- Location
- Utah
[X][MISSION] Yes
[X][BACKUP] Judgement Drive and Juggernaut Drive
If they're trapped just like Summit was, I'm sure they wouldn't mind if the rescue group brought food+water along with them. Summit might also remember to bring along her anti-nausea pills that sheforgot hasn't been taking.
[X][BACKUP] Judgement Drive and Juggernaut Drive
If they're trapped just like Summit was, I'm sure they wouldn't mind if the rescue group brought food+water along with them. Summit might also remember to bring along her anti-nausea pills that she
GENERAL COMMENTARY:
Beach episode is fanservicy as expected. Blue bandit being over 18 is a surprise, I didn't figure her for being a MG for that long, but maybe she got her powers at 16 or 17 compared to the usual 13-14 age.
Looks like that mission did lead to spill over that required Light assets to be deployed to keep under control (significant ones if it kept Night Sky sidelined). Not sure the UL got the most bang for their buck from that one.
All of a sudden, I wonder how voluntary that mental surgery Anna went through was. This is a pretty big indicator that a suppressed portion of her pysche is not cool with the operation.
Anna is hostile towards any/all demons as usual. Not surprising and not exactly stupid given the very recently hot war-front this area just was. Still not really blaming Samuel for getting his feathers rustled by her treatment of allied demons. He's the one with the Succubus fiance back home waiting for him. Looks like Anna has once again rubbed people wrong. Hopefully the mission will help mend Team Gear's impression of her.
Insight....maybe you should drop the all-knowing act for a bit and just sit down and ask Anna about everything you can think of to do with Hell and their forces for a few hours.
Anna still thinking of Goddess Gray as a personal hero of hers. Should make the upcoming Operation interesting.
[X][MISSION] Yes
[X][BACKUP] The Last Invisibility Vial
Beach episode is fanservicy as expected. Blue bandit being over 18 is a surprise, I didn't figure her for being a MG for that long, but maybe she got her powers at 16 or 17 compared to the usual 13-14 age.
Looks like that mission did lead to spill over that required Light assets to be deployed to keep under control (significant ones if it kept Night Sky sidelined). Not sure the UL got the most bang for their buck from that one.
All of a sudden, I wonder how voluntary that mental surgery Anna went through was. This is a pretty big indicator that a suppressed portion of her pysche is not cool with the operation.
Anna is hostile towards any/all demons as usual. Not surprising and not exactly stupid given the very recently hot war-front this area just was. Still not really blaming Samuel for getting his feathers rustled by her treatment of allied demons. He's the one with the Succubus fiance back home waiting for him. Looks like Anna has once again rubbed people wrong. Hopefully the mission will help mend Team Gear's impression of her.
Insight....maybe you should drop the all-knowing act for a bit and just sit down and ask Anna about everything you can think of to do with Hell and their forces for a few hours.
Anna still thinking of Goddess Gray as a personal hero of hers. Should make the upcoming Operation interesting.
[X][MISSION] Yes
[X][BACKUP] The Last Invisibility Vial
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LostDeviljho
Flame Dragon Princess
- Location
- The glorious Pacific Northwest
- Pronouns
- Any
add 2 years to that range.
Then Anna is the extreme exception, seeing she got her powers at 11.
LostDeviljho
Flame Dragon Princess
- Location
- The glorious Pacific Northwest
- Pronouns
- Any
The absolute minimum possible age is... 8 or 9, iirc. The low end of the common range is 14.
[X][MISSION] Yes
[X][BACKUP] Angelic Piloted Armored Golems
[X][BACKUP] Angelic Piloted Armored Golems
- Location
- UTC -6
LostDeviljho and Naron brought up that this Ability was not clear in it's meaning (and divorced from it's preceding Ability). So I've updated it.
Prayer of Blades
-Summit may Negate or Intercept attacks against allies she can reach as a free action. Boost damage for Intercepts made this way by +400%.
Do note that taking full advantage of this means everyone will focus on Summit or back off to fire off spells instead. It's fairly clear what this Ability does when it's used.
I'm pretty sure I remember it being that she wasn't sane or coherent enough to give consent?
Or that's what we were told anyway. Given her history, how people from the other side of the war act, and the memories she does have/bubble up... Its probably true. Probably.
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- Location
- UTC -6
That's probably enough time to give the weekend readers a chance to chime in.
Summit actually went through mental surgery twice, the first attempt did not go well. Trying to make her a normal girl left her pretty bonkers. Second time left her rather strangely calm, but she's been adjusting out of it a bit.
Hitting the old mine was a bit mixed, the UD drew back a lot of it's forces to avoid the big nasties. Which did them no favors when the tunnels started filling up with water. A lot of mid-level commanders ran back to the UD portals to reorganize and weren't on field to fight. This may sound like a bunch got away, but the ones that stayed were cut off from rescue or escape and got flattened. Remember how Fiodur got caught and relieved of his head?
Summit actually went through mental surgery twice, the first attempt did not go well. Trying to make her a normal girl left her pretty bonkers. Second time left her rather strangely calm, but she's been adjusting out of it a bit.
Hitting the old mine was a bit mixed, the UD drew back a lot of it's forces to avoid the big nasties. Which did them no favors when the tunnels started filling up with water. A lot of mid-level commanders ran back to the UD portals to reorganize and weren't on field to fight. This may sound like a bunch got away, but the ones that stayed were cut off from rescue or escape and got flattened. Remember how Fiodur got caught and relieved of his head?
How'd they even manage to subdue her for the second attempt? That must have been pretty harrowing for the surgery staff.
