Magical Girl Escalation Taylor (Worm/Nanoha)
- Thread starter Silently Watches
- Start date
Always Late
Lacking in coffee, sleep, and brains
- Location
- Ohio
It's basically Storm going over priorities, recording brain activity, giving Samantha unconscious orders, and recalling his war with Belka.
I would suggest giving the context to the invisitext, actually including sections they're embedded in. Some of the statements are... non-sequiturs otherwise.
There is a lot of fanon around "dead shards" so it's hard to say what is and isn't canon. However generally speaking I've found the following to be the most common:
Stuck inside Eden:
Part of the setting up shards cycle is physically separating out the various shards and dropping them onto alternate Earths. Given that their ancestors were solar powered it seems reasonable to assume that the shards that are cast off spread out across the world they are deposited on and absorb as much sunlight as possible. With 170PW of energy hitting the Earth from the Sun every second that is a pretty significant power source.
The shards harvested from Eden meanwhile were never deposited on alternate Earths and are instead buried inside her body. So these shards get little if any solar energy. Now if Eden was alive the energy collection shards she likely has on her "skin" would gather up energy and send it down to interior shards but since she's dead those systems have stopped working. It's kinda like how once you die your body's individual cells will keep working for hours/days but will eventually run out of their internal energy supplies since no new energy is being send to them.
Improperly Configured:
There are various things in Eden and Zion's interludes that suggest they don't actually gather solar energy anymore, or at leas that it's insufficient to sustain them, and that instead they rely on stored energy from the last set of worlds they detonated. This does fit with the idea that normally the cycle has a fixed length of 300 years.
Under this explanation each shard has a fixed amount of energy stored instead it to keep it running. Normally this is fine since as part of the configuration process shards have limiters put on them; partially to keep them from threatening Eden/Zion but also to ensure they last the full 300 years on their starting power supply. Cauldron Shards meanwhile were never configured for use in the cycle since they weren't suppose to be given out. So there is no limiter on how much energy they can drain since that would normally be managed by Eden.
If the first explanation is true then all Cauldron shards will eventually run dry,
as will the shards released by Zion's death
- Location
- Buffalo, NY, USA
XenForo Invisitext Handler | Userstyles.org
That'll make sure you don't miss Invisitext on here again.
Cite? Because I don't remember a single word hinting at the Entities being solar powered at any stage of development.
- Location
- Ekaterinburg, Russia
This does NOT necessarily stays true to the premise as implied.
My omakes, specifically "Vista Gets a Pet!" and its follow-up, "Everybody Gets a Pet!", describe the possibility of a rapid widespread proliferation of magic through Guardian Beast spell. Notably, the mages can be Device-less, AND will lack the Conflict Libido, AND will have the potential to rapidly outstrip the parahumans in number (compare 1/20 for being a mage to 1/8000 for being a parahuman and get 1/400 ratio of parahumans to mages). Parahumans in this scenario will stop being a significant destabilizing factor, in comparison.
Your arguments though serve as a decent argument for jumpstarting magic civilization no later than sometime in the next decade.
You are mistaken. "Directive from Mistress. Obey!" line was aimed at Samantha, not at Tim.
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I haven't been able to keep up for the last month. If the voting is still open, I'd like to throw in with the people who suggested the additions, though I doubt I alone am enough to make a difference.
Specifically scanning to find who the mage is, having Sam warn the PRT about him having powers, and stripping them of equipment, since we've been burned before for not explicitly spelling such things out.
[x] Explore the Dragonslayers' (maybe?) base
-[X] Call Tim and ask if he wants to come, snap decision. He might be a decent option for a second opinion on the spoils of war. Even if he doesn't, he's the designated research guy on those once we bring it back.
-[X] Do a scan to see who the mage is among them as well as seeing if there is still any working piece of equipment on them you need to remove to make sure they don't have a way to escape.
-[X] Remove the Dragon Slayers from their power armor, and have them padded down and cuffed. Give a statement through Perfect storm as we travel to their base.
