>>475216
Neither 23 nor Linda has conventional tracking devices on them though- we had Elizabeth check. Could be some kind of mumbo-jumbo spiritual thing, but it would still be unusual that Elizabeth was ignorant of it. A passive power (an I'm being watched sense, breaker sense, and/or Angel sense) seems more likely than an active link, to me. Well, unless he tagged us with one just now.

Holing up in a motel or something on the other side of town, to see if we're followed, before we take the real-world trip back to base seems reasonable.

Not sure if we're going to be allowed to crash and regen BP in peace, or if more combat is somehow going to happen. Since Linda's out of BP and ammo (her only offensive option right now is the cylinders- and we don't even know if there's a second shot, or recharge time) I'd like to suggest a perspective swap might be in order if a fight happens. Let us kick butt as Cass or something.

"Come on. Raphael, can you find us a motel or something? Somewhere not near the base. Don't want to lead D7 back home."

"Alright. Follow me."

The group heads off, following close behind Raphael as he moves through the dreamscape with ease. The rest of you have a lot harder of a time, the landscape seeming to randomly change and warp under and around you. It makes the travel slow, but that gives you plenty of time to investigate some things.

First is the tubes. The first one, the sucking one, doesn't seem to have changed at all. It remains the same as when you got it. The second, however, is a bit heavier, and is filled with a liquid substance. The liquid sloshes around as you move the tube, and its clear, but otherwise unremarkable based on sight. Your reality senses, though, are going haywire. Whatever this stuff is, you know its important.

Then, as you travel, you drop back till your in step with 23.

"Hey, how are you doing?"

"Am fine, Master."

"You really need to drop the Master thing. I'd prefer to be your friend."

"Don't have friends. Unnecessary connection breeds weakness."

"Comrades than."

"... Understood."

You sigh. 23 is just as unresponsive as before. You suppose it doesn't really help that you keep calling her after her number... maybe you should come up with a better name or something. Eh, something to do while you walk. For now though...

"So, do you remember anything about McCarthy? Anything that might be useful?"

"He is not a breaker. Something else. Something... scarier."

"Like what?"

"Don't know. Saw him fight only once. Touched breaker on the shoulder. Breaker died. Body tore itself apart. Lots of screaming. Don't ever want to fight him."

"I... I see..."

You walk in silence for a long time, not sure of how long, thanks to the randomness of the dreamtime. Eventually, though, you reach a large field like dream, and Raphael stops you here.

"Hold on, we're at a good place to stop and get my bearings. You guys just hold tight a minute."

Raphael hunkers down to concentrate, and everyone else sort of wanders off a litte, the members or your group getting some alone time to think. 23 remains standing right where she stopped. Nicole heads off to sit on a rock and smoke. Cass lets herself fall onto her back, eyes closed and looking tired, and Elizabeth sits down, eyes wandering aimlessly, mouth muttering things incoherently.

>>>Input Command

>Elizabeth sits down
Continuity Error! Raphael took Elizabeth back to base while we were fucking around with Trevor! The current party should be Linda, Raphael, Cass, Nicole, and 23.

Linda, I think the dreamland is messing with your senses. Elizabeth shouldn't be really there, unless she's asleep, or she tagged along and doubled back with Raphael.

>something scarier
Well, that lays that speculation to rest. Can't let the fucker get in melee range of anyone.

>What do?
Time for some npc interaction. First, check out Elizabeth, since she shouldn't be here, and wandering incoherence isn't very reassuring. If it's really her (and not an illusion that dissipates at your approach, or some kind of sneaky dream monster dressed up as her), you can try and talk her into a better place. And while you're at it, apologize for having to shoot her, or talk about the precog puppet fighting thing. (Weird, but kind of awesome).

If you've still got time after Elizabeth, we could go talk to Cass or Nic. I'm kind of curious how Cass is doing after that confrontation, and we almost never spend any time getting to know Nic.

>Raphael takes Elizabeth from you and heads off, disappearing around another corner.
Yeah you're right that is kinda weird. We should probably see if Linda isn't going crazy if she is seeing Elizabeth. If she is here then we probably should let her rest after the strain she took from the her Oracle Eye being active. We should instead check on Cass and Nicole.

Man for a moment this thread was glitching on me.

>>476189
If rest is what she needs, sure, we can let her rest. If she's frazzled though, Linda's been shown to be a calming influence on her before. Helping her out takes priority over talking to the other peeps.

...and making sure she's not a hallucination or a scary nightmare doppelganger monster takes priority over that.

Although, if she's actually asleep that might be the most interesting case. Calming her down might make her leave the nightmare for her own dream.

>Man for a moment this thread was glitching on me.
You mean it was... breaking? B)

Your first issue to deal with is the Elizabeth that seems to be here, when Raphael said he'd taken her somewhere else. You drop down next to her and poke at her, and Elizabeth turns to face you, eyes focusing for a second before going glassy again.

"Angel. Do you need me?"

"Ah! Sorry about that. I wanted to get back as soon as possible, so... I kinda just brought her here. It's a safe dream, pleasant young girl."

You glance at Raphael as he rubs his head sheepishly, then he goes back to his task while you turn back to Elizabeth.

"You feeling alright?"

"Yes."

"You sure? You were bleeding out your eye earlier?"

"Seeing was not intended to be done through someone else. My attention was too divided, had to strain myself to do what was needed. Won't happen normally."

"Alright..."

You stand again, frowning down at the girl, but she's gone again, eyes wandering aimlessly. You shake your head, pushing your thoughts away, then you head off, glancing between Nicole and Cass, trying to decide who you should talk to. Eventually, you decide Nicole is the better choice. You haven't really spent much time around her, and you're fairly certain you know Cass' general reaction to the situation earlier. You trudge over to Nicole, who glances up from her smoking and gives you a sort of half-smile.

"Hey! Whatcha need?"

>>>Input Command

>Put Elizabeth in a dream for safekeeping
Yeah, don't worry about it Raphael. She's as safe with us as she would be with the others. I just needed her out of there, away from the people after her.

The implications are interesting through. I wasn't sure before if just Linda and Raphael stepped out to spy on the demon, but we now have confirmation that not only can Raphael bring others into the realm of dreams- he can leave them there. Does it require effort or concentration on his part to keep them there, or is the effort in the crossing? Makes you wonder what happens if he doesn't come back for them. Or if the dreamer wakes up...

Pity Elizabeth is so spacy right now, though. I guess we can offer an "Sorry I had to shoot you today" before we go to bed or something? Maybe ask her if she can tell anything about the cylinder fluid while we're at it, or the next time we get a chance.

>you're fairly certain you know Cass' general reaction to the situation earlier.
...general anger and frustration?

>Whatcha need?
Dangit. I'd hoped Linda or Nic would give us something to work with.

Nothing in particular. Just occurs to me we've barely had a chance to talk. Seems like one crisis after another has kind of gotten in the way.

(If anyone's got a better lead in, feel free).

>>476680
>Nothing in particular. Just occurs to me we've barely had a chance to talk. Seems like one crisis after another has kind of gotten in the way.

That line is fine.

Linda might as well ask what kind of activities she does to kill time and what's her like/dislikes. We should basically ask stuff about her to get to know her better. If she asks why Linda is asking this to begin with then just say we want to get to know her better during the calm before the storm. There is no way things won't escalate with how eastern fixers act towards breakers.

"Nothing in particular. Just occurs to me we've barely had a chance to talk. Seems like one crisis after another has kind of gotten in the way."

"Heh. Yeah. Haven't really got much time to beat someone in a non-breaker fight after I hooked up with you guys. Not that I'm complaining. Still, good old fashioned fighting seems more natural somehow."

"You used to fight?"

"Yeah. Before the breaking and all that. Was part of some small time street gang in some nameless town up north of here. Used to have street fight almost daily. Hated it at the time, but at least then there wasn't all this complicated crap. Still, I guess I'm not really here to do the thinking. I just punch things in our way. Which reminds me. The other guy... Conner? Cutter? Whatever his face. He was telling some guys to do stuff, but they didn't want to do it without your permission. He seemed a little agitated. Almost angry, if you ask me. Still, if the little one over there isn't freaking out, I'd guess we're okay. Right?"

The boss getting mad? Doesn't sound like him at all... Something must be up. But Elizabeth hadn't said anything. Must be something that didn't have anything to do with you.

"So, Linda, you need anything else?"

>>>Input Command

>Marc agitated before Nicole left
I can think of several reasons for that. One might have been the show you put on downtown with mech this morning. I doubt he was happy about that. Could be the Fixer incursion- people are dying out there. The other might just be discovering the new recruits think they're supposed to check with you before following his orders. That they're putting loyalty to the local commander above following the chain of command.

And, of course, it could always be the darkside option. He's asking them to do something they know you wouldn't approve of.

...I kind of wonder what we did to earn that loyalty. We've barely been around to do any leading! Although... I suppose there's an angle where it makes sense. We start with our speech about helping each other and looking out for the greater good. We head out that same night and get captured freeing breakers from mad scientists. They witness our loyal friends working doggedly for days to save us. We return with a new rescuee, and head out the same day to protect the group from hostile factions - twice. We accidentally went and made ourself a hero.

Anyways, we'll have to check in with Marc, or the troops, later. See what's up. Maybe call back to base after we're safe and in the real world again.

>used to fight gangs
So did Linda, actually! She was just to drunk to remember it. :p

>Used to have street fight almost daily. Hated it at the time
We do get times where we're not constantly fighting, I promise. Things have just come to a head lately.

>I'm not really here to do the thinking. I just punch things in our way.
Hey, you know what I did before? I was a work from home consultant. Leading people was something I never thought I'd do, something I'd avoided, actually. You might surprise yourself.

>what now?
I'm reluctant to push Elizabeth for info on Marc right now. If she had anything important to tell us, she would. It's either nothing, she doesn't know, or she doesn't want us to know, or thinks it's something we can handle on our own.

I wouldn't mind asking her if she could tell anything about the fluid in the cylinder, though! (If the answer is "perfectly safe to use, no side effects breaker battery juice" Linda is recharging herself).

Other than that, I'd say just chill. Sit with Elizabeth or Cass, and wait for Raphael to be ready to move on and get you out of here.

>>477163
>The other guy... Conner? Cutter? Whatever his face.

Not to mention the fact that some of them probably don't even remember his name. I would be pissed as well if people didn't want to listen to my orders because my middle man (Linda in this case) wasn't here and they don't even know my name.

He probably won't do anything right now to Linda just for that reason so that's probably why Elizabeth didn't say anything about Marc.

We could ask Nicole what she thinks of Marc as well. We might as well watch mind numbing TV while we make small chitchat.

>We might as well watch mind numbing TV while we make small chitchat.
...the dreamtime gets television reception? XD

Although seriously, the next time Linda gets a chance to kill time, I want her surfing the net, checking out how big this "god-killer" thing has gotten. Poor Linda isn't going to know if she should be excited or horrified.

>>477211
>...the dreamtime gets television reception? XD

Anything is possible in DREAMLAND. You just have to use your imagination but really though I have no idea why I momentarily forgot we are in dreamtime. I'm just gonna blame TV for my memory lapse.

>Poor Linda isn't going to know if she should be excited or horrified.

She should be excited unless it's some weird mecha on monster hentai doujin in which case it's gonna be nothing but nightmares.

I was more thinking horrified at the problem of global exposure. Kind of distracts from the awesome a little.

>weird mecha on monster hentai doujin
God-killer X That Which is Unknowable, Part V

Although if rule 34 has already kicked in, I believe the appropriate response is to quietly curse Cass for being right.

"We do get times when we aren't fighting everything under the sun. You just happened to join at a bad time."

"Hey, like I said, I'm not complaining. Just wouldn't mind an honest fight for once."

You excuse yourself to head back over to Elizabeth. You sit yourself down next to her, pulling out the liquid filled tube.

"So... uh... could you tell me anything about this stuff?"

Elizabeth glances at it, hums a little to herself, then goes back to staring at nothing as she speaks.

"Blue potion."

Blue potion? What the hell is sh- Oh! That game you were playing with her and Raphael. Blue potions restored magic power. This stuff must be the same... well, never hurts to try, you suppose. You shoved worse liquids down your own throat. You angle the tube to get a better grip on it, then drink the liquid. It tastes slightly of warm chocolate, then you suddenly feel a jolt of something flow down from the top of your head to the bottom of your toes. You find yourself suddenly very, very awake. A glance down at your hand shows you want you wanted. Your number just shot up to 10. Perfect. You can steal other breakers points now. Sort of. You still don't know if there on any limitation to this thing.

"Whoa! You look awake. Anyway, I think I found us somewhere to hide out awhile. It's on the other side of the city. I found an easy route to it to, no nightmares at all. Follow me."

The entire group heads out, and after what feels like forever, you suddenly find yourself dumped into an apartment, a young woman sleeping in her bed. Raphael leads the way out, everyone else quietly following, and then you watch as he picks the lock to another apartment and leads you all inside. This one is empty, but it should be a good place to hide out for awhile.

"Alright. We should be good. I'll go grab us something to eat later. For now... I don't know, try to make yourselves comfortable."

