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>>36600747

HOLLOW SUN: 2.5%

http://pastebin.com/yNqFkgMZ

RESEARCH:

[X] POSITRON LANCE
[X] DISTORTION CANNON
[X] REACTIVE PLATING
[X] FIRMWARE UPGRADE
[X] RESEARCH: SUPERHEAVY CHASSIS
[X] ARC CHARGER
[X] CHOIR BEACON
[X] GRAVIMETRIC NEXUS
[X] VECTOR TRAP

RESEARCH COMPLETE:

> [X] INDUCTION BLASTERS
> [X] MACHINE CANNON
> [X] RESEARCH: HELIOS MATRIX

VOID ANCHORS:

ORIGINAL HIVE
THE TRIBUNAL
NARAKA
THE VAULT
TUSITA

HOLDING: 0 (VECTOR GEIST: 1)

RED COMET GUIDE:

http://pastebin.com/LJAfQmXy

UPDATES:

- THE CONDEMNER removed from RELIC VAULT.
- AQUILA SYSTEM equipped.
- HELIOS-CLASS HARDSHELLS unlocked.
- INDUCTION WAVE GENERATOR, PHASE MATRIX, DARKLIGHT SHROUD, CYNOSURE SCOPE, OCULAR LINE, TELEPORT FIELD STABILIZER and ENERGY CONDENSER added to HELLION UPGRADE RESEARCH.
- LINEBREAKER added to RELIC VAULT.
- RUBICANTE & CAGNAZZO added to RELIC VAULT.
- AUTOCANNON, MACHINE CANNON and INDUCTION BLASTER added to HELLION ARMORY.
- ARC GUN and ION BLASTER upgraded in HELLION ARMORY.

>>36600757
>RUBICANTE & CAGNAZZO
WANT

IT BEGINS

>>36600757
Fuck I want those revolvers.

>>36600757
>Rubicante and Cagnazzo
I'm hearing the song.

>>36600810
So, ideas for what we tell Cybele to do?
What would give us an environmental advantage?
Height differences? Shallow water that we can traverse with Aquila, while Bishamon will be slowed down?

>A revolver of red iron and a blue-steel automatic
>a blue-steel automatic
>automatic
Automatic what?
An automatic revolver?
Is the other one semi-automatic or fully manual?

>>36600829

When it comes to environmental advantages, we can go with tall, thin stone pillars, widely spaced.

We can fly. Bishamon can't.

I'm definitely hoping to stab Bishie with the Athame, though. I feel bad for him.

>>36600829
Water and some platforms, to make it easier to kite him.

>>36600844
So, an environment full of plateaus and with the ground submerged in shallow water.

Do we want the plateaus to have entrance ramps? They would make for nice chokepoints if he doesn't outright try to jump onto them.

What would be a fallback for when the Scrander gets damaged?

>>36600827
It's one revolver and one automatic pistol. Also either a trap or an easter egg.

>>36600829
The interior of the Hollow Sun.

>>36600859

Hmm. Can we heal the Scrander with Cybele's power? If not, we can always grab onto the side of a stone pillar.

>>36600863
>The interior of the Hollow Sun.
I'm pretty sure that this won't be possible.

So, what's your plan?
I'm still in favor of handshake -> Dictum "Freeze" + Verbatim + Possible Cybele help -> Athame.

>>36600885
Does Bishamon have mag-clamps?
We could make all of the pillars ferromagnetic.

Hell, how about a ferromagnetic ceiling?

OP, can we walk upside-down when mag-locked?

Can someone remind me what Helix Gygas' powers were like? I can't find him in the Player list.

>>36600901
Something about directing energy.
It's where we got the Helix Gauntlet from, after all.

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>>36600757

(Gentlemen, my apologies for the delay. To be brutally honest, the first week at my new workplace has...Well, it's hit me like a truck, and I'm still adjusting to things. I'll most likely have to run a shorter session - But fortunately, I should be able to continue this tomorrow.

You'll note that the Helios-class hardshells are finally available - Due to their very specific role and the nature of their Phase Rifles, I'll have to see how they affect game balance...But the current arrangement should be satisfactory.)

Blue light, streaked with storm-fires. A sound that mingles the moan of the wind, and the lap of acid waters against a beach of black sand. A fading smell, a ghost-sensation, of sandalwood, incense, tears...

Blink.

Ethereal plainsong, through a skyscape of toppled towers and dead spires.

Blink.

The cold light of the first day.

"Joker?"

Underfoot: Weathered wood, smooth, fine-grained. The faint glow of a lantern, shedding a soft, pearlescent light across dark and impenetrable waters, doing nothing to hold back the gloom.

Cybele's voice is low, soft - Less than a whisper, her slim fingers trailing through the dark waters. The wan light caresses her skin; the curve of her slim shoulders, the graceful fall of midnight hair. Her eyes are half-closed behind long, long lashes as the barge continues to drift across the serene waters - Arrow-straight, ripples spreading in the wake of the dark wood.

Above: The sky. The true sky, not the false heavens of a Hyades illusion - the stars so cold, so impossibly distant, beneath the infinite black of the anti-moon. In the distance, a shape; Looming, yet shrouded by fog.

The faint rustle of Cybele's kimono - the slight part of her lips - are the only sounds in the world. She exhales, slowly, delicately - shadows stroking against the ornate paper screens behind her, capturing and enclosing the light.

(Continued)

>>36600905

There is something funerary about your slow progress, the distant lap of water against the hull almost soothing in its monotony.

"...We're almost there," she murmurs - And her voice is tiny in that vast space, in all that enfolding darkness. The barge is such a tiny island of light in an ocean of inky black; You sense rather than hear the trepidation in her words, in the lines of tension that lock her slender form in place - Her hands folded demurely on her lap, fingers interlacing to stop them from trembling.

She looks up. Her face is a pale heart, through the green filter of your mono-optic sensor. You're out-of-place here, as the servoes and hydraulics of your armor whirr and hum in quiet profusion; the prow of the ship cutting the waters before you, tiny flecks of fire - like gold leaf, like prayers borne on the breeze - drifting with lazy slowness.

[ ] "-What is this?"
[ ] "...Where are we?"
[ ] "This is...It's familiar, somehow."
[ ] "Are you afraid?"
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>36600888
All of the Hyades fields are illusions anyway, Cybele can't make a stage we can control like the Sun but she can make the place look like it, obstacles and all.

I realized that there's really no point in complex plans, and if it takes more than three steps it's going to fail, especially since we don't know Uzume's power. I'll suggest [Kura] as a swordbreaker, keep Dictum reserved for something really unexpected later, and ask OP for a favor.

OP, can you issue a challenge condition like we had with Haze? If there are no objections I'd like to set using the Athame on Bishamon as an official victory condition.

Sorry to hear you're having a hard time of it.[/spooler]

>>36600843
>A revolver of red iron and a blue-steel automatic
Reverse the colors and we get Cthugha & Ithaqua.
We Demonbane now.
Who's up for killing transdimensional horrors using magitech weapons in the name of love, justice and good?

>>36600957
>[ ] "This is...It's familiar, somehow."
>[ ] "Are you afraid?"

>>36600957
"Are you ready?"

File: bang-bang motherfucker.png (1.8 MB, 1280x1024)

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>>36600964
I'm all for it.

>>36600957
>[X] "-What is this?"
>[X] "This is...It's familiar, somehow."

>>36600964
I saw Love is Blue and Unforgiven. Besides, aren't they regular guns in the Red World?

>>36600990
>>36600964
My hope is that it's a real world relic.
Imagine Anon being able to summon a revolver for when we finally meet the monsters that entered the Real.

>>36600964
>>36600990
So, I'm a bit behind on the archives, but didn't we have that sidequest involving the Joker's Memory and the huge interdimensional corrector?
I say we wait until we get another tachyon core, make a golden double edged sword and use it and the revolvers to kill it.
There's absolutely nothing that can go wrong with this plan.

>>36601001
>Besides, aren't they regular guns in the Red World?
I kinda suspect that they, like the Carnifex, are relics that transfer between worlds.

>>36601001
>>36601051
>status as high-priority Relics

From this, I guess we can assume that they would be difficult to disarm via codeburst, but I wonder what other secrets they might have.

I wonder if they could be called to the real world. Very Curious.

>>36601015
Might be time to catch up, Joker's Memory was sidelined for the current plot arc involving the Hyades and various raids.

>>36601001
Fly Me to the Moon or Moon River?

Guys, if we can't save Bishamon, let's absorb him into the Midas Gauntlet. Maybe there's a way to upload his Essence into, like, a Hellion or something.