-[X] scan them for the mage and inform the prt that this one has parahuman abilities :>
Sorry, I just read the last couple posts, saw the current vote and what had been suggested in the "vote tally" and threw my two cents in. I haven't read the discussions yet. If I'm out of line, feel free to send me a PM and I'll just be quiet until I can keep up and be better informed again.
Specifically scanning to find who the mage is, having Sam warn the PRT about him having powers, and stripping them of equipment, since we've been burned before for not explicitly spelling such things out.
[x] Explore the Dragonslayers' (maybe?) base
-[X] Call Tim and ask if he wants to come, snap decision. He might be a decent option for a second opinion on the spoils of war. Even if he doesn't, he's the designated research guy on those once we bring it back.
-[X] Do a scan to see who the mage is among them as well as seeing if there is still any working piece of equipment on them you need to remove to make sure they don't have a way to escape.
-[X] Remove the Dragon Slayers from their power armor, and have them padded down and cuffed. Give a statement through Perfect storm as we travel to their base.
-[X] scan them for the mage and inform the prt that this one has parahuman abilities :>
Sorry, I just read the last couple posts, saw the current vote and what had been suggested in the "vote tally" and threw my two cents in. I haven't read the discussions yet. If I'm out of line, feel free to send me a PM and I'll just be quiet until I can keep up and be better informed again.
There was never any canon WoG on cauldron shard burnout, but it's suggested that the majority of them used normally would not see burnout within the lifetime of their host.
We've seen a total of two direct burnouts and one anticipated burnout:
-Eidolon - Power availability decreased with time. Is using really ridiculous amounts of power if his shard is really fueling the Endbringers
-Doormaker - Power worked with no sign of diminishment until Taylor
-Scion - According to him, his Path to Victory used in battle costs him a year of resources out of a predicted 300 year runtime, inclusive of blowing up the planet at the end for a recharge.
Overall it seems likely to me that most shards WOULD run out, Cauldron or not, because we know Scion himself has a 300 year battery life with objectively good configuration and avoiding wasteful powers.
Cauldron shards run out faster, then because of multiple factors, but not because they are dead:
-They are not configured to save power. They're at completely random power settings, and will not provide the right pushbacks against a host using them excessively.
-They are not granted specific energy supplies for independent operation. Normally a distributed shard should have enough power assigned for its projected operating time, but whether this is true for a Cauldron shard is largely random.
-There is also a partial WoG that shards do collect some solar energy, but that this energy is not going to be comparable to the costs of operations for most shards. Thus, self refueling is a factor, but not a decisive one.
Fanbase thing. In canon what was shown is that while Hayate has some significant achievements, she is struggling against major pushback from:
-Age - Most of the leadership are pretty old, visually 40s to 50s, and we see the senior staff goes even older(until the secret council, which are literally brains on life support). Hayate is young and so even a lot of the competent ones want her seasoned by time before giving her real power.
This is evidenced by her assignment to a mobile vessel commander in Force. This is a 'standard' way of putting her far away from the centers of political power while still technically a promotion and giving her experience for veterancy. Any fuckups while on remote deployment would fall on her head.
-Suspicion - She IS still fused with an apocalyptic Lost Logia, and while it's apparently under control...given the TSAB's duties, you can expect most of their senior ranks to have lost friends to those. By claiming legal responsibility for the Wolkenritter's activities, she simultaneously demonstrated responsibility, and also made her reputation intrinstically tied to the deadly superweapon.
This part is evidenced by her limiters requiring a two party key to temporarily lift at all, of which you need two factions to sign off on it. She got the Church and Navy signoff in Strikers...but while her ability usage was responsible, and justified an overall lightening of the limits, it also cast further suspicion, because both signoffs are by her personal friends. who didn't exactly take the time to consult with the rest of their faction due to the emergency.
-Branch rivalry - Linking back to the above, her connections and backing are problematic in a way that she probably didn't realize when she chose to join the Army over the Navy early on. Her backers are all Navy, and the departmental rivalry is FIERCE.
So overall, while she has a bright future ahead, I don't expect her to get to said future in the next 10 years. Climbing command track is HARD.
