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The chamber at the heart of the Holophusikon - Beyond the great double-doors - is equal part Camelot and torture chamber; A spiderweb of chains rustling above a great round table, the surface polished and smooth and absolutely empty.

Above - Like the centerpiece in some gothic horror story - The winding chains sketch out the silhouette of a hanging figure: A shape half again as large as you are, badged with rust - Bound tightly, inverted, the fitful light leaping across pitted metal.

Phantom Edge. Or what remains of him, at least - Right arm severed beneath the elbow, a ragged stump where his head should be, a great, gaping wound gouged into a breastplate of battered black steel, one that quite nearly split the armor into two.

The designs from the walls are echoed across the suspended form: Great thorny rows of script and inscription gleaming in the wan light, until it seems almost to blur and merge with the surroundings...As if this place has grown up around it, an organic extrusion of the riven figure.

"He's the one-" Tyrian Edge is saying; He's risen from his seat, artificial muscles bunching beneath purple armor - He looks like he's going to make a break for the door, any moment now. "-He was *in the arcade*-"

To his side - Volt Regios turns, cobalt light smoldering in the horizontal slit of his visor. The great horns of his pauldrons frame his helm, fitful sparks leaping between the points and his crest. "-I'm impressed," he seethes. There's lightning in his voice, distorting it into an atonal crackling buzz. "This might just work, Kou - Or you may have killed us all."

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"No names," Bishamon cuts in, sharply; His lacquered black armor stays at rest, perched on his throne-seat - His gaze swivelling towards you, a quiet satisfaction to his voice...Before he rather ruins the effect, by rubbing the back of his head with a gauntleted hand - Making a metallic squeal like fingernails on a chalkboard.

"So, uh - You're here at last," he goes on, a little awkwardly - Gesturing to either side. "This is Tyrian Edge - And that's Volt Regios. Together, we're..."

[ ] "-The Black Tri-Stars, I know."
[ ] "...Time for introductions, then?"
[ ] "Is this really necessary?"
[ ] "Your *name* is Kou?"

[ ] (To Tyrian Edge.) "-We've met."
[ ] (To Tyrian Edge.) "Think very carefully about what you do next."
[ ] (To Tyrian Edge.) "Sit down. I'm not going to hurt you."
[ ] (To Tyrian Edge.) "Relax. I'm here on invitation."

[ ] "What *is* this place? And what's with the chains?"
[ ] "You have Phantom Edge's body here?"
[ ] "Do you *know* who you have here?"

[ ] Free.

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>23153714

Wow, these guys are all basically cannon fodder, aren't they?

>>23153745

> [X] "-The Black Tri-Stars, I know."

No need to be a dick about it.

> [X] (To Tyrian Edge.) "Think very carefully about what you do next."

But don't let the noobs get uppity.

> [X] "Do you *know* who you have here?"

>>23153745

>Kou

Well, at least we know where the big guy gets too.

"I like what you've done with the place. Very trendy -it has IMPACT, especially the nearly bisected centerpiece.. And relax, let's sit down and hash out what our goals are. I'm not going to start shooting up the place. It's quite a satisfactory change considering every other Player has tried to kill me."

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> [X] "-The Black Tri-Stars, I know."

Bishamon nods. "Got it in one," He says.

> [X] (To Tyrian Edge.) "Think very carefully about what you do next."

Tyrian Edge looks at you.

He swallows; The sound a low *clunk*, like the cycling of his autoloader.

He sits down.

> [X] "Do you *know* who you have here?"

"Yes," Bishamon answers, shortly - Close by, Volt Regios chuckles, as if at some private joke. The black Player waves a hand at the shell of Phantom Edge's form; "You see the chains? They're not actually *holding* it there, you know. I think..."

And the ember-light of his eyes dim, contemplatively. "-I think they grew *out* of him. I think they were his nerves, his...roots. I think, somehow, he made this place."

Bishamon shrugs, in an alarmingly casual manner. "I guess it doesn't matter know, though. The thing up there...It was already here when we found this place, and already dead."

>>23153981

"All business," Volt Regios buzzes. "-I like that. Tyrian, would you...?"

Rather reluctantly, Tyrian gestures - And one of the three empty seats slides out, the heavy stone scraping against the floor as it glides outwards; You note how little amber lights wink to life on his gauntlet, as he does that.

The atmosphere seems to relax - Just a little - as you take your seat; First meetings, especially between Players, are always shaky. As things go...This seems to be going rather well.

(Continued.)

Is Joker Quest and Batman Quest gonna fight?

>>23153745
>>23154391
Sup OP? Good to see you again.

"Do you have a thief problem by any chance? Because the last time I saw Totenaz he was wearing HIS missing hand."

How far are we interested in trusting these guys? We going to use them and leave, or try for an alliance? We might want to warn them about Akira if it's the latter, especially since it seems that he has the in-universe equivalent of the Hand of Vecna and the Sword of Kas. Wonder where the head is?

Unrelatedly, the fact that Volt's image is Exdeath gets me every time.

>>23154477
>Exdeath
>Google it

Huh. I never played FFV. Should get on that. Eventually.

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It's an oddly formal audience - The three of you, seated at the round table, as Bishamon goes into his spiel. With his arms folded over his chest - Stiffly, as if he's on parade rest - tiny beams sketch out hovering images in the air, from projectors in his forearms; A utility you've never seen before, and which you find strangely amusing.

"All right," Bishamon begins - Clearing his throat, with a rasping metal-on-metal squeal. "This is our target."

The vague shape before you: It reminds you of an inverted cone, pointed-side-up, which expands into a cylinder as it stretches on downwards...Possibly to infinity. Strange, blotchy swirls of darkness badge across the simulation, the details indistinct.

"...The stage is the 'Hollow Sun'. It came into existence when - A week ago - the Spire was destroyed. No indication on whether those two are related."

He gestures: More images wink to life. "-Beyond the First Gate, the Hollow Sun is defended by...dozens, *hundreds*, of these...*things*. They seem to be constructs of some kind, and very belligerent...They swarm to breaches of the perimeter, overwhelm intruders, and kill them."

(Continued)

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"Their weaponry is...varied. But very potent. We've seen explosive-tipped spears, phase swords, shields - Player-calibre equipment. Whatever they are, they aren't Correctors."

"For want of a better word, I've designated them as 'Hellions'."

Volt Regios snorts - A brief blurt of laughter - and Bishamon gives him a Look.

"They chase you, too - Even if you running away." Tyrian Edge cuts in - Bishamon nods, in thanks. "Noted."

"Now, the *inside* of the Hollow Sun is...It's a perpetually rotating chamber, with it's own artificial gravity. And *beyond* that..."

The virtual camera zooms in, as concentric rings begin expanding from the end of the cylinder. "-There's a high-energy signature. An immense one." Bishamon takes a breath he doesn't need: "I believe that's the power source of the Hollow Sun...And, of course, something of incalculable value."

"Any questions so far?"

(Continued)

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>>23154477

"The...who?" Momentarily wrong-footed, Bishamon tilts his head to the side, seemingly confused.

"The Thief," Regios chimes in, happily. "Has a skull for a head, talks like you're scrapings from the bottom of his shoe..."

Bishamon nods, slowly, clearly thinking it over. "We've heard *of* him - Saw him fight, once. Not very friendly, but very fast." He looks up, at Phantom Edge's form.

> "Because the last time I saw Totenaz he was wearing HIS missing hand."

"...I didn't know that. When we found this place, the armor up there - It was already short an arm and a head."

"...Something to think about," Tyrian Edge murmurs. He looks over at you, contemplatively.

[ ] "How are we going to get in?"
[ ] "How far do we have to go?"
[ ] "What's your plan?"
[ ] "What do you think we're going to find?"
[ ] "You want to fight an army of 'Hellions'?"
[ ] "How do you *know* all this?"
[ ] Free.

