Maribel Quest Abridging - A Z-Machine Adventure

[DracoOmega]

>Raise their hands to fire?
>If it appears so, shift aside from incoming fire
>Launch a few quick streams of danmaku at them in response
>Try to keep moving forward as we take out the dolls

[Hello Purvis]

>Raise their hands to fire?
>If it appears so, shift aside from incoming fire
>Launch a few quick streams of danmaku at them in response
>Try to keep moving forward as we take out the dolls

>Very much so.
>You shift to the side, and oh dear that is a whole lot of danmaku filling up the hall.
>You launch a quick stream, and it is lost in the wave of bullets coming your way.
>You don't think you can move forward for long.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Dodge as best we can
>Keep up fire on the dolls
>About how many do there appear to be?

[Hello Purvis]

>Dodge as best we can
>Keep up fire on the dolls
>About how many do there appear to be?

>You try to dodge and return fire, when Renko grabs you and literally drags you away from the door frame.
>"Don't stand in front of that!" she says while wincing,  as dozens upon dozens of shots go past you through the door, many brushing uncomfortably close.
>You think that there were about more than a dozen, but probably less than two dozen.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>....what door frame? Weren't we in a hallway?
>Poke our head around the edge of the door frame long enough to take a quick shot or two at individual dolls, and then retreat back to cover between shots, giving time for their own fire to pass
>Assuming they don't swarm us and we're succeeding in taking some out this way, keep it up

[Hello Purvis]

>....what door frame? Weren't we in a hallway?
>Poke our head around the edge of the door frame long enough to take a quick shot or two at individual dolls, and then retreat back to cover between shots, giving time for their own fire to pass
>Assuming they don't swarm us and we're succeeding in taking some out this way, keep it up

>You didn't get more than a step inside before the dolls started shooting.
>You poke your head out and snipe at them. You see a few detaching from the main group and approaching you. The rest send another wave of danmaku your way.
>You also notice that there are three sets of double doors on the south side of the hallway; the middle set are open.

>_

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Fire on the approaching ones
>Move back out of the way for the next danmaku wave to pass
>Are all of the dolls between us and those doors?

[Hello Purvis]

>Fire on the approaching ones
>Move back out of the way for the next danmaku wave to pass
>Are all of the dolls between us and those doors?

>You fire on the approaching dolls, but they are small targets, and rather quick when they're not fleeing in a straight line; you manage to hit one of the seven coming for you.
>Ducking behind the door, another wave of danmaku passes. "Getting on the other side," says Renko.
>Not all of them are between you and it, but a good number are.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Go. I'll cover you."
>Lean out of cover and fire medium sized clouds of danmaku, grapeshot style. Aim generally towards targets, but worry less about hitting anything in particular than hitting something.
>Once more shots are about to reach us, move back to cover.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Go. I'll cover you."
>Lean out of cover and fire medium sized clouds of danmaku, grapeshot style. Aim generally towards targets, but worry less about hitting anything in particular than hitting something.
>Once more shots are about to reach us, move back to cover.

>She nods, and darts across as next wave of fire flies past.
>You send a couple of medium-sized clouds toward the encroaching dolls. You manage to hit a couple of them, causing them to stagger. You also notice a few shouts fly from the open doors. Stray bullets?
>You hear some shots behind you.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Turn, while moving out of line of the hall
>Identify source of the shots behind us
>Move to dodge out of the way of these
>If the source is more dolls, fire on them

[Hello Purvis]

>Turn, while moving out of line of the hall
>Identify source of the shots behind us
>Move to dodge out of the way of these
>If the source is more dolls, fire on them

>You turn and move, as a line of shots flies just past you, making your arm tingle, and hits the wall.
>You see that doll that was stirring in the foyer when you passed through. She is sitting up and aiming at you.
>You fire on her, but she flops out of the way, landing on her belly and taking to the air.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Fire on her again. Something fast.
>"We're really going to have to pick up the pace, Renko, if we're going to get these down before they all just come back up again."

[Hello Purvis]

>Fire on her again. Something fast.
>"We're really going to have to pick up the pace, Renko, if we're going to get these down before they all just come back up again."

>You shoot at the doll again; sending short, speeding line at her that drops her back down.
>You start to warn Renko, but she cries "Incoming!" and moves back against the door.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Take her advice and scramble to cover
>Once danmaku wave passes, peak around corner and try to take another doll or two out
>How many more are between us and the door?

[Hello Purvis]

>Take her advice and scramble to cover
>Once danmaku wave passes, peak around corner and try to take another doll or two out
>How many more are between us and the door?

>You duck around the door, another wave of danmaku flies through the door. You move to shoot, but find more shots coming at you from an angle! It seems a couple of those dolls that we approaching have hugged the wall and are at an angle to shoot your despite your cover!

