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HOLLOW SUN: 68.4%

http://pastebin.com/UM5e72fV

RESEARCH:

[X] MASS DRIVER
[X] INDUCTION BLASTERS
[X] DISINTEGRATOR CANNON
[X] MACHINE CANNON
[X] MICRO-SCALE SUSPENSORS
[X] POSITRON LANCE
[X] DISTORTION CANNON
[X] REACTIVE PLATING
[X] RESEARCH: HELIOS MATRIX
[X] FIRMWARE UPGRADE
[X] RESEARCH: SUPERHEAVY CHASSIS

VOID ANCHORS:

ORIGINAL HIVE
THE TRIBUNAL
NARAKA
THE VAULT
TUSITA

HOLDING: 1

RED COMET GUIDE:

http://pastebin.com/LJAfQmXy

UPDATES:

- ZINNIA removed from Equipment List.

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>>35538838

The evening of the second day. At this time of the year, true night descends with surpassing speed - The lights and music of the festival undimmed, only thrown into greatest contrast. You thread your way between the stalls, making your way to the gates-

"Jok-" A hiss of breath, a sharp inhalation. "-Hold up!"

Overhead, balloons swirl into the sky, like a flight of startled doves. Faces turn upwards, to watch them ascend - There's laughter, cheers, at the sweet, swift rush of so many rising into the heavens at once, moving with a sedate slowness that quite belies their actual speed. A ripple of applause circulates - Somewhere, a bell chimes with a brassy *clang*.

You sidestep a mascot, a giant penguin with oddly solemn eyes, and keep walking. It's not much further to the exit, now: Down the paved path, past the carnival rides and the raised stage where a dance troupe's performing, as the crowd begins to thin...

"Stop...!"

There's that brittle *snap* of annoyance to Volt Regios's voice, her long skirts swishing as she hurries to keep up. She sounds a little flustered, a little less than stately - Her brow furrowed beneath her fringe of teal hair, black-buckled shoes clacking against the ground underfoot. She lengthens her stride to keep up - The cold air soothes the handprint she's left on your cheek, sensation returning to the welt, slowly yet surely.

"*Wait*, damn you."

At last, she catches up - Her lips set in a thin line, a faint flush in her cheeks, breath coming a shade faster from the exertion. Those hawklike eyes are as fierce as ever...But she drops her gaze after the span of a moment, proferring a folded handkerchief.

...For her, that's an act of diplomacy.

(Continued)

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>>35538860

"It's 'Shion'," Regios says, the faintest note of her apology to her voice - As if she's making a concession.

"...Murakami Shion."

Then, her lips tightening - Her words coming in the heartbeat after a sharp exhalation:

"-I'm sorry I hit you."

As the lights of the festival plays across her severe black uniform, the hard lines of her aquiline features soften. For a moment, she looks almost embarrassed.

[ ] "-That's...A very masculine name."
[ ] "See? Progress."
[ ] "Civility, at last. About time."
[ ] "It's all right - No harm done."
[ ] "Don't mention it. Let's start again, shall we?"
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>35538873
>[ ] "Don't mention it. Let's start again, shall we?"

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>>35538860
>>35538873
>we actually walked out on her.

[X] "See? Progress."
"Anon."

So. Jokercycle?

>>35538873
>"Good arm."

>>35538873
>[X] "Don't mention it. Let's start again, shall we?"
Time to try not to make her want to retract that apology.

>>35538930
Of course.

>>35538885
Sure, Jokercycle. Put that vehicle bay to good use.

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> [X] "See? Progress."
> "Anon."

"...You don't have to rub it in, you know," Shion says - she takes a step back, a hand coming to rest on her hip in a measured gesture, canting her head to the side as she regards you. There's a taut control to her that - More than anything - reminds you of Regios's form: The similarities in how she stands, how she carries herself, are there...If you know how to look.

> [X] "Don't mention it. Let's start again, shall we?"

Her lips twitch, in something that threatens a smile.

"So *you're* the Red Joker?" she murmurs, almost to herself - With a low, thoughtful sound, a "Hmmm~" that could mean anything. Her close scrutinity lasts for a moment; those fierce eyes looking, judging, before she relaxes, fractionally.

"You're...different from what I expected, really." Another sidelong glance, slower this time - "I thought you'd be..." She catches herself, mid-sentence, with a slight shake of her head.

"-Well, never mind."

> [X] "Good arm."

The color rises, in her cheeks - Almost a blush, instead of a flush of emotion. Her slender - But definently strong - arms cross over her chest, as she has to look away-

"...I-it's not like I can help that-" Shion half-murmurs...Her breath catching, looking inexplicably pleased and annoyed at once - It takes a distinct act of will to regain her composure, as she lifts her hand to your face. Her handkerchief is cool, soothing against your cheek-

"-Take it already, all right?"

...And remains so when she steps back, to a safer distance.

(Continued)

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>>35538885
>>35538981

HOLLOW SUN: 18.4%

> VEHICLE UNLOCKED
> ASSAULT ROADER

A high-speed pursuit vehicle, the the Assault Roader - Also known as the 'Ophanim', or the Hellion Cycle - is a machine designed specifically for the Red Joker's use.


>>35538998

"I didn't hit you *that* hard, did I?" she says, a self-conscious note to her voice. "It's just...Being kept in the dark by *everyone* - It's frustrating. Bisha - *Kouichi's* - not telling me anything, when everyone else is playing hide and go backstab-"

Shion shakes her head.

"...Forget it. Well - Where are we going?"

[ ] "...So he didn't tell you."
[ ] "-You'll be dead by the end of the week."
[ ] "To meet a friend of mine. Something's come up."
[ ] "Don't tell me...You *like* Kouichi, don't you?"
[ ] "Hey, don't blame me. He wanted to keep you and Tyrian out of it."
[ ] "-Sometimes it's better not to know."
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>35538998

> that image

Holy shit.

Evening OP. How was your week?

Motorcycle get, eh? Nice.

>>35539024
>[X] "...So he didn't tell you."
>[X] "Don't tell me...You *like* Kouichi, don't you?"

"Who tried to backstab you?"
"Are you sure you want to know? Kouichi didn't tell you for a reason."

>>35539024
>"...So he didn't tell you."
>"Don't tell me...You *like* Kouichi, don't you?"
Sort of surprised we actually bought the bike.

>>35539080
>>35539100
Hope you don't mind. I doubt the O.F. is a two seater.

>>35539080

> Evening OP. How was your week?

(Exceedingly busy. Fortunately, I'm done with work at present.)

> [X] "...So he didn't tell you."

"-Tell me what?"

> [X] "Don't tell me...You *like* Kouichi, don't you?"

"Wh...What?" Shion's eyes widen - "That's...No! I don't..."

The volume of her voice rises sharply; Fortunately, no-one's paying attention, but a quick glance makes her check her tone, a heartbeat later. Her lips twist - "...that's - Ugh, no. I..." A catch, to her words:

"...I respect him, that's all. Or at least - I used to."

A sigh, low and troubled. "-Right now...He's a very different person."

> "Are you sure you want to know? Kouichi didn't tell you for a reason."

Her eyes narrow.

"-Of *course* I want to know. Anything's better than *not* knowing; Things are never the way you want them to be - They just *are*. You learn to live with that, that's all."

You're past the gates, now, away from the handful of stragglers streaming from the school - Some families, some students taking the chance to excuse themselves...Though there's still quite a number of people flowing in. Shion keeps pace with you, her voice lowered, leaning closer so as not to be overheard: It's an oddly intimate gesture, and you get some looks as you make your way outward.

...What she's saying, however, is anything but casual.

> "Who tried to backstab you?"

"...Does the name 'Calcite Arrow' mean anything to you?"

A pause.

"-At any rate, he was looking for you, specifically; But..."

Shion's gaze goes distant, for the space of a second - Her lip curling, in thought or in annoyance. Perhaps it's both, from the way her brow furrows.

"...He's a strange one. Maybe the strangest Smiler out there..."

[ ] "Strange? How?"
[ ] "-What happened?"
[ ] "When was this?"
[ ] "Did he say anything?"
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>35539188
>[x ] "Strange? How?"
>[x ] "-What happened?"
>[ x] "When was this?"
>[x ] "Did he say anything?"

>>35539188
"He tried to kill me during the raid. He was... cold. A sniper. Stopped me hard, and got away."

>[X] "-What happened?"

"How much do you know about the Hyades? The Chalice Queen?"

How much do we want to tell her all at once?

>>35539199

> [X] "Strange? How?"

"He-"

Her eyes narrow. "...He's not 'into it'. A good shot, very quick on his feet, but - It's like he didn't *want* to have to fight. That's a first."

> [X] "When was this?"
> [X] "-What happened?"

"-Last night. I was chasing down a Corrector when he showed - No challenge, no grudge, just warning shots."

Shion sniffs, as if personally offended. "'Warning shots'. No, I couldn't believe it either. Does that sound like a normal Player to you?" Her hand rubs lightly at her left arm, her fingers drawing tiny circles against the black fabric.

"He has this...petrification...trick that slows you down. The closer you are, the faster you turn to stone..."

She shakes her head. "But - It's nothing that can't be dealt with."

> [X] "Did he say anything?"

Shion frowns. "Just - 'Where is there Red Joker?' Then - 'Where is he?'. Things like that. But when I said: 'You really want to find him? You got the stones for this?'" A grimace. "Poor choice of words, as it turned out - He just...froze up. Just for a moment, but..."

Her voice trails off.

"It's like - He didn't know what he actually wanted. Like...He was trying too hard - Trying to force him to do it. Does that make sense?"

The tone of her voice suggests that it defies her understanding.

> "He tried to kill me during the raid. He was... cold. A sniper. Stopped me hard, and got away."

"-Really?" A close look, considering.

"...Are we even talking about the same person here?"

(Continued)

>>35539230
We should probably give her the general gist of things. Tell her about the imprinting,the tournament and end result. Say we're looking for a way to avoid the worst redult. Should keep quiet about Mio, though.

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>>35539300

> "How much do you know about the Hyades? The Chalice Queen?"

"The wha-" Shion sounds as if she's bitten into something sour. "-No, nothing. Kouichi's...He's being Kouichi. Always thinks he knows what's best for everyone around him, never mind himself. He's always, always like that."

A thought occurs to her, as she glances down the road - Slowing to a sedate pace, her hands folded demurely before her, at rest.

"Wherever we're going - How are we getting there...?"

[ ] "Well, there's the bus."
[ ] "Thought I'd hail a cab."
[ ] "-There's something I've been waiting to try out."
[ ] "Never mind about that."
[ ] "...Sounds like he's new at this."
[ ] "How did you get away?"
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>35539308
>[x ] "-There's something I've been waiting to try out."
As long as we get there using top speed.
[x] "How did you get away?

>>35539303
seconded, but only when we're really underway. we have no more time to waste.

