Previous Thread:http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/4187078/Archive:http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Joker%20QuestEquipment FAQ:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XZoasAJ2SHlGrFxo8tQUSdkqFiVJUIvd7Q4BukiJWUs/edit?usp=sharingPlayer List:http://pastebin.com/rRSM6LgWEpisode Guide (All credit to Watashiwa & an unknown Anon):http://pastebin.com/xuZNynTMYui IF scene (Adult content):http://pastebin.com/8CSEVSXBTwitter: https://twitter.com/JokerQuestOP Recap: Four days remain.
>>6284267HOLLOW SUN:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jva4n-Ps2mQ-cTacX0Mkqqf1wWm_iOv1ttIxTIvBut0/edit?usp=sharing ENERGY: 80%TACHYON CONDENSER CELL: 120% (MEGAPROJECTS ONLY)----------------------Before you, the Hollow Sun's light illuminates the world. The vast, fluctuating sphere of light – dancing, spinning, whirling – that is the Sun's heart and mind at all once, yet not quite either of those things, seems to pulse as you draw close; A thousand lines of light extending outwards into infinity, filaments radiating with power. Where they intersect with your form, they pass harmlessly through; Where they meet Daegal, there's a resonance, an answering hum...A new note in the rising song of industry. >[X] (To Axiom and Divider) “So...I'm guessing it was worth the detour.”>"I didn't insist for no reason." Divider, somehow, finally finds his voice. “Indeed,” he says. “Oh, indubitably. The scale of this construct – the potential it holds...It defies belief. If we had sufficient time to analy-” Axiom holds out a hand, for silence. He merely looks on, reflected light flickering in his visor.>[X] "Better than anything Sterling's got, huh?" You'd think that Trivalent Divider would've been awed into silence, but he can't help but rise to the occasion.“Well,” he begins, his optics whirring and clicking as they peer in every direction at once. “Technically, the physics of this place are different. Like a universe constructed entirely of information and data, the things possible here may be possible nowhere else.” “Not the first time I've heard that,” Daegal murmurs. He looks on, transfixed, as the light gathers and ripples around him.“Yes,” Divider says. “Imagine: Pure information-driven cognition, given physical substance. The manipulation of physical reality – as we know it – through the superimposition of human will.”At the very edges of perception, storms of light swirl and shift. A nebula of swirling radiance, brilliant motes mingling and intersecting as they stretch off into spatial distances with no known limit. You've seen something like this, too. It's like...“-the inside of the Diadem,” Daegal says. He shares a look with you. “So...There was a second ship.” Axiom says. Almost to himself. “-Wait.” Tyrian Edge looks up, at the inner curve of the Hollow Sun. “Are you saying...This is like the Diadem?”“Not quite,” Divider says. He points towards the swarms of light – shifting, swirling, forming new shapes and breaking apart again. (Continued)
>>6284268“It's like a computer, almost. All of that is data. Raw data. Data from long ago, and-” his optics flicker to you, and then to the reliefs on Daegal's armor “-even now. The first may have been a repository: This is something altogether different.”“This is a weapon.”> "It's your kingdom, bud. you decide that" > [X] “Let's go find out.” “Yeah,” Daegal says. “Yeah.”You walk forward, together, into the light. At first, the far end of the spur is almost invisible, lost in the nimbus of the orb above; but as you get closer, silhouettes form against the amorphous light, firming up, solidifying. Beyond lies a spire of iron, tangled with coolant ducts and draped with heavy cables like a spider's web – Golden lightning snaps and slips against it, licking across the gulf between the walls, racing up towards the whirl of radiance above.> [X] “Look - It's revolving around you. All of it. You're the center of this place.” “I...” Kazuya begins, his voice almost lost amid all that whirling light. “-I can hear-”What is it telling him?He shakes his head, his voice cut off, as if he can't find the words for it. Like the Diadem, this entire place – all of the Hollow Sun – is a single machine, colossal in scale and form, threaded through its entire substance. You glimpse mighty energy coils, glowing with stored energy of tremendous potency; the air seemingly trembling with potential, the edges falling away into infinity.A chance in the sound of your footfalls makes you look down. Underfoot, golden threads spread across the black marble, in real-time – you glimpse glyphs and twisting runs, seemingly inlaid in gold, racing towards the stepped dais beyond. And at the heart of the radiance – Far beyond the furthest you've ventured – you perceive the shape of a throne, a seat of flaring wings. Like choirs of cherubs, the half-glimpsed, half-real shape of Hellions swarm overhead, barely visible in the glare.It's almost impossible to look. It's almost impossible to look away from the empty core of the greater energy sphere, radiating steadily like the heart--like the heart of a cold sun.The command throne is greater than mortal dimensions, thick bundles of cabling threading into it from all sides. The surface is golden, burnished almost to the red of fire, the twin arms terminating in the heads of magnificent golden beasts, their inlaid eyes as bright as sapphires.It makes the air shake.This close to the center of all things – further than you've ever been – you see the signs of ruin. Flecks of darkness play across the orb's translucent surface, momentarily darkening the brilliant surface before being swallowed up against by the eternal storm of light. Burn scars mar the serried ranks of mechanisms, some of them replaced by hollow caverns fizzling and crackling with wild force.(Continued)
>>6284269Black blotches, appearing and disappearing in the heart, bursting and fading like blood clots.The Hollow Sun is dying. Perhaps it has always been dying, for the longest time.You're not sure you can go any further. Your armor-shod legs are still moving, one slow step at a time, but you're not getting any closer. It is as if space has warped and looped back upon itself, to render those last few steps an infinity – But Daegal has edged past, as if it is the most natural thing in the world. Even as he stands there, a few more of the light-points on the sphere's edge go dark, provoking more fitful spasms of lightning from the central orb. Daegal's head is raised, as if listening to a voice only he can hear...You see him turn, placing his hands on the armrests, curling gleaming fingers over the rampant beast-heads, gripping tight.And then he takes his place.--There is a boom. A rush of breaking thunder. Something lights inside Daegal. A harsh radiance swells, spearing out from his core. Within seconds, he shines like a lamp, his form a vague silhouette in the glare – Merging with the greater glow. His head snaps back, hands and feet clamping down tight, locking in place like a key thrust into a lock...The throne trembles. The light becomes a wall, a torrent, an eruption of force. The shockwave of invisible power slams out in all directions, casting you off your feet. The sphere of whirling light shatters outwards, in a multicolored blizzard of fragments. Shouts, from behind you. You hear Tyrian's yell, as he clings to one of the pillars – Hear Axiom swear as he braces himself, beginning to forge forward one step at a time like a man walking head-first into a blizzard-You're too close to be caught by the full force of the shockwave. It knocks you flat instead, your frame sliding across the path towards the open fall, gunmetal-grey armor shrieking as it leaves deep grooves in the onyx surface. Your gauntleted fingers gouge into the ground, digits scrape shallow furrows into the gleaming black marble for purchase- And, abruptly as it came, the wall of force dies away. Your form skids to a stop, your grip secure as you claw your way to your feet.“-!”“-what-”A shadow falls over you, a powerful grip clamping down on your shoulder. “Up,” Regios grates, his voice buzzing. He's got his twisted conductor-blade in one hand, as he levers you to your feet – gaze locked on the roiling chaos surrounding Daegal's throne, too brilliant to behold directly. “What is that?” Tyrian Edge's words seem to come from far, far away, as he shields his optics against the glow. The light has bleached his violet armor of all color, and you can hear the panic in his filtered voice. “What's happ-”(Continued)
>>6284272In the weird, twitching light, Fulgurite Axiom turns his head to the side – You can see the calculation in his stance, a rapid evaluation of angles, of risks, of danger. “Get behind me,” he says, a spear of lightning crackling in one fist. “But-”“Now!”The echo of the thunderclap fades, the furious glow dimming to nothing at last. Daegal stands before the throne, released from its confines: in his hand, he holds what was once the mace Ultimatum. Like everything else he's touched, the half-silver, half black-iron of the haft has turned to gold – far larger than before, now, transfigured from a maul into a great hammer. Massive - but in his machine grasp, the weight is nothing at all. Complex mechanisms rotate serenely within the hammerhead, humming with building energy as it sparks to life. Patient tics of lightning dance across the baroque surface, over stylized representations of Hellion wings and swords and winding circuitry...Daegal nods – Just once. He touches the hammer's head to his helm, then locks it to his gleaming plate with a snap of magnetic force. Around him, the Hollow Sun's mechanisms return to their usual chatter. There is a sense of a great tension released at last, an unwinding; slowly, like a flower blooming in reverse, the throne lowers itself back into the depths of the Hollow Sun, adamantium slabs locking themselves in place around it with a definite finality.And into the looming silence – As he begins to trudge along the spur, back towards you – Daegal says:“-We're done here.”(Continued)
>>6284276He sounds utterly, unspeakably weary.The lightning bolt in Axiom's hand sputters out. He takes a step towards Daegal, who simply shakes his head and walks on without a second glance. “That was-” Divider begins, his poise restored. “That couldn't have been it.” For a moment, he looks like he's about to wring his hands. “In the spirit of inquiry, surely you could disclose-”Daegal merely looks in his direction. Like great stormshields, spires of black stone rise smoothly from the ground – Two meters, four, five. They bar Divider's way, an impassable fence; for good measure, the faint blue glow of a privacy field limns them a heartbeat later, momentarily walling him off. “Ah,” Divider says, his voice faintly audible. “-Ah.”A sigh breathes from Daegal's speakers, as he turns his gaze to you. “It spoke to me,” he says, his hand resting lightly on the hammer's wedge-shaped head. It lacks, you note, the armor-piercing spike a true warhammer would have – despite the teeth-grinding hum of the charged capacitors within the Relic, it seems less a weapon and more of a tool.“It needed me, you know. That's what it was trying to tell me. All this time – It's been lost. Afraid. Searching for someone who could help it.”He presses his hand to his gleaming cuirass.“-that's why it chose me. It was desperate – More than anything, it doesn't want to die.”“It showed me...” His voice trails off. He shakes his head.“But – I guess it doesn't matter now.”[ ] “Wait – You're saying that the Hollow Sun is alive?”[ ] “Kazuya...What did you do?”[ ] “That hammer of yours – What is it?”[ ] “It's damaged, isn't it? That's what you were supposed to fix.”[ ] “...Isn't there anything we could do?”[ ] “Divider's wrong, isn't he? It isn't just a weapon.”[ ] FreeYOU HAVE CONTROL
>>6284267(Gentlemen, my apologies for the long, long delay. To my immense embarrassment, I realized that I tagged this as Episode 167 instead of Episode 168 - The error's entirely on my part.)
>>6284279HE RETURNS TO US! But at a time when 4chan is shit to combat bot spammers...
>>6284277>[x] “It's damaged, isn't it? That's what you were supposed to fix.”>[x] “...Isn't there anything we could do?”
>[x ] “Wait – You're saying that the Hollow Sun is alive?”[ ] “It's damaged, isn't it? That's what you were supposed to fix.”>[ x] “...Isn't there anything we could do?”>[ x] Free: "Kaz, we can't just leave. We need the Hollow Sun to build a plan, weaponry and an army for the coming battle. *I tap the side of my head*. I need to upload what we know about *everything* so to build us a plan.
