Magical Girl Escalation Taylor (Worm/Nanoha)

[ReaperofInterest]

So the Dragonslayers have magic now? Just great. As if they weren't enough of a pain in the ass. What I have to wonder though, is how did they figure it out?

Anyway, for the spell, I'm thinking Burst to finish two skill trees off, and to upgrade our shooter spells.

For actions, I'm thinking we take the Secret Santa and Abandonment Issues actions. The first lets us get back to the Adepts, and they'll probably appreciate that we remembered them. The second lets us deal with Vista. In addition, neither of them seems like they'll require combat, so we can stock up on Cartridges for the future.

 

[Jetsmillion]

Well, I definitely think we should meet with Vista right away, what I'm not sure is the second time slot.

Should we offer to take Vista on a vacation, or should we check up on Dragon after Saints attack, or Should we offer to use Wide Area Search and act as Command and Control for the attack on Typhon?

Edit: As for spells, I'm thinking Frost Beam. It would be useful, plus I'm curious about the spell it would unlock

 

[kokuenDG]

Well I figure that was a net success.

We got the tech out of the Dragonslayer's hands, figured out that one of the mercenaries have magic potential, and discovered that Dragon's an AI. Once we get the opportunity we can probably have Tim try to whip something up to help her out.

Though I do wonder if he figures that they have a backdoor to Dragon's systems. Prolly does since he made the assumption that they know of her restrictions.

But yeah, definitely happy with the turnout.

 

[MobiusC]

For actions, I'm thinking we take the Secret Santa and Abandonment Issues actions. The first lets us get back to the Adepts, and they'll probably appreciate that we remembered them. The second lets us deal with Vista. In addition, neither of them seems like they'll require combat, so we can stock up on Cartridges for the future.

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We also need to talk to Danny about the TSAB and aliens and stuff.

 

[RoninSword]

So the Dragonslayers have magic now? Just great. As if they weren't enough of a pain in the ass. What I have to wonder though, is how did they figure it out?

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We sent Dragon code for some spells, and she was unable to figure it out because it requires human intuition. Saint has a tendency to watch everything Dragon does, so he records the data about spell code, and they start to work on it.

Edit: So long as the Dragonslayers didn't make off with any magic tech.

I also want to laugh at them for still freaking out over AI's, when they would have watched through Dragon us all taking to TSAB, and the fact that AI as Devices are common in their society.

 

[Mulisa]

Just a hypothetical question. How bad would the authorities see it if we were to kill the Dragonslayers for being pests.

 

[ShadowAngelBeta]

Just a hypothetical question. How bad would the authorities see it if we were to kill the Dragonslayers for being pests.

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I'm inclined to do it anyway. Especially when the TSAB show up and we go "Yeah, they hacked an AI that's the worlds greatest Tinker we have right now."

The implications for their Devices? They can't leave that to chance if they're going to be busy fighting other more dangerous threats. Maybe they won't kill them, but the Hammer needs to drop on them hard.

 

[landcollector]

«You'll understand if you ever learn how to make a Guardian Beast,» you tell him. "Get a move on, Sam. The more time we waste arguing, the bigger the chance we will lose everything we came here for."
«Directive from Mistress. Obey.»
The raccoon-woman grits her sharp teeth, swayed by your logic but clearly not happy about it. "Shipwright. Come on."

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My my, some interesting text there.

Your bullets hit a barrier and pop.

You stare at the Dragonslayer, cold fear dripping down your back. A circle of electric blue script stands between you and him, a pentagram in the middle. The shape is different, but the shape of the characters is achingly familiar. You see them every time you deploy your casting triangle.

Dragon fires energy bolts at the Dragonslayer, but he catches them on his Strong Shield.

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...Son of a bitch. How?

Tim only figured out Dragon's true nature because you've already started down the Device skill branch. Congrats on that!

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Still seemed a little too quick imo, but oh well.

you get a beautiful top-down view of your patch of the see before the image tilts to give the region the illusion of depth.

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Minor typo here, should be "sea".

We sent Dragon code for some spells, and she was unable to figure it out because it requires human intuition. Saint has a tendency to watch everything Dragon does, so he records the data about spell code, and they start to work on it.

