Maribel Quest Abridging - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

>How far is Renko from the door, now? How long do we think it will take her to reach it at the speed she's moving?
>Fly towards Alice. As we do, launch a direct stream at her. Try to shift it to follow her.

>She's about halfway there, and slowing down and more of the metal floats around the book. She turns around and starts to drag it.
>You fly toward Alice, firing upon her! She takes to the air, dodging left and out of the way of your stream by a fraction of a second.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Shift the stream to follow and continue to close on Alice
>"Are you pulling on that? Or can it just not get too far from you?"

[Hello Purvis]

>Shift the stream to follow and continue to close on Alice
>"Are you pulling on that? Or can it just not get too far from you?"

>You shift the stream to follow Alice, and she continues to move, circling part of the way around you. You're within a yard of her now!
>"Nothing so complicated," she says.

>_

[communist unity (comm-unity)]

> Can we tell if our time stop is 'recharged' or not?

[UncertainJakutten]

No, we can't. Already been asked

Just try to use it, and then have a back up action.

[DracoOmega]

>If attempting to stop time wouldn't interrupt our actions too much, try to do so.
>Assuming it does not work:
>"Then what?"
>Shift so that we're still generally between Alice and Renko
>Use our other hand to immediately switch the stream's position into directly where she's currently shifting to to avoid the first stream
>Set our altitude high enough to avoid Alice's own legs as we move in, and lash out to kick her

[Hello Purvis]

>If attempting to stop time wouldn't interrupt our actions too much, try to do so.
>Assuming it does not work:
>"Then what?"
>Shift so that we're still generally between Alice and Renko
>Use our other hand to immediately switch the stream's position into directly where she's currently shifting to to avoid the first stream
>Set our altitude high enough to avoid Alice's own legs as we move in, and lash out to kick her

>You try to stop time again. It doesn't seem to have recharged yet.
>"There's a reason it took most of my dolls to move all of that," says Alice.
>You move so that you're between her and Renko, and try to switch streams to your other hand. She changes directions, but not before one of the bullets clips her on the arm, drawing a wince from her.
>You try to flight high enough to avoid Alice's kicks, and find that she is ascending with you.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"But the metal isn't physically attached to the book."
>Keep following her with that stream. Try to move it in such a way that dodging to the side is preferable to backing up.
>Try to kick her from the side that she'd be forced to retreat to
>If we see her lash out in response, try to shift our body's orientation closer to 'lying on our stomach' than 'standing up in the air'. Essentially pulling our lower body back away from the blow while remaining close to her. ...unless she's targeting our upper body, that is.

[Hello Purvis]

>"But the metal isn't physically attached to the book."
>Keep following her with that stream. Try to move it in such a way that dodging to the side is preferable to backing up.
>Try to kick her from the side that she'd be forced to retreat to
>If we see her lash out in response, try to shift our body's orientation closer to 'lying on our stomach' than 'standing up in the air'. Essentially pulling our lower body back away from the blow while remaining close to her. ...unless she's targeting our upper body, that is.

>"Look again."
>You try to keep the stream on her. As you keep it up, the bullets are growing more and more sparse, and you're starting to wear yourself out.
>You are not sure you can kick and fire at the same time. Or at least, kick and not fire randomly all over the place.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Then drop the stream and kick in the position she's dodging towards

[Hello Purvis]

>Then drop the stream and kick in the position she's dodging towards

>You drop the stream and kick out at Alice! She moves back from the strike; you graze her a bit, but don't feel it connect solidly. "My, you're fond of that," she says.
>"Ow fuck!" Renko says.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Don't take our eyes off Alice.
>"Renko! If you can't make it, let it go. Don't get yourself cut up."
>Pause for a moment, to give ourself a breath to recharge, then shift both vertical and horizontal position quickly and launch a cloud at Alice

[Hello Purvis]

>Don't take our eyes off Alice.
>"Renko! If you can't make it, let it go. Don't get yourself cut up."
>Pause for a moment, to give ourself a breath to recharge, then shift both vertical and horizontal position quickly and launch a cloud at Alice

>You keep yours on the magician in front of you, as she continues to appraise you with an unreadable expression.
>"Way ahead of you, Mary! What now?"
>"I did warn you," says Alice. "If it makes you feel better, it doesn't look bad."
>You give yourself a moment to recharge. How do you want to move?

