I don't know where the ability bible is. I might have skipped past it by accident, but I didn't see it under the information tab or on the front page of CW's main thread.
Her you go.
It is on the front page of CW's quest, and I could have sworn kelllogo put it up in the useful links but there's nothing there right now.
So, @kelllogo, I'm guessing you have a copy of the OP saved on your computer and you just edit that and replace the OP entirely rather than try and edit it here. And that you edited the link into the OP but not the template. Is that right, or did I just halucinate it being up there?
Yeah was pondering that :3
I was thinking we'd cast the other spell first before following it up with Standing wave. Like a binding spell or damage amplifying spell then Inchoate.
If that's doable, pulling off a double wave force cast would be more easily accomplished.
The old damage reduction Summit possessed. It got folded into Ceaseless Warrior, which is a considerable upgrade to it (unless something does more than 50% of your Health and nerfs Super Abilities).
Messenger of Ruin? Are they just that scared shitless of us cause we just soloed their small army and their boss?
That's Abby's special Presence Ability. She makes her friends hit extra hard when she's near. Pray for the destruction of the wicked and unjust...
... I'm trying to figure out if she's just young or if she's also an Angel we ended up making somehow.
She's an odd angel. More of a spellcaster. She's also pretty young, her last incarnation died (relatively) recently fighting a powerful Dark Magical Girl. Goddess Grey
I'm kind of curious what we got for this one. Anyone?
It opened up the Fire-based Ability ladder.
... I missed this the first time through. And so did everyone else. Dwarf Fortress MG? I feel sorry for her.
This was actually commented on by a few people, or at least noted when Boatshrieks was mentioned.
Depends on the nature of the buff. Spell buffs and such like Guardian Touch, yeah, but negating ability stacks isn't a standard function on the Dispel line.
The old damage reduction Summit possessed. It got folded into Ceaseless Warrior, which is a considerable upgrade to it (unless something does more than 50% of your Health and nerfs Super Abilities).
Messenger of Ruin? Are they just that scared shitless of us cause we just soloed their small army and their boss?
That's Abby's special Presence Ability. She makes her friends hit extra hard when she's near. Pray for the destruction of the wicked and unjust...
... I'm trying to figure out if she's just young or if she's also an Angel we ended up making somehow.
She's an odd angel. More of a spellcaster. She's also pretty young, her last incarnation died (relatively) recently fighting a powerful Dark Magical Girl. Goddess Grey
I'm kind of curious what we got for this one. Anyone?
It opened up the Fire-based Ability ladder.
... I missed this the first time through. And so did everyone else. Dwarf Fortress MG? I feel sorry for her.
This was actually commented on by a few people, or at least noted when Boatshrieks was mentioned.
"What were you doing with item Q3-000-1055 that resulted in its present state?" the clerk drones while marking a checklist on his clipboard.
You take a moment to marvel at how utterly unremarkable this clerk is. Nothing stands out, they have a face-shaped face, a voice devoid of passion, and a perfectly average height and build. The only feature that catches your eye is how long the checklist they are marking down.
"I was being impaled by Starlancer, those two holes are from where her spear pierced me. That's also where the blood came from." you explain again.
"You weren't hitting anything with this then." they ask skeptically.
"I already told you twice."
"Very well. Before you sign I will point out that this was a unique and valuable item and there will be an independent investigation. If you would like to-"
You take the pen from their hand and write 'Summit' on the relevant piece of paper.
As you hover out you wonder why no one seems to care this much about what you do with the wrecked tanks.
----
The lodgings for Magical Girls are still a hub of activity. The room with the projector screens has become a dispatch center (You're "reserve" at the moment) instead of a videogame room. Further from the entrance, another room has had the tables and chairs stacked up to make room for a dozen cots.
More than half are occupied. Five women in Counter Force uniforms, practitioners since all of them had magic (Death, Magic, Evil, Corrosion, Protection), are sleeping. As are the de-transformed Monster Keeper and Steel Monsoon. Flawless Paladin sits on one of the couches outside the room in her civilian mode, doodling in a coloring book.
"Better than the floor, dontcha think?" she asks.
