[Masks IC] Resurrection Roundabout: Drawing Individuals

[PhoeKun]

One of Errant's more embarrassing secrets is how easy she is to pick up and carry. AEGIS' engineers optimized all of her augs and their implementation for maximum weight and energy efficiency, which makes her capable of some pretty astonishing feats of athletics but consequently makes her weigh slightly more than a child. There's been a handful of times in her life since getting her call sign that she's gotten carried off like this, and every single one of them made her burn with shame. How are you supposed to come across like an awesome hero when your girlfriend just chucks you over her shoulders and runs off like it's nothing?

But much as she wants to complain or crack wise (or even flip this whole situation around), she's still got Prometheus' threat echoing around in her brain. So she keeps still up here to let JuneBird move as smoothly as possible. And she keeps her eyes focused on the battlefield.

"They've got you marked! Shot's lining up at your four, swerve right! Six and nine now, duck and slide! Get behind those scrapped remotes and let's reset!"

The only thing that matters now is getting her through this. Whatever Errant has to put herself through to make that happen, she will.

[Defend: 2d6+2 = 8. If it's sensical to gain it like this, let's add 1 Team to the pool]

[Balmas]

Prometheus is scary. He's out of control. He's possibly insane. He's definitely operating on a different scale than you ever have.

But you are very smart.

Prometheus is breaching AEGIS' hardlines to provide tactical control over his goons. But AEGIS' security is really good, and you've helped pitch in to helping secure it against Prometheus specifically. This place is an iron cage built for him, the only way he can operate this freely inside the building is if Comstar is using her cheating pink magic to hold the door open for him. Find the breach point - somewhere external, you'd guess, something Comstar could see like the rooftop satellite dishes - and blow it up. The cage comes crashing down and cuts Prometheus in literal half. He could recover from it eventually but it'd be one of the most powerful blows you could strike against him.

There's only one catch.

It'd mean AEGIS would wind up with a copy of Prometheus in a box.

What do you do?

It's not even a choice.

No, that's not right. It's a friggin' terrifying choice, is what it is. Entrust the single greatest hacking tool in the world to AEGIS? Let them toy and pry at his baby? Let them twist Prometheus--even a shell of him--into a tool to invade the lives of anyone and everyone? It burns him, scares him, repulses him, sits in his craw like an aborted bit of vomit, all acid and reflux.

But the alternative is worse. Let Prometheus continue to threaten Euna and... what'sherbucket, he'll remember soon... And let go this chance to meaningfully curb Prometheus's growth? He built this cage to be used. Granted, he meant to also install a floppy drive so he could physically eliminate the backup/copy, but what isn't done isn't done.

To the roof! Find the biggest receiver, or the one that's most obviously being hacked, and begin bashing. No, scratch that. Detour to the hallway full of mines, because explosives will get the job done a lot faster than bashing it with waves of nanobots. And then roof.

Now, he just has to find the right bit of tech, make it go bye-bye, and the day will be one step closer to being saved.

[Assess the situation, 8. What can I use here to do that thing you just said?]

[Thanqol]

POTENTIAL 2

"You did it," @SARAHPHIM says, breathily. Okay. Next line: a little less like she just knocked the wind out of you, a little more like she just swept you off your feet. "You called my bluff. I can't beat you." Okay. Here it comes. The telenovela line. You have watched enough of these to nail it. Do it right and she won't even notice you just went from exhausted to psychotic to vulnerable damsel in distress in the amount of time it takes to get a cup of coffee. "You could do anything to me." There we go. There's the hook. Let Possum Girl spin that around in her head for a minute. Smokin' hot superbabe at her feet, literally looking up at her through her eyelash extensions. Get the hint.

She stands up, slowly, carefully, being sure to stretch and show off for the Possum with the... Mossum. "I won't tell if you don't," she says, putting more husk into it than a corn farm. Also, ignoring the fact that she's literally on-stream. "After all, what AEGIS doesn't know won't hurt them." When she leans in, lean back, make her chase a little, but give her the Look so she knows to keep coming and Ferra get your shapely metal ass UP HERE already. "Besides. Haven't you ever wondered what it would be like, doing it with a real super?" Get your heads out of the gutter. We're talking about making out. But the implications will cloud an already compromised judgment, probably. Okay, there we go, get her wrist, pull her in close, give her the fluttery lashes. "Oh, Errant, s-save me from-"

she nearly chokes but you don't corpse on stream don't laugh don't laugh don't laugh don't even twitch a goddamn muscle

"Possum Girl," she gasps in mock distress, adding a metalayer of acting ("innocent doe") on top of the extant layer ("make out with me until Ferra gets here"). She hooks one foot behind Possum Girl's ankle and gives her the Vulnerable, All Yours Total Bombshell look and if it turns out PG here has a boyfriend she's going to scream

[okay this is either a knockout or doomed to hilarious, hilarious failure but I rolled a 15 on the Provoke roll to "make out with me" and also you owe everyone here more kisses]

You pull her in close. You deploy the eyelashes point blank. When you touch her your hand feels an entire arsenal of concealed weapons. Her eyes are internally heterochromatic, bright blue in the centre fading out to green by the edges. She whispers in your ear with a voice holding none of the ditziness she normally displays: "I know you're playing me," her hand comes up under your chin, holding your head so your lips almost touch. "But it's working," she breathes.

And then Ferra just shows up outta nowhere and roundhouse-kicks her off the side of the pyramid and whoops you're being kissed by a completely different weirdo.

Turns out it doesn't take that long for Ferra to get there. She leads with a drop kick from far above, switches the momentum from Down to Out on Possum Girl as soon as she makes contact, and hurls the mine like a discus after her, giving it a twist in mid-flight. Her free arm wraps around Sara's back, ending the fluid motion in a dip and kiss.

"I'm trying shipping!"

Ferraphim1tp: Are they having a moment
Angel-IKA: No, @Saraphim! Resist! Get away! She's evil!
Dominus: SERIOUSLY, THIS AGAIN?
Ferraphim1tp: How will Sarah overcome the lures of this mysterious warrior of the night?!
Angel-IKA: She's calling for Errant! We should alert the rest of the team so they can rescue her before Possum Girl steals her first kiss!
Locker: first kiss? what?
Bode: It looks like the rescue will not be needed.
Ferraphim1tp: o.o
Ferraphim1tp: O.O
Ferraphim1tp: *falls over*
Ferraphim1tp: *froths*

One of Errant's more embarrassing secrets is how easy she is to pick up and carry. AEGIS' engineers optimized all of her augs and their implementation for maximum weight and energy efficiency, which makes her capable of some pretty astonishing feats of athletics but consequently makes her weigh slightly more than a child. There's been a handful of times in her life since getting her call sign that she's gotten carried off like this, and every single one of them made her burn with shame. How are you supposed to come across like an awesome hero when your girlfriend just chucks you over her shoulders and runs off like it's nothing?

But much as she wants to complain or crack wise (or even flip this whole situation around), she's still got Prometheus' threat echoing around in her brain. So she keeps still up here to let JuneBird move as smoothly as possible. And she keeps her eyes focused on the battlefield.

