Fuck, I'm busy today.

Guys, don't fuck this up.

>>40318236
I'll try.

>>40318236
I don't think we'll fuck this up harder than we usually do. We'll try not to disappoint you, anon.

>>40318256
The real question is if we can fuck up harder than we already have. Then again, everything's bit IC since our protag did have to survive X years in the red world alone and constantly fighting.

>>40318280
Honestly, while in-quest we've fucked up a lot and there have been some stupendously retarded decisions, I think in general we haven't done that bad.
It's like a game with multiple endings, ain't no way you're getting the True End blindly on your first playthrough.

>>40318306
At least we fucked up badly enough that we got the secret upgrade you'd normally need to pick up on NG+.

From deep within the Diadem, the rumble begins. It is a deep and sustained sound, like the shifting of tectonic plates: Like God playing dice with planets, the roar of turbines and piston hammers giving way to the rising hum of power - Sheets of shimmering energy flaring across the chamber's columns, the energized air seething with charge. The matter-energy interaction flares sparks and streaks in all directions, as machinery is sheathed anew in ray shields - flaring, bucking, spitting lightning. Hologram images flicker to life, technology throbbing, vibrating, chattering; the ground beginning to tremble underfoot, as screens light, pistons hissing...

"What-" Distortion Haze is on his feet, unsteady - His head turning this way and that. "What's happening-?"

"Trap." Rook's voice is a low hiss, his form hunched, ambulating on clawed feet. "Knew we were coming. *Knew*." A furious alertness grips his form - the gnawing intensity of an animal in a trap, right before it chews off its own leg to escape. The sounds have distressed him, you can tell; the whirring cogs and the throb of the impellers coming from all sides, ratcheting up in intensity with every passing moment.

The Thief shoots him a look, a look that says he might be mentally deficient.

"Engines are going live," he says, in that curt, clipped tone of his. The fingers of his hand flex stiffly, curl into a fist, around the grip of the Fatal. "Joker - The Diadem is ready for launch."

Kazuya makes a startled sound, biting off the end of a curse - The lights of his golden helm flicker with agitation, a blurt of vox-static coming over his speakers. "But - The others...They're still *out* there-"

(Continued)

>>40318374

"They're out of time," Armaros rumbles. He stares, warily, at the overlapping banks of monolithic machinery coming to life - the great turbines and fusion columns feeding power from the Diadem's core, bringing titantic thruster-banks and impellers to life. A warning pulse of background radiation flares on your sensors, the tranverse assembly deck groaning as - after countless eons in the Red - the Diadem configures itself for flight.

"Anon - Akira - We have to do *something*." Daegal's gaze darts across the interior superstructure, the vast network of chrome
pipes, rods and cablework. "If we - We could cut *through* these, wreck the engines..."

"You're crazy-!" There's distinct alarm in Haze's voice, as he jabs a finger at the curving spinal columns of dark gunmetal arcing across the vast space, the massive towers of wheels and gears and sawtooth machinery in motion. "If you hit something - If it *explodes*-"

"Wasting time," Rook rasps, spined shoulders drawn up in threat-posture. Twitchy, avian mask articulating in spastic jerks. "Find them. Kill them. End this."

And all around you, the clamor continues - huge booming sounds coming from within the artificial structure, like the crash of hammer against anvil. You can feel EXEC_HARROW's pull, from far, far above - a constant presence in the back of your mind.

Inox Fang.

[ ] "Rook's right. We need to get out of here."
[ ] "Daegal's right. We need to sabotage the launch."
[ ] "Thief, how do these machines work?"
[ ] "Thief, where are we?"
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>40318457
>[ ] "Thief, how do these machines work?"
>[ ] "Daegal's right. We need to sabotage the launch."
>Free
But wrecking the engines isn't the only way to do that.
I'm assuming there's something controlling it or feeding the engines power.
If we can stop either, we've won some time.

>>40318457
>"Daegal's right. We need to sabotage the launch."
>"Thief, how do these machines work?"

>>40318457

> [X] "Rook's right. We need to get out of here."

Messing with operating machinery is a VERY BAD IDEA. This is all a sideshow to actually killing Pazuzu and seizing control of the Diadem, too.

>>40318516
>Messing with operating machinery is a VERY BAD IDEA
I'm fairly sure that leaving everyone else to die is a bad idea, too.

>>40318524

Do we actually know what's going on outside?

>>40318457
>"They left only a nameless mooks here despite expecting us to come. I doubt it's possible to stop the Diadem by simply destroying some of this equipment."
>"Also, the Smilers are directly above us. It might be possible to reach a control center if we go up. "
>[ ] "Thief, how do these machines work?"
>[ ] "Thief, where are we?"

>>40318532
Well, we're here to prevent the Diadem from launching, and it's going to launch, so...

>40318502
>>40318512
>>40318516
>>40318524
>>40318533

> [X] "Daegal's right. We need to sabotage the launch."

"Listen-" Haze sounds almost frantic, now. "All of this - *All* of this - is live. You could kill us all-"

"You have fixed charges? Explosives?" the Thief cuts in - The eyeslits of his skull helm glow ember-red, his duster swirling around him as he scans the asymmetrical cluster of metal struts, valve-like bulkheads, chattering panels and controls and gauges.

