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The thin layer of snow and ice crunches as you step on to the stone bridge. Immediately, you feel the weight of everyone’s gazes vanish as you start to formulate your plan. The rifle’s effective range is where the bodies end on my side. Could it be because it accounts for the charge time or was the shot precharged before the first death happened? You think as the bodies slowly inch closer with every step.A base charge rate is roughly 5 seconds to hit max damage with breakpoints at 1, 3, 5 seconds. It could have been modified for a faster shot but the bodies don’t seem to reflect that. You continue to mentally note as the corpses become clearer to you. Most of them were piled in the middle with several scattered on opposite ends of the kill zone. You didn’t let yourself think about the possibility that the bodies were moved to try and trick something thinking the very same thing you were thinking. A cold breeze causes your cloak to flutter around you but the material it’s made of keeps the chill out. You resist the urge to adjust your hood. You wanted to appear mysterious, maybe even inconsequential, and not give away that you were focusing your gaze on your chest as you walked.

You step over the first body and your ears strain to hear the sound of a gunshot. Charge rifle shots didn’t have the same velocity as normal rifle rounds but they weren’t sub-sonic. Even knowing this, you still instinctively held on to the false hope that you could hear the shot before it hit. You step over the second body and note that many of the bodies were still wearing good looking pieces of weapons and armor. Things you’d think that players would immediately go after. Some of the bodies didn’t even seem touched. You frown but immediately put aside your ideas as you notice a faint little blue dot appear on your red cloak. Your heart skips a beat and you fight the urge to freeze in place. Everything had to look natural, you had to appear like you didn’t know what was going to happen next. Even so, you couldn’t help but straighten up slightly. As you step over a pile of several bodies at the halfway point of the bridge you start to count.

5…

4…

3…

2…

Ability: Repost activated.

You snap your arm up and feel the hot ball of energy collide with the back of your wrist. There was no rhyme or reason for the direction or motion only that you had to time it perfectly. You feel a slight resistance before it gives away and you parry the blast. It goes flying wide above the heads of the guards and players behind you before striking the mountain and exploding.

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https://youtu.be/G04M09WDdK8?si=K3ZieqR8UaXJlf0b

Your adrenaline spikes and everything seems to run on autopilot as you lean forward and break into a dash. Before your mind can process the screaming and shouting of the people behind you, who were almost certainly as shocked as the sniper you had just denied, you duck to the right avoiding a flurry of arrows that were no doubt intended to kill you had you survived getting hit. You leap up, land on the railing of the bridge and continue pressing forward just as a smattering of machine gun fire strikes where you were just standing. The shots are uneven and wild, a clear sign that they were trying to keep up with your movements rather than anticipating them in a desperate attempt to stop you. You can now clearly see some of your attackers on the other side as they leave their hiding spots in a desperate bid to get a better shot at you. You leap back on the bridge to get more room to maneuver but two mages step forward and raise their staves high. A wall of fire erupts from the ground, thinned enough to be able to aim through but still deadly enough to deter anyone approaching, a clear sign of someone who had learned the flameshaper ability. The other mage flings a ball of fire in your direction and from this distance you can see the smirk on his face. It was well warranted, on the bridge you had nowhere to flee to avoid the aoe. The wall of fire prevented you from moving forward and ducking under it and your momentum meant that attempting to turn around would slow you down long enough that it would hit you. Indeed, in every scenario, you were doomed. So it brought you great joy to see the look of confusion as you pressed forward and to the left before cartwheel jumping over the side of the bridge just as the fireball explodes upon the bridge.

If it was possible to mute all immediate sounds, anyone listening closely would have been able to hear the sound of a small gunshot going off just as your head crested over the bridge’s railing. If they were paying attention, they would have noted that your arm extending downwards at that exact moment was not you flailing in surprise because you had flung yourself off the bridge but rather because you had pointed a small metallic box, roughly the size and shape of a lighter, right at said railing.

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The small hookshot snaps into place as it buries itself into the stone and you can feel the small device whirr as the small metal cable begins to unwind as you drop. You click it once to lock the mechanism in place and the rope catches causing you to swing forward and sling shot yourself under and then over the bridge on the other side. Another click and the hook detaches itself from the stone before zipping right back into the device. You can feel the small motor working over time and growing warm in your hand but you know it was good for at least one or two more shots before it broke down. You aim it straight down at the ranger, who was far too stunned and confused to keep up with what you had just done to notice, and fire. The thin line of metal burst forth and latches onto the metal container behind him before the motor starts up and begins to reel you in. With a shout, you extend your leg out and deliver a powerful kick to their gut before the two of you crash into one another and tumble through the floor. Even if you couldn’t transform, you could still pull off a solid finisher kick. You roll with the momentum, unhooking your grappling hook and lock it in place on your belt.

You scramble to your feet and find yourself facing off between a sniper, two mages, a gunner, the ranger you just kicked and who knows how many more that could be hiding. The battle for the facility had officially begun.

>What do you do?
>Focus fully on defense. Right now friendly fire is your best bet until the others arrive. However long that takes.
>Charge the mages. With their aoe abilities, they’re the deadliest ones here but also the frailest. It’s time someone else felt the pain of having little to no armor.
>Finish off the ranger. You can steal his bow and arrows to help defend yourself or at least land one well placed shot with your single attack proficiency.
>Go for the gunner. Even with one attack, you can fire a barrage of bullets with their weapon. However, you’re not sure what gadgets they might be wielding at the moment.
>Write in.

>>6409360
>Finish off the ranger. You can steal his bow and arrows to help defend yourself or at least land one well placed shot with your single attack proficiency.
Unlucky, buddy.

Did you remember to archive the last thread?
>>6409360
Finish off the ranger. You can steal his bow and arrows to help defend yourself or at least land one well placed shot with your single attack proficiency.

>>6409360
>Finish off the ranger. You can steal his bow and arrows to help defend yourself or at least land one well placed shot with your single attack proficiency.
if they panic this much, we can buy time before the mages commit to friendly fire. We might have to hide among the mages and wait for the gunner to fire before using the bow. Once a mage is down, we can throw their staves at the gunner

>>6409360
>Finish off the ranger. You can steal his bow and arrows to help defend yourself or at least land one well placed shot with your single attack proficiency.

>>6409360
>Go for the gunner. Even with one attack, you can fire a barrage of bullets with their weapon. However, you’re not sure what gadgets they might be wielding at the moment.
Spray and pray! It's the great equalizer!

>>6409371
>>6409388
>>6409408
>>6409452
>>6409471
Poor ranger. Gets Rider kicked and now gets focused on. Well, his fault for attacking a big facility like this.

>>6409388
>Did you remember to archive the last thread?
I didn't. I'm afraid I went to sleep after my post but some kind anon archived it. Always thankful for that.

"Kill him! He's just one guy!" One of the mages screams as he waves his staff and winds begin to whip around him sending snow and sleet flying.

"You're not the first person to shout that and it's never really ended well for them either." You say you dash towards the downed ranger. Gunfire forces you to skid to a halt and you half crawl half dash as your boots slip and struggle to keep a grip on the icy floor. You rush back and run up a wall before kicking off to leap over the swathe of bullets the gunner sends flying your way giving the ranger enough time to get to their feet as you approach. You grab the bow and the ranger's arm, twisting it out of the way as he let's loose another arrow. A sharp pain flares up in your shoulder and cheek as the arrow somehow becomes two. You fight through the pain as the two of you struggle for control of the bow.

"Fucking- Let go!" The ranger growls as he tries to pull the bow free from your grasp but the icy ground also keeps him from getting solid footing for leverage.

"How about you let go?" You shoot back. "Do it and turn yourself in to the guards. Maybe E.V.O will go easy on you if you talk. Otherwise, I don't see this going well for you if they have to hunt you down." The ranger laughs at that.

"What? Are you stupid?" He asks. "Why the fuck would I do that?"

"Because I've seen a lot of fighting in my time and I know what strategy you're using. I also know the weakness of your little tactics." You reply. "So you can leave and lose your bow or I can take everything you got."

"Stop talking shit. You got lucky once and now you're acting like your hot shit." The ranger hisses. "CAN SOMEONE FUCKING KILL THIS GUY?!" He screams. You shake your head.

"If that's your choice. You see, there's always a small problem with strategies that rely on focus fire." You explain. The ranger's face screws up in confusion and irritation as he's unable to believe that you were still continuing with your farce.

"What are you-"

Ability: Grab activated

The ranger never gets to finish his question as you lock your grip around the bow. You quickly kick the man's legs out from under him and using the icy ground to smoothly spin around 180 degrees. The ranger instinctively clings to his weapon but before he can place his feet back on the ground you slam your free palm into his chest.

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Ability: Flowing Palm Strike activated

You can see the breath leave the ranger's lungs as a puff of hot mist leaves his mouth. The force of the enhanced attack rips his grip free from the bow and send the player flying right into the barrage of spells and bullets intended for your back. The ranger's spasms and flips from the attacks before falling to the ground in a singed and tattered heap. "Tunnel Vision." You say, crouching down and grabbing a handful of arrows from the ground and concluding your lesson.


You obtain:
Splitbark Bow: A magical bow that can split a single arrow into two by tapping into the wielder's personal aether reserves. Wielders can toggle this ability at will. Every arrow shot while the ability is active will become 2 and fly in the same direction. Costs 5% mana per shot.


Ability: Weapon Proficiency: Single Weapon Use activated. You're now proficient with Bows (1 attack left).

There's a split moment of silence as your opponents are attempting to comprehend what just happened.

>What do you do?
>Press onwards, run deeper into the kill box and try to regroup with your team. Hopefully they've landed by now.
>Fire your bow at someone using this brief moment to get a clear shot. (Who do you shoot and do you activate the weapons ability?)
>Continue fighting unarmed and reserve your single shot for when you really need it.
>Remain on the defensive. By now the sniper should have long recharged his weapon and right now you're wide open. Try and anticipate his next shot and deflect it again. Hopefully you can do it with 3 opponents trying to gun you down.
>Write in.

>>6409685
>Continue fighting unarmed and reserve your single shot for when you really need it.

>>6409685
>Fire your bow at someone using this brief moment to get a clear shot. (Who do you shoot and do you activate the weapons ability?)
The Gunner. No more suppressive fire.

So much for being the weak link in our party.

>>6409685
>Continue fighting unarmed and reserve your single shot for when you really need it.
Jump into the mages to deter the charge shot and stall the fight. Once they think they've got a clear shot, that's when you fire the bow at the sniper.

>>6409685
>Continue fighting unarmed and reserve your single shot for when you really need it.

I don't see weapon proficiency on the google doc

>>6409718
We don't have one.
The class gets free Proficiency with everything, but only once.

Gotta steal weapons and make use of them.

>>6409685
>Continue fighting unarmed
Focus down on the mages

>>6409718
Did I make a google doc? I remember a pastebin but I couldn't find a way to update it. It was chosen over permanent proficiency with lances.

Here's the ability.