"They've got you marked! Shot's lining up at your four, swerve right! Six and nine now, duck and slide! Get behind those scrapped remotes and let's reset!"

The only thing that matters now is getting her through this. Whatever Errant has to put herself through to make that happen, she will.

[Defend: 2d6+2 = 8. If it's sensical to gain it like this, let's add 1 Team to the pool]

As you retreat you get a good look at what BlackSun is going to do next. They walk into the room with swords raised high. The famous four: The Bright Knights.

BlackSun, like all megacorporations, has its own superpowered squad - and the Bright Knights are the kind of experienced and extremely well marketed 'hero team' that society revolves around. But they're not heroes as you know them, they're heroes in the Greek sense - powerful, tragic figures who fight on behalf of their king. They're marketed as such - dark and serious, with tragic flaws. They fight supervillains, sure, but it's in the way that a security team fights burglars. When the balloon goes up they're here as the paycheck demands, leading the charge against AEGIS.

Violet, the doctor - infected with an interdimensional virus that controls her mind and teaches her secrets. Scipio, the swordsman - cursed to wander the earth without ever finding an opponent worthy of his skill. Yates, the sentinel - who can see everything and protect everyone except the people he loves most. Lyra, the gunner - perfect aim will not save her from being knocked out during every mission.

They form up. They rally the goons. In another minute they'll be ready to launch a direct frontal assault.

JuneBird skids into cover in the AEGIS lines behind a pile of burning remotes. You come to a halt right at the feet of the Shogun.

She looks down at you. She does not frown. It's more respect than she shows most people.

Commander Warren is right beside her. While the Shogun is perfect in her uniform, Warren is burned and bleeding from his forehead, holding a cigar and a molotok akimbo, arms bare to reveal rippling muscles. Like an action hero a decade past his prime. The Shogun points, Commander Warren speaks - using the moment of lull to address not just you but all the AEGIS troops around you.

"Alright you daughters of bastards. This morning you were chair force, trainees and garrison detail. Then those {scrubbed} came into our home and you weren't none of those things any more. You became soldiers. All those drills, all that training, yesterday that was all just theory. Now you know what it's like, what it's for. Before now you thought AEGIS was safe. Now you know that safety only exists where we reach out our god damn hands and MAKE IT BE SAFE! LOAD UP, SOLDIERS! WE ARE AEGIS AND THESE BASTARDS ARE IN. OUR. HOME!"

[Commander Warren is shifting your Soldier up and Mundane down. Accept what he says or reject his influence]

It's not even a choice.

No, that's not right. It's a friggin' terrifying choice, is what it is. Entrust the single greatest hacking tool in the world to AEGIS? Let them toy and pry at his baby? Let them twist Prometheus--even a shell of him--into a tool to invade the lives of anyone and everyone? It burns him, scares him, repulses him, sits in his craw like an aborted bit of vomit, all acid and reflux.

But the alternative is worse. Let Prometheus continue to threaten Euna and... what'sherbucket, he'll remember soon... And let go this chance to meaningfully curb Prometheus's growth? He built this cage to be used. Granted, he meant to also install a floppy drive so he could physically eliminate the backup/copy, but what isn't done isn't done.

To the roof! Find the biggest receiver, or the one that's most obviously being hacked, and begin bashing. No, scratch that. Detour to the hallway full of mines, because explosives will get the job done a lot faster than bashing it with waves of nanobots. And then roof.

Now, he just has to find the right bit of tech, make it go bye-bye, and the day will be one step closer to being saved.

[Assess the situation, 8. What can I use here to do that thing you just said?]

Those are some big ass satellite dishes.

AEGIS designs everything based on the assumption that some sort of big missile is going to hit it at some point or another, and the rooftop comms array is no different. Antipersonnel mines aren't going to scratch that, you'd have about as much luck having your nanites eat the damn thing as you would trying to punch it down. No, to deal with a problem like that you need an anti-materiel weapon. Like the main battle cannon of a TAG.

Oh, speak of the devil.

Jotum-class TAGs are heavy assault and mountain climbing specialists. Four meters tall, multiple layers of armour plating, combat shield, multi-HMG and a heavy flamethrower as a sidearm. You could toss it off this pyramid and it wouldn't take a scratch. BlackSun as a corporation is all about big dumb brute force and it doesn't get dumber or brute-force-ier than this.

It's up here defending the dish. Conveniently, its gun in high-explosive mode is the only thing around capable of damaging the dish. That is way too convenient, though - you know that this is a trap, though you can't figure out exactly what Prometheus' plan is. Still, the bait is good, and you get control of that gun and you can slam that door.

[PhoeKun]

Errant.exe has stopped responding. Reboot?

Listen, before you judge her too harshly, please consider how much our poor Euna is asked to take in right now. She's pumped full of adrenaline (and also bullets), and she's just been shoulder carried across a battlefield by her non-supersoldier girlfriend in front of all the combat rookies and her idol and her adoptive father figure. She snaps to her feet. She salutes, she bows, she spins back around to face the right way. Somewhere in there she tries to sneak a glance at JuneBird. It's too much.

Quick, go do something brave and inspire the troops!
Like what?
Uh, what is she doing here?
No wait, crap, the Commander's here too. Be smart, think, think!
Of what?
Gah, why is this so much harder when people are watching?
Uh, what is she doing here??
No that's good, it means we won!
Don't you remember last time? You have to prove to her it's ok for her to leave things to you!
Yeah, but the Commander!

There's at least four different assessments of this situation and good plans of execution, the end result of which is that she just kind of stands there, watching the battlefield lines get drawn. Wait, what? When did the Bright Knights get here?

[Errant accepts the shift. She also attempts to Assess the Situation! 2d6+1 = 4. Oh Errant, sweetie, you were doing so well...]

[Raz_Fox]

Turns out it doesn't take that long for Ferra to get there. She leads with a drop kick from far above, switches the momentum from Down to Out on Possum Girl as soon as she makes contact, and hurls the mine like a discus after her, giving it a twist in mid-flight. Her free arm wraps around Sara's back, ending the fluid motion in a dip and kiss.

"I'm trying shipping!"

mayday mayday mayday this is really nice but actual lip kiss with teammate is the Nightmare Scenario for shipping

So, despite wanting to lean in and explore just how fully functional Ferra is, Sara pushes her back and- whoops, on the floor now. "About time you got here," she says, then playfully sticks out her tongue. "Come on, let's tie this bad girl up~"

Okay, haha, we're back to battle banter and Bad Girl @SARAHPHIM don't look at her blushing don't zoom in DAMMIT ChRB DRONES WHY DO YOU HAVE TO KNOW EXACTLY WHEN TO ZOOM IN ON HER FACE

[Eldest]

Ferra looks over the side where Possom Girl went flying down the side of the pyramid. "There is no enemy to tie up, though. Unless you are being self-referential, in which case in the middle of a fight is not the best time." She nods. "Ferraphim was right, shipping is nice. But business first, then victorious ropework. Comstar² is still on the loose somewhere, and is after Comstar¹." She pronounces the notation, somehow. "We need to address that still. The rest of this is just a secondary action for her. We must respond." With that, she's away into the pyramid, turning bounding steps into forward moment. Makes her shapely metal ass look great as she does it.