(Also good to have you back OP. A glorious time to be a fan) https://open.spotify.com/track/1nThz7yEG2vbyI4UmInj5z?si=5fcf0f7f08594b42
Ok so what we gotta do now, as players- Build a plan- We need to build the following gear the kinetic adaptor and the Auric Wings, 3 void anchors, raptor beacon, Casitgator armour, maybe the spear if we have the cash. What remains of the hollow sun when the sun is fired.-We gotta check out Imago's base and put a void anchor there as well.- Need to meet Vertigo Trisagon
OP some questions- Have you changed any of the details on the hollow sun gear and such, since the last time??- Did anyone ever ask about whether Babel 2 could remove the Pazuzu interdiction??- Can we get a vibe check on Kazuya. He know him pretty well and this plus the tower battle must be weighing on him
>>6284312>>6284328>[x] “Wait – You're saying that the Hollow Sun is alive?”Daegal’s gleaming helm doesn’t register emotion, but you can sense the wince in the way Kazuya carries himself. Whatever he’s seen, it’s rattled him.“It’s…” he begins, then catches himself. “-Not in the way we’d understand it,” Kazuya says, at last. He chooses each word with care, like he’s fumbling with something he barely understands. “Once, it was - I guess you could say, it was part of a greater whole. It had a purpose it was made for, one it was looking to complete…But it can’t remember. Not any more.”He turns his head, at where the throne has lowered itself into the recesses of the gleaming walkway. A blurt of electronic noise issues from his speakers. It takes you a moment to realize that it’s a sigh - A long, slow sigh. “It’ll help us, though. That’s what it’s agreed to do.”A pause-“...I don’t think it knows how to do anything else.” >[x] “It's damaged, isn't it? That's what you were supposed to fix.”>[x] “...Isn't there anything we could do?”“-Not in four days.”There’s a quiet surety, in those four simple words. Daegal’s armor gleams, as the light slides over it; He half-turns, as if contemplating the vastness of the Hollow Sun. “If we had more time - If we had the chance to figure things out…We could have done something. But now…Now, it’s too late.”He shakes his head, that golden helm swivelling with a soft hum of actuators. “Anon - There just isn’t any time left, not now. Every moment we spend here, now…It’s another moment over there. Back in the real world.”He turns one golden gauntlet palm-up. A soft focused hologram, tiny enough to cup in the palm of one hand, materializes in the air above it: Numbers, counting down. 84:59:3484:59:3384:59:32“I, uh-” Daegal casts around, the way he always does when there’s something that’s hard for him to say. “Anon, I…What you’re going to do - It’ll kill the Hollow Sun. There just won’t be enough of it left to survive, once the Hellions are released. It’s…”That sense of searching for the words, again-“-It’s not just enough for the Hellions to be deployed, you know? When the Sun opens, it’ll disperse parts of itself, to stabilize them long enough to assault the Diadem. After that-”A crackle of static. “...After that, it’ll be gone. All this will be gone, forever.”(Continued)
>>6284346For a moment, he’s silent.Then-“The thing is, the Hollow Sun…It knows this. It’s known about it for a very long time. All those years, feeding on bits and pieces of information - Something, circling without taking hold.”A metal-on-metal rasp.“It - It wanted to tell me that it understood. It wanted to thank us. For giving it a purpose.”> [X] Free: "Kaz, we can't just leave. We need the Hollow Sun to build a plan, weaponry and an army for the coming battle. *I tap the side of my head*. I need to upload what we know about *everything* so to build us a plan.“Hey, give me some credit - It’s the first thing I did,” he says. You detect the ghost of a smile in his voice, despite everything. “Remember: I was right there with you, yeah? I saw it all, too.”He echoes your gesture, with the faint clink of metal-on-metal. “It’ll take a while. The bitstream is fast, for its density - But there’s a lot to sort through. It doesn’t understand all of it, of course; Some stuff is just latent garbage, junk data that has to be processed, to be sifted. But if there’s enough time…”There’s a catch to his voice, as it trails off. There’s never enough time, and it feels like an ending. “Naoya - I don’t think he was lying. Not about this. According to the system’s best predictions, the Shroud will have thinned to nothing in four days. If Pazuzu’s going to do - what he’s going to do…That’s when he’ll do it.”A restless flicker of light crosses his optics.“If I get to Sterling Industries, there might be something I can do about that. If we can stop the Shroud from collapsing, maybe we can…”He stops. Mid-sentence. Shakes his head, once.Then, Kazuya says - “Come with me.”Beyond the circular platform, the privacy field continues to hum - that low, serene drone almost subliminal, like tinnitus. It grows louder, as the barrier thickens to opacity; For a moment, blue light floods the space around you…There’s a slight thump, like some bass beat in the rhythm of the universe. It reverberates: Deep and sonorous. Painful, as a phantom ache ripples out to encase you. Your vision seems to shimmer, your HUD fuzzing with static. For a moment, there’s the bewildering sight of lines overlapping, criss-crossing, in that harsh azoic glow - a sharp, sudden twist…And then it’s gone. And then you’re both standing somewhere else. The metal walkway beneath you is suspended over fathomless darkness. Around you, in the gloom, huge mechanisms turn and whirr. Brass cogs many metres in diameter lock teeth with others of their kind, and turn in smooth and uniform perfection.(Continued)
>>6284350Smaller flywheels rotate rapidly, humming as they whirl. Iron pistons hiss pneumatic sighs, copper valves opening and closing with automated regularity. If this place had a smell, it would be oil and hot metal, like a vast machine shop. A world away from the sleek, gleaming technology of the Hollow Sun.One level down, one level deeper.“This,” Daegal says, his voice echoing hollowly over the chatter of machines, the purring of mechanisms above and below, “-is what I wanted to show you.”He begins to walk down a flight of metal steps. It descends to another platform; Other walkways branch off it, some obscured by the humming machinery. Overhead, brass gears the size of banquet tables slowly circle.The drop below is immense. It descends into infinity.“I…You’d call it a Reality Loom. How it works isn’t important - Just what it does. It-” He hesitates, searching for the words. “It spins things out of the Red,” Kazuya says, finally. “It binds information with the physical world. Makes them real. That’s how the Hollow Sun creates things; It takes a template of how things are supposed to be, and superimposes them on what is.”A muted crackle of static, from deep within.“Without the Hollow sun, it’d build up interference patterns and implode, but…As the Shroud collapses, there’s a weak point in the fabric between the Red and the world - our world. You could call it…A liminal place, I guess.”He looks up.“Normally, we’d have to worry about real-space contamination interfering with its function, but I thought…All of this is going away in four days. We’ll never have to deal with the paradox. Which is why I told myself - What the hell, you know?”Kazuya lays his hand on a flat block of obsidian. It hums beneath his touch - golden filaments from his gauntlet draw die-straight lines across the terminal’s surface, like sunlight running over water. “What I’m saying is…This is a miracle machine. It’s a wish-granter. Tell it something, and it’ll bend things towards that outcome. Within reason, of course - the more you change things, the bigger the risk. I…Hell, the Hollow Sun didn’t want me to bring you here. It knows what could happen.”He really does know you too well.“But…Ahhhh, shit. I thought - If anyone should get the chance to use this, it’d be you.”[ ] “This is dangerous, isn’t it?”[ ] “What are the limits?”[ ] “Kazuya…What aren’t you telling me?”[ ] “This - It’s going to cost you something, isn’t it?”[ ] “Why don’t you want the others to know?”[ ] FreeYOU HAVE CONTROL
>>6284343>Have you changed any of the details on the hollow sun gear and such, since the last time??(I have not, as no substantial time has passed since the last episode.)>Did anyone ever ask about whether Babel 2 could remove the Pazuzu interdiction??(It would be nigh-impossible, as he used the Nihl Spheres to do it.)>Can we get a vibe check on Kazuya. He know him pretty well and this plus the tower battle must be weighing on him(You can tell it's definitely weighing on him. He's been through a lot, but he seems solid enough. Relatively speaking.)
>>6284357[X] “What are the limits?”[X] “This - It’s going to cost you something, isn’t it?”
>[ x] “What are the limits?”>[ x] “Kazuya…What aren’t you telling me?”>[x ] “This - It’s going to cost you something, isn’t it?”> [x] Free: *I look up at the machine, and my arm burns. I am always standing here trying to make the impossible choice. The choice to hope. "Kazuya, you need stop thinking about this all ending. While we have choices we can still alter the outcome. *I turn to face him* Lifting my arm to clasp his shoulder. "We beat the God of the Black. Moved through worlds, to get here. This is just another day for us right?"
>>6284366>>6284368(Gentlemen, my apologies - It's a bit late for me, and I wasn't keeping timezones in mind when I posted the thread. There are some matters that I need to attend to at the moment, which will unfortunately require my attention.The good news is that I should be around to continue posting tomorrow and the day after, so look forward to more. Again, my apologies - I'm still getting back into the swing of things.)