Weapon Proficiency: Single Weapon Use: Become proficient with all weapons for a single attack upon disarming an opponent, redirecting a weapon attack, or picking up an unattended weapon. Proficiency may be "reactivated" upon picking up a different unattended weapon, preforming another successful disarm/redirection, or being empty handed for set period of time (roughly 30 seconds). While proficient with a weapon, said weapon may be used with weapons skills/abilities as your unarmed attacks can be.

>>6409689
+1

>>6409685

>>6409930
Whoops, yeah pastebin not google doc

>>6410216
I'll need to update it or find similar site that lets me edit it without having to make a whole new link.

>>6409688
>>6409700
>>6409718
>>6409754
We're storing out shot for now. Writing.

Damn it. Something came up and ate up all my time. I'll have to push this back til tomorrow. sorry about this gentlemen.

You sling the bow over your shoulder and bolt to the side as another volley of attacks comes your way. “Back up! Back up! Don’t let him get close!” The gunner shouts before pulling the pin on a stun grenade and throwing it in your direction. Thinking quickly, you give chase for a moment before dipping behind the wreckage blocking off a path to break line of sight. You throw your cloak over your head and pull the length up to cover your face just as the grenade detonates a few feet away. The cloak smothers most of the blinding flash but it does nothing to dampen the simultaneous bang. In a split second everything seems to go quiet before immediately being replaced by an intense ringing and the feeling of vertigo. Artificial lag is introduced into your movements and even as you try to stand it feels like someone is repeatedly hitting a movement key in the opposite direction of where you’re trying to go.

You struggle to right yourself, hoping that the sniper was also blinded by the bomb as well if he was aiming at you. You clumsily grab your grapple gun gadget and fire it. The shot goes wide and barely manages to latch on to a pipe running above your head. The gadget burns dangerously hot in your hand as it pulls you up and away. As your feet leave the ground, you see a charge rifle’s blast fly right under you, missing your old location by a wide margin. As you zip through the air, you can feel the effects of the stun grenade wearing off. You kick off, slightly less than gracefully, off the nearest steel column and swing over your three opponents as they retreat. The three skid to a halt as you land in front of them. “Shit! Where’d the hell did he come from?!” One of the mages shouts as flames begin to form in his hand. You brace yourself for the incoming attack but none comes.

“You idiot! We said no fire up here!” The gunner shouts, punching the mage and knocking him flat on his back. “You want to blow us all the fuck up?!” He shouts before turning to the other mage. “Hurry get an ice all up!” He barks. The second mage quickly conjures up a line of thin ice spires but it’s too late. You’re already on the move and leaping over the spikes as they rise. The heel of your boot meets the ice mage’s face as the last of the ringing and vertigo vanish. There’s a loud bang like a whipcrack and you feel something strike you. You stumble back, thinking you’ve been shot before you realize that your left arm is immobile. A bolas made of iron balls and chains are wrapped around your arm binding it and the fire mage’s arm around his staff. Lightning crackles as the Elementalist envelopes his free hand and drives it into your chest. Pain surges forth bringing you to your knees.

“Fucking gottem!” The elementalist laughs and he readies another lightning strike as the gunner begins to rev up his mini gun leveling it right at your face. As you struggle to catch your breath, you catch a glimpse of a reflection in the ice wall before you. The familiar light of the sniper’s laser pointer as well as the vague dots of something descending from the sky near his position behind him. A rough, ragged chuckle escapes your lips. Your friends sure knew how to take their time.


Party:
Regal_20 (John Doe)
HP: 55%
MP: Full
>What do you do?
>Try to buy some time and let the sniper shoot at you then parry it into the gunner or mage.
>Try and pull the mage down into the gunner’s line of fire. At point blank range, you’re going to get hit by some of the bullets but you still have your [Indomitable Will] available. Once it’s gone you won’t have any more outs for the rest of this mission.
>Use your [Flowing Palm Strike] on the Gunner to push him away. If you aim it at the barrel of his weapon it should cause it to miss or even disarm him. However it won’t stop the mage from hitting you with another electric strike. Since it only dealt less than half HP you should be able to survive another hit.
>Your gadgets have been serving you well. Luckily you have one more trick up your sleeve. Literally. Fire off your igniter. A flamethrower at this range will certainly have a psychological effect on your foes. Just hope that it’s not strong enough to “blow you all the fuck up”.
>Write in.

>>6411680
hmm, maybe that was bad.
>Try and pull the mage down into the gunner’s line of fire. At point blank range, you’re going to get hit by some of the bullets but you still have your [Indomitable Will] available. Once it’s gone you won’t have any more outs for the rest of this mission.

I wasn't expecting to be unable to use the bow at this point. Can we use Flowing Palm Strike to launch the Mage(and us) into the Gunner?

>>6411680
>Your gadgets have been serving you well. Luckily you have one more trick up your sleeve. Literally. Fire off your igniter. A flamethrower at this range will certainly have a psychological effect on your foes. Just hope that it’s not strong enough to “blow you all the fuck up”.
Should have taken out the gunner when we had the chance.

>>6411680
>Try to buy some time and let the sniper shoot at you then parry it into the gunner or mage.

>>6411680
>Use your [Flowing Palm Strike] on the Gunner to push him away. If you aim it at the barrel of his weapon it should cause it to miss or even disarm him. However it won’t stop the mage from hitting you with another electric strike. Since it only dealt less than half HP you should be able to survive another hit.

>>6411680
>Use your [Flowing Palm Strike] on the Gunner to push him away. If you aim it at the barrel of his weapon it should cause it to miss or even disarm him. However it won’t stop the mage from hitting you with another electric strike. Since it only dealt less than half HP you should be able to survive another hit.
We have heals, right?

>>6411997
>>6411886
We're gonna shove the gunner away. I'll get to writing in the morning.

>>6411997
We do have heals in the form of potions and you can eat the meal you were given but that requires time.

You lurch forward, far more clumsy than graceful, and ram your palm against the barrel of the minigun. The heat sears the palm of your hand even through the thick leather gloves. You feel your arm being pulled back as the mage you're attached to uses his staff as leverage to yank you back but the effect is immediate.

Ability: Flowing Palm Strike activated

The gun jerks backwards, or forwards in your case, and slams into the Gunner's chest with enough force that it sends him flying backwards with a puff of steam as the wind is knocked out of his lungs. The mage swings at you wildly, shocked at the sudden burst of rebellion. Had you not been chained to your opponent, the swing would have been easy enough to dodge but your limited movement makes it impossible. All your enemy needs to do is simply step forward to strike you. Electricity courses through your body and your HUD begins to flash desperately to warn you of your low health. You grit your teeth and fight the urge to shout in pain as you stomp forward and try to drive your shoulder into the mage. The maneuver is less than effective as you have to extend your bound arm out and you end up more or less smashing your body against them. Your body check is enough to unbalance your opponent and with your free hand you grab hold of the staff that is now running along your chest for leverage.

Ability: Weapon Proficiency: Single Weapon Use activated. You're now proficient with Staves (1 attack left).

As the mage regains their balance, you angle the staff further and slam it lengthwise into the man's face.

Proficiency with Staves lost.

Once again the mage stumbles back but with the staff in your grip, you have control of the fight. You wrench the weapon back and pull them back right into a kick to the chest. They crumble to the ground and scramble to get up but are only met with more kicks. Every time they found a perch in the icy ground you step back and yank the staff with you pulling them off their feet and back into the loop. Even through the adrenaline and chaos of the fight, you feel a pang of pity for your enemy. On top of being stunlocked, for lack of a better term, you were basically curb stomping someone to death and you could only imagine how that might feel. By the time both the Gunner and the second Mage manage to get to their feet, their teammate now lay lifeless on the ground. The limp body makes it easy to pull your arm free from the chain bolas. You hold the staff up, panting and heaving, your boots stained with blood and ready to run it down and take done one more person before you were ultimately put down. You must have seemed like a madman to the remaining two. You certainly fought like one.

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But before anyone else could make another move, an scream rings throughout the facility. All three of you turn to see a body flying through the sky, a large spike of ice sticking out from their chest before a bead of fire rockets through the sky and perfectly catches them sniper midair. There's a flash before the fireball explodes properly and a sphere of flame bursts forth clean between two of the fuel containers. The body arcs out of the fire as it dies down and if the spell didn't kill the sniper, the fall certainly did. "What the fu-" The mage's words are cut off as a large glaive flies through the air and slams into them. They're sent flying back and are immediately pinned to the nearest girder. They open their mouth but whatever they meant to say, be it a scream or a warning, dies as Eleanor fires her Gunblade into their head without so much as looking at them. Almost like taking our the trash, the man's death barely seems to register to her and you begin to wonder if that was indeed how she viewed the enemies of her people. As garbage that needed to be swept up and thrown out.

"Where'd the fuck did you people come from?!" The Gunner shouts. His morale so shattered from seeing the rest of his team taken out that he opted to level his gun at Eleanor and Ryuji rather than you, the most injured target. You feel a rush of wind and before you can move to try and intercept, Gloria appears in midair before the Gunner. A flashstep. Her twin rapiers flash in rapid succession and the minigun drops to the ground as the swordswoman disarms him. The Gunner growls in pain as he holds his forearms where Gloria aimed her disarming skill. He tries to lunge for his weapon but a blade to the throat stops him in his tracks. Gloria plants her foot on the gun and slides it over to you as she holds the Gunner at blade point.

"You look like hell." She says with a smirk. "Didn't think all that studying would make you so rusty." She teases.

"Hey, I think I did pretty well given the circumstances." You reply with a weak smile. "Took you long enough though."

"Enough banter!" Eleanor barks as she readies another shot. "Just kill the heretic and be done with it." Gloria frowns and gives the inquisitor a disdainful look.

"Or we can question him. You do realize that the title Inquisitor comes from the word inquire, right? Or did all those knocks to the head you took in the frozen gorge make you even more of a brute than you were before?" She snaps back, reveling in the confused look Eleanor gave her. In terms of the game world, Gloria was a brand new person. So being spoken to so casually and with such details that a stranger would not know would have been completely out of left field.

"Fine. Ask your questions, but we waste vital time. More could be learned by interrogating those inside the facility than the guards they posted up here." Eleanor replies as Ryuji and Serena walk up to you.

"Sorry we're late, man. Took a bit to get the materials and get them assembled." Ryuji says twirling his weapon and sheathing it. "Mostly because we couldn't decide whether or not we should carry them up the mountain or build the gliders at the base first." He explains. Though he used the term "we" his constant glancing at the two arguing woman gave a clear impression that he didn't really have a say in the matter.

"You're good." You say with a smile, still catching your breath. "I'm more upset I didn't get a chance to use them. How was it?" You ask Serena as she eyes the bodies. She jumps slightly and is pulled out of whatever she was thinking.

"Oh! I had no idea we could do something like that in the game. I never would have thought about hang gliding in the real world and yet here I am doing it. Well, I guess I never would have thought about attacking a base either. It was...fun." She replies. The way she said the word fun gave the impression that she was unsure if that was the right word or perhaps something else like she had never used it before. However, the glimmer in her eyes and the faint tug at the edges of her mouth told you more than enough. You give her a thumbs up.

