Magical Girl Escalation Taylor (Worm/Nanoha)

Ohhhhh fuck. Fuckfuckfuck. I think I've realised why we fucked up so much.

We are going to cast Recursion Field, when all that'll do is lock us in with the mooks down there and blocking most of our allies.

They aren't mercenaries. They aren't parahumans.

They're mages, but they aren't the TSAB'S agents.

These are the pirates who shot down the Agharti in the first place.
 
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Again, how could they know she'd go through here, and even more, in such an upset mindspace? It's just too coincidental to be random luck.

So that leaves the option of a thinker, maybe a precog, determining this is the most likely plan for an ambush to succeed. That they knew she'd be flying on this place, on this time of night, in such a state.
could it also be she's in an area she hasn't flown past before and they're not shooting her because they targeted her specifically but because she flew near their building/lair/important warehouse?
 
Moment of truth.
Please don't fuck up, please don't fuck up, please don't—

[X] Aerial barrage
No. of Votes: 35
-[X] Drop a Wide Area Search and a Bursting Flare Shooter aimed at the ground in front of them to gather data and provide cover while getting some height on them... a hundred or two hundred meters should do.
No. of Votes: 27
-[X] Call Sam, ask her to teleport here and bring up the Recursion Field.
No. of Votes: 27
-[X] Once she's here and you get information about these guys abilities and numbers, attack. Sam will cover you.
No. of Votes: 27
--[X] Light them up with as many Flare Shooters as you can.
No. of Votes: 27
--[X] If there is more of them or they seems actually dangerous, don't hesitate to use Temporal Sludge and Solar Wrath.
No. of Votes: 27
---[X] Wait for Sam to arrive to coordinate with her before getting in range for Homing Burst Flare Shooters.
No. of Votes: 1
--[X] Call the Protectorate before summoning Wide Area Search to track the three you saw and see if there is anymore lying in wait.
No. of Votes: 1
-[X] Call Sam, bring up a Recursion Field, fly up to a range where it is easy to dodge blaster fight and throw down a Solar Wrath fast with a Cartridge.
No. of Votes: 1
[X] Close the distance for melee
No. of Votes: 1

Total No. of Voters: 36

...Well, shit.

Guys. Guys. Why do you do this to me? Now I have to decide just how this goes, because this vote right here? HUGE chance of going Bad with a quickness. Like, all you needed was to add a lethality condition to make this a trifecta of unintentionally awful decisions.
a lot of the votes had run away added to them
 
Had a bit of a what the reddit folks would call "shower thought" about the Immortal Assimilation Engine.

What is it with the fact that whenever you change the word "Device" or "Machine" or any other synonym into "Engine" in any name, the name instantly sounds about 500% more sinister.
 
Crossing my fingers that Taylor secretly qualifies for the Berserker class.

Hey, it's word of Nasu that Nanoha-type mages can fight Servants, didn't you know?
... da fuk?
It was somewhere on the Prisma Illya/Nanoha official crossover one-shot manga.

I have found this thing. And I am very surprised there isn't more fanfic of that.
Had a bit of a what the reddit folks would call "shower thought" about the Immortal Assimilation Engine.

What is it with the fact that whenever you change the word "Device" or "Machine" or any other synonym into "Engine" in any name, the name instantly sounds about 500% more sinister.
Because they're using the word wrong. An engine goes in a vehicle, like a car or a train. And if someone uses the wrong noun to describe something, you can tell they're obviously evil.

My mother is an english teacher and she told me this, so I know it's true.:V
 
... da fuk?


I have found this thing. And I am very surprised there isn't more fanfic of that.

Because they're using the word wrong. An engine goes in a vehicle, like a car or a train. And if someone uses the wrong noun to describe something, you can tell they're obviously evil.

My mother is an english teacher and she told me this, so I know it's true.:V
Or... Oh God it's even more sinister than that. IAE assimilates mages into a vehicle for world domination.
 
Honestly, things aren't too bad all things considered. I mean, you no longer have a dad who would get worried about you if you vanished off the face of the Earth. And you only have a smattering of friends. And your best friend/mother-figure is right there with you and wouldn't survive without you, so she won't mourn your loss. And…

This isn't helping, is it? :oops:
Is it bad that for some strange reason I really found it reassuring?
:):oops:

They're mages, but they aren't the TSAB'S agents.