>>35539303
Got it.

>>35539308
>[X] "-There's something I've been waiting to try out."
>[X] "...Sounds like he's new at this."
>[X] "How did you get away?"

"Did he seem to be struggling? Start an attack and then pause before following through?"

BEFORE WE TRANSFER OVER:

"There's a game within the game. Special Players called Hyades choose champions to battle for them. The last one left becomes the Chalice Queen--one of the finalists."

"The Hyades bond strengthens you, and binds you in a way you rarely want to escape from: it makes you fall in love."

"The other two champions are Kraken and me. And Kouichi knows that."

"I plan to cheat. Kouichi will survive, I promise."

>>35539355
Should do it before. Can't have Cybele finding out that we're disloyal.

>>35539389
>Should do it before. Can't have Cybele finding out that we're disloyal.
Of course.Agreed.

>>35539389

> [X] "...Sounds like he's new at this."

"Maybe. But if he is...How did he last *this* long?"

> [X] "How did you get away?"
> "Did he seem to be struggling? Start an attack and then pause before following through?"

"I..." Shion pauses - biting her lip, a flicker of surprise flitting across her features. "...Yes. Like - He wasn't *quite* sure of him. Not yet. Like I said - Strange."

> "I plan to cheat. Kouichi will survive, I promise."

The gaze she shoots you is dubious - But less surprised than you'd expect.

"So the rumors *are* true," Shion murmurs, almost to herself. Then:

"...It's what Kouichi lives for, you know. Give him a chance to martyr himself, and he'll fight his way onto the cross, yell for the hammer and nails." Her acid words are quite at odds with her uniform - Isn't she from a Catholic school? The scorn in her voice is a palpable force, but there's something more than that in her words-

...She's worried for him. Perhaps she doesn't know it.

"Jok - Anon. Listen."

Shion comes to a stop - You turn to face her, a plangent note of urgency to her voice.

"-If you can beat some sense into him...Do it. I'm not sure of the rest of it, but...Kouichi's a, a..."

Her brow furrows, searching for the words - Her gaze turning inwards. Then, grudgingly:

"...A good person. Or the closest you can get, to one. The way he's behaving...It's *not* him. He's not - He's not acting like himself." There's a real worry to her voice, now, one that quite belies Shion's words; she draws a deep breath - "What I'm saying is...Don't let anyone sink their hooks into him. Whatever it takes."

...Is that a note of jealousy to her voice?

(Continued)

>>35539499

> [X] "-There's something I've been waiting to try out."

The world goes Red. The sound of waves against the surf, closer now - Breakers against the sand, with an acid hiss. The transition is seamless, almost worryingly so: You stand beneath a bruised-red sky, lit by an eternal hellglow - Distances are strange, here, corospant flickering in the charged air, the sky sullen and dark with the rotation that threatens a storm.

A hiss, a static-laden crackle: The closest approximation to a sound of surprise. Volt Regios - Armored in gleaming cobalt plate - stiffens, tensing at your manifestation. His - her - hand goes to the golden thorn-blade sheathed at his waist, hanging from silver chains. The plated gauntlet curls into a fist, the span of a breath later:

"*Warn* me before you do that," Regios crackles, blue light flickering in his visor slit - The breeze whipping at his cape, drawing it back in a sweep.

"Joker - Let's see it."

The Teleport Homer is heavy in your hand - A fist-sized unit, a new telltale light glowing on the dial. You twist the selector: One for the Red Comet, the second for...

-Brace for apport.

A thunderclap of sound peals through the ruined streets, a loud double-bang of overstressed air pressure. The overpressure blast splinters the stone, as the sleek shape of the Hellion Cycle materalizes - It lands with a solid *thump*, smartwheels oscillating, gripping the ground like claws: The engine running hot, growling as blue-threaded exhaust fumes forth from the pipes.

It has the shape of a landbound torpedo, with the crouched poise of a predator about to spring; the same peerless white of all Hellions, rotating about it's own axis as it comes to a stop-

You swing yourself into the seat, and twist the throttle. The growl builds to a rumble, the prow outthrust like a carnivore's maw-

(Continued)

>>35539608

"-Impressive."

One word, as Volt Regios follows. He betrays no hesitation, as he follows - His hooved feet grinding against the ground, the Assault Roader's sides unfurling like spreading wings. It wasn't meant to carry a passenger, that's for sure - But the gauntlets that lock onto your sides leave no room for argument.

Then-

"Joker-" Over the growl of the engine, Regios stiffens - Tensing in place. "...Have you *driven* one of these bef-"

The thruster nozzles flare to blue-white, and the howl of the wind snatches away his words.

----------------------

The Ophanim is a hefty machine - A machine with a solidity to it, a mass, with an over-powered reactor to slide all that armor round. At optimum horizontal velocity, it plumes a white tail out dust out behind you, along the roadway: Your fists locked against the controls, the nav-track display blinking out a route overlay, armored and grilled against wear and tear. It is all bare metal - All function over form, no thought for the human operator...

-But then, humans were never meant to use a machine like *this*, anyway.

On all sides, the world is a blur. Volt Regios's words are lost to the howl of the wind, whipping past - the Ophanim's navigation systems overlaid over your HUD. The twitching cursor on your field of vision is you - the etched lines the streets, red hazard hatching appearing overhead, warning of obstacles. In the distance, paired grinning-face icons...

One is Distortion Haze's. The other, Vector Geist's.

The engines howl, accelerating, as the Ophanim's drive wails. You're moving at immense speed, along the feeder roadways - The old iron of Dis's buildings looming all around, as you bank into the deep brown shadows of the old city. *There* is the towering skyscraper of the Bastion, the light catching the monolith's sunward faces, the perfect geometry emphasised...

And then you're past it, away from the gleaming skyline, going deeper into the black.

(Continued)

Wait, we can't hear her over the outside sounds?
I thought voice was transmitted via radio. Our arcade encounter in the real implied that.

>>35539706
If that is so, we might want an actual radio system for these kinds of conditions (strong winds etc)

>>35539736
Joker symbol?

>>35539671

"...w...here..et..."

You hear nothing. Only snatches.

"...ow...ch...ther..."

Volt Regios hangs on for dear life - Gauntlets gripping hard enough to crimp the armor, a grim deathgrip. You race down a dank underpass, zipping beneath the looming shadow of the electromagnetic tracks over, skirting the perimeter of a rubble field. The system feeds data to your sensors, as you make the split-second - Almost prescient - decisions to turn *here* and accelerate *now*, and...

You see it from five kilometres away: The immense ruin of a building, planted amid the jagged open space of the shattered skyscrapers around it. Here, everything is broken, splintered.

A shape like a stadium, like a shell. Spiraled, hollow, conical-

COCHELA

You cut the thrust, riding up through the blank darkness under the grand arch, coasting into an inner courtyard. There is rubble everywhere, before a great flight of steps: Alien displays, shattered lights, of great swathes of filthy cloth that drape the sides, worn away to ragged shrouds. Treaded mechanisms grind and rotate in half-motion, as the Ophanim's roar fades to a growl, then nothing - The acceleration dying at last, the Hellion Cycle rumbling to a stop before the ragged cavity of the broad entrance, lit by an eerie, surreal light that comes from everywhere and nowhere at once...

Regios stiffens.

"...This place," he growls - Still locked in the same rider's pose, frozen in place as the Ophanim wobbles like a small boat, smartwheels telescoping to spread the weight. In the aching silence that comes with the death of the engine, you can already hear the unease in Regios's voice, as the wind scuds across the flagstones.

"-This is a bad one."

You look up, at the towering flight. Haze's icon blinks somewhere ahead.

[ ] "Haze? Are you there?"
[ ] "...I don't like the look of this."
[ ] "-Is Geist really inside...?"
[ ] "You can let go of me now, you know."
[ ] "You know where we are?"
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

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>>35539706
>>35539752
>>35539736

(You have a radio system. Volt isn't used to it yet.)

>>35539736
Give Regios a Joker Icon. Problem solved.

Oh, before I forget, OP please start LOW production on Essence Cores, Chayots and Thrones, and replace the Hailfire Chaingun with a Photon Beamer.

I'd also like to start Arc Charger research.

>>35539776
Arc Chargers? Why?

>>35539759
>[ x] "-Is Geist really inside...?"
>[x ] "You know where we are?"
[x ] Use argus to check for ambushes, snipers etc. Ask volt if she/he has any detection tech.

>>35539759
Holy shit that travel. Gotta go fast.

[x] "You know where we are?"
Ping Geist back, tell him we're here. Also, Argus System on, see if we can detect anything below before going in.

[x] "You can let go of me now, you know."
Shion a cute

>>35539809

I'm surprised by how likeable she is, after the initial bitchiness. She also has an incredible body.

>>35539759
First thing's first, dismiss the Ophanim.

>[X] "Haze? Are you there?"
>[X] "You can let go of me now, you know."
>[X] "You know where we are?"

"What did you say on the way here? You didn't vocalize over the radio."

"How are the Ionic Amplifiers working, by the way?"

>>35539796
Affects the greatest number of units. Also could boost the lightning control Relic Regios has now. The more bonuses we stack on her, the better chance of spiting death.

>>35539809
>Ping Geist back
Does the icon still work if it is taken away from the Player, or the Player in question is dead ? What if the Smilers have the icon, and are pinging it ?

>>35539853
Silver Cross buried his in a wall and it still pinged. Dunno if it still would if he were dead.

>>35539776

(I'll keep those in mind, but I'll wait for more consensus on Arc Charger research before I begin it.)

>>35539809

> [X] "You know where we are?"

"-No." An ozone-laden flicker. Patient tics of lightning dance across Regios's helmet. "...Listen."

The wind moans, against the field of humming electricity that surrounds him. "-Old information in the ground. Channels in the air, in the building. Echoes."

Then, darkly:

"...A lot of people died here, Joker."

> [X] "-Is Geist really inside...?"

You glance down at the display - An unnecessary gesture. The Assault Roader might be at rest, but the systems are still slaved to yours. Geist's symbol flickers: Perhaps it's the thought that summons him, because his icon pulses again - Just once, plainitive.

>>35539799

Your Argus System detects-

There is a distortion, a background wash, as the sensor sweep radiates forth: A layered signal, one that detects nothing except cursory motion - The faint returning ping of Distortion Haze's track...

And half-formed things. Things that might almost be Essence signatures, too weak, too dispersed in the air, to approach coherence. For them to linger, after so long...

Regios is right. Many people died here.

> [X] "You can let go of me now, you know."

Regios releases you, abruptly - So abruptly, he nearly slides off the cycle. With solid dignity, he rises to his feet: For a long, unblinking moment, his visor regards you, blue light cycling within.

> "What did you say on the way here? You didn't vocalize over the radio."

"-Nothing," Regios says, too quickly to be entirely dignified. Belatedly, he brings gleaming blue fingers to his Joker icon - A channel opens in your helmet, a stylized lightning bolt that pulses in time to Regios's words.

