>>1208816
Her body stills; a question she’s not sure she was expecting was asked, and now she has to answer. She melts into something resembling casual resignation. “Well. You really wanna know?” She lolls her head back as if in lament. “Two reasons. One, because the Alusian Council is STUPID. They’ve always been STUPID, and they’re always going to be STUPID. They don’t get it, and they don’t WANT to get it! Crystals can be more than just weapons systems and the occasional streetlight! They can do things for us we’d never dream of by ourselves! Self-propelled flight. How I got up here? Flight crystal in the collar. Physical improvement! I’m far stronger than I look. How? Power crystal under the chest armor. Makeup and changing our appearance! You can’t see it right now, but I don’t look anything like I did before, thanks for a Designer crystal near my forehead! Teleportation!” She pauses briefly. “...well, that one’s still a work in progress, but it’ll happen! MY POINT IS.”

Why is she pointing at you- oh you hope that was a joke.

“Crystals can allow us to manipulate the basics of our reality; change it to suit our whims, and exceed our own, normal inborn limitations!” She slumps forward. “And those IDIOTS at the Council refuse to even CONSIDER the benefits before ‘how big of an explosion it can make or help make.’ They keep saying it’s ‘too dangerous’. That the risks are ‘unknowable’. That’s why you do RESEARCH, YOU LOUTS!” She’s near yelling at the air, now...it’s honestly kind funny. At least before she turns back to you. “But Cylica…Cy...she understood. UnderSTANDS. She knows that sometimes, you have to take risks. It’s not always going to be clean and neat, no. But that’s progress. That’s science. That’s how we got the Anais Relay in the FIRST place. And that’s why we have all these new technologies! And THAT’S why we’re WINNING!” She takes a few steps forward, and you’re tempted sorely to step back, if only to stay out of her capable range.

‘Miranda, evac en route to your position! Hold out a bit longer!’ The comm goes off in your ear- it seems like Owlia still hasn’t heard. Egh. Hopefully you can keep her ranting for a bit...

cont.

>>1208818

Fortunately, she doesn't disappoint.

“And soon, once we have control of Mageria as a whole, I’ll be able to PROVE it. Cylica’s a bit heavy-handed, sure, but I know I can talk her down from some of the more radical ideas she has. And once we implement my crystal technologies to the masses, everyone will realize the truth! History will simply be written as this whole war being a nasty, if necessary, messup that resulted in a golden age of crystal tech. And it’ll be me and Cylica that brought it forward!”

There’s a brief silence. “As for reason number two…” And suddenly she sounds a lot shyer, a lot quieter.

And if you couldn’t tell she was blushing before, you’re pretty damn sure she is now. “...Love makes you do really silly things sometimes, okay? She...she’s just so...FASCINATING. Every time we met in battle, I couldn’t look away. Couldn’t dismiss what she said. Even when my squad...my friends...tried to tell me to ignore her, that it was a trick...” She laughs, hollow. “Well, I always WAS a stubborn one.”

>...Wonder if she could be tempted away from this… (How?)
>Sucker punch; she’s close and not paying attention!
>”Your friends?” Keep her talking.
>Other

>>1208821
> sucker punch
pull out sword, chop off head

Nice dream, pity we're in opposite sides. Maybe we can advise the council to take note of your observations.

>>1208821
>...Wonder if she could be tempted away from this… (How?)
Guilt her a little bit about leaving her friends, and ask her if Lord Cylica has treated her more as a friend or a co-worker. Ask her about incidents of Cylica's heavy-handedness, and see how she felt about them.

30 minutes as usual for new thread. Considering extending that to 45 minutes because I'm starting so early, but for now, 10 minutes remain.

>>1208821
>>”Your friends?” Keep her talking.

>>1208821
>...Wonder if she could be tempted away from this… (How?)
Get her talking about how Cylica is going to implement her changes. Does Cylica actually have the political power to do so? Tempt her withe magic theory

Attempting to tempt. Temptation.

...I had something there and then I lost it. Writing.

>>1208821
>”Your friends?” Keep her talking.
>Other

Flatter her about her crystals. Tell her that they truly are impressive even to someone like you who comes from . . . . Elsewhere. Her friends must have them as well no?

>>1208911
Fuuuuuck

>>1208866
>>1208889

Interesting. Wonder if you can’t poke that a little bit, maybe see what could come of it. “Can’t imagine that was easy, letting go of friends for your beliefs.” You lean back a bit, trying your best to make sure she’s not quite within attack range of you. “So far, you think it was worth it?”

“...It’s what I’ve had to believe since. They’re still out there, somewhere.” She looks into the distance. “I’ll find them one day, and show them the results like I always showed them my inventions. And they’ll see I was right all along.”

“You positive about that?” Your eyes squint in mild accusation, doing your best to lock her focus down. “You really think that Cylica will be able to pull that off if you win? Would she even want to?”

“Of course I do!” Owlia seems to meet your stare evenly- despite the helmet. “She’s my...she values me. We’re friends. Not like it matters to YOU. She’s ALREADY started on Ferrosia, and things are looking great! I’ve no doubt she could spread it to the entirety of Mageria, and if you think otherwise...” And then she reaches behind herself- going for a weapon!

You both draw nigh simultaneously- she has a wicked looking, metallic staff, the head with a trio of triangular spikes, topped with a large, blue crystal. You draw the Flamebringer- you’re not lighting it up just yet, though…

“I’m not letting you stop me or her! I can’t! Not when we’re so-” Suddenly the roar of engines stop her as a multitude of energy shots flare out nearby. You and her both look to the source of the commotion, but you already know what it is- that’s your ride. And looking at the speed it’s coming…

‘Get ready to jump!’ Yup. This train isn’t stopping.

>Any last words to Owlia?

>>1209005
>"I'm sorry we couldn't have met under better circumstances. I hope, for your sake, that your relationship with Cylica goes as well as you believe it will."

>>1209005
"Just some food for thought, kiddo. Some of her soldiers have taken to calling your project as 'her toy'. Might want to discuss that with her if you think she respects your work.

>>1209005
No, just chop her fucking head off already! This is their chief weapon designer for dicks sake people. We are supposed to be fighting a war here, not hosting a talkshow!

And if desperate moralfags don't vote for killing her I'll suggest something like "you should have stuck to peacetime research and not got involved in war"

>>1209005
"Are you sure you know everything about Cylica? Or that she can deliver on everything she's promised you? Maybe you should find out what the Ferrusians are saying behind your back."

5 more minutes.

Writing. I get the gist. I pick up what you're putting down. I'm buying what you're selling.

...I'm saying I can basically mix and match. Writing!

>>1209023
Dude. They tried to woo away the Yandere.

I mean, she turned on her friends and country. Not sure what people thought would happen here.

Maybe we can find her friends at least.

>>1209070
How exactly is she a yandere? She seems more like a disgruntled nerd to me.

>>1209005
>>1209017
>>1209020
>>1209032

You turn back to her before she can say or do anything she might regret. “I’d think carefully about your understanding of Cylica. She may not think the same way you do. Especially regarding certain ‘toys’ you made- in your men’s words.” Before she can respond, you approaching transport, and quickly leap high, catching onto the landing bar of the passing vehicle and lifting yourself up. Throngs of Alusian fighters surround you as you lift yourself into the interior; Lorelei’s sitting there as well, passed out, and Izumi is on the other side of her, guarding the transport as best she can- she has one of her...damnit, you can’t quite remember the name of it right now; one of her specialized barriers up on the other end.

There’s a number of blasts that fire out, suddenly, on Owlia’s position- seems the Alusian military saw a target of opportunity.

You don’t see what the result was as the hatch closes and Green-hair tells them to step on it- full throttle. Green-hair looks towards you. “From the looks like you two were having quite the fight. She’s said to be quite the formidable combatant.” You don’t respond as he looks out the windshield. “Think you could’ve beaten her?”

Hmm. “I think I at least did a little damage.” Izumi looks at you curiously, but doesn’t say anything.

The rest of the trip back to the Carrier is in relative silence. Upon disembarkment, you and Izumi carry Lorelei to her bed. “She’s mana drained almost entirely. She’ll need a couple days of rest before she’s back on her feet, regardless of any help with crystals.” And she turns to you. “How’re you holding up? I see you’ve got the converter hooked up…although I don’t think that was from fighting, was it? What were you doing down there?”

>Just distracting her for you guys to get here.
>Trying to see if she’d leave for better pastures.
>I just kinda got curious.
>Other

>>1209150
>Mostly distracting her for you guys to get here, though she got me kinda curious towards the end.
I don't think we really expected any chance of her defecting.

>>1209150
>Trying to see if she’d leave for better pastures.

"I'd think you'd have fun with her talking about magic theory and it's scientific applications, Izumi."

>>1209150
>Mostly distracting her for you guys to get here, though she got me kinda curious towards the end.

5 Minute warning.

>>1209150
>Trying to see if she’d leave for better pastures.

Writing as of 10 minutes ago, sorry. We got a bit too into it, apparently. Just a bit.

>>1209209
>keep showing up after the end of voting

Man fucking kill me.

Come on guys, when you meet enemy generals and VIPs on the battlefield you blow their brains out. It's a war we're being paid to win, you do that by killing the enemy.

>>1209329
This isn't brown military quest. We shouldn't treat it like it is.

>>1209337
That is a strawman argument, they never said it was. We should act appropriately for the job we are on. We are not a magical girl set on saving everyone, we are getting paid to win a war. That person we were talking to was a massive force multiplier for the enemy, she invented same massive shield, scary energy absorbing drones, was at least instrumental in creating the superweapons that saw us hired and we just let her go. We may never see her again.

>>1209150
She doesn’t seem particularly judging, but you’re still compelled to look back towards Lorelei- she seems peaceful, but you can’t help your concern. “Mostly, I was distracting her for you guys to show up.”

“Mostly?” Izumi asks. She doesn’t seem particularly judgemental, apparently. She merely tilts her head in question.

“Mostly,” you reaffirm. “I’ll admit I got a bit curious near the end, there- something about what she said and what she’s doing seemed a bit...mutually exclusive. Turns out she’s actually a bit of a...well, magical scientist, I guess.” You shrug. You’re not sure what to call it here and now. “I think she and you might get along fairly well, if you weren’t on opposing sides, actually. She seems to really be into magical theory regarding crystals. There’s a lot of overlap between worlds, turns out.”