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That still doesn't explain how they can cast such a spell without a Device, and just so happen to have a strong mage in their little group of 3. =\

As for activities, I'm thinking Abandonemnt Issues (because we seemed to have err'd in our approach to Vista and it's time to face the music) and Back in the Saddle. For the latter, I both wonder and dread how that situation's developed in the past week.

 

[LancerisDead]

Sooo... that actually went pretty well, all things considered. We accomplished all our goals and acquired all the information we could, even that Saint has somehow gotten access to a mage and device of their own, because there's no way a lone mage could cast a shield that could stand to that level of firepower; they either have a mage with a stupidly strong Linker Core among them, Saint got the inspiration from our talks with Dragon or a combination of both.

Actually, make that both of them, it sounds like what the QM would do.

On that matter, can I ask as to the meaning of those dice rolls @Silently Watches? Just to put things in context.

On spells, we should go with Blitz Action. Next endbringer is most likely Leviathan, maybe Behemoth; being able to get out of dodge and flash move through the battlefield could make the difference to getting bisected by the water echo or getting caught in the kill area, Flare conversion be damned.

Actually, the QM said that making a Guardian Beast for Tim would not take an action time slot, could we preemptively buy the action in the case of a Endbringer interrupt?

We definitely need to take the Vista action but, and that's a big but, we should really watch how we do it and what we say. I propose:

1. We unmask. This is a must; we were all but involved in her losing her civilian identity, even if we aren't guilty of it.
2. Make it a point of it being a civilian meeting; no burning stuff, no gangs, no distorting space.
3. Ask her if there's any place she'd like to go; make it a point that we can go anywhere she wants, and if she wants to go somewhere that's ruined on Bet or is concerned of being bothered while in civilian suggest going to Aleph. (Actually if any americans can mention any good places to relax that'd be good).
4. For the love of the Hades and Vivio, don't mention the arm. Contact Dragon and ask her if she can do a favor for us; she got Armsmaster prosthetics in canon, it shouldn't be too hard to scrounge something up. Hell, with her recent conversations with Tim she may be able to readapt at least the frame of the arm we already have.
5. In case Dragon can't/doesn't want to do it, DON'T MENTION THE GODDAMN ARM.
6. Bring Sam along? Maybe? I mean, Missy seems at least fond of the racoon.

The other vote could go either way. I'd say we go with either Back in the Saddle or Hanging Out with Perfect Storm because:

You are the heir to Calamity Witch, one of Galea's strongest bombardment mages. It's going to take more than a basic shield to beat you.

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It's high time we had a talk.

 

[steamrick]

Nearly forty miniaturized suns fly out with screams of hate while you track their progress. They split, ten each heading for Saint and the villain who is even now still hiding in the back. The rest all slam into the actinic Strong Shield, and you can't hold back your victorious snarl when the shield cracks under the onslaught.

You are the heir to Calamity Witch, one of Galea's strongest bombardment mages. It's going to take more than a basic shield to beat you.

Dragon's avatar watches you with a wary expression when the bullets reach Saint and the other guy's suits, but she keeps shooting her energy pulses at them nonetheless. You would think she would be a little happier that you're melting their armor off them. Orange light bursts above their mage, and then Samantha drops onto his back and starts wrestling in mid-air. How did she even know where to go?!

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I don't get this part.

How did this happen and still leave the Dragonslayers in good enough condition to be capable of making a retreat? Their flight systems should be molten sludge.

 

[Silently Watches]

Just a hypothetical question. How bad would the authorities see it if we were to kill the Dragonslayers for being pests.

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"…As for the killing of the mercenary group known as the Dragonslayers, we have little evidence that the American heroine Calamity Witch was involved as has been claimed. Testimony from our own beloved hero Dragon proves that she and Calamity Witch were involved in a long discussion when the event in question took place…"

That still doesn't explain how they can cast such a spell without a Device, and just so happen to have a strong mage in their little group of 3. =\

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*buffs nails* You don't need a Device to cast a spell, and Strong Shield/Round Shield are pretty basic as far as defensive spells go.

On that matter, can I ask as to the meaning of those dice rolls @Silently Watches? Just to put things in context.

