>>1659535
>Pip
Afternoon Smiley

>>1659535
>>Pip
Our last infiltration went well enough, hopefully she won't some of her tail this time

>writing

"Pip!" You shout.

Pip's ears perk up, and she turns to you. "What's up?" She asks.
"I've got room for another. Wanna join me?" You ask.

"You sure you can keep that thing upright?" She asks.
"Pretty sure" You say.
"Good enough" She says, hefting a Lance over her shoulder before walking over and getting on behind you.

"You sure that's not too heavy?" You ask.
"I'm stronger than I look" She says.
"Alright..." You say, as you charge the engine and get it started.

The horn blares another 2 times, signalling that it's time to go.

"Hold on to your tail" You say.
"Already wrapped around my waist" She says. "I learned my lesson"

You chuckle, and rev the engine. Looking out the bay door, it seems like 'low enough' is still pretty high...

...

Get yourself together Yuu. This is the easy part. If you have trouble now, you'll be in trouble later.

Altea gives the signal, and you twist the throttle. The Rook speeds toward the exit...

>Roll 1d100 with focus

Rolled 86 (1d100)

>>1659614
Focus

Rolled 62 (1d100)

>>1659614

Rolled 40 (1d100)

>>1659614

Rolled 34 (1d100)

>>1659614

That took a while. Guess it's gonna be a slow night.

>writing

You gun it out the door, trying your best to keep yourself straight as you drop to the ground. You manage, but just barely, slamming down on your front wheel much harder than you'd like.

That also takes away your momentum, causing you to skid out and run to the left. This puts you out of position, and nearly gets you crushed as Betsy comes down behind you.

You can almost hear Meyu cursing from inside...

But despite all of that, you land in one piece, uncrushed, and with a working cart. So you speed off towards the generator.

"Rough landing" Pip says.
"Could've been worse" You reply.
"I'm just glad my tail's still in one piece" She replies, as she points out in front of you with her free hand. "It's thattaway, by the way"

You check behind to make sure everyone is still with you, and then ride off up the street.

As you round the corner to go down a different street, you see that a welcoming party has been prepared.

3 rows of ten automatons are lined up in front of you. Each one has 3 "arms", 1 on the right side holding a shield, and 2 on the left holding a long spear and short sword respectively. They are all clad in black armor, covering some glowy blue thing in their chest...

>Charge through

>Find another way

>Pull back and let the bigger carts charge through

>Other

>>1659767
>>Charge through

>writing

>>1659767

>Charge through

"Ready?" You ask.
"We're goin' in?" Pip asks. "Alright, I can work with that"

You urge the Rook to go a little bit faster, and speed toward the line of automata.

The machines don't even flinch, which is probably one of the advantages to having an army of steel soldiers... Instead they put up their shields, point out their lances, and hold their position.

... suddenly this doesn't seem like such a great plan...

"Keep going. Try to look for a weakness" She says.

You scan the force in front of you, taking in all that you can see, Someone must be maintaining these, because they're all in pretty good shape. But a person is always fallable, and there's bound to be something you can exploit...

There! First row, fourth from the right. Leg armor is missing on the left knee.

You change your heading and move straight towards that one, holding out your hand and firing a Soul Bolt at the unarmored spot.

The Bolt connects, damaging the delicate machinery and causing the automaton to topple over.

"Nice! My turn now" Pip says.

She holds her hand out past your head, firing a beam of light through the chest of the two automaton behind the one you took down, opening a path for you to speed on through.

These machines may be fearless, but they aren't quick. If those were human soldiers you never would have made it through that gap...

> Ask why she couldn't have just shot them in the first place

>Ask where to go next

>Other

>>1659767
>Charge through

>>1659834
> Ask why she couldn't have just shot them in the first place

>>1659834
>>Ask where to go next

>>1659834
>>Ask where to go next

>writing

>>1659834
>Ask where to go next

"You couldn't have lead with that?" You ask.
"Spell shields" She replies. "I needed you to take one in the first row down"
"Could have mentioned that" You say.

"It worked, didn't it?" She asks.

You look back again and see that Meyu just smashed on through like you thought he would, with Derrick pulling his cart through the gap behind Betsy. Meanwhile, Altea and Ava are both flying over... and it looks like Ava decided to take a souvenir, judging by the automaton head she has in her talons...

"Where to now?" You ask.
"Next left" Pip says. "We broke through their initial perimeter, so we're home free for a bit while the auto's set up a back-up"

"Home free until we reach the generator?" You ask.
"If we're fast enough, yeah" Pip says.

>Full speed ahead

>Stick with the others

>other

>>1659892
>Full speed ahead

>>1659892
>>Full speed ahead

>>1659892
>"Then you better hold on tight"
>Full speed ahead

>>1659892
>Full speed ahead

>>1659892
>Stick with the others

>writing

>>1659892
>Full speed ahead
https://soundcloud.com/euggelion-kevin-usmany-eku/gospel-of-the-throttle-remix

"Well then hold on tight" You say, as you push energy into the engine and force the Rook to go faster.

Pip shrieks at the sudden jump in speed, and then starts giggling... it actually sounds like she's enjoying herself back there, which feels weird. You don't think you've ever had a passenger that appreciates the Rook's speed before.

Pip directs you throuh a few more turns, and you pass 2 crews of automatons in the process of setting up another defensive position. Both of them attempt to give chase, and they're actually pretty quick runners... but not quick enough.

"Here! Stop!" Pip shouts.

You turn the Rook and lean into it as you brake, coming to a skidding halt.

"Where?" You ask.
"In there" Pip says, pointing to a rather unassuming door.

"You sure?" You ask. "I figured it'd be... I dunno, grander?"
"Come on, I can get it unlocked" She says, as her tail unwraps from around her waist, smoothly snatching a set of lockpicks off her belt in the process. "It's big on the inside, but the entrances are hidden pretty cleverly"

"How do you know it's this door, then?" You ask.
"I found it the last time I was here" She says, as she gets to work on the door... "There"

Pip quietly opens up the door.

>We should wait for the others.

>Go in

Also

>Ask about the last time she was here

>Ask how she did that so fast

>Other

>>1659959
>Go in
At this point it may be a while until the catch up to us.
>We should go in quietly, no need to alert anyone who might hear us and can talk later.

>>1659959
> Go in

>Ask about Last time she was here

>>1659959
> Go in

>Ask about Last time she was here

>writing

"After you" You say.

Pip smiles and gives you a quick curtsy. "Why thank you" She says, as she heads in.

You follow after her. The hallway is dark, but you can still see well enough.

Pip closes the door but leaves it unlocked, and the two of you move along.