"With what? The invisible furniture?"

"Says the woman who was getting her ass kicked by an oversized puppy."

"I swear to god I'm gonna beat your face in one day."

"Anytime, Chainsaw. Anytime."

>>>Input Command

Well if they want to fight then they should fight. It would be fun to watch and we could use arena rules for the fight but without the betting. I for one would like to see that fight. The only problem is we can't exactly do it now with all the b.s. going around.

>You still don't know if there on any limitation to this thing.
There have to be. There always are. There are either restrictions on how much or how often the tubes can do their thing, or there are side effects to recharging yourself that way too often.

For the moment, the biggest practical limitations are they're inconvenient to carry, and you have no way to holster them (shoulder straps would be nice). In battle they could be broken or taken and used against you (since they aren't manifestations). And worst of all, they're unreliable, since we don't know their limitations yet.

For the moment, let's just make sure we have one loaded handgun manifested and holstered.

>The invisible furniture?
...we could probably just break some into existence if we wanted. Kind of a waste of points though, and it might attract attention.

>Cass v Raph
Children, please. *grin*
>>477235
That's a terrible idea. ...I'm reasonably sure that getting under each others skin is just how they get along. Like bickering siblings. It's not going to escalate to actual violence, and encouraging an actual fight would go horribly wrong.

>What do?
Well, we need to see if D7 or the Fixers show up, or if you got away clean. That means sitting tight for a while, keeping watch, and hanging out. I'm not sure what we have left to talk about for the moment, unless we just want to sit around swapping stories ("...and so, I ended up sleeping with the bride instead.") Or unless we want to try naming 23.

If you're confident that the cell Marc gave you isn't traceable, we could report in, and see what the situation at home is.

Experience Gained: 4
BP: 29

Your and your group spend the next few days lying low and keeping out of the way. While it's boring for the most part, everyone does get some much needed rest, restoring their numbers to max and getting some relaxation. Still, you can't help but feel on occasion that something feels wrong. Like someone is watching you at times. Still, Elizabeth remains unconcerned, so you took that as a sign that you'd be fine.

You'd reloaded the two pistols, gotten together what few things you all had, and were ready to head out at the end of your little time for relaxation. Time to head back to base and see what's been going on. Raphael takes you through the dreams, and upon arrival, you're greeted by a rather surprising scene. The place where the apartments has been replaced with an almost military style fort. You see dozens of new faces along with the old, and after getting inside and depositing you're companions, you manage to find Conner directing what looks to be a fortification of the main gate.

"Conner? What the hell is going on around here?"

"Ah! Linda! A pleasure to see you! Heard about what happened. Glad to see you're alright. It seems that fortune favors us a little. With the eastern fixers showing up and ripping things apart, a lot of the local breakers have started to drift towards us, probably because we've put up such a reliable front and shown we can repel their attacks. Thanks to your recent feats, of course. I have a job for you later, if you're up to it, but there's no rush. Ah! George said he might have figured out a way to help that swords-woman of yours. You should probably check in with him when you get the chance. And send along Raphael, will you? I need to speak to him."

>>>Input Command

Thank the boss man. Tell him you'll talk to him soon. Lets go see Charles first. After we see what we can do for him lets ask him and the people around the base about whats been happening while we've taken our little vacation.

XP:
1 on a magazine upgrade for the pistols
1 on homing for the rifle (We're gonna be facing Maria soon)
2 on BP

Huh. Unexpected time skip. Weird. Not that I'm not thankful to be at full strength for the first time in a while, but after the blue potion we really only needed half a day of downtime to recharge.

Kind of cool we've taken more of the locals under our wing, though. I was hoping we'd do that, rather than leave them out in the cold to be slaughtered.

>Four XP
Yikes. Not going to complain about good fortune, but that's more than I planned on for killing one breaker. Let's go with:

-1XP to tune the watch
-1XP alternate homing ammo for rifle
-1XP up handgun magazine
-1XP on finesse

That prepares us if we get into a fight big enough to drop the mech into, and the ammo are for boss fights, and the finesse because we're starting to fall behind in the stats arms race against other finesse types (we fired a lot of ammo that didn't actually hit Casey, and we had a hard time dodging him, and in the Jake/Shotgun fight too. That's going to be a problem versus Maria). We have the BP to cope already, I think, so long as we don't fooling unload ammo bursts when we aren't certain they'll work (save them for point blank executions, almost- like Elizabeth did v Casey).

Please take a moment to examine and play around with the watch after tuning it. I expect the display and stuff to come alive after you do.

>You'd reloaded the two pistols
...does that mean we have a second holster now? Other mundane supplies we might want to consider include an easy way to carry the cylinders without taking up our hands.

>To Marc
Thanks, I'll check with him, and send Raph over. Good to see we're helping people, actually.

...are we good? I'd heard there was some kind of trouble with my name on it.

>What do?
Let's take a bit of time to actually act like a leader. Walk the grounds, talk to people, see what conditions on the ground are like, how people are doing. Let yourself be seen, take the pulse of the organization. See if there's any of that trouble or discontent Nicole warned about from before.

After that, taking 23 to George is probably a good idea (looks like we may be spared having to come up with a name ourselves. :p). I'd make a point of telling 23 what you're doing to her beforehand, even if she doesn't fully understand.

If we get any downtime? Before we take Marc up on that mission I'd love to get on our laptop and see how this godkiller thing is doing on the internet.

>>477329

I forgot about the watch, so changing my vote on XP to this

>>477330
That's actually my second draft. I initially forgot about Maria and that we'd want a bigger pistol burst and homing to deal with her. So we're even. :V

1 to BP
1 Tune the Watch
1 Finesse
1 Strength to offset some of that recoil from the rifle

Another job for Raph when we just got back? Sucks.

When you say the eastern fixers are showing up, do you mean, like, ALL of the eastern fixers? Part of the point of setting up this base was to try and get the heck away from them, should we be thinking about moving our operation again, perhaps?

>str to offset some of that recoil from the rifle
I don't think that's really a problem anymore. The last time that bothered us was only because we were half dead and down to one arm.

>should we be thinking about moving our operation again, perhaps?
We're already set up here. There's also a limit to our capacity to relocate people, we'd have to but into someone else's turf again wherever we go (another Jake to deal with) and, that frees the fixers to kill anyone here who doesn't join us (including the doc), get stronger in the process, and then come after us again.

Running isn't a winning strategy, here. We'll retreat if and when we need to, but we're not there yet, I think.

And at least here, D7 is as much a threat to them as us. That limits their ability to attack openly.

Oh before I forget after spending XP manifest the rifle, the cold magnum and then Twinda! We're full at last and can finally set her up properly. Send her with our guns to our room to begin the research we've outlined before. We'll have a couple hours to regenerate what we just spent.

>>477345
Yeah that's a good idea, and it's best to do that before exploring the new base, getting 23's head checked, etc. so we have time to regen the BP. Might as well manifest with homing bullets in the rifle, so Twida's at maximum efficiency.

It'll also give us a chance to check if 5 spirit is strong enough to let us use the mental link to swap bodies.

What do we want her researching again, though? Practical gun knowledge, our own celebrity, and anything related to Cass' disorder?

>>477350
Practical gun knowledge and Cass for now. Hopefully learning more about our weapons will give us a boost using them and we really haven't done much for Cass lately.

>>477351
Agreed. We've left Cass on back burner for too long.

Just as an aside, since we have the pistols out already, getting Twinda up to full kit will cost:
2 (cold magnum) + 2 (rifle) + 1 (homing) + 5 (Twinda) = 10BP
Assuming we busy ourself here for a few hours, we'll earn some, but not all, of that back. Maybe we shouldn't give her the CM? We don't have a holster for it, and she's best used as a sniper, anyways.

Experience Allocated:
Finesse: 10
Rifle: Alternate Ammo, Homing
Pistol: Magazine Size Increased 30 Rounds
Nerve Suit Tuned

Wki Updated

You gear yourself up, then manifest Twinda and set her to a few tasks on your laptop, namely researching practical gun knowledge(relying on instinct has gotten you pretty far, but time to get some real knowledge) and finding out about Cass' disorder. That should be good for now.

Then it's time to head back downstairs, where you walk around, getting to know the newer people and such. For the most part, you're welcomed warmly, although there's always a few that don't seem to like you. Sucks for them. On your rounds, you find George already taking a look at 23, but when you reach him, he shakes his head with a sigh.

"Well, I managed to dig up some stuff. Most of it regarding how she got so good with a sword. Seems she's been training in this stuff since literally the age of 4. She's got a brother running around somewhere, but neither really had parents. She's about 21, from what I can gather. But I couldn't drag out anything else. She's still resisting too much. I'll work with her a bit more, but I'm not sure how much I can do with her being quite so resistant to the whole thing."

"Thanks for trying."

George waves you away as he gets back to work. You start to head back towards your room, only to halt as you spot someone you hadn't expected to see. You wander over and smile as the nervous woman, who smiles weakly back.

"How's Leviathan doing?"

"Very hungry. Not happy here at all. Too much food, too little eating."

"And how are you doing Michelle?"

"I could be better. Brother is around somewhere, but... That Conner man. Leviathan doesn't like him... I heard you got caught for awhile. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"That's good..."

Michelle glances around nervously, the snake doll in her hands clutched tightly. Everytime someone unfamiliar comes near, she seems to strangle the poor thing, but relaxes as they move away. This is probably not the best environment for her to be in, but she seems fine for now. Still...

>>>Input Command

>no name for 23
Exaggerated noooo!

>She's still resisting too much.
I think we've reached the point where we have to have a talk with her. She has to want to remember if George is going to help her any further. Put that on the list of things to do before we head on the next mission.

>Michele
Oh hey, I wondered if she'd be here! Good to see Marc put aside his avatar lust for the moment.

Hmm. It seems she's having to work to restrain Leviathan, there (even if the strangling isn't psychically restraining him, it's probably an external manifestation of her internal struggle). Leaving her in the middle of the crowded base could be a problem.

Why don't we take her back to the room and introduce her to Elizabeth? They're both about the same age, kind of odd, and I get the feeling they might get along. Plus, if they're hanging out, it gets her in a room, and away from crowds and the halls.

And maybe offer her the chance to come along the next time we leave for a mission. Give her a break from having to rein him in, and Leviathan a chance to blow off some steam.

...grab a shower and change of clothes while we can. Even if we've been using breaking to keep clean, we've been in these clothes for days.

"Well, I can't really help with Leviathan, but I could take you somewhere quieter."

"Quieter?"

You point upstairs, then lead the way to your room, where Elizabeth is sitting staring at a wall. You introduce the two, and Elizabeth actually seems to get more lucid when Michelle draws near. The younger girl eyes to doll a moment, frowning, then turns her attention to Michelle, eying her with a bit more interest than she would other people. There's a long, drawn out silence, then Elizabeth flashes a genuine smile.

"This one carries a piece of the puzzle. Yes. Good piece. Strong piece. Needed piece."

Elizabeth continues to mumble on to herself, that smile plastered across her face. You find yourself confused, but Michelle suddenly smiles as well.

"Leviathan likes her. Says she can see."

You frown, but Michelle doesn't miss a beat and happily plops down onto the couch next to Elizabeth. After a few minutes of observing them simply stare at the same wall together, you shrug and leave, taking a shower and changing before heading back downstairs to have another necessary conversation, this one with somehow perhaps even less responsive than Elizabeth. After wandering around a bit, greeting the occasional new face, you find your target standing next to a wall, simply observing every face in the room, eyes darting to inspect various movements. She pauses in her work as you arrive, and waits patiently for a moment.

"Hey, 23. How are you feeling?"

"Restless. Uncertain. Confused."

"... Ok. Why?"

"Restless, don't like standing around waiting. Uncertain, people here aren't trustworthy. Confused, we've done nothing but wait, seems counterproductive."

"... Alright..."

... You have no idea how you should deal with this woman. She seems way too wound up over simple things.

>>>Input Command

Shoring up power, making the troops fight at 100% efficiency, the alternative is bringing the fight to the demon and we don't have the intel yet, do you want to go to a fight club maybe.

Aw yeah. Freaky friends. I knew it. =D

...we should still consider inviting her along on a mission at some point so Leviathan can cut loose, though. Bad things will happen if she has to keep him bottled up indefinitely.

>we've done nothing but wait
One of the disadvantage of fighting a defensive battle. D7 and the fixers are the hunters- they're going to have the advantage of initiative much of the time.

>trustworthy
What is trustworthy? Were the people you were with, before? I mean... how do you feel about changing sides?

...do you understand what your sessions with George are for? What we're trying to do? If she doesn't, try to explain what division 7 did to her, and why you're trying to reverse it. The goal here to try and figure out why she's fighting it, and to find a way to persuade her to cooperate, if possible.

>name
Do you have a name?

If she responds "23", we go something along the lines of, no that's a number, a designation in a lab, a rank in an organization you aren't part of. If we get a name out of her, great! If we don't, we ask her if she'd like one.

Then we give her one whether she likes it or not. :V

"What is trustworthy? Were the people you were with, before? I mean... how do you feel about changing sides?"

"They were. I knew what they would do. How to react. I don't know how to with these. Changing sides... The enemy is painful. You are not. I prefer you."

