The wave rends failed because they were a ranged attack. This time I'm proposing a melee attack, leaving no time to dodge. By the time Mami is brought into the timestop, we'll already be halfway through her torso.
First, I don't think the explosive sword will do anything at all to divert the gun barrage — a single sword in the midst of a widely dispersed armament array, with no indication that it can provide wide-area disruption of munitions. And while it's possible it might work, that also assumes that the munitions all fire exactly when the sword explodes. If they're either late or early, the sword explosion does literally nothing; if they have a staggered firing rate (as they did in canon) then we can only affect some of the bullets heading our way.
I see your point, I only stuck that in my 'frankenvote' (I liked that) in hopes that Moid's vid post indicated that he liked this outside the box thinking and that if it doesn't work we are out 1 sword out of like, hammerspace number of swords.
I'll weigh the two plans and cast my vote again, I guess. But I TOTALLY agree that Kyouko should strike while the focus is on Sayaka.
Vote tally: ##### 3.21
[x] Get Homura to timestop us
[x] Do essentially this from the safety of timestop:
[x] give Homura a grief seed No. of votes: 1 Flashkannon
[x] Throw an explosive sword forward. Detonation should divert the barrage. Shield up and boost foward.
[x] Kyouko should keep trying to constrain Mami's movements.
[x] Slice. Expect a dodge. Keep pressing her.
[x] Detonate sword immediately on a good hit. No. of votes: 11 Muramasa, Dirtnap, EtchedSteel, Sightedjt, Crayz9000, aeqnai, MrLZRS, TankD115, Ugolino, defenestrator, MobiusOneDT
[x] Upgrade kite shield to great shield and add the helmet.
[x] Throw an explosive sword forward. Detonation should divert the barrage. Tank the invisible firing squad.
-[x] Make this an opportunity for Kyouko to go for the offensive strike while we act as the distraction this time.
-[x] If successful, charge at the fake-Mami. Offense boost. Manifest blades on the shield and ram with a shield bash.
-[x] Use a simultaneous strike with the sword to cut off avenues of escape.
-[x] If bash connects, and Mami is impaled, if possible, detonate all shield blades and use shield as a shield to shield us from the boom boom. No. of votes: 1 Xen
[x] Upgrade kite shield to great shield, sword to great sword (should still have Rending Blade active), and add the helmet.
[x] Offensive Boost for closing speed, and to push through the knockback of the fired bullets.
[x] Charge at the fake-Mami, and ram with a shield bash.
-[x] Use a simultaneous strike with the sword to cut off avenues of escape (most likely upwards, if her own guns mostly box her in).
-[x] If bash connects, sprout blades on the shield to help pin/damage.
-[x] Let Kyouko use this opportunity to make an offensive strike while we act as the distraction.
-[x] If we miss on the bash, turn the attack into a spin with the whip sword to try to catch Mami before she gets out of range.
[x] Strike/detonate with the sword if we're keeping the grapple relatively secure; entangle with whip sword if she tries to disengage. No. of votes: 5 Kinematics, lavanderjasmine, Gadjo, Diomedon, landcollector
[x] Throw an explosive sword forward. Detonation should divert the barrage. Shield up and boost foward.
(Bonus was fucked up, but I'm still giving you this roll)
You throw a sword forward and hide behind your shield as soon as you hear her fire. Suddenly, there's a loud boom, followed by a blast of white-hot heat and blue smoke. You're pushed backwards, but as soon as you peek over your shield you see Mami flying backwards with a smoke trail behind her and her guns dissipating harmlessly. Her ribbon arm is shredded by the explosion, but it's not enough to slow her down completely.
She raises her other arm, gun on hand, as you boost harder straight towards her.
You slam into her torso with your shield, but you still feel her shooting you in your back. You let out a shriek of pain, before you both crash through a nearby wall. You tumble forwards, before she fires a gun right into your right forearm.
It's torn off inside of your armor, and the arm dangles uselessly by your side.
[x] Kyouko should keep trying to constrain Mami's movements.
Kyouko impales the False Mami through the chest from behind, blood oozing from her own neck as she clenches her teeth. Without a second thought, the False Mami pulls it through, before immediately the spear is segmented.
The False Mami pauses in surprise, before she's pulled violently backwards and into a vicious punch to the back of the head. Kyouko moves in to stomp Mami's head into the broken pavement, but misses completely. The hit destroys the street beneath her heel, but Mami still flips to the side. She's visibly woozy from the hit, but she still manages to level herself out.
[x] Slice. Expect a dodge. Keep pressing her.
You stab with your left arm, but she still presses it into the ground before breaking it in half with a gunshot. You casually toss it away and form a new sword, as she jumps backwards.
You stab at her again, but she pushes it out of the way.
As you're fighting, you see Kyouko whipping her spear around and preparing to impale the False Mami again.
[x] Detonate sword immediately on a good hit.
You stab a third time with a new sword. She catches a slice on the cheek, and your blade tastes black blood. You smirk, but even then you're a little overconfident.
She then shoots the blade in half with a small pistol and jams it into your face. You duck under the shot on reflex. She just isn't letting up.
I'm going to pretend Sayaka's bad rolls were because she was trying to use a sword with her shield arm while still wearing a shield.
Kyouko is prepped for another stab, so we need to set her up with a good opportunity.
We just ducked under a pistol shot aimed at our face. That means we're within arm's reach of Mami, and below her center line. Not a great position for a sword swipe (though we might be able to take her off at the knees), but it is a pretty good position for us to lunge up with a spiked shield bash... And Mami has already shown she can be surprised by a shift in weapon form, with Kyouko's spear.
Constructing proposal based on our current status. We are approaching the "too much time dedicated to Mami" stage, but we have her at close melee range, a bit staggered from Kyouko's hit, and actually down 10 points on her combat bonus. Seems incredibly close to being able to finish this.
[x] Slam upwards into Mami with the shield, extruding blades (angled a bit upwards) as you do so.
-[x] Assuming we catch her, activate the helmet to help guard against more head shots
-[x] Push Mami in Kyouko's direction, trying to keep her feet just slightly off the ground to deprive her of purchase.
-[x] Heal right arm while making this push/rush.
-[x] When arm is healed, summon sword with right arm, stab, and detonate.
[x] If the shield bash/snag fails, continue to press the attack like before.
-[x] Heal arm as convenient so we can make a surprise attack with it.
