Vote Closed! Still getting a hang of the automated voting programming, so let's see if this tallies for me...
Scheduled vote count started by PoptartProdigy on Mar 7, 2024 at 10:53 PM, finished with 24 posts and 15 votes.
[X] Bugle's plan. Force the Prince to defend his fleet, then engage the elite and rely on the team's skills to get clear afterwards. Fast, and it would get you the information you need, but if things go wrong, they go wrong fast.
[X] Your plan. Personally go out and get those descriptions. You will succeed, and the enemy will know that somebody of your strength just buzzed their elites.
[X] Lyre's plan. Focus on helping Snare hack public surveillance cameras to get enough information on the elites to identify them. Much slower. If you can't get it done on time, you're bumping up against your deadline.
[X] Bassoon's plan. Use scrying to divine the information you need directly. You'll need to find a way to get close undetected, but if you succeed, you'll have everything you need. If you fail, Bassoon is in very close quarters with a powerful enemy, and the team needs to act fast to avoid being compromised. Potentially, they'd face the unpleasant dilemma of carrying a prisoner in hostile territory.
[X] Bugle's plan. Force the Prince to defend his fleet, then engage the elite and rely on the team's skills to get clear afterwards. Fast, and it would get you the information you need, but if things go wrong, they go wrong fast.
All right. I've gone ahead and done the rolls for Bugle's distraction attempt. We'll address the result of that later. I'm also handling rolls for the rest of your team, and your opponents.
From you all...hm. Actually, I'd like one more d100, please. Ideally you won't be directly engaging in combat here, unless something spirals, but there is one thing I think Kakara would be doing.
From you all...hm. Actually, I'd like one more d100, please. Ideally you won't be directly engaging in combat here, unless something spirals, but there is one thing I think Kakara would be doing.
I'm really excited to see that this is still going. Just started reading yesterday and admittedly fully expected that it would be on permanent hiatus from some time back in 2018, so I'm really very pleasantly surprised that it'll continue.
Hey folks, because it came up in this update and I realize that I forgot to announce it when it happened: I tweaked the rules for combat precognition a while back to make it a bit more of a reliable tool.
Mentioned: the content is referenced, but is not discussed to any extent.
Discussed: characters or the narrative talk about the content in general, but do not describe it in particular.
Described: the content is described in detail, but does not occur in the narrative.
Implied: the content occurs in the narrative, but is not explicitly described.
Depicted: the content occurs and is given full narrative focus and description.
Voted: applied as a modifier, this indicates that the content will be the subject of player votes in addition to its treatment in the text.
[X] Bugle's plan. Force the Prince to defend his fleet, then engage the elite and rely on the team's skills to get clear afterwards. Fast, and it would get you the information you need, but if things go wrong, they go wrong fast.
Content Warning:
Depicted
Maiming
Going Loud
Sight, DC50, rolled flat. Rolled: 22. Failure.
As the debate continues, you take a moment to close your eyes and reach out with your senses. You try to get a sense of the Prince's champions-
adUJsvdHDHnsdcvHSDVjsd
-you wince, blinking as a headache forms. "I have nothing left in the tank for scrying this, Bassoon," you say, quietly. "It's just..." You grapple, for a moment, with how to describe the nature of the failure you've experienced.
Fractal possibilities to chase down, every step away from you and Bassoon introducing an ever-increasing set of options, complicated by every person you need to turn your gaze to even to confirm they aren't one of the champions. You know vaguely the thing you're looking for. You even could say that you know what direction it's in. But it's like entering a fully-enclosed maze, secure in the knowledge that you could at any time, with confidence, point in the direction of your target. Useful, perhaps, from a turn or two away, but when you're trying to chase down the name and face of somebody at a significant distance? Scrying over interplanetary distances is unironically easier; at least that way, you aren't taking your first steps through a morass of people sufficient to populate an entire world.
You get a fleeting glimpse of dark hair, a severe scowl, and then it's gone.