“Oh?” Izumi seems surprised by this. “She’s a practitioner? Fascinating. But how’d you get her to talk?”

You shrug again, a small smirk growing on your face. “She actually started it. Wanted to know how I trashed her crystal. I’m not some kinda brilliant scientist-”

“You’re smarter than you give yourself credit for.” Izumi interrupts.

You continue as if it never happened. “-but I know a few things. Was enough to distract her until you showed up; ranted a bunch about how she left because Alusia didn’t want her to do her research, but Ferrosia would. Even with that, though...” You pause a bit, trying to find the right words. “I dunno what was up with her, but she didn’t seem to really want to fight me until I called her leader’s friendship with her into question. Seems she’s really into the lady.”

“Hm. A traitorous action borne not of a desire for money and power, but of the desire for knowledge and love. It’s almost tragic, in a way.” Izumi sighs. “I wonder if perhaps we could utilize this. I wonder…” She has her head down, deep in thought now.

“Izumi?” Nothing. “Izumi!”

She jerks, as though awakening from a dream. “Oh! Sorry, I-”

“Hey.” Another voice interrupts her own- you recognize it as Icey. As she stands in the doorway, you find yourself surprisingly relieved she survived. “Good work out there. We've gotten hold of the skies, and most of the ground. Ferrosia's been trying to burrow in groundside, but it's expected we should be able to oust them shortly. The Captain wants a debriefing from you two in twenty minutes. He’ll says he’ll get one from Lorelei later.” She quickly turns to the girl in question. “Is she doing alright?”

“She’ll be fine,” Izumi assures. “We’ll be there.” Icey nods, and continues on her way as Izumi turns to you. “Think you can stay up for this?”

Huh? “What makes you think I can’t?” In response, she simply takes her hand, wipes off the side of your face, and holds it up to your no- oh COME ON. “Gah! Really!?”

Izumi just giggles. “Come on, let’s get this over with. We ALL need some sleep.”

Can't disagree with that.

>>1209414
“Alright, folks, so.” You just finished the retelling from your own perspective, as did Izumi. G’nearth doesn’t seem particularly fazed one way or the other. “Alla that means they should be able to take back Gable in some days- we’re officially outta there and moving on. Already cleared it with the Commandant, and he cleared it with the Council. So, good news there. Buuut, we already got us a second target, though. So I'm officially turning this debriefing into just a plain briefing.” And here he brings up a 3D map of Mageria. “We’re headed towards this lil’ series of islands, here.” He points at the group in question. They’re called the Gail Beltlands, due to high winds goin’ about. Crazily enough, Ferrosian forces have been spotted congregating in the area more than recently, despite the risks of the winds throwing aircraft off. Coucil figures there’s a reason for it, so we’re goin’ in to sniff it out. And by we, I mean you three.”

And here G’nearth looks at you and Izumi. “The kinda winds that place has would toss most troopers around like ragdolls unless they were weighed down to near uselessness. We figure you lot would have better luck, though. Task here is to infiltrate and eliminate. Figure out what’s going on down there, report it back to us, and wipe out as many Ferrosian forces as possible. We’ll be supplying you with super-weighed boots to help keep your feet on the floor, and we’ve agreed that it’d be best if you were ferried in again. Any questions?”

>Well?

>>1209423
> Got an Mana sources we could drain?

Shit they have to have them. No reason we can't use them.

>>1209423
>Our infiltrator is out of action so how about we just eliminate?
+>>1209457
Because it would be nice to throw around some big stuff without worrying.

Okay, so normally I'd about call time here, but I'm gonna keep it open for a bit longer because I just ordered pizza. So basically whenever I get back (about 20-25 minutes) is when I'll close votes/suggestions.

>>1209423
How much time are we going go have to recuperate? Becuase I don't think we're good to go atm.

>>1209536
+1

>>1209457
If they have those, get Lorelei on that too.
We also need to equip shields/anti-magic/anti-anti-magic equipment

>>1209423
We need some regular rifles, body armour might be good if we're looking to weigh ourselves down. Might as well do it by donning protection.

Back, locked, pizza'd, writing!

>>1209457
>>1209499
>>1209536
>>1209585
“A few,” you start. “The first and foremost being a couple of notifications.”

G’nearth leans back. “Alright, hit me.”

“Well, I’m not sure how much you know about Lorelei’s condition, but she’s not just exhausted, she has an issue of severe mana drain. I’m not all that far from suffering it myself, admittedly. It’s worse than it looks.”

He raises an eyebrow. “So, kinda like being dehydrated, right? I can see you sweatin’, but I figured that was just ‘cause exhaustion.”

You nod. “Somewhat. Honestly, the only reason I’m not worse off than I am right now is due to my converter feeding me spare mana from the air and general environment.” You hold up your hand, showing off the cable. “Which means we’ll need a few days to recuperate. How long do we have until we arrive?”

“Meh.” He looks back in the direction of his pilot. “We can get there something in like, four days or so. I expect you’ll need more time?”

You look back towards Izumi, who seems to be deep in thought. “What do you figure?” You ask.

A hmmm escapes her as she considers the situation. “I and Miranda should be fine by then. Lorelei…” she sighs. “Lorelei is questionable. She should be up and about, but any major mana burn may cause issues…”

G’nearth lets a low grumble out. “Weeelllll...we may be able to delay it an extra day, but we can’t let this lie for too long.”

“I agree,” Izumi says, nodding. “I’m wondering, then...is there any place on-board that ventilates raw mana? We may be able to use it to get Lorelei up and feeling better quicker.”
“Mostly that’s the engine area,” G’nearth opines. “We don’t got a whole lot of use for magic hereabouts except for tools, so…”

“We’ll look into it,” Izumi says easily. “Thank you for allowing it.”

However, a thought comes to you. “Just in case, though. If Lorelei’s unable to come with us, do you mind if we simply skip straight to the ‘eliminate’ part of the job? Fairly certain we could handle that easily enough.” You lean back a bit- it’d be nice to just haul off and wreck everything in sight for once. Hell, that’d pretty much be an in-and-out job, most likely.

G’nearth doesn’t seem to share the same sentiments, judging by the look on his face. “Council was pretty set on getting intel. They think something real shady is going on there to risk those winds.” He sighs, growls a bit. You notice that he’s drumming his fingers on his leg- likely has been for a minute. “Tell you what- if the girl isn’t any good, you take a pair of my crew, plus anything else you might need to give ya that extra edge. Sound fair?”

You immediately turn to Izumi; she has a pensive expression on her face.

> I think we could make that work.
> I’m not confident our operation styles mesh that well.
> Sorry, Lorelei’s all we feel confident with.
>Other

>>1210249
>I think we could make that work.
Heh, that could be fun!

>>1210249
>> I think we could make that work.
last vote for me tonight, it's 02:38 here

>>1210249
>I think we could make that work.
It's worth a shot, and it IS his op.

>>1210249
>I think we could make that work.

Got a bit distracted, sorry. Writing!

>>1210249
>>1210277
>>1210308
>>1210314
>>1210668

It takes a few moments for you to decide, but looking between yourself and Izumi, you do decide. “I think we could work with that. Izumi?”

She sighs, but nods. “I suppose the extra hands may come in handy, if Lorelei isn’t available.” She looks up at the Captain. “But only IF.”

“Oh, of course,” G’nearth agrees. “I’d prefer to have the trio specializing in this than someone having to sub in, so yeah! Up to her to shake it off in time, though. In the meantime, though?” And here he gets up, stretching. “I figure it might be best if’n you went around the ship, maybe looked inta talking to folks. I’ll put together a list of folks what might be interested in droppin’ with ya, but that won’t be for a minute. Better ya go around and start talkin’ yourself, in case she doesn’t get back up in time for things.”

“We’ll let you know her status in a couple of days,” Izumi offers. “Thank you for the offer.”

“Nonsense! And like I said, make sure to hit the on-board armory for anythin’ you might need.” You both salute, and you’re then dismissed.

As you walk back, however, you notice Izumi has a bit of a grimace on her face. “Something up?” You ask.

“The location.” Izumi responds. “A lot of wind means a lot of bullet deviation. It means possibly missing sounds due to wind carry. Off-target grenades. Solid projectiles in general will be at the wind’s mercy. Most of my arsenal will end up either close to useless or minimally effective at the best.” She sighs. “I’m fortunate I’ve been practicing my close combat capabilities as of late. I get the feeling my blade will be seeing a lot of use soon.” Makes sense. “What about you?”

>Wondering about who we might want to bring.
>Thinking about Owlia. Can’t help but be curious.
>I just want to get some sleep, honestly.
>Other

>>1210717
>I just want to get some sleep, honestly.
Leave the strategy to the strategists, I'm running on empty and in need of a nap.

>>1210717
>Other
Go check out the engine room.

Hey Izumi, what about rayguns, do they mind the wind?

>>1210717
>>Thinking about Owlia. Can’t help but be curious.
Just who was she talking about when she mentioned "friends"...

>>1210717
>Thinking about Owlia. Can’t help but be curious.
>Other: thinking of looking through the Carrier's armory for energy weapons

Weapons and enemies. These are thoughts that run through Miranda's head often.

Writing!

>>1210717
>Thinking about Owlia. Can’t help but be curious.
>And I also want to get some sleep, honestly.

>Other
>Surely energy weapons and smart bombs will be far less affected by strong winds?

>>1210717
>>1210740
>>1210761
>>1210836
>>1210859

“Still wondering about Owlia.” You reply. “The way she acted and all. Can’t help but be curious about it. Especially what she was talking about with her friends and everything.”

“Hm. Perhaps she was part of a team?” Izumi offers. “Or if nothing else, people she was close to.” Izumi sighs. “Really, the way you discuss her, I wonder if there’s a possibility of redemption for her. Perhaps there’s a way for her to get what she likes without terrorizing people…” Oh, Izumi. Still heroic, huh?

You don’t say anything in particular to that, letting it stew for a bit. She eventually speaks up again. “Maybe if we worked out some sort of deal...mmm, I couldn’t say, I suppose.” She sighs. “I’ll perhaps put some thought into it later. I’m feeling a bit hungry. Thinking I’ll head to the mess hall and see what they’ve got going. What about you?”

You consider it for a bit. “I was going to check out the armory for any energy weapons- I figure they’d have less wind deviation than solid projectiles. Y’think those might be more effective in general?”

She shrugs. “Couldn’t hurt. They probably have a few things around.”

