Crossworlds 16.1 (Operation Little Miss Death Star)
- Location
- UTC -6
You spot Steel Monsoon in the cafeteria, laptop in front of her and a mostly-eaten ice-cream cone in her hand. She's sitting next to another two Magical Girls, untransformed, and a short officer, all with laptops.
You hadn't even gotten around to properly looking for her. After a quick trip for some food you return to sit by her.
"No food on this table, I'm working and don't want anything spilled on my computer." the young officer says as you start to approach her table.
You glance over at Steel Monsoon finishing her cone.
"Not on the table, I've made her hold it in her hands." she adds.
"Hi Summit! I heard you fixed the ice-cream." one of the girls waves at you.
"Can't talk, test." mutters the third.
Steel Monsoon crunches a bit as she finishes off the last bit of cone.
You mold your Panoply into a desk and place your food there, "I wanted to check in with Steel Monsoon, Lieutenant ...um."
Her name patch has a star instead of a name on it.
"She's Blue Bandit." Steel Monsoon interjects.
"Spoil my fun why don't you." the lieutenant shakes her head and resumes typing.
"I'm Magical Girl Dwarven Overseer, and the overachiever is Breakfast Call." she points at the girl working on her test.
"And she's my teammate Summit." finishes Steel Monsoon, "As for checking in, I was going to suggest helping Paladin learn to deal with flying attacks. Something is happening at the moment, so you should stay alert instead. The bad old days are coming back."
"You're welcome for the reprieve, by the way." Dwarven Overseer comments.
"I hope the wall gets fixed soon, it's taking a while." Blue Bandit says after a moment.
"Isn't it better to be taking ground?" you ask.
Steel Monsoon shrugs, "It would be, but there's a stupidly tough dome of lava and obsidian that the Dark uses as a bastion. They're fortified almost as much as we are and can muster forces from most of the Heaven-Earth front if they feel threatened."
"Which we can expect to happen soon," Blue Bandit elaborates. "The Primals are due back tomorrow and at least a dozen more girls are getting 21-day transient contracts for crazy amounts of money. i.e. The invaders are also going to be reinforced."
"You should have held off on joining the Counter Force, I bet you would be getting way more money if you waited a bit." Steel Monsoon leans back.
"I joined to make a difference," you explain, "not just because I was out of money. Is there really nothing to do right now?"
"Wait thirty minutes, the artillery has been busy recently." Steel Monsoon says.
"Even the mighty fall to the dreaded 'hurry up and wait' effect." Blue Bandit nods to herself.
For a few minutes no one seems interested in saying more. You eat the food you grabbed and watch the quartet of untransformed Magical Girls fiddle with their laptops. Dwarven Overseer is playing some kind of game that involves respawning often, the others are studying or taking a computerized test.
After dying a few times in a row on a jump Overseer leans back and looks at you. "What's your deal? I can conjure an outpost of crazy dwarves that spawn nightmarish monsters as they dig."
Steel Monsoon looks up and grins.
"I discover effects and magic and add them to my own. With a fairly broad set of things I can copy. My best abilities are a suite of space-warping effects I learned from being trapped in a magic cage by a demon for several years."
Steel Monsoon and Dwarven Overseer goggle at that.
Blue Bandit frowns, "I hope you're not suggesting that as a training method."
You shake your head.
Waiting around inside doesn't appeal; you put your dishes at the appropriate station and head outside to bother the people at the command post.
----
You had barely gotten halfway before an elderly officer all but pushes you away. Apparently tradition was to brief Magical Girls in booths to keep the excitement away from the analysts. And you should 'watch a movie or something' until asked.
Disappointing.
You have a feeling that you were thinking of something and it somehow slipped your mind. Running your thoughts through what you remember…
Is someone there?
Almost three dozen people are running wires and expanding trailers. A few more are partitioning the courtyard with rope barriers. There's some free-standing magic and an enchantment on the fountain.
"I don't like your stealth. Please reveal yourself." you firmly glare at where you expect the stealthed soldier to be.
One of the men running wires drops what he was working on and spins in place, "Hey! You heard her. If I have to check the suit logs to see who's clowning around you will regret it."
If you had been slightly slower your heart would have gotten pierced.
(The Unseen Blade: 1000 Base Damage, +219 Dice, +10 Surprise = 1229 Damage
Lethal Surprise Triggers!
