Under the Open Sky (CWMGQ Spinoff)

There are compelling reasons not to spend the night flying around exposed. Like how exhausted you'd become after hours of high-speed flight. Or minimizing the chances for the opposing forces to take another shot directly at you. Even from a fair distance you can keep a sharp watch for anything magical and get there in a blink.

You stake out a spot about 200 meters back from the front-most fieldworks. There's a decent-sized depression in the ground where you can lie down and send a bit of your Panoply over the lip to keep watching the intermittent battle.

And you watch as over a hundred lesser demons are unceremoniously gunned down, in three small waves, over the next twenty minutes.

Nothing in the sky.

Not a hint of magic worming along the ground.

Even the hovering lamps kept up their illumination without a flicker or errant wobble.

There was, in all likelihood, a small army of bloodthirsty demons waiting to charge. And you withstood their probing attacks with a sensation of increasing boredom.

You pulled out your Datamine and checked if there was a list of the other deployed hero units. Less than a dozen Practitioners and about three times that number in Brandcraft and Magic Binary support. For Magical Girls there was Team ICETHORN and Arc Mastermind.

You spoke only briefly to ICETHORN earlier, maybe they would like to chat? And you don't think you've spoken to Arc Mastermind at all.

Just as you started to run over in your head whether you should or shouldn't try to talk with someone you hear a message about you.

'-Has anyone seen Magical Girl Summit?'

'I'm waiting out of sight thirty-one meters west of where elves march back to the fort.' you transmit back.

'Good. She knows where she is. Has anyone else seen her?' the person reiterates.

A few 'no's are sent.

'Summit, this is Major Cash. If you would be so kind as to fly around our strong points at best speed it would be appreciated. Since Team ICETHORN stays out of sight I'd appreciate it if you let the fighting men and women see you for a bit.' he transmits, 'If this is going to be like Hero's Overlook I'd like you to show off a bit during the slog.'

'Won't that provoke an attack?' you reply.

'That's why we spent the afternoon setting up Brandcraft barriers and some Magic Binary beacons. If you stay near a strong point it's almost as safe as the big wall used to be.'

As if on cue a surface is suddenly highlighted in red as a field springs up and disperses a mass of directed magic. The glow fades leaving fractal patterns dancing in mid-air for a fraction of a second.

That was a fairly thorough demonstration. You would like to see where the creature that launched that effect was. There are more than a few spots where something could see the rocks used as fortifications and you wouldn't see them. Especially if the spell was aimed over the top.

You run over the event in your head. Something tried to manifest and the barrier sprang into existence all at once. With not a hint of what the effect was, where it came from, or where it intersected the defense. That was a bit irritating. You spare a moment to wonder if you could produce something that behaved that way with Brandcraft.

All the examples you've had the chance to look at were reinforcement for actual armor instead of a way to create a free-standing shield. That hasn't given you any clue as to what an unsupported field would be.

...And you guess it would be nice to hear what people have to say about you?

'I'll be around.' you send, 'I was planning on staying out of sight until my presence was required.'

Starting at the southwest strongpoint and heading north was as good a plan as any.
----

The first two strongpoints were simple. Introduce yourself, fly around a bit, and show off your abilities. Dozens of people gave you brief encouragement and took pictures.

You also take a look at the Brandcraft projectors being used.

Whoever designed these things must have been partway insane. The obelisks are just shy of a meter in height, four-sided, and have five mostly independent surfaces projected. Power is shared between them through a tricky two-way system and all five of the surfaces criss-cross over the whole obelisk with light interaction. You're pretty sure a computer either compressed or obfuscated the design.

When an offensive spell strikes one of the projected surfaces it gets caught by the surface and shunted into a ballooning section that has its energy tapped to sustain itself and the other surfaces. Thanks to the redundant surfaces it can handle a large number of attacks without failing. You think you could duplicate it, but there's some trickery with describing how the surface generates that you need to figure out before using it yourself -- both obelisks have identical runes.

It's at the third strongpoint you visit, the middle one, that you run into someone that recognized you without you needing to introduce yourself.

"Summit, I heard you were with Sergeant Cook when he died." a woman with dirty blond hair asks intensely.

The soldier you were demonstrating your Panoply's mimicking abilities to takes a last picture and ducks back.