You shake your head. "There's too much. We'd have to get close, and...Bassoon, I don't like the risks of what happens if it fails. If you get caught, you'd be within arm's reach of a powerful champion, while energy-suppressed."
'You favor Lyre's plan, then? Help Snare run wild?
"I was actually thinking more Bugle's," you say.
He hums, going silent for a moment. '...because of the speed, right?' he asks after a moment of thought.
You nod. "It's even more time down the drain when we're already short on it." You roll your shoulders restlessly. "I do not want to be forced into boarding the Prince's ship. Even if we need the information, that's trading off months of preparation for evacuations for the time. We need this resolved quickly."
'What if it triggers the worst-case scenario, or gets them to move fast on their own?' asks Bassoon. 'We were narrowly focused in your first visions. What if there's something else that gets the Prince moving faster?'
You curse under your breath. "That's...fair. I can try to look for that?" You rub the back of your head, trying to stamp out the throbbing in your skull. "It'd be easier."
'If you could.'
You take a deep breath.
Sight, DC50, rolled flat: 52. Success.
You open your eyes and-
* * *
Gone.
* * *
You see flashes of violence and blasting, but force yourself to move past, you already feel yourself slipping, you haven't time, when do they leave when do they leave-
-months on from now, while tense and clearly aware that they've been rumbled, they go, on time for the possibility where you aren't caught on the ship, and that's it, that's all you need, they're already moving as though their presence is known and it's details about their forces that they need to obscure, them knowing it for a fact hardly matters as long as they give you your time-
* * *
You snap to, head jerking back and the throbbing in full force now. You rub at your temples. "We'll be fine," you say. "They don't move faster if we get in a fight."
Bassoon sighs. '...then I think you're right.' He steps forward in the outside world and clears his throat. The others turn to look at him. "We've been trying to pick around the edges, but this whole charade they've set up has been made specifically to counter that," he says. "They've clearly built this strategy to shut down those sorts of attempts, and it's working. We need to do something to flip the table or we're just going to time out."
"But not this!" snaps Lyre. "It's too risky!"
You look up. 'We've tried safe, and they were ready for it. But they're not ready for you. I've been training with you all, and I know that you can get in and out without being pinned down.'
Lyre shakes his head and folds his arms. "Tamrii's most powerful native champion still has a power level dramatically in excess of ours. You said it was in the neighborhood of sixty-five million. We can't challenge that."
'We don't have to,' you say. 'I mean, first of all I think we could, but not with the other champions, so that's fair enough. But we don't have to. We just have to get the information we need and then break contact. That, we can do.'
Flute, silent this whole time, leans forward. "Figure we've all said our pieces," he says, folding his arms. "I think it's time to call a vote."
"Sounds fair," says Snare, leaning back in his chair. "Hands up for Bugle's plan?"
Bassoon raises his hand, as does Bugle. 'Me,' you say, opting not to burn manifestation time for it.
And then, Flute raises his.
Lyre does a double-take at his friend, eyes wide.
Flute shrugs. "They're not wrong, man. We've been trying it this way all this time. But we didn't get where we are by shying away when the time came for a fight."
Lyre slumps, turning his head away. Snare clears his throat. "Well, I think you're all nuts, but I'll go with the vote." He takes a deep breath and starts working with his console again. "Now we just need to figure out our approach."
* * *
Watching the namekians readying for combat is a strange experience.
Each and every one of them applies visual camouflage. Bugle blacks out his vacuum suit, finding the darkest shades he can and liberally slathering them all over every surface; then, he rubs the same substance all over his face, the only part that would be visible.
Flute and Lyre both swap into proper camouflage-pattern ponchos in a woodland pattern and paint eye-watering patterns across their exposed skin.
Bassoon does the same and then takes it a step further, actually trekking out of the city and spending some time in the wilderness picking out scraps of foliage to weave together into a suit. "Won't last once we're moving," he says, "but nothing beats it for getting in the first shot."