Though she does have enough levers that nobody actually wants to put her loyalty to the test outright.
- Location
- Earth: Universe Meta - 1
Yeah, because in general, it's a good idea to not poke the living WMD. Plus, anything strong enough to be a loyalty test would probably cause enough problems that her friends would go with her if she chose to leave.
In a worst case scenario, she either becomes hostile or they refuse to let her leave without placing additional restrictions on her. At that point, she has enough friends to bypass the two person restriction, and would wreck things. She'd then immediately work on removing the restrictions on herself. That's excluding the damage Nanoha would do.
I've think that Hayete didn't have as much of a choice in joining the military as some people think. I mean, she'd be ok with the decision since she's all about helping people. However, I don't think the TSAB would have let her go free with that much power. We know from As that serving in the military counts in lieu of probation or prison...
The problem is the Anime at least is pretty black and white. There's never a "good guy" that isn't either working for the TSAB, or working with them. Nanoha wasn't a member of the TSAB until Striker S. However, she's all but deputized in the first two seasons.
Everything about how the TSAB will react to Perfect Storm is speculation on my part. Because, everyone in the show but the bad guys goes along with whatever the TSAB says.
A Wise Hermit
Well, Sometimes.
Basically, best rank Hayate can get so far after 81 is Commodore, or if you really want to stretch this, Rear Admiral, and both are still unlikely because unless this police\militray's promotion criteria are different, It's given through leadership and experience. Not only that, but we won't ((not talking to you directly here)) change that since the Inactivated Section 6 already has too many Top tier aces, and if they have even more HIGHCOM and the public would freak out at the purpose of a division that's basically the strength of a large solar empire. Best position we can get is in the navy, but that's it, unless something changes from show canon and they get a man down or something.
Or of course, we could just stay in Earth Bet as a diplomat/ambassador of sorts, But that's even more unreasonable than Hayate making fleet admiral in the next decade. I would say that after we defeat the endbringers that's more of an endgame/time skip (if there is one) goal.
Chances are that they would either use It's mage making abilities to either make a counter-task force that would against the Heroes if they go rogue or more reasonably just lock us down hard. I mean, if the heroes did theoretically did go rogue, HIGHCOM would want a counter task force to combat them. I'm not saying that they will go rogue, but chances are that someone in HIGHCOM is paranoid about them rebelling. It's against their character, but in politics, you need to make sure that your opponents can't make any moves further down the line. This goes back to the first point, Unless HIGHCOM is forced to promote Hayate, they will be hesitant because to them she's already a threat to their power as she is. It has been shown that the rest of TSAB is afraid of her metaphorical Nuclear Battalion, And if she gets promoted she could get legally get more Nuclear Infantry anyone over double A, and if we are really trusted (and restricted/limited via HIGHCOM key-turns, and of course, highly trained, they wouldn't hire a recruit like us), us. The purpose of her battalion is to counter high-level Logias and high-value Counter-Terrorism, and if HIGHCOM allows her she could get more subordinates because that nifty promotion comes with more personnel, or in this case, a ship. That's not to say everyone else would protest, though.
That power is what would drive HIGHCOM to make Anti-Ace force in the first place. Of course, that could backfire by said Anti-Ace force being 'befriended' and joining the Ace Force...
In theory, Hayate's unit is a Magical\Metaphorically Nuclear GIGN for the TSAB.
Now, I do know that Riot 6 is deactivated, but who's to say that HIGHCOM couldn't reactivate the Battalion at a drop of a hat if the need really calls for it, SDS 6 shows that. Chances are that one of the reasons they were inactivated is because of that fear, and I bet 1 cent that in canon after SDS 6 beats the eclipse incident they would be immediately deactivated and split up again.
If this is wrong, I'm just gonna chalk it up to the TSAB having higher morals than those puny impure earthlings and that nobody would ever be afraid or turn on each other!
Besides, It's a magical girl\psuedo-mecha franchise, why would there be Logic and Protocols involved?