You hadn't expected them to be placed on the floor when you handed them off to some fellows with a jeep. If anything you thought they would be placed in their rooms.
"Why here instead of their rooms?"
"Easier to shake them awake if we keep them in one place. So active MGs sleep here when they're worn out."
That has an unwanted implication, "If I needed to rest my eyes for a bit would I be able to use my room?"
"Nope!" Flawless Paladin answers cheerfully, "I'll write you in on the board if you pick a cot. And don't worry about running out, they can set up about sixty cots if they need to."
"I'm not sure where they'd fit." you observe.
"All along the halls-. Aren't you going to drop your transformation?"
"No." you pause in starting to lie down in the nearest cot.
"You should. Otherwise you'll just waste time when it does wear off and leaves you worn out anyways."
"I'm used to it, I can just re-transform and keep going. And my shoulder and arm will smasm too much to rest if my Panoply isn't holding them still."
"That's ...interesting. It explains why you've been MG every time I've seen you. When you wake up can we discuss your abilities? We're pretty much supposed to keep Steel Monsoon in one piece when she starts kicking butt. So we should know what the other's capable of."
You nod. Your Panoply shifts to lighting press points on your twitching shoulder and you let yourself relax….
----
A draft of bitterly cold air snakes in from outside. Zoe, your mistress's ally, keeps writing on her sheaf of papers while tapping her foot. She doesn't react to the chill, so you slowly rise to re-tighten the tent flaps and push a little of your magic into the air to heat it back up.
You hope the mistress returns soon. Lisa was quite kind to her subordinates, but every time Zoe appeared upheaval followed. If the visiting Magical Girl pointed you out as disloyal you would be swiftly killed. It's enough to make the back of your neck itch to think that she could have you disposed of on a whim. It will be better when the mistress returns and you can go back to heating homes and forges with your talents.
You crouch back into the corner furthest away from Magical Girl Silver Regent. If you just do your job of keeping the tent warm she can keep ignoring you.
Zoe stops writing. She stops tapping her foot and bites the end of her pen while holding something to her ear.
"Stay safe out there." she remarks to the empty-except-for-you tent.
Nesting behind the mistress's bed still feels like a good idea, you keep doing that.
"She's empowered then. You know what to do."
"Shit. Act friendly, Anna should see that she's outmatched and submit."
"Good one."
Definitely not talking to you. Not that you've seen her say much other than 'disloyal' to demons of your stature.
Zoe jumps up from her seat, "On it!" she runs out through the closed tent flap, tearing the cords keeping it closed.
You start pulling out new cords to retie it. It wouldn't do for the mistress to have a damaged tent. If things are right she might lose face, or be angered. You've seen her impale an intemperate demon ten times her size and walk away unscratched when she became angry, you don't want to be the first subordinate to discover what roses that anger.
Quickly you have everything put together, the tent flap is closed, the air is reheated to a comfortable level, and everything is put away. You back into your corner and hope the mistress returns soon.
A bubble of smoke appears from nowhere, then pops to deposit a figure covered in blood and smoke unto the rugs covering the ground.
No, not a figure -- you recognize what remains of her long golden hair.
"Mistress!" you wail.
Zoe bursts back into the tent -- snapping the cords of the newly-retied entrance -- and dives to grab mistress.
"Lisa! Hold on!" she glares at you, "Hold her stumps closed. Keep her from losing more blood!"
You leap up and wrap long fingers around where the mistress's legs end in ragged stumps.
All for naught. She lets out a pained gasp and becomes still.
This is almost certainly the end for you. Even the Magical Girls that had been brought to heel delighted in killing lesser demons like you when frustrated or bored. Mistress was dead and could no longer protect you, mistress was dead and Silver Regent's plans had failed. You keep pressure on the stumps of your mistress's corpse not knowing what else to do.
"I'm not going to kill you, you sniveling rodent." Zoe says flatly, "Carry her. I'm going to have to visit Goddess Red on her terms."
She looks away and speaks under her breath, "Damn you Anna."
----
You startle awake. The… something you can't quite remember had gotten you worked up. It's probably nothing important, just a bad memory distilled in a dream.