Daegal stares. His faceplate has no expression, but you can tell he's scowling darkly at the ray shield box that shrouds a likely-looking network. He raises the Condemner - And prods, experiementally...

The blade flares and bucks and spits arcing lightning when it hits the shield, the annihilating energy's thready hum spiking up an octave. He stumbles back, sparks flickering across his form - "Damn-!" Daegal snarls, a sound of bitter frustration.

"It's shielded-"

"Stand aside," Armaros growls. Hydraulics whirr, as he unclamps Ascalon's massive bulk from his back. He hefts the blade two-handed, gripped in plated fists - It is a sword almost six-feet long, over a foot wide, with only the lightening effects of his gravimetric halo that allows him to wield it at all.

A neutronium blade.

And now even Rook is backing away. You're quite certain that - With all of Armaros's impressive strength behind it - Ascalon is quite capable of shearing through the field. But after that...

> [X] "Thief, how do these machines work?"

With an alarming casualness, the Thief shrugs.

"Power conduits. Energy lines. Containment fields for vulnerable sections." Then - Even more worryingly:

"-I think."

> [X] "Thief, where are we?"

(Continued)

>>40318745

"Engine deck. The lowest levels of the Diadem." He, too, is eyeing Armaros warily. "-One of several thruster nacelles."

>"They left only a nameless mooks here despite expecting us to come. I doubt it's possible to stop the Diadem by simply destroying some of this equipment."
>"Also, the Smilers are directly above us. It might be possible to reach a control center if we go up. "

"Directly..." Haze begins, his voice trailing off - "...How do you know that?"

Totenaz ignores him. There is a long, damned pause, as he considers your words - "Teleporters are disabled. The manual corridors have reconfigured - But the auxiliary lifts are ahead."

"Then let's *use* it," Rook hisses - His talons hook at the air, as if he's trying to physically restrain himself from breaking into a lurching run. A palpable violet light smolders in the slits of his helm.

"Joker - All this is *wasting time*-"

[ ] "Armaros. Do it."
[ ] "We're taking the manual corridors. Now."
[ ] "The auxiliary lift is our best option."
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>40318797
>"Armaros. Do it."
>"The auxiliary lift is our best option."

>>40318797
>[ ] "The auxiliary lift is our best option."
>"They're expecting us to take this option, but it's our only chance of getting there in time.
>"Daegal, hold your shield above us while we're riding."
>"Armaros, periodically probe the space above the lift to set off any traps or bombs before we reach them and be ready to use that sword to bust through a wall."
>"I'll keep track of any Player presence."

>>40318797
>[X] "Armaros. Do it."
>[X] "We're taking the manual corridors. Now."
>[ ] "The auxiliary lift is our best option. It's faster, after all. And of course, that means it's most likely trapped to hell and back, probably rigged to collapse everything the moment we reach halway up there too.

>Don't look at me like that, it's not like I'm being paranoid. This is their home turf and they know the place better than us. The corridors are likely trapped as well, it's not like they lacked the time or resources to trap both ways, but at least there we'll have the chance of breaking through without having to carry those of us who can't fly.

>>40318865
>>40318870
>>40318874

> "Armaros. Do it."

Armaros rears back. Ascalon's blade hews into the field - a blinding, seething radiance ripping forth, so brilliant your sensors momentarily white-out; There is a furious screech to the point of impact, as Armaros drives the blade home with all the strength his enhanced form can muster - And that is a considerable amount.

The ray-shield shatters. It cracks and breaks, with the sound of smashing glass. Sharp chips of shield segment scatter into the air for a microsecond after that thunderous blow, ripping through the collapsing cloak of energies, and slamming that titanic blade into the heart of the warped machinery-

The light abruptly goes blood-red. A siren begins to pulse, as Armaros completes the stroke - A furious writhe of lightning scorching, searing the air in crackling arcs, leaping out hungrily in all directions. A capacitor blows, then another; The warning pulse of hard radiation rising to a warning shriek-

"Oh - Oh shit," Haze stammers - Ozone mist fumes into the air, vein-like cables twitching; coolant gurgles as it spills out across the ground, the tower machine emitting a juddering groan. Warning telltales pulse along the length, as a sickly, actinic green light emanates from the charging element; flickers of energy, dark and unhealthy, flaring like troubled synapses out from the disrupted area. The walls begin to shudder, odd harmonics pulsing...

You're not sure who's the first to start running.

(Continued)

>>40318977

> [X] "The auxiliary lift is our best option."

The corridor blurs past, your pounding footfalls echoing hollowly through the cathedral-space; Behind you, something catastrophic is happening - The air is bleeding colours that can corrode the mind, lit by a bright hell-light that seems to come from everywhere and nowhere at once, reality writhing and warping and *compressing* in ways that send you lurching forward, towards the bare metal of the auxiliary lift; Spare, functional, utilitarian, a thick toothed base locked into the wall's slots.

And above-

The shaft extends upwards, into infinity - the platform control a simple brass lever, the same material as the rails that border the suspensor platform.

"Come on come on come on-" Haze hisses - "Joker, we're-"

The Thief's hand closes on the lever, and *pulls*. With a deep, grinding clunk, the platform - formed of metal grille plates - begins the ascent. It jolts, alarmingly, the underside of the rig cycling up to power - the edge of the hull shrieking out sparks as it grinds against the walls. It is the shriek of a rusted latch, enough to put your teeth on edge...If you had any.

