Mass. Keane pursued by Ace, lethal impact imminent. Remainder of team ahead, blocked by pillar. Pillars may be able to be pushed clear somehow.
Terrain: Spiral, Terraforming very difficult for non-Spiral Neuromancers.
Debuffs: MALLEABLE FLESH x13 (MAX)

>>Try to scramble to the aide of Julia, Dorian, Rath, Quinn, and Jackie. You have no idea what they're going to face, and you're not going to let them face it alone.

>>Dive to stop Keane and Ace from falling, whatever it takes. You can feel the desperation and panic in their minds, and Ace has a plan to save Keane that doesn't involve her walking away from it in one piece.

>>Try to get back to Mara. She may be powerful, but something's not right with her and now she's trapped with the majority of the Horde falling upon her and an unknown threat making itself known.

>>Write-In

YOU ARE IN CONTROL

(Gentlemen, I shall be pausing here for the evening. Voting shall remain open for the next thirteen hours, with posting to resume in roughly fifteen, depending on the complexity of your plan and the intensity of work. I shall be around for a while longer to address questions, concerns, and criticisms, as usual. I wish you a good evening, and take care one and all.)

>>3538886
Okay, well, that went poorly, but it would have gone even more poorly if we had stayed in one place, so I guess I'm feeling positive about my decisions here. As much as I can be. Right. Let's save Ace and Keane. They're the ones in the immediate worst position, and ones we are in the best position to assist. Because they're both wearing our drones. This is easy.

>>Write-In
>Sprout a net of arms from Ace's Bishop and Keane's Plateling. Catch them both against the walls of the pit before they fall further, using the flexibility of a structure made of joints to absorb their momentum.

>>3538886
>>Dive to stop Keane and Ace from falling, whatever it takes. You can feel the desperation and panic in their minds, and Ace has a plan to save Keane that doesn't involve her walking away from it in one piece.
>>after rescuing the two, go aid Mara

fucking...of course it comes down to a 'who do we want to potentially fuck over' hahaha, our fucking luck my dead deceased god. anyways, i GUARANTEE you NO group is n a good position, but i at LEAST think the biggest and most grounded group will be the least in need of our aid. that brings it down to aiding Mara or Aiding the Midnight Crew.

and its a tough choice but...Mara probably needs our aid, but we hardly will be able to do much on our own, in either group. the two falling are the two most immediately in need of aid, and its also our fault a bit for dropping Keane. yeah, not ACTUALLY our fault, but we still dropped her so abandoning her feels wrong. if Mara or the Main group cant hold off long enough for us to rescue these two, then honestly? we wouldnt of been able to save them anyways...

>>3538901
>>3538902
spawning arm ropes does sound like a good way to grab them yeah.
any ideas for aiding Mara? i was thinking probably best to just try and get her out of there, but that might be difficult or involve a bit more.

>>3538952
No good ones. She's locked behind a thick Calcite wall, there's no real way for us to get at her that won't waste a ton of time. I think we might just have to leave her to it and hope that the strongest Daughter we know of can survive this.

>>3538985
Its our team that is behind the pillar, not Mara. As far as the threat scenario is saying, shes actually easier to get to than the rest.

>>3539024
(She actually is easier to get to than the rest of the party, yes.)

WHY THE FUCK IS IT THAT WHEN I LEAVE FOR WORK I COME BACK TO SEE EVERYTHING JUST GOES TO ABSOLUTE SHIT?

Sorry about the rant. im just tired from work and my mother is the sort of parent that tends to have a nag the moment she see me come home from work....

>>3539024
Perhaps I'm misunderstanding, and the pillar that cut us off from her fell into the pit along with the second. Well, then, I'm still not sure. I guess we could pull her out of there with another arm rope, or have a Knightling forcibly carry her? Maybe once we have Ace and Keane secured, Ace can teleport-swap with her, and then since Ace is less stubborn ride along on the Knightling without needing to be forced?

>>3539036
(No worries, Anon. Sorry that work was stressful, I hope you can get some time to relax this evening.)

>>3539043
(The pillar to Mara is less secure than the one leading to your other allies, though both have yet to fall.)

>>3539043
Something like that works yes.
We can then drag her ass back to the pillar and either terraform it with dorian To move it, or team up with rath and have us all help push it. Probably the first but its good to have back up plans.

No one left behind, even if they argue otherwise or probably don't need our help! I mean she actually might but the point still stands.

>>3539049
Are the pillars easy to terraform? because they seem to be since they were hurled like mundane objects and aren't a fixture of the spiral architecture.

>>3539063
(They can be terraformed, yes.)