>>6284389No problem, chief its good to have you back in the saddle. For the final lap
>>6284366[X] “What are the limits?”“I, uh-” For a moment, Daegal sounds almost sheepish. “...More than you might think, actually.” Absently, his fingers tap against the terminal, the faint clink resounding through all that hollow emptiness.“It can’t…It won’t kill him for us, if that’s what you’re asking. That was the first thing I tried. Not that I thought it’d work, but - y’know - it was worth a shot.”He sighs. The sound is like compressed air, slowly being released from a valve. “It can’t undo what was done to you, either. Second thing I tried: It can’t interact with you - or him directly, at all. It’s like you’re just…not there. Absences, rather than Players. Same for Pazuzu; My guess is, the Diadem has some kind of defense against exactly such an eventuality. Things would be a lot easier if it didn’t, that’s for sure.”Daegal glances at you - “It’s frustrating, but I guess it’s kind of a relief, too. It means you’re still the Red Joker…We just need to find a way to fix things.”Lower, softer: “I couldn’t find Mio, either. What that means - I’m not sure I want to think about it. What that son-of-a-bitch might be doing to her-”His grip tightens, and for a moment, it feels like he’s about to crush the stone to powder. With an effort of will, his fingers unclench from the obsidian terminal.“...It can’t bring back the dead, either. I tried - Akira, Haze, Armaros…But it needs a possibility to work with. Something that could happen, but hasn’t happened yet. We’ve got some leeway, but…Anon, we’re dealing with the unknown here. The longer the odds, the more likely something will go wrong. Hell, we’re on the edge of things as it is, now.”There’s a low click, somewhere within his cuirass. The equivalent of a dry-swallow, it seems. “Other than that…The sky’s the limit, I suppose. I haven’t been at this for very long, so I suppose you’ll know better, but - If you wanted something like…If you wanted Asuna to come back - I know things didn’t end well between the two of you - we could do that.”“That’s just an example, mind you,” Kazuya adds, hastily. “It…feels wrong to do that, I guess. Like - What does that mean, if it can move people like…pieces on a chessboard?”He goes silent, for a moment.“You could align a weapon, I suppose. Have it hit exactly what you needed it to hit, at the best possible time…Once. Anything up to the Leukocyte - Wouldn’t that be something to see?”Kazuya’s only half-joking.“You could find something, or someone. Intent works, but specificity helps - If you think there’s something we really need…y’know, before…we could try that, too. Not that I can think of one, but…Akira always was the smart one, you know?”(Continued)
>>6284433>>6284433He exhales, slowly. Distortion hums and sizzles along the channel.“The way I see it - the smart thing, the responsible thing to do would be something like this: We use the Loom, and we tell it to make sure Mr. Ebara’s plan works. It’s what he’d want - Hell, it’s what Nat-chan would want, if she was here with us, right now.” Daegal doesn’t look at you, when he says it. Choosing his words carefully, it seems.“The other thing we could do is…Look, Anon. This plan of yours - Attacking the Diadem…It was always going to be a long shot. I mean, you’ve seen the size of that thing. You know what it can do. Even with everything we’ve got, here…”His voice sinks to a whisper- “-It might just be a one-way trip.”And for a moment, there’s just the constant whirring of the huge Loom’s gears, machine parts shifting in the almost-silence. “So, yeah - Yeah, you can see how this could help with that. It could swing things in our favor, Anon. I don’t know by how much, but when it comes to something like this…Even a little goes a long way. After all-” Almost to himself, now.“...We’re only going to get one shot at it.”[X] “This - It’s going to cost you something, isn’t it?”“Yeah,” Kazuya says. “Yeah, it is.”His fingers flex, as if in anticipation of what’s coming.Then, with forced levity - “But I’m a big boy; I can take it. Besides, given everything we’ve been through…It’ll be nothing compared to all that, y’know? I’ll just - I’ll just be feeling it for a bit, that’s all.” >>6284368>"Kazuya, you need stop thinking about this all ending. While we have choices we can still alter the outcome.”>"We beat the God of the Black. Moved through worlds, to get here. This is just another day for us right?"He doesn’t answer, not right away. When you rest your hand - the hand bound by the Shackle - on his gleaming pauldron, you hear the faint creak of myomer fibers tensing. >[x] “Kazuya…What aren’t you telling me?”“Ah, shit,” he says, at last. “...I didn’t want to be the one to tell you, but…”His optics flicker, blue. Bracing himself. “-It’s Tsukimi…Hecate. God, I’m not used to that. I don’t think I’ll ever be. It’s just…”The words come out all at once.“You know she’s - She’s never going to walk again, right? Walk, or dance, or have kids, or-” His voice trails off, into the nothingness. “I’m sorry, Anon. I got the report from one of the doctors, when you were…I wanted to tell you, but there was just so much going on…”(Continued)
>>6284443You can hear the wince in his voice, as he falters. He never wanted to be the one to tell you - But now it’s come to this, he soldiers on all the same. “-That’s why I didn’t want the others to hear. Because…You know what they’d choose, right? Axiom, Natsumi - They’d do the right thing. The responsible thing. But I keep thinking…After all that, after all you went through - What kind of life is she going to have, you know?”It feels colder now, somehow. Like there’s a chill in the air, one that has reached the endosteel bones of your fame.Too late, the passing shadows seemed to whisper. Sly, mocking.Too late, Joker.What's done can never be undone.Dimly, you can hear Daegal saying - miserably, like he wishes it was any other way: “I’m just - I’m sorry, that’s all.”He straightens. Just a little, carefully avoiding meeting your gaze.“But…It doesn’t have to be that way. It’s not set in stone; Not yet.”The offer lingers in the air, unspoken.“...If we do this - It’s the only thing we can use it on. Hell, even once is dangerous. But…There’s the thing that matters, and the thing that counts. If there’s going to be something beyond...all this-” Soft, just above a whisper.“You might want to make the choice that’s right. For her.”He shakes his head, slow.“-This kind of thing…It’s too big. For me, at least. When it comes to the hard choices…I mean, I don’t know what I’d do, in your place. So…It has to be you. You've got to be the one to decide."The light is more subdued, now, as he stands - silhouetted against the faint glow. Waiting. [ ] FreeYOU HAVE CONTROL
>>6284449>[x] I don't hear what Kazuya says after he speaks about Hecate. I just hear the roaring in my ears. *its just too much.* i almost stagger, only a determination to not show weakness to my friend when he needs me most holds me in place. I look down at my hands and think about what i have paid. What i will pay. "Kazuya. If it can guarantee a weapon hitting. Could it guarantee anything else??" I take out the Misercorde, the death of Jokers. "Could it guarantee this hits, when i need it too?"
>>6284449>"Kazuya. Let's aim for what's beyond, even if it's selfish. Even if it's not the right thing to do. If we make it out of there, I want someone to come home to."(Seriously guys don't leave the hard choices just to me and another anon.)
>>6284594Nah bro this is the dream. Haha no one to.get in the way of the Red Joker rp.
>>6284497>>6284594(Gentlemen, I still need to know what wish you'll be going with.)
>>6284719>>6284497I think this anon wanted to know could the reality loom make a guaranteed shot at the White Joker with the Misercorde??
>>6284433>>6284443>>6284449Good to have you back, OP. And man that fucking sucks for her. I vote that we use the loom to cure hecate, but the other choices seem really appealing. Plot-wise that makes the most sense, but I'm really interested in the others too.If we use the Loom to support the attack, does that mean its guaranteed to succeed?
>>6284721(Ah, you’re right. My apologies - Let me address that below.)>>6284497>>6284594>"Kazuya. If it can guarantee a weapon hitting. Could it guarantee anything else??">"Could it guarantee this hits, when i need it too?"The knife. Such a simple thing, a thing you’ve carried all this way. It looks so small in your grip, as your armored fingers close around it. Ridiculous, almost - Like a child’s toy. More of a stake, really; there’s barely a blade, just a stabbing point.Kazuya hesitates, as you lift the Misericorde to the light. He’s unaware of its provenance, momentarily confused by the simple - almost crude - look of it.“I…Well, yeah,” he says, as if wrong-footed. “You’d have to pick your moment, but - For something like that...It could work.”He sounds surprised, by the idea that you’d want that- But then again, there are some things known to you and you alone.>>6284722>If we use the Loom to support the attack, does that mean its guaranteed to succeed?A breeze starts to rise. The humming all around you increases.The huge wheels and cogs and gears of the Loom continue to turn, with measured industrial life - Grinding on, the way they must have for all this time. “That’s - A difficult question,” Kazuya says, slowly. If he had a brow, he’d be furrowing it.“I don’t think anything can be guaranteed. We’re talking about possibilities here, not sureties, and I…Shit, it’s difficult enough to explain. I don’t think I have the words for it. But - It’ll make it easier, that’s for sure. More likely to happen.”He sighs, low.“...When it comes to a long shot - I think we’re going to need all the help we can get.”>"Kazuya. Let's aim for what's beyond, even if it's selfish. Even if it's not the right thing to do. If we make it out of there, I want someone to come home to."“-I had a feeling you might say something like that,” Daegal says. For a moment, he seems to hesitate, caught on the cusp of a confession. And then-“I, uh…” he says, one gleaming hand rising to the side of his head. “-This is harder than I thought it’d be,” he mutters, almost to himself. “The thing is - I slept with Amane. Last night, after everything that…” His voice trails off, with a low, embarrassed hiss of static. “...I mean, you know how I feel about Nat-chan, but - Now, I know that’s never going to happen.” There’s a raw note to his words, even though his speakers leech all emotion from his voice. “It just - It just happened. Me and her…After, I - I don’t know how it did. Why it did. I keep thinking…Is that what it feels like? A moment of weakness? Even saying something like that…Thinking of it that way - It’s awful.”A rough, ragged exhalation. (Continued)
>>6284731“That’s why…If you want to do this, I’ll understand. Like, I mean - I get it. There’s what we should do, and then there’s what we need…”He raises his head. Standing a little taller, a little straighter - Like some invisible burden has been lifted from his shoulders.“If that’s what you’re going with…I’ll back you, all the way. Shit, if it were me…I guess it’d be what I would do, too.”[ ] FreeYOU HAVE CONTROL
>>6284733A question OP. Could the loom change our armour to make it neutronium or like Daegal or Vovoid.- Additionally looking at the misercorde entry. Its only for red jokers. Could that be changed with the loom and made into a guaranteed hit attack?-Last crazy question, time divergence is a thing. Could we use the loom to theoretically bring an alternate universe Red Joker or other player to here?
>>6284736>A question OP. Could the loom change our armour to make it neutronium or like Daegal or Vovoid.(No. The Loom cannot affect you or the White Joker directly.)>Additionally looking at the misercorde entry. Its only for red jokers. Could that be changed with the loom and made into a guaranteed hit attack?(I've addressed this above, yes.)>Last crazy question, time divergence is a thing. Could we use the loom to theoretically bring an alternate universe Red Joker or other player to here?(No. The Loom can manipulate probabilities - even unlikely ones - but it can't make flat-out impossibilities happen.)
Sounds like a choices are basically give Hecate more once again. Or else a weapon that is guaranteed to hit any enemy we choose at a time we choose. Its a tough one. We could also use it to get a piece of gear, equipment or weapon
>>6284731Kaz slept with HER? I mean it makes sense, but why her? All the way back to the academy, it always felt like they had a thing, but this is a huge escalation>>6284742Given how miserable it is to be straight-up crippled, I vote Hecate. It's the most characterful option, but blessing the Misericorde also makes sense.
>>6284743Strange times make strange bedfellows anon. In this case literally.>>6284733Thal's bloody balls you like forcing hard choices OP. I'm leaning towards blessing the Misereicorde if only because it won't matter making her healthy again if the World Ends anyway....though if we do restore her will that give her an actual Player Form?
>>6284742(I've left this open-ended, in case you want to try something out of left-field. It's actually quite interesting to see the discussion.)>>6284785>...though if we do restore her will that give her an actual Player Form?(There's only one way to find out.)
>>6284719JQOP,This is>>6284594.I was alluding to use The Loom on Tsukimi.
>>6284817Damn thee OP tempting me with a mystery box!Well as Cyclops once said to Dracula "Follow your heart." Let's heal Tsukimi
Maybe Hecate in player form might give us an edge against Pazuzu. He wouldn't know we could do this.Or else we could minimise a big weapon like the leukocyte to a handheld form hmm. Think about equipment too. Maybe we could get something that makes us big or small like antman and wasp. Or ee could upgrade the Chromeathron
>>6284733> i swear she better put out after all this baka. Years later. All those anons long gone and our hands bound by a bunch of fricking morons who wanted to angsty about a chick. GIVE IT THE MIRACLE TO HECATE.
(My apologies, I had work-related matters to handle.)>>6284743>>6284785>>6284830>>6284877“-I thought you might say that,” Kazuya says. You can’t be sure, but you sense a subtle relief to his words. Or maybe he’s just gathering strength for what’s to come.He turns, resting both hands on the terminal. It rises from the walkway like a standing stone; For a moment, it seems like Daegal’s merely leaning against it, bracing his gleaming figure against much-needed support- Golden light flares. A halo of radiance springs up.He makes a sound, low, deep within his core. Blunt as a gasp of pain - You can see his hands begin to shake, as brilliant filaments unwind from his gauntlets. They pierce the stone, forming complex patterns; Die-straight, branching like circuitry, tracing invisible channels in the ebony surface.There is a click.Then a silence.Then a low groan that gathers force, until it becomes a lingering murmur that hangs in the air. Hear radiates from the black plinth - To your thermal senses, it’s a miasma, the light dimming for a second, ever-so-slightly.Then there comes another sound, so deep you feel it rather than hear it-The ground begins to shake. With a sudden but steady motion, the huge mechanisms of the Reality Loom begin to turn faster. The slowly-cycling machine is accelerating, until every complex component is spinning and rattling and wheezing. There is a clattering roar of spinning cogs- The Loom’s sound is a constant rattling, now. There is a chirring in the air, the sound of a trillion invisible insects stridulating from the dark.The whirring mechanisms waft strange circles and hoops in the light, like ripples in water; an arc of colorless lightning leaps between the cogs once, then again.”Gahhhhhhhhhhhhhh-”Daegal’s gone rigid. The light shines through the gaps of his armor, and from his optics. Every artificial muscle, every fiber of his form has locked and seized, pulled relentlessly taut as he strains with impossible effort…-hurts-(Continued)
>>6284915There’s a ragged crackle of static, like air sucking in and out of his lungs. In that moment, there’s something entirely inhuman about him - about the tremendous force being brought to bear, lines of orichalcum unspooling from his baroque plate, like the shine is being stripped from it one molecule at a time…“-”It seems intolerable, impossible to bear. But before you can speak, before you can take a step forward, things begin to change, rapidly.The light radiating from Daegal - from everywhere and nowhere at once - begins to diminish. There is a screeching, squealing din as the mechanism of the Reality Loom begins to slow down; Gears faltering, cogs decelerating with poor grace.The chirring sound grows louder. Smoke, or some kind of miasma, wafts upward and around the gantry, to the groan of tortured metal.And then-Without any warning at all, the sounds die away, all at once. Silence - a ticking, juddering silence - returns, like the aftermath of an explosion.The plinth goes dead, except for one slow, blinking, amber light.Daegal sways - a tree in a gale - and topples. He hits the platform without grace, with the clang of an entire armory succumbing to gravity. Smoke rises from his limbs; Even from here, you can feel the immense after-burn of the effort. [ ] “Kazuya!”[ ] “...Did it work?” [ ] Check that he’s all right.[ ] Check the plinth.[ ] Give him a moment to recover.[ ] FreeYOU HAVE CONTROL
>>6284918[ ] “...Did it work?”>[x] Check that he’s all right.>[x] Check the plinth.>[x] Give him a moment to recover.