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Take aim at them and fire, while retreating further along the wall away from the door, so that line-of-fire to these dolls is again blocked
>"Renko, can you see how many of them there are out there, between us and those doors?"

[Hello Purvis]

>Take aim at them and fire, while retreating further along the wall away from the door, so that line-of-fire to these dolls is again blocked
>"Renko, can you see how many of them there are out there, between us and those doors?"

>You fire on the encroaching dolls, while backing away hitting one of them and sending her to the ground.
>"Enough!" Renko says as she fires into hall, then quickly draws back as the ones sniping at you shoot at her.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I'm worried we won't be able to get through them as quickly as they get up again."
>Lean away from the wall to expose a line of fire to the other encroaching dolls and blast some of them
>About how far down the corridor were the open doors?

[Hello Purvis]

>"I'm worried we won't be able to get through them as quickly as they get up again."
>Lean away from the wall to expose a line of fire to the other encroaching dolls and blast some of them
>About how far down the corridor were the open doors?

>"Maybe we're not hitting them hard enough? Faeries are like that."
>You lean from the wall, and shoot at the encroaching dolls; taking down another one and drawing back before they can counter. There should only be one left now
>About halfway down the hall.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Attempt to take out the next encroaching doll through the same method
>Then turn to each currently incapacitated doll (that we can see, or shift to see without opening ourselves to hall fire) in the sequence we disabled them, and shoot them each several times again for good measure.

[Hello Purvis]

>Attempt to take out the next encroaching doll through the same method
>Then turn to each currently incapacitated doll (that we can see, or shift to see without opening ourselves to hall fire) in the sequence we disabled them, and shoot them each several times again for good measure.

>You lean forward, and hit the next and presumably last of the encroaching dolls. She goes falls down, and it doesn't seem like there's any more there.
>You have a pretty clear shot at the three dolls that are in the room; you see one of them is stirring; she stops when you shoot her; the other two don't react to your shots, but better to be safe than sorry.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Peek around the corner
>Estimate remaining dolls between here and the open doors
>Launch a few grapeshot clouds at any clustered dolls. If no such clusters are to be found, fire something more concentrated

[Hello Purvis]

>Peek around the corner
>Estimate remaining dolls between here and the open doors
>Launch a few grapeshot clouds at any clustered dolls. If no such clusters are to be found, fire something more concentrated

>You peak around the corner, and see the doll forces have split into two groups, keeping close to the walls and approaching quickly. There's about eight of them on each side.
>You shoot a couple medium clusters before they retaliate; then draw back. A few of their shots come uncomfortably close despite your cover; their new position gives them a wider range.

>_

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Renko, the rest of them are coming this way, along the wall. Got anything left in you for your side?"
>If they're close to the wall, that should make their positions easier to target without exposing ourselves. Lean out ever so slightly, and send as much fire along the edge of the walls as we can.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Renko, the rest of them are coming this way, along the wall. Got anything left in you for your side?"
>If they're close to the wall, that should make their positions easier to target without exposing ourselves. Lean out ever so slightly, and send as much fire along the edge of the walls as we can.

>"Yeah, I can see both sides pretty easy," says Renko. "Want me to focus on my side or yours?"
>You lean forward enough to take advantage of additional cover, and fire a few shots and draw back before the dolls' counterattack reaches you.
>"To the air," says comes the voice of Alice down the hall.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Focus on yours."
>Lean around the corner and look upwards, to see if the dolls have ascended, per the order
>Can we see Alice? If so, what does she appear to be doing?
>Fire a few more shots along our side while we're exposed, and then retreat to cover again

[Hello Purvis]

>"Focus on yours."
>Lean around the corner and look upwards, to see if the dolls have ascended, per the order
>Can we see Alice? If so, what does she appear to be doing?
>Fire a few more shots along our side while we're exposed, and then retreat to cover again

>"Got it," Renko says, "But it just got worse."
>You lean around the corner, and see Alice standing in the hall, just outside the door, looking in your direction. The dolls have indeed taken to the air, which will make it harder to take them out. You fire a few more shots, regardless, but have no luck.
>"You're pretty persistent," says Alice, "That's a good trait for a magician."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I said that I didn't intend to let you exploit Renko's efforts like this to steal whatever you wanted. I meant it. I'm not prepared to give up just because you're more powerful than I am. I'm aware of the difference in our skill and experience. This isn't something done out of naivety, but determination."

[Hello Purvis]

>"I said that I didn't intend to let you exploit Renko's efforts like this to steal whatever you wanted. I meant it. I'm not prepared to give up just because you're more powerful than I am. I'm aware of the difference in our skill and experience. This isn't something done out of naivety, but determination."

>"The difference is about the same, all told," says Alice.

>_