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>23154768

"Well, don't keep me hanging. Details."

ALL THE QUESTIONS. ALL OF THEM.

>>23154768

Also, just realized..

>Skull Man

Muh nigga. Good taste in shounenshit.

>>23154768
"Tell me things gentlemen. Why are you so interested in this, interested enough to seek out" in the most sarcastic bombastic voice possible "THE RED JOKER, slayer of 1000 men, enigmatic figure extraordinaire, hero or villain, who knows? Also makes remarkably good quiche.

Tell me the plan, all of the details, and how you got this information."

>>23154680
>>23154768
"A few questions. Did you acquire this information yourself, and how do you think is Pazuzu involved?

"You mentioned that the Hellions are well equipped, but how are they in combat compared to say... hm. I actually don't know of a Player we could use as a baseline. Let's use the average Corrector then.

"I'm interested to hear your plans for dealing with hundreds of these things. I could probably do it, but not without 100 meter and destroying the entirety of the field. Again."

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>>23154861

"-We needed a thug," Volt Regios says, and laughs - His baleful electronic laughter, a buzzing, buzzing, buzzing. Bishamon tilts his head, and nods - It must've been some silent order, because Tyrian Edge reaches over...And swats him *hard*, the sound a CLANG that rings through from the wall.

He subsides, with a rather sulky air - Well, as sulky as a swordsman in all-concealing blue plate can be.

"I'd have put it another way, but...He's not entirely wrong," Bishamon clarifies. "In case it all goes south - What we need, what we *really* need - is firepower. You're here for - You're insurance, to tell the truth. If we *have* to fight...And I'm not saying we'd have to...you'd be one hell of an asset."

> "A few questions. Did you acquire this information yourself, and how do you think is Pazuzu involved?"

"That one's easy. He was after the same thing we're looking for; That's what convinced me, really. If *Pazuzu* wants it so badly...It has to be worth *something*, right? It's something big, I know it."

Bishamon exhales, slowly. "-No, it's not entirely our own." He indicates Tyrian - "...We've vetted secondhand accounts, and done some reconissance of our own - What's on the map is what we *can* trust. We know, for a fact, that there's going to be heavy resistance; And there's something at the very heart of it, too, something immensely powerful..."

His voice trails off. "My guess is, you don't want Pazuzu to get it, right? That's probably a good enough reason to come along."

(Continued)

>"THE RED JOKER, slayer of 1000 men, enigmatic figure extraordinaire, hero or villain, who knows?"

"Well, he has a high opinion of himself, at least," Tyrian Edge mutters - armored elbows gouging against the surface of the table.

Volt Regios merely chuckles.

>>23154861
>>23154792
>>23154891

> "You mentioned that the Hellions are well equipped, but how are they in combat compared to say...The average Corrector."

"We don't know, actually," Bishamon admits. "-The thing is, there are dozens...Maybe hundreds...of them. The sheer *numbers* - That's the problem. They could have sticks and stones, and they'd *still* be a threat."

"As for our plan-" He steps back, and spreads his arms. The air above the table shimmers, and - Like an optical mirage - a shape takes form. Anti-gravity fields moan; It hovers, a perfect ring of arcane machinery, writhing and clicking in its own perpetual motion. Even as it purrs and whispers to itself, the ring gurgles and hums, system patterns reconfiguring like sunlight on moving water, across a surface bristling with sensory ganglia.

"This," Tyrian Edge says, portentiously and with - To your mind - no little pride - "...is the Halo Shroud. It's a cloaking device - A jammer, too. When you're attuned to it - Within forty feet - you're just...You're just *ignored*. There's a massive energy drain, but - So long as it's fed, and you're within range? You're invisible."

He hesitates, just for a fraction. "...Well, to those *outside* the area, anyway. If they're inside - It still helps, but...They can still see you. It's not perfect." And he adds, rather hastily - "But it works."

(Continued)

Bishamon claps him on the shoulder, pacing around the ring's perimeter to face you.

"So, that's our plan. One of us will keep the Shroud powered - The other three will defend him, and pick off the Hellions that come within the perimeter. You see, we won't have to fight them *all*...Just the ones that get too close."

"-When we're done...Well, we'll go out the same way." The kabuto helm turns towards you - And you swear that he looks eager, yearning, even through his black visor. "-What do you think?"

[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>23155346

> "How much of a drain? Who's going to be powering it?"

>>23155346
"It sounds like everything could go horribly awry and end in fire, screaming, death, and tears. In other words, an average Thursday night. I'm all for it.

How much does it need to be fed? Who's powering it? I'm guessing Volty over here, he's the zappiest guy we have.

Do we have any escape routes that don't involve a potentially finicky piece of machinery?"

>>23155346

Because the experimental field that nullifies our presence most assuredly wont fail when we're neck deep in shit without a paddle.

"If you say there is hundreds of these things, what is our plan if the nullifying affects of the Halo Shroud should fail? Shoot our way out? Not through those numbers. I'm good, but I can't work miracles if the math is against me. The only hardware I have that could challenge that many would kill us in the process. Beyond that, i see no problem with this insane gambit."

Theory time!
1.Did we activate whatever Rusty was carrying when we atempted to incinerate him?
2.After that thing in the arcade... and hellions are wearing player equipment... could it be that hellions were players once? I was thinking about it lately. Where do players go when they are killed? DO they go somewhere?
3.I think we REALLY should try to end our fights with demasking. So far our only attempt was successful (well, half-successful - we still killed one of two). And if 2) is right, the last thing we need is army of vengeful spirits.
4.Bets on meeting Thief in the sun, anyone?

>>23155513
As for the plan - how far UP does the location (and hellion's aggro zone) stretch? Instead of walking there, could we fall? It'll be faster, i think?

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>>23155434
>>23155464
>>23155469

> "How much does it need to be fed? Who's powering it? I'm guessing Volty over here, he's the zappiest guy we have."

"Right," Volt Regios drawls - He raps his spined knuckles against the table. "-That's what *I'm* here for...To be a pair of double-A batteries."

You can't tell if he's joking or not; Until he lays a hand on the Halo Shroud, lightning jagging from his fingers. The machine-hum grows a little louder - Not unpleasant, just white noise.

"Quite a bit," Tyrian Edge clarifies, in a worrying unscientific manner. "-He'll still be able to defend himself...Just, not very well. That's where we come in." As if sensing your doubts, he adds - "We've used this before...Not on this scale, though."

> "-What is our plan if the nullifying affects of the Halo Shroud should fail?"

"Photonic charges." Bishamon's voice goes a little grim, now. "We'll deploy them every quarter-kilometer or so, as we go in. Given the area's energies, they'd be supercharged; In our worse-case scenario, we'll detonate them to clear a path - That should keep them back, long enough for us to get out."

He pauses. "-That's the idea, anyway."

>>23155587

"You could," Volt Regios allows, rather laconically - Eyeing your jetpack. "The problem is, *we can't fly*...And landing's a bitch." He tips his cobalt chin towards the screen - "There might be air defenses - If we're on the Hollow Sun, we can't be tagged."

"...But if you want to try flying there, alone, *while* using the Shroud *and* fighting off Hellions?" His tusked shoulders rise, in a shrug. "-Good luck."

(Continued)

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>>23154656
>>23154680

>>Infiltrating a massive compound
>>Filled with thousands of armored 'guardians' that swarm anyone who tries to break through
>>Not necessarily powerful, but numerically superior

I'm having SAO flashbacks...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLkNfoH9X9U#t=3m54s

Lets hope that whatever is in there is worth all this trouble....and that we don't die as horribly as Kirito. I fully expect the Tri-Stars to bite it though.

