You settle in and extend your Panoply to give a field of vision over the battlefield. Next to you Floral Glory slumps down on a cushion and murmurs something too quiet for you to catch. The projector blinks with red diamond symbols in a few areas.
She settles down into a lying position with her head propped up by her arms and watches the projector. For a couple minutes things are quiet until the radio in Floral's pocket chirps with Blue Bandit's voice.
"I told Cash that you had Summit. She's with you right?"
Floral Glory fishes out the radio and replies. "Yeah, I grabbed her before the shock wore off. ...So she's fine."
"Good to hear. Where is she right now?"
'I'm right next to her.' you transmit.
Floral pushes herself up and looks between you and the radio.
"Wee~ell. So you are, I gotta see this. Floral, I'm going to be at your fortress of wimpiness soon. Stay put 'til I get there." Blue answers after a bit of a pause.
Floral slides back to her resting stance and puts her radio away, "I forgot for a moment that you can talk without talking. Do you see anything?"
"Yes. Another wave just ran into machine gun range."
Below you a few dozen lesser demons are swiftly cut down by the gunners of the Counter Force. Behind them an irregular stream of artillery rounds slams into the Dark's sparse fortifications.
"Doesn't sound like anything big, based on how the guns aren't going full blast and the tanks are quiet."
For a minute or so Floral Glory is quiet, then she haltingly starts talking again, "Can I ask you a personal question? As a comrade?"
"I may refuse to answer, but yes." you reply.
"Thanks, this has been bugging me. Are you straight, gay, or normal?"
That's… how does normal fit on that scale?
"Normal? What does that-"
She cuts you off, "Thank Goodness!" she beams at you. "What do you find attractive in girls?"
"Why would I be attracted to girls? I'm a girl." you clarify. "I wanted to know what you meant when you said normal."
"Ugh, just my luck… It was framing the question to encourage a certain answer." Floral Glory finishes formally while sinking further into her slouch. "Might as well answer my own question. I prefer girls, dudes might look nice but I wouldn't want to kiss one. So to my mind that's normal. What really gets to me is how every girl that... never mind."
You sit there for a few minutes not sure how to reply. Then you spot Blue Bandit approaching at some speed.
"Blue Bandit is almost here."
"Great. She's coming to laugh at me you know."
"Why would she laugh at you?"
"You are not the first MG that's clarified that she doesn't like girls." Floral Glory answers with a strained voice.
Blue Bandit does an unnecessary roll under the entrance curtains and announces herself.
"Hi Amber. I heard your terrible gaydar got you shot down again." Blue Bandit smirks widely.
"Eat shit and die Heidi."
That's not a good thing to say to a teammate, or to anyone! Blue Bandit just grins harder at the insult.
"That's a bad thing to say." you interject.
"Hmm? Names aren't a big deal unless you're next to Flawless Paladin. Don't worry about it."
"I am going to cover your cabin with poison ivy and kudzu." Floral Glory mutters.
"Young ladies shouldn't curse like soldiers." you clarify.
Floral Glory and Blue Bandit both look at you like you've grown another head.
"I am a soldier though," Blue Bandit fishes out a patch with the Counter Force emblem and a single bar from a pocket, "See? And I'd consider myself more of a hellion than a lady."
"Are you shitting me?" Floral responds, "Who would care if a Magical Girl swears a bit?"
You frown, "When my mother joined the Counter Force she made me promise that I wouldn't pick up bad language from the other soldiers."
The pair is quiet for a bit, then Blue Bandit speaks up.
"Does she think you're twelve or something? That's a little odd."
"I was eleven at the time. This was before Hope."
"Oh. That makes… wait. If you were part of the Counter Force for that long why are you such a noob?"
"Noob?"
"Sheesh. You've seen her fight."
"Sorry." Blue Bandit responds while placing herself on a free patch of cushion next to you, "I meant you don't seem at home as a Counter Force MG. Where did you fight during Hope?"
You direct your attention over the static battlefield below your Panoply. There are lights, there are stars in the inky sky above you, there are hundreds of people with magic of every kind protecting the fortifications. You aren't trapped, you aren't alone.
"I was captured by a demon before the battle of Hope and before being recruited as anything other than an object of study. A few weeks back I escaped and about a week ago I joined officially." you explain.