"We should do it again then...well I'll do it for the first time." You say, with a grin. Ryuji slaps you on the back and for a moment you worry about procc'ing your cheat death ability.

"Hell yeah!" He laughs and puts an arm around your shoulder. "Stick with us and we'll be doing all sorts of things. This dude is wild! After all he's The G-."

"The Traveler." You cut in loudly. "And you can't travel everywhere by simply walking. Sometimes we need to glide, or swing, or raft." You shoot Ryuji a dirty look and he avoids your gaze awkwardly.

"Y-yeah..." Ryuji says as his face glows red with embarrassment. "But those were some wicked shots! You sniped that dude right out of the sky! You sure you don't wanna be a Gunner?" He asks Serena.

"Oh...no thank you. It's just something I practiced with um...The Traveler." She says modestly. You raise your eyebrow at her. She was technically right but blowing you out of the air was really what you considered practice. At least, you'd preferred a clay pigeon or target dummy being the recipient of fireballs rather than you. Gloria clears her throat.

"Would you like to ask the questions or should I?" She asks.

Party:
Regal_20(John Doe)
HP:10%
MP: Full

>What do you say?
>Move in to interrogate the Gunner. (What do you ask?)
>Let someone else interrogate the Gunner while you rest. (Who do you delegate to ask questions?)
>Go search the bodies and let someone else do the talking. (Who's interrogating the Gunner?)
>Write in.

>>6414114
>Let someone else interrogate the Gunner while you rest.
lets grab the weapons for now and chug healing

>Let Ryuji handle it
>Ask Eleanor if she's detecting new sources from her heresy detecting thing, now that we're in the facility itself.

So we've got a bow, a gun, and another stave in a pinch, not including body searches.

>>6414114
>Let someone else interrogate the Gunner while you rest. (Who do you delegate to ask questions?)
>Gloria
Do we still have any bandages? Let's use some if we do.

>>6414152
+1, but also
>Ask Eleanor if she's detecting new sources from her heresy detecting thing, now that we're in the facility itself.

>>6414114

>>6414114
>Move in to interrogate the Gunner. (What do you ask?)
How many of you are inside?

>>6414519
>>6414152
Sorry about the delay gents. Work has picked up these last few days and I havent had much time to do things. But I got some free time now so let's get a rest in and have Gloria do the talking. She's good at reading people. writing.

>>6415862
Life happens. Good to see you back, QM!

You shake your head. Your mind was still processing the virtual, or perhaps real, adrenaline that was coursing through your body. Already you were beginning to feel the effects of the incoming withdrawal, the slight tremble in your arms and legs, the slow onset of soreness in your limbs. Although the game simulates these effects to a lesser degree that one would experience in real life, you never could get used to it. It was one of the reasons why Lance was always so insistent on the team working out outside the game. By experiencing it in real life, the mind and body could learn to cope and build a tolerance to it, a player could cut down on the few moments of disassociation as it experienced something it wasn’t used to. Doing so helped keep the reflexes sharp or so that was the theory. At the very least it kept you all in shape.

“You go ahead. I need to catch my breath.” You admit as you drop the staff and lean against a nearby structure. “Ryuji and Serena can go gather loot. You can teach her about looting effectively. Just bring me the quiver on that ranger. I need something to hold all these arrows.” Ryuji grins and gives you a thumbs up.

“No problem! Come on, I wanna go check out that sniper first.” He says motioning to Serena. Serena gives a dutiful nod and hurries over to follow him. “See the first thing you gotta know about looting is you should only take what you need or can use. No point in weighing yourself down with junk if it’s not gonna help you in a fight. Unless of course you plan to sell it but that’s a whole other thing…” Serena hangs on to every word with a look that reminded you of someone who was going to be tested on it soon. The two then turn the corner and vanish out of sight. You dig through your coat’s pockets and pull the healing potions out before swiftly uncorking them and downing them.

Health recovered: 30%

The liquid goes down smoothly and you feel the soothing numbness flow through your body. You remember describing it once as “how you think painkillers are supposed to feel”. As Gloria is busy arguing with your prisoner, you motion Eleanor over.

“What is it?” She asks impatiently, glancing over to the prisoner then to the facility itself.

“Have you been able to sense anything with your amulet? Maybe we can use it to track the heretics down.” You ask. Eleanor pulls her necklace free from under her shirt. It shines a blue so bright that you fear it might burst into the very flames that you wielded back in the Frozen Gorge.

“No.” She replies as she stuffs it back down her shirt. “It’s been shining nonstop since we got together. Only when we landed did it dim slightly and it seems now that we found you once more it’s begun to react like that again. No doubt in part to that foolish stunt you pulled back in the Necromaner’s lair. As it stands, so long as you’re nearby any means of detecting heretical magic is useless.” Eleanor explains while glaring at you. “We can only pray that The Fury smiles favorably upon us today as she did blessed us in our last excursion.” You feel acutely aware of the weight of the large gem that holds the dragon’s soul as it resides in your pocket. Though you no longer feel any connection to the NPC as you once did through its scale, there’s an uncomfortable sensation as you’re reminded of what you want to do with it. You don’t think there’s any world where you could convince Eleanor that resurrecting what you were told to be the mother of the race the people of Valford swore to eradicate was a good idea.

“Right…sorry about that.” You finally say as you resist the urge to fidget with the soul gem. “Still, we don’t know what we might find in the facility. It could just be adventurers working for the heretics.”

“Or it could be a trap.” Eleanor says. “Have you found out anything yet?” She shouts at Gloria. Gloria shoots her a glare and half drags the Gunner back to the two of you.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize interrogating someone was supposed to be easy. Hey, do you want to spill all your secrets out now?” She snaps as she pokes the Gunner in the back with her sword. The Gunner yelps in pain and gives you all an exasperated look.

“I already told you what I know.” They protest. “I don’t why the hell you’re taking all this seriously. We were just having a bit of fun, you know?” Eleanor’s face reddens and for a moment you think she was going to kill the man on the spot.

“Say it all again.” Gloria commands, turning her ire to her hostage. The Gunner grumbles and rolls their eyes before speaking.

“I told you. We landed here on an airship and it’s long gone. I don’t know how they did it but the npcs gave us the right paperwork and clearance to land. At the very least, it bought us enough time to get a jump on the security. By the time anyone would have realized we weren’t who we claimed we were, we were already clearing up the remains of the guards. After that the raid lead told us to set up outside and kill anyone who tried to cross the bridge. Once we were done, we’d get to keep some of the loot.” He opens his mouth to continue but Eleanor grabs him by the front of his shirt.

“WHO?!” She screams as she slams the Gunner into the nearest pillar. “WHO LEADING THIS ATTACK? TALK! OR I SWEAR THE LAST THINGS WE’LL HEAR OUT OF YOUR MOUTH ARE YOUR FADING SCREAMS AFTER I THROUGH YOU OFF THE BRIDGE!”

“Shit man! Get this crazy bitch off of me!” The Gunner shouts. “I don’t know their name! It’s just some druid chick who was recruiting from Effelume. She said we’d be able to PK tons of guildies from E.V.O and steal all their shit! It was just a bit of fun!”

“FUN?!” Eleanor screams, drawing her blade. You step forward and grab her arm.

“Not yet!” You grunt as you activate your skill to keep your grip on her. Even with your breakable grasp, you struggle to hold the woman in place. “He still has more he can tell us! Kill him now and we may lose an edge we could use to save those inside!” You argue. “Step away Eleanor and let us do the talking. You’re letting your anger get to you, just as they probably want you to.” Eleanor drops the Gunner and shoves you away just as Gloria steps in. She holds her blade up against the Gunner, trapping him once more before he could crawl away. Eleanor turns her furious gaze at you.

Eleanor’s Loyalty is tested…

Your reputation with her is [Trusted]...


Plumes of mist rise from the Inquisitor’s mouth as she breathes heavily. The two of you lock eyes for a moment longer before she lets out a growl and walks away in the direction of Ryuji and Serena. “When you’re done…just kill him slowly.” She says quietly before vanishing out of sight.

“Christ…” Gloria mutters, shaking her head before turning back to your prisoner. “How many of you are in your raid?” She asks.

“Like…15 or 16. Plus another 6 or so npcs that came with us.” The Gunner says. “Most of us were melee classes. That’s why they asked us to stay outside since we were the only ranged people. I think they might have a couple healers though.”

“Sounds to me like you were just fodder.” Gloria says. “You really think you’d get away with it if E.V.O decided to rush you all down? They have nearly 10 times the amount of people your group does. At best I bet they were just expecting you to try and slow them down.”

“No way. If they did that then…” The Gunner starts before trailing off as they look worriedly at the corner your friends rounded.

“Then what?” You press. “Better you say it now than risk getting caught mid sentence if the Inquisitor makes her way back.”

“Alright, alright!” The Gunner panics. “Listen, don’t tell anyone but…that other chick was crazy. Like legit crazy. She said we’d nuke this place if anyone tries to stop us but…I think she’s one of those batshit streamers. She’d probably do it anyway if someone donates high enough. I bet she doesn’t even care about her gear. Probably just needs to beg and someone will just donate her some loot.” He looks back at the corner. “Between you and me. I’d just leave. The last thing I’d want is to piss off some streamer chick’s fanbase.”

“A streamer vs a pro guild.” You muse. “I’m not sure who’s bad side I’d rather be on. You sure that’s everything?”

“Y-yeah man. That’s all I got. I’m sure the others would know more but…” He trails off as he motions to the dead bodies. The Gunner looks between you and Gloria. “Listen, can I go now? I just wanna log off. You guys are taking this shit way too serious. It’s a game right? We were just fucking around. Nothing serious.”

“Yeah…and then you found out.” Gloria shoots back before pressing the tip of her blade into the Gunner’s chest. “Fortunately for you, I fucking hate that Inquisitor so I’ll make it quick.”

>What do you say?
>Let Gloria kill the Gunner then search him for loot.
>Stop Gloria and press the Gunner a bit more. He could be holding something back.
>Let the Gunner go. E.V.O and the Guards on the other end of the bridge can figure out what to do with him.
>Tie him up and leave him there. A bit mean but you don’t really see any point in killing him.
>Write in.

>>6416122
>Let Gloria kill the Gunner then search him for loot.
So this is all because of some retarded e-girl? Not sure I buy it.

>>6416122
Here's a suggestion

We have him carry as much etherium as he can, and walk the bridge back to surrender it to the guard.

If the plant really is blown up, that fuel will buy just a little more time, and the guy's testimony to the guard will hold quite a bit more weight regardless of who tries to cover it up.

If anyone tries to blow him up on the bridge, the corrupt authorities will be outing one more of their cards and we can focus on cleaning house, forcing the airship to come to us. Also if we die, we buy some time to hide the dragon soul since you can't just casually take the bridge to loot the wreckage.

>>6416122
>Let Gloria kill the Gunner then search him for loot.

>>6416122
>Stop Gloria and press the Gunner a bit more. He could be holding something back.

>>6416139
+1, I like it! Plus, why punish him? He's right... it is just a game. I'm not actually mad at him.

>>6416122

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>6416139
>>6416123
We gotta roll for it it seems.