After this, I'll stop and look at the TSAB normally, Ok?
@UberJJK
Interesting, Could they be killed by teleporting them and locking them down/sealing them into, say, dark space and eventually starved out over decades?
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Joining the Army was in reference to Fate's choice to join the Navy and Nanoha's choice to join the Air Force. She joined the most politically heavy part of the military close to the center of government, but which ALSO has a lot of the low power mages who can't fly.
For the Air Force, the Aces are something to aspire to, anyone in the air force is at minimum a B rank linker core, equipment light and so there's a certain elitism of flyboys.
For the Navy, they operate far from home, with minimal support. Personal Power is optional, but elite and broad based skills are essential.
For the Army, I leave what their attitude is towards the super high power aces as an institution to the imagination when a big beef is that the other two branches take all the cool kids.
Not really. These are interstellar multidimensional lifeforms. As in, portals occupy similar roles in their biology as major veins, and in hibernation mode they can last for the impossibly long interstellar journeys without burning a lot of energy.
Jail did not kill the Three Admirals. He killed the High Council who were basically brains in jars. The Three Legendary Admirals still had their bodies and at least one of them was aboard the Chrono's ship during the attack on the Cradle.
LancerisDead
Definitely not a cat
- Location
- Buenos Aires
I'm sorry, but what's the point on all this? It's almost entirely speculation that even goes against what's shown on canon.
As it is, it only works to fuel paranoia and misinformation, since you are predicting all of this from nowhere.
Meltdown 7.4
Silently Watches
Professional Stalker
- Location
- Right behind you
[] Explore the Dragonslayers' (maybe?) base
Meltdown 7.4
It doesn't take you long to come to a decision. Debriefing to the PRT, while a necessity, is just so boring most of the time. If Samantha is willing to take on that burden, you will gladly let her, and you might even consider it repayment for setting up that disastrous confrontation with your dad on Friday.
Hopping up to a rooftop, you hold your staff up in victory. Which it totally is; you took out the Dragonslayers singlehandedly and are headed over to break their stuff. You just guaranteed Dragon will never have to worry about them hacking her ever again. "Storm, put in the coordinates." The Device chimes. "Spatial Translocation, activate."
The light fades away, and you blink a couple of times as your mask adjusts to the dim light within the base. You suppose it's a good thing the Dragonslayers care enough about the environment to turn the lights off when they leave, but that being said, villains really need to learn to be more courteous to heroes who come to raid their lairs!
You snicker at that thought, still giddy from your success, and start investigating. Closest to you is a set of frames, seven in total, and in four of them are different suits of hulking power armor. Obviously the Dragonslayers' suits, with the missing three being those the villains were wearing. Farther in that direction is a large shadow that resolves into the Sybaris as you move closer. What is left of the Sybaris would be the more appropriate description, unfortunately. The rotors have already been ripped off, and a pyramid of cylinders sitting on the floor must be the suit's drones. Were they taking it apart to build a new suit, or to take pieces to patch up those they already use? There is no way to tell.
Nothing you can do about that right now. Shaking your head, you walk deeper into the room and through a door to find what is either the most geeked-out gaming rig of all time or the computer system Saint used to keep track of Dragon. Six screens face one of those expensive ergonomic chairs that has been revamped and set into a moving track. There are not one or two but three different keyboards on the desk, as well as two unadorned sheets of either aluminum or plastic below the desk itself. Somehow, you don't think these are simple footrests, but what they are you haven't a clue.
So you bend down and poke one.
Your calculated risk pays off as the screens come back to life. As complicated as this setup is, you doubt Saint is stupid enough to have something dangerous at his feet where he could kick it accidentally. The four screens on the outside show different videos, camera feeds you guess, and most of them feature capes dying in gruesome manners or the thirty-some-foot-tall humanoid known as Behemoth. Watching the Endbringer wave his arm and flash-fry a group of fliers with a wave of lightning, you shudder. Not going to this fight was definitely the better choice from a self-preservation perspective. A few of the videos drop out to be replaced with code similar to the lines and lines of text that are scrolling down the two middle screens. You took computer classes at Winslow and now at Winterrose, but this? This is so advanced that you wouldn't know where to start interpreting it.