“Eh, then I’ll take a quick look. We’ve got time. Afterwards I'll probably drop by, get something to go, then settle in for a nap, okay?” She nods, and you start to head your separate ways- the mess hall is down a different hall than where you’re going now, and you give a quick wave without turning back. “See you in a few!” Hopefully you’d find something you might be comfortable with quickly. Honestly, this job's already starting to be exhausting.

Well, if you start sweating on the next one, at least there'll be a breeze. Haaaa...

...Yeah, that wasn't funny.

Stopping for now because I'm notably getting slower. Will try to run tomorrow, early.

Wait, we are going to check out the engine area after this, right?

>>1211333
Thanks for the run handler.

>>1211382
It's more of a swing by, but yes.

>>1211333
Thank for tripping!

>...Dear, dear Owlica...

>What have you done?!

>You had it. It was yours. It was MINE.

>And yet...!

>No. I will not punish HER, of all people. No.

>This was not her fault. This was...unexpected. A surprise.

>But a surprise is only good once. Now I know. The legends are real. And next time...

>...I WILL be prepared. SHE will be prepared.

>Nothing will get in the way. I will make sure of it. This is what she wanted. What WE wanted.

>And once we succeed... we will finally...FINALLY have all we wanted. All we DESERVED.

>...

>...

>...right?

>...yes.

File: Spoiler Image (224 KB, 400x400)

224 KB PNG

Oh one thing I forgot, I suggest that we refrain from training that would burn too much of our mana. Just sayin.

>>1211556
oh dammit, things are only hoing to get harder from now on, isn't it?

>>1211696
I DID warn as much earlier. Actions will have consequences, even if they're not immediately obvious.

>>1211556
Mysterious

>>1211556
This is what happens when you explain your techniques to the enemy's chief r&d expert like some kind of two-bit villain.

Howdy folks. Live in just a few minutes. Looking forward to the new mission, I hope.

>>1212547
What energy weapons can we get?
Laser rifles?
Gatling lasers?
Phasers? Disrupters?

>>1212557
>phasers

Can we please kit out miranda with a phaser and ceremonial klingon sword now.

Lorelei, Izumi: set phasers to stun

Here's hoping we passed forward any information from our conversation with Owlia of the remotest potential use when we were debriefed.

>>1212578
You did. G'nearth wasn't happy about you just jawing with her, but he figured the intel might be worth it and so didn't say much of anything.

>>1211325

From the looks of things, the armory doesn’t have a particular shortage of weaponry, although you note it seems to be less expansive than the armory at home. There’s still racks upon racks of guns, and it takes you a bit to get to the ‘energy weapons’ section. You’ve dealt with energy weapons a couple of times, but they never quiiite seem to act the same from universe to universe. To be frank, you’d sometimes considered them a lesser variant of what you can do yourself, but in cases like these...couldn’t hurt.
Now, then, the question was what to go for. If nothing else, they at least had basic descriptions for what they brought beneath their general weapon type section. Nice little cue cards, even.

>Beat Pistols- Good accuracy at long range, low stopping power, excellent fire rate, low rate of overheat. Personal defense weapons. (We all start with this one, shinies! - G’nearth)
>Pulse Rifles- Moderate accuracy, moderate stopping power, good rate of fire, moderate rate of overheat. Standard arms. (If you ain’t lieutenant rank or higher, pick this one- G’nearth)!
>Gatling Cannons- Low accuracy, High stopping power, excellent rate of fire, high rate of overheat. Heavy weapons specialists ONLY. (Seriously, if you can’t run with one of these for like, 5 minutes straight and I see you with it, I’m going to smack you.- G’nearth)
>Continuous Beam Weapons- High accuracy, Great stopping power, VERY high rate of overheat, Low ammo. (It’s a damn beam, the rate of fire is just ‘yes’, you dips. Use caution, okay? -G’nearth)

Aside from that, it seems like there’s a section for ‘Esoteric and Acquired Weapons’ - namely, spoils of war that seem to have been donated to the ‘community chest’ so to speak. You might be able to find something unique in there, but it’d be a crapshoot as to what…

>What will you look at?

>>1212578
We learned that she has a hard-on for crystals, loves R&D and thinks full scale war is completely justifiable as long as you win. So she's pretty much kill on sight just as before, I guess?

>>1212585
Do we know if there's some kind of facility over there from before the war, or if this is going to be a full outdoor romp?

>Beat Pistols if we suspect indoor close quarters
>Continuous Beam Weapons otherwise cause this is cool shit

>>1212585
>gatling canon
>pulse rifle

And check out the esoterics for a shot condenser to go with the canon; If we can't find one, just go with a continuous beam weapon.

>>1212585
Beat Pistols and Gatling Cannon.
Also check out the Esoteric section.

>>1212593
It's just unsettled islands as far as you know. That's partially why it's so damn suspicious. There's nothing there at first blush, but Ferrosian fighters have been buzzing around the place like bees around a hive. Despite that, it's still unnerving enough for them to want you to have you go take a looksee.

>>1212585
>Continuous Beam Weapons- High accuracy, Great stopping power, VERY high rate of overheat, Low ammo.
We'll use this on the enemies that ignores our magic and rockets. A few powerful shots in the right place would help, I think.

Also, did the forces that landed in the previous deployment recover anything useful or interesting? If they learned anything more about the enemy it would be helpful to know.

>>1212600
It's barely been a day, they're still sorting through groundside intel and making sure everything's secure. Have some patienceses.

>>1212585
Which of these weapons can fit into a 1.5-foot-diameter hole?

>>1212603
All but the largest Gatling Cannons and CBWs if you stand them up. I'll let you know what can and can't fit.

>>1212602
Well, if they are done with it let us know, things would get only harder from here and we need all the edge we can get.

Start of a run = 30 minute vote time as a reminder.

>>1212585
>>1212603
Let's shove a bunch of Pulse Rifles into our bag as holdout weapons in case we're dangerously low on mana, take a look at the Esoteric weapons, and come back for Gatling Cannons or CBWs on our way out, depending on what we still need.

Hokay, seems like we're talking a look at CBWs and Gatlings for certain, as well as the Esoteric section, but looking at how the votes are laid out, we might do the Esoterics first. Either way, y'know what that means!

ROLLS.

5d20 to see what kinda goodies (or junk) you find, best of 3, individual numbers taken.

Also I gotta say, Owlia was fun to write. Wonder if you guys will bump into her again.

Rolled 12, 1, 1, 5, 18 = 37 (5d20)

>>1212622
15 1s incoming

Rolled 3, 3, 18, 3, 19 = 46 (5d20)

>>1212622

Rolled 20, 17, 17, 1, 16 = 71 (5d20)

>>1212622
Uhhh.

>>1212629
>>1212642
and
>>1212645
Saves the day, mostly.

Writing!

>>1212622
>>1212629
>>1212642
>>1212645

You give a quick once-over to the beam weapons as well as the gatling cannons- you give one of the latter a quick lookover for kicks- grip isn’t bad, not too large. You could fit it in your bag, if just barely. Would have to test it out later, though- what’s the name? ‘VA Dragonfire?’ Hm.

The beam weapons don’t seem too dissimilar, actually, aside from battery charge and intensity. One or two seem to have elemental effects- you see one explicitly noted to have freezing properties to the beam- it also had one of the lowest battery charges though. Eh, you’ll look at them a bit later. For now, though, might as well see what’s in their grab bag.

Hmmm...interesting, interesting…

...oh, no, that’s junk.

...THAT’S interesting…

...and just plain YES.

On the whole, seems like they have some neat stuff in here. No names, but…

>A pair of red, fancy looking pistols, both with sharpened blades on the top that also seem to serve as sights. There’s no obvious place for a magazine- checking them both, you notice that they both have charge bar indicators, meaning they’re both energy weapons.

>A strange, lumpy looking gun that, from the looks of it, fires some kind of bolts, judging by the revolver cylinder and the arrow-like ends you can see. Not exactly a crossbow mind you, but you’re not entirely certain what this might have. There’s a small case of ammo with similar looking bolts strapped to its grip.

>A long thing, seems like a high tech multimissile launcher. At the least, it doesn’t seem to need two hands to steady for you, due to it’s being incredibly light- and it seems the back end detaches. The back end separated reminds you of a shotgun, and it’s clear it can be fired independently.

You’ll have to clear it with the ship’s Quartermaster to let him know they’re gone, but that aside, it’s just a matter of what to pick…

> Double energy pistols
>The strange crossbow gun.
>The combo missile launcher/shotgun.
>None, back to the other weapons.

>>1212680
Since we've got a few days until the next mission anyway, could we clear it with the quartermaster to test all three out at the range before deciding which to pick?

>>1212680

> Pistols

>>1212680
> Double energy pistols

>>1212684
Yes.

>>1212680
>dual energy pistols
>missle launcher/shotgun combo

You just won't be able to take all three at once, mind.

>>1212680
>> Double energy pistols

Pistolero, yeees.

Writing!

Also expect a timeskip.

>>1212686
>>1212689
>>1212692
>>1212699

The pistols seem like a solid option for now. You might give the others a look later if they haven’t been taken, but you feel like these are the most apt for the situation you’ll be soon to find yourself in. Aside from those, however…

“Y’know you can’t take but two arms at a time, right?” The Quartermaster’s voice rings through the area- you turn to see him walking down the lane towards you, his young, scarred face fixed with a vaguely amused grin. “You get to pick out a primary and secondary. That’s it. We don’t got the supplies for everyone to haul as many guns as they want outta here. You can try out whatever you like, but you can’t check ‘em out without my say so. Otherwise that’ll just cause you a mess of problems.”

Hm. “I was just going to look at the beam weapons. Not taking them.”

He laughs once. “Well, you do that, but make sure to bring ‘em back to the desk. G’nearth’ll have my hide AND yours if he finds out you stole some weaponry.” And here he walks up to you. “Now then, which ones are goin’ into the range with you today?”

The tryout sessions are long, with you testing the weapons against stationary, moving, small, big, and all kinds of other targets. Eventually, it comes down to two.

>The Neptunia CRX: This is the energy weapon you saw earlier. It has a nice grip, but it’s a bit unwieldy thanks to the tech inside it that allows it to freeze things at a distance, while still packing some punch. It has variable settings, from ‘hard freeze’ to a simple chilling effect. You found that its battery was pretty weak, though- if you hold down fire for longer than five or six seconds, it started to overheat, ironically enough, and in general it seems like the deeper the freeze needed, the more battery power overall it’d sap. Not to mention the further away you get, the weaker the beam seems to be.