The shoulder that had been bugging you has calmed down to a dull ache. You pull yourself out of the cot you were using, noticing that the rest of the cots have been filled with more female Practitioners.
Outside the entryway a number of people are walking back and forth with small trays of food. It's quiet and dim in this room, probably some sort of Brandcraft.
Your transformation times out and you find yourself hitting the cot on your way to the ground. Vision swims as a wave of fatigue hits, but you grit your teeth and force your mantle of power to return in a swirl of orange light.
Taking a breath, you stride renewed into the dining area.
Definitely Brandcraft. Moments after crossing the threshold you hear echoing explosions from artillery. You speed towards the dispatch room.
You're still on reserve. Artillery is firing constantly and there are less Magical Girls in the active column then when you started your nap. You push yourself in front of the officer that seems least busy.
"Are we being attacked?"
He fiddles with his glasses for a moment before answering, "Just a stream of worthless demons. You're the new girl, right? Summit? You get used to it, it sounds busy right now because General Manners and Governor Quinn want to keep them away from the front door for a day or two."
"I want to help." you insist.
"Thank you. But you should stay away from battle until you're scheduled or called in. The UD can attack for days trying to grind us down. We need MGs available at all times and for that you need to fight when others are resting and rest when others are fighting." he says.
...That's entirely sensible, annoying as it is to know that you were napping while others were fighting to the point of exhaustion, "When am I fighting then?"
"Midnight. You've some time until you are fighting for 'air superiority'. Oh, and you should arrive at the front gates a little earlier to get some instructions." he reads from a screen.
"Thanks." you say.
"You should be able to see it on your Datamine." he points out.
You nod and duck out of the room.
If things are under control you would like to grab a bite to eat. There was a table set up with finger food in the dining area. A pair of small plates are soon holding a quick meal. You find a spot and start eating.
Before you finish Flawless Paladin shows up and sits across from you. She doesn't say anything for a moment as you keep eating.
"So any major weakness I should be ready to save you from?" she asks, "Do you burn extra calories and need to stop every hour to eat?"
Some ideas go through your head. Your weakness used to be things that could keep up with you, now though? You don't know your own weakpoints well right now. Not being able to do effective damage compared to others?
Steel Monsoon called her a gossip. If you spread something unique and false you might get some info about if she'll gossip about you, "Rain is a weakness of mine. It slows down my flight and makes it hard to teleport. Being fast is something I rely on heavily."
Of course, rain doesn't matter and you can handle wind quite well. But you were slowed down in your recent fight by carrying some sort of beacon while you were fighting, and there was an effect that made long range teleportation dangerous. Blaming all of that on the rain seems to fit together neatly.
"Must be nice to be a speedster. I have good shielding against ranged attacks, but things that can attack quickly are quite scary to me. I can deal with the big ones if you stop the fast ones. Any types of magic you have to avoid?"
Divinity comes to mind, as does… "Annihilation. Protection doesn't do well against Annihilation."
"Annihilation is never a good thing to be hit by." Flawless Paladin agrees.
"Why did you try to save Starlancer?"
"Oh!" she starts, "Ah, I'm a big softy and don't like thinking about how other Magical Girls might be an enemy. It's part of why I joined the Counter Force. So I was hoping she'd lay down her weapon and we'd drag her back as a prisoner."
"Steel Monsoon-"
She cuts you off and jogs away, "Thanks! Gotta go!"
----
If Night Sky is awake she'll probably want to pick up where she left off yesterday. A quick look around should spot her if she's out. Or she could be sitting on the roof of the Magical Girl quarters -- like she is right now. With Reinforce actually smiling as Night Sky uses her arm to point at people below.
What is she doing?
When you hover nearby Night Sky lets go of Reinforce and waves you closer, "Hi friend! Did you see all the craters we made?"
"Yes I did. It almost seems odd that Team ATLANTIA was sent to help you."
Night Sky's chipper mood dampens slightly, "Only because a bunch of them had magic that stopped my best spells." she perks back up, "I heard you exploded the fire demon in single combat. What spell did you use? Reinforce is sure your weapons wouldn't have been enough, I want to see your spell!"
"It's a very dangerous spell. Until quite recently it damaged me when I used it." you begin.