"You don't need a light, do you?" She asks.
"I'm good, do you?" You ask.
"I can see, kinda" She says. "Just let me know if I'm about to trip on something"
"Kay" You reply. "So when was the last time you were here?"

"Last time The Commander was" Pip says. "She was here for some big meeting, and she brought Lulululu and Rhea as her guard. Which meant that Belly and I got the day off. She spent her day doing... I dunno, Centaur stuff. I spent mine going around to all sorts of places where I'm not supposed to be"

"You sure that was a good idea?" You ask. "What if you had gotten caught?"

Pip shrugs. "We'll never know" She says.

You keep going until you reach a second hallway. This one is lit, and there's a pair of automatons patrolling.

"Doesn't look like they've changed their patrols either" She says. "What's the plan?"

>Engage them

>Sneak past

>Why do I have to come up with the plan?

>Other

>>1660011
>Sneak past

>>1660011
>Sneak past

>>1660011
>>Sneak past

>>1660011
>Sneak Past

>writing

"Sneak past 'em" You say. "If we're quick enough, and we get through without being spotted, we might be able to bring down one of the big ones before the others even arrive"

"Alrighty" She says. "Follow my lead, and step light. Auto's only see forward, but their heads can swivel all the way round"
"That's... kinda creepy" You say. "How do we avoid getting seen, then?"

"Don't worry. They only swivel at corners" She says. "As long as we're out of sight when they reach a corner, we're good"

"You can't make us invisible?" You ask.
"Not a chance" She says. "Doing it to two people would eat up all my reserves, and we'd be detected immediately. They can sense magic"
"Gotcha" You say. "Sneakin' in the old fashion way then"

Pip nods, and looks down the hall. "On my mark, we make for that doorway... 3... 2... 1... go"

>Roll 1d100 with focus

Rolled 85 (1d100)

>>1660090
Here goes nothing

Rolled 2 (1d100)

>>1660090

Rolled 25 (1d100)

>>1660090

>>1660090
Focus? Are we doing that thing where it is the last two digits of the post number if you forget to roll?

Rolled 82 (1d100)

>>1660124
Nope, focus is here. I'll just keep doing it after the rolls if I forget.

>writing

File: rngesus.jpg (88 KB, 640x640)

88 KB JPG

>>1660128
>>1660100

Pip slips out of the hallway and silently darts over to the doorway further up, and you follow close behind.

"Not bad" She says. "Now, to the next o-"

She starts to move out, but you grab her arm and pull her back. "Wait" You say.
"Hey, what gives? You're messing up my ti-"

Another pair of automatons passes by the doorway you're standing in.

...

"That's new" She says. "Silly me... they must have upped the patrols with the war and all. We might have to fight our way out"
"We can still handle it" You say.

Pip looks back at you. She seems to notice something, and suddenly gets up on her toes to examine your face very closely.

"Uhh..."
"So that's what the glowy eyes look like" She says. "Never seen 'em up close before"

"Well you're certainly up close..." You say.
"Ah, relax" She says, as she steps down and pats your shoulder. "So, where to?"
"Hold for a second... once those two pass we should be clear..." You say.

>1/2

You continue down the path to the generator, using your eyes to guide you past the increased patrols.

By the time your vision has returned to normal, Pip has gotten comfortable with the pacing of the automatons, and is able to lead the rest of the way.

Eventually, you reach the main generator chamber and take cover behind one of the massive running into the side wall.

"It's enormous" You say.
"Biggest in the country" She replies. "Luckily we don't have to destroy it... in fact, try not to. We just have to sabotage it temporarily to buy us the time we need to bust into the palace"

"So how do we deal with those?" You ask, pointing to the two massive automatons standing guard further in.

"That is another problem altogether" She says. "I was kinda hoping they'd be in alert-stasis... but it looks like they're on guard"

"What can we do?" You ask.

"Well I've still got this" She says, patting the Lance that she's been carrying. "It's good for one, if I'm on target. We've still got the element of surprise, but once we take one out, we have the other to deal with"

You nod and scratch your chin. You can take one out now, which leaves you dealing with the other until the others arrive. Or you can wait... but the others probably won't be able to sneak past the automatons, so it could be a while...

If you engage now, you draw some of the auto's this way, which would give the others an easier time finding you.

With that in mind, you-

>Fight

>Wait

>Other

Rolled 60 (1d100)

>>1660220
>>Fight

>>1660220
>>Fight
FUCK EM UP

>>1660227
fuck forgot to remove the roll

>>1660220
>fight

>>1660220
>Other
Move and fire on the joints of the automaton.

>writing

Rolled 47 (1d100)

"Think you can hit the device that powers the one on the right from here?" You ask.
"I may not look it, but I'm a pretty good shot" She says. "Stand back"

Pip hefts the lance into firing position on her shoulder and steps out of cover, while you take a moment to spot weak points on the giant things.

They're both big and well armored, but they aren't without their faults. The device that powers them is on their back, and it's quite exposed. They each have 4 arms, with a pair of different coloured rings on each one. Those would be the devices that let them use 'magic', but from the looks of it each arm can only cast 2 kinds of spells... it's not much of a limitation, as that's still 7 more types of spells than the average person, but it's something.

As the guardians turn their attention to Pip and begin to raise their arms, she activates the lance with a loud 'bang' and fires its heavy projectile.

It moves fast. Almost too fast for you to see, as it rips straight through the right guardian's chest and out its back, almost completely obliterating the device mounted there. It staggers, teeters, and falls over.

But you have no time to celebrate, as the remaining one begins its assault...

>Roll 1d100 with focus

Rolled 63 (1d100)

>>1660294
Here we go!

Rolled 22 (1d100)

>>1660294

Rolled 23 (1d100)

>>1660294

Rolled 75 (1d100)

>>1660294

>writing

Pip ditches the used Lance, and you both roll out of the way as a gout of flame pours out of the upper left arm of the guardian.

"Okay, now do you have a plan for this one?" Pip asks.
"Workin' on it" You reply.

There are definitely gaps in the armor, but there doesn't seem to be anything underneath them that you can exploit. The knees of the regular automatons are rather flimsy. The knees on these ones are huge.

Big difference...

You'll have to focus on disabling and possibly disarming it. Even though it hasn't drawn any of them yet, there are four very large swords attached to its waist.

...

You're starting to notice a pattern with the things you fight having more arms than you. The Grand Inquisitor had 3, these have 4... you hope this isn't a continuing trend...

The guardian shoots a bolt of darkness into the ground, which then travels as a shadow until it reaches you, where it bursts into sharp tendrils. You quickly draw your blade and cut them off, before rushing forward.