All of them store their normal outfits away, and a change seems to come over them. The namekians have always seemed more open and kind to you. Adventurers, homemakers, and scholars. A people peaceful by choice, and powerful only in the service of those who need their help.
Only now, as they prepare for battle, do you get the familiar sense of predators standing up and getting ready for the hunt.
You never imagined you'd see them feeling like your own people's warriors.
Snare, of course, does nothing of the sort. He remains in his normal clothes. His affect does not change. He simply starts pulling together information.
"The woman with the rifle and the man with the sword are priorities," he says. "Haila and Taigan each have retainers matching that description as part of their core groups. If we can get better information on them, they could decide it for us on their own. Those veterans are canny, though. You'd have to be careful."
As for yourself...you meditate. Sitting cross-legged on the sand in Bassoon's head, you meditate, and do your best to settle some of the roiling tension in your thoughts, of late.
For this, you'll need your full focus.
* * *
The Prince's champion crouches atop a building, overlooking the crowd awaiting his master's arrival.
He is a wall of black metal and a flapping, crimson cape, the lone personal affectation in a faceless ensemble. His hardsuit covers him from head to toe, armor plates protruding at vital points. He moves in slow, deliberate motions, every flex of his muscles carefully considered for ponderous effect. When he speaks, to local officers providing security, his voice is a grating rumble. He-
tap tap
-whirls around, swiping through the air as a finger prods his shoulder. His head snaps back and forth, searching the empty air. The security officers look over at him, bewildered.
"Are you all right, sir?" asks one, tilting his head.
The champion stares at him for a long moment, not speaking. Then, he shakes his head. "I'm fine."
The officer shrugs. "All right. Just looked like-" His eyes widen, looking past the champion. "Shit-!"
The champion whirls again. From two feet away, Flute waves, smirking. "Hey."
WHAM
The champion goes tumbling, armor fragments spalling off in all directions.
The your comrade rolls his neck to the side, a chorus of staccato pops ringing out. "Damn, I needed that."
The champion kips to his feet as he rolls across the surface if the roof. He comes up ready to fight, and visibly hesitates when he sees Flute just watching him. "…you've signed your death warrant," he says.
Flute snorts. "Hoo boy, a death warrant? Now, sir, I have endless respect for warrants. Let me come over there and help you serve this one a little easier." He shifts his weight forward. The champion tenses and raises his guard.
tsew
BANG
Lyre phases in and kicks the champion off into the sky. "Stop playing and fight, Flute!" he bellows, blasting off after their opponent.
Flute sighs, letting his head sag for a moment. "Always gotta ruin my fun." He looks around at the security officers, frozen with terror. He grins. "Stay." Then he clenches his fists, fires up his aura, and follows along.
Miles distant, in a forest preserve miles away from infrastructure or people, Bassoon closes his eyes, tracking the action through your own ki senses. You both wince as, overhead, you feel the sensation of Bugle going loud with a fusillade of blasts directed at the fleet in orbit. In response, a titanic power, hundreds of millions strong at least lights up and starts blocking shots. Around the city, power levels spike, the other champions responding to the attacks.
Bassoon takes a deep breath, opening his eyes. "Ready, Kakara?"
You breathe in as well, sinking to your knees and burying your hands in the beach sand. Dazarel circles overhead, peering up at the images projected in the sky. You breathe out. "Ready or not, here they come."
Not a second later, Lyre and the target slam into the ground nearby with an earthshaking impact, doing their level best to tear each other to pieces. Then, Flute flashes in, aura flaring.
Between the two of them, they overpower their victim, and have him two to one. He manages to hold them off for a heartbeat, then two, and then Lure sweeps his legs to Flute can slam him into the ground.
Flute leans down and wrestles the man's helmet, snapping the seals fixing it to his collar. Lure pins his limbs. "Snare?" he calls.
A red-skinned alien, snarling and thrashing, comes into view. Buzzed, crimson hair glistens with sweat. A pair of horns, short enough to almost look like moles, stand out on his forehead.
