Under the Open Sky (CWMGQ Spinoff)

There's a haze resting over everything. It softens the sunlight and makes the fading missile trails less prominent. A cold wind presses on you as you rise, probably here before another spot of rain. If you concentrate you can almost see the strings of Wind magic tugging on distant clouds.

Light blooms to the east, from the battlefield. Echoes of helicopter rotors and rumbling cannon-fire bounce off mountains. The sky smells of burning and a whiff of rotting eggs. This isn't the peaceful flight you had in mind.

You head does feel a little clearer for getting away from the ground and walls. Folding down your Panoply lets you fall under the grip of gravity, funny how free-falling feels like you've gotten away from gravity for a moment. As you fall your sight catches a few events.

One of the Divinity girls is firing her weapon, a cannon larger than she is, while darting around in mid-air. It looks like she's trying, and mostly failing, to hold her weapon so the magic death ray stays on target while she moves. And also trying to change how she holds the gun so she can hide behind it. What comes to mind is that she needs that practice, her reactions are much slower than her maximum movement.

Insight is standing in ankle-deep water. Some sort of depression that flooded from the rain yesterday. More notable is that Twisted Metal is energetically dancing on the water. Last you saw Twisted she sunk quickly, and wasn't cheerfully dancing. Unless shooting wildly counted as cheerful.

An Angel has perched on a tower. She's fairly small as far as Angels go and has crouched down and wrapped herself in her wings. You recognize her as Angel Abbadon, 'Abby', from her staff.

Four sheetmetal walls, which are themselves decorated with runed slabs, have been erected adjacent to Signals' building. More than that, there are a couple people inside. From where you're flying you can see over the tops, one of the figures moves a lot like Starlancer.

The idea of Starlancer setting up a meeting, somehow, is enough to give a kick of alarm. You resume powered flight to drop in. It's worth taking a moment to check, and you have a few minutes.

The makeshift chamber has a couple of large microphones, a few speakers, two scuffed webcams, and a grim faced soldier wearing a vest radiating magic (Light). Wires are zip tied together and lead over one of the walls. Starlancer, in her untransformed state, does a particular motion with her arm, much like the way she brings her spear back around when she magics it back to her hand. She glaces upwards and smiles briefly.

The soldier does not smile when she looks up, "You're not supposed to be here. Return to your station now."

"Wait! Stick around. I want to see how Light spooks enforce compliance." Starlancer calls out.

You hang above them for a moment, "What's going on?"

"None of your concern. You should be leaving now!" the vest-wearing soldier shouts over Starlancer.

"They want me to blab so they can kill my friends easier."

That… makes sense. Everything looks tracked and roughly organized. The vest has a few thick cables that link to a Brandcraft pattern printed on a granite slab. You think it's setup to release an explosive burst.

"She's sour 'cuz I answer your questions."

"This incident will be recorded Magical Girl. Leave."

"How fares the fighting Summit? Ready to spend the rest of your life in battle?" Starlancer leans against a wall.

There's something about this that bothers you, "Why are you happy to see me?"

She claps her hands and smiles brightly, "Our relationship has been getting better! First time we met you killed me, but this time you just captured me. Plus I really don't want you to use that death ray on me. So I want to be friendly."

Vest soldier hisses into a microphone, "Security breach. I need an MG-pacification team here now."

"Oh~ excitement."

"You don't look dead." you comment.

Starlancer pulls the neckline of her outfit out enough to show your part of a marking between her breasts (Life, Horror, Epic), "I got better. Goddess Red has a pick-me-up spell."

"Summit, head to Signals pronto. There's a Magical Girl where she shouldn't be." your datamine crackles out.

You extrude it and press the response key, "I'm already there. I don't see another Magical Girl besides myself and Starlancer."

Starlancer starts laughing.

"Summit is the intruder!" Vest shouts.

"Oh my god, you ARE the brute squad!"

"What?" that sounds familiar, but you can't place it.

"Princess Bride." Starlancer and Vest say at the same time.

That's a movie you're pretty sure. Something about a boy being read a story and… you can't quite remember. You think you fell asleep when watching it.

Vest shakes her head slightly and points at you, "Fine, you're trusted enough to get that call? That means you should leave. Just being there is putting us in danger."

"Want to hear how I ended up fighting you? You may get a kick out of it." Starlancer says.

"You'll hear anything important we learn."

"Yeah, no. First off, I won't tell Sammy. Second, Sammy isn't going to tell you. It makes it easier for them to send you to your death." Starlancer puts a bit more punch into her last sentence.

A pit forms in your gut. You want to be a good member of the Counter Force, but just leaving is... Ah, it feels like abandoning someone being pleasant at the behest of someone rude. Even when you should know better. There's something in Starlancer's demeanor that makes you think Magical Girl, and her untransformed state makes a very different impression.

"Zoe, Silver Regent, told me she could help me snag a builder. The way she described you was to make me owe her a favor for the info. I had been trying to get plumbing working for months at my estates, so I was pretty eager to try recruiting you." Starlancer starts talking without waiting for your answer.

You start drifting away.

"What interactions did you have with Silver Regent?" Vest asks Starlancer with a harsh tone.

Starlancer shakes her head and looks up at you.

The speakers crackle, "Summit may stay if she likes. As long as Starlancer keeps chatting."

Vest's expression goes to an obviously practiced stern look.

Starlancer claps her hands together, "Anyways. I packed my bags and waited for a bit. Zoe had gotten some way to track you, I didn't ask, and when you snuck out of your territory I dropped in. I really thought I had you at first, you're a very impressive fighter.