"I'll keep its attention on me, so keep me covered" You call out to Pip.
"I can manage that" She replies.

As you charge in, it launches a rock from one of its lower arms. The rock bounces off a shield provided by Pip, which turns its attention toward her.

Taking advantage of its lapse in concentration, you spin and launch a blade wave at its face. The wave strikes true, knocking its head back and causing it to stagger.

When it rights itself, you see that its head is now damaged. And if you can damage it, you can ki- Why are its eyes turning red?

The giant automaton hums like its powering up, and each of its arms splits into 2, giving it a grand total of 8... one arm keeps the original's devices, while the other pulls out a sword.

...

"Well that's just unfair" You say.

And here you were hoping to fight something with less arms...

That's all for tonight!

Thread will continue tomorrow at around the same time

As always I'll be sticking around for question/suggestion time!

>>1660419
Thanks for running, Smiley!

8 arms now... that's fine. You can still deal with this.

It swings each of its 4 swords in sequence, leaving little to no time with which to set up between strikes... and what little time you do have between frantically dodging is also spent frantically dodging, as the guardian uses its other 4 arms to batter you with all manner of spells.

Pip does her best to help, but she can't actually attack it the way it is. Most of its armor is made up of the same magic negating stuff as the regular automaton shields. She can still use her magic to shield you, which helps a lot. But Pip just isn't a front-line sort of fighter.

After sidestepping and rolling around several sets of attacks, you start to notice a pattern...

You think the whole '8 arms' deal might just be for the intimidation factor. The smaller arms don't seem like they have the strength to use those big swords, so the swings are all very projected and very predictable.

That doesn't mean they aren't dangerous, just that they're easy to dodge.

But the magic is still very much a threat, and there's no way you can keep this up forever...

>Try to damage the armor so Pip can attack

>Go on the offensive

>Hold it off until help arrives

>Other

>>1661691
>>Try to damage the armor so Pip can attack

>>1661691
>Try to damage the armor so Pip can attack

>>1661691
>>Try to damage the armor so Pip can attack

>>1661691
>Try to damage the armor so Pip can attack

>writing

Rolled 40 (1d100)

After watching Pip rip through the automatons on the way here, you think you can place your faith in her magical prowess.

If you can dislodge a piece of its armor, then she can hit it. It doesn't have to kill it, but any damage will make things easier than they are now.

You watch the guardian winding up for its next series of swings and prepare...

One from above, the next will come from the side, and judging by the movements the third will be from below and to your left. On its other arms, the purple and green devices are glowing, which means its next 2 spells will be nature and dark.

You can work with that.

>Roll 1d100 with focus

Rolled 26 (1d100)

>>1661751

Rolled 59 (1d100)

>>1661751

Rolled 25 (1d100)

>>1661751

>writing

Sidestep the overhead, jump over the sideswipe, and now for the underhand...

You hold your blade low and put all your concentration into keeping the blade solid, blocking the hit and letting the guardian's momentum carry you upwards.

You twist and position yourself in midair, changing your blade's form into a hook as you come back down. You land on its shoulder, dig the hook underneath its shoulder armor, and pull up with your legs.

Just as you feel whatever is keeping it in place start to buckle, one of its free hands grabs you and throws you like a ragdoll into the far wall.

You hit the wall hard, and crumple to the floor.

Through your pain, you look out at the guardian. When it pried you off, you took the armor piece with you, leaving its shoulder vulnerable.

"Oh, shit! You good, man?" Pip asks, as she shakes your shoulder. "Say something. I can't have you dyin' on me"
"Not dead" You reply.

Pip helps you up, and you stagger about for a moment. The guardian begins to approach.

"We should go. You've done good, but this may be too much..." Pip says. You think you can see fear in her eyes...

>Retreat for now

>Keep fighting

>Other

>>1661844
>>Keep fighting
This is no time to be mousy Pip

>Keep fighting

>writing

"Come on, Pip. Now's not the time to get mousy" You say with a smile. "I knocked off that piece of armor for a reason. You should be able to cripple those arms now"

"Yuu! Come on, you're hurt" She says.
"I'm fine" You reply. "And if I'm not, then the sooner we finish this up, the sooner Emi can patch me up"
"Your cavalier attitude is not appreciated" Pip says.

"I didn't ask you to appreciate my attitude, I asked you to cripple that arm" You say, as you look around for your mageblade. "We can do this"

"Alright... but if you die, I take no responsibility" She says.
"If I die, it'll be my own fault" You say. "Now let's go"

You clap Pip on the arm and start heading back to the guardian.

First order of business will be to retrieve your blade from where it fell when you were thrown. You do have one in your pocket, but you like the one you were using better...

Second will be to get it to turn its vulnerable shoulder towards Pip. If she can hit it, she can reduce its arm-advantage.

You also have a big chunk of armor laying on the ground that you can use as cover, which is something you'll need to keep in mind...

You take a breath, and dash towards your blade...

>roll 1d100 with focus

Rolled 38 (1d100)

>>1661906

Rolled 2 (1d100)

>>1661906

Rolled 9 (1d100)

>>1661906

Rip

Rolled 80 (1d100)

>>1661906

>>1661913
>>1661910
>>1661914
Well lets hope that the Focus roll matches one of these then

Rolled 39 (1d100)

And focus

>writing

File: RadicalDude.png (376 KB, 440x478)

376 KB PNG

>>1661920
>>1661910

>>1661920
Literally saved us

>>1661913
please stop rolling man

File: 1343369525583.png (140 KB, 553x350)

140 KB PNG

>>1661920

When you're about a third of the way to your blade, you start to see a problem.

It's going to beat you there.

You're going to need to use lefty.

...

That's what the other blade is called now. Lefty. You haven't decided on a name for the other... maybe Righty.

...

Now's probably not the time to be naming your swords.

You meet the guardian when you're still several feet from your other sword. If you want it, you'll need to get by this oversized hunk of junk.

Bringing Lefty up to parry the first of its heavy swings, letting the blade crash into the ground beside you. Then you kick off of it to the side and form your blade into a hook, digging it into the ground and using it to pull yourself forward and through the guardian's legs.

On its other side you roll and grab your other blade, gripping it tightly and activating it.

The guardian turns quickly, making sure it keeps the mana device on its back out of range of both you and Pip... but in doing so, it exposes its vulnerable shoulder to your mousy companion.

About a hundred fist sized specks of light form around the guardian's shoulder, and all at once they crash inward. You wanted her to damage it and she did you one better, completely obliterating its upper right shoulder. The pair of arms attached to it clatter to the ground...

You've got a slight advantage now, but how to press it...