"...Vocalizing now," Volt adds, after a long, awkward silence.

> Replace the Hailfire Chaingun with a Photon Beamer.

(Continued)

>>35539967
No one else is suggesting anything. I'll go with the chargers unless someone cares to make any argument otherwise.

>>35540038
If we don't have any dissenting votes by the end of the thread, go with Chargers

>>35539967
She and Kou are perfect for each other, aren't they.

I'd go for Reactive Plating or Dirge Casters over the Arc Charger.

>>35540074
Reactive Plating's already in the works.

>>35540086
Oh good. It's hard to tell with so many upgrades being researched.

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>>35539967

You reach up - The Hailfire Chaingun loses solidity, ghosting to a phantom: Becoming glowing green schematic lines, erasing themselves in a sweep. The Arsenal Beacon's azure glow casts jagged shadows against the ground, the heft of the Photon Beamer cycling into place replacing the mass of the Hailfire Chaingun - Locked to the gyroarm on your back.

The ground proves annoyingly impervious to your sensors...But it's no surprise. Dense metals must have been blasted into the earth, and you don't want to imagine what might be down there.

> Ping Geist back, tell him we're here.

The pulse has no answer. A moment passes, then...

-A second channel opens. Haze's voice is suddenly, inexplicably, in your head.

"Joker? Oh, thank God." The relief in his voice is hard to overstate - His icon approaching, until his silhouette appears at the top of the stairs. Then, forlorn:

"...It's not nice here."

A burst of coughing comes over the line, as Haze draws closer; Regios stiffens, a warning "Company," coming over the channel - This place has him on edge. But the presence approaching is definently Haze, even before you pick up his Essence signature...

...And when he hooves into view, for a moment - Just a moment - you wonder if you've been mistaken.

Haze has...changed. His form is still recognizable, still with some similarities - The helmet, the eyeslits glowing a constant green, the bright biohazard symbol badged on his arm - but the chequered armor that encases his form is a new addition, as are his syringe-tipped gauntlets. His shoulders flare out into vents, bleeding a dribble of clotted vapor into the air-

...But the most drastic change are the control rods embedded in his upper arms and back, along the curve of his spine. When he coughs - Every few moments, now, a low hacking sound - green mist wisps from the grille of his helmet before dispersing in the breeze.

He raises a hand, a feeble wave.

(Continued)

>>35540112

There's a visible stoop to his back, as if bowed beneath an invisible weight...Or perhaps it's just the augments.

"Joker-" Surprise registers in his clotted voice. "...And - Volt, too?"

Twin strands of gas coil from the rebreather vents set in his helmet's elongated chin, like strands of incense. Even his voice sounds different, between each half-cohered cough: Hoarser, more phlegmy, almost rasping.

[ ] "...Haze - What did you *do* to yourself?"
[ ] "You look...different."
[ ] "Big changes, I see."
[ ] "...Are you all right?"
[ ] "What's the situation?"
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>35540126
>[ ] "...Haze - What did you *do* to yourself?"
>[ ] "...Are you all right?"
>[ ] "What's the situation?"

>>35540095
It's mostly weapons. They should clear soon. I hope.

Anyway, supposedly the basic Hellion upgrades affect all the models. Getting the Chargers lets every Hellion type shoot lightning, and we know how effective that is.

>>35540126
>[X] "...Haze - What did you *do* to yourself?"

"Wait, a Terminus Upgrade? That could have killed you. What were you thinking? Are you okay?"

>[X] "What's the situation?"

>>35540173
I thought we gave Haze the clear for Terminus Upgrade? He can't walk up and request one.

>>35540173
>"Wait, a Terminus Upgrade? That could have killed you. What were you thinking? Are you okay?"

Please, Don't accuse Haze. We kinda pushed him to do this, what with the severe training and
all. Also, we don''t have the time to stand around and chat.

>>35540238
OP decided to put the charge to use himself since we had 150 charge and change. So Haze got his super upgrade and we got the extra ~40 charge instead of getting 150 and 40 going to waste.

So in game terms, yeah Haze upgraded himself.

>>35540272
It's not accusatory, it's "Oh my god you could have died." And he has to give us the sitrep before we go in anyway.

> [X] "...Haze - What did you *do* to yourself?"
> [X] "...Are you all right?"

"I'm fine - Fine." that clotted cough again, monotone - "Just...I can't seem to shake this *cough*-"

"He does not *look* fine. He looks sick. Diseased."

Regios's tone never changes, but he draws back, wary. "Joker-"

A faint whirr echoes in the air - Haze winces, as the control pylons retract. It ratchets his hunched form upright, his back ramrod-straight. "-It's all right. It's all *right*. Just - Just some teething problems, that's all."

He's determinedly, almost relentlessly cheerful about it.

> "Wait, a Terminus Upgrade? That could have killed you. What were you thinking? Are you okay?"

A coughing fit, his hand coming to his helmet's speaker - Doing absolutely nothing to smother the sound, as the vapor wells forth undammed.

"Can we just...*Not* talk about this now? I had to do *something*-"

His arms twitch, as Haze makes a sweeping gesture. The motion is spastic, more violent than he's meant it to be.

"Terminus upgrade?" Volt echoes - Intent, now, taking an interest.

> [X] "What's the situation?"

"-No change. Geist - He's inside, somewhere and down. He's not moving - Not answering my hails-"

A sidelong glance, from Volt. You know what he's thinking: This might be bad.

Haze wipes his gauntlet against his rebreather. "-Joker...It's all ruin down there. Just - Row after row after *row* of tunnels-" He falters. "I think...I think it's like the Hive down there. And - There may be *things* down there. I've heard...I mean, I think I've seen..."

His voice trails off.

"Just...We have to think about this, all right? I - I don't think we want to be here."

[ ] "-You're right. We're pulling out."
[ ] "We should nuke it from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."
[ ] "We can't leave Geist. We're going in."
[ ] "You're right. Take Regios and get out of here - I'll handle this."
[ ] "Have you called anyone else?"
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

I just realized, if we have the Ophanim we can be an Armored Rider, since it is basically a motorcycle.

>>35540086
Choir Beacon would be the best thing when it comes to Hellions.
In context, arc charger might be better, though.

>>35540126
Haze the nuclear Necron Lord?

>>35540332
Welcome to however many threads ago it was first introduced.
>>35540329
>"You're right. Take Regios and get out of here - I'll handle this."
> "Have you called anyone else?"

>>35540329
As tempting as the Nuke option sounds, we can't leave Geist like that....if he's actually down there.

>[x] "Have you called anyone else?"
>How far have you gotten below?

>>35540329
>[X] "Have you called anyone else?"

"I don't think Geist wants to be here. Someone's invited me in. Think Arrow got tired of looking?"

"I'm going in. You two stay here and kill anything that isn't me that tries to go in or out. Things get too hairy, get out and tell Tyrian to teach this place the glory of Zeon. He'll know what I mean."

This one should be over the radio. "Regios, I need a favor. Tell Tyrian to find a Vitruvian Device. I'm going to need one after tomorrow."

>>35540371
That's next on the list.

>>35540392
Purple Haze from JJBA.

>>35540329
>[ ] "We should nuke it from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."
"This is what I would like to say.
But think of the essence!

Jokes aside, how far did you go? Did you encounter anything aside from vague sounds?

Let's take this on together. If push comes to shove, I'll continue solo."

>>35540395
I'm really bad at paying attention and remembering things.

>>35540433

We can likely solo it. Haze doesn't seem to have control of his new powers yet.

>>35540329
Tell Volt about the Terminus Scanner.
This includes how dangerous the thing is, unless you do lvl 1.

>>35540432
Sieg Zeon!

But why a Vitruvian Machine?

>>35540456
All the more reason to get him some fighting experience.
We are his blackup if he chokes out.

>>35540460
So he can get good, I guess. Actually, can regular players even use them?

>>35540329

> [X] "You're right. Take Regios and get out of here - I'll handle this."
> [X] "Have you called anyone else?"

>>35540456
He should be okay after a level up. Unless I'm completely wrong he spent a lot of stored Essence to survive the enhancement. A level ought to reset his system.

>>35540460
Because it breaks curses. And Joker's going to have one hell of one if we go through with betraying Cybele. She bound her Essence into him, and she's strengthening him. If that doesn't let her really fuck with Joker's systems I'll be amazed, and then there's what Hellebore said about breaking a contract... Let's just say that Utopia Ruler saying he'd save Joker's life whether he likes it or not are just slightly ominous.

I expect mind breaking pain at best, active semi-permanent debuffs at worst.

>>35540473
Yeah. Surviving them is a crapshoot for everyone.

>>35540470
If he chokes up underground he's dead. Leave him here and near the surface where retreat is an option.

>>35540505
So what is your exact plan for the Cybele situation?

>>35540496

>"You're right. Take Regios and get out of here - I'll handle this."

It's a waste since we already brought them here. Let them wait outside to cover us, if push comes to shove.

>>35540505
Take Haze, ask Volt what he wants. Hint subtly at the danger that Cybele predicted.

>>35540515
Honestly, no idea. Depends on circumstances, I suppose. I feel bad, there's no good resolution for her, just fast or slow and mass murder. It's incredibly heartless, but I seriously suggest keeping the Axel Grips unused when we fight Kraken.

>>35540529
Kotone? And I dunno, Haze needs kills, but going too far in means he has to either commit or come out alone. Leave him on overwatch; Regios has done that for us before. They can talk about the agony of full body modification.

>>35540505
Ask Utopia if he suffered any drawbacks from betraying his Hyades ( even if we killed her)

I wish we could do prolonged invisibility and stealth kills.
I want to enter a Corrector hive and backstab everything.

>>35540496
>>35540432
>>35540415
>>35540395
>>35540517

(Gentlemen: My apologies, I lost the connection for a moment.

The general consensus seems to be going in alone, while leaving them to stand guard. Writing now.)

>>35540587
Not our specialization. Joker is built around being a walking WMD.

>>35540564
Oh, he wouldn't. She died loving and trusting him, or so desperate it didn't matter what she knew. I doubt we'll be so lucky/cruel.

>>35540587
The only invisibility option we have is expensive both to equip and use. Maybe an upgraded Distortion Halo could do it differently.

>>35540605
Wait what's a Distortion Halo?

>>35540605
I wonder if we can just absorb Cybele into the Nihil Sphere while giving her a hug. Would be amusing if the Sphere ended up evolving and taking on Cybele's powers.

>>35540591
Another vote for bringing Haze with us.

>>35540623
A generic kind of equipment.
One of our Hellion types uses it.

Also, wouldn't Cherubim transformation servoes be useful?
Should be more powerful than other Hellion weapons.

>>35540642

The way he is now, he'll just get his ass kicked.