Reinforce butts in, "If you could discover how to protect yourself from your own spell it should be simple for you to teach us how to do so."
There's something in her voice that puts you on edge.
She continues, "And if Night Sky is being targeted by fiends that protect themselves from Darkness it may be dangerous for us to not know your fancy spell."
"I was hoping to hear some more pointers on casting from Night Sky." you say.
"I can help you more if I see that spell!" Night Sky grins.
All around you is a small hive of activity and security. A mishap in Wave Force could cause a rather dramatic explosion. Right in the face of the caster -- as you are quite aware. You need a better spot. And you need to silence that part of you that thinks Reinforce is hoping that will happen to give her an excuse to kill you, it's probably false, or Night Sky will try to save you at least.
The whole situation seems to get measurably worse when you think it over. Is Night Sky angry that you didn't let her touch you? Is Reinforce angry about that? You've been sleeping within a hundred miles of the black-winged Epic girl, which is starting to feel much too close.
No. That's no way to think. Reinforce is probably just stressed from a frustrating fight. And you're sure she has worse spells than Wave Force she could cast on you.
"Let's head somewhere that won't break too many things while we practice." you answer.
"Great! We'll go to that mountain pool. I can warm it up and we'll all be able to relax after some spellwork."
Reinforce gives an ornate bow and picks up Night Sky in a fireman's carry before darting ahead. You follow as she flies north, Shifting to keep up with her rush of speed. Soon the three of you arrive at a small plateau with a moderately deep pool of springwater on one side and a cliff face on the other.
You quickly go over your spell in your head, trying not to think about how far medical attention and witnesses just became.
"When I cast the spell I yank in a bunch of boundary space until I've got a handful that's… double taunt. As much as I can get. Then I stretch it out more to make it get cold. While it's stretched I shake it lots, like gating, but short. Once it's hot you twist it really fast, then let go to let everything retract and spin away. Right before it splashes back you need to slam into where it's going to manifest so it goes where you want. If you don't slam it it wastes a lot of the power and it hits you just as hard as your target." you explain with your panoply generating illuminating pictures.
Reinforce blinks. Night Sky looks bewildered. They look at each other and rearrange themselves to stand behind you.
"We'll keep that in mind. Now cast it!" Night Sky orders.
You quickly gather the forces and set them loose with a shout, "Wave Force!"
A crooked line of sparks shoots out from your palm. All around you the aftershocks of your attack manifest as twinkling sparks spilling from nowhere.
Behind you Night Sky gets a flat expression, then she steps back and starts pushing black clouds around her hand while sticking her tounge slightly outside her mouth.
"Ah ha! Good idea." Reinforce starts copying Night Sky's actions.
You quickly run to the cliff face to get away from where they might hit with a targeted blast.
Nothing happens for a few minutes. They talk to each other in incomprehensible snippets. You think Night Sky is adapting your effect to work with metaphorical darkness and light by the way she makes a cloud of Darkness dance for her spellwork.
Then Night Sky gives a triumphant shout, "I got it!"
She emits a cloud of dark magic, then draws it into a tightly-bound knot of interlocking filaments. The filaments shudder like guitar strings, then she flattens it and sets the whole mass spinning so quickly it blurs.
She lets go. The disc of darkness shudders as it becomes a hoop, then contracts back on Night Sky's outstretched hand, "Wave Force!"
A perfect line of light shoots out of her palm. Traveling about two thirds of the distance your own Wave Force can reach. Night Sky somehow changed the aspect to Light when she was adapting your spell, but it feels like she's gotten the essence of it.
"Wave Force!" Reinforce produces an exact copy of Night Sky's performance.
"You already got it. That was fast, it took me more than a month to get that idea to do anything. And longer to keep it from just exploding in my face." you state.
"It's easy with a great teacher! I even stopped it from damaging me by making sure it stayed symmetrical." Night Sky beams.
"If you use your spear to empower this spell it won't stay symmetrical." Reinforce adds, "That would generate a spike flying back at you no matter what."
"I know that. That's obvious! Lets relax for a bit since Summit taught us so well." Night Sky deflects.