(Continued)

>>40319073
>The air is bleeding colours that can corrode the mind
Oh jeez
Guys I'm starting to think this might not have been the best idea.

>>40319073
Whelp, at least we didn't die immediately.

>>40319091
>Guys I'm starting to think this might not have been the best idea.
It's just The Color Out of Space, dude.

And catastrophic dimensional destruction with simultaneous collapse of local space into higher dimensions (in other words, a Huge Explosion) there is just what we need.

Remember, this is the Engine Deck, on one of the Nacelles. Hopefully, this'll be enough to damage an actual engine.

>>40319073

"Is...Is that it?" In the gloom, Daegal sounds distinctly hopeful. "Anon, you don't think-"

> "Daegal, hold your shield above us while we're riding."

"Right-" Belatedly, he fumbles with the bulk of the Adamant, the pitch-black shield strapped to his arm. The lion's mouth snarls defiance, as a tiny sphere of cohered flame smolders between the articulated jaws - Enough to lend a ghostly, wavering radiance to the lift, a radiance that throws the others into shadowy relief.

Below - There is a deep, brassy boom. The walls of the shaft judder, and the power to the suspensor platform falters...But only for a moment.

> "They're expecting us to take this option, but it's our only chance of getting there in time."
> "Armaros, periodically probe the space above the lift to set off any traps or bombs before we reach them and be ready to use that sword to bust through a wall."

He nods. The fins that bristle from his shoulders hum, audibly - agitating the air around him, blurring his form to a smear. Armaros's visor cycles, actinic blue light bleeding from the edges of his visor as he scans ahead...

"Active-fluid hydraulics. Electric charges - The shaft is mined."

Enfer's work.

The lift continues to rise, with a ponderous unstoppability - You focus, the world around you rendered in fuzzy, caustic shades of red and ochre light. Sensor beams and harmonic tripwires criss-cross the span of the rising shaft; luminous strands anchored by the faint pulse of explosives, snaking between the spiked emitters.

"I see it," the Thief says. He makes a sound, a sound that might be a rasp of contempt. "Sloppy work."

Daegal cranes his neck, looking up - "I don't see-"

(Continued)

>>40319187
>"I see it," the Thief says. He makes a sound, a sound that might be a rasp of contempt. "Sloppy work."

I swear, we kill them by the dozens and still don't get any respect. Freaking Smilers.

>>40319187

His words are cut off, as Armaros's halo flares. The first trap crumples in upon itself, in a fizzling burst of cising sparks - As his gaze shifts, the fork of electric discharge follows, leaping from charge to charge. One by one, the sensor beams wink out; it is almost casual, the light blue-white like ice, a sizzling display of raw voltage. He's burning them out with pinpoint precision-

Destroying things by looking at them.

> "I'll keep track of any Player presence."
> "-And of course, that means it's most likely trapped to hell and back, probably rigged to collapse everything the moment we reach halfway up there too."

"Then-" Haze begins, uncertainly - "...Why haven't they *done* that, yet-?"

"No," Armaros rumbles. Ball-lightning flares above him, again. "-Fragmentation charges. Low gauge." He exchanges a glance with you. "They're toying with us."

And Rook's talons catch the half-light, as he breathes out - in a guttural rasp: "No-one makes a fool of me."

[ ] "They know they can't stop us like this. This is just a distraction."
[ ] "They're waiting for us above."
[ ] "They don't want to damage the Diadem more than they have to."
[ ] "Rook. Incoming."
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>40319228
>[ ] "They know they can't stop us like this. This is just a distraction."
Like, are we really going to have to deal with another round of small fry?
The genocide was one thing but that's just a step too far. Smilers are real dicks, man.

Would've been hilarious if they died by their own traps, though.

>>40319228
>[ ] "They know they can't stop us like this. This is just a distraction."
>[ ] "Rook. Incoming."
Activate the Auspex, have R&C ready.

>>40319228
>[ ] "They know they can't stop us like this. This is just a distraction."
>[ ] "They're waiting for us above."

>While they probably don't want to damage the Diadem more than necessary, this is just an elevator. Even if they collapsed the whole thing on top of us, we have more than emough firepower to simply blast away whatever gets in our path.
>No, they want to distract us. Make us focus on the small traps while they set the big ones in place. And if they manage to get a lucky shot in, all the better for them. They'll likely ambush us at the top, or perhaps put the good traps there so we'll get complacent because of the easy stuff.

>As if we'd fall for something like that. I swear, even after killing scores of those assholes we STILL don't get any respect.

And we'll charge a Fusion Annihilator blast all the way until it's full. Fuck those guys.

Say, can we blast open a hole in the wall a couple floors below the top of the Elevator? Then we can blast more holes in the walls and ceilings to bypass whatever traps and ambushes they make, while damaging the Superstructure along the way.

>>40319339

JQOP, can we just blast a Fusion Annihilator ray up to the top to clear the route?

>>40319360
I don't think there's enough space in the elevator, for one.
And the recoil could be catastrophic, as well.

>>40319360

Go with this. We're not playing their games any longer.

>>40319385
And it might damage the elevator too much and make it stop working.

An active Argus Scan, plus preparing the Fusion Annihilator for when we need it is the best option for now.