>The HD-LR-5, a larger, near cannon-sized weapon. It won’t fit in your bag at all, but it’s plenty powerful- capable of drilling a hole in concrete with some effort. You’d actually say it’s on par with a low-powered magi-beam of yours, which is surprising. Of course, it doesn’t have the consistency or staying power of your own abilities; it starts overheating around seven or eight seconds, and it’s one consistent power level. The energy usage overall is surprisingly decent, however.

Of course, if you didn’t like any of them, you didn’t have to take them. But after this, you REALLY need a damn nap.

>Neptunia CRX
>HD-LR-5
>None.

>>1212776
>>HD-LR-5

>>1212776
>The HD-LR-5
It's got the intimidation factor too!

>>1212776
>>HD-LR-5

>>1212776
>>Neptunia CRX

It's capable of something we currentpy aren't. That qualifies as priority.

Bigger is Better. Writing.

>>1212806
What, cool us down on a hot day?

>>1212776
>>1212784
>>1212789
>>1212800

After some deliberation, you eventually decide on the HD-LR-5. The Quartermaster just chuckles upon seeing you bring it up. “Kinda figured you’d go for the big one. Don’t you magical-types have superstrength? Thing probably feels like a pistol to you.” Well...he wasn’t wrong. You just make sure to sign for it and the pistols, and you’re more than ready to settle in for a nice nap.

...Right after you pop down to the mess hall for some quick eats.

>You have three days of travel time, not under your own power. I don’t feel like writing out all of every day. So, I think how it’ll work now is this: You’ll get a vote period to suggest things to do for the day. THEN everyone votes on it, and what wins is what you decide to do that day. There’ll also be rolls for random events before and after the stated goal. Meaning, discussion time! Of course, if you just want to veg out for a few days (IE Timeskip) that’s fine, too.

>>1212878
Then I suggest
>Check up on Icey and her posse, see how Lorelei is recovering, get some practice in with the new guns and in the spare time we charge our crystals and condenser.

Actually, I'll leave off here for now- I need to prep for work anyway.

>>1212878
>>1212895
I can agree with this.

In general, we ought to prioritize practicing with our new weapons, accelerating our mana regeneration where possible, and finding substitutes for Lorelei if it seems she won't be combat ready in time.

>>1212878
Remember to check the engine room for increased ambient mana.

We could also try hooking Lorelei up to the condenser in the engine room to accelerate her mana collection even more.

>>1212981
I can agree with this.

And I'm back. Anyone else here?

>>1212895 would basically be one day, actually.

>>1212981 was more what I was expecting- that's a multiday affair.

>>1214160
Reporting for duty!

>>1214160
Note that >>1212981 was mostly a general list of things to do over the whole period.

If you intend to go on a day-by-day basis, we'd get the most benefit out of finding a way to increase the team's mana regeneration on day one.

Similarly, finding substitutes on the first day, before we have an estimate of Lorelei's combat readiness, wouldn't make much sense.

>>1214201
No, I got that. Recall what I said was everyone suggest stuff, and we'd vote on things day to day. But we can skip that if everyone agrees on your suggestions.

I'm writing, at any rate. Hopefully it's something you guys agree with, if not, lemme know.

>>1212878
>>1212981
>>1213122
>>1213445
>>1214067

>Day 1

It’s during breakfast with Izumi you decide on what to do during your off time. “First priority is getting Lorelei better. Agreed?”

“Agreed.” Izumi nods. “I’m not sure how she’ll fare, however...it seems like it might be up to fate. Helping her mana recover will be step one, of course, but it looked severely low- when I came across her, she was shivering, sweating up a storm, and barely conscious.” Yeesh. “Even if we find a place for her to rest and recover her mana, her body will take a bit to recover as well, due to nearly going into overdrive. I’ll be able to help with that eventually, but I don’t want to risk it right now.” You nod. Sensitivity and all.

You both finish your breakfasts of bacon and eggs before you get up. “I’ll go look into seeing if the engine might be possible or not.”

Izumi nods. “I’ll keep an eye on her. Maybe see if there’s anything else we might be able to do for her at the moment.”

You both head off in your separate directions.

It’s not too long before you get to the engine area- you ended up just following the signs down to what seems to be an airtight hatch. As you descend, you honestly expected to feel flush with mana as you near what the sign called the ‘Primary Mana Reactor Area’; that doesn’t seem to be the case, however. It feels just like anywhere else on the ship; actually, no. There's LESS mana down here, almost. There’s surprisingly spacious corridors, and a couple of rooms, although there are still a great number of tubes running all throughout the area, doubtlessly going to other areas in the ship needing power. You can see a few folks down here keeping eyes on various knobs, writing reports, or in one or two cases, just standing around talking.

One of them; a mousey girl (literally, she’s shorter than even you, her ears are gigantic and you can easily see buckteeth and grey fur) in a jumpsuit is the first to talk to you instead of just eye you warily. “Hey!” Her voice is a surprisingly smooth tenor. “Any reason you down here? Y’know the usual grunts aren’t allowed down here, right? If you need directions, say so, else I’m going to have to report you.”

>I’m looking for the mana reactor core. I need to see the inside of it.
>I’ll be fine. You can check with the Captain, I’m authorized to be here.
>How much mana are you exposed to daily?
>Other

>>1214427
>I’ll be fine. You can check with the Captain, I’m authorized to be here.
>I’m looking for the mana reactor core. I need to see the inside of it.

I don't see why these would be mutually exclusive.

>>1214427
>I’ll be fine. You can check with the Captain, I’m authorized to be here.
>Other
Just explain to her that you need access to area of high mana concentration, the higher the better. It'll be quicker and easier than approaching the issue indirectly.

5 minute warning.

>>1214427
This >>1214458

>>1214458
This.

Alright, clear winner. Writing!

>>1214427
>>1214458
>>1214434
>>1214553
>>1214536
You frown very slightly. “Look, I just need access to an area of high mana concentration, the higher the better. It’s for medical purposes.”

“You mean like getting mana sickness?” she scoffs. “No way I’m letting anyone in there without protection and explicit authorization. I never seen anyone walk in there without fullbody covers, and for good reason! The density of mana in the reactor chambers’ll either flay you alive or-”

“Just call the Captain if you have to.” You insist. “I’m just as authorized as anyone else to be here.”

“...hmmmm.” She looks at you through squinted eyes, and then just sighs. “Fine, whatever. Boss said you had special privileges anyway at the meetin’. Just lemme get sealed up first. Name’s Naomi, a pleasure.” You don’t get the feeling she actually thinks the same, judging by the scowl on her face as she quickly stalks away.

Not long later, you find yourself facing a completely suited up Naomi, covered head to toe in a blue jumpsuit with nothing exposed- you can see her eyes through a clear visor, but that’s it. “Alright, follow me. Let’s get this done with so we can get you to the infirmary after.” She turns with no other fanfare and starts walking, and you follow through a series of twists and turns.

“There’s five reactors, each with a high density mana core in them,” she explains. “They’re all protected by blast shielding as well as magical, and anti-magic barriers. Top-shelf stuff. All that mana all at once would just friggen ERASE anything it came in contact with, so we gotta sorta filter and convert it to something that’s a bit more reasonable for the Carrier to handle. Get me so far? Should make more sense to you than most.” You nod, confirming her suspicions. “Good. I ain’t gonna throw you straight into the core- you’d probably melt. But I gueeeeess you might be able to survive a dip in the converter basin.”

You shake your head. “It’s not for me. It’s for one of my friends.”

Naomi stops cold, looking at you incredulously. “And you’re just gonna fuckin’ DIP her in a mana reactor?!”

You just shrug. “We internalize the stuff pretty fast.”

There’s a long silence before she sighs. “Sure you do.” As she turns to continue, you can hear her mutter even inside her suit: ‘Friggen magic girls…all the luck...’

>We do get some nice perks.
>It’s not as glamorous as you might think.
>Wouldn’t call myself exactly lucky...
>Other

>>1214880
>>Wouldn’t call myself exactly lucky...

>>1214880
>Wouldn’t call myself exactly lucky...
Miranda's not really the mopey type, but it occurs to me that if she were she would probably be pretty justified in it.

>>1214880
>It’s not as glamorous as you might think.

>>1214880
>We do get some nice perks.
Like impressive ... stamina!

We are going to try it our self before we stick Lourelei in there though, right?

Writing. Last one for tonight.

>>1215052
We really should. Maybe just a finger. Or a hand.

>>1214880
>We do get some nice perks, as living weapons tossed constantly into the worst of the fray.

>>1214960
>>1214988

A light scoff escapes you, and your guide freezes up a bit. “Wouldn’t exactly call myself lucky.” She whirls around, arms out in supplication.

“Oh, geez, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that, just-” you quickly wave her off. No harm, no foul.
“Relax. Not the first time I heard that, won’t be the last. But really, I wouldn’t call it all that lucky, looking back on it.” Not that that was a thing you did often, for obvious reasons...but still. “You end up having to do a lot of crap day to day just to life. Not to have a life. Just LIVE. And I don’t mean once you get to The Intersection.” You look at her pointedly. “Crazy assholes wanting you dead. Lying to your folks day in and day out, unless something happens and then that’s another thing they’re losing hair over. Not really being able to trust anyone not in the same position you are. And one or two people are probably gonna try and die for you, and you REALLY don’t want them to because they’re the only people you give a damn about IN that fucked up world, so it’d probably be better if YOU went, but they try to do it anyway because that’s noble and I dunno, just damnit you could at LEAST wai-”

No. Nope. No. Shut UP.

You close your mouth and quickly look at a point above her eyes. She doesn’t look like she knows quite how to respond to that, and her response is stammering. “Well...I mean...if you- I...uh...if you say so, I guess…just...”

You just let it go, not saying anything. It’s not long before she fidgets uncomfortably under your not-stare, and refuses to complete the sentence, quickly turning around to continue leading you towards the basin. Ugh. Memories. Well, not memories, you suppose...whatever. You can see she steps a bit quicker, now- nearly a jog. Not hard to keep up with her, though.

cont.

>>1215159
Soon enough, you arrive at a LARGE sealed door, with a number of high-pressure piston locks. “Welp, here we are. What’s gonna happen is we’re gonna head in, close this, let the airlock close behind us, and then let you into the filter basin and...I dunno. Whatever it is you’re supposed to be doing.”