She steps over to the pool and puts her hand into the water. When she removes it a second later the pool is steaming hot. And a drop of blood falls from her hand, welling up from the point where her version of Wave Force touched her.
Night Sky pokes the bleeding patch gingerly, "Ouch. How did you come up with this sort of thing?"
"I was a prisoner in some kind of artificial dimension. There were some supports inside of it that pushed on space in odd ways, once I figured that out I found other things I could do and started trying to make it break from the inside." you explain while Reinforce grabs Night Sky's hand and applies a healing effect.
"How long did that take?" Night Sky asks while half-heartedly trying to get her hand back from Reinforce.
"A long time. When I managed to destroy the prison it exploded in the face of the demon that imprisoned me. He escaped before I could kill him." you frown, "Then I escaped into Hell until I found my way home."
And when you next see that snake you're going to make sure he can't run away. Then you will kill him, and it won't be because of what you've suffered. It will be an unselfish action to protect all the people that bastard would otherwise torture and dominate when you tear him six new-
Reinforce has pulled Night Sky behind her and is gathering darkness around her hand.
You stop scowling and assume a calm expression, "Bad memories."
Night sky scrambles around Reinforce, "Hey! Quit it!"
"She was preparing to attack." Reinforce says.
"She wasn't! Why do you do this!"
This is rather uncomfortable. And Reinforce is still holding a rather worrying amount of dark magic around her hand.
"Should I come back later?" you ask.
"No." declares Night Sky firmly, "You let us learn your spell so I'll help you with your magic. But first you two need to calm down."
She points at the slightly steaming pool, "So we'll relax in this makeshift hot spring until we've stopped being wound up!"
Is she serious?
Night Sky starts disrobing.
By all appearances, yes.
----
Not wanting Night Sky to be upset you go along with her request -- to a point. It only took a few minutes for her to tire of trying to grope you, most of which you spent with both arms covering your chest. After that she initiated a brief conflict by splashing water around. In short order she was shouting for it to stop after Reinforce and yourself had dropped the pool by about a head's height with your waves.
It was actually rather fun to feel the water rushing when your Panoply displaced it. You had never considered swimming with it before.
The three of you had moved on to a less energetic contest. Night Sky standing up to take a ragged breath as you and Reinforce kept noses below the waterline.
You were, of course, cheating by expanding your lungs to hold a great deal of air. The thought of besting Reinforce appealing even in such a trivial way.
If you had a sister would you interact with her in this way?
The seconds tick by until two minutes have passed, which prompts your competitor to stand straighter as well, "She's cheating. She's got to be cheating." she says without a hint of breathlessness.
You start exhaling, making a stream of bubbles. And then keep exhaling.
Night Sky giggles, "You don't need to breathe and you still lost."
Reinforce rubs her face and leaves the pool, grabbing her clothing while you continue to exhale.
"Tell me." Reinforce asks while making the water on her evaporate, "What do you eat to get your breasts that size?"
That's an odd question. You're not, well, enviable in that respect.
"So Night Sky and myself can be sure to avoid eating those things." she finishes.
Ah, that makes some sense, you suppose. Night Sky starts giggling again.
"Crickets, tiny fish, and sometimes mud when I got really hungry." you explain.
Reinforce gives you an unreadable expression before pulling her clothes over her head.
"Um, never mind that. What were you trying to do with your magic?" Night Sky slides next to you.
"It's been strange lately. Mana Bolts." a pair of purple globes fly out of your Panoply into the evening sky above you.
"I already know that one."
"There was also something strange earlier today." you focus for a second on what you remembered.
You run through it in your head a few times before recalling the odd sensation and replicating it. A bright green spark dances in front of your face.
"Neat! That's some form of counter-magic, try to stretch it over something. I'm not very good at learning those and already have a spell for the job, so I'm not going to guide you through it."
You fiddle with the sparks until you've attached a name to the effect. Night Sky supports your practicing by conjuring spheres of fire that your new spell makes disappear while you keep the sparks over them. It's a rather weak force at the moment, but you feel that there's a hidden effect that may become apparent if Quell becomes strong enough.
There's even a chance to have Reinforce and Night Sky offer observations and suggestions on how you use spells.