>>35540591
>The general consensus seems to be going in alone, while leaving them to stand guard. Writing now.)
I'm fine with this.

>>35540623
Multi-purpose gravity warping Relic. Remember Armaros? He uses one.

>>35540627
That'd be something. Still, I don't think it's a gentle end is Bardiel is any indication. Plus, the Hyades Essence goes to the surviving Hyades. We might need it for the Chalice Queen. Keeping that in mind if only to deny Alura any chance to use it herself.

>>35540643
They're equipment replacements, not normal weapons. They replace the interceptors.

I'm actually interested, since there's a second level and since it lets us use damaged Cherubs very efficiently when combined with the limb replacements.

> How far have you gotten below?

Haze hesitates - Just for a moment. Then, reluctantly, he admits:

"Not - not very far. It's all...falling apart, and rotting. There's this hole that leads into the tunnels below, and..." he lets his voice trail off, rather than conclude his report.

> [x] "Have you called anyone else?"

"Uh, most of the others are - I tried to get Iron Ogre, but...He doesn't seem to be answering, so...What is it?"

Maybe it's something in your stance, because there's a worried edge to his voice, now.

>>35540459

> Tell Volt about the Terminus Scanner.

The light in Volt's visor flickers, then dims.

"...There's always a price," Volt rasps - He's looking right at Haze. "-He's paid, for sure." There's something weighing in Volt's gaze...Before he turns away, without a word.

> Let them wait outside to cover us, if push comes to shove.

"I thought-" Haze begins - He stiffens in place, as if on the cusp of saying something more...But then the control pylons retract, with a whirr, his form slouching again. There's an audible exhalation of pent-up breath, as if he was in a pain before - An ache that's abruptly been relieved.

Reluctantly, he nods - His gaze darting around the aching emptiness of his surroundings. "We'll wait - But, Joker...Don't take *too* long, all right? This place is-"

"We know," Volt growls, in answer. His sword is drawn, clutched in a plated fist - His back to a pillar, looking outwards with immense distrust. Every inch of his form radiates the urge to be anywhere, absolutely anywhere, but here.

"Joker - Go if you're going."

(Continued)

>>35540679
Can we tell Haze that a level-up could potentially solve his issue, considering how the Terminus Scanner works?

Will we talk about Ogre?

>>35540643
I should add, two different models use Halos, in very different ways.

>>35540705
>Will we talk about Ogre?
Probably once we meet up with the whole group. At the very least, we should inform them that he died in the Tournament.

>>35540679

> "Regios, I need a favor. Tell Tyrian to find a Vitruvian Device."

"...A Vitruvian Device?" you hear the frown in Regios's voice - But then he nods, a trifle reluctantly. "I'll tell him. But - We can make no promises, Joker."

And perhaps that's the best you can expect.

> Can we tell Haze that a level-up could potentially solve his issue, considering how the Terminus Scanner works?

"That...that might actually work." Haze coughs, thickly, as vile green vapor pipes from his vents. His voice goes distant, an aside: "...It's always the answer. Always more. More death." Bleakly, now. "-Why shouldn't it be the cure?"

You trudge forward, through the ragged cavity of the doors, and the gloom swallows you up.

-------------------------------

Inside: A vast interior space. You are struck by the scale of it, the hollow, empty sound - There is a desolation, here, a destruction complete and total.

This place - It was made for human habitation. That much you can see, in the areas that survived the transition. Storefronts, apartments, all crammed together without rhyme or reason, fused into a single building...But a pattern exists, if you regard it carefully, where the angular lines of construction merges with the alien aesthetics of the Red World.

There are alcoves, podiums, plinths, displays around the edges of hall - Exhibits, perhaps. Treasures, maybe. Models for the new city to come. Whatever they were, not a single sign of the original intention lingers: All has been razed.

At some points, the stone gives way to vitreous mirrors - Like some kind of tar, coagulated and fused into pitted surfaces, encircled by crazed lines and the scuff of loose dust. Different from the sterile cleaniness of the Red...

-You can't help but wonder what building, or which buildings, this place may have been once.

Before it crossed over, of course.

Perhaps - And you don't like to linger on the thought - with everything and everyone within.

(Continued)

>>35540787
Just say that. A lot of people would be happy to misinterpret what happened as "Joker kills anyone if given half an excuse". Which, despite appearances, isn't true.

>>35540651
Bullshit. His upgrades made him more powerful than ever. I mean, jesus, the guys literally three of the five types of WMD in one. Why the fuck don't we give him a shot?

Also, Christ his design sounds creepy now.

>>35540827
I see nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.
What else are you seeing?

>>35540841
Scratch my post.
I misread you.

...But what *are* the other types in your list?

>>35540827
Danger of misfire. Plus he clearly doesn't want to go into this place any further than he has to. Do you honestly think the two of them will be left alone up there?

>>35540855
>Plus he clearly doesn't want to go into this place any further than he has to

>"I thought-" Haze begins
I don't think so, Jim.

>>35540827
Because he's obviously in a shit state and doesn't have proper experience using his new upgrades? The guy needs to stabilize himself before walking into a what is likely a Hive.

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>>35540819

It doesn't take you long - Not too long, anyway - to find the entrance. It's on the far end of the desolate square, a jagged rent in the surface like a lamprey-mouth bite: Unplugging the hole beneath, a cut over six meters deep. Cold air leaks out from beyond - Like the slow bleed of heat from a tomb.

And there's that *sound* in the air - A chittering, a moaning. Like whispers, stirring within the fluid darkness. If you listen - Very, very careful - it almost feels like you understand what they're saying, a meaning that remains forever out of grasp.

Your sensors register light, beneath - A greyish half-light, a dusk, from where the ceiling slopes down. The hanging lines of cables - ancient and powerless - vaguely limpsed.

[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>35540863
He thought we expected him to come along. He's relieved we don't.

>>35540827
Five? CBRM and what else?

>>35540863
>I don't think so, Jim.
Did you not read the line right after that? He was expecting Joker to take him there, but is obviously relieved that it isn't the case.

>>35540871

I just realized why he's always coughing. He's become a literal embodiment of pestilence.

>>35540869
Argus Scan.
Let's go down.

Any messages we want to send to the others beforehand?

>>35540880
You only noticed that now?
It's also the symbolical meaning of his hunchback.

>>35540869
Argus scan and descend. Unveil the Arm as well. Almost time to dispense with the cover entirely.

Okay, I have to go. If it is Arrow, remember he reacts to the word stones and see if you can pump him for information. See if you can keep Geist alive.

>>35540900
>remember he reacts to the word Stones
We should have bought Koleos.

>>35540913

Guys, I think you're missing the point. He didn't react to the word 'stones', he was clearly having trouble with the idea of killing people.

>>35540900
>Unveil the Arm as well.
So we are going for dramatic?

Unveil the arm. Re-align the satellite to look into our direction. Set all systems on standby/pre-heating.
Do we have anything to make it more dramatic without wasting resources?

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>>35540924
That's the joke.

>>35540868
That's horse shit. No one has "proper" experience with upgrades, its instinctual. Joker said so himself when he was first teaching WMDboy about killing.

>>35540855
We took him down into the fucking Corrector Hive, didn't we? This is a lighter version of that; we'd have seen correctors by now otherwise. Your first and third points are, however, valid.

>>35540841
>>35540871
The four big ones are nuclear, radiological, biological and chemical. Then, you got vacuum bombs and the like; the key thing with a WMD is that it salts the Earth and horribly ruins all life there. Which is pretty much the only thing Haze can do now.

>>35540869
Argus scanner.

>>35540954
>nuclear, radiological
Doesn't that basically amount to the same thing?
Can't go nuclear without some radiation.

>>35540954
>Which is pretty much the only thing Haze can do now.
I wonder if Haze is a spiteful Person at core.

Then again, Player avatars aren't linked to personalities like they are in Accel World.

>>35540954
>That's horse shit. No one has "proper" experience with upgrades, its instinctual. Joker said so himself when he was first teaching WMDboy about killing.
The instinct thing was only related to moving while using a mechanical body, you know.
Even Joker doesn't actually know what his new toys do without using them first.

>>35540975
>Even Joker doesn't actually know what his new toys do without using them first.
Actually, other players might have less fragmented systems. So their abilities might be apparent at a glance, if the thematic ground work for their armor is understood.

It's interesting how even the movement systems are different for everyone.
Have we seen anyone else use the mag-locks that we are using?

>>35540966
No, a dirty bomb doesn't require a nuclear explosion but still uses radiation to kill. If you want to see how bad it can be, look into Project Pluto and Cu53.

>>35540975
He has a basic idea of how they work and is more than capable of using them effectively.

>>35540973
I doubt it. Mostly, upgrades seem to come by a roll of the dice and what you're speccing in. Haze has made some smart choices with high defence and a combo of DoT and AoE.

Only problem is, he's probably too fucking lethal to have near us now. Plus, I wonder how effective those syringes are...Eh, it's not like anyone can get into close combat with him anyway thanks to the fucking poison gas he vomits everywhere now.

>>35540966
Not necesarily - introducin Strontium 19 into the water supply will replace peoples calcium with radioactive material, without causing a nuclear explosion. Also, Radiological can include such simple things as UV light (ozone depletion) and other non-radioactive sources of destruction. Nuclear usually means explosives.

>>35541005
>He has a basic idea of how they work and is more than capable of using them effectively.
Yeah, a real person would need adjust to the new handling.

Would you be a crackshot with the Immolator without any prior training, despite knowing no similar weapons?

>>35541020
Again, you've forgotten how the Joker explained it. It doesn't have to make sense; once you get an artefact, you know how it works. That's why, instead of having to figure out how each of the weapons we use works, we get told.

>>35540900
This, and sneak up carefully. Is the Argus an active radar and can it be picked up if you scan with it ?

>>35541043
You're missing the point. Just because you know what the weapon can theoretically do doesn't mean that you will be effective in using it.
Relying on instincts is good in battle, but even Joker needs to test out new weapons once or twice to figure out just how useful they are and when and how it is best to utilize them.

>>35541020

Joker has had lots of practice. He's good with a lot of weapons.

>>35541069
We're talking about Haze. Comparing him to Joker really isn't a good idea.

>>35540892
>>35540900

The Assault Shroud *shifts*, like a cloak being flung back - The nanomaterial reconfiguring, baring the Hand of Midas. The gleaming oriachulcum reflects your surroundings: Somehow purer, more luminous, when glimpsed through the peerless gold.

You raise the Argus sensor, a low hum diffusing as the scan sweeps forward...

-The world explodes into motion. You register contacts, multiple contacts, dozens of them hundreds, whirling upwards towards you as you check your step, flinching back...

A swarm - eyeless, chiropteran-winged - boils out of the tunnel, creatures no larger than your hand. Hundreds of them, like a snowstorm fury driven by the wind, their flapping, leathery wings engulfing you, making the foulest noises: they are little more than flaps of skin around a misshapen torso, a mouth like a ring of toothed razors set into the rough centre of their shape-

But ultimately harmless.