>>6418691
So did >>6416139 win the vote?

I'm not even sure what it's supposed to accomplish, the plan doesn't make much sense imo. One guy isn't going to be able to carry any useful amounts of aether out of here, we can't trust him not to try something stupid, and whoever got these pricks their papers will probably just disappear the guy once he's out of sight.

>>6418694
Original voter here

If he wants to run, he's better off dying now and respawning so nobody recognizes him. Giving himself up to the guard will get him recognized, but seeing how much he doesn't want to die, he'll roleplay a bit with the guard and won't immediately be hunted down by inquisitors.

The fuel is more a favor to him to buy a bit of mercy, and if he loudly testifies in front of all the reporters, he will get a bit of public sentiment. He can still be disappeared, but it'll chip away at the corrupt in a way that costs us almost nothing.

Plus, it leaves quest hooks for random players to follow, baiting people to take the good side.

But yeah its a strange vote. That's why i presented it as a suggestion. So we could talk about it.

>>6418711
>If he wants to run, he's better off dying now and respawning so nobody recognizes him. Giving himself up to the guard will get him recognized, but seeing how much he doesn't want to die, he'll roleplay a bit with the guard and won't immediately be hunted down by inquisitors.
Hmm if we do send him back across the bridge I wonder if he'll even be able to play on the server ever again, once people know who he is. It was mentioned before that if you piss off a big guild enough, they'll basically harass you until you leave the server.

>The fuel is more a favor to him to buy a bit of mercy, and if he loudly testifies in front of all the reporters, he will get a bit of public sentiment. He can still be disappeared, but it'll chip away at the corrupt in a way that costs us almost nothing.
I'm a bit worried he might decide to play suicide bomber. If he's willing to piss everyone off by attacking the primary source of refined aether in the server, then he'll probably be willing to blow himself and a bunch of other players up for a laugh. Or he might try to kill us as payback.

"Wait!"

You quickly grab Gloria's arm, stopping her thrust. Both she and the gunner look at you in confusion. "I got a better idea." You add and immediately receive a look of disapproval, not because you had stopped her from getting a kill but rather because she knew you were going to suggest something crazy once more. You step forward and squat in front of your prisoner, bringing yourself to eye level. "Hey, you wanna keep your stuff?" You ask. The Gunner's confusion only grows.

"Huh?"

"Listen, we don't have to kill you. Honestly, the role playing and potential economic disaster aside, I think you're in a pretty good position to get out of this with relatively little loss on your part. After all, this is all really just a game." You say, slipping back to your more aloof persona. "All you need to do is a little favor on our part."

"Traveler..." Gloria warns. "I think we're running short on time and 'The Inquisitor's' patience."

"No, but this is a good plan." You say with a grin. "Give it to me straight. Is there anyone else out here who can alert the people inside?" It takes a moment for the Gunner to come to his senses and answer the question.

"No...No, it was just us. Everyone else went inside. We hadn't seen anyone leave either." He says. "It was getting kind of boring to be honest."

"Good! Good. Even better actually. So, I want you to cross the bridge and have a little chat with the people on the other side." You say. The Gunner's face blanches.

"What?! No way! They'll kill me!" He shouts.

"He's right. There's no way he'll even make it halfway before he's shot." Gloria adds.

"Come on guys. Have a little faith. All we need is a small peace offering." You say and nod your head in the direction of a fuel tank. The two follow your gaze. "Carry a barrel of the stuff with you and they can't shoot you or they'll risk blowing the bridge."

"Yeah, then what?" The Gunner asks. "I give em the barrel and they nuke me on the spot?"

"Weeellll, not if they want the rest of it." You continue. "You see, you're the only one who knows where all the traps are and I'm guessing you have a few levels in Engineering as well, right? Offer to help disarm the traps and repair the mechs. Won't be gathering much aetherium without them anyways. Point is, both the guard and E.V.O are going to want salvage as much fuel as they in case this whole place does go up in flames and you are their ticket to that. A little bit of negotiating and I'm sure they're willing to trade you keeping your gear for the fuel. They might banish you from the zone afterwards, but you'll keep everything on you. Well, cept the gun. I kind of want to hang on to that for a bit." You shrug. "Of course, it is a gamble but it's either that or we kill you and you get nothing because if there's one thing I can guarantee you the moment they regain control of this area, be it safe or on fire, they'll never let you run back to your corpse to retrieve your things." You add as you stand up.

"And what's going to keep them from entering the facility after us?" Gloria asks. "If we move their front to the facility's doorstep it's all the more easier to simply walk in." You nod then turn to point Eleanor as she approaches with Ryuji and Serena.

"Because she won't let them." You say coolly, dropping the act and turning to the Gunner. "You have until she gets here to decide. Otherwise, she'll kill you herself." The Gunner chews his lip for a moment his gaze flicking between the two of you and the approaching party.

"Ngh....alright! Alright...I'll do it." He relents. "Man, you're crazy. Who the hell are you?"

"I'm just a passing through Traveler. Like you said, I guess I like this game a bit too much." You say without turning as you walk to Eleanor.

"Yo! You should check out this haul!" Ryuji says with a grin. "We got some pretty good picks." You give him a nod before stopping in front of the Inquisitor.

"Inquisitor."

"Traveler."

"We have a change of plan." You say bluntly. "We need him alive and we need you out here." Eleanor's face flushes and you see a vein pulse in her neck as her eyes narrow.

"Do tell..." She grunts through gritted teeth.

"I believe you." You mutter as you lean close so only she can hear. "Even if what that guy said was a lie, there was no way a battalion of adventurers could have breached this place without some kind of inside help. Your ranks are compromised. Our prisoner is just a scapegoat. Let him live and we can use him to not only recover some of the aetherium but potentially bring some of the conspirators to light. Odds are if there are any heretics in your forces they'll try and sabotage your efforts. So we move them to this end and begin to extract whatever fuel we can for a worst case scenario. Meanwhile, you stay here and keep an eye on things. Stop them from entering the facility while we infiltrate and make sure no one sabotages your efforts. For one life we not only get to hinder the heretic's plans, buy the city a bit more time, and potentially find more conspirators to question. Not a bad deal, right? I just need you to make sure the prisoner keeps his end of the deal and help convince the others to keep him alive." Eleanor clenches her fists, and gives you a side eye. Despite her anger, you can see the flush leaving her face and the veins slowly vanishing as she considers what you just said.

"Your foolishness belies your cunning Traveler." She replies, her distrust growing. "Perhaps far too cunning. You're too knowledgeable to be just a simple traveler. Not to mention, you always seem to be conveniently around..." You smirk.

"Luck. That's all it is." You say casually as you pull back. "But if you're worried about my motives let's just say I've grown fond of Valford and I have a vested interest in keeping it and it's people safe. Right now, we have a facility to take back." You hold your hand out. "So, do we have a deal?" Eleanor studies you for a while before cautiously taking your hand and shaking it.

"For now but if you do anything to harm the city and it's people. I won't hesitate to cut you down." She warns.

Reputation with Eleanor has fallen. Further drops will cause a shift in trust.

"Likewise, Inquisitor. Likewise." You reply before turning around and catching up with your friends.

"What was all that about?" Ryuji asks, confused. "Eleanor just left the party."

"She's going remain here and help the recovery efforts." You say and explain the situation. "We'll talk about it more inside. Right now we should get ready to move in. What'd you find?" Ryuji's face goes from concerned to excited and breaks into a big grin.

"Oh man. Check this stuff out." He says motioning to the pile of items before you all.

The Party has Acquired:

Minigun with the following modifications:
Central Launcher. Nestled in the center of all the barrels is a grenade launcher. Weaker than even an under-slung launcher, this launcher adds no extra weight to the weapon. It can fire any kind of grenade/throwable gadget including those granted by class skills a short distance away. Players can fire grenades/throwable gadgets while firing the main gun at the risk of hitting the projectile with their own bullets.
Foldable body. The gun's barrels can be folded into the body effectively folding the gun in half and allowing it to be slung on the back like a backpack. Weapon must be drawn and barrels snapped back in place before it can be used.
Lighter Firing assembly: The weapon's internals have been replaced with lighter materials allowing it to spin up and reach max firing speed quicker. As a result, the internals cannot handle the wear and force of higher caliber bullets thus being forced to use smaller rounds and dealing reduced damage.

Charge Rifle with the following modifications:
Laser Sight: A small beam of light allows for easier aiming and tracking of trajectory. Runs the risk of being seen by targets.
Overload Charge Cells: The Gun's charging mechanism has had some if it's limiters removed allowing it to drain more power from it's power packs (magazine for regular guns) per shot. Shots do increased damage but power packs now offer less shots per reload.
10x Scope: Basic variable scope that offers 4x, 6x, and 10x zoom.

Mage's Staff of the Inferno:
While being wielded, fire magics are enhanced and ignore a portion of armor and fire resistance. Fire spells also have a slight discount on MP costs. Spells of any other kind cast through this staff have increased MP costs. Deals fire damage when used as a melee weapon. Damage inflicted this way also ignore armor and resistances at a reduced degree.

Cryomancer's Staff:
Allows the wielder to convert the element of their cast spells into ice. Spells converted this way have an increased mana cost. If used in an area with snow/ice, ambient ice can be consumed to mitigate the extra cost. Can be used to cast Ice Wall for free (2 min cooldown). Deals slashing damage and has a chance of inflicting slow when used as a melee weapon.

Twinned Antlion Scimitars:
A pair of scimitars made from the sharp mandibles of an antlion monster. Has the [Twinned] property. Weapon Ability (Shred): Run the serrated edges of your weapon against your enemy. Enemies with tougher armors will be inflicted with the [Rend] status effect. Those in weaker armors are inflicted with the [Bleed] status effect. (30 second cooldown).

[Twinned]: The weapons' weights were balanced for one another. When wielding both partnered weapons in tandem, attack speed is increased slightly. When paired with any other weapon, attack speed is lowered even if the other weapon also has the [Twinned] property.
[Rend]: Target's armor is torn and hampered, decreasing damage mitigation and debuff resistance.
[Bleed]: Deep wounds cause your target to bleed profusely, dealing damage over time unless staunched somehow.

Enchanted Throwing daggers x5:
These daggers bear a minor magical enchantment making them slightly sharper. They ignore a portion of armor when they're thrown. Otherwise they function as any other dagger.

Stun Grenades x2
Flechette Grenades x3 (May cause the [Bleed] condition)

Alchemist Bomb x 2 (functions as a regular grenade. Can only be used by those with the Alchemy profession or is trained in Alchemical weaponry.)

Lesser Healing Potion x10 (Heals 10% hp)

Simple Bandages x 15: Heals a moderate amount of HP (around 40%) over 30 seconds. User must remain in place as they tie their bandages up or lose the heal over time. Better quality bandages may heal more or require less time tending to oneself.


>How do you divvy up the loot?
>Write in

>>6418694
>>6418711
>>6418724
I didn't notice this until I started posting. Sorry about that gents. I tried to make it work as best as I could since I had similar thoughts as discussed. But since it had been 4 days without a word, I didn't want to make people wait any longer for a post so I ran with it as best I could.