Floral Glory's eyes go wide. "Holy shit. What do they do to captured humans in Hell."
"I-" you go tense for a moment as too-clear memory approaches, "They do unspeakable things."
Floral fiddles with a sleeve for a second. "Uh, what kind- OW! Heidi!"
Blue Bandit smacks Floral Glory on the top of her head with an audible thwack.
"I just wanted to-"
"That's why I hit you, you nincompoop. How big of a sign do you need to drop the topic?" Blue Bandit gives you a thumbs up, "No wonder you're so badass, you're from the golden age of Magical Girls."
"Thank you." you say quietly, staring into the world around the tent.
Outside you spot Arc Mastermind (Magic, Technology, Legend) darting around some boulders to approach Floral's tent. Her rapid shifts in direction show no respect for inertia or momentum.
"Arc Mastermind is getting closer." you inform the others.
"Malargh." Floral Glory moans. "Does everyone know where my secret base is?"
"Everyone important." Blue Bandit cheerfully replies.
Floral Glory jerks up to a sitting position and stares at you intently. "So... Summit, since you kinda heard my name was Amber Bellum. And should have noticed that the hellion with blue hair is named Heidi Jurgen. What's your name?"
You suppose it isn't important, everyone you don't want to know your name already seems to have it. "My name is Anna Sanchez. Please call me Summit, everyone that calls me Anna nowadays has been an enemy."
"Have you told anyone else about that?" Blue Bandit asks.
"Yeah, she told you." Floral Glory raises one hand towards you. "Glad to meet another member of the A-Team!"
After a second Blue Bandit reaches over and grabs your right hand. With exaggerated care she pulls it to meet Floral's hand palm to palm.
"A-Team? Isn't that a TV show?" you ask.
Floral Glory withdraws her hand. "There's a lot of Magical Girls that have names starting with the letter A. As a member of this August Association of Magical Girls you have a duty to be awesome and amazing! I hear the uber Legend-Maker Brilliant Key is also part of the A-Team."
"It's a silly little thing where everyone uses lots of A words and pretends it makes them special. Last I heard they claimed Solid Core and Juggernaut Drive. No one can prove it so it's all just one of her goofy things. Like saying Amber and I are connected since both of us have five-letter first names and six-letter last names."
"Heh, that reminds me. Summit would be a Derse dreamer since Sanchez has seven letters."
"Case in point. One more way Amber tries to avoid doing work until you drag her into it." Blue Bandit concludes.
"I'm Blue Bandit and I'm allergic to fun." Floral Glory retaliates.
Arc Mastermind waltzes in, "Spot on Floral."
"Thanks. Why are you at my secret base?"
Arc Mastermind points a finger at you, "I was wondering how the new girl knew where the manic's shadow was going to attack."
"I am Magical Girl Summit. I have an innate ability to notice magic, that let me see the shadow magic that comprised the enemy and intercept it." you explain.
"That's a very useful ability Summit. If you've recovered you should help me by pointing out the next shadow and let ICETHORN laze around until the fight starts again. Since they teleport."
"I can also teleport."
"Yeah. She's been a Magical Girl for years. That tower outside is her weapon and she can see out of it." Floral Glory boasts.
Arc Mastermind frowns, "Very well. Alert me if another shadow arrives. I'll take my leave."
"Me too." Blue Bandit chimes in. "I've been reminded that I can't have fun right now and I can see you're keeping an eye out. Remember that almost dying is good for you!"
Blue Bandit gives a wave and follows Arc Mastermind out. They split up immediately and move behind barriers in the elven portion of the fortifications. Inside the tent Floral taps her fingers together and turns her head away from you.
After a minute she looks at the ground for a second and turns to face you with a blush, then directs her gaze at the projector screen. "So, uh. Things actually seem pretty quiet. Maybe we'll all get through the night without having to risk our lives again."
"It is quiet." you share. From what you've seen the time between waves has been increasing and the numbers decreasing. "And if I see the shadow again I'll just point it out for Arc Mastermind instead of attacking myself."
Floral Glory nods without looking at you. She seems less energetic than she was when she first brought you here.