Flute's voice comes over their earpieces. 'Not an established member of either Prince's entourage. Must be somebody new. Move on.'
Lyre and Flute nod and -- glancing up at the power signatures that tell of the rest of the Prince's elites incoming -- quickly and efficiently break their captive's arms and legs before punting him over the horizon again.
You flinch at the sudden brutality, your hands jerking in the sand. Bassoon winces. 'Kakara…'
You take a deep breath. "I know. I'm fine."
Flute and Lyre wheel about and face the oncoming champions. You shake your head and focus, counting one, two, three, four-
"Seventeen of them," you note. "Power levels ranging from nine and a half million to forty million even. Most towards the lower end, but a few stronger, and three clustering up at the top."
Bassoon whistles. "Tough fight." He repeats the information over his earpiece to Snare.
'If our information is up to date, that would have to be Haila,' says Snare, clearly trying to suppress excitement. 'He's always kept a larger retinue to make up for being weaker than the others.' He takes a deep breath, the line crackling. 'If our information is up to date. It's months old, and this is more retainers than either Prince had. Probably recruited specifically to throw off the count, the absolute prick.'
"Hold one," murmurs Bassoon, shuffling lower to the ground. "They're landing."
The retainers land in a circle around Flute and Lyre, who smoothly pivot back-to-back. The strongest of the retainers -- a veritable giant in a mountain of armor, lands directly in front of Flute. "You've attacked our partner, namekians," she says. "Where is he?"
Flute grins. "Oh, y'know. Around. He wasn't feeling well, we helped him on his way."
Bassoon shifts slightly, frowning. 'Two of them are missing.'
You blink and count the retainers again. The strongest three are accounted for, but other the weaker ones... "...the woman with the rifle and the man with the sword. Where are they?"
Bassoon vs. Rifle, Ki Sense vs. Ki Control: [67+30=97] vs. [21+40=61]. Success.
Bassoon starts looking around, and you push your ki senses to him. It doesn't take him long before his eyes zero in on a rocky outcropping a mile distant. 'There they are.'
Sure enough, you see the pair just barely peeking over the lip of a rock. You spy the glint of a scope. "She's setting up with her rifle," you say. "Looks like the man is spotting. They're weaker, but not the weakest. Maybe twenty million, each?" You frown, peering closer. The distant swordsman is actually looking...worryingly close to your position. "He's...does he see us?"
Bassoon goes deathly still, only his eyes moving. '...not yet,' he decides. 'But he's seen something.' He hums for a moment, then grins slightly. 'Well, they were our high-priority targets to identify.'
You grin as well, tensing your hands in the sand of his mindscape's beach. "You ready? This is gonna be a trip."
'Gimme the goods, Princess,' he says.
"Greedy," you reply, laughing. Then, your aura lights up, and you slam power into Bassoon's soul.
In the material world, his own aura snaps out, held tight to his body. He grunts quietly, trying to keep a lid on it, and after a moment gives it up. His power level surges to his normal max, and then further beyond, further, further-
No roll.
You see the swordsman's head snap over exactly to Bassoon. He lunges to his feet, hand latching onto the hilt of his sword. He kicks his partner's leg. "Vector-!"
Bassoon plants his feet, tenses, and lunges.
Bassoon vs. Retainers [Crowd vs. Team Fighting]= 42+30+240(Power/numbers)+20(Traits) vs. [96+30+10(Traits). Success.
Your host burns bright at over fifty million units. The energy transfer isn't efficient, and it won't last long, but for now, abruptly, he's become the strongest thing on the field. The ghillie suit shreds off of him from the sheer velocity, and the retainers all snap their heads over as he thunders past. None can move fast enough to stop him before he's past.
Saving [DC 88]: 62+40. Success.
Which is why your jaw drops when the swordsman actually gets his blade out before Bassoon reaches them. Bassoon has to swerve high to avoid the sword as it cuts through exactly the right place to intercept him. He fires down, but the arc of the swing carries it high and bursts the blast before it can impact.