>>6418734
As an added note, I did try to write it as John basically trying to play both sides against each other. Whether or not that pans he doesn't know but the gears are in motion. Once the loot situation is settled, Solstice and Co are heading inside and whatever happens outside is out of his hands.

>>6418734
I wasn't expecting to win desu. I'm alright with where this is going, but maybe the others want to comment?

>>6418733
Definitely getting the charge rifle, no questions.

I assume the throwing daggers and grenades will get proficiency separately, so we may as well aim for those.

I'm thinking Ryuji should take the cryo staff though, casting ice wall for free should help him tank for vital fuel facilities.

>>6418733
We take the alchemy bombs, as we bypass the restrictions. And give us the grenades and throwing daggers.

Staffs for Sera, let her duel weild.

Ryuji takes the mini gun and sniper

Gloria gets the twinned swords.

Everybody gets 4 bandages and we get 3.
Everyone gets 2 healing potions but we and Gloria get 3.

>>6418735
The damage of the trust is. . An issue, but an issue for later. The inquisitor doesn't trust easily, which is good in her profession, but I would like to avoid alienating her completely.

Maybe let's save any more brilliant ideas involving her until after we have saved the facility.

>>6418733
John
>Minigun
>Charge Rifle
>Cryomancer's Staff
>Enchanted Throwing daggers x1
>Stun Grenades x1
>Flechette Grenades x2
>Lesser Healing Potion x 2
>Bandages x6 (Use two immediately)

Roland
>Stun Grenades x1
>Flechette Grenades x1
>Lesser Healing Potion x 4
>Bandages x2

Gloria
>Twinned Antlion Scimitars
>Enchanted Throwing daggers x4
>Alchemist Bomb x 2
>Lesser Healing Potion x4
>Bandages x2

Serena
>Mage's Staff of the Inferno
>Bandages x 5

Think that's everything.

We don't have a gunner but John can use guns once, same goes for the staff. We could try to sneak in and use the Charge Rifle to take out the druid e-girl first. Other than that, we just make good use of our weapon proficiency ability once the battle starts. We can even use the enemies weapons as each one dies. Might also be a good idea to stick close to Serena though to make sure nobody gets too close to her.

Also, did we give Roland that magic sword from the Yeti bossfight?

>>6418734
Yeah I'm happy with how it panned out.

>>6418740
>I'm thinking Ryuji should take the cryo staff though, casting ice wall for free should help him tank for vital fuel facilities.
That's a good idea, assuming Roland can use the free ice wall without proficiency.

>>6418742
>Ryuji takes the mini gun and sniper
Why? He can't use them, he's a Fighter.

>>6418748
He can't use them, but he can sell them

>>6418755
We have to kill the e-girl and her simp squad first. It's better that we keep them, for now. We can always give them to Roland or Serena later.

>>6418757
The mini gun isn't useful here, and I'm rather concerned about weight distribution.

To use our affinity best we need to hotswitch between things fast.
There is the bow already, and the charge rifle, what good does the mini gun do?
The staff is useful as a melee weapon.

>>6418760
The charge rifle is fantastic for starting a fight, so I'm not sure why you're giving it to Ryuji.

I'm still thinking about the staves. Surely Serena's super special keepsake is better? On the other hand, fire pierce is pretty great and they won't expect it. Smacking someone for fire damage on the other hand is still fair game.

>>6418748
>That's a good idea, assuming Roland can use the free ice wall without proficiency
Staves are technically melee weapons so Ryuji can wield them as he can any other melee weapon. He can also use the spell on the Cryomancer staff's power specifically because its an on use effect. He's not casting a spell, he's using the staff's innate magic.

>>6418742
>Staffs for Sera, let her duel weild.
Serena can dual weild staves, however each spell she casts must be channelled via one staff/wand/whatever magic implement only. Magic users can only benefit from one implements bonus. Also she'd need to carry three staves leaving her with no open hands and one slung on her body somehow or in her inventory out of reach.

Which does bring up a point. There's only so much space you can strap weapons onto yourself. I can say inventory is sort of a hammerspace/bag of holding/digitizer kind of deal so we don't get bogged down in details of how you carry a dozen swords on you with only a small pack. Unless you gents want Nevermore to have that level of immersion where you need to realistic be able to carry all your gear somehow. But I will say that once an item is in there, you'll need to go into a menu to retrieve it and having the inventory UI in your face during combat or tense moments probably won't play well. But to have weapons at the ready without that means it needs to be on your body somehow so there's only so much you can carry around before it begins to get in the way.

>>6418760
>The mini gun isn't useful here, and I'm rather concerned about weight distribution
Basically this.

>>6418748
>Also, did we give Roland that magic sword from the Yeti bossfight?
Yeah we can say we did.

>>6418763
>Inventory is hammer spaced

Oh thank the developers.
I genuinely wasn't sure if they would use the sane option here when the maker is so reality obsessed.

>>6418762
I gave it to Him as LOOT not as a useful implement.
Because I don't think any of the devices are good for him. So it's just spoils of war to sell later.

>>6418733
Wow, that's a ton lf loot. No opinions of dividing it, but all very cool in a very cool story that I am enjoying

>>6418740
>I wasn't expecting to win desu. I'm alright with where this is going, but maybe the others want to comment?
I think we will essentially be Eleanor's nemesis soon, and I feel a bit bad for her, even if she is a glorified chatbot. I mean, there's no way she will tolerate us once we revive the dragon and get our sweet dragon armor back.

>>6418742
+1 to this distribution, I guess.

>>6418733
>>6418740
Okay, if we're really going for detailed lootsplits...

>John
Charge Rifle
Staff of the Inferno(borrow)
Alchemist Bombs
Throwing Daggers x4

>Roland
Cryomancer's Staff
Minigun
Throwing Daggers x1

>Gloria
Twinned Antlion Scimitars
Flechette Grenades

>Serena
Staff of the Inferno
Stun Grenades

I don't think we really need to micromanage the healing so much.

Alright. Gonna read everyone's suggestions and get to writing tomorrow. Time to storm the facility proper.

>>6420733
Looking forward to it!

I also just started watching Shangri-La Frontier. Was that by chance an inspiration for this quest at all?

>>6421157
I only ever watched the first episode but I liked the premise. Work and stuff just got in the way of me continuing it. I've always loved the idea of full dive mmos or the isekai'd to an mmo world but for this game my biggest inspirations was a Chinese anime, or Donghua I think is the term or that might be chinese comics, called The King's Avatar. I'll also throw in an old quest Guns x Glory that I used to follow was a big inspiration too, though I don't think I could measure up to their level of writing. Both have the same premise of professional players who are no longer allowed to play the game they used to play in the pro scene so I decided to throw my hat into the mix. I do wish I had more concrete rules and mechanics in mind but I feel like adding rolls and the like now would slow things down even further.

As for loot I think I have this general set up by combing the two most voted on set ups.

>John
Charge Rifle
Minigun (Stored in inventory)
Bow
Throwing Daggers x3
Stun Grenade
(May borrow the Fire Staff if needed)
Potions x2
Bandages x 3

Ryuji/Roland
Cryo staff
Throwing dagger x1
Potions x 4
Bandages x 4

>Gloria
Twinned Scimitars
Flechette Grenade
Alchemist Bombs x2
Throwing dagger x1
Bandages x 4
Potions x 4

>Serena
Inferno Staff
Stun Grenade
Flechette Grenade
Bandages x 4

That being said, I'll need to pop open a google doc and keep track of all this stuff since we still have the loot from the Frozen gorge somewhere in the group's inventory.

>>6421157
>>6421318
I've read the manga, I really should get back to it sometime

As you and your friends divvy up the loot you take the time to bandage up and recover. "That's everything." Ryuji says as he slings one of the staves over his shoulder. You bite the end of your bandage and tie it down before grabbing the charge rifle. "Hey dude, you need any tips- oh..." Ryuji begins but you're already midway through your inspection of the weapon. Born out of a thousand repetition, and a few hundred lectures from Ming, you deftly eject the weapon's power cell and examine charge level. It was fully charged but when you slot it back into the weapon, your HUD indicates that each cell only offered 3 shots each. You lock it into place, snap the safety on and level the weapon to peer down the scope. Old instincts kick in and you can already feel the glare and oncoming lecture about proper weapon modification from Evolution's top gunner. The sniper was either short on money or decide to be frugal with their weapon's scope. The scope was capable swapping between magnifications but rather than gradually moving between magnification levels, it instantly clicked into place. Simply put, all you got was x4, x6, and x10 and nothing in between. The scope wasn't even capable of x1 despite replacing the gun's iron sights. You turn the laser sight off and sling the weapon over your shoulder.

Ability: Weapon Proficiency: Single Weapon Use activated. You're now proficient with Charge Rifles. (1 attack left).

"Did the sniper have any ammo on him?" You ask, finally looking at the impressed faces of your friends.

"Ha! Should've figured you of all people wouldn't need any tips on sniping." Ryuji laughs and rummages through his bag. "We only found 2 other power cells. We think he might have had a bigger stash but the pile is probably atop his hiding spot. Either that or he was running lower on ammo than he was letting on." He says tossing two more power cells, each about the same size as the batteries you see on rechargeable power tools in the real world.

"So 9 shots total...we can do some serious damage with that." You say, catching the ammo and sticking it into your coat pocket. "Problem is I only get one shot every so often. Not sure I can do it quickly in a fight. The scope on this thing isn't exactly made for close quarters fights."

"So you can use guns?" Serena asks. You nod and motion for everyone to start moving.

"Yeah, I can pretty much use anything." You explain, in a hushed voice. "Not for long though. I only get a single attack before I have to swap weapons. Most classes are locked into specific weapons. You can hold and carry other weapons but if you try to use them, you'll be doing minimal damage if you even hit. The game won't assist you in combat with weapons you're not proficient with with." You unsling your bow and hand it to Serena. "Try pulling back the string." Serena takes the bow and immediately seems to feel the difference. Her grip is awkward and she seems to be unsure where to hold the weapon exactly. When she tries to draw the string back, she visibly struggles before handing the weapon back to you. "Felt weird, didn't it?" You ask.

"It felt...different. Harder?" She says with a nod as she struggles to find the words to describe it. "When I swing my staff...I just do it. Everything just seems to work how I want it to. Even using magic just feels like works off what I want to do. I don't even think about it anymore." She admits.

"Yeah, that's the game helping. It's to try and even the playing ground." You explain. "Otherwise, it'd be no fair to pit players who've never fought in their life against say...someone who did archery in school."

"But what if I know how to fight with a sword or a gun outside the game and my class isn't proficient in it?" Serena asks.

"Well...I would think it would feel as easy as it would in real life. But compared to someone who is being helped by the game...I think they still might be at a physical disadvantage." You guess, crossing your arms and thinking. In reality, you never heard of anyone bringing real combat skills into the game during your time. At least outside of regular fist fighting and possibly shooting a gun. The idea of people practicing something like sword or axe fighting in the real world to get better in the game was foreign to you and yet it seemed like the logical thing to do. "But mentally they might have a bit of an advantage. They'd have the instincts and muscle memory to assist them not to mention proper fighting forms. I don't know if that would be enough to allow them to win, especially with the damage penalties the game hands you for having an incorrect weapon, but it could certainly help them stave off attacks and buy enough time to retreat. Do you know how to fight with a sword or a gun though?" You ask with a grin. You had intended it to be a joke but to your surprise Serena nods.