18435 Damage
Magical Girl Summit:1000 Resilience, +174 Dice, +3687 Reactive Field, - 1000 Can't Perceive Attacker Directly!, +1000 Resistant to Darkness Effects, +100 Nick of Time = 4961 Damage Reduction
Unstoppable
18435 End Damage
60% Ceaseless Warrior
7374 Final End Damage
Magical Girl Summit: 14500 - 7374 = 7126 Health
+1 Stack of Ceaseless Warrior. (+1 Attacks Per Turn))
"Intruder! Get to Cover!"
The Counter Force soldiers snap from their relatively careful motions to an all-out rush away from you in moments.
And your arm's been severed, the same arm Gabriel chopped off what felt like years ago. Thinking about what happened makes your head a little fuzzy.
Leaving you free to bombard the courtyard with bursting shot. A quick volley later and you spot a shadow where dirt isn't landing and a slight trail is left.
It's probably moving left. You accelerate towards a point guided by a hunch and some narrowing of possible locations.
"AAA!"
(Wave Force: 800 Base Damage, +93 Dice, +200 Light of Discovery = 1093 Damage
Dave Morden:250 Resilience, +887 Dice, +250 Unseen = 1387 Damage Reduction
Unstoppable
1093 End Damage
Dave Morden: 1000 - 1093 = -93 Health)
A spike of orange lightning vanishes as it strikes something. Then a figure (Darkness) leaking black smoke falls over in front of you.
You pin his limbs before he reaches the ground.
"Who are you!?" you demand.
He doesn't look up, "If you couldn't tell, a dying man… Magical Girls were worth avoiding."
At that he falls apart into shadows, which dissipate in the light.
You want to scream at something, to keep hitting things so you can focus past the sting of nerves exposed to air, but you're certain that he's gone and didn't have any buddies with him.
So you recover your lost arm and set to work re-attaching it. The artillery keeps firing, you'll have work to do soon.
You haven't gotten far by the time Ninja of Light backflips through the doors followed by Madama Morte.
"Where's the danger!" Ninja shouts.
Someone pops up holding a Datamine, "She got him," she says, "I have a video."
"Is this going to be a daily occurance?" Madama Morte marches towards you.
You see Commander Black stride around a trailer.
"It has been picking up lately." you reply to Madama Morte.
She peels away your Panoply to look at your arm, then whispers something and makes the injury vanish. "Figure out why. At this rate you are going to end up buried in a very small box if you don't get a handle on it."
"I haven't died yet." you frown.
"I know what that was!" a fairy (Earth) fluters closer, "I've seen one before. They're some sort of messenger or scout of a reclusive people."
"Thank you Specialist Flint Heart, anything else?" Commander Black shouts while hurrying closer.
Someone behind Black tries to convince him to head back, citing safety. Black doesn't indicate he's noticed. From the Magical Girl dorms a few more girls come running out. Including one on a flying broom.
"Not much more than that Commander, they sulk around and either flee or attack when you find them. Fairies with a knack can follow the trail of magic they use to hide themselves. I don't know what the goal of it is." Flint adds.
"Not happy with winning?" Ninja leans towards you, apparently satisfied with her brief sweep of the area.
"No, its…" you think for a moment, "It hurt and then everything was over. I feel like I barely started."
"I know exactly what you mean. Like when you've just started getting into-"
"Ninja!" Madama Morte shouts at Ninja of Light and points at Commander Black.
"I started when she was walking back and caught her getting her arm hit out of nowhere. She wrecked that thing in less than ten seconds!" the women from before runs towards Black with her Datamine held out.
"Specialist Fly, I'm going to ignore that you were supposed to be working and tell you to upload that footage through a pseudonym. Use some inflammatory language to play up Summit's prowess." Commander Black says briskly.
"On it!"
Fly sprints away with energy.
You pull back your Panoply into a compact configuration and hold your hands behind your back to present yourself. Ninja of Light leans on you.
"Is the area clear?" Black asks you.
Nothing unfamiliar is sticking out to you. "Yes."
"That's an all clear, get back to work!"
"Are you planning another attack?" Ninja asks over your head.
Black shakes his head, "I am not planning an attack at this time."
The world seems to turn to shades of grey and your heart tries to drop through you. A cacophony of noise washes past of strikes and cracking stone. Rippling magic flies into the sky from the front lines.
"Reinforce is showing off her unison effect." Madama Morte comments.
"So we're being mustered for the fun of it?" Ninja continues after a few seconds of quiet.
"The idea worked well last time, so it's being tested again." he looks you in the eyes, "I'm actually livid that one of my girls was almost assassinated. Try to stay in one piece Summit."
"Who planned today's attack?" Madama Morte crosses her arms.
Black shakes his head and turns around.
Ninja stands up straight, "Oh come on! Tell them to wait for the reinforcements to get here and get psyched up or something!"