Did Saint truly understand what he was looking at?
There isn't a mouse anywhere you can see, and you examine the foot stands again. Trackpads, maybe? As cautiously as you can, you slide the toe of your boot over the surface of one of them. You expect a cursor to pop up, but instead several of the screens move around and change views. You aren't sure what you just did, and you would rather not play around with this setup anymore. A single Flare Shooter bullet forms in you hand, but you hesitate when its light shows multiple boxes hooked up to the cluster of CPUs and open motherboards wired together behind the screens. You originally planned to destroy the Dragonslayers' computer system, but now you aren't so sure if that's the best idea right now. This is all firmly beyond your understanding. Perhaps you had better let Tim and Dragon examine it first.
Not to mention, the Dragonslayers somehow managed to hack Dragon for years without her knowing it. If she can see how they accomplished that, she can patch whatever holes in her defenses they been exploiting and keep this from ever happening again.
"Storm, keep track of these coordinates. I think we'll be coming back sometime in the very near future."
«Mistress? Miss Militia contacting you.»
You pause in the petting of your Guardian Beast and look down at the jewel hanging around your neck. "Miss Militia? Why?" Not that you mind her calling you. Even on a normal day, when she calls it is important, and this is not a normal day. It is unlikely in the extreme that the PRT would bother someone in the middle of an Endbringer fight for anything mundane. Even the most important news could wait until the heroes were no longer in a life-or-death fight against a malevolent force of nature.
Whatever it is, it is better than watching the clock and waiting for the fight to be over. Which you definitely have not been doing.
Perfect Storm apparently decides to connect you in lieu of answering an unanswerable question. «Calamity? It's Miss Militia.»
"Hey, what's—"
«We don't have time to talk. You need to come to Penn Presbyterian immediately. We'll be waiting for you in the ICU.
«Captain is in critical condition.»
You barely remember the flight to the hospital. As soon as you arrive on the roof, Samantha pulls you to a stop. "Stay behind me. We need to walk through the hospital to get to the fourth floor, and we can't do that in costume. Well, shouldn't. I'll go first since no one should recognize me immediately"—She waves at the long skirt hiding her tail and the hat covering her ears—"and when we get close, you can duck out somewhere and transform. I'll cover for you until then."
You want to argue against all this cloak and dagger nonsense, but you force the words back down your throat. Arguing will just take more time.
Dropping down from the rooftop, you quickly transform back to civilian clothes and follow a dozen steps behind your Guardian Beast. Conveniently, you can split up at the elevators to make it look less likely that you are together. How many people will actually care? None. But like you vaguely recall Samantha saying on the way over, you can't do anything yourself to help your dad. Leave that to the doctors. You need to make sure you and he still have secret identities when he gets better.
Because he will get better. He has to.
Once the sign for the neurologic ICU comes into sight, Samantha discreetly points at a nearby ladies' room. A detour, a flash of light, and you're storming out of the bathroom and into the private family room where Miss Militia and Chevalier are waiting. "What happened?" you demand.
"It seems the Ukrainians were working on an anti-Endbringer weapon," explains Chevalier, taking a step closer and crossing his arms behind him. "That is likely why Behemoth targeted Kharkiv in the first place. They had a cannon firing phase-shifted shells that seemed to be able to penetrate Behemoth's skin. After the first few, he began deflecting them as best he could. We believe they were actually causing damage to him."
"And? My— Captain should have been in the command center, not on the front lines!"
"He wasn't," Miss Militia says quietly. "Behemoth was flinging the shells that far. He might have been aiming at the city with that one instead, we can't say. Either way, that's where it landed."
"Is…" You shake your head. "How badly is he hurt?"
"The healers' tent was undamaged, thank goodness, so they fixed most of his physical injuries. The problem is that none of them can heal the brain."
Samantha reaches over and pulls your closer at Miss Militia's words. You force yourself to ask, "What's wrong with his brain?"