[X] [SPELL] Pick a Spell Development action.
----
"I'm sorry. She'll kill me if I don't stop you." you explain.
The younger of the purple-haired Divinities waves for the rest of her group to stay back, "I saw her back at Firebase Momo! She's friendly!"
"We'll stay put if you do." Gabriel says while keeping her sword pointed at you.
"Countdown start! Core PURGE!" the smaller Divinity shouts.
A wave of power emerges from her and engulfs you. As it does so a distortion rises from you and keeps the energy at bay.
Small purple looks blankly at you, "Why does this always happen! Gabriel, try to hit the seal, gently please."
"Don't! That's what's keeping me alive!" you shout back while shifting your Panoply to keep your face and life-granting seal well protected.
----
The first thought out of your head as you flew out the window was that the Dark had picked a terrible time to attack in force. It was the middle of the night, raining, and visibility was almost nil. It was rather fortunate that when you Fused the downed Counter Force gunship several weeks ago, it contained the avionics necessary for flying in such horrific conditions. So you pulled the necessary instruments out of your Panoply and started off towards the sound of battle.
Artillery, grinding treads, Anti-Demon Rifles, machine guns, and high explosives. The sound of the Counter Force retaliating. The use of small arms were probably the most indicative of where the fighting was heaviest, so you turned towards it. After a minute of flying in that direction, bright lights appeared over the battlefield. Star shells. The rain was dampening their effect, but you could still see the shifting masses of demons on the ground.
What Hell's Legions were doing was obvious from what you could see. They were focusing the lesser demons to occupy the Light for some reason. A distraction incredibly plain to see. Unfortunate that the weather obfuscated what the Dark was doing on the back lines. But as you were about to start an attack run on the masses in front, a pink ball of magic (Force, Will) gathered above them. Raging Heart seemed to have the front lines under control for now. But more importantly, several new sets of star shells ignited above the entire battlefield, courtesy of the artillery.
*There.
So that's what they were doing. Probably not the first time the Dark has tried this over the years, but since a hail of artillery shells haven't lit up the Dark Star Summoner's position along with the siege weapons being set up there, Command likely doesn't know they're there yet. Time to call it in. "Commander Black, this is Summit. I have identified the position of a cadre of Dark Star Summoners and a brigade of siege weapons. They are located on a small copse, three kilometers from base of the fortifications. Requesting permission to engage."
"Summit, this is Black. Permission denied. The Artillery has been notified and a drone is on station to look for them. As soon as we have confirmation on their location, the 14th Artillery will shell them to Hell. In this chaos, I can't allow a magical girl into the melee where she might end up being a victim of friendly fire. Even though I know you'd probably be fine regardless, over."
"Requesting permission to bombard them from long range then."
"Granted, over."
*Light reigns.
You grin as the Panoply morphs to your desire. A configuration you only recently figured out. A way to make your Panoply emit immense amounts of magic, pulsed into bolts firing at hundreds of thousands of shots of minute, but so fast that anyone not specifically looking for it only sees a perfect ray of light. So you form three barrels, two and a half meters long each, and unleash your wrath.
Panoply: 1600 Base Damage, +400 Dice, +200 Light of Discovery, +205 A Strong Heart, +640 Ordnance, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light = 19045 Total Damage
Panoply: 1600 Base Damage, +400 Dice, +200 Light of Discovery, +205 A Strong Heart, +640 Ordnance, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light = 19045 Total Damage
Panoply: 1600 Base Damage, +400 Dice, +200 Light of Discovery, +205 A Strong Heart, +640 Ordnance, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light, +1600 Rain of Light = 19045 Total Damage
19045 + 19045 + 19045 = 57115 Total Damage
*Five more attacks this strong follow this in one round.*
The Forces of Hell: He's dead, Jim.
Everything in your target area is washed away in a stream of light as you continue firing for almost ten seconds. The light from firing the Panoply illuminated the battlegrounds more than the star shells ever did, followed immediately by Raging Heart's Starlight Breaker falling on the most concentrated portion of the Legion and the Counter Force booting them back to hell in short order after seeing the entirety of their nemeses' forces.