Still, I bet there is a bunch of pertinent tactical information lurking deep in Anna's psyche that the UL and Anna can't easily access due to the surgery.
Though it may be dated intel by this point. A lot of the being Anna knew in hell seem to be dead now.
Been, huh, a month since my last post. I figure it's safe to create a new one.
Been musing a little this afternoon about Anna/Summit and I realized that she dots a ton of boxes for the typical female love interest in mecha series.
Edit: Make that main love interest. To avoid lines blurring on darkhorse candidate examples that were never going to be the OTP in a given show.
I'll include some ones she doesn't check for perspective:
1. Starts off the show stronger/more skilled/experienced than the protagonist. (check!)
2. Will be eclipsed in skill and power by the protag by story midpoint if not sooner. (check! Hello Legend Maker power curve growth)
3. Seems to be able to appear in and disappear from mysterious places she really shouldn't be at the drop of a hat (check!)
4. Is an Idol/Pop star/ Model. (No check/fail)
5. Is the most beautiful woman in the world/any room she is in. (No check/fail)
6. Tragic Backstory that happens to tie into the overall plot. (Check!)
7. Is known by name by the Big Bads and an object of their interest/plans (check!)
8. Has a unique power or ability that makes her special and very valuable. (check!)
9. Can seem to flaunt the rules in a military organization and get away with it where others would not. (Check!)
10. Is a historical figure in verse and has met many high level people within her own organization (Check!)
11. Is a very popular person and can easily make friends (No check/fail)
12. Always seems to wear the same iconic outfit no matter the situation (check!)
13. Is a political figure: daughter of a chairman, princess, high ranking member of a special organization. (No check/ Fail)
14. Outclassed by the high-end fighters on both sides, but able to contribute or dominate against low-mid tier fighters (Check!)
15. Will often have her own goals or orders that differ from pretty much anyone else on her side in a fight and will pursue them relentlessly. (check!)
So yeah, just something that I was mulling about and wanted to get down in text.
Maybe it will prompt discussion. If only from people disagreeing with me.
Been musing a little this afternoon about Anna/Summit and I realized that she dots a ton of boxes for the typical female love interest in mecha series.
Edit: Make that main love interest. To avoid lines blurring on darkhorse candidate examples that were never going to be the OTP in a given show.
I'll include some ones she doesn't check for perspective:
1. Starts off the show stronger/more skilled/experienced than the protagonist. (check!)
2. Will be eclipsed in skill and power by the protag by story midpoint if not sooner. (check! Hello Legend Maker power curve growth)
3. Seems to be able to appear in and disappear from mysterious places she really shouldn't be at the drop of a hat (check!)
4. Is an Idol/Pop star/ Model. (No check/fail)
5. Is the most beautiful woman in the world/any room she is in. (No check/fail)
6. Tragic Backstory that happens to tie into the overall plot. (Check!)
7. Is known by name by the Big Bads and an object of their interest/plans (check!)
8. Has a unique power or ability that makes her special and very valuable. (check!)
9. Can seem to flaunt the rules in a military organization and get away with it where others would not. (Check!)
10. Is a historical figure in verse and has met many high level people within her own organization (Check!)
11. Is a very popular person and can easily make friends (No check/fail)
12. Always seems to wear the same iconic outfit no matter the situation (check!)
13. Is a political figure: daughter of a chairman, princess, high ranking member of a special organization. (No check/ Fail)
14. Outclassed by the high-end fighters on both sides, but able to contribute or dominate against low-mid tier fighters (Check!)
15. Will often have her own goals or orders that differ from pretty much anyone else on her side in a fight and will pursue them relentlessly. (check!)
So yeah, just something that I was mulling about and wanted to get down in text.
Maybe it will prompt discussion. If only from people disagreeing with me.
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LostDeviljho
Flame Dragon Princess
- Location
- The glorious Pacific Northwest
- Pronouns
- Any
Given her nominal expy source... unsurprising.
But who's the designated protagonist in this case?
If she's a mecha love interest, it has to be a mecha driver.
Obviously, this means we should have brought major Roberts to the beach. :^)
You could argue that this is prior to ep.1 of the mecha show and still taking place during the "backstory".
A major event like the operation to retake Hope could be the trigger that the 1st season/arc is based around. So our theoretical mecha hero is just about to graduate boot camp/get commissioned/be transferred to the base.
tbf most of us Noped right the fuck out of the guy we were supposed to have as the love interest.
No idea what QM might have to work with right now honestly.
Of course we could just put that on the back-burner to become a genocidal murder machine. Possibly literally going by what Abomination would let us do/become? I remember something about becoming a mass of Panoply that gets Instant Manufacture and just flash forges whatever the hell she wants/has materials for.
That sounds awesome.
We should try bombarding the crap out of an army one of these days to see how much XP we can get.
True enough
There are several other upgrades at similar levels of xp requirements I would like first (Paragon, Unmake, Intense Wave, etc.) but yeah its on the list.
The whole post was from the perspective that Anna is the female interest of a mecha protag., not actually saying that she has another love interest in the wings.
However, this setting could actually have mecha without too much finagling. Consider it a new weapon system about to be unveiled for deployment in small detachments to aid in the retaking of Hope.
That's about the right level of special-ness for her "theoretical" love interest and helps deal handily with the issue people have brought up regarding Anna dating guys in this setting: How do they keep up on the battlefield?
Answer: A mecha built from a fusion of magic and technology. Plus upgrades and successive generations of suits.
Eh, probably not. They just magi-tech power armor working very recently. The team from the main quest just got a set very recently and its like the first prototype ready for field use and testing.