Instead of answering, she sighs and waves for you to follow. Your father's room is right next to the door, and some incomprehensible sound escapes you when you see him hooked up to a ventilator and IV bags and pumps. A domino mask sits on his face, the sole nod to the rule of identities.
"Panacea couldn't do anything for the swelling that developed after the explosion, nor could anyone else there. He and the other Thinkers they could save are in hospitals throughout the country. Very few healers can affect the brain, and the few who possibly could by and large refuse to do so for ethical reasons." She waves at the room. "We need to trust good, old-fashioned medicine for this."
"What are his chances?" Samantha whispers.
With visible hesitation, Miss Militia shrugs. "The doctors said it was too early to tell. Some people wake up and recover, even with this degree of brain trauma. Some… don't."
Leaving the woman behind, you slowly walk into the room and wrap your hand around his. Only one person could possibly see your tears, and he is incapable of doing so.
It turns out Penn Presbyterian actually has a dedicated neurotrauma ICU, and they've had a general neuro ICU since early 2011 at least. Pretty convenient for my needs, and something to keep in mind if you ever get a serious brain injury in Philadelphia.
I think that should do it for this arc. Interlude next week, and then the AAR. Arc 8 should be on time since I've mostly planned that out, and Arc 9… isn't completely blank? If you haven't guessed, I have only the vaguest long-term plot for this, though I think we're somewhere around the halfway-ish mark. Or we will be sometime next arc. Maybe.
Anyway, schooling time. For fighting the Dragonslayers, you get one spell. Pick it, vote it, no moratorium.
Meltdown 7.4
It doesn't take you long to come to a decision. Debriefing to the PRT, while a necessity, is just so boring most of the time. If Samantha is willing to take on that burden, you will gladly let her, and you might even consider it repayment for setting up that disastrous confrontation with your dad on Friday.
Hopping up to a rooftop, you hold your staff up in victory. Which it totally is; you took out the Dragonslayers singlehandedly and are headed over to break their stuff. You just guaranteed Dragon will never have to worry about them hacking her ever again. "Storm, put in the coordinates." The Device chimes. "Spatial Translocation, activate."
The light fades away, and you blink a couple of times as your mask adjusts to the dim light within the base. You suppose it's a good thing the Dragonslayers care enough about the environment to turn the lights off when they leave, but that being said, villains really need to learn to be more courteous to heroes who come to raid their lairs!
You snicker at that thought, still giddy from your success, and start investigating. Closest to you is a set of frames, seven in total, and in four of them are different suits of hulking power armor. Obviously the Dragonslayers' suits, with the missing three being those the villains were wearing. Farther in that direction is a large shadow that resolves into the Sybaris as you move closer. What is left of the Sybaris would be the more appropriate description, unfortunately. The rotors have already been ripped off, and a pyramid of cylinders sitting on the floor must be the suit's drones. Were they taking it apart to build a new suit, or to take pieces to patch up those they already use? There is no way to tell.
Nothing you can do about that right now. Shaking your head, you walk deeper into the room and through a door to find what is either the most geeked-out gaming rig of all time or the computer system Saint used to keep track of Dragon. Six screens face one of those expensive ergonomic chairs that has been revamped and set into a moving track. There are not one or two but three different keyboards on the desk, as well as two unadorned sheets of either aluminum or plastic below the desk itself. Somehow, you don't think these are simple footrests, but what they are you haven't a clue.
So you bend down and poke one.
Your calculated risk pays off as the screens come back to life. As complicated as this setup is, you doubt Saint is stupid enough to have something dangerous at his feet where he could kick it accidentally. The four screens on the outside show different videos, camera feeds you guess, and most of them feature capes dying in gruesome manners or the thirty-some-foot-tall humanoid known as Behemoth. Watching the Endbringer wave his arm and flash-fry a group of fliers with a wave of lightning, you shudder. Not going to this fight was definitely the better choice from a self-preservation perspective. A few of the videos drop out to be replaced with code similar to the lines and lines of text that are scrolling down the two middle screens. You took computer classes at Winslow and now at Winterrose, but this? This is so advanced that you wouldn't know where to start interpreting it.