[Raz_Fox]

@SARAHPHIM.exe has stopped responding. Reboot?

When did. Ferra. What? Ferra what? Oh no Ferraphim shippers are about to be insufferable stop thinking about kissing Ferra

New plan. Be mean. Be mean to Ferra. This is the only way to restore the shipping chart. At any cost.

“Whatever.” She rolls her eyes theatrically, then goes running after Ferra, who looks like she might as well be wearing nothing at all. (Nothing at all! Nothing at all!)

Stupid sexy Ferra!

[Balmas]

Those are some big ass satellite dishes.

AEGIS designs everything based on the assumption that some sort of big missile is going to hit it at some point or another, and the rooftop comms array is no different. Antipersonnel mines aren't going to scratch that, you'd have about as much luck having your nanites eat the damn thing as you would trying to punch it down. No, to deal with a problem like that you need an anti-materiel weapon. Like the main battle cannon of a TAG.

Oh, speak of the devil.

Jotum-class TAGs are heavy assault and mountain climbing specialists. Four meters tall, multiple layers of armour plating, combat shield, multi-HMG and a heavy flamethrower as a sidearm. You could toss it off this pyramid and it wouldn't take a scratch. BlackSun as a corporation is all about big dumb brute force and it doesn't get dumber or brute-force-ier than this.

It's up here defending the dish. Conveniently, its gun in high-explosive mode is the only thing around capable of damaging the dish. That is way too convenient, though - you know that this is a trap, though you can't figure out exactly what Prometheus' plan is. Still, the bait is good, and you get control of that gun and you can slam that door.

The instinctive answer is to stand in front of the dish and provoke it into shooting. ¡Toro! ¡Olé! It's flashy, cocky, the action of somebody who knows he's faster and smarter than a brutish robot, and can't resist a graceful maneuver to prove it.

It's exactly what Prometheus is expecting, dammit. Victor scowls, and thumps the parapet quietly. And the image of himself in gold finery just refused to leave, to make things worse.

So, what's the opposite of that? Is to be quiet, is to sneak up on the robot, climb up to an access panel on the robot. He understands TAGs. Hell, he's built one in the past. They're robots, he does robots. It's just a matter of waiting until the TAG is pointing at the dishes--maybe throw a rock to draw its attention that way?--and then crossing some crucial wires to prompt a misfire.

[Honestly not sure what to roll in this scenario. Unleash Your Powers makes the most sense, I think? 9, including the +1 for following up on Assess. Let's see how this is unstable or temporary.]

[Thanqol]

@Sarahphim, Ferra!

AEGIS took precautions with the Jet Jaguar. They knew that a powerful hacker had threatened to attack the building so having a gigantic hackable robot fuelled up and ready to go in its hangar was judged to be a liability. So they drained the fuel, unloaded the ammo, and physically removed the armour panels around the robot's central glowing weak spot. It could be fixed up and made ready in a crisis but it'd take time to get everything ready.


That's a countdown that's been started.

BlackSun's main battleline is covering the engineers who are working frantically to fuel and re-arm the Jet Jaguar. The automated systems are disabled so they're having to do everything by hand. Everyone's got a cable in their head linking them to access ports, downloading schematics through Prometheus' tactical network. One by one pink lights come on along the length of the machine. Comstar intends to leave this place in style.

Ferra and @Sarahphim are fighting their way through the hangar bay. Combat remotes are thick on the ground here, and guided by a central AI Beacon they're moving with perfect tactical precision, covering the engineers and the elevator to prisoner storage. It's an impossible stonewall.

Then they all halt in place. Code spools. The machines reset rapidly but now they're no longer in sync - they're running their default programs; advance, target, fire, isolated from all of their fellows. Suddenly the problem is solveable - you can carve through the machines to either the engineer team or the prison elevator, but not both. Where do you go?

*

Ferraphim1tp: what is happenningggggg
Bode: I do not like it.
Locker: ferras going feral
Bode: While it makes sense that Ferra would fall in love with Saraphim she should know that Saraphim would never betray Errant like that.
Locker: wouldn't she?
Bode: ...
Ferraphim1tp: Is this me? Did I do this when I told her about shipping? because ahajaajajajakaajka
Bode: They have no chemistry together watch Sarahphim will prove it.
Locker: uhuh
Dominus: GODDAMN IT I HAVE TO AGREE WITH BODE
Locker: mmmhmm

*

Brainstorm!

Anti-materiel rounds blow holes through the dish, tearing up that antennae. The area's signals go berserk. You see a detonation in the sky, and then a rapidly falling star.

[Marking Hopeless]

You check the social media feeds, news reports. A satellite just left orbit! Prometheus has an escape route planned - he's looking to crash a communications satellite into AEGIS! It won't get through the shield, though - it's going to impact on a nearby residential area, close enough that he can tightbeam across. Also a lot of people are going to be hurt by a satellite impacting on a residential area.

But right now he's trapped. Right now he can't think, can't act, can't react - all he's got are backup plans.

One of which is the sniper.

She takes the Jotum's head off with the first shot and the TAG goes offline instantly - only a microsecond quicker and she'd have hit it before you blew the dish. You duck into cover just in time before the second shot takes you down. This was the trap - simple and brutal, exactly Prometheus' style. You're pinned on the rooftop with a ruined TAG and a sniper who could be five kilometres away. What do you do?

*

Errant!

It's an all out war. Open military action. The Shogun and Commander Warren are fighting this with tactical precision. The Shogun advances behind a shield-wall of AEGIS troopers, firing a relentless barrage from her magically conjured muskets over the top. The Commander catches the charge of Doctor Violet and grapples against her power-armoured strength with his raw muscles. Every time you think you've got a grip on the battle another hero deploys on either side, shifting the tide of the conflict. BlackSun's tactics have ceased to be inspired, though - they're defaulting to all out charge and brute strength. Brainstorm has cut them off from their intelligence.

AEGIS is winning. But it's winning scary. Before today every time you've seen AEGIS fight it's to protect people. The rescue always comes first. You've never seen what happens when the Company goes to war with the sole intention of destroying the other side before. There's an aggression there - a current of anger that's running through every AEGIS trooper. The Shogun is, perversely, the most together person present in the scene, and you see her take a moment to stop an AEGIS trooper escalating to lethal force. But she still had to take the moment to do that. That doesn't feel right.

Then she makes eye contact with you across the room. "You! Prison. Now," she said. "Get Comstar. Alive."

[Balmas]

She takes the Jotum's head off with the first shot and the TAG goes offline instantly - only a microsecond quicker and she'd have hit it before you blew the dish. You duck into cover just in time before the second shot takes you down. This was the trap - simple and brutal, exactly Prometheus' style. You're pinned on the rooftop with a ruined TAG and a sniper who could be five kilometres away. What do you do?

Well, frankly, there's not a lot he can do about the sniper. They could be anywhere, and he couldn't really do anything to touch her even if he had a spotlight on her position.

Besides, he's got bigger concerns on his mind. He did this. He made Prometheus, he made the cage, he made the decisions leading up to this, and he'll be damned if he lets innocents lose their homes because of his screwups.