Crossworlds 19 (Reluxus Rock)
- Location
- UTC -6
[X][MISSION] Yes
[X][BACKUP] Judgement Drive and Juggernaut Drive
"I'll get them out of there, no one deserves to be forgotten in that thing." you say.
Insight gives a thumbs up, "Great! And thank you."
A rumble of a truck starting up drowns out all other sound for a moment before fading into the background.
"I'm coming with you." Juggernaut Drive says, crossing her arms and stiffening her features, "Solid Drive is my friend and she hasn't seen me for years."
Judgement Core steps on a magical platform to gain a few inches of height, "I'll help too, you watched my back earlier. And I was supposed to be helping Solid Core when she dropped out of contact."
"Ahem." Judgement Drive interjects.
"None of us doubt your skills." Major Roberts says, "This is a lot like what happened when Solid Core went on ahead, those skills aren't what's needed at this point."
"I'm not getting left behind again!"
Judgement Drive puts her hand on Judgement Core's arm.
"Juggernaut is faster and has a better sense of when to duck. Once Summit has found the artifact I'll jaunt back so you can save the day again." Judgement Drive says.
Insight covers her mouth with a hand, "No offense JC, but you aren't sneaky. Not the way scouting things out has to be. I'll be right next to you when the rest of us leave for the supergate."
Judgement Core drops back to stand on the ground and slumps a bit, but otherwise doesn't reply.
"You're taking the lead this time?" Aquilia says to Judgement Drive.
Judgement Drive jabs a thumb at Juggernaut Drive, "She's the youngest Drive now, she needs supervision."
"Hey!"
"What goes around comes around."
"Thank you. It will be nice to have some backup for this." you say.
There's a brief lull where no one speaks, then Juggernaut Drive nods.
"No problem. I owe you a favor." she raises a finger at Judgement Drive, "I'm still older by the way. Birthdays are the official way to determine age."
"To put words in our tacitum girl of the hour's mouth, what are we waiting for?" Captain Roberts says.
"Yes. Is there anything else to mention?" you add.
"There is something worth saying again. Summit can spot magic with her eyes, or even through her shapeshifting weapon. If you see her twitch she might see something you can't." Insight says.
Samael fiddles with something on the side of his armor.
Juggernaut lightly punches the inside of her hand, "Let's get going. I want to talk to Solid Drive. Actually, on further thought, could you do the talking once we get there?"
"Certainly." Judgement Drive says over Juggernaut Drive's shoulder.
"Follow me. Everything should be ready for transit." Insight points and starts jogging towards the eastern corner of the stacks.
As the group draws alongside her Insight leans into a sprint, a graceful frenzy with no wasted motion. Team GEAR lags behind a bit while you and the Drives (plus Core) keep pace. You move along a paved path outside the stacked containers and make a sharp turn right towards a cluster of army tents.
Angel Laurence and a much taller angel with his arm in a sling are at the entrance of one of the tents, both too tall to easily fit. Insight eases into a quick walk and Team GEAR catches up as the group moves into earshot.
"Summit is here, we'll discuss this again at a later time." Laurence announces.
The tall angel nods at you with a stony expression as Insight passes through the entrance. Inside Commander Black sits on a desk while the center table has a Lego scene on it, with magical Lego (Planning). Black's prosthetic leg ends in a flipper today instead of his more usual foot, and a soldier (Planning) with a large pointy hat and an enchanted staff leans against the central table.
"Magical Girl Summit! It's good to see you." Black announces, "Before you assist Insight there's a matter I would like to address."
The angel outside says something.
You turn your head to face the exit, "Why can't who be allowed to go free?"
Laurence does a double-take at you.
Black hisses before pointing at the tall angel, "Felix, if I hear you're arguing to have her imprisoned I will have your other arm broken."
"She cannot be allowed to-" Felix is cut off by Laurence jabbing him with an elbow.
"My colleague is merely concerned about the worst case scenario. Feather would benefit from the expert treatment we offer regardless." Laurence says before bowing and flying off, followed by a fuming Felix.
"What was that about?" Juggernaut Drive asks.
Commander Black slumps down a bit, "Another pointless challenge to my command from someone who should know better. As usual."
Insight clears her throat. The Commander claps his hands and stands as straight as he can manage.
"Summit, I am pleased to present to you awards for your recent efforts. First, for your capture of Zoe Cross, who was a formidable enemy of the Akashic Pillar and a spymaster, you have been awarded the Silver Lantern award for decisive heroic actions. Second, for delaying Goddess Red's attack by ruse, skill, and great personal risk, you are awarded another Silver Lantern for conspicuous heroic actions. Third, the Sixth Milidia Legion has declared you a hero of the Legion and of the Elven Empire and produced a banner for you. Lastly, Governor Quinn has seen fit to give you almost two kilograms of gold, for, in her words, delivering the empire's legions out of darkness.
"I've arranged for the value of that gold to be credited directly to your account, by the way. Bounties from outside the Akashic Pillar otherwise go to the unit instead of the soldier, as a rule." Black concludes.
One of the officers presents a tray. There's a leather patch, much like the one Blue Bandit had for her rank insignia, with two fingertip sized awards pinned to it. Next to the patch a tightly-wound narrow flag gleams faintly with magic (Steel), metal plates sewn into the fabric bear symbols you don't recognize. The material of the flag is mainly black with an orange pattern clearly based on your outfit, there's a shimmer effect that makes the black turn green in the light.
"I don't know what to say." you say after a moment.
"What about the rest of us?" Judgement Drive asks.