"I know how to fence. My mother made me take classes. I even won a few competitions too." She replies casually. You tilt your head and think for another moment.

"Hey uhh.... Can I borrow one of your raipers?" You ask, awkwardly. Gloria gives you a smirk and draws one of her swords before tossing it at you and sending you a party invite. You catch the blade with one hand and accept the invite with the other.

"Sure." She chuckles.

Party:
Regal_20 (John Doe)
HP: 80%
MP:Full

Mae Su-Hyun(Gloria)
HP:100%
MP:Full%

Ryuji Yamada (Roland)
HP: 100%
MP: Full

Serena_Starlight
HP: 100%
MP: 85%

"I never did ask your in game name after you changed characters." You chuckle and hold the rapier out for Serena. "Try this. Maybe it feels better than the bow?" Serena takes the weapon and holds it experimentally. She holds it confidentially at the ready and takes a few swings and thrusts with it. You didn't know anything about fencing so you weren't sure if what she was doing it correctly. As far as you knew, Lance was the only person who actually fenced outside the game.

"It's a bit heavier than what I'm used to." Serena admits as she flourishes the weapon. "But it's balanced well enough. Swinging it feels...normal. Not easy like it is with staves but it doesn't feel different or weird like a bow. It's just heavier. I think if I had a rapier that was as light as the ones I used for competitions then I don't think it'd feel any different than real life." She turns to hand Mae, her weapon back.

"You weren't lying about fencing in real life. That looks pretty good." She says as she sheathes her blade again. "How come you didn't just pick the swordsman class?"

"Oh...I don't really like fencing." Serena admits. "I just did it because my mom wouldn't let me skip lessons." Mae gives Serena a knowing nod.

"Don't I know the feeling." She agrees with an exhausted tone, yet you get the feeling she knows Serena wasn't telling the truth. "Still, sword fighting is way more fun when you're fighting for your life and there's plenty of variety of blades to use. A lot more fun then just shuffling back and forth on a mat."

"I mean you could always go looking for a master to train you too." Ryuji says. "If you get lucky, you can find a quest to find a subclass and they tend to come with new weapon profs and stuff. They're kinda rare though."

"Should I do that?" Serena asks.

"You should do whatever you want. The game is yours as much as it is anyone else's and that's the best part of it. It's up to you to decide not anyone else's." You say. "Speaking of deciding..." You trail off. As the far back of the facility you stand before the entrance of a large building. The refinery or at least the entrance into the mountain itself. Beside it you see a smaller building and through it's broken windows you can see what seems to be a control panel and the entrance to a lift. Most likely a way for the workers to reach the lower levels of the facility without needing to walk the main area and down tons of stairs. You doubt the lift would take you into the deepest parts of the facility but it could cut out a lot of walking assuming it wasn't guarded somehow. Then again, going through the main building would also mean more chances to get ambushed or run into the rest of the players raiding this place.

>What do you do?
>Go through the main building. You can search for any survivors/workers.
>Try the lift. The faster you get to the heretics the better.
>Write in.

>>6421418
>Main building

Sweep and clear.

>>6421418
>Go through the main building. You can search for any survivors/workers.

>>6421418
Did the team see any other groups of players on their way in? We can take our time grappling people over to tackle the place from a different angle, somewhere good to use the bow.

>>6421418
>Go through the main building. You can search for any survivors/workers.

>>6421418
>Go through the main building. You can search for any survivors/workers.
Less likely to run into a huge crowd we can't handle without anywhere to retreat. Less likely to get pincered, too.

>>6421418
>Go through the main building. You can search for any survivors/workers.

File: MGSNV.png (55 KB, 1000x250)

55 KB PNG

>>6421445
No your team didn't see anyone along the way. Most of their time was taken up getting gliders ready. They flew in, landed, and rushed to flank. Gloria would let you know that the Gunner wasn't lying about their numbers outside. As far as your team figures, the outside group was just to act as a deterrent or worst case serve to buy time as any invading force manages to fight through the bridge. But it's the risk to the facility itself that was holding everyone up and still partially is. John and co have essentially become an elite task force straight out of games/movies. At least, that's what the rumors are starting to say within the people making their way across the bridge. So, no pressure or anything.

>>6421424
>>6421437
>>6421638
>>6421653
>>6421677
We're taking the main entrance. Writing.

"Front door or elevator..." You thinking out loud for a moment. "We should take the front door. We can search for survivors and clear an exit for them." You decide, motioning to the large double doors. They were tall, almost twice the size of a person and each about twice as wide as one. The ground near them was well worn and scratched from the coming and goings into the facility but you don't see anything to show which way they swung open leading you to assume the slide into the walls themselves. You move to open them when you hear Ryuji speak out.

"Yo, dude, wait!" He says eagerly. "We should talk about call signs before we go in. You know, like in S.W.A.T and movies!" Mae gives him an amused look.

"When's the last time you ever used hand signs for a dungeon?" She asks. Ryuji shrugs.

"Well...never but this isn't a dungeon. We're doing a stealth mission. Gotta be able to communicate with each other without making noise." He insists. "Come on, the pros do it all the time." He adds giving you a knowing look. You just shake your head. "Hey Serena, I bet Rising Dragons uses hands signs right?"

"Oh! Well...I heard some of the older members use them but none of the teams I was on ever did." She says with a start. "But even if we don't talk...aren't there cameras inside?" She asks. You, Ryuji, and Mae look at each other. "Did I say something wrong?" Serena asks, anxiously.

"No...I just didn't think about that." Ryuji admits as he crosses his arms.

"It's more like cameras do and don't exist." Mae explains. "There are items that can act like a camera such as scrying stones or crystal balls with spells. Maybe even some engineering items. The thing is that only Guilds really tend to use them. They take some time to set up, are expensive, have a short range, or only last for a short while. The most important thing is that there has to be someone be manning the scrying. Not many players want to do that because they're vulnerable while doing it or they don't get to participate in a fight."

"Also, unless they have a way to communicate over a long distance then cameras are even more restricted. Teams would need to huddle around the person running the camera in order to know what's going on. So they would need another magic item such as a sending stone or spell and even those have a limit. The spell requires a spell caster running comms and spending mana or burning through scrolls. The item requires far far more investment. The Aethernet Project. Which is why I don't think our invaders will have access to cameras or scrying. It'd be quicker to invest their resources in taking over than trying to fortify it." You explain as you move to open the doors.

"What's the Aethernet Project?" Serena asks.

"It was Nevermore's original endgame project." Mae explains. "A huge magical focus that connects any locations that have one. Think of it like a magical radio tower and teleporter combined. Players could attune to it and then burn all their mana to instantly teleport to any other magical focus in the game they're already attuned to. Not only that but you can use the magical energies of it be able to contact other people's sending stones if they're within the range of one of the giant foci. Kind of like a cell phone, you simply attune your stone to someone else's and you're free to communicate across the game. But building one of the foci is a massive undertaking that requires multiple guilds to even attempt. On top of that, a single foci only covers a single region. So say we built one in Valford, we wouldn't be able to speak to anyone in Effelume until they built their own tower and then we'd need to do it again for every other zone in the game. It basically takes everyone pitching in to get the network up and running and thats not even considering getting permissions from the city itself."

"The project doesn't usually start until a few months into the game anyways." Ryuji grunts as he starts dragging the other door open. "Most guilds right now are worried about making a foothold in their territory before diverting excess resources into that and normally the devs give catch up bonuses to new servers so they can get their Aethernet up and running faster but seeing how things are right now with all this new stuff...I don't know if the big guilds are able to get enough of a break to do that. Not with these dragon cultists, the elves, and whatever else is going on in the desert."

The doors creak and groan as you and Ryuji pull them apart. Their size was only matched by how thick they were and as you open them you feel the sudden flush of heat race outside to meet the cold. Even at the entrance, the heat generated by the machinery within the mountain and the doors served to insulate and keep it held in. You reach the end of the door's tracks and they seem to lock in place with an ominous clang. A series of steps is all that is there to greet you and from the unseen depths of the mountain you can hear the hissing and grinding of machinery. "Alright. Ryuji, you take point. Mae and I are going to flank and cover Serena behind you. Serena, for now stick with basic spells and try to avoid machinery. This is still a refinery down there and we can't risk setting off an explosion. Once we find an entrance to whatever secret research facility they have, I think we should be safe. I doubt they would have built it under a fuel refinery without keeping it safe from possible explosions." Your party slowly shifts into formation as you all begin your descent down the stairs. Soon the rock walls give away to more open areas and hundreds of pipes running around all over the place up the walls and on the ceiling. The loud gurgling or pure fuels joins the chaos of noise and heat. Once you finally reach the first floor it's merely a series of walkways that overlook the massive expanse of the refinery. In retrospect, or at least to your untrained eye, this massive expanse of this place made the walkways feel a bit pointless. Even from your vantage point, you couldn't even see the other end of the floor clearly. You had not idea how a worker would even be able to make heads or tails of anything from here.

"Keep an eye out for traps." You find yourself trying whisper and shout at the same time. "This whole place is like a maze!"

"Maybe we should try and find some kind of map? Don't factories usually have one?" Serena shouts over the din.

"We could also try and find a way to shut this place down!" Ryuji shouts. "The less noise the better! I can barely hear myself think!"

>What do you do?
>Continue wandering the walkways level. See if you can find another stairway down without needing to cross the maze of pipes and boilers.
>Search for a map of the facility or at least these two floors. Otherwise, you might be wandering for hours.
>Spend some time searching for some kind of off switch. With all this noise, it'd be easier for someone to sneak up on you.
>Write in.

>>6422869
>Search for a map

Closing the machines off is actually a negative. It alerts them, and they can hear us.

>>6422869
>Search for a map of the facility or at least these two floors. Otherwise, you might be wandering for hours.

>>6422869
>Search for a map of the facility or at least these two floors. Otherwise, you might be wandering for hours.

>>6422873
>Closing the machines off is actually a negative.
True, and when we leave, we want aether production still up and running.

>>6422869
>Search for a map of the facility or at least these two floors. Otherwise, you might be wandering for hours.

>>6422869
>Use the grappling hook to search for stairs, and lead the party in that general direction

Sorry about that. We're looking for a map. I'll get writing.

"We should leave everything on for now!" You shout over the din of machinery. "If anything this helps us keep hidden! They won't be able to hear our footsteps. Not to mention, they'll know we're here if we turn everything off! For now, let's go find a map and get our bearings!" You motion for everyone to move forward and your group proceeds at full pace. The sounds of your boots and shoes are drowned out by the constant slamming of machinery as the ore is being processed on the floor below.

"Everything seems kinda quiet, relatively speaking!" Ryuji shouts as wander around the place.

"Right! Let's just tempt fate like that!" Mae shouts back.