>[X] Check that he’s all right.>[X] Give him a moment to recover.Before, you might’ve been able to catch him. But you’re slower, now. Everything is off, subtly, like the mechanisms of your frame have grown rusty with disuse. The Shackle’s presence, locked around your right arm - making you a puppet of yourself - is a constant reminder of all you’ve lost.You kneel down, next to him, with a creak of actuators.“I’m all right,” Daegal croaks out. Still shaky, the fingers of one hand opening and closing as steam wisps upwards. “I think-”His armor glows like molten brass, beneath the fabric of his Assault Shroud. He’s venting an immense amount of heat, the eyes of the bull-head on his pauldron burning hot blue as white vapor rises from his collar and its open mouth; there’s a crackle as he levers himself up on one elbow.>[X] “...Did it work?”“I - Yeah. It should have-”You hear the doubtful note in Kazuya’s voice, as his gaze turns to the terminal. A hiss rises from where his overheated form comes into contact with the ground; Like he’s been pulled straight from the forge.Perhaps he was expecting something more. A sign, maybe - But some things can be subtler than one may think.>[X] Check the plinth.The black stone of the plinth has changed, subtly. Before, it was smooth; Now, faint and almost-imperceptible lines have been carved into the surface, as if by the hand of some master craftsman. They glimmer, faintly. Like they’ve been lined with gold.Caught on the cusp of a realization, you turn - Daegal’s tucked his gauntlet beneath the sweep of his cloak, but you’ve already seen it. Up to his elbow, his arm is no longer orichalcum: Instead, it bears the duller gleam of some baser metal. “-It’s all right,” he says, too quickly. “Really, it is. It just…fucking hurts, that’s all.” Again, like he’s trying to convince himself-“That’s all it is. Just - just a scratch, y’know? Mind over matter; You don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”Then-“...We should probably figure out what we're going to tell them."(Continued)
>>6284954Against all odds, the return trip is worse than setting out. Before, the transition was almost imperceptible; Now, it’s a grinding, jerking movement that feels deeply and profoundly wrong.Like being twisted through planes of movement that shouldn’t be possible. Stone intersecting with stone, passing through stone.A flash of light, blinding you - for a moment - from everything, as something wrenches at the inside of your head- And then back. Back in the luminous halls of the Hollow Sun, that would never seem quite so bright again. A spontaneous caul of frost clings to your armor, like a shroud - It crackles as your limbs articulate, chips of dirty ice sliding away as the bang of apport fades.Daegal’s tired. He’s trying to hide it, but it - and perhaps everything he’s been through, in the brief span since your return - has been wearing at him. You can sense it in the crudeness of the transit, the slipping of control.“They’re back!” Even filtered of emotion, Tyrian Edge sounds jumpy. His lanky form hurries forward, purple carapace nearly black in the amber light; He draws up short, like he’s second-guessing himself, though everything about him radiates relief.“-Told you.” Taller, broader, Volt Regios strides behind him - Reassuringly solid, like always. “You were gone a while.” It’s a statement, not a question…For now, at least.You get the feeling this might change, later. “...Fascinating.” Tiny windows hover before Trivalent Divider’s sharp, angular form, already filling with text; the ribbon of light coiling around him flickers, colors constantly shifting, a myriad of lenses cycling behind his translucent visor. “You were both cycled through extimate space,” he’s saying, with something like glee. “Not once, but twice in rapid succession - And in an infraspace fold, no less! The implications...the empyrean compression effect…that shouldn’t be possible. Could a similar field be erected in real-space? The interference patterns…!”Fulgurite Axiom gives him a long, level look.A look that says: Shut up.Mercifully, Divider goes quiet - But the silence that follows isn’t an improvement.For a moment, Axiom regards both of you. The sensation is not unlike being in someone’s gunsights. His hands are open and empty at his sides, except for the occasional arc of electricity that leaps between his spined knuckles - a reminder, almost.“Explain this,” Axiom says, simply. Flat, without affect. [ ] “We got what you needed. There was a cost.”[ ] “An accident, that’s all. There’s more to this place than we thought.”[ ] “Just getting some answers.”[ ] "Later. For now, we should get moving."[ ] “How long were we gone?”[ ] Let Daegal do the talking.[ ] FreeYOU HAVE CONTROL
>>6284967>[x] Let Daegal do the talking.>[x] We were testing out a potential way to get an edge over Pazuzu>[x] Later. For now, we should get moving."
(Gentlemen, I must turn in for now, but I'll continue next time.)
>>6284967>[x] “Just getting some answers.”>[x] "Later. For now, we should get moving."
>>6284967>"Just getting some answers.">Let Daegal do the talking.
>>6284973>>6285319>>6285375>[x] “Just getting some answers.”>[x] We were testing out a potential way to get an edge over Pazuzu“Answers?”There’s a long pause, as Axiom considers you - his gleaming helm, like a portcullis, betraying nothing. You sense that all this - the infinite drop, the seemingly-endless vista of the Hollow Sun - troubles him.At his core, it seems, Kuresaka Eita is a straightforward man. He likes simple solutions. Where he is, now…It must be like being lost in a fog. He looks past you, at Daegal. There’s a kind of tightly-coiled impatience within him, one that mingles with his unease. All of it laser-focused, directed at the one piece of the puzzle he knows he needs.And then he says-“...What did you find?”>[x] “Later. For now, we should get moving."“Come, now.” In every sense of the word, Divider’s the opposite of him. Trivalent’s arms twitch, in something like anticipation; “Fair’s fair, after all - You can hardly keep us in suspense. Share your insights: If not now, then when?”He shakes his head, dolefully - “Oh, if I could but get a research team in here. All those opportunities, squandered…”“-Done what we can,” Volt Regios cuts in, and Tyrian Edge nods. “It’s not like there’s a manual for these things,” he says. “Jok - Ano - Cestus had access, and after he went missing…” “Yes, yes. You’ve been forthcoming enough with those firearms of yours. But has it occurred to you that-”>[x] Let Daegal do the talking.“-It’ll work.”That stops him, dead. Mid-sentence, even. There’s a subtle shift to the air, as Axiom’s gaze - if anything - intensifies. A sharp intake of breath, almost a hiss. “Are you sure?”Daegal plants his feet. Squares his shoulders, as he stands a little straighter.“-You want the short answer, or the long one?”A faint clank, from somewhere within Fulgurite’s silver-and-crystal form."The one where I understand what you mean," he says, putting a distinct weight on each word.(Continued)
>>6285381“All right, then.” Kazuya seems to gather his resources, his wits - Tiny images dancing from the projectors in his gauntlets. “Anon told me, a while back-” Back when it was just the two of you, trekking across the endless black sands. The waves, lapping against the surface. The bleached bones of misbegotten leviathans, things never-born, rising from the waters like forgotten monuments.“...You’re using the pylon network with Fumito-san’s project; If you can get them all to broadcast the same signal, at the time when the Shroud is malleable, you can stop it from collapsing. It’ll cut off the Red - cut off infraspace - from our world. That’s what you’re trying to do, yeah?”Axiom glances at Divider. The latter pauses, then - fractionally - nods.“Crudely-described, but yes…That is the gist of it.”“No more red skies. No more strangeness. Except for us, everything - more or less - goes back to normal. But the reason why you haven’t already done it is because you only have one shot at it, and because you need to wait for the critical point…Is that right?”“-You do seem to have a good grasp of our circumstances,” Divider allows. He sounds a little miffed, almost, that he’s not the one explaining it. Still, he stares raptly at the little cluster of schematics, hovering like arcane symbols over one gleaming gauntlet.Kazuya gives you a look. He’s never been great when it comes to studying; As he’s said, between the three of you, Akira was the smart one.And look what happened to him.You think Kazuya might be enjoying this, being the one with all the answers for a change.“That’s why you need me,” he goes on. Carefully, he draws the Immolator, turning it in his hand; Beneath his touch, the weapon becomes something magnificent, something baroque and lion-mouthed, tiny flames glowing within the bejeweled eyes. “-It’s because I make things better, isn’t it? I’m not smart, but I’ve had a lot of time to think about what I can do - After Anon explained the basics to me. I thought it was just weapons, at first…But then I thought: Why limit myself? Why not think bigger?”He holsters his weapon, snap-locking it to his side. Divider coughs, lightly, mechanisms cycling within his form.“Yes, well - Ebara-san had long theorized that such an ability existed,” he says, with the slightly pedantic air of a lecturer. “There are, of course, recurring motifs to certain elements of infraspace. The Red Joker is tied to Mars, the horseman on his red steed, the incarnation of War; Meanwhile, your ability bears a clear symbolic and thematic resemblance to multiple mytho-alchemical frameworks. The most obvious is the Midas archetype - transmutation via touch - though in this case, the transformation is not destructive or inert, but functionally elevated.”He allows himself a steely little chuckle at that.(Continued)
>>6285381“More compelling, however, is the comparison to alchemical transmutation - specifically the Philosopher’s Stone motif, where the base metal of lead is refined into gold. In classical alchemy, this process symbolized not material gain, but the perfection of form and spirit.”Faster, now, as if hurrying to get it all out.“Here, we may be seeing a psycho-symbolic analogue: your touch catalyzes each item into its idealized archetype. Not merely improving it, but manifesting what it 'wants' to be. The same way the expenditure of essence causes a Relic to evolve, as a matter of fact. This implies a deep entanglement with the virtual object’s physical and conceptual structure. It could be quantum-level restructuring, high-dimensional resonance encoding, or something more exotic - Perhaps even memetic in nat…”“Get to the point,” Volt Regios grates out, and he seems to deflate. “-I’m surrounded by philistines, aren’t I?”“Well, I’ve never been much for reading,” Daegal says, diffidently. That gets an almost-laugh from Axiom - or perhaps it’s just his auto-loader.“You want me to use my ability - this Midas touch - on the Bastion. I’m telling you - I can do that.”He looks down at his hand, flexing the taloned fingers.“It’s funny how things work out,” Kazuya muses, aloud. “If not for Anon, I’d never have got…All this. If not for his help, I’d have ended up like-”He falls silent, for a moment. You know what he’s thinking about: the pain, the horror, the desperate scrabbling agony of the moment. The blood-tinged darkness when the blindness became complete, Yui’s head in his lap as he tried - desperately - to wish life back into a body that was already dead.Then hearing, as if from a great distance away - like a promise of doom, or salvation - the heavy footfalls of your approach…?”Anon? Anon, I can’t see. It's - the wrong kind of dark in here."With an effort, he goes on. “-That’s why…Every chance I had, I made it stronger. And now - Turns out, it was what we needed all along. Funny how things work out, don’t they?”You can hear the smile - wan, but true - in his voice.The tension seems to drain from Fulgurite Axiom’s spined shoulders. It’s a subtle thing, but you can almost sense the relief that courses through him. Like some great and terrible doom has passed him by.Like hearing that everything, at last, is going to be all right.“Good,” he says. “-that’s good, then.”A moment later: “We need to bring you to the Bastion immediately. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can begin.”Daegal nods. No words, just a nod. He glances at you, as if to say: Anon, are we done here?[ ] FreeYOU HAVE CONTROL
>>6285381>>6285385>>6285389(Gentlemen, my apologies for the long delay. If there's anything you want to do with the Hollow Sun before departing, let me know - After that, we'll continue to the next part.)(Note that the real world and the Red are currently running more-or-less on one-to-one time. The recovery of the Hollow Sun's energies will be limited in the next three days, so choose your options carefully.)