He'll have one shot at this. The Tag's head is gone, but the cannon is still there. No guidance circuitry, but the firing pin is still there. And where there's a cannon, there's a chance to bring down that satellite, shoot it out of the sky so that the debris burns up entering the atmosphere. Oh, AEGIS will be pissed, but there's gotta be someone who can pin it on Blacksun; it's their mech, innit, shooting a harmless spy satellite?

He breathes deep, relaxes against the chimney, and orders the nanobots to detach from his body. Once more, he is helpless--but this time, with an ocean of black sand swarming around him, rolling forth to nudge the Jotun into place. The sniper can't miss this, but the thing about a swarm is that they're really hard to shoot down; even if she shoots a cloud of them, there should be enough to aim the cannon at the sky. Get the relative position from the feeds, track the path, adjust the chest of the Jotun...

And pray his math is right.

[Unleash your powers: 8. Marking Guilty to pull this off.]

[PhoeKun]

Errant's mouth has gone dry. This is wrong. This is wrong. This heat, this... anger... it's like a fever burning up her home. The curtain's fluttering around the corner of the stage and for a moment she can't see her AEGIS. She doesn't see the people who raised her, trained her... built her. It's just for a second, but she sees her home the way it looks to Victor. There's a weird taste at the back of her throat. Actually, she might throw up. And that's when the Shogun steps into view, and the curtain settles back into place.

We're only better 'cause we support each other...

Thank god for her. Just th-- huh? Oh! Right. She nods, and remembers at the last second to turn that into a bow.

"Yes, Miss! On it, Miss! Count on me!"

Ok yes, this is good. Getting away is good. Protecting someone is good. She can figure all this out while she does it, and it will be good and fine. She's here, the Commander's here, Errant doesn't need to be. JuneBird is safely on the correct side of the battle lines, so that's... yeah. She gives her a look and a shoulder squeeze and a whisper that sounds like, 'Dinner tomorrow. Pick my outfit please.' Ok, that's everything. Right? Yes. Stopping Comstar is good, saving Comstar is good. Errant is off and running back into Sector 18, because there's a faster route to the prison complex that also doesn't involve cutting through a BlackSun line. She runs as hard as she can, confident in herself because she can't think of a better person to be confident in. She'll make it, and everything will make sense again. So she runs.

...And she tries really hard not to think about torture dungeons while she's at it.

[Eldest]

Ferra takes a look at the tactical nightmare, and scowls. She's running through options in her head, all of them terrible, terrible options when the clockwork deathtrap stops being a thing and instead we've got default routines all over the place. Which, you know, she can work with, terrible choice and all that but the Directives are clear about the value of life against that of property and much as she's worried about the size of that robot if she confronts Comstar² they won't have to deal with her piloting that monster later. So she sets out to cross the robot bay, leaving smoke and devastated tacdrones in her wake. In theory.

[Raz_Fox]

POTENTIAL 2

“Really, Ferra?” Zap! Pow! @SARAHPHIM is running in Ferra’s wake, blasting down anyone in their path. And complaining. Mostly complaining. “The giant robot refueling is right there. It would take us, what, five minutes? But noooo someone wants to go babysit the most tacky, oversexed, boring person in the whole world, so we’ll just let your cousin or what-the-hell-ever over there get hijacked, because that’s not going to get complaints in the after-mission briefing! No, really, great plan! I’m so glad you have the processing power to prioritize like that! What an absolute gem, everybody!”

Someone mysteriously adds a GIF of Ferra doing something embarrassing on a chat show to the main chat. You can’t prove it was @SARAHPHIM.

This is cruel and emotionally perilous to pull off but it is what must be done for the good of the show and Ferra won’t even really care, right? She’s a robot, her meanness calibrator probably isn’t even online.

[Eldest]

Ferra kind of... falters, mid-stride. Turns to face @Saraphim, distress written across her face. "But... materials are not important. Lives are. Is this the wrong choice?" A pause, almost unnoticeable, as she runs the math. "To do both tasks, changes are required." She hesitates for a moment. "This may be uncomfortable. I was... simply trying to do what you would have." She grabs @Saraphim, whirling her in a circle for speed before tossing her headlong at the elevator, one hand outstretched as Sara ping-pongs about in direction, momentum changing to dodge enemies, energy blasts, and a wrench that had slipped loose from an engineer's hand.

As the doors shut, Ferra takes a deep breath, ignoring the pain of the wrong decision. She's got a new task. Do the task. Stop the bad guys. Trust in @Saraphim to save lives.

Unleash to get @Saraphim to the elevator safely. 12, yo.
Clearing Guilty by making a sacrifice to absolve her guilt. (She does not expect this to go well)

[Thanqol]

Well, frankly, there's not a lot he can do about the sniper. They could be anywhere, and he couldn't really do anything to touch her even if he had a spotlight on her position.

Besides, he's got bigger concerns on his mind. He did this. He made Prometheus, he made the cage, he made the decisions leading up to this, and he'll be damned if he lets innocents lose their homes because of his screwups.

He'll have one shot at this. The Tag's head is gone, but the cannon is still there. No guidance circuitry, but the firing pin is still there. And where there's a cannon, there's a chance to bring down that satellite, shoot it out of the sky so that the debris burns up entering the atmosphere. Oh, AEGIS will be pissed, but there's gotta be someone who can pin it on Blacksun; it's their mech, innit, shooting a harmless spy satellite?

He breathes deep, relaxes against the chimney, and orders the nanobots to detach from his body. Once more, he is helpless--but this time, with an ocean of black sand swarming around him, rolling forth to nudge the Jotun into place. The sniper can't miss this, but the thing about a swarm is that they're really hard to shoot down; even if she shoots a cloud of them, there should be enough to aim the cannon at the sky. Get the relative position from the feeds, track the path, adjust the chest of the Jotun...

And pray his math is right.

[Unleash your powers: 8. Marking Guilty to pull this off.]

The satellite breaks up. Lines of fire streak through the sky. The door is closed now. Any excess debris is just going to impact on the shield.

But that sniper just keeps hammering on the Jotum all throughout. She's firing similar explosive rounds that you're putting into the satellite and before too long you're holding onto an absolute wreck. She's going through the Jotum's armour like a long range jackhammer and she'll punch through to you sooner rather than later. How are you going to get out of the kill zone?

Errant's mouth has gone dry. This is wrong. This is wrong. This heat, this... anger... it's like a fever burning up her home. The curtain's fluttering around the corner of the stage and for a moment she can't see her AEGIS. She doesn't see the people who raised her, trained her... built her. It's just for a second, but she sees her home the way it looks to Victor. There's a weird taste at the back of her throat. Actually, she might throw up. And that's when the Shogun steps into view, and the curtain settles back into place.

We're only better 'cause we support each other...

Thank god for her. Just th-- huh? Oh! Right. She nods, and remembers at the last second to turn that into a bow.

"Yes, Miss! On it, Miss! Count on me!"