Bassoon slams to a dead halt in midair, staring at the swordsman. The man is gasping for breath, clearly shocked at the sudden rush of action.
Then, the sniper gets her gun around and fires.
Bassoon twitches his head to the side, and the light goes streaking off into the sky. He blurs forward-
-and has to break off again, as the swordsman swings at just the right spot to ward him off. Bassoon growls, weaving back.
Down below, the gathered retainers lunge into action, most attacking your teammates while a quartet of the weakest ones start moving to assist the two Bassoon is fighting.
The swordsman settles himself between Bassoon and the sniper, letting her gain distance. Bassoon narrows his eyes and moves in to attack the swordsman directly.
The man starts desperately falling back. He takes hits, and they're clearly agonizing, but even so, his preternatural skill with his blade keeps him going, always hitting just the right beats to stave Bassoon off of a finishing blow, his footwork always carrying him to just the perfect place to avoid being closed off.
You narrow your eyes. "Dazarel!" The dragon twitches his head down to look at you. You jerk your head up at the fight. "Does that looks familiar to you?"
He looks up. His eyes narrow as well. '...combat precognition.'
Bassoon curses. "Seers," he says, scowling.
The swordsman flinches, missing just a step. Bassoon takes the chance to disengage, skipping back as the reinforcements close in and surround him.
The sniper levels her gun. "Surrender!"
Bassoon snorts. "No."
Bassoon vs. Retainers [Ki Projection vs. Team Fighting: 78+20+200+20 vs. 62+30+10. Success.
She fires without another word, and he knocks it aside, yelling in pain as it leaves a scorch on the back of his hand. Then, he pulls his arms together and gathers his power.
Saving [DC 108]: 55+40. Failure.
The swordsman freezes mid-lunge and starts to frantically backpedal, even as his comrades rush in.
Bassoon throws his arms wide. "RAGH!"
BOOM
Ki blasts out in all directions, knocking the retainers to the ground. The swordsman goes tumbling, slamming hard through a stand of trees and digging into the ground. He bursts free, visibly unsteady, and staggers into a combat stance.
The sniper stumbles, but still brings her rifle up for another shot. Bassoon leaps aside and then charges, snarling in frustration. The swordsman lunges, but simply can't make the distance in time. Bassoon phases into visibility in front of the sniper with his arm drawn back. She desperately raises her rifle overhead as if to blo-
Bassoon vs. Vector [Dueling vs. Inventory]: 67+20+300 vs. 72+400. Failure.
BANG
Bassoon reels as the rifle explodes. "FUCK!"
You cinch your eyes shut, a stab of pain from the bright light flashing in your temples. Dimly, you feel the sniper's energy signature flickering on the edge of nothing.
You ignore it, digging deep in the sand and twisting your arms, knowing what will surely come next. "Move!"
Bassoon vs. Sword [Eruption Array vs. Dueling]: 44+20+300-40(stunned) vs. 25+30+30(sword)-20(concussed). Success.
Perhaps Bassoon would have questioned you if you were newer to each other, but as it stands, he simply launches himself upwards as fast as possible.
The swordsman's blade rips through the air just short of his heels.
Shaking his head to clear his disorientation, Bassoon whirls to look down on his opponents. The sniper is on the ground, her armor shredded. The swordsman steps between her and Bassoon, only tripping a little bit as he moves. You recognize the signs of somebody moving as their Sight demands — unnaturally smooth and precise. He must be concussed if he's stumbling at all.
'He's good,' you say, 'but even a Seer can't be two places as once. Give him a threat he can't block.'
Bassoon scowls, reaching forward with his fingers spayed wide. 'Way ahead of you.' Energy builds up in each hand, and he cups his fingers around the nascent blasts. The swordsman tenses.
Bassoon raises his arms high overhead, and the swordsman instantly whirls, grabs his partner, and blasts off, wobbling as he takes to the air for a crucial moment.
Bassoon slams the energy into the earth. "Eruption Array!" He tears his hands out as though hurling a rock.