>>6285390So, few questions;>How long will each mega project take to build/how many days will they take?>How long will the Spear take to build? Can it only be fired once?>What items from the Hollow Sun will continue to exist after it's fired besides the Leukocyte?>Can we place the four Void Anchors now?>Can we wait until the final day to trigger autophagic dissasembler?
>>6285407>How long will each mega project take to build/how many days will they take?(You can assume any mega-projects will be completed within a day. This may be something of an abstraction, but given the limited time-frame I feel it's not appropriate to penalize players. Note that the real bottleneck is the amount of energy available.)>How long will the Spear take to build? Can it only be fired once?(It's unlocked as soon as you purchase it. It can be fired as long as you have the energy available - It's not a superweapon in itself.) >What items from the Hollow Sun will continue to exist after it's fired besides the Leukocyte?(All of the items you've purchased, but the Hollow Sun and all the Hellions will be gone. Your Relics - and Caliban - will continue to exist.) >Can we place the four Void Anchors now?(Yes, the Sterling Industries Players and your allies can do it for you. We'll address that in a later post.) >Can we wait until the final day to trigger autophagic dissasembler?(Yes. In the interest of fairness, I'll allow a single extra Mega-Project to be built, if you have energy available on the last day.)
>>6285414- Can we get the elemental adaptor for now.- Will the Tachyon Forge and BABEL II are permanent.
>>6285423> - Can we get the elemental adaptor for now.(Yes, absolutely.)> - Will the Tachyon Forge and BABEL II are permanent.(My apologies, I misunderstood what you meant. I meant that all of the Hollow Sun's facilities will be gone after dispensing the Hellions. You'll have no access to them after the Hollow Sun itself is gone, because they're part of it.) (You get to keep all the personal-scale Relics and upgrades you've purchased, but all the infrastructure upgrades will be gone.)
>>6285425- Do we still have a vector trap or something like it? Cause we are throwing everything that can be removed, and isnt essential for out future plans into portable storage.- Also does the Hollow sun have a seed or some sort of plan we can copy, so another could be made?
>>6285425+2 for Elemental Adaptor.Right, okay, it seems like there's basically *no* point getting anything besides Relics, Relic modifications or mega projects. In that case, I think with the 80% juice we have now, minus the 25% juice, we should be able to get at *least* the Castigator Armour as an emergency big gun.I think, of the relics currently available, the ones that are most valuable areMust gets;>Elemental Adaptor: It's attack, defense and will only get better wehn we're the Red Joker again.>Auric Pinions: Again, attack, defense and it will give us the ability to fend off attacks in melee while we're using big guns as the Red Joker.Complementary and useful:Tachyon Carronade: It's an infighting weapon, highly aggressive and can also be used for an additional boost when we need it. Currently, we only have *one* shotgun weapon as well, maybe 2 if you include freezing burst, but nothing quite of this killing potential.Radiant Aegis: Our primary defense has been and always will be *movement*. The ability to make Fortress Mode able to keep up with us as we move is fucking *huge*. Neutron Laser Projector: It's just a flat upgrade to the Nova Gun and will likely benefit from upgrades from being used by the Red Joker.Argent Clavis: Would really help in melee situations but I'm not sure how much we needd that if we can just get the Auric Shroud strong enough/fused to our armour.Mystery Box:Apollyon Buster: If we get this, it could give Frost Cestus the *edge* he needs for these final fights. It will almost certainly provide a large health boost, assist our reactor problems and, maybe even in time, be able to be integrated into us like the Crisis Arm was. However, it does *not* play nicely with how the Red Joker's current fighting style goes and it's a toss up on if we could integrate it or not.Distortion Halo: I wouldn't get this for us but I think Daegal, if he gets the Distortion Halo that was on offer, would become something absolutely terrifying. I don't believe he has anything like the Incom Controller either.The Grimoire: I think this would be the key we need to a Codeburst build but it really depends on if OP would allow us to use it on the Orgel to immediately suck the Codebursts out from it. Daegel with this would be fucking insane.Skyshaper: We've no idea what it does and it's been there for the longest time-I think it might let you command or control Hellions but I'm not sure and I'm also not certain how much use it will have *after* the Hollow Sun is fired.
>>6285439>- Do we still have a vector trap or something like it? Cause we are throwing everything that can be removed, and isnt essential for out future plans into portable storage.(No. It's been sealed with Pazuzu along with the rest of your equipment, and is currently inaccessible. Your normal inventory is still accessible, however: In practice, what this means is that changing weapons that you're not physically carrying, mid-fight, will be a lot slower.)>- Also does the Hollow sun have a seed or some sort of plan we can copy, so another could be made?(No.)>>6285423>>6285536(Noted, for the Elemental Adaptor.)(Is there anything else you'd like to retrieve / do?)
Elemental Adaptor is a no-brainer.I also vote for radiant Aegis, Tachyon Carronade and maybe if we have enough energy left, the Argent Clavis for Kazuya?
>>6285789Let's gets- auric pinions- radiant aegis- Apollyon Buster- some guns
>>6285960>>6285989Guys, please, lets NOT buy all of these yet. We at least *need* the Elemental Adapter but getting everything *now* before we have a chance to see how much charge we'll make over the next few days with the extra Void Anchors set up is crazy.We need to focus on being able to kill Pazuzu and the Diadem and for that, I think we need at least two mega projects available to give us the extra juice we need. The Spear would also be *excellent* to have longterm. But spending everything now before we even know how much we will get will be *extremely* dangerous and leave us unable to plan if we only get like, 20% more charge.>>6285789OP, we will have a change to return, yes? We do not have to buy everything we need now? We can also buy Relics without having to physically be at the Sun like before, right?
>>6285999Alright- elemental adaptor only. But we have no guarantee we even come back here. Which would leave alot on the table for us
>>6285999I'm fine with just picking the Elemental Adaptor, so if people would want to build mega projects, do so.
>>6285999>OP, we will have a change to return, yes? We do not have to buy everything we need now? We can also buy Relics without having to physically be at the Sun like before, right?(Yes, to both. You can also use Kazuya's Arsenal Beacon to buy Relics and access the mass-production Hollow Sun firearms, too.)
>>6286032With this in mind, I suggest we get the *essential* Elemental Adaptor now, a full suite of Hollow Sun equipment and then leave.I would recommend we get->Force Buckler for our non-Crisis Arm hand>Neutronium Pilebunker for our Crisis Arm hand to protect the Shackle>An Ion Blaster>An Arc Gun>A Tachyon BlasterFor our Arc Gun.Similarly OP, whatever happened to the extra equipment from the Armory we took? We should still have the https://pastebin.com/C5ZkTYqY>Erdinorg>Logos>Lumen>Ensemble>Orgel>Maggot Revolvers>Maggot RiflesAs we gave those all to Daegal, correct? Can anything be done with those?
>>6286039Sorry, that should be for our two light weapon slots and our heavy weapon slot.I think the Erdinorg might be worth keeping on ourselves but Daegal should definitely take the Logos for the time being if we still have it.
>>6286032 I guess i am going to vote for the elemental adaptor then. And we save the rest
>>6286040Might be worthwhile equipping the Tesseract Field Generator as we don't have the Exothermic Firld Generator for now.
I'm currently reading through the archives, I am currently up to thread 19. So any new votes are probably from me
(Gentlemen, my apologies for the long delay - I had a patch of trouble over the weekend.)>>6286039(While your Vector Trap is currently inaccessible, it can safely be assumed that Kazuya has access to these items, given how you took as many as you could carry.)>Right, okay, it seems like there's basically *no* point getting anything besides Relics, Relic modifications or mega projects. In that case, I think with the 80% juice we have now, minus the 25% juice, we should be able to get at *least* the Castigator Armour as an emergency big gun.(Note that in addition to the 80% Energy available, you also have the 120% for Megaprojects only from the Tachyon Condenser Cell, as well as a one-shot 70% Energy from the Autophagic Disassembler. In the interest of moving things along, I’ll go with the options below.)>>6285536>>6285960>>6285989>>6285999>>6286003>>6286031With the brittle bang of apportation, the world unfurls. The casket materialises less than a foot above the walkway. It lands with a weighty thump, your actuators humming as you kneel - Wisps of vapor rising from the inert metal, panels retracting to reveal the Elemental Adaptor.It’s a deceptively simple thing. Little more than a matte-black rectangle, exactly the size of a playing card but slightly thicker. The surface is smooth, almost glossy, yet beneath the finish is a faint shimmer like veins of mercury. Held in the light, intricate filigree patterns - like slivers of circuitry - become visible for a moment before rearranging themselves, never repeating the same pattern twice. When you place it against the Crisis Arm, the edges hum faintly, with a subsonic vibration you feel more than hear; gleaming silver filaments fanning out, propagating-The temperature drops, as a haze of freezing air swirls around your gauntlet’s crushing talons. They clench and unclench, a reverse-bloom; it takes you a moment to adjust, as tiny gears roll in your knuckles, testing the minute flexion of myomer sinews.“Extraordinary,” Divider says, watching with insect patience. You sense he’s about to say more, but Axiom’s hand rests - just for a moment - on his shoulder. “-Hmnph,” he mutters, but takes the hint. The guns come next. You lock them in place, at each fixed mount - The Arc Gun on your left, the Ion Blaster on your right, the telltales glowing green. At your nod, Daegal tosses you the Edinorog; the alien curves of the unhuman weapon framing the central spike, gleaming the color of old ivory.You sense that he’s about to suggest alternatives, to volunteer the hell-forged arsenal you looted from the armories of the Black; Some impulse, some sense of instinctive and deep-rooted wariness, keeps him quiet. (Continued)
>>6289217Compared to that, the Force Buckler is almost elegant in its simplicity. You mount the projector on your brachial superstructure, testing the function - engaged, the targe projects a disc of shield energy above the back of your left hand and forearm, shimmering like a slice of sky. The Pile Bunker is the last, and heaviest. Even with integrated suspensors, it’s heavy; an oversized, solid cylinder with a spike on one end, mounted on an industrial-scale glove that dwarves your own. You make to lock it in place-There’s a sour chirp of incompatibility, as systems fail to make the connection. For the Shackle is already in the way. Trivalent’s nightmare contraption - hair-fine and flexible needles piercing into the substrata of your frame, infiltrating the nerve-analogues below - leaves no room for anything else. It lets your dead arm move, provides the simulacra of animation, allows for a certain range of motion…But it’s a bulky, jury-rigged device, one that precludes further installation. “Is something-” Tyrian Edge begins, before he catches himself. Because he knows. Because even he can tell - at a glance - that it isn’t all right. That you may be back, but things might never be quite the same as before.Kazuya clears his throat, with a faint scrape of intricate mechanisms. His hand, the one stripped bare of orichalcum, twitches once, half-concealed beneath his Mirage Shroud.“We’ll find a way to fix this,” he says, a little awkwardly. Like he’s unsure what to do, as the doleful chime of a failed connection sounds again. “-We will, won’t we?” “About that,” Trivalent says, hurrying to fill the lapse. “As it happens, Sterling Industries has made substantial progress when it comes to elective prostheses. Marvelous things, really; While they're still at a trial stage, the early tests have been quite promising, especially when it comes to Players."His fingers - long, with too many joints - fidget, segments sliding and folding upon themselves. "We're not quite sure why, but the prevailing theory is that some, ah, lingering connection between one's infraspace chassis and realspace form allows for faster adaptation to a hypothetical replacement. In a way, they're directly analogous, after all-" >ENERGY: 55%[ ] "Does it involve amputation?"[ ] "What are the side-effects?"[ ] "How long does it take to adjust?"[ ] "Thanks, but I'll manage." [ ] (To Axiom) "Is he like this all the time?"YOU HAVE CONTROL
>>6289229(My apologies, I missed out on the following option: >[ ] FreeUnfortunately, you're unable to equip the Pile Bunker on your right arm.)