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Just a simple comparison. If the Dragonslayers' number was bigger than yours, they would succeed in stealing the suit. If your number was bigger, they would fail. I didn't have anything specific in mind for crit-fails, but arrest or character death was not outside the realm of possibility.

I don't get this part.

How did this happen and still leave the Dragonslayers in good enough condition to be capable of making a retreat? Their flight systems should be molten sludge.

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Depends on where on their suits they were hit. Nanoha Shooter spells look to be somewhere between the size of an egg and a tennis ball. Mark ten such spots on a grown man's body – larger, even, since they're wearing an exosuit – and chances are quite high that you will miss a vital system.

 

[ShadowAngelBeta]

*buffs nails* You don't need a Device to cast a spell, and Strong Shield/Round Shield are pretty basic as far as defensive spells go

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Yuuno's a bit of a freak of nature if you're basing it off of him. The average mage, without a Device, is about comparable to him trying to cast a bullet spell, just actually able to make one kind of work as opposed to his that don't at all.

 

[Silently Watches]

Yuuno's a bit of a freak of nature if you're basing it off of him. The average mage, without a Device, is about comparable to him trying to cast a bullet spell, just actually able to make one kind of work as opposed to his that don't at all.

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Lindy can do it, too. I got the impression that casting sans Device is more inefficient and extremely limiting than anything else. Besides, this shouldn't be a surprise.

 

[Always Late]

«You'll understand if you ever learn how to make a Guardian Beast,» you tell him. "Get a move on, Sam. The more time we waste arguing, the bigger the chance we will lose everything we came here for."
«Directive from Mistress. Obey.»
The raccoon-woman grits her sharp teeth, swayed by your logic but clearly not happy about it. "Shipwright. Come on."

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Eh. Storm made Sam after Annette, of course he'd be able to do something similar.

Now the fun begins. You squeeze the trigger in your mind, and the revolver resting beneath Perfect Storm's head fires once, twice.

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Storm's part revolver?

The Dragonslayer with the chaff cannon drops from the sky in the path of the Rust Shooters. Fine. Not the one you wanted to take out first, but you'll take what you can get—

Your bullets hit a barrier and pop.

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*incoherent rage and exclamations of bullshittery*

You stare at the Dragonslayer, cold fear dripping down your back. A circle of electric blue script stands between you and him, a pentagram in the middle. The shape is different, but the shape of the characters is achingly familiar. You see them every time you deploy your casting triangle.

Dragon fires energy bolts at the Dragonslayer, but he catches them on his Strong Shield. The revolver chamber flips out and automatically switches out the spent shells for fresh one when your fear turns to burning rage. Epoch was one thing, but he only wanted to impress you. This criminal dares to use magic against you?!
"Did you just…? Belkan dogs! Watch how the world really ends! Ragnarök!"

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So we just channeled a bit of memory from when our original nuked a planet.

Dragon's avatar watches you with a wary expression when the bullets reach Saint and the other guy's suits, but she keeps shooting her energy pulses at them nonetheless. You would think she would be a little happier that you're melting their armor off them. Orange light bursts above their mage, and then Samantha drops onto his back and starts wrestling in mid-air. How did she even know where to go?!

«Samantha requested coordinates to location where her talents were best utilized.»

The dueling couple whirl around and around and around before they both flash white. One of them drops from the sky, and the man in armor looks down before flying over to help his teammate.

"Sam!" You can't feel the rail of the ship shatter against your legs thanks to the recent upgrades you worked into your Barrier Jacket, and then all you see is your Guardian Beast's body falling faster and faster. Bouncing off the ocean's surface and ignoring your rids' screech of pain, you race the spray to grab her. "Sam! Wake up!"

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Oh yeah. Reminds me of 20,000 leagues under the sea.

You cock your head. That doesn't look right. When facing a ranged fighter, there are two ways to go about it: avoid their attacks, either by dodging or by moving beyond their effective range, or get close enough that they are in more danger from your attacks than you are from theirs. The Sybaris is armored, so the second option should not work, but somehow it is. What's more, the Dragonslayers aren't attacking the unarmed sides as you would have expected. Instead Saint and the mage have taken up positions in front of the missile launchers. It would be insane were it not actually working. Dragon keeps trying to back away, but they move alongside her. The third villain is still hanging back and working on something you can't make out until it is too late.