Did Saint truly understand what he was looking at?
There isn't a mouse anywhere you can see, and you examine the foot stands again. Trackpads, maybe? As cautiously as you can, you slide the toe of your boot over the surface of one of them. You expect a cursor to pop up, but instead several of the screens move around and change views. You aren't sure what you just did, and you would rather not play around with this setup anymore. A single Flare Shooter bullet forms in you hand, but you hesitate when its light shows multiple boxes hooked up to the cluster of CPUs and open motherboards wired together behind the screens. You originally planned to destroy the Dragonslayers' computer system, but now you aren't so sure if that's the best idea right now. This is all firmly beyond your understanding. Perhaps you had better let Tim and Dragon examine it first.
Not to mention, the Dragonslayers somehow managed to hack Dragon for years without her knowing it. If she can see how they accomplished that, she can patch whatever holes in her defenses they been exploiting and keep this from ever happening again.
"Storm, keep track of these coordinates. I think we'll be coming back sometime in the very near future."
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
«Mistress? Miss Militia contacting you.»
You pause in the petting of your Guardian Beast and look down at the jewel hanging around your neck. "Miss Militia? Why?" Not that you mind her calling you. Even on a normal day, when she calls it is important, and this is not a normal day. It is unlikely in the extreme that the PRT would bother someone in the middle of an Endbringer fight for anything mundane. Even the most important news could wait until the heroes were no longer in a life-or-death fight against a malevolent force of nature.
Whatever it is, it is better than watching the clock and waiting for the fight to be over. Which you definitely have not been doing.
Perfect Storm apparently decides to connect you in lieu of answering an unanswerable question. «Calamity? It's Miss Militia.»
"Hey, what's—"
«We don't have time to talk. You need to come to Penn Presbyterian immediately. We'll be waiting for you in the ICU.
«Captain is in critical condition.»
You barely remember the flight to the hospital. As soon as you arrive on the roof, Samantha pulls you to a stop. "Stay behind me. We need to walk through the hospital to get to the fourth floor, and we can't do that in costume. Well, shouldn't. I'll go first since no one should recognize me immediately"—She waves at the long skirt hiding her tail and the hat covering her ears—"and when we get close, you can duck out somewhere and transform. I'll cover for you until then."
You want to argue against all this cloak and dagger nonsense, but you force the words back down your throat. Arguing will just take more time.
Dropping down from the rooftop, you quickly transform back to civilian clothes and follow a dozen steps behind your Guardian Beast. Conveniently, you can split up at the elevators to make it look less likely that you are together. How many people will actually care? None. But like you vaguely recall Samantha saying on the way over, you can't do anything yourself to help your dad. Leave that to the doctors. You need to make sure you and he still have secret identities when he gets better.
Because he will get better. He has to.
Once the sign for the neurologic ICU comes into sight, Samantha discreetly points at a nearby ladies' room. A detour, a flash of light, and you're storming out of the bathroom and into the private family room where Miss Militia and Chevalier are waiting. "What happened?" you demand.
"It seems the Ukrainians were working on an anti-Endbringer weapon," explains Chevalier, taking a step closer and crossing his arms behind him. "That is likely why Behemoth targeted Kharkiv in the first place. They had a cannon firing phase-shifted shells that seemed to be able to penetrate Behemoth's skin. After the first few, he began deflecting them as best he could. We believe they were actually causing damage to him."
"And? My— Captain should have been in the command center, not on the front lines!"
"He wasn't," Miss Militia says quietly. "Behemoth was flinging the shells that far. He might have been aiming at the city with that one instead, we can't say. Either way, that's where it landed."
"Is…" You shake your head. "How badly is he hurt?"
"The healers' tent was undamaged, thank goodness, so they fixed most of his physical injuries. The problem is that none of them can heal the brain."
Samantha reaches over and pulls your closer at Miss Militia's words. You force yourself to ask, "What's wrong with his brain?"