You relax your stance and fly slightly into the air to get some space. The Magical Girl on a broom (Magic, Delusion, Myth-Maker) flies to a few meters in front of you.
"Hello there. I've always wanted to meet a chosen one. I am, as you already know, Magical Girl Primary Wiccan."
"I am Magical Girl Summit."
Her eyes wander over your Panoply with a serene expression, "What's it like being a chosen one? Do the voices get annoying? Can you tell them to grant me power? What do you want?"
You look up at the afternoon sky and the clouds. "I wanted to be able to fly."
A jet flies into your field of vision over the front-lines. More follow.
"You fly very well." Primary Wiccan drifts higher.
A shrill alarm blares from the Datamine of every present Magical Girl.
"I knew it!" Ninja of Light shouts.
Something flickers high in the sky. Dozens of iridescent disk-shaped flying craft (Technology, Horror) glide out of nowhere. Streaks of fire rush up from several Anti-Air locations to knock the literal UFOs from the sky. The UFOs fire back with volleys of green spheres.
A bolt of lightning sends a UFO tumbling. You see a few figures leap out into a long drop.
----
Status of Little Miss Death Star:
Stage 1 - Crashing Sky: IN PROGRESS
Stage 2 - UNKNOWN
Stage 3 - UNKNOWN
Stage 4 - UNKNOWN
Stage 5 - You May Fire When Ready: UNAVAILABLE
Current UD Tactics:
Underground Roads
Necromancy Raid
Crude Fortifications
Specialty Forces (Ragged Legion | Little Green Men)
Elite Shadows
----
No Special Operations Unlocked.
Pick one:
[X] Stay put. Someone has a plan and you'll follow it. (No contributions, opens special operations next stage.)
[X] ACES HIGH may need support and you can get to the front extremely quickly. (Shoot aliens and turn undead minions into tasty snacks. ACES HIGH will be more effective.)
[X] The enemy fliers look fragile, and kind of dumb. Rush to the skies and help shoot them down. (Better results from Crashing Sky. Spot Ragged Legion as they try to sneak over Milidia airspace and shoot down a few stray UFOs.)
----
+5 EXP Start of Operation Little Miss Death Star
+10 EXP Killed 1 odd shadow
+10 EXP Connected with a few new Magical Girls
431 + 25 = 456 EXP
[X] [EXP] EXP Plan?
You hadn't even gotten around to properly looking for her. After a quick trip for some food you return to sit by her.
"No food on this table, I'm working and don't want anything spilled on my computer." the young officer says as you start to approach her table.
You glance over at Steel Monsoon finishing her cone.
"Not on the table, I've made her hold it in her hands." she adds.
"Hi Summit! I heard you fixed the ice-cream." one of the girls waves at you.
"Can't talk, test." mutters the third.
Steel Monsoon crunches a bit as she finishes off the last bit of cone.
You mold your Panoply into a desk and place your food there, "I wanted to check in with Steel Monsoon, Lieutenant ...um."
Her name patch has a star instead of a name on it.
"She's Blue Bandit." Steel Monsoon interjects.
"Spoil my fun why don't you." the lieutenant shakes her head and resumes typing.
"I'm Magical Girl Dwarven Overseer, and the overachiever is Breakfast Call." she points at the girl working on her test.
"And she's my teammate Summit." finishes Steel Monsoon, "As for checking in, I was going to suggest helping Paladin learn to deal with flying attacks. Something is happening at the moment, so you should stay alert instead. The bad old days are coming back."
"You're welcome for the reprieve, by the way." Dwarven Overseer comments.
"I hope the wall gets fixed soon, it's taking a while." Blue Bandit says after a moment.
"Isn't it better to be taking ground?" you ask.
Steel Monsoon shrugs, "It would be, but there's a stupidly tough dome of lava and obsidian that the Dark uses as a bastion. They're fortified almost as much as we are and can muster forces from most of the Heaven-Earth front if they feel threatened."
"Which we can expect to happen soon," Blue Bandit elaborates. "The Primals are due back tomorrow and at least a dozen more girls are getting 21-day transient contracts for crazy amounts of money. i.e. The invaders are also going to be reinforced."
"You should have held off on joining the Counter Force, I bet you would be getting way more money if you waited a bit." Steel Monsoon leans back.
"I joined to make a difference," you explain, "not just because I was out of money. Is there really nothing to do right now?"
"Wait thirty minutes, the artillery has been busy recently." Steel Monsoon says.
"Even the mighty fall to the dreaded 'hurry up and wait' effect." Blue Bandit nods to herself.