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AAaaaaand they just got the hack off. Great.

. Dragon keeps trying to back away, but they move alongside her. The third villain is still hanging back and working on something you can't make out until it is too late.

The Sybaris drops like a rock for a moment before stabilizing, and then it turns to meekly follow them as they fly away. What the hell is Dragon doing?!

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Now Dragons going to wake up back in Canada and remember basically nothing of the trip.

Tim looks at both of your for a moment before blowing out a disgruntled puff of air. "They didn't hack Dragon's suit. They hacked Dragon herself. Some of the things she said while we were talking, some of the ways she approaches problems? I didn't think twice about it then, but I recognize them. They're similar to the logic algorithms Sextant uses. Far more complex, no question about that, but similar, and even more similar to what I've been reading about Intelligent Devices." You still have no clue where he's going with this, and he rolls his eyes. "I can't prove it, but I don't think Dragon is a shut-in or an insomniac or even a human at all.

"She's an artificial intelligence."

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So we now know tha.

Abandonment Issues – Vista has tried to be patient, but now she's just getting angry. You might need to meet with her sooner rather than later. Write-in for what to discuss/do.

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Well, I recall a rather good post on that course of action ear-

• For the love of the Hades and Vivio, don't mention the arm. Contact Dragon and ask her if she can do a favor for us; she got Armsmaster prosthetics in canon, it shouldn't be too hard to scrounge something up. Hell, with her recent conversations with Tim she may be able to readapt at least the frame of the arm we already have.

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• In case Dragon can't/doesn't want to do it, DON'T MENTION THE GODDAMN ARM.

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... seriously? We've gotten a 'go' in all but name from the QM on the subject, and you're still stuck on 'no arm'? What more could you possibly want?

 

[landcollector]

*buffs nails* You don't need a Device to cast a spell, and Strong Shield/Round Shield are pretty basic as far as defensive spells go.

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Fair enough, I guess. Still, a bit irritated that Saint and pals have the capability to sling around magic and we inadvertently gave them a(n unneeded) powerup. It seems like we're being punished deciding to give information about magic to an ally.

 

[Silently Watches]

Storm's part revolver?

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Oh, it'll work, all right. You slide your hands up Perfect Storm's shaft until they are near the cylindrical slide sitting beneath its head. "Ready for this?"

The Device makes no sound in response, but the slide slips back to reveal a revolver's chamber.

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.

Fair enough, I guess. Still, a bit irritated that Saint and pals have the capability to sling around magic and we inadvertently gave them a(n unneeded) powerup. It seems like we're being punished deciding to give information about magic to an ally.

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That was the risk of telling Dragon everything about magic. You remember the books on magic theory you sent her back in 4.9? That was not a throwaway line on my part.

 

[LancerisDead]

*buffs nails* You don't need a Device to cast a spell, and Strong Shield/Round Shield are pretty basic as far as defensive spells go.

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Yuuno's a bit of a freak of nature if you're basing it off of him. The average mage, without a Device, is about comparable to him trying to cast a bullet spell, just actually able to make one kind of work as opposed to his that don't at all.

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Actually it's been mentioned previously that a lone mage could cast a simple spell, which makes it even better that the Dragonslayers didn't get a device. If they managed to use it or discern enough to replicate it it could've been bad.

... seriously? We've gotten a 'go' in all but name from the QM on the subject, and you're still stuck on 'no arm'? What more could you possibly want?

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That the QM said that Vista would jump at the chance of getting an arm doesn't mean we should.
Look at it from Militia and the PRT's perspective: we approach a vulnerable teenager with the offer of giving her her arm back, without running it either by her legal guardian or supervisors. How would that look? It'd seem we are trying to indebt an unstable minor to get her on our side. For all they know, our tinkertech has side effects or master effects. And the maintenance? In their eyes that'd ensure that she now depends on us, unless she wants to go back to one arm.
It'd be as if we were exploiting her weaknesses to get her on our group, and from a meta standpoint we are.

I just don't think that giving her an arm the quick way or possibly poaching her is worth worsening the PRT's view of her even more or being that manipulative.