"That's right." you answer.

"So what happened? He was a friend of mine and I'm tired of the whole died saving MGs story. Why is Lysander dead?"

"I-" your throat feels dry and your stomach sinks, "Cook saved me, but that didn't lead to him dying. I made a mistake fighting a Dark Magical Girl."

"Mistake…" she trails off and looks you over, "Great, my once in a lifetime chance to tell an MG off for fucking up and letting the most careful man I've known die. And you're already admitting it. Why are you fighting then?"

"To win. So that humanity isn't made to serve the callous whims of the Dark." you answer.

"And what do you know about the 'whims of the Dark? You've been living protected from any discomfort your whole life and paraded out to so you can pat yourself on the back for unearned power. As for 'winning': they have already won. This whole stupid war is about how the Dark wants everyone to live with the strong destroying the weak. Guess what, that's what is happening. We're arranging ourselves to be strong and destroy them instead of living as we wanted."

She lets out a long sigh, "Lysander used to tell me that the Counter Force was the refutation of that, strength protecting the weak. And now he's dead because it's the strong like you consuming those weaker so you can fight another day."

"So thank you for your 'service' Magical Girl, I'm sure this won't be the first time someone gets killed saving you. Lord knows I'm fighting this war out of spite, anything that makes more demon corpses counts as a win." She pauses before departing with a comment, "No speech about hope and love? Great, I just wanted to vent anyway."

You yell at her, "I spent years trapped by a horrible demon that amused itself with my suffering! I saw New York burn!"

She turns her head and retorts, "So? In the end it's the Molly Caynz and Lysander Cooks of the world that die there while you get rushed to safety. It's clear that your mistake didn't get you killed."

You grit your teeth and Shift to the next strongpoint. Hopefully something happens soon, you feel the urge to fight again.
----

A few minutes later you've visited the remaining two strongpoints. A small pack of demons runs into the teeth of machine-gun fire, but nothing substantial happens. You return to the bolt-hole you staked out earlier to wait.

After the better part of an hour you spot a patch of dark sky with magic behind it (Darkness). It's moving straight for the center strongpoint.

'I've spotted a flier. It's completely black and and has the Darkness Affinity.' you send.

'Just one?' Someone you haven't heard before transmits, 'Must be a scout. Keep your eyes on for if more appear.'

The flier doesn't deviate and soon dives to the middle position in the Counter Force's line.

'It's diving right for us. I'm going to intercept.' you transmit as you act.

With a bit of twisted space you're behind the stone cover and looking up as the dark figure descends. Even though it's gotten low enough that the lighting should be illuminating it the flier remains indistinct against the night sky.

"Flier!" you shout as you brace yourself to withstand it.

Then it suddenly pivots mid-dive to crash into the obelisk supporting the Brandcraft shields.

(Fists: 4000 Base Damage, No Dice, +2000 Ramming Speed! = 6000 Damage

Obelisk: 2000 Resilience, No Dice = 2000 Damage Reduction

4000 End Damage

Obelisk: 1000 - 4000 = -3000 Health)

A limb coated in shadows punches clean through the obelisk. Above you the area defined as protected flickers red and fades softly.



That can't be good. You have your Panoply configured to shoot the figure down before it's finished drawing its hand free.

(Panoply: 1040 Base Damage, +368 Dice, +208 Full Auto, +208 Full Auto, +208 Full Auto, +208 Full Auto, +208 Full Auto, +200 Light of Discovery = 2648 Damage
Panoply: 1040 Base Damage, +368 Dice, +208 Full Auto, +208 Full Auto, +208 Full Auto, +208 Full Auto, +208 Full Auto, +200 Light of Discovery = 2648 Damage
Panoply: 1040 Base Damage, +368 Dice, +208 Full Auto, +208 Full Auto, +208 Full Auto, +208 Full Auto, +208 Full Auto, +200 Light of Discovery = 2648 Damage

7944 Total Damage

Shadowy Figure: 6000 Resilience, No Dice, -600 Contemptuous Ease = 5400 Damage Reduction

2544 End Damage

Shadowy Figure: 15000 - 2544 = 12456 Health)

A tide of hundreds of orange shots fly out to strike the figure. It hardly seems to notice them as it snaps to full speed to prepare a strike against the machine gun locations. You accelerate after her to overtake and prevent her attack.