>Grab a piece of discarded armor and use it as a shield

>Pull off some more pieces for Pip to obliterate

>Keep tearing it apart from the damaged shoulder

>Other

>>1661976
>Keep tearing it apart from the damaged shoulder

>>1661976
>>Keep tearing it apart from the damaged shoulder

>>1661976
>>Pull off some more pieces for Pip to obliterate

>>1661976
>Keep tearing it apart from the damaged shoulder

>writing

"Alright, big guy" You say. "4 more to go, and it'll be even"

The guardian, seeing that you're not going to back down to intimidation, links its remaining top arms into one arm to give it the strength to swing its sword more easily.

You guess it's only 3 arms remaining now. That makes things a bit easier.

The combined arm has a much faster swing, making it more difficult to predict where it'll go. But you can immediately see that it has a 'blind spot' on its damaged side.

Despite its coordinated arms, its footwork is terrible. As such it has trouble turning to actually strike you. The other upside of this is that it gives you free reign to bombard its damaged socket.

The downside is that you have to keep it turning, making it difficult for Pip to hit it.

The metal underneath the shoulder is pretty tough, and you're having trouble breaking into it with your bolts and waves...

>Go in with your blade

>Try to make something up that can damage it

>Other

>>1662074
>>Try to make something up that can damage it

>>1662074
>>Try to make something up that can damage it

>>1662074
>>Try to make something up that can damage it

>writing

After a few more shots ping uselessly off the shoulder socket, you figure you have to change things up somehow.

Going in with you blade again is just asking to get tossed into the wall again. That was unpleasant the first time. You don't want to repeat the experience.

With that option off the table, you'll have to come up with something new. You keep adding new spells to your repertoire... whatever that actually means. Now seems like a good time to come up with something new.

Well... not new. You don't have time for that. But you could build off of something you know...

>Sharpened soul bolts

>Exploding soul waves

>Piercing blade waves

>Other

>>1662141
>>Sharpened soul bolts
piercing damage hhhhoooo

>>1662141
If you can made the wave explode inwards like an RPG then
>Exploding soul waves

If not
>Sharpened soul bolts

>>1662141
>Exploding soul waves
This seems more generally useful too.

>>1662141
>Sharpened soul bolts

>>1662141
>>Other
Imploding Soul Bolts

>writing

Rolled 81 (1d100)

How about something you've tried before?

Focus it in... you got really close to this last time, all you needed was a little more. Just like your mageblade, you focus the tip inward. Once you're satisfied, you launch it.

The bolt slams into the open shoulder and sticks there... does that mean it worked?

You launch a few more into around the same area, and they all stick just the same. It doesn't seem to be doing much damage to it, though...

Until its lower right arms power down, hanging uselessly at its side. The bolts must have hit something critical, cutting off an energy line or something.

Either way, you've got a nice big opening. Time to go on the offensive.

>Roll 1d100 with focus

Rolled 13 (1d100)

>>1662209

Rolled 48 (1d100)

>>1662209

Rolled 4 (1d100)

>>1662209

okay what is up with all these low rolls tonight, i can understand dice not giving us success some of the time, but Jesus these rolls are so low so often that it ain't funny

>writing

So apparently I'm the only one here who can roll well...

>>1662233
do you wanna call it a night after this and see if we get any better next session, or at least have some time to calm down from theses rolls?

>>1662267
This is gonna be the last post of the night, yeah. Not because of the rolls, but because I have terrible sleeping habits.

>>1662274
this keeps up next session, you might have to pull something out of your ass to save us

You rush in and leap forward, looking to take off the guardian's head this time. That won't kill it, but it will blind it.

The guardian... doesn't move.

...

It's not dead, is it? The device is not damaged, so it can't be over. In fact, it looks like it's using more energy than before...

"Yuu! Get out of there!" Pip shouts.

The guardian drops its sword and reaches for you. Noticing that something is wrong, you kick off of it and hop back to get some distance.

You didn't notice it up close, but there's a noticeable glow coming from within the automaton. Like it's... like it's self destructing.

It turns and limps toward you, the soul bolts in its arm having cut off some of the flow to its leg. It seems determined to take you with it.

...

This could be bad.

Don't panic, Yuu. You still have options here.

If you can make it to her, Pip could shield both of you from the blast. Your other choice is to run toward the generator and hope that the guardian won't self destruct if it's too close to the thing its guarding.

You could also try to destroy its power source and stop the explosion all together. Either way, you need to act fast.

>Run to Pip

>Run to the Generator

>Kill it

>Other

>>1662313
>Run to Pip

>>1662313
>>Run to Pip

>>1662313
>>Run to Pip

>writing

Trying to defeat it, while it would look bad ass, is a bad idea. Running to Pip is a good idea.

So you get moving, firing a pair of soul spikes- that's what they're called now -into the guardian's knee as you run past.

You hear the guardian fall to the ground behind you as you run, but you decide not to take the time to check back.

Now that you're not outrunning the automaton, all you need to do is outrun the explosion it's about to create.

"Pip! We need a shield!" You shout.
"Workin' on it!" She shouts back.

You make it to the wall behind her, and she puts up a light screen just in time.

The explosion goes off, and what you were expecting to be a single, loud 'bang' turns out to be more of a heavy, sustained 'boom'.

"Why isn't it stopping?" You ask.
"It's burning its reserves" Pip says.
"Will the shield hold?"

Pip looks up, as cracks begin to appear in her light screen and the glowing in her hands starts to flicker.

"I... don't think you want me to answer that" She says.

You look around for a way out. The hallway you came in through is behind you, just a few feet outside of the screen's protection. But if you remember right, there's cover back there.

As the screen cracks a little more, you realize that you have another choice to make...

>Stay here, hope the screen holds long enough

>Grab Pip and make for the hallway

>Other

>>1662391
>>Grab Pip and make for the hallway

>>1662391
>>Grab Pip and make for the hallway

>>1662391
>>Stay here, hope the screen holds long enough
i just have to be contrarian.

>>1662391
>>Grab Pip and make for the hallway
Now would be a good time to make like mice and scram Pip

>writing

You grab Pip by the arm and pull her into you, shielding her with your back as you bound toward the hallway.

You feel your back burning as you run, and when you make it to the hallway, you swing Pip into cover. But before you can get behind it yourself, the explosion gives one final burst before dying down.

The sudden force throws you about ten feet forward, and the landing is anything but pleasant.

As you lay on the ground, you feel something hitting your head. Grunting, you look up to see Coral as she rams you right in the forehead. She looks concerned.

"Hey there" You say, letting out an involuntary groan as you sit up.

Coral looks relieved.