>>40319402
Let's not be hasty. We need the Elevator working to get anywhere.

>>40319449
I agree.

>>40319266
>>40319295
>>40319339
>>40319360
>>40319385
>>40319402

> "Rook. Incoming."

The sound he makes is guttural, indecipherable - *Hungry*.

"I smell them," he growls, fleshmetal wings extruding - His form contorts, the raptor-helm extending as eerie lights ignite beneath his visor, tensing to spring...

And on the crest of a premonition, you glance up - Up - and up, as your second sense, the sense for Lachryma, surges to life as you hear a monstrous whirring and clanking of machinery in the walls all around you. The suspensor platform shakes, like a die in a cup - Gears clank, as metal doors come grinding open...

From the darkness beyond, from the gloom, they come scuttling. Spidery shapes, drooling pseudoflesh dead and grey and threaded with black veins, weapon limbs clicking like hungry jaws. Crawling down the walls, with insect precision - the dead-eyed Simulation Bodies you've glimpsed before, their pale porcelain masks twisting at the end of neck-stumps; there is a madness to the design of these ones, long-limbed and boneless, clawing their way down towards you-

"*More* of those things-" Haze stammers - He has his Ion Blaster and plague gun gripped in his fists, pointing them both upwards - More and *more* crawling down the walls, teeth chattering, each one swollen with Lachryma, bloated with it.

(Continued)

File: jokermonsters1.jpg (205 KB, 535x606)

205 KB JPG

>>40319549

They're infested. All of them. Gorged beyond all proportion, until black tears run over their flawed white masks; enough that secondary arms and wetly flexing limbs rip through their skin, so hunched and debased that each one burns in your mind's eye like a fever.

You hear Daegal swear under his breath, as he draws the Immolator - The Thief's Furstenburg levelled, your small squad facing outwards in every direction at once, as the horrors close in.

"How *many*-?"

HP: 158.1%
COBALT BOOSTER: 158%
ASSAULT SHROUD: 150%
METER: 40%
ENCROACHMENT: 11%

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>40319608
>"They're weak so they're probably not the main dish yet. Don't waste resources, we just need to smash our way through."
>"Armaros, keep up the job and let the mines take care of you part."
>"Daegal, grab the Immolator and burn them. Use your Cobalt Booster to add to the power."
>"If you have an ace up your sleeve, now would be a nice time to use it, Haze."

Time to user our good-old Plasma Vulcans . Also, Exec_Swarm them.

>>40319608
All right. A swarm of Lachryma engorged mooks.
Again, the Smilers just refuse to give us any respect. Sending these things after us in a corridor is just asking for us to annihilate them. And that's exactly what we'll do, of course.

Boosted Vulcans on one hand, charge the Annihilator on the other while running an active Argus Scan. The AP of the Cobalt Boosted Vulcans should be enough to kill or at least slow down these things, while we ready the Annihilator for the OBVIOUS ambush that's going to come at us while the Simulation Bodies distract us.

>>40319665

> "They're weak so they're probably not the main dish yet. Don't waste resources, we just need to smash our way through."
> "Daegal, grab the Immolator and burn them. Use your Cobalt Booster to add to the power."
> "If you have an ace up your sleeve, now would be a nice time to use it, Haze."

"I-" Haze begins - He catches himself, starts again; "I need a moment-"

His words are lost in the shriek of Daegal's Immolator - The cohered heat-beam lances along the shaft, the searing blast of it's passage igniting Simulation Bodies in it's wake; the Lachyrma pulsing through their veins superheat, their forms twisting out of all proportion, all articulation...

And then they burst into flame. Hideous monotone shrieks fill the narrow space, as your forearm sheaths retract; Your Plasma Vulcans spinning up, spewing forth a dizzying blitz of searing bolts - Your first shots rake a lurching Simulation Body, punching ragged holds through the gangling form; It's already collapsing as you switch target, strafing along the walls, hammering them with hailing chains of fire - Your Argus systems engaging, your sensors taking on that realer-than-realer intensity-

The vent tubes branching from exhaust ports in Haze's arms and throat churn out streamers of dense yellow smoke. Choking plumes gather, swirling around him - Condensing down, forming a concentrated sphere that roils with inner motion, the color shading to a venomous, noxious green.

(Continued)

>>40319818

"Filth," Armaros rumbles. Jags of lightning crackle around his form, joining the frenetic shriek of his distortion halo. The light throbs up from beneath his visor, as if it is too much to be contained - Electrical discharge spits outwards, static flickering across your sensors, as that merciless, mauling, active force lashes out-

Simulation Bodies rupture. They explode. A single lance of lightning connects them to Armaros's halo effect - there then gone - before each one is incinerated in a wash of actinic flame, a fire that boils out from within and turns them into thrashing torches. Muzzleflash blossoms from Totenaz's carbine - the over-and-under muzzle lipping flame, pulse rounds ripping through his targets. He fires in short bursts, coldly precise; there is an economy of effort as he covers his sector, white masks splintering in rapid succession as he puts burning rounds through them.

And Rook-

You hear his shriek, first - A hunting call of avian fury. His pulsejet disgorge a miasmic haze of fuel and smog, his wings slicing through the air with scalpel precision; In a flash, he's gone, fluted talons snapping apart hungrily - Simulation Bodies shear apart, bisected, tarry strands of Lachryma uncoiling in the air, aborted ends lashing out to hold fast and survive...