(Fists: Attack Negated by Inhuman Skill!)

A quick bout of aerial wrestling pushes it away from its intended target. It does a spin in mid-air to place its hands on either side of your head and start squeezing. You abandon your grip to shove her away by letting the Panoply it's gripping flow away from you.

With your weapon stretched like taffy you won't be able to draw it together before the figure gets another shot at you. It draws back a shadow covered fist and snaps to full speed to send you tumbling.

(Fists: 4000 Base Damage, No Dice, -200 Quick-n-Dirty = 3800 Damage

Magical Girl Summit: 640 Resilience, +346 Dice, +570 Reactive Field, +320 Faster Combatant, -100 Overextended, +400 Resistant to Darkness Effects = 2176 Damage Reduction

1624 End Damage
60% Ceaseless Warrior
650 Final End Damage

Magical Girl Summit 12200 - 650 = 11550 Health

+1 Stack of Ceaseless Warrior! (+1 APT Total))

As you are sent flying a stream of glowing shots emerge from a half-dozen flying spikes (Technology). The streams converge on the shadowy figure and stray shots sweep into the sky, covering the battlefield with harsh light.

'The shield is toast! Get out of there!'

(Arc Burst: 3000 Base Damage, +2294 Dice, +750 Danmaku, +750 Danmaku, +750 Danmaku, +750 Danmaku, +750 Danmaku, +750 Danmaku, +750 Danmaku, +750 Danmaku, +750 Danmaku, +750 Danmaku, +15142 Spell Boost, +75710 Dynamo Boost (5 Extra) = 103646 Damage

Shadowy Figure: 6000 Resilience, No Dice, +1500 DODGE!= 7400 Damage Reduction

96246 End Damage

Shadowy Figure: 12456 - 23536 = -83790 Health

I believe "toast" is an accurate description.)

When the waves of bullets stop the figure has been reduced to a number of dissolving chunks of shadow-stuff. No blood or other remains are evident, which is more than a little concerning.

There are more important things to consider. Like how the protection that was keeping everyone here alive now has an enormous hole punched into it. The world slows while you rack your memory of how the obelisk worked with where it had been broken. You think there are still two working fields if you can somehow redo the power distribution.

Everything is moving at a standstill as your mind races ever faster. You shift to the crippled obelisk and start scouring disabled runes to make space. Thankfully there's a bit of spare magic you can grab to support the replacement brands.

It's not enough, you can't recover enough power from the damaged parts to support a replacement of the power system. The field isn't springing back into existence either. You need more space for your ad-hoc repair or a lot more power to make it stick.

Your Panoply. That could give you more space for brands.

Five seconds and eight concentric layers of extra brands later the field reappears in a shower of green and red sparks. There is probably a more elegant way to do this since you ended up plugging your own magic to power it. As it is you're going to be stuck supporting it for a while until it's absorbed enough ambient magic to sustain itself.

"Um. What did you just do? You made a bunch or scraping noises and then ballooned out with a bunch of runic circles." asks a soldier from where he had ducked behind a pallet of metal boxes.

"I brute forced a repeating pattern to get the Brandcraft working again. How does this get enough power to start? It needs an absurd amount."

"There's a bunch of fairies that do it…" he trails off, "Uh, are you stuck there?"

"Yes." you make a quick guess in your head, "It shouldn't take more than an hour for me to finish charging the main array."

You take a second to start rearranging the parts of your Panoply that got smashed. Maybe you can make another array to speed things up when that part is smooth again.

(1 Self-Repair action: 11550 + 120 = 11670 Health)

All around you the soldiers stationed behind the makeshift fort start rising from where they had dived to cover when you began fighting. Above you the machine guns start firing in brief bursts at another string of sacrificial demons.

Then your supporting arrays, inscribed on your Panoply and glowing with your magic, explode one by one as an attack slams into the Brandcraft shield you've restored. It's more than your hastily-erected arrays can handle, but you replace the inactive power system with yourself as the rush of energy rises.