Ok yes, this is good. Getting away is good. Protecting someone is good. She can figure all this out while she does it, and it will be good and fine. She's here, the Commander's here, Errant doesn't need to be. JuneBird is safely on the correct side of the battle lines, so that's... yeah. She gives her a look and a shoulder squeeze and a whisper that sounds like, 'Dinner tomorrow. Pick my outfit please.' Ok, that's everything. Right? Yes. Stopping Comstar is good, saving Comstar is good. Errant is off and running back into Sector 18, because there's a faster route to the prison complex that also doesn't involve cutting through a BlackSun line. She runs as hard as she can, confident in herself because she can't think of a better person to be confident in. She'll make it, and everything will make sense again. So she runs.

...And she tries really hard not to think about torture dungeons while she's at it.

Errant, you're running as fast as you can to get there in time. You skid into the elevators, take a second to catch your breath - and then the doors open and @Sarahphim hits you at full speed. You fall down together in an awkward tangle which I suspect @Sarahphim is about to make significantly more awkward.

The good news is that it's about to be very easy to not think about torture dungeons. Or perhaps very difficult, depending on @Sarahphim.

*

Bode: See? See? I was right.
Locker: hmm maybe.
Ferraphim1tp: They totally had a moment there though!
<Ferrapicklejarfail.jpg>
Locker: best clip
Ferraphim1tp: >:T I can see who uploaded that you know.
Locker: who
Ferraphim1tp: Someone in denial.
Bode: Speaking of denial, it's time for the real one true pairing!

Ferra kind of... falters, mid-stride. Turns to face @Saraphim, distress written across her face. "But... materials are not important. Lives are. Is this the wrong choice?" A pause, almost unnoticeable, as she runs the math. "To do both tasks, changes are required." She hesitates for a moment. "This may be uncomfortable. I was... simply trying to do what you would have." She grabs @Saraphim, whirling her in a circle for speed before tossing her headlong at the elevator, one hand outstretched as Sara ping-pongs about in direction, momentum changing to dodge enemies, energy blasts, and a wrench that had slipped loose from an engineer's hand.

As the doors shut, Ferra takes a deep breath, ignoring the pain of the wrong decision. She's got a new task. Do the task. Stop the bad guys. Trust in @Saraphim to save lives.

There are a lot of moving parts here; teams of engineers, isolated combat remotes, a couple of goon guards. Overall you reckon you have the advantage here - there are no heroes, no heavy weaponry - but something strikes you as off somehow. Do you want to assess the situation?

[Raz_Fox]

POTENTIAL 2

A ChRB drone is a little marvel of engineering. Its software is highly sophisticated and focused on two things, and two things only: shot composition and precise engine control.

So when @SARAHPHIM goes pinwheeling across the hangar, those little drones go rushing along with her, jets firing off all over their orb shells, getting the shot perfectly in high fidelity, no-loss video stream. You could clip it, loop it, speed it up, and set it to Yakety Sax, if you were a talentless hack.

And when @SARAHPHIM slams into her teammate in the elevator, and those drones dutifully rush in and fan out to capture the moment, a thousand hard drives cry out in terror as marshmallow hell dot jay pee gee gets saved to them immediately.

@SARAHPHIM has been screeching like a banshee the entire time, and when she pulls herself up, it is with a yowl of “FERRA!!” She pants, catches her breath, still straddling her (in a relationship and how the shippers are complaining and doesn’t she have better taste than f*cking JuneBird) fallen teammate.

Okay. Okay, Sara. Use this to your advantage. Get the EunaKim shippers riled up. Set them in a frenzy against the FerraKim shippers. Let the ship wars be glorious.

“At least the airbags deployed,” she says, wryly, and pats Euna on the head. “So what’s a pretty little thing like you doing on an elevator like this?”

[Balmas]

The satellite breaks up. Lines of fire streak through the sky. The door is closed now. Any excess debris is just going to impact on the shield.

But that sniper just keeps hammering on the Jotum all throughout. She's firing similar explosive rounds that you're putting into the satellite and before too long you're holding onto an absolute wreck. She's going through the Jotum's armour like a long range jackhammer and she'll punch through to you sooner rather than later. How are you going to get out of the kill zone?

It has been too long a day, with too many stressors. Maybe in better times, Brainstorm could come up with something better, but right now, all he can think to do is shove the Jotun over and try to use its bulk as a shield on the way to the roof hatch. Draw back in the nanobots, try not to notice how much lighter he feels after so many explosive rounds, wait for a shot to come in, and dash along the Jotun's length.

This is objectively a bad plan, but it's the one he has right now.

[PhoeKun]

Four cybernetic limbs, built on the bleeding edge of technological progress. Sub-dermal armor plating. Impact resistant, chemical proof body armor. Theoretical coursework. Training seminars. Live exercises. VR simulations. An honest to goodness girlfriend, officially sanctioned expressly to help her get over this stupid crush. And yet, somehow, Errant is completely defenseless. She's bowled over, violated, and teased in the span of a second and a half.

And now she's trying really, really hard not to think about torture dungeons. So on that note, did you know? American Baseball is infamous in the international sports world for its adherence to a set of "unwritten rules". Among the more strongly held ones is home run celebrations prior to finishing your run around the bases. Etiquette states: don't take a moment to admire the ball as it flies out of the park, that's considered disrespectful to the pitcher. Don't celebrate too much while you're running, that's considered disrespectful to the pitcher. Don't run too slowly, that's considered disrespectful to the pitcher. When you discard your bat, toss it away from you as though you need to run really hard just to get a hit, or else it's considered... you get it. But, and this is the really interesting part, in Korean baseball culture there's an entire sub-competition to see which player can flip their bat in the most creative, theatrical manner and it's thought that--

Yeah ok this isn't working. Errant's out of breath from running the equivalent length of the entire AEGIS base and there's an impossibly beautiful girl straddling her waist and patting her on the head and her face was just right there in that one place and what what what what what what stop it you are in a relationship what is even the protocol for this situation? Why do we even have protocol if it doesn't cover this?? What help no stop get off no please stay there help what

"S-Sara?!" There you go, sweetie. Really smooth, "What are you... Why are you... You're supposed to be--"

And she short circuits. Again. At least it's a long elevator ride?

[Eldest]

There are a lot of moving parts here; teams of engineers, isolated combat remotes, a couple of goon guards. Overall you reckon you have the advantage here - there are no heroes, no heavy weaponry - but something strikes you as off somehow. Do you want to assess the situation?

I will, yes.

Assess: (2d6-1)[9]

[Raz_Fox]

POTENTIAL 2

Haha! Flawless victory! Just look at that blush! Euna’s melting because an 11 was nice to her, the chat’s blowing up because of her smooth flirting style that has nothing in common with bulldozers why would you even think that, and... dammit. Don’t think about asking Euna out. It’d be nice, but... not yet. Not while the stream’s still building steam. It’d be a shame to do all this legwork for destabilizing the shipping charts and then accidentally lock one in.

Besides, like, she’d probably fill out paperwork or something and try to make them official girlfriends and that would be such a drag, right? Wow, forget we even went there! We are going to stick to friendship things here, like physical contact and possessive squeezing of thighs around a rock-hard stomach.