>>3539055
Okay, so it is blocking her, just less secure. Then we don't want to swap Ace with her, that will leave Ace stuck while we lift the pillar. Instead let's just use the fact that Ace is a big girl (for you) to help in lifting the pillar so Mara can escape through it. Then once she's through, we drop it and block those things off. For now, at least. And then Ace, Mara, Shu and some of her Knightlings work together to lift the pillar to the rest of the party and rejoin them.

>>3539063
We're only level three Neuromancer, though, and Spiral terrain is harder for any non-Spiral Neuromancer to manipulate. I'm not sure where you'd get Spiral Neuromancers, I guess that probably refers to specialized constructs the Fear generates.

>>3538565
Okay.
Fuck. This is still a lot to take in.
>>3538886
since we have the Halo and can see through walls, can you provide us a poorly drawn picture of where everyone is at?
How close is Mara relative to Shu and how wide is the pit?

>>3539075
We STILL HAVE TO TRY DAMMIT. Mara's trapped between a Horde and a hard place,

Can we try a literal Arm/rope bridge? then terraform our own constructed arms into a hardened solid surface?

>>3538886
>>3538902
changing vote to this;
SHU
>form a hand rope from Keanes chest armor up to Ace, and from you and Aces Knightlings down to Ace, then pull everyone up.
>once all three are secure, head for Mara.
>Use a combination of Shus Terraforming and Aces strength to move the pillar, but not drop it fully out of position unless necessary.
> Send in two Knightlings to get Mara out of there. If she refuses, have Ace swap with her and the Knightlings sent in to grab Mara will already be in position to grab Ace, Arms spawned as needed to help get everyone out.
>if we can, cut off any of the horde following us with the pillar, either way book it back to the main group.
>Send word to Dorian to try and open the path for us ahead of time if he can. If he cannot, similar plan of using Shus Terraforming combined with everyone's strength. This one is less important to keep in position, our allies on the other side might even need to retreat, but we simply do not know.

its just about the best we can do i think.

>>3539089
i dont think so, so far terraforming is only to non daughter biomass, with the exception of liquid via hydromancer.

>>3539089
>We STILL HAVE TO TRY DAMMIT. Mara's trapped between a Horde and a hard place,
I know, I said we'd try. Anon, I don't think you read my entire post. I said we shouldn't tele-swap Mara out of there, or try to terraform the pillar out of the way, but just lift it so Mara can duck under. But you know what, Shu has multiple actions, she can try to terraform it and lift it at the same time. No reason we can't double up.

>>3539066
>>3539066
Hey BHOP, are we still able to send commands to our allies via empathy despite the physical barriers?

>>3539099
Rath is probably a better option for lifting. She still has that +3213% strength boost, lifting a pillar shouldn't be hard for her. Especially if she grows more arms.

>>3539110
True but she might be needed holding something off. Dorian can actually Terraform so him plus shu id imagine can handle. I mean sure, if not she can help, that just seems More like a backup plan though.

>>3539121
Dorian's pretty good at holding foes back, too. But I concede the point that Rath is more likely to be in the thick of a fight and unable to pull back to lift the pillar.

>>3538886
https://youtu.be/vbB8mcM_xS8
Theme song for this fight

>>3538899
BHOP. you there? I have a question regarding if we can still send commands to our teammates

>>3539104
(Absolutely.)

>>3539089
(I'm a terrible artist, but I'll do what I can with words;)

(You're Shu, and your back is to the wall. Ten meters to your right is a pillar that blocks you from Mara. Seven meters to your left is the pillar that bars your path to your allies, while two meters below your right foot is the third pillar. Ten meters beneath that is Ace, hurthing after Keane who's now five meters from her outstretched hand. You face east, toward the spherical Core of the Spiraling Fear and from which a flock of...something...is flying towards your current position.)

>>3539140
(Masterful, one of my favorite themes in the game.)

If we're proposing theme songs, I found one recently that I thought was fun for Shu. "Godhunter", by the Aviators. Or rather, it's more fitting as the theme song for Mother, reflecting on Shu. A god reflecting on how all the power they've forged for themselves is in fact their undoing, because the things they've done to gain their power have motivated a woman filled with spite and determination to hunt them down and topple them from their tower.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoC8OBjs7Iw

>>3539190
Is there a pit in the middle of the room or something? because if Keane and Ace are falling and in the same room as Shu, then is Shu on stable footing?

>>3539246
(Shu is tethered to the ruined top of what remains of the corridor, the floor has fallen out from her feet. The tunnel you were in was a suspended tube, one of many that comprise this place.)

>>3539191
(This...this is amazing, thank you so much for sharing.)

>>3539250
>(This...this is amazing, thank you so much for sharing.)
Yeah, Aviators does some great work.

>>3539250
>>3539250
how deep is the pit?