>>36601051
I'm wondering at the same. Seems awfully convenient, which makes me reluctant to say that's it for sure.

>>36601070
Don't think that's what that's referring to; it's how the system treats these guns as weapons on the same level as the Immolator or Condemner, when they're not.

>>36601088
Remixed Moon River over the remixed Fly Me to the Moon, but the original Fly Me to the Moon over the original Moon River.

>>36601098
That's not how it works at all.

>>36600892

(You can't find sufficient purchase - It's more to secure yourself in place, really.)

>>36600968
>>36600979
>>36601001

> [X] "This is...It's familiar, somehow."

"I-"

Some brief emotion - a spasm of hesitation, or fear - flits across Cybele's face. She looks away; Her arms drawn close, hugging herself.

"...I wouldn't know," she murmurs, and there's denial in her voice; Denial, and remembered terror. For a moment, she looks very, very small - and very, very young. "I thought - I thought I could forget. But...Now, when it's like this-" An involuntary shudder courses through her, her deep brown eyes haunted, distant-

Some things stay with you, one way or another. It is in the quietest hours that the questions come:

Did you ever escape, really? Will there ever be an end? Perhaps a part of you always lie on a beach of black sand, while acid waters lap against your flesh.

A soft hiss of indrawn breath.

"There's - there's nothing there, you know," Cybele says - To herself, perhaps, or to the depthless vista on all sides. Her sleek throat works; Instinctively, she draws closer to you - For comfort, for succor, or just to be near someone.

Anyone.

For a moment - Just a moment - you think she might ask you to hold her.

"That's why..."

"That's why I - I *have* to win. I can't...I can't go *back* there. If - this is all there is, *forever*-"

> [X] "Are you afraid?"

Her head comes up. The conflict plays out across her elegant features, in the span of a second; But then she turns her face to the infinite night, and her shoulders slump slightly - withdrawing into herself. Cybele straightens, her voice drawing taut:

"Joker-kun..." she says, and a quiet anxiety lingers in each word - "-I...won't let you down."

"Not now."

(Continued)

>>36601004
>>36601051
If so then we need to get them right the fuck now.
The fact we can still be ganked in the Real world is one of our biggest weaknesses. Hopefully they will be summonable instead of being on our person at all times, since that would limit their use.
even better if they come out of sigils inscribred on the back of our hands.

>>36601117
>Japanese high schooler runs around with guns
>Mio asks us why the fuck we carry a revolver
>Kazuya wants to have the pistol
>Natsumi facepalms and questions our sanity

>>36601110

I know. Wishful thinking, though.

>>36601117
Why would they be summonable. None of the real world relics are. Even Fatal Abyss has to be carried.

>>36601111
Too bad you're going to get ditched for our non-ghost waifu. Unless Hecate shows up somehow, then things could get complicated.

Did we EVER follow up on Inox Fang? I kind of want that Orthrus Crest compleeted....

So, how do we handle the Chalice Queen situation?
Do we unlock the armor at all?

Do we give Cybele a swift death?

>>36601139
Hecate's more dead than Cybele. Or weren't you paying attention?

>>36601143
You are asking for us to backstab Natsumi.
We promised to not kill that girl.

>>36601110
Well, whatever. Maybe OP has just been enjoying himself with certain Visual Novels, lately.

>>36601143
Forever half complete.
Or bug OP about Hollow Sun solutions, take your pick.

>>36601155
No, she's less dead. Her body still works, which likely means that she still produces essence.
She's kinda trapped in limbo, though.

>>36601162

@OP Any chance we can grind the half of the Orthrus Crest we have into SOMETHING? Even if it's just a half-complete essence signature or something.

Or like, maybe we can Nihl it.

>>36601155
Anonymous - this post was intended to emulate rambling speech for the sake of a joke. Whether or not a joke is funny is entirely subjective, so I can understand why you responded to this joke in a serious and slightly aggressive manner, however, the post was in no way serious and if you have been triggered in any manner then I sincerely apologise. If it is necessary, I can offer you a written and signed apology.

>>36601148
Hellebore's and yes. Probably.

>>36601155
Wow, rude. Cut that out.

>>36601155
Hecate is neither dead or alive. She's in a coma and unless we find some way to wake her up (or kill her real body), she's stuck like that.

I'm only here for the fights tbh. The upgrades to a lesser degree.

>>36601176
For what purpose. We have it because it's cool. Doing anything with it defeats the point.

>>36601195
Same, man.
The social situations just aren't my thing, y'know?

>>36601179
>Hellebore's and yes.
You sure that's a good idea? I'd rather stick our Void Anchor into the armor vault.

>>36601209

It's useless and a dropped plot token. IDK. I feel like we can do SOMETHING with it.

>>36601214

I kind of want to be a player just so I can poke around with the tech. I'd die first thing, though. I'm Haze level pussy.

>>36601111

> [X] "Are you ready?"

Her lips form a thin line - the look she gives you is brief, but somehow hurt.

"I-" Hushed, now, carefully avoiding your gaze. Cybele's delicate feet, arched high on clogs, tap lightly against the deck - Looking anywhere but at you, now. "...I didn't know Uzume could do this." It's an admission - Or perhaps a confession. Her hands rest lightly against the railing, as if afraid to touch.

"All of this...It's *her* world, now. Out there-"

She lowers her gaze, guilty now.

"Out *there*, there could be...There could be anything."

Her slim fingers curl into her palm, her hand against her heart. Anxiety shades into her voice:

"Joker-kun...I did the best I could, didn't I? I've - Already, I've...I've given you everything I *could*."

When she looks at you, her heart is in her eyes.

"So...Joker-kun, you'll win, won't you? You'll win - For me?"

[ ] "...She's more powerful than you, isn't she?"
[ ] "-I don't have a choice, do I?"
[ ] "Is Bishamon out there?"
[ ] "Cybele - I need you to focus, Cybele."
[ ] "Cybele - I need your help just one more time."
[ ] "*We'll* win this. Together."
[ ] "I promise."
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>36601237
>"*We'll* win this. Together."
>[ ] "I promise."
I alway had a soft spot for Cybele.

>>36601237
>[ ] "Is Bishamon out there?"
>[ ] "Cybele - I need you to focus, Cybele."

>>36600961
This is retarded.

What happened to using the Athame on Cybele to make Mio Chalice Queen? Have all of you forgotten this?

>>36601237
>"-I don't have a choice, do I?"
>"I promise."
I should probably feel bad we're going to betray her and all but it's mostly kind of funny.

>>36601260

Didn't Mio refuse?

>>36601237
>[x ] "...She's more powerful than you, isn't she?"
[ x] "-I don't have a choice, do I?"
[x ] "Is Bishamon out there?"

>>36601260
Don't we have the option of just choosing her armour instead of Cybele's? I'm pretty sure that was the case.

>>36601216
Of course I'm not. It's cruel in a way that little else can be. But given recent revelations and implications, I far prefer the thought of Mio armored than not, and there is the matter of giving her control. Plus since we don't know how she's currently connected to Hellebore/'s armor there could be consequences.

>>36601237
>[X] "...She's more powerful than you, isn't she?"
>[X] "Cybele - I need you to focus, Cybele."

Huh. What do you tell someone you plan to betray like we do? Never imagined I'd have to give it thought. The two most dangerous words...

"Saori. It's going to be okay. Trust me."

>>36601284

Wait, are we going to stab her NOW?

>>36601260
Mio isn't suited to be the Chalice Queen. She's ignored the whole revelation while hoping that everything will go to normal. She'll be useless in the Red due to her emotional vulnerability.
Also, we can just kill Cybele.

>>36601278
>>36601260
Choosing Hellebore's armor instead of Cybele's should make Mio Chalice Queen. The knife breaks the Hyades contract painlessly, meaning when Joker betrays Cybele the two parties won't feel the physical agony that accompanies the breakage.

>>36601290
What? No. After the armor is released.

>>36601274
>>36601278
We don't have an option. You have to shank someone with the Athame to break the bond, that's how it works. There's no other way to prevent Cybele getting the Armour.

If Mio doesn't take the Armour, Cybele's very presence in the Real is going to kill and hurt people, FOXDIE style. There's no possible way that wasting the Athame on Bish is the right thing to do.

>>36601298
All we have to do is trap her in the Red for a hundred years and she'll come around.

>>36601301
So why did you say use it on Bish? And you have to stab her with the blade to choose the armour, otherwise it defaults to our friend Cybele.

>>36601237
OP, can you clarify how the Chalice Queen is selected? Do we have to use the Athame to choose Mio over Cybele? Or can we choose Mio and use the Athame on Bishamon?