"Do you understand what George is trying to do?"

"Yes."

"And you still don't want him to help you?"

"No. My past is... forgotten. I see no point in returning to it."

"I see... do you have a name at least?"

"23."

"That's not a name. That's a designation. A number. A tool."

"A name is simply something used to identify someone. A name is simply a designation attributed to a single person. And I am a tool. A very good tool, but a tool. 23 works just as well as any other designation."

She's unexpectedly stubborn about all this.

>>>Input Command

>I knew what they would do. How to react. I don't know how to with these.
Hmm. Well, yeah. We're not soldiers or agents here- everyone's more complicated. Doesn't help that that as a group of breakers everyone's got extra issues on top of that.

We can understand the sentiment though. It's not as if we don't have trouble talking to people pretty frequently (like say, right now :p).

>The enemy is painful. You are not. I prefer you.
Well, that's a good sign at least. Nice to know there's more at work than just our hijacking her brainwashing.

>name
*Slyly* Well, if one name is as good as any other, what's the harm in using a different one? Besides, that's the enemy's designation for you. I'm sure I've got a number on a file too. We should give you our own.

I'm not sure how to get her interested in her past, or to think of herself as more than a tool, yet. If we can get her to accept a naming- to let us treat her more like a person, I think that's a decent first baby step.

"Hmm. Well, yeah. We're not soldiers or agents here- everyone's more complicated. Doesn't help that that as a group of breakers everyone's got extra issues on top of that.

"But it's a good thing you like us more than the other guys. At least, I think so. I would never want to hurt you intentionally."

You pause a moment, to let that sink in and to consider your own words. Yeah, that seems right. You hope just talking to her will help her come out of her shell a little, maybe let George do his things some more easily. For now, though, talking is all you can do. Still...

"Well, if one name is as good as any other, what's the harm in using a different one? Besides, that's the enemy's designation for you. I'm sure I've got a number on a file too. We should give you our own."

"... If that is what you want."

"Well then, let me think a little..."

You drop into thought, 23 watching you with what you suppose is her version of interest.

>>>Input Command

Call her X, an unknown variable that can be anything. While it would be helpful to know her past we can file that away for later until she has an established identity.

>>480507
Pff. A single letter designation is no better than a number.

I'll throw out Christin Wayneright. We can call her Chris! Best I could come up from mashing a random name generator with an anime reference from diss. (Naming pre-existing characters is a pain. So much easier to throw suggestions out when they're a blank slate).

Or I dunno, go with Elhaym (Elly!). Xenogears reference- that's halfway to mecha anime. :V

Just throwing out ideas till something sticks.

>Christin Wayneright
This one

"Christin Wayneright. How's that? We can call you Chris for short!"

"As you please."

"Christin then. Get used to it, alright?"

"Understood."

Sigh. Well, at least that might help her get away from the feeling of being a randomly assigned number. It'll take some time though, hopefully you'll have the time to do so. Now though, you figure it's about time you got briefed on this job of yours. You spend a few minutes hunting through the crowds, then find Marc surrounded by various people as he doles out responsibilities and duties. You wait till he seems a little less busy, then stride over, greeting him with a wave.

"Hey! I'm ready for that job now."

"Ah! Linda! Yes, of course. There's a problem with some breakers splitting off and trying to set up another gang in the southern end of the city. They're using some old, rundown nightclub as a base of operations, although their leader isn't seeming to respond at all. I've tried recruiting them already, or at least forging an alliance, but... they've only resorted to violence. I need them cleared out, and any assets they have seized. I've already put a sizable group together to help with the operation, but I want you and your entire team to act as the spearhead, punching straight through and going for the leader. If we can take out the head, then the body should be easy to dispose of. No survivors this time, we can't have any remnants coming back for revenge, particularly at these critical times.

I think that about covers it. Do you have any questions?"

>>>Input Command

On the night before Christmas my GM gave to me... a looming battle and a moral quandary!~

>baddies in a nightclub
That sounds sort of familiar, and not in a good way.

>No survivors this time, we can't have any remnants coming back for revenge
We won't let anyone get away if we can help it this time, but tactically, I don't see the difference between dead and focus looted. Once normal, they're not in much of a position to take revenge. And if word gets out that kill 'em all is our policy, people are gonna start hating us just as much as the fixers.

I know there are times when you don't have a choice but to put the enemy down. I know sometimes there are people we can't afford to let live. But as a blanket policy... I don't like it Marc.

>Any questions?
Wait, I don't get the thinking here. Aren't we kind of at all out war with the fixers after us already? I'm surprised we can spare the resources to crush a local splinter faction, even if they are hostile. Heck, if they're making waves, I'm surprised the fixers haven't come down on them for us.

(Actually, if we could set that up, that could be a fantastic maneuver- if we don't know where to hit the fixers, hit them from behind when they're hit the local crazies. Hammer and anvil the pricks).

It can't just be that the fixers are hunting us exclusively, and ignoring everyone else. Or else we wouldn't have had all the refugees flocking to us.

...not that we won't do it. What do we know about these guys? Who's this leader we're looking for?

>Preparations
When we leave (assuming showing backbone in front of Marc doesn't go horribly wrong) remember to bring Twinda and her guns along so we don't have to burn BP manifesting her on site again. This is an attack we're running- we're going to want to set up our eyes outside. Useful for coordination, sniping, and noticing if the fixers or D7 show up to join the party.

>>480633
I don't have anymore questions to add so this sounds fine to me.

>>480633
We might actually want to raise the why these guys point before questioning the kill order. Kind of makes more sense that way.

And to expand a little: the problem isn't so much that we aren't willing to kill, when the situation merits it (we might actually have killed more opponents than we've spared, I'll have to count). We don't like having our discretion taken away. That causes problems (like the encounter with Blades could have been resolved way easier if Mike didn't have inflexible orders).

"Wait? I thought we were all tied up with just the fixers. We have the resources to deal with this new lot? Or better yet, why can't we just loose the fixers on em?"

"At the moment, even the fixers are having trouble. This... Division 7 is cracking down on them from what I can tell, either that, or they've suddenly developed the intelligence for subtlety. Either way, if we can remove this new group from the equation, we can hopefully establish definitive control of Sun City. If we have that, then we can craft a safe haven for those that don't want to pander to the fixer's ways. Unfortunately, that means disposing of anyone and everyone who endangers that. It's a regrettable turn of events, but..."

Marc sighs as he shakes his head a little, then suddenly brightens up.

"Still, I'm planning this to all turn out for the best. You'll see. Just get done what needs to get done."

"What about just taking foci? There's no reason that won't disable them as we-"

"Foci can halt a person from breaking, yes, but that doesn't remove the danger if they were trained to begin with. These next ones... someone brought as many ex-military breakers together as possible. And assuming you know anything about UNA military practices, that means they are very good at their jobs. Now please, the sooner the enemy is taken out the better. Take an hour to get yourself ready. Remember, your entire team goes with you this time, I don't want any chances of the leader making it out alive. Look for someone who's well guarded, as I understand it, the leader has been injured severely rather recently."

Marc suddenly turns away from you, eyes focusing on something that brushes past you. For a moment, you get the feeling of extreme hostility, then you suddenly realize it's the doll you'd seen with the Boss back in Central. Amelia, if you remember correctly.

"Amelia? Amelia, what are you doing up? You know your not supposed to be wandering around out here, you're very sick. Please, go back inside."

The doll doesn't seem to react at all to Marc's actions or words, instead staring blankly at him. Marc, on the other hand, reacts as if the thing had done something in response.

"I'm sorry Amelia, you're right. I should have introduced you sooner. Linda, this is Amelia, my wife. Amelia, Linda, a business associate. She works with Cassandra, you remember Cassandra?"

"..."

"Yes, the girl with the violence problem. Now I know you want to stay and chat, but you really must- No, I know you don't get to talk with visitors much, but we're in a business meeting. Please, go upstairs, I'll be right with you to get you your medecine."

The doll seems to almost glide away, but for a moment it pauses, eyes fixed on you, and you get that feeling of hostility before it disappears from view. Marc turns back to you, looking almost apologetic.

"Please, excuse me. Remember to take an hour to prep yourself, get anything you need for the job ahead. I have to go up and speak with Amelia, normally she isn't quite so rude."

Marc heads off, leaving you alone and feeling somewhat confused. Still, you've been given an hour to prep, and basically given no options to really back out... wasn't this job supposed to be optional?

Might as well get ready.

>>>Input Command

GM wants us to take over our faction. High five, GM.

Yeah! You can wish everyone a merry Christmas!

Anyway, I dunno. Do the usual pre-combat stuff. Get the team prepped and ready. Is there anything in particular we must do?

>Ex UNA military breakers
Oh, that's just great. All the usual fun of a band of ex-military separatists, with the added bonus of being from a much meaner alternate universe military, and all of them suffering severe mental trauma and with super powers.

It's hardly a moral blank check to slaughter them, but... there's a better than average chance the group is made up of crazies. And Marc's right that these are the kinds of people who would remain a threat even if normal.

Oh well. At least there's likely going to be a decent selection of gun foci to loot, seeing as how everyone there will have been trained with them prior to breaking.

>Preparations
Okay. I assume Raphael is away on whatever task Marc had for him. That leaves us with Cass, Nic, 23 Chris, Twinda, and I suppose Michele if you want to invite her along (give Leviathan a chance to eat something, er, someone). This isn't really the kind of scene I'd like to bring Elizabeth too (unless she up and volunteers, but even then...).

There are a few things we need to prepare for here:

*In pretty much every fight we've been in, the enemy has been very bad at working as a unit, or supporting one another. This won't be the case here: these guys are ex military, they are trained and used to working as a unit. If we go in and split up instead of working together, we're all going to get killed.
*From what we've seen, training seems to influence what focus you get. Since these guys are ex-military? That means there are likely going to be a lot of people with guns. This means we may be facing people who are better shots than Linda. It also means we are at a tactical disadvantage, because more of the enemy can engage our group at range (most of our allies are melee types).
*Ex-military means we may be facing more than just foci. It's more than likely these guys have a cache of more mundane firepower as well. The guy who broke and got a combat knife is probably still carrying a gun, etc.
*These guys are going to be trained to deal with an enemy sniper. That means Twinda is mostly useful for being an eye in the sky. Once she opens fires the first time, she becomes a high priority target. Meaning we need to be prepared for her to use all her homing ammo before she gets killed, or to have her move positions between shots.

>Amelia
Huh. So we know what his trauma was then. And part of him did not like you asking those questions at all, even if the rest of him was willing to answer you, and rein it in.

Interesting point- didn't Mac say he'd never seen her wake up and not go on a killing spree? That makes Marc's self control here significant.

(Kind of surprised she didn't speak- speech is on her abilities list...).

Well it looks like we gotta bring the whole team including Elizabeth since Marc isn't really giving us a choice.

>>480790
Hm. Not sure if that was what he meant or not. I suppose we can just leave it up to the plot and see what Elizabeth does when we show up to ask Michelle if she wants in. Elizabeth will know if she's needed to tag along. :V

Although, in general, I have mixed feeling about deploying her. On the one hand, I'd love to earn her some more XP (she's currently got the least, a mere 13-15 by my count), and it would be cool to see fear itself and her wires used to good effect in a breaker battle. On the other hand, she doesn't enjoy combat, at all, and she's rather vulnerable. Her wires can be dislodged, and her will is low enough that she still runs a reasonable risk of failure against non-primary will types.

Although, that's also a reason to train her. Once she gets her will up to competitive levels, Elizabeth becomes a game-breaker against non-will types. (A non-lethal one, even!).

You head off, gathering your small team together to get ready, and find that even Elizabeth has shown up, muttering something about needing to be around. You brief everyone on what's going on, then set them to preparing themselves. You make sure to mention the ex-military thing. Everyone is gonna have to be at their best if everything is to go smoothly. At the same time, you feel just mentioning wanting things to work out has jinxed it. For now though, you take some time to get some rest. Raphael seems to be missing, probably doing whatever Marc set him to, and by the time the hour is up, you still don't know where he is. Regardless, it's time to get underway, and you find nearly half the compound coming with you as you all head out towards your newest battle. The group almost seems like a convoy, and soon enough, you find yourself and your group surrounding the rundown building of a nightclub. The nightclub actually turns out to be rather large, three buildings total, one looking like the actual dancing spot, some sort of office building next to that, and a casino looking thing behind that. Just a glance tells you something shady is going on with the place, as it has people patrolling the outside holding rifles and guns and all sorts of other things. The other groups of breakers with you quickly move to surround the place, making sure to keep out of sight, and you take the time they use to move into position to check out the place through your scope. You find dozens of people, about half breakers, half not, and you find what you think to be the leader, using the older casino behind the main buildings as a sort of command base. You frown in thought, managing to work out two paths to the casino. One would have you going straight through the dance hall, which contains about half of the enemy forces in it alone, but would generally have much closer combat, as well as the support of your other allies. The other route has you keeping to the outside of the buildings until you reach the casino, but that leaves you exposed to the guns, as well as making a Nicole, 2-Chris, and Cass unable to really assist too well. Still, there would be far less people to deal with.