"That's for Mason to decide, not me. I believe Insight has been arranging things." Commander Black picks up the leather patch, "Hold out your hand."
He places the object in your hand, "When the Counter Force decides to award heroic actions it is not only the action that is considered, but that you have impeccable character and reliability. Wear it proudly, you are one of our best."
"Thank you." you say.
Insight gestures at Judgement Core, "He's just trying to butter her up so she'll risk her life next time."
"You speak too lightly of her deed." Aquila speaks from outside the pavilion, "Summit has been acclaimed for single-handedly delivering an army from destruction. Any place in the Empire that sees her banner will want to hear how she earned it."
"It is the first time I've heard of this." Black points at the banner, "Take it, with the praise of the Sixth Milidia Legion."
When unrolled the banner is almost exactly as long as you are tall. You can feel the magic woven into it resonate with your own, the colors come alive from where you touch it and mimic the patterns of your bodysuit. You place the awards in a labcoat pocket.
Behind you Judgement Drive has a hand on Judgement Core's shoulder, "I think you're amazing." she says softly into her sister's ear.
Black relaxes and sits against the table, "Lee has studied what we know about Solid Core's recent mission."
The man in the wizard hat nods, "Insight knows most of this already, so I'm focusing on what she might have missed. Firstly, Solid Core's group, and yourself when you get there, landed in a warded stasis yard. A leftover from when the CF retreated from Reluxus - it's there because the elven supergate was the best way to move stuff around quickly and Hell hasn't yet broken the wards. You'll need to leave that area quickly before it entangles you.
"Once you're out of the wards it's about three klicks to the supergate. I've got a lego model of it here. Solid Core reached the gate, but was waylaid before Goddess White could reactivate it. Whatever effect hit them hit them while they were in view of the supergate. Free them, get the gate reactivated, and defend the elven forces that will arrive to sync it back into the system."
Lee crouches down, gets a red cooler from the ground, and perches it against the table, "They've been there for more than 24 hours, I think some refreshments would help your goal."
Insight raises a finger, "Why didn't the stasis ward get mentioned earlier? And how did that get set up in the first place?"
"I don't know." Lee shrugs.
"Magical Girl Eternal Hourglass was involved before she vanished. And Goddess White meant the first group could ignore the warding." Commander Black says.
"Should you tell them that?" Lee blurts out.
Black crosses his arms, "It's not a secret that Magical Girls have changed the world, changed worlds, since they appeared. Summit, I'm authorizing you to assist Insight's scheme, but I'm ordering you to stay alive."
"I'll keep her in one piece." Juggernaut says.
"Thank you. Insight, night has fallen on Reluxus and we have a portal ready for you."
You collect the red mini-cooler from Lee as Insight discusses some coded phrases with Black. The Drives and Judgement Core drift outside the pavilion. Insight nods, gestures for you to follow, and runs out as well.
----
After a brief jog past a line of stopped trucks, Insight tells the group at the freight portal that she "Needs to visit Naro-Wumpus". A wave of warm conditioned air washes over your group as you are waved through and into a concrete building with branching corridors.
"Welcome back." an officer with the Signals appearance greets you, "Same place as last time if you please."
Roberts turns left and leads the way past rows of numbered gateways to a large room filled with wires and runed metal pillars. A small raised platform in the middle of the tangle gleams with magic visible to the naked eye. To your vision it shines like an alien star.
A white-beared man in an isolation suit (Space) pokes at the pillars with a reach extender, spinning them carefully on their dials.
Insight rubs her hands together and bobs in place, "You'll want to fly straight up as soon as the transition ends. Counter Force wards use a squished dome to increase ground coverage if they aren't covering a building or trying to block out the sky."
"How will I find where the prison is?" you ask, glancing at the platform.
She holds out her hands in a 'who knows' gesture, "You have a better shot at figuring that out than I do. Look for magic or space warping. If you don't see either check for some kind of ritual site that was recently put together."
Lucky Star backs away from the transmission platform, "What's the plan for us?"
"Same as before, except Judgement Drive is going to hop back to pick us up once Summit gets our friends free." Insight says.
"She's ready to go, squeeze into the center of the platform and I'll trip the switch." the technician announces.
You drift over the wiring and land dead center. Judgement Drive and Juggernaut Drive lock arms with you between them and press against you.
"That's a keeper." Michael says softly as he points his Datamine at you.
"3! 2! 1!"
The contained storm of magic at your feet ceases to be contained, then vanishes.
You kick off from the ground and your Panoply screams as you pull yourself up. All around you armed vehicles make long rows. Glowing lines appear all around you. Further out you count eight huge fortresses hovering in the sky. On the ground a few hundred meters away scores of Dark Stars stand watch.
Even in the brief moment you sense the light around you dimming and reddening. Space itself is rushing towards you in a torrent, making escape from the stasis ward skitter away from you.
Juggernaut kicks against nothing and the three of you rise with impossible acceleration. Light blooms back to full color and brightness as you pass an invisible threshold.
Two locations on the perimeter have glowing blocks with large bowls atop them. You fire a burst at each, expecting these to be signaling devices of some sort. Juggernaut makes a sharp turn.
Next you need to start thinning out the Dark Stars, you have to expect that any of them could sound an alarm on their own. The increased height has only revealed more and more demonic foes arrayed upon the dark fields.
Your attempt to circle around you with a stream of attacks fails, most hit, but the furthest Dark Stars were spared when your projectiles clipped into the stasis area and vanished.
"Hostiles!" Judgement Drive hisses out.