You look back to see Pip crawling out of the doorway you threw her into. She looks relieved too.

"Oh thank the gods, you're alive" She says.
"Mostly" you say. "I feel like I've been hit by a truck..."
"What's a truck?" Pip asks.
"No idea" You reply. "That went well"

"No it didn't" She says.
"You're right... but we did finish the mission" You say.
"Generator successfully sabotaged?" She asks.

You point behind you to a pair of inactive automatons. "Thoroughly" You say.
"Good-" Pip says, breathing out as she stands up. "-we can link up with the others now. They should be here soon. Then we go to the carts, and then to the palace"

Pip offers you a hand up.

"Never a dull moment around you, Yuusky" She says. "But that was dumb"
"Dumb works sometimes" You say, as you accept her hand and get to your feet.

"You're also gonna need a new shirt" She says.
"Whaaat? I like this shirt" You reply.

Pip lightly grabs your collar between her finger and thumb, and... pulls your shirt right off the front. The back was completely destroyed...

"I... liked that shirt..." You say.
Pip gives you an arm to support you. "Come on, big guy. Let's get you some medical attention"
"Medical attention sounds good"

That's all for tonight!

Next thread will be tomorrow evening, starting at around the same time

As always I'll be sticking around for question/suggestion time

>>1662466
Thanks for the thread!

>>1662466
Thanks for running Smiley

You and Pip walk back through the way you came in, stepping over all the downed automatons as you go.

Now that the adrenaline is wearing off, you're starting to feel the actual pain from your injuries. They hurt. A lot.

But you keep moving. With Pip on one side helping to keep you up, and Coral on the other trying to do the same, but you don't have the heart to tell her she isn't helping all that much because she's just so damned cute when she's determined.

"I hear footsteps" Pip says.
"How many?" You ask.
"A bunch. Hard to tell. My ears are still ringing" She says.

"Think it's them?" You ask.
"You're askin' the wrong girl" She says.

But Pip is the onl- oh. "Hey Coral" You say.

Coral gives up the strain of trying to hold you up and flies out.

"Where's Altea?" You ask.

Coral looks around, flies forward to the next corner, and points down the hallway.

...

"It's them" You say. "Good job, Coral"

Coral smiles and does a quick loop the loop, before flying back to you.

"Is Emi there too?" You ask.
Coral nods.
"Even better" You reply.

When you finally round the corner, you see the others. The first thing you say is-

>I require medical assisstance

>Somebody blew up the generator

>Took you guys long enough

>Other

>>1663816
>Took you guys long enough

>>1663816
>>Somebody blew up the generator
But it wasn't me!
>I require medical assisstance

>>1663816
>Somebody blew up the generator
>I require medical assisstance

>>1663816
>>Somebody blew up the generator

>>Took you guys long enough

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ02zSgmPxs

>>1663816
>Somebody blew up the generator
>I require medical assisstance

>writing

Rolled 28, 81, 52, 71, 17 = 249 (5d100)

also, purging bad rolls, poi~

>>1663906
You mean wasting good rolls. That'd have been a 81 and a 71 if they came one at at time for a pair of roll prompts.

"I don't want to alarm you guys, but I think someone's sabotaged the generator" You say. "I'd just like to pre-empt the finger pointing and say that it wasn't me"

Altea raises an eyebrow. "Well if it wasn't you..." She says.
"It wasn't me either" Pip says.

...

"Then who sabotaged it?" Altea asks.

"The guardian self destructed" Pip says. "Which is why Yuu here needs a healer"
"Where is his shirt?" Altea asks.

"Burned off" You reply. "My back probably doesn't look so good right now"

Emi sighs and slithers up. "Alright, let's take a look..." She says.
"I'm also going to need a new shirt" You say.

"Your stuff's still in the cart" Derrick says.
"How in the hell did the two of you manage to take down the guardians?" Meyu asks.

>Pip did most of the work

>The trick is to take off some of its arms

>Desperately

>Other

>>1663963
>>Pip did most of the work

>>The trick is to take off some of its arms

>>1663963

>Pip did most of the work

>>1663963
>>Pip did most of the work

>writing

>>1663963
>>The trick is to take off some of its arms

"Pip did most of the work" You say. "With the lance and the magic. I just ripped some armor off so she could get in"

"You... ripped its armor off?" Mey asks.
"Off its shoulder" You say. "You see, the trick is to reduce the number of arms it has. Then it was easy peasy"
"No it wasn't" Pip says.

"Yeah, it wasn't" You say. "But it was still 2 less arms to deal with"
"And then it self destructed" Pip says.
"That too" You reply.

"That explains the shrapnel..." Emi says.
"There's shrap-ow!" You say.

Emi pats you on the shoulder. "There's shrapnel" She says.

You feel the familiar coolness of Emi's healing water on your back as she really gets to work.

"So that's phase one" Altea says. "For phase two, let's try to stick together, please?"
"Sorry" You say. "We wanted to reach the generator before the automatons managed to regroup and set up a new blockade"

"It all worked out in the end... but we will be talking about this aftereward" Altea says. "Once you're healed, we'll get moving"

>Do we have to talk about it?

>How far to the Palace?

>I'd say this went pretty well

>Other

>>1664094
>>Do we have to talk about it?

>>1664094
>>Do we have to talk about it?

>>I'd say this went pretty well

>>1664094
>Do we have to talk about it?
Everyone else Yuu know has already given him the talk about being stupidly regarding reckless, guess it's his new Mom's turn

>>1664094
>Do we have to talk about it?
>I'd say this went pretty well

>>1664094
>Do we have to talk about it?

>How far to the Palace?

>>1664121
>regarding
Where did this come from phone?

>writing

"Do we have to talk about it?" You ask. "I've gotten the whole 'you're too reckless' talk before"

Altea steps up and gets uncomfortably close.

"Well it clearly hasn't sunk in. So we're going to have it. Again. And again. Until it does" She says. "Understood?"

"Y-yes" You say.
"Yes, what?" She asks.
"Yes Comomder" You say.

Altea sighs and steps back. "Why do you keep calling me that?" She asks.
"Because you're my commander, but you're also my mom" You reply. "Comomder"

Altea raises an eyebrow.

"I can stop, if you want" You say.
"No, it's fine" She says.

"Aaaand, done" Emi says. "Move your shoulders and back, make sure everything feels okay"

You flex your shoulders and bend your back. "Everything is where it should be" You say. "You're the best, Emi"
Emi giggles, and pats your now healed back.

"If you're fine now, we can go" Altea says. "With the automata offline, we should be able to get to the palace with little resistance. But little doesn't mean none"
"Yeah, let's get moving"

>1/2

You walk out to the carts, where Marybell and Madelaine are waiting for you.