These are the pirates who shot down the Agharti in the first place.
I'll be happy if it's them.
I'm waiting for them to drop by since Secret Santa.
 
There's a reason the vote tally post mentioned that it was UNINTENTIONALLY awful decisions. There were no hints of "hey, you should really do this, this is the secret answer". You just managed to pick a bad combination of options for this situation.
Cannot be helped here, it seems to be the the most logical choices in that situation.
1- We were ambushed to be killed/kidnapped so ether fight or flight. Yep, the second could be wiser, however in-game/in-character we are neither in the best mood nor in the best headspace, moreover OOC we wanna earn the spellpoint, so choice was to be expected both sides.
2- Attempt to assassinate/kidnap. The vote is actually first trying to fight back, using our distance-fight specialty and nonlethal means (was hard to be expected to go melee as first fighting style choice, although we are part-time Knight - our strongest side is that we are still full-time Bombarder ). If nonlethal wont be enough - use lethal force. Our life/freedom/identity is on stake, and we tried being nice with soft gloves first till we've got no choice but to choose "us or them" and the second option is unacceptable in current state.

TL;DR actually we've chosen the only not-unexpected choices, this time we haven't fucked up by ourselves up but we were fucked with set-up situation which actually contained just an illusion of choice.
Still not gonna rant about it, sometimes it's just that - situation while the most rational ways of dealing following the input we've got lead to trouble and only by sheer luck of sudden stupidity (aka unexpected irrational actions) it's possible to get out without losses.
 
Can IAE possess mages? Is this the Return of QA? Do metroids exist?!?! Stay tuned!

Edit: All things considered, I'm curious to see where this goes, since SW pretty much already implied that everything important is going to get wiped, presumably by us (Taylor) getting killed.

It's time to retcon this sh*t, so is Taylor going to Nope out of this universe or not (planeswalker)?
 
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These are the pirates who shot down the Agharti in the first place.

Interesting thought, but are you entirely sure there ever were any pirates? I think that was just a cover-story they initially told for IAE waking up and disliking the sight of Belkan mages aboard, right? Or was that bit with the belkans when it was found earlier, aaannd.... what did make the ship crash, because these quotes do seem to say the Pirates aren't real.

Admiral Dietrich Tucson said with a sigh. Finally, something was going right with this blasted operation. "You're sure no one else knows the details of your mission?"

"Just myself and Captain Aska. We told the rest of the crew that we're on a routine expedition and surveillance mission with unsubstantiated rumors of pirate activity in the area. It seemed the best explanation for why I'm aboard and why everyone needs to be prepared to adhere to first contact precautions," the Enforcer said with a shrug.

Tucson nodded. That was good enough, for now at least. That kind of cover story would not last forever, particularly not if everything went south the way he was afraid and half-convinced it would, but it would do until the Sojourner reached Delnarib and the Dimensional Sea beyond.

Had you chosen to hang up (or hide information like some of you suggested) during Part 2, the TSAB wouldn't have known that you're just a regular girl and instead would have continued with their assumptions that the Agharti was attacked by pirates or something even worse. Their reaction in the interlude would have been much more aggressive, with many more combat-capable mages headed to Earth Bet to seal up Perfect Storm. That wouldn't go over quite so well in the future

Additionally, is that last bit reassuring because this shouldn't be the TSAB coming shoot-first after IAE and what looks like one of its drones......or worrying because that makes it more likely this is Coil or something? Though i don't see why going lethal was an issue for anyone but TSAB (maybe it makes them escalate rather than try to capture or rob and leave us.... but without pirates that seems odd. Some other passing villain? Would Coil really do bad things if we went lethal, rather than just try again?)
 
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Interesting thought, but are you entirely sure there ever were any pirates? I think that was just a cover-story they initially told for IAE waking up and disliking the sight of Belkan mages aboard, right? Or was that bit with the belkans when it was found earlier, aaannd.... what did make the ship crash, because these quotes do seem to say the Pirates aren't real.