"I'm just saying! We've been here for a while! You'd think we'd get ganked by now! Maybe they decided to to leave this floor alone!" He replies.

"Not yet! If there are people here, they're probably waiting for us to get somewhere we can't run away from!" Serena calls out. "It happened a lot in the woods! They'd wait for us to get somewhere with a thick line of trees then jump out at us! Made it harder to run away!"

"Then we'll probably start running into that soon! Any maps for the area will be near the walls which is going to limit us to moving forward, back and to one side at best or only back and forward at worse!" You add. "Keep an eye out, especially for rogues!" Just as you shout out, almost as if on cue, you feel something grab you by your cloak and pull you to a stop.

"Ahh! Something got my hair!" Ryuji shouts as he stumbles to a stop as well just as you feel Serena crash into you from behind. You pull your hood out of your eyes and look around to see Mae holding both your cloak and Ryuji's hair in her hands. She lets out a sigh of relief as she lets go and she points in the direction you were all running.

"We got tripwires!" She shouts and pulls out a torch from her pack. The extra light catches the thin wires at the right angle and for a brief moment you can see brief glitter of the razor thin lines running all over the place. They ran from both sides of the walkway from rail to rail, from the rail to the grated floor, and even from the roof to the ground. You adjust your cloak and take a step forward to study the new maze of wire before you. At first it simply seemed haphazard, with wires just throwing everywhere as most novices tended to do in hopes of catching someone via sheer quantity rather than a well hidden trap but deeper inspection revealed that there was a simple logic to the wires. Each one's opening was covered by the subsequent one's placement. If someone attempted to step over or under a wire, they ran the risk of triggering the next one. With your level in engineering you think you'd be able to disarm them.

"Who ever did this had some experience with laying traps!" You explain. "They're not an expert by any means but they know what they're doing! Do we have an alternative route?"

"There's this path that leads deeper into the center!" Ryuji shouts. "But it's probably what they want us to do! I do think I can see some kind of building in the distance! Like one of those overseer offices!"

"We are close to the edge of this floor! If we can disarm the traps we just run along the walls and probably avoid the majority of whatever they want us to walk into!" Serena suggests. You look around and lean over the edge of the railing. With the light of the torch, you can see the familiar shape of flechette grenades. It seems like even here, the invaders were doing their best to not set the facility off while they were inside it. The explosives would deal damage to anyone who set them off but you think the damage to surrounding machinery would be minimal and worse case it would slow production in this area but not the rest of the floor. You look down to the floor below. It was quite a drop from here but you think that with your grapple gun, you'd be able to zip down and drop safely though it'd take the full length of your gadget's wire to do so. You think for a moment. You could also try and hang from the side and remove explosives rather than disabling the trap from the wires side. It'd take even longer but you'd be able to salvage explosives. Or you would simply ferry your team down to the second floor. You unsling the charge rifle and peer down the scope in the direction Ryuji pointed. You do see a large square room lined with windows that overlooked a section of the facility. It kind of reminded you of a guard tower that was hanging from the roof. It was currently illuminated and you can see signs of it being in use though you can't tell if it was like that before the facility was attacked or if it was being used by whoever was patrolling this floor as an HQ or some kind. Currently it was empty but you can make out what looks to be a map of some kind as well as a series of controls as well.

>What do you want to do?
>Try and disarm the traps then press onward. You want to make a wide berth of where your enemies want you to walk through. It might even let you get the drop on them if you can see them from afar.
>Head towards the room Ryuji saw. It could be a good place to hold up in and draw attention to yourselves then pick off anyone who approaches. At the very least it contains the information you're looking for.
>Zip down and continue on the lower floor. You'll be harder to track down there since no one expects you to just jump over the rails. It'll be more difficult to traverse since you'll be dealing with active machinery but that hopefully applies to your opponents.
>Try and salvage the grenades themselves. It'll take even longer but you'll have more supplies on hand. Hopefully no one comes over here while you do it.
>Write in.

>>6425352
>Try and disarm the traps then press onward. You want to make a wide berth of where your enemies want you to walk through. It might even let you get the drop on them if you can see them from afar.

>>6425352
>Try and disarm the traps then press onward. You want to make a wide berth of where your enemies want you to walk through. It might even let you get the drop on them if you can see them from afar.

>>6425352
>Try and salvage the grenades themselves. It'll take even longer but you'll have more supplies on hand. Hopefully no one comes over here while you do it.

>>6425352
>Try and disarm the traps then press onward. You want to make a wide berth of where your enemies want you to walk through. It might even let you get the drop on them if you can see them from afar.

Disarming the traps it is. Writing.

Damn, I forgot to vote. I had the 1000 IQ idea of just rolling a barrel down the catwalk to set all the traps off ahead of us instead of cocking about trying to cut the correct wire. I wonder how that would have turned out.

You unsling your gun and bow before removing the quiver hanging off your hip. You didn't want to risk any of your weapons accidentally setting off any of the bombs because you leaned too far and they caught a wire. "Cover me. I'm going to try and disarm these tripwires." You call out as quiet as you can. Even with all the noise, you couldn't help by try and keep the information from getting heard from unseen ears. Getting on all fours, or three as you hold the torch for light, you begin to examine the traps more thoroughly. The silvery wires are more intermixed than you had initially seen. They run behind and in front of others, almost like a web, and are stretched so tightly that you worry cutting even a single one too quickly it would not only snap and take the other wires with it but set of the grenade attached to it because of how precariously loose the device's pin was. You let the game take over and decide to use the ease of access mini-game to guide you through disarming the traps. If you did this manually, you could certainly go much faster but playing it safe would be the best option. You play through the game, adjusting the wire's tension, cutting it, and slowly guiding it to slacken and letting it go.

"I think I see movement! Dude I think you need to hurry!" You hear Ryuji, his voice distant and breaking your focus for a moment. Your heart skips a beat as you mistime a cut and the wire snaps loose. You freeze and wait for the explosion but none comes. You sigh and squeeze your eyes shut to try and refocus but you can't help and look over your shoulder. Ryuji towers over you as he looks through the charge rifle's scope. Serena and Mae look over the railings and across the walkways but without any way to illuminate the distant platforms, there's really not much they could see. You turn your attention to the building off in the distance but without a scope you can't tell if there is any movement within it. Still, you can't help but think you see something flitting around in the darkness off in the distance. Not wanting to chalk it up to your mind playing tricks on you and not wanting to find out, you turn back to your work. By now you're roughly half way through the tangle of wires. Your back and knees ache from being hunched over for so long but finally after what seems like forever, you cut the final wire.

"Let's go! Come on!" You hear Ryuji shout as he grabs you by the scruff of your cloak and pulls you to your feet. You feel him shove your bow and quiver into your arms as all of you break into a run. You sling the bow over your arm and equip your quiver as Ryuji tosses your rifle into your arms. "I think they saw us! I saw a group making their way towards us or at least heading in our direction."

"Then they'll know we're here once they reach the traps!" Mae shouts, snuffing out your torch. "We can cut through here!" You make a sharp turn and pick up the pace. You think you can hear footsteps running behind you but it had to be your paranoia. You could barely hear your own steps let alone anyone else's. Likewise, there would be no way they could hear yours. All you had to do was stick to the shadows but that was becoming more difficult as you reach the end of the floor and see the torch lined wall.

"I think I can see a map over there!" Serena points to a faint rectangle on the wall ahead of you. A think sheet of metal had been screwed into the rock and faded paint outlined the basic layout of the facility. As you approach, a small popup appears asking you what section of the map you wanted to see.

Please choose a floor:
1a: Walkways
1b: Aetherium refineries
2a: Worker Rest Area/ Dormitory
2b: Fuel Liquification
3: Fuel Purifiers
4: Worker Rest Area/ Dormitory
5: Fuel Stabilizers

"Doesn't seem like they'd make it easy for us and show any secret research floors." Mae says looking over her shoulder.

>Which floor do you want to look at first?
>Write in.

>>6427403
>1a: Walkways
We can use the bow and throwing knives now. Use the grappling hook while the others are checking the maps, and try to take one of them down so that they slow down, wary of ranged attacks.

>>6427403
>>6427419
That is after we've confirmed they're actually looking for us. we can also potentially set off those traps if they're dumb enough to walk into said walkway.

>>6427419
+1

>>6427403
>>6427420 +1

>>6427419
>>6427420
>>6427785
>>6427581
We're splitting off to see if we're being followed. Funny this plan was suggest because I just started going through all the Batman Arkham games again. Maybe John should have gone thief. We'll see tomorrow!

You close the window and take a step back. "Check the map, see if you can find something weird that can help us find the secret testing area!" You say unclipping your hook launcher from your belt. "I'll be right back!"

"Where are you going!?" Mae shouts as you fire your gadget into the darkness above. You feel the slacken for a moment before becoming tense as the motor starts to reel it in and you along with it.

"To scout something out! Maybe drop in on our hosts!" You shout back. Mae seems to shout something but it's drowned out by the distance and noisy machines. You swing forward and detach your hook to drop down a few feet before firing it off and swinging again. You have to stop every few swings to allow the tiny device to cool off. As you wait, you fit the gadget back into your buckle and peer through the rifle's scope as you try not to imagine your belt snapping under your weight. You max out the zoom on the scope and see two people standing at the edge of the trap zone. Judging by their gear you think they're a Fighter and a Swordsman. The Fighter kneels to examine the remains of their traps and looks up to speak to their companion. The Swordsman seems confused and the Fighter moves to look over the railing to look at the floor bellow. You dial back the zoom and sweep the area for more people. You can see a group of 4 people running ahead after the traps in the direction of where your team was. Judging by how they were navigating the walkways, you don't think they had an exact location of where they were and the dim lighting wasn't helping them. It would be a bit before they naturally made their way to their location assuming they didn't simply give up and turn back.

You slowly retract the wire until your can plant your feet on the ceiling and brace yourself. With a practiced motion, your flick the safety off your gun and level it properly. No one ever really looks up for danger unless they expected it and you're certain that your enemies weren't ready for an aerial assault. You could get one clean shot in before everyone is put on high alert and with the stopping power of this rifle, it should be enough to kill or leave them weak enough that a fall off the walkways would finish them off. The question was, who would you aim for? The two isolated players could be a safe bet but you didn't know if the group as a whole had a way to signal each other. If they did, you'd have the whole floor looking after you as the shot would be visible to everyone near the impact site. If they didn't, you could move in and try to finish off the remaining player before regrouping with your team. Same went for the other group but if they didn't have any means of communication, then more than likely the group would try and scatter to discourage aoe attacks. You could then try to direct them to your party by shooting at them. Then your team could take them out one by one.

>What do you do?
>Try and take out the smaller group then regroup with your party. Even if the second group catches up, you'll have reduced their numbers or you can at least attempt to leave by using that as a distraction.
>Aim for whoever looks like the leader of the bigger group. Try and incite chaos and panic among them before returning to either finish them off or escape deeper into the facility.
>Fire at the bigger group and spend the extra ammo to try and funnel them into your team. Even if it takes them by surprise, it would be a 4v1 in your team's favor. You can slowly whittle them down.
>Hold off on attacking and get back to your team. You know the locations of your enemies, you can use that to avoid confrontation and head deeper into the facility.
>Write in.