Elizabeth ends up tugging on your arm just a you finish up your inspection, and as you turn to her, you find her worried.

"Something blocks my sight... can't see the future. Can't see the end result. Careful, Angel... be very careful..."

>>>Input Command

Please, please, tell me you dragged her away from your laptop and brought Twinda along for the ride this time and stuck her in a sniper's perch somewhere. You need a lookout who can tell you how the battle is going, can report in if D7 or the fixers show up to join the party, and can offer sniper support, as needed. (Would be even better, really, if you're using her rifle to scout and not yours, since we already used the points to manifest it earlier).

Did Michelle come or not? Leviathan could be handy, if we've got him.

>Route
What kind of people are we facing on the sneaking and guns route? If those are non breakers with guns, that's safer. Use Elizabeth's affinity for sight and an active break to make you all harder to observe (some kind of obscuring break), and if you are fired on, Linda can use an active break or two to disable a lot of firearms at once while you all make a break for it. Nicole's also show she can hulk smash through walls if you need an entrance.

If they appear to be breakers guarding the sneaking route, they might make the will roll to see past any attempt at discretion or distraction, and they can repair or remanifest weapons if they're broken. In which case you'd be at a distinct disadvantage, and going in through the front is better.

If you go in through the front, your goal is hanging back and covering your allies, sort of like you did against Blades before, or in the ballroom fight. Shut down anyone who poses a threat to the people on the front (probably with Elizabeth, who will be looking for a target or targets to puppet and send ahead of herself). Use the rifle if that's what you have out already, if not, ice gun and pistol is good for crowd control, especially with normals in the mix who can be ice-ed out easy.

Yes, you brought Twinda, and yes, you used her copied rifle to do your scouting. No point in making a complete idiot of yourself, especially after making the same mistake a few times already. Michelle, however, elected not to come. While letting Leviathan have its fill of eating, she preferred to stay away from open combat, Leviathans massive body being an easy target for guns.

You take another look at the guards along the perimeter, marking most of them as normals. Still, there are one or two breakers among them. Not enough to make it an issue though, it would still be far safer to use the outside route. Maybe if...

"Elizabeth? You think you could make some sort of illusion or break reality in some way to block us from their sight somehow?"

Elizabeth stares towards the enemy for a moment, then her glass eye starts to glow green, then it's almost like the men on the walls start squinting at things. They seem a bit distracted, or maybe blinded in some way.

"Fogged the eyes. They cannot see as well. Move quickly."

Elizabeth herself starts to lead the way down towards the fence line, with Nicole and Chris taking off after her without hesitation. Cass pauses to wait for you, probably since you're a ranged fighter yourself, and you take a minute to hand Twinda her rifle back and order her to set up for sniping duty. Then you're off after them, Cass close behind, and you reach the fence line just as the other three are finishing up going through the hole Chris cut into the fence.

Nicole is already heading off, Chris sticking close to her, while Elizabeth reconnects with you and starts following you silently, her eye glowing a little again, but you don't have the time to worry too much about it. You follow after the other two members of your team, but about halfway around the side of the dance hall, a shout from the side catches your attention, and you spot a breaker leveling his weapon your way. You start to react by drawing one of your pistols, but a loud shot rings out and the man drops, his head exploding. Either way though, whatever Elizabeth was doing is broken, and shouts can be heard from all over the compound. At the same time, however, a massive explosion comes from the main entry way, and you here the sounds of gunfire and combat. Still, only one thought really remains.

"Time to go!"

You take the lead, sprinting off towards where the other two went, but find your path riddled with guards as people try to fight off the invaders, namely, you. The first man you encounter looks just as surprised to see you as you do him, but Cass pounces him before he really gets a chance to recover, a knife getting driven into his chest. You catch Cass licking her lips a little, but keep moving, and round a corner to find Nicole kneeling next to the wall, one hand pressed against it, the other nestled into her side, while Chris cuts down what looks to be her third kill.

The area is fairly open, and more and more people are starting to gather, both your's and the enemy. More gunfire is filling the air, and you decide being here is probably not the best idea. It also doesn't help the two people have almost shot you in the face, and the only reason you haven't died yet is because Twinda has proceeded to shoot them in the face first.

"Nicole!"

"Working on it!"

You drag spot a group of enemies with guns, and you let off a break, the weapons suddenly ceasing to function properly. The men look a little amazed, right up until they're attacked by some random men from your group. You turn away just as Nicole brings her fist shooting forward, the wall suddenly and violently reduced to bits of plaster and concrete. The hole is filled with dust kicked up from the suddenly created doorway, and you let Cass and Chris go in first, the sounds of people dying following shortly after. The rest of your little band piles in afterwards, and you duck behind some random piece of cover you find just as something rips into the wall at 5000 rounds per minute. How do you even know that...

Still, your in the building now. A quick glance around shows Nicole and Cass ducked behind a row of old slot machines, Elizabeth is still sticking to you like glue, and Chris is hiding behind what appears to be a roulette table.

The enemy, in this case, consists of a man firing a minigun at everything except where you're hiding, and two other guys, who are trying to be a bit more strategic about what they're shooting at, only they can seem to see through all the dust either, and are just firing blindly. All three are normals. Further in you can see other starting to gear up, putting on vests and the like, and you assume you've only got a few minutes before someone notices they aren't hitting anything, or the enemy gets even more firepower.

Better come up with a plan...

>>>Input Command

>Best Made Plans
Good gods. The title isn't kidding. That was epic! Everything worked out right, without a hitch. The blinding, the sneaking, the guns break, the wall smash! And none of us died, and it barely cost any BP! And we didn't make a complete idiot of ourselves! Even Twinda took the initiate to shoot some guys!

Either I'm a genius or the dice finally decided to stop hating us.

>Leviathan would have just been a big target
...a good point, especially considering what one gunner girl managed to do to him. Probably for the best. Still, remember he's going to need release at some point- he's going to be as bad as Cass, if not worse.

>5000 rmp. How do you even know that...
Either more preternatural gun affinity, or what research Twinda's already done is starting to pay off.

>Better come up with a plan...
If this is another cluster of normals the easiest thing to do is waste another BP breaking their guns, freeing you guys up to take them out fast, and move on. You can let the melee types handle it, or ice them if you get the chance. Or hell, even a pistol whip would work- they're normals and can't compete with you and it doesn't cost BP besides.

>Further in you can see other starting to gear up...
As for the people arming up... is there a weapons / ammo cache there? I suggest blowing it up, or starting an ammunition fire. Effectively stops the normals from taking up arms, and basically forces them to flee. Could be accomplished with another active break, or just having Twinda snipe the ammo pile or any explosives through the wall. Boom!

Thank god this is working out so far. I wonder how afraid these normals are since we got into the building so quickly and the amount of damage we did. I wonder if we could amp up the fear they may be feeling with a break so they can make poor tactical decisions?

It's too bad Raphael isn't here because this is right up his alley but maybe Elizabeth could do it since she has the Fear Itself and Active Break spirit abilities which means she kinda good at causing fear into people and she doesn't have to worry about combat breaking penalties.

If they can hear her then she could just use Fear Itself but that would probably just give them idea of where to shoot. Maybe she could use a active break to make it seem like her voice was near them and coming from all directions? I'm just throwing ideas around.

>>481372
I don't mind any of that except for pistol whipping. If Linda was that close to begin with then we wouldn't have much of a problem.

>>481444
It is a pity Raphael is never around for this kind of thing. We've never really got much opportunity to exploit his fear powers or warped reality. And there's got to be good tactical application for spider form!

If Elizabeth can use fear itself to get us past these guys quickly, that's fine. Doesn't even cost BP, unlike Linda breaking their weapons. I'm not sure how quickly that works though, and I kinda got the impression it was a one on one thing? Might work if we blew up weapons/ammo cache first and then Elizabeth hit the guys in front of us with fear, to break their will/resolve.

You try to active break the weapons, like you'd done before, and the roar of the various guns firing at you suddenly ceases, the whine of the minigun's barrel turning slowing to a halt. You immediately pop up out of hiding, the two pistols sliding from their holsters, even as both Cass and Chris shoot out of their cover, both cutting through the enemies in their path. Nicole follows behind the pair, identifying some of those that aren't normal and knocking them out, effectively taking them from the fight. Soon, the room is cleared, and Elizabeth uses her wires to collect a few of the breakers as puppets for her use. She managed to grab two of them, both gun user, the minigun and a simple rifleman. You gather your group in the center of the casino, eyes scanning the room as your friends join you, searching for a way up or down. You spot it just as Cass tears herself away from the task of beating some man's face in, an elevator that probably goes up.

"Alright. That was easy. I thought these were supposed to be all military or something?"

"I thought so to. Maybe breaking has more advantages then we thought?"

"That might be true. Either way-"

"Elizabeth!"

Raphael suddenly appears next to you without warning, eyes immediately fixing on Elizabeth.

"Nightmare boy? Where the hell have you be-"

"Not important! Elizabeth! Boss needs your help! And a few others to help out as well, if you can spare them, the breakers in this group are starting to get over the whole surprise things and are ripping the newbies apart. We got some help, but..."

A crack of gunfire signals another shot from Twinda, likely taking out some breaker or other. Still, that probably won't be enough to help out, and by your count, she's only got 7 rounds left.

"What would he need Elizabeth for?"

"Wants to see if she can help direct the troops and avoid as many casualties as possible."

"Can you do that Elizabeth?"

"... Can. Not sure... can't see future. Don't know what will happen... will follow decision of the Angel."

"I can help out as well. I've already cleared the way for you into the casino, you really don't need me around right now."

You nod at Nicole in thanks, but at the same time... Elizabeth seems very unsure of herself, likely because she can't see the future. At least, you hope that's what's bothering her. Chris remains silent as always, although if you told her to go help, she probably would. Cass... well, you doubt she'd be much use in such a large scale fight. Still, her berserker tendencies might be of some use...

Well, time to decide. Who goes and who stays?

Send Elizabeth and Nicole. Nicole is on bodyguard duty, nothing harms our Seer. Reassure Liz that we'll be fine. We've gone into situations where we've been surprised before.

Cass and Chris comes with us while Twinda supports us. Get Twinda to conserve ammo from now on. I have a feeling we'll need a surprise shot soon.

>>482618
Yeah, that troop distribution works. Elizabeth gets to lead the grunts, Nic protects her, and the puppets lay down support fire and prevent anything from closing with leadership.

Take a moment to make sure nothing worse than uncertainty is bothering Elizabeth, and reassure her. Remind her and Nic they can radio you guys if things go bad, or call in a shot from Twinda.

Rather than have Twinda conserve ammo, I'd just have her hold the last shot or two or three in reserve. Update her orders- she's now offering support fire till ammo is low, and dividing her attention between our group, Elizabeth's group, and making sure no one else is showing up to join the party (and notifying us of any major developments). In the worst case (D7 and/or the fixers show up) we could always swap to Twinda (hopefully our spirit is high enough now?) and see how much damage we can do with a single life.

Cass, Chris and Linda need to get on to the boss.

"Alright. Cass, Chris, you two come with me. We'll go hunt down this leader of theirs. Nicole, you stick with Elizabeth, no one touches her while she does her thing, I don't care how violent you have to get."

"Gotcha."

Elizabeth, her new "friends" and Nicole head off with Raphael, the man disappearing into the dreams to get them where they need to go. That leaves you with two of your allies. You send some commands to Twinda, setting her up for fire support, then you start on your own path, heading towards the stairway up and your destination. Cass takes the lead, and for a few minutes you seem to have some relative peace, the fighting going on outside all you can hear. As you reach the top and begin making your way down a hallway, you hear a thumping noise. You frown a moment, then get to watch as someone bursts through the door, tackling Cass and sending them hurtling off the second floor, the pair crashing into the ground. Cass throws him off herself and stands, twin knives materializing in her hands and a look of almost pure exstacy finding it's way on to her face. The man in front of her has only a police baton, but he regards his target with grim purpose. A 16 blazes next to him, but that all you get to see as something else drags your attention away.

Namely, the normals coming down the hallway, guns ready. You react with a break, the firing pins inside the weapons snapping suddenly, then you feel Chris dart passed you, blade snapping out and taking off a man's head. More normals start pouring out from behind you, and you duck into the new break in the wall to provide yourself with some cover. You stop suddenly as you enter the room, finding yourself face to face with a somewhat familiar face.

"Hey... didn't tell me your boss was an asshole..."

The Blades chick is lying on a hospital gurney, bandages covering her body. Her number reads 0, and you can tell she's in a tremendous amount of pain. A man stands next to her, his number a 12, a submachine gun you absentmindedly identify as an MP5 leveled at you evenly.

"So... he send... send you to finish the job..."

>>>Input Command

Goddamnit, Marc. That bastard is rapidly eroding our trust by not telling us things.

Worst case scenario- Marc knew we'd balk at this. Killing a helpless person in a hospital bed, who it's looking like he betrayed. That's why he called Elizabeth away. We can't cross him while he has her. (Paranoia check- have Twinda check on Elizabeth's situation).