Additionally, is that last bit reassuring because this shouldn't be the TSAB coming shoot-first after IAE and what looks like one of its drones......or worrying because that makes it more likely this is Coil or something? Though i don't see why going lethal was an issue for anyone but TSAB (maybe it makes them escalate rather than try to capture or rob and leave us.... but without pirates that seems odd. Some other passing villain? Would Coil really do bad things if we went lethal, rather than just try again?)
There will be a TSAB interlude this arc in which answers will be forthcoming, don't you worry.
 
Lordy loo. Please don't tell me I got caught up in this quest just to see her die for the first time. Please, goddamnit, don't.
 
Hey, that's not grimdark. There are lighthearted moments and happy endings. It's just that the happy endings have to be earned through an impressive amount of lies and murder. :D
So Jen will eventually stop being enslaved to a next-best-thing-to-all-powerful being that has her essentially enslaved at the moment? Because much as she enjoys the perks, I've definitely gotten the impression that she's not exactly happy with her situation. Though this isn't the Princess Ascendant thread so I'll stop talking about it now.
 
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Lordy loo. Please don't tell me I got caught up in this quest just to see her die for the first time. Please, goddamnit, don't.
No, I somewhat doubt it.

Since the list of "unintentionally awful decisions" we could have made included "go lethal", it means going lethal would have made things worse.

All things considered, I am now beginning to suspect that we're about to run face first into that hinted hidden interaction between Flare affinity and some of the pyrokinetic capes around, which removing the safeguards would only have made more pronounced.

Also, in the "where there's smoke, there's fire" (thanks @landcollector) idiom's way, it might mean that Kayleigh had reason to believe Circus was in Philly. And IIRC Circus has fire in her grab-bag.
 
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No, I somewhat doubt it.

Since the list of "unintentionally awful decisions" we could have made included "go lethal", it means going lethal would have made things worse.

All things considered, I am now beginning to suspect that we're about to run face first into that hinted hidden interaction between Flare affinity and some of the pyrokinetic capes around, which removing the safeguards would only have made more pronounced.

Also, in the "where there's smoke, there's fire" (thanks @landcollector) idiom's way, it might mean that Kayleigh had reason to believe Circus was in Philly. And IIRC Circus has fire in her grab-bag.
And Circus was in the employ of Coil, just like the Undersiders could have been at the time of the escape of the zized Brockton Bay, which could give a plausible reason for the troubles that @Silently Watches is prophesying.
 
And I'm trying to guilt trip you into not killing our main character.:p
Look, even if I did plan on killing Taylor
2) Death is possible in this quest. It isn't permanent barring certain extreme circumstances, but it comes with consequences that you will not like. Try to avoid this, please.
.
Ehh, general stuff. Personal history if it's not too spoilery, things she's done with Tay Tay, mostly SoL things, though quirks and the like would be nice.
If I have time, I'll try to right up a dossier or something. Or you could write up some omake; now that you know she has connections with Winter Hill, you might even get it right enough to be canonized.
 
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Look, even if I did plan on killing Taylor
Speaking of which, I'm curious what happens if we die. Like, I get keeping the consequence secret to make sure we're serious about keeping her alive, but I'm left wondering how bad it is. A deduction to the choices we can make? Our mana pool gets slashed? Maybe it just takes like, a fuckin month to respawn or something. Or something so terrible it would flood my subconscious full of maddening Eldtritch horrors. Have I rung a bell?
 
Speaking of which, I'm curious what happens if we die. Like, I get keeping the consequence secret to make sure we're serious about keeping her alive, but I'm left wondering how bad it is. A deduction to the choices we can make? Our mana pool gets slashed? Maybe it just takes like, a fuckin month to respawn or something. Or something so terrible it would flood my subconscious full of maddening Eldtritch horrors. Have I rung a bell?
My guess is that IAE grabs someone and forcibly installs it's Taylor Template onto them. The consequences from this would be:
  1. The moral and ethical issues of Taylor knowing she's only alive because she (effectively) killed an (likely) innocent person.
  2. Serious damage to our reputation from knowing we overwrite people when we die, like the Butcher.
  3. Possibly body dysphoria depending upon if the victim is instantly transformed into a Taylor like shape or if it takes time.
  4. Being stuck with whatever low level Linker Core the victim had for months while IAE builds it back up to S-Rank.
  5. Possible mental contamination from the victim.
Bonus points if IAE latches onto whoever killed Taylor since that would make the Butcher comparisons even stronger.
 
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