>>23155723

I fully expect them to die with a name such as that. It's what happened to the original Tri-Stars. Fucking Gendums.

"We don't know how far down it is," Bishamon admits - "Our best guess - Our very best - is anywhere between three to five kilometers."

That's a very wide margin of error...And, from his stance, he seems to know it.

[ ] This plan is suicide. You're out of here.
[ ] This plan sounds like suicide. You're all for it.
[ ] It sounds...immensely risky.
[ ] It *could* work, but...

[ ] "-Are you sure you're up to it?"
[ ] "What can the three of you do, anyway?"
[ ] "When was this supposed to happen?"
[ ] "Photonic charges?"
[ ] "What's in it for me?"

[ ] Free.

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>23155777
[X] This plan sounds like suicide. You're all for it.

"This plan is utterly crazy and may very well kill us all, but I have nothing better to do right now and honestly it sounds fun. Most importantly I get to fuck with Pazzy-Wazzy, hate that guy.

[X] "When was this supposed to happen?"
[X] "What's in it for me?"

"Well, if you've watched the news reels and the highlights, you know what I'm capable of. I have a general idea what Tyrian is capable of doing. I assume Volt specializes in electrical attacks and Bish, you're tanky dps. Of course, this is all based speculation on my part. If we're going on a suicide run, I wanna know what my party is capable of."

>>23155777
[x] It sounds...immensely risky.
[x] "What can the three of you do, anyway?"
[x] "What's in it for me?"

>>23155771

To be fair there was another set of Tri-Stars in Unicorn on the Feddie side and they fared better. As far as I remember only one of them died.

Any bets on who kicks the bucket first? My money's on Volt. It'll kick off the shit hitting the fan since he's the one holding the Halo Shroud.

>>23155777
[x] "Small chance of success? Large chance of death? What are we waiting for?"

>>23155875

I haven't watched Unicorn yet. Waiting for all of the OVAs to come out to marathon.

And yeah. My money is on Volt too.

>>23155875
>>23155895
Eh, our job is to keep them alive.
And Joker isn't known for fucking up his job.
mainly because not many witnesses are left after that

>>23155777
>This plan sounds like suicide. You're all for it.
"So let me get this straight. You want to use a giant magic invisibility ring to walk into the heart of a mysterious enemy stronghold with the intention of stealing everything that isn't nailed down. This is a thousand times better than any of my plans.

"One thing worries me--what if you can't get it out? I mean, massive power signatures don't have to correspond to massive size, but the Red World runs on anime logic.

"You're all Sword-type Players unless I'm mistaken. What are your actual abilities? As the Red Joker I have a lot of guns, and my meter abilities involve getting more and bigger. Basically I'm DPS with one hell of a limit break."

We SHOULD come up with some other plans, based on our and their gear.

Also, we ought to try feeding Hellions to the Nihl Sphere. A well rounded diet does wonders.

>>23155875
I say Tyrian, we have a history of sorts with him. Bishamonten dies last, we know him in the real world.

>>23155985
>This is a thousand times better than any of my plans.
this is so painfully true.

>>23155777

"I like to get to know my fellow victims before dying a horrible death. Any special tricks up your guys' sleeve or are you betting it all on the Joker?"

>>23156029
>>23155985

We have plans? Well plans beyond 'fill it full of bullets until we can FUSION ANNHILATE it'?

>>23155825
>>23155854

...Yeah. If you squint and look at it - Really carefully - it's so improbable it might just work. To be honest, you can't think of how it could possibly sound worse...Though you'd be hard-pressed to think of something better, of course.

> [x] "What can the three of you do, anyway?"

Volt Regios's spined shoulders rise, in an eloquent shrug. "-I shock things." He nods at Tyrian Edge. "He's good with technology...Not bad in a brawl, either." He jerks a thumb at Bishamon. "And him - He fights. That's what he does - Run right into the enemy, and carve them up with swords."

"-Hey, I have head Vulcans!" Bishamon interjects - With the weary amusement that comes from long-treaded ground.

"Head vulcans," Regios echoes - He shakes his head, with a 'can you believe it' air. "An idiot's weapon. You know he used two Levels on them?"

> [x] "What's in it for me?"

"What we agreed on," Bishamon says. "-You get first pick of...whatever it is, whatever's down there. A double share of the prize."

"And," Tyrian Edge continues - Very quietly. "We'll owe you. It doesn't matter where we are - It doesn't matter why. When you call us; We'll come. You may not *need* us...After all, you're *you*...but - When you do..."

(Continued)

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"Bishamon," Volt Regios cuts in, very suddenly. "Show him."

Bishamon hesitates. "I don-" he begins, then sighs...A metallic rasp. With an air of immense reluctance, he holds out his gauntlet, palm-up; A jagged shard, a razored splinter of night, coalescing.

You've never seen it before, but you recognize it immediately. It's a blade...A piece of it, really, about the length of two fingers. Even from here, you can feel the bone-biting cold that radiates from it - A whisper of shadowy malevolence.

It's a piece of the Fatal Abyss.

"We found it *in* him," Bishamon admits - There's no need to say who 'he' is, when the crucified figure hangs overhead. "It was left behind - Driven right *through* him." His fingers curl to cradle it possessively, and he falls silent.

Regios stands, his throne sliding back. "Help us with this, and we'll give it to you."

[ ] Free.

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>23156050
well, we have "investigate"(ends with filling everything with bullets), "help thief sneak in"(ends with filling everything with bullets) and "get thief the damn sword already" (ends with filling everything with bullets). Oh and "give -probably- friendly mad scientist our swag for upgrading, even though previous clients of said scientist ended up... well, unhinged."(though we're probably not in best state of mind too, so it can't hurt, right?)

>>23156088

Oh, shit! Quest artifact, get!

>>23156079

>head vulcans

Oh boy, death flag raised.

"Well, so long as I get to kick ass I'm ready whenever. I want to recon the perimeter before charging into the Lion's Mouth blind first though."

>>23156088

Wait, what? If it was in him, does that mean phantom edge was killed with his own sword?

>>23156088
"Gentlemen, you had my curiosity before, but you really have my interest now.

Quick question, how am I supposed to get it if all of you die in the middle of this and I barely make it out alive?"

>>23156088
"One of the two final pieces of the Fatal Abyss... Totenaz already has all the others. Strange that he could acquire the hand but miss this."

I was typing up a response to >>23156050
but I think I'll wait until after I've freaked out about
>a piece of the Fatal Abyss.
"Eight million gods, tell me no one outside this room knows you have that. Shit, you're probably in for it anyway. Remember how I mentioned the Thief earlier? He's looking for the sword, thinks he's the second coming of this guy hanging here. In the past he bugged me, somehow, and I don't have the tech skills to check if he's still in my system. Totenaz fought me to what I THOUGHT was a standstill, but even then he had full control of the situation. Worse yet, he's on the run, and he wants that blade worse than ever.

"And Kouichi--you know him. He's Akira. From the school's photo club."

>>23156313
I wouldn't tell them that we know who the Thief is. First, it doesn't do them any good, he's gone to ground and tossed the Akira identity. Second, it pins us down a bit, it's not a hard leap to assume we're one of Akira's friends if we know this, that severely limits the number of people the RED JOKER could be, we don't want them to know who we are.

Though the rest might be good, we might be able to convince them to give it to us now to avoid having Totenaz drop by their secret fort.

>>23156216
> [X] "When was this supposed to happen?"

"Tonight," Bishamon says, very quietly. "Now."

He looks up, curling his hand into a fist. "-We've been considering this for days, now. You know all we do - Since you're here, there's no reason to wait any longer."

>>23156224

"You don't," Volt Regios says, bluntly. "-That's the point. If we all die, well, the rest speaks for itself." You can't see his face, but you know - Just know - he's smiling a crooked, morbid smile. "Think of it as a good reason to keep us alive."