Instead of answering, she sighs and waves for you to follow. Your father's room is right next to the door, and some incomprehensible sound escapes you when you see him hooked up to a ventilator and IV bags and pumps. A domino mask sits on his face, the sole nod to the rule of identities.
"Panacea couldn't do anything for the swelling that developed after the explosion, nor could anyone else there. He and the other Thinkers they could save are in hospitals throughout the country. Very few healers can affect the brain, and the few who possibly could by and large refuse to do so for ethical reasons." She waves at the room. "We need to trust good, old-fashioned medicine for this."
"What are his chances?" Samantha whispers.
With visible hesitation, Miss Militia shrugs. "The doctors said it was too early to tell. Some people wake up and recover, even with this degree of brain trauma. Some… don't."
Leaving the woman behind, you slowly walk into the room and wrap your hand around his. Only one person could possibly see your tears, and he is incapable of doing so.
It turns out Penn Presbyterian actually has a dedicated neurotrauma ICU, and they've had a general neuro ICU since early 2011 at least. Pretty convenient for my needs, and something to keep in mind if you ever get a serious brain injury in Philadelphia.
I think that should do it for this arc. Interlude next week, and then the AAR. Arc 8 should be on time since I've mostly planned that out, and Arc 9… isn't completely blank? If you haven't guessed, I have only the vaguest long-term plot for this, though I think we're somewhere around the halfway-ish mark. Or we will be sometime next arc. Maybe.
Anyway, schooling time. For fighting the Dragonslayers, you get one spell. Pick it, vote it, no moratorium.
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ReaperofInterest
Herald of Disaster
Oh...oh dear. This isn't good.
[X] Learn Burst
It's a useful upgrade to our Shooters, and we're certain that there are not any spells behind it, so we're also finishing off two skill branches.
[X] Learn Burst
It's a useful upgrade to our Shooters, and we're certain that there are not any spells behind it, so we're also finishing off two skill branches.
- Location
- Florida
That's definitely one way to resolve the difference in opinion on how to deal with an interdimensional task force coming to your planet.
or we can grab the ever so useful skill we keep putting off forever like say... Bind
[X] Learn Ring Bind
[X] Learn Ring Bind
globalwarmth
ruining the weather.
- Location
- Polar ice caps
remember that?
yeah...
Not a chance, Taylor.
*notes type of ICU*
Uh oh. Potentially better than dead!Danny, but also very likely not. Still, a workable way of fudging the terrible rolls to not kill Danny but still remove him from the plot indefinitely.
Good update.
And what could we have done to prevent the Ukranians from using those Phase Shift munitions that ended up causing this? Nothing at all really.
Spell:
[X] Learn Ring Bind
globalwarmth
ruining the weather.
- Location
- Polar ice caps
she can shield and shoot magic, teleport too. you tell me.
You want to bank on a shield stopping tinkertech Phase Shift munitions/their explosions? Rather foolish imo.
- Location
- Britain
Burst and Ring Bind are certainly good options, but both are pre-set things that have a specific use in a specific scenario - Burst is more firepower in combat, and that is most certainly something we are not lacking in, whereas Ring Bind is a single target root, which can be used for non-lethal aprehension without the need for things like cable ties or handcuffs (speaking of, we need to purchase many of the former - a bundle of 100 reusables is like $14 on Amazon). Telekinesis, on the other hand, can be used for combat, crowd control and non-lethal aprehension, whilst also having loads of niche uses which we could develop specific spells for - ranged cutting blades, neural lockdown, paralysis, shoves, pulls, and so on. Therefore, that's where my vote goes.
Vote changed due to functional explanation of Telekinesis and a very valid point brought up:
Vote changed due to functional explanation of Telekinesis and a very valid point brought up:
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globalwarmth
ruining the weather.
- Location
- Polar ice caps
hey this magic has its own dimensional shenanigans.
Besides I was banking on having either sam or Taylor there to teleport people out of the way.
RoninSword
Sky God
- Location
- Canada
I thought one of the rolls was TSAB showing up during Behemoth fight? Did I just mis-read things?