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"What does it seem to be doing, Renko?"
>Shift aside to open to open a line of fire to Alice from where Renko seems to be and descend.
>Then fire as described above
>After the first blast, make a quick course correction with a slightly random vertical and lateral vector that continues to widen the angle between us and Renko and fire again

[Hello Purvis]

>"What does it seem to be doing, Renko?"
>Shift aside to open to open a line of fire to Alice from where Renko seems to be and descend.
>Then fire as described above
>After the first blast, make a quick course correction with a slightly random vertical and lateral vector that continues to widen the angle between us and Renko and fire again

>"Assembling," Renko says, "One of the bits got me. It looks like a robot!"
>You shift aside, and Alice does as well, suddenly darting around and past you. You fire your cloud, one of the shots catching her in the foot, but otherwise passing by harmlessly.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Try to keep her from reaching it!"
>Turn around and pursue. Fire a little at her, as we can
>Spare a glance at the assembling pile

[Jana]

>Wow, magic and robots? Gensokyo has everything!
>Don't marvel for too long, though.

[MysTeariousYukari]

> "Oh come on, it's THAT?! Didn't think you knew of that Alice."
> Hax and Timestop, shank Alice.

[E-Nazrin]

>"And blast it before it can assemble properly!"
>Watch Alice's expression. See what she thinks of that suggestion - a smirk means that probably wouldn't do much.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Try to keep her from reaching it!"
>Turn around and pursue. Fire a little at her, as we can
>Spare a glance at the assembling pile

>"Got it!" says Renko.
>You turn around and see Alice flying for the other side of the gallery. You pursue, firing at her. But she seems to have the foresight to move to and fro in no set pattern. Your shots do not connect.
>Not far from the doors to the next gallery, you can barely see the book anymore, as it is surrounded by metal. Parts are flying around it almost too fast to see, integrating themselves into the whole. It looks rather like a humanoid robot, though closer to Byakuren in height than anything human. Its body seems spindly and skeletal, which plates here and there that resemble armor. It is also missing several large chunks of tits torso and limbs.

>Wow, magic and robots? Gensokyo has everything!
>Don't marvel for too long, though.

>It's honestly pretty incredible-looking, were things not so dire you would marvel at it!
>Renko fires on Alice, but the magician moves aside easily from the attack.
>As you try to follow, you find the two dolls coming at you from the side.

> "Oh come on, it's THAT?! Didn't think you knew of that Alice."
> Hax and Timestop, shank Alice.

>You have no shanking tools. Boot to the head.

>"And blast it before it can assemble properly!"
>Watch Alice's expression. See what she thinks of that suggestion - a smirk means that probably wouldn't do much.

>"Pick one!" says Renko, as she fires at Alice again.
>You cannot see her expression.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Focus on Alice! If she's down, this is over."
>Launch clouds at her as we pursue, their overall size based on the width of the area she's shifting position in. Unless she looks back to dodge, there a better chance that something will connect.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Focus on Alice! If she's down, this is over."
>Launch clouds at her as we pursue, their overall size based on the width of the area she's shifting position in. Unless she looks back to dodge, there a better chance that something will connect.

>You fire a wide cloud at Alice. To make it speedy enough to catch up with her, you can't put nearly as many bullets into it as you would like. Still, it's is enough that she has to look back for a moment, giving Renko time to send a burst her way. Alice is not able to dodge it in time, and you can see several of its bullets hit her.
>Then she flies over Renko, putting her back to the wall.
>The two dolls open fire on you, sending out speedy shots. in your general direction.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>What is the rough position of each party in the room, relative to each other and the room itself?

[Hello Purvis]

>What is the rough position of each party in the room, relative to each other and the room itself?

>You are presently in the middle of the gallery, roughly. Alice has reached the east side, being a bit faster than you and having a head start. She is not far from the doors to the next gallery. Her construct is also close to the doors. Renko is a little ways from Alice, a bit to the northwest by a few yards. The dolls are to the north of you by several yards. Everyone save the construct is flying.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Ascend quickly, and shift south a little, but keep moving towards Alice
>Fire a similar attack to the previous one at her

[Hello Purvis]

>Ascend quickly, and shift south a little, but keep moving towards Alice
>Fire a similar attack to the previous one at her

>You ascend quickly, the dolls' bullets passing under you, and keep closing in on Alice. You fire another wide cloud at her. She barely budges from where she is to dodge around it.
>Instead, she reaches along her arm and seems to remove something from around it.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Barely budged, yet still dodged? Was our aim that lousy?
>Can we tell at all what she just removed?

[E-Nazrin]

It's probably a control device for the bot. CRUSHY SMASH! Or steal.

[Hello Purvis]

>Barely budged, yet still dodged? Was our aim that lousy?
>Can we tell at all what she just removed?

>Wide clouds are not very dense. So less your aim was lousy and more that flak-style attacks are not very good against targets that are no longer moving quickly.
>You don't know, but just from past experience, you suspect it may be more strings.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>If she's no longer moving quickly, switch to more concentrated streams

>Did we use all of the oil of vibration? Or only almost all of it?