>>36601302
>Athame to break the bond
The Athame isn't necessary. You can just destroy the Hyades projection and the bond will break anyway.

>>36601301
>The knife breaks the Hyades contract painlessly, meaning when Joker betrays Cybele the two parties won't feel the physical agony that accompanies the breakage.
Wait, you want to use the Athame of Cybele instead of Bishamon?

...I really hope that we can kill Cybele before she notices what we are doing.
I want her to die happy.

And Mio... Well, this will be nasty.

>>36601302
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/33882636/#p33888821
Nope. We choose Mio, Cybele is stuck in her demesne forever.

>>36601302

So does that mean Bishie is going into the gauntlet?

>>36601328
>Cybele is stuck in her demesne forever.
Fuck you.

We kill Cybele. And we do it swiftly.

>>36601284
>and there is the matter of giving her control.
Given her mental state, that might be only harmful.

>>36601237
[ ] "...She's more powerful than you, isn't she?"
[ ] "Cybele - I need you to focus, Cybele."
[ ] "Cybele - I need your help just one more time."
[ ] "*We'll* win this. Together."
[ ] "I promise."

>>36601328
No, I'm saying if we choose Cybele, she'll still have to kill people passively to gather Essence.

>>36601330
There's nothing preventing us from passing it off to him as one can transfer Relics. Personally, I think giving him the Hand of Midas will give him Daegel and the strength he needs to be free.

>>36601331
>Kill' a Hyades?" Hellebore's voice is gently reprimanding. "-We can't die, you know. Not normally. The body is only a shell."
Using it to sever Bishamon's bond is the best choice. We don't kill an ally and friend, and we don't totally waste the Athame by using it on someone who isn't a threat.

>>36601302
>>36601322
Hellebore told us how to select Mio as Chalice Queen. We activate Hellebore's Emblem in the Vault and release Hellebore's armor.

>>36601303
That joke wasn't funny the first time.

>>36601324
No? I've said a half dozen times to use it on Bishamon.

>>36601340
>Personally, I think giving him the Hand of Midas will give him Daegel and the strength he needs to be free.
It will kill him, you moron. Have you not been paying attention?

>>36601349
Yeah but I don't remember making it, at least not very clearly.

>>36601340
You'd be wrong. The Gauntlet is a container, Daegal's still asleep. He'd get the powers it has listed.

>>36601340

You misunderstood. I meant "Does this mean we're storing Bishie INTO the gauntlet"?

Pardon me for the odd wording.

>>36601358
>>36601357
>>36601350
Daegel's asleep because we aren't worthy; its already proven its fully active and reached max essence when it jumped us the last time..

>>36601371

Yes, but are we eating Bishie or are we turning him into a hat. That's the question.

>>36601354
About a half dozen people have made it at this point. Probably even me.

>>36601358
The gauntlet doesn't store essence like that. It tastes a Player and adapts itself based on that. Sort of like the Grinder on the tiniest level, but also completely different.

>>36601371
It wasn't "complete" even then, I recall. Just active. As Joker levels up more and more of its powers will come out. Not that Daegal itself will matter until plot happens of course.

>>36601381
We're stabbing him with the Athame so that he can stop obsessing over his waifu. She's not even alive, she can't be anyone's waifu.

(Gentlemen, my apologies: Lost the connection for a moment. Writing now.)

>>36601371
>aren't worthy
Neither is Bishamon. The one who was supposed to get it is Argent. It will kill anyone else.

>>36601381
We're gonna try and give him the Gauntlet. If not that, eat him. Making him a hat is stupid as we need the Essence to level up.

>>36601388
It was incomplete due to a lack of a host. Daegel first started forming when Bish entered the Hollow Sun.

>>36601381
Neither, we're stabbing him with the Knife of Cold Showers.

>>36601400
>We're gonna try and give him the Gauntlet.
No we aren't. You are the only one who wants that.

>>36601345
Then fire the satellite at full force at her demense.
Nuke it completely.

Wait, I just thought of a way to make Mio chalice queen AND help out cybele with her problem.

Why can't we just make armor for Cybele? Like, make relic armor for Cybele.

Surely, making relics manually is a skill all players can do, even if they can't necessarily do it well.

>>36601421
Which demense would that be?

>>36601421
I don't think we can fire it in that direction.

>>36601424
Because that isn't possible.

>>36601424
We already discussed that and it seemed unlikely to be possible.

>>36601424
Because we aren't Argent Prominence, or the Thief, or the White Joker, or any other player capable of making shit.

>>36601345
We killed Ruler's girl by snapping her neck.
Killing the avatar kills the girl.

Prove: She gave us essence.

>>36601438

Does the Red Joker armor specifically make it impossible for us?

I was thinking we could just weld her into an iron maiden temporarily while we work on her actual armor.

>>36601399
Daegal will work for anyone with enough of an Essence charge. Argent's wanted to be Daegal and was chosen for the last round of finals in place of someone with Daegal.

>>36601400
Whut. No, Daegal was the original core of the Hollow Sun. The coffin that we blew up when we fought Kaiser alongside the Thief stored him, and the Hollow Sun worked on preparing him for a host until it detected Black Joker (lachryma) inside of Palladium Rook.

>>36601424
The Sun can't do that. It can only do what it's programmed to do. Making entire armor is probably entirely beyond it, given its primary purpose (creating the ultimate player augment).

>>36601442
>Does the Red Joker armor specifically make it impossible for us?
It isn't an innate Player ability. Only a few Players can create relics and Joker isn't one of them.

>>36601446

I'm not saying we use the sun to do it. I mean, actually forge an armor, either from essence or metal scraps.

>>36601449

Oh. Dropping it, then. I suppose taking apart a Hellion and stuffing her in the exoskeleton is out of the question

>>36601446
>Daegal will work for anyone with enough of an Essence charge.
Let me correct myself: "The only one qualified to get the Daegal right now is Argent". He is the strongest Player right now and has more Essence than Red Joker. Bishamon doesn't even compare here.

>>36601441
Pretty sure she didn't yield Essence. Also, Ruler tricked her into entering a situation where she was vulnerable. Destroying Alura didn't do much more than inconvenience her.

>>36601442
More like "Only specific Players can make Relics, under specific circumstances". Making Player armor is completely beyond anyone so far as we know.

>>36601468
I think anyone could do it if they were willing to simultaneously imbibe enough lachryma. Kaiser went after it for a reason.

>>36601482
>Kaiser went after it for a reason.
I doubt he's sane enough to understand that. It's more likely that he was simply tasked with transporting it.

>>36601248
>>36601256
>>36601340

> [X] "...She's more powerful than you, isn't she?"

"I-"

And then - Very slowly, reluctantly - she nods.

"She's - she's older than the rest of us," Cybele says, at last. "All the others, they...They're afraid of her, too. If...If I hadn't chosen you-"

Her voice catches.

"Joker-kun, I-"

> [X] "I promise."

She nods, tautly - Biting her lip, drawing what assurance she can from your words.

> [X] "*We'll* win this. Together."

"*We*-"

Hope - dawning hope - flickers in Cybele's eyes. There is something deeply expressive about Cybele's features - Fear, hope, sorrow, all without restraint. It occurs to you that - After all that time amongst the stars, in the long, long mourning that followed - she may never have heard another voice, seen another face, but her own. There's no hiding how Cybele feels; Not to herself, or to anyone.

Her hands come away from the railing. They rise, convulsively, as she takes a step towards you-

...And then, with an effort of will, she lets them drop to her sides.

"...Together," she says, with feeling. "Then - After that, maybe you'll..."

The rest of her words are lost on the breeze.

(Continued)

>>36601482

what if we take apart one of those sub-arms, and then use them to replace her arms?

We use the arms as her legs too

>>36601482
>Destroying Alura didn't do much more than inconvenience her.
I blame the purple stones. Killing the opponent's Hyades worked for Bishamon, after all.

>>36601502
>Then - After that, maybe you'll...
Give the Chalice Queen armour to Mio?
Yep.

>>36601517
I still say we blow the place up. I feel like like letting a Chalice Queen get born in the first place will play into the Smiler's plans.

>>36601499
I never said he was after it for himself.

>>36601506
...Absolutely nothing? She's not a Player. Can't tell if joke or serious.

>>36601513
Oh, true. How odd.

>>36601523
That could completely fuck us over for the end-game, though. We still have no idea just what it is, and it's entirely possible that everyone is supposed to work together.

>>36601525

Imagine the FOOTJOBS man. But yeah, I'm essentially advocating for amputating her arms off and replacing them with robo arms, then doing the same with the legs.