"Hey Yu-... why aren't you wearing a shirt?" Madelaine asks.
"Explosion" You say. "Blew off most of my clothes"

"And a decent portion of the flesh on his back..." Emi says.
"But also my clothes" You say.

Derrick pulls your bag out of the storage compartment and tosses it to you. You catch it and open it up, rummaging around for a shirt. After a few seconds of searching, you find the red shirt you were looking for.

"The guild shirt?" Altea asks.
"Yeah" You reply with a smile. "I like this shirt. It's the first piece of real clothing I ever got"

Altea nods. Like she's making a mental note of that.

"Alright guys, to the carts, there's still work to do" Meyu says, before turning to you. "And this time, stay behind the armored cart. It makes things easier"

You shrug and head over to the Rook.

>Do you take another passenger this time?

>>1664238
>Marybell
Just for the hilarity of it.

>>1664238
>Ask Altea if she wants to go with.

>>1664238
I say we stick with Pip, she actually seemed to like riding with us.

>>1664238
Lets just keep riding with Pip

>writing

"So, anyone else want to ride with me?" You ask. "Marybell? You look like you might be tired from all the walking"

Marybell gives you an incredulous look. "And where would you sit?" She asks.

"I dunno... I could squeeze forward a bit" You say.

Marybell shakes her head and turns to walk away. You can see her shoulders rocking, like she's stifling a laugh.

"How about you, Comomder?" You ask.
"No offense, Yuu. But I am not getting on that" She says.
"Why not?" You ask.
"It's an experimental vehicle" She says. "Maybe when you know a little bit more about it. Then you can take me for a ride"

"Okay..." You say, looking around. "Ava?"

Ava squawks.

"I'll take that as a no" You say.

Pip giggles as she walks over to you. "I'm happy to be a passenger again" She says. "It's a fun ride"
"Finally, someone who appreciates my Rook" You say. "Shall we?"

Pip nods, and the two of you mount up.

As the carts start moving, you find yourself getting bored... Betsy moves way too slow, and there aren't any more automata left to make things interesting...

That just leaves your passenger...

>Anything you want to talk to Pip about?

>>1664312
Talk about her magic, maybe you could learn a trick for the future.

>>1664312
Time to discuss Derick with Pip

>>1664317
I also vote for this

>>1664312
>>1664317
We could see if she could give us tips on a defensive spell so we don't die as often.

>>1664335
That's really what i was going for, having a shield spell of some kind would be mighty useful considering our nature.

>writing

"So how did you do that spell... Light Screen was it?" You ask.
"Thinkin' you need a shield?" She asks.
"It would be handy if I could do that sort of thing for myself" You say. "I won't always have you backing me up"
"I'll see if I can show you how after this" She says. "It's not a hard cast, especially since your spells seem to be all about shaping"
"You can't show me now?" You ask.
"Focus on the mission, Yuusky" She says. "Once the mission is done, then I can show you"

"Cool... so like, right after the mission is done?" You ask. "Like 'yay, we got the king and the country is ours! Now show me how to cast that thing'."

Pip giggles. "If you want" She says.

"So which building is the Palace?" You ask.
"Take a guess" She replies.

You look around you. The buildings here are all so tall, but there is one that is much larger and taller than the rest...

"Is it that one?" You ask.
"It's that one" She says.
"Why is it so much bigger than all the others?" You ask.
"I hear there's a law against building something bigger than the palace" Pip says.

>Really?

>Sounds like they get a lot done around here...

>Why is everything else so big?

>Other

>>1664401
>>Why is everything else so big?

>>1664401
>Why is everything else so big?

>>1664401
>What happens if we level the palace and it becomes shorter than everything else?

>>1664401
>Why is everything else so big?

Mention the phalic contest in the city with the huge towers

>>1664428
This

>writing

"So what happens if something in there explodes, and the palace ends up being smaller?" You ask. "Do they have to make all the other buildings smaller?"

Pip giggles. "Nah, I think they just rebuild the broken pieces" She says.
"Oh..." You say. "Why is everything here so big, anyway?"

"Generator's barrier only goes so far. They don't build outside its range, but lots and lots of people want to live here" She says. "When they ran outta space to build out, they started building up"

"That makes sense" You say. "Is that why there are a bunch of tall-ish buildings in Locke, too?"
"Nah, that's all financial stuff" She says. "It's cheaper to buy a little bit of land and build a home that you can rent out to 5 or 6 families than it is to buy a lot of land and build 5 or 6 homes"

"Also makes sense" You say. "Still, it's pretty impressive how... white... everything is"

"They keep the place shiny" Pip says. "Leon is a very strange city"
"Automaton guards, big, squeaky clean buildings... you can say that again" You say.

"Some people like it" Pip says.

>I kinda do

>I don't

>How do they clean all these buildings?

>Other

>>1664504
>>How do they clean all these buildings?

>>1664504
>I don't

>>1664504
>>How do they clean all these buildings?

>>1664504
>I don't

>How do they clean all these buildings?

>writing

"How do they clean all these buildings?" You ask.
"I think they have a bunch of little airships- well, airboats is a better term -with little water devices on them" She says. "They fly around and wash the buildings off every now and then. They're actually pretty neat"

"Sounds like a big waste of a perfectly good airboat" You say.
"There's not much else you can use 'em for" Pip says.

"I dunno, they look like they could be used to chase down invaders" You say.
"What makes you say that?" She asks.

"Because I can see a bunch of them coming toward us" You say.

Pip looks up. "Well shit" She says. "What are we gonna do about that?"

>Flag down Altea

>Pull up next to Meyu

>Other

>>1664584
>>1664584
>Flag down Altea

Ask Pip if we have something that reach that far

>>1664584

>Flag down Altea

>>1664584
>>Pull up next to Meyu
"Hey, what do you know about airboats?"

>>1664584
>>Flag down Altea

>>1664584
>Flag down Altea

>writing

"Doesn't look like the others have noticed them" You say.
"To be fair, you only noticed them because you have really good eyes" She says.

You hold out your hand and fire a Soul Bolt over Betsy, but under Altea. Altea swerves and looks back down at you, and you point up to the airboats.

Altea then flies in front of Betsy, bringing their attention to the oncoming defenders, and you all stop.

"I didn't think those had a military purpose" Meyu says.
"They're probably the Royal Guard. They requisition supplies and the like whenever there's a crisis" Derrick says.

"Is there a crisis?" You ask.
"Well, the generator is busted and the city's legion of automatons is offline" Derrick says. "So... yeah"
"Oh yeah..." You say. "Can we ask them nicely to go away?"