“Looking after Ferra, right? Yeah, I talked her into saving the life of her giant robot cousin or whatever, because I’m the real hero of AEGIS. A role model for little girls everywhere.” Someone who is not Sara would probably have gotten up to have this conversation. However, as we all know, Sara is Best Tiger and cats can have a conversation wherever. “I know, blah blah, protect Ferra, but she threw me over here so I could babysit Miss Slutty McZerosubs downstairs, so, like, if you’re going to chew someone out over this, save it for her.” Oh, and here we go for the casual friendship cheek pat.

“Also I beat the sh*t out of Lady Turbo Knight or whatever. You wanna see? Hang on,” she says, projecting a holointerface from her bodysuit’s forearm. “You have got to see this clip.”

And, without any self-consciousness, she grins. Damn. She is so sore, but just wait until Euna sees this!

[Provoke 9 here. I want Euna to gush embarrassingly over how cool @SARAHPHIM is. If she does so, we get +1 TEAM from ego-stroking....... and maybe crush bonding???]

[the original draft was “kiss @SARAHPHIM” but that is very much what I want to have happen in-scene, and the exact opposite of what Sara wants, actually]

[PhoeKun]

Later, Euna would probably check the tape of this and realize how close she came to ruining her life forever. She'd also come to the conclusion that Sara did not understand women, like, at all. See? There, right there! She's lying on the ground all hot and bothered with her eyes half lidded and her lips puckering, making those desperate little gasping sounds and a beautiful girl like that could do anything, anything at all to her in a moment like that, and she... shows her a stream clip!? Are you serious? Argh! How does she have a shipping community of any kind when she's this bad at it?? Well, because she's gorgeous and charismatic obviously, you dunce. But still!

In any event, the Euna on the floor is not yet the Euna watching that highlight and cursing up a storm. She's still a panting, hormonal mess, so when the bait's offered up she jumps at it like a hungry seal. Yes, please, anything to feel validated right now (And this is where she'll smash her face on her desk and close the stream session forever out of sheer embarrassment)!

"You're supposed to be guarding her so she doesn't-- wait you what? You what? To Messermitt?? No way. No way! Was she wearing the-- oh my gosh she was! That's... oh my goodness, wow, look at that. I... I didn't know anything even could take that thing one on one. Did you know she beat the Shogun like that? Like, for real, no kidding. It was right after Messermitt crushed both of my legs and one of my arms like I was nothing. And you just... play it back, play it back! Look at that leap. You see it? Right there? That's such good technique! It's picture perfect cinema! You look just like Penthesilea during her big fight vs Achilles in Lament of the Queen!

You've been training, right? I'm so proud! Oh, ooh, did you try those exercises I showed you? You did, right? How do they feel? Are you making good progress? You must be, right? Come on, show me! Give me a flex!"

And because she's gotten going she's fallen right out of 'needy teenager' and straight into BFF-mode, so she stands up right then and there. And of course it's effortless. Sara's still the taller one when they're both standing like this, but the power dynamics of the scene shift all the same. Or they would, if she wasn't grinning from ear to ear and hugging her. Errant had the coolest best friend. And if this elevator took a little longer, she might even remember to yell at her.

[Raz_Fox]

POTENTIAL 2

Here is what will be in the elevator when it opens. I have no idea what will be on the other side! But inside the elevator is one (1) live-streaming superheroine in a glowing, tiger-haunted orange-and-black bodysuit, sweaty and bruised and yet almost glowing, flexing proudly for her streaming fans.

And, maybe, also for a certain other superheroine, when she reviews the tapes later, watching (once) how Sara’s muscles strain against her suit, which is designed to dissipate external blows but yield internally; listening to a husky, exhausted but arrogant laugh, and isn’t she even hotter when she’s not flirting like she learned everything about it from melodramatic TV shows; and how she invites that certain other superheroine to come up and feel her muscles, no, really, get your tactile sensors all over them, get in nice and close.

Said superheroine will likely watch it once, be mortified, ban herself from ever watching it again, and have confusing feelings about it afterwards!

I mean. Assuming everybody here survives. Which isn’t exactly a given.

So that’s what’s inside the elevator when it opens: laughter and bragging and the hum of the camera drones. What’s outside?

[Thanqol]

"Hey," said Comstar.
"Hey," said Comstar.

The door had been wood. AEGIS had gone through and stripped every possible electronic out of this wing of the prison just in case. Contrary to popular opinion it was not a torture dungeon but for Comstar it might as well have been. She had been freaking out like a wirehead in withdrawal. She'd been reduced to writing letters to the editor on dead tree paper. She'd been getting treatment and medication to help manage her addiction and the psych had said that she'd been doing better. But it was still like being reduced to the shadows of what she'd once been.

But there... she was, standing in the doorway. Confident and costumed and framed perfectly by fire. For a moment she started to smile and get up on her feet - and then she stopped.

"Nice eyepatch," she said.
"Yeah," said Comstar.
"Does that mean...?"
"Yeah,"
"Huh."
"Was it for the shot, or is that joke literally true about the cosmos?"
"For the shot, idiot,"
"Makes sense."

They both stared at the briefcase Comstar was holding.

"Is that...?"
"Yeah."
"And it's for -"
"Yeah."
"Man, Doctor Gears was not what I expected, right?"
"It made sense for my edition of the guy."
"So that's why you volunteered for the vault bit?"
"Yeah."
"And now you're going to..."
"Yeah."
"Is it going to hurt?"
"Like a bitch."

She swallowed.

"You'll stream it, right?"
"I'm not a savage."
"Thanks."
"In fact, I'm even going to hang out here for a bit to give the heroes a chance to stop me. It'll play better that way."
"Oh - oh, oh jeez, thank you -"
"You think that means I'm going to lose?"
"Well, it's kinda what a move like that usually means in a narrative like this,"
"Yeah if you're writing cartoons for twelve year olds,"
"Y-you're not?"
"Eyepatch, honey."
"R-right."

So that’s what’s inside the elevator when it opens: laughter and bragging and the hum of the camera drones. What’s outside?

its a mine you're both dead

It's not that, but it could have been. Get your head in the game, Errant!

Instead there's nothing. Weirdly empty, except for the smouldering path of ruin a plasma cutter carved through layers of security in a direct line towards Comstar's cell. Everything is perfectly, unnaturally quiet, the sounds of the battle above blocked by layers of concrete - only audible from the faint tremors of dust falling from the ceiling as the building shakes.

The guards aren't at their posts, but none of the wrong doors are open - thank the stars.

But then a piercing scream comes from down the corridor, from the burned open cell. Not short, not cut off, just someone in a lot of ongoing pain.

*

Angel-IKA: Oh my god they're so cute together 1tp
Ferraphim1tp: Ack! Argh! Betrayal!
Locker: oh ffs sarah had every opportunity right there and chose not to do it.
Bode: Thank you for seeing things my way Angel-IKA.
Dominus: IT'S ALL PART OF THE SHOW, SHE DOESN'T REALLY HAVE ANYTHING GOING WITH ANY OF THESE PEOPLE
Ferraphim1tp: Partly true! She's just trying to hide her crush on Ferra!
Bode: With her crush on Errant!
Angel-IKA: >< Oh no I got involved and now the war's gone hot
Locker: your wafiu is trash
Bode: I am going to commission fanart illustrating the true ship.
Ferraphim1tp: Ferraphimkiss.gif
Dominus: I'LL KILL YOU, I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU, ESPECIALLY THOSE OF YOU IN THE JURY!