He nods at Bishamon. "Besides, I like our chances better while *he's* holding the shard. I'd like them even better if it was me, though."

"You're all heart," Tyrian Edge says, rather dryly, as Bishamon just shakes his head.

>>23156296
>>23156313

There's a long, dreadful silence. "Fuck," Bishamon says. "Akira - Really? Wow." He goes quiet, again. "...Just - god damn. It was *him* all along?"

He takes a deep breath. "...I don't know anything about this. Not really." Those ember eyes turn to you. "I *do* know one thing, though: I want to live a *lot* more than I want to win. Once this is over...It's all yours."

A metallic rasp echoes in the air, as he exhales. "But if I were you - I'd destroy it. Or bury it so deep, it'd never be found again."

(Continued)

>>23156378

I can just see this guy spilling spaghetti all over himself if he ever runs into Akira out of the red world.

>>23156313
>"And Kouichi--you know him. He's Akira. From the school's photo club."
no. nonononono.

You notice that Volt Regios stiffens at that; He doesn't seem happy at the thought. Tyrian just looks away - He's not pleased, either, but there's a resignation to his stance.

"...If there's nothing else," Volt Regios growls, at last - His cape swept back from him, the rich black folds roiling in agitation. "Let's *go*, already."

[ ] "There *is* one more thing..."
[ ] "You're right - Let's do this."
[ ] "Let's get this over with."
[ ] "Like hell."
[ ] Free.

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>23156378
>There's a long, dreadful silence. "Fuck," Bishamon says. "Akira - Really? Wow." He goes quiet, again. "...Just - god damn. It was *him* all along?"
AAAAAAAWRGRLGARBWHRLBL

>>23156344
Totenaz might not be "Akira" anymore, but he'll likely look the same in the real world. Knowing who to look for MIGHT be the difference between surviving to help us out in the endgame and dying because he approached someone he knew from school. The bigger spoiler by far is calling Kou by his full name.

And hey, the Red Joker's true identity is the biggest open secret in the game that isn't "Kill the Joker and you get to be the Joker."

>"But if I were you - I'd destroy it. Or bury it so deep, it'd never be found again."
"Tried that once, with the pommel stone. The fucking thing wouldn't break, and the person with the best hole digging tool in this world or any other passed it on to him instead. This one I'll hold on to, in case I get the last after all, like he seems to expect. Then I'll break whichever one is less resistant to black holes and trade the other for what's mine."

>>23156428
"And here I was thinking I'd get to sleep tonight. My mistake. I'll see you there."

>>23156437
Deal.

>>23156437

Stop speaking in tongues or you will summon another super Cthulhu.

>>23156485
I wouldn't tell him about the deal we made with the Thief, no need talking about trading it for what's ours.

>>23156428
"Let's go, and cheer up. Just because we're marching to our deaths doesn't mean we can't smile about it. Turn that frown upside down."

>>23156428
>[ ] "Let's get this over with."
We walk to the gates of hell, tread carefully, gentlement.

> "And here I was thinking I'd get to sleep tonight. My mistake. I'll see you there."
>>23155889
>>23156600
>>23156646

And that's how - A brief, interminable period later - you find yourself at...

STAGE: THE RIFT

It was a surprisingly short trip, all things considered; Tyrian Edge merely stated - "We'll take the Siege Perilous." - words that meant nothing to you. Still, he seemed to know where he was going, the Halo Shroud floating along - With Volt Regios and Bishamon on either side, like attendants.

(Regios whistled to himself, shrill and distinctly unmelodic. Bishamon merely plodded on.)

A door opened, at the end of a corridor, to crimson skies and cyclopean skyscrapers - The geography of the red world, except...

You've seen the rift second-hand, but the sight of it, before you: It quite takes your breath away. It's a deep, gouging wound across the broken earth, a tear that swells with ruddy light. The edge fume with released energies, as it struggling to stitch themselves back together - Weird noises come from the very edge of perception, the ground shaking at uneven intervals...As if the world waits, with bated breath.

As the four of you make the brief descent - it slopes down, into noisome caverns, strange surreal echoes bouncing off the jagged rock, there's a light in the distance...

It's a wall. Or rather, a bulkhead - Slightly curved, shining, glowing circuit-lines scored deep into the surface. You can feel the hum of rising power in your bones, in the very core of your being: The air feels...charged, somehow. Rich with ozone and patient tics of lightning.

(Continued.)

>>23156313
Watashiwa, I just wanna know why you feel the need to always suggest spilling the beans about every last thing to everyone we meet. This isn't the first time you've suggested giving up information we could've used as leverage or is best kept to ourselves. I honestly want to know what your thought process behind it is.

>>23156715

"Here comes the hard part," Volt Regios murmurs, with an electronic voxponder rasp - The Halo Shroud rises, and descends again; Encircling him, beginning to rotate, the flickering light patterns on it's surface roiling with flashes of electricity. He makes a low sound, a grunt, as the segments of the ring expand - Sullen red light glowing at the edges, like the scales of a serpent consuming it's own tail.

It begins to spin faster, and faster still, until it becomes a constant blur of twisting crimson-and-blue light; Streaks of lightning jagging back and forth between him and it, again and again, in a crackling web.

Besides you, Bishamon flicks his wrist - The hilt of a long, straight sword taking form, as he clamps his grasp around it. It's like a katana, straightened out - Of course it is - the same matte-black of his lacquered armor. Even from here, you shiver at the spontaneous blooms of frost that badge the grounds and the wall...The dry *hiss* it makes as it strokes through the air.

Tyrian Edge kneels before the wall - His gloved hands in motion, setting the charges: Spiked black cubes, with red tell-tales, winking to life as he steps back. With a start, you realize that they're drinking in the energies seething around you: Beginning to flash faster and faster, until they're almost strobing a continuous red...

"Breach in four," Tyrian says, with a calm he clearly doesn't feel. He steps back, and there's a snap-hiss as a new light hums to life; A fierce violet-tinged beam, extending from the hilt he clutches-

...And despite everything else, you can't help but be awed, by the actinic glow of the beam saber - The sword of light - in his hands.

Three.

Two.

On-

[ ] Free.

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>23156863
Let's do this.

Let Bishie take the lead, he can tank for us, open up with our Vulcans on the closest targets, keep on building meter, if there's anything big and/or slow pull the Nova Cannon on it. If they start launching giant swathes of projectile attacks like missiles bring out the funnels and let them play point defense.

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>>23156715
>climbing a giant tower in an alternate world wearing alien bodies of monstrous power
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmemd1V5XTk
starts playing in my head

>>23156798
Partly it's my irritation with that kind of plot in other mediums. The whole "secret held by the main character leads to tragedy" thing got old fast, so I don't care to let the GM hang that sword over my head.

Partially it's because I'm interested in seeing how characters react to new information. It tends to be revelatory in its own right, and is a way of earning easy good karma.

Lastly, it's because everyone else in this game hoards secrets that they really shouldn't. The possible exceptions are Natsumi and Argent, who has an agenda that I'm still suspicious of. Hecate, for example, kept far too many secrets, and now that she's gone more than a few of them are going to come back and hurt us, in more ways than one.

So I guess it's mostly to not be a dick.

>>23156863
Wait and see what the others do. They start fighting? Hit the same targets. Otherwise, try to avoid being Leeroy, don't bring aggro that isn't necessary.

>>23156863

Well shit.

Volt needs to be babysat since he's a massive fucking egg in one basket. Plasma Vulcans out to cover the two chucklefucks who are breaching and so we can take out any hostiles WHO SHOW HOSTILITY. No firing or shooting unless we're attacked first.