With an ear splitting noise, earth flashes to lava and then bursts outwards, a cone of molten rock and shattered wood racing outwards, laced with the flicker of ki.
Saving other [DC 135]: 96+40. Success.
The swordsman, having stumbled at exactly the wrong moment, vanishes into the cone in a heartbeat. In the instant before the ejecta swallows him, he hurls the sniper aside, just barely clear of harm.
When the blast clears, they each lay on the ground, barely conscious if at all and with armor in ruins.
Bassoon pants, settling himself.
You swallow. Bassoon wasn't trying to kill any of their opponents, but he wasn't trying to avoid it, either. If the swordsman hadn't thrown his partner out of the way…
But you don't mention any of that. You don't think you have the right to criticize the namekians using lethal force against their invaders. "…they fought well," you say instead.
Bassoon grunts. "I hate it when they do that." He glances over to the rest of the fight.
Flute and Lyre move slowly and deliberately, using the weaker opponents' movements to block the stronger ones. Thus far, they're keeping ahead of the enemy's superior numbers thanks to Lyre's strength and their flawless teamwork.
"We have a moment," you say.
Bassoon turns back to the two fighters and advances on them. "Snare, the riflewoman and the swordsman are down. He called her Vector. Does that ring a bell?"
You hear a sharp intake of breath. "Yeah, it does. Vector is one of Haila's core retainers. His assassin. Confirm it."
Your host hardly needs any encouragement. He darts forward and tears the helmet from the sniper's head.
You look down in the face of a human woman. Skin so pale it looks bleached, like it's been years since she's experienced natural light. Blonde hair, paler than yours, gathered into a low, tight bun. She stares up at Bassoon with wide, frantic eyes, twitching as she tries to crawl away from him.
"Pushing a picture to you now," says Snare.
Bassoon plants a foot on her chest and pulls out his communicator, opening the picture from Snare. It's an easy match.
'It's her,' you say. 'The Prince is Haila.'
He whoops. 'Fucking A! All right, Bassoon, wrap up and get the guys out of there, because after this I don't think we wanna stick around!'
Bassoon nods, putting the device away and looking down at Vector. She swallows, breathing fast as she looks back up at him. They stare for a moment that feels longer than it is. Then, high above in orbit, you feel a new power level spike. Sixty million, easily, and descending rapidly towards you. Bassoon half-glances upwards.
The second his eyes leave hers, Vector's hand snaps down to her belt.
Bassoon jerks his head back down and blasts his opponent in the hand. She croaks weakly in agony, spasming on the ground. Bassoon growls, glaring at her. Then he kicks her in the side, launching her away. He lifts up into the air.
"That's the local champion incoming," you say. "In recognize their aura."
"Can you give me enough power to overwhelm them?" asks Bassoon.
"With super saiyan," you say. "Do we even want to, though? We have what we need. Isn't it time to go?"
Bassoon looks up again, to where the new champion is starting to re-enter the atmosphere. He chews on his lip for a moment. "…yeah," he says. "Yeah, let's go." He closes his eyes and starts casting a spell, fingers twisting as he chants.
You feel the bizarre sensation of his power seeming to coil in on itself. His aura surges, and you feel him making as if to fly forward, but he doesn't move. He pushes harder, then harder still, but nothing happens.
Then, finally, the spell completes, and it all snaps loose.
Bassoon rockets forward, faster than he could possibly move on his own. The air tears as he blasts through the ongoing fight, scooping up Flute and Lyre in his arms as he goes. By the time he finishes blinking, the retainers are far behind in the distance.
Flute thrashes, growling. "Warn a fellow, Bassoon!"
'We got what we needed!' says Bassoon, shouting over the roar of wind. 'Go to ground and make for the rendezvous!'
'You don't want to stick it out?' asks Flute.
'Bugle's fighting the Prince,' says Bassoon. 'Let's not make him stay in that longer than he has to.'