If we can figure out how to take the essence accumulators out of the hellions, we can stuff some into her too.

>>36601523
Pretty sure it's the opposite. If the Chalice Queen can drain Simulation Bodies and the White Joker uses nothing *but* Simulation Bodies...

Now, blowing up the Diadem after we've looted it? Not as much fun as stealing the entire thing, but almost as good.

>>36601545
She doesn't have a body to do that to, though. She's a ghost we can fuck by using the Nihl Sphere, and who can turn into a robot vampire.

>>36601559

We do that to her GHOST.

>>36601571
Look, have you ever tried to stick robot arms onto a ghost?
It doesn't end well.

>>36601576

Man, no but I'd like to try.

>>36601502

> [X] "Cybele - I need you to focus, Cybele."

"-It's hard." A tiny whisper. "Joker-kun...It's like - she's all around us. I can feel - I can feel her *looking*. Waiting. Uzume..." the briefest hesitation, the faintest pause.

"She hates me." the confession costs her; Cybele says the words almost wonderingly, visibly wilting. Her face is more grey than pale, now. "She says - she says, if it ends here...It's worse than anything you can imagine. That...Part of you still *remembers*. That last, smallest part...The part that can't *let go*-"

> [X] "Is Bishamon out there?"

Her brow furrows. Her long, long lashes flutter, as Cybele goes still. Her expression becomes tranquil, serene, pale as marble; there is something eternal about her, something transcendent and lovely beyond words - A momentary beauty that gathers, cold and distant as the face of the hazy moon.

A moment passes. Another. Your passive systems scan the darkness, and trace only the cosmic emptiness - A void, massive and ever-lasting - on all sides.

She sways. Exhaustion steals across her features, her legs threatening to buckle beneath her; But when her eyes open, her breath leaves her lungs in a taut gasp, a wordless "Oh-" that swells to encompass the frozen instant.

"Joker-" she says - A spike of alarm in her words, her throat tightening.

"Joker-kun, he's-"

"-below us-"

[ ] "Cybele, get *down*-"
[ ] "Wha-"
[ ] "Are you s-"
[ ] "I don't-"
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>36601588

[] Punch the ground with the Crisis Arm

>>36601588
Grab her and jump.

>>36601588
>"Cybele, get *down*-"
Then use Fortress Mode on Cybele.

>>36601588
>[X] "Cybele, get *down*-"
Engage Aquila and get off the boat? With her, preferably.

Is that bridge from Uzume's demense nearby?

>>36601615
Good lord no.

I wonder if Aquila affects fall damage.

So, the youngest and most naive Hyades tried to succeed by getting herself the most awesome dude, only to get backstabbed by him?
She kinda bit off more than she can chew.

>>36601588
>Grab her, jumb to the side with help from the jets, use the scrander to add a vertical component to the movement.

>>36601322

(My apologies: This should be the right link.

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/33882636/#p33888410

So, guys. We are going to use the Athame on Bishamon, right?

Also, I'ma few threads behind, but what happened to that crystal flower that was siphoning Mio's essence charge like the nihl sphere?
Is it still sucking it?
If yes, can we let it suck most of Mio's energy and use it and the ungodly amount of charge on our Nihl sphere to power the Chalice Queen armor for Cybele without killing a fuckload of people?

>>36601727

We gave it to Cybele.

>>36601727
We can try.
But the others might be more knowledgeable on this than I.

>>36601727
Yes.

Gave the Zinnia to Cybele. And it didn't have anywhere near that much charge. Also I'm pretty sure it was just draining ambient essence.

>>36601741
But can we still try that? I really don't want to betray the girl who loves us unconditionally while also forcing the other girl that loves us into a life of battles and death. A life she already said she doesn't want to live.

>>36601749
Unlikely, since the flower only started draining essence once it came in contact with Mio.

>>36601802
Mio never touched it.

Anyway, the thing crumbled.

>>36601829
I was sure she put in her hair when we first received it, and that was when we noticed it was beggining to grow purple.
I'll have a look at the archives.

>>36601870
https://archive.moe/tg/thread/34880963/#34885665
I just checked. She took Joker's hand, and the flower started filling on its own. It's either ambient essence or taken from Joker.

>>36601727
That actually sounds like a real possibility.

Cybele would be far more stable as a Chalice Queen.

However, there's this trouble of "Oh and this is Mio. My girlfriend."

>>36601606
>>36601617
>>36601652

You have a moment. Instinct identifies it, in a fraction of the time it would take your conscious mind to explain. You are already moving - Cybele is not. Her close-to-human senses are too modest to register the danger, her reflexes driven by the memories of nerves and pale, perfect skin, not endosteel and myomer fibre.

Her gaze meets yours, her face going slack in astonishment: For one stretching second, you see the cascading flutter of her mind, her lips still moving, still saying something...

-And then you are upon her, your Abruption Jets flaring in a crackling burst of static. Lunging, pulling her away. Cybele cries out, not understanding at all - You feel her body compact, your armored fingers breaking her ribs as she flinches into you-

---------------------

A delicate hand - A sculptor's hand, an artist's hand - traces across a great mechanism, and gives the keys of brass and jet a precise twist.

The first movement.

[水]

---------------------

The Tempest Scrander flares, as it delivers you into the air. Your arms lock around Cybele, like the teeth of two gears; You spin as you go, twisting - dipping your rising body to bank left-

Your spiralling ascent smoothens, lifting you at a shallow angle. Red particles fume from reactor, electric blue flame venting from the thrusters. Crazed ripples of lightning sizzle across the depthless waters, shedding flaring sparks - Your jump pack fizzing and spitting as it claws for height, as you roll onto your front and bank *hard*.

The surface water blitzes into drizzle. Foam flashes as the barge lurches upwards, borne aloft on a plume of water, skipping across the breaking waves like a flying fish. The vertical explosion breaks around you, as Bishamon's form - A lightless matte-black, an ink-black thunderbolt - parts the waters in a single smooth motion.

Blade-first.

(Continued)

>>36601918
>[水]
I guess my three years of moon might pay off.

Sui - Water

It's also the Kanji used for Wednesday.

>>36601943

I barely know any moon and _I_ know that's water.

>>36601952
That was the joke.

I seriously did have three years of moon, though, and know barely anything.

>>36601892
Or taken from Mio, who had the most essence around and was touching the hand holding Zinnia.
It's inconclusive at best.
Its also completely pointless now that it has crumbled, but it might have been an opportunity.

>>36601910
There's that, yes, but would Cybele manifest in the real world if she becomes the Queen?
Maybe we can date Mio in the real while we date Cybele in the Red?
Or maybe, just maybe, we can have a platonical relationship filled with love and caring with Cybele while having a physical, also loving one with Mio?

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>>36601918

You catch a glimpse of him. Just a glimpse, a mere blur of accelerated motion.

His sword scythes in a single-handed stroke as he breaches the surface, reaching the apex of his mid-air leap. It does not rebound from the mass of the barge - The blade in his fist simply completes its arc.

"No-" Cybele manages, audible at last - Her eyes are very wide, her long hair flying like an unfurled flag. The waves pluck the neatly sectioned halves of the barge, like a exploded diagram, from the surface of the black ocean-

And hurl them at you.

>>36601603

The waves churn in the backwash of your thrusters, as the Assault Shroud unfurls from the Hand of Midas: Schematics sketching themselves into existence, expanding, forming the great fist of the Crisis Arm-

Accelerator rings accrue. Your HUD lights up with split-second warnings, as tiny jets in your elbow flare, pistons firings - Driving the Crisis Arm forward, powering towards first and final collision, a miniature sonic boom echoing across the narrowing distance-

Impact.

The barge explodes. The air fills with a rain of flying splinters - Already melting like ice as they lose cohesion, as the entire mass detonates like a short-fused grenade. You feel Cybele judder against you as a shard lays her cheek open to the bone; the blood shivers apart into dully luminous motes, shimmering against your crimson plate-

There is no pause, no respite. The fragments scatter against Bishamon's armor, against the crossed hilts of his twin swords. Somewhere in that high-crested kabuto helm, gunports ratchet open; there is the audible clatter of the autoloader, his head Vulcans erupting in starbursts of muzzleflash as the first tracers zip through the air with the crisp *snap* of gunfire.

HP: 256.7%
COBALT BOOSTER: 148%
ASSAULT SHROUD: 144.7%
METER: 17%

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>36602014
>Or maybe, just maybe, we can have a platonical relationship filled with love and caring with Cybele while having a physical, also loving one with Mio?
No. Go back to whatever hellhole you came from, because that's the worst fucking choice ever.