>>23156863
>>23156895
May want to careful with the shooting. We should be invisible, but plasma bolts suddenly appearing out of thin air will draw attention to us. We need to pick our shots. Also, we better hope hellions can't hear, cause we're not exactly quiet.

> Let Bishie take the lead, he can tank for us.

One.

You step to the side, slightly - Bishamon sees your intention, and moves ahead. He's completely silent, now; A strange, gliding grace to his motions, as if he's left his clumsiness entirely behind.

>>23156931
>>23156958

Your forearm sheaths retract; The charging elements in your arms winking to life, as your Plasma Vulcans spin up, tracking indiviually - You level them at the door, ready for anything, targeting cursors dancing across your field of vision...

Zero.
.
.
.
.

Nothing happens.

"Bloody hell!" Volt Regios exclaims. "We-"

The bulkhead comes apart, in a shockwave of fire and stone. When the charges fire, there's a massive inwards bloom of energy - The radiant heat puckering and warping the metal wall, like an oozing sore of white-hot metal, searing through the reinforced skin...

-Without warning, your personal gravity shifts ninety-degrees, suddenly and catastrophically. The world lurches, and the wall is wrenched away - You're skidding down a floor that's rapidly becoming a wall. You hear Tyrian Edge yell out, gloved fingers fighting for purchase on the chipped ground, clawing and grasping for any handhold...

And then you're falling. All of you. You're all falling.

(Continued)

>>23157104
[screams internally]

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Falling into a swirling and exhaling fireball, a storm of debris that hails off your helmet, nicking and gouging and scraping. There's monumental turbulence, battering you from all sides - The open wound of the blown-out entrance shrinking away, as you fall into a vast space, the wind beginning to *howl* mournfully in your ears...

The bulkhead - It wasn't a door at all. Somehow, Tyrian Edge blew through an *outside wall*...Into a place with it's own gravity. You can actually *see* it, as you begin to tumble, arms flailing - A cylinder *within* a cylinder, a grid of slender white lines criss-crossing like a rumpled topographic chart.

Bishamon flails past you, his blade chopping the air - Almost comically surprised, beginning to pinwheel; Even as Regios drops away at an oblique angle, stray blasts of lightning searing out in all directions - The Halo Shroud's spinning around him in frentic motion, stirred by the howling wind-

And last of all, Tyrian Edge - Dislodged at last - falls from above. He's screaming as he does, though his struggles slow his drop; But *all around you*, you see - Along the walls...

-Gibbets. Gibbets, pearl-armored forms suspended on them, in violent cruciform. Not dozens, or hundreds, but *thousands* - As if the Hellions were bricks in a wall, a wall that extends infinitely above and below.

You're still falling, and the gridlines of the revolving cylinder are coming up to meet you-

> HP: 97%
> METER: 14%
> COBALT BOOSTER: 100%
> ASSAULT SHROUD: 140%

TIER ONE WEAPONS UNLOCKED

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>23157194
Turn on our flying, try to get everyone else into controlled falls, choose a place to aim for and go for it.

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>>23157194

We're the only one that can *fly*, get this clusterfuck under control. Since this place has it's own gravity (I did not expect it to literally pull us into it) we have a point to aim for. Grab the one closest to the "center" of the gravity well to slow his "fall". Then when, the next guy comes wizzing by, grab him, and so on.

>mfw this entire thing

>>23157194
>>23157218
Not a bad idea. How massive are the Assault Shroud's Fortress blocks? We might be able to slow their fall with one with the right dimensions.

>>23157239

(It can cover a large area, but the Fortress mode attenuates, the wider it's spread.)

>>23157194
We're not going to have time to catch each of them and gently lower them to the ground.

I suggest redirecting their falls. Use the scrander and quickly maneuver them into a position where they can grab hold of one of the gibbets to arrest their own falling.

>>23157194
Control our fall.
Control everyone else's fall.
AND CONTRL THE FALL OF THE GODDAMN SHROUD.

>>23157256
...Parachutes? Spread them out along the edge of a thin one?

>>23157266
Also an excellent idea.

>>23157285
>parachutes

But how to attach them to someone other than ourself? Also, isn't fortress mode only a single construct?

>>23157285

If my time playing CoC and Shadowrun tells me anything, parachutes are a death sentence.

No parachutes. Any time something even resembles a 'chute the dice always get the player splattered.

>>23157218
>>23157233

> Grab the one closest to the "center" of the gravity well to slow his "fall".

The Tempest Scrander at your back ignites - Turbines cycling to life, the second reactor humming as it powers up...Before concentric rings of thrust form behind you, propelling you forward in a single surge-

Bishamon is closest. He has the good sense to stop flailing, as you drive down towards him; He yells something, reaching out for you, his sword in his other hand, the wind wrenching his words away. Even as your Scrander fights to arrest your descent, you reach out...

When you grab him, the *jerk* of impact nearly wrenches your arm from it's socket. It pulls you off-balance, thrusters burning hard as you correct yourself; For one awful moment, you think you're *both* going to die, but the whirling confusion of the cylinder below and the world above resolves itself into clarity...

>>23157266

And with an effort that sends adrenaline bursting through your brain, you fling him towards the nearest gibbet. To his credit, Bishamon lands sword-first; You see the Hellion stiffen, at it comes to life, a hellish green light igniting within its eyesockets...Right before he drives his blade *through* it's skull, clinging on for dear life.

An azoic green spark flees the ruptured armor - Twisting, churning, it flies away - to plunge into *another* one, the new Hellion twitching as it animates...

-But then you're burning away, towards Volt Regios. He has a jagged blade - Gold, twisted, like a thorn - in his gauntlet...He's doing *something*, electricity flickering in a howling sphere around him, your Scrander juddering as you streak towards him - It's some kind of repulsion field, to slow his descent from breakneck to merely crushing, the Halo Shroud locking in place as he reaches out towards you, too...

(Continued)

>>23157379
This might be bad. Electricity from our Scrander and his electric stuff, might not interact well.

And then Tyrian Edge, utterly helpless, plunges right past - His shriek of sheer human terror stabbing into you, as he tumbles end-over-end. He has absolutely no way to slow himself - But while Regios has managed to arrest his own descent, he's still going to land with shattering force...And what would that mean for the Shroud?

As all this goes through your mind, in one frenzied instant - A green flash claws at the edge of your vision. A huge wave of emerald sparks - An entire constellation of them - fumes up from below, rippling across the gibbets in a sweeping tide of animation...The air filled with the rustle of steely wings, the hum of charged swords and lances-

...As the Hollow Sun's defenses come to life.

> HP: 95%
> METER: 17%
> COBALT BOOSTER: 100%
> ASSAULT SHROUD: 140%

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>23157379
>An azoic green spark flees the ruptured armor - Twisting, churning, it flies away - to plunge into *another* one, the new Hellion twitching as it animates...
[internal screaming intensifies]

>>23157421
... fuck.

Okay, try to slow Volt enough so that he'll be okay once he hits the 'ground', then go after Tyrian, grab him, and slow him down, use a bit of Cobalt Boost if needed. We don't want to be down a guy this early.

>>23157421
How much time we have?
If not enough, cobalt boosted scrambler towards Tyrian, land him, then help Volt.
If enough, same, but different order.

>>23157450

Deploy the Fortress Mode around Bish to give him precious seconds to stay alive if we are in range. If not in range, deploy around Volt. Bish will haft to hold his own for the few precious minutes we need to get Tyrian back. Boost our Scrander and get Tyrian's terminal descent under control. Redeploy Fortress Mode around Tyrian to buy him seconds if it has not been depleted while defending Bish. Return to Bish and get his happy ass under the cover of the Shroud. Grab the two Tri-Stars and boost our Scrander one last time as we land next to Tyrian if he is still alive.