>>6289229Can we not even equip a force buckler there? Shit.>Does it involve amputation?>What are the side effects?>How long does it take to adjust?>Shouldn't you be focusing on making sure the Hollow Sun van support your Meridian Towers plan?
>>6289229>[ x] "What are the side-effects?">[ x] "How long does it take to adjust?".>[X ] (To Axiom) "Is he like this all the time?"> [x] Free: i look at daegal and i point at the pule driver and the shackle."think you can work that magic on these two? Merge them or whatever?" Internally i want to scream. I have felt some trapped so stymied by the course of events. *will I ever be what i once was again?*
>>6289231Well shit, that's not good.I vote we get the Carronade as a sidearm instead of the Hollow Sun guns, which seem fairly weak.At the very least take a Maggot Revolver or the Lucid Blade instead.
>>6289229>Does it involve amputation?">What are the side-effects?">How long does it take to adjust?>Shouldn't you be focused on integrating the Hollow Sun into the Meridian Tower plan?
>>6289241I'd agree with this.>>6289229OP can we take Erdinorg and Lucid Blade as well? Prioritise slotting Relics over Hollow Sun equipment.
>>6289234(You can still use the Crisis Arm, at least.)>>6289260>OP can we take Erdinorg and Lucid Blade as well? Prioritise slotting Relics over Hollow Sun equipment.(Noted, I’ve added both items to the sheet.)The Tachyon Carronade feels disturbingly warm in your grasp, like a hot-blooded organism or an unstable element constantly emitting low-level radiation. It is surprisingly light, for such a brutal-looking weapon; all the weight is in the neutronium-reinforced barrel, filament photonics shimmering faintly in the stock. You holster the antique-seeming weapon, the Lucid Blade on your other hip. On some level, you wonder - Will it be enough?>[X] (To Axiom) "Is he like this all the time?"“He can be…eccentric,” Axiom says, slowly. Then, like a belated vote of confidence - “He’s still the best artificer we have. Of that, you can be sure.”“Ha. High praise, coming from you. Given the circumstances, can you truly begrudge my enthusiasm? We’re pushing the boundaries of human knowledge, as it is; the novelty alone was sufficient to bring me on-board. Mr. Ebara may have considered it more art than science, but he saw the possibilities.”>[X] Does it involve amputation?He hesitates. Too long. “Well, as it happens-”“-Knew it,” Volt Regios growls. A single line of blue light flickers, deep within his visor. “You’re going to let him cut your arm off?” Tyrian sounds queasy - sickened, even - by the prospect. “I mean - Joker, it’s your entire arm...”“It’s not like he can use it, can he? I must say, you’re being remarkably close-minded. Given a choice between a crippled limb and one that could be put to use, I would favor function over irrational attachment.”>[X] What are the side effects?“Other than the expected sequelae, such as osseous remodeling and localized pressure ulceration, you mean? There is a recurring incidence of phantom limb pain, which remains within anticipated parameters. Mind you, routine maintenance and care have been very effective in minimizing inflammation at the neuromuscular interface; however, there’s the issue of neuroplastic adaptation, the long-term implications of which are still under investigation.”“What does that-” Tyrian says, a little uncertainly. “‘Neuroplast-’”“I’m referring specifically to motor control. There may be a transient impact on fine motor coordination in the contralateral and adjacent limbs, but I am confident that targeted rehabilitation can mitigate this, along with any disturbances to body schema representation. Overall, your friend’s prognosis is favorable - excellent, in fact - provided he adheres consistently to the prescribed therapeutic regimen.”(Continued)
>>6289659“I’m referring specifically to motor control. There may be a transient impact on fine motor coordination in the contra-lateral and adjacent limbs, but I am confident that targeted rehabilitation can mitigate this, along with any disturbances to body schema representation. Overall, your friend’s prognosis is favorable - excellent, in fact - provided he adheres consistently to the prescribed therapeutic regimen.”>[X] “How long does it take to adjust?”“For basic, daily use? Six months, minimum - Not counting recovery from the surgery, of course. Full control with fine motor skills could take between twelve to eighteen months, given the current rate of development. Reflexive, unconscious integration would likely require anywhere between two to three years-”“Jesus,” Kazuya says, appalled and a little impressed. “Are you serious?”“Oh, I’ve never been much of a comedian. What did you expect? It’ll take some time before he can tie his shoes without thinking, if that’s what you mean.”“We’re not cutting his arm off,” Volt Regios says, sharply. “Not until this is over.”“So,” Tyrian says. “So we have everything - and nothing.” A kind of silence gathers, for a moment. >[X] Shouldn't you be focused on integrating the Hollow Sun into the Meridian Tower plan?“I have to say, Joker - You don’t mind me calling you ‘Joker’, do you? Despite your reduced circumstances, it feels appropriate - it’s refreshing to meet an inquiring mind. I’m not surprised that Argent favored you, though you did drive poor Armaros to distraction.”Axiom stirs, slightly, at his words. You can sense the quiet tension that coils within him.“We considered that possibility, yet. But incorporating the project into the Hollow Sun’s infrastructure proved to be a…daunting undertaking. To put it bluntly, we weren’t sure where to begin, or even if the functionalities were related.”Divider shrugs, to a whirr-click. “Besides, our task consumed the majority of our focus - Ultimately, we decided to proceed along the established trajectory, where the parameters and outcomes were well understood, rather than diverting resources toward…ahem...integrating unfamiliar and unverified components that could jeopardize the timeline.”“Except me,” Kazuya says. Quietly, but there’s steel in his voice. Trivalent sniffs, at that. “-Well, some allowances must be made. One must keep an open mind, after all. But we can hardly build castles in the air, can we?”“Enough,” Fulgurite says, abruptly. “We’re wasting time.”He raises a hand. Pulls, as if drawing back a curtain-And just like that, the world shivers apart. (Continued)
>>6289660Reality snaps back into focus, and the shock of it hits all at once.Everything aches. You can feel it in your bones, in your teeth, in the dust that coats the back of your throat. Only your right arm - hanging dead in its sling - doesn’t hurt.It barely feels like it’s part of you, at all.Things aren’t much better, from this side. The sky is a shade of dull, filthy red, dust particles carried on the moaning wind. The streets, wending their way through the urban desolation, are nearly empty; only a few figures hurry along, masked and furtive, as if afraid of what’s coming. “I’ll get the car,” Eita says. He sounds weary, like the transit has sucked all the life out of him.“Ah, well - A most fruitful venture, I thought.” In contrast, Kugai is almost unaffected; there’s something inherently indefatigable about him, as he adjusts the red glove around his artificial hand.He catches you looking, still smiling that lopsided grin of his. Smiles, as if to say: It isn’t so bad.You can get used to anything. In time.–With six people, the company car might be a little cramped, but it’s a welcome relief from the ominous, brooding atmosphere outside. Eita drives the way he does everything: With exacting care, like he’s expecting an ambush or a roadside bomb. Eyes straight ahead, steering wheel gripped in both fists, shoulders taut with tension. On the radio-“…In the Twenty-Sixth Ward at approximately 01:25 last night, the Halcyon Tower experienced a total structural failure. The thirty-storey building, unused for five years due to unresolved safety violations, collapsed in a vertical manner consistent with a complete loss of load-bearing integrity.You hear Kazuya’s breath catch, sharply - Sharp enough for Ritsu to give him a concerned look. “Preliminary analysis from the Fire and Disaster Management Agency indicates no concurrent seismic or meteorological events at the time of collapse. Structural engineering specialists on site have not yet identified a definitive initiating factor.” “The structure was known to be frequented by non-residential occupants, including transient individuals and members of delinquent youth groups. Search-and-recovery operations remain ongoing.”Outside, the dust-choked streets roll past. (Continued)
>>6289679“As of 22:00, twenty-three confirmed fatalities have been recorded. The number is expected to increase as access to deeper sections of the debris field becomes possible. Certain areas remain restricted due to the presence of unstable rubble and secondary collapse hazards.”“Jesus,” Kazuya says, softly. His hands have clenched into fists, so hard his knuckles have gone white. He’d burrow beneath the seats, if he could. “This disaster follows only weeks after the fatal incident at the Reien Academy in the Nineteenth Ward, where a sudden detonation - currently treated as a suspected terrorist act - resulted in mass casualties among the student body. Authorities have stated that there is ‘no presently established link’ between the two events, though both remain the subject of active, high-priority investigation.”The car comes to a stop, at a traffic light. It glows red, red, then red again.“Metropolitan Police request that anyone with information regarding individuals who may have been present in Halcyon Tower at the time of failure contact the Precinct immediately. Further updates will be issued as additional data is verified-”A brief fuzz of static.“…Service disruptions on the Marunouchi and Chiyoda Lines have entered their second day as emergency crews continue operations in flooded tunnel sections. Officials confirm that water levels have risen overnight despite continuous pumping efforts, and the reddish discoloration reported yesterday persists without clarification from laboratory analysis.”“Hey, isn’t that-” Ritsu begins, twisting in his seat to look over at you. “Those tunnels, weren’t they…?”“Two additional members of the recovery team failed to check in during scheduled communications early this morning. Their last known position was within a restricted tunnel segment where signal reception had been intermittent. This raises the total number of missing personnel to five. A Metro official, speaking on condition of anonymity, stated that certain contracted workers have refused further underground entry, citing ‘unfamiliar animal activity’ and ‘unexplained mechanical failures’ of safety equipment. The Metropolitan Police have reiterated that no confirmed sightings of large fauna have been documented.”“-It’s getting bad down there, too,” Shion says, low. Her brow furrows, ever-so-slightly.“The Public Safety Bureau representatives maintain that there is ‘no substantiated biological hazard,’ but have acknowledged that containment of the incident now involves multiple agencies. Commuters are advised to expect prolonged service interruptions and to avoid unauthorized access to the affected areas-”(Continued)
>>6289685"If only they knew," Kugai says, half to himself. He fiddles with the radio, turning the knob. "If you think about it - In a way, they're the lucky ones. For some, ignorance really is bliss, isn't it?"[ ] "Turn that off."[ ] "...How long has this been happening?"[ ] "Kaz, it's not your fault."[ ] "You don't seem particularly troubled by it."[ ] "Ritsu, what do you mean?" [ ] FreeYOU HAVE CONTROL
>>6289679Damn. Shame they can't integrate the Hollow Sun into their plan now.Just to be clear OP, they'll place the Void Anchors for us?Okay so. It sounds like the Original Hive is having issues, again. Somewhat to be expected; we'd always known it could grow back. If there was a way to feed the Hollow Skin at scale, we could just shove all those bastards into it.>Kaz, it's not your fault. You didn't make them do it.>Ritsu, what do you mean? It's where we did the Raid?We should also try to use the Dirac II to alert our former associates we have returned. I'm not sure any of them will come back, but it could be worthwhile.