And then the first half-articulated corpse hits the ground, and it all goes wrong. It lands with a brittle snap of internal structure, already dearticulating - that slashed-open mouth grinning, yawning impossibly wide - Then Daegal's yell-

"Joker-"

It's turning inside out. Backbone sprouting open like a calcified tree trunk, growing weird, twisting branches - Whatever was hidden inside it, whatever was germinating and shooting, is much, much bigger than the doll's form could hope to contain-

"Oh my god-"

There are *limbs* - Black and scaly, growing bristles and thorns, stretching out like the legs of a giant arachnid -

(Continued)

>>40319931
Whoops. Looks like we fell for the old "fake goon" gag.

>>40319698
> charge the Annihilator on the other while running an active Argus Scan
Guys, always remember to do this kind of stuff from Booster.

We will not gain any meter while fighting simulation bodies.

Good for us that essence isn't the only thing to make us stronger.
Every fight allows Daegal to get used a bit more to his abilities. Each fight he survives makes him a better combatant.

>>40319931
>And then the first half-articulated corpse hits the ground, and it all goes wrong.
Oh jeez. I think we're going to have bail again.

Now that I think about it, couldn't we just have flown up and kept the elevator above us?

>>40319989
Wouldn't that have stopped us from disarming all the traps?

>>40319931
>It's turning inside out. Backbone sprouting open like a calcified tree trunk, growing weird, twisting branches - Whatever was hidden inside it, whatever was germinating and shooting, is much, much bigger than the doll's form could hope to contain-
>"Oh my god-"
>There are *limbs* - Black and scaly, growing bristles and thorns, stretching out like the legs of a giant arachnid -

I KNEW there was going to be some kind of ambush! I just didn't expect it would come Xenomorph style.

We really should have had the Fusion Annihilator ready.

>>40319999
Nice quads, anon. And nah, I thought of it like the elevator setting off the bombs they'd planted, as well as catching the mooks.

>>40320006
>We really should have had the Fusion Annihilator ready.
I would have suggested loading the Annihilator with Cobalt Booster before boarding the elevator.
This would be the moment where we could have unloaded it.

Then again, I'd have voted for just blasting at Inox Fang's position from the machine room. I think we could have made a good bypass with six charges.

File: joker silhouette.jpg (618 KB, 1600x1000)

618 KB JPG

>>40319931

Even as your fist swells into the flared barrel of your Fusion Annihilator - The first charge beginning to cycle - you hear Haze make an inarticulate sound, a yelp, stumbling back as toxic smoke continues to swirl around him, charging the choking miasmic blast-

Another body. More. As Rook cleaves apart Simulation Bodies with matchless fury - As Armaros's Distortion Halo flares forth into a mighty, fluctuating disc of lightning that sears up the walls, corospant spewing bolts of crackling electricity - the Fatal Abyss flashes out, and the Thief shears right through the warping form before it can swell further. The peerless edge slices right through the brachiating limbs, in a single unfurling stoke; He drives the blade right through thing's core, and *twists*-

The shriek that boils forth makes the walls judder, makes Daegal double over and clutch at the sides of his helmet. Tiny tendrils of Lachryma grasp at the Fatal Abyss, clawing at the Thief's boots.

"What *is* th-" Daegal begins - and flinches, as Totenaz fires over his shoulder, hissing tracers punching through a falling form - It *splatters*, on impact, already dissolving...And coiling strands lash around Kazuya's neck and arm, as he lets out a yelp of utter disgust, the liquid psuedoflesh skittering vainly against his orichalcum armor.

"Decoys," the Thief grates. The burning glow of his eye sockets flare brighter. "-Hnnnn."

And behind him, the shadows swirl into an impossibly slender form, metal blades gathering to a stabbing point as a delicate hand rises, poised to spear down through his shoulder-

A name:

SILHOUETTE

HP: 156.0%
COBALT BOOSTER: 158%
ASSAULT SHROUD: 150%
METER: 36%
ENCROACHMENT: 8%

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>40320135
Pinpoint shot with our first Annihilator charge.
Then Cobalt assisted charge, with our trusty Crisis Arm.
Activate Auspex to look for characteristics of this guy's body.

>>40320135
It occurs to me that Head Vulcans are great at shooting things you can see, but can't raise your arms to react to fast enough.

Let's just shoot it, shoot a Boosted Chain Mine and then shoot it again until it dies.

>>40320135
JQOP, how big the elevator and how big is the Annihilator? I'm finding it hard to get a sense of the scale.

Anyway, Boosted Crisis Arm and Auspex.
If there weren't allies surrounding us I'd also be tempted to use the Tyrant Flash or whatever that not-flashbang attack was named, but that's not an option now.

>>40320135
Abruption Jets our fist into its face, so that it doesn't injure Totenaz before we're able to shoot at it.

>>40320135
>ENCROACHMENT: 8%
Looks like Encroachment actually lowers itself quite quickly.

>>40320241
Oh, right, forgot the jets.

Definitely add that to the Cobalt charge.

>>40320135
Activate Auspex, Abruption Jet + Crisis Arm into her.
>"Don't leave your back open, Thief."
>"Daegal, get yourself together. Think of them like those mobs from 90s videogames. Disgusting as hell, but very satisfying to vaporize."
Keep charging the FA and keep an eye out for other sentient shadows. Have the Scylla act if necessary.