For a few minutes no one seems interested in saying more. You eat the food you grabbed and watch the quartet of untransformed Magical Girls fiddle with their laptops. Dwarven Overseer is playing some kind of game that involves respawning often, the others are studying or taking a computerized test.
After dying a few times in a row on a jump Overseer leans back and looks at you. "What's your deal? I can conjure an outpost of crazy dwarves that spawn nightmarish monsters as they dig."
Steel Monsoon looks up and grins.
"I discover effects and magic and add them to my own. With a fairly broad set of things I can copy. My best abilities are a suite of space-warping effects I learned from being trapped in a magic cage by a demon for several years."
Steel Monsoon and Dwarven Overseer goggle at that.
Blue Bandit frowns, "I hope you're not suggesting that as a training method."
You shake your head.
Waiting around inside doesn't appeal; you put your dishes at the appropriate station and head outside to bother the people at the command post.
----
You had barely gotten halfway before an elderly officer all but pushes you away. Apparently tradition was to brief Magical Girls in booths to keep the excitement away from the analysts. And you should 'watch a movie or something' until asked.
Disappointing.
You have a feeling that you were thinking of something and it somehow slipped your mind. Running your thoughts through what you remember…
Is someone there?
Almost three dozen people are running wires and expanding trailers. A few more are partitioning the courtyard with rope barriers. There's some free-standing magic and an enchantment on the fountain.
**???
Some of the sparse grass is springing back up from being stepped on. And you haven't seen anyone step there."I don't like your stealth. Please reveal yourself." you firmly glare at where you expect the stealthed soldier to be.
One of the men running wires drops what he was working on and spins in place, "Hey! You heard her. If I have to check the suit logs to see who's clowning around you will regret it."
**DODGE!!!
You throw yourself backwards and into the air as your instincts scream at you. Blood splatters from your shoulder and arm stump as something slices your arm off as you spin away. It's odd that the pain arrives after the cut.If you had been slightly slower your heart would have gotten pierced.
(The Unseen Blade: 1000 Base Damage, +219 Dice, +10 Surprise = 1229 Damage
Lethal Surprise Triggers!
18435 Damage
Magical Girl Summit:
Unstoppable
18435 End Damage
60% Ceaseless Warrior
7374 Final End Damage
Magical Girl Summit: 14500 - 7374 = 7126 Health
+1 Stack of Ceaseless Warrior. (+1 Attacks Per Turn))
"Intruder! Get to Cover!"
The Counter Force soldiers snap from their relatively careful motions to an all-out rush away from you in moments.
And your arm's been severed, the same arm Gabriel chopped off what felt like years ago. Thinking about what happened makes your head a little fuzzy.
**Loose soil
Right, you can't get a bead on your target. But if you make it leave a trail you can guess where it is and drop a Wave Force on its unviewable face. Conveniently, the bystanders are all running away.
Leaving you free to bombard the courtyard with bursting shot. A quick volley later and you spot a shadow where dirt isn't landing and a slight trail is left.
It's probably moving left. You accelerate towards a point guided by a hunch and some narrowing of possible locations.
"AAA!"
(Wave Force: 800 Base Damage, +93 Dice, +200 Light of Discovery = 1093 Damage
Dave Morden:
Unstoppable
1093 End Damage
Dave Morden: 1000 - 1093 = -93 Health)
A spike of orange lightning vanishes as it strikes something. Then a figure (Darkness) leaking black smoke falls over in front of you.
You pin his limbs before he reaches the ground.
"Who are you!?" you demand.
He doesn't look up, "If you couldn't tell, a dying man… Magical Girls were worth avoiding."
At that he falls apart into shadows, which dissipate in the light.
You want to scream at something, to keep hitting things so you can focus past the sting of nerves exposed to air, but you're certain that he's gone and didn't have any buddies with him.
So you recover your lost arm and set to work re-attaching it. The artillery keeps firing, you'll have work to do soon.
You haven't gotten far by the time Ninja of Light backflips through the doors followed by Madama Morte.
"Where's the danger!" Ninja shouts.
Someone pops up holding a Datamine, "She got him," she says, "I have a video."
"Is this going to be a daily occurance?" Madama Morte marches towards you.
You see Commander Black stride around a trailer.
"It has been picking up lately." you reply to Madama Morte.
She peels away your Panoply to look at your arm, then whispers something and makes the injury vanish. "Figure out why. At this rate you are going to end up buried in a very small box if you don't get a handle on it."
"I haven't died yet." you frown.
"I know what that was!" a fairy (Earth) fluters closer, "I've seen one before. They're some sort of messenger or scout of a reclusive people."