----
"Hey, Key! Look over there! Summit's back from Milidia!"
"Huh. She's only been away, what, a week and a half?"
"Sounds about right... OH COME ON!"
"I take it you found out something interesting?"
"IT'S BULLSHIT! SO MUCH BULL! RAAAGH! HOW?"
"You're starting to scare me a bit, Insight. Can you calm down and tell me what the issue is?"
"THE PROBLEM IS THAT MAGICAL GIRLS JUST DON'T GROW THAT MUCH IN SUCH A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME!"
"Dare I ask how much her power has grown?"
"YES! THE ANSWER IS YES!"
You wake up from another catnap in the quiet room with the cots. That was ...odd. Especially the bit with Insight, you remember her being more smug than that.
Someone had left two letters under your cot. You grab them and open the thinner one first.
The first one was simple: Report to Signals after your next combat shift. This was corroborated by a message on your Datamine.
The second was a bit more lengthy. Magical Girl Machine Code thanked you for your efforts and recommended (demanded) that your time would be better spent on building wunderwaffen instead of repairing tanks. She added a map showing the two points where a towed Anti-Demon Tank would get stuck with suggestions for how to terraform or construct a lift at those spots.
She also stated that the effort you spent on tanks was just a political tactic for the Counter Force to claim less resources spent. Which had become extravagantly wasteful with Machine Code's judgement of your value as a builder.
Something to think about.
For now you have an assignment to report to. You grab some more food from the tables and eat it quickly in a more sedate dining area. The sounds of artillery still boom in the distance regularly.
The front gates has to be near the tower where Night Sky brought you yesterday. It's a short flight to get there.
The place is in a state of organized chaos. Columns of armored elves march alongside jeeps of Counter Force soldiers and non-armored elves. Fairies guide hovering rocks carrying a few varieties of multi-barreled guns. Glowing balloons hover in the air with no apparent means of support. There are a few knots of people that aren't in motion behind the damaged wall, you head to the one that appears to be a Counter Force location.
You are quickly herded to "Magical Girl Wrangler Leonhart" and given a brief lecture on how to survive on the battlefield of Milidia. Don't do dumb things like charge into a group of demons that aren't already fighting allied troops. Make sure to run quickly if you do something impressive to keep from getting killed by an artillery spell. Stay away from allied groups because it will get them hit by an artillery spell if you're spotted. Stay away from enemy groups because it will get you hit by an artillery spell if you appear to be winning.
Basically, be prepared to listen to that little voice in your head when it tells you to run.
After the priority of staying alive came your mission goals: to keep the air above the Light's lines clear of enemy scouts. Or to at least spot them so that others could destroy them. Then you were to keep ready for special goals or duties. And finally to harry and impede the United Darkness's forces when the opportunity presented itself.
"Don't be a hero until we tell you to be a hero."
----
You look out over the makeshift fortifications. In the gleam of firing guns you see scattered groups of Counter Force soldiers and vehicles around large rocks that weren't there in the afternoon. Streams of bullets fire from the machine guns bristling from the peaks of new stone.
It looked wonderfully one sided at the moment. Further back, away from where the HMGs were aiming the ground was regularly pelted with large explosions. Further back thousands of elves stood behind larger conjured stones fully armored and armed.
Until sunrise it was your mission to keep everyone fighting alongside you safe from enemy fliers or potential esoteric threats. You had no intention of failing.
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[X] [NIGHT] Be Heroic. Attack ground-bound groups of lesser demons and send them into disarray when you aren't hunting down things that fly. If you spot things that look like spell-casters dive into their group and try to destroy them.
[X] [NIGHT] Be Proactive Use long-range Ordnance fire on ground-bound demons when you aren't hunting things that fly. Fly beyond the UL's lines trying to spot spell-casters for allied artillery to deal with.
[X] [NIGHT] Be safe Shift constantly during combat, and only attack flyers. Stay within the UL's lines as much as practical.
[X] [NIGHT] Be Reactive Stay on the ground behind everyone else until you or someone else spots flyers. Keep yourself ready for unusual events.