You nod. “Right. Like going out into space.”

“Yeah, pretty much.” With that, she types in a passcode, stands for retinal scan, fingertip scan, then voice activation. Pretty thorough. She’s quick to remind the AI about the ‘guest’ protocol, however, when a turret is aimed at you immediately after.
You quickly step in and let the airlock do its work; and once everything is sealed, Naomi gracefully opens the other door just a crack. “Feel anything? Sure you don’t wanna maybe put on a suit?”

“Honestly, I’m not feeling too much. It’s there, but nothing ridiculous, no.” you admit. An idea comes to your head. “Mind if I head in?”

“Figured you’d ask that.” She opens the door the rest of the way, as the mana, a visible, blushi-white fog, swoops in and seems to engulf the lock. “After you. You got all of fifteen minutes. Any more, and you’re puttin’ me at risk. Probably yourself, too, unless I’m wrong.”

“Fair enough.” you comment. As you step in, you’re surprised. The mana in here IS dense, but it’s not nearly as bad as she made it sound. You spend a few minutes of your own simply walking around the room- it kind of reminds you of a giant tub, actually- just one with a ceiling. Even has the white porcelain look. The mana isn’t pressing down on you any, however... It’s more like...walking through an extra thick fog, maybe. There’s a few things you can see in the distance, some measurement meters, pipes, some extra large filter grates, as well, that seems to be slowly vacuuming the mana into itself- you can see it being expelled from a pipe in the ceiling.

You can feel your mana replenishing by the bucketful, actually- you suspect that even as low as you are, you’d be fully recovered in some...what, eight, ten hours? Maybe half a day? Essentially you could probably fall asleep in here, wake up tomorrow, and be fine…

...which is exactly what Lorelei needs right now. You can’t help but smile at that thought.

And done for tonight. Comments, questions, concerns, by all means say so.

Incidentally, for anyone who was wondering?

Lorelei's Mana was at 10 when they found her.

>>1215167
>10

Jesus fucking Christ, well we're certainly not doing that ever again!

>>1215167
let's set up the Mana Condenser in here.

>>1215167
Also, you've got me curious about Miranda's backstory now. I think one of the early threads hinted at her losing her team/family/friends/what-have-you, plus a few references to her not being able to go back to her home plane, but it never really got developed and I want to know more.

>>1215167
>10

Jesus Christ.

Thanks for running boss

>>1215183
And some beds, while we're at it

>>1215188
Miranda does have a backstory, but I've been keeping it vague on purpose. I feel it's more interesting to come across in bits and pieces than all in one giant loredump.

That said, I wouldn't be adverse to answering minor questions about any of the trio.

>>1215200
Were they stone cold killers before or did that only happen after the intersection? I mean were they precure or something actually competent?

>>1215225
After The Intersection. They were pretty competent in their own ways, however. They certainly had no problems killing whatever the monster of the week was. Izumi is STILL not quite stone-cold, even after the talk earlier from Miranda.

Lorelei didn't have as much time as a magical girl as the others before she ended up in The Intersection, so she adapted quicker.

>>1215200
How does Izumi handle Miranda and Lorelei's morally ambiguous tendencies? Does she just try not to think about it or has it been a recurring point of contention?

>>1215261
She tries very hard to not think about it. A job like this is fine, since there's a clear 'good' and 'evil' side to her. The Shining Hearts job was also something she'd approve of. The western job...less so.

Deep deep deep down...lies thoughts she's not yet comfortable with. At all.

>>1215268
How do Lorelei and Izumi get on when Miranda's not around? Izumi being unhappy to see us when we crashed her date is perfectly understandable, but I'm curious if they're actually friends or if they just tolerate each other because they have to.

>>1215282
Lorelei is super friendly towards Izumi. Izumi sometimes doesn't know how to handle her energy, but on the whole appreciates her vivaciousness and unwillingness to bend in the face of adversity.

Izumi is sometimes happy when she hears Lorelei failed a job if said job was for 'evil' people. These brief feelings of happiness are often immediately followed by sadness at cheering against a friend, then insecurity at her own moral code vying against her desire for friendship.

>>1215305
Sounds like she's still got some issues to work out then, hopefully Miranda can give her a few more pushes until she sees things our way. Thanks for the Q and A, see you next time!

>>1215260
So what happened to prompt them to start killing people and how did they deal with their first time?

>>1215167
>10
Damn. She should get a condenser for herself, considering that she has evel lower capaity than us.

Morning, all. Will be running later...probably 2 or so hours. I'll let you all know here and on twitter, in like a 20 minute warning or so.

>>1215468
I'll nutshell it.

Miranda: She had to choose between killing a man who was trying to protect a target, or failing a time-limited job and risking non-payment. She chose to finish the job. She became...a lot more reclusive than she used to be afterwards. This happened within her first year.

Izumi: Was forced to understand that some people just won't back down from their evil ways, no matter what. It was the old 'either kill me or I'm pushing the doomsday switch' situation. Justifies Justified it as exterminating people with the souls of demons. She cried for days.

Lorelei: Was on a job to eliminate a powerful magic general, simple as that. Didn't actually think about the situation until it happened. She detonated a charge in a room of officials while they all had their guards down. She threw up and then laughed...and then threw up again.

Izumi was rather happy to hear about the results; you’d walked out and requested at least a spare cot, much to Naomi’s sheer disbelief. Still, she hadn’t said no once you explained the situation, although she insisted someone stick around to make sure the readings didn’t fluctuate too much if ‘someone’s gonna be in there acting like a living mana crystal’. In Naomi’s own words. You agreed, and currently Lorelei (who hadn’t waken up at all) was sleeping in the mana basin with two guards/watchmen posted, Naomi being one of them.

“So, got some good things in the armory?” Izumi asks. “Anything to recommend?”

Hm. Good question.

>“I think you’d be good with the pulse rifles. Good all arounders.”
>”You might want a beam weapon, like me. Lots of power.”
>”Maybe stick with Beat Pistols, they’d fit your speed.”
>Other

>>1216319
>”Maybe stick with Beat Pistols, they’d fit your speed.”

Forgot about Gatling Cannons. They're an option as well.

>>1216319
>>“I think you’d be good with the pulse rifles. Good all arounders.”

>>1216319
> you're the expert, go look yourself holy shit

>>1216319
>>“I think you’d be good with the pulse rifles. Good all arounders.”
"But you already know that don't you?"
"There's an interesting Missile/shotgun combo you should check out"

15 minutes because first post of the run.

It's not a crime to ask a friend what their opinion is on a subject even if you're ostensibly more knowledgeable in said subject.

>>1216319
>Go check out the Esoteric pile. I saw some interesting stuff there, and you've probably got a better eye than me.

Writing writing stuff stuff.

>>1216342
>>1216361
>>1216374
Huh. Wonder why she was asking you, of all people. “I’d imagine the pulse rifles would be good, considering they do a bit of everything, but I’m kind of surprised you’re asking me that. Shouldn’t that be the other way around?”

She laughs a bit. “Maybe, but I wanted your opinion. They’ve got a lot here to work with. And for the record, I agree. I'll take a look at everyone on tap, of course...but those would be my first pick.” She gets up from her seat- you’d both been relaxing in one of the break rooms for a bit. “I’ll probably go check them out now; maybe swing by the reactor to see how Lorelei’s doing later.”

You get up as well. “Sounds good. I’ll probably look into some sparring later. Oh!” Almost forgot. “There’s also some interesting stuff in the Esoterics section. Might find something interesting- I saw what looked like a launcher/shotgun combination in there. You might find something neat.”

She nods, an interested look on her face, and you both head out. Hopefully you’ll be fine for hand to hand stuff for now…

>Roll 1d20 for random occurence! Best of 3.

Rolled 20 (1d20)

>>1216485

>>1216487
...Well then.

Gimme a few more minutes to figure this out.

>>1216516
Can we leave our condenser in the reactor rooms?
We need to recharge, fully charge the condenser, and refill the mana crystals that Izumi used.

Okay, I got something. Writing!

>>1216526
You did that. They're in there.

Naomi isn't happy you're using a basin like a gas station.

>>1216485
Later that day, you’re preparing to head into the training area for a bit of alone time- when suddenly the intercom goes off.

Will all special assets please report to the hangar bay? Repeat, will all special assets please report to the hangar bay?

Huh. Wonder what that’s all about.

You end up meeting Izumi on the way, and the look of confusion on her face tells you she has little clue as to what’s going on, either. “Lorelei’s still asleep,” she answers without you asking. “We’ll have to just tell her what happened later.” Hopefully it wasn’t too major.

As you arrive, you’re surprised to find what seems to be the Captain, Green-hair and a couple other Epsilon soldiers standing in front of a pair of...well, you’re not sure who they are. They seem to be two boys of older teenaged years- one of them has shaggy, dirty blonde hair and piercing blue eyes- you can see that he has a small scar on his cheek, but it doesn’t really mar his attractiveness in any way. He’s tall and lean, although you can tell from his tight-fitting jumpsuit that it’s a wiry strength, not just skin and bones. There’s muscle there, for certain.

The other one is a bit shorter, and has a dirty mop of short brown hair on his head, and green eyes that seem to be both hopeful and despondent at the same time. He’s got what seems to be a pair of aviator glasses resting on his forehead, although if you’re being honest, they don’t really fit him all that well- he’s got kind of a chubby face, even though his body looks fairly average, and they don’t make him look that cool. They both share similar jumpsuits; the gold and blue of Alusia, although the colors are darker, and there’s some splashes of black in there as well.

Blondie looks at you with a curious eye, that turns to a grimace when you lock eyes with him briefly, while the brunette just wiggles his eyebrows in what seems to be an attempt at a flirt.

Great.

Captain G’nearth doesn’t seem to notice, however. “Ah, glad you girls could make it! We’ve managed to get some luck tossed our way! I suspect the Alusians’ll be glad to see these boys again!”

The unspoken question of ‘why’ is raised in the silence that follows- and it is quickly dispelled as the blonde kid speaks.

“Hi there. I’m Atley, and this is Morris.” He locks eyes with you again, this time his face showing little fear. “And we are the last remaining members of the Air Knights.”

“And why’s that important?” You ask.

Atley sighs, and Morris looks downcast as he next speaks.

“Because. We used to be Owlia’s teammates.”

...Ah.

cont.

>>1216727
-----------

Before long, you’re all seated around a round table, you yourself only a few seats down from Atley.