A large Dark Star fires a bright spark of red into the sky. You can feel a ripple as it pushes on the magic around you. It feels like imminent doom. You frantically cast your attention around looking for a place to escape what you expect to strike.
You pry open a portal right in front of Juggernaut Drive, she pulls the rest of you along, hundreds of meters up and away from your present location.
"Whoa." Juggernaut jukes up and down at the change.
"What happened?" Judgement Drive shouts.
The tops of the floating fortresses expel plumes of hostile magic into the air. A huge mass of red energy covers the place you just vacated, bubbling and firey. Then another vast effect strikes a heartbeat later, shadows appearing from nowhere and tearing up everything they touch. Another spell strikes, and another.
"I think they were expecting Goddess Gold." you say.
Judgement Drive looks around, "This was not here last time."
The salvo stops after several seconds. When the effects fade the vehicle depot appears untouched within the warding, but the ground surrounding it has been blasted to bare rock.
Campfires and piles of lesser demons cover the ground for miles, only broken up by a few slopes too steep to lie upon and a swath of land covered with dead vegetation instead. And there must be many powerful demons residing within the hellish fortresses. A faint red glow covers the ground from the largest fortress, which has taken station above a structure that must be the elven supergate.
A low ring sounds as chains hanging from one of the hovering fortresses rattle.
"Hell is empty, all the demons are here." Juggernaut mutters.
"We need to keep moving, follow me." you say.
Juggernaut lets go and the three of you seperate. You set a quick pace and attempt to steer away from the fortresses.
A nerve-wracking minute of flying avoids any obvious tells that you're being looked for. The supergate is crawling with demons of all types. Demonic webs stretch over the gate, anchored to stones that float in the air without support. A location stands out as being more fortified than the rest, a large tent next to a pillar.
You drift back to the Drives, "I see what might be the prison. I'm going to glide in carefully and check it by teleporting in."
Juggernaut frowns, "Please tell me you aren't going to leave us here when a demon comes by asking for papers."
"It's quicker if I'm only teleporting myself. I'll come back once I've scouted it."
"We won't stick around if there's an alarm, just so you know." Judgement Drive chides.
"I'll be careful."
A quick bit of re-configuration lets you glide in with your Panoply black as pitch, and hopefully indistinguishable from the night sky above you. You draw out the teleport to appear inside the webs and patrols, hovering where nothing should have been able to fly unhindered.
An eerie feel makes your back itch. Now that you're closer there's a large crater on the ground. The tent from before is floating above it, yet also staked on solid ground. You descend carefully, passing through where a pillar appeared to be moments before and feeling as though you are both above the ground and within it.
From here you can see up into the tent. A cage of swords holds a sparking fist-sized object, you know instantly upon seeing it that it's what remains of the cage that held you trapped. But below you….
Solid Core's motionless body lies at the bottom of the impossible crater, impaled by nine swords that emanate power. A sword that could defeat any foe if you were to take hold of it. A mesmerizing and intoxicating font of power.
Isn't she supposed to be alive? What's going on?
This is certainly worth a closer look. You extend a tendril of your Panoply to collect it.
"Don't touch that!"
A figure falls out of the tent above you. You know who she is before she reaches the ground (Steel, Infinity, Epic).
Goddess Grey has personally kept watch over the object imprisoning her youngest sister. And whatever this crater may hold.
----
Overclock!
Summit has the opportunity to take one action before Goddess Grey realizes who you are.
Pick one:
[X] Grab and fuse the mystery blade to prepare for a fight!
-[X] Battle tactics? (write-in, feel free to be vague about this)
-CrapCrapCrap-
[X] Start gushing about how she's your hero
-[X] What will you try to negotiate for? (write-in)
You think you have the hilt of the blade she gave you somewhere.
[X] Teleport to the prison cage and attempt to enter it!
Abort! Jump to the mission objective!
[X] Teleport away!
Nope. Nothing more to do here.
[X] Fight Goddess Grey head on. Without grabbing the artifact.
Perhaps you should set yourself on fire and cut off your legs first. She won't expect that!
[X] Something exceedingly clever? (write-in)
(Pioneer) What's going on?
"We have entered an endless recursion of time."
You are presently standing in a crater that does not exist and never had the event that led to its creation occur. The entity manifest in those swords is reaching out and has caught both your soul and Goddess Grey's soul in a snare that reaches across what is and what might have been. If either of you dies without being slain by the blades impaling Solid Core's corpse this encounter will reset back to the moment where Goddess Grey intervened.
You expect your abilities will grant excellent recall of your choices in this encounter. Goddess Grey will have fainter recall, but will still understand you better every restart.
If Summit Fuses The Unknown Blade she will receive an enormous boost in power and she will retain the Fused blade between resets.
Escape conditions:
Get killed via The Unknown Blade
Kill Goddess Grey using The Unknown Blade
Both Magical Girls stop fighting and leave the crater alive
----
Status of Combatants:
Magical Girl Summit: Unharmed, mind racing
Magical Girl Juggernaut Drive: Unharmed, waiting ~300 meters away
Magical Girl Judgement Drive: Unharmed, waiting ~320 meters away
Magical Girl Goddess Grey: Unharmed, dropping in
Hell's Second Legion: On Alert, wary after thinking they swatted an invasion attempt, averaging about 2 demons per square meter
----
+30 EXP Received decorations
+25 EXP Set foot (briefly) on a new world
+9 EXP Successful scouting
+1 EXP Pity about the otherworldly crater
280 + 65 = 345 EXP
[X][EXP] EXP Plan?
[X][BACKUP] Judgement Drive and Juggernaut Drive
"I'll get them out of there, no one deserves to be forgotten in that thing." you say.