Some of them collide with your armor, with wet *crumps* and the sound of fragile bones breaking. Their echolocation blitzes your sensors with false contacts, until it cuts out for a moment: They seem dazed, disorientated by your Argus System's sweep - as if it's a beacon, a false alarm, like a torch in the dark.

The noise they make, however - An atonal, disturbing moaning - is markedly unpleasant.

(Continued)

>>35541122
I'm having Metroid Prime flashbacks.

>>35541122

It takes a moment for the swarm to clear, for their doppler screeching to fade into nothing: the ground is littered with stragglers, some of them twitching feebly. You're not even sure if they count as Correctors - They have a minute amount of Essence, if any, and the downed detritus feeders are already expiring, in gasping rattles and without fuss.

Better, however, than descending blind.

Your mono-optic sensor adjusts to the dim grey light - Low-light vision kicking in, until the surrounding area comes into focus. You stand in a tunnel, a channel cut through the rock - Or perhaps 'cut' isn't the right word, because the walls are made of different bands of matter: Concrete, flaking and powdering - Dense stone - a tarry black substance that seemed congealed or fused into place with all the adjacent matter...

There are sparking power lines, overhead - One of them swings back and forth, a slow, lazy oscillation, flickering with electricity...A charge that must have lingered for countless ears in the gloom. The sway of the loose cable is oddly compelling, as you push past it.

Forward. It's the only direction that remains.

It feels like there's a definite curve to the tunnel, sloping downwards. There are extraordinary levels of gross compaction, with structural fabric and mechanisms crushed along with circuits and energy filaments into scrap filler. Your Argus Sensor can barely penetrate the walls.

You climb over a fallen beam, and duck around a fractured metal arch, the remains of a some giant hatch sticking out of the mangled ground like a giant tooth. Beyond the arch, the seam to the passage beyond has ruptured open, like a scar...The metal looking molten, with a long passageway lying beyond - One wide and high enough to drive a truck through. In fact, it may have been used for that purpose: A yellow line dilenates the passage, now half-scuffed into indecipharability.

(Continued)

>>35541188

Beyond, the path splits into two - The underground road goes on a few meters more, before it ends, abruptly: Beyond that, the ground drops away into a deep ravine, a metal chasm lined with compressed junk - A ragged metal bridge with partial handails crossing the gap, somehow in one piece against all odds. On the other side, it looks like there are several sputs of corridors and tunnels...

To your left is another passage, this one fused to something that's almost glass, as if subject to immense and intolerable heat. The same tarry black substance lines the passage; You're about to move on, when your Argus Sensor detects a momentary hollowness in the ground - A segment has been cunningly reinforced to be flush with the earth, to take your weight...But the density difference tells you that it's hollow. There's no clear indication of how to open the apparent trapdoor, though it remains little more than a plug of concrete and rebar.

[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>35541225
Fist through the ground?

>>35541240

(You could punch through it with no significant difficulty, yes.)

>>35541253
Move into one of the passages and then shoot the hollowed out ground with the Vulcans.
Perforate it at the edges until it falls apart.

Would be a bad idea to make an ambush from the ground possible.

>>35541283
Seconding this.

>>35541283

You sidestep, your Plasma Vulcans spinning up as your forearm sheaths retract - Ember-heat glowing at your charging elements, targeting cursors jittering to life. Searing emerald bolts spit from the barrels, punching into the surface with tiny, superheated explosions: In the enclosed space, the echo of the grinding shots are shockingly loud.

The reinforced hatch chips and fragments beneath the force of your shots: Each round punching a fist-sized chunk of concrete free, until the twisted lattice of crossbar beneath glows with heat - Another long, satisfying burst wrecks that, too, chunks of stone falling into the space below, followed by the half-slagged bars...

You count: One, two, three, four...The CLANG that comes is distant, echoing, like the sonorous pealing of a bell. Vector Geist's track hasn't moved - He's somewhere beneath you and to the right, and...

...And then, movement. Multiple contacts, overlapping, at the far end of the left tunnel, moving in your direction: Below, a faint flicker that might be a sign of activity...

-Then across the bridge, at the far end of the severed passage, the grey light abruptly winks out.

[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>35541357
>-Then across the bridge, at the far end of the severed passage, the grey light abruptly winks out.
Follow the bridge. Looks like someone is in action there.

>>35541357
Send out the bits. Create a killbox along one front with them. It's a shame we don't have the hellfire cannon, as that would let us take the other front easily...but we could layer it with boosted prox mines. The incendiary effect is bueno on collectors.

>>35541420
Good idea.

Follow the bridge.
Send one interceptor down the hole.
Send the others to the contacts.
...And use the booster to speed their charge up.

>>35541420
>>35541434

(Gentlemen: I'll point out that you can't really 'see' through those Bits. They're weapons, not sensory organs. You'll be able to keep in contact with them, but you might be firing blind/at vague targets if you can't perceive what you're firing at.)

>>35541434
I meant more sitting tight. We set up some incendiary mines on the bridge, set up the bits to take out anything coming down the tunnel. We head down below, and when the mines go off we have the bits start retreating, shooting shit up while staying within range.
>>35541448
Hook up their targetting system to the Argus sensors. So long as we stay close enough, they should be able to maintain fire on whatever target we aim for. That way, we can go down below while they fire upon anyone/thing firing on us. Good for fleeing.

>>35541469
So you want to stand your ground?
While we a searching for a dude who might be fighting for his life?

How about we focus on finding the guy?

>>35541487
Not necessarily. Just wait for a bbit and give the shit coming for us something to make them fall back and regroup. Break their charge, THEN run. It's a sound military tactic; we push forward and our bits cover our retreat.

>>35541512
The only reason they're coming our way is because of the noise. We may be able to simply lose them if we change locations.
If we force them to retreat, they'll just return with bigger numbers.

>>35541512
Idea:
We scout into every path.
The interceptors trail behind us.

Unfortunately, we cannot know if the guy is still wearing his Joker emblem, so we can't just tell them to shoot at everything without an IFF.

>>35541533
There's contacts in every direction. We'll have to open fire on something, and then they'll find our location again. If you're willing to go slow and sneak, sure, but we aren't exactly built for stealth.

>>35541539
Honestly, I'm not sure if using the interceptors in the first place now is a good idea. They use up too much charge to be useful outside of battle.

>>35541561
Aren't the interceptors chargeless? All we need to do is not boost them and set them up into a killbox

>>35541568
They run on meter.

Okay, no interceptors.

Which path do we take?
How do we stay quiet? Can Cobalt assisted movement allow us to control our footsteps to be quiter?
Or does the light make us even more obvious?

>>35541552
I just think it's best if we keep mobile and move towards the target. It's better to get there quickly and retreat instead of attracting even more attention.

>>35541583
>Or does the light make us even more obvious?
Most of the correctors here are probably blind, so light doesn't matter much.

>>35541583
We could always use the carnifex and go assassin's creed...we go down, since the only objective we have is the Joker symbol. I wouldn't Cobalt it yet.

>>35541583
We aren't built for stealth, so it's probably best to prioritize quick movement instead.
>>35541606
I don't want to risk walking around this place without armor. We can use the Scrander and Abruption Jets to move around quickly instead.

(My apologies, the first part got cut off.)

Twin Lucifers detach from your shoulder binders - Cold blue light pulsing at your Cobalt Booster, fed to both weapons as they angle like vanes: Building charge, their highlights going from blue to smoldering red...

-They detach, hovering in the air for a brief moment...Then zipping away, one down the left tunnel, the other into the revealed passage. At your back, your Tempest Scrander flares to life - The bridge looks too rickety to cross on foot, and a measured burst from your Scrander hurls you across the distance, banking in for a landing on the far end-

...Just in time. The first shape explodes from the left tunnel, black and chitinous. It is eyeless, the face merely a cowl of something harder than bone, ambulating rapidly on four legs - All that remains is a maw with slablike teeth. Not a carnivore's canines, but blocky, large, white - Human enamel swollen to disproportionate size, crammed into jaws with wet, raw gums flecked with drool. The blind creature's head sways from side-to-side: Apart from that glimpse of raw flesh, the rest of it's body remains encased in that suppurating black mass...Except for the twin tendrils that *slurp* from the vaguely canine shape's back, ending in wicked bone hooks.

An answering ping on your Argus Sensor, picking up a response - Code skittering across your HUD, coalescing into a *name*-

HUNGER DOG

Another ploughs out of the tunnel.

A third.

More.

(Continued)

>>35541670

It's a pack - Five of them, their jaws champing - Right as your Interceptor fires. The scorching magma-beam sears down from above, a line of bloody crimson fire; It slashes against the ground before them, and they flinch back, paws - Not paws, really, five-fingered and broad - scrambling against the stone, baying hoarsely. Tendrils lash out at your fast-moving Lucifer - The first shots searing against them, into them, setting one's flank flame. Beneath that relentless heat, one of them begins to boil, writhing until it staggers away, gnashing those awful jaws.

In the tunnels below, there's the shriek of your Bit's first discharge...

-And abruptly, the display fades into red-critical, then all contact cuts off.

The Hunger Dogs snap and leap and claw at your remaining Interceptor, snarling - You note that none of them are attempting to cross the bridge, their near-mindless thrashing focusing on the energy-spitting drone that overs just out of reach, darting from side to side to taunt them.

Then, at your back - A grinding sound. Dust, flaking from the sealing, as (Slowly, but accelerating) - a bulkhead-door descends, sliding and scrapping down as it draws shrieking sparks from the wall. The pathway ahead, where the light was coming from, is gradually being sealed off.

HP: 260.0%
COBALT BOOSTER: 155%
ASSAULT SHROUD: 147%
METER: 21%

So the interceptor that we sent into the hole died instantly.
That either means a strong corrector or another player.

>>35541681
Enter the bulkhead.
Punch any Hunger Dogs that stand in our way.

>>35541685
I say we don't try to find out and just keep in mind that there's some spooky shit walking down there.
>>35541681
Into the bulkhead. Use the Abruption Jets if needed.

>>35541695

(They're on the far side of the bridge, the side you came from - With the Lucifer Bit strafing them, they're making no attempt to cross.)

>>35541681
Leave the interceptor to play with the puppies. Abruption jet through the door before it seals.

>>35541695
>>35541700
>>35541731

You accelerate. Your static thrusters flare, gathering force - They fling you forward, and *through*, past the closing bulkhead as it slams down behind you with a force that makes the ground shake. On the other side, it is pitch-black: Even with low-light vision, the utter inky blackness momentarily engulfs you, as your connection with your Interceptor goes dead, abandoned.