>>40320240

(It's really large. It's the kind of platform you'd use to lift a heavy vehicle like a hauler truck.)

OP, do our interceptors regenerate through the Leech module?

>>40320240
The Elevator stopped. We're facing Silhouette in a dark corridor that opened up.
So yes, we can sear everything there with the directed fury of the Sun, as soon as we finish charging it and Akira gets his ass out of the way.

>>40320264

So it's large enough for a close-range fight. Then again, close-range is the last thing we want with that thing.

we have the Add-on to the Scrander that let's us hover faster than we can walk, right? Then yeah, abruption jets, Boosted Punch it in the face, dodge back, unleash the Sun.

>abruption jets on elevator ride
Man, I'm getting Vanquish flashbacks.

>>40320178
>>40320240
>>40320241
>>40320246
>>40320248

A static burst - Your Abruption Jets flinging you forward, as the hypersphere swells into the articulated lines of the Crisis Arm-

Without hesitation, the Thief hurls himself aside. The Silhouette's claws *rip* - And catch only the swirling hem of his duster, carving a deep rent through the already-tattered fabric; Even as you smash into her, spiraling whorls of blue flame coiling across the wrecking fist in fuming lines of searing radiance-

Your vision flares, as Auspex activates - the world shading into red, red, red, perceiving the world in flares of Essence; The impact snatches you away, as talons slash for your faceplate - You wrench your head to the side, with a shriek of servoes, and the slicing track misses you by inches as your fist closes around the Silhouette's throat. Your other hand is still the barrel of the Fusion Annihilator - Two, three charges - and you see...

The Silhouette is a hollow shell. It is a thing in the shape of a Player, but with only a flicker of Essence at the core - A copy animated by some unseen force, puppeteered by trailing lines of light that extrude from it, that fade into invisibility a meter away. Inexplicably, your shoulder aches with phantom pain, at the place where you once carried Cybele's Hyades mark-

And when your crackling fist rears back, then punches down, the Silhouette's helmet explodes. The metal loses cohesion on impact - It does not *crumple* inwards, but shivers apart; Coiling streamers of particulate matter boiling out from the cataclysmic wound, scattering across the dented deck plates...

-Sand.

(Continued)

>>40320415
Shit, it's Legion Armiger's ability.

Did Alura somehow get it?

Where is the person controlling it?

At least it should be smaller scale here, due to not being a demense.

>>40320415

Your shoulder aches again - it feels like your bones are on fire, as if your arm has been packed with red-hot gravel, even though it is but a creation of jointed endosteel and electrodrivers-

Cybele's power. This thing was made with Cybele's power.

> "Don't leave your back open, Thief."

He makes a sound that might be a grunt of acknowledgement, or a snort - Before he hurls himself forward, the Fatal Abyss whirring in a lethal arc; He shears two Simulation Bodies in half, spears the blade through the chest of another, smashes one across the face with his Furstenburg just long enough to stomp through it's leg-

> "Daegal, get yourself together. Think of them like those mobs from 90s videogames. Disgusting as hell, but very satisfying to vaporize."

The Condemner flares - The photonic edge of the blade turning in Daegal's hands, as it shears through the barbed tendrils grasping at him; he still has his shield, and when he raises it the lion-mouth spews forth tumbling spheres of fire, blitzing through the malformed Simulation Bodies crawling across the deck plating towards him - They burst and burn, as he swings his sword with more fury than skill, like a man hewing his way through a forest-

A very effective fury, it has to be said.

"Really, Anon?" Daegal shouts - "*Really*? Because-" His crackling blade cuts a ghoulish, stumbling form in half - "...This isn't anything like one-!"

(Continued)

>>40320508
>"Really, Anon?" Daegal shouts - "*Really*? Because-" His crackling blade cuts a ghoulish, stumbling form in half - "...This isn't anything like one-!"
Well, true, there's no essence to be gained. What would a fight be if you didn't get XP?

>Cybele's power. This thing was made with Cybele's power.
They are digging their graves deeper and deeper.

>>40320508
>This isn't anything like one-!
Yeah he's right, it's more like one of the many, many elevator fight scenes in games from the 2000s.

>>40320508
>"Really, Anon?" Daegal shouts - "*Really*? Because-" His crackling blade cuts a ghoulish, stumbling form in half - "...This isn't anything like one-!"

>"You're Right, with that Flamer of yours it looks more like that Space Marine game, So burn these Heretics already, dude!

>>40320648
>Joker starts shouting about heretics and the vile forces of chaos
Well, I guess that's one way to channel PTSD.

>>40320648

Let's not go full crazy.

>>40320648
No, man. Shit is serious, it's not time for jokes.

>>40320415
>>40320508

Haze goes down on one knee, as he throws sparking, exploding powder directly into his next opponent's cracked mask - When it stumbles, clawing at itself, he raises his hand; the control rods at his back hum, and the Simulation Body *swells* - tumorous growths pushing through it's flesh, the crackle of hard radiation churning on your sensors - He's fighting with one hand, the other one a nexus for a sphere of dense, toxic smoke; Needles lance from his wrist stingers, as he wheels around to fire at the next ones that close in. They manage a single step forward before their limbs begin to dissolve, decomposition in fast forward. His voice is frantic, as he twists his head to look at you-

"Joker, I've-"

Armaros wrenches him out of the way, as the pooling Lachryma swells with sudden and malicious life - Barbed tentacles whip at Haze, in a last thrashing surge of life; He flinches back, before Armaros incinerates it with a glance.