It has been too long a day, with too many stressors. Maybe in better times, Brainstorm could come up with something better, but right now, all he can think to do is shove the Jotun over and try to use its bulk as a shield on the way to the roof hatch. Draw back in the nanobots, try not to notice how much lighter he feels after so many explosive rounds, wait for a shot to come in, and dash along the Jotun's length.

This is objectively a bad plan, but it's the one he has right now.

You lunge for the access hatch and the TAG comes down with you. You tumble down the ladder in a great crashing of metal and shower of electronic sparks and land heavily with the bulk of the thing on top of you.

Then someone swings around a corner and aims an E/Mauler right at centre mass and that is the end for Victor - oh, wait, it's AEGIS. She's familiar somehow but you can't place it. "God damn it," she mutters when she sees you, "why are all you goddamn idiots allergic to backup?"

She moves over and helps you lift the bulk of the TAG off you. "Hey," she says, and then smiles. "Idiot or not, you did it. You just saved the goddamn day."

[This lady wants to shift your Saviour up and Freak down. Accept her words or reject her influence]

What here is the biggest threat?

Prometheus has a really straightforwards MO. Take over a critical area, function, or piece of territory and then safeguard it with a hideous trap. It's always straightforwards, brutal, and has no chance of being screwed up by BlackSun goons. It also has the added bonus of concealing any genuine mistake or vulnerability with the conditioned assumption that it must be a trap.

This is a nastier trap than usual because Prometheus himself is present.

It takes a lot of money to make something as large as a TAG invisible, but for Prometheus' personal Avatar money is no object. You wouldn't have noticed it if your powers hadn't just switched over to sonic control - you can hear the creaking of the metal catwalks under its enormous bulk as it moves to set up a flanking position. The work the engineers are doing isn't just to re-fuel and re-arm the Jet Jaguar - it's to adapt it for Prometheus to transfer his control node into the giant robot!

That's the threat. Firstly a gunfight against an invisible giant robot, and secondly, a potential video game boss fight against a kaiju-sized giant robot.

[Raz_Fox]

@SARAHPHIM switches gears. It's showtime. And, God, wouldn't it be nice if Comstar would wait just an hour or so for her to work the kinks out of her muscles? Nah, though. This is why Someone keeps refusing to end workouts half an hour early. So we can fight the good fight until the fight's over.

"Bodyparts," she says. This means that Errant's on point, because she has the body armor and is much better at close range, whereas @SARAHPHIM is the opposite: squishy, but fantastic at range. (Why is this the code? Because one of them has more bodyparts to lose than the other. Ghoulish? Yes. #SARAHPHIMNO? Also yes.)

(7 on Assess. What here is the biggest threat?)

[PhoeKun]

"Says the squad's token normie."

Damn it, she hadn't even thought to check for mines. This place has already been mined! What is the matter with her? Deal with your personal {scrubbed} after the mission is done, Soldier. She flexes her fingers once, twice. Then she takes point and starts leading the way to the ruined cell door. Back on mission, back on target. It's quiet in here. Why? This place is always guarded... except it's not. Why is it so quiet? There's not even signs of a struggle. Could AEGIS really have been so short sighted it recalled the prison staff to assist with home defense? Or is it Comstar? What could she have done?

There's actually terrifyingly little Errant understands about this other Comstar. How different is her perspective? Her abilities? And then there's that video... she's trying to play it over again in her head, to figure out the angle. But then she hears the scream. And nobody makes that kind of noise without needing to be saved. Her brain clicks off again and instinct takes over. There's no clever plans, or streams or reputations to worry about. If someone makes that noise, you go and help them.

[There was an attempt to Pierce the Mask in here somewhere, but I am me so it's a 6, assuming Errant's Influence only applies to Comstar, Jail Edition. If the Influence does count then she squeaks by another disaster and has time to ask 'what are you really planning?' before she finishes being a noble idiot]

[Balmas]

You lunge for the access hatch and the TAG comes down with you. You tumble down the ladder in a great crashing of metal and shower of electronic sparks and land heavily with the bulk of the thing on top of you.

Then someone swings around a corner and aims an E/Mauler right at centre mass and that is the end for Victor - oh, wait, it's AEGIS. She's familiar somehow but you can't place it. "God damn it," she mutters when she sees you, "why are all you goddamn idiots allergic to backup?"

She moves over and helps you lift the bulk of the TAG off you. "Hey," she says, and then smiles. "Idiot or not, you did it. You just saved the goddamn day."

[This lady wants to shift your Saviour up and Freak down. Accept her words or reject her influence]

For a moment, all Brainstorm can do is sit back and laugh. Stop laughing, you bonehead, you look like an idiot. But at the moment, he can't help it, because holy {scrubbed} he's alive how the hell is he still alive, he just went up against a sniper with a stupid-powerful rifle, he could have friggin died

Yeah, laughing is good.

"Just think, though," he says, chest heaving. "If I hadn't gone by myself, I wouldn't have been rescued by a pretty girl. And it worked, right?"

[Accept the influence]

His chuckling dies down, and he squints at her. "You seem familiar. I know you, don't I?"

[Thanqol]

"Says the squad's token normie."

Damn it, she hadn't even thought to check for mines. This place has already been mined! What is the matter with her? Deal with your personal {scrubbed} after the mission is done, Soldier. She flexes her fingers once, twice. Then she takes point and starts leading the way to the ruined cell door. Back on mission, back on target. It's quiet in here. Why? This place is always guarded... except it's not. Why is it so quiet? There's not even signs of a struggle. Could AEGIS really have been so short sighted it recalled the prison staff to assist with home defense? Or is it Comstar? What could she have done?

There's actually terrifyingly little Errant understands about this other Comstar. How different is her perspective? Her abilities? And then there's that video... she's trying to play it over again in her head, to figure out the angle. But then she hears the scream. And nobody makes that kind of noise without needing to be saved. Her brain clicks off again and instinct takes over. There's no clever plans, or streams or reputations to worry about. If someone makes that noise, you go and help them.

[There was an attempt to Pierce the Mask in here somewhere, but I am me so it's a 6, assuming Errant's Influence only applies to Comstar, Jail Edition. If the Influence does count then she squeaks by another disaster and has time to ask 'what are you really planning?' before she finishes being a noble idiot]

BANG

The spotlight comes down like a gavel. You're both bathed in blinding white light. One of you knows instinctively what to do and how to angle your best side for the cameras. The other one blinks and unglamorously gapes and covers her eyes and gets awkward flashbacks to embarrassing megaschool plays. By the time you adjust there's a bright pink hardlight wall in between you and the corridor.

BANG

The cell door next to you shakes. An inmate just threw herself against it, rattling the bars.

"Good evening... heroes," came an ominous male voice from hidden speakers. It was Vincent Price levels of hammy, but there was a definite edge of cruelty to it. "Welcome to... prison, ahahahah. In order to proceed we... we have a quiz for you. It wouldn't be right if this confrontation was between anything other than true rivals, would it? So... let us begin... the interrogation! Firstly... in Comstar's first broadcast she tried out a number of 'catch phrases'... which one was the world's favourite?"