Green-hair (you REALLY need to get his name one day) next to you looks at them curiously. “We were under the impression you’d been killed. I take it that was not so?”

Atley sighs. “Nah. We got shot out of the sky, sure, but not killed. I...I don’t think Owlia had it in her to do that...at least, not at the time. She grounded us on a near empty skyland. Fortunately, it wasn’t the only one there. We managed to survive for a while on nature, managed to repair our ship all the while. We just recently fled, in fact! As we checked current events, we...we heard things were getting worse. That Alusia was on the verge of defeat.” He looks like he’s unsure how to continue. “As much as we didn’t-DON’T want to fight her...I think that’s what it’ll come down to. Heard she led the assault on Gable. That can’t stand.”

Morris sighs. “I just wish we could get her free. She was like a sister to us, y’know? Then Cylica waltzes in, starts talkin’ smooth and doin’ her voodoo every time we see ‘er, next thing you know, bam, girl that’s been with us forever pulls a double cross. SO messed up...”

“But, you didn’t bring us here to let us mope. You’ve probably got more than a few questions, huh?” Everyone at the table nods. “Mind if we take it one at a time, then?”

“Fine with me,” G’nearth leans back. “I’m just here as ears unless someone misses something.”

Green-hair looks to you, then. “I suppose that means you’re next, then.”

>What was Owlia like before she turned?
>Do you still have any of her inventions?
>Any particular weaknesses of hers?
>Are or were there any other teammates?
>Other

>>1216731
>>Are or were there any other teammates?

>>1216731
>Any particular weaknesses of hers?
Combat relevance first, even if we can turn her back I don't expect to do it without a fight.

>>1216731
>>What was Owlia like before she turned?
>>Do you still have any of her inventions?

>>1216731
3 minutes left. Should be five, but I was away.

>>1216772
Swapping to >>1216769
for psychological advantages and to break the tie.

Askin' about the rest of the old crew.

Writing!

So I keep thinking of owlia and cyclia as reccoa and scirocco now, with a magic gay sex aura instead of newtype space sex aura

I wonder how much of Owlia's crystal magitech is compatible with Intersection magitech and can be used across alternate universes.

Tell me more about this voodoo.

>>1216769
>>1216800

The first thing you can think of is how she mentioned the team. She seemed something remotely like regretful, even. If this was part of her old squad, then… “Are there or were there any other teammates? Anyone else we might be able to talk to?”

To your dismay, he just sighs and shakes his head. “There were two others- a friend of ours named Norton, and Ren. Norton wasn’t with us when she turned- I dunno if that was intentional or just luck., but we haven’t been able to get in touch with him at all. I dunno what might’ve happened to him- he was supposed to be on a supply run to Artemis when it happened. We said we’d pick him up there. That was the first place we tried to check out, but...Ferrosians. EVERYWHERE.”

“Waay too risky to get inside.” Morris mentions. “That’s when we realized things were really screwed up if they got as far as Artemis. Managed to get out the airspace without getting chased, and decided to make for the capital and hope for the best. Heard about Gable and got some news on the way by passing evacuees.”

“And Ren?” you continue.

“Ren...Ren was killed a bit before this whole thing happened. She and Owlia were basically like sisters. Me an’ Morris always thought Owlia was a little off with her whole crystal obessession, but Ren thought it was neat, despite the danger. Heh... we always joked that one or both of ‘em would end up blowing up half the ship. Either Ren from using crystals or Owlia from MAKING them.” Him and Morris chuckle sadly in remembrance- and even that sounds forced. Atley continues soon afterwards. “Believe it or not, wasn’t Ferrosians that did her in. We were on a scouting mission to some old skyland, trying to find the Anais Relay. Have you heard of it?”

“Yes.”

“Ah, right. Well, we ended up releasing something...something bad.” He looks away, and it’s clear he doesn’t want to say what. “It chased us down, even in our fighters! Stupid thing was crazy fast for...for whatever it was. Nearly killed all of us, but...Ren decided she’d had it. Turned the sharpest one-eighty I’d seen in my life and said to keep going. She held it off enough for us to escape.” The boy looks like he’s about to break into tears. “She...we owe her our lives. Owlia never quite forgot that. Said her sacrifice wouldn’t be in vain.” And he looks up- a fierce determination in his eyes. “That’s how I know something’s messing with her head! There’s no WAY Owlia would switch sides after something like that!”

“Hmmmm…” Izumi seems thoughtful, flicking her eyes back and forth between the two. She seems uncertain.

>Ask another question.
>Let Izumi speak her mind.
>Other

>>1216960
>>Let Izumi speak her mind.

>>1216960
>Let Izumi speak her mind.
Trust your instincts!

>>1216960
>Ask another question.
Was that thing you let loose a spooky dark cloud thing that had a freezer ray and ate you missles like they were candy?
>Let Izumi speak her mind.

>>1216960
>Let Izumi speak her mind.

5 minute warning in case anyone has any last minute concerns.

Letting Izumi spit it out, whatever she's thinking. Writing!

>>1216960
>>1216975
>>1216993
>>1217006
Your eyes catch hers as you look towards Izumi, motioning towards your guests in an effort to get her to speak. She seems unsure for a moment, but then shakes her head and looks at them directly. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to ask about Owlia’s...tendencies. You said she was obsessed with crystals, correct?”

“Yeah, she loved messin’ with them,” Morris confirms. “Dangerous stuff, honestly. She had her own room separate from the rest of us in our ship just in case something went wrong with her crazy tests. We weren’t fans of it, nah, but we figured she’d be happy enough as long as she was left to herself.” He holds his head in one hand, leaning on the table. “Wasn’t until after Ren died when she started really getting more overt about it. Wanted us to use crystals in a buncha stuff, real risky plans. Started talking about augmenting people, changing how crystals were used for energy, a bunch of things. I mean sure, it sounds nice in theory, but artificial crystals are supposed to be super unstable, y’know? Makin’ ‘em isn’t easy or safe, right? Explosions, bad effects, all sortsa nasty complications. S’why not a lot of people get to mess with ‘em in general without getting smacked down by the Council. Only reason she got away with it was because she was part of the Alusian military and we got a lot a leeway ‘cause it’s wartime.”

Atley nods in agreement. “He’s right. The only stable crystals are those that are naturally formed, and those are getting scarcer. There’s not a whole lot left in the Calm Lands of Mageria. We’d have to go to the Far Lands where you guys come from to get more, and that’s risky for anyone that’s...well, not you guys.” Huh. Interesting. “A lot of places are just moving toward natural powers like electric and solar. Not nearly as powerful or efficient, but it’s not like we’re gonna run out of that any time soon.”

“I see…” Izumi fixes them with a look. “And you don’t think this movement away from crystals would be considered a decent enough threat to her talents to consider defection?”

“No way!” They both speak up in unison, rising from their seats. Oddly stereophonic.

>>1217225
G’nearth groans. “Alright, alright, settle down, alla ya.” They do so, and he looks at the boys carefully. “Well...obviously we’re gonna wanna know if you got any secrets towards her or her inventions. We just came from Gable, and our ground forces here-” and here he motions to you and Izumi, “-encounted some pretty nasty stuff. We want you to let us know if any of it sounds familiar and what we might be able to do to break it. Better yet, if you still had any of her old stuff lying around.”

They both look at each other, then back at him. “We think we still have a few of her crystals- she took a lot with her before she destroyed her lab, but she told us herself that she kept some in more than just her room. It might take a while, but we’ll find them, then report back. That alright?”

G’nearth nods. “Sounds grand. Just make sure you keep on pace with us. We’re headed up to the Gale Beltlands, so keep course for that alongside us. You get back to me when you’ve taken stock.” And with that, he gets up. “Dismissed, for now. We’ll be speakin’ later.”
You beg off for lunch, and wind up having some independent workout time for a couple of hours before word gets back to you- they’d found a few things, but they were going through them with the boys’ help, and you’d have a chance to talk with them more tomorrow. Hopefully, Lorelei would be up, if not quite at ‘em, by then as well.

Hopefully, what happened today was a good sign…

>Roll 1d20 for possible happenings! (Actually a DC here because reasons = 15.)

Rolled 12 (1d20)

>>1217229

Rolled 11 (1d20)

>>1217229

Rolled 14 (1d20)

>>1217229
I wanted to ask them about the voodoo spell that she was under too. If that is real it could be a lead on turning her back.

Rolled 6 (1d20)

>>1217229
SUDDENLY

Rolled 19 (1d20)

>>1217229

>>1217229
Holy shit these guys are stupid. If they weren't our clients, I'd say to just kill them because of how badly they offend our sense of competency.

>>1217254
So you don't realize that there's no actual spell, and they're just referring to how persuasion and actually listening to Owlia's concerns got her to defect?

>>1217259
Who? What?

Close but no kewpie doll. Taking an hour's breather before writing again. I need food.

>>1217265
You don't know that, which is why I wanted to ask. Just in case she really put her under a spell. Hence the "If that is real" that I wrote.

>>1217277
And have you considered how stupid you would look when it turns out it's the normal turn of phrase that people use when someone is enraptured, ensorcelled, had a spell cast on, and other phrases to refer to becoming infatuated with a person because of their charisma?

>>1217314
Not stupid at all, especially considering how magical bullshit is so common in this society no-one more than blinks at it. It doesn't hurt to clarify when people are using such possibly imprecise language. Have you considered how stupid you would look if you let the war drag on because you failed to clarify such a simple point?

>>1217328
We're mercenaries so letting the war drag on is good business for us, unless there's an early completion bonus.

>>1217314
>>1217328
How about we ask about Cylica instead? As we know from our conversation with Owlia that she fights on the frontlines, there's a decent chance we'll come into direct conflict with her.

Finding out about her abilities and what kind of person she is would both be useful in combat against her, as well as allow us to better guess whether or not Owlia is actually under some kind of mind-affecting magic.

Though I somewhat doubt it myself.

>Okay, so she had SOME kind of emitter, right? Some kind of crystal wave generator. Maybe that was under her clothes, I didn't see it...

>Hm... Is she like me? Another crystal mage?

>...no, the reports said that it appeared like her mana was self-generated. But that's impossible! Crystals are the only things that have the proper STRUCTURE to generate and regulate mana, we're just a conduit to expel it. So how...?

>She had to have crystals on her. I wonder what they were. Heck, or WHERE they were. Not like she was covering much of her arms OR legs.