 

[Mulisa]

"…As for the killing of the mercenary group known as the Dragonslayers, we have little evidence that the American heroine Calamity Witch was involved as has been claimed. Testimony from our own beloved hero Dragon proves that she and Calamity Witch were involved in a long discussion when the event in question took place…".

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I suppose that settles it. Next time we see 'em, it's time to take the safeties off. Can't have a bunch of villains with magic.

 

[EmperorArthur]

Ok. I'm advocating for talking to Vista, and having Tim look at Dragon (in a farady cage). If we can't do anything about her restrictions, murdering Saint would solve the problem.

 

[RoninSword]

That the QM said that Vista would jump at the chance of getting an arm doesn't mean we should.
Look at it from Militia and the PRT's perspective: we approach a vulnerable teenager with the offer of giving her her arm back, without running it either by her legal guardian or supervisors. How would that look? It'd seem we are trying to indebt an unstable minor to get her on our side. For all they know, our tinkertech has side effects or master effects. And the maintenance? In their eyes that'd ensure that she now depends on us, unless she wants to go back to one arm.
It'd be as if we were exploiting her weaknesses to get her on our group, and from a meta standpoint we are.

I just don't think that giving her an arm the quick way or possibly poaching her is worth worsening the PRT's view of her even more or being that manipulative.

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Except the QM has also stated that so long as we do this without having been told no by the PRT already, and considering that they don't even know we have a tinker on the Privateers yet, they will likely just give a verbal warning. And we could just tell them that it needs less maintenance than other tinker-tech because that's just the way it is. Which is true.

 

[Jetsmillion]

If we did decide to give Vista the Arm this week, I assume it would require an extra time slot beyond the time limited visit with Vista.

 

[Always Late]

Look at it from Militia and the PRT's perspective: we approach a vulnerable teenager with the offer of giving her her arm back, without running it either by her legal guardian or supervisors. How would that look? It'd seem we are trying to indebt an unstable minor to get her on our side. For all they know, our tinkertech has side effects or master effects. And the maintenance? In their eyes that'd ensure that she now depends on us, unless she wants to go back to one arm.
It'd be as if we were exploiting her weaknesses to get her on our group, and from a meta standpoint we are.

I just don't think that giving her an arm the quick way or possibly poaching her is worth worsening the PRT's view of her even more or being that manipulative.

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Except the QM has also stated that so long as we do this without having been told no by the PRT already, and considering that they don't even know we have a tinker on the Privateers yet, they will likely just give a verbal warning. And we could just tell them that it needs less maintenance than other tinker-tech because that's just the way it is. Which is true.

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What RoninSword said. The PRT will just wag their fingers and grumble when Missy shows up with a Magitech arm. No side effects, no master effects, and no unstable energy sources/bombs.
Lancer, you need to chill.

 

[Nottheunmaker]

I don't really understand if we did well in the fight or not, but we mostly got what we wanted at the cost of Dragon's newest suit, so I'll call it and win a skip past it.

I know we're doing the Vista action and I'm fine with that, but it does mean we miss out on one of the quests we almost have complete. A shame, I'd have liked to do some recruiting. As it stands, we can't ignore Back in the Saddle, not unless we wanna come back from an Endbringer battle to a city under massive attack by sewer monsters.

For spells I say Blitz Action. Yeah we've got a teleport but it's not much good for combat maneuvers. It'd give us more of an edge in melee, which we'd be doing a lot of down in the muck and gimme.

 

[Trooper1023]

[] Abandonment Issues – Vista has tried to be patient, but now she's just getting angry. You might need to meet with her sooner rather than later. Write-in for what to discuss/do.
[] Witch on the Hunt – Find Saint. Divide his forces. Annihilate his resources. Free Dragon from the villain's clutches.

Yea, yea, I know its not in the list. Voting for it anyway!

the Hammer needs to drop on them hard.

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Yea, this.

 

[MobiusC]

[] Abandonment Issues
[] Hanging Out
-[] Bite the bullet, talk to Dad

We are still injured and we got people that need talking to, especially since the TSAB is gonna show very soon. I don't want to have them show up and then go 'surprise!' to Danny.