Insight gives a thumbs up, "Great! And thank you."
A rumble of a truck starting up drowns out all other sound for a moment before fading into the background.
"I'm coming with you." Juggernaut Drive says, crossing her arms and stiffening her features, "Solid Drive is my friend and she hasn't seen me for years."
Judgement Core steps on a magical platform to gain a few inches of height, "I'll help too, you watched my back earlier. And I was supposed to be helping Solid Core when she dropped out of contact."
"Ahem." Judgement Drive interjects.
"None of us doubt your skills." Major Roberts says, "This is a lot like what happened when Solid Core went on ahead, those skills aren't what's needed at this point."
"I'm not getting left behind again!"
Judgement Drive puts her hand on Judgement Core's arm.
"Juggernaut is faster and has a better sense of when to duck. Once Summit has found the artifact I'll jaunt back so you can save the day again." Judgement Drive says.
Insight covers her mouth with a hand, "No offense JC, but you aren't sneaky. Not the way scouting things out has to be. I'll be right next to you when the rest of us leave for the supergate."
Judgement Core drops back to stand on the ground and slumps a bit, but otherwise doesn't reply.
"You're taking the lead this time?" Aquilia says to Judgement Drive.
Judgement Drive jabs a thumb at Juggernaut Drive, "She's the youngest Drive now, she needs supervision."
"Hey!"
"What goes around comes around."
"Thank you. It will be nice to have some backup for this." you say.
There's a brief lull where no one speaks, then Juggernaut Drive nods.
"No problem. I owe you a favor." she raises a finger at Judgement Drive, "I'm still older by the way. Birthdays are the official way to determine age."
"To put words in our tacitum girl of the hour's mouth, what are we waiting for?" Captain Roberts says.
"Yes. Is there anything else to mention?" you add.
"There is something worth saying again. Summit can spot magic with her eyes, or even through her shapeshifting weapon. If you see her twitch she might see something you can't." Insight says.
Samael fiddles with something on the side of his armor.
Juggernaut lightly punches the inside of her hand, "Let's get going. I want to talk to Solid Drive. Actually, on further thought, could you do the talking once we get there?"
"Certainly." Judgement Drive says over Juggernaut Drive's shoulder.
"Follow me. Everything should be ready for transit." Insight points and starts jogging towards the eastern corner of the stacks.
As the group draws alongside her Insight leans into a sprint, a graceful frenzy with no wasted motion. Team GEAR lags behind a bit while you and the Drives (plus Core) keep pace. You move along a paved path outside the stacked containers and make a sharp turn right towards a cluster of army tents.
Angel Laurence and a much taller angel with his arm in a sling are at the entrance of one of the tents, both too tall to easily fit. Insight eases into a quick walk and Team GEAR catches up as the group moves into earshot.
"Summit is here, we'll discuss this again at a later time." Laurence announces.
The tall angel nods at you with a stony expression as Insight passes through the entrance. Inside Commander Black sits on a desk while the center table has a Lego scene on it, with magical Lego (Planning). Black's prosthetic leg ends in a flipper today instead of his more usual foot, and a soldier (Planning) with a large pointy hat and an enchanted staff leans against the central table.
"Magical Girl Summit! It's good to see you." Black announces, "Before you assist Insight there's a matter I would like to address."
The angel outside says something.
You turn your head to face the exit, "Why can't who be allowed to go free?"
Laurence does a double-take at you.
Black hisses before pointing at the tall angel, "Felix, if I hear you're arguing to have her imprisoned I will have your other arm broken."
"She cannot be allowed to-" Felix is cut off by Laurence jabbing him with an elbow.
"My colleague is merely concerned about the worst case scenario. Feather would benefit from the expert treatment we offer regardless." Laurence says before bowing and flying off, followed by a fuming Felix.
"What was that about?" Juggernaut Drive asks.
Commander Black slumps down a bit, "Another pointless challenge to my command from someone who should know better. As usual."
Insight clears her throat. The Commander claps his hands and stands as straight as he can manage.
"Summit, I am pleased to present to you awards for your recent efforts. First, for your capture of Zoe Cross, who was a formidable enemy of the Akashic Pillar and a spymaster, you have been awarded the Silver Lantern award for decisive heroic actions. Second, for delaying Goddess Red's attack by ruse, skill, and great personal risk, you are awarded another Silver Lantern for conspicuous heroic actions. Third, the Sixth Milidia Legion has declared you a hero of the Legion and of the Elven Empire and produced a banner for you. Lastly, Governor Quinn has seen fit to give you almost two kilograms of gold, for, in her words, delivering the empire's legions out of darkness.
"I've arranged for the value of that gold to be credited directly to your account, by the way. Bounties from outside the Akashic Pillar otherwise go to the unit instead of the soldier, as a rule." Black concludes.
One of the officers presents a tray. There's a leather patch, much like the one Blue Bandit had for her rank insignia, with two fingertip sized awards pinned to it. Next to the patch a tightly-wound narrow flag gleams faintly with magic (Steel), metal plates sewn into the fabric bear symbols you don't recognize. The material of the flag is mainly black with an orange pattern clearly based on your outfit, there's a shimmer effect that makes the black turn green in the light.
"I don't know what to say." you say after a moment.
"What about the rest of us?" Judgement Drive asks.
"That's for Mason to decide, not me. I believe Insight has been arranging things." Commander Black picks up the leather patch, "Hold out your hand."
He places the object in your hand, "When the Counter Force decides to award heroic actions it is not only the action that is considered, but that you have impeccable character and reliability. Wear it proudly, you are one of our best."