A glance at Haze tells the full story - Whatever toxic cocktail he's prepared, it's ready. And then he says, desperately - "But Rook's-"

Above, you hear laughter. A blurred shape - Great, shadowy wings bleeding streamers of liquid darkness - *sprints* across the curving walls of the shaft, as if gravity is no object. Where it passes, Simulation Bodies shear apart; the Lachryma that coils within them sucked into the threads of sinew and knots of transformed tissue that flare out behind the killer's head in a fan. Could that be-

"Fire," Armaros grates. His gauntleted fingers lock on Haze's shoulder. "-Now."

"But-"

Pinpoints of burning light - blood-red, furious - flare to life within the great, bird-of-prey form. They sear forth - Not light rays, but rays of bloody plasma, jagging and seething. Bodies come apart, before the furious arc of Rook's wrath - A cackling shriek joining the utter pandemonium.


HP: 154.0%
COBALT BOOSTER: 158%
ASSAULT SHROUD: 136%
METER: 36%
ENCROACHMENT: 6%

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>40320698
"Rook, Haze got his cocktail ready. Get out of the fucking way.

Haze, shoot."

>>40320698
Call out to Rook. If he doesn't answer or notice, fire the weakest warning shot we can.
Then fire.

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322 KB JPG

>>40320698

(Whoops, that was the wrong one.)

>>40320698
>"If you still want to get a chance at killing Alura, get back here Rook. Or do you want to join your old squad right now?"

Shoot at the Simulation bodies around him for emphais.

>>40320664
Well, they're desecrating the bodies amd souls of people using weird Evil machines and strange substances from an eldritch being For the sake of their cult.
that sounds like Hereteks and Chaos worshipers to me.

>>40320684
We already likened the corrupted husks we're fighting to 90's action games mooks. We're already joking around.

But it's not like I expected JQOP to actually include that in the update, that was an OoC joke.

>>40320698
Who's fastest, after Rook, that is?
If it's us, then we need to grab Rook's berserking Gatchaman ass and run the fuck out of the line of fire.

Hell, let's do it ourselves anyway, we have two movement phases per round.

>>40320854

> Who's fastest, after Rook, that is?

(The Thief, but he can't fly.)

>>40320878
Abruption Jets + Cobalt boosted Scrander should allow for some truly great acceleration.

The question is if Rook wouldn't just attack us if we tried to get him out.

And if that's a move where g-forces would actually start being evil to us.

So yeah, I'd suggest *not* sending someone out to get Rook. That will only end with Rook's frenzy causing them damage.

>>40320698

"ROOK MOVE!"

>>40320735
>>40320737
>>40320801
>>40320904

> "Rook, Haze got his cocktail ready. Get out of the fucking way.
> "Haze, shoot."

Can he hear you? You don't think so. Across the Dirac channel, from his icon - All you hear is static. Crackling static, painful to hear - an aural blitz of sound, as great talons seize Simulation Bodies; With immense, splattering force, he swings them like flails, smashing them until they crumple in his grasp.

"What's happening-?" Daegal manages, looking up - Backlit by the inferno, Lachryma spitting and crackling as it bursts into flame around him. "Joker, what's *happening* to him?"

The Thief is silent. His sword whips out, offhand - He doesn't look back, as he slices a pale porcelain mask from an already-crumpling body, his gaze focused upwards. Perhaps he is seeing the future, or seized by an emotion he cannot name.

But it is Armaros who puts words to what he's seeing; Even as Haze struggles in his grasp, trying to free himself.

And he says:

"-He is lost."

"Fuck you!" Haze spits out - He kicks at Armaros's greaves, leaving no impact. "Rook-!"

> "ROOK MOVE!"
> "If you still want to get a chance at killing Alura, get back here Rook. Or do you want to join your old squad right now?"

He's not listening. The frenzy has him in it's grasp. Your shots sear across the narrow distance - They punch through the spine of a Simulation Body, peppering the plating around Rook; A sibilant hiss issues from his warping speakers, as that head snaps around to stare at you. Then-

There is a rending, ripping sound. Rook's helmet wrenches open - Splitting along the cheeks and mouth grille - to reveal a shark's maw with rows of bladed teeth, glinting with clear acidic saliva.

(Continued)

>>40321062
>There is a rending, ripping sound. Rook's helmet wrenches open - Splitting along the cheeks and mouth grille - to reveal a shark's maw with rows of bladed teeth, glinting with clear acidic saliva.
Motherfucker.
Well, he's getting that mercy kill sooner than expected.

>>40321062

He draws a great breath, and roars it out. That terrible wall of sound hits you, makes the air churn - There is a raw fury in the sound, and oh, a terrible, terrible relief. But it is, most of all, a sound of insatiable hunger.

HP: 154.0%
COBALT BOOSTER: 158%
ASSAULT SHROUD: 149%
METER: 36%
ENCROACHMENT: 4%

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>40321075
>"If you want to eat, the main dish is just ahead, Rook. Wait for a bit and you'll get a prize better than any of these hollow dolls and more to your taste than any of us."