(Power Overload: 0 Base Damage, No Dice, +3333 Overload, +300 Direct Contact = 3633 Damage
Power Overload: 0 Base Damage, No Dice, +3333 Overload, +300 Direct Contact = 3633 Damage
Power Overload: 0 Base Damage, No Dice, +3333 Overload, +300 Direct Contact = 3633 Damage
Power Overload: 0 Base Damage, No Dice, +3333 Overload, +300 Direct Contact = 3633 Damage
Power Overload: 0 Base Damage, No Dice, +3333 Overload, +300 Direct Contact = 3633 Damage
Power Overload: 0 Base Damage, No Dice, +3333 Overload, +300 Direct Contact = 3633 Damage
Power Overload: 0 Base Damage, No Dice, +3333 Overload, +300 Direct Contact = 3633 Damage
Power Overload: 0 Base Damage, No Dice, +3333 Overload, +300 Direct Contact = 3633 Damage

29064 Total Damage

Magical Girl Summit: 640 Resilience, Dice Negated, Reactive Field Negated, -1000 Plugged in, +500 Discharging = 140 Damage Reduction

28924 End Damage
60% Ceaseless Warrior
11570 Final End Damage

Magical Girl Summit: 11670 - 11570 = 100 Health)

Energy overwhelms your senses. Every nerve starts screaming with sensations of heat, cold, impact, slicing, and itching. The world around you diminishes as your Panoply, the only thing you can see out of, is burned up by the power surging over it.

You're glowing. At the very least your eyes have begun to glow brightly enough that you've tried to squint them closed against the light. You can't stop now, if you can't push the power you've taken within yourself out you'll explode.

An agonizing few seconds later the glow fades and your nerves average out to numb. You notice that you've fallen on your face and can only see the rocks under your head. Almost every speck of your Panoply has been turned into useless black slag around you, there isn't enough left to see out of or use to support yourself.

From the corner of your eye you catch a tint of red light from above. You did it, the Brandcraft shield works now.

In retrospect you should have spared more thought that the strongpoint would be a target for artillery spells. It's hard to muster up the energy to feel foolish, the thought of closing your eyes and drifting off for a moment is quite tempting…

Flickers of light dance at the edges of your vision again. Followed by a sense of vertigo as you're lifted up with everything still numb.

(Vitality Surge - Magical Girl Summit: 100 + 3660 = 3760 Health)

It's Floral Glory. Her mouth moves but you can't make out what she's saying. Her eyes lock with yours and her entire face shifts.

"Stop almost dying!" you make out when she drags you closer and shouts.

That's nice to hear, you haven't gone deaf. And the numbness is fading to a pins-and-needles sensation. And itching, lots of itching.

Floral Glory pulls you into a hug and holds you with your feet dragging on the ground.

(Vitality Surge - Magical Girl Summit: 3760 + 3660 = 7420 Health)

"Are you going to put me down?" you croak out.

Floral Glory scowls, "No. You need a minder. I am going to haul you over to my secret base and you can just call out targets for Blue to shoot."

"...I think I know what I did wrong. Do you have any water?" you ask with a bit more steadiness.

"Harumph, of course I do. Hey! You hiding behind the metal boxes! Bring me some water bottles!"

(Vitality Surge - Magical Girl Summit: 7420 + 3660 = 11180 Health)

That's not an example of her having water. If anything that's just her shouting at people. And everything is starting to itch terribly -- almost everything, on further reflection it's just the part of you your bodysuit covers.

When you try to tilt your head to look Floral Glory holds you tighter.

"Hey! Keep being limp. If you move around before everything finishes growing back you might need surgery to fix everything. Just keep hanging there and don't try to move a muscle." she scolds.

Growing back? How badly had you gotten hurt? It was hard to tell with your Panoply being almost totally fried and everything going numb right after it started to hurt.

"How badly did I get hurt?" you ask.

"Bad. I'd judge you as being less than one percent alive, and I have a good eye for that."

"Because you have the Life Affinity?"

"Because I have Life as an Affinity."

Floral Glory shifts slightly while hugging you and you feel your bodysuit crack, giving relief from itching to a sliver of skin by your shoulders. Your outfit, or rather what's left of it, has melted onto you skin.

(Vitality Surge - Magical Girl Summit: 11180 + 3660 = 12200 Health)

"Ok. I think you're about done so you can move now. But don't get out of my sight." Floral Glory says before lifting you so your feet touch the ground.