"I don't think that'll work..." Meyu says.
"We could try" You reply. "Send them a message... but not with Coral"

"Any real options?" Altea asks.
"Charge through" Derrick says. "Those things are maneuverable, but if we push the carts we should be able to outrun them. We'll just have to keep moving, put up defensive spells, and we'll beat them to the palace"

"Or, we find a good defensive position and bait them in" Meyu says. "Show these pups what a real fight is"

Both good options, but...

>Offer to draw them away

>Go with Derrick's plan

>Go with Meyu's plan

>Other

>>1664667
>>Offer to draw them away

>>1664667
>Offer to draw them away

>>1664667
>Offer to draw them away
Time for more stupidly reckless actions

>>1664667
>Offer to draw them away

I made it!

>>1664667
>Go with Derrick's plan

>writing

>>1664667
>>Go with Meyu's plan

>>1664667
Man this is a difficult choice

>Offer to draw them away
Every one of them we kill weakens us when it comes time to resisting the legion. Not to mention that their ranks are bloated with noble's kids.

Alternatively,

>>Go with Meyu's plan
We have time since the generator is blown. It would be awkward to get to the palace and get pinched in between it's defenders and these guys.

"We shouldn't be killing them" You say. "We may need them later"

"So we make a rush for the Palace?" Derrick asks.
"You guys make a turn and go the long way. I'll draw them away from you and meet you at the Palace after I lose them" You say.

"What if they catch you?" Altea asks.
"If they can't catch your carts, they'll never keep up with the Rook" You say. "Plus I've got Pip here, so at least one of us knows what they're doing"

Derrick and Meyu look to Altea, who is silent for a moment...

"Alright" She says. "No risks. No fighting. You get them to follow you. You lose them. And then you come straight to the palace"

You nod. "Got it. The sooner this is over with, the sooner Pip can show me how to make a shield" You say

Everyone gives you a weird look.

"Well if that's what motivates you..." Meyu says.

"Right then. Pip, you know your way around. Make sure he doesn't get lost" Altea says.
"Yes Commander" Pip says.
"Everyone else, get moving!" Altea says.

The other carts start up slowly. You hit the throttle and blow past them, your engine roaring as you speed toward the Palace...

"Alright guys... let's play"

That's all for tonight!

Next thread will be tomorrow, and I may be able to run a long one on Sunday so I can wrap this arc up, as I'd like to finish it before I leave. After that I'll have to start prepping for my flight out, so I don't see myself having all that much free time.

As always I'll be sticking around for question/suggestion time

>>1664799
thanks smiley

>>1664799
Thanks for running

>>1664799
Thanks for Running Smiley

>>1664799
Thanks for the thread!

>>1664851
By the way, the game you're playing is Cat and Mouse. Which is something I should've come up with 10 minutes ago.

>>1664865
There better be at least 1 (one) Felinid in those boats.

>>1664895
Plot twist: they're all Felids. Every last one. When they catch us we'll have to scritch them all into submission.

Rolled 23 (1d100)

The others split off from you at the first corner, and you keep heading straight toward your target.

"If they shoot anything, can you shield us?" You ask.
"Yeah, I've got some juice left" She says.

...

"How much juice is 'some'?" You ask.
"Enough" She replies. "Holding up that screen earlier was taxing, but my reserves go pretty deep"
"How deep is pretty deep?" You ask.
"Just focus on the road, YuYu. Let me worry about the mana" She says.

Suddenly feeling slightly worse about your chances, you urge the Rook forward.

As you get closer, you get a better look at the people on the boats. All of them have the same fancy uniform, and most of them are holding melee weapons with the exception of 3 of them. So 3 out of the roughly 20 boats will be firing non-magical projectiles.

A few of them start to dive toward you. All of the divers have long weapons, like lances and pikes. The rest take aim with either weapon or spell...

You duck low and hold course.

>Roll 1d100 with focus

>Note that if this or any future roll during this chase fails, Pip will use her shield to negate the failure. She only has the mana to use it once, and doing so will mean she can no longer cast spells during the invasion. Roll well.

Rolled 91 (1d100)

>>1667049

Rolled 30 (1d100)

>>1667049
Evening Smiley

Rolled 57 (1d100)

>>1667049

>>1667067
>Low roll that's just high enough to miss the focus.

Evening man. Is your luck always this bad?

>writing

>>1667103
My poor rolls are a running joke across multiple quests

>>1667134
Get new dice.

"Time to give 'em the old razzle dazzle" You say.
"The what?" Pip asks.

"This!" You say as you brake hard and swerve, causing everything that was just aimed at you to hit the empty space that you were about to occupy.

You then smoothly and quickly return to your full speed, veering all over the road to make yourself a hard target.

Of the charging boats, only one manages to stay on your tail. But as you expected, you vastly outpace them. The lancer on the boat quickly gives up the chase and starts climbing back up to where his friends are.

"Turn here!" Pip calls out. "Now that they're all after us, we wanna lead them away from the palace so they others can get in"

You nod, making a hard turn and letting the wheel skid out behind you as you align yourself with the new street and hit the throttle.

The first thing you notice about this new street is that it's much more crowded than the last. It appears to be a market street of some sort...

Why the hell are all of these people still out here? Don't they know they're being invaded? Did they not se the airship almost crash through the barrier?

For the most part, they're all quick enough to get out of your way... but it still slows you down a little. Which you guess is fine. You can't lose your pursuers just yet if you want to lead them away, and your lead is pretty big since they all had to turn around.

But still...

"When can we turn off this road?" You ask, trying to avoid the stares of the people around you.
"Next right" Pip says.

You search the right side of the street... the next right is not exactly close.

When you look back at the road, you're struck by a sudden panic.

Small child. Directly ahead. Not getting out of the way. Very little room to get around. Time to stop, but not much.

>Brake

>Swerve

>Plow through

>Other

>>1667187
>Brake

>>1667187
>>Brake

>>1667187
Oh my god why would you even include that third option
>Slow down and Swerve

>>1667187
>>Other
Use soul to make the bike jump!

>>1667200
switchin to >Slow down and Swerve

>>1667187
>Swerve and grab child out of way, tell them we are professionals.

>writing

You hit the brakes and swerve to the side, narrowly missing both the child and another person...

You come to a stop just behind the child, and get off the Rook.

"What are you doing?" Pip asks in a harsh whisper.
"One second" You say, as you pick up the child and hold it over your head. "Whose kid is this?"

Someone comes out of the crowd and takes the child from you, and for the first time you get a good look at it. It's a she, you can tell that from the ears: cat like, but fuzzier than Ilica's or Katherine's. The tail is different too, having only short hair up until the tip.