[] Punch BISHAMON with the crisis arm

>>36602014
>Or maybe, just maybe, we can have a platonical relationship filled with love and caring with Cybele while having a physical, also loving one with Mio?
That was my idea.
We wouldn't be her sole life line anymore, after all.

On the other hand, she might be completely obsessed with us due to the impression that we made.

>>36602031
Shit. We have to protect Cybele.

Would taking to the sky be a good idea?

...Can the Immolator burn on water? It always seemed a bit like napalm to me.
We could make the water directly underneath Bishamon catch fire, to make his drop unpleasant.
Meanwhile, our other hand could fire the Condemner at him.

...How does Cybele even hang on if we are punching?

>>36602046
No, it's the absolutely best choice.
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem very likely.

>>36602060
You want to punch the mincemeat machine?

Also, I feel like activating the Carnifex would be nasty for Cybele.

>>36602031

Fuck, he's aiming for Cybele with his stupid guns. Block with the Sinistral/Assault Shroud.

>>36602108

Yes. Punch him.

>>36602031
Tyrant Flash him, activate Argus. Move to the while sending three Cobalt-boosted missiles.
>>36602031
>"Not even a hello? A sneak attack doesn't seem worthy of an honorable samurai."

>>36602046
I'm... not sure what I said to deserve a response like this?
I mean, not only was the last suggestion made half in jest and with the implication that such a thing would be near impossible, but it is also not a suggestion that we make an harem out of Mio and Cybele.
The actual suggestion is more along the lines of dating Mio while we treat cybele as one would treat a very close female friend, or an ex-girlfriend who is still our friend. Or even more accurately a close friend who we know harbors feelings for us.

Honestly, I'm happy as long as we don't betray the girl who loves us inconditionally.

>>36602132
> Or even more accurately a close friend who we know harbors feelings for us.

You mean natsumi?

>>36602014
Essence isn'e electricity, dude. Also, wow, no.

>>36602031
Head Vulcans! Fantastic. Send a flight of Shrike Blades his way, convince him to keep his head down.

Activate the after images and fire the Condemner.

>>36602093
Boosted yes.

She holds on very tightly. We're going to have to one-hand this fight since Bishamon's targeting her as much as Joker.

>>36602125
He'll be able to cut down the missiles with little effort, even when blinded. I recommend against them.

so I'm confused, someone please explain to me why she's on the battle field in the first place? This is the only fight where this has happened.

>>36602132

We don't have any more best friends to pawn Cybele off to.

>>36602132
Because that is incredibly assholish and will only lead to further problems.
Half of Joker's problems are caused by the fact that he can't say no when it comes to females. Trying to sugarcoat things and trying to wriggle our way like that is a really bad idea.

Siiigh. Waifuing Bishamon is now forever out of our grasp. :(

>>36602170
>>36602167
You guys are forgetting something:
We are the ONLY person in Cybele's life right now.
Her attitude would likely change once she gets her real body and interacts with other people.

What is so unbelievable about having a good female friend? We went through quite some shit together with her, after all.

Killing her is kinda more assholish.

And whoever suggested just leaving her to rot on the moon, should burn in hell.

>>36602185
>:(

>>36602199
I'm not sure if you're dense or just pretending.

>>36602158
That's... a good question. From the sound of it Uzume is here as well, or at least nearby.

You know... maybe the Hyades were always present, in the form of the stages they created for their champions. Hyades ARE their demenses, in one sense. Until now, Cybele's been unable to manifest, and now that she can, Uzume is so overwhelming that there's no space for Cybele on the field.

>>36602199
She doesn't get a real body. She gets a temporary one, and when it runs out of essence, she goes right back to this.

And we either give her that moment or condemn her to die. Those are our choices. Anything else is pretty words or lies.

>>36602170
>>36602167
>>36602150
I agree it's asshole-ish behaviour, but I honestly think it's less so than making all those promises, fighting to protect her, sleeping with her in the real world and winning this tournament only to betray her in the last second.

Fuck it. Let's stab Cybele now, while she's still in our hands.

File: 1417743631639.gif (1.47 MB, 499x341)

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Hello, I have seen these quests often but am hesitant to jump in now after seeing how long it's been going. Could someone please give me a brief explanation as to what this is about beside mechas before I decide whether or not to follow. It would be greatly appreciated.

>>36602243
Then maybe you shouldn't have done it. This is, in fact, the future you chose.

>>36602246
That would make Bishamon's girl the Chalice Queen.

This reminds me... If Bishamon survives, he'll consider us a fucking hyprocite for abandoning Cybele.

>>36602253

Two worlds.

Real world, Red world.

Fight in red world, get essence, be luckier in real world.

The red world is built over black world which is full of monsters called correctors.

We have three waifus. our negligence killed the first one, and now we have two. We're plotting to kill one so the other can become a player.

>>36602253
OP post has an episode guide.

Basically, it's over-the-top mecha fights, high school shenanigans, noir-like real world encounters and a bit of cosmis horror.
The most depressing part is the high school shenanigans and the minefield of interactions with female characters. The cosmis horrors and PTSD are pretty tame in comparison.

>>36602246
We'll forfeit the match, Uzume becomes queen, all the schoolgirls die, and we have to fight Bishamon again when she sends him to acquire a finalist spot.

Oh and we probably lose access to Arcadia.

>>36602262
Maybe. But he told us we had a choice between our Hyades and Mio. And he never stayed to listen to our answer.

>>36602253
It's actually ending soon. Just read the archives.

>>36602219
>She doesn't get a real body. She gets a temporary one, and when it runs out of essence, she goes right back to this.
>And we either give her that moment or condemn her to die.

Then I say we give her that moment. And hopefully more moments later on.
And even then, should she become the Chalice Queen, she wil still live in the Red.
We can spend some time with her there. We have friends there we can introduce to her.
And there might be a way to give her a permanent body, somewhere in the Red World. It certaimly has weirder, more advanced things.

>>36602271
And then there's this asshole.

[] confess your hidden gay love for Bishamon.

>>36602243
They were false promises from the start anyway. This is something we have to do not to fuck everything over later on.
Also, Cybele has been dead for a long time. She's just a ghost that has been driven to insanity. It's better to put her to rest.

>>36602304

Why don't we just overkill Bishamon anyway. I think we can.

>>36602262
We never said that we loved Cybele and told him many times that their love is just brainwashing.

>>36602093
>>36602122
>>36602125
>>36602154

A loud clattering machine noise rattles from Bishamon's helm - Double-helix chains of gunfire twisting towards you...

-Towards *Cybele*. He's aiming for her. Directly for her.

Your Assault Shroud disperses, afterimages trailing in your wake. A line of impacts stitches across the water, lancing through the bewildering phantoms you leave behind you: They whip and chop against the water, as your right arm gathers Cybele closer, the fizzing field of your Sinistral flaring to life-

The shots *spang* against the ghost steel, like solid punches. "Nnnn-!" Cybele sobs, clutching you tighter, tighter-

And your Tyrant Burst system flares into a blinding cone of light. It shreds the darkness apart, but Bishamon's seen this trick before; He jerks back, flinching, his lunge - A lightning-quick riposte, meant to piston one long, razor-sharp blade through Cybele's back - ruined...

Then the *whoosh* of missile launch splits the night, as a trio of missiles spiral away from you on wings of jetair and azure flame. As shimmering droplets dance in the untremored space, Bishamon's form descends; He doesn't plunge into the water, but hovers above it - His ramjets roaring to life, hidden thrusters banks bearing him aloft. He can't fly, but he vectors between the twisting rockets; When the first one touches down, flames - blue-hot, sour, fierce - roar up, sliding across Bishamon's left arm. The fires flare high, charring his black plate darker still - the second misses him by mere inches.

The Apex Blade sizzles through the air and slices the third one in half.

(Continued)

>>36602256
Pr maybe we can be a man and own up to our decisions instead of bemoaning them.
We honestly owe a lot to Cybele, and without her Emblem and Codeburst we wouldn't have achieved quite as much as we did.
Betraying her after all this is simply acting like a complete asshole who used her until she lost her value.

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>>36602271
>>36602272
>>36602290
This just opens up more questions. Plotting to kill waifus both disgusts and makes me hard at the same time. Thank you for taking time out of your very busy questing time to humor me. I will take this information as truthful and read the archives fully expecting my dick to explode.

>>36602330

We're not plotting to kill both waifus. Just one, for the benefit of the other.

We obviously love the other one more.