>>6289689[ x] "...How long has this been happening?"[X ] "Kaz, it's not your fault.""[X ] "Ritsu, what do you mean?"
>>6289689[X] "...How long has this been happening?"[X ] "Kaz, it's not your fault.""[X ] "Ritsu, what do you mean?
>>6289689Holy shit I've been coming back here every couple months in the vain hope you'd return and now you've actually done it. threw me for a loop. It's good to see you back.[X] "Turn that off."[X] "Kaz, it's not your fault."[X] "Ritsu, what do you mean?"
>>6289689>[x] Free - Heave a long drawn out sigh. >[x] How long? More importantly, how far back does this go? Also. Welcome back JQOP.
>>6289744>Just to be clear OP, they'll place the Void Anchors for us?(Yes.)>>6290234>>6290317>>6293103>>6294074>[X] "Turn that off."“Well, I don’t see wh-”With an impatient grunt, Eita does it for him.At last - for a while, at least - silence descends.>[X] "Kaz, it's not your fault."“...Yeah,” Kazuya says, tightly. One word: He’s hunched down in the seat, his brow furrowed. Whatever he’s been through, the experience must have been absolutely harrowing.“-Yeah.”You see Shion give him a swift, sidelong glance - a deeply concerned one - before she looks away, tight-lipped. She rests her chin on her upturned palm; against the sickly light of the dust-smeared day, her profile is thrown into sharp relief. For a moment, Eita takes his eyes off the road, regarding Kazuya in the rear-view mirror. “You did what you had to do,” he says, and it’s clear he’s being as kind as he can. “If you didn’t, all this would already be over. Don’t blame yourself; blame the bastard who made you do it.”“Ah, displacement,” Kugai says, his voice as dry as chalk. “An interesting strategy.”“Kugai-” Eita begins, warningly.“The boy’s not stupid. He deserves the truth - It never gets easier. You just get…accustomed. Like a limp, or a missing hand.” The fingers of his artificial hand flex, as if in punctuation. “Look at our former Joker. He understands…Don’t you?”>[x] How long? More importantly, how far back does this go? “Ever since…I suppose you can guess,” Kugai says. “They’re calling it the second Incursion now, you know. In the grand scheme of things, five years really is no time at all.” He shrugs, negligently - Either uncaring or oblivious at the way Shion’s eagle-sharp gaze is boring into him. “The repercussions of this - I wonder if the social fabric will survive? It was already fraying, before; the ripples will affect the collective psyche for the next decade or so, I don’t doubt.” Kugai smiles, thin-lipped. “I think…We may all go a little mad after this. Then again, sanity has always been statistical.”"...You really do love the sound of your own voice," Shion murmurs, under her breath.(Continued)
>>6295623“Wretched girl,” Kugai says, though he doesn’t sound offended. “You’ll only have to tolerate me a little longer, either way; did you know that every single vessel that’s dared leave the harbor has failed to return? Fishing boats, freighters, even the coast guard. Gone, as if the sea itself swallowed them whole.”He lowers his voice, like he’s sharing a clever secret. “Every flight into and out of the city has been grounded, too. All of them - Not by any government order, mind you, but because the distortion refuses to abate. It’s as if the sky itself has closed its gates.”Ritsu stares at him, frowning. “So we’re trapped,” he says, and you can hear the unease in his voice, his fingers tugging at his shirt's collar.“Precisely!” Kugai says, with a self-satisfied little clap of his hands. “You see, I’m not just droning on for my own amusement. I’m delivering context. What is a prison without its bars? What is a labyrinth without its walls? Here, we have both; Until the drama is over, this city and everyone in it has been served up on a platter…Or the altar, perhaps. Just waiting for the knife.” His eyes glitter, fixedly. “In a situation like this, why restrain oneself? What’s left to lose? Our world has shrunk to the size of this city. A perfectly contained experiment. You should be grateful I’m narrating it for you.”She gives him a flat look. “You’re not narrating. You’re just enjoying the sound of yourself panicking in slow motion.”Against all odds, Kazuya chuckles at that. It’s not much - just a dry rasp of amusement - but it brings some of the color back to his face.“-You really are an insolent child,” Kugai murmurs, but he shuts up. Apparently, that one cut deeper than he expected.>[X] Ritsu, what do you mean? It's where we did the Raid?Ritsu blinks, as if surprised. From the faint sheen of sweat on his increasingly drawn face, you can tell he’s grateful for the change in the topic.“No - I mean, yes, but…”He leans towards you. His voice softer, now, as if afraid he’ll be overheard.“-I was talking about the other thing. You know…Imago.”You remember. The withered old horror, in his shambling fortress of black iron. The unnameable, reeking things that gathered in the shadows around him - as if in homage to the wizened, bitter old wraith in its reeking tomb.VECTOR GEIST was his prisoner, briefly, and was never quite the same afterward.Imago asked you to kill Rust Kaiser, back that. In a way, you suppose, his last, spiteful wish has come true. “I’m surprised you didn’t kill him,” Shion says quietly, but her eyes are steady. “From what I heard, it sounds like you should have.”(Continued)
>>6295633You wonder what Haze might say about that.Then you remember what happened to Distortion Haze. Kazuya glances over at you. He doesn't say anything, but you can see his thoughts in his eyes: That all this reminds him, too much, of the Nameless City and all that it held. Some things never truly go away. The car rolls to a halt at the intersection, brakes sighing against the silence. The traffic light ahead still clung to life, though barely - the lens clouded with grit, its glow bleeding weakly through the dust-haze.Through the window, the city looms. Strange graffiti creeps along the mottled walls of the hollowed-out buildings on each side, sprayed in jagged, uneven strokes; Less like words, and more like warnings. Prayers, maybe. Written by someone who had forgotten how to write. Briefly, you see a figure in the middle of the road, framed by the faint light of the day. Just a silhouette in a tattered black coat, the hem moving slightly in the dead air. There’s the impression of a pale face, indistinct at this distance, swallowed by the hood’s shadow.Watching, maybe.The longer you look, the less sure you are that there’s anything there at all. [ ] "I was planning on visiting him. He owes me."[ ] "He's someone else's problem now."[ ] "At this point, I’ve already got enough enemies."[ ] "-You may be right." [ ] "There's something up ahead."[ ] Look more closely at the graffiti. YOU HAVE CONTROL
>>6295638[x] "I was planning on visiting him. He owes me. The fact is, after Pazuzu we're going to have to deal with the White Joker; Imago was the one who helped him perform his surgery to integrate Lachryma. He's one of the few *leads* we have on what Naoya's doing besides Vertigo Trisagon. If he has nothing to offer, then we'll just have to kill him regardless and take what we can from his lab.[x] "There's something up ahead."[x] Look more closely at the graffiti. See if it's reminescent of anything we saw at the Smiler Arcade, the Orphanage or Vertigo Trisagon's theater she invited us to.
>>6295644Oh, in addition."I know Geist will be a hard sell given how he tried to run and his longterm issues with Sterling Industires but what about Silver Cross? Bishamon? Is there anyone else we think we can recruit over the next few days? Some of the newly made players who'd survived the attack on the Diadem, or some other allies we can draw off of?""Might be worth it to look into the White Joker, Naoya's civilian life as well. We need to find *where* he hung around in the Real and if it correlates to somewhere in the Red. Pazuzu, we have the Hollow Sun and can recruit people to fight against and we have the Manifold Towers to stop."I think we might be able to swing Silver Cross but Geist... He ran, he wants to escape, he already is pissed at Joker and he killed some of Amane's friends. Still. We have to *try* right now.
>>6295638>[x] "I was planning on visiting him. He owes me.>[x] "There's something up ahead.">[x] Look more closely at the graffiti. > [x] Write In I know there isn't a write in but dammit i think we need to TRANSFORM right now!!