>>6429068
>>Hold off on attacking and get back to your team. You know the locations of your enemies, you can use that to avoid confrontation and head deeper into the facility.
We shouldn't give the others THAT many heart attacks

>>6429068
>Hold off on attacking and get back to your team. You know the locations of your enemies, you can use that to avoid confrontation and head deeper into the facility.

>>6429068
>Hold off on attacking and get back to your team. You know the locations of your enemies, you can use that to avoid confrontation and head deeper into the facility.
Okay the long game. We need to get down below to see what they're doing and stop them. If we can avoid high alert and getting locked in combat before then, we should.

>>6429068
>Hold off on attacking and get back to your team. You know the locations of your enemies, you can use that to avoid confrontation and head deeper into the facility.

Man it seems like summer eats up more of my time than I like. Let's regroup with our team.

Despite being fairly hidden in the dark and up where few people would dare look, you slowly lower your weapon and click the safety back on. As easy as it was to pick one of them off, you would be better off avoiding them for now. Saving the facility took priority over raising your K/D with a few easy kills. You sling your weapon back over your shoulder and kick off the ceiling and begin swinging back to your party before they got caught off guard by the patrolling team. Every so often, you would scan the area while waiting for your gadget to cool off. So far, it seems like the two groups were trying to keep a wide berth and cover as much ground as possible but with so little people, it only made their search slower. By the time you reach the others, they're all standing on edge and on high alert. You feel a small urge to simply drop down on them and give them a bit of a scare but the thought of the power Gloria had over the food you ate at work quickly squashed that idea. Instead, you zip down a ways away and light a torch before approaching.

"We're somewhat in the clear." You say as you hurry over to them.

"What's that mean?" Mae asks, relaxing slightly but not fully letting her guard down.

"They seem to know we're here but they don't know where. I think they're surprised we just cut through their traps but they don't know where we are. So we should get a move on whatever you guys found." You explain.

"We think there's something going on in on the 4th floor." Serena says pointing to the map then opening it up again to look over. "If you look at the whole map, everything is split up into half floors until the 3rd floor. But for the 3rd floor it makes sense I think. That's where all the fuel is liquid and they need more space to contain it and work on it. It probably has pipes for both carrying to that floor and back up to the surface. It needs more room for all that but why does the facility need a whole entire floor for a dormitory if half a floor was enough before? I think it's because it's housing more people than you would need for working the floor before and after it."

"So you think that there might be an entrance to the secret lab in the dormitory?" You surmise.

"It'd be the easiest way to hide any extra staff. Mingle them around with regular workers." Mae adds. "Plus, if the staff have been taken hostage they'll probably be there. It's far deeper into the mountain and harder to rescue."

"Not to mention that the most volatile stuff is down there. They probably have the workers down there to keep stuff from exploding." Ryuji concludes.

"Ok, let's work with that theory." You say with a nod. "Is there a way to get to the 4th floor quickly? Maybe like one of those big stairways skyscrapers use? It wouldn't make sense to make everyone go up and down every floor and get in the way."

"There is...but it's that elevator we saw. We think it's used to transport people and large machinery." Serena says. "But it's back the way we came."

"But we can cut out a lot of time if we use that Batman gadget you got." Ryuji cuts in. "If we just zip down to the second half of each floor then we don't need to wander around the upper paths."

"It'll still be faster than having to fight or sneak our way back to the other side of this floor." Mae says. "Not to mention, if we use the elevator then it might have a way of alerting the lower floors."

"I agree. Nice thinking everyone." You say as you fire your grappling hook into the nearby railing. You quickly run everyone through on operating the tool and begin sending everyone down. One by one they vanish into the darkness and wait for the other half of the zipline to return. Every time you half expect something to go wrong or to hear sounds of fighting erupt from below. You opt to go last just in case the patrols found you. With all your ranged options, you'd have the best chance to keep them busy with hit and run tactics. But your luck holds out and no one arrives by the time you take the gadget in hand and leap over the railings into the darkness.

---

If the noise of machines made it difficult to speak in the walkways above, down in the working area they were downright deafening. The constant hammering of metal on ore, the hissing sounds of steam and hydraulics, it all made your head throb and ears ache. You retract your hook while trying in vain to keep the sound out of your ears by covering them with your hands. All the while, you can see one of your friends' lips move but you can't hear a thing. Working with crude hand signals, you all take your formations and do your best to navigate the nearly impossible maze of machines and pipes. Bits of smashed rock strike your exposed skin as you run by and you find yourself trying to pull anything and everything to cover up.

Serena takes the lead as she motions directions to the group, stopping every so often to think and look around to get her bearings. You take so many turns, going through tunnels and open rooms before you arrive at another set of heavy doors. All five of you put your all into it to pry them apart and push them back shut. They seemed to be made of solid stone lined with metal and were just as thick as the entrance doors but once they closed shut it was as if a switch had been flipped. The deafening noise of the room behind you suddenly goes quiet save for a dull thrum from the door vibrating from the sound waves. You all collapse and try to take a moment to catch your breath.

"I CAN STILL HEAR MY EARS RING-" Mae screams before catching herself. She clasps her hands over her mouth before saying, far too quietly, "My ears are still ringing..." Ryuji stifles a giggle before it dies in his throat from Mae's glare.

"I don't know how anyone works in those conditions." You admit as you focus on regulating your volume. Your voice sounds scratchy and weird as you struggle to remember how to manually talk. "Maybe they have earplugs or something?"

"Gotta be. Valford might be cold as ice but that seems way too brutal even for them." Ryuji admits.

"From the way everything was working. Maybe no one really steps into the lower half. The walkways might be there so the machines can be monitored from above." Serena says as she pulls a canteen of water from her robes. She takes a swig and lets out a sigh. "Is it just the running or is it hot in here?" She asks. You and the others pause for a moment to process that. Now that you had a moment to think, and actually hear yourself think, you realize she was right. The temperature seemed to have increased dramatically. The heat was bordering between uncomfortable and sweltering. It almost felt like a hot summer's day outside of the game.

"Must be from the liquification process." You guess. "Turning the solid material into liquid fuel."

"And people are supposed to sleep and live here?" Mae asks as she tugged on her shirt to try and get some airflow.

"That's kinda brutal." Ryuji says getting to his feet. "Man I don't ever let AC go above 70 during the summer. Can't imagine having no AC."

"Let's get moving then. If we sit around wishing for AC, we're just gonna remain hot. The dorms should be at the end of these steps." You say as you start to make your way down. Despite the short distance, every step felt like someone was slowly turning up the thermostat and your clothes only seemed to get heavier. By the time you reached the door to the dorms, you were covered in a thin layer of sweat. You pull open the surprisingly normal sized doors and feel a blast of cooler air hit you. "Right...magic." You say with an almost manic relief as you all step into an open room. Large sections of the smoothed floor had been replaced and inlaid every few feet with what looked like giant chunks of perfectly cut and smoothed ice. A thin mist clung to the floor as it seeped free from the enchanted material.

"Thank God." Mae sighs and shuts the door behind all of you before becoming alert. "What if there are raiders here?" She hisses.

"Maybe...maybe not." Ryuji says as he hurries over to a nearby window. "Look!" The dorms were set up like blocks, each series of rooms forming a hollow square that looked down on the floor below. Unlike the dimly lit floors above, the floors underneath were perfectly lit due to all the molten ore and fire allowing you to easily see the myriad number of bodies hurrying around to work on the machines. Dozens of workers were hard at work making unrefined fuel, all the while you can see several individuals circling around them like vultures and brandishing weapons at them. You count about 6 raiders wandering around. You watch them patrol for a moment before something else catches your eye. Here and there you can see bodies on the ground, unmoving. Unconscious or dead you couldn't tell but given the heat you just escaped it was pretty likely it was due to heatstroke either way.

"We need to get down there, fast." Ryuji says coldly, stepping back and readying his weapon. "Get away from the glass, and get your hook ready, I'm going in."

"Hold on. We need someway to stave off the heat too. We should explore this floor. There might be some clues too." Mae says as she steps infront of him. "Smashing through the window is just gonna alert them. If we want to save them we need to prep. Besides, that's like a 100 foot drop. We wouldn't survive it even if we used the grapple hook."

"We don't have time for that. If we need to we can bring the fight back here in the cold but we need to step in!" Ryuji argues. "We might not even find anything here."

"We...could try and sneak by." Serena mutters shyly. "If they're so focused on the workers we can probably get to the next floor unnoticed. We have to think about the city too."

"Come on. The workers might be able to tell us what's going on! They might know how to get into the secret area." Ryuji counters. "We can't ignore them because they're NPCs."

"Serena does have a point. We have a city full of players and npcs to think about. Not to mention the rest of the zones. We can ignore them because they are NPCs." Mae shoots back. "Or we can take some time to try and find a way to save them but rushing in doesn't help."

>What do you say?
>Break the window and leap down. You think you can swing down to the floor below like you did across the ceiling but you're not sure if your grapple hook will survive the process.
>Search around for something to help. The workers must have something to work in the heat here. Otherwise the heat will put you all at a disadvantage.
>Try and sneak through. As much as you hate leaving them to their fate, you need to prioritize the mission over a few npcs.
>Fire at them from up here. At this range, you might hit one or two before they move out of range and converge on you but you'll be fighting in the cold. You're just not sure what they'll do to the workers if they do know and important information. They might try to silence them permanently.
>Write in.

>>6431576
Is there anything directly underneath the windows? If they're focused on the workers we can melt a sniperhole for Serena while we make our way down for a stealth raid.

Are there any convenient vats of molten ore? Serena can either distract or fireball someone into one. John can grapple a guard into another, and Ryuji should have some kind of knockback for a third. Cleaning up the rest should be much simpler.

>>6431576
>Search around for something to help. The workers must have something to work in the heat here. Otherwise the heat will put you all at a disadvantage.

>>6431576
>Search around for something to help. The workers must have something to work in the heat here. Otherwise the heat will put you all at a disadvantage.
No point getting to the destination if we're too weakened to do anything once we're there.

>>6431688
>Is there anything directly underneath the windows?
The transport belts that lead into furnace. This section of the floor is where workers separate any chunks of rock and ore that managed to escape being crushed into melt able material. Giant Crucibles and vats for the melted are further down the line on the other end of the forges. It would be possible to knock someone into them and it's likely that the players would need to wander over there to make sure any workers on that part of the line are doing their job but you'd have to wait or lure them over.

It should also be noted that if you kill anyone in this manner their loot will also be in said molten ore.

>>6431576
>Search around for something to help. The workers must have something to work in the heat here. Otherwise the heat will put you all at a disadvantage.

>>6431576
>>6431869
>Don't waste time searching, sneak in and dunk as many of them into vats before they catch on.
If we waste too much time searching the rearguard will get pincered by the patrols.

I'd rather lose the loot and get a few guaranteed kills and fight through the heat. It'll make it easier for the workers to coordinate if we're clearly different from the guards.