>>36602327
You're telling us to kill a few hundred innocent girl for the sake of someone who is already dead and insane.

>>36602327

She is our healbot. That's it. I don't even think we've used her healbot powers recently.

>>36602304
>They were false promises from the start anyway.
Only if we kill jer in the end.
Until then, we can still uphold them.

>>36602339
>We obviously love the other one more.
>more
We never loved this one in the first place.

How about we stop shitting on Cybele?
This is a tough situation. Don't mask it by pretending that she is meaningless to Joker or shit like that.
Best case, we'd save her. But we can't.

>>36602293
This isn't that kind of story. I really am sorry, but what you want isn't a thing that can happen.

>>36602351
Every fight since we got it actually.

>>36602371

Cybele worst girl, Hecate best girl. But Hecate is dead, so we have to make do with second best girl.

>>36602352
We can keep her from finding out we betrayed her, but we're caught with a betrayal no matter what.

>>36602359
There's the anon above you. Pretty sure he's the only one.

>>36602390
>Hecate is dead
She isn't.
>second best girl
But that's Kotone.

>>36602390
I like the Mio interactions better.

>>36602390
Worst doesn't make her bad.

Personally, I like Mio but don't feel that she has much chemistry with Joker.
Meanwhile, Cybele kinda understands. Even if she was saved instead of saving herself.

...Not that she'll be saved, anyway. At least we gave her one good night.

>>36602391
>There's the anon above you. Pretty sure he's the only one.
I meant IC. Pretty much all of Joker's words and actions towards Cybele were made with the context of using her for his goals. He even told Natsumi that.

>>36602398
No, Kotone's best, Hecate is Akira's waifu. Mio tied with Kotone. Silver and gold and all that.

>>36602415

What, no. Real rankings are

> Hecate
> Mio
> Black Joker
> Natsumi
> Everyone else
> Hecate dead last

> "Not even a hello? A sneak attack doesn't seem worthy of an honorable samurai."

"*WHY?*"

Even filtered, the emotion rendered into a rasping crackle by his speakers, Bishamon's raw voice rails in your sensors. His left arm continued to burn, wisps of smoke trailing in the air as he levels his sword - *His* sword, this time - directly at you.

You hover, wary.

"She *has* to die, Joker. It's the only way-!"

You can hear the frustration in his words, the myomer muscles bunching beneath his armor - the blade held straight and true in an untremored hand, stark silhouette backlit by nuclear blue flame. On one pauldron, his Hyades mark bleeds light; In a perfect mirror, so does yours.

A wet, aching cough pulses from Cybele's lips - A spatter of blood. There's a graze on the side of her face, her body arched; You can feel bones, or things that might be bones, moving within her. Her palms flinch, as your Triskelion launcher cools - somehow, she keeps from crying out, terror writ large on her features. The pain is beginning to eclipse it, and a kind of agonizing wonder - The lines of her form waver, blurring, as her brow furrows-

"Joker-kun..." she manages. "Don't-"

"...Don't let him *hurt* me-"

Water drizzles down. It flashes into steam against your armor - It glistens, like tiny gems, against Cybele's bruised skin.

"If she dies," Bishamon says, with a kind of strained, terrible calm, a man steeling himself to do the unthinkable - "If she dies, this will all be over."

(Continued)

You guys remember when we were called out on using Mio and because we treated her and our relationship as a problem to be solved?
You're doing it again.

Joker's most defining moral characteristic is that he does his best to do good while understanding that you need to be ruthless in order to survive.
He would not hesitate to kill someone who tries to hurt him or challenges him to a duel, but he never went out of his way to do evil or kill someone without reason.

Killing Cybele is the same as killing an innocent girl the moment she stops being useful to us, and is an unquestionably evil act.
Fuck, she isn't even my Waifu but I dont want to murder her because I find such an act disgusting and needlessly cruel.

>>36602415
>silver and gold
>not black and white
Hecate is tied with Kotone. While I can't say that she is bad, I really dislike her and don't think she''s a good choice for Joker, so I put her below Natsumi and Above Asuna.

>>36602425

Wait, shit, forgot Bishamon tied with Black Joker.

>>36602404
I think you're wrong there. Have you seem Garo? Understanding that it's OP's favorite sentai makes Joker Quest make a lot more sense. Mio and Joker are Kaoru and Kouga.

>>36602431

No, fuck that. Hecate would have won if she didn't die.

I'd advocate stabbing Mio if it meant Hecate can be our waifu.

>>36602431
>While I can't say that she is bad, I really dislike her and don't think she''s a good choice for Joker,
Fuck me, I was talking about Mio here

>>36602449
Sorry, I was talking about Mio in the second sentence.

>>36602426

Cybele's form shimmers, again. The pressure against your cuirass lightens, for the space of a second - Her features contorting in frustration.

She's trying to let go. To vanish, to surrender her physical form, to go - Like the other Hyades - where blades and bullets and guttering blue flame cannot hurt her.

It doesn't come easy to her.

Bishamon *moves*. He becomes a blur, a speed-distorted phantom. The slashing track of his passage leaves a rippling wake, as he skims the surface of the water-

He's going for Cybele again. His desperation lends him strength, lends him speed. This time - As he surges forward, blades outstretched - he means to take her head.

HP: 252.1%
COBALT BOOSTER: 131%
ASSAULT SHROUD: 117.2% (DISPERSING)
METER: 13%

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>36602430
Choose: Kill Cybele or every girl in the school. Which is the lesser evil? Trick question, they're the same. What matters is which you can live with, and I know which one will scar the conscience less.

And there's no "Make Cybele Queen and spare the girls", or "Make Mio Queen and keep Cybele on the side" or "Move Cybele's soul to a Relic body". You don't get the choices you want to make, you get to pick between the choices offered to you.

I don't even anymore.

Do whatever you fucks want.

No matter what we do, we'll cross a line.

>>36602476
Why are we not just codebursting him again? You know, make him freeze in place and then punch his head off?

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>>36602476
Oh boy here we go.

"Bishamon: Exec_Dictum: Seppuku."

Stop the after images. Summon [Kura] in the form of a swordbreaker and draw the Condemner in sword mode for the other hand.

>>36602482
That became obvious a year ago.

>>36602517
>Summon [Kura] in the form of a swordbreaker and draw the Condemner in sword mode for the other hand.

Seconding this. THIS SHIT IS SO COOL.

>>36602517
Oh right, boosted charge to meet him. Switch the Condemner for the Athame if the order goes through.

>>36602479
>And there's no "Make Cybele Queen and spare the girls"
...But didn't exactly that happen for Hellebore?

The other two are impossible, but this one sounds possible.

>>36602476
What the fuck are we supposed to do?
We shouldn't kill Bishamon, but he's clearly completely crazy without the Athame.
And Cybele's death would obviously remove a bit of a headache, but also fuck everything.

>>36602517
>Seppuku
Are you sure that this will work?

Cybele can copy things.
I wonder if she could make herself a copy of the shroud or something, to create a defensive cocoon for her.

>>36602536
> Are you sure that this will work?

Even if it doesn't make him kill himself, hopefully it'll at least make him spaz out for a moment while he fights off the command.

>>36602476
>"It won't end, Bishamon. And you will not be able to end it as long as you're deluding yourself."
>>36602482
Joker crossed that line a long time ago, really.

>>36602534
If the order goes through and we can fire delayed verbatims, I'd wager that that would be the best moment for that.

>>36602479
I will withdraw from the debate, for I have said my piece and I am still convinced not to kill Cybele myself.

On the matter of the choice, my conscience would be more at peace with the death of the girls, some of whom might be enemies, as evidenced by the fact that Kraken was modified there, and I still hold the hope that we can use the Nihl sphere to help power the process and save a few more lives.

I will, however, always mourn the fact that my Waifu will never win. Poor Yui

Let's just end it by nuking us, Bishamon, Cybele and his girl with the satellite together.

That would be fucking hilarious, from a meta perspective. The Final Solution for waifu.

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>>36602476
>>36602517
And just for kicks and giggles: "You told me to make a choice, Bishamon. I have. Don't blame me, blame yourself or God."

>>36602536
The point isn't to make him kill himself, Hara-Kiri isn't instantly fatal. It's a test of whether or not you're willing to off yourself painfully. Your second kills you by striking off your head. Here, we instead drive a spike into him.

As for what happened last time, you're technically right. But we have no idea why or how and no chance of replicating it, and OP's words are that as soon as soon as Cybele's armor comes off the hook the simulation bodies drop dead.

>>36602583
More likely that was White Joker. He's the one with the sim bodies, and he'd have the ridiculous system access to get into the Diadem. Kraken's his own thing, I think now.