We could end this, right now. Unloading the clip from one of handguns with our spirit 5 burst would be enough to kill her guard and her with 2 shots left over.

That's kind of overkill though, and I really think we need to try and talk before blindly following orders. Blades isn't Jake- she hasn't done anything that would drive us to murder her in cold blood. We've gotten used to killing people when we have to- or when they deserve it. But we haven't crossed that last line yet.

...yeah, he's an asshole. He leaves out details sometimes, like who we're going after, or why taking them out is so damned important. You want to tell me what the hell's going on here? You're not even supposed to be in this town, let alone raising another opposition group.

If her guard engages you, instead of letting you talk, dodge and use pistol and cartoon ice for a fast take out. Shoot him, immobile him, and then knock him out (pistol whip him while he's iced) and/or take away his focus. Then talk to Blades.

Also: current BP? And do we have the doc's anti-breaker tubes with us? (If we decide to turn on Marc and spare Blades, being able to blue potion her would be useful).

>>485904
You could also tell the guard to lower his weapon because Miss Blades would probably die in the crossfire.

>>485905
Intimidation / persuasion. Nice- a roll we can actually put our will points towards.

She has really low spirit regen though. It's been at least one hour since Mark told us about this job. Maybe all this came from him, in which case [what the hell why did he leave her at 0 if he had it planned out that we'd be sweeping through the building right after he fought her], or maybe we're jumping to conclusions slightly. This might be a loyalty test, or it might be a set-up, or Mark might be a complete asshole. We can't really discount any possibilities at the moment.

But yeah, take out that guard. We need to have a 'chat' with our 'friend' here.

>>485913
We have seen before there are things that can interfere with BP regen. Remember that night we had to stop Raphael from getting himself killed fighting Jake's Morpheus asshole? It had been a whole day since he'd last fought him, but he was still down to two points.

So it's possible something has been keeping her from regaining points. Like say, she's been in critical condition since she was almost killed. Or hell, maybe Marc's had Raphael in her dreams, keeping her from getting any rest.

A test or trick might be possible, but if so, Blades isn't likely a knowing part of it.

We could always just call Marc up and ask what the hell.

"Maybe you should tell your buddy here to lower his weapon before you end up getting caught up in a crossfire and die."

The man tenses, but Blades just waves him off.

"We're just talking, Jared. Go away..."

The man glares at you, but he backs off, weapon lowering, and sits nearby, eyes never leaving you, searching for any hostile movement.

"So... are you here to kill me?"

"According to my boss. You want to tell me what the hell is going on? You're not even supposed to be in this town, last I checked."

"Yeah, well, let's just say that deal we set... up went sour. This friend of your's took... out my buddy, ripped his way through our little hideaway, practically demolished.... the entire building. Damn doll did all the work, fucking avatar users. He strolls right in after it, looking as pleasant as he likes, then.... proceeds to start beating the living shit out of me with that doll of his. Took the angel avatar... and beat feet out of there once he was done. I think he thought I was dead already, but I... managed to call up some old favors from Jared's group here, and they came and bailed me out..."

Blades has to keep pausing in between some words, taking ragged breaths in. She sounds, to put it lightly, like complete shit. You're not even sure she IS recovering from whatever happened, and if anything, talking seems to make it worse. After a particularly long pause, Blades starts talking again.

"So... if anything, you should... be the one to tell me... what the hell's going on... cause I'm just as much... in the dark... as you are... and you work for the guy..."

Blades starts coughing suddenly, and the man, Jared, suddenly springs from his place and strides over, taking hold of her hand and offering some encouraging words. You get the feeling the two are more than simple friends, but you doubt now's the time to delve into that. Regardless, something is going on here that you're not privy to, and you don't like the light this is putting Marc under.

Not only that, he's got Elizabeth and Nicole safely away from you, so you're in the most awkward position you could possibly be in. You'd better consider you're options carefully.

>>>Input Command

Alright decision time. Do we continue to follow Marc.... or is it time to start making plans to break off with him. I say its time.

In fact I don't know about you guys but I'm thinking Marc might have to die. Otherwise he will be back again.

Tell Blades what Marc said about taking out their group and beyond that we have no idea what is going on beyond that. Tell Jared he might want to pull out and disapear with whomever is still alive.

(Bear with me, this is gonna be long).

Right then. This is our Will Riker moment. We're the number one. We carry out the captain's orders, we lead the away teams, we look out for the safety of our people. But now the captain's raising all kinds of red flags and giving questionable orders. Is it time to trust him, or relieve him of duty?

First, get Twinda on the mind-phone. We need eyes on Elizabeth and Nicole now. Who is she with? If Marc really is holding them hostage for your obedience, it should be obvious. They'll be standing right next the Marc- or someone like Daniels. Have her scan the skies too. That angel is probably up there, to take out Twinda if you turn. (Obviously, whether or not they're being held hostage or not should weigh into our decision).

>if anything, you should... be the one to tell me... what the hell's going on... cause I'm just as much... in the dark... as you are... and you work for the guy...
...we're here to wipe out a hostile group of breakers, who wouldn't listen to diplomacy. *Bitter laugh* Although if he did that to you first, I have a pretty good idea why you weren't listening.

And I've got a friggen precog little girl, and that still doesn't keep me out of the dark.

I need to know, my boss, the man who did this to you, was he the same one who hired you back east?

>analyzing Marc's behavior
>(1) assuming it does appear he's holding Nic and Elizabeth hostage for compliance, and he hired Blades to attack the group in the first place.
Marc's level of cloak and dagger bullshit has crossed into unacceptable levels. He hired someone to drum up opposition to his own group just so he could kill them. He's using people, and killing because it suits him. He's using us to do his dirty work, and threatening our allies. Maybe he has (or had) noble goals (assuming those weren't lies) but that's been overshadowed by his lust for power. We cannot tolerate that any longer.

>(2) He didn't hire Blades, and Nic and Liz are not supervised by people waiting to turn on them.
In which case Marc's only real sin here is breaking a bargain- and choosing to kill someone who once opposed him instead of paying her off. That's ugly, but not unforgivable. It did, however, piss off an entire group of breakers for no good reason. He's sacrificing morals, and our own best interests, for greed.

>(3) One but not the other
Holding your friends as collateral, or hiring someone to attack your own (to either kill off the weak, or gather your enemies in one place) are both nasty tactics you don't want to see, and should not tolerate, being carried out by your boss.

Case (1) means it's time to relieve the captain of duty. Case (2) or (3) means it's time to call the captain out on his bullshit and give him a stern talking to (we'll see where it goes from there).

>What do?
I'm not doing this. I'm not murdering someone in a hospital bed to cover up his shit.

First order of business after that? Call Raphael. You can't trust your comms (they don't work if he's dreamsided, and it's possible Marc can listen in, since his people provided them) so use the spider-fear to call him the way you did before.

You need to have him pull Elizabeth and Nicole from where they are. Because you're about to disobey orders, and you're pretty sure Marc separated you from them to make sure you wouldn't. If Raphael tries to protest at all- ask him if he still wants to not be Marc's killer, or if he wants to be the hero. *Point at the bed* Because damnit, this isn't being the hero.

Then let Raphael go to pull them out. Twinda should cover their extraction- don't let Marc's handles stop them from getting out. Fire on them, if necessary.

Then get on your comm (now that you've played your hand anyways) call Cass and Chris, and tell them to drop whatever they're doing and get back to you. When Cass asks why the hell we're turning back, tell her Marc's cloak and dagger bullshit has gone too far. Then head out, back down the building. It's confrontation time. Picard's going to back down- or he's being relieved of duty.

Spend a single BP to pull Aria's gem from wherever we have it hidden into your hand, and crush it. Marc's probably not going to take this well- and we might need all the help we can get. (No knowing when she'll show up though). And I think we're more than willing to talk with someone about him, now.

What's our current BP? Do we have our anti-breaking cylinders on us? We might need those if it comes to a fight with Marc.

(...Jebus Christ, I spent well over an hour writing that. ;-;)

You call up your mind link with Twinda, searching for the information you want. Without much waiting, you suddenly get an image in your head. You see Elizabeth, directing the men and woman around her, while glancing nervously at Raphael of all people, who is keeping watch a few feet behind her. Nicole, perhaps having picked up on Elizabeth's unease, has placed herself in between the girl and the albino, the fighter's body tense and expectant for any sign of trouble. It strikes you as a little odd that Elizabeth would be so careful around Raphael, she's generally taken a liking to him...

You cut the link, turning back to Blades.

"...We're here to wipe out a hostile group of breakers, who wouldn't listen to diplomacy. Although if he did that to you first, I have a pretty good idea why you weren't listening. And I've got a friggen precog little girl, and that still doesn't keep me out of the dark...

I need to know, my boss, the man who did this to you, was he the same one who hired you back east?"

Blades frowns a moment, then nods hesitantly.

"He looks the same... anyway. Back east, when I... met him the first time... he was a lot... more serious. This time... he seemed almost... cheerful... as if walking through a... park..."

Blades goes into one of her coughing fits, and Jared is back by her side again. He checks her condition, then shakes his head in frustration.

"Look. I'm sorry, but she can't handle all this stress. She needs time to rest."

You nod in understanding.

"Well, either way, I'm not murdering someone over Marc's bullshit. Jared, right? You better get what people you can out of here. Her included. I've got something that needs doing here..."

You turn away, simultaneously calling up your fear of spiders and calling to the gem, hidden away back at the base. You feel the round object slide into your hand, and you pause a moment, waiting for Raphael to appear. Nothing. He's not showing up... damn. You hope that doesn't mean what you think it means...

Either way, you exit the way you came in, Jared having already called off his men, although the man fighting Cass is sorely pressed just trying to keep her from murdering him brutally. You hop down as you call Chris off her murder spree and head over to Cass, wrapping her in a hug, whispering calming words to her. She almost stabs you, but seems to drag herself from her stupor just soon enough to avoid stabbing you. She shakes herself fully awake, then looks confused as Chris joins you.

"Wha-? Linda? What the hell? Why'd you stop me?"

"Marc's cloak and dagger bullshit is getting out of hand. You remember that Blades chick from awhile back?"

"The cross lady? Yeah. So what?"

"Apparently, he double crossed her, then when he found out she was still alive, sent us after her to finish the job. Sent her originally to fuck with us to begin with."

"... Huh... that's... wow... hold on, I need to think about that..."

You drop the small gem onto the floor, then smash it under your foot. You feel something suddenly burst outward, and the faint smell of roses, but you quickly dismiss it. Help was hopefully coming, now you just had to make sure the rest of your people were safe. You check with Twinda again, searching now for two things. Elizabeth and Nicole weren't where they used to be, instead making their way back towards the casino. Nicole suddenly lashes out, fist smashing into something that was on fire, and you spot whatever it is go through a wall. Damn, this is not looking good. Twinda suddenly looks to the sky, and you spot something drop out of the sky nearby the pair, sending up a cloud of dust and obscuring the clone's sight.

You check yourself as well, your number showing itself as 26. You brought the canisters, of course, figuring you could do something with them since they worked last time pretty well. Time to get a plan together and finish this shit.

>>>Input Command

Oh fuck. I assumed Marc was playing Raphael. I didn't think he'd willingly go along with it- or that he'd be the failsafe. Fuckshitdamn. We took him for granted one too many times- hurt him too often, burned too many bridges.

Raphael (in Nicole fear flaming man form) and Marc's angel avy are fighting Nic and Elizabeth. They can't handle that their own. We need to be there now, even if we need to take a suicide shortcut off the side of the building.

We need to be down there in person. It's our only hope of making a successful diplomacy roll and getting through to Raphael. Or else it looks like Cass will get to throw down with him after all... (worst part is if we fail to get through to Raphael, we can't even let him go. He needs to be dead or de-focused or he could hunt and kill us all through our dreams).

...actually, I'm wondering what triggered Raphael going off. How'd they know we turned already? I guess Elizabeth reacted, and he knew.

>Battle plan
Get there. Protect Elizabeth, hold the angel at bay (there's a chance Marc will try to take her hostage. Her ability is valuable, and she's a way to control you). Try and get through to Raphael (the others may need to engage the angel and stuff to buy you the time and space for this). If you can't, the best way to shut him down will be the anti-breaker gun: turn him into an uncontrollable chaos blob like you did to Trevor (this makes him easier to contain while you focus on shutting down the angel). I'm not sure if the anti-break gun will work on the angel. If not, your best bet is probably the tank gun (manifest with homing rounds, I bet it's agile). I doubt small arms fire will hurt it, and neither will cold, since it's a statue. (It can probably break ice if you attempt to freeze it too).

If it's possible to win this fight (assuming we aren't forced to make a fighting retreat after getting to our allies) we want to beat the angel up to the point where you're able to try and make the will roll to wrest it away from Marc, and leave it inert. Combine efforts with the others, if possible (Elizabeth doubles our will pool, and Raphael triples it, if he turns). I'm assuming Marc isn't here on the battlefield- he's somewhere else with Amelia, and he sent the angel to fight in proxy.