'We've taken enough chances for one day,' says Lyre.
'I wouldn't mind a chance to run,' says Bugle, sounding strained. 'He's getting into the rhythm of this a lot faster than I'd like. He's starting to shoot back. It's just the distance keeping me in this.'
'Kakara and I will play bait if we need it,' says Bassoon. 'Everybody else, break contact.' He tenses as you all tear past another urban center, approaching and passing it in the time it takes to blink. In his arms, Flute and Lyre start suppressing their power levels. Up in orbit, Bugle starts pushing himself harder, bleeding power. Bassoon tosses his teammates to each side as you overfly another forest. "Go!"
Then, roaring, he burns as brightly as he can. Lyre and Flute tumble into the trees and vanish. Bugle unleashes a massive battery of blasts and then suppresses, going from a volcano in the sky to just another speck of black in the void.
Bassoon tears through the air, his spell's momentum slackening even as the descending champion alters course to keep up.
"Only a few seconds before we're in visual range," you say.
"I only need a couple," he grunts. A speck of green comes up over the horizon. He dives low and approaches the marsh at ground level. Suppressing in three…two…one…now!"
As fast as he can, he drags his power level down. You pull your hands out of the sand and stop feeding him ki. The two of you coast onwards on the last remnants of his spell's energy. Marsh turns to grassland turns to forest, and Bassoon weaves through the branches with the gentle touches of ki. Finally, in a clearing, he comes to a gentle halt.
Immediately, he casts another spell. When he starts moving again, the barest flicker of energy sends him along at several times the rate it should. Drifting to ground level, he doubles back on his trail, following it a mile back.
As he moves, the two of you feel the planetary champion hit low altitude and snap onto the track you took, the rest of the retinue falling in behind them. Bassoon tracks them coming closer, and when they get to within a mile, he slides into a bush and waits.
His ears pick up the voices long before they come into view.
"-than five to one and you couldn't take any of them? The Prince is going to be furious." The voice is unfamiliar. High and clear, and thrumming with tension.
"They had a mage with them, and a powerful one," replies the champion who faced off with Lyre and Flute. "Stronger than any of us, and some movement-based magic. After engaging for a moment, they broke contact again and were gone before we can respond."
"After they compromised Vector," says the first person. "His Highness was already frustrated when I left. When he learns that the ruse he's spent all of this time on has failed-!"
"It hasn't failed yet," says the team leader. "If we run them down, it ends here."
"Idiot," snaps the planetary champion. "A strike this well-coordinated? They've already passed the information to somebody. You're right that we need to capture one, though. We need to know how extensive this operation is. Which would be easier if you hadn't let them nearly kill Taka!"
In a flash, they catch up to and pass you, and you finally see the planetary champion. She's one of the Tamrii natives; four feet tall, lime green skin, and hair so curly it bounces when standing still. She's wearing the same kind of armor as the others, but hers has a clear visor so that her face is visible.
Then, they tear past.
"Don't lecture me, Rasai!" says the team leader. "At least I was there!"
"If you want to snipe about being part of the team, Pieria, only one of us was with the Prince when he had to drop everything and defend the- wait, stop."
They all jerk to a halt in midair.
"…the trail ends here," says Rasai. She slowly turns in a circle. "They've gone to ground."
"Spread out and search!" shouts Pieria. "I want them found!"
The team breaks apart, spreading out, and Pieria drifts up. "I'll try to keep watch for ki signatures," she says. "Find them, Rasai."
She doesn't wait for an answer, flaring her aura and bursting to maximum power. You take the opportunity to take her measure in greater detail.
"Sixty-four million," you say.
'Still think we could take her?' replied Bassoon.
"Her, yeah, but Haila's not distracted anymore," you say. "If we engage now, then sure, maybe he keeps searching for Bugle, but maybe he just comes down and kills you before I can react."
Bassoon frowns, looking up again. Pieria keeps her power high, ready to respond and with an eye firmly on her scouter. Bassoon hunkers down slightly lower in the brush. 'We might be found anyway, if they search well enough.'