"Thank you." you say.
Insight gestures at Judgement Core, "He's just trying to butter her up so she'll risk her life next time."
"You speak too lightly of her deed." Aquila speaks from outside the pavilion, "Summit has been acclaimed for single-handedly delivering an army from destruction. Any place in the Empire that sees her banner will want to hear how she earned it."
"It is the first time I've heard of this." Black points at the banner, "Take it, with the praise of the Sixth Milidia Legion."
When unrolled the banner is almost exactly as long as you are tall. You can feel the magic woven into it resonate with your own, the colors come alive from where you touch it and mimic the patterns of your bodysuit. You place the awards in a labcoat pocket.
Behind you Judgement Drive has a hand on Judgement Core's shoulder, "I think you're amazing." she says softly into her sister's ear.
Black relaxes and sits against the table, "Lee has studied what we know about Solid Core's recent mission."
The man in the wizard hat nods, "Insight knows most of this already, so I'm focusing on what she might have missed. Firstly, Solid Core's group, and yourself when you get there, landed in a warded stasis yard. A leftover from when the CF retreated from Reluxus - it's there because the elven supergate was the best way to move stuff around quickly and Hell hasn't yet broken the wards. You'll need to leave that area quickly before it entangles you.
"Once you're out of the wards it's about three klicks to the supergate. I've got a lego model of it here. Solid Core reached the gate, but was waylaid before Goddess White could reactivate it. Whatever effect hit them hit them while they were in view of the supergate. Free them, get the gate reactivated, and defend the elven forces that will arrive to sync it back into the system."
Lee crouches down, gets a red cooler from the ground, and perches it against the table, "They've been there for more than 24 hours, I think some refreshments would help your goal."
Insight raises a finger, "Why didn't the stasis ward get mentioned earlier? And how did that get set up in the first place?"
"I don't know." Lee shrugs.
"Magical Girl Eternal Hourglass was involved before she vanished. And Goddess White meant the first group could ignore the warding." Commander Black says.
"Should you tell them that?" Lee blurts out.
Black crosses his arms, "It's not a secret that Magical Girls have changed the world, changed worlds, since they appeared. Summit, I'm authorizing you to assist Insight's scheme, but I'm ordering you to stay alive."
"I'll keep her in one piece." Juggernaut says.
"Thank you. Insight, night has fallen on Reluxus and we have a portal ready for you."
You collect the red mini-cooler from Lee as Insight discusses some coded phrases with Black. The Drives and Judgement Core drift outside the pavilion. Insight nods, gestures for you to follow, and runs out as well.
----
After a brief jog past a line of stopped trucks, Insight tells the group at the freight portal that she "Needs to visit Naro-Wumpus". A wave of warm conditioned air washes over your group as you are waved through and into a concrete building with branching corridors.
"Welcome back." an officer with the Signals appearance greets you, "Same place as last time if you please."
Roberts turns left and leads the way past rows of numbered gateways to a large room filled with wires and runed metal pillars. A small raised platform in the middle of the tangle gleams with magic visible to the naked eye. To your vision it shines like an alien star.
A white-beared man in an isolation suit (Space) pokes at the pillars with a reach extender, spinning them carefully on their dials.
Insight rubs her hands together and bobs in place, "You'll want to fly straight up as soon as the transition ends. Counter Force wards use a squished dome to increase ground coverage if they aren't covering a building or trying to block out the sky."
"How will I find where the prison is?" you ask, glancing at the platform.
She holds out her hands in a 'who knows' gesture, "You have a better shot at figuring that out than I do. Look for magic or space warping. If you don't see either check for some kind of ritual site that was recently put together."
Lucky Star backs away from the transmission platform, "What's the plan for us?"
"Same as before, except Judgement Drive is going to hop back to pick us up once Summit gets our friends free." Insight says.
"She's ready to go, squeeze into the center of the platform and I'll trip the switch." the technician announces.
You drift over the wiring and land dead center. Judgement Drive and Juggernaut Drive lock arms with you between them and press against you.
"That's a keeper." Michael says softly as he points his Datamine at you.
"3! 2! 1!"
The contained storm of magic at your feet ceases to be contained, then vanishes.
You kick off from the ground and your Panoply screams as you pull yourself up. All around you armed vehicles make long rows. Glowing lines appear all around you. Further out you count eight huge fortresses hovering in the sky. On the ground a few hundred meters away scores of Dark Stars stand watch.
Even in the brief moment you sense the light around you dimming and reddening. Space itself is rushing towards you in a torrent, making escape from the stasis ward skitter away from you.
Juggernaut kicks against nothing and the three of you rise with impossible acceleration. Light blooms back to full color and brightness as you pass an invisible threshold.
Two locations on the perimeter have glowing blocks with large bowls atop them. You fire a burst at each, expecting these to be signaling devices of some sort. Juggernaut makes a sharp turn.
Next you need to start thinning out the Dark Stars, you have to expect that any of them could sound an alarm on their own. The increased height has only revealed more and more demonic foes arrayed upon the dark fields.
Your attempt to circle around you with a stream of attacks fails, most hit, but the furthest Dark Stars were spared when your projectiles clipped into the stasis area and vanished.
"Hostiles!" Judgement Drive hisses out.
A large Dark Star fires a bright spark of red into the sky. You can feel a ripple as it pushes on the magic around you. It feels like imminent doom. You frantically cast your attention around looking for a place to escape what you expect to strike.
You pry open a portal right in front of Juggernaut Drive, she pulls the rest of you along, hundreds of meters up and away from your present location.