But your Argus Sensor is still active, already broadcasting the room's dimensions to you: You can already sense how large the chamber is, but at least forty meters ahead of you, there's a central plinth. A quick sweep picks up readings, returns - Essence signatures, just barely detected...*Muted*, somehow, deliberately masked from your sensors...

-There are at least a dozen of them.

Above: Heavy bulkheads of bare metal. Beneath: Black grille floor. A vast, ugly construct somewhere ahead of you, and...

"Only...one...?"

A dry voice. Papery, as old as the ages. Regios's and Haze's channels are too far away for effective communication: But Geist's signature is directly beneath you.

Right under your feet. Straight down, several meters.

"I expected...More...Joker."

It is a voice that speaks with immense effort, as if each word is a monumental struggle...But not unkindly. Even through the filter of a Player's armor, the voice sounds...

-It sounds old.

"It is...kind...of you...to visit."

A grinding noise, in the dark. A wheezing, static-laden breath.

"Have you come...for Geist...?"

Then-

"We have not...begun to harm...him."

[ ] "Show yourself."
[ ] "...What is this?"
[ ] "-This is a trap, isn't it?"
[ ] "Well, this can't be good."
[ ] "And? What do you want from me?"
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>35541925
>"I'm not fond of bringing allies into a trap."
>[ ] "And? What do you want from me?"

>>35541925
>[ ] "-This is a trap, isn't it?"
>[ ] "Show yourself."
"Nice to know that I can still save him, though."

>>35541925
"You seem like just swell person(s) who would be happy to bargain. What kind of trade are you interested in?"

Wonder if we should start charging the Killsat.

>>35541988
Now I wonder if a Charge can be aborted.

>>35541925
This guy looks more trustworthy than most players.

>>35541961

> "I'm not fond of bringing allies into a trap."

"Very...good..."

"-But that is...your error...Joker."

> "You seem like just swell person(s) who would be happy to bargain. What kind of trade are you interested in?"
> [X] "And? What do you want from me?"

"For the Red Joker...to undo...what the White...has wrought-"

There is a series of deep, mechanical thumps, as light begins to shaft into the chamber. A row of immense blast shutters are gradually opening, to reveal the same sickly grey light as before - It pulses in veins, in lines, under the opening shutters, flooding the chamber with a smoky grey radiance.

The ground rumbles, underfoot. A metal column rises, rises, the ugly ingot of metal rotating until it is flush with the ground. A voice, from below-

"Joker? Joker, is that *you*?"

> "Nice to know that I can still save him, though."

Geist. There's restrained panic in his voice, echoing from his confines.

"Joker - *Listen to them*! For the love of God - They want *you*, that's all! That's all they-"

Another deep, grinding sound, and Geist's voice is cut off.

"Our show...of good faith. We will...return him-"

"Unless...You fail..."

> [X] "Show yourself."

"All in...good time..."

The papery voice, you realize, seems to come from every direction and none at once. All around you, like the incarnate sound of the vast machinery on all sides. The effect is more disquieting than you can begin to describe - Even in the pale light, the chamber feels very much like a deathtrap.

"But first...A test..."

"Yes - A test...to destruction..."

[ ] "-Enough of this."
[ ] "I've been tested enough for one lifetime. What's one more?"
[ ] "...What I can undo?"
[ ] "The White Joker? He's been here?"
[ ] "Why did you capture Geist? What do you want with him?"
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>35542138
>[ x] "...What I can undo?"
[x ] Only if you release Geist first...unharmed

>>35542138
"You actually know who the White Joker is?
I've been burning to find out.
What has he done that I can undo?"
>[ ] "I've been tested enough for one lifetime. What's one more?"

I have to go and get something to eat.
But now I'm bound to my PC because of possible plot relevations.

>>35542138
"That White wannabe's messed with you? Great! Me too! What'd that asshole do this time?"

"As for your test, why not? I haven't been almost killed today, migh lose my edge."

File: cankereater.jpg (196 KB, 958x927)

196 KB JPG

>>35542155

> [X] Only if you release Geist first...unharmed

"He is...our *guest*."

"He will...abide...and in time...become one..."

>>35542175
> [X] "...What I can undo?"

"The White Joker...brings life...while the Red-"

"-brings death-"

"And so...you must...destroy-"

> [X] "I've been tested enough for one lifetime. What's one more?"

"Very well..."

"-We begin..."

The lights dim, for the space of a breath. Your sensors detect - The readings you're getting - they make no *sense*. A shape, ravelling itself - Taking form, coiling, knitting itself into existence, as an Essence signature flickers to furious life...

And before you, a shape. Black, like the ones before it - The black of burned bone, all exoskeleton. A crest of branching nerve-fibres flutter from the base of it's helm...Or perhaps a skull, the strands finer than human hair. There is meat in it, you can tell - Meat, encased beneath not-flesh that wrihes and tightens.

Lipless jaws. An eyeless helmet, like a skull with all the holes fused into one. Smoking talons-

And teeth. Like the hunger dogs, baying before the door: Teeth, set in burned-black jaws, rimmed by red gums.

A name:

CANKER EATER

It doesn't take an offensive stance. It merely stands, before you - Head craning back, a *tongue* (And somehow, it is the most disquieting sight you've seen in the entire day), razor-edged, bladed, darting out to taste the air as it rears back.

HP: 260.0%
COBALT BOOSTER: 170%
ASSAULT SHROUD: 147%
METER: 21%
LUCIFER BITS: 3/5

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>35542350
"Thaaaaaat's lovely. Alright then."

I have a plan here. First, Down the carnifex. Boost it, won't need it for long. Open up with Vulcans, get him to shoot that tongue at us, then we boosted abruption jets and carnifex to dodge and get close, before axel gripping the tongue as we dodge to the side. The tongue is clearly its weapon of choice. We'll hamper it and.

>>35542350
EXEC_HARROW, launch three missiles and start shooting while moving around it. Be ready to use the Abruption Jets to move away.

>>35542414

No Carnifex. Keep this freak at range first, and shoot him with the most powerful weapons we have.

>>35542414
Lets leave the Carnifex for a bit later and instead keep at a distance. I don't want to be without armor when the tongue starts cutting us.

>>35542350
Scan the thing.
Shoot the Vulcans a few times.

We need to gauge the thing first.

>>35542465
>>35542451
The whole point is to remove the tongue immediately, or at least severely hamper it's effective range. Do that, and we can chip away at his health at range all we want.

I suspect that the guy is a sentient Amaglam.

>>35542493
That much is obvious. The problem is that assuming that the tongue is its only weapon and getting too close to it is risky.

>>35542517
We aren't stopping next to it, we're blowing past it. Carnifex and scrander should help us evade if it does try anything.

>>35542517
>smoking talons

Yeah, that sounds like bad news. Attack from range with vulcans, prepare to dodge tongue attack. If it retreats, argus scan (no eyes? Previous bat shits seemed to get fucked by sonar, worth a shot.) and what's our light flaring tool again? Chest beam of some sort? If we lose sight of it, flash that to illuminate the area.

Alternatively, the tongue is what it uses to detect us like a snake. Feeling electrical/heat/vibration. So we keep shooting while flashing our beam and scanning. Lets get some multi-task action going on here.

And keep moving, a still Joker is a dead joker.

>>35542538
Depends, if it leaps then we should be prepared to hammer it while it's in the air. You know what you call an airborne soldier in battle, if they don't have wings? Skeet.

>>35542431

Your right hand burns with the fires of EXEC_HARROW, violet flame swirling at your fingertips - Triskelion launchers spinning up, the first rocket boiling towards Canker Eater on a gout of smoke and jetair-

And then it's hand is around your throat. No warning. The thing's speed is beyond belief. Faster than Mirage Sylpheed, faster than Bell Zephyr. Or perhaps the question is not one of true speed, but of the ability of the mind to process true acceleration-

Your first missile explodes, backlighting Eater in a ball of orange flame, as it smashes you into the far wall. The impact is stunning, the hand locked around your throat in a deathgrip. That bladed tongue *stabs* out, with enormous force...

It punches into your armor. Through it. Severing myomer fibres - Missing your Cobalt Booster by inches - wedging fast for the span of a heartbeat...

As your Vulcans open up at point-blank range, erupting into twin blowtorches of muzzle flash, and you blast fist-sized chunks of meat from either side of the freak's torso. Your shots splinter chitin: Densely-packed sharpnel riochets against your armor, as you pump shots into Canker Eater at point-blank range - Exit wounds erupt into chunks of boiling meat-

-And black strands, strands that wrench them back into place, knitting together faster than you can fire.

But it's grip loosens, for a moment. Long enough for you to slam your right hand into the thing's chest, the fires of EXEC_HARROW flaring in the grinning icon of your Joker symbol. *That*, it feels - That, it responds to. Your armor scrapes against the wall as it *drags* you against it, with the shrieking sound of fingernails against a chalkboard, sparks flying in your wake at the skidding slide...

(Continued)

>>35542618
WELP

THAT DIDN'T WORK

I TOLD YOU WE SHOULDA GONE FOR THE TONGUE

WE'RE FUCKED NOW

>>35542618

When it releases you, you hit the ground and roll and tumble and skid, fetching up in a dazed heap against the ground. Smoke wisps from the gash in your armor - An awful, grinding, masticating sound echoing in your auditory sensors, as Canker Eater's jaws work at a mouthful of your armor-

It spits. The dull CLANG echoes in the chamber, as the crumpled-up ball hits the ground. Slowly, that faceless skull swivels to face you.

HP: 236.0%
COBALT BOOSTER: 116%
ASSAULT SHROUD: 122%
METER: 27%
LUCIFER BITS: 3/5

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>35542592
>If we lose sight of it, flash that to illuminate the area.
This is why I suggested using Harrow here >>35542431
With it, we not only retain the ability to easily track it, but can also blow it up at the right moment.

>>35542630
It's faster than Mirage Sylpheed. We wouldn't be able to cut off its tongue even if we wanted to.

>>35542633
Okay. NOW can we take out the tongue via >>35542414 ?

>>35542670
That won't work, since both its speed and perception is on a while different level.

>>35542666

(Technically, the creature's raw speed is uncertain. It is indeed very, very fast, but what's appalling is it's immense precision.)

>>35542666
We can certainly try.

>>35542697
Too risky, I think. It's blind like the bats from earlier, so we should use the Argus to fuck up its precision and use the Axel Grips to cut it up.
We need to ramp up some meter to destroy it in one hit.

>>35542691
Okay. So don't hit where it is, hit where it's going to be. AOE is our friend, or pin and tear. Or both, if we can use our assault shroud to trap it. I'm torn between burning (fire cleanses everything!) and dismembering. Or alpha-striking the fucker and shocking the system. Dead Space flashbacks, anyone?

Anyways, it seems to have grown the body from the skull.

> and before you, a shape. Black, like the ones before it - The black of burned bone, all exoskeleton. A crest of branching nerve-fibres flutter from the base of it's helm...Or perhaps a skull, the strands finer than human hair. There is meat in it, you can tell - Meat, encased beneath not-flesh that wrihes and tightens.

grab it, smash it to the floor and crush it with our Midas Arm?