"Thank you Specialist Flint Heart, anything else?" Commander Black shouts while hurrying closer.
Someone behind Black tries to convince him to head back, citing safety. Black doesn't indicate he's noticed. From the Magical Girl dorms a few more girls come running out. Including one on a flying broom.
"Not much more than that Commander, they sulk around and either flee or attack when you find them. Fairies with a knack can follow the trail of magic they use to hide themselves. I don't know what the goal of it is." Flint adds.
"Not happy with winning?" Ninja leans towards you, apparently satisfied with her brief sweep of the area.
"No, its…" you think for a moment, "It hurt and then everything was over. I feel like I barely started."
"I know exactly what you mean. Like when you've just started getting into-"
"Ninja!" Madama Morte shouts at Ninja of Light and points at Commander Black.
"I started when she was walking back and caught her getting her arm hit out of nowhere. She wrecked that thing in less than ten seconds!" the women from before runs towards Black with her Datamine held out.
"Specialist Fly, I'm going to ignore that you were supposed to be working and tell you to upload that footage through a pseudonym. Use some inflammatory language to play up Summit's prowess." Commander Black says briskly.
"On it!"
Fly sprints away with energy.
You pull back your Panoply into a compact configuration and hold your hands behind your back to present yourself. Ninja of Light leans on you.
"Is the area clear?" Black asks you.
Nothing unfamiliar is sticking out to you. "Yes."
"That's an all clear, get back to work!"
"Are you planning another attack?" Ninja asks over your head.
Black shakes his head, "I am not planning an attack at this time."
The world seems to turn to shades of grey and your heart tries to drop through you. A cacophony of noise washes past of strikes and cracking stone. Rippling magic flies into the sky from the front lines.
"Reinforce is showing off her unison effect." Madama Morte comments.
"So we're being mustered for the fun of it?" Ninja continues after a few seconds of quiet.
"The idea worked well last time, so it's being tested again." he looks you in the eyes, "I'm actually livid that one of my girls was almost assassinated. Try to stay in one piece Summit."
"Who planned today's attack?" Madama Morte crosses her arms.
Black shakes his head and turns around.
Ninja stands up straight, "Oh come on! Tell them to wait for the reinforcements to get here and get psyched up or something!"
You relax your stance and fly slightly into the air to get some space. The Magical Girl on a broom (Magic, Delusion, Myth-Maker) flies to a few meters in front of you.
"Hello there. I've always wanted to meet a chosen one. I am, as you already know, Magical Girl Primary Wiccan."
"I am Magical Girl Summit."
Her eyes wander over your Panoply with a serene expression, "What's it like being a chosen one? Do the voices get annoying? Can you tell them to grant me power? What do you want?"
You look up at the afternoon sky and the clouds. "I wanted to be able to fly."
A jet flies into your field of vision over the front-lines. More follow.
"You fly very well." Primary Wiccan drifts higher.
A shrill alarm blares from the Datamine of every present Magical Girl.
"I knew it!" Ninja of Light shouts.
Something flickers high in the sky. Dozens of iridescent disk-shaped flying craft (Technology, Horror) glide out of nowhere. Streaks of fire rush up from several Anti-Air locations to knock the literal UFOs from the sky. The UFOs fire back with volleys of green spheres.
A bolt of lightning sends a UFO tumbling. You see a few figures leap out into a long drop.
----
Status of Little Miss Death Star:
Stage 1 - Crashing Sky: IN PROGRESS
Stage 2 - UNKNOWN
Stage 3 - UNKNOWN
Stage 4 - UNKNOWN
Stage 5 - You May Fire When Ready: UNAVAILABLE
Current UD Tactics:
Underground Roads
Necromancy Raid
Crude Fortifications
Specialty Forces (Ragged Legion | Little Green Men)
Elite Shadows
----
No Special Operations Unlocked.
Pick one:
[X] Stay put. Someone has a plan and you'll follow it. (No contributions, opens special operations next stage.)
[X] ACES HIGH may need support and you can get to the front extremely quickly. (Shoot aliens and turn undead minions into tasty snacks. ACES HIGH will be more effective.)
[X] The enemy fliers look fragile, and kind of dumb. Rush to the skies and help shoot them down. (Better results from Crashing Sky. Spot Ragged Legion as they try to sneak over Milidia airspace and shoot down a few stray UFOs.)
----
+5 EXP Start of Operation Little Miss Death Star
+10 EXP Killed 1 odd shadow
+10 EXP Connected with a few new Magical Girls
431 + 25 = 456 EXP
[X] [EXP] EXP Plan?
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