You finally have the information you need. This is Haila's team, and that means the Prince himself is the one here. You can fight this man, when the invasion comes. Now, you just need to extract.
[ ] Hunker down and wait. They only have scouters, you can wait them out, as good as Bassoon's ki control has gotten. Of course, they'll get first shot if they manage to pick you out by eye.
[ ] Try to take down Pieria fast enough that Bassoon can break contact again and go to ground. Haila might or might not respond; if he does, they there's no debate, you need to come out into the material world and fight him here, almost certainly triggering his terrifying elder brother to come seeking the saiyan who attacked his kin.
[ ] You don't fancy a breakout working, but staying still sits poorly as well. Try to move slowly out of the search area. All that camouflage has to be good for something.
[ ] Write-in.
MANUAL MORATORIUM. APPROVAL VOTING ALLOWED.
I think I'm allowed to call this a full update cycle now; everybody's had a turn.
- Potentially dumb idea: Can we get kakara to pop out in human form and just try to shake them by Instant Transmitting all over the place? If nothing else, I could see trying to pull something like that being worth trying if we try to wait them out and they get too close for comfort.
So... I think at this point, as long as the others get out, Bassoon dying isn't... really the worst case scenario for the namekians, right? Whereas Haila's brother coming is. So we should just stay hunkered down and hope we can break free.
So... I think at this point, as long as the others get out, Bassoon dying isn't... really the worst case scenario for the namekians, right? Whereas Haila's brother coming is. So we should just stay hunkered down and hope we can break free.
Bassoon dying means we will likely not be here to fight Haila which fucks over our green friends and it's quite likely if it gets to that point that Bassoom is in danger of dying, our girl will intervene to save him.
Bassoon dying means we will likely not be here to fight Haila which fucks over our green friends and it's quite likely if it gets to that point that Bassoom is in danger of dying, our girl will intervene to save him.
Yeah but they're more capable of splitting from the planet at this point. They've got like a year to leave now, whereas if we attracted the big guy's attention they'd have a few months. And Perika's there, too -- she would hopefully be able to help out.
[ ] You don't fancy a breakout working, but staying still sits poorly as well. Try to move slowly out of the search area. All that camouflage has to be good for something.
Tempted by this. Not sure why they wouldn't just bring more manpower for the search. Otoh, it's not like manpower matters that much with Ki.
- Potentially dumb idea: Can we get kakara to pop out in human form and just try to shake them by Instant Transmitting all over the place? If nothing else, I could see trying to pull something like that being worth trying if we try to wait them out and they get too close for comfort.
Can we IT with our ki masked? They would probably see us if we pop up, so going out with our ki suppressed is asking to be killed before we teleport out but depending on how fast we can do it, we could teleport Basson away and have him supress his energy to get away.
To my understanding, camouflage works best when you stay still. And Haila has to be good and mad at this point, so if we give him a target, I think he'll take it. So, I'm inclined to hunker down.
[ ] You don't fancy a breakout working, but staying still sits poorly as well. Try to move slowly out of the search area. All that camouflage has to be good for something.
I thinking this option had the best chance of working.
Can we IT with our ki masked? They would probably see us if we pop up, so going out with our ki suppressed is asking to be killed before we teleport out but depending on how fast we can do it, we could teleport Basson away and have him supress his energy to get away.
@PoptartProdigy Can Kakara think of an obvious reason this, or similar IT-based ideas such as distracting them with a human masque of herself using it, wouldn't work?
@PoptartProdigy Can Kakara think of an obvious reason this, or similar IT-based ideas such as distracting them with a human masque of herself using it, wouldn't work?
The only potential risk is that she is not camouflaged and is, as a spotting target in this forested environment, primarily orange.
Which might work better in terms of distractions, mind. Helps that if pursuit closes in while she as a projection is out and about, she can just dispel herself and snap back to Bassoon's mindscape. Of course, it relies on the distraction working as intended.