"The end is a bit fuzzy, I probably got brain damage at some point. Next thing I remember, Goddess Red is tugging my hair and telling me to wake up. You see, back when Zoe was passing along a tip? She actually got in deep shit with the Goddesses by dropping White into some kind of prison dimension. I was supposed to grab you so you could free White. She never explained just how she knew you could do that.

"Zoe was a bit restless around then. She went out and killed this guy named Marax who she had insulted earlier. Things were getting pretty strained between Goddess Red's troubles and Zoe's recent problems. Red had a plan to fix things that involved you, I'll spare you the details since the part where we killed you went wrong."

Vest has leaned forward while Starlancer talked, "Is Goddess Red here?"

"Why tell me this?" you ask.

"Because," Starlancer does a quick salute, "I respect you. We're putting our lives on the line for our causes. I only wish you weren't so eager to listen to Counter Force lies."

"It's not lies. I saw New York with my own eyes. Rome and Buenos Aires were-" you start to

Starlancer interrupts you, "Yes, those were atrocities that demanded reprisal. That's not what happened. A pack of idiots decided throwing nukes around wasn't enough and jumped into a war against a hundred worlds without thinking for a moment. The UD is feudal, they could have limited actions to only those that attacked Earth. Done something other than pick sides in a war that's older than any nation on Earth has even been."

You frown, "I grew up during the outreach. Humanity stood together so we could face the other worlds united. We were attacked without cause and had all of the UD declare as enemies. Nothing could have gotten Earth out of this war."

Starlancers does a few sarcastic claps, "Good job. That's exactly what the propaganda says. Let me repeat. Hell. Is. Feudal. They would be afraid of angering Goddess-Empress Gold in much the way they weren't afraid of a single world claiming unity."

"Goddess Gold hasn't been able to scare the UD away." you counter.

"That's... notoriety counts for a lot. I agreed to fight you, but wouldn't set foot on the same continent as Red Rose. Some of my friends died that way. If Gold was presented as ruler she wouldn't be an obstacle to avoid." she crosses her arms, "The strong dying for the weak doesn't get much respect in Hell. Which is relevant for you, now that you've gotten strong you are going to get ordered into battles that will kill you. That's what happens once you're too strong to get pushed around."

"You tried to force me to fight for you, remember?"

Starlancer pauses, "That's not what I was doing. I have subjects, my holdings are a nice section of Hope, by Big Lake. Some demons tore out the copper pipes, but it's otherwise pretty comfortable. I wanted you to build for me, to make the people under my protection prosperous, Not fight for me."

Vest grins widely.

"Shit." Starlancer hisses.

"Since you live on Hope why don't you tell me what it's like there? I'm eager to visit." Vest says smugly, "Or maybe where and when you last saw Goddess Red?"

You blink, "I'm expected somewhere soon. I should go."

"Finally. Stop bothering me and go kill something." Vest tucks a set of earbuds into her ears.

The speaker setup squeals a few dissonant tones. It's much more distracting than you think noise should be. A haze of Mind magic dances over the speakers. You Shift away to depart quicker.

You pull out your Datamine and consider trying to call Signals. Why do they trust you?
----

Status of Little Miss Death Star:

Stage 1 - Crashing Sky: COMPLETE
Stage 2 - Heavy Metal: COMPLETE
Stage 3 - Zone of Control: IN PROGRESS
Stage 4 - Glory: UNAVAILABLE
Stage 5 - You May Fire When Ready: UNAVAILABLE

Current UD Tactics:

Underground Roads
Crude Fortifications (Failing)
Elite Shadows (Occupied)
The Eclipse Device (66%)
Volcanic Haze (Active)
----

Special Operations available!


Vertical Envelopment
My sky now
-Most Aerial forces have been forced to retire due to volcanic dust. Support the Hovertanks you put together as they provide fire support
Difficulty: Moderate
Effect if Successful: Small
Allies: A pack of hovertanks
Enemies: Sentinels and other elites
Stages: All except stage 5


Deluge
-Those tunnels are a prominent piece of the UD's defenses. Help set up a Noah Device at one of the outlets so we can fill them with water.
Difficulty: Moderate
Effect if Successful: Profound (Removes UD Tactic - Underground Roads)
Allies: Earthmovers and several teams of Magical Girls to help keep a perimeter.
Enemies: Variable
Stages: 3


Fighting Fires
-You might not be the strongest, but you are very fast. Put that speed to use and intervene to help beleaguered forces
--Fly up and down the new frontline, provide light support and try to see if there's any trouble ahead.
--Offer to, sigh, carry a non-flying Magical Girl around.
--Disrupt enemy operations by targeting their champions
--Insight has a cunning plan… (write-in, subject to approval)


Making Craters
-The Counter Force is breaking out the good stuff for this fight. Bring some spotters along and call in all the missiles you could want.
Difficulty: Auto-Success
Effect if Successful: Minimal
Allies: Spotter Team
Enemies: Nothing should spot you if you're careful.
Stages: 3 & 4

Gifts From Heaven
-Use portals to drop some fancy bombs on places you've visited before.
Difficulty: Auto-Success
Effect if Successful: Minimal (Supports Deluge)
Allies: None
Enemies: None.
Stages: 3 & 4
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(Feel free to ask questions about Starlancer, I'll try to answer them. There a bunch that I was having trouble with and I'm not sure how well things come across...)

[X] Take a mission
-[X] Which one?
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+10 EXP Echoes of Battle
+20 EXP Got Starlancer to mention something useful…

2950 + 30 = 2980 EXP

[X] [EXP] EXP Plan?