>>23157421
Tyrian's going to reach terminal velocity by the time we help Volt...

Grab Tyrian ourself, put the assault shroud below Volt connected to the wall in the form of a ledg or maybe a ramp directing him towards the wall

>>23157500

Do not do this. Help Volt, then haul ass to help Tyrian. Bishamon can fend for himself for a few moments. We can't afford to shed the assault shroud yet.

Rolled 61

(One moment.)

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>>23157544
We're fucked again.

>>23157529

It's a solution to a bad situation. No choice is good here. Volt is protected by the Shroud. Bish is protected by our Fortress who is still falling on the girder which is still accelerating to terminal. Tyrian is fucked if we do not act now. Volt is arresting his descent, so he's fine.

>>23157544

>61

Not.. not sure if fucked

>>23157450
>>23157477

You claw for Volt, straining out - Only to be forced aside, again and again, despite his increasingly frantic attempts to reach you. It comes to you in a surge - You *can't* get close. The fierce, overlapping repulsion he's summoned, to slow his fall; It's pushing *you* away, too, wreaking havoc with the control surfaces of your Tempest Scrander...

You wrench yourself away, buffeted aside like dry leaves in the wind. The Cobalt Booster in your chest stings with cold strength - The power discharging in a brilliant flash, hurling you forward like a solid kick in the spine, down, down, down towards Tyrian-

...For one moment, you think - It's impossible, you've left it too late, too late - and then you *slam* into him, with an impact that punches the breath from your lungs. You hit him sidelong, like a spear; Arms vicing tight around his midsection, as his armored fingers scrape new dents into your crimson plate - It's funny, but even *here*, you can't hear him.

It's impossible to recover, to *soar*, this close to the ground. It's going to be a controlled crash.

As the ground rises up to meet up, you jackknife, hard, pulling up, up, with all the strength you can summon...

You hit the alloy girderwork of the Hollow Sun together. Not head-on; At an angle, one that kicks you both up into the air, like a stone skipping across the ground. The impact is white agony, fragments of crimson armor and Assault Shroud whirling away from you - Then down again, bounce and skid and roll and crash.

Hard enough to stun you, to shoot black spots through your vision, to send pain jagging through your arms as the impact wrenches Tyrian Edge away...

-Not enough to kill you. But it's a close one.

(Continued)

>>23157589

And that is why I said go for Tyrian *first*. Volt was under the protection of the Shroud. Bish is still falling and is going to die too when he hits.

>>23157617
No, he's on one of the gibbets. Not at all a good place to be since there seemed to be a creep waking up, but better than still falling.

At this point if any of us survive it'll be a miracle.

>>23157641

I somehow read gibbet as girder and made the leap he was plummeting to his death too..

And yeah, we's a deadun. Only way I can even fathom we get out of this is if the OP does another asspull and has Argent show up.

>>23157589
Damn it. See if we had used my plan >>23157523 This wouldn't have been a problem

The world swims back into focus - The static buzzing in your vision momentary banished. You've dug a deep furrow into the colossal lattie of gridwork that honeycombs the Hollow Sun; Tyrian Edge sprawled on his side, curled up into a near-fetal huddle - The only sounds the trickle of dust settling, the sizzle of steam coming off your armor, and Tyrian Edge's low psychotic-fugue moan of oh god oh fuck me fuck me fuck me god...

You're in one piece. You don't know *how*, but you're in one piece. As you move to stand, shards of your Assault Shroud - Stiffened into an anti-impact cushion - flake away from you, like dead skin; Your limbs feel shaky, your ears ringing with a silent cancophy-

...And then, all around you, the lights start coming on.

They activate indiviually and in clusters, humming spikes of crimson force - dozens of them - shooting upwards, filling the air with a low, oscillating hum that makes your teeth hurt. Everywhere you look, more scarlet lines crosshatch the gloom, springing up in all directions...

-But mostly from above.

You hear the hum of gravitic suspensors as Hellions descend on silver wings - Exactly like Bardiel's, you realize, with a flash of deja vu. Every one is armed; With energy pikes, with charged swords, with kinetic maces...

They have faces of etched silver and white marble, wrought in the shape of angels - Or at least the skulls of angels. Their ornate pearl armor gives the Hellions even more bulk, the blood-red light sparkling off the edges of their wings, the alien etchings in their armor...

> HP: 81%
> METER: 23%
> COBALT BOOSTER: 100%
> ASSAULT SHROUD: 98%

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>23157683

(My apologies:

> COBALT BOOSTER: 57%

>>23157683
Collect Tyrian Edge, get him on our feet. Make our way to Volt, if the Hellions make trouble for us blow them out of the way with Vulcans, get there quick as possible, we want that invisibility.

Then we collect Bishie and be on our way with all haste.

>>23157683
Where the hell are Volt and Bish? If the Halo is still operational we need to get everyone inside its field. However while we get our shit together I see no reason not to launch as many interceptors as possible and open fire on the approaching hostiles.

We'll want near all the interceptors active because we''l need them to cover the others while we regroup

>>23157683

We are so fucked. We have no Shroud. Bish is fighting to the death above us somewhere. Volt is still plummeting or has already hit...


"TYRIAN YOU SNIVELING SHIT, ON YOUR FEET OR WE'RE GOING TO BECOME FUCKING MINCE MEAT."

Look for Volt. Now. Find him. And get him to Tyrian. We gotta get Bish down in mostly two or three pieces under the protection of the Shroud.

>>23157691
You could have left it as it was, we wouldn't have minded.

Really.

Dammit.

So, we're fighting an army of Bardiels. Fan-fucking-tastic. Start shooting with the Vulcans, if we get mobbed use the lightning bolt. Try and snap Tyrian Edge out of his fugue state.

OP, are the bits a net positive or negative for meter drain? If they are positive, deploy two at a time, prioritizing the ones that can't hit them easily.

Hang on a minute, we fed Bardiel to the Nihl Sphere and two days later these things show up; we try to feed it those low level Smilers and get Amalgam. Have we completely misunderstood what the thing does? No wonder Argent didn't want his people coming here.

Also, we're totally harvesting wings if we can.

>>23157770
>>23157723
>>23157701

Acutators groan, as you stagger to your feet - The world sways, sliding sideways, like the rolling deck of a ship. Everything seems to be moving, constantly - And you realize that it *is*, the inner cylinder and the outer walls of the chamber rotating ever-so-slightly out of synch, just enough to make you nauseous.

> "TYRIAN YOU SNIVELING SHIT, ON YOUR FEET OR WE'RE GOING TO BECOME FUCKING MINCE MEAT."

Tyrian Edge makes a low blubbering noise - Is he crying? He's crying. Yep, he's totally crying, inside his armor - But he stumbles upright anyway; "I'm up, I'm up," he babbles, his beam saber flaming as his hand closes around the grip...

-And it's a good time for it, because the Hellions come for you.

Not all of them at once, which is a small mercy; They don't have guns, either, which is another. They *throw* themselves into combat, diving down like swooping hawks -

Right into a blaze of plasma fire, as you open up. Your Vulcans *kick*, as you automatically compensate, pumping out a hail of emerald-green bolts. Energy blasts sear up the length of the space, your bright tracer shots stitching the air; Immediately, two Rifle Bits detach, beginning to orbit you, pencil-thin lines of photonic energy slicing into the first wave...

(Continued)

>>23157770

On a more positive note, they're clumped together. Guess what massive clumps of creeps are for?

Farming with missiles.

Rolled 13

Now would be a really good time for an Idea roll on how to make those portals Hecate used..

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>>23157800
>Tyrian Edge makes a low blubbering noise - Is he crying? He's crying. Yep, he's totally crying, inside his armor

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>>23157833

>>23157770

(With this many targets? A net positive, definently.)