You step back as the pair of you undock from one another. A fully-suited soldier's arm enters your field of vision and you stumble back before you realize that he was there before.

You dart your head around to take in your surroundings while twitching your itching legs to regain your balance. It had been too long since you've lived without your Panoply. Just like your therapist had warned you were starting to have problems acting without it.

"What happened?"

"Sorry. I didn't see him and I'm used to seeing things." you explain, "Thank you for the water."

"Hmm. You're cute when you aren't trying to be unflappable. Like a nervous kitten." Floral Glory offers.

You uncap and drink the offered bottle of water rather than respond. Cute is good, right? The sky above you flashes red as another spell is dispersed by the restored Brandcraft. When you drunk your fill you touch the remnant of your Panoply onto the water bottle and Fuse the bottle. Your Panoply grows rapidly from the extra matter and you express a couple of 'eyes' to hang on your shoulders.
"Let's go. There's a bonsai tree in that trench I used to get here and that's how I'll get back to my secret base." Floral Glory grabs your hand and tugs you along.

You note that Floral Glory has lilies winding around her sleeve's hem. When you reach the trench she puts an arm around your neck and touches her free hand to a potted tiny tree. With a swirl of green magic you're pulled with her into the plant.

And out of it under a canopy. Around you a projector displays a map of the battlefield on a sheet and gives some light, behind the projector a few cushions are set up on a smoothed rock floor and a larger potted tree next to those.

"Welcome to my secret base. It's much better than crawling around in the mud for hours. You can stick your face out the entrance," she points at a curtain of black velvet, still keeping an arm around you, "to watch the sky. And check the projector to keep tabs on what other people are spotting."

"Thank you." you work your way free from her arm.

You squeeze your arm with the other hand and watch it snap as the skin underneath flexs. This would be a good time to grab some material to replenish your Panoply and deal with the irritation of having your bodysuit stuck to you. A thought has your weapon scraping off the ruined outfit and Fusing the scraps of skin and material. It's nice to have a bit of privacy as you deal with this.

Floral Glory looked like she was going to say something, then went red and emitted a low hum.

You pause while stretching, "Were you trying to say something?"

"Uh. You look, healthy. Yeah, healthy." Floral Glory looks you up and down, growing ever redder.

Thankfully your Panoply hits a critical mass and accesses the greater part of matrial you've accumulated. With a flick you draw it over yourself and stretch it to form the bodysuit and labcoat that makes your Magical Girl outfit. Thus attired you snake a part of the Panoply out of the tent to watch the skies and settle onto one of the cushions.

"I'm glad I didn't have to strip in front of a bunch of people, that would have been embarrassing." you say to a slightly dazed Floral Glory.
----

Something Wicked This Way Comes (by plan, pick as many as you like. Most will give a battle event.)

[X] It's a boring night.
A few more shadowy figures show up and Summit has Arc Mastermind zap them. In combination with other options makes them happen all at once.

[X] Something's blasting the anti-air platforms to the north.
Enemy spellcasters and aerial units try to flank the new defenses.

[X] A huge rush of demons attacks all at once.
Clearly they haven't noticed Floral Glory… keep an eye out for sneaky things while the Elves mop up.

[X] Why is there a girl wandering in from the UD's lines?

[X] Dear God, what are those horrible flowing things? (PROBABLY CERTAIN DEATH)
[X] A Giant Fire Breathing Demon Crab approaches!
It's too big to fight normally, work with Arc Mastermind to cripple it before it does too much damage.
----

+50 EXP Fighting a lunatic's shadow…
+100 EXP Saved a position
+100 EXP Burned by magic overload
+4000 EXP No Odds Too Great (Special backdated EXP for Legend-Maker in over her head. Lost made one too many comments about how his MGs got a bunch of xp for "surviving crazy events" and I messed up the timeline a bit. Spend wisely…)

5 + 4250 = 4255 EXP

[X] EXP Plan?

(Pro-Tip: At level 20 Aegis Field and every 5 levels after that there's a "Formidable Defenses" upgrade available that improves Health per level, Resilience per level, and bonus Resilience percentage. This costs 210xp.)