>>6295644>>6295651>>6295712>[x] "I was planning on visiting him. He owes me.”>[x] “The fact is, after Pazuzu we're going to have to deal with the White Joker; Imago was the one who helped him perform his surgery to integrate Lachryma. He's one of the few *leads* we have on what Naoya's doing besides Vertigo Trisagon. If he has nothing to offer, then we'll just have to kill him regardless and take what we can from his lab.”“Ambitious,” Kugai murmurs, the mechanisms of his artificial hand clicking as they grind together. “You truly are relentless, aren’t you? I’m beginning to see why you’ve accomplished so much in such a brief span of time.”He looks out of the window, eyeing the desolate cityscape.You can’t tell if that’s a backhanded compliment or not.Uncomfortable, Ritsu shifts in his seat. In the perpetual red twilight, his face is a pale, almost chalky white.“Just like that?” he says, sounding more than a little troubled. “I…Anon, I don’t think he’s going to be happy to see you. I mean-”“He can join the club,” Kazuya says, under his breath. “If we have to go through him, we will.”He sounds tired, but there’s iron in his voice. And something else, unsaid: At least it’s someone who has it coming.>"I know Geist will be a hard sell given how he tried to run and his long term issues with Sterling Industries but what about Silver Cross? Bishamon? Is there anyone else we think we can recruit over the next few days? Some of the newly made players who'd survived the attack on the Diadem, or some other allies we can draw off of?"Shion winces, lightly, at the mention of Bishamon. You see her trade a swift, guarded glance with Ritsu - the kind that speaks volumes.(Continued)
>>6297231“We…haven’t heard from him,” Shion says. There’s a note of genuine worry in her voice, carefully veiled. She bites her lip, her brow furrowing. “Not since-”Not since that final, catastrophic duel. If Koichi is still alive, you suspect that he hasn’t forgiven you. You don’t think he will, ever. “‘Hard sell’ is putting it mildly,” Ritsu says, like an unhappy bearer of bad news. “I know Geist made it out, but he’s not taking any calls-”“In this?” Shion says, with a sniff. “He’s gone to ground, just like the others.” She folds her arms over her chest, an edge of scorn to her words. “He made it out, all right. But that’s the last we’ve heard of him - Not like that’s uncommon, these days. Anyone who can find somewhere to hide is doing exactly that.”“More fool them,” Kugai says, with a sniff. “I doubt mere concealment will be sufficient, at this juncture. It’s prey instinct, nothing more; Hoping that the disaster will pass them is…optimistic. Delusional, even.”Eita makes a low sound, deep in his throat. An unhappy grunt.“Cross is…indisposed,” he says, tightly. “His squad is-”“What my taciturn friend means is: After the loss of Armaros and most of his squad, we face quite the dilemma. Our top priority is ensuring the Manifold Network remains under our control - A feat we’ve accomplished, but our grasp grows increasingly tenuous by the day. The storm inflicted a not-insignificant amount of damage on our bastion: Fortunately, a certain level of redundancy was included in the system, to allow us to serve as a…stopgap measure, if you will.” “Kugai-”“Come on now. If there ever was a time for full disclosure, this is it. Yes, there are new Players, but most are beyond our remit; Many, I think, are happy to believe that their experiences were some kind of induced delusion. Others - the cannier, more useful ones - have fled into the city’s depths, seeking shelter or succor. Though I doubt they’ll find either.”A welter of emotions pass across Kazuya’s face, as he reaches up to rub at his eyes.“So we’re up shit creek,” he says.“-Not quite. You’ll be happy to learn that the Seisin High survivors are with us. The majority of them, at least; Most aren’t combatants, not in any sense of the word, but their analytical abilities have produced…remarkable insights. I’ve set them to reviewing the data your counterpart provided - Under supervision, of course. It’s been illuminating: Normally, I’d be loath to involve outsiders, but at this juncture it seemed wise to utilize every resource available.” Shion’s lips set in a thin line, her eyes glinting with thinly-veiled contempt.“Imagine if they’d come clean earlier,” she says, low. “Maybe all this could have been avoided-”(Continued)
>>6297235“They’d have been killed,” Eita says, bluntly. “-It was their isolation that kept them protected. They were lucky they lasted as long as they did.” For a moment, you think Shion might dispute that - Kazuya looks like he’s about to say something - but the bitterness in Eita’s voice dissuades them.“Ah,” Kugai says. “You’ll have to forgive my friend - His long quarantine didn’t sit well with him.”“His…I don’t understand,” Ritsu says, a little plaintively. “What does that m-”“Eita - or Axiom, rather - is an essential component of the Bastion’s function,” Kugai says, with a faintly lecturing air. “His ability to generate vast quantities of energy have kept him from the field. Simply put, certain defensive measures - which were instrumental in seeing out the storm, mind you - require his personal attention.”For once, he looks entirely serious. “Having him relegated to escort duties…It should impress upon you how important you are, Mr. Kazuya.”“-Huh.” Kazuya seems to turn this over in his mind, for a while. “You know, I don’t think Natsumi ever mentioned you,” he says, at last. Carefully, like he’s probing. Eita eyes him in the rear-view mirror, but says nothing.>[X] "There's something up ahead.">[x] Write In I know there isn't a write in but dammit i think we need to TRANSFORM right now!“Really? Where is-”You focus. You are tired, more tired than you might have expected. Your arm is a dead weight at your side, as unfeeling as a slab of meat. The edges of your mind feel raw, abraded away by the trials of the never-ending day.But the Red is close. Closer now, than it has ever been.You close your eyes and let it well up, as the close, confined air of the car becomes something else entirely.(Continued)
>>6297243STAGE: DISAnd for a moment-Just a moment-You don’t know where you are.You stand at the crosswalk, outside yourself. There's a moment of disorientation, at how similar it is to the waking world - as one bleeds into the other, the differences between the two have become increasingly fine.And you are not alone.There was a battle here, not long ago. The ground is slick with Corrector blood; Limbs off, heads removed, bodies slumped. Goggleeyes and gaping mouths, like fish.An endless profusion of gutted forms, entrails strewn underfoot. Suppurating flesh, slowly dissolving; their fluids a swirling galaxy of red and cyan running together. And in the middle of the carnage-The figure before you is very tall, very pale. For an instant, the grave, white-furred form - adorned with hooks and spines - could be mistaken for an upright-walking Corrector...Until something clicks. It's a pelt.A pelt, blood-stained, pulled over a long-limbed, drawn form - translucent plating pulled taut over myomer musculature, like a flayed figure. VELVET ISOMERIt - she, for that form is surely feminine - lifts her head, gore running down the curving talons that extend from both wrists.You glimpse the impressions of a mouth, within a moth's death-head. "Well, Joker?" Isomer says, the sound a buzzing hum. Like the stridulation of insects, or a billion bugs clattering their wing-cases in the darkness.Blood, dark and matted, stands out against the surface of the white mantle."What gift have you brought me?" HP: 110.0%AURIC SHROUD: 100%METER: 0% SHACKLE ENABLEDYOU HAVE CONTROL
>>6297248(Gentlemen, unfortunately I must pause here for now, but I'll see you again next time.)
>>6297248OK, next time, can we please not *prematurely transform* while we're still trying to get fucking information? It *never* works out well, for fuck sakes. Christ, every god damn time. It wouldn't even help if this was an ambush because if it was we'd have been pulled into the Red by everyone else at once.Okay, we're in Dis, the most basic stage there is. The only other name that I can think that ever had Velvet was Velvet Drossel, but that doesn't mean squat as names aren't always maintained. They know we're the Red Joker, so either that's something you can tell through the *rune* that Pazuzu put on us or else they're a Smiler. To that end, what I'd suggest>Pull out the Tachyon Carronade, don't aim it at her until she tries to attack.>Say "Do I know you and was that you I saw in the Real? Hard to give someone a gift when you don't know what they like, isn't it?"We're too weak to start fights willy nilly right now and we don't know *shit* about her. She might be an agent of Vertigo Trisagon, come to see us, she might be someone we've met before or she might be a Smiler but it does *not* suit us to go guns blazing yet. Her having killed *Correctors* is at least some indication she isn't a Smiler; they can command or exploit them at this point.
>>6297248Can we give her the Grimoire or the Lucid Blade? I vote the Grimoire since we've never been big on codebursts. Or, give her one of the Black weapons?
>>6298608Why the fuck do you want to give her one of our Relics? We don't even *know* what she wants or if she's an ally?The fucking *Lucid Blade*? Seriously? Also, we don't have the Grimoire.
>>6298608Terrible idea, lucid blade is insane we gotta keep kt
Bumping
>>6297446The iron spires of DIS rise around you, like rusty talons clawing wearily at the sky. Overhead, a bolt of yellow lightning flickers, against the underside of the dust-clouds; the beginnings of the rotation that threatens a storm, perhaps.The burst and ruptured corpses of Correctors sprawl on all sides. Even for this stage, they’re wretched, misshapen things - arms that end in flapping tentacles, in snapping claws, in groups of hands, around legs that end in hooves, in thin wiry tendrils, in vast splaying roots of flesh, in circular pods with a hundred toes waving in some unknowable pattern, around necks topped with overgrown baby heads, with ape-heads, heads with lizard skin, with eight arachnid eyes, with fractal insect eyes, necks topped by skulls crushed and whole. An impossible number of creatures, with impossible forms. You suspect it’s the storm that drew that forth. Or perhaps it was something more primordial, a search for some wrongness to tear apart, some nameless hunger that couldn’t be sated; whatever it was, they have must surging out of the city’s depths howling and baying, driven into a frenzy by the fundamental wrongness of the world-Only to be slaughtered in their multitudes. >Pull out the Tachyon Carronade, don't aim it at her until she tries to attack.The Carronade all but leaps into your hands. You can feel the phantom warmth of it against your gauntlet, as you steady the antique weapon. Volatics writhe and crackle around the muzzle, as if roused.But you keep the hefty gun’s barrel lowered.For now. >"Do I know you and was that you I saw in the Real? Hard to give someone a gift when you don't know what they like, isn't it?"For a moment, there’s just the drip-drip-drip of blood - fresh blood - spattering the lightless road below. An overhead light seems to flicker, weakly, keeping time with each drop of gore that sloughs from that white pelt.There’s that buzzing sound again. VELVET ISOMER’s shoulders tremble, long antennae swaying gently: You realize, then, that she’s laughing.Her footfalls make no sound, leaving no ripple in the pooling ichor beneath as she steps forward. Slowly, like she has all the time in the world.Forty feet. Thirty. Twenty.“Oh, we have a mutual acquaintance,” she says. Then, almost tauntingly - “More than one, in fact.”Isomer’s pace slows. Inching forward, one feather-light step at a time; almost inviting you to open fire. With the Argus System locked away, your sensors aren’t as keen as they were before: Still, as your targeting optic focuses - targeting brackets taking form in silent anticipation - a preliminary analysis emerges.Light armor. No apparent weapons except those claws. But there is a staticky distortion around that swirling pelt, a kind of white noise that refuses to resolve into coherence. (Continued)
>>6301573"We were meant to meet at the Guignol," Isomer says, in a voice like the clattering of wing-cases. “-But I had to see for myself, first.”She reaches out, with a flayed hand. The motion is graceful, courtly even, like a dancer's arc. There are too many joints to her clawed fingers, elegant in their impossibility.The talons at their ends do not end at all. They narrow and narrow, finer than needles, finer than hair, tapering into a vanishing point that seems to stretch forever. When she moves them, the air keens as if cut.“The face of the one who sacrificed everything for love.”This seems inordinately amusing to her, and Isomer titters to herself - briefly - in that voice that is all voices and none at once. Her head tilts, moth-antennae quivering, as if savoring the irony in the very scent of you.“How grand - How intoxicating, even. Oh, Utopia would never understand...But I do. I do.”Utopia Ruler. She knows Utopia Ruler. Her talons interlace, claw scraping against claw, the sound drawn out into a high, keening note that lingers for far longer than it should.And as it hangs there, you feel it: You're being watched. Someone else is out there. Velvet Isomer didn't do this - not alone, at least."Tell me-" Her voice drops now, thick and close. More intimate. "...was it worth it? Does she mean that much to you? I must know."Velvet Isomer's moth-wings stir. They tremble in subtle pulses, powdery surfaces rasping against one another. Each beat breathes a sound not unlike the hiss of silk tearing, not unlike the whisper of dry leaves crushed beneath unseen feet. The cadence is an actively disquieting one: A rhythm of anticipation, or perhaps hunger.>[ ] FreeHP: 110.0%AURIC SHROUD: 100%METER: 0%SHACKLE ENABLEDYOU HAVE CONTROL
>>6301578"Ah, I'd presumed it was Vertigo Trisagon who invited me to the Grand Guignol. Then again, wouldn't be surprised if Utopia knew her.""Was it worth it? Yes. She was there from the beginning, despite everything. It'll be just as worth it when I kill Pazuzu. When I kill the White Joker. When I save Mio as well."
>>6301578> i stiffen at her words *was it worth it*. I think for a moment. "Ask me that question once we come out the other end of all this . Until then my mind is focused on making sure we all live long enough to worry about the consequences of our actions." I look at her dead on, if i had any doubts they are hidden behind my resolve. "You know Utopian Ruler? What's his angle on all this?"
HOLY SHIT HOW THE FUCK DID I EVEN HIT THIS THREAD.This is the first time I've visited 4chan in years.What the fuck.Anyway, time to read what's going on here.
>>6301578Considering her name, I assume that the pelt can change shape. Probably something like the Assault Shroud.Combined with her claws, she's probably the agile type.The one listening is probably Utopia Ruler. Collecting information is his thing, after all.Or it's Hecate."A Joker can be a harlequin. And like in a harlequine romance, I'm relentlessly in love with my heroine.And you people should know by now how relentless I can be.Do I need to put my sights on you?"Man, I wish we could at least dramatically load a cartridge or something.
>>6304087We should assume any and all of this might go back to the White Joker and be used to break Mio. I would be careful at the tone we use.
>>6304485Well then...Let's circle around the area while inspecting the dead Correctors and talking.[Spoiler]Use this as an attempt at masking our search for other entities or traps in the arena. Anything that's clearly out of place. We've got centuries of experience with these weak sensors, let's apply them. Also, keep some distance to her. I do not like the implications of her approach.[/Spoiler]"I appreciate the handywork. Efficient, ruthless... But lacking in struggle.Not my type of woman.My type struggles. She fights. Even when the odds seem impossible. Even when she can seemingly do nothing.That's how I know that she can be saved. This determination proves her worth."I hope this can double as both an endorsement of Hecate and a message for Mio to not give up.