>"Call him by his name, Haze. Once he comes down - shoot."

Keep shooting at the surrounding SBs. If he attacks, Tyrant Burst Lvl 2 and evade with the Abruption Jets. Try to catch his wings with the Scylla.

>>40321075

JQOP, can we use Draw Forth on him?

>>40321075
So, can we start with plan "Punch Rooki the Face" now?

For a proper plan, draw his attention with Vulcan shots and prepare to hit him with the Crisis Arm.
And tell Armaros and Haze NOT to interfere.

Maybe we can draw the Lachryma out of him or something?

>>40321199
Oh yeah, try this before resorting to violence.

>>40321212

(Yes, but be aware that it'll increase your own Encroachment. Ever since the Athame upgrade, you no longer have your innate immunity to Lachryma: I realize that this has been implied before, but it should be clearly stated at this juncture.)

>>40321199
>>40321227

>"If you want to eat, the main dish is just ahead, Rook. Wait for a bit and you'll get a prize better than any of these hollow dolls and more to your taste than any of us."
>"Call him by his name, Haze. Once he comes down - shoot."

He stares at you, as if he's never seen you before - And blurts out:

"I'm not - I'm not going to help you *kill* him-"

E̪͍AT̨̳̮̙̘͍̟

"Oh god-" Daegal stumbles to your side - The Condemner's edge humming in his fist, as he grips the gold-and-ivory hilt. He's staring up, up, aghast at the thing that Rook has become; Even as Akira simply wrenches the Fatal Abyss free, his Furstenburg levelled...But not firing.

Not yet.

> For a proper plan, draw his attention with Vulcan shots and prepare to hit him with the Crisis Arm.
> Maybe we can draw the Lachryma out of him or something?

Your Plasma Vulcans unleash a quick blurt of fire - the superheated blasts erupt against Rook's torso, steam wisping out from the wound...Even as his fleshmetal wings, sheathed in overlapping steel blades, fan impossibly wide - That blitz of sound, that awful keening shriek, pulsing in the air hard enough to judder your vision, to send microfracture cracks scaling across your optics.

(Continued)

>>40321529

> And tell Armaros and Haze NOT to interfere.

The scuttling, skittering forms of the Simulation Bodies have thinned out - Beneath you, the lift continues to ascend, at a sedate pace. The echoes of Rook's inhuman shriek meld with his thrumming wing-blades, black smoke coiling around him in a boiling wreath-

"*Now*," the Thief rasps - In the heartbeat before the Tempest Scrander ignites at your back, carrying you aloft on a rush of boiling air, the dizzying acceleration blurring the world around you as you leave the ground. The burning light from Rook's eyes sears towards you, as steel-fletched razors fill the narrow distance-

Slake unfurls from your shoulders. Hydra-maws lunge forward, uncoiling - Eyeless mouths yawning wide, bristling with needle teeth as the Tyrant Burst flares with killing light.

You meet in mid-air, and-

-this time-

You know you'll make an end.

JOKER QUEST

EPISODE 134

TO BE CONTINUED

>>40321529
>"I'm not - I'm not going to help you *kill* him-"
Huh. I actually meant that he should shoot the Simulation Bodies. Whoops.

>>40321540

(Gentlemen; My apologies for the abrupt conclusion. I'm still getting back into the swing of things and adjusting to my new schedule - I should be able to run the next session at the end of the week.

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

>>40321540

So did he flub his will save or something?

>>40321550
And you have been an amazing QM.
Can you give us a hint? I just want to know if it's possible to save Rook.

Either way, drawing out his Lachryma should help, if only by healing us.
And if nothing else, Rook will make for an amazing hat.

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88 KB PNG

>>40321662
>Rook will make for an amazing hat.
Pic related?

>>40321744
I was thinking more along the lines of Claws or that Sword he used before being corrupted, but the image of a talking, murderous Rook hat always telling Joker to kill Alira is too funny not to want it.

"Joker, there's Alura!"
>"I've seen her already, Rook. And don't shout, you're right next to my head."
"Then what are you waiting for, Joker? Kill the bitch!"
>"I'm kinda busy dealing with Pazuzu here."
"Whatever, that bitch's gotta pay for what it did to me and my friends! Forget the ugly clown over there and kill her!"
>"Yeah, she killed your pals and all Pazuzu killed my girlfriend-"
"HA! Fool, Hecate is alive and-"
>"Shut up, I'm not talking to you. I've got a score to settle with him too, so stop pestering me, Rook."

"Anon, why don't you just store him away or something? He's getting on my nerves, dude."
"Yeah, he's my friend and even I've got to agree he got really annoying after he became a hat."

>"Daegal, Haze, he's infuriating but he gives me better flight amd Tachyonic sensors, man. No way I'm Storing it."

No archive yet?

Man, I wish we had EXEC_DICTUM. It would have allowed us to at least stop Rook for a few moments.

If we kill Rook, I hope he gets to give a last speech.

If he doesn't. we'll make him do one by using EXEC_REAP.

>>40322916
Hey, Haze, I just killed your best friend.
I'mma go munch on his soul now, k?

>>40322240
Archived.

So short today tho. Alas.

>>40323744
More like "he wasn't himself, so here are his last words that he couldn't voice anymore".