>Trying to get through to Raphael
Raphael! You still want to be more than Marc's pet killer? You want to do something kids will look up to someday? You want the nightmares to stop? You want to be the goddamn hero?! *point at the terrified and/or injured Elizabeth* I don't know what Marc told you or why you listened, but this isn't fucking it. You do this and no one will ever look up to you, and we'll be there in your nightmares forever.

You wanted me to rely on you. I need you now. We need you now. Don't do this.

>Of course you have your cylinders
Couldn't remember if we'd worked out a practical way to carry them or not given their size (guess we got them slung over our shoulder after all).

We could use the tubes to siphon BP off of Jared or someone to give Blades a safety margin. But I don't think we have time for that. We need to get to our friends ASAP.

Twinda has an X-Ray scope, right? Having her snipe the Angel's wing seems a good idea. Either BP gets burned to repair her making it as good as a kill shot, or she fights on at a disadvantage, which should buy us more time given how little ammo Twinda has left.

A plan, or something resembling one, forms in your mind. First things first, though...

"Cass, Chris. Raphael has gone... rogue, I guess you could say. Or rather, he's siding with Marc."

"Wha-? He WOULDN'T do that! We both know it!"

"Yeah, well... he has. And he's threatening Nicole and Elizabeth. Friend or not... he's still hurting people. Come on, we can work out what's going on later, for now, we gotta help our other friends."

You take off, the other two right behind you, although Cass seems a little hesitant. Regardless, the sounds of fighting are continuing around you. It seems Jared knows something is up, and is trying to buy you some time. You decide you should thank him for that later. Using Twinda, mere minutes pass before you find your targets, Elizabeth doing her best to stay out of the way and let her puppets defend her, and Nicole doing her hardest to keep Elizabeth alive by batting away giant tentacle looking th-.

What the hell is that? That...

"What the fuck is that?"

Cass puts it very well, so you leave it at that. Whatever it is, it's gibbering madly, dozens of mouths spouting nonsense and god knows what else. The angel you notice has taken to the air, dodging the fire coming from Elizabeths puppets and firing what looks like laser beams down at the small party. You send off a quick order to Twinda, then turn to your two companions.

"I need you two to deal with the Angel thing. I want to talk to Raphael. Maybe... maybe I can get through to him."

"Understood."

Chris dashes off, but Cass hangs back, looking concerned.

"Linda... I know you try to help as many as you can, but... look, just don't do anything stupid, alright? If he's gonna try to kill you, you make sure you put a round into him first."

"I promise, Cass. We can't die here."

Cass nods her agreement, then takes off after Chris, leaving you to hopefully bring Raphael around. You take a deep breath to steady yourself, then as the sound of a high caliber rifle fires off, and the Angel suddenly falls from the sky, you head off yourself, placing yourself in between Nicole and what you assume is Raphael, but looks more like a mass of tentacles and mouths. You tell Nicole to keep Elizabeth safe, then you turn your full attention on your target.

"Raphael! You still want to be more than Marc's pet killer? You want to do something kids will look up to someday? You want the nightmares to stop? You want to be the goddamn hero?! I don't know what Marc told you or why you listened, but this isn't fucking it. You do this and no one will ever look up to you, and we'll be there in your nightmares forever.

You wanted me to rely on you. I need you now. We need you now. Don't do this."

The gibbering madness in front of you seems to hesitate, even as a tentacle hovers over you, ready to smash down and destroy whatever lies in it's path, then, the shape begins to shrink in size, and Raphael appears, seeming to step out of the blob even as the blob is sucked into his back. He's not wearing his sunglasses, and he blinks back against the sudden glare from the sunlight. Still, he manages to focus more or less on you, and you can see that he looks almost pained.

"Linda... please, move. I... haven't gotten any orders about you. Just Elizabeth... damnit... it's like... there's something in my head, won't let me stop."

Raphael suddenly looks like he's in pain, and he grasps the side of his head, taking a sharp breath in. He doesn't look at all well, almost like he could throw up at any moment. Still, he shakes off whatever it is, and even manages to stand a little taller.

"I... can't go against the boss, I don't think. I don't remember... much. I think something happened. Still, I think... I think I can buy you some time, maybe even keep myself from following you, but... I won't be able to go with you. Not this time... Whatever Conner did, it... I can't do it. I can't go against him for long. He's coming here, to. Won't be long now. Amelia will be even faster, she's not limited like him."

Raphael suddenly lunges at you, but catches himself and drags himself backwards, almost doubling over in pain with the effort. He's breathing heavily, and sweat is breaking out all over his face, but he continues to face you, even with his whole body tense.

"Still... I have something left. Just a little. Enough. Give me the word, and I'll buy you the time you need. Please... just give me the word..."

Raphael collapses onto the ground, gritting his teeth as more pain hits him, but his eyes never leave your's, and you can tell he's practically pleading with you. Behind you, the sound of a chainsaw roars, and explosions go off. Something hurtles past you, barely missing both you and Raphael, and you catch the sight of the Angel doll as it starts to pick itself back up.

>>>Input Command

Freeze the angel and lets go.

Goddamn. Marc's got Raphael brainclamped. He had George work him over at some point.

>Give me the word, and I'll buy you the time you need. Please... just give me the word...
>you can tell he's practically pleading with you
Okay. This is important. He needs Linda to give the order, the push, so he can overpower the control and buy us the time we need... to do what?

Our options right now are basically to run, to stand and take down the angel... or go for the head. Confront Marc, and take him down while he's down to one avatar, and take control of the organization.

Running is bad. That leaves all our friends and allies within Marc's organization hanging in the wind, and vulnerable. It gives Marc a chance to finish brainwashing Raphael, and send him after you nightmare style. (Although we could get around that by disarming Raphael, and taking him with us. ...which is kind of neutering him because we can't trust him. Again. Not the best message to send someone barely holding on to control of their own mind).

I think we've pussyfooted around long enough. We need to end this. If we give Marc time to maneuver, it'll just keep getting worse.

>Give me the word
...I trust you, Raphael. Do it.

Then, while he engages the Angel? (I assume that's how he's buying us time?) The rest of us go after Marc. (Leave Twinda to back him up).

>the Angel suddenly falls from the sky
Excellent. That confirms the tank gun works on the avatar.

>>486393
I somehow expect the living statue will be able to break free of any ice we freeze it in.

Could we use the tube to take his BP, freeze Raph in Cartoon Ice, and take him with us?

From there, I think we run, call the Hotel, and try and get Michel at least to run the fuck away while Conner is gone.

>>486457
If we were trying to safely bring him with us, it would be easier and faster to take his focus than drain all his BP. (Plus, he would be in less danger of accidentally getting killed in one hit).

There are two problems with running with Raphael, though. (1) That doesn't leave anyone to hold the angel at bay while we leave this scene. (2) Raphael is clearly only holding on because what he feels for Linda, and his desire to be useful to her, overrides whatever compulsion he's under. Barely, though. And he's still begging us to ask him to do it- because he literally cannot overcome his compulsion unless we do.

Remember how he reacted in the car after the rescue, though? He really wants to be able to contribute meaningfully, to be trusted, to be relied upon. And part of the reason he was so upset with us was because he felt like we weren't giving him that- that we didn't trust him. I'm afraid if we let him down in that way again- tell him his only useful role is as a helpless hostage, as a liability we cannot trust, he might lose what little remaining control he has. The mind control will assert itself, and we'll be back fighting him again.

So I don't think we have much choice but to let Raphael to this. He needs it.

The real choice then, is how we chose to spend the time he buys us. Our choices essentially boil down to running or taking out Marc now. Strategically, taking out Marc is the better option- if we believe we have a hope in hell of pulling it off. Problem is it's hard to assess. We don't know enough about his capabilities to know if we could take him 5 on 1. And I'd really like to not get our friends killed attacking something we can't take down.

...I suppose we could always cheat. Get away from this site, and then ask Elizabeth if taking down Marc is possible. Then depending on her answer we either run and try to regroup with stronger people like the doctor and Aria, or we ambush Marc before he can get to the Raphael/Angel fight.

Regardless of what we chose to do though, calling the hotel to warn Michelle and others is a good idea as soon as we get the chance. (Although, if Marc came from base, it's quite possible his supporters are already taking action against anyone who might be seen as a Linda Loyalist).

"... Do it, Raphael."

"Gotcha. And thanks. You've got maybe twenty minutes, tops. That's all I can give you... Good luck, Linda."

Raphael turns away and shifts again into that weird mass of tentacles, than begins hounding the angel, keeping it occupied and away from you and the others. You pause only a moment to echo Raphael's good luck back to him, then take off, collecting your companions as you do. Five minutes later, you've managed to force your way outside the area, and pause a moment to get your bearings and determine your next course of action. First thing to do is get someone else's opinion.

"Elizabeth, what are the odds we beat Marc if we go up against him?"

"... I cannot see. The future is bleak, no matter what. There are no... 'Good Endings'. No paths where friends are not lost."

"... Alright. Thanks..."

Damnit, that didn't help at all. Still, it looks like you'll have to prepare yourself for a great deal of pain in the future. You just hope there's something brighter on the other side. For now, you make a quick call to the hotel, only to have no one pick up. You try calling again, just in case, but get nothing out of it. The Twinda link suddenly vanishes, and you hiss in annoyance. Raphael is continuing his assault on the angel, harassing it, but he can't keep it up for much longer. His movements are already starting to become jerky and slow.

"A wife is angered. A great demon has been taken. An evil man garbed in an angel's clothing is coming..."

>>>Input Command

>A great demon has been taken
Oh fuck, he already has Leviathan. Michelle, I hope you're alive.

>fight or flight?
If we run, we lose Raphael, for sure. He'll either be killed, or the next time we see him, Marc will have had him completely brainraped.

If we fight, there's a reasonable chance we get someone on our side killed, even if we win. We're going against someone with major power.

...I think we have to do this. If we run, we might be able to build up more support (Aria, the Doc?), and prepare, but so will he. He'll purge any allies we have in his organization (if he hasn't already), and take apart what we've tried to build. And he'll be hunting us. The price for more time is prohibitive. Right now Marc is coming in angry- and alone. One of his avatars is tied up. We can chose where to engage him. This is as good a chance as we're going to get- next time he may be at full strength, and have allies at his back.

Guys... I'm sorry. I don't know if we're going to make it through this. But we can't let this continue. Marc's betrayed what we stand for, and he's used us. He's hurting people- even our own. It has to stop. If I don't get the chance to say this again... thank you.

Move to intercept- we hit Marc before he can get here. Basic plan of action: hit him with the anti breaker cylinder. And then, instead of sucking up his power? Use battlefield instinct to fill him full of bullets.

"Guys... I'm sorry. I don't know if we're going to make it through this. But we can't let this continue. Marc's betrayed what we stand for, and he's used us. He's hurting people- even our own. It has to stop. If I don't get the chance to say this again... thank you. "

The group with you is silent for a long time, everyone mulling over what you've said, and the things that have happened. It's Cass who breaks the silence first, sighing and stepping up next to you.

"Well, I am your partner, right? And I can't think of a better time where'd you need someone completely murder crazy. Let's leave the fucker in a pool of his own blood, yeah?"

Elizabeth is next, humming to herself as she twiddles her fingers, her two captured puppets settling their guns into more comfortable positions.

"The end is uncertain, but the path is set. To see what can't be seen... that is the goal."

Nicole lights up a cigarette and inhales the smoke, breathing out only once before tossing the barely used tobacco away. She looks almost bored, but you can see how tense she is from the way she holds herself.

"Damn. To think I joined up originally just to have some good fights, and now I'm determining the fate of the entire organization. If we survive this, you'd better make damn sure I get rewarded for this crap."

Chris says nothing, instead choosing to draw her blade and simply stare out at the battlefield. She's ready. All the remains is the order to act.

You find yourself strangely bolstered by the presence of your allies, your friends, and can't help but smile even in this grim situation. At least you know that you won't be going in alone. Then, it's time to go Avatar hunting. Elizabeth points the way, and the small group takes off, using Elizabeth's sight to keep away from the smaller groups and conserve their strength for Conner. Minutes pass, and just as you reach the other side of the compound, you hear a sudden thunderous crash, and Leviathan comes tearing out of the ground, rearing his body up into the air. Marc stands on top of the serpents head, looking bored, Amelia behind him, seated on the side of the things head. Almost instantly, however, he notices you, and the serpent lowers itself to allow it's riders to dismount.

"So... you're still alive."

"No thanks to you, you fucker."

"Now Cassandra, that is hardly the way to speak to me. I saved you from execution as a mass murderer-"

"And made me murder for you instead, for a goal you don't even believe in! Fuck off and DIE!"

Marc shakes his head sadly, then his eyes grow hard. Amelia suddenly begins to radiate fear, power, strength, and your whole group braces itself. The time to fight has come. You immediately drop to one knee, reaching behind you to grasp at the anti-breaking cannon. Suddenly, Amelia is in front of you, arm stabbing downward, only to be intercepted by Chris, sword deflecting the attack and striking back. Both are insanely quick, and the flashes of movement above you are almost too quick to follow. Leviathan lets out a roar of rage and charges at Elizabeth, who calmly directs her two puppets to begin firing at the thing, even as Nicole suddenly places herself in its path and smashes her fist into it, halting it's forward momentum. Cass revs up the chainsaw in her hands, her eyes already giving off the murderous intent, but instead of helping out with the others, she goes after the object of her hatred, Marc.