I think we should keep our armor on, btw. It doesn't seem to like it too much.

>>35542752
It seems that the best way to handle it is via counter-attack. If it gets close again, we should blows its chest with Harrow, sever the head with the Sinistral and smash the head with the Midas Arm.

>>35542743
Let's use exec_repulse the next time it closes in, then counter attack while it's stunned. Gotta debuff Mr. one-trick here. Before he can show us any others.

>>35542825
> Players in the vicinity tend to 'seize up' if not sufficiently protected, slowing down while within the reach of the barrier. Correctors experience severe discomfort within the area of effect, until they're forced out of the radius.

I like it.

>>35542825
There's no need to use meter on repulse, since we can just blow up the harrow mark.

>>35542841
>meter
Meant booster

In the space between your recovery and the next burst of motion, the Carnifex's crusher snaps down - Your armor fragmenting, erupting in all directions like a claymore mine with your form at the very center. Flame, blue flame, boils from your armor's vents in a searing mantle, a swirling cloak that rises in a boiling azure nimbus, clashing with the weird, twitching light-

Just in time. Canker Eater's movement - From your perspective - slows from 'invisible' to mere 'blinding'. For the first time, your accelerated senses make you feel slow, unwieldy - Even as the thing's claws shear through the envelope of flame - blue fire licking against the talons that cleave the air, shearing at your helmet-

And meeting the humming ghost-shield field of your Sinistral.

Canker Eater fights like an animal. A human with talons would stab, thrust: A beast *rakes* with them, tears. The second slash meets your right arm, like the pealing of razor bells - The bow-wave of the Sinistral explosion left behind, rippling in the air, as you parry and block and spin through hailing blows, never more than a moment ahead-

Flame boils around you, as you exchange blows. Your Plasma Vulcans spit death, rattling double-helix chains of plasma bolts - You hit the thing with a glancing shot, your limbs so leaden, so *slow*, as you try to swing your weapons in line - It is *constantly* on you, relentless, maw opening wide-

When that bladed tongue gouges at you again - Stabbing out, now - you're ready for it. You *think* you are, until the air fills with one, two, three, *four* more tendrils, bulging from the base of Canker Eater's spine, lurid flames licking at them, charring the surface meat (The muscle fibre must be *dense*) as you twitch your head to the side to avoid decapitation-

-You've *seen* this before-

(Continued)

>>35542841
Why not both?

>>35542897
>You *think* you are, until the air fills with one, two, three, *four* more tendrils, bulging from the base of Canker Eater's spine,

Can grow limbs and

> lurid flames licking at them, charring the surface meat (The muscle fibre must be *dense*) as you twitch your head to the side to avoid decapitation-

resistant to fire. Stun & Skull CRUSH! seems to be the best bet ATM.

>>35542939
We'd use up all of our booster.

>> 35542897

The first tendril punches through your left shoulder, destroying the shoulder binders with a negligent flick. The stabilizers of your Tempest Scrander go with it. The second coils around your right arm, and *pulls* until sparks fly from the joint, the other two closing in from either side like great pincers...

And, in the moment before impact, you snap your fingers.

Violet fire boils out at you, from point-blank range. Canker becomes a burning meteor, as a gout of flame - The fiercest detonation of the entire day - boils forth. From your accelerated senses, it swells to fill your world, and you crash down - The tentacles whipping away, tangled amongst the devastation of the tumbling beast. It curls upon itself, a sibilant hissing echoing in the air, distressed by the fire ignited from it's own Essence - Tendrils beginning to lash out wildly in all directions, slamming against the ground, the walls, with bruising force-

-And for the briefest span of moments, you're free to act.

HP: 167.5%
COBALT BOOSTER: 91%
ASSAULT SHROUD: 95%
METER: 32%
LUCIFER BITS: 3/5

TIER TWO WEAPONRY UNLOCKED

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>35542939
Harrow gives a hufe accuracy boost, right?

>>35542959
Bet it can't be stunned. It's regenerating, so use the Immolator.

>>35542975
It's there to be used. I don't want a fight of attrition with a dude who can regen and is faster than us.

>>35542977
Smash the head with the Midas Arm. Use the Scrander's electric strike if it doesn't stop moving.

>>35542985
Well, it's already on fire, and that plus it's own fire seems to have overcome it's DR. Might as well believe that you can't have too much of a good thing and Immolate the fucker.

>>35542977

(My apologies, that should read:

LUCIFER BITS: 1/5)

>>35542977
Chain mine and Plasma Caster. Both will get the boost.

Then switch to the Immolator and put the Beamer into the Midas Talon. Use the alt fire mode to cut this guy up.

>>35542977
>>35543005
Abruption jet in, axel jet the head off, crush it. Don't want to get smacked by those tendrils while it's flailing them on fire with panic/retard strength

>>35543062
Ieatsu!

>>35543062
We're in point-blank range.

>>35543040
We're at point-black. There's no point in using ranged weaponry in this position.

>>35543090
Cut off head, abruption jet away, exec_reap

>>35543062
It's faster than we are. Like with Adamant Aegis, closing is a terrible idea. Don't go anywhere near it.

>>35543135
It's a beast, not a Player. I doubt we'll get anything from it using Reap.

>>35543123
So, should we Muleta with our assault shroud to stop the tentacle threat, while smashing some skulls?

>>35543135
Reap doesn't work on Correctors, it's even in the description.

>>35543146
We're already near it. We were in melee before the mark blew up.

>>35543156
We might get roll for insanity!

>>35543123
Sure there is: you can usr it while moving out of its immediate threat radius. This thing is one step away from a killing crit, don't make its job easier.

>>35543191
Why bother going back to status quo when we can kill it right now with the Midas Arm? We can even stun it with the Scrander's lightning bolt.

>>35542977
Can . . can we consume it with the Nihil sphere?

>>35543234
Because we can't. The Midas won't kill it, we haven't done anything near enough damage.

>>35543243
Uh, why should we? We would lose out on possible XP and healing. The Nihil has a full charge right now as well.

>>35543243
NO.

We need the essence.

Anyway, use lag-less attacks. Fist, Axel Grips, etc.

>>35543252
The head is its core. If we crush it, we can end things right now.

>>35543275
Yup. Grips & Midas. Crush that fucker quick with an alpha strike.

>>35543062
>>35543078
>>35543005

The Abruption Jets erupt - A surge of charged air, a wash of sparks, thrusters at your knees, your back - as you hurl yourself forward, along the ground, in a death-defying slide. A tentacle smashes down to your side - You evade by inches, raising your fists as the Axel grips hum with power, leaving a burning trail in your wake...

The second tentacle hits you head-on - Right in the torso - and propels you back, back, *back*, with immense force. It is a column of twisting, sickly flesh, of liquid muscle that boils with an awful vitality - It finds the seam of weakness in your cuirass, and punches through-

Your Cobalt Booster judders, bleeding power-

In the moment before the awful impact, you fire the Axel Grips anyway. No chance for a clean decapitation - A flick of your wrist twitches the lethal beams, rays that last for less than one heart-thumping second as shimmering blue-white energy licks across the distance-

You take Canker Eater's right arm off at the shoulder. AND both tentacles on the same side.

Your second ray scythes up and across - It shears through the length impaling you - and the armor-splintering impact merely becomes a bruising fall that slams you to the ground as your burning nimbus gutters. Ichor boils from the hideous wound...

-No. Not ichor.

The black oil. This creature-

It bleeds Lachryma.

Unlike before, it doesn't register the hideous damage you've done. The severed tendrils recoil, *melting* away like ice before the blowtorch - It's hard to be sure if they're receding, retracting, or simply dissolving...But those coiling strands *reach out* to Canker Eater's severed right arm, even before the descent's complete - Like a spider's web, like branching nerve fibres...

Even as vile flesh coils around the warped *thing's* remaining fist, thickening, braiding together into...

-Into *muscle*.

HP: 140.8%
COBALT BOOSTER: 71%
ASSAULT SHROUD: 67%
METER: 40%
LUCIFER BITS: 1/5

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>35543313
Oh look, the people saying to go into melee were actually retarded after all. What a twist.

Chain Mine and Plasma Caster. Light this sucker up.

>>35543352

(In all fairness, he simply rolled very well on his long-ranged tentacle attacks.)

>>35543367
Doesn't excuse stupid plans. Remind me, lachryma burns, right?

Lets use our elemental advantage: Plasma!

Or antimatter. Tau lags, though.

>>35543384

(Yes, it's extremely volatile in its base form.)

>>35543427
Neat. Okay, pull the Immolator and launch a Chain Mine.

>>35543313
>Even as vile flesh coils around the warped *thing's* remaining fist, thickening, braiding together into...
>-Into *muscle*

Not sure if this is good or bad? I mean, it's not armour. So, there's that. We've made it bleed, we've exposed it's meat Wall o' fire with the Immolater? Gain some altitude with the tempust scrander & charge the fusion annihilator, releasing it at point blank range the next time it closes in?

>>35543384
We still have Level 2 Carnifex on, right? Use the boosted Immolator to burn it and start charging the Fusion Annihilator.

>>35543367
Goddamnit. That was my flashy finisher move. How sweet it would have been.

Well, burn the poor bastard leaking lachryma.

>>35543367
Did we at least get a bonus for using abruption jets?

>>35543313
Right. Boosted prox mines on the end of a Midas Gauntlet punch?

>>35543384
>(In all fairness, he simply rolled very well on his long-ranged tentacle attacks.)

>Long-ranged tentacle attacks.

>long-ranged.

So, uh, how would have staying at long range helped there, exactly?

>>35543531
No more melee.

>>35543481
Seconding this. Fire works. No to >>35543531
Fuck mines, that's just asking to get blown up with him. Unless we're laying them down as a barrier (you know, since it has animal intelligence.)

>>35543577
For one, our attack wouldn't have been forfeited because we couldn't close in.

>>35543606
The boosted mine has really fucking good homing and deals lotsa fire damage. As long as we're not trying to enter close range it's safe.

>>35543607
To be fair, if we went with the long-range option, we likely wouldn't have gotten the chance to make it bleed.

>>35543509

(Yes: He missed with three, and connected well with one. Inertia Field nonwithstanding, that's pretty good, evasively.)

>>35543352
>>35543457

You snap-draw the Immolator, in your right hand - The barrel bleeding smoke, building to a roar...And then the burning flash, an expanding cone of actinic blue napalm engulfing Canker Eater in raw fire. Not the mere flame that swirls around you, in a witch's nimbus: But focused hellfire, an absolute short-range holocaust. The blinding flash momentarily blinds you, your sensors cutting out...