Also most of the girls are on Joker's side, if anyone's.

>>36602600
Very well. I support that idea.
> PREPARE THE TACHYON ANNIHILATOR. OVERCHARGE THE CORE. DESTROY THE RED WORLD.

>>36602630
>Also most of the girls are on Joker's side, if anyone's.
Well, Joker IS a showman. He's one of the Red's top celebrities nowadays.

>>36602666
I don't know whether I should believe my own points if you're supporting them, Satan.

>>36602536
No, Hellebore never became Calice Quenn because Old Joker couldn't go through with killing the girls. Thats why Hellebore created Mio to give us a third option.

After all this time I still have no clue about what we're going to use or do with Daegel.

I still assume we're trying to wear it.

>>36602727
I've always wanted to catch his blade with the Daegle brand Daegle and snap it, but I don't wanna risk it with Cybele so close.

>>36602719
...Then how the fuck did she gain a body to birth a child with?

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>>36602512
>>36602517

> "Bishamon: Exec_Dictum: Seppuku."

Your command hits home - Your thrusters flaring, taking you just a heartbeat beyond the pitiless line of his stabbing blade - Bishamon's form locks up, juddering, fighting to resist...

He can't. The command is in him now.

His left-hand sword - spearing towards the pale nape of Cybele's neck - strokes to the side. Stray strands of hair waft through the air, a gasp pealing from Cybele's lips at how *close* the razor-sharpness is: And in the span between one breath and the next, she unravels.

"No-" Bishamon's form is all angry, angular lines, the ragged shout wrenched from his speakers. He's fighting every step of the way, but the order is inexorable: His sword describes a shimmering, treacherous arc as it turns in his grip, and-

And the Apex Blade's sharpened molecular edge slips into the groove between hand and arm. It slices through power cabling and neural feeds, through internal skeleton and myomer fibre-bundles. It slashes through the vulnerable joint of Bishamon's wrist - Without pause, without hesitation.

In a single stroke, he cuts his left hand - His spasming hand, a hand about to piston his own sword through his physical core - off.

(Continued)

>>36602750
I've always wanted to catch him with the Daegel brand Daegel and snap him

>>36602757

Fuck.

>>36602719

Why can't we tell Cybele to do that? Fuck this shit, the next red joker can take care of it.

>>36602727
We hold on to the Gauntlet and use it. It'll sample Players we defeat and grow in power, if we get far enough, Joker might become strong enough to sustain it without being devoured.

But before then we might meet someone worthy of it. Or we might give it up, or trade it. It might be stolen.

>>36602754
Mio was born before Hellebore died. I hung up on that point myself.

>>36602757
Holy shit what a badass. What happens if we verbatim it? Or wait, do we have to issue the verbatim simultaneous with the casting?

So, at what point can we Midas Gauntlet him? Or can we not do that since he killed himself, rather than us killing him?

>>36602789
There is no next Red Joker.

>>36602808
Do you mean Athame? He's also not dead.

>>36602806
How well defended is the armor in the first place?

It better be protected by crocodiles

Just got to reading about the new guns are we getting them? Seems there's more than meets the eye about them

>>36602841
Well, the entire Hollow Sun exists to protect it and serve its eventual wearer. And now Red Joker has its essence stored in his right hand.

I'd say crocodiles got blown the fuck out.

>>36602870
No charge to buy. Most of the first fifty posts were about them. Them and the Neutronium refinery for next time?

>>36602832

No, I mean Midas Gauntlet.

As in eat him with the Midas Gauntlet.

>>36602757
Damn, Spaghetti-san's gotten more badass since we last ran into him.

>>36602881
Would like to get back to producing an army

Also upgrading the Cherubims

>RUBICANTE & CAGNAZZO

We're getting these ASAP, right?

>>36602881
>Them and the Neutronium refinery for next time?
Definitely.

Maybe we can even squeeze in something else.

>>36602897
Sphaghetti-san has always been badass when he really needed to be. Remember when he used the Fatal Abyss shard? Or when he went berserk on his first Champion opponent?

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>>36602757

His sword ignites. Fire licks across the peerless edge, ripples racing along the blade. When Bishamon sweeps it across - Sparks still flying from the stump of his trunctuated hand - the flame moves with it, the hungry, seething blaze ghosting along his blade.

And then it vanishes.

It vanishes, because it is coming towards you.

But now - With Cybele already ghosting out of existence, your limbs stinging with cold strength as the light of your Cobalt Booster floods through you - your hands are free, too. The inky black mass of [KURA] gathers at your right hand: Too slow, achingly slow, expanding, taking form as veiny threads of matter latch on the Hand of Midas, black oil over the gold.

He's got you.

But your left hand is already blurring for your holster-

And a bare hand's breadth from your head, Bishamon's flaming sword comes to a dead stop, blocked by the streaming photonic edge of the Condemner. The snap-hiss of the photonic longsword flaring into existence: lethal light flaring, hissing and spitting against the Apex Blade as the Condemner's barrels lock in their upright position, streaming forth fizzing discharge.

Clenching the trigger grip is enough to activate it. Conflicting weapons meet with angry, snarling sparks - Containment field against sword. Both are Hollow Sun weapons; Both have been delivered into your hands.

How differently they have been used.

(Continued)

>>36602938
He's still an asshole.

He chose hoes over his bro.

You just don't do that man.

>>36602789
Because Hellebore is dead just like Cybele will be. We were literally talking to Hellebore's ghost. A mere shade of the real thing because she never got the armor.

>>36602896
We're trying to avoid killing him. But since you asked nicely, any changes to the Midas Gauntlet happen when the kill is made.

>>36602903
Chayots and Thrones are being built right now. Need to plant a VA to kick up core production. And the refinery is supposed to do something for Hellion models...

As for upgrading the Hellions, do the Chayots first. Tactical invisibility and variable attack zones simultaneously. Cherubs do need speed buffs though. And I'm terribly curious about Seismic Disruptors.

>>36602952
So that's the Apex Blade's trick.

>>36602983

Our only choices for not killing him are either killing his girl, OR shanking him with the Athame.

We can't do the latter because that means we can't shank Cybele with it.

>>36602961
Dude, he was aiming for Cybele. He wants the third option and we took it away from him.

>>36603008
Sure we can stab him with the Athame. It does mean that breaking the Hyades bond will have nasty consequences, but I told Tyrian to start looking for a Vitruvian Device for that reason.

Eliminating Uzume would be preferable, but you don't get to be an old Hyades by being noble or stupid.

>>36603008
We don't need the Athame to shank Cybele.

Have we actually used the Hellions or seen what they can do besides having fought them ourselves?

>>36603042

We need to do it to make Mio the Chalice Queen

>>36603072
Not really.

>>36603072
No we don't. See >>36601663

All we have to do is release Hellebore's armor.

>>36603071
Nope. Should be much improved thanks to the upgrades though.

>>36603083

Oh, huh. Let's shank Bishie, then.

>>36603098
You just want the essence.
Admit it.

>>36603103

Shit, yeah. I want to eat Bishie more than to save him, but I don't think anyone else agrees.

>>36602952

Hot flashes of light flicker. Locked in a rigid cruciform, your Tempest Scrander strains against Bishamon's thrusters - He's faster than you, and you think - Just maybe - he might be stronger. But surprise disorders him - As the Apex Blade flashes and flares with discharging energy, he rasps out-

"I thought-"

"-you *couldn't*-"

There's a lot about you that he doesn't know.

[KURA] is in your other hand, now. A snap of your wrist extends the blade; It becomes a serrated dagger, a row of rasping teeth coming to a twinned point - You drive it towards Bishamon's unguarded flank, before he can disengage-

Muzzleflash stars your vision, as his head Vulcans erupt over the cross of your blades. Impacts - Scraping, pinging impacts, sharp metal-on-metal - hammer your torso, your helm, with curious screeching noises, snapping your head back with the sound of hail on tin. Cracks star your cuirass, a flaw spidering across your sensors...

And Bishamon's desperate kick connects with crushing force. It slams into your right side - Armor crunches inwards, the plate collapsing upon itself. The sheer kinetic force folds you over, hurling you across the water; you hit the surface at an oblique angle, skidding and tumbling like a skipped stone, fragments of armor trailing in your wake - Sparks flare from the damaged controlled surface, the first warnings beaming red and urgent on your HUD.

That kick severed coolant lines, damaged your internal gyroscope - And for a moment, you can only wonder *how*-

Bishamon's limbs and edged in metal, the curving scythes of the protrusions honed to a sharp cutting edge.