He backpedals as she swings, the first attack narrowly missing cutting open his chest, but as the second swing comes down for the kill, Amelia is suddenly not in front of you anymore, instead appearing in front of Cass, grabbing her arm and snapping it like a twig before snatching her chainsaw from the air and ramming it into the other woman's gut, revving it and giving Cass a taste of her own murder technique. Its now you hear the doll speak for the first time, and it's unsettling how life like and human it seems.

"YOU WILL NOT TOUCH MY HUSBAND!"

BP:26
Cass BP: 25
Elizabeth BP:17
Nicole BP: 12
Chris BP: 23

Marc BP: 56

>>>Input Command

Cue final boss music. One way or another, this is gonna end the thread.

Oh gods, so self conscious that no one else voted on that. Anyone dies, it's my stupid fault. D=

>Leviathan
...gods I hope Michelle is alive. ;-; Although she's lost Levi. Maybe there's a way to retune stolen foci? (Something for the doc to investigate, I guess. Assuming we win and that she's alive. Not great odds of that, but he fucked up with Blades, and he would have been in a rush to deal with us).

>BPs
Alright... Amelia's manifestation cost is 10. Leviathan's is 11. The Angel's is unknown. We saw him manifest Amelia earlier, and it hasn't been 10hrs since then. He had to have paid Leviathan's cost after taking him. That means Marc has at least 77BP. (That or dreamer forgot to subtract). Sort of in sync with out own growth since we last saw him?

Regardless, battlefield instinct is the only way we have to burn through that much BP (tubes only did 10BP damage to Trevor. Although maybe it scales based off the total?). We have to wait for the perfect moment, where he's down, and we can't be stopped to draw both handguns and empty every bullet we have into him. (Or possibly borrow one of Liz's puppets' guns for that if they've got a magazine capacity higher than 30). This is a pricey move through- we have to wait for just the right moment, and not blow our wad preemptively.

>Fear Radiates
I don't suppose Elizabeth can cancel that out with her own fear itself? Or at least level the playing field, so both sides are suffering the effects? Marc's consumed by anger, and trying to manage three unstable, angry personalities connected to his own, with no practice. You'd think as a group they'd be pretty vulnerable to a psych attack.

>Amelia
So sudden appearance appears to be a free version of Chris' blink. And she's not sporting finesse 3 with that speed, nor strength five anymore if she overpowered Cass so easy. (Although, Cass is about to come back with a Bloody Massacre).

>"YOU WILL NOT TOUCH MY HUSBAND!"
I gave him every opportunity to prove himself worthy of my trust. He's the one who failed us. He lies to his allies. Turns on those he works with. Enslaved the mid of my friend, threatened my daughter's life, and kills senselessly in his lust for avatars- because you aren't partner enough for him!

>battle plans
Manifest tank gun + homing ammo, and blow Amelia off of Cass. (She can't even use Cass a shield to block your shot- Cass is already dead or dying, and unlike Blades, she shouldn't revive fast enough for you to kill her again). Reorient and fire on Marc ASAP- he'll either die again, or Amelia will blink in front of the shot, or to attack you (giving Chris a free hit countering). Either way, Cass will be back up on her feet and at full power, close to Marc. And he'll be paying more BP to repair the damage to Amelia (her repair can't be free too... right?!).

Short term objectives: hit something with an anti-breaker blast. Marc, or either avy. I suspect this will put an avatar hit out of commission (or force Marc to pay costs to maintain it). Marc being hit would stop him from spending BP to help the Avys, although I doubt we'd be lucky enough for them to fall down.

Press Marc hard. We can't afford to play with the avatars, giving him the time, space and concentration to to break offensively in an effective manner. He needs to be off guard, trying to stay alive, with someone cutting him up or shooting him at all times.

Press hard on the psychological front, too. We know from Michelle that avatars have a mind of their own- and can be hard to control. Marc is controlling three at once, for the first time. Make it harder on him. Attack his and Amelia's relationship (excellent target for Elizabeth, actually, if she can see into Marc's past). Attack Leviathan's pride- and his failure to protect Michelle and serving her enemy. Attack Marc's own hypocrisy. (Keep fighting while shouting this shit, of course).

Nic and Elizabeth can probably keep Leviathan busy. Don't be afraid to back them up by tank gunning him in the eye again if they need it, or possibly freezing him right before one of Nicole's punches connects for massive shatter damage. If he tries to use Devour (he may not- Marc hasn't had time to experiment and learn Leviathan's full capabilities) I highly suggest interrupting him with a homing bullet to the face to interrupt. Or hell, Cass and Chris can ride the wave down and unzip him as the go with their respective weapons.

Cass shouldn't be afraid to turn on her flamethrower mid-swing. That's a good way to turn a near miss into a face on fire.

It might be possible to use Amelia's teleporting against her? If you know where she's going to jump to, you might be able to force her into taking a hit. Or (crazy idea) if Chris blinks at the same time, it might be possible to make an attack while they're both between locations.

We can't count on Aria showing up in time to help (though a Deus ex Machina would be awful nice right now). If there's an emergency distress or "I could sure use a giant robo right now" button on your watch, this would be a good time to mash it (although we really can't waste the time to examine or fiddle with it- good way to get killed).

One thing to add, the instant all his avatars are busy with someone and he is under 40 BP use our special ability with the pistols to take him down quickly.

Other then that >>486539 sounds good as anything.

"I gave him every opportunity to prove himself worthy of my trust. He's the one who failed us. He lies to his allies. Turns on those he works with. Enslaved the mid of my friend, threatened my daughter's life, and kills senselessly in his lust for avatars- because you aren't partner enough for him!"

You drop the tube you'd pulled out and manifest your rifle, homing rounds loaded in, and fire at Amelia, blowing the doll off of Cass. The doll breaks into pieces instead of bleeding, the chainsaw sliding out of Cass and letting her respawn. Your friend picks up her weapon, growling angrily, even as Amelia reassembles herself, body fitting back together and cracks reforming into smooth surfaces.

You reorient even as all that is happening, this time firing a round at Marc. Amelia doesn't appear, instead, Marc seems to take the round in the chest, stumble slightly, then be fine, while Leviathan suddenly roars in pain behind you.

"Ah... so it works with an avatar other than Amelia. Very fortunate..."

Marc seems unconcerned, even lighting up a cigarette and taking in a lungful of smoke. He regards you with ease, humming slight as he exhales, even as Amelia responds to your tuants.

"You don't understand, little woman, I made him that way. He will do anything for me, and he is doing anything he can for me. I died. I KNOW I died. But with his ability to shatter reality, with his strength, he could bring me back. We could be together again. As long as that's possible, I will suffer beside him."

Throughout her talking, you drop the rifle next to you and retrieve the anti-breaker tube, picking a target and deciding that Leviathan is the most troublesome at the moment. You pop off the cap and whatever it is that shoots out hits the avatar, making the massive serpent start thrashing and writhing in pain. A sudden look of pain hits Marc as well, but he endures, choosing instead to close his eyes. You can feel the sudden warping of reality around you, and the tubes in your hands and on your back are suddenly gone, instead lying at Marc's feet.

"Ho... What are these? Inventions from that doctor I failed to kill, I should think..."

Marc starts to bend down, only to have someone interrupt the motion with a sudden jab to the stomach. Cass has arrived, and she lets her chainsaw rip through the man. Still, while he is clearly in pain, he isn't dying. Instead, Leviathans roars in pain again, thrashing even harder, as if something is tearing up his insides.

Amelia, on the other hand, has suddenly appeared next to Elizabeth and literally ripping the young girl's head off. The body parts are tossed to the side, the doll instead stepping forwards to grab a surprised Nicole and snap her neck with brutal efficiency. Chris then suddenly steps in, blade flashing, and the pair go into their deadly dances, blurs of motion and sparks flying as blade clashes with arm. Leviathans pained thrashings cease as well, the giant serpent suddenly turning his attention on Cass and lunging forward, snatching her away from it's new master and hurling the woman into the air, jaw waiting to consume. You interrupt the only way you have available, even as you bend to retrieve the tank gun.

"Levi! What about Michelle?! What happened to her?! You're supposed to be her avatar, not Marc's! And you failed! You failed to protect your master the first time! And you're even serving her killer! What about that proves you're actually worth something?!"

Leviathan, distracted by being addressed using it's old nickname, misses crunching Cass between it's teeth. Instead, Cass lands painfully on the ground, bones snapping. Another death regardless, but at least she hasn't been eaten or something equally unpleasant. The serpent instead turns on you, jaw wide, and lunges. You bring the rifle as you dodge, but it's jaws close on your torso. You feel death coming quick, but before you die, you fire a round straight into it's forehead, sending blood everywhere. Then death and revival, you're completing a backwards roll which narrowly escaped the Leviathans jaws, and the serpent's damage is beginning to repair itself, even as Marc cringes in pain. You glance around you, hoping to find something you can use, only to suddenly feel a crash fairly close to you. The Angel touching down next to Marc a ball of... of... REALITY. You can taste it. You KNOW. That is what the doctor wants. REALITY. And you can taste more than just the fact that is reality. It's somehow... familiar. Frightening, in an almost... comforting sort of way.

"Ah... very good, Angelica. Very good. What is that, though? Feels so very... real. Hm. Regardless, now isn't the time to ponder th-"

His sentence is cut short by you firing a round into his face, the Angel this time taking it straight to the face, dropping the chunk of reality as it collapses into pieces. Cass glances at you quizzically, and you shrug. What? He was starting to monologue. Wasn't your fault he left himself open.

BP:22
Cass BP: 23
Elizabeth BP: 16 Lost control of puppets
Nicole BP: 11
Chris BP: 18

Marc BP: 50

>>>Input Command

Plan:

Cass keeps on Marc. As long as Levi is being hurt instead of him it keeps them both out of the game. Linda should shatter Angelica and Amelia as much as possible with her gun. try to jink around the battlefield to line up shots for multiple targets. We have great finesse but we always seem to stand still. Should Amelia chase us Chris should go for the tubes and open up both of them at Marc at the same time. Nicole and Emily should team up to hold down an avatar as much as possible.

Should Leviathan start up Devour whomever is near should toss the other avatars into his mouth.

Keep an eye on Marcs BP.

If he gives us a chance like that again, we need to reload and burn Battlefield Instinct instead of just getting a single shot off.

Death 15 to Leviathan.

I'm kind of disappointed Cass didn't open him up with her chainsaw as she fell past him.

>Angelica
Fuck. Raphael only bought us one round. Hopefully he's alive. Although his will hasn't broken and forced him to come after us, at least.

She fights with lasers, right? If she gets the chance, I'd like to see Chris impossibly deflect a laser with a katana into the enemy. (C'mon, rule of cool says that has to work).

>Beloved
Well, now we know what that does. Allows an avatar to take a hit, protecting Marc from harm. Obviously there's a roll for it, since it hasn't kicked in each time. That's going to interfere with our ability to use battlefield instinct to pump him full of bullets. (Arguably, he could only deflect 3 bullets, one for each avatar. But if we're using the handguns for the burst, it's quite likely Amelia or Angelica can shug off small arms fire. He could deflect the entire burst at no cost!).

We therefore need to be very careful about using battlefield instinct- we need a shot where it can't be defected harmlessly into Angelica or Amelia.

>possible checkmate
The anti breaking tubes are at Marc's feet. He's distracted- looking at the raw reality that just fell to the ground. Chris can blink to him, cutting him down with one hand, scooping up the cylinders with the other, and fire at point blank range (bring the sword had down on the backstroke to knock the cap off as the off hand scoops and raises the cylinder towards him. She totally has the finesse to pull that off). At the same time Linda tank blasts Amelia, and Cass jams a flaming chainsaw into Leviathan (she's should respawn right next to him) preventing either of them from covering him with beloved (the angel is already busy respawning). If this works he'll be momentarily crippled, reeling and powerless- leaving Linda the brief window to draw both handguns and use battlefield instinct on him (the avatars should be too busy respawning to use beloved, and since it's his ability, it may not function while he's under the effect of anti-breaking). Then Chris can fire the draining tube. All told, that should cost him a whooping forty BP (if the breaking tubes do a fixed 10 damage, and don't scale with max or current BP of the target).

At the same time? Nicole should go for the raw reality. Use a super punch and newton's third law to rocket propel her towards it if she has it, and her momentum + her first to knock Angelica away as she tries to intercept. Scoop it up and clear.

>Anti breaking tubes
Whatever happens, you cannot let Marc, Amelia or Angelica use those against you or your allies. If a avatar attempts to use them, you can take the weapons away with an active break (just like Marc did!) or you can shoot them (a bothed roll on the snatch would probably destroy them too). Would suck to lose them, but we cannot afford to let them be used on our allies.

>raw reality
We can't let Marc use that to fuel a break. At spirit 8, he's already very powerful. That fueling it makes it a game breaker. Snatch it away from him. Shoot it with the anti-breaking cylinders if you have to (god, that'll probably be a big explosion). Use it to power a break yourself if you have to- or use it to fuel a collaborative break (Linda, Cass, Nic and Elizabeth all have active break) directed offensively at Conner (if that works? We could probably literally erase him from existence).