You learn two things, as your shots explode against the four Hellions spearing towards you.

First: Hellion armor isn't very good.

Second: That might not actually matter.

A well-timed burst turns the first Hellion into an expanding ball of sharpnel - It's comrades jagging wide of the explosion, buying your clawing chains of gunfire enough to time to punch through the second in a pummeling blasts that core right through it and take it apart.

The third one's snatched from the air, too, trailing smoke as it peels away, your Bits slicing scorch-marks across marble flanks; They shear through a wing's control surfaces, and the Hellion turns a graceful pirouette as it descends, coming apart as it slams down...

You're swinging to face the last one, when a whirling arc of energy spears right through it's torso, and carves it cleanly in two. Tyrian Edge's arm is still lowering from his well-timed throw, when he has to bring his remaining beam saber around in a frantic defensive velocity - He's battling two Hellions at once, carving into them with great, desperate sweeps of his humming blade.

You take an impact - A kinetic blow to the side of your helm that makes you stagger, hard enough to make you grunt - as a Hellion's spear stabs at you; There's another flash, and a leaping bolt of lightning spears past, the guardian spasming in riling agony - Before it crumples, still-twitching, burnt-out.

(Continued)

Rolled 91

>>23157856

MISSILES. C'MON MACROSS MISSILE SPAM.

All of these cheap knockoff Bardiels are just begging to be immolated.

"One hell of a *party*-" Volt Regios grunts - He's limping, his left arm ended in a ragged stump, his armor dented; The Halo Shroud's rotation has slowed, and there are alarming gaps in the ring - Segments that have been shattered, or are simply missing, the thing vibrating in complaint at the constant operation.

He twitches his sword again, and another pulse of ethereal energy blazes from the tip; Another bolt of blue lightning that finds a Hellion, smiting it from the air. Emerald sparks peel away from the destroyed husks, spiralling up and away - You can see *more* of them coming to life, more by the moment...

The Hellions that aren't engaging you directly - The ones hovering out of reach - their wings make a dull, actinic drone as they glow with a weird non-light; It makes you deeply uneasy, as if they're pacing a perimeter...A perimeter than wavers, contracting and expanding, somewhere around thirty feet wide.

> HP: 78%
> METER: 28%
> COBALT BOOSTER: 60%
> ASSAULT SHROUD: 92%

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>23157906
Stay close to Volt, go recover Bishie, if they stop just hovering like jackasses and swoop in fill them will Vulcan fire, Bit fire and Missiles.

>>23157906
"Are they not attacking because the Shroud is active?"

Also crap, Koumonten is in for it. We left him at the place where these things were waking up.

Then this >>23157924

Done for the night, luck all.

>>23157906

"Did you see Bish? Do you know if he's alive?"

If in the affirmative.

"I'll be back." In our worst Schwarzenegger voice. Deploy the Fortress Around them. Full barrage Macross Missile Spam to clear a chasm. Deploy our remaining Interceptors in a defensive screen around us and light off with the Scrander to save Bish.

If in the negative, "He was a good guy. Where are we supposed to go?!" Deploy the remaining Interceptors and Macross Missile Spam. Time to weather the storm.

>>23157906
Cobalt booster is up by 3%?

"So, FYI, I'm pretty sure Hellion wings count as a Relic of some kind, provided you can get a set intact."

We need to get Bish but that fact that they're not attacking so much anymore is worrisome. I recall the wings worked via magnetism, could it be some kind of group ability? Or maybe they can't see us but they can tell where the stealth field is?

>>23157957

Maybe their ability to fly is related to the weird ass gravity generator in here. It operates on an entirely different basis than the normal gravity of the standard stages of the Red World.

>>23157957

(My mistake.)

>>23157873

Your Triskelion packs deploy - This close, the targets are simply too tempting. Eight rockets spiral away from you, as you hurl explosive death into the wheeling flocks; The chain-detonation annhilating a dozen at once, the concussion hurling even more out of the air, charred and half-broken.

One of them spears towards you, the photonic edge of its lance humming vengefully - Until it loses both its front limbs in one fluid slice, as Tyrian's beam saber hacks down like a guillotine. You switch around, blasting it entirely off you - One last missile streaking into it, exploding in a whirling detonation that sends fragments TANG'ing off your deeply scored cuirass...

Regios flinches aside, as the Halo Shroud's humming melody rises into a shriek - There's concern writ large in his posture, as he hunches over, electric light strobing and crackling around his helm. "...Keep moving!" he roars, to make himself heard - "Something's wrong - *Really* wrong..."

>>23157924

Where's Bishamon? Sighting down your Vulcans, you begin to blast up, pushing your fields of fire onwards - Driving forward, in the face of the onslaught. Where is...

-As if in answer to your thoughts, an attentuated meteor of pearl-white steel crashes down, just outside the perimeter; Hellions swoop down towards it, spears and swords stabbing - Right before Bishamon's whirring blade slices into them, through them, with an electric crackle. He tilts his head up, and starbursts of gunfire explode from the crest of his kabuto helm - Wild scattershot holing an attacking Hellion, slowing it long enough for him to bring his blade around in a sweeping decapitation...

They're all over him. Swarming, like a feeding frenzy.

(Continued)

"We have to keep going!" Regios is yelling - "There's too many of..."

That's the last you hear from him, as you break away. Another eight missiles spit forth from your launchers - The chain-detonation hits you deep in the chest, makes you very sick as Hellions are blasted apart, falling from the air...

-As you sprint towards Bishamon, the moment you breach the perimeter of safety...Everything changes. Half of the wheeling flock breaks away, speeding towards you; A flung spear hits your right shoulder, hard enough to drive you to one knee, and instant before a sword slashes a searing line across your breastplate - You smash the Hellion away, and fire and *fire* until it erupts in roaring plasma flame, but you can feel that the cut did *damage*, a line of white agony streaking across you...

You deploy all your Interceptors. All of them. They're dancing around you, firing indiscriminately, stinging and searing - Reaping your way through the Hellions, as the humming grows louder, *louder*-

A sizzling bolt of power stabs from one winged centurion, as the five around it simply disintegrate - Their essence channeled into a single blast. The gout of force *slams* into the ground at your feet, and everything goes outwards.

(Continued)

Dazed, you're on your back as the Hellions mob you, blades swinging - You get your arm up in time as a energized sword shears through an Interceptor, buzzing fiercely against your Vulcan; A lance plunging deep into your stomach, another in your left knee, hard enough to crack the plate...

You can't help it. You howl in pain - Even as you dispense a flurry of gunfire, walloping them back, point-blank blasts like sizzling punches-

Bishamon is fighting his way towards you - He yelps, staggering suddenly a kinetic mace slams into the back of his head - then again, as he rotates to carve apart two Hellions with a single swing. For one frozen instant, everything is clear...But you're completely surrounded by a milling half-sphere of blades, streaking in to cut you apart...

"...down!"

He shouts something. "Man down?" "Stay down?"

> HP: 71%
> METER: 13%
> COBALT BOOSTER: 57%
> ASSAULT SHROUD: 83%
> INTERCEPTORS: 4/5

>>23158114
I suggest staying down. He wouldn't bother yelling "Man down" since he doesn't know where the others are.

Are we not getting meter for the kills from the missiles? I thought we'd get *some* back.

>>23158114
If a man says down, you damn well better duck or risk losing your head.

Take a knee and keep firing.

>>23158137
We have all 5 interceptors active at once in addition to the missile spam.

>>23158114
I suggest we drop to the ground.

>>23158114
Drop to the fucking ground. Take a knee, stay low.

>>23158143
>>23158152
I'd say drop to the ground and use the jetpack to burn propel our self out of the ring of death with a quick burst.

>>23158169
It's a half sphere, surrounding us, there isn't a hole to go through.