>And that POWER. There's no way she did that via normal channeling. How did she bypass the filtering effects of the lattice!? You can't just break that, not like she did, without causing a massive power short circuit and rupture- you'd have to practically BE a crystal to circulate that level of mana without burning yourself out from the inside!

>Either that or at LEAST have a natural lattice in...your...body...

>...or maybe...

>...

>...something similar...

>...hm...

>...No, no. THAT'S impossible...

>...right?

>...maybe...

>...maybe I need more...visual data...yes...

>...how INTERESTING...!

>>1217342
1. We haven't got paid per time period yet and I doubt this is any different since the same person did the negotiating.
2. I see you are trying to redirect the argument because you can't back yourself with you "assumptions are better than facts" defence.

>>1217345
Yeah that would be nice but we didn't get to ask the people who had apparently met her anything interesting.

>>1217357
Ominous.

>>1217408
>since the same person did the negotiating.
This contract wasn't negotiated by Sal. This is a Dynamic Methods contract and we're a sub-contractor.

A decent grasp of the English language indicates that there was no magic involved and that "voodoo" was just a euphemism for "convinced with words".
We've seen no evidence of mind-based magic on this world.

>>1217420
I imagine the next time we see her, she'll have replaced part of her body's internal structure with artificially-grown crystals. Or else she'll have injected herself with crystalline nanomachines.

>>1217485
She'll probably go for something in the torso, as that's got the most space to work with.

>>1217357
If she rigs herself into a magical girl, we HAVE to bring her back home with us. For the novelty more than anything.

>>1217521
Her skill set would make her a viable Outgoer, or work as an engineer for one of the magitech manufacturers.
Most likely she'll spend her first two weeks in the library sucking up all the knowledge of more advanced magitech civilizations.

But, her skill at creating augmentation crystals fueled by mana is definitely interesting. We'd have to see if they would work with our mana frequency, but otherwise they could provide new options and abilities that we'd normally have to get advanced tech, expensive magic, or implantations for.

>>1217447
>talkin’ smooth and doin’ her voodoo
It could certainly be interpreted that the second part of that was redundant and I am not arguing that that is invalid, I am arguing that that is not the only possible interpretation. If you had a decent grasp of the English language that would be clear to you.

>We've seen no evidence of mind-based magic on this world.
No we have seen very little magic in this world except drive cores, personal shields, wands of magic missile and big guns. And of course the completely novel stuff that one person came up with on her own and we also heard her complaints about how so much stuff was possible if it wasn't stifled by the complacency of the status quo. So what little we have seen certainly isn't an argument against it being possible.

>This contract wasn't negotiated by Sal.
Our contract with dynamic methods you muppet. Do you think at all before you write.?

>>1217542
I was thinking more bring her back in a bag, since convicing her to come with us seems difficult.

>>1217506
I was imagining the skeleton (or at least the hard cortical layer of bone) would be most suitable to being substituted with crystals, which are themselves presumably similarly hard if not harder.

Though I suppose the lungs or skin would be best in terms of exposed surface area, for the purposes of efficiency as a condenser. But that would require her to create a flexible weave of carbon nanotube-like crystalline fibers. And what are the odds of her achieving something like that in just a few days?

...Right?

Back! Sorta! Stuff's still on the stove, so I might take a bit longer to write.

>>1217548
Would she fit through our bag's opening though? And would she be okay inside the bag?

Oh yeah. Speaking of. Handler, has anyone ever got inside a magic bag like the ones we have? I mean, someone must have been stupid enough to try that in the past before, right?

>>1217647
On a related note: what happens when you put a bag inside a bag?

>>1217229
>>1217239
>>1217248
>>1217254
‘H-E...W-H...A-N-Y…’

Huh?

You wake up, a strange, choppy, echoing voice fading away back into the realm of dreams. Weird.

>Day 2

There’s a few things you could get done today, after you check on Lorelei. She should be back to the land of the conscious by now. Hopefully, you’ll be able to talk to those guys more and possibly get some extra details, maybe get some proper sparring in this time, who knows.

As you head out to the Reactor Mana Area, you can hear quick footsteps- a turn sees Izumi half jogging to catch up with you down the hall. “I see you’ve got the same idea,” you note once she catches up.

“Well, naturally. Didn’t want her to have any issues getting out.” Izumi says. You both reach the mana basin airlock without a problem- Naomi and her friend are conked out, though, both sleeping while leaning on walls nearby.

After you quickly wake them up- an action Naomi is NOT happy about, you and Izumi finally are let in. It’s rather pleasant to see Lorelei just sleeping like a baby, even if it’s on a basic cot. “She looks alright,” you note. “Let’s get her and the rest of this stuff outta here.” Izumi nods, and is already starting to pick up the other things you left here- condensers, crystals. They’re easily full, as you might’ve guessed.

Alright, then, time to-

...okay, apparently she’s a fidgety sleeper. That was a surprisingly good left hook for a sleeping girl. Didn’t really HURT, but that was just you. Good form from a prone position. “Ow.”

“Mhhmhm...whaaaa…?” She blinks, slowly lifting her head, and returning to the world at large. “Ohh...Miraaaaaanda…” that last bit was a yawn stretching the word out. “What’re you doing here? Where are we?”
“Mana engine room of the Carrier,” you quickly explain. “You were near dead from mana exhaustion, and we figured this place would be a good pick-you-up.”

“Ohh...neat.” She blearily looks around, seeing Izumi, who waves at her. Lorelei tries to talk, but it just comes out as another yawn instead. You grab an arm, and pull, helping her to her feet- she stumbles a bit, but stays standing. “Thanks... I feel like a pile of noodles…”

“That’s understandable,” Izumi assures. “Let’s get going. You’re probably starving.”

cont.

>>1217796
You all proceed to exit the airlock, much to the relief of Naomi. “Hope you had a fun stay.” she quips.

Lorelei just laughs lightly. “Hey, five out of five star- WHOA!” Without warning, she stumbles once the airlock closes, as if losing all muscle in her legs. It’s so sudden you barely catch her in time to prevent her from collapsing face-first. “Ohhhhh...whoa...I…” she’s breathing hard again, and she’s blinking as though it’s hard to see. “I don’t...wha…”

“Easy, Lori, easy,” Izumi soothes. “It’s probably just your body not used to calling on the excess mana to support you anymore. Your strength will return, just give it a day or so more. Frankly, we’re just glad you’re conscious.”

“She’s right,” you agree. “Can you stand with help?”

“I feel...like I’m...made of paper.” Her breathing slowly comes back to her; Naomi looks unnerved, as does her partner. “Might have...to...ask for a solid…”

Izumi shakes her head. “It’s perfectly fine.” And here she turns to you. “One of us should probably let the Captain know she’s conscious, if not mobile. You want to carry her to her room or should I?”

>You carry her; I’ll tell the Captain.
>I’ll carry her; you tell the Captain.
>Let’s just both get her to her bed for now.

>>1217714
Doesn't that cause some kind of shift to an ogher plane of existance? At least something like that, if my little knowledge of D&D stuff is right.

>>1217802
>I’ll carry her; you tell the Captain.
It was our strategy that got her like this, so it's only fair.

>>1217802
>I’ll carry her; you tell the Captain.

>>1217802
>You carry her; I’ll tell the Captain.

>>1217807
Bag-in-bag just causes the destruction of both objects IIRC, it's putting a portable hole in a bag of holding that causes the "fuck everyone in a 10-foot radius" effect.

>>1217802
>I’ll carry her; you tell the Captain.

>>1217807
>>1217828
It was explicitly stated in the thread we purchased them that there are no destructive or unusual effects from placing a bag of holding in another bag of holding in this setting:
>A bag of holding in a bag of holding just means there's a bag of holding in a bag of holding. Apparently this is a known trick and can be done up to five times- any more bags just seem to 'not go in'.

5 minute warning!

>>1217857
My bad, forgot about that.

Also writing. You will carry this burden.

>>1217802
>>1217811
>>1217819
>>1217857
In response, you shift more of her weight onto you, ultimately choosing to bridal carry her. “I’ve got it. You go tell the Captain that she’s up… for a certain definition of the word, anyway.” Lorelei just chuckles lightly, which turns into a groan. She’s definitely not happy about this.

“Right, then. I’ll be back quick as I can.” And with that she’s off. You don’t doubt she meant what she said. Might as well get moving.

Lorelei has enough in her to fix you with a curious stare. “Hey, ‘randa? How...long was I out of it?”

“About a day or so,” you respond. “You were basically runnin’ on empty. I wasn’t doing so great either. But, Izumi and that green-haired guy managed to get you out of there. So you should probably thank the both of them next time you see them.”

“No kidding,” she agrees. “I was just doing everything I could to keep them from getting in.” She swallows a gulp of air to continue speaking. “Pretty sure I’d have been dead otherwise- I know I ended up using a couple guns I probably dropped…”

“We’ve got a lot of those, don’t worry.” you reassure her. “For now, just focus on getting better as quick as you can. We’ll probably have to bring you food from the mess hall.” You weren’t looking forward to that exactly, but if needs must…

“As quick as I can, huh? I figure that’s for whatever mission we need to do next?” She groans, trying to sit up in your arms. “I’ll...maybe be...fine in a...a day or two, I just need to build my strength back up…I think.” She manages her upright position for all of a few seconds before she flops back down, jostling in your arms. “Yeah, that might be a bit.”

It’s quiet up until you get near the sleeping quarters. “Hey, ‘randa...nother question.”

Hm? “Shoot.”

She looks almost reluctant to ask. “Last night, did you hear anything weird? Like...like someone asking for help or something?”

>Think I might’ve.
>Afraid not, no.
>Why are you asking?
>Other

>>1218031
>Think I might’ve.
Is that what it was? Makes sense I suppose.

>>1218031
>Think I might’ve.
>Didn't hear it clearly enough to say if it was someone asking for help or anything. And I figured at the time it was just a dream or something. You manage to hear what it actually was?
Hoping we brought one of your condensers with us out of the reactor, so Lorelei can get charged up even while she's out and about.

>>1217902
secretly we all just wanted to hug Lorelei for a while.

Think I'm going to wrap it up here for tonight. I probably won't be running tomorrow, but I will Thursday. Questions, comments, concerns as usual.

What do you think of Owlia? I enjoyed writing her and writing about her.

>>1218031
> You too? Any idea from where?