Shooting it or breaking with it are both desperate options though- probably with very dangerous consequences. Use only to prevent Marc from using it.

>lost control of Puppets
Hey, you guys work for Jared? That guy (and his avatars) is asshole who beat your boss' girlfriend to a bloody pulp! (If we have to take them out, immobilizing them with ice to set up a Nicole knock out punch is probably the fastest way). Not sure it's worth the 4BP for Elizabeth to recapture them, especially if she loses them each time she dies.

>Elizabeth
Take up the psych attack. Put that precog to use- throw fear itself at all 4 personalities. Between Marc, Amelia, Angelica and Leviathin there have to be buttons she can hit. All she has to do is get them to hesitate, or sufer momentary distraction, to allow the others room to maneuver and attack. (Actually getting Conner to lose control of one of the avatars this way is a reach goal, but it would be awesome if we rolled a critical success).

>Should Leviathan start up Devour whomever is near should toss the other avatars into his mouth.
Awesome. Cass or Nic totally have the str for that. And both other avatars are made of fairly inedible materials- he could choke on them. (although, if they get sucked up, I still like the idea of Cass or Chris just cutting Levi open as they get sucked in).

"Chris! The Tubes!"

Chris reacts instantly, the flashing blades and arms suddenly halting as Chris jumps right next to Marc, using her leg to kick the tube up into her waiting hands. She seen what you did before, and mimics it perfectly, the cap coming off the tube just as it lines up with Marc. At the same time, you fire off a tank round into the suddenly overbalanced Amelia's face, shattering her body into bits.

"Cass! The Snake! Stab the snake NOW!"

Cass needs no invitations, her chainsaw discarded and forgotten in favor of her preferred weapons. The twin knives sprout into existence, and she leaps into the air, landing on the snake's nose and jabbing the daggers into the soft tissue of it's eye. Leviathan screams in rage, thrashing about and sending Cass hurtling off of him into a tree, snapping her spine. Still, the damage is done, and Marc suddenly collapses as the thing shooting out of the tube slams into his chest. All the avatars suddenly hesitate, like something had glitches inside them, and you take the opportunity to do what you do best. You drop the tank rifle again, draw your twin pistols, and pull that gut feeling out, firing of 30 rounds instantly. 27 out of the thirty hit, sending his number falling dramatically, to a mere 13.

"Chris! The other tube! The other tube!"

Chris drops the tube she's holding and snatches up the other tube, popping off the cap and sucking out another ten points from the boss. Mind released from it's hold, however, he's got the chance to do something tricks of his own.

"AMELIA! NOW! LEVIATHAN... SIPHON!"

Marcs number drops to 1 for a second. Suddenly, Amelia is behind Elizabeth, who for a moment, looks surprised, then suddenly simply looks accepting. Her gaze turns on you even as the avatar grasps the girl, and hoists her into the air, and you hear a voice in your head, one so very accepting of it's fate, even as Chris is intercepted by Angelica in an attempt to reach the girl.

"I see, now. Why I could not look past this point. I was not meant to."

Nicole tries to throw something at Leviathan to push him from his path, but Amelia is suddenly in the way, ripping Nicole's arms from her shoulders and killing her before she can complete her movement.

"Do not despair. I have seen what happens beyond. There is a future, a future you need to bring about. I have played my part in forging that future. I go now, to be with the Nightmare in the place that comes next... Goodbye... Linda."

Then Leviathan's jaw closes around the girl, and a flash of something happens inside it's mouth. A scream of pure pain rips through the air, and then Leviathan deposits a lifeless corpse onto the ground, no number floating above it, no feel of unreality. Instead, you notice as Marc gets up, some of his number restored. Your rage comes next, rage and despair. You WILL kill him!

YOU WILL KILL HIM!

The rounds in your 9mm's reload, and you turn to face your target. Without even pausing to glance at the varios dolls arrayed against you, you begin walking forward relentlessly, your only thought ending Marc's life.

"SHE DIDN'T DESERVE TO DIE!"

Amelia moves to get in your way, but Chris is there to intercept, blocking her path without mercy every time she tries to appear next to you. When the doll tries to get in your shot path, Cass is there, forcing her out of your line of sight.

"SHE WASN'T EVEN A REAL THREAT!"

Leviathan tries to drop down onto you, but Nicole, no longer hampered by Amelia, smashes into it's side, sending it hurtling off into a wall. She begins beating on it relentlessly, never letting up.

"YOU MURDERED HER FOR NOTHING! FOR ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!"

The Angel, for some reason, hangs back, choosing instead to watch, almost like it didn't actually care what happened to Marc. Almost like it was thinking entirely for itself.

"YOU! WILL! DIE!"

You unload another burst of rounds into the man, sending him sprawling onto his back. Leviathan takes the brunt of that damage done to it's new master, but Marc is still brought to his last life, his last death before finally being dead and gone for good. And you... you call your tank gun and do what you've found is becoming something of a habit. You deliver the last death with sheer overkill, Marc disappearing from the world as nothing more than a bloody mess.

The instant Marc is gone, Leviathan is back in his doll form, and Amelia goes lifeless. Even Angelica drops from the sky, crashing to earth without so much as a whisper of movement. You find yourself tired, so very tired, and you collapse onto your knees.

Elizabeth... gone... just like that...

The others wander over to you, all looking tired and gloomy. At least one of your members, odd as she was, is dead, and its coming as a shock to everyone. Even Cass, normally needing to be dragged back to reality, is staring at Elizabeth's corpse.

You breath heavily, wishing you could do... something. Then you feel something pulse next to you, and you glance down to find the raw reality, humming away slightly. You frown, staring at it...

Raw reality...

>>>Input Command

(Jebus Christ, the checkmate worked. I did not expect that. We got damn lucky, till Leviathan pulled a new trick).

Active break. Pull Raphael's body here.

Marc thought he could use that Raw Reality to bring his dead wife back? Let's see if that works. Should be easier here- the bodies aren't even cold yet. (Or if this is a abuse of time- the events we're trying to change aren't as far back).

Link up. Collaborate break- like we did before. Use everyone here. Cass, Nicole, Chris, and Linda. Get Jared's guys to help, if possible. (If they refuse, make it very clear they should be helping. The should be legitimately afraid for their lives if they refuse).

And then tap into the raw reality, and break like you've never broke before.

Throw everything we have into fixing this. At the end, not a single one of you should have any BP left. I don't care if the tank gun focus shatters from the energy flowing through it.

Our objectives: (prioritized, in order of what we can accomplish before we burn our the power available).

1) Resurrect Elizabeth.
2) Resurrect Raphael.
3) Reverse whatever slaughter Marc wrecked back at the base (saving Michelle and anyone else who fell victim to the effects).

If possible, this might be accomplished by an abuse of time. If we make it so MArc died an hour or so before we killed him- he would not have been able to accomplish any of the killings (a balefire kind of thing- burn his thread of the tapestry, and remove it's earlier influence). Hell, that would even undo the unnecessary attack we just lead on this facility.

Raw reality and a combined break might just work.

First of all: Loot everything. The tubes, the Reality, and any focii. See what Marc has on him, get the avatars together. If the angel is still moving on its own say hello. We should hold on to all 3 of them for spirit 6.

Next: Get into a nearby building. A motel would be the best. Cass should use normality so whomever is there doesn't notice anything odd. We need to get off the street right now. (Like the corpse of Elizabeth.)

Next: Send Chris to see if Raphael is still alive and bring him back here. dead or alive.

Last: Combined break using the Raw Reality to revive our dead.

>>486580
Oh I like that. Make him die an hour or two before he died. All we're doing is saying look hes dead. So its not a big deal that hes dead earlier then before now is it?

Looting the avatars, and using the XP to immediately push Linda to spirit 6 (all we need is 2XP from the fight, 1XP from each avy) to strengthen the break is an excellent idea. As is chugging the blue potion from the tube for more power.

I don't think we should send someone for Raphael, though. Breaking him here is faster. Nor do I think we can afford the time to get off the street- if we can abuse time here, we need to get it done as fast as possible. The further we let events proceed into the past, the harder they will be to reverse.

People we might be able to bring back with this break:

Elizabeth
Raphael
Michelle + Cally [we have their foci!]

>>486605
>Cally
That's... possible. If we reach through foci and not time.

I didn't mention it before because she's the deadest of them. The one longest gone. I didn't want to risk everyone else for her sake. And... changing the recent path is one thing. But fixing every death we regret is a slippery slope- that ends with Marc.

I mean, I wouldn't mind penciling her in as number 4 on the list of priorities, but it's dicey.

Cally seems way too far back to attempt. Michelle was alive this morning.

>>486610
Hell, an hour or two ago. We were talking to her immediately before we left for this ill fated mission.

>>486610
Ok, good logic. Let's stick to the three recently alive, then
Elizabeth Raphael and Michelle

I still like the balefire-ing Marc (killing him back in time an hour or two ago. Burning him out of reality, and letting the flames spread and consume his recent past), if it's possible. That would save a ton of lives. Our friends, and anyone who died back at base, or on either side in the assault we led on Jared's compound.

Hell, that's the best angel to get the two of Jared's men (Elizabeth's puppets) to cooperate and add this strength to the collaborative break. They will have lost friends here too. They'd rather this didn't happen.

>>486614
I agree with this. However if it isn't possible those three sound good.

You snatch up the raw reality, a somewhat insane plan forming in your head. If you could increase the strength of your break with this, and create a unified break on top of that...

You might have a chance to reverse some of the things Marc did in life.

"Cass! Gather Elizabeth's corpse and any foci you can get your hands on! Chris, head over to where Raphael was fighting, see if you can't find his body! Nicole... help me move us somewhere safer. I have a... plan... I guess."

All move to carry out your orders, the simple act of telling them there's still hope getting them moving. Nicole helps you over to an empty building, and you don't care enough to notice what kind. Instead, as you move, you glance back at the two puppets, who are looking very confused.

"Come on you two. We're gonna do something insanely hard, and any help would be appreciated. If all goes well, then you'll get your friends back as well."

The two blink in surprise, but follow along anyway, clearly willing to help. You set yourselves up, you grasping the reality like a lifeline. It's the only hope you've got right now. Cass returns, placing Elizabeth's body down gently next to the pulsing shard of hope, while dumping the avatars to the side, and a few minutes later Chris arrives, shaking her head.

"I found only this."

She drops the object she's carrying in her hand into yours, and you stare at it as you fingers curl around it. Raphael's horse. He'd said it was important. You can still almost feel a tingle of fear emanating from the thing. Heh. Spiders...

You shake yourself from your thoughts, and quickly explain your idea. The others agree readily enough, they'll pour everything they have into this. A few minutes to set yourselves up into a loose circle, then you have the people to your right and left touch you so you can grasp the reality and begin pouring your will into it. It will bend for you. Reality WILL bend. You won't stop till it does.

Time will bend its knee to you.

You feel it as more and more power rushes into you, and you force it all into that one thought, that one drive. You feel yourself suddenly gazing into time itself, the mere glimpse you obtain nearly causing you to go insane, but you focus, ignoring the present and future, the mutable things, to gaze at that which is set in stone. Marc, massacring those at the base, the weaker members, the unprepared. Marc, coming here, killing Raphael, killing Elizabeth, destroying so much.

It never happened.

You force your will into that one thought, forcing reality to be the way you say it will. And you watch, as somehow, instead of being caught by surprise, Michelle was alerted by Leviathan to the danger, and with the warning, many of the breakers there managed to flee to safety. Without Leviathan in his grasp, Marc could not fight as he had, nor could he kill Elizabeth. He was defeated in mere minutes, and the pain of losing the young girl was never felt.

Reality does as you will.

Reality is, as you were told, your bitch.

A bright flash of light issues from the shard, and you can almost hear Raphael's laughter in the air before you black out, the sheer amount of power going through you finally taking it's toll.

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

You awaken, as if from a deep sleep. You remember dying. You had to have died. That was what was supposed to happen. The fabric of reality demanded it. You sit up, eyes flicking open, and you stare dumbfounded for the first time in a long time at the Warrior, the Puppets, the 23rd, even the Moon, all are gathered around the Angel, who's unconscious. For a moment, you are confused, then the jolt of possibilities hits you, and you realize what happened.

Even the fabric of reality could be rewoven.

You stare at the Angel, eyes narrowed a moment, and you can see, beneath the angelic exterior your sight grants you, the makings of something else. Something greater even than that. A smile forms on your lips, and you let yourself fall back onto the ground, the dozens of possible futures flickering across your sight like a television screen changing channels. So many possibilities to see, and none of them mattered. None of them meant a damn thing anymore.

You'd found her. You'd found her.

Someone who now existed outside the influence of reality.

End of Chapter 3

Boo. Fucking. Yah.

Reality is our bitch.

>the Moon
Huh. Nicole, maybe? I don't think we'd heard Elizabeth's name for her before.

Fingers crossed that Raphael made it back, too. The rewritten narrative didn't explicitly mention it, and neither did Elizabeth...

He did thankfully.