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>>23158137

(You did, but you fired two volleys of eight missiles in rapid succession, with five Interceptors active. You're spending it as fast as you earn it.)

You're on your way up - Wrenching the sparking head of lance from your stomach, wondering if your leg can take your weight - when, at Bishamon's yell, you drop down again.

Just in time.

He has his sword in both hands, over his head - As if in offering, as Hellions descend. More low-gauge gunfire chatters out from Bishamon's crest - A lucky shot hits a Hellion, sends it sloping sharply to the left...Until it slams into its wingman, sending both to the ground in a tangle of limbs, their sparks clawing their way out of their broken forms.

Head Vulcans, you think. 'An idiot's weapon'.

Bishamon brings the sword down and to his left - Crouching slightly, hunching over - he braces himself; You fire, laying down a corridor of flak on either side, forcing the guardians to shred apart or dodge-

He slashes. At nothing, seemingly; But you catch a flicker of light - Too fast for the eye to see - scythe through the air, as he repeats the motion, once, twice again - hearing the swip-swip-hiss of something impossibly sharp parting space...

-The blade extends. Extends impossibly, a ribbon of black steel, perfectly balanced...Sweeping back and forth, in great, world-clearing slashes, strokes meant to slay hundreds and down armies. For a moment, you hear the sharpest sound, like a high note, ringing in the air...

And all the Hellions come apart, like rotten fruit. You actually see reality slide sideways, then snap back, sharply; Sparks spiralling upwards into the air like lost souls, falling back on themselves, zipping away, hunting for new hosts - In the instant before every last one explodes, the detonations a chain-linked symphony of destruction.

(Continued)

>>23158240
>And all the Hellions come apart, like rotten fruit. You actually see reality slide sideways, then snap back, sharply; Sparks spiralling upwards into the air like lost souls, falling back on themselves, zipping away, hunting for new hosts - In the instant before every last one explodes, the detonations a chain-linked symphony of destruction.
Shit, I had no idea Bishie has the medaljalibur on crack.

>>23158240

God damn that must have cost a small fortune in meter. He's right killy that one is.

One of your Interceptors sinks down to the ground, suddenly; As you look, a hair-thin line appears across the metal shell...Before both halves blur into nothing and vanish, sliced in twain.

His sword is still pulsing with that eerie unlight as Bishamon staggers, suddenly, as if he's been kicked - Even as new flocks wheel towards you...And suddenly stop short, as if at some unseen signal, peeling away.

As if they can feel the mindless malevolence, the eternal cold, of the Fatal Abyss clawing at them.

"Kou-"

"Joker!"

Tyrian stumbles towards you, an energy blade in each hand - Covering Regios, limping but still game. Jagged arcs of lightning crackle across the Halo Shroud: "They're falling back," Regios is saying. "-*Why* are they hanging back...?"

[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>"-*Why* are they hanging back...?"
I say we can postulate and theorize later. Right now we have a job to do, and barring that, we have our asses to save.

>>23158291

"We don't have time to speculate, move your asses. Move, move, MOVE! Which way do we go? Let's grab the loot and get outta here!"

>>23158240
For all his spaghetti, this guy is pretty badass when it comes to it.

>As if they can feel the mindless malevolence, the eternal cold, of the Fatal Abyss clawing at them.
Oh you.

>>23158291
"I think our threat level was just upgraded. Let's move while we can... Shit, where the hell do we go from here anyway? plummeting to the bottom level was not part of the plan."

>>23158291
"They can fire a beam weapon when they group up. my guess is that since they can't kill us individually they're going to fire a plus-size version.

"That or we scared them, and given how crazy they've been acting I doubt that's it. We go forward or back?"

(Apologies, had some trouble loading /tg/.)

>>23158300
>>23158355
>>23158363

> "I think our threat level was just upgraded. Let's move while we can... Shit, where the hell do we go from here anyway? plummeting to the bottom level was not part of the plan."

Tyrian grunts - You see rents in his purple armor, sparks jumping from where artificial muscle has been bared - as he manipulates his gauntlet; A little nub projecting a revolving scale model of the Hollow Sun.

"Scanning..." he says, a hitch to his voice - Tiny red dots winking to life, slowly...

> "We don't have time to speculate, move your asses. Move, move, MOVE! Which way do we go? Let's grab the loot and get outta here!"

You're all-too-conscious of time slipping away; Made more so by the uneven flicker of the Halo Shroud, despite Regios's attempts to keep it under control...Bishamon seems eneverated, leaning on his blade, as the odd impasse lingers - The three of you waiting with palpable impatience...

"We're almost at the bottom. Three-quarters of the way there." Fitful light dances in Tyrian Edge's visor - "...That shouldn't be possible, it's not where we made the..."

"-They're not following us," Regios cuts in. "They're just...hanging there. Watching." It's an eerie sight, as you hurry along the rotating cylinder, over cross-hatched gridworks - "Either this thing's working, or- " he nods at you - "-we've scared them. Gives me the *creeps*..."

It's not that far away. You can see the tiny dots of your position inch forward, step by step, with painful slowness - You're *close*. The hum of energy grows louder, the charged sensation more palpable, more immediate, than before...

(Continued)

Boss battle in 3... 2...

Off to bed. Will read the conclusion after I wake up at 3 in the afternoon.

Was fun OP.

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You're still moving - Turning, to cover the others, heading towards the growing glow ahead...Or is that 'deeper down'? - nerves sizzling with adrenaline and the scratchy need for haste - Until you nearly collide with Regios, who's stopped moving.

Stopped entirely.

He doesn't notice you. He's looking at the slow line of shadow sweeping up towards you from below...When - As one - Every Hellion freezes in place, goes limp. A single resonating note sounds, again and again - Until spikes of pain stab through your mind - as an entirely constellation of emerald sparks pull away from them, turning double-helix arcs as they streak past you, outracing you...

Tyrian Edge looks up, from his gauntlet display. "Oh, shi-" he starts to say, as the ground began to shake; The lattice of girders juddering as if in torment, until-

A colossal shape looms into view; Not walking, but *climbing* - Hand over hand, great marble fingers sinking into the framework of the geodesic network, using them like rungs. It has two heads, each with its own silver-circuit hood - Back and front, a carved marble titan...The form almost humanoid, but far larger - Enough that you have to look up.

And up.

And *up*.

Like fireflies, the last sparks are drawn *into* the thing, limbs clutching and pulling it onward with tireless animation, propelled by new life; The face placid, almost tranquil - Before holoprojectors flicker to life, the moving colossi's horned features distorting in a mask of pre-programmed rage.

A second set of upper limbs - One hand gripping the hilt of an accelerator mace, the other folded around a curved tulwar, with a blade longer than your entire body - rise, into combat position, as primary hands clutch the framework of the Hollow Sun. The titanic Hellion *roars* - A bellow of sound that knocks Bishamon off his feet, sends Regios staggering, clutching at his helm - as it rears up...

(Continued)

And brings a great marble fist crashing down with splintering force - A furious radiance erupting outwards, with the blinding light of a thousand suns.

JOKER QUEST

EPISODE 25

TO BE CONTINUED

(Alas, it's getting really late here - I've had a great time, but I'm utterly exhausted. As this looks like a natural break-point, I'd end here for the night: Sorry for the long delays, but a multitude of factors have rather disrupted my schedule.

On the plus side, I should be able to hold sessions on a more regular basis, soon. You're been a wonderful audience - As always, good night and God bless...And I hope to see you again, soon!)

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oh god we are all going to die

>>23158628
BE PRAYING
BE PRAYING
BE PRAYING

>>23158628

A STRONG ENEMY IS APPROACHING!

>>23158661

I just love the crazy set-piece encounters. We should go dungeon crawling way more often.