+50 EXP Rested Training Bonus
+15 EXP Wave Force Proliferation
+25 EXP Friendly screwing around with Night Sky
+40 EXP Reflections from the Kaleidoscope
[X] [NIGHT] Be Proactive Use long-range Ordnance fire on ground-bound demons when you aren't hunting things that fly. Fly beyond the UL's lines trying to spotspell-casters for allied artillery to deal with.
I'll defer to other people on an EXP plan since i just got here
"When I cast the spell I yank in a bunch of boundary space until I've got a handful that's… double taunt. As much as I can get. Then I stretch it out more to make it get cold. While it's stretched I shake it lots, like gating, but short. Once it's hot you twist it really fast, then let go to let everything retract and spin away. Right before it splashes back you need to slam into where it's going to manifest so it goes where you want. If you don't slam it it wastes a lot of the power and it hits you just as hard as your target." you explain with your panoply generating illuminating pictures.
...
"It's easy with a great teacher! I even stopped it from damaging me by making sure it stayed symmetrical." Night Sky beams.
[X] [SPELL] Aggressive Absorption
[X] [NIGHT] Be Reactive
[X] [EXP] Plan Wave Force
-[X] Inchoate Wave - 245xp
-[X] Shifting 7 -> 8 - 70xp
It's not Anna without eating Antagonists!
And we have been ordered to:
Don't do dumb things like charge into a group of demons that aren't already fighting allied troops. Make sure to run quickly if you do something impressive to keep from getting killed by an artillery spell. Stay away from allied groups because it will get them hit by an artillery spell if you're spotted. Stay away from enemy groups because it will get you hit by an artillery spell if you appear to be winning.
Basically, be prepared to listen to that little voice in your head when it tells you to run.
After the priority of staying alive came your mission goals: to keep the air above the Light's lines clear of enemy scouts. Or to at least spot them so that others could destroy them. Then you were to keep ready for special goals or duties. And finally to harry and impede the United Darkness's forces when the opportunity presented itself.
-Avoid moving into enemy lines of fire
-Shoot down enemy fliers moving over our section
-Stand by for Special Events
-Take advantage of opportunities.
Be Heroic disregards all our orders
Be Proactive fulfills two orders and disregards two
Be Safe fulfills three orders and disregards one
Be Reactive fulfills four orders.
XP vote grabs the Wave Force upgrade and starts building to the second Wave upgrade.
Also it's tragic that:
1) Flawless Paladin is a horrible spy.
2) Summit is even more horrible at figuring out there's such a thing as a spy.
[X] [SPELL] Aggressive Absorption
[X] [NIGHT] Be Reactive
[X] [EXP] Plan Wave Force
-[X] Inchoate Wave - 245xp
-[X] Shifting 7 -> 8 - 70xp
Flawless paladin is a terrible spy but she is a Flawless Paladin. After all, would not a paladin seek good even when fallen into the dark? Her Nature betrays her and the Dark.
Wave Force is good for one guy with a boatload of health, so most higher level demons, but for anything else we really want Panoply stacked as high as possible.
Seriously, considering the things we could stack on it with even just Protean level 3 or 4, the escalation is fucking real. Granted, we need to actually upgrade our Panoply at some point to do that.
There's also a bit of an odd thing going on at the shop:
It's been addressed before. Both are Protean abilities, but the expensive one is something unlocked via Fuse while the cheap one is unlocked via our ability ladders.
The one from Fuse is more expensive because there's no prereqs for buying it.
[X] [SPELL] Aggressive Absorption
[X] [EXP] Ride the Wave
-[X] Inchoate Wave - 245xp
And then save for more levels of panoply/versatility of form so we can be better at anti-mook combat
[X] [SPELL] Aggressive Absorption
[X] [EXP] Plan Wave and Rend
There are a lot of relatively cheap abilities we should now go and splash to quickly increase our capabilities in unique ways instead of walking up one XP tree again.
There are a lot of relatively cheap abilities we should now go and splash to quickly increase our capabilities in unique ways instead of walking up one XP tree again.
Wave Force is good for one guy with a boatload of health, so most higher level demons, but for anything else we really want Panoply stacked as high as possible.
Check what Grand Dispel does and consider how it would interact with Multi-caster.