"You guys should all get inside. The city is being invaded" You call out.
"Invaded... by who?" Someone asks.

You get back on the Rook and rev up the engine, turning to the crowd with a smile. "Me" You say, before speeding off.

"That was unnecessary" Pip says.

>You're right

>We're the good guys...

>It was bad ass

>Other

>>1667276
>>It was bad ass

>>1667276
>>We're the good guys...
>It was bad ass

>>1667276
>>We're the good guys...

>>1667276
>You're right
But
>It was bad ass

>writing

"You're right... but it was bad ass" You say. "I mean, come on. That whole thing about us invading?"

"You let the Royal Guard gain on us just for some one-liner?" Pip asks.
"No" You say. "We're the good guys, remember? We do things like making sure kids get back to their parents, and limiting collateral damage..."

"I guess that's right" She says. "This'll reflect well after everything is done. They'll be tellin' stories about how you stopped mid chase to hand a child back to their parents"
"Truly the hero Leon needs" You say.

"Oh, shut up" She says. "Turn"

You brake and skid through the next corner, going down a street... well, more of an alley. Either way it's less crowded.

"Why are we going this way?" You ask.

"Boats won't fit down here" Pip says. "They'll likely have a few overhead to keep track of us, and send the rest to block our possible exits"

"So... we're gonna have to break through them again?" You ask.
"I know a secret way through here" She says. "Trust me"

>... do I have to?

>Lead the way

>I think I'll take my chances...

>Other

>>1667345
>Lead the way

>>1667345
>>Lead the way

>>1667345

>Lead the way

>writing

A part of that sentence bothers you, but you know that Pip is reliable...

"Lead the way" You say.
"Keep going straight" She says.
"... there's a wall there" You reply.
"I'm aware" She says. "Keep going straight"

You look closer at the wall ahead and see a seam of some sort. It looks like some kind of entrance, just big enough to fit the Rook...

"You may also wanna slow down a bit" She says. "It's been a while since I've opened this thing"

Pip holds out her hand, and a very thin, almost invisible beam of light comes out of it, shining into a little node on the wall ahead.

The wall opens upward and you go right in, stopping on the other side.

"Secret hideout?" You ask.
"My mum made it" Pip says. "I used to use it when I was little. This was where Altea found me after I nabbed her purse"

"I remember that story" You say. "How'd she get in?"
"I forgot to close the door" She says, as she shuts the door.

>Can they get in?

>What was your mom like?

>Is there another way out?

>Other

>>1667446
>>Can they get in?
>Is there another way out?

>>1667446
>Can they get in?
>Is there another way out

>>1667446
>Is there another way out?
>We need to get to palace after we lose them.

>writing

"Can they get in?" You ask.
"If they can find the entrance, yeah" Pip says. "Safe to say that once they realize what happened, they'll be scouring this place. And if they saw us go in, then they'll find it in no time... so R.I.P. My old hideaway..."

"Is there another way out?" You ask.
"Yyyup" Pip says., as she feels around on the ground. "You might not like it"

She finally finds what she was looking for, and pulls up on a spot in the ground. The piece of ground comes away, revealing a tunnel with a ladder leading down...

"Why won't I like it?" You ask.
"Wait for it" She replies.

...

"Ah! Holy crap what is that?!?" You ask.
"That would be the sewer stench" She says. "Really clears the sinuses, whether you want it to or not"
"You want to go down there?" You ask, as you cover your nose.
"Quickest, safest way to the palace from here" She says.

You look down the hole... if she's right, then you could easily go meet up with the others. But that smell...

>Got any noseplugs?

>I'm not going down there

>Alright... Let's go

>Other

>>1667546
>Other
Hideout is wasted anyway, let's just blow a hole in the opposite wall. We don't want to show up to final fight smelling like crap.

>>1667546
>>Alright... Let's go

>writing

"Well if we've gotta get dirty..." You say. "Can't we just... blow a hole in the far wall?"
"You got a spell that can do that?" You ask.

"I can come up with one" You say.
"Well do it fast, 'cause I don't have the juice to manage something like that" She says. "In the meantime, you can put this on"

Pip tosses you a heavy coat of some sort.

"What's this?" You ask.
"Herb lined coat" She says. "Nothin' better for keepin' the smell off ya. We'll get out of there smelling as fresh as roses"

"It works that well?" You ask.
"Tested by Lulululu" Pip says. "She could still smell it, sure. But she's a wolf. Smelling is their thing"
"A-alright... I guess" You say, as you put the coat on. "What about the Rook?"

"Hide it behind there" Pip says, pointing to a spot in the wall where there's a seam similar to the entrance. "It opens from the bottom"

You open up the hiding spot, slide the Rook in, and shut it.

"Ready to go?" She asks.
"Maybe" You say.
"Put your hood up, and pull the collar in close" She says. "It'll keep the smell out of your hair"
"Got it" You reply.

Pip gets you to go down first, so she can shut the entrance behind her.

The smell gets worse as you go down, to the point where you think you might vomit...

>Bear with it

>Use the clamp on your mageblade as a noseplug

>Find some way to distract yourself from the stench

>Other

>>1667639
>>Find some way to distract yourself from the stench

>>1667639
>>Find some way to distract yourself from the stench

>>1667639
>>Use the clamp on your mageblade as a noseplug
What could go wrong?!

>writing

You check around, eventually looking inside your coat for Coral.

"Hey there" You say.

Coral smiles and waves.

"The smell buggin' you too?" You ask.

Coral shakes her head.

...

"Can you even smell?" You ask.

Coral shakes her head.

"I envy you right now..." You say, as you scratch her head.

Pip hops the rest of the way down the ladder. "Set to go?" She asks. Her voice sounds weird...

...

She has a nose plug.

"Hey..." You say.
"Don't 'hey' me. My nose is way more sensitive than yours" She says.

You puff out your cheeks, turning away from Pip in an attempt to look cross. You then feel something pinching your nose.

"Aaaand there's one for you too" She says.
"Well why didn't you say so earlier?" You ask, your voice now sounding weird as well... you wonder why it does that.

Pip shrugs. "I dunno. My idea of a prank, I guess" She says.
"Very funny..." You say, as you look down at Coral.

Coral is silently laughing.

"And what do you find so funny?" You ask.

Coral laughs even harder, pointing to her throat.

"My voice?" You ask.

Coral nods.

"Okay... I'll give you that" You say. "But I'd rather sound weird than have to smell right now"

Pip laughs at the two of you. "Come on, you two. We've got some ground to cover still" She says.

>1/2