"-I tried." Bishamon's voice is a hiss, low and urgent. "I...really tried."

(Continued)

>>36603161
...He has blades in his legs?

>>36603103
Oh well we're talking about our dirty little Joker Quest secrets now?

Well I've always wanted to buy the line launcher and go capture some Correctors

>>36603190
He's gone full Shirou: his entire body is a sword. Uzume's power, maybe?

>>36603190

Clearly. See >>36602031

>>36603196
So, she's his sheath? His Avalon that grants him the sword origin?

>>36603195
? It's a heavy weapon. We have as many as we like. Now, we only have a handful of stasis fields which limits how many Correctors we can hol--

...

Dirty secret? I want to unleash Caliban here. As is. We're not doing this, by the way.

>>36603207
Hurr. Yes, exactly.

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>>36603195
I want to dick Shion.

>>36603241

I want to dick Bishamon.

>>36603239

What's Caliban again?

>>36603278
The bigfuck Corrector we caught recently that I can't help but imagine as a three-eyed snake-legged gorilla.

>>36603297

Ah. We haven't fixed him yet, though.

>>36603241
It's not a secret. We all knew that.

I too want to make Descartes proud with the application of the D

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>>36603278
Super Corrector we captured at Imago's place. Don't think we have an image, but I keep thinking it looks like pic related mixed with Scarmiglione from FF3.

>>36603310
Yes. Exactly.

>>36603195
I want to get a bunch of crazy motherfuckers and go player hunting in America and other distant parts of the Red.

Also, I want to find worthy people to distribute relics to.

>>36603278
The slug-man-lizard-gorilla-thing

>>36603310
Yep still believe we need to test out the augmentation procedures on another corrector that's atleast one level below him as well as get an upgrade to the facilities.

>>36603359
I want to go party with the red, blue, and white Joker and trade guns with him

>>36603387
Everyone gets a bike and then we party and wreck shit throughout the Red.

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>>36603161

(Gentlemen: My apologies, but - as you can likely tell - that wasn't a good turn for you, mechanics-wise.)

"Joker-" As you correct, with a jet of thrust - Your Tempest Scrander humming urgently at your back, Aquila System keeping you aloft above the churning, turbid waters - he levels his flaming sword. The blade is half again as long as before; He raises it in his remaining hand, a burning line against the moon.

Not a salute.

A *signal*.

"-This ends in death."

The sky lightens. Dawn...?

A sudden, brilliant flash makes the air blink white for a moment. A deep, revebrative boom reaches you, as the world comes off its hinges. Luminous projectiles - In their dozens, in their hundreds - rain down out of the twilight sky, like spits of fire or a cloudburst of shooting stars.

The first one impacts, thirty feet away, and explodes in a blooming flash, a searing fireball. Detonations are going off all around you, like grenades: the overpressure hammering against your armor, where the sizzling pyrophoric deluge strikes. Where the hit, they continue to burn, like flares - Like phosphorous, with a hissing, spitting light. Your sensors register the dazzling blasts, the whickering storms of burning fragments they throw out: the deafening bangs muted by your sound-baffles, the rapid light strobing against the black.

You hear the roar of his thrusters, before you see him. Bishamon comes through the twisting smoke, his sword a blinding, flaming arc. It rips across the distance, a line of smoking azure fire splitting open the dancing fence of yellow flame-

At your back, the Tempest Scrander flares with death-heat. Blue flame vents from the emitters, as you surge to meet him.

When you collide, blade-to-blade - the waters roiling and burning and crashing around you, boiling with lightspeed riochets of lethal intent - the fury of your combat splits the infinite night like a lightning storm.

JOKER QUEST

EPISODE 113

TO BE CONTINUED

>>36603362
Where are we going to find class A or B correctors this late game?

I also want to give Augmented Hunger Dogs to our lieutenants.

It's 1:25 AM and I'm still up because I love jokerquest

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>>36603466

(Gentlemen: My sincerest apologies, but it is extremely late on my end. As you'd expect, that was a very mechanically-complex term, which is equally challenging to convert into the narrative.

I would love to continue, but I'm utterly exhausted - More, it's extremely late on my end. Fortunately, I'll be able to pick up right where I left off tomorrow; Hopefully, we'll be able to conclude the battle then.

Good night and God bless: I'm sorry for the late start, but work commitments have a way of...Well, getting in the way. You've been a wonderful audience, and I hope to see you again very soon.)

>>36603507
Night OP, thanks for running.

>>36603474
That's actually pretty dumb.

>>36603526

Wata, would you be willing/are you permitted to share what JQOP has shared with you re: mechanics?

>>36603466
>>36603507
Today's update seemed to be written much more awesomely than usual.
I'm eager to see tomorrow's episode.

>>36603507

Who's that girl? I ask out of purely academic curiosity.

>>36603507

Is that Uzume? FUCK, that's better than OUR hyade.

>>36603551
Absolutely nothing, I promise. I've gotten some clarifications about events for the episode guide and anecdotes (this happened like this because Player2 rolled poorly, and so forth). Everything I know or think I know is the result of what I've read here.

>>36603593

Ah, alright. I was thinking of running a similar quest elsewhere and wanted to get pointers.

>>36603588
>>36603591

She's dead. She was Aqua Merrow's Hyades, and Bishamon cut her head off.

>>36603241
>>36603507
Joker Quest OP please write a Shion IF scene where we shag like horny teenagers and Shion physically hurts us throughout.

I know it won't happen, but god I wish.

>>36603526
What? The thought of our dogs having dogs makes me hard.

Plus they're in for hell they'll need all the advantages they can get some auged correctors sound like a boon

>>36603607
I recommend emailing OP yourself in that case. Various online DM resources offer pointers that can carry over. If you want specific mechanics to lift, I recall seeing Battletech mentioned as a likely inspiration for this quest, but there's always GURPS if you're willing to really put the crunch in.

>>36603643
Call it a feeling but I really don't think the dogs will be much use except in large numbers. Sort of like the basic Hellions.

>>36603677

Alright, thank you very much.

>>36603507

OP, I wanted to ask why the Hyades are all sexy traditional Japanese girls. Not that I mind it too much, but why did we get the least sexy one? Cybele is just incredibly unpleasant to be around.

>>36603643
>>36603677
Have to agree with Wata although I like the idea of giving them Correctors especially ones that compliment they're abilities theres 2 problems with that

1) We don't know what the Augmentation process is like, what's offered, and we have tier 1 facilities for it

2) We probably won't have the Resources for everyone unless JQOP blesses us with like a shit load of charge or we drop the charge cost somehow

>>36603725
They're all unpleasant. Cybele is just the only one whose personality is known to us.

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>mfw this whole episode
>mfw finished Bastion in parallel
Goddamn, this was a great day. Thank you, OP.

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>>36603507

The full-sized one looks great. I don't think she's actually wearing panties, though.

>>36604035
You don't wear underwear with kimonos.

>>36604282

GOD BLESS JAPAN

>>36604282
Traditionally, sure. But that's not a traditional kimono and the tradition isn't followed much. There's also a traditional kind of underwear females wear, not that she's wearing it.

>>36604344
Don't muddle my half-truths and deliberately leaving out information, can't you see it makes >>36604292 happy?

>>36602272
Bull shit. The cosmos horrors are more disgusting and repulsive then anything the fucking "waifus" can throw at us. Do you not remember the Corrector Hive with the fucking Remora Dogs and that tunnel full of worms and slugs...And the chitinious cockroach things? Ugh. Correctors are so fucking disgusting and horrific.

I fap to them. I fap to OP's descriptions of them, the Black Joker and most things with Lacyrema. I also totally steal them for horror games.

>>36604368
Which is better: thinking an attractive female is pantyless because of tradition, or knowing that she chose to go commando despite tradition? I choose the latter, because it suggests she knows exactly what will happen to her when she's called on it.

>>36604491
Wata, you have great taste. When Joker Quest is done, I'm so going to DM a game of it.

An ERP game.

>>36604491
Now that you put it that way, [sweats excessively]

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>>36604491
Damn you, Wata.

>>36604491
>tfw T2 has a Reiko clone in a kimono in the next Shining game
I thought I was excited for Mio with elf ears. Now I'm excited for the outfit. Well played.

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>>36604901
Had to google. This what you meant? Even has the butterfly. If OP sees this, is it something Mio would consider dressing up as? Commando?

>>36603466
>(Gentlemen: My apologies, but - as you can likely tell - that wasn't a good turn for you, mechanics-wise.)
You know, for a moment I thought that this meant a bad end.