A flashing screen appeared on the Hardlight barrier, four options.
A) Life is meaningless!
B) I love mass jailbreaks!
C) I have become as Odin, and by the sacrifice of my eye and the hanging of myself from the branches of Ygdrassil I shall obtain all knowledge, and all shall worship and fear me.
D) I'll edit that bit out in post!

"Take as many guesses as you like... but for each incorrect answer we release a prisoner! Mwahahaha!"

In the distance the screaming went on.

@SARAHPHIM switches gears. It's showtime. And, God, wouldn't it be nice if Comstar would wait just an hour or so for her to work the kinks out of her muscles? Nah, though. This is why Someone keeps refusing to end workouts half an hour early. So we can fight the good fight until the fight's over.

"Bodyparts," she says. This means that Errant's on point, because she has the body armor and is much better at close range, whereas @SARAHPHIM is the opposite: squishy, but fantastic at range. (Why is this the code? Because one of them has more bodyparts to lose than the other. Ghoulish? Yes. #SARAHPHIMNO? Also yes.)

(7 on Assess. What here is the biggest threat?)

You're always aware of your camera drones - they do a lot of heavy lifting in calculating angles and doing basic editing, but the difference between a teenager's video diary and your show is in your awareness of how to fit your actions to their positions. You know their rhythms and their patterns - and those just changed. For a moment there was a little flicker of pink and now they're adjusting to shoot the scene like it's a horror movie.

And you'd bet that Comstar is going to turn to cheap jump scares like the hack she is.

You're 99% that she'll have some sort of goon sneaking up behind you throughout this cheap production so at the end of her dramatic monologue you'll get tazed and she'll be able to take you both prisoner. Just watch for the drones aligning for your cue to set everything behind you on lasers.


Really, you'd be 100% if it wasn't for that scream. That's Comstar screaming and you're pretty sure she's not that good at acting.

*

Dominus: ROFL
Angel-IKA: Oh yeah haha
Ferraphim1tp: hahaha
Angel-IKA: hahaha
Dominus: HOW DOES SOMEONE SO ALLEGEDLY SMART HAVE SUCH A PRIMITIVE UNDERSTANDING OF CINEMATOGRAPHY
Angel-IKA: Oh hahah yeah it's kind of goofy haha
Bode: I don't agree, Dominus. It sounds to me like she's actually torturing someone which makes the cheap production values if anything more unsettling.
Ferraphim1tp: hahaha ._.

For a moment, all Brainstorm can do is sit back and laugh. Stop laughing, you bonehead, you look like an idiot. But at the moment, he can't help it, because holy {scrubbed} he's alive how the hell is he still alive, he just went up against a sniper with a stupid-powerful rifle, he could have friggin died

Yeah, laughing is good.

"Just think, though," he says, chest heaving. "If I hadn't gone by myself, I wouldn't have been rescued by a pretty girl. And it worked, right?"

[Accept the influence]

His chuckling dies down, and he squints at her. "You seem familiar. I know you, don't I?"

The AEGIS lady blushed a little at that. "Oh, haha, yeah, I guess it did. Work, I mean," she said, evidently tilted a little. "Sort of. Not really - uh, anyway, you're needed in the Jet Jaguar hangar, so-ooo," she waved with both hands. "Unless you can, uh, handle it from here? I mean you're the genius, you probably know better than me."

[Raz_Fox]

POTENTIAL 2

BANG

There’s only so much that hardlight can handle, energy-wise, before it loses its coherence and dissipates. And wouldn’t you know it? There’s someone in here who’s really, really good at tossing around energy.

Because @SARAHPHIM being here wasn’t the plan, right? That was why two different heavy-hitters were assigned to take her out. Errant’s got no choice here but to cool her heels and guess. Victor wastes time trying to figure out how to remotely shut down the emitters. Ferra... is probably already supposed to be subverted, and in any case, would take the quiz at face value, probably.

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG

But @SARAHPHIM can whale on this all day. Not that she needs to. It’s rapidly becoming incoherent underneath the 48-Musket Salute, a pattern reminiscent of the Shogun herself (but better, because it’s not that tiny racist prick summoning the guns).

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG

She even lets some of the muskets fall back and unleash a cavalcade of fire down the corridor. Enough to spook whoever’s down there. Enough to make them hesitate.

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG

The emitters blow, overloaded. Maybe they’ll come back online, but it’s going to take a hard reboot for that to happen anytime soon.

“None of the above, bitch.”

[Whoops forgot to mention: Unleashing Powers, 10.]

[PhoeKun]

There's an irony to this sort of situation. If she'd come here alone, Comstar would have Errant dead to rights. She'd be a panicked, rescue-crazed soldier locked into a series of set pieces that she had no power to break through. All she'd be able to do is prowl inside her light cage like an animal, make desperate pleas to reason (good luck), and guess wildly at questions she has no idea the answer to while she wore herself down to nothing fighting pointless battles.

But Sara's here! And because she's locked in a room with a wild girl unleashing neon death at a hardlight barrier, she's calmer. Because she got locked behind a wall, she's forced to slow down. Thoughts other than 'stop the screaming' are allowed to exist inside her head. In short, because everything got harder to control, it was easier for Errant to function. She nods at @Sarahphim in approval and drops into a casual pose with her arms held behind her back. Her teeth grind for a moment. You have to do this, Euna. Deep breath. She manages a short bark of a laugh.

"Well, at least we know which universe had the actual brains in it. Compared to our Comstar's heists this isn't worth being called third-rate. What are you, a puppet? Did you outsource your show to the AI, the gang boss, or the possum woman? It's pathetic. Either get out here and take the stage like a proper villain, or hurry up and get back to the loser dimension. Jeez."

Sara would have tossed in a camera-winning grin and at least one custom tailored insult, but since Euna's the one with the spare breath to spit fire right now, the production would have to settle for the girl who could barely maintain her game face. Behind her back, she squeezes her wrist in her other hand. The pressure sensor sends a minor warning ping to her network...

[This is a Provoke roll, 2d6+1 = 10]

[Balmas]

The AEGIS lady blushed a little at that. "Oh, haha, yeah, I guess it did. Work, I mean," she said, evidently tilted a little. "Sort of. Not really - uh, anyway, you're needed in the Jet Jaguar hangar, so-ooo," she waved with both hands. "Unless you can, uh, handle it from here? I mean you're the genius, you probably know better than me."

Brainstorm squeezes his eyes shut and lets out a long, teeth-gritted sigh. "You're quite sure? AEGIS has geniuses, doesn't it? I just singlehandedly trapped a rogue AI, saved a neighborhood from orbital bombardment, and survived someone blowing anti-tank rounds in my direction."

Dammit, how does he know her? It's important, or it wouldn't niggle at him like it's doing.

He sighs again, cracks his neck, and eases his way back to vertical. "Walk and talk, please. What's the situation? What's so all-fired important in the Jet Jaguar hanger that I can't be spared for some decompression? Don't they decommission that thing whenever someone's invading, anyway?"