----
Things are, in a word, quiet. Over the next five hours the shadowy figure tries to fly in three more times, each time being backlit by an explosive barrage from you and destroyed by a mighty beam from Arc Mastermind. Catapults scatter mines ahead of the fieldworks. The ineffective waves of demons stop entirely after two hours, none of them getting within a hundred meters of the machine guns.
You find ways to keep yourself occupied during the downtime. Talking to Floral Glory about some of your abilities brought your attention to how you had sped up your mind a couple of times earlier in the day. At the time it had just been to speed up your reflexes, but a bit of practice has your mind racing to several times it's normal speed for brief spurts. Having extra time to think gives a bit of an edge in combination with some of your other talents.
Pick one:
[X] [TRAINING] Radar. A "squawk" of electromagnetic rays to sweep over your surroundings and reveal things you otherwise couldn't see.
[X] [TRAINING] Dodge. Batting things aside is a valuable reflex, but you now often fight in expansive environments. Getting out of the cone of fire could be extremely useful against the attacks that refuse to be deflected.
[X] [TRAINING] Human Magic. You asked for, and got, someone to bring you training materials for Brandcraft and Magic Binary. That little accident made you want to know a bit more about how you could use those effects safely.
[X] [TRAINING] Spell Development Action of [Specify]. Toying around with your magic is satisfying. Especially when you can keep up with the moment when the magic happens. This is giving you great ideas.
----
As your shift is nearing its end you spot something enormous (Earth, Water, Fire, Horror) shifting in the dark valley as the sky begins to brighten. And the entirety of the Dark's line erupted with demon bodies running towards you. To the North three pillars of fire reach into the sky.
The projector in Floral's base suddenly gained a large number of red diamonds.
'Dark Star forces are moving to flank us!' someone transmits.
'METEOR Teams stand by. Requesting all guns to prepare bomblet missions.' Major Cash sends.
'And get some angels or gunships sweeping the peaks north of us.'
"My, my," Floral Glory jumps up and points at the screen with a big grin. "I didn't think the Dark would send a big wave while I was here. I'm going to turn them into shrubs!"
'There is a very large creature, at least 300 meters in diameter, behind the current wave.' you transmit.
A second after your announcement a bright beam shoots out from Arc Mastermind's location. Dozens of lesser demons are reduced to ash, and the glare reveals the vast bulk of a truly huge crab.
'This has become what veteran Magical Girls call a "bad time".' Arc Mastermind says smoothly over the radio.
'Ladies, not to impose, but could you work out some sort of miracle to keep the oversized monster from killing us all.' Major Cash sends.
Floral Glory grabs your hand. "I bet if you carry me I could clear out these goons three times as fast!"
'Summit. Lunatic Psyker is probably going to appear if I try to fight Massy's crab form. I'll need backup, but I think we could blast the legs off to make it stop for a little bit.' Arc Mastermind transmits.
At the same time Blue Bandit calls you as well.
'I need a lift. There's only a few places where the casters to the north could be hiding right now, if we get there fast we can make them panic and bottle them up for the artillery or Angels to kill. It should only take a couple minutes, and we're going to need to wait for a titan killer to deal with the crab anyways.'
----
[X] Plan?
Default actions of relevant actors
Summit: Hold still and be useless
Floral Glory: Head to the front and use her overpowered recursive attack to wipe out unlucky demons by the thousands.
Blue Bandit: Mutter uncharitable things and shoot at the big things from a kilometer away.
Arc Mastermind: Flying Artillery Platform.
Counter Force: Deploy the Tanks forward and get the guns working at full speed.
Elven Empire: Prepare to flood any breaches in the CF's line.
METEOR Circle 1: Hit the giant crab!
METEOR Circle 2: Hit the giant crab!
Fairy Reaction Force: Fly (slowly) to secure the peaks.
(Protip: Don't fly out to engage the giant crab without either waiting for the METEOR circles or telling them to hold off for a bit.)
Support is on the way! (determines order of arrival, all of them are coming.)
[X] [REINFORCEMENTS] The Emissaries of Light just took station.
[X] [REINFORCEMENTS] Angel Felix's flight has been alerted.
[X] [REINFORCEMENTS] Mystery Box™
----
+25 EXP Spotter Extraordinaire
+10 EXP Lots of chatting
+10 EXP Got a chance to try things out
30 + 45 = 75 EXP
[X] EXP Plan?