-But you *feel* the distortion, the rippling wake Canker Eater cuts through the air as it closes in, your Argus sensor capturing it with senses beyond sight. The hazy shimmer of the Crisis Arm blurs into place, as the curtain of fire shears apart-

The beast's grossly warped, hideously elongated left arm - Bulging with grotesque muscle - lashes out at you. Serpent-quick, talons whistling as they cut the air, claws growing outwards as you rotate on your own axis...

-And punch.

It is a motion you have practiced to insanity. The straight-ahead, crushing jab, flung with all your weight behind it. Driven by pistons or accelerator rings, the principle is the same - In the blurred instant where thought and deed become one. All is racing blue flame and bone - You can see a thousand tiny fires flickering to life on Canker Eater's form, as you put everything you have into that one punch-

One tine of Canker Eater's claws shears through your Carnifex's crusher. It slashes through the silver filaments that link your armor's systems, the quicksilver cables that carry your consciousness faster than thought, that *accelerate you*...

As your blow lands at Canker Eater's physical core, and pulverizes it.

(Continued)

>>35543693
Did we just cross counter?

>>35543693
Did we just lose the Carnifex?

>>35543673
One of the ranged suggestions was alt-fire Photon Beamer, which is the grips but bigger and less focused. Probably wouldn't have severes all the limbs, but it would have taken a few.

>>35543635
I'm okay with a long range mine, just not fucking MY FIST IS A BOMB!

>>35543829
I agree, that guy is an idiot. I was describing how it usually works when fired.

>>35543693
>Sprint to cross through flames!

That was . . . much less effective than I had hoped for. razzam frazzum probably should have shocked the fucker instead, I guess. Sparks start flames, electricity seizes muscle, moves literally fast as lightning.

>>35543864
Yeah, my only concern was that Canker Eater is fast enough to avoid the mines. That, plus it's precision means it's also maneuverable when moving at high speed. I think we SO did the right thing with Harrow right off the bat, then exploding it while it was on fire. Probably saved our asses.

>>35543746

(You didn't lose it, but that definently counts as damage.)

>>35543693

Cracks spiderweb through the armor of black bone - Flawing in every direction, as your punch annihilates everything within. Black Lachryma, unable to hold it's form - Dissolving back into primal black oil, a filth that gushes from the cracks - boils out from the great crater, flashing to flame.

And then time begins to move again.

The force vents from the Crisis Arm. It gathers, aiming itself - A ripple, a form, a powerful linear distortion - that becomes a bow-wave, a battering ram that hurls Canker Eater back...And back - And *back*-

As reality lurches back into existence, you level the Chain Mine's launcher. The missile crosses the narrow distance - danger close - and the world vanishes into ravening blue flame. In the midst of it, a shape - a form - thrashes, rills, burning from within and without as the very substance of it's form turns to fire.

You fling up your Assault Shroud, as the backwash of fire boils around you. The air burns: Everything burns. The nanomaterial burns, chars, a cell at a time - Stiffening, becoming matte-black, becoming heat-resistant, as the fire ends at last.

Vents open. The air roars, the remaining flames guttering as Canker Eater's furious life is at last exhausted. Motes of Essence swirl around your form - Vile green, nuclear green, and with it a host of bewildering sensations. Fragments-

-knife of glass in your hand. "Come here," you tell the children-

-and you spread your arms so you fall headfirst, as the ground rushes up to meet you-

-as your flesh bubbles and boils and blisters-

"Very...good..."

"-Joker."

The ancient, papery voice returns. There is a new note to it - The purest love, the deepest and most aching hatred.

"Geist will...be returned."

"If you swear...If you give...your word..."

"To kill...the one I love..."

"...My first...and truest...child..."

(Continued)

>>35543894
Yeah, I see that. But the boosted mine's description even says that it's the tracking ability that gets the biggest boost. I think it's the limbs that are lightspeed while the body is just really fast, so it would have been a fine idea.

Anyway, if we hit the core in the firestorm we should have gotten it. If it turns to oil it's dead as can be.

>>35543953
Can we choose not to absorb Essence if it's corrupted ?

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82 KB JPG

>>35543953

"My greatest...purest...son-"

"Rust..."

"-Kaiser."

And then the laughter, the terrible, ancient laughter that comes from everywhere and nowhere at once begins - And it is impossible to tell if it is love or hatred.

JOKER QUEST

EPISODE 109.5

TO BE CONTINUED

>>35544023

If we buy the faust impactors will it also upgrade the crisis arm?

>>35544052

(Not in this armor.)

>>35544059

(I'll have to think about it.)

(Gentlemen: My sincerest apologies, but it's extremely, extremely late on my end. I'd love to continue, but I'm completely exhausted - And this looks like a good place to stop.

Good night and God bless - You've been a wonderful audience, and I hope to see you again soon.)

>>35544023
I see no problem with this. Death is probably a release for him at this point. Old Man better give us some fucking info on how to do this, though.

> We will grant your son the peace in death, that he never found in life.

Should be fun.

>>35544056
fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck

>>35544085
Any chance of Arc Chargers before you go?

(You're right. My sincerest apologies: I'll add it to the queue in the next chapter.)

>>35544121

HOLLOW SUN: 3.4%

RESEARCH:

> [X] ARC CHARGER

>>35544133
Nice. Thanks dude.

>>35544056
Well, how will we interact with Megumi?

Also, the White Joker did this?
What?
Also, "my son"? Is that person the White Joker?

So we just killed a xenomorph that was upgraded with a few additional horror tropes.
Teleport-like "in your face" charge. Regeneration. Really fucking vile style of combat and unusual reactions to injury. And the animalistic attitude, with intelligence behind it.
But the last one was the basis of the original xenomorph.

>>35544176

We already know that Kou is NOT her brother. Rust Kaiser was this man's son. Either he is literally his son, or he was made by him.

>>35544296
>>35544176

This is really fucked up. Our host is clearly evil as fuck, given the horrible xenomorphs he keeps as pets.

Also, why would you MAKE something like Rust Kaiser? What purpose could he possibly serve?

>>35544555
Actually, if you look around, alot of the remnants that we find are a basis for 'coop mode'. It's possible that, since it wasn't a menu option, it never got fully implemented in the game that is the Red World. This guy was probably supposed to make the bosses at the end of the coop dungeons, as per WoW

>>35544555
Megumi asked him to. She begged for someone to save him no matter what it cost. Now the person who did it wants to give him an ending. The guy isn't on the side of the angels, but we've been wondering how to to make it stick for a long time.

There's obviously stuff we don't know about going on in the background, and everyone's motivations are clear as mud, but that's kinda secondary.

Should see if we can put down a VA. Would be nice to kick up R&D and put an end to this place. There's always nuking it from orbit, though.

>>35544701
>Should see if we can put down a VA. Would be nice to kick up R&D and put an end to this place. There's always nuking it from orbit, though.
I vote for VA.

>>35544056
Aw fuck

>>35544701
I don't think we should nuke it just yet, but it's a definite standby option.

>>35544774
>>35544882
We might have killed the one thing with enough essence to start it, in which case we drop the bomb. This place is bad juju, and I think it's destruction can only be a good thing.

>>35544701
Any theories on the White's involvment?

>>35544935
Look, I'm just saying, this thing wants Rust Kaiser dead. We want Rust Kaiser dead. There is some common ground here.

We have had less potentially profitable relationships with more horrible things than this.

We don't know the full story, and so we should hold off on the route that cuts away on potential options.

>>35545030
>We want Rust Kaiser dead.
We want him out of the way, not dead, really. Joker himself has never expressed any enmity towards RK and instead wondered if there was a way to heal him.

>>35545012
Not enough information. Certainly has to do with the spread of lachryma. Suggests that White Joker has been active for as long as Kaiser's been the boogeyman he is, which means he's been around longer than I thought.

When we ask about that, be sure to ask if/how Hecate was involved.

>>35545030
Oh, I agree entirely. It wants Kaiser dead. We want Kaiser dead. We take it for all it's worth and excise a blight on both worlds when we're done.

>>35545201
Oh, sure. I can get behind that. I thought you were opting for the cowards approach and just nuking any potentially spooky thing.

>>35545192
It's more like Joker not wanting to hurt Megumi and also maybe empathizing with Kaiser's fate.

>>35545192
Easiest way to get a player out of the way is death.

>>35545192
No, we've never been interested in healing Rust, even after Megumi's sob story. Hes basically the most threatening thing we've ever faced.

>>35545352
There are times when nuking the spooky thing is both smart and practical. Or just funny. I don't think cowardice really comes into it.

Which makes me think, we should hit the Holophusikon hive with a guided space rock on the way back to the school. Don't have time to stage a proper raid.

>>35545359
>>35545370
There was a lot of pity for them, coupled with a desire to try and make something there better. But since we decided not to follow up on Megumi's lead, it's been clear that we're going to have to clear all of the Smiler admins, and Enfer too.

>>35545359
Megumi made her choice, and she has basically fucked herself beyond any hope of salvation.

Really, a pretty good title for that chain of sidequests would be 'The Increasingly Bad Decisions of Bell Zephyr'

>>35545475
>Which makes me think, we should hit the Holophusikon hive with a guided space rock on the way back to the school. Don't have time to stage a proper raid.
I wonder how that interacts with our essence accumulators.

>>35545597

Man, she fucked herself one step at a time. The worst part is that all her decisions were so sensible, and she just drove herself deeper into disaster.

>>35545475
I could get behind that.

It would certainly help with our reputation.

>>35545711

A thing I've come to realize is that all the villains in the Quest fucking hate each other. Then again, basically every faction hates everyone else.

>>35545929
It's a free-for all.
And you can bet your ass that best end requires everyone to work together.
That's probably the meaning behind the endgame and the finalist archetypes.

>>35546062

Could they even work together? From what we know of the final battle, it was the Black Cardinal versus everyone. He might have been the one to instigate the end of the world.

We know Red Joker and Chalice Queen definitely hated his guts, and Argent was a bystander. Phantom Edge was trying to kill him too.

This means that Mikogami, at one point, was fighting three of the most powerful players of all time. Including a Hyades who was hell-bent on killing him.

>>35546062
I wonder how it'll work out, considering that this iteration of the "game" will likely not have a Chalice Queen.

>>35546115
We never heard about the final battle. We know that something went wrong, Black Joker showed up, and that the Cardinal carved Phantom Edge like a turkey. What they were gathered for and what led to all that happening is more or less a blank.

>>35546118
Same as what happened when there was no Daegal to take his place: Someone will be chosen to fill the role. No idea who; though Chrome seems like a candidate.

>>35546118

Without the Chalice Queen, everyone is fucked. The whole point of having to jump through the hoops for Mio is that their is fundamentally a need for the Chalice Queen.

>>35546202
It's not really working at this so far, so I've stopped thinking about that plan. More concerned about the other stuff.

>>35546115
>Including a Hyades who was hell-bent on killing him.
Wasn't she prevented from eating the Simulation bodies?