"Whoa." Juggernaut jukes up and down at the change.
"What happened?" Judgement Drive shouts.
The tops of the floating fortresses expel plumes of hostile magic into the air. A huge mass of red energy covers the place you just vacated, bubbling and firey. Then another vast effect strikes a heartbeat later, shadows appearing from nowhere and tearing up everything they touch. Another spell strikes, and another.
"I think they were expecting Goddess Gold." you say.
Judgement Drive looks around, "This was not here last time."
The salvo stops after several seconds. When the effects fade the vehicle depot appears untouched within the warding, but the ground surrounding it has been blasted to bare rock.
Campfires and piles of lesser demons cover the ground for miles, only broken up by a few slopes too steep to lie upon and a swath of land covered with dead vegetation instead. And there must be many powerful demons residing within the hellish fortresses. A faint red glow covers the ground from the largest fortress, which has taken station above a structure that must be the elven supergate.
A low ring sounds as chains hanging from one of the hovering fortresses rattle.
"Hell is empty, all the demons are here." Juggernaut mutters.
"We need to keep moving, follow me." you say.
Juggernaut lets go and the three of you seperate. You set a quick pace and attempt to steer away from the fortresses.
A nerve-wracking minute of flying avoids any obvious tells that you're being looked for. The supergate is crawling with demons of all types. Demonic webs stretch over the gate, anchored to stones that float in the air without support. A location stands out as being more fortified than the rest, a large tent next to a pillar.
You drift back to the Drives, "I see what might be the prison. I'm going to glide in carefully and check it by teleporting in."
Juggernaut frowns, "Please tell me you aren't going to leave us here when a demon comes by asking for papers."
"It's quicker if I'm only teleporting myself. I'll come back once I've scouted it."
"We won't stick around if there's an alarm, just so you know." Judgement Drive chides.
"I'll be careful."
A quick bit of re-configuration lets you glide in with your Panoply black as pitch, and hopefully indistinguishable from the night sky above you. You draw out the teleport to appear inside the webs and patrols, hovering where nothing should have been able to fly unhindered.
An eerie feel makes your back itch. Now that you're closer there's a large crater on the ground. The tent from before is floating above it, yet also staked on solid ground. You descend carefully, passing through where a pillar appeared to be moments before and feeling as though you are both above the ground and within it.
From here you can see up into the tent. A cage of swords holds a sparking fist-sized object, you know instantly upon seeing it that it's what remains of the cage that held you trapped. But below you….
Solid Core's motionless body lies at the bottom of the impossible crater, impaled by nine swords that emanate power. A sword that could defeat any foe if you were to take hold of it. A mesmerizing and intoxicating font of power.
Isn't she supposed to be alive? What's going on?
This is certainly worth a closer look. You extend a tendril of your Panoply to collect it.
"Don't touch that!"
A figure falls out of the tent above you. You know who she is before she reaches the ground (Steel, Infinity, Epic).
Goddess Grey has personally kept watch over the object imprisoning her youngest sister. And whatever this crater may hold.
----
Overclock!
Summit has the opportunity to take one action before Goddess Grey realizes who you are.
Pick one:
[X] Grab and fuse the mystery blade to prepare for a fight!
-[X] Battle tactics? (write-in, feel free to be vague about this)
-CrapCrapCrap-
[X] Start gushing about how she's your hero
-[X] What will you try to negotiate for? (write-in)
You think you have the hilt of the blade she gave you somewhere.
[X] Teleport to the prison cage and attempt to enter it!
Abort! Jump to the mission objective!
[X] Teleport away!
Nope. Nothing more to do here.
[X] Fight Goddess Grey head on. Without grabbing the artifact.
Perhaps you should set yourself on fire and cut off your legs first. She won't expect that!
[X] Something exceedingly clever? (write-in)
(Pioneer) What's going on?
"We have entered an endless recursion of time."
You are presently standing in a crater that does not exist and never had the event that led to its creation occur. The entity manifest in those swords is reaching out and has caught both your soul and Goddess Grey's soul in a snare that reaches across what is and what might have been. If either of you dies without being slain by the blades impaling Solid Core's corpse this encounter will reset back to the moment where Goddess Grey intervened.
You expect your abilities will grant excellent recall of your choices in this encounter. Goddess Grey will have fainter recall, but will still understand you better every restart.
If Summit Fuses The Unknown Blade she will receive an enormous boost in power and she will retain the Fused blade between resets.
Escape conditions:
Get killed via The Unknown Blade
Kill Goddess Grey using The Unknown Blade
Both Magical Girls stop fighting and leave the crater alive
----
Status of Combatants:
Magical Girl Summit: Unharmed, mind racing
Magical Girl Juggernaut Drive: Unharmed, waiting ~300 meters away
Magical Girl Judgement Drive: Unharmed, waiting ~320 meters away
Magical Girl Goddess Grey: Unharmed, dropping in
Hell's Second Legion: On Alert, wary after thinking they swatted an invasion attempt, averaging about 2 demons per square meter
----
+30 EXP Received decorations
+25 EXP Set foot (briefly) on a new world
+9 EXP Successful scouting
+1 EXP Pity about the otherworldly crater
280 + 65 = 345 EXP
[X][EXP] EXP Plan?
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- Location
- UTC -6
NOTE: This is according to UtOS lore, which does not match up with mainline. I'd also suggest thinking about reactions instead of trying to crunch numbers, any fighting will end once Grey figures out your tricks and decides to do something about them.
- (Unified Darkness) Goddess Grey
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The Smith
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