>>1218088
Not killing Owlia was a mistake on our part. Just not sure how we reasonably could have done it.

>>1218031
>Think I might’ve.

>>1218088
>Owlia
Not sure if I should be more curious or concerned, she could be a useful long-term asset or a serious pain in the ass/mission hindrance. See you next time!

>>1218088
From a character standpoint, she seems interesting, and I wouldn't mind seeing her again.

From a narrative standpoint, she seems terrifying, and I hope we never have reason to see her again.

>>1218124
There was a possible moment.

>>1218141
That's partially up to you.

>>1218143
Excellent.

Although I say that, I'm surprised people are quite so...not negative, but fearful? That wasn't what I was going for when I concepted her, but hey, if that's what you make of her, that's what you make of her. I haven't nor will adjust how I write the character; I'm enjoying this so far!

>>1217521
i like this idea. specially because it might benefit us in the future(supposing she doesn't turns coat again on the intersection) as a personal engineer that makes weird-cool things for us and we immediately make the ferrosians lose one important asset and possibly the one that makes all their weird things

>>1218237
I wouldn't say fearful, more like taking her seriously. We saw her machines and her crazy coconut, it's plain good sense to kill her and deprive the enemy of a strong asset.

>>1217521
Yes

>>1218031
>Think I might’ve.
This is some spooky stuff.

>>1218088
>What do you think of Owlia?
She will be a big factor on this mission regardless of how anons want to approach the situation. If needs must she must be eliminated asap.

>>1218237
The big retailers at the Intersection seem to use crystals. Is this because crystal magitech has some kind of advantage, such as stability or consistent effects across worlds? Or is it because it's just more common among the crafters that they employ?

>>1218237
I genuinely don't understand what everyanon's problem is with Owlia, I think she's cute interesting. We should make every effort to bring her back.

>>1218237
I don't find Owlia - in herself and as she is - fearful, so much as her potential as an adversary. She has been shown to be a massive nerd remarkably intelligent and surprisingly adorable driven by that most powerful of motivations - love.

She's also apparently created anti-magic weaponry (which is something I was personally hoping we wouldn't have to go against since it's something of a hard counter to Miranda).

Given resources and a singular objective to focus on, I'm terrified of what she could bring to bear against us. She could be our most powerful nemesis - or perhaps our most valuable ally.

>>1218716
The problem is that we are supposed to be an unscrupulous mercenary, someone who puts the job first. Not someone who puts the mission at risk for a cute girl. The problem isn't that she is interesting or not it is that she is in the way of us winning this war and the most expediant way of getting her out of the way would have been killing her.

>>1218726
We have a life outside of our job, and Owlia specifically has huge potential in her magical research. It helps our mission to remove her from the war, but there's no reason we can't do so without killing her.

>>1218726
you forgot the anons' murderhobo senses. look at it this way; the moment someone mentioned turning her in to ours, she got a 'potential loot' sticky on her head. now, I don't mean this in a negative way, as if owlia is just an object. but I mean that the moment people here see things as 'potentially gained for own use' you bet people are going to claw at every oppertunity to get it.
another proof to support this arguement is the brainwashing crystals from our second mission. although we could have looted one and kept it, maybe during the free time we had during the day in the second mission. hell, maybe we could have even asked sorina to hand over the crystal she got when we finished the duel, for 'research purposes'(for a valiant cause to 'study it and prevent any more like it happening' of course). It would have helped a good deal when dealing in espionage or social manipulation but back then people were a bit too soaked in justice fever to notice looting it. hell, throughout the entire second mission no one ever thought to loot and keep a crystal for our own use later. of course, looting one and not using it on the mission would have been understandable since we were trying to persuade the heroes by looking good, but the former was a option we missed.
and another proof, from the same mission, is the giant golem we looted. instead of just busting it the moment we learned it was potentially controllable we immediately chose that option, and even went out to prevent the hero party from damaging it.

TLDR if there is a chance we can get it for our own anons WILL try to do it.

>>1218802
>TLDR if there is a chance we can get it for our own anons WILL try to do it.
oh I missed out the important part. this sentence shoud be:
TLDR if anons are AWARE that there is a chance we can get something as our own anons WILL try to do it.

>>1218237
She's one of the few things that can actually threaten us.

We have to either kill her or remove her to the Nexus or whatever.

Bitch is crazy about Yuri to the point of betraying her friends and country and allying with some enemy bitch.

Quite frankly I think we should kill her Friends and frame this Cydica lady for it.

>>1218802
>>1218811
>implying we won't try even if there's no chance

>>1218841
Owlia seems a lot more obsessed with the crystals than with /u/ with whatshername, it sounds like Owlia mostly latched onto her because she encouraged Owlia to mess around with crystals.

>>1218726
People just can't roleplay, that's the problem. If our mission was to befriend the enemy, we'd do that. We're here to fight and end a war, not fuck around with an npc because it said a few lines and got a backstory.

>>1218876
Nah. People are just being greedy. I can agree on the latter though.

Man, you fucks continue to not have a goddamn clue. Cleary we've had options, in every mission so far, to resolve certain issues by befriending characters; in certain situations this might have lead to taking them back to the intersection with us.

NOBODY HAS ALLOWED MIRANDA TO DO THIS. Yeah she's supposed to be professional, but you might as well write in "nothing personnel kid" every goddamn time we meet someone.

>>1218906
the difference right now is that Owlia is the first one to have potential in the intersection. The other ones were powerful or useful, but compared to the people in the intersection, they were subpar at best.

>>1218876
Cultivate local assets, suborn enemy assets and make them our own.
It's a question of whether the payout is worth the expended effort.

In the case of Owlia, I'd say it is worth it if she can adapt those augmentation crystals to work with Magical Girls. It'd give us flight, facial replication, even more strength augmentation, all at cheaper prices (because we'd be grabbing the crystals locally) than if we had to buy the equipment at the Intersection.

>>1218707
Crystal magitech is just fairly common in one way or another. It's easy to notice and provides a decent analogue to batteries, bulbs, and other such normal objects for the non-magical people at The Intersection. It's also usually easier for such folks to carry around and utilize at will.

>>1218906
To be fair, I thought we would have more time to talk to Geegee at the end of the second mission. Not "hop, skip, jump, end of line" as it happened.
I actually want to link back up with the people from that world again, see how they fare and try to recruit GG at least. No idea if Sal will allow it though.

I realize that you want to play pokemon but obviously some of us don't want to throw any balls at Owlia. If you want to recruit her to the intersection, vote for it. Unless something drastic happens to change my mind, I will vote against it.

>>1218920
This. Always remember this, even if we wanted to bring back anyone they must be able to earn their own worth or it's a useless endeavor as they will just be thrown back.

>>1218921
>>1218948
If anons can somehow persuade her that she would be better off with us than her current position then I can support it. Maybe like what >>1218857 said, but if the love part is genuine then it might be very hard or downright impossible to turn her. We won't know until we try, sure, but if we try an it doesn't work, she needs to be removed, no question about it. And her superior/love interest(?) as well, if possible.

>>1218948
I bet that we would have a good chance of going back to places if tineframes work differently between dimentions. And even if it isn't, it might be possible, although the dimention in question could not be the ones we've seen in the quest so far. Our works would certainly have left a record on the places we visited, and others might have intrest for us if they learn of our existence.

>>1218966
>I bet that we would have a good chance of going back to places if timeframes work differently between dimensions.

They do. I'll go ahead and say that right now.

>>1218966
We can coax her with more magical "impossibilities", so that her desire to know more surpasses her love for the other girl. Then on the intersection we hook her up the hottest girl we know, and we're done.

>>1218966
>but if we try an it doesn't work, she needs to be removed, no question about it. And her superior/love interest(?) as well, if possible.
No argument there.
We'll give it a try, Izumi will want to help, and we can tempt Owlia with knowledge of magical theory and crystal engineering far beyond what her world can imagine.

>>1218984
Sounds like we are going to use a nebula buster soon. I keep hoping for situations to use it, this world is perfect. Great mana regeneration plus or condenser and batteries it would be a shame not to splurge mana on it.

>>1219027
Can we have the engineers feed us a conduit direct from the mana reactors to fuel a Nebula Buster?

>>1219033
i don't think that is reasonable in the time frame. it's like asking the engineers of a nuclear reactor to create a conduit that connects directly to the nuclear fuel. it's a bad idea in all levels.

>>1219027
i hope we can talk to her before and after the Buster, though. I think that would be the most optimal time to whisk her to the intersection.

A lot of talking suddenly.

>>1219033
>>1219027

I've been going back and reading the little intermissions and some early threads, and think I've realized something.

1. Miranda is/use to be Magical Girl Andromeda and a rival to whoever was the 'MC' back home
2. She was a lot stronger than she is now. Whatever that Finalis Andromeda thing is, she can't do it now (it's not in her movelist). I wonder if hooking her up to the reactor would let her be able to or if it was a phenomenon only available to her in her home dimension?

>>1219109
i don't think so. in one of her blashbacks, she said that her universe was destroyed (and rebooted without her, but i don't quiet remember it); leaving her as the only survivor. the only ones that know about her are the ones that exist in the intersection right now.

You fags are just trying to retroactively justify a short sighted decision. Back when everyone voted to just let her talk her head off and not suckerpunch her no-one justifiied that decision with anything but "delay for evac". The problem isn't that anons are greedy it is that they are stupid.

>>1219041
>it's like asking the engineers of a nuclear reactor to create a conduit that connects directly to the nuclear fuel
No it isn't. Firstly, that would only be a bad idea inasmuch as it would make the cooling system less efficient and crate a gap in the shielding. Secondly, they already said there was a second chamber with an even high mana concentration that they could access just fine.

I like the idea of having a ship drive in our bag of holding.

>>1218920
I guess she is uncrupulous, creative and has a sweet power suit but we have only really seen her in a research role. Also we need to ask how these crystals work. Do the require ambient mana, are they self contained, do they need rare local resources to create. Because without them she is worthless.

>>1219403
To be fair attempting a sucker punch would have been risky considering the situation we were in. Drained of our strength and a new unknown enemy shows up along with reinforcements, delaying conflict until we were picked up was the safest option we had.

And personally, even with all this owlia stuff and the mission strategies the primary thing we should be concerned with should be completing the mission in one piece. But things are getting riskier and that's not helping, so I do admit that I have been voting for safer options on this mission.

Evening, folks. Can run, but it might be short. Still, I want to, so anyone here?

>>1226051
present